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Glenn Beck
Perfect Financial Storm about to Come Ashore; Who is Obama?; Is U.S. Preparing to Attack Iran?
Aired June 30, 2008 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLENN BECK, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, I`m back. And I`ve been predicting the perfect storm for months. But now with oil prices soaring and stocks plummeting, the storm is finally coming ashore.
Plus, summer is here. Time to break out the flip-flops. Senator Obama`s got a whole closet full. We`ll take a look at his flip-flopping record and try to find out who this guy really is.
And former Israeli spy says Israel and Iran is 12 months away from major military showdowns. Has countdown to Armageddon in the Middle East begun?
All this and more, tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Well, hello, America. Mr. Sunshine is back. I fell down a flight of stairs a couple of weeks ago, and I`m back on television now and on the road to recovery. I wish I could say the same thing for our economy. But if you look at today`s U.S. crude oil futures, they traded above $143 a barrel for the first time ever. Oh, I love it! Another record!
As I`ve been saying for months on this program, it`s not just gas prices, and you know all this. Everything is being affected, everything. So here`s "The Point" tonight.
The perfect storm that we have been telling you about for the last year or so is turning into a financial tsunami, and it`s about to come to shore. From stock market meltdowns to the crashing of the airline industry, which we`ll get into in about a half hour, signs of big trouble are everywhere, and Congress is doing what they do best: nothing. Here`s how I got there.
First up, let`s take a look at oil. You know, I told you, oil futures hit yet another record high today. Remember that it takes months for that increase to find its way to higher prices at the pump. So expect to start paying more for a gallon just in time to have the price affect your heating oil, as well. Isn`t that great?
Gas is now 38 percent higher than it was this time last year, 700 percent higher over the last seven years.
Even more terrifying, as the president of OPEC predicted -- I love that one -- that the price of a barrel of oil will climb to $170 before the end of the year, largely due to the weakness of the dollar. Gee, where did I hear about the weakness of the dollar? We`ve been telling America this for months. Thank you for being here and seeing it finally come to -- to roost.
Like I said, it is not just the gas prices; the price of everything goes up. You`ve been grocery shopping, I know. Your eyes, blood will shoot out. Everything you buy gets to you by gas-dependent boats, trucks, planes, and I`ll have more on what`s happening in the airline industry -- it`s taking a nosedive -- in tonight`s "Real Story."
Now, the U.S. financial markets, they`re down. And remember when we had -- what was his name -- Robini (ph) on about three, four months ago, and he said, "By July, the market will go down." Well, now it`s down 20 percent from last fall`s peak.
Things are even worse for markets across the globe. Germany is down more than 20 percent. France is down almost 22 percent. A gauge for the 15-nation Euro zone has declined by 24 percent. Great Britain is down 15. Hong Kong plunged nearly 21 percent. India down 38 percent. And Shanghai has plunged a staggering 50 percent. I`m starting to feel kind of good about our situation.
Most experts agree that it is due to the worldwide rising inflation, which has been caused, for the most part, by record oil prices and our weak dollar. So tonight, here`s what you need to know.
Gas and oil prices are at all-time highs. Financial markets are tumbling to new lows. But here`s the good news. It`s times like these when America is at her best. We are taking punches, and you know what? It`s going to knock us down. We`re going to be laying on the mat and other countries are going to be going, "Nine!" That`s when we get up. That`s when America gets up and comes roaring back. But, as usual, the politicians won`t have anything to do with it. It will be you.
Byron King is an analyst and editor of "Outstanding Investments."
Byron, a lot of people have been saying the other side, that this is just an oil bubble. You think this is an oil bubble? And what is $170 a barrel? Is that about 6 bucks a gallon?
BYRON KING, ANALYST/EDITOR, "OUTSTANDING INVESTMENTS": A hundred and seventy dollars a barrel. Yes, you`ll be paying $6 to $7 a gallon for gasoline. I don`t want to say if we get there. It`s more like when we get there.
BECK: So you don`t think it`s a bubble?
KING: Oh, no. Well, it`s a bubble if everything`s in a bubble. We`re a bubble everything. This is Bubblicious right now. I mean, iron ore has doubled. Coal has -- coal is so expensive that some coal companies are signing what are called open contracts. They`ll promise to deliver you coal out in the future, but they`re not going to tell you how much it`s going to cost until it shows up.
BECK: And here we are sitting on all of this coal. We are shipping how many dollars, U.S. dollars, are we shipping overseas right now, compared to where -- what we were shipping last year. Instead of keeping all this money home, we`re giving it to foreign countries. How much?
KING: Oh, sure. When oil was $100 a barrel versus now when it`s $140. You know, you do a little bit of math there. Every single day the U.S. economy is paying out an extra $600 million to $700 million. Every day, $700 million just for the increased price of oil over the last six months.
