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Rick's List
Controversy Over Dispersants; Devastating Floods in Pakistan; American-Born Al Qaeda Leader Dubbed "New Bin Laden"; Video of Man Walking Across America Internet Sensation; Snooki's Mug Shot Released
Aired August 02, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Well done.
You know, "the sky is falling" media reports that we've been hearing about this dispersant that's being used in the Gulf of Mexico, which we here on RICK'S LIST have questioned ad infinitum. Well, there's a new EPA report that came out just a little while ago. I just came to the realization I was using my hands a lot while I was saying that.
Here's RICK'S LIST.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here is what is making THE LIST today:
Congressman Ed Markey accuses BP of carpet-bombing the Gulf with dangerous chemicals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It was used on an almost daily basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: If that's true, why aren't scores of dead fish washing up on the shores?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": You have to be willing to pay for the government we want, or we have to dramatically cut the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Can you keep the Bush tax cuts and cut the deficit? Can you have it both ways? Alan Greenspan says, "No, you cannot," and he's not alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I'm willing to do the hard things. I'm willing to push my party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: But can he overcome the xenophobes or those who use immigration as a political wedge issue? Those who aren't willing to compromise?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BREITBART, CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: I did not ask for Shirley Sherrod to be fired. I did not ask for any repercussions for Shirley Sherrod.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: From conservative media darling to political outcast, the Republican Party turns on Andrew Breitbart.
Great white sharks - back in Jaws country just in time for Shark Week. We ain't kidding. They are literally closing these beaches.
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.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Well, hey, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. Let's get started. What do you say?
Look, about 37 minutes ago, there was this report that was released. This is a report from the EPA about that dispersant that's been used in the Gulf of Mexico. This is interesting. This is very interesting.
Let me get you started first. BP used excessive amounts of chemical dispersants to fight the oil disaster in the Gulf. Who says that?
Well, this is according to some documents released by a congressional subcommittee. The EPA is saying that once the use of the dispersants peaked at 70,000 gallons on a day on May 24th, the agency stepped in and ordered a halt -- except for on some rare occasions.
So, this has been the big story. This is what the "sky is falling" media reports have been for the last month and a half or two months here, even though we here at RICK'S LIST have often questioned: where's the data? Where's the tons of dead fish rolling up on the shores of Florida and Alabama and Mississippi if the dispersant's that bad? Where are they? And, by the way, it looks to me like the oil has all been cleared up, right?
Now, the Coast Guard did have the power to determine on certain occasion -- according to what their definition of rare is -- how much dispersant would be used on what occasions. That's important. According to the House Energy and Environmental Subcommittee, the House -- Coast Guard approved more than 74 exemptions, this is in 48 days. And some are saying, oh, my goodness, that may have been too much.
Here, take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARKEY: Even though there was an agreement in late May that the EPA led that it would be used only rarely -- as the weeks and months went by, it turned out that it was used on an almost daily basis. And that's why we have to ensure that internal bleeding inside of this ocean is monitored very closely to make sure that we understand what the ramifications are of having this unprecedented scientific experiment be conducted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. So, what is the result? What have we found? This internal bleeding, as he is referring to? Because we deal, in fact, here on RICK'S LIST, right? That's what you want.
All right. Let me tell you what Thad Allen is saying. Thad Allen, as you know, is the guy in charge of this, right? He says, so far -- let me just make sure I find his quote here -- he says he is satisfied with the amount of dispersants that have been used to clean up the disaster. He says that crews have used them only when needed.
All right. We've got Susan Shaw, who's one of my favorite guests because she's a marine toxicologist, who was one of the first ones to start asking questions about the toxicity in the Gulf of Mexico. And she's joining us by phone. And I've got Chad Myers here standing next to me who's been following this every step of the way with me.
All right. So, let's talk reality before we do anything else, even before we get to this EPA report.
Are you ready, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: OK.
SANCHEZ: We had -- how much oil that spread into the Gulf of Mexico? Hundreds of thousands of --
MYERS: We will never know the real number.
SANCHEZ: Hundreds of thousands of gallons --
MYERS: Sure, millions.
SANCHEZ: OK, millions.
The miraculous thing is that as we look at the Gulf now, you don't see a lot of oil, considering how much was in there, right?
