Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Countdown to Iowa; NFL Player Called Drug Kingpin; Star Sandusky Witness Takes Stand; Mansion Murder Mystery; Barry Bonds Sentenced to Two Years Probation; Baby Fits In Palm Of Hand

Aired December 16, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Happy Friday to all of you, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's go and get you caught up on everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire," as always.

We begin with this. We are waiting to hear if baseball legend Barry Bonds will go to jail or face parole. His sentencing expected any minute now in the San Francisco federal courthouse. Baseball's homerun king has already been convicted of purposefully misleading a grand jury that was investigating the use of banned substances like steroids in professional sports.

Also happening right now, President Obama getting ready to take to the stage right there. This is in Washington, the Conference of the Union for Reform Judaism. This, as the Republican presidential candidates blast him for his policies on Israel.

Also there in attendance, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. We are watching that for you there as well.

Another government shutdown averted -- maybe, most likely. The House just passed the House spending plan just a couple of minutes ago. The measure now, as you know, headed to the Senate, where approval is also expected.

But what if that vote doesn't come in time? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says not to worry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: The administration takes the view that if the appropriation -- the final appropriation bill has passed one House this afternoon, we could have that vote today or it could be tomorrow, but the administration, I'm told by the Majority Leader, takes the view that if it has passed one House, there would not be a government shutdown. So I think everybody should be reassured that's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Also today, the star witness in the Penn State scandal testifies he saw Jerry Sandusky molesting a little boy in a locker room shower. Mike McQueary testified that he told university officials about that encounter. He also told them it was "extremely sexual in nature."

McQueary was at a hearing today to determine if there was enough evidence to try Penn State's fired athletic director Tim Curley, and also to try former university vice president Gary Schultz for lying.

And a shocking story out of the NFL today. Have you heard about this? Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd busted just this past Wednesday for allegedly trying to set up a massive drug ring.

His teammates, they're stunned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WILLIAMS, CHICAGO BEARS RECEIVER: Nobody's talked about the situation. It's a situation that you don't -- I don't want anybody to be in, especially a close friend, a teammate that I've been playing with now for four or five years now. So, especially a guy from Texas with a wife and daughter. So, it's tough for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police say this was no small-town drug deal. Hurd is accused of trying to buy up to ten kilos of cocaine and half a ton of marijuana for something like $70,000 every week. Even more explosive than that, Hurd reportedly has all kinds of customers among the ranks of the NFL. More on that story ahead out of Chicago.

Meantime, six former executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac facing some big trouble today. The feds today charging them six of them with fraud, accused of not telling the truth about the mortgage loans they were giving out to high-risk homebuyers. As you know, you, the taxpayer, bailed out the government agencies during the financial crisis.

And questions lead to a demand for an independent review of how police conducted the search for this 7-year-old girl, Jorelys Rivera. The mayor of Canton, Georgia, where she was from, wants to know why sheriff's deputies were not debriefed after searching and clearing that vacant apartment where, as it turned out, that little girl was killed, and why the police chief wasn't personally heading up that search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR GENE HOBGOOD, CANTON, GEORGIA: -- police chief should been here the day after that little girl went missing? I would think so. I would think that he should have been, sure.

CHIEF JEFF LANCE, CANTON, GEORGIA, POLICE: I feel like I was there when I was needed. And if that's something that needs to be fixed on my part, I will fix it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A 20-year-old man who worked in that apartment complex, lived in that apartment complex, is charged with killing Jorelys Rivera.

An abrupt, surprise recess at the Bradley Manning hearing today. Manning, the Army private suspected of passing classified U.S. documents to WikiLeaks, his hearing began this morning and immediately went in a recess, and then another recess. Manning's lawyer says the investigating officer has a conflict of interest stemming from a civilian job as a prosecutor for the Justice Department, which is investigating WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

And BP getting a quarter of a billion -- that is "billion" with a "B" -- dollars. It's from the Cameron International Company. This is the maker of the blowout preventer -- remember we talk so much about this? -- which failed to stop that Gulf oil spill after the well exploded last year. The settlement, not an admission of liability by the company, want to point out, but the agreement does come in advance of the federal trial over the catastrophic spill which begins next February.

And the man accused of trying to kill President Obama is competent to stand trial. That is the ruling that's come down from a federal judge.

Oscar Ortega Hernandez, charged with firing shots at the White House last month. At least one bullet actually hit a window.

