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Rick's List

President Obama Holds News Conference; Explosion Rocks California Neighborhood; Minister Says No Koran Burning on Saturday; They Saw, They Photographed; "One Lick" Pony; Spirited Stump Speech

Aired September 10, 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 ANCHOR: SANCHEZ: Time now for "CNN EQUALS POLITICS" update. And here is Ed Henry. He is following things for us

BALDWIN: What do we call, Ed?

SANCHEZ: Political Teeth. We're going to call him Ed Henry. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: What do you have, Ed? It's Friday.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Shtick, yes, that's what you guys are doing right now.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ed.

HENRY: How are you, Brooke? I didn't know you were in that (INAUDIBLE) jeans commercial either. Wasn't it --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Yes. You know, apparently, I have been on a lot of things.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: OK.

SANCHEZ: Very well known, this one.

BALDWIN: You know. You know.

HENRY: Well, let me just transition. Hot off the "Political Ticker" we have got Ralph Reed, the Republican strategist, very well- known, shrewd strategist, has been kind of keeping a low profile in the last couple years.

He is back. He's running a conference right now, sort of a values conference, calling it a faith conference for conservative activists in Washington today and tomorrow. Some big names there. Newt Gingrich is looking potentially at running for president in 2012, Karl Rove, the former Bush strategist, as well.

Other big story on the ticker right now, of course, President Obama's news conference today. I was there. He was talking obviously a lot about the economy, a lot of people jumping on how he was talking about this is a slow recovery, but he feels there's a real contrast for voters heading into November about what he sees as a new vision vs. the old Republican policies of the past, which leads us right to our third item, which is John Boehner, Mitch McConnell ripping into some of the president's news conference, specifically John Boehner today saying that Austan Goolsbee, who the president announced as his new chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, is just another adviser who has already been around, part of what Boehner calls the same failed economic policies we have seen over the last 20 months.

Interesting, though, Mitch McConnell while beating up on the president over the economy, what he had to say there, says he agrees largely with what the president said about the war on terror, about the fight in Afghanistan, about taking the fight to al Qaeda, leaders like Osama bin Laden, which is what I asked about.

So it's interesting. We have seen this before with the Republican leaders. Afghanistan, the broader war against terrorism is one of the few issues that they have actually worked with this president on. Just about everything else, they're ripping into him, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Ed Henry as usual doing a darned good job and looking very dapper on this day.

My thanks to you, Ed. We will be looking for you in a little bit.

HENRY: Thanks, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Your next political update in one hour.

Remember, for the very latest political news, go to CNNPolitics.com and on Twitter at Political Ticker.

As usual, as we begin this next hour, I always want to send a salute and welcome the men and women watching us on Armed Forces Network all over the world. We're your news of record here at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Here is your national conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was Dante's inferno in there.

SANCHEZ: An entire neighborhood up in smoke, obliterated before sunset. How did it happen? We're now hearing some residents smelled gas weeks ago. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy told me to shut the door, shut the garage, go inside, that there was real heavy, strong gases.

SANCHEZ: Could this be prevented from happening again?

Another fire that doesn't seem to want to go out. Will Colorado winds die down enough?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an aggressive campaign and an even more aggressive campaigner!

SANCHEZ: And why is this politician screaming? Talk about an aggressive campaign strategy.

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: All right, hello again, everybody. Let's get started with this.

As we begin this newscast, we understand that firefighters with cadaver dogs are now fanning out in this neighborhood of San Bruno, where we understand some time around dinner time last night, a natural gas pipeline just ruptured again. Again, this is in San Bruno, California. That's just south of the freeway from San Francisco Airport.

It happened so fast, nobody had any time at all to react. A lot of people thought that it was just another earthquake, that is, until they looked outside and saw flames everywhere and spreading beyond that.

I want to add another piece of video to the screen now. I want you to take a look at this. This is that -- this is what that neighborhood looked like before the fire. And look how tightly packed it is, how close all these homes are to each other.

