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Rick's List
Britain Gets New Prime Minister; Vice President Biden's Son Suffers Stroke; Deadly Tornadoes Hit Oklahoma
Aired May 11, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the market today is kind of boring.
Poppy Harlow...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Well, when I say boring, I mean that it hasn't really gone one way or another, and certainly compared to what's been happening in the last three or four days...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: ... anyway.
Poppy Harlow is standing by right now.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: She's joining us from -- from the market there in New York.
And, so, what's going on?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you make up a new word, Rick?
SANCHEZ: What -- what, boring?
HARLOW: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Well, it is. You know, it's like -- it's like one of the...
HARLOW: I have never heard...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: It's like one of those Friday holidays when all the investors go home and nobody does anything...
HARLOW: Right.
SANCHEZ: And there's like no activity.
HARLOW: It's true.
SANCHEZ: And we're supposed to still give you a number. It's like the number is, like, insignificant, right?
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: It's true. I mean, I'm looking at the market right now. The Dow and the S&P are lower. The Nasdaq is just on that breaking line.
But, you know, it's interesting. All day, we have been watching this hearing. I want to pull it up for you. Started about 3:00 Eastern time, and it's still going on right now. This is a hearing between the heads of the SEC -- well, there's your closing bell on Wall Street. You can look at that, as the markets is closing pretty mixed.
But let's see if we can pull up this hearing in Washington today, because this is what the market has been watch -- watching, and this is why it's so wish-washy, as some of the executives from the SEC and also the heads of some the big stock exchanges trying to figure out, Rick, what caused that, what they're calling the flash crash that we saw for the Dow and the other indexes last Thursday.
You hear the Nasdaq executives in some prepared testimony saying this was no smoking gun; it wasn't electronic trading or computers. Rather, it was a -- quote -- "confluence of unusual events," but no system malfunctions.
That's Mary Schapiro, the head of the SEC. So, Rick, they're trying to figure out what caused the market to sell off the way it did last Thursday. And, as you see, investors on Wall Street not making up their mind either way today which way to go today.
Closing numbers, the Dow down 35, the Nasdaq up slightly, and the S&P 500 off. We will keep watching this for you. But it's important to figure out what was behind all of that.
SANCHEZ: Yes. OK. OK. So -- so, what was it?
HARLOW: I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We don't know, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
HARLOW: We don't know.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
HARLOW: And, honestly, they say it was a confluence of events, not just one thing.
(LAUGHTER) SANCHEZ: Right.
HARLOW: You hear this testimony all the time, Rick.
SANCHEZ: A confluence of events, right.
HARLOW: I don't -- I don't know if we're going to get one straight answer.
SANCHEZ: That's like -- that's like saying, you know, we're going to have a meeting, OK, and we will tell you after the meeting, right? Yes, sure.
HARLOW: Don't you love that?
SANCHEZ: I don't, but, you know, it's what we have to live with sometimes, not exactly straight answers.
Poppy, we will see you again. Thanks for joining us.
Let me tell you now what's going on in the U.K. What a story this has been unfolding before our very eyes over the last hour. Gordon Brown resigns as the British prime minister. His Labor Party has lost the parliamentary elections last week. Conservative Party leader then steps in. That's David Cameron. We have telling you all about him. We have been watching him.
Here's what he had to say just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have some deep and pressing problems: a huge deficit, deep social problems, and a political system in need of reform.
For those reasons, I aim form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. I believe that is the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I think we need so badly.
Nick Clegg and I...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMERON: ... are both political leaders who want to put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest. I believe that is the best way to get the strong government that we need, decisive government that we need today.
I came into politics because I love this country. I think its best days still lie ahead, and I believe deeply in public service. And I think the service our country needs right now is to face up to our really big challenges, to confront our problems, to take difficult decisions, to lead people through those difficult decisions, so that, together, we can reach better times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. I want to show you something else now. This is interesting. Right after the ex-prime minister went to the queen and tendered his resignation, for the very first time, we saw the delegation of the new government, the Conservatives, come out from behind closed doors.
And, as soon as they did, the people in London started shouting at them, in some cases, even shouting obscenities. It was a stark contrast to what we had seen throughout the day. There have been hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of people on the streets of London watching this process unfold. We have been watching it with you.
Watch this moment as it happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You see people with signs. You see people screaming, some people screaming obscenities.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Now you hear the booing. Quite a moment.
Correspondent Paula Newton is there. She's in London. She's going to help walk us through some of this.
OK. There have been so many processes. And we have all -- we have watched them all unfold here on CNN. Happy to do so. The only part of the process that is left is what's going to go on with Nick Clegg. Is -- is he going to be the deputy prime minister? Is he going to be the home secretary? We don't know yet.
