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Captain Speicher's Body Finally Returns Home; Pitino Embroiled in Sex Scandal; Banning of "Burquinis" Cause Controversy; Representative Sheila Jackson Lee's Phone Call During Town Hall Causes Controversy

Aired August 13, 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: This is what some Muslim women want to wear in pools, a burqini. Should they be allowed to?

You saw this live on our air as it happened. But have you seen it from this new angle?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was clearly racist.

SANCHEZ: And how rude is this? The woman is trying to ask her congresswoman a question. But is the congresswoman listening?

It's part of your national conversation for Thursday, August 13.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Another one of those newscasts you will remember.

Hello again, everybody. I am Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. This is a conversation. It's not a speech. And, yes, it is your turn to get involved.

Meltdowns, throwdowns, shout-downs, every day this week has revealed to us a new page in the how to behave in a public forum handbook. Those health care town hall meetings, we have seen the spectrum of human behavior at these events.

Roger, take some of this video. In fact take it full, if you can. There it is. All right. Here is one end of the spectrum. This is a town hall meeting hosted by Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. No raised voices. People stayed in their seats. Civil conversation.

And then there is this one from two days ago. You think people were shocked to see this? You bet they were, outraged. That's Texas Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, unbelievably, with all that's been going on at these town hall meetings, taking a call on her cell phone while one of her constituents is trying to ask her a question.

It's caught on camera. She actually told the woman in the audience, go ahead, I can hear you, while she is talking and listening on the phone. We are going to play that whole incident for you, the entire thing in just a minute, so you can see it for yourself and judge it for yourself. That's important. Now, watch this, the bottom of the screen. This is in Missouri. We were critical of this woman when this happened, because it happened while we were on the air. It happened right during this hour. And we heard Senator Claire McCaskill at the time immediately tell us that the woman was wrong to have brought a poster against the rules that were established at the meeting, because everyone was told not to have signs or posters.

But we are getting another perspective as we watch this video now. OK. Watch as the man comes in and rips it out of her hands and then she is taken away there. All right, we are going to show you that again in just a minute. Come back to me if you can, Roger. Guess what? This woman who's there is going to take us through it.

Her name is Maxine Johnson. And she is joining us now live and she is going to take us through this.

This is interesting. Miss Johnson, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

MAXINE JOHNSON, ATTENDED TOWN HALL MEETING: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: All right. Let's start with what was on the sign, what was on the sign itself.

JOHNSON: It was a sign (INAUDIBLE) Rosa Parks, a picture of Rosa Parks, and just talked about a historical moment of (INAUDIBLE) to ride on the bus.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: OK. But just let me stop you, because that day -- and we're just trying to make things correct, if they were wrong that day, because everything happened so fast. It was breaking news. It was live. We were told it was a poster of Barack Obama. That's not true?

JOHNSON: That is not -- that is incorrect, sir. It was Rosa Parks.

SANCHEZ: Were you kicked out of the event after this happened? We saw you being walked out. Were you let back in?

JOHNSON: Oh, I wasn't even being walked out. I was dragged out. My feet were even barely touching the floor.

SANCHEZ: The guy who -- Rog, let's watch the video again. We saw that a man had approached you. But prior to the man approaching you, as far as I can tell, you did have a sign, right?

JOHNSON: Yes, I had a poster of Rosa Parks.

SANCHEZ: All right, there is the man in that blue shirt. He takes it off. Rog, see if you can get this video a little earlier, because what's interesting about that poster is that a photographer comes -- you had the poster rolled up; is that correct?

JOHNSON: That's correct.

SANCHEZ: And you had it rolled up because you were, I guess, interpreting that the poster should not be displayed, so you weren't displaying it. Is that correct?

JOHNSON: That's correct. They asked us to sit down with it. And I gestured to Senator McCaskill. I say, yes, Senator, we will comply. And I sat down and (INAUDIBLE) poster and another rolled up.

SANCHEZ: So, why did you then open the poster?

JOHNSON: Well, the poster was lying in the seat. It was no distraction.

A news reporter crawled over to me and said, may I take a picture of your sign? And I unrolled it. She realized it was a poster. We were whispering. There was no distraction. It was down in the seat.

And the gentlemen observed it. And next thing I knew, it happened so quickly, my daughter said that he twisted my wrist, pushed me, grabbed the sign, and ran back to his seat. And as he did that, the entire audience cheered and clapped.

And then I realized as he was walking away, what really upset me was I noticed he was crumbling my poster up into a ball. So, I leaped out of my seat, got to him immediately, and snatched my sign back and said, give me my sign.

