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Rick's List

Interview With Danica Patrick; Tiger Woods Set to Speak Out; Eight American Missionaries in Haiti Freed

Aired February 17, 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: This is RICK'S LIST, and here's what's coming up in the next hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Here's what's making THE LIST right now -- new details about this woman's pattern of angry outbursts. She went off at a pancake house?

Sarah Palin is mad at "Family Guy." The debate over TV satire. Is her outrage warranted? It's "Family Guy."

She's a superstar from Indy to Daytona.

DANICA PATRICK, NASCAR RACER: Unlike in an Indy car, in a stock car, you can run literally right behind one another.

SANCHEZ: Why the switch to NASCAR? Is it working for her career behind the wheel? My conversation with Danica Patrick.

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: Whew. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.

There's so much news going on that we're following for you, breaking news having to do with Tiger Woods and breaking news going on in Port- au-Prince, Haiti, a story that we at CNN have been following for so long now.

And it appears that a judge has indeed decided that, of the 10 remaining behind bars there -- see them there -- he has decided that eight of them will be allowed to leave the country, essentially as if they had made bail, and will in fact be willing to leave.

We understand that we have two correspondents that are following this story. John Vause is there in Haiti. He's going to be picking up the story for us. He broke the story, by the way, here on CNN just about 20 minutes ago, if you didn't see it.

And we also have Dan Simon, who is standing by in Idaho.

I'll tell you what. Let's -- let's pick up the story with Dan Simon. He's talked to some of the family members, I think.

Dan, can you hear me?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can, Rick. Can you hear me?

SANCHEZ: I can. Let us know what you have learned from that end of the story, from Idaho.

SIMON: OK.

Well, Rick, first of all, I just got off the phone with a woman named Phyllis Allison. Her -- her son is Jim Allen. He's one of the people who just got word that he's going to be released. She was -- she was crying. She was absolutely ecstatic.

This has been a really tough few weeks for her, as you can imagine. I'm here at the Central Valley Baptist Church. This is where this trip originated and where Charisa Coulter and Laura Silsby planned this trip.

Keep in mind, Charisa Coulter and Laura Silsby, they are the two people who the judge says must remain in Haiti to face these charges. Now, the eight people who are being released on bail, apparently, they have to go back and face these charges somewhere down the line, but, obviously, it's going to be a huge disappointment to the families of those two individuals that they cannot leave the country.

And, Rick, I'm getting a bunch of static in my ear. I don't know if you can hear me, but...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: No, I can hear you perfectly fine.

SIMON: It's tough to hear you. Sorry.

SANCHEZ: I just want you -- I want you -- because you just said that there's a lot of disappointment that two of them will not be released.

We should clear up for the viewers -- and I think you're best to do this, because you know the story so well -- what makes those two different from the other eight? Explain it to us.

SIMON: OK.

So, this mission really started a couple years ago, when Laura Silsby and her 24-year-old nanny, Charisa Coulter, had this idea to go to the Dominican Republic and build an orphanage for Haiti orphans.

So, they started planning this a couple of years ago. Well, then the earthquake happened, and, obviously, they had to accelerate their plans, or at least they wanted to. So, they went down to the country right away, and they gathered all these people to go with them.

And so they're the ones who really came up with this idea, and at least, according to family members of those eight, they're the ones who really drove this forward and would have been the ones to plan all the logistics...

SANCHEZ: So -- so...

SIMON: ... in terms of getting paperwork, et cetera.

SANCHEZ: So, the eight that are being allowed to leave...

SIMON: Hey, Rick, hang on. Hang on. Rick, hang on.

SANCHEZ: Go ahead. Do what you go to do.

SIMON: Hang you one second, because we're having a -- having problems with the audio.

Hey, Paul. I'm hearing something in my ear, if you guys can help me with that.

Sorry, Rick.

SANCHEZ: No, that's perfectly fine. I understand. I know we're doing all of this stuff on the fly.

Just -- just so our viewers understand, the eight who are being allowed to leave were volunteers who went along, but weren't -- were not originally part of the plan, correct?

SIMON: They were not originally part of the plan.

What happened is, after Coulter and Silsby decided they -- that they were going to go right away after the earthquake, they needed some volunteers. They needed to make this thing happen. They needed to get this -- this hotel, which was going to be the site for the orphanage in the Dominican Republic, ready.

So, word went out asking for volunteers: Who wants to go to Haiti with us and help these children? And, all of a sudden, members of this church raised their hands and said: I will go.

And then word spread to a nearby church in Twin -- Twin Falls, Idaho, and people there said: I will go as well.

And -- and the people who volunteered each brought sort of a different skill set. We know that the men, for example, are good at building things. And one of them is actually a firefighter in Topeka, Kansas, and -- and he was good at building things, and also would be able to help folks if -- if really anything went wrong. He's also a paramedic.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

SIMON: So, as you can see, in terms of what the judge is doing here, he's -- he's saying that those eight people really weren't part of this deal, in the sense that they didn't -- they didn't plan anything. They were not the ones who drove this forward. What he is saying, apparently, is that Coulter and Silsby, they're the ones who are responsible for -- for how this may have gone awry. SANCHEZ: And that's why they have to stay in jail until we hear from another judge, folks.