We understand some of the -- the negotiations are still going on.
But let me start you with this question, Paula. Why were those people screaming obscenities at the -- at the Conservatives?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I was with them for most of the afternoon as we waited for the negotiators to come out.
Those -- that was outside the cabinet office, where Conservative And Liberal Democrat negotiators were trying to form the future government of Britain. They were really hammering out the deals behind closed doors. And those protesters were pretty upset about it. They don't believe that it's transparent or democratic. I have to say, there were only about -- there were less than 100 there, but, as you can hear, they were quite vocal.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
NEWTON: And mixed in there, of course, the anti-war protesters that now the new prime minister of Britain, David Cameron, can expect will dog him, too.
SANCHEZ: We were watching moments ago as well. And I don't know if we have -- Dee (ph), if you can find those, or Angie (ph) in the control room, see if you can find those pictures. The moment that Cameron finished meeting with the queen of England, he left Buckingham Palace and then made a right, a sharp right turn, and, soon after he did so, paparazzis and people on the streets started running toward his car.
And -- and we were all -- and I have got at least 150 people on Twitter who were agreeing with me, that, if this was the United States and we had seen that, we had all -- we all would have gasped. We would have thought, oh, my goodness, somebody is attacking the president's motorcade. They're usually not allowed to do that.
Can you explain to us, can you make us understand, while we show these pictures, if we can find them, why there is this difference between security over there and security over here?
NEWTON: Well, the bottom line is, the transition process here is brutal. Rick, inside of an hour, we had one prime minister resign, we had another take over. They came to Buckingham Palace behind me, as I said inside of an hour, both of them.
They have great security inside of Buckingham Palace. Through here, that was main -- mainly the paparazzi, Rick. They were standing right in front of me, chasing after him, trying to get a shot. And then I saw the paparazzi here feeding that picture. And, believe me, they got a pretty good shot of him inside the car.
(LAUGHTER)
NEWTON: Having said that, I...
(LAUGHTER)
NEWTON: They did. They got a great shot.
Having said, you know, there are certain things, because this process is so rushed, that wouldn't happen. You know, I remember President Obama getting a security briefing within two days. He had lots of time to prepare. I remember Candy Crowley asking him about that security briefing.
And he said, "I wish not to comment."
Imagine what is going on in 10 Downing Street right now, as well as David Cameron, as well as trying to cobble together an unprecedented government here, Rick -- and the White House will be watching this -- it's the coalition government, which means it will be much more difficult for the government to speak with one voice.
SANCHEZ: Well...
NEWTON: A lot more consensus needs to be had.
But imagine, he's trying to do all that. At the same time, there will be someone to tap him on the shoulder and give him some type of a security briefing quite soon.
SANCHEZ: OK. Let me ask you now about this coalition that you keep making reference to, two things, first of all. We should report that we just learned from Robert Gibbs that the president of the United States is calling the new British prime minister, maybe doing so as we speak.
We will probably learn from one of our White House correspondents, or maybe from you as soon as that conversation concludes, what the two gentlemen talked about, two -- the two world leaders talked about.
But let me digress and talk about Nick Clegg. Clegg is an interesting fellow. He did very well in the British debates, so well, in fact, that he became kind of a rock star there. There, we have pictures of him now. There is word that he will perhaps cut a deal or the folks in the cabinet office will cut a deal where this guy you're looking at right here, this young rock star politician, would possibly become deputy prime minister -- that's a pretty big gig -- or maybe even home secretary.
What do you know about that, Paula?
NEWTON: That would be the inner circle. And that would be unprecedented here, something they have not seen in decades and decades, having two parties, keeping in mind -- I think the way to make the analogy -- and it's happened back home, Rick.
You had President Obama and Hillary Clinton after the election working together. It's about the same thing as far as this goes. But they say that they are doing it for the good of the country and to have a stable government. That isn't just rhetoric, Rick. The markets are getting ready to pounce.
If they don't come through with this kind of a coalition, the market will be after them. And you will see the pound plummet as well. They know that they have a lot of deficit reduction to be done here, a lot of debt reduction to do, a lot of tough cuts on the way here.
And that's what David Cameron pointed out. You said it, Rick, Nick Clegg, the rock star. He came out of nowhere, really, obscure, really, for some even in British politics, until those debates. He was on equal footing with the two other leaders. He did very well. Interesting here, though, Rick, he did not do as well in the election as -- as expected. In fact, he lost five seats, even though he got substantially more votes. But this is a guy...
SANCHEZ: Yes, but he -- but -- but...
NEWTON: ... who has been able to take anything he got from that election and leverage it.