SANCHEZ: All right.

JOHNSON: And what really appalled me was, it was four out of five officers on me, when this man was clearly the victim -- I was the victim and he was the one who was attacking me.

SANCHEZ: All right, let's watch this. Rog, make sure we get this from the beginning. What we want to see is -- let's see if we see the part at the beginning where -- all right, get all that stuff from the bottom of the screen, because we can't see anything if it is there.

Oh, so, this wasn't cut very well. Darn it. Oh well. All right.

So, what you are telling us about the photographer coming forward and showing it and asking you to see the poster and then you opening it for the photographer, we are just going to have to take that at face value, because it's not here. It's not on this video.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: When I unrolled the poster, it was lying down on the seat. And I pressed my hands down on the seat, because the poster was rolled up, so she could take a picture. And that's when the gentlemen leaped from the bleachers and snatched the sign.

(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: So it does appear that although you should not have had the poster, because you were specifically told not to have posters...

JOHNSON: No, we were -- excuse me, sir. No, we were not. We got there. It was in Hillsboro. I was from Saint Louis, never been there before. Actually, three or four people warned us, asked us not to go to the town because of the reputation of racism.

We went anyway because we wanted to support Senator Claire McCaskill and President Obama and support the health care reform, because my neighbors, many people do not have health care.

So, we came in through the back door. There were no signs posted. A police officer said, ma'am, take your purse and have it checked. We had the signs open, walked in through the hall. We get to the table where three other officers were. And they checked our purse and the signs were open.

And they said, it is not our job to tell these people they cannot take signs in. Legally, according to the First Amendment -- I have gone to election polls. I have gone to...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: No, I get that. And, listen, I understand. Just let me ask you -- first of all, I'm told now that we have the video that you were describing.

Now, before you roll it, Rog, what you just said is you had it rolled up in front of you in a chair. A photographer comes over and ask you -- a female photograph says, can I have a peek of it? So, you unfurl it just so they can get a picture of it. That's when the man with the blue shirt comes over.

JOHNSON: Yes, sir.

SANCHEZ: Now, let's watch that to see if the video matches what you just said.

Hi it now, Rog.

We are looking over there. The person in the black is right there at bottom of the screen asking you to see it. Now you are showing it right there bottom left of the screen. You show it. That man gets up, because you unfurled it, and he takes it away.

OK, that seems to match everything that you are talking about. Let me ask you a very simple question. Were there other people with posters unfurled or otherwise?

JOHNSON: Well, when we walked in, because I didn't even realize we weren't supposed to have posters, and they (INAUDIBLE) said, put your signs away, put your sign -- I am wondering, what was the problem? It was a Rosa Parks historical sign. Why would that sign be a threat to anyone? It didn't relate to health care.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: No, no, but, please, just answer my question.

JOHNSON: OK.

SANCHEZ: You were sitting in a seat and you had a poster that was all foiled up, right?

JOHNSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Was there other people around you who may had posters put away, stuck in their pants, it doesn't matter, but had posters on them?

JOHNSON: No. There were people who had signs in the back of the room that we passed up as we went in. A lady passed up going on. The sign said, please pray for President Obama. So, there were other signs present.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for taking us through this.

By the way, before we let you go, do you think this is going to move this story? Are you planning to do anything? And how would you characterize the behavior of that man with the blue shirt?

JOHNSON: Oh, pure hatred. I have never experienced anything like that in my life.

And then what really insulted me, when the police officers took me away. I have never experienced any act of racism at all. People hate you because of your color of your skin. I feel sorry for them.

And we pressed charges immediately. And that wasn't our intent. Our intent was to go and represent our president and not to start daughter any trouble at all.

My daughter saw a sign as they were coming out. On that sign, it said "Nigger Obama." And those people are sitting in the audience with these signs. And the man that sat next to this gentlemen approached me, said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry." He gave me his business card. He said: "I was there for the whole event. There were signs all throughout. No one ever took those signs from those people."

SANCHEZ: We thank you, ma'am...

JOHNSON: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: .. for sharing your side of the story with us. As we said the other day, it happened live on our watch. And we characterized it as best we could, given the information that we were given by Claire McCaskill. We thank you, though, for filling it out for us.

