Return to Transcripts main page
Rick's List
New York Governor Calls Off Election Bid; Marco Rubio Under Fire
Aired February 26, 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): Here's what is making THE LIST.
For the Democratic governor of New York, it's over.
GOV. DAVID PATERSON (D), NEW YORK: I'm going to say this again. I think it is very unfair.
SANCHEZ: Too many scandals. Final straw, a phone call he never should have made.
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: The insurance companies love this.
SANCHEZ: Ron Paul is against the insurance companies' greed, and he is also against the present Obama reform plan, both. He will explain.
Then there's the meteoric rise of Republican Marco Rubio. Uh-oh. His use of a GOP credit card has him in hot water.
Democrat Charlie Rangel in trouble for a trip to Antigua. He is blaming it on his staff.
Republican Mark Sanford's wife, Jenny, takes the stand.
The lists you need to know about. Who is "Today's Most Intriguing Person"? Who is on "The List You Don't Want To Be On"? You will find out as our national conversation on Twitter, on the air starts right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: All right. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Desiree Rogers, she is someone at the White House who is stepping down. We are going to be taking you through that. You may have seen a little bit of this just at the end of Ali's show. We're going to be breaking down that breaking news story as it comes into us.
Also, there is something else I want to tell you about. This is about to happen and I want you to stay tuned, because it's going to happen on our watch, probably in the next couple of minutes. The big story out of New York, Governor Paterson has fallen and he has fallen hard. You know he has had his problems with sexual peccadillos, personal ones, in the past, but now apparently it has gotten so big that he has decided that he's just not going to be able to continue with his campaign.
He probably will not run. In fact, we expect that he's going to say that. We are not positive, but we expect that he's say that any minute now, as soon as he comes forward.
Why? Well, this time, it's because of not something he did, but something his chief of staff and his driver did to a woman, and the governor took it upon himself to pick up the phone and call that woman and told her not to show up at a hearing.
Now, that is interesting, because there were also police that apparently showed up to see the women. This is totally unbecoming an executive official, totally unbecoming the actions of a governor of a state. So, we are going to be taking you there in just a moment.
Guys in the control room, let me know, if you would. I mean, have you got a shot of the podium so far there, Rog? All right. That is the podium. The reporters are ready to go. Apparently, the governor is not yet ready to go.
I want to talk to you about something else right now, before we move into, and that this has to do with everything going on with health care. Look, have you thought about this? We spent a whole day talking about policy and talking about politics, and maybe the thing we should have spent more time talking about was you.
So, I'm going to let you take over here in a just little bit. As a matter of fact, let's go to the Twitter board. This is what you have been saying about this situation with health care, about these politics and these policies that are being discussed.
Look at this one right there in the middle. "Thousands of people are going broke and dying due to the American health care system. The summit was not a game to be won or lost."
That is an interesting perspective.
"All my insurance premiums went up, health, dental, vision, and the coverage is less than before. I cannot afford health insurance. Former government worker here. They wanted $500 to $600 a month for single coverage."
These are Americans talking about their American situation.
"Definitely, our family is in trouble." I had asked them earlier what their situation was. "Should a healthy family have to pay over $600 a month just in case they get sick?"
And, finally: "It is cheaper to die, $6,000, one-time funeral cost, and good luck to the collection agency." All right. In keeping with that philosophy, in moving us away if we possibly can from all the politics and all the who won and who lost and the Dems said this and the Republicans said this, and who's getting the biggest amount of money for their campaigns from whom, let's talk about you.
Let's talk about an American. Let's talk about the average guy. This is a guy you are about to meet here. He has got a company, small company. He is making ends meet, but he is hiring 11 people, and he has got to pay for their health insurance. But now he is saying, you know what, I don't think I'm going to able to do this anymore. I am going to quit. I'm going to get rid of all my workers, because I can't afford this anymore.
This is a real story. This is an American story. This is a story I want you to see.
My colleague Jim Acosta puts it together. Let's take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kelly Conklin and his wife, Kit (ph), started this small woodworking business 32 years ago.
(on camera): What is tougher, paying the rent or paying the insurance?
KELLY CONKLIN, BUSINESS OWNER: It's about equal now.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Earlier this month, he got what he calls his "Dear John" letter, but it was not from his wife. It was from his health insurance company.
CONKLIN: Yes, we call it a Dear John.
ACOSTA: A Dear John?
CONKLIN: Right.
ACOSTA: And why is that?
