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Immigration Reform Part II?; NFL Player Dies

Aired December 17, 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 (voice-over): Making news right now on your national conversation. U.S. drone technology hacked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the only game in town.

SANCHEZ: How much damage is done? The way of the future for American soldiers, a weapon so smart it can pick off the enemy, no matter where he's hiding. But what if the other side gets its hands on it?

Three brothers serving this nation proudly, though their parents hail from another.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I hope they are good citizens so they don't have to work like me in construction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: My access becomes your access with tweets from Senator Jim DeMint, Harvard, Congress, the White House. A truly national conversation for December 17th, 2009, starts right now.

And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez in the next generation of news. It's a conversation, not a speech. And as always, it's your turn to get involved.

We have spent, as a nation, billions of dollars developing unmanned drones, and today, we are learning that terrorists can counteract them for less than 30 bucks, $26.95 to be exact, and also an Internet connection. And the bad guys there in the crosshairs. They might have lived to kill our troops, or who knows, maybe attack American soil.

I need to tell you that these guys here, they're in Iraq. They're being tracked by a Predator drone, and they're seconds away from going bye-bye for good. Now, if we ever get Osama bin Laden, this could likely be the way that we do it. In fact, I want you to listen quickly to CNN's Barbara Starr now. Here she tells us how the unmanned drones have taken out top-level terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pakistan, August 2009: An unmanned aircraft takes off from a secret base inside Pakistan. The Central Intelligence Agency has a tip where the Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, is hiding. The CIA drone flies in, piloted by personnel miles away in front of a computer screen. Its missiles fire. Mehsud is killed.

Since Obama took office, the number of attacks has jumped, 45 this year so far, compared to 34 for all of 2008.

LEON PANETTA, CIA DIRECTOR: Very frankly, it's the only game in town in terms of confronting and trying to disrupt the al Qaeda leadership.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Did you hear Leon Panetta? He said that these drones are the only game in town.

But let me tell you what has happened since. According to "The Wall Street Journal" beginning late last year, video feeds like this one shot by America's super-secret drones, this began to turn up on laptops taken off of captured bad guys. What were they doing with it? This was happening in Iraq and in Afghanistan. They had this stuff on their laptop computers. It turns out they were watching us while we were trying to watch them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIOBHAN GORMAN, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": If you are a bad guy, and you are trying to evade either capture or attack or just, you know, being watched and tracked, it is a lot easier to do that when you know exactly when and how you are being watched. So, that is the real concern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is amazing. The concern is they have essentially hacked one of our best weapons. Let me do this for you, just to make it even a little more clear.

Rog, can you do me a favor? Call up SkyGrabber. Thanks, buddy. That is the Web site that we are talking about. This is a service that intercepts satellite data and, as we understand it, for the bargain price of only $26.95, will send it straight to your home computer. How easy is that?

Let's remember these unmanned drones are controlled from the ground, and what with are looking at here, it is sent from the drone to a military operator, who is sometimes thousands of miles away. There is no pilot on the plane. It's a pilotless plane, so it is the operator who controls it.

It is that transmission, the one from the plane to the operator, that the bad guys have somehow learned to intercept. You get that? Well, here is what the Pentagon is saying today.

They are saying that they are working to encrypt the satellite feeds, so that they can't be intercepted anymore in the future. Why they didn't do that before, who knows. The real scary part in all of this is that the Pentagon has now hired its own hackers to check their computerized control system, and what they found is that it also has weaknesses.

Now, the key is to make sure that terrorists don't find those same weaknesses.

All right. Here is what we are going to be doing. There's an awful lot of smart people in this country who know a lot about military and about the IT stuff. So, we're going to be reaching out to them. We do it on Rick's List, where essentially we talk to the different people on any given day who are relevant to the news stories of the day.

We are going to do that when I come back.

You see that gun? That is the newest U.S. secret weapon. I'm not kidding. You are not going to believe what that gun right there can do, the way of the future, and the fear that the secret could somehow get out. I am going to take you live to a U.S. military armory to show it to you.

Also, while you and I had our eyes on health care reform, this week, immigration reform made a comeback on Capitol Hill. What exactly will a new bill do that the one the nation got all worked up about last time couldn't do or didn't do?

