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Rick's List
Tea Party Tax Day Protests; Second Police Officer Suspended in Maryland Student Beating Case
Aired April 15, 2010 - 15:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right, but let's do this now.
Tea Party rallies are topping THE LIST this hour. Today is the deadline to file taxes. And that's a perfect coincidence. It's a good juxtaposition, as they say, for these rallies, billed in many ways as anti-tax, anti-big government activists protesting.
They have been on the road for three weeks. Some of them wrapped up their road trip here in Washington, as the pictures you see. You know their message by now: Listen up, politicians. Stop spending so much of our money. Stop taxing so much.
Rallies happening all over the country today. Now, one of them -- one of them is just blocks away from where I am right now. We're here in downtown Atlanta. The state capitol, the golden dome, is not too far from where I am.
And that's where Brooke Baldwin has been following this story for us.
Now, you made us a promise earlier that you were going to follow with something -- I think the word you used was distractions or something like that?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deductions. Deductions. They're sick of all the massive government spending, the acronym TEA, Rick, "Taxed Enough Already."
That's what you hear time and time again when you talk to a lot of these activists. And get this. Last year -- this is the second annual Tea Party rally here at the Georgia capitol here in Atlanta. But listen to how many people they are anticipating in just about two hours from now. That's really when the main show begins.
They are expecting between 15,000 and 20,000 activists. I'm going to explain what I meant last time by infiltrators , who they're anticipating, and why they're ready and armed with their flip-cams in just a minute.
But, first, as you have said it, you know, they -- they think that the government is too big. They want less taxes. They want less government spending. Last hour, we heard from one woman who said her solution was to, hey, dock the president's salary, dock the salaries of some of the congressmen. Here's one other solution this guy offered us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have told us the first thing that you do is draw attention to them. If they have signs with a lot of hate or they're saying hateful things or -- or something like that, the first thing you do is point out to everyone around you, they are not with us. Draw attention to them, because they're not going to want that kind of attention. And let them know that -- you know, that we're not going to put up with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Well, you know what? That wasn't solution number one that I was waiting for. But that perfectly segues into my point about what they call the infiltrators, Rick.
We were chatting about it last hour. And you said I have an idea of what you're talking about. So, a lot of these people here, they have these poster, not just about how they're taxed enough already. But they have these posters that basically say "Leftist next to me" and they have arrows.
So, basically, they're anticipating these counterprotesters. And that is the precise reason why the -- the police presence here, at least at the Georgia capitol, has tripled from this time last year. There have been signs. There are steps to take if you see one of these so-called infiltrators, because they don't want this rally interrupted.
I would like to also talk about exactly who these people are. You know, we have talked a lot about tea parties in our coverage in recent months. But some people say, you know, they really don't have a great grasp as to who these people are, too nebulous of a concept.
So, I want to run down some numbers, because CNN/Opinion Research, we conducted this poll and we took a look at precisely these demographics of the Tea Party activists. And the majority, as you see here in the numbers, 60 percent are men. The next number I have for you, these are older folks. Sixty percent are 50 and older.
Another number, they are educated, higher education, 67 percent attending college. And, finally -- and this is an interesting point, also -- a lot of these people I talked to today say they identify more as independents, but, if you take a look at this number, 79 percent say they would vote Republican, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Do you think, based on what you have learned talking to them, that most of them there would tend to favor Ann Coulter or maybe disagree with Ann Coulter?
BALDWIN: You know what? That's a good question. And I -- I don't necessarily think everyone would favor her.
I think they really talk -- there's a lot of rhetoric down the middle. But perhaps, if Ann rhetoric was running -- Ann -- Ann Coulter was running for Congress, maybe they would vote for her. That's my answer.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: That's well done.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: The reason I do that is because I'm looking for a segue here. Let me show you something.
Hit it, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN COULTER, AUTHOR, "GODLESS: THE CHURCH OF LIBERALISM": What mode of transportation? Take a camel.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
COULTER: Next question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right. That's Ann Coulter. She gets into a tiff, as you know, with some students. She joins me in just a little bit here, live, to describe what happened, so she gets a chance to explain her version of events, to be fair.
Also, from our follow-up list, that deadly Fort Hood shooting exposed major weaknesses in the military's system. Just how bad were the flaws? The answers coming up in a brand-new report.
