What Do Terrorists Think About Outspoken Anti-Bush Celebrities?

This is a rush transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," November 2, 2007. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated

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JOHN KASICH, GUEST HOST: In the "Impact" segment tonight, the influence of vocal anti- Bush celebrities. It's unclear how much fellow Americans listen when stars like Rosie O'Donnell and Sean Penn take shots at the president and speak out against the war in Iraq, but a new book claims the terrorists are listening and they like what they hear.

Aaron Klein traveled to the Middle East and says he interviewed some terror leaders to research his book, "Schmoozing with Terrorists". He recently spoke with O'Reilly:

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: Mr. Klein, how do you find these terrorists?

AARON KLEIN, AUTHOR, "SCHMOOZING WITH TERRORISTS": I think it's incredible that I can find them and that the United States government or that the Israeli government isn't doing anything about the fact that they're pretty accessible.

In fact, they'll talk to any reporter: Jewish, Christian, Catholic. They don't care. They're very adept at using the media. And actually, I think that they have a better public-relations apparatus then the White House and Washington.

O'REILLY: How do you find them, though? I mean, give me an example. You go after a Hezbollah terrorist, something like that. Where do you go?

KLEIN: They have cell phones. And then I've been — I've been reporting from Israel for about two years, for WorldNetDaily.com. And I've developed my relationships with these organizations. I hate to use the word "relationship", but I have, in my reporting. So they've trusted me. And through them, they've introduced me to more senior levels to the point where a lot of senior terrorists now call me on a daily basis...

O'REILLY: Is that right?

KLEIN: ... when they have stories.

O'REILLY: Can you call them? Do you have their cell phones?

KLEIN: Oh, yes. I have my cell phone.

O'REILLY: What if Mossad comes to you and says, "I want the names of these terrorists. I'm going to find them"?

KLEIN: If I know where these guys are, then trust me, Mossad knows, America knows. I would assume that they can get through to them. It's very easy.

O'REILLY: Do they really know Rosie O'Donnell, Sean Penn, Jane Fonda, Cindy Sheehan? Do these terrorists know who these people are?

KLEIN: They knew who some of them were. They knew that Sean Penn, who's gone on a solidarity mission to Iran...

O'REILLY: Yes.

KLEIN: He's called Bush and Cheney "war criminals." He has said that the war in Iraq is a disaster. And they've heard of him.

But others, like Rosie O'Donnell, they've never heard of Rosie, but I took some of her quotes. In the book, "Schmoozing with Terrorists", I talked with terrorists. And I read some of Rosie's quotes where she's called terrorists "freedom fighters" and "moms and dads" and that there's no reason to be afraid of them. And she's questioned who was really behind September 11. I read those quotes to the terrorists, and they just — they love that stuff.

O'REILLY: Of course they do.

KLEIN: Jane Fonda, Cindy Sheehan, who has actually accused the United States of going into Iraq...

O'REILLY: Well, you would assume that any terrorist in, like, the United States, is going to like anybody who says bad things about the USA. But I'm wondering what their frame of reference. Jane Fonda is famous for the Vietnam stuff and now has a little bit injected herself into Iraq. Do they know Jane Fonda?

KLEIN: They actually — they knew of Jane Fonda. They didn't know Rosie O'Donnell. They didn't know Barbra Streisand. But the one that they understand — they knew that, during the war in Vietnam, that it was American public pressure, urged on by politicians, urged on by Hollywood icons, that in part, prompted America to drop out of Vietnam. And they're trying to do the same thing now with Iraq.

And if they have to use the Hollywood icons, or at least if they're on the same team, the terrorists love that. They're actually emboldened when they hear these people go around and say that we're losing in Iraq, that we should leave, that Bush and Cheney are war criminals.

So they don't know some of the particular Hollywood icons, but they know that, overall, a lot of people in Hollywood are on their side.

O'REILLY: Even though the terrorists may like that, you can't really say they're "helping" the terrorists by exercising your freedom of dissent.

KLEIN: I'm not saying that these Hollywood icons are helping the terrorists. What I'm saying is the terrorists are emboldened when they hear that there are Hollywood icons, when they hear that there are politicians who are debating on when they become president, who would withdraw from Iraq first.

When they see Nancy Pelosi go over to Syria, which is the largest state sponsor of terror in the world, and say that "Syria is the road to peace," they do hear that stuff. They pay attention. These terrorists, they don't live in caves.

O'REILLY: Where is Usama bin Laden, did you find out?

KLEIN: That — that I don't know. Didn't find that out.

O'REILLY: Last question. How do you protect yourself from becoming a Daniel Pearl, from these guys kidnapping you and harming you?

KLEIN: Well, I was very careful. There were some feelings and some interviews where one or two in particular, I honestly — I thought that I wouldn't get out alive. But I really thought that Americans need to understand what these terrorists say, how they think, how they're emboldened by us, so that maybe we can better formulate a strategy to beat these guys.

And so I thought it was worth it, in part to risk my life so that Americans can hear and read it in this book, "Schmoozing with Terrorists", what the terrorists have to say.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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