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Rick's List
Obama Nominates Kagan as Supreme Court Justice; European Countries Put Forward Bailout Package for Greece; Iranian President Booed at University
Aired May 10, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: Hey, thanks a lot, Ali.
Did you know a U.S. senator is asking baseball to boycott the all-star game in Arizona, because of their immigration law? This -- think about it -- despite the fact that Arizona has changed their immigration law. They've altered it. We're going to be all over that story.
But first, I want to begin with this --
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SANCHEZ: All right. Here we go.
Guess what? The political left appears to be pouting about Elena Kagan, because they're scared that she's not as liberal as they are. And more importantly, not as liberal as John Paul Stevens, the justice that she's supposed to replace.
Now, I hate the word "irony," because frankly, it's overused, but this may actually be a really good fit. Stevens turned into the court -- think about this -- Steven turned into the court's leading liberal, but he was nominated by -- guess who? A Republican, Gerald Ford.
And now, we have President Obama nominating Elena Kagan, whose philosophical leanings are not entirely clear because for one thing, if you're sitting at home trying to figure out who she is, it might be tough; or what she believes in, it might be tough, because she's never been a judge.
But the left seems convinced that she'll move the court to the right. Let me say that again. The left thinks she's going to move the court to the right.
All right. What does the right say? Well, they seem to be OK with her. Listen to Jon Kyl, who is as conservative as they come, by the way. What does this tell you?
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SEN. JON KYL (R-AZ), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: She's obviously very intelligent. She's a very charming individual. She has a background in law. She knows the law. And, you know, those are basic requirements for a Supreme Court justice. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So, is Elena conservative? Elena a stealth conservative, I should say. Senator Amy Klobuchar is here to help us out now. She's a Democrat from the state of Minnesota.
Senator, how are you?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), MINNESOTA: I'm doing great today. How are you, Rick?
SANCHEZ: Just thought I'd remind you that I'm a U of M grad.
KLOBUCHAR: Well, that's very good, and impressive.
SANCHEZ: Did you know that?
KLOBUCHAR: We love the Gophers.
SANCHEZ: Did you know that I was a Golden Gopher? I bet you didn't.
KLOBUCHAR: No, this is like a new fact for me. We're going to have to have you come back and, you know, sing the "Minnesota Rouser" in the Gophers outfit.
SANCHEZ: M-I-N-N-E-S-O-T-A, Minnesota, Minnesota, go Gophers -- without the song.
KLOBUCHAR: You got it.
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's get to it. Do you think that Kagan is too conservative?
KLOBUCHAR: I don't think she is. I think that she is someone that has established a reputation of being independent, open-minded. You think about the judiciary hearing. People asked her tough questions from both sides, Rick, and she handled them very well.
SANCHEZ: Well, let me ask the question from the other side then. Is she liberal enough?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, again, I think the hearings will tell us a lot about her. But her reputation that she established at Harvard was of someone who is fair, who brought in some conservative law professors, who worked with liberal law professors, and was well-loved by everyone.
And I think what the president really wanted here was a leader, someone who would be an intellectual heavyweight, but also a consensus builder. And that's Elena Kagan.
SANCHEZ: But -- OK. But forget the intellectualness of it because I think there's a lot of people who are intellectuals. As we look at the court, a lot of people are looking at which way might it shift. As a Democrat, I'm sure you have concerns to make sure it doesn't go too far to the right. Let me tell you one part of her past, which a lot of people are thinking it's very important. And then you tell me if you think it's too far to the right. She agreed with George Bush, George W. Bush, not with President Obama, on the detention of terror suspects, even without trials, even if it took place in other countries. It doesn't matter. Most conservatives or many conservatives hailed that decision that she made or that view that she had.
Let me ask you, as a Democrat, as somebody who probably didn't agree with that -- is that too conservative?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, I was at that judiciary hearing, Rick. And my memory of that was Lindsey Graham and her went back and forth about the status of someone when they were held on the battlefield, and whether they could stand without trial. And she took a position that was consistent with Attorney General Holder's position.
