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Rick's List
Strain in U.S.-Israel Relations?; Tiger Woods Announces Return to Golf; Health Care's Crucial Week
Aired March 16, 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. Here we go, two minutes before the hour of 4:00 on the East Coast.
Up next on the international list: Who's going to blink first? These strained relations between the United States and Israel get even more raw after the vice president's recent trip. And now we're getting information that some U.S. military leaders, U.S. military leaders are getting very upset about what's going on between the U.S. and Israel, because they're concerned that it's going to have an effect on soldiers, on U.S. troops who are fighting in parts of the Middle East.
That is coming up, and this:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the list today.
Protesters who don't want health care reform converge on Washington.
Republicans Dick Armey rips into Republican Tom Tancredo.
Why did White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers really resign?
And look at these videos, a flying horse, a rock slide, and a bloody protest.
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, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez.
And I want to start right now by taking you right back to the very top of our international list. I want to tell you about this because it's important for all of us.
I told you I would talk to the author of this explosive report on U.S./Israeli relations. There he is. He's standing by for us right now in Washington. His name is Mark Perry, solid reporter from everything that we have checked on him, also a former adviser to the late Yasser Arafat.
Let me tell you what he's saying, though, before we start with him, because he's written extensively about what's going on.
Mark Perry is saying that some of the top Pentagon generals now believe the United States troops in the battlefields in Afghanistan and in Iraq are being endangered by the lack of progress toward Middle East peace, and, in particular, by actions undertaken by the Netanyahu government.
This predates the flap over the new Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem announced during the visit by Vice President Joe Biden.
Now, I'm -- I'm going to read to you from Mark Perry's article that's posted on the Web site of the respected publication "Foreign Policy." I want you to take a look at what we have prepared for you here.
"On January 16, a team of senior military officers from the U.S. Central Command arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander, General David Petraeus, to underline" -- here's the news, folks -- "his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the Middle East conflict. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen."
Again, this is a briefing for military officials. Let me read on.
"The briefers reported that there was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U.S. was incapable of standing up to Israel, that CENTCOM's mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises. The January Mullen briefing was unprecedented. No previous CENTCOM commander had ever expressed himself on what is essentially a political issue.
"The Mullen briefing and Petraeus' request hit the White House like a bombshell. The Obama administration decided it would redouble its efforts," which may be why the vice president went to the Middle East."
"Pressing Israel once again," as I read on, "on the settlements issue, certainly, it was thought, Israel would get the message. Israel didn't. While commentators and pundits might reflect that Joe Biden's trip to Israel has forever shifted America's relationship with its erstwhile ally in the region, the real break came in January, when David Petraeus sent a briefing team to the Pentagon with a stark warning: America's relationship with Israel is important," but then he writes this: "not as important as the lives of America's soldiers. Maybe Israel gets the message now."
That's stunning. Mark Perry is the author of that piece. He's also the author of a book "Talking to Terrorists." And let me remind you once again, he once was an adviser to the late Yasser Arafat.
Obviously, some people would wonder if you're partisan, based on the fact that you knew Arafat and worked for him. But what you're saying is not your opinion. As I understand it, you're reporting an event that took place between U.S. military officials, and they're concerned that the actions of the Netanyahu government with the U.S. government would hurt our guys, hurt our soldiers, right? MARK PERRY, CONTRIBUTOR, "FOREIGN POLICY": That's right. But I don't expect -- Rick, I don't expect people to take my word for it just because I say it. I'm only reporting it.
Let's take a look at what General Petraeus said this morning in an appearance before the Senate Armed Services Committee...
SANCHEZ: OK.
PERRY: ... in his prepared remarks this morning, is...
SANCHEZ: I have that right here, by the way.
PERRY: And his first action item was to relate the war on terror and our military posture and our standing with other Arab countries directly to progress on the Israeli/Palestinian peace. And I don't think it could be clearer. He's worried. If there's no progress on the Israeli/Palestinian issue, we're not going to have much progress on the war on terror.
I was gratified to see the story. I think it confirmed my report.
SANCHEZ: This is interesting, because I will tell you what's maybe ironic about this situation.
The Israelis, obviously, have wanted us to go into the Middle East and follow the Wolfowitz plan of increasing democracy in the Middle East and making those countries work better with Israel, for example. But now that our soldiers are there in the Middle East and have been for the last eight years or so, Israel actually needs to be a little more careful about what it does, so it doesn't endanger their lives.
