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CNN Newsroom
Wall Street Turnaround?; Michael Steele Under Fire Again
Aired March 13, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Is Mexico's president blaming the United States for his problem? We're inside Mexico.
And looky there. The market's up again.
Take it, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
R. SANCHEZ (voice-over): Could the market end positive four days in a row? But Obama naysayers were screaming doomsday up until last week. What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to wrestle with me here?
SANCHEZ: Hulk Hogan in a verbal smackdown in court with his wife's lawyer.
Busted, Howard Stern, for allegedly feeding Anna Nicole's drug addiction. But wasn't she responsible for her own actions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got in between him and the shark and just really did my best to let it pass.
SANCHEZ: He says he killed this shark in hand-to-hand combat under water with just a spear, a knife, a mask, and a snorkel. We're checking out the story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were two -- two people in the car. And they were just mutilated.
SANCHEZ: And video from inside the Mexican drug mess, never- before-seen. We will put it to the Mexican ambassador.
It's Friday, and your national conversation begins right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez here from the world headquarters of CNN in Atlanta.
And guess what? There is a possibility -- yes, take a look at that number. I'm looking at it with you right now right there at the bottom of your right -- bottom corner of your right screen. There's a possibility that the Dow could finish up today.
That would be the fourth day in a row, consecutively. This is about your money. It's about our troubled economy. So, let's get right to it with Nariman Behravesh. He's the chief economist for Global Insight.
I guess the question is, why is it going up, and what does it really mean? Let's start with the why question first. Why is it going up, four straight days, if we finish this way?
NARIMAN BEHRAVESH, CHIEF ECONOMIST, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT: I think investors are beginning to sense that we may be close to a bottom, that the worst may be behind us.
Maybe -- I shouldn't say sense, but hope anyway. So, I think there is that sort of expectation that we're very close. And a lot of the bad news that they thought might happen hasn't happened. So, there's a double negative, if you will. But, even today, as you know, markets are up, they're down, they're up. So, we're...
(CROSSTALK)
SNOW: Yes, it's not up and down and up and down. In the last four days, it's been -- you know, it's been kind of fun to watch.
BEHRAVESH: Yes.
SANCHEZ: I mean, look, what do we take from this, four days of ups? Happy days are here again? Somehow, I don't think so, right?
BEHRAVESH: No, I don't think so either. But I think the market was way oversold.
A lot of companies are getting clobbered that have great value. So, I think the market got a little carried away with the -- with the depressive behavior. Then it got into this manic behavior. So, the truth is somewhere in between.
SANCHEZ: So, it's not as bad as we were told they were and it may not be as good as we may come out of these four consecutive up days either, right?
BEHRAVESH: You got it.
SANCHEZ: That makes sense.
Thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
Well, it's the announcement that many of you have been waiting for. Why did Anna Nicole Smith really die, and who is responsible? We know about the drug overdose, as described by coroners. But where did she get the drugs?
Here is California Attorney General Jerry Brown. This was just about an hour ago. We want you to hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY BROWN (D), CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: What we have in this case is a conspiracy among three individuals. Howard K. Stern is the principal enabler. Dr. Eroshevich and Dr. Kapoor are prescribing drugs excessively to a known addict and using false and fictitious names, all in violation of the law, and all in furtherance of a conspiracy that violates the penal code of California.
This was done knowingly, and it's done with tragic consequences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, this Anna Nicole Smith story is fascinating. Here is who Jerry Brown is talking about. First, right there on the left, right, that's Howard K. Stern, Smith's legal counsel and boyfriend. Now let's go to the other side.
On the right, that's Sandeep Kapoor. He's one of two doctors who is also accused of overprescribing the medication.
The other doctor, by the way, Khristine Eroshevich, reportedly will turn herself in. We're told this is going to happen sometime Monday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Could it be that the market will in fact finish in positive territory for four straight days? Don't know the answer to that question. We're going to have to wait another 53 minutes, as I look at that clock over there, to find out.
Last week, when the market was tanking, the president was being called communist and/or socialist. You heard it many times, so much so that a survey by TVEyes.com found that, in just one day, the president's programs were referred as either socialist, communist or Marxist 40 times.
Here's the breakdown: CNN twice, Headline News, twice, MSNBC, six times, FOX News -- no surprise there -- 24 times. Since that study Tuesday, the market has taken a surprising bounce. We were just talking about it moments ago.
And Patricia Murphy joins us now from CitizenJanePolitics.com .
Hey, Murph.
PATRICIA MURPHY, EDITOR, CITIZENJANEPOLITICS.COM: Hey.
SANCHEZ: Is the president no longer -- with a smile on my face -- a socialist, or at least not in the last four days?
