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Rick's List
Examining Arizona's Immigration Law; Michael Steele in Hot Water Over Controversial Remarks
Aired July 05, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: There are so many of you right now who are watching us in Germany, in South Korea, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, and that makes -- that makes us feel good. I'm honored to report that this newscast is the news of record for American forces, our guys and our gals who are watching around the world. So, we welcome all of our troops watching us overseas.
Here is your national conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST on this day.
The long-awaited Arizona training tape is out, and you're going to see it. How will the immigration law be enforced? Is it constitutional? Can the Obama administration block it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without a doubt, we are going to be accused of racial profiling.
SANCHEZ: Will they? We will ask police officials.
Three players teaming up to take over the NBA for years. Can Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James pull it off? Where will they go?
One whale of an oil skimmer promising to solve our Gulf problems. Wait. What? It may not work? The early reviews are in.
Which big-time college athletic director caught in a car with another woman and her panties on his lap?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I say here is coming from the bottom of my heart. I'm an individual who made a grave, grave mistake.
SANCHEZ: His explanation and resignation on the LIST.
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: This is a breakthrough story.
Hour two. Time to pick up the pace of today's LIST for those of you just now checking in. This is the breakthrough moment that really we have been waiting for. Number one on our LIST today, this new video released by Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, essentially the board that handles police officers and dictates their policies and their guidelines in the state of Arizona.
The video instructs police officers how to enforce Arizona's very controversial new immigration law, once it goes into the effect -- goes into effect at the end of a month, if it's not stopped by a federal court, because the Obama administration is saying that it usurps what the federal mandate is. In other words, a state can't come in and do something against what the Congress has approved.
That's what the Obama administration is saying. Now, there are real interesting questions as you watch this videotape. I have showed you two parts of it so far. I will show you more. We're putting it together right now, could have it in the next minute.
Let me bring in Andy Hill. He's an Arizona guy. He has been working as a police officer out there forever.
You know what I was thinking, Andy? And I have got a couple of lists -- a couple of tweets here from people who were asking me the same thing? And I had an Arizona police officer here about a month- and-a-half ago, as I recall, who said, hey, Rick, what bothers me about this law is, I don't think it's necessary.
I think, under what Arizona has now in the books, they can do the exact same thing that they hope to do now. They're getting themselves in a lot of trouble by putting this law on the books, but it's not really necessary.
What's your take on that?
ANDY HILL, FORMER PHOENIX, ARIZONA, POLICE SERGEANT: Well, I can tell you what I think most police officers would say, is that, basically, the police officer already has a policy to go by that's generally mostly in line with what the law is.
When you look at the whole issue, Rick, most people agree on almost everything that's the main issue anyway. We all think that the federal government needs to come up with a plan.
SANCHEZ: Right.
HILL: We all think that the federal government should pay for it. We all think that terrorists should be kept from crossing our border.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
HILL: And we all want to put bad guys in jail. Now, that's probably about 80 percent of the whole thing.
SANCHEZ: Well, I will take you one...
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: The rest is figuring out how to do that.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I will go you one further. We should secure our damn border. We...
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: And that's totally agreed upon.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: We need to keep people from not coming into our country illegally. And I don't care whether you're Hispanic, non-Hispanic, green, or brown, or whatever color you are. You probably -- you should agree with that as an American, right?
HILL: Right. And it doesn't really do any good to go back and make anything divisive.
Boycotts in America against Americans are divisive. Attacking people for their opinions is divisive. Let's take what's here. Let's take the law. Let's apply the principles. Let's all work the part that we're supposed to work, and we will figure it out.
And I think what you're saying that police officer said was, hey, I know what the law is now. I have discretion. I know what totality of circumstance is. I pretty much go out and do my job.
But they need the tools to be able to enforce the law if it's pushed upon them.
SANCHEZ: Well...
HILL: And what this law does, it -- it makes certain things a requirement, and it's going to have to be tested to make sure that every component of it is good.
SANCHEZ: That's what...
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: And the video from Az POST is good.
SANCHEZ: That's what the -- in fact, the Az POST video -- says is that this is not the end-all. This thing won't be official and we won't know how this should be done until the courts have their say. But, for now, this is what they're putting out.
I want to share this now with all of our viewers who have been patiently waiting for months for this to be released. Here it is. Let's watch it together, Andy, and you and I will talk on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEVERLY GINN, ATTORNEY: If you're told a person is unlawfully present in the United States, you probably want to ask a second question to avoid having to call back later, and that is whether there's any record that the person has ever completed an alien registration document, whether the person has any other authorization from the federal government to remain in the United States.
