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Rick's List

Rescue Drill Reaches Chilean Miners; Sex Trafficking in America; Christine O'Donnell Addresses Value Voters Summit; Sustainable South Bronx

Aired September 17, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: I'm with you every step of the way, baby. Well done, well-delivered, well-written.

Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. It's Friday. And this is RICK'S LIST.

So many stories that we can choose from today that we could bring you, but I don't think you are going to disagree that one of the most unbelievable, one of the most newsworthy and cringe-worthy stories that we are following right now is the news that is breaking out of Chile, where they are drilling that hole to try and get those 33 miners that are stuck in a cave 2,300 feet underground out.

Well, guess what? They have broken through. That's the news. You have seen the 33 miners who are trapped underground and desperate to get out. Well, the shaft was just drilled. So, still, there you -- there you are seeing the drilling that's been taking place today.

Essentially, let me explain this to you. It's a hole that they have made, but it's still too small to get the guys out. So, eventually, they are going to widen the hole with this special drill so it can be about 26 inches in diameter, which should just about be enough to get some of those guys out.

Now, I don't know about the big ones. OK. So, then, how do they extract them out of there? How long is it going to take? What is the danger? Well, about what a potential collapse?

Karl Penhaul is there in Chile with the answers.

Let's start, Karl, first of all, if you could, explain to us how they reacted, how these miners reacted when that -- when they saw that drill finally breaking through the ceiling of their cave.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are told that they were jubilant, because over the last two days, they had heard the hammer, the drill bit of that drill, getting much closer to them, vibrating the rock. And then when that drill bit came through, actually (AUDIO GAP) then they erupted in sounds of joy. (INAUDIBLE)

SANCHEZ: All right, let's do this. Let's do this. Let's try this once again. Man, I wanted to hear that report. And, by the way, you figure a diameter of about, what, 26 inches, right, something like this, that they can get through. I mean, you look at my shoulders. I ain't the smallest guy in the world, but I'm not the biggest guy in the world either. So, you figure, would they be able to squeeze through that hole?

And, now, remember how far they are from the surface all the way down to the roof or the ceiling of their cave. That's 2,300 feet that they have to get them out. So, when they eventually get this hole, this -- this shaft, really, that's dug wide enough to get them out, right, then the question is going to be, well, how do you suck them out of there?

How do you actually extract them? And Karl has been doing some displays for us today. He has got some props that show how these guys are going to be able to squeeze out of there. But then the problem is, OK, so you are going to be in this tube, this shaft, for how long?

At first, we were told it could last as long as an hour. There's talk that they might have to sedate them, just so they don't -- because I know they are miners, but still they have never been stuck in a shaft somewhere between their cave and the surface.

So, that's part of what makes this story so interesting. They are scratching their heads now trying to figure out how and under what conditions they are going to do this. And then there's a time element, right? We were told -- and, remember, we have been talking about this -- that it could take all the way until Christmas for this to finally be done.

There's that special -- that special drill, by the way, that has been brought in. You are looking at it right there with the little diamond studs that apparently cut all the way in through rock.

All right. We have got Karl Penhaul back on the phone now.

Karl, the viewers and I have been exchanging ideas about this, because I have been reading a lot of their tweets. And a lot of people are fascinated by how they are actually going to do this.

And I guess -- let me -- let me -- let me cut to the chase and ask you the key question here, since we lost you a little while ago. All right, I get it that they are going to make a hole, a shaft all the way down to where these guys are. The question is, how are they actually going to extract them? How are they actually going to pull them out?

Is -- is it a cage? Is it a capsule? Is it some kind of hydraulic system, like those tubes we use when we go to the drive-in tellers at the banks? Do we know?

PENHAUL: Yes. Well, right now, talking to the mines minister about exactly that, and he described it as a kind of cage. He said there are two prototypes in the works right now. And he's going to take a look at those over the weekend and maybe make a final decision on which one to go for on about Tuesday. But he says is that, essentially, there will be -- there will be some -- some common features of this cage. First of all, it will seal the miners in. And so as they go up that shaft half-a-mile from the shelter up to the surface again, to protect the miners, so they don't get battered against the walls of that shaft, it will have oxygen in it, because this is going to be enclosed space, so they are going to need that oxygen literally just to stay alive on the way back up.

