Return to Transcripts main page

Rick's List

School Bus Tragedy in Missouri; Elena Kagan Confirmed to Supreme Court; Tea Party's Future; A-Rod's 600 Home Run?; Combat Wounded Homecoming

Aired August 05, 2010 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: You know, if Ronald Reagan were running today, he would likely be in the same boat you're in.

REP. BOB INGLIS (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I think that's true, really.

I mean, Reagan would have had a hard time on Tuesday the 22nd of June in the 4th District of South Carolina, because he's too optimistic. You know, he's always morning in America, the best days are still ahead.

Way too many of these hot microphones on TV and radio are telling us that, no, our -- the best days are behind us. It's all going to pot. We're done for. And way too many people are believing that stuff. I mean, the -- the people that sell that are making millions off their books.

SANCHEZ: Well, that's interesting.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Here's another quote. Let me -- for those of you joining us now at 4:00, we're talking to a former Republican congressman, dyed-in-the-wool conservative, Reagan conservative, 93 percent conservative record on his voting, who says he was all but chased out of the party by people asking him to believe and do things that he just couldn't believe and do.

Here is another quote. This is you on outside influences in the Republican Party. It's what you were just getting at. You say, "It's hard for Republicans in Congress to summon the courage to say no to Beck, Limbaugh and the Tea Party wing."

Amplify that thought process, if you would, for us, sir.

INGLIS: Well, it's very important that we basically say to these hot microphones, put down those flame-throwers. Stop running people, forcing people to this cliff that you want us to go over like lemmings.

What we need to do to is say to them, stop. America's best days are not behind us. They are in front of us, if we realize that we're in this together and we can solve these challenges of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. That's where the big dollars are. That's the crisis we're facing.

But, if we come together, we can actually solve that. It won't be a 100 percent Republican solution. It won't be a 100 percent Democrat solution, but it's got to be an American solution that gets us to balance. So, but what we're -- what we're wasting time with is scapegoats.

SANCHEZ: It almost makes -- it almost -- it almost you sound like saying that honorable people in the Republican Party are allowing themselves to be led, rather than leading.

INGLIS: Well, I think there's -- there's a big fear of these people with the hot microphones, because they have got powerful flame- throwers, ad they throw that flame at you, and they say, get moving, and they get the crowd moving.

And, meanwhile...

SANCHEZ: You're talking about Beck and Limbaugh and people like that?

INGLIS: ... you stop -- the people that make millions by selling soap and by selling books...

SANCHEZ: FOX News?

INGLIS: ... and by selling fear.

SANCHEZ: FOX News?

Yes. Well, they're -- they are the competitor for you. But -- but the idea is for...

SANCHEZ: Well, no. Look, I don't care. I -- I'm asking. I mean, you're -- I don't know what it's like to be a Republican congressman getting so much heat from what I believed was my side of the aisle, that it makes me start to wonder if people are pushing me in a direction I don't want to go to.

You're in a unique position to tell this story to Americans, so I -- you know, I'm not putting words in your mouth. I -- I just know who are the people who drive that message. And I know that it's Beck and I know that it's Limbaugh and I know that in many ways you could argue it's FOX News.

Is it -- do you feel it's that way?

INGLIS: Well, I think that there are a lot of people that are making a lot of money off of selling fear at this point.

And there are networks that do that. There are individual talk show hosts that do that. And the sad thing is that an awful lot of Americans are running in fear in front of those folks. And especially politicians are running in fear in front of those folks.

But, really, if you're going to lead, you need to face those hot microphones, and you need to say, put down the flame-throwers. We're going to talk facts. The fact is, the president was born in America. The fact is, he is not a socialist.

Now, let's get rid of those nonsensical kind of commentaries and get to the real issues, which are, how do you cope with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid? How do you put those on solid footing? That's what we're looking for, and we're looking for solutions, not scapegoats.

You know, to blame all of this on President Obama, who has been in office less than two years, would be like blaming all the problems of Social Security on George Bush, who was in office eight years.

The truth is, these are decades in the coming. These challenges we face right now, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, have been coming for decades. And what we need to do realize it's -- it's not a Republican, it's not a Democrat problem. It's an American problem.

And we have got to pull together...

SANCHEZ: Well...

INGLIS: ... and find solutions. But as long as we focus on scapegoats, we're going to waste time, and we're going to get to that cliff that Greece went over.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

INGLIS: The only difference is, France and Great Britain were big enough to pull Greece back. There's nobody big enough to pull us back if we go over that cliff.

