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Obama's Taxing Decisions; Gulf War Mystery Ends, Violence Growing in Afghanistan; An Intern's Story of Extortion; McCain Plans to Vote No on Sotomayor

Aired August 03, 2009 - 15:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Again and again, he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Is the president breaking a promise?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I made a bad mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: She had an affair with a married state senator. He is an evangelical Republican, and there's an update.

My hometown has a slimy problem.

How bad is the Republican party's problem with Hispanics?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We have a very, very deep hole that we got to come out of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You'll hear from John McCain.

And rare pictures. From inside Afghanistan. On your national conversation for Monday, August 3, 2009.

Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. This is a conversation, not a speech, and it is, as always, your turn to get involved.

During his campaign, candidate Obama said it so often, we can practically all repeat it by now. "If you make less than $250,000 a year, you won't have to pay more taxes." That's what he said. He told us that. He told Joe the Plumber that. He told just about everybody who would hear that, that. That was before the bank bailouts, mind you, before the nearly $800 billion stimulus bill, before the federal deficit topped $1 trillion. All right. Are you ready for this? I want you to listen closely now to treasury secretary Timothy Geithner this weekend, in case you missed it. And he's talking specifically now about this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We will not get this economy back on track, recovery will be not strong and sustained unless we can convince the American people that we are going to have the will to bring these deficits down once recovery is firmly established.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Here's what else he said, which is interesting.

Now, remember, you have got to be careful what -- how you listen to the words. He said, when it comes to taxes, the president won't do anything that adds unfairly, anything that adds unfairly to the middle class, key word, unfairly, almost like there's some distance between this and that.

Now, listen to this bit of nuance also from top White House economics adviser, Larry Summers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE SUMMERS, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: What the president has been completely clear that he is not going to pursue any of his priorities, not health care, not energy, nothing, in ways that are primarily burdening middle-class families. That is something that's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, did you hear that one? Summers said the middle class will not be primarily burdened, not burdened, primarily burdened.

Remember the last time a president got in trouble for a tax promise? Just in case you're too young and can't remember, like the rest of us old fogies, let me help you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AUGUST 18, 1988)

GEORGE H.W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Read my lips: no new taxes.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Well, we all know the rest of that story. We all know how that one turned out.

Joining me now from Washington, our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley and, from New York, chief business correspondent Ali Velshi, because there's a political side to this story, and obviously, an econ side to this story as well.

Candy, I think I'm going to begin with you. And I think the obvious question is, has the president of the United States set a trap for himself here?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, I don't know of any economist anywhere, and Ali would be better on this, but I have yet to talk to an economic expert that I respect that hasn't said, gee, you know how you bring down a deficit? Unless you get enormous growth, you bring down the deficit by raising taxes.

That's how that works. Now, has he set himself a trap? I would say if he's going to raise taxes in any way, be it gasoline taxes, be it a surtax, whatever it is that might hit people $250,000 and under, he better do it quickly.

SANCHEZ: But it's a quantifiable number, though. If you're talking about $250,000, you would think we're talking there about some form of income tax. I mean, cigarette sales, gas, you know, if we're talking about a property or a sales tax, he probably would have wiggle room.

But if somehow it's quantifiable from $250,000 and up -- or pardon me -- and under, he's got a problem, doesn't he? How does he pull that off?

CROWLEY: Well, you know, by arguing, as George Bush the dad did, that it was needed, that he had to have this money to fund a variety of things, but mostly to bring down the deficit.

And, remember, it wasn't just income taxes that President Obama talked about during the campaign. He said any taxes. Now, cigarette taxes have already gone up, but nobody cares when cigarette taxes are going up unless you smoke.

SANCHEZ: Right.

CROWLEY: So, he said any kind of taxes. Look, it's a political problem if he does. I think that's why you saw White House spokesman Robert Gibbs dialing this thing back as far as he could. The answer to these questions always is that the president never says never.

The problem with putting economists out there is they get how the deficit comes down, and that's usually tax hikes.

SANCHEZ: Let me let the viewers hear -- just in case they doubt that the president said this many times over again, we have compiled a montage of President Obama, candidate Obama moments, talking about this very thing. I want you both to hear it. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) THEN-SEN BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase one single dime.