Also, don't forget, the other way to participate in this national conversation, you can call us in the United States. The number is 877-742-5751.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Paul from Arkansas. I'm a union member and we are going to spend all our time and money voting those moderate Democrats out of office. Blanche Lincoln, Nelson, they all better be watching out. President Obama has also let this country down by not leading the debate on health care.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There is new video that is coming into us right now. My goodness, I was told moments ago by my producer that the pictures were amazing to look at. And, indeed, they are.

Look at the very top part of your screen. We want to thank WMAR, our affiliate, for providing us with this picture. This is from northeast Baltimore. You see where the break is, right? You see where the water is really gushing up out of the ground there? That is at the top part of your screen.

But, obviously, it is continuing to flood everything that is downhill of that. Police and authorities are telling folks to stay in their homes in this area, not to try and go out and recover your car, because it will likely just make things worse. They are saying the vehicles should just stay where they are.

Again, this is a significant water main break, and accent on main, because this is the big pipe there in northeast Baltimore, the pictures coming to us now from WMAR.

We call it Rick's List. And what we do is, we try and talk to people who are relevant to the stories that we are telling you. This is good smart stuff that we think will provide you with needed information.

And we are getting right now a tweet into us from someone who is extremely reliable when it comes to military operations. He is also an IT specialist. He is known as Blackfive. And this is what he is saying about the report that we just filed about those drones that are being hacked in parts of Iraq and Afghanistan.

He writes: "'WSJ' drone hackers" -- by that, he means "The Washington" -- I mean "The Wall Street Journal" -- "Real issue is not the hackers, but the officials who knew and ignored the risk for the last 10 years."

Again, that is from Matthew Burden. He's known as Blackfive on his blog, and he writes and has studied this type of thing for an awful long time. We are going to try and reach out to him, by the way, to see if we can some more information to him. And, if we do, we will immediately pass it along to you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: Why stop at jobs and health care? Global warming, rough stock market, bad traffic, lousy weather, too many immigrants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That is Congressman Luis Gutierrez. He just introduced a bill to alleviate this country's immigration problems. But if it creates the same hullabaloo that it did last time, is there any possible way that it can pass? Should it pass? You tell me.

Also, ahead, the story that everybody in the sports world is talking about today. A pro football player dies after what appears to be -- appears at this point to be a violent domestic dispute, another one. We are on it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: The immigrant blame game is constant. Cynical politicians believe it drives number. Cynical commentators believes it drives TV ratings. The immigrant blame game is one of the most predictable, most deplorable elements of public debate in our nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Hard to disagree. That was Illinois' Luis Gutierrez announcing the introduction of what is another proposed reform of our immigration laws. That is the topic of the our "Conexion" segment today.

We all certainly remember how the last immigration reform went. Then President Bush couldn't get it past his own Republican Party. Politicians and talk radio, they turned up the volume. They, in many cases, actually painted the people who clean their homes and cut grass as hardened criminals. And the whole thing just went down in flames in the Senate.

Well, here we go again. I want to show you something written at CNN.com by Ruben Navarrette. He's a frequent guest of mine.

He writes: "The United States is a remarkable and compassionate country unlike any the world has ever seen. It deserves an immigration debate that is principled, high-minded and purged of the ugliness that has been part of this discussion since the first immigrants arrived. Let's make it happen this time."

Again, that is Ruben Navarrette, syndicated columnist and editorial board member at the "The San Diego Union-Tribune."

And he is good enough to join me now from San Diego.

Ruben, what would make you think that something like this could happen this time, when it has not happened in the past, and certainly, as you write, and you are absolutely correct, it was ugly as hell last time.

RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR., EDITORIAL WRITER AND BOARD MEMBER, "THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE": Yes.

Rick, absolutely, it has been ugly for 200 years. We have not been able to have this conversation in this country in a race-neutral way. It is always about keeping out a particular group of people. The only thing that changes is the group that we are keeping out. The rest of it stays the same.

So, I think I am little optimistic this time, because I think we have moved away in the last few years from this divisiveness, this ugliness. I think the election of Barack Obama was a very good sign for the country in terms of wanting to leave behind a lot of our old divisions and fights.

But I am a little concerned about something in this bill, in this Gutierrez bill.

SANCHEZ: What is that?

NAVARRETTE: Well, I think it has a lot in there. It has all but the kitchen sink in there. It has got 10 different points to it, but it's missing an important component. And that's a guest worker plan. Without a guest worker plan -- and that is a plan to bring in additional legal temporary workers in the years to come -- he is not going to get a single Republican vote.

