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Rick's List

Raining Oil?; Political Gaffes Aplenty in Washington; Republican Congressional Candidate Speculates Government and BP Colluded; Team USA's victory Over Algeria Delights Soccer Fans; City of Fargo Uses Waste to Generate Energy; Financial Reform Has No Discernible Effect on Wall Street

Aired June 25, 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 ANCHOR: One of the big conversations that we're having on this day on Twitter is the possibility -- and I know it sounds crazy -- but when something goes viral like this has, people have a tendency to start asking questions about it. We're looking at all the different way this might or might not happen. But the video has to do with something put out by the National Wildlife Federation which suggests in this video that it could be raining oil. We will look into that.

Meanwhile, this is what we have got as well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST today.

Is it raining oil in the Gulf Coast? This from the National Wildlife Federation. We will fact-check it.

And look at where the next tropical system in the Gulf might go.

Political gaffes aplenty. Congressman Paul Kanjorski says there are majorities and there -- quote -- "good Americans."

REP. PAUL KANJORSKI (D), PENNSYLVANIA: These are average, good American people. And they're not minorities and they're not defective.

SANCHEZ: Can you say tone-deaf?

Senate candidate Rand Paul has a solution for illegal immigration, an underground electric fence. But how do you get the Mexicans to wear dog collars? You can't make this stuff up, folks.

Then there's North Carolina congressional hopeful Bill Randall's suggestion that Obama's administration caused the oil spill on purpose.

BILL RANDALL (R), NORTH CAROLINA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: There's a possibility that there was some sort of collusion. Maybe they wanted it to leak. Is there a cover-up going on?

SANCHEZ: What's he saying today? It's on this LIST. And then there's this genius.

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: I'm going to show you that viral video in just a little bit, the one that talks about the possibility that people are saying on the Internet and on Twitter that it could be raining oil in the Gulf, but in a moment.

First, just as we thought that things couldn't get any more difficult or any more interesting in the Gulf of Mexico, it seems like they're about to.

There is a really, really good chance that a weather system in the Caribbean could become at least a tropical depression over the weekend. Now, this picture that you're looking at right here is important, because this is what provides the models.

See those lines going all the way around in there? Those models are the storm's potential track, all the things that it could possibly do. Each line signifies a school of thought or a particular scientist who's come up with his own model saying it's going to go. Eventually, those models will converge. And you will get a better idea of exactly what is going on.

And Karen Maginnis is standing by, and she's going to take us through each one of those models and what it means in just a little bit as well.

Now, something else I want to take you to. Oil is hitting the beaches as far east now as the Florida Panhandle. Remember Chad and I had this conversation yesterday? It wasn't about just a little glob here or a little glob there. No, we're talking about actual films that are now being seen in the state of Florida, some of the first that have been seen there.

We're going to be taking a look at some of the video, analyzing it for you. And this is a long layer of oil, a good half-foot under the beach near Pensacola. See that right there? And that's why that's significant, because it's different from some of what we have seen in the past.

The oil washed up on high tide Wednesday. Thursday's high tide covered it up with sand. And, also, watch this. This is from one of our viewers in Pensacola.

I want you --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GREGG HALL, CNN IREPORTER: Walk up and look at our beach. It's unbelievable to think that these used to be called the world's whitest beaches. And look at them now. And God only knows what that is in the water that's making it bubble like it's got acid in it. God help us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "God help us all."

That's iReport -- iReporter video that was sent in to us that we thought -- it had that effect on us. Barbara was producing this segment for me. And when she first saw it, she looked at me and said, hey, Rick, I want you to look at this stuff. I said, you know what? Let's put this at the top of the newscast, because it really represents a sense of discovery by one of our viewers who wanted to send that into us.

Also, now let's talk about that viral video that I have been talking about all day. This is this video of what appears to be to people who have sent it in and to people with the National Wildlife Federation that it's rained oil. They posted it online a couple of days ago. It's gone all over the place.

They're saying these are signs that there's something, either oil or a property of oil, that's rained there in the Gulf.

Put that -- Roger, rack that back up and see if we can listen to what it actually says. Go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you see it. I mean, it's raining oil. It is literally raining oil right here in River Ridge. Very heavy rainstorm came through and you can see, this is oil. Is this not crazy, dude? And you smell it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, Karen Maginnis, let me bring you in to this, because most people would look at this. I have been conversing with people on Twitter over the last half-hour with this, and most people think that's crazy. It can't be.