SANCHEZ: Well, but the position being that it's OK for the United States of America to detain suspects for terrorism without a trial, even if they're found in third countries, for example, and not the country where the battle is taking place like Iraq or Afghanistan. That's a position --
KLOBUCHAR: Again, she was representing --
SANCHEZ: Go ahead.
KLOBUCHAR: -- she was representing the United States' government, and she took a position that was consistent with the attorney general's. And I think she said at the time, I remember when Justice Roberts had his confirmation hearing, one of the things that he said is that you advocate for one position, and that's your job. But when you're a judge, you're in another capacity. And I don't know where she would be as a judge.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: That's something we can ask her at the hearing. But remember, she was advocating a position of the administration.
SANCHEZ: Does it worry you? You just told me you don't know what her position is. Does that worry you? You're here telling our viewers that she basically is someone whose -- you know, in the middle, and you're comfortable with that.
Other more liberal Democrats might be out there saying, you know what? We're a little worried about her because she is in the middle. We were hoping for someone a little more to the left.
And let me give you a comparison. Look at this. Put that shot up, if you would, Dee (ph), of the Republicans who have been there in the past. We've got John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito. These guys are all unquestionable conservatives. Nobody ever said, oh, these guys might be in the middle, they might be a little lukewarm, not sure. Some on the left are saying, why is Obama then wimping out? Why is -- why do the GOP presidents all pick legitimate conservatives, and here you've got a Democratic president offering up somebody who might be in the middle? What's your response to that?
KLOBUCHAR: You know, I just -- I don't see her that way. I see her as someone who's independent-minded. She worked with both conservatives and liberals at Harvard. When look at her record, she worked for Bill Clinton, she worked for President Obama, she was respected by both of them.
She is clearly a Democratic nominee. I don't think she'd be nominated by a Republican president. So, that's part of my response to that.
SANCHEZ: OK.
KLOBUCHAR: But she is someone that has the qualities that you want in a judge. I like the fact that she hasn't been a judge before. All those guys on that court, they have been judges before. And you look back in history, justices like Frankfurter, Brandeis, or Justice Rehnquist, they were not judges before. So I like that she comes in there with an open mind, having shown that she understands the real world, the real world of government, the real world of business.
SANCHEZ: Well, let me --
KLOBUCHAR: She can even play poker, Rick. I think it's good to have someone with that background.
SANCHEZ: You can say that what I'm doing with you right now is like playing poker, because I'm obviously trying to get you in trouble because that's my job. So let me ask you one more --
KLOBUCHAR: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask --
KLOBUCHAR: And you wonder why I go on your show.
SANCHEZ: I want to ask you one more question.
KLOBUCHAR: OK, continue on.
SANCHEZ: Are you worried about the fact that seven Republicans liked her so much, they voted for her as solicitor general? Does that -- what -- what do you think of that?
KLOBUCHAR: I think that's a great thing and I respect them. Remember, what Lindsey Graham said at the Sotomayor hearing, our job is to look at these nominees and decide -- are they qualified? They may not have been, and she may not have been the Republicans' first choice, but they stepped back out of their shell and said, is this person qualified to be solicitor general? They said she was, and I'm very hopeful they'll say the same thing for her nomination on the Supreme Court. SANCHEZ: All right. Next time you come back, I swear I'm going to make you say something you're later going to regret, all right? I'm going to try and get you in trouble, Senator Klobuchar.
KLOBUCHAR: OK. Oh, that will be great. That's really an incentive for me to come back.
SANCHEZ: I'm kidding --
KLOBUCHAR: We can talk about the Twins.
SANCHEZ: What a season they're having, by the way.
KLOBUCHAR: All right. They are amazing.
SANCHEZ: And they won again last night.
KLOBUCHAR: I was listening to the no-hitter. I was listening to the no-hitter. Of course, all I'm thinking about is the Twins.
SANCHEZ: All right. Senator Klobuchar, my thanks to you.
KLOBUCHAR: All right. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Regards to all of my friends in Minnesota. And we'll catch up again.
KLOBUCHAR: Excellent.
SANCHEZ: All right.
KLOBUCHAR: OK, very good.