This is what that same neighborhood looks like today. All right? Firefighters still working to put out hot spots, but they have completely contained the fire. There we go. That's the new picture. And they have searched we understand three-quarters of the area for victims -- 75 percent of the area has been searched -- 25 percent, they can't search because it is just too hot. And they're afraid that if they try and get in there now, the firefighters and the experts won't be able to do what it is that they're trying to do.

I want to bring in Paul Oleksa.

As we look at these pictures, Mr. Oleksa thank you, sir, for joining us.

PAUL OLEKSA, PIPELINE SAFETY EXPERT: Well, it's good to be here. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: I appreciate it.

Can you help us understand this? You are an expert in pipelines and this type of gas that is used. What -- let me -- let's start here. Tell us what kind of pipeline that this was. As much in layman terms as you can explain to us, tell us what was going through this pipe, how large it was, and how much pressure was inside of it.

OLEKSA: My understanding is that it's a natural gas transmission pipeline, but I don't know the pressure at this time. And there are a lot of details that will have to come out later. I can't talk a whole lot about this specific incident because that investigation is under way.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: OK. Before you cop out on me on this, let me help you by taking it a step back.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: No, I didn't mean anything by that.

Usually, these types of lines that go through areas like this, how big are they generally? Not this specific line.

OLEKSA: There are generally two classifications of pipelines. There are distribution pipelines. And these are the pipelines that go up and down the streets and from the street to the individual houses.

Those pipelines might be in the range of -- the ones in the street might be two inch or three inch or four inch or something like that and the pipe going up to your house could be five-eighths of an inch or one inch, in that range.

This, my understanding, is a transmission pipeline and they are typically in the range of 24 inch or 30 inch or 36 inch or even more inches in diameter.

SANCHEZ: Huh, 24 inch.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: That's big enough to put a watermelon through.

OLEKSA: Oh, yes, yes, definitely.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

Is there usually on these pipes -- I imagine that they're confined, right? There's no place where you can get through them and they have to be some type of metal. We're not talking about PVC here or anything like that?

OLEKSA: The larger pipelines are steel because they operate at much higher pressures. And they are at a higher stress.

The smaller pipelines that go up and down the streets, many of those, most of them today are plastic. But the larger pipelines are steel and they are at a higher pressure and higher stress.

SANCHEZ: Are they -- is there a demarcation usually around these larger pipelines? Would we -- if I had gone there yesterday, and I started walking around, would I have known that this big 26-inch, 30- inch, whatever it was, pipeline was beneath me?

OLEKSA: You might not.

There are markers that are generally installed, but they might not be installed in a residential area. That is something that would have to be determined on a case-by-case basis. But oftentimes, if you were more out in the country or outside of a residential area, there would be what we call line markers with phone numbers and emergency numbers and that sort of thing.

SANCHEZ: Yes. I'm familiar with those. I have seen them.

And, finally, let me ask you this question. Wouldn't -- for there to be an explosion and subsequent fire, would there not need to be some form of ignition? In other words, just because there somehow developed a hole in the pipe, that in and of itself wouldn't make it blow, right? The leak doesn't cause the fire and explosion. I would think -- you're the expert -- that there has to be some kind of explosion. Can you take us through that process?

OLEKSA: No, you are exactly correct.

You -- to have an explosion or an ignition, you have got to have something to burn. Natural gas is certainly burnable.

SANCHEZ: Right.

OLEKSA: You have to have oxygen. And you have to have a source of ignition, either a temperature or electronic kind of energy to put into the mix.

SANCHEZ: So, if I was -- a hypothetical here. If there is a leak in an area where I am, and I'm not aware of it, but let's say it's 10 feet from where I am, and it's a substantial enough leak, and I go and want to light my cigarette, and I light the thing, could that cause enough of an ignition for that to blow there, and would it also backfire it? Would it send it back into the pipe itself, so it would also create a combustion elsewhere in that vicinity?

OLEKSA: Yes, let me say a couple things.

