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Rick's List

Immigration Debate; Managing the Obama Message

Aired July 08, 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: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Let me begin with something that we are now preparing ourselves for. We had heard that the president of the United States was going to be speaking today, but we were essentially under the -- well, the general knowledge that this thing was just going to be the president of the United States at a fund-raiser.

Well, we're now getting information that the president of the United States is going to be giving a speech on the economy, and he's going to be laying into the Republicans, maybe an answer back to some of his dwindling poll numbers.

Either way, you will likely see that here in the next half-hour to 40 minutes. And when the president starts speaking, you will hear it live. And then, of course, when the president is done, you will hear from both sides here on CNN.

Welcome to RICK'S LIST. Topping the LIST right now, illegal immigration and the beginning of the conversation. Should the illegal immigrants who have been in this country for more than five years, have not acquired a criminal record while they have been here, have paid their taxes, et cetera, should they be allowed to stay here after paying a fine and waiting to be processed? The question, do they add to our economy or do they drain our economy?

And what do the drug cartels, being used as a bludgeoning tool by some Arizonans, really have to do with illegal immigrants? These are the types of questions that people on both sides of the immigration divide think they know the answers to, both sides. They know it so well, in fact, that it makes the veins pop out on the sides of their necks as they proffer their answers. That's just the way it is in America right now.

But, in fact, the answers are not usually so clear-cut. That's important to say, as it is with the Arizona law and the suit now being filed against it by the U.S. Justice Department.

Marielena Hincapie is a lawyer with the National Immigration Law Center and she's good enough to join us on this day.

Marielena, you there?

MARIELENA HINCAPIE, NATIONAL IMMIGRATION LAW CENTER: I am. Thank you, Rick, for having me.

SANCHEZ: Hey, are the feds going to be able to stop Arizona law from being enforced?

Well, that's our hope.

The Department of Justice filed its federal lawsuit against Arizona, basically arguing that the state is preempted from enforcing and creating immigration laws, because that's strictly within the jurisdiction and the purview of the federal government. They're asking for a preliminary injunction. And, on July 22, the court will be hearing the Department of Justice's arguments, as well as our arguments in our class-action lawsuit.

SANCHEZ: Well, it's funny, because it may be under the purview of the federal government, but it certainly looks for most of us out here on both sides of the issue that the federal government hasn't been doing a very good job of this.

HINCAPIE: Absolutely.

In fact, immigration is very much felt at the local level. And one of the arguments is that -- is for people who are in favor of SB1070, as the polling has shown, is that there's frustration with the federal government not having taken action on immigration reform yet, and we share that frustration. And I think...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: OK. So, let me follow that up. If the federal government mandated to do and handle immigration for the rest of us citizens isn't doing a very good job of it, then what's wrong with a state like Arizona stepping in saying, look, it's our border, we deal with this every single day, we're going to step in and do something about it?

Why should they not be allowed to do and say that?

HINCAPIE: Well, the Constitution doesn't allow it.

Again, under the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, it's the federal government who has the authority to create immigration laws, because it's a national issue. If every single state in the country created its own immigration laws, it would be the same as creating U.S. foreign trade and other laws that impact U.S. foreign policy as well.

And, again, it's within the purview of the federal government. From our perspective at the National Immigration Law Center, the other reasons why Arizona should not be able to do this is because they are creating a law that also violates the due process rights of individuals, not just undocumented immigrants, but of every person of color, every person of Latino dissent in Arizona.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, let me help you with that, because the way you just said, I think a lot of people are going to be spinning in their chairs trying to figure out what you just said. What you're saying essentially is that every time that they card or investigate someone, there's a possibility that person may, in fact, be perfectly legal in the United States and just by the mere fact that they have carded them or questioned them, they have violated their constitutional rights under due process. That's what you mean, right?

HINCAPIE: That is true.

I think, in fact, some of our plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit have experienced that very harm, which is that some of them have been detained for hours because the color of their skin or because they appear to law enforcement as being -- quote, unquote -- "undocumented."