SANCHEZ: Exactly. I was just going to say, he may not have won the election, but he won the P.R. war, because he's been on the cover of more magazines than anybody else. And I guess in the end that that matters for something. Maybe exactly what, we don't know, but something.
Paula, you have done a remarkable job throughout the day following this story. My thanks to you for doing that for us here at CNN and helping us here on this side of the pond better understand the process there -- Paula Newton.
Meanwhile, take a look at this. In Canada, the earth gives way, sweeping a house off of its foundation and into a river. But where is the family?
That and the very latest on Vice President Biden's son Beau. We have learned and reported within the last hour that he had a stroke and is recovering from that stroke, said to be alert, though. That's important.
We will be right back. This is your LIST, your national conversation. This is RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: OK. I welcome you back now for my roundup list, stuff that we are very carefully keeping an eye on for you today, as we do every day at this time.
Number one, Beau Biden, yes, the vice president's son, the White House now says he had -- quote -- "a mild stroke," a stroke nonetheless, as we reported about a half-hour ago. That is news. We knew since this morning that the younger Biden was in the hospital, but nobody was saying exactly why he was in the hospital. We -- we just found out a few minutes ago, and all the details, by the way, are coming out from the White House now.
We are told that Beau Biden is fully alert. More good news, he has full motor and speech skills. More good news, he's expected to make a full recovery. Beau Biden, 41 years old, serves as Delaware's attorney general and, of course, the apple of his father's eye, the vice president of the United States.
Number two, take a look at this. This is the biggest hole in the ground that you will see today. It's in Canada. It's between Montreal and Quebec. Here's the scary part. It wasn't there this time yesterday. The earth just tore open last night and it swallowed the house. A family of four that lives in the house is missing. Rescuers are still trying to get inside of it.
They fear the worst. Can you imagine? They can't find them. It's a sinkhole. It's 500 yards long. That's, you know, almost a football-and-a-half, right, football-field-and-a-half. A bunch of houses in the area had to be evacuated. We're following that story for you. If we get anything else, we will let you know.
Now number three, that young lady there is Erica Blasberg, 25 years old, up-and-coming pro-golfer on the LPGA circuit. She was found dead two days ago in her home near Las Vegas. Authorities are investigating. They're saying nothing so far about what may have caused her to die or whether they suspect foul play. This is strange, to say the least.
Look at her, Erica Blasberg. She turned pro in 2004, heck of an athlete. Last match was two weeks ago in Mexico. And don't you think for one minute that this isn't having an effect on golfers all over the world.
We cheat -- we check and keep a list of people relevant to the news that we follow for you, so let's go to our list. This is our Twitter list, and here you can see what people are saying from the very top.
Number one, "So shocked and sad to hear about the death of Erica Blasberg."
Two: "I enjoyed watching Erica for 10 years as she played junior am, college, and pro golf. Her smile, her radiance will always be remembered. So sad."
Number three: "In memoriam, LPGA golfer Erica Blasberg. I'm stunned by the awful, heartbreaking news this evening."
Four: "So bad. Beautiful young girl, talented on the course. The golf world will miss her. Rest in peace."
And number five: "Can't fathom the news I'm hearing about her. The couple times I spoke with her, she was so kind. She will be missed. Players -- from the players, prayers to her family."
There you go. And, as they continue to come in, we will follow them. But, obviously, this is leaving them a void in the professional golf and certainly in the LPGA.
Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that there's been a lot of reactionary talk. I think that the firing and the lawsuit discussion is -- is pretty absurd at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Is it absurd? I mean, think about this. Is it absurd to take students on a blacks -- you heard me right -- blacks-only field trip? Only the black students can go. The white students had to stay in the -- in the classroom.
Now, a Michigan elementary school did that. Their intentions actually may have been good. But now the principal's in trouble and the school is divided by this controversy, a controversy that I want you to weigh in on, on Twitter, after I tell you the story. That's on our trending list. It's coming up in just a little bit. Brooke's going to take you through it.
And then how do you get on the list that you don't want to be on? Well, try shooting yourself. Try shooting yourself. That's a good way to do it. And then, maybe after you shoot yourself and they ask you who did it, just say, a black guy, a black guy shot me -- even if you're lying. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
I want to show you something that's going on right now. Take a look at this video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here comes one right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is an explosion of a tornado -- actually, too many for storm-chasers. This is what some of the video looks like.
Chad Myers has been tracking these for us.
Chad, come on over here real quick. I want -- I want to get a better sense of this.
You know what's interesting? It -- it -- it's interesting when you have the type of meteorologist that we are lucky enough to have here in Chad Myers, who came on this show...
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks, dude.
SANCHEZ: No, I'm serious, guy.
