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Interview With New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith; U.S. Economy Shows Signs of Improvement;
Aired July 31, 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: The Boston police officer that called Professor Gates a "jungle monkey" and e-mailed on and on and on.
(BEGINS VIDEO CLIP)
OFC. JUSTIN BARRETT, BOSTON POLICE: I did not intend any racial bigotry, harm or prejudice in my words.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He suddenly clams up on Larry King. I'm going to let you decide.
The stock market, up? Home prices, up? What's going on? Good economic news? Can't be, can it? We are asking Ali.
This Congressman says health care reform will cause, quote, "millions of additional dead children." Millions of dead children? Could it be? I'll ask him.
And are these officers trying to cover something up? --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to do a little Walt Disney to protect a cop, because it wouldn't have mattered, because she's drunk anyway.
SANCHEZ: Will their own words do them in? You will hear it on your national conversation for Friday, July 31, 2009.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. We like to call this a conversation. This isn't a speech. And it is always your turn to get involved.
The heat continues on Boston area police on the issue of racial profiling, because, just as it may have been starting to die down somewhat, a police officer wrote possibly as offensive an e-mail as could be written to or about a black person. And now he is talking about it.
First, I want to tell you about what he said, all right? It's an angry letter to "The Boston Globe" columnist. I could read the whole thing and you would get the gist, but maybe just picking a couple parts out that he uses over and over again. Like, he refers to Professor Gates, the Harvard professor caught in that imbroglio in Cambridge, he refers to him as a "jungle monkey" several times, by the way.
He also tries to mock the writer of the story, the columnist with "The Boston Globe," by using the word ax, ax, instead of ask. And he does that again and again and again in his e-mail. Officer Justin Barrett appeared last night on CNN. He talked to Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
JUSTIN BARRETT, BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: I would like to take this opportunity to offer fellow police officers, soldiers and citizens my sincerest apology over the controversial e-mail I authored in response to Yvonne Abraham's editorial in "The Boston Globe."
My choice of words, Larry, was lacking. I failed to think through the perception others may have based upon what I wrote. I failed to realize the potential, through the use of words, that others would see as offensive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That others would see as offensive, the perception that others might have about his words? Interesting use of language, isn't it?
Also, I want you to see this. This is something I was thinking about as I was watching this and we were preparing it with our staff. Look at what happens as soon as Larry tries to ask the officer questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
KING: Do you think, Justin, you deserve to be suspended based on it?
PETER MARANO, ATTORNEY: Larry, if I can answer...
KING: Go ahead, Peter.
MARANO: On behalf of Justin, there is -- suspension in this circumstances they needs to be addressed by an impartial body.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So. And here is the point that we are making as we watch this together. Is there something about reading your statement from a carefully worded script and then having your lawyer answer questions for you that might give some in the audience, perhaps yourself, watching right now some pause? Especially when compared to the other officer, the officer who he was originally trying to defend in this e-mail that he wrote to "The Boston Globe," Sergeant Jim Crowley, who arrested Professor Gates?
He answered all the questions that he was asked. He did not use axe. And he has been generally, generally consistent. Let's compare. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEANT JAMES CROWLEY, CAMBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Two gentlemen agree to disagree on a particular issue. I don't think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I have two guests. They're going to going to be lined up and they are going to be taking us through this. We will be having the conversation with Syracuse University Professor Boyce Watkins, always a great guest on these type of issues, and any kind of issue, actually, and then retired Nassau County, New York, police officer Lou Palumbo. Yes, we're getting him back, by popular request, we should say. Many of you told us that guy was excellent; I really enjoyed listening to him yesterday. So, he is back.
He is going to analyze these officers' responses and what it tells us about them and the way they have responded to their own controversies.
But, first, I want to catch you up now on the beer summit at the White House.
Here, pointing all of this together for us -- and I want you to watch this, because she's probably one of the best writers on the network -- CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a humid summer night beneath the magnolia tree just off the Rose Garden, the vice president, the president, the black professor, and the white policeman who arrested him had a beer together.
SERGEANT JAMES CROWLEY, CAMBRIDGE POLICE DEPARTMENT: There was no tension.
QUESTION: No tension?
J. CROWLEY: No tension.
QUESTION: Could you joke around...
C. CROWLEY: Apparently, it did go well. The president called it a friendly, thoughtful conversation. And you will never guess what. Sergeant James Crowley says he and Professor Henry Louis Gates are planning their next meeting.
J. CROWLEY: I would like not only to discuss, but I would also like to listen to Professor Gates' perspective. And, certainly, he has the credentials to enlighten me a little bit. And I think that, perhaps, the professor, as he expressed to me, has a willingness to listen to what my perspective is as a police officer.
C. CROWLEY: Heads of state have come away from the White House with a lot less. But do not call this a beer summit.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a clever term, but this is not a summit, guys. This is three folks having -- having a drink at the end of the day, and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other. And -- and that's really all it is.
