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Rick's List

Health Care Premiums Continue to Rise; American Missionary Released from Haiti; Wife of Texas IRS Plane Bomber Speaks Out; Ben Roethlisberger Facing Sexual Assault Charges; President Nominates General for TSA Directorship

Aired March 08, 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's what's making THE LIST -- Goldman Sachs reveals their profit plan to insiders and the president jumps all over it.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These insurance companies have made a calculation. There was a conference call that was organized by Goldman Sachs.

SANCHEZ: Ouch. Mr. Obama's new strategy -- will it work?

ADAM GADAHN, AMERICAN AL QAEDA OPERATIVE: We shall continue to target you at home and abroad.

SANCHEZ: Have we captured an American al Qaeda operative? Emphasis on "American".

GADAHN: Stop the crusade. Leave the Muslims alone.

SANCHEZ: Democrats eating their own. Blanche Lincoln is running like a conservative. And Mitch McConnell tells the GOP this is not helpful.

REP. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-OH), MINORITY LEADER: I don't like it and I don't know anybody who does.

SANCHEZ: Are both parties finally starting to get us? We're asking Gloria Borger, Craig Crawford, Wolf Blitzer and Ali Velshi.

And there's this, the 100 million dollar man; this NFL quarterback in trouble again. Is the devil making him do it?

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: Hello, everybody. Let's start with THE LIST of the most embattled.

There's no question that person is today Ben Roethlisberger. The reason I'm talking about this 100 million dollar contract quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers is because police in Georgia have announced that during this show they will hold a news conference to reveal something -- exactly what, we don't know.

This is what we do know: he's accused by a 20-year-old woman, say police, of assaulting her at a rural Georgia night spot. Part of the problem is, for Big Ben, this is not the first time that he's had these types of issues come up before. Then, of course, there was the issue with the motorcycle.

We don't know which way this thing is going to play, but there is no question we're going to be covering it. When the police officers come to the microphone and start explaining what's going on, we'll let you hear it for yourself, and then, depending on what they say, we'll bring in some analysts to talk about the legal implications or this really unbelievable story, given the celebrity status of this NFL quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.

Before we get to that, I want to bring you now the very top of THE LIST of our political stories, and there's no question it's Goldman Sachs. Why? Let me read this to you. I think this is important, because this gets right to the point that a lot of folks are talking about in this country, about the necessity of health care reform in some way, shape or fashion. Whether you look at what the Republicans were offering up or what the Democrats were offering up, this is interesting. It's interesting that it almost plays right into the president's hand.

Ali Velshi is here, by the way. And he's going to be joining me. Thanks, Ali. I know you have been all over this thing. Listen to this. I want to read you this piece information. This is all over the place, including the "New York Times" this morning. What they're saying is that Goldman Sachs had one of their gurus, one of their investors, one of the guys who looks at investors and says, look, this is where you need to put your money, because if you put your money here, you will do well.

Here's what he's recommending to investors from Goldman Sachs, which does stocks, right -- recommending that investors buy shares in two big insurance companies -- hear me out -- the United Health Group and Cigna because -- follow? -- because insurance rates are sharply going to rise, have been rising, and the competition for the insurance providers is way down.

Think about that for just a moment. What they are saying is that those of us who have insurance, there is a likelihood that we might be actually paying more, that the premiums could go up. They are also saying there is less competition for these companies.

Now this is important, not because it's coming from a Democrat or from a Republican. This is important because it's coming from the people who sell insurance stocks. Listen to what -- the president, by the way, as you might imagine, jumped all over this as an opportunity, a political opportunity for him. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: These insurance companies have made a calculation. Listen to this: the other day, there was a conference call that was organized by Goldman Sachs. You know Goldman Sachs. You have been hearing about them. All right?

So they organized a conference call, in which an insurance broker was telling Wall Street investors how he expected things to be playing out over the next several years. This broker said that insurance companies know they will lose customers if they keep on raising premiums, but because there is so little competition in the insurance industry, they're OK with people being priced out of the insurance market, because, first of all, a lot of folks are going to be stuck, and even if some people drop out, they will still make more money by raising premiums on the customers they keep.

