Return to Transcripts main page

Rick's List

Disaster in Mexico; Concerns Grow Over Afghan President

Aired September 28, 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: There's two big breaking news story we're following for you right now. One of them is here in the United States. We are going to take you to the flooding in the Midwest.

And then you would not believe what's going on right now in Oaxaca, Mexico. Expect to see some of the latest pictures as they come in over the next half-hour.

Here now is the prime-time edition of RICK'S LIST.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): It's prime time on CNN and here's what's making RICK'S LIST.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are between 100 and 300 homes that had been buried and up to as many as 1,000 people who may be trapped.

SANCHEZ: A major landslide. Who knows how many are dead? The military can't even get there because of washed-out bridges.

Is Hamid Karzai OK? Why's he crying?

The president confronted by a soldier's son. How does he respond?

Quentin Tarantino is one of Hollywood's biggest name. His top editor has turned up dead, and Hollywood's abuzz.

And the bizarre lovefest that is Stewart vs. O'Reilly. What's up with that?

The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list.

Pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. So glad that you're here with us. This is a horrible, horrible situation, a breaking news story that we have been following throughout the course of the day.

Essentially two separate states of emergency have been declared tonight as heavy rain causes flooding in Wisconsin and some deadly landslides in Mexico as well. Torrential rain has caused a 650-foot hill to collapse overnight. This is in Mexico and we're told it's wiped out hundreds and hundreds of homes right in the dead of night.

We have got some brand-new video that is coming into us right now. Folks, I have got to tell you, this is some of the very first video that we have been getting out of here. And this thing happened hours ago. Why? Well, it's in Oaxaca in southern Mexico. Nobody can get in there. On top of that, the weather's so bad, the military couldn't put its helicopters up in the air because they have got to fly through mountains to get there.

Now, add to that the fact that the flooding's been so bad, it's washed out many of the bridges so they can't drive into the town as well. So they have been on the phone, hearing these horrible stories of what's going on in this town.

The governor of Oaxaca says as many as 1,000 people may be underneath the mud and the rock that has fallen on top of them. This happened in this mountainous regions, where the problem is, too, here's the deal. A lot of these homes are built on hillsides. So as the hillsides wash away, as the hillsides wash away, the homes wash away.

Not only that, the ones all the way at the bottom, they literally end up -- it's almost like being in an avalanche. You end up buried, right?

Chad Myers joining us now...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely covered.

SANCHEZ: ... yes, to take us through this. What's going on down there, as we look at these new pictures?

MYERS: You almost turn the dirt into liquid, liquefaction, if you will, because and then when you get mud on top of mud and layers on top of layers, they don't want to stick anymore when they get so wet. So you just get mud slide on mud. Same thing happens in California. Same kind of deal here what we have in Oaxaca.

The deal what it is, most of this country is forest. There's trees everywhere. The tree roots hold everything together. Well, when you make a town, you take the trees away.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Right.

MYERS: And so you move all that dirt, you make a foundation, then all of a sudden you have disturbed what Mother Nature has left there for thousands of years.

SANCHEZ: It's the same thing that happens -- it's what we talk about in New Orleans. It's what we talk about -- it's beach erosion. It's the same problem we deal with from time to time. MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: By the way, Angie, just one more. Quick. Put these pictures up real quick. Look, these pictures are coming in raw, unedited. We're showing them to you for the very first time. Our crews are still trying to make their way there, but they can't.

MYERS: Right.

SANCHEZ: Tell me what you think we're seeing here, Chad?

MYERS: This is a river in Oaxaca, in the state of Oaxaca. Oaxaca is a city, and also it's a state. So, I don't know exactly where this is along the river, but notice the structure.

Look at the buildings. Look at the quality of the buildings. OK? This is what we had built on those same mountainsides, this type of corrugated aluminum and plywood thing put together, a few buildings made from concrete and cinder block, but this is the issue. We have people there that aren't that wealthy, and buildings that have been moving.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: We're in touch with the military there. We're in touch with the governor and the president. Calderon has apparently said he's mobilizing the entire military in Mexico. He's sending the troops down there.

The problem is, he can't get them in there right now. They have got ambulances on the way, but they're all stuck, at some point, trying to get over there. So as this story develops throughout the course of the newscast, you and are going to be talking about it. But stay right there.

