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Rick's List

Prison Escapee Caught; President Obama on Education and Economy at University of Texas at Austin; Analysts Lament Partisan Divide; Escaped Prisoner from Arizona Still Loose in Yellowstone National Park; Wildfires around Moscow Causing Hundreds of Deaths a Day

Aired August 09, 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: Here's what's making the list today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're watching this, give yourself up.

SANCHEZ: Two escaped prisoners allegedly kill vacationers and then hide out in God's country, hiding in Yellowstone, big developments here.

The Taliban do this to women. They just killed a pregnant widow and they killed 10 aid workers, hype or necessity? And what happens when we leave, General Petraeus?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then we return to the ADL the handsome medal and the generous honorarium that came with it.

SANCHEZ: How's that for a bold statement? A journalistic shot across the bow aimed at the anti-defamation league's credibility.

Fidel Castro says the U.S. is stoking nuclear tensions. I will tell you why he should know. Calling him out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those poor guys were slow-cooked.

SANCHEZ: A man apparently cooks to death in a sauna and it's a contest, a contest?

And happening now, President Obama ventures into Bush country. You'll see it live. 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.

Hook them, horns. That's right. We're in Texas country. We're waiting for the president of the United States who's coming out in just a little bit.

Just a little while ago, these folks were going crazy with the hook them, horns signs, they were cheering. They were waiting for the president of the United States to come out and by the way, the president of the United States is there.

Can we say he's in George W. Bush country? Hell, he's in Bush country, period, not just one Bush, all the Bushes, right? He's going to be talking there at the University of Texas and Austin about education and the economy in the speech here at this place that has easily one of the greatest football teams ever continually here in and year out.

But he wouldn't talking football, folks. He's talking education and you're going to watch that live as soon as it happens. Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

First, though, there is a big break in that manhunt story that we've been telling you about. Of all places, this is going on at Yellowstone National Park, one of three inmates who broke out of prison in Arizona has been caught in a small town in northwestern Wyoming.

His name is Tracy Province. That's what he looks like. That's his mug. Here's what led to his capture. He was having a chat with somebody on the church steps, a woman who talked with him about odd jobs saw his picture on television. She called federal agents who then set up a trap. They caught Province when he doubled back. Listen to this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GONZALES, U.S. MARSHAL: They observed Mr. Province walking in the area. They immediately arrested him without incident and he immediately denied that he was Province, but later admitted that it was him and that he was relieved that this manhunt was over for him and that this long process was finally over for him. Mr. Province did have a 9 millimeter handgun in his possession at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, we told you the president of the United States is making his big debut here at the University of Texas. He just walked into the room. He's just starting to talk. The fans have been cheering like it was a football game. Let's listen in.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is good to be back. It is good to be back. I love you, back. I remember -- by the way, anybody's got a seat, feel free to take a seat. I remember paying you a visit during the campaign.

Mack Brown gave me a tour of the stadium, along with Colt and a couple of the other guys. I got a photo with the Heisman. I rubbed the locker rooms of the longhorns for good luck and I'm just saying it might have had something to do with how the election turned out.

There might be a connection there. I also remember the first time that I came to Austin on the campaign and there are a number of friends who are here who have been great supporters I want to make mention of them.

Representative Lloyd Dagette is here, a great friend. Senator Kirk Watson is here. Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee is here. Mayor Leftenwell is here and your own president Bill Powers is in the house. But back in 2007, February of 2007, it was just two weeks after I had announced my candidacy, I know it's hard to believe but it's true, my hair was not gray back then. Not many people thought I had much of a shot at the White House.

Let me put it this way -- a lot of folks in Washington didn't think I had a shot at the White House. A lot of people couldn't pronounce my name. They were still calling me Alabamer, your momma and all that.

So then I come to Austin, this was in February of 2007 and it was a drizzly day and that usually tamps down turnout. But when I got to the rally over at auditorium shores, there was a crowd of over 20,000 people, 20,000 people, people of all ages and all races and all walks of life.

And I said that day, all these people, they hadn't gathered just for me. You were there because you were hungry to see some fundamental change in America. Because you believed in an America where all of us, not just some of us, but all of us, no matter what we look like, no matter where we come from, all of us can reach for our dreams.

