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Rick's List

Television Confrontation Showcases Continued Existence of Racial Hate in South Africa; The Politics Behind the Meanings: Bailout vs. Reform; New Arizona Law Cracks Down on Illegal Immigrants; Police Brutality Caught On Tape; Missing Girl Found in Florida Swamp; Boy Scouts Successfully Sued For Allowing Child Abuse

Aired April 14, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We have got two pieces of video that everyone seems to be talking about. Let's do RICK'S LIST.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making THE LIST today.

Now we're finding out more about this.

ANDRE VISAGIE SECRETARY-GENERAL, AWB: You won't dare interrupting me.

SANCHEZ: Violence, murders, blatant racism, and the story's only growing.

JULIUS MALEMA, ANC YOUTH LEAGUE LEADER: Don't come here with that white tendency, not here. You can go out.

SANCHEZ: Caught on camera, a student beaten by police. Did they blatantly lie about what happened?

(on camera): Whether or not you are embarrassed after looking at the video.

MAJOR ANDREW ELLIS, SPOKESPERSON, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND, POLICE DEPARTMENT: We are embarrassed and we are outraged.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Outrage. And now the FBI is involved. What will be done to these police officers?

A little girl lost in an alligator-infested swamp. You will see what happens.

And on the medical list, say goodbye to baldness forever. What?

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.

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: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your list, my list, RICK'S LIST.

Topping THE LIST right now, a lot of you have been telling me you've been amazed by this piece of video. I was so amazed when I saw it myself that I wanted to get more information on it. It's something about reporters' instincts. You told me that you were shocked by the video. This is a scary confrontation during a television newscast. It was live. I made a conscious decision to look into it and wait until you hear what I have found out.

First, the confrontation. This is between a woman who is a political analyst and a guest from an extreme right-wing organization. This is in South Africa. Hit it, Rog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE VISAGIE SECRETARY-GENERAL, AWB: The Zulu Nation must have their culture and their language and their religion, like the Indian people, like the Afrikaner people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's still us and them, Mr. Visagie. It is still you vs. us.

(CROSSTALK)

VISAGIE: But can't you understand that we have our own history, our own culture, our own language, our own religion?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From your perspective, Mr. Visagie --

VISAGIE: No, no, no.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's a very narrow perspective. That's the most important part of this.

(CROSSTALK)

VISAGIE: It's not a perspective. It's a real fact.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you care about the starving millions of African people in this country?

VISAGIE: I care more --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you care about the form workers who are being oppressed in this country? Do you care about --

(CROSSTALK)

VISAGIE: Don't interrupt me. I'm finished. Thank you. Bye. (INAUDIBLE) Bye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

VISAGIE: And you won't dare -- you won't dare interrupting me once more.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touch me and you will be in trouble. Touch me on my studio.

VISAGIE: You touched me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touch me on my studio, touch me on my studio --

VISAGIE: You touched me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touch me on my studio --

(CROSSTALK)

VISAGIE: Take away his arm. Take away his arm from me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touch me on my studio. Touch me on my studio --

VISAGIE: I touch you on your studio

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Touch me on my studio.

VISAGIE: I touch you on my studio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't do that.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, let's go.

VISAGIE: I am not finished with you.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Visagie, stop threatening this woman. Mr. Visagie, I'm telling you, stop it now. Would you stop it now, Mr. Visagie?

VISAGIE: I won't stop it. You try to stop me.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Visagie, why are you threatening this poor woman? What has she done to you? She's expressing her views.

VISAGIE: She's talking about the capitalist -- capitalist whites. Why do you think, then, she's poor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry, call security to come in, please, immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Something about the capitalist whites and being poor. He said to that woman, how dare you interrupt me and then he storms off the set. And then he warned the woman that he's still not finished with her. You heard all of that.

Now, I should tell you this. I should tell you this, because it's what we have found out. That guy's a member of a hateful organization. It's really akin to what we in this country would call the KKK.

Now, I want you to listen to something else, because we have done some digging, as promised. This is a high-ranking official you're about to see here from the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party. What I want you to hear is this official telling a British reporter, now, to show you that these things cut both ways, basically to take his white rear end and leave the news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALEMA: Don't come here with that white tendency, not here. You can do it somewhere else, not here.

