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How Much Congressmen, Senators Get In Campaign Contributions From Insurance Industry

Aired November 09, 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, CNN NEWSROOM (voice over): Historic health care legislation passes in the House. But what about the Senate? Hint to viewers -- follow the money. We will.

Is this officer swiping a document, from a lawyer, right behind her back?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to know what they took, why they took it, and what's going on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Guess where it happened? Maricopa County, Arizona. You mean, you're not surprised?

The alleged mad killer of Fort Hood, out of his coma, and talking.

The victim who survived the Cleveland house of death and horror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I saw him on TV and they said they saw bodies. All of these women he choked, and I was there!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You will hear her unbelievable story.

And, ladies, let's play nice. Are you kidding me? A big "wow" on your national conversation for Monday, November 9th, 2009.

Hello, again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news because this is your show, and you have asked me to follow the money for you. Who's getting greased in Washington? How much? And by whom? I've done some digging for you. And I'll have those numbers for you here, in just a little bit.

First, though, I want you to watch something. It's a shame we have to say when Congress actually accomplishes something it's historic. But that's exactly what this is. Watch this.

You probably missed it because most of the times when we show you this room, it's empty. But look at this, late Saturday night, all hands on deck in the House of Representatives. They are there to vote on a historic health care bill. And after all these months of intense debate, it's still not clear if it will pass. Look at the number -- you see right there? See that number? It says 216, which means health care is just two votes away from passing. I'm going to let you listen to what happens next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)

SANCHEZ: It's amazing to watch, but see the number right there? When it hits 218? That is the big nut. What you just witnessed with me is the House of Representatives going on record for the first time in the history of the United States, going on record as saying that health care isn't a privilege, it is a right for all Americans. Here's House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The yeas are 220. The nays are 215. The bill is passed.

(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: There you have it, the final vote on health care reform, 220 votes for, 215 against. It's a very close vote. Look at it this way -- if just three vote s going the other direction, health care reform is toast. And President Obama's cred on this would probably be toast as well.

So how tough was it to vote for this bill? Well, consider all the free money that was being passed around by the health care industry to lawmakers. In fact, I've done a little checking for you. And look here what I found. I wanted to see if those who voted for reform got less money than those who voted against reform.

These numbers come from the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Going back 20 years in this country, the lawmakers who voted for health care reform received an average of about $437,100 from the various health care concerns. $437,000. Pretty good money, right? Here's what those who voted against the bill -- in essence for the insurance companies, for the health industry. Here's what they received on average from the health concerns. They got more. They got $502,650. That's $65,000 more for voting for the interests of the health insurance companies. That's 15 percent more. Do you see a correlation?

But now here's the part that's really going to make your eyebrows raise a little bit. Because it's now the Senate's turn to tackle health care reform, I asked the Center for Responsive Politics to confirm my hunch, that whatever the House got from the health care industry, is going to be nothing compared to what the Senate gets. And here's what they found out. While the average House member has gotten from the health care folks some $470,000, the average, senator has gotten -you ready for this? Well over $1.4 million. That's almost $1 million more. Think about that. A $1 million more for the Senate, where this bill is now going -- or not this bill but the legislation is now going. That's about three times as much. Let's you and I keep this in mind as we watch how the debates move forth in the Senate over the next days and months. I'm going to be following the money for you.

And so can you, by the way. Let me show you something. I found this to be one of the best places of all to follow the money. If you want to know how representatives are voting or how senators are voting, it's opensecrets.org. It's the website for the Center for Responsive Politics. I have it up for you. In fact, there it is. Take a look at that, Zack, pit it up, if you can. Give me that shot. There it is, right there. You see it? I'm going to point to the open secrets. See this area, right there? That's where you can go in.

Look at their headline, "Opponents of House reform bill receive 15 percent more in health industry contributions than senators." Folks, this is important stuff if you're American.

I want you to check it out. You owe it to yourself, as a citizen of the United States, to know where the corporate money is going in politics. Whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, it doesn't matter because you know what? The money doesn't matter either, it's green. It's not about GOP or Dem.

Opensecrets.org and the Center for Responsive Politics. By the way, I'm going to put the information on my blog in case you didn't get it the first time.

The suspected mass killer who attacked U.S. soldiers at Fort Hood is out of a coma and able to talk. The investigation continues as do preparations for tomorrow's memorial service. We'll have that.

