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Rick's List
Big Break For Big Ben; Return Child to Sender?
Aired April 12, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Here's making the LIST right now.
Millions of you ride trains in and out of this famous terminal every week. Now we know it was a target for this man.
FRED BRIGHT, OCMULGEE, GEORGIA, JUDICIAL CIRCUIT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: There will be no arrest made, nor criminal prosecution of Mr. Roethlisberger.
SANCHEZ: Is super Bowl quarterback Ben Roethlisberger facing charges for an alleged bathroom and bar incident?
One family's struggle with international adoption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would like to get the family's side of the story, because, right now, they don't look too good in the headlines.
SANCHEZ: What help is there for parents with violent adopted kids?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of our kids, they have been to the psychiatrist, they have been to the psychologist, they have been to therapist. But, in many cases, those modalities failed.
SANCHEZ: We hold these truths to be self-evident.
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
SANCHEZ: Four score and seven years ago...
(BUZZER SOUNDS)
SANCHEZ: ... all legislative powers herein.
(BELL RINGING)
SANCHEZ: That's the one. Should a member of Congress know the Constitution? You tell me.
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, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
It is now hour two. And the number-one story on the list is all about Big Ben -- no sexual assault charges against Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Word came from District Attorney Fred Bright just a couple of hours ago.
It says something happened. At least that's what the DA is saying, something happened, but not enough evidence there to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was actually a prosecutable crime or even grounds for an arrest.
Here's what happened that night in March, as told by the DA, Bright.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIGHT: Ben Roethlisberger was bar- hopping with his bodyguards and friends here in Milledgeville, Georgia and attracting a crowd wherever he went.
And the victim was bar-hopping with her sorority sisters. Both parties had been drinking alcohol prior to meeting each other. They did not know each other before this evening, but did meet at different bars throughout the course of the night. They participated in conversations, some of a sexual nature.
After midnight, Mr. Roethlisberger and his entourage were at the Capital City Club and the manager let them use the VIP area. The victim went with her sorority sisters to the nightclub later. Mr. Roethlisberger invited them into the VIP area, where he provided shots of alcohol for them. Everyone agrees that the victim was highly intoxicated due to consuming alcohol.
One of the bodyguards guided the victim down a back hallway. Mr. Roethlisberger followed her down the hallway into a small bathroom. The issue is what happened in that small, less than five-foot-wide single commode bathroom between Mr. Roethlisberger and the victim. Significant questions about what occurred persistent. A report was made to law enforcement immediately.
Initial interviews were conducted. The victim was driven by a friend to the county regional medical center, our local hospital here in Milledgeville. An emergency room doctor and two nurses examined her. Noted in their report was a superficial laceration and bruising and slight bleeding in the genital area. Everything else in the medical examination was normal. The doctor stated that he could not say that these were or were not from any kind of trauma or sexual assault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The DA also says he has a letter from the young woman saying she doesn't want to pursue the case. That's important.
Now, also on the list of adoptions gone horribly wrong: 7-year-old adopted boy sent back to Russia, put on a plane alone with a note on his backpack. Adoptive grandmother in Tennessee is saying that the boy was violent, his behavior psychotic, she says.
She also says that he threatened to kill his adoptive mother. A last straw was when she says she caught him starting a fire in his room. Now, the feds and some local officials are now investigating whether the family did anything illegal here.
Martin Savidge is in Shelbyville, Tennessee. He's following this story for us.
Apparently, the sheriff, Martin, is trying to talk to Nancy Hansen and her daughter Torry. Has there been any luck with that communication or attempted communication?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's no question that the sheriff would like to talk to the family members. But it looks like the sheriff is going to have to settle talking to the family members' attorney first, before he gets a chance to talk to the family members.
And that's actually what we believe is taking place this afternoon. In fact, there is, well, the beginnings -- the settings up of a press conference that we anticipate that the sheriff of Bedford County here, who is the lead in the investigation, is going to have some sort of communication with the attorney and then fill us in as to exactly what was spend.
As far as the Hansen family -- that's the adoptive American family here -- they have essentially vanished. They have not been seen. We have staked out their house at least four days, no sign of life there. So, it's clear that, with all the media in town, they have decided to lay very, very low -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting about a case like this? And I think, as we look at it, and certainly folks like myself, as parents, I understand that kids can get a little out of whack sometimes. Certainly, mine do, and have. So, it's not a matter of who's right and wrong here.