BECK: How is nobody -- why are these politicians not seeing this? We are building the armies of Venezuela. We are empowering Saudi Arabia, Russia. It`s not Exxon Mobil. Most of the oil -- correct me if I`m wrong -- most of the oil is controlled by foreign governments, most of which hate our guts.
KING: That`s right. The vast percentage of oil resources in the world are controlled by what are called national oil companies. Familiar household names. You know, the Saudi Aramco, or Solangol of Angola, or Petroleos of Venezuela. You know, these have -- companies have billions of billions of barrels of reserves.
BECK: Yes.
KING: But they`re not Exxon; they`re not Shell; they`re not BP. You know, and you can say all you want about, you know, big oil. I`ll tell you big oil. Big oil is in Saudi. Big oil is in Russia. Big oil is...
BECK: Exxon Mobil, I think, is 2 percent of the market. That`s not a player. That`s a player that Wal-Mart says, "Get out of here; you`re bothering me, kid."
You believe that November is when is when it`s really -- the chickens, to quote Jeremiah Wright, are really going to come home to roost. Why?
KING: Oh, baby, they`re coming home to roost with a vengeance. Come November, the first week of November, Americans are going to throw two different switches. They`re going to go into the voting switch, and they`re going to throw the voting switch or push the button on the electronic thing, whatever they do.
The other switch they`re going to throw is on the thermostat to their house. They`re going to start heating their house, and they`re going to see a natural gas bill of $5 to $6 or $8 a month, or they`re going to fill their heating oil tank. They`re going to be seeing heating oil bills of $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, depending on how much you can afford to buy, which won`t be nearly as much as last year.
The political candidate who`s running for president had better get their mind wrapped around that particular concept. That is going to make or break this election. And you know what, Glenn? I don`t mean to be too over the top here. I know you hate over the top on your show.
But whoever wins that election in November, if they don`t have their arms wrapped around the oil issue, they may as well not show up for the inauguration. They`re going to waste our time. Don`t waste my time if you don`t have an answer to the energy issue.
And I don`t mean, "Oh, we`ll do more research for the next 30 years or something." I`m talking about, what are we going to really get this country`s brain, our collective will, our collective national abilities wrapped around this issue?
BECK: Byron, I`ll tell you -- I`ll tell you what I`m investing in: pitchforks and torches. Because unless somebody in Washington gets it soon, they`re coming to Washington. Thanks a lot.
KING: Thank you.
BECK: Now, let`s turn to a rare voice of reason in today`s political landscape. It`s Louisiana`s Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.
Governor, pitchforks and torches.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Glenn, it`s good to have you back. I`m with you. I`m putting my money in both of those things, as well.
And I agree with your guest. We`ve not had a rationale energy policy in this country for years. We haven`t built a new refinery in 30 years. Haven`t built a new nuclear reactor in 30 years. We won`t drill our own oil and gas.
BECK: OK, so...
JINDAL: We try to get foreign countries to drill...
BECK: Bobby -- Bobby, you are a guy. You meet with John McCain. All right. Here`s a guy who`s crazy on this global warming thing, still says no to ANWR. Why isn`t John McCain -- I can`t believe somebody doesn`t get it. That they just need to come out and say, "We`re doing it all, and we`re going to do it all right now. This is what I`m for."
You know. I heard them going back and forth about nuclear energy over the weekend. Jeez, for the love of Pete! Stop with "it`s so dangerous." Really, Three-Mile Island? Here`s the casualty list: zero! That`s it!
Why isn`t John McCain coming out and just swinging on this?
JINDAL: Even the French have got nuclear reactors. If they`re willing to do it, certainly we can here in America.
You look at this, ANWR, it`s about 2,000 acres out of 20 million acres. When you`re talking -- when you look at the proven and estimated reserves, 10 billion barrels of oil there, 18 billion barrels of oil off our OCS that we`re not going after.
How in the world can Congress say we want the Saudis and other countries to produce more when we`re not willing to produce more?
BECK: Yes.
JINDAL: And here`s their answer. Here`s what`s crazy, Glenn. Their answer is, "Well, let`s raise taxes on energy," as if that`s going to produce more supply and drive down prices. We`re paying the price for what they didn`t do 30 years ago.
BECK: OK. You just heard Byron a minute ago say, "I don`t like people who, you know, are over the top on my show, so this is way over the top and I just hate myself for it. But let me ask you this.
It is almost like the people in Washington are intentionally sabotaging us, because the person with the new New Deal is going to win this election. Because people are going to be hungry. They`re not going to have heat. They`re not going to have jobs.
When we take our energy apart, I mean, we`re already talking about nationalizing our oil industry. Do you think that -- do you think that this country would actually go down a real socialist road?
JINDAL: Well, I hope not, but I hope voters pay attention. Because it starts in energy. They`re talking about the government taking over so much of our health care. We need to wake up and pay attention to that.