CONKLIN: Well, it is the old kiss-off letter, right?
ACOSTA: It's the kiss-off?
CONKLIN: Right.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The letter explained the wood shop's monthly insurance rates were about to explode by 124 percent.
(on camera): And you can see it right there. It goes from, for a family, $900 a month to $2,000 a month.
CONKLIN: Yes. ACOSTA: What do you think is going on there?
CONKLIN: Well, they are trying the get rid of us.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Conklin now has to shop for a new insurance plan for his 11 employees, trying to avoid the one cut this woodworker does not want to make, health benefits.
CONKLIN: Something has to give, and what gives is health insurance.
ACOSTA: His insurance company, Health Net, one of the nation's largest, released a statement to CNN, saying Conklin's small business had significant employee changes which increased their premiums.
(on camera): You have had to lay people off?
CONKLIN: Yes.
ACOSTA: Because of the economy?
CONKLIN: Yes, absolutely.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Conklin says he did lay off two younger employees, which did make his work force on average older. He also worries about his wife, who suffers from a chronic condition.
These days, skyrocketing health care costs are slicing into budgets across the country. The CEO of one insurer got hauled in front of a congressional hearing after its subsidiary trying to raise rates 39 percent in California.
ANGELA BRALY, CEO, WELLPOINT: It is important to be a business that sustains what we have an appropriate profit.
ACOSTA: The president wants to give the federal government more power to control rate hikes.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no certainty in a future where premiums rise without limit.
ACOSTA: But Republicans say that is part of a health care package that is just too big.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: You will not see from us a 2,700-page comprehensive rewrite of one-sixth of our economy.
CONKLIN: Every year is worse, unpredictable rate hikes, unaffordable premiums.
ACOSTA: Last year, Conklin testified at Capitol Hill, warning he is on the edge of losing everything.
CONKLIN: I don't think my employees can afford it. I know I can't afford it. I -- it would put a huge drag on our business month in and month out.
ACOSTA (on camera): Can you afford to stay in business?
CONKLIN: No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: I have got to tell you, here is a guy who literally just wants to have a job and supply jobs for his colleagues, and he is saying, look, I can't do it. I can't do it. They are raising -- you know how many places in the United States the rates were raised just this week? Eleven different states, big states, New York, Georgia, all over the country, for individuals, almost as much as 50 percent. That is a lot.
For small business guys, like the guy you just saw there, as much as 34 percent to 36 percent. If you happen to be lucky enough to work for a really big company in the United States, like I do, by the way, working here at CNN, I am fine. No one is going to raise my rate.
But what about you lose your job? What if you have to change jobs? These are the issues that Americans are dealing with right now. And that's what we're going to be taking you through, as we look at what was said yesterday during the summit, and who was telling the truth? Who was not telling the truth? That is why we have got people back here behind me doing the fact-check desk.
Let me bring in Jessica Yellin in now.
Jessica, that was a heck of a story yesterday. And we're going to be able to spend some time going through it, but the story that is developing right now is Governor Paterson. And you would almost think, wouldn't you, that a guy with his questionable past, the last thing he would think about was get involved in his chief of staff's woman problems.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But it seems to be that that is exactly what he did when he made this phone call.
YELLIN: Well, the governor of New York, Paterson, had an interesting way of approaching media dramas. And one of the reasons he allegedly got involved with this particular instance you talk about was because he knew "The New York Times" was writing what might be an unflattering and proved to be an unflattering story, and that they wanted to make sure that that didn't get out of control.
Do you remember when he first became governor -- he ended up in that post when Eliot Spitzer stepped down.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
YELLIN: He volunteered to the press, hey, I have had affairs. I just want you to know, these are what the affairs were. That never happens. And then before "The New York Times" came out with its latest story, he said, I think "The New York Times" is writing something about my sex life. It is not true. Who perceives the story and denies it before it has come out? This is sort of his pattern.
SANCHEZ: Well, in this case, it sounds like his chief of staff had an altercation with a woman -- I use the word altercation lightly here -- there may have even been some physical contact. This guy was in trouble, this -- his chief of staff. You got his name handy there? I know I wrote it down here just a little while ago.
YELLIN: The chief of staff? Is it Johnson?
SANCHEZ: David Johnson. That's right, David Johnson, the guy normally nobody would know -- anybody about -- who nobody is.
