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Turmoil in Afghanistan; Homeless Doll?; Do Corporations have Free Speech Rights?; Andrew's Peeping Tom Arrested
Aired October 05, 2009 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Now I'm focusing on the Supreme Court.
How much do you have to hate your boss to do this to his car? And how stupid do you have to be to expect that you're not going to get caught?
ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews, meet your Peeping Tom, busted for videoing her through a hotel door peephole.
And, of course, all the latest on today's developing news out of Pakistan and Afghanistan as it happens during your national conversation for Monday, October 5, 2009.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: All right. Here we go. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. It's a conversation. It is not a speech. And
Mr. Audio Guy, can you please stop making me hear myself one minute after I say everything? I would be most appreciative.
All right, because of what is happening there now, I want to start today with Pakistan and Afghanistan. Yes, there was a major bombing and there are new casualty figures. But it's more than that today.
Today, we're talking about whether we can really win something that even looks like a victory in Afghanistan. And, by the way, these pictures are not new, but what you're looking at is, the same part of Afghanistan where insurgents attacked two American outposts over the weekend, and they killed eight American service members, eight.
Also, there's a ninth soldier who died today in a roadside bombing. Now, should the United States stay in Afghanistan and get out before more troops get killed in bigger numbers?
I suppose I should say or get out. Well, here's your answer. It came today straight from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No. In fact, the president was -- the president was exceedingly clear that no part of the conversation on -- no part of the conversation involved was leaving Afghanistan. That's not something that has ever been entertained, despite the fact that people still get asked, "What happens if we leave Afghanistan?" That's not a decision that's on the table to make.
QUESTION: What does he think will happen?
GIBBS: What does he think will happen...
QUESTION: If we leave?
GIBBS: I don't think we have the option to leave. I think that's -- that's quite clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. That is from Gibbs.
Now, you are going to hear the opinion of the president's right- hand man on national security in just a moment. But, first, let me show you what happened over the border in Pakistan. These are the very first seconds after a suicide bomber killed himself and five other people by simply walking into a U.N. charity food organization and blowing himself up, a charity food organization.
And we have surveillance camera footage of that bomber, by the way. In fact, we have got it here. Roll it. You will see it right here. Watch closely. That's him. That's the bomber. He's walking into the building.
A few seconds later, you can watch the camera image just kind of washes out by the boom right there, by the blast of the fire. And, yes, this was a United Nations facility which is supposed to be tightly secured. In fact, it is tightly secured. Police say the bomber was wearing a military uniform, suggesting it was an inside job.
He just -- he walked in. He bombed the place, a place that was there to serve the needy. Yes.
Let's go back to Afghanistan if we can for just a moment. The U.S. national security adviser talked to CNN's John King yesterday. This may surprise you. This is somewhat important. James Jones says that despite the need for more troops, as exclaimed by some of the generals there on the ground, he does not see the Taliban as being in control now or later in this country. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL JAMES JONES (RET.), NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: But the Good news that Americans should feel at least good about in Afghanistan is that the al Qaeda presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or -- or our allies.
Now, the problem is the next step in this is the sanctuaries across the border. But I don't -- I don't foresee the return of the Taliban. And I want to be very clear that Afghanistan is not in danger, imminent danger of falling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Oh. And speaking of more troops, yes or no and how many, the commander of all U.S. troops in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has been publicly pushing for an increase, right, or so it has seemed.
Well, James Jones, who you just saw right there, said -- he's the defense secretary -- and the defense secretary, I should say, say that the president should get this advice more discreetly and not from comments made in public forums.
Now, it does sound as you hear that like somebody is thinking that somebody else is speaking out of school. And it sounds like the question of whether or not we stay or pull out of Afghanistan at some future date remains unresolved and very much under consideration at the highest levels.
So, if you want to be heard on this, this may be the time to do it. Just thought you should know.
All right, we have been showing you by following the money how corporations have influenced the health care debate and how senators voted on the health care debate. Now, should the Supreme Court tighten the corporate influence on lawmakers? Or should they allow them more influence? You're not going to believe the answer to that question.
Also, we reported on a Texas DA's approval of police taking money from poor drivers. A follow-up tonight that may surprise you. Can she sing her way out of this one?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, there's a developing story that we're following for you. It's coming out of greater Tampa.