The reason that you ask that question, get the answer to that question, relates to another new statute which we will be talking about in a minute, 131509. Once you have the answer from ICE, then you will make a determination we will talk about in a minute whether, if that person is unlawfully present, whether that person is going to be transported to ICE, whether ICE is going to be able to respond to pick them up.
One of the questions you do want to ask if you're talking to ICE or Border Patrol, if they tell you the person is unlawfully present, is if they're willing to come and pick them up at the location where you are with that -- if you're talking to ICE, Border Patrol, you determine that a person is unlawfully present, the first thing you want to do is request ICE or Border Patrol to come and pick the individual up.
That solves the transportation problem. If the ICE or Border Patrol is not able to respond for whatever reason to pick the individual up, then you will need to consult local policy about when you transport and where you transport the individual to.
Some agencies are going to want you to take that individual to the local jail. Some agencies are going to want you to transport in all circumstances. Some agencies are going to want you to transport only in limited situations.
An officer can't make an arrest, you can't arrest an alien who is authorized to be in the United States simply because they don't have immigration documents in their possession.
If you take a look at paragraph F., you will see, if a person maintains authorization to be in the United States, that's an exemption to the statute.
Whenever ICE, Customs, or Border Patrol or a 287(g) certified officer advises you that an alien is unlawfully in the United States, that's the time for you to ask ICE whether there's any record that the person has ever completed an alien registration document and whether the person has any other authorization from the federal government to remain in the United States.
At that point, you can then ask the person for their alien registration documents, if ICE tells you that they should have some or that they have registered.
A person may be arrested under the statute, under 131509 if the officer has probable cause, you have probable cause, to believe that the person is unlawfully in the United States and one or the other of these two conditions exists. Either, one, the person is a registered alien age 18 years or older who is not carrying his or her registration card or the person is an alien age 14 or older who has been in the United States more than 30 days and has not registered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I have a feeling police officers all over the country are looking at that and going oh, my God. Just when I thought my job was difficult enough, now I got to go through all that rigmarole?
It -- it does seem, you know, at first glance -- and, by the, way that thing goes on for 40 minutes, and I watched every single minute back and forth, because I was rewinding. You know, it does seem a bit cumbersome.
HILL: Oh, you bet. This is -- this is where we're going to get complicated. You know, we're -- this is a big state here in Arizona. We have 140 miles of border between Arizona and Mexico. That's Tohono O'odham, an Indian reservation. You have the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
So, you have all the issues having to do in Arizona with Native Americans. You have all the issues of those with lawful registration papers to be here,. All those issues that you just ran, I think are going to be the things that require police officers to call and get direction from ICE.
The question then becomes, how many contacts are we going to have with people where we have to do this? How much opportunity does ICE have or facilities to hold people? Where are we going to put them? Who is going to pay for it?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
HILL: Those are the issues really that have to do with whether or not that police officer will be able to use their discretion to say, hey, I don't have time to do this right now. I have something more important that I have to do as a police officer.
SANCHEZ: But not all...
HILL: And that's where the policies are important.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, but here's the deal, though, Andy. Not all -- not all cops are the same.
You know, you and I have been friends for a long, long time. I know what kind of police officer you are. I also know what kind of police officer my little brother is. There's police officers who want to give people a ticket for going one mile over the speed limit, and there's police officers I talk to who say I'm not even going to touch them until they're at least 12 miles over the speed limit. So, the threshold is different. And -- and when you're giving them the kind of leeway that seems to be on this -- and, again, you're talking totality and I'm talking citing examples -- but let me go through these again.
HILL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Roger, put up the questionable list again.
Look at -- look at number one: someone who's in the company of illegal aliens. I'm going to go ahead and describe these anyway, even before you put the list up, but some of the questionables, they say you are allowed to use as an element of your suspicion people who are in the company of illegal aliens. They say you're also allowed to use the fact that they're traveling in tandems.
You are also allowed to use the fact they may be in a vehicle that's overcrowded. You are also allowed to use the fact that they're dressed a certain way.
Dressed a certain way?
You're also allowed to use the fact that they have difficulty speaking English. Now, you know darned well that some people are going to look at this, and you say, you give that as a potential excuse to some, but not all, police officers, and they may have a tendency to abuse it.
HILL: Well, yes.
And, absolutely, you have got to remember, too, though, Rick, that's not an exclusive list. There may be other factors. What the POST video used was -- were those that may be already court-certified, that may have been documented already. But there may be other things, and you have to put them together.