It's news. It's next, your LIST, RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
He's at the very top of our list, President Obama outlining his plans for America's space program. He says he's 100 percent committed to NASA's mission, even as he tries to forge a new path in space. Here's some of what he had to say just last hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will partner with industry. We will invest in cutting-edge research and technology. We will set far-reaching milestones and provide the resources to reach those milestones. And, step by step, we will push the boundaries, not only of where we can go, but what we can do.
Now, 50 years after the creation of NASA, our goal is no longer just a destination to reach. Our goal is the capacity for people to work and learn and operate and live safely beyond the Earth for extended periods of time, ultimately in ways that are more sustainable and even indefinite. And, in fulfilling this task, we will not only extend humanity's reach in space. We will strengthen America's leadership here on Earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The Pentagon has put out another list of ways to prevent another Fort Hood massacre. It's approving some of the recommendations made by a Defense Department panel after last November's shooting spree there.
The goal is to help commanders identify and help service members who might become extremists or violent. The list came out just hours before Senator Joe Lieberman threatened to subpoena the defense and the Justice Departments.
You remember that sound, that siren on the day it happened. And this is the man who's accused -- he's accusing the Obama administration of dragging its feet on his Homeland Security Committee's repeated requests for information. And he's giving them until Monday to hand over the personnel file and performance evaluations of this man now, Major Nidal Hasan who's charged in the massacre.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: The painful fact is that 13 Americans died in the Fort Hood massacre. We owe it to them and their survivors, and everyone else in your country, to determine whether our government could have prevented their deaths and, if so, why it did not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Survivors, by the way, are still being pulled from the rubble of Wednesday's 6.9 earthquake in China. Chinese TV reports that, just this afternoon, four people were pulled out of a house that collapsed. This rescue effort is huge. Emergency crews are getting ready to airlift hundreds of injured people to hospitals outside the quake zone.
So far, the death toll stands at 760. More than 11,000 people may have been injured.
From the list of people who affected many lives, former NAACP leader Benjamin Hooks. He passed away earlier today. Hooks was a lawyer, a Baptist minister, and the voice of the civil rights movement in many ways. He took over the NAACP when it was a fading, indebted group, and rebuilt it into an organization with several hundred thousand members.
President Bush awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Hooks three years ago. Benjamin Hooks died at his home after a long illness. He was 85 years old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have came up from (INAUDIBLE) last night at 12:00. So, we're on the road since then. We're not happy campers at this --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- at this stage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is what's disrupting thousands of flights around the world. We're watching it for you. It's ash from a volcano in Iceland. And Chad Myers has been drilling down on this thing -- or maybe drilling up, I guess.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: He's got developments for us in just a little bit. That's ahead.
Also, the birther controversy about President Obama's citizenship, as ridiculous as this may sound, it reaches new heights. A soldier -- a soldier -- is now using it as an excuse to get out of serving his country. Guess which list -- guess which list I'm putting him on?
You're right. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I have been telling you about this story that we're following of this volcanic ash that's grounding a lot of planes because the airports are closed. Well, guess what? As we follow it, we get more information on it. As a matter of fact, take a look at this. This is from NASA, Langley, amazing NASA images of the volcanic ash plume over Europe.
Let's click this, guys. Let's see what it looks like. Whoa. Look at that. That gives you a pretty good indication of just how much of the -- of the earth's surface is covered by this ash. I guess it would make it difficult for planes to -- by the way, the problem isn't that planes can't fly through this or see it. The problem is that there's like little microscopic particles that could possibly get drawn into the engines of the plane and then cause bigger problems than just then not being able to see, because, obviously, using satellite technology and radar, they would be able to get through that.
All right, now this. A commissioned officer in the United States Army, a doctor, no less, a lieutenant colonel, he is, he got orders for Afghanistan. He says he's not going. Why? He says: Go ahead. Court-martial me. It doesn't matter.
The Army says: OK, then, we will.
Safe to say that's a list you don't want to be on.
First, a little setup for you. The officer that I'm talking about is one of the people who calls themselves birthers. They're the ones who don't see President Obama as legitimately in office because they, despite all the evidence, despite the facts, despite the truth, they don't believe that he was born on American soil. It is, to say the very least, a fringe group.
And this is the first time that we know that an active-duty officer in the United States military is refusing to deploy to war because he doesn't believe in the president being the legal commander in chief of the United States.
But, hey, watch it for yourself. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. TERRY LAKIN, U.S. ARMY: I want you to know the reasons why I feel I have no choice but the distasteful one of inviting my own court-martial.