I know this gets confusing, but now another Haitian judge has to come in and make a decision to whether those two or all 10 will subsequently be in fact tried. A judge can now come along and say, you know, forget about it. We're going to throw out the charges. It's not going to go. Or he will decide whether in fact they will be tried.

If that's the case, these eight that John is referring to will then to have return from Idaho back to Haiti to be tried officially, very different from our system of justice, but, nonetheless, that's what it is.

John (sic), before I let you go, have you heard from any of the family members on travel arrangements, when they will be coming back?

SIMON: Are you talking to me, Rick? I'm sorry.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Do you know when any of these eight will be returning? What does the family say about their return to Idaho?

SIMON: Yes, don't know anything about that, Rick.

What we know is that they're allowed to leave the country right away. In terms of how they are going to make all that happen, in terms of whether or not there's an aircraft that's there for them to bring them back to Idaho, we are just going to have to -- have to wait and see.

But for the family members, at least for these eight, it can't come soon enough, obviously.

SANCHEZ: If you get any of those family members, John (sic), to come to the camera, we will take them. We would love to hear from them. If you can get any family members -- I hope you can hear me -- bring them to the camera, and we will interview them during this show, OK?

SIMON: You bet.

SANCHEZ: All right. Appreciate it, Dan.

Let's go to John Vause. He's standing by now in Port-au-Prince, picking up the rest of the story.

Any more information coming out of Port-au-Prince, John? Have you talked to the attorneys or have you talked to any of the eight who are going to be freed?

John, Rick Sanchez here with you. Can you hear me? John, it's Rick Sanchez in Atlanta. Can you hear me, John?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: All right. Go ahead and shoot, John.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Hi.

SANCHEZ: Tell us what you have learned. Tell us what you have learned about these eight and whether you have talked to them or their attorneys.

VAUSE: OK. We have, in fact, Rick. We have been trying to find out a bit more about what the conditions of this bail are, what this actually all means for the charges moving forward, very serious charges, as you mentioned, child kidnapping, criminal association.

Joining us right now is Gary Lissade. He was the attorney and is the attorney for Jim Allen from Texas.

You're also a former justice minister here in Haiti, former head of the Haitian bar.

So, Gary, just tell us, you mentioned before that this unconditional bail is now an occasion that all the charges might in fact be dropped against at least the eight missionaries who are being freed.

GARY LISSADE, ATTORNEY FOR AMERICAN MISSIONARY: Well, what I really think is for Jim Allen, I don't see anything that can -- you know, may bring or retain any charge -- charges against Jim Allen.

And, today, Jim has been -- the order for the release of Jim Allen has been signed. I represent Jim Allen, whose case, you know, is very simple. That's -- well, Jim is a construction specialist which has been called to come to help in Haiti by a pastor.

VAUSE: Just, because the bail is unconditional, you believe that that is an indication that the charges against your client and the other seven who are being set free today will in fact be dropped; is that correct?

LISSADE: That's a great indication. That's what I can say. It's a great indication that the charges will be really dropped against those who have -- which have been released today.

VAUSE: Why is it, do you think, that Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter are the ones who are being held behind in the jail? What did the judge say to you?

LISSADE: The judge didn't say anything. He said that he will continue his investigation on the two others and to see exactly what is happening.

So, at the end of -- for maybe two months or if he has an additional month, at the end, he will give a final decision.

VAUSE: So, he could continue to investigate these two women for another two months, maybe another three months? They could stay in jail? Is this correct?

LISSADE: Well, this is what the law said, that, you know, it can continue, but I think that, in this particular situation, the judge will certainly give a final decision, you know, before this period of two months.

VAUSE: Now, one of the previous -- one of the other lawyers who came out from the judge's chambers said that he believes that the judge could only take a couple days. Is that more likely?

LISSADE: It's more likely that the judge will take only a couple of days to continue the investigation before he close file, you know, his investigation, by final decision.

VAUSE: We're also told that one of the reasons why Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter are staying behind here in a jail in Port-au-Prince is because the judge wants to know what they were doing in Haiti on a previous visit, before the earthquake, a trip that they made here last year. Is that your understanding?

LISSADE: No, I can't say anything about that, because, you know, I didn't go in that subject with the judge. And I was really emphasized on Jim Allen.

And I was...

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: Fair enough. Fair enough.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: These are serious charges. We're talking child kidnapping, criminal association. How rare is it for non-conditional bail to be given to foreign nationals, who can now essentially leave the country? How rare is that in Haiti?

LISSADE: Well, you know, we -- usually, it's very rare to have that kind of situation.

The charges are serious, but the investigation was a very good investigation conducted by the judge. So, the judge, after the investigation, he found that he could. That's why certainly, because he was the one who received all the depositions, all, you know, the witnesses.

So, now the judge was in a position to take a decision, which is, you know, what he's (INAUDIBLE) and what (INAUDIBLE) called into the justice, and I think that, in this case, justice has been served.