All of us can make of our lives what we will that we can determine our own destiny and that's what we've been fighting for over the past 18 months. I said then that we'd end the Iraq war as swiftly and as responsibly as possible. And that is a promise that we are keeping. This month we will end combat operations in Iraq.

I said we'd make health care more affordable and give you more control over your health care and that's a promise we're keeping. And by the way, young people are going to be able to stay on their parents' health insurance until they're 26 because of the laws that we passed.

I said we'd build an economy that can compete in the 21st Century because the economy that we had even before the recession, even before the financial crisis, wasn't working for too many Americans. Too many Americans had seen their wages flatlined, their incomes flatlined, we were falling behind and unable to compete internationally.

And I said we need an economy that puts Americans back to work, an economy that is built around three simple words -- made in America -- because we are not playing for second place. We are the United States of America and like the Texas Longhorns, you play for first, we play for first.

Now, when it comes to the economy, I said that in today's world, we're being pushed as never before. From Beijing to Bangolor, from Seoul to Sao Paulo, new industries and innovations are flourishing, our competition is growing fiercer.

And while our ultimate success has and always will depend on the incredible industriousness of the American worker and the ingenuity of American businesses, we also know that as a nation, we've got to pull together and do some fundamental shifts in how we've been operating to make sure America remains number one.

So that's why I've set some ambitious goals for this country. I've called for doubling our exports within the next five years so that we're not just buying from other countries. I want us to sell to other countries.

We've talked about doubling our nation's capacity to generate renewable energy by 2012 because I'm absolutely convinced that if we controlled the clean energy future, then our economic future will be bright, building solar panels and wind turbines and biodiesel.

And I want us to produce 8 million more college graduates by 20 because America has to have the highest share of graduates compared to every other nation. But, Texas, I want you to know, we have been slipping.

In a single generation, we've fallen from first place to 12th place in college graduation rates for young adults. Think about that. In one generation, we went from number 1 to number 12. Now, that's unacceptable, but it's not irreversible. We can retake the lead.

If we're serious about making sure America's workers and America itself succeeds in the 21st Century, the single most important step we can take is to make sure that every one of our young people here in Austin, here in Texas, here in the United States of America has the best education that the world has to offer. That's the number one thing we can do.

Now, when I talk about education, people say, well, you know what, right now we're going through this tough time, we've emerged from the worst recession since the great depression. So, Mr. President, you should only focus on jobs, on economic issues.

And what I've tried to explain to people, I said this at the National Urban League the other week -- education is an economic issue. Education is the economic issue of our time.

It's an economic issue when the unemployment rate for folks who have never gone to college is almost double what it is for those who have gone to college. Education is an economic issue when nearly 8 in 10 new jobs will require workforce training or a higher education by the end of this decade.

Education is an economic issue when we know beyond a shadow of a doubt, the countries that out-educate us today will outcompete us tomorrow. The single most important thing we can do is to make sure we've got a world-class education system for everybody. That is a pre-requisite for prosperity.

It is an obligation that we have for the next generation. And here's the interesting thing, Austin, the fact is, we know what to do to offer our children the best education possible. We know what works. It's just, we're not doing it.

And so what I've said is, let's get busy. Let's get started. We can't wait another generation. We can't afford to let our young people waste their most formative years. That's why we need to set up an early learning fund to challenge our states and make sure our young people, our children, are entering kindergarten ready for success. That's something we've got to do.

We can't accept anything but the best in America's classrooms. That's why we launched an initiative called "Race to the Top" where we are challenging states to strengthen their commitment to excellence and hire outstanding teachers and train wonderful principals and create superior schools with higher standards and better assessments.

And we're already seeing powerful results across the country. But we also know that in the coming decades, a high school diploma is not going to be enough. Folks need a college degree, they need workforce training, they need a higher education.

And so today I want to talk about the higher education strategy that we're pursuing, not only to lead the world once more in college graduation rates, but to make sure our graduates are ready for a career, ready to meet the challenges of the 21st Century economy.

Part one of our strategy is to make college more affordable. I suspect that that's something you're all interested in. I don't have to tell you why this is so important. Many of you are living each day with worries about how you're going to pay off your student loans and we all know why.

