Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Teen Dies After Swimming in Florida River; Finding Justice for Kelly Thomas; Rick Perry Makes Controversial Comment about Federal Reserve; Police Officers Accused of Beating Person to Death; Al Qaeda May Be Trying to Obtain Poison for Attack

Aired August 16, 2011 - 13:59   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: You've heard all politics is local. And today much of it centers on rural northeast Iowa. That's where President Obama is presiding over an economic forum aimed at cultivating new ideas to take back to Washington. It's also where the governor of Texas and newest Republican presidential contender is making up for lost time. And grabbing headlines with outlandish comments.

Last night, for instance, Rick Perry said that Texans would treat Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, quote, "pretty ugly" if he quote "prints more money between now and the election." The group ThinkProgress.org had a camera rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous - or treasonous -- in my opinion.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: I want to bring in my go-to politicos to talk just about this a little bit. Mark Preston is CNN's senior political editor. Paul Steinhauser is deputy political director.

Guys, let's get right to it. Is this Rick Perry just being Rick Perry, or is this a candidate looking for some big buzz?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SR. POLITICAL EDITOR: You know, Randi, I think it's Rick Perry being Rick Perry. He's starting to hit his stride. He's starting to feel more comfortable on the campaign trail.

However, this might not always be working to his advantage. When he says comments like this, it's certainly going to draw the ire of Democrats, who are going to start really turning their attention, their fire on him.

He might also be alienating himself with Independent or middle- of-the-road Republicans. So he has to be very careful what he says on the campaign trail. But you know what? He is getting buzz, there's no doubt about that -- Randi. KAYE: Yes, he certainly is.

You know, Paul, a lot of people are saying that Rick Perry is going to give Mitt Romney a pretty good run for his money. What does Romney think about Perry right now?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, Romney is getting asked about Perry nonstop. It's day two for Romney campaigning in New Hampshire, the first primary state in the nation, and he had an event at Merrimack, at a business plant there just a couple of hours ago. And he was asked about Perry again.

And maybe he's getting a little frustrated, because he said, "At this stage, all I've got to say about Governor Perry is he's a fine guy, a fine governor. I respect him. I look forward to seeing him on the trail and at the debates."

Here's the problem, Randi. Mitt Romney, up until now, has been running basically a general election campaign in a primary season. He's been going off President Barack Obama. He's kind of been ignoring the other Republican candidates.

Now, can he still do that with Rick Perry in the race? He's trying to, but it gets a lot tougher because there's now another very big elephant in that room -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes, there certainly is.

Also, yesterday, just getting back to a few of Rick Perry's interesting very comments, not only the one about treason, but he appeared to question whether President Obama loves his country and his patriotism.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said you would be a president who loves America. Are you suggesting the current president does not?

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you need to ask him. I'm saying, you're a good reporter. Go ask him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Mark, what do you make of that?

PRESTON: I think that he's playing to his base and he's doing a good job of it. Again, though, he's walking a fine line by saying that about the commander-in-chief, by saying that about the president of the United States.

It's certainly going to score points with conservatives within your party. However, you could alienate those middle-of-the-road Republicans. So, again, he needs to be careful -- Randi.

KAYE: Yes.

And Paul, speaking of alienating Republicans, at least one Republican finds some of this talk offensive. I want to quote Tony Fratto, the former spokesman for President George W. Bush. You know him.

He tweeted, "Governor Perry's comments about Chairman Bernanke are inappropriate and un-presidential." That's his quote.

So is he at risk here of losing some of the Republican support?

STEINHAUSER: Here's the problem. And a lot of mainstream Republicans are saying this. And Mark was just mentioning it as well.

Listen, this kind of language will help you in the primaries. You've got a very angry Republican electorate right now.

You saw Tim Pawlenty. He was a little too nice for this campaign, and he is gone. But the problem that some Republicans back here in Washington are worried about is, if the candidate or the nominee moves to far to the right in the general, can they beat Barack Obama?

That is the concern. That's why you're seeing some people raise these alarm bells when you hear Rick Perry make comments like these on the campaign trail -- Randi.

KAYE: Mark, we talked a little about the Perry/Romney competition. How do you think Perry is handling his other competition such as say, Michele Bachmann?

