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Obama Speaks Out on Economy; When Will Israeli-Palestinian Fighting End?

Aired January 05, 2009 - 15:00 ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Making news right now: Isreal splits Gaza in half. How long will it last? How much more intense will it get? We have new information with reports from Christiane Amanpour, Anderson Cooper, Jim Clancy, Carl Penhaul.

An anylsis from Israeli ambassador and an Palestinian spokesperson. Whose side if God on? Taking note with a historic perspective.

Sixty people swallowed now missing after a landslide. The incredible details.

Franken beats Coleman. But Republicans say no. A decision expected live this hour.

More than 30 counts of sexual abuse. Did an Oklahoma sheriff use his power to take advantage of women while in office? We are all over it. It is two o'clock in Oklahoma City, three P.M. in Boston. You are joining us on the air and on the web, our national conversation begins right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez, right here from the world headquarters of CNN in Atlanta.

Yes, there is a story going on right now that involves us. Many of you have been either sending tweets to us or going onto MySpace or Facebook or reading the blogs and the articles that are no doubt going to be written about this.

But, apparently, since we base so much of our show on Twitter, for example, there is news out there that our Twitter account was either hacked or phished. Not quite sure yet. In fact, here's a tweet that came in moments ago as we were getting ready to go on the air. There, you see Jim Clancy getting ready to go as well with all the big stories.

"Sorry to hear your Twitter account was hacked."

Interestingly enough, it wasn't only mine. Several people had their Twitter accounts hacked on this day. President-elect Barack Obama's account was hacked. My account was hacked. So was Britney Spears' and so was Bill O'Reilly's from FOX News, interestingly enough.

It's a story that we're going to get more information on. And throughout the show, if we get anything we think is pertinent, we are going to be talking about it. Otherwise, really no need to talk about something once it's been put to bed, because we understand from the folks over at Twitter and through our own security folks here that things are now for the most part, what should we say, copacetic. Everything is under control. We will let you know, though.

Big story we're following right now in Chicago today, in Washington tomorrow. The former attorney general of Illinois, Roland Burris, he says look, I'm the guy. I'm legitimate. I should be the senator from Illinois.

But there are people in Washington who are saying, well, listen, you may not be tainted, but the appointment is tainted, because it was made by Rod Blagojevich.

I want you to listen. This gets crazy. This is a news conference that Burris gives in Chicago with local reporters. He gets combative, among other things. Judge for yourself. We will talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROLAND BURRIS, FORMER ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: The word is, we're on our way to Washington as a senator from the great state of Illinois. And we're looking forward to serving our 13 million people, with all of the crises that we have in this state and in this nation, and Illinois is needing to have a full complement of representation, and that's what I'm seeking to do.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: Well, I'm hoping and praying that I will be seated.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) contact with the Obama administration?

BURRIS: No, I have not, none whatsoever. My people tried to reach out for them, and (OFF-MIKE) I don't think we heard anything.

QUESTION: How do you feel -- how do you feel about your supporters bringing race into this issue here?

BURRIS: Well, you know, I cannot control my supporters. I have never in my life, in all of my years of being elected to office, thought anything about race. I have been elected four times in the state of Illinois.

And the great people of Illinois have seen the qualifications and the commitment that Roland Burris has, and race has never been a concern of mine.

As a matter of fact (inaudible) as a matter of fact, I have...

(CROSSTALK) BURRIS: Well, I'm trying to talk to the young lady...

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: As a matter of fact, I have looked upon the state of Illinois as the only state in the nation -- think about this -- that has elected four blacks statewide, two United States senators and two constitutional officers. And now they have an appointed individual who is also black as United States senator.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Mr. Burris, who do you plan to meet with and do what you call these negotiations in Washington?

BURRIS: Well, I will be in touch with our senior senator, Dick Durbin. And hopefully he will have things outlined for me and set up there and we will proceed from there. I understand that he (inaudible) meetings scheduled with me from Harry Reid, the majority leader, and we will see what takes place there.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... scheduled for Wednesday?

BURRIS: Wednesday, that's correct.

QUESTION: Well, you've been subpoenaed to appear before the House Impeachment Committee in Springfield.

BURRIS: And we're handling that, as well.

QUESTION: How are you going to do that?

BURRIS: Well, I am -- I am the magic man.

QUESTION: Are you planning to travel to Springfield?

BURRIS: On Thursday, if we can.

QUESTION: On Thursday?

QUESTION: Thursday?

BURRIS: Thursday, yes.

QUESTION: But not on Wednesday?

