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Rick's List
New Information About the Crash That Killed Former Senator Stevens; Storm Approaches Gulf of Mexico; Some Success for Astronauts Trying to Fix Cooling System on Space Station; 'American Idol' Winner Overdose; Self-Proclaimed White Supremacists Running for School Board; Changing the Constitution?
Aired August 11, 2010 - 15:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.
We told you at the beginning of this newscast how the president is concerned enough, he has just signed some legislation to try and boost manufacturing here in the United States.
Folks are talking about the possibility of a double dip as far as the economy is concerned. So, we just -- as we go to break, I want to show you what the numbers are. They're not good. The Dow finishes down 260. We will keep an eye on that.
Also, I want to welcome right now the men and women who are watching us on Armed Forces Network around the world.
Here's your national conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here is what is making the LIST today.
There is a killer on the loose. They're looking for him in three states -- 20 victims already, five of them dead.
The economy down again. For how long? And why? We're on it.
Imagine waiting for help surrounded by dead bodies in the fuselage of a plane -- details now coming in of the crash that killed former Senator Ted Stevens.
ERIC SHADE, FOUND CRASHED PLANE: I didn't think it was survivable.
SANCHEZ: A racist bigot who wants to influence your school kids, who is he? I'm calling him out.
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: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Time to pick up the pace of today's list for those of you who are just now checking in.
The grueling hours that survivors of that plane crash in Alaska waited, it tops our LIST today. And we're getting more information on this, more about the cold, wet night that these survivors endured after their plane slammed into the remote Alaska mountainside. Five people were killed, including former Senator Ted Stevens.
It was a tragic end to what was to be a fishing vacation for these folks.
I have Richard Mauer on the phone with us now. He has been covering this story for "The Anchorage Daily News."
Richard, I have got a lot of questions as we move forward.
And I -- and you know what I was just reading as I was getting ready to come out here was the fact that no one is denying that, if some of these rescuers have gotten to the scene earlier, there is a possibility that fewer people would have died. Do you have anything about that?
RICHARD MAUER, "THE ANCHORAGE DAILY NEWS": Well, I don't know, Rick. It's -- it's hard to say. We -- I don't -- I don't think anyone at this point knows whether people were alive at the point of impact who died later. Certainly, they were miserable overnight.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: How long --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: How long were they out there? I mean, the plane crashes, and then they sit there in -- in the dark.
MAUER: Well --
SANCHEZ: You know, it's raining, all those conditions. How long were they there before the very first signs of help arrived?
MAUER: Well, they were there -- they -- they -- they appeared to have crashed around 3:00, 3:30 in the afternoon. It's unclear precisely. But that's probably when they hit the mountain.
There was no contact. I -- I don't think anyone even knew they were missing until about 6:00, 6:30. At that point, local pilots scramble, start looking for them. They find them pretty quick, but they're in a spot that's really inaccessible.
Some -- some local helicopter pilots were able to bring their -- their choppers down not far from the crash site, dropped off physicians and EMTs. So, it was -- it was, you know, three, four hours before anyone contacted them. And then -- and then it was overnight in very cold, rainy, wet hypothermia-type --
SANCHEZ: Sheesh.
MAUER: -- weather.
SANCHEZ: I can only imagine. And -- and -- and we're told about some of the excruciating injuries that some of them had, like O'Keefe, for example. We understand he may have had a broken pelvis.
I'm just going to interrupt this interview with you for just a moment, because we have just got some news in. You know, we follow tweets here on RICK'S LIST, and we have got one coming in now that spells out what's going to happen in Washington Thursday. That would be tomorrow, right?
This is from Lisa Murkowski -- Lisa Murkowski, as you know, also from Alaska, lawmaker -- says -- or tweets -- quote -- "Senate convenes Thursday to honor the late Ted Stevens."
So, there will be some type of memorial tomorrow on behalf of Ted Stevens by his former colleagues there in Washington.
It doesn't -- it does -- it doesn't give us much in terms of specifics, but obviously it will include, you know, the flags flying at half-staff, as we see now -- this is a live picture we're bringing you here from Washington.
And as we get more details on exactly what that memorial will involve, we will -- we will -- we will share it with you.
Meanwhile, back to the situation there in Alaska throughout the night, do we know yet, by the way, if in fact the injuries that we originally heard of, for example, Sean O'Keefe, broken pelvis, is that correct?
MAUER: I believe that is correct. I know he was in critical condition, and his son was in serious condition, so that, I mean, these are -- these are not -- these are not small injuries. This was a pretty serious plane crash.
