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Rick's List

President Obama Targets Republicans; State of Emergency in Colorado; Is Fear of Islam on the Rise?; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Takes on September 11th; Iraqi Soldier Shoots U.S. Troops

Aired September 07, 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 HOST: Let me tell you something, by the way, and there is an interesting set of tweets we've gotten on these stories about the miners. And ever since I've been doing this show and incorporated social media, thousands and thousands of you have conversations with me while you're doing the show. You correct me. You tell me what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong. You feed me questions, you give me news stories and ideas.

So, the very least I can do on this day that my book comes out is at least give you a book per show for the best tweet of the day.

And given that story that we just saw, here is the copy of "Conventional Idiocy." It is going to AgentMulder5. He sent us this. And we go to the Twitter board.

"Praying for the miners. For once, I quote Sarah Palin without sarcasm. Drill, baby, drill." That is the tweet of the show. And, you , AgentMulder5, are getting "Conventional Idiocy," autographed, if you would like.

As we begin this next hour, I want to welcome the men and women who are watching us on Armed Forces Network all over the world in Iraq and Afghanistan. We're your news of record at 4:00, and we honor that distinction.

Here is our national conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here is what is making the LIST on this day.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They talk about me like a dog.

SANCHEZ: The Obama voters are not engaged, probably are not voting in these midterms, unless this type of presidential rhetoric can drive them to the polls.

OBAMA: So, after they drove the car into the ditch, made it as difficult as possible for us to pull it back, now they want the keys back. No. You can't drive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had fire surrounding us, three -- all four sides. It was just incredible.

SANCHEZ: Mass evacuations near Boulder, thousands asked to leave as this wildfire scorches more than 3,000 acres.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it is causing billions of people to go to hell.

SANCHEZ: You believe that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a deceptive religion.

SANCHEZ: Hate speech. A pastor using anti-Muslim rhetoric as a bludgeoning tool, and he is being called out by the top commander of U.S. and allied forces. We offer up a special report on Islamophobia in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The issue is about, do we have the right to practice religion?

SANCHEZ: Who wants Reggie Bush to give back his Heisman Trophy? Will he? Is it fair? How unprecedented is it?

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: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. Time to pick up the pace now of the stories that we're following for you and those of you just now checking in.

Number one, the Colorado wildfire. More than 350 people have been forced from their homes because of this fire and the smoke and the flames. Authorities are now thinking that a campfire may have started this blaze. Fire officials say the wildfire has now reached 7,100 acres. That's more than double of what we had several hours ago.

Take a look at some of these flames. You see that, you see that, what is going on right there? Reports of numerous buildings destroyed, including the homes of four firefighters who are there trying to put out the fires and save other people's homes. There's irony there.

Strong winds have helped fuel the fast-moving wildfire outside of Boulder, Colorado. Yesterday, 40-an-per-hour winds prevented firefighters from getting a handle on this blaze, but today they're finally getting a break and they're able to at least work the fire because there are calmer winds.

All right. We have got another photo coming in. Take a look at this. It was sent in from an iReporter. It shows just how massive this wildfire is. This picture was taken by Bill Hardt while he was flying out of Denver International Airport just south of Boulder County.

He grabbed his phone and took a few pictures when the captain pointed out the fire on the right side of the plane and then he immediately sent it to us.

For the latest, let's go now to CNN's Jim Spellman in Boulder County, Colorado.

Jim, how far are you from this location?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN ALL-PLATFORM CORRESPONDENT: Rick, take a look at these new pictures we just got in.

(INAUDIBLE) Colorado, Bill Ritter (ph) just got (INAUDIBLE) camera (INAUDIBLE) able to go up with him. The devastation spread from 3,500 (INAUDIBLE) double that, 7,000.

(INAUDIBLE) holding (INAUDIBLE) back is because it's been so calm today, you would think that would be a good thing, but it has made it impossible (INAUDIBLE) fly into the canyon. Got just enough of a breeze, it started to clear out, and we're starting to hear over us now airplanes and helicopters (INAUDIBLE) doing (INAUDIBLE) bombs they call them. It's a retardant onto the fire. They hope to be able get a handle on that, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Hey, Jim, your audio is breaking up. If there is any way -- I don't want to stop looking at these pictures, though, because these are brand-new pictures just coming in to CNN now. It's the first time that we see them.

And let's stay with them. Maybe we can get Jim to call us on the phone or something or maybe his engineers can work on his -- he is skipping out and we're getting every last word.

