Bill O’Reilly has a new book out “Killing Kennedy” which was a follow up to his hit success “Killing Lincoln” and prompted Glenn to question Bill’s fascination with ‘killing’ books. The pair also previewed the debate tonight - how should Mitt Romney handle the tough questions? O’Reilly explains on radio today.
Rough transcript of interview below:
GLENN: Bill O'Reilly continues his fascination with presidential assassinations. I don't know what it is. First it was Lincoln. Now it's Kennedy. And I don't know. McKinley is next. I'm not sure what he's working on. Number one best-selling author. The number one book in America. Been on the best-selling list for 53 weeks, I don't know.
STU: 53,000 weeks.
GLENN: His epic book, "Killing Lincoln". Now being followed by "Killing Kennedy", and it is just as good. We have we have Bill O'Reilly on the phone. Hello Bill.
STU: He'll be here in a few minute.
GLENN: What do you mean?
STU: He's apparently decided there's a breakfast emergency. Maybe there's a delicious hash brown he's finishing off.
PAT: He might be finish up the research on killing McKinley.
GLENN: I may not talk about his book now. Here's the truth. I haven't Reddit. I don't like it.
STU: How would you know.
STU: I think he's on now.
GLENN: Bill now that you're late.
CALLER: Wait. Wait. I've been calling you guys.
GLENN: Don't even.
CALLER: Oh.
GLENN: What is the weird thing with your fascination with the deaths of former presidents. Are you working on killing McKinley now.
CALLER: Did you read the book.
GLENN: I have to apologize to you. I haven't.
CALLER: You haven't read it.
GLENN: I know you sent it to me early.
CALLER: Most of this book is when he was alive. The worthiness we knock out all of the myths. All of the garbage, all of the rumor. All of the innuendo.
GLENN: No you don't. You don't knock it out. There was one part of the story I was interested in.
CALLER: Which was?
GLENN: If I would have read the book I would have known. This is the one guy that you couldn't nail down because were you on his track and he committed suicide.
CALLER: Fascinating story. 1976 I'm working at a WFAA in Dallas, Texas. A friend of mine. He calls he's got a call he's a Russian emigre. He was teaching at a college. This guy knows a lot about Oswald. I immediately try to track shield. He runs. He dodges. He knows I'm after him. So I go to his house. A number of times. Finally and this was against the law, I actually broke into his house and nobody knows that. I'm telling the Glenn Beck program.
GLENN: Just hold on a second. Eric Holder let's get him on the phone.
CALLER: I was dressed like a Black Panthers so he's not going to do anything. So.
CALLER: So the back door the backsliding door was open and I opened it, and I stepped into his living room I guess it was. And there was nobody there. I pounded on the door, and so I had a cameraman with me. There's blood on the rug. So I thought this was really strange. Told my assignment editor. Don't ever do that again, and don't tell anybody. We got word that he was visiting his daughter in south palm beach Florida. Where did the blood come from.
CALLER: I don't know.
GLENN: You didn't do anything about that.
CALLER: Because you broke in we don't you want to do anything. I head out to palm beach Florida.
GLENN: I'd like to apologize to the parents of the missing girl in the 1970s who's body was never found. Bill O'Reilly let it happen.
CALLER: My friend is trying to get shield to serve him a subpoena. So we both of us are heading out to the house. I get to the house. And shield blew his brains out second floor of his daughter Alexandra's house.
PAT: While you're there.
CALLER: I'm there. And then the palm beach police drove there. I have not been able to define shield was hanging around Lee Harvey Oswald which was the lowest rung. Now, a sleuthed it. I've done anything. We knew that shield had ties to the C.I.A.. he had ties to the older Bush. That is one of the few things we have not been able to nail down in "Killing Kennedy".
GLENN: So Oswald was a loan shooter.
CALLER: He shot him by himself.
PAT:
GLENN: Was he a Russian agent?
CALLER: There is no evidence of that.
GLENN: Was why did he go over to the Soviet Union.
CALLER: He went over to the Soviet Union because he was a loser and Communist. He thought he was going to have a great life over there. That's where he met his wife in Minsk. The F.B.I. shadowed him. He was a Socialist Communist kook. If he was a Russian agent he wouldn't have had so much trouble getting into Cuba. He went down to Cuba. We traced every bit of him. You learn all of this fascinating.
GLENN: If you're offering to have somebody read it to me I'll take that. I'm trying to create jobs.
CALLER: I'll have somebody come to see you.
GLENN: We're going to the election in a few minute.
CALLER: You're going to love this book. This is right up your alley. Because.
GLENN: Bill.
CALLER: It unmasks the whole government and the C.I.A. what they did the bay of pigs. Kennedy ordering the assassination of DM. This is right where you live.
GLENN: I love Lincoln. I love, and I hate myself for saying it. But I loved your book about Lincoln.
CALLER: All right.
GLENN: I'll read another one.
