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Rick's List
Midterm Elections Approaching; Food Buzz: The Vegetable Butcher; Ultimate Deadbeat Dad?; Commuter Bus Crash
Aired September 29, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: As we begin this next hour, I want to welcome all the men and the women who are fighting and watching us right now on American Forces Network all over the world. This is your national conversation. It is hour two. Time to pick up the pace of today's LIST for those of you just now checking in.
And we begin with this, a bit of a shocker, really, a story that everyone in the media seems to be talking about, sexually explicit pictures, condoms, sex toys, hidden cameras. This is what a conservative activist and self-proclaimed journalist allegedly had planned for one of our CNN correspondents.
Who are we talking about? We're talking about that fellow right there on the right. His name is James O'Keefe. Here's the background. He's the pip in that picture right there in this hidden video documentary that took down the liberal group ACORN by ambushing them and presenting them in an unfair light after his video was shown endless times on FOX News.
OK. Well, Keith's undercover video asserted that ACORN gave him advice about how to set up a brothel and avoid paying taxes. But prosecutors in New York and California carefully examined this video, which was heavily and selectively edited for the purpose of making them look bad, he found that the charges were bogus.
But it was too late for ACORN, which essentially collapsed after the videos were released. Wait. There's even more. O'Keefe has a criminal record in Louisiana. Why, you ask, right? Well, because he tried to set up a break-in at the office of U.S. Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu by posing as telephone workers.
O'Keefe ended up pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge and is now on probation as a result of this. And now it appears we come now to this case, that he's done it again.
CNN's own award-winning investigative journalist Abbie Boudreau was working on a story that involved a possible interview and possible meeting with O'Keefe, who she was using as a source in the story. Well, she was contacted by him, somewhat out of the blue, for a meeting that he wanted to have with her. And then things got very bizarre and, to be honest with you, kind of ugly. It almost looks like, when you look at this, that Abbie was about to be set up in the same way that some of those folks have been set up by this character.
Here's Abbie now to take us through this story.
Abbie, thanks for being with us.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT: No problem.
SANCHEZ: So, you get word that he wants to have a meeting. Right?
BOUDREAU: Well, he called me.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BOUDREAU: And he said, I want to talk about an upcoming shoot that you guys are hoping to come to. He says, I'm going be at that shoot. Now, I have concerns about CNN being at that shoot. I said, OK, well, let's talk about your concerns. He said, I would rather do it face-to-face.
So, I said, fine. Reporters, that's what we do.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: You will talk to him.
BOUDREAU: Yes. So, I said, sure, where do you want to meet? He said, I would like to meet at my office in Maryland, maybe lunch at my office. I'm thinking public place.
SANCHEZ: Right.
SANCHEZ: So I say, sure. And I said, I would like to bring my producer. He's been working on this documentary now for the past six months.
And that's when he said I would rather you come alone. So, I said, OK, because, remember, this was not an interview. This is a meeting. And I wanted him to feel comfortable.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Yes.
BOUDREAU: And I just -- I just really wanted to let him know that he could like trust me, that we were doing --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: This is not uncommon. This happens in our business. He wants to make sure he gets you. You want to make sure you get him. And you --
(CROSSTALK)
BOUDREAU: Absolutely. So, I flew to Maryland. And I flew to Maryland and he wanted me to meet him and his colleague Izzy Santa.
And they work together on a Web site called Project Veritas.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Right.
BOUDREAU: And I show up, and Izzy Santa is there waiting for me. But there's no office. It's a house, which wasn't too alarming for me because a lot of young people, they work out of their house. And I wasn't overly concerned with that at all.
But then Izzy came out to my car as I was parking and said, I need to get in your car. I need to talk to you right now.
SANCHEZ: Did you know at this point that the meeting was going to be taking place on a boat?
BOUDREAU: I had no idea. I thought the meeting would take place in an office. Had I known it was a boat, I would not have shown up. I would have been uncomfortable with that.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: A little weird, right. OK.
So, Izzy, his assistant, pulls you aside and says what to you?
BOUDREAU: He just says: I need to talk to you. Can I get in your car? And I said, yes. Yes. I said, what's going on? You're making me really nervous.
And she said, I'm a moral person. And I have got to tell you something.
And I said, OK, just tell me. At that point, we're in the car together. And she's asking me if I'm recording her. And she's telling me she's not recording me. And I'm just getting a really uneasy feeling. And she says, listen, you're about to be punked.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
BOUDREAU: And I say --
SANCHEZ: What do you mean by punked?
BOUDREAU: OK, what do you mean? And she says, he is -- he, James, is on the boat.
And I said, boat? What are you talking about?