MURPHY: Well, there's an old saying that Americans are capitalists on the way up and socialists on the way down. Maybe that's a new thing, actually, but we're on the way back up. It looks like he has shed his socialist credentials at least for four days, yes.
SANCHEZ: I want to talk to you about something that is going on in the Republican Party that's awfully strange.
Michael Steele apparently has done it again. He's angered his party's right wing, sounding more like a moderate Democrat than what he is, a leader of the Republican Party. In fact, as we look at this, we can't help but wonder if in fact he's done something a little strange.
Here we go. These are some of Michael Steele's latest hits. On abortion, this is from his interview with "GQ" magazine. I'm sure you have seen this. "GQ," asks, "Are you saying you think women have the right to choose abortion?"
Steele: "Yes. I mean, again, I think that's an individual choice."
"GQ": You do?
Steele: "Yes, absolutely."
Hey, Murph, is it not almost Republican orthodoxy that life starts at conception? How can a chairman seem to be so out of line with the orthodox ideology of the party?
MURPHY: Right.
Well, Republicans about 10 years ago actually had a conservative wing and a moderate wing. There were a number of pro-choice Republicans. That wing of the party is essentially gone now. They're really down to their base.
And what Michael Steele was talking about in that "GQ" interview, even the fact that he's talking to "GQ" is a little bizarre for a Republican to be doing, and that was a stance -- he came in and clarified it and said he himself is pro-life. He was espousing a view. He was kind of talking about his mom's choice to adopt him.
But, at any rate, this is something that has run totally afoul of the Republican base of the party. One Republican came out and said yesterday that Steele needs to reread the Bible.
SANCHEZ: You know, it's not -- if it were just one comment, who -- you make them, I make them, and wish we had said it differently, right?
But here's another strange take, considering it's a Republican speaking here.
On the question of homosexuality, Steele: "You just can't simply say, oh, like, tomorrow morning, I'm going to stop being gay. It's like saying, tomorrow, I'm going to stop being black."
Now, most conservatives tend to think that homosexuality is a choice. But let me put the question this way. Steele obviously wants to change the way the GOP does business and how it's perceived. How is that working?
MURPHY: Yes.
Well, clearly, it's not working for him very well right now. But he won that election, that Republican chairman election, fair and square. It was on the sixth ballot, but that showed how divisive or how divided this party is right now.
And he, when he comes out and makes these gaffes, in politics, a gaffe is really -- they say a gaffe is just speaking your mind. And I think this is him being very honest. I think it is very appealing, actually, to independents who are reading that interview.
But the independents right now aren't with Republicans. It's the base that he is really offending at this point. And so when he comes out and makes these gaffes, it just gives him another day to have to explain himself.
The real test for him, though, is going to be, can he raise money for Republicans and can he recruit candidates? I don't think he's really going to be in any real trouble until we get the answers to those questions.
SANCHEZ: Well, that's an interesting point, considering what may actually be going on inside of the party.
Parts of this interview, charitably put, really also, well, they don't make sense, whether you're on the left or right, or no matter how you're looking at this thing.
Steele contradicts himself on several occasions, as he does here. I think we have a good example of this. You ready?
"President Obama were to say -- if President Obama were to say, come over to the Oval Office, since I'm trying to be so bipartisan," that's the question.
Steele says, "Oh, I would do that in a heartbeat," referring to going over and talking to Obama.
"GQ" asks, "And what would you say to him?"
Steele says he would say, "Let's work together," he would say to the president.
But then, in the interview, something -- another part of it goes like this. He's asked: "Do you think bipartisanship can work?"
Steele: "No, it doesn't work. This is a zero-sum. Your winning is my losing. My winning is your losing."
You have to wonder, as you look at this, which Steele is the DNC chairman -- I mean RNC chairman here?
MURPHY: Yes, I don't know.
I read that many times. I don't know what he was trying to say at the end of the day. And this gets to another problem that the Republicans have right now. Steele really is, in spite of these interviews, still the best spokesperson they have out there right now. There's no other high-profile face of the party. There's nobody else out there giving quotes that people are paying attention to, other than Rush Limbaugh.
So, they have to get the attention back on their issues. But, again, they have to get back to the nuts and bolts of winning back the majority of the electorate. They have got to raise money. They have got to recruit candidates. And they have to grow their tent.
He said in that interview they have got to reach out to minorities. They have got to reach out to independents. The base of the party doesn't necessarily agree with that in terms of reaching out to independents. But that's what he says he wants to do. He's getting a lot of pushback in trying to do it. And that's why we're seeing kind of all of these back and forth from the Republicans every time Mr. Steele seems to open his mouth.
