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Glenn Beck

Can GOP Solve Energy Crisis?; Book Delves into Obama`s Background; Illegal Alien Murderer to be Executed in Texas

Aired August 04, 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, House Republicans worked through their recess to come up with a fix to our energy crisis. Political grandstanding or an actual honest effort? We`ll take a look.

Plus, convicted rapist, murderer and illegal alien Jose Medellin, he`s scheduled to die tomorrow in Texas, despite the wishes of the world court. We`re going to talk to the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, to find out if we`re going to see an end to this monster.

And mega-church pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren gets ready to welcome the candidates to his church. We`ll ask him about the role of faith this election year, tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BECK: Hello, America. House Republicans are burning the midnight oil while most of the capital is on summer break. Following President Bush`s lead, they`re pushing for an expanded offshore oil drilling, and with the price of crude up about 63 percent from a year ago and gasoline costing us more than 40 percent more, not a minute too soon. But here`s "The Point" tonight.

I really, truly wonder if the GOP really cares. I mean, like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I have taken them at their word in the past and feel like I`ve been burned just a wee bit. I can`t stop from asking myself is it different this year? Are they different this year? Or are they just different because it`s an election year? And here`s how I got there.

It is really easy to be cynical these days, both left and right. I believe Americans genuinely care, both left and right. We all love our country. We just disagree with each other on what we should do first and how we should do it. But the last two elections prove that people still care enough about this country to fight over her.

We, the people, we have the passion, we have the commitment to make things better. We just don`t have the people in Washington to get it done. Sometimes I wonder if the people we have elected feel the same way as we do. Politicians talk a good game, and they think that that`s their job, but shut the pie hole and listen to the people and get it done.

How are they spending their time and our money when they get elected? Think about the energy crisis. Yes, gas prices shot way up over the last year, but the factors responsible for that increase have been in play for at least a decade, and both parties have done nothing.

Today the president -- the president, along with the House and the Senate Republicans, are reacting to a problem they should have been working to prevent for the past ten years. And I understand that they`ve done their best and didn`t have the filibuster override, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, just because they`re a little late to the party doesn`t mean that it`s not good that they`re trying to do something.

But here`s what keeps me up at night. Do they really mean it? The election is now three months away, and the GOP has a lot to lose. The Democrats already have control of Congress and, if they win the White House, Washington is going to be an awfully lonely place for the guys in the red ties. So now they`re working overtime, trying to do and say all the right things so we`ll keep the faith and keep them in office.

Tonight, America, here is what you need to know. You and I both know this country can fix her problems. We both know that meaningful solutions to just our energy problems are ten to 15 years away, but we can fix them. Whether Republicans win or lose in November, they`ve got to keep fighting the good fight. If they lose steam after election day and put their spines away until the next time they need our votes and our trust I don`t think they deserve either.

Ann Coulter is a syndicated columnist and author of "If Democrats Had Any Brains They Would be Republicans."

What do you disagree with here, Ann?

ANN COULTER, AUTHOR, "IF DEMOCRATS HAD ANY BRAINS THEY WOULD BE REPUBLICANS": I think you`re being very tough on Republicans and unfairly so. I mean, it`s easy to say, "Oh, it`s just politicians and us against them." But there really is a big difference between the parties, and there`s a big difference between the parties on energy.

Republicans, the vast majority of them, have consistently done -- voted for, attempted to loosen up regulations where you want them loosened and where you want it done.

BECK: Wait a minute. Hang on just a second. How come the first George Bush signed this executive order against offshore drilling, and it took seven years for the second George Bush to rescind it?

COULTER: I will make no apologies for the first George Bush. He also raised our taxes.

However, it is also true that -- well, OK, let`s look at the vote on ANWR. That was absolutely on party lines. I looked it up from 2002. I posted the Senate vote on my Web site, because except for a few of the usual suspects, including, oh, yes, our candidate for president, it was 100 percent Republicans voting for drilling, 100 percent Democrats voting against, again, except for a few, very few sane Democrats, like Zell Miller voted for drilling in ANWR. And McCain, Collins and Snow voted against. But other than that, all Republicans were for; all Democrats were against.

BECK: OK. Can I tell you something? I have more respect for Zell Miller and John McCain, because at least they voted their conscience. They may have been...

COULTER: I don`t think so.

