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Rick's List
Raining Oil on Gulf Coast?; Oil Rig Whistle-Blower Speaks Out; Dr. Conrad Murray's Patients
Aired June 25, 2010 - 15:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the president of the United States, his numbers aren't necessarily going up, but he is getting a lot of legislation passed, including Wall Street reform. And he is saying this about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Credit card companies will no longer be able to mislead you with pages and pages of fine print. You will no longer be subject to all kinds of hidden fees and penalties or the predatory practices of unscrupulous lenders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And what effect would that have on Wall Street? Let's go. Let -- let's go up there and find out what's going -- look, we have got a Miami girl covering Wall Street today.
Alison Kosik is good enough to join us from Sunshine State to all those folks trying to make all that money.
How are you?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes. Hi, Rick.
SANCHEZ: I'm doing great.
I'm wondering, what -- what effect -- did you hear any rumblings over there today about the Wall Street reform that some say is not that much of a reform?
KOSIK: Yes.
You know, traders really aren't terribly worried about it. They're actually relieved that it didn't turn out to be any more strict than it was said to be.
You know, at this point they're saying it's really a fair compromise. Their only big change for them is that they're going to -- for banks, at least, they are going to have to move their derivative trades to a subsidiary and kind of keep it separate.
But, overall, traders are saying that they're feeling pretty good about this. As far as the numbers go, you know, you didn't see much movement all day, so no conviction one way or the other, not completely upset, not completely thrilled.
(BELL RINGING)
KOSIK: So, it's just kind of ho-hum as far as financial reform goes, Rick.
SANCHEZ: I hear a lot of --
KOSIK: We're hearing --
SANCHEZ: I hear a lot of hooting and hollering back there. That's the first time I have seen a plus sign in at least four or five days.
KOSIK: It's been a few days. We did have some upside this week. It's been a tumultuous week, though, and especially today. Stocks have been up. They have been down. We are ending in the positive, though. That's a great way to end a Friday, don't you think, Rick?
SANCHEZ: I can't complain. You know what? And I'm glad to see you. We got a couple Sunshine Staters here doing the news.
KOSIK: Exactly. There you go.
SANCHEZ: It's good to see you, Alison. Take care.
All right, here's what we're going to do for you next. As we begin this newscast, I am honored to report that we are the news of record for American Forces Network at this hour. It is about 4:00.
We welcome all the troops watching overseas, a special shout-out today to the soldiers and the Marines that are watching us in Afghanistan. Here is your nation's national conversation.
(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?
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: Hello, everybody. Welcome. It's Friday. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is hour two. Time to pick up the pace a little bit of today's LIST for those of you just now checking in.
And want you to look at this video. It's just in to CNN. That's what they call the class photo. It's the way that every world leader gathering begins -- every world leaders gathering begins. There you go. I got it right. This is Huntsville, Ontario, just north of Toronto. It's where the Group of Eight and the Group of 20, these summits, are going to be held.
President Obama is there. We just saw him. Prime Minister Harper is there of Canada. There he is. British Prime Minister Cameron, I think you got a good glimpse of him just a moment ago. This is going by so fast. Also, the prime ministers of Italy and Japan, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, all there.
All right. Let's leave the inside agenda alone for just a second. I want to talk to you now about the worried police outside the agenda. The usual gaggle of protesters are expected to show up. They are going to be gathering crowds themselves.
And there is concern over the security.
In fact, I want you to watch this piece that Jeanne Meserve, who is there, has been for the last couple of days, has put together for us. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A car outfitted with a makeshift roof carrier is pulled over in downtown Toronto. Inside, police find a loaded crossbow, pellet guns, a chain saw, sledgehammer, jugs of gasoline, and more. It turned out not to be a threat to the G-20, but police were more than ready to respond. The city is swarming with security. Demonstrators tore through Seattle in 1999 and authorities do not want a repeat here. On Thursday, a demonstration highlighted the issues of Canada's indigenous people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Addictions, suicide rates, education being at the forefront of all of those.
MESERVE: Several thousand thronged through downtown.
