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Charlie Crist Announces Independent Run for U.S. Senate; Republicans to Allow Financial Reform Debate to Move Forward?; Interview With Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss; Interview With Delaware Senator Ted Kaufman
Aired April 28, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Poppy Harlow time. She takes us right down to the countdown.
Start us off. What's going on?
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All -- all the debate about whether or not the Senate will vote on this Wall Street reform package.
Listen, you had President Obama pushing for it today when he was speaking, and you -- yet, you have three tries, three failures for senators to garner 60 votes to bring Wall Street reform to a vote.
SANCHEZ: Huh.
HARLOW: I'm looking at the AP wire that just crossed, Rick. It says Republicans are prepared to take this to the floor. They Are going to battle out how big banks should be, how much protection consumers should have...
SANCHEZ: Well, but wait.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: ... all of that.
SANCHEZ: Jessica Yellin...
HARLOW: And that's -- the market likes it, at least...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: ... right now.
SANCHEZ: I'm just going to tell you, Jessica -- Jessica Yellin just reported to us a moments ago that she believes, from her sources, that Republicans will back down by the end of the week...
HARLOW: Right.
SANCHEZ: ... and start showing signs that they are going to let the -- the debate continue.
HARLOW: Yes. And that's what we're looking. And then you see Wall Street's encouraged by that, up 56 points. The Nasdaq is also up. The S&P is up. Goldman Sachs is up almost 3 percent, Rick.
It looks like we're going to finally get some traction here on a Wall Street reform debate. That's a big one. Another big one supporting the markets today, the Fed came out with their interest rate decision. Why do you care about that? Interest rates for your car loan, to your mortgage, folks, they're staying low for a while, exceptionally low rates here to stay. Wall Street likes to see that -- a nice close after the big sell-off we saw yesterday.
SANCHEZ: Up 55.
HARLOW: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Poppy Harlow, with our money list...
HARLOW: We will take it.
SANCHEZ: ... my thanks to you. We will you see you again tomorrow.
Did you hear the news? It is now official. And CNN has reported Charlie Crist will run as an independent.
Here's what else we got.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST on this day.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: The only people who seem to be willing to come out in support of this bill are the executives at Goldman Sachs.
SANCHEZ: Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss and Democratic Senator Ted Kaufman join me live.
Who is suggesting illegal immigrants have microchips implanted in them?
Who asked this superstar athlete, "Is your mom a prostitute?" And is that question appropriate for a job interview?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're glad to be down on the ground.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: A plane diverted, hundreds of passengers delayed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nervous? Yes, of course, especially when, you know, the pilot comes on and tells you that the plane has to divert.
SANCHEZ: And it is all about a sleeping pill. What's really going on?
The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Two breaking news stories that I'm going to be sharing with you. First of all, if you haven't heard this one, we broke this news about a half-hour ago. Charlie Crist, governor of Florida, has decided that he's going to run as an independent to take on both Kendrick Meek and Marco Rubio, one being the -- the likely Democrat -- that's Kendrick Meek -- the other one, Marco Rubio, the likely Republican in this race.
The decision that he made apparently having to do with his situation in the polls right now, where most of them have found him -- at least one finding him as low as 20 points down. That has wavered. We're going to obviously see what happens to this and we're going to get reaction.
In the meantime, we are now hearing -- here's the second breaking news item that I want to tell you about now -- we are now hearing that, according to CNN sources, it appears that Republicans will, in fact, relinquish their position and go ahead and allow the debate to continue on financial reform.
That doesn't mean that they have come up with a deal that they and Democrats agree with. It only means that they are going to stop their attempts thus far to stop the debate.
I want to bring in Senator Saxby Chambliss now, Senator Saxby Chambliss from the area of South Georgia, an area that I'm very familiar with, because I have spent a lot of my weekends there, in Moultrie, Georgia.
Senator, thanks so much for being with us, sir.
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: Oh, good to be with you, Rick. You visit a great part of the world when you come to Moultrie.
SANCHEZ: It certainly is, sir. My thanks to you for being with us.
And let me go ahead and hit you with what is the news. We are hearing that, according to our sources, you all, as Republicans, are going to go ahead and start this debate that you have been, well, sort of blocking up to now, right?
CHAMBLISS: Well, we have been doing it for the right reasons, Rick.
You know, this is such an extremely complex piece of legislation. It's a complex area of the law. And when we ultimately come out of the Senate with a bill, we're very hopeful that we do it right. And, frankly, the bill that's on the floor right now really puts additional costs and burdens on Main Street banks, and not really Wall Street banks.
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh. CHAMBLISS: I mean, just yesterday, Goldman Sachs comes out and says they support the Dodd bill. That should tell America, in and of itself, right there that something's not right about this bill. So...
SANCHEZ: Well, I'm not sure -- I'm not sure they're saying, sir, that they support it, I think they're -- what they're saying is, look, if we have got to take this bitter pill, we're willing to take it.