And they will keep on doing this for as long as they can get away with it. This is no secret that they're telling their investors this. We are in the money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Notice that he said there is no secret that they are telling investors this. Let me just share with you, real quick -- and obviously, you know this, but with our audience -- what the investors said. He's a fellow named Steve Lewis. He's an industry analyst with Willis, a major insurance broker. He says, quote, "price competition is down from a year ago, and explained to his clients mostly mid-sized employers seeking to buy health coverage for employees were facing a tough market."

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right.

SANCHEZ: In other words, if you have company X with a lot of employees, it will be hard to buy insurance for the people who work for you. "In which insurance carriers are increasingly willing to abandon existing customers to improve their profit margins."

My question, before we do anything else is: why in the hell would they let this out at this point? Why would they play right into the president's hand and hurt themselves?

VELSHI: It's no secret. This isn't proprietary information. This is Goldman. And remember, you might have been really mad about Goldman, but nobody ever said they were stupid.

SANCHEZ: No. Nobody's saying it now.

VELSHI: Goldman is saying -- it isn't a secret -- there isn't enough competition out there. We're not concerned about the uninsured. You're employed. You think you're long-term employed. And you love your insurance -- because that's what people said, if you love your insurance, why meddle with it? The bottom line is what he's saying is for those of you who love your insurance, there isn't enough competition out there and you will see your rates go up.

SANCHEZ: Why would Goldman put out a message, knowing that the president will come out and put the screws to them --

VELSHI: I don't think they care. Goldman will make money coming and going. It doesn't matter to them. They will tell you whether you can make money on a stock or not make it.

SANCHEZ: But the fact that they are saying it, does that indicate that they are betting that the health care reform --

VELSHI: No.

SANCHEZ: -- is going to be beaten down?

VELSHI: It's an interesting point. No, I'm not thinking that what's they're saying. Even if health care reform goes through, the amount of time before the situation is changed so that there are more insurers and it is more competitive is years down the road. This is not --

SANCHEZ: So the insurance companies continue to Ka-ching?

VELSHI: That's right.

SANCHEZ: But here's what I'm curious about: does this play so much to the president's hand that it could be a political turnaround? Some Dems -- look, wait, some Dems are going to look at this and say, you know what? To hell with them; let's go with reconciliation and get the public option back in there, and put the kibosh (ph) to them.

VELSHI: Right, because the public option would change the scenario a great deal.

SANCHEZ: Big time.

VELSHI: That's what they were arguing the whole time, it puts more competition into the market. The insurance companies were saying, you're going to crush us with that; it's unfair competition.

So what Goldman Sachs is saying, not only is there not great competition in the health insurance market, there is so little that they can tell companies to take a hike if you don't like the insurance rate hike that we're giving you. They're talking 10, 20, sometimes over 50 percent increases in a year.

SANCHEZ: Here's what is interesting about this -- here's what I think is most fascinating about this story. Let's move away from the money and the American people and talk about a the political Machiavellianism that is coming into play here.

The president of the United States unveiled his plan by saying to everyone; here's the problem in America: folks, in America -- do you know what the problem is in this country? Too many people are uninsured. Something like 37 million, 47 million people are uninsured. And the American people essentially said, I don't care.

VELSHI: Many people said that's not my problem.

SANCHEZ: I've got insurance. Why do you want me to pay --

VELSHI: Now he's talking to a whole new audience.

SANCHEZ: Exactly. It's a shift in strategy.

VELSHI: He's talking to you and me, who have jobs with a big company that provides us with excellent health insurance. He says the cost of that is going to go up, and there is some chance your company may not be able to afford it. So they will either pass it to you. And if they tell the insurance company to take a hike, the insurance company will say, sure.

