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Bankers Called to White House
Aired December 14, 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 HOST (voice-over): Making news right now: An injury that turns out to be even worse than what it looked for the Italian prime minister.
Kurds take to the street in Turkey and we're there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We expect them to explore every responsible way to help get our economy moving again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The president says he's hitting Wall Street hard, but "Rolling Stone's" Matt Taibbi writes the president is a sell out to Wall Street. Which is it? Taibbi joins me live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Why in the world would your client pull something like that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And why won't this officer just apologize for taking this document because his criminals are worse than ours?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM LIDDY, MARICOPA COUNTY OFFICER'S ATTORNEY: We have a brutal prison gang called the "Mexican mafia."
SANCHEZ: Oh, please.
LIDDY: This criminal defendant was a member of that -- of that -- prison of that prison gang.
SANCHEZ: Sir, sir. Hold on. Hold on.
LIDDY: And their efforts are to move information from...
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: My access becomes your access with tweets from Palin, McCain, Congress, the president -- a truly national conversation for Monday, December 14th, 2009 starts right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And here we go. Hello, again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news, a conversation not a speech, and as always, your turn to get involved.
Let's do it. Remember, the TARP money. Do you remember that? Seven hundred billion dollars that saved the big banks from collapsing.
Let me ask you a question: if back then they had to catch a plane, these big shots, to collect that money which Wall Street bankers would have said, "Sorry, can't make it, I'm grounded by fog, can't make it"?
Well, guess what? The heads of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup who got $85 billion in TARP money failed to show up today to meet with the president of the United States today. Failed to show up. We're talking about you Lloyd Blankfein, John Mack and Dick Parsons. You couldn't make it. No shows. Fogged in in New York.
Oh, here's that meeting. Ten other bankers did make it and the three that we showed you called in.
As for Mr. Obama, he's got a problem. Do you know what his problem is? Them, those bankers. As we told you last Friday, the banks that we bailed out, the ones who begged us to save them -- well, they've had a good year. Yes, thanks to us.
And now, it's bonus time again, baby. They're about to pay out record bonuses -- these bankers. Record bonuses, again. How's that sound?
That's probably why the president tried to sound so tough when he was on "60 Minutes" yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of, you know, fat cat bankers on Wall Street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right. So, here's how it works. Last night, he called them "fat cats." Today, he calls them to a meeting and here's what he says he told them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The way I see it, having recovered from -- with the help of the American government and the American taxpayer, our banks now have a greater obligation to the goal of a wider recovery, a more stable system and more broadly shared prosperity.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: The president says he's willing to fight -- he used that word "fight" -- if the bankers keep trying to block the banking reforms now moving their way through Congress.
Here's the other thing he said -- he says he needs the banks to lend money, which they are not doing enough of now, which is the reason we, you, me bailed them out so they would lend us small businesses, people money. But maybe this is the most important part.
Listen to what the president talks about. Now, this is the part about the bonuses, right? This is what the president said about executive compensations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Again, my interest isn't in vilifying any one person or institution or industry. It's not to dictate to them or micromanage their compensation practices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right. What do you make of that?
Let's listen to it again, because, really, is he saying these bonuses aren't his business, not our business? Our money is what they used to get the bonuses. So, how could it not be the people's business? Just curious here.
Let's listen again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Again, my interest isn't in vilifying any one person or institution or industry. It's not to dictate to them or micromanage their compensation practices.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I don't know. It almost sounds as if the president is saying that the bankers' big bonuses are not our business. Kind of hard to tell, but I'll tell you this -- it's not what Paul Volcker is saying. You know Paul Volcker. Long-time chairman of the Federal Reserve. Knows a thing about money, about banks, about the way capitalism works.
Here's what he's trying to say to Wall Street, in fact, here's what he told "The Wall Street Journal." Let me find that for you.
"I have been around the financial markets for 60 years now," he says. "How many responsible financial leaders have we ever heard speaking out against the huge compensation practices? Every day, I hear financial leaders saying these are necessary and desirable, they're wonderful. They are God's work. Has there been one financial leader" -- this is Volcker talking here -- "Has there been one financial leader," he asks, "to stand out and say that maybe this is excessive and that maybe we should get together privately to think about some" -- key word now -- "restraint."