She goes, he wants to get you on this boat.
SANCHEZ: And set you up.
BOUDREAU: And he has strawberries and champagne, and he's going to hit on you the whole time.
So, at that point, I'm thinking, this is ridiculous. I don't get the punk. Like, I'm not really -- silly -- (CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes. A punk is a practical joke. This is much more serious than a punk.
BOUDREAU: Well, at that point, I'm just thinking, strawberries and champagne. What is going on?
So, I went into the backyard. I wanted to make sure that there was in fact a boat, because, at a certain point, you're like, OK, is she kidding around with me?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I think we have got a picture of it. There it is. Is that it right there? Cinco?
BOUDREAU: Yes. Yes, that's the boat.
SANCHEZ: You were supposed to meet with him inside that boat?
BOUDREAU: Right.
So, I went to the backyard, and I saw that boat, and then I saw him on it. But he wasn't getting off the boat. And at that point, I thought, OK, I'm going to leave. This isn't going well. They wanted to record the conversation and have me on this boat. And I just -- there were too many obviously red flags. And then she says the punked situation.
SANCHEZ: Let me stop you there, because you have since found some documents that illicit or show us that it was more than just what you thought at that point.
BOUDREAU: Yes. It was a lot more.
SANCHEZ: It was actually much more serious.
BOUDREAU: Than strawberries and champagne.
SANCHEZ: Much more than -- let's take a quick break right now. When we come back, she's going to take us through -- Abbie is going to take us through what she's learned since about these documents. And it's something that has actually alarmed us, as -- since you are one of our co-workers -- for what really was going on here, not just to you, but to your reputation, to our reputation. We're going to take you through that in just a moment.
Stay right there. This is RICK'S LIST. Part two of this story which we promise gets even more bizarre in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, welcome back.
Abbie Boudreau is good enough to join us. She's been working on this documentary. And in the process of working on this documentary, she has an interview with a source, a James O'Keefe.
In this exchange with him and his people, she finds out that he wants to have a private meeting with her on a boat. And that's where the story is. It gets a little uncomfortable from here, because Abbie is joining us.
And she goes on to tell us now what she's learned about a document that reveals two things, first, what he had planned to do on the boat, and, two, what he was planning to do to us, to CNN as an organization.
Take us through first what you learned, the specifics on the boat.
BOUDREAU: OK. Right. Like you said, it was split up into two sections. The second part is actually all about how he planned or the plan to seduce me on this boat.
And it had all of details of how the boat was staged to be some pleasure palace. And it had sex toys. It had a blindfold, fuzzy handcuffs, pornographic magazines, naked pictures of women. That was the plan, according to the document that we received, a very, very detailed document, in fact, some of it so sexually explicit, CNN hasn't revealed the whole document online yet.
SANCHEZ: I know -- look, it's probably not comfortable for you talking about this. But it sounds like he was trying to have some kind of ruse where he was going to come on to you, and expected that you would play along or something, and he would have you on tape or maybe edit it later?
(CROSSTALK)
BOUDREAU: There was -- in the document, there was a script of what his lines would have been and what they thought that I might say.
And part of the script was I would break down and start crying and ask to just please let me off the boat. And so it was pretty intense as a reporter to read that about yourself and then know that there was such a detailed plan.
SANCHEZ: By the way, I just reported a moment ago, and this just comes to mind now, he's on probation for something similar to this, right?
BOUDREAU: Yes. Well, for the Senator Landrieu incident, yes.
SANCHEZ: Right.
Well, and I guess we don't know where this is going to go beyond this now that it's being reported.
Let's go to the second part of the document. In the document -- and there we're seeing James O'Keefe -- does the document explain why he has planned to do this, what his M.O. was for us here as a network at CNN? BOUDREAU: OK. And just to be clear, this document, at the very beginning of the document, it says written by, and it's one of James' mentors, one of his fellow activists.
Under activist, it lists James' name. Now, James would have been the person who acted out this entire punk. James has said in a statement that he -- he knows about the document, but I will just go ahead and read his e-mail to us.
SANCHEZ: OK.
BOUDREAU: It says: "That is not my work product. When it was sent to me, I immediately found certain elements highly objectionable and inappropriate and did not consider them for one minute following it."
But our reporting will show and we will reveal all the details in our documentary that that appears not to be true.
SANCHEZ: So, he was -- at least your reporting seems to indicate that he was in on it?
BOUDREAU: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
BOUDREAU: Now, you asked about the first part of it, right.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Yes. In on what? What was the M.O.? What did they plan to do with this video they were going to have of you and him inside this boat?
BOUDREAU: OK.
