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President Obama Holds National Security Meeting; Jet Crashes Near Chicago

Aired January 05, 2010 - 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:

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: There was an exchange of fire and then the gun battle then ensued.

SANCHEZ: The 911 call is out on the shoot-out at a federal courthouse, and you are going to hear it.

A school bus driver was driving erratically, and the kids pick up on it.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: You passed the turn.

SANCHEZ: The bus driver tries to stop them, but they will not be deterred.

UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: Turn the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

SANCHEZ: How does this play out? How does it end? You are going to see the entire episode.

A brilliant writer with a controversial idea: Our free market system needs tweaking big time.

All this as we countdown to January 18, and the premiere of Rick's List. It is where my access becomes your access, every single day. America's cutting-edge national conversation starts right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. This is a conversation. It's not a speech and it is always your turn to get involved.

That is the White House that you are looking at right there, and today is the day. The president is back in town. He is in a meeting right now to discuss terrorism, comma, the prevention of. At that meeting are men and women in charge of every facet of America's security. The FBI is there. The CIA is there, the military, the NSA, Homeland Security, agents with counterterrorism departments. There are no cameras. There are no reporters. There are no open doors.

Let me show you who is there, as a matter of fact. Here is a list of just some of the people who are attending. You see them right there. You have got several Cabinet members. There are generals, both serving and retired as well, almost all of them familiar faces, too many to count.

There is the White House counsel, the deputies of communications, let's see, intelligence, security. There, you see strategy. We know they are talking about the Christmas Day bombing attempt, and it is expected that they will also take them into a discussion about Yemen and Afghanistan and airports and airlines and watch lists and the no- fly lists.

We are told the president will make an appearance after this meeting. That could be any time within -- well, within this hour, so stay tuned. When it happens, you will see it here live.

Joining me now are two guys with as much experience as anybody on the block. Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski was our nation's national security adviser under President Carter. And David Gergen served in the inner circles of four presidents, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan.

Gentleman, thanks so much for being with me today.

Quick question to get us started. Is this meeting for show and to quiet critics or can this meeting reveal substantive answers? Can they come out of this?

Dr. Brzezinski, let me start with you, sir.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, it's a little bit of both. Obviously, it is a meeting designed to reassure the country that the president is in charge, that the system can work, that any loose links will be eliminated.

But, in terms of serious substance, it's too large a meeting. It will probably come out with some specific proposals for short-term solutions. I don't think it is a kind of a meeting that can address this problem from the longer-range perspective.

SANCHEZ: But we are eight, nine years, maybe 10 years if you take some of the Bill Clinton years into this as well, heck, maybe even more than that, and we are still talking about the possibility of meetings that give us short-term solutions.

David, I could hear viewers out there going, come on, guys. You can do better, right?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think the whole country was surprised that there are this many holes in our security system.

But I do agree with Dr. Brzezinski. This is going to be much more about the short-term issues of how we protect our borders and how we share information about potential suspects, people who might carry bombs on airplanes and that sort of thing. But the bigger question, the harder question are mostly those of military strategy. How do we combat terrorism that seems to be spreading?

It was in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. Then we started -- we got very involved in Iraq, and then it seemed to be -- flower there, and now it has moved to Yemen and into Somalia. How many countries is this going to spread? It is like a cancer that is spreading across these failed states.

And that is, I think, going to be the bigger question of what we do. And I don't think this meeting is designed to answer those questions. This is much more about the short term and also I think to satisfy some of the political needs of showing a more decisive president.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Yes, it seems like it may be a little bit of a shame. It seems like it may be a missed opportunity, and that is what I want you two to address as we continue this discussion, because it seems like we are at the point where we have the people in place.

Let me show you some of the big names here. Look at the top six. We have got Clinton, Panetta, Napolitano, Holder, Brennan. We got Blair. I mean, these are the people who the president has chosen to guide him through these discussions. They're all there. They're all in place. And if all we come out of this is a new way of detecting people who may have some kind of substance in their underwear or their shoe, I don't know. It just seems to me at this point that many Americans who have been writing to me today are telling me that they want more.

