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Rick's List
Hurricane Earl Strengthens; Terror at Discovery Channel
Aired September 01, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: Not one, but two breaking stories that we're going to be sharing with you.
CNN has learned exactly how police killed this crazed gunman that was in the Discovery Channel Building. Also, we're getting new information, a new advisory on what's going on with Hurricane Earl and it's something Americans need to hear.
All of that and more, here's RICK'S LIST.
Here's what's making your list today. Round one. Hurricane Earl's outer bands rocking the Caribbean.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Winds are roaring. There's quite a bit of damage. Trees down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Round two. The East Coast bracing for impact. Just ahead of Labor Day weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we get 50, 60 mile an hour winds, the water would probably at high tide be over our chest.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Our combat mission is ending.
SANCHEZ: The official ceremony concluding combat operations in Iraq.
OBAMA: This is not going to stop us from not only ensuring a secure Israel, but also securing a longer lasting peace.
SANCHEZ: Can this president pull off a deal between Israelis and Palestinians?
It begins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A curb at this moment might as well be the Great Wall of China. SANCHEZ: What's it like to come home from war like this? Brooke Baldwin with a RICK'S LIST special report from Walter Reed you've got to see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The list 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.
Hello, again everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. We're going to joined by Brianna Keilar in Washington in just a little bit. She now has information as to how it is that police were able to kill this crazed gunman inside the Discovery - the Discovery Channel Building. So stand by for that.
But we've got to begin this newscast right now with this breaking news story. Mandatory evacuations have now begun officially along the East Coast of the United States, specifically Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This, as Hurricane Earl is upgraded once again. Now it's back up to a Cat 4.
I want to take you through a series of events here. Chad Myers is joining me. He understands this as well as anybody you'll see on TV. First, the loop. There it is. That's what it looks like. You've seen that before.
But now I want to show you something even more interesting. Take a look at this picture. This is an actual photograph from NASA. I mean, folks, this was taken from the space station. Chad, you look at this, what do you see?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It looks upside down to me. As I - and even back this up about five minutes as we're looking at it, it looked like the - the hurricane was on the bottom of the world.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
MYERS: Right? But the space station doesn't know what side of the world is up. It doesn't know where the poles are, where the axis are. So as I - as I looked at it, it was like, wow -
SANCHEZ: That's a -
MYERS: -- the earth is upside down.
SANCHEZ: That's a massive storm.
MYERS: That's how - that's how spaceman look at things. It is. It's is a huge storm. It's 135 miles per hour. You said Category 4, 131 miles per hour is the threshold. So it's above 131. It was below 131 why - that's why it was a Cat 3 earlier -- Category 3. Now a Category 4.
SANCHEZ: Let me show you something else. Just as we go to video here, OK? Take this if you could, Kell (ph). This is video from St. Kitts. This is a - pictures of boaters trying to secure a storm. Now, you - you're a boater, I'm a boater. The last thing you want to do with waves like this is try to bring a boat in because it's going to get knocked back and forth.
MYERS: Do you know what happened here?
SANCHEZ: This is a Coast Guard vessel.
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: It's the last thing you want to do however any port in the storm, right?
MYERS: It lost steering.
SANCHEZ: My goodness.
MYERS: It lost steering while trying to drag another boat on to shore. And then it got washed up as well.
SANCHEZ: This is what we will see, by the way, I guarantee it.
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: As we look at our own coastline in the next week or so. This is just - it's just - it's almost bound to happen.
Let me tell you what's going on along our own coast. The governors of North Carolina and Virginia have now declared states of emergency, which clears the way for the federal funding and the use of the National Guard. Folks, what this means is, they're getting ready to baton down the hatches, call in the National Guard, and FEMA is preparing to move into this area along South and North Carolina.
For that, I bring you in. What is the likelihood, Chad, that this storm will, in fact, brush up against, hit or miss the eastern part of the United States?
MYERS: Well, that would be 100 percent, Rick. Because those are all of them if you're adding them all together.
SANCHEZ: So tell us which one it is.
MYERS: OK. If it's a direct hit -
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: -- right on shore, the eye rolls right through Morehead City somewhere at Wilmington, whatever it might be, chance of that, five percent.
SANCHEZ: OK.
MYERS: Running along where the eye wall is right on shore, from Cape Hatteras all the way up to Kill Devil Hills, 15, 20 percent. Completely offshore, more like 70, 75 percent.
SANCHEZ: So that's good.
MYERS: But that's - but still very close, within 10 or 15 miles of shore.