And yet, you know, there's a part of me that says, this is a strange situation, maybe one we haven't seen in the past. So, first, give us your take.

(CROSSTALK)

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think that they had a heavy rainstorm there. People are hypersensitive to anything that looks like a rainbow in water --

SANCHEZ: Yes. MAGINNIS: -- whether it be on the side of the road or in the streets. You know, after it rains, you oftentimes see a little bit of water and it has a sheen on it. That is some of the material coming from the surface of the asphalt with the wet weather.

SANCHEZ: Scientifically, it's impossible, correct? Because oil's properties are denser than water properties, it's impossible for oil to be collected in either water or vapor, correct?

MAGINNIS: Correct. As we know, water and oil don't mix.

SANCHEZ: Right. And one is heavier than the other.

(CROSSTALK)

MAGINNIS: Exactly. It cannot bind with the oil molecule.

So, if it's going to go up in the atmosphere, it's not going to go 30,000 feet. It's not going to rain oil.

SANCHEZ: However, let me read you something I just read.

MAGINNIS: I know what you're going to ask me.

SANCHEZ: Well, yes. Well, I just -- I have been doing a little research over here. And there's a ton of people with different opinions on this. And it's interesting. Everybody has a different take.

Oil cannot be picked up by the clouds to fall as rain. Oil won't, as you just said, bind with water vapor. However, when oil is mixed with a dispersant known as Corexit 9500, which is what they're using in the Gulf --

MAGINNIS: Correct.

SANCHEZ: -- it will then bind with water and therefore be liable to be vaporized in the hot waters and picked up by clouds.

Sounds crazy, but there are some schools of thought that are saying, because of the Corexit 9500, it may not be oil being picked up, but some of the properties of the oil.

MAGINNIS: And you have made a good point.

Yes, when that dispersant somehow does mix up with that oil molecule, you're looking at something that's a different component than oil. If they were burning offshore, you get that burn, at that point, it becomes a particulate. Particulates combined with the water molecule --

SANCHEZ: Which they have been. They have been burning the oil offshore.

MAGINNIS: Exactly. Exactly.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

MAGINNIS: So, I'm thinking what we're seeing is surface runoff, either from cars or things that have run off agriculturally or just from the road.

SANCHEZ: Yes. But, well, I think we should probably leave our viewers with this. The science says this can't happen.

MAGINNIS: Can't happen.

SANCHEZ: All right. And is there something else out there that we might learn in the next couple of weeks? Maybe. But right now, the science says no.

MAGINNIS: Exactly. And I think a whole lot is going to happen. And we will talk about this in a few minutes. We're going to learn a lot if this tropical disturbance develops.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's do that. Let's go to the map and let's talk now, if we can, about these different models. I see you have drawn the lines there. Tell me what happens to the oil if this model vis-a-vis that model develops.

MAGINNIS: We have yet a lot to learn, Rick. There is a lot.

And this is still in the development stages. First of all, we have never seen anything like this. Here's the oil, a very clear depiction of where that oil is presently located. You can see, at some point, it starts to drift. No matter what the wind currents are or anything, it just is going to drift towards the shore.

What we're looking at here -- and I will point this out -- this is the Yucatan and you see all these what we call spaghetti models.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Those are the different theories.

MAGINNIS: Exactly.

SANCHEZ: It could go here. It could go there. It could go there.

MAGINNIS: And they plug this into their computers, their different theories, past history, what the system will do, might do, could do, should do --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MAGINNIS: -- theoretically what happens this time of year.

And you can see this one particular model, this, believe it or not, is the preferred model. Why? Because it's going to be to the east of this oil. That means it's going to push it away, push it away from the coast. But --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Because -- because a hurricane is counterclockwise.

MAGINNIS: Correct.

SANCHEZ: So it's spinning it left.

MAGINNIS: So, if we get these particular spaghetti models that come true, then we have got a problem. One, you start churning up the water here, and it could start to send this over towards areas that have yet to see that.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: That's interesting. So, that's interesting. The storm that goes toward Pensacola is more apt to push the oil away from Florida. The one that goes into the Louisiana area is more apt to push it toward Florida.