BURRIS: We can -- I'm a United States senator. They cannot stop me from doing my senatorial duties.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And there continues to be news coming in. We are going to interrupt that. This is Barack Obama meeting with his economic advisers. You know the word has been out there that he's now talking about tax cuts for all Americans once again. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT-ELECT: ... is to shape the next phase of economic recovery so that it is more transparent, so that it is more consistent, so that the public and the markets and businesses all understand exactly how it is working, what our expectations are and what will be accomplished as a consequence of some of the extraordinary steps that have been taken.

Finally, we talked today about the tough choices that we're going to have to make to restore fiscal responsibility, so as the economy recovers, our deficit can start to be brought down. As I said earlier, right now, the most important task for us is to stabilize the patient. The economy is badly damaged; it is very sick. And so we have to take whatever is -- steps are required to make sure that it is stabilized.

But we also have to recognize that if we're going to grow this economy over the long term, if we're going to create a better future for our children and our grandchildren, then we can't be fiscally irresponsible about how we do it.

And so -- we have been in deep conversations and will continue over the next several weeks to shape our recovery and reinvestment package alongside very concrete, serious plans for midterm and long- term fiscal discipline. And that is something that we will be also be presenting to the American people as well as leadership on Capitol Hill.

So I'm looking forward to meeting with both the Democrats and Republicans this afternoon. My expectation is that they will share the same sense of urgency that I do, that we are going to move quickly, that we're not going to get bogged down in a lot of old-style politics on either side.

OBAMA: There's not going to be a lot of finger-pointing or posturing. The American people need action now. That's what I intend to provide as president of the United States. So with that, let me take a couple questions.

QUESTION: How fast does this plan need to move to passage?

And in moving swiftly and boldly, are you concerned at all about sacrificing transparency and a full examination of the process?

And also, if you don't mind, could you also talk about the extent to which the tax cut part of this plan is political (OFF-MIKE) getting it passed?

OBAMA: Well, let take the second question first. Some of you, at least, were following the campaign. And for the last two years, I have talked about the need for middle-class tax cuts. So the notion that me wanting to include relief for working families in this plan is somehow a political ploy, when this is -- was the centerpiece of my economic plan, for the last two years, doesn't make too much sense.

What -- in a bad situation, there is a happy convergence between what I had pledged during the campaign and what's required for the economy, right now, to put more money into the pockets of ordinary Americans who are more insecure about their jobs, who are continuing to see rising costs in an area like health care, who are struggling to make ends meet.

But, you know, we think it is very important to have a balanced recovery and reinvestment package. Part of it is going to be addressing consumers and making sure they have got money in their pockets.

Part of it is to provide incentives for businesses so that they start investing in plants and equipment that ultimately leads to jobs.

Part of it is going to be investing in the kinds of job-creating growth industries of the future, whether it's health I. T. , whether it's energy, that assure economic competitiveness over the long term.

OBAMA: So I wouldn't separate any of these parts. They're all of a piece.

And, as far as your first question, we are confident that we can accomplish unprecedented transparency, even as we move this package forward. Not only will Congress know exactly what's in this bill, but we're exploring steps, for example, like putting on a Web site very detailed information about all the projects that are taking place, what kind of impact we expect them to have, what kinds of job growth we hope to generate as a consequence of any of the discrete items that we are -- that we're putting forward.

QUESTION: Good afternoon, sir. To what extent has the violence in the Middle East distracted your team on the economic plan? And is the deadline for your stimulus -- are you still hoping for -- has it slipped to February?

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Well, as I said before, I strongly believe that a president or a president-elect or his team should be able to do more than one thing at a time. And so, obviously, international affairs are of deep concern.

With the situation in Gaza, I have been getting briefed every day. I have had consistent conversations with members of the current administration about what's taking place. That will continue.

I will continue to insist that when it comes to foreign affairs, it is particularly important to adhere to the principle of one president at a time, because there are delicate negotiations taking place right now, and we can't have two voices coming out of the United States when you have so much at stake.

With respect to the timetable for the economic recovery and reinvestment plan, we are going to do most of this work this month.

OBAMA: And, you know, we're not waiting. The reason I'm here today is that we are going to present our latest ideas to Congress. We expect them to begin this week on this process. And, you know, I expect to sign a bill to create 3 million jobs for the American people shortly after I get inaugurated.

QUESTION: Sir, what do you mean by shortly after?

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Well, look, there are only so many days in the legislative process, and it's going to take some time, even on an expedited schedule, to get a bill passed and on my desk. But we anticipate that by the end of January or the first week in February we have gotten the bulk of this done.

STAFF: Thanks, guys. We have got to get to the Hill.

