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Rick's List
Ohio Police Reaction to Daylight Rape Case; Did Stimulus Work?; John McCain Speaks Out on Campaign Finance Ruling
Aired January 25, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Dow seems to be closing up for a change.
Welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST.
I love this story. You go to a museum and tell your kids to be careful, kids, hands to yourself, look but don't touch. And the signs of course are everywhere, but you still have to tell them. That's what being is dad is all about.
Well, there's a woman visiting New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art this weekend who wasn't careful enough, and that's what makes her number three on our list of "The List You Don't Want To Be On."
Here we go. I don't have a picture of her, nor do I have her name. So you'll just have to settle for this lovely painting. It's called "The Actor" a rare work by the master himself, Pablo Picasso.
By some estimates, it's worth more than $130 million. An art class student who was not a child lost her balance Saturday and fell right into the canvas. Hey, lady, that thing is over 100 years old.
Well, the painting now has a 6-inch rip in it. Picasso finished the painting in 1905. And, in 2010, some lady let her rip.
Number two on our "List You Don't Want To Be On," a real actor, the diminutive Gary Coleman makes the list after being arrested yesterday in Utah. The charge? Misdemeanor domestic violence. It's not Coleman's first rodeo. 2009, he's arrested for disorderly conduct. 2008, he's in divorce court with his wife.
2007, he arrested -- he's arrested for disorderly conduct for a fight with his wife. 1998, he's charged with punching a woman while working as a security guard. And, before that, he sued his parents. There you have it, Gary Coleman, number two on our "List You Don't Want To Be On."
Who's number one? That's coming up at the end of next hour.
Stunning alleged rape case in Toledo that we have been telling you about happened in a busy street right in broad daylight. No one tried to stop it, the alleged perpetrator, a high school freshman. I want you to hear what the police officers are saying about this accused.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SGT. SAM HARRIS, TOLEDO, OHIO, POLICE DEPARTMENT: If someone's brazen enough at age 15 to grab an unknown female off the street in the middle of the day, I think the chances of his actions continuing are very likely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That was sergeant Sam Harris of the Toledo Police Department, 33 years on the force. He is my next guest. We're going to talk about the kid in a moment, this high school freshman.
First, though, let me ask you this, if we could, Officer. What is a citizen's duty in a case like this? Broad daylight, crowded street, if I were to see something like this, or here -- better yet -- suppose my wife were driving down the street and she was to see this, how would you want her -- how would you want her to respond?
HARRIS: Just exactly as the caller whose 911 tape you played. Call the police immediately. Supply them with as much and complete information as they can, and then let the police respond from that point on.
SANCHEZ: At what point, Sergeant, would you want someone who feels capable of going in there and trying to either break it up or save this young lady?
HARRIS: Well, we don't encourage people to become involved in a physical nature on their own, due to the risks they may entail on their own. In this case...
SANCHEZ: Ever? Ever?
HARRIS: Well, you know, it's a personal decision. I would like to think that, if a young, virile male was to, you know, be able to stop the assault, they would, but, in this case, the suspect was armed with a pair of scissors, which he had already threatened the female with, his victim.
And if he was brazen enough to threaten and rape a female on a city street in broad daylight, who's to say what he might have done had someone tried to intervene?
SANCHEZ: We have been talking about this story all day, Sergeant, and I'm just wondering, are we blowing it out of proportion, or maybe the media reports, they are blowing it out of proportion, or is this as bizarre as it seems to read?
HARRIS: Well, I'm not sure it's being blown out of proportion. I think it's quite bizarre. It's rather unusual. I mean, it's a rape of a stranger in broad daylight on a city street right at the curbside.
The suspect and victim were unknown to each other. It was just a pure random act, that she happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it's an unusual occurrence. SANCHEZ: Well, how -- yes, unusual, indeed, because I'm flabbergasted by the idea that, in the middle of day, he would have that need, somehow to try and quench that need, and not care about the fact that there were people driving and perhaps walking by.
He -- it was on a sidewalk, right?
HARRIS: Sidewalk within 20 or 30 feet from an intersection, and probably eight or 10 feet from the -- the road itself. And it's a fairly well-traveled working-class residential neighborhood.
SANCHEZ: Is it true that, when several people honked their horns, he literally would stop, look up, and then continue?
HARRIS: Yes.
When the detectives, Detective Kilburn (ph) and Detective Ryder (ph) interviewed the suspect, they asked him about that. They said, did you in fact not hear someone beeping a horn in an attempt to interrupt your act? And he said, yes, he did, that he actually stopped and looked at the people in the car. We asked him why he continued after knowing he was seen. And his only response was that he wanted to finish the act.