(on camera): This demonstration is pretty large and pretty loud, but also pretty tasteful. Perhaps, because of all these police lining the parade route.
(voice-over): But this is just the beginning. More demonstrators and more trouble are expected this weekend when the G-20 is under way. 20,000 police and security personnel had been brought in from across Canada, roving to detect and deter trouble. Businesses are slapping up plywood to protect windows. Some will be forced to close all together.
At the hockey hall of fame, the statues on the front lawn are encased in wood to protect them from graffiti. Sound canons are on hand for communication, police say, but some claim they could cause hearing loss. The price tag for security for the two summits, about a billion dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So far, there's been no violence at all. I don't know. It's just -- I don't know, I think it's ridiculous.
MESERVE: Waste of money?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Waste of money, for sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, I find it insulting that they wasted that much money on it. It's far in excess of what we need.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe they're spending a billion dollars on security. Why can't they do it over the Internet?
MESERVE: But government officials say with so many world leaders descending on the area, they have to be prepared for anything, and they are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to ensure that the delegates are safe as well as the citizens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYRONE BENTON, ROV TECHNICIAN ON DEEPWATER HORIZON: We flew down to the pod and saw that's there was a -- there was an angular fitting that had a leak on it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He says he saw the leak. He is one of the very first to spot the leak on the oil well in Gulf, in the blowout preventer. He says he warned his bosses, but they didn't do anything about it, at a time when they could have possibly prevented this disaster.
This is a CNN exclusive that will probably make you mad as you watch it. That's coming your way.
Also, it's been a year since Michael Jackson -- since Michael Jackson died -- the latest on the legal case. And we're also going to take you to his grave site, where family and fans are gathering.
That's next right here on the LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And I welcome you back to my LIST. Good to have you.
Here's the roundup list of the news stories in the -- that we have been following for you today. It's been a year since Michael Jackson's death. His father's expected to file a wrongful death suit against Dr. Conrad Murray, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death after Jackson died of an overdose of the anesthesia propofol.
Today is the deadline for any civil suit to be filed. We will let you know what happens with that.
Meanwhile, I want you to see some live pictures now. This is at the mausoleum in Glendale, California. That's where Mr. Jackson's family and his fans are pausing and stopping by to honor him -- lots of crowd control there.
OK, here's number two. There he is, the alleged Jamaican drug lord Christopher "Dudus" Coke, finally. He has been appearing in a federal court in New York. A search for him last month in Jamaica set off that deadly gun battle we told you about.
More than 70 people were killed. He is suspected of running a huge drug and weapons operation between New York and Jamaica. And, today, he stood before a judge and pled not guilty.
An update now on the Joran van der Sloot case. Peruvian police are saying that they found skin underneath the fingernails of the young woman that van der Sloot is accused of killing. Peruvian police say the amount of skin was small, but DNA tests show that might indicate who the skin came from. And that might in fact hurt the case, at least for Mr. van der Sloot. Police are waiting, by the way, still for some of those results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You may have been the first person to detect a problem with that blowout preventer? You probably were, correct?
BENTON: Probably.
GRIFFIN: You reported it, as you should have, correct?
BENTON: Correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Here's the question now. Why didn't anyone listen to this guy? If he was the very first to spot a leak in the blowout preventer and it could have been days, if not weeks before the oil rig exploded, if he told his bosses, but no one did anything about it, are they even more liable now?
This is a story that will likely make you mad as you watch it. It's a CNN exclusive. You will hear it next. The first interview with the man in charge -- General Petraeus, he talks to our own Dana Bash. That's coming up as well -- two exclusives.
We will be back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
General David Petraeus is making our follow-up list, and for good reason, Senate confirmation hearings for General Petraeus set to begin Tuesday. If approved, he will take over the top military spot in Afghanistan for General Stanley McChrystal, the ousted former commander.
CNN's Dana Bash got an exclusive with General Petraeus. Well, you know how she did it? By using some old-fashioned techniques. They're called burning shoe leather. This is his first interview since the Stanley McChrystal controversy.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Well, it's a privilege to serve. It's obviously a hugely important mission.
