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Rick's List
Major Offensive Against Al Qaeda in Yemen; Senate Kills Don't Ask, Don't Tell Reform Bill; Voters Offer President Obama Tough Questions
Aired September 21, 2010 - 14:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, what's going on, Don?
You know what? There's some breaking news that we're going to start this newscast with today. And we're going to be taking you through what we're learning is going on right now in Yemen. This sounds significant, scary if you're there.
We understand that there's a -- an offensive going on right now in Yemen. By the time this is all said and done, it could possibly involve a major -- a major al Qaeda player. The Yemens' government -- the Yemeni government, along with their military, is apparently right now in a fierce battle, we understand, where they're going after a sector of al Qaeda.
Let's -- let's do this. Let's get CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom. He's standing by there in Yemen. CNN is one of the few news organizations with correspondents there following this situation as we speak. And Mohammed is going to be able to take us through this.
So, hey, Mo, if you're there, bring us up to date on what's going on right now. Draw -- draw -- draw a picture for us.
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, Yemen's government has confirmed to us that a wide-scale offensive has been launched against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in the country's southeastern province.
This is a province known as Shabwa. It's a stronghold for militants and for al Qaeda here in Yemen. It's in the southeastern part of the country. Now, earlier today, there were reports that have not been confirmed on a Yemeni Web site that, possibly, radical Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki had been surrounded in this mountainous region, but no Yemeni government official has confirmed that.
In fact, they have said that there's a lot of conflicting information. They have said that those reports aren't credible. But Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is thought to be in that area. In fact, I spoke to a senior government official a short while ago. He told me that, "I believe that Awlaki is in Shabwa Province." He says that 95 percent of Yemen and its government believe Awlaki is in Shabwa Province.
He hopes that he's captured, but from what this person has heard from officials, there's a lot of conflicting information at this point, and nobody really believes in the government that al-Awlaki has been surrounded right now or that the government is carrying out this operation in order to capture him.
What we have been told by the government is that they -- they're doing this operation, they were launching this offensive, which has been going on for about three days, in order to go after al Qaeda militants who attacked a gas pipeline, a natural gas pipeline in the region last week --
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
JAMJOOM: -- that the offensive is in order to do that.
But other government officials told us earlier, hey, could al- Awlaki be in this area? Absolutely he could be in the area. But the fact of the matter is, we don't think he's been surrounded. We don't think, at the moment, that he's going to be captured, although we hope that he's going to be captured.
SANCHEZ: Hmm. That -- that --
JAMJOOM: U.S. officials have also told us they don't believe that reports that he has been surrounded are credible at this point, but it is a story with a lot of conflicting reports.
SANCHEZ: By --
JAMJOOM: And we will continue --
SANCHEZ: By --
JAMJOOM: -- to follow it.
SANCHEZ: By the way, just -- just to be clear about this, when we talk about the Yemeni government and the Yemeni military, in -- in many ways, it's a combination of their government, their military and ours as well, right? I mean, it -- it would be foolhardy of us not to assume that the CIA is -- is in deep on this thing, right?
JAMJOOM: Well, U.S. officials have told CNN that -- that the U.S. government has assisted in this operation.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
JAMJOOM: And, in the past several months, we have heard that the U.S. has been more involved. We have heard that the CIA has been involved here. They're providing aid to help with the counterterror missions, but Yemen's government, they find this to be a real sore spot --
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
JAMJOOM: -- because they want to protect their sovereignty. And they feel that, if the Yemeni people believe that the U.S. is here, that they have boots on the ground here, that that's really going to turn it into an anti-American sentiment --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
JAMJOOM: -- in the country.
SANCHEZ: That -- that --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: That makes sense. That -- and -- and the big part of the story that we're going to be following is al-Awlaki. And, remember, folks, this -- this is the person who supposedly inspired the Farouk Abdulmutallab, who has pleaded guilty now to six federal terrorism charge -- charges, reportedly trained and armed in Yemen, allegedly by that man you're seeing right there with American ties.
So, this gets very interesting. This is one of the heads, certainly, if nothing else, figureheads, in al Qaeda today. So, we will -- we will be going back to Mohammed throughout the course of this newscast to try and figure this thing out. And, as more information comes in, we're going to sharing it with you.
Meanwhile, we have got another breaking story that is coming in to us now, this having to do with don't ask, don't tell, the big vote finally taking place.