And we have a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Twenty-two pounds of cocaine, a thousand pounds of pot. That's what the feds say an NFL player wanted to become a drug kingpin. But here's the kicker. There is reportedly a list out there that shows all the players he has ever sold to.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): As fears grow Iran may be trying to build a nuclear weapon, a disturbing discovery found in the luggage of a passenger heading there from Russia.

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He tried to take some form of nuclear isotope.

BALDWIN: Now a massive manhunt is under way.

A bizarre mystery is unfolding involving murders inside a mansion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God, it surprises me 100 percent.

BALDWIN: A husband and wife found dead, but the crime scene is baffling investigators. Michelle Sagona (ph) joins me live.

And she is one of the tiniest babies ever born in the U.S., nine ounces, the size of a soda can. And as this little baby fights for her life, at least one doctor is asking, where do you draw the line? And --

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER (singing): Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-a.

BALDWIN: -- at least one Republican is happy. Some others, whipping out the gloves as the presidential race for Iowa heats up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The final GOP debate before the Iowa caucuses a little sedate last night, an exception being Minnesota's Michele Bachmann. She tore into Ron Paul for his hands-off approach to Iran. She hammered Newt Gingrich on a number of fronts, including his multimillion-dollar lobbying practice, and here she goes again.

This is a radio interview just this morning out in Iowa.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is one of the king influence peddlers in Washington. He has taken over $100 million over the years, $37 million just on the health care industry.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wolf Blitzer with me from New York today.

So I know you have an interview with Congresswoman Bachmann. And obviously, she has got to make some noise out there in Iowa. I mean, if she doesn't -- go with me, Wolf Blitzer -- if she doesn't finish, first, second, third, fourth, how does she justify staying in the race?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: She's got to do well in Iowa. She was born in Iowa. She's from a neighboring state, Minnesota. She spent a lot of time there, a lot of her money there.

She's been counting on Iowa. She certainly hasn't been counting on New Hampshire. So she's got to surprise a lot of folks and do well. And she's really going on the offensive right now.

She's not shy, she's not hesitating. Did you notice that exchange at one point she had with Newt Gingrich, when she almost berated him for talking down to her?

BALDWIN: We've got it. We've got it.

BLITZER: Do you want to play it?

BALDWIN: Let me play it. This is between Newt Gingrich, because he had said that she tends to get her facts wrong. Right? It was all about the facts. And Bachmann didn't like that very much.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: I think it's outrageous to continue to say over and over through the debates that I don't have my facts right, when as a matter of fact, I do. I'm a serious candidate for president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And Wolf, just to be fair, I mean, it's not just Gingrich who is the only one who has criticized Bachmann for occasionally mixing things up. But be that as it may, do you think that these debates, several of which you have moderated, do you think they've served to sort of smoke out the candidates' weaknesses, their foibles?

BLITZER: I think the debates have been very helpful to all of us to better appreciate who these respective candidates are. But did you notice when she said, "I'm a serious candidate for president of the United States"?

What I heard her say -- and I'm going to talk to her about this later today -- is I'm a woman, you should take me seriously, you shouldn't just dismiss what I'm saying, because I want to be president of the United States just as you want to be president of the United States, and don't talk down to me, Newt Gingrich, right now, just because I'm a woman.

BALDWIN: So that's how you read it?

BLITZER: That's how I read it, and given the history of Newt Gingrich and women, three marriages and all of that, I think this is a sensitive subject that we should explore. And I'm going to be exploring it in "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today. I know you'll be interested, and I think our viewers will be interested.

But that was just me. What did you think? How did you read that little exchange when she said, "I'm a serious candidate"?

BALDWIN: We talked about it this morning. Honestly, I didn't think that. I didn't think that. But I would love to know what she thought in that instant, what was going on through her mind. So we'll watch you ask that question and we'll see, I guess, how she sort of interpreted it.

But let me just switch gears. We've been talking a lot about Iowa. Let me talk South Carolina, because that's a little bit down the line, third in the primary lineup and, as you know, could be hugely important.

Today, the news, Republican governor there, Nikki Haley, endorsing Mitt Romney. Since we last checked in with Nikki Haley, her approval rating, Wolf, it's down to 36 percent.

Now, there's this other poll showing Romney and Gingrich both losing to President Obama in the state of South Carolina. Want to take a stab at that? What's happening there?

BLITZER: She is very popular nationally among Tea Party conservative activists. She has got a huge following out there.