BECK: Oh, bull crap. You know what, Ann? I`m so tired of these policies -- these parties. I am so tired of hearing the Republicans all voted one way and all the Republicans -- and all the Democrats voted the other way. It`s...

COULTER: They did. There are ideological differences between the parties. They`re in -- you said at one point in your opening monologue we all agree, all Americans. We just have a different set of priorities. Glenn, that isn`t true. The environmentalists do not want us to drill. They do not want nuclear power.

BECK: If you look -- if you look at -- what is it -- 65 percent or 75 percent now of the American public, they say, drill the snot out of this country.

COULTER: Yes, yes. That`s because they`re paying attention now.

BECK: Those are elected representatives. Things have changed, because we stopped buying into the global warming thing. And we also went, you know what? I think heat might be more important than the global warming thing in the short run.

COULTER: OK. By the way, there`s another example where we don`t all agree. I agree with you on global warming. But -- but there isn`t a consensus on that, Glenn. And one party believes in it.

BECK: You know what? The problem is, is that I think both of these parties have sold their souls to the devil. You know, that is...

COULTER: That is so unfair to the Republicans, who have been fighting to drill and fighting to introduce nuclear power, which by the way...

BECK: Ann -- Ann, you could -- I could do this on both parties on individual things, but are you really serious? I know you. I`ve had talks with you off the air. Are you really trying to tell me that the Republicans have not sold their soul on a myriad of things? They might get a couple of these things right, but both the Democrats and the Republicans have sold out to special interests. They have sold out to just get elected. Come on.

COULTER: No. I don`t think so. I think it is very simplistic to just say all politicians are like this.

Also, what happens to a lot of the Republicans is there are a handful of Republicans who vote to show off to the "New York Times," not out of principle, I might add. And all Republicans get blamed for it.

I worked for the Senate for a couple of years. And by the way, I love their -- what you`re calling grandstanding. They`re getting some publicity for what they`re trying to do now.

BECK: No, no. Here`s the thing. I love what they`re doing. I just wish I could trust them that this wasn`t -- this wasn`t just because of the election just right around the corner.

COULTER: I promise you you can trust Steve King from Iowa. You can trust Dana Rohrabacher from California. You can trust about 80 to 90 percent of elected Republicans, and there are about 10 percent, like, oh, yes, the one we`re running for president. On Colin Snow, often Chuck Hagel, though he voted for drilling in ANWR, that give all Republicans a bad name.

BECK: OK.

COULTER: You know, it`s a slight majority of Republicans doesn`t make the a difference in the Senate or the House. You need a large majority.

BECK: So here`s -- here`s where I`d like to go on this. Where there are differences, where there are real differences, it`s -- I have more respect for Nancy Pelosi than I do for Barack Obama. Because Barack Obama came out, give me cut number -- give me cut number two for Obama, please.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Like all compromises, this one has its drawbacks. It does include a limited amount of new offshore drilling. And while I still don`t believe that`s a particularly meaningful short-term or long-term solution, what I`ve said is I`m willing to consider it if it`s necessary to actually pass a comprehensive plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK. That sounds fantastic. He`s been against it the whole time. But that sounds fantastic: "I`m willing to compromise a little bit." I don`t believe it for a second. Give me the next cut of Obama, please.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We should sell 70 million barrels of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve for less expensive crude, which in the past has lowered gas prices within two weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK. This is something that he was against just recently.

Now here`s Nancy Pelosi. Listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: What these -- what our colleagues are talking about is something that won`t have an effect for ten years, and it will be two cents at the time.

If they want to present something as part of an energy package, we`re talking about something. But to single shoot on something that won`t work and mislead the American people into thinking it`s going to reduce the price at the pump, I`m just not going to be a party to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: OK. Nancy Pelosi is at least consistent. She doesn`t want to drill. She will never drill. She will never let it be heard. Barack Obama, on the other hand, if you watch his energy policies, they`ve completely flipped overnight.

COULTER: Oh, yes. Oh, yes. In fact his policy is hard to distinguish at this point from John McCain. Both of them are freakishly allergic to drilling in ANWR still.

You know, I mean, you seem to be more wedded to people being consistent even to a fanatically crazy idea. I don`t care as long as they get to the right solution.

BECK: No. No, no.

COULTER: The thing that concerns people about flip-flopping is that you`re not sure you can trust them.

BECK: Thank you.

COULTER: If they`re really flopping to the right decision...

BECK: Thank you, Ann. That`s been the point the whole time. I have no problem with somebody changing their mind if it`s genuine.