Miners might also be blindfolded in that cage, because it's going to be pretty --

SANCHEZ: Oh.

PENHAUL: -- scary. It's going to be dark, probably. It's going to be a very enclosed space. And -- and, also, the minister has also said that some of the miners may even need to be sedated.

But there is a good piece of news in all this, because you will remember when we talked before, Rick, they were saying that maybe it will take about two-and-a-half-hours to lower the cage down and bring a single miner back to the surface. Well, they have come up with a design for a new winch. That will move the cage up much faster, and it could take now just 10 minutes to get a miner from half-a-mile underground back to the surface. So, that will of course speed the process up, Rick.

SANCHEZ: I hate to even ask this question, but I'm thinking it, so I will ask it.

Well, what about the possibility that, in the process of getting 33 different miners out, the integrity of the walls of this shaft could give and they could have some kind of collapse? Have they -- have they thought about that? And what are the possibilities?

PENHAUL: It depends which of these drill holes, which of these shafts actually ends up getting built.

Now, as we know, it's plan B that is ahead of the other drills right now. Plan A is some ways behind. Plan C hasn't even started. But that's a kind of a super-fast oil drill. So, that could still be in the race here.

But the differences is here is that plan A and plan B, there will be no casing on that shaft wall. And that would open the scenario that you are suggesting. What if there's some kind of rumble there and what if some of the rocks kind of fall down from that shaft?

That wouldn't be the case with plan C, because, there, they have got the option of putting steel or PVC casing down in that shaft. And that would give a much smoother ride to the miners on the way up.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

PENHAUL: But these are certainly all factors that the rescuers are still looking at, Rick. SANCHEZ: When they put these guys in this capsule or this cage, as you are describing it to us, I imagine it's going to be one at a time, right? And, if so, how do they pick the order? Will the miners choose who goes up first?

PENHAUL: I think it's a little bit too early to talk about that. What the rescuers have said is that, in fact, rescuers from the surface will have to go down that shaft first in the cage to then place the miners one by one in the cage.

so, potentially, we could get 34, 35 men down there at one stage, two of them being the rescuers to load the miners up. And then what I do suspect is that the miners themselves will set up the backing order. They will be the ones to say who goes first.

There was some speculation that the last man out of the hole would be the most veteran miner, 63-year-old Mario Gomez. He was the one really that sent the first note up to the surface. But, again, we have seen the leadership roles down in that shelter change over the days and weeks.

So, it may longer -- no longer be the most veteran that comes up last. It could, for example, be a guy called Luis Urzua. He's the shift foreman. And, really, it is his responsibility. He effectively was the captain on this sinking ship. So, maybe he will send his men up first and he will be the last one out of that hole, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Are they all -- are they all small enough to get through that 26-inch diameter that you have been describing throughout the day? Because, earlier, we had a heard a report that one of the guys may be just a little too chubby.

PENHAUL: Well, certainly, the medics have been keeping a close eye on this. And they have been looking and monitoring the calorie intakes of these miners.

And each have been measured day by day with a tape measure, not so much the breadth of their shoulders, but their midriffs, their bellies, to see if they can get out. So ,the doctors are all over that one. They are keeping an eye on it. And the last I talked to the mines minister -- and that was late yesterday evening -- he said that he has no doubt that all the miners will fit through that 26-inch hole Rick.

SANCHEZ: Karl Penhaul, what a story.

And for those of us on this end watching this story unfold who have a tendency to be a bit -- a little bit claustrophobic, myself included, it's amazing to listen to what this process is going to be like, as difficult as it has been to listen to what those guys are undergoing right now, being 2,300 feet under the surface of the planet, of -- of -- under the surface of the country, Chile.

Wow.

