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Rick's List
President Obama Steps Up Health Care Reform Effort; New Immigration Reform Push?
Aired March 12, 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 today.
Smile before you are accused of sexual assault, and posing with the officer who is called to investigate you. Uh-oh. And now the Steelers' owners are describing Roethlisberger as embarrassment.
A woman survives in a SUV underwater for a half-hour, as the water rushes in. I know a little bit about this.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The time for talk is over. It is time to vote.
The president pushes back his overseas trip to push forward on the health care reform vote.
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Number one on the LIST today: health insurance companies, how they are in many cases jacking up your rates, your premiums, not because they are mean people, not because they need to be somehow vilified politically, but because they, themselves, in many ways are the victims of a system that is, according to many who look at this, insiders, broken.
And they say, look, there is nothing that we can do, but somehow try and increase our premiums. That is one argument. Listen to what Robert Gibbs had to say about this. This was just a few minutes ago, by the way, as we were getting ready to go on the air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think that the president feels some momentum on this issue. I think the president believes that, while many thought this issue was going to go away or was dead a few weeks ago, has gotten new life, I think largely because we have seen insurers send out the letters that I am talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: All right, you notice he used the word momentum. What does he mean by momentum? This seems to be a singularity of thought going on today in Washington that something may be about to break with this health care vote.
I'm going to get to that in just a moment, but, first, within the last couple of weeks, we have seen some insurance companies raise rates between 30 percent and 40 percent for small businesses in certain states. We have seen some small companies have to either just stop operations or lay off workers because they have told us, I can't pay the rates they are asking me to pay my employees. It is more than what I pay my employees.
We have also seen some companies increase the premiums for individuals, folks who try and go out to get their own insurance, because they don't work for anyone, by as much as 50 percent.
I want you to watch this. Watch this with me. It is a comprehensive report on exactly what is going on with insurance companies.
The reporter is Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're hoping your health care premiums are going to go down any time soon, don't hold your breath. Just take a look at this.
Insurance companies have requested huge premium hikes, Blue Cross 56 percent in Michigan, and Anthem 39 percent in California, 24 percent in Connecticut, 23 percent in Maine. And at the height of the health care debate in Washington, the president is up in arms.
OBAMA: Just last month, Anthem Blue Cross in California tried to jack up rates by nearly 40 percent -- 40 percent. Anybody's paycheck gone up 40 percent?
KAYE: The numbers are sobering. Health insurance premiums soared 131 percent in the last 10 years, costing the average family about $13,000 more over a decade.
American Medical Association president Dr. James Rohack says the Justice Department has done little to stop health insurance companies from merging, creating what he sees as a monopoly, a system that can dictate the market for the very product they push.
(on camera): Seventy percent of the market in 25 states is controlled by just two health insurers, just two. And in the state of Alabama one insurer, Blue Cross, controls 80 percent of the market.
DR. JAMES ROHACK, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: You have got that dominance of one insurer, and, as a result, they have a take- it-or-leave-it premium.
KAYE (voice-over): The insurance industry says they have to raise rates, because the overall cost of care is going up. So, they have to pass those increases along to policyholders.
KAREN IGNAGNI, PRESIDENT AND CEO, AMERICA'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS: Health care costs are surging. We have to get those under control.
KAYE: Fair enough, but don't forget, these companies answer to shareholders, who expect to see one thing: profit.
(on camera): How much profit? That's what we wanted to know. So, we checked the three biggest insurance companies in America. United earned $3.8 billion last year. WellPoint took home $3.2 billion. And Aetna saw profits of $1.3 billion.
(voice-over): And it pays to be an executive at these companies. Angela Braly, the CEO of WellPoint, which owns Anthem Blue Cross, earned more than $1 million in salary in 2008, along with stock options valued at $8.5 million.
In 2008 UnitedHealthcare CEO Stephen Hemsley earned $5 million, a fraction of what the CEO at Aetna took home. Ronald Williams was paid $38 million.
