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Should America Lift Cuba Embargo?; Outrage Grows Over Alleged Gang Rape at School
Aired October 29, 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): News right now: Should a boss be allowed to tell employees to Anglicize their name? That's why they're protesting.
Should a Hall of Fame quarterback and announcer joke about someone eating tacos? That's why he's suspended.
Should young people stand by and watch as a girl is brutally raped and beaten for over two hours?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several people came, saw what was going on, and either left and didn't report it to the police, or stayed and observed and in some cases participated in her gang rape.
SANCHEZ: That's why police say they plan to make more arrests.
Should we lift the embargo with Cuba? What Cuban Americans now say that may shock you.
And the president does what his predecessor did not do.
What you're saying about that during today's national conversation for Thursday, October 29, 2009. Let's go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We're going to begin right away with breaking news, and it has to do with 9/11. There are still people out there who need to be brought to justice over what happened during 9/11. And we may just have found one, or at least his trail, through a his passport.
Disclosed to CNN, this happened just a couple of hours ago. Said Bahaji, he was one of the bag men for the 9/11 attack. And guess where his identification has been found? Pakistan. We know that because it took one of our own, a CNN reporter, a CNN correspondent, to look at the passport and make -- or help make this connection.
CNN's Reza Sayah is joining us now. He is in Islamabad.
Reza, thanks so much for being with us.
What do we know about Said Bahaji, and what does the passport tell us about his trail?
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a very unusual find, Rick.
Let me explain to you how we found it. For the first time today, the Pakistani army took a group of journalists to South Waziristan. This is the battle zone right along the Afghan border, the tribal area of Pakistan, where for the past couple of weeks the Pakistani army has been taking on the Taliban in a major offensive.
They have taken us on similar trips before, and obviously they would like to show off. So, what they did today, they laid a bunch of weapons they say they seized from the Taliban. There was also a table with a pile of documents and what looked like fake student I.D.s and identification papers. And there were two passports.
One of them was a pretty new looking German passport. And when a group of us journalists opened it up, there we saw a picture of Said Bahaji and what looked like his signature. Of course, Said Bahaji is one of the suspected plotters of the 9/11 attacks, a member of the Hamburg cells. So, obviously, we were very surprised to find this there, Rick.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I just need to stop you for just a moment, because you're talking about something and we're looking at this picture. But I just want to make sure that we make the connection and that it's perfectly accurate. And you're going to be able to continue and tell us what you were going to share with us in a moment.
This picture that we're looking at right now, it's open. It has a pebble keeping it flat, so we can see it. We see a picture of him in a red sweater vest. That's him, right? That's Said Bahaji?
SAYAH: It is him. What we can tell you is accurate is, that is his picture.
But what we cannot do at this point is independently verify if this is an authentic passport. But here's what important to note. Inside this passport, there was a visa. And according to this visa, Said Bahaji entered Pakistan on August -- excuse me -- September 4, 2001.
And, Rick, that matches what investigators have been saying all along. They say Said Bahaji left Germany on September 3, 2001, arrived in Karachi, Pakistan, on September 4, the next day. So, the visa matches.
And although this was a surprise finding this passport in this former Taliban stronghold, we shouldn't be shocked, because, according to investigators, many members of al Qaeda, if they want to hide, if they want to get away, where do they go? They go to places like South Waziristan, the very volatile tribal region, away from the reach of the government and law enforcement.
So, it's not unusual that you have an al Qaeda member who wanted to hide, and we find his passport here.
SANCHEZ: But what's curious to me is, this is one of the first times that I have heard that -- I have heard Waziristan mentioned many times, and obviously many of us suspect that Osama bin Laden is hiding there right now as we speak.
But this is one of the first times I have heard about Waziristan in the pre-9/11 run-up, that maybe there was some planning and some things going on there. Does this shed light on that part of the world as a place where perhaps 9/11 was planned, Reza?
SAYAH: Rick, here's what's already established, not just among U.S. officials, but Pakistani officials.
When al Qaeda members want to train, want to plan and plot attacks, this is where they come to, the tribal region along the Afghan border. When they want to launch attacks, this is where they come to.
