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Rick's List
Outrage Grows Over Koran Burning Controversy; Islamic Center Imam Speaks Out; 'Punk'd' Iraqi Style
Aired September 09, 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: So, as we begin this hour, speaking of overseas, I want to welcome the men and the women who are watching us right now on Armed Forces Network all over the world.
We are your news of record at this hour. Here is your national conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Here is what is making the LIST on this day.
The president asks this pastor to call off his plan to burn Korans this weekend. He says the action could threaten the U.S. and our troops overseas. Will the president's message convince this pastor?
Hundreds of women told by this lab technician their mammograms were fine and they were cancer-free. The problem is the doctors, they never even saw or read the scans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She put 1,289 lives in danger.
SANCHEZ: Now many of them may have cancer.
Fear, destruction and death, the plot for a new reality TV show. Think "Punk'd," but Baghdad style.
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: But at the very top of our LIST this hour, the planned Islamic center near ground zero.
"The New York Times" did post that op-ed by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. With the article, we got our very first sense of where he's coming from on this planned center. Now, you just heard what George Pataki had to say about this, former governor of the state of New York. He was in fact governor on 9/11. So, soon after I did that interview, Imam Rauf came on CNN and answered some of those charges when he spoke to CNN's Soledad O'Brien. That was on "LARRY KING." I want you to hear this now, to hear from the imam himself, how he responds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: And there are many people who have said, why not just go somewhere else?
IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, CORDOBA INITIATIVE: I understand the sensitivity of the people. I really do. And I'm very, very concerned about it. We've reached out and are still reaching out to 9/11 families.
O'BRIEN: Did you reach out to them before?
RAUF: Yes.
O'BRIEN: To all the families?
RAUF: Not to all the families, but to as many as we could reach, especially those who are very concerned about this issue.
O'BRIEN: Before you started the proposal?
RAUF: No, not before we started, but once this thing happened. I need to remind the audience that this story first broke last December in "The New York Times." It was a front page article in "The New York Times." And no one objected. This controversy only began in May. And it began as a result of some politicians, who decided to use this for certain political purposes. And this is when it began to snowball, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: So you think it's been politicized?
RAUF: Absolutely. This is very dangerous and tragic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: So, the imam, as you just heard, believes that this controversy is politicized, purely political. But, be that as it may, you still have to ask, why this location? Why not try and build it, for example, somewhere else?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
O'BRIEN: Wouldn't it further the goal of peacemaking, and you've talked a lot about it, to move it? Why is that an option that's of the table now?
RAUF: Nothing is off the table, Soledad.
O'BRIEN: It's not off the table? RAUF: But we are consulting. We're talking to various people about how to do this so that we negotiate the best and the safest option. As I mentioned--
O'BRIEN: What are those conversations like? What's on the table?
RAUF: The biggest issue is the national security issue.
O'BRIEN: How do you pull out without looking like you've lost?
RAUF: Without making it look like -- without making it look, both in this country and in the Muslim world. You must remember, Soledad, and Americans must remember, that what we do is watched all over the world, all over the world.
And we are very engaged with the Muslim world, very engaged. And our security is really number one. Our national security, our personal security, is extremely important. And this issue has become, now, a national security issue. And therefore, in our conversations, in our decision making process, we have to weigh many, many factors, and that has been dominant among them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Now let's talk about the question of contributions.
If you watched my interview with former New York Governor Pataki, you saw where he asked about the money. He wanted to know where the imam got the money to build this center. The imam told Soledad that he didn't actually have the money yet, that he would start a campaign to try and raise the money.
Now let me play for you one last thing from the imam. He had a message of unity, as he described it, for people of all religions, he says for Jews and for Christians and for Muslims. Here he is. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")
RAUF: And more importantly -- well, we have freedom in this country, freedom of speech. But with freedom comes responsibility. And a famous saying to shot fire in a crowded theater. This is dangerous for our national security, but also it's the un-Christian thing to do. Jesus Christ didn't teach us to do that. We Muslims have a -- we look to the example of our prophet. Many Christians say what would Jesus do? Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek. Jesus taught us to love your enemy.