Hey, I know we're getting some of these raw. Look at that. These are some of the pictures that you see as it cuts right through the canyon there. And then it breaks up and we will pick it up now. Here is -- here are some interviews that we have done with some of the folks who are trying to put this fire out. Here is one of the commanders on one of the fire brigades out there. Let's listen to what he has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, we're going to have nine aircraft involved. Seven of those are going to be tankers. We have three helicopters that are available after 10:00 that we can use if needed.

Yesterday they dropped approximately 28,000 gallons of retardant. They are expecting to double or triple that today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's re-cue these pictures once again, because at the very beginning I noticed that there was a house that was -- I don't know if you can freeze it or something, Rog. All right, we get through these woods, right? And then we come up on what -- there, look at that. Can you stop that? Ooh, yes. Right there. I'm trying to figure out what that is. I don't know if we can still hear Spellman.

Hey, Jim, I'm going to try and see if we can hear you again, because you were breaking up last time. But just as this video begins we see what looks like -- I don't know, it looks a big tire fire or something. Is that a house? Jim, you there?

SPELLMAN: It's hard to say, Rick. I'm not sure what that -- yes, Rick, can you hear me?

SANCHEZ: Yes, I can hear you. I'm just trying -- who went and shot this stuff for us between the last time we talked and now?

SPELLMAN: Sure. That was -- sure, that was one of our affiliates here, KMGH here, a Denver affiliate, went up with the governor as he got his tour, only camera so far that's been allowed to go up there...

SANCHEZ: Wow.

SPELLMAN: ... and get these images. So, Rick, we're watching this for the first time together.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it looks like it's shot from someone's car window in an SUV or something.

And as we see him driving by, some houses look OK and then we see suddenly this big fire. And, you know, we're told that several -- how many houses have burned, have been destroyed? Do we know?

SPELLMAN: Yes. They have only been able to say at this point a couple of hundred, but really just it's very hard to know and the housing is very spread out there. It's not like subdivisions.

There will be a small shack and then a nice sort of modern house. So they don't really have a firm estimate on that yet.

SANCHEZ: And it's 7,000 acres have been scorched. Of these 7,000 acres, how much of that is populated area, residential, where people live or businesses or anything? Do we know?

SPELLMAN: Yes, no, very little of it, very little of it.

These are really craggy, very steep. People go rock climbing in these canyons. So, most of it is -- people don't live there. And I tell you, Rick, the one thing I want to tell you about is that all day so far they have only recently been able to get aircraft to drop this retardant on the fire.

And now just since they started about an hour ago, we're seeing flight after flight go into the canyon. So they're really hoping that that will help them, one, get a better estimate, because without aerial images they really don't have an accurate idea and, of course, hold back the fire.

SANCHEZ: You're doing a good job for us out there, Jim. I appreciate that. Let us know if you get any more information. I hope they are able to get a handle on this for the sake of some of those folks.

Man, you know, as bad as it is out there in those conditions, we certainly don't want anybody, you know, getting hurt or losing their life as a result of this, as bad as it is, that already we understand a lot of homes have been destroyed.

Now, we're getting a lot of tweets because this is a very important issue to firefighters and to some Colorado officials. So, let's go to our Twitter board if we can and there you see the advice that Colorado officials are giving residents in the area. "Please evacuate when asked to do so. It may save your life and minimize risk to responders."

So, a very clear message that's being sent from READYColorado. Again, this is a developing story and we are going to stay on this as we continue to get the latest.

Now, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WISAM SHARIEFF, BAYYINAH INSTITUTE: What changed the game? Nineteen people changed the game? How did that happen? Because we've been your doctor, your x-ray tech, your accountant, we've been serving you Slushees for a long time. So what tipped the scales?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is an interesting conversation. Is America suddenly much more Islamophobic and why now? This is a serious question, and there are very new fears and concerns about hate crimes this week against Muslims who are as American as anybody and who love this country as much as anybody, and they're upset that they have to keep saying that.

Well, as we approach September 11, we are doing a special on this story, Islamophobia in America. That's ahead.

Also, they were just riding a bus when a mudslide suddenly hurled them onto a highway. Crews are still looking for bodies in Guatemala as torrential rains pound that country. And we have got video coming in on that. Stay right there. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST. And we're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, I'm just getting some new information that I want to share with you. Let me see what we're getting in, because this is a story that affects U.S. troops in Iraq.

I know many of you watching us now from Iraq on Armed Forces Network.