ROHACK: That health plan executive is still sleeping at home, not worried about how that person who doesn't have health insurance is going to get their medical care, because it's not their problem.
KAYE: The insurance industry lobby insists salaries are set by the board of directors and have nothing to do with premiums charged. They also say they're being unfairly targeted.
IGNAGNI: What people are doing wrong right now is focusing laser-like only on our industry.
KAYE: And, to fight back, the insurance companies plan to spend millions of dollars on ads arguing against the proposed health care overhaul.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And just a little while ago, I told you about what is going on, that there is a sense of momentum, some kind of movement going on today. At least that is what many of the Democrats are saying, and it seems to be what Robert Gibbs was intimating as well.
We are going to be covering that in depth in just a little bit. And let me show you what else we are going to be talking about today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seat belt first. Lock. Roll the window. Start climbing out.
SANCHEZ: Got it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Yes, I got it, all right. That is me.
A woman, though, does everybody wrong after her car goes under water, and yet she survives. This is a training manual on what to do if your car ever gets under water. Well, she was trapped after she fell about 40 feet, trapped in her car for 30 minutes, an, somehow, she survived.
I'm going to take you through this story.
Also, next on the LIST: The president postpones his trip overseas and it's starting to look like the Dems are ready to vote on health care reform? Well, at some point anyway.
We are going to talk about this momentum issue I raised to you just a little while ago. Stay right there.
This is the LIST, and we are scrolling on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. It is John from Phoenix. If you take a good look at the health care industry, the insurance industry, Wall Street and Capitol Hill, to me, it just looks like a big hamper of dirty laundry that is due for a good wash. Talk to you later, buddy. Keep up the good work.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: They know how to put things in perspective in Arizona, don't they? How about Robert Gibbs. Can he put things in perspective?
What we do is, we follow people who tweet relevant topics, and we share them with you. You can go to my Twitter account and see them for yourself or, from time to time, we will cut in and show you what people are saying.
Here is Robert Gibbs. This is a tweet he sent a while ago where he explained that the president is now not going overseas. He will "delay leaving for Indonesia and Australia, will now leave Sunday. The first lady and the girls will not be on the trip."
Now, obviously, this has everything to do with the health care reform vote that is going on, and there is an argument that the president may need to be here while this is taking place in case it is becoming imminent, in case it is becoming imminent.
Take a look at this. You know what that is? That is part of the house that Ruth built. It is what all of us as little boys dreamed about. It is the stadium that is probably the most famous in the country coming down bit by bit. I will take you through it.
Also, move over, Tea Party. Make room for the coffee party, already some 40,000 strong and growing still. What is it? I am going to take you through it when we come back. You are watching the LIST. We are scrolling on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Holly from Winnemucca, Nevada.
I have an idea. Let's put everybody's name in a bowl in Congress and for every day that they delay the vote on the health care reform, we will pull one name out, and that person loses his health care, which, by the way, is already being paid for by us, the taxpayers.
Thanks.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Topping our political list now: the health vote. Is the vote imminent? Here is what we know right now. The president has pushed back his overseas trip to make a final push for this vote. Democrats are using words like tidal to describe the movement for reform over the last 72 hours. And Republicans are complaining that Democrats are having too many closed-door meetings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DAVID DREIER (R), CALIFORNIA: The president announced that he was delaying the trip to Indonesia and Australia. And we know that they are doing everything within their power to try and twist arms and encourage people to vote for something that is extraordinarily unpopular and I believe would be devastating for our nation's economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: As Democrats scramble to reach the needed 216 votes, their entire House caucus met again to try and discuss the plan. Now, here is congressman Anthony Weiner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: There has been a tidal change I think in the last 72 hours or so. I think people are becoming more confident that we are going to get this done, and this is hugely important for many, many Americans, and hugely important for the success that we are going to have in getting the economy back on track.
And also Steny Hoyer recreated a scene from "Braveheart."