Where does this go? That is why we have you two guys here. You have been in these meetings. You can take us through it. So, stay right there.

Also, we are going to be covering this

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENSIGN: There was an exchange of fire and then the gun battle then ensued into the street, and then across the street, where the gunman was fatally shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Yesterday, we were clueless as to why a gunman did it, but now we may know why, and you are going to hear the 911 call on the Vegas courthouse shooting for yourself.

Also, a school bus driver is caught on camera driving drunk, and the kids on the bus end up having to take over the bus. That is just ahead.

Also, don't forget the other way you can participate in the national conversation with us here. Just call. In the United States, the number is 1-877-742-5751.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of CNN.

I told you from the start that this is a story that was not going to go away and now there is some very bad news for Gilbert Arenas of the NBA's Washington Wizards. The Web site TMZ is now reporting it was not one gun that Arenas had in his locker -- not two guns, not three guns -- four guns, including one that is described as a very large weapon.

Gilbert Arenas had four guns in his locker, and here is the really bad part now. He does not even own a license to have those guns, according to the Web site TMZ. As we have been reporting, Arenas is under investigation by the NBA, by the D.C. police and by the local U.S. attorney as well. This guy's contract pays him $111 million -- $111 million.

It has four-and-a-half years remaining. And the team could void the contract if it finds that Arenas has violated a morals clause.

Let me take you to something else, speaking of Gilbert Arenas. Here is what else we have been finding about him. He is on Rick's List, which I will divulge every day of what newsmakers are tweeting, and what you are tweeting. Now, my access becomes your access every day when I do this.

And, today, it is actually the guy who is in the news who is making the news by tweeting. Look what we found we want to share with you. First, look what he tweets. It is a video that you can actually upload. It's called "The Agent Zero Show." That is his nickname. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. Arenas, by the way, wears the number zero. That is why he has that nickname. And here is another tweet that we just monitored from him within the last couple of hours.

I guess it is showing his positive outlook in all of this. It reads as such: "Put a smile on your face and think you are alive and still around, so join me in enjoying every day and smile for the negative people."

Once again, we continue to check all the newsmakers to see what they are saying on social media, on Twitter, and Gilbert Arenas on this day tweeting as such. We will continue to follow that as well. At this time yesterday, we were still trying to get to bottom of that deadly courthouse shooting in Las Vegas. Remember? A gunman came into the lobby and he opened fire. Outside the building, the sound was caught on a cell phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNSHOTS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable.

(GUNSHOTS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hell of a morning for jury duty.

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That video goes on for more than a minute. And you can hear at least 45 shots. The gunman was killed. Two law enforcement officials were taken to the hospital. One of them, a court security officer, died there. The other one, a security U.S. marshal, is apparently going to be OK.

Now, the calls to police are out as well. These are the 911 calls, and we have received them in the last couple of hours. I want to share some of those with you now. Here they are.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you like to code red?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Code red right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy. All units, code red, the channel arriving on the 415 (INAUDIBLE) Looks like the suspect being taken down by marshals at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Looks like the suspect has been shot. Roll medical.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy. Would you like me to maintain the red or just continue the red?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep the red. Still shots are being fired. Suspect is not moving.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy. All units, shots are still being fired.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have got officers down inside the FBI building. Roll medical.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are expediting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Expedite medical for two officers down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you confirm if it's FBI or metro? If you can advise if it's code four for medical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four for medical. Bring them in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Acknowledged.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are clearing the federal building for any additional suspects.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Copy. All units, be advised clearing the federal building at this time. (INAUDIBLE) are you on the call as well?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right. (INAUDIBLE) We got a (INAUDIBLE) set up somewhere?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not yet. If someone would like to call it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) We have medical coming in for three separate victims?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is affirmative. I will reconfirm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to confirm, we have two in the federal building that are down, not metro, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uncertain now if there are still any more shooters inside the building. I am going to need a team so that we can get with the people here and start clearing the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. We have learned that the gunman was a 66- year-old Las Vegas man named Johnny Lee Wicks. Why did he do it? Police suspect it was over a course case. You see, Wicks had sued to collect Social Security benefits from the government, and the judge threw his case out.

