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Rick's List
John McCain's Senate Battle; Florida Primaries Arrive; 'Sovereign Citizens' Change Tactics
Aired August 24, 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: Here now is what else we're going to bring you on RICK'S LIST at 4:00.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST on this day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She still purports to give herself property which she doesn't own.
SANCHEZ: They don't pay taxes. They don't abide by the government's rules. And now they're living in giant foreclosed homes and they have a name for themselves: sovereign citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't get a free ride. Not in the United States, you don't.
SANCHEZ: Who are these people? You need to know.
President Obama told a Muslim audience he is one of them. That's what this Republican candidate tweeted, despite what the president really said.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm a Christian, and my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims.
SANCHEZ: So, what does Kim Lehman say now?
J.D. HAYWORTH (R), ARIZONA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Mr. McCain believes that his place in history is to now become the lion of the Senate. Well, you only become the L-I-O-N of the Senate by L-Y-I-N' to your constituents in Arizona.
SANCHEZ: Tonight, the war of words between these two may end. We will have a winner in Arizona.
And who will win in Florida? There's Crist, Greene, Meek, Rubio, all watching, losing, or winning tonight. And we will have every detail.
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 welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I want to show you one more piece of tap. This is from California. These are shoppers in California, as Californians are apt to be, scrutinizing their eggs very carefully at the grocery store.
This is from our affiliate KTVU.
Hit that, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hazel Fortunati (ph) shops differently than she did just a few days ago, now that the Food and Drug Administration has launched its awareness campaign, and she found out the number of recalled eggs has reached about 550 million.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before, I would just pick up whatever was on sale, basically, and now I look at where they're from. And I have checked the ones I have in my refrigerator also. And I just don't understand how something like this can just happen.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: The Food and Drug Administration acknowledges the egg recall is going to expand. Brands popular in California linked to the possible source, Wright County Eggs, include Lucerne, a Safeway brand, as well as Albertson's.
But now the five latest brands makes the FDA, as well as local health departments, worry how big the problem will get.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, what may have been OK yesterday may not be OK today. And so I just advise people to keep up to date on the recall numbers and certainly call the health department if you have got questions. It is confusing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Isn't this amazing?
All right. Let's get some perspective on this story now.
Our senior medical correspondent is Elizabeth Cohen. She's also a recent author doing very well with her book.
I'm so happy for you with that.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Great book, by the way.
How does -- how do I -- how do the folks watching this newscast now prevent from getting sick, from eating the wrong eggs? And I know -- look, when you go to the grocery store, you can buy the ones that say, what, cage-free. You can buy the ones for vegetarians, organic. Is that -- is that what you do?
COHEN: Right. You want to become an empowered egg buyer, right?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Yes, exactly.
COHEN: That's --
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: You're not just an empowered patient, but an empowered egg buyer.
SANCHEZ: I know a book with that title.
COHEN: There's a book with a similar title, without the eggs, right.
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: But here is what people have been asking me, Rick. They want to know, hey, if I see that it says vegetarian on the label here, does that mean that it won't have salmonella? Or if it says cage-free or for example one of these says --
SANCHEZ: Organic.
COHEN: Organic.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
COHEN: If it says organic, does that mean it's OK? So we called a bunch of experts and we asked them that question. And they said, no. It does not necessarily mean that it doesn't have salmonella. Whether it's vegetarian, organic, or whatever --
SANCHEZ: Really?
COHEN: -- that's not going to have an impact.
So, what you have to do is, you have to go online, CNN.com. We have a list of all the recalled brands. Look at that before you go shopping, and you want to avoid those brands.
Now, someone --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And the brand is going to say it right there on -- on the outside, right?
COHEN: It will say it, right.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Like there's -- we have brands on these.
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: And these are all fine, as far as we know.
COHEN: As far -- not completely sure about that. So, I don't want to comment.
SANCHEZ: OK.
COHEN: Because I'm not sure.
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Because the list has now gotten kind of long.
SANCHEZ: OK.
COHEN: And I don't have it in front of me.
So, you want to look at the brands that have been recalled. That's the first thing. And then the second thing, someone in your piece pointed out, but wait a minute. They keep adding new ones.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
COHEN: So, how do you know that what is OK today isn't going to be bad tomorrow? And that's where the strategy of cooking eggs thoroughly comes in. When you cook eggs thoroughly, you should be killing the salmonella.
So, you don't want to take that risk. You don't want to say, oh, it's not on the list. I will just have it with runny egg yolks. Not a good idea.
SANCHEZ: So, no over-easies, no poached.