It's very sad that I have to assume it in this manner. We obviously all have enormous respect and gratitude to General McChrystal for all that he did. He's played a key role in helping get the inputs right in Afghanistan, as I described on Capitol Hill on the second day I testified.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Uh-huh. Do you see yourself doing anything to change the 2011 deadline to begin troop withdrawal?
PETRAEUS: No. As I said, I support the president's policy, and I will also provide my best professional military advice as we conduct assessments.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Petraeus, as you may know, became a household name as the Iraq commander behind additional troop forces.
Can this eight-legged oracle really foresee the outcome of World Cup matches? It's crazy, but there's a lot of other crazy stuff out there.
It's Friday. We are going to be right back with RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: The whistle-blower who tried to warn BP and Transocean that something wasn't right weeks before the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, he's not the first to try to call a big company or someone out for some type of alleged wrongdoings.
This is my list of famous whistle-blowers.
Number four, Sergeant Joseph Darby. He sent the anonymous note and photos that brought to light the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib in 2003. The next three whistle-blowers were named "TIME" magazine's person of the year in 2002. And, oftentimes, these are people who make decisions at own -- at their own personal risk and sacrifice.
For their parts in exposing fraud and corruption in the United States, number 3, Cynthia Cooper. She spilled the beans on then telecommunications giant WorldCom's knack for fudging or lying about their books. Number 2, Sherron Watkins, took on one of the biggest cases of corporate fraud in U.S. history. She testified against Enron, exposing the extent of their corruption.
But number one on the list of the most famous whistle-blowers is Coleen Rowley, the former FBI special agent who blew the whistle on the agency's failure to act on tips about suspected terrorists who would later be the people involved in the 9/11 attacks.
There you have it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGG HALL, CNN IREPORTER: 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: An iReport from South -- or pardon me -- from Pensacola. That's the northern Panhandle of Florida. It looks like a black tide, according to the iReport as we received it. Now people are talking about black rain. Say it ain't so. We're looking into it.
Also, these guys make our list of the dumbest criminals. And you will see why. Oh, that's going to leave a mark. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You have heard of the Keystone Cops, right? We all grew up watching those. Well, some of us grew up watching those.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I want to bring you the Keystone crooks now. Let's do "Fotos."
This is robbery in a rush in Miami turned into a comedy of errors. Blooper number one. Whoa! Clotheslined. Maybe this genius should give up crime and try his hand at pro wrestling. Blooper number two: This crook pounds away at the display case, to no avail, and then his buddy simply slides open the door on the other side.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Hey, 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 they caught one of them. Despite getting nabbed, he showed a little love for the camera as officers hauled him away.
All right. Let's continue. Soccer may be a game of legs, but this guy in Germany predicts the winner using eight arms. Paul the octopus 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. Ain't making this up. He really has.
All right, now, just a look at this for a moment. It's kind of mind-boggling. A driver in San Antonio crashes into an apartment complex leasing office sideways. I guess he won't be getting his deposit back after all. Police say he admitted to leaving the bar just before the crash. You think?
All right. You can see all of our "Fotos" by just going to my blog, and all you have to do is put in CNN.com/Rick Sanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN: Panic on board, screaming?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Panic, screaming, people jumping overboard. It was completely chaos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Eleven of his friends died in that oil rig explosion. He says what he saw and reported many have prevented -- may have deaths, but nobody did anything about it. Wait until you hear this exclusive story. It's coming right up after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Here, the report now that we have been talking about. There is damning new allegations against BP and Transocean on what may have triggered the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf, or, more to the point, what maybe wasn't done about it.
A survivor says that he warned his bosses about a leak weeks before the blast. That whistle-blower was willing to sit down in this exclusive interview with CNN's Drew Griffin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tyrone Benton may well have seen the first signs something was very, very wrong on the Deepwater Horizon.
(on camera): Did you ever get close enough to the leak to see what exactly was leaking?
