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Rick's List
Dr. Conrad Murray Charged in Michael Jackson Death; Sarah Palin Speaks to Tea Party Convention; Power Plant Explosion; Americans Jailed in Haiti; Quake Survivor Rescued
Aired February 08, 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: There he is. There's Dr. Murray walking into the courthouse in Los Angeles, ready to surrender himself.
Let me read you from the press release what he's being charged with. The district attorney's say today they're charging him with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the entertainer's death, Conrad Murray charged in this case.
Now, we have got some other pictures we can show you. Rog, see if you can cue up the family arriving about 45 minutes ago. That was Joe Jackson, Katherine Jackson, Jermaine Jackson. Then Randy Jackson arrived. OK. There's -- there's Joe Jackson arriving at the courthouse. He will be shortly followed by Katherine Jackson, Michael Jackson's mother, Joe Jackson obviously Michael Jackson's father, and then Jermaine Jackson as well.
By the way, I should remind you, program note, Larry King tonight has got an interview with Joe Jackson. Joe Jackson will be on "LARRY KING" tonight to discuss this case.
There's Jermaine. Watch. He's going to be asked a question there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERMAINE JACKSON, BROTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: It's not enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You hear what he said? "It's not enough."
He was being asked by our own Ted Rowlands about the charges, and whether involuntary manslaughter was the charge that should be handed down in this case. He said, it's not enough.
That was the first sound that we got. Then he turned around and walked into the building.
Let's just catch up on this story, if we possibly can, with our own Elizabeth Cohen, who is joining me out here on the set.
While we look at these pictures together, Elizabeth, tell the viewers what this case is really all about. What did this -- what did this doctor allegedly do wrong that makes police jump all over him, as they have?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.
What some orders have said is that Michael Jackson was having a hard time getting a good night's sleep...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
COHEN: ... so, instead of giving him sleeping pills or sort of ordinary things, put him on something called propofol. That's an I.V. that they give to people who are having surgery, who are having colonoscopies, who are getting anesthesia in a hospital, because they need to be monitored.
So, they gave it to him -- allegedly, he gave it to him just to get him to go to sleep...
SANCHEZ: This scene...
COHEN: ... which is never done.
SANCHEZ: This scene, by the way -- Roger, give me that shot again, if you would, of the scene out there in L.A., or put it in a box or something, if you got some of those pictures.
This scene would not be unfolding if we were talking about a couple too many Ambien or Valium, right?
COHEN: Right. Right. This...
SANCHEZ: I mean, this -- this is different.
COHEN: Right. This is incredibly different.
We were talking before that one doctor said, beyond the pale. You would -- doctors said you would never, ever use an anesthetic, something that is used to put people to sleep for surgery, you would never use that in someone's home to give them a good night's sleep. It is simply not done.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But isn't it also true that these guys in Hollywood, the Michael Jackson types, they can get whatever they want? If it hadn't been Murray, he would have found somebody else to give it to him.
You were reading about that this weekend, you told me.
COHEN: That's right. I was interviewing a lawyer/psychologist about something called Hollywood health care -- Hollywood health care -- and what...
SANCHEZ: Hollywood health care.
COHEN: Isn't that an interesting term? SANCHEZ: Yes.
COHEN: I had never heard it before. But what it is, is that Hollywood folks, like Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, can sometimes get whatever they want.
They pay a doctor a lot of money in many cases, but that the doctors sometimes get caught up in the whole...
SANCHEZ: Star struck.
COHEN: ... stardom. Right, exactly.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
COHEN: I mean, who wouldn't want to live with Michael Jackson, I mean, you know, at least for some people?
SANCHEZ: Right.
COHEN: I mean, that's an incredible thing, to be invited into the home of such a -- of such a superstar.
SANCHEZ: But what police are going to say is, at the point where he asked you to give him an I.V. and monitor him overnight, so he can get a good night's sleep, and the only time he is getting that good night's sleep is when the I.V. is in, and, when you pull it out, he wakes up again, at that point, he should have had said, no, I'm sorry. I can't do this.
And there was, as I recall -- remind me now -- there was at least one doctor -- and Ted Rowlands is going to be joining us here in just a little bit -- who actually said that to Michael.
Michael, you have got to control this, or it's going to kill you.
COHEN: Right. Yes.
Actually, Deepak Chopra was on our air at the time saying that Michael Jackson asked him for all sorts of things that he would not give him. But it takes a very strong doctor to say no.
If you are caught up in all that stardom and you're caught up in the whole party scene and you're caught up in this whole life, it is hard to say no. It's also hard to say no when someone is paying you hundreds of thousands of doctors (sic).
I mean, look, most doctors get paid -- like, an internist maybe gets paid $100,000, $200,000 a year to have 3,000 patients, right?
SANCHEZ: Right.
COHEN: OK. This guy got paid a whole lot more than that to have one patient.
When you have one patient, you're kind of tempted to do what they want, right?
SANCHEZ: We have got two stories that we're working at the same time.
Let's do this. Stay right here.
Hey, Roger, keep this shot on a square somewhere, the shot of what is going on in L.A.
Give me the shot, if you would, of what is going on in New Orleans right now as well. Let's split the screen, if we can, because this is -- this is obviously a very important story as well. I know it's a -- it's a story without conflict or controversy. It makes most of us smile.
We're happy to see this town where I -- and you, I imagine -- as a reporter, I can't tell you the horrendous stories of a town that I saw under water that I thought would never recover.
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: And now I'm seeing these people so happy.
The -- the numbers are in. The Super Bowl is now most-watched program in TV history. That's according to the NFL. Now, I don't know. I think they may by jumping the gun here. I actually believe the NFL may be wrong. I believe the 1987 Super Bowl -- the 1987 Super Bowl had more viewers than this one.