VAUSE: OK. Gary Lissade, one of the attorneys here for Jim Allen from Texas, thank you for your insights in this case.

Now, Rick, so, what we now know, just to recap, the two women are staying behind. And Gary Lissade thinks that they may be in jail for another couple of days, but, under Haitian law, the judge could take a couple months -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: John Vause all over that story.

We thank you, John, for breaking that information for us, and then rounding it out with the interview with one of the folks there.

Obviously, if there's anything more information on it, we will be getting back to you there in Port-au-Prince.

The other big story that we're following, have you heard? It looks like Tiger Woods is preparing to make a comeback -- a comeback to golf. He is making a statement Friday at 11:00, which we will obviously cover for you.

And one of our own intrepid reporters, Susan Candiotti, was able to get a hold of Tiger's agent. And he told her by phone -- and then Susan passed it along to us -- that, in fact, Tiger is planning to make another apology. He is not going to be announcing -- or at least we don't know if he's going to be announcing that he's coming back to play in the PGA, but that he's going to be making another announcement.

There's a lot of news going on, folks, those two just happening while we were on the air -- that and all the stuff we had planned to come your way as well.

Stay with us. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST. And we're going to scroll on for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Have you heard about Tiger Woods? Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of CNN.

It looks like Tiger is going to have a news conference of some sort on Friday at 11:00, if you can call it that. It's questionable whether it's really going to be a full-blown news conference. There may be some limitations as to what access reporters have to him.

But, leaving that aside, we have also learned from his agent, through our own Susan Candiotti, that Tiger will be making a major apology at that time. Is he setting up for a return to play professional golf once again?

David Dusek is a deputy editor for Golf.com. And he's good enough to join us now to share his perspective on this. And it's one that's very informed.

David, what say you?

DAVID DUSEK, DEPUTY EDITOR, GOLF.COM: Well, it should be very interesting to hear what we're going to get from Tiger Woods on Friday, and also what we don't get from Tiger Woods on Friday.

I will be very curious to see exactly into how much detail and, to be frank, you know, how -- how much sincerity seems to be behind what he's -- what he's going to give us. How much is he going to talk about the word, which I guess you can take the word alleged off of that?

But, also, in terms of a time frame, when is he going to be coming back? Is he going to be giving us an explanation as to how exactly the car crash took place in the first place?

SANCHEZ: Does he owe -- does he -- hey, David, does he owe us an explanation? Does he owe the American people, his family, his fans that explanation? Does he have to answer questions about his alleged affairs, or he will not be allowed to go on with his golf career?

DUSEK: Well, he certainly will be able to go on with his golf -- with his golf career. And I think that he certainly does owe that to his family and his very close friends. Whether he owes that to the world at large is another issue.

But I -- I think that it will serve him very well if he chooses to admit and to talk about some things very openly that he certainly has not done in the past, and, frankly...

SANCHEZ: Well, let me -- let me -- let me rephrase my question. When I said, will he be allowed to go on, well, of course, he can go on.

DUSEK: Right.

SANCHEZ: I mean, that's his decision. It's not our decision.

DUSEK: Yes.

SANCHEZ: The question is this. Will the criticism, will the onslaught be so relentless against Tiger if he doesn't come clean and exhaust all the questions, that he will be so buggered, that he won't be allowed to have his head back in the game, so to speak, if you get my drift?

DUSEK: He's -- he's going to get that anyways, Rick. I have got to tell you, look, I don't -- I don't think that a lot of the tabloids and a lot of the various Web sites that have been chasing around trying to scrounge up Tiger Woods news are going to stop, regardless of what he says.

I think that there's..

SANCHEZ: Yes, but -- but -- but wait a minute. If -- if he comes -- look, if he makes an honest attempt and says, I'm going to stay in this room and answer every question until you guys are tired of answering questions today, and then I'm going to walk away, and I expect you guys to leave me alone...

DUSEK: They won't.

SANCHEZ: ... that -- but -- but they -- they won't, but it's going to be harder for them to do it without people around them after -- saying, look, leave the guy alone. He's answered the questions.

That's my point.

DUSEK: I think -- I think that, if he were to come out and do that, and if he were to basically sit down and, as you say, you know, say, next question, let's go, let's get it all out today, everything is today, and then I'm moving on, if he were to do that, that would go a long way towards helping him out. There's no question about that.

I would be shocked if he ever did that. I would be absolutely shocked, OK? I -- I still don't think that even -- basically, the tabloids and a lot of these Web sites have learned, if you associate Tiger Woods and put news on there, whether it's real or not, or whether it's totally fictitious, you are going to move copies of magazines.

(LAUGHTER)

DUSEK: You're going to get a page hits on your Web -- they have -- they have learned that. So, they're going to keep going back to the trough and they're going to keep following this guy, regardless of what he says.

SANCHEZ: That which made him great also can destroy him, and that is his own fame. And that fame is not to be underestimated in any small measure, correct?