You know, there really is a fundamental philosophical choice about how we want our country to proceed. What has made us such a great country, we believe through hard work and opportunity anybody can achieve the American dream. But that means lower taxes, lower regulations, more choice, more competition.
But the same people that don`t want us producing more energy domestically also want the government, which already has 100,000 pages of rules and regulations in Medicare, they want the government more involved in our health care, and that`s ridiculous.
What`s made America such a great economy is, unlike these socialist economies, unlike so much of what`s going on in Europe and elsewhere, we still have choice. We still have competition. That`s why elections are important.
BECK: Bobby, we`re looking at the airline -- in a half hour, at the bottom of the hour, I`m going too do a "Real Story" on the airline industry. It is about -- it will change. What you`re flying right now, that experience is going to be over.
I was flying with my daughters yesterday out to Salt Lake City, and I said -- my daughter said, it`s amazing that we can be in Salt Lake City. Do -- do what you have to do today, Dad, and then fly back and be in New York. And I said, "You know what? Your kids may not be able to experience that."
The airline industry is going to change forever. What are you going to do? You`re going to nationalize, somebody is going to say, "Let`s nationalize these airlines," and we`ll have Amtrak of the sky.
JINDAL: Don`t give them any ideas. They haven`t thought about that yet.
BECK: You bet they have.
JINDAL: And you look -- here`s the crazy thing. In Washington, they get into these artificial debates. One side says, "No, we`re not going to do any production." The other side says, "No, we`re not going to do any kind of alternative fuels."
The reality is, we`ve got over a billion -- we`ve got tons of coal in this country. We`ve got clean coal technologies. We`ve got to use natural gas, got to produce more gas domestically, nuclear energy, renewable conservation. But we need to do all of it, and we need to do it quickly.
And here`s the awful thing: whenever you suggest that, they say, "Well, that`s only ten years of production."
BECK: No, no. It`s only ten -- I`m going to be here in ten years. I think we all are. Let`s maybe have some -- some cushion here.
Governor, if you don`t mind, hang on for a second, because I want to talk to you about Barack Obama. I think this guy is positively the Manchurian candidate, not that he`s -- you know, he`s been programmed by some foreign power. But he is just -- who is this guy?
Also, the flip-flop has some Democrats taking a second look at Obama`s Republican rival, John McCain. Is he going -- is this guy the Democrat`s real choice? More on this, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, I`ve got to tell you. I think I actually hate it more than you do that I`m right on some of this stuff. Do you remember, what was it, about a year ago, I told you I think that before Bush leaves office, there will be a showdown with Iran. Well, now other people are saying it. I hope to God that`s not true. We`ll have the answers in just a bit.
But first, they say that true love is unconditional. So I believe that that means Barack Obama and the media, what they have, is the real thing, baby.
It seems to me like most of the mainstream media want Obama in office so badly, this man can say or do anything, even reverse his positions on key issues and still star in their daily love letters they like to call news stories.
According to the nonpartisan "National Journal," Barack Obama has the most liberal voting record in the Senate. He out-liberaled Hillary Clinton. She came in 16. Ted Kennedy, nothing compared to Barack Obama.
No one was surprised when Obama moved even further to the left during the primaries, because that`s where he is. But now he`s edging more to the center in preparation for the general election, and no one is calling him on it.
Here`s a prime example. Do you remember Obama was staunchly against the FISA bill that would legalize warrantless eavesdropping activities and immunize lawbreaking telecom companies, as he said? "Oh, it`s the worst thing ever." He`d filibuster against it.
Well, now he`s for it, and the media is going right along with him. Oh, not a problem, he`s great, isn`t he? Hope and change.
Joined once again by Louisiana`s Republican governor, Bobby Jindal.
Governor, let me -- let me start with these flip-flops. He has flip- flopped on these issues, and just -- just a few of the issues. The FISA bill, the death penalty for child rape, the NAFTA free trade agreement, the D.C. gun ban, special interests, public financing, Cuba embargo, legal immigration, decriminalization of marijuana, and the D.C. school voucher program. Oh, and also meeting with Iran.
This guy is being treated in the media -- they`re saying that he`s just taking more pragmatic views, not flip-flopping. He`s -- he`s just recalibrating his thought. Have you seen anything like this?
JINDAL: Well, Glenn, you`re exactly right. On one hand, he is so far liberal that I`m kind of happy when you see him kind of moderate his positions, but on the other hand, I`d actually respect him more if he was more authentic and principled and said, "Here`s what I stand for. Here`s what I believe, even if it`s not popular."
You know, if he`d gone to AIPAC and -- I disagree with his views on Iran. If he`d gone to AIPAC, stood in front of that crowd, and said what he`d said before on Iran, at least you`d respect him for -- you know, being on the line and being willing to face the music.
