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Rick's List

President Obama Outlines Economic Fix; Imam Involved in Ground Zero Mosque Controversy Speaks Out; Staten Island Brush Fires; Detroit Hit By Dozens of Fires; President Obama's Plan to Fix Economy; When Animals Attack

Aired September 08, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. I'm here in New York on a book tour this week because our book, "Conventional Idiocy" releases this week, and I've been seeing it in all the book stores.

But it is really the story of how you have empowered me. So many of you have helped me with this newscast, all of us as part of the RICK'S LIST staff.

So I wanted to give you something back in my own small way so after every newscast I'm going to give you one of my autographed books and we've got a winner as they say.

Let's go to the Twitter board if we possibly can and you're going to see that Hawkeye makes the list today. She sent this Twitter. And I think it's interesting because it cuts right through the argument that we presented today exclusively between a president and John Boehner. "It doesn't matter who created the problems we're now experiencing. The finger-pointing needs to stop. It is not helping. That is what America says." You'll get your book in the mail.

All right, as we begin this next hour, I want to welcome the men and women who are watching us right now on Armed Forces Network around the world. We are the news of record at this hour for you in Iraq, Afghanistan, and we're glad you're there.

Here is your national conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's still a choice between sliding backwards and moving forward. That's what this election is about. That's the choice that you will face in November.

SANCHEZ: Goodbye, charm offensive. Hello, Mr. Forceful. President Obama lays out the new him.

L.A. police shoot a man they say had a knife. The crowd doesn't buy it. They face off with rocks, bottles, televisions, you name it. We are on it. (on camera): Do you think this man, this pastor is stuck on stupid, sir?

LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: If not, he is the closest thing I have seen to it lately.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): Stuck on stupid. And that's just the beginning of what you will hear from this angry general when it comes to this pastor.

And why is the bomb squad blowing up a toy pony? The answer just ahead.

The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list.

Pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And here we go. It's hour two, time to pick up the pace of today's LIST, for those of you who are just now checking in.

Number one, this Saturday could prove to be a very emotional, possibly a very divisive September 11. Since the 9/11 terror attacks almost nine years ago, it may be the most newsworthy. That Florida preacher that we have been telling you about says he still plans to sponsor a burn a Koran day on Saturday, Terry Jones, the guy in Gainesville, Florida. I am going to have more on that for you in just a little bit.

But, first, we are hearing for the very first time from the imam who is behind plans to build an Islamic community center and a mosque near Ground Zero. He is defending the project now officially in an op-ed in "The New York Times."

It's almost 1,000 words long, but we will cut to the chase. Essentially, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf says he is very sensitive to the feelings of the families of victims of 9/11. And he says the objective has always been to make this a center for unification and healing.

But, still, a number of people are skeptical about the imam's motives. Some are wondering, who is this guy anyway? And is he out to build bridges or burn bridges?

To get a better idea of more about the story, I want to go now to my colleague, Deb Feyerick, who has been watching the story for quite a while. She's joining me here in the studio.

But before I go to her live, let's watch this report that she has put together on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you never heard him speak, this is what Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has to say.

IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MUSLIM ADVANCEMENT: The major theme in Islam is the oneness of god and that we should worship one god, love and adore the one god.

FEYERICK: People who know Imam Feisal say he's a voice of moderation. The State Department --

P. J. CROWLEY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: His work on tolerance and religious diversity is well known.

FEYERICK: The developer of the controversial Islamic center near ground zero.

SHARIF EL-GAMAL, ISLAMIC CENTER DEVELOPER: He is somebody who has sacrificed his life to building bridges within communities.

FEYERICK: Islamic scholar and university professor John Esposito.

FEYERICK (on camera): How you would describe him? Is he a threat?

PROF. JOHN ESPOSITO, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Feisal is, from my point of view, he is Mr. Mellow.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Imam Feisal is a Sufi Muslim, at the other end of the Islamic section from the radical theology that feeds groups like Al Qaeda.

ESPOSITO: He approaches Islam spiritually. He is of Sufian background, which means one pursues, if you will, a more kind of spiritual, mystical path. He is somebody who finds terrorism and religious extremism as abhorrent. He's run a mosque in this area for years and years and years.

FEYERICK: That mosque is ten blocks from ground zero and has co- existed peacefully in the Tribeca neighborhood for 28 years.

ESPOSITO: He is integrated himself into the community.

