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Rick's List
Suicide at Rutgers University; Meg Whitman Under Fire; Tony Orlando Remembers Tony Curtis
Aired September 30, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, HOST: All right. Hello, Ali. Thanks so much.
I want to bring you up to date now on this story that Ali was just referring to. It's the story that is coming out of New Jersey.
Have you heard of it? It -- it shows how thoughtless and how hurtful people can be. And -- and it shows how much emotional damage can be done to a single human being over the Internet. Whether it's bullying or not, I will let other people argue that.
I want you to look at this young man. He's 18 years old, a freshman at Rutgers University. His name is Tyler Clementi. Well, he went out and he killed himself. Did you hear? He jumped off the George Washington Bridge right into the Hudson River.
Prosecutors say he did it after two of his classmates allegedly spied on him while he was having a sexual encounter. And then they showed it to the whole world. They put it on the Internet, live, in fact. They streamed it, so everybody could see it. This is one of the biggest stories that's trending out there, because everybody seems to be talking about it today on the Internet. And that's why we decided to put it at the top of the 3:00 show and let you know what we have learned thus far.
Brooke Baldwin is joining us now.
This is by far probably the most important trending story of day, right?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. Everyone is blogging about it, talking about it, and people are just perplexed as to how two young people -- why they would have wanted to do this.
SANCHEZ: Well, it really comes down to a matter of class, a matter of just not being mean or mean-spirited. The idea is, they -- they literally duped this guy into this situation. He was under the impression that he was in his dorm room and that he -- that he had privacy.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. Door was closed. Wouldn't you?
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: Wouldn't you assume that? Let me back up. There are three students involved. You mentioned the young man who jumped off the G.W. Bridge, that's Tyler Clementi. Also involved here, his roommate, Dharun Ravi, and Molly Wei.
These two are said to have taken this Webcam -- this happened last week -- snuck into Tyler Clementi's room, hid this thing, and watched him, not once, if you look at the police complaint, but twice, in this intimate encounter with another guy.
And, as Rick mentioned, what they did is, they streamed this live for any and all to see on the Internet. Not only that, but Ravi here allegedly tweeted about it. He has since, of course, yanked his Twitter page, but we have a screen grab from an account we believe to be his.
Want you to take a look at two tweets that we found. The first one is this. It's says: "Roommate asked for the room until midnight. I went into Molly's room and turned on my Webcam. I saw him" -- him being Tyler -- "making out with a dude. Yay."
One more tweet we found. This was the tip top of the list before he pulled his Twitter account. He says: "Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12:00. Yes, it's happening again."
Ravi and Wei have been charged with multiple counts of invasion of privacy.
SANCHEZ: So, he's -- he's announcing to the whole world on the Internet.
BALDWIN: Hey, check it out.
SANCHEZ: Check it out. I'm about to show you video --
BALDWIN: Check out what I'm doing.
SANCHEZ: -- secretly recorded video of my roommate with -- in an intimate situation with another man.
And, by the way, it doesn't matter whether he was with another man or another woman.
BALDWIN: Irrelevant.
SANCHEZ: It's --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Exactly.
BALDWIN: Irrelevant.
SANCHEZ: I mean, you -- you just don't do people that way. Did you hear from anybody on campus today? Because what I would like to know is, these two characters who did this, what's their M.O.? What -- what do --
BALDWIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: What do we know about them?
BALDWIN: We're getting bits and pieces from different folks at Rutgers University, but here's the young woman who I found most pertinent, at least that we have found so far.
She -- she actually lived next door to Dharun and to Tyler in this dorm room at Rutgers. She's astonished. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very to himself. They never fought. I would never see them fighting. I didn't even see them ever talking. So --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was Dharun's --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roommate.
So, there was really nothing about it. So, this is all like surprising to all of us that this has happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And, briefly, you hear reporter, once the interview keeps going, they asked about the guy that Tyler apparently was with, and they're saying, you know, he was older, not -- not a student.
SANCHEZ: All right. So it -- this is the part that really is -- makes you almost angry.
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: When he finds out that people had seen this video, perhaps all over the world, maybe --
BALDWIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: -- his own parents --
BALDWIN: Absolutely.
SANCHEZ: -- whether he had told everything to his parents about who he was, it's his business, right?
BALDWIN: We don't know.
SANCHEZ: We don't know. Well, that -- that -- BALDWIN: We don't know what his parents knew, precisely.
SANCHEZ: But now they knew, I mean, or --
BALDWIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: -- or they potentially knew. I mean, this had to -- this is where he makes a decision to go over to the G.W., the George Washington Bridge, huge massive bridge that connects New Jersey and New York, and police say he jumped there.
BALDWIN: Right.