So, the irony is, before U.S. soldiers were there, it seemed Israel could get away with more than what they're getting away with now. Those seem to be the words, or, if not the words, the sentiments, being expressed by some of our high-ranking military officials in the United States.
PERRY: Yes, that's exactly right.
And you cite the right person. We have to remember that Assistant Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said explicitly that the road to Jerusalem -- that is, peace between Israelis and Palestinians -- would run through Baghdad, that we would take down Saddam Hussein, and everyone in the region would stand back and say, we better hew to the course that the Americans have set out here.
I think the military is taking an opposite point of view. The road to peace in the Middle East runs through Jerusalem. We have to solve this problem -- this problem, and we have to push Israel hard if our credibility is going to be enhanced in the region. That was the message from General Petraeus today. That was the message of the briefing. It's very important.
SANCHEZ: But, you know, many on the right will say that this president is too weak when it comes to the Middle East, that he needs to embrace Israel fully, perhaps more like his predecessor, George W. Bush, did, and that Benjamin Netanyahu will take advantage of him if he continues going in the direction that he's going.
What would you say to those folks who are saying that?
PERRY: We can't afford to appear to be weak. We can't have our credibility questioned.
I mean, I'm a historian. I look at the American relationship we had with Great Britain in World War II. We worked very well together. We consulted closely together. But we were in charge of that relationship. We had the most money on the table. We had the most troops on the field.
SANCHEZ: So, let me stop you. You're saying that this relationship between the United States and Israel is in many ways, and you opine, being directed or controlled by the Israelis, and not the United States?
PERRY: There's no question that we're an ally of Israel. The question here is, how close an ally of ours are they? Will they accede to our wishes when we say, you have got to move on this; you can't announce 1,600 new housing units and expect us to win the war on terror; this is in our interests, too, and our interests take precedence?
SANCHEZ: This is interesting. I mean, Netanyahu has really kind of put himself in a bit of a pickle here.
PERRY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Let's move away from that. And I want to ask you about something else, because there was something you wrote that General Petraeus was asked about today. And I want to ask you about it.
You write in your piece -- let me check it -- that "Petraeus asked the White House to extend his area of responsibility" -- that would be CENTCOM, right?
PERRY: Yes.
SANCHEZ: "... to cover Israel and the Palestinian territories."
I guess he's basically saying, look, if you're going to have me leading troops in that area and fighting a war, then give me control of the area in that same area.
Here's -- here's what he said today when he was asked about whether he really wanted what you wrote about.
Take it, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: In fact, although some staff members have, at various times -- and I have discussed -- in asking for the Palestinian territories or something like that to be added to, we have never -- I have never made that a formal recommendation for the unified command plan.
And that was not in what I submitted this year. Nor have I sent a memo to the White House on any of this, which some of this was in the press, so I welcome the opportunity to point that out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So, he's saying you got that wrong. Did you?
PERRY: Yes. And I admitted it on the "Foreign Policy" piece. I received a phone call from the Pentagon.
The formal request -- General Petraeus is right -- the formal request did not go to the White House. It went to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that formal request. And it didn't include Israel. It included the Palestinian territories, that that be included in his area of responsibility.
So, with that minor, but I think confirmatory, recommendation of my own piece, yes, he's right. But it's important. This -- this would include the West Bank and Gaza in his area of operations.
SANCHEZ: Well, it wouldn't be a bad argument to say that the general in charge of the theater where U.S. men and women are now fighting should also be involved of a side area that could possibly conflagrate that fighting, right?
PERRY: I think that's exactly right. And it would be a signal to our Arab allies. I mean, Israel isn't our only ally in the region. It would be a clear signal to our Arab allies that we're willing to insert ourselves, the U.S. military is willing to insert ourselves in this -- in the resolution of this conflict, and that it's important, not just for the State Department, but for the Pentagon.
SANCHEZ: And who controls -- if not CENTCOM now, who controls that region? Would that be the European...
PERRY: European Command, exactly right.
SANCHEZ: European -- European Command, right.
PERRY: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Boy, I will tell you, delight to talk to you, sir. Thanks so much for sharing some of this insight into this situation with us. Certainly, we will have you back.
Mr. Mark Perry...
PERRY: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: ... appreciate your time.