For the first time in all my years of service to our great nation, and at great peril to my career and future, I am choosing to disobey what I believe are illegal orders, including an order to deploy to Afghanistan for my second tour of duty there.
I will disobey my orders to deploy because I, and I believe all service men and women and the American people, deserve the truth about President Obama's constitutional eligibility to the office of the presidency and the commander in chief.
President Obama, I ask you to respect and uphold the Constitution. Be transparent and show your honesty and integrity. Release your original, signed birth certificate, if you have one, thus proving your birth on American soil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. Those are his opinions. He doesn't back it up with any facts.
We have checked the facts, by the way, and we can tell you that President Obama has done exactly what he just asked the president to do. And it has been checked by FactCheck.org. And they have traveled to Hawaii, met with officials and looked at the documents.
And everything that that man just said is questionable, at least, a lie, at worst. This is how serious he is, though. He was supposed to report to Fort Campbell this week, destination Afghanistan. Instead, he told his commander that he's not going, and they can court-martial him if they want.
Well, they want. Military wheels are already turning to charge him with failure to obey an order. That is serious. But a court-martial is a trial. It's not punishment. So, we will have to watch this for you and see what happens.
Meantime, Lieutenant Colonel Terry Lakin for refusing to go -- to let go of a largely -- no, completely discredited conspiracy theory, and gambling an 18-year military career on it, it makes him at the very top of our list that you don't want to be on. Now from our pop culture list -- what are millions of Americans doing Tuesday and Wednesday nights? Watching "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars," right? There's a reason. These shows are red-hot. Why?
Stay with us. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Everybody who works in television is always looking for a way to try the next big thing that makes everybody watch and be glued to their television sets. Well, that goal is always on THE LIST.
But how do you do that? Well, sometimes, it's not by doing something that no one's ever thought about. Sometimes, it's simply by using the tried-and-true, as in, like, Ed Sullivan. Huh? Think about that.
Here's Brooke Anderson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What's the recipe for a hit TV show? It may include borrowing ingredients from the past.
Take one part "Dance Fever," borrow the spirit of competition from "Star Search," throw in a humorous host and a panel of judges like "The Gong Show," add a sprinkle of "Solid Gold" sequins, and top it off with celebrity guests.
Sound familiar? Ratings winners, "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" seem a lot like retro redos of classic TV variety shows.
NIECY NASH, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": I think it's one of the shows where people wish they could put themselves in the middle of it all, I mean, you know? Who doesn't want to know how to dance?
ANDERSON: Mary Murphy is a veteran TV entertainment journalist. She says the throwback feel of "Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars" is what attracts young and older viewers alike.
MARY MURPHY, TELEVISION ENTERTAINER WRITER: The appeal of these shows is -- applies to multi-generations who grew up on shows like this. It's the same thing. It shifts forms, and here we are in the present and we have these amazing shows, the most popular shows on television.
ANDERSON: Murphy says viewers also like having a say on whose dancing days are over --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "DANCING WITH THE STARS")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's find out who is safe and who will be going home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: -- and which "Idol" wannabe will sing on for another week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")
RYAN SEACREST, HOST: Crystal, you are safe.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SEACREST: You may take a seat.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
SEACREST: Congratulations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: "American Idol"'s ratings are down slightly from the beginning of the season. "Dancing With the Stars" has swept up some of those viewers. But both shows are well ahead of the competition in the TV ratings game.
So, what do the stars of these shows say is the secret to their success?
DEREK HOUGH, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": I think guys like to watch it because the girls are in hot dresses. You know, that's -- that's a big part.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell us how you really feel, Derek.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
SEACREST: You know, with successful programs, you have got to connect on a universal emotion.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Sure.
SEACREST: And I think that's the universal emotion, is the all of us want, at some point in our lives, to be on stage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So, do people tune in, as Ryan Seacrest suggested to Larry King, to secretly live out their own Hollywood dreams? Is it the joy of watching a talented single mom rocket to fame? Or is it seeing celebrities do something out of their comfort zone?
Maybe the simple answer is that people have always found dancing and singing entertaining, and it seems they still do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN IDOL")
SIMON COWELL, JUDGE, "AMERICAN IDOL": We're going to see you next week.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: People are crazy about that stuff.