If you -- for example, if you used a match to light a cigarette, the match would ignite the gas if you had the correct mixture of gas and air or oxygen at that point.

But the other thing I would like to point out is that natural gas, although it normally has no odor at all, an odorant is put into the gas to make it smell, to make it stink. And that odorant is a huge safety item that's put into the mix, so that if you were standing 10 feet away and there was a leak of gas, you should smell it.

And, you know, I would really like to encourage people, if you smell gas, you know, call the local gas company or call 911. The emergency folks understand that, and will get a hold of the gas company, so that they can respond. And they will do it quickly and there will be no cost to -- it doesn't cost anybody to make that notification.

So, that's a very important thing for the public to know.

SANCHEZ: Mr. Oleksa, you have been very kind to take us through this. It is always tough to do these types of interviews, because, look, we still don't have a lot of answers out there because it is still burning, it's too hot, they can't get in there, and they say that until they get it under control, then they will get the folks to go in there and try and find out exactly what happened, and maybe find that point of origin, point of impact or explosion, as you and I were referring to.

So thank you for taking us through this to give us a better understanding. And I think the warning that you just gave folks is probably one that may save some lives as well.

Paul Oleksa, my thanks to you, sir.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Now, take a look at this, folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're out there putting their lives on the line for us, and we've got to make sure that we are crystal clear, for our sakes and their sakes, they are Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The president gets candid and passionate. Religious tensions in this country are very high right now. And he's making sure that the world knows where the U.S. stands. That's ahead.

Also, another deadly workplace shooting. A disgruntled employee walks in and opens fire on the co-workers. I am going to tell you what happened just minutes before the rampage in Philadelphia. That's next. It's right here on the LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Hi, everybody. It's Friday, and we're coming to you tonight from beautiful New York City. I'm Rick Sanchez, we do lists and this is what we call "The Roundup List."

Here is number one. That is Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guilante (ph), United States Army. Word from the White House today is that President Obama will award the Medal of Honor for this 25-year-old soldier for valor during an ambush in Afghanistan. But I want you to hear this, not since Vietnam has a living service member been presented the Medal of Honor. Just six Medals of Honor have been awarded to troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, all of them posthumously.

Here now, number two. A few more details from that Kraft Foods workplace shooting last night in Philadelphia. Police have a woman in custody they describe as a disgruntled employee. She had reportedly been suspended from her job just a few minutes before she returned with a gun and opened fire. Two people are dead, one in critical condition. SWAT teams stormed the bakery and then arrested the woman and we are continuing to follow this story for you as information comes in.

Here now, number three. Beware, city of Boulder, Colorado, that massive and fast moving wildfire could push right into the city, that's how unpredictably this wind seems to be behaving. The fire has already chewed up about 6,500 acres and gutted 169 homes in the foothills around Boulder. Forecasters are watching the wind, it's been gusting up to 50 miles an hour. So far there's no mandatory evacuation order for the city itself.

There are some fascinating iReports coming into us from that blast zone in California. An entire neighborhood just goes up in smoke. Firefighters are still working to try and contain that deadly inferno. That story is coming up in just a little bit.

Also, president Obama gets very candid about the economy and debates over religion going on right now in our country. He spoke to America this morning, answered many questions from reporters, and we're going to bring that to you in a little bit.

I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. Here is what's coming up next right now on the LIST.

President Obama's White House question-and-answer session, it was a doozy. Long. The president gave his first, full-scale, question- and-answer session at the White House in nearly four months.

As expected, the president largely focused on the state of the American economy and the upcoming midterm elections, but also fielded a wide range of questions, including ones on what is going on with the Middle East peace talks. Tomorrow, also marking nine years since the 9/11 terror attacks. He also spoke about a tax cut that he wants not for the wealthy 2 percent of Americans, as he says, but for the middle class.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have said that middle class families need tax relief right now and I am prepared to work on a bill and sign a bill this month that would ensure that middle class families get tax relief.