C. CROWLEY: Not exactly all. It is also the president's attempt to get out from under headlines he helped write. It was a rather routine cop call on a possible break-in at a home in Cambridge. It turned into a national Rorschach test on racial profiling and relations between police and minority communities.
The story was elevated and propelled by five words at a presidential news conference.
OBAMA: The Cambridge police acted stupidly.
C. CROWLEY: It fueled the fire and knocked the president's health care message off the front pages. The president had to explain, re-explain, call Sergeant Crowley to personally explain, and then invited both Crowley and Gates to the White House.
Now the professor and the cop are working out details of their next meeting.
J. CROWLEY: I think meeting at a bar for a beer on a second occasion is going to send out the wrong message, so, maybe Kool-Aid or iced tea or something like that.
C. CROWLEY: The president is dying to get back to his agenda and put Cambridge on the back page.
OBAMA: I will be surprised if you guys all make this the lead, as opposed to a very important meeting that we just had with one of our most important partners in the world.
C. CROWLEY: Maybe tomorrow.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Syracuse University Professor Boyce Watkins, let me go to you first.
I was a cop beat reporter for many, many years working alongside police officers in South Florida. And, usually, you can tell the difference between police officers and how they react to situations like this.
Do you see the difference between these two officers, Crowley and now the officer who wrote that nasty e-mail, Officer Barrett?
BOYCE WATKINS, PROFESSOR OF FINANCE, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Yes, absolutely. As I told you, my dad has been in law enforcement for a very long time. And there are good cops and there are bad cops. And Sergeant Crowley comes across as a very genuine individual who was really trying to do his job. He might have abused his authority, but he doesn't seem like a bad guy.
This other cop seems like he might have some problems. He seems to be deeply infected by the disease of racism. And, really, going on "LARRY KING" was a way of sort of covering and protecting his own butt.
But I will say, though, is that I am able to forgive him, because I don't necessarily think that he is a person who wants to be a bad person all the time. He probably said some things that a lot of people think, but won't say. But I'm glad he was actually honest about it.
At the same time, I think he should be fired because he needs to be taught a lesson. And we don't need cops like him on the street, because he will carry that bias into the communities that he polices.
SANCHEZ: I am interested, Officer Palumbo, in what you would say about the reaction of these two men, given the fact that one of them just decided -- the very next day, Officer Crowley was on the radio doing an interview with some jocks in -- some deejays there in Boston. And they had him on for like 45 minutes.
He answered every question he could possibly answer. I imagine there are some lawyers out there that would say that is not a good idea. But it certainly did endear him to his critics, didn't it?
LOU PALUMBO, FORMER NEW YORK POLICE OFFICER: Yes. I think what he demonstrated was an immense amount of conviction. And he was steadfast and he was honorable. And he kind of drew the line in the sand.
And I don't want to disagree with the professor, but I do believe he was within his legal right to arrest Professor Gates, period. I would have taken a different road, quite candidly, but that's just an issue of style.
As far as Officer Barrett, I think right now he is an a massive amount of damage control, because, basically, his career is over. The sooner he accepts it and the sooner the attorney who he has retained accepts it, he should probably move on with his life.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Hold on, now. There are places in this country -- you know it and I know it as well -- that would probably hire someone like this and look the other way. I know that I have seen many police officers who have had these kind of bumps in the road and they have been able to recover their careers.
PALUMBO: You know what, Rick? You are absolutely right about that. I know of a lot of inconsistencies, quite frankly, other than the one you just elicited to.
But no one with a brain in their head would hire this young man.
SANCHEZ: So, you are saying they shouldn't hire him, not necessarily that they won't hire him?
PALUMBO: The problem, Rick, simply stated, is that he is no longer a viable quantity in law enforcement. He has demonstrated an ability that has surrendered being impartial. And that's what our role is, is to be impartial, to be objective, to remove our own personal feelings from the situation.
WATKINS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: He's tainted, but why should he even have those personal feelings?
And, Boyce, how prevalent do you think they are?
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: Well, do...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes, go ahead, Boyce. We will give Lou a chance as well.
(CROSSTALK)
WATKINS: OK.
Well, you know, I think that this sort of bias, deep-seated bias, exists all throughout the country. For example, I think a lot of white Americans can ask themselves this private question. If your daughter or son were to bring home an African-American, and they say, this is the person I love, I want to marry him, how would you feel?
SANCHEZ: Wow.
WATKINS: And I know personally that a lot of families wouldn't be happy with that. And that's a reflection of 400 years of racial inequality.
In fact, to tell you a personal story, when I was 15 years old, I liked a girl who happened to be white. She liked me a lot. I guess I was damn handsome back then.
(LAUGHTER)
WATKINS: And we had a great relationship, until her dad found out. And it hurt me so deeply, because I thought her dad liked me. But he liked me when he knew me as an athlete, but he didn't like the idea of me kissing his daughter.