Even as family incomes have been essentially flat over the past 30 years, college costs have grown higher and higher and higher and higher. They have gone up faster than housing, gone up faster than transportation. They've even gone up faster than health care costs, and that's saying something.

So it's no wonder that the amount student borrowers owe has risen almost 25 percent just over the last five years. Think about that. Just in the last five years, the debt of students has gone up 25 percent. And this isn't some abstract policy for me.

I understand this personally because Michelle and I -- we had big loans to pay off when we graduated. I remember what that felt like, especially early in your career where you don't make much money and you're sending all those checks to all those companies.

And that's why I'm absolutely committed to making sure that here in America, nobody is denied a college education, nobody is denied a chance to pursue their dreams, nobody is denied a chance to make the most of their lives just because they can't afford it. We are a better country than that and we need to act like we're a better country than that.

Now, there are a couple of components to this. Part of the responsibility for controlling these costs falls on our colleges and universities. Some of them are stepping up. Public institutions like the University of Maryland, University of North Carolina, some private institutions like Cornell, they're all finding ways to combat rising tuition without compromising on quality.

And I know that your president is looking at some of these same approaches to make sure that the actual costs of college are going down. I want to challenge every university and college president to get a handle on spiraling costs. So university administrators need to do more to make college more affordable.

But we as a nation have to do more as well. So that's why we fought so hard to win a battle that had been going on in Washington for years. And it had to do with the federal student loan program.

See, under the old system, we'd pay banks and financial companies billions of dollars in subsidies to act as middlemen. See these loans were guaranteed by the federal government, but would still passing through banks and they take out billions of dollars in profits.

So it was a good deal for them, but it wasn't a very good deal for you and because these special interest were so powerful, this boondoggle survived year after year, Congress after Congress. This year, we said enough is enough.

We said we could not afford to continue subsidizing special interest to the tunes of billions of dollars a year at the expense of taxpayers and of students. So we went to bat against the lobbyists and a minority party that was united in their support of this outrageous status quo.

And, Texas, I am here to report that we won. We won. So as a result instead of handing over $60 billion in subsidies to big banks and financial institutions over the next decade, we're redirecting that money to you to make college more affordable for nearly 8 million students and families across this country, 8 million students will get more help from financial aid because of these changes.

We're tripling how much we're investing in the largest college tax credit for our middle class families and thanks to Austin's own Lloyd Doggette, that tax credit is now worth $2,500 a year for two years of college and we want to make it permanent so it's worth $10,000 over four years of college, $10,000.

And because the value of Pell grants has fallen as the costs of college keep going up, the cap on how much Pell grants are worth -- we have decided to offer more support for the future so the value of Pell grants don't erode with inflation, they keep up with inflation.

And we're also making loan repayments more manageable for over 1 million more students in the coming years so students at UT Austin and across this country don't graduate with massive loan payments each month. We're working on that right now.

Now, I should mention, by the way, we're also making information more widely available about college costs and completion rates so you can make good decisions. You can comparison shop and we're simplifying financial aid forms by eliminating dozens of unnecessary questions.

You should not have to take -- you should not have to have a Phd to apply for financial aid. You shouldn't have to do it. I want a bunch of you to get Phds don't get me wrong. I just don't want you to have to do it for your financial aid form.

So if you're married, for example, you don't need to answer questions anymore about how much money your parents have made. If you've lived in the same place for at least five years, you don't need to answer questions about your place of residency. Soon you'll no longer need to submit information you've provided on your taxes.

That's part of the reason why we've seen a 20 percent jump in financial aid applications because we're going to make it easier and make the system more accessible. So college affordability is the first part of the strategy we're pursuing.

The second part is making sure the education being offered to our college students, especially, by the way, our students at community colleges, that it's preparing them to graduate ready for a career.

See, institutions like UT are essential to our future, but community colleges are, too. They are great underappreciated assets that we have to value and we have to support. So that's why we're upgrading our community colleges by tying the skills taught in our classrooms to the needs of local businesses in the gross sectors of our economy.

And we're giving companies an assurance that the workers they hire will be up to the job. We're giving students the best chance to succeed. We're also that way giving America the best chance to thrive and to prosper. And that's why we're also reinvesting in our HBCUs and our Hispanic serving institutions like Houston Tillison and St. Edwards.

