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Out in the Open
Deportation Fears; Interview With Gloria Estefan
Aired October 05, 2007 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about the economy -- a dirty little secret about how much we owe China. If you ran your business this way or your personal budget this way, you would be a disaster. We have got the numbers and the guy who is fighting mad about this.
And tonight, the exclusive video story of a panic, a panic in the Dallas area.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Panic among illegal immigrants. Their children snatched at school by police? That's the fear, but is it the case?
Some say if illegal immigrants are worried, good. Maybe they will leave. But is it what we really want?
This man will tell you all this could have been, can be avoided, if our country would just come up with a plan. Why don't we have one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We tried to explain that.
SANCHEZ: Speaking of plans, how about the economy, Mr. President?
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This economy is a vibrant and strong economy.
SANCHEZ: Yes, it's great, if you can borrow forever. What CEO couldn't succeed that way? But where's the money coming from, and when does the bill come due?
Fidel Castro, bad, and 90 miles away, sounds like a Gloria Estefan song. Let's have her on.
GLORIA ESTEFAN, SINGER: A lot of Cubans have lost their lives along those 90 miles. A lot of them have gotten a new life full of hope.
SANCHEZ: She will be here.
And so will this guy.
CARLOS MENCIA, COMEDIAN: If you make your kid cut the grass like your parents made you cut the grass, we wouldn't have to get somebody else to cut the grass.
SANCHEZ: Somewhere between totally nuts and really smart, our Mencia moment.
He twists her arm. She bites him back. He pepper-sprays her. Who is facing assault charges?
And I am determined to get to the bottom of this guy's story. I know he's just a little guy, but you can't just take somebody's life savings away. Right is worth fighting for, no matter how small. That's what we do here on OUT IN THE OPEN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Well, tonight, OUT IN THE OPEN has confirmed with our sources that there is a panic in and around Dallas, Texas. Illegal immigrants are afraid that they're going to be picked up and deported by the Dallas police or police officers, we should say, Irving, Texas, acting as proxies for immigration agents. It may be the first of its kind, also the biggest of its type, a case like this.
In fact, it's so serious that we now understand that the Mexican Consulate is now issuing a warning to immigrants to avoid the Dallas area and its suburb of Irving, Texas. OUT IN THE OPEN wanted to know for itself what really is going there.
So, we sent our correspondent Keith Oppenheim to try and find out what it is.
Here's Keith.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Martin, an undocumented immigrant, crosses the street to take his kids to school. Martin's lived in Irving, Texas, for 26 years and says in just the past month, he's noticed a big change.
(on camera): Describe it. What's the mood change?
MARTIN, RESIDENT OF IRVING, TEXAS: Well, there's a lot people, they -- they're scared to drive. They're scared to go to the grocery store.
OPPENHEIM (voice-over): The fear is a reaction to what's called the Criminal Alien Program. Since September of last year, Irving police started to refer anyone arrested in their community to immigration authorities.
LARRY BOYD, IRVING, TEXAS, POLICE CHIEF: It's only for people who violate the Texas laws and are arrested and brought into the Irving jail.
OPPENHEIM: Referrals for deportations in Irving have skyrocketed. Last year, Irving police say they turned in 38 people to immigration. This year, they turned in 1,600. Because the referrals can include anyone stopped for a traffic violation, there's been a major reaction.
(on camera): Consider that, in just the past week, 90 children have been withdrawn from Irving's school district, 90 kids. Now, district officials don't believe all those withdrawals are because of deportation fears. But immigrant advocates say, for some parents, driving their kids to school is not worth the risk.
CARLOS QUINTANILLA, PRESIDENT, ACCION AMERICA: If they don't have a driver's license and they get pulled over for a stop sign or a broken light, there's a possibility that they can be deported.
OPPENHEIM: This woman said that four students in her son's elementary school class have left the school because their parents are afraid. And now Latinos, who account for 40 percent of Irving's population, are protesting, accusing the police of racial profiling.
JOSEFINA, IRVING RESIDENT: Everybody is scared.
OPPENHEIM: Josefina -- she gave her first name only -- says a good friend was recently pulled over.
JOSEFINA: The police only say stop and say for I.D. or a driver's license. And the guy don't do anything and take it. Right now, he's in Mexico. It is not fair.
OPPENHEIM: But Irving's mayor insists there's no racial profiling.
HERBERT GEARS, MAYOR OF IRVING, TEXAS: But we will make sure that people are being treated fairly, that no one is being singled out, that there's racial profiling, that people aren't being pulled over because of the color of their skin.
OPPENHEIM: Still, the mayor says, the efficiency of the program has sparked rumors.
MARTIN: We heard about they're going to start to come to the school and check the kids, who has papers, who does not.