Well, that is unclear. But that was all in the second part of the document. The first part of the document that you were asking about is about how to punk CNN into reporting a false story either about Sarah Palin or about the Tea Party movement.
And what they would then do is give their allies or their friendlies, as they call them in the document, which be FOX News, a heads-up that CNN is about to report a fake story, so that they could -- quote -- "pounce" on CNN and undercut CNN's credibility.
And that was the first part of the document. And it was very detailed about how that was -- how that plan was supposed to go down.
SANCHEZ: That's a heck of a story.
BOUDREAU: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Did you -- are you going through with the story you were originally investigating, this documentary?
BOUDREAU: Absolutely.
And you know what? To tell you the truth, it was never an investigative documentary. It turned -- it took a very strange turn. It was never meant to be some sort of expose at all. And it's not going to be. It's not. We're staying true to our premise, which is following a group of young conservatives who are excited and passionate about their viewpoints.
And that is what this documentary --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And it was in the process of gathering that information that you came across him.
BOUDREAU: Well, Yes, because he is probably the most prominent person in this movement.
But the rest of the documentary is really about this idea of young people with an idea and a video camera and how they use social media to get their message out, in a way, to bypass mainstream media.
SANCHEZ: What a story.
BOUDREAU: Because they're disappointed and angry with most of the mainstream media.
SANCHEZ: When does this documentary air?
BOUDREAU: Saturday night 8:00 p.m.
SANCHEZ: This Saturday night here on CNN.
BOUDREAU: And it re-airs at 11:00.
SANCHEZ: Do you know, by -- and let me just ask you, because I mentioned this a while ago, and it just kind of stuck in my head.
Do you know if there is any investigation now as a result of this episode? Have you been contacted by authorities? Do you expect you might? Is there anything out there that we need to --
(CROSSTALK)
BOUDREAU: I don't know.
SANCHEZ: At this point.
BOUDREAU: I don't think so at this point.
SANCHEZ: Right.
BOUDREAU: I haven't been contacted by anybody.
SANCHEZ: OK.
BOUDREAU: OK.
SANCHEZ: Good story.
BOUDREAU: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Good stuff. Look forward to seeing this documentary at 8:00 this weekend.
BOUDREAU: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right.
A man is accused of allegedly fathering 23 children with 14 different women and hardly paying any child support. So what happens to him? We've got the judge's decision and more on that, that's ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER RUBELL, "THE VEGETABLE BUTCHER": I'd hate vegetables too if I ate frozen. I'd hate vegetable if I ate vegetables that are out of season.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: They call her "The Vegetable Butcher" and she considers it performance art. Jessica Yellin is going to meet -- introduce us to this person. Jessica doing a nonpolitical story? There you go, next on the LIST.
Stay with us, we're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. Back to Eatocracy.
If you're eating vegetables, maybe this is going to change your mind, that's why it's making my list today.
I told you the last hour about this joint project we're doing. CNN.com, Food Destination, Eatocracy.com. We're calling this, "Eatocracy: Mind, Body, and Wallet." I know, a lot of words. Just go to my website, go to my blog, you'll find it all there.
All right, I'm going to introduce you know to somebody who could be the country's first vegetable butcher. She has a simple mission, to get you to eat better. Allow her to cut all of your fresh vegetables for you and maybe, just maybe, you'll be more likely to cook them.
She also gave our Jessica Yellin a little -- the buzz on butchering veggies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENNIFER RUBELL, "THE VEGETABLE BUTCHER": If she cuts off our finger, she has insurance, right?
I'll hold this.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, really?
RUBELL: Yes, and you just go really quickly. Watch your fingers. There, you got it.
YELLIN: No.
RUBELL: Yes, you're doing it, Jess.
YELLIN: It's not working.
RUBELL: You're making the celery root salad.
YELLIN: Yea.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN (voice-over): Meet Jennifer Rubell, vegetable butcher.
RUBELL: You grab your vegetables, you bring them to me, and I cut them however you want. And you take them home and instead of you taking a half hour to cook, it takes you just five minutes to throw together a homemade meal. It's great.
That's celery root salad with parmesan lemon (INAUDIBLE).
YELLIN: OK, true confession. I went to college with Jennifer. Now she's a performance artist who works in food. She developed the veggie butcher idea with celebrity chef Mario Batali and she slices and dices at his New York City food emporium, Eataly.
(on camera): Do you think we're a little intimidated by vegetables because we don't always know how to cook them?
MARIO BATALI, CELEBRITY CHEF/RESTAURANT OWNER: Exactly. And having a vegetable butcher here, the whole stand is more or less give you the information. To disarm the vegetable, to make it easier to cook. Like anything can be sauteed or even in that matter, eaten raw.