But I -- I'm not positive. But I'm going to check that. All right?
COHEN: OK.
SANCHEZ: I just happen to know a little bit about Super Bowls, because I grew up in Miami, and they were always there.
All right, there's the shot on the left. What are we looking at on the left there? What are we looking at? All right. That's the courthouse. And then that big picture are the players as they leave, and people running to their cars, and wanting to hold them, get autographs, congratulate them and -- and -- and thank them.
While we wait for Ted Rowlands, we're -- do -- do -- do we -- oh, we got Ted Rowlands? Ted Rowlands stand -- All right, let's -- let's do the L.A. story, then, Ted Rowlands.
We are going to go back to the New Orleans story in a minute. We will see if we can capture some of that sound.
But tell us what is going on. I understand you are now inside the courthouse. Has he surrendered yet? Has Dr. Murray -- Dr. Murray surrendered yet?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is here, so, technically, that -- that process has started. And we're about 20 minutes away from this arraignment hearing.
I'm just outside the doors of the courtroom. Now, we just saw two of Murray's lawyers go in. We didn't see Murray. Of course, we did see Murray him enter the courthouse just moments ago. And we did see the Jackson family members. They are not in court yet. What will happen is, they will assemble everybody piecemeal, and -- and then start with this, what should be a very short proceeding, but, outside, the long line of media members waiting to get in and Jackson fans hoping for a public seat.
These folks, of course, are -- are very upset with Dr. Murray. You talk to them outside the courthouse, they're convinced that he murdered Michael Jackson. So, there's a lot of emotions in this hallways in the courthouse.
SANCHEZ: Is that what we hear? I -- I hear a lot of noise in the background. What -- tell me what the gist of those conversations are. Or what's...
ROWLANDS: They're basically -- the court administrator is going down the line, getting accredited media members in line, ready to go in.
And then, on the other side of the wall, you have members of the public that are all here to support the late Michael Jackson. And they are obviously looking at Dr. Conrad Murray as the -- the villain in this scenario, and they were hooting and hollering outside the courthouse when he walked in. So...
SANCHEZ: Draw -- draw -- draw us a picture, if you would. How many members of the Jackson family are there? Why are they there? What does the courtroom look like? How many people are going to be in there, et cetera?
ROWLANDS: It's -- it's a standard courtroom in terms of seating. You've got like three rows of seating. Right now, it's completely empty. The Jackson family has been taken to a -- a room near the courtroom. They will be brought in when everything is set.
You're talking about a significant number of family members, including Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine, his father, Joe, Jermaine, Randy, Tito, all here. And it's surprising, because this is such a short court appearance, and, typically, in a case like this, family members show up for the trial, for the beginning of the trial, and they sit through the trial.
To see this many family members speaks volumes as to how the Jackson family is going to be front and center through this entire process. The is evident by what we saw today here.
SANCHEZ: Are you going to be -- I imagine we're going to lose you when you go in the courthouse, obviously. You're not allowed to have a phone in there, right?
ROWLANDS: Right. I'm just outside the room. As soon as they say I have got to go in, then -- then I will have to go into the courtroom, and, at that point, turn my phone off.
SANCHEZ: So, you're in the hallway right now.
Just a quick question before I let you go. Is there any conversation, has anybody brought up the point that a lot of Americans think that, as -- as bad as perhaps what Dr. Murray did, that Michael Jackson was, in essence, looking for someone to sedate him, and, if it hadn't been Dr. Murray, it would have been someone else?
ROWLANDS: Yes.
And another point here, when you were talking with Elizabeth Cohen earlier that someone might have given it to him if it wasn't -- well, somebody already did give it to him. And this is something that Michael Jackson used with his world tour in Germany five-plus years ago.
And it was something that he had used and had gotten from other physicians throughout his lifetime. And you can guarantee -- you can bet that his defense is going to bring that up, that...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
ROWLANDS: ... their client was the last man standing.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes. I recall, in fact, one of the nurses who told Larry King at the time that, in fact, she had warned Michael about this.
So, all right, Ted, I'm going to let you go. It sounds like they're getting you inside the courtroom. While you're in the courtroom, gather all the news you can, all the detail you can. Come back outside. Explain to us what's going on.
In the meantime, we're going to take a break and we're also going to tell you about this story that's coming up in just a little bit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: It's time for more than just tough talk. I'm just like you, probably just so tired of hearing the talk, talk, talk.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's Sarah Palin's Tea Party speech over the weekend. But it's what she said on the Sunday talk show that's making the headlines. Is she suggesting that the president of the United States should invade Iran in order to get reelected, or if he wants to get elected? We're going to play that for you and let you decide and hear it for yourself.
Also, you haven't heard it by now...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: ... the Saints won the Super Bowl. Duh.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And they're back in New Orleans. And we have got the pictures. And we're going to turn those around for you, as promised, because it's exciting. It's a great story. It puts a smile on our collective faces.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: We're going to be right back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is the LIST.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Once again, these are live pictures we're looking at out of Los Angeles. Let me tell you what's going on here for those of you who may have just joined us who may have just come home from work.
The man who is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson has just gone into the building to surrender himself to police. Michael Jackson's family is there as well, Randy, and Jermaine, and Katherine, and Joe.
There is Dr. Murray, Dr. Conrad Murray. He has walked into the building. He's about to be taken into the courthouse. They're going to close the door.
