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Rick's List

President Obama Outlines Economic Plan; Imam Embroiled in Ground Zero Mosque Controversy Speaks Out; BP's Oil Spill Blame Game; Republican Ad Features Democrats Attacking Democratic Policies; Will Rahm Emanuel Leave Obama Administration to Run for Chicago Mayor Seat?; President Attacks Congressional Republicans for Obstructionism

Aired September 08, 2010 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: And hello, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. And we're coming to you today from New York, New York, just outside Columbus Circle. As a matter of fact, I think, at some point, Roger might be even good enough to show you a shot of what New York looks like on this day. It's a pretty day in New York, a little on the hot side, to be exact.

Look at that, huh? A lot of people walking by. But a lot of people have been indoors listening to the president of the United States, the president with, you know, once again, some harsh rhetoric about Republicans.

He says, about Republicans, the era of responsibility is over. He had been promising his constituency -- that would be progressives and liberal Democrats -- that he's going to be giving it back to Republicans the way they have been giving it to him.

He also said to them -- got a huge applause when he said this, as a matter of fact -- the president says, look, you -- you don't want me to just sit here checking the polls every day, just so that I can stay in office.

A lot of interesting palaver coming from the president of the United States. And Jessica Yellin is picking things up now as we begin the 3:00.

Let's just go ahead and get into this, Jessica, I mean, because the president just finished speaking just a little while ago. I don't want to sit here and go through all the points of what he said, but it did seem to me -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that he seemed to make a promise when he was speaking in Milwaukee that he was going to be hitting these guys really hard, the Republicans.

He was almost like going to be throwing that red meat back out to his -- to his supporters. And it seemed like he did that once again, right, with some very specific points, and, by the way, not the same points that he made in Milwaukee, because this time he was talking in Columbus.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

This -- this was a different kind of speech from the Milwaukee speech, Rick. When we saw him earlier this week, he was giving a political stump speech, rallying the troops, getting energy going.

This was a step-back, big-picture look at framing what the Democratic economic plan is. This is what Democrats have been asking him to do for, frankly, months now, to sort of explain to the American people why he's unveiled the policies we have used the last few -- since he took office, why the stimulus, why the bank bailout, why the auto bailout, and then explain where he plans to take the country from here.

The point of this speech is to take back from the Republicans the arguments that they're making, that, you know, the president's just trying to bail out Wall Street or spending or is a socialist or whatever the claim is, and explain, as -- in his words, he said, they wanted to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires. They cut regulations. Under them, our economy shrunk. I have a different plan, I have a different idea about how we get this economy going again.

So, it wasn't such, like, bar -- red meat attacks. It was much substantive, a big-picture explainer of his -- his decision-making.

SANCHEZ: Well, you know, let me -- let me bring Ali Velshi into this conversation, because I'm curious as to just these -- these two things that the president is talking about, one of them -- and I don't know if you know about this, Ali.

But what I would like you to do, as an economist, is explain this to our viewers. The president is big on saying, look, we need to stimulate infrastructure in this country, big word, essentially means people building things that will make our country go, like roads, bridges, et cetera.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: He says, look, the Republicans have always been for this. All of a sudden, they're against this.

He mentioned another thing. He talked about, you know, the tax cuts for the middle class. And he put this right on John Boehner, essentially saying, John Boehner is holding middle-class tax cuts hostage.

I mean, this is a guy who's on the attack, and he's using the economy as his -- as his bludgeoning tool.

VELSHI: Yes. Look, he -- he said John Boehner's name several times in this speech and the one he made in Milwaukee. So, he's -- he's putting a face on Republicans by calling it John Boehner.

The other thing he said very specifically with respect to the -- the -- the Bush tax cuts that he wants to repeal on the wealthiest of Americans is, he said, look, middle-class Americans, lower-income Americans spend a greater proportion of their income on day-to-day needs.

So, if you keep the tax cuts in place for them, they will spend that money in a way that stimulates the economy, whereas higher income earners may not do so. But the bottom line is, of the $350 billion in initiatives that he has announced this week, $50 billion are for high- speed rails and highways and runways and -- and things like that. One hundred billion dollars is to stimulate or to give a tax credit to companies that engage in research and development.