FEYERICK: According to his biography, Feisal Abdul Rauf was born in Kuwait in 1948 into an Egyptian family steeped in religious scholarship. In 1997 he founded the nonprofit American Society for Muslim Advancement. Its mission described on the Web site as "Strengthening an authentic expression of Islam based on cultural and religious harmony through interfaith collaboration, youth, and women's empowerment."

Several years later, Rauf founded the Cordoba Institute to improve relations between the Muslim world and the west, writing how American Muslims can help bridge the divide. The State Department noticed, sending him as a cultural ambassador on four trips to the Middle East, most recently this summer.

GRAEME BANNERMAN, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL: They tried to get people who reflect the best aspects of American societies.

FEYERICK: Rauf is often asked to speak at meetings like the World Economic Forum in Davos. He was criticized after 9/11 for saying U.S. support of repressive regimes is partly responsible for the attacks, but maintained his remarks on "60 Minutes" had been taken out of context.

Rauf supports Israel's right to exist but says as a bridge builder, he can't condemn radically Palestinian group Hamas as terrorists. Asked for the proposed Islamic center and mosque near ground zero, he says that, too, is about bridges.

RAUF: This is also our expression of the 99. 999 percent of Muslims all over the world, including in America who have condemned and continue to condemn terrorism. This is about our stand as the Muslim community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And Deb Feyerick joins us now live here.

How -- he has been on the road for quite some time serving as a cultural ambassador --

FEYERICK: Right.

SANCHEZ: -- supposedly trying to uplift the opinions of Americans around the world.

But while he was out there, he was getting lambasted here by many people. Did he have any sense that this was going on while he was gone?

FEYERICK: You know, I don't think he ever saw it coming.

In fact, from the leaders that I'm talking to in the Muslim community, nobody ever saw this coming. This is -- what is so interesting about this is, it appears that the imam, his wife, the developer, they never reached out to national organizations or regional organizations.

SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.

FEYERICK: So the rest of the Muslim community nationwide found out at the same time everyone else did. And the response of some was, I'm sorry. You're building what where?

So, they're reconciling that now. They have been having conference calls. They have been talking to these different groups. They have hired two different public relations companies is what I'm being told in order to sort of coordinate the message.

But they're really dealing with a blowback that they had no idea. They didn't do the kind of due diligence or opposition research that you need if you're going to go with this kind of an issue. SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a tough question that I hear out there all the time from people who are uncomfortable with this discussion to begin with. Do they feel, the folks, the organizers of this Islamic center, do they feel that this is a true grassroots effort that represents the heart of Americans, or do they feel like this thing has been pumped up, orchestrated, jacked up?

FEYERICK: Well, it's interesting. A lot of the Muslims are having to deal with this center. They weren't asked whether it should be built. They were basically told it was going to happen.

And now they're really in a position where some of the vandalism that's occurring, some of the hate speech that's happening that's directed towards them, you have police agencies, law enforcement agencies that are really keeping a close eye on various Muslims, communities in a positive way to make sure that nothing happens to them.

So, really, they are left to pick up the pieces of something that may have been -- that started with very good intentions, building a community center that is very much needed, but now it's taken on a life of its own.

The one movement that we're seeing -- and it came out in the op- ed -- and that is when I spoke to the developer back in July, he said this was only going to be a Muslim prayer space within this whole cultural center. Now it does appear that they're going to have other religions, Christians, Jews, prayer space for them. So it is becoming a little bit more interfaith in that sense.

SANCHEZ: Well, he did say in the speech by the way going back to this question about whether it's orchestrated or real or what's going on, because people are watching this from all over the country -- he did say he is sensitive -- in his "New York Times" op-ed -- that he is very sensitive to the needs and the reaction and sensibilities of the 9/11 families.

FEYERICK: And the 9/11 families are really a big part in all of this, Rick.

When you think about it, I spoke to a couple of the families. They said, look, this is not a polarizing issue. We're not -- the 9/11 families don't want to be pitted one against the other.

But what they do want is, is, it's such a divisive issue right now and it's being turned into something political, so it just -- it is very tricky.

SANCHEZ: I will tell you, it's the story, though. And tonight there is going to be more on this.

FEYERICK: Yes.

SANCHEZ: We want to thank you. I know you have been like all over this thing. We will be probably joining you tonight again here on the prime-time edition of RICK'S LIST. Meanwhile, now to that Florida preacher who is saying he wants to burn Korans. People are getting extremely emotional about this. He is still praying about it. He is still planning to go through with it, even though the military's top man in Afghanistan warns it will put American troops in danger.