Just before we went to break, we were talking to our own Ted Rowlands, and he was telling us that he was about to be escorted into the courthouse. At that point, obviously, at that point we lose contact with him. So, we don't know what is going on. As soon as the proceeding is over, we will be back on the phone with Ted Rowlands, and he's going to tell us what he saw, what happened, perhaps what Conrad Murray -- Dr. Conrad Murray -- said, what the Jackson family may have said to him, or what the judge and the lawyers say.
So, we are going to be, obviously, all over that. In the meantime, we're following the story out of New Orleans as well. This is a...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: This is a great story, actually. There's the live picture of people lining the streets.
The players got out of the plane, and got into their cars, and have started to drive away. As they did, obviously, they were surrounded by fans who have been wanting to talk to them, get autographs from them.
OK. Here is the tape now of the fans as they arrive.
Let -- let's see if there is any kind of -- is there any kind of sound here? I'm told the camera was so far away that we couldn't get any sound. You can imagine the folks are screaming. We can't hear them, though.
But -- all right. There's the players coming back to a very happy town, a very...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: ... a very proud town to have a world champion coming home.
All right, let's -- look at this tweet, by the way. Did you -- if you watched the game last night, remember the -- the straw that broke the camel's back, or, in this case, Manning's back, the quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, was that interception and long runback by that cornerback?
Well, we just got a tweet from him: "World champions. Who dat? We did it." That's Lawrence, Leigh Lawrence -- Leigh Torrence Jr. -- pardon me -- number 24, who made that great play at the end of the game last night.
All right, once again, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Here we are in the world headquarters of CNN.
I promised you that we would hear more from Sarah Palin on her speech at the -- at the Tea Party convention. So, what do we have? She had a lot to say about security policy.
One, we have the military to thank for our freedom, is what she said. Two, we need to get tougher on Iran. Three, President Obama should stop going around apologizing for America. Four, he's treating terrorists like common criminals.
Let's hear now from Sarah Palin speaking at the Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PALIN: On Christmas day, the system did not work. Abdulmutallab passed through airport security with a bomb. and he boarded a flight hell bent on killing innocent passengers. This terrorist trained in Yemen with al Qaeda. His American visa was not revoked until after he tried to kill hundreds of passengers. On Christmas day, the only thing that stopped this terrorist is blind luck and brave passengers. It was a Christmas miracle. And that is not the way that the system is supposed to work.
Many of us have grown even more uneasy about our administration's approach to national security, the most important role ascribed to our federal government.
(APPLAUSE)
PALIN: Let me say, too, it's not politicizing our security to discuss our concerns because Americans deserve to know the truth about the threats that we face and what the administration is or isn't doing about them. So let's talk about them. New terms used like "overseas contingency operation" instead of the word "war."
That reflects a world view that is out of touch with the enemy that we face. We can't spin our way out of this threat. It is one thing to call a pay raise a job created or saved. It is quite another to call the devastation that a homicide bomber can inflict a "manmade disaster." I just say, come on, Washington, if nowhere else, national security, that is one place where you've got to call it like it is.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
PALIN: Our president spent a year reaching out to hostile regimes, writing personal letters to dangerous dictators and apologizing for America, and what do we have to show for that? Here's what we have to show. North Korea tested nuclear weapons and longer- range ballistic missiles. Israel, a friend and critical ally, now questions the strength of our support. Plans for a missile defense system in Europe, they have been scrapped.
Relations with China and Russia are no better. and relations with Japan, that key Asian ally, they are in the worst shape in years. And around the world, people who are seeking freedom from oppressive regimes wonder if Alaska is still that beacon of hope for their cause. The administration cut support for democracy programs. And where the president has not been clear, I ask where is his clear and where his strong voice of support for the Iranians who are risking all in their opposition to Ahmadinejad?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, by the way, I'm so glad I'm on Twitter, because, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't be able to recognize my mistakes soon enough.
I was wrong a little while ago when I said that it was Leigh Torrence, number 24, who intercepted the -- the -- the pass in the Super Bowl. It was the other cornerback. It was Tracy Porter who actually made the interception.
Thank you, guys, for bringing it to my attention. You were on it lickety-split. No sooner had I said it than, ding, ding, ding, ding, all the tweeting started coming up...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: ... and you corrected me.
Hey, when you're wrong, you're wrong, right?
All right, you heard her talking about Iran right there, Sarah Palin, that is, and, as I told you before, she suggested in an interview that President Obama could help his chances of being reelected by declaring war on Iran.
Maybe this will come up when I talk about national security with author Fred Kaplan from "Slate" magazine. He's coming up just a little bit.
Meanwhile, as we go to break, let's go back to the shot outside the L.A. courthouse once again. Those are folks who are there lined up. The guy who police say was linked to Michael Jackson's death, they're charging him with involuntary manslaughter. He has just surrendered himself. He's inside the courthouse behind those folks right there. So are our reporters. So is the Jackson family. So are police, prosecutors and judges, and Dr. Murray. And we have got it covered for you.
Stay right there. We're going to be coming -- what's that, Michael? What's that? OK. That's what I was going to do.
Let's go to the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: OK. Here's the pictures out of New Orleans. This is the players. Let me see if I can hear anything.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: Yes. What -- you know what? I'm going to shut up and let you listen.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: You can call this the parade of the Escalades.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(LAUGHTER) Isn't this great?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: Let's stay with this for a little bit. This is fantastic.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
SANCHEZ: I have got to tell you, it was so hard -- just, there's another Escalade.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: These guys, they make some good dough, Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Look at this. The New Orleans Saints, folks, they are world champions.
Who dat? Who dat say they going to beat them Saints? This is fantastic. This is nice to see. For those of us who covered this story, who came back...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ten-four. Ten-four.
SANCHEZ: ... with tears, who -- look, I will be honest with you, Ali Velshi.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You just happen to be sitting back to me. I will never forget...