PRESTON: Well, I mean, look, by and large, he's been ignoring his competition, except he did make the comment that he's had 10 years of executive experience as the governor of Texas. Michele Bachmann, the knock on her is that she hasn't had any experience.

She's been in Congress just for a few years, hasn't offered any major pieces of legislation. And again -- and I go back to this old saying. I say over and over again, they're going to be fishing from the same pond of voters. They're looking for social conservative voters.

Rick Perry wants to be the alternative, or certainly wants to stand out from Michele Bachmann when it comes to these voters. He offers social conservative views, but he also offers experience -- Randi.

KAYE: Paul, Rick Perry says that he's making up for lost time now on the campaign trail. Is there an advantage, would you say, to entering the race as late as he did? Did he avoid some of the criticism and months of the campaign already, comes off sort of unscathed from that?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, there are pluses and minuses here. Yes, he's avoided all that so far. But remember, Romney, Bachmann, Ron Paul, some of the others, they've already been vetted. Now Rick Perry will be vetted. And so these stories will start coming out now about Rick Perry. The other candidates have already had those stories out there and have been able to deal with them.

The other thing is money. Now Rick Perry has to start raising a lot of campaign cash. Mitt Romney is pretty far ahead of him right now. He's got time. He's got to catch up right now. He's got to make up for lost time. So, pluses and minuses for jumping in late -- Randi.

KAYE: All right. Paul Steinhauser, Mark Preston, great to chat with you guys about this, as always. Thank you.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is a sad and somewhat terrifying story out of Florida today. A 16-year-old girl goes swimming in a river in Florida. Water gets up her nose, and just days later, she's dead.

So what happened? A microscopic amoeba apparently traveled from her nose to her brain, causing a deadly infection. Courtney Nash passed away this weekend.

Now her family is hoping her death can help raise awareness about this kind of deadly amoeba. Ad her mother, P.J. Nash-Ryder is leading the way. She joins me on the phone now, along with Brevard Community Health Department Director of Community Health, Bruce Pierce.

Thank you both for joining us.

P.J., first to you, I would just like to give you our condolences. I'm so sorry to hear what happened to your daughter.

When did you first notice something was terribly wrong with her?

P.J. NASH-RYDER, DAUGHTER DIED AFTER SWIMMING IN RIVER: I would say Monday night, Tuesday morning.

KAYE: And what was it? What kind of signs or symptoms was she showing?

NASH-RYDER: Tuesday morning she had a fever of 102. It was rising. She had thrown up 20 times. She was getting delirious a little bit.

KAYE: Did she say -- was she in pain, or what was she telling you?

NASH-RYDER: She had a tremendous headache on the right side above her eye.

KAYE: And so you took her to the hospital. And what were doctors able to tell you there? NASH-RYDER: Tuesday night we went to a local hospital. They gave her an IV. They gave her Rocephin. They gave her a little bit of pain medicine. And then they went ahead and sent us home.

KAYE: So they had no idea what they were dealing with yet. How did they finally come to understand that this was an amoeba?

NASH-RYDER: When we got home, her fever was 102.1 from the hospital. A couple hours later, her fever went up to 104. I knew then it was very serious.

Her eyes -- she would sit up in bed and just look at me, and I would ask her what was wrong. She would say, "I don't know." And I'd tell her to lay back down. Her eyes were rolling in the middle of her eyes, and she wouldn't shut them all the way.

I called my uncle. He came over. He knew something was wrong immediately. He's the captain of the fire department.

We went over to Palmer's (ph) Hospital. As we were checking in, just from her appearance, they could see something was wrong.

They took us back immediately to the ER. They did random tests. They did a spinal tap there test and a CAT scan. Within two hours, they came back with the bad news that she had the amoeba virus.

KAYE: P.J., stay with us.

I want to bring in Bruce Pierce and ask him a couple of questions here about this.

Bruce, how common is something like this?

BRUCE PIERCE, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY HEALTH, BREVARD COMMUNITY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: This is extremely, extremely rare. In Brevard County, we've had two cases in probably the last 20 to 30 years.

KAYE: Is there any way to prevent it? I mean, if something like this can get up your nose in the water, with water, and then go right to your brain like that?