What we want to do is really in support of people cooking at home, which is where Italians know the best meals happen.
YELLIN (voice-over): The food industry spends millions marketing things like cereal and meat. Rubell wants to speak for the vegetables.
(on camera): Americans are -- famously hate vegetables.
RUBELL: Yes. I mean, I'd hate them, too, if I ate frozen vegetables. I'd hate vegetables if I ate vegetables that are out of season. I think to fall in love with vegetables, you need to eat seasonal vegetables and you need to eat them prepared very simply and they need to be homemade.
You feel where it starts to get tender
YELLIN (voice-over): Her advice, don't follow a recipe.
RUBELL: Just buy what's cheapest, most abundant and most seasonal. It's so pretty, and it's totally nothing. I mean, it took us three second to make.
YELLIN: Right.
(voice-over): Rubell believes the vegetable's moment has arrived.
RUBELL: When Michelle Obama planted a vegetable garden at the White House, that was the official beginning of the vegetable movement.
YELLIN (on camera): And we're all going to get onboard soon.
RUBELL: We're all onboard. Come on, you made a celery root salad today.
YELLIN: It's really good, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: So, I don't understand. So who wins this is one, a democrat or a republican? What's going on with this story?
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: No, I'm allowed to take a position on this one. I love the vegetable butcher.
SANCHEZ: I guess so. You know, my wife and I have been tussling with this for some time now, we're trying to change how we eat. Believe it or not, I'm not eating much red meat these days, almost absolutely none of it.
Did you find -- did you learn something from this that maybe before you would have taken for granted when you were talking to her?
YELLIN: Definitely. I learned that any vegetable you buy can basically be sliced thinly and then sauteed with lemon, olive oil and garlic and it'll taste good.
And that you'll like it better if you buy it fresh, not frozen. And whatever is cheapest at the market is the thing that's most fresh and in season. So buy the cheapest thing and you're going to have the best taste.
SANCHEZ: I'll tell you, last weekend -- we're going to air a piece tomorrow. I did one of these too, by the way, wait until you see mine. It involves my wife and my kids, and we somebody come over to the house and cook for us. And the flavor, for example, of broccoli when it's fresh and not overcooked tastes nothing like most of the broccoli that we eat all the time.
YELLIN: So different. She even said brussell sprouts have become her daughter's favorite food, because when you cook it fresh, the kids like it.
And she also says that one way to get your kids involved, Rick, is if they're little, buy baby veggies and they relate to the baby veggies. And if you have the kids choose the vegetables, they usually want to eat it cause they feel involved.
SANCHEZ: That's a great idea.
YELLING: It works.
SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. Keeps them out of the pantry getting all those Little Debbies and all that stuff -- I didn't just say that -- yes, I did. OK, I'm in trouble when I get home.
Thanks, I appreciate it.
Great news for movie fans comes up. There's a new "Star Wars," sort of an in-your-face version of Luke, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca. That's ahead, with Brooke's trending report. Oh, Brooke's in the house.
There it goes. A water tower is collapsing. We've got the -- stop it right there. Don't let them see it -- oh, no, wait! We'll show it again. It's in "Fotos."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Back to this Eatocracy thing, right.
Kids ask their parents for things all the time like clothing, candy, and a hot new toy that's out. So if my kids ever ask me, dad, I want to get a tattoo, I've got the perfect video that I'm going to show them.
Have you seen this? It's time for "Fotos."
What's it like to have ink scrawled into your skin? Does it hurt, you ask? Well, let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out! Wait, wait, wait. I can't take it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: She can't take it. Yes, this woman's unpleasant experience has gone viral. People all over the world are watching this and saying, not me. The artist eventually lectures her and tries to talk her out of it, but she goes on to scream before the needle comes to her skin. Can you believe this? There'll be more.
Next video -- there it goes. The water tower in Michigan getting up close and personal with the ground. Crews sliced each leg of the tower one by one. Stood from the sky for 43 years, but no more. Thought you'd like that pic. Let's watch it go down one more time -- Kaboom.
Say cheese -- no, seriously. Foul ball at a Red Sox-White Sox game, right? It's a fan straight in the nachos. Cheese all over him, all over everybody else standing around him. At least he didn't drop the beer.
That's "Fotos" and you can see it for yourself at CNN.com/RickSanchez. Who is that guy?
John King is standing by now with brand new information just in from the world of politics, the CNN Political Ticker. That's coming up next right here on the LIST.
Stay with us, we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back.
Topping my "Roundup" list now, I'm going to take you through a couple of stories.
