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Rick's List

At Least Nine Dead in Connecticut Workplace Shooting; Mosque Near 9/11 Site Gets Go-Ahead; BP Attempts to Kill Oil Well in Gulf of Mexico; Six Teenagers Drown in Shreveport; Man Called "The Next Bin Laden" a Former American Citizen

Aired August 03, 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: We understand now that there are eight people that have been apparently shot by a man who entered a business. And we're just now getting some brand-new video from this massacre in Connecticut.

Here's the LIST for today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

This Tea Party movement candidate says, we need to report the news the way she wants it reported, so she can gain support. And she's serious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am very dubious about their intentions and their honesty.

SANCHEZ: They have built a legacy of fighting against hate and prejudice. So, why is the Anti-Defamation League opposed to an Islamic community center which supporters say will bridge understanding?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Islam is of the devil, that it is causing billions of people to go to hell.

SANCHEZ: You believe that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a deceptive religion.

SANCHEZ: His church wants to burn Korans. But American evangelicals have something to say about that. I will tell you what it is.

A Republican who's against the Arizona immigration law. Congressman Connie Mack says solve the problem, but stop the rancor.

How far would you go for the perfect pet? Wait until you see what this genius did.

The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list. Pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. So glad that you're there with us.

Once again, let's cut right to this chase that is going on in Connecticut. Look, there's a dramatic scene going on there now. A family-owned business, as we understand, has turned into a bloodbath, when nine people were killed. Police say a man walks in and he starts shooting employees working there during a morning shift change.

The nine people that were killed apparently includes the shooter. Apparently, his name is Omar Thornton, who we're told died right there at the scene from the gunshot wound.

The shooting has happened at Hartford Distributors. This is one of the state's largest beer distributors in the town of Manchester, Connecticut.

Alison Kosik is live right there for us. She's at the scene to bring us up to date. And I understand she's going to be able to share some new video that we have just gotten in as well.

Alison, what's going on? Fill us in.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Rick, we're standing about 200 yards from the scene. Police are really keeping quiet, and they're keeping us far away from the crime scene, which, by the way, is active.

If you go ahead and look at that exclusive video that we just shot, as you can see, investors still checking out the scene there, some of them taking to the tops of their trucks.

What I noticed, which was kind of interesting, is that some of those officers are still wearing their flak jackets, their bulletproof vests, as they investigate the scene.

As you can probably see in the video, they have put up tents, perhaps for privacy, perhaps to keep cool. It is quite a hot day out here in Connecticut. But they still are out there from early this morning investigating exactly and trying to figure out what exactly happened this morning -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Well, any time you hear of a story like this, you immediately go to motive. I mean, Americans right now are watching you and I talking about this story and bringing them up to date on this horrific situation and wondering, OK, what would cause a man to go in and shoot eight people in this case, because there's nine deaths, but that includes himself.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Was this a domestic situation? Was there some tie between him and this particular business? Do we know anything at this point about this?

KOSIK: And it is -- actually, what you say, Rick, is exactly true. It is the first thing that enters your mind. What possessed this guy to walk in, in the morning, show up at work and just start firing at his co-workers with a rifle?

A police source close to the investigation tells CNN that what was happening here was maybe a disgruntled worker situation. We're hearing that Omar Thornton, who's 34 years old, was supposed to come in to the company today with a union official because he was labeled as a disciplinary problem. They were all expected to sit down together and come up with some sort of remedy.

But that's when the shooting started. We're really unsure if that meeting ever got started, Rick.

SANCHEZ: So, this appears to have been, at this point -- and, again, letting our viewers know, as you said, preliminary investigation seems to indicate that this may have been some kind of reprisal on his part against a disciplinary action taken against him by his employers?

KOSIK: Not sure about any disciplinary action. All I know is that the Teamsters Union was walking in here with Omar this morning to have a meeting with company officials and try to figure out what should happen to him. Should he keep his job or would he not be able to keep his job?

There's also been some talk that he may have stolen from the company. We haven't confirmed that. But there obviously was perhaps some disciplinary problem going on here -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Do we know -- we know he fired lots of rounds and we also know that he was killed. Did he kill himself or did someone fire back?