She has got issues in South Carolina, obviously, and those poll numbers reflect that, but this is a very, very important endorsement for Mitt Romney, because Mitt Romney's support does not necessarily come from the Tea Party. He's got a lot of establishment Republicans who are really supporting him, they are very fearful that Newt Gingrich would alienate so many Independents, moderate Democrats, Reagan Democrats, as they like to call it.

And for Nikki Haley, one of the darlings of the Tea Party, a strong, strong supporter of the Tea Party movement, to endorse Mitt Romney gives him a lot of credibility among those folks. And I think it's going to help him in Iowa. It will help him in New Hampshire, certainly in South Carolina going forward, in Florida.

And as we keep saying -- and I drill this in all the time -- this is going to be a long, drawn-out fight, I suspect, because it's not winner take all in these Republican contests, it's proportionate. So, if you have the money, the stamina, the ability to keep on fighting and fighting and fighting -- and Mitt Romney does have all of the above -- this could go on long after Florida, Nevada, into February, March, April.

BLITZER: OK, Wolf Blitzer. We'll chat next hour. Thank you, sir.

Still to come, radioactive material found in the luggage of a passenger on his way to Iran. And guess what? He was traveling from Moscow.

Coming up, we are going to dig into the connection between Iran and Russia specifically.

Plus, the alleged child rape at Penn State. The case is in court today. You remember the assistant football coach who said he saw Jerry Sandusky abusing one of the little boys in that shower? He was asked in court today why he didn't immediately go to police. We'll tell you what he said.

And incredible video. These pictures are just stunning.

There is a woman actually pinned under this bus. This is Utah. So, a police officer gets to the scene. What does he do? Gets under the bus, holds her hand.

I'm going to be speaking with that police officer live in the show. What was he thinking? Has he checked back in with her? Don't miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Kind of a murky situation here. An Iranian man tries to board a flight in Moscow, and when his luggage undergoes inspection, authorities find radioactive metal. So, they analyze the stuff, the radioactive material. It turns out to be sodium-22, which that primary use of that, believe it or not, is actually medical.

We have got to look at the Iran connection here, so people are obviously asking some questions. The Russians say this case has triggered a criminal investigation, but they won't say more about the individual who tried to get the materiel on board the plane to Iran.

Now I want to take you to Chicago and the stunning allegations that one of the city's biggest drug dealers is also a Chicago Bears wide receiver, Sam Hurd. He was arrested by federal agents Wednesday night after allegedly trying to set up this huge drug deal and take possession of a kilo of cocaine.

And that's just sort of the tip of that. Frankly, we couldn't believe the news when it broke.

Hurd was signed by the Bears just this past July after playing down in Dallas, to this multimillion-dollar contract, some $5.1 million, including his signing bonus. He also had a charitable foundation. He's known by his teammates as a hard worker, a really nice guy.

So, naturally, a lot of people, fans, teammates having a tough time wrapping their heads around this.

So, Ted Rowlands, let me just bring you in.

And obviously, we are talking here major drug conspiracy charges. Can you just -- I want you to get into the nitty-gritty details with me. What exactly -- I see black.

Did we lose him?

We lost him. We'll try to get him back.

We are also -- I should point out, we're going to talk to a sportswriter coming up next hour a little bit more who has been working out of Chicago, who has been following this guy since he came, as we mentioned, to Chicago back in July.

How perfect is that? We have Ted Rowlands.

Ted Rowlands, there you go. Like magic.

Do me a favor. Just get into the details. Exactly what do these allegations involve?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is astounding, as you said, Brooke.

Basically, what happened is the feds have been tracking him for a few months. And this week, in Chicago, two nights ago, basically he went into a Chicago area steakhouse with an undercover federal agent and he walked out with a kilo of cocaine. And that's why they arrested him initially. But that's not the shocking part of it. It's the sheer numbers that they were supposedly negotiating, that he was negotiating with this undercover agent.

He said that he was interested in buying five to 10 kilos of cocaine a week, and 1,000 pounds of marijuana a week. He said he had an existing business in Chicago and his supplier couldn't keep up with it.

This is a guy that is supposedly playing football for a living, and he is basically telling this undercover agent that he is a kingpin in the drug world, and that he can't keep up with the demands that he supposedly is selling to on the streets of Chicago. It is shocking news to everybody.

Listen to Brian Urlacher, one of the co-captains of the Chicago Bears.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN URLACHER, CHICAGO BEARS LINEBACKER: He's a good teammate. That's what I know of him. You know, he comes to work every day and works hard.