OBAMA: All right? Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, there you go. That's -- we interrupted everything we were doing, because I was just told by Angie (ph) in my ear just as we were trying to get into this Blagojevich and Burris story that the president-elect had just met with members of his economic team. That's what you were looking at there.

Obviously, some of the folks in the room weren't just his economic team.

Interesting, the proposal that's coming from the president- elect's offices today.

Let's bring Mark Preston into this.

Mark, here's what's strange. And maybe you can help us figure this out. By the way, good to see you again. It's been awhile.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Happy new year.

SANCHEZ: The Republicans and the Democrats alike have criticized the present administration for being just spend-happy, for spending too much of the people's money.

And now we're talking about a $700 billion stimulus package that includes a $300 tax cut for Americans. A lot of people are going to look at this and say this sounds like a lot of the same thing you were criticizing -- $300 billion, I should, in case I said million.

Is it, Mark? PRESTON: A lot of people will criticize it, but I think a lot of people are going to say that sometimes you have to spend some money in order to try to create jobs and try to get the train back on the track.

I think it's fair to say, Rick, that right now that the country is in utter economic turmoil. And I think that's being kind, but by putting it in those terms. I think that if Barack Obama is able to work with congressional Republicans in a constructive manner, then they are going to go along with this. And, by and large, I think the American people will probably go along with it as well.

SANCHEZ: But is anybody going to ask where's all this money coming from? How much can you continue to go and print new money before the well starts to run out or you start to have dire consequences, if not for us, for our kids?

PRESTON: Yes. No, I mean, look, I will leave that to an economist to answer, where is it exactly going the come from. But I think what you will hear from supporters of this stimulus package, whether they're Democrats or Republicans or the Obama administration, they are going to tell you that we need to invest this money now in order to try to dig ourselves out of this hole that we're in.

So, we will see if it actually works. But I suspect that while there will be some opponents to this bill in Congress, it is going to pass.

SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, you have this situation that's developing.

And, Mark, stay right there. We are going to try and get in a quick break. And I want to come back and talk about this. You have got an appointed senator out of Illinois who apparently the Democrats don't want and are telling him so in no uncertain terms. You got a prospective or possible senator coming out of Minnesota who the Republicans say they don't want in any uncertain terms.

It's really a bit of a quagmire here. I want to talk to you about that as we listen to a little bit more of Burris in just a little bit. And he was animated in ways that we have never seen him before, including some of the stuff that he says.

Also, the situation going on right now in Gaza, we are going to fill you in on that and bring you all the details on that. Jim Clancy is here, as well as an ambassador representing Israel is going to -- joining us.

Stay with. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right. Now, I want you to listen to this now. This is the Roland Burris news conference, impromptu news conference, that he gave today before leaving Chicago on his way to Washington. He met with reporters. He's combative. He's feisty. He's almost threatening at some points. Listen to it. Judge for yourself. Then we're going to pick up Mark again on the back side. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURRIS: ... legal. Why don't you all understand that what has been done here is legal? Those -- I mean, that's legal. I am the junior senator from Illinois, and I wish my colleagues in the press would recognize that all the drama -- and, you know, it makes -- I guess it keeps you all in a job, is that right now?

QUESTION: Have you heard from the governor lately?

BURRIS: No, I have not.

QUESTION: You have not talked to the governor in the last two days?

BURRIS: No, I have -- what do you understand by, "No, I have not"?

QUESTION: Why not?

(CROSSTALK)

BURRIS: I don't have any intentions -- I don't have any intention to.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... tomorrow morning, if you're turned away at the door, what happens right after that?

BURRIS: Well, my lawyers will take it from there, and we'll see what happens.

QUESTION: If you have an opportunity to meet with (OFF-MIKE)

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... what are you going to say to them?

BURRIS: Well, I'm going to sell...

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: I'm going to sell myself the same way I have sold myself to the people of Illinois. I have represented them for 20 years in this great state. And I'm -- I am a solution to the problem.

QUESTION: But how are you going to separate yourself from Rod Blagojevich?

BURRIS: Why should I separate myself from Rod Blagojevich?

QUESTION: Because he appointed (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: And? Do you separate the people when they elect you? No, I mean, I don't have to separate myself from -- from Rod Blagojevich. He carried out his duties, and he filled the vacancy as according to law. Isn't that correct? Isn't that what the statute says, that this governor shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy?

It didn't say anything about being tainted or being associated with or being, you know -- I mean, this is all politics and theater. But I am the junior senator, according to every law book in the nation.

QUESTION: Mr. Burris, there are so many people who have (OFF- MIKE) in the Senate. Why is it so important for you (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: How many -- well, there are so many people who talked for me sitting in the Senate, too, so that's a wash.

