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Terror Attacks in Norway; Debt Battle Goes On; Gunman Attacks Youth Camp Near Oslo Bombing; Interview with Representative Chris Van Hollen; Potentially 30 Teenagers Dead; Humans in Cages, Animals in Wild; Secret World of Illegal Pet Trade

Aired July 22, 2011 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And now, just about the top of the hour. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): The temperatures are rising and in some places they're breaking records. Some states are bracing for possible blackouts.

Right now we have sent reporters to some of the hottest spots.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

Forget August 2cd. The deadline to reach a deal on America's credit limit is already here, according to some states. And as lawmakers play with fire --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What planet is he on?

BALDWIN: -- many Americans could suffer big time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our little girl has touched so many lives. Not many people can say that in this world.

BALDWIN: A mother of triplets disappears and new clues are leading police to look at her husband, you know, the one she's trying to divorce.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want her to come home alive.

BALDWIN: Find out what he says happened and what he's asking police to do.

Plus, a place where humans live in cages and dangerous animals run wild.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. What's going on here?

BALDWIN: Amber Lyon goes deep into the rain forest to investigate the sale of exotic animals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting out of here. BALDWIN: And, yes, you know, someone is always watching. You will see what happens after these liquor bandits get creative.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. Top of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin.

As we mentioned just with Wolf moments ago, we're just now getting some new information on our breaking story, today's terror attacks in Norway.

Police are now saying these two attacks are definitely linked. So let me set this up for you. First, you have a massive bombing hitting the very heart, the very city center of Oslo, the capital city of Norway. People running scared after this explosion took out the windows of several government buildings there. Inside one of those buildings was the prime minister's office. We are being told he was not there at the time the bomb went off. But as of this very second, at least seven people are reported dead from that particular bombing.

Many, as I mentioned, still trapped in those buildings and many more are injured in what Oslo's mayor is calling a terrible day for Norway. And then hours later, a person dresses up as a policeman, walks into this youth camp attended by some 700 people and opened fire. We are just now getting a preliminary death toll in that attack. At least nine people are dead according to police.

Police also say that the same person detained in that youth camp attack was seen right around a government building at the time of the Oslo blast. Here's his description. This is all new, just coming into us here. Described as a tall man with blond hair and a Nordic appearance. He is still being questioned, so of course we expect much more information out of that inquiry.

But I spoke with Nima Elbagir earlier, one of our correspondents working this one, digging on this breaking story out of Oslo, and she told me that the government is afraid there may be more attacks over this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're also concerned not only about those who are stuck in the buildings, Brooke. They're also concerned that there might actually even be further blasts. They're attempting to keep that downtown area clear.

A police spokesman has said that all they can do is issue warnings and hope that people will stay away from the center of town, not only for this evening, Brooke, but throughout the weekend. They said that the safest place for people tonight is in their homes.

BALDWIN: Do you even know yet if this explosion or explosions was detonated from within a building? Or are -- we hearing that possibly it was a car bomb in the street.

ELBAGIR: Well, eyewitnesses have said that they saw an incredibly mangled car, which would fit with how a car would look if it had been used to detonate that kind of explosion.

Those who say they saw it believe that it couldn't possibly have just happened from the blast. But it was such a big explosion, Brooke, that most people's recollection of it is pretty shaken. The police say they're trying to get bomb experts down there on the scene as quickly as possible to deal with that forensic evidence, because the M.O. they believe will help point to what kind of an organization could've triggered this attack.

But at the moment, we have heard many conflicting reports. Some eyewitnesses say that they believe that that bomb could've actually even been inside the lobby of the building where the prime minister's office was, but all still incredibly unclear at the moment, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Still, Nima, still no one coming forward claiming responsibility for this?

ELBAGIR: Not at the moment. We have seen a lot of chatter on a lot of the pro-jihad forums. So you can appreciate they see this as reason to celebrate. Many are saying that this is in revenge for the bin Laden killing, but nobody actually definitively claiming responsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Nima Elbagir, thank you so much.

And I want to go to the phone, because Ian Dutton is on the line. He is a pilot for a U.S. airline. And he was not too far from that blast site. He was in a hotel.

Ian, thanks for calling in. I understand you were at a hotel just about a quarter of a mile from these explosions and at the time you described feeling as though your bed was struck by lightning. Can you explain that?

IAN DUTTON, WITNESS (via telephone): Well, yes. It was actually even more powerful, the pressure wave going through your chest. We had flown overnight from New York to Oslo.

And obviously the first thing you want to do is have a little bit of a rest. And so I was just waking up to go make an afternoon of it. And the concussion struck the hotel, shook it very Violently. And it almost seemed like it was a combination of an earthquake, which of course would be very unlikely in Norway, and a lightning bolt or a thunder blast.

And so I got up immediately and went to the window and saw this cloud of smoke and debris emerging from the plaza area where the bombing was centered. Initially the people you could see, it didn't look like so much panic as it looked like just disbelief, that people really were just in some amazement that this really could not be happening.