SANCHEZ: And here's what's important -
MYERS: It's still be pounding that coastline.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead. Take us to the map and show us. But, again, remember, you and I have been having this conversation for about a week and some days now.
MYERS: Oh, yes.
SANCHEZ: And it - it's changed from day to day. So what we find today can be adjusted.
MYERS: Right. And - and we had to adjust this thing all week long.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: And all week long because there was the forecast. There was the forecast. There was the forecast. There was the forecast. Turning to the right. Turn - well, it's still hasn't turned to the right.
But if I take a line and I draw this line right here, follow the eye, where it's on the line, now all of a sudden, the last couple of frames may be a wobble to the North - maybe, even if it's five or 10 miles. Get it turning. Once it gets its momentum turning, then the turn continues. You just have to wait for that turn to start.
OK. Something else. Really quickly. Last time, we've got Earl. Fiona, and since we've talked last, now we have -
SANCHEZ: Gaston!
MYERS: -- Gaston. Remember what Gaston did to Richmond, Virginia, about six years ago. Figure that (ph).
SANCHEZ: So when do you get your next update, by the way? So I know the folks in North Carolina and all along New York, Boston, Delaware, are all watching. I understand that some of the watches today are extending up to Massachusetts.
MYERS: Yes, absolutely.
SANCHEZ: So -
MYERS: I will get a brand-new update as soon as the airplane, Miss Piggy, which is the plane's --
SANCHEZ: You're funny tonight. MYERS: -- flying in it now. So I'll get that in 10 minutes.
SANCHEZ: And then you'll let us know.
MYERS: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.
All right. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POLICE CHIEF TOM MANGER, MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND: He had what we believe to be explosive devices strapped to his front and back. He also had a handgun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Oh, but there's more. Who is James Lee? Was he willing to kill human beings for the sake of saving animals? He froze a suburb just outside of the nation's capital, but how did police finally take him out? This story is still developing. And we have new information on this.
Also, in our Political List, which politicians are accused tonight of taking money from people who benefited from their votes? Money and politics - what we cover and what you need to know as Americans.
Who is making my list tonight? Stay right there. We're going to tell you. This is RICK'S LIST. This is your national conversation. We got tweets and they're coming your way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. Before we do anything else, we've got some tweets I want to share with you now, having to do in fact with the discussion that I was just having with Chad Myers moments ago. Here we go. This is really a combination tweet sent out by FEMA, but they're actually re-tweeting from the Red Cross. They say we have 14 shelters on standby in North Carolina, 40 feeding trucks en route, emergency preps in 13 other states.
So that's the information being sent out by FEMA today regarding the possibility of Earl coming - coming ashore or impacting part of the - the north - both North and South Carolina.
Now, to a story that is still developing about a crazed man who seemed to freeze our nation's attention today for the better part of three full hours. He was armed with a handgun, explosives. And, tonight, we are learning - that's what he looks like, by the way. That this man, James Lee, had a long burning anger toward the company where it all happened. The Discovery Channel, of all places, the TV network. For reasons it seemed, by the way, his anger, way over the top, and there's more.
First, let me take you through what we know about this dangerous situation that had workers, even children at the Discovery Channel, scurrying today. Number one, the suspect, James Lee, shot and killed by the S.W.A.T. team this afternoon, was a 43-year-old man from San Diego.
Number two. We know Lee was an environmental protester. So much so, he posted an 1,100-word manifesto - that's right, a manifesto online in which he repeatedly calls human beings filth. Quote, "wrecking the planet with their false morals and breeding culture."
Number three, his feud with the Discovery Channel includes some bizarre demands such as stop encouraging the birth of anymore parasitic human infants, babies, he's talking about. Two years ago, he led a week-long protest outside the network's headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, and watch what this YouTube video captures here. All right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Ready, the video of chaos, as Lee apparently starts throwing money into the air outside one of his protests near the offices of the Discovery Channel. He wrote, quote, "I will be demonstrating ideas on how to save the planet in front of the Discovery Channel Building each day until they give in."
That was more than two years ago, by the way. He was convicted at that time for disorderly conduct ands he was - was warned back then to steer clear of the Discovery Channel. But today he came back. In fact, folk, as you look at this picture of one of his prior protests, that's what he looked like. That was 2008. He came back today with a vengeance.
Brianna Keilar has been at the scene in Silver Spring, Maryland, all afternoon. She and I had been talking as this story has been developing. And as you can see behind her, it's still going on.