And the big one that he announced today, $200 billion, is to buy equipment and -- and build plants. So, he's basically saying -- he's trying to put it back on to business to say, you do it. And, if it -- it works the same way as it did with the -- the -- the cash for clunkers program or the homebuyer's credit, where you gave somebody money if they spent money, then it could work.

But none of it, Rick, is immediate. That's part of the biggest --

SANCHEZ: Well --

VELSHI: -- problem.

SANCHEZ: .. I -- I will tell you what I was taken aback by. I was taken aback by -- I have never heard -- and I may have very well have missed it, by the way, because I don't listen to every speech that this president gives or every -- every policy memorandum that comes out of the White House.

But it's -- it's a big nut -- a big nut that he's talking about. When he says, let's give the middle-class tax cuts to Americans, everybody who makes $250,000 or less --

VELSHI: Right.

SANCHEZ: -- I said, OK. And most Americans would probably agree with that. He said, if we were to give the tax cuts to the so-called rich -- that's the other 2 percent of Americans --

VELSHI: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- and I think people at home are hopefully staying with me -- I hate to throw all these numbers out.

VELSHI: Sure.

SANCHEZ: But here's the big nut. He said, you know what it's going to cost? He said, we would have to go into the deficit, we would have to go in --

VELSHI: Mm-hmm.

SANCHEZ: -- and borrow $700 billion to give that money to the rich.

VELSHI: Yes.

SANCHEZ: And those $700 billion are less apt to come back to us because they're less apt to spend it -- VELSHI: Well, that's -- see --

SANCHEZ: -- than people in the middle class.

VELSHI: -- herein --

SANCHEZ: That's the classic argument.

VELSHI: Herein lies the rub. That is -- if it's a big nut, there are many ways to slice this.

On one level, he's right. History shows that people in middle class or lower-income people do spend more of the money that they're given. The -- the -- the higher wage-earners, though, those wealthier households are responsible for investment, in some cases, the type of investment that does result in job creation.

So, there's this big argument about why don't you give the wealthy a bit of a cut and -- and stimulate the economy? And, of course, this is what it comes down to. It's not a matter of fair or not. It's, where does our tax dollar, or, in this case, our deficit dollar, get best spent?

So, the president is saying something that is not historically inaccurate, but there are others who will say there's more to the story that he isn't --

SANCHEZ: Yes, Peter Orszag.

VELSHI: -- isn't --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Orszag, Orszag, his own guy --

VELSHI: Right, Orszag, his own --

SANCHEZ: -- or the guy --.

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: Right, his own former budget director has said, why don't you just extend this for a couple years? Others have said, if you're going to take away that -- those Bush era tax cuts from the wealthiest, do it over two years.

I -- so, you know, I don't know whether this is trial balloon stuff, Rick, or -- or what it is. But the reality is, the president today was outlining that he doesn't think that's a good idea. I think there's probably some chance that there might some give on this in -- in the coming weeks.

SANCHEZ: Well, but the point is, he was being very specific.

VELSHI: Yes. SANCHEZ: And this is where I want to bring Jessica Yellin back into this conversation, because she's been -- you know, she -- she -- she follows this guy's speeches. She has to watch him. She listens to what he said, not just now, but going all the way back to his candidacy.

It does seem, Jessica, in these last two speeches, the one in Columbus and the one today, that he's more on the attack, that he's somewhat more specific with his charges against his opponents.

Do you see this -- is this -- is this the beginning of a post- Labor Day President Obama that we are going to be seeing? Did you see that in this speech?

YELLIN: Yes. In a word, yes.

This is a message that he can carry forward -- and I fully expect him to -- to frame the Democrats' message as they lead up to the November elections. Democrats all across the country -- we are in Kentucky -- no matter where you are, what they're talking with voters is the economy, jobs, why aren't things turning around more quickly enough?

And we have heard, day after day, complaints from elected officials who are running for office and from Democratic activists saying the White House, the national party isn't explaining well why the stimulus hasn't turned around the economy, like, already, you know, like a miracle, as they would say.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

YELLIN: And why are we still struggling?

So, what the president here is doing is giving them that frame, saying -- look, we have heard him say over and over, John Boehner wants to take you back to the policies of the past. And Ali is right. He is putting a face on the Republican message.