QUESTION: But why would you want to be associated with the governor, I mean, when he is tainted...

(CROSSTALK)

BURRIS: And what -- am I tainted?

QUESTION: Well, but he did appoint you.

BURRIS: Well, so? He signed some bills. Are those bills he signed illegal?

QUESTION: We don't know.

(CROSSTALK)

BURRIS: What do you mean, you don't know? You don't want to know because you don't want to know the answer because it keeps you working.

QUESTION: Roland, when you accepted position last week, did you expect this kind of spectacle to take place (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: Well, I -- I figured I would have two people, especially Jack Conaty, come and talk with me, but I did not expect all of this type of theater. But, no, I didn't expect all this.

I expected that my qualifications, my commitment to the people of Illinois, that that would be the best choice the governor could make because I could hit the ground running. I could go in and go -- and begin to just learn the procedures and then be able to go to work for the people of Illinois.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: ... because of this, Illinois has become a laughing stock of the nation. Does that bother you at all?

BURRIS: Well, that's because of the -- all the media stirring.

QUESTION: What do you rate your chances tomorrow of being seated?

BURRIS: Well, we'll see. We'll see. I don't want to put -- I don't want to put a rating on that. We will see.

QUESTION: You do expect tomorrow...

BURRIS: I am going there to be seated. I am the junior senator from the state of Illinois. That's all I can say.

QUESTION: But you haven't been sworn in yet.

BURRIS: Well, I will -- I look to be sworn in, but I am the senator.

QUESTION: What do you expect to testify to the impeachment panel on Thursday? What's...

(CROSSTALK)

BURRIS: I will tell them what happened.

(CROSSTALK)

BURRIS: We -- we sent in an affidavit, how -- the lawyer from the governor's office contacted me, and we did a couple days in between, you know, that situation.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: I'm sorry.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BURRIS: I feel -- I feel -- I feel I am a solution to the problem of the people of Illinois. That's what I feel.

QUESTION: Some people wonder why, with all the speculation, why you would even bother to take this seat and why not turn it down, like Danny Davis said, who said there's just too much baggage around this seat? Why not...

(CROSSTALK)

BURRIS: Because of my commitment -- I will say this again -- because of my commitment to the people of the state of Illinois. I have served them for 16 years in elective office, and I have an opportunity to serve them again. And I will certainly seek to do that.

QUESTION: Is it serving your own ego at all to take this spot?

BURRIS: I don't need (OFF-MIKE) respond to that.

QUESTION: Roland, are there...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Mark Preston, ego question aside, he says, I am the senator from Illinois. Is he?

PRESTON: You know, I guess, until he's sworn in, he's probably not.

But I will tell you, right now, Senate Democrats are in a box at this point. They have somebody who has been appointed by the governor. The governor is allowed to do that. The governor has not been indicted. Roland Burris tells us that he's going to show up tomorrow at the Senate doors and he's going to try to walk in. And guess what? He's not going to be allowed to.

SANCHEZ: And I don't know if you noticed or not, but he has black skin. When was the last time you saw a lot of other senators -- by the way, he's filling a vacancy of a guy who's also an African- American. How do a bunch of white guys in Washington tell this guy that he can't be seated as a senator if he doesn't have anything in his record that would bar him from being so?

PRESTON: Well, and that is why they are in a tough box. But, also, let's point out that Barack Obama himself, African-American, has said that this appointment is tainted or it's certainly does -- appointed -- nothing against Mr. Burris, as well as secretary of state as well from Illinois is African-American and says he will not sign the certificate.

So, at least the Democrats in the Senate have that to hang it on. One solution, though, Rick, and as our Dana Bash is reporting, is that Senate Democrats might allow Mr. Burris to come in and serve as the senator, but only for two years, perhaps serve as a caretaker. That is one idea that is at least being discussed at this point or floated. And that is what our Dana Bash is reporting at this hour.

SANCHEZ: Judging from this -- by the way, that's fascinating news. They are going to work a deal with him, is what I hear you say, that says, look, we will let you come in and be the senator, but you can't run for reelection. What's to say this guy would go along with that and he wouldn't use that as a fight as well?

This guy does not -- he does not appear to be shy to cameras at all, in fact, almost appears to be liking the engagement with the reporters.

PRESTON: Yes, no question. I was actually surprised once the appointment was made that Mr. Burris came out and did all of these media interviews and really has not really turned down, it seems, very many requests.

But I will tell you, it's been fascinating to have him come out and really make a case for himself to come here to Capitol Hill. Otherwise, if he was a shrinking violet, then we wouldn't really know what would happen. And certainly he has supporters in Illinois that think he should be the next senator. So, we will have to wait and see.