OBAMA: If you make less than a quarter-million dollars a year, you will not see one -- your taxes increase one single dime, not your payroll taxes, not your income taxes, not your capital gains taxes, nothing.

If you make under $250,000, you will not see your taxes increase by a single dime, not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains tax, no tax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I guess, Ali Velshi, the point is, you speak economics. Here, we're hearing the president -- and Candy and I know are hearing one thing -- we're hearing what sounds like a promise from a candidate who wants to be president of the United States.

Now, when we heard Geithner and Summers, it wasn't quite that definitive. At least it wasn't to me. Maybe you speak economics and you can translate this for us.

(CROSSTALK)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Every American speaks taxes. So, we all understand that pretty clearly. And I think that's the problem, that what you heard out of Geithner and Summers and what you and your producers sort of nuanced so clearly is that there was nuance. It wasn't a, there won't be -- there was talk about doing the best thing for Americans, not unfairly burdening middle- class families.

The reality is a big deficit causes interest rates to rise. It causes inflation. It causes costs to go up. And the only way to remedy that is -- there's really two ways to do it. You raise taxes and you pay down that deficit, or the economy becomes so robust and hearty, unemployment drops, everybody is working and paying taxes, not necessarily higher taxes. And that's how you fix it.

But you have got to fix it, because, if you don't, it is going to start to hurt everybody in society. And I think that's what the president's financial advisers and all of those economists are saying. Guys, we have got to address this head-on, and that means lowering the volume on the talk of no new taxes.

SANCHEZ: Maybe it's me, but, by the way, didn't he set that number a little too high? I was talking to my producers about this earlier. Is $249,999 middle class in this country?

VELSHI: It's a good question. That's a very good question.

The whole notion of middle class as opposed to working-class or sort of tied to your house has got to do with -- tied to your job has got to do with aspirations and the idea that you are mobile within that range of income.

So, a lot of people when it first came out thought, boy, that's kind of snobby to think of that as middle class because the average American individual earns somewhere less than $50,000 a year. So, that's another issue. Not many people define middle class as $250,000.

SANCHEZ: Finally, Candy, bring us into the politics of this, because I vividly remember the president's conversation with Joe the Plumber on that street that day, and part of the conversation was the give and take over, well, you don't make $250,000, and then Joe the Plumber said, well, yes, because I want to start my own plumbing business, and maybe I will make that, and I don't want to have to pay everybody else.

Because those moments out there exist, will not this potentially become red meat for the GOP?

CROWLEY: If he moves to raise taxes, it certainly will, not just because of what he said in the campaign -- and certainly that's a part of it -- but because the GOP has a long record of not wanting to raise taxes, although, obviously, they did under George H.W. Bush, and in fact, some taxes under Ronald Reagan.

So, yes, absolutely, it's a problem for him if he does it. But I think when you look at it, it does not sound to me that -- again, they had sharp economists out there in Geithner and Larry Summers, who understand what brings a deficit down. They're not politicians. And I think it was pretty obvious over the weekend that they were not.

I think we have a ways to go before we start talking about some sort of tax on people that make under $250,000 a year.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I think what people are responding to and certainly what we in the media are responding to were maybe some of the first smoke signals that have been seen since the beginning of the administration.

And my thanks to both of you for taking us through this. I think it's an important conversation for all Americans who pay taxes, which would be about all of us.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.

We have gotten our hands on some rare inside pics from the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan that I'm going to be sharing with you. This is going to begin our in-depth special coverage that we're doing all week long here on this war. We're going to have live reports and analysis from two reporters who have done embeds with the military there.

Another politician big on family values steps down after an alleged sex scandal with a female intern. You are going to hear what she says, by the way.

And remember the after show. That's what we do when? After the show. At exactly 4:00. And you will see that on CNN.com/live. Stay with us.

I'm coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have got some breaking news we want to share with you now. The information that we're getting is -- and this is really a -- maybe not a shocker, but a bit of a surprise, given the next story I'm going to bring you in just a moment.