And -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) He leaped on me like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The one woman who got away from this smelly house of death in Cleveland, from the accused suspect, is telling her story. You're going to hear what she has to say.

And by the way, you're not going to believe the video coming out of Maricopa County. I've been all over this. And I think we all should. You know Sheriff Joe Arpaio's turf? What an officer did during a court hearing that the Constitution tends so says, you're not supposed to do this. Amazing stuff. Stay there, I'll show it to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

His name is Major Nidal Malik Hasan. And by all indications, some would say, he's a crazed killer. This is what he looks like. And guess what? Not only has he survived after allegedly shooting more than 50 people, he's now out of his coma and he is talking, we learned just hours ago.

The latest on this incredible case, which makes all of us ask, why didn't anyone see this coming? It's coming your way in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We told you we are serious about this follow the money thing. And you're responding in kind. As a matter of fact, let's go to our Twitter board, if we can. There we see Gus, who is shooting something for us right here.

"Thank you so very much for your report about the money that these people get from these care legislation, shocking and ridiculous.

There is another one, right under that, I want to share with you. Look at this one.

"About time a real journalist stood up and exposed the numbers on how politician are feathering their nests with us."

But then there is this one, making fun of me, really. "Rick, break some news. Politics is corrupted."

I had not idea. Are you making fun of me? That's OK.

Now this, among the people you need to hear from right now, when you consider what happened at Fort Hood, is a holy man. His name is Imam Saied Ahmed Ali. Who is he?, you ask. He's the spiritual mentor for the alleged Fort Hood killer, the guy who talked to him about his faith, his religion, his God. He's also among the people you're going to meet in this report by CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The intense investigation into the deadly Foot Hood shooting spree remains largely shrouded in silence. But it's clear this is a tragedy that hits too close to home.

JOHN ROSSI, FORT HOOD SPOKESMAN: The troubling part of it is it happened here in our own house. And that's the piece that most are troubled with right now is the location of where it happened and how could that happen.

MATTINGLY: The prime suspect, Major Nidal Hasan, removed from his ventilator, is breathing on his own and in critical condition. Outside Fort Hood, the FBI is seeking out Hasan's friends and fellow Muslims. SAYED AHMED ALI, IMAM: On Wednesday night, there was a party dinner. I think six, seven people were invited. In that party, Nidal was also there. So he asked me who was there, can you give me the names? So I give the names to the FBI.

MATTINGLY: Osman Danquah, a co-founder of the mosque where Hasan prayed, tells the Associated Press that the army psychiatrist was deeply conflicted for months about his duty to the army and fighting against Muslims. Danquah says he told Hasan, "There's something wrong with you."

But did Hasan, a doctor working with post-traumatic stress patients, ever seek help from the army? His fellow officers are baffled.

COL. KIMBERLY KESLING, DARNALL MEDICAL CENTER: He cared for his patients and he cared for them well. And he was a valued member of our team.

MATTINGLY: Questions continue to mount about any warning signs that may have been missed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: CNN's special live coverage of the memorial at Fort Hood begins tomorrow, by the way, at 1:30 eastern. That will include remarks, we've now learned, from President Barack Obama.

You're also going to be able to watch our complete memorial coverage on CNN.com/live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI FRAZIER, MAYOR JACKSON'S NIECE: He took good care of me. I never thought nobody was in the house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Just when you thought that this story couldn't get any more bizarre, the story in Cleveland, the smelly house with the decomposing corpses in it, we've learned that that woman you just heard from right there, she lived for years inside that so-called house of death in Cleveland.

Guess what? She's related to the mayor. Talk about a story being right under your nose.

And now another bizarre story, this one in Maricopa County, and its' captured on camera. An officer steals some of the paperwork from a lawyer's file right behind her back. He's doing this during a court hearing.

Folks, you can't make this stuff up, nor can you make up where the story's going now, and the reaction from the sheriff's office. We've got both and we're going to share it with you. Stay right there. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the World Headquarters of CNN here in Atlanta. I'm Rick Sanchez.

There is a bizarre new twist in that Cleveland serial killing investigation involving a niece of the Cleveland mayor, Frank Jackson. The remains of at least 11 victims have been found so far at the home of the suspect, Anthony Sowell.

Now, we learned today that the Mayor Jackson's niece lived with the suspect in that very famous, very smelly house for almost three years. You ask yourself, how can that be?