KOSIK: What police are saying -- and they're -- and, by the way, they're saying very little. They are telling us that, when they arrived at the scene, when they rushed in, what they found was the gunman shot, and that police here say they did not fire a shot.

So, they are -- we can surmise that the gunman did shoot himself.

SANCHEZ: And there -- once again, take those pictures live, if you would, Rog, so we can get a sense of what this looks like out there.

These are some of the first pictures that came in from the scene. Once again, for those of you just now joining us, a man walks into his business, shoots and kills eight people. And then it appears at this point anyway like he may have shot himself as well.

Not sure if he encountered any resistance, if anyone fired back, if anyone tried to defend themselves against him, all of this preliminary information. As more information comes in on this breaking story, we will bring you up to date on those details throughout the course of RICK'S LIST over the next hour and 55 minutes.

Now, a community center/mosque can be built in New York City in the shadows of the 9/11 disaster site. Now, this is after a preservation panel denied landmark status for an old building on the site. But the controversy continues. And guess which group is raising its voice the loudest? The very same organization here in this country that is tasked or tasked itself and recognized for defending religious tolerance.

Supporters of the mosque say they want this center to serve as a bridge toward understanding of their faith, the Islamic faith. But the Anti-Defamation League says they don't buy it. And here's what the ADL is saying -- quote -- "Some legitimate questions have been raised about who is providing the funding to build it and what connections, if any, its leaders might have with groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values."

Now, here's what else they're saying in their statement. This is the ADL once again. "In our judgment, building an Islamic center in the shadows of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain, unnecessarily, and that is not right."

All right, here's the reaction to today's decision there in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not so much a house of worship as a house of, we're going to do you in. We're going to introduce our view of Sharia and we're going to destroy the democratic way of life that New York represents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, it is a question of religious freedom in this country. We need to continue to follow the letter of law, to stand up for the values that make us strong. And that means allowing a group of moderate Muslims to do what they see fit in a building they have purchased of their own accord.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining me now to discuss this is Rabbi Arthur Waskow, founder, director of the Shalom Center in Philadelphia.

Rabbi, thanks for being with us, sir.

I'm curious as to what your position is on what the ADL is saying. The ADL, to most Americans and any of us who are in this business of news has always been known as being a forthright protector of faiths across the board, not just the Jewish faith.

So, here they are in a situation where they're criticizing the folks who are trying to share their faith. What's your take on that?

RABBI ARTHUR WASKOW, FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, THE SHALOM CENTER: Well, first, let me say shalom and salaam to you and to all your watchers and listeners. The shalom center spent the last 48 hours, from the end of Shabbat unless now, talking with, working with what turned out to be about two dozen rabbis and other Jewish leaders in response to this.

And we are convinced that, in this case, the ADL has made a profound mistake. They have done good work in the past, but this is a profound mistake. They say that the reason they're doing what they did, opposing the building of a mosque near -- a couple of blocks, in fact, from ground zero is that some people are very, emotionally upset, at the idea.

But, in fact, hundreds of family members of people who were killed on 9/11 and the community board that represents the neighborhood have said publicly that they are for the building of the mosque.

As a matter of fact, I know Imam Rauf and Daisy Khan, his wife, the two leaders of the Cordoba institute. They have worked in interfaith ways. They have worked for peacemaking. They represent the best of Islam. A majority of Islam is for peace. And they represent the best of it.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: And we have understood that argument, and we thank you for bringing it up once again.

But what about the possibility -- and the ADL is bringing this point up as well -- what about the possibility that some of the money, some of the funds that are being used to build this huge building, could end up being 13 floors, I understand, may come from some nefarious sources in the Middle East? And they're concerned about that? Are you?

WASKOW: I think that's ridiculous. First of all, 13 floors is not so big in New York City, hardly.

Secondly, the people who are putting it together, the hint that they might have anything to do and the person I guess on the street who you just quoted saying, well, maybe they're terrorists, that's ridiculous.

One can find out. One can look up the Cordoba institute. One can look up the record of the Imam Rauf and the books that he has written about peacemaking and about Islam. They are the antidote to the terrorist attacks.