VELSHI: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: ... and I will take to my grave the images that are seared into my mind...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... that I saw after that hurricane of people dying and dead...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... of communities underwater, of homes for as long as miles and miles, as long as the eye could see, gone, devastated.
VELSHI: If there's a city that deserves to celebrate and deserves to have this kind of fun, it's -- it's them. They have...
SANCHEZ: Isn't this wonderful?
VELSHI: It does make -- when I saw that plane taking off this afternoon from Miami and getting that water cannon salute...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
VELSHI: ... you know, you can't but be moved by the fact that they deserve some happiness.
SANCHEZ: And, look, it -- look, I know there's a lot of people right there saying, oh, Ali Velshi, Rick Sanchez, shut up.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: This is a football game. Who cares?
You know what? Every once in a while, events like these transcend sports...
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... and become almost a sense of empowerment for a community.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: They make you feel good. They make you grow. They make you have...
VELSHI: And, in particular, this was -- the only thing they had in the days after -- the days after Katrina was the fact that they had a team, but the team couldn't play at home. So, it's such a big deal for them.
SANCHEZ: Well, all we did was feel sorry for them.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: After a while...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... you almost got tired of feeling bad for them.
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: And they got tired of hearing people feel bad for them.
VELSHI: Yes. So, it's just nice to share in the moment.
SANCHEZ: Well, guess what? They're world champion -- they're world champions right now.
VELSHI: Yes. Yes.
SANCHEZ: They can say to the rest of us, we have got a world champion team in our town.
VELSHI: Yes. SANCHEZ: And we're damned proud of it.
I'm told -- you know, our reporter down there -- Angie, help me out -- Ed Lavandera...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... called our producers and said, I think there may be 10,000 to 20,000 people that are going to be lining the streets waiting for these guys.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: That's crazy. You think the Indianapolis Colts would have had that? They're used to winning.
VELSHI: Well, look, this -- I think it's a difference. I think there's a real difference to being in New Orleans and seeing this.
And the thing is, now it's not a New Orleans celebration. We all do get to -- to feel great for them.
SANCHEZ: Exactly.
VELSHI: And, listen, we would have still felt great about New Orleans either way, but it's just nice to...
SANCHEZ: Right.
VELSHI: ... to have everyone celebrating -- you're right -- not have somebody saying, poor New Orleans about something, but saying, good for you.
SANCHEZ: It's like, by golly...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... good for them.
VELSHI: Yes. Yes.
SANCHEZ: Good for them.
All right, you have got some news you're going to share with us in just a little bit.
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: So, stick around.
VELSHI: OK.
SANCHEZ: Let me bring you up to date on the lists that we do every day.
Two important things that just happened in New Orleans, right? It's the city still short on those great moments almost five years after Hurricane Katrina. One is the Saints winning the Super Bowl. The other is the election of this man to succeed Ray Nagin as its new mayor.
Time for "Most Intriguing."
He is a member of a political dynasty, son of a mayor, brother of a U.S. senator, already number two in Louisiana's political hierarchy. One of the most intriguing persons of the day is Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu, who will be the very first white mayor of New Orleans since his father, Moon Landrieu, back in 1978.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITCH LANDRIEU, NEW ORLEANS MAYOR-ELECT: We decided that we were going to still the pole in the ground and strike a blow for unity, strike a blow for a city that decided to be unified, rather than divided...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LANDRIEU: ... a city...
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LANDRIEU: ... a city that understands that, where there is equal opportunity, there is equal responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Hmm. He lost two earlier races, by the way, but he won Saturday's with two-thirds of the vote. That is Mitch Landrieu, today's "Most Intriguing."
OK. We have been talking about the Dow an awful lot. And the reason I had Ali Velshi out here was not to swoon about New Orleans.
VELSHI: Not for my -- not for my -- my -- my -- yes, exactly, not my -- my New Orleans or my sports commentary.
SANCHEZ: Well, but you did a fine job, and I will tell you, you're -- you're dead on. I think it's important. And it's something that we should feel good about once in a while.
VELSHI: Sure. Sure.
SANCHEZ: Just because you do news doesn't mean it has to be all bad news.
All right, speaking of good or bad news -- I'm not sure.
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: What we don't want to see, for symbolic reasons, I guess, is for the Dow to go under 10000.
Did it do that today?
VELSHI: And that's what it did.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
VELSHI: For the first time since November 4 -- so first time in three months -- the Dow closed below 10000. I -- 10000 is just a number. I wouldn't get too caught up in it.
But you and I talked last week, when the Dow was down more than 200 points, then 250 points, and then another 100 points. So you have got this collection of days where we're losing in the triple digits. That's where our viewer out there, that's where you need to start getting a little concerned about your portfolio, because we had such a strong run in 2009, after such a terrible 2008.
People who were invested did well in 2009. And a lot of experts said better than the market should have been, an unnatural gain...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
VELSHI: ... in 2009. So, you have to be defensive about your 401(k) or your IRA. We're showing a weakness in the market.
SANCHEZ: Well, look, this administration -- and I have heard the president say it many, many times...
VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... the last thing we want are these.
VELSHI: Correct.
SANCHEZ: That's the problem. Let's have bumps...
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... and hills and valleys.
VELSHI: Right.
SANCHEZ: But let's not have, you know, mountains.
VELSHI: But here's the thing. Until that happens -- and that's a bigger economic cycle discussion -- people can do things with a little bit of research that allows your portfolio to not do these things.
SANCHEZ: Right.
VELSHI: If you have a Dow or an S&P, your -- your portfolio looks like what happens. But you can start to take some measures, and you should, because you can't control what happens in Washington.
