Return to Transcripts main page

Rick's List

BP Under Fire; Was Joran van der Sloot's Confession Coerced?

Aired June 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, CNN HOST: Great, thanks so much Don. I have got part of the OSHA report right here in front of me. Some of the information that is contained in here is going to probably shock you and upset you, maybe both at the same time.

Let's do the LIST.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST on this day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to have to ask you to stop taking pictures.

SANCHEZ: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's more important for the animals.

SANCHEZ: Because they are worried about the well-being of the birds? What, their egos, not being captured in the right light? You can't make this stuff up. Do the pictures hurt the birds or BP's P.R.?

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: We should just put some BP executives in the oil.

SANCHEZ: More on BP. Guess who has amassed the most egregious, willful citations from OSHA over the last three years? It's not even close. BP, 760. The next biggest violator, eight -- 8.

Then there's BP's government-approved plan for protecting the Gulf from a spill. They will be mindful of walruses. Walruses in the Gulf of Mexico. Who approved this?

Was Joran van der Sloot's confession coerced? That's what his attorneys are now saying. They want the judge to toss it out. We have got details live from Lima.

Carly Fiorina in a hairy situation, after getting caught saying this about her opponent.

CARLY FIORINA (R), FLORIDA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: God, what is that hair?

SANCHEZ: Um, Ms. Fiorina, your microphone is on.

The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. Thank you so much for being with us once again here on RICK'S LIST.

For the last several weeks, we have been breaking down the situation in the Gulf by looking at the micro-version of it. What are the mechanics? What are the plans? Where are the pipes going? How are they going to be able to stop it? Maybe it's time to start turning more toward a bit of a macro-version of events, as in how did we get to this place in the first place and what are the things that maybe should have been done to make sure we didn't get here?

Who was and was not paying attention? This is fascinating. I want to show you now some OSHA reports that I'm going to be taking you through. Go ahead, Robert, if you would, and come in here, because, as we look at this report -- let me take the paperwork out, and I'm going to show it to you as I go through it.

All right, let me look -- look at this right here. OK, you got that over my shoulder? OSHA citations to U.S. refineries, folks, this is between 2007 and 2010, right? Look at that word, egregious, willful citations, BP, 760, other refineries, one.

Even if you look at willful citations, all the other refineries with the other companies, combined, still goes up to only 22. Willful and egregious, BP, 760. That's just the beginning. See this in my hand right now? This is the actual form, the plan, so to speak. It's a regional oil spill response plan.

In other words, this is what BP told the government they would do in case there was ever a spill or a big emergency, how they would deal with it. They revised it in 6/30/09, right? So last year, they sent this paperwork in to the government. Well, apparently, nobody in the U.S. government looked at it, because what they said they would do is, they would take care of the fish and the wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico.

See, right there, where it says Gulf of Mexico? Hey, guys, you guys at home watching right now, did you know there were sea lions in the Gulf of Mexico? Did you know that there were walruses in the Gulf of Mexico?

You can't make this stuff up. Nobody looked at this form? They basically took something that they had sent in for perhaps Alaska, duplicated it, and nobody -- and there's more. Look at this. This is fascinating. Talk about incompetence. Again, this is the regional oil spill sent in for the Gulf of Mexico. BP gives them a list of technical support. These are the people that you are supposed to contact, national specialists to contact in case there is a spill or some kind of event. They say you can contact this fellow right here, University of Miami School of Marine scientist.

Now, this caught my attention, because, as you know, I'm from Miami. Peter Lutz. See Peter Lutz right there? It says Peter Lutz. Hold on. You know what I want to do right now because there's phone numbers on here? All right. It says Peter Lutz on here, right?

Let me tell you about Peter Lutz. Interestingly enough, Peter Lutz is -- we looked him up today, and you know what we found? He's dead. We found his obituary. And, apparently, he died in 2005, and nine -- well, eight years before this report was put out, he had actually left the University of Miami, didn't even work there anymore.

This is fascinating stuff. It makes you start to wonder, I mean, who was watching over these people in our government? All right. Now, I want you to -- I want you to see something else. Today was one of the most crazy confrontational days in Washington since this oil spill began, with each lawmaker trying to seemingly outdo the next guy's level of outrage.

