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Rick's List

Did New York Governor Abuse Power?; More Aftershocks Hit Chile; Lone Senator Holds Up Unemployment Benefits Distribution; Obama Proposes Incorporation of Republican Health Care Ideas; Tsunamis Hit Chilean Cities

Aired March 02, 2010 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Here is what is making THE LIST.

Give 'em hell, Harry.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: My friend from Kentucky should get a different historian to help him with his facts, because they are simply wrong.

SANCHEZ: Is he calling Senator Jim Bunning a hypocrite?

SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: Well, I have the same right as any other senator here on the floor.

SANCHEZ: One man holding up legislation. Now it is a fight.

REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: So, right now, do you think this administration is going to take on the drug companies and insurance companies? That is not going to happen.

SANCHEZ: You know the dad. Now meet the son. He wants Jim Bunning's seat. Rand Paul joins me live.

Did Democratic New York Governor David Paterson abuse his power on a case of abuse? Should he resign immediately?

More aftershocks in Chile.

(on camera): She is describing how there are people who are still stuck in the buildings.

(voice-over): The news from there as it happens in real time in either language.

The lists you need to know about. Who is "Today's Most Intriguing"? Who is making news on Twitter? It is why I keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Oh, that Ali Velshi, he is a bit of a cut-up, isn't he? A lot of stuff going on, folks. I'm going to get to it. Obviously, I'm going to let you know what is going on inside Chile. And to do that, we are going to go into CNN Chile and some of the other signals that are coming out of there. If there is anything happening at the moment that it is happening, I'm going to show it to you and I'm going to break it down for you.

Now, there is something else that I want to show you. Pardon me for just a minute. We got this letter from the president of the United States. This is a letter sent by the president of the United States to Congress. Now, this is interesting, because remember that health care reform meeting that the president had with the Republicans?

Well, apparently, the president liked some of the Republicans' ideas. Can you see this, Robert? You see that list right there, one, two, three, and four? Four ideas that the president generated from Republicans, like Senator Barrasso, like Senator Grassley, Senator Enzi, like Senator Tom Coburn.

And he is telling Congress, look, these are good ideas. Let's put those in the bill. Is this Machiavellian? Is there some game- playing going on here? We are going to be talking about that as well. But, foremost, we are going to let you read what the president says to Congress that he wants now included in the bill as a result of the meeting that he had with Republicans.

But before we do anything else, I want to take you to the floor of the Senate. This is where there was a bit of a fight going on today. This is a senator, one particular senator -- I think you may have heard Ali talking about him -- he is blocking the extension for jobless benefits for thousands and thousands of America.

He is trying to make a point. There is a back and forth that happened today between Harry Reid and Jim Bunning. Here it is. Rog, hit it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID: I say to my friend from Kentucky you made your point. You have made it well. I understand how you feel, that this should be paid for. A majority of the Senate disagrees with you. Let us either vote on that or withdraw your objection.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there objection?

BUNNING: There is. I object. And let me --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Objection is heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUNNING: That was a bipartisan bill that was set aside for a very partisan bill that Senator Reid brought to the floor and rammed through, instead of the bipartisan bill which had all of these extended benefits included in them. REID: I am sorry that my friend from Kentucky has made this so personal, because it really shouldn't be the case.

People can make their own decision as to who is a hypocrite. I'm not calling anyone a hypocrite, although I am just stating the facts. Someone boasts about the good offices of pay-go, but votes against it, talks about the doc fix, but votes against it.

So, I would think that my friend from Kentucky should get a different historian to help him with his facts, because they are simply wrong.

BUNNING: We want a country that my 40 grandchildren have the same abilities that I did growing up. We want a country that don't owe everybody in the world for our existence. I don't -- and the question I have been asked mostly is, why now? Well, why not now? What better time for it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "A country that don't."