But now the president explained what that means, that, in that period of time, there was less job growth than there is since he has been in office. In that period of time, there were not enough regulations that let Wall Street run wild.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

YELLIN: And it's giving them the context to say, now, we have been spending money, yes, but we plan to rein it in, and, in time, we are focusing now on the middle class.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

YELLIN: So, this is the message Democrats will carry forward.

I -- I would only add, if I made, that I think the argument that Peter Orszag was also making in that op-ed on tax cuts -- because this is a big debate -- was that -- SANCHEZ: Yes.

YELLIN: -- Democrats might have to be willing to compromise --

VELSHI: Right.

YELLIN: -- and give the rich the tax cut, too --

SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes, we -- we --

(CROSSTALK)

YELLIN: -- not that he's necessarily advocating that.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: We talked about here this morning in New York with our staff about the fact that this is -- from Peter Orszag, is as much a political pitch as it is, is -- as it is an economic pitch.

But there's no question this seems to be a different type of President Obama, less cool --

VELSHI: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- less conciliatory, much more on the attack.

And, at the same time, if you listen to him carefully, you heard him spelling out that, look, I'm not here to be a government guy. He said, specifically, things about government, where he -- he -- he made points. No government -- "The government's not here to create jobs. The government needs to be lean. The government needs to be efficient," almost as if he's hearing the criticism from Republicans saying that he's too big -- he's too much of a big-government, European-style government guy.

VELSHI: Right.

SANCHEZ: Interesting to watch this.

Guys, we're out of time. I -- you know, we will -- we will pick this conversation back up in a little bit.

Ali Velshi, as usual, my thanks to you.

Jessica Yellin, thanks to you as well.

Meanwhile, listen to this. The debate over whether to put an Islamic center near Ground Zero has dominated the conversation in recent weeks, as you know. Well, now the man at the center of the firestorm is speaking out. So, will he do it? Will he continue with his plans? And how is he responding to his critics?

CNN is right up front on this story, right at the cutting edge. In fact, we are interviewing him tonight right on 9:00 -- right at 9:00 on "LARRY KING LIVE," after the prime-time edition of RICK'S LIST.

Also, dramatic rescues in Texas -- people trapped in their homes as floodwaters continue to rise. We told you this might happen. The video and the urgent effort there to save lives, we will bring it to you, and you will see it for yourself right here on RICK'S LIST.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Hey, let me bring you back to this conversation, what is left about -- well, what is left of the Tropical Depression Hermine, still making its presence known in Texas, prompting some dramatic rescues.

Remember, yesterday, about this time, I said about Hurricane Hermine -- or Tropical Storm Hermine, yes, may not do a lot of damage as a storm coming into the coastline, but eventually, as it goes into inland Texas, expect the kinds of flash floods that often cause problems for people?

Well, the storm has dumped more than 10 inches of rain and is stranding many people. This is the scene in Arlington, Texas, a suburb just outside of Dallas. The Arlington Fire Department's swift water rescue crews had to use tow lines and ladder trucks to try and rescue people from rooftops when water covered the grounds of the Willow apartment there.

Look at the pictures. This is from our affiliate WFAA. They shot this video and actually assisted in some of these rescues, because there were not any hands on deck, so to speak. Firefighters got on the station's helicopter to give them better access to flood victims and flooding in reported parts of Dallas-Fort Worth and Saginaw as well.

Streets are flowing like rivers, we're told. Here's the bad news. Several more inches of rain are expected in the same rain- soaked areas, as this weather system begins moving into Oklahoma.

Joining us now is Chad Myers. He's been watching this.

Look at those pictures right there.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

SANCHEZ: You know, Chad, you and I were talking about this just the other day. Remember I said --

MYERS: Exactly.

SANCHEZ: -- I lived in Texas?

MYERS: Mm-hmm.

SANCHEZ: I remember.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Whenever they would get a lot of rain in one place --

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- bang, you would get these kind of flash floods all of a sudden.

MYERS: Almost a foot.

SANCHEZ: And it seems to be happening.

How bad is it?

MYERS: A -- a foot of rain in some spots around Round Rock and Austin and even overnight in Dallas and into Fort Worth, into Arlington. Those pictures -- I mean, most of those pictures we saw were Arlington near the Trinity River system, Dallas, right about there, under the A. in the Dallas, because you got Fort Worth. Then you got Dallas.