That's really hitting a nerve. I want you to listen to this. This is my interview with a man I deeply respect. He is a retired Army lieutenant general, Russel Honore. I called on him last night. I asked what he thought of this whole thing. Listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: General, I was reading one of your e-mails to our staff earlier today and you went back to those famous words that you once issued, stuck on stupid. Do you think this man, this pastor, is stuck on stupid, sir?

HONORE: If not, he's the closest thing I have seen to it lately. If you consider that he said in his sanctuary that has been fought for and protected by our military men and women around the world as we speak today, and to do an act that would put them in danger after being requested by a senior commander in the field not to do that, there are many things this pastor don't understand.

And understanding the environment these troops are working in and the importance of the Koran to the people that we're working with that he should not do this and still he is persisting on doing this. He is stuck on stupid.

SANCHEZ: Sir, I understand this is quite personal to you. Would you explain to our viewers why?

HONORE: Well, our oldest son just came back from his second tour in Iraq. He was there in 2005 and then returned medical evacuated about a month and a half ago.

I deployed as the first Army commander over 430,000 troops to Iraq and Afghanistan, visited both Iraq and Afghanistan several times, saw the challenges those commanders are having on the ground, are trying to build that Afghan army specifically speaking in Afghanistan, trying some of the most toughest terrain, the longest logistics routes in the world to get to places and those troops work 24/7 continuously since they have been there.

And to see a person who has the right to see something that has been built on the privileges for those who have gone out and fought and now he's putting those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines at risk because of his idea that he has the right to do this under that very right has been given and protected for him, brought 234 years by the soldiers, sailors and airmen and marines in this country and he won't respect that a field commander has asked him not to do this.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

HONORE: This guy is stupid. And where are the few good Americans, the few and the willing who is going to try and encourage him not to do this?

SANCHEZ: General --

HONORE: I understand he's asking for some sign from God. They tell him a guy called me a little while ago, and tell him not to do it.

SANCHEZ: General --

HONORE: Just not do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Tonight, our very own Soledad O'Brien, by the way, is going to be sitting down with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. This is going to be his very first television interview since returning from the Middle East, again, exclusively here on CNN. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern right after prime-time RICK'S LIST on "LARRY KING LIVE."

Well, what happens when a tropical storm runs out of gas over your town? Well, in the case of Hermine, it's still able to pack a punch over Arlington, Texas.

I understand from my producers back in Atlanta that we have just gotten some pictures that are coming in, new pictures coming in from some of the flooding that's being caused there. We are going to take you through this in just a little bit.

Also, BP is now releasing the results of its own investigation into the Gulf oil spill. And they're pointing -- so, what are they saying went wrong? We are going to tell you what their version of events is when we come back on RICK'S LIST.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Breaking news is coming into us now and I was looking over at some of the tweets that we're getting as well, which seem to reflect there is something that officials are going to be dealing with here for sometime here.

Before we do that, Rog, put up the shot that's coming in now from Staten Island. Take a look at this. These are, you know, Staten Islands, one of New York's five boroughs. Two brush fires burning on Staten Island this afternoon, this is what we're getting. No injuries at this time. New York City Fire Department on it. They're battling a four-alarm brushfire on Buffalo Street and Highland Boulevard. Apparently it's extended all the way to Fox Beach. Three alarms sounding at the 43 Ridgewood Avenue area.

So there you go. We told you about the brushfires and the wildfires taking place outside of Boulder, Colorado, yesterday. Now these coming in from just outside New York, New York. Staten Island to be more exact. And let me show you this tweet from New York Office of Emergency Management, OEM. "Emergency personnel are on the scene of a three- alarm brushfire in the vicinity of Highland Boulevard, Buffalo Street in (Staten Island) SI. Expect traffic delays." So breaking news coming into us right now. This is from Staten Island.

Also now, I want to show you some of these new pictures that are coming in from Texas. Remember the other day we talked about this, the fact that, OK, the hurricane comes in and they miss, maybe not do as much damage, but if it sits up there in the inland parts of Texas, it will cause problems.

Chad Myers is going to help me pick this up now. Chad, you know what we're looking at here?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Six Flags over Texas in Dallas.

SANCHEZ: Ooh, is that water?