He works for the governor. He's been good for the governor. They have worked together, knew him since he was an intern. He is his driver, and he needs somebody to drive him around because of his problem. And this guy has a problem with a woman. The woman is challenging him in court. The report says in "The New York Times" that the governor picked up the phone, called the woman, and may have influenced her not to testify, not the show up at a hearing against this guy, and furthermore that state police were sent to the woman's house, which by the way is not their jurisdiction.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: At all levels, this looks smelly, doesn't it?
YELLIN: It just seems like cronyism. It seems like inside dealing and it is not what you want when you have a governor who is running for election, who has a history of other problems of unseemliness.
The one defense I have heard is that the governor's office I think says the woman initially called the governor, that he did not place the call. She may have called him. Nonetheless, you can't use your office to interfere in a law enforcement matter.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
YELLIN: It is just not done, and that is why he is in such a tight spot right now. The big question, of course...
(CROSSTALK)
YELLIN: Yes, go ahead.
SANCHEZ: No, you finish.
YELLIN: Thanks, dear.
(LAUGHTER) YELLIN: No, the question is, in addition to not running, is there any chance that he would say he is going to step down? No one expects that, but that will be the question reporters are going to ask.
SANCHEZ: Well, here is what we have right now. Rog, take that shot full. And there is the podium. It is all set up and ready to go. I heard moments ago or I saw moments ago -- I don't know what she said, but a lady in a blue dress came out to the microphone and said something to reporters.
Ash, did you find out what they said? Say it again, Pam. Five to eight minutes. And that was about three or four minutes ago, so we are probably about four minutes ago.
Let's sneak a break in.
Jessica, stick around. I want to ask you about a couple of other things.
In fact, let me show you what I want to talk about. Hit it, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D-NY), HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: They say here that there is no evidence that I knew, nor would there be -- did not -- they don't think they could find any additional evidence to alter the conclusion that I didn't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Who knew what, when? Democrat Charlie Rangel, he is fighting ethics allegations, and he blaming a trip that landed him in trouble on his staff.
And then there's Marco Rubio. He has got issues as well. And this has to do with the use of a GOP credit card. There both of them are, and there is Jessica standing by to answer questions about what is going on with the guy who has been there forever and the guy who wants to get there. Stay right there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Here we go. Let's go to it. All right, welcome back.
There is governor. He's about to make some statements. He is in a lot of trouble, and we are dipping in. Let's go.
GOV. DAVID PATERSON (D), NEW YORK: For the past 25 years, it has been my highest privilege to serve the people of New York in the New York State Senate and in the governor's office.
All the while, I have tried to improve the quality of lives for families, and thwart special interests who would maintain status quo. In that sense, every decision I have made, as I said in my state of the state address, focuses around this question: Are we doing what's right for the people of New York?
At times, it has not been easy. But no matter how difficult the circumstances were, I have never forgotten my oath, nor my responsibility to serve the people of New York with faith and with integrity.
Over the past couple of years, working with the legislature, we have reduced $33 billion worth of deficit. By this April, that number will probably go over 40 billion. That is over three times as much as we have ever had to do before and over six times the deficit collections in a normal two-year period.
And in that period of time, I have had to act alone, as I did last December, to save the state from insolvency by delaying payments, which kept the state from going bankrupt and preserved our credit rating at the same time.
All the while, I have laid foundation for our fiscal economic rescue, making New York a leader in the new economy of knowledge, technology and innovation. I have lowered the playing field for minority and women-owned businesses. When I came to the executive branch in 2007, they were receiving only 5 percent of state procurement contracts.
Can you imagine this? Women, 51.8 percent of the population, 29.2 percent of the pre-approved contracts, got 2.6 percent of the business. We have increased that participation by four times in under two years.
We have eradicated the Rockefeller drug laws. Working with the legislature, we have enacted stronger penalties against drug kingpins and also have reunited families ravaged by the ineffective, unworkable war on drugs.
In addition, I have introduced landmark legislation reforming our pension system, our public authority system, our public higher education facility and health insurance coverage. The legislature passed them all. And also I signed into law a bill passed by the legislature which defines the perimeters of what would be a valid mortgage loan and predatory lending.
All of these measures and others have improved the quality of life for New Yorkers immediately, but will have values for generations to come. But there's more work to do. And up until the last few days, I was looking forward to participating in that work in a full four-year term.
But I am being realistic about politics. It hasn't been the latest distraction. It's been an accumulation of obstacles that have obfuscated me from bringing my message to the public.
Therefore, there are times in politics when you have to know not to strive for service, but to step back. And that moment has come for me.