DUSEK: Oh, he is the most famous -- and now you may say infamous -- but he is the most famous athletes on the planet and one of the most famous individuals in the world. There is just no doubt about it.

SANCHEZ: Wow. What a story. Thanks so much, David. Hey, I appreciate the conversation. Thanks for catching up with us.

DUSEK: Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: All right.

Is this the next generation of airport screenings? I want to show you what you should expect to see and do if you're planning to fly soon. That's right. What are they doing to that man's hands? Is it what they are going to be doing to your hands soon?

And, then, later, our most intriguing person looked at a snowy, freezing Washington sidewalk, and said, this is the place to pitch a tent and sleep outside. Why? Hmm. Well, that's what makes him intriguing.

Stay right there. I'm going to take him through it. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST. I know, new do. Read your e-mails.

Be right back.

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There's one word that seems to be reverberating in politics these days. It's stimulus -- stimulus smackdown in this case.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: On his first anniversary of President Obama's economic recovery plan, the president says it's been a huge success. Republicans -- and this will shock you -- say it's not been a huge success. It's been a failure.

Here is what Mr. Obama says about how his bill saved the day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One year later it is largely thanks to the Recovery Act that a second Depression is no longer a possibility.

It's one of the main reasons the economy has gone from shrinking by 6 percent to growing about 6 percent. And this morning we learned that manufacturing production posted a strong gain. So far the Recovery Act is responsibility for the jobs of about 2 million Americans who would otherwise be unemployed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Lots of Democrats and administration officials are out today talking up the president's stimulus program, one of them, Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Here's his take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNE DUNCAN, U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: Part of the Recovery Act, a huge amount of money, went to education. People said, why is that? Why are you doing that?

Well, we were worried about as many as 600,000 teachers being laid off last year. And we were basically able to stave off an education catastrophe. And there's real challenges going forward that the Congress talked about, congressman talked about out. And we're not out of the woods. And we have some concerns going into next school year, but what happened this year, I thought, was extraordinary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Hey, even some Republicans had nice things to say today about the president's economic recovery act.

Take a listen to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: And in my state of the state address, I made it very clear that our number-one priority ought to be to get the economy back and to create jobs. Jobs, jobs, jobs, that's the most important thing right now for the state of California. So, we're happy that we have this great partnership with the federal government when it comes to stimulus money and creating these kinds of jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I kind of like the governor's hair, don't you?

Interestingly enough, jobs, jobs, jobs is what he says? Well, look at what Ray LaHood is saying -- actually, what someone is writing about Ray LaHood, because everybody is talking jobs today, so we have been checking the tweets.

And this is what everyone is talking about. Let's start with Gabrielle Giffords. All right?

She says: "Ray LaHood called me to say that $63 for Tucson streetcar project excellent example of stimulus funds at work."

So, she's touting this, right? She's touting this. And she's a Democrat.

Now let's go to the other side. This is a Republican, all right? And the Republican says: "Today is the first-year anniversary of the stimulus package. And Alabama's unemployment has risen from 7.8 percent to 11 percent."

So, obviously, he is slamming the stimulus package. That is Representative Mike Rogers from Alabama.

There you have it, two of them, one from the left, one from the right. One's a Dem. One's from GOP.

By the way, he's from Michigan. Why does it say Alabama? He's from Michigan. I apologize. He's not from Alabama.

Another day, another bizarre story tied to Amy Bishop. She is the Alabama professor accused of a campus shooting spree and questioned for killing her brother two decades ago, and questioned in a pipe bomb incident several years ago. So, what now? Oh, you're not going to believe what now. Our Brooke Baldwin has some answers for us.

You're not going to believe what happened to this woman. The story is going to shock you.

And then up next: Our most intriguing person convinced sleeping outside in a blizzard will help Haitians. Sound crazy? Maybe not, when you hear the full story.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: First time in my career -- first time, I swear -- that I have been right and my producers have been wrong. Mike Rogers is in fact from Alabama, just to clear that up. Look what it says right there. See, there's two Mike Rogers, folks. And not to besmirch the good reputation of our producers, because they're really good and work really hard, but they told me Michigan, because they thought it was the other Mike Rogers. I swear, there's two Mike Rogers, and they're congressmen. One is from Alabama. One's from Michigan. The one that we got a tweet from was from Alabama.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Oh. So confusing. But we're glad we straightened it out for you.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: A 25-year-old guy from Illinois whose name you have never heard before is one of our most intriguing people of the day.

He says he's not crazy, but you might otherwise think. He went to Washington to see what he could do to help people in Afghanistan, but realized there was a more pressing need. Look at this. Go to the corner of Florida and North Capitol Avenues in Washington, D.C., and there he is.

Living inside this past -- this tent for the past two weeks is an Oxford University grad who wants to keep the plight of Haiti's quake survivors foremost in people's minds. He calls it Live for Haiti, and is blogging about the experience.

Jesse Sullivan is his name. That's what he looks like, good-looking character, living for others, he says. And that's what makes him one of today's most intriguing people in the news.