SANCHEZ: By the way, Orrin Hatch is going to be here in a little while. He -- the other side now. All right. You heard me asking the tough questions of a Democratic senator. What do you say we do the same thing with a Republican senator? He's going to be coming up in just a little bit. Orrin hatch, right here on RICK'S LIST. We're looking forward to turning this conversation around and looking at it from the other side.
Now, take a look at this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The dome is currently sitting on the sea bed while we evaluate options to deal with the hydrate issue.
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SANCHEZ: The massive containment box that was supposed to stop the oil leak, well, it didn't. Are B.P.'s efforts starting to become what some might even call laughable? I mean, think about it -- Sweden, we understand today, has offered oil skimmers to come in. And they've got a bunch of them. Why aren't they already here? I mean, what's going on with this thing in the Gulf? You're asking, and we're asking. I'm looking at Twitter. I see your lists. I'll show you mine.
Also ahead, he had an eight-foot parking partner, but would you believe it was a gator? It didn't end so well, by the way. Oh! That story is coming up.
Stay right here, folks, because I'm going to show you that.
And then coming up, have you seen John McCain's new ad -- his new ad in his primary campaign? I mean, as you watch it, you may say to yourself something like this -- who is that guy?
All right. You're going to see this one for yourself coming up next, right here. This is your national conversation. This is your list. This is RICK'S LIST.
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SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back to our new digs. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Do you remember when Senator John McCain, he got together with Ted Kennedy to promote immigration reform? Comprehensive immigration reform, as we were calling it back then. John McCain and Ted Kennedy are the same side of the immigration issue. He was willing at the time, as was George W. Bush, by the way, to take what many considered to be a very courageous step against many in his own party. Not to mention a lot of the folks on right wing radio, for example.
Well, that was that. This is now. Watch this new McCain ad for his re-election bid.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Drug and human smuggling, home invasions, murder.
SHERIFF PAUL BABEU, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA: We're outmanned. With all the illegals in America, more than half come through Arizona.
MCCAIN: Have we got the right plan?
BABEU: Plan is perfect. You bring troops, state, county, and local law enforcement together.
MCCAIN: And complete the dang fence.
BABEU: It will work this time. Senator, you're one of us.
MCCAIN: I'm John McCain, and I approved this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: The dang fence. Dang!
So, is McCain changing his stance out of necessity? And what about the law? I mean, you have to ask yourself this, as well, is it still worth challenging that law to be fair? I mean, the law has already been changed, remember? They changed the language in it.
And now, will Arizona lose the prestigious Major League Baseball all- star game? Well, that's what's going on today. In fact, I've got the information right here that's being talked about. It's a U.S. congressman who is presenting this, proposing this, perhaps I should say.
Jessica has got her hot list. She's ready to go on this, and she's going to join me right after the break. Stay right there. We've got lots to talk about.
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SANCHEZ: We've got people on Twitter talking about the "Minnesota Rouser." We've got people saying they're happy with Kagan because she's in the middle. And then we got people talking about the Arizona law. I'm going to share some of those with you in just a little bit.
Jessica is joining me, and she's going to take us through this conversation about John McCain.
In fact, let's do this. You and I and the millions of people at home -- we hope -- let's watch it together. Here it is -- John McCain's newest ad --
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- newest primary --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: Drug and human smuggling, home invasions, murder.
BABEU: We're outmanned. With all the illegals in America, more than half come through Arizona.
MCCAIN: Have we got the right plan?
BABEU: Plan is perfect. You bring troops, state, county, and local law enforcement together.
MCCAIN: And complete the dang fence.
BABEU: It will work this time. Senator, you're one of us.
MCCAIN: I'm John McCain, and I approved this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He's one of us, Jessica. And you know what? YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: He's going to complete the dang fence. I want you to know that.
Listen, all kidding aside, sometimes politicians just got to do what they got to do, right?
YELLIN: Yes. I mean, that's true. But John McCain did make his reputation on this promise to always do the hard thing, and be the maverick, although we all know he now denies that. But he frequently said, "I'm going to Washington to make the tough choices," and now gone are his promises to partner border security with the path to legislation.