But let me ask you -- let me go back to the question I asked you at the very beginning, because I'm curious. What can you tell us about what you have heard from the party leadership as to whether or not you will go ahead and agree to continue this very important debate?
I'm sure you agree it's an important debate, to reform Wall Street, right?
CHAMBLISS: Well, what has happened, Rick, is that we have been in discussions with the Democrats over the last several days with regard to potential changes in the bill that we could hopefully get together on a bipartisan -- bipartisan basis to make.
And while we haven't really been able to change the bill in total...
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
CHAMBLISS: ... there have been some significant agreements between Senators Shelby and Dodd on critical areas.
And, you know, it's a bill that now is going to...
SANCHEZ: Well...
CHAMBLISS: ... be brought to the floor for debate. And we're hopeful that there will be any number of changes through amendments, so, at the end of the day, we do get it right.
SANCHEZ: All right. So, we're...
CHAMBLISS: It...
SANCHEZ: So, we're making -- we're making news here. I just -- I want you to say that again.
And I guess we could use the breaking news banner, since we're breaking news, as we say.
Tell us again. This bill will now go to the floor, correct?
CHAMBLISS: It -- it appears that that's going to be the case. There will be another vote shortly, I'm sure, or maybe some sort of agreement reached between leadership. I'm not sure, procedurally, how that will be handled.
But what I can tell you is that Senator Shelby was successful in negotiating some tentative agreements on ensuring that there is no bank in America that is too big to fail. The legislation, as drafted and put on the floor, didn't guarantee that. And I commend Senator Shelby for being able to negotiate a very significant facet of this bill.
SANCHEZ: So, that was the sticking point, sir? That -- that was the sticking point, that -- that -- that too-big-to-fail...
CHAMBLISS: That...
SANCHEZ: ... argument that he and Chris Dodd were arguing about on "The Today Show" -- pardon me -- on "Meet the Press" this weekend?
CHAMBLISS: That was a major issue, not the only issue, but that has been a major stumbling block in trying to reach an agreement between Senators Shelby and Dodd, yes.
SANCHEZ: Let me just hold you for just a moment.
We have Brianna Keilar. She's standing by, our correspondent on Capitol Hill.
Brianna, if you can join us here, I know you were intimating moments ago that you saw this coming. And now we have Senator Saxby Chambliss here from Georgia essentially saying, yes, we're -- we're moving forward.
What's -- well, what do you got for us, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a really big step, when you're talking about this Wall Street reform bill. This paves the way for it to come to the floor and ultimately to come to a vote.
And we're expecting that it could very well pass, because there's this feeling from Democrats and Republicans that they have to do something to regulate Wall Street. But this also comes, this agreement that I have been told about by a Democratic source, this agreement comes because Senator Shelby and Senator Dodd, who have been working behind the scenes, trying to come to an agreement, because they're at an impasse.
And even though what you heard from Senator Chambliss there, that they came to an agreement on this idea of too big to fail by getting rid of this $50 billion fund, this Wall Street fund that would have been used to wind down companies that perhaps did fail...
SANCHEZ: Right.
KEILAR: ... there is an impasse on some other issues, for instance, this idea of derivatives, these complex -- these complex financial products. There is an issue, and that's part of the impasse.
But, also, one of the other areas, Rick, has to do with this consumer protection agency. Democrats and Republicans have very much been at odds over just how sweeping the authority should be given to this consumer protection agency. And that is not solved.
SANCHEZ: So -- all right, let -- let me -- let me take it back to the senator, then.
She says there's -- you heard her report. She says her Democratic sources are saying there's still an impasse on derivatives, as well as on the consumer protection agency.
Senator, what -- what do you know about that, and what can you share with us?
CHAMBLISS: Well, Rick, that's exactly right. That's what I just said. The too-big-to-fail issue was just one issue.
SANCHEZ: OK.
CHAMBLISS: But there's significant disagreement, for example, on the failure of the Dodd bill to include any additional regulation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
Those are the two largest mortgage buyers that helped create the financial crisis that we have gotten ourselves into. There's no regulation in this bill on those two entities. That's not right. And that's another major impasse that still exists today.
Certainly, the derivatives piece that I have been heavily involved in, we reached an impasse several days ago, and we have not been able...
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
CHAMBLISS: ... to reach a breakthrough on that.
SANCHEZ: But let me -- let me try and nail you down on this. Is there any question in your mind that Republicans need to join Democrats to reform Wall Street?
CHAMBLISS: Absolutely. There -- there is a need to really get our arms around this greed that exists on Wall Street today and has for some time.
SANCHEZ: So...
CHAMBLISS: I think everybody has been in general agreement on that issue, but the difference has been, how do we get there, and do we get there with the provisions...
SANCHEZ: You...
CHAMBLISS: ... in the Dodd bill? And there's been serious disagreement...
SANCHEZ: Well, you think...
(CROSSTALK)
CHAMBLISS: ... whether or not we had reached that.