There's more that I need from you.

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Here's what's going on. Closer to home, some massive flooding is continuing to threaten a 120-year-old levee. This is in Wisconsin now, OK? This is Wisconsin Rapids living up to its name. Water is flowing freely through the streets. You can see that the first floor of the building has flooded.

This video was taken by an iReporter. She says it shows the Wisconsin River at its highest levels in 50 years, and that's according to some of the locals who live there.

Chad's picking this up for us as well.

Chad, what's going on here?

MYERS: This is water and rain that fell well upstream. It hasn't rained in this area for five days. But it rained inches and inches and in some spots feet of rain over the weekend. And so now all that water has been rushing downhill, which eventually is the Mississippi.

SANCHEZ: Look at this stuff.

MYERS: But even places that didn't rain that much, now the water is in this Wisconsin River. So we're talking the rapids obviously area, but the Wisconsin Dells, and then down south, this is all going to have to feed into -- we know about taking flood precautions and all that, but if it doesn't rain, you don't have your antenna up, you're not ready for it, because it didn't rain in your room. It didn't rain on your house.

SANCHEZ: Yes, right.

MYERS: This rained 150 miles north of where you're seeing that water now.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Well, but here's the deal. Look, we get flooding. I lived in Minnesota. I remember sandbagging. We have all -- anybody who's ever lived in the Midwest or any part of the United States where you get these kind of rains deals with this.

The question I have for you is, what is the possibility or probability that some of the folks living along this river could either lose their homes, have to be evacuated? How expansive is this going to be?

MYERS: Well, certainly, when you have -- and we talked about this 120-year-old levee, especially near Portage. Portage there and other towns, as you look at it, look at the map, there's an east/west part of the river. It's moved from west to east. The south part is a 120-year-old levee not really ever made better, made by farmers 120 years ago out of beams of wood and sand.

Well, never thought it was going to get this high again, so these sand levees, they had been eroding, moving away and homes are going underwater. Now, the more you lose levees, the more the water spreads out, OK, so the water doesn't get as high.

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: You have not channeled it like a canyon anymore. You have got a canyon full of water because you have levees. You break one of the levees, the water spreads out. The water doesn't get over here. It doesn't get into this town.

SANCHEZ: So it only gets faster.

MYERS: Because you lost a levee over here, the water spreads out. And then it doesn't get as high. And so as it gets downriver, the levels aren't as high. They begin to level out a little bit.

SANCHEZ: OK. We will be on top of this as well. Let us know what's going on and we will be sharing it with our viewers.

MYERS: Sure.

SANCHEZ: And stand by, because we're going to be showing some revealing tape tonight of Jon Stewart and Bill O'Reilly. You have got to see this. You have got to see this.

MYERS: Is this a moment of Zen?

SANCHEZ: It's beyond a moment of Zen. It's Zenderful.

Coming up, these are peewee football coaches. Let me show you something. Oh, no. Tell me -- say it ain't so. Not the coaches. Come on, guys. You're supposed to behave better than the kids. We will show it to you.

Then, next, Michael Steele's bus tour to help Republicans in the midterm elections has some inside the GOP saying he's only trying to help himself. That's next on our political list. Stay right there. This is your national conversation. This is RICK'S LIST. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right. I'm going to be breaking down a lot of these breaking stories that are developing with the floods, both in Mexico and in Wisconsin.

But we have got some politics to get you to as well. So here we go. Florida Democrat Alan Grayson may have finally gone too far. An ad that he's put out against Republican Dan Webster, this one comes in at number four on tonight's political list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ALAN GRAYSON CAMPAIGN AD)

NARRATOR: Webster tried to deny battered women medical care and the right to divorce their abusers.

DANIEL WEBSTER (R), FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Submit to me.

NARRATOR: He wants to force raped women to bear the child.

WEBSTER: Submit to me.

NARRATOR: Taliban Dan Webster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Taliban Dan Webster?

Well, guess what? Fact-checkers have dug up Webster's speech. He wasn't saying that woman ought to submit, as that ad clearly suggests. And that's not right. In fact, what he was saying was just the opposite. Webster was telling men not to expect women to submit.