All right. That's Ann Coulter. A lot of people are crazy about her, by the way. And some people say, not so much. But she made some controversial comments recently when she was in Canada. She was on tour there. It sparked some protests that went viral.
And now she's saying: Wait a minute. You know, my side of the story wasn't really told, and I want to set the record straight.
So, she sent me an e-mail and I responded, and she's going to be here. She's going to join me live to answer questions about what really happened in Canada.
Also, what's the deal with this school bus, at night? A late-night field trip? No. That's a crime in progress, if you can believe this. And we have got it for you. That's next. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is the story that will continue to make my list until all the facts finally come out.
I can report to you today that there's now a second police suspension stemming from the beating of a student at the University of Maryland.
Now, recall what happened, right, because we have taken you through the story. You see the 21-year-old John McKenna there. He's beaten to a pulp as he and fellow students -- students celebrated the fact that their basketball team beat Duke and they were excited.
But, for some reason, police took it upon themselves to really waylay this kid. McKenna then was charged himself. He was the one accused of striking the police, although the videotape shows, clearly, he did not strike the police -- at least that videotape.
That was all before this video, in fact, surfaced, by the way, which clearly shows it, that it was McKenna who was assaulted, and that the police were unprovoked.
So, the charges against McKenna were dropped. We have two officers suspended, with more suspensions to come. And McKenna's attorney says that he's going to sue. One of the biggest questions now involves this charging document, which clearly contains falsehoods, because McKenna did not attack anyone, as the charging document states.
And his injuries weren't caused by the horses accidentally kicking him, as the charging document states. They were caused by the officers hitting them -- or hitting him, I should say.
Let me show you what the police are saying about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAJOR ANDREW ELLIS, SPOKESPERSON, PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MARYLAND, POLICE DEPARTMENT: There's a possibility that information was transposed from a different arrest on to that charging document. That's a possibility that's looking in -- that we're looking into.
Clearly, the charging document was in error. And that's a problem. And that's a problem that we're going to address.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So there was another case somewhere where there was a student who also was near a horse and was kicked by a horse and then happened to -- OK. Charging documents were somehow transposed.
It's an interesting explanation. The false information on the charging document might have been the result of a mix-up. We will see what happens. It's a story we have been following for you, and we will continue to do so.
Modest means, ingenuity and audacity best describe the list of today's best videos. We call this "Fotos."
Hey, buddy, I need to move this dump truck. No problem. I have got a sailboat. Hmm. OK.
Do not try this at home, folks, or anywhere else, for that matter. No. No way it works, right? Wrong. Well, they pull it off, or drive it on. I was told -- we're told this is just the way things work down there in the Caribbean.
From dump trucks now to boats to a school bus in Canada. Police say that two teens stole it from a school parking lot. They only made it a few blocks before backing over the car belonging to one of the teen's fathers. The teen driver gets an A for audacity, but an F, as in foolish. He failed the driving test and allegedly the breathalyzer, too, blowing three times the legal limit, according to police.
It's called the drive-through, not the jump-through. But an armed robber in Michigan used it as a jump-through. Wouldn't you know it? He was in the fast-food joint as the heist went down and jumped out the window.
That is until he realized that somebody tripped the police alarm. So he thought out of the box and jumped right through it. Maybe he should give up crime and take up track and field.
That is "Fotos del Dia."
You can blame this volcano if you're trying to get to Europe or waiting for someone to get from Europe to here. These eruptions are significant. It's really having an effect on air travel in several countries. France, England, Germany among those, and the list goes on.
Also, this should be on our UFO list. Nah. There's an explanation for this nightmare, nighttime light show.
Chad Myers with the latest details on both of those stories. That's ahead.
And also -- pardon me. Look who is going to be joining me in just a little bit. That is Ann Coulter, Ladies and Gentlemen. And she's going to be talking to us in just a little bit. And she's setting the record straight, as she says.
All right, Ann. Looking forward to it. Good to see you.
ANN COULTER, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Me too. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We're showing you one of the Tea Party's Tax Day rallies. You're looking at that one from -- where is this one, guys, from? I know we've got cameras all over the country.
This one's from Washington. Thank you very much.
Conservative commentator Ann Coulter is joining me now. If she showed up at one of these things, are you kidding me? She'd be like a rock star, right? Now, however -- good to see you.
COULTER: I have spoken at two.
SANCHEZ: Good to see you, by the way. I didn't even get a chance to say hi.
COULTER: Good to see you. I have spoken at Tea Parties.