Listen, he came on this show yesterday, and he said, Rick, there will be tornadoes tonight in Oklahoma, and they will be serious tornadoes.
And -- and you weren't equivocating. It's not like, well, maybe, maybe, maybe not.
You said this would happen, and it happened.
What -- what... MYERS: There are certain situations that we know will produce tornadoes. You -- it -- it's almost like making a soup. If you forget the salt, it doesn't taste very good. If you forget the stock, it doesn't taste very good. You have got to get everything right to make soup.
Well, this -- this soup that we had yesterday, everything was in place. The jet stream, the lower levels, the moisture, the winds, the dry air coming out of Texas was all in place to make a significant, severe weather threat.
SANCHEZ: And, still, people were killed.
MYERS: Well, only five, technically. And these were some pretty big tornadoes. We don't have numbers yet. And I'm surprised that the Weather Service -- they have -- they have been out looking at the storm -- the storms.
They go on the ground. They go in the air. They look to see whether all the trees fell down different directions or whether the trees all fell down in a straight line.
SANCHEZ: Have you seen some of this video that they have been showing today, and it shows people literally coming out of crawlspaces...
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... where people are like pulling them out of their basements, for example?
MYERS: They don't have basements.
SANCHEZ: What -- what -- they don't?
MYERS: No.
SANCHEZ: What -- then what are they coming out of?
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: They may have -- they -- there may be some safe areas, some safe zones, some -- actually, now there's even a safe area that you can dig. You can break the concrete out of your garage, you can make yourself and dig yourself, blast yourself a hatch down there, and then put a steel cage on top.
SANCHEZ: You know...
MYERS: There...
SANCHEZ: ... that's interesting. No, I'm just interested in what you just said, because I know we don't have basements in Florida because of the Biscayne Aquifer that literally runs like two feet below us. But why wouldn't you have basements in Oklahoma?
MYERS: Stones. Rocks.
SANCHEZ: You just can't dig down that deep?
MYERS: You have to blast. Literally, you have to dynamite yourself a basement...
SANCHEZ: I didn't know that.
MYERS: ... in Oklahoma, and really parts of Texas as well.
SANCHEZ: Boy, in a place that's so prone to tornadoes, too.
MYERS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: That's terrible.
MYERS: And that's why they make safe zones or safe rooms, where they will build you -- a company -- companies will build you a room inside your house.
You want to put as many walls between you and the outside as possible. Then, if you can build a small room in the middle-middle of your house, that's the safest place to be.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Look at those tornadoes.
SANCHEZ: Look at this thing.
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: This is from last night.
MYERS: And there were a lot of...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: There was more than -- there was more than one, right?
MYERS: There were 11 tornadoes that we know of. Some of them may have skipped a little bit to make maybe more than 11, but 11 on the ground in Oklahoma, at least four on the ground in Kansas, and then a couple down in Texas.
There are officially 39 reports of separate tornadoes, but, many times, they will say this storm was six miles east of Oklahoma City. And, then, oh, it was four miles west of Shawnee, but that's the same storm.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
MYERS: It's just -- it's reported as two separate tornadoes. They add them together, and they go, no, this thing never lifted. This was one big tornado.
SANCHEZ: Good stuff. Hey, thanks so much.
And I bet you I can probably thank you if at least one person who was watching us yesterday -- and there were probably a lot of people watching us yesterday, because, lately, we have just had a lot of people watching this show.
Thank you, by the way.
MYERS: Thank you, Rick.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But if there was just one person yesterday in Oklahoma who was watching and heard you say, in -- in a very deliberate form, folks, you're going to be hit by a tornado tonight, and you may have helped them get to the right place and maybe avoid some problem, good for you.
MYERS: Without a -- without a doubt, the weathermen, meteorologists in Oklahoma City are the three or the five best in the country.
SANCHEZ: Cool.
MYERS: And I used to work there, and I know them by name, and I -- and they're the best. They save lives every day.
SANCHEZ: That's when you guys really do your gig well.
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, man.
All right, here's what we're going to do. The list that you don't want to be on, I mentioned who that was. The reason we didn't bring it to you this particular segment, and we did Chad's segment in its place is because we had some kind of technical snafu.
I hate promising things and then not delivering. But let me tell you, this is one of the most interesting ones we have seen in a while. Like yesterday's, it may make you angry, because it's about lying and blaming it on a minority. Stay right there. This is your list, RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST.
By the way, because of the British elections, we have moved a segment we were doing today to tomorrow. And we want to thank both Judd Gregg and Bernie Sanders. Both senators who were coming on today to talk about the important matter of financial reform and especially about putting the heat on the Fed with all the money that they have been giving out, trillions of your dollars lately, and exactly how do we make them accountable -- this is an important conversation. Instead of today, we are going to have it tomorrow. And I'm excited about it.