OPPENHEIM: Irving authorities say no one is going into the schools to take kids away. But the rumor is another expression of fear that as Irving police apply the law, undocumented Latinos worry they could be exposed if they send their kids to school.
Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Irving, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Well, what a situation.
Now, we understand a lot of this is urban myth and some of it as well is reality. We also understand that there's a lot of different opinions on something like this. So, in just a moment, we're going to be talking to somebody who says that this is the right thing to do.
Right now though, I want to bring in somebody that we just saw in Keith Oppenheim's report. This is Carlos Quintanilla. He's an activist. He's the president of Accion America.
Carlos, the problem here as I see it is you have a police department that are acting as if they were immigration agents or proxies of the immigration department. Am I wrong?
QUINTANILLA: Well, no, what they're doing is that they have created this program called the Criminal Alien Program that's intention was to identify criminal aliens who committed murders, aggravated assaults, batteries, theft on properties.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes. OK. And that's great. That's fine.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: You know what? Hold on. That's fabulous. If that is what they're doing, going after people who are undesirable, people nobody in this country, whether you're an immigrant, whether you're illegal, whether you're legal, wants in this country. And most people would say, great, get those folks out of here.
But what we seem to see in Keith Oppenheim's report is the possibility that they're just stopping people for a broken taillight and then using that as an excuse to kick them out of the country.
QUINTANILLA: Yes, but it's not a possibility. It's a reality.
What they have done is they have deported 2,437 people, and about 90 percent of them are for traffic-related offenses. They're not pulling over murderers or rapists or drug dealers. They're deporting people and arresting people that were stopped for traffic-related offenses. They have admitted that. They have confirmed that. They have accepted that.
So, we know for a fact that the city of Irving has targeted our community, has deported people for no driver's license. I can tell you stories of people who have been pulled over, a lady who got into a car accident. She was the victim of the accident. She got hit. She showed her identification from her bank, her vehicle registration, her insurance card.
She had two sister-in-laws that were U.S. citizens that said that is my sister-in-law. Her husband them came and said, that's my wife. And you know what? Despite that, they said, ma'am, could you come here, turn around? Handcuffed her, and she was deported.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And the point of your story, which is a good one, is, she was not a criminal. She was not someone who had committed a crime. She just happened to be in an accident.
Hey, can you -- hold on just a minute.
QUINTANILLA: Yes. SANCHEZ: Richard, stay where you are. I want to get -- pardon me. Carlos, stay where you are. I want to get your reaction.
I'm being told by my producers now that we have got somebody on the line.
This is Richard. And we're not going to identify him because he's identifying himself as someone who is in the country as an illegal immigrant. He's part of that community.
Richard, are you there?
RICHARD, ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: Yes, I'm here.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Tell me what you fear, as a resident of Irving, Texas. And how are you dealing with it?
RICHARD: Well, it's kind of tough, because, you know, people are just working over here, working hard.
QUINTANILLA: That's right.
RICHARD: And then they have kids over here. And, when you go out there, you're scared of, you know, being stopped by the police. And you can get deported for just -- for a simple reason.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: You live there, so you get it. We don't. You get the buzz. You know what people are talking about.
Are you really hearing a general sense of true concern, to the point of panic, as we're getting reports from, where people are saying to each other, literally, don't go outside?
RICHARD: Yes. That is what's going on, because there's a lot of people afraid to go to work, afraid to go to take their kids to school.
SANCHEZ: Do you have a child?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Richard, do you have a child?
RICHARD: Yes, I have a son.
SANCHEZ: Was he born in the United States?
RICHARD: Yes, he was born in the United States.
SANCHEZ: Are you still concerned about him, though?
RICHARD: Oh, yes, because, if something happens to me financially, he will -- I mean, it won't be good for him.
SANCHEZ: That's amazing.
Richard, thanks so much for joining us.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes, go ahead, Carlos. Your reaction...
(CROSSTALK)
QUINTANILLA: And, like Richard, there's a lot of people, Gelsa Villacinda (ph).
Yadida Cortez (ph), her father was in -- he was opening his garage door, and the police stopped him, thinking that he was breaking in because, you know, he was opening a garage door. They pulled him and they asked him for identification. And this man was deported simply because he was in his garage.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And, you know, it's funny, because...
(CROSSTALK)
QUINTANILLA: Now the city is backtracking, because they know that they're culpable. They know that they have racially profiled our community. They know that they have done some unconscionable things, some repugnant things.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I don't know about racial profiling. That's a buzz word that gets you in all kinds of trouble. And I, frankly, don't want to go there.
But I will tell you this. It does seem that this is a problem in this country that needs to be solved from a federal level. And the idea of having nilly-willy different police departments all over the country doing whatever it is that they want to do under different policies just doesn't seem right and it certainly doesn't seem American.
