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Rick's List
Oil Refinery Fire in Texas; Arizona Ethnic Studies Ban; Open Season on Incumbents?
Aired May 17, 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, thanks so much. I will look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We will see you tomorrow.
The newly crowned Miss USA, have you seen her? Everyone's talking about her, and that's exactly what we're going to be doing for you.
Michael, I think you told me that the open is not in. Is that right? Oh, do what we do every day? OK.
Let's go to the open.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (ph)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here is what is making the list today are you concerned you may be throwing out the baby with the bath water here?
The heat continues in Arizona. A state now assembling a task force to battle the bad pub and the tens of millions they're losing on tourism and the convention business.
Will Major League Baseball now pull the all-star game? The moment when parts of Nashville went under water. For those of you who picture this when you think of women from the Middle East, look who just won the miss USA pageant?
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. Pioneers tomorrow's cutting edge news right now.
SANCHEZ: And we're going to begin with breaking news, because we have got some new pictures coming in along the Houston Ship Channel, where we understand that there are -- is an oil refinery now that is ablaze.
Take a look at this. This is a part of the area where many of the refinery are -- are -- where the refineries are along Houston. We are seeing these pictures now for the very first time. Angie (ph), did you say that you sent me some information on this? I am looking now. OK. It's -- we're -- it's described to us as one of the largest refineries in this area.
Boy, I will tell you, here's the map that we have put together for you. This is something not too different from what we were showing you just last week, not far from there in Austin or that area where there were some fatalities. We don't know if that's the case here.
But, again, look at -- look at these pictures. It is a oil refinery, and -- oh, here you go. Thank you, Andreas (ph). We're getting some new information on this now.
All right. Here we go. Let's get back to the pics. And I will tell you what we're learning just as the information comes in on this. A shelter in place was issued for some southeast Houston residents Monday afternoon after a fire broke out at the Lyondell-CITGO plant.
Officials said all residents near the plant located at Highway 225 near Lawndale should shelter in place until hazmat crews determine what fumes are being emitted from the blaze.
Now, this is interesting, because what they're doing is, they're trying to make sure that the people in the area -- this is breaking news coming in to us now, by the way. They're trying to make sure that the people who live in the area won't be affected by these black -- these black plumes of smoke, depending on what the chemical is, although usually -- hey, Chad, can you hear me?
Chad -- hey, crank up Chad's microphone, if you possibly could, guys, so he can come in on this.
On a day like this, you could probably look quickly at your satellites and see where all this wind is going to go or where the -- where this smoke is going to go.
Is it a windy day in the Houston Ship Channel today?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, I'm -- I'm looking at the plume is going up, and then it's actually -- it is blowing off. So, let me click right there.
There is also thunderstorm activity north of Houston. I don't believe that a lightning strike could have caused this. The lightning would have been probably 30, 40 miles north of Houston. But the -- the wind direction looks like it's out of the southwest. That may be kind of taking it up.
I'm -- I'm going to take to you a Google map, and when we will kind of -- we will do a couple different things, so you can --
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
MYERS: -- can be able to see -- you will be able to see some of the other neighboring cities and towns around there. So -- SANCHEZ: Well, you know, because -- the reason I'm bringing you in is because I'm reading this thing, and it says, as I just read to the viewers, there's a shelter-in-place order --
MYERS: Right --
SANCHEZ: -- which means --
MYERS: -- which means, don't leave the house.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: They want people to stay inside, right?
MYERS: Correct. Correct.
SANCHEZ: So, if they want people to stay inside --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: -- they're -- they're worried what kind of chemicals might be in this smoke?
MYERS: And you got -- yes. You got Pasadena. You got all those areas right along the ship channel there, Galena Park, and -- Galena Park -- and then the 225, the highway that runs right through the area, and that's probably -- see -- you can see the smoke for miles now. This is a pretty significant fire.
I can -- I'm trying to click on --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But, usually --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Usually --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: -- with these things, a refinery fire, I mean, basically, it's just the same oil from either petro or, you know, oil itself. It usually is not hazardous, right?
I mean, obviously, it's hazardous if you're right up on it, but --
MYERS: Sure it is. Sure it is.
I mean, you -- you can't be burning this must pollutant and -- and getting it into your house or getting it into your system. This -- this is the same thing you might be breathing.
This is clearly -- this is clearly toxic fumes, even though it's on fire. SANCHEZ: But -- but I guess -- but -- but here -- I guess what I'm trying to say, it's not like, let's say, anhydrous ammonia or something like that, which could be fatal if you take a whiff of it?
MYERS: Well, smoke inhalation can be fatal, too, sir.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: But I will tell you, you're right. And I have -- I have had friends that had anhydrous ammonia issues in Nebraska spreading fertilizer. And it is literally lethal on the spot.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: This -- this, you should be able to get away from without being overcome, now, unless you're working in that he plant working and you are right there. Then that -- obviously, those -- those levels that you see there in that black smoke, that -- those are toxic levels everywhere.