MYERS: No, just kind of mud. I think water was up and now it's come back down and that's what flash flooding is about. Literally, some of these streams and creeks that are still downriver from where it rained yesterday could go up 12 feet in about three hours. We've seen that. That's not an abnormal number.

And so, if you're 12 feet from the water, you want to make sure you know what's going on because this water has been going up so very fast and obviously the water still has to go somewhere. Just because it stopped raining in a lot of spots doesn't mean the flooding will stop.

All of these counties all the way from Austin all the way back down here almost back to San Antonio, especially Round Rock and Georgetown really getting hard hit. Then all of these red counties here -- that's Dallas, Metro Ft. Worth right there -- that's where we got flood warnings going on at this point.

And it's still raining in some spots. Not a lot of rain. It's kind of slowed down significantly since yesterday but all the way through Dallas, all the way down I-35 there have been numbers of 15 inches, 15 inches of rainfall in the past 24 hours. There's not a place in the world that can handle that except maybe the Amazon and then the water doesn't go very far, it just goes back into the river.

The rivers here, the Trinity, back into the red, we will definitely be seeing significant flooding in the next couple of days and even right now where the water was and where it rained just a couple hours ago the flooding is there down river. If you live down river of Dallas or Waco or San Antonio or Austin, you better know what's going on -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right, Chad. Appreciate it, man. Stay on top of that for us.

Meantime, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She lied right to my face knowing that my family was dying of cancer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What did this woman allegedly lie about? See her right there? You're going to be disgusted when you hear her story. That's ahead.

Also, dozens of Detroit neighborhoods in ashes. The city's already dealing with enough economic turmoil, but now suddenly a string of devastating fires break out all over the city, from one neighborhood to the next. What happened? I'll take you through it.

Stay right there. This is RICK'S LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK )

SANCHEZ: Here are the lists of stories that we are following up on today.

First of all did you see our newscast last night in primetime? Because suddenly something revealed itself to us out of Detroit, a bizarre rash of fires that look like this. I mean, flames tearing through whole blocks jumping from house to house in a city already devastated by years of hard, economic times. There were about 85 fires within just four hours in Detroit.

What gives, right? So many that firefighters had trouble getting all of them out. Dozens of buildings destroyed, some of them commercial, most of them residential. But about 20 houses actually caught fire in one neighborhood, most of them empty. They were abandoned after hard times.

The bulk of the fire were caused by a perfect storm, according to officials -- hot, dry weather, winds gusting to almost 50 miles an hour, and power lines that were crashing on top of buildings setting them on fire and then the wind would spread the embers from one roof to another.

Electrical transformers started exploding to boot. You could actually hear them pop. In fact, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, IREPORT BY JOE WILK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire all the way down there. Wires are on fire. There goes the boom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "There goes the boom."

Now, take a look at this. This is Detroit today. It's like a war zone. That's how one woman puts it. Her neighborhood was devastated. What were once houses and cars are now scorched hulks. Making the situation even worse there wasn't enough man power to fight all of the fires all at once. At least two are believed to be the work of an arsonist, though.

Gloria Borger is standing by live in Kentucky where some congressional battles are heating up. We're going to take you to the very latest stop on the CNN Election Express. There it is.

We're going to be right back. This is RICK'S LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Time now for a "CNN Equals Politics" update with Gloria Borger who is standing by as part of "The Best Political Team on Television."

Gloria, what you got?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Rick. How you doing?

We were across the river this morning in Cincinnati and we were looking at a really hotly contested congressional race between democrat, the incumbent, Steven Driehaus and the republican challenger, Steve Chabot. It's a very tight race right now, Rick, and what is interesting is that it's all going to depend on voter turnout.

The Democrats are using the old Obama model, trying to get their democratic voters out but the republican candidate, Steve Chabot, said to me, quote, listen to this, that he has been told by Republicans they would "crawl over broken glass to get to the polls." So that about says it all about republican enthusiasm.

Now, moving right along to tax cuts for the wealthy. You've been covering President Obama's speech today. He made it very clear that what he wants to do is make the tax cuts for the middle class permanent and end the tax cuts for the wealthy that were voted on during the Bush era. We went back and looked at our CNN polls over the summer and 51 percent of Americans think tax cuts should continue only for those families who earn less than $250,000 a year.

And moving on to Florida, that's another key battleground state, as it always is in the midterms. The republican nominee for governor, Rick Scott, has accepted CNN's invitation to debate his democratic opponent in October. As you know, Rick Scott spent $50 million of his own money. He was the antiestablishment candidate there in that primary.