TYRONE BENTON, ROV TECHNICIAN ON DEEPWATER HORIZON: Yes. We flew down to the pod and saw that there was an angular fitting that had a leak on it. What was connected to the angular fitting wasn't able to see, but there was an angular fitting that did have a leak.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): It was a fluid leak on one of the two pods. Those are the mechanisms that control the blowout preventer. If they don't work, the blowout preventer doesn't work. A leak, even if only a trickle, is a warning.
BENTON: Yes. It was abnormal.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Abnormal enough that you reported it to your company to Transocean, to BP?
BENTON: That's correct.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): One pod is always working, the other, says University of Texas petroleum engineer, Tad Patzek is designed as its immediate backup.
PROF. TAD PATZEK, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS: I don't think that there is any discussion of that basic fact. And the basic fact is that you have to do whatever it takes to fix the -- fully the blowout preventer as soon as you can.
GRIFFIN: Patzek says the solution is to immediately close off the well, raise the blowout preventer, find out what's wrong, and fix it.
PATZEK: Anything less than that, you know, might have led, or probably led, to a major failure of the well and the results are well known.
GRIFFIN: Back on board the Deepwater Horizon, several weeks before the explosion, Tyrone Benton knew he was looking at a potentially dangerous leak, that the BOP, the blowout preventer, was at possible risk for failure.
(on camera): And it was taken care of?
BENTON: It wasn't taken care of. In order to take care of it, you have to pull the whole BOP, which will shut down production. From like I said, from my understanding, they just shut down one pod and work off the other.
GRIFFIN: Tyrone, 11 people dead.
BENTON: Yes. GRIFFIN (voice-over): For the better part of a day, the leak was studied, observed, measured. The most prudent course, to fix it, says Benton, was ruled out.
(on camera): And so instead --
BENTON: They went ahead and shut down that particular pod, the yellow pod, and started working off the other pod.
GRIFFIN: You likened that to shutting down one engine of a twin- engine plane.
BENTON: That's correct.
GRIFFIN: You can do it.
BENTON: Yes.
GRIFFIN: But not ideal.
BENTON: If you have to, then you can.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Day after day, says Benton, the fluid leak continued. Day after day, BP and Transocean were notified.
(on camera): You're the first person that's come forward that I know of that said, we have this problem, it was a leak. Instead of properly fixing the leak, officials from BP and Transocean decided to bypass that leak. It's hard to determine, as you said, whether or not that leak had anything to do with this, but certainly the prudent thing, the most safe thing to do would have been to pull up that blowout preventer, fix it and put it back down.
Is that not correct?
BENTON: Yes, you could look at it that way, yes.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): No one listened, and a few weeks later, Tyrone Benton was lying in his bunk on the Deepwater Horizon when the first explosion knocked him out of bed. The second covered him in debris as he scrambled to find his flashlight. It was pitch black.
(on camera): Panic on-board? Screaming?
BENTON: Panic, screaming, people jumping overboard. It was completely chaos. And I could hear my supervisor telling everybody "let's go, let's go, let's get on the life boats. We've got to go, we got to go." And he kept his head, he kept his cool.
Most of us were just panicking. We wanted to go, like right then. But we had to wait for everybody. So we sat on that rig as long as we possibly could for everyone to be accounted for.
GRIFFIN: Not everybody was accounted for.
BENTON: There is a point where you have to say, we have to go. And we made it to that point.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Of the 11 who never made it to the lifeboat, Benton says many were close friends. He's now suing BP and Transocean for emotional and physical injuries. A BP spokesman wouldn't comment on reports of a leak but did say BP is determined to get to the bottom of what caused the explosion.
(on camera): We also heard from a Transocean spokesman who tells us the blowout preventer was tested and operating properly in the days and weeks before this explosion. Nonetheless, Transocean says it is doing its own internal examination and is cooperating with all the other investigations under way.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Houston, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: The poster boy of everything that is wrong with Washington politics is now working at a pizza joint. Now, would you eat this guy's pizza? Would you buy a pizza from this guy?
He is the most intriguing person in the news on this day.
This is your national conversation on a Friday. This is RICK'S LIST.
I'm Rick Sanchez. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Time to check the list now of the most intriguing people in the news on this day.