We begin with House Minority Leader John Boehner. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Well, this is Congress at its best.

(LAUGHTER)

BOEHNER: You know, why don't we get the oil stopped, all right, and figure out what the hell went wrong, and then have the hearing and get the damn law fixed?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. That's John Boehner.

Then there's this exchange in that same hearing between a Louisiana parish president, and this is Senator John Ensign now. It gives you an idea how popular BP's CEO, Tony Hayward, isn't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENSIGN: Maybe when you have trouble getting something approved, we should just put some BP executives in the oil until they approve it?

(CROSSTALK) BILLY NUNGESSER, PRESIDENT, PLAQUEMINES PARISH, LOUISIANA: I made that recommendation to Hayward. I told him when he said there was no large sections of oil under the water, Jacques Cousteau's son went for an hour-and-a-half and couldn't find the end of a large section offshore.

I suggested we take him over there and throw him overboard and see if there's black stuff dripping off of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And then there's OSHA's frustration with BP. Listen to Jordan Barab, who is pretty mad at the oil industry in general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN BARAB, OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION: We have made it very clear to the petroleum refinery industry that we're sick and tired of hearing them brag about their excellent safety records while children are burying their fathers and mothers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now listen to the mayor of Grand Isle, Louisiana, who just wants someone to just step in and help the people, the people of the Gulf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMARDELLE, MAYOR OF GRAND ISLE, LOUISIANA: The shrimp dock, it's a ghost town. The booms doesn't work. In a major pass, the booms doesn't work.

And Mr. Senator from Florida, this is a wakeup call. What you -- what you said earlier, what we went through seven weeks ago, well, you're just opening your eyes this morning. And I'm being honest with you all. We need some help. We need you all to push. We need some money down there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And while all that was happening on the Hill, right down the street, at the White House, President Obama went with some -- met with some of the families hit hardest by this disaster.

The president sat down with family members of the 11 men killed on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig 52 days ago.

All right. That's Bobby Kennedy's daughter. She, too, has some angry words on Gulf spill polluters and alleged collaborators. Kerry Kennedy will join me live during this hour.

Also, the woman facing off against Harry Reid in November is also making headlines, but for another reason. Why is that putting smiles on the face of Harry Reid supporters? I'm going to go through this one with you. And, of course, the woman in the know, that would be Jessica Yellin. We're coming back in just a little bit. Stay right there, folks.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CALLER: Hi, Rick. This is Beverly (ph) from Casselberry, Florida.

In regards to the oil spill, how about them using lint, laundry lint, to absorb it?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Talking politics now.

Sharron Angle is the Republican nominee for senator in Nevada. She is the woman who overtook another woman in the primary who suggested paying doctors with chickens. So, who is she? Who's Sharron Angle? Well, we know she's going to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and we pretty much know all we need to know about him, because he's been in the news for a long time.

But what do we know about her? Well, she's a former state lawmaker most noted of late for saying it may be a good idea to outlaw alcohol, something she's now saying, no, I didn't mean to say that.

And we also know that some Republicans are a little bit nervous about her. In fact, we can actually quantify this, because last night, Reno's Republican mayor, Bob Cashell, told our affiliate KRNV that he will support Harry Reid. Think about that here.

This is a Republican saying that he's going to support Harry Reid. Let me see if I can find the quote here. "She's wild. And with the wild ideas she has in Washington, our state will suffer, and she will never get anything done."

This is the Republican mayor of Reno. "So, I'm supporting Harry Reid, and I will go all the way for Harry Reid. I will go door to door for Harry Reid."

Jessica Yellin is in Los Angeles.

What does he mean by this? This is interesting. "She's wild and has wild ideas, and she has in Washington and will -- will suffer and she will never get anything done."

What -- what is -- what is he postulating here?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in the particulars, there are some positions Sharron Angle has supported that seem to be out of the mainstream with many voters. She wants to abolish the income tax, which, well, we would all like that, but what -- you know, how do we function after that? She would like to abolish the Department of Education, return a lot of power to states. But, big picture, what this is about, Rick, is that a lot of Republicans in the state of Nevada are going to pause now and say, do we want somebody who is a brand-new freshman, untested like Sharron Angle, who is a really junior politician, but may be promising, or stick with somebody who is the most powerful senator in Washington?