The third part of our strategy is making sure every student completes their course of studies. I want everybody to think about this. Over one-third of America's college students and over half of our minority students don't earn a degree even after six years.

So we don't just need to open the doors of college to more Americans. We need to make sure they stick with it through graduation. This is critical and that means looking for some of the best models out there. There are community colleges like Tennessee's Cleveland state that are redesigning remedial math courses and boosting not only student achievement but also graduation rates.

And we ought to make a significant investment to help other states pick up on some of these models. So we've got to lift graduation rates. We've got to prepare our graduates to succeed in this economy. We've got to make college more affordable.

That's how we'll put a higher education within reach for anybody who's willing to work for it. That's how we'll reach our goal of once again leading the world in college graduation rates by the end of this decade. That's how we'll lead the global economy in this century just like we did in the last century.

When I look out at all the young people here today, I think about the fact that you are entering into the workforce at a difficult time in this country's industry. The economy took a body blow from this financial crisis and this great recession that we're going through.

But I want everybody here to remember, at each and every juncture throughout our history, we've always recognized that essential truth that the way to move forward in our own lives and as a nation is to put education first. It's what led Thomas Jefferson to leave as his legacy not just the Declaration of Independence, but a University in Virginia.

It's what led a nation that was being torn apart by civil war to still set aside acreage as a consequence of President Lincoln's vision for the land grant institutions to prepare farmers and factory workers to seize the promise of an industrial age.

It's what led our parents and grandparents to put a generation of returning GIs through college and open the doors of our schools and universities to people of all races, which broadened opportunity and grew our middle class and produced a half a century of prosperity.

And that recognition that here in this great country of ours, education and opportunity, they always go hand-in-hand. That's what led the first president of the University of Texas to say -- as he dedicated the cornerstone of the original main building -- smytubmite the rocks with the rod of knowledge and fountains of unstinted wealth will gush forth. That's the promise at the heart of UT Austin. But that is also the promise at the heart of our colleges and of our universities and it's the promise at the heart of our country, the promise of a better life, the promise that our children will climb higher than we did.

That promise is why so many of you are seeking a college degree in the first place. That's why your families scrimped and saved to pay for your education. And I know that as we make our way through this economic storm, some of you may be worried about what your college degree will be worth when you graduate and how you're going to fare in this economy and what the future holds.

But I want you to know, when I look out at you, when I look into the faces of America's young men and women, I see America's future and it reaffirms my sense of hope, it reaffirms my sense of possibility. It reaffirms my belief that we will emerge from this storm and we will find brighter days ahead because I am absolutely confident that if you keep pouring yourselves into your own education.

And if we as a nation offer our children the best education possible from cradle through career, not only will American workers compete and succeed, America will compete and succeed. And we will complete this improbable journey that so many of you took up over three years ago and we're going to build an America where each of us, no matter what we look like or where we come from can reach for our dreams and make of our lives what we will.

Thank you, Austin. Thank you, Texas. God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you. Good luck to the team.

(MUSIC)

SANCHEZ: And there you see the president of the United States. He's at the University of Texas at Austin, getting quite a reception there from some of the students. You heard the president say just as he was starting the speech, in fact those of you who have seats, go ahead and sit down, leading us to believe that, in fact, it was only standing room only there today at Austin.

There you see the cameras now clicking away as the president goes into the audience making several references to "hook 'em, horns" and references to the Longhorns football team. The audience obviously filled with college students, most of them looking very, very young.

Jessica Yellin's been following this with us as well, and she's joining us now to pick up the conversation. You know, it's funny, the president lately, more so than ever, Jessica, I don't know if you picked up on this, but I'm hearing him make this comment all the time about the Iraq war. He says "This month will end combat operations in Iraq." He seems to be saying that successively.

We're going to be picking up this conversation with Jessica right after the break and talk about the reaction as well. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Let's take a look at these pictures once again from the University of Austin. Welcome back. This is "RICK'S LIST." I'm Rick Sanchez. Here's the president of the United States, and he is just getting mugged by these students.

Roger, who's doing audio today? Pick the sound up on this.