The result -- whatever the ADL thought they were accomplishing, the result of their behavior is to say, first of all, to American Jews and then to Americans generally, hey, there's no difference. All Muslims are tarred with terrorism.

Well, that's terrible. That's false. It's ugly. It's disgusting. If anybody talked about Jews that way, then we would say, nothing doing, this is disgusting, this is anti-Semitism. Well, they are encouraging that. Whether they intended it or not, they are encouraging it. And the two dozen rabbis we are working with, who span the whole spectrum, by the way -- they're orthodox and conservative, reform, reconstructionist and renewal rabbis, the -- practically, essentially, the whole span of American Jewish religious life, as well as some secular Jews besides -- saying, no, this does not square with religious freedom.

But, more than that, it doesn't square with Jewish teaching about dialogue, about peacemaking, about shalom and salaam, which are a same words.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: And that's the point they have been making there, Rabbi.

I just want you to know and I want our viewers to know that we have done everything possible over the last 48 hours to get a hold of ADL and ask them to come on the show. And the invitation is still out there and hopefully we will be able to get some representative from the ADL.

WASKOW: Well, we have been asking people to call -- we have been asking people to call the ADL and especially its director, Abraham Foxman, and...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Have you talked to them?

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Just a quick -- we're almost out of time.

(CROSSTALK)

WASKOW: No, I tried to reach this morning and got a busy signal.

SANCHEZ: Interesting.

(CROSSTALK)

WASKOW: So, maybe too many people are calling.

(CROSSTALK)

WASKOW: We would also ask people to look at our Web site, www.theshalomcenter.org. which has the statement that the 25 rabbis and we have issued and has a place that they can add their own names.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Here's someone interestingly enough who may agree with you. And we thank you, Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center for sharing your perspective on this. And we will continue to try and get the ADL on this story, at least on the record.

Here's Mike Bloomberg tweeting this just about a half-hour ago: "We honor America's core principles and the heroes of 9/11 by defending -- by defending freedom of religion." Obviously, he's agreeing with the rabbi's perspective that we just shared moments ago.

Now, consider this. Which political candidate seems to actually believe that my job here at CNN as a journalist is to make her look good and only ask the questions of her choosing? She won't get that on RICK'S LIST, now or ever.

Also ahead, look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY (R), SOUTH CAROLINA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: This is a really great night, because South Carolina just showed the rest of the country what we're made of.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Well, not so fast. That's South Carolina Republican Nikki Haley, who's trying to become the first state's very first female governor, but now another Republican is pushing her to release e-mails having to do with accusations -- accusations -- that she's had affairs.

Now, some are raising the question of the accusations by this Republican being sexist. You decide. It's a fascinating story. It's next right here on the LIST. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Jessica Yellin is joining us now. She's in Washington. A GOP adviser is saying that Republicans should not support South Carolina's Nikki Haley for governor just in case -- this is a phenomenal story. This man has come out and said that she needs to release all e-mails related to anything that may have gone on between her and whatever he suspects that may have happened in prior relationships.

But the reason he wants her to do that is because, after all, she's a woman and she wants to make sure that she's proven to be as perfect as she can be, a la Jackie Robinson when he broke the color barrier in baseball.

I know, it's a long explanation. But this is what he's saying, Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rick, you know, people are allowed to say what they want. This guy co-wrote a book with Senator DeMint. He's not the most powerful political player in the state.

I don't think it would be hard to find a lot of women who would say, well, that just sounds sexist. Why would she need to live by a different standard simply because she's a woman running for office? Yes, I don't think he will get a lot of support on that one.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: But you're absolutely right. Just so our views -- and we were going to show some of this sound a little while ago, but for some reason it got eaten up by the grunions or something as we were putting it together.

But I just want our viewers -- I want our viewers to know that what you just said is pretty clear as to what he's intimating, which is, if we're going to have our first woman representing us, we have got to make sure she's squeaky-clean, just like Jackie Robinson had to put up with abuses when he tried to break into baseball and not respond to people calling him racist names.

It's a heck of a comparison, isn't it?