PIERCE: As far as prevention goes, you really -- the only way you can completely prevent it is to avoid swimming in fresh water, particularly warm water in the summer months, stagnant water, and then avoid activities like jumping and diving, because that's what forces water up the nose. The other thing you want to do is avoid stirring up the sand or the muck at the bottom of fresh lakes and rivers. That's where the amoeba lives, basically.

KAYE: And they act extremely quickly.

PIERCE: It does. Once it gets to the brain, the condition goes very, very quickly.

KAYE: P.J., I understand that you say this may be a blessing in disguise, the loss of your daughter. How so? NASH-RYDER: She has turned people around. She was an organ donor. I didn't know about it at first.

She wanted to be an organ donor. When she was 14, when she went and got her license, she made sure that the -- she was an organ donor. A day before she went into the hospital, she went back on the computer to make sure and confirm that she was an organ donor.

She has touched a lot of people around the world because, at her age, being only 16 years old, that she knew what she wanted. People have gone to church, they're being baptized, they're believing in God, having the faith. They're wanting to become organ donors. The news has helped me to put out there how important it is during these summer months with the water condition.

KAYE: Well, we'd like to thank you both.

Bruce Pierce, thank you.

And P.J. Nash-Ryder, we do appreciate you coming on. It's such a hard time for your family. It sounds like your daughter Courtney was a very special young girl. We're very sorry for your loss. And thank you again.

PIERCE: Very much. Thank you.

KAYE: Coming up next, looking for a job? We'll tell you where people are hiring.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Times are tough, but in some places times are, well, less tough than others. CNN has done an in-depth investigation to find out where the jobs are. Our Poppy Harlow, standing by with the results.

Poppy, what areas are doing the best -- a lot of folks wondering -- when it comes to job creation?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I don't think you'd be surprised to see some of the top towns are in Texas, a place that has gone largely unscathed from the recession in terms of jobs and in terms of the housing sector. Let's pull up some of the top towns here for you and show you exactly what we're talking about.

The number one on the list in terms of job growth over the last decade is Rockwall County, Texas. That's the 97.9 percent you see on your screen. That's the amount of job growth they've had over the last decade. It's the smallest county in Texas, but they have doubled in terms of the number of jobs added there in the last 10 years.

They've lured a lot of businesses from neighboring counties. They've brought in a lot of jobs. They have major incentives there to bring in corporations, and that keeps people living there and keeps people employed.

The next one on the list, Randi, number two, is Loudoun County, Virginia. Seventy-five percent job growth over the last decade.

It's been dubbed the "Silicon Valley of the East." They've got a lot of tech firms planting their roots there in Virginia, something you wouldn't expect. But that means a lot of good-paying jobs.

And then third on the list is Williamson County, Texas, 68 percent job growth there. This has to do with education. Forty percent of the residents there, Randi, have a college degree. Seventy percent of those have some sort of post-secondary education. And we all know when we look at the jobs report every single month, that people that have a college degree have a lower unemployment rate than people that don't -- Randi.

KAYE: Well, I hope people were taking notes there, Poppy, because this is the kind of thing where you want to take those notes and maybe think about moving to where the jobs are in this day and age.

Poppy, appreciate it. Thank you.

HARLOW: You got it.

KAYE: And if you're a regular watcher of this show, you know that we have been all over this next story. And if you are just joining us, you will want to stay with us.

Accusations of abuse and cover-up, all part of an investigation into the beating death of Kelly Thomas, allegedly at the hands of those who are supposed to protect and serve. Now Thomas' family is hoping to find justice at a higher level.

The update, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We want to update you on a major development in the Kelly Thomas case. His death has been raising serious questions about the six Fullerton police officers involved in Thomas' alleged beating and the police department's response. But we're also learning the lawyer representing Thomas' family, Garo Mardirossian, is preparing a federal lawsuit in the case.

The complaint could be filed as early as tomorrow. And we'll speak with you, Garo, in just a moment about that.

The federal claim by the Thomas family comes as the Fullerton City Council prepares to vote today on whether to hire a police watchdog who would independently review Thomas' alleged beating and the Fullerton Police Department's practices.