You know, you have got to understand, also, that this is an extremely remote place, and -- and that when the -- even when -- when the National Guard arrived, when the Air National Guard arrived and the Coast Guard, who are pretty tough, tough characters out here, they decided that it was too -- too dangerous to --
SANCHEZ: To land.
MAUER: To land, exactly --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MAUER: -- until -- until the next day when the -- the cloud cover lifted a little bit.
SANCHEZ: Can you imagine what that must have been like? Now -- now, picture yourself in this situation. You have just survived a plane crash. Hours and hours have passed. You're in excruciating pain.
And, finally, you hear the sound of a helicopter above you and you are thinking you're going to be rescued. And then suddenly that -- that -- that helicopter takes off. I can't help but feel that there must have been some sense of abandonment at that point, even though, look, we're not blaming the helicopter guys. If you can't land, you can't land.
What they were actually doing was sending some people on foot to get there, right?
MAUER: Well, the -- the -- actually, some of the helicopters were -- earlier in the -- earlier in the rescue, before the -- before the -- the National Guard got there, before the Coast Guard got there, the -- the cloud cover was such, apparently, that some local helicopters were able to -- to land nearby and were able to drop some people off to comfort the -- the injured.
SANCHEZ: And those people, then, apparently had to slog through this forest to get to them. And I understand that was a bit of a hike for them, wasn't it?
MAUER: Well --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And one of them was a doctor and a couple of EMTs.
MAUER: Right, a female doctor, a couple EMTs. They -- they -- they -- it was a -- it sounds like a pretty scary little slope. It was about a 30-, 40-degree slope --
SANCHEZ: Oh.
MAUER: -- in what's in -- what we call scree, which is like a boulder field at a steep angle, as well as brush. So, it was -- you know, alders are very tough to get through in Alaska. It was -- I'm sure that was kind of a tough little journey.
SANCHEZ: What a story. And we will hear more about this story when we hear from some of the survivors.
What have you -- what do you know about them? Where have they been taken? Where are they, et cetera, et cetera?
MAUER: Well, we believe that at least three of them were taken to Providence Alaska Hospital here in -- in Anchorage. I can say they -- they were -- they were not in good condition. The fourth has, I think, asserted some kind of privacy restriction, so we don't know what --
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
MAUER: -- what's the story there.
SANCHEZ: What a story. Richard, thanks so much, man. You have been really good in taking us through this story that so many Americans have been checking on over the last couple of days. We appreciate your time, all right?
MAUER: Sure. Take care, Rick.
SANCHEZ: All right. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's soon to be caught. I pray for him, but he's not going to get away with it. I want him to know that.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: There is an urgent situation happening right now across three different states. You see that guy right there? Police are saying that he stabs his victims after luring them in by telling them a story.
Not only that -- his targets have something in common, all of them. So, this guy is a killer, a serial killer. Twenty victims, five of them are already dead. I want to tell you about the manhunt to try and find this guy and where they think he might be.
Also, a new setback in the effort to permanently plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. A big storm is on its way. We are going to take you through that in just a little bit.
Stay right there. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your national conversation. This is RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Before we do anything else, I want to bring you up to date now on a story that we have been following for you since the very beginning of this newscast having to do with the situation on Wall Street.
Robert, if you could, take a shot at the Twitter board over there. Take a look at that. See that? Stocks get pummeled on global economic worries. The Dow sheds 261 points. Nasdaq and the S&P also fell about 3 percent. That's the big money story today.
The president just earlier today signing a bill to try and boost manufacturing in the United States, something we are going to be taking you through. There is the Dow, by the way. There's the final look at it, I should say, down minus 265.
All right. Let's do the roundup list now. We do lists. This is what we call the roundup list.
Former Illinois Congressman Dan Rostenkowski has died. He knew the highs and the lows of politics and was once one of the most powerful members of the House. He served 18 terms in Congress. he was convicted of corruption charges and spent a year in federal prison. Rostenkowski was 82 years old.
Let's do number two. You ready? Drilling on that relief well in the Gulf of Mexico is now on hold. You say, why? You say, again? Yes. It's amid worries this time about rough seas, but it looks like the fifth tropical depression of this Atlantic hurricane season will not reach tropical storm strength, as originally feared -- that's good -- at least not this afternoon.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Right now, the system has weakened somewhat and forecasters are saying it could fall apart entirely. Tropical storm warnings remain in effect, though, along the northern Gulf Coast.
Number three, astronauts from the International Space Station had more success dealing with a faulty cooling system on their space walk today. They removed a cooling module. It's roughly the size of a double-door refrigerator, as it was explained by one of our correspondents, John Zarrella, a little earlier.