SANCHEZ: Yes, well, of course. That's your crowd, right?
COULTER: Yes. They're Americans. I like Americans.
SANCHEZ: But how about Canadians? You go to Canada -- listen --
COULTER: I like the western Canadians.
SANCHEZ: Listen, you. You go to Canada, you nearly started a riot up there.
Can you behave yourself when you leave the country, please?
COULTER: It's very strange. I must say, I always thought of Canadians as so cool. They've got the hockey players and all the -- you know, the comedians we have in America. A lot of them smoke.
And now, you know, they're a bunch of sissies named Francois. What has happened to that country? SANCHEZ: I'm telling you, I don't know. You know, instead of Conan O'Brien, you should have gotten one of those late-night comedy shows because you're good like that.
COULTER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right.
COULTER: Thank you. Well, I was --
SANCHEZ: You sent me an e-mail. Let's just clear the record here. You sent me an e-mail saying, damn you, Rick Sanchez, why did you do that report? Why did you say that I was rude up there in Canada?
Let's show the viewers what happened again and your little comment about the camel. Let's do that.
Rog, go ahead and hit that for everybody.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is Ann Coulter Monday. This is an exchange I'm going to show you now. It's incredible, what she says. It's an exchange with a student at the University of Western Ontario after Coulter suggested that Muslims should not be allowed to fly on airplanes and should travel only on flying carpets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a 17-year-old student of this university, Muslim, should I be converted to Christianity? Second of all, since I don't have a magic carpet, what other mode would you suggest?
COULTER: What mode of transportation? Take a camel!
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: Take a camel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's the one that set everybody off.
OK. Now, after I did that, you said, "Well, yes, I did say, 'Take a camel.'" To most people that looks like a terrible thing to say. But you're saying there was something in between there that viewers didn't get a chance to see.
Set the record here.
COULTER: Yes. And I thank you for asking about this, because on the ride over to CNN, I was trying to figure out how I to maneuver you into this topic so I could raise the fact that that was a doctored tape.
And I have to say, I spend a lot of time ridiculing the mainstream media in America. No American or TV station would have doctored a tape like that. The question was there, but then they cut out about five minutes where I gave a very serious answer. I'm polite even to snippy college students because they're college kids. And I was giving her a very serious, erudite answer.
And then a completely different group of students started heckling, "Answer the question. Answer the question." And so I was heckling them back.
But, you know, no, I didn't say Muslims shouldn't be able to fly commercial airlines. I have said a million times since 9/11 -- I fly a lot -- that I think there ought to be an extra little look given to people who look like the people who have hijacked or blown up planes for the last 30 years. And by the way, within the next year, every "New York Times" op-ed columnist agreed with me.
I fly a lot. So it's a big issue for me.
And then, of course, the flying carpet was a joke with a "Guardian" journalist. That interview was on my Web page. It's a great interview. I was just changing the subject at that point.
SANCHEZ: But listen, it's not an unreasonable thing that you're saying. And I think most people would agree that we have to have a certain amount of concentrated effort on perhaps certain -- maybe even some people in certain demographics. I mean, I'm not making that argument, but you made that argument plainly.
The question is, Ann --
COULTER: You're not going to ask me to explain a joke.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: No. But you were over the top when you said, "Take a camel." Apologize!
COULTER: No, no, no, no, no. You have to play the full tape, which apparently isn't available because this Canadian TV station doctored a tape, cut out five minutes from a speech.
I mean, that's like a Michael Moore trick. And it was done so well, even when I saw it I thought, wait a second, I was there, that wasn't my answer. I gave a very serious answer about, for example, if you would be interested to hear, how missionaries --
SANCHEZ: We have the tape. I'm being told we have the tape.
COULTER: You have the full tape?
SANCHEZ: We have about three minutes of it, all right? We're not going to show the entire thing, because it might get a little on the boring side.
COULTER: Well, it's very interesting.
SANCHEZ: We're going to be done here in a minute. All right. Let's listen to some of it.
COULTER: That's a lot to cut out of a tape.
SANCHEZ: You can comment here. You can comment. Your mike is going to stay on.
All right. Let's watch some of this.
Now, here you're being heckled, right?
COULTER: No, no, no, no. I'm waiting. I'm about to give my answer. It's a very good answer. And I hope you play the full answer.
SANCHEZ: Oh, we will.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COULTER: The first -- you dropped a line from the first quote. It was about (ph) countries that kill their leaders.