I remember, Rick, back when he proposed legislation with Ted Kennedy, he used to say it was a national security issue to put the 12 million illegals on the books, and giving them path to legalization would keep us all safe. But, you know, now, he's in this brutal primary with anti-immigration hardliner J.D. Hayworth, and it seems he had to adjust his message to win. It does sort of leave you wondering, if you're one of us, who's them? Illegals?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
YELLIN: People who don't crack down on them -- a lot of gray area there.
SANCHEZ: You know, you never want to be in a -- you never want to be in a situation where you're --
YELLIN: As them.
SANCHEZ: -- you're referring to people as "them" or you people or them and us.
Anyway, I was just looking at my Twitter here, and I've got some folks talking about this thing. And interestingly enough, I've got folks saying about this, upgrades -- because I just said moments ago, and I don't know how you feel about this, Jessica. This Arizona law, they did change it. I mean, they changed --
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- lawful stop. Or no, they changed it to lawful stop, which is important, because a stop means it's something legal that a police officer does. It implies that the person that they're stopping has done something wrong, has committed a crime, or maybe even just a procedural issue.
But here -- I've got somebody tweeting me saying -- listen to this -- "Upgrades to the immigration law are worse, Rick. Now, it's papers, please, for local violations like barking dogs or tall weeds."
So some people are saying, look, they didn't fix it. They left it as bad as it was, because any cop can now bust you for any little thing. What's the argument you're hearing on the halls of Congress, et cetera?
YELLIN: Well, you know, there's a movement in Washington by some Democrats to try to challenge this. I mean, the Attorney General Holder has said he might take this to court --
SANCHEZ: Right.
YELLIN: -- to challenge it, primarily, because -- look, the change means you can no longer just stop somebody because they look illegal to you, whatever that means, now you have to stop them for another reason, and then decide, hey, maybe they do look illegal now that I've stopped them and ask for their papers.
The argument is that it could be a civil rights violation. And the attorney general also points out -- we've heard this argument before -- that it puts sort of a wall between certain communities and law enforcement, which makes them less likely to go to police in tough times. And that creates its own crime problem.
SANCHEZ: And now we have this. And now we have this -- let me -- let me share this with you and our viewers. Senator Bob Menendez who used to be Congressman Bob Mendez from New Jersey, right? He said today, he's urging Major League Baseball to boycott the 2011 all-star game in Phoenix.
Now, this is a big deal for baseball. You know, the Arizona -- the Major League All-Star Game has for 100 years been one of the most important things they do in baseball. And if they took this away -- this would be a real slap in the face to Phoenix and to Arizona if they took the all-star game away. And you can't help but also mention that many of the folks who play Major League Baseball have last names that are a lot like mine.
YELLIN: Absolutely. And he makes the point in the letter that not only are many Major L Baseball players Hispanic, many baseball fans are, too. And in this letter, he says -- Menendez says, look, do you want our own fans subjected to interrogation because of the way they look? So, he's calling for a boycott.
Another congressman has called for relocating it out of Phoenix.
Enormous amount of pressure is coming down, obviously, on Arizona, because of this.
At the same time, Rick, I should point out that there's a lot of political gain to be had for the governor there who is pushing back on a hard media campaign, saying she stands by this and won't back down.
SANCHEZ: What a story. Thanks so much.
Hey, Jess, appreciate it. Good to see you.
YELLIN: Good to see you.
SANCHEZ: A fight in the stadium after a new player takes the field for the first time. What happened? And who is that guy? Who is that guy? This is weird. Wait until you find out.
Also, the oil clean-up is becoming not only future futile, but some might argue laughable. Serious. I mean, what are they going to do next, call in snake charmers to try to fix this thing?
It's -- well, also, who is on the list of the most intriguing people in the news today. Who is it? Who do you think it is? You think you might know.
Well, that's next. Stay right there.
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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST. RICK'S LIST because I keep a list on a lot of things. I keep a list of what you're saying, and, man, there's a lot of you talking today. I've been reading what you had to say during commercials.
I also keep a list of Democrats who are making or saying or writing or tweeting things that are relevant to the news. And I have a list of Republicans, as well.
