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Rick's List
First Lady Honors Mothers; Testing the Waters; Supreme Court Nominee
Aired May 07, 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: Well, down 142 points, that's a drop, but it's not scary --
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true.
SANCHEZ: It's not disastrous.
HARLOW: It's not.
SANCHEZ: And in the long term -- in the long term, we don't look at this thing in weeks. We don't look at this thing certainly in days. We look at it year to year, which is the way we're told that anybody who's smart and follows this should look at the markets. So we'll hang on. We'll hang on and see what happens, Poppy. Thanks so much.
By the way, we've got another hour coming your way now, which is shock full of information with some of the scandals and the big stories that we all need to know about. Here is hour two of "Rick's List."
(BEGIN VIDETAPE)
ANNOUNCER: Here is making the list on this day.
They hate him badly. Gilbert Arenas finishes part of this suspension. Roethlisberger, suspended. Taylor charged with rape. He got the details. The voting is over. Who's got the edge to become the British prime minister?
Then there's Greece. The Dow and a whole lot of confusion to wade through. The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on twitter? It's why I keep a list. Pioneering tomorrow's cutting edge news right now.
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. You're tweeting, I'm looking at them during commercial, and we've got a lot of tweets coming in from some of the folks who are relevant to the news today, and I'll be showing you some of those in a little bit.
But, let me start hour two with this. It's time to pick up the pace of the stories that we've been following for you. Number one, critical moments out of the Gulf of Mexico. The head of the British petroleum is telling CNN they're being extremely cautious with that dome that they're trying to place over that oil thing. See it right there behind me. He says that they don't want to make a bad situation much worse. And, trust me. It could be much worse, at least five times worse. Because if in an effort to try and put the cap over the dome , they accidentally mess up that, which is holding the leak where it is right now. This thing could start spurting a lot more oil than it's spurting right now. That's important. I'll take you through it in just a little bit.
In the meantime, I want you to listen to this interview. OK, this is Tony Hayward. He's British Petroleum's CEO as I'm sure many of you know because he's been on quite a bit. He's talking to our David Mattingly. Pick it up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You've got that containment dome on its way down to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. How confident are you that this is going to work?
TONY HAYWARD, BRITISH PETROLEUM'S CEO: Well, the dome this morning is about 200 feet above the leak, being lowered very carefully onto the leak. And then we have the task over the next three to four days of doing the plumbing, taking a pipe up to the vessel on the surface to process the oil.
This has never been done in 5,000 feet of water. It's a technology first. It works in 300 to 400 feet of water, but the pressures and temperatures are very different here. So we cannot be confident that it will work, and that is why we continue with other significant interventions.
MATTINGLY: You have something ready to go just in case this fails?
HAYWARD: The ready to go is of course containing the spill for the next maximum extent possible. And then there is a further operation on the blowout preventer, which probably take two to three weeks to put in place.
MATTINGLY: But you're drilling for oil a mile underneath the ocean. Was something -- why wasn't something ready to go in the event of this kind of a disaster?
HAYWARD: Well, this has never happened in 25 years in the industry.
MATTINGLY: Yes, I understand that.
HAWARD: The blowout preventer, I'm --
MATTINGLY: This does seem like there are some risks involved in this. Were you -- was this something that you just never ever thought would happen?
HAYWARD: It was considered to be an extraordinary low, low probability and what we implemented is the response plan, and that is what you're saying. It's what you're seeing all around us here. It's what you're seeing with the moderate ships on the surface. It's what you're seeing with thedisperse in the tank.
What we've implement is the response plan. Now, clearly in the light of this incident, the industry will need to step back and determine what more might need to be done.
MATTINGLY: The accident onboard, he drilling platform, you've made clear that that was the fault of that company -- that drilling company. But it was your oil that was coming out here and is now poisoning the Gulf of Mexico. What kind of oversight did you have on that drilling operation?
HAYWARD: We had the sort of oversight that an architect has on a building site. That's the way the industry work. It's the industry structure. So, we had oversight of the -- we had the design -- they were doing the building.
But, you know, I think we can review the issues around that in the future. Our focus today is responding to the incident. We're focused eliminating the leak. Many options being pursued, the first one going into place as we speak.
We focused on containment on the surface, and we focused on defending the shoreline. And, that is what you see going on all around me now.
MATTINGLY: This spill is the size of a large island now. How much bigger is it going to get?