Voters are so tired of hearing politicians tell them what they want to hear. They`re looking for true leaders.
BECK: I don`t know what this guy -- he`s not telling me what I want to hear or what I don`t want to hear. He`s not telling me anything.
For instance, this week, they were talking about nuclear energy, and he said, he`s absolutely for nuclear energy, as long as it`s safe and clean. Well, I`m for the ebola virus if it will run my car and it`s safe and clean. What the hell does that even mean?
JINDAL: Isn`t it the cleanest form of energy we can do on a large scale today?
BECK: Yes!
JINDAL: You look at, for example, the gun ban, the Second Amendment case the Supreme Court got right this past week. I`d be very curious for a reporter to ask him what does he think about his own town Chicago`s own gun ban, very much like D.C.
BECK: They`re not going to do it.
JINDAL: If he believes in the Second Amendment, is he trying to overturn the gun ban in his hometown? Or why has he been silent about it?
BECK: Let me give you this -- this line. I said a little while ago I think this guy is the Manchurian candidate, and what I mean by that is, I don`t think any of us know who this guy is. I think he knows who he is, but we don`t know who he is.
He said -- this is a while back; this is from his book. He said, "I`m new enough on the national political scene that I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views. As such, I`m bound to disappoint some, if not all of -- if not all of them."
This guy is flip-flopping back and forth and changing his views. Nobody really knows who he is. Does the American public at any time with this guy, with the media in his pocket, do they ever say, OK, no, I don`t - - I don`t trust you?
JINDAL: And this is a very important election. I think there`s a great contrast. As I`ve said before, I think he is a very well-spoken politician, maybe the best speaker we`ve had since Ronald Reagan. But look at the contrast between him and Ronald Reagan.
Ronald Reagan was very popular, gave incredibly good speeches, but you knew exactly where he stood.
BECK: Yes, yes.
JINDAL: Whether you liked him or not, and I admired him greatly, you knew he was against raising taxes. You knew he was strong against communism. You knew where he stood, even without asking him. You almost got a sense of where he`d come down on an issue. I think that`s a pretty strong contrast.
This is an election, important election, with the war on terrorism, escalating energy prices. The American people need to say, voters need to say where`s the beef? Don`t just look at the great speeches, but look at what these candidates stand for.
BECK: I can`t wait.
JINDAL: They`re philosophically very different.
BECK: I can`t wait until you run for president. I`ve only got -- I`ve got 30 seconds. I need a quick answer on this one. He was talking about patriotism today. When are either one of these candidates -- patriotism, shut up! Fix the gas problem. When are either of them going to get to the point where they`re with the American people?
JINDAL: And that`s right. We`re looking at $4 a gallon a day. Just think of what that will do to our economy. And we`ve got the ability to seize control of our destiny away from these foreign countries today.
BECK: All right. Governor, thanks as always. You`re the best.
JINDAL: Thank you.
BECK: Coming up, will the president take action against Iran before the next administration takes over? Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton says yes, and now new reporting seems to back that up.
Plus, can John McCain appeal to enough blue dog Democrats to make sure he`s leading the next administration? We`ll talk to one of the co-chairs of New Hampshire Democrats for McCain, Democrats for McCain. Tonight`s "Real Story," coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, according to this week`s "New Yorker" magazine, where I get all of my hot tips, President Bush is spending his final months in the White House intensifying covert activities against Iran. Maybe it`s just me, but I thought covert meant it should be secret, not broadcast on national television or written in a magazine.
These, according to the "New Yorker," include attempts to destabilize the country`s religious leadership and gather intelligence about Iran`s suspected nuclear -- why are we talking about this on television? Do we not understand the word "secret" in this country!
Now, Israel`s probably pretty happy to hear about this. The former head of the Mossad -- that`s the Israel intelligence agency -- said that Israel has about 12 months to either destroy Iran`s nuclear program or become the prime target of it.
Michael Rubin, he is the resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, the author of "Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos, the Middle East in Focus."
Michael, OK, they`re saying in this article that Bush is preparing the battlefield. I don`t think he`s doing this. This is something that I speculated on a year ago.
You`ve got to do something. Nobody wants war. Nobody wants to hold their feet to the fire through the U.N. What are you going to do? You`ve got to send somebody in and doing something, don`t you?
MICHAEL RUBIN, AUTHOR, "ETERNAL IRAN": You might just have to do that. Now, when it comes to preparing the battlefield, President Bush is doing what he`s supposed to do, which is prepare for all alternatives. But when you look at Sy Hersh`s articles, oftentimes they`re about 60 percent right and 40 percent wrong. He sometimes tries to fit square pegs into round holes. And the devil`s in the details, and he also gets the details wrong.