SANCHEZ: Final question, sir, and I certainly don't mean to interrupt. But you do believe that there is enough -- the distance between you right now is short enough that you will be able to overcome it and come up with some kind of bill? You feel...
(CROSSTALK)
CHAMBLISS: Well, here's what I'm hopeful of, Rick, that there are enough Democrats who truly believe that we need to do the right thing, and not overreach, and there are enough Republicans who feel exactly that same way...
SANCHEZ: OK.
CHAMBLISS: ... and that we can get together in a bipartisan way and come together on a bill that accomplishes the purpose of making sure that the greed on Wall Street is addressed, that the issue of too big to fail is put to bed, and, at the same time, we regulate the products that are offered on Wall Street in a way that protects the American consumer, and does not have a huge impact on the community banks across America that are not a part of the problem.
SANCHEZ: Right.
CHAMBLISS: And I think it's something that both Democrats and Republicans agree on.
Senator Saxby Chambliss, sir, thank you so much for taking time to go through this with us. Thank you for helping us make news here on the air.
And say hello to my kin down there in Moultrie for me, will you?
CHAMBLISS: Hey, we will look forward to seeing you in Colquitt County soon.
SANCHEZ: All right, sir. Thank you very much.
By the way, I should mention that, just in a little bit, to be fair, you heard the Republican perspective on this with Senator Saxby Chambliss. I'm going to be joined in about probably 20 or 25 minutes by Senator -- Democratic Senator Ted Kaufman of Delaware. He's going to be coming up in just a little bit, so look forward to that.
Meanwhile, take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nervous? Yes, of course, especially when, you know, the pilot comes on and tells you that the plane has to divert.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The man whose actions diverted a plane with a bomb threat may have taken eight Ambien, eight Ambien, according to one of the reports. Of course, it's hard to understand whether he took eight or one or five, because, if you read the charging documents, it's -- it, in some parts, reads like a comedy. Anyway, that's ahead.
Also, from our football list, the question that rattled a top college prospect: "Is your mother a prostitute?" Think about that. Is it different because he was being interviewed for a job that would pay $50 million? That's for you to decide. Let me know. I will be looking forward to hearing your responses.
This is your national conversation here every day at 4:00. This is your list, RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Time for our story roundup. Here we go.
The bizarre passenger behavior that forced a flight from Paris to Atlanta to land in Bangor, Maine -- charging documents detail a note from former Air Force intelligence specialist Derek Stansberry. It said: "My passports and identity are all fake. Please let my family know the truth."
He claimed he had dynamite in one of his boots, and he said he had a detonator. Stansberry is charged with two felonies. He also apparently said at one point he had taken eight Ambien and maybe a Valium.
Much more on this story is coming up at the bottom of the hour, including the effects of these drugs on flyers.
Also, multitasking may have caused a midair collision between a small plane and a helicopter over the Hudson River. The NTSB investigation shows that the air traffic controller was listening to three conversations. Watch this again. Watch this again. Bam -- including a personal phone call.
He couldn't hear the plane's pilot reading back an incorrect radio frequency. The pilot dialed into the wrong frequency. The controller had no way to warn him about the approaching helicopter. As you probably recall, nine people were killed.
One NFL football team honcho will have to think twice about how he questions prospective players. Wide receiver Dez Bryant said last week that one team boss, of the Miami Dolphins, made him mad when he asked if his mother was a prostitute.
It turns out the boss was Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland. Ireland says, look, I'm sorry that it was taken that way. And he's a apologized to Bryant. However, the circumstances are different, according to many who have been examining this story all day, because Bryant likely would have been paid something upwards of $40 million to $50 million. And they were trying to ask him about his background.
Roland Martin said recently on our air it should have been handled differently. Bryant, by the way, is not going to the Miami Dolphins. He's going to Dallas. The cowboys picked him in the first round of the draft.
Sandra Bullock started divorce proceedings against her husband, but that's not the biggest bombshell in this story -- not the biggest bombshell that she's dropped today. Have you heard the latest? Surprise coming from her.
And, also, a guy who is on the record suggesting illegal immigrants get implanted with microchips, just like the one -- quote -- "on his dog" that he uses to find it when it gets lost.
That's next on the LIST. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Back to the LIST, back to immigration and the Arizona law. Everybody seems to have an opinion about illegal immigration, whether you agree with the Arizona law and can make an argument for it and or you disagree and are making your arguments for it.
Some people's ideas, though, out there, as they make their arguments, seem so radical, that they can't help but find themselves at least of one of our most important lists of the day.
Here we go with the list that you don't want to be on.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Meet Pat Bertroche. That's Dr. Pat Bertroche. Actually, he's an M.D. He's also a Republican candidate for Congress in Iowa's 3rd District. His solution for the Arizona problem for illegal immigrants? Quote: "I actually support microchipping them. I can microchip my dog, so I can find it when it's lost. Why can't I microchip an illegal? That's not a popular thing to say, but it's a lot cheaper than building a fence they can tunnel underneath."