SANCHEZ: Two quick questions. Who is -- who is this kid in terms -- and I -- you don't have to describe him to us. I know that we are going to honor the fact that he is a juvenile.
But when I say who is he, describe him for us. What kind of kid is he? Is there something wrong with him to have him do something like this? And, also, we have reached out to his lawyers, but we haven't heard back. What are you hearing from the other side? What's their defense, for example, if you know?
HARRIS: I don't know what the defense will be, and he's had very limited contact with the court and juvenile justice system. He's been involved in two reports, but never been arrested for any offense prior to this.
SANCHEZ: Is he OK? When you heard him speak, did he seem like he was all right, or angry, or maybe...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: His demeanor...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Go ahead,.
HARRIS: His demeanor was fine. He seemed calm, rather matter-of-fact about everything. In fact, when Detective Kilburn asked if he knew why he was there, his first comment was, well, probably because of me putting the scissors to that girl's neck, raping her and stealing her cell phone.
SANCHEZ: Are you kidding? Those...
HARRIS: That was the original -- that was the original comments out of his mouth.
SANCHEZ: He said that?
HARRIS: Yes, sir, he did.
SANCHEZ: Matter-of-fact isn't the least of it, Sergeant.
Sergeant Sam Harris, thank you, sir, for taking the time to take us through this.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: You're welcome.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's on the LIST.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because the kids were out of school (INAUDIBLE)
SANCHEZ: Mrs. Heene cops to making the whole thing up on camera, sending Mr. Heene into a rage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to talk with her until she's done being interviewed.
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARD HEENE, FATHER OF FALCON HEENE: I want to talk to her right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not -- you're not going to talk (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
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. You think?
And these Supremes swing the door wide open for campaign money, but there's a CEO backlash. They say, stop asking us for money.
The lists you need to know about. Who is 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
In Montreal today, Canada is hosting the reconstruction conference. This is important. Foreign ministers are discussing Haiti's long-term future. Nearly 2,000 miles away, the Canadian military is leading the aid effort in the Haitian town of Jacmel, which was extremely damaged by the earthquake.
You heard of Jacmel. We have told you about Jacmel during these newscasts last week. You see, cities like this are important in Haiti, because, once all of the aid, the organizations pull out, and the media spotlight dims, then what happens?
How does a city like Jacmel, which is a great place to visit, how does it go forward and become self-sufficient once again? Maybe with tourist dollars from people like you and me.
Here is a different way of looking at this from CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Jacmel's tiny airport -- just a landing strip, really -- is suddenly the logistical hub for the international airlift to southern Haiti. The Canadian air force has been running it since last week, bringing in French rescue helicopters, supplies from the U.S. Navy, and even squeezing in the old Hercules workhouse, bouncing to a hard halt on the short runway.
MAJOR KEVIN SKIRROW, CANADIAN AIR FORCE: We have 330 feet for them to come in, but all of our air crew pilots are very highly trained.
AMANPOUR: Major Kevin Skirrow's in charge here. Their best day saw in 80 flights.
(on-screen): How difficult is it, getting big aircraft like this behind you in?
SKIRROW: How difficult?
AMANPOUR: Yeah.
SKIRROW: We were -- we were able to clear out some trees. We had some permission from the local authorities to clear the approach path.
AMANPOUR (voice-over): Once down, water, food, medical supplies are off-loaded, yes, and even checked by a Haitian customs official, and then aided by Haitian boy scouts, put on trucks, and driven here to the house of American evangelical group Joy in Hope.
Michael Regal (ph) explains they're trying to speed these basic supplies to the people: military rations, MREs from the U.S. Navy, and water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got about 5,000 gallons of drinkable, potable water right now. And we've emptied this room twice. AMANPOUR: Nearby, trucks from the U.N.'s World Food Program deliver rations to a tent city that sprung up in Jacmel's soccer stadium. Women wait with their babies for high protein powder.
While back at the jetty, the Canadian army has set up a small emergency medical clinic in the shadow of destroyed buildings. Now they have seen the scale of the disaster here, they're already ramping up their presence.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL BRUCE EWING, COMMANDER, CANADIAN FORCES, JACMEL: So instead of about 200 personnel, we're sending in up to 2,000, with a lot of them going up to Leogane, where it was the epicenter of the -- the earthquake.
AMANPOUR: Today, a Canadian reverse osmosis water purification system is set up at the jetty, and the Canadian ship Halifax patrols Jacmel's coast. But it is this Caribbean coast and beautiful beaches that hold the most hope for the future, this unique 19th century architecture, and Jacmel's status as Haiti's cultural capital that the people and the government already hope to rebuild into a thriving tourist destination so that, in the future, it's paragliders and not army helicopters that will be flying from these beaches and pleasure yachts, not relief-laden warships, that will be docking at the jetty.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We at CNN have made a commitment to follow the Haiti story. That's why we have people there. That's also why we are going to be able to follow the story through social media, as we have when it first began, making my access your access.