(LAUGHTER)
WEINER: So, seeing that man in a kilt gets applause, I got to tell you.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: CNN director political deputy Paul Steinhauser, boy, that is quite an image he just gave me there.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, Rick, that works for Mel Gibson. I don't know about Steny Hoyer.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I don't think so.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Look, Anthony Weiner has been one of the biggest cheerleaders of this all along. I have been trying to -- I have talked to his office several times today. It has been a while since I have used words like the ones that he is using and we heard Gibbs expressing some level of confidence. He said I think tidal change or tidal wave and something like that.
What is really going on here?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, we also heard similar language from Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker today, at that same news event. Our Dana Bash saying it was some of the most optimistic language she had heard from the House speaker on health care in a while.
Here is where it stands, Rick. They're waiting for that price tag on the bill. When that score from the Congressional Budget Office comes back, I guess clock can start ticking. The ball could start rolling as early as next week, Rick.
We could have procedural votes in Congress, in the House maybe as early as the beginning of the week, and Nancy Pelosi at that news conference said that she hopes that the full House, the full chamber can have a full vote before the president leaves on that Sunday, next Sunday, the 21st, a week from this Sunday.
So, the clock is ticking. We may have a lot -- we may have a lot of action next week. Our congressional unit is keeping a real close eye on this, and Dana Bash, our chief congressional correspondent, she says her sources, Rick, are telling her they are not at that 216 yet. Those are the number of votes the Democrats need in the House to pass it. They are not there yet, though.
SANCHEZ: Well, giving all the chirping that they are doing, it almost does sound like at least they are on the right track toward something. It is kind of interesting watching it at this point, because you have got the Dems on one side who, you know, sound like they are kind of excited, because they are coming together, and then you have got the Republicans sitting on the outside grousing about the fact that the Dems have got something going.
Politics is a weird thing, isn't it? It's just -- maybe that is just the way it is supposed to work.
Let me ask you about something else. I want to ask you about what is going on with this coffee party that I keep hearing so much about. We know all about the tea parties. Now we're hearing there's some else called the coffee party. Delineate the difference between the Tea Party and the coffee party, if you would, for our viewers.
STEINHAUSER: You got it.
The coffee party is something brand-new. The Tea Party has been around about 13 or 14 months now, but the coffee party is something that started at the beginning of this year. A woman right here in the D.C. area called Annabel Park, she got frustrated, Rick, with all of our coverage, the mainstream media's coverage of the Tea Party.
She started talking about it on Facebook, and within a month or two, boom, she has got over 115,000 fans now on Facebook. They have had some of these coffee parties across the country, small gatherings, and tomorrow, they say they are going to have -- they are going to have up to 350 coffee party events across the country coast-to-coast. We are going to keep an eye on them. We're going to cover one of them right here.
Rick, what are they? They seem to be a little bit of a progressive or liberal version of the more conservative Tea Party movement. They agree with some of the grievances, that the government does not work for them, but the solutions they have are different. Rick, they want the federal government to work. They change the federal government to work, not downsize it, like the Tea Party activists do.
SANCHEZ: All right, interesting stuff.
Well, we will following it. Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much. Appreciate that report, and we will be getting back to you as we get more. If you get more information on what is going on or if you get in touch with Weiner, let him know that, if he calls in to us, we will put him on the air, because we want to get his perspective, since he has been the most quoted guy in Congress today. At least it seems that way.
Paul, thank you. Appreciate it.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, Rick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're undocumented, you live in fear because you think that even law enforcement is immigration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, as the White House considers another controversial push toward immigration reform, you are going to hear from students who are afraid to be deported.
Also, who is the most intriguing person in the news today? Now, this has to do with football, but it is not who you think it is, although I should tell you that Roethlisberger will be in our newscast today extensively, especially a question of race and his coverage. But he is not the most intriguing. Who is it? Stay there and you will find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Someone making history in the world of sports makes our list of most intriguing person in the news.
Twenty-nine years old, teaches high school science in Washington, D.C., before that track star at University of Virginia, went on to play pro football, wide receiver. So far, nothing unusual, right? Well, this standout athlete's new gig is coaching high school football. Still not impressed?
