Return to Transcripts main page

Rick's List

Deadly Gas Line Explosion in California Neighborhood; President Obama Holds News Conference

Aired September 10, 2010 - 20:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Here we go. We're just starting to hear from some of these folks in San Bruno. Remember, a lot of very interesting questions here.

Let's pick it up.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CHRIS HART, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: ... carbon steel that's owned and operated by PG&E.

That occurred a few minutes after 6:00 p.m. last night, as you know, and we just arrived on scene, so we don't have much information yet. I went to the scene, myself, to see the devastation, to see the some excess of 170 houses so far that have been -- that were engaged, that were either damaged or destroyed.

We're aware of the numerous fatalities and we have responded to this very serious event with an eight-member investigative team. The investigator in charge, his name is Ravindra Chhatre. And you will get the spelling for that from Peter.

We have assembled a team of investigators to look at a variety of areas. We started with the operations. We look at the pipeline, we look at the installation of the pipeline, we look at the operation of it, the maintenance of it, the history, the peak values of pressure that the pipeline can withstand and the history of the values that it did withstand.

We look at the safe guards that are employed to prevent overpressure in the pipeline. We look at all aspects of the pipeline. We're also forming a group to look at the human factors aspects, i.e., the people, all the people who operate the pipeline.

We will be looking at their experience, their training, their history. We will be looking at whether they have alcohol and tox tests to determine their condition at the time. We will look at what they were doing in the last few hours to see if they were fatigued, issues of that sort relating to the operators of the pipeline.

We will be looking at the survivability factors. In particular we will be looking at the emergency preparedness and what plans were in place by Pacific Gas and Electric to respond to an issue like this and then what response actually occurred to this disaster. So, obviously, we're here because of the enormous impact of this disaster on many lives and on the property. And in that regard I would like to say, on behalf of the NTSB, that we extend our condolences to the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy.

In addition to our investigators, we have family assistant specialists from the NTSB's Office of Transportation Disaster Assistance. They are on scene to provide assistance and support to the family members of the victims of this incident.

Throughout the next few days our investigators will be working on scene to thoroughly document the accident site and gather factual information to do what they can do determine what happened.

The purpose of us being here and the reason we're gathering this information is not just to understand what happened, but why it happened and ultimately we will end up with recommendations to try to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

We will not be determining probable cause while we are here on scene and we will not speculate about what may have caused the accident. We are also not here to determine blame or liability. We are here specifically to determine cause and we will do that in a report that will come out in 14, 16, 18 months. That's difficult to say just exactly how long it will take.

It depends on what we discover in the course of the investigation, but in the course of the investigation, if we find safety concerns that need immediate attention, we will put out immediate recommendations, rather than waiting for the completion of the investigation.

We're very interested in what any witnesses may have reports, so anyone who is a witness to this who has not yet been interviewed, we would appreciate if you get in touch with the local authorities to tell them the information and they will give it to us.

Since we're just beginning the investigation we don't have a great deal of information, factual information. We will update you from time to time as we gather that, starting with our first press briefing. That will be this evening. And Peter will give you the details of that.

But as a final comment, I would like to take a moment to thank all of the first-responders to this accident. They have been working very hard and we appreciate all they have done in addition to all that the Red Cross has done as well.

I will now take a few questions.

QUESTION: Mr. Hart, given your experience with these kinds of disasters (OFF-MIKE)

HART: The question was, what was my immediate assessment when I saw the scene? My immediate assessment was the amazing destruction, the charred trees, the area that was completely flattened, the melted, charred cars and houses that disappeared. It was just an amazing scene of destruction. That was my immediate reaction.

QUESTION: Will you be wanting to talk to residents who are saying to many of the reporters here that they had smelled gas fumes in the past few weeks? Is that of interest to you?

HART: The question is, will we be wanting to talk to residents who reported that they had smelled gas fumes? We will definitely want to talk to anybody who has any information pertinent or potentially pertinent to this event.

QUESTION: Would that be pertinent?

HART: That would be pertinent.

QUESTION: Do you know if PG&E had been cited by any other agencies for this particular pipeline before?

HART: The question was, do we know if we PG&E had been cited by other agencies regarding this pipeline? That's one of the things we will be looking into in the course of the investigation.

