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Rick's List
Murder on Campus; Senator Evan Bayh Calls It Quits; Pharmacist Does Time for Girl's Death; Evan Bayh's Senate Departure
Aired February 15, 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 are two or three stories that may be developing during this hour. We're going to have it for you when it happens. And we're also going to have this --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making THE LIST.
This professor accused of killing three colleagues on campus has a past, which includes shooting her own brother and may have tried to kill a Harvard professor. We sent Brooke Baldwin to Boston to find out more.
What's going on with legacy Democrats -- Dodd, Kennedy, and now Evan Bayh?
A child is killed by the wrong prescription, 25 times its normal potency. And this is the pharmacist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have the stigma now of a felon.
SANCHEZ: How common is this?
And talk about making a splash. Little did these Californians know. This is serious.
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing person? Who's on the list you don't want to be on? You will find out as our national conversation on Twitter, on the air continues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: It's 4:00. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Have you heard the latest on this professor from the University of Alabama-Huntsville?
Look, it's not enough that she allegedly took a gun to work and then killed three of her colleagues at the University of Alabama- Huntsville. Get this. She also earlier, when she was just 19 years old, shot and killed her own brother.
But, apparently, police believed that it was just an accident, two kids playing in the backyard. Now they're re-looking at that. She also may have tried to kill a Harvard professor. What kind of person are we talking about here?
It seems like, the more we dig, the more information we get on this woman, the more our eyes are open to what may be. We don't know, but it's what may be. That's why we sent Brooke Baldwin to Boston, to try and drill down on this and figure out what's going on here.
What kind of woman are we talking about, Brooke?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, I promise you we have been digging on this story today.
We have learned several new details. One, the fact those two incidents you just mentioned, in neither of those incidents was Amy Bishop Anderson ever charged.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: And there's 23-year-old Braintree police report that is simply missing. But it really is laying the groundwork for more questions into who this woman is who is sitting in this Alabama jail cell charged now with capital murder. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): In the days since the fatal shooting at the University of Alabama-Huntsville, new revelations into Amy Bishop Anderson's past. Her husband confirmed to CNN that, in 1993, the couple was questioned in a case involving a pipe bomb targeting one of Dr. Bishop's colleagues, Dr. Paul Rosenberg, a professor at Harvard Medical School.
A former lab partner at the time remembers Dr. Bishop being questioned.
SYLVIA FLUCKIGER, FORMER LAB PARTNER OF AMY BISHOP: Police interviewed her. And she told me about it. And I really wondered if she may have had, you know, some more knowledge, although I'm not accusing her of anything.
BALDWIN: Jim Anderson told me -- quote -- "The ATF gathered a dozen subjects. There were never any suspects, never anyone charged, never anyone arrested. Five years later, we got a letter from the ATF: You're in the clear."
But that's not the only piece of Amy Bishop's past that's come to light since the shootings in Alabama. Police also revealed she shot and killed her younger brother when she was 19 in an incident which a shotgun was fired twice.
(on camera): This is the Braintree home where the 1986 shooting happened. And you see the bay window up there. That was Amy's bedroom. And according to this Massachusetts State Police report, that's where she was first unloading the family's shotgun when it first went off.
Then, according to police, she then ran down the stairs into the kitchen, where she accidentally shot her brother. She then took off out the home's back door. And the last two words she told police, she heard her brother say, "Oh, God."
(voice-over): Now, 23 years later, the current Braintree police chief is raising questions.
PAUL FRAZIER, BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS, POLICE CHIEF: I don't want to use the word cover-up. I don't know what the thought process was at the time. I can tell you it reflects poorly, I believe, on the department at that time.
BALDWIN: Chief Frazier says Amy Bishop was arrested, but released, in the midst of the booking process. The man who was the police chief at the time denies making that call.
JOHN POLIO, FORMER BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS, POLICE CHIEF: Everyone was questioned. Reports were made. Reports were submitted. Reports were (INAUDIBLE) taken. Where they are, I don't know. Cover-up? That is really a new word for me.
BALDWIN: Adding to the questions, the 23-year-old Braintree police report is now missing.
And, at the time, Amy Bishop's mother served on the Braintree police personnel board. We tried talking to Judy (ph) Baker in her suburban Boston home. She didn't come to the door, but she did pick up the phone. The 69-year-old mother told me through tears: "We're very distraught. Please, leave us alone.":
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: You know, Brooke, I will tell you, you're just left to wonder. It's like a plot from a movie of the week that we often sit down and watch -- 19-year-old shoots and kills her 16-year-old brother, tells police the gun just accidentally went off. Now we see the troubles she's had in her life.