And coming up in the next hour, Rick, is another very important development in the Florida Senate race. We're going to have a new "Time"/CNN poll which will tell us how that race is going. And as you know, Charlie Crist, the former governor, stunned the political world when he became an independent candidate instead of a republican. We're going to tell you how he's doing in the next hour.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and there's Marco Rubio and there's Kendrick Meek in that race as well.

BORGER: Oh, yes.

SANCHEZ: And it's one that many all over the country are actually watching because it might set the stage.

Good stuff, Gloria. Appreciate the report.

Our next political update, by the way, is just one hour away. Remember, for all the latest political news just go to CNN.com on Twitter @politicalticker.

Ahead, a lion gets up close and with his -- up close and personal I think the expression is, right? -- with his trainer. I'm going to show you some amazing video.

Also, we're going to have a guest on how to figure out what the lion was actually trying to do, because as you watch this video I think you might be somewhat perplexed.

Also, just how harmful can a stuffed pony be? I mean, really. We'll show you why we're asking in a little bit. This is all going to be part of "Fotos."

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: You have to watch this interview. It's like nothing we've seen in a very long time. Are you ready? Let's do "Fotos."

All right. Imagine you take a cruise, right? Having a good time, and all of a sudden, wow! Why is everything going to the right? And then, just as you kind of get your composure suddenly everything starts going to the left. And people start going to the left and to the right and they're falling down. Just the most unbelievable thing we've seen around here in quite a long time.

This is a cruise that was off the coast of New Zealand. Nobody saw the big waves coming. The good news is, they went ahead and told the company, you know what, passengers, we'll give you part of your money that you paid back so you can take another cruise. Hey, after all, look at that. That looks like a lot of fun, right? Not.

All right. Now take a look at this. Keep your eye on the stuffed animal. Watch? Yes. That's a big ka-boom. Yes. Wow. What's going on? It's an explosive handiwork of the Orlando, Florida bomb squad. In fact, here is another view. See it? It's a ka-boom.

And someone left a stuffed pony in the middle of the road near a school. Police decided it was suspicious, decided to take no chances. They took care of it -- the bomb squad way. Turns out it wasn't anything threatening.

Then there is this, a bad guy in Atlanta, right? Seen robbing a bank. See, he is wearing a mask. He forgot something. Before he put on the mask, there are cameras all over the bank, silly. So, they got a pretty good image of him before he put the mask on. And now the FBI knows exactly who they're looking for.

Those are "Fotos Del Dia." See them for yourself on my blog at CNN.com/ricksanchez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think I can accept an apology at this time. The satisfaction of seeing her in handcuffs I guess would be what I want to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Why is that woman so angry at that woman that you're seeing right there? Actually a lot of people are angry and in tears. It's a shocking hoax that you need to see to believe. That's ahead.

Also, we've all heard of skirt steak, but a well-known pop star may have taken things a little bit too far. Brooke Baldwin joins me next with "What's Trending" and she's here in New York as well. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I want to tell you "What's Trending" right now, and to do that we've flown in Brooke Baldwin.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To trend in New York.

SANCHEZ: Exactly. Where it's hip to be trendy.

BALDWIN: Oh, that's what I hear. Only you would know, Sanchez.

Anyway, it is fitting, actually, this being the week of the ninth anniversary of 9/11. Here we are in New York, oddly enough. And since we are just a couple days away, this original piece of one of the Twin Towers is now returned home.

Have you seen this video? Pretty poignant. Look at this. This is what they're calling The Trident. This is an actual piece of the facade of the World Trade Center. It was lowered onto the site of the memorial museum just yesterday.

I found out it's actually been sitting at JFK airport in a hangar with a couple other pieces of the original building that they're holding on to. The museum itself won't open until 2012, but the memorial, which you can see with aerial pictures, the two holes where the towers once stood, there will be two reflecting pools where the footprints of the towers -- that should be complete. That's what the governor and the mayor out there yesterday were saying, it should be complete by next year, which is of course the tenth anniversary.

SANCHEZ: By the way, that reminds me. You know who is joining me tonight in primetime?

BALDWIN: Governor who?

SANCHEZ: Pataki.

BALDWIN: Pataki, yes.

SANCHEZ: Governor George Pataki will be joining me here live. He is very strong proponent of not letting the Islamic cultural center go in. Tonight, and we'll be talking about that.