We have just confirmed here at CNN that John McCain, Arizona Senator John McCain, will vote against the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor. John McCain plans, key word here, plans -- key word here -- plans to vote against the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor.

Let me tell you why this is a bit of a surprise on this day, just to give you some perspective on this. Few Republicans are more qualified to speak about the party's problem with Hispanic voters more so than Arizona Senator John McCain.

As we look at him here -- you know what? Let's do this. Let's -- let's -- let's -- he's not? Is there anything here that is newsworthy at this point? No, no, he's moved on to other legislation.

OK. Hey, thanks, Angie. Sorry about that. I didn't know whether he was addressing this yet. Again, if you're just now joining us, he plans to vote against Sonia Sotomayor. Why this is important for John McCain specifically, John McCain has been speaking recently about this issue, the issue of the GOP and Hispanics.

It may have actually cost John McCain the election, this Hispanic problem, as some might call it, almost caused him to lose his own state, the state of Arizona. And it was a double whammy, because, see, many Republicans voted against John McCain for trying to help Hispanics when he was pushing immigration reform through.

So, now consider all that when you see this, John McCain talking about this issue to our own John King.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I am of the belief that, unless we reverse the trend of Hispanic voter registration, we have a very, very deep hole that we have got to come out of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, once again, add the caveat now that, moments ago, we received information that John McCain will vote down against -- will vote against the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor.

Prompter, move that up a little bit. I just want to catch up to see if we're still going to do the Cuba story, if we possibly can. Yes, we are.

Meanwhile, speaking of Hispanics in South Florida, we are hearing that even though the economy there is in shambles, the government will not change its ways any time soon. Cuban President Raul Castro is now saying that he's willing to resume talks with the United States, which would obviously be big news, since there have been so few, and those that have taken place have been secretive.

But here's the catch, as far as Raul Castro is going. He will talk, but he says abandoning communism or socialism, their form of government for the last half-a-century, is not on the table, and will not be talked about.

We have got some developing news coming our way right now. I understand there is some aftershock on that quake we have been telling you about in Mexico.

Here's Chad Myers to bring us up to date -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We had a foreshock of a 5.5., and then we had aftershock really of that one as a 6.9. Now that we know at least so far that is the main shock at 6.9, that is the biggest that we have seen so far -- there's the Gulf of California. There's Cabo San Lucas. Here's the West Coast of the U.S.

So, we are inside this waterway known as the Gulf of California. Not very many people living here. Great news there because this was a big shock -- 6.9 is a major quake and it was only six miles deep. This is the feels map, the shake map, if you will, where it did shake.

And this yellow is strong to very strong, shaking all the way through the islands here and also back here along Baja California and into the Mexican mainland there.

A couple things I want to take you -- other than the shaking here, the shaking was actually felt in California as well, at least on the seismograph.

So, here's one of those seismographs from Sun Peak. You can online and look at these as well. This is just a digital representation of what the graph really did with the little needle that you have seen so many times. This was a big shake. This right here, this one here, that's the foreshake. That was the 5.5 that we had.

Maybe it's going to be up or down to a 5.9. But, so far, this large one, Rick, that is still 6.9, and that is a major quake right there in the middle. But, now, there are some fishing villages on this side, a few fishing villages on this side, but, other than that, you have got a massive desert, the Sierra Madre and Chihuahua out that way, and the real populated areas, the Mexican Riviera is here, if you will, or the Western Riviera, and then all the way back to down to Cabo San Lucas.

This will be the populated areas where the tourists would be, as well, the Mexican, U.S. tourists, and also back up here near Tijuana. And, so far, we know that there was some shaking, some being felt, some shaking in San Diego and some of the taller buildings.

But, so far, no reports of any damage, which I doubt will hold up, because a 6.9 damaged something.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: But the lack of population density really helps.

SANCHEZ: Good stuff, Chad, as usual, having your finger on the pulse of everything going around, anything having to do with weather or geographically related.

MYERS: I'm here.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, my friend.

Up next, it took 18 years, but now the remains of a Navy pilot are finally home from the very first Gulf War. After all the stories we have done on this, you won't believe the latest. Stay with us. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We call this a national conversation.