One more question, please?

QUESTION: Your taking in the scene, does that tell you anything about what may have happened?

HART: At this point, it's too early to speculate as to what they have happened. The question was, my taking in the scene, does that give me any clue as to what may have happened?

There was a section of the pipe that was blown out of the hole and on to the street that reflects the enormity of the explosion that took place. The fact that this pipe, this large piece of pipeline was blown the distance that it was out of the hole in the ground, so that tells me of the magnitude of the explosion that took place.

QUESTION: Is that unusual?

HART: The question is, is that unusual? The answer is, in explosions, nothing is unusual.

QUESTION: Do you know...

HART: Thank you very much. We will have another -- Peter will give you the information about when the next press briefing will occur. Thank you very much.

QUESTION: I'm sorry. Say your name and again spell it?

HART: Christopher Hart, H-A-R-T.

QUESTION: When is the next press briefing? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will announce the next press briefing shortly.

SANCHEZ: All right, let's keep an eye on this as we move forward here.

I would like to thank you all for joining us.

This is RICK'S LIST, and we have been keeping a very careful eye on the situation out in San Bruno, California, not far from San Francisco.

Let me try and catch you up on what we know right now. As far as what we hear from Christopher Hart from the National Transportation and Safety Board is that the last part that he just explained which is probably as dramatic as anything we have heard yet, which is that a giant section or, as he described it, large part of the pipe, the natural gas pipe, came out of the ground, left a large hole in the ground, and literally was thrown from its original location to where they found it on the street.

It almost made it sound as if he was saying that as if that's where they may concentrate part of the investigation.

Now, let me tell you what else we know at this point. Throughout the course of the day, we were told that they were only able to use dogs, cadaver dogs, to search 75 percent of these homes.

That means another 25 percent still has not been searched. And the reason it hasn't been searched is because it was still smoldering, it was still too hot to bring the dogs into that area. So, as last we checked, there were four fatalities that had been announced.

There's always the possibility, since this is the area where the fire had burned the longest, that it may be close to the point of origin as well, which means that they might find some more fatalities in that area as well.

Ted Rowlands has been following this situation for us throughout the course of the evening, and I would like to see if we can check in with Ted real quick just to find out where this investigation is going, if they're now saying, because last time we heard them talk, Ted, they said that 25 percent of it, they were still not even able to search. Have they cleared that 25 percent yet?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know, Rick. They have been working over the last four hours. That was the time period from our last briefing. So we're assuming that they did get into some of those homes.

But as you mentioned, the reason they didn't get in earlier was because of the heat levels and they didn't want the dogs to go in. So bottom line, they will get through those through the night at some point. I talked to the fire chief a little while ago.

The good news in all of this -- it's really hard to comprehend, when you look at the pictures and the magnitude of this explosion -- they have not come across anybody who is missing. There hasn't been relatives that have come and said, my mother is missing or my son or daughter. So, they're optimistic that they may not find anyone else.

They say they're obviously looking and there could very well be maybe an entire family who is there or they don't know what they're going to find. But when you look at those pictures, it's amazing that there aren't more people affected. Four people dead and 52 injured, some severely burned, is a lot of people, obviously.

But, boy, I tell you, when you come out here, one of the first things you think is, well, I bet they're going to find more when they get closer to that area. But at this point, with no missing people, that may not be the case.

SANCHEZ: We have got a couple of pieces of sound that I want to share with our viewers now. We have two witnesses, one of them describing what it was like to be there. Another one describes what they smelled several weeks ago.

This may be the center of this investigation.

Let's go ahead. Kelly, if you have those, go ahead and play whichever one. I think we will be able to do them sequentially.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: 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?

PAUL OLEKSA, PIPELINE SAFETY EXPERT: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. That's Paul Oleksa. He's a natural gas pipeline expert that I reached out to earlier who told me that this pipe could have been anywhere from 26 inches in diameter to over 40 inches in diameter.