And now she's accused of killing three people, three colleagues, as a professor at the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
BALDWIN: Correct.
SANCHEZ: Man, I will tell you, you put all that together, and you're -- you can't help but just ask, was it really an accident?
BALDWIN: That is what a lot of people, Rick, are looking into.
When I spoke with her husband today on the phone, Jim Anderson, out of Huntsville, he said, look, she was lovely, she was loving, she was the mother of four.
I asked him about the tenure issue at the University of Alabama- Huntsville, because he did confirm with me she was denied tenure. She appealed the process. She was frustrated with that decision, but she won that appeal. He just kept saying she was frustrated. But, again, he said, he was unaware she even had any kind of handgun. SANCHEZ: Well, it's just one of those things that they're going to be looking at again.
Now, this situation at the -- Harvard, right?
BALDWIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Her husband plays a part in this story in the Harvard case, right?
BALDWIN: Right. Both she and her husband were questioned back in 1993.
She was at Harvard. This was a professor. This was a medical school professor who was the recipient of this pipe bomb that came in the mail, this threat. But, just to be clear, her husband told me they were later cleared. They were the subjects of this investigation, not suspects, as he told me.
SANCHEZ: Yes, subjects. And I suppose you could add that they weren't focuses or targets then, as well, legal terms that are bantered about in these kinds of cases.
Brooke, keep digging.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: We appreciate you going up there...
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... and trying to find out, because this is one of those stories that is raising a lot of eyebrows all over the country. Thanks again.
BALDWIN: Right. Sure.
SANCHEZ: Talk about going rogue. I mean, they thought, oh, look, there's a wave, there's a wave, there's a wave coming. Before you know it, they're all running for their lives. Serious injuries here, folks.
It was a surf contest, but something went horribly wrong when that big old wave came over.
Chad Myers is right over here. You see Chad Myers over there.
Get a shot of Chad Myers for me...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: There he is. Come on up here. What, nobody pulled the chair out for you? What's in there?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Coffee.
SANCHEZ: OK. Just want to make sure.
MYERS: Would you like one?
SANCHEZ: Well, just a little while ago, we had David Gergen here, and he suggested we should have alcohol.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We will be right back.
MYERS: That might make it more interesting.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Talking about Half Moon Bay, California, Saturday, the Mavericks Surf Contest. That's what it is. It is an event. So, tons of people go there with their children, with their families.
The world's best are going after surfing's biggest prize. And there are people on the rocks watching because that's a great vantage point. So, you get a little higher elevation. They were ready for the big waves. Nobody else was, though.
Take a look what happens. Talk about big waves. Oops. That's a maverick wave. It's a John McCain wave. How is that? It's a mavericky wave, swept dozens of people out of their seats, threw them into the rocks. At least 13 people are hurt. Three are sent to the hospital.
And I was left wondering -- I grew up in an area where there were beaches all the time. Now, I grew up in Florida. That's a little different, because it's a continental shelf. Even I know that. It's shallower water.
MYERS: Uh-huh.
SANCHEZ: We get waves, but we don't get monstrous waves.
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: We get rogue waves that come by from time to time that you get excited about. But I have never seen anything like that.
MYERS: Big Pacific storms make big winds out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: And those winds make the waves. And the more wind you get and the longer the duration, the more the wave grows and the farther the wave goes inland.
This had a wind, a west wind, there for days. The surfing contest had huge waves.
SANCHEZ: Really?
MYERS: You -- yes.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So, it must have been fantastic surfing?
MYERS: Monster, like 60-foot swells, like -- literally, like "Hawaii Five-O." And you think Fred Flintstone is going to be on top of it.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: It was a great contest, until this happened. And this one wave came in. And then the series came in after that. We only really showed you the one.
But people were injured. People were -- were badly hurt.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Oh, well, yes, yes. Have you ever sat on one of those rocky buoys and -- what are they called? My goodness, I forgot the term for it, the rocks that...
MYERS: Like a break -- like a break wall?
SANCHEZ: Like a break wall, exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I mean, they're -- they will cut you.
MYERS: Oh, sure.
SANCHEZ: So, the people were falling off of there.
Now, I'm trying to get a sense of what causes the wave itself and why there was no anticipation for it, why officials who were putting this together didn't say, you know, we better be careful?
It would make me think they had never seen something like this happen before.
