Odd how CNN chose a comedienne to have a serious conversation on two serious topics.
snip* AC: "We will talk to Bill Maher about that, about Islam, and the oil spoil. Bill Maher is the "Big 360 Interview" tonight."
Also the "Big 360 Interview" tonight, never shy, Bill Maher weighs in on a range of timely issues, including the Islamic extremists who target the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MAHER, HOST, HBO'S "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": I don't think the problem is that guys like this hate America. I think the problem is that they like America, and they feel guilty about it. You know, they come here, and they like eating at Chili's, and they like the water slide. They like going to the strip club. And then get on their Jihadi Web sites, and they feel terribly guilty about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Plus, the legal loophole that makes it easy for suspected terrorists to buy guns even if they're on the government's terror watch list. Does that make sense? We'll talk about it ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Just ahead, the "Big 360 Interview," the always blunt Bill Maher, sharing his take on terrorism, guns, and Gulf oil spill. First, Tom Foreman gives us an update on news on the "360 Business Bulletin."
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Anderson.
In Greece, protests against harsh government spending cuts turned deadly. Three people were killed when demonstrators torched an Athens bank. The spending cuts will slash salaries and pensions for civil servants, all part of a condition for an international bailout Greece needs to stay afloat.
"Newsweek" heading to the auction block. The "Washington Post" company says it's looking to sell the news magazine, which has been posting losses since 2007.
And in San Diego, a new punch line. Why did the sea lion cross the road? To hide under a police car. The wandering animal stayed there for four hours until a rescuer from Sea World grabbed it by the tail. It was dehydrated and underweight, and Sea World says it will take care of it and put it back in the ocean within four months.
COOPER: Aww. All right. Still ahead, Tom, the breaking news, late word that authorities believe the Times Square bomb suspect rehearsed the alleged crime the day before.
Also, a disturbing report about how easy it is for suspected terrorists to buy guns, even if they're on the government's terror watch list. Is that a loophole that should be closed, or is that just the way the law should be?
Plus, the "Big 360 Interview," Bill Maher speaking out about the gulf oil spill and criticism the Obama administration is getting from some.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHER: Katrina was something that he was warned about. It was a natural disaster. They kept saying, you know, days before, the storm is coming. No one kept saying to Obama, the rig is going to blow in three days. It's brewing up there in the gulf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight, authorities say that Faisal Shahzad, the suspected Times Square bomber, continues to cooperate with investigators and actually waived his right to a lawyer. As we reported at the top of the hour tonight, the breaking news, a law enforcement officer with knowledge of the questioning of the accused terrorist has confirmed to CNN that Shahzad made a dry run the day before he allegedly tried to blow up an SUV in Times Square.
Also today, the government began telling airlines to check updated no-fly lists within two hours of when they're issued instead of every 24 hours. Now, that change in procedure is meant to prevent what happened on Monday when Emirates Air didn't even notice that Shahzad's name had been added to the terror watch list and, of course, they let him board onboard that plane.
Meantime, in Washington, the Senate held a long-scheduled hearing on a loophole that allows suspected terrorists to buy guns legally, even if they're on the government's terror watch list. "Digging Deeper," here's Drew Griffin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The report says over the past six years, suspects on the government's terror watch list attempted to buy firearms or explosives 1,228 times. And 9 times out of 10, those potential terrorists bought them. That's right: 91 percent of the sales went through.
Fresh from a near-catastrophe in Times Square and armed with a troubling report about potential terrorists buying guns...
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: Well, good morning.
GRIFFIN: ... New York's anti-gun mayor, Michael Bloomberg, urged Congress to close a loophole.
BLOOMBERG: We have certain regulations, you can't sell -- they're federal regulations. The courts have said they're appropriate. You can't sell guns to convicted felons. You can't sell guns to people that are -- have serious psychological problems. You can't sell guns to minors.
GRIFFIN: Bloomberg was one of several lawmakers backing the terror gap bill, a bill that would give the attorney general the discretion to deny the transfer of a firearm when a background check reveals the purchaser is a known or suspected terrorist and believes the person may use the weapon in connection with terrorism.
SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: Oddly, strangely, in this case, though the Department of Justice may be informed that your name is on a terrorism watch list, they can't stop you from buying a gun. That's what we're trying to -- a gap we're trying to fill here with this legislation.