They understand that there are issues. The question here is, is it possible that some laws may have been broken and by whom? What can you tell us about that, Marty?
SAVIDGE: Well that is exactly the issue here.
You know, it's a very emotional story. There are a lot of people who will sit back and talk, what would you do in these kind of circumstances? But as you put your finger on it here, the question is, just because a lot of people may consider what was done wrong does not necessarily mean that it was illegal in the eyes of the law.
And that's exactly what the sheriff is trying to do here. In fact, the State Department has said, look, it's going to be handled by local investigators down in Tennessee. So, his job here is to try to determine what laws, if any, were broken.
And in the conversations that I have had with the sheriff, at least the sheriff's office ahead of time, and also with the district attorney, they both say, you know, it's very hard to right now see any specific laws that were broken.
The one case where you might make is to, well, what about child abandonment here? And the DA actually said, well, when the child was taken by the grandmother from Tennessee up to Washington, where he was placed upon the plane to go to Russia, he was technically still in the custody of family.
In other words, if there was abandonment, it happened in Washington, D.C., and that is out of the jurisdiction of the investigators down here, Rick.
SANCHEZ: As I was reading about this he story over the weekend as well, I picked up something about the Hansens or somebody in the family -- I will let you put the details into this -- that they felt like maybe they didn't get all the information from either the Russians or the adoption agency, or, somewhere along the line, they got bad information or they were lied to.
What -- can you amplify that for us a little bit, Marty?
SAVIDGE: No question. They say that they were misled, and they used specifically the word lie. They were lied to by Russian authorities, they believe.
They said, when they began the adoption, went thank went to Russia, not once, but twice, to visit with the child and to visit authorities at the Russian orphanage, they specifically had questions about the mental stability of the child, about the physical well-being of the child as well.
And each time they said that they asked these questions, they were rebuffed by the officials that worked at the orphanage, who said, this child is absolutely fine.
Now, seven months later into the adoption, they say all the behavioral patterns of this little boy exemplified that he was anything but fine. They believe he was psychotic, Rick.
But it still goes back to the question of, how do you handle the case after that? And, of course, as many parents feel, there are other avenues that should have been pursued, in the minds of many...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SAVIDGE: ... before you take a child and essentially return them like a pair of shoes, as one person put it.
SANCHEZ: Yes, I know. But then there by the grace of God go I kind of thing. I mean, we all could find ourselves in this situation. It's difficult to judge. And I think we all get that as parents, but it's one heck of a story, and well told by you, Martin Savidge, as usual.
We appreciate your time.
(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: Let us know if anything changes on this.
SAVIDGE: You bet.
SANCHEZ: Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What has he said to you, in terms of threats?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The worst was that he's going to kill us, kill all of us, burn down the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This goes way beyond temper tantrums. Let's stay with this issue that Marty and I were just talking about in this case. This is different, though. This is a special report that we have put together on troubling adoptions in general. And wait until you see this, folks. It's -- it's ahead.
Also, this man, Najibullah Zazi, he's back on top of our security watch list again. Why? Well, there's an update on what he really could have done, really could have done, accent on could have done. This is frightening, folks. We are going to bring it to you. It's next.
Also, first, take a look at the closing numbers on the Dow. It's above 11000 for the first time since September 26, 2008. Those are the numbers as they're coming in right now. Yes, it's important.
We will share more. Stay there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Rick. I'm Toni (ph). I'm originally in New York, residing in Florida.
What kind of monster is this woman to put an 8-year-old alone on a plane to Russia? I hope that Russians never let Americans adopt a child from their country ever again.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Number three on the list moving forward now, I want to remind you again of what a close call we had just seven months ago, and there's new information on this case. And that's why it's back on our list.
Seven months ago, the feds put the clamps on Najibullah Zazi. They did so just days before he had planned to commit a major terror attack in New York City. Zazi was stopped on his way to New York to lead suicide bombings on New York City subways. One of the targets, we now know, was Grand Central Station. There he is. Now, remember, this is the guy who came to the feds' attention for stocking up on hair care products. Remember that? He used the hair care products to try and manufacturer a huge bomb, or bombs, on orders from al Qaeda, no less, according to the feds, all that with this in mind. Today, we're getting a fuller picture of what it exactly was he had planned to do and how close he came to doing this.