MYERS: They never saw it happen before. They -- they -- that didn't -- never happened during a surfing contest anyway.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: But we know that it happens at night. We know what the water and where it came from. But look at the force and the -- the energy that that wave -- just carrying people away. They said pets were swept out and the owners had to go get them in the ocean, because they were out 50, 60 feet, unable to walk, and they were just swimming around. It's a crazy wave. And there was not an earthquake that we know of. There was not really a tsunami.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: This was just a natural wind event and a natural wave event pushing it over the top.
SANCHEZ: Is that a vehicle? Can you...
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: ... Rog, just one more time? I want to -- was that a vehicle that was swept over?
MYERS: Floating, yes.
SANCHEZ: Is that a -- really?
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: One more time. Watch. I just noticed that. And I have seen this several times. It's like a green car. There, what is that?
MYERS: Oh, no, no, that's the part of the scoring, the judging. You see up there the big scaffolding?
SANCHEZ: Oh, I see, yes. It just picked it up and...
MYERS: It just picked it up and threw up on the scaffolding.
And that's a golf cart.
SANCHEZ: A golf cart.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: ... golf cart.
SANCHEZ: OK. That's what I had seen.
MYERS: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Boy, I will tell you, that's amazing.
Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: All right.
SANCHEZ: Always good to get a scientific explanation on things.
MYERS: As good as you can get.
SANCHEZ: We should give you like a moniker or something, another name, other than just severe weather expert, like brain guy...
MYERS: Science dude.
SANCHEZ: ... or -- yes, coffee-drinking dude.
Thanks, buddy.
MYERS: All right.
SANCHEZ: Here's this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, U.S. DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Recidivism rate is up in about 50 percent or so as far as return to crime. Twenty percent isn't that bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That 20 percent rate isn't that bad, unless you're talking about released terrorists.
Jeanne Meserve at our security desk. They're digging deep into what the national security adviser said and what it really means.
There's Jeanne. She will be joining us in just a little bit.
Hi, Jeanne.
Also ahead, this little girl didn't have to die. She was the victim of a tragic prescription error. Her mother made sure that someone went to prison for that mistake. But the case is not as clear-cut as you may think. Heck of a story.
Later, life in the fast lane includes a pit stop on our list of most intriguing people -- that and more on President's day.
Surprise. Senator Evan Bayh's called it quits. Nobody saw it coming, except maybe his family. He explains.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This information just in. We have been following to see what was going to happen with those 10 missionaries from Idaho who are stuck in a jail in Haiti.
There was supposed to be a decision some time today, but now we're hearing there's a problem in Haiti which is going to delay the decision even more.
John Vause is standing by, by phone. He is going to join us and give us an update on this thing.
John, what do you have? JOHN VAUSE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, it seems quite bizarre, but understandable, given the circumstances.
The power -- the building which was meant to print out the brief which the prosecutors have prepared for the judge to make his decision, well, that building has no electricity. And so the printer won't work. It sounds really basic stuff, but that's what they're dealing with right here in Haiti because of the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake.
We were expecting the prosecutors to hand that brief to the judge today. He was then going to make his decision on whether they would be bailed for all, some, or none of the Americans currently being held here.
But, because they can't print it out, the judge can't get a copy of it. Now they're saying that this will now take -- won't happen before Wednesday, because Tuesday in Haiti is a -- is a public holiday. And so then Wednesday now is the day when we will find out if there is to be bail for the missionaries -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Well, I don't understand what electricity has to do with a judge just coming out and making an announcement. Why can't he make some kind of oral presentation? Hell, why can't he just write it down on a pad and take it out or something?
VAUSE: Well, I understand it's quite a comprehensive brief. This is the legal process. The prosecutors had a number of days to put this together. They have been working on it since Thursday.
And it's -- you know, it's an extensive legal argument, their recommendations on whether or not the 10 people currently being held here should be entitled to bail. So, there is a process. It must be -- I'm assuming that, quite often, what you have from a legal point of view, it has to be tendered to the court.
The judge then has to receive it. It has to go through a clerk, has to be sealed and then signed off on. And then the judge reviews those documents. There has to be some kind of paper trail. And this is the process. And the Haitians now are very, very determined to show that, while so many other things in this country may be broken, their legal system is not, and they're going to follow this due process -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Wow. And, in the meantime, the missionaries are sitting in jail, I guess, waiting.
VAUSE: That's right, yes.