PERRY: Thank you. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: ... because the clarion call has been made. We have a huge opportunity.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: That's why, in the last week, over 200,000 Americans...
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: ... have business to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is the countdown to the health care vote. And demonstrators are getting a last chance to make their case. They are protesting in Washington today on two fronts, and both against the health care bill. We are going to take you there.
Also, from our comeback list, it was never a question of if Tiger Woods would play golf, but when. And now there's a date, and there's a tournament, as there's news, and I'm going to share it with you.
Hey, nice drive, Tiger.
We will be right back.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. It's Jill Slaver (ph) from Weston, Florida.
I'm a big supporter of Israel, but I think what they did was a slap in our face. I think they did it for political reasons. And I think that they need to remember that, since Iran wants to take them down, we are their best ally.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Jim C. down in Richmond, Virginia.
You know, if the rest of the world enjoys the benefits of socialized medicine, why do people immigrate to America? Why leave a workers paradise to come here?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
There is no question what tops the LIST on the fight over health care today. Let me describe the scene on Capitol Hill today. The phones are going crazy in congressional offices. In fact, we're told that the phone system is overloaded.
The big question today, could the House of Representatives actually pass the Senate version of the health care without voting on it? Democratic leaders still insist that they can get the magic number. We have told you before, it's 216 to pass health care by week's end.
But, if they're short, they could use a controversial procedure to pass it without taking a yes and nay vote. It's complicated, but, essentially, the House would deem -- D-E-E-M -- deem the Senate bill as passed. They would then vote on a series of changes more popular with Democratic members.
Republicans have had angry words today for this idea. Listen to House Minority Leader John Boehner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Anybody who thinks they can sneak this bill through and deem it, all these other tricks, there's no way to hide from the biggest vote that most members of Congress will ever cast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Just a few minutes ago, Speaker Nancy Pelosi struck back at Republicans. She's essentially saying that she's keeping her options open at this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I didn't hear any of that ferocity when the hundreds of times the Republicans used these methods when they were in power. This is part, maybe 25 percent, of what they did.
So, this is -- if you don't want to talk about substance, talk about process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, at the White House, reporters pressed and pressed White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, but he wouldn't directly answer whether President Obama, who has vowed transparency on the process, would favor this deem idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: If that happens, would the president be OK with that?
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, again, Ben, I -- I -- there's going to be a vote on health care reform this week. You're going to know where people are on health care reform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now let me take you back to Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are a nation that love liberty.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the world has known us. They have...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's the scene on Capitol Hill. A large crowd turned out for a rally urging Congress to kill the bill. The protests were organized by Tea Party supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHRYN SERKES, FOUNDER AND CO-CHAIR, DOCTOR-PATIENT, MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: You know, it's a funny thing. They keep throwing some of these highfalutin words out at us, like reconciliation. And they hope that we won't understand what that means, those $10 words.
You know what is so funny, is that the president seemed to have trouble with the little two-letter words.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: No!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!
SERKES: That's right. What part of no doesn't President Obama understand?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, we understand there are more protests planned for throughout this week. And you can expect that CNN will be there, record them, and share some of those moments with you.
Now, take a look at this. Tiger Woods says he is returning to golf at the Masters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPECTATOR: (INAUDIBLE) Tiger!
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: It starts April 8 at Augusta National. It will end a self- imposed hiatus because of his car accident and scandal with so many women. Last played November 15, Tiger did. That's when he won the Australian Masters.
I don't normally pick on people just because they aren't like me, but I have to tell you why this woman, 600 pounds and counting, finds herself on the list that you don't want to be on today. In fact, it was your idea to put her on the list. Consensus of Twitter followers said she needs to be there. So, she's going to be there.
And this pickup truck chase, it has a twist at the end. Wait until you see what police found when the truck finally stopped.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You're not going to believe the top of the next list that I'm going to share with you.
But, before we do that, I want to check the list of our regular tweets, the folks who follow our show every day. And, man, they have been commenting an awful lot on what is going on in Israel.
Let me stop at the very top -- start at the very top, I should say, with Brian. He says: "Israel has every right to build within their sovereign borders."
We have got lots like that. And we have also got plenty going the other way. But then look at this one. And this is interesting. This is a response to the story we did last week, when we showed people who wanted health care reform protesting.
I read who was bankrolling that organization. It was mostly the unions. This time, I failed to mention who was bankrolling this organization, and someone's caught me.