It weighs about 800 pounds. They did this just a short while ago. That's good. Even though it's weightless in space, it's still bulky to move. The crew hopes to install a spare pump Sunday. We will keep our fingers crossed.
Have you heard about the story of the flight attendant who pulled his chute, abandoned his duty? Well, he is talking today, talking for the very first time. This guy has captured the imagination of people all over the country. He's also captured the ire of some of his JetBlue bosses. He's out of jail. He's talking about his crazy exit strategy. Is he a hero or is he a bum? You tell me.
Also, President Obama is smiling today, but so is the Tea Party movement. I'm going to tell you why and who really won on primary night and why results in different states are in limbo? Who really won Georgia? I will tell you. Stay right there.
This is your national conversation, RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Yes, this is RICK'S LIST. And we welcome you back. So glad that you're here. I'm Rick Sanchez.
On the top of our political list, another round of primaries around the country yesterday, and the White House gets exactly what they want, at least in one case, in Colorado.
But, first, in Georgia, new information -- the Republican race for governor has ended with a concession today after a virtual tie last night. This is from our affiliate WSB in Atlanta. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nathan Deal's lead dropped last night from a high of about 11,000 votes to fewer than 3,000 by the end of the evening. He was ahead, and his team was convinced he would remain ahead and seize the nomination. But it was too close to call, and Deal told his supporters that.
NATHAN DEAL (R), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Obviously, it's nice to be in the lead. There are some votes that are still outstanding.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: But, within the hour, victory came to the former congressman when former Secretary of State Karen Handel issued a formal concession statement.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: There you go. At least one of them is over.
In Colorado, as well, the White House could not have drawn it up any better. President Obama's candidate beat former President Bill Clinton's candidate. And, in the fall, they get to face a Tea Party movement candidate, which is also what the White House wanted. So, they got both of the winners they wanted on both sides of the aisle.
Jessica Yellin was in Denver when this happened last night. She filed this for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Senator Michael Bennet, who had the strong support of President Barack Obama, has survived his primary.
He fended off a fierce challenge from a longtime Democratic politician who was backed by former President Bill Clinton. Bennet has never run for office before. He is a businessman who was appointed to fill a vacant seat, and he appealed to Coloradans' independent streak in this primary by selling himself as a reformer, a Washington outsider, who will change the -- Washington's partisan ways.
Now, in November, he will face off against Ken Buck, Republican businessman and current county prosecutor, who was the Tea Party candidate in his race. Buck made national headlines for some of his comments that include challenging the legitimacy of the separation of church and state, questioning federal student loans, and calling into question the future of Social Security.
But the crux of Buck's campaign is centered on Washington's big spending and reining in the federal government. This will be a closely watched race as we head to November. Recall, this is a purple state that President Barack Obama turned blue in 2008 and vowed to keep blue. Many politicos' eyes will be on Colorado to see if the Democrats hold this seat in November or lose it to the Republicans.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Denver.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Jessica Yellin telling her story over the crowd noise.
Now, in Connecticut, former WWE executive Linda McMahon won the GOP nomination for Senate. She is going to take on Attorney General Richard Blumenthal now in November. Blumenthal faced controversy, you might remember, right here on this newscast, as a matter of fact, in May when he apologized for misstating that he served in Vietnam, when he actually served stateside.
"The Washington Post" then reported that the McMahon camp took credit for unearthing Blumenthal's mischaracterization. A strategist working with the Blumenthal camp wasted no time attacking McMahon.
Eric Schultz is telling "The New York Times" that McMahon made "millions running the WWE, where she peddled violent, sexually explicit material to kids, used lobbyists to grow her profits, and embraced widespread steroid abuse."
Let me remind you that is all within quotations. She addressed that quote, that accusation, this morning when she was talking to my colleague John Roberts on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")
LINDA MCMAHON (R), CONNECTICUT SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Those have been the negative attacks on me.
And as my opponents have talked more and more about WWE, and issues that might have been relative to programming content at an era when it was TV-14, instead of focusing on the issues, I have talked about the issues and I have continued to gain momentum, was the -- you know, was the nominee coming out of the convention, just won the primary.
And if the -- my opponents continue to talk about soap opera content, instead of focusing on the issues, I will win again in November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And we will, of course, stay on top of all of these controversies and all of these races for you in the coming months.
What do you think of this? Should babies born in the United States be citizens of the United States? We will be asking one of the Republicans in favor of changing the 14th Amendment why he thinks it's a good idea. You are not going to want to miss this one. That's just ahead.
