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President Obama Makes Surprise Visit to Afghanistan; Debt Commission Fails to Reach Agreement on Plan; Interview With Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky; U.S. Unemployment Rises; Snowbound in Buffalo; Police Officer Saves Woman From Wreck; Underground Bunker Housing Computers Used By WikiLeaks Discovered; Man Born With HIV Discusses His Life; CNN To Premier New Documentary About Death of John Lennon
Aired December 03, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I want you to take a look at this incredible video with me.
This police officer is going to talk to me in just a couple of minutes. He is the one who -- who thought the woman in that fiery SUV -- You see that car? -- would be dead. Good news, she's not. She's alive, all thanks to him. Our hero cop, he is going to join me.
Plus, President Obama turning up, in of all places, Afghanistan today, where he met with the troops, but not the country's leader.
And, also, bad news back here at home: unemployment up now, 9.8 percent, and, today, the president's debt commission just can't agree. One of the no voters is going to join me live with her plan.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's get started.
First, President Obama, big surprise, his trip to Afghanistan. Word came down late this morning that Mr. Obama not so much at home in Washington, instead, had slipped off. There you saw him hopping off Air Force One, slipping off to visit the troops for the holiday season.
The president there arriving right around 9:00 in the evening Afghan time. And then a short time later, if you watch this, he got a rousing welcome at the U.S. base Bagram from General David Petraeus, got a couple T-shirts as well, and huge, huge applause from the Army's 101st Airborne Division.
And during a speech there to the American troops, Mr. Obama -- were you watching? Did you notice there was a -- almost a tear in his eye, appeared to get pretty emotional there when he spoke of a meeting with a unit that recently suffered heavy, heavy casualties, but he also reflected on his decision.
It was one year ago this month -- remember, he was in West Point to bolster the war effort there with 30,000 new troops. Here's the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As General Petraeus mentioned one year ago, I ordered additional troops to serve in this country that was the staging ground for the 9/11 attacks. All of those troops now in place. And thanks to your service, we are making important progress. You are protecting your country. You're achieving your objectives. You will succeed in your mission.
We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum. And that's what you're doing. You're going on the offense, tired of playing defense, targeting their leaders, pushing them out of their strongholds. Today, we can be proud that there are fewer areas under Taliban control and more Afghans, have a chance to build a more hopeful future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Now, of course, the president is there. He's speaking to American troops. And you would think he'd also try to make a trip to Kabul to speak with Hamid Karzai, the leader there. Not so much.
In fact, some bad weather in-country scrapped a helicopter ride to the capital for what was planned to be, you know, a brief meeting with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai. We're told the two did have some kind of phone conversation, which comes in the wake of the recent Internet leaks portraying Karzai's government as more corrupt than previously suspected.
So, I want to bring in two of our own here, Dan Lothian joining me live from the White House and Barbara Starr there for us at the Pentagon.
And, Dan Lothian, I want to begin with you.
I know, you know, the president can -- can pull some strings here and there. So, I guess, of all people, he could sort of sneak out of country and head to Afghanistan. But do we know how exactly he got out of Washington? Do we know when he did it? Do we know how he did it? And I guess is he even still there?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he just left. He lifted off, headed to Germany, where they will refuel before coming back to the United States, only spending a little bit more than four hours on the ground there in Afghanistan.
But, yes, these are the kinds of trips that are very secret obviously for security reasons, so the president lifting off from Washington last night and arriving there in Afghanistan around 10:35 this morning. And, as you were pointing out earlier, I mean, the president had a lot more that he wanted to accomplish there, even beyond just meeting with the troops.
He wanted to also meet with President Karzai in Kabul, but then bad weather rolled in. There were high winds, we were told, about 45 miles per hour, a lot of dust, also low cloud cover. And so, as you pointed out, they did have this phone conversation. We're told that that lasted for about 15 minutes or so -- Brooke. BALDWIN: Dan, briefly, do we have any kind of readout on the call? Do we know what was discussed at all?
LOTHIAN: We don't know what was discussed. But, you know, as you were highlighting earlier, there -- there is a lot of talk obviously about conversations that were had that have been disclosed by WikiLeaks about what the administration officials have been saying about the leadership there in Afghanistan.
And, you know, one official was sort of pushing back, dismissing that this morning, saying that, you know, there's nothing new here, that a lot has been reported in the past about concerns about corruption in the Afghan government. So, they don't see this as really being any sort of major hurdle --
BALDWIN: Yes.
LOTHIAN: -- in going forward and working with the --
BALDWIN: And --
LOTHIAN: -- government there.
