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Rick's List

Fixing America's Schools; Israeli Prime Minister Under Fire; Bus, Light-Rail Train Collide in Houston

Aired March 15, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Before we do anything else, I want to bring you back to those pictures we got -- just got out of Houston a little while ago, this a little wider view of the light-rail-vs.-bus accident. Don't know what the circumstances were that led up to this, but, as you can see, it appears the bus collided with the light-rail train that goes through town, at least one person injured.

At least, that's how it's described to us. One person was taken away on a stretcher. We will keep checking back on that. And if there's any new information that we can share with you, we will do just that.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu, he is number one today on our list of embattled politicians, and he's, as you know, getting a lot of heat from in -- from inside his own government for the unfortunate timing of Israel's announcement that it was starting new housing that would go up in the predominantly Palestinian neighborhood.

Are we really at the worst point in relations between our two countries in 35 years, as one diplomat has suggested? Bibi's government on the list.

Also this hour:

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the list. Glenn Beck assails churches that preach social justice. And "TIME" magazine asks, why does Glenn Beck hate Jesus? He makes the LIST.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu apologizes for the rift with the U.S., and much of the heat is coming from inside his own country.

John Edwards' mistress does a spread on "GQ," revealing, with a capital R.

And look who showed up in court today for her stalker's sentencing. ESPN's Erin Andrews.

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: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Topping the list of stories that affect your family right now. There is nothing more important than your kids and your grandkids, right? Number one, their personal safety. How do I make sure, as a parent, that I keep them out of danger? Number two, are they getting along in school? Are they learning? Is there school any good? Remember, No Child Left Behind, that was the previous administration's fix for public school.

Well, guess what? It sounds like it's headed for the scrap heap.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNE DUNCAN, U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: The previous law was too punitive. It was too prescriptive. It led to a lowering, a dumbing down of standards. And it led to a narrowing of the curriculum. We have to reverse all that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Have to reverse all that. That's what is being repeated now by parents and teachers, many of them across the country. What they say is that our schools have become places that teach testing.

They teach you how to test. They don't teach you how to learn. Teachers teach to tests because the principals tell them to do just that, because, if the kids fail the tests, the principal then loses his or her job.

The principal pressures the teachers. The teachers pressure the kids, and the kids cram for the tests, math and reading exclusively. Gone from emphasis are history, and art and music and geography. Even P.E. is now maybe a couple of 15 minutes a week.

So, today, the president unveiled a new plan.

Here to talk about it with me is CNN's education contributor Steve Perry.

Steve, good to see you again.

Its this the...

(CROSSTALK)

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: ... to you as well, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Is this the problem, the standardized testing, where we have become more, where -- where it's become more about testing than about learning?

PERRY: No, because the standardized tests are simply taking the information that the -- that the boards of education and the state boards of education have determined are necessary for children to know and be able to do. So, they're saying that, by a certain age or grade, the child should be able to compete certain -- complete certain tasks. And to test that, they have to assign tests.

Is a standardized test the only way to measure that? It is not. But to throw the test away, to say there is something inherently wrong with testing would mean that we should also look at the LSAT, and we should also look at the...

(CROSSTALK)

PERRY: ... examination, because these are also a standard examination.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Steve, we all took tests. I remember taking tests. We all grew up with the number-two pencils and filling in those little bubbles. So, we have all been tested. I guess the question is, now, are they considering junking all of these tests that they take today because there's too much emphasis on testing and not enough emphasis on other things?

And, by the way, when we test, lately, I see what they do with my kids. It's always about math or reading, never about any of the other subjects.

PERRY: Right.

There does need to be a greater emphasis on more subjects. But one of the reasons why there are less subjects being taught is something that you and I have discussed before. It has to do with the fact that many of these subjects are being cut out, as seen not to be as valuable as others to make certain budgetary limitations.

What we need to focus is the fact that the standards are set so that we can establish some measure to determine whether or not the schools are, in fact, effective.

Right now, we have no other methods of determining whether or not the schools are effective. I don't know why the three-point line on the basketball court is where it is. But, right now, that's where it is. And until such time as it moves, that's where it is.

SANCHEZ: Well, but here's what I don't understand.

Is it possible to be able to find out how good a school is without simply determining how good the kids' test scores are? Is there any other way of evaluating that?

PERRY: There are other ways we could look at the overall performance of the school, if we looked at attendance. We could look at some affective measures. We could ask children how happy they are. Those are other informal methods that we could use that are softer.