SANCHEZ: And, of course, some of the lefties are having a good time with this. Folks on the...
MURPHY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... in the Democratic Party are sitting there, going, you see? You can't get your act together, like, for example, let me show you somebody who's replying right now.
They're on Twitter. They're watching this newscast. They obviously skew to the left.
And they're saying, "Michael Steele is too smart to be a Republican."
Interesting comment. We thank you for that.
And, Murph, we thank you as well.
MURPHY: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Unbelievable pictures of a man who says that he went mano a mano with a dangerous man-eater. But we had our doubts after hearing his story and looking at some of these pictures. So, I have asked the country's foremost shark expert to check this one out for us. Why? Because it's what we do. We check things out.
Also, Ashleigh Banfield on those new developments in the Anna Nicole Smith death investigation. Why is her ex-lawyer/lover now under arrest? And is that fair? Did he make her take the drugs?
Ashleigh, stay there.
We're coming back with a lot more and that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It's almost like we're racing to a finish here, isn't it? Forty-four minutes left before the market closes, and there's a possibility that, on Wall Street, we could finish now, what, four days in a row in positive territory.
We're going to be all over this story. What's it now? Forty- seven, up 47. We will be checking on this throughout the hour and taking you right down to the wire. Again, the market closes the week out in 43 minutes. And we're going to be all over it.
By the way, there are comments coming in on right now on the story that we're about to be doing. I want to go over here to MySpace real quick, Robert, if we can.
"Well, I wonder how clearly a doped-up person can rationalize when someone like a doctor or a lover hands pills for you to take?"
Here's the news. Anna Nicole Smith's attorney and two doctors are now being charged in an alleged pharmaceutical conspiracy involving the late 39-year-old actress.
I want you to listen to what Larry Birkhead, the father of Smith's daughter, had to say on the stand two weeks ago (sic) -- this is after her death -- about her attorney and boy friend, Howard K. Stern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FEBRUARY 22, 2007)
LARRY BIRKHEAD, EX-BOYFRIEND OF ANNA NICOLE SMITH: We had a couple clashes in the hospital room because she and Mr. Stern brought in a duffel bag. And when there wasn't enough administered through the drips that she was on, they were taken out of the bag and taken, on top of the drugs that they were given at the hospital, and thwarting the efforts by the hospital to get her off the medications.
At times, I took her medicine, and I was told by Mr. Stern to give it back to her because she needed it to live. And, in addition to that, I just told her over and over, I said: "Don't. Something's going to happen to you. Something's going to happen."
And I...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a breath. It's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Ashleigh Banfield joining us now.
I should clear that up. It was two weeks after she died, as you could see there on that banner, when he made that statement.
Ashleigh's the host of "In Session" TV.
Ash, what, if anything, did the boyfriend and the two doctors who we heard talked about by Jerry Brown today, essentially accused, what did they do wrong?
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, TRUTV ANCHOR: Well, it's kind of simple. And it's sort of what Mr. prophetic Larry Birkhead was saying on the stand.
They -- they're being accused at this point of furnishing excessive amounts of drugs to someone that they knew was an addict. It's kind of as simple as that, even though they're facing different counts among a whole series of 11.
SANCHEZ: But I have got to stop you there, because I think the average person looks at this, and there may be some extenuating circumstances here. But the average person looks at this, Ash, and says, how can you make someone do drugs?
If you're an addict, if you're an alcoholic and you really want to find a fix or whatever it is you do, if you don't find it from your boyfriend or one doctor, you are going to find it from another. So, isn't she ultimately more responsible for what happened to her, God bless her, as we say in the South, than they are?
BANFIELD: You make an excellent point. You should be a lawyer.
Here's the deal. They're not being charged with negligent homicide. The manner of death was never switched from accidental overdose. They in fact have nothing to do at this point with her death.
The fact that she died shone a light on the problem and probably kick-started this investigation. All they're involved in right now is the accusations that they did something wrong getting drugs -- popping them into her mouth, not a part of this at all.
SANCHEZ: How is -- the two cases are different. But some people can make a real argument that the doctors, they should know better. They take a Hippocratic oath. They should know what's going on.
The boyfriend, he's a boyfriend. How are the cases going to be made? How are they going to differentiate, the case against the boyfriend vis-a-vis the case against these doctors?
BANFIELD: Well, they're being charged very similarly. In terms of the criminality, there's not a whole lot of difference between the doctors and smart lawyer.
Again, this guy is not an idiot. He is a lawyer, but he is not a doctor. And that may actually afford him some kind of a defense. He could stand up in court and say, look, I was relying on the advice of medical professionals. How can you hold me accountable?