Also, don't you hate it when you try to get your lunch from a drive- through, but they're still serving breakfast? Would you hate it enough to want to break the window? Would you hate it enough to want to crawl through? How bad do you need your McNuggets? How -- just how bad?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Need I say more, folks? We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
We didn't get to do this yesterday with all the breaking news but, you know, I do need to tell you that there are picky eaters, and then there are really picky eaters. Best picture of the day. You ready? Let's do "Fotos."
(MUSIC)
ANNOUNCER: Aye dios mio.
SANCHEZ: Have you seen this? If you haven't, it's a prize, folks. A woman is in Toledo, Ohio. She loses her cool when she tries to order some Chicken McNuggets at a drive-through and is told that the restaurant is only serving breakfast.
She will not have it. The woman starts swinging at the cashier, even smashes the drive-through window. The perp was finally arrested. And I wonder if they serve chicken nuggets in jail. She was later released and told, no soup for you -- no, I mean no McNuggets for you. I couldn't help myself.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: What a story.
Also, who says you need to be on the coast to catch a gnarly wave? Check out this guy surfing in a river in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Is this crazy or what, or just too cool?
The white-water currents keep him afloat long enough to put any Southern Californian to shame.
Speaking of shame, is chivalry dead? It sure seemed to be at this Houston Astros game last night. Watch as this guy in the crowd dives out of the way of a foul ball and lets his girlfriend get clipped by it.
OK, baby. Don't worry. I'm cool.
Pretty cowardly.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: The sportscasters calling the game even nicknamed the diving boyfriend "The Bailer," as in bailing out.
Oh, well. That's Fotos. You can see them whenever you want, by the way. All you got to do is go to our Web site at --
(MUSIC)
ANNOUNCER: Aye dios mio.
SANCHEZ: -- CNN.com/Rick Sanchez. Wow, I interrupted "dios mio."
Let me show you something. We have been following this story for the better part of an hour. And I want to let you know that we have heard from NASA. How? We follow tweets that are relevant to the news.
And here we go. Robert, to the Twitter board we go.
"Space walk concluded at 3:53." This is that ammonia leak that they were trying to fix on there -- up there --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: -- I should say.
NASA says -- or tweets -- "It concluded at 3:53, seven-hour, 26-minute outing."
And I understand that they're going to be having a news conference coming up later in the day. We will let you know as soon as that happens. In fact, we will let you hear it for yourself.
You may not believe this. A white supremacist is running to be on a school board. You can't make this stuff up, folks. This is disturbing. This is infuriating. And I think he probably should be called out. And I will. That's ahead.
Also, watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: How are you?
STEVEN SLATER, JETBLUE FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Relieved.
QUESTION: What are you going to do today?
SLATER: I got a lot of things to do, a lot on my plate.
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A lot on his plate. That's an understatement. This guy cursed out passengers, opened a door on a plane, swigged down a beer, then pulled the emergency chute and took off, abandoning his passengers and his plane.
So, what is JetBlue's flight attendant saying about the whole thing, about his so-called sudden notoriety? You're going to hear it for himself -- for yourself -- from him. That's next --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: -- on the LIST. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. We have got to hear this. Brooke Baldwin is usually here with us, but, today, she is up in Washington, D.C., following the story for us.
In the meantime, she's also been drilling down on this JetBlue flight attendant that has everyone has been talking about.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: Apparently, this -- this --
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- this guy, you know, some people think he's a hero. I have got to tell you, I mean, if you have a job to do and you abandon that job, and especially if it involves the safety of passengers, I'm not sure you're a hero.
But I will let that go and just ask what he is saying for himself today.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Yes, we are finally hearing from him. I mean, this is day three we're talking about this guy, this famous or, dare I say, infamous flight attendant, right, Steven Slater.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
BALDWIN: He is a free man -- sort of. He was released on bail last night. And, as he was walking out, he did talk to a local reporter.
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Tell me what you think about all the support you have gotten. You know about it. You've heard about it.
SLATER: Wow. It's been very, very appreciated.
(CROSSTALK)
SLATER: And it seems like it's -- something here has resonated with a few people, and that's -- that's kind of neat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
SLATER: A -- a few people? Try like 30,000 people and counting.
Rick, take a look at some of these Facebook pages. They are building. People are fans. They like him. They're making T-shirts. They're making coffee mugs -- a lot of people in the service industry kind of sympathetic with -- with this guy.
But, still, as you made this point, look, let's not forget this guy is charged with two felonies here, not to mention the fact that it is considered a crime to -- to pull that emergency latch, that emergency chute on a plane in a non-emergency situation, which he did later admit to doing.