By the way, this is the latest note.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Hold on, Carlos.
Let me read to the viewers what we're hearing now. This is what we're getting from the consulate. They're telling people, be extremely careful not to go to Irving unless you absolutely have to.
That's what they're saying right now. This is the official Mexican Consulate statement.
Carlos Quintanilla, stay. We will be checking back with you as well.
And my thanks, by the way, for joining us and sharing your insight with us.
By the way, when we come back from this break, we're going to have a guest on the other side of this who's going to tell our OUT IN THE OPEN viewers that we can't kick enough of these people out of the country fast enough. It's going to no doubt be a spirited and very engaging interview.
Stay with us. We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MENCIA: Anybody that doesn't understand immigration, legal or not, is just insensitive. I mean, first of all, poor people are trying to become rich people. That's all that's happening here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yes, there he is, Carlos Mencia trying to boil things down for everybody. Coming up, the mind of Mencia. This guy's a little nuts, but he's also kind of smart. Huh?
Well, for some Americans, and certainly for a bevy of radio talk show hosts all over this country, the idea that illegal immigrants are being harshly dealt with by a local police department, in this case in Irving, Texas, is a good thing.
We here at OUT IN THE OPEN believe that, while that may be a popular view, it also could be a little short-sighted.
Joining me now, Dan Stein. He's the president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. He's a friend of this newscast and we have had him on before. And he's good enough to join us once again.
Dan, here's the problem, as I see it. You start pushing these people into the shadows, you start putting them under tables, where they're hiding, and you're creating really a bigger problem, aren't you? I mean, if they start kicking the kids out of the school system, or parents start pulling them out of there, what are they going to do? They're going to start doing drugs. It's going to be crime-ridden and it's going to be more expensive.
DAN STEIN, PRESIDENT, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: I'm not exactly sure I understand what you're asking me, I mean, because, come on, Rick. We are a nation of laws. We're going to enforce the law.
You have to inconvenience somebody if you're going to enforce the law. The Mexican government has decided, through its consulates, to violate every principle of diplomatic neutrality by trying to obstruct U.S. immigration law enforcement by issuing a bunch of propaganda and lies.
(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: You just said -- and this is important -- you just used the word U.S. immigration law enforcement. U.S. means federal.
STEIN: Us. It means us, like we.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Hold on. Let me ask the question.
Do you really want, willy-nilly, police departments all over the country interpreting and using the laws of immigration as they want?
STEIN: Rick, you sound like that police departments are running their own deportation process...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: They are. They are. Did you watch the report we just filed?
(CROSSTALK)
STEIN: Rick, I have been doing this for 30 years.
What is going on is a cooperative program. When they pick up somebody for a violation not related to immigration, and there's an immigration hold on it from the federal authorities, they detain them. The feds come and pick them up.
SANCHEZ: No, no, no, no, no, no. Let's be fair.
STEIN: Police departments have to be able to enforce the law, consistent with federal immigration law.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Dan, let me just say something real quick. That may be the case 30 years ago. But what we just heard in the report is that people are being stopped for busted headlights...
STEIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... or something in their car, in the case of one woman, who had an accident, no fault of hers, and was deported as a result.
STEIN: But, Rick, she was here illegally.
And the point is, every one of those people here today, their kids can get an education back home. They can buy cars, buy property, live the dream in Mexico or wherever they're from.
And you know what? President Calderon last month was down on the border with Guatemala, Rick. And you know what he was saying? We got to get control of this border with Guatemala.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
STEIN: We got to get more resources down here. And why is it OK for Mexico to enforce its law, but we can't?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And I agree with you 100 percent. We have to get control of our border.
STEIN: Then let's get to the job.
SANCHEZ: But do we want to do it this way?
And it was guys like you, if I'm not wrong, who were screaming mad when we tried to come up with an immigration reform package.
STEIN: But, no, no, we didn't have any reform package in Congress. We had a big amnesty giveaway that only encourages more lawlessness.
This is the deal. Look, we want American citizens to be able to use emergency rooms again, to get good, quality public education, available housing. Many people illegally here are going home because the housing market collapsed and the construction industry basically doesn't need them anymore. That's why they're pulling their kids out of school.
SANCHEZ: So, throw them all...
(CROSSTALK)
STEIN: ... responds to the economy, and it's working great.
SANCHEZ: So, I say 12 million. Maybe Lou Dobbs says 20 million. You say, however many they are, throw their butts out of the country, right?
STEIN: Look, we have got to find strategies to deter people from coming illegally. And, if we don't get serious about enforcing the law, let's just make Mexico the 51st state. Is that what you want to do, Rick?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You're backing up...
STEIN: Because the Mexican government seems to want to do that.
SANCHEZ: You're backing up on me a little bit there.