Today, I'm announcing that I'm ending my campaign for governor of the state of New York. It has become increasingly clear to me in the last few days that I cannot run for office and try to manage the state's business at the same time. And, right now, New York State needs a leader who can devote full time to this service.
In addition, I am looking forward to a full investigation of actions taken by myself and my administration. But I give you this personal oath. I have never abused my office, not now, not ever. And I believe that, when the facts are reviewed, the truth will prevail.
Now let me make this clear -- there are 308 days left in my term. I will serve every one of them fighting for the people of the state of New York. We still have very serious challenges and we're going to have to come together from different areas of the state in a nonpartisan way and address these issues.
Our budget still has a massive deficit. Families are still struggling for survival. Businesses are still fighting to make payroll, and New Yorkers are still losing their jobs. Right now, what we need is a governor who will devote his full attention to those issues and other issues that come into this jurisdiction.
I would like to thank all of the people who have worked with me here in the governor's office, all of my staff, all of you who have covered me, those who worked in my campaign, and all New Yorkers for this wonderful opportunity to serve all of you.
I hope that history will remember that I fought the good fight, that I did what was hard, and that I put the people first.
Thank you very much.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) you say what you endorse Andrew Cuomo, who I expect will try to run for governor?
SANCHEZ: We are going to hang in here to see if we can see what he responds to.
PATERSON: Well, I offered my assistance to Attorney General Cuomo, should he become a candidate. That's kind of in the future, but let's wait and let that pass and will come to a decision.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: A couple of weeks ago, you said that the only way you would leave is either through the ballot box or a pine box. Do you feel you're being pushed, and, if you are, by whom?
PATERSON: Well, I will be leaving because of the ballot box, because it will be hard to reelect me when I'm not running.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) I wondered if you could tell us if you are angry at the way you have been treated and you feel that you have been dealt a raw deal, and by who?
PATERSON: I signed up for public service. This is what happens in public service. I will admit that I was very disturbed that, for three weeks, unsubstantiated rumors, all of them dispelled in the end, aligned the front pages of a lot of newspapers and demanded a lot of the coverage.
It was impossible and very difficult for me to stop that. And it was painful. Both Michelle and I and other members of our family were accused of things we didn't do, disparaged without sources. It was very difficult.
But I hope that my stand that I took at that time will help those in public service who really have signed up to do the right thing, who work very hard, who make mistakes. I'm one of them. We all make mistakes.
But I think that we are trying to do right by the public. And when we become sort of celebrity cartoon characters to make fun of, we forget that these are real people who are trying to do a good job. And I hope that some who I thought were disrespectful will be more respectful of those who come later than perhaps they were to me.
But I'm not angry about it at all, because I am rest -- I rest assured that I did my best. I worked hard. I made a lot of difficult decisions. I had to stand alone at times trying to make it clear what our economic situation was and what our responsibilities are. And I'm perfectly satisfied with that.
Thank you.
SANCHEZ: And there the governor walks away.
Let me bring Jessica Yellin back into this. You know, it is interesting. I just heard him use that word turning people into celebrity cartoon characters. It is the same choice of words that he used after he had been, after he had been really made fun of by "SNL," "Saturday Night Live," almost as if he is using his victimization then, which was a questionable way to characterize someone who has an impairment, as he does with his vision, and now he is bringing that back, as if to say, this is also the same thing.
But in fairness to the governor, who has made a very important decision in his career, these are two completely different things, are they not?
YELLIN: Very different being lampooned on "Saturday Night Live" and being accused of committing a crime and having an investigation launched by your state attorney general. The other background here, Rick, is that he was trailing his Democratic competitor by 42 points.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
YELLIN: So, there is politics here, in addition to the drama. He needed maybe a graceful way to get out.
SANCHEZ: But it is a problem on top of a problem. It is one thing to be trailing.
YELLIN: Correct.
SANCHEZ: Look, Governor Crist in Florida is trailing Marco Rubio, something we're going to be talking about in just a little bit.
YELLIN: Forty-two points, though, is devastating, but yes.
SANCHEZ: But, then, on top of that, you have this fiasco.
YELLIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: You had "The New York Times" story. You had what he said. And then on top of that, now you have the actual story that he may have actually influenced a witness in a case that wasn't about something involving tiddlywinks.
I mean, this was an assault case that he was potentially influencing that had to do with his chief of staff. There's no question that this thing will continue to haunt him if he did not make the decision that he made today. Am I wrong?
YELLIN: No, I agree with you completely.