Well, the bankers today told reporters, when it comes to bailouts, they're going to try to do better than in the past. Try to do better than in the past. Thanks.
There's a lot of public anger out there, folks. Obviously, Paul Volcker hears it, understands it. There is a question out there right now as to whether the president understands it.
Coming up: I'm going to do an interview with Matt Taibbi of the "Rolling Stone" magazine who says the president doesn't get it. He says he doesn't get it. In fact, his article is called "Obama's Big Sellout." Taibbi himself is getting a lot of heat for what he's written about the president, as you might imagine, being criticized. I'm going to ask him about that and I'm going to ask him what he's saying about the president.
Now, I just mentioned that Taibbi's already getting some heat from a lot of folks within the business community and from inside places like -- well, "The New York Times."
Let me read you now -- let's go to Rick's List if we can. I always tell you about Rick's List. This is where I reach out to people who are important and relevant to stories. Look at this.
This is Andrew Sorkin. You know Andrew Sorkin, he wrote "Too Big to Fail," right? And he's a writer for "The New York Times." And he said this to me -- I asked him, "Did you read "O's Big Sellout" by Taibbi?" I sent that to him last night by the way, before going to bed, before retiring. "What do you think?"
This is what he responded to me. "There's a grain of truth in there somewhere, but a lot of hyperbole, too."
Now, Taibbi's responded today as well. But this is what other folks are saying, all right? This is from the Financial Services Forum. "Several forum members met with the president today to voice industry support for regulation reform and efforts to boost lending." So, that's one of the e-mails that we're getting from them as well.
Let's do this. Let's get a break in here and as we continue, we'll be looking at this topic throughout the rest of this show. Specifically, well, the story about the fat cats on Wall Street and what the president is or isn't doing to them or for them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIDDY: We have a brutal prison gang called the "Mexican Mafia."
SANCHEZ: Oh, please.
LIDDY: This criminal defendant was a member of that -- of that -- prison of that prison gang.
SANCHEZ: Sir, sir. Hold on. Hold on.
LIDDY: And their efforts are to move information from...
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right. Phoenix Arizona's criminals are so horrible that they can make police officers their at times ignore the Constitution -- which is what most would argue this deputy is doing when he takes a document he's not supposed to from a lawyer while her back is turned. I'm going to square off with his attorney. A fellow named Tom Liddy representing the Maricopa County officer.
Yes, go ahead, just take the documents. She's not looking. Go ahead.
The world is coming together to solve the world's differences, like climate change. It's the "coming together" part that doesn't seem to be working out so well -- at least not in these pictures.
Also, more trouble for Tiger Woods. We're going to tell you who's dropping him now.
Stay with us. I'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Good to be with you.
The Obama administration has been spending big money to stimulate the economy, as we all know, but the deficit caused by that spending may have the opposite effect.
I want to show you something now. It's a bipartisan group of former lawmakers and budget officials -- it's called the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform. They issued a warning today. It says, in part -- let me read it to you first. It says, "A hard landing -- where higher deficits and debt cause investors to lose confidence in the U.S. economy and rising interest rates choke off the economic growth -- is a real possibility."
What are we talking about? Well, let's put it like in a graph form. Here's what they're talking about: back in 2000 and 2001, the government actually ran a surplus, right? That's the red ink came back in 2002. And the government started running annual deficits in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
But look at what happened during fiscal 2009, which ended in September. The deficit tripled in a single year to $1.4 trillion. This year, the deficit is expected to be even bigger, at $1.5 trillion.
That's what's important about this. And where will it stop? That's what a lot of Americans are wondering.
Just before the break, we were talking about President Obama's meeting with bankers this morning. And we asked some of our experts on our list to try and send us their comments.
Here's some of the stuff that we've been getting throughout the day. We've been getting reactions from different corporations. We showed you that, we got just a little while ago.
One of the other things that we've been talking about is Tiger Woods. This is on Tiger Woods. It says, "Nike, TAG Heuer continue sponsorship with Tiger Woods. AND Swiss watch maker TAG Heuer said Monday they will continue."
All right. That's the good news. That's coming from PGA Golf. PGA Golf, as you may have seen on "Saturday Night Live" -- they are doing everything possible to solidify Tiger Woods even in these tough times.
The news is not all good, though, for Tiger Woods. We'll share that with you as we continue.