SANCHEZ: Well, Bob Inglis -- by the way, I meant -- I said former congressman a little while ago.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: You are presently a congressman, I should say.

INGLIS: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

INGLIS: Not quite former yet.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: My thanks to you, sir, for taking time to take us through this -- this journey that you have gone through. It's a -- it's a unique and interesting story, and I'm -- I'm glad you shared it with people. I'm sure people are drawing their own conclusions out there, and that's why we wanted this story told.

Thanks again. We will talk to you soon.

INGLIS: Good to be with you. SANCHEZ: All righty.

It's time to pick up the pace of today's LIST for those of you that are now checking in.

You're about to hear from one of the people who was there during this mass killing in Manchester, Connecticut, that we have been telling you about. Eight people, remember, were gunned down by an angry co-worker who hunted them down at a beer distributor.

Well, there have been claims that the shooter, Omar Thornton, was the victim of alleged racial discrimination on the job. All right.

What you're going to hear now is the first time that this has been addressed. And it's addressed by the CEO of this business, this beer distribution center there in Manchester, Connecticut. We have turned it around. I want you to hear what he has to say.

Go, Rog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROSS HOLLANDER, CEO, HARTFORD DISTRIBUTORS: As an employee of Hartford Distributors, Omar Thornton was embraced as a member of our team and judged purely on the merits of his work.

Based on credible third-party information, we conducted a thorough -- fair and thorough investigation, which provided conclusive evidence that Omar was systematically stealing beer from the company and selling it to third parties.

It was this conduct that led to the disciplinary proceeding on Tuesday morning. There was no indication in Omar's background or two- year history with the company that he posed any safety threat to himself, his co-workers or the community.

As for the claims that Omar's actions were a result of racial insensitivity, I can state to you unequivocally that no such claim has ever been brought to the attention of our company. No such claim has been pursued under Hartford Distributors' internal anti-discrimination and harassment policy. No such claim has ever been filed against the company through our collective bargaining agreement and our procedures.

No such claim has ever been filed with any state or federal anti- discrimination agencies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now I want you to listen to what the shooter's girlfriend -- this is Kristi Hannah -- what she's telling a reporter with one of our affiliates, the New England cable news, earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Omar told you what was going on?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That there was racial things being said to him and there was drawings on the bathroom wall.

QUESTION: Let's start with the drawings. Showing what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like the game hangman.

QUESTION: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a stick figure with a noose around its neck, and it said "Kill N-word."

QUESTION: And you saw this. You say you saw it. You saw it how?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On a picture off his cell phone, because I'm the one that told him to take pictures, because he had told me that they were doing these things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We also have some 911 tapes that we are going to be sharing with you throughout the hour, a lot of this information still moving on this story. You're hearing some of the first statements now from both sides.

By the way, during his statement last hour, Hartford Contributors -- distributor CEO, Ross Hollander, also said that his company will cooperate with any local, state or federal investigation having to do with the charges that there were some N-words used, et cetera, et cetera. Also of note, the first of the funerals began earlier today in Connecticut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Take a look at this video. This is chaos on the streets, police dragging women and babies from the scenes. We are going to be all over this story for you and bring you the latest on it. By the way, some of those women are pregnant.

Also, tragedy in Missouri. School buses carrying children to Six Flags, middle schoolers, suddenly crash on the interstate. The pictures are horrific. And, yes, there are fatalities.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Now for the roundup list.

Number one, that is one horrific scene you're looking at right there. Two school buses, a tractor trailer, an SUV all collide on an interstate southwest of Saint Louis this morning. The buses were carrying students to an amusement park. Two people are dead, one in the SUV and one on the bus. As many as 50 people are hurt.

And as you look at the picture, it's perplexing, because both buses were traveling in the same direction, so how did this situation end up as mangled as it is?

Number two, terrorism sweep. The U.S. Justice Department says that a Somalia-based extremist group has members of the United States and arrested suspects in Minnesota, Alabama, and California today. The feds unsealed 14 indictments linking those men and women to the group that it called Al-Shabab -- this is a follow-up to stories that we have brought to you here before on RICK'S LIST -- a militant organization with links to al Qaeda.

The charges range from providing money to the group to conspiring to kill and kidnap people abroad.

And now number three. There she is, Elena Kagan, your newest United States Supreme Court justice. The full Senate made it official just a few moments ago, confirming Kagan as the 112th justice and just the fourth woman in American history to hold that title.