(MUSIC)

He'll come out from the other side of the podium. He's really getting out there with the students on this day. You can see the president, everybody's trying to reach out to him. Pictures are being taken of him as he goes into the audience itself. He's actually staying longer out there than he normally does.

What do you do when you're the president of the United States and your approval ratings aren't so good, and you finally get to a place where everybody wants to shake your hand and tell you how good you're doing? You stay out there and listen to them tell you how good you're doing, right?

(LAUGHTER)

Jessica Yellin joins us now. She's watching this with us well. Quite a reception there. I was just tweeting with a couple of folks here. Like Matthew, for example, from new Newsbusters was telling me Austin is a blue enclave in a very red state. He's absolutely right. And a lot of it has to do with the fact that it's a college town, right, Jessica?

YELLIN: Yes, and not only that, he's on a college campus, and so you're going to get a lot of young people. His big strength is among young people. So he clearly enjoys being out in the field where he's getting some adulation for a change after getting beat up in Washington day after day. Can't blame him for that.

(LAUGHTER) SANCHEZ: You have to take it when you can get it, right?

YELLIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting, I wanted to ask you about this. The president of the United States keeps mentioning this. And it kind of perked my ears once again. He's being very deliberate about this, almost as if saying, look, I made a promise and I'm sticking with it.

And he said it once again. "This month we will end combat operations in Iraq. Promise made, promise kept." This is a big part of his message now, isn't it?

YELLIN: It's a big part of his message, and it was a big part of his campaign, Rick. The president is dealing with a nation that's incredibly frustrated about the economy, and as much as he's tried to get some traction on that and he's passed some significant legislation, it's not sticking.

So it makes since politically he would remind voters he's kept his word on Iraq and he's doing what he said he would do. And also in the context of the wars, Afghanistan is not producing such good news, so it's a welcome balance for the Democrats to remind voters that they have made some progress in Iraq in contrast. And I expect to hear that through Election Day.

SANCHEZ: Looks like the president is finally making his way. There we see some of his security guys trying to remind the president might be a good time to get out of there now. He's got other appointments to make. There goes the presidential seal.

Jessica Yellin joining us once again. Let's go back to the president's speech. Two points he makes. One of them is about the economy in general. The other one is about the fact that we just have to be realistic about where we are. And with a wink and a nod, you have to figure the president is always going to make a reference to how we got in this situation. Take the first one here, Roger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: As we make our way through this economic storm, some of you may be worried about what your college degree will be worth when you graduate and how you're going to fare in this economy and what the future holds.

I want you to know, when I look out at you, when I look into the faces of America's young men and women, I see America's future, and it reaffirms my sense of hope. It reaffirms my sense of possibility. It reaffirms my belief that we will emerge from this storm and we will find brighter days ahead.

Under the old system, we'd pay banks and financial companies billions of dollars in subsidies to act as middlemen. You see, these loans were guaranteed by the federal government but we'd still pass them through banks and they'd take out billions of dollars in profits. So it was a good deal for them but it wasn't a very good deal for you. And because these special interests were so powerful, this boondoggle survived year after year, Congress after Congress. This year, we said enough is enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Jessica, what do you make of the president's comments about the economy? This is a subject that he's just going to have to hit on and deal with for several years going.

YELLIN: Yes, but I think what you've just said is the point, is that he's constantly criticized these days for not communicating well on what they have accomplished, and he seems to do best when he is out at these kinds of events reiterating what the administration has done to try to help on specific aspects of the economy, for example, reforming student loans.

And so going out there and repeating, look, this is what we've done, this is how we've made a difference, I think is the White House's best chance as really connecting on the economy in this sort of massive media environment where all we hear day after day is things are bad, things are bad. He needs to sell what they've done.

SANCHEZ: Let me do my own cross role here, if you will allow me to. Did you get a chance to see Fareed's show over the weekend? I'll tell you, Fareed Zakaria --

YELLIN: I did not. But I can imagine you watching by the pool.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: I was as a matter of fact, after my golf match. Look at you. Fareed has two interesting guests on. He had two guys that used to be part of the past administration, the Clinton administration, Ruben, and then he had Paul O'Neal on, who, as we know, was Treasury Secretary under President Bush.