YELLIN: It is a heck of a comparison. Somebody should point out to him that women have been elected governors in other states. It's not exactly a first run at this, maybe for his state, but she's not the first to cross this barrier. And, yes, he might take -- he want to reconsider his comments.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I have a feeling there's a lot of other people out there, not just women, but a lot of people out there who disagree -- who agree, pardon me, with that perspective on this day.

I want to show you something else now. I want to bring your attention to something that's been said by Sharron Angle in Nevada. Now, Sharron Angle has said a lot of controversial stuff. But I think it could be argued that this one maybe takes the cake.

She is saying that you, Jessica, and me, Rick Sanchez, have to interview her in such a way so that we give her only what she wants so that she could get more support. It's -- well, let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARRON ANGLE (R), NEVADA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We needed to have the press be our friend.

CARL CAMERON, FOX NEWS: Wait a minute. Hold on a second. To be your friend?

(CROSSTALK)

CAMERON: That sounds naive. ANGLE: Well, no. We wanted them to ask the questions we want to answer, so they report the news the way we want it to be reported, and when I get on a show and I say, send money to sharronangle.com, so that your listeners will know that if they want to support me, they need to go to sharronangle.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I don't know. When I think back to, like, Professor Irving Fang and some of those guys who taught me at the University of Minnesota, I don't ever remember one of them telling me that I was to go out there and only ask politicians the questions that they want to be asked.

YELLIN: No? Really?

(LAUGHTER)

YELLIN: You know what I would like, Rick? I would like all politicians to answer questions just like she did, to speak their absolute truth, even if it blows your mind.

Wow. What a gift to Carl Cameron. And he called her even naive at that point. "That seems a little naive" is what he said. And even "National Review," a conservative publication, posted an item online about it, and they called it, did she just say that out loud?

So, even conservatives are sort of raising their eyebrows about this one.

SANCHEZ: Well, does she not know or -- because I know that she's stepped in land mines in the past. So, because of that history, people are saying, does she not know that there's supposed to be an adversarial relationship between journalists and politicians?

YELLIN: Well, it actually perfectly plays into the -- I should say, the reason this could matter, that her comments could matter, is because Democrats are using it already to feed this narrative that not only in their view is she extremist, outside the mainstream, but, to your point, that she might not be ready for prime time.

And if you go online, you will already see the Reid campaign has a video of times that Sharron Angle has ducked press questions. The Dems have a page called Sharron Angle's Underground Bunker of her alleged extreme positions. So, it just feeds this overarching theme that, yes, she's not familiar with this terrain. Odd thing to say to a reporter.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I'm so looking forward to seeing -- I just wanted to say on a personal note that I'm so looking forward to seeing you tonight at 7:00, as I did last night, filling in for big John.

YELLIN: Yes. Thank you. That was fun. It was fun to toss to you. SANCHEZ: You do a good job.

YELLIN: Thank you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right, we will look forward to seeing you then.

YELLIN: See you tonight.

SANCHEZ: We will see you.

Also, watch -- take a look at this piece of tape here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many people try four times to break into something and not successful?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: She's accused -- or she's talking, I should say, about some guy who's accused of stealing puppies from a pet store -- puppies. Apparently, the breed's a hot commodity. I know. They're expensive. I'll tell you why.

Also, we're waiting for a dramatic effort to plug that Gulf oil leak once and for all. This is the static kill that we have been telling you about. It might be happening very soon. We're on it.

And don't forget, we're following that situation up in Manchester, Connecticut. What a horrible, horrible mass killing that is, eight people shot and killed. All they were doing was -- well, they were at work.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We are getting a lot of tweets from you here. And I follow what you say. I am as connected to you as you are to us here on RICK'S LIST.

A lot of you agree that Jessica did a nice job last night filling in for John King. I'm sure she will be nice -- she will appreciate hearing that. I'm going to re-tweet those over to her. OK.

But here's what most of you are talking about, this mosque controversy. Let me share some of the comments that we have been getting so far.

Here we go, at the board. "I think it's a tribute to the great country we live in. We strive to live up to our ideals, even in the faith of adversity."

Another one says: "Allowing a mosque at ground zero honors those who died. Not allowing is giving in to Islamist radicals."

This one says: "Building a mosque next to ground zero is like building a Japanese cultural center next to the USS Arizona."