An Iraqi soldier -- and this is what is interesting about this story. -- listen to the beginning of this story, the first three words, an Iraqi soldier, right? These are the guys that are supposed to be working with us, right, the guys that we have trained to take out the insurgents?

An Iraqi soldier has opened fire Tuesday on a group of U.S. soldiers in Northern Iraq, killing two, and wounding nine others, the U.S. military now confirms. They are the first American deaths in Iraq since the U.S. combat mission officially ended last week.

Remember, this is now Operation New Dawn, which is supposed to be a training and advisory mission for U.S. troops.

But since the combat troops pulled out -- we have got about 50,000 there left now -- this is the first time that we have seen something like this happen. But, obviously, the most interesting part of this story is that lead that I just read to you, Iraqi soldier attacking U.S. soldiers.

They're supposed to be on the same team. So, what's going on here? We're going to stay with this story. This is news we're just now getting in and obviously I will try and talk to some of our folks at the Pentagon to see if they can give us new information on this.

And this raises even new concerns for some of the U.S. commanders there who we have been having conversations with -- conversations with.

Meanwhile, let me -- let me take you to the rest of my roundup list now. These are stories that we're watching.

Number one, disaster in Guatemala, and it's still happening, nonstop torrential rains, the strongest constant rainfall in 60 years triggering mudslides wherever there are mountains. This is what we were talking about earlier that could possibly take place in places like Texas, obviously to a smaller scale, but thousands of homes gone, roads and bridges washed away.

So far, 44 people in Guatemala are reported dead. More than 11,000 people fled their homes for higher and safer ground. We will be on that.

Number two, the man who killed John Lennon will stay in jail at least for another two years. Mark David Chapman was up for parole for the sixth time last month. Today, the New York Parole Board announced their decision -- denied. Chapman is now 55 years old.

This coming December will mark 30 years since the gunned down John Lennon -- since he gunned down John Lennon, I should say, in front of his New York City apartment not too far by the way from where I'm bringing you this newscast right now here in Columbus Circle.

Number three, on strike all day long. All across France today thousands of workers, public sector and private sector, they're demonstrating not only in Paris but in cities and towns all over the country.

Here is the issue, the retirement age. Think about this, Americans. Over there, it's currently 60. There is a move to push it to 62, and they're protesting. Today's general strike didn't surprise anybody. As a matter of fact, it's been planned since June. Wow.

Will Reggie Bush be forced to give up his Heisman trophy and why is he suddenly tweeting like a mad man? Like he is so antiauthority? Well, it has a lot to do with not just the fact that he might lose his Heisman trophy but with the fact that NFL players are saying, don't expect there to be a season next year. What's with that?

Also, some religious leaders are saying that there's a growing tide of hate among Muslims in America. So between the mosque's concerns, threats of Quran burning in Gainesville, Florida, what is fueling the fears and how do we as Americans get a handle on it?

That's next right here on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

We've been telling you that there is a big story going on in Colorado and we've just gotten some new information. Apparently it's been heightened by this declaration from the governor of Colorado.

Here we go. CNN now can confirm Colorado Governor Bill Ritter has just declared a state of emergency as a result of the four-mile canyon fire.

Let me just show you some pictures. If you've got them, Rog, let's bring our viewers up to date on this story now that the governor has called a state of emergency.

There are some of the pictures we got moments ago. It was -- one of our affiliates was able to have a photographer go into the area that they're following. There is some of the scorched area that we see now. Trees still good.

Now the is obviously you're going to have fires from time to time, you're going to lose underbrush, you're going to lose woods. The problem is that -- or that's a house. See? That's what we're talking about.

Now we're talking about people losing property. There are some reports of upwards of tens, maybe hundreds of homes either threatened or destroyed. We're trying to clear through this and make sure we know for sure. We know that several firefighters who are ironically burning -- working this fire, have lost some of their own homes.

Look, this is a perilous situation for the folks there. We're going to stay on top of it. Now once again officially CNN can confirm that it's been declared a state of emergency, so says Governor Bill Ritter.

We're going to stay on top of this story for you. We'll take a quick break and we're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We were at the forefront of this story and now it's part of our "Follow-Up List," but I'll tell you it's going strong in this country.

We've been telling you about this Florida preacher. He's in Gainesville. He plans to burn Qurans Saturday. Terry Jones says he still plans to do it despite General David Petraeus' warning that it could cause significant problems for American troops overseas. Jones says his church is praying about it.