If you want a tendency of undermining blacks even where you work, you're in a wrong place. Yes, you're in a wrong place. That which you have covered in this (INAUDIBLE) is rubbish, OK? You are a small boy. You can't do anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't here to be --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come out. Go out, bastard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is amazing. And you wonder what in the world is going on? To the problems in South Africa, they do cut both ways, as you just saw. What caused that outburst?

As near as we can tell, by the way, that reporter that was getting yelled at had asked about this incident where that same official who was doing the yelling took to the stage and he sang a song that went something like this: The whites are giving us problems at home. We are going to shoot them with AK-47s -- that from an official of the ruling African National Congress.

I think we can agree, this is not what we would like to call Nelson Mandela's South Africa, the nation that shed the mantle of apartheid, enjoyed the balming effort of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Desmond Tutu. Whatever happened to the good guys here? Well, let me tell you about this guy right there? See him? That's Eugene Terreblanche. He was the neo-Nazi leader who vowed to keep defending white minority in South Africa, even to the point of a gun -- 11 days ago, Eugene Terreblanche was found hacked to death at his farm. And that has made the situation that much more explosive.

Nkepile Mabuse is CNN's Africa correspondent. She's joining us now live from Johannesburg. What a story this has turned out to be, so many twists and turns. First, let me start from the beginning.

A lot of folks here in the United States are looking at that one guy who was on that live television newscast who got up and started threatening that woman. Who in the world is this guy? And what's his story?

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, Andre Visagie is the secretary-general of a neo-Nazi white supremacist movement called the AWB. Now, the AWB has been in the news lately, of course, as you mentioned, because their leader, Eugene Terreblanche was bludgeoned to death two Saturdays ago allegedly by two farm workers, two black farm workers. And, of course, emotions were running very high in South Africa following the death of this man.

Now, the AWB is really an insignificant player in South Africa. At their most prominent in this country, it was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when they were really violently trying to stop democracy from taking root in this country. They planted bombs at several places that killed some people. But, you know, a lot of people see them as buffoons. And that Andre Visagie really represents a very small minority of white people in this country. You can see, he -- the way he acts.

(CROSSTALK)

MABUSE: Sorry, Rick.

SANCHEZ: But why -- but I'm just wondering, why is -- why are we suddenly seeing these scenes again? Are there signs that things are starting to come apart at the seams in South Africa, like we haven't seen in at least a decade?

MABUSE: As I said, Rick, the AWB is under the spotlight at the moment because of that brutal murder of their leader. I mean, on a normal day in South Africa, you wouldn't see a character like that being interviewed on a TV show, because they really are insignificant in South Africa, and as well as the ANC Youth League. They represent a very extreme view.

So, I would say majority of South Africans are in between those two clips that the people, the characters in those two clips that we have just seen, Rick.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: But it's cutting both ways, and this is why it's important. It's not just the crazy guys like the ones that we showed that we understand in this country could be akin to the KKK. It's also that there have been something like 50 white farmers or so that have been killed in South Africa. Presumably, they were killed by blacks?

MABUSE: Well, the AWB claims that over 3,000 white farmers have been killed since democracy in 1994.

Now, let me help our viewers understand this. South Africa is a violent country. On average, 50 people are murdered in this country every day, and majority of those people are black people.

So, it is very difficult to prove this argument that white farmers are specifically targeted. Everybody is targeted, because crime in South Africa is very violent, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Finally, the World Cup is going to be held in South Africa. And I feel bad that we and maybe other news organizations around the world are doing stories like this and wondering, what impact is this going to have on these games?

MABUSE: You know, so far, you know, people in the tourism industry say they have not had any cancellations because of all of this that has, of course, been seen all over the world.

People who are traveling to the World Cup are seen are people who are experienced travelers and see this for what it is. These are two very extreme attitudes in South Africa, and nobody sees really this threatening the World Cup in any way, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Nkepile Mabuse doing that story for us, I'm glad we have you there in Johannesburg to be able to look in to this for us today. My thanks.

Meanwhile, take a look at this, a little girl lost for five days in an alligator-infested swamp. Wait until you hear this story. It's impactful, and it's ahead.

Also, an earthquake so serious, thousands, as I speak, may be trapped underground right now underneath some of that rubble that you're seeing right there. That's next.