And I just checked my Republican list, and look what I found. There is somebody who is talking about Kagan. That's right. "Kagan once called judicial hearings 'a vapid and hollow charade.'" We'll see. Who tweeted that? That's John Cornyn of Texas.
"Kagan once called judicial hearings 'a vapid and hollow charade." Well, this is interesting, because Kagan herself is now going to be in one of those, quote, "vapid and shallow charade" type hearings when she gets questioned. So, one wonders if that's going to come out.
Well, let's see if it's going come up because I'm going to be asking Orrin Hatch of Utah -- Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah in just a little bit, and he's going to be taking me through the Republican response to the nomination of Kagan at this point. So, we'll take you through that in just a little bit. Stay right there. That's coming up in minutes.
Meantime, I want to check in on the list that we put together every day of the person who is the most intriguing in the news. Let's start off.
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SANCHEZ: He's a military man, commissioned officer, United States Air Force. Today, he is fighting for his career and for a momentous change in American military policy. This decorated air force major says when he joined the service as a teenager, he wasn't aware of his sexual orientation. After 13 years of not asking and not telling, he was relieved of duty and discharged after some e-mails to a man, personal in nature, came to his commander's attention.
He personally appealed to the president of the United States with these words, quote, "My greatest desire is still to return to active duty as an officer and leader in the United States Sir Force, protecting the freedoms of a nation that I love; freedoms that I myself was not allowed to enjoy while serving in the military."
Here he is. He is Major Mike Almy. He's one of hundreds of U.S. military veterans on Capitol Hill today. Why are they there? Here's the news -- they're lobbying for the complete repeal of the department's defense -- Department of Defense's -- pardon me I misspoke -- don't ask and don't tell policy.
Major Almy for his service and what he wants to continue to do honorably -- he is today's most intriguing person in the news.
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SANCHEZ: As they say here in the south, lookie here. That's right. The Dow is way up. Remember the losses last week? This thing is at 348. Where's it going to end up?
Well, we've got 31 minutes left, folks, and we're going to take you down. Now, why is this happening? Well, it may be because several countries have gotten together, and they have decided to come up with a rescue plan for Greece. Which countries?
We did a little research here and I to share this with you. There's 15 countries that are going to have to pay their share of the $60 billion euros they have come up with. You ready? Here they are.
Number 15: tiny Malta. They're contributing, not a lot 0.1 percent, that's about 6 million euros. That's not bad, right?
Number 14: tiny Cyprus. They're doing 0.2 percent. That's nice.
Number 13: Luxembourg. They're putting up 0.24 percent.
Number 12 is Slovenia. They're putting up 0.5 percent of the 60 billion bill.
Number 11: Slovakia. Now, this is starting to get to the heavy dough -- 1 percent, which is a whopping 600 million euros that they're handing over.
Number 10, Ireland. They're putting up 1.5 percent. And who else is saving the world economy? All right, that may be an overstatement, Number nine, Finland. They're putting up 1.7 percent, more than a billion euros.
Who are the largest contributors, though, to this Greek bailout that is possibly sending our own Wall Street numbers way up? That's ahead. Stay right there. I'm going take you to the big five in just a little bit. This is "RICK'S LIST." We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Chad is going to be here with us in just a little bit. You're going to be taking us through the possibility of tornadoes. CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Which we hope it doesn't happen.
MYERS: It will.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You think -- confident enough.
MYERS: Sure. Already happening right now in western Kansas.
SANCHEZ: All right, you're going to take us through that and then taking us through that.
MYERS: Why do I want to clean your keyboard?
SANCHEZ: Because we're going to be talking about the newest procedures being used or tried to try and salvage the Gulf of Mexico.
MYERS: And why they're not working.
SANCHEZ: Stay there. We're going do something really important.
Want to have a dance and laugh here? Ready to go? Have you ever been to a ball game and seen a movie scene break out? It happens. Have you seen this, Chad?
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: With Harry Carey.
SANCHEZ: This is better. Let's do "Fotos."