Ninety-seven percent of Americans make less than $250,000 a year -- $250,000 a year or less. I'm saying we can give those families, 97 percent, permanent tax relief.

And by the way, for those who make more than $250,000, they'd still get tax relief on the first $250,000, they just wouldn't get it for income above that.

Now, that seems like a common sense thing to do. And what I've got is the Republicans holding middle-class tax relief hostage because they're insisting we've got to give tax relief to millionaires and billionaires to the tune of about $100,000 per millionaire, which would cost over the course of ten years $700 billion and that economists say is probably the worst way to stimulate the economy.

That doesn't make sense and that's an example of what this election is all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The president was also rather passionate about a particular topic -- the importance of all Americans to work together, to work together to try and somehow help keep men and women of the Armed Forces safe.

Here's what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We've got an obligation to send a very clear message that this kind of behavior or threats of action put our young men and women in harm's way. It is also the best imaginable recruiting tool for al Qaeda.

And although this may be one individual in Florida, part of my concern is to make sure that we don't start having a whole bunch of folks all across the country think this is the way to get attention.

This is a way of endangering our troops, our sons and daughters, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives who are sacrificing for us to keep us safe. You don't play games with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The president seemed very determined in getting some of his messages across today and we wanted you to watch in primetime tonight on CNN, "RICK'S LIST IN PRIMETIME" at 8:00 Eastern, we are going to take you through the five top issues that the president addressed and let you hear what the president had to say for yourself, unfiltered. No bloviating, just the news. Also, it's an eerie and tragic scene -- homes reduced to ash, cars sitting in driveways just blow up. How many people were inside their homes during this gas blast in California? Were there any warning signs?

Brooke is going to join me here in just a little bit and she is going to take us through some of the video that she has been getting, some of the iReports that people there have been sending her.

I mean, this is -- this is --

BALDWIN: Unbelievable.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's tragic, to say the very least. But it'll be interesting to watch this like that, so look forward to it coming up, right?

BALDWIN: Good, next.

SANCHEZ: All right, we'll be right back, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back, everybody.

There seems to be a new development out of Florida now. We've been following the story of this pastor who was at one point threatening to burn Korans and then said he would not be burning Korans. And the story since yesterday about this time has really been somewhat in limbo because it's had so many parts to it, so let's try and make sense of this thing and see where we stand right now.

And to do that, let's go to my colleague, John Zarrella. He's standing by now in Gainesville with the very latest.

What have you learned, John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rick. We'll try to put this in some sort of context on how it all developed.

First the headline. The headline is there will be no Koran burnings here at the church tomorrow, at least not tomorrow. What comes after that down the road, there is no way to gauge with this story, as you know.

How did we get to this point? About three hours ago, Pastor Terry Jones came out and he was accompanied by K.A. Paul, an evangelist. The two of them came up here and said they were trying to reach the imam in New York. They gave the imam two hours to give them a call and tell them whether he would agree to move the cultural center and mosque from near Ground Zero.

Well, of course, as you and I both know, the imam didn't call them in two hours. They came back out about an hour ago and they reaffirmed that they had not gotten a call back from the imam but that there would, according to Paul, saying that he had absolute assurances from the pastor, that there would be no Koran burning here tomorrow. And Pastor Jones is still insisting that he plans to go to New York for a meeting with the imam probably now Monday or Tuesday.

SANCHEZ: Yes, but, you know, this guy says things sometimes that don't necessarily add up or make sense. So we'll just follow it, we'll leave it at that. If we find out he is on a plane and gets to New York, we'll cover it. Otherwise, just take us through it as we get it.

All right, John. Good job. Appreciate that.

Brooke Baldwin is standing by now to bring us up to date on what is trending. This is about pictures, amazing pictures.

BALDWIN: This whole story, it is all about the picture.

SANCHEZ: You know why? Picture yourself living in a neighborhood where all of a sudden you're sleeping and something like this happens. I mean, it's Armageddon.