I talked last hour with our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: How close did he come to pulling this off, or will we ever know?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, apparently, he got pretty darn close. As you mentioned, he had traveled to New York City, and he has told investigators that September 14 was the chosen date for this. They might have done this 15th or 16th...
SANCHEZ: Wow.
MESERVE: ... he said, but the 14th was their target date. He was traveling in from Denver in early September.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Remember, he is an Afghan national, is Najibullah Zazi. He has pleaded guilty and is now cooperating with the federal government.
Then there's Conan O'Brien. Welcome to the family. He's going back on the air. I'm going to tell you where and when.
Also, a reminder of just how tough politics can be in New Jersey, especially if you're the governor, and you have got people saying about what they said about that fellow right there.
That's next on the LIST. Stay here. We will be right back. We're scrolling on. And we got your tweets. We know. Man, there's a lot of them today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: There is a story taking place in New Jersey that we have been following. And it has a lot of people talking. And, obviously, when people are very tied to education, they have very strong opinions.
In this case, he has strong opinions about their governor, like this. Look at this one. It says "Chris Christie" -- that's the governor of New Jersey -- "is anti-public schools and he's trying to punish teachers, rather than cut spending in his government offices."
OK. We understand that, when there are issues about education, people are going to have strong opinions. But now listen to this, because this also has to do with Chris Christie.
Look, I love a good joke as much as anybody. Who doesn't, right? But, seriously, who jokes about the death of a governor and expects to get laughs about it? Yes, we're talking about that governor. What it gets you, by the way, when you do something like that is, you get a spot on my list that you don't want to be on.
There he is. He's the governor of New Jersey. His name is Chris Christie. You think he's got a sense of humor? Yes, probably. But he's 2409 laughing at a state teachers' union memo that appears to wish him ill. It goes worse than that tweet that I just read you, which was critical. OK.
No, this official memo from a union ends with a phony prayer that we imagine was meant to be cute. Here, read along with me, and tell me if you think this is funny. "Dear lord, this year, you have taken away my favorite actor, Patrick Swayze, my favorite actress, Farrah Fawcett, my favorite singer, Michael Jackson, and my favorite salesman, Billy Mays. I just want you to know that Chris Christie is my favorite governor."
It may be funny to some, but certainly seemingly mean-spirited.
Reaction from Governor Christie. "Though the memo is perverse and shameful," he says," he didn't mention that it's not even funny. The state education association president calls it inappropriate now. and they're apologizing for both the content of memo and for the lack of respect that it seemed to show to the governor.
Governor Christie and the teachers union are fighting about pay and pension. That's politics. But joking about the big guy dying, that seems to be a bit of a low blow and unbecoming of any professional association, like this teachers union specifically. The New Jersey Education Association gets the number one spot on my list today, the list you don't want to be on.
All right, what happens when an adoptive child becomes so out of control -- and you have been seeing some of the video that we have been showing you of this -- so out of control, that his parents fear for their own lives? It's a question that people have been asking ever since that Tennessee woman send her troubled adoptive son on a one-way trip back to Russia. And that's causing a lot of controversy. But there's more. We have got a special report on this.
Also, a moment so emotional, we wanted to make sure you saw it, Poland in shock after losing its president, and some of the pictures are still coming in. We will share them with you. Stay there. The list scrolls on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Rick. How you doing? This is Ed from New York.
My feeling is about this adopting children from Russia, I think the United States should make it easier for people here to adopt all the homeless kids we have here. I said, you know, they make it so hard, and to give the kids a chance. If you do adopt one, you're always worrying that the original parent might want them back, I said. It's not fair. I said, let's get off kids into houses, instead of in the orphanages.
Thank you.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Boy, we're getting a lot of comments, even on that Chris Christie story that we told moments ago, from you.
But we're also getting a tweet that I want to share with you. I always share tweets from people who are relevant. And what can be more relevant than the guy who lives in the White House?
Here's the president of the United States, sent this tweet out just a little ago on a story that we're going to be covering. But he wanted you to know it from your -- from his perspective. Here it is.
"Meeting with world leaders at today's nuclear security summit. It's focusing on solutions to keep nuclear materials away from terrorists." Again, it's the tweet from President Barack Obama moments ago.
Meanwhile, another big international story. Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who was killed in a plane crash over Russia over the weekend is going to buried alongside his wife on Saturday.