Look at this. I'm talking about Natalie Randolph becoming the nation's first female coach of a high school boy's varsity football team, Coolidge High School, Colts. And before you think this is some politically correct appointment, look her up. She has got the chops, the stats, and the know-how to do the job. Natalie Randolph, definitely a most intriguing person in the news.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE SLATER, AUTHOR, "THE ARCHITECT: KARL ROVE AND THE MASTER PLAN FOR ABSOLUTE POWER": It is quite an interesting book. It is a full- throated defense of all things Bush.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SLATER: This is part of a legacy rebuilding project, burnish the legacy give Bush credit for everything that went right, blame the opponents and adversaries for everything that went wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Karl Rove is on message, making sure that we know that everything he did during the Bush years was brilliant, but was it good for America?
Also on the LIST, is a Mexican navy helicopter is hovering over homes on our side of the border? This is a controversy I'm going to drill down on for you. Stay right there. I'm Rick Sanchez. The LIST continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is one we all grew up with. It is a chunk of Americana going boom in a cloud of dust. Get ready for some awesome video. It is on the list that we call "Fotos."
Watch this. It is what is left of the house that Babe Ruth built. Down goes Frazier. I say they every day, don't I? The demolition of the original Yankee Stadium -- opened up in 1923. That is one of the upper decks that is crashing down. So many of us have been to this place.
They can't use explosives by the way, because it is too close to the city, so they are like pulling down the stadium section by section. The grass is gone. The bleachers are gone. The scoreboards are gone. Opening day at the new Yankee Stadium is now 23 days away.
Next, uh-oh. Folks, when the sign says drive through, that does not mean you can drive through the building. OK? Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here is the story. Woman goes to Burger King after hours. They tell her to use the drive-through. She does on foot. They tell her, no, use your car. So, she rams her car through the glass windows.
Police say that, when they got there, the woman was at the counter still trying to order. We could show this all day, but we have got to move on now.
Hmm, man, I hate to report this. Remember this story? It's this runaway zebra in Atlanta. He got all the way to the interstate last month. It escaped from the Ringling Bros. Circus. It tasted freedom for about 40 minutes. There is sad news to report. Veterinarians had to put the zebra down today. That's right. They had to kill the zebra, because this 12-year-old zebra hurt itself so much running on the pavement and on the streets that they weren't able to fix its hooves.
It was bleeding at the time. It was irreparably damaged. It was suffering. Here is to Lima the zebra las "Fotos."
NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger posing with a police officer on the night that police officer was called to investigate allegations that he, Ben Roethlisberger, sexually assaulted a woman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every single time somebody comes knocking on a door, even if it is a friendly knock, my heart starts beating really fast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: If the president pushes immigration reform, these students you see there will not be able to sleep at night. We will bring it to you. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is "RICK'S LIST." We do have new information coming in, and this is a type of story that many parents have wanted to know more about for the longest time.
A federal special vaccine court has just ruled -- stay with me here, folks -- that parents who said that their children's autism was caused by a preservative did not prove their case and they are not entitled to compensation, in other words, that it was the vaccine that had caused children in the United States to end up with this situation. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to explain. Now I saw this a lot. I watched Larry king do interviewing with Jenny McCarthy on this for example. Isn't that what she was talking about?
DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kenny McCarthy and others believe that childhood vaccines are associated with autism, that kids get vaccines and then get autism because of the vaccines. So one of the theories is that what makes kids get autism from vaccines is thimerosal.
SANCHEZ: By thimerosal.
COHEN: Not in vaccines or hardly in vaccines anymore, but were in them for many, many years.
And so these three parents went to something called the vaccine court which is run by the government, when if your kid gets a vaccine and something happens and you think you deserve some compensation, you go to the court. And the parents said we think it is the thimerosal that gave our kids autism, and the court said no, no, no.
SANCHEZ: So, the court just came back with a decision saying that thimerosal does not cause this.
COHEN: Right. Here is the decision right here.
SANCHEZ: And it is only this one illness?
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: They're not talking about anything else?