"The Orlando Sentinel" is calling out Alan Grayson -- quote -- "By twisting Webster's words, Grayson risks eroding some of the support that he may have won from independent voters," which he has, by the way. Grayson is in a very tough bid for reelection for the House of Representatives. We will follow that for you.

Here now is political story number three. Is Michael Steele's bus tour bust so far, as in B-U-S-T? Tonight, a lot of fellow Republicans are hammering him. They're saying it sure the heck looks like that. The GOP chairman is touring 100-plus cities with the stated goal of helping Republicans take control of the House.

But a GOP source is telling us tonight that Steele's tour will take him to dozens of congressional districts where the races aren't even competitive. That source is suggesting that Steele's tour is really about getting Steele reelected.

Here is political story number two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCADAMS (D), ALASKA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: This is a long way from D.C. I'm Scott McAdams, and I'm not your usual Senate candidate. I grew up in Petersburg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Well, this looks like a page from a Sarah Palin playbook, right? A commercial shot on a fishing boat.

But, unlike Palin, Alaska's Scott McAdams is a Democrat, and he's trailing Tea Party favorite Joe Miller in that three-way Senate race that also includes embattled incumbent Lisa Murkowski, who is running, by the way, as a write-in.

So what is the number-one story on our political list on this night? The vice president is telling progressives to buck up and stop whining. You have heard that, right? Well, we have got a little different take on this. Was this another one of Joe Biden's gaffes or does he have a point here? Jessica Yellin's going to be joining me in just a little bit to break this down for you.

Also tonight, police in Texas are trying to figure out how a gunman was able to terrorize the University of Texas. And many of you know, historically, if you know the story of Texas, you're saying, oh, no, not again.

All right, this is RICK'S LIST. The bloviating stops here. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

President Obama, as you probably know, has just finished. He was speaking in Madison, Wisconsin, a short time ago. This is the number- one story on tonight's political list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're basically saying that you're apathetic, you're disappointed, you're, oh, well, we're not sure that we're going to turn out.

Wisconsin, we can't let that happen. We cannot sit this one out. We can't let this country fall backwards because the rest of us didn't care enough to fight. The stakes are too high for our country and for your future.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And I am going to get out there and fight as hard as I can, and I know you are, too, to make sure we keep moving forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Jessica Yellin joins me now.

Hey, Jessica, you know what's interesting about this? Here you have the president of the United States. He's essentially telling these folks, we need you to go out, we need you to vote, we need you to be on our side. He's essentially trying to mobilize these folks, while at the same time, his the vice president is saying things like griping and groaning and stop whining and buck up.

You know, I don't know, but I kind of have a sense that these two things are conflictive, these two messages, right?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sounds like a mixed message to you?

(LAUGHTER)

YELLIN: Well, even the president has said, buck up. In a "Rolling Stone" interview, he said that Democrats need to buck up.

The White House maintains this is not a mixed message, that, essentially, what they're trying to say, in their view, is, look, let's get real, Democrats. You might not be happy with everything we have done. Some of the people on the progressive end might want more liberal policies, but look at the alternative. Get real about what will happen if you don't get out and vote.

And, in fact, the president, I heard him make this argument about what he sees flawed in the Republicans' position in a new way tonight. We pulled a clip of it, so let me play that for you. This is the crux of his message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: They knew that it was going to take a long time to solve the economic challenges that we face. They saw the data. They were talking to the economists. They realized that Obama was walking in, and we had just lost four million jobs in the six months before I was sworn in, 750,000 jobs the month I was sworn in, 600,000 jobs the month after that, 600,000 jobs the month after that. So before we -- our economic policies could even put into place, we had already lost most of the eight million jobs we would lose. And they knew that people would be frustrated. And they figured, if we just sit on the sidelines and just say no and just throw bombs, and let Obama and the Democrats deal with everything, they figured they might be able to prosper at the polls.

And that's what they have done for the last 20 months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: But, you know, what is...

YELLIN: So, you see, that's his, yes, knock on the Republicans. And he's saying, Democrats, don't let it happen again.

SANCHEZ: What's amazing is, though, as he tells that story, you get the sense that he's surprised that the Republicans did that, like, he wasn't expecting it, like he was blindsided. It just seems naive, doesn't it?