GRIFFIN: It sounds simple, except for one rather major obstacle: the constitutional right for American citizens to own guns.
Senator Lindsey Graham also pointed out the problem with the watch lists themselves, so fraught with mistakes that CNN reported two years ago, even 8-year-old boys can be listed as potential terrorists.
(on camera) Are you a terrorist?
JAMES ROBINSON, EIGHT YEARS OLD: I don't know.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: There's a disconnect here between what we're saying in reality. The watch list, when you look at the numbers, has so many problems with it that I think is not appropriate to go down the road that we're going, because a constitutional right is involved.
SUNNY HOSTIN, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": Everyone can agree, I think, that we don't want terrorists to be able to purchase guns. But the real issue is -- is how does one get on the watch list, because we know now, you know, the government has released several reports. About 35 percent of people that are on the watch list are Americans that are placed on there, based on, you know, faulty information.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bloomberg and others are trying to use Faisal Shahzad's attempted bombing in New York as momentum to push the bill through. The Times Square terror suspect bought a rifle just this March.
(on camera) And he did so legally. Faisal Shahzad had no criminal history, and CNN has now confirmed he wasn't on anybody's watch list. Backers of the bill say, even if he was on a watch list, the government report shows he would have a 90 percent chance he'd still be able to buy a gun. Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Tonight's "Big 360 Interview," Bill Maher. In a recent "Vanity Fair" article, when asked to describe his current state of mind, he answered cautiously pessimistic. Bill Maher joins me now.
Bill, so should people on the terror watch list be able to buy guns?
MAHER: Well, you know, this is America, Anderson. Everyone should be able to buy guns, as many as they want, as often as they want, to use wherever they want. That's the American way. You know the most important amendment is the Second Amendment. Everything comes after that. I'm kidding of course.
No, I'm for gun control. That would be controlling guns to a degree. It's an interesting question that sort of catches the right wing, because I mean, they're against terrorism but they're for guns.
COOPER: Well, and it's interesting. The GAO said, like, 91 percent of those on the no-fly list, you know, could pass background checks and get guns. I think it surprises a lot of folks.
MAHER: Right. I also think we should change the no-fly list to the no-getting-on-the-damn-plane list. I think they need to make that a little more clear to people.
COOPER: Be more specific? You know, the initial reaction that New York's mayor and some other politicians had, was that this was a lone wolf, a one off. Do you think they were being too politically correct?
MAHER: I don't think it matters, you know. I think what matters is there are a lot of young Muslim men in this country and overseas who are on the edge here.
I mean, this guy, like a lot of the terrorists we find out about, wasn't poor. You know, he was living this middle-class life. And then, you know, the backup plan, terrorism. His wife left him or the house was underwater or something. And then, you know, I know I'm a broken record about religion, but you know, when that stuff is in your head, it just gives you this neurological disorder, and, you know, anything is possible.
I don't think the problem is that guys like this hate America. I think the problem is that they like America, and they feel guilty about it. You know, they come here, and they like eating at Chili's. And they like the water slide. They like going to the strip club.
And then they get on their Jihadi Web sites and they feel terribly guilty about it. And they decide, well, if things go bad -- or maybe they don't decide. This guy didn't look like he had much of a plan. But it just hits them, You know, yes, visiting a painful chastisement on the infidel. Yes, that's appealing, too, or I might go home and watch "Nip/Tuck."
COOPER: It's between those two?
MAHER: Yes, it seems like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Bill Maher is just getting started. More from the interview ahead.
Also, we want to hear from you. Join the live chat right now at AC360.com. We'll talk about the oil spill with Bill in a second, also about Islam.
Later tonight, a Facebook glitch. Instant messages that you thought were private might not have been. The story ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Let's continue with more of the "Big 360 Interview" with Bill Maher.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: On your show last week, you took on Islamic radicals who made threats against the creators of "South Park." I want to show our viewers some of what you said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHER: When "South Park" got threatened last week by Islamists incensed at their depiction of Mohammad, it served, or should serve, as a reminder to all of us that our culture isn't just different than one that makes death threats to cartoonists. It's better.
Because when I make a joke about the pope, he doesn't send one of his Swiss guards in their striped pantaloons to stick a pike in my ass. When I make a Jewish joke, rabbis might kvetch about it, but they don't pull out a scimitar and threaten an adult circumcision. And when I insult Scientology, the worst that happens is that...