That's how large this pipe that apparently blew could have been before it took out this entire neighborhood. Now the sound from those witnesses who described not only what happened when the explosion took place, but another witness who describes as well what he was smelling several weeks ago. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a big explosion. So, there was -- it was like an earthquake, and a lot of rattling, and the noise was phenomenal. It was so loud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it sounded to us and other neighbors like it was a low plane just -- that you can hear, like, the engines idling down, like, whoo. Then, all of a sudden, my radio went dead. And then, all of a sudden, boom, boom, an intense explosion.

I mean, I don't know how anybody cannot repair a smell like that, and -- and not find that smell, especially going to neighborhoods, and there's other -- other neighborhoods that have smelt the same smell, really strong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And for how long have you smelled this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a good three weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what did they tell you to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they -- when they -- when they had came out, they said, just shut the door and go inside the house. And that was it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So, there we go again.

Ted Rowlands, joining us, you heard what the gentleman from the NTSB said. He said, yes, this will be an important part of this investigation. How many people out there have repeated that same account that we just heard from that gentleman? How credible is that story?

ROWLANDS: Well, you know, a lot of people are now parroting it or coming up and saying, hey, I smelled that too.

But the ones that we have met for the most part didn't make that next step to call PG&E or call the local authorities at all. They say, you know what? I remember smelling that, too. So, a lot of people are coming out of the woodwork now that this gentleman has been on television, got a lot of press.

But when you ask that second question, did you call, or how concerned were you, most of them just sort of went on with their daily lives, but now recall smelling something.

So, obviously, like you said, the NTSB is going to look into that and weigh it accordingly. But once they look at the pipe, they will most likely find out more information.

And what I thought was interesting, they're going to look at the history of the pipe, the recent history, and the people that were managing it and overseeing it. They really are treating this like they would an airplane disaster or a train disaster. They work. They get every piece of information and don't really report anything for about a year.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And he also mentioned they're going to check and see if this company, this gas company, had been cited before for anything having to do with this particular pipeline.

Ted, thanks so much for bringing us up to date on that.

I want to show you one more time what the live aerials look like right now. These are pictures that we're getting from the scene. And as you look at them, you get a pretty good idea of just how immense this explosion actually was.

We will go into this area right there. Take a look at it. It's right there. You see those homes, one after another, just devastated, destroyed, obliterated, a story that we're going to continue to focus on for you throughout the course of this newscast.

But let me tell you what else we have coming up here on RICK'S LIST. First of all, President Obama, did you hear about his news conference earlier today? You will.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEINZ KOOP, FORMER JONES FOLLOWER: He was a charismatic leader. I think he was -- the preference was very strong for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Yes, very strong, but you're not going to believe what the people who really knew this inflammatory pastor down in Gainesville now have to say about him. This story takes us all the way to Cologne, Germany. It will make you understand what really drives Terry Jones, I promise.

RICK'S LIST continues right after the break. A lot going on tonight, and we're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Happy Friday, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. We're bringing you RICK'S LIST's tonight from New York City. That's Columbus Circle you see there behind me all lit up.

But it's not the only thing that's lit up tonight in New York. I want to show you something right now. These are live pictures that we have been getting tonight. Take a look at this. Those are the lights going up into the sky as a tribute to 9/11, which is obviously remembered by so many Americans and people all over the world tomorrow. That was the site that has been the source of pain for so many people, and continues to be to this day. That's what it looks like right now.

Meanwhile, President Obama's news conference, one hour, 17 minutes, can you believe that? By my count today, 13 questions, not including follow-up questions, and, in case you missed it, here are some of the highlights. We begin with number five. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things that I most admired about President Bush was, after 9/11, him being crystal clear about the fact that we were not at war with Islam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Well, that's something you don't hear every day, the president giving props to his predecessor, George W. Bush.

Here now, number four.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We have succeeded on delivering on a lot of campaign promises that we made. One where we have fallen short is closing Guantanamo.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Mr. Obama does concede that he's failed to fulfill his promise of closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay. He says it's not for lack of trying, though, but it's just proven to be politically difficult.

Here is number three.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: One of the goals, I think, that I have set for myself and for my team is to make sure that President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu start thinking about how can they help the other succeed, as opposed to how do they figure out a way for the other to fail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's what the president is saying. He says make it a win/win for the guys in the Middle East. He says Abbas, the Palestinian leader, and Netanyahu, the Israeli leader, they need to learn how to see the world through each other's eyes. And to that extent, Mr. Obama says, he liked what he saw at their recent meeting in Washington.