By the way, to be are perfectly fair, we have also invited the man who is on that video snatching the sign away from Ms. Maxine Johnson. We invited him to be on our show today. His name is James Winfrey. He has so far not responded to our numerous calls. But, if he does, we would be more than happy to share his side of the story as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PITINO, LOUISVILLE HEAD BASKETBALL COACH: I love the game, love my players, love this university, as well as this community. I want to coach nowhere else. I don't believe in anything as much as I believe in this university and this state. So, as long as they will have me, for as long as they will have me, I am going to coach here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Should they let him go? What women say. What fans of Michael Vick have to say. What you say about Rick Pitino's sex scandal.

And then Muslim women want to wear this thing called a burqini in the pool and are being told no way. Should they?

Also, was Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee rude by talking on her phone while at a town hall meeting? It looks that way at first blush. There's no question about that. We are going to let you see the entire exchange for yourself and let you decide. And then she is going to be joining me in about a half-hour here to talk about this live. So stay with us. And remember the after-show right at 4:00 on CNN.com/live. Stay with us. I'm Rick Sanchez. I will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, there's some breaking news that we want to share with you right now.

This is the remains of Scott Speicher, finally identified in Iraq. For many years, there was a search in the country. Many people believed that Scott Speicher was still alive. His family was having a very difficult time with this. And, finally, just last week, as we reported here, his body had been found. And it has just returned back on U.S. soil.

I don't know if we have sound of this. Roger, do we have sound?

Just nat sound. OK.

You know what? I'm going to be quiet and just let you watch this.

Michael Scott Speicher, Navy pilot shot down over the -- over Iraq on the first night of Operation Desert Storm. And, here, we welcome him back to the United States of America, a solemn moment, an important moment, a moment that, for this family, God bless them, has been long in coming. We will continue to follow it for you as we move on to other stories.

When we come back, we promised we would show you the reaction of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, so you can decide for yourself before we talk to her. And we will have that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's check and see what some of you are saying about what we have been talking about so far. And then we're going to see that Sheila Jackson Lee tape, as we have promised for you.

Bobby Bell says: "Thank you for clearing up the story about the woman being thrown out of town hall meeting. Keep showing the truth."

That's what we do. Let's see maybe one more. On return of Gulf War soldier: "Rick, you have more class than any other reporter out there. Thank you for your respect."

Well, that's very nice. We appreciate that. We try to show you things as they happens. Sometimes, words just get in the way.

Representative Jackson Lee talks to people at a town hall meeting, but she gets a phone call. And instead of dealing with the person who is asking her the question, she takes the phone call and stays on the phone for quite some time.

I want you to watch this, before we talk to the representative coming up here in about 25 minutes or so. And you tell me whether she was right, whether she was wrong, and whether she could have handled this perhaps a little bit differently. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If your conscience allows you to proceed in the direction of doing things simply because you think it is good for America, then...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's not even listening.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seriously. Really? I mean, come on, dude.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we're -- if our conscience allows us -- if Congress' conscience allows them to proceed...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... simply because you think that it is good for America, then we are on a path to tyranny. And when does it stop, if Congress has no conscience to stop it, simply because we think it is good?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Obviously, we appreciate your comments on Twitter, on MySpace, on Facebook. And, as we said, Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee -- Congresswoman, I should say -- has been gracious enough to accept or invitation. And she's going to join us here in 25 minutes to explain to us actually what happened there. But, again, we may not know. We may not be seeing the full picture. And we want to be as fair as possible, just as we were to our other guests earlier in the show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PITINO: If you tell the truth, your problem becomes part of your past. If you lie, it becomes part of your future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Extortion, abortion and a big-time head coach. That was Rick Pitino talking about a really salacious sex scandal that has got him feeling the heat. I am going to take you through the details and the reaction that's been coming through so far. Also, remember the after-show on CNN.com/live at 4:00. We will be talking a lot of politics then at that point.

Stay with us. We have got so much coming your way. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Boy, there's a tense situation going on right now. It's taking place in Los Angeles. I want to show you some of these pictures just to let you know that we're going to be keeping an eye on this situation.

They have brought the robotic arm into that area. You see that red Beetle right there, right there in the middle? Supposedly, there is a man inside that red Beetle that police are seeing as some kind of threat. Specifically what the threat is, we don't know. But, obviously, they have locked him into that parking lot. He may still be in there. We don't know if he has a weapon. We don't know if there's explosives. But we do know that they are treating it as such.

So, we are going to keep a careful eye on this thing for you. If anything develops at all, we will let you see it as it happens.