SANCHEZ: That's important because it's a different strategy. Instead of telling them, look -- and there are folks on the left who are angry at the president saying, why didn't you start with this message to begin with? Why did you turn it into a welfare system that people --

VELSHI: A lot of people knew this, that the insurance companies continue to --

SANCHEZ: But it's not about whether it's a secret or not. It's all about presentation of your message.

VELSHI: Right.

SANCHEZ: Rove was good at this. I thought Emanuel was good at this. But if they haven't been able to pitch that, if they haven't been able to convince the American people that this is good for them, then they are just lousy at getting the message out.

VELSHI: This is a talking point that is different from all the other ones that they have used. Right? They have talked about uninsured people. They have talked about choice. They've talked about health care expenses. This is the first time they have gone right to -- this message plays to working people.

SANCHEZ: Everyone.

VELSHI: And says you could be affected by this if nothing changes. That's why I think it's a potent message.

SANCHEZ: It's interesting that they are doing it on the backs of the insurance company, who may be overplaying their hand. Remember, two weeks ago, some of the insurance companies said, we're going to jack up your rates if you're a small employer by as much as 34 percent, and if you happen to be one of those poor individual out there who doesn't work for any company, and has to self-insure, up to 50 percent.

VELSHI: Let me tell you one thing that's interesting; even though the president has no qualms about making the insurance companies public enemy number one, he has said repeatedly that you cannot ask them to throw out people for pre-existing conditions or to deny coverage unless more people are insured because that's the way they make money. The pool has to be bigger. So he understands very clearly the economics of how you can't force for-profit companies to do something unless you allow them to make money. Basically, Goldman is saying they are able to make a lot of money right now.

SANCHEZ: I enjoy when you come by and we have these heated, interesting, and almost even pseudo-intellectual discussions.

VELSHI: Always my pleasure.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it. Thanks for coming by.

Here's what else we got coming your way; Congressman Eric Massa, s he in or is he out? This is interesting because he is now saying the Democrats are trying to push me out because they are afraid that I am not going to vote for their health care reform. But, as you know, there is also a very controversial story that's surrounding him, and what they say he did to proposition another man at a wedding party. We'll get all over it, and this.

Yeah, that was a special moment. Oscars, who won, who lost, and the moments you missed. It's on THE LIST. It's next. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news coming out of Haiti. One of the last two American missionaries held in Haiti, we understand, has just been released. That leaves just one there. That's the Idaho woman who was arrested with the nine others. As you know, many of them have already been released. They are accused of trying to leave Haiti with some 33 children without the proper documents.

The sole remaining American, of course, was the leader of this group, Laura Silsby. There she is right there. She remains behind bars. But that means everybody but Laura is now going to be free to leave the country. Although there are still chances, obviously, that they will have to return for some kind of case.

I understand we've got an opportunity to take you live into Haiti. Sara Sidner has been following the story. She's standing by.

Sara, I understand you're joining us by phone. Fill us in on what this development means.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here's what we have heard from the defense attorneys and what CNN has actually seen. The judge has decided to go ahead and let out Theresa Culter (ph) on bail. She has. She has left judicial court. And she is now headed to the airport.

As we understand it, she has been released on bail, which, as you mentioned, leaves Laura Silsby the only person remaining of the ten people being held here still in custody. She is being kept back because the judge wants to ask her more questions about this case, ask her more questions that he wants to find the answers to. Apparently, she's now in his chambers doing just that. A couple weeks ago, you noticed, the eight others were released, sent back to the United States. So, again, only Laura Silsby remains in jail here in Haiti. But they are releasing Theresa Culter, who is expected to leave for the United States, today -- on a plane today.

SANCHEZ: Sara Sidner, picking that story up for us. I'm glad we still have you down there. Our commitment to the situation in Haiti will obviously continue. If there is any other information, let us know and we'll get you back on.

Meanwhile, Academy Awards -- we stayed up late so you didn't have to. What made this Oscar ceremony stand out from the rest? All right, we have put together some of the highlights and some of the lowlights and what you may have missed. Here is our own Kareen Wynter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oscar's biggest showdown, best picture.