(CROSSTALK)

DUTTON: It reminded me a lot of my initial reaction living in Lower Manhattan on September 11.

BALDWIN: The fact that you think in that moment what is happening and then how could this possibly be happening in my own hometown, my city? How dare they?

DUTTON: Sure, and particularly where Oslo is traditionally a very safe, a very calm, a very civilized city. You don't right away assume that it's going to be the target of this kind of an attack or whatever we had happen today.

BALDWIN: Let me just take you back to right now. Are you still in your hotel room?

(CROSSTALK)

DUTTON: Yes, I have been downstairs and I'm back up right now. I'm on the 28th floor and looking down into the site. I don't actually have a ground-level perspective.

BALDWIN: But you can see the city.

DUTTON: But I can see buildings. Yes, I can't see the ground level right where the blast was, but I see the buildings that were immediately impacted. And surprisingly, most of the lights are on in that 16-story government ministry building. I don't see any signs of motion in the building, but if you didn't know any better, especially now that evening is starting to come on, twilight is coming on, you might just think it was a normal evening in that building.

But when there was a little bit more light, you could definitely see that there are almost no intact windows, there is debris hanging out from the building . And the closer building, the government ministry building, top of the building actually looks like it's warped. And the top floor, all the windows are gone.

I'm looking at the backside from the blast and I can see structural damage to top of the that building from where I am.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: From our understanding, despite the mangled mess you're looking at, a number of people are still in there and still stuck, but they have evacuated that city center, so that probably speaks to some of the calm and perhaps by now a couple of hours later, the smoke has dissipated.

Final question. You know, you're in this hotel, can't believe you're feeling this rumbling 28 stories up. What's the sense just within -- I'm sure many people within the hotel, it's what is everyone is talking about. Is there a sense of panic in the hotel? What's the conversation like in there?

DUTTON: Not at all. Not a sense of panic. It's really we don't feel that we're in immediate danger. Certainly that possibility exists. There's maybe a sense of vulnerability. And I see the same processes that I went through going through September 11 and living in Lower Manhattan where now it's -- things are calm, even, if I can say, they're eerily quiet outside. There's just no traffic. They're diverting the traffic away, there are no people really.

And so people might be wary, but it's -- I don't sense panic. And of course you have got to go about your life. And if that means going out and getting something for dinner, then so be it. I don't think there's a sense that somebody's got crosshairs on our back as we walk about on the street. But certainly there's a wariness.

BALDWIN: Ian Dutton, I appreciate you calling in. And please just stay safe. And then reach out to your family. I'm sure they want to hear from you as well. Ian, thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

DUTTON: Sure. Sure. And my heart to the victims.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Mine as well.

As we mentioned, we are getting some new details. You have two separate incidents here. Now police are saying most definitely they are connected. You have these bomb blasts happening in the city center of Oslo, Norway, right around the 4:00 afternoon hour Norway time. And then some hours and I'm not sure as far as the timeline, you also have this shooting at a youth camp at this nearby island.

So I want to go to Astrid Randen, an NRK reporter from Oslo, from Norway on the line from me.

And, Astrid, just bring me up to speed. I know we are learning here nine to 10 people killed in that attack at this youth camp. Is that the number that you have?

ASTRID RANDEN, NRK REPORTER (via telephone): I have been speaking to youth who just came off this island where the youth camp was.

And they reported that there's more casualties. But the situation here is still very chaotic and the police haven't yet confirmed any numbers. But the witnesses, eyewitnesses that I have been speaking is telling me that it's more. It's 20, 30 people have been killed, they are telling me. But it's not confirmed by the police.

BALDWIN: My God.

From our own CNN reporting, according to police, an individual, this individual who was the one with the gun opening this fire, this individual was disguised -- or I shouldn't say disguised. He was wearing a police uniform. And he's the one who open fired. This individual is now in custody and is being questioned.

Can you describe this individual to me?

RANDEN: What I have been hearing -- I'm at the small village close to the island where all the youth now are gathered. And I have been hearing what they have been telling me.

And they have been telling me that it was this man dressed up in a police outfit who told the youth that he was going to inform them about the attack in Oslo that happened in Oslo. And all the youth were gathered in this hall at this small island when the shooting started.

Of course, there was chaos and panic and they ran out of this hall and out. And some of the youth tried to swim off the island and off the shore. One of the boys I was talking to, a 19-year-old boy, told me that he was swimming out in the water. The gunman was pointing his gun at him. He could feel the shots right next to his ear.

But he managed to swim away and the gunman turned around. So it's a very dramatic situation. It's a lot of ambulances here. It's police cars everywhere. And we have been seeing dead youth, young people at this camp --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How young? What are their ages?

RANDEN: Children, children down to 14 years old were at this youth camp for the Labor Party.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: There are reports, Astrid, that there are bodies. We're hearing now that there are bodies floating in the water off the shores of this island. Is that what you're hearing?