Breaking news we are covering for you right now, we have just learned that there has been some kind of plane crash, although the information is just now coming in to us. These are the pictures. I am looking at them for the very first time, just as you are looking at them.

And I am looking now at some of my notes to try and catch up on what the information is. Here we go. I am reading. Private plane, possibly a Learjet, has landed in a forest preserve south of Chicago Executive Airport. This is at or near Wheeling. This is according to an airport spokesperson there, Laura Witlox.

The Prospect Heights Fire Department, according to the information I'm receiving there, is now searching the area around the airport following reports of a plane being down. WLS is now reporting that some bodies have been recovered from the scene.

It is kind of hard to make out what exactly this is and why there is that water there. Is it a slough? Is it part of runoff? How far is this from the airport? How did the plane actually come in? What part of the plane are we looking at?

It does appear, at least according to initial reports -- and, again, we are all looking at this for the very first time. At least according to reports from WLS that there are at least a couple of fatalities. We don't know exactly how many people were on board, do we, Andreas (ph)? Do we know at this point how many people were on board of this plane?

All right. So, again, this is being described as a forest preserve just south of Chicago, where this plane has gone down after either missing or taking off from the executive airport there at Wheeling. Again, this is the Prospect Heights Fire Department on the scene.

Let's take a look. Let's bring out a map so we can get a better idea of where this is. There you see the area around Chicago. Where would Prospect Heights be? Let's go back out. There, you get the big picture, Lake Michigan off of Chicago. Now let's go in tight to Prospect Heights.

And you see it is right there under the -- well, unfortunately, breaking news banner. There you have the picture. We are hoping to get a little more information on this, and, obviously, as we do, we are going to be sharing it with you. But it looks like a plane has crashed in the area around greater Chicago.

It does appear at this point, according to WLS, one of our affiliates, that there may be several fatalities. And we don't know how many, by the way, because we don't know at this point how many people were on the plane, but we are told specifically with these words that bodies have been recovered from the scene.

We would take from that that they are fatalities, although sometimes language at the very outset of news stories like this has a tendency to sometimes come in different. We hope we are wrong, and, in fact, those are just people that have been transported and not bodies.

Well, I will continue to drill down on this, and as we get information, we will be making calls. There's folks behind me right now working on the information for us. And as we get that, I am going to be sharing it with you.

Moving on, once again, we are hoping that within this hour to learn exactly what the president and some of the most distinguished members of his security team have come up with after discussing the Christmas Day incident behind closed doors.

I have got two guests who are as good as you can get on something like this. They have both sat on those types of meetings, and I am going to be asking them, well, many of the questions that you are asking me, including the question of whether our president's philosophy right now, the U.S.' philosophy on terrorism, is working.

Also, have you seen the photo of Fidel Castro in a wheelchair? You will. And you're going to hear what he is saying about President Obama. Let's just say he is not a fan these days.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right.

Let's go back to that picture that we have been getting out of the greater Chicago area. This is from Prospect Heights, supposedly a forested area. Forest preserve is how it was described to us. A plane has just gone down there.

There are initial reports of what appear to be fatalities, and we have just learned from one of our affiliates there -- we hope to be able to hook up with them throughout this newscast -- that it may have been a Learjet cargo plane.

I have never heard of a Learjet cargo plane myself, but I imagine they're out there, Learjet cargo plane. We know in the past that when airplanes crash near airports oftentimes it has had to do -- covered several of these myself -- with the plane either being loaded wrong and the cargo shifts from one end to another, causing the plane to go down, or simply too much cargo.