Bunning has been blocking the benefits since Thursday over how to pay for this. Today, even his fellow Republicans -- again, Bunning is a Republican from Kentucky. Now, he is not the most favored Republican among Republicans, but even his fellow Republicans tried to get him today to at least stop this and allow a 30-day extension of the employment benefits and the health insurance for people who are out of work.

But Bunning said no. Ron Paul's son is going to join us in a little while. He agrees with Bunning, which is an interesting perspective, so I am looking forward to that conversation.

One Republican, by the way, one Republican senator has told us to say Bunning is not beloved is an understatement. That is what he said, that he is not beloved and it is an understatement. Here is the thing about Bunning. He is not a big fan of reporters either. And he does not like when reporters come up and start asking him questions. Take a look at this videotape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have really just a couple of easy questions for you to answer.

BUNNING: I bet you do.

BASH: No, sir, just specifically on the fact that I understand your point. I understand your point that you are making about the need to pay for these benefits. But what Democrats are asking -- I think it is a fair question -- is, why now? Why not before?

BUNNING: Well, it has been.

BASH: Why haven't you called -- (CROSSTALK)

BUNNING: I have been.

BASH: What has changed? What has changed? Why are you now calling for things to be paid for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Did you recognize her? That was our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash. She has been chasing Bunning for days now, trying to get this story straight.

Dana, good effort.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: You are in good company. It seems like everybody else is chasing this guy up and down elevators and stairs and hallways. Did they come to some kind of -- what is the latest on this story? Has it moved?

BASH: Yes.

We thought it was going to move. We thought maybe we could come here and tell you that there was a breakthrough, but, so far, not yet. Here is the deal. The deal is that what Senator Bunning is now saying is, OK, I will allow this vote if you allow three separate votes on three separate ways to pay for the $10 billion package of benefits and so forth.

And Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid, he said came to the microphones and he said, uh-uh, I'm not going to go for that. I will only go for one vote and one vote only. And he walked away from the camera. And I said, really? You won't just have three different votes?

Because Democrats think they can defeat these votes. It is not an issue for them. They can vote them down and then get this finalized and move on.

SANCHEZ: Then why don't they? Then why don't they?

BASH: Well, that is the question I asked. And the answer that I'm getting is, no, if he wants to have one vote, one vote on one potential way to pay for it, they will give it to him.

But here is what is another really interesting thing, Rick. Our Ted Barrett, who has also been chasing Jim Bunning, he actually got him in a subway car, so he had nowhere to go. And he asked him that question. Well, why don't you just go for one vote? If you want to paid for this, what do you care how it's paid for?

And the answer he gave was, because I think it's going to lose. So, you have so many different dynamics going on here that is creating this standoff. It's possible we might get a deal by the end of the day, but who knows.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, this guy has got a track record, by the way. And I think that is important to point out to our audience.

But before we even talk about that, I want to show another couple pieces of tape. First, this is a guy named Jonathan Karl. He's a correspondent, apparently, a very good correspondent for ABC News. He caught up with Bunning last night in an elevator. And this got anxious, if not a little tenuous. Let's watch that. And then I got another one, the one you just described.

Hit it, Rog, the elevator scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: What is the issue? And are you concerned about people who are unemployed?

BUNNING: Excuse me. I have to go to the floor.

BASH: Senator, can you just explain why you're holding this up? I'm sure you have an explanation.

BUNNING: Excuse me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Yes. Excuse me. Now, there's another one. This one is the one Dana was just describing a little while ago with one of our producers and Dana.

Dana has been in the middle of all of these, by the way, so she can give us a blow by blow.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Let's take the second one now. Apparently, now, he was a little less confrontive (ph) and he decided to start talking to some of these reporters.

Take it, Rog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you, Senator? Can we talk a little bit?

BUNNING: No, sir. I am going to the doctor's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, how are you? Are you OK?

BUNNING: Oh, yes. This is just a routine physical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am just wondering if you are getting any support from the Republicans yet for the idea of pulling this out of stimulus.

BUNNING: I think so. I thought -- if you had listened on the floor yesterday --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did, yes.