We are not your enemies. But this is what Jesus taught us to do. And I would like to suggest that, you know, we all have to live by the highest principles of our faith traditions. As I mentioned, it's important -- I want Christians to live -- to be perfected Christians and I want Muslims to be perfected Muslims and Jews to be perfected Jews. If we don't do that, if we judge each other by the worst of the other's behavior and by the best of our own, where are we going? (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And as this controversy continues, you can depend on CNN to bring you the most balanced coverage.
Four hours from now, the NFL kicks off its regular season, so a lot of people are asking, what's going on with Tom Brady? What's he really thinking about? I'm going to have an update on his car accident. That's ahead.
Also, three American hikers have spent more than a year behind bars in Iran, but now Iranian leaders say one of them will be released Saturday. Why and who is next on the LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It's time now for the roundup list, and we're going to begin with number one.
Iran says it plans to release American hiker Sarah Shourd very soon. She has a medical condition which requires proper care. Shourd is one of three American hikers detained for more than a year after allegedly straying across the border into Iran. She's the only woman of the three.
Here's number two. Look at what's left of Tom Brady's car. Nice wheels, huh? The New England Patriots quarterback went to Gillette Stadium for football practice after an early morning car accident. A witness says a van allegedly ran a light and hit Brady's car in downtown Boston.
Brady was shaken, but apparently not injured. The van driver was also -- or was hospitalized.
Here's number three. U.S. Marines rescued a German-owned ship from pirates off the Somali coast again today. Pirates had commandeered the Magellan Star the day before. The U.S. Fifth Fleet says this is the first time a U.S. military raiding force took action against Somali pirates. They did it without firing a shot. As the Marines swarmed the ship, the pirates surrendered.
Here is number four. A woman is accused of a reckless conduct and computer fraud, but patients say her crime goes deeper than that. A former radiology technician at Perry Hospital in Perry, Georgia, apparently gave false mammogram results, telling some 1,300 patients, yes, your scans were normal.
But here's the problem. A doctor never looked at scans. She just decided to take it upon herself to tell them everything was OK. Now 10 of them have cancer, which may have been detected and stopped if -- if the mammograms had actually been read. Police have absolutely no motive for why this woman could have done something like this.
It may not be surprising, but there's more outrage in California over the salaries of city officials. Wait until you hear what some of these guys earned, what they spent, and what they are telling employees who got the boot. That's ahead.
Also, if the church in Florida burns Korans, could it be in trouble with the law, or can they even be stopped? Or is this just a First Amendment case that you can do nothing about but watch?
That's next right here on the LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Now to this story that we've been following for you throughout the course of the day. Right now, there are some serious discussions in Washington about Florida preacher Terry Jones and his plan to burn Korans on Saturday. Our nation's leaders are now considering whether to call the preacher Jones to try and convince him to please not do this because it's going to set off potential riots and demonstrations all over the world, and it could get our troops kill.
This is happening at the very top levels of government. I want you to listen to this. This is -- first, we're going to take you through some of these. But the first one I want you to hear from is the Pentagon. This is the spokesperson there, Geoff Morrell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON: This is obviously of serious concern to us. We believe it could seriously endanger our forces, so this is something that we're actively discussing within the administration in terms of taking this unusual measure of calling this pastor and trying to convince him that it's not the right thing to proceed with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: President Obama calls the preacher's plan "a recruitment bonanza for al Qaeda," and he wants the pastor to please consider the impact on our troops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a very practical matter, as commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States, I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women in uniform who are in Iraq, who are in Afghanistan. We're already seeing protests against Americans just by the mere threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Then there's the question of what can actually be done? I mean, we've got a First Amendment that says, you know what? this right is guaranteed. You can protest. You can speak out. You can say whatever you want in this country. In fact, take a look at whales the president had to say about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: It is frustrating. Now, on the other hand, we are a government of laws, and so we have to abide by those laws. And my understanding is that he can be cited for public burning, but that's the extent of the laws that we have available to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I want to bring in somebody who I've known for many, many years and trust as a lawyer. He's a former U.S. attorney. And he's also a Floridian, so he's as perplexed by this as anybody else. The president said the only thing on the books that they possibly could use against him is a citation for public burning. Is the president right?
KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Well, I hope he's not right. We all know about the importance of the First Amendment. We remember that in this country, as opposed to, for example, places like Iran, you can do things that are offensive to other own government, even the vast majority of people. In fact, you can burn the American flag in this country, and it's protected by the United States Constitution.
But, Rick, this is the time that these authorities no doubt, including the local authorities, are looking under every rock, behind every blade of grass to find something somehow to stop this guy before he lights a match, because if this goes on around the world as some kind of video display of a U.S. pastor burning a holy book, that's holy to hundreds of millions of people, there are going to be consequences. And I'm not convinced that there is nothing that we can do.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting because you're a prosecutor, one of the best I've ever known -- or have been a prosecutor, I would say. And, you know, there's this thing called prosecutorial discretion that people talk about, where, you know, you have only so many laws you can work with, but there's times when you arrest people, and there's times when you don't arrest people. I mean, there's -- it's not as black and white as a lot of people think it is, so can prosecutors --
COFFEY: No, it's not.
SANCHEZ: It's not?
COFFEY: No, it's not as black and white. I'm exactly agreeing with you.
SANCHEZ: So what can these guys -- so what can these guys in Gainesville do then? What's the process? Take us through it, if you were one of them right now trying to come up that law that you can somehow stop this guy from doing it?
COFFEY: Well, the first thing you look at is the fire code, believe it or not, because it appears clear that he'll be possibly violating the fire code. And you look to see whether preventatively, you can go to court to get an injunction when someone announces that he's going to violate a city ordinance. But beyond that, this is a time to be aggressive, Rick. This is a time to look at the statutes and not just stand back because you think you might have trouble with the case and see whether there are charges you can bring. And would I take a long, hard look at a couple of statutes that might arguably be available.
SANCHEZ: So, in other words, he's going to do a public burning and they can say, I'm sorry, we are not going to permit you for this public burning. And further they can say if you attempt to have this public burning, we will be there on site and we will, a, stop you or, b, arrest you. They can probably do that, right?
COFFEY: Well, I think they can -- they can definitely consider arresting.
And here's how I would fashion the theory, and would I look at the law, believe it or not, of disorderly conduct. It's a low-grade misdemeanor, but if it's imbued with religious prejudice, it ratchets up to a first-degree misdemeanor and up to a year in time.
And I would say simply this: if the Defense Department is willing to confirm that there is a clear and present danger, that this conduct will result in bodily injury to Americans, then I as a prosecutor would take the chance on authorizing an arrest the minute he lights a match, knowing there could be plenty of constitutional criticisms, know miles ahead in our court system because I think our troops and people abroad deserve that kind of aggressive action to do anything within the law that can stop this from happening.
SANCHEZ: That's a good explanation. Kendall Coffey, my thanks to you for taking us through that and giving us an understanding of what prosecutors can do faced with this situation. My thanks to you.
By the way, new information we're just getting in. You know, at CNN we've been looking into the background of who this pastor really is who wants to burn the Koran on Saturday. For 26 years, Terry Jones led a church in Germany, we learned. A former church member says he was very charismatic.
Now, you know, charismatic means a lot of different things. There's a church religion of charismatic, and there's the common usage definition. He left the church in disgrace a couple of years ago.
Phil Black is in Cologne, Germany right now. One of our top correspondents over there. He's joining us now. Apparently, Terry Jones had big plans for this German congregation. What happened? What went wrong? What are you learning about him there, Phil?