Lori Frazier is saying she moved out just last year but still thinks of herself as Sowell's girlfriend. She says, by the way, despite the smell, she never knew anything about the bodies inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRAZIER: He took care of me, good care of, me and I never thought that no bodies were in the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you ever smell anything funny in the house?

FRAZIER: Yes, I smelled stuff. But he always told me -- at first he said it was his stepmother downstairs. And then, I guess after she left, he told me that it Ray's Sausage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Lori Frazier says Sowell took good care of her. But another woman who knew him has a very different story to tell about him. She believes that she was very close to becoming one of the victims.

I want you to watch this report now. It takes it all into perspective for you. This is one of our best, CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Unspeakable horror, overwhelming to so many in Cleveland, after the remains of 11 strangled women were discovered inside and outside the home of Anthony Sowell, who's now charged with several counts of murder.

TONYA DOSS, KNEW ANTHONY SOWELL: I could have been one of them.

CANDIOTTI: Tonya Doss has no doubt she may have been spared the same fate. Last April she says she had an encounter with Sowell that scared her out of her wits.

DOSS: He was like, come on, we'll go look at the game at my house. CANDIOTTI: She agreed to watch a televised basketball game in his upstairs bedroom. Off and on since 2005, Doss said she occasionally shared a beer or barbecue at Sowell's place.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): He liked to drink, she liked to drink. Tonya Doss has had several brushes with the law mainly over drugs, including one felony conviction. Police say some of the victims found at Sowell's home have had similar troubles.

But Doss said she had no idea Sowell was a registered sex offender who spent 15 years in prison for attempted rape. She says he gave her a different story.

DOSS: He took the rap for one of his brothers. That's what he told me.

CANDIOTTI: He didn't mention anything about a rape or an attempted rape?

DOSS: No, none of that.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): But after several beers, she said Sowell's mood suddenly changed.

DOSS: He caught me off guard. He leaped over me like this.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): You're on the bed here?

DOSS: I'm on the corner of the bed. But when he grabbed me, he pushed me back up on the bed like this. OK, I'm back on the bed trying to finagle up out of it. But I but I couldn't.

So I held my breath and tried to stick my neck forward where he couldn't, but he had a grip on my throat. And my eyes started -- really, I started -- couldn't breathe, couldn't talk.

He said, "Bitch, knock on the floor three times if you want to live." And I did like this. He was still choking me. And he was like, "Bitch, you could be another bitch in the street dead and wouldn't nobody give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) about you."

And I started crying. And I said, "Why you got to act like that, Tony?" He said, "You think I'm playing. Bitch, take your clothes off."

CANDIOTTI: Doss complied, but says to her surprise, Sowell did not rape her.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Were you afraid?

DOSS: I laid in the corner on the bed like this. And I just closed my eyes and prayed myself to sleep.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): In the morning, Doss says she faked a phone call, telling Sowell she had to rush to the hospital to meet her daughter. CANDIOTTI (on camera): Tonya, did you ever report this to the police?

DOSS: No, I didn't.

CANDIOTTI: Why not? Why not?

DOSS: Because I've been raped before.

CANDIOTTI: She says when she went to authorities about that previous rape, her attacker got a light sentence and relatives blamed her for what happened. CNN could not confirm her allegation.

DOSS: When I saw him on TV and they said they saw bodies, all these females he choked, and I was there.

CANDIOTTI: Tonya's friend Nancy Cobb was reported missing the same month of Doss's alleged attack. She broke down when we asked about her friend, acknowledging she was overwhelmed by guilt.

On Friday, authorities identify Cobb has one of those whose body bodies were found in Sowell's home.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Cleveland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: By the way, I should probably let you know that CNN was unable to reach Sowell's public defender for comment today.

Cameras capture a prison guard. He's being attacked by an inmate. But you have to see what happens afterward. It was as much a surprise to him as it will be to you.

Also, an officer goes through a lawyer's files while she's addressing the court. He's doing this behind her back. And it's all caught on camera. What is going on in Maricopa County? We'll show you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It's funny, I think I'm going to start with a tweet. Let's do that. Zack, let's go to the Twitter board real quick before I go to this story, because maybe this person who's watching us right now captures the spirit of what we're going to be talking about.

He says "Rick, Arpaio," referring to Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County just outside of Phoenix, "may as well just declare independence from the United States. 2009 has no room for a gun- slinging politician/sheriff."