SANCHEZ: All right, let's do this.
(CROSSTALK)
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this. Let's take a quick break. We're going to come back, finish this conversation. I also want to ask you about what is going on with Charlie Rangel, who, by the way, is in a lot of hot water as well with the Ethics Committee.
And then we're going to talk about Marco Rubio and something about a GOP credit card that he may not have -- possibly should not have been used for wine purchases and fixing his family car.
YELLIN: Haircuts.
SANCHEZ: Stay right there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: My colleagues on CNN, you know, guys like Anderson Cooper, et cetera, who are up in New York, they are going to be doing this newscast in just -- their newscast in a couple of hours, and you know where they are going to be doing it from?
Let me show you what -- if they looked -- if Anderson Cooper looked out of his window right now, that is what he would see. That's New York City. They have got record snowfall in New York City, as they have in parts of Philly and in parts of the Northeast and we are going to be all over just in a little bit, just to let you know.
But, in the meantime, I want to let you know what is going on with Charlie Rangel. Charlie Rangel is in trouble. I want to bring Jessica Yellin back into this conversation.
It is interesting. He takes this trip to Antigua -- that is how you pronounce it, by the way, not Antigua -- and he also went to Barbuda, not Barbados, and this thing apparently was paid for with corporate money. And you are not supposed to be able to take these kind of trips if you are an elected official. Fine.
Now that he is being investigated by the Ethics Committee, his own Ethics Committee in the House, he is saying, it was not my fault. It was my staff's fault. They blew it. I didn't.
That is a heck of a thing to say when you are caught with your shorts in a situation like this. Let me leave it at that.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: It is always the weakest excuse by a politician. Isn't the line supposed to be, the buck stops here?
And you often hear this from politicians when they are sort of struggling for an explanation. There is a much bigger picture here. First of all, Mr. Rangel was one of many members of Congress who were on this trip. And he is the only one who has gotten in trouble by the Ethics Committee, so that has have him feeling I think a little persecuted.
He made it clear that he was sort of surprised by this, why just me, so he is blaming the staff. But there's also a lot of other ethical questions swirling around him about other activities he has engaged in.
SANCHEZ: True.
YELLIN: There's enormous pressure on the Democrats in Congress to show that they are being tough.
SANCHEZ: You are referring to his property in the Dominican Republic, obviously, which was an issue he was dealing with just I think two-and-a-half months ago.
But here is something interesting. The Dems need this guy if they want to get some of their legislation through. Nancy Pelosi is standing by him. A lot of the people on the right are saying, look, he should be stripped of his chairmanship. I think he -- Ways and Means is one of the most powerful committees he is out there, and he is the chairman of that, isn't he?
YELLIN: Yes. Yes. Ways and Means takes care of not only our tax policy, but also benefits for Social Security and Medicare. It is almost -- you can't imagine a more powerful position, really. And he has been there in Congress since 1970, so this is a man who is enormously skilled at making Congress work.
He knows how things happen. And, so, he is very valuable to the Democrats in leadership, because he gets stuff done. But Pelosi has a big problem, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
YELLIN: She promised to have the most ethnics-violation-free Congress in history, to be clean, clean, clean.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And you can't let Americans feel like it is not about what you do; it is who you are. You can't.
YELLIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: I mean, that is the opposite of what we stand for as a country.
YELLIN: Right. Or that there's one set of rules if you are not an office-holder and another set of rules if you are one of the Democrats' insiders. So he is under fire. He could have to step down.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I want to ask you about Marco Rubio, the guy who some people say looks a little bit like me, maybe a younger me.
YELLIN: Aww.
SANCHEZ: He is in some hot water. Apparently, "The Miami Herald" has come out with a series of stories saying that he was using his card. This is his -- the GOP card that he is not supposed to use for personal things, but they list several things that he purchase here, including a $1,000 charge at Braman Honda. Braman used to own the Philadelphia Eagles, by the way -- a $1,000 charge at Braman Honda to repair his family's minivan.
He also apparently bought some wine. He also rented a car for five weeks. How big a deal is this, and is this going to be a huge help for Charlie Crist?
YELLIN: Rick, for some other elected official, it might not be a big deal, but the problem is, is Rubio represents sort of the Tea Party side of the Republican Party. He is more conservative than Crist, as you know, but also part of his whole message is about responsibility and being fiscally wise.
