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Rick's List
Raped in Broad Daylight; Latest News From Haiti; Who Should the Democrats Blame in Massachusetts Election Loss?; Stimulus-Funded Projects Criticized and Defended; Crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Flight
Aired January 25, 2010 - 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): Here's what's on THE LIST.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Cleveland 911.
CALLER: Yes I think there's somebody either taking advantage or raping somebody...
SANCHEZ: In broad daylight, a woman is raped. Why didn't someone stop him?
KHALED NASER, EYEWITNESS: We saw fire falling from the sky into the sea.
SANCHEZ: A 737 crashes into the Mediterranean off the coast of Lebanon.
Mrs. Heene, cops, they're making the whole thing up on camera sending Mr. Heene into a rage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: The lieutenant-governor of south Carolina compares helping poor children to feeding stray animals. His argument -- poor children don't perform as well in school. Do you think?
Is Bernanke in or out? And what does it mean to your Wallet as these Supremes swing the door wide open for campaign money but there is a CEO backlash. They say, stop asking us for money.
The list you need to know about. Who's Today's Most Intriguing Person? Who's on "The List You Don't Want To Be On"? You will find out as our national conversation on Twitter, on the air starts right now.
Hello again everybody, I'm Rick Sanchez. Here's what's making THE LIST right now.
Kitty Genovese will be forever known in the American lexicon for being the murder victim whose screams neighbors never heard, maybe never bothered to act. The story that I'm going to tell you right now is similar, and we have tapes the 9-1-1 tapes that will take you through it.
Before I do that though, number one on THE LIST today is this. Let me show you a picture, you're looking pretty much at all those left of a passenger plane that crashed with about 90 people aboard. The Ethiopian airline jet crashed early Monday into the dark waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Now you're probably thinking, was there something wrong with the plane?
Was there something wrong maybe with the airline? We have checked. And guess what. There isn't. It's not a fly-by-night operation. They didn't use old planes. In fact, Ethiopian airlines is respected from what we can tell. The plane was a Boeing 737 with a good safety record as well.
All right now I want to show you something as we follow the story so many people around the world are watching. See that? You see what appears to be a flashing light on top of the screen right there. You see it? That's said to be the plane taking off into the dark night. The jet took off from Beirut international airport -- yes, Beirut. And then disappeared from radar a few minutes later.
People on the coast saw the plane on fire -- they say. They also say that it was falling out of the sky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KHALED NASER, EYEWITNESS: We saw fire falling down from the sky into the sea. It fell down between that direction and that one. And it fell into the sea around one kilometer distance from the shore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Can you imagine you're on an airplane and suddenly it goes into the ocean in the middle of the night, no less? 90 people on board. All right, here's what's going on right now that we're following for you. Crews have found more than 20 bodies, but no survivors. At least not as of yet. The plane took off right in the middle of a storm. The question now is was the weather bad enough to actually bring the plane down?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL ALDERTON, CENTER FOR CIVIL AVIATION: Bad weather can give you turbulence, but the turbulence must be very, very severe to bring a airplane down. The airline is a very good airline. And I'm sure the captain, who has the final decision, would have said if the weather conditions were too bad to take off he would have refused to take off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: We have heard about wind shear but we don't know if that's the case here. In fact as you can see, there are still many more questions and answers. The plane took off around 2:30 a.m. those passengers headed to Ethiopia, probably we're thinking of about how quickly they could fall asleep right before they fell out of the sky into the sea.
There's no question that as we continue to get pictures and information, we will update you. We expect to get some more details. And as soon as they come in, we'll turn them around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Cleveland 911.
CALLER: Yes I think there's somebody either taking advantage or raping somebody -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: the 9-1-1 calls that revealed what it seems nobody else wanted to confront -- a rape in broad daylight. We'll bring it to you also.
The President rehires his social media guru. Why'd he let him go in the first place, is the a question some would ask. We'll tell you. Also who's making News on the Twitter board? We are going to be checking that board for you in just a little bit. You stay right there. You're watching THE LIST on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. What we do now is we check our List. We want to make sure anybody that anybody who is making any information that is relevant to the stories that we are following that you may be interested in, we bring it to you. It's News as it happens. My access becomes your access. Going to the twitter List, as we do. Here we go.