Let me just paint a little bit of a broader picture.
SANCHEZ: OK.
HILL: What better test case is there to use than the police officers themselves? And I think that's what happens all the time. The pressure goes on the cops.
Let's give them a set of rules or regulations or specifics and let's see what they do. Like, when you're in court and you have to testify and you're under oath, you have to tell the truth, not all those people do.
Police officers, when they're examined and they have to do their job, they need to be truthful, too. You have to document what you do. You have to write it out.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
HILL: It's taken to court. You are probably going to get a more truthful and honest view from the police officers and what they're doing, rather than those few police officers that are going to make stuff up, because they are accountable in a number of ways.
So, I think you have to look at it from their perspective. And when you look at law enforcement and court cases, in the history of investigations, all of those criteria on that list may be added with others, and you're going to have to show the ones that really make it valid, where the court's going to say, that's legitimate.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
HILL: And the ones that aren't -- and I will tell you, there will probably be people out there setting people up to get arrested, just so they can videotape the police officer from both sides.
SANCHEZ: Oh, sure, yes, yes, yes.
HILL: And it's OK. But let's -- we are going to have to get those criteria laid out, because in no way should you depend totally on the police officer. I mean, the First Amendment. You need to be able to look at us, and cops shouldn't be setting a law. We're enforcing the law. And we are not trying to -- they're not trying to just set the law.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: They're trying to enforce it the best that they can, and mistakes will be made.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And the courts are going to come in. And who knows how this will play out? But you know what? I'm -- I'm glad we're having these conversations.
You have been great at making us understand the perspective on this story. And let's keep doing it. We're probably going to do at least one segment on this a week, because I think it is important as a country that we kind of come to grips with what -- what we are going to do with this thing.
So, Andy Hill, my good friend, thanks for being with us, sir.
HILL: Thank you, Rick. Look forward to it.
SANCHEZ: OK. We will do it again.
All right, take a look at this, folks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
RICK BARBER (R), ALABAMA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: You gentleman revolted over a tea tax -
A tea tax! Now look at us.
Are you with me?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Gather your armies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
SANCHEZ: I got a George Washington costume just like that one at home, by the way.
It gets your attention, right?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: One of the many bold, some would say outrageous, political ads that are trying to score with some conservative voters. We are going to take you through a bevy of them. And you are going to enjoy them. They're good. What's behind this movement? That's ahead.
Also, one of the men responsible for this tragedy, the Lockerbie terror attack, is supposed to spend the rest of his life in a Scottish prison. They let him out because they said he was on his death knell, just about to die any moment now. Well, guess what? He's still alive, doing well, and will likely live for many, many years. What?
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your national conversation. This is RICK'S LIST.
And is what we call our roundup list. These are stories we're watching for you. We order them.
Here's number one. No definitive word yet on whether that super- skimmer that we have all had our fingers crossed about will skim its way to full potential in the Gulf of Mexico. The weather is too rough, the seas too choppy at the moment to be able to tell whether this converted cargo ship is actually going to be able to suck up the 21 million gallons of oil it supposedly is capable of doing.
Calmer conditions are in the forecast, and, hopefully, some clear test data as well. We're watching it for you.
Here is number two. Remember this scene, the man convicted of the Pan Am Flight 103, Lockerbie, the bomber? He's out of prison, arrives in his homeland last year. Most said, well, he's just going there to die, probably be dead in a couple days, at most a couple of months.
Well, the cancer doctor who convinced Scottish authorities that this man would be dead in a few weeks today says he is embarrassed that he's lived this long. And there's something else. Dr. Karol Sikora was paid by the Libyan government for his opinion that set the convicted terrorist free in the first place. The new diagnosis? Well, he will probably be able to live for about 10 years or more. Number three:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Yes, my goodness for sure. Did you hear that? What a -- this is a scary scene. This is in Bellevue, Iowa.
Yesterday's Fourth of July parade went from festive to tragic. A pair of harnessed horses just freaked out and started bolting, pulling a wagon behind them. They ran out of control, crashed into the crowd, hurt 24 people. At least one person was killed. One woman died right there on the scene, they say, from her injuries, as you see in that video.
Now this: While LeBron James is mulling over astronomical offers from NBA teams, there is something else to consider. Is he really worth that much money?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Also, can a couple players just take over the NBA and determine who's going to be good for the next 10 years? Well, they might do that. We will tell you who they are. It's different. And that's why it's news.