SANCHEZ: It's really as fascinating a story as they come. And then you have got the other deal in Minnesota that we hopefully will get a chance to talk to you about in a little bit. There, it's the opposite. You got Republicans saying, no, we may not want Al Franken seated if, in fact, the canvassing board decides that he's the guy.

And, by the way, we should be getting that information in about 10 minutes. We might be having a news conference coming out of Minnesota where the canvassing board there affirms him, possibly, as the senator from Minnesota.

We will be all over it. But, of course, the big story that we have been following thus far is taking place in Gaza. We are going to let you know what the latest information is that is coming out of that. And there is a bevy of it. Jim Clancy is going to join me on that as well, as well as an ambassador from Israel and a Palestinian legislator in the Palestinian territories.

Stay with us. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Sometimes, you have got to put the mikes on, make sure that they're all right.

Let me bring into the situation as we have got it, as we're following it today out of Gaza. First of all, as far as deaths are concerned, there are reports now that as many as 500 people have been killed in the area. On the other side, they're reporting four. And we will get into the issue of proportionality in just a little bit.

We also wanted to let you know that there's reports that some of the hospitals are being overrun, somewhat to be expected. Hamas has also been threatening now to kidnap soldiers.

As a matter of fact, you have got something on the ground on that, do you not?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have got reports coming out of Israeli media saying that there have actually been some attempts to capture some soldiers, not confirmed.

This hour, I talked with Mark Regev at the foreign ministry. What's really important right now, as we are talking, is that there is a pitched battle under way in Gaza, because what has happened up until now, Hamas has held their forces back. They have used mortars to harass the Israelis as they come in.

Now the Israelis are taking the high ground. They're taking high points, six-, eight-, even higher story buildings on the edge of Gaza City and the fight is becoming more pitched. Hints coming from Israel that there are some Israeli casualties, reminders that nobody thought this was going to be easy.

You can see more missiles are going to be coming out of these crowded urban areas, where there's a dense population. We're beginning to see a beginning of the real fighting.

SANCHEZ: Well, and the question becomes, Jim, and we're going to get into this now by talking to a Palestinian legislator, an independent Palestinian legislator, I should add.

Mustafa Barghouti is good enough to join us now.

I have been reading reports, Mr. Barghouti, that there are many there, Palestinians, who are turning on Hamas now, angry that their communities are being destroyed because of, I guess, and I use this word carefully, Hamas' stubbornness in this situation. Is there any truth to that? Are you getting any sense of that?

MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: I think, if there are such reports, they are definitely exaggerated, because the Palestinians, all the Palestinians, including those in Gaza, see who is bombarding them, who is killing their families, with their tanks, with their planes. It's the Israeli army.

And, unfortunately, this is not a real fight between two armies. These are some guerrillas with some light weapons encountering the fifth largest army in the world. But what is most painful -- what is most painful now is that civilians are dying in the hundreds, mostly children and women.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: And that does not serve Israel well. And I think they know that. And I think they probably will speak to that.

The question is, though, if part of Israel's job is to delegitimize Hamas, might they be able to do this inside the Palestinian territories? Remember, I mean, Hamas had a 17 percent approval rate when this thing began among Palestinians. So, they're not the most beloved members of that community, correct?

BARGHOUTI: No, it's not correct. I think you're relating to a poll that probably is incorrect.

SANCHEZ: OK.

BARGHOUTI: Hamas got 44 percent of the votes in the...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: No, no. I'm not speaking of votes. No, sir, I'm not speaking of votes.

(CROSSTALK)

BARGHOUTI: Yes, I know. I know. I know.

SANCHEZ: I'm speaking of polls that have been done.

BARGHOUTI: I don't know who did this poll. Probably, it -- I'm not sure it's correct. There were many polls like that before elections. And then Hamas got to so many votes. But I'm saying they are probably losing votes now, but the main, important thing is this is not an attack on Hamas. This is an attack on the whole population of Gaza.

This is an attack to reoccupy Gaza. They are now, at this very moment, the Israeli army is reoccupying Gaza. They say they want to stop the missiles, but they are refusing cease-fire.

(CROSSTALK)

BARGHOUTI: They say they want to have peace, and they are conducting a very large war that is hurting every Palestinian.

SANCHEZ: Well, that is interesting that you would say that. And I think that begs the question.

I want to bring in, if I possibly could right now, Israeli Ambassador Reda Mansour.

You heard what he says. Barghouti respectfully says that this is not an attack on Hamas, that this is an attack on the Palestinian people. How would you argue that?

AMBASSADOR REDA MANSOUR, ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL TO THE UNITED STATES: Well, first of all, I want to say that I don't envy Mr. Barghouti over there. He can't come out against Hamas. We know how Hamas settles accounts with the people who speak against them.

MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, PALESTINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Oh, come on.

MANSOUR: We have seen how when they took over Gaza, they throwing officials, (INAUDIBLE) from rooftops. It was a ruthless operation. We know with Hamas how they operate, how they...

SANCHEZ: Let's go back, let's go back, with all due respect Mr. Ambassador, let's go back to his comment that as he sees it, this is not an attack on Hamas. This is an attack on Gaza and all the people who live there.

MANSOUR: It's an attack on Hamas. We will repeat it every day. We are trying to pinpoint the places where Hamas is. Israel will never go to Gaza to look for innocent Palestinians. We are there because we suffered for eight years from this situation, that we received thousands of rockets. We tried everything else after all. Eight years, we pulled out of Gaza. We're not in Gaza anymore. And I'm afraid some people, the extreme movements in the Middle East think that when Israel pulls out of somewhere, it goes for more attacks and it's maybe a symbol of weakness, so they should intensify their violence.

SANCHEZ: Let's go back to independent Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghoudi. Do you accept that response?

BARGHOUTI: First of all, Mr. Ambassador wants to speak on my behalf, even. He forgot that I have been living myself under Israeli occupation for 41 years. Nobody else is occupying my country. If this occupation has ended long time ago, we would not have seen even the whole movement of Hamas. I think he has to understand that many of the things unfortunately, I have to say this word, they are lying about the situation. They claim that it's the Palestinians who broke the cease-fire. It's actually Israel who did so. Now we want cease- fire and Israel is refusing.

SANCHEZ: What would you say --

BARGHOUTI: We are witnessing --

SANCHEZ: Let me just interrupt you for a moment.

BARGHOUTI: ...550 people are killed including 150 children. Who is killing these children?

SANCHEZ: We reported that just moments ago, sir. Bu what we just heard the ambassador say and I would like to get your comment on that, barrages of rocket fire going into their country for several years now and the people of southern Israel complain to their government and say you have to protect us, you have to do something, so the government does this. Right or wrong, not an explanation for the action. Do you accept it?

BARGHOUTI: Exactly. How do we stop the missiles, by accepting cease-fire. Why Israel decides to continue? They had a cease-fire. Israel broke it. Now we say let's have cease-fire again so there will be no missiles and no violence and no victims. But at the end of the day, let's look at the picture. Four Israelis killed, 550 Palestinians killed, 2,750 people injured. Mainly, 40 percent of them are women and children. Seventeen families have been eliminated completely because now the Israeli army is bombarding houses, one house after the other.

SANCHEZ: Thank you, sir. He does make an interesting point that people all over the world are also making, a question of proportionality. If there are more than 500 Palestinians killed, why have there only been four or so people killed so far on the Israeli side and is that fair?

MANSOUR: I want to repeat what I said before. I understand Mr. Barghouti. I don't want to even argue with him. I will show concern to his life. I think that Palestinians who speak out loud against Hamas at this moment, they risk their life. So I don't see any point of argument there with any Palestinian.

SANCHEZ: What about the question of proportionality?

MANSOUR: I want to tell people, countries are not terrorist organizations. We can't send some police with an order and ask Hamas people to please come the our courts. When a country asks with terrorist organizations only tool you have is a military. You send it in and -- remember, we have 10,000 soldiers on the ground. Most of them are 18 years old. We have to take care of their security and these guys are ruthless. They will kidnap them. They will slaughter them in the middle of the street. So you can't go as if you were going to walk in the park and ask them please come and face us. SANCHEZ: We'll have to leave it there because we're out of time. Come back tomorrow, we will continue the discussion. We thank you Mr. Ambassador for being here. Jim Clancy, our thanks to you as well. And as always, our thanks to Palestinian legislator Barghouti there in the Palestinian territories.

When we come back, it's a sheriff in Oklahoma being charged with 33 counts of sexual abuse on women that were supposed to be in his charge. He could end up spending more than 400 years in prison if found guilty of these charges. We'll bring you the latest on this. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Just received moments ago from my producer. If you could again, put that picture up once again of the canvassing board there in Minnesota. For those of you who don't know, the canvassing board is the group that comes in after an election and certifies that election. Until that's done, it's not official. It's taken a long time on this one and now we're getting word that the canvassing board is actually confirming that it's Al Franken who is the winner, Democrat Al Franken the winner according to the Associated Press, of the Senate race in Minnesota. The loser, of course, would be Norm Coleman, the incumbent. We will be dipping into this in just a little bit. We've got a producer there on site who's going to be joining us to take us through this decision and what it means. In the meantime, there's another story not far from there in the state of Oklahoma.