Also this...
(VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: These people are mad that they're being left out of the political process and they are using rocks to drive the point home. I'm going to explain why they are being left out and let you decide if this violence is in any way necessary. It gets tough.
Also, right-wing world leader attacked at a campaign rally. He's still in the hospital from this. That's the Italian prime minister we're talking about. As a matter of fact, it's worse than originally we thought. I'm not sure about the right wing-stuff, by the way.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I want to let you know something. These lists we put together every day, they are accessible to you. That's right. You can go to my Twitter account and you will see right there a list of relevant topics of the day. See them on the right? See the one that says Congress, then health care, Nobel Peace Prize, manual, health care, climate -- we put these together every single day and these are people relevant to the day's news.
Now, obviously, above that is the list of what you have to say. In fact, let's check in on what you have to say right now. Watch. I'm going to go over here and I'm going to hit favorites -- bang, if I can get that to do it with a double click. All of the sudden the thing has decided to be slow on us. Boy, isn't that funny? Not working very well all of the sudden.
Let's skip that and we'll come back to it in just a little bit. At the beginning of this program, I touched on the anger in this country aimed at some of the banks, the ones that are about to pay out record bonuses just a year after we saved their bacon. I want to show you some citizen anger in some other countries right now. In Turkey, for example, the Supreme Court has taken the extraordinary measure of banning the top Kurdish political party. They charged the Democratic Society Party "a focal point of terrorism," as a matter of fact. That's what they are calling it.
Turkish demonstrators have taken to the streets in some clashes with Turkish nationalists. In fact, let's watch some of it.
(VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is a potentially explosive situation that we're looking at there in Turkey and we're going to be watching it for you. As we get more video in, we'll share it with you and we let you know what happens.
Also, I want to show you Copenhagen, Denmark, now. You know what's happening there. It's the big climate change summit where people come to exchange ideas. Uh-oh!
President Obama, by the way, is going to be there later this week.
Now, watch this.
(VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: These are some of the people exchanging or some of the people demanding, in some cases, a climate change agreement that would curb greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.
Again, the president will be there in Copenhagen sometime later this week.
Come on back in, if you could, Robert. Let's look at some of those tweets coming in from regular folk, as we like to say. We're not going to ignore you, either.
This is what you're saying as you're watching us right now. "The U.S. economy will fail hard due to no substance to back up the credit spending. The U.S. is bankrupt but the credit card is working." "The whole Tiger fascination is what's wrong with America. It's not our business what he's done. Only his family can judge."
Someone watching now, Maggie, says, "Studying for finals, drinking coffee and every now and then chiming into my favorite afternoon newscast on CNN." We thank you, Maggie.
And finally, "Obama is the president not the emperor. I'd like to see his detractors do any better with all these issues."
There you go. We thank you all for what you have to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Why in the world would your client pull something like that in the middle of a courtroom?
LIDDY: Just take a deep breath and let me explain to you what was going on there.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Maybe you tell me...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Telling somebody to take a deep breath is never a good thing, especially when you're telling it to me. God, I hate that.
What happens after that in our discussion about Maricopa County shenanigans -- is coming up. You're not going to want to miss this one.
Also, the latest on the Italian prime minister's injuries after being attacked with a statue, a small statue. This is bloody. And believe it or not, it's actually worse than it looks.
Also, remember, we're going to have the after show today. We're going to have some folks coming in to visit with us. So everybody be on your best behavior. CNN.com/live at 4:00.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We just got a tweet in moments ago from the Republican whip, Eric Cantor, pardon me. And he says something interesting which makes us want to book him for tomorrow so he can perhaps explain what he means with one specific word there. Let's read it together. "Prosperity is based on risk, not Washington overregulation" -- unless I'm reading that tweet wrong, I think that's what he means there -- "overregulation and bailouts. Remove harm, get investors and small biz off the sidelines."
All right. All of that makes sense except for the use of the word "overregulation." One would think you'd be hard-pressed to find Americans who think that Wall Street was overregulated. Most would argue it's under-regulated.
But let's see if -- maybe -- he's a good guy and we'd love to get him on. He's been on with us before. Maybe we can book him for tomorrow and ask him what he means by that and maybe he can explain it to us.