COHEN: No. No, no Rocky Balboa drinking the whites. Do you remember that movie?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes, so, basically for the next couple months, I say? Weeks?
COHEN: I think everyone is going to be different.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Eat your eggs hard. COHEN: Right. Eat your eggs and cook them all the way through, right.
SANCHEZ: All right, that makes a lot of sense. Good information. We thank you, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Keep going. "Empowered Patient."
COHEN: Right.
SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.
COHEN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Also making the LIST right now: the story that they're talking about all over the world. These miners have survived and they have told the world that they're alive. But, look, now comes the hard part.
I'm talking about those 33 miners in Chile stuck underground in a space the size of a hotel room, and they could be down there for four months. How are they going to be able to make it through?
All right, we have got Karl Penhaul. He's on the story. He's with me now from Copiapo, Chile, talking about what everybody is talking about, these 33 miners and how they're going to survive in this small space.
What are you hearing today, Karl?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the first thing to point out, Rick, is that everybody, the rescue workers, and even the health minister, himself, says that these 33 miners are in excellent spirits, because they have put a microphone down there, and the first thing the 33 miners asked for was a cold beer.
And then after that, they broke into spontaneous chorus of the Chilean national anthem. So, that indicates that they are in good spirits. But you're right. There is a tremendous challenge here ahead now to keep the men both physically healthy and mentally healthy.
The only way to supply these men for the time being at least is a hole, a bore hole 2,300 feet long, but only about five inches, about that big in diameter. And so through there for the next few days, they are going to be putting down liquid nutrients, protein in liquid form, vitamins in liquid form, not too much, though, at this stage, because they have been eating so little over the last 18 days that, if you suddenly pump them with a lot of nutrients, they are going to get health problems, they are going to get diarrhea, and that has got to be looked at, also the mental health of these people.
They don't know -- they have not even been told yet that it could take three to four months to drill a hole big enough to pull them out. Easy does it for now. And what the health minister is saying is that these men must be kept mentally alert, so they have got to do little chores. He's going to set them an exercise routine. He's going to set them a work routine as well to keep them mentally active, as well as physically healthy, Rick.
SANCHEZ: It's an amazing story. In fact one of the parts of this story that we have been trying to figure out is the following.
We have been trying to get a sense of what exactly 500 square feet looks like, right, because this is the area we're talking about. We're being told it's about 500 square feet in total.
What is 500 square feet? That would be 20-by-25. That would be about the size of a hotel room, right? So, we have got this area. Robert, walk with me. Let's go over here and take a look at this area over here. I think it would be cool to see just what -- what -- what an area would look like that is about 500 square feet.
So, we have kind of portioned this off right here. You see this here? Now, I guess -- let me see -- where is a monitor? What shot have we got right here? I'm going to literally walk it. All right? So, if you're taking yards, here's -- I'm going to do four corners, right? One, two, three, four, five, six.
That's about six yards across, right? It's about 20 feet, probably 21 the way I walked it, so it's -- so it's going to be about 20 feet by 25 feet that way. All right? Now, you're looking at this, right? Small ceiling, completely dark, about 95 degrees in here. And then you also got to consider one other thing.
There's 33 people here -- 33 people in this area. That means each person gets about maybe a foot-and-a-half square. So, I mean, it's going to be hard for them to lie down. You can almost see it in the shape of these boxes down here, right?
Look at these tiles we have on this floor right there. They wouldn't have that much room. Each one of these is about two-by-two. See this? They probably wouldn't have this much room, so that's just how tight it's going to be for these folks.
Karl, what we want to know is -- I know I would be freaked out. Right? I know everybody in this room would be freaked out. But I was listening to the president yesterday. And he is saying, look, these guys are partly in good spirits because they're used to this environment. They have been there. They're real miners. They have the heart of miners. They can survive as long as they know eventually somebody will get them out.
Make us understand that, Karl.
PENHAUL: Now, that is true of some of them. It's not true for all 33. The oldest guy down there, 63 years old, he has been a miner since he was 12. His father was a miner and his grandfather was a miner. He is the veteran down there. He's the one that psychologically is going to be leading the others, keeping the others together. But there are other, much younger men who -- who really had only done a few shifts in this mine before it actually collapsed. And they really don't have that experience. So, yes, I would -- I put my money on those ones being freaked out and the old veterans like Mario Gomez being the ones trying to keep them together.
And that really is what the health minister was telling me today. He says there are natural leaders that are going to come to the fore in this group. And so when one is down, when one is depressed, when one is frightened, then it depends on the others to rally around and to pull him together.