The guy is moving from the joint to a pizza joint. Hey, anything is better than prison, right? Who are we talking about? Who do you think we're talking about?
This guy was once Mr. Republican big-shot lobbyist, throwing money and gifts all over Washington. Illegally.
Then the corruption trial. Then the fraud, the bribery conviction. Almost four years he has spent in prison.
Who is this? Well, now he lives in a halfway house and he is embarking on a brand new career.
Who am I talking about? Well, it's Jack Abramoff. And that new gig that we're talking about? He's actually serving up pizza at a kosher pie joint in Baltimore for a little more than minimum wage.
Hey, he rolled in dough all those years as a lobbyist, and now he is out of prison and he's rolling the dough, and on the list of the most intriguing people in the news on this day.
All right. I'm going to show you a tweet now. It's from the National Wildlife Federation.
They say -- and this is what makes this interesting -- they say that they have video that may show it's raining oil in the Gulf. Now, because this has gone viral and everyone has been looking at the video when you click there, a lot of folks have been talking about it.
You read it there. It says, "New sad phenomenon -- it is actually raining oil in the Gulf now."
Well, we're not quite sure that's true, to say it's actually raining oil. But there are different arguments about what could possibly be affected in the atmosphere with not just the oil, but the dispersants that are being used to try and get rid of the oil.
All of this is coming up next. Stay right there. We're taking you through the story very carefully with Karen Maginnis.
This is your national conversation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. There's a couple of things I need to tell you about what's going on in the Gulf of Mexico.
First and foremost, there is a tropical disturbance that could possibly make its way into the Gulf, maybe during the next week. I mean, remember, these things are a disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, and then eventually a hurricane. I don't think anybody is looking at the possibility of a hurricane here, but, look, normally we wouldn't be covering this story except for the fact that that oil is sitting there in the Gulf of Mexico, and we're wondering what effect this storm is going to have on it.
You see those lines right there? Those are all different models of which way the storm could possibly go -- left, right, in between.
Karen Maginnis standing by. She's been looking at these models, and she's here to talk about this now.
Well, let's start with the different models and what they could possibly mean. Would they push the oil, suck the oil, what?
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It will definitely have an influencing effect across the Gulf of Mexico and the oil spill.
What impact it will have does depend on which way the system may or may not develop. It is a disturbance right now, but we've got aircraft reconnaissance that is looking at this.
However, National Hurricane Center plugs in all the data -- historical data, air data, surface data, all that kind of stuff, and come up with these different computer models. There are a dozen or so.
I want to point out, this one in particular, that is the preferred scenario. And, Rick, the reason for that is you have this counterclockwise flow. So the tendency would be for that oil to be pushed more off shore.
And if we do see a situation where the trend is more towards the western edge of the slick, then we're looking at maybe some of that oil going towards the -- as I said before, kind of uncharted territory. We've seen it gradually just kind of inch its way further and further and further over towards Florida.
So, depending on the development, the size, the strength, we really are in once again uncharted territory, because we've never seen this situation before. We've never seen an oil spill that has encompassed the Gulf like this, and so close to shore. There are so many variables here.
But, yes, these spaghetti models, they kind of give us a clue. And I have to tell you, Rick, that the trend has been more for these models to indicate going towards the central Gulf, whereas before we were looking, if this survives, going across the Yucatan, which it could get torn apart a little bit more, and then it would struggle to develop. But the trend had been more towards this deep south Gulf of Mexico.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MAGINNIS: Now the trend is a little bit further towards the central Gulf.
SANCHEZ: Well, it's going to be interesting to watch. And obviously we don't know the intensity of it at this point. We don't know the speed. All those things are yet to be determined.
MAGINNIS: Or just how broad, what the core looks like, if it does develop into something. It's just really too early to tell.
SANCHEZ: Well, I'll tell you, you can't help but be a little worried about it looking at that scenario.
MAGINNIS: Oh, yes. Exactly.
I was down at the Gulf about a month ago or so doing my own little reconnaissance investigation. The beautiful beaches of Florida, they were gorgeous. And now we hear these stories, how it's creeping a little bit further in towards the panhandle. And it's very sad.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a question. There is something interesting, and I mentioned this to our viewers just a little while ago.