BUNNING: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, do you think that they will fall in behind you and --

BUNNING: No, I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?

BUNNING: Well, you will have to ask them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I see. I mean, the Republicans, as far as your colleagues are concerned, will they be behind you on this?

BUNNING: You will have to ask them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. Anything from Senator McConnell?

BUNNING: (AUDIO GAP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That is interesting he asked him about Senator McConnell.

Senator McConnell is the other senator from Kentucky. And he and Senator McConnell don't exactly cotton to each other, do they?

BASH: That is an understatement, to say the least, not at all.

And one of the most -- one of the many fascinating moments of this, kind of bizarro moments --

SANCHEZ: Right.

BASH: -- was really just in the past hour, Rick. Senator McConnell was at the microphones, trying to talk about health care, which is what Republicans really want to be talking about.

Of course, we all were trying to ask him about this issue, whether he agrees with Senator Bunning, whether he's right on principle. He would not go there at all, Rick. The only thing he would say over and over again is, we are in the process of working this out, and hopefully it will be resolved in the near future.

He won't answer a question, because they don't have a good relationship. And you talk to Republicans in the hallways here, Rick, and they will tell you that -- for the most part, they will tell you that they wish that this issue would go away.

And just one quick thing I want to tell you that is just new coming on my BlackBerry.

(CROSSTALK)

BASH: Deirdre Walsh, our House producer, she just talked to the House Republican leader, and he said he actually thinks that Bunning has a point. That is actually the first -- the highest ranking Republican who has come to his defense so far.

SANCHEZ: So does Rand Paul. And I'm going to be interviewing him in just a little bit, Ron Paul's son, who is interestingly enough running to take the seat that's going to be vacated by Jim Bunning.

BASH: Yes.

SANCHEZ: He agrees that Bunning should be doing this.

Look, it is an interesting scenario, no matter how you look at it. But here is the thing. It looks like it's going to be a win for the Dems no matter how you look at it.

And there's also something else going out there. And we -- you and I didn't have a chance to talk about this, so let's put a little bit of emphasis on this before I let you go.

This thing does actually affect thousands of Americans directly, right?

BASH: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: This is not a political game. This is something that hits Americans right in the wallet.

BASH: Absolutely a standoff politically that has a real world effect.

We are trying to get some of the numbers on exactly how it is being -- affecting real people out there, but just Department of Labor, our producer Lesa Jansen just spoke to them, and they said that, as of Sunday, about 100,000 Americans lost their unemployment benefits.

It could be more as of now, but, as of Sunday, that is the number. They think, in the first two weeks of March, if this is not resolved, which is hard to really think about, but in the first two weeks of March, 400,000 Americans would lose their benefits if this is not resolved.

SANCHEZ: Whoa.

BASH: They do think that they can resolve this --

SANCHEZ: Right. BASH: -- if not in the next couple of days, with a larger jobs bill that they will slip some of these extensions in, but that probably would not get to the president's desk if this is not resolved immediately for a couple of weeks -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: The resilient Dana Bash following this story for us. Thank you, Dana.

BASH: Thanks, Rick.

SANCHEZ: We certainly appreciate it.

Now, as a result of the story that I was just explaining with Dana, guess who is going to be smiling like the cat who ate the proverbial canary? There he is, Tim Kaine. You're looking at him. He is not smiling now, but he should be.

Go ahead. You can give yourself away a little bit here, because you know that what is going on right now in Congress is in many ways to the benefit of the Democratic Party. We are going to take you through that.

You don't agree? Shake your head up and down. Who's winning here?

TIM KAINE, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I look forward to talking to you about it.

SANCHEZ: What?

KAINE: I look forward to talking to you about it.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Well done. Well done, Mr. Chairman. He's going to join me in just a little bit.

You stay right there. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Bob from Florida.