MAGINNIS: Yes. This is a preferred scenario. To the west of this oil spill, we don't want that.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: You're wonderful, Karen. Thanks. Sorry to start you with such a tough question there at the beginning. But I'm telling you --

(LAUGHTER)

MAGINNIS: It can't rain oil.

SANCHEZ: -- it's what people are talking about.

MAGINNIS: Yes, I can see why people would think that, because you're hypersensitive right now along the Gulf Coast.

SANCHEZ: Yes. It's what everyone is talking about.

MAGINNIS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: OK.

Watch this. Rand Paul wants to run not this type of fence but an electric fence under the border with Mexico. Is he talking about something similar to what they use to restrain dogs? Well, the question then is, would you have to put dog collars on the people you're trying to keep out of the United States for that to work? Crazy question. Crazy comment.

Also, this: Canada hosts the G8 and the G20 summits and they're using like "James Bond"-type equipment, which is making some serious waves, literally. And folks are taking this to the highest court to try and stop them. That's next on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: All right, some bullet points now.

Everyone's watching a couple of small towns near Toronto this weekend. Why? World leaders have gathered for the G8 and the G20 summit once again. The standard class photo, yes, you see President Obama and his host, Stephen Harper, all the leaders of the world's 20 most influential economies.

There are two sides to every one of these gatherings, the inside and the outside. Inside is policy, global economic discussions, banking regulation, and reform. It's the only time the presidents and prime ministers and chancellors get a chance to look at each other face to face.

Outside of these meetings is never civilized. Angry protesters gather. They clash violently with riot police. They think those guys in suits are just screwing up the world, that they're greedy rich guys, demonstrators trying to get attention to get more or less globalization. They're more -- their emphasis is on poverty and war. Whatever the cause is that they throw in front of the world's television cameras, they show up, protesters that is.

All right, show some of these pictures now, President Obama walking out, meeting Prime Minister Stephen Harper, other world leaders meeting Harper as well. CNN is all over the G8 and the G20 summit. We're going to watch from inside and outside. We're not going to spend too much time there today because, frankly, there is no news there today. The news will begin when the meetings begin.

That is Saturday and Sunday. Coming up in a couple of minutes, though, we're going to get a report from Jeanne Meserve about the security situation. Now, there may be some news there, what police are expecting to deal with, and cars filled with weapons that have been found already, and a special technique that they're using there that has some protesters taking them to the courts, saying, you can't do this. It's almost like a "James Bond"-style wave device. We will have that for you.

America, look at this. Look at that one lady with the wide-open mouth. She's -- Americans are overwhelmed with soccer mania. But what's the reality of soccer in America? What really will happen when this match is over? That's ahead on the LIST.

And then the poster boy of everything that is wrong with Washington politics is now working at a pizza joint. Would you eat his pizza? Would you buy a pizza from this, the most intriguing person in the news today?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have established contact with a correspondent who's standing by on the beaches of Pensacola, Florida. He's with WEAR.

Jake Peterson is standing by.

Jake, we have been getting reports that there's even more oil on the beaches than they have seen in the last couple of days. There seems to be an accumulative effect forming there. Would you let us know what have you seen with your own two eyes and what's there?

JAKE PETERSON, WEAR REPORTER: Sure.

Well, on Tuesday, globs and globs of oil covered Pensacola Beach, really this whole stretch of this popular vacation spot here. It's been less and less each day. We have seen no oil sheen today.

But if you take a look, this is what's left over from Tuesday and Wednesday. Cleanup crews have been out here for two days, and you can still see plenty of oil, tar balls out here right now. And, of course, people are vacationing around this and the BP cleanup crews who are out here right now.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Jake -- Jake, I can't tell what that is. Your cameraman is too far away. Is there any way you can get a little tighter and show us what that looks like up close, or are you too far?

PETERSON: Sure. Well, if we come over here --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Yes, because, otherwise, it just looks like seaweed.

(CROSSTALK)

PETERSON: You have got these tar balls here.

SANCHEZ: All right.

PETERSON: Yes, this is sticky, and it smells, too, like oil right here. These are the tar balls.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: So, hey, Jake, that's like --

(CROSSTALK)

PETERSON: And if you want to a look -- Marcus, if you want to --

SANCHEZ: Is that in the sand?

PETERSON: Yes, it's in the sand.