He asked them several questions, but one of the questions was about why it is that Republicans and Democrats can't get along in Congress and why they can't seem to get anything done. O'Neal, the Republican, goes off on this. Listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: How worried are you about this issue of Republicans and Democrats finding it impossible to come together?

PAUL O'NEAL: In a perverse way, it may be a blessing, because if we could agree on something, it would probably be negative to the people. I agree with Bob. I first went to the executive office building next to the White House in 1967 when Lyndon Johnson was president, and I've been in and out of that place now since 1967.

I think it is really tragic what's happened to our political system and its inability to have even a civil conversation so that, just as you point out, Fareed, the Republicans abandoned the idea of this presidential commission to struggle with these fiscal issues. What kind -- that's insane. It's really hard to understand what seemingly otherwise intelligent people could participate in this folly when the country's at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "Folly," "country at risk," "inability to have civil conversation," "tragic," "insane." I couldn't write them all down because he was going too fast. This guy's going off on our present political system. Jessica, to you.

YELLIN: There's enormous frustration. He's expressing something that a lot of people in Washington feel right now, Rick. But it's ugly days right now. We're approaching the campaign. It's not unusual. As much as we say this is the fastest media environment, silly stories pop, everybody has to chase the absurd and politicians have to bat it down, the truth is every time an election approaches, less gets done in Washington.

I was just reading a book about the FDR era. There was wild politics then, too, with the internal infighting. This is part of how our process works. And we should sort of all accept that there's a lot of nastiness that goes on in the political system and if voters want something different, they have to vote for people who are willing to compromise.

This season, voters seem to want to vote for people who are less willing to compromise, not more willing to compromise. I don't see a big change coming in the environment in Washington any time soon, Rick.

SANCHEZ: What's the saying? You get what you pay for. We're certainly getting that. Thanks, Jessica. We appreciate your time, excellent conversation.

When we come back, finally, the very latest on what's going on at Yellowstone National Park. Folks, if you haven't been keeping up with this, I want to take you through it, because it reads like a movie. Attempted murderers escaped from a prison, then go around the country, allegedly kill two people. One of them is now caught. The other one is still hiding out somewhere in Yellowstone National Park where there are more tourists.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Let me bring you up to date now on the big news story of the day. Police say that one of the three inmates who broke out of prison in Arizona has been caught in a small town in northwestern Wyoming. His name is Tracy Province.

Here's what led to his capture, a chat on church steps. This is according to a woman who said she talked with him about odd jobs, but then she saw his picture on television. She called federal agents, FBI types, who then set the trap, and they caught province when he doubled back.

The manhunt is far from over, by the way, although it has moved now to Yellowstone National Park. Federal agents are searching parts of Wyoming and Montana for the guy they still haven't caught. That's him right there, that's John McCluskey. He is still on the loose, still with his fiancee, this gal named Casslyn Welch, who's also -- get this -- his first cousin. That's his girlfriend and his first cousin, just so you know.

McCluskey was in prison for trying to kill a police officer. Authorities now say that he's the one who murdered a couple of vacationers while he was out on the loose. In other words, he's out on the loose, he's looking around for ways to get away. He kills these people who are vacationing. Their charred skeletons were found Wednesday inside their burned-out camper in New Mexico not far from where these guys escaped from prison.

Police are saying the couple met the escaped prisoners during a roadside stop at a gas station or a convenience store. Not only is this pair dangerous, get this -- they're being called "delusional," "delusional." These two think they're Bonnie and Clyde somehow. How do we know this? Ask their dad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GONZALEZ, U.S. MARSHAL: We have learned that McCluskey and his partner who helped break him out of jail consider themselves Bonnie and Clyde. They joke about it. And I think they've taken the persona that this is some type of a movie and this is some kind of a joke that they are living. But it is not. This is a very, very serious business.

And I would like to make a plea or give some good advice to Mr. McCluskey that if he is hearing my words and sees us to turn himself in because no good is going to be coming out of this at the very end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's Gonzalez. I should let you know that he's going to be joining us in just a little bit here at the top of our -- well, he's going to be joining us in about 12 or 13 minutes here.