In fact, we're going to be taking you now to Oklahoma City. I told you moments ago, a sheriff there in Custer County is accused of sexual abuse on women who had apparently been showing up for drug court there. Everything from wet tee shirt contests to rape and much more. In fact, I have the affidavit here in front of me. Give me the shot, if you've got it, Dan. Look at the charges. Look how many counts are in this thing. You got this here? As you go page by page, these are all counts in the indictment. See how those are listed right there one after another, 26, as far as I can count here. If you add all these up, what we have then is the possibility that this sheriff could spend 467 years in prison. Joining us now is Kevin Sims from KOCO to bring us up to date on this story. As I started reading through this story, I was amazed at how long this guy seemed to be able to get away with these alleged charges.

KEVIN SIMS, KOCO-TV: Yes Rick, the investigation actually took about a year for them to finally kind of unravel and for them to do all this. Last April of '08 is when the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation moved in and arrested the sheriff and forced him out of office there, after nearly three dozen charges, as you mentioned.

SANCHEZ: What do they say he was doing?

SIMS: Well, basically, these were women that were in his custody. Either there at the Custer County jail, that were part of this drug court program. So basically, what was happening, according to the affidavit and according to prosecutors, is that he would, in return for sexual favors from these women, he would either keep them out of jail, you know, do this for me and instead of going to jail, you do this drug court program instead.

SANCHEZ: We can only imagine what he was asking them to do. But it went beyond that. In some cases, he started tampering with people who could accuse him, trying to get rid of evidence, making deals with people that he would somehow get loved ones out of jail for free if they did something for him, right?

SIMS: Well, that's sort of how it kind of finally unraveled, is one of the women that he's accused of having sex with, she failed a drug test and at that point, she failed a drug test, you're in drug court, you go back to prison or jail, and she made the comment at the time, you know, I'm in this relationship, I'm having sex with Sheriff Burgess, so I won't be going back to jail. At that point, they started looking at it. It went on as you mentioned, to a relative of hers and that's where it all kind of started to come undone.

SANCHEZ: Apparently there doesn't seem to be any end to it. It's not just one woman. Many, many women, at least alleged to have been worked by this guy. Put his picture up one more time, if you would. People get a look at this accused sheriff. I should also say former sheriff. He left the job as well or was asked to leave and is now facing a bevy of charges. Kevin Sims, KOCO, we thank you for joining us and bring us up to date on a story we're obviously going to be following up on.

The state canvassing board in Minnesota making their decision. Again, we're going to try to nail that down for you and as we get more information, we'll be passing it along.

Here we go. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Just to let you know that it does appear that the comments by Roland Burris moments ago are seeming to have an effect on people, at least those who have been watching our newscast. Listen to this. This is Nevinews, letting us know -- go ahead, see if you can get that in there when you get a chance Robert. Bang. Illinois needs a senator to work with them. The Blagojevich issue is going to go on too long to wait on. Let him be seated. That's not the first one we've been getting like this so far. So different from the other day when he was appointed, when we got most of what was a consensus on myspace and Facebook and on tweets, essentially saying we're not comfortable with this guy because he was appointed by Blagojevich. By the way, also in the news, (INAUDIBLE) activity, since we are such an interconnected show, we are aware that our account was either phished or in fact, hacked today. The Rick Sanchez twitter account as well as Barack Obama's, as well as Britney Spears and Bill O'Reilly's all hacked today or phished, not sure. Our security folks have been working on it. We think the situation is now under control and will continue to look into it. Just wanted to let you know, we have been receiving a lot of tweets on that as well.

Want to catch you up now on what's going on in Latin America. Glenda Umanja, is joining us now to bring us up to date on a landslide that occurred in Guatemala that may have swallowed up as many as 60 or 70 people. What's going on Glenda?

GLENDA UMANJA, CNN EN ENSPANOL: Rick 22 people died and 60 are missing because of this landslide in Guatemala. They're (INAUDIBLE) when workers got out of a truck Sunday and started to walk across the path, trying to return to their homes, more than ten tons of dirt and rock Rick, fell on them. But the saddest thing Rick is that two weeks ago, after a previous landslide that killed two in the same area, geologists declared the stretch of road a high risk area. Look at that video that shows rock and dirt continuing to slide down the mountain after the disaster. That's why it has been very difficult Rick to recover the bodies and look for the missing.

SANCHEZ: They say they may not even be able to find some of them. They say some of them are so disfigured they can't even tell what's left of them. They also say that it's just too dangerous for some of the workers to go there now. Listen, this is the second landslide there, so they don't want to have a third, right?