Again, the GOP whip, Eric Cantor, good enough to tweet us during this newscast so that we can share his thoughts with you, and we just did.
The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wishes he probably could share some thoughts today, except but his mouth is so sore he can barely do so. He's going to be staying in an overnight -- he's going to be staying overnight at a hospital, he learned, and doctors are now saying he may need as many as three weeks to recuperate.
Did you see this? This is the attack in Milan. Let's watch it together again. It happened at a rally. Watch very closely. We slow it down for you. You can see a metal object hitting his face and, man, it hurts. It's a small -- it's a small souvenir replica of Milan's Central Cathedral there, but as you can tell from Berlusconi's reaction, I mean, it hurts like the devil. He just goes down.
The result: a bloody face with cuts under his eye, around his mouth and his lips. He suffered a broken nose. He may lose several teeth. I mean, this is worse than even we thought yesterday when we first reported it.
Police have arrested a suspect who's said to have a history of mental illness. Berlusconi was taken to the hospital at first. They said that he was just going to be held overnight for observation. But now they're saying he's going to be there until at least tomorrow and possibly beyond.
Tough guy, by the way. After they got him to the car, he tried to stand up to talk and salute the crowd. This with what had to be a painful situation for him.
All right. Also this -- you've been fired up about this video since I first shared it with you -- a detention officer taking papers from an attorney's file.
Well, I got a chance to ask that officer's lawyer what he was thinking about, and if you missed it, because we did this mostly on the after show, which means a lot of you didn't see it, well, I'm going to show to you. It's quite a conversation.
Also, I'm going to talk to Matt Taibbi in just a little bit. Matt Taibbi wrote an article for "Rolling Stone" about all the president's men who worked or have worked with, for example, Citigroup while they were working for the president, working on a bailout for Citigroup. That's the problem.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is great, where we use social media to put you together with some of the leaders in our country. I just shared with you a little while ago what the GOP whip, Eric Cantor, had said. And we wondered what he meant by that. You can try and get that up there, if you can get it up, we'll go ahead.
For those of you who are just joining us now, here's what Eric Cantor said: "Prosperity is based on risk, not Washington overregulation and bailouts." The key word there is "overregulation." And as soon as we got that, we got a lot of messages from you in the general public who responded.
Let's take the very top one right there which says, "Prosperity is based on risk?" Question. "Reagan's policies won't work in zero- zero" -- meaning these times -- "pal. Get with the program, whip -- regurgitating GOP."
Well, that's one opinion. It seems to be the opposite of what Eric Cantor is saying. Obviously, the right thing to do is give Mr. Cantor an opportunity to explain this himself, which is what we're going to try and do for you hopefully by tomorrow.
It seems like there's no reason for a deputy to go behind a lawyer's back and take documents from her file, as you're going to see right there. See the deputy is coming up? The lawyer's got her back turned?
I mean, you'd think all he'd have to do is ask the judge for an aside and then, you know, ask for a warrant, say, "I want to look at these documents." And it would be granted, right? I mean, no more than you and I would be right to go behind a prosecutor's back and take evidence that may be used against us while we're sitting in a courtroom. I mean, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?
But this officer isn't given a harsh fine. All he has to do is apologize and everything will be forgotten. And you would think at that point everything would be fine, right? Well, guess what? He's not willing to do that. His boss, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is telling him not to do it, not to apologize.
The officer's name is Adam Stoddard. His lawyer was good enough to come and join me. His name is Tom Liddy. He begins his defense when I question with him a suggestion that somehow criminals in Phoenix are worse than the criminals in the rest of the country. The suggestion former prosecutor Silvia Pinera-Vazquez disagrees. Here we go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM LIDDY, DEPUTY COUNTY ATTORNEY, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: Out here, I don't know what's going on in the prisons in Atlanta, but out here in Arizona and in New Mexico and in Texas and in California, we have a brutal prison gang called the Mexican Mafia. This criminal defendant was...
SANCHEZ: Oh, please. Oh, please.
LIDDY: ... a member of that...
SANCHEZ: Please, sir, sir, sir, there is -- hold on, hold on, hold on.
LIDDY: ... prison gang. And their efforts are to move information from inside...
SANCHEZ: Hold on, yes, I know -- yes...
LIDDY: .. the prison, outside to the streets in order to give orders to the street gangs.