TOM HANKS, ACTOR: And the winner is "The Hurt Locker."

WYNTER: The small budget movie with a huge impact blew out nine other best picture contenders to take home the night's top prize.

MARK BOAL, PRODUCER, "THE HURT LOCKER": This was really, truly, honestly never part of anything we even imagined.

WYNTER: In all, "The Hurt Locker" swept six categories, including best director. Kathryn Bigelow made history by becoming the first woman ever to win a directing Oscar.

KATHRYN BIGELOW, DIRECTOR, "THE HURT LOCKER": There's no other way to describe it. It's the moment of a lifetime.

WYNTER: In the acting face-off, Sandra Bullock won best actress for playing a tough mother in "The Blind Side."

SANDRA BULLOCK, ACTRESS: You threaten my son, you threaten me.

Did I really earn this or did I just wear you all down?

WYNTER: Bullock emotionally shared the honor with her fellow nominees, including Meryl Streep, who received her record 16th Oscar nomination as Julia Child in "Julie & Julia," and with whom Bullock has had an ongoing faux feud.

BULLOCK: I thank you so much for this opportunity that I share with these extraordinary women, and my love for Meryl Streep. Thank you.

WYNTER: Actor Jeff Bridges, widely considered the front runner in the best actor race, finished first and won his first Oscar for his performance as a hard-drinking country singer in "Crazy Heart." Bridges remembered his late parents whose footsteps he followed into acting.

JEFF BRIDGES, ACTOR, "CRAZY HEART": I feel an extension of them. You know, this is honoring them as much as it is me.

WYNTER: The best supporting actress showdown was no surprise. Comedian Mo'nique captured the gold with her dramatic performance in "Precious."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Real women sacrifice.

WYNTER: Mo'nique paid tribute to the first African-American awarded an Oscar.

MO'NIQUE, ACTRESS, "PRECIOUS": I want to thank Miss Hattie McDaniel (ph) for enduring all that she had to, so that I would not have to.

WYNTER: Actor Christoph Waltz took home the best supporting actor Oscar for his work in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds."

CHRISTOPH WALTZ, ACTOR, "INGLORIOUS BASTERDS": Oscar and Penelope, that's an uber-Bingo.

WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: By the way, there are a lot of people talking about this, including some of the folks who know the most about this, like, well, film critic Roger Ebert. You know what he thought? He didn't like it. Look at this Tweet we just intercepted. We keep this LIST. That's why we call it THE LIST. We look at the people who are relevant to specific news stories. He's saying, "I don't remember when I have seen a less exciting Oscar cast." That's his opinion. We will share it with you.

SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, here's what's coming up on THE LIST. Did you see Blanche Lincoln's ad? She comes across like a conservative. And, by the way, there is no Barack Obama on it. Speaking of Mr. Obama, the GOP's doing something. They're calling this not helpful. Who are they criticizing? Their own party, when they say that -- this is McConnell -- Mitch McConnell who is criticizing this face of Obama looking like the Joker that you see right there, criticizing his own party.

Gloria Borger is going to be telling us if both parties are starting to eat their own, so to speak.

Also, how crazy do you have to be to rob a casino and get away with it? This includes automatic weapons. It includes machetes. It includes handguns. We're going to share that video with you because it really happened, folks.

You know what else we're following for you? Ben Roethlisberger. We have now been told that there is going to be a news conference coming during this news cast from Milledgeville, Georgia, where Ben Roethlisberger, superstar, $100-million-contract quarterback, is being accused by a woman, a 20-year-old woman, of assaulting him. We're going to wait and see what the police officers have to say about this. Obviously, it's a celebrity in the news and quite a celebrity in the sports world, in fact. We'll cover it for you. We'll be right back.

I'm Rick Sanchez. This is THE LIST, and we're scrolling on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to THE LIST. I am so glad that you are here. I'm Rick Sanchez. Topping our list of strange politics, Republicans are angry at Republicans. Democrats are running away from Democrats. What's going on? Have they finally realized that we ain't crazy about any of them? Let me take you through this as best I can.