Let's go to the Twitter board. These are people who are there now sending us these tweets, new information like this from the Red Cross. "A 100-bed Red Cross field hospital has arrived this weekend and has been set up at the Carrefour soccer stadium."
Another one that we got just moments ago from the Red Cross: "Responders from eight countries are treating approximately 500 people each day at medical facilities throughout the capital city."
And look at this one. This is from a blogger who's down there covering the story in Haiti. We have followed him. We think this is interesting. He says: "I just walked past U.S. Marines in a broken- down Humvee, asked if I could help. They said only if you have another Humvee. I did not."
Thanks for the comments. We will keep sharing. Our access is your access.
Here's a question. What if we hadn't had a stimulus plan? Would we be better off or back in the brink of a depression? Ali Velshi gives us his take in our next half-hour.
And, then, our most intriguing person is next. Who is this guy? He's got a big job. He's trying to live up to it. Can you say $787 billion? Just say it, $787 billion. Worth a lot.
We will be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Time to reveal a list name. Seven hundred and eighty-seven billion dollars is where we start. That's a big number, right?
It's how much of your money is being used to stimulate our economy. All this week, I am committed to letting you know if you're getting your money's worth. By the way, who is keeping tabs? Who? The answer is number two on our list of most intriguing person of the day.
He started his career as a cop in Massachusetts, spent 20 years in the Secret Service, then an inspector general at the Department of the Interior. In fact, he's the guy who investigated Jack Abramoff for his lobbying scam. He also busted EPA employees who are commingling, as in sex and drugs, with oil company reps they were supposed to be regulating.
The guy may be the Eliot Ness of our time, going after -- quote -- "untouchables." Cue the "Ghostbusters" music her. Who you going to call? Our number-two most intriguing person of the day is Earl Devaney, whose time is too long to fit on your TV screen, but has something to do with transparency and accountability.
He's making sure that your money gets to the right projects and is spent wisely. Is he good? Apparently. Are we still going to keep an eye on him? You betcha.
So, who's number one on the list so far? And who's the last one on the list? You are going to find out in just 10 minutes.
Up next, the intriguing Ali Velshi is here to answer this question. What if we didn't have a stimulus plan at all? Don't answer yet. We will have it for you.
Later, room service like you have never had before. If you check in here, you won't have cold feet. We will leave it at that.
Stay there. I will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Cindy (ph) from California.
If the president is so worried about the votes of senior citizens -- and I'm a senior citizen -- why in blazes didn't we get our -- our increase in Social Security this year? Most seniors are -- actually use this to live on, and they spend it right away. They don't -- they don't sock it away. So, that's -- I have got a lot of other stuff, but, anyway, I love your show, and, certainly, the best of luck.
(END AUDIO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
All right, let's have a discussion about the stimulus plan. No, don't change the channel. I know it sounds boring. We're going to be talking all this week about -- this is your money, folks. That's why it shouldn't be boring. It should be important to you.
And I want to clear up a couple things up about this plan. In fact, here's the guy who is going to help me do it, Ali Velshi, because he's our senior business correspondent, otherwise known as econ guru.
Ali, are you there?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You want -- you want to see a list? You want to see a list? I got nine binders...
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: ... of lists.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: This -- this has got to make a -- I have got nine binders, 56,000 entries, of every single project that has received stimulus money. And I have got a table of people here who are making phone calls to recipient of that money and finding out where the money went, how it was spent...
SANCHEZ: That's good.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: ... create jobs. That's what we're doing.
SANCHEZ: That's good.
VELSHI: We're following your money.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know what that's called? I learned this in journalism school, that, when we practice this craft, we're supposed to be watchdogs for the public.
VELSHI: Yes. Yes.
SANCHEZ: It's a good idea. I'm glad we're doing this. It shows that we're...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Yes, we're -- we're digging in.
SANCHEZ: No, and, listen, I'm all for it, but let's -- let's talk on a little broader scale, if we can right here...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Just because it's the first day. And I want people to understand what it is that we're talking about.
VELSHI: Sure.
SANCHEZ: When I heard that our government was in the toilet, economically, and that they had to do something, I thought back of everything I learned about FDR.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And I remember FDR came in and he gave a ton of people jobs...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... and he had them working everywhere. And it was stuff that we needed as a country...
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... you know, railroads, roads...
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... et cetera, et cetera.
This -- compared to that, this stimulus plan that everyone talks about is really stimulus-lite, isn't it?