HAYWARD: That would depend on how successful we are in first eliminating the leak and then containing the spill. And, none of us today can say with certainly what that is. What we are doing is trying the full resources of the coastguard, BP, other federal agencies, the local communities at this problem.
MATTINGLY: You've also been applying a lot of dispersant to this spill. You've stop applying it under water for a time. Why did you stop doing that?
HAYWARD: This is the first time dispersant has been applied at depth on the seabed. It appears to be having a very significant impact. No NEPA signs this. We wished to establish a baseline so that we can track what is happening and learn for the future, and I would expect that within the next 12 or 18 hours, we would be back to applying dispersant having a established, a very thorough and rigorous mechanism.
MATTINGLY: Now, the issue of responsibility. How much is BP prepared to pay for this cleanup and for compensation?
HAYWARD: We are the responsible party. We are going to clean this up fully and completely, and we have said very clearly where there are legitimate claims for business interruption then we will be good for them.
MATTINGLY: Legitimate claims for long term, short term?
HAYWARD: Legitimate claims. MATTINGLY: How many years are you prepared to pay fisherman for a bad catch?
HAYWARD: I said legitimate claims. All those things we need to sort out. What we are doing today is focusing on ensuring that people who had been immediately impacted are being considered.
We have claims, which is now open here. They are paying money. Our immediate concern is to ensure that the fisherman here, fishing arrived in working in response and being paid for it or if they are not then we're providing them with the funds that they would have got from their fishing activity.
MATTINGLY: We know there's a $75 million limit, but how much are you willing to pay beyond that?
HAYWARD: We have said that it is inevitable that the $75 million limit has no relevant in this base.
MATTINGLY: Are you looking at billions?
HAYWARD: I think that's all in the future. We are absolutely, as I said, going to take full responsibility for cleaning this up, and we will honor legitimate claims.
MATTINGLY: Who will decide when enough is enough? Will BP decide if they've done enough or will the public decide?
HAYWARD: I'm certain, ultimately, we will be judged in the court of public opinion on how we responded to this. The scale of it, the intensity of it, the quality of it, and ultimately the success of the response.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Interesting interview, isn't it? But the most immediate concern obviously is that dome that's going down over that leak right now. It's going over the blowout preventer. And, it's -- as, I said going to this interview, it is important because, again, if somehow the blowout preventer, which didn't work as supposed to is moved or broken off then it will increase the amount of oil that is coming out there, and that would be a very big problem.
So, when do they think -- you heard him say, how carefully they are moving this thing down there with robots under 10, 000 feet of water below the surface to try and position it in place. He said that it's going to be in placed some time this afternoon. We're waiting a news of that obviously and as soon as we get it, I will pass it on to you.
Violent protest in Greece and markets around the world tank has resolved. What about today, we got the rest of the world followed for you and of course the latest from Apple. That's next right here. We got a lot of news coming your way, folks. It's Friday, hurray!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I'm welcoming you back on Rick Sanchez. Time for my our roundup list. Let's go! Strap in. We're moving fast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Number one, how is this for a standup. Riot police on one side. Fireman protestors on the other. Their lining down the sand. They're putting a line down on the sand right there in the middle, Athens, Greece, and this quite all mud. Rocks, teargas, running clashes. Don't expect the end of the Dow anytime soon. The great government want to have and pass the pile of money saving measures that are not, not -- not popular with voters.
Numero dos! The British election yesterday, Kuan, we don't know, may don't know. None of these guys. None of the three got the parliamentary majority leader to be locked in as the next prime minister.
There's no question, the favorite though is the conservative. He got the most vote, but there is some jockeying today for positioning as to who will lead the country? Which party? Which prime minister? A lot of those, folks.
There is going to have to be some power sharing deal made before a clear image emerges which means, they do Mr. Brown with Mr. Clegg, or may be the other way around Current PM Brown remains in charge until then
Number three, all clear at Time Square again for this couple items today. They called suspicious packages and hassled everybody out through a perimeter. It was a suitcase and (inaudible). They got checked out, nothing to see here folks. You got to understand the importance of conscious after the last week's attempting car bomb intimate in Time Square.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETTY WHITE, AMERICAN ACTRESS: Don't ask me. It all came out of no where or somebody put it on -- I think it's Facebook, and they began to get hitched.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Don't ask her. Topping our pop culture list, Betty White, Facebook made her a phenomenon at the age of 88, she had been at Saturday Night Live, Kadin. She's hosting the show this weekend. That's ahead.