So, I think that these sorts of little biases are the things we have to explore in our -- in what I would call our American racial conversation, so that we can really work through this and be willing to admit that maybe there are some areas where we could improve.
SANCHEZ: You are absolutely right, man. That's -- when you bring issues like those to the forefront, that's where the rubber hits the road.
Lou, I am interested in your take in this officer's appearance last night on "LARRY KING." As I listened to him, I kept hearing him say, I should have been more careful about how other people might interpret my words, how others may feel about what I said.
And I kept shaking my head, thinking, it is not about how others interpreted what you said. It's what you said.
(LAUGHTER)
WATKINS: Yes.
PALUMBO: Yes, I would say that his words spoke for themselves, so to speak. And they stand on their own merit.
As I said to you earlier, Rick, he is in damage control, hoping to end up in some type of disciplinary procedure that's going to save his job. And that just simply shouldn't be the case.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
PALUMBO: This is going to become a critique of the leading police official in the city of Boston right now. And it will be a critique of anyone else who considers retaining his services.
I mean, quite frankly, this guy has rendered himself neutered as a law enforcement agent. He showed his hand. He's demonstrated overtly through these correspondence his heart, and you cannot hold a heart like that and be in our profession.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Lou -- Lou and Boyce, you guys are great, but we are out of time. And I appreciate this excellent conversation that more Americans -- we continue to say -- should have in this country, and especially that rubber hits the road comment that you brought to our attention. We appreciate it, Professor.
My thanks to both of you. We will see you again soon.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DEWEY PRESSLEY, POLICE OFFICER: We're going to bend this a little bit...
JOEL FRANCISCO, POLICE OFFICER: OK.
PRESSLEY: Because she is drunk. So, it is what it is. You see -- well, I mean, I'm not going to... (CROSSTALK)
FRANCISCO: You're the expert.
PRESSLEY: I don't lie and make things up ever, because it is wrong. But, if I need to bend a little bit to protect a cop, I'm going to.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: "To protect a cop, I'm going to."
Wow. Well, don't tell me two police officers actually planned a cover-up of their screw-up, but forget what they were -- that they forget, however, that they were actually being recorded by their dash- cam as they were doing this.
All right. I won't tell you, but I will show you the video once again and let you decide for yourself as you listen to that.
And then the sports reporter caught photographed through a peephole calls 911. This is a very revealing call. And you are going to hear it right here.
Also, remember, when our show ends, it doesn't really end. That's right. It's our after-show on CNN.com/live after the show. Get it? Brilliant. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We have got some breaking news that's coming in to us now. I want to share this with you.
Apparently, look, if you drive a Honda or if you know somebody who drives a Honda, you may want to pay particular attention to this.
Ali Velshi is joining us now.
Ali, I understand this has to do with a recall. And it's not just one of those regular recalls. This one could be really important.
(CROSSTALK)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is a big deal. there are a number of cars affected
It's not every car in the collection, but certain Honda Accords from 2001 to 2002, the 2001 Civic and the Acura T.L. from 2002 to 2003 are being recalled. This is part of a recall that was initiated back in November. It's now been expanded, another 440,000 being recalled due to a potential flaw in the air bag, the way the air bag may deploy.
According to Honda -- and we are trying to confirm this -- but, according to reports, one fatality and a number of injuries have been linked to this defect.
Now, Honda emphasizes it's not every car in that class of car that I just mentioned.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: What defect, though? What's it do? Does it deploy in the middle of you driving around or something?
VELSHI: No. No. It's, when and if it deploys, the pressure might be too great, and it may actually -- apparently, from what I'm reading, it can send other parts through, metal fragments...
SANCHEZ: Wow.
VELSHI: ... through the air bag and then result in injury.
So, that's the issue. But they are telling people, you will be contacted if you are one of the problem cars, and that people shouldn't be panicking about it. It doesn't seem like it has had a lot of injury associated with it. But it is a lot of cars. So, 440,000 new cars -- more cars are being added to an existing recall because of a possibly overpressurized deployment system in the air bag that could be very damaging.
And, as you said when you started this, Rick, it is Honda. A lot of people own Hondas, and these Accords and Civics are very, very popular cars.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And if it shoots it out at that kind of pressure, and there's stuff coming up from where it breaks out of it, it is like shrapnel.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Sure. That is the problem.
So, we're working on this. We're trying to get more details for you. We will bring it to you as we have it. But it is 440,000 cars. I will just tell you one more time, it's certain 2001 and 2002 Accords, certain 2001 Civics, and some 2000 and 2003 Acura T.L. sedans.
SANCHEZ: Accords, Civics, and Acuras.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: I think you just named one of the cars most people see more on the highways in the United States than just about any other.
VELSHI: Sure. Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Ali Velshi, great stuff. Thanks for bringing us up to date on that. And you are going to be joining me in a little bit.
(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: We will talk. There's some new numbers out there that actually show that -- I'm not saying we have hit bottom, but some people may.