RANDEN: I have been hearing that as well. I have seen the island from about 400 meters. I haven't seen the bodies floating in the water myself. But I know that the police have been out there looking for bodies in the water. Many of the youth, as I said, ran off the island and started to swim. But the water was very cold. So -- but we haven't had any reports from the police if they have found bodies in the water. But what we know is that many of the youth were shot at the beach. There were nine people at the beach that couldn't move. And that's what we know so far.

BALDWIN: Astrid, was it just youth? You mentioned children, teenagers, because there was also reporting that there were senior Norwegian officials . I'm hearing perhaps that the prime minister was to be at this camp tomorrow. Is that correct?

RANDEN: Yes, the prime minister, he comes here every year. It's a summer camp for the youth that is happening every year.

An, today, the former Prime Minister of Norway Gro Harlem Brundtland was speaking to the youth, but she had left before the shooting started. The plan was that the young (INAUDIBLE) like the prime minister from Norway from the Labor Party should be coming here tomorrow. But that obviously won't be happening, because now all the youth are gathered here at the hotel close by. They have been taken care of by the Red Cross and by medic aid and given blankets. I can see them through the window here. They're gathered together. And I can hear some of them shouting. And there's tears and there's despair. And it's a terrible situation.

BALDWIN: Of course it is, if you're saying, according to witnesses, that 20, possibly 30 of these youth at this youth camp have been killed, bodies floating in the water, young people wanting to escape the wrath of this gunman and trying to just swim in the frigid, frigid water off of Norway.

I do want to ask you, Astrid, back to this gunman, this individual who is in custody. I'm looking down at my notes. According to CNN reporting, he's being questioned right now, tall with blond hair, Caucasian, described as having a Nordic appearance. Do you know how police caught him, how they took him down?

RANDEN: No, I actually don't know anything about how the police managed to get him.

I know that the special forces were here quite quickly. But -- and there was also a helicopter here quite quickly to get out to this island. But I don't know anything about the arrest. It didn't happen on the side where I was, from where have I stand.

BALDWIN: Also according to our reporting, this individual was spotted in and around the same area of Oslo, where the bomb went off.

RANDEN: Yes

BALDWIN: If you can, just help me because I'm not familiar with the lay of the land, how does one get from Oslo to this island? And how long does that take?

RANDEN: It's about 45 minutes drive. This island is about 45 minutes drive from Oslo out in the countryside. So it wouldn't have taken him more than that to get out here. But there's a small boat to get into the island. And according to witnesses, the policeman was telling the security people, I suppose, who is checking who you are, and why you are going to the camp, that he was a policeman coming to inform the youth about attack Oslo. So they were informed that he was -- and he was also showing some kind of ID, they have been saying. But again, this is not confirmed information.

BALDWIN: OK, Astrid Randen, I appreciate you jumping on the phone. An NRK correspondent from Oslo. Astrid, thank you very much.

Obviously, this is very much so a developing story. We're getting more and more numbers. It's been reported nine to 10 at least confirmed, as that correspondent was telling me, possibly 20 to 30 children at this youth camp killed as this gunman, who's now in custody simply open fired. Much more on this breaking story. We have to get a break in. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Want to continue our breaking coverage of the horrific terrorists attacks in Oslo, Norway. As we have been reporting, seven confirmed fatalities in the city center today. At least it is a national holiday there. Many, many more injured, many others simply trapped in these now burning and mangled buildings here in Oslo.

Also right alongside this story, just about a 45-minute drive from there is an island. On that island, there were hundreds of youth. And according to my last guest, a correspondent from Oslo, she was reporting according to witnesses 20, possibly 30 young people were shot by this gunman who is now in custody. Describe as in Nordic, Caucasian, and Nordic in appearance.

Joining me now is Senior International Editor Tim Lister.

Let's begin, Tim, with that new information. The fact that this individual's appearance, who by the way this same individual was, according to our reporting, spotted also in Oslo. What do you make of the fact that he looked Nordic?

TIM LISTER, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: In the first few hours after any such event, there's so much information, or misinformation, flying about that I wouldn't want to draw too many conclusions. Maybe it was good disguise. Who knows? But if he was Nordic, it would not be a complete surprise, because the pattern of European jihadism over the past five or six years is that people in Germany, in Sweden, who are natives and who go back generations have become involved in terrorism.

You saw it even in the United States with a young man Paul Venus (ph), who went across to Afghanistan. He had no Muslim background whatsoever, but he went to wage jihad. It's not unknown for Europeans to become enamored of this international jihadist project.

BALDWIN: So, let me just ask a really simple question. Why Norway? Why Norway? And why can't we conclusively say yet, yes, this is Al Qaeda, or yes, these are international terrorists?