Well, the argument Islam, he wanted to change Washington and he thought that he would have a receptive partner, and that it seems rather cynical that the other side wasn't receptive. They see it differently, but, you know, other people have made the point you're making as well, Rick. You're not alone in that view.

SANCHEZ: Interesting. Good stuff, Jessica. We will see. And I'm looking forward to tomorrow when you and I are going to be talking about some of the latest hot polls that are going to e coming out of so many different places.

YELLIN: Big polls.

SANCHEZ: Yes, especially Florida, my home state. That three- person race should be really interesting to see how it's shaping up. Thanks, Hess.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Look at this, folks. Take a look at this sound pop here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN BOND, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: He said that homosexuality is worthy of death. He's a -- he's a raving homophobe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: "He's a raving homophobe." He doesn't say that twice. He says it three times. It's a civil rights icon blasting Eddie Long. Wait until you hear what Julian Bond really says about the pastor. You haven't heard nothing yet. He talks about the sex scandal, and he explains why he would not go to this church on the passing of Martin Luther King's widow. It's a heck of a story. Also, peewee football coaches act much less mature than their peewee players.

This is RICK'S LIST. Caution: The bloviating stops here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST. I'm so glad that you're here.

Tonight, there are some new developments on a very frightening story from the University of Texas. The story comes in on my list of controversies tonight at number five.

Nineteen-year-old Colton Tooley -- he's a math major -- he's now identified as the gunman who used an AK-47 to open fire on the campus in Austin. He let off several rounds near a fountain before police chased him into a library, where the university says Tooley turned the gun around and killed himself. No one else was hurt and so far tonight, no word on what really set him off.

Here is number four. A peewee football game turns ugly in Pearland, Texas. That's right, peewee football. One team scored a touchdown, a couple of kids started getting into it just off of the camera there. But they weren't the real problem. One of the adult coaches tried to break it up.

Now watch as adult coaches from both sides start brawling. Peewee football. They're doing it right in front of the kids, too. Talk about taking something way, way, way too serious. And if that's not bad enough, now the kids are being made to suffer for it. Both teams were battling for first place, but they have been kicked out of the playoffs because of what their coaches, the adults, did.

Parents of the players will go to a board meeting tomorrow night to try and appeal and just say, kick out the coaches. Don't kick out the kids.

Here is number three. FBI employees, including a former assistant director, accused of cheating on an exam. The Justice Department found at least 22 agents and analysts broke the rules by sharing answer sheets and even using a computer glitch to get the right answers. These are prospective FBI employees. The big tipoff, employees were getting the test done in about 20 minutes, when it usually takes people more than an hour-and-a-half. The FBI says it will take appropriate actions.

And here is controversy number two. Teachers are used to giving out bad grades, but when the teacher is the one getting that bad grade, well, that's different story, folks. And that may have led to tragedy.

Rigoberto Ruelas, a popular fifth-grade teacher in Florence, California, near Los Angeles, apparently killed himself this weekend by jumping off of a bridge. Family and friends say Ruelas had been upset about scoring a less-than-average rating in a database made public by the "Los Angeles Times" newspaper.

"The Times" says it publishes the results because it believes parents and the public have a right to judge the data for themselves. What do you think?

Now, my number one-controversy involves a police officer who tried to scare the heck out of a teenage boy. Now the officer might have a reason to be worried himself, because he wasn't supposed to act on his own like this, and certainly not in uniform, and certainly not making arrests.

Also, Hollywood is mourning the mysterious sudden death of a woman who was a key part of movie director Quentin Tarantino's success. You may not know her name, but you definitely know her work, guarantee it. That story's trending tonight.

And as we continue your national conversation in prime time, we want to show you something else as we go to RICK'S LIST. Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: On the air.

Are you ready to jump in, or do you want to settle?

SANCHEZ: No, no, no, let's start.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go. Let's roll.