VELSHI: But some people are.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes. So, let's hold that conversation.
VELSHI: We will measure it out. We will see whether that is actually true.
SANCHEZ: And who better to do that with than Ali Velshi?
Thanks, man. We will do it in a little bit.
VELSHI: All right, buddy.
SANCHEZ: All right, up next, a congressman says the president's new health care plan is going to cause millions of children to die. How does he defend that language? Because it's very strong language. But it is obviously something that he feels very strong about. So, he is going to join me in a little bit. And we are going to have a conversation about it. And I am going to obviously ask him the tough questions.
And there he is. Congressman, thanks for being here, sir.
REP. CHRIS SMITH (R), NEW JERSEY: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: I will look forward to it.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Stay tuned. This is coming up in two minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Remember back in April, when there was a plane that was photographed going over New York City, almost right through the area where 9/11 had happened, not far from the Statue of Liberty? Well, guess what? We have got the pictures now of exactly what that looked like. There it is.
Let's go in tight on some of those. There it is, Air Force One, actually. There you see the Statue of Liberty right under it. Now, this scared, in fact, panicked, so many New Yorkers that thousands of people ran out onto the sidewalks. They thought they were possibly under attack again.
It turns out it was just a publicity shoot that had been organized by Louis Caldera, or ordered by Louis Caldera, who was at the time the White House military affairs officer. He was fired, by the way, or summarily released or resigned, lost his job, nonetheless, as a result of these pictures.
We had never seen these pictures up close, just how low the plane was following over New York, low enough obviously to panic many New Yorkers and that's what it looked like as it happened back then, and the result as you now know was a controversy for the Obama administration, a news story for a straight week and the removal of one official named Louis Caldera of White House Military Affairs.
Moving on, all this week, we have been trying to bring you some clarity to some of the points that appear to be in dispute on the health care proposals. Yesterday, we found out the coverage for end- of-life planning does not mean, does not mean the government plans to put seniors to death, which some, like Congresswoman Virginia Foxx, alluded to on the floor of the House of Representatives.
There was another dispute by the president himself, essentially saying that this wasn't going to cost us. We basically showed that it probably will cost us.
And then there is this dispute. Some who oppose abortion say the reforms being considered will lead to the biggest spike in pregnancy termination since row Roe v. Wade.
In the words of Republican Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, quoted in several periodicals -- quote -- "The ugly truth is, so- called health care reform, if enacted, will lead to millions of additional deaths of children, additional deaths of children, and millions of mothers will be wounded."
Congressman Smith is good enough to join us now from Washington.
Anybody who reads that is struck by the words, because you're saying millions of children essentially will die. First of all, I want to make sure you are quoted correctly there. We have seen that in at least four or five different periodicals. That is your quote, right?
SMITH: Oh, Rick, without a doubt.
Here is the problem in a nutshell. The abortion mandate that is in this so-called health restructuring bill -- and just as recently as last night, there is language now in the bill -- the Capps amendment -- and she is a member of Congress, very, very pro-abortion.
SANCHEZ: Lois -- Lois Capps.
SMITH: Lois Capps from California...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SMITH: ... who makes it very clear that every area of the country, by federal government mandate, will have to have a private insurance company that has abortion coverage as part of its coverage.
Right now, throughout the country, both in terms of abortion facilities, hospitals, there are some 87 percent of the counties of America that are no longer performing abortions. There is nobody there to do abortions. We have seen hospital after hospital get out of the grisly business of dismembering or chemically poisoning unborn children to death.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: And that has led directly to more children living. The second part is the public subsidy...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, let's take one part at a time.
SMITH: Sure.
SANCHEZ: First of all, as I understand it -- and we did a heavy amount of research on this today -- as it stands right now, more than 80 percent of the insurers in the United States -- and it is their choice, by the way, whether they want to cover terminations or not, abortions -- they can choose not to. And you can choose to choose a provider that does or doesn't. So, it's your decision. But more than 80 percent of them cover terminations as we stand right now.
SMITH: OK. Rick...
SANCHEZ: How will that change under the new plan?
SMITH: Well, first of all, that's information that has come from the abortion industry.
And what they have done, they have included life-of-the-mother abortions, which are covered by most plans, but not abortion on demand, not abortion for socioeconomic reasons, or abortions for birth control reasons as a type of birth control.
And when even Governor Sebelius, who is now the health and human services secretary....
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Hold on.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: No, I have got to stop you then.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: She has said most plans do not cover -- do not cover abortions in their coverage.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I gave you a number. What's the number? I said more than 80. What's... (CROSSTALK)
SMITH: The number is far less. It is probably less than half.
But she, herself, has said, in testimony before Congress, most insurance coverage does not include abortion, except in that very limited case of life of the mother.