Hey. Who is that on the mound? Is that -- no. Is that comedian Will Ferrell, with the Ron Burgundy mustache? Mrs. Austin's minor league farm club, it's called the Round Rock express. Ferrell just jumped out on the field, took to the mound in the sixth inning, got in one pitch, then got in a fight. He sprayed some beer on some guy. He was ejected.
The program listed him as Billy Ray Rojas Johnson, a pinching phenom from the Venezuelan league with a criminal record. The Hollywood moment was really a -- duh -- a publicity stunt for the Austin team and a nice treat for the fans, wouldn't you say? Not bad.
MYERS: Just a little outside.
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SANCHEZ: Moscow now. Russia's enormous military parade -- something different this year. See that? Yes, scream it, boys. Look carefully. First time in history United States army soldiers marching through the Red Square, stars and stripes, flying high.
Could you believe -- when we grew up, if somebody showed us this, we thought it was a joke.
MYERS: I'm still not believing. I think it's Disneyland.
SANCHEZ: Russia invited an American unit to help commemorate Nazi Germany 65 years ago. A British, French, and Polish formation also marched, the first time for those nations. Wow. There's the British.
Next, hit it, D.
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(SCREAMING)
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SANCHEZ: It's never good when you hear people screaming. Well, that's what happens when you stick your arm in there, man. Shocker here, alligator wrestler in Florida got himself bit over the weekend. It was bad too, hit a major artery, he started bleeding something fierce.
If you listen closely, you can actually hear a lady. You hear that, off camera. She says, "I don't think that was supposed to happen." It wasn't. He'll be OK, thank goodness. Might need surgery, though. The gator wins this ground. You can see our fotos, by the way, whenever you want to. Just go to my blog. That's Rick.CNN.com/RickSanchez.
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BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Elena is respected and admired got just for her intelligent and record of achievement, but also her temperament, her openness to a broad array of viewpoints, her habit, to borrow a phrase from Justice Stevens, of understanding before disagreeing.
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SANCHEZ: All right, is she the right pick? Do conservatives believe she is the right pick? Do conservatives, as some liberals are saying, really like her? Really? I'm going to ask Senator Orrin Hatch, who is going to join me in just a little bit.
Meanwhile, Chad Myers on the other side. Stay there. This gets good.
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SANCHEZ: There seems to be some news coming out of Iran. This is breaking news that would seem to indicate or maybe confirm is a better word that I should use, that many of the people of Iran are sick and tired of being led by these religious zealots.
We just got some video in. Let me just read you what Angie just sent me here on this laptop. We just got some video -- some video in that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking at a university, and students started chanted against him screaming against him and screaming against the Basij.
Here is the president going to speak at a university where he thinks he's going to be heralded, and instead -- listen to this.
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(CHANTING)
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SANCHEZ: This is amazing. As we watch this now, let me bring Reza Sayah in. He has been following this for years for us, all things Iran. He's joining us from Islamabad. Do you know what they're saying, and can you put this in perspective for us, Reza?
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rick. They're basically bad-mouthing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and bad-mouthing the government. These are students at a Tehran University who don't like President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and some members of the opposition movement.
These were the anti-government protesters who exploded on to the scene after the disputed elections in June. But they have been quiet for the past few months. Some analysts say that maybe they're done, fizzling out.
SANCHEZ: Do you know what this tells me? I'm just following up on what you were just saying right there, because you and I have done these reports, and you're right. They had fizzled out. But in large measure, that's because whenever they -- the government knew where they were going to be, they would send the Basij in. What seems like what works now is--
SAYAH: No question about it.
SANCHEZ: Surprise demonstrations, right?
SAYAH: And they gave -- yes. And remember, Rick, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes visits to universities in Tehran. But oftentimes, he doesn't announce it. Why? Because he wants to avoid situations like this. He's not very popular in parts of Tehran, especially in university campuses.
It's not clear if he made an announcement today that he was going to show up or not. This was an awards ceremony at the university. But he showed up, and there was a protest.
And Rick, this is an indication that this opposition movement that indeed has slowed down still has some life and is kicking. And it's something that the government has to deal with in the weeks and months to come.