What else is important to this president? Here is number two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The most important anti-poverty effort is growing the economy and making sure there are enough jobs out there -- the single most important thing we can do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And that was an interesting moment, Mr. Obama saying, don't expect him to push for anti-poverty programs. He says the best ways to help the poor are, one, get the economy going, and, two, better public schools for all Americans.

Now, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: They're going to school with our kids. They're our neighbors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. What is the number-one political story tonight? It involves presidential passions. Enough said.

Also, a bizarre and unexpected show of solidarity last night from players on both the Packers and the Saints. Look at this. Both teams just before they played against each other showed that they were with each other. What is with that? What are they trying to say? You're about to find out, as we drill down on this as well.

This is RICK'S LIST, no bloviating, just the news and lots of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. You wanted to know what's number one? Here we go.

Here we are, the eve of the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, and we're having to be reminded after all these years that we're not at war with Islam. We're being reminded of that by this president and the last.

I might be remiss if I didn't mention that recent poll that shows 18 percent of Americans believe that Mr. Obama is a Muslim, even though he's a Christian. Well, this is the most impassioned this president became today at this news conference.

It's also number one on the list of stories in politics tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We've got millions of Muslim Americans, our fellow citizens, in this country. They're going to school with our kids. They're our neighbors. They're our friends. They're our co-workers.

And, you know, when we start acting as if their religion is somehow offensive, what are we saying to them?

I have got Muslims who are fighting in Afghanistan in the uniform of the United States armed services. 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: And, with that, let's get to the list of tonight's most controversial stories. Here is number one -- pardon me -- number four. The three American hikers jailed in Iran for more than a year, you see them here with their mothers, who were allowed to visit them last May. They were arrested when they allegedly crossed an unmarked border into Iran, hiking in Iraq.

Yesterday, the Iranian government said one of them would be released. Today, that release was canceled because -- quote -- "The judicial process has not been completed." All the hikers' mothers say they are innocent and they should be let out right away.

Here now, number three: that controversial don't ask, don't tell policy that prevents gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military thrown out by a federal judge in California who says it's unconstitutional. The administration is expected to ask for a temporary injunction. But President Obama is pushing for a repeal of don't ask, don't tell. A bill that would overturn the measure after a Pentagon review is currently before Congress.

Here now, the most controversial story number two. Check this out. This happened just before the last-night NFL season opener in the Louisiana Superdome. Saints and Vikings players stepped on to the field and pointed their index fingers in the air, both teams, not one, but two teams that were about to beat up on each other. It was completely unexpected. It caught everyone who watched this by surprise, including the NFL owners.

Why did the players do it? The players say it's to show that they will stick together even if the NFL owners try and lock them out next year. The collective bargaining agreement expires after the season and the players say they want to negotiate a better deal. But owners would rather cancel the season, which is looking like a real possibility next year, according to a lot of NFL insiders. Stay tuned.

So, what is the number-one story on my list of the most controversial stories of the night? The pastor who just can't seem to make up his mind about whether he's going to burn the Koran tomorrow or not. Just how kooky is this guy? We're going to bring you the latest on this story.

Also, a Twitter war between the governor of California and Sarah Palin, what is this all about? I'm going to tell you in just a moment.

Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

We're back with the most controversial story of the night. Here's number one: Pastor Terry Jones and his plan to burn Korans tomorrow on the anniversary of 9/11.

As it stands now, the Florida preacher says the burning will not go ahead -- again, as it stands now. But he still hopes to meet, possibly tomorrow, with the New York imam who is planning to establish an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero. Jones says it was a promise to move the planned mosque further away from Ground Zero that led him to cancel his -- his Koran burning protest.

But the imam leading the mosque project denies any deal was made. Jones plans to burn the Koran, it has sparked protest worldwide, a media frenzy and please from the president on down to not do it.

We've been looking into background of this pastor, for 26 years he led a church in Germany, did you know, where former members are saying he was, well, into himself, egotistic, egoistic. But he left that church in disgrace. Phil Black is in Cologne, Germany, tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 20 years, Heinze and Elka Koop followed their pastor Terry Jones. The 19 of those years they trusted his every word.