Also, oil already collapses, thousand of barrels of oil leaking out of the gulf. So, why some top watchdog stay on vacation for days even after it happened. We're asking what least he think goes off?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We do this -- you tell us to do it more. When the oil already explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, you would expect that federal agencies involved would go all hands on deck, right? Everybody would get to the scene. Not always. This is the list you don't want to be on.
I want to tell you about Tom Strickland. He is the chief of staff for the U.S. depArtment of the Interior. On April 27, there's a deep bottom horizon oil leak group and thousands of federal resources were assigned to the crisis. Strickland went to the Grand Canyon with his wife.
He called over the department of interior to find out what that trip was all about. They told him it was part of his job as assistant secretary for fish wildlife and parks. He was with National Park Service Officials. Investigating things like beach regimen, water flows. I guess that's why they spent a day white water rafting. White water rafting?
They also told us there's thousands who came along, paid their own way. On the third day of the excursion, the chief of staff was called to the Gulf. The outman as the agency responds to the oil disaster. National Park Service helicopter finally chopper him out of the Grand Canyon so that he can get to the Gulf as quickly as possible on the third day, and that is why tom Strickland is on today. The list you won't want to be on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is that your life going away?
SHERRY HATHAWAY, FLOODING VICTIM: Yes. Sure is. Children's lives. Our lives.
SANCHEZ: Total loss of hundrends of families skipped by flooding. Martin goes door-to-door to bring us this remarkable story of what it's like to actually be there now. You would have to. The flooding has receded.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to our new digs on our watch list. Rising death toll from severe storms and flooding. At east 21 deaths in Tennessee. Water has been receding over parts of Nashville. The mayor estimates damage at $1.5 billion. Martin Savidge is with some residents of a working class community. A place for a few people had flood insurance.
SAVIDGE: On West Hamilton street, everything everyone ever had is now on the sidewalk for everyone else to see. Walk down the street and the flood stories still pour out.
MARY MAE STRICKLAND JORDAN, FLOODING VICTIM: The water just gushed in, and it had a force to it.
EVELYN PEARLBELL, FLOODING VICTIM: They put this rope around me and -- pulled me through this water. It's just scary. Ooh, I was so scared.
RONNIE COLEMAN, FLOODING VICTIM: The water line was there, here in the living room. Well, you can see --
SAVIDGE: So that's chest high?
COLREMAN: Yes, and I can't swim.
SAVIDGE: Two days of rain and water from the creek did this to a working class neighborhood where most have lived for decades and few have flood insurance. Everyone dreaded coming back.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We prayed that we would not -- whatever we found, it would be something that we could learn from.
SAVIDGE: Soon, the first trips to the curb began. What have you lost?
STRICKLAND JORDAN: I lost everything. Everything was ruined.
SAIDGE: You're worried?
CAROLYN PHILLPS, FLOODING VICTIM: Yes, but I'm going to be okay. We're going to be okay.
SAVIDGE: Like they say, one man's trash is another's treasure. Kelando Hambrick gets $135 a ton from a scrap dealer.
And what are the things you carry away most?
KELANDO HAMBRICK, SCRAP DEALER: Refrigerator, washing machines, dryers, water heaters. The heavy stuff.
SAVIDGE: Ronnie Coleman lost everything and gained something.
COLEMAN: I keep stop thinking the thing, I'm alive. You know, everything else, the rest of my life, if I have to fight cancer or whatever, I mean, it's going to be a piece of cake for what I went through.
SAVIDGE: I watched with Sherry Hathaway as a city truck loaded her stuff for the dump.
Is that your life going away?
HATHAWAY: Yes. Sure is. Children's lives. Our lives.
SAVIDGE: For her 24-year-old daughter Jamie, it was too much.
SHERRY HATHAWAY: What do you think?
JAMIE HATHAWAY: It's hard to watch it. I mean, this is everything we own.
SAVIDGE: Martin Savidge, CNN, Nashville.
SANCHEZ: From our political list. Has the president picked his supreme court nominee? That's the talk of Washington today. We're going to get the very latest from Wolf Blitzer. He's joining us in a little bit. Also, flyers have enough to worry about these days. Now, do they have to be on the lookout for runaway carts as well?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Best pictures now. You know those souped up electric golf carts at the airport? You've seen them. The ones that make that -- beep -- beep -- beep sound? Las fotos.