BALDWIN: It's Armageddon. It's apocalyptic. You hear all the different adjectives to describe San Bruno, California.

And oftentimes, we rely on you and you send us these iReports, these amazing pictures. You are on the scene moments after something happens like this natural gas line explosion, right? So it's particularly serendipitous if we have a professional photographer driving through. I have him on the line, I'm going to get to him in a minute. Little teaser.

First, though, take a look at some of these pictures. First iReport, this one is from Jason DelRosario (ph)and you see this massive orange burst of flames emanating into what was once a blue sky. Took that for us early this morning.

One more video I want to get to is from really in the middle of the chaos from one of the main thoroughfares. This was a gentleman named Sergio who I talked to on the phone. He said he was driving to school in the morning. Imagine, this is the scene you come across. He pulled over, hopped out. He said he could feel the ground shake.

So these are just some of the pictures that we're getting from you, our iReporters, but we're also getting some professional grade photographs from Frank Quirarte who is from -- where is he from? He's from Pacifica, California. Just so happened to be driving through. I think it's Claremont (ph)is one of the main thoroughfares where he saw the whole thing happen around 7:00 last night.

Frank, I know you're on the if phone with me. Briefly bring me there to the scene. Tell me what it looked like, what it sounded like, and what was the most poignant image to you as we start looking at some of your photographs.

FRANK QUIRARTE, CNN IREPORTER (via telephone): Just coming over the hill when I was on my way home, I knew there was an explosion and when I got in there -- I didn't know my way around so I went into a couple back roads and when I got down on the scene it was unreal, almost apocalyptic.

BALDWIN: And I think one of the pictures as we scroll through, one of the pictures that really stood out to me is you see all of these houses, a lot of them are gone. There is this one picture where there is nothing but the for sale sign, nothing but the for sale sign, I mean, imagine.

QUIRARTE: That whole row of houses, just nothing but the brick chimneys left.

RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: How far away was he?

BALDWIN: You were in the middle of it, weren't you?

QUIRARTE: I was pretty close. Not in the middle. I didn't want to be in the middle of that.

BALDWIN: Fairly close. And, Frank, what -- this is a silly question but what did it smell like being there? Was it burning?

QUIRARTE: It smell like a bonfire at the beach or camping, just like a gigantic bon fire, so much wood and timber at the wood sea area and not to mention the timbers in some of the older houses, just disintegrated, plus melting tires -- chemicals in the houses.

BALDWIN: Chard stop signs, that's the picture we're looking at now.

SANCHEZ: I'm wondering, Frank, did you know at the time what this may be or did you just start shooting pictures and saying I'm just going to record this?

In your head did you start saying I wonder what this is? I wonder what's going on? And did you ever think that this is going to lead to fatalities?

QUIRARTE: Fortunately, I have a lot of friends that are firefighters. We are all worked in a rescue group and they called me and told me what happened.

He said it happened so fast some of these people there was no way they could possibly get out. There are a lot of older residents in that area as well.

SANCHEZ: So people who -- so they were saying people likely died in their sleep or wherever they were in their house at that time.

QUIRARTE: Just couldn't get out fast enough. The thing happened so quickly. You can see the size of the crater that's -- I mean the explosion, the initial explosion must have been amazing.

BALDWIN: Massive and I know you were there from 7:00 at night until 4:00 this morning and it was just fortuitous that you are a professional and snapped those pictures and had the foresight to send them in to us. And, Frank, we thank you for doing that. I'm glad you're safe. Can you imagine just coming upon that scene? I know a lot of people thought it was a plane, and lo and behold.

SANCHEZ: Can you imagine being in that neighborhood? I was just thinking as I was asking the question about people there, you know, sometimes you're fortuitous because of timing.

If something happens at a certain time of the day you are more apt to be able to recover it. Because this happened at dinner time when people were a little more active they probably were able to react. Imagine if this had been 3:00 in the morning or something like that.

BALDWIN: Sluggish, slow recovery. Slow response.