And outside of here, I don't know him very well. But he comes to work every day and practices hard and plays hard. That's all I know of him.

He's a friendly guy. He's always been really friendly. He says "Hi" in the hallway every time you walk by him. And I walk by him 10 times a day in the hall way, and he still says "Hi" every time. So he's a good guy from what I know of him being in the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: The affidavit also says that they traced his cell phone with some activity between some California known drug dealers or suspected drug dealers, and they said he negotiated with this undercover agent to try to get some Mexican-based cell phones, telling them that he didn't think that the feds could listen in on his conversations if the cell phone was based in Mexico.

His lawyer did appear with him briefly yesterday in federal court. Here's what he had to say after that hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT GREENFIELD, DEFENSE ATTORNEY FOR SAM HURD: We've had an opportunity to go over the affidavit and the facts as we know them to date. Sam stands ready to fight this case, and we're going to take it one step at a time and we're going to take it day by day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: And Brooke, he is scheduled to be back in federal court here in Chicago in about 45 minutes. We are expecting that bail will be set and that this case will be transferred to the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

But people here in Chicago just cannot believe the allegations against Sam Hurd, a member of the Chicago Bears.

BALDWIN: Yes, it's stunning. And you point out the numbers. And I guess when he caught got caught, when he was sitting with who he thought would be people who would be distributing and I guess handing him drugs, ended up being these informants. And he would have been willing, according to reports, paying up to 700 grand a week for drugs.

That is just one layer of it. There is now a second layer, which, of course, is, are there other players involved? And reportedly, there is a list of players he sold to.

What do you know about that?

ROWLANDS: Well, a -- we haven't been able to confirm any of that. There is a Chicago-based radio station that is reporting that there's supposedly a list of potential players that may have been customers of Hurd.

If you talk to legal analysts, it's very unlikely that the feds would go after customers of any drug dealer. They don't like to go down the ladder, they want to go up. And he's so far, astoundingly far up the ladder in this, but it would be obviously very embarrassing if those names did surface and if that was true. But right now, really just a rumor coming out of one media outlet here in Chicago.

BALDWIN: Got it. Ted Rowlands, thank you so much for us in Chicago.

As I mentioned a moment ago, I'm going to speaking with a Chicago sportswriter who has been covering Hurd ever since he came to the Bears this past summer. He says Hurd passes a background check, came up clean before being hired by the team. Apparently, he has squeaky clean -- squeaky clean background.

More on that next hour.

Now to the case of alleged child rape at Penn State. Jerry Sandusky's attorney gave his explanation for his client's activities in the shower with a young boy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE AMENDOLA, JERRY SANDUSKY'S ATTORNEY: And teaching a person to shower at the age of 12 or 14 would sound strange to some people, but actually people who work with troubled youth would tell you that there are a lot of juvenile delinquents, or people who are dependent, who have to be taught basic life skills like how to put soap on their body.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, today, the Penn State employee who says he witnessed the abuse in the shower is in court. Find out what he is saying now, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The star witness in the Jerry Sandusky child rape case is witness number one at this key court hearing today for not just one, but two Penn State university officials. Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary told a court he believes he saw Sandusky molest a little boy in the shower.

I want to go to Susan Candiotti, who is live for us in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Susan, McQueary also testified that he did make it clear to Penn State officials that a boy had been sexually attacked, contrary to what those officials say.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So now you have both sides of the story, because you're now also hearing that testimony of at least one of those officials at the moment, Tim Curley, the athletic director, being read into the record.

So now we are, in fact, hearing what both men are saying. And as you indicated, it is the first time that we are hearing details from Mike McQueary from his own mouth on the witness stand, sworn testimony once again, about what he said he saw back in 2002, when he describes a boy being allegedly sexually attacked by Jerry Sandusky.

Now, he says that, "I didn't see actual intercourse," but he said, "From what I could see, it certainly appeared that that's what was taking place." And he also testified that he made it abundantly clear to the two Penn State officials that that's exactly what he saw.

Now, contrast that, Brooke, with this. Right now, as we speak, the testimony of Tim Curley is being read into the record, and he is saying that McQueary did not mention that he saw anything of a sexual nature. In fact, he said that he didn't know if there was any sexual misconduct of any kind. He said it was only horsing around that McQueary had described to him.

So we're getting two diametrically opposed stories, accounts of what was said.