But we're also hearing today about the passengers of that flight getting a little bit of money back from the airline. In fact, I tweeted JetBlue today, if we can roll on over to the Twitter board there in the Atlanta studio. Take a look.
OK. So here's my tweet. And here's what I said: "Hey, JetBlue, I'm hearing you're giving a $100 in vouchers to the passengers on Monday's Flight 1052. True?"
Well, guess what? They tweeted me back, and they say, "It is not uncommon to give vouchers to customers that have an experience outside the norm, including things as simple as no TV."
So I'm going to go with this was outside the norm. Bottom line, CNN confirmed with JetBlue the answer to that is yes.
SANCHEZ: I'm getting a lot of heat from people on Twitter since you and I talked a little while ago.
BALDWIN: Why?
SANCHEZ: Because they think that I was disrespectful and that I should know who Fantasia is. And I apologize for not knowing who Fantasia is.
So tell us who Fantasia is.
BALDWIN: It's OK.
Fantasia Barrino, "American Idol" winner season three, she was a huge name a couple of years ago. Look, she has a reality show. She is still singing, has another album coming out.
But here is what you need to know today.
She is expected to be released from the hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was rushed there Monday after overdosing aspirin, sleeping aid. In fact, we've now turned this sound around.
This is the 911 call that this caller made talking about Fantasia. She was OD'ing, talking about how she was losing consciousness.
Here it is.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Where is she now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the shower. 911 OPERATOR: In the shower?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. The family tried to put her in the shower to try to keep her awake until the paramedics get here.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Tell them to take her out of the shower and turn the water off please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
911 OPERATOR: Do that right now.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So she was in the shower. We also have video shot by one of the neighbors outside of her home as the rescue crews were arriving, as they were pulling in and tending to her.
Here you go. Rough video, but we have it.
Also, Fantasia's manager says her overdose happened on the same day she received this court complaint from a woman claiming Fantasia was having an affair, a yearlong affair, might I add, with her husband. In fact, we have pictures of the two of them. And the manager says Fantasia thought they were separated, and that she believed this man, when he told her he was not happy in his marriage, and "his heart was not in it."
Hopefully -- she has this reality show going on, Rick, and the second album coming out -- hopefully her focus now is on her health.
SANCHEZ: Well, I hope she pulls it together.
Thanks so much, Brooke. We appreciate it.
BALDWIN: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: People are scared to death in some parts of the country right now. Why? That guy.
See that man right there? He is a killer, a killer who is on the loose. He has stabbed some 20 people already, killed five of them.
Police are convinced he's a serial killer and they're trying to find him. And he's only targeting a specific type of person. I mean, only specific people are being targeted.
We're going to tell you what kind of people those are when we come back.
Also, stay right there, because we're going to be taking you through all the news that's coming out of the very latest information on the 14th Amendment and it's apparent effort to be repealed. That's right. Republican congressmen are wanting to repeal the 14th Amendment. That's the one that says, look, you're born in America, you're an American. No. They say no more. Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey is going to be coming here and he's going to talking to me about that in just a little bit.
Stay with us. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Talk to my kids. Talk to the young people who are on my staff. And you know what they think? They think somehow the people of our generation, us older folks, are nuts.
We are so hung up on race in this country. And we focus so much on the things that make us different rather than the things that make us similar. It's almost mind-boggling.
And just when you think that it couldn't get any worse, along comes a guy named Dan Schruender.
Dan Schruender makes "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
Why? Well, he's a character right out of the past. This guy could have had the lead role in "Birth of a Nation." The problem is he is living in the here and now.
This guy is a self-proclaimed white supremacist. He's a current member of the California Chapter of Aryan Nations. In fact, he used to be its president. He was the grand Pooh-Bah of these guys.
Well, guess what? Now he's running for the school board. He announced it on the Aryan Nation's Web site. This is a picture from what appears to be his blog.
Schruender is an unabashed bigot. Bigot. He admits to delivering racist flyers in local neighborhoods and handing out invitations to celebrate Hitler's birthday.
He won't talk to me because he says he's avoiding the "Jew media."
Here are the facts about the district where he is running.
There are more than 27,000 kids in that district -- 76 percent of them are Hispanic, 16 percent of them are black. Nice fit, you say, huh? If he wins in November, he is going to affect those kids' futures, as if he really cared about those kids' futures.
Imagine knowing the guy in charge of your school district hates you because you're Hispanic or because you're black? I'm convinced that although some Americans can either profit or be influenced by the Schruenders of the world, racism in the minds of our children if we teach them right will eventually be part of our history. My fingers are crossed as I say that.