And it may -- if there's a conviction in a case, it may end up mitigating a sentence, whereby those doctors, they can't bring up that kind of a defense, and nor can they chip away any years off a sentence...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So, I'm right, then. It's going to be tougher to make a case against him, for the DAs to make a case against him, the boyfriend, than it is against the two doctors. BANFIELD: Not necessarily.
SANCHEZ: After all, he can say: What am I? What am I? You're accusing me of being weak, of not wanting to give something to the person I love who asked me for it?
BANFIELD: No, making the case is actually not that tough, because there's an enormous paper trail.
You have probably heard about doctor-shopping. Remember Rush Limbaugh and the shopping, when he was going around getting all that Oxycodone or OxyContin.
This was a case of pharmacy-shopping. They would go to the pharmacy, allegedly, and the pharmacy would say, this doesn't smell right, we're not a part of this. So, then they would go to another pharmacy. And there's a real paper trail here.
So, building a case against Stern and the doctors maybe not as tough. Building a defense is a little easier perhaps for Stern. But, again, with all the paperwork here, it's not going to be that difficult.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Here's an interesting comment that's being made, or, actually, I'm going to turn this into a question for you. It's coming in on MySpace. Listen to this, Ashleigh Banfield: "Maybe the doctors advised Anna about the pills, but she wanted it bad and paid them. It's the lure of money, I guess," life and money, they go on to say.
Might there be something to that? Could prosecutors be also looking at the possibility that she may have given them a reason to do what many doctors wouldn't do?
BANFIELD: Well, here's the reality.
The truth is out there, a lot of doctors are sort of razzle- dazzled by celebrity, and they don't turn -- well, some really don't turn away the celebrities.
And then there's also this. Not every doctor who's involved in something like this knows that there are other doctors down the line who are also prescribing this celebrity. So, individually, these two doctors have to know that their own action was excessive. They don't necessarily have to know what the other guy is doing.
As far as the conspiracy goes, Rick, that doesn't mean all three of them were in the loop. It means there was one spoke that knew about one of them and another of them. They don't all three have to know what about each other is doing.
SANCHEZ: Fascinating case and obviously a fascinating conversation. A lot of people -- we learn about ourselves and our society sometimes looking at these celebrity cases that wouldn't be covered if they weren't. (CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes?
BANFIELD: And guess what? There was another death here. Remember Daniel died from methadone?
SANCHEZ: The son.
BANFIELD: That was unprescribed methadone. That means that somewhere, some illegal, ill-gotten pills, perhaps, killed that boy. It's a bit of a stretch to get there. But Doctor Cyril Wecht thinks it's something that could be looked into.
SANCHEZ: It will be the next story we may be doing on this thing.
BANFIELD: Maybe.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much.
BANFIELD: OK.
SANCHEZ: Well, the shoe dropped today, and we're glad Ash was here to take us through it. We appreciate it.
Up next, a reporter gets gut-wrenchingly close to the front lines of Mexico's war on drugs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The doctor had been shot by two guys with assault rifles who stormed his office and gunned him down.
Is this just normal? You just...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's (INAUDIBLE) daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The daughter?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is unbelievable video that we're going to be taking you through. You have never seen this before. We have gotten it from Laura Ling. She -- it's Lisa Ling's sister, by the way. She's going to be sharing her documentary with us. She's going to join us live and let you see more of those pictures.
Also, you see the tiger shark in this video? You see it right there? This has been getting an awful lot of play in the headlines, you know, the old shark vs. man. The shark is the man-eater. The man is the hero. Well, I'm going to talk to the country's foremost shark expert, who says these things are like swimming Buddhas. He's got some doubts about this shark tale that you have been hearing about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Are we going to be finishing it up territory -- let me start again -- are we going to be finishing in up territory today on the Dow?
Look at it now. It's up 62. We will be counting it down. We have got 33 minutes left. And we will be taking you right to it toward the end of the hour.
I want to show you some other video right now. This is a shark- vs.-man-story. And I want you to see the pictures. Everybody's been talking about this or has already seen it, most likely the latter. The shark is being killed by a spear fisherman. You see him right there?
Three men, two were photographers who shot this video -- the video's remarkable. And, in large measure, these guys are being hailed as heroes by the general media. But did these guys really act in self-defense, or was it an act of self-promotion?
Now, here's what they said, or at least one of them, the spear fisherman, said this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")
CRAIG CLASEN, SPEAR FISHERMAN: ... emphasize that any more. I mean we swim with sharks constantly, you know? They're always there. You know? Sometimes hundreds of them in a given dive. Sometimes, you know, 10, over 10 feet, you know, just to give you an idea. And, you know, we really wanted to have a different outcome here, but, unfortunately, that wasn't possible and I had to pull the trigger and take action so that we could all get out of the water OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Sounds like a hell of a story. And most people are looking at this and saying, wow, those guys are incredible.