But he also says that in the coming days this gradual contact with their families will also keep them going, will lift their spirits and give them the strength to carry on and that there's a lot of posters around this area where family members have been staying out in tents, a lot of posters sending messages of support to their family members with photos. There's a young guy there and his uncle was telling me today he is a big Elvis fan and so his family had put a picture up there of him and written underneath, "Hold on, Edison (ph). Hold on, Edison (ph). And you will make it bigger than Elvis."
And really that's what people are hoping for, that these people can hold on, stay strong, and come back to the surface some time before Christmas, Rick.
SANCHEZ: "Hold on, Edison (ph)."
I will tell you, Karl Penhaul knows how to bring you a story, doesn't he? He's -- he does -- he does his job well.
Karl, thanks so much. Good explanation.
People all over the world are watching this story, and we will as well. We will be checking back with you.
Meanwhile, I -- I need to tell you about some huge political races that are going on right now and in the next several hours, we will start to be -- we will start to get some of the very first results.
In Arizona, Republican Senator John McCain is fighting for his political life. In Florida, a self-made billionaire is trying to win the Democratic primary. His opponent is attacking his lavish lifestyle on a 100 and -- or is it a 200-foot yacht? Something huge. Wait until you hear about this one.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: And then we have just gotten word that authorities stopped smugglers carrying uranium 238. It is radioactive. So, who are these people? And where were they going? And where did they get it from? That's all next right here on the LIST.
Stay with us. This is your national conversation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey. Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. We do lists and this one is the one we call the roundup list. We are watching these stories develop.
First of all, number one, passenger plane crashes in northeastern China. This is near the border with Russia. China's state-run news service says the jet overshot the runway while trying to land with 96 people on board, passengers and crew. Early casualty report, at least 43 people are dead. Nearly everyone else was injured. We are following this very carefully for you.
Also, number two, I want you to look at this police bust. No, this is not are-enactment or a reality show. It's the real deal. It's a real bust Moldova, a former Soviet republic. Officials say that these suspects had to -- in their possession and were trying to traffic yellow cake uranium, four pounds of it, asking price, several million dollars.
We don't yet know who if anyone was the intended buyer or where the uranium came from.
Number three, not good news for a death row prisoner in Georgia. Troy Davis was convicted of killing a police officer. He's already been given two stays of execution, one from the U.S. Supreme Court. Today, a federal court, after another look at the evidence, ruled that Davis still has not proven his innocence. Witnesses say they saw Davis shoot an off-duty police officer and then run away. That was in 1989. And that's when he was sentenced to death.
Number four, it's coming down to the wire in Florida. We are going to bring you the very latest on what is going on right now as we bring you the results of the polls expected to come in -- at least the very first batch -- some time around 7:00 p.m. We are going to be all over it.
Democratic primaries in Florida and then, of course, the situation in Arizona between J.D. Hayworth and John McCain. Voters are right now deciding and that is next on the LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. Primary time, it's all over the nation again and all eyes are on the state of Florida, two important races in that state, the Republican governor's race and the Democratic Senate race.
Casting a shadow over both of those races, current Governor Charlie Crist and his independent campaign for senator. Let's start on the Democratic side.
Mark Preston is at Meek headquarters in Florida.
Mark, I'm going to start with you. You just talked to Greene, I understand. He has been getting an awful lot of heat. And he may be the greatest candidate in the world for all we know, but when you own a yacht that's something like 180 feet long and when you had Mike Tyson on there and Lindsay Lohan, and you're -- you're -- you're said to have wild parties, and all your wealth is associated with the -- with the -- the -- the -- the housing meltdown, I mean, you got problems, right?
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, you certainly have problems, Rick.
But, you know, it's interesting. Jeff Greene talks about a populist message, Rick. He talks about how -- you know, how he creates jobs and how he's a self-made man and how his primary opponent, Kendrick Meek, is a politician and insider in Washington, D.C.
But you're absolutely right. When you have to answer questions about the yacht, about Lindsay Lohan, about Mike Tyson, about trips to Cuba, it takes you off message.
SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting? It's almost a theory that because someone is wealthy, like really, really wealthy, then they must be really, really smart and threat a better leader than people who are not.
You know, that's one of those arguments that people can have in their own homes as they want.
Let's go over to the Republican side.
Peter Hamby is standing by at the McCollum headquarters. He's outside Orlando.
Peter, McCollum says that, if he loses, he -- he may not endorse Scott. Now, that's interesting. The old Reagan rule, you know, Republicans aren't supposed to speak ill of other Republicans.
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Right. That's exactly right.