And it's still raining in some spots, although most of the rain is about over for a lot of the Dallas Metro, Fort Worth Metroplex. So, I guess that is some good news.

Look at the number. There's Georgetown. Now, that's right off I-35 from -- from Round Rock from Austin, 13.2 inches of rainfall. You just can't put that anywhere and not get flooding. And that is what is happening everywhere.

Another thing we're going to worry about, too, another storm out there, Tropical Storm Igor, the I-storm after Hermine --

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

MYERS: -- which was the H-storm. We're getting a lot of these interesting names.

But look at this. Look at this, Rick, Category 1, then Category 2, 100 miles per hour, by Monday, still in the middle of the Atlantic, but not -- not too far off the coast. There's the United States. There are the islands here.

But you mentioned -- this is now. OK? September 10, this is the peak of hurricane season, which means we're halfway done or are we more than halfway done? It could be a very busy couple more days.

SANCHEZ: Hmm. Igor, huh?

MYERS: Igor, huh? We will call it Igor if you're --

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Just -- that's funny.

(LAUGHTER) SANCHEZ: You stole my thought process. I was just going to kid you about that.

"Dr. Frankenstein"? "Young -- Young Frankenstein"?

MYERS: "Young Frankenstein."

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: Frank -- Frankenstein.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Frankenstein. You can tell I have been watching TV with my kids once again.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

MYERS: OK.

SANCHEZ: Another American city is also dealing with some destruction. Did you see this? Last night, we were all over this story. Flames suddenly start tearing through dozens of neighborhoods in Detroit. We're digging down on this bizarre outbreak of fires. That's coming up in just a little bit.

Also, what went wrong in the Gulf of Mexico moments before oil began to gush? This is a question that we have been asking for months now. Well, guess what? BP is now putting the blame on somebody else -- in fact, two somebody elses. We will tell you who they are.

Stay right there. That's next on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Do you guys remember "West Side Story"? Great play, right? Well, what you're looking at behind me there is in fact the West Side of New York. We're coming to you live all this week from New York City, not far from Columbus Circle. And there you see the West Side of the city.

Let me tell you what else is going on in the news today that you need to know about. BP is putting out its explanation of what happened with the oil blast in the Gulf of Mexico.

And its internal investigation is trying to explain what caused the problem with the Deepwater Horizon explosion. BP released the report just today.

First, a refresher: The April 20 disaster killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst oil disaster in U.S. history. BP now faces $20 million in fines, and its internal report finds plenty of blame to spread around.

Don Van Nieuwenhuise is a professor of petroleum geoscience at the University of Houston. He's the guy we always go to.

You know, when I looked at what the summary was on the report, it looks like BP is putting the blame on the two other guys, right?

DONALD VAN NIEUWENHUISE, GEOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: Yes, absolutely. They are pointing some fingers. And I do believe they should be pointing a few fingers.

But they have managed to dodge the -- the point from themselves in about six-and-a-half out of the eight of the reasons that they have listed.

SANCHEZ: Well, let -- let me -- let -- let --

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Top on the list is --

SANCHEZ: Let -- let -- let's take these one at a time, Professor. Let's take these one at a time.

First of all, there's a lot being made about Halliburton. And it was the very end of this investigation into what we -- while you and I were talking about this story that we all became aware that, apparently, Halliburton, of all the companies in the world, was the one who apparently did the cementing of the area around that blowout preventer at the very bottom of the rig.

Explain to our viewers, as a petroleum expert, in ways that they can understand what that is and what BP is saying that Halliburton did wrong.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Well, one of the things that they said that Halliburton did wrong was, they had too much of the -- the nitric slurry type gel and cement, and that they didn't put it in properly.

There's also a baffle, so to speak, between the mud and the cement. And, apparently, they don't feel that was put in correctly either. So, there was a number of issues.

One of the things that BP avoided discussing was the possibility that the casing design had anything to do with difficulty in putting the final cement plug into this well.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: And the final string of casing, of course, did not have enough centralizers on it. And, so, it could have shifted somewhat in the wellbore and affected the volumes. And, also --

SANCHEZ: We will -- we will --

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: -- if they --

SANCHEZ: We will just -- you know what? Because you're using a lot of really -- I get a sense that you know what you're talking about, because the words you're using are words that I don't understand. So, I will just take your word for it that you are deemed an expert on this.