So, we know this happened, this live Web streaming, if you look at the police records, last Saturday and Tuesday. So the next day, Wednesday -- this is according to this family spokesperson -- Tyler Clementi's family spokesperson said, yes, he committed suicide. He jumped off the G.W. Bridge into the Hudson River last Wednesday.
Police have found his car at the top of the bridge, his wallet, his phone. He didn't leave a letter, but -- but listen to this. He is believed to have updated his status on Facebook, reportedly before he took that leap.
Take a look. This is the status update we -- we believe we found of his. He says: "Going to jump off the G.W. Bridge" or "Jumping of the G.W. Bridge. Sorry."
CNN, doing our due diligence, we reached to the Clementi family. You know, they're not ready to talk to media, for obvious reasons. But a spokesperson is.
And they say: "Tyler was a fine young man and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given the time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all."
We are getting a little bit more from Rutgers today. You know, it's their policy not really to comment on some sort of a specific ongoing investigation, but here's what we got, a little bit more just in today, this afternoon.
SANCHEZ: Right.
BALDWIN: They say, "If the charges are true, these actions gravely violate the university's standards of decency and humanity."
They go on to say: "We extend our heartfelt sympathies to the family during this most difficult time. Our university community feels the pain of his loss, and I know there is anger and outrage about these events."
SANCHEZ: Well --
BALDWIN: One final note: New York P.D. did find a body yesterday. SANCHEZ: But let's talk about this.
BALDWIN: It hasn't been identified.
SANCHEZ: This is interesting, because you know what? Yes, there's no question that everyone listening to the sound of my voice and your voice right now knows that they violated decency and humanity, as the school has said. We -- we also know that what they did may be a misdemeanor or some kind of violation. You shouldn't record people that --
BALDWIN: A couple years in jail, five years.
SANCHEZ: Right, may -- maybe, at most.
BALDWIN: Right. Right.
SANCHEZ: You shouldn't record people without their permission.
But, essentially, there's nothing in the law -- in other words, there's no way to tie him to the ultimate result, which was a suicide.
BALDWIN: That will be the tricky part.
SANCHEZ: So, from a legal standpoint --
BALDWIN: Correct.
SANCHEZ: -- it's tricky.
BALDWIN: Correct. You have this invasion of privacy on one hand and then you have Tyler Clementi choosing to jump off the G.W. Bridge. And it will be up to lawyers on his side perhaps to connect the two.
SANCHEZ: Well, but maybe -- maybe --
BALDWIN: And that will be difficult.
SANCHEZ: I don't know. Maybe there are some things that just have more to do with class, or lack thereof, than laws. You can't make a law that -- because someone is stupid or classless or mean- spirited. It's just who they are.
BALDWIN: But everything is changing --
SANCHEZ: If you're going to start making a law that says --
BALDWIN: -- as the Internet evolves.
SANCHEZ: We're going to make a law that says anyone who's mean to another --
BALDWIN: No, of course not.
SANCHEZ: -- person has to do time in jail.
Well, isn't that what this is?
BALDWIN: At the end of the day, it appears to be. And with the evolution of the Internet and all these, you know, things that the kids are doing these days with -- with, you know, their --
SANCHEZ: They might be able to increase the law to --
BALDWIN: Perhaps. We don't know. Final note --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Perpetuating meanness on the Internet, in other words, might be something that, down the line, as we live in this Internet age, Twitter, all social media, everything you and I do --
BALDWIN: Who knows.
SANCHEZ: -- it might be something. But, again, it -- it's a slippery slope.
BALDWIN: It's a slippery slope, right. All we know, invasion of privacy, and that's kind of where it ends -- for now --
SANCHEZ: That's all --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: -- for now.
SANCHEZ: That's all they're hitting them with.
BALDWIN: But if you look back at some of these cases -- so, Barb and I took a look -- Barb, my producer, we took a look back at some of these trends of cyber-bullying and when those --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Wait, wait, wait.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Bullying? How is this bullying?
I don't -- you know, this old term bullying --
BALDWIN: I know you have an issue with bullying.
SANCHEZ: -- it's a psychobabble media term that we have made up.
BALDWIN: Let me put it to you -- let me put it to you this way.
SANCHEZ: A person -- a person is mean to another person. How is this bullying?
BALDWIN: Let me put it to you this way. You have a young teen who has nefarious, cruel comments to them -- SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: -- via the Internet -- Internet, i.e., you know, Facebook --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: -- Twitter, text messages. So, that's what I'm talking about specifically.
SANCHEZ: Uh-huh.
BALDWIN: And that's when people say cyber-bullying.
There are a couple of different cases recently that we have found that just perhaps further illustrate that this is happening.
And do we have time for a tweet real quickly?
Robert, if we could duck under the camera.