Microchipping, microchipping, that's what he says. For the record, after that quote was printed in the local papers, Dr. Bertroche told the Associated Press it didn't occur to him that he was comparing illegal immigrants to dogs. He just didn't think about that. And he doesn't actually support microchipping human beings.
He says he was just illustrating how radical the immigration debate has become. And, for that, he lands on the list that you don't want to be on.
A passenger on this plane, it turns out he was an Air Force veteran. He's accused of some really weird things, weird behaviors, weird comments. It was enough for the pilot to have to divert the plane. And what about the possibility he may have taken Ambien, and he's not the first to have to cause a plane to be diverted because of that? We're looking into it.
Also, how do you clean up an oil spill with fire? We have the latest from the Coast Guard operation in the Gulf of Mexico that may show exactly what it is they're doing. They will burn it off before it gets to some of the most beautiful beaches in the United States.
This is your national conversation, your list. This is RICK'S LIST. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right.
Welcome back.
On our follow-up list, take a look at this. You can kind of see it, just -- just above the surface there. That's the oil, apparently, cumulatively speaking, hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil, in the Gulf of Mexico.
There is a plan to burn it off. You heard me right, burn it off. In fact, that's supposed to start any moment now. We thought it was going to be starting right about now.
Chad Myers is standing by.
Chad, can you explain this to us?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What they're going to do with these booms that they're towing behind boats, Rick, they will actually take the booms and draw a big circle right around the thickest oil, and then kind of lasso that oil into a smaller and smaller space, in order to get the thickness required to get oil to burn.
SANCHEZ: Mmm.
MYERS: If you just see a sheen, you know, you drop four drops of water from -- or gasoline from your boat, and it drops into the water, you can see it spreads out and you can see the rainbow? I'm sure you've seen it.
SANCHEZ: Familiar with it.
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: Everybody has seen that at a...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: ... at a -- at a pump dock on the water. A couple of drops come out all the time, whatever.
That will not burn, because it is isn't thick enough. There's too much water watering it down. You have to get enough thickness of this -- especially of this oil to get it to be light on fire. You have to get it hot as well, and to get that heat put in that you put -- you put flares or whatever they're going to get to get that heat going. And they're going to make the fire go.
Here's what I'm expecting here. The map behind me you see, there is 2,138 square miles of oil. And now I'm going to take you right into where the source is, and you are going to see how that brown area there is where the spill source is coming in. And that spill source, this is where the thickest oil is.
This is what they are going to try to lasso and try to catch on fire, not the stuff that's been out there for days and days and days. That's just too spread out at this point. It's just -- there's just way too much stuff going on, way too much wind blowing it around. And they are going to -- they are going to get it on fire, even though it sounds like a disaster.
SANCHEZ: Burn it off.
MYERS: Yes, it sounds like a disaster in the air.
But, in fact, it's less of a disaster for pollution in the air than to what it could do to the wildlife and...
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: ... to all of the birds that it could...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes, not -- not to mention the -- the Chamber of Commerce -- Commerce in places like Destin and Pensacola.
MYERS: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: Well, exactly. They don't want the oil on their shores and on their beaches...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: And that's where the wind is coming from. And, three days from now, it's going to be blowing directly on shore.
SANCHEZ: What a mess.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, Chad, if we get the pictures, as soon as it happens, as soon as we actually see -- see them start to do this thing...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: ... you are going to hang tight, right?
HARLOW: I will be right here.
SANCHEZ: All right, I will call you, and we will take a look at it.
MYERS: All right.
SANCHEZ: All right, meanwhile, take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, everything will get ironed out, and, you know, he will get to come home. He is a good -- he is a good boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: "He's a good boy," but how does this good boy on that flight become a terror suspect, after taking possibly as many as eight sleeping pills? We are going to drill deeper down into what happened on board this plane and what role the powerful drugs could have played. That's ahead.
And then also, driver's-ed, anyone? The car that slammed into a school, and the backstory as to how the car did that. It -- it will surprise you. That's next right here on your LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Sometimes, the best part of the game isn't the game. Time for some of the best videos. We call this "Fotos."
Two big slamma-jammas in Milwaukee Monday night, but this is the one that's getting all of the attention, not by a player, but by a mascot, Bango the Buck. Bango the Buck backflipped off of a 16-foot ladder and sunk a shot. Can you see that there? Wow. Is he a mascot or a pro athlete?
Get this. He says he didn't even practice because he wanted to keep it a secret. Good for Bango, Bucko, whatever.
Lumberton, North Carolina...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: ... early for school, but just in time for a disaster.
The car hit by another vehicle careens into a middle school, and the place fills with smoke, and first-responders arrive. They use the jaws of life to free the driver. Talk about saved by the bell. If the accident had happened any later, the hallway would have been filled with students.
Good for them.
Now battling a blaze and then braving a blast. Watch this.
An Evansville, Indiana, firefighter was putting out a van fire when suddenly it got nasty. Whoa! Poor guy.