All right, we will -- we will be continuing to check back with Karl as the story progresses.

Also, this. Did you hear about this one? Why did the mother of Natalee Holloway go all the way to a Peruvian prison to see Joran van der Sloot? How did she get into the jail to begin with? What did she want of him? There's a lot of information coming in on this story, some fascinating developments in this famous case. And we are going to bring them to you.

Also, violent storms in New York City, thousands without power, and at least one person is dead. You're going to see some of the stunning pictures coming in from the Northeast on that as well.

This is RICK'S LIST. So glad you are with us. We will be taking you through the news on this Friday. And we're going to be back with your national conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Oh, my God. Look at this story that is just coming into us now. I want to share this with you.

The FBI has just arrested a man and a woman. It's a couple that worked at Los Alamos. They're charging them with trying to give nuclear secrets, our nuclear secrets, U.S. nuclear secrets, from Los Alamos, where he worked as a scientist, to the Venezuelan government. That's exactly what they are saying in this report, as I read it to you.

It turns out, or it certainly appears to me, just from my own experience working these kind of stories, that this was a sting operation. In other words, they convinced them that they were actually giving their secrets to the Venezuelans, when, in fact, it may very well have been an undercover officer or a C.O., a confidential -- a C.I., a confidential informant, who they were actually talking to.

Here is the information as it comes in now to us. Justice Department today announcing that this scientist and his wife, previously worked as contractors in Los Alamos in New Mexico, have been indicted on two charges of communicating classified nuclear weapons data to another country.

The defendants are Pedro Leonardo Mascheroni, 75 years old. He's a naturalized U.S. citizen. He's originally from Argentina. Also, his wife, Marjorie Roxby Mascheroni, she is 67, she was born in the United States. Both were arrested by FBI agents this morning, made their initial appearance in federal court in Albuquerque.

If convicted of all the charges, the defendants face a potential sentence of life in prison because of the seriousness of this potential breach. So, wow. What a story.

Now, again, let me -- let me underscore this, because I think it's important. It does not appear they were actually communicating with Venezuela. The Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez, according to this preliminary information, had nothing to do with this. They didn't even know that this investigation was going on. It appears that, for some reason, the FBI moved in and created this scenario to capture them and have apparently done just that.

So, all of this information they have given away is confidential or restricted data, according to the documents that I have seen. And as we get more information on the story, we will bring it to you. Wow.

Let me bring you Chad Myers now. He's catching us up on the big story that took place in the Northeast United States yesterday --

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: -- specifically, Chad, New York City.

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: You know what I think is most interesting, if we start with that one? And I know we have got another story that we are going to be talking about as, I believe, Karl, right?

MYERS: Right.

SANCHEZ: Is that so many people ended up having to spend the night in the city because they couldn't get out. It was just a commuter's nightmare yesterday --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: -- all these trees falling. Take us through that, would you?

MYERS: People probably -- and I don't have any -- I don't have any confirmation. People probably slept in their cars at times.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

MYERS: There were so many streets that were basically impassable. Long Island Expressway eastbound out near Queens College was shut down because of a crash.

And on the other side, right near it, it was half shut down because a power pole had down on the Long Island Expressway. So, yes, it was quite something as a line of weather moved right on by.

Oh. Magic one, Sean? Sean is talking to me. He's got something on Magic One, but not really. Oh. Maybe he's -- he means Los Alamos.

OK, let's move on here to -- to Karl. As the storm moved onshore here, 110-mile-per-hour storm, Karl, Veracruz, Mexico, really hard-hit here.

SANCHEZ: Well, let me -- let me -- let me help you with that one. I have got a tweet coming in. MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I will translate it for you. How's that?

MYERS: Please.

SANCHEZ: Because I can speak the Spanish, as they say.

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: Well, I'm taking the Rosetta Stone, but I'm not doing very good at it. So, go ahead, please.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I was born with it.