Also, guns blazing in an Arizona political ad, and that's just one of the over-the-top ads unleashed this summer. Is this the Tea Party effect? Is this something -- how about this? Is this the Sarah Palin effect? We will take you through it. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
There's this -- there's this piece of video that I really wanted to show you last week. And, like, every day I wanted to show it to you, I wasn't able to. We just weren't able to get to it, because we had the Elena Kagan -- Kagan hearings. We had Hurricane Alex. We had that big spy story.
And we kept -- you know, as we go here on this newscast, I mean, I don't read Teleprompter, and I don't have so many prepared scripts, like maybe some other shows do, so we just kind of move things around. Let's put this here. Let's put that there. And we just never got to it. So, now we're going to make room for it.
Here we go. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
NARRATOR: This year, a lot of folks think this is our best shot at changing Congress. Of course, that all depends on the caliber of our candidates.
(GUNFIRE)
NARRATOR: Meet Pamela Gorman, candidate for Congress in Arizona 3, conservative Christian, and a pretty fair shot.
(GUNFIRE)
The insiders in the state Senate wanted to have her hide when she fought against their plan for higher taxes. But Gorman, she can take care of herself.
Rated 100 percent by the NRA, conservative Pamela Gorman is always right on target.
(GUNFIRE)
PAMELA GORMAN (R), ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I'm Pamela Gorman, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: She's using a tommy gun, a tommy gun.
The ad is intriguing on multiple levels. Maybe it's just me, but the image the ad is seemingly trying to sell, do you see, like, an aura of Sarah Palin there? I mean, is this somebody trying to out- Palin Palin? Are we about to witness a wave of Palin-esque political hopefuls?
We will be watching, and we will get to that in just a minute.
But here -- here is another thing, and this is what we will talk about today, these campaign ads that are circulating via YouTube. I mean, what we're seeing here is -- is like a new genre of political expression in many ways. And it's, in many ways, still being born. This is the new political discourse. And the best political minds in the country are trying to wrap their heads around it to try and figure out, well, how to get a hold of it, or should they?
I will give you more on that in just a minute.
First, this: The head of the college athletic department has been in hot water because of a night that ended with red panties on his lap and an arrest. We have the details from his police report. What a story this is.
Yes, I wish Brooke was here. It's a trender.
Also, this: Michael Steele is trending as well because of his comments. He's out of sync with his own party, calling Afghanistan a war of Obama's choosing? The Republicans are all coming out and saying, no, it's a war of America's choosing.
But what happens to Michael Steele? And why don't Republicans push him out? I know what you're saying. I have been reading all of your tweets on this. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Man, we're getting a lot of tweets today. It's like the -- the explosion of Twitter on this day, I guess because a lot of folks are home, and everybody's commenting on the Arizona law and our coverage of it.
I -- I had a feeling you guys would be into this. And I'm serious when I say that we will cover this story every single day this week. We -- this -- this is important. And we want to be able to make sure you understand it. So, we will go through that.
Now...
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: ... then there's Michael Steele. Michael Steele, last Friday, as you know, because you heard it right here, was at a fund- raiser in Connecticut, and said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Keep in mind again, our federal candidates, this is a war of Obama's choosing. This is not -- this is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Michael Steele is engaging. He is entertaining. He says things always looking to say them in an interesting way that will grab a lot of attention. And it does grab a lot of attention.
However, when you live by that standard, or those rules, you also get yourself in a lot of hot water from time to time. And a lot of folks say just the gaffe -- in fact, let's do this. Let's look at, not just this one, but all the gaffes, if we can use that terminology, that Michael Steele has used in, let's say, the past couple years.
And you know who is really good at gathering this kind of stuff? I asked my friend Josh Levs to make a RICK'S LIST appearance today, and take us through the Steele -- should we call it the best of/worst of Michael Steele? How's that.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, man, you can if you want to.
You know, you said all of them. I couldn't get to all of them. It's like it's gotten to the point where, I mean, he says so many things that rile people up in his own party, rile up a lot of Democrats, that all we can do is look at a handful.
But you're right. We are going to look at some highlights, some of the ones that really got people really talking. And, by the way, what we were just listening to there, Rick, he was talking about Afghanistan, the war in Afghanistan. A lot of people saying, what? It's not President Obama's war.
But look at what else he said that same day. He said -- talking about President Obama as a student of history, he said: "Has he not understood that, you know, that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? Everyone who has tried over 1,000 years of history has failed."
Now, a lot of people looking at that and saying, wait a second, is he saying that what U.S. troops are doing right now in Afghanistan is leading to failure?
And then he came out afterwards and he said, no, I believe in success. I was just talking about the strategy.