COULTER: Right.

BECK: But I don`t know if I can trust the Republicans. I don`t know if I -- well, I know I can`t trust the Democrats.

COULTER: Right.

BECK: At least not Barack Obama.

Thanks, Ann, we`ll talk to you again.

COULTER: Thanks, Glenn.

BECK: Coming up next, Senator Barack Obama, does he mean what he says or is he playing politics during the election year? Conservative author Jerome Corsi`s latest book raises some interesting questions about Barack Obama. He`s coming up next to explain.

Also, best-selling author and mega-church pastor Rick Warren. He is the -- he is the force behind "The Purpose Driven Life.," a man with his finger on the pulse of the nation. What role does he play in this election? Find out tonight in "The Real Story," coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Coming up, John McCain and Barack Obama have yet to appear together in the same forum, until now. One of the top evangelical Christian leaders of our time, the author of "The Purpose Driven Life," has gone and done the impossible. Pastor Rick Warren gives us all the details in tonight`s "Real Story," coming up.

But first, this may be presumptuous of me, but I think you and I are an awful lot alike. I don`t care about the parties. I don`t care about the politicians. I care about the results. Not left and right; right and wrong. I just want to get the job done. I care about my country, and I know you do, too.

To me, the truth matters, but it`s getting harder and harder to know what is the truth. For instance, there are Web sites out there that say Barack Obama, he`s a Muslim, you know. No, he`s not. More important, that is -- that`s just a dumb argument against him. You want to make arguments? There are arguments to be had. That ain`t one. It`s ridiculous, because it`s wrong and it doesn`t tell you anything.

Just like you, I`m not on anybody`s side. I`m on my children`s side. I`m on America`s side. All I want is the truth without somebody`s agenda. I don`t care who gives it to me, a Republican or a Democrat.

Now, when it comes to the truth about Obama there are a ton of books out there. My next guest, best known for his previous "New York Times" best-selling book "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry."

Now he takes aim at this election`s Democratic hopeful. Is this the truth or what some people say is just another election year smear? You find out for yourself. The book is called "Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality." Its author is Jerome Corsi.

Jerome, I believe that, if you can`t say -- if you can`t find one thing good to say about somebody, then you haven`t done enough homework. Tell me one good thing about Barack Obama.

JEROME CORSI, AUTHOR, "OBAMA NATION": Well, he`s won the Democratic primary for presidency.

BECK: That doesn`t count. Tell me one...

CORSI: Very few people achieve that.

BECK: Tell me one good thing. Tell me one thing that you found and you went, "You know what? That`s a good thing."

CORSI: One good thing that he did?

BECK: Yes.

CORSI: How much time do I have? I think, basically, Barack Obama had not enough time in the Senate to really have achieved a lot. He`s only been there for three, four years.

BECK: OK.

CORSI: Four years ago he was in the state legislature of Illinois. I mean, I quite frankly don`t find a lot of substance in his legislative record that I could praise.

BECK: All right. His -- his friends, though, you do go after his friends, something that he says is unfair. My mother used to say, "Show me your friends and I`ll show you your future."

Tell me the role that Saul Alinsky, who`s not a friend of his, Saul Alinsky plays in his life. Who is he, in case people don`t know?

CORSI: Well, when Obama went to Chicago to be a community organizer he was a Saul Alinsky community organizer. He went into a Saul Alinsky organization.

Alinsky was a radical, going back even to the `30s, a radical socialist organizer. His main book, "Rules for Radicals," Alinsky said was written -- you know, Machiavelli wrote "The Prince" for the haves to keep what they have. Alinsky said he wrote "Rules for Radicals" for the have- nots to take it away. And there was a radical social agenda, a redistribution of income almost on a socialist or communist model, where you`d rub raw the discontent in a community by listening to their grievances and then articulate their grievances back in their own words to have a power grab, where the wealth would be redistributed as a result.

BECK: And can he -- can he say that, well, I don`t know anything about him. I`m not related to these. You say in your book he taught this.

CORSI: Yes. He taught this. There are photographs of Obama which I refer to in the book. Now, this book has close to 700 footnotes. It was thoroughly researched. And Obama taught the Alinsky methodology in classrooms. Photographs are of Obama drawing Alinsky diagrams of community organizing on the blackboard.