(SCREEN GOES BLACK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So I mean, why is Islam the one religion about which so many in America and the west censor themselves when it comes to talking about it or making fun of it? Is it just fear?
MAHER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Because they're violent. Because they threaten us, and they are threatening. They bring that desert stuff to our world. I said the same thing Friday night. You know, we don't threaten each other; we sue each other. That's the sign of civilized people. And -- and they don't. You know, yes, we do have religious nuts in this country. There was a cleric in Iran who recently said that earthquakes were caused by slutty women. Well, Pat Robertson once said that abortions caused hurricanes, I think. But the difference is Pat Robertson doesn't have the power to cut your arms off.
You know, I mean, people who want to gloss over the difference between western culture and Islamic culture and forget about the fact that the Islamic culture is 600 years younger and that they are going through the equivalent of what the west went through with our Middle Ages, our Dark Ages, when religion had way too much power and we had inquisitions and things like that, do so at their peril. You know, when they caught this guy -- yes, go ahead.
COOPER: When you hear, you know, the oft refrain from American Muslims is the vast majority of American Muslims abhor this kind of stuff. You know, they will say, look, Islam is a religion of peace. Do you buy that?
MAHER: Yes, they blow you up. There's a piece of you over there. There's a piece of you over there. There's a piece of you over there.
Is it a religion of peace? You know, I don't know. I have not read the Koran in its original. When you read the translation, there are many, many, many passages that are not peaceful at all, that are about killing the infidel and so forth.
There are many passages like that in the Bible, too. Not as many. And we don't take it seriously. That's the difference. We blow off our religions. If we took the Bible seriously, we'd look over our fence on Sunday morning, see our neighbor mowing his lawn and think, "Hmm, working on Sunday. I really should kill him." But we don't do that.
You know, there are entire schools -- you know this, Anderson. You're a globetrotter. You've been to madrassas in Pakistan and so forth. Entire schools where the kids read just one book. They're memorizing the Koran. That's all they do. You know, that's not what we do in this country.
COOPER: I want to talk a little bit about what's happening on the Gulf Coast, the oil spill. How do you think the response has been? Do you think BP is going to pay for it?
MAHER: Well, they may pay for the spill itself. They'll never pay for all the ancillary damage that goes on. So, you know, I have no idea what their response is so far. It's too early. And to me that's not even the bigger question.
The bigger question is, you know, why aren't we moving forward to get off the oil, you know, something we should have been doing in the '70s. You know that in 1984, the average fuel economy for a car was 20 miles per gallon. Twenty years later, in 2004, and think about all the technological advances that took place between '84 and 2004 -- CDs and the Internet, and you know, whatever's going on with Bruce Jenner. I mean, there's been a lot of advances.
COOPER: What is going on with Bruce Jenner? This is a question I have been wondering.
MAHER: I don't know. I should not have -- I should not have opened that can of worms.
COOPER: I think everybody has that question, but people are afraid to ask.
MAHER: 1984, average car fuel mileage efficiency, 20 miles per gallon. 2004, 20.7. We rocketed up 0.7 in 20 years. This country has not been serious about reducing our dependence on oil.
COOPER: I've got to say, I had Mike Brown from, you know, "Brownie, heck of a job," from FEMA on the program last night.
MAHER: Sure.
COOPER: And he has this theory that the Obama administration wanted this spill to spread, wanted it to spread up the East Coast, because their secret plot is to halt all offshore drilling, even though the Obama administration has now publicly supported it, and going back to 2008 in the debates, Obama was supporting some forms of offshore drilling.
MAHER: Yes. They're so desperate to make this Obama's fault. You know, as soon as it happened, we heard, "This is his Katrina," because you know, in the minds of those who don't think too far or too deeply, "OK, disaster, Louisiana, OK, that's enough. I don't have to think any further. Bush had his Katrina, Obama had" -- except that, you know, Katrina was something that he was warned about. It was a natural disaster. And they kept saying, you know, days before, the storm is coming.
No one kept saying to Obama, "Oh, the rig is going to blow in three days. It's brewing up there in the gulf."
COOPER: Bill Maher, always good to have you on. Bill, thanks.
MAHER: Pleasure, Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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