Watch out. This is ugly. Caught on camera in Houston, the airport cart driver steps out to help somebody. The passenger gets in, puts on a suitcase down at the accelerator pedal and then zoooom. - would not have helped. Driver tried to stop the car with his body but it rounded up under the wheels? He and the and the other person were hurt. We're told they're recovering. >
Where are animals not supposed to be? Well, let's see, maybe here. What is that? Sheriff, did your standard baby sea lion. That's right! It waddle out of the water at ocean beach in San Diego and holed up under a police car. Bringing the nets some folks at SeaWorld and move along, folks. Nothing to see here. The pup was dehydrated and underweight. The plan is to nurse it back to health at SeaWorld then release it.
More animals now to talk about on the wrong spot. Do we have this? I believe we do. This is a cow. It was chilling on a roof, just hanging out, on the roof. Thanks for that Allen, our wildlife photographer/I-reporter who braved the rising waters in Nashville to snap this rare photo of a cow in repose on housetop -- cow in repose on housetop. I wonder if it spent time up there before the flood as well? Just asking. You can see all of our Fotos Del Dia by the way by just going to my blog. It's rickcnn.com/ricksanchez.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very hard to be as good as she is at her age, but she really is that good.
SANCHEZ: Betty white, social media superstar. Why is this 88-year- old actress so hot now? That's next. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I want to show you something that's kind of special. Sunday's Mother's Day, right? The day we all think of our moms and our wives who are our moms. At least in my case.
The first lady paid tribute to all American mothers, including her own. And when she was saying it, she kind of got a little emotional, and I want to show you this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: There's no way that I could ever fully measure all that my own mommy has done for me. This is my mommy.
(APPLAUSE) This woman who tries to take absolutely no credit for who I am, for some reason, she is my rock. She has pulled me up when I've stumbled. She's pulled me back when I have run out of line, talking a little too much. She'll snap (ph) me up.
She really does push knee be the best woman that I can be, truly, as a professional and as a mother and as a friend. And she has always, always, always been there for me.
And as our family has grown, she's managed to expand her love for all of us. And raising our girls in the White House with my mom -- I'm not going to do this -- is a beautiful experience. And the opportunity to have three generations living in the White House, it's beautiful. And I'm pretty sure the president's happy about it, too.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's nice. I'm glad we were able to share that with you.
I want to show you something else now. We follow tweets that are relevant to the news that we are following on any given day. And the National Wildlife Federation is tweeting about that oil spill that we've been telling you about. In fact, they've got some ideas. They've got a list that they've put together.
There it is -- "Feeling helpless watching the news of the oil spill? Here are four ways to help."
They have the list. Let's click it and I'll take you through them.
Number one: Volunteer for cleanup efforts on the Gulf shore.
Number two: Text the word "wildlife" to 20222. That will submit your $10 donation.
Number three: Speak up for cleaner energy choices.
Number four: Help spread messages online.
That's how we follow National Wildlife Federation on Twitter.
Topping our follow-up list now, Washington Wizard star Gilbert Arenas, who was jailed for bringing guns to the locker room. Remember the story we did so many times?
Well, where is he now? That's coming up next.
And we're also going to have the latest on the Hall of Famer L.T., as they call him. Lawrence Taylor arrested and charged with third-degree rape. It's not the first time he's been in legal trouble, by the way.
We're going to take a closer look at L.T.'s rap sheet.
That is next on RICK'S LIST. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
I am keeping a list for you of major sports figures who are in the news, mainly those who wish that they weren't in the news.
Yesterday, you saw L.T., Lawrence Taylor, in court, his latest troubles. More on that in just a second.
But first up, let's go through the list.
Gilbert Arenas -- remember him? Washington Wizards, gun in the locker room, a little altercation with another player. Well, he didn't go to jail for that, but he pleaded guilty and he got probation and some confinement in a halfway house.
That part of his punishment is over. He left the facility today after about a month's stay. He had nothing to say to reporters, by the way.
Gilbert Arenas has four years left on a $111 million contract with the Wizards -- $111 million. Just think about that.
OK. You're done thinking.
Now L.T.