This is -- this is a group out of Florida. They sort of help teens dealing with depression, commit -- thoughts of suicide. "We just learned of the suicide of Tyler Clementi of Rutgers University. Our thoughts and prayers are for his friends and family."
SANCHEZ: Hmm. Interesting conversation.
BALDWIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: You know, this is the kind of -- well, you know --
BALDWIN: I know how you feel about that. It's --
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, we in the media have a way of coming up with these fancy little words to explain things that tends to simplify them more than it does elucidate them.
BALDWIN: So you're saying, just go with being mean?
SANCHEZ: It's a horrible human being who did a horrible thing to another fellow human being.
BALDWIN: Whatever you want to call it, whatever label you want to call it.
SANCHEZ: Yes. All of a sudden, it's oh, another case of bullying.
No. It's --
BALDWIN: It's horrific, bottom line.
SANCHEZ: No question about it. All right. We will talk some more about this.
BALDWIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: What happens to men bound and blindfolded, lined up and shot? Well, that's pretty much the information that we're getting. If true, who's behind the alleged shootings? This is an unbelievable piece of video that we just got in. We're working up the details, and we're going to have that for you next hour.
Also, a heated confrontation on the campaign trail, but not between the candidates. You're not going to believe the screaming and the -- this is Paladino, running for governor in the state of New York. Wait until you see the exchange. Wait until you see what happens here.
Also, when we come back, there's some major delays going on right now with some heavy rains affecting part of the country. Yes, look at that. Look at the loop that we can show you. Chad Myers is going to join me in a little bit. He's going to tell you where and what.
Stay there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You saw that picture of the loop I showed you just minutes ago.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Folks along the East Coast are bracing for some -- some bad weather, as they would say up there.
Chad Myers is standing by to bring us up to date on this.
Chad, what you got?
MYERS: Clouds, still kind of the remnants of what was Nicole coming off of the Atlantic Ocean, and the rain from North Carolina right through D.C., flood warnings, D.C., Reading, Pennsylvania, all the way up through York and Lancaster, and then back up here toward the Northeast.
And, you know, you talk about the delays, and I know you said that. I just want to get those to you rather quickly here. The biggest one, the ugliest one, JFK at four hours.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: -- 240 minutes on the Web site right now.
SANCHEZ: Oh.
MYERS: You do the math. That's four hours. What's the problem? Well --
SANCHEZ: And -- and, by the way, La Guardia is such a fun airport to have to wait in.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: There's so much to do there. Not.
MYERS: Really?
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: I fly in and out of Lincoln, Nebraska. Want to talk about nothing to do. There you go.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness.
MYERS: Well, you --
SANCHEZ: I feel bad for those folks.
MYERS: Here's the problem. We have got 112 planes heading into JFK right now, but, if I flip it around, only 62 planes heading out. How long do you think that can last before the ground gets saturated with planes with no place to put them?
And, then, all of a sudden, you're not only sitting there. You're sitting on the tarmac, which there's less to do inside the plane than there is to do inside the terminal.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: Boston, New York --
SANCHEZ: One restaurant, Chad, just one restaurant in the whole joint.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: Yes. And they're not --
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: They're not going to open.
Philadelphia, D.C., there's that red. The red here, that's flash flood warnings, warnings here across parts of North Carolina, still, the remnants of what was the tropical moisture that was -- was Nicole. Now there's a front here. That front is stopping the rain from going one way or the other. When the moisture from the tropical system bumps up against that front, it just rains. And that's what's happened all night --
SANCHEZ: Whew.
MYERS: -- all day today, and will happen all night tonight. So, if you're in a low-lying area, you know the creek might rise, well, you may want to keep an eye on it, because tonight is one of those nights.
SANCHEZ: All right. Good stuff, Chad. Appreciate it.
MYERS: I will be here.
SANCHEZ: Let us know. Yes, we will be talking to you in just a little bit.
Tea Party-movement-backed Republican candidate Carl Paladino, he got into a bit of a heated confrontation last night. Have you seen this? It's one that threatened to turn very physical. You see, the New York gubernatorial hopeful was being questioned by a "New York Post" columnist. And you know how the "New York Posts" can be, right?
Well, the columnist was pressing Paladino about some allegations that Paladino had made about his opponent, Andrew Cuomo. The confrontation then escalated from there.
Let me set this up a little better for you. The reporter is saying to him: We know you had charges leveled against you, but now you have leveled these charges against your opponent. But what's your information? What's your material? What's your proof? What's your source? Do you have anything you can hang it on so that we, as reporters, can then follow up on it?
That's what he was trying to get as far as information gets -- goes. And that's where it got kind of nasty.
Here. Let's watch it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You -- you talked it out, though.