What's troublesome is here is what looks like a pretty valuable piece of evidence and it was laying there, and the soldiers there and the military officials who were hosting this trip to the battle zone were not aware of what this passport was.
So, the question is, is there more important evidence of other alleged al Qaeda members that are not getting to international intelligence agencies, law enforcement agencies? That's what's troublesome here, if indeed this passport is authentic, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Final curiosity question for me, where is this guy?
SAYAH: Nobody knows.
Investigators lost his trail on September 4, 2001. That was shortly -- 2001, September 4, it was days before September 11. Of course, some members of the Hamburg cell went on to the U.S., and we know what happened with 9/11.
Other members of the 9/11 cell went into hiding. And that's what he did. This man, according to investigators, actually left his wife and small child, went to Pakistan. After this date, nobody knew where he was.
SANCHEZ: Reza, that's why you're one of the best. Thanks so much. We appreciate the report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the two-and-a-half-hours that this crime was going on, several people came, saw what was going on, and either left and didn't report it to the police, or stayed and observed and in some cases participated in her gang rape.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's the sickening part of this story. A young girl is brutally raped. She's raped at her high school homecoming for two hours, no less, while others stood around and they watched what was going on.
Now we understand, we're hearing as reports filter in to us that they could be charged. We're going to talk to the police.
Also this story. This guy's not just a legend in sports. He's a Hall of Famer. He's a broadcaster. He's my boyhood hero. What he has said, what he has done that has caused him to be suspended this week about Hispanics. Should it be that big a deal? We will ask you. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
Bob Griese is a Hall of Fame quarterback and a veteran football however. I should tell you something else about him, in the interest of full disclosure. Growing up as a kid in South Florida, he was my hero. He was the quarterback of the undefeated Miami Dolphins. And that's why it's almost tough to tell this story.
Bob Griese this week is sitting home smarting after being suspended for cracking a joke during a football. It was a taco joke. And it didn't go over very well at all.
But should it really be that big of a deal? If you haven't yet heard what Bob Griese said on live television, his taco joke, I would like you to stay there. I'm going to play it for you in just a little bit.
And, also, I'm going to be talking to our editor for Latin affairs here. I would like to get his perspective on this, because sometimes we talk about stories, but we leave out the nuance of just how offensive they are, or maybe aren't.
And while we're at it, we're going to talk about that hotel owner in New Mexico who told his employees that maybe they should Anglicize their names -- all that when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't feel like I should change my name now, because we're free. This is America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. Let's say that that happens, right? Let's go to their story real quick. Let's say that your boss tells you that he wants you to pronounce your name a little different, thinks it would be better for business. Would you do it? Or would you quit and call him a racist?
And say it ain't so. Another South Carolina politician is caught in a sex scandal. What's going on in South Carolina? This one involves an 18-year-old stripper and a cemetery. Yes, I just said an 18-year-old stripper and a cemetery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, we're going to go back to some of the comments that you have been making in just a little bit. But let's stand by for that, because I want to bring someone else into this story and someone else into the news right now.
Look, I'm getting blogged about a lot this week -- again. What's new, right? This time, it's because of a comment that I made earlier, a comment I made earlier this week about what my real name would be if I hadn't changed it to be successful in the United States, in America, on television.
My real name is something like Ricardo Leon Sanchez de Reinaldo. Beautiful name, right? Rolls beautifully in Spanish. But, in the United States, we tend to speak English.
The letters under my name -- go ahead, Roger? See those right there? See where my hand is? There it is. It says "Rick Sanchez," right? You want to say that I Anglicized my name? I did. And it was my decision to make myself better understood and make it easier for non-Spanish-speaking people in this country to deal with me.
And I bring this up for a reason, obviously. Look at these people. Some of these people are really angry. They're upset. They're upset with a guy in New Mexico, a hotel owner who urged his Latino employees to change their names to something more American. He says it makes good business sense. And he says he knows about this because he's done this a lot of times in running different hotels.
He says he is not a racist. In fact, listen to how hard he had to try and defend himself while getting grilled right here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Did you, or did you not, tell somebody whose name was Martin to say that his name was Martin, or similar changes?
LARRY WHITTEN, OWNER, THE WHITTEN INN: Yes, ma'am. I was answering you question of why I...