SANCHEZ: But if the patient or the doctor decide that it is medically necessary for them to have the termination, they could have it anyway, and then almost 100 percent of insurances is going to cover it? That's the way it is now.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: No, that's not true. It's only in very rare cases of life of the mother, perhaps in rape and incest cases, but, certainly, life of the mother, not for other reasons.
Medically necessary is an absolutely elastic term that has been employed for three-and-a-half decades to include abortions on demand. So, it is not a term that has real meaning in the abortion debate, other than to permit abortions for socioeconomic reasons.
SANCHEZ: All right. The point is, there doesn't seem to be, from what we saw, a lot of difference from what will happen in the future if any of this legislation is passed from what is happening now.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: The only difference could possibly be is one is paid by private, and, in the future, some of it could possibly end up being paid publicly. But even that's in question.
SMITH: But let me just say this.
Most of the insurance companies are out of the abortion business.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SMITH: I offered the amendment back in 1983 that is still in force under the Federal Employees Health Benefit program that only allows abortions to be covered in private health insurance that all of us have an open season. I am in Blue Cross-Blue Shield.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SMITH: Other people choose another one.
It pays for abortion only in limited circumstances of rape, incest and life of the mother. That's the way so many of these private health insurance companies have chosen to operate.
(CROSSTALK) SMITH: Now, we have a situation where, in every part of the country, every area of the country, as part of an abortion mandate -- that's in the language being passed last night.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, that's not true.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Well, I mean, it got passed last night...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I am looking at Lois Capps' actual amendment.
SMITH: I have read it very carefully. I have it right here.
SANCHEZ: What it seems to say -- and maybe there is a difference, sir -- she is saying abortion payments are made by private providers, not the government plan.
She wants to make sure, since everybody has a choice, they are going to be able to choose a provider that does provide it. But, if they choose to go with a provider that doesn't provide termination, then they are more than welcome to do so. And she wants to make sure everyone has that choice.
That's the way I am reading it. So, how am I reading it wrong?
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: Well, you're reading -- there is some bookkeeping where premium payers pay for it and...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: You are saying she is mandating people to do it?
SMITH: Oh, what she is doing is mandating -- and let's not get away from this -- that every area of the country has to have an insurance company or insurance companies that will provide plans that have abortion coverage.
SANCHEZ: Got it.
SMITH: That's not the case today. And, frankly, Rick, this will lead to more abortions.
SANCHEZ: OK.
SMITH: We know that, when there is a facilitation and especially when there's a public subsidy for abortion, the number of abortions go up by about a third.
Barack Obama has said he wants to reduce abortions. You don't do that by expanding the venues, by providing more opportunity to kill the life of an unborn child.
SANCHEZ: And his argument would be, just to put it on the record, that really the program is not changing at all. Essentially, they are moving the money around, but everything that you can do now, you will be able to do in the future.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: It doesn't hold up under scrutiny, frankly.
SANCHEZ: Well, I understand, sir. And you know what? I appreciate your passion.
SMITH: And I appreciate yours.
SANCHEZ: And I appreciate you coming on and taking -- and taking us through -- this is an interesting conversation and one, as we have said all week, that all Americans should be considering.
My thanks to you. God bless. Take care.
SMITH: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Coming up: Michael Jackson, drug addict? New information from investigators that we have been receiving, it comes from search warrants for the home and the office of Jackson's doctor.
Also, at least three positive signs suggesting the economy is turning around, what are they? What are they, and how much credence do we actually give these signs? I'm going to ask Ali Velshi to take us through this.
Also, remember the after-show. It is on CNN.com/live at 4:00 Eastern. When? After this show. Get it?
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, a lot of you have been responding to my conversation with the congressman, just moments ago. Lets go to our Tweet board if we possibly can and there you see:
"If you want an abortion, fine, you pay for it and not the government."
"Abortions are often necessary, it is legal, should be covered when necessary. If fetus defective/mom ill, cover it! Saves money."
"Congressman, stay out of my womb, it's none of your business what I do with it."
And then we go down here to lots of comments about the officer.
"I believe this officer is racist," a Boston officer who sent the e-mail to the "Boston Globe," "His own words speak for themselves." All right, there you go. Boy, so many of you have been chiming in on the conversations, the national conversation that we're having today. When we come back, Ali Velshi is going to join us, because there is three or four quantifiable numbers out there that seem to show that something's going on with the economy. It could be a positive uptick. It could be that we've hit bottom. Some might argue there's even a bounce. Some could go as far as to say we may be on the way in the other direction. Is any of that true? Nobody is better to ask than Ali Velshi. He's joining us and we're breaking down the numbers. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Wow, so many comments that we've been getting from all of you on this conversation we had on abortion with the congressman, moments ago. We'll continue to post some of those on my blog, by the way, at cnn.com/RickSanchez and take some of your comments on this, as well.
Before leaving office, George Bush famously warned that the U.S. economy could possibly be on the verge of, "economic collapse." Those were some hellacious words for a president to use. We all held our breaths after that. Many of us read Ali Velshi's book on how we got there and what to do about it and then, we waited for bottom to hit. So, now, here we are. It's a little more than half a year later. Right? And guess what? We could possibly be at bottom. We may even have bounced, may be on the way up.