These are some of the pictures that we have been monitoring over the last 15 or 20 minutes. It's quite a scene that's developing there that we have been checking on. As I take you through it and you see some of the police officers there on the ground, it looks like they're in a stalemate at this point with what are being described as some kind of bombing suspects or possibly bombing suspect.
The story gets a little sketchy. So, let me just read you some of the notes that we're getting from our crews and from the officials that we have been able to make contact with at the university.
First, Lieutenant Meg Ross for the University of South Florida Police. That's where this is taking place, at the University of South Florida. She said that they're continuing to investigate a report of an armed suspect there. The report says that the subject armed with a bomb and a gun somewhere in the area of the school's library. Stay with me here, because they're now saying they have since received a report of a subject, as we see the police officers moving in, subject on a bus in the area of the parking and transportation services. They're on the scene. They're trying to figure out exactly where this subject is. Now, we have also gotten some new details from Rich Phillips.
He's one of our reporters who's been working this story. Pardon us for the video as it moves around. We're obviously in a very -- I imagine the photographer here is in a precarious spot as he tries to follow the police officers who are trying to follow the subject.
Now, there's a bus. Is that the bus that they're referring to? I will read you again what we're getting. For those of you joining us now, again, this is at the University of South Florida. It's in Tampa. They say they have received a report of a subject on a bus in the area of the parking and transportation services. Obviously that would be the area of the parking and transportation services.
But maybe more importantly is the call that they got earlier in the day threatening of a bomb on the school campus somewhere around the area of the library. And now we see police moving through that area trying to figure out how they're possibly going to be able to deal with this.
Now, this video that we have been monitoring, much of which we got just a couple of minutes ago, does not explain whether or not they have actually got a subject or whether there even is a subject, although, Angie, you told me a moment ago in my ear that there is a -- OK, hold on.
Here we go. We have got new video coming in now and it does appear that there is now a subject in custody. It's the fellow right there. Boy, can we get back tight? No. We don't control that, do we?
All right, there is a person. All right, there's the cops. All right, we're going to go back to him? There's a person there with a green-striped shirt. Can't tell if it's male or female. Looks like a male subject being arrested by police. That's all we know. He's being arrested. That doesn't mean he's guilty.
It could possibly be someone who's being taken in for questioning. But the information that police had to go on was that there had been a threat of a bomb and that they were convinced it was someone they had seen in this area. They have all gone into this area and it now appears that the subject has been apprehended.
Let's just stay with this shot for a little bit just to see where they go and what they do as we all watch it together now. Obviously, the person that police believe they were looking for, we are going to work to try and get more information on you, because you always hate -- there are some of the students leaving the area as well with this -- with all of this going on.
And the subject, once again, being walked away. By the way, here's what we learned from our own reporter. The caller said it was a male subject. We don't know what type of weapon he may have had. There was no other description of him. Again, this is the information that came in before we got this picture, just to make sure.
And that's when the police were called and they responded to determine if in fact if there is a threat. A text alert was then sent by the university to 13,000 employees and 45,000 students letting everybody on campus know that there was this situation. No shots have been fired, as far as we know. No one has been hurt.
There's the Web site for the University of South Florida. It's called South Florida, but it's actually closer to the west side of the state out around Tampa. There you go. If we get more information, I will be sharing it with you.
Meanwhile, I want to follow up now on another story that we first reported just a few months ago. This one's from Shelby County, Texas. And I think you're going to remember this because we got a lot of tweets and a lot of social media comments. A lot of you were mad.
Black and Hispanic motorists were being pulled over for nothing, many of them perfectly innocent, threatened with arrest and then blackmailed into forfeiting all the cash and all the property that they could have had on them. It seemed like a small-town marriage of both police abuse and greed.
Well, the woman charged in this abuse is that woman right there. She's Shelby County district attorney Lynda Russell. CNN's Gary Tuchman was sent down there. He couldn't find her in the office. But that's where he did find her, singing at a fire department fund-raiser and found out that she didn't care a hoot whether she talked to him or not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ms. Russell?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't care to speak to anybody.
TUCHMAN: Ms. Russell, my name is Gary Tuchman with CNN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't have anything ...
(CROSSTALK)
TUCHMAN: I want to -- I need to ask her.
Ms. Russell, I just want to see if you wanted...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't want to talk to you, doesn't want to speak to you, guys.