LISTER: We can't see inconclusively that it's Al Qaeda. It's so soon. They haven't even begun the forensic investigation. There's one somewhat plausibility claim of responsibility, that comes from a group in Iraq, that was connected to the Stockholm suicide bomber back in December 2010. It's plausible without being any more than plausible.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LISTER: But it is the same guy who appears to have met that Stockholm suicide bomber, when he went for training in Iraq. A why is it plausible? Because he posted a photograph of that young man literally hours after the Stockholm attack, before anyone in the world knew who had carried that attack out. So he did know. So that's a plausible claim that they were involved again, in this attack.

Why Norway? 5 million people stuck on the roof of the world. Who would be bothered? Well, Norwegian newspapers have repeatedly published the Mohammed cartoons.

BALDWIN: The Danish paper.

LISTER: They republished the ones that were originally in the Danish paper. There was a plot last year that was wrapped up in Norway, where at least one of the defendants has admitted they were going to go after one of the Norwegian newspapers. There's a Norwegian newspaper chain whose head offices are right next to the prime minister offices in this part in Oslo. So the cartoon business, which everybody thinks, oh it is years ago now. But it still rankles. It still goes on. People are still very exercised about it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And wasn't that office adjacent to some of these buildings in Oslo?

LISTER: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LISTER: So that is another possibility. Plus, they are in Afghanistan. And Ayman Al Zawahiri, the number one in Al Qaeda now, has said in the past, Norway will pay for its involvement in Afghanistan.

BALDWIN: This terrorist attack, though, today, in Oslo, this is the largest we have seen in Europe since, what, 2005 in London?

LISTER: Correct.

BALDWIN: The Tube, then before that, it was Madrid.

LISTER: It is, yes.

BALDWIN: So it's been quite a while.

LISTER: It has been quite a while, which shows that this is a sophisticated attack. That this needed planning.

BALDWIN: Why?

LISTER: This amount of explosives.

BALDWIN: The destruction.

LISTER: You don't just pick that up.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LISTER: You have to be very careful. A lot of explosives plants, building contractors, are very tightly monitored now because of their use of explosives, quarries and so forth. You can't just go around and buy off the shelf, the sort of explosives that would have caused this amount of damage. This needed planning. They apparently knew that the Norwegian Labour Party leadership would be in attendance on this island.

BALDWIN: Prime minister going to go there tomorrow.

LISTER: You don't get to an island very easily. This needed a lot of planning. So it would suggest that this isn't was more than one person, that a lone wolf couldn't possibly have carried this out. This was a cell. That is what we have seen in Scandinavia, cells. The interesting thing is, there are people who have come from different ethnic origins and gathered together, whether they're Uzbeks or Iraqis, or Wiggias (ph), all over, they are coming together. Very often radicalized in mosques in Stockholm, in Gutenberg, in Oslo, and that is where the plots start.

BALDWIN: You're so right, though, in the hours after anything like this, there's a lot of misinformation, and we can't jump to any conclusions.

LISTER: We can't. But what we do know is Norwegian security services, at the beginning of this year, said they were more worried than they've ever been before about the possibility of something like this happening.

BALDWIN: And here it is. Tim Lister, thank you.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, what's going on here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What's going on here is that CNN takes you inside a world where humans live in cages and dangerous animals run wild. Amber Lyon and her crew had some scary moments. Coming up, we'll see what happened when one monkey attacked.

Coming up next, though. The deadline to come up with a deal on the debt ceiling is just 11 short days away. What about the divisions between the White House and the Democrats. I'll speak with one Democrat on Capitol Hill. Maryland Congressman Chris Van Hollen is standing by. He'll join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Eleven days and counting until a potential default of the U.S. Treasury. Now the president is calling on Congress again to prevent that from happening, by approving more government borrowing. As we told you before, President Obama is pointing out that the bills coming due are money Congress has spent already.

So joining me now from political, Representative Chris Van Hollen, Democrat from Maryland.

Congressman Van Hollen, good to have you on.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D) MARYLAND: Good to be with you.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about your side. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, he has cancelled a planned a weekend session to work on the issues. So they don't have to go to work. We also got word that your House Democrats cancelled a planned news conference. Has your side been told, hey, turn the volume down. Let the president and Speaker Boehner continue to talk in private. And would you expect them to reach an agreement possibly as early as this weekend?

VAN HOLLEN: Brooke, I don't think anyone has been told to turn the volume down, but it makes sense to spend this weekend allowing these conversations to continue. As you know, the president has had different groups of congressional leaders down in the White House. Everyone is working overtime to try to put together a deal. But it's not a deal yet. Not by a long shot. Everyone will be working overtime this weekend to try and wrap it up.

BALDWIN: So working overtime this weekend, but we might have a deal by the end of the weekend, sir?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, that would be the hope. But again, there's still a whole lot of loose ends. These are not necessarily just small high items. They're some big issues. The bottom line that the president laid out today was America plays its bills. American families can't decide not to pay the mortgage, or the car payment. And the United States should not state -- uh you know, we're not going to pay our bills. Because that would have a terrible economic consequences in addition to setting the wrong example, and so we've got to get this done.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about your party. We have been hearing about dissention among Democrats. And Senate Democrats shouted down the president's budget director, Jack Lew at a very heated meeting yesterday. Congressman Van Hollen, what was all the shouting about?