Yesterday, we spoke with the consultant the city council is currently negotiating to bring in. His name is Michael Gennaco.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL GENNACO, CHIEF ATTORNEY, L.A. COUNTY OFFICE OF INDEPENDENT REVIEW: You know, these police officers didn't just come to work that day for the first time. Whatever they did was guided by the fact of their training, by the protocols and manual that was handed to them, and a lot of other things. So what we need to do is pull that apart and see whether or not there is a better way of doing business with regard to the way in which the police are protecting the community of Fullerton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: If you have been following the story with us, you know all of this. The review, investigations by the FBI and Orange County district attorney, and now the federal complaint are in response to what allegedly happened to Kelly Thomas.

These are new family pictures of Kelly Thomas provided by his dad through the family's attorney. Thomas was homeless and also schizophrenic. But the photo we're about to show you is hard to look at, but it is a key piece of evidence.

Take a look here. You're looking at what Kelly Thomas looked like before and after the alleged beating by six Fullerton police officers. You can see there he's hardly recognizable.

On July 5th, Fullerton police responded to reports of a man trying to break into cars near a bus station. Witnesses say what began with a search of Thomas' backpack ended with this, tasered multiple times, hog-tied face down, smashed against the concrete, his head slammed with a flashlight. Thomas died from the injuries five days later.

The police chief, Michael Sellers, took paid medical leave last week as calls for his resignation intensified. The six officers allegedly involved in the beating have been placed on paid administrative leave.

But what's more, according to the "Los Angeles Times," those officers wrote their reports after their supervisors allowed them to watch videotape of Thomas' alleged beating. Kevin Hamilton, who is stepping in as the acting Fullerton police chief, says the officers were just following standard procedure, calling it a catch-22.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. KEVIN HAMILTON, INTERIM CHIEF, FULLERTON POLICE: If they view it, we're trying -- it seems like there's a sinister motive there, where there's not. If they don't view it, then we're going to be accused we're not making them account for their actions.

If the officers are culpable criminally, or if they're culpable internally, they are going to be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And that brings me back Garo Mardirossian, who is representing Kelly Thomas' family. Garo, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us about the case. We've been following it and we do have a lot of questions for you.

Let's talk about the federal claim that you are planning on filing tomorrow. What more can you tell us about that?

GARO MARDIROSSIAN, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING KELLY THOMAS' FAMILY: Well, let me tell that we do believe, first of all, that there is something sinister going on when the police chief decides to allow these officers to view the videotape before their reports are finalized. And as we come back to the story later on, as I explain to you exactly why that's so critical -- because you don't -- when you have six criminals involved in a crime, you don't put them all in one room and have them speak to one another, compare notes, and then watch a videotape to make sure that their notes jive with the videotape.

You separate the criminals, and then you speak with them individually. And then you check what they have to say with one another and against the videotape.

Here, they've turned that protocol on its head. These officers are not just officers in these case investigating a case about somebody else where they might need to look at a videotape, but they are accused of battering a man to death. They are being investigated for murder.

So they ought not be allowed to see that videotape before they finalize their report. It's been over 45 days, and we still have not seen the officers' reports.

KAYE: I want to ask you again, though, about this federal claim that you're planning on filing tomorrow.

MARDIROSSIAN: All right. What we'll be filing will be claims. We've already sent in notices on the state level of filing claims against the department, against these individual officers.

One of the officers who was involved in yet another matter we'll discuss in a few moments. And the claims will include obviously the false arrest, beating to death of Kelly, and we're going to have civil rights allegations involving the federal Constitution and the deprivation of Kelly's right to live as a free citizen when he's not bothering anyone. And that will be prelude to a lawsuit later in both potentially state and federal courts, and we'll discuss that in a moment.

KAYE: Garo, I want to ask you about some comments made by the D.A, Tony Rackauckas. He said on our show last week when we interviewed him that the evidence, this videotape, shows that there is no evidence that the officers intended to kill Kelly Thomas. The investigation continues.

They're still trying to figure out, even when you look at those pictures and you look at this video, if excessive force was used. What's your response to that? MARDIROSSIAN: Well, let me tell you, excessive force can be interpreted by people's conduct. You know, our prisons are full of inmates who claim they did not intend to murder, they did not intend to kill the individual they accosted. They were only going to try to control them or just teach them a lesson, and then the person just happened to die.

Well, you file the charges, you let a jury decide. A jury will decide whether these officers had a right to keep beating Kelly Thomas after he had submitted, after he had passed out, after he was no longer responsive.