SANCHEZ: Look, the top of the four could end up being Texas. It could end up being either U.T. or Mexico, or whatever else happens between now and then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, this is Sunday. This is before the event. Yes. But you can see the conditions that were there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that Karzai is like a manic depressive. You never know what you're going to get.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This plays into that. That obviously plays into that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or he can just be crying.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I too, cry, without...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back.You could possibly understand this story. You could possibly imagine how angry a father might be when he finds out or thinks that his 14-year-old daughter is having sex with another boy. But that dad is a police officer. And he may have gone just a little too far in dealing with this tonight. And this is the number one story on our controversy list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I see you anywhere --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A San Jose, California officer is now on paid administrative leave after being accused of faking the arrest of that boy who's believed to be 15 years old. The officer went to the teen's home and in full uniform, in front of the boy's parents, proceeded to handcuff him and then lecture him. The parents recorded some of it and gave the video to the "San Jose Mercury News." You want to watch? Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to write an informational report that is going to go to a sexual assault investigator. It will be up to (INAUDIBLE) your assault. They're going to file charges on you for having sex with a minor.

If I see you anywhere near my home, anywhere near my home, anywhere near my daughter, I'll arrest you. Do you believe this time? Growing up and being in high school, a cop's daughter is not someone you mess around with. You're stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The boy's parents say the officer abused his authority, but a lawyer for the officer says he was invited to use the scared straight approach and that there was no objection to the lecture or the handcuffs. Well, the D.A. is now looking into this.

Now a list of some of the most intriguing people in the news on this night. And we begin with person number four.

There is no bigger and more talked about irony involving the Pastor Eddie Long's story than the fact that he's denounced homosexuality on many occasions. He's marched for the return to family values. He says that the definition of marriage should never include same-sex couples, putting down homosexuals and homosexuality. So when Martin Luther King Jr.'s wife, Coretta Scott King, died, and her funeral was held at Long's church, dignitaries from all over the world showed up. Many presidents showed up, as you see in some of this video. The president of the United States at the time, George W. Bush. But one of her husband's closest allies, the man who knew Martin Luther King, did not show up. He said he couldn't go.

We're talking about Julian Bond, who to this day is hurt by the fact that he didn't go to her funeral. And he makes our people's list tonight for that reason. The civil rights region says that Coretta Scott King was a defender of gay rights, so to have the funeral at Long's church, a man he calls a homophobe, he says is just wrong. Bond says he doesn't know Long personally. He says Long's anti-gay actions are merely an attempt to deflect attention from his own sexual preference. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOND: Well, you hope these charges are not true, because it's bad news for his family. It's bad news for his church. If they are true, it's just sort of typical of people who are raving homophobes, who are secretly homosexual and who are homophobes because they are filled with so much self-loathing and self-hate that they've got to let it come out some way, and it comes out in homophobia.

I knew her, and I knew she was a big defender of gay rights. I knew that Bishop Long was a raving homophobe, and I knew that she'd be twisting at her grave if she were buried there. And I'd be twisting in my grave eventually if I went to the funeral there, and so I stayed away. He said that homosexuality is worthy of death. He's a raving homophobe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's a heck of a thing to say, isn't it? My team, by the way, to be fair, has been reaching out to Pastor Long for some kind of reaction to how he is characterized by Julian Bond. So far, we've not gotten any response from them.

That brings us now to number three. This guy dresses as Elmo and entertains kids for a living, but he crossed paths with one guy who wasn't delighted by the life-sized muppet. The guy tried to beat up Elmo. Can you believe that? Got very physical, actually punched Elmo in the mouth. According to his -- here, he tells you about it himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERAMIE TRESPALACIOS, PERFORMING "ELMO": He just starts -- exactly like that. It felt just like that, yes. And then I'm like -- I waved to him, no, like this. So I turn around and then he delivers a punch -- yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He punches Elmo in the back of the head?

TRESPALACIOS: Yes. Straight punch to the back of the head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Just something about a guy in a clown suit or an Elmo suit telling a story about getting beat up. Well, it turns out the guy picked on the wrong puppet here. Police say that Elmo defended himself, successfully. The police took the injured attacker to a hospital and apparently he's being examined for, well, a mental evaluation. And that brings us to number two. Afghan President Hamid Karzai breaks down in public today. His voice starts to crack, eyes fill with tears. Karzai was speaking at an official function in Kabul to celebrate international literacy day. The president went off message for one minute, condemning violence in the country and expressing his fear that his family and other Afghan citizens could be one day become refugees. A government official described Karzai as being, quote, under a lot of pressure right now for or crying.

So who comes in at number one on the people list tonight? Well, his book tour was briefly put on hold today after a medical scare. We're going to have an update on the condition of a former president of the United States that gave a lot of folks a scare today. Ahead.