If he doesn't get any Republican votes, he's going to be held up in the long run by those conservative Blue Dog Democrats, who are against legalization. So, this is going to be just like the health care debate. The worst problem that Luis Gutierrez is going to face, mark my words, is from his own Democratic Party.

SANCHEZ: But let's -- can we just look at this from a commonsensical standpoint, if that is even possible in this country anymore?

There are people who have been in this country, and the real sticking point in this bill is going to be -- you and I both now this -- is it not about how big the wall is. It's about legalization.

It's about this question, Ruben. Who is allowed and should have a path to citizenship and who shouldn't? A little old lady here who has been for 40 years cleaning someone's house in Houston or in Dallas. A guy who came here when he was 1 years old, and his parents may have been illegal, but in the meantime, he has gone on with his own dough to a junior high school and has now got a four-year degree and has opened up his own business.

NAVARRETTE: Right.

SANCHEZ: Or the guy who is a member of a gang in L.A. and is generally scum, and we don't want him to become a citizen.

So, there are all types of people in this country. Who should get a path to citizenship, and who shouldn't, and when we are going to set those guidelines? Isn't that what this is really about or should be?

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRETTE: Yes, it really is.

SANCHEZ: Or should be?

NAVARRETTE: Yes. Rick, it is about this hump that people have to get over. And I don't blame them. They have a tough time signing off to something that sounds like they're rewarding lawbreakers.

But, at the end of the day, if you're not going to be able to deport all these people and if they're not going to self-deport on their own, you need to have some way of dealing with them. So, what you need is cutoffs. You need to be able to say, hey, anybody who came before 2000, let's say, they can be eligible. Anybody who just got here, they are not eligible.

And if you are eligible, man, you have to meet all these conditions. You have to go through all the background checks and paying the fines. Maybe even have a touchback, where you go back home to get processed in your home country and leave your family here.

(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: And that is what this has. But I looked at this. And you have to pay a fine. I think the one last year was more like $1,000 something. Now it is down to $500.

I went and did an interview with illegal immigrants, and I asked each one of them. I said, what would you be willing to do? And I read them every single thing that was in the Gutierrez bill.

NAVARRETTE: And they said everything. They said, I will do it all. Yes.

SANCHEZ: They said, Mr. Sanchez, I will do that. I will do whatever it takes. I don't care. I will beg, borrow and steal to be -- well, maybe not steal, but to come up with the money. I will go back home. I will come back.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRETTE: Sure.

SANCHEZ: They are really desperate just to get a pathway going. Why wouldn't the commonsensical people in the country want to help them do that?

NAVARRETTE: Right. Well, I think they should. I think that there is, again, the sort of sense that people have broken the law to get here, but they broke the law in part because we have enabled them to break the law by hiring them to do these jobs.

They didn't hire themselves. We hired them. We also raised a generation or two of young kids who are not going to do these jobs they way they used to. Once upon a time, high school kids would go up to Washington State and pick apples in the summertime, or in the season. They don't do that anymore. Now it is illegal immigrants that do it.

So, we are culpable, Rick, six ways from Sunday. This is something that we did to ourselves, not something that was done to us.

SANCHEZ: Well, and you know what is interesting? Because you said we hire them. There is another part of this that sometimes doesn't come into the discussion. And, look, I think both you and I would agree I don't want our country to have a helter-skelter approach to immigration. We need to have a border.

It needs to say, no, you can't come in. I'm sorry. We need to set limits. We need to decide who stays and who doesn't stay. But none of those questions are being answered.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: None of those guidelines are being established. Instead, we are actually recruiting illegal immigrants or undocumented workers -- call them what you will -- to come into this country.

NAVARRETTE: Right. SANCHEZ: Our companies, major corporations, who get tax breaks, are recruiting these people. And, then, after they come here, we get mad at them? They are literally being told, come here, I need you.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRETTE: Yes. They are recruiting these people, Rick, because it is a little dirty secret. We don't want to talk about it. There are jobs Americans won't do.

There was a story not long ago about the fact that you can't find people to milk cows in a dairy in Southern California unless they are illegal immigrants, or pick strawberries, or tar roofs, or clean horse stalls in Kentucky. These are always the bottom-of-the-barrel jobs. And Americans are kidding themselves if they think, as a commentator on this network used to say, this fantasy somehow that the problem is employers are not paying enough, as if, if the lettuce farmer was paying $50 an hour, those kids would leave the Starbucks and beat a path to go pick lettuce?