SANCHEZ: Interesting. By the way...

YELLIN: And you get a lot done when you have got the Senate majority leader representing your state.

SANCHEZ: Hey, Jessica, I have got to ask you this question, because I did that interview with John Ensign after his peccadillo, and I understand that she and -- Angle and John Ensign are now reaching out to one another, but I also understand that she may have been quoted in the past as saying that she wasn't necessarily a fan.

What is going -- is there some irony or perhaps even some hypocrisy going on here?

YELLIN: Well, it's politics. Look, so Ensign didn't endorse her when she was originally making a bid for one of her seats years ago. Then she seems -- in press reports that we have read, but haven't been independently confirmed, she's been critical of Ensign.

Rick, the bottom line here is, Sharron Angle does not have a statewide organization. She does not have a history of running in that state on this level. And she needs all the infrastructure support she can get. So I think, one, she would -- could use whatever infrastructure help Ensign can offer her, and, two, you know, she's new to this political game after the election.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

YELLIN: And she was asked, do you want Ensign's help? And she said, broadly, I will take anyone's help. I will take everybody's help I can get.

So, maybe she's trying to hone her message in these days after.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and that's understandable as well. Jessica, good stuff. Appreciate it.

Take a look at this, folks. What you're hearing there is Joran van der Sloot. Part of what he has confessed to now is murdering a woman in Peru, but wait. His attorney has now stepped in, saying, no, he did not. There's a live report from Peru coming in to us. That's ahead.

And then our most intriguing person on the LIST today, because of something he could lose, something he could lose. Who is that? If you want to find out, stay right there, because it's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: OK. We're going to check on the list of the person that's -- wait. Did -- we do. The person who we're about to talk about, we just got a tweet in from them, or I'm told there's a tweet in from them. Don't know when we got it.

Let's go to the tweet board, if we possibly can. And there it is. It's Reggie Bush. As a matter of fact -- oh, darn it -- I'm told it came in about last night. Well, it's new to me. "Just left Fort Jackson and Grand Isle, Louisiana, which have been greatly affected by the oil spills. Extremely sad sight to see." So writes, or so tweets, Reggie Bush last night. We just collected this. I was just told of it.

And now let me turn back to this camera and tell you about this, our person who is most intriguing in the news today. Hit the animation, Dan. All right, who do you think it is? This guy's intriguing, not for what he's done lately, but for what he might lose.

A little backstory. The NCAA is investigating the football program at USC. And some alleged rule violations involve their own onetime superstar, Reggie Bush. If it's proved that the now- professional running back with the New Orleans Saints received money or benefits or special treatment, the school could be punished, sanctioned, stripped of the championship title.

And this guy -- show him, Dan -- Reggie Bush, could be forced to give back the Heisman Trophy he won at USC five years ago. Say it ain't so, Joe -- I mean Reggie, not the Black Sox. That's the intriguing part. That's never happened. In the 75-year history of the Heisman, no athlete has ever had to give it back.

We could hear the results of the NCAA's findings today. Reggie Bush, for that -- and, also, we give him kudos for helping out in the Gulf -- is today's most intriguing person in the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIORINA: Lauder (ph) saw Barbara Boxer briefly on television this morning, and said what everyone says.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. She's talking about Barbara Boxer. Carly Fiorina is wearing a microphone and she starts talking about her opponent. It's enough to make your hair stand out. Hmm? That's ahead on the LIST.

Also, Kerry Kennedy is angry at BP and fired up over the oil spill, after touring the area. She's going to tell you for herself. That's next right here on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Back to the growing outrage over the situation in the Gulf. Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, joining me from New York now, or, as we would say in my generation, Bobby Kennedy. Not only is she a staunch defender of human rights; she's a defender of the environment, and she's ticked off about the way BP is handling things -- and not just BP, by the way.

Kerry, thanks for being with us.

KERRY KENNEDY, PRESIDENT, RFK CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: It's great to be here.

SANCHEZ: Likewise.

Listen, I want to show you something before we get started, all right? Now, this is some video that you are going to see here. It's a triage center on Grand Isle, Louisiana. They're apparently trying to nurse some of the sick birds back to health.