HEINZE KOOP, FORMER CHURCH MEMBER: He was a charismatic leader, I think -- presence was very strong for us.

BLACK: Jones' church, the Christian Community of Cologne, became the focus of their lives. Jones insisted on it, borrowing an infamous NAZI motto.

KOOP: A whole week, also Sunday and Saturday.

BLACK (on camera): For the church?

KOOP: For the church, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Work made free.

BLACK: Is that what he said.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BLACK: Work makes you free?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BLACK (voice-over): The Koop say Terry Jones didn't speak German when he arrived in this country, even so he built a congregation of around 1,000 worshippers, telling them he'd been sent to Germany by God to do his will and he must be obeyed.

ELKE KOOP, FORMER CHURCH MEMBER: He was bigger than God. That's a big reason why it functioned --

BLACK (on camera): If you questioned the things he told you to do, did he say that you were questioning God?

ELKE KOOP: Yes.

BLACK: He did?

HEINZE KOOP: Yes.

BLACK: So to question Terry Jones was to question God?

ELKE KOOP: Yes.

HEINZE KOOP: Yes. That's correct.

ELKE KOOP: Yes.

BLACK (voice-over): The Koops rose through the hierarchy of the church, based in modest buildings on the outskirts of the city. They regularly traveled to Jones' other church in Florida.

Heinze eventually took on a key job in the church fund-raising business, which sold donated goods on the internet.

(on camera): What happened to that money?

HEINZE KOOP: It goes into the pocket of the pastors.

ELKE KOOP: Yes, but we didn't know it in the beginning. He saw it, and this would -- this -- that this goes to the church.

BLACK (voice-over): They started to see other problems with the business. They say its workforce of believers were paid almost nothing. They say worshippers were persuaded to give everything, sell their own belongings, even their homes.

"The control over people grew in every way," he tells me. "Personally, emotionally and financially." Heinze says his awareness also grew and after months of trying persuaded his wife they should leave the church together.

Then came the day they openly stood up to Terry Jones. Others quickly joined them. "It was important that you could criticize him," he says. "And show everyone he's human with weaknesses."

ELKE KOOP: He left and won't come back.

BLACK: That was in 2008. The church severed all ties with Jones and continues today under new leadership. Terry Jones relocated permanently to his Florida church. From there, he's grabbed the world's attention with plans to mark the anniversary of 9/11 by burning the Koran.

ANDREW SCHAFER, PROTESTANT PASTOR: He's completely convinced he is, so to speak, God's first ambassador.

BLACK: Protestant pastor Andrew Schaffer says he's counseled dozens of people whose lives were damaged by Jones and his church. "He cannot stand the pain of losing his significance," he says, and this is why he's using this issue now to try to become a big player again." Elka and Heinz say they're angry with Jones, but they're also angry with themselves for letting him control their lives for so long. Phil Black, CNN, Cologne, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Gives you a sense of who the man is. Doesn't it?

Now to our list of people making news on this night and we begin with number three. The governator, Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California, having fun on twitter at the expense of Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor.

Here's what he posts to the Twitter board we go. You get to see this for yourself. Over Anchorage, Alaska, looking everywhere, but can't see Russia from here. We'll keep you updated as search continues.

There's the shot he sends along to which Sarah Palin responds, Arnold should have landed. I could have explained our multibillion- dollar state surplus and U.S. energy security efforts. What's he been up to? Sarah Palin. The governor, of course, was joking, just a little while ago she tweeted as well. And that story goes on and on.

Here now, number two in people. If you ever wonder what an angry coach is to his players at halftime, I have a video to show you. The thing is this isn't a coach. Phil Davidson was running for treasurer in Stark County, Ohio. Watch what he tells his fellow Republicans trying to convince them that he is, this will floor you, folks, the best man for the job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL DAVIDSON: My name is Phil Davidson, 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. Albert Einstein issued 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. 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's no miscommunication tonight. Tonight I win, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell Randy Gonzalez. I'm coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is for a local treasurer's seat. You're probably wondering, did he win the nomination? Nope. He did not. So who is number one on the list of people in the news tonight?