Here's what he's referring to in part. There is something in this country that is called the constitution. It sets down many of the laws that make us so different from many of the other countries in this world. But there are those in this country who don't seem to understand that principle. In Maricopa County, Arizona, the sheriff's office is right now is under the microscope by the feds for flaunting the constitution.

Maybe this could be another reason. I want you to watch what this detention officer thinks he can do to a lawyer's private document. This is important. As an American, I want you to see this, because he's doing this to her documents, to her files while she has her back turned.

Then stand by, because there are now new developments in this story that I really want to tell you about.

See that officer right there? He's looking at a file, the private file that belongs to that lawyer just in front of him who's speaking, who's defending that suspect, that inmate. Watch what he does.

Mind you, he's a police officer. She's a lawyer. That's her property. He's in a court. He could easily ask for a warrant because he's got a judge in front of him.

But instead he opens the file, pulls out a document, hands it to the other officer. Watch. And the other officer walks out of the room with it.

The lawyer doesn't know what's going on. She turns around. He tells her everything is fine. Guess what -- everything is not fine. It's not until the suspect here finally says, hey, that's not right. They just took something out of your file.

Sylvia Vazquez is certainly one of the most respected defense attorneys now in south Florida. She also was a former prosecutor, so she can bring us perspective on this thing.

Just from what you saw right there, what's your take?

SYLVIA PINERA-VAZQUEZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Shock, disgust, and even at one point comical. You know, I was looking at it, and every time I look at it, it's almost like watching the Keystone Kops.

SANCHEZ: I want you to listen to how the judge responds to the -- to the lawyer who, by the way, is appalled and is acting in accordance to that with the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED COURT JUDGE: I think you should just take a deep breath and calm down here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Just take a deep breath and calm down. What are you so upset about, Sylvia? PINERA-VAZQUEZ: That's insane. That's insane. She should be upset. She should have stopped the proceeding right there and then, and initiated some sort of an investigative proceeding.

SANCHEZ: Let me let you listen to this. This is the judge describing a possible scenario whereby this police officer's behavior may be correct.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED COURT JUDGE: I do want to say for the record that the deputies in my courtroom are responsible for courtroom security.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.

UNIDENTIFIED COURT JUDGE: And they have quite a lot of leeway to do what they think is necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Was there a paper that was going to blow up, Sylvia?

PINERA-VAZQUEZ: You know, I don't know. Maybe the paper was going to walk out of the briefcase and blow up or, you know? It was -- first of all, that file had already gone through security. So there was no issue as to that there was some sort of hidden contraband or anything. It had gone through security. So, unless paper all of a sudden starts talking and walking, I'm not exactly sure how it undermined the security of the courtroom.

SANCHEZ: But let's suppose -- but let's suppose there was something there that he considered threatening, because let's give him the benefit of the doubt...

PINERA-VAZQUEZ: OK.

SANCHEZ: ... and say there was something that he was really concerned that if it got out of that building and somebody got that information, the security of the building would be breached.

PINERA-VAZQUEZ: Actually, what he first should have done, if anything, has gone to the state attorney and alerted the state attorney, who then would be in charge of getting a search warrant in this instance for the folder. At the same time, he could have alerted the court, gone sidebar and told the court, "I suspect that this is -- there's something in the attorney's files that may jeopardize the security of the courtroom." And then at that juncture, the judge could have taken whatever steps she deemed appropriate in order to protect the courtroom.

But, certainly, it wasn't up to him to take it upon his wholesome self to go and save the courtroom and pull out a piece of paper, have it copied. And then, it was so dangerous, Rick, that he copied it and returned it to her.

SANCHEZ: Well, that brings up to another point though. The fact that this officer, as you say, would take it upon himself to do something like this, we're dealing and talking in this case -- and I think it's germane -- about Maricopa County. Maricopa County, at this particular point in time, is being investigated by the Justice Department for potential civil rights violations and unconstitutional acts while serving warrants or investigating its own constituents, its own citizens there. And along comes this video now.

Fair to put the two together?

PINERA-VAZQUEZ: Absolutely. You know, what's clear and interesting about this video is that this deputy, I think it's Deputy Adam Stoddard, he just didn't out of the blue decide to go and walk over there. There clearly was some sort of plan, some sort of instruction, because he waited a little while until the defense attorney was engaged with the court, then walked behind her and stood there for a minute going through her papers, picked out the paper he wanted, gave to it the deputy and went to get copied.

So, there was a plan there. It wasn't a spontaneous act. There was a plan there. Now, who directed that plan? Who instructed the deputies?