BECK: OK. The thing that I do find about Barack Obama is that I think America is starting to catch on to this: this guy really is a Marxist. He believes in the redistribution of wealth. He believes in the global government and everything else.

In his autobiography, he talks about an experience with a guy named Frank in Hawaii. You say you know who this Frank is. Who is this Frank that he talks about in Barack Obama`s autobiography?

CORSI: Well, the Frank has been fully identified. In fact, even the A.P. ran a story about it just in the last couple of days. It`s Frank Davis Marshall, who was an avowed, self-avowed communist in the `30s and `40s. He was a member of the Communist Party of the USA, a very prominent poet and journalist in Chicago.

Frank Davis Marshall retired in Hawaii. And Obama tells us in his autobiography that, when he was in high school, the alienated years when Obama was first starting marijuana and cocaine, his grandfather introduced him to Frank Marshall Davis. Obama says he used to drink into the night and smoke cigarettes with Frank Marshall Davis. Frank Marshall Davis read his communist poems and presented his ideology to Obama, which was very leftist ideology.

CORSI: You know, they say that he is the most leftist guy in the -- in the Senate. And he`s trying to move center and, for instance, I saw this weekend that he has said he`s coming out against reparations. But what he`s against is it doesn`t go far enough.

He`s -- he`s -- if you read his words from the past, he talks about universal health care is a systematic reparation, because it will help blacks over whites. He really does see, for instance, universal health care, not as something necessarily for success but for basic fairness.

CORSI: Many of Obama`s arguments are fairness arguments. And that, again, those are redistribution of wealth arguments.

Obama wants to double, virtually, the captain gains tax. Another one of his redistribution of income ideas, currently, is his energy proposal. He`s going to impose windfall taxes on oil companies and give $1,000 checks to poor people. Well, which companies is Obama going to raid next time for his next second $1,000 checks to the poor people?

BECK: You believe -- you believe he`s going to lose?

CORSI: Yes. He`s going to lose.

BECK: Why do you say that?

CORSI: Because America is a center to the right country. The Democratic Party, which is leftist today at its core, advances these unvetted, unknown but very radical candidates.

As soon as the American public gets into the last two months of the campaign, September and October, and issues become predominant, then a candidate like Obama trying to shift to the center, well, these are changes that don`t represent the positions he`s expressed for years.

BECK: Right.

CORSI: And it`s not authentic.

BECK: OK. Jerome, thanks a lot.

Coming up, despite pleas from the world court, there`s an illegal alien that is scheduled to be executed tomorrow for the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Texas. We have the governor of Texas on. I`m going to ask him if he`ll arrange that meeting between this murderer and Jesus tomorrow. We`ll get his answer next.

And a man trying to live out his final days in peace, he has his life turned upside down after a neighbor discovers a miracle in his back yard. Luke Wilson and George Lopez star in "Henry Poole is Here." Remarkably, almost miraculously, they`re both going to be on -- on this program. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: Back in 1994, Mexican national -- his name, Jose Medellin. He was convicted of leading a gang that raped and murdered two teenage girls in Houston. It was brutal, and it earned him some Lone Star justice: the death penalty.

The Mexican government protested. They were joined from -- joined by some unlikely allies: members of Congress, even President Bush. They say that Medellin was denied access to his consulate. Went all the way to the Supreme Court.

Texas sees it another way. They see it as you come to our state, murder two teenage girls, you die. Medellin is scheduled to be executed tomorrow.

I`m joined now by Texas governor Rick Perry.

Governor, you were -- you were at my comedy stage show -- I don`t know, you know -- three, four weeks ago. I asked you before I went onstage, are you going to arrange a meeting between Jesus and Medellin? You said yes.

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: I told him that was my -- that was my duty. The state of Texas would be the judge and jury of that, of which they`ve been.

And Mr. Medellin is being treated like anyone who would come into our state and commit a heinous crime. He`s been given every opportunity through our court systems, very fairly and very openly. He has appealed. He`s lost those appeals, up to and including our core criminal appeals as late as last Thursday. And our parole board will make a judgment call this afternoon, and then I will make my decision.

BECK: OK. So the -- it`s plain for anybody who doesn`t know who this guy is. Explain why. You said to me that this the worst case you have ever read about.

PERRY: Jose Medellin, who lived in the United States for half of his life, he was born in Mexico but he read and spoke and was very involved in the community from the standpoint of living and working there. I mean, he knew his way around the state of Texas.