TUCHMAN: Sir, I'm not asking you. If she doesn't want to comment, she can tell me. She's the district attorney. (CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn't even want to speak to you.
TUCHMAN: I know. I need to give her the opportunity. That's my job, to get both sides of the story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She know that she has the opportunity. She doesn't care to speak to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Gary Tuchman, good for him. Now, by the way, she is facing a federal lawsuit. Interestingly enough, neither the county nor the state want to ante up and pay for her defense.
So, guess what? And here's where this story perhaps gets most interesting. Russell wants to pay for her defense with the money that her police officers took from mostly poor minorities that just happened to be caught driving through her town.
By the way, they weren't all minorities, just most. Some people would call that type of defense or that type of request arrogant. Prosecutors may call it illegal, because, as you know, there's the RICO statutes that suggest that money that you may have illegally gotten, well, they can't be used to defend yourself.
We will follow it for you.
All right, just ahead, the $95 homeless doll, is it a teaching tool or just exploitation? This is an amazing story that I'm looking forward to bringing to you. It's the American Girl.
And then there's this. The Supreme Court is now deciding if you and a gigantic corporation are equals. That's right. Can corporations give to politicians just like the rest of us can? And what's the effect of that? Well, we have been showing you, but now it's an SCOTUS' lap, the U.S. Supreme Court.
Stay with us. I will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, let's go back to that breaking news story we were following just moments ago at the University of South Florida just outside greater Tampa.
I'm joined now by Meg Ross, Lieutenant Meg Ross. I read to you some of the comments that we had acquired from her before. And I believe she's there.
Lieutenant, are you there for us?
LIEUTENANT MEG ROSS, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA POLICE: Yes, I am. SANCHEZ: Hey, can you take us through this? The information that we had was it was some kind of a threat of a bomb. And then we saw police officers in this transportation area. And then we saw a man with a striped green and yellow shirt being pulled away. Put all that together for us.
ROSS: OK. Correct We did get a call at 1:36 this afternoon of a subject in the area of the library with possibly a bomb and a gun. We checked the area at the library, did not locate him, but then again received a subsequent report of the subject on a bus.
We located a subject here on a bus, and we have taken him into custody. He was in possession of a backpack, which we have secured at this point. And we have Tampa police bomb squad coming out to...
SANCHEZ: Hey, Lieutenant, I notice you keep using the word subject and you're not using the word suspect. Does that infer that you really don't know at this point whether this guy is really guilty of anything?
ROSS: Well, we have someone that we think may have been involved. But, again, we have to investigate fully before we can say...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: What was in his backpack?
ROSS: I'm sorry?
SANCHEZ: What was in his backpack?
ROSS: We have not looked in his backpack. We have the bomb squad on their way out to check the backpack.
SANCHEZ: And explain to us if you would, what was the original exigence for this?
As I understand here, it says investigate the report of an armed subject on the USF campus. How did you get on to that? Was it a phone call? How did you get on to that?
ROSS: Yes, we received a phone call. It actually was called into the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office and they transferred the call to us or transferred the information to us because it was occurring here on campus.
And we immediately went out to the scene to attempt to locate the subject. And, again, we have located a subject. We are -- we have taken him into custody for questioning and to determine if he is the person responsible.
SANCHEZ: And if -- yes, if it's the real deal. Well, listen, I understand. Being from South Florida, I work with plenty of police officers. I know that these things sometimes take a while to work themselves out. I appreciate you, though, Lieutenant, taking time to take us through this. And we will be in contact with you if you don't mind. And if there's anything else that we need to report, you let us know, all right?
ROSS: OK. I will. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: I appreciate that, Lieutenant Meg Ross of the University of South Florida Police Department.
Interesting story that I want to bring you is as much a sign of the times story as perhaps any story we have seen in a long time. Given the situation with the economy, did you ever think that there would possibly be a doll, an American Girl doll like you have seen that many a kids have -- Now, these are expensive dolls. But imagine having one that represents a little girl who's so poor that she has to live with her mom inside of a car, and little girls at school make fun of her because of this.
Reality? Maybe something we all should be looking at? We have the doll. It's right here. And Brooke Baldwin is also sitting next to me. And she's going to be filing this report, and she's going to bring us the very latest on it. We will have it for you right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You have asked for it. And guess what? You're going to be able to get it. You can join us on this show through MySpace and Facebook and Twitter. And you can send us e-mails and we have phone calls you can give to us. But now there's a new way that you can join us here, in person.