So, because you're an expert, explain to our viewers, from what you have read that BP put out, are they right? Did Halliburton -- does it appear to you that Halliburton may have screwed up?

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: It appears to me that Halliburton may not have looked at this composition well enough ahead of time.

But BP itself also was in charge of approving the composition of the cement. And that's not really discussed very well in this. And -- and the critical aspect was testing whether or not the seal worked. And, in that case, BP did take some of the blame.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: They ran a number of pressure tests. And in those pressure tests, one of the things that they found, that the differential pressures, or the pressures, to make it simpler, that they needed to see, they were not seeing --

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: -- the appropriate pressures. But they ignored that data.

SANCHEZ: So, it sounds like it was a -- it was a group screw-up.

Transocean, let's talk about them. Apparently, BP is pointing the finger at them as well. How responsible were they in the causation of this thing?

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: BP -- did you say Transocean or BP? I didn't quite hear you there.

SANCHEZ: Transocean. Yes, Transocean --

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Oh, yes.

SANCHEZ: -- the guys who actually were in charge of the rig itself.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Yes.

I think, with regard to Transocean, there's a number of steps that went on later on in terms of diverting the flow when the blowout happened. They sent the flow to the wrong -- into the wrong pipe, into a gas separator, rather than sending it to a diverter that sends it offshore.

And that could have had something with the explosion being as dramatic as it was and also the loss of life.

SANCHEZ: Hmm. VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Also, Transocean is definitely responsible for making sure the blowout preventer is in good working order. And, of course, BP is as well.

And when you look at the eight things that they discuss, I -- I kind of think of the bookends as probably being the most critical. And the first is the cement. You need to make sure that that cement --

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: -- is -- is sealed properly. And that wasn't done. And then on the other hand of the --

SANCHEZ: And that's Halliburton's deal?

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: That's Halliburton.

And, on the other end, the blowout preventer obviously had maintenance problems that they have already identified. And there's absolutely no reason --

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: -- in the Gulf of Mexico, in the deep water, to be operating when you know that there are problems with your blowout preventer.

And it --

SANCHEZ: Wow.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: -- it doesn't matter if you have run one test and it's OK. You have to make sure the whole system is working before you operate.

SANCHEZ: What I hear you saying is that all three of them, Halliburton, BP and Transocean, were at fault, as far as you can tell, as an expert in certain regards, although, in the end, BP had the ultimate responsibility, because it was their operation, right?

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Yes. They're the operator. And the -- the other companies are the contractors.

And the operator has to review all the procedures and make sure that they're being done appropriately --

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

VAN NIEUWENHUISE: -- under regulation, and safely.

SANCHEZ: Professor Nieuwenhuise, my thanks to you once again for coming on and making this -- putting this in such a way so that we can understand it.

(LAUGHTER) SANCHEZ: By the way, I have this caveat that I should share with you now.

Transocean has released its own statement today, because they knew that this would be the response from BP, and they wanted to make sure that we had their response as well.

Here it goes. They say: "This is a self-serving report that attempts to conceal the critical factor that set the stage for the Macondo incident, BP's fatally flawed well design. In both its design and construction, BP made a series of cost-saving decisions that increased risk, in some cases severely, those decisions made exclusively by BP."

And Halliburton wants you to hear what their message is as well. Here we go. They say: "Deepwater operations are inherently complex. And a number of contractors are involved which routinely make recommendations to a single point of contact, the well owner. The well owner is responsible for designing the well program and any testing related to the well."

So, it essentially sounds like there's a lot of this going on. You know what that means? Everybody's pointing the fingers at each other.

Wolf Blitzer standing by now with some brand-new information just in from the world of politics. Don't miss the CNN "Political Ticker." We bring to it you as we go.

That's next on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Here we go. It's time now for a "CNN Equals Politics" update with Wolf Blitzer, who's with the best political team on television. Wolf, what's crossing right about now?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Rick, there's a lot of political news happening on this day. Let's go through some of the things here on the political ticker as CNN.com that we're watching.