Good for you. So, here you go.
"Can you read the Tea Party protest were bankrolled by the RNC? Dick Armey is one of the people that is working for health care companies."
Your point is correct, and, your point is well made. And I'm glad you caught me on that.
Meanwhile, 600 pounds is not a healthy weight. I think we can all agree on that, right? So, imagine weighing that much. Imagine weighing 600 pounds and wanting to weigh more.
Last night on Twitter, you told me that you wanted me to put this woman at the very top of the list that you don't want to be on.
I want you to meet Donna Simpson. She's 42 years old. She wants to put on another 400 pounds. That's on top of the 600 pounds that she already weighs. Why? So she can proclaim herself the world's fattest woman. Her plan? To reach half-a-ton in two years.
She already holds the Guinness world record as the fattest mom. She weighed 532 pounds when she gave birth in 2007. This is what she wants, folks. Other than occasionally running after her little one, she tries carefully to avoid exercise. Let me repeat: tries carefully to avoid exercise.
She spends $750 a week on food. And if you wonder how she can afford that, get this. She has a Web site where men can pay to watch her eat.
Donna, you may want to reconsider this thing, for health's sake, and, if nothing else, for your little one's sake.
Donna Simpson, chosen by you on our Twitter list as number one on the list that you don't want to be on.
That is a horse and a rider getting caught in rough water. Well, that's actually what happens after they get caught in rough water. The rider managed to save himself -- the horse, well, not so much, until a giant helicopter came along. That's coming up.
Also, because it's the top of every elected official's list, the health care vote makes our most intriguing list today. You're going to meet a man who is demanding accountability on camera from Democrats on Capitol Hill. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: Hey, Rick. This is Belle (ph) from Texas.
I want to talk about health care reform. I don't understand why the Republicans are against the health care bill. People need insurance. The Republicans just don't get it. People are dying every day, and they just don't care.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, let me tell you what's going on today regarding health care.
Due to the high volume of calls on health care -- let me show you this tweet that I'm reading to you over here. We keep a list of all the folks who are tweeting every day, and we check to see what they're saying, to see if they're reporting something that's relevant to share with you. And this is true, because we have checked it out.
He says the House switchboard is getting jammed. He also says, in case of a busy signal, call back or send an e-mail. A lot of Republican representatives are the ones that are asking their constituents to do so. And, apparently, it seems to be working, because we have heard from our own Dana Bash that, in fact, the phone lines there in Washington are jammed as we speak.
One of the most intriguing people in the news today, he's a radio guy, talk radio. He's in Memphis. But what's he doing in Washington, D.C., today? That's what puts him on the list of the most intriguing person in the news.
This guy's trying to get Tea Party activists from coast to coast to descend on the nation's capital. The purpose? He says it's to bring down town halls to members of Congress. Because members of Congress won't go to the town halls anymore, he's bringing them to them. He's so fired up in his opposition to President Obama's health care bill, that he wants his fellow Tea Partiers to approach Democratic representatives whose health care vote is still unknown, demand their position, and put their comments on videotape.
This is an ambitious project that will hinge on how much those congress men and women feel like playing along. His name is Mark Skoda. And he's the chairman of the Memphis Tea Party. There he is. To be the face and voice of a movement, any movement, he is one of the most intriguing people in the news today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we were avoiding the rock slide on the 64 coming out of Cleveland. Well, you can see over there, it's another rock slide. So, your country's falling apart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, that guy's laughing.
But look at this guy. Oops! Nobody told him the rocks were there. Imagine you're driving down a road, and, all of a sudden, a rock slide occurs just before you get there, and boom. We will take you through that.
Also ahead: why the president's social secretary, a trusted member of his inner circle, may have actually been brought down by Christmas cards, or lack thereof. That's right, Christmas cards.
The real story of Desiree Rogers -- when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
And I'm joined now by Brooke Baldwin. And we are having a conversation about several things -- and we're glad you're here to help us with this. We have a dilemma. And we want you folks at home and folks on Twitter, or who can email to share with us --
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So pressing.
SANCHEZ: We have named Brooke's segment that she comes out here and so faithfully does every day --
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: We thought we were going to name it "The B List" because it's kind of coll. "B" for Brooke "B List." But she's decided now that she doesn't the "B List." So, we're thinking about calling "The Brooke Block."