This as well. Gloria Estefan, a good friend of mine, climbing out of a window. Hasn't she done this before? The details ahead in "Fotos."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We are back with our list of the most interesting people in the news tonight. We're so glad you're here.

That's number one. You see that ambulance? It was racing for former President Jimmy Carter to a Cleveland hospital this afternoon. There we go. Now we're told that he became sick on a flight to Cleveland. Started complaining of an upset stomach. Carter, who will turn 86 Friday, had to cancel a signing today for his new book, "White House Diary." The Carter Center says he's resting comfortably and will stay overnight in the hospital.

In a statement to CNN, the hospital says, "Upon further examination by MetroHealth Medical Center physicians, it was determined that former U.S. President Jimmy Carter would be admitted to the hospital for continued observation. He is fully alert and participating in all decision-making related to his care. The decision to admit him overnight is purely precautionary."

Now, President Obama put in a call to former President Carter earlier, just to check on him. And we, of course, wish the former president a quick return to health.

Time to see what's trending now on HLN's "Showbiz Tonight" host. Brooke Anderson is joining us, once again, doing double duty, as they say. I know a little bit about that. You're in L.A., huh, where all the famous, good-looking people are, right?

BROOKE ANDERSON, HLN "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: Oh, I don't know about that, Rick. Sometimes, I suppose, right? It depends on how they act, if I think they're really good looking.

SANCHEZ: Tell me what's topping -- tell me what's topping the trending list on this night because I can't wait to hear.

ANDERSON: All right. Well, topping the trending list today, Rick, is really the sad and mysterious death of director Quentin Tarantino's longtime award-winning film editor, Sally Menke. She was just 57 years old. Menke is well known in Hollywood for working on a number of Tarantino blockbusters, "Pulp Fiction," "Kill Bill," "Jackie Brown."

Here's what happened according to what police told us. Menke and a friend were hiking together yesterday. That friend called police after they became separated. The friend couldn't find Menke. Police conducted a late-night search, bloodhounds, helicopter, the whole nine yards. Police found Menke's body at the bottom of a ravine near Griffith Park in Los Angeles early this morning.

Now, most people know, especially those of us who live in the L.A. area, Rick, that broiling temperatures reached a record high of 113 degrees yesterday, the hottest day ever on record in L.A. A coroner spokesman told us the heat may or may not have been a factor in Menke's death and that the autopsy will determine if she had a pre- existing condition. But I've got to tell you, Rick, this story has had a lot of celebrities tweeting today. Actress Rose McGowan tweeted this, "A wonderful, talented lady, an honor to work and know her. A loss to the Tarantino family." Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit: "My prayers and blessings are with friends and family of Sally Menke. Rest in peace, Sally. I will forever be inspired by you."

And, Rick, I dug up a quote from Tarantino that he made about Sally in an interview several years ago. He said, "She's my main, real, truest and strongest collaborator, since I've always thought of editing as the same as writing." Added, "It's a seamless collaboration with her."

So, Rick, Sally Menke, obviously a woman of great talent and great friends.

SANCHEZ: Well, and together they made some really good movies that can only also be described as well as weird.

ANDERSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I mean, bizarre. All right.

ANDERSON: Unforgettable.

SANCHEZ: Unforgettable. Sorry.

ANDERSON: Good.

SANCHEZ: "Dancing with the Stars" --

ANDERSON: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- you know, it used to be other shows. This is getting a lot of attention these days. What's going on now?

ANDERSON: A lot of people talking about this, especially about last night's "Dancing with the Stars" episode. People are buzzing, Rick, over whether or not Sarah Palin was actually booed by the audience. She was there to support her daughter, Bristol. Watch and listen for yourself. Decide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE BURKE, CO-HOST, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": There's booing in the ballroom, we don't know why.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are they booing?

BURKE: I don't know. All right, everybody, you know what to do. Support them right now with your votes -- Tom.

TOM BERGERON, HOST, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": All right. Thank you, Brooke. I'm here with guest ballroom commentator, Sarah Palin, who joins us from Alaska.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Hmm, it does appear that Sarah Palin was herself a bit perplexed by all that booing. However, all the drama was apparently the audience's response to the low scores that had just been given to Jennifer Grey's performance, which received a standing ovation. Host Tom Bergeron wanted to clear up the confusion so he tweeted, "Audience not booing Bristol's mom tonight on 'Dancing with the Stars.' They were booing judges' score of Jennifer. It was a booapalooza on the judges all night."