Let's check back in to see what's going on with Haiti. It's not a problem that's going to be resolved easily. This is from a UNICEF official. This is Richard Alain, he said in town of Les Cayes, where quake damage is minimal, IDP, those are displaced persons, people who basically have no place to live from PAP, which is Port-au-Prince overwhelming town's limited medical resources. Children most vulnerable. Again, it's the situation we have been telling you about now, that's taking place in Haiti. But thank goodness and thank God really that their prayers are being answered in many ways because there are a lot more people trying to get them help.
Also this, last week was in Haiti, humanity triumphed over adversity. Recovery spotlight needs to stay on Haiti. That's Kendrick Meek, a fellow south Floridian that I grew up with who I have gotten to know quite a bit.
And then this one, Hillary Clinton and foreign minister for more than a dozen countries meeting today in Canada to discuss the rebuilding of Haiti after the quake.
We got this one a minute and a half ago by the way. So that's the information that we are getting from pertinent, relevant people that we thought you should know about. Also this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BERNANKE, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: I'd be terrified of having him replaced by this administration. You never know what you will get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's hardly a ringing endorsement for Ben Bernanke, right? Is he going to become the fall guy for an economy that seems to be still in trouble, or are Republicans flexing their muscles now that the White House is on the ropes? Interesting questions, especially this Bernanke thing.
Our signature, "The List You Don't Want To Be On." Here's a hint -- he's not acting so cute anymore. Not acting so cute anymore. Stay there, THE LIST scrolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Scott from Illinois.
I think Ben Bernanke will be confirmed for a second term as fed chair very easily. He will face a lot of criticism as he's confirmed, but I think he will be confirmed. He has held our economy together throughout this recession and has been a main reason why we have not gone into a depression. And I fully support him for another term as fed chair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's interesting. I'm reading my personal Twitter board about what many of you guys are saying and I'm hearing that same sentiment about Ben Bernanke.
All right, let's do a little yelling. What do you say we do a little yelling? Who's to blame for Massachusetts? Those Democrats up in Washington still can't decide. Is it Martha Coakley? Is it Barack Obama? Hell, why not blame Bill Buckner, speaking of Massachusetts? You know, Boston Red Sox. That's not Bill Buckner.
How about that guy? Ben Bernanke, chairman of the federal reserve. I'm being viscous here all right, but I couldn't help but notice how a sudden blast of Bernanke bashing followed that election in Massachusetts.
In fact, it got so deep that these two Democrats, Barbara Boxer who, remember she was tweeting last week and I showed you one of her tweets about this. That's put us onto the story in large measure. She's from California. Russ Feingold as you know from Wisconsin both said Friday, they are going to vote against Bernanke for a second term as chairman of the federal reserve. See, it's Bernanke's fault. Jessica Yellin, joins me from Washington. Jessica why is Bernanke giving Democrats a case of the chilly willys here, what's going on?
JESSICA YELLIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not just the Democrat's work it's also the Republicans. It's just a case of very bad timing for Bernanke. And a little bit of spinelessness on the part of elected officials. If you look at what Bernanke's critics have been saying for some time, they have made the case all along why they thought he shouldn't be fed chairman.
There were four senators who came out in December saying he shouldn't be fed chairman and they won't support him. But none of the people we are talking about today were among them. They had the chance to say it early and didn't. So why now? Democrats and Republicans are feeling so nervous about the election, as you point out, in Massachusetts. And they want to, you know, extract some blood, show they are going against Wall Street.
And you know what, the one reason this guy will be confirmed in the end? Is because the White House has terrified folks into believing that Wall Street will go into a tailspin if they don't confirm him. So it's not the substance so much as it is about - they're worried about Wall Street and the market.
SANCHEZ: That sounds like more show than go. But you know what's interesting, I think in the end Bernanke is probably going to get it again.
YELLIN: Yep.
SANCHEZ: But if you were to consider somebody else, and I'm surprised more people are talking about it. You and I about to talk about this Paul Wolker. I mean this guy's job, he's has done the job before, he obviously has Obama's ear and pardon the pun but this guy is too big to fail.