VELSHI: OK. You take -- you take FDR. You take what happened after the Great Depression, and you adjust the money that was spent -- it was about a 10-year period.
SANCHEZ: Right. Right.
VELSHI: You adjust it and put it in today's terms, $500 billion.
Our stimulus is $787 billion, but there's a lot more money. It's actually over $4 trillion when you look at everything the government put into it. Yes, you're right. The portion that's gone into shovel- ready construction projects that actually directly relate to jobs is substantially smaller than the proportion back after the Great Depression.
SANCHEZ: That -- that...
VELSHI: That's absolutely true.
SANCHEZ: And I guess that's a political question. I mean, that's my -- maybe -- I have got Wolf Blitzer coming on here in just a little bit.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Maybe that's the kind of question I need to ask him. What were the politics behind this slimmed-down version, as you call it? Let me clear up another misperception. This thing wasn't the -- the end-all, or was it supposed to be the end-all to the economic problems?
VELSHI: No.
Remember, when this happened -- look, think back to a year ago. In January of last year, we lost 749,000 jobs in one month. The stock market was cratering. We were on the precipice. This was very, very hopeless. People were confused. Nobody knew what was going on.
This was a confidence move, first and foremost. It was a, we're a new government, we're coming in, we're going to shore this up. Until the consumer has the guts to get back in and start spending, we're going to replace that consumer spending.
At the time, most of the debate between economists, Rick, was whether the timing is right and the amount of money is right. Very few -- there were some -- very few people said there should be no government intervention whatsoever.
So, now, a year later, we're looking back and saying, was the timing right? Was the amount right? And was the money that it was directed to right?
SANCHEZ: Well...
VELSHI: And I don't know. It's early in the week. I don't have the answer yet.
SANCHEZ: Well, I will tell you this, and I keep harping on this, because look, I'm just a regular Joe in many ways, and it makes me mad to know that they -- there were two big plans, right?
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: There's the stimulus plan.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: That's supposed to help Americans...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... regular folks, right?
And then there's the TARP plan.
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: And that's supposed to help the big companies.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Right, which came out earlier. That was -- that was in October. SANCHEZ: Right. Right.
And it wasn't an Obama thing.
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: I know that Bush and everybody was involved, and they even go back to Clinton.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Let's leave the politics aside.
VELSHI: Yes. Yes.
SANCHEZ: So, we're trying to help the folks, the CEOs on Wall Street. That's TARP. We're trying to help the American people. That's the stimulus plan, two completely different plans.
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: I got it.
Why is it that TARP is already bearing fruit, in that some of your buddies on Wall Street are...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... already cashing in their bonuses, while we're still not seeing stimulus bear fruit on the other side?
VELSHI: Two reasons. TARP was...
SANCHEZ: And maybe we are, and I don't know.
VELSHI: Yes. Well, look, maybe we are, and that's what we're checking out. In fact, some of the projects we're looking into are bearing fruit.
The issue is, TARP was earlier, so timing. We're seeing -- we had a head-start on that. That was October. Stimulus was February. Number two, it was fairly direct. It went straight to banks. It -- it solved a problem that we were -- two different problems. TARP solved the problem of an international credit freeze. No one would lend anybody any money.
Stimulus is largely about jobs, or at least that's what this administration has told us. So, that's the measure we're using against that. So, if you're the average Joe, as you called yourself, and you're sitting here saying, huh, we spent $787 billion a year ago, and I'm not -- I'm seeing the unemployment rate still above 10 percent, I'm seeing a lot of jobs being lost, although fewer jobs are being lost, the measure says it may not have been as successful.
We needed to unfreeze credit. We used TARP for that. And that's where you saw the result. SANCHEZ: Well, and...
VELSHI: So, part of the question is, what are we measuring TARP -- stimulus by? How do we measure whether or not it was successful? Again, something we're going to try and figure out this week.
SANCHEZ: All right. And -- and I trust we are going to take an objective look at this.
VELSHI: We are.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: There's a lot of questions. There's a lot of yin and yangs in this thing.
VELSHI: There is. And there...
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: ... are a lot of good projects, and there's a lot of projects that we -- we have questions about. But the reality is, when you have $787 billion, you're going to get. You're going to get some really good, and you're going to some, really, we paid money for that?
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, it's -- I think it was Walter Cronkite who said, as Americans, it's our responsibility -- not our right, our responsibility -- to be informed.
VELSHI: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Here's an opportunity...
VELSHI: And that's what we're doing.
SANCHEZ: Here's an opportunity to know where the hell your money is going, folks.
VELSHI: And I'm not kidding you, Rick. These people are here, and they're digging through these books, and we are making phone calls specifically to these projects, asking who got the money, calling government.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: So, we're doing the hard work.