Those have been past experiences after stories resembling this. We don't have the details as to what happened here, only what I have been able to tell you thus far, that it is a cargo plane. We have just learned that. It has gone down not far from the airport there, the executive airport in Wheeling, and that there are probably a couple of fatalities.

We are going to stay with that story. We're going to be hope to be able to hook up with some officials there on the scene, and as we do, we will share it with you.

Meantime, if you have got it, Dan, give me the shot of the White House once again, because there is other developing story that we're following for you having to do with the president of the United States. He is meeting with the biggest of the bigs today. Everyone who has a position having to do even tangentially with national security is meeting right now behind closed doors with the president of the United States.

David Gergen, CNN senior political adviser, has been in meetings like this one.

The question continues to come back as to how broad this discussion will be. Will this be the beginning, David, of a discussion that the Obama administration is going to have over time as far as focusing our effort on terrorism, or will it just be a discussion to figure out how some guy got on a plane with a bomb in his underwear?

GERGEN: Well, Rick, listen, they have got a big political problem.

This guy got through. You know, hey, he had this loophole that he found in our system. He burst through it. He damn near brought down a plane, damn near killed a lot of Americans.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

GERGEN: And it looked like the administration was somewhat complacent about it. They said the system worked. And the president did not come out and respond for three days. So, they didn't quite look like they were quite on top of it.

Sometimes, when they go on vacation, they get a little too relaxed, if I may say so.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

GERGEN: And, so, first of all, they have to seem like and they have got put the period at the end of that sentence and start a new sentence, saying, we are being decisive and we're getting on top of this and we're going to fill these holes.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: But damn it to hell, David, if as Americans we constantly have smart guys like you telling us that the president needs to do this, because it is politically important to get out in front of the story, what about the fact that it is important to get a handle on terrorism worldwide, period?

(CROSSTALK)

GERGEN: Well, listen, I agree with that. But here is the deal.

It has been, what, eight years-plus since 9/11. We had a 9/11 Commission. We spent billions and billions of dollars improving our security. Why in the devil did it fail? And why was some guy able to get through with things in his underwear when he was suspected by a lot of people?

That is an important question, because you do have to fill that hole. And I think a lot of us are puzzled, well, where did all that money go and why didn't it close down the system? But then you are pointing to a bigger and harder question. And that is, we have gotten into the situation with this al Qaeda deal where it has gotten like Whac-A-Mole.

SANCHEZ: Exactly. Bingo, bingo, David.

GERGEN: We go after them in one area and then, boom, they come up somewhere else. And we went after them in Iraq. Now we are going after them in Afghanistan. Here they pop up in Yemen. A lot of Americans are wondering, where in the devil is Yemen?

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: So, the idea is, maybe don't we need a strategy that -- an umbrella strategy to try and control this situation?

GERGEN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I don't know. The folks on the way right will tell you, well, we need to just go in there and nuke the hell out of all of them. The folks on the way left will tell you, we need to befriend them and understand their anger, so that they don't attack us. Somewhere in the middle, somebody has to articulate a strategy, don't they?

GERGEN: Yes, absolutely right.

And that -- right now that strategy rests with General Petraeus, who is the head of the Southern Command, and he has a general responsibility for all these countries. And he is the one who has been scratching his head trying to figure this out.

Now, I will tell you, Rick, in conversations at the White House over the last several months, every time I talk to the national security people, they say we are doing things to go after al Qaeda in places like Yemen and Somalia we can't tell the country about.

SANCHEZ: Good.

GERGEN: And my sense of it is the White House has felt we have had these guys a little bit on the run, and when the terrorists came here on that airplane, it was partly in retaliation for what we have been doing. We have been kicking butt over there a little bit more.

But I don't think the country knows the full story, and we certainly don't have -- what you are pointing your finger to, we don't have a sense of confidence that there is a strategy in place. And people are going to get very weary of this unless they -- Americans are going to get very weary of this and frustrated with their government unless they sense, hey, guys, why does this keep popping up? Why can't we put a stop to this?