My mother tongue says --

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Here's Felipe Calderon, the president of Mexico. Here is what he's tweeting. Can you guys give me a shot of that, if you can? Go ahead. You can go ahead all the way around. Come on. It's all art. Don't worry about being clean. Just get it on the air. There you go. Well done.

All right, "Hurricane Karl could possibly convert himself and could be turning into a Category 4 hurricane." This is the president tweeting. He says, "Strong winds, high risk of" (SPEAKING SPANISH) which means flooding -- "high risk of flooding in some of the usual zones," also (SPEAKING SPANISH), which means mudslides. "All of this is due to happen," he's warning his citizens, "in the central part of Mexico."

MYERS: That's --

SANCHEZ: Is he right, Chad?

MYERS: Absolutely, although it never did get to a Category 4. It topped at 3 and then it came ashore.

What happens in Mexico -- and it happened with this storm -- is that there's so much of a desert just to the west here where the storm tried to make just an amazing eye for quite -- quite a long time right to the Bay of Campeche.

And you know what? There's an awful lot of oil wells here. I wouldn't be afraid to bet we get a story about something, some rig that didn't make it through a 120-mile-per-hour wind. We will see.

And here it came, right -- Veracruz right there. So, it went right over the town of Veracruz. The biggest gust that I know of right now, 94 miles per hour in the city. Now, Rick, 711,000 people live in that city.

SANCHEZ: Hmm.

MYERS: So, we are not talking about some unpopulated beach town somewhere.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: That was a very large town.

And then, if you get right about there, that's Mexico City, 8,000 feet in the sky, surrounded by mountains. It rains all over the mountains. Where does the water go? Right into the city.

SANCHEZ: Exactly.

MYERS: That's what --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: -- the president is worried about.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: All right. And we have got some pics, too, from New York yesterday.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Let's go through -- let's go through a couple of those, if we can. We will go through them as fast as we possibly can.

If you have got them, Andreas, hit some of these iReports that we have been getting from people. There's one right now. Do you happen to know where this is, Andreas? Is this Brooklyn? Nino Larocca sent us this. This is a combination, by the way, of parts of Brooklyn, parts of Queens, that whole corridor there around that area up there in New York City, right?

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: So far -- so far, this has not been reported as a tornado.

But if you go to Ocean County, New Jersey, that's down like near Toms River, they did confirm a tornado down there. But that's about, I don't know, 86 or so miles from this storm. Look at this.

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: This is wind blowing the screen and the --

SANCHEZ: And the what? Oh, that's one of those screens is blowing through the area.

MYERS: Exactly. (CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: And there's another one. Wow. That's what New York City looked like yesterday about this time?

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Holy moly!

MYERS: And the winds -- there are some YouTube videos that we can't show because there's only vulgarness -- only slang is going on in those. But if you would like to do something not safe for work and keep your kids away, there are some YouTube videos out there with guys taking pictures, going, oh, my goodness.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Yes.

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: There's Brooklyn, by the way. That's what they woke up to in Brooklyn this morning.

I want to thank all these folks --

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- who communicate with us every day. They send us Twitpics. They send us iReports. They communicate with us through Skype. And let us -- they -- they help us report stories like this.

MYERS: Right away.

SANCHEZ: All right, the details are horrific. A man loses his entire family during a brutal home invasion. And now chilling new pictures of the crime scene.

I'm going to talk to somebody who was in court through the emotional testimony on this. That's coming up.

Also, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have situations in the United States, cases that I have worked on when I was with the Justice Department, involving women who had to service up to 50 customers a day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The secret world of sex trafficking, young girls being sold as sex slaves in the United States. A revealing report is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Following now on the -- one of the lists that we have been checking on this week, trafficking in human misery. This week, we have shown you one side of the modern-day sex slave trade, young girls smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico and forced into prostitution.

And now we're going to be looking at the other side of this. This is part two, those who allegedly lure, trap and kidnap women and girls, and then take them away from their families.