Dan, I enjoy this conversation. Always enjoy a good, spirited debate with you. And we will keep having you back, my friend.
STEIN: Thanks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARION JONES, FORMER OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I want you to know that I have been dishonest and you have the right to be angry with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Next, an Olympic star, a shocking revelation and a riveting apology.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back.
I'm Rick Sanchez. We are taking on the issue of immigration here OUT IN THE OPEN, not because we think that we have the solution, but because, as a nation, we need to come up with some kind of solution.
The nation's secretary of commerce is a successful former CEO of Kellogg International. He's also an immigrant. And he's obviously a smart guy who's trying to come up with a plan himself.
My interview now with Carlos Gutierrez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Mr. Secretary, is there -- there's an argument as to whether or not immigrants in this country, even some that are still being documented, often called illegals, are paying their fair share of taxes, for example, in this country.
As you see it, sir, are they paying taxes less or more, or are they getting away with something?
CARLOS GUTIERREZ, SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Well, I think that's one of the reasons you will -- you will hear a lot of numbers. And everyone has a statistic or a research piece that they can point to.
It's one of the reasons why we need to have a legal immigration system and we need to have a legal means to fill many of the jobs that we have that aren't getting filled, because then people will -- there will be no doubt that they're paying taxes. There will be no doubt that they're contributing to other services that -- that citizens are contributing to, or residents are contributing to, or people who have a temporary workers permit contribute to.
SANCHEZ: Well, let's talk about your plan, which many have argued has all but been ignored by both parties.
They would end up having to pay something like $5,000. That's a combination of fees and fines. They have to get documented. In other words, they have to put their name on a piece of paper somewhere. They need to be fingerprinted. And we need to know who they are and where they are.
That sounds on its face like a pretty good idea that most Americans would go along with. Why then did it fail? GUTIERREZ: Well, and that's a great question. But one of the points that we made is that the immigration reform was first and foremost a national security piece of legislation, because we cannot be totally secure if we don't know who is in the country and who is working in the country.
And what this process was going to do was enable us to register the people who are here. Those who didn't come forward to register, those are the ones we want to find out why. But that process was going to enable us to do that.
SANCHEZ: Some Americans would argue that the way to get rid of the immigration problem is to get rid of the immigrants, and the way of getting rid of the immigrants -- and this is an argument you're hearing an awful lot of lately -- is to make it illegal for employers to hire them.
How big a mistake do you believe that would be?
GUTIERREZ: Well, I will tell you something. If you want to just absolutely abolish immigration, one way to do it would be to settle for either lower economic growth, no economic growth, or a declining economy.
And I see this very much as an economic issue. I'm -- I see it as I looked at the economy and as I look at the business. You need a work force to be able to grow. If you don't have a growing work force, you will not be able to grow your economy. And, as I mentioned, every single developed economy in the world has the same problem.
Everyone is thinking about immigration policy. That's why we should be thinking about it. If we get this right -- and we should be able to, because we have more experience than any other country in the world -- we will have a competitive advantage for the next century. So, think about that.
SANCHEZ: Mr. Secretary, thanks again, sir, for taking the time.
GUTIERREZ: Thank you, Rick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Coming up, it's the dirty little secret you don't have to speak Chinese to understand we are bringing out in the open. What is going on with a debt with China? How much we have borrowed, who's gaining, who's losing, we will tell you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MENCIA: I knock Bush because he just says things that just -- like, he's the president. And I just want -- I want to respect my president. I don't care that he's a Republican or Democrat. It's just, when you're talking about No Child Left Behind, and you're talking about scholastic achievement, you don't say, you know, all the childrens. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Tonight, Mencia's moment, with the zany, but really smart sometimes non-Mexican. Huh? We will explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESTEFAN: I think it would be great to have some kind of work program, some kind of work visa, that people can come in and out, so you know who is in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Gloria Estefan is one of America's best known musical commodities, recognized all over the world. She's also a fan of this show, we are honored to say. So, tonight, she joins us here as well.
Here's a dirty little secret out there for you, something you probably should know about. I'm going to tell you more about this in just a minute.
But, first, listen to what President Bush had to say about his -- the health of our nation's economy today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The last month, our economy added 110,000 new jobs. And that's good news for people here in our country. It's an indicator that this economy is a vibrant and strong economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And that does no doubt sound nice, right? So, what's the secret?
The secret is that our economy is inflated with borrowed time and borrowed money. Never before have we owed so much to so many in this country. And, folks, that ain't good.
Let me show you what I mean. Let's talk about the national debt for starters, all right? Here it is. Let me see if I can even read this number, $9,050,048,079,280, with 70 cents. That's a huge number, as big as it's ever been.