That's right. The Rick Sanchez Twitter tour is going to begin very soon where you can come here and actually be a part of our show. All you have got to do to get details is call this number. It's 877- 4CNN-TOUR. So, if you're going to be in Atlanta or want to be in Atlanta, call 877-4CNN-TOUR. And you're going to be right here in the studio with us toward the end of each newscast. And join us for the last 10 minutes on CNN.com/Live.
All right, let's move on. I want to show you something now. I want you to take a look at this doll. You see that right there? Sorry. I had it on top of thank pen. These are the most sought-after dolls in the country. I know. I have an 8-year-old daughter. She's crazy about these things.
They cost almost $100, I understand. They're called American Girl dolls. And what's cool about them is they represent young women with a story, I mean a real story. And the young lady who buys these, like my daughter, would then get to share in somebody else's life, somebody else's story, somebody else that has something to say.
So, it creates almost like a -- almost like a level of empathy. Insert irony now. Guess what the newest doll and the newest story is? You're looking at it. This is it. This is the new American Girl doll.
And here's Brooke Baldwin to take us through that.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: This one's different.
BALDWIN: Insert irony being the fact that this $95 doll is homeless. You have kids. You know these dolls come with stories and in this doll's case, even a movie. And the story behind this doll is the fact that her family fell on hard times.
Her father -- this is Gwen. Her father abandoned her and her mother. They ended up living in a car. They were homeless. This is the first homeless doll from American Girl, from Mattel, and so -- though it's creating a controversy among bloggers, among columnists, who are saying...
SANCHEZ: Why? What's the controversy?
BALDWIN: They're saying, hey, you're exploiting homelessness, the fact that no homeless parent could afford a $95 doll for their child.
SANCHEZ: But it's not about homeless parents? Isn't it about creating a sense of -- and I mentioned this to Kyra when we were talking earlier...
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... I want my child to know that while she has every damn video game that her dad can afford, which I wish were fewer, and everything else that she has, there are people out there who really don't have all of these things and she should know these stories and empathize with them.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Right. And that's the point. If you talk to American Girl -- I talked to the company today. And the whole thing is the message. It's the message behind the doll. So, maybe some of the kids whose parents can afford a doll like this can understand the message of compassion, tolerance, acceptance.
But some people are saying, hey, it's a mixed message. And the issue, Rick, here is the fact that this doll is $95, and not a penny of that goes to any kind of homeless charity. We have some videotape, some reaction to that.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: That's a legitimate point.
BALDWIN: Well, let's roll the videotape.
SANCHEZ: That's a legitimate point. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's actually really disturbing. And it's not the American dream. I thought these were American Girl dolls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's truthful. I think it's right on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, this is a very cute girl. And there's nothing cute about being homeless. And I have a problem with American Girl making money off of the plight of being homeless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Also taking a look at some of the parent blogs. I found a blog, parent-to-parent blog at timesunion.com.com Want to read it for you if we can bring it up.
"The $95 should be going to a local homeless shelter, not to buy a doll. And that's what I will be teaching my 8-year-old daughter who is or was a customer."
So, that said, let's talk to the company. And they're saying, you know what? We are helping out a homeless charity. The company issued this...
SANCHEZ: How so?
BALDWIN: Could we go to the statement first?
SANCHEZ: Yes, let's do it. All right.
BALDWIN: Let's take a look at the statement, if we can bring that up.
The statement is: "Since its inception in 1986, American Girl's historical and contemporary books have addressed a wide range of important social issues that have had a significant impact on the lives of girls and women. While our outreach in support of the line will continue to focus on preventing peer aggression, we are pleased to continue our ongoing partnership with HomeAid America and its mission to support the temporarily homeless."
So their final point is, you know what? We may not be taking any percentage of the $95 to go to some kind of charity. They have partnered with HomeAid America and they have donated $120,000 since they partnered with them in 2006. So, they are giving something.
SANCHEZ: One hundred and twenty thousand dollars since 2006 when you're putting out a doll that costs $95, I would say the pressure should probably be put on them as some of how viewers suggested. And I don't think it would be terribly bad idea or terribly difficult for them to give a percentage of whatever they make on this doll to the homeless. I think that would be the way to go.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: A lot of people agree on the blogs...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And let's follow up on that.
BALDWIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: Let's call them tomorrow and see if they think it's something that they should at least consider...
BALDWIN: OK. If they will change their minds.
SANCHEZ: ... and see if they do it or not.
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: I think some of the viewers are right on that.
And, in the meantime, hey, we bought this thing. What are we going to do with it?
BALDWIN: Should we donate it?
SANCHEZ: I think we should donate it. I think we should probably sign it and donate it to the highest bidder and give every single penny to people who are homeless.
BALDWIN: I love that.
SANCHEZ: You like it?
BALDWIN: I love that idea. I'm in. I'm in.
SANCHEZ: All right, we will figure out a way to do it.
Angie, could you figure this out for us? And we will tell the viewers how we're going to do this. Good stuff.
BALDWIN: Great. Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: And we're going to be doing a lot more stuff together.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Yes, we will. We will.
SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.
All right, she is the big-time blonde on the sidelines for ESPN. There she is. Not so long ago, she was in front of an altogether different, much more unwelcome camera. The newest twist in the Erin Andrews peephole pictures is coming up next.
Also, you're a president having trouble getting your legislation passed? What's insult to injury? I'll tell you what it is. It's when "Saturday Night Live" starts to take notice. And we have the tape because we took notice that "Saturday Night Live" took notice.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back with the world headquarters of CNN. I'm Rick Sanchez. Did you see Saturday Night Live this weekend? You know, I usually don't watch it because I'm in bed by 8 -- no, sometimes not.
True to form, they had their fun with the president, even though most people on the Sanchez Team didn't feel that the impression was all that flattering. We want you to watch this, though. Its Barack Obama SNL-style, debating critics who say he's a big do-nothing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED ARMISEN (as President Barack Obama), SNL CAST MEMBER: I brought a white police officer and a black professor together for a beer. Who else could do that?
You're right. Oprah, but no one else.
So, please, stop saying this country is on the road to socialism. If that were actually the case, I'd be making some real changes. Instead, took me four months to pick out a dog. So, all of you frothing Glenn Beck supporters, put away those shrike corner hats and those Photoshopped pictures of me as the joker, because if I see any more of this hateful rhetoric, I'm going to have to take drastic action.
No, not really.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: There you go.
Change the subject, you and your boss get in a fight at work. What do you do? You set his car on fire. One guy did just that and it's caught on video and I'll show it to you. It's coming up. It's just part -- small part of that "Fotos."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Brooke, there are a lot of comments already on that doll story that You and I did just a little while ago, Brooke. As a matter of fact, you know what? Most people are saying -- lean up, will you? Most people are saying that the company probably should do more.
Look at Pamela Jayne over here. I'm going to read this to you. Just about Pamela Jayne, there is a bunch of people saying, you know what you should give more on a $106 thousand or $120 thousand over 2006. I wonder if the parents who would spend $95 on a homeless doll, would even give $20 to an actual homeless person?
SANCHEZ: Good question.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Raising awareness.
SANCHEZ: Raising awareness, good point. We're going to stay on top of this.
All right. We showed you clearly last week just how powerful campaign donations really are. You remember? We showed you how the health care industry flooded the coffers of the senate finance committee to try to quash the public health insurance options and that is exactly what the Senate Finance Committee ending up doing?
They quashed it. They took $10 million from the health care behemoths. And they voted as well as the industry wants it. Is it a good pro people? You decide, that's up to us. But it did leave us wondering who's really running America? Who's running the government? Is it us? Is it the voters?
Can politicians reasonably care what you and I want or need when they're getting $10 million from corporations for what they want and need? Just asking, folks. How can we compete?
Now the Supreme Court is in a roundabout way dealing with this very issue. But will it make things easier for corporations or will the Supreme Court step in and make it more difficult for these giant corporations to influence our politics, to influence politicians with money? Jonathan Turley is a Constitutional Lawyer and a professor at the University of Law School. He's going to join us now. Professor, thanks for being with us sir.
JONATHAN TURLEY, PROFFESSOR OF LAW, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Hi Rick.
SANCHEZ: What do you make of this? I mean, I know you're following this decision that the Supreme Court is ruling, the Supreme Court will eventually make and I guess we can get all tied up in the delicacies and the fine points of this. But we don't want to go there. What I want you to tell us is from your reading, does it look like the Supreme Court will help big business or star putting a little bit of control on big business?