I think earlier today, I had said third -- fourth in history to hold the title.

Finally, number four. You see what's going on there at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico? Not much, right? That's the point. Thad Allen, the government's man on -- in charge of this disaster, says there are -- virtually no chance that any more oil will emerge from the BP well that had leaked since April.

BP began pouring cement into the well today, what they call the static kill, to seal it forever.

All right. I have got some unbelievable dash-cam video to show you now. The driver tries to escape, but he -- he -- he doesn't slam on the gas. He puts the thing into reverse instead. And wait until you hear who is in the car. Oh, no. That's in "Fotos."

Also, I'm about to ask a very big question. Is the Tea Party movement growing, collapsing or maturing? Two different opinions on this. They are armed and ready with their arguments, and you will hear the debate, another great debate coming up on RICK'S LIST...

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: ... coming up right next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Making the LIST again today: the ever-changing Tea Party movement. Is it losing its way, or is it gaining strength?

Last weekend, in Philadelphia, they did hold a rally, and thousands of people were expected to show up. Local affiliates report that police had barricades up. Organizers had 1,500 water bottles on hand, so that people wouldn't be hot. But only 300 people showed up.

Now, is the Tea Party movement collapsing?

By the way, those pictures that we just showed right there were not from that event in Philadelphia this weekend.

Eric Boehlert is a senior fellow for Media Matters for America. He says -- in fact, that's what he writes, is that the Tea Party is a done deal -- quote -- let me read you his quote -- "Its collapse -- and its collapse means it's time for the press to rethink the way it covers the political equivalent of a pet rock, a fad that appears to be in its waning days of popularity" -- stop quote.

Eric Boehlert is joining me from New York. Also with Eric is Mark Skoda, who has been a frequent guest on this show here on RICK'S LIST. He, as you know, is a founder and chairman of the Memphis Tea Party.

My thanks to both of you gentlemen for being here.

Mr. Skoda, I will begin with you. How about it, Tea Party, as Mr. Boehlert says, collapsing, losing steam, a fad, like a pet rock?

MARK SKODA, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, MEMPHIS TEA PARTY: Well, I think, you know -- I think what has happened -- Eric rightly cites the fact that this isn't -- quote, unquote -- "a national movement."

I think the items that is really is to be paid attention to is really the local efforts that we're undertaking. Here in Tennessee, we had over 80 Tea Party leaders who endorsed a single gubernatorial candidate through a caucus that we held in June.

In my own Tea Party, in July, within two weeks' notice, we had Laura Ingraham down here for a book signing. We had over 450 people show up. And the Virginia Tea Party Patriot Convention, which is being held in October, in July alone has sold 1,000 tickets.

So I think it is partly an organizational issue, but ultimately I think we're moving away from the visceral, emotional sort of rally mode into doing the business of politics.

SANCHEZ: So, it sounds like you're saying Mr. Boehlert is partly right, that it's...

SKODA: Yes, I think in the sense that I would suggest that, you know, the great sprawling throngs of people are really now about going about the business of getting people elected.

SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.

SKODA: We are maturing rapidly. We're using technology and ultimately trying to make a difference in our local parties and indeed local states.

SANCHEZ: A little more low-key. Interesting, a little milder version of the Tea Party.

What do you make of that, Mr. Boehlert?

ERIC BOEHLERT, SENIOR FELLOW, MEDIA MATTERS: Well, I think Mark is right in terms of the rallies. For Philadelphia, I mean, there were more people showing up for the new Apple store opening in Philadelphia last week that showed up at this Tea Party rally.

(LAUGHTER)

BOEHLERT: As you said, they expected 3,000 or 4,000. They had right-wing celebrity Andrew Breitbart was -- was speaking. You know, he flew across country to be there.

The red flags were going up in the spring, Sarah Palin on the Boston Common. She's supposed to be this rock star of this phenomena, of this grassroots phenomena -- 5,000 people showed up. That's not very impressive. And that doesn't suggest a national phenomena.

So, I -- and my point again was with the press. The press really needs to -- I think to step back and look at what's going on. I think the press looked at these larger rallies in the past and said, oh, my gosh, you know, there is something -- there might be something here, but come on.

We're talking rallies of 100, maybe 1,000 people. They need to reevaluate.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about this.

BOEHLERT: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Let's talk about the reason for this. And I will start with you, Mr. Boehlert. What do you believe is the reason that we're seeing this -- this difference in the Tea Party, whereas you say in Philadelphia only a couple hundred people showed up where they were expecting a couple of thousand?