SANCHEZ: Be careful. See that guy right there, Steve Brusk (ph)?
VELSHI: Steve Brusk (ph) right here.
SANCHEZ: Keep an eye on him. Keep an eye on that guy.
VELSHI: I'm watching him very closely. SANCHEZ: I don't know. Make sure.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You could lose your dishes and your silverware soon.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Ali.
VELSHI: We will lock up the fine china. Talk to you later, Rick.
SANCHEZ: We appreciate it.
VELSHI: All right.
SANCHEZ: Speaking of stimulus, Atlanta's new mayor, Kasim Reed, he is fired up. He's one of the guys who has got some of this money coming in. What is he doing with it? Two hundred mayors or so back from Washington who told the president his stimulus plan is not enough, it's not working, at least not for the -- for the municipalities, not enough for the cities. He's going to join me here tomorrow and take us through that explanation.
Also, tweets coming in as we speak. As a matter of fact, here's something that we just got a little while ago.
Let's go to our board. Remember, I like to take the information, collate it, and then share it with you. That's why I keep saying my access is your access. You have got to love Ali Velshi, don't you?
New CNN poll, nearly three-quarters of Americans say at least half the money spent on the stimulus plan was wasted. Again, that's what three-quarters of Americans are saying.
Let's take a break. We will come back in just a little bit. We will save that Dean Heller one for just a little bit.
Meanwhile, here's what else we're following for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to talk with her until she's done being interviewed.
(CROSSTALK)
HEENE: I want to talk to her right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: No, I'm going to talk to her right now. That's Richard Heene, admitted that he led police on a wild goose chase, at one point, told our Larry King, no, I didn't.
Well, we're going to reexamine the tape, the actual tape. You're going to hear police debriefing him when they took him and his wife and separated them. Separating the two is what made it happen, by the way. You will hear his wife's actual statement.
Also, so much for do not disturb. A hotel says it's going to go to great lengths to try to keep you warm at night, but is this kind of service legal?
And John McCain has a word or two for the Supreme Court justices who overturned his campaign finance laws. Good for him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
This is a sports refrain that never seems to run out of juice. I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out. Ha ha. But how about after the game?
Let's do "Fotos," bro.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN TORTORELLA, NEW YORK RANGERS COACH: I'm not answering any of your questions.
Have you ever fought before?
LARRY BROOKS, "NEW YORK POST": Yes.
TORTORELLA: You have?
BROOKS: Why? Are you challenging me now?
TORTORELLA: No, no. I'm not challenging you. You were probably beat up at the bus stop most of the time.
BROOKS: Think so, huh?
TORTORELLA: Next.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were a great representative of the city.
TORTORELLA: Can you let these other people -- just go stand somewhere else, would you please?
BROOKS: No, I won't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Oh, man. Talk about nasty. That's New York Rangers' coach John Tortorella roughing up a "New York Post" columnist, Larry Brooks, outside the team's locker room. Yes, the Rangers had just lost to the Philly Flyers, but that's not why the coach tried to keep the writer in check. They just flat-out hate each other. OK?
It turns out these two have a history of confrontations. Any teeth left?
It's hockey, after all.
New Orleans knows how to party. We know dat.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that you?
SANCHEZ: Who dat? You know what a "Who dat?" is? There's a saying that used to go, "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat saying they're gonna beat them Saints?"
That's where the whole thing came from, just in case.
BALDWIN: Thanks for clarifying.
SANCHEZ: You're welcome.
Do you know how to act after finding out their team goes to the Super Bowl? You bet you these guys do. They know how to party without being violent, without burning anything.
Their Saints are marching into Miami for the NFL championship. Wall- to-wall fans, it's good news in a town that really could use it. Also a good rehearsal for the Big Easy's next party, Mardi Gras. It starts February 16th, unless of course they win in Miami.
To London we go, where a Holiday Inn has taken room service to a snugly new extreme.
You're going to love this story, Brooke. Get this -- you ready?
BALDWIN: Read.
SANCHEZ: Staff members are dressing up head to toe in white fleecy outfits, kind of a cross between PJs, a snowsuit and a Snuggie.
BALDWIN: Get out of here.
SANCHEZ: No, it's true. They wall themselves bed warmers. They will cuddle with you, so go into your bed at night, move around some, and generate body heat.
BALDWIN: Body heat. Uh-oh.
SANCHEZ: Wait. A paid stranger is going to get into your bed and move around some and then generate body heat? Yes. Not with my wife, buddy. Is that legal? I notice British winters can be cold, but wouldn't it just make more sense to toss an extra couple of blankets out? Of course.