By the way, how much of that share is yours? Every one of us who lives in this country, that means, owes $29,862, with 88 cents. So, whatever you think you're worth, take that away from it.
Now, by the way, who do we the money to? Come back here.
Hey, go ahead, Ellie, change that for us.
You know, there are countries that we really owe our shorts to, folks. Look at this, Brazil, $105 billion -- we owe them. Brazil. This is oil exporters, you know, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, $124 billion. Here's another one, the United Kingdom, we owe them $210 billion. But the big ones, China -- $408 billion. And Japan, we, the United States of America owe all these countries, but this is the mother lode right here, $611 billion.
One man is literally going around screaming that this is just wrong. He should know, he is our nation's top accountant, is name is David Walker. He's the U.S. comptroller general, which means that he's head of the government accountability office. They're the people who watch federal spending. And he says what he's seeing right now in our country scares him. Let's talk.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: David Walker, thanks see much for joining us. If a CEO of a company ran his organization this way, if he borrowed this way, wouldn't he be out on his keester?
DAVID WALKER, U.S. COMPTROLLER GENERAL: Probably would be, but you know, the government has the ability to raise taxes, it has the ability to borrow at very attractive interest rates at the present point in time. And so far, we've been OK.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, but the problem is the borrowing. I mean, no administration in the history of the United States has ever borrowed as much as this administration has borrowed. And there's something else that's probably equally troubling here and maybe could you speak to this.
The fact that the people who are in this administration have connections to the companies who are being paid from the money that's being borrowed. In other words, thank you, China, we'll take that money now, we'll pay you in 40, and 50 years. In the meantime, it's going to the Kellogg, Brown and Root, it's going to the Halliburton's. Isn't that a problem?
WALKER: Well, there is a separate and distinct issue there as to whether there are any potential conflicts. The real fact is, we have raised the debt limit for the fifth time in the last 5-1/2 years and we're still debating that rather than treating the disease. We need to impose tough budget controls. We need to reform Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, we need to engage in comprehensive tax reform before the tsunami of spending associated with the retirement of the baby boom generation happens.
SANCHEZ: Well, here's the problem as we have it right now. This -- the people living right now in the United States aren't feeling the effects of all this money that has been borrowed, right? Because the real people who are going to feel it are the people who aren't watching it right now. See, they don't CNN, they don't watch FOX, they don't watch MSNBC. So, they really don't know and probably don't care at this point.
So, it's almost like we're getting away with something, aren't we? I mean, it's like borrowing money on the sly. WALKER: Rick, what's happening is that we're spending more money than we make, we're charging it to the national credit card and we're expecting our children and grandchildren to pay it off with compound interest.
SANCHEZ: Exactly.
WALKER: Exactly. In many cases, they can't vote. They're too young to vote. And that's why I feel so strongly that to state the facts and speak the truth, to try to make sure that the next president will make fiscal responsibility and intergenerational equity one of their top three priorities.
SANCHEZ: By the way, the president this morning said he's happy with the economy, that things generally look up. Where's he wrong?
WALKER: Well, first, he's not necessarily wrong with regard to the short term. That's part of the problem. We have a false sense of security today because economic growth is pretty strong, unemployment is low, interest rates are low, the markets have been doing good things of late. And so, that gives us a false sense of security. Plus deficits have come down for three years in a row. But what people don't realize is due to the retirement of the baby boom generation and out of control healthcare costs, we're headed for deficits and debt levels like this country has never seen, and we cannot sustain.
SANCHEZ: And you're the man who's been going around trying to get people to pay attention. My thanks to you for being here. Sounds an awful lot like a ticking time bomb. We'll have you back. Thank you, sir.
WALKER: Good to talk to you, Rick. Take care.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAROLS MENCIA, COMEDIAN: I was really, really personally, just -- it jarred me, it offended me, it hurt my feelings when Mexico played the United States, right, in soccer at Soldier Field and there were more people wearing Mexican green...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yeah, we are going to go inside the mind of Carlos Mencia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Like I got to tell you this, right? Comedian Carlos Mencia is hilarious, outrageous, hugely popular, a little nutty too, by the way. On his Comedy Central show "Mind of Mencia" this Honduran-American immigrant pokes fun at both sides of the U.S. immigration debate. He'll surprise you from time to time. So, I asked him what he thinks, for starters, of those Latino-American immigrants, or Latino immigrants I should say, pardon me -- who are crossing the U.S. border in search of jobs. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MENCIA: I understand that we want, you know, to protect the sovereignty of the nation, but in the end, in the end, it's simple. If you make your kid cut the grass like your parents made you cut the grass, we wouldn't have to get somebody else to cut the grass.
And the bottom line is, it's up to us. If you want to hire who you want to hire, that's it. But you can't make it, you know, you can't pretend that it's their fault. You can't blame somebody for wanting to feed their family. You just can't do that. You can't hate on that as a human being. You got to understand that motivation.