You heard him make those mentions about the Bonnie and Clyde thing and the delusional aspect of this story. Again, he's not the first one to say that, because McCluskey's own dad was interviewed yesterday by a reporter, and he said the same thing.

In fact, he had some not-so-nice words for his own son, telling him to turn himself in, among others. So you're going to be hearing that in just a little bit as well.

All right, I mentioned a third inmate who escaped. He wasn't free very long. He was captured as well less than 48 hours after the prison break. So right now, one still on the lam, hiding somewhere at Yellowstone National Park. Police think he's already killed two people while he's been on the loose. Brooke Baldwin joins me after the break. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Brooke Baldwin is joining us now. This is where we talk about the things that you're talking about. What's trending on e- mail, what's trending on the net, what's trending in twitter and social media.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's trending with Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: Yes -- what do you mean by that?

BALDWIN: I don't know what I mean.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: OK. You're going to get to the sauna story I'm so interested in? I can't believe someone would literally cook themselves to win a contest.

BALDWIN: Some people say why shove 54 hot dogs down your mouth at Coney Island every year? I'm just saying.

SANCHEZ: That's a good question. You're just full of questions.

BALDWIN: First I want to start with the international war crimes trial. You know we were talking about it last week, big star power. People were wondering why in the world super model Naomi Campbell is testifying, right?

Today we're hearing from actress Mia Farrow. Here is why they are involved. Just to go back here, former Liberian president Charles Taylor, he's accused among a number of crimes of funding this brutal civil war in Sierra Leone by selling these conflict diamonds, these blood diamonds.

Last week we heard from Naomi Campbell. She testified she was given some of these quote-unquote "dirty-looking stones" as a gift a couple years ago. Here is the crux of what she said. She said they were delivered to her hotel room in the middle of the night. She testified she had no idea where they came from. There she was last week.

Well, today a different story coming out of Mia Farrow. She testified that she remembers the story much differently. Here she is.

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MIA FARROW, ACTRESS: I also discussed it with my children and they remember exactly the same thing. It was sort of an unforgettable moment. I may be fuzzy on surrounding details but I remember when she came in on the breakfast and said she had received a diamond from Charles Taylor.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: So she says she remembers Naomi Campbell telling her she did in fact receive a diamond from the former president Taylor. Taylor has denied all the charges against him. He is also charged with rape, murder, torturing children.

SANCHEZ: So Naomi Campbell is saying, no, I don't even know where I got those. They just showed up one day. Now you've got somebody saying, no, we were having breakfast together and you said I just got this really cool diamond from --

BALDWIN: From the president, Charles Taylor, precisely.

SANCHEZ: Wow. That sounds like they got the goods on her.

BALDWIN: Perhaps.

Story number two, the story we were all talking about it this morning.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

BALDWIN: It makes me wonder what in the world. It's hard for us to look. It's a huge deal in the Nordic countries, so let me explain. So over the weekend they had this 12th annual sauna world championship. I never heard of it. Have you?

SANCHEZ: No. Not of the championship but I am familiar with the fact that people in that part of the world are big on saunas.

BALDWIN: Enjoy bathing in a sauna. So this Russian man in his 60s, he was a finalist. He died. He totally collapsed on Saturday, bleeding.

SANCHEZ: The contest was to see who could stay there the longest.

BALDWIN: That's precisely right. So they have multiple rounds, the sixth round, two minutes in, look at these guys. The Russian guy is on the left. His rival, the Finnish guy, is on the right. Two remaining guys, and like you said they need to see who is the last man sitting, right?

So the highest the heat was, about 230 degrees Fahrenheit. And what happened was they finally had to realize they had to pull both of them out. They had to douse a bunch of water on them. This man here, the Russian man died of severe skin burns and the guy on the right, the Finnish guy, they had to rush to the hospital.

SANCHEZ: You're not even showing the good pictures.

BALDWIN: Well, we don't want to go there do we, Rick Sanchez?

SANCHEZ: It looks like a bad sunburn. It's not that bad.

BALDWIN: There are worse pictures. We're sparing our viewers.

SANCHEZ: This guy cooked himself.

BALDWIN: He totally cooked himself.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

BALDWIN: But the people who organized the competition said, look, we followed the rules. We didn't do anything different. Needless to say they're never having this competition ever again.