The Republican National Committee has released a new video using Democrats to attack the Obama administration, some Democratic candidates who are in tough races, trying to distance themselves from the Democratic leadership and from President Obama, an interesting new video that the RNC has released on the web.

Speaking of the Republicans, John Boehner is getting a lot of publicity now, the president for the second time this week referring to John Boehner, the Republican leader in the house. He did it on Monday. He did it today in Cleveland, going after John Boehner specifically.

We've got a new CNN opinion Research Corporation poll, attitudes about John Boehner across the country -- 22 percent have favorable opinion, 23 percent unfavorable, but 55 percent are unsure. They don't know who John Boehner is, don't know much about him. But that could change as the president focuses in on Boehner.

Another item we're watching is the Vice President, Joe Biden, is heading to Pennsylvania for a fundraiser for Joe Sestak who's in a tough fight against Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey. So Biden in Pennsylvania. We're going to be watching that Pennsylvania race really close. It's one of the major ones out there right now. Rick?

SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Wolf. We certainly appreciate the update.

By the way, this tit for tat that's going on right now, I want to have an addition to that, you might say. You heard the president, right, just before we went on the air, the president of the United States gave the speech. And essentially what he was trying to convince Americans of which is what he believes apparently, and is partly true, is he inherited this huge economic problem from the Bush administration. He said it time and time again.

Well, now there are Republicans who are coming back after hearing the president's speech and saying, no, you created this problem. I bring you this. It's part of what we follow on Twitter, and it's also important because I'd like to know what you have to say about this.

Here we go to the Twitter board we go. This is Orrin Hatch. He says -- "No one believes this is administration, which created these problems, can truly solve them." Question to you on Twitter on this day, best response gets a copy of my book.

Did this administration create the economic problems or were they created by the past administration? I'd be interested to know what you say.

Could President Obama by the way, lose his chief of staff? Here's another interesting issue. Rahm Emanuel is the guy who's running the show behind the scenes. But just as the election season heats up, there are rumblings that he could be gunning for a job he's said many times in the past that he would like, and that's to be the mayor of Chicago.

So he can't be chief of staff at the White House and the mayor of Chicago as well. So something has to give.

Also, how much danger can one child's stuffed animal cause? In one case, it took a bomb squad to find this one out. You'll see what happens next on the LIST. That's coming up in "Fotos."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. There's a luxury cruise on the vast and majestic ocean -- wow, that sounds great, right? Right about this time of year, nice little vacation -- until suddenly something happens that we think you ought to watch. In fact, you're going to want to watch this. Play the music, Roger.

Have you guys seen this? You guys, take a look at this. Can you imagine if you're on a cruise ship, what would you do? Hold on to something. That's what I'd say.

You're on a ship and all of a sudden it goes left, then it goes right. Wait, then it goes back left. You say how much did I pay for this cruise, or how much did I drink? The cruise ship hit some really rough seas, to say the very least. Everything not nailed down started going from one side to the other.

This is like titanic-like, except of course it wasn't a disaster. Look at the furniture and the people flying around smashing into each other, one guy trying to hold onto somebody else. Dozens of passengers were, in fact, hurt, by the way, mostly bruises, broken bones and gashes. I could watch this all day. You can see it on my blog by the way.

Next video, keep your eye on that stuffed animal. Whoa -- there she goes. That's a ka-boom. You bet, wow! What's going on? It's an explosive handiwork of the Orlando, Florida bomb squad. They just sure what this was, so they left it there. So lo and behold, in the post-9/11 era you just blow it up -- boom.

Here's something else, stuffed pony in the middle of the road near a school. Police decided it was suspicious, so they blew it up. They decided to take no chances as well, took care of it with the bomb squad. Turns out there was nothing threatening about the little pony.

And this -- bad guy in Atlanta seen robbing a bank and wearing a mask, except he forgot something. He forgot that banks are full of cameras, and a pretty good image of him was taken before he put the mask on.

(LAUGHTER)

The FBI has this very clear picture and of course they're looking for him.

Those are the "Fotos del Dia," yes, it's "Fotos del Dia." You can see them for yourself. Go to my blog, CNN.com/RickSanchez.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It's time to check in with what's trending. Those are the things people are talking about on the Internet, on Google, on Twitter, et cetera. Look, just let me tell you something for the record, only because he's my friend -- you can't replace Larry King.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Me? Gosh, I was hoping.