TURLEY: Well, first of all, this term is heavily weighted with decisions involving corporations. It's one of the most important terms in years in determining not just what a corporation is but what regulations can be put on a corporation.
The one that is probably the most interesting in terms of your comments is the one involving Hillary the movie. This was basically a 90-minute diatribe against Hillary Clinton that was released during the campaign. And it was found to be a form of electioneering. Under federal law, corporations are treated differently from individuals.
Many people believe that's wrong. That corporation should be treated as persons for the purposes of the first amendment and this is a debate that's been going on since the founding of this republic. People like Daniel Webster argued that Dartmouth College should be treated in much the same way as persons. While others like Thomas Jefferson opposed corporate interest early on.
SANCHEZ: Well, but Dartmouth College is still an American university. It's probably not a multibillion-dollar enterprise and it probably also doesn't have some control coming to it from outside the United States like either China or some other country which in many ways control these companies. So to give these huge companies personhood, so to speak, wouldn't that be a little bit of a slap in the face to most Americans?
TURLEY: Yes, well they might. But the people on the other side of this argument are saying that corporations and labor unions and other organizations of this kind are basically composed of lots of people, investors, union members. They all have collective views and they speak through these corporations. And it becomes a difficult question for the courts, to what extent does this giant composed of individual investors or union member, to what extent are they entitled to be heard in the same way as their individual members?
SANCHEZ: But practically speaking. How do you and I, Jonathan, compete? I you got -- like in this case that we detailed for our viewers, $10 million were given to the people in the senate finance committee who voted against the public option, $10 million. The guy who is voted against it only got about $3 million. How do you and I compete with that kind of money if we want something that's good for us, too?
TURLEY: It is very hard to compete. This is why that case is divided the civil liberties community. It's very hard for people who believe in free speech. Many believe that corporations do have free speech rights. Others say, look this has to happen, we have to regulate corporations. If the Supreme Court says they are treated like individuals, that decision will come down right before the 2010 elections and you will see a huge amount of corporate money going into the campaigns.
SANCHEZ: It just seems like something that most Americans are going to look at on its face even without constitutional law degrees like yourself and say, that just doesn't seem right. But, you know, we'll stay on it, professor, and hopefully we'll get you back and we'll talk about it again.
TURLEY: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. She was the subject of a Peeping Tom's camera lens. Guess what? There's a development in this story. Now hers is a federal case. The accused man awaiting trial. We'll tell you who it is.
Also, why would this man do this to his boss' car? And then there's the question of the camera. We'll ask it. We'll ask both. Don't forget the after show. We'll going to hang out here at 4:00 and we'll be continuing our newscast on cnn.com/live. We'll be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back, lots of twitters coming in. Look at Mike in San Diego. He's watching our show right now. He just watched the student segment on the doll and he says that cute homeless doll is dressed to the 9's and she's white. Where are the black and brown dolls with tattered clothes?
Well, I don't know, Mike. I mean, assuming that only black and brown people are poor in this country isn't assuming that all whites aren't. I mean, being poor has nothing to do with skin color or nationality, I think. By the way, already people are calling saying, I want that doll and I'm willing to pay so much for it. We'll guess what? We'll figure this out and if we can do it, fine and if its not, you know, we'll do what we have to.
One of the things that we like to do in this segment is shine a light on lawmakers who gaffe or don't exactly tell the truth all the time. We begin "Fotos" today with Michele Bachmann.
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REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: The bill orders these clinics protect patient privacy in student records. What does that mean? It means that parents will never know what kind of counsel and treatment that their children are receiving.
And, as a matter of fact, the bill goes on to say what's going to go on. Comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor, acute, chronic medical conditions, referrals to follow up for specialty care -- is that abortion? Does that mean that someone's 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go on home on the school bus that night? Mom and dad are never the wiser.
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SANCHEZ: If could, if could -- Bachmann is a Republican, by the way. And to be clear, we looked into this. Nothing that she is alleging in that sound bite you just heard is actually true, nothing. We checked.
School-based health clinics, or as Bachmann terms them, "sex clinics," have been around for some 30 years in the United States. And as far as we've been able to discover, not one of them has ever referred a student to an abortion provider without the knowledge of a parent, never happened. The actual bill that Bachmann is citing stipulates that school-based health clinics comply with all federal, state and local laws governing parental notification and parental consent.