SANCHEZ: Yes. Exactly. And I think if we come out of this meeting today and all the American people get from this meeting is we had a meeting and we decided that there's a better way of making sure guys don't get on planes with whatever on their shoes or in their underwear, I think you know better than I do a lot of Americans and a lot of pundits are going to be very disappointed and the president will likely take some more heat.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: But we are going to watch it. When he comes out, you will see it right here on CNN.

David Gergen, as usual, thanks for being with us.

GERGEN: Thanks, Rick. Take care.

SANCHEZ: All right. We have got this developing story going in Chicago. And I understand now as we look at the picture, for those of you just now getting home from work, let me set this back up for you. There has been a plane crash just outside of Chicago.

All right. Hold on. I have got some new notes coming into me. In the meantime, I understand that we have a guest that I can talk to as well. Let me bring him in.

While I was having a discussion with David, there is new information that is coming into me, so I am going to kind of multitask with you as I go here.

And let me first of all bring in my guest. He is Michael Standard. He is, I understand, an official with Chicago Executive Airport. He joins us now by phone.

Michael, are you there, sir?

MICHAEL STANDARD, CHICAGO EXECUTIVE AIRPORT: I am.

SANCHEZ: We're kind of running -- flying blind here -- pardon the pun -- trying to figure out exactly what is going on. We see these pictures of what seems to be a forested area.

And I am now learning, checking my notes, that this was Royal Air Freight 988 crashed a mile short of Chicago Executive Airport. They were on -- and I'm reading again -- they were on an approach to runway 16.

Put that all together for us, if you would, sir.

STANDARD: Well, I am not sure what you want me to say. It sounds to me like to me that they were on approach to 16, and they for some -- one reason or another, lost power, or I'm not sure what happened, but it looks like they went into the forest preserve, which runs along the eastern perimeter of the east and south of the airport.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: All right. Just, first of all, tell me what you know based on what you have heard directly from officials there at the airport or what you have learned thus far. Shoot.

STANDARD: Well, there is nothing that we really know officially. I don't think we even know where the aircraft is or -- they are out there looking at it at the moment.

I do know that they are based in Waterford, Michigan, a charter operation, although they do occasionally carry passengers, but we don't know if there were any souls on board. And they are...

SANCHEZ: Well, there was obviously a pilot and a co-pilot, right?

STANDARD: That's clear. SANCHEZ: Yes.

STANDARD: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

STANDARD: Other than that, I really don't know what to tell you.

SANCHEZ: Well, there are reports that there were some bodies removed from the scene. Have you heard that report as well?

STANDARD: No, I haven't.

SANCHEZ: OK.

The fact that it was a cargo -- what do you do at the airport, Mr. Standard?

STANDARD: We handle the public relations and the communications.

SANCHEZ: So, I imagine you know a little bit about cargo planes. The fact that it was a cargo plane, what does that indicate to you?

STANDARD: Well, that it carries cargo.

But these are smaller airplanes. They're not huge cargo airplanes. They operate Lear 25s and Learjets. They these are smaller airplanes that don't have large payloads, so they are off carrying -- sometimes out of Detroit, they will carry critical delivery, time-sensitive auto parts or maybe smaller packages.

SANCHEZ: I see. Well, that makes me kind of learn from this, because I have covered several stories where the shift in the cargo itself has caused planes to crash or hasn't been loaded properly.

STANDARD: Yes.

SANCHEZ: But what you are saying here is, this is not a weighty cargo. This is not something that weighs a lot.

STANDARD: No.

SANCHEZ: This is the kind of thing where you are moving small items.

(CROSSTALK)

STANDARD: I don't think these airplanes carry 2,000 pounds of payload.

And the chances -- what happens when a cargo shifts on a big airplane is that the weight and balance equilibrium gets disturbed. And the wing, -- you know, the lift gets -- you know, it just harms the airplane's ability to perform.

SANCHEZ: And this was a Lear cargo jet, I'm told? STANDARD: I'm not sure about that.

SANCHEZ: That's the information...