First, former President Jimmy Carter might be allowed to leave a Cleveland hospital tomorrow. He was admitted yesterday after feeling sick while flying to the city for a book signing. We saw this update for Metro Health in Cleveland, by the way. It comes by form of a tweet. They say President Carter will remain overnight. His medical team to observe his progress. He is in good spirits and looks forward to resuming his schedule. President Carter turns 86 tomorrow, by the way. And obviously, we wish him well.
Here's number two. In Mexico, rescue workers have dramatically scaled back the number of people they believe buried in a huge mudslide. Initial reports suggested that the victims could be as high as 1,000. But once crews arrived at the site, they determined about 11 people -- eight children, and three adults are missing.
Now, Felipe Calderon, the president has tweeted as well. This is what he tweeted add little while ago. Let me see if I can translate this for you by looking over there. (SPEAKING IN SPANISH) The commander of the region - (SPEAKING IN SPANISH) who just got there by foot with 30 soldiers walking, (SPEAKING IN SPANISH) is reporting serious damage -- hold on, let me walk around the camera -- I can't see it. Is reporting serious property damage. However, he says, (SPEAKING IN SPANISH) not of the magnitude that was initially thought of or estimated.
So there you go. That's from the president of Mexico. That tweet essentially saying things there are not as bad as they originally thought. Number three. The Oregon woman accused of dousing her face with acid appears in court in Vancouver, Washington and pleads not guilty to theft charges. Bethany Storro is charged with three-counts of second-degree theft. The 28-year-old is accused of going on a shopping spree with donations sent to her and intended for her recovery. Oh, and did I mention? She said it was a black woman who threw the acid on her face. How could we forget.
Number four, firefighters are battling a huge fire in an apartment complex in south Nashville, Tennessee. Dozens of residents had to be evacuated. No reports of injuries and no reports of anybody missing.
All right, the big stories that we're following for you right now. The big political stories going on as well. Let's go to John King. He's at the CNNpolitics.com desk. John is with The Best Political tTeam in Television. We ask John what's crossing as we speak, John?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a busy day on the Ticker, and abusy day in politics, Rick. Good afternoon to you.
One of the top questions in politics. You remember Lisa Murkowski? She lost that Senate primary to the Tea Party candidate Joe Miller up in Alaska. Then she announced she would run as a write- in candidate. The big question was, can she succeed? Well, they're supposed to be out at 5:00 tonight, but we have a special preview for RICK'S LIST on our new polling in that race. And you can also find, we just put the posting up on the Ticker there. You can see it, and there's the headline: Murkowski deadlocked with Miller in Alaska. Thirty-eight percent for the Republican, Joe Miller, 36 percent for the now-independent candidate, Lisa Murkowski. Twenty-two percent for Shawn McAdams. He's the Democrat there in the case. So, it looks like she's a viable candidate. We need to watch that, in a write-in candidacy.
One of the biggest policy debates in the country, whether to extend those Bush tax cuts, due to expire at the end of the year. You know what the president wants to do, extend them to everybody $250,000 or below and let taxes go up on everybody $250,000 or above.
Well, the House wanted to have a vote before the election, or did they? They decide in the House no vote before the election because a number of vulnerable conservative Democrats didn't want to be accused, Rick, of raising taxes. So, Congress punting on that one. They won't touch that issue until after the election.
Lastly, you've heard of soccer moms in the past. Well, there's a new demographic that's important in elections, they're called Wal-Mart moms. Tonight on "JOHN KING USA," we'll have a Republican and a Democratic pollster who've just done extensive research across the country on Wal-Mart moms. They're about 17 percent of the population nationally. They broke narrowly for Obama in the 2008 presidential election, but more than half of them disapprove of the president's job performance. Could be a key swing voter group in the congressional elections, the big Senate and governor's races across the country. We're going to look up close, tonight, Rick, at some new polling, some focus group research and get at the economic anxiety driving this group of very important mothers away from the Democrats, at least for the moment. Rick?
SANCHEZ: That Murkowski story, the poll you just shared, is remarkable. She's a write-in! and I also remember, we talked, John, about the fact she had a bunch of money left over that she didn't use. I wonder if her and her folks are looking at this poll now and going, you know what? Time to let the horses out of the barn. Let's start putting some ads out there, right?
KING: They need to spend the money because they need to educate people to write it in. The poll number is one thing. Actually taking your pen and writing your name in, that's a challenge. They'll spend a lot of money on education.
SANCHEZ: All three candidates' names begin with an M. So, you can imagine the problems that could develop when they start looking at these and trying to figure out if it meant McAdams, Miller, or Murkowski.
KING: Maybe they should try the Palin trick, write it on their hand.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Thanks, John. Look forward to seeing you. Thanks.