In fact, I'm being told now that Dana Bash has information on the vote -- on -- on this vote as it comes in.
Dana, what you got?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we have is what we have expected as the day has gone on. And that is that Republicans successfully blocked this defense bill, which does include authorization to repeal don't ask, don't tell, authorization for the Pentagon to do that. They blocked it from the Senate. The vote was 56-43. Democrats needed to reach that 60-vote threshold in order to overcome the Republican filibuster.
And they were not able to do that. We heard a lot about that rally in Maine yesterday. Lady Gaga was there, a lot of arm-twisting pressure here inside the halls of Congress to get at least some Republicans, even, for example, Susan Collins of Maine, who is an outspoken supporter of repealing don't ask, don't tell.
But, in the end, she and many other Republicans, most Republicans, decided to vote no.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
BASH: And the reason, they say, by and large, is for procedural reasons. They say it is an issue and a question of fairness. They blame and accuse Democratic leaders of trying to stifle debate and limit their ability to offer amendments.
Democrats say that that is not true, that, ultimately, that they would allow that to happen. This is certainly a huge, huge setback for supporters of a repeal of this policy that the military has towards openly gay men and women in the military.
I had already gotten e-mails before this even happened anticipating that this was going to be the outcome from groups who have been pressing for this, Rick, saying that this is a huge setback, because this was, from their perspective, probably the last chance that they would have such a big Democratic majority in order to do this.
A lot of sore feelings that Democrats in Congress and at the president for not trying to do this earlier.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And, obviously, proponents would say that this is pure and simple discrimination on the part of the United States and certainly on the part of the U.S. military, something, by the way, that we should add a lot of military officials that we have talked to, you and I have talked to, say they -- they agree with.
Now, I'm just wondering, from what you have heard there, if Lady Gaga inserting herself into this controversy, suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, may have actually made some Republicans dig their heels in a little deeper.
BASH: You know, to be honest with you, you know, I -- I'm a fan of Lady Gaga's music, completely impartial on her politics. Every sense that I have gotten, particularly from those two Maine senators that she went to try to lobby in their home state, it had -- it didn't have an effect.
SANCHEZ: Nothing.
BASH: I mean, it really didn't. Susan Collins was not -- was sort of nonplused by that either way. I mean, she has certainly been a supporter of this, but she made clear that she feels that she has to stay in line with her Republican colleagues on an issue of fairness here.
SANCHEZ: Well --
BASH: But just one other note -- and, obviously, this is the big issue with regard to the don't ask, don't tell policy, which is hugely controversial. But what we have seen, the sort of machinations that we have seen and the back and forth, even among people who may ultimately support and -- and be joined together on this issue, has been really, really indicative of how tense and how intense and how ugly this election year already is and -- and it already is going to become.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
BASH: But what's next for this? Supporters of the don't ask, don't tell -- or repealing don't ask, don't tell say that they're going to try to press the Obama administration to deal with it in the courts, and they're hoping, Rick, hoping that somehow Congress can take it up in what's called the lame-duck session, meaning after the election.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
BASH: But there's such a long list of issues that --
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
BASH: -- every constituency wants the Democrats to try to take up then. So, it's really unclear what will happen, because if this is going to be repealed, Congress ultimately must be the place that this happens.
There's a review going on in the Pentagon, but it has to land in Congress' lap for it to happen.
SANCHEZ: All right. Well, listen, thanks a lot, Dana. Appreciate you breaking that news for us and bringing us up to date on what is going on.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: In the meantime, we understand there's yet another breaking story. This is one is coming to us from California.
Remember, we were stuck on this story for a long time, and many of you were responding to what was going in Bell, California. We understand that some indictments have just been handed down on some of these public officials who were making incredible amounts of money and living in -- incredibly lavish lifestyles, at the expense, many would say, of the people, the residents of their community.
Well, some busts have just gone down. You wouldn't believe how many and for what. We have got the information. We're breaking that for you next. Stay right there. As more information comes in, we will have it for you. This is RICK'S LIST. This is your national conversation. We're so glad you're here. We will continue in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back to RICK'S LIST. I'm Rick Sanchez.
I want to bring you up to date now on a story that we have been following for you having to do with something which has outraged Americans from coast to coast. Remember those city leaders in Bell, California, who were making some unbelievable salaries?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We're talking almost $800,000 a year for some of these guys, like this one right here. This is former City Manager Robert Rizzo.