BALDWIN: And -- and, Dan, I want to get to some of -- sort of the timing and the WikiLeaks here in just a moment.
But I want to bring in Barbara, Barbara Starr, for us at the Pentagon.
It's been, as I mentioned, one year since the president, you know, was there at West Point announcing this surge in Afghanistan. Can we, Barbara, claim that, thus far, it's been a success? Do we know if we're any closer in getting some of our -- our men and women back home?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, General David Petraeus, Brooke, believes that the troops are indeed making progress against the Taliban and against the insurgency, even in the heartland of the insurgency, down in Southern Afghanistan in the Kandahar and Helmand region. That's what he's been telling the White House for the last several weeks.
That's what he's expected to tell them in this December review of the war. But the real question, of course, is, there may be progress right now, but has the back of the insurgency really been broken, or are we just in another phase where the insurgency retreats a little bit, they regroup, and, come the springtime, they're right back in the fight with new weapons, new training, new personnel?
It may not really be until the spring that the U.S. can make a final assessment about this period of time and whether they are seeing real progress. Still, General Petraeus believes he is making headway, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Barbara, you mentioned that war report. Just quickly, do we know when we should expect that, when this month? STARR: Well, certainly -- right, by the end of this month, no later than that, General Petraeus, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, the CIA, basically, the entire government apparatus in Afghanistan, is expected to report to the president on the progress of the war, are they making the right kind of progress, is the strategy working -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Barbara, thank you.
Back to you, Dan.
We mentioned the WikiLeaks, some of the leaked State Department cables, and they reported an incident in which an Afghan vice president turned up in Dubai with some $50 million on him. And, apparently, after the meeting, our Ambassador Karl Eikenberry reportedly cabled back.
And I want to read to you watch was said, that: "The meeting highlights one of our major challenges in Afghanistan, how to fight corruption and connect the people to their government, when the key government officials are themselves corrupt," Dan, the word corrupt.
So, does the administration worry that the public is going to decide, you know, hey, we're throwing all this money essentially down a rat hole?
LOTHIAN: No. I mean, you know, the administration and the president himself have pointed out time and again -- and you heard it from the president today as well -- that the mission in Afghanistan is an important mission in terms of securing the safety of the American people, that the the -- U.S. troops are playing a vital role in going after al Qaeda and in particular the Taliban in order to create a safe -- a safer area there and prevent further attacks on the United States.
So, certainly, this administration does not look at whatever information may come out or the reality on the ground there as throwing away good money. They believe this is money well -- well spent in securing the safety of the American people.
BALDWIN: Dan Lothian for me at the White House, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, both of you, thank you.
Also, we're going to get to the domestic issues here that, really, that the president is facing here in just a moment.
But let's talk about that unemployment number, though, the report coming out today. It was pretty grim, more or less a curveball. Now we're up to 9.8 percent. And about that debt, it is climbing as I speak, and yet the special blue-ribbon panel the president, you know, put together, assembled to come up with some ideas, maybe a blueprint, well, apparently, they couldn't totally agree on a plan to officially -- officially -- put in front of Congress.
So, I'm going to talk to one of the Democrats -- she's out of Illinois -- on the debt commission who voted no. She was one of the no votes this morning. Congressman Jan Schakowsky is going to join me next.
And it is one the most dramatic videos our entire CNN team has ever seen. Take a look at this with me. This is video you're seeing from the perspective of a dash-cam video from a patrol car of a woman's car. It's burst into flames. The officer pulling up here says he thought he would be pulling out a body out of that car. So, coming up, the entire rescue. I'm going to talk to that heroic police officer live.
Plus, we have heard all week long, the economy, it's great, it's back on track, but then a bombshell today.
Ali Velshi, we have not let him go yet to start his weekend.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: He's going to join me live. This guy is pretty smart when it comes to the economy, talking business, and this number we got today. So, we will have a little conversation after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Well, just when we thought things were looking up maybe just a little bit in the economy, we got quite a bit of a curveball today, to the shock a lot of experts out there, unemployment went up in November, according to this report released today by the federal government.
So, the economy only created about 40,000 jobs last month. It was expected to produce many, many tens of thousands more than that.
Ali Velshi is our guide for this.
And, Ali --
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Don't blame me. I didn't --
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: I didn't do anything about the jobs.
BALDWIN: What did you do?
VELSHI: Yes.
BALDWIN: What happened?
VELSHI: Well, we -- yes, it's -- it's disappointing. It took a little air out of all of us who were optimistic about this.
BALDWIN: Yes.