CARL PALADINO (R), NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I have a daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You brought it out. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay away from me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What evidence do you have?
(CROSSTALK)
PALADINO: Did you send one of your goons after my daughter?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, guys, easy, come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: come on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have any evidence for the charge you made? It's a simple question.
PALADINO: Of course I do. You will get it at the appropriate time.
(CROSSTALK)
PALADINO: You're not entitled to it. At the appropriate time, you will get it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This guy is the attorney general of the state of New York.
(CROSSTALK)
PALADINO: And you're his stalking horse right there. You're his stalking horse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the evidence?
PALADINO: You're his bird dog.
(CROSSTALK)
PALADINO: You send another goon to my daughter's house, and I will take you out, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to take me out?
PALADINO: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you going to do that.
PALADINO: Watch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you, threatening me?
(CROSSTALK)
PALADINO: You're out of line. You're out of line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And there it goes. Now, you heard Paladino accuse the columnist of sending -- quote -- "a goon to my daughter's house" -- stop quote.
This is an apparent reference to the newspaper that the reporter is working for. You see, the reporter's paper has been covering the story about the daughter that Paladino had out of wedlock.
Jessica Yellin is standing by now. Well..
(LAUGHTER) SANCHEZ: -- I'm quite not sure what to ask you after showing something like that.
This guy, Paladino, he's a serious guy, he's a character, and he's not going to let anybody mess with him, I guess. But, then, look, on the other side, they're no shrinking violets either. That's the "New York Post" guy, right?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's not what the Washington press corps looks like, I will tell you that.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: You never see that up on the U.S. Capitol.
SANCHEZ: You have never gotten in front of somebody and done this in their chest?
YELLIN: You, you -- no, never.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: All right, hold that thought. You and I are going to be talking about this in just a little bit. Stay there.
(CROSSTALK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY ORLANDO, MUSICIAN (singing): Well, tie a yellow ribbon around the old --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's a great song, isn't it? We have been singing this guy's hits all day long around here. Why? Well, he heard -- we heard he was coming to town, and he wanted to come by and pay us a visit because he's a fan of our show. And I can't tell you how honored I am to hear that.
And I'm going to let him see if he will let me, like, sing maybe a couple of bars of, you know, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" or some of the other greats. "Candida"? I don't know.
Stay right there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: And Jessica joins us once again to bring us up to date on all the stuff that is going on in politics, but I can't let it go without that Paladino video once again.
I mean, it's interesting. That's kind of a sordid tale, though. It involves one candidate allegedly cheating on his wife, the other candidate apparently having a child out of wedlock. I mean, this is kind of some ugly stuff, isn't it?
YELLIN: Oh, yes. Yes, Rick, I mean, it's not just -- it's -- there are all sorts of allegations here.
And this isn't really your everyday candidate. I wanted to show you some --
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: -- of Paladino's campaign signs, just to give you a sense of how high he's rating on the macho scale in his -- this campaign.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: The first one, I'm allowed to say cojones on cable, I think. So --
SANCHEZ: Well --
YELLIN: Yes?
SANCHEZ: -- I guess.
YELLIN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: This is the one -- this is one of the images he has out there in New York, reminiscent of the Obama campaign signs --
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: -- with a slightly different message. That's Andrew Cuomo.
Then there's this big dog, little dog flier which seems to scream, "Quien es mas macho?"
Just so you know --
SANCHEZ: Oh, my God.
YELLIN: -- Paladino suggests he's the bigger dog.
And then there's this one, which is really sort of dirty and -- literally -- trying to say it's hard to wash off the dirt, below the belt, so we shouldn't leave that up very long.
But, remember, he is the outsider Tea Party favorite here. He beat former Congressman Rick Lazio. And one of his mottoes is literally, "I'm mad as hell." And he seems to be taking it a little bit too literally, Rick.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: That is amazing, I will tell you.
All right, yesterday, you and I talked about California GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, accusations flying from her former housekeeper, right, where they --
YELLIN: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- essentially are saying that she had hired an illegal person in the United States, and that she worked for her, and that all of a sudden, as soon as she found out she was going to run for governor, they suggested during this news conference that she just got rid of her, turned her back on her, said, I never even want to see you again.
Well, I understand -- I understand now that Whitman has held a news conference to answer that accusation. I think we have got it. Do we? Yes. Go ahead. Dan, hit it, would you?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEG WHITMAN (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: This is just classic smear politics. This is what Californians and Americans hate about politics.
Here we are, 30 days out from an election, in a classic case of smear politics. And Jerry Brown, this is how he operates. This is how career politicians operate. This is what they do.