But the truth is, in the end, the school's job is to teach a child to read, write and compute. And we need -- we need to be able to determine, through standardization of information, that the children can, in fact, meet those standards as they have been set by the public educators who determine that this is what children in public schools need to be able to know and do.

SANCHEZ: Well, here's another thing the Obama administration is going to do. They're going to allow states on their own to decide for themselves what some of the curriculum needs to be and their own processes for evaluating the students. States will do it. They won't be mandated by the feds.

So, Texas' Board of Education has jumped in now and they have revamped their social studies curriculum, and some folks are saying they may have gone too far. Here's what they're doing. They're stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the founding fathers' commitment to a purely secular government, by saying it really is -- there really was no division of -- no separation of church and state, and they're presenting Republican philosophical philosophies in a much more positive light.

This is interesting. It's almost taking a political turn on how kids are taught in one particular state. What do you make of this?

PERRY: What troubles me most, honestly, Rick, is that textbooks are so 2000. At a time when children are using Kindles and computers on a regular basis, the fact that any school thinks that their students should be learning almost exclusively from textbooks, regardless of what's in them, because history is always told by the victors.

So, what should happen is that we should be presenting competing interests and different forms of information, so that he children can -- can in fact prove that they can think and take information and put it together, much like you and I have to do on a daily basis.

This is what life is really about and this is what their life after high school and college will be about. So, we need to be preparing them for a greater experience, not just the one in the classroom. So, when we're focusing so much on textbook, that really is what troubles me.

SANCHEZ: But are you OK with the fact that they want to make sure kids aren't taught evolution? Board members have been locked in an ideological battle between the bloc of conservatives who question Darwin's theory of evolution and believe the founding fathers were all guided by Christian principles.

In some cases, they seem to be lessening the impact of Thomas Jefferson, because Thomas Jefferson said he wanted to have a wall of separation between the church and the state. I mean, is this about ideology or teaching?

PERRY: No, of course. I mean, I think -- no, it is -- it is clearly preaching.

And this is where an opportunity, we present ourselves -- we're presented with an opportunity to look at what school choice could really mean. If school choice were in place, then -- then the children could decide, or the families could decide, whether or not they want to send a child to that type of school.

The one-size-fits-all public school model is what's failing us. No, I don't agree with these philosophies. I mean, whether or not Thomas was a cad or a revolutionary, that is not for me to decide as it relates to this particular community's commitment to education.

What I'm saying is, what is going far enough? So, for instance, if I'm an African-American, have they truly covered the African-American experience? Is someone is Latino, have they truly covered it?

And, if so, who determines that?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

PERRY: I'm saying, what we need to have are teachers who are thoughtful individuals, who provide their students with opportunities to learn from a -- from a vast array of information, using technology as it currently exists and creating deep and abiding learning, as opposed to taking a big, four-pound textbook and expecting that that book, which was written four years before you got it, is going to give you the information that you need.

SANCHEZ: Let me -- let...

PERRY: These children are not -- are living in an information age.

SANCHEZ: Let me just put a caveat on Texas in particular, which obviously has had a large Latino influence. Latino board members and others tried to include Latino figures as role models for the state's large Hispanic population by putting it in the curriculum, so kids in Texas would learn about Hispanics.

They were defeated. Apparently, one member said the following: "They're going overboard. They're not experts. They're not historians," he said. "They're rewriting history, not only of Texas, but of the United States and the world."

So, that's one of the issues that they're coming up with there as well, the representation of minorities in the state of Texas.

PERRY: It is...

SANCHEZ: We're out of time, Steve. I got to let you know.

PERRY: All right.

SANCHEZ: But, as you know, we will have you back.

Here's what else we're following.

PERRY: I'm looking forward to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The announcement of the settlements the very day that the vice president was there was insulting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Topping our list of the most embattled politicians the , Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and where he is getting blasted the most for damaging relations with the United States in his own country. That's next.

And the woman on the LIST of the most famous political mistresses of all time is talking and revealing herself in ways very few expected to see. Wait until you see the pages of "GQ" magazine and the video that they have shot.

That is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Rick. It's Al.

These bigwigs have to stop squeezing the poor little guy so much, taxes on top of taxes on top of taxes. It's just making it the point where nobody can afford to live.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Making the list of the most embattled politicians: the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is feeling the heat, both at home and from abroad.