But this was the most heinous crime that I`ve had across my desk. There were six young individuals. When I say young, 17 -- two of them were 17. Three of them were above the age of 18. Raped and brutally murdered, two young, beautiful Texas teenage girls, 14 years old. Orally, vaginally, anally raped them for over an hour. And then they murdered them, stomped them, kicked them, slashed them. It was -- it was an incredibly heinous act.

BECK: He took the watch of one of the girls and gave it to his girlfriend, and he was bragging about what he had done.

PERRY: I think that`s a good reflection of the type of individual that we`re dealing with here.

BECK: OK. So everybody really agrees that this guy should be executed, yet George Bush passed this on to the Supreme Court and said, "Maybe we should listen to the -- the world court." Why would he do that?

PERRY: I don`t know. I think there`s a lot of over-lawyering going on, from my perspective. The facts are very clear in the case. I mean, Mexico couldn`t hire O.J. Simpson`s lawyers and get this fellow off in Texas. That`s the bottom line on this.

He never told the authorities he was a Mexican citizen. Never asked for consulate notification, either in the trial phase or in the punishment phase or in the appeals phase.

This is the classic example of the anti-death penalty people trying to find some interesting legal argument. They`re throwing things up against the wall, Glenn, hoping something will stick.

BECK: Sir, I hope that you do, indeed, arrange that meeting tomorrow night between him and Jesus. Let -- let the Lord sort it out.

Governor, thank you very much.

PERRY: We`re just doing the justice part in Texas.

BECK: Thank you.

Coming up, mega-church pastor Rick Warren joining me in tonight`s "Real Story." It`s coming up next. Don`t go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: If you watch this show all the time, you know that we don`t get big-time movie stars on this show. I mean unless you count Fabio.

So I heard that Luke Wilson and George Lopez were going to be on the problem because they`re in this new movie "Henry Poole is Here." And I thought, they must think that this is the "Larry King" set. So I`m filling in for Larry tonight coming up in just a bit.

But first, welcome to "The Real Story."

I don`t have to tell you this, but across America most people know we are at a crossroads. It is not whether we elect a Democrat or a Republican. It`s not do we stay in Iraq or get out. It`s not if we drill for oil in ANWR and just keep our fingers crossed that Saudis continue to like us. It is not any of that.

Talking about those issues is worrying about a knee scrape when the patient is also in cardiac arrest. "The Real Story" is that the very fabric of America, everything we stand for and believe in may be about to change and not in the touchy, feely hope for change kind of way.

Take a look at what is going on in Spain right now. I read the story over the weekend. I couldn`t believe it. This is according to the independent Spain`s socialist government has quote, "seen the future and it is slow, dim and uncomfortable."

If they have their way the speed limit on the highways in Spain will be cut 20 percent to 50 miles an hour; that`s the top speed limit in the entire country. Speed limit in towns will be cut to 25 miles per hour, top speed. Street lighting is going to be cut by 50 percent. Temperatures in public buildings will be kept above 79 degrees in the scorching hot summer and below 70 degrees in the winter. And the government is also going to get into the light bulb business by handing out 50 million crappy low energy bulbs to the public.

But while these fantastic ideas seem to be all about oil and climate change, the fabric that runs through them is socialism; government telling you to give up a couple of your freedoms, a couple of your possessions, a little bit of your wealth so you can, you know, comfort others, so others can have more.

It is a great theory, but those things are all supposed to be given by people not taken from them. When you take something, when the government says you`ve got to give it. It doesn`t change your heart. It hardens your heart. At least that`s what I believe.

What does work, and whether it be to fight poverty, disease or hunger, is finding the people with both the means and the dedication to make a difference and then give those people every possible resource they need to do their job well, which brings me back to the precarious position that America now finds herself in.

Like in Spain, we have a choice to make. Do we raise our thermostats, cut our lighting bills, slow down our highways or do we decide enough is enough? This is crazy. The knee scrapes are distracting us from what our real problem is: a failure of our leaders. And I don`t just mean the leaders in Washington.

I mean feel like me and you. We are the real leaders; we, the people. We`ve got to be better neighbors, parents. We have to stop tearing down success in this country and start living it. We have to start taking personal responsibility for our own problems.

My next guest is living proof of what happens when you do that. He is the author of a huge best seller "The Purpose Driven Life." His Saddleback Church is one of the five largest in America. But what really defines Pastor Rick Warren is his unwavering believe that each of us have the power to change the world.