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rick, a lot of people around the world are wondering who was Terry Jones. And here in Cologne, Germany, there are a lot of people who have already had a great deal of experience with him, and it started back in the 1980s. That's when he first founded the church that I'm standing in front of now, the Christian Community of Cologne.
And we're told in those early days, those early years, he was a very successful church leader. He was described, as you say, as charismatic. He had a very strong, forceful personality, very good at drawing people to him. Getting them to work for the church, and he built the church up, around 1,000 people or so at one point.
But then over time, well, things turned bad. He's described as having a very dominant, forceful personality. He was very demanding, demanded loyalty, demanded to be obeyed. He was very ambitious, he was trying to create in the words of some of these church members "a Christian awakening" that would start in this city and spread all the way across Europe.
But over time, the size of his personality, the fact that so much of the church functioned around him, well, that began to alienate the members of the church. And so over time they got a little fed up. They confronted him eventually in 2008, asked him to change his ways, change his style of leadership, the direction of the church. He refused, and that is when Terry Jones and the Christian Community of Cologne parted company.
And so now members of the current church leadership, which has shrunk dramatically, it's only got around 80 members or so now, they are very much distancing themselves from Terry Jones. Take a listen to what they have been saying about what he's planning for 9/11.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN BAAR, CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY OF COLOGNE (through translator): We split with Terry Jones in 2008, and we distance ourselves clearly from his actions and what he wants to do in the U.S.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Wow.
BLACK: So the message here very strongly, as across much of the world today, this church denounces what Terry Jones is planning. Rick?
SANCHEZ: So it sounds like you're saying that they felt he was making it too much about himself. Too egoistic, perhaps too egotistic as well as the leader of the church. That was their main complaint?
BLACK: Yes, very much so. Some people say it was the size of his personality; others, more critical, have said it was in fact his ego. And it was the increasing feeling that the church and the way that the church was run was very much emphasized around him as an individual.
There were also some questions asked about the financial dealings of the church, the way money was being handled. And so all of this eventually came to a head. It was after several years of church numbers here dropping significantly, eventually some members of the church confronting him, demanding that he change, and he refused to do so.
SANCHEZ: Wow. Good reporting, Phil. Phil Black reporting to us there from Cologne, Germany. Take a look at this, folks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bomb is a fake. The soldiers are in on it. It's Punk'd, Baghdad style.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Can you believe this? Punk'd, Baghdad style. I mean, imagine being accused of smuggling bombs in Iraq only to find out it's just a joke. I mean, what kind of joke is this? I want to get your reaction to this caught-on-camera moment. You'll see it for yourself, by the way. That's ahead.
And then Ed Henry will be part of the best -- not going to be part of the best. He is part of The Best Television Team on Television. He'll join me with what's crossing on the Political Ticker in just a little bit.
That's next on the LIST. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: "CNN Equals Politics," and we've got something going -- coming your way right now. It comes in the form of a tweet, we often make news with tweets and here we go.
Sarah Palin, she's at it again, folks. She's got somebody else that she's backing, and she often does pretty well when she does this, right? She says, this is Christine O'Donnell, you know, whose running against Representative Cassel, Mike Cassel up in Delaware, right? Yes, in Delaware.
"Just got governor Palin's endorsement. Thank you for your prayers."
So it's official. And here we go, "(Sarah Palin),thank you for your clear confidence in my candidacy," she writes to Sarah Palin, "Strong conservative women will take the country back." This is a huge story, by the way, in Delaware. Mike Cassel been there quite a while.
Time now as we use that a perfect lead in into this for "CNN Equals Politics" updates. Here's CNN's Ed Henry from "The Best Political Team on Television."
Ed, tell us what's crossing, what's new and what's going on?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, we've got a lot on the political ticker right now at CNN.com, especially looking at President Obama and some things going on in his world.
Specifically, Robert Gibbs just in the last couple of hours came out and blasted that Florida pastor that you've been talking about during your show, basically saying that he's hateful, that if he were to burn these Korans it would be offensive. Also saying that it would be a recruiting tool for al Qaeda, something that we heard from the president this morning on ABC as well.