That is emblematic of the tenor of this race in general. Rick Scott, a multimillionaire, former health care executive, has been on your show many times during last year's health care debate, jumped in this race in April and has plowed almost $50 million of his own money into this race. And both campaigns have resorted to negative attacks mostly played out on the airwaves here in Florida, which are expensive.
And, yes, just night, here in Orlando, McCollum, speaking to reporters, said he would have a difficult time supporting Scott if Scott does win the primary tonight.
SANCHEZ: Interesting.
You mentioned that interview that I did with him. I have had a lot of folks tweet me and e-mail me from Florida saying that the interview that I did with him was a part of the campaign, right? I mean, some -- somebody used that thing, right? HAMBY: Yes. They -- they have -- they have used your interview many times. One of the -- one of their best hits online was a video called "Rick-rolled," based off of that Rick Astley, that kind of Internet meme where they're told -- McCollum's people told Florida voters don't get Rick-rolled by Rick Scott.
And they had him dancing around as if he was Rick Astley as they flashed images of the Medicare fraud settlements that his company had to pay, which, again, you've talked to him about last year.
SANCHEZ: Yes, $1.7 billion -- yes, $1.7 billion.
HAMBY: Right.
SANCHEZ: You know, this -- this -- this is interesting.
Mark Preston, let me come back to you. You're there in Hollywood. I imagine it is a sweltering day there in Hollywood, not far from where I grew up. You are not far from Pembroke Pines, Cooper City, Hialeah, Miami Lakes, that whole area where I used to hang out as a kid. I almost kind of wish you were there.
Are people talking? Because this is amazing what's going on with this race. Look, you have got Crist. You have got Rubio. You have got Meek. You have got Greene. And then you have got Scott. The whole -- Florida politics right now is filled with big names that may not have been big names several months ago, but suddenly these guys are all but household names, politically speaking, these days. How did this happen?
PRESTON: Well, it all comes down to money, Rick. Rick Scott is a billionaire health care executive. When Jeff Greene is a billionaire real estate investor.
In fact, when Jeff Greene got into the race, Rick, just a few months ago, it was unexpected, but you know what he did? He spent more than $20 million just in the past few months to get his name out there, to build up his name I.D.
What I can tell you, Rick, though, Democrats are really focused on this race for two reasons. They think that, if Jeff Greene defeats Kendrick Meek, who is the establishment candidate, Democrats don't think necessarily Jeff Greene will win, but Charlie Crist will win.
And if Charlie Crist wins, that is still a win for Democrats, because Charlie Crist will caucus with the Democrats and give them an extra vote. So, Democrats feel like they have two bites at the apple, no matter what happens tonight here in Florida, Rick.
SANCHEZ: It's interesting. And Kendrick Meek has actually -- Kendrick Meek has actually done pretty well for himself, considering that, I mean, he was a real long shot in this.
Peter, you have been following this from both sides. I know you're following the gubernatorial race on this day, but I know you're very familiar with Kendrick's situation here. He's come from nowhere. And I think -- I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but I think having Bill Clinton in your camp has got to go a long way in Florida, doesn't it?
HAMBY: You would think it was. Yes, I have covered Kendrick -- the Clinton campaign -- or Hillary Clinton's campaign the last cycle. Kendrick Meek was a mainstay. He was with the Clintons at every stop.
So, yes, you have seen Clinton come out for Kendrick many times, kind of what people call this Bill Clinton's loyalty to -- or kind of repaying favors for these guys.
(LAUGHTER)
HAMBY: But Bill Clinton is -- is in some circles more popular than Barack Obama among Democrats these days. So it could pay dividends, but, again, these -- these races come down to local issues more than national endorsements. So we will see how it plays out.
Meek is favored -- is favored tonight. So, the Republican race on the gubernatorial side will be much closer. I know McCollum's people -- I'm here in Orlando -- they are a little nervous. He is leading in the polls, but the most recent poll had it a four-point lead. And, again, when you have a guy spending $50 million on TV ads, it is very unpredictable.
Rainy weather here today, that could affect turnout. So, it could be a late night here in Orlando.
SANCHEZ: Wow. It could be.
This is interesting. And the first results -- I was talking to Jessica about this a little earlier -- but Florida is an interesting state because part of the state, everything on the populous part of the state comes in around 7:00. But then we go into Central time, if you look at the Panhandle. That won't come in until 8:00.
We are going to be on the air here tonight at 8:00 p.m. and we will be able to bring you the very first results as we get them. So, Mark and Peter are both going to be there. We will be checking back in with them live. And we will take you through this thing as the nation waits to see who some of the first winners are, not only in Florida, but in Arizona as well.
My thanks to both of you, gentlemen. I will look forward to talking to you a little bit later.