Now, those things are not exact, very difficult to measure. But, there is some, some quantifiable evidence that I want to share with you now. Good news. And guess who held an unannounced news availability today to talk about this good news? Here's no surprise to you, the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: This morning, the GDP revealed that the recession we faced, when I took office, was even deeper than anyone thought at the time. They told us how close we were to the edge. But, the GDP also revealed that in the last few months, the economy has done measurable better than we had thought, better than expected. And as many economists will tell you, that part of the progress is directly attributable to the Recovery Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This president does not miss a beat. Any opportunity, any good news, he calls a news conference and tells us so. Here's today's news. He's right. The Commerce Department now says finally, the bleeding is somewhat under control, not over but somewhat under control. They say that our economy is still shrinking, but only by about one percent now, which is minuscule, compared to what it was about seven or eight months ago when Ali Velshi and I were having these constant conversations and everybody was looking for the door.
Then, there are these numbers I want to share with you as well. We've seen in the last couple of days, and Ali Velshi is going to be taking us through these, so we can understand what it means. But, let me take you through, like, one at a fim at a time through them.
First, the stock market. It started the day at nine-month high. A nine-month high. It is now up more than 2,500 points, this is since early March. That's pretty good stuff.
Take a look at this, the place where the crisis started, the horrible housing market. Yesterday, we learned that select home prices, in certain areas, actually have been rising by about half of one percent, which begin is nothing. But still, that's an up arrow as opposed to a down arrow and that's the first monthly gain in nearly three years, because the housing market has really been down.
Ali Velshi joining us now.
All right, let's go through these, I guess, one at a time, first, this housing market thing. When I read the article in the "New York Times," it looked to me like certain places like San Francisco and a couple of other places where they're actually seeing upticks. It doesn't mean the whole country, but it's the first time we've seen any arrow going up. Right?
ALI VELSHI, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And at this point in a recession, that's the important thing, whether it is houses, whether it is jobs, these are things that are different in different parts of the country. The one thing that's the same is the market, because everybody gets to invest in it. But, housing, which is where this recession started, has been going down fr a long time. So, there are parts of the country that saw greater drops and they're starting to level out. Some people are getting in because there's a new home buyer's credit. Some people are getting in because mortgage rates are still at 50 year lows, they've come up a little bit. Some people are getting in because they're investors, not individual people buying houses, they're buying groups of houses because the deal is so good. But bottom line is, they're getting in and that's stabilizing home prices.
SANCHEZ: All right, how about the stock market?
VELSHI: Well, that's something else. I mean, March 9 looks to have been the bottom in this stock market. The market had dropped from the top, which was October of 2007, when the Dow was at 14,000 down to the bottom, March 9. That was about a 57 percent drop. Since March 9, we're up month are than 40 percent on the Dow, on the NASDAQ, on the S&P.
You know, July...
SANCHEZ: Forty percent? Forty percent's impressive.
VELSHI: More than 40 percent. And this is going to be the best July in decades for the stock market. So, that's real, doesn't mean it can't go down again. But, there really have been substantial gains.
Rick, you read my book. In a good year, the average person, well diversified, can hope to make 10 percent or 11 percent in the stock market. Can you imagine if you make 40 percent? So, it's worth having a plan and thinking about where you fit into this market.
SANCHEZ: Maybe fitting into it, somehow. How about this gross domestic profit, this GDP thing, what the hell does that mean?
VELSHI: All right, GDP is the biggest measure of everything that goes on in this economy, everything we build, everything we make. It's measured in quarters, so this is for the second quarter. This is March to the end of June of this year and it was down one percent compared to a year ago.
SANCHEZ: Why is that good?
VELSHI: Because it's not down six percent compared to the year before. Because the trend is going up and that's why it's our friend. One percent, you said it, it's minuscule, it's not a big deal. The issue is when the third quarter GDP, that's where we are now, the third quarter, when this number comes in, will it be less than one percent or might it be positive...
SANCHEZ: All right, you ready? Are you ready for the $60,000 question?
VELSHI: Hit me.
SANCHEZ: Are we at bottom? Is that what this shows?
VELSHI: Well, at this point of recession, bottom means different things. We have not seen the end of the job losses and frankly Rick, to most people, that's what matters the most. We're no near the bottom of the job losses, yet. We're probably bottoming it out in the housing market and we've probably hit bottom in the stock market, but that always happens. The stock market always recovers six to eight months before the rest of the economy.
SANCHEZ: I remember when President Obama gave his first speech on the economy, he said, sometime this year, we're going to hit double digit unemployment. We're not there yet, but...
VELSHI: Could be, but yeah, we're probably headed to...
SANCHEZ: We're close, so we're still -- all right, hey, you put it in perspective. Three good, one real bad.