They kept pummeling his head, they kept striking him with their knees, they kept punching him. They used a Taser, the butt of a Taser, to smash his head in. They used the pavement and the curb to repeatedly smash his head. And they drop-kneed his head.

All this after he was no longer responding physically at all. He had passed out.

Witnesses say the officers kept yelling out, "Stop resisting! Stop resisting!" when he had stopped talking and stopped moving completely. But they kept beating him, and eventually he died as a result of those severe blows.

KAYE: The investigation does continue. That is according to witnesses.

I also want to ask you, though, about one of the officers that might have been involved in this. We haven't been naming the six officers accused in this case, but one of the these officers may have been involved in this beating, along with another attack or another beating, a separate incident involving another one of your clients. There is some video from YouTube of that situation.

I want to show that. And if you can, tell us exactly what happened here. What is your client's claim involving this officer who may have been involved in both of these instances?

MARDIROSSIAN: Very well. Mr. Mann is the victim in this case. You will see an officer right here grab him, and the only thing Mr. Mann was doing was videotaping with his iPhone an interaction between one of his friends and another Fullerton police department officer.

As he continued to videotape, this officer, a rather large gentleman described to be six foot, four, 250 pounds, approached Mr. Mann, who stands five foot, four, 135 pounds and slapped his face basically as his attempt to grab the video recorder. The camera dropped to the ground.

A friend continued to record. And then we see the officer Kenton Hampton grab Mr. Mann, throw him on the ground, knee his back. And Mr. Mann offered no resistance. He was not committing a crime. He was doing nothing wrong. He was just videotaping a police officer's interaction with one of his friends. The officers didn't have the opportunity to view the videotape, so they wrote lies in their reports. They claimed in the reports that Mann wasn't videotaping but jumping on the back of officers trying to prevent officers from performing their duties, which are bold lies. That's the advantage of not showing the officers the videotape, because in this case they didn't see the videotape and they wrote reports that are full of lies, that are false reports. And there will be a lawsuit filed on behalf of the man tomorrow in federal court.

And just to tie it up with the Kelly Thomas case, one of the lead perpetrating officers is the same, Kenton Hampton, seen in the Mann videotape. And had the police department and the D.A. taken note and brought Mr. Hampton to the foreground and questioned him about his falsifying reports and bringing false charges against Mr. Mann, he would not have been there that night beating Kelly Thomas to death.

KAYE: Let me just stop you, because we haven't named the officers ourselves. We don't have that name verified. So I just want to say that.

And also regarding the Mann case, we did reach out to the Fullerton police department, e-mailed and called to get their response, which we haven't gotten from them today. What are you hearing, very quickly back to the Kelly Thomas case, what are you hearing about possible charges of the officers allegedly involved?

MARDIROSSIAN: Well, let's start with the initial report from the police department. What they said right after this hit the news was that this was a very violent man who resisted arrest and fought back and that two of their finest, two of the officers performing their duties that night, suffered broken bones and were hospitalized.

Whatever happened to that? All of a sudden those officers aren't coming forward. All of a sudden they're not talking about broken bones, and it sounds like those bones were never broken. They were creating a story. They were creating a story before they could see the video.

Those officers' bones were not broken and Kelly Thomas was not violent and was not beating the officers up. The officers were beating him up.

And I can tell you that I'd love to see the D.A.'s office bring charges against these officers, but all I'm hearing is a lot of delays and excuses. And they're going to keep delaying, delaying, delaying, hoping that this will go away. But I can tell you, Kelly's dad, Ron, heard his son's plaintiff cry, "dad, dad, dad," as the officers continued to beat his face and pummel him to death.

And Ron Thomas is not going to give up. He's going to pursue the truth. He's going to investigate. He's going to make sure that we help him investigate and people come forward. And let's find out what happened, and let's get the bad officers off the force and let's get them criminally charged.

And the good officers -- I think not all six of these officers are equally culpable. There's got to be one or two of them that were not involved in the beating. Please, I beg of you, come forward, stop and break the code of silence. Come forward and tell us what happened. Tell us truth.

KAYE: Garo, we'd all like to know the truth. That's why we're staying on this story. We'd like to know exactly what happened in the beating death of Kelly Thomas. We appreciate your time, and we'll continue to follow this and check back with you as well. Thank you.

MARDIROSSIAN: You're welcome.