But when our cameras show up, and other cameras, by the way, they try and chase the cameras away. Watch this, and then we're going to talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to have to ask you to stop taking pictures.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We were asked to turn our cameras off. And this official with the Louisiana state animal response team, a contractor hired by BP, told us we could not enter the bird triage center even though we received permission to do that from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

ACOSTA: LSART makes the final call?

TODD BAKER, LOUISIANA FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE: I make the final call based on the condition of the birds coming in.

ACOSTA: Todd Baker with the Louisiana Fish and Wildlife Service says it is out of an abundance of caution.

BAKER: It is more important for the animals to have a quiet, calm, controlled area at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Did you hear that, Kerry? It's important for the animals, because, you know, the animals, their ego might be -- what bird, what bird that you know, Kerry, wants to be photographed with oil on their head? That's embarrassing for a bird, isn't it? (LAUGHTER)

KENNEDY: Well, you know, the tragedy of this entire toxic tsunami that BP has foisted upon the people of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast, Mississippi, Alabama, is that the -- the pictures are of the birds.

SANCHEZ: Exactly.

KENNEDY: But the people -- but the real problem is the people, of course, all the human beings who are being impacted.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, but before we even go there -- but hold on. Before we even go there, what do you say about people telling members of the media that they're concerned about the birds' well-being or feelings or whatever, when we all who can see, as my mom would say, two fingers in front of my face really know that what they're really concerned about is the bad P.R. of those pictures of the birds with oil all over them being seen all over the world?

I mean, isn't that why they really don't want the shots being taken of the birds?

KENNEDY: Absolutely. And that's what we heard again and again and again when we were down there in the last several days, that BP is just trying to cover up everywhere they can and not get -- allow media to have images of the cleanup and of the disaster that they have caused.

For instance, workers told us that -- that when they went to clean up this toxic tsunami, that they were told that they cannot wear gas masks, because that would be bad for...

SANCHEZ: Oh, we have some of that. We have some of that.

(CROSSTALK)

KENNEDY: That would be bad for BP's image.

SANCHEZ: This is from your -- this is from your documentary. In fact, we have got some tape on this.

Hey, Dan, let's roll this, because I want to talk to Kerry about it on the backside. Go ahead, Dan, if you would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: The thing is that is the -- the Coast Guard, we can see that they're not using respirators.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What are we -- what are you shooting here? What is it? What did you find? KENNEDY: Well, here is the -- this is a bird that is covered in oil. You can see that this brown muck is made up from the dispersants, and that island is a -- is a nature preserve.

Now, the tragedy of that photograph is that, when I went back to the dock with the captain of the boat, he turned to me and he said, "I'm going to be dreaming of that bird tonight, and I hope I'm not that bird."

And, you know, what's been missing, really, in this story is the impact of this on real human beings, on the shrimpers and on the fishermen, and also on all of the people who live in that area who are going to be impacted, the hotels, the restaurateurs, the -- the kids who are trying to go to school there.

And this is what BP has -- has tried to cover up and has again and again and again refused to have the people impacted be part of the dialogue on how they should treat this tsunami.

SANCHEZ: It's amazing. I will tell you, we are all watching this together, and we can't help but wonder -- and it's not just -- you know, Kerry, the thing is, it's not just what's happening now.

We can't help but look at this situation and not -- and I'm sure you have considered this as well -- not take into account all the mistakes that seem to have been made across the board for the last 20 or 30 years by Democrats and Republicans and everybody who seemed to collaborate or go along with whatever it is the oil and gas industry wanted to do.

And that's the lesson that I think, in the end, we're going to have to take out of this, is it not?

(CROSSTALK)

KENNEDY: Well, I think that that's part of it. And, you know, the great tragedy is, we talked to so many community leaders and residents in the Gulf Coast. First of all, we were out at sea eight miles, and the 11 people on that boat with me, all of us, had achy eyes, sore throats. We felt nauseous after only being there for about a half-an-hour.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KENNEDY: And that water is coming straight into shore.

But the shore there is not just like a beachhead. It's all wetlands for miles and miles, and the communities...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KENNEDY: ... are in those wetlands. So, they're -- they're going to be feeling that toxicity as it comes into shore...

SANCHEZ: Sure.

KENNEDY: ... in just a few weeks.

SANCHEZ: For quite some time. Kerry...

KENNEDY: It's really -- yes.