SANCHEZ: Wow. That's a -- that's a pretty big fire.
MYERS: It is.
SANCHEZ: Did you ever nail down the wind conditions out there?
MYERS: You know --
SANCHEZ: I know fires make their own wind --
MYERS: They can.
SANCHEZ: -- as we're seeing here now.
MYERS: But these storms are -- these storms are more important to the Houston Weather Service office, so that's why they're -- but they're from the southwest at 15 to 20 miles per hour, Rick. And then that's typically of where they would be along -- around a thunderstorm right now.
SANCHEZ: But we're probably hitting from the southwest. That means you're right. Places like Pasadena, which is --
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- densely populated, by the way, would be affected by this.
Chad, thanks so much. We're going to --
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: -- I'm here.
SANCHEZ: We're going to keep an eye on this thing for you and let you know what's going on. In the meantime, more breaking news. Let's switch gears.
Jeanne Meserve is joining us now.
You know how it's been since this country had a TSA director and all the controversies that have come with the appointments or the potential appointment appointments, maybe I should say? Guess what? I think we have finally got one.
Let's see if this one actually makes it through the process.
Jeanne Meserve joining us now to bring us up to date on that.
Who is it, Jeanne?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House is hoping that John Pistole will fill the bill. Right now, he's the deputy director at the FBI. He had been rumored to be under consideration to be head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, but the White House announcing today that they intend to nominate him to be head of the Transportation Security Administration.
This is the third person whose name they have put forward. The first person was Erroll Southers. He had a long security resume, but he made inconsistent comments to Congress about some background checks that he did on a man who was dating his former wife, and he had to withdraw.
The second person up was a former Army intelligence officer, Robert Harding, General Robert Harding. There were questions raised about government contracts that he had after his retirement from the Army. He was forced to withdraw his name.
Now we have John Pistole coming forward. As I say, he's deputy director of the FBI, been with the FBI more than two decades. Before becoming deputy director, he was key in the counterintelligence division of the FBI.
You might question his aviation credentials. It says on his resume that he helped investigate Egypt Air Flight 990, which crashed off the coast of Rhode Island -- apart from that, no reference to aviation here. But, clearly, he will know the intelligence side of the house, very critical in aviation security -- back to you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right, there you go. Jeanne, my thanks to you.
And many Americans who have been wanting to see at least the position filled are saying now, finally. We will see if it goes through.
(LAUGHTER)
MESERVE: Well, he has to go through that confirmation process.
SANCHEZ: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
MESERVE: You don't know what is going to happen up there. But it would seem, after a couple of decades in the FBI, there probably are not any skeletons in the closet.
SANCHEZ: We -- we have been through this before, we should say.
Thanks so much, Jeanne.
Take a look at this, folks, yes, more of the protests. Arizona's fighting back, though. They're fighting back now against the backlash, after losing millions, tens of millions in conventions and tourism. I'm going to tell you what Arizona is doing to try and set the record straight on the criticism they say they have been getting, which is unfair. We will take you through it.
Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
I want to bring you up to date on what we're watching now. In fact, it -- it's right behind us here. That's that --
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- that refinery that's caught fire. It looks like they have put it out.
MYERS: They did.
SANCHEZ: They -- they -- they stopped it, right?
MYERS: You know, I mean, the same type of blowout preventer that we're talking about on the bottom of the ocean --
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: -- that didn't work, that type of stoppage -- of stopping of the crude from catching on fire has now worked here.
And, so, now they're just putting water on it to kind of cool the whole thing down. This was a high-sulfur thing. This -- this was the heavy --
SANCHEZ: Oh.
MYERS: -- sour crude, the exact opposite of the oil that's coming out of the Gulf of Mexico.
SANCHEZ: Maybe that's why they were so worried about it being possibly either hazardous, toxic, noxious or something like that.
What comes out of this plant, heating oil, jet fuel, olefins?
MYERS: Olefins.
SANCHEZ: What's that?
MYERS: They make carpets out of it.
SANCHEZ: Oh.
Aromatics, lubricants, and petroleum coke.
MYERS: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: So, this stuff maybe is a little more apt to cause problems.
MYERS: It's -- the heavy sour is what was spilled on the Exxon Valdez. Remember that?
SANCHEZ: Oh.
MYERS: That -- that was the ugly, black stuff. It stinks. It's -- it's very polluted, so to speak -- like regular oil isn't. But light sweet is a lighter, easier to refine --
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: -- it's less junk in it.
SANCHEZ: One of the refineries in the United States that processes heavy, high-sulfur crude oil.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, they did it good.
MYERS: That's done.
SANCHEZ: You know? All done.
Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: Breaking news over.
SANCHEZ: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Let's back to what we're looking at over here.
And let me try and catch you up some of the other news that we're following for you, because it is now hour two. Time to pick up the pace of today's LIST for those of you now checking in.