Rick, Tom also appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel last night and reiterated the booing wasn't meant for Sarah Palin.

I think it was just unfortunate timing for Palin.

SANCHEZ: Well, I'm certainly glad you settled that. I was very concerned for her there for a moment, you know.

ANDERSON: I'm sure.

SANCHEZ: Wouldn't mind a booing.

ANDERSON: It's important stuff, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Brooke, you're great. Thanks so much for helping us out tonight.

Are we doing Larry King? Is he not there? Larry's not ready for me? How can that be? All right, fine. We'll move on to Larry in the next block.

Now, imagine carving a scary face into this thing. So, what's the secret behind these massive pumpkins? Massive is the key word here, folks. That's ahead.

Also, what happens when a darling of the left faces off against the darling of the right? You'd expect fireworks, right? Or is it a dud? Or is it -- well, you'll see the video for yourself. Stay right there. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Unforgettable, that's what you are. That's what I think when I think of Larry King, which is why that song came to mind as I toss to my friend, Larry, out there to let us know what's going on tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." How was that?

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Pretty good, Rick, except people are going to get the wrong impression. Tone it down. Do something like my buddy or something.

SANCHEZ: How about this? Don't sit under the apple tree with anybody else but me.

KING: No, that don't work either, Rick.

SANCHEZ: That's Glenn Miller. What can I say?

KING: How about "dream a little dream of me." By the way, let's leave that alone.

SANCHEZ: OK.

KING: If you -- if you have a child or you're a teacher or you pay taxes or you care about the future of this country, we've got a show for you tonight. It's about public schools in the United States. In the light of a new documentary that shines on the crisis in education, singer John Legend will join us, along with Cheryl Hines and others for a major discussion we all have a stake in. It will be a provocative hour and it's coming up next on "LARRY KING LIVE."

SANCHEZ: That sounds important.

KING: Rick, sweetheart, baby, take over.

SANCHEZ: Thanks, Larry. I look forward to it, man.

All right. Tonight, the president of the United States is ripping into FOX News. In an interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine, he's calling them destructive for America. That's the word he uses, "destructive." FOX News, as you probably know, rarely lets up on the president, and the president believes that they're more about Republican politics than they are about news. So he's saying so. He said, FOX News has, quote, "a point of view that is ultimately destructive for the long-term growth of this country."

So given that as a prelude, what happens when the media darling of the left and the media darling of the right square off? Well, here it is. Jon Stewart versus Bill O'Reilly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": I was over at the FOX News --

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes, we noticed. You were there.

STEWART: The bunker, the temple of doom.

O'REILLY: Yes. The temple of doom.

STEWART: The temple of Mordor (ph). And -- you know, I had to ask you, you know, I was coming on to promote the book and you were kind enough to have me, and I always enjoy being on your program, because you really are, especially over there, the fairest person I think honestly by --

O'REILLY: The fairest person over there.

STEWART: By a mile.

O'REILLY: Right.

STEWART: Really is a --

O'REILLY: The fairest person in the temple of doom.

STEWART: That's right.

O'REILLY: OK. I'll put that on my resume.

STEWART: You really should.

O'REILLY: I'll ally with you. It will be "The O'Reilly Factor" Stewart thing.

STEWART: Did you just propose gay marriage to me?

O'REILLY: No.

STEWART: Man shall not ally with other man.

O'REILLY: Is that right?

STEWART: I believe.

O'REILLY: You are a spiritual mess.

STEWART: I read the --

O'REILLY: Halloween thing and --

STEWART: No, no, no, I appreciate you making us stand up for our own -- pulling ourselves up by --

O'REILLY: You don't piggyback on me or Beck. OK? You do it on your own. You're in real deep now, Stewart. If six people show up, believe me, I'm going to be all over you. You'll be on vacation for a month.

STEWART: If you're out there -- not for me, not for America --

O'REILLY: Right.

STEWART: -- but to make him eat his words.

O'REILLY: There you go.