SANCHEZ: But the point I'm asking you, though, is, speaking of hills and valleys... VELSHI: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... as opposed to mountains and oceans, this does not look like the beginning of an ocean or nor was...
VELSHI: No.
SANCHEZ: ... the thing last year a mountain, right?
VELSHI: And that's why we have to remember that you can -- a lot of people say this is because people are angry with the Obama administration and -- and things that they're doing and their punishments.
No, it's not.
SANCHEZ: OK.
VELSHI: It's because the market was up a whole lot, and when things go up, they come down. And -- and a lot of people had speculated this could happen.
SANCHEZ: Correction, is that what they call it?
VELSHI: We're -- we're -- we're getting into correction territory. It happens.
SANCHEZ: Is it that -- it's that fancy term you guys use?
VELSHI: It means a 10 percent loss one way or -- you know, 10 percent loss from the high point in the market.
SANCHEZ: Let me write that down. Correction, 10 percent loss from...
VELSHI: The high point.
SANCHEZ: Am I making fun of you?
VELSHI: You are making fun of me.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: It's OK. I love it.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: You can make fun of me any time.
SANCHEZ: Ali Velshi, thanks for -- thanks for squaring us out on that.
VELSHI: All right.
SANCHEZ: I appreciate it. All right, this. There's a stunning new development that may change the lives of the 10 Americans that are being held in a Haitian jail. This is a story that has just captivated so many people, and now there's a possibility there's a change in the story as well. We're going to be watching that.
All eyes as well on this story. Let's take you back out to Los Angeles. Take a look at what's going on in Los Angeles. This is a courthouse where -- oh, there's a new sign, "Justice" -- where the man that police say had to do with the death of Michael Jackson, they're charging him with involuntary manslaughter. He's in the courtroom right now. He's surrendering himself to police.
We're waiting for our reporter who is also in that courthouse -- courthouse -- in the courtroom, actually -- to come outside and give us the lowdown on what he saw, what is actually going on.
Stay there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. Welcome back.
I'm Rick Sanchez in the world headquarters of CNN.
I've been telling you about this unbelievable power plant explosion that took place in Connecticut -- in Middletown, Connecticut. We're now learning some of the numbers are -- look at that. Look at that hole in the side of that building. I mean, this is unbelievable.
Five people dead, dozens apparently injured. The mayor says that there are still some unaccounted for. I'm not sure what that means, whether maybe they're trying to decide whether they actually were at work or left early.
This plan was still being built, by the way, 95 percent down when the blast happened. Multiple contractors were working on this project at the time.
Crews apparently were trying to purge some kind of natural gas line at this power plant when the explosion happened. They called off the search for more victims in the wee hours this morning because the site was too dangerous just to keep combing through, but they still believe there may be people there.
They're not sure. They just don't know.
They brought canines in. They brought dogs in to see if they could find some people. People who live 20 miles away from the area reported hearing this explosion. Workers say that they were thrown 40 feet by this explosion when it happened.
So obviously we're going to be all over that situation there in Connecticut. If we get any more information, we are going to bring it to you. Meanwhile, we're also following the situation -- for those of you with us here, stand by, because we're told this hearing might be over soon. And Ted Rowlands is going to be walking outside to tell us what actually happened inside that courtroom where Michael Jackson's family, his mother, his father, two of his brothers, maybe more that we didn't see walk in, are in that courtroom, probably giving an uncomfortable gaze at the man who is being charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of their son and brother. That's Dr. Conrad Murray.
We're all over that story. We're going to bring it to you.
And guess what? There's a change out of Haiti. There's new information on those 10 Americans from Idaho, those Baptist missionaries.
Brooke Baldwin is going to be here in just a little bit. She's going to be taking us through this story, regarding what -- how that story might change. There may be a new nugget of information coming out of DR, the Dominican Republic, that may actually help their case.
We'll go through it for you.
Stay right there. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Boy, this is one I was just reading about on the tweet board here. People are asking and talking about it.
Ten American missionaries in Haiti have lost representation. Their Haitian lawyer quit. There was a hearing in Haiti today, a petition for bail.
Brooke Baldwin has been following this story for us here.
There's a lot of new information. And I did read one report that seemed to suggest that there may be some information coming in from Santo Domingo that may be in their favor?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: May be in their favor. So let me just back up for a second...
SANCHEZ: Go ahead.
BALDWIN: ... because the entire reason the first five of these 10 Baptist missionaries were in court today, because they're petitioning for this bail. Keep in mind, in Haiti, if you're charged with child kidnapping, there is no bail. So, these first five, including the leader of the group, Laura Silsby, they're in this courtroom.
Meantime, according to our crews on the ground following the story, a half hour later a Dominican attorney shows up. And he is there representing this entire group. And it's what he had in his hand that caught the attention of our own Karl Penhaul. He had a manila envelope just like this. Now, he didn't show Karl what was inside the envelope, but he told Karl inside that envelope was documents proving that this group had talked to the Dominican Republic government saying, yes, you can come to our country to start up this orphanage.
Now, keep in mind, that is completely contrary to what the Dominican consul told them and told us. We have that sound bite for you. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS CASTILLO, DOMINICAN CONSUL GENERAL TO: HAITI: And I warned her. I said, "As soon as you get there without the proper documents, you're going to get in trouble, because they're going to accuse you because you have the intent to pass the border without the proper papers, and they're going to accuse you of kids' trafficking."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So were they told to come or were they told not to come?
SANCHEZ: Well, and remember, so what? The children they're taking from Haiti are Haitian children.
BALDWIN: Correct, and you would have to have Haitian government children to take Haitian children out of Haiti.