SANCHEZ: Just hold on a minute.
LIDDY: The weakness...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Before -- before you....
LIDDY: ... to get it through the court system.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a simple question, was that paper going to blow up?
LIDDY: The potential of the message in that paper out to the streets may, of course, narcotics trafficking, intimidation of witnesses, killing of witnesses...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: OK. Let me stop you. Good answer. Good answer.
LIDDY: It's not the modus operandi of the Mexican Mafia to blow things up. They usually use a .9 millimeter and they cap their opponents in the head.
SANCHEZ: Fine, fine, yes, yes. They're all really bad and it's like a "Starsky & Hutch" episode.
Why did he take it upon himself, as if he were judge and jury in that moment, to execute the law, something our Constitution says he's not allowed to do? Let's be fair about this, please.
LIDDY: Well, the Constitution also says that if you're going to put my client in jail, you have to do it -- give him due process of law. He has to have access to the evidence what will prove his good faith basis for taking the steps he did.
Now you can -- you ask a very legitimate question, could there have been...
SANCHEZ: All she asked him to do was apologize.
LIDDY: He didn't ask him to apologize, he ordered him to apologize. And as you well know, Rick, in this country, no one who is in the government can order another free citizen to say something.
SANCHEZ: Did you think a police officer has the right to go into someone's property and just take it without asking for a warrant?
(CROSSTALK)
LIDDY: No, I don't, but do you think that a judge has the authority -- not the right, the authority...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
LIDDY: ... to order a citizen to make a public speech at a press conference? No, he does not. 1776, if everybody thought that the deprivation of the right to free speech was a slap on the wrist, we wouldn't have a country to this day. SILVIA PINERA-VAZQUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What are you talking about free speech? What does free speech have to do with it? He went and invaded a file of another attorney.
LIDDY: Take a deep breath...
PINERA-VAZQUEZ: Excuse me, Mr. Liddy...
LIDDY: Take a deep breath.
PINERA-VAZQUEZ: ... excuse me. Let me speak, I let you speak...
(CROSSTALK)
LIDDY: No, hold on a second, you asked me question...
PINERA-VAZQUEZ: He went through a file, picked it up, and went through the file of another attorney and took out a piece of paper. If he was so concerned that there was a problem and there was a security breach, his first obligation is to the public. Get everybody out of that courtroom, get the courtroom safe, and then discuss it with the judge, not take it upon himself to get a piece of paper and copy it.
That just shows evidence that he wasn't so concerned because had there been a true concern as there has been in Miami in the (INAUDIBLE) of Florida, they clear the courtroom for the safety of everybody in that courtroom, including the judge, including the state attorney, and including the defense attorneys. And that's where Mr. Stoddard and Sheriff Arpaio have a problem.
SANCHEZ: All right.
PINERA-VAZQUEZ: He was ordered by the judge to hold a press conference and to publicly apologize. In order to do that truthfully, he has to feel remorse. When the people know exactly what was going on in that courtroom, they will understand why he took the actions he did. Maybe he should have taken different actions, but for the actions he took in that split decision -- that split-second, he does not have remorse.
LIDDY: So it is never in the public interest to order somebody to lie. Nobody, not a judge, not a sheriff, not a president can order any free citizen what to say.
PINERA-VAZQUEZ: Judges do it every single day in this courtroom. They order people to do things that they don't necessarily want to do. They order people to write apologies. They order them to do community service. They order it all the time to do things they don't want to do. And then that person has a choice, disobey the court order, be found in contempt, or whatever the consequence may be. In this case he went to jail for 10 days.
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you where I was disappointed is when you started out with this whole thing about the Mexican Mafia and your prisons and this and that. I have got to tell you, you really should rethink that strategy, sir.
LIDDY: Well, it's not a strategy, these are facts.
SANCHEZ: Because I -- look, I come from Miami, sir. We have seen Gambinos, we've seen drug dealers, we've seen al Qaeda, we've seen the worst scum in the world come through our prison system, not to mention the metropolitan court in New York City and other places. To sit here and tell us that somehow in Phoenix, Arizona, you have got the baddest of the bad, is laughable.
LIDDY: I didn't say that. You're making that up. I didn't say that.
SANCHEZ: OK. All right. Correct me then. What were you trying to say with the fact that maybe in Atlanta we don't have this, but over there in Maricopa you have got some real bad guys.