A guy who was shot in the chest and then saved three of his fellow soldiers. We're going to tell you how he's being honored for what he did. That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: So what is number one on the list of people making news on this night?

Someone we should all be very proud of. Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta. He becomes the very first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The White House announced it today. I want to tell you what the Staff Sergeant Giunta did to earn this. His squad was ambushed by insurgents in Afghanistan in 2007. Giunta took a bullet to the chest, jumped up, pulled two wounded soldiers to safety, and then he saw two insurgents carrying away another wounded soldier.

Using grenades and a rifle, Giunta killed one insurgent and wounded the other, then ran to his injured comrade and gave him medical attention until the rest of the squad finally caught up.

Staff Sergeant Giunta told "The New York Times" today, in my battalion, I am mediocre at best. It shows just how great the rest of them are. That is a direct quote.

Hundreds of women are told they don't have cancer, only to find out that their cancer tests were never actually read by a doctor. This is the list that you don't want to be on and it's ahead.

Also Jon Stewart, guess who he's been watching lately? "Rick's List." My goodness. He's a famous guy, right? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: My god, look who's here. It's a Friday. Friday always makes for the best trending stuff.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we got good stuff.

SANCHEZ: Because that's when people are Googling and that's when people are on the internet and tweeting about all the stuff they're interested in.

BALDWIN: Yes, this one story is huge. It is exploding all over Twitter. I'm trying to put it in Rick Sanchez language. Like, if you will, you're looking forward to the Miami/Ohio stake game this weekend, right.

Other people are really excited on the same level about fashions night out, which is happening right now. Stay with me, Sanchez. Tonight, shoppers all around the world, not just around the country, around the world, are celebrating fashions night out. If you're on Twitter, you see hash tag FNO, that's what it stands for. Just the second year in a row, this is happening so stores are staying open later to promote retail. This is about economics and fashion. The idea came about last year when we were in the midst of the recession.

The council of fashion designers of America, the city of New York, and editor in chief of "Vogue" join forces to keep people out shopping again, paying with cold, hard cash, right?

Extend your hours and bring in also -- also this brings people in, the big celebs tonight. Just to name a few, Diddy, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani. So this is pretty cool. I was excited about this. Fashion designer and president tweeted me tonight.

SANCHEZ: Cool.

BALDWIN: You get excited about certain tweets. This is my excitement tonight.

SANCHEZ: Like Don Shula tweeting us.

BALDWIN: There you go. She tweeted, hi from the lounge. They tweeted us a picture inside the store. The stores are packed with people shopping.

We have one more tweet from Markeza. Wrapping up the doggy cat walk. Heading off to the Marchesa red carpet moment. This is David Yurman. Take note.

SANCHEZ: Talking to Glenn Beck, look.

BALDWIN: Not at all.

SANCHEZ: It's Glenn Beck. He's into fashion?

BALDWIN: Fashion jewelry. For the love. Let's move on. I talk about tweets I get excited about. Sometimes --

SANCHEZ: Sorry. Lost my head.

BALDWIN: I kid. I kid.

SANCHEZ: No, that's great. Who are those people?

BALDWIN: Exactly. I know. It was like, over Rick Sanchez's head.

SANCHEZ: Sorry.

BALDWIN: Number two --

SANCHEZ: It's very interesting stuff.

BALDWIN: Sure you're fascinated. Number two, sometimes certain anchors get excited about some tweets, sometimes some anchors get a little excited over others and particular people like to poke a little fun at those certain people.

SANCHEZ: Is this Jon Stewart?

BALDWIN: Case in point. "Daily Show" last night. Roll it, Kelly.

(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: Dude, you're -- newsman, not a 13-year-old girl who just want to meet Justin Bieber radio contest.

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

STEWART: If you get excited about tweets that go directly to you maybe I can have my audience send some Rick Sanchez tweets. Care of, send a twitter tweet. That's not fair. Rick, I'm kidding obviously. You're not just a 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 fired up about the University of Miami/Ohio state gig that's coming up this weekend.

STEWART: Sanchez like football. Football always on Sanchez mind. Sanchez yesterday referred to Hillary Clinton as -- I apologize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What is it with -- he's got a fascination with me.