So, thanks to both of those senators for being able to work with us.
Now, don't presume anything about all police officers, as you listen to the entry on my next list. I have told you many times, my little brother is a police officer. I love him dearly. I think he's a great cop, as are most of the cops in this country.
What I'm about to share with you is frightening, that a man like this could end up in a uniform and wear a badge. I want -- I want to do now the list that you don't want to be on.
Philadelphia Police Sergeant Robert Ralston, last month, he was shot in the shoulder while on duty. You say oh, no, poor guy, right? Well, he told his commanders that he had approached two black men at an intersection. Ralston reported that one of those black men, one of those subjects, ran; the other one held a gun to his head. And when he pushed the man's arm away, the gun just went off. The bullet hit Ralston's shoulder, the bullet fired by a black man.
The real story, as told today by Ralston's boss, the police commissioner of Philadelphia, there was no black man. There was no black man who shot Ralston. It wasn't even another man at all.
He shot himself, shot himself, made up the whole story about the two black guys, supposedly to try to get transferred to another precinct. He already had four suspensions in his 21-year career. And that's why Sergeant Robert Ralston is without a benefit of -- without a shadow of a doubt, as you have agreed throughout the day on Twitter, today's number one on the list that you don't want to be on.
Then there's this: bustiers, fishnets. What is this, a lingerie ad? Nope. It's the new face of Miss USA. And wouldn't you know it's got a lot of people angry. That is next.
Also, do you remember Susan Boyle? Well, she is so last year now, right? There's a brand-new reality show superstar, kind of in Susan Boyle fashion, and she's 80 years old, 80 years old. That story is coming up next right here on RICK'S LIST.
And so is Brooke Baldwin. Hang tight, folks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. This is RICK'S LIST. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I am, as you know, a Florida boy, tried and true. Grew up around alligators, absolutely fascinated by alligators. And I would literally grow -- drive to State Road 75 in Florida, sit on the grass, and just watch the alligators, sometimes for hours.
So expect all things alligator to always be on "Fotos." A 10-footer, big, ugly sucker, too. Right?
Everybody in this North Miami Beach neighborhood -- grew up near North Miami Beach -- has spotted this gator in the storm pipes walking around a lake, or sticking its face out of the sewer near the lake. They want it gone, pronto, worried about their kids, worried about their pets. It's one of those things that you put up with when you live in Miami, right?
Animal control is now on the hunt. They will soon be called. Nothing yet, though.
We'll let you know.
Also, the Brits have done it again, taken an unlikely wannabe star and turned her into an overnight singing sensation. Forget Susan Boyle. The buzz of the day is over a sassy 80-year-old great grandma named Janey Cutler.
I want you to listen to her now. She's about to belt out on "Britain's Got Talent."
Hit it, Janey.
(MUSIC)
SANCHEZ: Wow. Huh? Pretty cool. I got goose bumps listening to that. She can belt it out. She's got people on her feet.
She got a standing ovation. And sourpuss Simon what's his name actually smiled and applauded as well.
Don't know if she's Britain's most talented, but she certainly charmed them on that night. All right.
Next, I want you to watch this. This is a horrible crash. You'll see it better when I slow it down.
But you're seeing a man holding his baby in his arms as a car plows into him. This a security camera.
The car smashes into the dad and his baby and his parents. People and the baby stroller go flying.
The dad holding his baby is pinned between the car and that giant window. See that? And get this -- nobody was killed. The man and the baby weren't even banged up very badly.
Unbelievable story.
By the way, you can see our archive of all the best "Fotos del Dia," or "Best Video of the Day," on my blog, which is CNN.com/ricksanchez.
Now this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was something that was very simple that was blown out of proportion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Think about this. It's a field trip for African- American students only.
Is that a good idea, a good way to boost test scores? It may have been an honorable intent, all things considered, but it turned out to make people think it was terribly divisive for the entire school.
I'm going to take you through it, tell you what happened, and tell you what the parents are saying.
And then, Miss USA like you've ever seen her before. I mean, garter belts, bustiers, specific kinds of -- what is that called, Brooke, the fishnet --
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fishnet stockings.
SANCHEZ: Fishnet stockings.
Why are you laughing at me? Don't laugh at me. I'm on national television over here.
BALDWIN: Oh, like I know.
SANCHEZ: We're coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: OK. It is now time to try and figure out what's trending. This is one of our best segments of the day. This is the one many of you look forward to. These are the trending stories, and we list them for you.
No, you, Brooke Baldwin, list them for us.
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And I will not ask you what a bustier is.
BALDWIN: Oh, lord. Goodness. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Go on.