That is nonsense. It is not true.

SANCHEZ: Well, it's interesting. And I think the biggest thing that we have noticed here on this newscast recently, whether it is about Barack Obama having to deal with the Wall Street fat cats or the health care reform debate or TARP or the stimulus package, it really takes courage on the part of politicians to become informed and then make courageous decisions about things that might be good for the country.

Instead, don't they generally tend to just make decisions based on what their longevity in office will be? And once you start doing that, you are at the beck and calling of every radio talk host who is deciding he wants to get ratings today and is going to call whatever he wants to, immigrant -- Italians this or the Irish that or Jews this or Hispanics that.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRETTE: Right.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: You're not going to get anywhere.

NAVARRETTE: If you read your e-mail and you read my e-mail, clearly, things that you and I say engender some level of hostility out there. not everybody disagrees with what we say, but there is some hate mail that we get.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

NAVARRETTE: If you're running for Congress, you don't want that. You don't want Rick's mail. You don't want Ruben's mail. You want to be liked. So, you go forward to the rotary club here or there and you say exactly what they want to hear, even if you don't believe it. What they need to do is tell people what they need to hear, not what they want to hear, and we would have a whole different debate.

SANCHEZ: Ruben Navarrette is syndicated columnist, editorial board member at "The San Diego Union-Tribune."

I enjoyed the discussion. Thanks for coming on again.

NAVARRETTE: Always a pleasure, Rick. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: All right. Let's go to Rick's List now, if we can. This is where we get people who are relevant to these discussions. And we ask what they are thinking.

Well, here is Representative Gutierrez. He has sent me this. Interestingly enough, he is the actual sponsor of this bill who we heard talking just a little while ago. He says: "Four million U.S. citizen children spend holidays in fear of losing a parent because they could be deported. Congress must take up CIR to keep families together."

That's comprehensive immigration reform, by the way, CIR.

That's the XM-25. You may not have heard about it. It is still in a testing phase, but you are about to witness the future of the U.S. military's arsenal. And you will hear it live on this program.

Next, three kids have lost their dad. The Bengals have lost a player whose comeback story was still unfulfilled. But what were the circumstances surrounding this bizarre death that everyone is talking about in the sports world? I am drilling down on this for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right. We have got another breaking story for you that we are following for you.

This is happening on West 33rd and Amsterdam. Interesting. Some of the folks that you might see behind me right now are working on this story, because we are in the New York bureau and here at the Time Warner Center.

Let me try and give you the information that we have right now, because this looks like a pretty desperate scene there. It is around Amsterdam and West 33rd.

We understand that we, CNN, can now confirm that as a result of this shooting, two people are dead. The Associated Press, though, is reporting that there are four people dead. Again, our number at this point is two people are dead. The killings were reported around 1:45 p.m.

It is at an apartment building on the Upper West Side. I'm looking at notes that were just handed to me here. Bear with me here. The New York Police Department is confirming the shooting at 83rd and Amsterdam.

Check that, 83rd and Amsterdam. I thought that might be wrong when it said 33rd if it is the Upper West Side. So, let me clarify that. The shooting is at 83rd and Amsterdam. That would be the Upper West Side of New York. At least two people are dead at this time, but NYPD cannot confirm any more details.

Reports of one person being found in a bathroom, another person being found in the backyard. The Associated Press is also saying that an injured woman was taken to the hospital from the scene. And there have been at least at this point no arrests.

I imagine there probably are police there conducting an investigation. Again, as we get more information on this story, a shooting, a major shooting on the Upper West Side, we will bring you those details.

Meanwhile, another tragic story to share with you on this day, this one having an impact all over the sports world. It is a bit of a strange story as well. Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry died today. He died this morning, in fact, after falling out of the back of a pickup truck during an apparent domestic dispute.

If you are curious and you have questions, so do we. Police spokesman Rosalyn Harrington said that homicide detectives have been assigned to this case.

Now, late today, police released two 911 tapes. The first was from an unidentified woman who said that she was following a yellow pickup truck. It has got a black man on it with no shirt on. He is beating on the back of this truck window. I don't know if he is trying to break in or something. It is a girl that is driving it.

That is the description coming from a witness who was following behind. Just about a minute later, an unidentified man called 911 and said that he saw a man laying on the road and definitely unconscious.