The body may be put on display, maybe even as soon as tomorrow, we understand, at the presidential palace. Kaczynski's body was returned home to tributes yesterday.
I want you to take a look at how these tributes looked and sounded as they took place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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SANCHEZ: As you know now, the plane that was carrying the president crashed Saturday morning while trying to land at an airport in Russia. Condolences are already pouring in from all over the world. Here, you see Russian Prime Minister Putin bringing flowers to the crash site.
Authorities do not yet know what caused the crash, but Russian investigation officials quickly said that the crash was not caused by technical problems. Polish prosecutors, though, they are still investigating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRZEJ SEREMET, PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF POLAND (through translator): But the traffic controllers said that the dampness was -- was too -- too significant for the plane to land. The Russian traffic controllers were advising the pilots not to land at Smolensk, but the further information will be -- will be acquired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Poland's parliamentary speaker is currently the acting president and will continue in that role until there's an election, which will be -- will be held, we understand, in about 60 days.
Then there's this story: Conan O'Brien. We were, well, somewhat shocked today when we read his tweet, his tweet saying that he's making a comeback, and he's doing so on cable television. We're going to drill down on the talk show's host new deal with TBS. That's coming up in just a little bit.
And then look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
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SANCHEZ: Is there anybody -- has there ever been anybody more fun than Dick Van Dyke? I mean, this guy could be -- I don't what know his age is, actually, but it doesn't seem to matter. Dick Van Dyke, the rapper? Enough said. That's next.
Stay there. We will enjoy it together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(music)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Brooke Baldwin is going to be joining me to us Brooke block in just a little bit. And that sure is fun to say.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You like to say that a lot?
SANCHEZ: Brooke block.
BALDWIN: Brooke block.
SANCHEZ: Brooke block.
BALDWIN: Brooke block. SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: Brooke block.
SANCHEZ: Sounds like you're doing a chicken sound, doesn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Awesome.
SANCHEZ: We will...
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: "Fotos." We are.
SANCHEZ: Why did we have to -- why did we have to go there?
All right.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Don't you hate being put on the spot. Even you do, right?
BALDWIN: Yes, by you.
SANCHEZ: Like I just did to you? Right.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Thank you very much.
SANCHEZ: Time for "Fotos Del Dia," our list of the day's best video.
Here it is.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Brooke block. Brooke block.
All right. Should a U.S. congressman know the Constitution? Here's what we can say without reservation. This congressman would have been better off knowing or being able to recite the Constitution. He's a New Jersey representative.
I want you to watch Mr. Frank LoBiondo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you would be so kind as to explain to everyone in this room Article 1 Section 1 of the Constitution.
REP. FRANK LOBIONDO (R), NEW JERSEY: Oh, Article 1 Section 1 is the -- is the right to free speech.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. That is the First Amendment. The First Amendment guarantees all of us five rights. Would you be so kind as to tell us the five rights and can articulate -- can articulate that?
It is my civil duty, as a citizen, to know the Constitution. It is your job to know it, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Can you say ouch?
BALDWIN: Wow.
SANCHEZ: OK. We will move on.
Some might consider this an unlikely sight. It's Dick Van Dyke, my favorite, my personal favorite, like you've never seen him before. He's rapping with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer, Chad Smith, there.
This is part of a children's album. It's called "Rhythm Train."
Let's -- you want to listen to some of this?
BALDWIN: Yes, yes. Let's listen.
SANCHEZ: All right.
(MUSIC)
BALDWIN: If only we had the camera on you.
SANCHEZ: I like that.
BALDWIN: Rick Sanchez getting jiggy.
SANCHEZ: Dicky, Dicky, Dicky, Dicky.
Dick Van Dyke, 84 years old. God bless him. He has come a long way, folks, since his rooftop tap dancing on "Mary Poppins." And then there was Mary Tyler Moore saying, "Oh, Rob!"
Remember that? Oh, you're too young.
All right. The Masters yesterday, Tiger Woods channels John Daly. He does. This is what John Daly would do.
But here's Tiger just blowing a tap-in. Hey, no big deal. It's just the Masters, right?
BALDWIN: Oh!
SANCHEZ: Tiger finished fourth. He didn't seem like he his head on in the usual Tiger way, and some would say it's understandable. Right?
BALDWIN: He had a little bit going on, I guess.
SANCHEZ: There's "Fotos."
OK. "Brooke Block" now.