Well, today, eight Bell city officials, current and former, have been busted. Ted Rowlands is chasing down all of the details on the story now. And he's standing by to bring us the very latest on what they have found them to be guilty of, although, obviously, they still have to -- their day in court.
Ted, a lot of folks would look at this story and go, well, we know that they were taking an excessive amount of money, but, after all, they were doing it as public officials. So, what's the charge here? What's -- what -- what's the beef?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, 53 counts in this indictment. Pretty amazing. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office is going after these city officials very hard, Rick -- misappropriation of public funds, conflict of interests, falsification of public records by an official custodian.
Basically, what they are alleging is that Robert Rizzo, the man that you showed the photo of --
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
ROWLANDS: -- the city manager in Bell who was making in excess of a million dollars a year, conspired basically to set his own salary, and he had help from his assistant and from the City Council.
Six current members of the City Council were arrested this morning, one former member arrested, along with Rizzo and his assistant. And, basically, the attorney here says -- the -- the Los Angeles County district attorney says that the City Council was actually paying themselves for phantom meetings, weren't even going to meetings.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
ROWLANDS: Everybody, they allege, was in on it, but listen to this. They -- they most definitely say that Rizzo was the ringleader.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE COOLEY, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Rizzo, acting as the unelected and unaccountable czar of the city of Bell, secretly set his own salary. He misappropriated substantial pay and benefits by increasing each them through a series of actions that no one approved of and few, if anyone, knew about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Wow.
ROWLANDS: And, Rick, they are asking a judge to hold Rizzo on $3.2 million. They're asking for $3.2 million in bail. And they're saying that if he does come up with the money, they do want to do an investigation on how he came up with the money. So, Rizzo could be sitting in jail for a while unless he can prove that he can come up with $3.2 million that isn't tied to his scheme, or his alleged scheme. SANCHEZ: Well, the thing that really upsets people about stories like this is that, oftentimes, they not only give themselves huge salaries that are paid for by their own residents in their community. That's bad enough. But then they also get pensions that have to be paid for by all citizens of California, for example.
So, if -- if he's found guilty, will there be some kind of addendum to this that would preclude them from collecting on some of those pensions? Do you know, by chance, Ted?
ROWLANDS: Yes. Well, there -- there's already a move by the attorney general here to amend the situation.
Specifically with Rizzo, who you mentioned, he's -- he's set to make in excess of $600,000 a year for the rest of his life basically.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
ROWLANDS: But there's -- there's a move to change that.
One thing we should note, Rick, for people that have been following this, the police chief in this case who was making $450,000 was not indicted. And they say the reason is because, basically, it's not a crime to get paid a lot of money, a ridiculous amount of money, for a job. They say there was no proof that he tried to cover it up. He was just the recipient of Rizzo and -- and his team.
And, obviously, Rizzo was trying to pay the top cop for a lot of money for a reason. But they're not going after the former police chief, Randy Adams, in this case.
SANCHEZ: Wow. What a story. Thanks so much for bringing us up to date on these developments there, Ted. Let us know if anything else changes.
Meanwhile, take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even though it has been 42 years, it's never too -- too late to do the right thing. And it's never too late to pay tribute to our Vietnam veterans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's something you don't often see, and it's as moving as it gets, the Medal of Honor ceremony. You are going to see it right here.
Also, President Obama's quagmire, what is it, and how is he going to get out of it? Jessica Yellin is going to be joining me in a little bit and she's going to take us through this item on RICK'S LIST. Stay with us. I'm Rick Sanchez. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Here is what is topping the LIST right now.
Did Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell break the law -- break the law? Well, that's what even fellow Republicans are wondering about her. And it's looking like it's getting more serious.
Here's what they're talking about. Let me break this down for you. A D.C.-based government watchdog group says that O'Donnell is -- quote -- "clearly a criminal" -- that's in closed quotes, folks -- and should be prosecuted, they say, four allegedly spending $20,000 in campaign funds.
Why? Well, they say it's because she wasn't even a candidate for any office when she spent all of that cash. Here, check this out. March of last year, O'Donnell writes a $750 check to Brent Vasher for a monthly rent. Well, it turns out he's her former boyfriend, who bought her house when she was about to lose it to foreclosure. That payment was listed as fund-raising expense reimbursement.