But the White House, as you know, is confronting a real difficult question here about whether or not to reach out to this pastor, potentially give him more attention but try to get him to stop moving forward on Saturday.
The other big item, will Rahm run? Of course, Rahm Emanuel has been trying to be coy about whether he'll run for mayor of Chicago. But the president seems to think he's going to run. IN his interview with "Good Morning America" today, he basically let the cat out of the bag, said he thinks Rahm will be a great mayor.
It's going to be hard for Rahm to wiggle out of that now if he doesn't want to run. He has some challenges, though, because there is a filing deadline on November 22nd. The president indicated he would like to see Rahm make a decision after the midterm elections, that would be somewhere around November 3rd, November 4th, and that gives him a very tight window before November 22nd to do the organizing, get the signatures, get on the ballot, et cetera. So we'll be watching that closely.
And finally, yesterday, we talked a lot about the president really ripping into John Boehner in saying that he's offering no new economic policies, et cetera. Wondering if that's a smart political move. We've got a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll saying 55 percent of Americans, that's 55 percent of Americans, don't know who John Boehner is.
So was the president yesterday elevating him, somebody that most Americans don't really know? I can tell you there's some White House advisers who have been telling me that, frankly, they don't care about those polls. They think John Boehner has been out there on the attack. He's man who would be speaker of the House. He delivered a big economic speech and a national security speech blasting the president. They think it's time for the president to fire back and offer voters a choice, Rick.
SANCHEZ: And you were you in the split for just a moment with John Boehner. I realize he's got much more of a tan than you do, by the way, Ed.
HENRY: Yes, he does. I think I need to get out more. He gets to play a lot more golf than me, which I'm jealous of actually. I'm not going to play much between now and the midterms I suspect.
SANCHEZ: Admittedly so, he says. You and me both, my friend. Ed Henry, good report. My thanks to you.
Your next political update in just one hour. Remember, for all the latest political news, just go to CNNpolitics.com or on to Twitter go to @politicalticker.
Vice President Joe Biden has used George W. Bush as a political punching bag for years. But why is Biden taking him now? That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: The first rule of fight club, you don't talk about fight club, unless, of course, you're at a wedding. Time for "Fotos."
Oh, so much love. You know, weddings, the bride, the groom, but when the camera -- oh, what the heck is that? The gloves come off. It's the videographer, apparently the photographer got in his way, so they start jacking each other right there. Bang!
Look at this. Seems a misunderstanding is what led to this and then other people start -- finally, you know what I'm going to do. I'm going to take your camera and I'm going to throw it at you. That's what I'm going to do.
People are just sitting there going oh, my goodness. Poor bride, she hires these guys and they take over her wedding.
Next video from rowdy people to animal tricks. This is a clever Chihuahua shooting a game of pool with the folks at the billiards bar in Washington state. See he knows how to do it.
The owner of the venue says the hustling dog performs for customers each and every day. Put them in there. That's it, side pocket. Here you go. How's that?
Next, forget the gloves, somebody get this guy a helmet, right? This is a fan, lays himself out for a home run in Oakland. Leaps over the railing, bounces off some seats, hits the pavement and completely misses the ball.
He eventually recovers, probably because not a single fan challenged him. You got to give him credit though, right? He listened to his mom when she said, son, whatever you do in life, make sure you give it your all.
That's "Fotos," and you can see him for yourself if you ever want. Go to my blog, a lot of great stuff in there about video moments, my book, et cetera. It's CNN.com/RickSanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bomb's a fake. The soldiers are in on it. It's "Punk'd" Baghdad style.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: "Punk'd" Baghdad style, need I say more? We're going to show you this in just a little bit, we're going to take you through it and it's probably going to make you mad because some jokes, you just don't do people like that, you know?
And Vice President Joe Biden serving hot dogs and Brooke Baldwin is joining me now to tell me what is trending. There's the vice president walking in and there's Brooke walking in. See how they both --
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How do you like it? I'm not bringing hot dogs though.