We put up that up from the National Wildlife Federation. It's a tweet. This is going around. It's gone viral because of the video.
And I think we have it, right?
Rog, play that if we can so Karen and I can take a look at it. Hit it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw it yesterday in the Gulf under the Bay St. Louis Bridge. So, you can 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. We're smelling the oil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He seems to be convinced that he is smelling and seeing oil on the surface. Now, a lot of theories on this.
Most scientists would tell you what?
MAGINNIS: It can't happen. It cannot rain oil.
The oil molecule is heavy. It cannot bind with the water molecule. It just can't.
I suspect -- my theory is, is that we're looking at a situation where the rain came down very heavy, you get that sheen coming off of roads all the time. But also, nearby buildings -- if I park my car near the airport, I'm going to get a layer of oil on that. I wash my car, it's going to look like I dipped my car in oil.
SANCHEZ: Yes. But let me ask you this. And, you know, just to be fair and maybe to play a little devil's advocate here -- let me see if I can find it.
All right. I found some research. People have been talking about this. I've got thousands of people talking about this on Twitter because it's gone viral.
MAGINNIS: Right.
SANCHEZ: Everyone is on it, on YouTube. And I've been looking at this.
Let me read you this. "Oil cannot," you're right, "be picked up by the clouds to fall as rain. Oil won't bind with the water vapor. However, when oil is mixed with a dispersant like COREXIT 9500, it could bind with water, and therefore could be liable to be vaporized in hot waters and picked up by the clouds."
MAGINNIS: It's a different compound.
SANCHEZ: That's an interesting perspective.
MAGINNIS: It is interesting. And I have to tell you, I don't know that aspect of the dispersant and the water molecule. But at that point we're talking about a different particulate. And water molecules can bind to smoke, dust. You name a lighter- than-air element, and it's going to move up into the cloud and fall back down, bonding with the water molecule. Oil just can't do that. It can move. It can get displaced.
SANCHEZ: Well, I think what some people are saying is maybe not as oil, but properties of the oil could possibly fall. But we'll leave it at that. I think we've discussed it at length, and this is something that I think some folks are going to be picking up over the next couple days.
I want to show you -- you ready to watch something else with me?
MAGINNIS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: This is good. All right.
You're not going to believe what some people are doing on the Gulf Coast beaches. This next video that I want to share with you now was shot along the beaches. This is in Destin, Florida.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'll notice these kids, they'll run back and forth to their mom right here. But if you look all along the beach, look at how this is -- this is not even tar balls. This is oil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy, get it off!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grab it. Grab it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That was a little girl screaming there at the end. Get this off! Get this off! But, you know, we're seeing experiences like this as well.
The other thing that you saw there -- and I don't know if you were able to catch it at the very beginning -- was they said that the oil is now layered, because what they say is you have oil sheen come in, and then another tide comes over that, covers it with water and sand, so when they go down a couple of inches below the surface of the sand, they're finding a layer of oil.
MAGINNIS: And they're even saying that below that there are oil plumes that have been discussed where concentrations of oil have moved at deeper levels in the Gulf. So this has been -- there's just one element after the other that is added to this. It makes it very frustrating to follow.
SANCHEZ: But there is no question that there is more than just tar balls now on the beaches of Florida.
MAGINNIS: Correct. Yes.
SANCHEZ: Florida. That there is actually a sheen, that we're seeing some oily sludge there.
MAGINNIS: And it's a shame. And as you can imagine, just the wave action of the water does churn it up.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MAGINNIS: So you are going to send various amounts to various depths underneath the water.
SANCHEZ: We want to let you know in Pensacola if you're watching that the 4th of July celebration along with the naval air show is still on, on the beaches in Pensacola. Just in case you were thinking everything else was off. And plenty of the beaches are still swimmable.
All right. I want to take a look at something else now.
Let's take a look at that shot from Forest Lawn Cemetery. This is in Los Angeles. This is where mourners are coming today to pay their respects a year after Michael Jackson died.