SANCHEZ: Huh.
LEVS: But, even within that, there were two quotes. I mean, and he just -- he keeps them coming.
And this is one. If we're going to look back at history, you have got to look at something that he said last year when he was talking about job creation. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEELE: First off, the government doesn't create jobs. Let's get this notion out of our heads that the government creates jobs. Not in the history of mankind has the government ever created a job. Small business owners do. Small enterprises do, not the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: So, Rick, I mean, people who work for the government were like, huh?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
LEVS: And -- and that was just for -- and, you know, when you take a look at even some of the things that Democrats and Republicans both have talked about, they have talked about what the government can do to get jobs going, and again, later on, he says, well, here's what I meant and here's what I meant.
But it's the kind of thing that keeps happening. And that's just one. Let's take a look at another one from last year, when he was talking about -- this was at the time when President Obama was looking to fill a vacancy in the Supreme Court.
And do you remember President Obama said he thinks a justice should show empathy?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
LEVS: And that became this big buzzword, this talk about empathy.
Well, here is what Michael Steele said when he was filling in on Bob Bennett's radio show.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEELE, CHAIRMAN, RNC: I don't (INAUDIBLE) if they're feeling bad for my opponent because of their life circumstances or their condition, and shortchanging me and my opportunity to get fair treatment under the law. It's crazy nonsense.
Empathetic. I'll give you empathy. Empathize right on your behind. It's crazy.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LEVS: Again, a lot of people saying, huh? Is that the best way for him to be making his point, if there was a point about the whole idea of empathy?
SANCHEZ: Well, no. And that's an important one, because I think, look, the last thing you want to do is strike a chord with potential Republican voters that Republicans don't have feelings and could give a hoot about people from a human standpoint. And that seemed to be what he was saying there.
I mean, I think that's part of his problem. He says things -- right, Josh? -- that make people that you would think he's trying to help get hurt by his expressions.
LEVS: Yes. I mean, and there are people who really maybe agree with a large point, a part of what he is trying to say, but he ends up putting a twist on it that upsets the people he is trying to represent.
In fact, look at this. I mean, you've got to see this one. This might be a real clincher for him. And it's a short one. It's not this year.
And this is what happened. You'll remember this in January. He's talking to Fox News, and they asked if the Republicans can retake the House in 2010. And his first response is, "Not this year."
Now, it comes out later on. He says, "Well, actually, I believe we will. I believe Republicans will take back over. But he is the man who is responsible for fundraising in the Republican Party, and there are so many people who come along and say, wait a second, that shouldn't be the first response, the initial response from the man who is in charge of fundraising for the Republican Party.
Again, it's just these split-second things that he ends up saying that upset so many people.
SANCHEZ: It's like asking the manager of the New York Yankees if he's going to win the game and he says, no, we're not going to win this game.
LEVS: It is kind of like that. I mean, who is supposed to believe in the leadership at that point? But, I will tell you, Ron Paul has come out and said he supports him for what he said on Afghanistan. So, there are still those who support Michael Steele, but more and more Republicans coming forward and saying we're questioning his leadership.
SANCHEZ: It goes back to the Arizona argument we were having just a little while ago. It's not one comment. It's the totality of the comments --
LEVS: They add up. They add up.
SANCHEZ: -- that add up and make people say, well, what's going on here? Is there a pattern?
LEVS: There you go.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Josh, welcome to RICK'S LIST.
LEVS: Thank you. It's good to be here. I'm going to stick around late all the time.
SANCHEZ: You want to come back?
LEVS: I'll be back.
SANCHEZ: All right. You've got the invite.
LEVS: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Take a look at this. This LeBron James story is fascinating, and I wanted to spend some time talking about it today.
So, here is the idea that three players in the NBA could literally dictate the future of the league for, like, the next 10 years if they are allowed to do exactly what they want to do. Even if one of them -- now, how big is this salary going to be?
And here's another question people are asking: Is LeBron James really that good? What's he done?
Just a question. Don't get mad at me. We'll talk about this on the other side.
This is your national conversation. I'm Rick Sanchez.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And I welcome you back.
Independence Day in the United States of America -- your family has its traditions, I'm sure, on this day. So does mine. None of them, though, probably look anything like this.
For those of you who don't normally watch our show but are today, this is a little segment we call "Fotos."
Perp walk. He's out of jail, and they're lucky that he didn't eat his way out.
That is world champion caliber chomping machine Takeru Kobayashi. They call him "The Tsunami."