BALDWIN: That's some serious snuggle action.
SANCHEZ: If they went that way and just did the blanket thing...
BALDWIN: It would be OK?
SANCHEZ: It wouldn't be "Fotos."
And what a story this is. That is a rare piece of work by Pablo Picasso. But guess what? It was all but destroyed.
Can you imagine falling right into something like that? A mangled masterpiece earning someone a spot on "The List That U Don't Want 2 Be On?"
Who's on top? That's ahead.
Mrs. Heene as well. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYUMI HEENE, MOTHER OF "BALLOON BOY": (INAUDIBLE) that was perfect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Because the kids were out of school, you thought that would be a good day to run this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: She admits to it -- cops to it. Ms. Heene makes some bold admissions to the police. And then Mr. Heene goes into a rage. "Let me talk to my wife. Let me talk to my wife." That's what he says.
We'll show you and we'll let you hear those police tapes.
And then Brooke joins me in just a little bit. We'll be doing that story.
Stay right there. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I do this at home with my kids, I'm sure you do it with your kids as well. It works perfectly well, so you will relate.
Your kids kind of screw up, they break something, or they get into some kind of mischief, like all kids do. You need an explanation. So what do you do? You separate them, and then you compare their stories, and then it's pretty easy who might be telling the truth and who might be fibbing.
Every mom and dad is a detective that way. Right? All right.
Let me bring Brooke into this conversation now.
How are you, Madame?
BALDWIN: Hi. I am doing well. You're a tough dad, aren't you?
SANCHEZ: Well, no. Ask my wife. "You let them get away with murder," she says.
So, in the case of the "Balloon Boy" saga...
BALDWIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... you have Mr. Heene and Mrs. Heene. They go to the police department that day. And finally they want to get the story straight, so they separate them.
She tells one story, he tells another?
BALDWIN: That is correct. And we have the video to show it. It's fun. We got some video on this today.
So, basically, this is the first time we're seeing this. And it's a story -- I'm sorry, but we all kind of love to hate this one, so we're going to go there.
Remember, the story was last October. Basically, despite the fact that Richard Heene has come forward, he has claimed that his balloon stunt involving, do you remember, his 6-year-old son Falcon, not a hoax? His wife Mayumi, we now know, confessed just a couple days afterwards to the family basically staging this whole thing.
SANCHEZ: Faking it.
BALDWIN: And today, we can see the interview for ourselves. Watch this. It is Mayumi Heene hooked up to a lie detector test.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there a reason you chose that day or that specific time to launch this thing?
HEENE: He wanted to make it a Monday, and he chose our anniversary, but we didn't get it finished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So if you didn't hear it, they wanted to initially have it on their anniversary, it didn't happen. It ended up happening on a day that fit well with them because the kids were home. That is what she told the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
After she voluntary took this polygraph, lie detector, test, and she failed it. And she reportedly admitted to going along with the stunt because the family needed money and they thought that the solution, Rick, would be fame on a reality TV.
Now, as for her husband, who we all know, Richard Heene, he has since said he believed his son Falcon was in the balloon. Remember that big mylar thing? And that he pled guilty only to appease authorities and to save his wife from being deported to Japan.
Here is Richard Heene, same sheriff's office, different perspective. He maintains his innocence, mentions something about somebody trying to blackmail him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's here of her own free will and accord. Now, there you go. Are we going to have a problem?
RICHARD HEENE, DAD OF "BALLOON BOY": Gosh, I wish I could tell you guys something else.
(CROSSTALK)
R. HEENE: You can't -- no, no. This is a choice you're making.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You only have two choices.
R. HEENE: I need to ask her about something (EXPLETIVE DELETED) -- who is blackmailing me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Then you can ask.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to go talk with her now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to go to talk with her until she's done being interviewed.
R. HEENE: I want to talk to her right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not going to talk -- listen, you are not going to talk.
R. HEENE: Please?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can leave the building. If you want to leave this building, young man...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Young man?
BALDWIN: So he's trying to go talk to his wife, and they're say, uh- huh, you need to sit right there and we need to chat with you.
So, there are reports that Heene complained about having low blood sugar level during his questioning. He hung his head over the chair, kind of faked sleep at one point. He is in the midst of serving this 30-day jail sentence for lying to authorities after the incident last October. His wife, by the way, will be serving 20 days in jail after he is released.
SANCHEZ: Now, I'm curious, though, because the sound bite that we used there of her, she didn't cop to it. I didn't hear her cop to it.
BALDWIN: She eventually does. She failed the lie detector test, she talks about the particular day, why they wanted to do it.
SANCHEZ: And police -- but police have her on tape saying we made the whole thing up, it was a fake?