COHEN: No, three children in the same situation, that the kids they say developed fine, had vaccines, and then developed autism. And the parents say it is because of the vaccine, specifically because of the thimerosal is what the parents say. And the court says, no, there is some other reason that your kid got autism.
SANCHEZ: The reason this is a huge story is because this is a big conversation. This is not something that couple of people suggested, no. You could turn on television programs on all of the networks, including ours, and you could see this suggested and never actually confirmed, but suggested.
COHEN: And doctors will tell you -- nearly every doctor will tell you there is not link between vaccinations and autism, but, still, parents are worried, it is all over the Internet. I get more questions about vaccines and autism as a medical reporter and mom than any other topic by far.
SANCHEZ: Does this mean as a parent I should feel comfortable having my children vaccinated?
COHEN: I think that the doctor would say that, I think the Centers for Disease Control would say that, I think the Institute of Medicine would, which has studied this for decades, the American Academy of Pediatrics, all of those people would say get your kids vaccinated according to the schedule that your pediatrician advises.
SANCHEZ: And this court, how credible is it, and we will be hearing throughout the afternoon or evening, many on Larry's show or something, that some people will come forward and say I don't buy it. Can anything move in that direction?
COHEN: We have already heard that. We've already been getting e- mails from groups of parents who truly believe that there is a link between autism and vaccines. They say that the deck was stacked against these families. They say it was a government court defending a government vaccine schedule, and they say that there was no way these parents were going to get justice.
So, believe me, the parents who think that there is a link, this is not going to satisfy them.
SANCHEZ: Well, no, and listen, there are people that you cannot convince on certain topics on anything. We know that as part of what we do in the business.
Thanks for hustling in here and sharing that with us. I am so glad you did that. Our producers said we have news story, we have to get Elizabeth in here, and you came from home to do this story.
COHEN: That is right. It is important.
SANCHEZ: I appreciate. You look good for someone who just got here.
COHEN: Well, thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We will be back with more on this.
What is it like to be trapped in a car underwater? I will show you and tell you about a woman stuck in a car for 30 minutes.
Also, this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In an odd way what he is doing is blaming the Democrats for the decisions by the Bush administration using flawed intelligence to go to war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Ahead on "The List," revisiting the author of "Bush's Brain" on the subject of Bush's brain. We will be right back. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Yes, there are lots of arguments that we have been picking up from you over the last 24 hours since we first started reporting earlier this week the Ben Roethlisberger story.
And many have been writing that it seems that the treatment that he's getting because he is a white athlete is different from the treatment that African-American athletes have gotten in the past, like Kobe Bryant, for example. Well, we are going to examine that during this newscast openly and honestly with your help.
Now, this -- President Obama met with Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Lindsey Graham, trying to come up with ways to reform our immigration system. I hear you saying it, right. He has also met with a group of grassroots leaders around the country on this issue.
The president says he is optimistic and unwavering in his commitment to immigration reform. Of course, we know what happens whenever immigration reform is raised. It becomes a question of heated debate and fallacies in many cases about taxes, about contributions, about many things.
But I want you the now understand the story from the standpoint of some students who say they are Americans. They have spent their whole lives here. English is mostly the only language they speak well anyway. And they have a tough time sleeping at night because they fear that there will be a knock at the door and someone will take them away from their country. Watch this interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: You came when you were two years old.
CARLOS ROA, STUDENT PROTESTOR: That is correct.
SANCHEZ: It was not your decision, but your parents decision.
ROA: That is correct.
SANCHEZ: And now, because of the parents' decision, you feel like you are being punished for it?
ROA: In a way, it is -- we are, because I have been living in the country for 20 years undocumented.
SANCHEZ: So you are like a little gringo, an American.
ROA: Well, in a way, yes. I have no recollection --
SANCHEZ: Well, it is not in a way, because you have grown up as a kid in the United States.
ROA: Right.
SANCHEZ: And you play baseball?
ROA: Yes, football, baseball, and basketball, and play all of the sports, and still.