It is Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, dead at the age of 26. There is going to be more to report on this story, obviously, a lot of questions left as to whether police are investigating the possibility of charges, what is going on, what was he doing, and the relationship between the two. We are going to be here as we get details to report it for you.

This is not a video game. This is a gun so sophisticated it can strike a target even if it has to go around a wall to do it. Think about that. That is Colonel Doug Tamilio. he is showing off the XM- 25 for us. I am going to talk to him next.

And, remember, you can join me live to ask questions as well. Just go to the Twitter page, because I am as curious as you are about this thing. Let's go after it together.

And if you ever want to join me here in the studio, the number to call is 877-4CNN-TOUR.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This next story is important. It could be really big for our men and women on the battlefield. What I'm about to show you is akin to a real-life secret weapon. It is the next generation in warfare, and could become a real game-changer, especially in places like Afghanistan or Iraq. You ready? Let's watch this.

This is the XM-25 that the Army is experimenting with right now. You see it? It is extremely high-tech and maybe more accurate than any gun before it. Why? Here is why. With this thing, a soldier can hit bad guys from as far as two-and-a-half football fields, and here is the push. They can do so even if the target is hiding behind a wall or hiding behind a trench.

As you may be able to see in this demonstration, the ammo actually goes around the barricade and hits the target from behind. I understand as you watch this, you probably have a lot of questions. I have seen some of them coming in on Twitter, so do I. Colonel Doug Tamilio is good enough to join us now from the testing ground in New Jersey.

Colonel, thanks so much for being with us, sir.

COL. DOUG TAMILIO, U.S. ARMY: Well, Rick, thank you very much for the opportunity to come on your program and talk about the XM-25.

SANCHEZ: Yes. I just realized you and I have a little bit of delay, so I will try and make my questions as succinct as possible. First of all, explain to us what the technology here is, what it does, what makes this gun so unique?

TAMILIO: OK. Well, Rick, this is the first time we are putting a smart weapon in the hands of our soldiers at the infantry squad level. And the XM-25 is a 25-millimeter air burst technology. And what it really does is, it has got three components. On the top, you see an integrated fire control system with a day and a night sight.

You have the weapon system, itself, which is a rifle -- semi- automatic rifle, which holds four rounds. And then you have the smart round. the 25-millimeter round has two warheads in it, and that is the destructive power you are see in the video. But how it works, it's actually very simple. The soldier would just pick up the weapon, and I will do that for you here, if that's OK.

SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm. Go ahead.

TAMILIO: He would pick up the weapon, he would charge it, looks through the sight, he automatically lazes the distance to the target and then he can increment using these buttons here a plus or minus a meter, in this case, he would want to add a meter, and then he simply just pulls the trigger.

And when he does that, automatically the fire control system sends the information to the round, and the round knows exactly where to burst over the target. SANCHEZ: So, it actually -- rather than being a direct line on to a target, it actually would go around and then burst behind him or above him for example. I can kind of figure out what the advantages would be to this, but would you explain to me why this would be integral to -- important to soldiers in combat?

TAMILIO: Yes, absolutely. I mean, when the soldiers come under fire on both sides, they get down behind cover. That's the first thing to do. Now this weapons system and this round basically takes that -- the enemy's ability to hide behind cover away.

Now it does not necessarily go around a target, but it is programmed to go over the target, and then the round explodes and the fragmentation comes down on the enemy soldiers hiding either in a foxhole, and behind any cover, as you saw in the video.

SANCHEZ: How long before this thing is actually actuated by the Pentagon? How long before we see it in use?

TAMILIO: Well, the program is fully funded, so we're extremely excited about that. Our operational test is in fiscal year '12, and shortly after that, we will begin fielding it to units. But I will tell you that prior to that, we will do a limited user assessments with units in the field. And when I mean the field, typically will bring them to units in Afghanistan, because we want to know what the soldiers think about the system, what is good, what is bad, and then we can incorporate that into the manufacturing the end item that we finally give them.

SANCHEZ: Let me bring you what some of the concerns are from people who are watching this show right now. I'm going to go to my Twitter board. This is the second there. This is from 19fraz (ph). He says: "XM-25, what happens when the enemy gets one of these? Would this weapon increase friendly fire as well?" So he is worried about the enemy getting it and he is also worried about friendly fire. How do you answer those two questions?