Conan O'Brien is the news. He will be back on television this fall, and he's joining part of the Time Warner family. TBS is a sister network of CNN, as you may know. That's why it's TBS.
He announced today that Conan's show will debut in November, a one- hour show. It doesn't have a name yet.
He's taking George Lopez' spot, right?
BALDWIN: Right. Right. So Lopez moves to midnight and Conan will be at 11:00, Monday through Thursday.
SANCHEZ: And you're going to take us through this?
BALDWIN: Sure, I can help you.
SANCHEZ: Why don't you do it right now?
BALDWIN: OK. Here I go.
SANCHEZ: Go.
BALDWIN: Here's what Conan has said about the move -- and I quote -- "In three months I have gone from network TV to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now am I'm headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly."
SANCHEZ: That's funny.
BALDWIN: It is funny. He's a funny guy.
Team CoCo reportedly talked with TBS, didn't get too serious until last week. His manager came out really saying, really, it was a whirlwind association. Ten days and they got this thing inked.
Turner execs are excited. Conan, as we were chatting last hour, he's big with the younger folks.
SANCHEZ: Yes, he is.
BALDWIN: And so, that should be great, because a lot of the lead-ins coming in to the 11:00. It's like, you know, you have "Family Guy," reruns of "The Office." So that's perfect for him.
SANCHEZ: He's like Letterman in many ways. I mean, big with the college crowd.
BALDWIN: Right. Like you.
SANCHEZ: No. Like our intern, because he told me that.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: You get all of your good information from our intern, Stephanie (ph). Let's just be straight on that.
SANCHEZ: That is so true.
BALDWIN: He's like, who's the Red Hot Chili Peppers?
SANCHEZ: All right, let's do this -- hold on right there. We're going to have more of what you're going to bring us in just a little bit.
Meanwhile, let me tell you about this. A disgruntled professor -- that's the one -- charged with shooting her co-workers to death has another shooting in her past. It wasn't even considered a crime, but now it may be because of what she's done.
That's ahead.
Also, the Vatican announce as change in how it deals with child abuse cases, and when you hear what it is you'll wonder what may have taken so long.
That's next.
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SANCHEZ: She's so nice, you've got to visit her twice. Is that the way it goes? Something like that.
BALDWIN: Something like that.
SANCHEZ: "Brooke Block."
BALDWIN: "Brooke Block."
SANCHEZ: Here we go. What have you got now?
BALDWIN: So this is the story. You remember Amy Bishop? She was the woman -- she's now facing capital murder charges in Alabama after killing three of her colleagues, remember, in the biology department.
SANCHEZ: Yes. We were all over that story.
BALDWIN: We were all over the story. You sent me to Boston. This was at the University of Alabama.
Just a reminder, here she was back in February, after the shooting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, do you have anything to say? Do you know about what happened?
AMY BISHOP, ACCUSED OF MURDER: It didn't happen. There's no way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the people who died?
BISHOP: There's no way. They're still alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Whoa.
BALDWIN: OK. So that was her in February right after that happened. You sent me -- the show sent me to Boston to dig on her past.
And we learned that back in 1986, Amy Bishop had shot and killed her brother Seth. Now, what's key here is the case was never prosecuted. And according to the current Norfolk County D.A. -- that's the guy up in Massachusetts -- there are major gaps in the investigation.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM KEATING, NORFOLK DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The police officer had already started the booking process, already put down the charge of murder, already put down the charge of assault with a dangerous weapon.
We found that there were gaps in reports and the information we had available to us. We found contradictions in witness statements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, this was a case -- and I talked about it on the air many times.
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Eventually, she was saying, look, he was my brother. We were just goofing around and the gun accidentally went off.
BALDWIN: Well, the thing is, no one really knew. You know, I kind of pored through a bunch of those police reports, which you'll remember, the Braintree police reports were missing for quite a while. And there's a lot of inconsistencies.
And so even though this thing is really decades old, like, 24 years old, now the current D.A. is saying hang on. So he has ordered what's called an inquest to be held in the death of her brother, Seth Bishop.
Now, it's not a trial, there was no jury involved. It's essentially this judge sitting down. He's obtaining this information to determine actually whether a crime was committed.
So, it starts tomorrow. He's carved out four days to do this.
And what's so interesting here is that he gets to call and question these witnesses, one of whom was Amy Bishop's mother, Judy Bishop, who I know I knocked on her door when I was up in Boston. She's not spoken with investigators. She is the only person who witnessed that shooting, and it's so key to finally hear from her.