And I applaud Senator Bunning for opposing this jobs bill unless Congress finds a way to pay for it. They just passed a provision, a pay-as-you-go provision, and first bill out of the chute, they want to make exceptions for. So, what the heck good is that, if you are not going to try to pay for bills as they come up?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

The president was at a town hall meeting today and he did not comment on Bunning. Now, his press secretary, Robert Gibbs, did. He called him -- quote -- "irrational."

Tim Kaine is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. And he's good enough to join us now from Washington live.

Mr. Chairman, thanks for being with us, sir.

KAINE: Rick, always good to be with you.

SANCHEZ: This is playing right into your hands, playing right into the Democratic narrative. That is not Rick Sanchez saying that. Those are Republicans today who were interviewed saying that about what Bunning is doing.

You agree with them?

KAINE: Well, it is hard to fathom why he is doing it.

And I'll tell you, Rick, it's not just Senator Bunning. It's the Republican leadership. You have got key members of the Senate, Senators Kyl, Senators Cornyn and others, supporting Senator Bunning's courage. You've got key House leadership standing up and saying it's a good thing.

You know, what it reminded me of, it probably reminds a lot of folks of, is that when Republicans tried to shut down government in the Clinton administration. They have just perfected it this time. They have narrowed it down and they're shutting down services to the people who are the most hard-hit and the most vulnerable in this economy.

The numbers are -- you were talking about before the break. Our estimates are that this will affect -- 500,000 people who will lose COBRA benefits -- 400,000 will lose -- unemployed workers are going to lose unemployment benefits -- 2,000 federal transportation employees are being furloughed, losing their jobs.

And we are stopping infrastructure projects all across the country in ways that are going to take private sector jobs and cause them to be lost or have to be shelved.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: But, Mr. Chairman, what do you say to the folks who say, you know what, though, we have got to start somewhere? We are just spending too much money in this country. I don't care what it is for. If we are going pay as you go, then we pay as you go, and we should not be spending on anything, even if it hurts.

(CROSSTALK)

KAINE: Well, look, pulling a stunt like that out of your hat and doing it off the backs of the hardest-hit workers, these Republicans engaged in two wars without paying for it. That was fine. They did all these tax cuts to the wealthiest. That was fine.

But, suddenly, the one that they're going to pull their ace out and slap it down is people who have lost their jobs, people who are not going to have health care for themselves or their kids? They are going to lay off federal transportation workers and stop private contractors that are doing transportation projects around the United States?

You can figure out the paying side of this for $10 billion, but you don't yank the rug out from under hard-hit vulnerable people who already have virtually no safety net in this toughest economy since the 1930s.

SANCHEZ: Well, let me tell you why this looks to be a good hand for you guys, because while these guys are arguing about this, you as a Democrat, I'm sure, along with your colleagues, are thinking, the big thing, the big nut that we need to press on with is health care.

The president is talking about health -- look at this. The president just put out this letter. Robert, can you get a shot of this from over here? Come on over. This is the president. He's got four letters.

He says: "Look, I agree Senator Barrasso raised a good suggestion," he says to Congress. "We should expand health savings" -- sorry about that. Let me move this back around -- "health savings accounts. Senator Grassley raised an important concern shared by some Democrats. Medicaid reimbursements to doctors are inadequate in many states. Senator Coburn had an interesting suggestion, that we engage medical professionals to conduct random undercover investigations of health care providers."

This is the president essentially saying, you know what? We need to put in our plan some of the things that Republicans said. And here is what Senator Mitch McConnell on the Republican side said just about 45 minutes ago. He came out and he kind of surprised me, because he just took a shot at you and your party right across the bow. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: If the majority manages to jam this issue through the House over the objections of the American people -- and we know that they are overwhelmingly opposed to the bill, we know that they're overwhelmingly opposed to reconciling the bill, once reconciliation is explained to them -- it will be the issue in every single race in America this fall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He is daring you to do it. He is saying, you better not do it, Mr. Chairman, or we and the American people are going to show you.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

KAINE: Well, listen, I I'm going to tell you, Rick, first, these two issues are connecting because as hard as the Republicans are fighting against unemployed workers, they are fighting that hard for the insurance company.