Number one: Is Arlen Specter toast? Thirty years in the Senate, 29 as a Republican. I want you to watch this, though. I want to watch, because some folks are saying this is what it's all about. This is a very effective ad. Is it honest? We will -- we will talk about that in a little bit. But there's no question it's effective for Congressman Joe Sestak.
He's Arlen Specter's opponent, who may not have paid enough for the people who made this. Let's watch it together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JOE SESTAK CAMPAIGN AD)
REP. JOE SESTAK (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I'm Joe Sestak, the Democrat. I authorize this message.
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (D), PENNSYLVANIA: My change in party will enable me to be reelected.
NARRATOR: For 45 years, Arlen Specter has been a Republican politician.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Arlen Specter is the right man for the United States Senate. I can count on this man. See, that's important. He's a firm ally.
NARRATOR: But now:
SPECTER: My change in party will enable me to be reelected.
NARRATOR: Arlen Specter switched parties to save one job -- his, not yours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's hard to say which looks worse, say many Democrats, the embrace from George W. Bush, or the photo with Sarah Palin, or Specter's own words.
Now, remember, Specter is now a Democrat, but the coup de grace in that clip of Specter saying, "My change in party will enable me to be reelected," kind of like that, but now you have got to see this. This is interesting. You know, what we like to do on this show, RICK'S LIST, is not just give you the same story that everybody else is giving you.
We like to look underneath the story. What's -- what's underneath the surface? Is that ad fair? Is that really what Arlen Specter was saying when he said that? Or was it edited in such a way to make him look like he was saying that, when, in fact, he was saying that that's what people are saying about him.
Take a look at what he actually said that was cut out of that ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPECTER: My change in party will enable me to be reelected. And I have heard that again and again and again on the street. Senator, we're glad you will be able to stay in the Senate and help the state and the nation. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Hmm. There you go.
Political correspondent Candy Crowley is in Philadelphia, and Craig Crawford is the columnist for CQPolitics.com. He's is in Orlando, Florida, where, mmm, I think there might be an interesting campaign primary or election going on there pretty soon as well. And I understand the numbers are turning there as well.
Let's start, though, with Arlen Specter.
CRAIG CRAWFORD, COLUMNIST, CQPOLITICS.COM: Got some pretty good basketball, too.
SANCHEZ: Yes, exactly.
(LAUGHTER)
CRAWFORD: So, we got some good basketball going on, too.
SANCHEZ: I'm telling you, Boston's good.
But, before we go there, and before we go there, let's talk about Arlen Specter.
Candy, it's interesting. When I saw that ad -- and I didn't see what somebody on my staff, Gary Dodders (ph), brought to my attention -- it's effective, the ad, but it's not true. He was saying, that's what people have told me. He wasn't saying, that's what I think, right?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He wasn't, but I have to say that Senator Specter was pretty up-front when he made the announcement that he was, you know, facing a serious challenge with his -- in his own party.
That was not what he gave as sort of the reason. The reason, he said, was, his party had moved away from him. But, by and large, what had also happened was that he had voted for the president's stimulus bill. And this basically, politically, was suicidal in the Republican Party.
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
CROWLEY: And he said, I don't want one party, one group of people, who had begun to rally around another, more conservative candidate in Pennsylvania, to decide.
So, there -- there's an element of truth certainly in this. And I will say that the party switch is what has complicated Arlen Specter's race -- primary race here, because he does have to -- has some sort of trust issues with Democrats, who now think, well, what's the deal here?
Compounding that, of course, is the fact that he's been in the Senate for 30 years, and this does not seem to be a great time to be an incumbent of long standing.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Craig, if this is the headline tomorrow in the papers, right, if it gets done by tomorrow night, obviously, Sestak wins in Pennsylvania, Blanche Lincoln loses in Arkansas, and Rand Paul wins in Kentucky, what's -- what's the story? Why is that -- why would that be significant, and what would people be writing?
CRAWFORD: Politicians on the run, Rick.
(LAUGHTER)
CRAWFORD: What we're seeing in this election, I believe, is -- you know, I always believe, as unemployment goes up, the more the voters want the politicians to lose their jobs.
And we have seen that already in a couple of recent episodes in West Virginia and Utah, and now I think we're going to see tomorrow. I would predict that a lot of these challengers are going to win because of this mood out there. I love it when politicians can't figure out what the voters are going to do.
SANCHEZ: Well --
CRAWFORD: And that's where we are in this -- in this election.
SANCHEZ: Well, and the funny thing is about this, I mean, Candy, this is not a Democrat problem, like we were talking about, you and I, in fact, and, Craig, you and I as well, three months ago, at the height of the health care debate.
This is an incumbent problem, whether you have got an R in front of you or a D in front of you, it's starting to look like. Am I wrong, Candy?
CROWLEY: No. There -- there definitely are problems, and it's almost more of a Democratic problem, simply because there are more Democratic incumbents --
SANCHEZ: Right.