(APPLAUSE)
COULTER: And, you know, by the way, this shows -- I thought it was just American public schools that produced ignorant people. This is what America has done after World War II, after the Korean War, after we won World War II The emperor went to MacArthur and said, OK, we're ready to convert. And MacArthur said, well, actually, we don't convert people forcibly.
Also, as he described, they didn't know whether to convert them to Protestantism or Catholicism. But he put out the call for Christian missionaries to come to Japan. And they poured in.
And you don't convert people forcibly, but Christian missionaries have been operating throughout Japan for years. And they certainly have religious freedom in Japan. And I would add, we have heard of (INAUDIBLE).
(BOOING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, what's going on there?
COULTER: An enthusiastic audience.
SANCHEZ: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COULTER: After the Korean War, the exact same thing happened. A call was put out for Christian missionaries to go into South Korea. The Christian missionaries poured in. And it was one of the greatest success stories of Christianity. You'll see on American college campuses --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Answer the question!
AUDIENCE: Answer the question!
COULTER: What mode of transportation? Take a camel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Oh. OK.
So take us through that. At the very end, somebody screamed something out. I hadn't seen that before. What did he scream out?
COULTER: They're chanting, "Answer the question!" They -- leftists often do that when you don't give them the answer they wanted you to give so they can trap you. They want you to answer a different question, and really the only question in there was just a silly question, "What mode of transportation am I going to take if I don't have a flying camel?"
And again, Rick, I know there are no flying camels. So, class, was that a joke? Yes, it was a joke. So, you know, asking someone to explain what a joke is I think is a little bit silly.
SANCHEZ: So should you say I shouldn't have --
(CROSSTALK)
COULTER: And I suggested -- the second time they started the "Answer the question" chant, I suggested we get them working at Guantanamo. They would be fantastic working with terrorists. Answer the question.
SANCHEZ: Wait. Should you have said -- should you not have used the camel reference knowing that that is a very specific thing to Muslims and people in that part of the world?
COULTER: Right. That's why it was a good joke.
SANCHEZ: Ann Coulter, can you stick around?
COULTER: I was heckling them back.
SANCHEZ: I want to talk politics with you. We'll move away from this thing. But are you satisfied? We gave you a good chance to --
(CROSSTALK)
COULTER: Yes, thank you. I really appreciate that. Though you did not doctor the tape, the Canadian TV stations did. But, boy, that was the one that kept running in America. And it ran on your show. So I appreciate it and I thank you.
SANCHEZ: Tell your friends that we're fair over here at CNN. OK?
COULTER: I will.
SANCHEZ: Stay right there. We're going to come right back with more of Ann Coulter. And we'll be digging deep into politics. And maybe we'll get something to argue about as well.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm with Ann Coulter.
Let's start with the economy, if we can, Ann.
Reading from "The Wall Street Journal," not a lefty publication, OK? "The Wall Street Journal" today, front page, "Shoppers turning up in surprising force in U.S. Stores, auto dealers, restaurants and elsewhere in March, adding to a growing sense that the recovery could prove to be faster than anticipated. March's 1.6 percent surge in retail sales is tempting forecasters to upgrade their assessments of the economy's ability to restore the 8.2 million U.S. jobs lost when the recession began."
So this is "The Wall Street Journal" saying, hey -- they're not saying the recession is over, but it's saying it looks like there's some signs of a recovery.
Read something like that in a publication like "The Wall Street Journal," do you give your opposition a break and say, hey, maybe the stimulus plan isn't as bad as we said, maybe part of what the president is doing is working in this country? To be fair?
COULTER: I would like to be that optimistic, because obviously everyone would prefer for it to be a booming economy and for people to get their jobs back. But I tend to think this is irrational exuberance and the eternal optimism of the American people.
I don't see a big turnaround for the economy coming. I mean, it certainly hasn't happened yet. It's a prediction in "The Wall Street Journal." We'll see what happens, but I don't think you get an economy booming again by raising taxes and putting new and more regulations on companies. I think we have a lot of evidence for that not working and for removing government regulations and removing government taxes.
SANCHEZ: What do you -- what would it take, then, what would it take for Ann Coulter to say, by golly, we are in a recovery, it looks like the recession is finally over? When would you then --
(CROSSTALK)
COULTER: Well, a recovery would work.
SANCHEZ: What's that?