Brianna, the first thing I'd like to know is - because we followed this for the better part of two hours, you and I, how'd police finally take this guy out?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, what happened was - and we have new details, Rick, as - just the final moments and how they played out. This is what happened.
There were the three hostages. They were lying on the ground on the first floor of the Discovery Communications Building. They were not bound. They were not tied up. And at the time, Lee was busy on the phone. He was talking to negotiators, when one of the hostages, this is what police tell us, made a move.
Now, listen to Police Chief Tom Manger, describe what happened next. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANGER: He pulled out the handgun that he came in with and pointed it at one of the hostages. It's unconfirmed now whether he actually fired the weapon or not. But at that point, our tactical units moved in. They shot the suspect. The suspect is deceased. The hostages were all safely - were able to safely get out of the building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: It was at that moment, Rick, where police say that they really felt that the hostages' lives were in danger and that is why they stepped in and they took Lee out. Now, for right now, this continues to be a crime scene here, because not only do police officers have to contend with the explosive devices that were on Lee's body, that were physically on his body, there were also two backpacks and two boxes that are potentially explosive devices and they're going through that, they say, methodically, making sure that this scene is completely safe before they wrap everything up here, Rick.
SANCHEZ: That's amazing. The story, as you can see, is still going on. Brianna is going to be watching it for us. Brianna, if you learn anything else at all, just let us know. We'll get you right back on the air (INAUDIBLE).
Remember the charges that are being hurled at the banks about this time last year? We covered it here. Saw a lot of blogs on it. Critics said that they'd rally to kill financial reform by throwing money, Wall Street did, at members of Congress. That was the charge. We heard it over and over and over again.
Here now, political stories of the day. Number five. Congressman Tom Price, Republican, of Roswell, Georgia, sent to the equivalent of the principal's office or maybe worse, he's been referred to the House Ethics Committee. Price reportedly met with financial services lobbyists at the Capitol Hill luncheon on the very eve of a crucial vote and asked for campaign donations. Price sent it up (ph) voting against financial reform which he says is consistent with what he stands for. He says he did nothing wrong.
Number four, Representative Joseph Crowley, Democrat of Queens, New York. Also referred to the House Ethics Committee. He voted yes on the final reform package, but as debate was under way, he allegedly left the House to attend a party thrown by a Wall Street lobbyist and then he voted against amendments just as Wall Street lobbyists would have wanted him to. His office says that Crowley complied with all pertinent rules.
Number three, Representative John Campbell, Republican of Irvine, California, also referred to the House Ethics Committee. Campbell's a former car dealer. He reportedly leases property to auto dealers and he allegedly work to exclude dealerships from tighter loan regulations. Campbell says he complied with the law.
Here now, number two. Mitt Romney is running ahead of Sarah Palin in the polls. Where? Well, this will surprise you. In Palin's home State of Alaska, a poll by public policy polling shows that Romney is leading the way among Alaskan Republicans. A separate poll shows him ahead of another GOP candidate governor, Tim Pawlenty, in his own home State of Minnesota.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you had to in a sentence or two describe Barack Obama, how would you do that?
JOE MILLER, REPUBLICAN NOMINEE FOR U.S. SENATE IN ALASKA: Bad for America.
KING: That's one sentence. You don't get that often out from a politician.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: You heard of that politician. This bearded man from Alaska comes in at number one on tonight's Political List. I am going tell you why and it may not be what you think. Also, I'm going to show you one of the many fighting men for whom this war - for whom this war is never over. This is RICK'S LIST. We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back, everyone. I just want to let you know real quick here that I'm - during the commercial, I've been reading a lot of your tweets, many of you thanking Chad for his forthright, honest and accurate reporting on Hurricane Earl. I know a lot of you want to know what's going on with Hurricane Earl.
As I read your tweets, I was just reminded that we're not done with that. You'll probably be seeing more Chad in just a little while because we understand he's going to be getting more information from the National Hurricane Center as that advisory comes in. We'll share it with you right away, so standby for that.
Now, what is the number one story on my political list? I gave you one - four through - through two, right?
The number one story is all about Alaska's Joe Miller and the widening sway of the Tea Party over the GOP.
Joe Miller is in. It's official. He has knocked off an incumbent, a stunned Republican Senator, Lisa Murkowski, who apparently did not spend enough of her money, and he will represent the party in November in the race for Murkowski's seat. Endorsed by Sarah Palin, backed by the Tea Party, Joe Miller - here he is now.