BALDWIN: You talked to him recently, didn't you?

SANCHEZ: We did talk recently. And smart guy. He's got a lot to say, and he's going to be joining us tonight.

(CROSSTAKL)

SANCHEZ: -- when I saw that , because he was the former governor of New York.

BALDWIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Now, Lady Gaga --

BALDWIN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- in the news. Why?

BALDWIN: Why? Well, you know, just when you thought she couldn't get any more crazy, outrageous, out there with her hair styles and her shoulder pads and outfits, take a look at this with me. This is the cover of a Japanese men's "Vogue" magazine. If you can't quite make it out, let me tell you what that is. That is a raw meat bikini.

SANCHEZ: Is that right?

BALDWIN: That's right.

So, she was aiming to outrage, and guess who she outraged? PETA. I called PETA today. And here is what the president of the organization is telling us here at CNN. I want to read this to you. "Oh, Lady Gaga's job is to do outlandish things, and this certainly qualifies as outlandish because meat is something you want to avoid putting on or in your body."

SANCHEZ: I don't get it. Why would PETA get mad at her because she's not saying eat meat. In fact, she is --

BALDWIN: Right, but they're looking at her and she has meat all over her body and they're thinking -- they see it as she is torturing the animal --

SANCHEZ: No!

BALDWIN: You shouldn't be eating meat and you definitely shouldn't be wearing it on your body. SANCHEZ: Oh, I get it.

BALDWIN: You get it.

SANCHEZ: I would almost think the meat industry would come out and be against Lady Gaga for disparaging their product, though.

BALDWIN: I did not make the meat industry phone call.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I can do that later for you.

SANCHEZ: Not thorough enough for me!

BALDWIN: Sorry.

SANCHEZ: I kid, but I kid because I love by the way. Go on.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

Number three, big announcement here at CNN today. I begin with Larry King's tweet. You are looking at Piers Morgan. Who is that? Let me show you the tweet first. "After 25 great years, "LARRY KING LIVE" will end in December. Piers Morgan will have a new show starting in January.

Who is this man you're seeing pictures of? There's the tweet. Piers Morgan, a lot of us here in America know him from "America's Got Talent," right? He's a judge. But he actually started his career - not a lot of people realize this -- working at a paper, at a newspaper in the UK. Went on to became editor-in-chief for "The Daily Mirror," wrote some columns for GQ and will continue writing columns for "The Daily Mail."

He has dreamed -- I read he has dreamed of filling Larry King's legendary suspenders, so now he gets to. The show has not been named yet. We're all wondering what might it be named, the talk show. So Larry King as he said in his tweet, his show ends in December. And Piers Morgan begins in January.

SANCHEZ: And we welcome him -

BALDWIN: We welcome him!

SANCHEZ: -- with open arms.

BALDWIN: Congratulations.

SANCHEZ: Fantastic. Piers, nice to have you here.

BALDWIN: Welcome, Piers Morgan. Big news.

SANCHEZ: Welcome to America, as they say.

BALDWIN: That's "What's Trending." That's all over the Internet today.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it! You going to join me tonight?

BALDWIN: You got it.

SANCHEZ: 8:00 p.m. Be there, be square.

BALDWIN: And Governor Pataki.

SANCHEZ: And Governor Pataki. Just the three of us.

How far would some people go to make a quick buck? Well, there is a sickening scam I want to tell you about. This definitely makes "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This is one of the segments many of you look forward to.

Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. So glad many of you are with us.

More than 560,000 Americans are expected to die this year of cancer. Some of them are children. Fighting through unimaginable pain this very second. So, when I heard about one woman allegedly faking cancer for cash, she absolutely made me -- first angry -- and then my "List U Don't Want 2 Be On."

This is Bridget Corcoran. Police in Upstate New York say that she lied about having non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She told her family, her friends, and her community that she was really sick. She even shaved her head, wore something resembling some kind of chemotherapy device so she could fool people. In July, they held a benefit for her and it raised nearly $3,000.

But police say there is no evidence she ever even had cancer. No medical diagnosis to back it up. Listen to what somebody who helped her is now saying about that ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE LEVANDOWSKI, HELPED WITH BENEFIT: She lied right to my face through everything that I've been through this year. And she lied right to my face, knowing that my family was dying of cancer. And then my aunt died of cancer the day she was arrested, and my aunt even bought raffle tickets for her stupid benefit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A lot of people feeling that way. That woman says she has lost faith in humanity as a result of her experience of someone lying to her. Police say Corcoran has confessed to the entire hoax that she did it for attention.