TAMILIO: Well, I would answer, I am not worried about friendly fire on this one, what I would say is the enemy getting it, I think that's well above most of the enemies we're fighting today, their technology, their ability to do something like that.

SANCHEZ: What if a soldier dies in the battlefield and he happens to have one on him and leaves one behind, and suddenly the enemy gets it, and they take it to a lab somewhere and they're able to duplicate it, isn't that a concern?

TAMILIO: Yes, it's a concern. It would be difficult though for them to backwards -- to look at this and that in that -- and go backwards compatible to try to figure out how we put it together.

SANCHEZ: I guess that the question that that raises for me is one of the things I have noticed being a former college football player is, the better the NFL improves the equipment, the more head injuries we get. It is almost like when you make people -- when you give people better equipment, then they can ram their heads together and in the past before they wore helmets, they grabbed themselves around the waist.

The more we improve our stuff, it always seems like the other guys end up getting it as well. And I want our guys to have the best stuff, but I don't want it to get in the hands of the other guys. Just from a human standpoint, and from a military standpoint, does that concern you?

TAMILIO: No, because we always are one step ahead of them, in my opinion, so this technology we have been working on for a couple of years, when we field this, that we are not going to stop there, we are going to continue to make developments in this and other technologies.

SANCHEZ: How long do you think before we actually see this being used, if you were just to give us an estimated guess? Do you see it actually....

TAMILIO: I would imagine a year...

SANCHEZ: Go ahead.

TAMILIO: Yes, I would think, Rick, in about a year from now, we will see soldiers in limited quantities using this in Afghanistan, and that way again we can get the likes and dislikes and put that back into the process, to make it even better.

SANCHEZ: Fascinating. Fascinating conversation. Again, for those of you out there who want to know more about this, it is called the XM-25. Colonel Doug Tamilio has been good enough to take us through the explanation. Thank you, Colonel. Appreciate it, sir.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the vicinity, they have positioned themselves on opposite side of the...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Speaking of that, and possibly the enemy getting their hands on our equipment, hackers who can see video feeds from American drone aircraft. When you consider what a high priority drones are getting in Afghanistan, you begin to understand why this is such an important story, especially considering what the Obama administration is doing with those drones. We will bring you that story.

Also, why is Tiger Woods being linked to a Canadian doctor who is being investigated for performance enhancing drugs? Stay with us, and don't forget the other way you can participate in our "National Conversation" is call us, here in the United States. The number is 1- 877-742-5751, and start with, "hey, Rick."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Back to "Rick's List" now. This is what Senator Dick Durbin is calling the "smoking tweet." The one that he says proves that Republicans are just trying to delay, delay, delay all and any health care reform. Let me show it to you, going to the board now. This is it from Jim DeMint, sent about 1:00 yesterday, just about the time that Tom Coburn decided that he was going to ask that the entire bill be read.

Here it is. "If Reid won't slow down this debate, we will do it for him." Again, that is sent from Jim DeMint, and that has caused a whole lot of hullabaloo today in Congress, and certainly in the Senate with the Democrats accusing the Republicans of actually trying to slow everything down if not kill what's left of the health care reform bill. That's why they call this, again, in Dick Durbin's words, what I just read to you, the "smoking tweet."

Coming up next, Tiger Woods...

(INAUDIBLE DUE TO SOUND EFFECT)

SANCHEZ: ... Canada. When his knee wouldn't heal, now that doctor is being investigated for peddling what some consider performance enhancing drugs. I'm going to tell you what Tiger's agent is saying. Problems on top of problems.

And now I know this video will make some of you mad, but it will also make some of you say, I would do the same darn thing if I had a hockey stick. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Jim C. (ph) down in Richmond, Virginia. You know, Tiger Woods' life is in turmoil and he is still doing better than most men. Even if he gets divorced and retires from professional golf, he is still worth about a half a billion dollars. How many men are divorced and retired and play golf on the weekends and they are not worth half a billion?

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in our Time Warner studios in New York. I will tell you this, things are not getting any better for Tiger Woods. In case you haven't noticed, things possibly have just gotten worse. Woods has been linked to this Canadian doctor, his name is Anthony Michael Galea, who was yesterday was charged with selling an alleged performance-enhancing drug. Galea treated Tiger Woods last year after Tiger's knee injury, now today it's being reported that investigators in Florida are looking into Galea, who isn't licensed to practice there in Woods' home state.