And you can tell by the kind of battles people choose to fight who they fight for and who they fight against, where their values are. I say to Senator McConnell and anybody, if you want to make this campaign about a health care bill that passes, I would encourage you to.

You go out on the trail and you tell American -- the American public, hey, bring back insurance abuses. Bring back kicking people off of policies because they get ill. Bring back seniors paying more for prescription drugs. Bring back premium increases of 30 percent or 40 percent with no tax breaks for small businesses.

So, I'm going to let them run that campaign.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: But, Mr. Chairman, I'll tell you where he is right. I have been looking at these polls. He's right. The polls that used to be very much in your favor on this issue are starting to trend away from you now. Why is that? Why can't you guys sell this thing?

KAINE: Well, Rick, I actually -- if you look at the polling about the individual elements that are in this health care plan, what you see is that all of the individual elements are supported.

If you ask them generally, do you like the way the health care reform bill is put together, then you get some negatives.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KAINE: That's because the other guys have thrown so much dust in the air.

If you ask the American public about each element, they are with us. And, so, I have never seen a party fight so hard against the notion of majority rule, you know, unless it is in a Dumas somewhere. Majority rule is what Americans understand. They elected a Democratic majority, a strong one, for a reason. Reconciliation is every bit as much a rule as the filibuster rule.

SANCHEZ: I just like your reference of the Dumas. It reminds me of my studies in college about the Bolshevik Revolution, the Dumas.

KAINE: I mean, majority rule is what we get. And the majority of Americans strongly want to reform the system. They want to end insurance abuses. They want to find a path to security for the insured, coverage for the uninsured, and cost control. And that is what this bill does.

SANCHEZ: Yes. But, right now, it is still talk, and we will see what happens.

And you know what, Mr. Chairman? (CROSSTALK)

KAINE: More than talk. More than talk. We have got it through all the committees. We have got it through both houses. We have got to punch it over.

SANCHEZ: I have a feeling you guys are going to be pushing strong on this real soon, and I have a feeling you're going to be getting a lot of objections to it as well.

But we will watch it and see it. And we're always glad to have you here. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for coming on and talking to us.

KAINE: Look forward to being back

SANCHEZ: Again, we're going to talk to Rand Paul in a little while. He's got an opinion on this, very different from the opinion you just heard from Chairman Kaine. And if Rand Paul sounds familiar, it is because his father is Ron Paul. He's also running to replace Jim Bunning in the Senate. And he thinks Bunning, by the way, is right in what he is doing on this showdown.

So, we are going to be all over that. I'm going to bring you that, and also this. She is describing what it feel likes to come back and see that everything in your home is gone. You know what the earthquake in Chile did. What are the aftershocks doing now? I'm going to take you inside the story as it happens.

Also, what is it like to be in a nightclub at 3:00 in the morning when suddenly an earthquake hits? There is tape coming in that shows that, and I'm going to share that with you.

And this. All right. Look at what happens during a bailout in other parts of the world. I am going to show you. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I am Rick Sanchez. We are in the world headquarters of CNN and I have been sharing with you all the images that we have been seeing since Saturday, everything coming out of Chile.

And I have been as much as I possibly can translating things for you. We had heard about this, but we didn't see this actual video until now. And I'm going to share it with you. This is inside a nightclub. It's in Valparaiso. It's posted on YouTube. We were able to get it and want to share it with you now.

I will translate whatever needs to be translated. Take it, Rog.

This is 3:00 in the morning. Folks are partying inside this nightclub and all of the sudden the proverbial all hell breaks loose. You hear people saying (SPEAKING SPANISH), oh, my God. There is a CNN crew here that shot this, by the way. Rescue workers escaped after some of the first -- some of the first sounds.

There it is once again. All right, hold on. Now we have got new material coming in.

Rog, come back to me, if you can. OK. Now, there you go. This is brand-new material that's coming in now from CNN Chile.