LIDDY: No. What I said was I don't know what you've got going on in Atlanta, but I know in Maricopa County, and in California and Texas, we have the Mexican Mafia. And part of their modus operandi is to try to get orders out to street gangs. The Mexican Mafia is a prison gang, orders out to street gangs, and they do it through abuse of the pro per status, they do it through abuse of attorneys, and they do it through abuse of attorney-client mail.
SANCHEZ: Sylvia, finish us up here if you possibly would.
PINERA-VAZQUEZ: The most important thing to remember is exactly what Stoddard did. He went in, invaded attorney-client privilege, stole documents from a file and didn't follow the procedures that he should have followed in order to protect the safety of a courtroom. He was held in contempt. He chose not to follow a judge's lawful order, and thus was put in jail for 10 days...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So what happens next? January 5th I think there is going to be a -- there is going to be a hearing on this, is that right?
LIDDY: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Am I correct?
LIDDY: That's correct, Rick. We'll be before the court of appeals on January 5th and we'll look forward to speaking to all of you again right after that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And we thank both of them. You can watch -- by the way, you can watch that entire interview on our blog, cnn.com/ricksanchez.
He is the champion on the green turned liability in the boardroom. We're going to check out who's bailing on Tiger Woods's brand name now.
Don't forget to call the "Hey, Rick" line, by the way. That's what it is, really. You start it off with "hey, Rick." And that number to call is 877-742-5751.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. It's Elle. With regards to that attorney, oh, my goodness. you know, the best thing I could get for Christmas would be to have Sheriff Arpaio in jail.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Boy, we have got a lot going on today. Earlier we told you some bankers couldn't make it to today's meeting with President Obama because their flights were delayed by fog. The bankers aren't alone, over the past few days bad weather has, in fact, been causing travel problems for a whole lot of people. I want you to look at some the snow.
Wow. this is Rochester, New York, you're looking at right there. Freezing rain and then icy streets caused incidents like this though in Pennsylvania. Boy, I'll tell you, talk about feeling helpless when your car is just doing its own thing. Look at that. That was in Pittsburgh where several major highways just had to be shut down because you know what, folks, tires don't work in those conditions.
This is Allentown, Pennsylvania, now. Even police investigating the accidents there were having a hard time trying to just walk across the street. And then the nasty weather wasn't confined to the Northeast. A weekend storm dumped nearly two feet of snow in California's Sierra-Nevada Mountains, and those become pretty pictures after a while.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that Tiger Woods, you know, sort of leaving for this indefinite period of time from golf gives them an out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: If now is the time to get out, how many corporate sponsors will take advantage of that possibility and actually get out? Also, can they afford to drop the athlete even if they don't agree with his personal choices? This is an interesting conversation. Oh, speaking of conversation, remember, the conversation continues on cnn.com/live at 4:00. You can log on.
And by the way, you see that group of people you just saw right there? Go back. Take a look at those folks right there. Every Monday we allow you to come here and visit with us. If you happen to be taking part in the CNN tour, we'll involve you in the show. Welcome aboard, folks. Wave. Say hi. There you go. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Since the last time that we talked about Tiger Woods, Tiger Woods announced on his Web site that he's taking a leave of absence from the PGA tour. Huge news there in and of itself from a sporting note standpoint. And for the first time he has used the word "indefinitely." That's in quotations, folks. He has gone from saying transgressions to now admitting he just flat out cheated on his wife.
Now the huge corporations that pay him tens of millions of dollars to push the products, they are starting to run for cover. AT&T says it is evaluating its relationship with Tiger Woods. Gillette says it is supporting his wish for privacy by limiting his role in marketing. Interesting turn of a phrase, eh?
And now Accenture, that's a huge consulting firm, has taken Tiger off of its Web site. It's kind of amazing how fast Woods has gone from the absolute gold standard to being, in many ways, the butt of jokes these days. The sponsors don't need that, don't need to rub off on them like it's rubbing off on the PGA tour and its commissioner, Tim Finchem. In fact, here's Tim Finchem as portrayed over the weekend -- this is funny, this is from "Saturday Night Live."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the PGA Tour will be just fine without Tiger Woods. And, you know what, the sponsors, well, they are excited, too. I really want to thank our new sponsors...