And I heard this morning that Randy Shandobil, that the Brown campaign had been flag -- flogging this story two weeks ago. So, they knew exactly what was going on. I think there's very clear evidence that this is Brown-motivated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, now that's -- that -- that's an accusation that she's throwing out now, that there's clear evidence that Jerry Brown's people or Jerry Brown himself somehow put this story out there.
Is our reporting showing that there's any link or any connection up to now?
YELLIN: No, they emphatically deny that, Rick, the campaign does.
And -- and, truthfully, you wouldn't expect a candidate or a campaign to sort of put this story out there. The allegation there is that his campaign had been talking to reporters about the fact that there might be some housekeeper issue.
The bottom line is, wherever it's coming from, clearly, there's politics involved and political motivations.
And the fact is, Meg Whitman has spent 45 minutes talking to reporters about this today, just 30 days out from the campaign -- the election. It's not what she wants to be doing this late in the race.
SANCHEZ: This reminds me -- this reminds me of the -- remember the -- the George Bush DUI that came out just on the heels --
YELLIN: Right.
SANCHEZ: -- of the election, and everybody immediately pointed to Al Gore? And it hurt George Bush. But everybody immediately -- I mean, you work these political games all the time. Is there a way to get the information out there without ever getting your hands dirty? And does it happen all the time?
YELLIN: It happens all the time. Of course, somebody who knows someone knows someone and passes along information.
And the bottom line is, there is a legislation issue here --
SANCHEZ: Right.
YELLIN: -- because -- because has this tough-on-illegal- immigration stance. So, you know, she today spent 45 minutes again beating back these allegations, emphatically what the woman, Nicky Santillan, said.
She insists that she was almost a member of the family, and that, you know, as soon as she found out, she fired her. But one of the key questions is here, she did not turn her over to the authorities. And she says she wasn't legally compelled to do that. But the question is, will conservative supporters agree that it was the right thing to do, if she's so tough on immigration?
And the other question is, you know, there's a challenge now talking to Hispanic voters who she's trying to court. It's not great for her to have some crying former employee saying, she wasn't nice to me. So, she's gone out of her way to say --
SANCHEZ: That's interesting.
This -- this is -- this is --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: This is just another case and another sign how we live in a society where the public political positions that we have to take on wedge issues do not necessarily coincide with, A, common sense or, B, how we really act in our real lives.
YELLIN: Right. Such a good point.
SANCHEZ: I will leave that at that and let the viewers kind of decipher that for what they want to do with it.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, Jessica.
YELLIN: OK.
SANCHEZ: Unbelievable.
Ten million toys recalled. We are going to tell you which ones are dangerous. Brooke Baldwin has that information for us. It's trending. And we're going to bring it to you.
Also, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he talks to actor Michael J. Fox about his Parkinson's and the funding of a five-year clinical study. That's coming up in just a little bit.
Stay right there. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Wow. I have just gotten an -- onslaughts of tweets from many of you after this conversation we had about Meg Whitman. And many of you are saying, hey, Sanchez, back off the politics. You know what? If she was on the record saying that she was against people hiring illegal immigrants, and she had an illegal immigrant working for her, that should be the focus of the story CNN should be looking after here.
I will just read a couple of -- of -- of them.
Conhaig (ph) says: "The problem is that she's preached going after employers of illegals. This is very tricky for her."
Here's another one. "Who cares about who put it out if it's true, Rick, if she has undocumented servants on her staff? Wake up, dude," referring to me.
And there's another one I -- I saw down here just a little -- a little while ago. It's interesting, because everybody seems to be commenting on this and the cyber so-called -- quote -- "bullying" story that we were talking about just a little while ago.
All right, we're -- we're going to come back to this story, because it seems that so many of you are interested in this conversation about the illegal immigration hiring.
All right, this is not your everyday police chase. It starts slow, shifts into high-gear, pauses for some niceties, and then ends with a bang.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: That's next in "Fotos." Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: This is the part of the show where I always give you unsolicited advice. So here goes some more. Ready? The next time that a store offers free delivery, take them up on it. Let's do "Fotos." A man in England is seen carrying a roll of carpet on his scooter down a road, and he's taking up an entire lane. Oncoming vehicles have to swing over to miss him. Dangerous, yes, illegal, no. Scooters don't count as motorized vehicles.
Look at this, it started out as a very casual police chase. The driver takes his time passing traffic. Gets in the wrong lane trying to run a light. He waits and then waves thank you. He continues on. And then, pow, hits not one but two cars and eventually stops. Don't these people know you just can't outrun the police? Hello!
Meanwhile Cleveland, now, this just makes you want to cringe. It's amazing how some people will go for a foul ball. Look, look, the announcer says it best here. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Careful, man. There's a baby here. And you have to be very confident in your abilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He is confident in his abilities. And that kid he's holding, probably going to grow up to be a major leaguer one day, and he's going to show that.