"Ma'am, you look very worried. How long have you been waiting? We are looking for salvation here. We haven't been able to make contact with anybody. We don't know what is going on. Do you know where your family is? No, I haven't been able to contact my family. We are OK, though. We are OK."

This is -- these are folks at a gas station. They're all trying to get gas. And you can imagine how things are there. The biggest problem now seems to be the infrastructure, the delivery system, electricity. Roads are messed up. People are trying to -- see how they are sharing one outlet to plug in their cellulars so that they can have some kind of phone connection, because phone lines are down as well?

This is interesting, people making do as well as they can. All right. Let's -- I will translate for you what this correspondent is doing.

He says: "Here is another one of the things that you're going to see here in Concepcion. People are coming to the businesses. What happened, ma'am? People are coming into my house. They are knocking" -- well, they are all talking at once. I can't quite make sure.

"What is happening, sir? What's happening? They are sneaking in and they're stealing. They are sneaking in through the roof. There are some holes on the roof and they're sneaking in and they're stealing stuff."

So, obviously, look, folks, this is a lot of the same things that we were talking about yesterday that they're going through in Chile. And that is a lack of security, some folks taking advantage of the situation. We haven't really seen all-out looting, per se, but we certainly have heard a lot of reports of it.

We will stay on top of it. We will continue to get information.

We also have -- remember the woman, the mayor of Concepcion? I showed you an interview with her yesterday and I translated it for her. We got some new interviews with her today that I'm going to share for you as well.

So, stand by.

Meanwhile, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID: I say to my friend from Kentucky you made your point. You have made it well. I understand how you feel, that this should be paid for. A majority of the Senate disagrees with you. Let us either vote on that or withdraw your objection.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there objection?

BUNNING: There is. I object. And let me --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Objection is heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: These two senators, fireworks among them in the Senate floor today. What does Ron Paul have to do with it? Well, his son, Rand Paul, is running for Jim Bunning's seat, interestingly enough. And he is one of the guys involved in the fireworks. And he is going to join me here in just a little bit. If you want to meet him, stand by. This should be interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Some people will say, wow, what a guy. He managed to meet women in elevators and have sex with them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

COHEN: What would you say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was not fun at all. It's just not -- not a good time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A man who says he is a sex addict. And many of you say, yes, right. What do you call it? You have been telling me on Twitter. An excuse for irresponsible behavior? We will see. We will hear him out. It is a bizarre story, folks, but standby, because I will be sharing it with you. I'm Rick Sanchez, and we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Is there some culpability here on the part of the Democrats with this thing that is going on with Jim Bunning? No question that Jim Bunning is acting and being pointed to even by his colleagues in the Republican party as a bit of an obstructionist on this thing?

But does he have a point, and is it time that the Democrats instead of making hay out of this actually put the thing to bed?

Here is an interesting point. You know, I like to collect tweets for you from people who are relevant, people who know what they are talking about when it comes to these stories.

Well, here's is a fellow who knows what he's talking about, Jason Chaffetz (ph), "He is so frugal, he sleeps on a cot in his office when he goes to Washington." He is agreeing with Senator Bunning by saying the Dems need to go ahead and pull the trigger here. "Senator Bunning is making a very good point. Dems asked for unanimous consent. The answer is no. So, go to a vote. It happens all of the time." So, are the Dems prolonging this? That is the question I'm going to ask coming up in a little bit, and is that one of the Machiavellian plays we see from time to time in Washington from either side.

Also, this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Bank bailouts making some people mad. I will tell you where this is.

Also ahead, did the governor of New York not only abuse his power, but abuse his power in a case of domestic abuse? That would be ridiculous. That's the type of thing that people would have to resign for, right? That is what folks are asking for.

Stay right there. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez.

Yes, I have been reading my tweets, and yes, I do know that many of you watched "The Daily Show" last night and that Jon Stewart made fun of me. By golly, I will show you that coming up in a little bit. Why not? We will have him making fun of me making fun of myself.