The next month, she writes another check, the same amount to the same guy. This time, it's listed as reimbursement for services. Also in 2009, O'Donnell writes a $22 check to the Lone Star Steakhouse, another small payout from March of 2009, a check for $30 written to Cumberland Farms.
Remember, this is money that was given that she was supposed to use for her campaign expenses. And then there's another one. This is a big spender. December 2009, O'Donnell writes a check to herself for $360. It's listed as a reimbursement, Houston trip.
Then this big one from July of this year, a $3,000 check to Carole O'Donnell -- that's her mother -- for financial consulting. Now, a lot of folks who have experience in politics are looking at these and they're smelling something that just doesn't smell right.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Reporters at O'Donnell's event last night tried to get answers, but O'Donnell wasn't talking about the charges. She pretended she was actually going to comment on the charges, but here's actually what she said. Let's -- let -- let's listen to this together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE O'DONNELL (R), DELAWARE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Why are you listening to a liberal organization in the first place? They're scared that the person that Harry Reid called his pet is not going to get this seat.
The momentum surrounding this campaign is obvious. That's why they're creating baseless accusations.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Can you talk about --
O'DONNELL: I am confident that we have been ethical. We have not -- I personally have not misused the campaign funds. We have our FEC lawyer, a great attorney, answering those charges, if it ever goes anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And, by the way, just to correct her, and to be fair, and to make sure that you have the proper information, these accusations do not come from a liberal organization.
In fact, these accusations originally came from Republicans and conservative organizations against her. Our Gary Tuchman, by the way, was there, and he didn't quite understand what she was saying there, so he followed her out to try and give her another opportunity to answer the specific questions of whether or not she had spent some of this money on -- for personal reasons that she was supposed to use specifically for her campaign.
Let -- let me let you watch this now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCHMAN: Ms. O'Donnell, I'm going to ask you that one question you promised you would answer.
O'DONNELL: I did answer it.
TUCHMAN: No, about the rentals last year.
(CROSSTALK)
TUCHMAN: Why were you paying rent money with campaign money?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry, tonight, not happening.
TUCHMAN: Well, that was the one question I had.
O'DONNELL: I answered it.
TUCHMAN: No, you didn't answer it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right. And that's pretty much where the story stays -- stands right now.
Let's talk to Melanie Sloan. Why? Her organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, is one doing a lot of the digging on this story. They have filed the complaints with the FEC and the Delaware U.S. attorney's office.
Let's talk about some of these specifics, because, look, a lot of the folks in our audience, they have -- they have never run for office. I have never run for office. If somebody gave me a campaign contribution, frankly, I wouldn't be sure what I can or can't do with it. Can I buy lunch for my mom and dad if I have them in town and we're talking about my campaign? I mean, I really -- I -- I don't know. And a lot of people don't know.
So, take us through this. Let's start with that rent payment to her ex-boyfriend, which she calls a reimbursement. What's wrong with that?
MELANIE SLOAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON: That's completely prohibited, Rick.
Campaign expenses -- campaign funds may only be used for campaign expenses. They can never be used for personal costs. In 2009, Ms. O'Donnell had been paying rent to Mr. Vasher, starting in January of 2009. And then she ran out of money. She didn't have any income. So, she didn't have enough cash. So, suddenly, she had her campaign write the checks, $750 in March, another $750 in April, paying Brent Vasher her rent.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
SLOAN: And then she wrote them down in her FEC reports as expense reimbursement, service reimbursement. So, on top of misusing the campaign funds in the first place, she then lied on the forms, lied on the forms submitted to the FEC, which is another crime.
SANCHEZ: What about the fact that she gave $3,000 to her mom and said that her mom was her financial -- was her campaign consultant?
SLOAN: Well, you can't just make up stuff. You are allowed to pay family members under certain circumstances. They have to be paid at fair market value for real services.
So, the question is, what kind of competency did Christine O'Donnell's mother have to provide financial consulting services? And was she paid at the fair market rate for the services she offered? It seems unlikely here. It seems like, again, Ms. O'Donnell was using her campaign coffers like it was her own bank account and giving out the money wherever she wanted.
SANCHEZ: Is this a -- is this is a gray area, by the way? Because I would imagine, and everyone knows that there are -- you know, there are times when you're kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place and you have got to make a decision, and people -- all businessmen and businesswomen who go out and have expense reports that they have to file sometimes wonder, can I include this, can I include that?
Is there any way you can look at the sum of what she has done and say, well, this could have happened to anybody, or, you know, politicians do this kind of stuff all the time?