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... the Madoff Investment Group, Major League Soccer.
Oh, my gosh.
(DRINKS FROM BOTTLE)
So you know what, on the tour we have got Steve Elkington, you know, we've got a guy named Henrik Stenson, and there's a dude named Whitey Whiterson, and Trust Fund Jones III, you know, just regular dudes dudes can relate to. Oh, we literally got nobody. OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Trust Fund Jones III. This isn't good for Tim Finchem, obviously it's not good for Tiger Woods, but somewhere in there there may be something positive. Tomorrow at 3:00 Eastern we're going to be talking about that. So tune in.
All right, let's do this as well. What we've got coming up in just a little bit, you know when robbers break into a pharmacy they're not just looking to swipe the cash from the register. Up next, imagine Harold and Kumar going to the medical marijuana supply store. The difference is this is not a movie. We'll share it with you in just a little bit.
And don't forget, visit me next time you're in Atlanta. We'll let you come by and be a part of the show if you're already part of the CNN tour. Stay with. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. It's 3:00 and we're doing the 3:00 hour. I'm Rick Sanchez. America is captivated, as you know, by movies like "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact" where massive meteors and stuff like that speed toward Earth, threatening global destruction. Well, now there is a way of protecting us from such stuff, even if most of that stuff is fiction. Let's do "Fotos."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two, one. We have ignition and lift-off of the Delta II rocket (INAUDIBLE).
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SANCHEZ: Take a look at that, huh? That happened just a couple of hours ago in California. It's NASA's newest telescope being rocketed into outer space. It's going to help us map out the hidden secrets of the universe, find objects. One of its main goals is to actually find anything that could pose a possible threat to us. Big brother will be watching out for us, for our safety out in the cosmos.
A dilemma caught on cam in Colorado, all that stands between these robbers and an endless supply of pot is this 250-pound safe, bolted to the wall, and floor of a medical marijuana dispensary. But these crooks are no dopes. Oh, no. They ripped the entire safe off the wall and then wheeled it out of the store. I guess it's easier to figure out what you're going to do with it at home. We'll let you know.
Also this. You have seen what happens in these kinds of situations, a deer stuck in the headlights is the term that's often used, right? Well, what about a deer stuck in lights period? That's what happened to this poor deer in Colorado. Most of the lights got tangled in his antlers. He's dragging the rest of the lights behind him. People have tried to help the decorated deer, but he's just a little too fast. Santa may not need Rudolph's shiny red nose this year.
Doesn't he look just like that show we watch with our kids every year with the deer -- that's what is it? The Mutual of Omaha one, exactly. Thank you, Johnny. And there you go. "Fotos" for today.
Well, my next guest says the president's economic team has such close ties to Citigroup, for example, that they're in many ways incapable of making some of the right calls on things like bailouts. Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, you've seen him a lot of places, like he's with Bill Maher all the time, well, he's going to be with me in a little while. And he is going to be talking about this.
Matt, thanks for being here, by the way.
MATT TAIBBI, ROLLING STONE: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.
Tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, an American arrested in Cuba. Why was he there handing out cell phones and laptops to dissidents? I mean, there's much more than meets the eye here, as there usually is with stories coming from my home country. We're going to be all over this. CNN's Rafael Romo joins me tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 to explain this connection, which we're being told, by the way, has to do with contractors? American contractors, we know they're in Afghanistan, we know they're in Iraq, are they in Cuba? Is that new? Did nobody tell us? I'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: All right. I know a lot of you guys have been looking forward to this segment, so let's get to it.
We begin this hour talking about President Obama's meeting with bankers today. Everybody has been talking about that in Washington. The president has been very tough on the banking industry, saying that they should do more to boost the economy by freeing up the credit markets, among other things.
Despite that tough rhetoric, some critics are saying the president is too close to the bankers. Matt Taibbi among those, contributing editor for the Rolling Stone magazine. And he has written a piece called "Obama's Big Sellout."
He says -- and this is the sentence that really got me, and I've read his piece several times now, and read everything that has been written about his piece, by the way, and that's a lot, he says: "Mr. Obama's economic team is made up exclusively of callous millionaire" -- he has another word after millionaire that we can't use on TV, "who have no interest in reforming the gamed system that made them rich in the first place."