BALDWIN: Right, saying -- yes. And here is why we did it, because we wanted that fame on reality TV, we needed money. So, yes.
SANCHEZ: OK. And when he started complaining, "I want to talk to my wife," that's why, because he was afraid that she was going to give up the plan?
BALDWIN: They said she confessed.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: They said, we've talked to your wife, she's confessed, what would you like to say?
SANCHEZ: That's when he went ballistic.
BALDWIN: That's when he went a little nutso, I guess.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes. Yes. Nutso, is that a legal term?
BALDWIN: It is now.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Brooke, we thank you.
BALDWIN: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: By the way, before we go, I want to introduce you to some people. All right?
BALDWIN: Oh, yes.
SANCHEZ: Well, we've got John McCain.
Can you come out of John McCain? Come out of John McCain.
We've got some folks visiting in the studio here.
BALDWIN: Hello.
SANCHEZ: Guys, you can wave, say "Hi." Thank you for visiting the studio. They're some of the first to arrive. This is part of our tour.
BALDWIN: Love it.
SANCHEZ: They're going to join us.
Also, coming up now, John McCain. The maverick who made campaign reform his mission is now watching it unravel. John McCain takes on the Supreme Court, and we're going to get reaction from Wolf Blitzer.
Also, drum roll, please. Our number one "Most Intriguing Person." Hint -- in an odd way, he has done a lot for politics. What we've done for news broadcasts.
Hmm, can you guess? That could have something to do with social media. What do you think? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
You know, behind every good man there's a good political handler. You thought I was going to say a good woman. Right? Well, not in politics these days.
Those guys need a guru. And today's "Most Intriguing Person of the Day" is just that.
This is the guy who, in large measure, put President Barack Obama in the White House, and he's the mind behind the use of social media and politics and, in many ways, a model that we use for this show. And guess what? He's back.
After leaving Mr. Obama after the campaign, he's headed back to the White House. Is it a sign the president needs some help? Possibly.
Today's "Most Intriguing Person of the Day" is David Plouffe. He's written a book, done the rounds, and now he's going to try and help the president and the Dems get back on what they may have lost last week in Massachusetts.
Look what we found. This is from two months ago, when we asked him about the president's challenges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PLOUFFE, FMR. CHIEF CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR BARACK OBAMA: We obviously have an economy that is facing unparalleled problems. And he's done a remarkable job to get us back to growth. But we have too many people who can't find work. He's focused on that energy day. But energy and health care, if we don't fix these two things, we're going to struggle for the decades to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: David Plouffe is today's "Most Intriguing Person of the Day."
Here's John McCain, a maverick when it came to campaign financial reform. So you can imagine what he thinks about this new Supreme Court ruling that opens the floodgates with corporate money.
I'm going to talk to Wolf Blitzer in just a little bit about that, because McCain came out real strong against these five who voted against his plan.
Also ahead, the person who mangled a masterpiece, and a child star turned angry man. Who tops our "List That U Don't Want 2 Be On?"
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Wolf Blitzer, you know him. He anchors "THE SITUATION ROOM," and he joins me every day about this time, where he and I have a chance to have a conversation about the politics of our time.
And we're still talking about that Supreme Court decision allowing more corporate and more union money to flood future campaigns, has really ticked off one of the architects of the campaign reform. I'm laughing because I was just hearing somebody else in my ear. And you were probably hearing him too.
All right, Wolf. How are you? Good?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm good. I hear you fine, but I did hear somebody else just talking to us. I don't know who that was.
SANCHEZ: That was wonderful. It was either your wife or my wife.
BLITZER: Yes, somebody.
SANCHEZ: I don't know. Something we did again.
Listen, I want you to take a listen to something.
This is Senator John McCain, and he doesn't sound happy. He sounds, in fact, like somebody is messing with his baby, somebody is messing with something that was really important to him. This is him talking about the decision last week by the Supreme Court in essentially doing away, in large measure, with the McCain/Feingold Campaign Finance Act.
Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think that diminishes the influence of average citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's interesting. He says that when the Supreme Court made that decision, they are diminishing the power of people like you and me.
Now, John McCain is a Republican, but what do you make of him making that statement?
BLITZER: He may be a Republican, but he's been in the forefront in campaign finance reform for many, many years, even working with one of the more liberal Democrats, Russ Feingold, as you know, to get campaign finance reform enacted, passed. And now this Supreme Court decision basically eviscerates that entire law that would restrict how big corporations and unions can fundraise for campaigns, specifically for campaigns.
So it does set back what he's been trying to do for a long time. He's upset about it.
SANCHEZ: And he should know. He's a politician. He's out is there.