This is the interview. You saw part of this just before we went on the air. It was conducted just a short time ago by my colleague, CNN'S John King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MILLER: Our view of it is that the Founders had it right, you know? They come from God. Government can't take them away. We restrain government so government cannot infringe upon those rights.
When we're a top-down system, which is really what's coming out of the Obama administration, we put that all upside down. Instead, the government comes sovereign, rather than the people. But the answer to our crisis is not government, it is the people, and it is rejuvenating this country in such a way that we can be a leader in the world again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This is important, because there seems to be a trend here, and we've been following it. We wanted to share it with you. Are you keeping track of the Tea Party insurgents? They're piling up wins in Republican Senate primaries -- Joe Miller, Rand Paul, Sharron Angle, Mike Lee, Ken Buck. Two of those guys, Miller and Buck, they both beat incumbents.
And let's not forget, there's Marco Rubio down there, a guy who chased Charlie Crist out of the GOP and has forced Crist to now run as an independent down in my home state of Florida. Bingo, right?
Are we still at war in Iraq? Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked that question in Baghdad today. Gates said no, we are not at war in Iraq, in unequivocal terms.
Just in case there were any lingering doubts, it is over. Gates, Biden, other big wigs from Washington, were all in Iraq today to mark the end of the combat mission. Listen, if you will, to the outgoing U.S. commander, straight-shooting, four-star general, Ray Odierno.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RAY ODIERNO, U.S. ARMY: This period in Iraq's history will probably be remembered for sacrifice, resiliency and change. However, I remember it as a time in which the Iraqi people stood up against tyranny, terrorism and extremism and decided to determine their own destiny as a people and as a democratic state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Obviously an interesting emphasis there. The Iraqi people decided to determine their own destiny.
All right. So the war in Iraq is over, but for injured men and women who served in Iraq, it is really not over. They will spend much of the rest of their lives thinking about that experience and dealing with it, in fact, physically.
Brooke Baldwin joins us now. She has been on a special assignment, gone to, really, one of the most important places in our country, where some of these guys come back. And you have one hell of a story to tell. BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do. In terms of the numbers, we wanted to look first in terms of the deaths, right, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and about 6,000 men and women have died in both of these wars. Thousands and thousands more have been injured, and for many of those injured troops, their battle, metaphorically speaking, is far from over.
I went to Walter Reed. They welcomed myself, my crew, last month, where I sat down with one amazing soldier whose name is Dan Berschinski. He was injured a little over a year ago in Afghanistan, where he was fighting the Taliban, and now he's back on U.S. soil. He has a long and painful fight ahead of him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, Taliban's stronghold, one of the most dangerous assignments for U.S. troops and First Lieutenant Dan Berschinski's new home, one month into his deployment.
CAPT. DAN BERSCHINSKI: People were ambivalent at best and outwardly hostile, most commonly. Rocks and thumbs down, middle fingers up.
BALDWIN: From his first mission outside the wire, this West Point graduate realized every day had the potential to be deadly.
BERSCHINSKI: My very first mission, I watched three IEDS go off in succession on a group. So, from the very first day, it was like, hey, game on. This place is not friendly. Let's try to keep ourselves off the road as much as possible.
BALDWIN: To keep off the road, soldiers would stick to dirt trails, even orchards. That's where his platoon was patrolling on August 18th of last year.
BERSCHINSKI: We heard an explosion. You could see the dust rise up over the trees.
BALDWIN: An IED had been triggered, and, soon after, another explosion. Two men were killed. Berschinski, unscathed, had to hold the area so they could search for the bodies come daylight. And, as he was walking down a trail, steps from his compound, another blast.
BERSCHINSKI: I don't really remember sound or a flash. I just remember pressure. But, immediately, I knew what had happened. And the next thing I know, I'm just opening my eyes in a bright room in the ICU here at Walter Reed.
I never even understand the - the gravity of my injuries.
BALDWIN (on camera): Who told you? The doctor?
BERSCHINSKI: They tell you, but it doesn't sink in until you really have the strength and the mental clarity to, like, lift your sheets and look. I'm kind of at the point I can walk with one hand, so that's the first step to being able to walk with one cane.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Dan's left leg, amputated above the knee. His right, at the hip.
A year after the attack -
BERSCHINSKI: It's a bit frustrating. I wake up every morning and I go, maybe it was all a dream. And I think about just swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and hopping into the shower, but so far it hasn't come true. So then I just go, oh, crap. Back - back to that.