Let's begin with the United States. The Obama administration is the latest administration to attempt to jump-start the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians. One of the bigger points of contention has been how far Israel will build settlements in East Jerusalem due to both sides disagreeing over who owns the land.

Not only did officials announce new settlement construction in the disputed territory; they announced it while Vice President Biden was in Israel, a major diplomatic faux pas that has increased tensions between the U.S. and Israel.

Here's what Secretary Clinton had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: And the announcement of the settlements the very day that the vice president was there was insulting.

I mean, it was just really a very unfortunate and difficult moment for everyone, the United States, our vice president, who had gone to reassert America's strong support for Israeli security.

And I regret deeply that that occurred and they made -- made that view known.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, Secretary Clinton calls Netanyahu and gives him a set of four demands that must be done to show Israel is serious about peace negotiations -- the biggest demand, canceling construction of the new settlement.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has set up a team to investigate why officials announced the new settlement construction while Biden was visiting the country. This leads to Netanyahu's problems at home, which are huge. Israelis are starting to wonder who is truly in charge, if the prime minister was caught by surprise by this announcement.

This afternoon, Netanyahu was at a welcoming ceremony for the Brazilian president. Naturally, he was asked about the settlements again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The development of these Jewish neighborhoods never hurt in any way the Arabs in East Jerusalem. Today, half the Jewish population in Jerusalem lives in these neighborhoods.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, Israelis are angry at the prime minister. And it sounds like they're determined to build, nonetheless. Fighting words? We will continue to follow it for you.

Meanwhile, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to ask the president, why did he kill my son? What did my son die for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Which president? You thought she was just anti-Bush. It turns out Cindy Sheehan is also anti-Obama. Why she's in the news, that is ahead.

And is Glenn Beck against Jesus? That is a question that "TIME" magazine has asked, and we drill down on what he said to cause this furor that he has apparently brought on to himself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I got two new developments that I want to share with you. One involves video. The other one involves the tweet. Let's say -- let's start with the video first. This is an accident in Houston, Texas. I think we have got some pictures that we can share with you. There it is. It's a light-rail train that crashed with a bus. And we told you at one point that all we knew was that one person had been taken away in a stretcher.

Now we're told 18 people may have been injured and either treated or taken to the hospital as a result of this accident. So, again, this is in Houston, Texas. It's a light-rail train that crashed with a bus. It looks like the bus actually crashed into the train.

Those are live pictures from the scene. Pardon me. No, that's tape. I apologize. That's tape that we have collected from the scene from about, oh, 20 minutes ago. As we get more information on this, I'm going to share it with you.

Here's another development, story, and this comes in the form of a tweet. You know that we like to collect on a list that we keep. It's called Rick's List. You can go to it, by the way, and have access to it yourself by just going to my Twitter account, right, which is RickSanchezCNN.

All right, we told you about what the president's plan was to undo President Bush's plan on No Child Left Behind. Well, here's the NEA, National Education Association. It's a huge union that represents millions and millions of teachers all over the country. They don't like President Obama's plan. Again, they don't like President Obama's plan.

They're saying: "NEA president on blueprint proposal -- quote -- 'We are disappointed.'" And then they give a URL there where you can go if you want to get more information from them.

So, we thought we would share that with you, so you get more information on this story that we have been covering today, which, as I said, at the beginning of the newscast, is a story that affects our children.

All right.

Making today's list now, the list that you don't want to be on, an obvious choice, FOX News host Glenn Beck.

Here's why Glenn Beck is chosen today. He has created a firestorm from Christian groups for suggesting that they should not advocate social justice.

First, let me tell you what Mr. Beck said on his show March 2 -- quote -- "I beg you. Look for the words social justice or economic justice on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice are code words. I am advising people to leave their church. Yes" -- stop quote.

Those are Beck's comments, comments that have now created the National Council of Churches, an umbrella organization for Christians around the country, to shoot back at Glenn Beck, to criticize Glenn Beck. Some other groups are also calling for a boycott of Glenn Beck. And many are pointing out that what he says goes against his own church.

Beck publicly describes himself as a Mormon. They talk about social justice.

There -- then there's "TIME" magazine. Amy Sullivan has written about this extensively. Here's what she says. Here's a quote: "He managed to outrage Christians in most mainline Protestant denominations, African-Americans congregations, Hispanic churches, and Catholics, who first heard the term social justice in papal encyclicals, and have a little something in their tradition called Catholic social teaching, not to mention the teaching of a certain fellow from Nazareth, who was always blathering on about justice."