BOEHLERT: Well, I -- you know, I -- again, I mentioned the pet rock in my column. I mean, there's a certain fad attached to it. I mean, it sprang up last year.

It seemed to be a grassroots movement, although you could argue there was -- there was a fair amount of GOP Astroturfing going on.

SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.

BOEHLERT: But, you know, how long can you stay that mad at somebody?

(LAUGHTER)

BOEHLERT: How long can you hate Barack Obama and you're going to dedicate your weekends to it? But I will also say this. You know, FOX News last year, and up until not that long ago, was essentially, you know, co-sponsors with these rallies. I mean, they would dedicate endless amounts of their airtime to hyping these rallies. For whatever reasons -- I don't know if they were sort of shamed out of it, because that's not what journalists are supposed to do -- they have sort of stepped back from that. And now these rallies sort of have to survive on their own, without, you know, a national network doing your marketing.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Is that true? Is that true, Mr. Skoda?

(CROSSTALK)

BOEHLERT: ... being -- being your advance team.

SANCHEZ: Is that true, Mr. Skoda, that some of the outside influences people had co-opted into the Tea Party had actually moved it along, and now, with some of them backing off, it's not going to be as eventful?

SKODA: No. Look, we have got two big events coming up this summer, right? We have got the 8/28 rally that is happening in December. We have the 9/12 rallies. Both will be huge.

I think, really, as I pointed out earlier -- and I would disagree with Eric -- I think what we're doing very effectively is educating people. You saw the Missouri Proposition C votes, 3-1 against Obamacare.

We're not against this president as a person. We're against his policies, and, at the end of the day, education, getting people out to vote, getting them interested in politics and getting them off their couches.

Here in Shelby County -- I will give you a good example here in Tennessee -- we have had a record turnout for early voting. Almost 100,000 people voted in the early election. That exceeds substantially what took place in 2006, which was itself a record.

SANCHEZ: OK.

SKODA: And, indeed, we're looking at very, very strong turnout.

SANCHEZ: Mr...

SKODA: So, I think it has just morphed.

SANCHEZ: Mr. Skoda, I gave you the first word. I want to give Mr. Boehlert the last word to respond on your -- on what you said about, our issue is with the president's policies, not the president himself.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Mr. Boehlert, would you respond to that?

BOEHLERT: Well, you know, I -- you know, if you look at any of these highlights of these rallies, these posters, you know, Obama is a witch doctor, Obama is a monkey, I mean, just the insanely hateful stuff, there might be a part of the Tea Party movement that has serious conflicts with the president, but, for the most part, it's sort of unhinged.

And -- and you -- and Mark mentioned the 8/28 rally, which is going to be Glenn Beck's event in Washington. Now, he claims that's nonpartisan, so I'm not sure how that's a Tea Party event. He says it's not going to be a partisan event.

And one more point. He talks about September. Last September, the Tea Party folks rallied in Washington. Local estimate was 60,000. We had people like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck saying two million people showed up. So, you can't trust their estimates, even on these upcoming big events.

SANCHEZ: All right, we will leave it at that. Gentlemen, my thanks to both of you. I hope you both feel like you had a chance to represent your points of view. Interesting debate. We will stay on top of the story with the phenomenon that is the Tea Party.

Take a look at this now. Do you -- do you remember this woman? She's already had her 15 minutes of fame, but the White House party crasher is back for more, and it includes a fight with...

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Whoopi Goldberg. Have you seen what happened on "The View"? This is crazy. You -- you do wonder, what was Whoopi doing? Why did she come out of the dressing room?

Well, look, you will see it for yourself, and I will let you make your own judgment on this.

Also, one of my favorite things has made today's list that you don't want to be on. This is a shame. I mean, it's a real shame. And, well, look, I will explain to you exactly what I'm talking about when I come back. This has to do with my boyhood.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have been bringing you developments on this story that has been taking place in Manchester, Connecticut. Man walks in and kills eight of his -- or hunts down, targets, eight of his co- workers, and then kills himself.

And there's so many stories going back and forth as to whether or not he was just bitter because he had been caught red-handed stealing, as the company says. They have him on video.

Or is it the other story being told by people who knew him, including his girlfriend, that he said he was angry because he was being -- because he was being harassed racially, people using the N- word around him, et cetera, et cetera?