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: What do you say to people who say, you know what, you keep your nose clean, you have got nothing to hide from the cops, you do everything right, and so what if the worst thing that can happen to you is that you're asked questions or detained for maybe a few minutes by a police officer; in the end, that's a small price to pay to make sure that our borders are secure and that the people in this country are all legal and documented?

HINCAPIE: Well, that's not what's happening.

I the reality is we're seeing people not detained for a couple of minutes. We're seeing people detained for hours, and sometimes even deported, even though they're U.S. citizens. And America is better than this.

This is ultimately about what are our core values? What kind of a society are we creating? And in the laws, the Constitution should protect everybody equally. And Arizona has taken into their own hands something that really belongs to the federal government. We should all be putting pressure on Congress and on President Obama to enact immigration reform, so that states like Arizona have their ability to...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Marielena, I think they are. The problem is it's finding that truth or that conversation or that middle point, finding that place in the middle where there's enough agreement to come up with something that pushes aside the vitriol that comes from both sides, by the way.

Let me let you hear what one of the members from FAIR had to say yesterday. This is Dan Stein. I'm sure you're familiar with Mr. Stein. I brought to his attention some of the numbers from your organization, and then he and I had this discussion. I want to get your comments on this on the other side.

Go ahead. Hit that, Rog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN STEIN, PRESIDENT, FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM: What are you leaving the American people with if you say our communities cannot control their destiny because the national government will not carry out one of its core and essential functions of an American democracy, that's control of our borders and immigration enforcement?

You're saying that our school, our hospitals, our infrastructure, our job market, we have simply lost control, we're going to be bankrupted by the impact. We got --

SANCHEZ: But that's not -- Dan --

(CROSSTALK)

STEIN: Arizona has very compelling state interests.

SANCHEZ: Dan, I have to stop you. What you just said is not true. You can't just go on the air -- I know that you think it's true. But it's --

STEIN: What did I say that wasn't true? What?

SANCHEZ: You said that illegal immigrants are bankrupting the state of Arizona. I could bring you arguments to the contrary, Dan that would show, and I'm not saying one side is right and the other side is wrong, but let's not drop it on the table on my show and say this is the way it is, because I can bring you just as many statistics that would show that you and I benefit from what illegal immigrants bring to the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That is part of the conversation I was having with Dan yesterday, Marielena. And I bring it up with you.

Too often in this country, when we have conversations about immigration, it turns into one side demonizing the others, like all of a sudden everything that illegal immigrants do is wrong, bad, they're bankrupting the system, or everything that the people against open borders have to do is because they're bad and they're all nativists, and they're all bigoted or whatever.

The fact of the matter is the truth is probably somewhere in the middle, is it not?

HINCAPIE: Absolutely. That's right.

And, in fact, the polls show that your average American supports immigration reform at the federal level. They want immigrants who have been here, who have been contributing to the economy, who have been paying taxes, who have roots in the United States, who have U.S. citizen children, who are investing in their communities to be part of the country and to pay their fair share of taxes and sales and be part of the United States and become citizens and require them to become citizens.

And that is what immigrants want as well.

SANCHEZ: I made a point yesterday. And on my way home, I always read the audience research. That's what we call here. After the show is over, I read everything that was sent to me. And there was a huge number of people who were e-mailing me saying, Rick, when you said that illegal immigrants actually subsidize us and pay for our Social Security, how can that make any sense when they're not paying Social Security since they don't pay taxes?

And, once again, I want to clarify this point, because it's something I learned in my research and in my travels doing stories on this. In fact, for those of you at home who don't understand this, let me explain it to you. And, Marielena, maybe you can back me up on this. The federal government has set up something called a tax I.D.

If an employer hires someone who is illegal, even if they don't have a Social Security number, they then process their tax I.D. number. That way, they go on as someone who's essentially anonymous, nameless. They draw Social Security from them that is put into the system that we all use, but they, that person that worked and had that Social Security deducted from their paycheck, they, that illegal immigrant, will never be able to actually reap the benefits of Social Security.

It sounds strange, but it's the fact. Am I wrong?

HINCAPIE: No, you're absolutely correct. And, in fact, there are two different pieces of how the undocumented immigrants are subsidizing Social Security.

