"The Internet has drastically changed the way news reaches the public ... but our leaders have not figured that out yet. Misinformation and false analysis is instantly out there and sometimes widely accepted by people getting their information from machines. For example, Americans have turned against the war in Iraq because it is widely perceived as being a losing cause but is it really? On the Middle East, most Americans have no idea why Hezbollah even exists or who's winning the conflict. And why are we paying almost a buck more for a gallon of gas this year than last year and what exactly made that happen? That's where an effective leader comes in: not only do our elected officials have to make policy they now have to clearly explain it themselves. Long gone are the days when FDR could reach most of the nation on the radio with his fireside chats; gone are the days when Cronkite, or Huntley and Brinkley, could nightly define the world for the American public. Now if a President wants the folks to support him he must be a teacher, a persuader, he must sell his policies to a public that is often confused. That is a daunting task, but it is leadership in the Internet age."

Guest: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani

The Factor asked former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani about America and the Middle East: "Is America not doing anything in the conflict right now that it should be doing?" The mayor said: "I think America's doing what it should be doing in the conflict, which is to allow Israel to get an opportunity to do as much as it can to take away the capacity of Hezbollah and to focus on a long-term solution, rather than just a temporary one." The Factor asked mayor, "Why is the world against Israel?" Giuliani said, "I think that it's a combination of blaming a lot of their problems on America and Israel. I think it's terrible public relations that have grown up over a long period of time. I think it's sort of a fashionable liberal view to be anti-American, anti-Israel. I think it's very, very shortsighted."

The Factor turned to immigration: "When you were the mayor in New York, illegal immigration rose in this city tremendously. I'm not sure, with all due respect, you had the illegal immigration thing under control." Giuliani gave a glimpse into his unorthodox approach: "I said to myself I have 398,00 illegal immigrants in the city because the federal government is not going to do anything about this. So I had to figure out how do I deal with it so that I regularize them, so that they don't commit crimes. Well, we made sure that their children were allowed to go to school for which we were criticized. But if I didn't do that, I would end up with children on the streets. If I had just said well, illegal immigrants can't have their children in school. And we tried to make their lives reasonable." The Factor had a little fun with the Mayor near the end of the segment: "I look forward to your run for the presidency, Mr. Mayor." To which Giuliani replied, "I look forward to the Yankee pennant race." The Factor said, "Listen, I mean, if you go up against Hillary, you know what that's going to do for my ratings? So we got to get this guy in the campaign."

Guest: Journalist Dan Rather

Journalist Dan Rather addressed the skewed nature of American reporting on the Middle East: "It's a problem that those of us in journalism have been reluctant to address. I do not exclude myself from this criticism. We are reluctant to address that
Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. It's committed to the destruction of Israel. It isn't committed to trying to just gain territory. It's committed to its destruction." The Factor said the news media makes the same mistake with Iraq: "And then Iraq, for example, confusing, complicated situation that anti-Bush people slap a lose tag on. It's a loser, they say, that's it, it's a loser." Rather said, "Well, it's not necessarily in the long pull of history a loser. But, and you and I may disagree about this, the news from Iraq, any way you cut it, has not been good."

In the next segment, the Factor continued on the topic of reporting from Iraq: "Here's my problem on the Iraq reportage. I agree with you that the war has not been waged in the way it should have been. And many, many mistakes have been made. And you can put the blame wherever you want. And I think that's legitimate certainly. But the hatred, the hatred that has been brought to the discussion is way out of line. We're a noble country. We are doing a good thing in Iraq. And these people who hate Bush so much and then put that brand on us that we're the oppressors, we're the bad guys, we kill people for oil, those are disgraceful people." Rather said it worked both ways. "If you're going to talk about hatred, it goes both ways. And hatred begets hatred. I think you'll acknowledge that on the other side of this equation, what you might call the pro-Bush side of the equation is a deep and abiding hatred for people on the other side. The idea, because someone disagrees with your political point of view or your ideological point of view, that you must hate them and you must vow to destroy them, I would say is not consistent with the American character." The Factor agreed. "It isn't. And it hurts us on the war on terror because the terrorists believe we don't have the will to fight them, because we're divided."

Guest: Geraldo Rivera

Geraldo Rivera sat down to talk about the Mel Gibson controversy. Geraldo summed up coverage this way: "You know the words, 'Drunk tongue speaks a sober mind.' I think Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite. And he's got a real problem. But it's a free country. Let him be an anti-Semite. If you want to go to his movies, you go to his movies. But I'm sure that they'll come a time where he'll make a movie that I want to see again." The Factor agreed, to a point: "Here's the deal. Everybody can make up their own mind, as you said. And I agree with you 100%, how you're going to look at Mel Gibson. Not my job to tell you. Nobody can make an excuse for what he did. It's inexcusable, OK? That point is on the record. But there comes a point where the media and individual Americans start to enjoy the suffering of rich and powerful people. They wallow in it. They can't get enough of it. They've got blood all over their mouth, these vampires, OK? They're in the media, these people. This is what they live for."

Guest: Attorney Neal Puckett

Marine Sergeant Frank Wuterich, who remains under investigation in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians, has filed a federal lawsuit against Rep. Jack Murtha, accusing him of defamation. Wuterich's attorney Neil Puckett explained the suit: "Congressman Murtha saying what he said cast a pall over the entire squad, cast them in a light of guilt first, a presumption of guilt. That's just not fair, and the congressman knows better. So to the extent that criminal charges ultimately are filed on any of these Marines, they need to walk into courtrooms cloaked with the presumption of innocence. And Congressman Murtha has deprived them of that basic American right." The Factor worried about the strength of Puckett's suit: "Murtha is going to say he was referring to the report that he somehow got a hold of, the military report that this happened. Not Murtha himself saying it. But he says, "Look, I was quoting from the report." That sounds like a pretty strong defense to me."

Lots of mail on Condi Rice:

Kenny Higgins, Las Vegas, NV: "O'Reilly, the way you bullied Dr. Rice was nothing but showboat and rude."

William Morgan, San Francisco, CA: "Bill, your interview with Dr. Rice was concise and respectful."

Ann Cancellieri, Austin, TX: "Secretary Rice danced around your questions, Bill, and you just sat there like a wallflower and accepted it."

Chris Walters, Colorado Springs, CO: "I found your questions for Dr. Rice direct and unbiased. Thanks for asking the tough ones, Bill."

Barb Gadeken, Grand Junction, CO: "Bill, your approach to Secretary Rice should have been one of humble respect. It was not."

Mike O'Loughlin, Maple Lake, MN: "Mr. O, informative and respectful interview. No wonder the Factor's ratings are so high."