Well, you have been opining on this. And I read during the breaks what you say on Twitter. So, let me share with the rest of America what some of you have been saying about this incident, all right? Here we go. Many of you, thousands, have been talking about this.

"A man was bullied and was pushed over the limit, not justifying, but a need to give attention to bullying in the workplace."

OK.

"Killing anyone for whatever reason is wrong, and being a racist's equally wrong. Not reporting it don't mean it didn't happen."

"That girlfriend is sooo believable not to excuse the insane act of murder. The truth will out. Very sad."

And finally in Twitter speak: "As a minority who has faced racism in the workplace, I do know firsthand it is difficult to say something. Still, to kill? Oh, my God."

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't think I was going to have an arm, because of the way it was -- it was just skin attaching to it. So, yes, I was actually really amazed when I woke up and seen an arm there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Amazing accounts of what happens between bloodshed at home. It's an up-close-and-personal look at our service men and women as they are on a plane returning home. And, many times, they don't even know where they are when they wake up.

You are going to be there as it happens. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: When I was a teenager, I thought I was invincible. I think most of us do when we're teenagers. Just talk to my two teenagers right now. That's pretty much what they think. Not to mention the fact that they know everything.

But these three D.C.-area teens took that teenage bravado, oh, too far, maybe? Let's do "Fotos."

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SANCHEZ: Everybody saying "aye, Dios mio" with this one. The teenagers jacked this SUV, and when they were stopped by a Maryland police officer, they actually tried to escape by backing up over a police car with the officers still inside. The stolen SUV flipped over, and they were all arrested at scene, as they should have been.

Here's the good news. The officer inside that squished car? He walked away. He's fine, unharmed.

Now, where's the dining car? Clement's famous racing sausages posed for photos. I love this story! Posed for photos in Milwaukee and traveled via Amtrak yesterday for an appearance at a Brewers/Cubs game at Wrigley Field. One guy that would have liked to have been at that train, former hot dog eating champ Takaru Kobayashi.

Brooke Baldwin's favorite - there he is. Kobayashi was in court today after causing a scene and resisting arrest at Nathan's annual Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. What do you say we slam down some wieners, huh? The six-time champ was banned from this year's event because of a contract dispute -- there they go! One after another. He's one on the left. A judge finally dropped all the charges for his misbehaving.

That's "Fotos." Oh, by the way, see all our "Fotos" any time you want on my blog, CNN.com/ricksanchez.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SANCHEZ: Oh, it's difficult. This video is tough to see, but I'm going to share it with you. We've had it for several days. We didn't want to show it to you until we knew all the background, until we had done all our checking and crossed our t's and dotted our I's to make sure we had the facts down pat. Yes. These are women that are being dragged out of their position on the streets, and they are carrying babies. Some of them are pregnant. I'll tell you, i's tough to watch, but we've got the details and we'll take it through it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ; Hey, welcome back.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: You know, Brooke follows everything that's trending, and these pictures out of France. You know, we had these for several days now.

BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.

SANCHEZ: We didn't go with it until we had a pretty good feel collectively as a staff, as a group, that we knew exactly what was going on here, because if you don't, it's kind of tough to look at.

BALDWIN: Well, I think it's tough to look at no matter what.

SANCHEZ: Right.

BALDWIN: They are pictures out of -- outside of Paris in France getting a lot of attention on the Internet, and we did decide we'll show this to you. Let me give you some context. It shows some women, some with children, some pregnant, being dragged into custody by police. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You saw that one woman being dragged away. Huge police presence. Look at this. This happened about two weeks ago outside this apartment complex near Paris. Some say that police say some of the women from the Ivory Coast, mind you, had been squatting at this particular apartment building. I think I had read it was about to be demolished.

Needless to say, they say they wanted to remove them from the area -- the police saying this, put them in temporary housing. But everybody is talking about images like these. We have a woman dragged into the street with her child.

SANCHEZ: Oh! Look at baby.

BALDWIN: Look at baby -- with a child on her back. Obviously, police coming out. They are defending their actions. They say they did not see the child when they approached that particular woman --

SANCHEZ: Right, right.

BALDWIN: But to be fair, when we watched the entire video, it does appear that the whole thing happened with the protesters kick and beating police who did not retaliate. There is a fringe activist group calling on an investigation into police tactics as this whole debate in France over immigration is stirring.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Police say, to a certain extent, they were instigated and that one where they pulled, it didn't know the child was behind her because he was in a back sack or whatever.

BALDWIN: Still, tough to look at.