On the other hand, there are other issues that anger Americans. You know what I mean? Issues like, you know, carrying other flags at rallies. I was really, really personally, just -- it jarred me, offended me, it hurt my feelings when Mexico played the United States, right, in soccer at Soldier Field and there were more people wearing Mexican green than the United States, in our country, in a place called Soldier Field.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, but...
MENCIA: That angers me a little bit.
SANCHEZ: But hey, the Irish do it on Saint Patrick's Day every single year.
...the Bush administration an awful lot on your show, yet it was the Bush administration that tried to come up with some comprehensive reform to come up with a process for legalizing some of these people, right?
MENCIA: Yeah, but I knock Bush because he just says things -- it seems when you're talking about no child left behind and you're talking about scholastic achievement, you don't say, you know, "all the childrens," you just don't say that. And that's why I knock the guy because it's like come on. As far as reform, hey, listen, I'm going to tell you something. I didn't realize that we had such an immigration problem because what it is, is immigrants are starting to reach the east coast and the northern part of America, so it's become a national issue.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MENCIA: But I was in Los Angeles the other day walking out of a paint store and it was about 5:00 in the afternoon and I saw a guy that I, you know, frequently when i go to this store. And he was really angry. And I was like, "what's the matter?" And he's like, "You know, listen, I have been here for a long time and it's 5:00 and I haven't got anybody to pick me up, there's too much competition." And I went, "What do you think's the problem?" And I swear, he looked at me right in the face and he went, "There's too many illegal aliens in this country." (LAUGHTER)
And he doesn't have papers and I was like wow, this is getting bad. You know what I mean?
SANCHEZ: It's interesting because I did a story just like this during this newscast. I don't know if you got a chance to see it, where I go out there and become a day laborer and I think when some of them saw me get out of the car, they go great, we've got another one out here how's going to be looking for jobs right now.
Carlos Mencia, you're wildly popular, wildly successful. And you know, it's been a wonderful conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: LARRY KING LIVE is going to be coming up in just a couple of minutes.
Larry, who do you got tonight, my friend?
LARRY KING, LARRY KING LIVE: Oh Rick my man, we got a great show coming up, an exclusive with Kid Rock. The outrageous rap rock star, his first sit-down interview since his VMA brawl with Tommy Lee and since he reportedly said his ex, Pamela Anderson lied about a miscarriage.
He made our cameras the first to go inside his $12 million home. And you're going to see things you've never seen before with Kid Rock. I've never met him, I'm looking forward to this at the top of the hour on LARRY KING LIVE.
SANCHEZ: You know, what's amazing? How do you stay so hip? How do you do it?
KING: Oh, I'm a hip man. You know what he said, in "Rolling Stone."
SANCHEZ: What?
KING: In the current "Rolling Stone," he says he's going on LARRY KING LIVE and thinks that I'm so hip, I'm going to introduce him as Chris Rock and ask him about being married to Louie Anderson.
SANCHEZ: That's what you do when you spend a lot of time doing news, you know, you get that pop culture thing all mixed up.
KING: I know, you get a little racked.
SANCHEZ: Oh man, that's going to be great. I'll look forward to it.
KING: Have a nice weekend, Rick.
SANCHEZ: See you, Larry, bye-bye.
Well, what have we got next? We're going to bring you -- oh, the best video of the day. You're not going to believe this when you see this, went down a couple of hours ago. When it happened, we were in the newsroom watching this and everything just stopped. Everybody was writing at their computer, stopped writing, stopped talking. It was riveting. Here it is.
Five-time Olympic medalist Marion Jones went to court in New York, admitted taking steroids and then pleaded guilty to lying about it to federal agents in 2003.
Well, outside the courthouse, she addressed her fans but she did it with, well, I don't know, can there be there dignity in apology? I think there can. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARION JONES, T-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: And so it is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you that I have betrayed your trust. I want all of you to know that today, I pled guilty to two counts of making false statements to federal agents, making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing for me to do. And I am responsible fully for my actions.
I have no one to blame but myself for what I've done. To you, my fans, including my young supporters, the United States Track and Field Association, my closest friends, my attorneys, and the most classy family a person could ever hope for, namely my mother, my husband, my children, my brother and his family, my uncle and the rest of my extended family, I wanted you to know that I have been dishonest.
And you have the right to be angry with me. I have let them down, I have let my country down, and I have let myself down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Talk about confronting the truth, huh? Jones says effective immediately, she's retiring from track and field completion, she'll be sentenced in January, could, could possibly get prison time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We got sips and stuff when we when we were like 12, probably starting then, but then we would get a little glass of wine or like a beer when we were probably 16.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is an interesting question. If you're a parent, do you let your child experiment, try alcohol? How do you deal with this to make sure you help them and not hurt them? Whoa, it's an interesting story.