KAYE: It is a terrifying prospect that has American officials very concerned -- Al Qaeda attacking the U.S. with the deadly poison ricin. It is the topic of a new book. The author will be joining us right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: If it ever happened, the death toll could possibly be far higher than the 9/11 attacks. "The New York Times" reports that U.S. officials fear that Al Qaeda may be trying to produce the very deadly poison ricin. "The Times" says ricin would be packed around small explosives for attacks against the U.S. According to "The Times," for more than a year the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen has been trying to acquire large quantities of castor beans. Those beans are necessary to produce the ricin. The white powdery toxin is so deadly that just a speck of it can kill you.

The author of the article is Eric Schmidt, and he's also the author of the new book "Counterstrike, the Untold Story of American's Secret Campaign against Al Qaeda." His co-author is Tom Shanker. Eric Schmidt joins us now from New York. Hi there, Eric. This is a frightening and amazing story as well. I want to begin by asking you what does this ricin plot tell us about the danger of Al Qaeda affiliates such as the one in Yemen?

ERIC SCHMITT, SENIOR WRITER, "NEW YORK TIMES": What it tells us, Randi, is even with the death of Osama bin Laden in May, the affiliates of Al Qaeda in places like Yemen and Somalia, these are still very dangerous to the United States. The arm of Al Qaeda in Yemen after all was responsible for the plot of the so-called underpants bomber in Christmas of 2009, and then 10 months later, the printer cartridges packed with explosives and put on cargo planes pound for Chicago. It shows, even with bin Laden's death, the affiliates are still dangerous to the country.

KAYE: And what do U.S. officials see as Al Qaeda's strategy in terms of the weapons of mass destruction?

SCHMITT: Well, what counterterrorism officials tell us and what we report in our new book is that Al Qaeda has a dual strategy right now. They still are trying to obtain weapons of mass destruction in order to carry out an attack like what happened on 9/11. But they're also looking to another track, and that is small scale attacks, like this ricin plot, where you would have individual cells or individuals perhaps even Americans radicalized over the internet to carry out attacks on their own.

KAYE: So has bin Laden's death as far as you could tell had any impact at all on Al Qaeda affiliates or on the chances of another attack here in the U.S.?

SCHMITT: Certainly it's had an impact on the ability of Al Qaeda in Pakistan, the main Al Qaeda organization there to carry out attacks against the United States. But the affiliates in places like Yemen still pose a very direct threat to the United States.

What this also shows is that even after 10 years of improvements in counterterrorism efforts such as in the military and intelligence community and even in cyberspace where the government experts are now able to infiltrate terrorist cell phone networks and even computers, the government still has a lot to learn about the root causes of terrorism and combating Al Qaeda's very simple but effective message that the west is at war with Islam. This is something that the west and the United States is still trying to combat.

KAYE: And can the U.S. just quickly here, we have 20 seconds left -- can the U.S. do anything to undermine the message from Al Qaeda?

SCHMITT: Yes, what I mentioned before is, for instance, what they're doing in many of the areas in computers, where in cyberspace where terrorists recruit, where they plot plans and strategies, right now you have strategists going in and spoofing the terrorists right now, planting false messages in order to sew confusion and dissent within the ranks.

KAYE: Eric Schmitt, fascinating story. I wish we didn't have to talk about it, of course, but we're happy to have you on to do so. Thank you.

SCHMITT: Thank you.

KAYE: A lawyer, businessman, and a father, but now he is a suspect under arrest in Kentucky, accused in that bizarre bomb hoax involving a teenage girl and a ransom note. We're live in front of the courthouse where he just appeared, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is a story that captivated the world, and today a new twist. Remember this? An 18-year-old Australian girl was at home studying for final exams when a stranger breaks in, straps what she believes is a bomb to her neck, and leaves a note demanding money. He then flees, and for the next 10 hours Madeline Pulver's friends and family keep vigil in a wealthy Sydney suburb as bomb technicians remove what turned out to be a fake device.