YELLIN: He's very tall. That's true. Rick, he's also 82. Isn't there anyone else out there? Do we have to keep reaching into the same grab bag? Nothing against Paul Wolker. I'm sure he's a lovely man.
SANCHEZ: Uh huh.
YELLIN: But there's got to be someone else. And there are plenty of arguments for Bernanke, I'm just saying these folks who are coming out against him, it's suddenly convenient - it's very convenient for them to see religion on this, this week.
SANCHEZ: By the way this Volker rule, let's go back to this Volker if we can for just a minute.
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: This Volker rule, the one we talked about last week.
YELLIN: Uh huh.
SANCHEZ: We have said this a million times. Glass Steigel according to Ali Velshi, according to many economists I talked to was the problem. Why not just restore what they repealed and call it good again? Why not restore Glass Steigel?
YELLIN: Well there are a couple of reasons. But here's an interesting one. One of the prime architects of the opposition to Glass Steigel, one of the crusaders to end it was Larry Sommers, who is now one of the key players in the President's economic team. He was then treasury secretary under president Clinton. Now they called when they repealed Glass Steigel they said it was financial modernization of America.
SANCHEZ: Yes, right, right. The financial modernization act in fact.
YELLIN: Exactly, yes. So it would be a little inconvenient to have Larry Sommers campaigning for the very thing he had quashed before.
SANCHEZ: But the hell with Larry Sommers, I mean if Larry Sommers is part of the problem, if he's one of the guys who was in Wall Street who screwed up the problem, why then is he now the guy chosen to fix the problem? Pardon me, by the way, for asking the obvious.
YELLIN: Right. Well, there is plenty of adjustments as they say. The Volker act takes care of how things are today versus how Glass Steigel treated them when it was treated back in the'30s. But you're asking a larger question about the President's economic team and does the makeup of it need to change.
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's exactly what I'm asking.
YELLIN: Lots of people say yes. Lots of people say yes. The expectation is, no, it's not likely to change. The President trusts his guys, he likes his guys. Maybe they are changing the message and the focus. I wouldn't expect a shake-up of the economic team.
SANCHEZ: Let's stop on that point you just made because there's a lot of Americans of watching now. There are people who love this President. People who think he's the greatest thing since sliced baloney. But is he deeply tied to the interest on Wall Street by choosing Geithner, and Sommers, and Bernanke to try to fix a problem which many Americans think is the biggest problem that we have? Why aren't Americans getting the money and why are those guys getting the money? Does he have a serious problem here in that he's linked to those big money guys?
YELLIN: To some extent, yes. The perception is definitely true. These guys are very, very knowledgeable about Wall Street. And tied to it in the sense that they think what happens on Wall Street has ricochet effect on the rest of country. But look at our own programming, Rick. We have the Wall Street NASDAQ index, the arrow up and down all the time. We're telling Americans to watch the daily gyrations of the market as if it's a true reflection of the state of our economy. So what President isn't going to be keenly attuned to Wall Street? We are all playing the game and we all have to reorient or not expect him to do it on his own. It's a real problem we've got.
SANCHEZ: Well, it is a perception thing. You know? And we here at CNN will spend all week drilling down on the stimulus thing. Because the whole idea is that the country is in a mess. There are a lot of poor people out there. Why aren't the poor people or the people who need it getting the money. On the other hand -- and this is why we are doing this this week in CNN. Why do we look at the fat cats and they are cashing in their bonuses? It's mind boggling, Jessica. But let me turn the page real quick.
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Last week we picked apart Obama's decision to pick a fight with the banks.
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Here's what Republican David Frum thinks about this, let's listen to him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID FRUM, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: Obama is not a fighter. He's a conciliator. That is - that was his unique selling proposition. And as a fighter he's unbelievable. Also as a fighter he has a proven record of nonsuccess. He needs to resurrect what it was that so many people, including Republicans and independents liked about him. Which is that he's a big and generous figure. If he picks fights with the banks, it's unbelievable after what he's done to help them. If he continues with this very divisive approach to health care it will be crippling to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's an interesting take Frum proposes. He's really talking about the President's attempt as a populist which he was during the campaigning as kind of a desperate measure.