And some of it's actually been -- obviously the waves come in and bury -- bury some of the oil right here. So, these cleanup crews have been busy obviously for the last two days with shovels and also sand rakes, machines trying to get this oil off the beach. But it really is still visible when you're down here.

SANCHEZ: I guess what I was trying to ask -- and I guess -- obviously we have got a little bit of a satellite delay, which maybe it sounds like I'm asking a question and then there's a delay and then you answer. So, it almost sounds like we're interrupting each other. And I apologize for that.

But I guess the reason I'm asking this question is because we just filed a report a little while ago that said that, OK, there was a little bit of an oil slick, and then the oil slick went away. And then high tide came and then there was sand on top of the oil.

So, what they were saying in this report was if you dig into the sand, you almost find like a film of oil in it. Is there any truth to that?

PETERSON: Well, yes, I mean, that's what we have been seeing. The sand, if you take a look here, you can see oil. It's underneath. It's been buried right now. And these sand rakes have been coming through and trying to pick it up. But, yes, that's what we have been hearing, is that these -- that some of the oil is still in the sand buried.

SANCHEZ: Wow. All right, those are beautiful beaches, though. And it still looks like you could go to the beach there. It doesn't look like it's completely swamped under by this.

Jake Peterson doing a good job for us there.

Thanks, Jake.

PETERSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate you taking time to reach out to us, man. Really nice.

All right, watch this. This is an eight-legged sea creature that is literally being used to pick the World Cup winners. And so far, he's been on, on every game, or so they say. This psychic octopus is ahead.

Also, no lack of political gaffes today. We told you yesterday about the congressman who said the president caused the oil spill on purpose. So, what's he saying today? That's next right here on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to RICK'S LIST. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Topping today's political list, gaffes du jour.

The list? Well, first, from Democratic Congressman Paul Kanjorski. The Pennsylvania representative He seems to suggest that minorities are not good Americans. Let me say that again. If you're a minority, you're not a good American. Uh-oh.

Here. Take a listen to what he says for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KANJORSKI: Some people who lose their jobs do not have enough money, not to make the next payment on the mortgage, but the third payment on the mortgage.

And they can anticipate the unemployment this time will be much longer than it was in almost any past recession that we have heard of. And when they get to that third payment that's due, they look at their two or three children. They look at their humble home, which in Pennsylvania, in my district, may have a value of only $50,000. The entire mortgage payment may be only $180 or $200.

But they have run out of any reserves. They have no one that can come to their rescue. And their question now is to take their little family, after 15 or 20 years in a home on a 30-year-long mortgage, and half of the home has been paid off, and they have got to decide to get their little cart from the supermarket, fill it up with whatever they can put in that cart, and they go out and they live under a bridge.

Well, the experience in Pennsylvania and the reason I and other of my colleagues have fought for this program isn't because we're trying to give relief to people that aren't responsible, that don't know what the hell they're doing or don't care what they're doing.

We're giving relief to people that I deal with in my office every day now, unfortunately, that, because of the longevity of this recession, these are people -- and they're not minorities, and they're not defective, and they're not all the things you would like to insinuate that these programs are about -- these are average, good American people.

Most of them have been veterans or served, responsible, have worked all their lives, but they are not full of money. They live paycheck to paycheck, and they always will because they're in the lower margins of our society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: OK. It took a while to get to it, but I think you heard what he said. First, he insinuated that there were minorities, and then he said, well, they're not minorities. They're good Americans.

Of course, a lot of people are wondering today if he's insinuating that good Americans can't be minorities, or vice versa.

There's more, though.

Paul Steinhauser is CNN's deputy political director.

Paul, in Kentucky, Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul, really? Is he suggesting that we could use electric underground fences across the border with Mexico? And then wouldn't that mean that millions of Mexicans would have to wear dog collars?

(LAUGHTER) PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Rick, this story's been getting a lot of hits on the liberal and progressive blogs over the last day, I guess (INAUDIBLE) the Huffington Post.

OK. Here's what it says on Rand Paul's Web site. Remember, Rand Paul, as you mentioned, he is the Kentucky Republican nominee for Senate. It says -- talking about border security now -- it says: "My plan includes an underground electronic fence with helicopter stations to respond quickly to breaches of the border."