BALDWIN: Let's start with number one, which really is the epitome of trending today. And we're talking about Miss USA and these pictures, or these promotional photographs, that have been released.
These ladies, they're wearing some smiles and not a whole lot else. Let's take a look. As Rick likes to talk about bustiers, fishnets, stilettos, et cetera, that is what we're seeing. The organization's president has come out and said yes, this is absolutely pushing the envelope.
And I want to quote for you, because of course we reached out to Miss Universe. And they say this: "We are in the business of beauty, and the contestants who compete for the title of Miss USA are not afraid to be sexy. These ladies are the full package -- smart, accomplished, relevant and sexy."
But here's the big concern.. What kind of message is this sending to young women here in America?
SANCHEZ: Yes. That's a good question.
BALDWIN: And -- thank you very much. Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley Altman good enough to join me by the phone.
And Chelsea, I know you won a couple years ago, but I'm going to put you in these ladies' shoes today. You've seen the pictures. Would you be willing to pose in your underwear suggestively for promotional purposes?
CHELSEA COOLEY ALTMAN, MISS USA 2005: Hey, Brooke.
In fact, you know, I've actually shot with Fadil Berisha, the photographer that took the pictures. And knowing him, I would be comfortable with this type of scene photo shoot, because it's in good fun, and I don't think it's done in a distasteful way.
You know, Fadil has shot everyone from Halle Berry to Tyra Banks. And, you know, we work with a lot of the contestants that compete each year at Miss USA. And having spoken with some of our clients, they felt really beautiful, they felt very comfortable, and said that Fadil was even very adamant about making sure that they were comfortable in the shoot and everything that went on.
BALDWIN: Right, and I absolutely hear you. And they're beautiful pictures. And I know that you say that these women are comfortable. But I guess, ultimately, my question is, look, there is potentially a huge difference -- at least this is what some are saying -- there's a huge difference, Chelsea, in posing in a bikini and posing in your underwear.
I mean, look, some of these pictures, you have to agree with me, they're suggestive.
ALTMAN: Oh, absolutely. I definitely agree with you on that.
I mean, you can look and see that there is a huge rage of -- from the clothing that is on there, summer (ph). And shirts, some have bras on, some are in bustiers.
But I'm sure if the girls were uncomfortable, they could have spoken up and chosen between that wardrobe what they wanted to do. And then they could have chosen the poses that they wanted to make. Some are laying on their stomachs, and you're not seeing anything in their chest and in their back region. You just see their faces and their shoes. You know? And you're not seeing any other skin shown.
And then others are definitely posing in more compromising positions. So, you know, you have to look at that as well.
BALDWIN: We're looking at it. We're looking at lots of pictures.
Chelsea Cooley Altman, I appreciate you calling in.
I think a lot of people have said today, look, any press is good press. So --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: By the way, I wasn't looking. I was busy doing research for my next segment.
BALDWIN: Right. Right. Sure you were.
Hi. Go ahead.
SANCHEZ: What do you have next for us?
BALDWIN: OK, we'll move on.
Number two, this is a story out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. And this was supposed to be a field trip.
You know, this is a chance for some youngsters to meet an African-American rocket scientist, but here's the thing -- the invitation for this field trip was only extended to fifth graders who are black. This is Dicken Elementary School.
And the school actually told us, look, the reason we did this was to help these young people whose test scores were definitely lagging, if you look at the numbers, behind those white students. And they wanted to meet a potential mentor.
SANCHEZ: But wait. Wait, let me get this straight.
They had African-American students, and they thought that their grade scores in science were so low, they wanted them to experience --
BALDWIN: A rocket scientist.
SANCHEZ: -- role models.
BALDWIN: Hey, one day maybe this could be me. Exactly. But here's the thing --
SANCHEZ: But they only took the black kids, not the white kids.
BALDWIN: -- they only took the black kids, they didn't take the white kids. So, when the black kids got back to school, the school has told us that these kids were booed. And we talked to the school district spokeswoman, and she said you can imagine, some parents were furious because they're saying look, my children were victims of discrimination.
We've heard from the principal. He has very much so stepped forward. He sent a letter home to parents.
By the way, we found out today he has received death threats after this. I want to read just a snippet of this letter that I read, and it said this -- he wrote to the parents and said, "The intent of our field trip was not to segregate or exclude students, as has been reported, but rather to address the societal issues, roadblocks and challenges that our African-American children will face as they pursue a successful academic education here in our community."
Here's the rub. The good old unconstitutional flag is flying here because there's this thing in Michigan. It's called Proposition 2, essentially in the state's Constitution. You specifically say, hey, you can't discriminate against a specific race, against a specific ethnicity.