Meanwhile, it seems these days that kids grow up faster, maybe some quicker than others and then there is this kid. You can't take your eyes off the set, can you? The very, very serious side to this story when we come back. That was a little kid who was smoking a cigarette. And it didn't look like he was being offered a cigarette for the first time, like he was 2 years old and he smoked before. Elizabeth Cohen joins me to talk about this when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: The market, up. Yay.

The video I'm about to show you, no yay. We are told he is only 2 years old, chided to light up and smoke a cigarette. Now, we have covered his face as best we can, so you can't identify him. But look at this kid. Keep watching him. This look to you like he has smoked before, doesn't it? He has got the lighter in one hand. He exhales. We won't even touch upon the fact that he is on a motorcycle without any protection on it.

Now he is handing the lighter to another adult. The adults are all getting a kick out of it. They laugh. They giggle. As best we know, this is from China. The adults laugh again as he continues to take puffs on the cigarette, like he has done it before, very comfortable holding it, it seems.

The story here, though, is -- and this is why we want to do this as we watch this. The story here is what some adults will do with kids for the shake of a cheap laugh. We have seen video of kids with pot, kids with cigarettes, even kids with booze.

And you know what? This is serious. So, I have asked CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen to join me and talk about this.

I know there is some cultural intricacies that we end up having to talk about, because, in some cultures -- when I was a kid, I was allowed to drink sangria at certain times of the year. That's wine. And I probably shouldn't have been drinking sangria. In some cultures, they do it for religious reasons. And certainly one could understand that with the wine.

In some cultures in the Midwest of the United States where I went to school, my buddies at the University of Minnesota said, yes, we started drinking beer and sometimes our uncles would come over and let us drink beer when we were like 14 or 15 years old.

It isn't so cute, really, is it? And it is not funny.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it is not cute. It is not cute, because too much alcohol or any amount of smoking would be as bad for you or me as adults, but it can be really bad for children.

Smoking -- they have actually done studies where they looked at when the parents smoke and the kids get second-hand smoke. And what they found is that those kids are more likely to have asthma, ear infections, pneumonia, all sorts of terrible respiratory diseases.

And when you look at drinking, in many ways, it is even worse, because it also affects the brain cells. When kids start drinking young, it affects the hippocampus and it also affects the prefrontal area of the brain. That's right behind the forehead. That is sort of called the CEO of the brain. It kind of regulates behavior and memory.

And so it is different when a developing brain starts drinking a lot than when a mature brain starts drinking a lot.

SANCHEZ: Can you imagine?

COHEN: It's just awful. SANCHEZ: Roger, show this video once again. You look at this video of this little 2-year-old. And obviously he has gotten that nicotine thing where he is just used to it or dependent on the cigarettes itself.

The same thing could happen with anything from, I imagine, marijuana to beer to anything else. That child's brain is not yet fully developed, nor is anyone under the age of 12 or 10, I imagine, right, at the very least.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Right, at the very least. The younger you start to smoke, the more likely you are to become addicted.

SANCHEZ: Not to mention, with booze, I was looking at some statistics, trying to be like you, and I found you double the chances of being in an accident, you triple the chances of abusing a girl, of having premarital sex. It is like one thing after another.

COHEN: Right.

SANCHEZ: It's a litany of things that can happen if you start drinking when you are too young, not to mention the health problems.

COHEN: Right. And I think that people get that. They get that when young people drink, they're more likely to get into accidents, they're more likely to do stupid things.

What they don't realize is that it can actually damage the brain in ways that won't go away.

SANCHEZ: year

COHEN: In adolescence, the brain is forming very quickly. It's changing rapidly. So, you put a lot of alcohol in there, it is going to have some pretty horrible effects.

SANCHEZ: Bottom line -- and it's for all of us. And it's not to castigate anybody. We all have the uncle who does it. And everybody, we have all seen it in all of our cultures.

It may be cute. It may even be funny. Don't do it.

COHEN: I think there is a difference. I would have loved to have been at your family table when you drank the sangria.

SANCHEZ: No, you're not.

(LAUGHTER)

COHEN: But I think there may be a difference between if it is a family dinner and a child has a sip of wine.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Yes, because in Europe -- yes, there is a European difference and then there's a matter of age.

But I think, if you start cutting -- I think we could agree that somewhere before 14 or 13, too early.

COHEN: Right. Well, it's...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I know some people who disagree in Europe, and as in America...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: What is an adult?

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Right. There are disagreements. But there is really no reason for your child to have or your teenager to have alcohol.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.

COHEN: There is no reason to do it.

SANCHEZ: Let's leave it at that.