I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of CNN. And the national conversation needs you, and it certainly has gotten a bevy of responses from you thus far.

Boy, I got to tell you, talk taxes, and Americans start listening and start talking. Let's go to the Twitter board, if we possibly can, Robert.

A lot of folks there, you know, it's interesting, two totally different takes on this, on the idea that the president could possibly be considering raising taxes for people under $250,000 a year.

"I would be willing to pay a little more in taxes so all people have health coverage. I'm not rich. I just have a conscience."

The next one: "More taxes means less money average Americans will spend to stimulate the economy."

The next one: "Special measures need to be taken in order to secure a strong foundation to rebuild the economy back up."

Next: "Since we have to pay taxes for two wars, bailouts and Wall Street bonuses, I would gladly pay taxes for universal health care."

And, finally, "Typical bait and switch politics. Sounds like more of the same to me."

There's also this story we're following on this day, which is a story that adds, if nothing else, finality to something we have been covering for so long here.

He was the first American lost in the 1991 Gulf War. No one knew, for sure, at least, what happened to Navy pilot Michael Speicher. That's until now. Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence tells us how his remains were finally found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Captain Scott Speicher's children were toddlers the day he disappeared. Now his remains are coming home to college students.

A nearly 20-year mystery. Was he captured? Tortured? All this time, the answer was buried in the Iraqi sands and solved by a single tip.

MIRIAM NOVELLY, HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE: It's a bittersweet ending. I mean, it's great that we have finally accomplished an ending. But it is bittersweet. LAWRENCE: Last month, an Iraqi citizen told American troops about the crash site. When the marines arrived, another Iraqi said he was there when veterans Bedouins found Captain Speicher already dead and buried his body.

Searching the site, U.S. troops found multiple skeletal fragments and bones. And when military investigators compared Captain Speicher's dental records with the recovered jawbone, it was him.

SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: The whole family is just so grateful that the Navy stayed on this.

LAWRENCE: But the military made mistakes, starting hours after Speicher was shot down when the Pentagon declared him dead.

DICK CHENEY, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: The total U.S. losses are one aircraft and one individual.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Pentagon has identified a United States Navy pilot as apparently the first U.S. serviceman missing in action in the Persian Gulf War.

LAWRENCE: Some in the military thought Speicher had ejected and might still be alive. In 1994, they proposed a secret mission to survey the crash site, but according to senior defense officials in the room, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General John Shalikashvili, scrubbed the plan and said, quote, "I do not want to have to write the parents and tell them their son or daughter died looking for old bones."

In 2001, the Pentagon changed his status to missing in action, and there were accusations he was being held captive by Saddam Hussein. After the invasion of Iraq, some thought they found Speicher's initials scratched into the wall of an Iraqi prison. And investigators even excavated a grave site in Baghdad, but it was not him.

Now the vigils can end, but one fact remains.

NELSON: We walked away from a downed pilot. It was done by mistakenly declaring him dead and then they didn't go and search for him and that was a mistake. And that is very important that we never repeat that mistake again.

LAWRENCE (on camera): Captain Speicher's family says they appreciate all the troops who never gave up and kept searching all these years. But they have to be wondering, is there any chance he survived that crash? And would an immediate search-and-rescue have made any difference?

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: This is interesting, because we try and turn stories around as soon as we can.

I told you moments ago that John McCain had told our own John King this weekend that the Republicans have a very serious problem with Hispanic voters or potential Hispanic voters. He referred to it as a hole that Republicans need to deal with.

Moments ago, John McCain was given an opportunity to vote yea or nay for Sonia Sotomayor. And, to our surprise, he voted nay. But we haven't heard the sound yet. I'm told we are now able to turn that around, so we can all listen to him. Here is John McCain on the floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Regardless of one's success in academics and in government service, an individual who does not appreciate the commonsense limitations on judicial power in our democratic system of government ultimately lacks a key qualification for a lifetime appointment to the bench.

For this reason, and no other, I am unable to support Judge Sotomayor's nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We are going to be trying to analyze that for you here, again, that information just coming in, that John McCain votes nay on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, rare video of U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, including this Marine. He's being baptized in a river.