So, why would she say that? She is right, by the way, that as of last Wednesday, none of the three bills explicitly ban school-based health clinics from referring students to abortion clinics. And for the record, neither does it ban kids from being shipped to Mars, either.
There is one other note: there is now an amendment to specifically bar all public school-based health funds from being used for any such medical needs.
What do you do when a mountain starts sliding toward you? Well, that's what happened to Sicilians this weekend when they got 10 inches of rain. Some people didn't even have time to get out of their cars. Look at the pictures.
Heavy rainfalls caused the worst mudslides in more than a decade. It killed more than 20 people and dozens are missing. It's what happened -- say experts -- when you cut all the trees and put up too many houses on the side of a mountain. Everything rushes down. You can't fool with Mother Nature, folks.
And then there's Rhode Island, an employee had a really bad day, reprimanded by his boss. This guy decided to get even. He used a razor blade to slash his boss' tires. Then he poured gasoline on the car and then set it ablaze.
To my mind, the fire made the slashing kind of unnecessary. But it's not my party, so I'm not going to judge. Unfortunately, he did it all on the surveillance camera. So he was arrested for arson.
And what set him off? Note to all employers out there -- a bad performance review, which is now outdone by a bad rap sheet.
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SANCHEZ: She is the one that all the fuss has been about. Of course, it's not Erin Andrews' fault that someone took naked pictures of her through the peephole of her hotel room. The guy accused of doing it, arrested. And now, there's a new development -- that is next.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Here's a question for you. How did being a peeping Tom, an alleged peeping Tom, how did that become a federal case? Peeping Tom, federal case? I'll show you how.
But first, let me show you the victim. That's Erin Andrews, ESPN sideline reporter. We all know Erin Andrews because we see her right there during a primetime college game just two nights ago, as a matter of fact. She's quite good at what she does and has gotten a lot of attention.
We also know about the peephole pictures, the nude ones -- the ones that surfaced last summer when somebody took a picture of her naked through a hole in her door. Well, Friday, the Feds arrested this man. Just moments ago he was granted bond by a federal magistrate in Chicago.
We've been following this throughout the day. We knew there would be a development on it.
He was granted bond but restricted to home confinement except for work and he's barred from using the Internet. His name is Michael Barrett and he's described by neighbors as just another normal guy, that's the way they always describe them.
That's not what the Feds are saying. They're saying that Barrett followed Andrews to Tennessee, requested a room right next to hers and then shot video of her from the hallway through a peephole that he or somebody else had managed to alter on her door.
But Barrett wasn't finished. He allegedly tried to sell what he had shot to a California-based TMZ which blew the whistle on him.
So, three different states, Illinois, where he lives, Tennessee, that's the place he allegedly shot the tape, and California, where he allegedly tried to sell it. Three states, plus TV sports reporter Erin Andrews -- that makes it a federal case because it crosses states lines. And now, a whole world of trouble for an alleged peeping Tom.
This Erin Andrews things is one of those issues, and speaking of issues, yes, it's kind of a corny segue, but I love this lady.
Jane Velez-Mitchell is joining us now. She's from HLN "Issues with Jane Velez" and she's going to be here in just a little bit to take through us -- among other things -- a brand new book that looks hot and is very real and will make you go, wow. That's a lot of stuff to live through.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, HLN'S "ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ- MITCHELL": Wow, she's got problems.
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SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: OK. Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
A guy lights up his boss' car. Do you believe this? And by the way, hello, hello! McFly, do you know that everywhere there are cameras nowadays? That you can't get away with this kind of stuff. I mean, these are the types of characters my next guest focuses on every day.
Jane Velez-Mitchell hosts "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell." Oh, what a catchy name! She's recently written a book as well.
This is a great book, and the reason that it's a great book is, it's hard for someone to sit down and actually tell all their complications in life.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Their dirty laundry. I've been uncovering other people's dirty laundry for so long I figured let me just reveal all my own. Get it over with.
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SANCHEZ: We'll call them your imperfections.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You know, you've got this guy who's doing this to his boss' car...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I thought he was detailing the car when I first saw the video and I was like, no, that's not a good detail job.