CROWLEY: -- because they control the House and the Senate.
So, yes, it's on both sides, but I also think that it's a philosophical issue, because Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas is being challenged from the left. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania is being challenged from the left.
When you look at the Republican races, Bob Bennett, who just got thrown out in a -- a convention, but he can't run in the primaries, he was thrown out by the right.
So, what you're having is discontent with some of the liberals, who don't like some of the things President Obama has not done, and discontent from the right of the Republican Party for some of the things Republican lawmakers have done.
SANCHEZ: Hey --
CRAWFORD: And, Rick, you know --
SANCHEZ: before --
CRAWFORD: -- this our third --
SANCHEZ: Go ahead, Craig.
CRAWFORD: This is our third change election in a row. You know, this is not new, actually.
(LAUGHTER)
CRAWFORD: I mean, we have had two change elections before this one.
It's just the difference now is, Democrats are in charge of everything, and so they're --
SANCHEZ: Well, it's a layered change.
CRAWFORD: -- vulnerable.
SANCHEZ: Craig, Craig, it's a layered change. See, it's change on top of change on top of change on top of change. You just have to understand that.
CRAWFORD: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You're in Florida --
CRAWFORD: And, you know, we have got Democrats now in the lurch because they're the ones. You know, as Candy says, there's more of them. So, they're more vulnerable.
SANCHEZ: Before I let you go, Craig, you're in Florida. I have been noticing these polls, all of a sudden, out of Florida. Some people were saying, you know, Rubio, superstar Rubio, rock star, is going to knock everybody out.
And I'm looking at some polls lately that are showing -- and I -- you and I talked about this -- don't talk -- don't -- don't -- don't figure that Charlie Crist can't come back. I'm looking at polls that show that he's on top of this three-way race now. Is that right?
CRAWFORD: I was high on Charlie Crist doing this from the very beginning. I think he got a boost in those early polls. We have seen a drifting-downward since. There's a conservative-leaning poll out.
But what I see is that, even though Crist goes up and down in these Senate race polls, he's still the governor, and his approval ratings are very high, and he's got the opportunity to seize issues like oil drilling. He's going to bring the state legislature in for a constitutional amendment to ban oil drilling. That will be popular with a lot of voters. So, he's got the opportunity to the stay in the news and stay on top of it.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Don't count him out, is what I was trying to say. But it's my second language.
CRAWFORD: You bet.
SANCHEZ: Spanish is my first. So, sometimes, I have a hard time with English.
Candy, you know that about me, right?
CRAWFORD: And don't -- and don't count out the Orlando Magic.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Well, you know what? Good luck. Boston's on fire, my friend.
(LAUGHTER)
CRAWFORD: All right.
SANCHEZ: Candy Crowley, superstar in her own right of "STATE OF THE UNION," and my good friend Craig Crawford joining us today, enjoyed the conversation, guys.
All right.
CRAWFORD: So long.
SANCHEZ: Let's take you back to our breaking news now.
We're getting someone on the phone from the scene of that refinery fire in Houston. They're going to be taking us through what it was like there for the people living in the nearby communities, as we mentioned, one of them being Pasadena, a place I'm quite familiar with for some time.
We're going to come back with more than in just a moment.
And don't forget, we're going to bring you some of the very latest on some of the other stories that we're following today. Stay right there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: LyondellBasell is the company that has that refinery you see behind me right there.
Well, that's not the refinery now. I don't know what that is. What is that, guys? A pizza place. OK. Just a moment ago, we were doing a story about a refinery that's on fire in Houston.
And we understand that there's a gentleman who's joining now to bring us up to date. Ah, there it is. By golly, we have got it.
David Harpole is joining us now, public affairs with LyondellBasell, this company that is in charge of refining products that create heating oil, jet fuel, olefins, feed stock, aromatics, lubricants and petroleum coke.
This does sound like the kind of stuff that could be dangerous if it gets out in the community.
You guys put this out really fast, though, it seems. Are you there, David?
DAVID HARPOLE, PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, LYONDELLBASELL: This is David Harpole with LyondellBasell. Yes, I'm here.
SANCHEZ: I'm sorry. Maybe you didn't hear me as I was introducing you. We will try it again.
It seems to me that you guys were able to put this thing out pretty fast.
HARPOLE: Well, we still have response teams in the field, and we are working to clear the situation. We're still -- we still have teams that are -- that are working to ensure that the fire is extinguished.
SANCHEZ: But the fire -- but the fire itself is out, isn't it?
HARPOLE: I do not have that information, no.
SANCHEZ: Well, we just -- we just looked at some live pictures, and we didn't see any flames. That's the only reason I'm saying that. I'm -- I'm not positive myself, but it didn't look -- OK, these are pictures from earlier. And, there, you see the flames.
And then, Rog, I don't know if you can flip now to the other pictures we got just a little while ago, and it will show that most of the flames were extinguished, although there was still some smoldering going on.