SANCHEZ: And if somebody took somebody like you and said you are deported and put you in the middle of Caracas or someplace like that, I imagine you would feel pretty weird.
ROA: Yes. I have never been to the country. I can't travel back to South America, because when you are undocumented, you can't travel either. I have no recollection, and I cannot even speak the language properly. And I would be in a foreign place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have I done wrong other than be a good student and try to give back to my family who has loved and supported me.
SANCHEZ: It's personal. For you, this is my story. I grew up as an American kid and I have been here since six years old from Bogota, Colombia. Please don't kick me out of everything that I know and love.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty much. That is all of our stories.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love this country and my community and my family, and this is why I am walking.
SANCHEZ: Gabby, speaking for the group, you guys are all clean and sober, right?
GABY PACHECO, STUDENT PROTESTOR: That is correct. Not only are we clean and sober, but we have also excelled academically and socially. Myself, I was president of the student government association not only at Miami-Dade College, but also for the whole entire state of Florida.
SANCHEZ: Do you have trepidations or even nightmares that someone is going to knock on your door in the middle of the night and say, out, you have the leave the United States now, put you on a plane and deport you? Anybody?
PACHECO: As a matter of fact, immigration came to my house and conducted a raid. And every single time somebody comes knocking on the door, even if it is a friendly knock, my heart starts beating really fast.
And it is the fear of being removed from the place I call home, from the only place that I have been able to succeed and go to school since I was seven years old, and the place I have grown to love, and I have friends and community that also loves me back.
SANCHEZ: Are you worried about that, guys? Does that ever cross your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I mean, we fear is something common, but then we have two options, right? One is to be paralyzed by fear or come out and try to fight for our rights.
SANCHEZ: But what if it really happened? What if some day somebody came and knocked on the door and said, Felipe, I'm sorry, you are not documented as a legal resident of the United States and we are going to handcuff and put you behind bars, detain you, and put you on the next plane back to Brazil? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be the saddest day of my life, because I know that all of the dreams and everything that I worked for would just will crumble down from one day to the other, and I didn't do anything wrong.
SANCHEZ: Same as you Juan or Carlos?
ROA: Yes.
Actually that is why we are walking, because we don't want to live in fear. When you are undocumented you live in fear, because you think that even law enforcement is immigration, and we don't want to continue to live in fears and the shadows. We want to come out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Interesting story and interesting way of looking at this situation which I'm sure many of our lawmakers will be considering. Dream Walkers is the name of the group of students walking all the way from Miami to D.C. to make their point.
Then there is the story of Ben Roethlisberger. He is accused of sexual assault. But was the officer you see there in the picture, that officer right there, he was the first officer who responded to the scene, but he'd met with Ben earlier in the day. Is he now tainted by that picture? Stay with us. We will ask. And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Folks, we have some brand new information that we can now share with you thanks to the "Orlando Sentinel." They have filed a Freedom of Information Act question which has allowed them to have their questions answered in the Tiger Woods case.
Now, this is interesting because it's information that for the most part we at CNN and just about every other respectable news organization asked but wasn't able to report because the information wasn't available or we couldn't confirm it.
Now some of what we thought has been confirmed. Stay with me here. Watch. Investigative records released today show that while waiting for an ambulance to take her unconscious husband to the hospital following his crash into a fire hydrant, Tiger Woods' wife went back into the house, Elin, right, retrieved two small bottles, and said he had taken the pain medication earlier in the day.
She also tried to ride in the ambulance, according to the "Orlando Sentinel," she also tried to ride in the balance to the hospital with her husband, but the crew did not let her, saying this was a case of domestic violence. The crew would not let her saying this was a case of domestic violence according to the Florida highway patrol records.
There was also an emergency room nurse who said the records department was closed and troopers would have to come back the following Monday when they asked to see if Woods had been drinking or was under the influence of drugs.
In other words, police wanted to conduct an investigation to find out if while he was behind the wheel he was under the influence of drugs or under the influence of alcohol. They were told, sorry, you have to come back Monday, by the hospital. They told that to the police.