Stay with us. We will take you through it. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your list. RICK'S LIST scrolls on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We're going to -- by the way, we're going to continue to follow-up on that story that I just told you about, and already we're getting a ton of reaction, thousands of tweets from people looking at this racial divide that's taking place in South Africa and rearing its ugly head. I will share some of those with you.

In the meantime, on the list of the things that we're watching overseas, China, a series of powerful earthquakes struck the center of the country this morning. Did you hear about this? Some of the pictures are still coming in, folks, but here's what we can share with you at this point. Casualty numbers are very high. At least 580 people are feared dead already.

Get this. More than 10,000 people may be injured. The numbers are very preliminary, as you know, whenever we cover these kind of things. Rescue crews are still trying to reach villages that have been cut off by damaged roads and nonexistent communication. Pardon me.

Buildings and homes and schools have been crumbled. Thousands of people have been buried, students, office workers, some of which they're still looking for. Soldiers and search crews are arriving to help. Look at that, of what was left of that building. Look at that. Officials say they believe the casualty numbers are going to rise, as a clearer picture of the quake damage emerges.

The hardest-hit area is remote, rugged, mountainous, near the border with Tibet. State-run news reports say that more than 1,000 people have so far been rescued from the rubble. You can imagine how many others are still being looked for.

Let me show you what's still going on with the Red Cross, because it's one of the places that -- one of the organizations that we follow on Twitter to try and bring you information from either people or organizations that are relevant to the news stories that we follow.

Let's go it. Go ahead, Robert. Thank you.

"We are releasing $50,000 from our international response fund to support the Red Cross Society of China in their earthquake response." Again, that's a tweet from the Red Cross of America. And we thank them for making that available, so that we can share it with you.

Meanwhile, take a look at this. Why was the officer forced to smash the window? Where's the suspect? Lots of questions. We have got answers.

And then, why can't our politicians stop spending so much of our money on pork? We're giving you the numbers, and we're naming names. You won't believe how much they have spent of your money. Why do they do that? Jessica's list is coming up. Stay with us. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

So glad that you're here. I want you to sit back now for just a little bit, because I'm going to tell you about something you probably know something about already, or at least you feel it if you don't know the exact numbers.

I want to talk to you about government waste in the United States of America -- $6.5 billion, that's the tally of the pet projects that members of Congress had inserted in this year's budget, these numbers released today by Citizens Against Government Waste -- $148 million. That's the total rung up by the North Dakota Democrat. His name is Earl Pomeroy. That makes Pomeroy the earmark king of the House. We like explosions when it comes to these kind of things. I think, that way, we can make it impactful for you -- $490 million, imagine that.

Republican Thad Cochran of Mississippi wins the race for the pork in the Senate, one single senator, one single senator, nearly half-a- billion dollars in pet projects. Of course, we followed up. Senator Cochran's office said to us, these were all meritorious projects.

Aren't they all?

Time to turn the page now and talk to Jessica Yellin.

This is --

(LAUGHTER)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I love that.

SANCHEZ: -- Yellin's list with an impact. She's our national correspondent. She joins me from Washington.

Here's a story that we jumped on yesterday, and we were both curious about this. Senator Chris Dodd's on the list. He's -- he's saying something interesting. In fact, it's interesting because it's something you and I happened to be talking about yesterday.

Here's Senator Dodd denouncing the Luntz memo, the one that many Republicans seemed to be echoing, if not mimicking, yesterday on financial reform legislation. Hit it, Rog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: Let me quote the partisan memo. "The single best way to kill this legislation is to link -- link it to the big bank bailout" -- end of quote.

No matter what is proposed, no matter what's in the bill, no matter what the protections it includes, call it a bailout.

It's a naked political strategy, Mr. President. And if it succeeds, and this legislation goes down, and another crisis sinks the American economy, then the next recession and all the damage that it will bring to the working families of this country will have happened for the sake of that false talking point that Mr. Luntz have been proposing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: OK, but, look, both parties do that. The Dems do that. They have their talking points. They have got their Luntzes, Frank Luntzes, and, obviously, the Republicans have it as well. Now they are in opposition, so you will hear more from them. But here's the interesting part of this. As we pointed out yesterday, Senator Mitch McConnell is leading the opposition to financial reform and he is basically calling the bill pretty much what Frank Luntz's talking points said that he should call it. So, the talking point is, we got to go out there and say to the American people and say that Obama's plan is a bailout.