SANCHEZ: That would be like me taking somebody else's kid out of the United States and then arriving in Venezuela, let's say, and saying, well, the Venezuelan government said it was OK. Well, the U.S. government didn't say it was OK.
BALDWIN: Correct, but it's possibly a piece of evidence in their favor, as you said. And we don't know yet.
SANCHEZ: Right. Right. It might bolster their argument at best.
BALDWIN: Also...
SANCHEZ: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.
Go ahead.
All right. Stay with me. We've got breaking news coming in. I think it's about this story.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is standing by right now in Haiti. He's at a hospital there in Haiti. Not sure what he's reporting.
Sanjay, bring us up to date. You've got it cold, man.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Rick, we got a tip not that long ago that a survivor from the time of the earthquake had been brought in here to the hospital at the airport. It's called a medishare (ph) hospital. It's run by the University of Miami.
They weren't sure what -- can you hear me?
SANCHEZ: Yes. I got you. I got you. We lost you for a minute.
GUPTA: I apologize.
Anyway, the patient was brought in here to the hospital, and, you know, like I said, we didn't quite know what to make of that. We came in here, spoke to the doctors, spoke to some of the people who saw him initially. And this sounds like it's real, at least according to the doctors, in the sense that this patient who's 28 years old -- his name is Evans Monsanyik (ph) -- was trapped at the time of the earthquake, nearly four weeks ago -- four weeks ago tomorrow, Rick, as you know.
And he basically was brought in very dehydrated, very malnourished. But the doctors tell me that his vital signs and his blood pressure and heart rate was pretty stable.
They checked some of the his lab work, which was consistent with someone who would be very dehydrated. But he's awake, but confused. And that's sort of the shape that he's in right now. Doctors are busy resuscitating him.
One thing I'll just tell you really quick, Rick, if I can. He said that someone came in a white coat at a few times during the last four weeks to give him some water.
He was trapped. And we don't know if he was hallucinating as he's describing this, but he said at various times when he thought he was going to die, someone showed up in a white coat and gave him some water, which obviously is very relevant to the story in terms of survival -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Wow. Stay with me.
Hey, Roger (ph), do you have some pictures out of the Haiti earthquake? See if you can put those up just so we can get a sense.
Do you know at this point, Sanjay -- I know it's preliminary, I know this guy, what you need to do is make sure he lives, not start asking him a bevy of questions. But do we know under what conditions he was trapped these -- going on four weeks?
GUPTA: We know one critical piece of information is he does not appear to have any significant crush injuries, Rick, something that we've been talking about for a few weeks now, where a piece of rubble actually crushes one of his limbs.
SANCHEZ: Right.
GUPTA: It seems like he was mainly pinned, but not crushed, so he couldn't get out. And, you know, he eventually was hearing -- at least according to some of the people around him -- was hearing bulldozers around him, knew that rubble was starting to get cleared, and was concerned himself that a bulldozer might be coming to his area specifically.
SANCHEZ: But you know as a doctor, four weeks without water is all but right on the cusp of almost being humanly impossible, isn't it?
GUPTA: I think it's safe to say it is impossible, which makes me believe that in some way he had access to water, whether someone was giving him water, recognized that he was trapped or couldn't free him, but just decided to bring him water, or he somehow had access to water and was cognizant enough to be able drink it. But I think, Rick, you're safe in saying that.
We don't know what the human limit is without water because doing a study like that would be unethical. But I think four weeks is simply too long. You're right -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: That's unbelievable. And his condition -- again, you may have mentioned this at the beginning, but take us through it again. Is he going to make it? Is he all right?
GUPTA: I think so. I talked to the doctors who are caring for him, and at this point they are optimistic that he's going to make it.
His vital signs, including his heart rate and blood pressure, were remarkably OK when he came in. He did have some lab work done that showed some findings that basically would be consistent with someone who is deeply dehydrated. Some of his lab results showed that.
He's very, very skinny, very, very malnourished. But he is confused right now neurologically, which is part of the reason that we're not going to film him. Because we want to wait until he's more awake and understands what's happening before we do that. But this is what we're hearing, and that seems to be the shape that he's in.
Rick, have you seen some photographs? We sent over some photographs which were authorized by his family to show you. I don't know if you've seen those. He is very malnourished.
SANCHEZ: I don't think -- let me ask -- hold on, Sanjay. Let me ask the producers.
She's saying it's PC-103 if we have that.
All right. There it is. Yes.
Did you take this picture, Sanjay?
GUPTA: One of the doctors who's caring for him took that with the permission of his family. You know, they did not want, because of his confusion right now, Rick, to take any video, but the family did allow a photograph to be taken.
We don't know what he looked like before the earthquake, so we don't know how much weight he's lost. But the family seems to think it was around 30 pounds or so that he's lost over this time period. SANCHEZ: Wow.
BALDWIN: Wow.
SANCHEZ: What a story.
BALDWIN: Twenty-seven days.
GUPTA: Twenty-seven days. It is remarkable.
And I think we'll get some more details on exactly how he was able to survive. But again, we didn't know what to believe when we came over. We talked to lots of doctors, we talked to the nurses that care for him. We talked to some of the people that brought him in initially, and they believe it's true.
We still are investigating, but we're bringing it to you only because there does seem to be some veracity to this -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: You know, I was just thinking -- I was thinking of one more thing, because here we are talking about the body's physical limitations and whether you can go this time without water.
How about the mental limitations? Could you imagine being trapped for almost four weeks in a place like that and what can happen to your mind?
BALDWIN: Well, he mentioned neurological implications, but you're speaking psychological?
SANCHEZ: Well, yes. No, I'm talking about your cranium disorders.
BALDWIN: You're saying mentally.