The charges, they're very serious. Very, very serious -- raping a 16- year-old girl, patronizing prostitution. His lawyer says he didn't do it and that he will fight.
Lawrence Taylor, 10-time all-star linebacker. He saw a judge yesterday, posted bond and is free today.
And there's a trial. The judge and the jury might be reminded of L.T.'s other brushes with the law. We dug up a list of Taylor's rap sheet appearances.
Let's go to that, Roger.
You can read along with me here.
A drug arrest in 1996. The IRS, a year later, had some issues with Lawrence Taylor. He pleaded guilty. Child support problems; a drug conviction; probation; and in the middle of all that, elected to the NFL Football Hall of Fame.
If convicted on just the rape charges, Lawrence Taylor could face a maximum prison sentence of four years.
Wolf Blitzer is going to be joining me in just a little bit, and he's going to be talking about something that could happen very soon. Like, within days. We could know who the next Supreme Court justice might be.
That's ahead. Stay right there. We're coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
From the containment dome to booms to chemical dispersants, many of the methods now being used to clean the Gulf were first tested on a naval base in New Jersey. Did you know that? Cameras have never been aloud inside the oil spill research and training facility until now.
CNN's Allan Chernoff is taking us on this exclusive trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: When trying to clean up a giant oil spill, ,how does the oil industry know exactly what to do, what techniques are going to work? The research is done right here at OHMSETT, the Oil and Hazardous Materials Simulated Environmental Test Tank. This facility is run by the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, and it is the largest of its kind in the entire world.
(voice-over): Oil sprays into the water, a slick forms and expands but it's all intentional.
(on camera): Here, the government creates controlled oil spills in a giant tank more than two football fields long. Operators create ocean wave conditions, and then they use various techniques to clean it all up.
(voice-over): There are three primary plans of attack for cleaning oil spills in the water: burn the oil, apply chemical dispersants to break it down, or manually remove it. All three are at work in the Gulf of Mexico.
JOE MULLIN, MMS: You would try to use as many techniques as you can to remove the oil off the water and surface of the water.
CHERNOFF (on camera): You get out every form of artillery you've got?
MULLIN: Yes, sir.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Today, cleanup experts are practicing manual techniques to remove oil.
(on camera): Taking oil off the surface of the water is kind of like peeling the filling off of an oil of cooking, you're skimming it. And that's what all these various devices do, they skim the oil off the water, depending upon the grade of oil, how heavy it is, you use a different type of skimmer.
(voice-over): At OHMSETT, All different types of oil are sprayed into the tank from a moving bridge. Workers can test skimmers, various dispersants, even burning -- all in a safe, enclosed environment that simulates the ocean's salinity and even its wave patterns. (on camera): We all know oil is lighter than water. That's an advantage when it comes to cleaning up a spill because the oil sits on top of the water. Using those booms, oil can actually be pushed into that skimmer and then it sucked up using this giant vacuum.
(voice-over): Cleanup workers from private industry, government and 24 countries around the world have come here to practice and research such techniques, including responders trying to clean the Gulf of Mexico right now.
MULLIN: You want to be prepared. So, you know, firemen have fire training centers. You know, paramedic staff have paramedic training centers and stuff. So, for responders, you have the OHMSETT tank right here.
CHERNOFF: The Gulf cleanup presents an immense challenge. Indeed, high waves have made it difficult to contain some oil, but the Minerals Management Service says industry and government are better prepared to handle this catastrophe than the Exxon Valdez disaster more than 20 years ago.
MULLIN: There's more equipment. There's more technology. Folks are better planned and better trained.
CHERNOFF (on camera): Thanks to the OHMSETT facility, the folks who are in the Gulf right now know exactly which techniques to use in each marine environment to clean up the mess.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, Leonardo, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: There she is, the superstar, hotter than ever, Betty White. Hotter than Sandra Bullock.
By the way, we mentioned a little while ago that the folks at "Saturday Night Live" are going to have her on Saturday, and I got a tweet from one of the folks at "Saturday Night Live" saying, "Rick, remember, we've had her on several times already. She's an old hand at this."
I didn't know that. I guess I just didn't remember.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to RICK'S LIST. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I want to go to Wolf Blitzer now, and we're going to talk about what could be -- look, this thing could happen in the next couple of days, I'm told, Wolf. We might know who the next -- possibly the next Supreme Court justice is.