However, she is now pleading not guilty to a couple of different felonies she has been charged with.

Another woman who donated money says even though the suspect doesn't have cancer, she is sick all right. Sick in the head is what she said.

Brigid Corcoran, for that, as I'm sure many of you would agree, lands at the very top of "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."

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SANCHEZ: Let's top the economy list now.

The president hit the road today with his latest financial fix. President Obama laid out his plans in Parma, Ohio, this afternoon. That's just outside of Cleveland, by the way.

It was a laundry list of jobs, tax credits, and jabs at the Republican opposition once again. The president's two for two when it comes to that, making Republicans not so happy, making progressives and liberals very happy. It sounded at times like a stump speech.

Wolf Blitzer is in D.C. He's bringing up his own show here in just a little bit.

Wolf, midterm elections are just two months away, and we hear already how some of the Dems are doomed to lose many elections. It's the midterms, and the party in power always loses a chunk or two.

Is there any question as we do polling at CNN that this is going to be about the economy?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: There is no question that the economy is issue number one. There is no question that jobs, unemployment, part of that issue number one.

The economy, the economy, the economy -- that's what folks are most concerned about. There will be some who are very worried about what's happening in Afghanistan, what's happening in the war on terror, in Iraq, other issues. Some are fascinated with the environment, some are fascinated with borders and immigration.

But overriding all of this, the number one issue is the economy. There is no doubt about that. And that will be decisive in determining the outcome of this election.

SANCHEZ: You know what's interesting? Is the fact that the president has suddenly taken this tact which is less conciliatory, less cool, if you would, than the tact that he's taken in the past.

What is your take on this, Wolf?

BLITZER: Well, we're getting closer. We're less than two months away from an election, so the political season, the political rhetoric is heating up.

And we heard the president in Milwaukee this week, now in Cleveland. The rhetoric is heating up. And he is really going after John Boehner who might -- repeat, might -- be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives if the Republicans reclaim the majority in the House.

So he went after Boehner on Monday. He's going after him today. So that rhetoric is heating up.

And I've covered politics, as have you, Rick, for a long time. The closer you get to an election, whether a midterm election or a presidential election, the rhetoric is always going to heat up.

SANCHEZ: The rhetoric heats up and nothing seems to get done. Right?

BLITZER: The closer you get to an election, the less likely anything will be done in terms of legislative priorities.

SANCHEZ: Right.

BLITZER: You're absolutely right.

SANCHEZ: Wolf Blitzer coming up with "THE SITUATION ROOM" in just a little bit. And we're going to be all over that.

By the way, I should tell you guys at home something important. You help me. In fact, when I started this idea of marrying, you know, mainstream newscasts with social media, you've been there every step of the way for me, more than a hundred thousand of you.

You send me story ideas. You critique me. You tell me when I'm right, you tell me when I'm wrong. You tell me when you didn't understand something and you want me to do it over again.

So just as a little bit of a gesture, let me do something back for you. After every show I'm going to give you one of the brand new books that I've just put out.

The book is called "Conventional Idiocy." And at the end of every newscast I will send an autographed copy to one person who we think had an exemplary tweet.

Today's tweet, a give-back as well to all those people overseas who fought for our country, who we depend on trying to spend a considerable amount of time talking about during our newscast every day, especially at 4:00. We want to honor Thomas Pringle (ph), who says, "Thanks for thanking our troops, Rick Sanchez. Sometimes that is the only way they know Americans support them."

Our pleasure, Thomas. We're going to keep doing it. That's RICK'S LIST.

Finally, as we go to break, I'm about to show you video of a lion attack in Las Vegas. Now, this all happened in front of tourists. I'm also going to talk to somebody who survived his own lion attack and knows quite a bit about this.

He is showing us this video for -- well, it's dramatic. Let's just leave it at that.

Also, here is a tweet from my guest. His name is Dave Salmoni. As we go to break, we'll take a look at his tweet, and when we come back we'll talk to him.

We'll be right back.

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

Topping now our viral video list, a lion attack captured on cam by a vacationer at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Have you seen this? It's generated tens of thousands of hits on YouTube.

Here, let's watch it together. Take a look.