Now, we understand that there was an alert put out for people to stay in shelter, to stay out of their -- out -- stay inside, if they could. Why was that? Just -- just -- just how hazardous is this smoke? And would you tell us why, if in fact it is?
HARPOLE: I don't have that level of information. Again, a -- a shelter in place, which is what you seem to be describing, is something that would be called for by local authorities.
That's something that's done as a precaution, so that persons might not be breathing what's in the air. What we had was a -- a large amount of black smoke, which was the products of combustion from this hydrocarbon fire. That's a good practice. If -- whenever you see smoke in the air, that's something that should be avoided.
SANCHEZ: What -- HARPOLE: And whether or not a shelter in place was called, I'm not clear. But the -- that certainly would be an advisable recommendation.
SANCHEZ: Do you know what caused this thing?
HARPOLE: Too early to tell at this point. Again, we -- we still have response teams in the field. We're -- we're looking to account for all personnel. Once we're -- we have the area secured, we -- that we can call all-clear, we will begin the process of an investigation to determine just what caused this fire.
SANCHEZ: Well, by the way, I -- I do have the information here in front of me. And a shelter in place was called for that area. Is that normal?
HARPOLE: That would -- would certainly be a -- a recommended precaution, yes, and any time there's smoke in the air, that's something that should be avoided.
SANCHEZ: So, the fact that heating oil and jet fuel and olefins and aromatics and lubricants and petroleum coke was manufactured there doesn't tell you -- doesn't tell us anything about how hazardous or noxious these fumes could possibly have been?
HARPOLE: Well, what you're going to see in a fire of -- of this type is a form of incomplete combustion. And that's going to generate a great deal of smoke. And that's what people would have been seeing in the air. And I think that is advisable to avoid that smoke, yes.
SANCHEZ: But it's just smoke. I mean, it's -- it's not like a -- by the way, these are the live pictures now. And you can see that the fire is out. And kudos to the folks out there who responded to this, because they did a good job.
Again, I'm just -- I'm just trying to nail this down. If I'm a resident of Pasadena and that smoke is coming towards me, am I at risk of taking a whiff of this stuff and dropping dead? Or is it just smoke as would be smoke from a fire at one of my neighbor's houses?
HARPOLE: You're clearly oversimplifying things, but any time you have smoke of this degree, it is something that should be avoided. And those precautions, I'm understanding, are being taken.
Just to clarify your other comment, too, the wind is of a different direction, and it would not be blowing towards Pasadena.
SANCHEZ: OK. But the smoke is not as hazardous as, let's say for the sake of example, anhydrous ammonia, for example?
HARPOLE: That's all the information that I have at this time. Again, I have other media that are standing by. I have to address them at this point.
Thank you. SANCHEZ: Was that guy for real? I mean, you can't make this stuff up. He had absolutely no answers for any of my question. He -- he barely knew what he was talking about. He said he didn't understand most of the stuff that he was talking about. And then he hangs up.
What?
All right.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Take a look at this.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Arizona's law leads to lots of boycotts. What's the state doing to improve its image? And will it make a difference? That is ahead.
Also, who gets called out today? Who's on the list you don't want to be on? Wait. His name might be David Harpole. Just kidding.
We will be right back. Stay with us.
(LAUGHTER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You never know what you're going to get here on RICK'S LIST. Maybe even a spokesman for the company who hates his job.
Meanwhile, how do you explain to your kids daddy has to go away for a few years to prison? Well, this public figure that we are about to tell you about went from hero to what some would call a zero.
Time for "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
Bernard Kerik, former New York police commissioner, famously stood tall with Mayor Rudy Giuliani after the 9/11 attacks. You remember.
Well, now he is reporting to federal prison. Kerik pled guilty to eight felonies, including tax fraud. He also pled guilty to lying to the White House.
He was nominated for Homeland Security chief by George W. Bush, but then he bowed out when his past was discovered, in part by the same committee that was examining his record to see if he could be the Homeland Security chief.
Examples of what they found -- his apartment renovation in New York came into question when it involved the same company that was doing business with the city. The judge who sentenced Kerik gave him an extra year in prison. Why? Because according to the judge, he used 9/11 -- 9/11 -- for personal gain. The judge said the case against Kerik rose to the level of "almost operatic proportions."
On the day that he goes to prison, on this day, Bernie Kerik makes "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the ugly child. Why is she the ugly child?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she's, like, a lot darker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the good-looking child. And why is she the good-looking child?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because she's light-skinned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Show me the good child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Why is he the good child?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He looks good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show me the child who has the skin color most children don't like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: More of that tonight on "AC 360" at 10:00 Eastern.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Now to the follow-up list.
There is, as I've been suggesting, certain fallout from Arizona's new immigration law. Not to mention, another law that they passed just two weeks ago.
A city official is now saying that Phoenix, alone, just the city of Phoenix, not Tucson, not the rest of the state, could lose hotel and convention center business worth $90 million just over the next five years. Governor Jan Brewer has formed a tourism task force now. Its goal is to somehow revive or save Arizona's image.