So, one is when individuals are working in the U.S., even if they're working under a Social Security number that is not theirs, they are paying approximately $7 billion a year into the earning suspend fund, which is the Social Security Administration's fund when SSA, the Social Security Administration, isn't able to credit those earnings to an individual.

And, again, the Social Security Administration's own records show that this money has been sitting there for a long time.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: What percentage would you say, before I let you go, because I'm not sure -- I mean, look, we all know there's a lot of illegal immigrants in this country who come in and work under the table and they don't pay any taxes, Certainly if they're doing the type of jobs, like working on people's yards, et cetera, et cetera, cleaning people's homes.

But if you work for a corporation, let's say in Dalton, Georgia, and you're working making carpets or if you work for a construction company laying brick or you work for a poultry company, are the majority of those folks having Social Security and other taxes deducted from their check, even if they're illegal? HINCAPIE: Absolutely.

And the majority of those folks are also paying taxes with that individual tax I.D. number at the end of the year to report their taxes, because that's going to be required in order for them to become legal immigrants eventually, when we get immigration reform.

And, ultimately, that's what the majority of immigrants are hardworking, tax-paying individuals.

SANCHEZ: We got it. We got it.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Marielena, interesting conversation. My thanks to you for joining us.

Every day, we're bringing different people on and having this discussion about immigration, because we think it's important. Yesterday, we talked to Dan Stein. Today, we talked to Marielena. Tomorrow, we're going to be talking to some people on the legal side of this as well. And then we're going to be delving into the history of immigration in the United States. Every day, you can count on us to do this right here on RICK'S LIST.

Here's what else we have coming on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: This year will be remembered as a year when commonsense conservative women get things done for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It's called SarahPAC. Have you seen this new Sarah Palin video? Not groundbreaking with substance really, but I will tell you, it connects. It's a powerful, powerful ad. I'm going to play it for you. And then we will talk about it.

Also, why aren't President Obama's approval ratings much higher considering the legislation that he's tackled and passed? Could it have to do with how he's selling his idea, how he's managing the message? Not so well. That's next.

And when the president speaks later in this hour in Missouri, we were thinking we might, well, dip in for a little bit and then get out of it. Oh, no. We're told this is going to be a barn burner of a speech from the president of the United States. It's coming up now in about 20 minutes. You will see it in its entirety right here on RICK'S LIST.

I'm Rick Sanchez. We're coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

SANCHEZ: Because I can bring you just as many statistics that would show that you and I benefit from what illegal immigrants bring to the United States, the fact that they actually commit fewer crimes than most people, the fact that they use...

(CROSSTALK)

STEIN: Wait, wait, wait -- that is definitely not true.

SANCHEZ: How do you solve the immigration issue without demonizing either side? Can President Obama cut through the vitriol?

Is the Obama administration struggling to manage its message?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, all these efforts taken together are making a difference.

SANCHEZ: New polls show he's losing support, despite passing landmark legislation. Why is he losing so many indies?

Mel Gibson, from bad to worse. Now there are reports he punched his girlfriend while she was holding their baby. And he said she deserved it. What list do you think he's on?

Cuba finally agrees to release those jailed who really did nothing more than disagree with Castro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's good, because the government now seems to be understanding of the situation.

SANCHEZ: Will this reignite calls for America to do business with Cuba?

And Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are in. Will LeBron James join them in Miami? It's the scuttle, but what will LeBron say tonight during his news conference?

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: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

As we told you moments ago, the president is about to be speaking in Missouri. And at first we thought it was going to be one of those boring speeches you give when you're out raising funds on your company. In fact, we're being told now that the president has a very direct message and his message is going to be aimed at Republicans. That's what we're expecting now in about 10 or 15 minutes.

You're going to see it live right here on CNN.

Meantime, this is the president speaking earlier today in Kansas City, Missouri.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: All these efforts, taken together, are making a difference.

A year and a half ago, our economy was shrinking at 6 percent a year. Now it's growing. The economy was bleeding jobs. We've now created private-sector jobs -- added private-sector jobs for six consecutive months.