This show, the Sanchez hour, is going to take you inside the Afghanistan operation with video that you won't see anywhere else, not just today, but for the rest of the week.

Here's something you don't see very often. This building is supposed to implode, but something goes terribly wrong. More on that.

And remember the after-show after the show on CNN.com/live at 4:00 p.m.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: And, by the way, I should -- just as a tease, I should let you know that Roland Martin is going to be joining me in just a little bit. He happens to be in the building. He says he has got a lot to say about that segment we did a little while ago on the president of the United States possibly, according to some who have been looking at his advisers talk over the weekend, might actually tax Americans making less than $250,000 a year.

He's got a lot to say about that. And he also has something to say about what's going on with John McCain, what John McCain said over the weekend and what John McCain did today. Can you reconcile those? That's the question to him. You will hear it.

All right, now this. You're hearing more about the fighting in Afghanistan. And we have promised you that we are going to keep an eye on it. How often, though, do you get a chance to actually see what's going on in Afghanistan?

I want you to look at this. This is a "Washington Post" reporter who got this video. This fight broke out after Marines raided a bazaar. This is in Helmand Province. It's something that was used by the Taliban to store and make weapons and drugs.

We have got a lot of video like this that we actually can play the nat sound up, so you can see it. Natural sound, that's what we call when you could hear the sound with the pictures and hear the voices.

So, here's what I'm going to do. We are going to take a break real quick right there, but stand by, because we got a lot going on. We are going to talk with the reporter who shot this video. We're going to get the latest from our reporter live in Afghanistan. It's part of our week-long special coverage of this war.

You will see it after the break. And then Roland is going to be joining us. Stay there there. This will get good.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're only too happy to do this for you. And we're already getting a lot of tweets from people who are saying you know what, thanks so much. Look at countrylady over here. She's on the tweet board, on our Twitter board, Robert. "Thank you for doing the Afghanistan coverage, from all of us that worry about our loved ones over there."

You know what, it's a pleasure, it's our responsibility and it's part of a commitment that we have made to stay on top of this story for you. We're going to kick off today, our week-long special coverage of the war in Afghanistan. By the way, wait until you see what we have tomorrow, heartbreaking.

I'm going to share with you today, though, some rare video that we have been getting from over there. We have been scouring and looking but first, a look at what's going on there on the ground. In 17 days, there is going to be a presidential election in Afghanistan. Did you know that? As it nears, we have also learned the violence there has been getting worse. Nine NATO troops died just over this weekend. CNN's Ivan Watson has been monitoring even more attacks. Ivan joins us now from Kabul. Ivan, what's the straight skinny? What's really going on over there in Afghanistan? You are there, man.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you have doubled the amount of American forces on the ground here since last year, more than 60,000 troops here, Rick, and that has not succeeded in diminishing the violence.

If anything, the violence seems to have gotten worse. A U.S. military commander will say there are more casualties now because we have more troops on the ground. They are more aggressive right now, and we saw last month, U.S. marines, more than 4,000 of them attacking south into Taliban safe havens in a province called Helmand Province. But there have been a lot of casualties as well. Of those nine NATO troops you mentioned over the weekend that were killed, six of them were American soldiers and troops killed by roadside bombs in the south of the country, and in the east of the country. So the situation still looks pretty grim.

SANCHEZ: You know, it almost starts to look when you start hearing about the roadside bombs, like the same pattern we started to see when we intensified the efforts there in Iraq as well. But let's talk more about this. Ivan, hang tight, if you can.

I showed you some video just awhile ago. This is that firefight just before I went to the break. This was taken at a bazaar. I want to show it to you again. This was taken by Ann Scott Tyson of the "Washington Post" who will be joining me to take us through this. First let's listen to the video. Otis, max sound up, man. Crank the audio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go! Good.

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody crosses that wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Wow, this is the real thing. Ann, what are we looking at here?

ANN SCOTT TYSON, WASHINGTON POST: Well, U.S. marines pushed further south into a bazaar that's a known Taliban stronghold, cleared it out and following that, got into an engagement with the Taliban, who came back and attacked them at the marketplace while they were trying to search it for weapons, search it for stored opium and also explosives. They found thousands and thousands of bags of those materials. SANCHEZ: You know, it's interesting, we've been looking -- I think we've got another video now that we want to show you. This is a video, I understand, of the explosives that they were trying to get rid of and I understand there's weapons and drugs in here, right?