BALDWIN: Here in Walter Reed, Dan, now a captain, knows pain is the price of progress. Ask his physical therapist, his recovery is faster than anyone predicted.
BO BERGEROAN, WALTER REED CLINICAL SUPERVISOR: Time wise, I think it's remarkable. From the very beginning, he's been one of those guys that he gets frustrated and he's determined to make it work.
BALDWIN: Dan is taking his rehab step by step. And, as he remembers that day in Afghanistan, this Georgia native says he wouldn't have wished it any other way.
BERSCHINSKI: Quite honestly, if it hadn't been me walking through those orchards in Afghanistan, it would have been some other 25-year-old infantry lieutenant. Really, I have no regrets. I think it was worthwhile.
BALDWIN (on camera): No regrets?
BERSCHINSKI: Yes. No regrets. It's - and I apologize because it's kind of - I have to double-check in my head. But, yes, I've thought about it quite a bit, and I really don't think I have any regrets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Isn't it amazing? We hear these stories, and the question is always asked, would you have changed anything? And then, just to hear them, sit there across from him and say, let me check my brain for a second. Nope. I wouldn't have changed a thing. To me is amazing.
SANCHEZ: What an attitude. What toughness.
BALDWIN: Total toughness. Mental toughness, physical toughness.
You know, in terms of also what's next for Dan, he - in terms of, you know, physical rehab, the future, he doesn't know. It's still sort of day to day to day. He does hope to go to grad school. Smart guy.
Trust me. I figured it out very quickly. He's hoping to get his MBA. And something I want to share with you. If we can go over this way. I think it's his brother. They've been maintaining this blog since last year, and they finished it. If we can scroll up and down just a little bit. I'll make sure I tweet the blog URL. But it sort of, you know, monitors his story.
He's met with the president. He's met with his own cadets that he actually trained during basic training back at West Point. He's met with - I'm sure he thought this was really cool -- "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart.
All the people who were so amazing and selfless, who come to Walter Reed, to see these men and women, quite a story.
SANCHEZ: And, like I said, I want my children to meet this man.
BALDWIN: On it.
SANCHEZ: And I think I'll be able to because he probably doesn't live too many houses away from me.
BALDWIN: Total coincidence.
SANCHEZ: Peachtree City guy.
BALDWIN: Your town. I'm - I'm on it. I'll find him.
SANCHEZ: You know, I could tell that you were very touched by this story, and I'm glad that you put your heart into it because you did a hell of a job.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: My pleasure.
BALDWIN: Thank you. Thanks for sending me.
SANCHEZ: We've got some breaking news going on right now. I understand that we now have a development in the story about Hurricane Earl, and Chad Myers is coming out to join me now.
Chad, I understand you may have that advisory. What's going on?
MYERS: I do, and I have a - Brooke, thanks. I have an amazing number that just got dropped down. You know, they fly these planes through the - the hurricanes. They're all named after muppets, that's why the one that's up there now is Miss Piggy.
SANCHEZ: Ms. Piggy. Great.
MYERS: Gonzo was up there earlier. Kermit the Frog was up there for a while.
A hundred and seventy-seven miles per hour in the eye wall.
SANCHEZ: Are you serious? MYERS: Not at the surface, but in the eye wall. They drop these little things down --
SANCHEZ: I know. I've been on the plane.
MYERS: Now, as they dropped it down, this thing was moving at 177 miles per hour, because of the wind that was blowing it around.
SANCHEZ: Wait a minute, Chad --
MYERS: Amazing --
SANCHEZ: It's 107 -- this takes it back up to a Category 5 --
MYERS: Well, no, no, no.
SANCHEZ: Had they not made that official yet?
MYERS: No, this is not at the surface.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: This is somewhere between where they dropped it --
SANCHEZ: But look, I remember with Hurricane Andrew, just because it was a Category 5 didn't mean there weren't actual small tornadoes inside of it that they said were up to 250, almost 300 miles an hour. So, is that really possible?
MYERS: Absolutely certain. Yes.
SANCHEZ: Good Lord.
MYERS: This is now a middle of the road Cat 4, at least 145, although certainly official, 135, OK?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: Official. 135. The pressure has gone down. Go to your barometer on the wall. See if you can find 27.52.
SANCHEZ: No.
MYERS: I don't even think it's on there. It's somewhere on the spring would have to go all the way around like this to find it.
SANCHEZ: Still, anything new on the model as to where this thing is going to go? It's still too early to tell?
MYERS: It's still too early to tell. It's about 20 miles closer to the coast of North Carolina than the forecast was at 5:00.