Now, I want you to listen to part of this interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SR. PASTOR TERRY JONES, DOVE OUTREACH WORLD CENTER: We are weighing the thing that we are about to do. What it possibly could cause? What is our actual message? what are we trying to get across? How important is that to us right now?

That is very, very important that America wakes up. It is very important that our president wakes up. It's very important that we see the real danger of radical Islam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The real dangers of radical Islam which is now his words and his threats causing this. These are protesters in Kabul asking the U.S. government to stop Jones from burning the Quran. They seem to interpret his words as the feelings or actions of all Americans.

Also, praying about Jones' "Burn the Quran Day" leaders from across the religious spectrum -- Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical Christians -- all got together today in Washington, D.C., different denominations to try and show a union of sorts. To try and show that they, all of them together are against what this man seems to represent. They say it's a terrible idea.

Here is some sound from that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RABBI DAVID SAPERSTEIN, RELIGIOUS ACTION CENTER OF REFORM JUDAISM: Such action, such speech are a betrayal of the promise of America.

REV. GERALD DURLEY, PROVIDENCE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Silence, silence, silence is not an option.

REV. RICHARD CIZIK, NEW EVANGELICAL PARTNERSHIP FOR COMMON GOOD: You bring dishonor to the name of Jesus Christ. You directly disobey his commandment to love our neighbor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Once again, those are all officials from different denominations -- priests, rabbis, ministers, imams -- all coming together to say, this is not what our country represents.

Now, what seems to be a bit of a rising tide of fear and some hate speech has many American Muslims asking why. Why? They say, we're Americans, too, and we love this country as much as anybody else.

I want you to watch this special report that we've put together for you. This is from my colleague, Deb Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Islamic center and mosque to be built near Ground Zero is not the only mosque drawing fire. About a dozen others across the country are also under attack. From angry protests and suspected arson in Murfreesboro, Tennessee --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you forget 9/11 so fast?

FEYERICK: -- to Temecula, California --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They destroyed the community.

FEYERICK: -- American mosques in some cases being portrayed as monuments to terror or terror training centers.

JOHN ESPOSITO, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: It's open season on hate towards Muslims and Islam.

FEYERICK (on camera): Why now, especially since the majority of Americans have resisted the urge to scapegoat Muslims in the years since 9/11, despite negative images in the movies and on the news?

(voice-over): John Esposito is a religion and Islamic professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

ESPOSITO: People feel under siege. They feel threatened by the economy, by terrorism, et cetera. The risk is that Islamaphobia will become the kind of new form of discrimination, you know, like anti- Semitism, like racism towards blacks.

FEYERICK: Conservatively, figures show an estimated 5 million Muslims in America. And intensifying hostility and rise in hate speech is alarming to many, like these clerics we met at a recent Islamic summit in Houston.

YASIR QADHI, ALMAGHRIB INSTITUTE: You would never hear any mainstream commenter say, do you think a another Christian sect could open up a mosque, do you think Jews should be allowed to open their synagogues anywhere they want, but we have mainstream news presenters asking the question bluntly, do you think Muslims should be able to open mosques anywhere they want. WISAM SHARIEFF, BAYYINAH INSTITUTE: What changed the game? Nineteen people changed the game? How did that happen? Because we've been your doctor, your x-ray tech, your accountant, we've been serving you Slushees for a long time. So what tipped the scales?

FEYERICK: Wisam Sharieef, Yasir Qadhi and other prominent American clerics say American Muslims are under siege both by Islamic extremists and some U.S. conservatives.

QADHI: You have radical Islamic clerics preaching from abroad saying you cannot be an American and a Muslim at the same time. Well, lo and behold, on the far right you have quite a number of famous, prominent Islamaphobes saying the exact same message.

FEYERICK: The Ground Zero mosque, as some call it, has whipped up national debate fueled in part by misinformation and fear mongering.

Yet, anti-Muslim feelings have been simmering. Since last year, this YouTube video has been viewed more than 12 million times.

(VIDEO CLIP, YOUTUBE.COM/MUSLIMDEMOGRAPHICS)

FEYERICK: Islam has become a political wedge issue with politicians like Newt Gingrich comparing Muslims to Nazis.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: You know, Nazis don't have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. There is no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center.

FEYERICK: In fact, a Duke University study finds rather than fuel terrorism in America, contemporary mosques prevent it. National security experts and American Muslims like Siraaj Mohammed fear there is a lot at stake.