MYERS: Right. Yes.
SANCHEZ: So, you could make a reasoned assumption that the dispersant seems to have at least had a quantitative effect on the oil?
MYERS: Visibly.
SANCHEZ: Visibly quantitative --
MYERS: The visible stuff, yes.
SANCHEZ: OK.
MYERS: The visible, so to speak, stuff still down there floating around --
SANCHEZ: We don't know --
MYERS: We haven't seen it.
SANCHEZ: -- and we're hoping to find out.
But here's -- finally the very first report to come out, this is from the EPA, I'll read this to the viewers. Are you ready? You want to read with me here, Robert.
"This Corexit 9500 -- right, it's what's it called -- when mixed with oil is generally no more or less toxic than mixtures of any other available alternatives. The results indicate that dispersant oil mixes are generally no more toxic to the aquatic test species than oil alone."
So, if they hadn't used the dispersants, it would have been the same or worse -- except more visible.
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead.
MYERS: But the report goes on to say, talking about shrimp, that the Corexit is less dangerous, less toxic to the shrimp than oil alone.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting.
Here's the quote, "Louisiana sweet crude oil," you're right, "was more toxic to mysid shrimp than the eight dispersants when tested alone."
So, finally, we're starting to get some data here which starts to -- now, the question is, what's going to happen in the future? But if this stuff was that bad, a reasonable conclusion would be that we would already be starting to see some effects. Where would --
MYERS: No.
SANCHEZ: -- where would the dead fish be? There would be fish kills all over the Gulf.
MYERS: But oil itself is toxic.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: The crude is toxic.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: The argument still to this day is, why did we add more toxic stuff to the toxic oil? Did we make it less toxic by a significant threshold to be adding this many thousands of gallons of more stuff --
SANCHEZ: Thad Allen is on it right now.
Let's take -- let's dip in to Thad Allen. Do you have that? Take it -- take it, Rog. See what he's saying right now. Go.
ADM. THAD ALLEN (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: -- trying to deal with oil on the water tactically when we saw it. It became apparent that we would need to have a much closer coordination and conversation with EPA on how this was done. To that end, I requested a meeting on the 22nd of June with Lisa Jackson and her staff. And as result of that meeting, we actually put EPA personnel into the decision-making process at the incident command post and here at the unified area command, so there would be a total discussion.
But, in the end, the responsibility lies with the federal on- scene coordinator to make a decision to use those. They are not constrained by law, as long as they meet the protocols that are in the existing national contingency plan, and the goals that we laid out with EPA were largely met as we reached 72 percent. Now, on a daily basis, you could find exceptions and there are times when maybe not everybody agreed on what we should do. But the fact of the matter is, folks are managing these conditions on scene tactically and have to make decisions without complete information, sometimes, under conditions of uncertainty because --
SANCHEZ: All right. So, there you have the admiral saying, we're comfortable with the decisions we made, we looked into it, we got the EPA involved, we think we made the right decision.
Let's bring Susan Shaw in now. She's a -- she's a real expert on this and she's been looking at this for quite sometime.
Let me start you with this question, Susan, very simple. If this dispersant -- if this Corexit 9500 is as bad as they say it is, why aren't we seeing massive fish kills, given how much more we're now learning was used than we originally thought those figures?
SUSAN SHAW, MARINE TOXICOLOGIST (via telephone): Right. Hi, Rick.
Well, first of all, let me just say that we knew going into this -- the EPA knew and this was on the National Academy of Sciences report that this mixer is highly toxic, extremely toxic to many, many species. And just to single out a couple of shrimp and, you know, small animals, it's just totally in disagreement with what we knew going into it.
SANCHEZ: But where's the data? Where's the data, Susan?
SHAW: Up here. The data -- you realize now that for months, the Gulf has been closed off to independent researchers and because it's -- of the lawsuits. And, you know, people can't get in there. So, that's one thing.
But there's a lot of anecdotal data. And I was there -- personally there three weeks ago. When I was on your show --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
SHAW: -- and I can tell you this, fishermen across the Gulf, independent of each other, not knowing what anybody else is saying told me they've never seen so many dead fish. I said, oh really, I hadn't heard that. It's like what you're saying. Yes, all the bait fish were dead up on the beaches. All the small herring were dead.