Another political update coming up by the way. You can always get the latest political news on CNNpolitics.com and on Twitter @politicalticker.
There's a crisis brewing at Fort Hood; four soldiers have died in the past week. Officials say they all killed themselves. That's not the whole story. We've got that for you.
And Brooke Baldwin will join us. She's got a new controversy brewing over this reality show, it's called polygamy problems. There's Brooke, walking into the set as we speak. That's next, right here on the LIST. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Brooke is here to bring us -- take us through "Trending." Once again, during the break, what are we talking about?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're still talking about the tattoo video. We can't get over it.
SANCHEZ: Does it really hurt that much?
BALDWIN: I posted it to my Twitter account. All of these people are asking about it.
SANCHEZ: All right. What you got? BALDWIN: OK. So, what I have is reality show. It's getting all kinds of attention, but not exactly the kind they expected or wanted. It's the show on TLC. It's -- going to back up the story. A show on TLC. It premiered on Sunday. It's called Sister Wives. It focuses on the day-to-day life of this polygamist family in Utah. They're the Browns.
So, it's about this guy. His name is Cody Brown, and he has four wives and their 13 children, all under one roof. Here is a clip from the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cody and I met, I guess I was just young and in love. He and I both knew that we would take another wife or wives in to the family.
CODY BROWN, "SISTER WIVES" : I just fell in love. And then I fell in love again. And then I fell in love again.
SANCHEZ: This is Cody's 13th child.
BALDWIN: She's a sister from the same mister, and he's a brother from another mother.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some people think how do you feel when she's of with another woman and you know he's having sex? Well, gosh darn it, they better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Gosh darn it! They better.
BALDWIN: Gosh darn it! Sister from another mister.
Well, here's a rub, all right? Bigamy? That's having two spouses, or polygamy, poly, more than one, having many spouses. That's a no-no. That's a crime in the U.S., not to mention also in the Utah. Here's the tricky part. The husband is legally married to one of the women you just saw, but calls the other women his wives because they all live together.
That's also under Utah law is considered bigamy and against the law. Well, guess who was watching the Sister Wives Sunday night premiere? The police in Brown's tiny town. So, an official investigation is now underway -
SANCHEZ: Really?
BALDWIN: -- since this thing was first on, and the police want to know if the Browns are indeed breaking the law in plain sight and on national television. Bigamy, by the way, is a third-degree felony in the state of Utah. So, I wanted to make sure I did my due diligence. I called TLC. They say no comment. I did get -- this is from the Browns themselves. Let me just read it to you. They say "We're disappointed in the announcement of an investigation, but, when we decided to do this show, we knew there would be risks. But for the sake of our family and most importantly our kids, we felt it was a risk worth taking." From the browns themselves.
SANCHEZ: Wow. That's Big Love.
BALDWIN: That is Big Love. To be continued. Story number two -- Star Wars fans.
SANCHEZ: Nu-uh.
BALDWIN: Uh-uh?
SANCHEZ: My kids.
BALDWIN: Your kids. No, OK.
SANCHEZ: Robbie, especially.
BALDWIN: Robbie, especially. Well, I just saw -- I've seen them all. This is either awesome news I'm about to tell you, or you may see this as a desecration of this beloved sci-fi icon. You be the judge, depends on which side of the galaxy you claim.
The studio that created "Star Wars," of course, Lucas Film, will reportedly begin leasing "Star Wars" movies in 3-D. Here's is what we're learning. This is from the entertainment newspapers. Here's what they're reporting, the first movie will be release in 3-D. It will be "Episode One, The Phantom Menace," you'll have to wait a little while. That's coming out in 2012. And then they say they'll release one movie out every year in 3-D, thus to complete the series.
In the meantime, you still need your "Star Wars" experience fix, you can still grab this year's Blu-Ray box set of all the "Star Wars" films. Look forward it.
We're just curious. Send us tweets. If you like the idea of 3- D, you like vintage "Star Wars." Just curious, you know? I'm the only person on the planet that never saw "Avatar," which was apparently amazing and in 3-D.
SANCHEZ: It was okay. It was a good movie.
BALDWIN: It was OK?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: Maybe this will be huge for "Star Wars." I feel like they're just trying to continue to get every bit out of it.
SANCHEZ: You know, as a kid, I was never into music. I was never into rock 'n' roll. I never -- BALDWIN: Can't believe you're from Cuba, and you're not in to music.
SANCHEZ: You know why? Because I was an immigrant. I was a refugee. I was so poor, and my parents --
BALDWIN: One of my favorite --
SANCHEZ: My parents were busy trying to, like, talk to my parents' lawyers and accountants all the time.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: I was boring. I was actually a really boring kid.