VAN HOLLEN: What happened, Brooke, was that in the middle of a Senate Democratic caucus there were news wire reports that the White House was about to enter into a deal that was unbalanced. There was only going cuts, and was not the balanced approach the president has laid out. He's made very clear that any deal will involve cuts, but will also require closing special interest tax loopholes and asking folks at the very top to share in responsibility for reducing the debt. And so when these wire reports suggested that it was going to be a totally one-sided approach, not a balanced approach, I think temperatures rose.

But there's a lot of rumors flying around the capital, as you might imagine. Most of them are just that, they're rumors. There's no agreement yet. People are working hard to get it done.

BALDWIN: Are congressional Democrats demanding that the president pursue an upfront tax on the top wage earners? And are you at all afraid that the White House will cave on that and accept higher taxes on the wealthy, only down the road, if certain debt reduction targets say they are not met?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, we've said the same thing that the president has said, which is that any balanced approach has to require a revenue component. And it has to be real. It has to be guaranteed. In other words, when you vote on the package that includes cuts, you have to know that the time that the revenue component will kick in, whether it kicks in today or tomorrow or some other time.

BALDWIN: Does it bother you if it kicked in some other time if it was simply a trigger mechanism? Does that offend you?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, the issue, Brooke, if there was 100 percent guarantee that revenue would be part of it, that's OK. But put it this way: The spending component should be dealt with in a similar manner as the revenue component. There should be symmetry there.

But the big issue is when you take that first vote, you have to have 100 percent ironclad assurances that the final product will be balanced. It can't just be we'll do the cuts now and have a wink and a nod hand shake for whatever comes later. That won't work. It has to all fit together. It has to be real balance. And that is what the president has said. But when reports came out-the other-yesterday, that it was just going to be all one way, that obviously got a lot of people upset. But again, these things, especially when you have negotiations that are going on where you have such tense feelings, you know, a couple of rumors flying through here can light a spark.

BALDWIN: It happens. But we know not to listen to those rumors, don't we, sir.

I know you are the leader of your caucus. Are you committed to selling your members on any deal here? I know you talk about symmetry, but any deal the president might make with Speaker Boehner?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, no. We are going to look at any deal that the president reaches. Every member reserves the right to vote yes or no. And certainly members of the House aren't going to blindly follow any deal that may be entered into by the White House. I don't think that they would expect us to. And that's why it's very important that when they take on those negotiations with the House Republicans, if they're going to be relying on House Democrats, they need to make sure that the deal will win over at least whatever support they need.

And you know, it's very important the White House not miscalculate in that sense. But, again, I want to stress the fact that the president has been consistent in saying that we need a balanced approach. He was very clear again today that he would not agree to a deal that did not have that kind of balanced and shared responsibility for reducing our deficit.

BALDWIN: He said pay the bill, pay the tab.

VAN HOLLEN: That's right.

BALDWIN: I listen to him in College Park, your state, sir. Congress Chris Van Hollen, thank you so much. VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And have you heard about this story? This strange disappearance out of Missouri? You have this mother of triplets. They're five years of age. She's been missing for seven weeks. So, her husband, an ex police officer, believed to be the last person to have ever laid eyes on her. Jacque Waller, went to her husband's house to pick up their son. This was back on June 1. That's the last time anyone saw her. Her car was found later near the interstate with a flat tire.

Earlier on that day, she met with her husband, Clay Waller, to finalize divorce papers. Waller family has been searching for her and has custody of her three kids. Now, her father accuses her estranged husband of killing her, saying this, quote, "I know the threats that he's made against her and I know the diaries that she kept outlining those threats. He did it. There's no doubt in my mind."

But, this husband, Clay Waller, says he's innocent. That his wife was abducted. Now everyone is out to get him. For more on this, let's go to investigative reporter, Michelle Sigona, from Washington.

Michelle, let's first listen to this sound. Let's actually listen to Clay Waller. Hear what he's saying. We'll talk on the other side.

MICHELLE SIGONA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Absolutely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAY WALLER, JACQUE WALLER'S HUSBAND: I can't change how people feel. I mean, there's a lot of emotions that are running high right now. Just I just don't know what to say yet. I'm not sure to be honest with you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Michelle Sigona, he sounds soft spoken, head down. What does that sound like to you? Do you believe him?

SIGONA: I think there's definitely two sides to every story. He's proclaiming his innocence. He's saying that look, I hope she's found OK. I'm praying for her family, for her parents. I just really hope she's found and there's a peaceful resolution to all of this.