VELSHI: We expected 150,000 jobs to be created, and we got 39,000.
BALDWIN: And that's a huge number difference --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Huge difference. Huge difference.
And we wanted to see trends. We wanted to see that 150,000, because it would have meant that we were still creating lots and lots of jobs and we were on our way to success, because, as you know, you either have to have your income going up, which means there have to be jobs, your home going up, or your -- or your investments going up to make you feel a little bit prosperous.
But jobs are the most important ones. So, a setback. It feels bad. I -- I don't make trends out of one month. We will have to see what December does. But it was definitely a -- a bit of a letdown.
BALDWIN: Bump in the road? Sign of the times?
VELSHI: I hope it's a bump in the road.
The problem is that, if we got the 150,000 jobs that we were hoping to get --
BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.
VELSHI: -- that still would have only been halfway to where we need to bring our unemployment rate back to the 5 percent it was before the recession started.
BALDWIN: Yes, but we would have been moaning and groaning a little bit less.
VELSHI: We would have been moaning and groaning less. We would like a lot of jobs. This is a very broken economy. It's going to take a long time to fix. I don't think this means it's not going to get fixed. It just means it didn't as well this month as we have liked it.
BALDWIN: I know you heard what Vice President Joe Biden said today.
VELSHI: Yes.
BALDWIN: I don't know if you heard. So, I want to play -- play you this sound bite. It's about his -- he says extending these unemployment benefits really would help spur the economy. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Unemployment insurance is a powerful driver of economic growth. And it's as simple and plain as that. And you can't let it be cut off for these families, and, again, not only at a time when they need it, but when the nation needs this money being spent and the economy generating new jobs. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A powerful driver of economic growth.
VELSHI: Right.
BALDWIN: Were you surprised by that?
VELSHI: Well, it's --
BALDWIN: Do you see how that would work?
VELSHI: Yes. I -- I -- I wish that information were out there more, because there's a debate going on about whether to extend unemployment benefits.
BALDWIN: Right.
VELSHI: And it's a very legitimate debate, because how long do you do this for? We're going to have four or five years of high unemployment. Here's the problem. When you put a dollar into unemployment benefits, economists say it brings back anywhere from $1.50 to $2 in economic activity, because, if you are getting unemployment benefits, you need to spend that money to live.
BALDWIN: I'm not saving that money.
VELSHI: You're not saving.
BALDWIN: I'm paying that --
VELSHI: You're not thinking about, well, maybe I will buy a TV at the end of the year.
BALDWIN: I'm paying --
VELSHI: You're buying food. You're --
BALDWIN: -- my groceries, my rent.
VELSHI: Exactly. That's right.
So, it is -- it's a very direct relationship. The problem is, there are some people who say, legitimately, we can't keep on treating this as an emergency, if this is a long-term proposal -- a long-term situation we're in. So, if we want to extend them, we have got to cut somewhere else immediately. That's what a lot of Republicans are saying. Let's cut somewhere, so we can keep on doing this.
And it's a debate that is raging as we speak in Washington.
BALDWIN: Ali Velshi, have an awesome weekend.
VELSHI: Good to see you, my friend. You, too.
BALDWIN: Bye-bye. OK. So, coming up here -- oh, here, we are learning about this crash. Here's what -- here's what I know. And it's just a little bit. This is a bus crash in Louisiana. Witnesses say about 20 children were on board. We're told most of them were rushed to the hospital. At least two of those children said to be in critical condition.
Look at this mangled mess. That was, I guess, the tractor- trailer, here, the 18-wheeler. That is what slammed into this school bus. This happened in Port Barre. And get this. The local mayor was behind the wheel. He's apparently a substitute bus driver, so pulling double duty behind the wheel of that school bus.
The school secretary actually tells CNN some of the children have been released from the hospital at this hour, but, again, that's the info we have. As soon as we get more information, I will pass it along to you. Again, video, thank you to our affiliate KLFY out of Louisiana.
And now to this number, and it keeps going up and up. You are looking at the U.S. national debt clock. That number you see the number on -- in red? I know there -- there are a lot of numbers in red, but the really, really big one on the upper left, that is our national debt, at more than $13 trillion. Imagine that. I don't like saying that, trillion.
Congresswoman -- there she is -- Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky says she has a plan to cut it, and wants you to listen to her plan. She's going to join me next from Capitol Hill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.
I want to tell you about what happened with the debt commission today. Today was the big vote, the climax, if you will, the vote on a plan to take some extremely unpopular steps to try to slash our national debt by $4 trillion over the next decade. And when I say unpopular, I'm talking about raising our taxes, cutting government spending.