BALDWIN: So, is Curley saying that, yes, Mike McQueary came up to me, yes, he did report inappropriate behavior, but he wasn't very specific when it came to, as you describe, what appeared to be intercourse? Is that the distinction?

CANDIOTTI: That's right.

BALDWIN: OK.

CANDIOTTI: He's saying just horsing around. Again, of course this is testimony to the grand jury being read into the record, Tim Curley's testimony.

BALDWIN: What exactly happened during cross-examination with McQueary?

CANDIOTTI: Well, the defense attorneys tried to get him to be shaken in this testimony, but he really wasn't. He answered each question with great confidence.

And one of the things they hammered on, "You consider this a crime?" And McQueary said, "Yes." "But you didn't tell police?" And he said, "No." But he also added this: "By telling what I said happened to these two Penn State officials, including Gary Schultz," who is the head of university police, McQueary testified, "I felt as though I was telling the police, because that's who he represented on campus."

BALDWIN: Wow.

When can we expect the judge, Susan, to rule whether there is, in fact, enough evidence to send the Schultz and Curley cases both to trial?

CANDIOTTI: Well, the norm, Brooke, is that after the judge hears all the testimony that the prosecutors are putting into the record, that he makes a ruling very shortly thereafter. Now, maybe he'll take a break, but we expect to get a decision today as to whether the judge feels there is enough evidence here to move forward with a trial.

BALDWIN: Susan Candiotti, we appreciate it, there watching this unfold in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Coming up, a millionaire is found murdered inside his mansion, alongside his wife of some 40 years. Today, new details. That's in two minutes.

Plus, a baby born weighing all of nine ounces. Look at this. This is essentially the size of a soda can, smaller than that person's hand.

This hour, we're going to talk about the challenges of caring for such a small baby and what that means for the child's quality of life down the road.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: John and Geraldine McGee were your Ozzie and Harriet couple living this seemingly perfect life in this mansion near Boston. He developed real state. They raised two kids. The McGee's were more than successful. They were respected. They were well liked within in the neighborhood.

Their community friends say they can't imagine who would ever want to hurt them, but someone did. John and Geraldine McGee were shot to death inside their million dollar-plus house Tuesday night.

The beautiful, quiet, quaint up to of Andover, their daughter found their bodies Wednesday morning when she stopped by to drop off her children with their grandparents. The couple's SUV was also found miles away in Boston. It had been set on fire.

Police right now, very, very tight lipped over this investigation, but investigative reporter Michelle Sigona has been digging into the story for us -- Michelle.

MICHELLE SIGONA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Good afternoon.

BALDWIN: Good to see you.

SIGONA: Good to see you.

BALDWIN: What have you found?

SIGONA: Well, I did speak with the police department. Just as you mentioned, they are remaining very tight lipped, a lot of things are close to the vest in this case. They are investigating these murders as homicides that happened inside of the house.

There are some reports out there that state that the couple, they were shot in the neck, some shell casings were picked up. They would not confirm that information, but I did speak with a very good friend of the family's. She's known them more than 40 years.

She said on the morning of the murder, she received a call from Holly, from the daughter, who found her parents and she asked that the family friend, whose name is Diane, she said are you sitting down?

She said my parents have been shot. I need you over here right now to help with the children. So the friend, Diane, raced over to the house and assisted from that point on. So at this point, what police are saying is that it appears to be an isolated incident. They have not had any murders in this area since 2002. It is a town of about 32,000.

BALDWIN: You mentioned something from police. This is reporting from one of our Boston affiliates, WHDH, they are reporting there weren't any bullet casings found at the scene. Can you confirm that? What does that tell you if that, in fact, is true?

SIGONA: Actually, I cannot confirm that because police will not say one way or another. But if that is true, what it appears to be is something that was planned out. What I can tell you is that I spoke with the Boston Fire Department and that they found the vehicle on Tuesday night around 10:20, just before 10:30.

It was set on fire. It was on a residential street in Boston, about 20, 25 minutes away from the home where the murders took place. And so, if this happened, it may have been some time on Tuesday afternoon, evening and then once the murders took place, then that person or persons jumped into the vehicle and went there.

You know, there's going to be surveillance along the way. I'm sure that investigators are looking to pull along the route. There's going to be people, someone out there saw something or they know something.

Now, this particular neighborhood, there's not a lot around there. So, it wouldn't -- you know, if neighbors didn't see or hear something, because the homes are so far apart, that is not odd in itself, but someone, somewhere along the way does have information.