Now, obviously, the progress we've made isn't nearly enough to undo all the damage that was done as a consequence of the economic crisis. There are still five unemployed workers for every vacancy. There are still too many empty storefronts on Main Street all across America.

And I have said since I took office that my administration will not rest until every American who is able and ready and willing to work can find a job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Here's one of the problems that Mr. Obama is having. I need to point out that Mr. Obama was speaking to folks at Smith Electric Vehicles. They make all electric trucks, and they have got about 50 full-time employees there.

And they expect to double the payroll this year. How? I'm going to tell you how: a grant from the Department of Energy that comes to about $32 million.

Now, Rog, take me full if you can right here, because I want to show something. I want you to keep in mind something that this is important that I think all Americans need to understand as they consider what's going on with the economy. It's not to judge. It's not to be judgmental or say it's a good thing or a bad thing.

This is a crucial discussion for business in America, a crucial discussion for workers and for the government. Look, if this is the economic recovery, and you could make an argument that this is pretty much close to what the economic recovery has been doing, it's not really holding itself up on its own.

Really, it's being propped up by the government. It's almost like another line going in this direction. Think of the stimulus. Think of everything else that's been poured into the economy, government money. You could even argue census jobs over the last couple of months, all right?

Well, that stimulus is running out. Take away this. What happens to this? It no longer has anything holding it up. And are we then back to where we started? That's the concern. And some are saying it's a legitimate concern. What then?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The barge just ran over the top of them. It actually sunk under and then people spit out of the bottom of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We told you about this yesterday as it was happening. A tour boat was hit by a barge and it sunk. You saw this story develop right here on our newscast. It was really something to behold. The search is still on for two passengers. That's ahead right here on the LIST.

And then have you seen this Sarah Palin ad? Boy, I will tell you, it's a sight to behold, a video that is making really a huge connection, as it should. I mean, could it translate into future votes either for her or what she's trying to accomplish? Jessica Yellin is going to be drilling down on this for us in just a little bit.

And we are going to have to talk about the fact that Obama is going to be talking in 15 or 20 minutes. And some of Jessica's sources seem to indicate that this is not going to be your ordinary boring speech. This might be a bit of a barn burner. What do we mean by that? Jessica will tell you.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And welcome back.

We have got some breaking news we want to bring you about -- can we get back to this camera? Let's go back over here if we can.

Here's the latest information that we have right now. Tell me where you want to take me, Rog. Thanks.

We have just received information that, in fact, Mel Gibson is being investigated now over domestic violence claims, yes, that Mel Gibson, Mad Max, et cetera. Several weeks ago here on this newscast, we talked about Mel Gibson being on the list you don't want to be on, based on information that we had heard about Mr. Gibson in some illegal proceedings he's having with the mother of his child.

Apparently, they are suing each other in court. And, as this goes, there have been several reports that have come out, one of them where Mel Gibson went off on a horrible tirade, using the N-word, going after -- using words that most men would never even think to use when referring to women.

It was bad enough, but now there's a brand-new report that seems to have some domestic violence accusations in it, where, in the conversation, Mr. Gibson apparently says to the woman who is -- who had a baby with him -- at the time that she's holding the baby, she says, I can't believe that you would strike a woman holding your child.

She claims that he punched her in the face. She also claims that he gave her a concussion. He responds to her accusation on the phone by saying something or suggesting that she deserved it. Again, this is Mel Gibson in a conversation with his girlfriend with whom he had a baby, who is not his wife, with whom he's had many children.

Now, here's the news, as I set all of that up for you. And, again, I just got this information during the commercial. So, I'm bringing it to you as we get it. There's now an official investigation of domestic violence that has been launched by the Malibu/Lost Hills station detectives involving actor Mel Gibson and his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva.

The detective in charge of the investigation is currently gathering information regarding the allegations. Due the investigation being preliminary in nature, no other information is available right now.

So, as of within the last couple of minutes, an official investigation on domestic violence has been launched against Mel Gibson having to do, no doubt, with that very story that I told you about that we have been following since this morning.