COHEN: OK. Let's leave it at that.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Elizabeth. I'm glad you came on.

All right, you see this outfit right here? Check this out, Elizabeth. You know what that is called? It's a cross between a bikini and a burqa. And some women saying, we're Muslim, and we have to cover ourselves up, so we want to be able to swim in a pool wearing this. It's called a burqini.

COHEN: They'll be wearing it a pool near me sometime soon, I'm sure.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: The question is, is it wrong to forbid women from doing this to swim in the pool if they say that's the only way I can. Well, in some places, they are forbidden from using this. Are they right or are they wrong? We want to know from you.

Also, Rick Pitino finds himself on the hot seat over a sex scandal involving infidelity, extortion, abortion money. This thing's ugly. It's ahead.

And then the after show at 4:00, CNN.com/live. We'll see you then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Let's go to Facebook before we do everything else, because we are getting a lot of comments, as you might imagine on some of the stories we have been following for you.

Here we go. Kim Harrington says, "As far as the congresswoman is concerned, I like her and appreciate her enthusiasm. However, if she was the facilitator of a meeting, she should have the common sense to not have her phone on, let alone talk on it while listening to others. It's just disrespectful."

Godiva Anderson says, "I have no words, just speechless."

And now we flip around to Twitter. Go ahead. There you go, Robert. And what do we have? On the burqinis -- I'm going to read you that one in a minute.

Let me read you're the story first. Let's do this. Time for women in swimsuits. And yes, there is a good, solid, editorial reason for this.

Roger, hit it -- that's Miss Uruguay, Miss Peru, Miss Argentina, all of them in their swimsuits. They are contestants at the Miss Universe pageant next weekend in the Bahamas.

Why are we showing them? Miss Ukraine, also in her swimsuit, no doubt pondering the American health care reform debate.

(LAUGHTER)

OK, next picture. That is a Muslim woman, not a Miss Universe contestant, but wearing the accepted swimsuit of the Islamic faithful. She is covered in head to toe in what has been nicknamed a "burqini."

And you know what, this lady wearing this swimsuit would not be allowed to go in the water in public -- at a public pool, I should say, in France. Why? Officials in Pairs are telling this Muslim woman that she is banned from pools in Paris because her bathing suit is against the rules.

Muslims in France don't buy it. They are saying this is purely discrimination and another way that Muslims are being kept on the margins in French society, something they have been arguing for quite some time.

Is this lady mad? Yes. She says she is going to protest and possibly sue. The French say you can't wear something in a pool that you can also wear on the street. They say they are doing this for health reasons. They say it is too dirty. That is what they say.

By the way, let me show you what some of you are saying about this if we possibly can.

"Burqinis -- yes, I'm overweight and I love to swim laps. I would wear a version of "no hood, hides cellulite." Now, wear long T- shirt." That's interesting. There's an American perspective.

And then the one under that says, "What's wrong with their version of the swimsuit? It's just like a body suit for swimming."

I have a feeling we will be hearing more about this.

Now, let's talk about what we are doing here at CNN. It relates to something special that's happening on CNN tonight and we'd like you to watch. It's Christiane Amanpour with a startling investigation about the next generation of Muslims around the world.

What's their struggle? It's a struggle for hearts and minds in places like the Gaza, Afghanistan, places that affect us all. Again, this is a "Christiane Amanpour Reports." And you know those are usually very good. "Generation Islam," a two-hour CNN special event at 9:00 eastern. Hope you watch it.

Up next, the sex scandal that's roaring around Rick Pitino. It's ugly, and he is a family man. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This video we showed of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee talking on the phone while someone at a town hall meeting is trying to ask her a question, it's getting a lot of reaction.

Let's go ahead and split the screen. We will show you Sheila Jackson Lee on the one side, and there's the twitter board. Listen to what people are writing -- "To be fair, it could have been a family emergency. Otherwise, it was just rude."

OK. "She is a politician. She will have an excuse. But there is no real excuse for such rude and inconsiderate behavior." "The town hall meetings are meant for your benefit. The people were expressing themselves and were not being listened to."

"Rick, when she took that phone call, it meant the constituency simply wasn't important to her. There is not excuse."

There you have it. That's generally what people are saying. But she has been gracious enough to come and explain why she was on the phone. She will be here in about three or four minutes, and we will do that interview with her, and you will get to see it live, to be fair.

Also, will an apologetic Rick Pitino keep his job as University of Louisville's head basketball coach? This is a question that's getting a lot of play in college hoops, crazed Kentucky and beyond. You couldn't turn on a radio talk show today without hearing this part of the conversation, certainly not a sports talk show in American.