We've reached out to the attorney general's office just to see if there's any lawsuit that's been filed, any complaint. We haven't heard of anything yet.
SANCHEZ: It's funny, because the intent may have been noble, but it's the same as Prop 9 with sports. If you have a sport for boys -- you have to have as many sports for boys as you do for girls, and everything has to be equal.
BALDWIN: Parents are saying, why not bring everyone? Why not bring everyone?
SANCHEZ: Yes. That's a good point. Great story.
BALDWIN: And I brought you some souvenirs.
SANCHEZ: Oh, this is from your trip.
BALDWIN: Yes.
Thank you, Craig.
So, this is the actual oil. You know, we've seen the video down along the Gulf.
I went out to the Chandeleur Islands a couple of days ago, and I scooped up a big -- there's my arm scooping up the mess. This is the bottle.
SANCHEZ: Cool.
BALDWIN: That is the oily water. And we have since had it tested by a chemical lab in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and this is what I got. SANCHEZ: What is this?
BALDWIN: That is the extracted oil. And the chemist told me --
SANCHEZ: So this is the water?
BALDWIN: This is the oily water. Through an extraction process, they produced that tiny vial of oil.
SANCHEZ: Turn it around.
BALDWIN: And he told me of all the samples he had gathered thus far, this is the most potent sample. Brought it in for you.
SANCHEZ: This is the actual oil.
BALDWIN: That is the oil.
You know, we were talking to some ship captains, and I think they were sort of hoping that it was -- oh, it smells.
SANCHEZ: Oh! Oh! Oh!
BALDWIN: It smells like dead fish, doesn't it? Yes.
SANCHEZ: Oh, my gosh!
BALDWIN: But you know what? When I was out there and I was scooping up --
SANCHEZ: Craig, come here. No, come here. Craig, come here.
BALDWIN: Poor Craig. This is what you get when you work on the Rick Sanchez show.
SANCHEZ: Can you believe that? I have never in all my life --
BALDWIN: Yes. But it doesn't smell like oil. It just smells rank, but it's not oil.
SANCHEZ: No, that won't affect the tourism industry.
BALDWIN: There you go. That's my gift to you, sir.
SANCHEZ: Wow! Rancid!
Here, smell this. Smell this.
BALDWIN: Oh, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What is that? This is the light sweet?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: Oh, my gosh. Dude, that is a bad movie. That is a bad movie.
SANCHEZ: Have a sip.
BALDWIN: We're getting wrapped.
SANCHEZ: Wow. Oh!
MYERS: Oh, done.
BALDWIN: On that note --
SANCHEZ: Oh!
BALDWIN: Something's fishy in here. I'm leaving. Bye.
SANCHEZ: Thank you. Good stuff. Appreciate it.
MYERS: Oh, man. That was terrible.
SANCHEZ: The vice president's son has been hospitalized. That's the bad news. Here's the good news. Despite the fact that it was a stroke, we're learning today that he is alert, that he has all his faculties. And we're going to bring you the very latest on the story when we come back.
We'll be right back with RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I promised you with this show, with RICK'S LIST, if I get something wrong, I'm going to tell you as soon as I possibly can that I got something wrong, even if it's small. This one's small, but I got it wrong. So here we go. I got it wrong.
A little while ago, when I was talking about the situation up there in Canada, I had made reference to Montreal and Quebec City. But instead, I left the word "city" out. I just said between Montreal and Quebec.
So, look, people on Twitter are telling me, right away, of course -- because whenever I make a mistake, I've got 130,000 people who tell me about it -- "You said between Montreal and Quebec. No biggie. Keeping you on your toes."
It's not between Montreal and Quebec. It was between Montreal and Quebec City. And, of course, that's a very important thing to point out. And we thank you for it.
It also shows we've got tons of people who watch this show every day in Canada. I mean, we realized this about a year ago when we started watching the trends.
Happy to have you. Thanks, guys.
OK. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in D.C. He's having a closed-door meeting, ,we understand, with U.S. officials. That's going to make Wolf Blitzer's list. He's going to join me here in just a little bit.
We'll talk about that. We'll talk about the U.K. elections and a whole lot more. Maybe even talk about the Fed. The Fed, who is playing with your money. Lots of your money.
Stay there. RICK'S LIST continues in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You know what's really cool about being able to follow tweets for you? Sometimes we make news in the most traditional ways, but we keep a list of the people making news. And look at this, for example.
We were first to report that the president was about to call the new British prime minister because of Twitter. And now because of Twitter, we even get to show you the picture. Here it is.
Let's do -- this is from Bill Burton, our deputy press secretary who I often speak with about all things Washington.
There's the president of the United States showing a lot of gray hair, showing a bit of a smile, talking to the new British prime minister for the very first time.