CNN's senior political analyst Gloria Borger is joining me now -- Gloria Borger, who, by the way, made this incredible appearance. Did you see this? Saturday night, here she was working overtime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We go now live to another part of the studio, where senior political analyst Gloria Borger will read a stranger's e- mail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Wolf. This just in, Mike D'Agostino from UC Davis writes, "I think the real problem on campus on food. Why I got to eat turkey burgers every day, and why they don't serve dinner at 3:00 am when I hungry? And where my Frisbee at?"

Probing questions, Mike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Oh, my god. I bet you didn't even know that was -- am I the first to tell you you were on "Saturday Night Live?"

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No! Of course I knew. People at CNN knew. And I had been watching and flipped it off right before that came on. Of course my kids texted me immediately. So I'm very flattered and my kids are thrilled.

SANCHEZ: I could be on TV every single day of my life, and the only time my kids care is when Jon Stewart talks about me or I'm on "SNL" or Bill Maher. It's like their world is so -- all right, listen. Let's get to this. Let's start with the Dems.

BORGER: Yeah, sure.

SANCHEZ: I want you to watch this ad. Usually the lefty ACLU puts this out about Obama. Is he essentially morphing into Bush on the reversal of criminal trials versus military tribunals. Have we got that? Rog, if you've got that, put that thing up. You don't have this? All right. Well, we just showed it to you. Folks, during the last break, I showed you a picture of Barack Obama, he had the Joker's face on. A bunch of Republicans had a fund-raiser and they put that out. Even Mitch McConnell is coming out he's saying, you know what, you shouldn't do that because it just isn't right. What do you make of that?

BORGER: Yes. Every Republican I have spoken with says that it was juvenile and it was silly. It was shown internally, Rick, for a group of Republican fund-raisers to get them all geared up to raise money. In the same PowerPoint presentation, it also talked about Republican big donors and it said that they are ego-driven; you can get them to raise money if they have access.

So it was also critical of big money people in the Republican party. They did not take well to that either. And the Republicans I talked to -- and I'm sure Mitch McConnell has heard plenty of this -- they think it is going to backfire with the big money folks out there trying to raise money.

SANCHEZ: It's interesting, but it shows -- I believe an argument could be made that it shows that there is a split between the Tea Party folks and the mainstream Republican party, because you know the Tea Party folks would have welcomed making fun of Obama, calling him a socialist, and drawing him in a Joker outfit.

BORGER: You know what? When I take a look at this -- and I have talked to fund-raisers about this. They say these PowerPoint presentations -- it's just part of a PowerPoint -- put together by young kids, enthusiastic, want to gin up the people to raise money for them. And they say, you know what, it's not reflective of the larger Republican establishment.

I think your point is accurate, because the Tea Party, of course, folks are not part of the Republican establishment. They are proud not to be part of the Republican establishment. Some of those pictures may, in fact, have been taken from their websites.

SANCHEZ: Let me show you something else because the Democrats have their own problems. Look at Blanche Lincoln. This is Blanche Lincoln's ad. She's a Dem. And if you study the ad -- folks, I am going to play this for you. Watch to see how many times President Obama comes up in the ad. And tell me if she doesn't come off sounding more like a conservative than a progressive or a liberal. Play it, Rog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN (D), ARKANSAS: I'm Blanche Lincoln and I want to show you what it's like in Washington these days. And your tax dollars? This is why I voted against giving more money to Wall Street, against the auto company bailout, against the public option health care plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: She's voting against everything that could possibly increase your taxes, and there is no mention in that ad of, "I support the president" or let's do health care reform. You know, I'm sorry, but I'm looking at that thing and I'm thinking, she's sounding more conservative than she is progressive or liberal or whatever you want to call it.

BORGER: Well, look, she's in a very tough state. Arkansas is not an easy state for Democrats under the best circumstances. Now she has a challenger on her left, in fact. And she's got challengers on the right, in the Republican party.