Today's vote tally -- you have 18 members on this panel -- there were 11 yes, seven nos. So, bottom line here, the plan, it can go before Congress, but it won't have the commission's official stamp of approval. That's just really the only difference here.
So, joining me now from Washington, commission member and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a Democratic member of Congress from Illinois.
And, Ms. Schakowsky, I know you voted no. You were one of the seven nos voting again the plan.
So -- so, welcome to you.
And, since we have just a couple of minutes to talk here, could you just tell me very briefly why you voted no today? After all, we -- we all know something needs to be done. Why vote no?
REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D), ILLINOIS: Yes, we know that we're on a fiscal path that is unsustainable, but we also know that, right now in the United States of America, the middle class is disappearing.
And I felt that the solutions to our debt and deficit problem outlined by the Simpson/Bowles commission, the co-chairs, took too much the middle class, expected too much from our seniors and from the poor, and that they had nothing to do with causing the deficit, and the burden should not be so much on them.
BALDWIN: Right. You say they shouldn't be the ones --
SCHAKOWSKY: So, that's why I voted no.
BALDWIN: Right. They shouldn't be the ones -- I'm reading from your report -- shouldn't be the ones picking up the tab.
In fact, we also have some video. I want to play to this. We heard you talking after this meeting this morning to some of the reporters there on Capitol Hill. I want to play some of what you said. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHAKOWSKY: I think the American people feel not only that they're struggling with their mortgages, keeping their homes, with unemployment and the fear of unemployment.
But I think they feel that the rich have gotten off with something, that the Wall Street tycoons have been benefited, that they're the ones who are really the losers in all of this.
There's an anger, I think, about -- not only about their condition right now, but that it's unfair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, a sense of unfair, and unfair for, as you have been saying, the middle class.
You know, though, Congresswoman, some of your opponents would say, hey, this is class warfare. Some may ask what this has to do with cutting our national debt. What would your response be to them?
SCHAKOWSKY: My response would be that, right now in our country, 1 percent of Americans control 34 percent of the wealth, more than the 90 percent of the rest of Americans combined.
That's not good for not only our economy, but it's bad for our democracy as well. And so we can achieve budget balance. We can reduce our deficit. But we should be asking the people who have enjoyed -- enjoyed the -- the party, the prosperity party, to -- to -- to pay the tab on that.
By that, I mean, I think that it's fair to ask, instead of seniors to pay for those health care costs -- that's how we solve part of the problem, making their Medicare more expensive out of pocket -- we ought to say to the -- the big insurance companies -- companies and the big pharmaceutical companies, no, we're going to make you lower the prices. We're going to negotiate and have Medicare negotiate for lower prescription drug prices.
BALDWIN: So, let me jump in.
SCHAKOWSKY: On Social --
BALDWIN: Let me jump in --
SCHAKOWSKY: Oh, sure.
BALDWIN: -- because your whole point about how 1 percent of our country now controls, I think you said, 34 percent of the country's wealth.
So, would it be your belief that cutting the national debt would also then entail -- have to entail a redistribution of the wealth?
SCHAKOWSKY: Well, there has been a massive redistribution of the wealth, going -- going up.
The problem with that for the economy is, where are the customers? If people don't have money in their pockets that they can go out and buy, then I don't care. If you're a smart businessman, you're not going to expand your business if there aren't people to buy your product.
It's not -- they -- they call the rich the job-makers. Well, nobody is going to make jobs if there aren't people that can afford actually to buy the products. And, so far, we are squeezing the middle class so much, that it's really disappearing in our country. And we're not going to be able to have a vibrant economy if all boats don't rise, not just the yachts at the top.
BALDWIN: Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky for us from Capitol Hill -- Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining me on a busy, busy week.
SCHAKOWSKY: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
Let's take a look at this now. This is the inside a Cold War era bunker where WikiLeaks apparently stores some of its computer servers. Yes, I'm talking WikiLeaks. Look at this. The Web site -- you know the story -- it's causing all kinds of furor for spilling sensitive U.S. secrets, all those cables. Are they bracing for an attack of their own? We're going to take you inside this "James Bond"-esque cave coming up.
And take a look at this snowstorm. You are definitely feeling it if you're there in Upstate New York. Can you imagine, though, being trapped in interstate traffic -- look at all these cars back-to-back- to-back -- for 20 hours or more? This was the reality for a lot of people out there on I-90. Their story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Just in here, not great news if you have friends, family going to or coming from Spain. We are getting word that most of the airports in Spain, they're now closed, shut down. Air traffic controllers apparently are walking off the job, hundreds of flights either delayed or canceled, stranding tens of thousands of passengers.