We were wondering if there would be legal action. Sources tell TMZ the alleged incidents occurred in Malibu in both January and February of this year, which goes along with what I just told you that was reported last night. We're told it's a spousal abuse investigation and the alleged victim is Oksana. Sources tell TMZ sheriff's deputies interviewed Oksana on Monday.

So, again, this is according to TMZ and obviously it's an ongoing story, one that we will continue to develop for you after the break.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: If numbers matter, the president of the United States seems to be in a bit of trouble.

Before we go to the president, I want to bring in Jessica Yellin.

Jessica, set the scene for us, if you possibly could. Why are we hearing that the president is going to come with like gangbusters during this speech that was somewhat unexpected? And how bad are his numbers and how does he get around that?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president is going -- is at a fund-raiser for Robin Carnahan running for Senate in Missouri, a very important swing state that the president would like to pick up in 2012 and would like to pick up this seat as well. As you know, the numbers, he's been losing -- devastating numbers loss among independents, and slight hemorrhaging among his own base in the Democratic Party. What we're going to hear him do, Rick, is hit the Republicans hard on the economy. Remember, during the campaign, his message was, they drove the car into the ditch, and now they want to take the keys?

I think we will hear him resurrect something along those lines today, again hitting Republicans for getting the economy where he is. He's trying to help the little guy will be his message.

SANCHEZ: Let's listen to the speech, and then you and I will come back, as well as Ed Rendell, governor of Pennsylvania, who's going to be joining us to talk about this.

Here now, the president of the United States.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: ... and acting like she's been here the whole time.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Robin is tough. And you have got to have tough leaders in Washington, because, first of all, the other folks call you a lot of names.

(LAUGHTER)

They'll just make stuff about you. Make it up.

You've got to be tough because these are tough times for America. Eighteen months ago when I took office, we had already gone through a decade of economic policies that have resulted in stagnant incomes, and the average wage of the average worker in America actually went down if you adjusted for inflation during the previous ten years before I got elected.

So falling or stagnant incomes, sluggish job growth, record deficits is what we had been going through. And they culminated, these policies culminated in the worst crisis we've had since the Great Depression. Think about that. The Great Depression happened a long time ago. We haven't seen anything this bad as a consequence of economic policies put in place.

Three million Americans lost their jobs in the last six months of 2008. The month I got sworn in, in January, we lost 750,000 jobs that month. These are just numbers. Those are real folks wondering if they can play the mortgage or pay the bills, feeling desperate, some of them feel embarrassed because they can't look after the families the way they want to.

Everybody in this room was touched by this crisis. You definitely know someone who was.

These policies were pretty straightforward. They were all spelled out. Sometimes they put fancy names on them like the "ownership society." Do you remember that? But we know what the policies were. You cut taxes for the richest people, who don't need tax cuts or weren't asking for them. Warren Buffet got real big tax cuts.

Then you cut rules and regulations for the most powerful corporations, whether it's big banks on Wall Street or big oil companies who are operating in the Gulf. And then you say to everybody else, you're on your own.

(APPLAUSE)

But that's a philosophy. You don't have health insurance? Tough luck, you're on your own. Can't afford to send your kid to college? Tough luck, you're on your own.

Now I think we all know these policies were bad for the people of Missouri. They were bad for workers. They were bad for responsible businesses because it puts the most responsible businesses at a disadvantage. If you're following rules and other folks aren't, if you are local small town banker, and next thing you know, somebody has gone off some cockamamie scheme with derivatives, that's not good for you.

These policies were bad for America. And that's why when I was sworn in, we took a different path. First thing we had to do was stop the freefall right away. And then we had to build the economy for the long run.

And our policies have been straightforward. We didn't raise taxes. We cut taxes for 95 percent of working families and for small business owners because that was the right thing to do.

(APPLAUSE)

Putting money in people's pockets, making sure business owners could make payroll. We made sure that Wall Street banks and other big corporations played by the same rules as small businesses and small banks. Everybody plays by the same rules.

That wasn't anti-business, that's pro-business, pro free market, to make sure everybody is falling the rules, that there's transparency and accountability and responsibility.

And then we decided we're going to invest in America's people and our future because we knew we couldn't go back to pretending like everything was OK by maxing out on our credit cards and taking out more and more home equity loans.