UMANJA: reporter: Exactly, the second landslide in two weeks. This was a disaster, already 22 people died but 60 are missing (INAUDIBLE)

SANCHEZ: (INAUDIBLE) Appreciate it.

We got some new video coming in, we understand. Angie, what do we got here? New video coming in as we speak, part of the transition team arriving in Washington today and not waiting a long time to meet with people. There is the president-elect with a very, boisterous, friendly young man, reminds me of my kids. The senator, president- elect apparently has met up with Joe Biden, the vice president- elect. There's Joe Biden from Delaware there in the background. This is his arrival today in Washington, as we told you yesterday, his plane left Chicago. He has been meeting with, he's been meeting with both Democrats and Republicans. We are told it's some of the very first scheduled meetings, by the way, with those on the other side of the aisle, with Republicans on this.

Let's stay with these pictures to see what we can make out. OK, this is the meeting that he had with legislators. There you see Reid on his right, Pelosi or actually, Reid on my right, Pelosi on my left. Steny Hoyer is in there. There's Boehner as well, so again his very first meeting with Republicans and Democrats. He met with Democrats in the past. That video just coming in to us unexpected. We did the best we could to give you the play by play.

The fix and the ladies on "The View" talking about Sarah Palin. New year, old story. Nonetheless, we're told it's entertaining and of course we'll be checking in with Wolf to see what he's got coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Stay with us. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Well, as aforementioned, like him or not, at least what we're finding unscientifically here is on MySpace and Facebook and Twitter is that more and more people are now taking to Burris' appointment. Listen to this, KTclatterbuck says: "Burris' appointment is not corrupted. He's a proven public servant. Seat him and go after Blago." Again, we're seeing more and more of these now than we were the day that he was appointed. Interesting development and certainly difficult for some of the folks there in Washington who are going to have to reconcile this one way or another in the Senate.

Wolf Blitzer is going to be following this story as well. It's kind of interesting the way this thing is shaping up, isn't it, Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, we have an interview with Roland Burris coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM" as well. Among other things, it's a big day here in Washington, the president-elect Barack Obama he has finally arrived, crowds swarming around him in the halls of the capitol, as you just saw. His kids had their first day of school. But Mr. Obama is talking about one thing and one thing only, that would be the economy and the way to try to fix the nation's money problems. We'll have complete coverage of his plan, his tax cuts and whether Congress will be able to get it done.

After months of counting and recounting, the results are now certified. We finally know the winner of the race, Al Franken versus Norm Coleman. But the question, is it really finally?

Plus, guess what a TV station found in its vault. Barack Obama, the restaurant reviewer. You're going to want to hear what's going on in the story. Rick, all that and Roland Burris and a lot more coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

SANCHEZ: Good to see you. Hope you had a good new year so far.

WOLF: I did, thank you.

SANCHEZ: By the way, I'm just looking over to my right, go ahead Robert, get a shot. Twitter has put out an official statement that says "Monday morning madness." Just look at the bottom of that. This morning, we discovered 33 Twitter accounts have been hacked including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama. We'll read some more of that to you in just a little bit. Stay with us, we'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: As we've been telling you, we've been amassing groups of people in our community here, not just on MySpace and Facebook, but on twitter as well. In fact, we're on the verge of having 40,000 people who are following us there. When this news came out today, certainly, we paid a lot of attention to it. Let's read to you now what Twitterer the company, unassociated with CNN, by the way has put out. They called it "Monday morning madness." This is the full report. This morning, we discovered 33 twitter accounts have been hacked including prominent Twitter-ers like Rick Sanchez and Barack Obama, parenthetically it goes onto say, who has not been twittering since becoming president-elect due to transitions issues.

We immediately locked down the accounts and investigated the issue. Rick, Barack and others are now back in control of their accounts. You can go back on twitter and read exactly how it happened. Again, it's either a question of phishing or hacking. And it was aimed at twitter users as you can see there. We won't go into some of the details but you're welcome, certainly, to go to twitter.com and get all the information. We have been obviously cooperating with twitter to try to get to the bottom of this as well.

Meanwhile, lots to tell you about, including what's going on in Minnesota. Wolf is go to be filling you in more on this now, but apparently, the canvassing board, the body that determines whether an election is official or not has decided that in fact it is the Democrat Al Franken who has won over Norm Coleman in that race. So we're going to try and get you more information on that and we're also getting more information on the stories we're following for you here. And as usual, with about 30 seconds left now, I want to share with you some of the responses that have been coming from you. Before we do that now, let's check in with Wolf Blitzer and find out what's coming up "The Situation Room" and he can take it away from there. Wolf, what do you got?

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Rick.