All right, now this. Look at that catch. Yes, we love it!
That's "Fotos." You can watch the rest of them whenever you want on my Web site, which is CNN.com/RickSanchez.
Fifty years in the business and still going strong, Tony Orlando joins us live to talk about his latest honor and why he's been adored by generations of fans. That's coming up in just a little bit.
Also all the Twinkies you can eat and still lose weight. Is that a joke? It's not! I'm telling you the truth. We've got a guy who's going to come out here and tell you it doesn't matter what you eat, it's only how much of it you eat, all right? It's really about quantity. You can lose weight eating Twinkies every single day and little Debbies, et cetera, et cetera. I'm serious. He's going to be here. I'm going to talk to him. Stay right there, you'll see it on "The List."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. When you think about losing weight, you think about restrictions, right? I can't eat this, I can't eat that, I've got to go hungry. Well, guess what. There's a guy out there who's saying you've wrong. It's a Kansas nutrition professor. And he's challenging that notion, that idea.
He says it's not what you eat, it's how much you eat. And to prove his point, he's been living off of Twinkies, and he's lost weight. Twinkies. We're doing this thing this week called "Eatocracy -- Mind, Body, and Wallet." So we've invited Mark Haub, the associate professor of nutrition at Kansas State University. Professor, how you doing?
MARK HAUB, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HUMAN NUTRITION: I'm doing fine so far, thank you.
SANCHEZ: Are you nuts or something? Come on, you're coming on my show and you're going to tell my viewers that it's OK to eat Twinkies and be -- and lose weight and be healthy. Explain yourself, will you?
HAUB: The notion of snacking and eating foods that are deemed to be less healthy has been accepted, so the issue that I've taken it further is that's where most of the energy I consume comes from, are from snack cakes. I do focus on micronutrients, vitamins, to make sure I'm getting the essential nutrients, so it's not just snack cakes. I'm also focusing on protein.
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, yes, sure, if I ate a box of doughnuts every day and then went out and I ran 10 or 20 miles every day, I'd be fine. But the problem is the average person doesn't get that kind of exercise. We tend to be a little too sedentary. So every time we put this processed food in our system, it tends to make us want to exercise less and it also tends to make you want more bad food.
HAUB: I haven't had the experience of wanting or craving more bad food. I use the USDA guidelines for caloric intake, I track it every day, and I maintain my goals.
That might be easier for me. I've been several of these diets for volunteers and participants in various research studies so I have experienced kind of judging what I need when I need to eat it. But the cravings are not much difference than prior weight loss diets.
SANCHEZ: Well, my experience as a non-professor, just as a dad is whenever I give my kids junk food that has a lot of sugar in it and chemicals, they tend to, a, get a little crazy, b, start looking and acting unhealthy, and, c, immediately start looking around looking for the second or third or fourth helping. How am I wrong?
HAUB: I'm not sure that you are wrong. This is a project that we designed for a class for instructional purposes to kind of show students to push the envelope, if you will, on energy intake and diet and weight loss.
From a kid's perspective, I have two young boys. They have the same experiences I think your children have. And so it's one of those things where I try to keep a separate. I kind of have my own stash, if you will, that the children aren't allowed to get into.
SANCHEZ: So in conclusion, professor, you are just trying to make a point with this study. Here you have the last word and the opportunity to explain to our viewers what your point was. What's the point that you were trying to make, sir?
HAUB: The issue that we talk about in class is, is it the means or the diet or behavior that we engage in or the outcomes, the weight loss, fat loss, lower cholesterol, decreased heart disease, at least according to the estimations from the American Heart Association and other organizations that use cholesterol and BMI and/or body weight.
So it doesn't matter how we get to those outcomes. That's the exploration that we discuss in class.
SANCHEZ: Don't concentrate so much on just the food itself, as some people will tell us. OK, that's fair. I'll glad we had a chance to have this conversation. Professor Mark Haub, it's been a pleasure, sir.
HAUB: My pleasure, thank you, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
Who do you call for help when the police are the ones that are rioting? Look at this. There's been rioting today in Ecuador and we've got some pretty dramatic video we're going to show you. That's ahead.
Also Michael J. Fox is one of the few people with the power to make us understand Parkinson's disease. Up next, his exclusive interview about life with Parkinson's, and this hotly debated search for a cure. That's next on THE LIST with Sanjay Gupta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: If I had a short list of people to admire, actor Michael J. Fox would be one of those on that list. The way he's handled himself, his family life, his career while battling a terribly physically ravaging disease is downright admirable. I think you'll agree.