In fact, here's the response we're getting right now on Twitter. Take the last one there, if you can, Robert.
Iwant2bheard says: "Hey, Rick, I saw that story on '.A.C. 360.' Crazy. It was either him or the tiger shark. Brave man."
Really?
I want to introduce you to somebody. This is somebody who knows sharks as well as anybody in the country. He's probably the guy who -- some people call him shark man. He's the renowned authority in the United States on sharks. That's Dr. Sam Gruber you're looking at. He's a shark biologist at the University of Miami, the Rosenstiel School of Marine Biology there off the causeway, beautiful building, beautiful place. And I want you to look at this video with us, if you would, Doctor, and say whether these guys are truly heroes who did what they had to do to save their own lives or whether there's something fishy about this tale.
All right, let's start with the picture of the animal as it apparently is coming toward them, described by them as threatening. Roll that, Rog.
All right, go ahead, Doctor. You saw the animal kind of going toward them. Was that animal about to attack them?
SAMUEL GRUBER, SHARK BIOLOGIST: Look, I can't -- I wasn't there at the time.
But I have been in the water with dozens of these same animals. And, indeed, I do call them the Buddhas of the ocean. They're very calm. And, as you can see, this animal is not what we would call squirrelly. It looks to me like it's curious. I can see a lot of bait in the water. I can see a lot of pieces of fish.
And I know that these fellows, although they have a tremendous reputation -- and I admire them greatly, because this is -- this is one of those ultimate sports -- I -- I think they really have done their sport a disservice by hyping this story.
And, of course, they have done sharks an even worse disservice.
Our problem today is that sharks are facing extinction all over the world...
SANCHEZ: But, wait. Let's go back to their story if we can, doctor.
GRUBER: You've got two guys -- three guys, actually...
GRUBER: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ...who are there under water. And they're saying, look, we were down there. We were spear fishing. We didn't want to kill this shark. But we were forced to kill this animal.
What makes you believe that their story is either, A, untrue; or, B, exaggerated after studying this tape?
And apparently it's been out there for like a month, right?
GRUBER: Well, this -- this story is just about a year old. It first appeared in a magazine a year ago. And the tapes have been around. And in our very narrow shark community, we've all been pretty outraged by the implication that this shark was about to attack them.
But, you know...
SANCHEZ: Well, teach us to see it through your eyes, because the rest of us who are neophytes at this kind of thing -- most Americans haven't been underwater with a shark, most people haven't. We look at it and we say the guy did what he had to do. There was a huge animal. That animal is a killer. It's going to eat him. Whatever it is that people think when they see sharks. And you can't blame the guy for doing what he did.
Why would we be wrong to assume that?
GRUBER: Well, there's a couple of things that bother me about this story. I can give them points on having a 10 foot tiger shark come up to them in the midst of a bloody area where they've been spearing and them thinking, well, perhaps this shark is going to bite me, even though it's very calm. You can see from the video that it's very calm. And it doesn't seem to be aggressive. But I wasn't there.
But what really disturbs me is that there were a number of options that they could have taken. They could have poked that shark. You can't tell me they couldn't get into the boat because they're in the open ocean. It's not like a bull in a bull ring where you have to face it and kill it. This is a shark in the open ocean. And it certainly wasn't menacing, as far as I'm concerned. I've seen them that close.
SANCHEZ: So you're saying they went down after apparently taking the shark away from themselves and then they shot more video of an almost dead animal for almost an hour and that they really used this as an opportunity to publicize the story?
That's what you're saying?
GRUBER: Well, in post -- ex post facto, that's what it appears, because they -- if they were truly worried about the humanity and trying to be humane, why would they torture this shark for two hours by spearing it and stabbing it in the head and then cut the tail and the jaws out and have big smiles?
It didn't look very remorseful. Although, as I say, these are tremendous people and they have a wonderful reputation. I think they got seduced by the media and...
SANCHEZ: Doc...
GRUBER: Yes?
SANCHEZ: Dr. Gruber, out of time.
Thanks for taking us through that.
Interesting perspective on a story that a lot of folks are talking about. And we appreciate that contrarian researched view.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WFLA)
RAYMOND RAFOOL, LAWYER:
(INAUDIBLE).
Are you going to wrestle with me here?
Are you going to come across the cameras?
Then be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. You had your time to talk. You're done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A lawyer squares off with Hulk Hogan.
Is that grandstanding or just really stupid?
You're going to see it for yourself.