Here's the question maybe we should have hunkered down on yesterday that we didn't. Is it a bailout?

YELLIN: Right.

The answer, Rick, is no. With all due to Senate Majority Leader -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, this bill is not designed to bail out failing Wall Street firms. It actually creates ways to take apart failing firms, like AIG, and keep some healthy firms going during a crisis.

So, I know this is confusing. I want to help you understand where Leaders McConnell and Shelby are coming from, because they do have a point of view that's legitimate. It's just different.

Big picture, Rick, their basic logic is, if you build it, they will come. So, since this bill provides for the possibility that firms will fail, then firms will take extreme risks and fail. What they want is for companies to regulate themselves better, so the government won't have to make these contingency plans.

But Democrats argue that letting companies regulate themselves didn't work so well last time.

SANCHEZ: OK, but if McConnell and some of the other Republicans -- and not all of them, by the way.

YELLIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: Let's not make -- whenever we talk about Democrats and Republicans, I never want people to get the impression we are saying all Republicans or all Democrats, but, if in McConnell's case, which is a Southern Republican, who obviously is going to be very hard on Barack Obama, if he is against it, whether he's using talking points or not, you would think that he would come up with a plan of his own, in other words, what is the Republican offer to fix Wall Street? Because there's no question that Wall Street screwed up.

YELLIN: Right.

So, first of all, the Republicans say they do want to change regulations and improve regulations. But my sources on Capitol Hill and at the White House say that in the meeting today with the president, Republicans did not propose any alternate plan.

The leadership has objected to almost all the major components in the bill. They say they want to negotiate, but so far they're not offering specifics. Some other Republicans are, but so far leadership is not. SANCHEZ: And, by the way, the point to be made here, and this is very important, I know that some people are watching us now are saying, Rick Sanchez and Jessica Yellin, what are you guys talking about? Wall Street is great,. Look, it's all the way up to 11000 all of a sudden again.

YELLIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and it was all the way up to 14000 just before it crashed two years ago.

So, the point is to make sure that we enact laws that ensure that what happened two years ago doesn't happen again.

YELLIN: Doesn't happen again.

SANCHEZ: Exactly. That's the point to be made. We want to make sure it's not lost on anybody.

Jessica, we're out of time. We will do it again tomorrow, eh?

(CROSSTALK)

YELLIN: Good to see you, yes.

SANCHEZ: I sounded Canadian.

YELLIN: Eh.

SANCHEZ: The Canadian Cuban.

Here's what else is coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is police brutality, pure and simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: First, they beat the student. Then, as police officers told me, they lied about it. Wait until you hear how this story's developing today. And everyone's talking.

Also, she was told not to bother with college. Who do you think is today's most intriguing person in the news? We pick them. We share. And that -- if you want to find out who it is, stick around for about a minute-and-a-half, because that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

We have received a bevy of comments from you regarding that very first story that we told just a little while ago. Let me show you what some of those folks are talking about. First of all, I'm reading at the very top here, and I will be sharing more of these with you in a minute. "Why would you think that racial tensions are gone just because apartheid ended? Race is a problem of the world."

Now, that's interesting, and it's keeping with many of the others that we have been seeing, by the way, and I will continue to share.

Let me tell you what else we are going to be doing for you right now. It's time to check the list for the most intriguing person in the news today. We unveil. And here we go.

On the list today is a high-ranking government official, but that's not intriguing. That's a political appointment, right? Her parents are immigrants from Mexico, and she went to kindergarten unable to speak a word of English. And years later, a guidance counselor told her a good university was out of the question for her. She would never make it.

Well, how about this? She graduated from UCLA. She earned a Ph.D. She went on to become one of the most respected educational leaders in the state of California. And now she's in the Obama administration. Roger, show her who we are talking about. This is Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, the current assistant U.S. secretary of elementary and secondary education of the United States of America. "Hispanic Business" magazine just named her woman of the year.

But her biggest honor comes right now, topping our list of the most intriguing people in the news on this day.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm in the middle of the swamp. I can give you my GPS coordinates off of this BlackBerry.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is amazing. A little girl is lost in an alligator-infested swamp for days. You have to see this story. It will tear at your heartstrings as it unfolds. It did for us. That's ahead.