TYSON: Yeah. It was opium poppy seed as well as a type of fertilizer that is a very common ingredient in these large home-made bombs they are making that are killing so many troops over there.

SANCHEZ: Why do they have to do this so many times?

TYSON: It simply wasn't igniting. They tried to burn it, then they tried to fire rockets at it. Following that, they tried to mortar it. They even contemplated calling in the air force and bombing it. I think in the end, they took some engineers out there and blew it up with C-4 explosives.

SANCHEZ: Ivan, we were told a long time ago that the opium trade there was going to be either eliminated or at least diminished somewhat. How's that going?

WATSON: Well, I have to just follow up on that, Rick. When I was with the marines a week and a half ago, we also saw them trying to blow up tons of poppy seed that they had seized from a bazaar just about 20 miles south of where Ann was when she was caught in that ambush there.

And in this case, the marines dumped diesel onto the mountain of poppy seeds that they gathered, set fire to that. It kind of worked. Then the next day, they called in air strikes, they dropped thousand pound bombs on that pile of poppy seeds. They raked it with machine gun fire from cannons, from helicopters and then they still had to do another round of air strikes that night, just trying to send a message to the narco traffickers in that area that that kind of activity is not going to be tolerated for much longer.

This area, Helmand Province where Ann and I were both embedded, it's the opium capital of the world, arguably. I mean, 90 plus percent of the world's opiates come from Afghanistan and a big chunk of that heroin and opium comes from Helmand Province where those marines are operating right now, Rick.

The big question, if you take away that source of economic livelihood from those farmers, what are they going to do then to feed their kids? Are they just going to turn into insurgents if you take away their cash crop?

SANCHEZ: Great question. Dan, if you could, in the control room, show that video that Ann shared with us of the one U.S. marine being baptized on the river. Let's look at that together. Watch this moment here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On your profession in Jesus Christ, I baptize you my brother in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: There is symbolism to this. There's a lot to say about this. First of all, the fact that that is taking place literally in a combat zone. Ann, tell us more about that.

TYSON: Well interestingly, I was out on a night ambush patrol on the unit and sort of out of the darkness, voices of marines who had come to me talking about the friends that they lost, talking about their doubts about the future, and one of those voices was the voice of this marine who you just saw baptized. I didn't know who he was until the next day, but they're going through a lot personally. They are in very dangerous situations.

And this one found solace in this religious ceremony, which he had to wait many weeks to have performed, and finally the chaplain, after about a 16-hour ride through the desert, I was actually with the chaplain, made his way to this small Afghan compound and performed the baptism.

SANCHEZ: Wow, interesting to see something like that. Ann, thanks so much for sharing the video and the insight into what's going on over there. And Ivan, as usual, I know it's midnight there right now. I can tell by looking at your eyes. Hang tough, my friend, and stay safe. Thanks for covering it for us.

All right, I used to jog and bicycle in these areas. This is where I grew up, where you're looking at right there. It's not far from the Florida Everglades. I would see snakes, I'd see gators, lots of snakes and lots of gators actually but I'm now hearing there are even more there of one particular variety. I will take you back into the swamp when we come back.

Also, don't forget the after show, after the show at 4:00 p.m. on CNN.com/Live.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

All right, here's one we saw this morning. This is a picture I've got to show you. This is from the it's not supposed to go that way file. You know how we always, like, in the news business, we always like to show those buildings being demolished from time to time and they implode, right? And then go down, just crumble right into the ground? Well, here's one that doesn't quite work as planned. Let's watch it together. OK. Now, it's supposed to -- no, that's not the way it's supposed to work! They're making room for a shopping center but as you can see, this thing didn't go right and the building instead of imploding, it rolled. That's right. Watch, it rolls not once, but twice. Here's the first, boom, and now it goes over again. Look at that. The roof is now the floor, the floor is now the roof. Hallelujah, nobody got hurt.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was asked to do more and more things and that weren't work-related.