SANCHEZ: But wasn't there some kind of connection to the police department that may have swayed the decisions in this?
BALDWIN: You know what? Not really on the record. Nothing that really came out from what I dug. That wasn't really -- not so pertinent in the end.
SANCHEZ: OK. But the bottom line is, here you have somebody in the past who may have been involved in something that seemed, OK, maybe it's innocent, maybe the gun just went off. But now when we come back and we look in hindsight --
BALDWIN: Given what's happened in Alabama --
SANCHEZ: Given what happened in Alabama, that's when police are saying, you know what? This now seems fishy.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. So now the judge will start looking at this. And we as, you know, the public may be able to look at those transcripts once this thing is done, maybe in a couple of days.
SANCHEZ: Fascinating story.
BALDWIN: Fascinating.
SANCHEZ: You got something on the Vatican?
BALDWIN: Story number two on the Vatican. We've been talking a lot about the Vatican lately, and here's the deal today.
The Vatican now is overhauling its rules essentially on how it handles the accusations of sexual abuse by priests. So, on their Web site today there's this new guide that's making public for the first time an explicit policy of reporting abuse to law enforcement.
You know, it includes specific steps. You can read them showing what the diocese should do, what steps to take if a priest is accused, how to take those complaints to the Vatican. You know, the Catholic Church lately has been fighting this perception that it tried to hush up abuse in the past.
And so now they're trying to be a little bit more transparent. And it's all on the Web site.
SANCHEZ: And I'm not sure "perception" is the right word. I mean, I think it was a reality, if you look back and when these things were happening, which may not be the case anymore, to be fair.
BALDWIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: But it certainly was going back to the 1950s, '60s and even part of the '70s.
Good stuff.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Thank you for your list and "Brooke Block."
BALDWIN: You're welcome.
SANCHEZ: All right. Here we go.
The president convenes one of the biggest international gatherings in this country since the start of the United Nations. What could possibly be so important?
That is ahead. Stay there. This is RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: There's an important story that's going on today in Washington, and we're going to have you covered on it all day long.
Say what you want about the former Soviet Union, but the one thing that we knew is the guys who ran the place were all about self- preservation. They had zero interest in launching a nuclear war because it would have meant curtains for everyone. Them included.
The same thing today with the Russians. What we're talking about now in terms of the real live threat is a terrorist group. Al Qaeda, for example, getting a hold of some kind of nuclear weapons because they probably could care less.
That's what this summit in Washington is really all about. And were it not a big problem, you wouldn't have officials from 47 different countries, 47 countries, including presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, the whole thing, sitting there at this panel.
Joining me now from Washington, a guy who knows this stuff backward and forward, Joseph Cirincione. He is the president of the Ploughshares Fund, former adviser to the Obama campaign, author of the book called "Bomb Scare: The History and the Future of Nuclear Weapons."
Let's begin there.
The possibility that somebody could -- someone with nefarious ideas, someone who is tied to some kind of terrorist group, gets some of these bombs, how could they do it? How viable is that possibility and from where would they get?
JOSEPH CIRINCIONE, PRESIDENT, PLOUGHSHARES FUND: This is the number one threat to America's security today. The chances are actually quite low, but the consequences are so horrific, that national security experts have decided that this is the focus of our new national security strategy.
SANCHEZ: But there's a problem with who's here at this summit, right? Because it's not about who's there. It's about who's not there. Right?
CIRINCIONE: No. These are the people that -- whose countries that actually have the materials. And that's the focus.
The focus has got to be stopping al Qaeda from getting the one part of the nuclear weapon they can't make. That's the highly-enriched uranium, the plutonium. A mass the size of a grapefruit could destroy Washington. So you want all of these guys sitting around the table promising to secure their material just as tight as we guard gold at Fort Knox.
SANCHEZ: But here's the problem. Here's the problem. North Korea's not there, right?
CIRINCIONE: Right. North Korea is not there and Iran's not there. These are two of the problem states.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Well, if they're going to get -- they're not going to get it from the United States. They're not going to get it from Israel. They're not going to get if from Great Britain. Those are the countries you're going to get it from.
So it's an incomplete securing (ph), isn't it?
CIRINCIONE: The two most likely sources are the former states of the Soviet Union, where thy have tons of this material. So those are the biggest unsecured stockpiles in the world.