And so for a guy who's propounding that publicly to not be equally careful about not spending his party's money for personal uses could look hypocritical. And that is when it becomes a problem, because he is also young. And there are accusations when you are young always that you're green or arrogant. So, he has to very, very careful about explaining this, paying up quickly. It could mushroom into a problem for him.
SANCHEZ: By the way, and we don't have time to get into this, but I have been reading through his official explanation of how this happened, and, I will be just honest with you, it does not make sense.
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: It just doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't the insurance pick up the tab to fix his broken car? And was his deductible $2,000? He says that the GOP promised they would pay half of his detectable, so they gave him a check for $1,000. That means his deductible is $2,000? Who has a $2,000 deductible on their car insurance?
YELLIN: Bad insurance.
SANCHEZ: Not even my crazy teenager. So --
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: Well, he has some explaining to do.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Lucy, I'm home.
Thanks, Jessica, enjoyed the conversation. Appreciate it. Let's do this, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You know when we do props like this, and you stack it up and repeat 2,400 pages, et cetera, these are the sort of political things we do that prevent us from actually having a conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A political stunt? Well, President Obama is giving Virginia Republican Eric Cantor a scolding for killing trees. Well, it's because the president was saying that it was done for no other reason than a stunt. Is he right or is that wrong?
And then this, are the Dems employing a jobs strategy? Think about this, they basically got it handed to them when they tried to health care strategy, so now they are employing the jobs strategy in the health care strategy. You have a minute to put that together, because we will talk about it on the back side I should say.
Stay right there. I'm Rick Sanchez.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
There is a lot left to say about the health care summit. Look, a lot of this stuff got spun, right? We are used to that. Some of it is misconstrued, and some of it is misunderstood, and sometimes it is just missed altogether.
So let's start with this first. Were Democrats and Republicans talking past each other? Yes, they were, but only to a point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. TOM COBURN, (R) OKLAHOMA: In your new bill, you have good fraud programs, but you lack the biggest thing to do. The biggest thing on fraud is to have undercover patients so that people know we are checking on whether or not this is legitimate bill.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: Tom, I thought that your suggestion of undercover patients, and I tried to check here and I don't think we do it now is a great idea, and it's one that we can come together on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's a Republican idea, a good idea. Send some undercover agents in there and find out what is really going on so we don't have so much fraud. Undercover patients, that is what they meant by undercover patients, people pretending to be patients.
President Obama said he liked that idea as well. Hey, eureka, two sides coming together, right?
He also said he will entertain what is a Republican idea, selling health insurance across state lines. That was a Republican idea. But President Obama says he wants some federal rules so states with the lowest standards don't dominate the market. That is what he meant when he started to talk about preventing a race to the bottom, words that he used.
Here is something that the Democrats were not buying at all. Here is Lamar Alexander.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN), CHAIRMAN, SENATE REPUBLICAN CONFERENCE: There is more taxes, more subsidies, more spending, and it means for millions of Americans, premiums will go up.
Reconciliation, your version of the bill -- you can say that this process has been used before, and that would be right. But it has never been used for anything like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, let's do a little fact checking here. Alexander said two things that we felt need fact checking. One, he said that the health care reform plan would cause higher insurance premiums for millions of Americans.
Actually, that's true. What he didn't say was it's only going to go up mostly for people who have no insurance whatsoever, so obviously they are going to pay something if they have nothing, or people who have one of those junk policies that essentially giving them a deductible of something ridiculous like $10,000. And of course, it will go up in those cases and that is obvious, but he didn't delineate those. We wanted to point that out.
Point two, reconciliation. Will Senate Democrats push this plan through with a simple majority vote? They have 50 votes and Vice President Biden votes and hits the gavel and now they have 51 -- voila, reconciliation.
Lamar Alexander says, don't do it, Democrats, because that would be unprecedented. We fact-checked this, did a little checking around, and we found what may amount to maybe even just a little bit of hypocrisy on the senator's part for saying that. I don't know, you decide.
Hear me out here. We learned that in 2001 and 2003, he, Lamar Alexander, who was telling the Democrats never to use that kind of strategy, he voted for the Bush tax cuts, both of which were passed under reconciliation. In fact, under Bush, Republicans used reconciliation four different times on tax legislation.
Bottom line, it is not unprecedented.