SANCHEZ: yes.
BALDWIN: Sorry, nothing.
SANCHEZ: You've got nothing?
BALDWIN: I've got nothing.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: So, Brooke is joining us. She does trending. You've got a good look today.
BALDWIN: I have a good look?
SANCHEZ: Well cause you came in late early this week, and you were you on a plane.
BALDWIN: Badda-bing, badda-boom, I'm here for you.
SANCHEZ: Now you're all rested.
BALDWIN: I am.
SANCHEZ: So Colbert?
BALDWIN: Colbert.
SANCHEZ: You got someone on Colbert?
BALDWIN: I do. One of your favorite shows and mine., "Colbert Report." President Obama's number two man appeared on the TV show last night. Vice President Joe Biden sat with him.
There they are.
They talked about, you know, how the war in Iraq. He said, look, is it won, there's still 50,000 troops in Baghdad. But he said the U.S. has reached a significant milestone.
Colbert, you know, if you watch the show, he plays this -- we'll call him a satirical conservative TV host there, right?
SANCHEZ: Bill O'Reilly.
BALDWIN: OK, yes. So he asked the vice president, he asked him if he would like to give President Bush a little bit of credit for all that he has done in Iraq. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Would you like to take this opportunity right now to look over there --
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. President --
COLBERT: -- and say thank you.
BIDEN: Mr. President, thank you, you've honored these guys, you've honored these woman, you've honored these troops. And I've known you your entire eight years as president, I've never known a time when you didn't care about what happened. We disagreed on policy, but you deserve a lot of credit, Mr. President.
COLBERT: Mr. President, I never disagreed with your policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: He's hysterical.
Anyway, also, guess who was in the audience? A bunch of returning troops, troops returning home. So Biden put on his vice presidential hot dog hat and handed out some hot dogs to the troops. Made a joke that this was his only constitutional duty, that and of course, serving as tiebreaker in the Senate. So that is my trending number one.
Trending number two, listen to this. If you have kids, driving along the road and, you know, there are signs, you're in a school zone, slow down, right? Well, this group in Canada is getting creative, if you will, trying to make streets a little safer and parking garages safer by actually putting kids in the road.
But wait for it, I'm talking about 3D images of kids.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
BALDWIN: Check this out. This is video from the driver's perspective. Think about this. If you're driving down the road, this is what you would see. You're coming upon, it what is this, a decal, this a girl chasing what looks like a ball. You come upon, it it's an optical illusion, right?
So starting at about a hundred feet away, you start to think it's a real child. Hopefully, I think the purpose, theoretically, you're supposed to slow down. It's a school zone in West Vancouver in Canada -- you see.
SANCHEZ: Wait. Let's see, let's say. Where is -- that? Is that it?
BALDWIN: That thing in the middle of the road. That's the optical illusion
SANCHEZ: I see.
BALDWIN: It's kind of like a mirage, right?
So the group behind it, it's this non-profit, Community Against Preventable Injuries, and apparently they are footing the bill for this thing. It's 15,000 bucks.
I found them on Twitter and I tweeted them because I wanted to know, is this working, right? So take a look at my tweet to Act Preventable. Here it is.
They say -- I said, "Curious about your optical illusion installment. What kind of feedback are you getting from drivers? Is it working?" We love this, they tweeted us back, here's their tweet. "Drivers are definitely noticing it. More reaction and details from our site."
I went to the site. They said drivers, so far, are definitely slowing down. Of course, this is all coming with the beginning of the school year.
SANCHEZ: Show that again.
BALDWIN: I see you doing like this when you're --
SANCHEZ: Doesn't even look like --
BALDWIN: It's huge, in the middle of the street.
SANCHEZ: Well, I'm blind because it looks like Mary Poppins or something.
BALDWIN: Wear your glasses, Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: Roger, show that again? Does anybody see it -- guys, come over here. Guys, some of you guys, come over here.
BALDWIN: They are making it really easy for you.