They don't want to be hurt with tourism. They don't want to be boycotted. They don't want to have conventions cancelled. But there's also a political consultant, one who has worked with Sheriff Joe Arpaio and supports the law. He doesn't like the idea of this task force.
Jason Rose is telling "The Arizona Republic" that he thinks that the fallout from the immigration law has "gone beyond anything anybody could have ever imagined, and it's not going to be addressed by a clever advertising campaign."
All right. That law is not the only thing that's bringing heat to Arizona, as you know, because last week we did extensive coverage on the ethnic studies program in Tucson and a new law that could force changes and put an end to some of those classes.
So there's two points here. And I talked to both officials in this story, Tom Horne, who is one of the superintendents of Arizona schools, and Augustine Romero, who's one of the people who set up these classes in Tucson. Obviously, the question is: Do you throw the baby out with the bath water because there was one teacher in Tucson who may have been teaching the course in a way that insulted people? And then obviously to the Tucson official, why was the course being taught in such a "militant fashion?"
Both sides of the story represented in this debate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUGUSTINE ROMERO, TUCSON UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: The class is not called "La Raza." The courses are called Mexican-American Studies from -- U.S. History from a Mexican-American Perspective. We use the word "raza" to translate to the people.
SANCHEZ: Why? OK.
ROMERO: We did that so that our students could recognize and connect to their indigenous side. Just like the word "dineh" for the Navajo translates to "the people," like the word "othem" (ph) for the Tona Othem (ph) translates to "the people," the word "yoeme" for the Yoeme people translates to "the people," it was an attempt to connect to our indigenous sides, as well as our Mexican side.
SANCHEZ: But is the course basically only about Mexican- Americans, or is it other Hispanics? What if you're from Honduras or Guatemala or a Caribbean country of Hispanic dissent?
ROMERO: Right. Primarily because of the demographic in which we come from, and the population, the course has been designed to tell the Mexican-American side of history.
SANCHEZ: OK. That's perfectly fair and acceptable. Why not then just call it Mexican-American Studies, or even Mexican Studies, or Mexican History? Why didn't you call it that?
ROMERO: Well, that's what the courses are called. They're called U.S. History From a Mexican-American Perspective.
SANCHEZ: But you just told me the emphasis is on the word "raza."
ROMERO: The department. The department is called Mexican- American/Raza Studies.
SANCHEZ: You, I understand, Superintendent Horne, have a problem with that phraseology, correct?
TOM HORNE, ARIZONA SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: Yes, Rick. I actually have some late-breaking news for you. You'll be the first national to carry this.
Just before coming out, I got a call from KVOA Channel 4 in Tucson to tell me there was a demonstration this afternoon in which the students did a skit. And at the end of the skit, they kill me. So KVOA wanted a comment from me, asked me did it hurt my feelings? And I said, "No, it doesn't hurt my feelings, but it does confirm what I've been saying about the intellectual level of what they've been teaching in La Raza studies course.
SANCHEZ: Well, obviously, that's what the Supreme Court calls symbolic language.
HORNE: Right.
SANCHEZ: I'm sure, Mr. Romero, that you don't condone them actually having an act where they kill Mr. Horne, if in fact that is true. Correct?
ROMERO: If that's true, absolutely not. And if anything like that did take place, what I would imagine, it's the symbolism in killing the Bill, not Mr. Horne.
HORNE: Well, KVOA said they were killing me. But the point I'm making is not whether or not the teachers condone it, but whether the intellectual level that has been taught in this class and whether the emotions that have been taught in this class are leading to this kind of activity, which I think is very dysfunctional for the students when they become adults.
In the standards promulgated by my department, we required that in all social studies classes, students learn about the contributions of different cultures. But we bring them together and teach them about all different cultures, and teach them to treat each other as individuals. What I'm opposed to is dividing them by race.
SANCHEZ: But nobody's dividing them by race, are they?
HORNE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: I mean, these classes are available to any student who wants to take them, as I understand it.
HORNE: Yes, but 90 percent of the kids in the Raza studies are Hispanic. It's primarily directed at different races -- black studies for the blacks, Asian studies for the Asians, and so on. And what's going on in the Raza studies program, I wanted to read to you a statement. I have a number of statements in front of me from teachers and former teachers.
SANCHEZ: All right. You can read one, sir, because I have to give Mr. Romero equal time. HORNE: OK. Very quickly, "TUSD uses taxpayer-funded programs to indoctrinate students based primarily on ethnic divisions in the belief that there is a war against Latino culture perpetrated by a white, racist, capitalist system. TUSD has hired a group of radical socialist activist who promote an anti-capitalist and anti-western civilization ideology. They use ethnic solidarity of their vehicle of delivery" --
SANCHEZ: We get it. We get it. We get it.
HORNE: OK.