He caused such a ruckus at the annual Nathan's hot dog eating contest on Coney Island that he got locked up. Wasn't even in the contest this year. He was barred from it because of a disagreement with organizers.
Well, the man takes his eating seriously, folks. He's going to court next month.
By the way, the winner of this contest this year ate 54 hot dogs, as we watch the continuing scuffle. Fifty-four hot dogs the winner ate in 10 minutes.
Next, Denver, Colorado, near Denver, serious holiday competition. What do they do? They toss chickens.
People, they toss chickens. You heard me right. They are tossing chickens.
They load the chicken into a chicken launcher, and then they count it down and say, "Fire," and the furthest chicken wins. Talk about having a lot of time on your hands.
It's mostly about glory, they say. The guy who runs the chicken toss says -- assures us in 25 years, not a single chicken has ever gotten hurt. Something about liking it.
Nothing pays tribute to our founding fathers like zombies, right? So we had to show you this video.
They certainly did fill the streets of Seattle this weekend. They stomped around and did zombie-like stuff. You know, like eating brains and dancing to "Thriller."
Red, White and Dead they're called. It was an attempt to break a British record for the biggest gathering of zombies -- I'm sure you all heard about that one -- in one spot.
Lovely, lady.
You can go to my blog to see the rest of this, by the way. Our blog is -- first, this is called "Fotos del Dia," and the blog is called CNN.com/ricksanchez.
You guys are tweeting me and telling me that I should not criticize LeBron. Let's see, where are those coming -- oh, Cleveland. Interesting.
The LeBron James story and Dwyane Wade and NBA. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: All right. A couple of quick tweets, because everybody seems to be getting into the LeBron thing just like they were getting into the Arizona story a little while ago. Boy, it's like I talked about someone who's not just an athlete.
Here we go. "LeBron is over-hyped. He is good, but not that until he wins a championship. He should not me mentioned like he is a champion."
There you go. See? That's the point that I was trying to make.
The next one just says, "LeBron!!!"
And the next one, this is one of many that are furious with me because they believe that I have criticized LeBron James.
OK. I get it. You don't want me criticizing LeBron James.
What is it with LeBron James these days? We'll get into that with Rick Horrow in just a little bit.
Now, watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAMON EVANS, FMR. UGA ATHLETE DIRECTOR: What I say here is coming from the bottom of my heart. I'm an individual who made a grave, grave mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The grave mistake included red panties and a woman in his car that was not his wife?
Who is this man? I'll take you through it. "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I like this one: "Rick Sanchez, shut your mouth."
Here's another one that says, "LeBron is the bomb."
This whole LeBron thing, we'll get to it in just a moment.
But first, I want to talk to you about something else. This, too, has to do with sports, in a different way.
When you send your son or your daughter off to college, you put them in the hands of a campus role model. I mean, that's the way it's supposed to work. Supposed to work.
Let's do "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
Today's inductee is the man who, for the last five years, has been responsible for all athletics at the University of Georgia. He is the one who tells young, immature athletes how they are supposed to behave. His name is Damon Evans.
At football games, they play video of Damon Evans on the big screen. There he is reminding fans to behave themselves and to not drink and drive.
Well, he was pulled over last week by a police officer. Damon Evans, you should know, is a married man with two children. Sitting next to Evans in the car when he was pulled over was a 28-year-old woman who was not his wife.
She became belligerent, according to the police officer, argued with the police officer. Argued, warning the police officer that he shouldn't arrest Damon Evans or give him a ticket because Damon is a very powerful man, a VIP who should be left alone.
Well, when the officer looked over at Evans in the driver's seat, he spotted a woman's red panties on his lap. Now, here's how Evans explains that. "She took them off and I held them because I was just trying to get her home."
Evans refused to take a sobriety test when the police officer who was already angry at being screamed at by the woman in the car asked him to take one, and as a result he was arrested according to state law for DUI and spent the night in jail. Last night he also lost his job. He has now submitted his resignation.
Some would argue, though, that the University of Georgia has given him a break of sorts. His severance? More than $230,000.
Damon Evans, inducted into the list today that you don't want to be on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know times have been tough for Virginia families. That's why I've been so serious about jobs and economic relief for you. I fought to add new jobs at dairy farms and landfill projects that turn methane waste into clean energy, jobs bringing broadband Internet to 120 public schools.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A politician stepping in manure? Would you believe it if I told you that it wasn't the most shocking thing you'll see on some of these campaign ads?
We're going to show you the ones that have gone viral.