And, finally: "We should always lead by example. Stopping that mosque does not reflect goodwill and/or tolerance. We should support it" -- just some of the things that you are saying about the story we began this newscast with. And we will continue to try and reach out to the ADL for their firm position.

Chad Myers is going to join us in just a little bit. And he's going to be taking us through this static kill, the last in a litany of terms being used to stop the leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Will this be the permanent solution? We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's bring in Chad Myers now.

Chad, come on in. Let us know what you know about static kill. And show us, if you would, if they're going to have this thing completed in the next couple of hours.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The current test for the static kill under way now.

SANCHEZ: OK.

MYERS: They tried to make the tests yesterday, but the parts were leaking, not oil that's under the ground, but actually the hydraulics that were going to make this thing happen, they leaking, so they had to get it fixed. Little ROVs go in there, tighten it up a little bit. It's all good. We're all in good shape now.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: So, here's the graphic.

SANCHEZ: It's about shoving the mud in there without popping it somewhere else?

MYERS: Right.

You have got almost 7,000 PSI in this well hole right now.

SANCHEZ: That's the pressure, pressure.

MYERS: That's the pressure. That is higher than any power- washer you can go to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy.

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: And you have to realize that the hose is almost 20 inches around or even bigger in some spots.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

MYERS: They have to push all of this oil back down in the hole to stop it. It's the weight of the mud that they're pumping in that is stopping the oil from coming out.

So you have to think, there's all this pressure coming up. They have to push enough weight -- I know it's mud and it's viscous and it moves, but think of it as just a bunch of lead weights that they're pushing down in the well, those lead weights have to push the oil back down and back down. It's mud because it goes down because it's a fluid, it goes into the pipes.

And that mud is oil-proof, that mud is very heavy, much heavier than water, and it just pushes everything down. It compresses the oil back down into the reservoir. You think, that should be it, once you get it done, isn't that great? We're done. No, we're not done. You want to know why?

SANCHEZ: No, why?

MYERS: Because there's room around the bottom of the pipe.

SANCHEZ: Why, Chad?

(LAUGHTER)

MYERS: Here we go. Here's the mud. They're going to pump it in to here, they're going to pump it down into the well. The well is going to go down. They're going to push all the oil down to the bottom. And it doesn't seem like this batch is working. So this is going to be a very short segment without a working wall.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm going to use my hands -- didn't he say on the story yesterday if you use your hands, people believe you more?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: Let's just believe this is the size of the pipe, the drill pipe that's down there, the casing itself. It's this big. So they're going to fill this with mud. No oil is going to go up. Great.

Now. the problem is the casing is not as big as the drill bit hole that's this big. This drill bit hole has what's called an annulus, which is basically an empty space all the way around the middle pipe. There's a pipe inside the hole.

Inside the hole, if that oil gets in that hole and still shoots up into the Gulf of Mexico, then the well's not dead. So, yes, they can kill the middle pipe, which is where the oil was supposed to go in the first place. But that mud won't go around the outside of this and kill the outside part of the secondary hole.

So they have to drill in from the side. When they drill in, they punch into this annulus, or this vacancy around the pipe itself, and they fill that with mud and with concrete and cement. And when that gets cemented in, then the entire inside and outside completely done, completely over. And it will all be dead. SANCHEZ: Can I ask you another question completely -- I was going to say off the record. Off topic a little bit?

MYERS: Sure.

SANCHEZ: I'm going to freak out my producer because they had no idea I was going to do this. But a bunch of people are twittering me and they're wondering what's going on with this solar tsunami that they're all hearing about. Can you give us a little lowdown on that so people on twitter can say, OK, good, he asked?

MYERS: We've been in a very low solar flare activities for a very long time. And I bet there are kids out there that don't even know what a solar flare is. It's a coronal mass ejection. It is an ejection of magnetic particles, of plasma, coming out of the sun. The sun has pushed this out toward the earth.

It's going to hit the earth tonight, probably making northern lights, southern lights. That might be the biggest thing. But sometimes this ejection is so powerful that it can knock out or at least for a while make satellites invisible because the power coming in is more powerful than the satellite you see.