Glenn Beck stirring up a furor among some Christians, finding himself in it because of what he said,. And that's why he's on the list that you don't want to be on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Now, a baby was born to this woman.

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, WIFE OF FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS: Right.

KING: He said he would take a test.

EDWARDS: Yes.

KING: Is he going to take a test?

EDWARDS: I have no idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What would John Edwards' wife say about Rielle Hunter's revealing interview in "GQ"? I'm going to share story with you in a little bit.

Also, who is on our list of the most intriguing person in the news today? Here's a hint. She's not fond of Obama or Bush.

Stay with us. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Once again, for those of you following us, there's a developing story that we're following for you right now. It's coming out of Houston, Texas.

We're told that, after an accident between a bus and a light-rail train, 18 people have been sent to the hospital. We will continue on -- check on that story. We will see if we can get some reports out of the hospital to see what the condition of some of these folks are. It's kind of hard to discern as you look at just that picture, but we're told that there may have been quite an impact there.

All right, we will check back on that story.

Meanwhile, on the LIST: a mother who built a soapbox out of her grief.

Time now once again for the most intriguing people in the news.

Born in California, this lady watched her son go off to war in Iraq, where he died in combat. She turned her anguish into action, famously camping out near then President Bush's ranch in Texas, demanding a sit-down with the commander in chief. Never got it.

Countless anti-war protests later, she's now imploring a new president to pull all troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and will be sleeping under the stars again.

Cindy Sheehan is about to start another anti-war camp, this one on the National Mall at the base of the National Monument. She is now grilling the president of the United States, no, not George W. Bush, but President Obama. And that is what makes her today's most intriguing person in the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Rick, where we are here in Fort Lee, the excessive winds are that in -- at times in excess of 60 miles an hour make it difficult to even remain standing at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Note to our viewers: This is not a Hollywood movie scene, where they make fun of local television reporters. You're live, folks. Cue the wind. Oh, and, while you're tat, smile.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: You have just made "Fotos." That's next.

And, then, one of the most embattled companies in the news, Toyota, did you hear what they just did? You may have been at work. We will -- we will re-share for you. Toyota is firing back at the people who say their cars speed out of control -- this and more here.

I'm Rick Sanchez. The LIST scrolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

We all have rough days at work, but that can mean very different things depending on your profession. Here are now the best pictures which we call "Fotos."

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: Kansas City, Missouri -- wow. Two drivers. One crashed, and a police also lucky to be unhurt. This is one cop car who don't want to mess with. He gets hit by a car. He jumps right back up. The 24-year-old rookie struck when he suspected a driver of being under the influence plowed into the car of another car driver and pushed it into him. The officer flew about 10 feet but quickly rolled and sprang back into action. He went to the hospital as precaution but suffered only minor bruises. You might say he took a hit, but dodged the bullet.

Another near-miss now, this time in Sao Paolo, Brazil. This is Sunday. Driver Marco Andretti narrowly dodges serious injury in the Indy car season opener. Another driver slid into Andretti's car from behind actually landing on top of it. The top car appears to be touching Andretti's helmet. Talk about a close hair cut, huh?

The stack of twisted metal slid several yards before both drivers walked away unhurt. My goodness.

Now, to Fort Lee, New Jersey. As a reporter, you always want to do great coverage that blows viewers away. But you don't want to get blown away in the process.

That's exactly what happened to this local reporter over the weekend. Winds in excess of 60 miles an hour made his live report, well, a little shaky. He delivered gripping coverage as he gripped a piece of debris ripped from the top of a 15-story high-rise.

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: This is one of the biggest stories of the day. She is an actress-turned-filmmaker-turned-mistress of a U.S. presidential candidate. Which do you think she's going to be remembered for? Rielle Hunter revealing her personal story in the new issue of "GQ." That's why she makes THE LIST.

And who are these Americans that were killed in drive-by shootings in Mexico? Are they perfectly innocent? Are we less safe when traveling to Mexico? Important questions we're going to drill down on.

Rafael Romo is on THE LIST and he's coming up to sit down with me and talk about these things.

Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

Topping our list of border stories today, three Americans connected to the U.S. consulate in Juarez, Mexico, are gunned down. This photo right there shows two of the victims. She was an American employee of the consulate. Her husband was a U.S. citizen. Their 1-year-old child who was in a vehicle with the couple at the time of the shooting survived.