SANCHEZ: Nobody can replace Larry King.

BALDWIN: What a great gig.

SANCHEZ: So I'm happy CNN has found somebody they think is really good --

BALDWIN: Big announcement today. Wait for it, wait for it. I have one trending item. Then we're going to get to Mr. Morgan in a moment.

First, though, if you were watching Jay Leno last night, there's some news coming out with senator McCain's daughter, Meghan. This is for the very first time she is dishing about her dad's former running mate, Sarah Palin. In fact, she's written about it in her new book. She's on a book tour blitz.

She told Jay Leno when she first heard about Sarah Palin, she cried. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEGHAN MCCAIN: I found out an hour before I went on stage with her. I think they were scared I would say something, or whatever. Like the rest of the country, I had no idea who she was. And I was crying on the bus on the way to the rally. I remember being on stage and remember thinking, god, let her not have any skeletons in the closet, please, god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Meghan McCain even shared her nickname for Sarah Palin. It is "Time bomb." That's after a Beck song. So she's also asked what did she think if Sarah Palin were to run for president in 2012 and she actually made it to the general election, would you vote for her? She said she could never actually bring herself she didn't think to vote for a Democrat. She kind of danced around whether or not she would cast a vote for Mrs. Palin.

SANCHEZ: And now the story about the guy who's going to replace Larry King.

BALDWIN: Right. So I want to go to the Twitter board because we were talking about how Larry king is super hip with Twitter, which we love on this show. So I want to go to Larry king's tweet. He broke the news "After 25 great years, "LARRY KING LIVE" will end in December. Piers Morgan will have a new show starting in January."

So who is Piers Morgan, you ask? Most Americans know him -- he's a judge from "America's Got Talent." He actually started his career as a newspaper reporter in the U.K. where he's from. He went on to become editor-in-chief for "Daily Mirror," wrote a column for a number of years for "GQ" and actually still write a column for "The Daily Mail."

He in fact has been quoted as saying he's dreamed of filling the majorly legendary suspenders ff Larry King. The show has yet to be named. And Piers Morgan, if you're watching, we're looking for your Twitter account. I couldn't find one.

SANCHEZ: I'll call you, Piers and tell you how you do this thing. He sounds like a very competent guy. And we are arms out. We will embrace him and welcome him.

BALDWIN: Welcome to CNN, welcome.

SANCHEZ: But you can't replace Larry King, for the record.

BALDWIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You're welcome.

SANCHEZ: Is the president's get tough image calming some skittish Democrats and reassuring voters. We're going to drill down on this strategy. Roland Martin is going to be here in just a little bit. We're going to do something we call the "R&R" segment, as in "Roland and Rick." He makes me say it in that order, too.

Talk about your close calls, an animal trainer at a Vegas casino gets roughed up by a lion. What happened? We're going to talk to a lion expert. That's coming up. Stay right here. I'm Rick Sanchez.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Guess what -- moments ago, the Republican minority leader, John Boehner, sent me a tweet, personally. He sent a tweet to this newscast in response to what we were talking about a little while ago, in response in general to what the president of the United States said about John Boehner during his speech.

Roland Martin's coming up now for the "R&R" segment. Roland, take a listen to this, because what I want to do is get your reaction right away. To the Twitter board we go.

See, @RickSanchez, he sent it to us. He says, this if from John Boehner, "If the president of the United States is serious about jobs, he should cut spending to the '08 levels and listen to his former budget director and freeze tax rates."

To Roland, what do you make of John Boehner giving this advice to the president of the United States? Do you think it's sound advice?

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, it's not surprising because clearly Boehner does not want the president's attack on him to carry today in terms of the news cycle. And so what you also have is the White House frankly not happy with Orszag making his comment yesterday.

You've already heard David Axelrod come out and say he was really speaking about a legislative issue. That is, how do you get a jobs bill through, how do you get what you want out of this Congress? So Axelrod is spinning it as saying, well, Orszag is really saying, look, you need to get their votes, so therefore you only do it for the next two years and then they expire.