Fox recently sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, another guy, by the way, I admire an awful lot. I want you to listen to him talk about how he accepted -- how he has accepted his life with Parkinson's.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: There was a clear period around 1993-94, two years after diagnosis, where I just got it. I just accepted it. And I realized that there's an old saying that my happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance and direct appropriation to my expectation. It's just about this is what it is and so now what?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So once you were not in denial, you think you were happier?
FOX: Yes, absolutely. Because when you can look at the truth of something, then -- I mean that's what it is. It is what it is. Now you have options. The only thing I don't have a choice about is whether I have Parkinson's. Everything else is my choice. And that's incredibly liberating. That's much more liberating than the physical constraints of this disease are limiting.
GUPTA: Are the things that you particularly miss that you can't do? Things that you say, god, I really just wish I could do this still.
FOX: Truthfully, no.
GUPTA: You do everything?
FOX: I do everything I ever did before. Yes, I know. I play hockey, I play golf, I play guitar, I hang out with my kids. I mean, if it seriously limited or restricted or adversely affected my ability to interact with my kids, I think that would be something that would be hard to deal with.
I go back to my reasons for starting this foundation. If you -- I use this analogy a lot, but I think it's really apt. If you step of a curb and get hit by a bus, the impact on your life is immediate and catastrophic and you have no options. You just -- it affected whatever happens there.
And with Parkinson's, it's like you're crossing the road and you get stuck in the middle. And you know the bus is coming and you can't get out of the way. So you can kind of freak out and go the bus is going to hit me at some point, even though you don't know how fast or how big or where, but you can be stuck in that result. that this bus is going to hit you.
Or you can use the time you have before the bus gets there to try to change the route. And that's what we try to do. Methodically, but with a degree of urgency, try to connect the dots and get this done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: It's amazing when you think of it. There's Dr. Sanjay Gupta who's joining me now. The guy is a brain surgeon, sitting down and talking to Michael Fox, who's going through this debilitating situation. You know what I was thinking as I was watching this, Sanjay, he's -- there's nothing wrong with him other than the tic in his speech pattern, right, or is there?
GUPTA: Well, you know, he has what's called sort of a dyskinetic movements. It looks very loose, his head is obviously moving back and forth quite a bit. You didn't see his legs as much, but they're dyskinetic as well. But that's when he is medicated.
You know, typically, Rick, when people think of Parkinson's and you may have seen patients with Parkinson's, they're very, very rigid, meaning they move slow, they have that tremor that's sort of characteristic, they have expressionless face. Not with him. He doesn't have those symptoms. The medication seems to be working pretty well for him.
SANCHEZ: Now let me ask you, is there any type of treatment or is he getting what he needed? Has he had surgery, by the way?
GUPTA: He did. This is actually very interesting. He had surgery several years ago and he had surgery on the right side of the brain which controls the left side of the body. And what he said, he told me, it was fascinating, Rick. He said after that surgery, it worked. In the operating room, his tremors that he had stopped. You know, he was delighted. He left, he was actually, I think, away with his wife, Tracy, and he said it was fantastic.
But then it was shortly after that the right side started, the right side of his body started to tremor. The question I asked him, have you thought about having the left side of your brain done to control the right side of your body?
And he said a couple things. One, not yet. I want there to be a more advanced treatment that can guarantee a long-term treatment. And also he said, you know, it's brain surgery, right? I want to make sure I think twice about this, which I appreciated. But who knows, he might do it down the line.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: And he's talking to a neurosurgeon -- a brain surgeon no less when he's saying that. Thanks, Sanjay, for taking time with us today. We appreciate it. We look forward to seeing it.
GUPTA: Thanks, Rick.
SANCHEZ: Take a look at this, folks. You've got to love the music. And I sang this guy's music when I was in a junior high production a long time ago when I was a kid, right, and I'm honored that he's going to be making THE LIST today as he celebrates 50 years in show business this week. Tony Orlando. Look at him. Looking like a teen himself. He's next on "The List."
TONY ORLANDO, SINGER/ENTERTAINER: Mi amigo, como esta?
SANCHEZ: Muy bien. There's Tony Orlando. We'll be chatting it up a just little bit. We'll do it after the break. Stay right there. RICK'S LIST continues with a superstar.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: There are certain songs you just -- as soon as you hear one note, you are singing it. I think know you guys are singing it at home. I'm singing it here. That's Tony Orlando with Dawn, Thelma Hawkins, Joyce Vincent, first multi-ethnic variety show in preimtime. Maybe we need to learn by looking back these days.
Orlando did more than sing. I want you to take a look at what else he did last night. Hit that, if you could, Dan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take a number, please.
ORLANDO: Take a number? I'm the only one here. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That voice. It can't be. What would he be doing in Angelo's butcher shop? It's him! Oh, it's Tony Orlando! Oh. I have all of your records.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It's Tony Orlando. No less wearing that '70s hair and outfit. Tony Orlando is joining us again. Can you believe we wore that? By the way, I never wore platform shoes, I want you to know that.