SANCHEZ: Do you see a kid? Is there -- ?
BALDWIN: Do you see the child in the middle of the road? That's a bad monitor. Look to the right, now you see it.
SANCHEZ: Do you guys at home see anything here?
BALDWIN: Are they going to answer you right now?
SANCHEZ: Oh, OK.
BALDWIN: There you go.
SANCHEZ: She's like -- she's getting the ball.
BALDWIN: She's getting the ball.
SANCHEZ: Oh, OK. You're right. Look at that monitor.
BALDWIN: You see everybody in here nodding, nodding.
SANCHEZ: You know what?
BALDWIN: Thank you, gentlemen.
SANCHEZ: Once again, you were right and I was wrong. You like the sound of that, don't you?
BALDWIN: I like that. It's on tape, too.
SANCHEZ: Brooke, thank you.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Do you know what your local leaders are making these days? There's another city in California where officials are pulling in some -- some really big bucks -- not again! -- while workers who aren't pulling in big bucks are getting pink slips.
That's the list you don't want to be on, and that's next.
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SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back.
Remember how several government leaders in Bell, California -- we were all over this story when it happened -- they got a lot of heat for making some really just obscene, ridiculous six-figure salaries, while some of their city employees, not to mention residents, suffered. Well, there's more outrage tonight. It's happened again. This thing with these pensions, too.
Anyway, I digress.
Time now for "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
I want to introduce you to Donal O'Callaghan. That's "Donal," without a "D" in the first name.
A few weeks ago he was a top administrator for the city of Vernon. Earlier this year he laid off some city employees for budgetary reasons. He also took away health benefits from the spouses of kids of employees that he had kept.
Well, listen to this. O'Callaghan makes $380,000 a year. The guy before him made more than $1.6 million. And oh, yes, they like to travel. Boy do they like to travel.
Listen to what the "L.A. Times" is reporting. He and two other officials spent during one short trip to New York, first class seats, $12,700 -- $12,000 on a trip. One night at the Ritz-Carlton, $800 each. One guy even spent $2,200 for a personal driver, all paid for, you guessed it, by the taxpayers.
O'Callaghan has been relieved of his duties now as the city looks into his finances. Vernon officials tell CNN the city is reviewing expense policies for other employees, but do you know who O'Callaghan told other employees when he handed out pink slips earlier this year to other people, affecting their lives, their families? "Fiscal responsibility means that you manage your costs."
Donal O'Callaghan tops the list tonight. Another one, folks, another one making "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
An "L.A. Times" reporter will be with us on the show tomorrow to talk about what's going on out there, because I think it's about time that all of us as Americans, as taxpayers, started really asking some questions about why it is our tax money is being used to take care of some of these people as well as they are doing, not to mention some of them who then retire and live off of a pension that we feed.
We'll be all over it.
So which of you sent the best tweet this hour? Remember, we pick one of you every day, and I'll tell you, it's making the whole tweet thing hot and heavy for us every day as well. You're going to get an autographed copy of my book, which I'm going to be honored to sign for you.
We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back, everyone.
Each hour you send me thousands of tweets. You help me put together this newscast every day. You send me ideas. You tell me what I'm doing right, and oftentimes what I'm doing wrong as well.
So we're picking the best one, and that person gets a free copy of my book, "Conventional Idiocy." I'm going to autograph it, Brooke is going to autograph it. Maybe we'll get Roger and Angie to autograph it as well.
So who gets the prize today? Let's go to the Twitter board if we possibly can, and you'll see who we've chosen on this day.
It is Venay Patel (ph). And he writes to me, "Hey, guys, get Rick a bigger monitor and some 3-D glasses."
Thanks a lot, buddy. Appreciate all the help. Like if Brooke didn't have enough ammunition to use against me already.
Yes, I get it. LOL, laugh out loud.
Anyway, we chose you, Mr. Patel (ph).
Imagine this. Take a look at this video.