BALDWIN: He does. It's like, let's check what's going on at CNN. It's always Rick Sanchez.

SANCHEZ: I should never have broken up with him.

BALDWIN: He's brokenhearted a little bit.

SANCHEZ: He is. Jon, I'll take you back. Check out this great video. Good stuff by the way.

Check out this great video, kissing ponies. It's all in the name of therapy. Look at some of these old folks. They're going like, OK, yes, this is really nice but get out of my face.

Also "The List U Don't Want 2 be on." Just imagine taking a test to see if you have a disease and someone doesn't even monitor it, doesn't even take it to a doctor and then tells you to leave after giving you a bold-faced lie. That's what happened. That's coming up. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: I want to welcome you back. This is one of the worst things any patient can hear. Three words, "you have cancer." But for many women in Georgia, the worst thing they've ever heard was, "you don't have cancer."

This takes a little explaining. Let me do that for you. It's time now for "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On." This is a story of Rachel Rapraeger, used to be a radiology technician at a hospital in Central Georgia.

Prosecutors say she told hundreds and hundreds of women that their mammograms looked perfectly normal. Get this, the doctor never read the scans, never looked at the mammograms. Technician labeled them negative anyway. Why would she do that?

It turns out at least ten of those women who she told were fine, don't worry about it, doctor looked at your scan already, they actually had cancer. They developed cancer.

Well, the lab tech has now turned herself in. She faces a laundry list of charges and the hospital says that she acted alone. They had nothing to do with it. 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 lose your faith. You're supposed to trust your hospital. I'm fortunate hopefully mine is going to be fine, but I don't know. I have to sit and wait for six months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The hospital is the place where you get good news and bad, but it should also be the place where you get the right news. The honest news and now mothers, sisters, wives, daughters and friends are waiting and hoping that the real news doesn't come too late. Rachel Rapraeger, she lands tonight on the very top of "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."

So what would you do if you witnessed a bank robbery? We're going to show you one guy who took action. That is coming up next.

We'll be giving awe way to one of you an autographed copy of my new book. Stay right there. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: You're going to love this. You may have heard of therapy animals, right? It's usually a dog or a cat. Today, something a little different. Let's do fotos.

Therapy at this nursing home in New Jersey is a dog and pony show, except there's no dog. Just a pony. A 300 pound chetland named Sampson gallops into nursing homes every week to dole out love and kisses. Apparently, it behooves the residents and makes them feel more stable. You might say Sampson is a one-lick pony. Look at that lady, get out of my face! I got a little too real for this reality show contestant during this fruity challenge. I want you to watch this.

OK? The idea is to get the melon and you throw it out. Instead it comes back, hits her right in the face. She became the target. This is nuts. I mean, she took it in the chin. She took it in the cheeks. She took it in the forehead. Ouch! Wow.

Now, here's another one I want to show you tonight. Would you have the guts to tackle a gun-wielding bank robber in because this guy in Wisconsin did. Watch, as soon as customer sees what is happening, he springs into action and takes the crook down in a choke hold. The perp gets away but nobody gets hurt. That, we want you to know is fotos. See them for yourself whenever you want. There they will be for you at cnn.com/ricksanchez.

No, Jon Stewart is not arrogant and elitist. You guys on Twitter are writing really mean things about my friend, Jon Stewart. But I know we've got this book, and every day we give one away because you guys have helped me write it.

So the least I can do is to give you one at the end of every show. Today, we've chosen mom versus wild. Mom versus wild writes this. She writes, that Jon Stewart has a man crush on you referring to me and then she goes on to say, now this probably could any way be true, could it?

She says, it must be the hair. Lol. You guys on Twitter apparently aren't crazy about Jon Stewart's attitude toward you tweets. Things are what they are.

Thanks so much for being with us, everybody. We're going to be joining you once again next Monday at 3:00, 4:00 and 5:00. Tomorrow I'll be in West Barry, New York, for a book signing at the borders there.

If anybody's in the area, I'll be glad to hang out with you. Come on by. I'll sign a book for you. As far as we're concerned, we'll seeing you that after that on Monday if you miss me on Saturday. Thanks for being with us.

Here's Larry King on "Larry King Live."