You know, we've got a housing bubble that's keeping everything afloat. We knew we weren't going to be able to go back to that. So we had to invest in our long-term future, the skills and education of our workforce, research and clean energy technologies that can create new jobs, and industries, and make us -- make sure we can compete in the 21st century. That was our vision for America. And that's what we talked about during the campaign, and that's what we started to deliver on. And we knew from the very beginning that some of the steps we took would be difficult and unpopular.

You know, sometimes these pundits, they can't figure me out. They say, well, why is he doing that? That doesn't poll well. Well, I've got my own pollsters. I know it doesn't poll well. But it's the right thing to do for America. And so we go ahead and do it.

(LAUGHTER)

That's why stuff in Washington doesn't get done, because people put their finger out to the wind. They say, well, I don't know. Which way is the wind blowing?

All these folks who were all getting a bunch of earmarks for everybody, spending all this money, suddenly, oh, no, I'm for deficit cutting because the polls changed. Folks don't mean what they say. And then they don't do what they say.

People get surprised when we follow through and keep our campaign promises. It's like, well, he's -- he went ahead and did health care. Why did he do that? I said I was going to do health care. It was the right thing to do.

(APPLAUSE)

I made a commitment to you.

(APPLAUSE)

We said we would do something, we did it. Yes, we did. And we're still doing it.

We knew that it would take years to dig ourselves out of the hole we found ourselves in. And that's longer than any of us would like. But here's what I also know -- an economy that was shrinking has been growing for the better part of a year.

(APPLAUSE)

An economy that was losing job, we've now had six consecutive months of private sector job growth, 600,000 private sector jobs. It's not enough. There are still folks out of work, but we are moving in the right direction.

And I know when Robin Carnahan gets there she's going to help us keep moving in the right direction. That's why I need you to elect Robin Carnahan.

(APPLAUSE)

You're going to face a choice in November, and I want everybody to be very clear about what that choice is. This is a choice between the policies that got us into this mess in the first place and the policies that are getting us out of this mess. And what the other side is counting on is people not having a very good memory. Think about it. They're not making any new arguments. They're not coming back and saying, you know what, we really screwed up, but we learned our lesson and now we've got this new approach and this is how things are going to turn out really well. That's not their argument.

They are trying to sell you the same stuff they've been peddling -- I'm just saying.

(LAUGHTER)

They are peddling that same snake oil that they've been peddling now for years. And somehow they think you will have forgotten that it didn't work.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Kick them out.

OBAMA: We did kick them out because it wasn't working. I don't have a teenager. Malia just turned 12.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Good luck!

OBAMA: You say good luck, huh?

(LAUGHTER)

She's my baby. Even though she's 5'9", she's still my baby. And she just got braces, which is good because, you know, she looks like a kid and, you know, she's getting -- she's starting to look too old for me.

(LAUGHTER)

But I digress. What was my point? Here was my point. I don't have a teenager yet, but in a couple of years.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there goes that. The president of the United States in the middle of telling a story about how uncomfortable he is with the fact that his daughter is growing up just a little too fast.

But he's really railing on the Republicans past and present. We should be getting him back any moment now, by the way.

But just a couple of the quotes, let me read those to you. "Doesn't poll well. I know it don't poll well. I've got my own pollsters. I don't care. It's good for the people." Then he said "snake oil" referring to the Republicans, "same snake oil that didn't work, and they're hoping you forgot about it."

Let's go back to President Obama.

OBAMA: You don't know how to drive yet. You can't have the keys. You can't have them. I'll take you out to the parking lot and we can drive in circles, but we're not going to let you out on the open road. You can't drive.

And by the way, Robin's opponent, he wasn't just along for the ride. He was one of the guys with his hand on the wheel when it drove into the ditch. He's a guy who gave tax breaks to billionaires. He's the guy who gave tax breaks to oil companies. He's the guy who wanted to deregulate and eliminate oversight for Wall Street. And that's who he still works for, how he makes his money.

So we know how this movie ends, right? We don't want to see it again.