SANCHEZ: I think we understand the gist of what that teacher is saying. Again, that's a teacher's opinion.
HORNE: I have a number of them.
SANCHEZ: Mr. Romero, let me come back to you, Mr. Romero.
Do you feel like maybe you push the envelope so much, that some people viewed the way you were teaching this class -- almost the word that's been used is in a "militant fashion," and as a result, you are now getting this ban across the state. If you had it to do over again, would you have done it a little differently, sir?
ROMERO: No. Not whatsoever.
The things that law is designed to stop we don't do anyway. What we do is we promote academic achievement. What we promote is multiculturalism. And what we promote is an understanding of all people and the inclusion of all people. Those courses are meant for all children to participate in.
SANCHEZ: Why do you think he has received letters like the one he just read if there's absolutely nothing wrong with the way you're doing the course? Why do you think people would react that way? What would you say to those people?
ROMERO: It's a political response, and it's a political response that he is using and he has created for political gain. He has -- he's created this racist agenda to thwart political gain. He is trying to create --
SANCHEZ: What's his political gain? Quickly.
ROMERO: He's running for attorney general. He's trying to -- on the backs of Latinos, he's trying to gain the attorney generalship.
SANCHEZ: All right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: And now this. She is a Muslim. She is an Arab- American. She is the new Miss USA.
What is her story? That, and of course I'm going to be replaying for you what about 100,000 of you are tweeting me right now.
OK. I'm exaggerating. The guy who hung up on me in the middle of the interview, the guy who is not happy to be doing what he was doing at that point in time -- we'll be right back -- you'll see it again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Last hour we told you the newly crowned Miss USA is today's most intriguing person in the news. And many of you said, "We get it."
Well, there she is. Her name is Rima Fakih.
She is a Lebanese-American, and her crowning is a very big deal to Muslims around the world. She is a Muslim. She is an Arab- American. And she is the new Miss USA. The first time it's ever happened, that an Arab-American has won the contest.
Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oklahoma, which means miss USA 2010 is Michigan!
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And there you have it, Miss Michigan, from Dearborn. She is a -- as I aforementioned -- Muslim-American, and she is now Miss USA.
And there's the folks who are joining us today.
Give me a shot of them, Roger, if we possibly could.
You know, on Mondays we invite people to be a part of our staff, and then they get to do the wave.
You ready? There you go.
Are you guys having a good time?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Really? Is this good?
Give me a little applause then. Will you?
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: All right. There you go. My thanks to you, as if on cue. Next time, don't make me ask for that. OK? It makes me -- Many of you are reacting, by the way, to the interview earlier on this newscast during that oil refinery fire which was out, and we showed pictures of it being out. But when I asked the guy in charge of the oil refinery, and tried to give him kudos for having his company put it out so fast, he said, "Oh, it's out? I didn't know it was out."
That's just the short of it. Trust me, it gets much more interesting after that, especially when he hangs up on me in the middle of an interview.
Your tweets and a replay, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And welcome back.
Could you put that monitor over there so we can see what I have here? Is there any way that you guys can do that? That could be great, because I want to show the folks at home all these tweets that we've been getting.
But Angie, you've got -- there you go.
Thanks, Rog. Appreciate it.
All right. Look at this.
A little while ago I was doing an interview on a breaking news story, and a man that I was interviewing, he hung up. So, he was just tired of answering questions and he didn't want to fool with me anymore, so he just hung up.
This is what you're saying about it.
"That was a hilarious moment, John Harpole hanging up. What? You should consider this new expression, 'Harpoling it.'"
Rick, you're asking just too much, too quickly from this guy, who can't talk yet to those on the scene. You were being unreasonable."
So it was my fault? OK.
"Rick, I was thinking" -- oh, I was just told by my executive producer, he was on the scene. Well -- hmm.
"Rick, I was thinking the same thing about that oil refinery PR director. It seems like he didn't want to be bothered and rude."
"Rick, you have to post that on your blog. I'm still stunned. Was that guy for real?"
And finally, "Wow! What a PR guy. You were oversimplifying, but he can't answer the simplest question. Has he been working for BP recently?"
My goodness.
Wolf Blitzer is joining us now to take us through some of the politics of the day. Oh, and it's time for the Wolf Blitzer wave.
Guys? This is the Wolf Blitzer wave time. Go ahead.
We've got some folks in the studio.
You guys like Wolf, right? Who doesn't like Wolf? Who --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who doesn't?
SANCHEZ: See, Wolf? Did you hear that? I didn't prompt that. They said, "Who doesn't?"
Huh, Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm very happy that that average group of folks just likes me. That's nice.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Good for you.
Hey, this -- the perils of incumbency, huh? I mean, you've got the Specter/Sestak in Pennsylvania. You've got Blanche Lincoln/Bill Halter.
BLITZER: Right.
SANCHEZ: Who am I missing? Oh, Rand Paul, Trey Grayson in Kentucky.
This is shaping up to be an interesting day tomorrow.