Here is a special report. It's presented by our correspondent Rafael Romo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He name is Amador Cortes-Meza. The 36-year-old Mexican national is charged with involvement in a prostitution ring based in the Atlanta area that victimized women and girls smuggled from Mexico, some as young as 14.

BROCK NICHOLSON, ICE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: They were brought in with romantic promise, with job promises, young girls from a certain state of Mexico. Brought up, smuggled in, immediately forced into prostitution.

ROMO: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Brock Nicholson says four members of the same family were involved in the prostitution ring.

Twenty-seven-year-old Otto Jaime Larios-Perez, who has admitted one count of providing false information, drove victims to several secret locations in the Atlanta area, forcing them to see multiple clients per day. They were kept locked up in several houses.

NICHOLSON: The houses had bars on the windows, locks on the outside of the door. We find 11 additional victims ranging in age from 14 to 28. All confirmed victims, all have been trafficked for the purpose of prostitution.

ROMO: This case offers a glimpse into how these rings operate.

AMB. LUIS CDEBACA, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: There's a lot of word of mouth. And a lot of the word of mouth actually comes with these little business cards that often have something very innocuous on them that you only would know it's a business card for a prostitution ring if someone had whispered it to you.

ROMO: As a former prosecutor, Luis CdeBaca says the level of cruelty of these prostitution rings is hard to imagine.

CDEBACA: We have situations in the United States, cases that I have worked on when I was with the Justice Department involving women who had to service up to 50 customers a day. Just a crushing amount of what in effect is a daily set of rapes.

ROMO: We found the Mexican woman who was only 15 years old when she became a victim. Her boyfriend in Mexico promised a good life in the United States and smuggled her through the border. Once here, she was forced into prostitution. She agreed to talk to us on the condition that we protect her identity.

"CLAUDIA", FORCED INTO SEX TRADE (via on-screen translation): The first time I had to sleep (INAUDIBLE) then 25, and it kept on going up. I ended up sleeping with as many as 60 men in one day.

ROMO (voice-over): Claudia, not her real name, describes to us a world of abuse and beatings, drugs, forced sex, and sleepless nights with strangers.

"CLAUDIA": There were girls my age who couldn't take the abuse. They were forced to take drugs like cocaine and marijuana so that they could work longer. We were all about the same age: 15, 16, 18. A lot of men would come looking for girls our age, so they kept us very busy.

ROMO: Mia Hasec is a social worker who works with law enforcement agencies to rescue victims of human trafficking who come from all over the world.

(on camera): It must be really difficult for you to see the situation in which some of these victims come to you.

MAYA HASEC, SOCIAL WORKER: It's very difficult to see them in this situation, specifically sexual exploitation, and more so seeing minors go through this and knowing that their lives are never going to be the same, and they're going to be scarred forever.

ROMO: What is the greatest challenge that you guys face when you're trying to help a victim in this situation?

HASEC: The greatest challenge that we have is getting the victim to actually admit that they are a victim. They have been brainwashed by the traffickers for so long, and told that the trafficker is the only person that they can trust.

ROMO (on camera): And back to the suspects in the Atlanta case, Amador Cortes-Meza and the others accused of human trafficking have pled not guilty. Their trial is due to begin in November.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: What was the prosecutor in a domestic abuse case thinking? Wait until you hear what he did to the victim when she was already in a fragile state. That story is coming up in just a little bit.

Also, you better be strong, pretty big to wrestle a 900-pound alligator, right? Guess again. That story is coming up in "Fotos." And you've got to check out the video.

And as we go to break, here is a look at how we put our newscast together. Any time you want to see how we can plan our newscast, all you got to do is go to my blog. That's where we show you "The Rick Vid" of the day.

Here's today's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Pretenders.

SANCHEZ: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you expected me to know that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I didn't. But I thought --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought you knew all your social media people.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I don't know who the famous singers are of 2010. And you want me to know the famous singers --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chrissie Hynde and The Pretenders. I mean, come on, guys. We know the Pretenders.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: -- Chicago. When I was in college, we used to listen to a group called Pablo Cruise.