And then when I went out on Barataria Bay with the shrimpers, I was out there -- they showed me dead material in the water. It just -- it was eerie out there. There was nothing live in that water. And that's, you know, as you know, a very highly impacted area.
SANCHEZ: But the stories you're sharing with us unfortunately -- and, look, I'm not saying that you're not right and I'm certainly not saying the fishermen aren't right, that's anecdotal.
SHAW: That's correct.
SANCHEZ: That's somebody told somebody they saw something, as opposed to we did a test and recorded this percent of the population of this type of fish is dead. Where is that kind of data?
SHAW: I think we were banned from the area before we could get in and see all that. I don't think we are getting the picture. And that's exactly what needs to happen is we need to measure and we need -- there are -- there are obviously going to be long-term impacts of all that oil and all that dispersant in the water columns. We know that. We have the science on that.
Sweden had done the studies, Israel -- Australia has done the studies. I think it's like -- something like a quarter of all the studies that, 400, that have done on oil spills have shown this, how toxic that mixture is. And, by the way, it's much more toxic than oil alone.
SANCHEZ: Well, that's not what the EPA is saying. But let me bring Chad in. He wants to ask you a question as well, Professor.
MYERS: Ms. Shaw, Professor, I'm just -- I'm a little bit curious as to why they would take this shrimp and this inland silverside and make a blanket statement, like they did, and saying this is less toxic this way than it is this way when you have -- it seems that you have much more information about other species that could be more toxic.
Where are you getting that information and where -- I understand I heard a couple of things. But where do we know and what will we be seeing from this Corexit 9500 and all the other ones that they might have used for other things than a mysid shrimp and inland whatever?
SHAW: Correct. Well, I give you -- this is what worries me -- I'll give you a couple of examples, OK? With corals, for example, corals in the mix -- in presence of the mixture have zero percent fertilization rates. In the presence of oil alone, they have 98 percent fertilization rates. And this -- in it's been shown in studies -- we've done a very thorough review of the literature. It's a very large literature, and they're just -- we can just back it up with the science.
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Well, here's --
SHAW: A mixture is lethal to many, many species. And I do think it is species-specific. It goes all the way up to the small fish that are the food for the large fish.
SANCHEZ: We're left with the question, though, of what would have happened if they didn't use the dispersant? We know visibly to the eye it would have looked worse, because it would have looked like you'd see oil on beaches, you'd see oil on top of the water. By using the dispersant, have they made the situation worse or have they improved it? This is a question we're going to be around -- and we're going to keep asking because it's like we said, my viewers on this show, they want answer, they want data, not opinions. So, we're going to continue moving forward and asking these questions which I think are really important.
And, Professor Shaw, I love having you on. And any time you get new information on this, including the data you said that you're familiar with from Israel, send it to my producers. We'll turn it around, we'll discuss it and we'll put it on the air and we do another segment on this, all right?
MYERS: No question about it, because this is what we get. We got a shrimp and an inland silver fish -- a silverside.
SANCHEZ: And an EPA report, a lot of questions from people. All right.
MYERS: There's more fish than that in the ocean.
SANCHEZ: Thanks. You're going to be joining us a little later to tell us what's going on with static kill.
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: All right.
MYERS: And there's a T.D. out there.
SANCHEZ: There is, another potential hurricane. There we go.
Also this -- would you believe George W. Bush is back in the news as we get closer to the midterm elections, specifically his tax cuts for the rich? Well, that's because they're about to expire and some folks say, no, don't let them. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan says -- Alan Greenspan, says extending them would be disastrous. That's Alan Greenspan saying that. This is an explosive debate. It's just ahead.
Also, the devastation in Pakistan, have you seen this? More than 1,000 people are dead, 2 million others forced to leave their homes behind. Imagine if that were you or your community, historic flooding, sparking new fears of disease and more deaths.
Up next, the heartbreaking video and how the Taliban plays a role in all of this as well.
This is RICK'S LIST, your national conversation. Stay with us, we're just getting started
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
There's a new report out of Pakistan. It says that up to 1,500 people may have been killed by massive floods. Have you seen this? Thousands of homes are destroyed; tens of thousands of people have been left homeless. In all, some 1.5 million people have been affected by this thing in some way.