And then Gloria estefan, she watches us and who doesn't love her music, right? Here's an OUT IN THE OPEN guarantee. Her rhythm is going to get you...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Tonight, we here at OUT IN THE OPEN are continuing to fight for the little guy. This little guy lost his life savings and was trying to figure out why. His name is Pedro Zapeda, he's the Guatemalan dishwasher who spent a decade working in Florida restaurants, he managed to save $59,000 over that time, money that he intended to take home to his family, but he was here illegally. And when he tried to leave the U.S., the government seized his money, presumably because they thought -- thought, he wasn't, thought he was a drug dealer.
I made about seven phone calls today on Pedro's behalf and here is what I have found out in talking to lots of government officials.
First, Florida congressman Kendick Meek tells me he's now personally investigating Pedro's case and will be on our show next week with an update.
Next, a Justice Department official tells me she is going to review the case and will be responding to this show shortly, as well.
And I learned today from Pedro's lawyer that it's now taking this case to the federal appeals court in Atlanta where it will be heard where it will get a new and completely independent hearing before possibly going on to the Supreme Court.
Now, I know there are many of you out there who believe that Pedro may not be worth fighting for, because after all, he's just this poor little Guatemalan illegal immigrant.
But taking a man's entire life savings away for not filing a form just doesn't seem fair. We're American, to here at OUT IN THE OPEN. We received tons of e-mail from you about this, by the way. We want to know what you think. Here we go.
Here's one from W. in Maryland: "We pay not only the tax due but severe penalties for nonfiling and underpayment and interest that is compounded daily up from the time it is owed to the time it is paid. Should Pedro be treated better than I would be treated?"
Nobody's saying that he shouldn't be treated any differently, nobody's saying that he shouldn't pay taxes. What we're saying is all of the money? All $59,000?
Also, this one comes in from Terri in Arizona: "Everyone seems to be missing the point, Rick, regarding illegal immigrants in this country. Yes, the majority of these people are just as decent and hard working as you and me. But I can't afford for my taxes to keep going up to take care of their social services needs."
I'm glad you asked that question because next week, we're going to be taking on the tax issue. The question is, are they also paying taxes many believe they're not at all. We'll take that on.
Jose writes: "I'm a Guatemalan and think that we help the country by coming here. No Latino comes here to blow up anything. We come here to work and help our families. I also hope Pedro gets his money back."
And we want to hear from you. Send us your thoughts. Let us know what I think. It's outintheopen@cnn.com. And it's perfectly fine to disagree.
All right, let's go over to our Smart Board. We've got one of our "Rick's Pics" to show you. This is dramatic video, just released by (INAUDIBLE) police, here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(screaming)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
He's trying to arrest this 15-year-old for breaking a curfew. She's obliviously trying to resist. And now she's about to try and fight him and that's when things get really ugly. There it is. The officer is obviously extremely aggravated. She's finally taking in -- first he's going to mace her, right in the face, though. And he does take her in, as a matter of fact she's charged with battery, in this case. We have tried to get a hold of the other side. We've talked to her attorney, her lawyer is saying no comments until they go to court next month.
If you're like most parents, you probably think that kids and alcohol don't mix, but now some people are saying we'd be doing our kids a favor if we actually taught them how to drink before they're legal. Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has tonight's "Vital Signs."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're watching underage drinking in action, Anna Peele is 19 years old. Do her parents know she's drinking?
STANTON PEELE, "ADDICTION-PROOF YOUR CHILD": Thanks, honey.
ANNE STANTON, UNDERAGE DRINKER: You're welcome.
COHEN: You'd better believe they do. In fact, her dad gave her this wine. He's been serving her alcohol for years.
A PEELE: We got sips and stuff since we were like 12, probably starting then, but then we would get a little glass of wine or like a beer when we were probably 16.
COHEN: Psychologist and author of the book "Addiction Proof Your Child," Stanton Peel has a pretty radical notion. He says give your kids alcohol at home. And they won't end up becoming crazy binge drinkers.
(on camera): So you served a glass of wine to your kids when they were just 16?
S PEELE: We taught them to drink in a civilized fashion like a civilized human being.
COHEN (voice-over): Of course, the more conventional approach. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name's Emily and in seven years, I'll be an alcoholic.
COHEN: Is to tell kids no alcohol no, way.
CALVINA FAY, DRUG-FREE AMERICA FOUNDATION: Well, alcohol is a drug, plain and simple. It's a drug. It's a dangerous drug, it is an dictive drug.