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SANCHEZ: What this woman is saying about a conservative Tennessee state senator. So what's the response from the state senator? We have it. I will share this story with you. It's kind of messy. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: I want you to stop me if you've heard this one before because I'm here to promise that you haven't. This, my friends, is not your typical sex with an intern story. Little different, even though it ensnared yet another Republican politician. Those stories end with tearful apologies, occasionally with resignations. And that's about it. Not alleged secret photos and a charge of extortion like this.

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SANCHEZ (voice-over): Twenty-two-year-old McKensie Morrison was a straight A student from Austin Peay University when she arrived in Nashville to serve an internship with Tennessee State Senator Paul Stanley. Stanley has a wife. Morrison, a husband. But she also has a boyfriend, this man, Joel Watts. Investigators say last April, the boyfriend, Watts, contacted Senator Stanley, allegedly told him he had photos on a disc. They were explicit photos that according to court documents, showed her in his apartment. The boyfriend wanted $10,000 for them, according to police.

MCKENSIE MORRISON, FORMER TENNESSEE SENATE INTERN: He took me outside and he said do you know anything about this? And I said -- I read through it once and read through it again and I said I don't know anything. He said what's this about, what's this about, and I said I don't know. He said will you stick by me? I said stick by you, stick by you for what? I mean, no, I'm not sticking by anybody. There's nothing, I mean, I work here, this is supposedly over.

SANCHEZ: In April, the boyfriend, Watts, went to collect from Senator Stanley, and walked instead straight into the arms of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. He is now facing charges of extortion. But how, one would ask, did her boyfriend get the pictures?

MORRISON: I was told by Senator Stanley to keep the disc, just keep it and I did. I kept it. I hid it in a very, very, very discreet place, nobody would find it. And where it was -- where Joel said that it was found was not the place that I put that disc. I did not put it in there. I have no idea how it got there.

SANCHEZ: Morrison says she's disappointed by implications from Stanley that she was somehow involved in the plot.

MORRISON: I am not a bad person. I am not an extortionist. I'm not a wild woman on a, you know, hunt for a man. I'm a normal girl.

SANCHEZ: As for the family values conservative senator, now he's resigning, effective August 10th.

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By the way, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has cleared Morrison of being involved but she says she's disappointed by implication from Stanley that she somehow participated in the plot. As for Watts, he's out on bail right now. His case has been sent to a grand jury. We're going to let you know what happens with that.

And there's something else I need to share with you in this story. The senator has responded as well. This senator says "First and foremost, I humbly ask your forgiveness for my indiscretion. The public criticism I have received thus far is well deserved. Even before these matters became public, I have been concentrating my efforts on rebuilding and repairing the damage that I have done to my wife and my two great children."

One other interesting line here that he sends in this letter to his friends and the media with his blessings, he says, "For my errors, I am very sorry. I will continue to make amends. Admitting failure is difficult but necessary if one expects to ever better themselves by allowing God to work his will in their life." There you have the letter sent out by this Tennessee senator who is now in the story that we've been following.

Meanwhile, Roland Martin is going to be joining me in just a little bit. He's going to be talking about the politics of the day, including what John McCain had to say and do on this day and during the weekend and questions about what the president of the United States is preparing or might possibly break a promise that would be, well, possibly politically harmful, as well. Stay with us, we'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Roland Martin is good enough to join us now. Thanks for coming by.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Well, there are two stories I want to get your input on. The first one, let me watch two John McCains. John McCain this weekend on "State of the Union." Let's do that first. Dan, what he said on "State of the Union" first about the problem with Hispanic voters for Republicans.

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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I'm of the belief that unless we reverse the trend of Hispanic voter registration, we have a very, very deep hole that we've got to come out of.

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SANCHEZ: Now he went on to say, interestingly enough, that the Republican Party needs to find competent Hispanics who can fit into the party. They need to actually recruit them, is the word he used.

MARTIN: Did he actually say competent?

SANCHEZ: Competent. They have to be competent. Hold on. Here he is getting a chance to vote on Sonia Sotomayor, who many people think is competent. Watch. This is moments ago.