The fact is it should be dead already, if not for people like Schruender giving it an occasional shot of CPR. It's important to call people out like this. Call them what they are. Mr. Schruender, sir, you, as I look at you, are a hateful bigot. And today I am happy to move you to the very top of "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
When we come back we're going to be talking about a new push to try and repeal the 14th Amendment, to say that people that are born in this country are not necessarily Americans. I'm going to be joined by Representative Phil Gingrey of Georgia.
That's next on THE LIST. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back to RICK'S LIST. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Topping our political list, as promised, more Senate Republicans are urging now the repeal of the 14th Amendment. In other words, no longer will people born in America automatically just be Americans.
This week on "Meet the Press," Representative John Boehner talked about this. Here, take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: I think that we do have -- there is a problem. To provide an incentive for illegal immigrants to come here so that their children can be U.S. citizens does, in fact, draw more people to our country. I do think that it's time for us to secure our borders and enforce the law, and allow this conversation about the 14th Amendment to continue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So that's the Minority Leader. But let me read you now a quote from another conservative voice. All right?
Here it is. Here's the quote: "The idea that anchor babies somehow require changing the 14th Amendment, I part ways with the senators on that because I believe the 14th Amendment, particularly in its due process and equal protection clauses, is so important, it lays the foundation for the entire Bill of Rights being applied to the states."
That quote is from a conservative radio host. You know what his name is? Lou Dobbs.
Lou Dobbs differs with Republicans on this issue. Now, Lou Dobbs, as you know, has been at the forefront of the immigration debate of this country for so many years. And I think many of you can go and Google right now the conversations that Lou Dobbs and I have had about some of this. They went viral.
Now, some Republicans like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seemed to be dialing back from the idea of actually changing the Constitution, but even he still wants to have talks about the 14th Amendment. So, really, if Republicans can't agree on what they actually find disturbing about the 14th Amendment, what really is this all about? Is this really just a way to keep the hot-button issue of immigration reform in the headlines through the midterm elections?
Another tweet real quick. Ready?
This was sent to me a little while ago. This is from a Democrat, Paul Hodes. He says, "Rick, unlike Palin protege Kelly Ayotte, I will never support any proposal to weaken, rewrite, or repeal the 14th Amendment."
So here we go. This is becoming a hot-button issue. Some of the Democrats are coming out and saying, "I would never do this." Some Republicans are saying, "No, this is serious stuff that we have to look at."
So here is Congressman Phil Gingrey, who's good enough to join us now, Republican from Georgia, where both of us reside.
Good to see you, Congressman.
REP. PHIL GINGREY (R), GEORGIA: Good to see you, Rick. I'm glad to be with you.
SANCHEZ: Thanks for coming in.
How do people look at this and not say oh, my goodness, this strikes a bigoted move? I mean, we're saying certain people coming to the United States, most of them with darker skin than a lot of us, especially Mexicans, people from Central America, you come here, your kids are born here, you're no longer an American.
GINGREY: Well, if you come here illegally and your kids are born here you're not an American. The illegal parents are certainly not an American citizen. They don't have a green card. And this idea of interpreting the 14th Amendment, which, by the way, was passed in 1868 before we had any immigration laws whatsoever -- I think the first immigration law was 1875.
SANCHEZ: No, you're right, but the argument then works both ways, because essentially we're saying that the privileges that you got, or your ancestors got -- I wasn't born in this country. I wish I was. The privileges that your ancestors got, they just came here and their kids were born, and they were automatically Americans. And now we're saying you come here, you're not automatically an American anymore.
GINGREY: Well, you know, we have immigration law. And what I'm saying, and as far as this idea of repealing the 14th Amendment, I don't agree with that. I take exception to some of my Republican colleagues that have mentioned that.
There are parts of the 14th Amendment that are very important that we don't want to do away with. But the due process part, this issue of making someone a citizen just because they are born in this country of illegal immigrants, Section 5 of the 14th Amendment allows Congress to actually pass legislation to interpret that portion of the 14th Amendment, and that's what we want to do. That's what HR-1868 does.
SANCHEZ: Do you worry that as a Republican -- I mean, you know, I've had conversations in the past. We probably have a mutual friend, Jeb Bush, who was the former governor of the state of Florida. And Jeb and I used to talk a lot.
Jeb Bush is completely opposed to anything to do with anything like this. He is very concerned. And Jeb and I, half the time when we talk we speak Spanish, because he speaks beautiful, fluent Spanish.
He worries that Hispanics around the country will look at Republicans and say, I could never vote for those guys. They're not for us. They don't even want us in this country.
Do you worry about that as a Republican?