I couldn`t be more pleased to have you on, Rick. Thank you so much for being here.

First of all, you are in Mexico for an AIDS conference. Is that what is going on?

RICK WARREN, PASTOR OF SADDLEBACK CHURCH: Yes. You know what you were just saying I could not agree with more, my friend. The issues that a lot of the government programs are really just kind of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic where we`re putting Band-Aids on symptoms and not dealing with those fundamental systemic problems that you just mentioned. The problems today, I think, are really in three areas.

We have to return responsibility to every individual. We have to return civility to our society. And as a pastor, I want to return credibility to the church. We have a lot of choices to make just like you were saying in your opening words there in that you have to decide whether you want growth or control; whether you want freedom or security. You cannot have both.

Today a lot of people are opting out for the wrong solution. The solutions that proved wrong in the 20th century do not need to be brought into the 21st century.

BECK: What are the solutions you are talking about?

WARREN: Well, for instance, one of the things that we know from the 20th century is that decentralization beats centralization hands down. Communism collapsed because every time you centralize power it eventually falls over on its own weight. What we need to do is decentralize and empower people at the grassroots.

Of course, for me as pastor, I can take you to 10 million villages around the world, the only thing in it is a church. They don`t have a school, they don`t have a clinic, they don`t have a post office. They have a church.

And so for the last four years, I have been traveling around using the funds that we got from "Purpose Driven Life" to mobilize grassroots working between partnerships and business, government and churches working together on a voluntary basis rather than a top down heavy management government approach.

BECK: So Rick, how do you get people to do this? I think in many ways our government has taught people -- and I shouldn`t say our government -- our politicians who just want to continue to be re-elected, they come up with all of these programs which teaches people, "Don`t rely on your self. Rely on me. I`ll take care of you."

So how do you break that cycle?

WARREN: Well, it really does start with a mindset change, Glenn. And that`s part of my job as pastor.

Governments can`t change hearts, they don`t change minds. Erecting laws doesn`t really change any minds. That`s kind of after the fact; it is downstream.

If you want to change culture you have to move further up in the stream, and deal with arts, entertainment, you have to deal music. These are things that people -- that actually determine their attitudes.

One of the attitudes we have had in America is this attitude of victimization. I blame everybody else for my problem. I say you spell blame be-lame. And every time we blame others -- when you take responsibility for someone you take it away from them. And whether this is foreign policy or here in our own domestic policy, as a pastor, I know having talked to parents they say if I had to do it all over again, I would do less for my kids and teach them to do more for themselves.

I think that`s true in government. I think it`s true in business. I think it`s true in every area.

BECK: You know I have a very good friend; he`s a guy I grew up with and went to high school with. He is darn near an atheist. He has been an agnostic his whole life. I had a big spiritual awakening in my life when I just totally spun out of control.

And he said to me about six months ago, he said, "Glenn, I don`t believe in God. But I`m miserable. How do I do it?" And I said, "Start with two principles: serve other people, get out of yourself, and tithe."

He called me last week and he was in tears, he said, "Glenn, I have never been so happy in my life. This doesn`t make any sense." It runs counterintuitive until you realize I`ve never felt happy or giving or charitable or compassionate on April 15th.

WARREN: Well, when somebody says I don`t believe in God, I always first say tell me the kind you don`t believe in. I might not either. I`ve found that a lot of people have caricatures of God. And they say I don`t believe God is like this and I said I don`t happen to believe that either.

You are right. The only way we find meaning and purpose in life is by giving our lives away. God wired the universe that self-centeredness is a dead-end street. It just dies.

It is only in giving yourself away, your time, you money, relationship. I`m the happiest man in the world. You know most people in the world tithe 90 percent, live on 10 percent.

Glenn, I started this years ago raising it each year. The generosity factor, not just in money but in every factor, is what brings joy in live. A lot of people think you`re going to find significance from success or status or salary or sex, but the truth is significance comes from service. And the more you give your life away, the happier you`ll be.

BECK: Yes. It`s truly -- you have to do it to be able to believe it. You have to give it away.

WARREN: Yes.

BECK: And before you realize, oh, my gosh, it`s going to come back to me tenfold in ten different ways and it changes everything.

WARREN: It`s one of the reasons we are here in Mexico City at the HIV/AIDS conference. People say what is an evangelical pastor doing at an HIV/AIDS conference when probably many if not most people here would invalidate everything that I believe.