Also, I want you to see what happens when a suspect is caught in the act. You're going to see what he does as he finds out that police are hot on his tail. It's an amazing piece of video. Can't wait to share.

And, by the way, if you want to come in here and share a moment with us right here on the set, all you got to do is call this number. It's 1-877-4CNN-TOUR. And you get to be backstage during RICK'S LIST, and we will let you know. So, call us.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Brooke Baldwin is joining me on the set --

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Howdy, Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: -- to go through some important stuff.

BALDWIN: Very important.

SANCHEZ: Well, we like to think that "Fotos" is a lot of fun, don't we?

BALDWIN: We do.

SANCHEZ: We do? Then let's do it. Police, robbers, and more officers make the best pictures, don't they? Let's do "Fotos."

We all play pranks at work sometimes. But this is a little bit much. Here you see a male deputy in Florida chasing a female colleague. Get this, he tags her on the rear end with a taser, of all things.

BALDWIN: Ouch!

SANCHEZ: I know a little bit about that. The deputy was reprimanded and finally given a warning for his "shocking" behavior.

Let's go to Tulsa now. A man breaks into a Tulsa drugstore, and when he hires sirens he tries to get out through the ceiling.

BALDWIN: Oh.

SANCHEZ: And he falls through no less than the ceiling.

BALDWIN: Yikes!

SANCHEZ: Not three, not four, not five, Brooke Baldwin, but six times.

BALDWIN: That will leave a bruise.

SANCHEZ: Yes, sir. Good thing he's in a drugstore, though, plenty of painkillers if it leaves a bruise.

(LAUGHTER)

Lucky seven is the charm, though, and he gets away. Crime may not pay, but persistence does.

On the other hand, this driver in Michigan did not get away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What's going on?

SANCHEZ: This guy means business. This is one of those cops that says, look, if I'm going to chase you and go through all the trouble, I am going to make sure when I get you, I'll do whatever it takes. I'll do whatever it takes. The officer did break a window as you can see in the video, and then the perp --

BALDWIN: Ran.

SANCHEZ: Cop talk.

BALDWIN: Perpetrator.

SANCHEZ: Yes, sir. Yes, ma'am. He ran, considering his original offense was loitering. This round goes to the police. They captured him.

And that's "Fotos del Dia," our list of the best pictures of the day.

Do we have sound here? We don't. I thought maybe that guy was talking. Who are you? Who are you? You see, he knows we're talking about him.

BALDWIN: He does.

SANCHEZ: You see that? OK, if you're bald like him or you know somebody who's bald, then you need to know about a medical breakthrough that can change everything?

BALDWIN: He's rocking.

SANCHEZ: Did you hear that, sir, change everything.

BALDWIN: He's rocking with his baldness.

SANCHEZ: He's excited about this, I know.

And then a scandal rocking the boy scouts. Confidential files reveal what they may or may not have known about boys who were sexually abused over the last several decades. It's a disappointing story when you hear it, but a reality, right?

BALDWIN: Yes, a huge story out of Oregon.

SANCHEZ: You're going to bring us that. It's on your list.

BALDWIN: I will.

SANCHEZ: The details forthcoming. Stay there, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. You've seen that my list is for the most part chock-full today, but I want to know what my partner's list has. Brooke Baldwin joining me now. What's on your list?

BALDWIN: I got a lot going on, too.

First, Senator John McCain talking tough at the Senate hearing this morning. Essentially his message is this, that Iran will have a nuclear weapon unless the U.S. steps up to the plate, acts more boldly, and, to quote him, "pulls the trigger." Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) ARIZONA: Mr. Chairman, I'd ask to put in the record the various statements from time to time over the last year and a half or so. Time is running out. The deadline is near. Robert Gibbs, December 3rd -- well, we're going to have consequences if they don't turn around. December 20th, 2009.

The list goes on and on of the threats that we have -- that we have made to the Iranians, and so far, no action. George Shultz, my favorite secretary of state in all the world once said, his marine drill instructor told him never point a gun at somebody unless you're ready to pull the trigger.