SANCHEZ: It would have been worse. You're in the middle of a dead sleep and there is an explosion.

BALDWIN: What do you do? What do you do any time of day?

SANCHEZ: Yes. Just to be able to realize what is going on before you hit the door. That would have been tough. Wow.

BALDWIN: Pictures are unreal.

SANCHEZ: Good stuff. Appreciate you taking us through that. Brooke Baldwin, she'll be back. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will not apologize for my tone tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Who is this guy? What is going on with him?

BALDWIN: This is viral now.

SANCHEZ: Very viral.

BALDWIN: This is fabulous.

SANCHEZ: Yes, people are talking about this. This guy yells and screams for six minutes all because he wants a certain job. Now there are campaign stump speeches and then there is this guy.

You've got to see it, folks. Stick around. Also, why is this pony going around kissing everybody? She's like, get out of my face. We'll be right back. Stay with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Brooke and I love this video and we want to share it with you. Have you heard of therapy animals? Well, it's usually a dog or a cat, right? Well, not in this case. Let's do "Fotos."

Therapy at this nursing home in New Jersey is a dog and pony show minus the dog. That is a 300-pound Shetland named Sampson. He gallops into the nursing homes every week to dole out love and kisses.

She's like, get out of my face. Apparently it behooves the residents and makes them feel a little more stable. The little pony gets a little aggressive at times. You might say Sampson is a one- lick pony.

All right, got a little too real for this reality show contestant during a fruity challenge. Watch her head. Watch her head. See? Boom. Is that amazing? You're supposed to make the watermelon launch away from you, but somehow it gets stuck, comes back and hits her I mean right in the pie.

Instead, she becomes the target. She took it on the chin you might say. Look. Watch again. On the chin you might say. Bang! This is crazy. She took it on the chin, the cheeks, eyes, forehead, mouth. You get the point.

Would you have the guts to tackle a gun-wielding bank robber? This guy in Wisconsin did. Watch. As soon as the customer sees what is happening he springs into action and takes the crook down in a choke hold.

The perp got away, but nobody got hurt and that, my friends is "Fotos" for this Friday. And you can see them for yourself whenever you want not to mention all the other vids we put together for you with the news on my blog. which is cnn.com/RickSanchez.

If you've ever wondered what an angry coach says to his players at halftime, I've got a video to show you. The thing is, this guy isn't the coach. He was running for treasurer in Stark County, Ohio, and now he is an online sensation.

As Brooke said moments ago, he has gone viral. I want you to watch what he told his fellow Republicans as he tries to convince them that he's the best man for this treasurer job. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL DAVIDSON: My name is Phil Davison and I am seeking our party's nomination for the position of Stark County treasurer and I will not apologize for my tone tonight. I have been a Republican in times good and I have been a Republican in times bad.

One of my most favorite quotes in the history of the spoken word and it is as follows -- in the middle of opportunity -- excuse me -- in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. I'm going to repeat that so I have clarity tonight.

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. This is the opportunity we've been waiting for. The Stark County treasurer's office is a mess. It is in dire need of structure and guidance. And now is the time to seize this opportunity with an aggressive campaign and an even structure and guidance.

And now is the time to seize this opportunity with an aggressive campaign and an even more aggressive campaigner. If nominated tonight, I promise each and every person in this room I will hit the ground running, come out swinging, and end up living.

Let's send a message tonight to the people of Stark County and to the people of the Stark County Democratic Party. We're tired of business as usual. Drastic measures, yes. Who said that?

Yes. Thank you. Drastic times require drastic measures. We must win this election. If nominated tonight I will win this election and I'm going to say that again so there is no miscommunication tonight.

If nominated tonight I win. Tell your friends. Tell your neighbors. Tell Randy Gonzalez. I'm coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: He went on like that for about six straight minutes. He is now telling reporters that he's no fanatic. He's just a very passionate guy so you're probably wondering, did he win the nomination? He did not.