BECK: Now, this is pure speculation on my part. I mean, you know, especially if Barack Obama is coming in. Israel -- Israel is not playing around. Israel is looking at their destruction. For us, it`s kind of like, "Oh, well, it`s on the other side of the planet."
To us, it would be like if Canada was building a nuclear program and saying that, "By the way, as soon as we get it, we`re going to vaporize the United States."
Israel, I think, is going to do something, probably right after the election and before inauguration. Agree or disagree?
RUBIN: Oh, yes, pretty much agree. You know, you got it exactly right. The only thing I would do with your analogy, it would be as if Canada was developing a nuclear program and we were the size of Massachusetts or Rhode Island or a state like that.
I mean, the fact of the matter is, Israel feels that they face an existential threat, and when U.S. politicians and diplomats and Europeans say, "Oh, we can talk to the Iranians. Oh, they have different factions," the fact of the matter is, it`s not an Iranian nuclear program. The chain of custody is the revolutionary guard, and the offices of the supreme leader. And they`re the most radical factions inside.
BECK: Please tell me that you`re not getting the impression that we`re getting into bed with dirty terrorist groups again. I mean, please tell me that we`re funding or getting into bed with the peaceful youth of Iran, who actually like America, and not building another Osama bin Laden, this time in Iran?
RUBIN: Well, I wish I could have confidence. John Bolton, I think, had a "Wall Street Journal" piece which basically talked about a collapse of administration, what anyone may do.
But the fact of the matter is, 90 percent of the Iranian people are pretty pro-western. They are very staunchly nationalistic, though. And so the one thing the Iranians won`t tolerate as a people are supporting ethnic separatism in their country.
BECK: OK.
RUBIN: Sy Hersh mentioned that in his article, and if it`s true, it will backfire dramatically.
BECK: All right. Thanks a lot, Michael.
Now, the airlines, they`re cutting back. Who is it going to affect? You and the people who can afford it least. That`s tonight`s "Real Story," and it`s coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Coming up, best-selling author Brad Thor joins me to discuss his controversial new book, "The Last Patriot." I have to tell you the truth, I read this, I don`t know, a couple of months ago. I called him and begged him not to publish it unless he wants to be a dead man. You`ll explain -- or you`ll understand here as we explain coming up in just a second.
First, welcome to "The Real Story."
My home state of Connecticut, we`re lucky to be served by a great little airport called Bradley International, just in the Hartford Hills. But up until recently, the international part of that name really more or less a joke. I mean, unless you count the exotic destination of Canada as international.
But after years of trying, Bradley finally scored a big win for the state last year by getting a direct flight to Amsterdam. Good! Right to the hookers.
Now, the reason why they picked Amsterdam, not only because, I guess, the hookers, and it`s also, you know, in the heart of Europe, but it`s also where a lot of insurance executives in Hartford need to fly for business. But now, less than a year later, that flight is being canceled.
The culprit, fuel. Can`t afford it. Unfortunately, Hartford is not alone.
"The Real Story" is these kind of scheduled cutbacks are going to be felt now all across America, and the impact of that will be felt all across our economy. An airline trade group says that 100 communities will lose regular air service by the end of this year. That number could double by next year.
There`s not much these towns and cities can do to change their fate. Hartford reportedly offered a package worth $650,000 to keep Northwest, just to keep that one flight to Amsterdam. Not enough.
So what? That`s what you say. I don`t fly to Europe. I don`t -- I don`t -- foreign hookers? No. Domestic only.
Well, this isn`t about hookers or vacations or insurance companies. This is about infrastructure.
Infrastructure attracts business to your town and tourism makes places more attractive to live. When that dries up, so do our cities. Ask Detroit.
U.S. airlines are now expected to lose between $7 billion and $13 billion this year. And the big changes that I warned you about, what, three months ago are now starting to happen.
So let`s do it again. Let`s look over the horizon.
What`s to come? If oil keeps rising and scheduled cutbacks and charging for checked baggage will be the tip of the iceberg, baby, mark my words. If oil comes anywhere near $170 a barrel, stays there, $200 a barrel -- this is what the head of OPEC, by the way, has predicted -- then by early next year, I don`t think you`re even going to recognize air travel in America anymore. In fact, you`ll probably stop worrying about the price of your next flight and start worrying about whether there is a next flight.
Jim May is the president and CEO of Air Transport Association of America.
Jim, how far off am I?
JIM MAY, CEO, AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA: Glenn, I think you`re right on target.
BECK: That`s scary, isn`t it? When the crazy guy on TV starts to say the things that are happening, that means the country has officially landed in crazy town, USA.
How bad is this? Is this something that we have been before, just kind of a downturn that we get out, or how bad is it?
MAY: Glenn, this is worse than 9/11 on the airline industry. We`re going to spend some $61 billion, $62 billion on fuel this year. That`s $20 billion more than last year. And as you already reported, we could lose as much as $10 billion as an industry. We`ve cut...