SLOAN: Politicians absolutely do not do this all the time. Politicians are very careful. They know that there is a clear prohibition on misappropriating campaign funds, basically stealing from your campaign. Simply because you're a candidate, Rick, doesn't mean every single expense you have is therefore a candidate expense, a campaign expense. There are limitations on that. Every time Christine O'Donnell went out to dinner or bought gas or went bowling, that doesn't all of a sudden make it a campaign expense just because she's a candidate, although, in 2009, she wasn't even a candidate.
SANCHEZ: Is that the biggest part of the problem here, the fact that, when she was doing these expenses, she wasn't running for anything? So, where did this money come from? Was that left over from her last campaign?
SLOAN: It seems like it was left over from her 2008 campaign.
SANCHEZ: So --
SLOAN: But, no, the biggest problem is not that she was not an announced candidate. The biggest problem was that she was treating her campaign like it was her own bank account and whipping out the campaign's ATM to pay for things willy-nilly, whether or not they were campaign expenses.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you a question, by the way. I'm just curious.
Now, let's suppose you or I run for office, right, and we lose, but we have got a lot left over that we didn't spend. What are we supposed to do with that money?
SLOAN: Well, some candidates keep it to save it for their next campaign.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
SLOAN: Others often give it away to other candidates.
But one thing you can never do with the money is keep it and use it for your personal living expenses.
SANCHEZ: Is there a possibility that she didn't know that? Is there -- is there any chance ignorance that could be used as a viable defense here?
SLOAN: Ignorance of the law is never an excuse.
SANCHEZ: Right.
SLOAN: First of all, Ms. O'Donnell was hardly the novice she paints herself to be. This is her third campaign, after all.
But, in any event, we don't say, oh, well, if you didn't know, but -- that you couldn't rob a bank, but you robbed a bank, no foul there.
(LAUGHTER) SLOAN: Ignorance is never an excuse. And, certainly, it's clear that Ms. O'Donnell did know, because she lied on her FEC forms. She was paying Brent Vasher, for example, those rent checks, and yet she was calling it something else on her FEC forms --
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
SLOAN: -- meaning she knew she was doing something wrong.
SANCHEZ: And, by the way, just -- just to be fair -- and point well made, by the way -- we would invite Ms. O'Donnell to come here on RICK'S LIST and explain her version of events any time that she wants to. The invitation remains permanently open.
Melanie Sloan, thanks so much for taking us through this. We appreciate your time.
The response from Americans who say that they're tired of the insanity is surprising. Can you believe Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are planning these political rallies, right? And a lot of people said, well, that's kind of funny and made for a good show.
No. Tens of thousands of people are already committing to being there when they do this, which is interesting. So, we're going to update that for you.
Also, the guy on the boat right there, see him? He's telling the guy who is coming down to rescue him, get away. I want to just stay on my boat. I don't care if it's about to capsize. Wait until you see how this thing ends up. Unbelievable video.
The LIST scrolls on. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, Welcome back.
President Obama has participated in a town hall yesterday, and he took some heat for it, because of the very strident questions that were asked of him. But the president has held countless meetings across the country like this. And it's meetings like these that some say have helped him win over the hearts and minds of a country that would elect him president.
But at yesterday's meeting, the questions were best represented by this woman. Her name is Velma Hart. Let's take a listen again, in case you missed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELMA HART, CFO, AMVETS: I'm also a mother. I'm a wife. I'm an American veteran. And I'm one of your middle class Americans. And quite frankly I'm exhausted. I'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantel of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now. I have been told that I voted for a man who said he was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class. I'm one of those people and I'm waiting, sir. I am waiting. I don't feel it yet. And I thought while it wouldn't be in great measure, I would feel it in some small measure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I guess the question is who does this speak for? How many others out there are thinking in many of the ways that she expressed herself. Jessica Yellin is joining us to take this apart for us. Jessica, what's your take on this?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That was a devastating question clearly, because she's somebody who obviously has no axe to grind with him and truly has lost some faith, it seems.
The question -- clearly President Obama inherited this terrible economy and we're still working our way out of it. You can't discount that. But this is one of those times where the White House at some point has to be looking back and questioning their strategy both within Washington and their larger communication strategy outside and how they're messaging to the broader public.
And it would seem they've made crucial missteps on both fronts. And they have to take some blame for that.