STEWART: It's on the bookshelves now. Bill O'Reilly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Hmm, best buddies. Jon Stewart versus Bill O'Reilly. The interview that proves that between these two millionaire businessmen, these performers, there's really not a spit of difference.

The play of the game at this Miami Dolphins game took place in the stands. Gloria Estefan busts out of a luxury box. What? All right. You've got to see this to believe it and it's coming up next in "Fotos."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. Tomorrow night at 8:00, an exclusive on our last night's of RICK'S LIST primetime."

LeBron James and his longtime friend and business partner, for the first time, speaking out about a decision to make the move to the Miami Heat. A story that's become extremely controversial with a lot of criticism lately being leveled at the Miami Heat and at the players and at Pat Riley, of course. We're going to bring you that right her tomorrow on RICK'S LIST.

Now, before we do anything else, I should do what I've been doing consistently every day. And that is showing you what's going on right now in the news. This is what's happening in Oaxaca.

This is a pretty horrible situation with one minute -- are we getting a break in here? OK. All right.

So, this is the newest video -- pardon me there, I just got some information in my ear I was a little confused about. This is the very latest video that we've just gotten in tonight. This is from southern Mexico in Oaxaca.

Let me tell you what's going on. The folks there in that city have literally had a huge mudslide that officials are saying may have killed as many as 200 to 300 people. Now, there has been a term that was used by the governor earlier today, where he said as many as 1,000 people may have perished, but I think that's mostly speculation.

Let me tell you why it's speculation. Because what we understand, from officials, is that there is no way that they've been able to get the military into that region, because bridges have been -- have broken down, as well as the weather is so bad, that they're afraid to put helicopters up in the air. So as we follow this story and as we get more information, we will bring it to you.

Let's do this. Let's close with "Fotos del Dia," shall we? And here we go, if we can -- let's not, let's just go to "Fotos." UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ah, dios mio.

SANCHEZ: Well, you can't win them all, right? So what's with the goalie storming off the field when he misses a ball? And how do his teammates react? We need details and that's why we're in "Fotos."

Let's take a look at this. A professional soccer game in Morocco. The goalkeeper goofs up and let's an easy goal get past him. How does he react? He is out of here. Strips off his shirt, gets out of the way and he's taking himself out of the game. This is like a pitcher getting upset and leaving the field or a quarterback just walking away from the huddle.

The soccer world is all abuzz with his temper tantrum, by the way. I wish I could tell you more about it, but I don't speak soccer all that well. Those guys would be able to tell you everything down there.

OK. Next, Utah, where the sky is big, and so are the pumpkins. Look at these monsters. This is also important history here. The state of Utah's biggest ever pumpkin came out of this country competition, 1,169 pounds, where the winning farmer grew it. And what's his secret? Well, he's not telling.

Also, you knew she had moves, right? But check out Gloria Estefan, escaping from the luxury box through a window. This was at Sunday's Miami Dolphins game. The singer was locked into the suite accidentally, but she was scheduled to introduce her beau, Enrique Iglesias, for the halftime show, so the door wasn't locked. It kept her from getting out, and finally she just said, OK, I'm out of here. And she snuck out through the door.

That's "Fotos." You can see them for yourself on my blog at CNN.com/ricksanchez.

All right. Before we do anything else, I have promised that at the end of every newscast, I would give out one of these. I have kept my promise consistently as I can, barring, of course, breaking news.

We watch your tweets. We've had plenty of conversations about what's going on in the news. But today, we're actually using something that's kind of a little bit more different. It's about -- it's about bloviating, a term that's become popular around here lately, that we've been using an awful lot and some people have been, well, tweeting about it. So here we go.

This is from Robyn Walton. And Robyn writes, "Bloviating. Bloviating is such an underrated term, I think I will try to use it at least once a day." So to Robyn Walton, for your acceptance of the word "bloviating" that has had a lot of people confused and a lot of people tweeting asking whether it really is a word, it is -- you win the book. We'll be sending it to you shortly with my autographed copy and I'll see if I can get Brooke to sign it as well.

Thanks so much for being with us. The very latest on these floods, not only down in Mexico but in Wisconsin as well, we'll bring it to you.

That's it for RICK'S LIST. We look forward to seeing you again tomorrow here at 3:00, 4:00 and 8:00.

"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.