So if you have a light bulb, you put a light bulb in front of the sun, even though the light bulb is on you can't see the light bulb anymore because the sun is so powerful you can't see it. And so that is what could happen to some satellites tonight.

SANCHEZ: And the Twins are playing Tampa Bay tonight, and I certainly hope that signal doesn't go out because I want to watch that when I get home. It's funny the things that matter to us guys.

(LAUGHTER)

Appreciate it.

MYERS: All right, buddy.

SANCHEZ: All right, a power puppy thief gets caught red-handed. We're going to make you understand why the video is just so perfect.

And next on the LIST, "Fotos." Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST. Kirby Puckett is one of the greatest baseball players who never needed to use steroids. You want proof? Just look at the guy.

I adored Kirby Puckett, my favorite player. So much so, I named my dog after him, a very pudgy English bulldog -- my favorite breed. Let's do "Fotos."

Check out this animal enthusiast. After spending more than an hour tampering with the front door of a Houston pet store, this determined crook broke in and made off with three English bulldog puppies. This bulldog burglar likely wasn't interested in freeing the imprisoned puppies from captivity. No, the estimated cost of these, at least $2,500.

These are posh pups, these are expensive pups. It has to do with the way they give birth, the mothers, that is. Police still haven't leashed the perpetrator.

Also, talk about side salad. This 18-wheeler carrying 20 tons of lettuce, onions, and green beans rolled in Buckeye, Arizona this morning and left traffic at a standstill for hours. The driver and his passenger were treated for minor injuries and kids now have another excuse for not eating their vegetables.

Also keep your eye on the sky. An eruption in the sun's surface seen here in time lapse imagery from NASA's Solar Dynamics observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts -- this is exactly what Chad was talking about moments ago. It could set off a spectacular display of the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis.

The solar explosion can be seen in this picture as a ripple of black across the upper right of your screen.

There you have it. Those are "Fotos." you can see all of it when you want to on our blog. It's CNN.com/ricksanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What makes him most scary, he's actually adapting best business practices to terrorist process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A charismatic American is being called the next Al Qaeda star. What makes him so dangerous and how did he find followers from Denver to Virginia to Yemen? That's ahead.

Also, what's trending. Brooke Baldwin is. She's here with the stories you're tweeting about, e-mailing each other --

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not me. I'm not trending.

SANCHEZ: You're a trender.

BALDWIN: You're a trender.

SANCHEZ: Thank you very much. We'll be right back, us two trenders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I'll tell you, trending stories today unfortunately involve tragedy. The stories that we've been telling today -- a guy walks into his business up in Manchester, shoots and kills eight people and then himself. And now the story of these children who drowned --

BALDWIN: In the Red River in Shreveport, Louisiana.

SANCHEZ: Which is almost inexplicable. It was a shallow river.

BALDWIN: In parts. Let me explain. Let me take you to Shreveport. Imagine not only for parents but for the rescuers. It's a call they never want to take. We heard from the chief of the fire department in Shreveport saying August 2nd is the day he'll never forget. Why? Because he and many others had to pull the bodies of six teenagers from the Red River last night all between the ages of 13 and 18. Three of them were brothers.

They all were there. It was a popular spot, picnic, it was hot out. One apparently ventured into an area that wasn't meant for swimming. It's an area where the river drops off suddenly, goes from about three, four feet to about 28 feet.

SANCHEZ: So it's like a sandbank.

BALDWIN: That's exactly what it was. One of them started to drown but the others couldn't rescue him. But the problem was, no one knew how to swim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF BRIAN CRAWFORD, SHREVEPORT FIRE DEPARTMENT: Floating on the red river is not like the water in Florida. It turns into kind of a mud play. It's very slippery. And so if you start hitting that bank and you start slipping down that bank, it's very hard to find traction.

If you don't have swimming capabilities, you could find yourself slipping down to that angle all the way to the 28 feet at the bottom of the river.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I know.

SANCHEZ: It was one after another after another. That's the difficult part to explain. I could understand one. Accidents happen. But six?

BALDWIN: It's tough. I was a lifeguard, they tell you that you have to be very careful when someone is drowning, not to just jump in because they will pull you down with him. There was a seventh. Amazingly he's OK. He was thrown a life preserver. Seventh is OK. Six, tragedy.