Let me turn to my colleague, Wolf Blitzer.
Wolf, I've got to tell you, I don't know if you're like me -- I bet you, you are, because I know you and I are like two peas in a pod when it comes to politics -- watching that process today in the U.K. as fascinating as about anything I've ever seen in a long time in either country. Wasn't it?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it was really dramatic, the way David Cameron just sort of appeared over there at Number 10 Downing Street, made his announcement after Gordon Brown had left Number 10 Downing Street. We saw the chopper shots taking him in his motorcade to the queen's residence at Buckingham Palace.
So, it was all pretty amazing. I've got to tell you, as a political junkie and as a foreign policy junkie, I loved it.
SANCHEZ: It was fun to watch.
Are you worried about Beau Biden? I mean, all the reports are that he's going to be fine. And that's fantastic news. But still, I mean, you know how much the vice president loves his family and brags on his son.
BLITZER: Of course.
SANCHEZ: So this has got to hit him pretty hard, I imagine.
BLITZER: Yes. No, a mild stroke is still a mild stroke, and it's going to take some time to recover from that.
They've got to find out what happened. And he's a very popular attorney general in the state of Delaware, a veteran. He served in Iraq for almost a year.
You know, he's, by all accounts, a great guy. And so it's just shocking for any family. And when you're the vice president, who has gone through, you know, his own personal tragedies over the years with his first wife and kid getting killed in a car crash, it's hard.
So we wish Beau Biden, the whole Biden family, only the best.
SANCHEZ: You know, before I let you go, I've got to ask you about Hamid Karzai. It's a big part of the news cycle today, certainly in Washington.
I mean, this is a guy even our government was criticizing recently. You know, a lot of talk about the possibility that there's been a lot of corruption going on with this new government, and whatever he does, I mean, it represents us in many ways.
How important is it for the United States to somehow wrangle this guy in? And where are we on that process now?
BLITZER: Well, I think the Obama administration realizes, you know, for good or for bad, Hamid Karzai is going to be the guy in charge of Afghanistan for the next four years. They tried a few weeks ago to get tough with him, to threaten him on the corruption issues and some of the other issues. It didn't work out.
He didn't back down at all. He was pretty tough in response.
Now this charm offensive is under way here in Washington, and they're bringing out the red carpet for him every single day he's here. So they think they can get more out of him with some nice words and some dinners, formal gestures, than they can by threatening him. And I think that's significant.
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer, good to see you. Look forward to your newscast. And I'm so glad you didn't have to smell that rancid water from the Gulf of Mexico that Brooke Baldwin made me smell just moments ago here on TV. It was amazing.
We'll see you again, my friend. Look forward to seeing your show.
All right. Coming up next, we are going to be telling you what is the very latest with Beau Biden. In fact, Elizabeth Cohen is going to be joining us, and she's going to take us through that process.
Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We have just now received an update on Joe Biden's son, Beau Biden. The new information is that he has just been transferred to another hospital in Philadelphia.
Not quite sure -- do we know what hospital, guys? We don't, right? OK.
He's just been transferred to another hospital in Philadelphia. Not sure exactly what that means. We do know he suffered a mild stroke today.
On the phone with us now, our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, what do we know?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What we know is that Beau Biden has suffered a mild stroke. That's the way it's been described to us. And we've been told that he is talking with his family and that he has full motor skills, and that his speech is just fine. The way that it's been presented to us is that he is doing just fine, that there haven't been any changes or anything like that.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you, because a lot of people -- you know, they hear the word "stroke" and they immediately imagine the worse. What is the deviation? What is the difference between mild and severe, for example? What are we talking about here?
COHEN: Right. Usually when people talk in those terms, what they're talking about is the effects. Like, a mild stroke, usually when people say that, they mean it hasn't had a big effect. Like, it's not affected his speech, it's not affected his motor abilities. Usually that's what they're talking about.
SANCHEZ: So, symptomatically speaking, not a big deal. Still, how serious, the fact that he had a stroke at all?
COHEN: Right. Still, the fact that he's had a mild stroke at the age of 41 makes you wonder, is there some underlying problem going on here? For example, sometimes people have congenital heart defects, these heart defects that they are born with, they don't even know about, but that can cause a stroke. It could also be, even at someone at 41, be because of clogged arteries, just like a heart attack.
It could also just be a complete fluke. People sometimes get strokes from things like yoga, or a chiropractor who manipulated someone, or something like that. It can be just a strange little trauma that causes a stroke.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Elizabeth, thanks so much. We appreciate you taking time to take us through this. We'll follow the story.
And Wolf Blitzer is going to have the very latest on it as well.
Here now is Wolf in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