So, you know, she has always portrayed herself as an independent Democrat. But she did vote with Democrats on the health care bill in the Senate. That health care bill didn't have a public option in it, which is why the liberals are so mad at her. So this woman has it coming at her from both directions. It's going to be a very difficult fight for her.

The liberal who is challenging her raised a million bucks in a day. You know, that hurts for Blanche Lincoln. I don't think you're going to see Democrats like this run away from Barack Obama the way Republicans ran away from George W. Bush. You're not going to see that because he remains personally popular. They're going to need his help in getting out the voters.

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

BORGER: But she's clearly not tying herself to him either.

SANCHEZ: It's interesting to see members of both party running away from parts of their own ideology. I think there's a lot of folks out there who call themselves independents or want to be in the middle or are angry with both parties, who are smiling now.

BORGER: Right.

SANCHEZ: I have to let you go. We're out of time.

BORGER: All right.

SANCHEZ: When you and I get going, it's like two old friends at a cocktail reception or something. Thanks, Gloria. I appreciate it.

BORGER: Sure.

SANCHEZ: Also this -- the widow speaks. Who is the widow? Remember these pictures? Yes, her husband hated the IRS so much that he flew his plane into one of their offices, and for the first time, this woman has come forward to tell her story. Who is she? What's she got to say?

Of course, Ben Roethlisberger is the big story that we are following. We are told in the next half hour we'll be getting a news conference from Milledgeville, Georgia. And we also have some new information I want to pass along to you from his attorneys, and I'm going to do that when we come back from break.

Meanwhile, next on THE LIST, how does a long-haired California teenager grow up to be al Qaeda's spokesperson? Yes. We'll tell you who he is and how he got there.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Boy, you knew it would happen. People are now playing Ben Roethlisberger against Michael Vick. This is interesting. Look at the tweets I'm getting now from many of you. I'm seeing this thread -- go ahead, Robert, to the regular one if you would.

"Vick -- he killed defenseless dogs with his bare hands. He deserved much worse than he got." The other one arguing with that tweet says, "Vick fell from Grace for dog fighting yet Roethlisberger still stands after being accused twice for assaulting a female."

So people are going back and forth on this thing. Why did Michael Vick get punished severely and Roethlisberger -- well, obviously, for starters, Roethlisberger not been charged with this case and hasn't been found guilty in the other. At this point it is an open story and we are covering it for you. But we appreciate the palaver back and forth.

Meanwhile, he has a $1 million bounty on his head, one of the FBI's most wanted, and he's one of our most intriguing today.

He's American, grew up in California, and as a teenager converted to Islam. He moved to Pakistan and today is the western face and the western voice of the terror organization al Qaeda. This is incredible, folks. He is their English language spokesperson, al Qaeda's.

After a U.S. army major opened fire on Ft. Hood last year this guy praised him, calling him a role model for Muslims and encouraged more attacks. He's been indicted in the United States for treason and material support to terrorists.

Go ahead, show his face. His given name is Adam Gadahn, but his buddies call him al Qaeda Azam, the American. News spread that he had been captured in Pakistan. There is still no definite word on this from Washington, by the way, and we have spent most of the day checking on it.

Adam Gadahn and how he became an enemy of the United States is definitely making him one of today's most intriguing people in the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It happened right there in that parking lot by the Comcast sign. That bull came out of the chute, climbed a gate inside, knocked over three people, injured them. Police were trying to taser a bull. That's like trying to hit an alligator with a flyswatter. It just made him angrier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Police trying to tase a bull. Gee whiz, Beave, it didn't work. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your list.

You believe the nerve of some criminals? It seems every crook out there has one goal in mind -- to be featured on "Fotos del Dia."

We begin with a poker tournament on live television. Watch what happens in the background. See the commotion? Some guys waving guns and machetes. What, guns and machetes? They barged in, grabbed a pile of money. They got out of there with a couple hundred thousand dollars.

Police say the whole caught on multiple cameras thing will make them pretty easy to track down, but not yet tracked down. Wow.