YELLIN: Well, first of all, the President wasn't as much of a populist on the campaign as Hillary Clinton was. He was knocked for that. David Frum says the President helped Wall Street and it was the Republicans join in the fight there for TARP and the Wall Street bailout. The other piece of this Rick is the Republicans on one hand are accusing the President of trying to revolutionize a sixth of the economy with health care and yet call him not a fighter at the same time? And he's not taking on enough with the banks by picking little fights? You can't have it both ways.
SANCHEZ: Yes, I know, that's true, that's true.
YELLIN: He has political advantage to gain by picking fights with the banks. That's true. I keep coming back to this Rick, what we all have to watch the financial regulatory reform. How hard do they hit Wall Street with it? It's in the senate and we have to pay close attention to the Bill. It's so important on all these issues.
SANCHEZ: By the way, we started our conversation, I'm just checking something here, we started our conversation talking about Bernanke -
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Who likes him, who doesn't and whether he'll be confirmed again. Look whose tweet we just intercepted. Look who's tweeting. It's Senator John McCain. He's letting us know, Jessica, you and me, that he plans on opposing chairman Ben Bernanke's confirmation for a New term as federal reserve chairman. And with that caveat, I say adieu to you, Jessica.
YELLIN: And you.
SANCHEZ: All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
The person I was with beeped the horn at him. He looked up at us. He didn't have no emotion in his face. He didn't have no scared look in his eyes. It was like blank.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is incredible. They drove by and thought it was just a couple having sex out in the open. Turns out it was a lot worse. It was rape. Coming up, we'll talk to the eyewitnesses who honked their horns while this was happening. It's the story in Ohio.
Also, we have our eyes peeled. Who made THE LIST for most intriguing person of the day. I have a hint for you. She is number one with the New York Times. Hmm. We'll tell you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Maria in New York City is watching and she thinks the most interesting person of the day given the hints that we've give so far is Maureen Dowd. There take a look, there's Maria's tweet. She just sent it. Rick are you talking about Maureen Dowd? She's my favorite New York times person. Well she is good, but no. But no, she's not the person we are talking about. Bad guess. Well some people spend their lives in search of true love. Our first most intriguing person of the day, are you ready to play with us?
Has a had a taste of both. Kind of. Here we go. Her own divorce forced her to study relationships so she traveled the world looking for answers, making her the envy of lovelorn women all over the globe. Julia Roberts we've learned will play her when the movie version of "Eat, Pray, Love" comes out this year. She has new book is out this week "Committed." this most intriguing person of the day is Elizabeth Gilbert. She's now examining why we say "I do" in the first place and how Americans in particular have become so wildly romantic about that walk down the aisle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH GILBERT, AUTHOR: I think all of us want it all. I think women and men want it all. And I think we live in a culture where we are constantly promised that you can have it all, you can have it tomorrow, in red and six of them. You know I just think it's important to take all that desire and balance it against a pragmatic view of what a life is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Let me feed you information I learned from my executive producer, Angie Masse. Most guys don't know who Gilbert is, but their wives and girlfriends do. Hint, hint. Good name to drop during pillow talk. Hmm. Elizabeth Gilbert is one of the most intriguing persons of the day. Who else is on THE LIST? That's coming up.
It's back. The balloon boy saga. Is this just something else in the story? No. This is important. Because there may be a confession in this case after all. One that sealed the deal for cops. One that we may let you hear -- no, we will let you hear for yourself.
Can you believe that? Who dat? Who dat? What makes New Orleans different from any city who's ever had a Super Bowl team? Think about it.
Join us for the national conversation when you visit Atlanta. This is THE LIST, we're rock and rolling. This is THE LIST. Just call 877-4CNN-tour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST.
It's a sports refrain that never seems to run out juice. I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out. Yeah, I've heard it before. But how about this? How about after the game? Let's do "Fotos."