Knocked him on his back, blew the helmet off his head, threw debris into his face. Taken to the hospital, finally released. And, by the way, if you ever want to look at all of our "Fotos," we put them in there for you so you can see them all, "Fotos del Dia," on my blog, CNN.com/RickSanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: In fact, the only people who seem to be will willing to come out in support of this bill are the executives at Goldman Sachs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Goldman Sachs helped lead the country into the financial mess in the first place. Can the crowd on Capitol Hill agree on a way out? And is that true, that, in fact, Goldman was cheering this on?
It's a charge. We'll ask.
We've heard from Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss at the beginning of the newscast. In fact, he made news right here on CNN, announcing, if you haven't heard, that, in fact, the Republicans and the Democrats will now move forward with this financial reform debate. You heard it here first.
Now we've got a Democratic senator coming up, Ted Kaufman. He's going to be joining me. That's ahead.
Also, we're learning a whole lot more about what happened on this diverted flight, the one with the sleeping pills. The real question here may be, do airlines need to start thinking about some kind of plan for people who take these pills and then do crazy stuff on planes?
We're asking for you. RICK'S LIST scrolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Have you seen the charging documents? We've been being looking at them. fellow who made that plane divert to Bangor, Maine, his name is Derek Stansberry. You should read some of the information on here.
He's charged with two federal felonies. We just got word that he's scheduled to appear in a federal court within the next hour there in Bangor, Maine.
His behavior on the plane seemed almost loopy, described as threatening that he had a bomb in his boot, saying that he was really from Awaga (ph), Africa, that he's really not an American citizen, that all his papers were fake, that his identities were fake. I mean, I could go on and on in this, but let me bring my guests in.
First of all, Tom Fuentes is here. He's the former assistant FBI director. And also on the phone with us to take us through this is Dr. Michel Cramer-Bornemann, who's going to talk to us about this deal going on with these pills. Because, you know, it almost gets to the point, Tom, where you wonder if the airlines aren't going to start saying, you know, folks, before we leave the plane, we've got to make an announcement. If you're planning to take Ambien on this transcontinental flight, please don't mix it with alcohol, please let us know where you're sitting, or, C, maybe don't take it.
Right?
TOM FUENTES, FMR. FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Well, I think, Rick, before we jump to the conclusion, we should consider that virtually every statement this guy makes to investigators turns out to be false.
SANCHEZ: Exactly.
FUENTES: He claims he has explosives, claims dynamite in his boots, claims he's not a U.S. citizen. Every statement pretty much is exactly the opposite.
SANCHEZ: And why is he making false statements, Tom? Because he's under the influence of something that makes him act irrationally, is the argument that many out there make.
FUENTES: Maybe. But I'm saying he claims that he took the eight Ambien and previously took Valium, just like he claimed all these other things. We don't know that for a fact.
SANCHEZ: Of course not.
FUENTES: I don't believe that's been established yet. So I don't say take this -- take it with the same grain of salt as everything else that he commented on.
SANCHEZ: No, listen, I understand that. We'll just give him the benefit of the doubt.
His dad is on camera saying, my son has never done anything like this, he's an Air Force guy. He's never been in trouble, he's never been jailed. He's never had any problems before.
And now we learn that he may be following a pattern, Tom -- let me bring the doctor into this conversation. I happen to live in an area in Georgia close to the airport where a lot of my neighbors are flight attendants. And when we get together on weekends, the stories they tell me, Doctor, about things that happen on these planes with passengers who take these sleeping pills are Fellini-esque.
What is your recommendation? What do you say about these allegations that Tom Fuentes and I were just talking about?
DR. MICHEL CRAMER-BORNEMANN, MINNESOTA SLEEP DISORDERS CENTER: Well, I think they're correct. This is absolutely loopy, and Ambien is a medication that certainly is quite effective for insomnia. And it's quite common that people take this for transatlantic or transpacific flights. Now, given the behaviors that we've seen, or that this individual has described and has been described by witnesses, Ambien certainly has been associated with some very bizarre behaviors, and that's well recognized by the medical field.
SANCHEZ: But here's my question -- and as we bring Tom back into this, should it be recognized as a potential problem by airlines, for example?
What is your professional opinion?
BORNEMANN: The bottom line is the behaviors that this individual described is not consistent with what we know of Ambien side-effect or Ambien toxicity, first and foremost. So we have to be pretty clear about that.
SANCHEZ: Why?
BORNEMANN: What we see here is we have really a constellation of behaviors. The Ambien side-effects are really pretty specific and isolated, and what we hear is really a fog of behaviors that isn't necessarily particularly isolated to the point of contact here.
SANCHEZ: So that's interesting.
So, Tom, I have a feeling that you've got a different take on this. And it now sounds like the doctor is almost agreeing with you.
What do you believe could possibly have been the cause for this gentleman's outrage in saying he's got a bomb in his boot when he doesn't?