(singing): Don't sit under the apple tree with anybody else but me. Hey, hey, hey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This is Christine O'Donnell. She is speaking right now at the Value Voters Summit in Washington, D.C. As you know, she is the tea party candidate that won recently in Delaware. Let's dip in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

CHRISTINE O'DONNELL, (R) DELAWARE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: -- stumbled upon the constitution. You see, a funny thing happened on the way to our assigned seats on the sidelines. Those of us who toiled in the values movement suddenly found ourselves surrounded by Americans who rediscovered the most fundamental value of all -- liberty.

These Americans were finding answers to the problem -- to the current problem that threatens our future in the wisdom of our once threatened past. Our friends and neighbors began to join us at the rallies and beneath the "Don't tread on me" flags, waving the homemade signs, they were looking around and saying, as Speaker Gingrich often says, "There are more of us than there are of them."

(APPLAUSE)

And so there are, because this is America, and the ruling class elites may try, but they will never have the last word on liberty. There's something about our national DNA that insists on shouting at those who would be our masters, "You are not the boss of me."

(APPLAUSE)

Thomas Jefferson said the same thing but perhaps a bit more eloquently. He said "The issue today is the same as throughout all history, whether man should be allowed to govern himself or ruled by a small elite." That is the question, isn't it? The verdict is in. The small elite don't get us. They call us whacky. They call us wingnuts. We call us, "We the people."

(APPLAUSE)

We don't always agree. We don't always share the same strategy memos. We don't always endorse the same candidates or speak off the same talking points. We are loud, we're rowdy, we're passionate.

(LAUGHTER)

It reminds me of the C.S. Lewis "Narnia" books where the little girl asks the lion who represents god with a little concern over such a fearsome lion, is he safe? Her friend said "Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good."

(APPLAUSE)

Well, that's what's happening in America today with this grassroots, this revolution of reason, this love affair with liberty. It isn't tame, but, boy, it sure is good.

(APPLAUSE)

Will they attack us? Yes. Will they smear our backgrounds and distort our records? Undoubtedly. Will they lie about us, harass our families, name call and try to intimidate us. They will. There's nothing safe about it. But is it worth it?

(APPLAUSE)

Let me ask you.

SANCHEZ: That is Christine O'Donnell. As you get a good listen of what her message is today at the Values forum -- summit, I should say. Values Voters Summit is what's it's called. It's being held in Washington, D.C. Christine O'Donnell is getting her taste of the national spotlight, if you will, because she has won as a candidate there in the state of Delaware. It was a shock to many people, not to others, and certainly a story we at CNN will continue to follow as the midterms of November draw near.

Also making the political list today, all eyes are on Iowa where Sarah Palin is giving a speech as well and perhaps sending a message. Is this the biggest sign yet that she has signs for the White House in 2012? We'll, what is the purpose of the speech in Iowa? We are going to cover it for you.

Also, why are people, this Yankee great, Derek Jeter? Why are they calling him that? As you may know, there's a lot more than meets it eye. We're going to be all over the Derek Jeter/cheater story. I'm Rick Sanchez. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Something today about disguises. What kind of disguises, you ask. Let's do "Fotos."

This is Ferndale, Michigan. He is a crook with a creative disguise, a Darth Vader mask. That's right. The problem is he put it on after walking past not one, not two, but several security cameras. This gave police more than enough time to find him and arrest him.

That's what he really looks like on the right. Oh, that must be Darth Vader on the left. In fact it was pretty easy according to police. And by the way, he wheeled in a butcher knife instead of a light saber.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The heavyweight in a prize fight was a 13 foot 900 pound a alligator. That's a biggee. The challenger, came in at 115 and 5'6" feet. Size didn't matter. She stalked it, caught, reeled it in, and then she killed it. Wow. That's a big gator. It was a big start for South Carolina's alligator hunting season.