(CROSSTALK)

STANDARD: It is one of the airplanes they do fly. I know that.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Well, here's what we have right now. This is on the record. This is coming from Mike Ahlers. He's there on the scene, one of our producers. He says it is a Learjet from Royal Air Freight jet, which crashed south of the airport. What can you tell me about Royal Air?

STANDARD: I know that they're from Michigan. They are air charter and air cargo and they also do engine overhaul and ground support work.

SANCHEZ: Michael Standard, thank you, sir. You have been very helpful and thank you for fielding our questions and taking us through the breaking story.

We're going to take a break here. We're going to come right back to know what is going with this apparent plane crash outside of greater Chicago.

And we will have more news on what the president is discussing with some of his security officials. As soon as the president comes out of the meeting, we will hear him live.

Stay right here. I'm Rick Sanchez.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Let me check the list for you.

This is where we literally go in and find out what people who are relevant, prominent and have something to do with the stories that we are covering are saying right now making news.

Let's start with the Heritage Foundation. Heritage Foundation as you know is a conservative think tank, and this is what they are saying about the president's meeting today with security officials. "Obama should take personal responsibility for leadership failures that caused intelligence breakdowns in our security system." Again, that is with the Heritage Foundation.

What we should likely do is to turn them around and see if we could get them on the air tomorrow or the day after to see what they mean by having the president to take responsibility.

Then there is Blackfive and this is Matthew Burden. He is a military and security analyst. He is a very prominent blogger. We want you to hear what he is saying about this. To me he writes if there is no accountability for systematic failure in countering terror, what will it take to finally have accountability? Good question.

Questions that are likely being addressed right now at the White House between the president of the United States and some of his security officials. Those are two good people to talk to as well, and we will seek them out for you.

Meanwhile, the honeymoon between Fidel Castro and President Obama appears to be over. Why the Cuban leader says that Obama is like previous American presidents. The latest from Cuba next.

And of course, the very latest from the plane crash out of Chicago. If you have not heard, we will be taking you there as well and show you what is going on. Let's see if -- these are some of the first pictures coming in from WLS. Let me follow these for just a moment as we see the scene. Look at all the blinking lights. Look at all the rescue officials arriving now on this snowy day at this forest preserve where a plane has gone down. Breaking news. There is a jet crash there. That is what it looks like. That is what is left of the plane. Hard to make out.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Once again, we have a breaking story we are following for you.

These are the very newest breaking live pictures we are getting. This is from WLS, and that is their picture as they go to air. It is kind of hard to make out, a little fuzzy right now, but if you look close through the haze and the winter, you can see the cars turning around and rescue officials on the scene of what is a plane crash just outside of Chicago.

It is not an airliner, but it is a smaller plane described as a Lear jet and we are told there are a couple of fatalities. And we are still trying to figure out how it happened, why it happened and as we do, we're going to be sharing it with you.

Meanwhile, you have come to expect from me that I would challenge people who display malfeasance, democracy, especially in the halls of justice. And so I spent most of the day reaching out with Michele Bachmann and where she stands on the sentence, and whether she has changed her position to try to prevent her seat in Congress from being eliminated.

Here is Michele Bachmann last summer. Let me take you through this. She is stating her well known position against the U.S. Census, something that surprised a lot of folks. It is in typical extravagant fashion.

Here she is, and this is a clip from Fox News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: Here's is a short form that every American will get next year. Does the federal government really need to know our phone numbers? Do they really need to know like you said the date and time that we leave? Mental stability? Do you know what is not on this survey, Glenn? Are you a U.S. citizen?

In the history, the United States government from 1942 to 1947 passed the Second War Powers Act and they used the U.S. Census information to round up the Japanese to put them in the internment camps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Bachmann made clear in that interview and afterward that she would resist and personally resist being counted by the census, which is against the law. You heard it right there, she was warning to Americans what would happen to them if they were to take part in the census.