But the other side of the coin is, I've spoken with Lieutenant Barnes twice today, once within the last five minutes, Brooke. And what he tells me is that Clay Waller is a person of interest in this case. He's not been charged with any crime. He's not considered an official suspect. But he is a person of interest. He is someone they're zeroing in on at this time. The investigation is ongoing. I also spoke with the Cue (ph) Center. It is setting up a large scale search this weekend, where hundreds of folks will come out and will really kind of scour the land, and specific places, land, water, by air, to be able to find this missing mother. BALDWIN: As you mention, appropriately so, he's not an official suspect, though he is the person who saw her last. He says he and his wife had a fight that day. She left, that was right around 4 in the afternoon. He took off, came home two hours later, found her car gone. What do you make of his story? Why would she, according to him, sort of just walk away. And do we even know where he was in those two hours?

SIGONA: We don't know. I think that's something authorities are looking into right now. Sort of closing in that time line, figuring out exactly the moments where she was last seen. He was the last person to have seen her and to actually seen her alive.

At this point, we're still moving forward and hopefully she's alive and OK. But unfortunately this case reminds me so much of the Stacy Peterson case, the Lisa Stebick (ph) case, the Susan Powell case, the Shelley Look (ph) case, those are all four active investigations of sort of the same tale. You know, where we are moving forward with these missing moms are gone. Their cases have sort of faded from the spotlight. I hope that isn't the case with this one.

There's also another missing mom, right now, out of North Carolina. So investigators, I spoke with them earlier today. They're still trying to piece that particular case. But as you can see, on your screen, she's just a beautiful mom. She has three kids.

BALDWIN: She's a beautiful mom of three little ones, five years of age.

SIGONA: Three ones at home, waiting, they really just need something.

BALDWIN: Waiting for their mom.

SIGONA: Folks, if you have any information, just pick up the phone, give investigators a call. They need anything at this point. I mean, we also have to take into consideration that Mr. Waller, he was a former police officer. I did verify with the last department he was with. He was with the sheriff's department. I spoke with a lieutenant there. He was at the Saxton police officer first, then transferred over to the sheriff's office. He was there for 10 months. Left around 2000. Got into some construction work. So he's familiar with police investigations and, you know, sort of handling these types of things.

BALDWIN: Michelle Sigona, I appreciate you making those phone calls and coming on. As you mentioned, so many missing mothers right now. We'll stay on this one for sure.

SIGONA: You got it, Brooke. Have a good day.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, more news on our breaking story out of Norway. We're just now getting word that boats right now are searching for bodies here in the water. We're looking for bodies and we are freezing the pictures, for obvious reasons. This is the water that's surrounding this island where that youth camp had been happening, where that gunman open fired. One journalist says dozens of people, dozens of children could be dead. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to CNN here. More on our breaking news.

The horrific, horrific situation unfolding out of not only Oslo, Norway, but now the situation increasingly dire as we're learning more details on this nearby island. It is called the Utoya Island, where many, many youth were at this youth camp. I spoke with a correspondent out of Oslo, Norway to said according to witnesses, 20, possibly 30 young people have been killed after this gunman simply open fired.

I want to bring Hala Gorani, who has been anchoring on CNN International for literally the last five hours. Thank you for stopping by here.

Let's begin with that situation. What more are we learning about these young people. It's not only a youth camp, right?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Right.

BALDWIN: But we knew that senior Norwegian officials and also the prime minister was to be here tomorrow.

GORANI: Right. It's a youth camp organized by the ruling Labour Party. And that is the party of the prime minister of Norway. He was expected tomorrow. A former prime minister was there today. She is fine, however. But as if it weren't enough for Norway to deal with after that explosion that killed at least seven people and left parts of downtown Oslo looking like a war zone, soon after we heard reports of a shooting on this Island of Utoya.

And there you are seeing aerial images, and tragically, bodies seen floating in the water. The official death toll right now, Brooke, is 10 people killed. And we're talking about the teenagers here. I mean, these are 16, 17 year olds. I spoke with the mayor of Oslo just a few hours ago. And he was telling me that the young people were believed to have been killed are all minors. They are all young kids who went on this retreat, this political retreat on an island. And we are hearing the Red Cross is mobilizing its forces and sending boats to look possibly for more bodies.

BALDWIN: Yes, let's take a look. This is according to the Norwegian Red Cross spokesperson. Several boats have now arrived on the scene here. As we continue to look at some of these pictures, perhaps these are some of the boats as we are seeing. Tragically bodies floating in the water. And from the correspondent I spoke with, she told me, the reason potentially that they are floating in the water, is because once this gunman-who, by the way is now apprehended and is being questioned-once this gunman opened fire on these young people, these kids hopped in the water, which is freezing, freezing cold, to try to get away.

GORANI: Right.

BALDWIN: And this is the sad, tragic end.