Ay jusmios, that is New York rangers coach...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you challenging me now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: No, he's not challenging you. He ends up though doing a little bit of that -- roughing up a New York post columnist, Larry Brooks, outside the team's locker room. Yep. The Rangers had just lost to the Philadelphia Flyers. That's not why the coach tried to keep the writer in check. They just flat out don't like each other, these two. Turns out they have a history of confrontations. Any teeth left? Well, it is hockey.
Who dat? New Orleans knows how to party. We know that. But do they know how to act after finding out their team is going to the super bowl? You bet you. Their Saints are marching to Miami for the NFL championship. Other teams started mini-riots after their team won. Even though this team's never gone, they know how to party -- wall to wall fans. Good news in a town that really could use it.
Also a good rehearsal for the Big Easy's next party, Mardi Gras, which starts February 16th, unless, of course, they're in Miami still.
To London now where a Holiday Inn has taken room service to an intimate new extreme. Get this -- staff members are dressing up head to toe in white fleecy outfits, kind of a cross between PJs, a snowsuit, and a Snuggie. They call themselves bed warmers. They will cuddle with you, move around some, and generate body heat.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Taking snuggling to a new level.
SANCHEZ: Yes, ma'am. What, a paid stranger will get in your bed, move around some and generate body heat? Is that legal? I know. British winters can be cold, but wouldn't it make more sense to toss in an extra blanket, Brooke? You know what I'm saying?
BALDWIN: I know what you're saying.
SANCHEZ: Of course then it wouldn't have made "Fotos del Dia."
Question time -- why would this lieutenant governor compare poor children to stray animals? It's a statement laced with both cruelty and arguable stupidity. You will hear it here.
Also, the story that's appalled a city, a rape so brazen even honking horns couldn't stop it. We'll bring you exclusive parts of the story right here next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. I'm joined by Brooke Baldwin, and we're going to take you through something that's very interesting. It's a terrible and puzzling story.
A young man, a teenager is in jail today in Toledo, Ohio. The reason he's in a jail in Toledo, Ohio, was because of an alleged sexual assault. The case is still pending in large measure, but people call it out-out rape, and he has told police, I was doing what I was doing.
But here's the punch line -- it all happened in plain view of witnesses, in broad daylight, next to a street while people were driving by, right?
BALDWIN: Right. That's the thing. It's one of those stories that certainly was on our radar, and it made me think, what would you do if you were driving by? You would hope you would stop and do something. But that's the thing. No one did anything as far as getting out of a car. Imagine, especially, ladies, you're 26, you're walking -- this woman was walking to the library, like you said, broad daylight. This guy popped out of nowhere, takes a pair of scissors to your neck, forces you to the ground, and rapes you. No one stops to help.
SANCHEZ: And this is that area, by the way -- I'm drawing a picture for folks, and we'll be able to see part of it. It's like the easement between the sidewalk and the street, right?
BALDWIN: Right. Broad daylight, again. One woman who drove by did call 9-1-1. Here is a portion of that call. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: 9-1-1.
CALLER: I think there is somebody either taking advantage or raping somebody on Royalton by Birchell, about two streets more west or something. It's a black guy is taking off the pants of a white woman and they are laying on the sidewalk.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: You say this is a black male?
CALLER: Yes. With a white girl on the ground and her legs are all exposed. He's between her legs.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: You didn't see any weapons, did you?
CALLER: No, I didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So we should point out, you know, yes, we reached out to that woman to try to have her on. She was so emotional she broke down on the phone. She relives it every day. It happens next week. She has nightmares.
SANCHEZ: And it was hard to make the call. I understand --
BALDWIN: They're not quite sure if it was consensual or not.
SANCHEZ: Exactly. It's easy to blame people. Why didn't you immediately go over there? Sometimes you're so uncomfortable with things you see, you're not quite sure what to make of it.
BALDWIN: What's going on? Is she consenting or not? The bottom line, there were a number of people who passed by in cars. They were honking at the suspect, 15 years old. He did not stop violating this woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. SAM HARRIS, TOLEDO, OHIO POLICE: People had seen you and you knew you were interrupted and why did you continue? And the only explanation he could say is that I wanted to finish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: "I wanted to finish." Now, that suspect was caught just hours later. Here he is pixilated. He's a juvenile. Police claim he hid confess to not only raping this woman, who was a total stranger, but also to stealing her cell phone afterwards. Why did he do it? Apparently, he told police he saw the woman walking alone, made up his mind he wanted to have sex with her.