SANCHEZ: Sylvia Pinera-Vazquez, always a pleasure to have you share your expertise and your wisdom on this.

PINERA-VAZQUEZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: It is a pretty amazing case, isn't it?

PINERA-VAZQUEZ: It's insane.

SANCHEZ: Joanne Cuccia, by the way, is the lawyer whose papers were stolen while her back was turned by a police officer. She's going to be testifying about this in court tomorrow.

OK. So, you're probably wondering, as we have been over the weekend, what was actually in that file? I mean, what was the detention officer so worried about, what did he think was so important.

We found out what it was. Are you ready?

Here's what he found. It was a document, apparently written by the suspect or the inmate. It had a couple of different words on it, series of words. One was "steal." Another one said "going to." and there was another word that said "money."

They're words on a document written by an inmate to his lawyer about a fight that he had gotten into in jail. Maybe he was telling her, his lawyer, why he got into the fight to begin with. He thought somebody had done it. We don't know.

But does that sound like a reason to go into someone's personal file and steal a document? A lawyer's document in court?

Are you thinking what I'm thinking? If they can be so casual about rifling through a lawyer's file and pulling something out in court, what do they do when nobody's really looking? And do you think maybe they've done this kind of thing before?

These are questions. That's all they are, folks. Because I know you're asking 'em, so, I'm going to ask 'em with you. And as I said last week, maybe this is a question we should have: why do we need a Constitution in this country?

By the way, do you think Sheriff Joe Arpaio's office would apologize for this and assure the citizens of Maricopa County that something like this will not happen again? No.

Here's the statement he sent us, quote, "As a matter of policy and procedure supported by case law, all documents and items passed from attorney to in-custody clients are searched for contraband. The recent criminal arrest of a defense attorney who once passed narcotics to his client while in court illustrates the importance of this procedure."

All right, here comes the money line. Are you ready? "Personnel in this matter acted appropriately." He's saying that deputy didn't do anything wrong.

Let me re-read that word because it's important, "appropriately."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Why would you be so rude? You ask me a question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman reclaims his time.

RANGEL: Shame on you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Shame on you. Congressman Charlie Rangel is saying that. He says, "Shame on you," and calling his fellow congressman, John Boehner, rude. What's really going on here? You're going to see it for yourself.

By the way, did you hear who got more money from health care? Was it those who voted against reform or those who voted for it? We're going to revisit this for you. Not going to stop, staying on this follow the money thing. I think it's the most important thing we as citizens can do.

To those guys in Washington, I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I've got some folks out in Arizona who seem to be grateful for what we're doing, how do we can help them. As a matter of fact, there's this one. It says, "Rick Sanchez, thank you for looking into out screwed up system here in Maricopa County. The more you dig, the more you will find." Well, we're going to keep digging. Maybe it's because I grew up as a poor refugee. I mean, I did. My mom and dad never made more than like $10,000 a year combined income when I was growing up. I didn't know it, but I was poor. So, essentially I learned a long time ago to follow the money.

That is why the first thing I did for you today at the top of this show, for those of you who missed it, I'm going to repeat for those of you who maybe are coming to the show now. It's to find out how much money the health care companies and the insurance industry who don't want reform, obviously, have given to lawmakers to back them.

First important point I learned, I've learned from OpenSecrets.org that those in Congress who voted against health care reform got 15 percent more mullah than those who voted for it. What does that tell you? Yes, I know, don't have to hit me with a brick.

But here's the real stunner. You know how you're hearing in the mainstream media all today and part of yesterday as well how the Senate is going to be a tougher sell for health care reform? Yes, you bet it's going to be a tougher sell!

We've learned today that the average Senate member -- are you ready for this? It's going to make you smile. The average Senate member has gotten $1 million more, almost three times as much as the average House member from the health insurance companies. Let me say that again. After reconciling for the fact that there are obviously more House members than there are senator, still, the average senator gets almost $1 million more than what the average House member gets.

By the way, passage of health care reform didn't happen without rancor. Watch the exchange between House Minority Leader John Boehner and Harlem Representative Charlie Rangel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: If the House does, in fact, vote for the Stupak language, and in conference, do I have your guarantee that your vote will be in favor of this Stupak language?

RANGEL: Well, I haven't probably cut any deals with you as a Republican. But why don't you talk to someone on your level in the House leadership as you're having...

BOEHNER: You're claiming my time, Mr. Speaker...