That was almost two weeks ago. Today, take a look, these are the mug shots of the man police say is responsible. Get this. He was arrested not in Australia, but right here in the U.S. Fifty-year-old Paul Douglas Peters was taken into custody by an FBI swat team at his ex-wife's home outside Louisville, Kentucky yesterday. From what we know, he's a lawyer, businessman, and an Australian citizen. But police are still trying to figure out what kind of connection he has to the Pulver family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE HUDSON, NEW SOUTH WALES ASST. POLICE COMMISSIONER: There are links between the suspect and the family. However, no direct links, and that's still a matter of investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Pulver's family said today they are extremely relieved about the arrest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL PULVER, FATHER OF BOMB HOAX VICTIM: These past two weeks have been a very difficult time for us, and we are hopeful that this development marks the beginning of the end of this traumatic ordeal for our family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: But of course, it is not over yet. Paul Douglas Peters just appeared in court in Louisville. Susan Candiotti joining us live from there. Susan, tell us the latest. Susan, first tell us the very latest. What happened in court?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he came into court wearing leg shackles and those didn't come off, But his handcuffs did. Mr. Peters was respectful in court and listened closely as a judge explained he was being held on a provisional warrant issued out of Australia and that U.S. authorities would hold on to him until Australia had a chance to formally file extradition papers and evidently that can take place any time between now and in the next 60 days.

KAYE: And Susan, how did they manage to track him from Australia to Louisville, Kentucky?

CANDIOTTI: Boy, it's an intriguing set of circumstances. Australian police took the e-mail address that was written on the alleged extortion note, and they traced it to computers he had used in Australia. In turn that led them to surveillance cameras to see who sent these e-mails. Then they traced it to the kind of car he was driving, tracked down his driver's license, then had a name, discovered that that person had gotten on a plane and flown to Chicago and on to Louisville, and then in turn looked for any kind of financial records or other records that would indicate where he went.

And they found that he had wired money to an address in Kentucky. It turned out to be his ex-wife's house. So they sent a team over to check things out, and there he was standing in his backyard wearing shorts and an Oxford shirt, and those were the clothe he wore in court today.

KAYE: And is there any proof at all that he's connected in any way to this family?

CANDIOTTI: You know, it's hard to say. We know, as you indicated, that he's an investment banker. He's a lawyer. And we asked his attorney what -- whether there might be a connection. He had no comment. But he did say this when I asked him, are you saying that he's not the man, the masked man that was inside that young girl's home?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT COX, PAUL DOUGLAS, PETER'S ATTORNEY: I'm not going to share with you or anyone else anything that he's told me. I will tell you that he will contest these charges. It's my understanding that he has no criminal history whatsoever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he's been a law abiding citizen?

COX: It's my understanding he's an attorney in good standing in Australia and an investment banker in Australia and he has no criminal history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: As to whether there's any other connection between him and the family in Australia, we have this intriguing bit of information. The e-mail address that was contained in the ransom note used the name of a character in a James Clavell novel called Tai-Pan, and the character in this book was a business rival to who took out his opponents through all kinds of means, including extortion. Is there a connection? Police are looking into that. If they know, they're not saying.

KAYE: All right, Susan Candiotti with the latest. Thank you. Fascinating tale.

Campaign trails and political rhetoric. Yes, everyone it is that time of year begin. But did presidential hopeful Governor Rick Perry go too far, using the word treason? Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

Days into his campaign, presidential hopeful governor Rick Perry is already generating controversy. Yesterday in Iowa, he warned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke against using a strategy to stimulate the economy. And he suggested that if Bernanke were to institute that strategy and, in his words, "start printing money," it would be, quote, "almost treacherous or treasonous."

Our cameras were there rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Federal Reserve, I will take a pass on the Federal Reserve right at the moment, to be real honest with you. I know there's a lot of talk and what have you about them. If this guy prints more money between now and the election, I don't know what y'all would do to him in Iowa, but we'd -- we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. I mean, printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous -- or treasonous, in my opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: All right, you heard it there. Joining me now, CNN contributor Will Cain from New York, senior political writer for the "Dallas Morning News," Wayne Slater in Austin, and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona from Washington. Wayne, you covered Rick Perry in Texas for years. Is Perry going too far or is this just politics today?

WAYNE SLATER, SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER, "DALLAS MORNING NEWS": Well, it is just politics. Whether it's going too far depends what you're talking about. For the primary, the first states, there is appeal to religious conservatives and Tea Party activists in Iowa, South Carolina, and north Florida, he's not going too far.