SANCHEZ: Kerry, Kerry Kennedy, we're out of time. My thanks to you for coming on and taking us through your story and your willingness to go down there and find out some of the facts for yourself. We appreciate your time.

Take a look at this. Dan, show them that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ENSIGN: Maybe when you have trouble getting something approved, we should just put some BP executives in the oil until they approve it?

NUNGESSER: I suggested we take him over there and throw him overboard and see if there's black stuff dripping off of him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Talking about Tony Hayward there. Guess which company got on a list when it comes to OSHA citations? BP is way out in front of the competition. And we are going to document this for you right here on RICK'S LIST. I will explain.

Also, a hooded bandit is caught on camera committing a brazen robbery at a convenience store, but he does something dumb that makes him easier to identify.

That's next on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Some of you say it's your favorite part of the show. Brooke, this is your favorite, right? Absolutely. Here we go. Some people absolutely must have their morning coffee. Some people must have "Fotos."

That is an espresso stand in Washington State. But this guy wanted cash, not caffeine, jumped in the drive-through window, tied up the clerk, and then took off with the cash. Officers believe the same man held up another store a few hours earlier and suspect him in nine other coffee stand robberies.

You've heard of niche marketing, well, this guy's into niche robberies.

Question -- what do you get when you combine maybe a hibachi chef with Ringo Starr? Answer -- the most enthusiastic drummer ever. This guy is good. Watch him. I mean, he's fantastic. I mean, me and my son Robbie were watching him over the weekend.

The band is Rip Kay and the All Nighters. The song is "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Wipeout." This video was posted online nine days ago and already had more than 1.5 million views. Is that crazy or what? Is that guy good or what?

Now, this one here is just plain amazing. You see that grainy old photograph. It was taken over 30 years ago at Disneyworld. The little boy and girl highlighted just happened to be part of the same snapshot, totally random. They never met.

That is until decades later they fell in love and they got married. They found this picture just before their wedding and realized their paths crossed many years before. I guess it really is a small world after all. Should we all sing together? All right, we won't. Was it destiny at Disney?

By the way, you can see all the photos on my blog, CNN.com/RickSanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA, (R) CALIFORNIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I saw Barbara Boxer briefly on television this morning and said what everyone says -- god, what is that hair? So yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You see that part right there? You see that when she, like, all of a sudden looks like, oh, no, did I just say that on television? Well, yes, she did. Carly Fiorina goes after Barbara Boxer's hair, and it's all caught on camera with an open microphone. Should she have known better? And what are the repercussions from this? That's ahead on "The List."

Also, there's new video showing Joran Van Der Sloot at a casino in Peru with a woman that he's confessed now to killing. Or has he confessed? Here's Brooke Baldwin, she's following the trending topics. And I got to tell you, Joran Van Der Sloot is one of those stories, it's like the gift that keeps on giving.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every day I am back with more, my friend.

SANCHEZ: There's new information all the time.

BALDWIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And it get crazier and crazier all the time.

BALDWIN: New video not seen until now.

SANCHEZ: You ready? We're going to do a break. And then you're going to be right here.

BALDWIN: Oh, good.

SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There is, believe it or not, another development in the Joran Van Der Sloot case.

BALDWIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And, you know, we've been looking at a lot of video on this stuff, but apparently there's even more video now?

BALDWIN: We have more video, not yet shown on CNN, so we turned it around, of course, for this show. I want everyone to take a look. This is incredible video, hours before the murder of 21-year-old Stephany Flores. That's Joran, and that's Stephany sitting in this Lima casino.

There are a couple of different angles, but basically the point is here the two of them are, they come together hours before everything goes down, right, in that hotel room.

So, as we look at that video, we also have some new nuggets today in terms of the situation in Peru. And let me get right to it. Van Der Sloot was transferred today from a police facility to the national attorney general's office. That happened this morning. There he goes.

Van Der Sloot's attorney told CNN his client will go from the attorney general's office to the justice ministry, where a judge will determine which jail he will then go on to. And his attorney has apparently spoken with the director of jails in Lima to make sure Van Der Sloot is safe once he's moved into one of the city's maximum security prisons.

Talking to your friend Harold Copus the other day, he said the prisons down in Peru kind of make ours look like country clubs.

SANCHEZ: Really?

BALDWIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I visited a couple of those prisons in Central America.

BALDWIN: Yes, I've seen the pictures, it's pretty unreal.

Also this attorney says he plans to ask the judge to strike down Van Der Sloot's confession because he was not properly represented when he was interrogated. By the way, at the time he had a public defense attorney assigned to him, so -- and they're arguing that it wasn't at Van Der Sloot's consent.

The attorney is also saying he has found some evidence to be tainted, especially the way Flores' body was handled at the crime scene.

Also, you and I were chatting here yesterday about the extortion story right out of Alabama, the wire fraud, the extortion. So I want to clarify something, because the FBI, look, they're taking a lot of heat here --

SANCHEZ: Not from us. We were very careful.

BALDWIN: Not from us. We were careful.

SANCHEZ: My brother's a cop, I get it. You make the arrest when you're ready to make the arrest.

BALDWIN: No, this is nothing we did wrong. I just want to further clarify for others and let me read you a statement from the U.S. attorney's office and also from the FBI. I have it here. It says, "Some news accounts have suggested that the FBI provided $25,000 in funds that were transmitted to Van Der Sloot. This is incorrect. The funds involved were private funds."

And, again, we're still waiting for Joran Van Der Sloot to be formally charged. It's yet to happen.

SANCHEZ: So, his attorney's worried about his safety, huh?

BALDWIN: Safety, in the prison system in Peru, at least.

SANCHEZ: Do you know how that rings hollow with some of the victims' families? I wonder why there wasn't enough --

BALDWIN: I'm sure they're not sympathetic.

SANCHEZ: I'm not sure we should go there, it just seems to be -- it sounds ironic anyway. Thanks for the report.

Take a look at this, folks. Does the U.S. media fairly cover Israel? Do you remember this video last week of some of the Israeli commandos getting on the ship and then getting clubbed over the head with pipes? Or does the U.S. media go too far in either direction, too far to the left or right or just down the middle?

I want to go introspective with the segment coming up when I speak to my next guest. Steven Foxman, he's from Camera, an organization that keeps an eye on us, the media, to making sure that we're reporting -- the indirect "us," all of us in the media -- are reporting on Israel and the Middle East fairly.

So he's got his report card out and take us through his checklist. This will be an excellent conversation I'm very much looking forward to. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This is a smart, interesting conversation we should do more of, I think, in our business. This is, like, an introspective conversation about the media and -- welcome back, by the way, to "RICK'S LIST." I'm glad you are here.

Much has been said and written since the pro-Palestinian activists and Israeli commandos who have been accused of going too far in storming the ship. Look, there are two sides to this story. "RICK'S LIST" has carefully given equal time to both, most would agree.

Then came the incident involving Helen Thomas. The consensus? Helen Thomas' comments are indefensible. But even before that there was the snubbing of Joe Biden, which had some people questioning, including a guest on this show, whether the U.S. relationship with Israel could at times become strategic liability, or, worse, a threat to the mission of maybe our troops overseas.

Steven Stotsky is good enough to join us now. He's a senior analyst with Camera. Let me tell you what Camera is. This is a relevant organization that keeps an eye on the media to make sure that their reporting in general, the media's reporting, including ours, when it comes to Israel is fair. Steven, good to see you. Glad you're here.

STEVEN STOTSKY, SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST, CAMERA: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Listen, let's start with this. I'm curious, do you think the American press and American media reporting on Israel is generally, a, balanced, b, tilted toward defending Israeli policy or, c, tilted toward defending the Palestinian or other critics of Israel? Which one would you say it is?

STOTSKY: I would say a. America's media presents all points of view, and that's a good thing. What we try to emphasize, though, is factual accountability and providing enough context so that the viewers can really understand what's going on.

SANCHEZ: That's a fair point, and you're absolutely right. And, you know, that's sometimes the thing we struggle with in this business, trying to make sure we get everything covered and how much -- what do we leave out? What do we put in? Context. You're right.

STOTSKY: Right.

SANCHEZ: Did you think the coverage of the flotilla incident that we were reporting on extensively, was that generally fair?

STOTSKY: Yes. Most of it was good. And what we have the advantage of this time was lots of video tape of what went on, and so that's different from a lot of previous events where we have to rely just on hearsay. Generally it was pretty good.