Meanwhile, what's happened to Paris Hilton? Here's some brand- new information. Why were police at our house? She tops our celebrity list. And we are going to bring that to you.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I can't believe it. Yes, we will. I swear. We are going to bring that to you in just a little bit.
I'm Rick Sanchez. This is your national conversation.
And as we go to break, hey, speak of the devil, there's Charlie Crist. We got a tweet from him. I will let you read it.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right.
This is this thing that we were just trying to figure out a little while ago. I hate to do this to you. I know many of you are going to tweet me in a moment, go, why are you reporting on anything having to do with Paris Hilton? Don't you know that she is just trying to get her 15 minutes of fame? OK. Some of you may be right about that, but regardless there is a legitimate story that we need to tell you about.
And I will start with the tweet, OK? Here we go. Here is a tweet from Paris Hilton. As you know, she is a quasi-celebrity or celebrity wanna-be, whatever you guys want to call her.
"So scary. Just got woken up to a guy trying to break into my house holding two big knives. Just got woken up to a guy trying to break into my house holding two big knives. Cops are here arresting him," all right?
So, there is the TwitVid that she sent. Hold on, because now I'm going to try and get some information from the police officers.
Could I print this already? Hold on. All right, I will take it off the computer. Let's go to my laptop now. All right. That looks like somebody is being arrested there or doing something, right? Here is what the police officers say.
Obviously, we want to check with the police to see if what she tweeted is true. Since she is a celebrity, her information is on the record. Here we go.
Officer Gregory Baek with LAPD says: "Officers responded to a 911 call from Paris Hilton's home 6:42. The caller said the man was trying to break into the residence. Police arrived at the scene and the man was taken into custody."
So, that's true.
No one was injured during the incident and to his knowledge there was no fighting, no confrontation. Paris's tweet mentions the man had two knives. Officer Beak had no knowledge or any record of any knives or any weapons. The man is still in custody awaiting charges. Officer Beak said the situation was handled quickly and everybody is okay.
So once again, you go back and you read -- oh, there is another part to her tweet? Go back to the first one, though. Go back to the first one, Andreas, if you possibly can. Give me the first tweet. She says, "trying to break into my house holding two big knives." See it right there? Police come back with this -- this police report that I've just read to you that says, "There were no knives, no weapons of any type."
So, where did this story about the knives come from? Who knows? Just wanted to let you know what was going on with that story. Paris Hilton reporting a break-in. Police show up. They take two people away. No weapons. No threats. No knives. All right. Moving on.
All right. Moving on. If you're a DEA agent, it helps to speak a second language. But ebonics? The Justice Department is looking for slang translators.
Would you believe a gator wrangler is busy in Chicago these days? Wait, Chicago? Yes. Gators in the Chicago River. There you see some of the pictures. Stay there.
"Fotos" is coming your way in just a little bit, and we are going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. In Florida, where I grew up, we've got our fair share of alligators. I told you about that, haven't I? But in Chicago? Alligators in Chicago? Let's do "Fotos."
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SANCHEZ: Here is an alligator that's been eluding capture since Sunday; finally caught today. Alligators are, of course, not native to the Windy City. You didn't know that? Just kidding.
Second gator seen and captured in the river in a month. So, what's going on there? Likely people putting it there. Right?
William Tell did it with an apple. Now, watch tennis champ Roger Federer do it with a water bottle off the top of a guy's head. The perfect shot. It supposedly happened between takes during a shoot for a commercial, but he warned some skeptics on the Web are saying that shot as little too perfect to be real.
Now, the Myers family posed for a family portrait at the capital in Madison, Wisconsin and caught a thief at the same time. The family had sat down their bag and set the timer on their camera when this thief grabbed the bag. Little did he know that he was in the picture. Mr. Myers noticed the bag was gone, checked his camera, noticed the man in the photo. He went to police, who located the perp and recovered the bag.
There you go. All good deeds happen by happenstance.
That's "Fotos." You can see them all for yourself whenever you want by going to my blog at CNN.com/ricksanchez.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
SANCHEZ: There are people in the country who believe rules don't apply to them. I'm serious. I'm not talking about politicians. These specifically -- these people don't pay taxes. They don't carry driver's licenses. They hate the government, hate the government's rules.
I'm going to tell you about these people. They're so-called sovereign citizens. And why they could be targeting homes in your neighborhood. I'm serious. That's ahead.
Also, remember the guy who says that he bought the negatives of some Ansel Adams pictures at a garage sale for $45, and they're now worth tens of millions of dollars? We interviewed him, right? Brooke Baldwin did for you.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Well, he has just been slapped with a lawsuit. It's trending again -- or a-gain -- as they say. What is going on with this?