SANCHEZ: Oh, great.
MYERS: So it's getting -- it's getting a little bit closer. But you know what? As it turns, as the world turns, as this storm turns, as soon as it gets that traction to turn, it will continue to turn. If it doesn't, then all of North Carolina is in trouble.
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Chad. Appreciate it.
By the way, there's another breaking story that we're following for you tonight. You saw the story of this crazed gunman who went into the Discovery Channel building. These are some of the pictures that we were bringing in. They sent so many police officers, so many federal agents to the scene.
Well, we have been learning tonight a couple of different things. But one of the things that we've learned is that police still aren't sure that some of those explosives that were taken into the building have either been extinguished or removed. They're working on that as we speak. So this is still a developing story, a tenuous situation. And we're all over it.
This is RICK'S LIST. We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Once again, two developing stories that we're following for you tonight. One of them having to do with Hurricane Earl. As you know, there's new information coming out and we're going to bring you information as soon as Chad gets more. Things are looking like it might be leaning a little bit more toward the coast of United States but hopefully not that close. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
And, of course, not far from our nation's capital, the scene that's been developing all day long as we get more information on those explosives left behind by the now deceased crazed gunman, we will bring it to you as we move forward.
Tonight, another developing story still. This is how we begin our "People" list with a group of men who hold the keys to peace in the Middle East. You may have seen this during a previous hour. They're having dinner at the White House right now, as we speak, as we report to you. Here is number five.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, just some of the power players spending this night with President Obama at the White House. This from this evening. The president first met behind closed doors with the Israeli leader, and then condemned the killings of four Israelis yesterday near the West Bank, the city of Hebron. Then he sat down with Abbas and the president announced progress is being made in the negotiations.
Just minutes ago, Abbas and Netanyahu vowed to work toward peace together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: President Abbas, you are my partner in peace. And it is up to us, with the help of our friends, to conclude the agonizing conflict between our peoples and to afford them a new beginning. MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): We will work to make these negotiations succeed and with this spirit we are -- trust that we are capable to achieve our historical difficult mission, making peace in the land of peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And tonight, there's a promise and hope. Tonight, we're learning if this week's talks go well, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is also at the White House tonight, is offering to host a second round of talks later this month in his country. That's what officials close to the talks are now telling us.
Here now, number four. What a story this is. That's 11-year-old Jean Paul Lacombe back in his mother's arms in San Antonio, Texas. The emotional end to an international custody battle lasting nearly a year. Jean Paul's mother, Bernice Diaz, hasn't seen him since last October when authorities say the boy's dad, Jean Philippe, tricked the judge into letting him have custody of the boy after presenting forged documents.
You might remember the video that we showed you back then when local constables actually removed Lacombe from his school bus before he was whisked off to France. Now the judge is granting custody to John Paul's mom. And late night, we heard from the boy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN PAUL LACOMBE: It was awesome to see my family again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much have you missed them?
LACOMBE: Very much.
BERNICE DIAZ, JEAN PAUL LACOMBE'S MOTHER: I am, you know, I'm thrilled. This is a new chapter in my life. This is the best thing that had happened to me in all these 10 months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: There you go. Jean Paul says the first thing he wants to do now that he's back home -- you're ready -- he wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese with his brother.
Number three. Martin Escobar, the police officer in Tucson, Arizona, who tried to challenge his state's tough new immigration law, arguing that SP 1070 would, in his words, quote, "seriously impede law enforcement investigations and facilitate the successful commission of crimes."
Well, now, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton is ruling that Escobar lacks the legal standing to file that lawsuit and she's throwing the case out. Parts of the law remain on hold after a challenge from a Justice Department.
Here now is number four. That is Conan O'Brien. You know he's getting ready for his big return to TV, right, this fall on our sister network TBS, but he's dealing with a question that I've had to figure out over the years myself. What do you name a show? After all, he can't call it "Late Night" or "The Tonight Show" or "Conan's list." That's kind of taken.
He tweeted a hint. Quote, "I announce the name of my show today." There it is. "Right here. Spoiler alert, the words "tonight" and "show" aren't in it." So the winner is --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST: And -- bam! There it is. "Conan." Simple. Pure. Like the man himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: By the way, you can catch "Conan," the man himself and the show itself, starting November 8th.
So who is the number one person on the list of people in the news tonight? This is a man who Wall Street made famous while he tried to warn us about Wall Street's greed. If only we'd listened.