(LAUGHTER)
ORLANDO: Not true.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: You have been looking through my high school yearbook, haven't you? How are you, sir?
ORLANDO: It is great to see you again. I want to congratulate you. One of the things in this journey, 50 years in the business, Rick, I met you as a young actor in Miami Beach. And I knew you were destined to go on to great things. Congratulations.
SANCHEZ: Thanks, man.
ORLANDO: Here at CNN.
SANCHEZ: That's very nice of to you say.
What is it about that music of yours that makes people want to get up and sing? And, you know, there's some people you play music and listen to and some people that play music that -- I have to tell you, all day long today, my staff and I have been singing your songs.
ORLANDO: I heard you were doing -- I heard you were singing every note. Before we leave you will do a chorus with me?
SANCHEZ: Are you -- yes. Which -- I can do -- I can do "Knock Three Times" and I can --
ORLANDO: All right.
SANCHEZ: You want to do "Knock Three Times"?
ORLANDO: Yes, I want to hear you do "Knock Three Times."
SANCHEZ: "Knock three times on the ceiling if you love me."
ORLANDO: "Want me, want me," Rick.
SANCHEZ: If you are not going to show did you expect me to get the words right, too?
ORLANDO: I can't believe you. You can't believe you. You sing it well, too.
SANCHEZ: Thank you.
ORLANDO: You know, I'll tell you what it is. I was very blessed to have some great songwriters. They wrote the hits and had a style about them that was upbeat. Remember those songs became hits during a time when progressive rock, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and all those groups were happening, how they found their way through the cracks was just a blessing in good luck for us really.
SANCHEZ: You are an amazing guy. Listen, I know that a dear friend of yours passed away today, Tony Curtis, who we all grew up with. When I think of gladiator movies I think of Tony Curtis. What would you share with us about him?
ORLANDO: You know, one of the things about Tony Curtis was he was eclectic an actor and a person. He was an intellectual, a painter, dramatic actor, he was a comedian. He was a genuine person who never hid his New York accent. He was creative enough to change his name from Bernard Schwartz to Tony Curtis. My god, that alone is an amazing change.
But he was a real guy. And he was a guy's guy. He was -- my condolences to Jamie Lee, who I love dearly, and his family. This is a great loss to our industry but to this country.
If anybody out there is too young to remember some of those great films, "Some Like it Hot," rent them. They are timeless. And as you know, Rick, they really are timeless. And he was a great friend. Loved to come to the shows. He would walk in and go how about some Led Zeppelin, kid? The band would sing Led Zeppelin for him and he would be a happy camper.
SANCHEZ: What a great story. Talk about timeless. So are you, my friend. You look great.
ORLANDO: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Amazing.
ORLANDO: Good to see you, buddy.
SANCHEZ: Likewise. We will get together. Are you out in L.A.?
ORLANDO: I live in Branson, Missouri and Las Vegas. And I make my home in Branson. I have for the last 20 years. Please come. I would love to have you come out there. Although I'm on the road 164 dates a year, I still make my home in Branson, Missouri.
SANCHEZ: Fantastic. Good to see you. God bless. Thanks so much for coming on.
ORLANDO: God bless you, too, buddy.
SANCHEZ: All right. Up next, Wolf Blitzer has this hour's Political Ticker update for us, and he's probably going to say something about this. Maybe we will get Wolf to sing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon." We will try. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: It is time for a CNNpolitics.com desk check with Wolf Blitzer. Before he starts his political explanation, though, I have to ask him what he thought about the interview with Tony Orlando.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": I loved it.
SANCHEZ: I know you sing those songs. I know you do.
BLITZER: You know, I know you love "Tie a Yellow Ribbon." Everybody loves that song. Tony Orlando, great. You know what song I was singing today? Rod Stewart, "Maggie May." Do you remember that song?
SANCHEZ: Come on, give us a couple of bars.
BLITZER: I'm not going to sing it. I just wanted to point out, it is late September, and I really should be back at school.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Well done. We will use the lyrics to make the point.
All right, let's go ahead and do the stuff about politics. Tell me what's crossing now, my friend.
BLITZER: We had an interview that we will air in "THE SITUATION ROOM" with John Thune, the Republican senator from South Dakota. And, you know, he is thinks seriously about running for president for the Republican presidential nomination. He hasn't made up his mind yet. He says he will make his mind up early next year. He has been speaking with his wife and family deciding what to do.
But he did point out something intriguing, and you're going to hear this later, that if Sarah Palin throws her hat into the ring, that potentially for other Republican candidates out there could be a game changer given her power and prestige and influence in the Republican Party. It's something to think about.