SIRAAJ MOHAMMED, AMERICAN MUSLIM: The more they speak and the more they incite people, they themselves are a concern to be dealt with and they have to be told, you have to stop this rhetoric. It's hurting America's security.

FEYERICK (on camera): Right. Because it's creating hatred.

MOHAMMED: Yes. It is creating a lot of hatred.

FEYERICK: The latest 2008 FBI statistics on hate crimes against Muslims don't reflect what's going on now, but experts believe the spike that happened after 9/11 could repeat itself.

(voice-over): Several mosques have recently been targeted for violence. Security videos capturing an attempted pipe bombing in Florida. And in New York, a cab driver stabbed after allegedly being asked if he was Muslim.

QADHI: Slowly but surely we will counter this Islamaphobia. Everybody had it. The Irish had it, Catholics, Italians, now is just the time of the Muslims.

FEYERICK: How long it will take to counter is anyone's guess.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: A world leader known for saying some really outrageous things is apparently at it again. But this time taking on September 11, and he makes "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On." That's coming up.

Also, Dana Bash is standing by in Ohio, where some tough congressional battles are going to be taking place. In fact, some of them are going on right now. This is the latest stop for the CNN Election Express, and we've got pictures. A "CNN Equals Politics" update is next right here on RICK'S LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We are committed to this. Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez. Time now for the "CNN Equals Politics" update. Here is Dana Bash from The Best Political Team On Television.

Dana, what is crossing right now?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is the big story about the mayor of Chicago. Mayor Richard Daley deciding, announcing that he is going to retire after decades, decades of serving in that city. His name, Daley, is of course synonymous with Chicago politics. He is not going to run for re-election. And he said it was for personal reasons.

The big question now in national politics is what will the White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel do? He has made no secret of the fact that he is interested in going back to his hometown at some point of Chicago and running for mayor. He's going to have to make that decision pretty fast, Rick, because that election is in just five months, in February. He released a statement saying basically nothing about his plans, just saying that he supports and applauds the leadership of Mayor Daley. That's number one on the ticker.

Second, we want to go to President Bill Clinton. The former president is somebody who is certainly out there on the campaign trail, somebody that Democrats who are in tough races still want to be with and campaign with.

He is in New York today. He is actually helping to raise money for Kendrick Meek, the Democratic candidate for Senate in the state of Florida. That's his ninth effort to help Mr. Meek down there. And he's actually going to Arkansas tomorrow, to his home state, to help once again the incumbent Democratic senator Blanche Lincoln, who he helped big time in her primary race just a couple months ago.

He is a president or former president, the Democrats are okay with being with, Rick, but that brings us to our third item on the ticker and that is the current president, Barack Obama. He is coming right here where we are where the Election Express is in the state of Ohio, up to Cleveland tomorrow, to give a big economic speech. That's putting some members of Congress, his fellow Democrats, in a bit of a quandary. Are they going to go and be with him, share the stage with him at a time he is not very popular here?

Going up on the ticker as we speak is a story we put up about one embattled Congressman, John Boccieri. A source close to him says he was invited by the White House. He is not sure if he is going to go. He has some other local events and local priorities and is not sure he actually supports what the president is going to announce when it comes to economic plans.

The economy, we spent some time with him here in Ohio. Of course, the economy is the top issue and he is really under fire for some of the votes that he has taken with regard to the president's economic agenda, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Do you expect that the president will be as fired up with this Ohio speech as he was with his Milwaukee speech?

BASH: I don't know the answer to that question, but here's what I can tell you. I can tell you that Democrats across the country who are so worried and frankly frustrated, many of them with the White House, with the president, that he wasn't that person we saw yesterday for many, many months. That person that they say they needed him to be, they sure hope he is going to be. I got a lot of e-mails saying, hallelujah, from Democrats after the president's speech yesterday. That's the man we need to be out there for us.

SANCHEZ: Well, it seems like he set the bar pretty high for himself. He needs to go out there and continue that, and by the way, he did say during his speech, this is what I'm going to continue to do from now until November. Let's watch and see if that's the case.

Dana Bash, great report. Good job. Remember, you can always follow the latest political news at CNN.com yourself and on Twitter as well, on political ticker.

There is some big news from the world of sports. Will the Heisman Trophy be taken away from Reggie Bush? Max Kellerman is going to join me in just a little bit, and he will be taking us through this.

I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST. I'm enjoying the conversation we're having during the break on Twitter. Let's continue it right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have been amazed at what's going on today. I don't know if you saw it, those of you who have been staying with us for a little bit, but a little while ago we saw Reggie Bush tweeting like a mad man. I mean, he's sending out like I used to be, the intrepid tweeter, you know?