GORANI: Because they're on an island, they're trapped, they're cornered. And here you have a gunman. A suspect, by the way, is in custody and of course police are hoping he is indeed the gunman. But there are various reports. And you know it gets chaotic when this type of event unfolds. And this is a fast-developing, breaking news story. And the question is, who is this person? Is this person linked to the bomb attack in Oslo? Police say they believe the two events are connected, but some people are saying they spotted the same person --

BALDWIN: In Oslo before.

GORANI: In Oslo before this rampage took place on this Island of Utoya. It's early days, of course, Brooke. The question now is who is responsible? Jihadi groups have already started taking responsibility. But are they taking responsibility for something they didn't do? Is this domestic terrorism? Is this something completely different? These are all questions that are going to have to be answered. But Norway, a safe country, Oslo, a safe city, everything is rattled now for Norwegians. This is a day of tragedy for them. This is a day they will remember for the rest of their lives when Norway was truly under attack.

BALDWIN: Let's go back up. We have been showing images of the island. Let's go back and if we can, show some of the images of-as you mentioned, it looks like a war zone in the capital city of Oslo.

Several different buildings, just torn apart, to bits. In terms of the sophistication of this bomb, and look, we're labeling it a terror attack. That is exactly what it is, according to people and intelligence community folks we've been talking to, it's highly sophisticated.

As you mentioned, no one specifically taking responsibility, although there has been chatter. But thus far, Norway is a pretty beautiful Scandinavian nation, right there on the water.

One point made earlier, in addition to one of these buildings that house the prime minister, who wasn't there today and other parliamentary buildings nearby, is the headquarters of the newspaper, the Norwegian newspaper that reprinted the Danish newspaper that printed initially that cartoon of Prophet Mohammed which, as we know, outraged the Muslim community.

GORANI: Right. That was the Norwegian newspaper that reprinted the cartoon, the satirical cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed that was initially printed in a Danish newspaper, as you mentioned. But of course, we are in the initial hours after the attack, where everybody is trying to sort of find answers amid the chaos here.

And this is amateur footage from one of our viewers, who in fact, we spoke to just a few hours ago. But if you see the actual building itself, the actual damage to the building the prime minister's office building, it truly gives you a sense of the power of the explosives. We don't know if it was a car bomb.

There you have it. This looks like something you would see in Baghdad. It looks like something that you would see Beirut during the civil war. This is what an extremely powerful bomb does to a city block. And Brooke, there were reports that the wreckage of a car was found outside of the prime minister's office.

But let me tell you, if the bomb was in a car and that car exploded, there wouldn't be a wreckage of a car left to look at. So the question still is where was the bomb placed? This is still very much an open question because if it obliterates half a city block, the car is gone. So if you see the wreckage of a car -- it could be very difficult to imagine it's that particular car.

BALDWIN: Seven dead reported, confirmed deaths there in Oslo. Ten at the youth camp. The story is unfolding. Stay with CNN. Hala Gorani, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

GORANI: It's really an unbelievably shocking story coming out of Norway today. Europe, main European target has been attacked today and everybody is really hoping to get more details on who's responsible for it.

BALDWIN: Spoke with someone who lives there and said he never feared terrorism until today. Hala, thank you. Now take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, what's going on here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting out of here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN takes you inside the secret world of exotic animal trafficking, including a rescue sanctuary where humans are the ones living in cages and the animals, they are out running loose. One of our producers was attacked. It got bloody.

Amber Lyon, she is going to join me live to talk to me about this experience in Costa Rica. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, now to an unbelievable world where humans are the ones living in cages and dangerous animals run loose. This is all part of this upcoming CNN special on the secret world of exotic animal trafficking.

Have you heard about this? Amber Lyon went deep into the rain forest in Costa Rica to investigate, had some pretty scary moments while she was down there. She's going to join me live here in studio. But first, let's watch her piece.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As dawn breaks over Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica, a small town on the west coast, you can hear the eerie sound of a passing troupe of howler monkeys.

Animal traffickers take anything from macaws to monkeys from the rain forest of Central America and sell them to the highest bidder at dozen of auctions held across the United States.

They often become victims of abuse and neglect. Caged, chained, tranquilized or sometimes beaten into submission.

(on camera): I'm a certified jungle woman.

(voice-over): Those lucky enough to be rescued are given to Carol Cruz.

(on camera): You've got bite marks all over you. You've got the scars to prove what you do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are the badges of courage I wear.

LYON: Do visitors ever get chomped on by monkeys?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On occasion, if they don't do what I tell to do.

LYON (voice-over): Fifteen years ago, Cruz sold everything she had, packed her bags and left San Francisco and moved to Costa Rica. Cruz runs the Sanctuario Silvestre (ph), it's a wild life rescue center that borders the national park.

What makes her rescue center unique, it's the only one I've ever seen where the people live in cages and animals roam free. But freedom means my crew and I are at the mercy of the monkeys.

(on camera): These are very aggressive monkeys. They're constantly moving around, which is one of the reasons they shouldn't be kept as pets. OK, what's going on here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting out of here.