In fact, a CNN crew was out there today, spoke with them briefly. They said that they are expecting to be released -- they guess that's now going to be delayed for a few more days -- and that they were fine. They're doing well. There was some singing and they're reading their Bibles and they seem to be in fairly good spirits.
It's pretty amazing, considering what they have been through. SANCHEZ: You -- you know, I was thinking the same thing, John. Man, you have got to figure, can you imagine being in one of the poorest countries on earth thrown in a jail, sitting there, waiting, all 10 of you, and, by the way, a country that has just had a bunch of earthquakes at the same time? And I -- it's -- it's a perilous situation.
They're showing patience, and we will move on, and we will wait and see what happens. But, apparently, because of this electrical issue, it's going to be a delay.
And, John, we thank you for joining us and sharing that info with us.
VAUSE: OK, Rick. thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right.
All right, comments this weekend from White House National Security Adviser John Brennan are feeding the debate over Guantanamo Bay detainees. Now, Brennan says one in five detainees who have been released return to extremist activities. One in five, right? That's a 20 percent rate. It's a rate that he defends as better than the American prison system, for example.
Here's his explanation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENNAN: People sometimes use that figure, 20 percent, and say, oh, my goodness, one out of five detainees return to some type of extremism -- extremist activity.
You know, the -- in the American penal system, the recidivism rate is up in about 50 percent or so as far as return to crime. Twenty percent isn't that bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Twenty percent isn't that bad.
CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve joins us now from the security desk in Washington.
I can -- well, I don't have to imagine this. There's already been a lot of reaction to the remarks. What's being said, and what's being said back, Jeanne? Take us through it.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Oh, well, Senator Lindsey Graham has been pretty outspoken about this. He said he was just astounded by what Brennan had to say. He said he's disconnected from the world in which we live.
And there's more. Here's a bit of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Do you want someone in charge of counterterrorism who finds a 20 percent return-to-the-fight rate is acceptable? He has lost my confidence, and it's the best evidence yet how disconnected this administration has come from the fact that we're at war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: There have also been calls for Brennan's resignation from Senator Kit Bond, from Representative Peter King. They have been upset by Brennan saying that the Republicans are politicizing national security.
He even accused them in a "USA Today" op-ed last week of using -- using it as a football and aiding al Qaeda as they do that -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Are we talking about -- help us. Help Americans figure this out, Jeanne. That's why we have you there. Are we talking about 20 percent of people, this recidivism rate, that were sent back who became hardened terrorists? Because, oftentimes, we use these labels, and I want to understand exactly what we're talking about.
What do we mean by the fact that we arrested them for terrorism- related charges, they went out of Gitmo or out of prisons, and then they returned to a life of crime? Does that mean they became terrorists again?
MESERVE: Some have.
I mean, for instance, some of the key people in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are people who are related from -- or who were released by Guantanamo Bay. But, Brennan, in his remarks, to be fair, said that this 20 percent mark is very squishy, and that, in fact, they know of around 10 percent who have certainly returned to terrorism.
The other 10 percent, people they suspect of having done that. So, the number is a little bit flexible here. And I should mention that -- that Condi Rice, when she was secretary of state, also mentioned recidivism in an interview that she gave to the Associated Press.
Politico today has reprinted part of that -- of that interview. But she never mentioned the 20 percent. She certainly compared it to what was happening in the American prison system or -- prison system.
SANCHEZ: While I have you, let me ask you something else. I watched all the Sunday talk shows yesterday, some pretty good TV. And I keep hearing -- I keep hearing all these charges about the difference between taking someone like the Christmas Day bomber and putting him in the criminal system that we have in this country, where we read someone their Miranda rights and they basically are judged innocent until proven guilty, as opposed to the military tribunals, where we did with several other people during the Bush administration -- not all, but some.
Then I did some reading last night after I was done watching the shows. And I found out that, you know, those military tribunals aren't -- comparatively speaking, tell me if I'm wrong -- don't have really great numbers either. It doesn't shake out all that well.
I understood that we had three people that we convicted under criminal tribunals -- or military tribunals -- pardon me -- I misspoke -- and that in two of those three cases, those guys are already out.
In fact, on paper, charging someone criminally turned out to be better than charging someone through a military tribunal. Am I wrong?
MESERVE: No, you are correct.
Military tribunals have been challenged repeatedly in court. There's been a lot to work through where they're -- where they're concerned. And, as you mentioned, there have been just a handful of convictions under that system.