SANCHEZ: Well, it's funny, because they've had a lot of successes -- at least successes the way they used to be defined. Usually if a president came in and passed a lot of legislation, some of it sweeping legislation, like healthcare reform for example, he would be up there going look what I did.
In this case, it seems like every step forward is a step backward, at least in political or public relations terms.
YELLIN: And the lingo they use here is he doesn't seem to get credit for his accomplishments. He makes these major -- he does the stimulus and health care and financial reform, and middle class Americans are saying we're not feeling any help, so his base is upset, his supporters. And then conservatives say because of all his action, he's a socialist. So he doesn't win on either end.
And to some extent, that's the environment. But it's also -- you've got to ask, is he messaging correctly? And with Bill Clinton out on the scene so much lately, it's a reminder of how effective he is at hitting emotional chords, using anecdotes to help you relate to where he's coming from and help you understand his approach to policy.
Whereas President Obama tends to focus on these little examples or brass tacks sort of details on what he's done instead of an overarching emotional frame so you don't end up connecting to it. And that's one of the ways he seems to be misfiring.
SANCHEZ: All right, good stuff. It's an interesting conversation, and I bet you it's the kind of stuff people are talking about.
And then of course there's the fact that he is dogged. There's no question. You'd have to be a fool to not look at the landscape and see conservative talk radio hosts literally lambasting this man 24/7. And then there's FOX News, which is essentially the voice of the Republican Party, whose job it is to make this man look bad no matter what he does.
YELLIN: This is the time for political jujitsu.
SANCHEZ: What's that?
YELLIN: It's the time for political jujitsu. Use it against them, right? So if he could do that -- right.
SANCHEZ: It all depends on how well he's able to fight that. You know what -- he's got to do it if he wants to survive in this, certainly up until November. Good conversation, Jessica. Look forward to it. By the way, you're doing a little extra work tonight, right? You're doing "JOHN KING USA"?
YELLIN: Yes. We're interviewing Chris Coons, the man who is running against Christine O'Donnell in Delaware.
SANCHEZ: That means it's going to be RICK'S LIST and then you for two hours tonight on CNN.
YELLIN: Nice.
SANCHEZ: My mother --
YELLIN: Something for everyone to look forward to.
SANCHEZ: My mother and yours would call that great television.
YELLIN: And both our mothers are named Adele.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Did not know that.
YELLIN: Bye, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Ginger Rogers, Madonna, Beyonce, and now Bristol Palin? She danced her heart out last night in front of millions. How did she do? That's ahead.
Always, what would you think if you saw this floating down a river? The story behind the couch boat. That's right, it's a couch boat, and it's in "Fotos" next right here on "The List."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. You think you have a tough time merging in traffic. You ready for this? Time for "Fotos." Whoa, you cannot park that thing in the fast lane. What is it that we're talking about? You're about to see it for yourself. Drivers in Atlanta had to make room for a small plane during Monday evening's rush hour. Can you believe that?
I'm not kidding, because I live in Atlanta. This was the height of rush hour when police and this pilot had to put this plane down. I mean, that's amazing that they didn't clip or hit any drivers, motorists, cars, anything, and were able to get it down safely and then they were able to tow it out of there.
Here's our next story. Is this guy a couch potato or what? Really more like a river rat. If you look closely, that is a couch. And he is rowing the couch. Row, row, row your boat. He's a U-Mass graduate student, his name is Steve Snow, fashioned this raft shaped like a couch. Friends and spectators cheered him on as he paddled to Northampton. Good looking young lad.
Now, let's go to Bluefield, West Virginia. Autumn's right around the corner, leaves are changing color, and they are falling. And that means it's time for me and my kids to go out to a fall festival and you.
But look what's going on at these fall festivals this year. The pumpkins are bulging. I love this topic this time of year. Don't you? None as big as the ones in this patch, though. The smallest, 500 pounds. The biggest, just under 1,000 pounds. Now, that's a pumpkin.
And that is "Fotos." You can see them for yourself whenever you want. Just go to my website, my blog. It's CNN.com/RickSanchez.
So are you worried about bed bugs? The critters are invading from coast to coast. Have no fear. Officials are holding the very first national bed bug summit. That is ahead.
And speaking of bugs, Twitter falls under attack. Twitter. I mean, in a big way this time. We heard about it this morning. Some of us thought, nah, that's just a -- no. It's the real deal. Brooke is coming up now and she'll be taking us through this. Did you get any?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did I get bed bugs?