LYON: The last guy that came through here, had to get 13 stitches. They call it a sanctuary tattoo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Amber Lyon joining me now. Amber, you said it in the piece, this is a reverse zoo.

LYON: Yes.

BALDWIN: It's a reverse zoo. This is actually the rescue sanctuary, one of the only ones in the world where humans are in the cages.

LYON: And they do it on purpose because Carol Cruz, the lady who founded it said her ultimate goal is to release these animals back into the wild because they've been trafficked and she wants them to live a normal life again.

She says, if she acclimate an intelligent animal like a monkey to a cage, it's going to be hard for the monkey to then leave and fend for itself. So we had to run sometimes from cage to cage.

Sometimes we'll be standing there eating lunch and the monkeys would be on the outside of the cage watching us. Like, you know, normally when you go to a zoo, you're watching the animals eat. They were watching us. It was quite an interesting philosophy.

BALDWIN: I've been in Costa Rica, and those monkeys will grab your sun glasses straight off your head. But as you're running from cage to cage, we just saw a piece of you where you almost got attacked by a monkey. Your producer, Steve? What happened?

LYON: He definitely took one for the team. One of the monkeys, a spider monkey just had a grudge against men because she had been abused.

BALDWIN: Had a grudge against men?

LYON: Yes. She came and sat on his shoulder and it looks like she was friends with him. Next thing you know, he turned around and walked away and he tripped and she got scare scared. And turned very violent and aggressive and bit him three times.

That's Carol whole point is why she runs this rescue facility. She says that no monkey makes a good pet and that's why it's called wild wife. It belongs in the wild. We really learned how a tame monkey can instantly snap like that, Brooke, and attack.

Steve is OK now. I will say he didn't get rabies, any kind of weird diseases. He's doing fine, but it was quite shocking for us.

BALDWIN: Well, let's tell everyone where we can all watch this. Sunday night, it's an all new CNN presents, including your story here.

And a closer look also at bull bullying and the hunt for a possible serial killer on Long Island, 8 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Amber Lyon, thank you very much.

And "THE SITUATION ROOM" coming up here in a matter of minutes. Wolf Blitzer joining me now with a preview.

Wolf, the details out of Norway, particularly at that youth camp just keep come coming out. I don't think tragic really can sum it up.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Yes, it's heart breaking and we're getting more information even as we speak right now. We're going to be covering the breaking news out of Norway. This attack, I think it's fair to say this is obviously a terror attack. We don't know who's responsible. Already some groups claiming responsibility, Norwegian authorities are checking all of these claims. There's obviously reaction here at Washington as well. We'll follow the breaking news over the course of the next two hours.

We're also watching what's developing as far as the debt ceiling crisis is concerned. As you know, Brooke, that clock is ticking and the stakes for all of us right now enormous. So we've got two breaking news stories we're watching very, very closely.

BALDWIN: All right, Wolf Blitzer, we'll see you in a matter of five minutes. Thank you so much.

And before we go, we have much more on the breaking story out of Norway. As Wolf mentioned, there's been reaction out of Washington. We've heard from the president. We're also hearing a reaction from the State Department. We'll get a live update for you on that right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to take you back to our breaking story here, breaking news out of Norway, two deadly terror attacks. In one, at least seven people are confirmed dead in this massive bombing in the capital of Norway, Oslo.

At least nine are dead in a shooting at a youth camp at this nearby island. Foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty is live for me at this hour at the State Department.

And Jill, certainly the State Department coming out today condemning these acts of violence. What more are they saying?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the most thing, Brooke, is when anything like this happens the responsibility here at the State Department is for American citizens, their security and safety abroad.

So the good news, at least you could say, for Americans is that there are no indications that any Americans were killed or injured in those attacks. Also the embassy in Oslo has been issuing an emergency message to Americans.

Telling them avoid the downtown Oslo area, stay tuned to the local media for any updates on the situation and especially transportation closings and then also remain vigilant and aware of your surroundings.

They did condemn it. They're calling it a despicable act of violence and also expressing condolences and offering any type of assistance to the government of Norway. So far, no indication the government has taken them up on that.

Just quickly, Brooke, you know, there is a U.S. counterterrorism official who told CNN that there really was no indication, nothing that officials were led to believe was going to happen specifically in Norway.

And the indications from one official, also a U.S. official, are that this does not have the hallmarks of a big, sophisticated attack, but that it is very early to say who did it or for what reason.

BALDWIN: He's saying -- just to clarify, he says this does not have the makings of a big sophisticated plot?

DOUGHERTY: Correct. However, I mean, obviously it was a bad attack. But a big, sophisticated attack is how this official is putting it. And they also said it could be international or it could be domestic Norwegian. Again, very early to make that assumption or that conclusion.

BALDWIN: Right. Early hours. A lot of information still to come out.

Jill Dougherty, I appreciate it, at the State Department.

And let's continue this breaking news coverage with my colleague, Wolf Blitzer.

THE SITUATION ROOM starts right now.