He did sit in juvenile court with his mom by his side where he was arraigned on charges of rape and robbery. He has no criminal record. Prosecutors will try him as an adult, which means a much heftier sentence if he's convicted.
SANCHEZ: There is absolutely no evidence that you have seen that would lead us to believe that his defense might be that she consented in any way, correct?
BALDWIN: Not that I have seen.
SANCHEZ: It was as described by police at this point, and what seems to sound to us -- not a legal definition, but certainly a common sense definition -- of an admission he's given about this.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. And people just passed by.
SANCHEZ: What do we know about the woman?
BALDWIN: We know that was she was 26. Apparently there are reports from others that she lived in a home, she suffered from bipolar disorder and also Asperger syndrome on the spectrum of autism, which makes it worse.
SANCHEZ: That's makes her probably more of a victim in this case than what we originally even thought of.
BALDWIN: It's tough for any woman. It's just tough for anyone.
SANCHEZ: Let's do this -- hang out here, if you can. We're going to do some more on this story. I think it's important.
In just a moment, if you stick with us, I will talk live to one of the women that you heard moments ago, one of the women that actually witnessed the sex crime as it was happening. What did she see? What did she do?
She's going to take us through her story -- a difficult story, we understand, and we consider her courage for coming on and wanting to share this. But stay there and we'll get through this in just a little bit. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Let me go back to the story that we were sharing with you just moments ago that has so many people in Toledo, Ohio appalled. I want to show you the crime scene. This is where it happened. See it right there? Broad daylight. You don't see a lot of cover. It's not like there are bushes somebody can hide behind, as it was described by police. It's out in the open. If someone is on that sidewalk doing something and motorists are driving by, they will see it. It's a busy cross street in Toledo.
The alleged rape of a woman by a 15-year-old boy occurred there in broad daylight, cars going by. The victim says she was screaming. How could it happen? Cars honked and said, stop. According to one description police gave us, the suspect looked up and then continued.
Joining me now from Toledo is Ashlee McCoy. She knows this neighborhood. In fact, she grew up in the neighborhood. She was driving by that day as well, and she is one of the people who saw this happen. Also joining us is Brooke Baldwin who has been drilling down on this story as well.
And before we even start the interview, we also should say we have tried to contact the other side. We called the attorneys.
BALDWIN: We reached out to the defense attorneys, as well.
SANCHEZ: No comment so far.
BALDWIN: No comment so far.
SANCHEZ: All right, let's start with you, if we can, Ashlee. What time was it? What did you see? Describe for our viewers what you saw that day.
ASHLEE MCCOY, WITNESS: It was 2:30 in the afternoon. I was driving down the street with my kids and my babysitter. And, you know, he had noticed something up above on the sidewalk. And I looked and we were like, wow, that's crazy.
SANCHEZ: Can you see a monitor right now?
MCCOY: No.
SANCHEZ: All right, I'll describe it for you. We are looking at a corner intersection. There seems to be a fire hydrant there on the right.
MCCOY: OK.
SANCHEZ: And there is a street. And it looks like the street goes straight, but there is a left turn. Can you tell our viewers where this incident was happening so we get a better idea?
MCCOY: It was right before a corner.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MCCOY: On the left-hand side.
SANCHEZ: Right. MCCOY: On the side of somebody's house, on the sidewalk.
SANCHEZ: So we are looking basically then as you describe it, I think the picture we're looking reflects the area we are talking about. It's not like it was behind a bush. It wasn't behind, you know, a placard or -- it was literally out in the open.
MCCOY: Yes. Yes.
We weren't sure on what was happening. We just seen two people having sex, and that's what it looked like. We didn't see no signs of struggle or a cry for help or anything.
I had laid on my horn because we thought it was two teenagers. So I laid on my horn to tell them, you know, get up, that's not right.