A lot of news going on. The next phase in security screening, and it's coming to an airport near you. Well, they have to do that to your hands, to all of our hands. What is it? Will it make us safer? We want to know for you. So, we will tell you.

Also later, you know that song "Who Let the Dogs Out"? Well, who let the protesters out? I'm going to tell you exactly what went down at the world's most prestigious dog show.

Well, here's the real question, folks. Let me try and cut to the chase and tell you what this story is really about. Should folks from PETA be showing up at a dog show and turning it into a political event?

That's what the story is about. And that's what I will tell you about when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Eight people appear to be talked by two other people from Idaho -- they're missionaries from a Baptist church -- into going to Haiti right after the earthquake to help with the children there, maybe help get them out of there and build an orphanage for them. That was the plan. Then it got disastrously ugly.

All 10 of the people, the two who planned it and the eight who followed along, the volunteers, have been in a jail since then. We have just learned -- in fact, we broke the news here during this newscast -- that a Haitian judge has decided that of the 10, eight can leave. Eight can leave Haiti.

However, they may be called back for a trial. It's looking doubtful for those eight, anyway, but the may be called back for a trial if a judge decides. Meanwhile, the other two are going to stay behind bars.

Let's go to CNN's David McKenzie. He just spoke to an attorney for one of the American missionaries, and he's got some new information to add to us.

David McKenzie joining us now from Port-au-Prince.

Take it away, David.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, I can tell you that one of the defense lawyers of this group -- his name is Elian Ferant (ph) -- he arrived with much fanfare to the police station, or the jail, where these 10 are being kept. He said, much like the judge, that eight of the 10 are going to be released, he said they might be even released as early as today or this evening our time here.

And he said that Laura Silsby and Charisa Coulter, though, are going to have to stay in that jail for at least a few more days, according to him. But he did say that according to his evidence, that they are definitely innocent, to quote him, and he held in dramatic fashion a number of documents he said proved that they had the correct documents to bring those children across the Dominican Republic.

We did press him though on some of the news coming out that Laura Silsby might have been in the Dominican Republic long before this earthquake trying to get an orphanage together. He said he didn't know anything about that, and he will ask her, but he did say that they were all innocent and said they could leave as early as tonight -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: What about the possibility that they're going to be able to, once they leave, stay in Idaho? In other words, they're not going to be called back?

John Vause talked to one of the other attorneys earlier, and he says, look, I'm all but convinced, he said, that this is a sign that these eight people will eventually not be prosecuted. Are you hearing the same thing from this attorney?

MCKENZIE: We're not hearing that from him, but his point of view, Rick, is that they are completely innocent. And he said that if they end up in the states, they'll be on some kind of bail arrangement, but that might be difficult to get a group of people back from Idaho here to Port-au-Prince given the state of the government here. We did also see one of the -- actually, Charisa Coulter, who I mentioned earlier, was taken away in a police car to hospital. She's been having issues, and certainly there is some concerns if she has to stay in jail a few more days of her health.

I spoke to the missionaries a few days ago and they seemed in pretty good spirits. They're sitting in jail cells with bibles, they're having a steady supply of food. But certainly frustrated at the slow process of these proceedings -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And you're just starting to break up a little bit, but we thank you so much, David McKenzie, for filing that report to us so we can get a better feel for what's going on right there in Port-au- Prince right now.

CNN is committed to this story and will stay with it. If there's any news of these eight people being released, and we're able to turn that video around for you, you'll see it first, right here on CNN.

By the way, more on the Danica Patrick interview that I did earlier today. It's a great interview, by the way, not because of me, but because of her. By far because of her. In fact, look, she just sent this tweet out. That's why she was late when she was showing up for the interview.

She's out in L.A. She said the traffic is, well, a little wicked. You should see this interview. And I'll tell you when we're going to show it to you now that we've got all this breaking news and everything else interrupting our newscast.

Meanwhile, look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I kept on building it out further and further, and kept on going with it. And before you knew it, it was 25 x 25 x 7 foot tall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when he took my cable wire from the garage and he said he was going to put his TV in there, I was a little bit surprised.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. This is a heck of a story.

This guy is unemployed, right? He's got nothing to do. Like so many Americans, he doesn't have a job.

And in the meantime, he wanted to keep himself occupied. So he built a house out of ice.

His story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There it is. Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. We've got a lot going on.

Did you hear about this? You know those swabs the TSA -- you've seen them, right, when you go to the airports? There's like a swab the TSA agents use on your carry-on bags. They're checking to see if they see anything that might be a powder or that would show them that there was an explosive in this bag at one time or on it now.

Well, it won't just be used on luggage anymore. Soon, they're going to be doing the very same thing to your hands. That's right.

CNN's homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, joins us now from the Security Desk. You know, we look into all things security for you these days, and that's why we have got Jeanne standing by.

Jeanne, what is this all about, swabbing hands?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This comes about, Rick, because of that attempted bombing on Christmas Day. They're doing a lot more at the airports. They've got out more canine detection teams, they have more people acting as federal air marshals on flights. And now they're going to start this process of swabbing some travelers' hands.