GINGREY: I really don't worry about that, Rick. I mean, obviously, I want my party to gain the majority. I want people like hopefully Jeb Bush one day to be the Republican president of the United States. And I care about our neighbors from south of the border. They're great people. But we cannot afford to allow 380,000 newborns per year -- going back, that was a 2002 study -- to become automatic legal residents and citizens of this country.
SANCHEZ: Well, but what if they're already here? I mean, look, you know as well as I do there are good people in the town of Marietta where you reside, and in Peachtree City, where I reside, who may have been in this country now for a whole generation. They've been here for 10, 20 years.
They pay their taxes. They work hard. They do everything. And somehow they've never been able to get themselves documented. They're not bad people.
GINGREY: No.
SANCHEZ: They're probably good people.
If they have a child in the United States, why should we punish them that way? Why can't we come up with a system that allows those people, the really good ones -- not the scum, not the gang members, not the drug dealers, but those people to be part of what we are in this country?
GINGREY: Well, that is the whole point, Rick, and I agree with you. We can come together and come up with a solution. That's why I have called, as my former colleague Nathan Deal, who is now the Republican nominee for governor --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Maybe future governor of Georgia.
GINGREY: Georgia. But his bill, 1868, obviously a play on the year that the 14th Amendment was passed, would just simply say that under what circumstances a youngster born in this country, a person with a green card, obviously, that child would be a citizen of the United States. If an alien in this country was serving in the military and they had a child, that child would be a citizen of the United States. SANCHEZ: So you're looking for ways -- see this is interesting, because what you, Congressman Phil Gingrey, are here saying is you are looking for rationale for inclusion. That's good.
GINGREY: That's right.
SANCHEZ: I mean, that's part of the process here, because if we just keep saying, no, forget it, they came here, we're not going to let them in no matter what, and the other guy is saying we'll let everybody in, well, we're never going to get a solution to this problem.
GINGREY: You know, I actually was on opposite Luis Gutierrez, the gentleman from Illinois, from Chicago, who is the co-chair of the Hispanic Caucus in the House. And I told Luis -- I said, "Look, you and I may not agree on amnesty, we may not agree on how secure the borders need to be, but on this issue of anchor baby we clearly ought to be able to come together in a bipartisan way and figure out under what circumstances" -- that's what Nathan Deal was all about in the bill HR-1868, and what I'm going to push very hard for.
I would love to see us do that when we go back from this so-called recess. But if not, then, surely in the 112th Congress. We need to address the issue.
SANCHEZ: Thanks for coming in and explaining it to us.
GINGREY: Thanks a lot, Rick. It's always good to see you.
SANCHEZ: We really appreciate it, Congressman --
GINGREY: Thank you. My pleasure.
SANCHEZ: -- for you to come in and take us -- and by the way, tomorrow I think we're going to have Mr. Gutierrez here, and he is going to take us through his side of the argument as well. We'll look forward to doing that.
Meanwhile, what's making "The Political List"? We're going to get some answers from Wolf Blitzer. He's joining us here in just a little bit.
I'll tell Wolf that you said hello.
GINGREY: Great. You do that.
SANCHEZ: All right. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. Wolf Blitzer is joining us now.
Wolf, Phil Gingrey just told me to say hello to you, by the way.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: I know you've interviewed him many times. He just came and visited with us.
I understand you had a chance to sit down and talk to Jim Jones today.
BLITZER: I spoke to the president's national security adviser just a little while ago. He came here to our "SITUATION ROOM," Rick, right from the White House Situation Room.
The president had a meeting with all of his top national security advisers on Iraq, what's going on. And we spoke at length about what's going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, all the major issues. But it was intriguing.
And you're about to hear it right at the top of "THE SITUATION ROOM," what he had to say about Iran, because he says that if the Iranians resume some diplomacy, work with the International Atomic Energy Agency, especially if they release those American hikers, then there could be a possibility of some sort of improved dialogue between the United States, the government of President Obama, and the government of the president of Iran, Ahmadinejad, including -- I pressed him on this and you are about to hear it, and I think it's newsy -- maybe even down the road a meeting between Ahmadinejad and President Obama.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
BLITZER: As you know, Ahmadinejad is coming to the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, and has been pressing for such a meeting. And the national security adviser to the president of the United States is not necessarily ruling out some sort of high- level contact, including at the presidential level down the road, if -- and it's a huge "if" -- if the Iranians start playing ball on their nuclear program and if they release those three American hikers.
SANCHEZ: Wow. That would be a heck of a meeting, let me tell you.
BLITZER: Yes. But remember, during the campaign, at our CNN/YouTube debate, the president, he was then the candidate.