The -- the civilian justice system has been tested more seriously. According to statistics that CNN Fact Check came up with, there have been 346 cases that have been prosecuted in the civilian court system. There have been 174 convictions on terrorism and terror-related charges. Twenty-four people were convicted on lesser charges.
So, when you look just at the statistics at this point in time -- and this according to, you know, non-partial legal studies that have been done -- it appears at the moment that the civilian courts have been more effective.
SANCHEZ: So, when we hear the Republicans, in general -- and I believe their argument -- I thought it was earnest -- coming out and saying, how dare you read this person his Miranda rights, if they had looked at the same numbers you and I had looked at, maybe they wouldn't make those statements.
MESERVE: And there are also people who say, listen, in the military tribunal system, he also would have been given a lawyer. He would not have been Mirandized, but he would eventually have gotten a lawyer.
SANCHEZ: Right. It's...
MESERVE: So, there are some questions there.
But, listen, these are honest disagreements that people have on many of these issues. The Republicans disagree with the administration on the decision to close Guantanamo Bay, the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York.
SANCHEZ: Well, yes.
MESERVE: There's a whole laundry list here. And there can be very honest differences of opinion. But it just might be that some people are trying to seek a little political advantage on this.
SANCHEZ: Their job perhaps is to disagree. Our job -- and that's why I'm glad we have you -- is to fact-check them and find out what the truth is in these arguments. (LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: And my thanks to you for doing so once again there at the security desk, Jeanne. Appreciate it.
MESERVE: You bet.
SANCHEZ: All right, look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have the stigma now. I'm a felon. I have hurt somebody. It's hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: God, you feel bad for him, don't you? Let me tell you who that is. This guy is paying the price for a horrible medical mistake. The victim was a 2-year-old girl. He didn't fill the deadly prescription, but he was in charge of the pharmacy that filled the prescription. And now he's paying for it.
It's a heck of a story. We're going to bring it to you. And you will see it. And you will see what he says from behind bars, where he obviously feels terrible about this.
What does it take, also, to make the list that you don't want to be on? Well, for example, what did a Hollywood director have to do to become a nominee?
And we will tell you what happened on a recent flight that has him so fired up, he's tweeting like a madman about this.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Reading all the comments that you guys are sending about my hair. It's just hair, folks.
But, hey, look at David Gergen, right? He comes out here and he starts doing it.
Look at Wolf Blitzer. Look at Wolf Blitzer. Look what he has done. He has sent out this tweet. Now, you thought that Wolf Blitzer was just an average guy, you know, a real serious fuddy-duddy kind of news guy.
No, you got him all wrong, folks. "Usher, Shakira, She Wolf," he writes, "and Alicia Keys, fabulous entertainment at NBA's All-Star Game. Loved it. And Shakira's hips don't lie."
That's the Wolf Blitzer you don't know, but you need to get to know.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: All right.
Usually, when you call a woman fast, it's not necessarily a compliment. And I'm pretty sure this woman isn't offended, though. She's one of our most intriguing.
Her parents met on a blind date at a motor race. How's that for destiny? At 10 years old, she was tearing up go-kart tracks. At 23, she ran in her very first Indianapolis 500. She crashed and caught fire.
This weekend was her big NASCAR debut. Watch this. All right. The green car right there coming through the smoke, and, bang, gets in the middle of a 12-car pileup, number seven into the wall, into the infield, scary and disappointing end to her first ever Daytona 500, where she started 15th.
Everybody was looking forward to this. She says this about herself: "There's nothing that I can't do in a race car because I'm a girl. These days, I love being a girl."
We like her too. She beats the boys in a boy's game. And yes, she's fast. She's Danica Patrick, one of today's "Most Intriguing." And, by the way, Danica will join us on RICK'S LIST, right here, this Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: The people's business is not getting done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, he's just had enough of the political mood on Capitol Hill, and he's not alone. Did you hear he quit today? Well, announced that he was going to be quitting.
Up next, more of his surprise announcement.
Also, what happens when New York's finest runs into New York's finest jewelry store? We'll take you through that. The story is coming back. The story behind the wreck, as THE LIST scrolls on.
I'm Rick Sanchez. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We talked to Jessica Yellin a little while ago about Evan Bayh, about his bowing out of the U.S. Senate race, declining to run for reelection, saying there's no place for people like me in Washington anymore because I'm a moderate. That's what he said.
It's rare to do what Bayh did today, which is basically to say that, look, our method of legislating, it's broken. That's what he's saying. It's his opinion.