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, just -- just answer that question, though. Did you ask him to change his name and Anglicize his name? Did you ask anyone to Anglicize their name?
WHITTEN: Yes, I asked Martin to change it to Martin...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why?
WHITTEN: To better understood it over the telephone.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You can't understand Martin? Do you know that the vast majority of people who live this community where you have your hotel are Latino?
So, your customers are going to be, to a large extent, Latino. Now, how do you treat the customers when they come in? Do you ask them also to change their names? Like, if I came in with Jane Velez- Mitchell, so that you could better understand my name, would you ask me to change it?
WHITTEN: No, ma'am.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It's ludicrous, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: She's tough on him, no doubt. We watched that. We talked about it. And many of us here have had discussions about this. And many of you are obviously involved in discussions.
Last night, before I went to bed, I was sitting there reading all the blogs and all the responses that are coming in after the comments that I had made on this.
I want to introduce you to somebody now. This is Rafael Romo. He's our brand-new senior editor for Latin affairs. And I'm so proud to welcome him aboard and welcome him here to the Sanchez show.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Great to be here.
SANCHEZ: Good to see you.
This is perfect, because this is one of those social consciousness conversations that we have in this country from time to time. And I have got to tell you, my take on this is that this man runs a business. And, as long as he's not rude -- and I can't go into his heart and find out if he's really a bigot or racist or not -- so, when he says, all I was doing was asking people who work in my business to make things easy on my customers by not making them pronounce long names, I take him at face value.
Am I wrong?
ROMO: I think it's a matter of common sense. I remember when I crossed over from Spanish TV into English TV, I would say my name as Rafael Romo, rolling all the R's.
SANCHEZ: Of course.
ROMO: But guess what happened next?
SANCHEZ: Just like when I talk to my brothers and my mom, I'm "pocholo."
ROMO: But nobody could -- nobody knew what my name was, because nobody could pronounce it.
And, so, it became a practical matter to just say Rafael Romo. And then it's easier to understand and it's easier to remember.
But in this case in particular, we're talking about a town in New Mexico. Most of the population is Hispanic. It's a town that not only respects, but also embraces Latin culture. I think he went a little too far. I don't think he was racist, per se.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: You think it's a regional thing?
ROMO: I think it's a regional -- it's a matter of common sense, like I say.
SANCHEZ: Does it bother you as much as it does me? Here, we're talking, two Hispanic reporters, who never get a chance to do this. When I hear non-Hispanic reporters reporting a story and saying, and, today, here was the situation in Nicaragua.
Why are they trying to overpronounce Spanish words, when I speak Spanish fluently, I don't say Nicaragua? I don't say my name as Ricardo Leon Sanchez. I'm Rick Sanchez, or Ricardo Sanchez.
ROMO: My rule of thumb is, we're in the business of communication. What is the audience going to understand better?
I remember, when I -- when I started to try to make this decision for myself, I was afraid my family was going to say, oh, you're changing your name. What's going to happen with this? What's with your family, your origin, your background?
SANCHEZ: Your abuela is going to get mad, your grandmom.
ROMO: Well, my dad said, you know what? You're there now. You're in the business of communication. It's fine, as long as people understand you.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMO: It's been difficult, but what I always tell people is, just like the Ninja Turtles, my name is Rafael.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Even kids know that one.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you another one.
Bob Griese -- I'm a Miami guy. I love Bob Griese. He's one of the greatest quarterbacks. They called him the professor, wore glasses, wonderful television football analyst.
And, this weekend, he said something that I'm not sure -- some people are calling it racist. Some people are calling it stupid. But let's listen to it together when he's asked about Juan Montoya, the race car guy, and why he didn't finish in the top 10.
Go ahead, Roger. Let's play the sound up on this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's Juan Pablo Montoya.
(LAUGHTER)
BOB GRIESE, COMMENTATOR: He's out having a taco.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Where is Juan Pablo Montoya? And he says, "He's out having a taco."
Now, aside from the fact that it's ignorant, because Cubans for example don't eat tacos -- Montoyas are Colombian. They don't eat tacos.
ROMO: Right.