The first name that's being bandied about out there -- and this came from Politico this morning -- give me your thoughts on this -- Elena Kagan.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I think she has a really good chance. It could come as early as Monday, we're told.
Also, the former dean of the Harvard Law School, she's real knowledgeable about all these issues. She's the solicitor general right now in the Obama Justice Department.
She's in her late 40s, which is good, because they want somebody who's going to be able to be on the Supreme Court and have a left-of-center, relatively liberal position for 30 or 40 or maybe even longer number of years. So that is in her favor right now. So we'll see if she gets it.
SANCHEZ: There's also some talk of Diane Wood. What's your take on that?
BLITZER: I think she's obviously one of the finalists. She's about 10 years older, and I think that 10-year factor is a significant issue for this White House. She's in her late 50s, I think, and I think they want somebody who's going to be on the Supreme Court for an additional 10 years. Longevity is important. That would be part of the Obama legacy, if you will, so that could be a factor.
SANCHEZ: What have you got at 5:00?
BLITZER: Pardon?
SANCHEZ: What do you have coming up at 5:00? It's the Atlanta in me. I'm sorry.
BLITZER: Oh. I thought you were saying which one is on your show at 5:00? I was going say, neither one of them, unfortunately.
SANCHEZ: You get them both!
BLITZER: We're going to do, obviously, all the important news here in "THE SITUATION ROOM," which is what we do every single day. I'm sort of an old school kind of guy.
The hard news, we like it here. And that's what we're going to do, make sure we don't neglect what's really important.
SANCHEZ: But then again, you have Jack Cafferty in there from time to time. And there's nothing traditional about him.
BLITZER: He's an old school kind of journalist, too.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Hey, today is your 20th anniversary at CNN.
BLITZER: That is not correct. That is not correct. Tomorrow is my 20th anniversary at CNN.
May 8, 1990, I walk into CNN, and they made me the Pentagon correspondent. And 20 years later, I'm still here at CNN, which is pretty good.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know what? I'll send you an e-mail tomorrow. Or maybe I'll even give awe a call. But since we're not going to be on the air together, allow me to wish you, then, happy 20th anniversary on behalf of everybody who works here at RICK'S LIST and all our staff here in Atlanta, my friend.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Rick. I deeply appreciate it. Now let's get on to the next 20.
SANCHEZ: All right. I appreciate it.
See you. Take care, Wolf.
All right. Back to the breaking story this week. Special Investigations Unit Correspondent Drew Griffin has this for us on the investigation into what was the story of Faisal Shahzad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Once the danger was over, the propane tanks, the gas, the wires were removed, a detective crawled underneath that Nissan Pathfinder to retrieve the once piece of evidence Faisal Shahzad apparently had thought he did not leave behind.
(voice-over): Etched on the engine block of the vehicle, the vehicle's identification number, the same VIN number Shahzad apparently removed from the dashboard, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
That number led to a registration in Connecticut, and, with it, sources tell CNN, a name and address of the owner, whose daughter was selling the car on Craigslist. She met Shahzad to show him the car. He gave her his phone number, so they could meet again to buy it, all cash, no paperwork, in the parking lot of this shopping mall.
According to the federal complaint, that callback number led police to Shahzad. The car's seller and a friend who was there worked with a police artist on a sketch of the suspect. It was good police work and very sloppy criminal work.
The would-be terrorist built an inept bomb. Court records show he drove the bomb himself into New York, leaving behind keys to another car, a cell phone used to call a fireworks company, and so many other clues, he literally led detectives right to his door. And, according to those same court records, Shahzad admits to much of it.
WILLIAM BRATTON, LOS ANGELES POLICE CHIEF: The mistakes made by this individual that contributed to the quick solution of this crime are phenomenal, in the sense of the mistakes all along the way.
GRIFFIN: Once identified, the idea was to watch him, listen, try to record phone calls, allow Shahzad to make more mistakes, and perhaps lead to accomplices. But, by Monday, sources said he got spooked, apparently deciding to flee. As agents began to track his movements, one of the first things they did, sources tell CNN, was put his name on a no-fly list.
Monday night, as he drove to New York's JFK International, according to federal sources, he called Emirates Air, reserving his seat on board this flight bound for Dubai, which would eventually connect to a flight bound for Islamabad, Pakistan.