Obviously, it was a death that is still under investigation. A lot of information going back and forth.
And, boy, are you guys talking about this on Twitter.
Here's members of the Jackson family, including his brothers and his sister, Janet, arriving as well, all thanking the fans for being there, as Jackson's family and fans remember the singer on the one- year anniversary of his death.
Now, we should tell you that Dr. Conrad Murray practices medicine. He's facing involuntary manslaughter charges. He is prohibited from anesthesia -- from using anesthesia, Propofol, and is expected to face a wrongful death suit brought by Jackson's father.
But his patients remain, at least at this point, unbelievably loyal to him. Some of them sat down and talked to Ted Rowlands.
Here's that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Conrad Murray is facing criminal charges in the death of Michael Jackson. His medical license is in jeopardy, yet he continues to practice at his clinic here in Las Vegas and at a clinic in Houston. And, believe it or not, patients are still coming to see him.
(voice-over): Dr. Conrad Murray, not in a courtroom but in a cardiology clinic, seeing patients who are eager to stand up for the man accused of killing Michael Jackson. Gerry Cause says Dr. Murray saved his life after a heart attack 10 years ago. He now drives 160 miles, nearly six hours round trip, to see him.
GERRY CAUSE, PATIENT OF DR. MURRAY: He's the most compassionate man. He loves his patients better than any doctor I've ever been to. He will take time with you, as much time as it takes.
ROWLANDS: Most of these patients showed up because they were told we were coming. Many say they're upset with the media and Jackson fans portraying Dr. Murray as a murder.
HUGH CRANDELL, PATIENT OF DR. MURRAY: I know for fact, just knowing the man, he did everything possible to keep Michael Jackson alive.
ROWLANDS: J.D. Nicholas is a member of the Commodores and knew Michael Jackson. He's been a patient of Dr. Murray's for 10 years. He doesn't think that his doctor is responsible for Michael Jackson's death.
J.D. NICHOLAS, COMMODORES: I just can't see him being the person that he's being painted to be. I just can't see that. That's not the person that I know.
ROWLANDS: In the weeks before his death, while rehearsing for his upcoming concerts in London, Michael Jackson, with Dr. Murray's help, was using the surgical anesthesia Propofol as a sleep aid. Murray is accused of killing the pop star with an overdose of the powerful drug.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want you sedating people.
ROWLANDS: As a condition of bail, Murray was ordered not to give anyone Propofol or any other anesthesia. Now, the California medical board wants a judge to stop him from practicing medicine all together. A motion filed last week says the board questions Murray's "fundamental judgment and skill as a physician."
Murray's lawyer, Charles Peckham, argues there's no grounds for taking Murray's license.
CHARLES PECKHAM, MURRAY'S CIVIL ATTORNEY: The question that the medical boards have is whether or not they have a doctor on their hands that is a threat to public safety -- and he's just not. He's a good doctor. He's a benefit to his patients. He's a benefit to public health. And so, they need to keep him.
ROWLANDS: Murray also has a practice in the struggling Houston, Texas, neighborhood of Acres Homes. Murray opened this clinic as a tribute to his father who spent his life practicing medicine here and is buried in the cemetery down the street. Patients here argue that taking Murray's license will hurt this underserved community.
RANSOM CRADDOCK, PATIENT OF DR. MURRAY: Dr. Murray is a good doctor, very good doctor. And I recommend him around the world. And we stand together with him in this community.
ROWLANDS (on camera): Conrad Murray allowed us into his clinic to shoot videotape of himself at work and allowed us to interview the patients inside, but he refused our repeated requests for an on-camera interview.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": First, I can't believe it takes two hosts to replace Sanchez.
(LAUGHTER)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ooh. He's still on vacation, Larry.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Oh.
KING: I know. Oh, he'll never forget that.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. What is Larry King talking about? Wait. He's talking about me while I wasn't here.
Is he paying me a compliment? Well, we'll find out.
Most of the memorable moments of the week -- and man, there were some good ones -- is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
It's summer. We invite people in all the time. And look -- we've gathered a crowd. And they're all in summer wear. Look at them all.