FUENTES: Well, I think, first of all, Rick, all indications are that he was not a terrorist. So we're not trying to investigate at what point did he turn into a radicalized terrorist.
All of his behavior so far, in talking to one of the many people that worked with him and knew him, indicate that he was very normal. And this also is unusual. Usually in this type of case you would have somebody, a neighbor or some other associate, say that he was acting weird or had some other bizarre behavior in the past, but so far that has not turned up the investigation.
SANCHEZ: So what is he, a wise alec?
FUENTES: No, but you have somebody that -- he did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, and apparently in Africa. So we could be talking about someone who is having some type of a mental disturbance, a seizure, a nervous breakdown, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
There are a number of conditions that could have kicked in to could cause him to act bizarre like this that would not have maybe turned up prior to this event. So --
SANCHEZ: You're a good man for joining us, and we're out of time on this segment. But, Tom, it's always great to get your perspective on these stories. We appreciate that.
FUENTES: Thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: And Doctor, thanks for joining us, sir. Appreciate it.
BORNEMANN: Thanks for having me.
SANCHEZ: Listen, I wanted to know the answers to these things because I'm hearing all these stories. We'll stay on top of it.
By the way, Democrat Senator Ted Kaufman is going to be here in just a little bit. You heard the Republican perspective on this news that we broke here on CNN, during RICK'S LIST, that the Republicans are now going to move forward and debate the Democrats on this financial reform legislation.
Now what's the Democratic take? That's next.
Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Back to financial reform. This is RICK'S LIST, and we were on it right here, just about the top of the hour. I don't know if you were joining us at the time, but the big question has been, will Republicans stop blocking the debate on financial reform, straightening out Wall Street?
Well, guess what? Just at the top of this show we had a senator come on and tell us -- Senator Saxby Chambliss -- that, in fact, they are now going to relinquish their position. That doesn't mean that they're going to go along with the Democrats and agree on everything that the Democrats agree on, but they will now debate.
In fact, here's how Saxby Chambliss put it. Let's roll that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When the great preponderance of the mortgages in the package that you were selling to folks were stated income loans that there's a pretty good chance that a large percentage of these were --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS (R), GEORGIA: Senator Shelby was successful in negotiating some tentative agreements on insuring that there is no bank in America that is too big to fail. The legislation is drafted and put on the floor. It didn't guarantee that, and I commend Senator Shelby for being able to negotiate a very significant --
SANCHEZ: So that was the sticking point, sir? That was the sticking point, that too big to fail argument that he and Chris Dodd were arguing about on "Meet the Press" this weekend?
CHAMBLISS: Not the major issue, not the only issue. But that has been a major stumbling block in trying to reach an agreement between Senator Shelby and Dodd, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right. So here's what you've got. You've got Dodd and Shelby trying to work out some kind of deal. So far, the Republicans have said up to now, no, we're not even interested in it debating. In fact, we're going to block the debate.
Now you have Saxby Chambliss come on here and say it was the Republican, Shelby, who was able to get the Democrats to at least agree on his provision about too big to fail that has now broken this impasse. And as a result, I am here to report that, in fact, they will now debate financial reform. Republicans and Democrats together are going to try and hammer this thing out.
Now we bring in the Democrat, Ted Kaufman, from Delaware, who might have a slightly different perspective on this. And we welcome him to our show.
Senator Kaufman, thanks for being with us, sir.
SEN. TED KAUFMAN (D), DELAWARE: Hey, Rick. Thanks for having me.
SANCHEZ: What is your take on the Republican take of what broke the impasse?
KAUFMAN: Well, you know, my feeling all along and I've been saying all long is what the Republicans, I think, were counting on is that most Americans -- it's been an article of faith. I came here in 1973 working for Senator Biden. It's an article of faith.
The American people don't care much about procedural arguments. But I think every once in a while they do. And this procedural argument about the fact that the Republicans did not want this to come to the floor was just clear to every American who was on the side of actually having financial regulatory reform and who wasn't.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So you're saying, sir, they were just bucking the trend and they just couldn't continue in that vain?
KAUFMAN: Exactly. I think they thought that, you know, keep this procedural thing up, and eventually the Democrats will fade. But I think what they forgot is just how incredibly important it is to Americans that we do something about Wall Street. I mean, it's just so incredibly important to Americans.
After jobs, which is the number thing that we're all working on, the next best thing is we've got to go and make sure this never happens again, and we have to cure (ph) Wall Street. And I think the pressure was just building on them. I know the Democrats felt like we were going to stay on this point and we were going to hammer it home until the Republicans finally decided to come to the floor.
SANCHEZ: Well, that's interesting. Look, I don't like talking about procedure as much as the next guy.
KAUFMAN: Sure.
SANCHEZ: Because in the end, you know what? People watching this show, they don't give a hoot what you guys do procedurally.
KAUFMAN: Exactly. I agree with you.
SANCHEZ: You know, just figure it out.
KAUFMAN: Right.