But with the pictures they had a whole tarp covering it. They had to shield 1,000 spectators. This is a huge deal. They had to shield the spectators from these men cooking themselves in this sauna 230 degrees Fahrenheit.

SANCHEZ: How long were they in there?

BALDWIN: They were in there six minutes, the final round after multiple rounds. You have this stove and they continue dousing water on the stove every 30 seconds.

SANCHEZ: You could burn a turkey in the oven for 230 --

BALDWIN: I baked brownies over the weekend. I was thinking how hot was that? That was about 400 degrees.

SANCHEZ: That's crazy.

BALDWIN: But yes, it's a big thing, in the Nordic countries, especially Finland, Russia.

SANCHEZ: But you say no more.

BALDWIN: They're done. No more.

SANCHEZ: Wow. OK, Brooke. Look forward to seeing you again. Good stuff as usual. You know what's trending.

BALDWIN: I try.

SANCHEZ: You are a trender.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: And welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

We've saved this segment because we want to bring your attention to some strange things going on all over the world. This has to do I suppose as much with weather as anything else.

Let's start in Moscow. You ready? This is a record heat wave coupled with choking smoke from wildfires. And it's creating a lethal situation. The city's health department says the death rate on average about 380 people per day has doubled to 700 people per day. The morgue there is nearly filled to capacity. Feeding the toxic air hundreds of wildfires in central Russia. It is among the worst that the country has ever seen.

Look, I know we get these kinds of situations here in the United States. We get them in south Florida. We get them in Arizona, get them in parts of California. But did you hear the numbers there? Did you hear how many people are dying every single day, 700 people? That's a lot.

A half million acres have charred, hundreds of fires have been extinguished even as hundreds more have ignited. People thinking of venturing outside are urged not to. The acrid smoke has made air pollution levels so intense health experts liken it to smoking several packs of cigarettes a day just walking around.

Here's iReporter Percy von Lipinski. She says walking through Moscow right now is like going through the gates of hell.

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PERCY VON LIPINSKI, IREPORTER VISITING MOSCOW: I'm finding it very difficult to breathe. I'm about to venture downstairs to the ground level to go to some meetings. I don't know how I can do it. There are all these masks they have to try and filter out the particulates, but they're nowhere to be found, anyway.

Couple that with the 100-degree plus temperatures and you have the makings of what I would define as hell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And Percy von Lipinski is good enough to join us now via Skype from Moscow. Oh, my god. Look at you. I guess it's pretty bad.

LIPINSKI: Hi, Rick. I'm going to take this off for a few minutes. It's about all I can stand, but I have to put it back on because it is very, very hard to breathe.

SANCHEZ: Is it as bad as we're reading over here? I mean, look, I lived in south Florida. We get these brush fires down there all the time. I remember it kind of stunk, but you go inside and you get yourself out of it and usually you make it through. Why is it so bad there in comparison?

LIPINSKI: Well, there's no wind. We're in Moscow. The air is still. It's very, very hot. And, you know, remember, Rick, this is a city that is probably used to summer time temperatures of maybe 75.

SANCHEZ: Yes?

LIPINSKI: Right now it's well into the hundreds, even 110 on some days. So generally speaking they don't have air-con in Moscow and certainly in the small to medium sized businesses. You'd go into a supermarket here that maybe normally you'd go into in Florida and just expect there to be air conditioning. Here you wouldn't find that. It's very rare in fact to see that.

SANCHEZ: And 700 people dying a day? Those are the numbers that we're reading over here. How can that be? From what?

LIPINSKI: Yes. Well, that can be very easily the number. You know, if you're living through this like I am and have been for the last week, you'd be surprised if it was anything less than that because I've actually got the lap top positioned so you can see the shadow through the haze there of the foreign ministry. Can you see that building?

SANCHEZ: Yes, we can see it.

LIPINSKI: Yes, so that's about, call that maybe a quarter mile away. And that is about the limit of what we can see. And this is a very good night for visibility. Normally I cannot see that building for the last week. Some days we can some days we can't.

SANCHEZ: There you go. Finally a little promise of relief. Percy Lipinski, my thanks to you for making yourself available all the way from over there. We'll keep track of what's going on.

LIPINSKI: Will do.