The husband of a Mexican employee of the consulate also killed in an almost identical shooting.

Our Rafael Romo has been following this story all day long.

And, I guess -- let's start with what most people would want to know. Is there any reason to believe that either their actions or what they had done in the past brought them into this situation where they were murdered?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: So far, there's no reason to indicate that, Americans specifically would be in target. What we know is they were all in the same party, Saturday morning. It was a children's party. All went to the same party.

And we also know that they were specifically chased down and they were -- they were not caught in a crossfire. They were specifically chased down and they were shot in the middle of the day, approaching the international border, the bridge there between Juarez and El Paso, Texas. So, they knew who they were looking for. The question is, why specifically this couple of Americans?

She worked at the American consulate. He worked across the border in El Paso at the sheriff's office. He was a detention officer. And the third person is the Mexican husband of a Mexican employee at the American consul.

SANCHEZ: What do we know about the suspects in this case?

ROMO: The suspects, I just spoke with the mayor of Ciudad Juarez. And he tells me that they believe that a local gang known as Losas Tecas (ph), the Aztecs, there in Ciudad Juarez, who works -- they are the enforcers for the Juarez cartel, may have been involved in this. But again, we don't know the motive. Authorities are very reluctant to talk about a motive right now.

SANCHEZ: Because I -- let's put this in perspective. We hear about crime in Mexico all the time, and we hear about drug shootings and we hear about violence along the border. But how often does that violence involve American tourists, for example? Or American nationals who are living in Mexico?

ROMO: In this case, there's a lot of concern, because not only were they Americans, but also we're talking about a consular employee in a city that, it's very important to both Mexico and the United States.

SANCHEZ: But this is a rarity, though?

ROMO: It's a rarity, definitely.

SANCHEZ: Even though there's -- I mean, there's a lot of crime in a lot of cities in the United States, but just because there's a lot of crime in a city does not necessarily mean it's dangerous to go to all parts of that city.

ROMO: And right now, there's absolutely no reason for anybody to say that they're specifically targeting Americans. Right now, we just don't have that information.

SANCHEZ: By the way, we do have one tweet that just came in. We've been following this. I'm sure you have as well.

The State Department has been putting out information -- look at this one here. "Due to recent murders of U.S. consulate officials, the State Department issues travel warning for Mexico."

And then you go that URL that they put right there, and that's essentially the State Department's information. And they'll take you through it. They'll literally take you through what it is that they're saying.

In fact, go back to it. There it is. See it right there's? Put it up so you can see it yourself. That's a travel warning.

We've read it -- go back to the travel warning if you got it -- we read the travel warning and what it essentially says is that they're not telling people to leave Mexico. They're telling people to be careful in certain cities.

ROMO: And another thing that is very interesting, Rick, is that the State Department is telling the families of employees, six different cities, that the consul, that the American consulate in six different cities, that they're free to come back to the United States for 30 days while they investigate what the risk is.

SANCHEZ: Just in case it's a grudge against consular activities.

ROMO: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much. We appreciate it. Good report.

Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great. Hang in there, just like that. Hang in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: She in the spotlight for the first time, Rielle Hunter, the mother of John Edwards' love-child. By the way, those are her words, not mine. She calls the former senator "Johnny" as well, but says he's not really a politician at all, at heart, and she's got a lot more to say and a lot more to show in this "GQ" article that she is now saying -- well, that she wishes they hadn't taken those pictures of her. One wonders -- wasn't she there?

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

There is no question who goes to the very top of the list of most revealing today. She wins it hands down, as a matter of fact, for as much for what she says as for what she shows. Rielle Hunter gets intimate in the pages of "Gentlemen's Quarterly," "GQ."

All right. We got the picks. Let's look at them. She's -- this is Rielle Hunter, pictures, long interview, appears to be in "GQ" magazine.

Former Senator John Edwards' former mistress and their 1-year-old daughter, Edwards now admits fathering. Hunter talking publicly on the record for the very first time since the baby was born says that she was not paid for the interview. She says that she's still in love with Johnny and that they slept together the day they met.

She says he feared the wrath of Elizabeth. She says she and Edwards are not engaged, says she's speaking now because Johnny went public and admitted paternity, and she says Edwards is OK with her speaking to "GQ."

Let's read some of the quotes together that everyone seems to be talking about Elizabeth Edwards: "Oh, my God. I have such compassion for her."