BALDWIN: "The Brooke Block."
SANCHEZ: What do you, guys, like? What do you like, Robert?
BALDWIN: What do you like? You like "The B List"? SANCHEZ: You like "The B List"?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both.
SANCHEZ: You like both.
BALDWIN: Craig?
SANCHEZ: Craig?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like "The Brooke Block."
SANCHEZ: All right.
BALDWIN: "The Brooke Block." We'll see. Tweet us.
SANCHEZ: Stay right there.
BALDWIN: Let's move on.
SANCHEZ: We've got some photos we want to do, and then we'll continue the discussion. Start the tweets now.
You've seen plenty of road blocks, right, but none quite like this one that you're about to see. Time for the best pictures of the day, otherwise known as "Fotos del Dia."
(MUSIC)
SANCHEZ: Knoxville, Tennessee. Yes. Whoa is right. Mother Nature set this road block. It's a rock slide. The driver here screeched to a halt just in time to avert disaster but still caught a bit of a nasty bump. Ouch!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came around that curve right down there. And I didn't even see that rock pile there. I'm lucky that I hit it in a way to not get too hurt. My dog here -- she probably took a pretty good hit, but she's all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: No, I'm shaking it. As you can see, a news crew happened to be shooting the aftermath of the rock slide when the best shot of the day just came barreling their way.
BALDWIN: Amazing.
SANCHEZ: That's how it happens, Brooke.
To Thailand now -- no, that's not tomato juice in those plastic bottles. That is blood -- human blood. They collected jugs and jugs of human blood, and then poured it on the ground.
Why? To make a point to the prime minister, to dissolve parliament and call new elections. Their goal was to collect enough blood to douse his office, and they did. You might say they sweated blood to make their voices heard.
All right, now, let's talk about this. You heard the expression "when pigs fly," right? Well, what about when horses fly? The Airwest Helicopter Company flew to the rescue of this stranded steed today in Buckeye, Arizona.
The horse, named Colorado, was stranded on a small island in the Gila River for four days. Apparently he got caught up in strong currents Friday. His rider escaped. And after his high-flying exit, maybe Colorado will take on the moniker of --
BALDWIN: Pegasus.
SANCHEZ: Very good.
(MUSIC)
SANCHEZ: The list of embattled politicians today includes an outgoing member of the Obama administration. Desiree Rogers was social secretary when a Washington couple crashed a state dinner, you remembered, as embarrassing as that was, it may not be the real reason that she had to step down. We may have the real reason. That's coming up.
And then Rosario Dawson. Boy, she is a looker. Easy on the eyes, isn't that what people say nowadays? Well, guess what? She's a list of celebrities who sent a message to me about the U.S. census.
And, Robert, if you would, shoot the Twitter board. They are coming in like crazy. Forty-seven in the last 30 seconds about "Babeling Brooke," "Brooke Block," Brooke this. Brooke like it. Brooke -- OK, we'll be back and we'll tell you what wins.
Stay with us. The Brooke List continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Everybody seems to be weighing in on Twitter on what we should call Brooke Baldwin's list. Some people think we should call it Brooke Baldwin's list. Look at this. Let's go to the Twitter board. Ready?
"'B List' sounds secondary, less important," someone writes.
Let me take you down here and show you what else people are saying. "I like the 'B List.' It reminds me of Kathy Griffin." There you go, Brooke.
"I have a lot more Rick and Brooke. I'm like a library," somebody writes. "How about Babeling Brooke?"
BALDWIN: Babeling Brooke -- I got that as a kid.
SANCHEZ: Babeling Brooke. "'Brooke Block' sounds cute. It's an alliteration." "Hey, Rick, how about "Going for Brooke?" -- like "Going to Brooke."
BALDWIN: Going to Brooke?
SANCHEZ: Going to Brooke.
BALDWIN: Is that a good thing?
SANCHEZ: Do you like it?
BALDWIN: I like "Brooke Block."
SANCHEZ: You get to choose.
BALDWIN: I like "The Brooke Block."
SANCHEZ: All right. "Brooke Block" it is. Congratulations.
BALDWIN: "Brooke Block" it is.
SANCHEZ: And the winner is "Brooke Block."
BALDWIN: Whew!
SANCHEZ: Joining me now for "The Brooke Block" is Brooke Baldwin.
BALDWIN: That's a lot of Bs.