We keep pointing the gun and we haven't pulled a single trigger yet, and it's about time we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You know, this is interesting. This is a man who has been extremely critical of this president of late. And most political insiders who are watching this will say it has more to do with Arizona politics than it does national politics.

BALDWIN: This is candidate McCain, not Senator McCain. Huge race, primary, you know --

SANCHEZ: He could be in trouble.

BALDWIN: You know, a very conservative challenger, J.D. Hayworth, in Arizona, so perhaps this is the candidate, not necessarily just the senator.

SANCHEZ: OK.

BALDWIN: Also out of Arizona, this is a huge story that I know you're drilling down on next hour, but I just want to give you a quick peek here. This is really being touted as the toughest measure in the country right now against illegal immigrants.

We're talking about state bill 1070. It was passed yesterday in the statehouse, and it gives essentially power to the police. How it works is if an officer has what's called reasonable suspicion that someone is illegal, you have to ask for his or her status, and if that person doesn't have the proper papers he or she is slapped with a misdemeanor.

And so the author of this bill is saying it really takes the handcuffs off of police. Here is just a snippet from some of that debate from when the Arizona statehouse actually approved the bill yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN KAVANAGH, (R) ARIZONA STATE HOUSE: Illegal immigration has been, is, and will continue to be a serious problem for the people and state of Arizona.

TOM CHABIN, (D) ARIZONA STATE HOUSE: This bill, whether we intend it or not, terrorizes the people we profit from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Meantime, immigration groups, you can imagine, they're horrified, essentially worried that Arizona will become a police state.

SANCHEZ: This is, again -- it's funny. It's a confluence of two stories. This is the backdrop from which John McCain is trying to win his Washington battles.

BALDWIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: The fact that there are arguments like this going on in his state.

BALDWIN: No segue intended.

SANCHEZ: Fascinating.

BALDWIN: Story number three, boy scouts. Jurors in Portland, Oregon, awarded a former boy scout $1.4 million, happening yesterday as well. Here's the plaintiff teary-eyed.

They found the organization was negligent in allowing the scout leader who was a sex offender to have contact with him. The jury also ruled the plaintiff is entitled to punitive damages to be determined next week.

Essentially the suit is this -- how the scouts handled the case of this former scout leader, here he is, Timmer Dikes, the accuser lawyer alleged that the Boy Scouts of America knew that during the '80s when their clients were just boys that one had been abused by Dikes.

They're also alleging that Dikes was removed as the leader but he was still allowed to hang out and be a volunteer and the abuse continued.

The boy scouts' lawyer told CNN the organization absolutely acted immediately here. They cooperated with police. They planned to appeal. But at issue here, also, and this is kind of the interesting part of this story, I didn't know about this, they have these confidential files, the boy scouts do --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- which are sort of called perversion files that the boy scouts keep, they say, to protect the people who are eligible to be a scout leader, perhaps, but haven't done anything wrong or illegal.

SANCHEZ: Just in case.

BALDWIN: It's been around since the '20s and this is the second time the files have been made public.

SANCHEZ: This is interesting. Different examples but similar to what the Catholic Church is going through here.

BALDWIN: Kind of similar.

SANCHEZ: Good stuff. That's your list, and, by golly, I'm glad you brought it to us.

BALDWIN: I try to do my best.

SANCHEZ: "Brooke Block."

All right, Steven Seagal, this guy's been a Hollywood superstar, right? How is he now being accused of keeping a slave sex that he allegedly performed bizarre acts with? What are this former model's accusations against this actor? We'll take you through that.

Also the fury over this RICK'S LIST investigation has not ceased. Police officials told me yesterday that these officers lied -- they said it on TV. Now what happens? Roland Martin's going to join me for what we call "R&R." It's our weekly segment and it's always hot. It's coming up next.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back.

A student by the name of John McKenna -- this is the story that we brought you so much of yesterday and it had such an impact on so many of you. McKenna was beaten by police. No doubt about that, we've seen it on tape.

This video was caught on camera. Let me show you, again. You see it there.

He's coming up to that horse. Police say he had assaulted the horse somehow. He didn't. In fact, he backed away from the horse. It was obvious. Then police charged him and started beating him, as you can see right there. Now, police say they didn't do that.