And the second most likely place is Pakistan, where they have enough material for between 60 and 100 bombs, and Osama bin Laden in the country, about 60 kilometers from a nuclear storage site. So you've got make sure that not just the Pakistanis have their material secure, but that government is secure. Because if that government falls, it's a race to the bomb.
SANCHEZ: Well, what does the president do? The president's going to take all these leaders aside and he's going to say to them what about making sure that these things are secured? Please, make sure it's in a safe place? I mean, how obvious is that?
CIRINCIONE: Well, this has been a bipartisan effort since the Clinton years, since the George H. W. Bush years. You've been doing it -- and the Bush administration actually accelerated a number of these programs.
The problem is we're not going fast enough. We haven't secured all the material. So what Obama wants to do is get specific commitments from these countries to take care of their stockpiles, and that will be the judgment of success of this summit.
Do we get specifics from these guys to secure their stockpiles within the next four years? Do these guys agree to come back again in two years and assess their progress?
Some have already stepped up to the plate. Ukraine made an announcement today. Chile handed over bombs' worth of material just a couple of weeks ago. You have to get all of them to do it.
SANCHEZ: Let me just go back to the question of Islamic fundamentalists, because I think that's the real big concern for so many of us.
CIRINCIONE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: I mean, look, that's my nightmare scenario at times when I think of my family. I think it's the nightmare scenario of most Americans.
What can you tell us about that possibility, given the state of the world right now?
CIRINCIONE: Yes. That is the number one threat we face. Now, there are other terrorist groups -- the Chechen rebels, for example, who might try to secure some material and use it in Russia. That's one of the reasons Russia's concerned.
But what you really have to worry about is Islamic fundamentalist groups. And again, it points to Pakistan. So it's not primarily Iran.
They don't have weapons material yet. They might make it in the next three to five years, but if they do, they're unlikely to give it to somebody else. They'll want to keep it for themselves.
SANCHEZ: But they need a delivery system, too. And I don't mean to interrupt, but my producer was saying we want to wrap this up.
CIRINCIONE: No, no, no.
SANCHEZ: They need -- you can't do this in a suitcase.
CIRINCIONE: Well, as a matter of fact, you can. And you put that suitcase in a containership and you'd ship it to New York. And that's how you get it there.
You don't need a missile. You don't need a plane. Terrorists don't have those kinds of things. What they do have is containerships, and we have very poor security at our ports. There's no chance we could detect it. It would get in the country before we knew it was here.
SANCHEZ: Interesting points. Joseph Cirincione, we thank you, sir, for taking us through this.
CIRINCIONE: My pleasure, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Pardon me, by the way, for interrupting you there a couple of times trying to get through the segment. Appreciate it.
CIRINCIONE: That's fine.
SANCHEZ: All right.
By the way, we've got some folks in the studio here I want to show you now. We do this on RICK'S LIST all the time.
No, that's Haley Barbour, but I wanted to show you the folks in the studio as well. And there they are. Raise your hands, folks.
This is part of the folks that we bring into our studio all the time so they can help us get through the show and provide good feedback.
Haley Barbour, why is he in the news? I'll tell you.
Stay there. RICK'S LIST continues after the break.
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SANCHEZ: This is a story that means something. It's an important story that we all should watch.
Imagine adopting a child, a son or a daughter. The child develops severe mood swings, becomes violent and threatens to kill you. Remember, it's an adopted child.
Believe it or not, this happens more often than you may think. What would you do?
I want you to think about that as you watch CNN's special report. The correspondent is Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eleven-year- old Alec is a precocious, intelligent child. But he's said and done things that have greatly frightened his parents.
(on camera): Did you threaten to hurt them?
ALEC COLE, ADOPTED BOY: Yes, like --
TUCHMAN: What did you say to them?
A. COLE: One of the things like, "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to punch you."
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Beth and Bill Cole are Alec's mom and dad.
BETH COLE, MOTHER: I adore him. I love him. I just want him to have a good future, just as normal as can be.
TUCHMAN: This is from a videotape Alec's parents gave us. They took this video because psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers didn't necessarily believe or understand what Alec has done.
And now his pained parents have taken drastic measures. Alec is no longer living with them in Florida. He lives in Montana on a ranch for deeply-troubled adopted children.