COHEN: "Just say no" has been at approach of choice for years and advocates say it works. In 1991, 31 percent of high school students reported heving I drinking, but in 2005, that number went down to 26 percent. Peele says other studies show drinking at home moderately, like a glass of wine with dinner, means your child will be much less likely to binge drink with friends.
Peele says she's seen it in college, that kids who weren't allowed to drink growing up end up being a mess.
A PEELE: I just met this guy from Canada and like, it's like totally forbidden in his family and he told me that he'll have like 18 beers in a sitting. I'm like that doesn't appeal to me at all.
COHEN: Peele hopes that one day, "just say no" becomes "just say yes."
Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA ESTEFAN, SINGER: I thing it's very arrogant of anyone to think that we're going to affect the Fidel Castro's regime in any way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: She's beautiful and she's smart and oh, what a voice. You may have never heard her like this. Gloria Estefan on her homeland and a new album to boot.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Tonight, it is an absolute pleasure to welcome a fan of OUT IN THE OPEN. She says she loves what we're doing, and who in the world, literally in the world, doesn't love what she's doing? Gloria Estefan has a new C.D. out, but it's not all about music with her. She takes on the issues and delivers some pretty smart responses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Joining us now is Gloria Estefan. She has a brand new album, it's called "90 Millas," now "90 Millas" means "90 Miles, which is the distance, they say, between Cuba and the United States. It's a very special number for Cubans, isn't it? ESTEFAN: It is. As you know, a lot of Cubans have lost their lives along those 90 miles, a lot of them have gotten a new life, full of hope. And it's a distance that separated most of us that live in Florida from our homeland for 48 years, but symbolically, it cannot take us away from who we are, it cannot separate us from our musical heritage, our culture and that's what the album is about.
SANCHEZ: You're a Cuban-American, I'm a Cuban-American and we were both born, came to this country as immigrants.
ESTEFAN: Yes, I was two years old when I came over.
SANCHEZ: There are a lot of stories that relate to that now days. One of the big ones is the immigration crisis going on in the United States. Do you worry there's a lack of tolerance in our country on this issue?
ESTEFAN: Well, I really think it happens around election time, most of these issues, because the politics gets stirred up, people want to stir up people's emotions and the people that pay the price are the last ones in the country. And that's usually the case. But if you go back -- unless you're a native American-Indian, you're an immigrant. At some time in your past, count back generations, or whatever, that's what this country is built on. And most of the immigrants in this country are contributing to the economy, a lot of us are already citizens. So, I think it becomes an election issue.
SANCHEZ: So you would like to see some kind of process whereby we can at least calculate who's here and hurry the process to make those legal who have what it takes to be legal?
ESTEFAN: Exactly. Assimilate what's already in the works. And I think it would be great to have some kind of work program, some kind of work visa that people can come in and out so you know who's in the country, but they can go back to their homeland, and you know -- which is the reason that a lot of them are working here.
SANCHEZ: Speaking of going back to the homeland, you and I can't do that.
ESTEFAN: Exactly.
SANCHEZ: Because, though it's 90 miles away, as your album says, it might as well be 90,000.
ESTEFAN: Exactly. Very frustrating that is.
SANCHEZ: Do you think that we need a different strategy to try and tackle this problem?
ESTEFAN: I think no strategy we could possibly use is going to work, quite honestly. I think it's arrogant of anyone who think we're going to affect Fidel Castro's regime in any way. He is a force onto himself. And even as we see, a year after he's handed over power, he is still there, and as long as his image is there, he's really the center of that revolution. SANCHEZ: Did you see the pictures? He doesn't look good.
ESTEFAN: No, he didn't look good. But he's still there and every time everybody thinks he's down for the count, he's -- I'm here. You know? And he's still around.
SANCHEZ: But here's the point, if Fidel Castro dies, should the government of the United States engage Raul Castro in some kind of process that allows people like you and I to eventually go back and bring some hope to the people living on that island?
ESTEFAN: Well, I think they need to pressure him and tell him this is what we need you to do to be able to lift the embargo and start that process happening. I think that we need to see things better for the Cuban people there. I think that that's what needs to happen for them. Because we're living a great lifestyle in this beautiful country.
SANCHEZ: The first time I interviewed you, you were the Miami Sound Machine, you have come so far and become really and international super-star, not a national super-star. How do you explain that?
ESTEFAN: Latin music, you don't have to know what it is or understand it, it moves you and the world already loves Latin music. I know that because I've traveled everywhere and they really enjoy it.
SANCHEZ: So, I guess the rhythm really is going to get you.
ESTEFAN: It got them. At least eventually it will get you.
SANCHEZ: Gloria Estefan, thanks so much. It's so great to talk to you. Like an old friend.
ESTEFAN: You too, home boy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Is she cool or what? That's all for us, thanks so much for being with us. I'm Rick Sanchez, Larry King next. Hasta manana.
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