They say the only reason that this young man, this happy young man who was celebrating the fact that his team had just beaten the number one team in the entire country, Duke University, he went to Maryland, the kid, the student, I should say, police are saying the only reason he was injured was because he accidentally touched the horse and the horse kicked him.

All right, I'm going to be talking to McKenna's attorney at the top of the next hour. But this Maryland student's beating is where we start today with "R&R." CNN contributor Roland Martin is joining us now. He's with us live from New York.

Boy, a lot of people. I got as many tweets and e-mails and responses yesterday about that video alone than I've gotten around here in an awful long time. Your thoughts?

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN ANALYST: Well, first and foremost, Rick, you asked a critical question yesterday, and that is, why didn't another cop intervene and say, guys, we shouldn't be doing this? And this is the fundamental question that we often want answered whenever you have these alleged police brutality cases.

But also I think there's also another important issue here. And that is, you have police officers who are running campaigns across this country, saying don't cut this, don't snitch stuff out, this anti-don't snitch campaign.

But police officers do the exact same thing they are imploring people in communities every day not to do, and that is, to stay silent, to place a protective cocoon around the folks who you are friends with.

It is wrong in communities where crime is happening, and it is wrong on police forces.

SANCHEZ: Have you ever wondered as I have -- and, look, I come from a police family. I have covered the cop beat all my life. I've hung out with these guys and gotten to know these guys. If sometimes -- you use the word "cocoon."

MARTIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: It almost feels like they're not part of the community, that they only go into the community to police it, but they don't get to know anybody in those communities. They're not people to them. They're just, well, almost like, and I hate to say this because I don't mean this to sound like all cops think like this, but it's almost like the enemy.

MARTIN: Again, that's one of the reasons why Lee Brown when he was commissioner of the police force in Atlanta, later in Houston, later in New York, launched neighborhood policing, community policing, where people in the community did not look at officers as being adversaries, and the police officers did not look at the people in the communities as being adversaries.

And that is that when they begin to sit together and talk with one another and begin to actually realize that they are, you know, human beings, that you have trust there. And that's the most important thing.

And, look, there are honest police officers all across this country. But the reality is this, and every cop has to understand, it is in circumstances like this that gives the good cops bad names.

SANCHEZ: No question. No question. MARTIN: But, again, but, again, you've got to have police officers of conscience willing to say that's wrong, and the other officers cannot say you are now walking around with a scarlet letter because you actually said something. It is a culture. The same thing happens in the communities, people say we're going to shun you, distance ourselves from you if you actually tell the truth. I'm sorry, that's unacceptable.

SANCHEZ: Finally, Ben Roethlisberger. There's a lot being said about this young man out there. He's young. He's done arguably three very stupid things. But he has not been charged. Simple question.

MARTIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: Should the NFL either suspend or fine him?

MARTIN: I fully understand why the NFL, the NBA, Major League Hockey, baseball, they want to protect their brand and their image.

But I do have an issue -- when someone hasn't broken a law, when someone hasn't been charged, when people make allegations against them, they simply don't go to a trial, where you still penalize someone. We discussed this last night on "CAMPBELL BROWN" with Mary Matalin and myself.

And that bothers me because you're giving the commissioner all this power. And so what happens is when you suspend him, in effect you're telling the public he's guilty when, in fact, he isn't. And so I would ask --

SANCHEZ: Well --

MARTIN: -- the question -- wouldn't the commissioner, wouldn't an owner want to be seen as innocent until proven guilty?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MARTIN: As opposed to saying I'm going to denounce you even though nothing happened. So, that's kind of bothersome there.

SANCHEZ: Your point is well made. And, by the way, let me just ask, as a complete homer that you know that I am and as a Miami Dolphins fan, that I am delighted that the Dolphins today signed with a huge contract Brandon Marshall, who's arguably the best receiver in the NFL. You don't even have to answer that!

MARTIN: And speaking of that, no, Rick, it's an important day.

SANCHEZ: I know.

MARTIN: He was also a player that got in trouble was suspended because of alleged domestic violence. And I would also say that I was in Miami when my Houston Texans beat your Miami Dolphins, so enjoy it all you want to.

SANCHEZ: Shut up. Just remember this, in all these young men's cases, Mark Twain I think was the one who said it -- youth is wasted on the young. Thank you, Roland Martin. See you next week.