He has to go out and -- I mean, these guys, like you and I discussed last Thursday, I believe, the onus is on them to campaign -- to get this campaign finance money, to go out there and ask for it. Many of them tell you and me, I wish I didn't have to do this.
Listen to what McCain says the five guys who ruled on the Supreme Court decision, the folks on the Supreme Court, why they made this decision. This is interesting.
Let's roll that, Roger (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I think that it was interesting that they have had no experience in the political arena.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: They've had no experience in the political arena. They don't know it from that side. That's what he's saying when he's referring to Roberts and Scalia and Alito and Kennedy and these guys. Right?
BLITZER: Yes. No, he's definitely referring to them. And he knows what it's like to run for election for either House, the Senate, a governor's race, president of the United States.
You spend most of your time not worrying about policy issue or trying to get things done. You spend most of your time actually trying to raise money, because if you don't raise millions and millions of dollars, you're not going to get elected. It's as simple at that.
So, he fully appreciates the practical side of the Supreme Court decision. As he says, these justices who voted to give these corporations and unions, other special interests, unlimited ability to raise money for candidates, they don't necessarily understand that. That's his point.
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer, as usual, always great to take us -- when you join us, to be able to take us through these conversations. Looking forward to your show today on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
BLITZER: Thank you.
By the way, we're going to speak tomorrow with former Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor. I'm going to ask her how she would have voted on that issue, on that issue that came before the Supreme Court.
SANCHEZ: McCain gave part of that away, interestingly enough, when he was on CBS this week. What's the name of their morning show?
BLITZER: "Face the Nation."
SANCHEZ: "Face the Nation," right. He talked about Sandra Day O'Connor. That's interesting. That's a good interview, timely.
BLITZER: Yes. That will be tomorrow.
SANCHEZ: Good stuff, man. I appreciate it.
Child star Gary Coleman, he's in trouble with the law again. He made our "List that U Don't Want 2 Be On."
Who tops him? That's next.
And an 18-year-old honor student says the Pittsburgh police did this to his face. Police say he had a gun. The family says it's racial profiling.
Wait until you find out what the kid actually had on him at the time. He and his mother join me tomorrow as well to help sort this story out.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
Now this, the story that you look forward to. I didn't know this about myself when I was growing up, but looking back on it now, by the legal definition of the word "poverty," I was poor.
My parents' combined income never hit double-digits. So I guess that's what I was, poor.
Am I angry with people who had a chance to grow up with rich parents, who seemed to have everything? No, not really, unless they say something really mean or something really stupid about poor people.
Here now, "List that U Don't Want 2 Be On."
First, let's recap.
Number three is the woman who stumbled into an original Picasso over the weekend at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was an accident. But wow, can you imagine?
Reportedly, ,she tripped. And that's when she ripped the 100-year-old painting, a Picasso, which is priceless.
They say they can try and fix it. It sounds like something one of my kids would do.
All right. Here comes number two.
Gary Coleman, the actor, arrested again. This time, the diminutive child star is being charged with domestic violence. So little stature, so much anger.
And wow. We are now able to tell you who is number one on this list.
Number one on our "List that U Don't Want 2 Be On" is Andre Bauer, the lieutenant governor of South Carolina, for comparing poor children to stray animals. That's right.
Why? "Because they breed. They will reproduce. They don't know any better."
The lieutenant governor whose real name is Rudolph Andreas Bauer, is a Republican who's described by one of the his friends as never having to worry about missing a meal in his life. But during his speech, he also came out against free lunches for poor children.
Here's the lieutenant governor, Rudolph Andreas Bauer.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LT. GOV. RUDOLPH ANDREAS BAUER (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: But the problem is, there's so many folks now that don't have to do a thing. In government we continue to reward bad behavior. Any time we give somebody money, we're telling them to keep doing what they're doing.
My grandmother was not a highly educated woman, but she told me as a small child to quit feeding stray animals. You know why? Because they breed!
You're facilitating the problem. If you give an animal or person ample food supply, they will reproduce. Especially one that don't think too much further than that.
And so what you've got to do is curtail that type of behavior. They don't know any better.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A wealthy politician who's never had to go hungry a day in his life or really even have to work a day in his life comparing poor children to stray animals. Nice.
The lieutenant governor has since apologized. He says he used a bad metaphor. But I need to read part of this apology to you, because we found it interesting.
You may be shocked to find out about how incredibly detached from reality this politician seems to be, even in his apology. Did he apologize to poor people when he was -- when a CNN producer reached out to him? Did he apologize to children? No. He's apologizing to animal lovers.
After telling a CNN producer that he never intended to compare people to animals, he goes on to say, "If you have a cat, and you take it in your house and feed it and love it, what happens when you go out of town?"