(LAUGHTER)

We've seen this one. They're trying to run the "okiedoke" on you, trying to bamboozle you. That made you laugh, "okiedoke." You remember that.

(LAUGHTER)

But that's what they're trying to do. They run these ads thinking, you know, well, we might be able to fool them one more time. This might work again.

It's not going to work. We don't have to guess how the other party will govern because we're still living with the results from the last time.

(APPLAUSE)

They're still singing from the same hymn book. Right after I took office, we passed an economic plan, cut taxes for two million families here in Missouri. Didn't raise taxes, cut taxes for two million, because that's what was necessary to give the economy a boost.

It provided 1,500 loans to Missouri's small business so they could keep their doors open, extended unemployment benefits for 170,000 Missourians who had lost their jobs through no fault of their own, 55,000 men and women in the state are working because of this plan.

Jay Nixon didn't have to lay off as many teachers or police officers or firefighters because of this plan.

(APPLAUSE)

I was just over at Smith Electric Vehicles. Very cool plant, right out near the airport. They are making these electric trucks, cutting edge stuff. And 50 new employees there making these brand spanking new electric trucks that are being used by companies like Frito Lay and PepsiCo. Those folks wouldn't have had a job if we hadn't decided we need to invest in clean energy all across America.

(APPLAUSE)

All across America. You know what? The other party, they said no to all this, just said no. We're not going to do it. So those 50 workers at Smith Electric would not have a job making electric trucks that are going to lead us into the future. A whole bunch of teachers would be out of work. Economy would still be in the ditch.

They say no to everything. Don't they, though? Everything. And I go and I talk to them and I say, come on, we can get something going here. No!

(LAUGHTER)

Don't want to.

We decided you know what, since this financial crisis wreaked havoc, cost the American people trillions of dollars of wealth, retirees see their 401(k)'s plunge, businesses suddenly shutter. You know, it might be smart for us to try to prevent this from happening again, right? That's some common sense.

(APPLAUSE)

So we craft very carefully this regulatory bill to make sure that consumers are protected from predatory loans and credit card abuses, to make sure we never have another tax pair bailout because we can shut down one firm without -- and quarantine it so it doesn't affect all the other firms. We put tons of work into this thing. Consult everybody. What does the other side say?

CROWD: No.

OBAMA: No. The leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, John Boehner, he says well, we don't need all this. This is like using a nuclear weapon to kill an ant. The worst crisis since the Great Depression he calls an ant. You could make a movie, "The Ant that ate the Economy."

(LAUGHTER)

An ant.

I think most Missourians want to see something done. So does Robin Carnihan. That's why you need to send her to the Senate instead of the other guy, because she gets it. She understands what you've been going through, and this is not a game to her. These are real lives at stake.

We said during the campaign, you know, our future is going to depend on education. And we've got to get back to the point where we send more people to college than any other country. That's a goal I set for 2020. I want the most college graduates in the United States than in any country in the world.

(APPLAUSE)

So, now, some of that means making sure parents are parenting, turning off the TV set, instilling a sense of excellence in our kids. Xbox, PlayStation, you just got to put those away for a while. Hit the books, do your math, read.

But even students who do well, a lot of them can't afford to go to college. So we decided as part of our overall education reform, raising standards, initiating reforms, here's what we'll do. The government student loan program was going through banks and financial intermediaries, middlemen, and they were siphoning off billions of dollars in subsidies.

Now, the loans were guaranteed so they weren't taking any risk. They were just taking the money. So we said, you know what, we'll eliminate the subsidies, and that will give tens of billions of dollars in additional money to student loans. We passed that bill. One million more students are getting student loans financial aid because of what we did.

You know what the other side said? No. Said no. How do you say no to that? But they did. We got no support for it.

Robin Carnahan understands that young people need help getting to college. That's why you need to send her to the Senate, not the other guy, because she knows what your life is like. She knows what you're going through.

Most recently obviously we've had this oil spill, an environmental disaster, and it's going to take some time for us to clean it up. But first thing that we could do was to say all those fishermen down there, all those small business owners have got maybe a little restaurant, they rely on tourist season, we've got to make them whole. BP's got to pay.