MARTIN: Yes, indeed. Thanks, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Here is what's coming your way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Yes, we can!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "Yes we can." We need to secure our borders, right and we need do something about illegal immigrants. There's no question about that. Now Arizona is close to passing a brand new law. What is it? When will it pass? What will it do? Important answers I've got for you in a lively debate coming your way.

And the story of the day, this one will give you goose bumps. It's about a little girl lost in an alligator-infested swamp, by the way. Wait till you hear the 911 call. That is next, and it's worth sticking around for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

An 11-year-old girl survives all by herself for more than four days in a swamp that's filled with alligators. She says that she went on a nature walk, and somehow she just got lost.

Her parents -- can you imagine? They were frantic. All they could think about is where she might be, whether she might have drown, be at the bottom of the canal, a swamp, whether she may have been eaten by an alligator.

Friends, neighbors, church members all came to the home in Winter Springs, Florida, rallied to be by the side of the parents. Then went to the swamp, looking, looking, looking. Two days passed, three days passed, four days passed. Nothing, finally, on the fifth day, this 911 call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES KING, FOUND MISSING GIRL: I've got her. I've got Nadia. I'm in the middle of the swamp. I can give you my GPS coordinates off this blackberry. I'm due almost dead west of where she was found. I'm almost right in the middle of the swamp.

911 OPERATOR: Sir, you're in contact with her?

KING: I'm holding her right now. She's OK. She's got bites all over her, some scratches. She's very lucid. She has no major injuries, just exposure. I've got some -- I'm going to give her some liquids. I have stuff prepared for her. I'm going to give you my GPS coordinates. Hold on.

911 OPERATOR: What is your coordinates, sir?

KING: Hang on. I have to figure out how to work this thing on this blackberry. If I hang up, call me back.

911 OPERATOR: What is your phone number?

KING: Let me get my bill fold out because I don't have it memorized. I'll give you this one with the GPS is.

The lord told me where to find her.

911 OPERATOR: Sir, can I talk to Nadia?

KING: Yes. Nadia, would you like to talk to the policeman who has been trying to find you? OK, baby, I'm going to put you on speaker phone. Let me see if I can get this working, baby.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

NADIA BLOOM, MISSING GIRL: Hi, this is Nadia. I'm the girl who got lost.

911 OPERATOR: Nadia, are you OK? Are you not hurt in any way?

BLOOM: Hi, what's your name?

911 OPERATOR: My name is Mark. I'm one of the dispatchers for the police department. If you'd stay with that man right where we are, we're going to have somebody come to you right now.

KING: She knows me from metro. So I'm a familiar face to her. I've got some Ensure which has got all the vitamins and nutrients and stuff. That will get her a little boost back up. She's probably hungry. I have some fresh water. If you can get somebody in here, we'll stay right here.

911 OPERATOR: OK, I'm going to keep you on the line for as long as we can until we get someone to you. What's your name?

KING: My name is James King.

911 OPERATOR: James King.

KING: Hey, you guys want to drop a line down in here and pick us up?

911 OPERATOR: I don't know if the helicopter has that capability, but we'll certainly --

BLOOM: Wow.

KING: That would be cool, wouldn't it, Nadia? Very good. She just drank eight ounces of Equate nutritional shake plus. She's getting nutrients back in her and she's eating a little bit of an apple. I gave her some water. Nadia, can I take your picture?

BLOOM: Sure.

KING: This is so you can show how god protected you.

911 OPERATOR: He's going a couple yards to where he is. He's going to drop some toilet paper.

(LAUGHTER)

KING: I love you, Nadia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What a story. I swear, when I first listened to that, I got goose bumps myself, and I imagine you probably did, too. The little girl could have been in worse condition. But officials say aside from the scratches and the tiredness and very serious bug bites from mosquitoes, little Nadia is going to be just fine.

You see that animation? It's an animation of a bus being attacked. It may change how our soldiers are trained going forward. Why is this incident becoming so important? I am going to tell you that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is police brutality, pure and simple.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And we're just minutes away from talking to the lawyer for this student, the one being beaten there by police officers, who say no, it was the student who assaulted them. We've reached out to him since yesterday. He's gotten back to us, and he's coming up in just a little bit. And I'm sure you'll want to hear what he has to say, next.

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