A. COLE: I freaked out, like almost like every day.
TUCHMAN: Alec's parents adopted him from an orphanage in the former Soviet Republic of Belarus when he was a toddler. They also adopted their daughter Lauren from the same country, who was having a much easier time in his home.
A. COLE: It's like any other orphanage, basically.
TUCHMAN (on camera): I understand completely.
A. COLE: Very poor.
TUCHMAN: I understand.
(voice-over): Alec lives on what is known as the Ranch for Kids with a grandmother who has raised Russian orphans of her own, Joyce Sterkle.
JOYCE STERKLE, RANCH FOR KIDS: The purpose is to assist parents and children in reuniting with each other if they've had difficulty because of attachment issues or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
TUCHMAN: Like many of the 25 children at the Ranch for Kids, Alec has dramatic mood swings. At the worst, he's violent and threatening.
(on camera): What has he said to you in terms of threats?
BETH COLE: The worst is that he's going to kill us. Kill all of us, burn down the house.
BILL COLE, FATHER: He's talked about wanting to blow up the house, wanting to burn down the house, wanting to get a knife to stab us with, and we -- it seems silly, but we took the stuff to hide the knives and the kitchen knives in the house and put them up to where he couldn't get to them. TUCHMAN: Your parents have told the people here that you once said, "I'll get a gun and shoot you in the neck, then in the heart." Did you say that to them?
A. COLE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: How come?
A. COLE: Because I just get mad.
TUCHMAN: Do you remember what else you've said to them that may be mean?
A. COLE: I'm going to stab them.
TUCHMAN: Huh?
A. COLE: I'll stab them.
TUCHMAN: You want to stab them? How does that make you feel when you say those things?
A. COLE: Sad.
TUCHMAN: I understand. Because they love you so much, right? You know what? They love you, and that's the most important thing. And you love them, right?
(voice-over): Parents send their children here for about $3,500 a month, because they usually don't know what else to do.
STERKLE: All of our kids, they've been to the psychiatrist. They've been to the psychologist. They've been to the therapist. They've been medicated.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So you're saying the people that have the expertise haven't done anything for them?
STERKLE: In many cases. I'm not saying all, but in many cases, those modalities failed.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): They get love here, but sometimes it's tough love. There's a lot of snow to shovel, chores to do. They go to school, where in addition to the three "R's," there's lessons in human relations.
A. COLE: I am sad because I have been mean in treating treated my family. I feel sorry for the way I've treated people in the past. The end.
TUCHMAN (on camera): It sounds like a feel-good story. It is. And it isn't. That's because the endings are not always happy ones. Sometimes these children don't improve enough to go back home. Other times, their parents just don't want them back.
(voice-over): But most of the parents are desperate for their kids to get better and come home.
Christopher was adopted from China when he was a toddler.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know where (INAUDIBLE).
TUCHMAN: His mother and sister, also adopted in China, live in Florida. Anneke Napp says she loves her son very much, but --
ANNEKE NAPP, CHRISTOPHER'S MOM: He would hit me. He would kick me. He would throw things at me. He would throw things at her.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Would he say threatening things to you?
NAPP: Absolutely.
TUCHMAN: Like what?
NAPP: Like -- that he was going to hurt me. That he was going to kill me.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): And now she says she has made a painful decision, mainly because she fears for her daughter's well-being. NAPP: I've decided not to bring him home.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Ever?
(voice-over): While we were at the ranch, Joyce Sterkle broke the news to Christopher.
STERKLE: So she's kind of talking about maybe she thinks you would be happier if you got a second chance in a new family.
TUCHMAN: Christopher was told another family in Washington state is interested in adopting him.
NAPP: You have to make a decision of what's best for everybody. And I believe that this is also best for Christopher.
TUCHMAN: Alec's parents have a much different outlook.
(on camera): Is there any chance that you would realize that maybe he would be too dangerous to be back in your family setting and that you would send him to a foster home or maybe get another family to adopt him?
BILL COLE: No.
BETH COLE: No, not at all.
TUCHMAN: Not a chance at all?
BETH COLE: No. He's our son.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gary Tuchman, CNN, Eureka, Montana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: That's the reality of the story.
My thanks to all of you for being with us.
My thanks to our folks here in the studio as well. Thanks for coming in and visiting with us. I'll be visiting with you in just a little bit as well.
And here now, we take you to Washington, "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Wolf Blitzer.