Let the implications of that sink in, as I take you to my favorite golf blog geoffshackelford.com, which links to Christine Brennan's column today in USA Today. "For all of this conversation about Tiger's lifestyle that by itself will not sink his golf career, but were he to have cheated in sports by using performance-enhancing drugs, his golf career likely would be over. Golf isn't baseball where A-Rod can acknowledge cheating in spring training and have a ticker tape parade by autumn. Golf is a game of honor where the athletes call penalties on themselves. Performance-enhancing drug use by such a high profile person probably would kill a career in that sport."

That's what she wrote. Do you agree with that assessment? Tomorrow, I'm going to talk with Geoff Shackelford about this, he has been following the Tiger story since before the newest scandal broke. And he and I will take a serious but measured look at the real problems facing the world's best known performer.

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VICTOR GONZALEZ SR., FATHER (through translator): I hope they are good citizens, and they pursue a career, so they don't have to work like me in construction.

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SANCHEZ: That man does have a lot to be proud of, three sons, in fact, all serving this country, even though dad is from another one. I'm going to introduce you to the fighting Gonzalez brothers.

And now you see it, now you don't. Sarah Palin's vacation picture that speaks volumes, or does it? We will tell you about that hat she is wearing.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez. In the "Odd Couple" Oscar Madison and Felix Unger just could not hit it off no matter how hard they tried. You can say the same thing about Seinfeld and Newman, right? And then there is Sarah Palin and John McCain. Let's do "Fotos."

We begin in Hawaii and yes, that's the former governor of Alaska, but it is what is on her head that is stirring the commotion this time. She is wearing a sun visor that used to say "John McCain" on it, but somebody took a magic marker and scribbled out McCain's name, kind of like what a high school kid does on his yearbook when their girlfriend breaks up with them. Palin says that the scribble should not be taken as a frontal attack on her former running mate, she just wanted to remain incognito.

Wisconsin now, baseball has bats, hockey has pucks, but when New York -- what happens when you mix the bats with the pucks? You know what they say, it is not a hockey game until somebody loses an eye. Well, guess what, this bat, as in marsupial, lost more than its eye. The bat flies into the arena where the Green Bay Gamblers were playing Cedar Rapids. So the gamblers head coach sends several of his players to do what they do best, let's say they dispatched the bat and continued the game. Animal activists are not happy, the coach says he was trying to protect his players from the fans with rabies. To be continued.

Las Vegas, and how do you celebrate the opening of a multibillion dollar project Vegas style? Fireworks and fanfare launched the official opening of the ARIA Hotel & Casino in Vegas. This 4,000- room, 61-story building is the centerpiece of an $8.5 billion complex. Sin City is, as you know, economically depressed right now, maybe more so than some other cities in the country. One wonders how many of these it would take to bring them back. Just asking.

I want you to look at the faces of these three guys, all brothers, all soldiers. all serving in Iraq. And all have just returned home. And we have got them live. And you see the guy to left there, that's Edgar. He has got something special he came home to. We will let him tell his story. He is smiling. Way to go, Edgar. We will be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I want you to meet a family that's putting more on the line than most. On Thanksgiving one year ago, CNN spent time with the Gonzalez family, a family of soldiers who shared their unusual story of sacrifice.

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SANCHEZ (voice-over): Within a mile of the U.S.-Mexico border in San Elizario, Texas, a Thanksgiving meal, a turkey, and red chili dressing is under way. The women of the household busy themselves with potatoes, preparing enough food for an army. But who is not home for the holiday tells the real story.

On this Thanksgiving, filmed last year, three sons are missing from the dinner table. Just two weeks before, all of them, National Guardsmen, deployed to Iraq.

MARISA GONZALEZ, MOTHER (through translator): It's sad, very sad. You miss them because it is a day in which everyone is together.

SANCHEZ: Mariela Garcia pops in a DVD for the family to see. It is a video made by Sergeant Edgar Gonzalez, her high school sweetheart. At the age of 24, the eldest, Edgar left on his second tour of duty with his two younger brothers: Victor Junior, age 19; and Aaron, 18, nicknamed "the little one."

Laughter eventually turns to tears.

V. GONZALEZ SR. (through translator): It was very difficult because we had never been separated from them for so long. Edgar had already gone to Iraq two years ago, but just him. Now all three of them left right away.