Now, to get some perspective on this, take a look at this NASA satellite image that we made. It's Pakistan's Swat Valley, July 5th. This is the normal water level for the region, all right?
For comparative sake, I want you to look at this now. This is a satellite image of the area 25 days later. These are pictures taken Friday after the floods had done their damage. You can see the water levels in the Indus River have risen significantly and swamped the city.
We've been all over this story. It's a story people all over the world are now following carefully.
CNN's Reza Sayah, he took a helicopter tour to see the damage and here's what he found. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was our first look at some of the flood-ravaged areas in northwest Pakistan from up above. The Pakistani military taking us on a helicopter tour of some of the hardest-hit areas and what we saw down below was widespread devastation -- village after village, especially those next to rivers and waterways, under water. We saw thousands of homes destroyed. If they weren't destroyed, they were buried in mud.
Remember, these floodwaters were at their highest sometime on Friday, obviously, several days have passed. Imagine what the people who are living in these areas went through then. Some of them are still stranded, many left homeless. The Pakistani government and the military telling us they're doing what they can to get to these flood victims as soon as possible.
During the helicopter tour, they made a stop at a relief camp to show us some of the work that they're doing. But over the past couple of days, the flood victims we've spoken to are telling us, we're not seeing that help. And that could be because the government can't get to them.
In areas like the Swat Valley that are dependent on bridges, many of those bridges have been demolished by floodwaters. The only way for the government and the military to get to these areas is by helicopter.
The military is saying they're using about 36 helicopters. But they acknowledge that's not enough to get to every area. That's why it's impossible at this point, they say, to tell how many people are stranded and how many people still need help.
Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: This is one of the most underreported stories here in the United States. It's not just what's happening in Bell. There you see the citizens of Bell, California, shouting and screaming over the monstrous salaries that some of their officials had.
But, soon, you can expect that many others are going to be joining these types of protests. The issue of you and me paying the pensions of public employees all over the country is just starting to grate on us a little bit. I get it -- and I'm covering it for you. That's ahead.
Also, breaking developments in this fiery debate over immigration continues. Now, it's the attorney general in Virginia who just ruled that police can check the immigration status of anybody they want to stop there. Isn't he doing -- question here -- isn't he doing exactly what a federal judge just told Arizona that they couldn't do?
The conversation continues here on your list, RICK'S LIST. We scroll on, folks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: There's a developing story that I want to bring to your attention now. California Representative Maxine Waters is going to be facing some ethics charges. CNN reported this just a while ago. I want to bring to it your attention once again.
House Ethics Committee said that she violated House rules by seeking federal financial assistance for a bank with ties to her husband -- again, with ties to her husband. She is the latest embattled Democrat. As you know, long-time New York Representative Charlie Rangel also could face an ethics trial, barring a settlement between him and the committee members -- a story that we have been following for you.
Law enforcement officials in Virginia can inquire into immigration status of those that they stop or arrest -- just as they can under a controversial new immigration law in Arizona -- or can they? Isn't this what a judge just said they shouldn't do?
All right. This is Virginia's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli. He's put out a legal opinion in his state telling his law enforcers what they can now do, according to him, of course. Not necessarily according to the courts. Expect challenges.
Jessica Yellin is joining us now from Washington.
I guess the question is: is this another politician jumping on the immigration bandwagon trying to show how tough he is? And is there a possibility that this thing could then be challenged in court just like the Arizona law was challenged in court, Jessica?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes and yes. I think you can almost certainly count on it being challenged in court, either immediately or after it goes into effect, they can do it at any time.
And is he jumping on the bandwagon? Well, I don't know. I do know that he seems to be a politician with very ambitious agenda and somebody who definitely seems to want to seek higher office at some point. As you know, Rick, he's also challenged the health care law. So --
SANCHEZ: So, this guy -- so, this guy's one of those super, uber anti-Obama guys.
YELLIN: Yes, he's taken a position very counter to what the president is doing.
Can I point out to you the ways this is different from what Arizona was planning to do?
SANCHEZ: Yes, that would be -- that would be helpful.