Real quickly, the head of this -- Spain's airport authority: "The irresponsible decision is provoking grave consequences across Spain." He goes on, it could lead to firing and could be a crime under the criminal code for abandoning a post for unjustified reasons -- this just in from Spain.
And it's the Discovery's last launch ever, and NASA just made a huge announcement about it. That is ahead.
Also next, hear from an officer who saved a woman from this burning SUV. This story is amazing. Wait until you see the eerie moments when he first rolled up to the scene.
Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Can you imagine having to deal with this much snow? Maybe you're in Buffalo, New York, or Upstate New York, and you're saying, Brooke, this is my reality right now.
I'm talking massive snowdrifts up there. And, apparently, there is more lake effect snow coming down today. So, the double dose of this stuff follows what has been a very long haul for many commuters there in Buffalo, major highways totally shut down. In fact, some people behind the wheel, they had to be stranded in some of their cars for some 20 hours by six-foot-high snowdrifts -- these trying to walk through it.
Some good Samaritans, though, rushing in to help. And some drivers, they -- they tried to help themselves, some using a makeshift pathway.
We have an iReporter. Frank Rodriguez sent in a video that I'm about to share with you after a co-worker put up ladders on either side of the fence along this highway. There's the fence. And you can see in parts of the video some of the people trying to use them to cross over to get food, try to get gas.
Rodriguez tells us more about what happened. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANK RODRIGUEZ, HELPING STORM VICTIMS: It was interesting because the first group of people that we saw were truckers. And there was guys in just t-shirts that were completely red -- looked like they were frostbitten or whatever. So what had happened was I went outside and I kind of said to them you're more than welcome to come in and warm up. I know you only have a t-shirt on. And they were solely interested in finding food. The guy told me he had been stranded for 16 hours.
And so what I did was I pointed them where he could find some food right across the street. There's a convenience store.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Did he say some people just had t-shirts and not jackets walking through that? Oh, my goodness. Look at some of the problems, the troubles the drivers had getting out of their cars. This guy, yes, that's not working so much. Plows and snow blowers are working overtime to battle the effects and aftermath of this intense early December storm. Yikes!
Now to a couple other stories that are unfolding right now. President Barack Obama, surprise to our American troops there in Afghanistan. The president arrived just a couple of hours ago and he addressed GIs at the U.S. air base in Bagram. He personally delivered a holiday greeting and encouraged all these men and women saying that they would defeat the Taliban. They'd be on the offensive.
The president also visited wounded troops in the hospital, pinning purple hearts on four of them. But due to some poor weather conditions in country the president will not be meeting face to face with afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul but we're told they will speak via a secure video link.
Looks like space shuttle Discovery will not be heading into space until February. The aging shuttle was supposed to leave for the international space station last month. It was hit by a bunch ever technical glitches, weather problems there. The Discovery's mission is to deliver a pressurized module. The launch will most likely be moved now to April.
And a police officer being hailed a hero after rescuing a woman from this burning SUV. The Florida highway patrol says the driver somehow lost control of her vehicle heading down I-95. She hit a pole and burst into flames. The officer acted fast. All of this caught as you're looking at it from his dashboard camera on his patrol car. Jimmy Jalil is joining me to walk me through this.
Jimmy, bravo to you. When I saw this video, it took my breath away. Let's begin with when you first got the call and come upon this SUV. It's on fire. Did you even think anyone could have possibly survived?
OFFICER JIMMY JALIL JR., BOCA RATON POLICE (via telephone): It wasn't until actually I got out of my car that someone told me there was someone inside the vehicle still. The gentleman that was on the scene identified him is as an off-duty or now I know fire rescue. He was able to basically triage the other two gentlemen that were ejected and tell me there was still someone inside. BALDWIN: So two guys were tossed once this car hits this pole. You eventually find out there's a woman inside. Were you thinking -- were you thinking reality the situation is you'd be pulling out a body?
JALIL: No, actually I didn't.
BALDWIN: You thought she would make it?
JALIL: Absolutely. In fact, I almost thought that the fire would be out before I need to pull her out and in that case I probably would have just waited for the fire department to show up and extract her with a c-spine or something.
BALDWIN: What happened, Jimmy? You pull up. You start running. How did you get her out? What did you do?