Well, we had a drove off and the person that I was with -- he said that, you know, that's just weird. That doesn't seem right. So he had went back to the scene, and that's when the police and the fire trucks and all that was there.
SANCHEZ: Wait. The person who was riding in your car with you after driving by...
MCCOY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: So when you first drive by your impression was, this is weird, but maybe it's just two people having sex. Let me just go on.
MCCOY: Oh, we thought for --
SANCHEZ: Later on -- go ahead.
MCCOY: I said, we thought for sure that it was just two people having sex. There was no other -- you know, anything that indicated that anything else but them having sex.
SANCHEZ: So interestingly enough, other motorists went by and reported to police as in the sound we shared with viewers moments ago that, to them, it was a rape. Obviously that could be because they saw something you didn't see when you went by, right? You didn't all go out at the same time. I get that.
MCCOY: Right. Right.
SANCHEZ: I get that.
Has there been a lot of criticism in town? Have you felt like, my god, maybe I should have been more on top of this? I should have been more aware?
MCCOY: Well, yes, there's been a lot of criticism. But I had my kids in my car, so even if I did see something that showed she was being raped, I probably would have just called 9-1-1 because I had my babies in my car.
SANCHEZ: That makes sense.
BALDWIN: Ashlee, let me ask you this, and I don't know if it was perhaps female intuition eventually that you thought, you know, this probably wasn't consensual sex. Something wasn't right.
Do you think -- because I feel like there have been a lot of stories the news lately where we wonder after the fact, why didn't someone speak up? Is there something you and perhaps all of us can glean from this kind of incident?
MCCOY: I didn't think anything of it. I just thought it was consensual sex. There was no signs of her being raped as far as any struggle or a cry for help.
SANCHEZ: What about now?
MCCOY: I laid on my horn.
BALDWIN: Now...
MCCOY: Now?
BALDWIN: Now do you wish you had stopped?
MCCOY: Yes. I mean, of course. But I -- like I said, there is nothing else I could have done besides call 9-1-1 because I had my kids in my car.
SANCHEZ: One more thing -- I have to ask you one more thing, because I heard you say "I laid on my horn," which doesn't sound like a quick beep, toot-toot thing. You laid on your horn.
MCCOY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: So it was a loud sound?
MCCOY: Yes. And basically it was just like telling them to get up and move because that wasn't right, because I thought they were just young teenagers having sex on the sidewalk.
SANCHEZ: Right. But my question is when you laid on your horn, that act was taking place, what was his reaction? What happened?
MCCOY: His reaction was he just looked up and he just continued doing what he was doing.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
MCCOY: She just -- it was nothing different.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting.
MCCOY: He didn't look scared or...
SANCHEZ: I heard the police officer say something like that as well. Ashlee, thank you very much for joining us, we appreciate it.
MCCOY: OK. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right, thanks.
I'm going to talk to the police about this now. What do they always tell us? Don't endanger yourself. Always just call 9-1-1. That's what we hear. Sergeant Sam Harris is going to join me. He has 30-plus years with the Toledo police department and he's one of the guys in fact investigating the crime. He joins us next.
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SEN. TOM COBURN, (R) OKLAHOMA: Where is the number one priority where we ought to be spending money that creates jobs? Where is number two, where is number three, where is number four? We didn't do that. We took a tennis racket and shot it out of the park and said, here's all this money.
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SANCHEZ: So is your tax money being lobbed around like a tennis ball on wasteful projects? That's the GOP's claim. We will fact- check their numbers and show you who is getting money so you can judge for yourself. We will scroll on.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Rick. I would like to see Barack Obama pull all these big corporations in, their CEOs, and ask them why they're not hiring, why they're not creating jobs to keep the people going in this society.
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SANCHEZ: That's what we're doing. It's our commitment this week. President Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan was supposed to be part of his solution to an economy on the brink of depression.
How's it working for you so far? All this week CNN will be digging deeper into this stimulus project. Republicans are digging deeper, too. Last month two senators challenged the stimulus plan, unveiling a list of 100 questionable projects. CNN's Kate Bolduan look into their claims, and found their report didn't tell the whole story.