BLITZER: Well, if you take a look at what happened recently in West Virginia and in Utah, being an incumbent, even someone with a long track record of bringing home the bacon to your constituents, doesn't necessarily guarantee success as it used to pretty much guarantee success. Now it could be a problem for these incumbents.
And Arlen Specter is in deep trouble. We'll see how he does tomorrow, but he's got race on his hands, there's no doubt about that. Blanche Lincoln has a very serious race on her hands in Arkansas as well.
SANCHEZ: That's one heck of an ad that they put out against Arlen Specter, isn't it? I mean, the spirit, the way they catch him in that sound bite, and then the picture of him and George Bush, that's hurtful, that's a damaging ad.
BLITZER: Yes. Well, Sestak has some very, very experienced, excellent, you know, media consultants, as they call them, working on this. And it's -- the war of the ads in Pennsylvania, if you've been watching television in Pennsylvania, you can see those ads heating up. They're spending a lot of money, both sides. And it's only just the beginning. They've got Pat Toomey standing in the wings, the Republican candidate. Whoever wins as far as a Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania, is concerned he's going to have to spend a whole lot of money to get elected in November.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know what's interesting? There's this ongoing fight now between Specter and Sestak.
Specter says, look, if I lose, I'm going to support you, I'm going to support the Democrats, showing he's the proud Democrat thing. But Sestak hasn't come out and said the same thing. Sestak hasn't said that.
So we just got this tweet from Arlen Specter. Look at this. Six minutes ago this came in. "I challenge Congressman Sestak to pledge his support to the winner of this primary as I have done."
They're making this a big deal, aren't they, Wolf? Should they? Is it?
BLITZER: Yes. And the governor, Ed Rendell, who supports Arlen Specter, he's a former chairman of the Democratic Party, he's very popular in Pennsylvania. He's making it clear that Arlen Specter is the good Democrat, he says, because Specter says whoever wins the Democratic primary will have his support, whereas Sestak is not necessarily the good Democrat, because so far he's hedged on whether or not he would endorse -- he would work for the Democratic nominee if Arlen Specter is the nominee.
SANCHEZ: He sure is.
We're looking forward to "THE SITUATION ROOM." And we're going to go out with a round of applause for Wolf Blitzer.
Guys, how about it? Huh?
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: All right. Let's go to break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. Give me a shot of our studio audience over here.
You guys still there? You guys with me?
Do you want to see the guy who hung up on me? You didn't get a chance to see it? You want to see it?
Raise your hand if you want to see that.
All right. You're sure?
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Yes. SANCHEZ: All right. Then I'm going to go ahead and show it to you.
All right. We should have known -- I should have known when I'm interviewing a public relations person with a company who has got a fire in their facility, and the first thing I do is try and congratulate him for putting out the fire, because we confirmed the fire was out, and we've got live pictures of the fire out and he says, "No, I don't know if the fire's out." So, I'm thinking, well, I would think that he would know this.
So then we continue to ask him a couple of other questions, including this smoke that's coming out of your building, of your facility. Is it dangerous? Is it hazardous? Does somebody get hurt by sniffing this?
I couldn't get an answer out of him on that either. And then, eventually, he hangs up the phone.
I mean, look at the tweets that we're getting. I'll share those with you in a minute.
Here now, the end of that interview. Let's all watch it together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: If I'm a resident of Pasadena and that smoke is coming toward me, am I at risk of taking a whiff of this stuff and dropping dead, or is it just smoke as would be smoke from a fire at one of my neighbor's houses?
DAVID HARPOLE, PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIRECTOR, LYONDELLBASELL: You're clearly oversimplifying things, but any time you have smoke of this degree, it's something that should be avoided. And those precautions, I'm understanding, are being taken. Just to clarify your other comment, the wind is of a different direction and it would not be blowing towards Pasadena.
SANCHEZ: OK. But the smoke is not as hazardous as, let's say, for the sake of example, anhydrous ammonia, for example?
HARPOLE: Well, that's all the information that I have at this time. Again, I have other media that are standing by. I'm going to have to address them at this point. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Did you guys like that or what? I've got no time for you, sir.
Look at the tweets.
"Apparently he didn't care about the facts. Why was he even giving interviews?"
Number two, "That guy didn't technically hang up on you, Rick. He told you he was done speaking to you."
"Is that guy for real? He was definitely for a large corporation's public affairs office. Did you like his tap dance?"
And then, "Did that refinery guy just invoke the Forrest Gump response? And that's all I have to say about that."
This one, this guy says, "Rick, I think you pissed him off."
"Hilarious! That fellow on the phone was awesome. Too much."
And finally, "I can't believe that guy just hung up on you."
Well, you know, there's a first for everything. Right? And that guy just gave me my first hang-up ever.
Too many questions, but maybe what he didn't understand is that's what I'm paid to do, is ask questions.
Wolf Blitzer asks good questions. He's standing by now in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Wolf, take it away.