That is what he is proposing. So, the Huffington Post did this article in which they highlighted this. I spoke to Rand Paul's campaign manager today. And he said, you know what? First of all, he said, Rick, he said -- he says the Huffington Post story is a hit job. That's how he characterizes it.

He says they're taking it way out of context. He says what the candidate is suggesting is that there would be these electronic monitors underground with infrared technology that would I guess indicate if anybody was crossing the border, and then helicopters would come out to see who is crossing the border.

So, they're saying it's a bunch of -- a lot to do about nothing. But it's got a lot of people on the left definitely talking, Rick.

SANCHEZ: But it doesn't sound like -- I mean, even when you were just explaining it now, it didn't sound like you had a comprehensive explanation, because --

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: And I'm not blaming it on you, Paul. You have done your due diligence. It doesn't sound like they have got a comprehensive explanation.

STEINHAUSER: I think you will -- my guess is you will probably hear Rand Paul or his campaign sometime over -- if this story continues, he will try to spell out a little further in detail what his Web site says when it comes to border security.

SANCHEZ: OK.

STEINHAUSER: Remember, Rick, This is a big issue with a lot of people in this country and especially those on the conservative side. Border security is a very top issue. And a lot of the candidates on the conservative side want to show how tough they are when it comes building a fence and stopping illegal -- yes, the entry of illegal immigrants.

SANCHEZ: I get it. I certainly understand the politics of it.

STEINHAUSER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: The problem is, what are the specifics of the plan? Just to say, you want to do some kind of underground system that detects people crossing the border, well, you need more than just to say that. I mean, "James Bond" plans are aplenty. The question, is will they work?

All right, let's move on to number three.

STEINHAUSER: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Listen. I want you to listen to North Carolina Republican Congressional candidate Bill Randall's theory about the BP oil disaster. Now, we talked about this a little bit yesterday. Does it sound to you like he's saying that the government, the Obama administration, is actually behind the oil spill itself?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDALL: Personally, I feel there's a possibility that there was some sort of collusion -- I don't know how or why. But in that situation, if you have someone from a company proposing to violate the safety process and then the government signing off on it, excuse me, maybe they wanted it to leak.

But then it got beyond what was anticipated and we had an explosion and loss of life. And, oh, man, now we have panic. Is there a cover-up going on? I'm not saying there necessarily is. But I think that there are enough facts on the table for people that really need to do so to do some investigative research and find out what went on with that and getting a subpoena of records and everything else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I'm not saying that they're necessarily is, but I do believe that there's enough evidence for someone to go out there and find out whether Barack Obama caused the oil spill and George Bush personally brought down the two twin towers.

STEINHAUSER: Yes. What he's saying is, he said, personally, I think there was some kind of collusion between the government and BP. Maybe they wanted it to leak. That's what he said. That got a lot of hits on YouTube after that happened.

Fast-forward a day or two later when he says in a news conference, "I have not or do not accuse any entity, private or government, of wrongdoing." So trying to backtrack a little bit or dial back from those comments.

Remember, on Tuesday he won that runoff for the Republican nomination. He now is the Republican nominee. He's going to go up against a guy called Brad Miller, a Democrat, four terms down there, pretty popular. I spoke to a Republican source, and he told me, this seat is way off the radar and they're kind of keeping their distance from what was said, Rick.

SANCHEZ: It's interesting. He says he wasn't trying to insinuate that anybody had done anything wrong. But he said "collusion." Collusion is doing something wrong. So it begs the question, well, that's what we're here to do is ask. Paul, thanks so much. Have a great weekend. STEINHAUSER: Thanks, man.

SANCHEZ: Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We'll put in place the toughest consumer financial protections in our history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The House and the Senate on wall street reform, that is ahead.

And guess what we found America's dumbest crook? If you like to dance to "Fotos," pop a cold one, because here it comes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. This is your show, your national conversation. This is "RICK'S LIST."

You've heard of the keystone cops, right? We're going to bring you the keystone crooks. Let's do "Fotos."

Robbery in a rush in Miami, my hometown, turns into a comedy of errors. Blooper number one -- clothesline, oops, didn't see that coming. Maybe he should try his hand at pro wrestling. Blooper number two now -- this crook pounds away at the display case to no avail. Then his buddy simply slides open the door on the other side. Hey, man, work smarter, not harder.