SANCHEZ: Different -- great arepas, I suppose. Like, you go to Peru and you great seviche. You go to Cuba, you get black beans and roast pork. We all eat different foods.
Is it bigoted? Is it racist? How much -- he's been suspended for a week. How much of a faux pas was that? As Hispanics, how should we take this?
ROMO: I think it was more ignorant than anything else.
Listen, he's a media professional. He's in front of the television broadcasting games. He lives in the United States. He at least should know that this is a country where you have 46 million Hispanics. And, as a business professional, as a media professional, he should know better.
He should know that this comment is going to be offensive to a lot of people. And a lot of Hispanics are going to be watching these games.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So, he should have been smarter?
ROMO: He should have been smarter. I don't think it's a racist comment, per se.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROMO: But it's -- I think it's stupid. I think he should have known. Those of us who are in front of the camera should know better. And a higher standard is expected of us.
SANCHEZ: Yes. It doesn't bode well for him. By the way, in respect and in fairness to the guy who was my boyhood hero, who, I agree with you, said something that he should have known better about, he has apologized. He's admitted the mistake. He's taken his medicine. He's suspended for a week. And he's going to be back next week. And he does a fine job of these kinds of games.
Final thing. I know you just came back from Miami.
ROMO: Right.
SANCHEZ: And I understand that, while you were there, you were dealing with this decision made that the United Nations essentially condemning the U.S. situation with Cuba, the embargo that we have had for it seems like 9,000 years now.
Is there a shift among Cuban Americans in the United States in their stance toward this?
ROMO: There is.
Remember, 10 years ago, you would have never heard anybody even considering the idea of supporting lifting the embargo.
SANCHEZ: You would get punched in the throat for it, in fact?
(CROSSTALK)
ROMO: Exactly. Exactly.
Well, now, we were looking at a poll conducted by a local firm, Bendixen & Associates. And it says that 43 percent of Cuban Americans, not only in South Florida, but in the entire United States, say that they would consider or they would support lifting the embargo, while 42 percent, about the same, roughly the same percentage, say that it should remain.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this. Tomorrow, can you come back? I want to put together a full report on this, so we can let people know what's going on.
There's a lot of people out there who are fascinated by the situation between the United States and Cuba. Let's do that.
ROMO: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Got a date? Appreciate it.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: By the way, we have got one more ESPN response to the Bob Griese story. We were just talking about it. Let me read it to you.
"ESPN has spoken to Bob and he understands that his comment was inappropriate and uncalled for," pretty much what I just said to you that he said. He apologized during the telecast and during halftime of ESPN's college football prime-time game."
There you go. That's all there for the record and for our lawyers.
When we come back, several young people accused in a brutal rape are in court. At least three of them are charged as adults. What's going on and why didn't anybody help? That's the real question in this story.
Stay with us. We're going to come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
We're learning today that people who watched as a girl was allegedly gang-raped outside of her school may be charged. The people who watched and didn't do enough or maybe did too much of something else, police may arrest them for aiding and abetting. Now keep in mind, this is a gang rape making national headlines that involved as many as 10 people and lasted for more than two hours.
We have got calls into the DA's office. I'm been calling them throughout the day. But "The Contra Costa Times" is reporting that police are now looking for those who not only watched, but actually egged on the rapes and the beatings as they were happening.
All right. This thing happened in Richmond, California. Police are telling us almost two people -- two dozen people, I should say, watched while as many as 10 young men took turns raping a 15-year-old girl outside a homecoming dance.
No one in that crowd went for help. No one seemed to want to make the call that could have spared this child the brutality that's going to haunt her now for God knows how long. Five people are now charged with various forms of rape. Three of them are juveniles who face the possibility of spending the rest of their lives in prison.
They wore bulletproof vests, we understand, in court today. Only one entered a plea of not guilty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA: I would do anything to ensure this -- this never happens again to anyone else, ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: There is no crying in politics. Oops. Maybe there is. Congressman Alan Grayson in the news again. What's he doing now?
And if the headline the good news on the economy, then why are so many of you watching this newscast right now from the couch in your living room and not the cubicle in your office? I'm going to talk to the White House about this one. You stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, here we go. A lot of folks are, by the way, commenting on the story that we just talked about, that I was talking about with Rafael here just a little while ago. In fact, let's look at that. Let's go to the Twitter board if we possibly can.