Imagine a place so accustomed to violence that shoppers don't even stop checking out their groceries despite a murder that just happened -- we're going to be taking you inside Mexico to show you pictures you likely have never seen before. It's Laura Ling inside Mexico. It's our attempt to separate, again, on this story, fact from hype. There she is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
Checking on the market once again, it's still up. And we've only got about another 25 minutes left. We'll be taking you all the way to the countdown. All right.
You ready?
OK. Now this. Stop what you're doing right now, because I want you to look at this video. Everybody's been talking about what's going on south of the border, but I want you to be able to see it for yourself. This is a report from Current TV. Laura Ling is the correspondent.
What you're about to see is something horrible that's just happened. This is daily life in Mexico with the situation with the drug cartels.
Watch it now for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY CURRENT TV)
LAURA LING, CURRENT TV: (INAUDIBLE), come here.
Do you see the shell casings right here?
Right here you can see the bullet -- bullet casings right here. They're all over. Let's go around this way. Hurry up before they -- before they close the lane.
Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my god. Oh, my God. Oh.
(VIDEO CLIP) LING: Did you see that?
(VIDEO CLIP)
LING: Oh, my God.
Whoa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And Laura Ling is good enough to join us now.
What were we just seeing there?
LING: Hi, Rick.
Well, that was the second homicide that I had visited in just a matter of a couple of hours. Two guys were gunned down in the parking lot of a supermarket. There were dozens of rounds fired. And just after this -- this scene, there were people in the supermarket continuing to do their shopping.
SANCHEZ: Almost as if, you know, that's just the way it is right now. Life goes on. You've got to still get that -- that sack of potatoes.
LING: It's become a normal part of life, which is very unfortunate for Mexico and for society in general.
SANCHEZ: I want the folks at home to take a look at another one now. This one is really ground zero, as you call it, of the drug war. It lets you see, as well, just how many people are dying -- and so young -- in Mexico right now.
Let's take a look at that, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY CURRENT TV)
LING: When you think of cemeteries, you think of people dying of old age. At this cemetery -- there's one thing that most of these people have in common. They're men and they're young.
If you look at the years that they were born, this guy, 1983. This guy, 1981. Over here is 1980. The guy still has braces. You know, it doesn't seem to stop. You can see all of these graves just ready for another killing, these men behind me building mausoleums.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It almost seems -- you know, I've got to give you your props here, Laura, because you're there. You've been there for several months. You've been looking at what's actually going on in the country, unlike many members of the media who have covered this story in a very superficial way.
So let me ask you, what is your take on the situation in Mexico right now, given the terms that have been used to describe it like a failed state, country out of control, a huge war, a place where we don't want to ever to -- ever visit anymore?
LING: Sure, Rick. Well, I -- I am a frequent visitor to Mexico coming from California. I love to vacation there. And -- you know, but the numbers -- you can't ignore the numbers. There were 6,000 people murdered in 2008, over 1,000 people in the first two months of this year -- gruesome, gruesome murders -- beheadings, mass executions.
This is -- you know, an incredibly (INAUDIBLE) issue. These drug cartels have money and they have the weapons. They are fully armed. Ninety percent of these weapons come from the United States. It's an -- it's a very serious situation.
At the same time, let's not forget, Mexico has a huge economy -- the eleventh largest in the world. They are one of the largest suppliers of oil to the U.S. a huge trading partner. They have many other industries besides the drug industry that contributes to its economy.
So -- and, you know, a lot of this violence is targeted. It's in cities where these cartels are warring for control of the drug trade. So I do think that you have to keep the larger -- you know, keep a larger perspective on the issue.
SANCHEZ: We thank you for sharing that with us. And we especially thank you for hooking up and sharing that video with us -- which I think most people find interesting, if nothing else -- if not shocking, in fact. Laura Ling, thanks so much for being with us.
LING: Thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WFLA)
RAFOOL: You know what, you're an actor. You're acting now.
If you had morals, why did you set up all these companies to try to ditch it?
What's immoral about that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Do you really want to get in Hulk Hogan's face like that?
I mean do you really want to do that?
We're going to let this one play out for your viewing pleasure.
And again, we're focusing on the problems and issues in Mexico and trying to separate truth from fiction or hype. Now Mexico's president is blaming the United States for some of the problems that they're having. You're going to hear how he says it, in his own words.
And then, the Mexican ambassador joins us live. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY WFLA)
RAFOOL: Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey. Listen to me, Mr. Bollea.
(CROSSTALK)
RAFOOL: Mr. Bollea?
Mr. Bollea?
Mr. Bollea, are you going to wrestle with me here?
(CROSSTALK)
RAFOOL: Are you going to come across the cameras?
Then be quiet.
NICK BOLLEA: I'll sue you.