And as we go to break, let me show you one of the things that many of you on Twitter look forward to each day. This is our show prep as we prepare RICK'S LIST. It starts very early in the morning. Our editorial discussions. My staff calls this daily video the "Rick vid."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Is it going that or is it --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Northwest quadrant is always the most powerful, right?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do people care about nut eating on our team? A nut for a nut, my friend.
SANCHEZ: That is very true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The public relations person -- well, we're considering the public relations person --
SANCHEZ: Can you show a little bit of it at least?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People don't see that if they're at work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can ask --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back again. Two developing stories that we're following for you. Chad's got the hurricane for us and we've got correspondents and new sound that we understand is going to be coming in moments from now out of that suburb near Washington, where the gunman was killed today by police after evacuating a building. We're all over that, all right?
So here now though, number one person on my list tonight. I told you that we would be bringing you this. And it's acting icon Michael Douglas.
You know that he's battling throat cancer, right? Last night, he went on the "Late, Late Show" with David Letterman and he shared something that led the audience to, well, gasp. He's been diagnosed, as you may have read, with stage 4, the most serious form of throat cancer. During his emotional conversation, the star of "Wall Street" and "Basic Instinct" talked with Dave about -- well, the battle ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": I think it says a great deal to the hopeful outcome of this that you're just taking it head on for God sakes.
MICHAEL DOUGLAS, ACTOR: You have to but this is the first week.
LETTERMAN: Right.
DOUGLAS: And the chemo and the radiation -- the radiation continues to burn your mouth and becomes more difficult to swallow. You can't take solids. So the whole trip is not a --
LETTERMAN: Now, did they find it early enough for their liking?
DOUGLAS: I sure (INAUDIBLE) hope so.
LETTERMAN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's a great sense of humor for a guy who's going through that. And he showed it. The most encouraging news, Douglas says he has about an 80 percent chance of beating the cancer. That's his quote. And, of course, my thoughts and all of us here at CNN are with him and with his family as well. And that is the "People" list.
As we go to break, I want to let you know that we're covering two big stories. We're making room, throwing some things out and changing our newscast because we understand there might be some new information that's coming in from Washington. And we're also expecting new information that's going to be coming in from south Florida. The National Hurricane Center. Both of these stories are developing. You'll see them here on CNN.
This is RICK'S LIST. We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It is now time to see what's trending with Brooke Baldwin. And usually that's signaled by this beautiful two shots that Mark shoots for us every day. Thank you, Mark. Welcome back. What do you got?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Apple announcement today. You know how everybody kind of waits with bated breath what has Apple have out next. And it's always pretty big news. But would it trump, I don't know the iPhone, iPad, I -- what else? I-- whatever else "I" there is out there.
SANCHEZ: All right, Captain.
BALDWIN: Here's Steve Jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE JOBS, APPLE CEO: In iTunes 10, we're announcing something really cool and we call it "ping." And what "ping" is is it's a social network for music. It's sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Cool. I like that.
BALDWIN: So, yes, it's not "I" anything, it's just "ping."
SANCHEZ: "Ping."
BALDWIN: The way they did it with the iPhone and the iPod that was the big announcement. And so basically what it is, is it's looking at some of the features that you can use with your friends. Right? So you can create a circle of friends. You can comment on posts, (INAUDIBLE) community environment, display some of your pictures. It sounds like he said like Facebook, like Twitter, but Apple's version. You can also talk about music. That's the big thing. It's all about music.
SANCHEZ: Can you hear the music?
BALDWIN: You can hear the music.
SANCHEZ: OK.
BALDWIN: You can buy it from iTunes. Of course, iTunes.
And number two, remember how last week we were talking to Jacqueline Merman. She's based in Washington --
SANCHEZ: She was off the plane in San Francisco --
BALDWIN: No, she was the woman who was in Washington State waiting for her husband to come home.
SANCHEZ: Oh, yes.
BALDWIN: He was part of that last group leaving Iraq, right? SANCHEZ: Right.
BALDWIN: That was that 140-plus -- I got too excited about it. It was such a wonderful interview. Well, anyway, we were checking our tweet because her husband finally came home and he says, "He is in my arms." This is the tweet photo. We just wanted to share it with you tonight. There they are.
SANCHEZ: Oh, that's great.
BALDWIN: The big homecoming. Look at the big crush of people. So good for her, Jackie, we salute you, we salute your husband. And that's what's trending today.
SANCHEZ: I'm sorry, I got my stories mixed --
BALDWIN: Hey, that's OK.