Blooper number three -- they left one of their crew behind and had to go back for him. Police gave chase and then caught one of them. Despite getting nabbed, he showed a little love for the camera as officers hauled him away.

And then soccer may be a game of legs but this guy in Germany predicts the winner using eight arms. That's right. Paul the octopus -- a lot of Pauls in the show today -- has accurately predicted the results of Germany's three World Cup games so far. But Brits cried foul when this English-born mollusk predicted Germany would beat their team in Sunday's match.

Now look at this for a moment, it's kind of mind-boggling. A driver in San Antonio crashed into this apartment complex leasing office sideways. I guess he went be getting his deposit back. He admitted to leaving a bar just before the crash. Really? You don't say.

By the way, you can see all of "Fotos del Dia" and hear the music, you can find "Fotos" on my blog, CNN.com/RickSanchez.

That's General Petraeus. He's days away from his confirmation hearing. But what is he saying? And is there any regret? That's ahead on the political list. It's an exclusive.

Also, a man says that BP and Transocean knew the oil spill was bound to happen because they knew it before it happened. He says he warned some of those officials about potential problems on the rig weeks before the explosion even happened.

He isn't the first insider that's tried to expose a company's alleged wrongdoings. I've got a list for you of famous whistle- blowers. That is next. Who are they?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: By the way, we have gotten a lot of response to the segment we started the show with. There's this viral video going around that seems to suggest there's a possibility that somehow either a mist or some type of cloud formation could cause what they're calling a rain of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

It's scientifically impossible. However, there are some who are saying because of the chemicals that have been used in the Gulf, it is a possibility. And we've got several professors and scientists who have been tweeting me, and we're trying to see if we can get them on and have them explain to you what the potential properties are inside of oil that could make it somehow dilute. Again, we're going to try to let the experts take this to you.

In the meantime, look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You noticed a leak in some part of that blowout preventer which is basically the safety valve of this entire well, is that correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is. Like I say, I don't know exactly what that leak controlled --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is the guy who spotted the leak, first spotted the leak. And it seems, according to what we have found out, that nobody wanted to listen to him. That's an exclusive interview that we're going to bring you here on CNN. That's ahead.

Also, Americans converted into World Cup fans. But how long will that last? That's next, and it's on "The List."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your national conversation.

Fact, Americans love baseball, football, and NBA basketball. Fact, Americans never have been able to give a hoot about soccer. But suddenly Americans are like soccer crazy. You want to see it for yourself? Look at this report by Jeanne Moos. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It may be more refreshing than even a moment of Zen, the moment of goal. The kick that beat Algeria was like a kick in the pants, making Americans jump up in bars from Seattle to Nebraska.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like, I need to take a Xanax.

MOOS: True, some Americans are probably more familiar with disco balls than soccer balls.

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Soccer, the sport for fourth-graders that foreign people take seriously.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: Now even Steven Colbert is a soccer convert, and blurry videos of the moment of goal being uploaded like mad to YouTube. Who's watching all these moment of goal videos online? How about the guy who kicked the goal? Landon Donovan told CNN he'd been surfing the web.

LANDON DONOVAN, TEAM USA: I spent all morning watching all the reactions in the bars around the country.

MOOS: Even far from TV's the moment of goal could be heard ever so distantly on the Senate floor and at the White House. President Obama told the U.S. team he heard cheers erupt while he was meeting with General Petraeus discussing General McChrystal's fate. Most folks watching were thrilled --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the exception of one terrified patron.

MOOS: Some put the moment of goal to music. And some singletons enjoyed the moment of goal alone.

MOOS (on camera): Sometimes you can tell a lot by focusing on one great face. No, not that face.

MOOS (voice-over): Faces like the lady in pink's. She went from being prayerful to patting her chest and pumping her arms, mouth open so wide a soccer ball could almost fit, holding her face, practically worshipping, heaving a sigh, and finally smothered under the jersey of Donovan the guy who made the kick.

One announcer stretched the moment of goal --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Goal!

MOOS: A full 11 seconds. And then when he finally, finally ran out of breath, he did it again.