SANCHEZ: Another really interesting story. Now, this is a person who keeps getting more and more 15 minutes of fame --

BALDWIN: I know.

SANCHEZ: -- this Salahi. The Salahis.

BALDWIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: She goes on "The View," and suddenly Whoopi Goldberg comes out of nowhere and makes her presence known, and suddenly another 15 minutes.

BALDWIN: Okay, okay, okay. So we're on like 30 minutes of fame for Michaele Salahi.

Let me set this up. "The View" was trending yet again here with the so-called White House party crashers. I know you remember this story. Whoopi, as you said, starting this whole thing on the show. She actually started the whole show today defending herself from the allegations that she treated Michaele Salahi poorly yesterday.

I want you to look at this. You be the judge. I'm going to play the incident in question. Pay attention, because it happens really fast. Pay attention to the far right side of your screen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because you've been abusing me. You're a woman abusing me.

MICHAELE SALAHI, ALLEGED WHITE HOUSE PARTY CRASHER: What gives him the right to abuse other --

UNIDENTIFIED: Oh, okay.

SHERRI SHEPHERD, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I want to go forward. I want to go forward.

SALAHI: I felt someone touch me.

SHEPHERD: That was Whoopi Goldberg and she don't come out unless she's passionate about something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or hungry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She doesn't come out unless she's passionate about something. You see real quickly, her hand, there it goes. This is wider shot. This is what Whoopi played today on "The View." So, you can see she comes in, hand goes in and she essentially says move on, talk about the White House.

Now, after the show, Salahi was in tears, apparently backstage telling one of the producers she was upset. One thing led to another. Huge fight between Whoopi and Michaele Salahi. So, today Whoopi justified why she came out on the stage yesterday saying she does tend to do that from time to time. She also explained what happened backstage, what you and I didn't get to see, and why she is not sorry about what she did.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I make no, you know, apology for my choice words. But then her husband got in my face, had his BlackBerry out and started taking pictures of me. And needless to say I really went off then. And there was even more choicer words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She was saying that they were choice words and there were "choicer" words. So, a lot of "she said, she said."

SANCHEZ: But that was weird, and you know what? It's true. Whoopi says, "I didn't hit her." I didn't. Whoopi is right.

BALDWIN: She didn't hit her. It appears like she tapped her.

SANCHEZ: She barely touched her. You know, when people say somebody hit me because she touched you, a difference between being touched and being hit. But, moving on --

BALDWIN: But she was upset, treated poorly --

SANCHEZ: What was weird for all of a sudden, you know --

BALDWIN: To see her coming out of wings.

SANCHEZ: To suddenly -- yes. I mean, it's like if you are anchoring or Ali Velshi or Anderson Cooper was anchoring, and suddenly, I walked out of my desk and came over here and touching you and said -

BALDWIN: "Hey, talk about this."

SANCHEZ: That's weird. I mean, but she said she didn't mean anything by it, but it's weird.

BALDWIN: OK. It's weird, according to Rick Sanchez.

Also, I want to point out. Hey, look. What do people say about PR? Good PR, bad PR, all good in the end because tonight is the big premiere of "Housewives of D.C." so I'm sure after this whole thing.

SANCHEZ: That's a strange booking, though. Somebody who you know wants to be on TV, and you just made them more famous.

BALDWIN: 30 minutes.

SANCHEZ: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: It's finally here. The part of the show that you tell me as often what you wait for. and today I am calling out one of my favorite things, and just a warning. I'm going to get a little heated about this one. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Here we go. This is very important. Something really big happened last night. And I could give a damn about it. In fact, the silence is deafening. It's also kind of -- it's also kind of heartbreaking.

When I was a little boy, just like many of you, and I'm sure a lot of you are going to relate to this, I would wake up so excited to read the baseball scores. The box scores. I knew everybody's batting averages. I memorized their stats, and oh, my God, if a player was about to reach a milestone or break a record, I'd go to sleep with the transistor radio in my ear turned down low so my mom wouldn't hear it. It would be stuck to my ear because I wanted to know every detail. I want to hear the grunts, the groans, the fans.

That was my field of dreams as a little boy growing up in America. That is gone. Now, shattered, by what seems to be nothing more than greed and stupidity. Here's the list you don't want to be on.