SANCHEZ: It's the spontaneity of it. It's the spontaneity that makes this -- I believe, as news worthy as it is, because it's an indication this thing could spark up at any moment, again, at any time, anywhere, right? SAYAH: Yes. And you know what sparks this spontaneity? It's the rage, it's the frustration. These are people who still think that this election, back in June of last year, was fraudulent. And they still think that this is not their rightful president.
They came out, and they protested peacefully. What did they get? They got beat up. Some of them got death sentences. Some of them were killed. So the frustration is still there. And it's that frustration that sparks the spontaneity.
This was not organized. In most likelihood, they didn't know President Ahmadinejad was coming. When he came, bam, this is what you see.
SANCHEZ: Five demonstrators died over the weekend. These are people who truly believe they would like to see their government, their country go in a different direction. Great -- I'm so glad we had you, Reza, to put perspective on this story.
And then there is this question -- what does the United States do? I mean, do we embrace these people? Thereby giving the Ahmadinejads of the world more reason to say see the United States is behind these protests, or do we just stay out of all together?
Well, John McCain believes -- John McCain, who is watching us most likely right now, or some of his aides are, has just tweeted this watching this report. Look at this. "The Iranian government executes five demonstrators. When are we going to start standing up for these brave martyrs?"
That's Senator John McCain. He just sent that tweet in response to this breaking news video that I'm showing you, or just showed you, along with our correspondent, Reza Sayah. We're all over this story.
Orrin Hatch, the Republican from Utah joins me in a little bit to give me his take on the new Supreme Court justice nominee. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: So in case you haven't heard, it's solicitor general Elena Kagan. Here is something you probably haven't heard about Elena Kagan. Welcome back, by the way to "RICK'S LIST." I'm Rick Sanchez.
This goes back to the Clarence Thomas hearings. Remember that, 1991. Who could forget? In 1995 a younger Elena Kagan referred to the Thomas hearings as a "vapid and hollow charade." We were just reminded of that by John Cornyn a little while ago.
She called those hearings an embarrassment. And look at this. She said Thomas was confirmed by the Senate, even though, quote, "his substantive testimony had become a national laughing stock."
Now, among other things that she was complaining was that Thomas never had to say where he stood on contentious issues, such as abortion, affirmative action, and personal privacy. She thought that he should have been forced to say more.
My guest now is Senator Orrin Hatch, a Republican of Utah. Senator, good to see you, sir. Thanks for joining us here on "RICK'S LIST."
SEN. ORRIN HATCH, (R) UTAH: Always nice to be with you, Rick. You do a great job.
SANCHEZ: Thank you, sir. So here you have her saying, when these folks are up there, they should be challenged, they should be hit hard, they should be asked the tough questions. I guess guys like you are going to look at this as an invitation to do just that with her, right?
HATCH: I think you've pretty well hit the nail right on the head.
(LAUGHTER)
The fact of the matter is, you can only ask so many questions, and any Supreme Court nominee is always going to evade the questions involving real hard issues that are likely to come before the Supreme Court.
But, yes, those were interesting things typically said by many law professors that don't have to deal with reality sometimes. But I think this is reality now. And it's not going to be easy for anybody.
SANCHEZ: What do you make of folks on the left, you know, the more liberal liberals, if there is such a word, actually coming out and saying, you know what, we think she is too moderate. We wanted someone further to the left.
Are they playing you? Or do you believe she is, in fact, moderate as -- as Senator Klobuchar said to us, or common sense -- a common sense person who is able to find solutions in the middle, as Senator Klobuchar alluded to as I was interviewing her earlier in this newscast?
HATCH: Well, whoever this president puts up is going to be liberal. There is no use kidding about it. It's going to be a liberal on the issues. That's what we elected when we elected President Obama. I did not participate in electing him, I have to add. I voted against him even though I like him personally.
But, no, you know, we've got to look at her qualifications. There is no question it's going to take some time to do that. And you know, I don't expect anybody nominated by this president to be a conservator or even a moderate. They're going to be more liberal.
But you've got people in the Democratic Party that are so far left that they're just -- they're killing the party, and they're pushing the people in the Senate and the House left and left and lefter.