VELSHI: Hey, can I tell you. Let me tell you one other thing. We did confirm from Honda about that recall. And they do say that there's been one death and six injuries from these air bags that don't deploy properly. So, they'll be sending out notices to everybody...
SANCHEZ: Hey, man, have a great weekend. Always great to have a conversation with you.
VELSHI: You too, buddy.
SANCHEZ: All right. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OFFICER DEWEY PRESSLEY, HOLLYWOOD, FL POLICE: We're going to bend this a little bit because...
OFFICER JOEL FRANCISCO, HOLLYWOOD, FL POLICE: : OK.
PRESSLEY: ...she's drunk, so, it is what it is. You see, well, I mean, I'm not...
FRANCISCO: You're the expert.
PRESSLEY: I don't lie and make things up ever, that's wrong, but if I got to -- if I need to a little bit to bend it a little bit to protect a cop, I'm gonna.
FRANCISCO: I hear you.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You're going to be hearing this for yourself. A police cover-up that is caught on tape? You get to decide when you hear it and see it for yourself.
And there's new wrinkle in the story of that famous female sports reporter who was secretly photographed in her hotel room naked. You're going to hear the 911 call, right here.
And then, the after show on CNN.com/live at 4:00 Eastern and we're going to bring it to you. Stay right there.
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SANCHEZ: One of those unbelievable moments captured on camera that just happens once in a while. I have just been told by Angie, my producer, that Chad Myers has something he wants to show us. And when Chad says he wants to be on TV, by golly, he goes on TV.
Chad, here you go.
CHAD MYERS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I got a couple of things.
SANCHEZ: Take it away.
MYERS: I got a tornado warning in Connecticut, I also have this. Watch, watch, watch.
SANCHEZ: What is that?
MYERS: OK, here it comes. There. Literally, videographer, name is Tory (ph), surfing videos was doing this, St. Augustine Beach, and all of the sudden, this lightning strike hit the house across the street, knocked him back. Scared the heck out of the dog. And they said the people inside the house, all they did, they lost their Internet. It's a good thing they didn't lose a whole lot more. But the good news is the hole...
SANCHEZ: What are you doing on the roof if there's a thunderstorm with lightning...
MYERS: He is a videographer.
SANCHEZ: Oh please.
MYERS: I know, I know. You want to be inside. That's why we say, get inside...
SANCHEZ: Not smart. Well no, looks like he's on a balcony. OK.
MYERS: He is on a balcony.
SANCHEZ: Sorry.
MYERS: He's on the third story balcony, looking over here and they got on - they're looking at this house and they could not find where the lightning strike hit at all, but no one injured, thank goodness on that.
SANCHEZ: I apologize. It looked like he was on the roof, didn't it?
MYERS: It does.
SANCHEZ: But then I saw the framing, there. All right.
MYERS: But, he's still too close. You don't want to be where the wind is getting you. And if the water is getting you, the lightning can get you too, so get inside.
One more thing, Rick, this here, in Connecticut, a tornado warning in effect, right now. And there's going to be more of these, here. This is right near Naugatuck in Connecticut, moving east toward Durham. I'm seeing a little bit of rotation on the radar, but not a lot. But just so you know, if you are the northeast, if you're anywhere from Boston all the way down through D.C. and even into the Carolinas, there is a potential for severe weather with tornadoes, today. If one pops up, I'll let you know.
SANCHEZ: OK, and we've got the story of Erin Andrews coming up in a little bit, the 911 call that everybody's been wanting to hear. And we have the story of these police officers who didn't know they were being recorded by their own dash-cam video which has a microphone on it. You're not believe what they're recorded as saying. Maybe you will. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: OK, here it is. We've been telling you about this. This dash-cam recording that got a couple of police officers in some big trouble in Florida. A weird sequence of events, as well, by the way. Let me take you through this. You ready? All right, we're in Hollywood, Florida, right? This happened back in February. A police car is involved in a fender-bender. It looks like it is not the citizen's car or the citizen who's at fault, it's the cops who appear to be at fault. As it turns out, by sheer coincidence, the driver of the car they rear-ended admits to being under the influence. So, the policemen are heard on their dash-cam recorder hatching a plan to blame the accident on the drunk driver. And guess what? It appears that they forgot, the camera and the microphone on the dash-cam was rolling. Let's listen together, shall we?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OFFICER DEWEY PRESSLEY, HOLLYWOOD, FL POLICE: We're going to bend this a little bit because...
OFFICER JOEL FRANCISCO, HOLLYWOOD, FL POLICE: : OK.
PRESSLEY: ...she's drunk, so, it is what it is. You see, well, I mean, I'm not...
FRANCISCO: You're the expert.
PRESSLEY: I don't lie and make things up ever, that's wrong, but if I got to -- if I need to a little bit to bend it a little bit to protect a cop, I'm gonna.