Here. Hear it for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAYH: There is much too much partisanship and not enough progress; too much narrow ideology and not enough practical problem-solving. Even at a time of enormous national challenge, the people's business is not getting done.
Examples of this are legion, but two recent ones will suffice.
Two weeks ago, the Senate voted down a bipartisan commission to deal with one of the greatest threats facing our nation -- our exploding deficits and debt. The measure would have passed, but seven members who endorsed the idea, actually cosponsored the legislation, instead voted no for short-term political reasons. Just last week, a major piece of legislation to create new jobs, our nation's top priority today, fell apart amidst complaints from both the left and the right.
All of this and much more has led me to believe that there are better ways to serve my fellow citizens, my beloved state and our nation, and continued service in Congress.
To put it in words I think most people can understand, I love working for the people of Indiana. I love helping our citizens make the most of their lives. But I do not love Congress.
I will not, therefore, be a candidate for re-election to the United States Senate this November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This guy is coming out and essentially saying the system is broken, I can't stand most of those people because of what they do, it's not working, it doesn't work for me, and I want out. I mean, when was the last time you heard a politician come out and essentially say those things about a broken system?
His opinion, but one that we're going to be drilling down on here at CNN, because this is not the first we've heard of this type of story. There may be the beginning of a trend here.
He's one of five Senate Democrats who have already said that they will not run for re-election. I mean, look at this list.
Six Senate Republicans are bowing out as well. Five are retiring. And then there's Sam Brownback of Kansas. He's decided to shift out of Washington and run for governor.
Something is amiss, folks. There's something going on.
And we're going to be -- we're going to be working on this story. We had a long conversation about it earlier on in our staff meetings.
All right. What's the race away from Washington? We're going to deal drill deeper with Wolf Blitzer. He's coming up in about 20 minutes.
And talk about drilling deeper, this pelican is just pecking and poking and giving this guy a heck of a time. And the guy -- I don't know, he's kind of a coward, isn't he? I don't know.
You judge. I'll let you be the judge.
We'll be right back with "Fotos."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We have done stories about people who shoplift all types of items -- CDs, DVDs, sunglasses, clothes. Women's underwear?
Let's do "Fotos."
Boca, as in Florida, as in the mouth of a rat. About a week and a half ago, a two-man crime machine in a Victoria's Secret store heads straight for the display of women's panties. Watch the team work.
One starts scooping underwear into the other's shopping bag and suddenly they're out the door. You know, they got away with about $2,000 worth of lingerie. What are they going to do with it? Try it on? The crooks are still out there somewhere, say police.
Now let's go to this West Palm Beach condo building. It got hammered by two different hurricanes, and now it's coming down.
A ton of explosives is what it took. It's an implosion, right? Quite a sight to see.
The 30-story building has a narrow footprint. It's surrounded by several other structures. So the footprint is small. Down it went, to the fascination of spectators, who watched and cheered from bridges and boats on the Intercoastal Waterway.
Look at this guy. Put a wild animal on live television, and you're going to have a "Fotos" moment. But really, it's the weatherman who's a little -- well, weird.
Check out Mr. brave TV weather guy there and the pelican who's not impressed. Not really sure what's going on between these two. Maybe it's some kind of relationship. But that bird is on a mission, and it's in the weatherman's pants.
Hey, bird, mellow out.
As for you, buddy, well, that's "Fotos."
What's it take to make "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On"? Ask this guy. He's a very famous director and he was thrown off of an airplane last night because of his bigness -- bigness. There you go.
And this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you think it was your fault?
ERIC CROPP, FMR. PHARMACIST: In a way sometimes, because I've been called everything in the media, and the way my coworkers have treated me, it's been hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's a little 2-year-old girl who dies because of the prescription that was incorrectly filled. She got 23 times stronger medication than she needed. That is one of the pharmacists who was responsible for it, the fellow you just heard right there who was explaining his situation.
He obviously feels really bad. He says, look, it was a mistake.
When we come back, we're going to hear from the mother who fought to put him behind bars. And get this -- that pharmacist, he wasn't even the guy who filled the order, but he's still doing the time. You'll hear him, as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is a heck of a story. Welcome back, by the way.
I'm Rick Sanchez, here in the world headquarters of CNN.
It's about a 2-year-old cancer patient. She gets the wrong dosage. We're talking way, way, way too strong.
Two years old, a little baby, really, dies because the supervising pharmacist didn't catch another person's error when the prescription was filled and the medication was handed to the patient -- or the patient's family. That supervising pharmacist ends up in prison.