COULTER: I'd take a recovery.
SANCHEZ: Well --
COULTER: When you still have unemployment up around 10 percent, and the real employment, when you throw in people who are only working part-time jobs because they can't get full-time jobs, or people who have given up looking after six months, the unemployment rate is more up around 16 percent.
SANCHEZ: But is that fair? Look, the very first thing -- and I know that a lot of times folks on the right don't say this -- the very first speech that this president gave about the economy, to his credit, all right -- and I'm not here to defend him, but I always here people say, well, the unemployment numbers are horrible. The very first thing he said, the very first thing out of his mouth was, except double-digit unemployment. And that's right after he had taken over as a result of what had happened prior to his administration.
So is it fair to saddle him with the unemployment numbers now as if he created them?
COULTER: Well, I wasn't the one saying that this is entirely Obama's fault. I think the fact that we will not be seeing much of a booming recovery is Obama's fault. But since that is in the future, you'll have to have me back on in about six months, and we'll see how the unemployment numbers are, what the inflation numbers are, whether people are getting loans and businesses are starting yet.
But I don't think you do that by big government. And, by the way, he said a lot of things.
SANCHEZ: That's true.
COULTER: He also said we needed to pass the stimulus bill, otherwise the unemployment rate would get worse. Well, when he said that, the unemployment rate was around seven, eight percent. It's only gone up since then. So I don't think you can --
SANCHEZ: But you're not saying you don't buy "The Wall Street Journal" numbers, right? I mean, you're saying you buy the numbers, you just don't think it's complete?
COULTER: I think it's irrational exuberance on the part of Americans. And God bless them for being optimistic. And I really don't want to talk down the economy. But I'm sorry, I just have never seen big government as a way to stimulate entrepreneurship and small businesses. I think it's going to be a huge drag.
SANCHEZ: I get it. I get it. And it's a sound argument.
By the way, I'm looking at this Web site that you put out, and you name reporters who are allowed to interview Ann Coulter again.
COULTER: That's right.
SANCHEZ: People who you -- I figure you respect enough to come back and talk to because you think they're fair. My name's not on that list!
COULTER: Well, to be fair, I don't have any TV reporters, because that's a live interview. There's nothing you can do. This is print interviews, where they interview you and then sometimes, like the Canadian TV station, change what the question was.
SANCHEZ: OK.
COULTER: Or completely change the answer. So these are print reporters.
SANCHEZ: That's fair.
COULTER: But you would be on that list if I included TV reporters, Rick.
SANCHEZ: You just like south Florida guys.
Thanks so much, Ann. I appreciate it. We'll see you again.
COULTER: Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Come on back.
COULTER: Definitely.
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer is standing by. That's going to be coming up next. I'm sure he's been watching the interview that we were just doing, and also looking ahead to tomorrow.
We're going to be talking to the Canadian mother who desperately tried to bring her son home from a U.S. foster care system. The 12-year-old suffers from severe Attention Deficit Disorder. She was taken into custody after he struggled to explain that he was in Oregon to be with his step dad on holiday.
The result now is a legal nightmare. And I'm going to be taking you through it. Again, that's tomorrow, right here on RICK'S LIST. As I like to say, your list.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Time for "The Wolf Pack." Wolf Blitzer is standing by.
Did you see my interview with Ann Coulter? What did you think?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I did see some of it. I didn't see all of it. But it's always entertaining. You know that.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know what's interesting? In many ways -- I don't know if you agree with me on this, but she's in no way different from a guy like Bill Maher.
I mean, Bill Maher is way, mostly to the left, and he's funny. Ann Coulter is way, mostly to the right, and she really is more of a comedian than many other things. And she even admits to that. She was so happy when I told her that there were things that she said where she was trying to be funny, right? BLITZER: Well, she's got a good sense of humor, there's no doubt about that. But at times her critics will point out, she gets a little bit over the line, over the edge. And she irritates some folks out there by some of the stuff that she says, as you well know.
SANCHEZ: Yes, yes, yes. Like the camel reference, which I could continue to try to press her on.
What are you going to be watching today, Wolf? What's going on?
BLITZER: Well, you know, what's happening in Europe right now is really amazing. All these planes are on the ground in France and England. Even now in Poland. The president is supposed to be going there Saturday night for the funeral of the Polish president.