You see the male lion there with the mane, right? Apparently he goes after one of the trainers. Don't know what the provocation is. As the female lion suddenly jumps in, not quite sure what the female lion is doing here. That's why we have got an expert to try and take us through this. This act may be having some officials there trying to figure out what's going on.

All right. As we watch this again, let me bring in our expert. We just saw his tweet a little while ago.

Move that up if you possibly could, guys.

Dave Salmoni is joining us now, and he is in Toronto. He is the quintessential big cat expert on "Animal Planet."

In fact, I was told -- and I didn't know this -- I was told you survived an animal attack. By the way, let me not use the word "attack." You survived a situation similar to that one. How is that?

DAVE SALMONI, "ANIMAL PLANET" BIG CAT EXPERT: Yes. I mean, I call them all attacks. I mean, those lions know exactly what they're doing. Obviously that was very low scale of an attack, but it could quickly escalate from that into someone losing their life.

SANCHEZ: By the way, we are now looking at video of what was your attack, right? You are the guy there in that red shirt.

SALMONI: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Describe it to us.

SALMONI: Well, I mean, in that case, the lion was being possessive of something and I was trying to draw him off it. And when he did, he took that as a challenge and wanted to basically kill me for what he had. Instead of him getting my throat, I gave him my forearm, kept my feet, and luckily kept myself alive.

SANCHEZ: What did he do to your forearm?

(CROSSTALK)

SALMONI: He tore it out.

SANCHEZ: I know. I'm so sorry.

SALMONI: Yes. He sunk his teeth into my forearm and it was gone.

SANCHEZ: OK. By the way, I should let the viewers know we have got a satellite delay. So when I ask a question he doesn't hear it until later.

SALMONI: Oh, I'm sorry.

SANCHEZ: And I'm not hearing him.

No, that's all right. It makes me crazy. It's like having a bizarre conversation with someone where you ask a question. Three seconds later, the person hears it like it's going to Mars or something, so we'll go slow with each other.

What did he do to your forearm? Did he break it? Did he chew it up?

SALMONI: Yes. When he got me, he sunk his canines into my forearm as I tried to block my throat and tore out all the muscles in my forearm, damaged some of the tendons. But luckily, with that, it was far more of a plastic surgeon's job to fix than my own.

It was far more of a mental problem for me. It was very difficult for me to understand why an animal who I loved and I thought loved me would go and try and kill me. So it's probably something that this guy who was attacked at MGM was also dealing with.

SANCHEZ: OK. So why did the animal that you loved -- and you loved and it loved you attack you?

SALMONI: Well, in that case, that lion was being possessive over something, which is very natural of lions to do because male lions live in groups, and they are used to fighting over food and prey with their family. And they'll fight to the death for things that they want. And that case, that's what happened to me.

If you look at the footage from the MGM attack --

SANCHEZ: Hold on. Hold on. Let me get -- I can tell you're good on TV because you ask yourself questions and then you answer them.

Let me start with the question. We're looking now at the video of the MGM deal, right?

SALMONI: Right. SANCHEZ: And it looks like the male lion goes after this guy, but I can't tell if he's playing with the guy or really wanting to attack the guy.

Second question, I also see the female lion then jump on the male lion. Tell me what that behavior is all about.

SALMONI: Great. I mean, it's good that you asked both questions at once with this delay.

The male, you'll see right at the beginning he shifts his weight and he stares at the young guy. The young guy -- I mean, I don't know if you can read the body posture, but it was obvious to me immediately.

He stiffened up, kept his eyes on the animal and shuffled his feet. What that tells the lion is that guy is nervous. And the male lion then switches immediately in, if you're nervous of me I should dominate you.

So he went over and was doing what I would consider to be like a teenager testing his boundaries. He went in and said, I know I'm not allowed to bite people, but I'm going to bite you and see what you can do back to me.

And so it wasn't a full-on "I want to kill you," obviously, because he didn't. But it was definitely him saying, I'm the boss here, I'm bigger than you, you're scared of me. I'm going to show why.

Now the second part of the question --

SANCHEZ: Wow.

SALMONI: -- with the female coming in, she knew that that --

SANCHEZ: Dave --

SALMONI: -- wasn't really an attack.

SANCHEZ: -- we're out of time, I'm sorry to say.

Got to turn things over to Wolf Blitzer. We appreciate your explanation. Well done. Sorry about the delay.

Here now, "THE SITUATION ROOM."