One thing that did come out of the summit, great stories from the Republicans and Democrats alike. Look at this one. This is from Congresswoman Louise Slaughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. LOUISE SLAUGHTER (D), NEW YORK: I even have one constituent, you will not believe this and I know you won't, but it is true. Her sister died and this poor woman had no dentures. She wore her dead sister's teeth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That is a hell of a story, isn't it? It got our attention. So did this one. This is California's George Miller. He is talking about himself here. Pick it up, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GEORGE MILLER (D), CALIFORNIA: I hate to admit this at my age, but I sit here with two artificial hips and a little bit of arthritis, and I have a kidney stone.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm dead in that insurance market if I have to switch policies or switch companies or look for another chance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yes, so in other words, if he didn't have the insurance he has, which by the way you pay for, you and I, we pay for his insurance. Did you know that? Anyway, if he had to switch policies and he didn't have that job, nobody would insure him. Hip replacements, are you kidding?
So, did Republicans -- and the biggest of all was the junk, the bill. This is what Republicans were pushing yesterday, as we saw. Look, junk the bill was the main argument. Junk the bill and start all over again, but let's do it step by step by step. Listen up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go step by step.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is why we continue the say, go step by step.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start over, and work on a clean sheet of paper and move through these issues step by step.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Start over with a clean, blank piece of paper and go step by step.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Step by step by step -- slowly I turn. I play that game with my kids at night. But here is Tom Harkins' response to the step by steps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOM HARKIN, (D) IOWA: An incremental approach is like a swimmer who is 50 feet offshore drowning and you throw him a 10-foot rope. You say, well, it didn't reach him, but we will get it back in and throw him a 20-foot rope next time. And then a 30-foot, and 40- foot, and by that time, the swimmer has drowned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, bottom line, the president said at the start of the summit that it would either achieve some progress and both sides would come together, or it would clarify for the American people where two parties stand.
What was the result? In many ways, that's up to you. I inform. I will show you the information, and you let me know what you learned or whether you thought it was a valuable lesson in democracy.
Moving on -- look at the video that we have found. It is a killer whale that has gone wild. And we are seeing video of the moments that happened right before this killer whale killed its trainer. It kind of making you wince a little bit as you look at it, right?
Sea World's reaction to the tragedy, was it right or wrong? They had a news conference today and they were very -- opaque is a good word, opaque. Stay there.
This is THE LIST, I'm Rick Sanchez, and we are scrolling on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Record snowfall. I want to take you to Daleville, Pennsylvania. Welcome back, everyone, I'm Rick Sanchez. We are here in the world headquarters of CNN where it is toasty and cozy and nice, but across the northeast it is not.
Look at this. This is from Daleville, Pennsylvania. This is a truck accident, and I am only showing you this not because it is a huge deal, but because this is what people are having to deal with all over the northeast. Philly was hammered, New York.
You just sent me notes on this, Andreas. Listen to this, Brooke Baldwin, New York, all-time monthly record snowfall 39.7 inches at Central Park which breaks the all-time snowiest month record for Central Park. The oldest record was 30.8 inches, which goes back to 1896, Brooke.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a long time ago.
SANCHEZ: Isn't it?
BALDWIN: It is a lot of snow, and since I have notes, why don't I read some.
Apparently, some parts of New York state already have 29 today. If you are flying, apparently hundreds of flights are canceled and more than 800,000 people in the region are without power.
And pretty picture of Columbus Circle there outside Time Warner Center, CNN up there, we have an iReport. Buses can't even get around. We saw video out of Pennsylvania, but we have a report where buses cannot get around. There you go, bus stuck on Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn.
You remember the last time I was over in the pit and we were chatting about the weather, and there was a major 50-car pileup, so at least that is good. We haven't seen anything like that today, but driving in the stuff, not fun.
SANCHEZ: We will be checking. Meanwhile, as we go out, look at Steny Hoyer, he just sent this tweet. Steny Hoyer is saying "I hope we found common ground and we will move forward on the bipartisan agreement." He is probably watching the show and saw the last report. "We will move forward," says Steny Hoyer. He is convinced, isn't he?
Meanwhile, show them this, Rog, show them what's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That is Republican Mark Sanford's wife, Jenny, who was on the stand today. What she said about her husband's affair and her difficult times with it, that's next. I didn't know a divorce case could literally be televised, but it is, I guess, in South Carolina.
Also, talk about a bull gone wild. Get out of the way, as it charges everybody who gets in the way. And why are they there? Who is really at fault here, one would ask.
I'm Rick Sanchez. Stay right there. We are coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We have got some breaking news to share with you. Welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez.