RAFOOL: Be quiet. Be quiet. Be quiet. You had your time to talk. You're done. You're done.
BOLLEA: It's a free world...
RAFOOL: No, it's not a free world. There's calling professionalism. There's calling ethics.
BOLLEA: What about moral (INAUDIBLE)?
RAFOOL: OK. You know what, you're an actor. You're acting now.
If you had morals, why did you set up all these companies to try to ditch it?
(CROSSTALK)
RAFOOL: What's immoral about that?
BOLLEA: What about the (INAUDIBLE)?
RAFOOL: Let me tell you something. You are the person that has caused this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's an amazing piece of video. You see it right there. That's Hulk Hogan. That's the attorney for his wife. This case has been going since 2007. Obviously, he was on crutches. Many people are wondering why. He says it's because he's got a back problem that he's now dealing with.
There's another story we've been following for you all week long -- we're not going to drop it -- trying to separate the truth from fiction in mix Mexico. Let me show you who's standing by to talk to us now. We've been waiting all week to talk to him. This is the ambassador from Mexico, Arturo Sarukhan. He's going to be joining us live to answer some of your tough questions about the situation in Mexico and who's really at fault -- his government, with all its signs of corruption, or the United States, for not doing anything on the border.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Arturo Sarukhan is the Mexican ambassador and he's good enough to join us now to take us through this story.
Mr. Ambassador, thank you, sir, for taking time to talk to us.
ARTURO SARUKHAN, MEXICAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: It's a pleasure, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Let me take you through a couple of things.
First of all, this from the Pentagon. They say, in fact, that Mexico and Pakistan are both at risk for total collapse. A former CIA chief is saying now that Mexico and Iran -- Mexico and Iran are the biggest threats to the U.S. security. Those are two statements that have made a lot of news in the United States over the last couple of weeks.
What's your reaction to them?
SARUKHAN: Well, first of all, Rick, that is not the official policy of the Pentagon. The Pentagon itself has said that this was a study by the Joint Command Forces based in Norfolk, Virginia and it does not represent the position of the Department of Defense.
What I would say, obviously, is that there is a unique challenge taking place along our common border; that, as most things in life, you need two to tango and Mexico and the United States need to work together to shut...
SANCHEZ: Yes, but the question...
SARUKHAN: ...to shut -- to shut down that violence.
SANCHEZ: But let me ask you the question again directly. And I want you to tackle it directly.
SARUKHAN: Yes?
SANCHEZ: Is Mexico, at this time, either, A, a threat to U.S. security, or, B, a risk for total collapse?
SARUKHAN: Certainly not. I think that Mexico has very solid institutions. We're the twelfth largest economy in the world.
We're the second buyer of U.S. products. There is a dynamic civil society, a business sector. Any characterization of Mexico as a failing or failed state is gobbledygook.
SANCHEZ: Should U.S. tourists be warned from visiting Mexico, as has been alluded to in the media here in the last couple of weeks?
SARUKHAN: I think U.S. tourists should be aware that there are certain areas of the country that are facing a unique challenge as we seek to shut these traffickers down. But if you look at some of the main resorts in Mexico, if you look at tourism from the world going into Mexico, you're going to see that the situation is -- is safe and is in control.
SANCHEZ: We recognize that there are things in the United States that maybe we can do to better the situation. For example, we've noted this week that the United States sends 95 percent of the weapons that are used by some of those drug dealers, at least in one report; that the consumption of the drugs takes place here in the United States.
But we also can't help but recognize that there's a huge corruption problem in your government that oftentimes gets in the way of really fighting this problem.
Which is the bigger problem of the two, if you could categorize one of the two?
SARUKHAN: Well, I think it's very difficult to categorize, Rick. I certainly think that finger-pointing won't help. I think there is a -- this is one pig you can't put lipstick on. There is a challenge as Mexico seeks to shut down the corrupting power of the drug syndicates that have been operating for many, many years, if not decades, in Mexico.
But we also have to be -- we have to understand that these drug syndicates have that power because they're getting their weapons and bulk cash from the United States, which allows it to roll back the police and to corrupt the police.
SANCHEZ: But what about your corrupt government officials that have continued to remain this way for years and years?
When is that going to stop, Mr. Ambassador?
SARUKHAN: Well, if you look at the -- the policy that President Calderon has implemented since he assumed office two years ago, Rick, you will see that he is cleaning house, that there has been a profound investigation into corrupt officers who are now indicted and in jail. And this will continue.
SANCHEZ: We thank you, sir, for taking the tough questions that you know a lot of Americans are thinking about and for taking the time to join us here.
SARUKHAN: It's a pleasure, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Mr. Ambassador, we appreciate it, sir.