SANCHEZ: I don't know if you watched our coverage, but I showed and almost did a play by play when we provided the video of the commandos getting on the ship. There it is now again. There, they get down. What do you see? You see them literally being assaulted as they get on the ship.

That, I think, turned the story and I found that most people reported that. Do you not agree?

STOTSKY: Right. And -- right, I would agree. And I did watch some of your coverage and I thought it was quite good, because you did present all points of view. You had good spokes people on. And that's important. And at this point I think what's important now is to follow through, looking at some of the more recent developments like the Turkish angle. We know that the particular group that was on that boat where the altercation, or the fight occurred, there was these members of the Turkish extremist group that thwarted them. I think that --

SANCHEZ: You know, it's funny you should say that, because I carefully referred to hem them as "activists." And other have referred to them as "peace" -- I can't even remember the terminology, because I haven't used it.

But I think it's pretty clear, and to be fair -- and that's not to excuse saying everything that the Israeli commandos did was right, but I don't think it's fair to say that these people didn't have an agenda on the boat and that they weren't activists.

Let's switch the subject and go to Helen Thomas. Fair? Coverage fair on that?

STOTSKY: Yes, it was fair. Something I would like to point out, something that I think was not pointed out as much, it wasn't simply the bigotry that was expressed. It was also the surprising ignorance of what she said. She totally -- she said that Jews should leave Palestine and go back to Germany and Poland.

Well, Israelis, very few Israelis actually trace their heritage back to Germany and Poland. The largest group of Israeli Jews actually came from Arab countries, they were refugees from Arab countries. So for someone at the time that Israel was reestablished, it's surprising how little she knew to make that statement.

SANCHEZ: Yes, 1948. See, that's context. That's good information that you're sharing with us.

OK, we pretty much are in agreement on most of that stuff. Now let's get to the tricky stuff where you and I may have some disagreement. And I think reasonable people that follow the media and the Israeli-Palestinian stories would have arguments.

Let's start with Anthony Cordsman. He wrote a paper recently. It was quoted in "The New York Times." He suggests at times Israel can become a bit of a strategic liability to the United States. Quote, he says in this, "Recent Israel -- Israeli governments, particularly the one led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have ignored the national security concerns of its biggest benefactor," I guess he's alluding to the United States, "the United States, and instead take steps that damage the American interests abroad."

That's a bold statement for a guy to make. Is that a fair criticism that deserves coverage in the United States?

STOTSKY: You know, it's a fair criticism. It's an opinion.

SANCHEZ: Yes, of course. STOTSKY: And certainly he's entitled to air it. And what CNN should do, though, is bring the other side to argue it. I'm not sure of his specific points that he made, but, you know, he has to have specifics where he thinks Israel is acting in a way that's against America's interests.

SANCHEZ: OK. Well, here's some of the specifics that were pointed out, for example, by "The New York Times" and to a certain extent, and I know you'll quibble with programs the way we presented it on this show, and you may have some, you know, fair ammunition there.

Back in March, Israel seemed to humiliate an American vice president. This got lots of press, "Time" magazine, "Newsweek," everybody wrote about it. That's the word they used, "humiliate." Some say it was a snub.

Biden traveled there to assure the peace accord and to confirm that the U.S. has a position opposing Israeli construction of new settlements. So what does the Israeli government do? They announce while he's there that they will build 1,600 new settlement homes in East Jerusalem.

It kind of almost emasculated Biden in the Arab world and made headlines all over the world suggesting that Israel, not the U.S., really wears the pants in our relationship.

That's the kind of thing that recently Americans have been writing about that says, come on, guys, Israel, are you our friend or not? Don't embarrass us like this. Is that a fair story to write, and was that a fair criticism?

STOTSKY: You know, it's a fair story and certainly the Israelis didn't handle it well. But on the other hand, the reason given was simply this was a municipal decision by the city government of Jerusalem, and it was about building more apartments in a section of Jerusalem that was surrounded already by Jewish housing and Hewish neighborhoods.

So I think what the media did was blow it up into something bigger than it really was. It really was a local issue that should have been reported but was not that big a deal.

SANCHEZ: You can understand though, why Vice President Biden felt kind of put upon, though, couldn't you?