This volcanic eruption and all of the stuff that's up in the skies causing these flights to be canceled, the most flights canceled since 9/11, I believe. We're going to have extensive coverage of that here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Also, one other story I think you'll be interested in. We have the two number twos in the House of Representatives, Eric Cantor and Steny Hoyer, the top Republican and the top Democrat, the two number twos in the House. So they're going to be debating several important issues, but there's one issue in which they strongly, strongly agree. Indeed, cosponsored a proposal on that.
We're going to tell our viewers all about that.
SANCHEZ: So you're not going to tell me what that is, right?
BLITZER: I'm going to tease you and all our viewers to stick around for the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour to watch this interview.
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer with the big dogs.
My thanks to you, Wolf. Look forward to seeing you in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
BLITZER: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right.
Obviously -- and you heard Wolf just make mention this a little while ago -- it's one of the big stories we've been watching for you all day long. It's a mile-long cloud of volcanic ash. It cancels half of all flights from Europe to this country.
Chad Myers has been all over this story. He's following -- Chad, how are you sir?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Doing good.
SANCHEZ: Good to see you. A lot of news going on up there in the atmosphere, stratosphere, whatever you want to call it. And you're going to take us through it. MYERS: You can't fly through volcanic ash. Your engine might stop.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: That would be bad.
SANCHEZ: That's a problem. It's not about seeing, it's about being able to continue going.
We're going to be right back with Chad. Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Take a look at these pictures that we're going to be sharing with you.
I was just asking Chad, how can you get a volcano in Iceland? Isn't it too -- when you think of a volcano, you think of, like, Hawaii. You don't think of Iceland. You think it's too cold to have a volcano there. But, no, there it is.
MYERS: Look at that.
SANCHEZ: What is this? Take us through these pictures.
MYERS: That is a plume of ash coming out of the top of a volcano, going straight up.
SANCHEZ: What's the white stuff?
MYERS: That's just a cloud.
SANCHEZ: Oh, OK.
MYERS: Yes. The volcano is going off, but there's just regular weather happening underneath it.
This thing is going tens of thousands of feet in the sky, and it is going right into the flight path of an awful lot of airplanes. Literally.
Let's go to -- we have a couple of sources I want to take you to. Our flight delays, first of all, because if you're trying to get to any part of basically London, Paris, the U.K. airspace, closed. Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, forget it. You are done.
Look at Flight Explorer.
SANCHEZ: Airports are closed.
MYERS: You cannot fly through this.
There should be hundreds of planes headed to Europe. I see, like, five, six. I don't even know. And nothing going to the U.K.. Period. Nothing at all. Here's the reason why. You cannot put that which is a microscopic piece of ash that we blew up in a microscope into an engine. You can't even put that into your car engine.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: Because that actually, in a jet engine, melts on the way in, becomes glass on the way out, and clogs the engine. It stops the jets from literally running.
SANCHEZ: Really?
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: So if these jets were to try and fly through some of these plumes --
MYERS: They would fall out of the sky when their engines stopped.
SANCHEZ: Their engines would literally stop?
MYERS: Yes. They would grind to a halt.
SANCHEZ: That is amazing. And so what you just showed us, that little piece right there, is what's contained in those big plumes there.
MYERS: Zillions of them in there.
SANCHEZ: But can't you fly around it? I'm looking at that right now. You can fly around that?
MYERS: You can because that's close to the volcano. When you get away from the volcano, like the U.K., it gets dispersed.
SANCHEZ: Oh, I see.
MYERS: It's gets all over the place. And even sometimes you can't even tell.
SANCHEZ: So you can't see it.
MYERS: You can't see it. You can't tell it's not just a regular cloud, even though you can tell that's not a white cloud.
When it gets dispersed, you can't see it. And things go badly. Planes have flown through this and their engines have stopped.
SANCHEZ: So we're down to 30 seconds. Tell us when this will probably clear up enough for people to be able to fly. And I know you're not the expert who makes the call on this, but what does your gut say?
MYERS: It might be weeks.
SANCHEZ: Really? MYERS: It might be weeks, because the jet stream is going from Iceland over to the U.K., and then west. It's going the wrong way, west of France, back through the Straits of Gibraltar. And if that air mass just stays and floats around, they're not going to let planes go there for a long time.
SANCHEZ: Who knew?
Good stuff, as usual.
MYERS: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: God, you're good at explaining stuff. You're just good like that, Chad.
MYERS: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: So is Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by. Here is "THE SITUATION ROOM."