SANCHEZ: God bless them. What else have you got?

BALDWIN: This has taken a totally different turn. A woman in the Atlanta area -- a man broke into her home -- horrific, frightening. This happened last night. So he tied her up to her bed. She couldn't move her hands. What could she move? She moved her toes and was able to type a message to her boyfriend to get help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I dragged my laptop over, and with my feet, I pried it open and then took a while to get the control-alt-delete to work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First thing I got was "HELP" in capital letters, and then I called the police. I was in shock. I couldn't believe it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She typed H-E-L-P with her toes. Could you do that? I don't think I could.

SANCHEZ: No.

BALDWIN: Police got there this morning. She's OK. Bang on the head, but other than that --

SANCHEZ: What an interesting story.

BALDWIN: You don't often hear about that.

SANCHEZ: The things you find for us, Brooke Baldwin.

BALDWIN: I try. Trending.

SANCHEZ: My thanks to you.

BALDWIN: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Spirit Airlines is already charging passengers for carry-on bags. A lot of people talk about that and complain about it. You'd think there was nothing left to charge, right? Wrong! This is RICK'S LIST and we keep lists of things like this.

Boy have I got a doozy for you. GOP senators John McCain and Tom Coburn released a report today. It is the third such report of 100 projects with stimulus money which they believe are a waste of your tax dollars. The name of their list is "Summertime Blues."

We picked a few of the projects that raised our eyebrows. Number four, renovating the office and the parking garages for Kansas politicians at the Topeka steakhouse -- pardon me, state house.

Also the Kansas legislature authorized $39 million of "Build America" bonds for the summer project which began more than 12 years ago. The total price tag is somewhere in the quarter billion dollars range.

What else made Coburn and McCain's "Summertime Blues" list? Stay right there and we'll share.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. GOP Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn have a case of the summertime blues, and they think you do as well. They've released their third report naming what they believe are 100 wasteful projects funded with money from the Recovery Act of 2009.

The $862 billion stimulus is supposed to be used toward job creation and boosting the economy. Before the break, I gave you some of the items that caught my eye, and wait till you see the rest.

Number three, the California Academy of Science is receiving $1.9 million to research ants. That's right, ants. Researchers are going to be sent across the world to photograph and analyze over 3,000 species of ants. That's right, ants. The results will be published on a Web site.

Number two, researchers at Wake Forest University are getting $144,000 to study the reaction of cocaine on monkeys. The monkeys will self-administer the drugs while researchers monitor their brain activity. What do you think monkeys will do on cocaine, by the way? Don't answer that.

Number one, the visitor center at Mount St. Helena will receive $500,000 to replace its windows. That wouldn't be a problem except the visitor center closed in 2007. There are no plans to reopen it. But somehow someone's going to show up and put in new windows -- windows. Now this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's before dawn in the drama bay at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Another soldier wounded in the fighting down south, surgeons, nurses doing everything they can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What happens next? Well, CNN has gotten exclusive access to an air medical evacuation flight. Wait till you see what happens. You'll feel like you're there. We'll have that for you in just a little bit.

Also, who makes our most intriguing list on this day? We'll have that for you as well. We do lists and we've got them all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Time to check the LIST now for you. This list is the list of the person who's most intriguing in the news on this day.

Some guys could get a laugh out of anyone about anything. And most intriguing today is one of those guys. Born in Iran, grew up in California, this professional comedian made an act of the differences and the tensions between the countries. He says the best thing to ease that tension is laughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAZ JOBRANI, COMEDIAN: Wolf Blitzer on CNN. He goes Ahmadinejad. Ahmadinejad. He's turned it into rap. Ahmadinejad. (LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He, by the way, is one of the founding members of the traveling comedy troupe. It's called "The Axis of Evil." He leans away from the religious jokes, though, and says he'd like to avoid a fatway. Maz Jobrani, he finds the funny in all sides of a very dicey diplomatic situation as most would consider it, and that is why he's "most intriguing" on this day.