STOTSKY: Sure, sure. The timing was very bad, but I think there are bigger issues. And on the bigger issues I think the United States and Israel do go by the same playbook.

SANCHEZ: Most people agree with that. We're talking about nuance here. I think -- I'm glad we're doing this. This is smart for guys like us to have these conversations because I think too often we do stay on the extremes on this thing. Let's go a little deeper into this now. Soon after that incident, both President Obama and a U.S. commander were quoted suggesting that Israel might be hurting our security interests. Obama declared that conflicts like the one in the Middle East ended up, and this is the quote that's been, you know, thrust about out there, "costing us significantly in terms of blood and treasure."

General Petraeus said in Congressional testimony that the lack of progress in the Middle East creates a hostile environment for America.

You took issue with the way we reported that, and you may be fair in your criticism. But what I don't believe is that you were right in that this isn't -- you're right in criticizing the spirit of what our guest was saying here, which is sometimes when it appears that the United States and Israel are in disagreement, it doesn't help the U.S.'s cause overseas. Tackle that, if you will.

STOTSKY: And here again -- sure. And here again the real issue from my point of view and from our point at Camera of view was accuracy. President Obama's statement, if you look at the full statement, he wasn't specifically referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict when he spoke of blood and treasure. He was actually referring to all the conflicts in the Middle East.

SANCHEZ: OK. Yes, could be, he was speaking -- a lack of progress in the Middle East, OK, I can accept that. Most people would say when you talk about the Middle East crisis, you're talking about the problem between the Israelis and the Palestinians. But you're right, that was not hammered down. What's your next point?

STOTSKY: The point with regard to Petraeus, what he was alleged to have said, the point was that many people took -- when you had Mark Perry on in that segment on March 16th, many people took that and were repeating that General Petraeus had said that Israeli actions were endangering the lives of American servicemen in Iraq and Afghanistan when actually General Petraeus never said that.

What he was saying and what the written testimony that you were referring to said was that the failure to make progress in the peace process was creating difficulties for Arab moderates who might cooperate with us, and in terms of their own legitimacy in front of their own people. That's a fair statement to make.

SANCHEZ: You're right. General Petraeus came back several days later and said no, I didn't say that. And he tried to clarify it.

I think most people would take from Petraeus that there was an intimation, a suggestion that as a commander of people fighting in that part of the world, he was concerned, and I think we would agree that, look, we need to make sure it looks like we're both on the same page here, right?

STOTSKY: Right. I would agree with that, yes.

SANCHEZ: You know what? Can we do this again? I enjoyed the conversation. It's good to talk about these issues. Sometimes we get into the micro of these stories that we don't talk about the broad perspectives. I appreciate your time, Mr. Stotsky.

STOTSKY: Thank you very much, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Take care.

Watch this. A border patrol agent says he's justified in shooting a teenager over the border. But a cell phone video that captured the incident might prove otherwise. You will see it for yourself.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. About a month ago we all watched live right here on "RICK'S LIST" as the Dow plunged nearly a thousand points. The SEC is trying to stop that from happening again.

Let's turn to Poppy Harlow who is going to bring us up to date on what's going on. Poppy, the Dow tanked yesterday, but today they don't have to put anything in, right, because it did well all by itself?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I suppose, if you say that, you're right. Let's take a look at the closing numbers on Wall Street. The Dow up 278 points, thank you very much. We'll take those gains. The S&P, the NASDAQ also higher.

Big news of the day, topping our list, Rick, the SEC, what they've done is put in a new rule called circuit breakers for all S&P 500 stocks. In a stock goes up or down 10 percent more in five minutes, they'll pause trading on it, that didn't happen in the crash on May 5th, they'll let the market come to a rational price and then start trading again, hoping this uniformity that you and I talked about live on the air, hope thing will bring that to the market.

And guess what? It's probably going to kick in tomorrow on Wall Street. So a pretty nice ending to the day on Wall Street, up 274 points.

SANCHEZ: Any time you're up 274, you've got to walk away with a smile on your face. Poppy Harlow, always good to see you. You put a smile on my face.

HARLOW: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: By the way, the very latest information on the Joran Van Der Sloot case, there is new information, and you're not going to believe the facts we found out in an investigation about BP. Shocking? I'd say. Stay there. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)