Hi, guys. Wave back.
You ready?
Nice to see you guys.
We've had an interesting week here. As a matter of fact, I want to share some of that with you.
In our coverage of General McChrystal's removal as leader of NATO forces in Afghanistan, we were first on some pretty key points. We were all over the story this week. We were the first to talk to the author of the explosive article that effectively ended General Stanley McChrystal's military career. It was Michael Hastings. He joined us all the way from Afghanistan.
This is where I wanted to ask him very specific questions about, did General McChrystal, for example, know that he was on the record? That's where he told me not only was he on the record, but, "I was rolling a tape recorder at the time, and he saw the tape recorder." So he knew he was on the record.
We were also the first to report that General McChrystal would probably be resigning. In fact, let me play that moment for you here. This is when "TIME" magazine's Joe Klein shared that information with us here exclusively.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE KLEIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: I was just talking to a very reliable source who tells me that McChrystal has submitted his resignation.
SANCHEZ: Oh, really?
KLEIN: It's going to be up to the president -- it's going to be up to the president to accept it or not tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: By the way, Klein also gave us some very, very candid perspective on the general. You know, along with, frankly, some brutally honest criticism. Here's that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: I will say this about McChrystal and the press: he ain't the most savvy guy. This guy is totally focused on his mission. He's a classic snake eater.
In fact, he doesn't eat much more than snakes. He doesn't sleep very much. I think he probably doesn't sleep enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now, the "Rolling Stone" article at the center of the controversy is on stands finally today. It seems like it's been out for a month. Right?
It does, in fact, contain some material that was certainly, at first glance, very difficult to believe. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's not just the commander-in-chief. I've never heard the vice president of the United States referred to as "Vice President Bite Me." I mean, you know, that doesn't seem to me to be becoming an officer. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yes. That was certainly one of the parts that even made Barbara Starr, who usually is quite composed, raise her eyebrows.
Now, it's a very serious story, but it wasn't without its moments of levity as well. This was, in fact, from my interview Tuesday with CNN's Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He went drinking in Paris with about 15 or 20 guys on his anniversary with a wife that he rarely sees, according to the article, more than 30 days a year. She specially flew into Paris to see him, and he takes her drinking on her anniversary with 20 guys.
Now, you know, look, it's easy to be real judgmental about this kind of stuff, but I bet you there are some women out there who are thinking, wow, what was he thinking?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, let me leave that alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I'm interested. We have some ladies with us now who have just come here.
I want you to raise your hand. I want to ask you a question.
If your husband on your anniversary, rather than taking you out to dinner or spending special time with you, decided to spend time with you and the boys, raise your hand if you maybe would be a little upset with that.
Wow! OK.
There you go, guys. Are you taking notes?
You know, it's interesting that most of you would have that perspective. I have a feeling that my wife would probably say the same thing: "No, this is our night." Right?
All right. Then there was this moment. This is Monday. And I understand while I was vacationing with my wife and my kids, Don Lemon was filling in for me, and it was a little bit of a fierce threesome when Larry King joined the show during the Brooke segment, where she comes up and talks to me.
So, Larry has this response. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: First, I can't believe it takes two hosts to replace Sanchez.
BALDWIN: Ooh. He's still on vacation, Larry.
LEMON: Oh.
KING: I know. Oh, he'll never forget that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's hard to not love Larry King. I was sharing stories that Larry King and I have shared together. Known each other for a long time, both being from south Florida.
But that's it for us.
It's been great to bring you most of the news on this week, and now I head to Ocoee. That's a river.
And we're going whitewater rafting -- me, the dog, Gordo (ph), my four kids, and my wife. They're waiting for me in the parking lot.
In the meantime, we're taking it over to THE ED SHOW.
No, you guys do it.
You guys ready?
Send it over to "THE SITUATION ROOM." It's Suzanne Malveaux.
Ready? "Suzanne, to you." Say it loud. Say it proud. Go!
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Suzanne, to you.
SANCHEZ: There you go, Suzanne.