He is an angry guy today. All right? And he's letting his feelings be known. Let me start at the top. You ready?

Reggie Bush could possibly be stripped of his Heisman Trophy. Yahoo Sports, for example, is reporting that the former USC running back, is expected to be stripped of his trophy by the end of the month. ESPN is disputing that Yahoo report, so there are some questions.

But look, this has been out there for quite some time. If it happens, this decision would make Reggie Bush the first player in the 75 years of the Heisman to be stripped of the title. That's number one on the list of why we'll discuss now with our CNN contributor, Max Kellerman, who's back to talk about this.

Let's start there.

MAX KELLERMAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I just don't understand how you have the energy to do everything you're doing. You are doing two-hour live shows, books are flying back and forth. What are you, running on batteries?

SANCHEZ: I was up at 6:00 in the morning this morning, and I was still hyped up, and that was after watching the ESPN game between last night between Boise State and Virginia Tech.

What do they have on Bush that's so bad? Why is this kid -- or why is this guy going to have to give this thing up?

KELLERMAN: Essentially accepted gifts, money, when he was still an amateur. And we can talk about how hypocritical --

SANCHEZ: Who doesn't do that?

KELLERMAN: Right. Not only that, but it is a huge money making business and these players are participating in it. And not really, especially players of Bush's caliber not truly compensated appropriately.

That aside, the rules are the rules. He is in violation of them. I'll tell you something else, Rick. They give out this Heisman trophy before the bowl games. The best player in college football that year when you factor in everything, was Vince Young. He was the guy. He won the national title with the greatest game I've ever seen --

SANCHEZ: So, if they take it away from Reggie Bush, are they going to give it to him?

KELLERMAN: No. No! He doesn't get it either!

SANCHEZ: Why?

KELLERMAN: He should get it. I don't know why. He should get it!

SANCHEZ: That's interesting. I don't like the idea of taking things back from someone after you've given it to them in the first place. But there is an even more serious topic going on here. You folks at home saw the tweets, those angry tweets that Reggie Bush was sending a little while ago.

Let me ask you what's going on. He's all but guaranteeing there isn't going to be a football season next year, and he is saying of course, it's the greedy owners that are doing this because they're denying us enough money. Most Americans look at this and laugh when they hear a conversation from a professional athlete saying, "We're not all millionaires. Some of us are only getting $300,000 a year." Come on.

KELLERMAN: But you know what? Football careers are on average, two-and-a-half, three years long. And if you are a player making the minimum, your salary is not guaranteed. You get a couple hundred grand for a couple of nice years, really paying a toll physically with your health.

SANCHEZ: So, this is a labor issue!

KELLERMAN: It's a labor issue, and the one labor union professional sports that is incredibly strong and wins concessions is Major League Baseball. The other labor unions, NBA and NFL get crushed by the league. The league consistently crushes the unions.

SANCHEZ: So, this is going to be a lockout. They're going to say, look, we want a little more and the owners are going to say, no. And you know what? We're shutting it down.

KELLERMAN: Not only that, but they're going to 18 games.

SANCHEZ: So, they're make them work harder.

KELLERMAN: They're going to make them work harder. At a certain point, it's like how much can the human body take?

SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting, Max? As a nation, the only time we talk about labor nowadays is when we're talking about football or basketball or baseball. That's interesting.

KELLERMAN: It is. And this should have come out yesterday on Labor Day, right?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KELLERMAN: It would have been appropo. By the way, speaking of the NFL, Rick, have you been watching "Hard Knocks?"

SANCHEZ: No.

KELLERMAN: You know I work on HBO --

SANCHEZ: I've heard nothing but people talking about watching "Hard Knocks."

KELLERMAN: I do not work on "Hard Knocks." I'm just a fan of the show.

SANCHEZ: We did a story because of the Jets.

KELLERMAN: Unbelievable. Always good, but Rex Ryan is a larger- than-life character. People are infuriated by it. They want to go kill the Jets because of Rex Ryan. Darrell Revis held out all of camp. They finally got him signed up. The season finale is tonight. I'll be watching.

SANCHEZ: One more thing I want to ask you about. Tiger Woods. There was a story out that he wasn't even going to be named to the team, the Ryder Cup team, to represent the United States of America. I mean, this guy is said to be the greatest golfer in the world, and apparently just barely made it?