Also, you have to give Derek Jeter at least an Oscar? How about that? Great ballplayer and a great actor. The Yankees were trailing in Tampa Bay two to one when, pow, the legendary Yankee shortstop gets hit by a pitch. Not really. When you look at the replay, he didn't even get hit but it was a great acting job. The ball smacks the knob of the bat and he spins away clutching his arm.

By the way, that's part of baseball. It's why they use those techniques and steal signals and that's why they try and convince umpires they are safe when they are really out and they know it. That's baseball and that's "Fotos." You can see them all for yourself at CNN.com/RickSanchez.

Move over Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are planning their own Washington rallies. Brooke Baldwin is going to be here. Here you are. Colbert is going to do this, too.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are tweeting them. Jon Stewart doesn't tweet.

SANCHEZ: No. He thinks we're crazy for tweeting.

BALDWIN: Yes, two rallies. Is it real, though?

SANCHEZ: That's a good question. We'll do it in a minute. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: She's all the way on the other side of the room today. So I'll zoom you over there to Brooke Baldwin even without one of those cages of capsules they are using in Chile. Take it away, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Thanks, Sanchez.

You heard about this, the big battle of the marches in Washington. I know you watch some of these show. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, right, they have been teasing viewers the last couple weeks about these big announcements.

So Last night, finally, the big reveal on both of their shows on Comedy Central. To answer the question a lot of people were tweeting today, is it real? We talked to Comedy Central, it is very real. First, here is Jon Stewart from last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Tonight, I announce the "Rally to Restore Sanity."

(APPLAUSE)

It is happening people! It is happening! It is happening! A real gathering! We will gather! We will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a million moderate march, where we take to the streets and send a message to our leaders and our national leaders that say we are here! We are only here, though, until 6:00 because we have a sitter!

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, that was Jon Stewart. Not to be outdone, of course, by, we'll call him a pretend conservative host, Stephen Colbert. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Ladies and gentlemen, it is on October 30th on the mall, because now is not the time to take it down a notch. Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, what do we have? We have two fake newsmen with two very real rallies, both happening in Washington, October 30th. And we talked to Comedy Central press folks who say their phones haven't stopped ringing. In fact one of the press people we talked to said the media interest is off the hook.

As far as each of these different rallies, we have different websites. This is Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity." He says "Ours is a rally for the people who have been too busy to go to the rallies that have lives and families and jobs or are looking for jobs. Not so much the silent majority, as the busy majority."

But at the bottom it says "don't click here," which makes me click. It goes to Stephen Colbert's website. Stephen Colbert says "Never forget, "reason" is just one letter away from "treason." Coincidence? Reasonable people say it is, but America cannot afford to take that chance." And of course then, "don't click here," gets you back to Jon Stewart.

Finally, we hopped on Stephen Colbert's twitter page because we know Jon Stewart doesn't tweet. Stephen Colbert does. "Join my march to keep fear alive, Washington Mall, October 30, be there or be scared. Actually, be there and be scared."

A whole lot of people are going to this thing. We're waiting for more details Sanchez. We don't know if they are talking guest speakers, special guest appearances. They say that the details will come out in time.

SANCHEZ: I love that caption Colbert was using. It's so precise. "Keep Fear Alive."

BALDWIN: "Keep Fear Alive."

SANCHEZ: You like that?

BALDWIN: Hello.

SANCHEZ: Appropriate.

All right, they say every bride is beautiful, but some reality TV producers think they aren't beautiful enough. They are working on a show where bride's to be compete for plastic surgery. Really? Really? Wow, that was my playoff voice. That's ahead.

Also, why are people turning to the Bronx for solutions to their environmental problems? I'm going to tell you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Green jobs what everybody wants in the Bronx? In the Bronx, really? Watch this. We call it "Solutions."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On a rundown block in the heart of the south Bronx there's a quiet revolution.

MIQUELA CRAYTOR, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SUSTAINABLE SOUTH BRONX: The south Bronx is the poster child of diabetes, of asthma, of all of the things that you do not want your child or community to have.

HARLOW: This abandoned lot represents what had become of the industrial part of the city but then became the inspiration for change.