BALDWIN: You were?
SANCHEZ: Just in case you were wondering. I'm sure you were. Hold my hand.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Thanks, Sanchez.
SANCHEZ: Not now, though!
BALDWIN: No, of course not.
SANCHEZ: All right. So who may be the worst deadbeat dad in America? I've got this one hands down -- exactly. The name is there. The information is there. And we're going to take you through it when we come back on "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. Welcome back.
You probably know that being a dad is probably the most rewarding thing a guy can do, right? So says Mark Twain. But it's a lot of hard work. So, it really shocks me when some people can't seem to grasp what it takes. This is about responsibility, which is important. Time now for "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
I want you to meet Howard Veal of Michigan. Some say he may be the worst deadbeat dad in America. Why? Because he's accused of fathering 23 children with 14 different women. Yes, 23 children.
He owes more than $500,000 in child support payments alone. He tells prosecutors that he can't even remember all of the kids.
Well, a judge just sentenced him to at least two years behind bars. Listen to what the judge told Veal in the courtroom.
He said he's never seen a case like this. He calls Veal irresponsible, an insult to every responsible father -- thank you -- who sacrifices to provide for our children. He even tells him, "Animals procreate. Human beings are supposed to nurture their children."
Amen, Judge.
As you can imagine, this is sparking a lot of outrage. But I want to point out what one woman wrote to the local paper. I think you're going to find this interesting. Here's what she says.
She says that, "Why does it make sense to send this guy to jail, the place where taxpayers will now support him?"
Yes, it's hard to believe that he's now the one getting the support that he was never willing to give. And that's why Howard Veal, on this day, is at the very top of "The List U Don't Want 2 Be On."
President Obama is trying to get his economic message across one back yard at a time. Today it's Virginia, and it makes Wolf Blitzer's list. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right. We've got some breaking news coming into us right now. I know we were just about to have this conversation with Wolf Blitzer. He's hanging tight there as well.
What are we looking at here, Andreas (ph)? Help me out. I'm just -- all right, this is in Montgomery County, Maryland. This is near Bethesda. And we understand that on a ramp leading to I-70 (sic), there has been some kind of accident there.
This is a bus, right? I mean, I'm looking at the picture. The monitor I'm looking at is a little further away from me.
This is a bus that looks like it's gone off the freeway. Yes, that's like a commuter bus.
Vito Maggiolo is joining us now. He's the PIO there in the area.
Vito?
VITO MAGGIOLO, CNN ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: Yes, this is Vito Maggiolo. I'm a assignment editor in your Washington bureau.
SANCHEZ: Oh. Hey, Vito. What's going on, man? How are you? Sorry.
MAGGIOLO: OK. I'm on the scene here.
What we have is a mid-sized bus that has come off of a sky ramp leading down to I-270, which is a very busy highway here in suburban Maryland.
SANCHEZ: Wow.
MAGGIOLO: The bus is severely damaged. There are three -- at least three people pinned in the bus. And another person in the bus who I am told is dead.
SANCHEZ: Oh, my God. That's -- hey, Vito --
MAGGIOLO: There are also -- yes?
SANCHEZ: I'm just going to let my colleague Wolf Blitzer in on this, because this is really closer to his turf than mine. This is the area that he knows of.
Hey, Wolf, help me out here as we explain to folks these pictures that are just now coming in. We want to thank WJLA, by the way, for providing these pictures for us.
So we've got Wolf and we've got Vito standing by -- Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Rick, Vito knows a lot more about this.
It's my neighborhood. I happen to live not that far away from this accident. It's not far from the beltway, Interstate I-495, but Interstate 270 right off there in Bethesda, a lot of our viewers who cave come to Washington will know this area.
And Vito, you're right there on the scene for us. Are you saying, Vito, that four people are now confirmed dead as this bus went off of the sky ramp on to the ground?
MAGGIOLO: Not quite. I have one confirmed dead from a fire official on the scene. He tells me there are three other people still alive who are pinned in the bus, which is severely damaged, and extrication efforts are in progress.
In addition, we have a number of injured. We have eight injuries that are being described as traumatic, serious, or critical. In addition, we have a number of other lesser injuries, including a number of children.
In addition to the bus, there were some other cars that were damaged. They may have been struck when the bus came tumbling off of the skyway. And it looks like some of those cars were young children.
Firefighters are very busy triaging and transporting these injuries. And the extrication process, it goes on. The people in the bus apparently are significantly pinned, and this could take a while.
SANCHEZ: Good Lord.
BLITZER: It's a sad, sad story.