FRANCISCO: I hear you.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: If I'm going to have to -- if I bend it to help a cop -- did you hear that? If I need to bend it a little bit to protect the cop, I'm going to. He's going to talk about the official police report of the accident and the other driver's arrest. Hey, it seems according to officials, they knew what they were doing was wrong.
Now, what does the police department of Hollywood, Florida, have to say? This: "They would not be able to comment." It's actually a violation of law for them to talk to us about these allegations. In the meantime, four officers are on administrative leave. They could face charges, we now understand. And we've also learned the crime scene technician is also under scrutiny. And we understand the charges against the woman driver, they have been dropped.
The very latest on Erin Andrews. As you know, she was photographed by someone who drilled a hole through a hotel room wall. And now there's a 911 tape. We'll share it with you.
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SANCHEZ: No such thing as bad publicity? ESPN sports reporter Erin Andrews may have a new take on an old adage. First, the illicit peephole video of her, well, naked in a hotel room. That brought a stampeding herd of parazzi. The latest is this. There is a 911 phone call to the police where she is heard complaining and it's how she does it. Complaining about a news photographer who's outside her place of residence. Let's listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: 911.
ERIN ANDREWS, ESPN SPORTS REPORTER: Um, I have been in the news recently about being in a hotel naked, and I have paparazzi outside my window and I was told by law enforcement that if I did to call 911.
911 OPERATOR: You going meet with an officer when they come out?
ANDREWS: Yeah, these guys are sitting in a car outside my house, right now. I would like to tell the officer to have them leave because the cops have told me to call 911 if they're outside my house.
911 OPERATOR: Ma'am, what's your name?
ANDREWS: My name is Erin, my last name is Andrews. I'm all over the news, right now.
911 OPERATOR: I'm not familiar. All over the news.
ANDREWS: I'm the girl that was videotaped without her knowing, without her clothes on, in the hotel.
911 OPERATOR: Really?
ANDREWS: And I've got two (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sitting outside my house.
911 OPERATOR: I'm so sorry.
ANDREWS: I am too, thank you.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Some things you shouldn't have to explain. She close the 911 call to say that she has been treated like blank Britney Spears. By the way, ESPN is investigating whether it was a co-worker that actually took the video of her, drilled the hole in the wall between their hotel rooms. So much for freelancing.
Coming up, our conversation continues, so keep your laptop handy, keep Tweeting. I'm going to be joined by Professor Boyce Watkins to stick around and revisit the story we started at the beginning of this program. A Boston officer and the Cambridge sergeant, the one that you are so fired up about. And there is Boyce. Be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This story we showed you just a little while ago about these two police officers down in south Florida who are seemingly recorded on their dash-cam video planning to change a police report to make it look like the woman in front who they rear-ended was at fault rather than them. Man, it's getting a lot of buzz on Twitter, as you might imagine.
I'm going to read you just a couple of these, all right? And then I want to ask Boyce Watkins about this, because he's in a unique situation to talk about this.
It says, "Police have their own agenda and they think they're above the law, it's frightening to say the least."
Well, you know, obviously after you show something like that, you're going to get a lot of these reactions.
"That is absolutely ridiculous. Is there something in these cops' coffee that have them turning into bad cops?"
Again, it's not all cops.
"What in the world? How could those cops not know they were being taped by a camera in their police car?"
"So many bad cops, so little time to throw the bums in jail with the rest of the criminals."
And then this one says. "they," the cops, "they knew they were being recorded. They just expected the other cops to help with the cover-up, like usual."
Boyce Watkins is joining us, now. And you know what, he's in a unique situation because his father was a police officer, so he's grown up around the badge.
You know, it's tough. My brother's a police officer and I'm damn proud of him, and I think he's a great cop and a great human being, just like I'm sure you would say the same thing about your dad. But it's tough to not watch video like the one we just showed and not come away with the impression that maybe too many of them are that way. Is it not?
WATKINS: Yeah. There are a t lot of bad cops out there. And what's interesting, though, is that even those cops that would be technically defined as good cops, you know, they sort of feel that they have the power all the time and that if they can do something legally, then it doesn't matter if it's morally correct.
And one of the issues you can actually critique Sergeant Crowley on, and I've supported him on certain areas, but one area I would critique him is that, you know, he could legally arrest Professor Gates, I don't believe he broke the law.
SANCHEZ: Of course he can.
WATKINS: But morally right. If you didn't feel in danger and you knew it was his house, why arrest the guy? And so, I think the limits of police authority really need to be questioned in our society.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this. Let's you and I go over to life CNN.com/live where we're going to continue this conversation. And I want to talk about the other side of this, people like your dad and people like my brother. Because you know what? They do work hard and they are respectable, but it's hard to get their story on TV because of numnuts like this that are always on TV doing something like that. And that, just to be fair, you and I are going to do that right now.
In the meantime, John King, one of the best in the business, is handling THE SITUATION ROOM for us today. So with this, I say good- bye. We'll see you Monday, and here's John.