BALDWIN: Something may be rotten in Denmark or in Fresno, California.
SANCHEZ: That's Brooke. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. I remember the day we did this interview with this guy by the way. Is that what you're starting out with? The guy who found the photo?
BALDWIN: I'm going to get there.
SANCHEZ: OK, fine. Then what -
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: No, no, no. We go where you want to go.
BALDWIN: I bet you love the days I'm off. You're like, oh, finally.
SANCHEZ: No, I don't. I miss you when you're not here.
BALDWIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: I do. I really miss you when you're not here. So, tell me what you want to start with because this is all about you.
BALDWIN: If I may, since this is the "Trending" list and I do trending, let's start with this story with the DEA.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Here is the example I'm giving you. If you're a DEA agent, and let's say you're working undercover to get information or intelligence in a Mexican drug cartel that's infiltrated, say, Atlanta. I give that example. I do a story on that.
So, you need some guys on your team who speak Spanish and perhaps more specifically Mexican versus Puerto Rican versus Colombian --
SANCHEZ: Cuban!
BALDWIN: Cuban. Different sorts of --
SANCHEZ: Do you know how to speak Cuban Spanish? Can I show you? Put the camera on me real quick. You ready? Put the camera on me.
BALDWIN: Oh, brother.
SANCHEZ: This is how you speak Cuban Spanish.
BALDWIN: With your hands.
SANCHEZ: Exactly.
BALDWIN: Okay. So, maybe they can hire you.
Anyhow, the crux of this story, though, is beyond all those different languages, they are also apparently soliciting people who speak ebonics. The DEA recently sent out this proposal. I've got it in my heand. Here's the cover page, there's a couple pages of the proposal because they are looking for a lot of languages, including ebonics within the United States.
SANCHEZ: Are you serious?
BALDWIN: Totally serious. They sent these out to linguistics companies --
SANCHEZ: Ebonics, black English.
BALDWIN: Street slang. Whatever you want to call it. Saying they need translators to speak 114 different languages including ebonics.
Let me read the statement to you. This is what the DEA is saying to me. On record today, "It's a language form we have a need for. I think it's a language for that DEA recognizes they need to have someone versed in to conduct investigations."
SANCHEZ: Now, hold on. Isn't this racist?
BALDWIN: Some people might say yes, that this is not appropriate, that this is not something appropriate. I think even the DEA may say perhaps this is a bad choice of words. But I think the point is when they're trying to tap in on some of these investigations, let's say on the street level looking for people who speak --
SANCHEZ: So, call it the slang language of the street. Call it inner city. But ebonics --
BALDWIN: It's that they're using that bothers people -- ebonics.
I know. I actually tweeted this because I was curious to see what our tweets what they thought and if this is offensive.
So, Robert, if we can, take a look over here. I got some sort of in jest like this one saying, "Is tripping ebonics? Because it seems to me DEA is tripping if they need ebonics translators."
Next one? "Really? Ebonics? What qualifies someone to be a translator of ebonics? What is the next language? Pig Latin?"
So, some people joking about this. "If the need is there, and clearly it is, then let the DEA hire translators. The question is who would offer?"
And I think I have one more. "Ebonic translators okay if there is a real reason for it and it puts drug pushers behind bars."
SANCHEZ: That seems strange. That seems like something that's bound to be even more controversial.
BALDWIN: I think just the fact they're soliciting for it and using that word is offensive to some bottom line.
SANCHEZ: Obviously, yes.
BALDWIN: Number two, your story and mine. Ansel Adams lawsuit. We talked to this guy a couple weeks ago. This is a great segment. Maybe you joined us and watched. This California guy, Rick (INAUDIBLE) was his name. He had claimed finally he'd proven that these glass negatives he bought at this garage sale about 10 years ago were in fact those of famed photographer Ansel Adams. Worth about $200 million. So, at the time, we had asked him how his team had determined that they were the real deal. Here's what he told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found out that one of Ansel's original pictures, and it was of a tree, which I think you had there - that one right there. That one is mine, but we found one just like that that Ansel took. And the meteorologist checked the clouds. The snow pack and the shadow on the ground and determined that those were taken within minutes of each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, that was the reason we did the whole story, because it was determined that they were the real deal.
But here's the new story pegged today. The fact that the Ansel Adams Publishing Trust says, not so fast. Their aim is to stop this guy and his art dealer, this art gallery in Beverly Hills, (INAUDIBLE) taking those negatives and making them into prints and making money off of it, because they're still maintaining that this was not Ansel Adams' negatives. They're suing for trademark infringement.