YELLIN: OK. This is from legal brainiac here, William Mears, who explains that the decision means -- in Virginia, there was already a law passed that said if you committed a felony -- people think you committed a felony, you can get your immigration status checked.
Now, law officers can check anyone's immigration status if they've done anything as simple as jaywalking or made a wrong turn. But they cannot arrest them for it and you cannot be required to carry your papers. So, that's different from Arizona. You can't be arrested for it, can't be required to carry your papers.
And there's all this gray area that how long could an officer detain you while they're looking at your papers, who do they call? All of that, it's left unknown. That's what's going to be challenged, too.
SANCHEZ: Hey, do you have a monitor there?
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You want to look at something else in the news?
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Look at this. Are you ready?
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Can you shoot that? Go ahead, John, want to go in tight on that. Look what we just got here at CNN. Who is that?
YELLIN: Huh! Is that Snooki?
SANCHEZ: Yes!
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: Do you think the president knows who Snooki is now?
SANCHEZ: Wait, there's another one. Wait. This is really interesting. There's another one, before we go. I got to show you this. You're going -- there's another one.
YELLIN: Does she love or hate this?
SANCHEZ: Here's the other one. These are the official mug shots now released on Snooki. You know, we told -- our Brooke Baldwin told us a story the other day she was arrested apparently for disorderly the other day. And now, they've just put the mug shots out. I'm sure they'll be all over -- they'll be viral soon.
YELLIN: How did she get two mug shots? You got a do-over if you don't like the first one?
SANCHEZ: You know, there's -- you got to back to your legal eagle and ask him about it.
YELLIN: Right. I'll ask Mears. Maybe we'll know.
SANCHEZ: Brooke will give us the information behind the new mug shots, I suppose. She'll be trending in just a little bit.
All right, Jessica. Thanks so much. Enjoy the conversation.
YELLIN: Got it.
SANCHEZ: All right. Take a look at this -- three words, no swimmer wants to hear: great white shark. That's right. Sightings up and down Cape Cod and at least one beach has already been shut down. That's coming up in just a little bit.
Also, how did two convicted killers manage to ditch prison guards and outrun a national manhunt for the past three days? This is a wild story. Have you heard about this? These -- I mean, these guys got away by hijacking of truck, an alleged mystery girlfriend got involved. This search is in trending and we're going to have the latest.
And, of course, the latest on the Snookster.
We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. We do lists. Here's a good one. This manhunt for these two escaped prisoners we've been telling you about in Arizona continues today. It has made us think back to some of the other famous prison breaks that we've covered in the past here on "RICK'S LIST."
So we have put a list together for you of some -- of these escapes. Here it is. Number three -- the Texas seven. In 2000, seven inmates at the John Conley unit in Texas escaped after overpowering several prison workers and guards. They led officials on one of the biggest manhunts in U.S. history. They were caught a month later.
Number two, escape from Alcatraz -- that's right, 1962. Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers burrowed from their cells and built a makeshift raft and then vanished from the shores of Alcatraz never to be seen again.
Can you think of one more? Number one on my list has escaped not once but twice from high-security prisons in fantastic in France. Pascal Payet, convicted killer didn't just escape. He escaped in style, using helicopters his friends hijacked for him. His most recent capture was in 2007. Spanish police identified him even after extensive cosmetic surgery.
Andrew Breitbart is a conservative blogger at the center of the Shirley Sherrod firestorm. Right now, one of the groups that has long supported him apparently doesn't want him around. A darling has turned into a dud. That's ahead.
Also, some great whites are showing up off our shores. Some beaches are even being closed as a result of these monsters of the sea. The shark scares next on my list of the day's "Fotos." We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And there you have it. Did you see that right there? Did you get a shot of this? I think the point to be made is maybe if you send us your caption for this photo, then you will be the tweet of the day. Have at it, folks.
All right, it's August and if you're planning on spending that coveted summer vacation in Massachusetts Cape Cod area, you may want to look at this video first. It's time for the best videos, it's time for "Fotos."
Back up the beach towels, a great white shark has been seen off the coast of the Cape. All of the beaches in the area now being patrolled, and one has already been closed down. Officials are urging beachgoers to use caution. Shark enthusiasts, however, have been swarming trying to get a look at this animal.