BECK: So what does this mean? For instance, Toledo is on that list. Toledo is a town that`s already suffering, you know, businesses. If I put my business in a town, I want to make sure it has jet service so I can get in and out, you know, for my families and for business.
What happens to these towns and what does air service look like a year from now if we`re at $170 a barrel?
MAY: Air service is going to be significantly reduced from where it is today, a year from now, if oil prices stay above $140, $150 a barrel, or even higher, god forbid. I think that this is the best indication of how important air transportation is to the overall economy. And Congress has got to begin to address these extraordinary high prices of fuel.
BECK: OK. So what are your solutions?
MAY: I think there are a number of supply side solutions that have been suggested that include more drilling, nuclear, a whole range of different issues. But beyond that, I also believe that the speculative market in the world today has been completely decoupled from the physical market on oil. We think that the supply on oil between now and the end of `09 is actually net positive.
BECK: OK. James, I have to tell you, look, I`m not a speculator, I don`t play one on TV. But I am a thinker. And I`ve really been trying to figure out this speculation thing.
Today there was a story out that in the 1970s, I can`t believe Gerald Ford did this, and Gerald Ford and the Congress, they passed a law against speculating on onions. I don`t know. I mean, if I were the president, I would have been like, you`re talking to me about onions?
So we don`t have them for hamburgers, but the price of onions wildly out of whack now, up 400 percent. And you should see the chart. Taking speculation just out of onions actually was a really bad idea.
MAY: I don`t think we want to kill speculation, Glenn. I think there`s a very real purpose for it. We, as a business, speculate. We hedge, we make sure that we protect against...
BECK: So what do you want to do?
MAY: I think what we have to do is look at the markets where you have got index trading, swaps, a whole variety of new financial instruments, and put them under the same rules as though folks that are hedging and doing physical trading of oil for actual delivery. The paper market is some 20 times greater than the physical market today.
BECK: Yes. OK.
Jim, thanks a lot. And we`ll have you back.
Now, if you watch this program, I know we covered it last week, because I was watching it from home. They had the little political dog and pony show that brought Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama together in Unity, New Hampshire. That`s clever.
Well, it turns out, not quite so much unity as the Democratic Party was probably hoping for. The day before the event, two prominent New Hampshire Democrats led by former Clinton official James McConaha agreed to co-chair the group Democrats for John McCain.
Maybe the problem is that our politicians, as usual, are just looking at unity all wrong. At least in my book, unity doesn`t mean Democrats vote for Obama and Republicans vote for McCain. It means unifying your candidate with your core values and beliefs.
And that is "The Real Story." It`s just that.
In many cases, John McCain matches up far better to Democratic values than the Republican ones. In fact, I`m a conservative. I don`t think I can do it with John McCain, I really don`t. He`s much more of a so-called blue dog Democrat than he is a Republican, let alone a true conservative.
Let`s start at the top of the alphabet, shall we? Let`s go issue by issue.
ANWR, he wants to keep it off limits for drilling. John McCain and amnesty, the immigration bill named after him.
Campaign finance reform, again, bill named after him. Climate change, he`s for cap and trade tax. And yet again, the bill is named after John McCain.
The list goes on and on and on and we haven`t even gotten to the Cs yet.
As it becomes obvious that Barack Obama is not only a typical politician, but also one who happens to be -- oh, I mean on the crazy left on most issues than the rest of the country, John McCain is going to become the logical choice for more and more Democrats. In fact, in most years, I think John McCain would be the Democratic nominee.
That would leave Obama as the nominee for the socialist party? And the Republicans, hey, hopefully we can get our act together in 2012.
James McConaha is the longtime New Hampshire Democrat who recently agreed to co-chair the group Democrats for John McCain.
OK. How did this come about?
JAMES MCCONAHA, NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATS FOR MCCAIN: Well, hi, Glenn.
BECK: How are you, John?
MCCONAHA: Well, my spouse and I, Valery Mitchell, who is also a co- chair of this effort, began to take a closer look at John McCain during the -- just leading up to the New Hampshire primary. And we had a number of candidates that we were interested in, but they dropped out of the race, sort of one by one. And we spent some time with John McCain, attending his town hall meetings and listening to him, and listening to the people who were supporting him or who were interested in him, and became convinced that he was the very best person to be the president.
BECK: Have you -- Jim, have you had any repercussions from this? Because I have to tell you, I read the list. I remember during I think it was the impeachment trial -- I read the list of the Republicans that said, no, I don`t want to impeach him, and the list of the Democrats who said, I do want to impeach him. And I highlighted those people, and I said, good for you, not playing the party line, voting your conscious, good for you for doing that.
Are you getting backlash from the Democrats?
MCCONAHA: Well, not very much.
BECK: Really?