Let me tell you, I can't think of a single Tea Party activist who would take offense at what he said today. He's just preaching to the choir. Tea Party folks want two things. They want someone who's ideologically consistent with them. More importantly, they want somebody who talks tough, who will take the fight to Barack Obama. And what he's doing is sending a signal, you want to put somebody in the ring against Barack Obama who is tough, that's me.

KAYE: Maria, what do you make of this tough talk?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, that might be true in terms of being how to appeal to the extreme right wing of the party and being able to grab and maintain the mantle of Tea Party frontrunner, which I know Rick Perry is desperate to do.

But the problem here, Randi, is that it's not going to in any way allow the GOP, if Rick Perry does become the nominee, to be able to then appeal credibly to mainstream rational, sensible independent and even moderate Republicans who are the ones that he's going to need to get if he has any, any want to be able to compete with Barack Obama in a general election. There's no way they're going to be able to do that. That's the big challenge.

KAYE: Will, what's your take?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Randi, at the beginning you said Will Cain from New York. I'm actually from Texas. I would say this to Wayne. I'm not a Tea Party activist but I'm a sympathizer. I would take offense to what he said there. The hard thing is no one knows how to define the Tea Party.

This is what I would say about Rick Perry. He said something to score points to score points on the far right. The problem is it will be used against him from the left and it becomes a political football. We'll play this little game where it skirts the real substantive issue, which is monetary policy, which is an interesting and great debate to have.

KAYE: Let me ask you though, he's not just talking about the Federal Reserve. He's also talking about President Obama, questioning his love of country and his patriotism. I think we have a moment to listen to this sound bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

PERRY: You need to ask him. I'm saying you're a good reporter, go ask him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Certainly, very interesting conversation there between that reporter asking him that question. Let me go back to you, Wayne, just very quickly, what do you make of that?

SLATER: Well, during his reelection race last year they did focus group testing. It showed that veterans' issues, the appeal, this kind of thing works great. They think this is part of their appeal.

Maria is right, when you get to the general election, it's going to be a problem if Rick Perry is the nominee. But for the moment, he thinks the numbers are there, so appeal to the hard right.

KAYE: Maria, help or hurt, that's all you have time for, help or hurt him?

CARDONA: It will hurt him. As a democratic strategist, I'll steal one of President Clinton's line and I'm tickled pink that he's running because if this is how he's going to be running, bring it on.

KAYE: Last word, Will.

CAIN: How about this. I'll say that I think Rick Perry is going to be the next president of the United States.

KAYE: OK.

CARDONA: Not the way he's talking.

CAIN: I'm not cheerleading it. I'm just predicting it.

KAYE: OK, we'll check in 2012 and see how it turned out. Great to have you all on, thank you.

CARDONA: Thanks, Randi.

KAYE: Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, and Elvis Presley are all in the Political Ticker today. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: And it's time now for a CNN political update. Political Editor Mark Preston joining me now from Washington. Hi there, Mark. What's this about Newt Gingrich and the super committee?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: You know, Randi, while all the other candidates are in key voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Newt Gingrich was here in Washington today. He spoke before the think tank the Heritage foundation, and he came out against the super committee. These are the 12 Republicans and Democrats who are tasked with cutting between $1.2 trillion and $1.5 trillion.

Why is he against it? He says all the other members of Congress are abdicating the responsibility, basically. He says it should be done in Congress. The super committee is getting too much power.

Now, check this out. You would think that Michele Bachmann probably should have done her homework before making this comment. But as she was at a rally in South Carolina today, she wished Elvis Presley a happy birthday. The problem is it wasn't his birthday. This is the date of his death. Michele Bachmann making a bigger roar there down there about Elvis.

I can tell you, I remember when I passed away. I remember being on Cape Cod as a young child. It's one of those moments in time you never forget. I guess Michele Bachmann forgot this one, Randi.

KAYE: Don't they have people that tell them these things? Isn't that how it works?

PRESTON: Yes, they do, but I guess this one kind of failed on it. So there you are.

KAYE: All right, Mark Preston, appreciate it, thank you.

And I want to let you know that Wolf Blitzer is interviewing President Obama one-on-one. You can see it all on Wolf's show today. "THE SITUATION ROOM" airing at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, 2:00 Pacific only on CNN.

I'm going to hand it over now to Brooke Baldwin.

Hi, Brooke.