Not everybody's. They're going to pick people randomly at the security checkpoint, in the line coming up to the checkpoint, and also in the gate area, looking for explosive residue.

So, what happens if it comes back positive? We asked the secretary of Homeland Security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: When there's a positive reading, what will happen is the passenger will be pulled aside and there will be a secondary screening. They'll be asked questions. There may be a hard pat-down, things of that sort, to make sure that they are not trying to bring something like an explosive onto the aircraft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Experts are pretty enthusiastic about this. They say that it will pick up most of the explosives, the kinds that are used by terrorists.

It does occasionally get false hits. It can hit on some heart medications, on fertilizer. But the TSA says, hey, we've looked at this, we think we can cope with it. There aren't a lot of those false positives. They think it's going to be more effective.

SANCHEZ: It's going to be a big problem for me, because I always travel will lots of fertilizer in my suitcase.

MESERVE: Well, if you travel right after gardening, it might be a little trouble for you. SANCHEZ: Listen, here's what I want to know. OK? I want an answer from you, Jeanne Meserve. How much longer is this going to back up the lines at the airport?

MESERVE: Well, the TSA says we're doing this randomly, we're not doing it to everybody, it's not going to have a huge effect. But I traveled up to Canada recently with senior producer Carol Cratty, and they were swabbing everyone's hands.

And Carol, you got extra scrutiny. It wasn't just your hands that they looked at.

CAROL CRATTY, CNN SR. PRODUCER: No, they looked at everything in my computer bag. Being a television producer, I have a lot of little electronic gizmos. And I had all the disks from my shoot. So they even swabbed one of the disks to make sure there was no explosive residue on that as well.

MESERVE: And they also opened up Carol's umbrella. They went through her book to make sure there were no secret compartments. And that took a lot of time. But that was in Vancouver around Olympics time. We're told we're not going to see anything like that again.

SANCHEZ: What about these groups like, you know, the ACLU and others? Are they going to step in and say, wait a minute, this is a violation of our rights and so on and so forth?

MESERVE: You know full well, Rick, that they've had a lot of problems with things like the body scanners. But about this? They don't have that many problems. They say as long as they're not picking people based on their ethnicity to test their hands, and as long as it's not being used to detect people with drugs, for instance, or something besides aviation screening, they can live with this.

SANCHEZ: It sounds good to me. It doesn't seem to be a major issue.

We thank you, Jeanne Meserve, for bringing that to our attention.

MESERVE: You bet.

SANCHEZ: See, give me your hand. See, they just do, like, a swab. See?

They just go like this and then they figure out what's going on. Right?

I'm trying to be nice to you, because I just got this tweet.

Do me a favor, Robert. Show that tweet up there.

Look at Bob. He says, "Hey, Rick, you were very short with Brooke after she had been gone all week digging up dirt."

You were up in Boston, you working hard, you did a great job on the story. You come back --

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: And he's right, and I apologize. I was very short with you.

BALDWIN: It's OK.

You know, Bob, I got trumped by Tiger and what's going on in Haiti, but I'm here. It's all good.

SANCHEZ: Hey, you're back and you're bad.

BALDWIN: It's all right. It's all good.

SANCHEZ: So you're right there underneath all the other tweets that are asking, "Rick, what's up with your hair?"

BALDWIN: We have to have a conversation.

SANCHEZ: After the newscast.

You want to do "Fotos"?

BALDWIN: Let's do "Fotos."

SANCHEZ: All right. Here we go.

Have you heard the saying friendly seas? Well, how about friendly streets?

Now let's put the two together, shall we, and we'll call this "Fotos."

Norway. These underwater explorers were seen in full scuba gear, but they are not anywhere near water.

Appearing irate, they spring into action and chase the vehicle brandishing some crazy-looking weapons. Right? Well, luckily for passersby, both men were wearing flippers, so they couldn't exactly catch the victim.

BALDWIN: What?

SANCHEZ: Exactly. What the heck is this, right?

It's actually -- here, I'll explain it to you. It's actually a car working for Google Earth. They go around getting street shots. The scuba guys saw the car, got excited, and they chased it. They just happened to be trying on their scuba gear when they saw the car going by.

How weird is that?

BALDWIN: Uh-huh. Google that one.

SANCHEZ: We just happened to be trying on our scuba gear when I saw you walk by, Brooke.

To Ohio, where one guy is giving new meaning to the term "chilling out." He's unemployed, has nothing to do. So here's what he did. He made a house.

BALDWIN: Is that all snow?

SANCHEZ: Yes. It's a massive igloo.

BALDWIN: With TVs?

SANCHEZ: I'm serious -- four rooms, party room, strobe lights, entertainment center, flat-screen TV, surround sound.

How am I doing?

BALDWIN: Hey, it's a way to keep the vodka cold.

SANCHEZ: We're going to invite you over.

He's been working on it since New Year's Eve. He says he plans to add a guest room to boot.

Where does he put the heater?

BALDWIN: It melts. He can't.

SANCHEZ: Exactly.