JALIL: I get to the window. I saw a gentleman trying to break out the rear passenger window with the fire extinguisher and saw it wasn't working. I stepped up and used my baton which I had done before successfully. Hit four or five times the first time and then went at it again. It wasn't smashing out.
That's when I decided to use my firearm to fire two shots into the window to soften it up.
BALDWIN: So you were able to fire the shots. You shatter the window. At what point did you see this woman? Was she crying for help? Was she moving? Was she talking?
JALIL: When I originally saw her, I ran up to the car and I looked in. She looked unconscious. When I finally fired the two rounds, actually prior to that, I had communicated to her so I could see her moving around. I told her move as far forward as she could. I fired two rounds. The glass spider-webbed. When I smashed out the rest of the windshield with my baton I could hear her yelling "get me out of here."
BALDWIN: I have read you said the flames were about a foot from her but you were able to pull her out. She's OK. I don't know if you're going to find her and say hello but I have a feeling she'll be finding you, Jimmy Jalil. Appreciate it.
JALIL: Ironically enough I'm at the Del Ray Center where she's at.
BALDWIN: There you go. So you're going to go say hello?
JALIL: We just got done meeting her and talked to her family. I'm here watching it now.
BALDWIN: Tell her we are glad she's OK. Jimmy, thank you.
JALIL: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Now this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's actually 30 meters under solid bedrock and it's got a one foot thick solid bomb door. So it's a pretty secure facility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Pretty secure facility. What is this place? We're about to take you have on a rare tour inside this undergrounds bunker for a glimpse of where WikiLeaks has stored its computer servers. Yep, you know the Web site spilling all those sensitive military documents, the cables potentially damaging U.S. diplomatic relations all around the world. Taking you inside next.
But first, our education director Dr. Steve Perry is trying something. He is new getting out of the classrooms and going into homes to help families kick their kids into gear. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have three marvelous children. They're all in middle school right now. First is Nathan. Nathan is 14. He just turned 14. And he's in the eighth grade. And our twins David and Eva are 12 years old. They love school because they get to see all their friends there. But Victor and I feel the children, maybe they're not meeting their full potential.
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: We gave the Raczkowski family a flip cam so I could get a sense of what was going on inside the home, what their daily routines looked like and how mom and dad struggled to get their children to comply with what they want them to do to be successful in school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, Nathan. It's time to get up.
Good morning, Eva, time to rise. Are you awake?
David, good morning. It's time to wake up, time to get up and get your stuff together and go to school.
Come on. Rise and shine, happy guy. Come on, Nathan. This is your second call. Hurry up because you need to leave with daddy in like five minutes.
It's worrisome because it's five minutes of 8:00. I'm leaving the house and the kid isn't out of the bed yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Parents, does that play out in your house in the morning sometimes? Wait until you see if Steve Perry can get the family into shape and perhaps he can help yours as well.
We're calling it "Education Makeover." It airs tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 and 4:30 eastern right here on CNN. And just a quick reminder, we're going to take you inside WikiLeaks, the bunker. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The arrest of the man behind WikiLeaks appears to be getting closer today. In fact, Sweden reportedly has sent an updated arrest warrant to police in England where Julian Assange is apparently staying.
And we have a rare look along that same vein here. One of the underground bunkers believed to housing WikiLeaks. It was inspired by James Bond movies. Really, James Bond.
First, here is a new development I want to pass along -- a new warning from an almost ghost-like Julian Assange. It comes during this online chat with readers of Britain's "Guardian" newspaper. Assange says if he's arrested or if WikiLeaks is destroyed, more leaked documents will still get out.
And according to Assange more than 100,000 people have encrypted copies already. The cables are actually in the hands of multiple news organizations. Assange writes, quote, "If something happens to us, the key parts will be released automatically." He goes on to say, "History will win."
So wiping out WikiLeaks may actually prove to be a tougher task than perhaps actually arresting Assange. Why? I want to you watch as we take you inside a James Bond-inspired cave where WikiLeaks is believed to be storing super secret files. Our guide is CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From the looks of this place you'd think the website is bracing for a full-scale attack and not the internet kinds. Welcome to White Mountain, a fortified data center in a cold war era bunker near Stockholm, Sweden. This is the place that at one time hosted at least some of WikiLeaks computer servers. And now that Amazon has dumped WikiLeaks from its servers, WikiLeaks has reportedly moved some of the files back here.
DAVID NELSON, CO-FOUNDER, DATA CENTER PULSE: It's actually 30 meters under solid bedrock and it's got a one foot thick solid bomb door, so it's a pretty secure facility. That's probably one of the primary reasons.