So we're asking, should more be invested in training and prevention? And some would argue, is this something that's likely to happen again?
It's a heck of a story. Watch as it's told by one of our best, CNN's David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He lives behind concrete walls and steel bars, but Eric Crop isn't sure if he's a criminal, a victim, or both.
(on camera): Are you a killer?
CROPP: No.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): In 2006, Eric Crop was a pharmacist at a Cleveland hospital when 2-year-old cancer patient Emily Jerry was killed by the medical error of a pharmacy technician. She was given a chemotherapy drug mixed with a salt solution 23 times more concentrated than the normal dose. But because Eric Cropp was the supervising pharmacist and should have caught the mistake, he was sent to jail. And that's where I found him, confused and struggling with regret.
(on camera): Do you think it was your fault?
CROPP: In a way, sometimes, because I've been called everything in the media and the way my coworkers have treated me, it's been hard.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): But not as hard as it has been for Emily Jerry's mom.
KELLY JERRY, EMILY'S MOTHER: She would go up and sown the slide. Her swing was in the middle. It was still one of those child safety swings.
MATTINGLY: At Emily's death, Kelly Jerry pushed for laws in Ohio requiring new training and certification for pharmacy workers. And she was in the courtroom when the judge handed down Cropp's sentence.
(on camera): What kind of message do you hope is being sent by that conviction?
JERRY: That patient safety needs to be first and foremost on everybody's list.
MATTINGLY: Is this going to make for fewer mistakes or more mistakes?
CROPP: I think it's going to be the same amount of mistakes, it's just going to be covered up better.
MATTINGLY (on camera): Cropp says the mistake that killed Emily Jerry came on a day when he was overloaded and rushed. These are common complaints throughout the nation's medical system. And patient safety advocates warn that cases like this might actually make it harder to change the conditions where tragic errors are made.
MICHAEL COHEN, INSTITUTE FOR SAFE MEDICATION PRACTICES: People are going to be afraid to come forward and identify problems that they've been involved with because of fear for losing their license or, in this case, even having criminal charges brought against you.
MATTINGLY: Michael Cohen of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices was among experts sending letters to the judge, calling Cropp an easy target, saying, "... the greater good is served by focusing on system issues that allow tragedies like this to happen."
But in the court's eyes, Cropp had no excuse for missing the mistake that killed Emily Jerry. He's serving six months for involuntary manslaughter.
CROPP: I mean, I have the stigma now, I'm a felon. I've hurt somebody. It's hard.
MATTINGLY: The terms of Cropp's probation will include speaking publicly, telling a story of caution to others in health care. He will never work as a pharmacist again.
David Mattingly, CNN, Cleveland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: What a story, huh?
Since David Mattingly filed that report, we've learned from Cropp's attorney that he was released from prison Friday. We're told that he remains on probation and will continue to speak out publicly about the dangers of prescription mistakes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAYH: I'm not motivated by strident partisanship or ideology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You know, this is one that no one saw coming, parting shots from retiring -- yes, retiring -- Senator Evan Bayh. At this rate, who's going to be left in the Senate? Or in Congress, for that matter? And does this mean that we should be bracing for a wild campaign season?
We're going to be talking to Wolf Blitzer in just a little bit. You know, Wolf. The guy who hangs out with Shakira's hips.
And looking ahead this week -- did I just say that on national television? I'll move on.
Looking ahead this week, for this woman driving is an understatement. Danica Patrick is going to be on our show Wednesday. She's going to be joining me to talk about, well, the Indy 500 race car debut, the crash, and what else is dear to her heart.
We'll have that for you right here. So keep watching RICK'S LIST.
And as we go to break, we do this every Monday. We allow people to come in and be inside the conversation.
It's called the Inside the Conversation Tour. And there's our big, healthy gathering today.
And I asked these folks, because I know so many of you are complaining about my new haircut, do you guys like my hair?
Yes?
Well, look at that. They're applauding.
You hear that, Jim Lemay (ph)?
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Birch Bayh was the main senator from Indiana. His son, Evan Bayh, has carried on the family's legacy. And suddenly, he called a press conference today to announce he's quitting. Just like Ted Kennedy's son, just like Christopher Dodd, who also is kind of a legacy Democrat.
You ask yourself, what's going on here? Well, when you listen to Evan Bayh, you almost get the sense that he's just tired of the bickering, tired of the fighting. He seems to be saying that nothing is really getting done in Washington.