But whether you're running for president or sixth grade hallway monitor, Phil Davison has shown candidates a new way to deliver a stump speech and of course, he's taught us one very, very important lesson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIDSON: Politics is not touch football. Politics is winner take all. It always has been. It always will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: There you go. From heated politics in Ohio to the latest political news crossing the wires in D.C. John King, who's always got that same kind of passion is going to join us here in just a little bit.

He's going to have the CNN political ticker for us. That's coming right up. We'll be right back. This is your national conversation. This is "Rick's List."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to RICK'S LIST. Time now for a "CNN Equals Politics" update. Here is John King from "The Best Political Team on Television."

What's new? What's crossing right now?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Rick, I got to tell you I love the passion that guy had. I don't know if he'll win that election, but that clip you just played is worth playing later maybe politics is winner take all, baby.

You know, the political ticker is winner take all as well as a lot going on today. One of the items getting a lot of attention not on the ticker, but I think campaigns across America is the president's news conference today and specifically his remarks on the economy.

To some the president opened the door to perhaps negotiating some sort of compromise over extending the Bush tax cuts. Democrats out in the campaign, some of whom don't always agree with the president, they're watching that one.

You can learn more about it on the political ticker and later you'll see on the ticker a conversation I'll have on "John King USA" tonight, a provocative conversation with our own Fareed Zakaria.

He says on this eve of 9/11 that the United States government has grossly over reacted in its reaction to 9/11 and it's sending thousands of troops overseas in building a multibillion dollar Homeland Security apparatus. Listen to Fareed Zakaria talk about that and in his view the much bolder politicization of 9/11 this time around.

Here's one more for you, if you want to follow the campaign and see the perspective from those plugged in on the left and right at the grass roots level go to cnnpolitics.com. Link up to our blog and the daily political points. Today it's Jane Hampshire from the left, her firedoglake.com and Eric Ericson of redstate.com. Take a look at their bullet points and you'll get a sense of the dissatisfaction of President Obama on both the left and the right.

And Rick, one of the big questions, of course, heading into Election Day does that dissatisfaction on the left keep some Democrats home? If that happens as you well know, that will only help the end of the Republicans, in the end help the Republicans.

One of the reasons, Rick, the president was out there talking today trying to convince Democrats even who aren't happy get out there and vote.

SANCHEZ: Yes. If that happens it could be aptly described as some in Washington have been saying, a political tsunami for the Democrats.

KING: Right.

SANCHEZ: But we're not there yet so we'll wait and see. Those numbers are very telling. John King, we thank you. Your next political update, by the way, is one hour away.

Remember, all of the latest political news just go to cnnpolitics.com or you can go to Twitter where we have them as well at politicalticker, political ticker one word. Two words, but spelled as one word.

Imagine taking a test to see if you have cancer, but the doctor never reeds the results. Yet you're told that everything is fine. It's an outrageous story, right? It's also the list you don't want to be on and it's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This is an interesting call out one of the worst things that a patient can hear -- you have cancer. But for many women in Georgia the worst thing they heard was you don't have cancer.

This takes some explaining, which I'll do. Time now for the list you don't want to be on. Rachael Rapraeger used to be a radio technician at a hospital in Central Georgia. Prosecutors say that she told hundreds and hundreds of women that their mammograms looked perfectly normal. Get this.

The doctor never read the scans. She said that to them without a doctor ever seeing it, never even looked at them. The technician labeled them negative anyway. It turns out at least ten of those women did actually have cancer and they weren't told.

Well, this lab tech turned herself in. She now faces a laundry list of charges and the hospital says she acted alone. Listen to what one of the patients said about the fear of not knowing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA HARRINGTON, PATIENT: She put 1,289 lives in danger. You kind of lose your faith in -- you are supposed to be able to trust your hospital. I'm fortunate. Hopefully that mine is going to be fine, but I don't know. I have to wait for six months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The hospital is the place where you get the good news or the bad news, but it should also be a place where you get the right news, the honest news.