SANCHEZ: Yes, you said it. Go ahead. What do you got?
BALDWIN: OK. So, this story, where I was yesterday, I was up in Manhattan. And this was a pretty compelling interview and I want you to be the judge.
So, here's what I did. I sat down with a popular radio host from some years ago, Reese Hopkins. He is in jail. He is charged with raping an 11-year-old girl. And I sat down with him in this interview for about an hour.
And I want to tell you, 40 minutes into this thing, Reese broke down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REESE HOPKINS, ACCUSED OF RAPING 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL: I didn't rape anybody. I would never rape anybody. That's an ugly crime. And I am not an ugly person.
I found that was so stunning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, he says he didn't do it. You heard him. He says he absolutely has an alibi. He has proof, says he was in a totally different state.
Now, Meantime, the state of New York is speaking, of course, on the victim's behalf. She's still a minor. We haven't heard from her. We can't hear from her. They say, of course, yes, he did it.
Here's the thing. The D.A. has offered him this plea deal. Get out of jail right now, with time served. But he has to register as a sex offender for life. He says, "Thanks but no thanks." He says he would rather die in prison than admit to a crime he says he didn't commit.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
BALDWIN: So tomorrow -- tomorrow, I'm going to sit down and I want you to hear much more of my exclusive jailhouse interview. And I want you to be the judge -- did he do it or not?
SANCHEZ: And by the way, for a lot of folks who may not know because radio personalities are usually regional, this guy was listened to --
BALDWIN: Syndicated.
SANCHEZ: -- by hundreds of thousands of people all over the country.
BALDWIN: Yes, a lot of people know his voice.
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's talk about Desiree Rogers, because there's this news that Desiree Rogers -- you remember the Salahi affair.
BALDWIN: Of course, the gate-crashers.
SANCHEZ: That she let the people -- that she shouldn't let them in and that was her fault. We thought that's the reason she really lost her job. It turns out there's more.
BALDWIN: It turns out there's more. Right. So, we're talking about Desiree Rogers. She was the former White House social secretary.
SANCHEZ: Right.
BALDWIN: There was a lot going around about why she would have -- why she's gone. But the latest we're hearing is from Politico.com, this article from Jeanne Cummings. And she's reporting that another reason, it could be the main reason why she left the White House post -- I love how she said earlier how, she didn't do something that your mother taught you how to do, right?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: She didn't send out Christmas cards to Obama's biggest donors. In fact, in this "Politico" --
SANCHEZ: Or even "thank you" cards. I mean, I got them. If somebody is going to send me a check for $1,000, the least I can do is say, "Thanks."
BALDWIN: Maybe she was sending them to the right people. I don't know. This is from Politico.com and she actually quotes his White House essentially saying the donors rose up and that was another reason why Desiree got pushed out.
SANCHEZ: Look, in the world of politics, campaign contributions are really, as we've learned, the life blood.
BALDWIN: Biggie.
SANCHEZ: I mean, the life blood.
BALDWIN: Biggie.
SANCHEZ: And if you're not responding to these, folks, and they're saying it may have had an impact on donations.
BALDWIN: More -- can I just give them -- I hope you tune in, though, tomorrow because I'll have a lot more of the Reese Hopkins interview. Go way more into depth.
SANCHEZ: What was it like to go in that jail?
BALDWIN: It was spooky. You know that noise, the door slams -- I mean, it was creepy. I had never been inside a jail before. I mean, you are in there.
SANCHEZ: But you had Michael Hurd (ph) with you.
BALDWIN: I had the man Michael Hurd.
SANCHEZ: I gave you my producer to work the history well.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much.
SANCHEZ: I let him travel with you.
BALDWIN: I love him. Bye.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Brooke. I appreciate it.
Red carpet beauty Rosario Dawson reaching out to undocumented immigrants -- why they shouldn't be afraid to fill out census forms. Her story when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I have had the pleasure of sharing a microphone with Rosario Dawson many times at functions. And I'm going to share with you something that Rosario Dawson has to say in just a moment. In fact, she sent it especially to us, to this show.
But before I do that, I want to share something else with you. Senator Harry Reid has a tweet that we have intercepted and we'll share with you now, as we follow RICK'S LIST. By the way, you can look at all the relevant people who are tweeting on any given day by just going to my Twitter account. It's RickSanchezCNN. We keep a list there of all the people, celebrities, elected officials.