TODD: Move over Dr. No. This place boasts a futuristic room for its servers with dozens of electronic cabinets, a floating glass conference room above it. For back-up power two diesel engines from German submarines.
Experts say this kind of security doesn't prevent hackers from stealing data or protect websites from the kind of denial of service attacks that's plagued WikiLeaks. But Nelson says more and more websites are relying on bunkers, even container ships, to store servers.
DAVID NELSON, CO-FOUNDER, DATA CENTER PULSE: It's an innovative way to solve a data center problem because as you get more computers and data on the internet, the density or heat generated from those computers, you can use things like underground cooling to get rid of that heat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Now, the attacks on WikiLeaks are escalating. Its domain name provided yanked WikiLeaks offline after attacks on the site caused problems for its other customers. And, get this, France is reportedly considering banning WikiLeaks altogether.
Imagine this. How would the world have been different if one of the most famous musicians, John Lennon -- I don't even have to tell you of the Beatles -- lived past 1980? You're going to hear from a woman who had a very, very close encounter with Lennon's killer in those final days. That's next.
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BALDWIN: Welcome back to the Newsroom. You know, the world will never know what could have been had John Lennon lived beyond the year 1980. In his new documentary "Losing Lennon" our own John Roberts sat down with a woman who had this very, very close encounter with Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman in those final days leading up to that murder outside the Dakota in New York.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lennon was an obsession to kill.
MARK DAVID CHAPMAN: It had to be done. Nothing could have stopped me.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: On December 6, Chapman arrived in New York City. He checked into the YMCA just blocks from Lennon's home. Almost immediately, he began stalking his victim and headed over to the Dakota.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very quiet, dressed casually, dressed very normally.
ROBERTS: Jeri Mol and her friend Jude stein were there when Chapman arrived.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then he said he was there to see John. And it was always his dream to meet John.
ROBERTS: But Lennon never came out of the building. Moll and Stein went across the street to have lunch. Chapman set off to buy Lennon's new double fantasy album. Less than an hour later they were all back on the sidewalk at the Dakota.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was out there waving the album, very excited that he had it. "I got it, I got it." And he said, "Do you think John would sign it?" I said, if you were quiet and mannerly and if he had the time, maybe he would sign it for you. He said, "Oh, OK. So he is nice?" I said, "Absolutely. He's terrific."
ROBERTS (on camera): But he had this idea maybe he wasn't nice?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Chapman gave moll no clue about his deep-seated anger for Lennon. But as she left to take in a movie he did hint at his deadly plan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He had said to us you might not see him again. This might be your last time to see him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on camera): He was indicating to you in a way that you didn't understand at the time that Lennon might not be around much longer?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: John Roberts. So I didn't realize that. Mark David Chapman bought the double fantasy album as he was staying in the Y and stalking Lennon. Back to this woman you sat down with. How did she come to know this mark David Chapman?
ROBERTS: Jeri Moll, I guess you could call her almost an "uber- fan." She and her friend would hang outside the Dakota almost every weekend. And they eventually got to know John Lennon and Yoko Ono and Sean and Sean's caregiver. And on occasion John Lennon would yell down from the window to them asking them if they could send up the magazines that they were reading because they were always reading rock 'n' roll magazines.
And on occasion Jeri Mol and her friend would go to Central Park with Sean Lennon, his five-year-old son and nanny and spend days in the park. She has a whole photographic record of that time. It's an interesting relationship that she had, and to this day she certainly remains extraordinarily dedicated to John Lennon.
BALDWIN: That's amazing. And John Roberts, I remember seeing you in Atlanta a couple of months ago and you were talking about this documentary then, and you were saying this is one of the coolest things you got to do in your career. Is that right?
ROBERTS: It certainly has been a journalistic experience, no question, to look back on the extraordinary life of John Lennon and trace his long decent down the path to homicide that Mark David Chapman, something that may have been forged as early as ninth great when as a friend went into a terrible LSD trip and came back from that trip, that long weekend, believing that he was John Lennon.
BALDWIN: We are going to have all these bits and pieces. I'll be watching. You'll be watching. Hopefully, everybody will be watching this fascinating special "Losing Lennon" tomorrow and Sunday night. John Roberts, we thank you.
Here is a nice Christmas gift -- police officers allowing people to get rid of their parking tickets. But they have to do one thing. Wait until you hear about this deal.
And the manhunt is on for the suspects in this dramatic bank robbery. It's all caught on tape. That is ahead.
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BALDWIN: A man says his cell phone just exploded and after the pop, blood was dripping from his ear. Stick around and hear the story. Apparently this could happen to anyone.