We'll be right back. Stay right there. This is your national conversation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: I told you about these ads that are popping up all over the country and going viral. We mentioned in some of them -- well, I'll let you make the -- in fact, I'll let these folks here -- wave, guys. You've just been -- you're on television! How's that?
I want you guys to watch this with me.
All these ads are popping up all over the country now, and they're different. And they're obviously trying to make a splash.
Do you think they work?
Here. Let's watch together.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meet Pamela Gorman.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If the campaign season is starting to feel like open season, it's because the ads are already locked and loaded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rated 100 percent by the NRA, conservative Pamela Gorman is always right on target.
ACOSTA: Republican Pamela Gorman has racked up more than 100,000 views on YouTube with this spot showing the Arizona congressional candidate and her son taking target practice in the desert. That's Gorman sporting an old Tommy gun.
GORMAN: We'd never imagined in a million years that it would go as far as it did.
ACOSTA: We caught up with Gorman between fund-raisers in California. She thanks left-leaning bloggers and talk show hosts for helping her ad go viral.
GORMAN: I think most of it is getting passed on by people that probably wouldn't agree with my conservative politics. And if they really stop and thought about how much they're helping me by doing so, they might stop.
ACOSTA (on camera): Are you packing heat right now?
GORMAN: I'm in California. I don't think anybody but criminals have guns in California.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You gentlemen revolted over a tea tax. A tea tax.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Tea party-backed Republican Rick Barber calls for revolution with this ad featuring actors playing the founding fathers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gather your armies.
LARRY SABATO, UVA CENTER FOR POLITICS: I know Thomas Jefferson. He's a friend of mine and the guy in his ad is no Thomas Jefferson.
ACOSTA: Laugh all you want, Barber may be on to something. SABATO: It's the year of the Tea Party. It's actually a good visual way to connect with the kind of people who may very well vote in a Republican runoff. That's what he's in.
REP. TOM PERRIELLO (D), VIRGINIA: I know times have been tough for Virginia families.
ACOSTA: Even incumbents like Democrat Tom Perriello are trying to go viral with this ad showing the congressman getting more than just his hands dirty.
PERRIELLO: I fought that new job to dairy farms, to protect jobs here in law enforcement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warning. The following is a paid advertisement from J.D. Hayworth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Buyer beware.
ACOSTA: In this ad, John McCain accuses his challenger, J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman who went on to host a late-night infomercial, of selling fringe ideas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or a Kenyan safari to find Obama's lost birth certificate. It would be great if people can confirm who they say they are.
ACOSTA: Duck and cover. Election year is only just beginning.
GORMAN: I'm Pamela Gorman, and I approve this message.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: What do you think? Did you guys like those? Huh?
All right. Raise your hand if you thought that was Thomas Jefferson in that ad.
Raise your hand if you thought it was George Washington.
See? I thought it was George Washington, too, when I looked at it.
In the end, does it really matter?
How about LeBron James? This is a great story. He's been getting all the attention.
Can he actually do what -- I mean, the entire NBA is fascinated with LeBron James right now. Cities are literally renaming streets just to try and get him there.
We'll have this conversation with my friend Rick Horrow when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: OK. Enough. I'm on the air now.
God, you guys. If you want -- they want in on this LeBron conversation. So does the whole country.
If you went to a holiday barbecue, did the name LeBron James come up? I can almost guarantee you that it did. I mean, talk about a national conversation. That's what this is.
Where is the planet's most sought after basketball player going to ply his trade next season? LeBron 's going to stay with the Cavs. No, no, no, no. LeBron and Chris Bosh are going to join Dwyane Wade in Miami. No, LeBron pushed back his deadline which was today, and he plans to make his decision after his basketball camp ends on Wednesday, which is good for the Bulls because blah, blah, blah. And his kids are here and -- oh, I mean, it's like a rumor a day, and you ask yourself a lot of questions about this.
Joining me now is my friend Rick Horrow. This guy knows sports. And you know what he knows most about? The business of sports. So he is the perfect guy to talk to.
All right. Let's start with this -- the idea that Bosh, Dwyane Wade and LeBron could get together and decide where they go. And if they do that, they literally would change the look of the NBA for the next five or 10 years.
No athlete has ever done that. Usually commissioners control these guys.
This would be precedent setting, would it not, if they were able to do that?
RICK HORROW, SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: The power of reverse leverage. It's all about these guys becoming corporations. Before next week, when they sign their contract, they're back to being employees.