SANCHEZ: No, no. I wouldn't ask you that on camera. Not on national television.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: No, I didn't.
SANCHEZ: The Twitter bug.
BALDWIN: I think I might have yesterday.
SANCHEZ: See. BALDWIN: Definitely very real.
Some very famous people did too. Stay right there, folks. Brooke I and are coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: So what is this?
BALDWIN: Don't start itching. I actually did do a little -- we did a little digging on the bed bug situation at CNN. That's next hour.
SANCHEZ: I can't wait.
BALDWIN: I bet you can't.
SANCHEZ: You have a bug of a different type now.
BALDWIN: I have a bug of a different type, a type of Twitter bug. Did you get the Twitter bug? It was actually -- it's still trending on Twitter. Hours later the trending phrase is "Twitter got hacked." Thousands possibly, they're saying, hundreds of thousands of people hit by the security bug that causes potentially dangerous content to appear on the screen without any kind of warning.
The good news according to Twitter, it has been fixed. In fact, take a look if we can swing on over. This is from "@safety" where you can get the safety warnings from Twitter. They we're working on a blog post that will give more info "re -- fixed, "XSS exploit. We don't believe any user info was compromised." Whew!
But there were a couple of big names affected. Sarah Brown, wife of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown affected. So is White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. He eventually tweeted about this after apparently one of his tweets was hacked. He wrote "My Twitter went haywire. Absolutely no clue why it sent that message or even what it is. Paging the tech guys." So I have to admit I heard about it this morning and I did stay off Twitter for a couple of hours. I was worried. Were you? I didn't want something --
SANCHEZ: Apparently it wasn't just -- it was like if you clicked one of the attachments, for example.
BALDWIN: Your mouse moving over, a couple of different things. Hopefully it's done.
SANCHEZ: Hit big people. The president's spokesperson apparently was hit, Robert Gibbs
BALDWIN: That's what I just said.
SANCHEZ: You did? That's what I get for tweeting while you're talking.
BALDWIN: Pay attention! Story number two. We were talking about this.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: I love you.
BALDWIN: Love you too. Last week we were talking about the big rallies in D.C., Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert. We're a little more than a month away here. But the update today, have you heard about the numbers of people who are apparently signing up saying yes, indeed, I'm going to head to D.C. I'm talking more than 100,000 people.
So if you go to Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" -- yes, that's what he's calling it -- go to the Facebook page. You can see last check, look at this. I'm looking at the number -- 116,000 plus responding to the yes, I will be attending. Add to that more than 60,000 people who say they might go.
Meanwhile, let's flip over. Colbert not feeling the Facebook love. His event, "March to keep Fear Alive," has a meager 45,000 yes responses.
SANCHEZ: "Keep fear alive." I love that.
BALDWIN: But the faux conservative newsman says that is all Jon Stewart's fault. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": My greatest fear right now, one that I'm sure you all share, is that I'm not getting enough attention. Look at these weekend headlines. "Jon Stewart plans rally. Jon Stewart holds D.C. rally. Jon Stewart plans to rally against extremism." Stop giving this guy so much attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So it's kind of fun to banter back and forth. But they're real rallies. People weren't sure initially. They are real rallies. The number of attendees real and rising.
SANCHEZ: You called and checked with executive producers.
BALDWIN: I tell you, they are so slammed with media requests. I keep trying to get them to tweet us back. Help me. Throw that weight around, Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: No, here's what we're going to do. Let's start ignoring the other guy. I'm not even going to say his name. And give all the emphasis to Stephen Colbert, because he's a true American.
BALDWIN: He's the one I tweeted with the scary picture.
SANCHEZ: That's what we're going to do. It's all about Colbert. We won't even talk about the other guy, whatever his name is. BALDWIN: Deal.
SANCHEZ: There are attack ads, then there are attack ads. Mailers targeting one candidate included the guy's Social Security number. Is that a mistake? Come on, right? Either way it makes "The List" you don't want to be on, and I'm calling him out. Stay right there and we'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: This may be, as stories go, the most interesting, certainly the most visual story of the day. Imagine a guy who doesn't want to be rescued when someone is trying to save his life. Oh, it gets better.
Let's go through this together. This is in Croatia yesterday. There's a huge flood and a storm. You can see it right there. The guy on the boat, you see him. He's the one that's going to be rescued. And there's the guy being brought down. Ivan is the guy on the boat.