And now mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, friends, are waiting and hoping that the real news doesn't come too late. Rachel Rapraeger lands at the very top of the list you don't want to be on. There she comes. Miss -- no, Brooke Baldwin.

BALDWIN: Wow, I get serenaded. You better be making up for calling me the wrong name.

SANCHEZ: I'm sorry. She has a bonus trending segment coming right up.

BALDWIN: Surprise.

SANCHEZ: And folks, stick around because it's Friday and this is going to be good.

BALDWIN: It is.

SANCHEZ: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: All right. We have new information just coming in to CNN. We've been waiting for the release of the three Americans who allegedly strayed into Iran while hiking last year. The release was supposed to happen very soon.

We've just learned the release of that hiker, her name is Sarah Shourd, has now been canceled. That is from Iran's prosecutor. Again, we were expecting this would happen Saturday morning, but apparently now there is a snag according to the Iranian labor news agency.

The reason according to the prosecutor is because the judicial process has not been completed. Now, we're looking into it further to try and find out exactly what that means and whether the release has truly been canceled or just postponed.

Sarah Shourd, Shane, Josh, they've all been held by Iran for more than a year now and they allegedly crossed an unmarked border into Iran while hiking in Iraq's Kurdistan region. So there you, if that story changes once again, we'll bring you the update right away.

Well, it's Friday. Brooke Baldwin is joining us now bringing us a bonus.

BALDWIN: Bonus trending segment. I never done a bonus trending before. It's Friday. We like to have fun on the show.

SANCHEZ: We're in New York City, it's Friday, it's special.

BALDWIN: It is special. It's your book week. So speaking of you, I woke up this morning and started checking my Twitter and sort of getting a bunch of tweets from people saying, Brooke, did you see the "Daily Show" last night.

And there are occasions the collective "we" get picked on because we do things on TV and sometimes Mr. Jon Stewart likes to make a little fun. Last night case in point, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Guess what? Moments ago the Republican Minority Leader John Boehner sent me a tweet, personally.

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Dude, you're a news man not a 13-year-old girl who just won a meet Justin Bieber radio contest.

SANCHEZ: At Rick Sanchez. He sent it to us.

STEWART: Do you get that excited about tweets that go directly to you? Perhaps I could have my audience send some Rick Sanchez tweets care of send a twit a tweet. That's not fair. Rick, I'm kidding obviously. You're not just some total meat head.

SANCHEZ: By the way, I said the president was in Columbus. He was actually closer to Cleveland today. I'm thinking Columbus because I'm all fired up about that University of Ohio Miami State game coming up this weekend.

STEWART: Sanchez likes football. Football always on Sanchez mind. Sanchez yesterday refer to Hillary Clinton as Frank Tarkington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Little does he know how much you really do talk football. That was hysterical.

SANCHEZ: He has such a crush on me.

BALDWIN: He does. It's like, hey, let's check what's going on with CNN and it's always Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: He should just come out and say I just love Rick Sanchez. You know, a physical attraction apparently.

BALDWIN: We got a few tweets. We'll show them after the break.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

BALDWIN: OK.

SANCHEZ: Should we?

BALDWIN: Stay right there.

SANCHEZ: So is that what we're going to do?

BALDWIN: Here's more to come.

SANCHEZ: Let's take a quick break and we're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right. You got to love Jon Stewart. He kind of ends our show, but this is where we're going to give a copy of my book "Conventional Idiocy" to someone in our audience. You've chosen them?

BALDWIN: I got the honor today. Let's read it. This is from Donna West. She says, hey, Rick, knowing your great sense of humor. Are you going to address Jon Stewart's send a twit a tweet campaign?

Go to the next one. You should send a copy of "Conventional Idiocy" over to Jon Stewart so he understands the power of tweets. I wanted to see how excited you would be if he tweeted you.

SANCHEZ: He doesn't get what we do that guy. Love you, Jon. Also, Suzanne Malveaux, here is THE SITUATION ROOM.