Unknown to Shahzad, there was no way he was going anywhere. Even though the FBI briefly lost track of him, Customs and Border Protection agents began examining flight manifests. Then, shortly after he arrives at the airport, an Emirates employee phones law enforcement, saying a man had just paid cash for a one-way ticket to Pakistan.
According to an account provided to CNN by a federal law enforcement source, here's what happened next. As the plane is boarding, agents are moving in. The decision is to allow the plane to shut its doors.
Before the plane can push back, sources tell CNN, the plane's door is reopened. Faisal Shahzad is placed under arrest and removed from the flight before it ever leaves the gate.
Now, under intense questioning, there's another emergency. Two more names on board the Emirates flight appear suspicious. Out of an abundance of caution, we're told, the plane, already taxiing to the runway, is told to return to the gate.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I have a message for you to go back to the gate immediately.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Two individuals removed, questioned, and let go.
So far, the only arrest made is Faisal Shahzad, and he is said by law enforcement to be cooperating with the investigation and detailing his crimes and travel.
(on camera): And he's been talking ever since, waiving his right to an attorney, waiving his trite a speedy arraignment. And according to sources, telling investigators how he received training, but planned and tried to carry out that bombing in Times Square by himself.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: We're going to be right back with more on what's going on with Betty White.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Taking a look at Betty White's career. Just had a hip Super Bowl ad, about to start a new sitcom, and half a million people joined a Facebook campaign to have her host "Saturday Night Live," which she's going to do tomorrow night. We're told that she may have done it before, by the way.
All this, and she's what? Eighty-eight years old.
I want to you watch this report. It's from our entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From tussling with tough guys in Super Bowl commercials --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, SUPER BOWL AD: You're playing like Betty White out there.
BETTY WHITE, ACTRESS: That's not what your girlfriend says.
WYNTER: -- to taking home a Lifetime Achievement Honor at this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards --
WHITE: I couldn't believe it.
WYNTER: -- believe it. America's "Golden Girl," Betty White, is white hot.
(on camera): After more than half a century in showbiz, at 88 White has become Hollywood's newest "it" girl, and she has the Internet to thank for her latest gig that's helped recharge her career.
WHITE: I'd like to thank everyone on the Internet who got me to host "Saturday Night Live." Who knows? After this, maybe I could host the Academy Awards.
I said the Academy Awards. Type, nerds!
WYNTER (voice-over): It's that's punchy humor, style and grace that has America falling in love with this screen legend all over again.
Just ask fan David Matthews, who started the Facebook page that lobbied White all the way to "SNL."
DAVID MATTHEWS, FAN: If I would have had 10,000 fans, I would have gone beyond my own wildest expectation. At last count, we're still holding steady at just over a half a million fans.
WYNTER: And fans are excited, posting comments like, "This will be the first time I've watched 'SNL' in years." And, "Go Betty!"
WHITE: I'm hosting "Saturday Night Live" this week with musical guest Jay-Z
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, actually, Betty, I'm sorry. I think it's pronounced Jay-Z.
WHITE: That's not what we used to call him around the Marcy projects.
WYNTER: White passed on "SNL" three times before, but was finally convinced to host by her agent, who noticed the Facebook frenzy. A Facebook spokeswoman tells CNN, "As the groundswell of support for the 'Betty White to host SNL (please?)! page spread, we couldn't help but 'like' Betty too."
Fellow TV veteran and "Mary Tyler Moore Show" co-star Valerie Harper agrees.
VALERIE HARPER, ACTRESS: She's so wonderful. She's so funny. She has a sense of humor about herself, and she was always the sweetness and light.
WYNTER: Soon, White will shine in the role of Elka (ph) in the new TV Land comedy "Hot in Cleveland."
WHITE: Now there's an actress.
WYNTER: But for now, it's her "SNL" debut that has so many talking, including the show's cast.
SETH MEYERS, ACTOR: It's very hard to be as good as she is at her age, but she really is that good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dazzled everyone. She's just incredible.
WYNTER: While you can expect some laughs, maybe a few surprises, one thing White told "The Today Show's" Meredith Vieira you won't see Saturday night is too much skin.
WHITE: Very little nudity.
MEREDITH VIEIRA, "THE TODAY SHOW": Very little nudity.
WHITE: Just a little.
(LAUGHTER)
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Or just enough.
Here's Wolf Blitzer now. He's in "THE SITUATION ROOM," taking you through the next hour.