Apparently there has been an earthquake in the vicinity of a place that is going to make many Americans think of World War II, Okinawa, the place that, as many of you recall, was one of the largest amphibious assaults during World War II. Chad Myers is standing by to fill us in on whatever information he has got. Chad, what are we learning?
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fifty miles east of Okinawa proper, the island chain there, and this is all part of the island chain all of the way into Japan and down there. Fifty miles east of there, underwater, about ten miles deep, ten kilometers maybe, and they will move this around. The number will probably change.
But if it stays at a 7.3, Tick, that is about six times stronger than Haiti earthquake. The good news is it is underwater, the bad news is that it is underwater, because a tsunami could be generated from something like this, although typically we look for 8.0 and larger to make a significant tsunami.
There would obviously be a local tsunami generated for this, and we'll keep you up to date.
And between six and 10 miles deep is right at that same place that the large tsunami that we know about and we all remember from years past on Christmas day, that was the one that was caused there by the same type of subduction zone, one piece of the crust going down below another piece, the other pops up and snaps, and when it snaps action it moves water. When water moves, it has to go someplace else, and like a big stone that you throw in a lake, the ripples keep going.
So we will see where this tsunami if there is a tsunami --
SANCHEZ: So just quickly, if this thing were to affect a beach as a result of a tsunami, which we can't confirm has happened yet, what beaches, what areas, what landmasses would be affected?
MYERS: Let's go to Google earth. That is on a router we call 113. There's the big red doing there in the center, 7.3. So let's zoom in and go all the way down to the island. You can clearly see the island there at only 50 miles east of Okinawa. It seems closer than that, but that island is actually quite larger.
This would be the closest beach. Literally this is only minutes away. If a generated tsunami actually occurred, it will be slamming onshore on Okinawa with almost no warning at all. That's why if you live near a coast and you feel the earth move, it's time to move away from that coast and upland. You have to get away from it.
And these waves move at about 600 miles per hour, and 50 miles away, you can tell how many minutes you have.
SANCHEZ: But if your pet or you see a bunch of animals heading in that direction, follow them.
MYERS: They believe that possibly animals can hear the shaking before it occurs, and that's sometimes can be a precursor to an earthquake, but right now that's still too early to tell. We don't have earthquake prediction right now.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Chad, appreciate the information.
Also this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yes, and guess what? Ron Paul is fired up about this after watching it yesterday. More on health care reform. Why wasn't Ron Paul not seen there, not invited? Ron Paul, he's a doctor, right? I'm going to ask him that. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
It's been a soap opera viewed from coast to coast, although it was centered right smack-dab in South Carolina, and today it may have run its course in a South Carolina courtroom. A judge has approved Jenny Sanford's divorce from her husband, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford.
They had been married for 20 years. The split becomes official next month. Apparently no outward signs of emotion from Jenny Sanford, who once described herself as deeply hurt by her governor husband's actions. The governor was not there, Mark Sanford was not there.
And Jenny Sanford described learning of his affair, interestingly enough, in a letter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNY SANFORD, SOUTH CAROLINA FIRST LADY: Shortly thereafter, and he told me he would end it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he admit --
SANFORD: He did admit the affair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When he told you that he would end the affair, did you make any efforts to save your marriage, put it back together? SANFORD: Yes. Starting at that time we worked very diligently to put the marriage back together, including some counseling, all sorts of different endeavors. But ultimately we were not successful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you set out certain criteria for your husband in order for the marriage to continue?
SANFORD: Yes, we had a number of criteria, but first and foremost he was not allowed in any way, shape, or form to see this woman again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: "He was not allowed in any way, shape, or form to see this woman again." He did see the woman again. Mark Sanford disappeared for days. His staff said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. Mark Sanford later confessed.
Jenny Sanford, author of the bestselling book, by the way, says she never wanted to share this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANFORD: I have done my best to try to keep this endeavor from becoming public, but it did become public in a very highly focused in June, and since then I've done my best to do what I can to protect my children and family to the best of my circumstances.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Governor Sanford's office, by the way, did issue a tame, repeating his earlier comments that he takes full responsibility for the moral failure. He also goes on to ask for privacy and for prayers for his family.
And this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're suggesting --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't think the corporations work the system?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excuse me, you don't think --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You've got to see this. This is coming up in just a little bit here. You heard Washington's take on health care reform. What's Ron Paul's take? You're going to hear it when he squares off with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz.
Also, was this trainer's ponytail the reason that a killer whale went after her? Should the whale be put down? That's another important question. Stay right there. We're going to come back with that in just a little bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