He writes, "I urge Nevadans to fill out the 2010 census. For each person who goes uncounted, Nevada will lose $917 per person per year for the next 10 years." So, everyone's telling this to their constituents. Everyone's talking about that they should get out and make sure you fill out the census or else you're going to be hurt or your community or your group.
Topping our border stories today, it's census time and the government is once again making a big push to get not just everyone counted or not just every citizen, but everyone. A special effort, we understand, from the folks at the Census is being made to convince many Hispanics who are a little apprehensive of the importance of responding to the census, that the census will not, they say, quote, "require people to disclose whether they're documented or undocumented." One of the people involved in this effort is my friend, Hollywood beauty, Rosario Dawson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSARIO DAWSON, ACTRESS: Hey, Rick Sanchez. We are here at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex. It's a charter high school here in downtown Los Angeles.
We are about to unveil our very new and very first census campaign PSA that we shot at Wilmer Valderrama, our artist coalition's house. We seem to go to him all the time for all our PSAs. He knows about the Latino more for our voter campaigns.
But now, we're going to have a census initiative. We're trying to reach out to young people, especially. That's why we're here in this high school, because you can be 15 years old and fill out a census form -- a little known fact.
Now, it's really important that young people talk to their parents and fill out those forms for census, because that means $10,000 per person for their community, and that goes to places just like this -- schools, roads, hospitals, senior centers, bridges. These are the things that we complain about talking about our neighborhoods falling apart.
And as our population and our numbers keep growing, we need to make sure that we are represented in the House of Representatives and let everybody know, hey, we're here, we need money for these communities that are falling apart, we're overwhelming them. If we don't show those numbers, we don't have -- we have another 10 years that we have to wait to declare ourselves.
Now, it's our constitutional right and imperative to declare our numbers. There's no worry at all about immigration status, resident status that's going on. It's just if you live here in the United States, no matter what your status is, you deserve to be counted and you deserve to be represented.
So, that's we're here. We're about to be launching our first new PSA. I'm really excited about it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Rosario Dawson, my thanks to her. Still ahead, why this tops our list of car chases. It's not because of the speeds or the damage -- because of the surprise at the end. I want you to watch this and see what happens. You'll see it for yourself.
And then, we have something called "The Blitz." It's another list we've added. And it involves, yes, Wolf Blitzer. He's next.
Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Time now for "The Blitz" with Wolf Blitzer, his list of important stories.
And we begin with tea party supporters on Capitol Hill. But a central figure in the tea party effort this week had very strong words for another voice on this movement. I want you to listen to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, what he has to say about another Republican, Tom Tancredo and Tancredo's anti-immigration stance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK ARMEY (R), FORMER HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: When I was a majority leader, I saw to it that Tom Tancredo did not get on a stage because I saw how destructive he was.
Republicans got to get this right and get off this goofiness that they have. Ronald Reagan said, "Tear down that wall." Tom Tancredo said, "Build that wall." Who's right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's interesting. Ronald Reagan I think also said Republicans should not speak ill of other Republicans, right?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": That was the 11th commandment, as you recall, a lot of us who cover the Reagan administration recall. You know, he was very firm on that. You know what, keep the differences within the Republican Party to a minimum. Obviously, sometimes it will spill over.
But Dick Armey, who is one of the leaders of the tea party movement, he was really tough. You just heard in that clip on Tom Tancredo. He's very anti-immigration, illegal immigration. And Dick Armey was taking a position: you know what, calm down.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Wolf, did you see the beginning of my newscast?
We got some information written in "Foreign Policy" which is a pretty credible organization. It seems to be suggesting that there's a lot of military officials in United States, including David Petraeus, who are, if nothing else, maybe more, but if nothing else concerned that Israel's divide with the United States in terms of coming up with some kind of peace process in the Middle East could end up hurting our guy, hurting our soldiers over there because it's an al Qaeda theme that they're going to pick up.
What do you make of that?
BLITZER: Well, I read the article by Mark Perry that was on the "Foreign Policy" blog. And, you know, he's got information that not necessarily Petraeus himself, but some of his officers came and presented a briefing to Admiral Mullen and others at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, that the peace process, if there were a peace process, between the Israelis and the Palestinians and if that conflict were resolved, it would ease a lot of the pressure on U.S. interests in that part of the world. And, conversely, as long as that conflict continues, it undermines some of the U.S. interests in that part of the world.