Now, this -- a police officer serves, protects, and if you are lucky, he will shove you out of the way of a speeding car. Here is "Fotos."

I want you to watch the lightning fast reactions of this police officer. He gets the guy out of the way and pushes the motorists to safety before he goes to the guardrail and dividing wall.

How terrifying, an out of control car on a snowy highway smashes into Lt. John Lambert. The two drivers are safe, unhurt. Lt. Lambert put a civilian's safety above his own. He is hurt with a broken pelvis in fact, but wow, he is alive.

All right, I can't show you this scene any closer, this a family program, folks -- 5,200 bare behinds on the steps of a famous Sidney opera house. Yes, they are naked. It's the latest in a series of nude arts projects by photographer Spencer Tunick. It is nowhere near his biggest gathering of naked models, that 18,000 was in Mexico City in 2007.

Are you impressed by this? I say they should do it in Chicago in February. Show some commitment, people! Moving on. Remember this? I showed you last week a mother coaching her 5-year-old to steal purses in a pizza place in Minneapolis. It was caught on surveillance cameras. Police have now ID'ed the parents and charged them with theft. According to court documents, the little girl didn't want to steal, but the mother told her to quote, "Do it for ma."

Bad mama. You just made "Fotos."

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How did you feel if you didn't have sex? How would that make you feel?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get the shakes and it is really a case where you need the drug.

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SANCHEZ: I'm reading tweets here, and man, you are into this story. Everybody is commenting on whether sex addiction, is there really such a thing, or is this just excuse for irresponsible behavior.

We will let you hear from a guy who Elizabeth Cohen found who says he says, no, this is real in my case. We will hear him out and let you decide.

Scary moments when an aftershock happens again in Chile. Look at the rescuers scrambling to get out of a crumbling building. I will tell you what they are saying. They are freaked out.

All right, we'll be right back. Stay right there.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

Boy, sometimes the best thing to do is to show some good video and it makes you understand the passion that some people feel when someone messes with the money or tries to stick their hand in their pocket.

Bank bailouts got a lot of Americans hot under the collar. Guess what -- not alone, Americans. Watch what happened today in Jakarta, Indonesia. Play it, Roger.

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SANCHEZ: That is outside of the parliament. Now, I want you to take look inside of parliament at what is going on inside there.

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(INAUDIBLE)

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SANCHEZ: A little fisticuffs. What is behind the battle royal? A deal to prop up a small bank. Was it done to save the economy or for political payoff? Lawmakers are debating whether anyone should be punished lost it when told they can't vote on it until tomorrow.

This whole thing is symbolic anyway. Only the police and a special panel can file these criminal charges.

Here is another story, I want to follow, and we will be following for you. This is Governor Paterson. Did he abuse his power in an abuse case? It is almost like a double whammy -- abuse, abuse. Did he pressure a domestic abuse victim? And the question now is, will he resign of that? A lot of folks are asking about that.

And then there is Jon Stewart. You know he likes to make fun of people, and he often like to make fun of me. And guess what he did last night -- he made fun of me, by golly. So I will join in and make fun of myself while he makes fun of me. We'll be right back.

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CALLER: Hey, Rick, this is Adrian from Florida. In regards to Senator Bunning, the Democratic Party can work around him, but why should they? He is the poster boy of what the Republican Party stands for. They don't give a damn about the American worker.

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SANCHEZ: Well, that is one opinion, and we will keep sharing them with you. We've got a bevy of them throughout these two hour in what we call "Rick's List." And we keep a list to get to folks like you and also the folks who are particularly relevant to given story, like the White House in this case. In fact there is the White House.

Obama writes to congressional leaders following up on a bipartisan meeting, naming ideas that he liked. And you can go and see the letter he did. This is the letter from the president of United States? And he basically is singling out four Republicans' ideas that he liked.