Ah, Valentine's Day in New York. You ready?

BALDWIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Isn't this cool? There's nothing as romantic as flowers, candy. Two star-crossed lovers at a New York Rangers hockey game, that's where this guy proposes to her.

BALDWIN: And she gets up.

SANCHEZ: She says no, I will not marry you, in front of all those people.

Can you believe it?

BALDWIN: I would never want that to happen to me.

SANCHEZ: Don't believe it, because it's fake.

BALDWIN: Really?

SANCHEZ: It's really fake.

Reports are that these are two actors, they created this hoax. The Rangers were apparently in on it, and they wanted to freak everybody else out, and it did.

BALDWIN: And get on TV.

SANCHEZ: You feel horrible for the guy.

BALDWIN: You do.

SANCHEZ: For just about two seconds.

BALDWIN: Are they married?

SANCHEZ: And now we hate them.

BALDWIN: It's just a joke.

SANCHEZ: It's a joke.

BALDWIN: Yes, I don't feel bad for her.

SANCHEZ: Those are "Fotos."

How about that Tiger Woods, huh? It looks like he's getting ready to make a return to professional golf.

He has instructed -- or his people have instructed our people at CNN that he's going to be giving a comment, statement, maybe answer questions Friday. And he's going to apologize once again.

What's going on with the Tiger? We're on it.

THE LIST scrolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right. Welcome back.

I'm Rick Sanchez. Brooke Baldwin joins me now for the regular segment that we do every day.

I'm so happy that you're back. I missed you so much.

BALDWIN: You did miss me?

SANCHEZ: I really did. But today, in your absence, I got to spend some time with Danica Patrick.

BALDWIN: How was that? A lot of guys jealous, I'm sure.

SANCHEZ: She's a --

BALDWIN: She's a hottie. It's OK. I can say that.

SANCHEZ: I didn't say that. It would be -- she's a woman who races.

BALDWIN: Yes, she races, Rick Sanchez. We'll save that for tomorrow. Danica Patrick, right, tomorrow?

SANCHEZ: We were going to bring you both. It's a two-part interview. We were going to bring it to you today.

Why am I blushing?

BALDWIN: Look at your smile. Look at you.

SANCHEZ: We're going to have a two-part interview with Danica tomorrow. You'll see it right here because we couldn't get it in today because we've got way too much stuff going on.

So, the most fascinating story that I've seen going in a long time is this professor in Huntsville, Alabama, because, OK, the act -- we do these stories from time to time. Somebody goes and allegedly kills people, and it's a horrible tragedy. But since then, we've heard that she may have also been responsible for the death of her own brother 23 years ago.

BALDWIN: We don't know if she was responsible.

SANCHEZ: Well, may have been. May have been.

BALDWIN: I want to be clear she wasn't charged, but there's new information.

SANCHEZ: Exactly. Thank you for getting my back on that.

We've also heard she may have had some involvement in one of her professors there at Harvard, perhaps a threat on him.

BALDWIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: And now there's something new. Something at an IHOP, of all things.

Can you take us through it?

BALDWIN: Right. So here's -- we were digging on this on the plane from Boston today. We got confirmation from the Peabody Police Department, so this is a suburb of Boston.

It happened in 2002. And according to police, Amy Bishop was in this IHOP. She had young children at the time.

She asked for a booster seat. You know, the little things you put your kids in. Right?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

BALDWIN: So, apparently, the woman who came before her, she actually took the last booster seat. So, according to police, she was very frustrated, started yelling, yelling at the woman, yelling profanities, saying, "We were here first!" That was a quote from the police report.

SANCHEZ: Oh my God.

BALDWIN: And then, of course, they asked her to stop, she continued. And let me get this quote right. She said, "I am Dr. Amy Bishop." The manager then told her to leave, and that is when police say she hit the victim on the head in front of her two children.

SANCHEZ: The woman who took the highchair?

BALDWIN: Right. Right. So, that was -- it just gives us a little bit of insight.

SANCHEZ: Well, this is the thing -- with each passing day, we get new tidbits of information about how --

BALDWIN: Just of her background.

SANCHEZ: -- potentially not well and possibly violent this woman is.

BALDWIN: Right. Absolutely.

And we're also though today getting some information. You know, a lot of people wondering, what in the world went on that Friday, that biology department meeting? So we're finally hearing from one of the survivors. The president of the University of Alabama Huntsville coming out yesterday, calling her, really, essentially a hero.

We're talking about Debra Moriarity. And she's the one who's sitting around the round table. She hit the deck, got under the table.

SANCHEZ: This is a witness. This is a witness.

BALDWIN: This is the witness and also a colleague. Grabbed Bishop's ankle, tried to get her to stop shooting.

Bishop actually pointed the gun at her and tried to shoot, but the gun clicked. Here's a piece of that interview.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBRA MORIARITY, SURVIVED CAMPUS SHOOTING: I don't know. I mean, I don't really know that her face changed at all during any of it.

I mean, she looked angry when I first saw her. You know, somebody who just was mad at you and was going to shoot you. You know? And I don't think that that changed.