In light of the coach admitting that he had sex in a restaurant, in a restaurant, with a woman that he didn't even know. Where it gets interesting is that, as a result, she got pregnant, and then she calls him, and he gave her $3,000.

And now the woman is under arrest for allegedly trying to extort more money from the coach, known for his bestselling books, his attire, and his doing whatever it takes to win, and winning, by the way. He is one of the winningest coaches in college basketball.

The FBI, we understand, is now investigating claims that she tried blackmailing Pitino for a cool $10 million. "Investigating" is the key word there.

Pitino is a devout Catholic, he's married, he has five children. Yesterday, with the backing of the school's president and athletic director, Pitino tried making amends with this apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PITINO, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE HEAD BASKETBALL COACH: If you tell the truth, your problem becomes part of your past. If you lie, it becomes part of your future.

And I made a very difficult decision to tell the truth to the federal authorities, the local authorities, to the university officials and most important to people that love me the most, my family and friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Drew Sharp is a sports columnist from the "Detroit Free Press." Drew, thanks for being with us.

DREW SHARP, SPORTS COLUMNIST, "DETROIT FREE PRESS": Rick, how are you doing today?

SANCHEZ: Here is what I am hearing. I am hearing women saying, how come the gal is being punished and he seems to be skating.

I am hearing from Michael Vick fans. You know how they are. They're rapid about this. Some would say they may have a good case. Why did Michael Vick lose everything, go to federal prison, lose his homes, lost hundreds of millions of dollars in salary, and apparently still being considered whether they will let him back in the NFL, really, because no coach has signed him yet, while this guy seems to be able to continue to coach at Kentucky?

Some people will look at that and say, there is a double standard here. What do you say?

SHARP: Well, for right now, based on the facts that we have from the Pitino case -- remember, he has not been charged with anything criminal.

Now, there is an investigation. The police are looking into rape allegations from this woman from this incident six years ago. And I guarantee you if in another week there are formal charges, rape charges against Rick Pitino, he will not have his job at that point.

But tight now, I don't see there being a motive right now for Louisville to fire this guy.

Is there a double standard? I am sure there is. But when you compare the Dante Stallworth and Michael Vick thing, it is completely different right now. Rick Pitino did something absolutely stupid. There is no question about it.

But we have to remember there is a separation between public life and private life, and the person he has to answer to is his wife and family right now.

SANCHEZ: By the way, I said, Kentucky. It's Louisville. When I think basketball, I think Kentucky. I apologize.

Is there something about Rick Pitino in this case and the way he is handling this, the fact that he seems to be at least handling it through the system, being up front, whereas Michael Vick, for example, lied to his owner, lied to his coach, lied to the commissioner? It's almost like Nixonian, when you try to hide a lie, it becomes worse?

SHARP: The thing is, Rick Pitino is getting a break right now, again, based on the information we have, because last year he was 31-5 at Louisville. He was one away to win the final four.

SANCHEZ: What does aA Davis say, "Just win, baby?

SHARP: What was that?

SANCHEZ: What Al Davis says, "Just win, baby."

SHARP: I couldn't hear. It was kind of garbled.

SANCHEZ: Al Davis, Oakland Raiders, his motto, book, life slogan is "Just win, baby." And you are saying in sports, you win, you can do just about anything you want?

SHARP: You are talking about Al Davis and Michael Vick. Again, we are having a little audio.

SANCHEZ: That's OK. We will finish you out and try and pick you up another time. But it is fantastic to have a chance to talk to you nonetheless.

It's an interesting story, and if we're able to get him back, we will continue the conversation. Meanwhile, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know. I saw you. I saw you. I'm amazed you are still alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is amazing. This man just crashed his small plane into the ocean. There is a real good chance nobody would have ever found him, that he could have drowned. Now, it's a race to rescue him before the plane sinks.

Who are those people talking to him? You are not going to believe this story. It is one of those that just comes along once in a while. We will share it with you. Also, a police shooting that's caught on camera, and you're going to see the dramatic piece of video that comes along with it. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Let's go to MySpace if we can, Robert. Quick comment -- that one says, "Give me a break. I bet the surfers in France wear body suits. She may be smarter than the rest of us. Wearing that will prevent skin cancer better than any other swimmer."

By the way, that reminds me. Last time I went to Spain, we went into France as well, and while on the beaches there we saw that many of the women weren't hardly wearing anything, which is really embarrassing for mom and dad trying to explain to my children why those women were topless.