MCCONAHA: A comment or two here and there. I think people are fairly respectful of the opinions that we have in New Hampshire about who we`re choosing for our particular candidate.
BECK: Sure.
Do you -- is this about John McCain, or does the extreme left that I think has hijacked the Democratic Party, the environmental left and the wacko left that has hijacked the party, starting with Michael Moore back in 2004, does that play a role or is this really just about John McCain?
MCCONAHA: Well, for us, I think it`s about John McCain. And we have always backed and supported the person that we thought was the most qualified person to be president of the United States. And I think the most important thing that you can say in this election is that when you take the measure of these two men, John McCain has a record that you could look at.
BECK: Yes.
MCCONAHA: And he has been tested in ways that most candidates have not. He has had to face a large number of personal and political challenges with serious consequences and made decisions that he felt was in the best interest of his country. And he has done that over a -- over a lifetime of experience and really service to his country. And when you make that sort of evaluation, he -- you know, he has something that you can measure him by.
BECK: Yes. So, in other words, you`re saying this isn`t "American Idol." This is more like a job interview, and we should look at the resume.
James, thanks a lot.
That`s "The Real Story" tonight.
Coming up, a conversation you cannot miss with an author of an explosive new thriller. It may be the last one he ever writes. I`ll explain. We`ll talk to Brad Thor after the break.
Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: All right. A couple months ago I read a galley copy of this book. It`s Brad Thor`s book, "The Last Patriot." Best-selling author. He`s written, I don`t know.
I don`t know, how may books, Brad?
BRAD THOR, AUTHOR: That`s my seventh.
BECK: Your seventh. Yes, well, showoff.
This book, I called you, right? In fact, I may have e-mailed you in the middle of the night...
THOR: Yes, you did.
BECK: ... and said, you`re out of your mind, this is one of the most dangerous -- it is a novel, but it is "The Da Vinci Code" of Islam. It is a -- I mean, I couldn`t put it down. It`s unbelievable.
Tell the story.
THOR: The story is based upon a premise that the Prophet Muhammad had one final revelation, shared it with his disciples, and was killed to keep it quiet and keep it out of the Koran. And it`s a contemporary thriller, set today.
BECK: Yes. Yes. Yes.
Salman Rushdie come to mind? I mean...
THOR: A little bit. The death threats have already started rolling in, and the book doesn`t come out until midnight tonight.
BECK: OK.
So what happens is -- and this is -- I have never ever read a book where I have read it with the laptop at the same time because it is so filled with -- I love our founding fathers, and Jefferson has always intrigued me. And you have stuff in here that -- I study our founding fathers. I didn`t even know some of the stuff in here, and I wrote you after you told me, oh, yes, I`m going to do it because -- I wrote you and I said, "Say what is real and what isn`t somewhere in the book."
Did you do that?
THOR: Correct. Yes, right at the end I did do that. I listed, you know, what are the facts in the book and where did I take artistic license. I have an author`s note right at the very, very end of the book.
BECK: Yes. Because it is based on -- well, for instance, the State Department -- Saudi Arabia is setting up in our own country -- in your book, they`re setting up these organizations that are charitable organizations.
THOR: Well, right, Muslim benevolence organizations and everything.
BECK: Sure.
THOR: As you and I have talked about, there has been a plot afoot that was set in motion by the Muslim Brotherhood in this country to undermine the United States and to basically destroy the Constitution and to replace our democracy, as crazy and farfetched as it sounds, with Sharia law. And they`re doing it, and their intent has always been to do it through Muslim benevolence organizations.
BECK: OK. When you wrote this book -- I read it, I don`t know, maybe two months ago. When I was reading it, the court case was happening in Dallas...
THOR: Down in Dallas.
BECK: ... and that actually came out. The media didn`t pay any attention to it.
THOR: Right.
BECK: That actually came out that that is happening.
THOR: Right.
BECK: Explain.
THOR: I have got -- I have a lot of context, a lot -- there are some very hard-working, patriotic men and women in our law enforcement, in our intelligence organizations, and in our government who are not happy with the way things are being done.
BECK: Right.
THOR: Some of them go and leak things to "The New York Times" and screw our country with releasing stuff. And there`s others who have approached me who said, "Brad, you have your finger on the pulse of what`s really going on more than you know."
And, I mean, my stuff is like Clancy or Cussler or Ludlam.
BECK: Sure.
THOR: I`m writing thrillers. But when I have people from the CIA, the FBI, and other different places contacting me, saying, we`ve got to tell you a little bit more about what`s going on, it actually frightens me. I try to base these books on as much reality as possible, but then I hear, wow, they`re even more real than I know when I intend -- when I set up to write them.
BECK: Look, there was the -- what was the document that was found with the State Department? Or something was found recently with the State Department and they tried to -- they tried to cover it up? Do you know what I`m talking about?