I'm going to be talking to a local official in just a little bit -- this is serious by the way -- to learn what they're doing about this threat, how big it is and why they're closing down the beaches there.
Also, if that's not enough of a thrill for you, check out these "Thriller" enthusiasts in West Bend, Wisconsin. Thousands gathered there Saturday in an attempt to set a world record for the largest "Thriller" dance. Again? They succeeded. They set the new U.S. record with more than 1,800 participants busting the moves from Michael Jackson's 1983 video. Not bad.
But Mexico City's "Thriller" world record remains un-cracked. That's more than 13,000 people gathered there in August 2009 to strut their "Thriller" stuff to the classic Jackson hit.
Now, close call at the Pennsylvania 500. Driver Eliot Sadwin was lucky enough to walk away from this crash at the Pocono raceway. If not for the head and neck safety restraint that he was wearing, a safety device which has been mandated by NASCAR since the death of Dale Earnhardt, he may not have been around to watch this video with the rest of us. That is amazing.
The impact was so strong -- watch this. The engine flies out of the car. There's the engine hitting that dirt right there.
That is "Fotos." Remember, you can see them for yourself whenever you want. Go to my blog, CNN.com/ricksanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. ANTHONY SHAFFER, CENTER FOR ADVANCED DEFENSE STUDIES: I believe Anwar Awlaki represents the heir apparent to the overall Al Qaeda global effort.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: This is the real deal, folks. He's being called "the new bin Laden" by people in the know. Authorities fear that this guy is leading the next generation of terrorists. A fascinating report into his past, his influences and the fact that he's an American. We'll break this down for you. That's ahead.
Also, Brooke Baldwin tells us what's trending. She's got a viral sensation to share with you.
And then of course there's this, there's this. Look at that.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You are all Snooki-ed out.
SANCHEZ: I've made it too small.
BALDWIN: It's no longer Snooki. I don't know what that picture is.
SANCHEZ: I pressed the wrong button. A very nice man who wants to get to know you. We'll be right back.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: All right, here we go. Brooke Baldwin's joining us now. She catches us up to date on what people are talking about out there on the Internet and on Google, et cetera.
BALDWIN: Go ahead.
SANCHEZ: We know the Snooki mug shot is out. And we're asking people for captions. We got them.
BALDWIN: There they go. Pull it up full there. There's one of her mug shots. She was arrested, disorderly conduct. This was Friday. She was in and out of jail.
By the way, that season premiere, season two on Thursday, massive audience, 5.3 million people.
SANCHEZ: Well, of course, with all the publicity we've been giving them.
BALDWIN: I'm surprised you guys aren't pals yet on Twitter. Wait for that day.
SANCHEZ: They should start doing stuff about "RICK'S LIST" and return the favor.
What have you got?
BALDWIN: Here's what I'm really excited about. This video, right. Some people are saying this is just this brilliant move by Levis, this viral video on YouTube. When you really stop and watch this -- it's a stop motion time-lapsed video of this guy literally walking across America from New York to San Francisco.
I am telling you, it is awesome, with 1.6 million hits and counting on YouTube to prove it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That is just the very beginning of the video. I want to bring in Blake Heal, who's one of the producers on this video. He's live in L.A. to talk me through this thing.
By the way, Blake, let me make sure to give a shout out to Edward Sharp of the Magnetic Zeros. The music you have under the videos is their song called "Hum."
But Blake, good to see you. Let's start with -- what is the whole concept behind this video? How did you come up with this?
BLAKE HEAL, PRODUCER, "GUY WALKS ACROSS AMERICA": Yes, basically myself, our co-producer, Peter, and the director Sam really wanted to do something that we hadn't seen on the internet before. And we wanted to combine that with stop motion. So we kind of came up with this concept of a guy walking across America and capturing it in one fluid motion. And this is the result.
BALDWIN: For people who aren't super hip when it comes to photography, walk me through this process. People are thinking what in the world is stop motion? Are we looking at different frames of video or are these different shots from still photography? And how many did you take?
HEAL: Yes, this is actual still photography that -- we posed this guy in 2,770 different poses. That's all still images, over 3,000 miles of pretty much stop and go. And the trick was posing them in the right position so it's all a fluid motion.