When she saw me, it wasn't any different. It was not like, oh, here's Deb, let me shoot her too. It was just that face was there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Wow.

BALDWIN: Final note, we finally -- or actually, I should say the mayor of Braintree dug up -- remember the missing police records?

SANCHEZ: Yes, the missing police.

BALDWIN: Here you are. You see them. They're handwritten.

And so the current D.A. of Norfolk County has reviewed these and said, hey, there was definitely probable cause not only to have arrested her 19 years ago, relating to that -- or rather, 23 years ago, when she was 19, relating to the shooting death of her brother, but she should have been charged.

SANCHEZ: Somebody made a mistake.

And with, that we'll be right back. Wolf Blitzer is going to be joining me in just a little bit. Lots to talk about, as you might imagine, going on in D.C.

I'm Rick Sanchez. Be right back with THE LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Very interesting meeting last night in Washington. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele sat down with 50 leaders of the Tea Party movement. It was only supposed to last for about an hour, but apparently they had a lot to talk about, dragging late into the night, we're told.

Wolf Blitzer is joining us now.

Guess where Wolf is today?

Is it true? Are you in Buffalo?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: No, I'm in Washington, D.C. Who told you I was in Buffalo?

SANCHEZ: Somebody told me you were in Buffalo.

BLITZER: I'm from Buffalo, but that was a long time ago.

SANCHEZ: I know you're from Buffalo. I tell everybody you're from Buffalo.

BLITZER: If you go outside in the streets in Washington, it looks like Buffalo, given all the snow that we've had.

SANCHEZ: Who is it -- go ahead -- who e-mails you during the football season every time your Bills do well?

BLITZER: The Bills do well, but not enough. You do. I'd love to hear more from you during the football season. Between the Bills and the Redskins, I'm in trouble.

SANCHEZ: Right. Right. Hey, listen, let's talk politics since that's what they pay us to do.

A lot of people say that the Tea Party is, in some measure, like the Republican Party on steroids. What is it that the Republicans and the Tea Party folks need to patch up? I'm not sure I get it.

BLITZER: Well, some established Republican leaders are not necessarily beloved by many of the Tea Partiers. For example, the governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, who wants to be the next Republican senator from Florida. He's facing a challenge, as you know, from Marco Rubio. You've been following that story.

SANCHEZ: Yes. I know him.

BLITZER: A lot of Tea Party guys don't like Charlie Crist.

I think it's fair to say, even though Sarah Palin is endorsing them, John McCain has got some serious problem in Arizona. J.D. Hayworth, the former congressman, radio talk show host, is running.

So a lot of established Republicans are worried right now that the Tea Party movement is not going to be with them. And that's a source of concern, especially if they face Republican challenges in primaries. In a general election maybe they're not as concerned, but in a Republican primary, that could be serious.

SANCHEZ: But here's what's really going on, isn't it? Aren't many people inside the Republican Party, Wolf, worried that if they can't rein the Tea Party folks in, they'll end up having to split the conservative vote, leaving -- which will turn into an advantage for the Democrats?

BLITZER: Yes, they are worried about that. If they have bitter, bitter Republican primary battles, that's going to weaken the eventual nominee to the advantage of the Democrat, who may or may not necessarily have a primary to worry about.

But you're right, that's a serious problem. But there's a lot of anger out there, there's a lot of frustration, and it's reflected in this whole Tea Party movement, which has been pretty impressive so far.

SANCHEZ: You know, there's a new CNN poll. I just want to get your take on this. I know you're going to be talking about this.

It says 44 percent of Tea Party activists consider themselves Republican. Eighty-seven percent say they would back a Republican congressional candidate in a two-way race.

That shows they pretty much are -- I mean, if you've got to draw a line between liberal and conservative, they really are more to the conservative side. Way over, right?

BLITZER: Right. If you talk to the Tea Party activists, what is their major complaint? Their complaint is about liberals, Democrats, the Obama administration. That's what they're angry about.

SANCHEZ: Right.

My friend, thanks for being with me as usual. Enjoy Washington. Hope you get back to see your family in Buffalo soon.

BLITZER: One of these days.

SANCHEZ: All right.

A champion's moment in the spotlight nearly ruined protesters. All right. The champ was a dog, but it was still getting hounded.

Why did PETA do this? That story is coming up in just a little bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Did you watch the Westminster Dog Show last night? If you blinked you probably missed this little moment. We're going to slow it down for you.

See that? That's that grinning woman that's holding a sign right there. That's a PETA person. That's People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals signs.

Two protesters ran into the ring with PETA signs last night. Imagine that, at a dog show, with purebred dogs. I guess they didn't hear the part where the announcer tells people to adopt shelter dogs.

The crowd booed, then cheered when security took them away. The whole thing lasted about a minute, but only the split second we showed you actually got on TV.

Thought you'd like to know Danica Patrick is going to challenge me tomorrow on television. Interesting interview.

In the meantime, I send it out to my friend, Wolf Blitzer. He's in Washington, and this is "THE SITUATION ROOM."