THOR: I know about the strategy memo that we talked about from the Muslim Brotherhood.
BECK: Yes, OK. No, no -- oh, I remember. It was the German government.
THOR: Right, the Germans.
BECK: Yes.
THOR: There -- what`s interesting is, is the Germans had found -- and again, this is based on my fictionalization here of a missing chapter in the Koran and what would happen today if we could rediscover this. Now, what`s interesting is the Nazis had been working on, oh, the Koran is very interesting and we think there might be some inconsistencies in the Koran. And the guy who started that program back in the 1930s died in a mysterious climbing accident.
BECK: Yes.
THOR: It was given to his number two, who died in a mysterious plane accident. It was then given to another gentleman who said, oh, we just lost it in a bombing, and kept it quiet until a couple of weeks ago -- or, I`m sorry, a couple of months ago. He passed away at 93. He was so terrified of this information coming out that he would be killed.
BECK: Right.
THOR: And so this book is based on a lot of fact. But again, it`s like a Ludlum or a Clancy. That`s my goal.
BECK: You -- really? For instance, you put a lot of it in Virginia.
THOR: Correct.
BECK: It`s set in Virginia.
THOR: Correct.
BECK: A lot of the bad guys are in Virginia.
THOR: Yes.
BECK: There`s just a story we did, what, two weeks ago about this school in Virginia where already three terrorists have come. One guy`s in prison. He was the valedictorian of the class.
THOR: Right. Most likely to martyr himself, yes.
BECK: That`s unbelievable. And he`s in prison for wanting to kill the president of the United States. Two others have done it. There`s the principal that was...
THOR: The director of the school who, he had a 5-year-old child come, reported to a teacher that she was being allegedly abused sexually by her father. And they covered it up.
This -- Islamic -- I mean, the enemy is among us already. And we are so politically correct that we`re not doing anything about it.
BECK: Right. The State Department won`t investigate that school and is putting up roadblocks on the school as much as they can because it`s Saudi.
THOR: Right, because it`s Saudi. The Foreign Missions Act.
This is the only school we`ve got in this country that`s owned by a foreign government, financed by a foreign government, and run by a foreign government. And the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax County, Virginia, is teaching all of the hatred and all the violence out of the Koran they`re teaching there. It`s OK to kill Muslims -- or, it`s OK to kill Jews, it`s OK to kill Christians, it`s OK to kill anybody who apostates from Islam. All of this horrific stuff that`s coming out of there. And the State Department has said, well, they promised to clean up their textbooks, we`re going to wait and see what happens.
BECK: Yes. Well, I appreciate that.
Brad, I know you go on a book tour tomorrow. It officially comes out tonight at midnight.
THOR: Correct.
BECK: Tomorrow you go out.
Stay safe, my friend.
THOR: Thank you, Glenn.
BECK: If you liked "The Da Vinci Code," you`re going to love "The Last Patriot." It is a thrilling, thrilling book to read. You can find it at book stores everywhere tonight at midnight, tomorrow.
All right, you can find glennbeck.com. Also, we have tomorrow our free e-mail newsletter. We`re going to include in that edition a little bit of "The Last Patriot" in case you just want a little sample of it.
You can get that right now. It`s absolutely free. It`s our free e- mail newsletter at glennbeck.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECK: Well, it`s nice to be back, although I think I`ve completely forgotten how to do television. Some might say considering my past performance, that`s a good thing. But if you didn`t hear, I actually fell down the stairs, a lot of them.
It had nothing to do with being in the middle of the summer and me wanting to develop this embarrassing pasty white skin into some sort of respectable tan. It had nothing to do with that at all. I was definitely not by a pool.
Actually, I am pretty banged up. I`m doing much better. And I want to thank everybody who wrote cards and sent their good well wishes that somehow or another have all been lost in the mail. It would have been nice to know that there were people thinking of you, you know, and not exclusively wishing that something worse would happen to you next time.
But, hey, I get it. You`re busy.
As I walked back in the building today, you know, I was kind of re- energized. I walked in and I felt really pretty good, get back into the swing of things. I was interested to see what the staff had been working on while I was gone, what new details that they have on the stories we`ve been following. You know, what research is, you know, newly uncovered, what possible to get guests did we actually have.
Well, actually, I found out that the staff on this program since I have been gone had be working on this...
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was a U.N. interpreter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, good lord! Oh.
BECK: We are just so greatly blessed, every step of the way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve fallen and I can`t get up!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re sending help immediately, Mr. Beck.
BECK: Every step of the way...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Uh-oh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BECK: Ow!
You know what? I may not be a graceful creature, but at least I have the sense to fall off camera.
By the way, I`d like to take this time to announce the firing of my entire staff. Send in your resumes. You start tomorrow.
From New York, good night, America.
END