SANCHEZ: However, I'll make an exception here and say it sounds like you guys tried to call their bluff by saying, fine, you're going to stop the debate? We'll be calling the vote every single day and making it look like you guys were obstructionists.
Was that what you were trying to do?
KAUFMAN: Rick, no, no, no. Rick, what we were trying to do was say look, guys, we've been negotiating with you for months. And the charges on the floor -- I mean, Senator Dodd and Senator Shelby negotiated. Senator Corker, Republican from Tennessee, and Mark Warner, the Democrat from Virginia, negotiated. Judd Gregg, the Republican from New Hampshire and Jack Reed, the Democrat from Rhode Island, they were in negotiations.
Now what we said was it's time to go to the floor in public on this bill that's very important to Americans and actually amend it and get on the floor and talk about it. The time for behind doors was over.
I mean, the Republicans -- it's really ironic that the Republicans, during the health care debate, said there isn't enough transparency, but yet they wanted to hold up this bill. And they held it up in order to make a backroom deal rather than bring it to the floor, let's vote on it, let's offer the amendments. And whatever they say is in this bill, we're now going to get to the real hard work, Rick, you know, of going to the floor, offering amendments, and voting on them.
SANCHEZ: All right. Now take me through that process.
Forget about what happened in the past and the problems you had with Republicans and Democrats. Let's talk about what you can do for the American people to guarantee that what happened a year and a half, two years ago, on Wall Street, does not happen again.
KAUFMAN: Right. And Rick, you know, I've given a series of speeches on the floor laying out what I thought -- I've given four of them. I've been talking for quite a while about it.
I think we have a good bill, but I think we need -- and we have a good resolution authority, although I do have some concerns that I've expressed, and I will have amendments to alter the resolution authority. But I'm a belt and suspenders guy. I want to reduce the --
SANCHEZ: So as it stands right now -- let's just go through these things. Let's tick them out.
Will this bill control the "too big to fail" aspect in the future so another one of these guys can't come back and say sorry, you've got to help us because we're too big and it will screw up the economy?
KAUFMAN: I think there's a good chance, but what I really believe to do it, Rick, is we've got to break up these banks. I think we should go back to Glass-Steagall.
At 1929, after the crash of 1933, put a bill in that says you can either be in the commercial banking business or the investment banking business. For 60 years that stood us in good stead.
We started cutting back on it in 1999. We removed it. This would be a good step to break down the size of banks so that you can't be investment banking -- look, right now, 15 years ago, the six largest banks in the United States made up 17 percent of our -- their assets made up 17 percent of the gross domestic product. Now, six the largest bank can make it 62 percent.
I think what we should do is break these banks up. That's what I'm going to -- Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat from Washington, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, are going to offer that amendment, and I'm for that amendment. I'm also for some other things if that doesn't work.
SANCHEZ: You know, it almost sounds like the process of re- regulation, which is something which was undone -- well, really, you know --
KAUFMAN: Yes, you're right.
SANCHEZ: It wasn't a Republican or a Democratic thing, it was an everybody thing.
KAUFMAN: Yes, but it really got strong the last eight years when we just -- the Securities and Exchange Commission gave up what they were doing. You know, essentially, it was not regulating anything.
And the other thing is Sherrod Brown and I have a proposal to put caps, caps on how much capital as a percentage of assets, and put a cap on liabilities, a limit on liabilities, to say you had to have a limit on liabilities in order to bring the size of these banks down, and in order to get rid of the risk. I mean, that's the big problem, is how do we get rid of the risks so that this never happens again?
Now, I happen to think we have to have a comprehensive program to reduce the size of these banks and then monitor them. I don't think -- right now we're leaving it up to the regulators. I think right now -- I think a better idea is to actually put into law what it is we want.
SANCHEZ: Well, have at it, Senator.
KAUFMAN: Thanks, Rick. SANCHEZ: You and the Republicans and the rest of your colleagues, we wish you luck. I think the American people are, for the most part, pulling for you.
We'll see you again soon.
KAUFMAN: Actually, no. By the way, one thing I'm sure of, they are, Rick. And I appreciate it.
And everybody wants this to happen. No one wants this to ever happen again to cause the terrible things, lost jobs, houses, and the rest. We cannot let this happen again.
SANCHEZ: Senator Kaufman, from the great state of Delaware.
We're going to be right back with Wolf Blitzer.
KAUFMAN: Great, Rick. Thanks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer is joining us now.
Are you there?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm here, Rick. How are you doing?
SANCHEZ: You think you have it rough when "Saturday Night Live" makes fun of you and stuff like that. I've got "TV Guide" saying that I'm too passionate, too over the top, that I'm loud. And a lot of times when I'm doing my newscasts, I almost sound like I'm yelling.
Do you think that's true?
BLITZER: You've got to tell people how you really feel and you've just got to express your opinions.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness. Whatever.
Passion is good though, right?
BLITZER: Passion is very good.
SANCHEZ: Passion's good.