You know, "I think people need to get over this whole taco thing." That's the story about Bob Griese's comment. "If you said where is Nate, he's out eating Polish sausage, I'd laugh." So, a lot of people tend to have that opinion about this. I think that they're basically saying that maybe this is in many ways a media-driven story. We'll look into it.
What if I sat here and told you that the U.S. economy's finally turned around? What would you say to that? It has. Or has it? Or how did I miss that?
Hold that thought and take a quick listen to President Obama here. He spoke just a couple of hours ago and I want you to hear what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is obviously welcome news and an affirmation that this recession is abating and the steps we've taken have made a difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I want to show you now why the president's so happy and then I'm going to show why I'm pretty much unhappy -- and then, we're going to talk it over with Jared Bernstein, he's one of the president's economic experts. You see him right there -- sporting a nice tan, by the way.
All right. Good news first, Jared. Gross domestic product, that's certainly important, and it's up. You see the number there at the bottom? Up 3.5 percent. That means the economy got bigger between July and September -- and that's what you want, especially when you compare it to the number at the top. You see that one? Minus 6.4 percent. That is what the president inherited.
He's taken a minus 6.4 percent and turned it into a plus 3.5 percent in the space of 10 months. Not bad, huh? It's what we hired the guy to do and he's doing it. Kudos.
All right. Now, I'm going to show you why I'm probably like most Americans, still not satisfied. And aren't you sick and tired of hearing that the last thing to improve in this is going to be unemployment? Well, I sure am.
Look at this mess, all right? The rate of unemployment is still going up. It's not just getting better under this president, it's actually getting worse. March, 8.5 percent. June, 9.5 percent. September 9.8 percent. And guess what? The White House admits that it won't get better for about a year and a half.
Here, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINA ROMER, CHAIR OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: With predicted growth right around 2.5 percent for most of next -- the next year and a half, movements in the unemployment rate, either up or down, are likely to be small. As a result, unemployment is likely to remain at its severely elevated level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, all I can say is -- at least they're honest, and honesty is a nice change in Washington.
Jared Bernstein is joining us now from the White House to talk turkey about this.
Jared, how are you doing, sir?
JARED BERNSTEIN, CHIEF ECONOMIST: I'm doing well, thank you.
SANCHEZ: Good. Hey, give me an honest answer, why is the jobless picture getting worse and not better despite the stimulus?
BERNSTEIN: Well, we are looking at a hole in the job market that is far deeper than any other recession has caused since the Great Depression. Now, the Recovery Act, whose fingerprints by the way are all over this positive GDP report -- and just for the record, we're as unsatisfied as you are on the job side of this. The GDP report got a great boost from the Recovery Act, but the Recovery Act is also responsible for saving or creating about a million jobs so far. But what that does, is it helps offset some portion of the jobs deficit.
There is no conceivable stimulus package that would either be economically implementable or fiscally responsible that could fully offset the deepest recession since the Great Depression. But as you've seen and as you commented yourself, our actions are helping to pull the economy back from the brink and to generate or offset some of that job loss.
SANCHEZ: Well, what, you know, what we see is, like we see strides on Wall Street. And, frankly, the average guy is sitting out there and saying, "You know what? To hell with Wall Street. I think we've done enough to help Wall Street. And the fact that the stocks are going up doesn't mean that I'm going to get a job."
So, let me ask you directly because I remember the president said this in his very first speech and I remember taking this note down. He used the term double digits. He said we will likely hit double-digit unemployment in this country in the next couple of years.
Do you still believe we will hit that double-digit figure?
BERNSTEIN: I'm afraid -- I'm afraid I do. If you look at our budget predictions in our mid session review from a couple of months ago, there's a page there on economic assumptions and we expect the unemployment rate to creep above 10 percent -- as you heard Dr. Romer I think say in the clip you played. Now, that's obviously the main focus of our economic team and this administration when it comes to the domestic economy. We have to squeeze every job out of every dollar left in the Recovery Act and that's precisely what the president and my boss, the vice president, intend to do.