The troopers did, arriving the first day of business after the crash. But listen to this. The director of medical records at first stated that their computer system wasn't working, and then said that they would not provide that information without a warrant regarding whether or not medical blood had been drawn.
This is interesting. There's even more information.
Here's what we're doing now. Again, these are questions that have been raised, but most respectable news organizations stayed away from this information until there could be a response to the Freedom of Information Act which has now been filed by the "Orlando Sun Sentinel," the newspaper of record in central Florida, and the information has just now come out, new developments on the Tiger Woods saga.
Susan Candiotti, by the way, is our reporter on this story, and, as you know, she was one of the first to break the information on this story. We're going to be hooking up with her in just a little bit. And as soon as we do that we'll have her on to take us through this story and how new most of this information is and why it's relevant or may be relevant to the case.
So stay with us right there. We're going to be trying to jump on that in just a little bit.
Meanwhile, take a look at this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seatbelt first. Lock. Roll the window. Start climbing out.
SANCHEZ: Got it.
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SANCHEZ: The dive master told me how to get out of a sinking car, but it didn't go as planned for me, and I'll show you, or for a woman down under water for 30 minutes.
And then Mexican Navy helicopters hovering over homes in Texas, and homeowners are not happy about it. There's the picture of it. Stay right there. We're going to coming right back with a lot more news.
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SANCHEZ: All right, it's turning into a very busy news day. Welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez. First, new records released today on the Tiger Woods accident last November. And I was just reading this to you moments ago. It seems to shed new light on the possibility and the question that someone in Orlando, including a hospital and a state attorney, may have been trying to either not reveal or possibly even cover up some of the information about Tiger Woods.
It goes on to say that when they asked the state attorney, Steve Foster, for the right to get a subpoena to check the hospital records to see about prescription drugs, to check on the possible use of alcohol, he denied it. He said, no, can't do it.
So the FHP said if we can't do it, we'll close our investigation. That's curious. That's very curious.
Also, we're going to be covering the story of Ben Roethlisberger. Ben Roethlisberger, as you know, has had new information on his case. And now there's this question of why his story, and this is what some are writing about, why his story is being covered different than the stories of other athletes, for example, Kobe's case. You're going to meet somebody who says yes, to that.
And also there's this story in Mexico. A Mexican plane hovers over a house in Texas. So in other words it wasn't over Mexican jurisdiction. It was over the U.S. jurisdiction. This is a controversy, and we're going to bring you that in just a little bit.
Meanwhile, take a look at this.
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SANCHEZ: Here's what's making the list today. Smile before you're accused of sexual assault posing with the officer who's called to investigate you. Uh-oh. And now the Steelers owners are describing Roethlisberger as "an embarrassment."
A woman survives in an SUV underwater for a half hour as the water rushes in. I know a little bit about this.
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The time for talk is over. It's time to vote.
SANCHEZ: The president pushes back his overseas trip to push forward on the health care reform vote.
Senator Harry Reid's wife and daughter are sent to the hospital after a horrible accident. Cher's daughter we grew up with is now Cher's son. His emotional story about self-discovery.
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back, everyone. Let me try to reset this story for you, because it was literally handed to me, and the more I started reading through this information being released according to the Freedom of Information Act by the paper of record there in central Florida the "Orlando Sentinel," it does appear there are going to be questions raised about the possibility of some kind of cover-up in this case.
We're going to try to get Susan Candiotti in just a little bit. She's making some phone calls for us.
But it looks like two relevant details here. Let me try to take you through them. First of all, that Tiger's wife, Elin, said he was on some kind of prescription drugs, and she went into the house to pick up a couple of bottles. That's what the record shows.
That she wanted to go with tiger in the ambulance, but the paramedics didn't let her because they believed this was a case of domestic violence, something that's been refuted since by everyone involved in the case, including the lawyers and Tiger Woods and even the police.
And then after they got to the emergency room, police arrived and said, look, we want to check the records to see what his blood alcohol was.