They might be sent to internment camps, and that was last summer. But it turns out that Bachmann's home state needs every person counted in the census or it could lose a seat in congress, because compared to the rest of the country, its population in Minnesota, it is shrinking, and here's what so rich about the story, guess whose seat, whose district might vanish, Michele Bachmann's.

This is from the Minnesota's Star Tribune. If Minnesota loses a Congressional seat, Bachmann's Sixth District could be carved into pieces, and she would likely to have to battle another incumbent to hang on to her seat. We have noticed that suddenly her anti-census rhetoric has ceased.

So I want to ask Michele Bachmann on the record if she is still against the census or not? Viewers, many of ours, want to know. Many of whom, by the way, are Minnesotans, and they want to know. We will keep asking.

Do you know the real price of a bag of doughnuts or a bag of chips or of a soda? We are not talking about purchase price, we're talking about a guest who says that our ignorant consumerism is turning our country into a place where the free market may be running amok. What does he mean?

Also, we are waiting for the president to come out of the White House to talk to reporters about what he has discussed with some of the most important security people on his staff and beyond.

We are also following a breaking story out of greater Chicago where a small plane has come down, and it is creating a little bit of a mess there. Security officials on the scene, and still hoping to get a lot of questions answered. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Fidel Castro, is he alive or dying? Who is really running Cuba? Those seem like eternal questions these days, right? Well, now this, here are the very latest pictures apparently taken in April or less than two months ago we are told.

There you see Raul in the forefront. There you see Fidel in the background. You recognize him and see if any of you remember the 1980s. You know who that is, Robert?

No, that is actually the president of Nicaragua. They pop up when these questions seem to pop up from time to time. The pictures were released by the Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, and Robert said Noriega.

Hey. Well, you can see Castro in a hospital-type wheelchair there with a high head rest, and there are the three leaders all considered leftist Latin American leaders. And then there is this, remember when Castro was fawning over President Obama, and the words he used, ready, handsome, young, dynamic, about to change the world -- that is what he said about President Obama.

Well, the honeymoon appears to be over. Listen to what Raul and Fidel Castro are saying about our president now in this report by CNN's Shasta Darlington from Havana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For nearly 50 years, Cuban leader Fidel Castro led marches against the United States and blasted the Cold War-enemy in marathon speeches. Then, sidelined by illness, Castro railed against President George W. Bush in written essays published on the Internet, state newspapers and even read aloud on Cuban television.

But with the election of Barack Obama, a new mood took hold in Cuba.

"We're all happy to see they've elected a black president for the first time," this man says. "We have high hopes he does a good job."

Fidel Castro was the first to signal a mood change. In his columns called "Reflections of Comrade Fidel," he praised Obama's youth and vigor and defended the decision to award him the Nobel Peace Prize. Of the 100-plus columns that he wrote last year, a quarter of them were focused on Obama. But by December, they had turned less flattering, as we saw in a letter he sent to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez insisting Washington was on the offensive in Latin America. Chavez read the message aloud at a summit.

"The intentions of the empire are obvious," he said. "This time hidden behind the friendly smile and African-American face of President Barack Obama."

In November current Cuban leader, Raul Castro, led the country's biggest military exercises in five years, saying he wants to be prepared in the event of a U.S. invasion. And in a recent speech, he accused Mr. Obama of what he called the same dirty tricks that President Bush had used.

"The enemy is as active as always," he said.

He was referring to the American contractor detained in Cuba last month for surreptitiously distributing satellite here under a program started by the last administration.

DARLINGTON (on camera): In his first essay of the new year, Fidel Castro takes another swipe at the current president. Not a good sign for the future of relations between Cuba and the United States.

Shasta Darlington, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: An African president borrows a few dance moves from me that's next.

And then, you're not going to believe this story about a bus driver who is apparently inebriated and a convict as such. And all of the kids on the school bus, and you will see it, they realize that the bus driver is inebriated and they take control by making her stop. And before they get to it, it is wild and woolly and we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

South Africa, Abu Dhabi, Russia, venues for today's "Fotos Del Dia."