He liked Senator Coburn's idea, he liked Senator Enzi's idea, Senator Grassley's idea as well, and he says that he very much liked Senator Barrasso, Dr. Barrasso, who has been on the show many times, as well as Dr. Coburn. And he liked some of the suggestions that they made.

And he is telling the Dems in Congress to incorporate these, and make it more of a bipartisan bill. Will this make this thing go through? Not so fast, as they say. We'll be all over it. Meanwhile, look at this.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One single Republican senator has put posturing before people, politics before families, and point-scoring before the needs of struggling Americans.

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SANCHEZ: This is getting nasty in the Senate. The name of the game is unemployment benefits. Senator Bunning is taking center stage. We will talk to the man who supports him, and is also after his job. Who is this? It is Rand Paul whose father is Ron Paul. This is interesting. I am looking forward to this interview.

Also this -- yes, it is a Chilean seaside town. Remember yesterday we told you because we were the first to get there with one of the correspondents who made it there not only was part of the coast of Chile annihilated by the earthquake, but then it got a double whammy when it was hit by the tsunami as well?

Well, Karl Penhaul has gotten to another seaside town, some of the pictures are coming in, and we will take you there. Look at the ship in the middle of Main Street. I will take you there when we come back. Stay right there. We will be right back.

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SANCHEZ: I call him our most intrepid reporter. His name is Karl Penhaul. He has just gotten to another one of those seaside towns there on the coast of Chile, and he's there. Karl, take it away, tell us where you were, tell us what you found.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I talking to you on a satellite phone, Rick, because I wanted to get a bit of distance between the camera and my cell so I can show you this scene here. Look at this, another of these fishing boats, a sardine catching boat normally weighing about 70 tons.

Now, this boat was anchored, they tell me about a mile and a half, almost two miles away, and it's been dragged here by a tsunami wave. And the people that I've been talking to, the fishermen and local inhabitants here, say that the tsunami wave was up to five meters. That in feet and inches to I and me is a tsunami wave of about 15 feet.

Then I'm going to take you down here -- look at the force of that water. Concrete and brick constructions -- they withstood the earthquake according to the inhabitants, but then were just crushed by the power of the water.

And so if I can take you on a spin, a 360 or 180 spin around here, and look what is left of this town. This town thrives on the fishing industry, but it's also a tourist resort. Look at what is left -- nothing, nothing. Talking to one of the police officers who is on sight here, he said about 80 percent of this town is now destroyed. He said what is left is hardly even good for firewood. Rick?

SANCHEZ: That is amazing, as we look at this, and this is at least the second town I've seen, Karl, that you've reported from. Would we see scenes like this repeated up and down the coast then?

PENHAUL: It just depends. There are see phenomenon going on here, Rick. Yesterday where we took you to the town of Talcahuano, it's on part of a bay. Here, the ocean is over this way, over here about 300 yards, even though this boat here was anchored much further away. And it's also on a bay.

And what it seems to be, though I'm obviously no scientist, is the effect of that wave may have been channeled both through the bay and then through a river, because this wave, though the inhabitants are saying was five meters or 15 feet high, they say it didn't come straight up that way. What they're saying is it kind of rolled around the bay, and came up the river and over this flatland and rolled around.

So it hit them on the front end and back end as well. And it wasn't one wave, it was three waves, according to the locals. The first wave was pretty small. And then the next two were about 15 feet high, they say.

SANCHEZ: Wow, Karl Penhaul, reporting from the latest town that that he's been able to get to that show just what happens when, as he describes it, the water was funneled into the bay and then pushes everything in its way out of that town.

Karl, good job again reporting for us. Let us know if you get anything else out there.

Meanwhile, this --

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many women did you have affairs with?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's about 30 to 35.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And there were prostitutes in addition?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

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SANCHEZ: What is it like to be addicted to sex? Is it possible to be addicted to sex? Is it an excuse or real malady? What were the physical withdrawals? This guy will take us through his story. Like we often say, you be the judge. I'm Rick Sanchez, you be right back.

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