You know, Rick, if our viewers -- it's literally right outside of Washington, D.C., not far from Montgomery Mall in Bethesda, near Democracy and Tuckerman. These are well-populated areas in Washington, and it's -- this is highly unusual.
I see the name of the bus line is Wolf's. I'm familiar with this. I have no connection, obviously, with that bus line, but I've seen it operate.
Vito, do we have any idea where this bus was going? Were there school kids on board?
MAGGIOLO: I do not believe the children were on the bus. It looks like most of the children who are injured were in other vehicles. I'm not sure of the ages of the people who are still on the bus, who were pinned, and the one fatality.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Vito, let me ask you a question just to get a perspective on this -- because we look at this -- and you may not be privy to this, but Wolf and I are looking at a very tight shot on the bus. I wish there was a way that we could zoom out a little bit so we could get a little better reference point of where this bus actually came from.
You keep saying that it came off of a skyway. What do you mean by that?
MAGGIOLO: Well, it's a sky ramp. It's a ramp that leads from one highway to another. It flies over -- a fly-over, it's called in some places.
So the bus appears to have tumbled off of that skyway. I don't know how that might have taken place, came down at an incline, and, you know, knocked over some small trees, and then landed upright. But apparently not visible from the outside, there's damage in the interior that led to people being trapped inside and, of course, the one fatality that I've been told has taken place.
SANCHEZ: Are they going to be using the jaws of life, that apparatus they often use to --
MAGGIOLO: They're using the jaws of life, and not to mention a variety of other tools. It's just kind of -- one of the problems, of course, is keeping the bus stable so it doesn't tumble over even further.
So they've used specialty equipment to stabilize the bus. They've used giant chains that are connected to a piece of fire equipment, all of which is holding the bus in place so that their rescue efforts could take place.
Now, it appears that from what I can tell, the extrication efforts seemed to have ended. So I'm going to have to find out a little more and get back to you on what the status is.
I can tell you though, I have seen probably about -- at least a dozen injured, including the children from the other vehicles. And they're all being put on stretchers and taken to ambulances.
SANCHEZ: That's -- I'll tell you, what a story, Vito. Hey, listen, the most important thing you can do for us is go ask some questions and see if we can update this story. So have at it, man. And we appreciate you taking the time to bring us up to date on this.
Wolf is still with us.
Amazing to look at this picture, huh, Wolf? Especially when you look at those ladders. You can't help but feel for some of those people who may have been stuck inside there, actually trapped, as Vito was explaining to us.
BLITZER: And I'm sure they're going to start this investigation on why this accident occurred. What made this bus go over the ramp on this skyway and land as it did?
I'm told, by the way, Rick, that they've simply stopped all traffic on Interstate 270 in both directions as they're going through this rescue operation right now. It's a horrible, horrible accident. And we pray for the best.
SANCHEZ: I imagine you've probably been stuck in traffic there in Washington from time to time, probably in this area. Are the traffic patterns bad usually without even having to deal with something like this in that area?
BLITZER: Yes. Under normal circumstances in rush hour it's bumper to bumper. This is obviously just going to -- for hours and hours, it's going to delay traffic in both directions.
And it's literally within a mile or two off of the beltway, 495. So it's very close to 495. It's going to have an enormous impact on traffic in the greater D.C. area.
But it's just a tragedy when you think about one dead, three others still pinned inside. And we don't know how many injured and how severely they are injured.
This is something that everybody can relate to because they have these skyways in Atlanta. If you drive around Atlanta, as you well know, Rick, on the interstates, they have these exit ramps, these on- ramps that are a little bit elevated. And one little distraction, whatever, can cause an accident like this to occur. And we're seeing it right now.
SANCHEZ: We had one terrible one here involving a bus a few years back that we did some special reports on as well.
Wolf, I'm going to let you go so you can get ready for "THE SITUATION ROOM." We'll look forward to seeing you in just a little bit. We know you've got some really interesting new polls that shed light on some of these political races around the country.
You go get ready for that.
We're going to close this out. We're going to sneak another break in.
When we come back, hopefully we'll have some new information from Vito on that situation in Washington.
I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST. And we're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, we've got a visitor. And I'm going to ask him some questions. And if he answers them right he gets the book, "Conventional Idiocy," by Rick Sanchez -- me and my staff.
Are you ready? We've got Andrew from Boston.
What's our video segment called?
ANDREW: "Fotos del Dia."
SANCHEZ: Very good.
What is Brooke Baldwin's segment called?
ANDREW: "Trending."
SANCHEZ: "Trending!"
You ready? Can you catch? You ready?
Congratulations. You get the book. Appreciate it.
All right. That's it for us.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer next.