KELLERMAN: Listen, he hasn't been golfing well this year. However, he is still ranked number one in the world. He's still ostensibly in his physical prime more or less. He is one of the two greatest golfers of all time, incredibly competitive, he's the biggest draw. This is a business, a money making venture on TV. He is the biggest draw to the event.

So, I'm missing something. I know some people are like well, he doesn't deserve to be -- are they kidding? It's Tiger Woods.

SANCHEZ: Well, there is an anti-Tiger backlash right now.

KELLERMAN: You think?

SANCHEZ: Yes. I think it's going on and it is illustrated by that.

KELLERMAN: Congratulations, Author.

SANCHEZ: Well, thanks.

KELLERMAN: Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: Feels good, actually. It's pretty nice. Paco and Adela's kid wrote a book.

Max, good to see you. Let's do this again. I always enjoy this.

The president of Iran is known for ruffling feathers, but I'm calling him out for what he is saying about the attacks on 9/11. This is "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On," and it's next. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Here we go again with this guy. Many world leaders say outrageous things to stir the pot and just to push some buttons, right? But when you start saying provocative things about one of the darkest days, well, it's impossible to ignore it.

Time now for "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, no stranger to controversy, right? Well, right now he is in the middle of a testy standoff with the United States over Iran's nuclear program. It seems that he takes pride in sparking international outrage. He has questioned the Holocaust, also talked about the end of Israel.

Well, now he is taking on September 11th. He's telling diplomats that he has doubts about the attacks and who is really responsible for them. He says the world can't be sure who is to blame -- huh? -- because no one outside the U.S. was able to investigate. And oh, yes, this comes just months after he called the attacks a big lie.

Remember, Iran is working on what it calls its first nuclear plant, and it's trying to get the world and the United States to trust them. It's also dealing with a fresh round of sanctions from the United Nations, which of course the United States is backing.

So if this is the Iranian president's way of drumming up anger, it's cheap. I mean, not only does the rhetoric stroke American outrage, it further isolates his country.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earns top honors once again today on "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."

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SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Next up on THE LIST, bad news for the president's party. Americans now think that Republicans are better for the economy.

Take a look at this poll. It asked which party is better for the economy. This is a CNN/Opinion Research poll that shows Republicans are at 46 percent, Democrats are at 43 percent.

Now, this is quite a change from August of last year when Democrats had around a 13-point lead when asked this very same question.

Now, look at this poll. I want to show you this. It's among Independents, and this is a big problem for Democrats, because it's even worse. Republicans at 51 percent, Democrats at 32 percent.

Wolf Blitzer joins me now from Washington, D.C.

It's bad news for the Democrats. I always wonder though, when people self-identify as Independents, are they really Independent? Have you ever wondered about that, Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'm sure some of them are Democrats, some of them are Republicans. But if they're reluctant to say they're Democrats or Republicans, they want to say they're Independents, it says something about where they stand, somewhere supposedly in the middle, in the center. So we'll see.

SANCHEZ: The president is proposing a $200 million tax cut. This is going to be a big issue moving forward, isn't it?

BLITZER: It's going to be a huge issue, but it's unlikely to get very far, at least between now and November 2nd. And after November 2nd, if the Republicans do gain in the House and in the Senate, and they take the majority in one or both of those bodies, it's going to be difficult to do what the president wants, because the Republicans are going to have an enormous amount of say.

There is going to have to be a whole lot more cooperation between the White House and the Congress if the Republican leadership takes over the House or the Senate, so it's going to be a whole new world. And I remember very, very vividly what happened in '94.

I was covering the White House during the Clinton administration. The Democrats lost the House and the Senate for the first time in decades. And it was a whole new world for Bill Clinton at that time. If the Republicans do as they potentially could do as well this time around, it'll be a whole new world for President Obama.

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much.

Wolf Blitzer joining us and he is coming up with "THE SITUATION ROOM" in just a moment.

BLITZER: Rick, one thing.

SANCHEZ: Go ahead.

BLITZER: I want to just congratulate you on the new book.

SANCHEZ: Oh, thanks, Wolf. That means a lot coming from you. Thanks.

BLITZER: Good work.

SANCHEZ: I appreciate it. I think we done good. It's a representation not of me so much as my entire team and everything that we do with RICK'S LIST.

Thanks, Wolf. I appreciate it. All right.

BLITZER: Than you. Thanks for writing it.

SANCHEZ: All right. "THE SITUATION ROOM" coming up with Wolf in just a little bit.