SANCHEZ: I'm talking about literally that sense that you're trapped in a place, you can't get out, it's dark, you don't know what's going on outside. You lose complete control, and somehow you have the will...
BALDWIN: To survive.
SANCHEZ: ... to survive and make it out.
Sanjay, I don't know if you can speak to that. It's something that may be more theological.
GUPTA: Well, no. I think it's very fair, and I think that's one of the things he's probably dealing with right now.
He is very confused. I think some of the comments that he's made is he still thought he was under the building up until recently.
Again, I mentioned this white-coated person that would give him water. We don't know what to make of that. Who was that? Was that a real person, or what exactly happened there? The other thing that I think was a bit haunting -- and he talked about this -- was this idea that he heard bulldozers coming, Rick. I mean, as you know, this has turned from a search and rescue mission to a search and recovery mission.
I cannot imagine what it must have been like to hear bulldozers coming thinking that the building in which you're trapped may be excavated. And this is an unbelievably difficult thing to even imagine or talk about, but this is what he has said.
SANCHEZ: And there you would go with it. And again, back to the idea that you have no control in a situation like this.
Sanjay, heck of a report. Hey, thanks for reaching out to us and sharing this with us. Let us know if you learn anything else.
GUPTA: We will.
SANCHEZ: It obviously is a story that we're going to be continuing to check up on as we get more information.
BALDWIN: Right. And I think Sanjay is there for the week. This will be the one-month anniversary this week. I think today is day 27 since that quake.
SANCHEZ: And we continue to cover the story of the missionaries, the Baptist missionaries from Idaho as well, that you were bringing us up to date on.
All right. You stay on top of that as well.
BALDWIN: You got it.
SANCHEZ: What a story. Boy, I tell you, ,a real head-shaker.
Conrad Murray is the doctor who police are saying was linked to the death of Michael Jackson, and the news right now is that he is inside a courtroom. It's taking quite a bit for him to surrender. I imagine there's a hearing going on. In fact, there is a hearing going on.
One of our reporters is in that hearing. He's going to be joining us in just a little bit to let us know what actually happened inside that courtroom.
Also, the president's deputy secretary adviser, John Brennan, attacked Republicans for use terrorism as a political weapon against the president. He's speaking specifically of the Christmas Day bomber case, and we'll let you know exactly what he says and what all the hullabaloo is about it.
Stay there.
I'm Rick Sanchez. We'll be right back.
This is RICK'S LIST. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
Republicans are sticking to their guns. We heard Sarah Palin say it to the Tea Party Convention. They say that the Obama administration blew it by informing a suspected terrorist of his right to remain silent. You know, the Miranda rights that's guaranteed in our Constitution.
They read the Miranda rights to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and that caused him to clam up. That's what they say.
The White House says, no, he wasn't read his rights until after he clammed up. And further, it says he started talking again later because we treated him humanely.
Now, national security adviser John Brennan is saying the Republicans also knew in advance of what the plan was to treat him according to the Constitution of the United States, to read him his Miranda rights, because he, himself, Brennan, told the Republicans that. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: On Christmas night, I called a number of senior members of Congress. I spoke to Senators McConnell and Bond. I spoke to Representatives Boehner and Hoekstra. I explained to them that he was in custody, that Mr. Abdulmutallab was, in fact, talking, that he was cooperating at that point.
They knew that in FBI custody means that there's a process then you follow, as far as Mirandizing him and presenting him in front of the magistrate. None of those individuals raised any concerns with me at that point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This whole thing has gotten so very political, something we hate to see with national security.
Joining me now from New York, Fred Kaplan, national security columnist for the online magazine "Slate."
We thank you for being with us.
I mean, this is odd, that the conversation would get this nasty in terms of, you know, who said what to whom. Who's doing the politicizing here?
FRED KAPLAN, NATIONAL SECURITY COLUMNIST, SLATE.COM: I think completely the Republicans.
You know, Rick, when Richard Reid was arrested, the shoe bomber, he was read his Miranda rights. Nobody made a fuss about that. George Bush didn't come out and say anything for six days. Obama didn't say anything for three days after the underwear bomber was arrested and people took it as a sign of executive negligence.
Look, you know, you have Sarah Palin, you have the House minority leader saying Obama acts more like a law professor than a commander- in-chief. You know, this is a guy who has tripled the troop deployment in Afghanistan, tripled the number of bombs dropped on militants in Pakistan, sending military trainers and advisers to Yemen. Everybody seems to have forgotten authorizing having SEAL sharpshooters kill those three pirates off the coast of Somalia.
What are they talking about? What are they talking about?
SANCHEZ: Well, I'll tell you what, though, there is a difference given that the argument has shifted. Ever since the argument about Gitmo, for example, we've started to see a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle, by the way, who are saying, you know, given the fact that we've seen some of these guys return to Yemen and become terrorists again, maybe we should think twice about being too constitutional with these people.
KAPLAN: You know, it was Bush who sent them back to Yemen. What Obama talked about...
SANCHEZ: It's both administrations.
KAPLAN: No. When he was talking about putting them in maximum security prisons in the United States, you know how terrorists are in maximum security federal prisons in the United States now? Three hundred and fifty-five.
Most of them were tried in federal courts without incidence. Nobody has broken out. In no city has, you know, fellow travelers come to try to break -- a lot of these guys just watch too many bad movies.
SANCHEZ: Let me let you hearing something here. This is Sarah Palin, by the way. She's talking about how the administration special specifically -- let me see if we're queuing up the right bite here. Talking about how the administration needs to be tougher.