BALDWIN: And so you guys -- obviously there's no way he could have walked across America. I know you all sort of cheated and hopped in an RV, right? But I think we have the Google map of the beginning, the middle and the end of this progression across the country. You would stop in certain cities and take these photographs?
HEAL: Definitely. It would have taken us 40 days to do it if we were actually walking it. It took us 14 days. And basically we jumped out at kind of important pieces of the countryside that we thought would be good to shoot. It was six of us in an RV jumping in and out probably thousands of times. So it was an adventure and very much a journey in itself.
BALDWIN: And what about at the very end of the video, you see this tight shot on the model's back pocket and you see it's Levi Jeans. How did Levi come into this? Did Levi come to you guys and say, hey, we have a great concept for a video and we'll give you some money? Or was it you all had this idea and you needed some funding?
HEAL: It was actually the opposite. We had this idea, we came up with it, and we thought of a brand that would fit it. And Levis came to our mind, such a great, all-American grand. So we pitched them the concept and they loved the idea and really got on board and were so supportive and so great to work with throughout the process.
So that's kind of how they got involved as a sponsor. And it's been such a blast working with them, and we put this great video together.
BALDWIN: I bet Levis is loving you now.
Were you surprised at how quickly this took off on the Internet? I checked today, it was like 1.6 million hits and it's just been over the past couple of weeks. Did you ever in a million years think this would happen with this video?
HEAL: Not to this degree. We knew it was cool and was something that really hadn't been seen out there. But I think the first day got 10,000, 20,000 and then just started jumping to hundreds of thousands of views. And we were really shocked by the overwhelming response of not just in America but worldwide --
SANCHEZ: Did you go to Hialeah? Did you get a shot of walking through my hometown?
BALDWIN: No love for Miami.
HEAL: No, I'm sorry, we did not go to Miami. That would be quite a distance out of the way.
SANCHEZ: Peachtree City, Georgia?
HEAL: No. We kind of stayed the northern route, that was the quickest, more of the direct route.
SANCHEZ: Give me one. Kalamazoo?
HEAL: No, we did not.
BALDWIN: We are going to have to go another "Walk across America 2.0" with all the Rick Sanchez stops.
HEAL: This wasn't a touristy trip. This was all business.
BALDWIN: Last question, what's next? Walk across Asia? Are you thinking ahead since this has been so successful?
HEAL: Yes, we'd love to collaborate with Levis again and do another project. We've had a lot of great responses and phone calls. We're excited to do some more creative stuff. And really we're taking it as it comes. So who knows what will happen? Walk across Europe would be great.
BALDWIN: All right, Blake Heal, thank you very much. Consult with us the next time you decide to do some walking.
SANCHEZ: Exactly. HEAL: Will do. Thank you for having me.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: We'll give you some places you might want to walk.
BALDWIN: You're giving him a tough time, poor guy. Hialeah, Peachtree city, Kalamazoo -- no, no, no.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I've got a good idea. Thank you.
BALDWIN: See ya.
SANCHEZ: State of emergency in hundreds of towns across Russia as flames make history there and crews are blaming cigarettes and garbage. That's ahead.
Also, as we head to break, here's a look at the DOW. Yes, the DOW is up. Look at this. Do you see that, Brooke? Look at the number. What's that say?
BALDWIN: What, up 216?
SANCHEZ: Up 216. A good day on the DOW. And since it's a good day and there seems to be some news coming out of there, we'll stay on that and tell you how it closes. We are 14 minutes away from the close on Wall Street.
Stay there, "RICK'S LIST" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, here we go. Are you ready?
BALDWIN: I'm ready.
SANCHEZ: We've got four. These are the best four captions for the Snooki mug shot.
BALDWIN: For Snooki-gate, 2010.
SANCHEZ: Here we go. Number one -- "Umpa Lumpa arresting for escaping the chocolate factory." Thank you. Number two --
BALDWIN: "Vote Snooki for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska."
SANCHEZ: Number three, "This is your life on "Jersey Shore," any questions?" That's a tweet that we got moments ago.
BALDWIN: And the number one Snooki-gate 2010 tweet -- "Snooki/Obama 2012."
SANCHEZ: Wait a minute, somebody messed with this. Hold on. The number one tweet is, "Hey, at least I look better than Nick Nolte." There you go. Thank you, Brooke.