SANCHEZ: "Lefter," I like that. I'm going to -- Glenn Beck is going to be talking about you on his radio show.
HATCH: I don't know how he came up with that. SANCHEZ: Hey, you referred to her as a brilliant person and said that Republicans would be hard-pressed to vote against her. Is your yes vote in the bag? I mean, should we receipt that that way, senator?
HATCH: Well, I said that with the little knowledge that we had at the time when she came up for solicitor general. And I voted for her as I should have. The president deserves to have the people that he wants in those positions, as long as they're honorable, ethical, and competent. And she certainly fits those categories for solicitor general.
But this is different. There are only nine Supreme Court justices. It's the most important court in the world, and this is a lifetime appointment. Once they're on there, there's no way to get them off. And so it's going to take a real scrutinization. I reserve judgment until we go through process.
SANCHEZ: By the way, just a quick comment. We just heard from one of our correspondents that Ahmadinejad, and I know you follow this closely, the situation in Iran.
HATCH: I do.
SANCHEZ: He just showed up as a university and they booed the hell out of him. And it was spontaneous. Kids came out and started protesting against this guy and the religious zealots than run the country. Look at this video.
Do you believe, as senator McCain believes that we need to step into this fray somehow and take sides, or do you think we need to be cautious, sir?
HATCH: Well, we have to be cautious. We have to be very careful. But you know, the guy gets booed, everybody in the world knows it. He acts like an idiot most of them. When he came here to America he made some of the most idiotic statements I heard.
I think the laws over there just enjoy shoving him in the face of everybody in the world. I don't blame those people over there. They've lost their freedom. You have a religious tyranny over there that is just awful. I'm on the side of those who want freedom.
SANCHEZ: It's been a long time since I've had a standing U.S. senator use the word "booed" on "RICK'S LIST." We're writing this down. You're on "The List," sir.
HATCH: Well, that wasn't very diplomatic of me, but the fact is, he makes some of the most idiotic, stupid statements I've ever heard from any national leader. And the Mullah's aren't that stupid. They can't do anything but laugh at it themselves.
SANCHEZ: Hard to disagree. Senator, come on back, sir. Glad we had you on, enjoyable conversation.
HATCH: Same here and it's always good to talk to you.
SANCHEZ: Likewise.
We gave you some of the 15 countries helping in the financial rescue of Greece, which seems to be turning the Dow around today. Have you looked at numbers? I'll share those with you.
But first, who's really doing the heavy lifting here? I got the list of the top five countries in the world who have come to bat to save Greece's -- you know. We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: All right, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Who's topping our list of the countries bailing Greece out with a $60 billion euro rescue plan? Hold on. That was -- you can't say $60 billion euro. It was a 60 billion euro rescue plan.
OK, here they are. You ready? Number eight -- Portugal with, they're giving 2.4 percent or about a billion, 440 million euros. Number seven -- Austria. They're contributing 2.7 percent of this 60 billion. Number six is Belgium. They're giving up 3.4 percent of the 60 billion.
Number five -- the Netherlands. Now we're getting into big dough, with 5.5 percent of the 60 billion. Number four, Spain, with 11.5 percent of the 60 billion. Number three, Italy with 17.4 percent. Number two is France with almost 20 percent.
And the number one country bailing out Greece with an astounding 15 billion, 780 million euros, or 26.3 percent of the total -- maybe no surprise that Angela Merkel has been getting so much guff. It is Germany coming in at number one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I not only embarrassed myself but I have truly down my colleagues, colleagues who without thinking twice would lay their lives down for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's an officer apologizing after kicking a man in the head, and then calling him a "bleeping Mexican," except wasn't bleeping, and he's trying to keep his job now and his career. Let me tell you his story.
Also, we've been counting down the countries helping bail out Greece. Why does that have Wall Street investors dancing on tables today?
(LAUGHTER)
Or so it seems so far, so to speak, right? Poppy Harlow is there. She's watching the dancing without the dollar bills, I understand, and we'll be right back with poppy's story, and her list. This is "RICK'S LIST."
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