That seems to be legal, but women covering the rest of their bodies up is not? That is an interesting comparison, isn't it? Thank you for the comment.

New segment we are debuting for you today. It's called "Las Fotos del Dia." And what better photo is there than this.

This is a guy who crashes his plane in the Irish Sea. He gets out, but the plane is sinking. Surely, he is going to drowned. Get on your knees and pray, laddie.

Guess what? His prayer is answered. The Irish -- you are not going to believe this. The Irish rowing team happens to be rowing around the British Isles at the very moment that this guy's plane hits the ground. They have a phone on him. They call the Coast Guard. They stand by while finally, this guy, there is the Coast Guard, gets rescued.

There is a god! "Foto del Dia" numero dos. Look at this one dash cam. It shows a police officer trying to arrest a man on a busy bridge. Now, the police officer could be thrown over this guardrail, so he is really worried.

He takes his gun out and says, sir, you have to do what I'm telling you. The man is wanted for allegedly attacking a volunteer at a homeless shelter who was trying to help. The officer does the best he can, but the man attacks and gets shot.

The man is then killed by the officer in the process. But the question is, who would lung at an officer who has got a gun pointed at you? Here, watch it for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And now you're about to see the man, he's been shot, he keels over. He actually is expired. And it would be hard to find fault at what the officer did when you look at the fact that the man literally, at least on this video, attacked the officer. There's the officer coming into the frame now. We'll keep watching it and asking questions for you.

And finally this. This one's tough to watch. It's the ending of a police chase where a pickup hits two vehicles, a utility pole, and then ricochets into a building, and then the truck just explodes. Police are still trying to identify the driver who was killed in that wreck.

Wow. Sometimes the pictures just tell the stories.

Sheila Jackson Lee joins us live to talk about that video that so many of you have been commenting on. Stay with us. we're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

As promised, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is now getting seated. She's just getting her microphone put on, and she'll be joining us in just a little bit.

So, the hullabaloo has been about this, this video that has been released that we have been sharing with you. There is the congresswoman. She is talking on the phone.

And there are some people there at the meeting who are taking umbrage at this, because at the very time that she's on the phone, there is a constituent who is trying ask her a question. She says to the constituent something to the effect of, "I hear you."

But many in the room are very upset with the fact that the congresswoman is not responding. Some have told us here it has looked rude and disrespectful. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is good enough to join us now.

Congresswoman, thanks for being with us.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE, (D) TEXAS: Rick, a pleasure to be with you. How are you this afternoon?

SANCHEZ: Doing fine.

LEE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: I got to ask you, how do you explain what you were doing there? What were you thinking, congresswoman?

LEE: Well, you know what, Rick, I am in a series of town hall meetings, maybe going upward with nine, 10, 11, 12, as people are asking for more opportunities to be in our town hall meetings.

I address those who come as friends and neighbors. They may be in the congressional district. They may not. I have also address them as fellow Americans.

Town hall meetings are, by their nature, informal. And it is always my intent to be receptive and responsive to the constituency.

And what we were talking about was health care reform, insurance reform. That constituent who I just became endeared with, she stayed afterwards, and as she indicated, she was not from the constituency. I met her children. We talked about her issues. I answered her question.

SANCHEZ: That's all -- that's all well -- I have to interrupt you because you're moving into a direction -- let's go one question at a time.

LEE: We were talking about good health care reform.

SANCHEZ: Why were you talking on the phone? Why were you talking -- congresswoman. Congresswoman, you're not being fair. I asked you a very specific question.

LEE: Rick, if you let me, I will tell you. I was on to be able to answer questions more directly. We've set up a Congressional hotline to help members know line by line what the bill says in a certain section. For those of us who have gone through...

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, the question is why were you on the phone and was it disrespectful?

LEE: We haven't memorized the bill.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman, you're absolutely ignoring my question.

LEE: Not at all, Rick.

SANCHEZ: I don't think that's very nice.

LEE: Not at all, Rick. And you are very nice and I'm very nice.

SANCHEZ: OK, let's start at the beginning and we'll both try to be nice.

LEE: Let me answer your question.

SANCHEZ: Some people look at the video and say -- I say to my children -- here, let me talk to you this way -- I say to my children, it's impolite to text, it's wrong to be on the phone when you're talking to people, and it's rude to do that, especially when you're dealing with adults.

Here you have people who have come to hear you speak. They are asking you a question, and it appears on the video like you're not giving them their due. How do you explain that?