Quote about his failed political aspirations: "I don't really believe that he was a politician. I believe his ego and ambition drove him to that field."

Quote about being a mistress: "I'm not a great mistress. I'm not a mistress by nature. It's a role that I took on because I fell in love with him."

This may be best quote of the day from "The View" host Elisabeth Hasselbeck about the picture of Rielle Hunter with stuffed animals. "If you're going to involve Kermit, Barney and Dora, put your pants on!"

Promo: "GQ" article writer Lisa DePaulo is on "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight, and she's going to be explaining more about this.

And, by the way, there is now a report coming from -- Rielle Hunter saying that she is unhappy with how she was portrayed in these pictures by "GQ." And, again, one asks -- wasn't she there? We'll let you know what's going on with that story.

Also, this -- my follow-up list. The ESPN reporter who was photographed in her hotel room, the stalker who did it is being sentenced at this very moment. We're going to let you know what happens to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is like a patients' Bill of Rights on steroids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And if were you at work or school you may want to hear what the president said about health care reform in Ohio today. It is today's "Replay." And by the way, his team is saying this thing could get done with a week. Can it, really? We're going to let you hear from the president himself. That's coming up in just a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

A couple of things going on that I want to share with you. First of all, a couple tweets. Look at what's going on with the regular Twitter board. You know also when we've got a lot of folks watching the news when the Twitter board goes to over-capacity and the fail whale comes out.

And now, let's go over to the other Twitter board. This is the one where we collect from my list exclusively of what people have been saying throughout the day.

And this is Representative Eric Blumenauer. He says, "Health home stretch. People need to use their inner wonk, not outsource analysis to idiot shouting heads. Facts are clear." Facts are clear.

Hey, by the way, we have just got information from our booker that Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican Party, is going to be joining us here Thursday, to talk about his plans to try and stop the health care reform, as he and other Republicans have been saying they want to do.

So, that should be a good spirited interview with Michael Steele coming on Thursday to RICK'S LIST. We thank him for taking the invitation, accepting the invitation.

All right. Now, let's talk about the sentencing of Erin Andrews. All know who she is if you watch ESPN. She had a video stalker. That's right.

Erin Andrews is expected to attend the court today where he, the stalker, Michael David Barrett, was pleading guilty. He agreed to 27 months of a prison term. Andrews wants $335,000 in restitution given to her.

Andrews, by the way, is scheduled to make comments afterwards. We haven't received those yet, but if we do, we'll certainly turn them around and share them with you.

Now, back to the item, that's all at the -- at the very top of the list of the Obama presidency. For the third time in a week, President Obama hit the road, making a closing argument on health care. Today, he was in Strongsville, Ohio. It's just outside of Cleveland.

He chose the location because of a Strongsville woman with cancer. Her name is Natoma Canfield. She sent out a letter about her skyrocketing insurance premiums. President Obama read that letter to insurance executives and it's become a key part of his closing arguments.

Now, I want you hear for yourself what the president had to say to the folks today in Ohio. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: So, you want to know why I'm here, Ohio? I'm here because of Natoma.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I'm here because of the countless others who have been forced to face the most terrifying challenges in their lives with the added burden of medical bills they can't pay. I don't think that's right. Neither do you.

That's why we need health insurance right now -- health insurance reform right!

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)

OBAMA: I'm here -- I'm here because of my own mother's story. She died of cancer, and in the last six months of her life she was on the phone in her hospital room arguing with insurance companies instead of focusing on getting well and spending time with her family.

I'm here because of the millions who are denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions, or dropped from coverage when they get sick.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I'm here because of the small businesses who are forced to choose between health care and hiring.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I'm here because of the seniors unable to afford the prescriptions that they need.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I'm here because of the folks seeing their premiums go up 30 and 40, and 50 and 60 percent in a year.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Ohio, I am here because that is not the America I believe in. That's not the America that you believe in. So when you hear people say, start over -- I want you to think about Natoma. When you hear people saying that, this isn't the right time -- you think about what she's going through.

When you hear people talk about, "Well, what does this mean for the Democrats? What does this mean for the Republicans? I don't know how the polls are doing." When you hear people more worried about the politics of it than what's right and what's wrong, I want you to think about Natoma and the millions of people all across this country who are looking for some help, and looking for some relief. That's why we need health insurance reform right now! (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: You know -- you know, part of what makes this issue difficult is, most of us do have health insurance. We still do. And so -- and so we kind of, you know, feel like, well, I don't know, it's kind of working for me. I'm not worrying too much.