BLITZER: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Hey, listen, this Charlie Crist thing --
BLITZER: Yes?
SANCHEZ: I know it was kind of coming, but it kind of shakes things up down there, doesn't it?
BLITZER: It certainly does, because you never know -- in a three- person race, you never know what the outcome is going to be.
You know Florida politics quite well, and you're going to have a pretty conservative Marco Rubio, a more moderate, shall we say, conservative, a middle-of-the-roader, some would say, right of center, Charlie Crist. And you have a more liberal Kendrick Meek. So you've got three candidates. There will be a clear choice for the voters in Florida.
SANCHEZ: Charlie Crist is an interesting character, isn't he? I mean, you and I have followed him for a long time. He's a very strong candidate. I mean, you don't count this guy out.
BLITZER: He is an excellent -- you should not by any means write him out. He's a very, very strong politician.
I've seen him up close, working the politics down in Florida. He remembers people, he goes out of his way, he calls folks. This is a guy who is a force down there.
Certainly, Marco Rubio has been extremely impressive over these past several months, coming from almost nowhere, to basically kick Charlie Crist out of the Republican primary, if you will. So you can't rule him out by any means, especially in this current political environment where there's so much anger out there.
SANCHEZ: Sign of the times, isn't this --
BLITZER: It certainly is.
SANCHEZ: -- this whole Rubio/Crist -- I remember Charlie Crist one time when I was doing a show in south Florida. And he comes by. He was the lieutenant governor at the time, and he goes, "Listen, I just happened to be in the building. Do you need a guest?"
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: No, he's -- they're all good politicians. You don't get to that level of the game without being a good politician.
Let me just say this -- I was in Florida last week while I was off. Folks are still talking in Miami and Hollywood and Fort Lauderdale. You go up to Boca, they're still talking about Rick Sanchez. They remember you from down there, Rick.
SANCHEZ: That's nice. That's nice. Your kin, probably, down there as well.
BLITZER: My people.
SANCHEZ: See you, Wolf. I appreciate it. We'll see you tomorrow.
Sandra Bullock's first comments about her divorce from her cheating husband. This is interesting, because it's not what you think it is. It's something else, and I'm going to tell you about it.
This is back in about a minute and a half. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Kareen Wynter is joining us now. She's our entertainment correspondent. And she's here to tell us that the Sandra Bullock story is not what we thought it was.
So what is it?
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It is an absolutely beautiful story, Rick, especially given what this woman has been through the last several months.
Sandra Bullock revealing in an exclusive interview to "People" magazine that she's a mommy. That's right, she adopted a beautiful baby boy. I think we have pictures of him.
His name is Louis Bardot Bullock. She calls him Louie. He's three- and-a-half months old.
And get this, Rick. She actually started the adoption process four years ago with now estranged husband Jesse James. She said she's always wanted a baby, and found out in January that things had gone through.
But it's the busiest time for an actress, especially here in Hollywood. So she said, you know what? I'll wait until after the Academy Awards to introduce him to the world. And we know what happened then -- the scandal breaking of Jesse James and his alleged affairs. And she just felt that it was the right time now to announce this great news.
SANCHEZ: That's a beautiful -- put that picture up of that baby again. He looks like he's either Hispanic or African-American. Or, I don't know, but he doesn't look like he's from Norway, as one of my guests on the air said yesterday.
What do you know?
WYNTER: He's from New Orleans. And Bullock, she did quite a bit of work after Hurricane Katrina in that city, devastated city.
SANCHEZ: Good for her.
WYNTER: She said, Rick, "I always knew that I had some connection to New Orleans," and lo and behold, her son is from New Orleans.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So he's a little Creole baby!
WYNTER: A little black baby, yes.
SANCHEZ: He's a little Creole baby, right?
WYNTER: Yes. Yes. And he is absolutely beautiful.
SANCHEZ: He is adorable. Good for her. That's a wonderful story.
WYNTER: Yes, and Rick, we also -- go ahead.
SANCHEZ: What's going on with this "TV Guide" thing, these folks say that I get a little too passionate, a little too screamy (ph) sometimes on the air?
WYNTER: Oh, my gosh. We just wanted to quickly mention, too, the divorce papers. She filed those in court in Texas on Friday.
But getting to the good stuff here, you won't believe this, Rick. You have a fan. Oh, yes, you do. "TV Guide" magazine.
The writer Damian Holbrook. And so we had to call him up. We said, "Why are you picking on our colleague?" Right?
You know, the daily water cooler topic. And this one has to do with, "Why is CNN's Rick Sanchez always yelling?" And he just turned out to be a fan of yours. He watches the show and he says it's all that passion that you have.
SANCHEZ: That's nice. And the proper spelling, right, Rick Sanchez?
Damian, thanks a lot.
Hey, we'll talk to you later. Appreciate it. Keep a handle on things out there in L.A.
In the meantime, the guy keeping a handle on things in our nation's capital, Wolf Blitzer and "THE SITUATION ROOM."