(CROSSTALK)

RANGEL: Why are you so rude? Why would you be so rude? You asked me a question.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman reclaims his time.

RANGEL: Shame on you.

BOEHNER: That's exactly the point that's exactly the point I've been trying to make. While the House is expected to take up the Stupak language later on this evening, that it will outlaw taxpayer funding of abortion, it's pretty clear this could be a shell game events under way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Democrats could go along with a provision to make sure that federal health care money is never used for abortions. Will the Senate bill be challenged on the same grounds? Insiders say, you can almost expect that.

All right. I want you to watch a prison guard. He's getting attacked by an inmate. But you have to really see is what happens next, because it's a bit of a shocker -- not just to the inmate but to those of us who are going to see this play out, when I come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Man, some of you are fired up today. I've been checking some of the tweets so far and it's crazy, the reaction that's been coming in, not only on what we told you about what's going on in Congress when we follow the money, and you find out that the health care industry is given a lot of money to folks who actually voted for them. And that the pattern is very consistent. You know, we've been doing this for a month and it's been that way just about every time we've checked.

And then you're also fired up about what you just saw in Maricopa County -- a deputy can come up behind a lawyer and literally take a document out of her file, really as an invasion of -- if not her constitutional rights, just her basic rights of privacy as a citizen. Forget being a lawyer.

Here are some of the comments that we're getting. Let's go to the tweet board if we possibly can.

"Shame on you for stealing court papers. Officers have no legality to go through files. They are there for protection." And this guy calls them the po-po. Maybe he's referring to the police officers. "I'm glad the media s finally seeing this, too."

My thanks to all of you who've been commenting on us today. Man, we've got a lot of great tweets today. I'm going to share some of those after the show on what we call the after show.

All right. Back to me, tease time. Have you ever seen a soccer game that's this competitive? Whoa! I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

From the violent jails of Florida to the violent fields of Utah -- Utah? Let's do "Fotos."

(MUSIC) SANCHEZ: Hillsborough County, Florida -- watch this prison guard. He's being jumped by an inmate who starts pounding on him and then choking him. More orange jumpsuits join in to the fray. These are supposed to be the bad guys, right?

But, wait, they're not ganging up on the bad guy who beat up the guard. They're helping the guard. They're breaking it up and protecting the guard. One even used the radio to call for help.

Surprised? So was the guard.

To the fields of Utah we go now, BYU versus New Mexico. Talk about dirty and nasty. Then there's the soccer match. Check out number 15 for New Mexico in the red. She throws more punches than Tyson. The only thing she didn't do was the ear bite. But she does that, grabs the BYU player's hair so hard that the players hits the ground.

So, what can be more shocking than these dirty players? Our sports department tells me there was only one card thrown in this game, and it was for challenging a ref. But after this soccer fight went viral, number 15 was suspended -- and guess what -- indefinitely.

All right. So, that only happens once in a while, right? Wrong. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse we got this video.

From cat fights to throw downs. It's woman's high school -- key word -- high school soccer state championship in Rhode Island. One minute left to play, and the fists start flying among the girls. Team members join in. More hair is pulled, and you see a trend here?

This fight even spread into the stands. Look at, that between the fans. Title IX, that's 1972 landmark legislation banning sex discrimination, school academics in athletics, right? It was never meant to work like this. Was it?

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: All right. Here's something we've been following all afternoon. This is what Germany looked like 20 years ago when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. I was on the air that day, told that story.

This is Berlin today. Jim Clancy, Frederick Pleitgen and his father, Fritz Pleitgen, all join us in just a little bit for some really important perspective on this.

Also, an Oprah note. Oprah Winfrey joins forces with CNN tonight for the biggest book club ever, it's "Say You're One of Them." Just go to CNN.com/OprahBookClub and see the excerpts from the book. Watch Oprah's video blogs, file an iReport, share your thoughts -- yada, yada, yada. Again, it's tonight, CNN.com at 9:00 Eastern, 8:00 Central.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

I was on the air when this happened so it was one of those special moments where, as a newsman, you just sit back and you watch history unfold.

I want to take to you Berlin now where three of my colleagues are standing by. Jim Clancy is heading things up there.

Jim, I'm going to let you take it away and kind of do your anchor gig here and introduce us to the other two gentlemen here, obviously, one of them I know. The gentleman in the middle I don't know so well.