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MCCAIN: Regardless of one's success in academics and in government service, an individual who does not appreciate the common sense limitations on judicial power in our Democratic system of government ultimately lacks a key qualification for a lifetime appointment to the bench. For this reason and no other I'm unable to support Judge Sotomayor's nomination.

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SANCHEZ: Well, some people will look at that and see the John McCain on Sunday and the John McCain on Monday and say how do you reconcile those?

MARTIN: Well first of all, I never hear anybody use the word "competent" when we're talking about white guys. I matter it's always a matter of using it with African-Americans or Hispanics.

SANCHEZ: Well, but in defense of John McCain, you know what he's trying to say. We don't just go out and get any Hispanics. Let's get good Hispanics.

MARTIN: But, again, I never hear the qualifier talking about white guys so, I always have an issue with that.

SANCHEZ: Your point is well taken.

MARTIN: Seventeen years on the bench, distinguished jurors, I think it's there. The last point he made when he said that's the only reason, that was his way of saying, despite anything else, it's about her being a judicial activist on the bench. A lot of them are going to have to cover. Now McCain, no issue for him. The person who is concerned, Texas Senator John Cornyn, because in Texas right now trending Democrats -- Republicans have a lock on the state, but he is going to have to answer the question when he's in Houston and Dallas, south Texas and west Texas.

And so the Republicans, yes, they have an issue here because they saw the results in the last election. You have Hispanics who are saying, wait a minute, compete for our vote, but you guys, when it comes to immigration, when it comes to minority businesses, when it comes to her, she is going to be in every ad against every Republican where you have a Hispanic or Latino audience.

SANCHEZ: It's interesting because he said on Sunday clearly we have to do whatever we can to win back potential Hispanic voters. And then he votes against Sonia Sotomayor, and I know there's going to be a lot of people politically, just like Republicans and Democrats both do it, pointing to that as you say and saying, see, he really didn't mean what he said on Sunday. Fair or unfair? I'm going to go to a break. When we come back, you've got some comments on all this rigmarole about the potential Obama tax raising. And we're going to talk about that when we come back. Stay with us.

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SANCHEZ: All right, the officials -- Geithner and the other official for Obama.

MARTIN: Lawrence Summers.

SANCHEZ: Thank you, Larry Summers.

MARTIN: Larry Summers.

SANCHEZ: They seem to be saying...

MARTIN: I'm just waiting.

SANCHEZ: Thank you. Wasn't me. Check it out. You always do it while you're watching us anyway. The implication is they haven't said anything or done anything to lead people to believe that Obama is going to raise taxes for people under $250,000 but that they may be setting the table for it. Is that true or are we ringing the bell a little too soon here?

MARTIN: No, first of all, no politician, no president, can take anything off the table. Remember President George H.W. Bush, I remember he was in New Orleans.

SANCHEZ: Read my lips.

MARTIN: Read my lips, no new taxes. But the reality of the economy caused him to say we have to make this kind of move. The payback though will be they'll replay every single clip when then Senator Obama stood there and said nobody under this threshold will see their taxes raised.

SANCHEZ: So, he set a trap for himself. He can't do it now.

MARTIN: First of all, he can do it. That's called simply going back on a promise. It doesn't mean you can't do it. Again, what we'll likely hear is just when President Pill Clinton got in, he promised all these things, well, I came in, looked under the hood, it's a lot tougher than I thought it was. Politicians do that all the time.

SANCHEZ: The guy is doing something right because you know what's going on right now -- I'm hearing from Angie -- Angie, is this true? The market is up -- what's the -- the market's up 112 points. Susan Lisovicz is going to be joining me here in just a little bit. You know, is it the bounce, is it the bubble, are we there, have we hit bottom? I don't know. But there are some signs that are good. And we're going to talk about this on the after show coming up in just a little bit. And that snake story we promised, I would have brought it to you had it not been for Roland.

MARTIN: Oh, blame it on a brother. Blame it on a brother.

SANCHEZ: We'll have that for you in the after show as well. We'll see you later.

MARTIN: All right.

SANCHEZ: All right, let's take you over the "The Situation Room" and Wolf Blitzer. Suzanne Malveaux -- Suzanne, take it away.