And I reached out to the trust. They haven't gotten back to me. But according to this paper, that this 28-page written - this written complaint states that the Norsegian (ph) team had acted knowingly, willfully and with malice in its representation of these prints. They're still on sale at least for now -
SANCHEZ: So, in other words, they can take that (INAUDIBLE) and put out a book at say, "Look at the latest, never-before-seen Ansel Adams pictures and make -
BALDWIN: Here are my prints. I can charge whatever for them, and I get to make the money. And this group is saying no, no, no. Not so fast.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting.
BALDWIN: Number three, I don't know if you watch this -
SANCHEZ: Of course I did!
BALDWIN: You did?
SANCHEZ: Yes. I used to watch this one with my dad when I was a little kid.
BALDWIN: I can so see you doing this.
SANCHEZ: Well, it's a Cuban thing.
BALDWIN: Miss Universe. It's a Cuban thing. It's a lot of people thing, apparently. Here is the big moment from last night, the crowining.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE), Mexico! You are Miss Universe 2010.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: There she goes on her walk. Help me - Jimena Namarrete (ph).
SANCHEZ: Very good!
BALDWIN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: You roll well.
BALDWIN: Miss Mexico from Guadalajara. She is just 22 years old. Gorgeous. Just look at her. And her big question - they're all asked questions. Her question was about unsupervised Internet use. She said through an interpreter it's the Internet that's important, but when it comes to kids, we must maintain essentially - we must maintain family values.
SANCHEZ: So, she didn't say anything dumb?
BALDWIN: Not that I understand through interpreter. I wasn't (WHISPERING) - I wasn't watching.
SANCHEZ: Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Guadalajara!
BALDWIN: That's my favorite mariachi song!
SANCHEZ: I know. When you go to Epcot, you go to that restaurant - the Mexico restaurant. My wife and I went there on our first date. Can you believe that?
BALDWIN: To Epcot?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: Learn something new every time I come out here. That's why I do this segment, and that's what's "Trending."
SANCHEZ: Nobody trends like you, you trender, you.
Remember that poll showing how one in five Americans believes that President Obama is a Muslim? Well, the story just got a big turn. And I'm calling out somebody who's partly responsible for the turn.
That's next right here on your LIST. Your national conversation. I'm Rick Sanchez.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It's no wonder some of you are confused these days. Forget the rumor mill on the Internet. Oftentimes, we're getting bad information from people in powerful positions for completely partisan reasons. I write about that as well in my book extensively.
Time now for "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
I want you to meet Kim Lehman. She is one of Iowa's Republican National Committee members.
Remember last week when a poll came out showing one in five Americans actually believed that President Obama is a Muslim, even though he has said over and over and over again that he is a Christian? Well, Lehman took her own theory to Twitter.
On her page she accuses a political news Web site of trying to protect Obama and tweeted, "By the way, he personally told the Muslims that he is a Muslim. Read his lips."
Really? I've never heard that.
Do you have proof? That's what many are asking, right?
Well, Lehman told reporters that he said in a speech last year that he was a Muslim, that he said so when he was in Egypt. That's what she said. Positive. She heard it herself she says.
OK. We've got the speech. Let's listen to it together. You ready? Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the call of the Azan at the break of dawn and at the fall of dusk.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: "I am a Christian. I am a Christian."
Maybe I missed something. He did say he's a Christian, right?
Now, are you ready for this? Lehman tells reporters that the speech made it seem like the president was embracing Muslims.
Well, yes, wasn't that the point of the speech, to build a bridge between the people of different faiths? That was his job on that day. That was the aim of the speech.
Plus, is there something wrong with embracing people perhaps of other cultures and other religions?
We asked Kim Lehman to talk with us about this. She has not responded to us.
The truth is, for every minute our country spends on this silly controversy, more people are losing their jobs in our country, struggling to put food on the table for their kids, and risking their lives on the front lines of wars.
Some of us really need to grow up, especially Kim Lehman, who takes top honors today on "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back.
We've got lists of people that we follow who we think are relevant to the news that we follow. And we check with them from time to time during our newscast.
For example, Suze Orman, did you know she is part of our finance list? And she just sent a tweet a little while ago that I thought you might find interesting. Here we go.
She writes, "The real estate news today was not good." No, it is not. "But expected," she writes. "We have a weak economy for sure. Just make sure you are strong."
She's talking of course about the housing numbers being down, the number of sales, home sales down once again this month.
And then there is George Lopez from TBS, who, by the way, has promised to appear on RICK'S LIST. Did you know that? Did you know that George Lopez made a promise to me that he is going to appear on RICK'S LIST? Yes, make that official.