CALLER: Good. You're the man for it.
GLENN: Let me ask you the one other question. You say there was a turning point in Kennedy's life, and it was the death of his son.
CALLER: Almost like your story. It's almost like the Glenn Beck story. Here's Kennedy.
GLENN: He started the network.
CALLER: Whatever Kennedy wants to do, whatever babe he wants to go after, whatever.
GLENN: If it moves he's interested.
CALLER: So Kennedy is one of the most popular men in the world. He's doing whatever he wants to do. It doesn't matter if it hurts his wife his children whatever, he does it.
GLENN: Tell me when it gets to the story like me.
CALLER: Remember your days your in Connecticut.
CALLER: Something happens to JFK. What happens is his baby dies Patrick. And we spend a lot of time in the book on that.
GLENN: Did you think about naming the book killing Patrick.
CALLER: No. Because with this there are a lot the other things. Thank you for the suggestion. So the poor baby.
GLENN: You know --
CALLER: Dies, and JFK is profoundly, and I mean profoundly affected. He changes. He changes -- he doesn't become a saint overnight like you did. But his whole outlook changes and his presidency changes.
GLENN: So did he become a Republican.
CALLER: Almost. He wanted to cut taxes. He wanted to limit government. But you'll see in the book how what happens there.
GLENN: So Bill, we're going to talk about the election in a second. The name of the book is "Killing Kennedy", and killing McKinley is coming up, and shooting but missing Truman. I'm sure will be the follow up.
PAT: Stabbing Caesar is down the roads.
GLENN: We'll get to the election.
CALLER: . You done making fun of me.
GLENN: You're a machine.
CALLER: "Killing Kennedy" is number one. "Killing Lincoln" is still number 4.
BREAK
GLENN: Bill O'Reilly, you play Mitt Romney here for a second.
CALLER: All right.
GLENN: Mr. Romney you were recorded as saying 47% of the people are basically lazy and you don't care about them. How do you explain that?
CALLER: What I was saying to a group of my supporters was that there is a certain mindset among people who support my opponent President Obama of entitlement. They want free stuff. Now, 47% probably too high. I was just speaking off-the-cuff. But there is no question that many Americans right now want a nanny state, and there is the poster boy for -- you can't say the poster guy for the nanny state President Obama. And these people would never vote for me because I am someone who believes in competition, who believes in capitalism and self-reliance. Those are the things that I stand on, and that's what has made America great, and that's why President Obama's administration has weakened the economy, and take away from that.
GLENN: What you just said appeals to me. We used to be self-reliance. But 47%, and that is probably too high. 47% are on the government Dole in some way or another. And they're not paying taxes, and that number is growing every single day, and I'd say I'll bet that there is at least 10% maybe as high as 20% who're just like I don't want to pay taxes. I don't want to do any work. I'm totally cool with this system.
CALLER: I think one out of five think they are owed something. I want to do my Internet stuff. I want to flounce around. I'm not going to study in school. I'm not going to work hard. I'm not going to learn a trade, and so give me my house. Give me my food, and give me, give me, give me, and that's growing. That's a growing part of our population.
GLENN: You have been doing television since 1884. And.
CALLER: Since Rutherford B. Hayes.
GLENN: You've seen these elections over and over again. The spin of the polls is remarkable. I happen to believe that the model is wrong. All of the polls in the last three or four years have been six points wrong minimum. Six points.
CALLER: Well. In a month we'll know whether you're correct or not.
GLENN: Hold on hold on.
CALLER: All right.
GLENN: Mr. O'Reilly this is the no twirling around zone. What I want to know from you is take the polls as they are. They're all within the margin of error. They're 47-45. 45-45. Whatever. So it's a dead-heat. A. Have you ever seen an election this close for this long where it is just locked pretty much locked-in a dead-heat, and B, why isn't the media saying this is the closest election that they've seen. It's never this close. Why are they saying it is Obama.
CALLER: That's not anything new. So the national media and the urban newspapers are rooting for the President. So I think that's established beyond a reasonable doubt. And dimmest Americans know that. The problem is that you have if you are not a fan of the President's is that Mitt Romney has not taken the fight to him. And that's what everybody is hoping to see tonight in the debates. They're hoping to see Mitt Romney on fire coming out say look I don't want to be disrespectful but the President is ruining the country not just in the short-term but in the long-term, and the culture of entitlement that he embraces the attitude of where's mine. I don't care about the country. I want my stuff and I want it now, and I want other people to give it to me, is taking root. And we have to confront the fact that our President is exploiting people who don't want or can't provide for themselves. If Mitt Romney would do that tonight and bring it right to his doorstep, and back it up with facts. Look at the expenditures, look at the spending, look at the waste. Look what's coming down the road.
GLENN: He wins if he does it. This weekend George Washington O'Reilly and Stewart the debate. "Killing Kennedy" the book is on sale now.