And so what investigators will do is they will go into the house and really start from that point and working their way out. What Diane told me is that Jerry recently got back from a golf vacation with her girlfriends.

They also own a home in Jupiter, Florida, and when they got back last weekend, they all went out to dinner. They had a nice toast at dinner to life and to friendship and to health. And she's really grateful that she had that, you know, those last moments with her friends last weekend.

BALDWIN: So, so far, I suppose, since police are being so tight lipped, understandably so, this is very much an ongoing investigation, do we know, are there any suspects whatsoever?

SIGONA: No suspects yet. This is still very new. I can tell you that the neighborhood is still closed off. It's only open to residents who live there. I can tell you that the house is still considered a crime scene at this time.

I can tell you that they are interviewing family members, friends. They are moving in through the computer systems. I mean, the family owned a construction company. There are a lot of business dealings, a lot of people that had a lot of interaction with this family, very well known in the area and there's really a lot to comb through at this point.

I think within the next few days, we will start to learn a little bit more about the dynamics and about who exactly would want to target these people just before the holidays.

BALDWIN: OK, Michelle Sigona, thank you very much for us, the latest details of this double homicide out of Andover.

I was just getting some news in my ear, we've been watching for the sentencing to be handed down to Barry Bonds and we have now learned it has -- he faces two years, two years probation and a $4,000 fine with regard to that obstruction of justice charge.

And that testimony back in 2003 when he apparently misled this jury as they were investigating steroid use among professional athletes. Two years probation, home run king, Barry Bonds, and a $4,000 fine. We are going to talk to Sunny Hostin about that coming up.

Also, a baby that could fit into the palm of your hand, this next story is amazing. A child born at 24 weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is a miracle baby for them and for us. Again, this cannot happen every day. I want you to be sure that this is once in a lifetime, maybe twice in a lifetime as a practicing neonatologist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: After this quick break, the extraordinary challenges of saving this teeny, tiny baby and what it means for the child's quality of life later on.

But first, do you remember what you were searching this past year on Google? Well, Google does. They just released a list of the top global searches that spiked the quickest in popularity, fastest rising search terms in 2011.

We have the top five for you. Number five, ever play this, "Battlefield 3" popular video game. Maybe you did. Number four, the mother accused of killing her child in one of the most controversial cases, talked about case of the year, Casey Anthony.

Number three, Ryan Dunn, the star of the TV show "Jackass." He was killed this year in a drunk driving accident. What are the top two most searched items on Google? You will hear them after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Where do we leave you, we were giving you the top five fastest rising Google searches of 2011. Now number five, "Battlefield 3," four, Casey Anthony, third, Ryan Dunn.

Second place is new social networking site, have you ever been to this, Google plus, obviously a bit of a plug for Google. And number one, boy, Friday, YouTube star, Rebecca Black, we are not doing that song.

Back to this breaking news story here, Barry Bonds gets two years probation and a $4,000 fine following his perjury conviction that goes back to April of this year for his testimony in the Balco steroid scandal.

I want to go to Sunny Hostin. Sunny, so two years that is pretty much just what the defense was asking for?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right. This is considered a big win for the defense team. The bottom line is he wasn't convicted of the more serious charges of perjury, which would have been punishable up to five years in prison. He just convicted of the obstruction of justice charge.

Not with standing, the prosecutors, Brooke, in this case wanted him to serve 15 months in prison. The federal prosecutors asked over and over again this morning for the judge to sentence him to some prison time.

Even though this judge indicated that she wasn't inclined to do so, they still argued the point, but the defense asked exactly for two years probation, a $4,000 fine and about 250 hours of community service.

I don't know if he is going to have to do the 250 hours of community service, but it sounds like the judge certainly agreed with the defense's recommendation and gave him just that.

The Federal Probation Office asked that he get some home detention and so he didn't even get that. So, all in all, a big win for the defense in this case.

BALDWIN: Quickly, just remind us, I mean, this was years ago when he testified, right, December of '03 and the jury ultimately said he was evasive. They couldn't prove that he actually lied about whether or not he took steroids, but he was evasive in the questioning, correct?

HOSTIN: That's correct. Let's face it this was a long-standing investigation. We are talking about the 2003 Balco investigation and so, so many things have come out of it.

But the fact that many people do believe that he was so evasive to have lied in front of the grand jury, this is a good outcome actually for Barry Bonds.