SARUKHAN: Thank you. SANCHEZ: The finance guy and the comedian -- it's the feud that just kept on giving this week -- Cramer versus Stewart. It culminated last night.
Have you seen it?
This is one smackdown, like a wrestling match. Well, you'll see it. Describe it for yourself.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART," COURTESY COMEDY CENTRAL)
JON STEWART, HOST: Educate yourselves.
(LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MARCH 11, 2008, COURTESY CNBC)
JIM CRAMER, HOST, "MAD MONEY": Bear Stearns is fine. Bear Stearns is not in trouble.
(ON SCREEN)
Bear Stearns went under six days later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
J. STEWART: We haven't heard a thing from CNBC. Although Jim Cramer did write an article for MainStreet.com complaining that we had unfairly used a video clip out of context to make it look like he recommended buying Bear Stearns stock a week before it collapsed.
Well, we went back to the tape to listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MARCH 11,2008, COURTESY CNBC)
CRAMER: Should I be worried about Bear Stearns in terms of liquidity and get my money out of there?
No, no, no. Bear Stearns is fine. Do not take your money out. This is a one -- if there's one takeaway (INAUDIBLE) plus 400 or something. Bear Stearns is not in trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
J. STEWART: Actually, it's true. He wasn't saying to buy Bear Stearns. He was simply saying that if Bear was your broker or that your money was at Bear, Your money would not disappear. He was not addressing the value of holding Bear's stock.
So, Jim Cramer, I apologize. That was out of context. Technically, you are correct. You weren't suggesting to buy Bear Stearns.
That was something that you did five days earlier in your buy or sell segment.
Now, Mr. Cramer took exception to our characterization of CNBC and while not defending the network, did feel that he himself had been unfairly maligned. So last night, I, of course, made my counter argument.
(EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) you!
(LAUGHTER)
So I think to myself, controversy over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM MARCH 10, 2008, COURTESY NBC)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jon Stewart and you are having a little war on words.
CRAMER: Oh, a comedian.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me just...
CRAMER: A comedian is attacking me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, he's...
CRAMER: Wow!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's "The Daily Show" and he...
CRAMER: He runs a variety show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
J. STEWART: You make it sound like I'm some kind of buffoon just flopping my arms with crazy buttons and whacky sound effects.
(VIDEO CLIP FROM "MAD MONEY," COURTESY CNBC)
(APPLAUSE)
J. STEWART: Exactly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY CNBC)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE MARTHA STEWART SHOW," COURTESY MARTHA STEWART LIVING OMNIMEDIA)
MARTHA STEWART, HOST: Make believe this is Jon Stewart.
(BANGING DOUGH WITH ROLLING PINS)
M. STEWART: Well, it's cold. Now the pastry gets cold. Hey, you do that very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
J. STEWART: Mr. Cramer, don't you destroy enough dough on your own show?
(LAUGHTER)
J. STEWART: I can't reconcile the brilliance of knowledge that you have of the intricacies of the market with the crazy (EXPLETIVE LANGUAGE) I see you do every night.
That's English.
CRAMER: How about if I try it?
STEWART: That's treating people like -- like adults.
CRAMER: How about if I try it?
STEWART: Try what?
CRAMER: Try doing that. I'll do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Speaking of the market, it's next -- and it may finish up for a fourth day in a row.
Hang tight, everybody.
We're down to the wire.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It may look like a circus big top, but this is the heart of a new green school. It's made almost entirely from bamboo and its founders, John and Cynthia Hardy, hope it will be on the cutting edge of environmental education.
JOHN HARDY, FOUNDER, GREENS SCHOOL: The idea of Green School was three years ago. It came as a flash.
RIVERS: There is a heavy emphasis on engaging with the environment. People grow their own vegetables and eat what they harvest. The classrooms look more like boats, with 80 percent of the students international, from 17 countries. The other 20 percent are Balinese here on scholarships.
Erica Carpenter moved to Bali from California so her two sons could attend Green School.
ERICA CARPENTER, PARENT: That old educational environment was developed 150, 200 years ago and the world has changed so much since then.
RIVERS: The school is designed to have the smallest carbon footprint as possible, from composting toilets to no air conditioning. Children get to interact with animals and the manure from the livestock is used to make methane gas for cooking. Power is generated from this hydroelectric vortex on the river, which runs right down the middle of the campus, providing a spectacular natural playground.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Bali.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Susan Lisovicz, take us out.
Could it be four days in a row?
LISOVICZ: Four days in a row, Rick. The best week of 2009. The first time we've seen four gains since November.
Have a great weekend.
SANCHEZ: There you go.
Wolf Blitzer is standing by now to pick it up for us on this Friday in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf, take it away.