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ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're stopped at a checkpoint. An Iraqi army officer looks under the car and shouts, "There's a bomb! Get away!" Soldiers accuse the car's occupants of being terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Is this crazy? Imagine how this guy has to feel.
I mean, look, you don't play in Baghdad, right? I mean, you think that a bomb is going to go off, or you're about to be taken hostage, or you're about to be killed, executed on the spot? It happens every day, right?
This is a game? It's a joke? Can this be a joke?
We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: You guys know about "Punk'd," right? Remember Ashton Kutcher with his "Punk'd" franchise? He played practical jokes on celebrities with hidden cameras, rolling to get their unscripted and often panicked reactions.
Well, a similar show is produced in Iraq, and you will not believe what happens. A lot of it is very scary, even shocking, maybe a little over the top.
You've got to see this. You ready? Here's our correspondent. This is CNN's Arwa Damon.
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DAMON (voice-over): You might think there's enough reality in Iraq without reality TV as well, but not for one network. Imagine you're a celebrity going to an interview. You're stopped at a checkpoint. An Iraqi army looks under the car and shouts "There's a bomb! Get away!"
Soldiers accuse the car's occupants of being terrorists and threaten dire retribution despite frantic denials and pleas. But here's the very black joke -- the bomb's a fake and the soldiers are in on it. It's "Punk'd," Baghdad style, and it's being recorded for a show called "Put Him in Bucca," a now closed U.S. detention camp.
In this episode troops grab comedian Jassim Sharaf and accuse him of being a member of al Qaeda. "Sit in the car. You did it. Let it explode on you!" the soldiers yell.
He does see the funny side. "I should be upset, he tells us as we watch, but seeing myself now, I am laughing. I could have been traumatized. I could have died. But it's all worth the sacrifice to make Iraqis laugh." Others say it's in poor taste in a country awash with bombings. (on camera): In fact, the show sparked an online petition to stop it. And then there's this Facebook page. It's called "No to Put Him in Bucca," and it has more than 1,600 members. Most of the comments echo this one, saying, "It's one of the most ridiculous TV shows I have ever seen."
Still, there are plenty of fans who find the show hilarious.
(voice-over): Ari al-Khalidi is the presenter. He pretends his car has broken down and gets a ride with the unwitting actors. He says humor can be an education.
"The show is an educational one. We send a message through it to the people so that they are aware," al-Khalidi says, "so that they are alert and check their cars before getting in."
Most Iraqis including Sharaf say that's already part of their routine. "If there is a silver lining for the victims, it's this: their health is allegedly checked before they are put under such stress. And after we have them on the show," says al-Khalidi, "I tell them, 'Congratulations. You don't need to go see any doctor because you're in good shape.'"
Love it or hate it, people can't stop watching. Only in Iraq perhaps could people laugh about being blown up.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: What a great closing line: "Only in Iraq can people laugh about being blown up."
Chad Myers joining us now just to put the caveat on this newscast and give us a sense of what's going on.
Two stories you've been following --
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Texas and the winds in Colorado, right?
MYERS: Absolutely, and now a new downgrade for this storm out here. Igor has been downgraded just to a tropical depression, although I think it has a lot more energy still to come, it has an awful lot more warm water to go. This is Africa, so, I mean, you've got thousands of miles before we get closer to the U.S.
And then the other big story that you just alluded to is I think the potential for more fires in Colorado today and tonight as the winds gust to 50 to 55 miles per hour through the night. Now, I know a lot of the fire is out, but there are still hot spots. There are still embers. There are still burning, smoking things that will have a 55-mile-per-hour breeze on them like a big blower, and some of those fires could reignite tonight -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Hey, thanks so much, Chad. Appreciate it. We'll be looking forward to talking to you -- well, we'll see how things go.
You know, Chad, he goes to dinner, then I call him. "I need you back, there's something going on," like I had to do last night, and it's coming up.
I appreciate it.
Here now is "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf's off. Guess who is picking it up for him? None other than Suzanne Malveaux.
Take it away, Suzanne.