(APPLAUSE)

And so we -- so I met with BP. I want BP to do well because obviously their ability to pay depends on them staying solvent. But I said to them do right by these folks. And they agreed to put together a $20 billion fund to make sure that everybody was being compensated. Seems pretty sensible, doesn't it?

(APPLAUSE)

I mean, I know -- I know you're a friendly crowd, but even if you weren't a friendly crowd, you'd kind of say, well, that makes sense, right? They caused this big disaster, and they pay the people who have been hurt by it.

So I've got the House Republican chairman of the energy committee, who has jurisdiction over the oil companies, he in a hearing says to them "I apologize that the president strong armed you Chicago style.

(LAUGHTER)

I apologize. I think this is a tragedy that you are being made to compensate these folks." Really? I mean, when I heard that, I said, no, he didn't say that.

(LAUGHTER)

No. He didn't say that. But he did, because they don't think in terms of representing ordinary folks.

(APPLAUSE)

That's not -- that's not their orientation. So that's the choice that we face in this election. You've got the Bartons and the Boehners and the Blunts. They have got, you know, they have got that "no" philosophy, that "you're on your own" philosophy, the status quo philosophy, a philosophy that says that everything is politics and we're just going to gun for the next election. We don't care what it means for the next generation.

And they figure if they just keep on saying no, it will work for them. They will get more votes in November because if Obama loses, they win. If we can stop him, then we'll look better.

But that's -- that's not what's going to lead our country out of this mess that we're in. That just takes us backwards. We need to move forward.

Robin Carnahan wants to move forward. Missouri wants to move forward. America wants to move forward. That's the choice in this election -- moving backward or moving forward. And if you fight for Robin Carnahan, and if you work for Robin Carnahan, then I guarantee you that she will make sure that America moves forward and Missouri moves forward and people are put back to work and we are building a clean energy future, and we are making sure the small businesses are prospering.

That's what we're fighting for. That's what you are fighting for. Let's make this happen, Missouri. Thank you. God bless you, and god bless the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

SANCHEZ: Boy, I'll tell you, that's one fired up president. President Obama is as fired up as we've seen him now in quite some time, and we were told by our sources in Washington that he was really going to lay into the Republicans during this speech, and we were right. He most -- he most certainly did.

I mean, to just, you know, some of the comments alone that he was going after there with the president, talking about how Republicans' efforts had been for the most part snake oil, said the Republicans are playing games, that they are playing political games.

About the polls he said, "Look, I've got my own pollsters, I know when something doesn't poll well. I don't care." He went on to say "I think it's good for the people."

He also said the Republican policies, he seems to be trying to brand the GOP, by the way, as you listened to him here, didn't he seem to be trying to brand the GOP as just the "party of no"? It's kind of an old message, but he's like rebranding them. They said no to college loans, said no to unemployment compensation. They said no to Wall Street reform.

And then he hammered away on John Boehner, making fun of John Boehner for saying that the economic meltdown was nothing, comparing it to an ant. He went on to joke about that, saying that it was the ant that ate the economy.

There's a lot of stuff here that we're going to get to in just a little bit. A lot of response coming your way. We want to get a response from both sides. We will have the governor of Pennsylvania, Democrat Ed Rendell, who has been very critical of the president, saying this president, this White House, has not known how to get its message out. We'll talk to him.

And, of course, we're going to give Republicans a chance to respond to this as well. Have we booked the Republican side? Doug High from the RNC is going to be joining us in just a little bit. And we're going to let him respond to what the president had to say about Republicans in general so you'll hear both sides of this.

And as we go to break, before we come back, I want you to see this tweet that just came across. It's from one of the persons who the president regularly makes fun of. This is John Boehner. He says "The president of the United States has said our goal has never been to create some government program. Seriously?"

Again, that's John Boehner. This is "RICK'S LIST." I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your national conversation. And we've just touched the tip of the iceberg here. We've got a lot coming your way. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. You just heard the president of the United States, and for those of you who missed it, we're going to turn some of those around. The president, as we have been saying, and we expected him to come out swinging real hard against the Republicans real hard.