Well, I think it`s because Jesus would be here because He always cared about people who were marginalized. He empowered them to make a difference with their lives. Jesus hang out with people who are lepers and today people with AIDS are the lepers of the 21st century. Nobody wants to be around them, nobody wants to talk about it, afraid you are going to get it.

And so we want to say, "Look, you`re not a victim. You can make something of your life. God has a purpose and plan and we`ll help you understand that."

BECK: When you go down for the AIDS conference what role do you think for instance, what role does the government have to do -- again, I go back to I`ve never felt compassionate on April 15th. I felt compassion when I`ve actually gotten involved myself.

Are government institutions or let`s use the U.N. George Clooney and I were talking about Darfur. The U.N. is a huge roadblock. They`re not really a help. Do these institutions help or hurt?

WARREN: Well, the problem is that both church and business have abdicated things to the government that really the government has no business being in. The government isn`t good at making profit. The government isn`t that good at service.

Their primary role is to provide opportunity and to provide security. Now, each sector of society, these three legs of the stool, business has a role, government has a role and houses of worship have a role in dealing with issues like poverty, disease, illiteracy and all of these things.

The problem is getting everything to do the part they`re supposed to do instead of saying we`re going to expect the government to do it all. The track record of that is not very good.

BECK: Do you think that there is a way to -- again, I go back to my friend who, you know, said I can`t walk through the doors of a church. I was like this myself ten years ago. I wouldn`t walk through the doors of a church because I thought it is about power and money and manipulation.

How do you restore that? How do you get regular people to say, no, you know what, this is a good church?

WARREN: You know what? What you just said to your friend who is an atheist, I think, is a good place to start. If people say I don`t believe in God.

First you start with do you believe in people? If we start with people then you begin to see that there`s a lot of good out there in the world. Not just evil. Yes, evil is real and it exists.

There is a lot of good. And when people where is God in Katrina? Where is God in 9/11? I`ll tell you where he is, he is in the people who are responding, caring, loving, showing. We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ. We share that all around. What you do is you just take it one step at a time.

I found that evangelicals we used to say come to Christ and then start serving. I often say to my friends start serving and then come to Christ. Because when you start caring about more than yourself you realize there`s a whole lot more to life than simply passion, possession, position and pleasure. There`s a purpose in life and that`s where meaning comes from.

BECK: Pastor Rick Warren. Thank you so much, sir.

That`s the real story.

Coming up, "Glenn Beck Show." First, two Hollywood stars willing to talk to me at the same time. No. Seriously, Luke Wilson, George Lopez stars of the new movie "Henry Poole is Here" are next. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: When I got a call this morning that I`m going to have a couple of guests on and it was these guys, I said, that is a mistake. They are booked on the wrong show.

For starters when you turn on the TV, George Lopez this morning was sitting next to Kelly Ripa. Now he`s sitting next to me. Luke Wilson, star of "Old School" and "Royal Tannenbaums;" they`re two of Hollywood`s funniest actors and they both are starring in a brand new movie called "Henry Poole is Here."

Welcome guys. How are you?

LUKE WILSON, ACTOR: It`s nice to be here.

GEORGE LOPEZ, ACTOR: Nice to meet your.

BECK: Sorry for the mix-up and you are on this set. But so tell me about the movie.

You guys did come for free to talk about the movie.

LOPEZ: I think Luke is fantastic in the movie. I actually had very little to do but watch Luke work.

WILSON: I play this guy who has given up on life and I move back to the neighborhood I grew up in. I move in between a single mother on one side and an older lady on the other side who thinks that there is stain from the face of -- she thinks this water stain on my wall is the face of God.

And George plays a priest that she gets involved in my life.

BECK: Does the priest think that it is the stain of Jesus?

LOPEZ: You know the priest is not in the position to whether confirm nor deny someone`s faith. You have to leave it up to them, which I learned from a priest. I would have said there`s no way in hell --

BECK: I just have a hard time believing that, the Lord works in mysterious ways like through potato chips.

WILSON: Or tortillas.

BECK: I see these people and they really, truly believe. And I think, maybe if God has a sense of humor, which I think he does, he created us. If he has a sense of humor I could see him say, "Watch this, I`m going to freak people out. Watch this toast." You know what I mean?

LOPEZ: But you have to admit that that Mother Teresa cinnamon roll is dead on. I mean dead on.