And what -- by the way, tomorrow, we're going to be talking about hundreds of thousands of those jobs that have been reported by recipients.
Now, I want to be very clear to you and your listeners again, I am not claiming that these 1 million jobs so far on track to save or create 3.5 million jobs by the time this Recovery Act spends out around a year from now can fully offset the depth of this recession. But it will help that unemployment rate from going even higher than it would have.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you about this idea that we have a double dip recession, W-shaped as opposed to a V-shaped. That's what a lot of folks out there who apparently know a lot about this are saying. What would you -- what would you say to the American people?
BERNSTEIN: Well, I think that if you look at the kind of economic forecasts that the vast majority of economists are producing, there's no double dip in those private sector forecasts. You know, our job -- I'll let the crystal ballers do what they're going to do -- our job is to make sure we're doing everything we can to generate the job growth that American working families need.
And by the way, you know, I talked about the employment side, there's also the credit side. You know, the president was out today, in recent days, talking about helping to thaw the credit freeze so that credit-worthy small businesses can get the -- get the credit lines they need to grow and expand.
SANCHEZ: What worries me, Jared -- what worries me, Jared, is this -- that we were told that this stimulus package was going to kick in at the end of this year. Well, we're in the end of this year.
BERNSTEIN: Oh.
SANCHEZ: And we weren't said -- we weren't told anything was going to happen for next year. So, is there a rosy picture out there or gloom?
BERNSTEIN: Well, look, again, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to gaze too far into a crystal ball. I've got day-to-day economic responsibilities of...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And that's telling you what? That's telling you what?
BERNSTEIN: And -- so that's telling me this. The Recovery Act, it's not a question of whether it's going to kick in. It has kicked in big-time. It is working to offset -- to offset -- the deepest recession since the Great Depression. If you pull the Recovery Act out of this GDP picture, by the way...
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
BERNSTEIN: ... it's not our estimate, this is private sector forecasters. Instead of a 3.5 growth rate, you've got an economy that's about zero, flat-lining. That is private sector forecast that tribute that 3.5 percent growth largely to the Recovery Act.
Now, our job is to continue to map economic growth unto job growth, and the Recovery Act has a lot more firepower left on precisely that front. So I think -- I think our work is clear and I think we're doing it.
SANCHEZ: Tell your boss, the president, that I said that you were extremely passionate today in your delivery and we appreciate that.
BERNSTEIN: My pleasure, Rick.
SANCHEZ: You represent his message well. Thank you.
Another South Carolina politician is in hot water over a sex scandal. This story is just in time for Halloween by the way. It involves -- you're not going to believe this -- it involves this time a stripper and a cemetery.
Remember the after show. You'll be joining us today at 4:00 right here. When we're done with regular CNN, we'll go to CNN.com/live. Join us there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, Roge (ph), let's see how good a move we can make over to the Twitter board real quick, because a lot of people are commenting on this. There it is. Start from the bottom if we can.
Hug bug, "What is in the water in South Carolina?" Now, let's go just above that, where it says, "Another politician with a sex scandal, that is so common nowadays and they're supposed to be role models? Ha!"
We get what you're saying, folks
Let's talk about that. Just last week, I asked this question, what's up with South Carolina Republicans? Beginning with Mark Sanford, the famously wayward governor, why can't they seem to be staying out of trouble these days? There's Governor Sanford, there's Congressman Joe "Big Scream You Lie" Wilson. We just had two county chairmen who essentially said juices (ph) are good with money.
And as if on cue now, we have Roland Corning. Who is Roland Corning, you ask? He's a former state legislator, and as of now, his latest performance, former assistant attorney general. Why?
Get this -- a police report obtained by the "Associated Press" is saying that Corning was questioned by an officer after speeding away from a cemetery with a stripper in his car, and with a bag of sex toys. And with some Viagra, Corning, I should tell you, is 66 years old. According to the police: the stripper, 18 years old. She works, by the way, at an establishment known as the Platinum Gentleman's Club.
According to the report, Assistant Attorney General Corning and the 18-year-old stripper gave conflicting accounts as to exactly what they were doing on Corning's lunch hour? In a cemetery? It states that Corning carried the sex toys, just in case.