The man who is suspected of leading the next generation of terrorists is an American. He's being called "the next bin-Laden." Part two, if you haven't seen this, you should. New details about the guy who's seen as that urgent threat, next on "The List."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I told you already about the man who looks like Osama bin Laden's likely replacement. That's the talk, right? He recruits young people into Al Qaeda. He preaches jihad against the United States. He's hiding in Yemen, and he's on the CIA's kill list.

But here's what you need to know about this guy. This heir apparent to the world's most wanted terrorist, he's an American. We want you to watch part two of this special report that we've put together for you. The correspondent is Deb Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Anwar al-Awlaki speaks, he speaks largely to a western audience, inspiring and recruiting young men to join his local insurgency, using the Internet and American credentials to do so.

FEYERICK, (on camera): How dangerous is he considered on a scale of one to ten?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say ten.

FEYERICK: Counterterrorism expert Sajjan Gohel radical cleric al-Awlaki Usama bin Laden's heir apparent.

SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Often the United States is seen as a strategic hub for getting the message out. It is a country that has enormous resources and the potential for recruitment is large and significant.

FEYERICK: If anything knows it is al-Awlaki. Born in America, he spent his teen years in America before returning to the U.S. at the age of 19 to study at engineering at Colorado State University. Though studying engineering, al-Awlaki soon realized a talent for preaching at a mosque near campus Mumtaz Hussein remembers him as a pious young man.

MUMTAZ HUSSEIN, ISLAMIC CENTER OF FORT COLLINS: He gave a few sermons. It was a long time ago, but they were really good.

FEYERICK: Good enough that without any formal training, al- Awlaki found himself preaching at the Denver Islamic Society. He began recording CDs on Islam and the prophets.

MOHAMMAD NOORZAI, FORMER ISLAMIC BOOKSELLER: He comes across in a very simple way to explain to you what Islam is all about.

FEYERICK: From Denver Al-Awlaki move to San Diego in 1996 with his new wife. He became a spiritual adviser here. His sermons were usually in English.

LINCOLN HIGGIE III, FORMER AL-AWLAKI NEIGHBOR: Very friendly, outgoing.

FEYERICK: His neighbor Lincoln Higgie said they enjoyed talking about things like the orient and Taj Mahal.

HIGGIE: He liked to fish, I liked to fish.

FEYERICK: Al-Awlaki was also pursuing a master's in educational leadership at San Diego State University.

LT. COL. ANTHONY SHAFFER, CENTER FOR ADVANCED DEFENSE STUDIES: He spent a lot of time going through and learning not only the American society, but how people think in this society.

FEYERICK: It was in San Diego that al-Awlaki met an associate of this blind cleric, imprisoned for plotting to destroy New York City landmarks. It was also there these two eventual 9/11 hijackers attended his mosque.

SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: It's too much of a coincidence that the successor to Al Qaeda ideologically was also connected to two of the individuals that planned the worst terrorist attacks that we have ever seen.

FEYERICK: There's no evidence he knew of the 9/11 plot, but al Awlaki's neighbor remembers his ominous goodbye.

LINCOLN HIGGIE III, FORMER AL-AWLAKI NEIGHBOR: "Be careful."

FEYERICK: August, 2001, he comes and he says, "We're leaving." What was the conversation?

HIGGIE: He said, I'm going back to Virginia and he said shortly after that I will going to Yemen. I said, well, I do hope you will be coming become to San Diego soon. And he said, no, he says I won't be coming back. And he said, in a little while, you will understand why.

FEYERICK: Traveling cross country, Awlaki became a prominent imam at a mosque in Falls Church, Virginia. One of the hijackers followed him there. Another would soon join. He said about pursuing a Ph.D in human resources at George Washington University --

SHAFFER: What makes him most scary, he is actually adapting best business practices to the terrorist process.

FEYERICK: Imam Johari Abdul Malik who arrived at the Falls Church mosque after al-Awlaki left says the radical cleric subverts the faith and preys on its followers.

IMAM JOHARI ABDUL MALIK, DAR AL-HIJRAH ISLAMIC CENTER: If you look at the statistics, most of the people who have been so-called radicalized, they know very little about their religion. They have been mobilized by their passions, by their feelings, by their urges, by their insecurities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)