I think that pretty much captures the essence of what he is talking about. It's tough talk, and he's good enough to join us now.
Matt, how are you?
TAIBBI: Good. thanks for having me on, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Good to see you. Let's start with the news today. I think we -- have we got that video of these bankers that came out today? If we do, put it up, if not, it doesn't matter, because I've got these bankers who came out today after meeting with the president, and one of them, a fellow named Davis, said -- he said when it comes to bonuses and compensation, they're going to, quote, "do better than in the past." Is that good enough?
(LAUGHTER)
TAIBBI: It's probably not going to be good enough for a lot of people out there. I think the problem that most people have is there is really a disconnect between Wall Street and the public on this issue. I think public increasingly feels like these banks were the beneficiary of an enormous amount of governmental support and tax- payer support last year, and they're using that support to turn it into bonuses.
Whereas Wall Street sees themselves as making their money fair and square, and they want to keep the money that they earned. And this is a fundamental disagreement that these two groups have.
SANCHEZ: But in your article -- you know what's interesting about your article, for the first time it seems to me someone like you has come out and made this an Obama thing. You write that he ran as a progressive but ended up shipping off his progressives, in other words, moving the people who were more populists, and instead packed his administration, key economic positions, with the same people who caused the economic disaster that we're in now.
You stand by that?
TAIBBI: Yes, I mean, I think that's a fair assessment. I mean, obviously Obama, the problematic part of that equation is the idea that Obama ran as a progressive . You know, a lot of people would take issue with that. I think he ran as more of a progressive than he has been as president. And he had some people advising him when he was running who would probably qualify as more progressive than the people who are in the White House now, among them Karen Kornbluh, and Austan Goolsbee, the University of Chicago professor.
But those people were really not part of the team after the election. Right after Obama got elected, the day after he brought in Michael Froman, a high-ranking Citigroup executive, to basically run his -- be the top economic headhunter for his transition team.
SANCHEZ: Well, let's talk about Citigroup, because, man, you leveled them in this thing.
TAIBBI: Right.
SANCHEZ: By the way, we reached out to the White House. We asked them -- and I tweeted a bunch of folks last night, I sent them all a link to your article and asked them what they thought about it. Andrew Sorkin -- you know Andrew Sorkin, at The New York Times, he gave you kind of a review that's kind of in the middle. Did you read what he had said? Do we have that up? Can we show that to him real quick while we're on this?
What does he say? Let's -- Eric (ph) in Washington, what did he say? We're going to try and put that up for you. He says: "There's a grain of truth in there somewhere, but a lot of hyperbole, too." Do you accept that criticism? TAIBBI: Well, I mean, I think that there are, I think, a lot of people in the journalism business have really more of an issue with the style of writing that I use than the substance of it. I think it's typically in mainstream journalism, we show both sides of the equation, and that's not really the way I perceive my job. I make a case and I don't always feel the need to present the other side of it.
I think in this issue, I thought it was important to point out to people the extent to which a certain group of people had taken over the White House.
SANCHEZ: You -- let's go back to the question I raised just a moment ago. You specifically go after Citigroup, some of the folks who you believe were kind of double-dipping. They were working for the president of the United States -- or the president-to-be while they were also working with Citigroup, while working with the president to create a bailout for Citigroup. You think that was a conflict of interest. That's your point.
TAIBBI: Well, I think a lot of people -- if this had happened in the Bush administration, progressives would have been all over this. Here you have Michael Froman, who is brought in on November 5th, the day after the election. He is a sitting Citigroup executive. He does not resign from Citigroup until February.
During this entire period is when the Citigroup bailout is happening. As soon as the bailout -- it's a $300 billion bailout. It happens a couple of weeks after the election. The same day that bailout happens, Obama hires Timothy Geithner to be his treasury secretary.
Now of course Geithner used to work for Bob Rubin who was a Citigroup executive, and then...
SANCHEZ: Clinton administration. That's the other interesting thing here. You're on Citigroup, and you also talk a lot about the folks that were with the Clinton administration who started some of the deregulation that created the problem. Let's talk about that as we go into cnn.com/live, for those of you who want to stay with us, with Matt Taibbi.
Meanwhile, Wolf Blitzer is taking it over from "THE SITUATION ROOM" in Washington.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Rick, thanks very much.