Here is what happened last night that we should be celebrating. Alex Rodriguez, a Hispanic kid just like me who grew up in my own hometown, a Miami guy, hit home run number 600, youngest guy ever to do so. Watch. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saw last night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 2-0. High drive, center field, deep. Going back wells. Looking up. See ya! There it is. Number 600! Alex Rodriguez, the youngest man ever to get to 600 home runs, and now one of just seven big-league ballplayers in the history of the game to hit that many.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You know what? there it is. It happened, and you know what? I should care. I should care, but I don't. And neither do most of you, from what I've been reading, and that's a damn shame.

You know why? One word. Steroids. Steroids. Baseball is more than any other sport a numbers game, but when the league slept for more than a decade while players juiced and all the numbers got inflated, they no longer meant anything.

So did A-Rod hit 600 or is it 601? Maybe it's 559, or maybe 40 of those are tainted. Or is it 30, or maybe just one? Who knows? That's not the way it used to be.

Here, play this game with me here for just a minute. Go ahead.

Quiz any guy my age. Babe Ruth, 714. Hank Aaron, 755. Roger Maris, 61. Right?

It's automatic. It's how we respond. It's like in our sinew.

Now say Barry Bonds. Who knows? Who cares? Mark McGwire -- who knows? Who cares?

Is it Rodriguez's fault? I mean, he juiced because they dangled a multimillion-dollar contract in his face? If he didn't, he'd be on the Greyhound bus to Poughkeepsie playing the "Nobody Knows Who the Hell You are League"?

Baseball let that happen. They let it happen, because the steroid era meant that more homeruns and more homeruns and more runs and more scoring meant more butts in the seats, and that meant a lot more money for MLB.

Yes, they're cleaning it up now, and they have admitted to it. Why do you think it took so long for A-Rod to get to 600?

But the national pastime is forever tainted. Last night should have been special. It should have been very special for all of us, as a whole country.

Last night should have been a big story, not a yawner. It should have been the kind of night that reminded us of our boyhoods. It's not.

So, thank you, Major League Baseball. You are, today, at the very top of "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."

The White House is sending a diplomat to Japan. It sounds routine, but the scandal that has erupted is anything but.

I'm going to drill down on that next with Wolf Blitzer.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Here's some breaking news for you. Static kill is now officially concreted. It is concrete, folks. That's the word that's being used.

BP -- I'm reading their press release right here. "BP today completed cementing operations at the MC252 well as part of the static kill procedure. Monitoring of the well is under way in order to confirm the effectiveness of the procedure, but all the cement, all the concrete has been poured."

There we go.

Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Wolf Blitzer.

(APPLAUSE)

SANCHEZ: Wow! What is that? That was really cool. Who are these people?

One more time.

(APPLAUSE)

SANCHEZ: Just say his name and people can't help themselves. They get so excited.

Hey, Wolf. How are you?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Good. Thanks very much. I didn't know you had a live studio audience today. SANCHEZ: Yes. They come in about this time every day. They like to be a part of the CNN headquarters tour.

And, hey, some good news from BP, it looks like. I've got to tell you, folks at the White House must be going something like this: "The last thing we needed, for this leak in the Gulf to just drag into the midterms."

BLITZER: I was at the White House yesterday for a so-called background briefing with some senior administration officials, and you could see how relieved they were that finally this disaster, at least this stage of the disaster, was over. If you compare the mood at the White House yesterday with what I had seen only a few weeks earlier, and certainly within the past few months, it was day and night.

They are relieved, as all of us are. But, you know, the work is going to continue. There's no end in sight as far as cleaning up this mess is concerned.

SANCHEZ: Hey, I understand during your newscast there's going to be a special ceremony on the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima back during World War II, something that Americans have -- well, the whole world has always been very sensitive about this. But I understand there might be controversy this time around.

Can you take me through that real quick?

BLITZER: Well, basically, this is the first time that a U.S. representative -- namely, the United States ambassador to Japan -- will participate, will attend this 65th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, which was followed a few days later by Nagasaki. You'll remember, 200,000 people or so were killed in those two atomic bombs.

The war ended only a few days later. Japan surrendered. And the theory was always that, yes, a lot of people died, but it would have been so much worse if the war would have been allowed to continue.

Sixty-five years later, the Japanese government now saying no, we're not going to look back, we're going to look ahead, we're going to try to look towards a day when there won't be any nuclear weapons out there. And so the U.S. government, Britain, France, other governments, are going to participate in this ceremony Friday, which is already almost Friday in Tokyo in Japan right now.

SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer, thank you so much for bringing us up to date on that.

And for you guys over there, you ready? A free copy of my book for anybody who can name the book "Hiroshima."