Neither Corning nor the stripper was charged with anything. But after word reached his boss, Corning was stripped -- pardon the pun -- of the job he'd had since 2000. I mean assistant attorney general, stripper, sex toys, Viagra, cemetery, don't look good. South Carolina -- again?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to go home and be with my family, and get on with my life.
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SANCHEZ: He just spent more than a month in jail, accused of beating an African-American woman in front of her child. It's the first taste of freedom -- ahead. It's in "Fotos."
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
He's called his political enemies killers. He's called a lobbyist a whore and now he's crying. Crying? Former Congressman Alan Grayson crying?
And back in the news and in "Fotos."
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SANCHEZ: Grayson was reading letters from people who've lost loved ones because they didn't have insurance.
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REP. ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA: And she died from an aneurysm caused by the infection passing the blood-brain barrier. In the space of one week, I've became...
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SANCHEZ: Grayson set up a Web site. It's called NamesoftheDead.com, to solicit health care horror stories. You know Grayson, he's the Florida Democrat who said Republicans want sick people to die quickly and then he went on with Wolf to back it up.
And this guy, what he's he going to do next? Don't answer that, but somehow, I do think that we'll be talking about him again -- the Democratic congressman from Florida.
You also know this guy. He's accused of beating up an African- American woman outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant while calling her every racist slur that apparently he could think of, according to witnesses. Troy Dale West has been in jail all this time.
But guess what? He's out. His family came up with $320,000 bond. He will wear an ankle bracelet and no chicken fried steak for him. He's also been banned from Cracker Barrel for life.
Now to Ecuador. I want you to watch this military parade. Keep an eye on the lead helicopter flying in formation above the troops and then watch the reaction. Go.
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SANCHEZ: And the band played on. Can you imagine? (SPEAKING SPANISH) they were saying. Go up, go up, go up. It seems like the band though really didn't miss a step. No one was seriously hurt in the crash. Thank goodness.
That is "Fotos del Dia."
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SANCHEZ: As he decides whether to send more troops to Afghanistan, the president visits Dover to pay his respects to fallen Americans. That's just ahead.
And remember the after show, it's what we do after this show ends. We'll continue. And by the way, if you want to join us here on the set any time in the future, call us at our tour desk. It's 877- 4CNN-TOUR -- 877-4CNN-TOUR. And I'll have you out here next to me and you'll take part in our after show as well.
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SANCHEZ: The president of the United States went to Dover, Delaware, today where he saluted the soldiers who are coming back to the United States -- the fallen soldiers who are coming back to the United States.
Now, I know. This is different. A lot of folks are talking about it. Many of you are talking about it.
Let's go to our Twitter board. I want to show you just some of the comments that we've been getting over the last couple of minutes here. "The last president tried to conceal the human cost of war from Americans. This one treats us like grown-ups. What a relief."
But now, look at the comment underneath that which is very different. This one's critical of President Obama. "Some will pray, some will condemn. I say if he had any class, this would have been done in secret. Using grief is wrong." He's referring to the fact that this was captured on videotape, of the president's presence there.
What do you make of this? What are your opinions on this? Because a lot of Americans have been talking to us about this all day long. The president will soon decide whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.
So, you ask yourself, is his overnight visit to Dover his way of telling Americans he owns this war?
Former Gingrich press secretary, Tony Blankley, and former Edwards press secretary, Jennifer Palmieri, are going to join me next to talk about President Obama and the war in Afghanistan. I'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: You know, we call our show the national conversation. I've always had this conversation you on Twitter and MySpace and Facebook. And some would say that we've kind of pioneered this thing.
So, every day, we pick a topic that we think really will be an important part of the national conversation. This is the one we chose today: The bodies of 18 Americans were returned early this morning from the war in Afghanistan. The bodies arrived shortly before 4:00. And without further comment, I want you to see this scene, because the commander-in-chief, President Barack Obama, was there in the darkness to greet these fallen soldiers when they returned.
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SANCHEZ: It's really something as you look at these pictures, isn't it? Maybe it's because it's just different. I don't know.
Joining me now from Washington, Republican Party strategist Tony Blankley. What are you thoughts on this?