To Russia now, for your not so average David and Goliath story. I can't tell you where it happened or exactly when. A tree falls somewhere in Russia. Apparently, no tools are available so this group of determined young police officers try to pull it apart by hand. Sounds like a good idea. It snaps back and sends the officer flying. Only thing that could possibly be better than that, seeing it again, but in slow-mo. What do you say we do it.

Is this terrifying? Late at night a fire breaks out inside a crowded apartment. Panic and chaos, people jumping for their lives from upper floors, but look how people are working together to get as many people to safety as they can. That's a human ladder. This is Abu Dhabi in the Arab Emirates. Sadly two people died, but about 300 people got out with little more than their lives.

To South Africa now, that's the big guy. Yes, the big guy. Who is this guy busting a move? Or should I say attempting to bust a move? That's South Africa's President Jacob Zuma celebrating the marriage to his third wife. Apparently he's so enamored with her, he's having a hard time standing on two feet. Sir, congratulations, but please, don't quit your day job.

Wait until you see what happens when kids on a school bus have to take control of their ride home. The bus driver, I should tell you, is now convicted. You'll see how this whole thing plays out on videotape. Stay right there. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

This piece of videotape I'm about to show you reads like a movie. Let me set this up for you.

Kids are on a school bus going home from school when they notice that their driver is driving erratically, to say the least. Finally, she misses a turn and the kids call her on it. She's trying to back up and that's when all hell breaks loose.

I want you to watch this. Keep in mind, we had to blur much of the video to protect the children, who are on this bus, and good for them for doing what they do. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You passed the turn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What stop?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The turn up this road.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Careful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just wait a second, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What an idiot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't start going back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop, please, go. Just put on the emergency brake. Put it on. Put on the brake, the emergency brake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop screaming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hit the brakes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to push on the brake.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop. Stop. You're fine. Just back up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around, guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're OK. You're fine. You're OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just breathe. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop. You've got to stop. OK. You've got to stop. Open the door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn off, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to turn it off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not OK, and I know it. Just turn it off, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn the bus off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're backing into a frickin' ditch. You're going to make the little kids cry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't go. Stop. Stop the bus. Just stop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am stopping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get in your seats, put the brake on, please.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get in your seats and...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we get off the bus to go pick flowers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got to pee. I'm going to puke. Can we get off the bus? I've got to go. I've got to puke.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you open the door, please?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't do this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you open the door, please? Can you please open the door for me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got -- I'm going to puke.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've got to pee. I can't hold it any longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going -- we are OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are OK!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want off the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody off, now!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nicole, what did you do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off. When I say go, go! Get off!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No! Get back on the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No! Don't make me -- get on the bus! Get on the bus now! Get on the bus! You guys have got to get on the bus now. Now!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're OK. It's OK. It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're going to be all right. Don't worry.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Sometimes the best way of seeing a story is unfiltered, isn't it? Actually be able to see what happens for yourself.

This bus driver, by the way, blames her condition on medication that she mixed with, quote, "a little alcohol." A judge didn't buy it. After looking at the evidence, sentenced the driver to 12 weekends in jail, six months of home electronic monitoring, five years of probation, and mandatory alcohol counseling.

I want to focus your attention on something now, which is important. Take a look over here, Robert, if you could, to this screen. See that? A lot of folks have been asking us, what is this Rick's list all about? This is what I do. I'm going to be keeping a list now every single day of all the stories we follow.

There you see basketball, today athletes, football. The arenas stories, national debt and deficit, republicans, congress, democrats, what's going on weight, the health care debate, Nobel peace prize, travel, health care, climate changes, ethics, celebrities tweeting at any given time, the Tiger Woods situation, Afghanistan, the airlines.

These are all the relevant stories in the news for the last several weeks. What I do is I go in and find the folks tweeting about thinks stories who are relevant, newsmakers, politicians, senators, members of Congress. I go through and share with you what is being said, what is making news, and we'll continue to do this every day, but we're ramping it up on January 18th.