Let me bring Wolf Blitzer in, because I think we just heard most of that sound bite a little while ago, and I want to be able to get Wolf in.
What do you make of this? I mean, I think there's an underlying story here that guys like you and I need to get at.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I think it's pretty clear. He's very, very frustrated with the United States Congress. He says he loves doing the people's business, he loves serving the people of Indiana, but he hates the U.S. Congress because of what he's seen over these past several years -- the partisanship, the inability to get things done. And I think that's clearly taken its toll.
SANCHEZ: Is he right? I mean, is there more -- you've been around this game longer than I have, at least in terms of following Washington. Is there more partisan bickering, vitriol, less ability to work together now than there has been any other time you can think of in the past?
BLITZER: Well, I've been covering Washington for 30 years plus. And there have been some pretty rough moments, as you remember, back in the '90s, during the impeachment of President Clinton. It got pretty rough at that time.
Back in the '70s with Richard Nixon, and LBJ back in the '60s. I was still a little kid at that time, but there have been rough times.
And look, if you can't take it, you get out and you move on. If you're a fighter and you want to try to change the system and improve it, you stay inside and you try to work within the system and get things done.
And he decided he just didn't want to bother anymore, so it's right to move on. He served as a two-time governor of Indiana, a senator for many years. And now, in his mid-50s, he'll have plenty of other opportunities to do some other stuff.
SANCHEZ: Well, let me ask you another question. I think this is important. I want to know what your relationship with Shakira is like.
BLITZER: She's been on my show. And I love her music. And I was at the NBA All-Star Game. I've got to tell you, the halftime show at the NBA All-Star Game yesterday, if you saw it on TNT, our sister network, it was much better than the halftime show at the Super Bowl. I love The Who, but you know what?
SANCHEZ: Oh, come on. The Who?
BLITZER: But you know what? Shakira, Alicia Keys, Usher was in the pregame show. It was fabulous. And at that Cowboys Stadium. If you've never been inside -- that was the first time I was inside -- it's unbelievable, what's going on there.
SANCHEZ: Look, by the way, we've got some visitors here. Guys, wave to Wolf Blitzer. We've got some folks coming in today to sit with us, and they help us in the show.
BLITZER: A live studio audience. I love that.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And they're all big Wolf Blitzer fans.
BLITZER: Good.
SANCHEZ: And they like your hair and my hair.
Hey, I saw David Gergen here giving me -- is your wife OK with your whole Shakira thing?
BLITZER: Yes, I think she's all right because Shakira's music is great, and she loves Shakira, too.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I can call her and take care of that if you need me to. I'm good like that.
BLITZER: Good.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Wolf. Look forward to your show.
BLITZER: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: Next, who's on "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On"?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Time now for "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
Number three on the list is Utah state senator Chris Buttars, who suggested in less than perfect English killing senior year of high school to save money. His exact words, "The kids either got their one foot in AP classes in college or they're just running around taking PE."
Buttars faced so much criticism, he's backing off a little. Now he's suggesting letting kids who have already taken all the required classes decide if they want to just skip 12th grade. Number two on the list, the off-duty New York officer whose car hit a garbage truck, flipped over, and smashed into Tiffany's over the weekend. Tiffany's!
Officer Rafael Ospina (ph) broke some ribs, and one of his passengers has a broken arm. He's been suspended, charged with drunken driving, and that puts him on the list.
At the number two on "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On," Southwest Airlines, stock ticker symbol LUV, not getting any love today from director Kevin Smith, best known as "Silent Bob" from "The Clerks" and "Jay and Silent Bob" movies.
This is number one, folks. He's making plenty of noise since getting kicked off a Southwest plane Saturday for being too fat.
Southwest says Smith was a safety hazard. Imagine being called a safety hazard. Wow.
He didn't fit between the armrests, which are about 17 inches apart, by the way. And that is, oh, about so wide.
Smith says he fit just fine. He took this picture of himself on the flight, posted it on TwitPic, looking even bigger by blowing out his cheeks, ran (ph) into one of his half a million followers on Twitter.
The airline apologized through Twitter, offered Smith a $100 voucher, and put him on a later flight. Look at what Smith tweeted when he arrived. "Hey, at Southwest Air! Don't worry. Wall of the plane was open and I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised."
He's still tweeting about it today.
Southwest Airlines, flying through a Twitter storm, putting it all on top of "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
I'm Rick Sanchez. Thanks so much for being with us.
Here now, Mr. Blitzer.