It was John Hersey, as I recall, seventh grade civics. Come on. You ought to know that.

All right. We're going to be right back.

Thanks so much. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

This is one whale of a story. We're taking you on a journey. The critical care of wounded U.S. troops is making our list today.

Bomb and mortar attacks are taking a toll on troops serving in Afghanistan, but their journey home from the warfront is amazing. And you have a chance to experience it.

Here's CNN's Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr. She has an exclusive look at the medical care that they get on this final leg of their trip home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This is what it's really all about in the world of the air medical evacuation community. You can see the plane now is full of the combat wounded from Afghanistan.

These troops have all suffered injuries from IED, roadside bomb explosions, mortars, artillery, small arms fire, gunshot wounds. They have gotten their initial treatment here in Germany. Now we about to make a nine-hour flight back to the United States. Finally, they are getting back home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Remember that other guy that we took the antibiotics on --

STARR (voice-over): Air Force medical teams tend to every need on the final leg of the journey home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw that tape (ph), buddy?

STARR: Captain Chris Watkins, a nurse, has worked evac flights for seven years. He sees the rising number of wounded first hand.

CAPT. CHRIS WATKINS, U.S. AIR FORCE: Unfortunately, it's a lot of blast injuries. We have a lot of amputations, a lot of significant trauma patients that require some sort of a continuous monitoring care or obviously surgical treatment. IEDs are probably the number one player followed by small arms and indirect fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just wanted to see a drop.

STARR: Private First Class James Darlington hit by a rocket- propelled grenade in the arm a few days ago now hours away from seeing his family. Doctors have eased initial worries that he may lose his arm.

PFC. JAMES DARLINGTON, U.S. ARMY: I didn't think I was going to have an arm because the way it was just skin attaching to it. But I was actually really amazed when I woke up and seen an arm there, and I had feeling in it and everything, so, yes.

STARR (on camera): So the medical care is pretty amazing.

DARLINGTON: It's really amazing. I was really surprised.

STARR (voice-over): Twenty-two wounded on stretchers, some just hours off of the battlefield. There is constant worry about infection, many still on morphine for pain, some in extremely critical condition, on ventilators.

WATKINS: We haven't sat down since about 8:00 this morning Germany time, and that was almost 11 hours ago. It's hard seeing these catastrophic injuries.

STARR: On some flights the most critically wounded are kept alive long enough to be brought home so their families can say good- bye. Sometimes the best cure just being together. On this flight, three young soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division hit in the same attack just a few days earlier.

Specialist Aaron Knuckols and his buddies were on patrol in the eastern Afghanistan when their vehicle hit a 300-pound roadside bomb.

SPEC. AARON KNUCKOLS, U.S. ARMY: Everything got red and we went upside down.

STARR: After a near-death experience like that, Specialist Knuckols says he could not imagine going home without his friends.

KNUCKOLS: We have been together the whole trip, ma'am.

STARR (on camera): That's good.

KNUCKOLS: It's awesome.

STARR: Yes. You keep an eye on each other.

KNUCKOLS: Yes, ma'am. I know my two guys back there, and I can't see, but I know they are getting the same care I am getting, and it is a very good feeling. I can't see them, but I know they are getting taken care of.

STARR (voice-over): Fellow soldier Private First Class Mike Garcia broke two vertebrae in his back, his knee and his ankle in the attack, but his priority, his brothers in arms.

PFC. MIKE GARCIA, U.S. ARMY: Ma'am, that's what makes it personal, because we go over there, and we're such a small group to begin with. And we see pretty much nobody else for the year we're over there, and we just bond. A lot of bonding, pretty much, and especially when you get hit.

STARR: The third man, Staff Sergeant Benjamin McGuire's broken jaw, is wired shut, but he doesn't need to talk for us to understand how grateful he is that they are all together.

(on camera): It means a lot to you. Do you think that it actually helps?

"Yes, ma'am. Without a doubt in my mind, it made my injuries seem not so bad."

"You went to Afghanistan together, you fought together, you got hit together. Now, you are coming home together."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tower, reaching (ph) 612 --

STARR (voice-over): For many of these soldiers, the journey home is almost complete. Many we have spoken to have already reenlisted and are anxious to get back to Afghanistan to stand beside their fellow soldiers, even as the cycle of war wounded continues.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Andrews Air Force Bases.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Boy. And Barbara did a great job in that report.

Thanks so much to all of you for being with us.

And now here is your "SITUATION ROOM" with my colleague and friend, Wolf Blitzer.