But it's still going to be a tough sell for Democrats in Congress to not -- to go along with the president and allow those tax cuts to expire if it's going to have a negative impact on the economy. SANCHEZ: But the president is using this as gamesmanship against the Republicans, saying, look, you're keeping hostage the tax cuts for middle income Americans for the sake of the two percent of the population that is super-rich. That's the argument the president is using.

Politically it's a strong argument that he's going to use going into November whether he gets some kind of bipartisan deal or not.

MARTIN: It is a strong argument only if it takes hold with the electorate. And that's the issue, there. Remember, Republicans have been able to lay claim to the issue of, we are returning to fiscal conservatism.

For instance, in his speech today, the president said that the tax cuts will cost us, in terms of the deficit, $700 billion over the next ten years. Now, when he made that comment, I can automatically hear Republicans saying, hey, Mr. President, you should have been thinking about that before you pushed there through health care.

And so that is going to be the dance the White House has to deal with by saying the tax cuts will actually contribute to the deficit.

Also, what I find to be interesting is, one year of these tax cuts would pay for that infrastructure plan he also unveiled on Monday of $50 billion. So I'm surprised he didn't say, hey, Republicans take your pick. Do you want to build roads schools and fire houses and police stations, or do you want to give the rich tax breaks? Democrats have to set up that either/or situation.

SANCHEZ: Well, there is no question that the president seems to have a different demeanor now -- more assertive, seemingly more on the attack, less conciliatory not just today but in the speech he gave in Milwaukee on Monday as well. Take a listen --

MARTIN: And some are saying --

SANCHEZ: I want to see your reaction to this. I want to play for the viewers who may have missed it. It was about 55 minutes ago when the president concluded his speech there in Columbus. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Look, I recognize that most of the Republicans in Congress have said no to just about every policy I proposed since taking office. I realize in some cases that there are genuine philosophical differences.

But on issues like this one, a tax cut for small businesses supported by the Chamber of Commerce, the only reason they're holding this up is politics, pure and simple.

(APPLAUSE) They're making the same calculation they made just before my inauguration. If I fail, they win. Well, they might think that this will get them to where they want to go in November, but it won't get our country going where it needs to go in the long run.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He got a standing ovation for that comment. It's interesting. By the way, I said the president was in Columbus. He was actually closer to Cleveland today.

MARTIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: I'm thinking Columbus because I'm all fired up about that University of Miami-Ohio State game that's coming up this weekend. I apologize for that. Roland, I figured you would understand that.

MARTIN: I'm a Texas Aggie. I don't really care about Ohio State.

Here's what is interesting. I thought he would have added an important line in there when he spoke to the chamber of commerce, because they traditionally support Republicans. They often don't back Democrats.

So I thought if he added that particular line it would have resonated even more so by saying, wait a minute, even the guys who always oppose me and what I typically do, they're backing this small business deal.

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you this question before I lose you. If you were --

MARTIN: Sure.

SANCHEZ: -- advising this president, would you say, Mr. President, what you're doing, what you did in Milwaukee and what you did today in Cleveland is right on. Keep it up, keep hammering away at those Republicans? Or would you say, back off. Go back to being the cool, conciliatory guy you used to be? What would you say?

MARTIN: No, you cannot back off. You have to go on the offensive. You have to have a very clear and concise plan, and that is they screwed up when they were in control. We had to fix their mess. You have to say it over and over again.

The Republicans have been very smart when it comes to their strategy. They've said perfectly clear they are spending too much. They're blowing the deficit, and they cannot be in control of both houses of Congress as well as the White House. That's the problem.

SANCHEZ: Roland Martin, always a pleasure talking to you. Go Aggies, right? MARTIN: Absolutely, sir. That's right.

SANCHEZ: "R&R," coming back to you next week.

All right, we've seen Lady Gaga say and wear some outlandish outfits, right? But we've got a photo that takes the cake, or maybe we should say takes the steak. You'll get it. We're going to show it to you in just a couple minutes. And you can't leave. You have to see this. Everybody is talking about it. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: There is a ton of Twitter reaction to who is at fault. Exclusively on this show you saw John Boehner going after the president. You saw the president going after John Boehner. We're going to be all over that when we come back.

Meanwhile a lion attack caught on camera. I'm going to show you a fascinating video of the lion flipping out on its trainer. The whole thing happened in front of tourists in Vegas, by the way, and they shot it. The LIST goes on in just a moment.

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