It's an issue that's suddenly changing the national conversation in the months leading up to the midterm elections. This is whether or not to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich. We debated. We hear both sides. That's coming up in just a little bit.
Also a famous singer lashes out at America. He blasts everybody from President Obama to Nancy Pelosi. He even has some words for you, the American voter. And it makes him today's most intriguing.
And as we go to break, in case you didn't get that last thing about Nick Nolte, OK, here's the famous mug shot of Nick Nolte. Take a look as we go to break. Over there. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And welcome back. It's time to check our list now of the most intriguing people in the news on this day. Here we go.
He is a rock 'n roll legend. Check. Gun lover, big game hunter, unapologetic ultra-conservative. Check, check, check. He used a whole page of angry ink in a major Washington newspaper today to go off on the president, a nation of people he calls "sheep," and a country that he calls a "shameless mess."
Read this. It's from his "Washington Post" op-ed. Quote, "Welcome to the new fat, soft, cowardly nation of wimps with the perfectly corrupt president and a pack of soulless hounds in government that they deserve."
Who are we talking about? Relax. Motor City Madman is just a nickname for this guy. It's Ted Nugent. He's never minced words and he is damn sure not mincing them today. He's ticked off, he's opinionated, he's loud, all symptoms of cat scratch fever? Ted Nugent, today's most intriguing.
Is this a case of celebrity justice? Lindsay Lohan's nearly two- week stint in jail ended overnight. We'll tell you where she is headed now because America wants to know. Or do they?
Also, how did a web savvy American become the darling of Al Qaeda? Could he pose a bigger threat than Usama bin Laden? Who is this guy and what do we as Americans need to know? Serious topic for serious minds. We'll be right back on "RICK'S LIST."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is "RICK'S LIST."
The CIA knows the name of the man who will probably replace Usama bin Laden. They should know his name. He's on their "kill list" now. A lot of terrorism experts agree this guy is the future of Al Qaeda. And you want to hear something bizarre? He's an American. He went to college in Colorado. More about that in a second, but this first. A bunch of Muslim scholars in the United States posted a YouTube video produced by a lobbying organization called Em-Pack. They are distancing themselves from radical Islam and trying to educate people that their religion is peaceful. Here is a little bit of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cannot kill innocent people. There's no footnote there. There is no real exception to that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the advocates of extremism, to the advocates of indiscriminate violence, the advocates of killing civilians, where are they successful?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. That was just two of those -- those were just two of the nine imams and scholars in that video. The rest of it is on the web.
Now, the man, this American Muslim who may rise to be in charge of Al Qaeda that we were telling you about earlier that disagrees with the people you just saw on that video, watch this report. This is a report filed By Deborah Feyerick. She met people who know him and say there may be nobody more dangerous.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brothers, that's what they're doing today. They are plotting to kill this religion.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From the safety of his hideout in Yemen, American Anwar Awlaki poses a threat to the United States unlike any other.
LT. COL. ANTHONY SHAFFER, CENTER FOR ADVANCED DEFENSE STUDIES: I believe Anwar Awlaki represents the heir apparent to the overall Al Qaeda global effort.
FEYERICK: Al-Awlaki, not yet 40, has vowed to bring America to its knees one terrorist at a time, an army of lone wolf insurgents.
SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA PACIFIC FOUNDATION: He is the individual that is continuing the doctrine that people like Usama bin Laden started.
FEYERICK: His credentials as an American citizen, fluent in English and Arabic, give him a unique authority among social media savvy wannabe jihadis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I eventually came to the conclusion that jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other able Muslim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He unlike others has been able to recruit --
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Counterterrorism expert Sajjan Gohel.
SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Al-Awlaki through his Internet sermons is preying on these young people and encouraging them to go off to far away land which they have no real relationship with to link up with terrorist operatives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The simple answer is America cannot and will not win.
FEYERICK: As a spiritual guide, ideologically condoning violent acts, this jihadist has inspired dozens of young men. In the last few years alleged plotters include the Time Square bomber, the young Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a U.S. jet bomber over Detroit, the alleged Fort Hood shooter, and others, all following a man born 39 years ago in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Awlaki spent his teen years in Yemen before returning to study in the United States.