I don't know prevalent that briefing was. I don't know how significant it was. But I know that that's a view that a lot of the officials have.
SANCHEZ: Well, it's interesting that military officials would be essentially getting involved in what is normally a political issue, a political thing. It makes me wonder -- and look, you've reported from there, you know about as much as anybody that we can talk to on this. Is there a possibility that "Bibi" or Benjamin Netanyahu is overplaying his hand here and is going to end up -- well, I'll just leave it at that, that he's overplaying his hand?
BLITZER: I think he's got to do something right now that's going to cool it, that's going to ease this tension that has developed really rapidly over the past week or so since that incident with the vice president blew up in Jerusalem when he was there for only a few hours, and all of a sudden, the interior ministry in Israel announces they're authorizing 1,600 more housing units in a disputed part of Jerusalem.
So, what exactly is he going to do to calm it? I've seen tensions between the United States and Israel over the years, during the first Bush administration when James Baker was secretary of state.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BLITZER: And they were withholding loan guarantees for the Israelis to resettle Soviet Jews in Israel because of settlements during the Kissinger administration after the 1973 war, there was a reassessment of policy. There have been ups and downs in the U.S./Israeli relationship.
I suspect that officials at the White House, officials in Netanyahu's government, they're going to take steps in the coming days to try to cool it, to try to ease it.
But Netanyahu is going to have to do something to tell the U.S., you know what, we're going to try to correct what happened last week -- which he himself says he was blindsided by that, although he doesn't disapprove of building more housing in east Jerusalem.
SANCHEZ: Yes, he's all but come out and apologized for it.
BLITZER: He has apologized, but he hasn't disavowed the actual policy.
SANCHEZ: I think what he's apologizing for is putting Biden in such a strange situation.
BLITZER: It was awkward because Biden was clearly there to try to improve the Obama administration's relations with Israel. And he was going out of his way to do that and it came just as George Mitchell, the special Middle East envoy, had reached an agreement that there would be these proximity talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And then all of a sudden, this announcement came and that was obviously a source of grave, grave concern.
SANCHEZ: Boy, this is something you do know a lot about. I can tell with your passion when you start talking about it.
BLITZER: It's an important issue.
SANCHEZ: So, we're calling your segment every day "The Blitz." I hope that's OK with you. It was between "The Blitz" and oh yey versus oy vey.
BLITZER: How about the "Wolf Pack?" I like the "Wolf Pack," too.
SANCHEZ: Oh, you're like Brooke now. You want the name --
BLITZER: What's wrong with the "Wolf Pack"? What's wrong with the "Wolf Pack"?
SANCHEZ: Fine, fine. We'll go with the "Wolf Pack."
BLITZER: OK.
SANCHEZ: The Blitz man. All right. We appreciate it, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: You didn't like oh yay and oy vey?
BLITZER: You know, I like the "Wolf Pack." The "Wolf Pack" is good.
SANCHEZ: Thanks.
All right. We're going to be talking with tea party -- more tea party politics in just a little bit and the upcoming health care vote with RNC Chairman Michael Steele. He's going to be coming. He wants to be a part of RICK'S LIST, he says.
So, his people called us and said he's going to be on THE LIST. We'll put him on the list. He's scheduled for Thursday. So, make sure you mark that on your calendar.
Also, there's an Arizona pickup truck chase that I'm going to share with you. Not so much because of the chase but because of the ending. Stay there. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. We've got a little free advice for you. If you're doing something illegal inside of a moving truck, obey all traffic laws. It just makes a lot sense, doesn't it?
Watch the list of today's police chases. Police are chasing in Phoenix, Arizona, a truck. It was tailgating other motorists. The driver pulled over but took off as the officer walked up. The officer gave chase, but then he backed off, after the truck began driving erratically.
The police lost the truck. A police chopper from CNN affiliate KNXV in Phoenix there helped find it.
Guess what? When they opened this, look what they found. Fourteen people were hiding in the trunk. Watch them pop up now under that piece of plywood. Yes. Three were in the extended cab. The truck's driver/owner is now arrested and faces charges of human smuggling and felony flight.
The things you find if you just look.
Thanks so much for being with us. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Now, to the man who his own segment on RICK'S LIST called the "Wolf Pack," Wolf Blitzer.