SANCHEZ: Their sons are willing to die for a country their parents weren't even born in.

V. GONZALEZ SR. (through translator): I think that either way they are dying for their country. I wouldn't be against that. I think they are doing what they should be doing. Even though my heart would hurt, but it is their decision decision.

SANCHEZ: Edgar became a U.S. citizen after his first tour, and after 20 years of growing up in the United States.

MARIELA GARCIA, EDGAR'S BRIDE: They are all real patriotic. You know, the youngest one, since he was small, he said he wanted to join as well. And then with his brother being in, you know, that was more of an influence for him to do it.

SANCHEZ: Latinos have served this nation since the Revolutionary War. In recent years, military service has become an expedited pathway to citizenship for tens of thousands of soldiers like Edgar Gonzalez.

V. GONZALEZ SR. (through translator): I hope they are good citizens and they pursue a career so they don't have to work like me in construction in the sun and cold.

SANCHEZ: The Gonzalez brothers and their parents hope their military service will help them land better paying jobs. For Edgar, he's hoping to join the Border Patrol if he makes it home.

GARCIA: He doesn't really say much. The only thing he says is to take care of myself.

SANCHEZ: Edgar left behind his novia, his girlfriend, Mariela, to plan a wedding on her own. She prepared for the best and the worst.

GARCIA: My main fear is that, you know, if something happens to not just one of them, it is all three of them are gone.

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SANCHEZ: Edgar, Aaron, Victor, welcome home, soldiers.

Hey, Victor, what's the first thing you did when you got back to the States? I'm curious to know.

SPC. VICTOR GONZALEZ JR., U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: I went to visit my family. It's the first thing on my mind all of the time.

SANCHEZ: And what did you eat? What did you eat first?

V. GONZALEZ JR. : I believe it was either enchiladas or platas (ph).

SANCHEZ: Edgar, you came back and there was someone waiting for you who, as we just saw in that report, is your new bride. Tell us about the wedding.

SGT. EDGAR GONZALEZ, U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: Oh, the wedding was awesome. It was -- it was awesome to have the whole family together, including may brothers there with us. It was just awesome. We enjoyed every minute of it.

SANCHEZ: Aaron, let me ask -- Aaron, let me ask you about Iraq. I'm curious, the fact that we are hearing so little about Iraq these days because Afghanistan seems to be in the forefront. What do we need to know about Iraq that you can tell us?

PVT. AARON GONZALEZ, U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: It was a great experience and I learned a lot. And things are getting better, you know? And it was great experience. SANCHEZ: What are your parents saying to you as you three fellows arrived? I could sense in your mom especially that she was very worried about you guys all being there. What did she say to you?

A. GONZALEZ: They were just -- they were speechless. There's just tears running down their cheeks.

SANCHEZ: Your mom cried, huh?

A. GONZALEZ: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I guess all our moms would probably cry if all three of their boys came back together. You know, you guys all being brothers and being in the same country and in the same war at the same time, did you -- did you have contact with each other? Did you meet up from time to time? Did you communicate? Take us through that.

E. GONZALEZ: Yes, of course we had communication. We were in the same battery, same platoon. We were in different squads doing different missions at different times. But we would see mostly -- I think almost every day we used to see each other. Of course, when we would go out on missions, we wouldn't see each other, but we were inside the base, we will see each other. We would get together all the time.

SANCHEZ: It is interesting. I was just learning that 10 percent of the servicemen and -women in our military are Latinos and Latinas. I didn't know the number was that high. Are you surprised to hear that, by the way? Or did you know that from some of the folks that you talk to over there?

E. GONZALEZ: I've seen a lot of Hispanic people in the military. But I'm surprised to hear that number.

SANCHEZ: We noticed in the piece that you were hoping to get a job with Border Patrol when you came back. How's that going?

E. GONZALEZ: It is still in the process. I'm just waiting for that call. I hope I get it soon.

SANCHEZ: That's great. You know, guys, we are just happy to have you back. Thanks for defending us.

E. GONZALEZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Thanks for serving our country. Thanks for coming back safe. Keep up the good work. God bless.

E. GONZALEZ: Thank you.

V. GONZALEZ JR. : Appreciate it.

A. GONZALEZ: You, too.

SANCHEZ: Here now from New York, let's take you to Washington, where my colleague Wolf Blitzer is in "THE SITUATION ROOM. " WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Rick, thanks very much.