BALDWIN: Barry Bonds, home run king, finds out he faces two years probation, what is it about two miles from that ballpark where he took the Hank Aaron record in most home runs in major league so, what a day for him. Sunny Hostin, I thank you very much.

HOSTIN: That's right.

BALDWIN: Coming up, let's talk about this little baby, this baby weighing not even nine ounces, less than the size of a soda can. So this hour, we are going to talk about the challenges of caring for a baby so small and what it means for this little child's quality of life all the way down the road. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Have you heard about this little baby defying the odds in California? Melinda Starr came into the world 16 weeks early weighing just over nine ounces, just about the size of a can of soda.

Melinda was so small. She could fit into the palm of her doctor's hand. She is now up to four pounds, 24 weeks into the mother's pregnancy, doctors told her the baby wasn't getting the blood, the oxygen she need to survive.

Back on August 30th, Melinda was delivered via C-section, emergency C-section and she is believed to be the third smallest baby to ever survive. But this tiny fighter dubbed a medical miracle possesses a bit of an ethical dilemma no one can really answer.

Doctors saved her life and when she gains a little bit more weight, she is expected to go home with her family, but doctors say she may face a lifetime of health problems.

I want to bring in Kathy Kinlaw, she's associate director of Emory University Center for Ethics. Kathy, I just want to jump right into these ethical questions.

A lot of us were talking in our morning meeting, would you think, one would think, there would be no doctor, no question in terms of as a doctor to save a life no matter the length, no matter the cost involved, the technology, the health risk, the doctor would want to save a life, am I wrong?

DR. KATHY KINLAW, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, EMORY UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR ETHICS: I think you're right. I think doctors are very much wanting to do everything they can at every occasion and particularly with a baby, where there's a much desired pregnancy and anticipating a wonderful, full-term pregnancy, everything is sort of set to go so you're right that would have been the hope, but things were not that way here, were they?

BALDWIN: Here's the thing, short-term, Melinda faces risk of infection, bleeding in the brain, long-term. She could suffer possibly from cerebral palsy, cognitive, physical problems. At what point do parents and the doctor come together and draw the line?

KINLAW: Yes, so this is a -- this is a really important question. The -- when do we actually say this is something that we should not be doing? So, with a baby that's this small, about 270 grams, which is about -- about two-thirds, a little bit less than thirds of a pound.

This is a very small, extremely low birth weight baby and also the baby was born very prematurely, I understand about 24 weeks. So, when we are at the cusp of that kind of birth weight and that gestational age, that's when the clinical team will actually really begin to wonder, is it acceptable not only to resuscitate the child, but then to continue to provide treatment for the child?

So, fairly early on in a case like this, the team would then be coming back to the parents, talking about what the potential for long- term problems are for this child and really asking the question, you know, should we continue to provide aggressive treatment for this child? Care, yes, but not necessarily ongoing aggressive treatment.

BALDWIN: Ultimately, who makes the call? I mean, it has to be the parents, right, with the doctor's recommendation?

KINLAW: Yes, we tend to, in this country, given a awful lot of decision making power to the parents. And I think by and large, that's right. The question, of course, becomes at what point perhaps should we not be providing or offering certain types of treatment that simply may not be in the best interest for the child?

And that's the cusp of the question. And general, when children are born at 25 weeks of gestation or further along in terms of development and are of a reasonable birth weight category, we actually are pretty aggressive intervening and has seen outcome for those children improve drastically over the last decade.

When we get down to 23, 24 weeks gestation and even birth weights much higher than these babies and that's when the parent decision making process comes in. If you have a much smaller baby and much lower birth weight baby, those are the babies for whom no attempt to resuscitation might occur. We are in that cusp here.

BALDWIN: Then though you also think about price. Unfortunately, it's a sad reality of how we function, the cost, how much will it cost to take care of this little, little child.

I know the parents here in the story. They have Medi-cal, the public insurance program for the poor. So her cost, this child's price of life right now could cost the state of California as much as half a million dollars is what I've read.

KINLAW: Yes, I have seen that estimate as well. Yes, there's no doubt that providing both neonatal care while in the hospital is quite expensive on the order of several thousand dollars per day for neonatal intensive care.

But then over the lifetime of a child that may have long-term disability, of course, there is a heavy cost factor. I would say that, in general, in terms of medical decision making, we don't like to think about that. We like to intervene.