But what we have to understand is that what's happening to Natoma, there but for the grace of God go any one of us.

We hear a lot of people in Washington talking about politics, talking about what this means in November, talking about the poll numbers for Democrats and Republicans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need courage.

OBAMA: We need courage.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Did you hear what somebody just said? That's what we need. That's why I came here today. We need courage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Once again, I want to let you know that every day, we're going to try and collect the best political moment of the day and share it with you towards the end of the newscast like we did there. You can expect it towards the end of 4:00.

Now, I want to share something else with you. The House Budget Committee this hour is finally beginning the process of a vote that will take place later this week. Democrats are still scrambling to find that number. You know the number, right? Two hundred and sixteen votes needed to pass it. And Republicans are vowing to do everything that they can to stop it.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES SIKES, PRIUS DRIVER: I was in the '80s somewhere and kept hitting the brake, kept hitting the brakes. And it wasn't slowing down at all. It was just accelerating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Have you seen how this story developed today? That's Jim Sikes. He says that his Prius would not stop.

Toyota held a news conference just a short time ago. In case you missed it, they're essentially saying they checked his claims and that they are wrong. More on that coming up in just a little bit.

And as we go to break, I always tell you. If wanted to join us here in the studio, all you have to do is call a certain number and you can be like these folks right here. Look. They're on TV.

Wave, guys. Say, hello, America.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Let's go to our studio audience.

I know you just got here. You missed a lot of news. What story do you want to know about?

You, young lady there.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Toyota.

SANCHEZ: You want to know about Toyota? Boy, I got Toyota for you.

All right, folks, here's what happened. Toyota fired back today against this gentleman named Jim Sikes. Jim Sikes was saying his Prius was out of control, going in speeds of up to 94 miles an hour. Toyota, as well as the National Highway Safety Agency, have gotten together and they've investigated the incident, investigated the car. And they said, could not have happened. At least not the way they found things.

That set up a conversation I just had a little while ago with Rick Newman from "U.S. News & World Report." Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK NEWMAN, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT: Toyota is fighting back. We've heard so many apologies from Toyota, from the executives in front of Congress and in other formats, and you almost get the feeling watching that the people inside Toyota have just been chafing for the opportunity to come out and say, look, our cars are not nearly as bad as everybody is making them out to be, and it's almost -- I mean, yet another irony of this situation is that it was a so-called "runaway Prius" incident.

SANCHEZ: Well, that's just --

NEWMAN: It's actually given Toyota the opportunity to defend itself.

SANCHEZ: That's what I was just going to say -- interesting that you picked up on that. I think this Jim Sikes character has given Toyota -- and that's not to say his story may not be true -- but because of the questions surrounding his case.

And it was interesting that they brought in this G.M. from the El Cajon Toyota station where he comes out and says, "Look, we did everything he wanted to us do, and we did return his calls" -- almost as if to set up the story that goes something like this: Jim Sikes was mad at Toyota because of the what he perceived to be the treatment he got when he took his Prius in. So, he made up this story to make Toyota look bad. They didn't say that, but that seemed to be what they were intimating, wasn't it?

NEWMAN: Yes. They cast doubt on his story, again, like -- as if it were a legal strategy. And, you know, brought out a couple of Toyota executives who are kind of -- they're kind of doing this folksy thing, one of them is not even wearing a tie, this spokesman, and the dealership owner is talking about driving his two little girls around in Toyota with no worries.

I mean, this is, you know, different from we've seen from Toyota so far. And it's almost -- you know, we're -- we all are recalling balloon boy, right?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

NEWMAN: And that hoax. You know, we were all so sympathetic towards that family and it turned out to be a hoax. And that sort of cynicism among the public, I think is working in Toyota's favor, probably, right now.

I don't know if Toyota has, you know, deliberately changed its strategy. I think, partly, they had -- you know, it's a very opportunistic response because they sort of had this case fall into their hands that favors them.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

NEWMAN: Because it appears, if we take -- just taking Toyota at its word, it appears that the facts in this case support Toyota and not the driver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And that's it for us. We are plum out of time. I want to thank you. I want to thank the folks who came by here to visit. And a great question a little while ago.

And now, I want to take you to "THE SITUATION ROOM" in Washington, D.C. Here is Suzanne Malveaux.