But LeBron James is a walking, talking, breathing, free-throw shooting stimulus plan that can mean up to a couple billion dollars if he makes the playoffs. Hey, here's the bottom -- OK, he can make more money in Cleveland, but you and I remember this because we did it together. And in Miami, I have a shirt from the first time the Miami Heat was brought, 24 years -- it smells like it's 24 years old.
LeBron , if you come, I will literally give you the shirt off my back. Come on, LeBron . How's that?
SANCHEZ: You're just as bad as the rest of them, Rick.
HORROW: Yes. And you are, too, pal.
SANCHEZ: Look, I'd love to see him in a Heat uniform.
By the way, are we dismissing the possibility that the three guys could get together and create this three amigo control of the NBA, or are they going to go separate?
HORROW: We're dismissing nothing. And the funny thing is these rumors increase ratings. And the bottom line is there is a possibility that the teams can clear the salary cap number. It's about $55 million. These guys make $60 (ph) million.
And here's the deal a year. LeBron can get an extra year in Cleveland because the NBA has created a system for Dwyane Wade in Miami, Chris Bosh in Toronto, where they can get an extra year of guarantees.
The year of guarantee may not mean anything in the long term. LeBron wants some rings, the NBA championships. And who his supporting cast is means more to him than anything else.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting, and that's a heck of a good point.
By the way, I'm going to ask you a question that is going to continue to get me in a lot of trouble. People are telling me on Twitter that I'm a moron and that I don't know anything about basketball. Let me see if I can find any other insults here.
HORROW: Don't bother, man. Don't bother. Everybody understands that. Move on. Move on.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Can you believe this guy?
HORROW: We love Rick Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: And I told you -- didn't I just introduce him as my friend a minute ago?
HORROW: Yes. He's a great guy. We go way back.
SANCHEZ: No, but here's what I am. I've got the intestinal fortitude, as my old coach Kubichek (ph) used to say, to ask the question that nobody else has the guts to ask. Is this guy really that good, or is he a little over-valued?
And here's where I'm coming from. I know he's got all the skills, the tangibles. But does he have the intangibles? Does he have that "it" thing, the thing that Kobe Bryant has, when there's four -- or 40 seconds left in the game and he wants the ball and he makes the shot?
This guy hasn't won anything big yet, Rick.
HORROW: Hey, very, very good point. And you have the intestinal fortitude to ask that question. Unproven.
Dwyane Wade led people to a championship. OK? There are a lot of guys out there in the free agent world that do have that. He may be the greatest player on the planet, but he has yet to prove it. The point is that all of these guys' contracts come up at the same time, and they have the leverage to change around a franchise. Remember, this isn't football, because even when Drew Brees signs, he has some influence. But not like these guys.
Only five of these guys are on the court at the same time. They can lead you from a terrible season to the brink of an NBA championship. Unproven or not, there are five cities that think LeBron will turn those cities into the garden spot of the universe.
SANCHEZ: Well, I'm wondering if these guys could do this in basketball -- I know you're saying the impact is greater because the math is smaller. If you've got only five players, and you move three guys on to one team, three out of five is a pretty big percentage.
But let me ask you a question. What if we started to see a trend in something like this? What if you get a Tom Brady and a Randy Moss and make a package like that, and sell them to one -- to some NFL team?
Look, I'd be interested. Wouldn't you?
HORROW: Yes, I would be. But the structure doesn't allow it as much in the NFL. And again, it's only two of 22 guys. Remember, they've got to play offense and there are other guys on the field for defense.
This time, all of these free agents didn't get together, but they all realized what everybody else was doing. And they said the summer of 2010 is going to be the time that we retake the playing field, if only for a week. Before, as I said, they go back to being employees.
President Obama says come to Chicago. Governor Strickland says go to Ohio. Mayor Bloomberg, tongue-in-cheek, says we will name a burrow Le Bronx if you come. Miami, Wade County. Not Miami Dade County.
Look at the impact of these guys.
SANCHEZ: That's crazy.
Right now, down to 15 seconds. Frontrunner? You want to name one?
HORROW: Yes, I think Chicago has a really good shot. I'm going to be killed if I don't say Miami, so maybe Miami, Rick. You and I will go to the first game with LeBron here. And Cleveland, he makes a lot more money as well.
It will be really, really interesting, the next three or four days. Then we'll talk about something else after that.
SANCHEZ: We'll be watching.
Thanks so much for being with us, Rick. Catch you on the flip- flop. Meanwhile, my thanks to you guys. You were a great audience, by the way.
Yes, you can clap. Well done.
(APPLAUSE)
SANCHEZ: That's not for me. That's for Suzanne Malveaux.
Here's your "SITUATION ROOM."