TONY BLANKLEY, FORMER NEWT GINGRICH PRESS SECRETARY: Well, I'm glad the president paid his respects. I never second-guess any politicians paying public respect to the military. I remember a time after Vietnam when not only members of the public were spitting on our returning troops, but politicians were saying some awful things.
So, I think it's a good thing. I don't think we need to, on either right or left, make calculations as to what motivated the man. It's good that he showed that public respect. It's a part of a signal to the rest of the country.
Now, it's also the case that the decisions he makes, whether to properly resource the war or to pull out or whatever, is also going to be a measure of how he judges the use of the troops and how to support them. But that's yet to come.
SANCHEZ: Let me bring Jennifer into the conversation, from Washington as well -- former press secretary for the Democratic National Committee.
Jennifer, what do -- what do you make of this? And we've been getting a lot of tweets today.
Let me see if I can find some of those. No one gives him credit for trying to clean up -- all right, here's one. I mean, this is kind of nasty. But I'll use it only because there's a lot of people who feel this way on the left, all right? And they're not so nice about it.
"I think it's great our president is trying to do so much and no one gives him credit for trying to clean up the idiot's mess."
Now, that's kind of dumb and irresponsible. And I don't think people should be referring to a past president of the United States in that way. But I won't sit here and tell you that I don't see stuff like this all the time.
JENNIFER PALMIERI, FORMER JOHN EDWARDS PRESS SECRETARY: Right.
SANCHEZ: Is he, in many ways, what this president is doing, whether he's doing it intentionally or not, is he showing up what the other president didn't do, Jennifer?
PALMIERI: I think that, you know, there was probably an element of that, perhaps, at the beginning of the presidency. But now, we're into late October, and it's, you know, Barack Obama is defining his own presidency. And I think that in terms of making this really important decision on Afghanistan, the White House is being very deliberate in showing how he is going through this process.
You know, they tell you every day what meetings he's had in Afghanistan and who was in the meetings...
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SANCHEZ: But what does that...
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PALMIERI: ... what topics they covered.
SANCHEZ: What is going to Dover have to do with that?
PALMIERI: And I think Dover was part of that decision-making process.
SANCHEZ: OK.
PALMIERI: But I think that in addition to hearing...
SANCHEZ: How so? Is he...
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PALMIERI: ... the military strategy, the different kinds of strategy, but you want -- well, I don't know. I mean, you said in the lead-in, it was interesting, is this Obama's way of showing that he owns it. I don't know that -- I don't know that he wants to intentionally show that he owns it. But I think he's president of the United States and he does own this decision and he, you know, owns all of our military situations in the world.
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
PALMIERI: So, I think -- but I think that he wanted to experience every aspect as much as he could with this decision. What's the military strategy, what's the right diplomatic political strategy...
SANCHEZ: Should the cameras have been there?
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SANCHEZ: Should the cameras have been there?
PALMIERI: Well, you know...
SANCHEZ: Tony?
PALMIERI: The president is somebody I know...
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BLANKLEY: You know, I have...
PALMIERI: The president doesn't do anything in private.
SANCHEZ: OK. Tony?
BLANKLEY: Look, no -- I mean, President Bush, I know, visited a lot of troops and burials in private. He felt that was the way he wanted to do it. This president is doing it in public. I think either way is appropriate.
There's no reason why the cameras shouldn't be there to see the caskets come home and the president saluting them. So, I don't have any problem with that. I don't like to see the politicization from either side of the public ritual of public officials respecting the men and women who have stood and fallen for our country.
SANCHEZ: Yes. I get that.
BLANKLELY: It's not a political issue.
SANCHEZ: I get that. And you know what? As a Republican, I respect you saying that. I think most people out there, whether on the left or on the right, respect you for saying something. I think it's -- I think it's noble to respect the office. Although I got to tell you, on social media, all day long, you know, we open up the discussion and let people share.
BLANKLEY: I know what the world's -- I get a lot of e-mail -- I know what the world's like. But I think we got to maintain some standards.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Let's do this. Let's do this. You guys stick around. I want to go to CNN.com/live.
In meantime, let's let you go over to Washington now and let you join "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Here is CNN's own Wolf Blitzer bringing you "THE SITUATION ROOM."