Next, more crime footage. Bad guy comes into store, pulls gun. Cashier pulls gun as well. Cashier shoots first several times. The robber isn't dead, but he's down and hurt, now in the hospital. The clerk told police he saw the robber and his gun in the parking lot and was ready for him.

Moving on, where is a China shop when you need one? This angry bull had enough of the rodeo at Houston last night and said, adios amigo. We're out of here. He got as far as the parking lot. Did I mention this happened at a rodeo? Plenty of real life cowboys showed up right away and did some freelance roping, but they tried to hit him with a tase? Huh? Toro! That's right, "Las Fotos," folks.

Goldman Sachs profit plan was revealed just to insiders. It's the advice they were giving to investors.

But what they were say is something that maybe shouldn't have gotten to the president's ears, because the president went before the American people today and said, you see? Doesn't that prove to you we need health reform? That's how it works. Hello, health care. We'll be all over that story.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: One of the top stories on THE LIST today is a development out of Haiti.

We have been following this story and we are told now that Charisa Coulter, she was one of the last two American missionaries out in Haiti, has been released. We'll show you some of the pictures as we follow the story. Right there -- nope, that's the other one. That's the one that's still in jail. See her are the red top? That's her. She was associated with the woman who's still being held, the Idaho. All of them were arrested in January with nine others from the church, accused of trying to leave Haiti with some 33 children without proper documents.

The other woman you are seeing there is Laura Silsby. She's the one who is remaining behind bars because many have referred to her as the mastermind of the original plan.

But she still has not been found guilty nor has she been tried. So we'll continue to follow that story.

Meanwhile, remember Joseph Stack? You probably don't remember him by name or his last name, but he's the guy who flew the plane into the building in Austin, Texas back in February. It happened during our show. We were all over it. Committed suicide, burned his house first. And then he went right into the IRS offices of the building.

Guess who's talking for the first time -- his wife. Her name is Cheryl Stack and she's speaking to reporters. Spoke to her church, I understand. Brooke Baldwin is joining us now to take us through this.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think they are more or less calling it a benefit, two churches coming together in Austin last night. It's the first time we've heard from her. It's been several weeks. It was February 18th when we had that story and were all over it. Remember the suicide note, Joe Stack, a lot of grievances with the government.

Finally we hear from his wife. She talks about losing not only her husband who she says, yes, I loved him, but also talks about losing her house and in it, her daughter's birth certificate and her little footprints from when she was a baby.

But really the biggest message I gleaned from this benefit was offering condolences to victims' families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not believe in violence, not even as a last resort. I do not believe in retaliation or vengeance of any kind. My heart grieves for the loss of life caused by my husband in the tragic events of February 18th of this year.

I keep remembering things I lost in the fire and it saddens me greatly, but these are just things. And what I have learned in the last two weeks is that life and love are the only things that matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It's hard to agree with his beef with the IRS. I can understand him having a beef with the IRS. I can't understand him burning his own home if it's the home of his wife and his daughter.

BALDWIN: You can't understand it. We do stories all the time where you think, what were they thinking? What motivated such animosity to do that? The pictures are unbelievable. I remember the day sitting next to you when we walked through this whole thing.

And we won't know ultimately. He died, and also the one other fatality from that day, employee Vernon Hunter, Hunter's widow was not at Sunday's benefit. She actually does want to meet Cheryl Stack, but they want to do it away from the crowds in private.

SANCHEZ: By the way, this whole hatred for the government thing is worrisome. Not just in his case, but there's the other case, the fellow from California. His case is not so solid and you could make him out to be ideologically on the left or the right. I don't think he even knew.

But still there was some argument that he was an anti-government guy as well.

BALDWIN: You're talking about John Patrick Bedell. It was last Thursday I think you were in New York when that story broke. And he basically opened fire at the Pentagon.

So we are learned more about him. Dan Simon, I want to give him the credit for really digging on this. He talked to officials out in California. We learned this guy had a mental illness. He was bipolar, checked in and out of mental institutions, had multiple run- ins with the law through the years leading to the incident at the Pentagon last week.