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, you know, it's been an incredible day as Germans and I think the world look back on events 20 years ago when people power brought down this wall, changed our world like we couldn't believe. In fact, when I say we couldn't believe it, Fritz Pleitgen, who you don't know so much, a senior correspondent, covered it all. He was in both sides, east and west.

And am I right? We weren't sure that the East Germans were going to let this stand.

FRITZ PLEITGEN, FATHER OF FREDERIK PLEITGEN: No, I didn't expect this could lead to the reunification of Germany. I was always asked that by American journalists at that time but I couldn't believe it because I thought there could still be a possibility that Gorbachev or the Soviet leadership would pull out to terms and stop this development because we have had it already in our history, and we have had the experience in Beijing a couple of months ago.

So, we were very, very cautious. But at the end, it was the support by the Americans, by your president, then-President George Bush Sr., he was the only supporter, because the French president was hesitating.

CLANCY: Margaret Thatcher was hesitating.

PLEITGEN: Not hesitating, but completely against it and Gorbachev didn't also want the reunification of Germany. So, it was the people of East Germany and the strong support of President Bush at that time.

CLANCY: You know, this history unfold, and, Fred, you didn't get to cover it along with the two of us.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately, no.

CLANCY: But you've covered it today.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Now, I want to know how old Fred -- hey, Jim. I want to know how old Fred was when this happened.

CLANCY: Yes. FREDERIK PLEITGEN: I was -- I was -- Rick, I was 13 when all this happened. I have to say at that time, I was actually following all this in front of the TV, but I have a -- I have my own history because of my dad with the Berlin Wall because he was the correspondent for West German TV in East Germany, and that meant that he brought me through the Berlin Wall every morning into kindergarten. We were living in the east. I was in kindergarten in the west. It was an absolutely surreal kind of thing.

And back then, I have to say, it meant nothing to me. It was the most normal thing in the world to be going through the Berlin Wall. I didn't -- obviously, I was like 6 years old. I didn't realize that this was the demarcation line between east and west. I mean, thinking back on it today, it's absolutely wild.

SANCHEZ: Not just...

(CROSSTALK)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN: ... going through wall all the time.

FRITZ PLEITGEN: Yes, it was an experience because at that time, we journalists from the west, we were working on the -- more or less under censorship conditions. We had always applied to get a story. We had to ask for permission to get an interview. And we with were always chased by the secret police, the Stasi. I later found in my files, I had a lot of informers, informing the Stasi.

CLANCY: You checked your files.

FRITZ PLEITGEN: Yes, I did. It wasn't too surprising. I learned it already from others, but there were a lot of people I trusted and there were informers.

But our -- our flat was completely miked by the secret police and also our office. And all they say -- they came in and they entered. As soon as we left, they entered our office, they entered our flat and they made it clear, "OK, guys, we have you under control." But they didn't at the end, because the population of East Germany was on our side, and that made it possible that we put some very discreet stories.

SANCHEZ: You know, that's incredible. It's almost -- it's almost like a moment in history captured, frozen, and I know there are a lot of people watching right now. Maybe you're too young to remember, but we remember people being shot in the back simply for trying to climb over that wall, and that's the part of the history that probably will stick with us for an awful long time.

Gentlemen, thank you. We appreciate the look back. We appreciate the perspective from all three of you. I appreciate it.

All right. Back in 1989, there was no such thing as FOX News Channel, and nobody really had heard of Barack Obama either, or Greta Van Susteren or Glenn Beck for that matter. So, we really had as rich of material on "Saturday Night Live" as what we saw this weekend. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM NBC'S "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to cut away to FOX's own Glenn Beck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Greta. You know, I couldn't sleep Tuesday night because in my neighborhood people were pouring into the street and honking their horns in celebration of the return of freedom.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were screaming and yelling and banging on garbage cans, letting their neighbors know it's safe to come out.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That loving America is legal again.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I love America. Oh, and Greta, I also realized you could rearrange the letters of your name to spell "Agret (ph)." It was a great night, a great, great night for a great, great nation.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Glenn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And that's just a part of it. What's that saying about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery? And by the way, you've never seen that other network, watch this.

We're going to be right back in a little bit, because we're going to be doing something on CNN.com/live, and I want to take you through some new information we've gotten on the latest on the terrorist or so-called terrorist, or so far investigated terrorist situation out in Fort Hood. We're going to break that down for you.

But first, here is my colleague, Wolf Blitzer. He's bringing you now "THE SITUATION ROOM."