LEE: I'm so glad you said it. It appears on the video. Maybe it's a doctored video. But how I explain it is this -- first of all, I take calls from my constituents, but that was not a call that I took. I dialed the hotline number to give a better answer.

I said to the audience, they may not have heard me, that I'm trying to get an answer. I heard the gentle lady, as I would call her. Now I consider her a friend. I invited her to Washington.

And what I will say to them is I was being responsive talking about health care. My question to those who have YouTubed and I love YouTube, who have made an issue, are they concerned about health care reform? Are they concerned about a robust public option? Are they concerned about eliminating preexisting diseases? All of that I talked about.

By the way, Rick, I stayed to the end. We answered every question on that particular town hall meeting, including the young mother that you are speaking of. Every cancer survivor that got up and spoke, we clapped for them and we said thank you. So, if it offended anyone, let me say it was through misinterpretation.

SANCHEZ: Did you...

LEE: Because I was battling to make sure that we had the right answer.

SANCHEZ: Did you apologize to that lady who you talked to afterward?

LEE: What I will say to you is that the lady did not ask for an apology. We became good friends. I have extended an invitation for her to come back if she so desires so. And so there was no reason. We were friends. We were talking. We were speaking with her children.

And, therefore, what I would say to you, Rick, no offense taken, no offense given. What I was focusing on is what America should be focusing on. Are we going to fix the broken health care system?

And as it relates to your children, good for you, likewise. I think it's the right thing to do. But in this instance, we were in a town hall meeting, not a keynote speech.

SANCHEZ: Do you think the video was doctored? Do you think the video may have been doctored?

LEE: Let me say this -- we who are members of Congress who believe in democracy are not going to focus on distractions. We're really going to focus on giving the people the opportunity to express themselves in any way they desire.

SANCHEZ: Well, look at it. I tell you what, let's play it and you tell us if this is you or not you, and if we have made a mistake by showing video that may have been doctored. Is there anything about this video that isn't reflective of what happened? LEE: I know nothing about the video, Rick, and I'm not going to comment on it. All I'm going to say to you is I enjoyed speaking to that young mother, I enjoyed hearing about her particular issue, and I will continue to respond to her as is needed as I do to other constituents.

SANCHEZ: What is so hard -- you know what...

LEE: We had a wonderful time talking about these issues.

SANCHEZ: What I'm having a tough time is understanding why it's so difficult for a gentle lady as yourself, as you use that terminology, to just come on this show today and say, you know, I had a bad moment, I apologize. That was disrespectful. I shouldn't have done that.

LEE: Because it was not disrespectful, because I was seeking information for the very town hall that I was in. You just heard me say, if offense was taken, I wish that it had not been. No offense was intended.

But I will continue to answer the calls of constituents as I will continue to respond. If I can get a better answer from a wonderful concept that's put in place to help these constituents I will do so.

SANCHEZ: So you think it's OK...

LEE: Give me the lady so that I could embrace her. Let her come to my office. I will go to another panel meeting. If she comes, I want to have a public embrace.

SANCHEZ: But you're saying it's OK...

LEE: We bonded.

SANCHEZ: ... for you to do that, for constituents who drive miles to come to you, ask you a question, and while they're asking you a question you're on the phone talking to somebody else? You think that's acceptable in any way?

LEE: Rick, you're characterizing it in a way that you're not talking about helping small businesses, the value of this bill, bringing down health care costs, how we're going to make sure people don't pay $1,800 a month increase in premium per year. I believe that young mother will far more benefit...

SANCHEZ: We're down to 30 seconds. Would you not agree...

LEE: ... that is trying to be created by all the conversation about...

SANCHEZ: I get that, congresswoman. But would you not agree that with this action, which may or may not have been a mistake on your part, you derailed the conversation and brought heat upon yourself and your cause? LEE: I'm used to heat when we're in the middle of tough issues, and absolutely not. I would suggest that swastikas on the signs of members' of Congress front door is probably a distraction. But what Sheila Jackson Lee has done is not, because Sheila Jackson Lee has a consistent history of serving her constituents.

SANCHEZ: OK.

LEE: And I served that lady by having a town hall meeting that she could come to in the middle of the day.

SANCHEZ: I get it.

LEE: I look forward to working with you.

SANCHEZ: We are out of time. Congresswoman, it's very courageous of you to come on. I know it's a difficult thing.

Wolf Blitzer is standing by now. He, too, will be covering stories like this in "THE SITUATION ROOM."