He is on TBS, by the way, so he is part of the family. Not an incredible gap (ph).
But here is what he writes. This is funny. He's on our comedy list.
"Congratulations to Miss Universe, Jimena Navarrete, from Mexico. Beautiful, intelligent, and not allowed in Arizona!"
You pay your taxes, probably have a driver's license, and make your kids get birth certificates, but there are some people who are called sovereign citizens who are openly ignoring all of the rules that you and I follow every single day. Why? They hate the government.
And they've added a brand new tactic to what they do -- stealing houses. They just move in.
Who are these people? Wait until you find out. There are now hundreds and hundreds of them.
That's next on THE LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: How about a million-dollar home for just 21 silver dollars? Does it sound too good to be true? Well, it is. But that doesn't stop some people.
They're accused of taking over foreclosed and bank-owned homes and posting fake deeds and other bogus paperwork in the windows to prove that they are the owners. See that right there? So somebody comes along, maybe an inspector, and says, oh, maybe I'm wrong, maybe these people really do own this house. Except those papers you're looking at right there, they're bogus, they're fake, they're make believe.
This townhouse belonged to a couple in the Atlanta suburb. They were evicted. Now, prosecutors say that they tried to take back the home with papers claiming that they're exempt from Georgia laws.
Now, take a look at this. I want to show you something else.
This home has a tennis court and a pool. It's worth more than a million dollars. The group accused of squatting here allegedly took over a shopping center as well. They even charged rent.
Prosecutors say these people are called, are you ready for this? Remember this word. I've been look into this now for the better part of several weeks -- sovereign citizens. Sovereign citizens, part of a growing movement who believe that the laws of the land simply do not apply to them.
Mark Potok studies sovereign citizens for the Southern Poverty Law Center.
As a matter of fact, I read your magazine two days ago when I first got it -- or when I got this addition -- and I saw that they were on the cover. So you guys have really been drilling down on these folks. Who are they? What's their MO, Mark?
MARK POTOK, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Well, their MO is pretty varied, actually. This business of seizing homes illegally is a new twist on many, many kinds of scams that have come out of the sovereign citizens movement.
Remember Terry Nichols, the co-bomber of the Oklahoma City federal building, was in fact a sovereign citizen. This is an ideology that goes back all the way about 30 years to a group called the Posse Comitatus, and actually was initially white supremacist in its nature.
But, you know, basically what the sovereigns say is we are immune to federal and state laws, we are not liable to have driver's licenses, we don't have to register our cars and so on. They have a whole set of extremely fantastic beliefs, and it might be amusing other than the fact that they are doing things like seizing these homes, like stealing very large amounts of money, and in a number of cases, murdering people, in particular police officers.
SANCHEZ: Are they like the old-fashioned anarchists that you and I used to read about at the turn of the century, for example, which came, as I understand, from a different place, right? I mean, those guys came from the left. It sounds like these guys are from the right.
POTOK: Yes, they're definitely from the right. I wouldn't really describe them as anarchists. I mean, this is a very specific set of beliefs that says there is no legitimate power above the level of county sheriff.
SANCHEZ: But isn't that what anarchists -- but, I mean, I'm not trying to be argumentative with you, but anarchists believe, to hell with the government, to hell with power, to hell with anybody telling me what to do. I live my own life.
It sounds like these people are saying the same thing. How are they different?
POTOK: Sure. I mean, there is some similarity.
I mean, the way they're different is anarchists, you know, back in the day, were very much against capitalism, any kind of money, economy, and so on. It was all about very local, small communities. These people aren't community builders at all.
These are people who want to be utterly free of any obligation to other human beings. And they're also, at least many of them, are coming at it from a very right-wing perspective.
As I say, it originated in a kind of racist ideology about how black people could not be sovereign citizens. Only white people had that relationship with the land, and the idea essentially was that God gave America to white people. So in Atlanta -- now, these are actually black groups in Atlanta that have adopted this ideology and don't realize, obviously, how it originated in these white hate groups.
SANCHEZ: That's amazing.
You know, the troublesome part of this -- and I'm sure a lot of our viewers that are listening to this conversation, they're bothered by it as well -- still, I'm going to pay my taxes to fix the roads that they drive on, to fix the schools and equip the schools that they send their kids to. So they're going to get everything that I pay for, except I pay for it, you pay for it, everyone watching at home pays for it, they don't. It almost would be like the argument that they think they're above the law. That's the problem.
We'll continue to look into this.
Mark Potok, thank you so much for being with us.
Here now, "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Suzanne Malveaux, take it away.