We like to do everything we can for the child and not make a decision based on cost. I think that is really an important question for our public though. We, as a society, need to make a decision about whether there is a limit in terms of the amount of resources we want to spend for all types of health care.

And if there is, it would be nice to do that as a matter of public policy and not ask for that decision to be made at the bedside with a particular patient or particular family. We have not been willing to do that.

BALDWIN: What a story, gotten so much of us here on our team talking about this today. Kathy Kinlaw, Emory University, I thank you very much.

KINLAW: Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: Now, a woman trapped under a city bus in Utah and the whole time, a police officer is under that bus, right next to her. Look at that holding her hand. He, that officer, joining me live, after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Talk about a story of compassion and dedication. For this, we go to Utah. West Valley City police officer held the hand of a terrified and injured woman as she was pinned under a city bus. She couldn't move.

He promised not to leave her until she got out alive. So Officer Kevin Peck wedged his body between the icy road and the undercarriage of this bus. I mean, just look at the picture. Just look at this, would you do this?

His blue latex gloved hand clutching hers. Peck, a man of his word, did he not let this woman's hand go until the fire crews lifted the bus off of her and there they go lifting it, slowly but surely.

Officer Kevin Peck joining me by phone from West City -- excuse me, West Valley City, Utah. And Officer, wow is first what I say to you, and secondly, how is the woman doing? Have you visited her in the hospital yet?

OFFICER KEVIN PECK, WEST VALLEY CITY POLICE (via telephone): I did. Luckily, I had the chance to go up and see her at the hospital and actually moved her out of intensive care into a recovery.

So, it was -- it was a great experience to go up and see her, be able to talk to her and check on her condition and status and I'm glad I got to meet her family.

It was good to see them and they were grateful for just the little bit that I could help out their daughter with.

BALDWIN: The little bit. The little bit, as in placing your body underneath a bus some 25,000 pounds. I mean, when you first got to the scene, could you even see her?

PECK: Not -- not initially, I didn't know exactly where she was. I got right up there and saw a couple people kind of crouched down next to her and I could just see her tennis shoe.

BALDWIN: So you see her tennis shoe and then you somehow get under this bus. I mean, was that your instinct, just to get underneath and help her?

PECK: Yes. I just -- you know, there was no other way that -- I didn't feel it would be appropriate for me to try to yell at her and communicate with her anywhere else from outside, you know, standing and I just wanted her to know that we were there and that we were going do everything we could to get her out.

BALDWIN: So you reach out, you're holding her hand. Is she able to speak? What is she saying? What are you saying to her?

PECK: She couldn't really see that well. Her glasses had actually been knocked off of her and her hair was thrown in front of her face. She couldn't reach her own face because her shoulders were pin.

And she had blood matting had down and she couldn't see that well, which probably added to some of her fear and you know, it was kind of dark and cold under there.

And I really just, you know, because of that I -- you know, the next best thing is just having that -- that touch and knowing that, you know, somebody's voice and I can feel his hand and he is not, he is not going to leave and I just wanted her to know that.

BALDWIN: How long did it take? I imagine it felt like an eternity, but how many minutes passed as both of you under this bus?

PECK: You know, I -- I want to say anywhere from five to seven minutes. Give or take it is hard to tell something like that when you are in the middle of it and time is just totally irrelevant.

BALDWIN: How long, Officer, have you been -- have you been in the police force?

PECK: I've been with the West Valley City for nine years now.

BALDWIN: Have you ever done anything like this? Is this the first time?

PECK: First time for being under a bus like that, yes.

BALDWIN: And so here we are, heading into the holidays, sort of, you know, grateful for the small things, the little things, as I like to say. I mean, this is just stunning, stunning to me is it stunning to you, looking back?

PECK: You know, I -- and to be honest with you, I didn't even know that anybody was there recording anything, taking pictures, anything like that, until she was gone and I was standing there and kind of had a chance to look around and assess the rest of the scene there.

But you know, I think that's the whole reason I came into this line of work was to have a meaningful job and it's not all the time that we get to participate in things like that when it does happen, I'm extremely grateful for those opportunity.

BALDWIN: Officer Kevin Peck, we need more Officer Kevin Pecks in the world. I thank you so much for what you did for that woman and for calling you into us. Thank you, sir. Happy holidays to you.

PECK: Thank you. I appreciate it.

BALDWIN: Now this. All right, here we go top of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Several stories breaking for you right now, a busy Friday. First, the House about to vote on extending the payroll tax cut. Also out in San Francisco, Barry Bonds just --