Let's listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH PALIN (R), FMR. ALASKAN GOVERNOR: Treating this like a mere law enforcement matter places or country at grave risk, because that's not how radical Islamic extremists are looking at this. They know we're at war. And to win that war, we need a commander-in-chief, not a professor of law standing at the lectern.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAPLAN: Again, I don't know what she's talking about. You know, professors of law don't send troops to Afghanistan, drop bombs on Pakistan.
You know, you can agree on disagree with what he's done, but to say that he's some kind of passive guy who's too concerned with legal rights, you know, Rick, it would be like somebody from a competing news network would say, you know, CNN, they're trapped in the 20th century, they don't high definition, they film in black and white, they've got no global correspondents. And you say, what are you talking about? We're in high definition, we have correspondents all over the world.
It's that preposterous.
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you what people will complain about when they hear that statement. It's the sense that there is a push among certain people in our country for almost non-intellectualism. In other words, the smarter you are, the less we're interested in what you have to say.
KAPLAN: Anti-intellectualism.
SANCHEZ: Right, anti-intellectualism.
KAPLAN: I think you're absolutely right. Look, there are two things going on here.
One -- I mean, Sarah Palin is obviously, to some people, a very appealing person. She's very good at reading a prepared speech. She has marketable appeal.
There are people advising her who have no such appeal. They're treating her like a useful idiot, feeding her stuff. And because she's saying it, some people are going to go for it, whereas other people saying it, they might not.
SANCHEZ: Then how do you explain all the people who admire her and back her, and paid, by the way, $350 or $300, or whatever it was, to listen to her speak? If she's really...
KAPLAN: I know. We're talking.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead. Explain that to people.
KAPLAN: I don't know, we're talking 1,100 people? I don't know, what kind of mass movement is this, really?
SANCHEZ: She's at the top of all the lists for potential 2012 candidates.
KAPLAN: Well, I think that says more about the Republican Party right now than it does about Sarah Palin.
SANCHEZ: You do?
Fred, stick around. Let me bring Wolf into this conversation. Wolf Blitzer has been following this all day long. Wolf, I know you're probably going to be covering the Sarah Palin speech as well. You know, there's something about Sarah Palin. She makes people look up.
She makes people who don't like her look up, and she makes people who love her look up. I don't know if you want to call that polarizing or what, but this speech will probably have legs for the next several days.
Why is that, Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, because she's Sarah Palin, as you point out. There are some politicians that transcend politics and they become personalities in and of their own right. Sarah Palin is one of them.
The president of the United States, Barack Obama, he transcends politics. Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, they could be on the cover of "The New York Times," the front page of "The New York Times," also "People" magazine. "People" magazine is interested what they're doing. So she's one of those politicians that's got a unique following out there, and people are interested in what she's up to.
SANCHEZ: You know Fred, and Fred was making the point that there seems to be a push toward anti-intellectualism. I mean, to be upset or to complain, which seems to be -- I think it's fair to say there's almost a complaint out there that this president is too smart. That, after all, he's a law professor, a constitutional law professor. We don't need one of those.
It's an interesting argument, isn't it?
BLITZER: Well, if you're asking me, I think you want a president of the United States who's a very, very intelligent, smart person who knows what he or she is talking about. So, can a president of the United States be too intellectual, too smart? Maybe, if that person doesn't have any common sense. If you're just an intellectual or an academic but have no common sense, you're trying to find somebody who's smart and intelligent, but also balances that off with some good common sense.
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer.
What have you got today?
KAPLAN: Listen, Rick, I have a question.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead.
KAPLAN: You know, I'm waiting for a Republican leader to come forth and disassociate him or herself from some of the blatant lies that these people are talking about. I mean, to say that Obama is weak or -- you know, when is this going to happen?
I mean, you're in Washington, Wolf. I'm in New York. I don't know what's going on. SANCHEZ: Wolf, I know you've got to go...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: There have been some Republicans who have stood up. John McCain, for example, on several occasions has stood up and criticized some of these moves, has he not, Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes. Lindsey Graham, too, for that matter. There are some Republicans who aren't afraid to go against other Republicans when they deem it appropriate.
SANCHEZ: Wolf, we've got to let you go. You've got to get set up for your own show, or we'd keep you too long for ours.
BLITZER: All right.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, man. Appreciate it.
BLITZER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Let me get back to you.
You know, Fred, as you look at this, do you worry? For example, do you worry that we're so entrenched on either one side or the other that in the end -- you know, because I sense when I talk to you that you're really angry at some of these Republicans for what they've said, for their misrepresentations. I mean, going too far on the other end is just as bad, right? I mean, do you worry that we're so polarized...
KAPLAN: But who is going -- who, in a position of power, is going too far on the other end?
I do worry about the state of the discourse. If you have to spend 80 percent of your time saying that the sky is blue, not red, that there's very little time to talk about serious thing. When -- I believe in a two-party system. When is the other party going to say, OK, we're ready to talk about serious things now?
SANCHEZ: You know, it's a situation when you hear Sarah Palin speak that you almost get a sense that she knows which buttons she needs to push. Are there not Democrats who do the same thing? They use the political buzzwords that they think will help them either, A, raise money, B, get elected?
KAPLAN: Well, sure. And I'm not going to defend everybody in the Democratic Party, either. But there is a requirement -- if you're thinking about running for president -- and she is, as we now know -- I think you have a basic obligation to -- let's say the laws of gravity, just basic...
SANCHEZ: Down to 10 seconds, Fred.
KAPLAN: ... factual accuracy. She's just talking nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense. SANCHEZ: All right. My thanks to you, Fred Kaplan, for your bold opinions.
KAPLAN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: I'm glad we had a chance to talk to you about this.
My thanks to all of you for watching as well. We'll see you again here tomorrow.
I'm Rick Sanchez.