SANCHEZ: Or maybe his boss is an SOB, but nobody deserves to have their property messed with. I mean, there are private issues there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And then there's the Erin Andrews thing.
Do you think there's something going on in our society where there's almost like a lack of propriety out there for people like this?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think in terms of setting the car on fire, we live in a violent society, and everywhere we turn there's violence. We use it for entertainment. We use it in news.
So, what are people being taught? Violence as a solution. So, the first thing they think of when something bad happens is, what's the most violent thing I can do in response as opposed to what's the most peaceful thing I can do in response? How could I deal with this in an evolved peaceful manner and make it perhaps a teaching moment for myself and this other person and behave with compassion?
SANCHEZ: Well, this is close to...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That's what we don't have in our society.
SANCHEZ: This is -- I can't believe this, a Puerto Rican and a Cuban.
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SANCHEZ: This is what's interesting when you -- when you read Jane's book, you'll find out there was a stalker once. You've experienced somebody messing with your own privacy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It was ironic because before I got on television I was stalked for five years, and in a way, I had that person to thank for my career because I was kind of a party girl. I was going out to the clubs and having a good time and I wasn't taking college very seriously, and I got scared and I realized my parents aren't going to let me...
SANCHEZ: What were they doing? I mean, were they just...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it was a guy -- it was a guy I had dated a couple of times and I realized he was cuckoo for cocoa puffs, and by that time he knew where I went to school, he knew where I lived, and he followed me. And it was very terrifying.
SANCHEZ: Alcohol played a big part in your life, didn't it?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, it did. I'm a recovering alcoholic with 14 1/2 years sobriety. And I spent 14 years drinking and trying to quit and not being able to do, which is the definition of being an alcoholic.
SANCHEZ: You talked a lot about your dad, Irish father...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You know, probably had some beers around the house and stuff like that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Well, he's an alcoholic.
SANCHEZ: He was an alcoholic.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: So, you couldn't help but pick up -- you say you started at 9 years old is the first time you started drinking.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, my parents would have these big cocktail parties and what I would do is I'd walk around and I would see that some of the martini glasses had these stems and people wouldn't finish off the stems, so I would just kind of go around and finish off the stems, and I was always entertaining.
SANCHEZ: It's great if grandpa does it, not so funny if you're nine, all right?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right. But they thought, oh, Little Jane, she's just performing again. They didn't realize Little Jane...
SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness!
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... was bombed. So, the thing is that my dad was a very high-functioning alcoholic -- he was an advertising executive, but nevertheless an alcoholic. So, I got it genetically. I believe I had a genetic predisposition. I got it environmentally, because I didn't know that people didn't drink every night because my father drank three martinis or whatever every night.
And then I proceeded to -- to go out and do the same. And then at a certain point, I wanted to quit and I couldn't, and that's when -- that's when the road got a lot narrower and that's the story of my book, "I Want." It's my journey to finding sobriety and then what happened after I got sober.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, what's interesting because it's a learning process. There's a learning curve that everybody goes through, whether it's with booze or food or whatever it is that their...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... crutch is. I'm interested, I mean, you had a -- you had an Irish dad...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... and a Puerto Rican mom?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Was that like an explosion waiting to happen? I mean...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It was never boring.
SANCHEZ: I bet.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The worst sin to commit in our household was to be boring and nobody ever committed that sin. There was a lot of drama. I mean, my mom was -- she was the last of the sort of vaudeville performers. She played the Palace Theater and did the five a day...
SANCHEZ: Really?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... when they had live performances in between the movies. And so, if you asked her a question, I mean, her response was, and you'd have to see this one on camera. There she is, there's mom -- by the way, 93 years young and going strong, no dementia, no Alzheimer's, goes out every night and writes poetry, just wrote an opera. She is sharp as a whip.
SANCHEZ: That's incredible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, there she is. That was Anita Velez dancers and she had a dance troupe that toured the Hilton Hotels from Puerto Rico, all the United States and Canada.
SANCHEZ: What a story and your show is hot. You know, when I'm flipping around, I go to all the news channels obviously first. Every once in a while, we'd look on Discovery or something like that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: But I watch you and you're so filled with passion about what you're talking about and what you're into. Hold that thought. We're going to flip it over to Wolf now.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sure.
SANCHEZ: My buddy. And then you and I will continue on the other side and we'll talk about the book and we'll talk about you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