Each hour you send me thousands of tweets, so we're picking the best one, and that person gets a free copy of my book, "Conventional Idiocy," as Wolf mentioned just a little while ago.

It's my way of saying thanks, by the way. Because you know what? You help me with the show. You tell me what's right. You tell me what's wrong. You give me ideas.

So today's 4:00 choice goes to -- remember this picture right there? Remember we were talking about this picture? That's our crew. They're in Columbus, Ohio, today. They were in Pittsburgh yesterday. They're touring the country, bringing you the latest on the midterm elections because CNN equals politics, right?

So, Curious1966 sent this tweet: "Curious" -- cute -- "as to who leads the chorus of the wheels on the CNN bus go round and round and round and round."

It reminds me of my kids and how I used to sing to them when they were little.

"Is it Jessica or T.J.? LOL."

Curious, you get a book. Congratulations.

And another one will be going out tonight at 8:00 p.m.

Up next, an Iraqi is accused of killing two U.S. soldiers. So what happened? We're going to get full details. We're going to the Pentagon next, right here on RICK'S LIST.

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SANCHEZ: You know, I've been wanting to get more information on this story because, frankly, it's irritating to read something like this just as we're telling you and have been following the very latest out of Iraq as we learn that our troops are getting out and Operation New dawn begins, where our guys are going to be there doing some training and advisory roles. But now we hear two Americans are dead and nine are wounded.

They were shot at -- get this -- this is the part of the story that we find most interesting. An Iraqi soldier shoots at U.S. soldiers in northern Iraq.

Now, as I read this, obviously the thoughts that come to my mind is, Iraqi soldiers? Wait. They're supposed to be on our side. We're supposed to be fighting together. Why would an Iraqi soldier be turning on U.S. soldiers?

Barbara Starr is joining us now. She's got more details from the Pentagon.

Barbara, what's going on here?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, tragically, we don't know the answer about why this Iraqi soldier in particular did what he is now alleged to have done. It has happened before both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This time, an Iraqi soldier opened fire on American troops at a base in northern Iraq, killing two Americans and wounding nine others. This of course is the first instance of Americans dying in Iraq after the combat mission ended last week.

By all accounts, the Iraqi soldier pulled his weapon, fired at the Americans, killing two, wounding nine, before he was shot. And, you know, basically what this comes down to is what any soldier will tell you on the ground in Iraq. The combat mission may have ended on the part of the politicians. Combat on the part of the troops certainly has not.

SANCHEZ: Yes, but it goes beyond this. I mean, when you really think about this, it's the ultimate act of betrayal.

I can understand that our enemy is going to be shooting at our guys. I can't understand that the people that we're training to protect this country when we eventually leave are shooting at our guys. I mean, the whole thing for Americans who are paid into this war with blood and sacrifice and our treasure have to be looking at this and going, what?

STARR: Well, certainly. I mean, that's why I would -- tragically, I would remind people this has happened in both wars before, where local Afghan troops, local Iraqi troops have done this.

You know, what can you say? They'll investigate. They will find out what this man's motivations were, why he did it. And troops do everything they can, American troops, to protect themselves -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: But one of the biggest problems, right, that they've had in Iraq and in Afghanistan, for that matter, is trying to find the right people who truly are -- who are true to the cause. What does this say about that effort to try and create a police force, an army?

STARR: Yes. I mean, this is one of the crucial challenges in both of these wars, to find the Iraqi troops and the Afghan troops that are loyal to their government and loyal to what is going on, that aren't perhaps, you know, behind-the-scenes insurgents, more loyal to the insurgents than they are to their own government. And in some cases that is what has happened in some of these past instances. These people have proven to be corrupt, and it's something that is a huge challenge in both war zones to make sure the security forces are not actually more loyal to the insurgencies.

SANCHEZ: What a story. We're going to have more as we drill down on this tonight at 8:00 p.m. on the primetime edition of RICK'S LIST.

My thanks to Barbara Starr for bringing us up to date on this story. And obviously if anything else develops on this, we will bring it to you as well.

We're also going to be keying on the situation that's going on in Boulder, Colorado, the very latest on those fires that now have been declared a state of emergency. And we're also going to bring you the latest on Hermine. That's the tropical storm that's now going into inland Texas and parts of Oklahoma. We're worried a little bit about flash flooding in those areas, so we're going to be following that.

All that and more here on primetime edition of RICK'S LIST.

Now my colleague Wolf Blitzer and "THE SITUATION ROOM."