SANCHEZ: It's not like we don't do three shows a day every day.
BALDWIN: Yes. You got a lot going on in that brain of yours, Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: Good point.
BALDWIN: You got me to keep you straight.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Brooke. We'll look forward to seeing you again.
BALDWIN: You're welcome.
SANCHEZ: Now, fallout over Twitter hoaxes tops our list you don't want to be on. That is next.
And as we mark the end of combat operations in Iraq -- thank you, Brooke -- we shift our combat focus solely to Afghanistan.
Let me share something with you. Here are the words the head of the CIA paramilitary team there in Afghanistan, Gary Berntsen, says he asked for an additional 800 U.S. Army Rangers so that he could go and get him. Go and get who? Bin Laden, that's who. Eight hundred men that he was convinced would have gotten the job done. Bin Laden would have been trapped, if not killed.
(INAUDIBLE) on the war in Afghanistan. Right? Request denied. No reason was given. This is a political decision. He told me. Those are the kinds of moments in our history that make you mad. You told me so when you saw people like Gary Berntsen appear right here on RICK'S LIST.
This is the type of story that I'm going to be sharing with you. It's those types of interviews. It's stuff you don't hear anywhere else. That's inside this book "Conventional Idiocy." It's available Tuesday, in bookstores everywhere. And you know, we on RICK'S LIST are kind of proud of it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: OK, welcome back. The breaking news continues to be Hurricane Earl. Why? Because there are developments on the story. Just got a tweet that we want to share with you. As a matter of fact, go to the Twitter board if we possibly can. Mark, thanks so much for the lovely shot.
Air Force news. All right. Air Force north. These are emergency preparedness liaison officers. Got it right. Well, I didn't know what the "p" was -- thank you, Angie.
Deploying for Hurricane Earl. We got the twit pic here? All right. We're going to try and get that up for you in just a little bit.
As we turn around, let's go to -- in fact, you always come to me, Chad. I'm going to go over to you.
MYERS: Come on over.
SANCHEZ: You know why? Because this is -- as long as I've been following and covering hurricanes --
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- not as well as you because I'm not a scientist, but this is what fascinates me, the way these models start to come together. And I know that this is very important so tell our viewers why and what's going on.
MYERS: This is a Web site we use all the time called stormpulse.com.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: And here's the great thing about stormpulse. A very small line that doesn't show up very well, it's called the extrapolation line. We look at it. This is not a model. This is if the storm keeps going in the direction that it's going now, where will it go? It just is a big straight line.
For all day today, it was down here, around Savannah. Yesterday, it was down to Orlando. What does that mean? That means the storm is turning. Which means if it kept going now, it would hit near Wilmington. By tonight, I bet that line is like this. And that eventually, hopefully, like that.
SANCHEZ: So we're starting to see indications that sucker is going to make that big bend?
MYERS: Finally, 10 days late.
SANCHEZ: I applaud you and your news. We're going to take a quick break. Stay right there. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We've got brand-new sound now from that situation that's been developing in Montgomery County at the Discovery Channel building. We understand that just moments ago one of the police officials there made some comments describing exactly how this thing went down. How they were able to kill the gunman who was holding hostages in the lobby of the Discovery Channel building.
Now I want you watch this. We'll watch it together. Kel (ph), have you got it already? If you do, go ahead, roll it here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT PAUL STARKS, MONTGOMERY COUNTY POLICE: After hours of speaking with this man, I was told that members of the emergency response team that were posted outside of the Discovery Channel or Discovery building heard one of two things. They thought they may have heard a gunshot or they may have heard a device detonating. At that point, a decision was made that there would be an emergency assault on the lobby of that building. As they were running in, the hostages were running out. They engaged the suspect. He was shot and killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Wow. That's the first description that we get of exactly what went down in the lobby of that building. Prior to that, they were taking children out.
I want to show you what he looks like. By the way, this is James Lee. That's the picture that we first brought you this afternoon as we were following this story.
It's interesting to note that he was not -- a lot of people in our country are activists. They believe in different causes. This man was more than an activist. He truly believed so much in saving the planet that he seemed, at least on this day, willing to put the lives, if not kill other human beings. His manuscript really read like something most of us have never heard before. It's a story you'll be hearing a lot more about here on CNN as we continue on.
"LARRY KING LIVE" is coming up next. And he's going to have the very latest on what's going on in the news as well. I'm Rick Sanchez. Thanks so much for being with us tonight on RICK'S LIST. We'll see you again tomorrow.
Here's Larry.