WILSON: It is uncanny; made me a believer.

BECK: Let`s watch a clip from the movie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILSON: Look, I don`t know what you`re up to, but I didn`t say you could come back here and I`d like you to both leave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see.

LOPEZ: Well, I do see something. I`m very sorry about the intrusion Mr. --

WILSON: Poole, Henry Poole.

LOPEZ: Mr. Poole, I apologize.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you do see it?

LOPEZ: Well, I can see how it could be interpreted as a face. That`s quite clear. But the face of Christ, I`m not so sure that we can make that leap.

WILSON: Thank you. Thanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECK: I lived in Connecticut years ago and there is on the green there is this giant tree that they say the knot in the tree is the face of Christ. And there are people that light candles and they come and they -- I`m going to get hate mail from those people.

LOPEZ: It is always Christ. It makes it interesting. I mean, Glenn, you got to believe in fate. It is not like it`s Lou Dobbs or it`s not --

BECK: Would you think there`s a chance that Lou Dobbs --

LOPEZ: I`d cut it down with my teeth.

BECK: Would you really?

WILSON: Oh, come on, man.

BECK: You wouldn`t cut the tree down?

WILSON: I`m a Lou Dobbs fan.

LOPEZ: See you on the other side of the wall.

BECK: Do you guys believe in, are you guys, are you religious?

WILSON: I would say that I`m kind of spiritual. I believe in God. Yes. I think so.

BECK: Do you believe in miracles, get past the potato chips and stain on the wall. Do you believe in miracles? Have you guys ever, either one of you ever felt like that was a full pledged miracle?

WILSON: I think we have both had hole in ones.

LOPEZ: I had kidney disease my whole life and three years I had a transplant that my wife was the donor. So I think that`s pretty miraculous; the odds of that happening. And the odds of the way I treated her for actually giving it to me was more amazing than the actual donation of it.

BECK: Does she regret it? Kind of like my mom used to say, I brought you into this world, I`ll take you out. Does your wife ever say to you, I gave you that kidney, I`ll take it back?

LOPEZ: I think she has kind of -- if she really makes like a strong fist, she can make me faint.

BECK: All right. The movie is "Henry Poole is Here." It opens August 15th. Thanks, guys.

I`ll show you to the right set now.

WILSON: Thanks very much.

BECK: Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks guys.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECK: You know, the most common question I get from people is, I get it, Glenn, please, things are screwed up. But what can I do about it? I`ll get to that here in a second.

But first I want to show you what people are talking about in America. What`s caught people`s attention?

Well, we`ll start out with this little guy. It`s an exotic breed of African kitten. Australia has banned imports because it`s an extreme risk to the country`s native wildlife. Looks like a brutal killer.

Then you have this. You believe this dog has adopted these little white tiger cubs. Isn`t that adorable?

How about this one. Look out, everybody, it`s a black bear running across the 13 hole at the U.S. Senior Open Championship in Colorado Springs. Golf, anyone?

Next up on the most e-mailed pictures is the smallest snake in the world. Look! It`s as small as a quarter! Wow, that sure is small!

Then you have Zen Zen. Guess whose first birthday it is. She`s got her very own three-tiered cake made of frozen fruit, vegetables and bamboo. Yummy, Zen Zen.

Next in line is the annual guinea pig festival in Peru, one of my favorite worldwide festivals for sure. They serve up fried guinea pigs which are tasty with nice Burnase or la orange sauce, perhaps a little hamster puree drizzled on top and pinch of paprika.

Then continuing the nonstop parade of animals in Yahoo`s most e-mailed pictures is this one. I think it`s a peacock but I`m not a veterinarian. I`m just a thinker.

What`s the point of looking at all these pictures of animals? The point is while you`re thinking about energy independence, Islamic extremism, oil shell development, health care policy, a lot of people are just e-mailing each other pictures of golden retrievers nursing white tigers. When you`re thinking about capital gains tax and the future of Russia, gigantic entitlements and environmentalism gone awry, they`re sending pictures of fried guinea pigs to each other.

What can you do as an individual? Help spread the word about the real problems and the real solutions. Talk to people about what`s really going on. It`s vital that we, the people, are engaged. Just try not to be too annoying about it, will you?

Don`t forget our in-prison exclusive interview with Compean and Ramos is in Fusion magazine. You can order now by calling 888-Glennbeck or just go to glennbeck.com

From New York, good night, America.

END