SANCHEZ: But he had an anger for --

BALDWIN: He had anger for the government. That's what government officials are saying as they reading these different Internet ramblings.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Brooke. Appreciate the background on all those stories.

Meanwhile, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We shall continue to target you at home and abroad, just as you target us at home and abroad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He's an American. Has Adam Gadahn been caught or not? That seems to be the story we're following throughout the day.

Also, still no TSA chief in the United States because of some of the political infighting that's been going on. Is that on the verge of finally changing? Jean Meserve is all over this story and she will be with me next to fill us in on this story. We'll be looking for you.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. We talk about this on this show all the time, but the antipathy in Washington is so severe it's not just policies that can't get approved. It's often people.

Take the TSA director's position -- can't fill it. It's been a long time. We understand there's a new nomination, though, Robert Harding.

Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve is at the CNN security desk to let us know if somehow Mr. Harding will be able to get through, unlike what we've seen happen in the past with other folks who couldn't be confirmed. What's going on, Jeanne?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: First, let me tell you a little bit about him. Robert Harding is a 33-year veteran of the army, he retired as a major general, spent a great part of his career in the intelligence side of the military. He served for four years as the director of operations at the defense intelligence agency.

Today the intention to nominate him was announced by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who said this is someone who ought to be confirmed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANET NAPOLITANO, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: The TSA administrator is among the most important unfilled posts in the Obama administration. The president and I both believe that General Harding has the experience and perspective to make a real difference in carrying out the mission of this agency.

If there were ever a nominee who warranted expedited and detailed consideration in the Senate, this is it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Now, there is not only in General Harding's resume that indicates he has much familiarity with aviation and transportation, but some of the experts we talked to today are very impressed by his intelligence background and think that could be important to bring to bear, especially after the attempted bombing on Christmas day, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Go ahead and tell our viewers, if you're feeling in a shocking mood, just how long this position has been vacant now?

MESERVE: Well, it's been vacant since the end of the Bush administration. The Obama administration did make a nomination back in September of Errol Southers. He was confirmed by a committee of Capitol Hill buy the full Senate.

First there was a personnel problem back from his days as an FBI agent and that eventually led to him withdraw his nomination, but even before that, Senator Jim DeMint put a hold on this nomination because he felt the Obama administration had made a deal with unions to unionize TSA officers. So that's ongoing. SANCHEZ: Jeanne, thanks so much for letting us know how well our government is operating these days, or not. Thanks, appreciate it.

MESERVE: Let's talk about Goldman Sachs. They may have jumped the gun on, I guess, hoping health care doesn't reform, or maybe not. Did they hand the president is pair of aces in this case? A lot of folks are talking about that, and so are we.

By the way, you can join us for our national conversation whenever you visit Atlanta. You can come here, sit in the studio with us, and you can help me ask questions of the guests. This is, after all, a national conversation, and we list everyone. We've got some folks that will be joining our list today at 4:00 that I want you to hear.

And the Ben Roethlisberger story -- we may be seven minutes away from that story's big development. Stay there and you'll see it live as it happens from Milledgeville, Georgia. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

We're just minutes away from this news conference in Milledgeville police. Roethlisberger's defense attorneys have reached out, and they're saying they do not think that charges are going to be announced at this news conference. They do not think that charges will be announced at the news conference.

Police are saying this 20-year-old woman reported the incident -- the accused sexual assault to them immediately after the incident, about 2:30 a.m. She was sent to the hospital, treated at the hospital, released from the hospital Friday morning. And again, Roethlisberger's agent has been talking to the media as well.

So we don't know what police are going to say. As far as we know at this point, no charges have been filed, and it's his story and her story and what the police are about to unveil any moment now.

So stay right there. We're going to sneak in another break. When we come back, we will likely be hearing from police in Milledgeville, Georgia.

I'm Rick Sanchez. THE LIST scrolls on.

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