But first, remember the TV show "Starsky and Hutch"? And actor named Paul Michael Glaser played one of the lead roles. So his was born with HIV because his wife didn't know it was possible to pass it on to his unborn child. She died from AIDS. But Glaser's son is now in his 20s refusing to let it keep him from a normal life. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Jake Glaser has lots of passions -- riding a skateboard, photography, making gelato, and being a spokesman for the foundation his mother, Elizabeth Glaser created. Jake was born with HIV passed on to him by his mother at birth. He had to learn at a very young age how to overcome living this virus. I spoke with him earlier this year.
JAKE GLASER, BORN WITH HIV: When my sister passed, I just turned four years old. It was something relatively difficult for me to grasp. But it was when my mom got sick was really when I faced the actuality of, I am HIV positive and this is something that can affect you.
GUPTA: Jake says his parents blessed him with a healthy immune system and so far, he has not been sick.
GLASER: I was born with HIV. It is not something that I had a choice about. When I speak to people about it, I have no issue telling anybody that I'm HIV positive.
GUPTA: People who don't know your story, when you tell them you have HIV, that stigma exists. Do you feel that?
GLASER: I do a lot of photography. I film in the skateboard, action sports world. One of the people, one of the kids that I was filming with, found out through talking to one of my friends, that I was HIV positive. And he expressed that he was afraid to touch me.
It was something that I hadn't dealt with since my childhood. I kind of told everyone, stop what you are doing. Let's talk. It was honestly as simple as, he just didn't have the information. That's quite a moment. Stop the shoot and you said, all right, this is an opportunity to educate. GUPTA: That's exactly what Jake plans to continue, to educate, particularly young people, who unlike himself, have a choice and can prevent getting infected with HIV.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
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BALDWIN: CNN has all your latest political news with "The Best Political Team on Television," CNN = Politics. And today Wolf Blitzer is joining us at the CNNpolitics.com desk. Happy Friday to you, Wolf Blitzer. Happy day for a lot of the American troops in Afghanistan. Surprise, it's the president.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": It is always exciting when the president of the United States, the commander and chief, shows up. The troops have been waiting if the hangar for a long time for a special guest. They could have guessed by the size of the American flag behind the president when he showed up, who it was going to be. He made the long flight from Andrews Air Force Base outside of Washington, D.C. and got to Kabul.
Obviously, some disappointment that weather-related issues prevented him from having a face-to-face meeting with Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan. He had to have a little phone call with Hamid Karzai. He could have done that in Washington.
I guess he wanted to reassure the troops there that the commander and chief is with them. He gave a good speech he can pressing his gratitude to all the young men and women who are serving in Afghanistan. That was the most important part of this mission, not necessarily to have a face-to-face meeting with Karzai.
And as you know, Brooke, there have been a lot of problems with Hamid Karzai and his government over the past several months. A lot of suspicion of corruption, the tension between Karzai's government and NATO allies are pretty significant, although they are trying to do the best they can to not only start a U.S. coalition withdrawal sometime next year but to see all the U.S. and coalition troops by the end of 2014. We will see how that works out.
The other big story, the president going over there just as we got these horrible job numbers today, going up to 9.8 percent unemployment. More than 15 million Americans now are unemployed and millions more are underemployed. This is a real serious problem.
Austan Goolsbee, the president's chief economic adviser, is going to be in "THE SITUATION ROOM" with me during the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour. And we are going to talk about what needs to be done, what can be done, what the administration should be doing, because going from 9.6 percent unemployment to 9.8 percent unemployment, that's not the right direction.
And, as you know, if only 39,000 jobs were created last month, that's way below the -- usually, you need at least 125,000 or 150,000 jobs just to stay even, because of the additional people coming into the jobs market every month.
BALDWIN: Right.
BLITZER: So it is a pretty depressing number. And we will talk a little bit about that with Austan Goolsbee in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Finally, one other item crossing the "Political Ticker" here at CNNPolitics.com, the little battle of the books right now, and President George W. Bush is beating Sarah Palin. His book is number one on the bestsellers list. Her book is number two. They both are selling a lot of copies of this book, more than a million of her book now in print. More than two million of his are in print. They are doing very, very well. His is doing somewhat better than hers.
BALDWIN: I am talking to Joe Johns about precisely that in "Political Pop" here in minutes.
Wolf Blitzer, thank you.
Want to remind everyone we will get another "Ticker" update for you in half-hour. And you can always get the latest political news. Go to CNNPolitics.com. They're on Twitter. It's at @PoliticalTicker.