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LT. BOB DAY, BAINBRIDGE ISLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT: There's a lot of different movements going on.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Patrolling the waterways of picturesque Bainbridge Island, Washington, ready to respond to everything from search and rescue missions to a terrorist attacks, a job Bainbridge Island police say is getting a little easier thanks to $190,000 in stimulus funds for their boat.
DAY: There's some technology that we'll be getting with this grant that is going to be able to help us better protect the port and to share information with port security partners.
BOLDUAN: But wait, this grant is one of top ten that Republican senators John McCain and Tom Coburn list as silly and short-sighted, stimulus finding they argue is being wasted or mismanaged.
COBURN: The point is priorities. Where is the number one priority where we ought to be spending money that creates jobs? Where's number two? Where's number three, where's number four. We didn't do that. We took a tennis racket and shot it out of the park and said, here's all this money.
BOLDUAN: But we took a closer look at the senators top ten examples of so-called waste. We found nine of the ten did not tell the whole story and in some cases were inaccurate.
For example, Senators McCain and Coburn called the upgrade to this boat unnecessary in a small town they call a "tranquil hamlet." But more than 6 million passengers travel each year on the ferry between Bainbridge Island and Seattle. City officials say the ferry system is a high-risk security target, and the stimulus money a valid investment.
The department of homeland security agrees.
DAY: Unless Senators Coburn and McCain think that homeland defense and port security is something that really isn't important and it isn't a priority, I would take exception with their estimate on that.
BOLDUAN: Senator Coburn also argues the Bainbridge project did not create any jobs. He's right, but Lieutenant Day says it will help American companies.
DAY: The vendors we're working with, it's keeping their people employed.
BOLDUAN: That's not the only stimulus project targeted in the McCain-Coburn report.
BOLDUAN (on camera): This is number one on THE LIST, Oakridge City Center in eastern Tennessee, a $5 million grant for a geothermal heating and cooling system in what would eventually be an open-air shopping center.
What are we in?
DAVE THRASH, CORE PROPERTIES: We are in between two of our anchors right now. This is sears down the corridor there.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): The McCain-Coburn record ridiculed the project, calling it an experiment in an almost empty maul. But Dave Thrash says his mall will be anything but empty, adding he already has three department stores in place.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Basically they're saying this project is a waste.
THRASH: We're not going to heat an empty mall. We're redeveloping the property into a modern open-air center, and the goal is to deploy this technology into the commercial space.
BOLDUAN: But looking far out when you're looking at the energy efficiency, what's the goal? What's the draw for tenants?
THRASH: That lowers the tenants' operating costs. If I flatten that out, they'll make the same profit at a lower sales level.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): The department of energy also stands by the Oakridge project, saying it is directly in line with the administration's stimulus priorities.
MATT ROGERS, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: Jobs, cost, and innovation. What made us excited were the ability to create more than 200 jobs for just the construction of this project. And then the particular technology that they're using here is an innovative approach to ground source heat pumps that actually makes the capital costs lower.
BOLDUAN (on camera): So hearing from the people that have received these funds, their defense does not satisfy you?
COBURN: We're saying these are poor choices in terms of if you really want to stimulate the economy and you really want to create jobs and you really want to get something of value when you're finished.
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BOLDUAN: Now, we also checked with Senator John McCain's office, and they stand by this report as well, a McCain spokeswoman telling me the question of this report was are these projects creating jobs? And this report she says highlights that some projects are not doing that, Rick.
And with billions of stimulus dollars heading to go communities nationwide, it really seems one person's worthy stimulus project may be another's glaring example of government waste here.
SANCHEZ: Kate Bolduan with a thorough report. We thank you for that, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Thanks, Rick.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to talk with her until you -- because she's being interviewed.
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SANCHEZ: All right, look at him go. You remember him? Wow, how can we forget him? That is Richard Heene. He said he doesn't make it up, then he said he did, and then he said he didn't. Now we're going to get our first look at some very revealing police tapes that are out. Can't wait to share them with you.
Also, a little guy with a big temper. He's on our list. We'll tell you who he is. And yes, I'm checking the twitter list and a lot of you are getting that one right. Stay with us, THE LIST continues.
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