CRAYTOR: Like a lot of empty lots across New York City, people dump their trash, dump their tires. We don't want to wait for someone to come up for a plan for us. We want to be proactive and plan for our future and community. This park really represents that.

HARLOW: This park is the work of Sustainable South Bronx. Since 2001 it had grown from a mission of greening the ghetto to giving a second chance to men and women who want to make a difference but just need a break. It's a hand up, not a handout. And it starts with green job training.

There are dozens of courses -- landscape 101, water and soil testing, green roof installation, and even hazardous waste removal. It's a place where even ex-cons get a fresh start. Felix Molina graduated in January after serving seven years in prison. FELIX MOLINA, GRADUATE, SUSTAINABLE SOUTH BRONX: If I didn't hook up with Sustainable South Bronx, most likely I would have been back on the streets.

HARLOW: But his future now is a career in green home construction.

MOLINA: It keeps me on the right path. I'm able to work and contribute back to society. They saved me.

HARLOW: In Bronx, New York, Poppy Harlow reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We told you about Christine O'Donnell just a little while ago. Sarah Palin is in Iowa, a place where presidential hopefuls go looking for support or go on fishing trip, political fishing trips, by the way.

Is that what she's doing? We're live in Des Moines where the GOP faithful are paying top dollar to hear what she has to say. That's coming up in a little bit.

And there's a ton of other political stories making news on this day. Mark Preston and Paul Steinhauser are going to bring us the very latest from "The Ticker." That is next. This is your national conversation, "RICK'S LIST."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Time to show off our young guns. Time for a CNN = Politics update with CNN's senior political editor Mark Preston and our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. They're part of the best political team on television. This is our biblical version of political news, guys, Mark and Paul. What's crossing right now, fellows?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey Rick, being compared to an apostle is OK in my book. My parents will be very, very happy.

(LAUGHTER)

But you talked about Sarah Palin just before the break. These are two stories we're following today. Sarah Palin is in Iowa. She is attending a fundraiser for the Iowa Republican Party. As you say, you don't go to Iowa unless you're hunting for votes.

Another person we're following today in the next couple of hours, Lisa Murkowski will make a decision about whether she will run as a write-in candidate in Alaska. As our viewers know, she lost the primary to the tea party favorite. The national Republicans are behind the tea party favorite.

I'm sitting here next to Steve Ross, who you know very well Rick is following these stories today. And you will have Peter Handy at the top of 4:00 to talk about that Palin story. And Paul joining me right here with some more headlines.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Just in the last hour, Rick, you had Joe Biden, the vice president, going back to his home state to try to keep his own Senate seat in party hands. We have new tape of this. The vice president is teaming up with Chris Coons. He is the Democratic nominee in that state. Remember, he is going against the new rock star on the right, Christine O'Donnell. The Democrats really want to keep that seat in party hands.

And check this out. This is pretty interesting. Talk about running away from the White House. A new story about Alex Muni at CNNpolitics.com, Chet Edwards, congressman from Texas, long-time Democrat, but he's facing a tough re-election. His new ads are out, and he is running against the president and the White House on health care.

Sometimes the president is helping his party, sometimes maybe he's hurting them. Rick, the midterms are just less than seven weeks away.

SANCHEZ: I just hope you guys take care of Steve Rusk this weekend because when he lived here in Atlanta with us, he'd come over to my house to watch football on Sundays. I'm wondering, where does he watch the games now? PRESTON: Apparently Paul Steinhauser has offered to watch the game on Sunday. He can't go to your great abode. But he's a big guy, a buckeyes fan. He's a college football fan.

RUSK: How about the hurricanes, right?

SANCHEZ: Yes, we know. We know. He likes it lions too. Steve Rusk, That's great. I hope you guys take care of him. He's a dear friend. My kids say they miss him.

Mark Preston, Paul Steinhauser, thanks to both of you. Your next political update, by the way, is coming up in an hour. Remember, for all of the latest political news, go to CNNpolitics.com and on twitter@politicalticker.