He's telling the guy, get out of here. I don't want to be rescued. I'll be fine. Just stay the hell off my boat. In fact, leave me alone. The guy finally makes it on to his boat though the wind is slamming him all over the place, and Ivan takes off. He goes to the back of the boat while the guy chases him and finally catches up with him.
And then finally he's able to grab him and now they're going to try to pull him out. Look what happens just as he's pulling him out. The boat starts to sink. The boat is going under. And just in the nick of time, they get Ivan -- they get Ivan -- they get Ivan out of there. Can you believe this? What a story.
Now watch the boat. Plop, plop, plop, it goes under. Ivan would have gone under too. He likely would have died. But they saved his life despite the fact that he didn't want his life saved. That's a cool story.
Just how bad is the bed bug infestation across the United States? Back enough for the top brains in the business to convene a summit. This is a story that Brooke has been following for us. When we first saw the reports of this, a lot of us were going, come on. This is just media stuff, right? No, they're now saying it's serious enough, certainly in some cities. We'll tell you if you're in one of those.
Also, today's most intriguing person pretty much defines service and sacrifice and today he received one of the country's top honors. What is that? I'm going to take you through it as we disclose who that person is.
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SANCHEZ: It's time now to check the list of the most intriguing people of the day, and here we go. This man, his service, his sacrifice. It's so intriguing that the president of the United States today presented him the highest award this nation imposed upon any military member. And here he is. This is the last photo taken of Richard Etchberger, chief master sergeant of U.S. Air Force. He died at age 35 in Laos in 1968.
Remember, at that time U.S. troops weren't officially in Laos, so the chief didn't officially die there, "officially" in quotations, of course. But he did. He was shot to death by the North Vietnamese soldiers after making sure several wounded comrades were safely aboard a med-evac helicopter.
Listen to what the commander in chief said today at the Medal of Honor ceremony.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Today also marks another chapter in a larger story of our nation finally honoring that generation of Vietnam veterans who serve with dedication and courage, but all too often were shunned when they came home, which was a disgrace. It must never happen again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And 42 years after a selfless action in Laos that cost him his life, Chief Master Sergeant Richard Etchberger's family received his medal of honor at the White House. Today we honor him and make him the most intriguing person in the news.
Gloria Borger has been checking on things that are making news in politics. She's going to join us in just a little bit. This is "RICK'S LIST." So glad you're here. We're going to be right back with Gloria.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Rick Sanchez. Time to get back to business for a "CNN Equals Politics" update with Gloria Borger. She's with "The Best Political Team on Television." And she's joining us now to let us know what is crossing. What's going on, Gloria?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Rick. Well, a big question we've been asking for a while now, is Sarah Palin raising her presidential profile?
And just days after her big speech that she gave in Iowa, she's out with a new video today. And it's produced by her political action committee, Sarah PAC, and it's called, what else, "Tea Party." And it's full of clips of Sarah Palin addressing the faithful. It's very slick. She calls the Tea Part "the future of politics."
And back in Alaska, as you well know, Sarah Palin played a very, very big role in defeating Senator Lisa Murkowski in that Republican primary. Well, Lisa Murkowski has now decided that she's going to run as a write-in candidate.
She's already resigned her leadership post, Rick, but now Dana Bash and our congressional team have gotten word that Senate Republicans are expected to move tomorrow to strip her from her ranking position on the energy committee. So they are not very happy about her potentially handing that race to the Democrat.
And as we all know, Election Day is just six weeks away, and guess who is getting out of Washington to go back home? Members of Congress.
SANCHEZ: Really?
BORGER: They are. They've decided that they want to run for re- election.
SANCHEZ: It seems like every time you and I have been talking about this, everybody has been stretching these so they can get one more vote in or something that they feel is important, either on the Democratic side or the Republican side, usually on the democratic side. I can't imagine that that's going to happen this time, right?
BORGER: Well, you know, the tax cuts are the big issue, Rick. And there's lots of Democrats who want to vote on it but also lots of Democrats who don't want to vote on it. Likely story is nothing will probably get past. It's time for them to go home and face the voters. We'll have to see.
SANCHEZ: That's the way the system works. Gloria, good stuff, appreciate it.
BORGER: Sure.
SANCHEZ: Remember, for all of the latest political news, you can go to politics.com on Twitter, Political Ticker.