For a moment of goal this rare, it's worth getting down on your knees.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Here's the pivotal question, who are these people? Where have they been and where are they going to go as soon as this thing is over if the U.S. loses, like its next match? I want to bring in "USA Today" sports columnist Christine Brennan. Those questions to you, because you've been writing about this.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, "USA TODAY" SPORTS COLUMNIST: Yes, rick. I think where these people go, they'll go back to watching baseball or college football or getting ready for college or pro football. The World Cup of soccer is once every four years. It kicks off the quadrennial conversation about, is soccer ever going to be our national sport like other countries?

And the answer is, no, of course it's not. But it's a fun filler for several weeks during the summer.

SANCHEZ: Do you not get the sense as I do that many of the people hooting and hollering are people who normally aren't sports fans?

BRENNAN: I think they're soccer people and that's great. We've raised several generations of kids playing soccer. Soccer is mostly a participatory sport in our country. When these kids grow up, they tend to watch baseball, football or other --

SANCHEZ: That's weird. You go to any park in the United States, my neighborhood, your neighborhood, and you're right. You're going to see little girls, little boys, everybody playing soccer, thousands of people out in the field. Seven years later they don't give a hoot about soccer anymore. What happens?

BRENNAN: You know, I think they become Americanized in the sense that you play soccer, you don't watch soccer. I don't know if that will change maybe 100 years from now when we're dead, maybe soccer will be our national sport, but I don't think so. We have too many sports we care about in our country, too many allegiances.

Our passion might be Michigan or Ohio State or Auburn or Alabama. So we don't have room to shoehorn soccer in the way these other countries do.

And, you know, it's not me being a killjoy or you. It's the TV ratings. Even that game which got a 4.6 TV rating, believe it or not, rick, the NFL draft which is 15 minutes of waiting for a phone to ring and an announcement and 15 more minutes, the NFL draft got a higher TV rating by almost a million viewers than that game.

SANCHEZ: Oh, yes. We can get all excited and show a lot of Jeanne Moos packages but there really is no comparison between this, the NBA baseball, Major League Baseball, and football.

One final thing. What about the fact that there's all of these different types of Americans nowadays? We are becoming a much more diverse nation, many Hispanics, for example. Will that tilt it a little bit you think? What have you found?

BRENNAN: I think it will tilt it a little bit. That's a great point. Especially Hispanics, you look at Los Angeles and along the border in Florida, places like that. So yes, I think we will love soccer more than we used to.

SANCHEZ: Never enough.

BRENNAN: It's a blip on the radar screen except during this time and the women's World Cup which is still the highest rated program in soccer, not the men's, but the women's from 1999.

SANCHEZ: Good lord I thought I had you there at the end. Great stuff. You know what? You're a great guest. I'm so glad I had a chance to talk to you. This is a good conversation.

BRENNAN: Thanks, Rick, my pleasure. Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

What if a storm spins up into the Gulf of Mexico? We've got different models. You're seeing them right there that show different scenarios. OK. The obvious question is what happens to the oil if a storm actually blows through? That's our job to try and explain this to you. That's what we're going to do for you.

Also, are greenies who say you can turn trash into cash, are they right? I'm going to let you know. We have a report on this, next. You're watching "RICK'S LIST." I'm Rick Sanchez. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This landfill in Fargo, North Dakota was once a stinky reminder of waste. But city officials recognized a gift in all that garbage.

BRUCE GRUBB, FARGO ENTERPRISE DIRECTOR: We've got resources here available to us that formerly weren't utilized at all. For example the methane gas was escaping into the atmosphere.

WHITFIELD: Now the methane gas that once raised a stink generates cash for the city.

MIKE WILLIAMS, FARGO CITY COMMISSIONER: If you can smell it we can sell it. That which used to just be right under our nose turned into cash and new energies.

WHITFIELD: Last year alone the city generated almost $2 million from renewable energy and conservation initiatives with the help of local industry partnerships.

JAYSEN SCHOCK, CARGILL FACILITY SUPERINTENDANT: Today the methane is about 30 percent of the fuel needs we need to operate our plant.

WHITFIELD: But trash is not the only treasure here in Fargo. Last year Fargo brought in nearly $1 million by selling waste water to a nearby ethanol plant. The water is treated and used in the production process instead of being dumped in the Red River.

Innovations like biodiesel buses and LED traffic lights have residents seeing and saving green.

WILLIAMS: We didn't have to raise our property taxes this last year. That's an example of how taxpayers benefit by conservation efforts and making better use of resources.

WHITFIELD: Fredricka Whitfield, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)