SANCHEZ: That's right.
BLITZER: He said he would meet without any preconditions with leaders like Ahmadinejad, so let's see if anything gets off the ground on that.
SANCHEZ: Well, you never can do too much harm in talking, although I know there are people out there who say, no, you don't want to dignify people like this by meeting with them. So, heck of a thing. Interesting report.
Can't wait to listen to this interview with Jim Jones. Good job, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: We'll be looking forward to seeing you a little bit later.
All right. Take a look at this sketch, if you would, folks. Police are saying that this guy is terrorizing people in three different states. Twenty attacks so far, five people are dead.
What's really going on inside his head, and where might he strike next? The real question is, why is he only targeting a certain type of person? And what type of person do you think he's targeting? Wait until you find out.
Stay right there and we'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
As we do our -- prepare to do our crime list, I want to give a shout out to some of the folks who are visiting with us today. Every day here on RICK'S LIST, we have people who come in to say hi, and we sit them there on the couch so they can watch what we do.
Go ahead, you can wave. Wave big!
Glad to have you guys here. Appreciate it.
All right. Right now in three American cities men are afraid to go out alone at night. That's right, men. And police are searching for a serial killer.
His attacks started slowly in late May, but suddenly they've increased dramatically in frequency. They hit one a day last week. Five men have been killed, 11 more have been wounded in Flint, Michigan. Three have been hurt in Leesburg, Virginia. One seriously hurt in Toledo, Ohio.
What's going on? You're going to hear from two of the victims in just a moment, but first take a look at this sketch of the suspect.
You see this guy? See that strange thing he has got there on the top of his ear? He carries a knife, drives an old green SUV. He's white.
Most of his victims, black men. Black men. Police say he takes advantage of the kindness of strangers, preying on men that he considers vulnerable: slight build, alone on dark roads. He asks for directions or for help with his car, politely says, "Thank you." Politely, and then attacks them brutally.
Listen carefully to this victim who does not want to be identified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went to help him, and he just started stabbing me. A big, old nasty killing knife. I'd give anything to find him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Pat Brown is a criminal profiler and she's joining us now.
What do you make of this guy? You're a profiler. Profile this guy for me. it sounds weird doesn't it?
PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, no. He is a serial killer. He's actually more of a serial stabber, because he apparently doesn't really care if the people die, which is a good thing. He just likes to get out and get his thrills by doing the stabbing.
And he is obviously extraordinarily dangerous, he's on a roll. And the one good thing about this guy is we have got a wonderful description of him, a wonderful description of his vehicle, and we also know he has connections to two locations. We believe he is from Flint, Michigan, but he's got to have some reason to be down in Leesburg, Virginia. He didn't just roll down there for no reason at all.
So he's got a friend or a relative, somebody down there. So these are good pieces of information for somebody to start putting, you know, all of that evidence together and try to figure out who it is.
SANCHEZ: Pat, what do you make of the fact that he has only been attacking -- or for the most part, has only attacked frail, black men? That's not every day you hear about something like that. Is it?
BROWN: Well, that's true. Serial killers usually tend to attack women with a sexual homicide. But we do have those types.
We had the snipers going on. And we've had Son of Sam, who liked to shoot people in their cars. Once in a while you get one with a different M.O., and this guy likes to find lonely areas, older people, easier victims.
And why are they black? This is the question. Does he have some little anger thing going on, or does he just find that it's an easy victim group and though, OK, I'll go for them? Maybe nobody will report them to the police. Maybe it will take a long time before they figure out I'm a serial killer if they're stabbed in an area where they say, well, maybe it was some other kind of altercation going on.
And he may have been right about that. It took a while for the police to say we've got a serial killer here.
SANCHEZ: What about -- down to 45 seconds here. What do you do -- the fact that he is very polite, he says "Thank you," and, you know, talks to them in a very kind way, I mean, he doesn't sound like a killer.
BROWN: No. That's actually called a ruse, because what he wants to do is get out of the vehicle, he wants to talk to the person, see what they're about, see if they're easy targets, if they're going to -- all of a sudden, he notices that they're stronger than he thinks or they have got a weapon on them, and he wants to make sure that nobody else is around, that his window of opportunity is clear. He looks all the way around, nobody is out there, he had his little conversation -- good going, I got you.
SANCHEZ: That's amazing. What a story.
Hey, Pat, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate your insight on the story --
BROWN: It's scary, absolutely.
SANCHEZ: -- that so many people are suddenly talking about now that all the numbers have added up the way they have.
Here now, "THE SITUATION ROOM." Here's my colleague Wolf Blitzer.
