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Mom: Baby in Toilet Unintentional; Gangs Call for Truce; President Jokes About Lipstick on Collar; More Moms Are Family Breadwinners; Bachmann to Leave Congress; Growing Marijuana in Your Bedroom

Aired May 29, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Chinese police say the woman who first alerted people to a baby stuck in a sewage pipe was the baby's mother. Now the woman who gave birth to this six plus pound baby says she deeply regrets what she did. This is according to police. Look at these photos of this little itty-bitty boy. This boy actually doesn't have a name. He's called baby number 59 because that's the number -- of the incubator he's in, in the hospital. He is listed in stable condition, thank goodness.

But Saturday, what a story, rescuers and doctors pulled away pieces of pipe to reach this infant because somebody spotted this teeny, teeny foot and realized it was a child in this. The mother told police she never meant for the infant to end up in the toilet. Listen to a local officer explain her story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): The woman started to feel a stomach ache and then rushed to the toilet. After she stayed in the toilet for a while, she gave birth to the baby. She tried to grab something to help herself because there was too much blood. She couldn't hold the baby anymore and he slid into the sewage through the hole of the toilet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Officials say because of the amount of blood, the woman flushed the toilet and her landlord says that she heard a strange sound from that. Not clear if the woman will face any charges.

And in Honduras, no white flags, but what you're seeing here is a call for a truce. While in prison, these masked members of two of the most violent gangs in Honduras offered peace to their rivals and made a plea to end the killings. No formal agreement yet, but the gangs already have reached an agreement in neighboring El Salvador.

Honduras, if you didn't know this, has the world's highest murder rate. This is according to the United Nations. Reportedly the Roman Catholic Church helped broker the deal. Coming up, what a story, a beauty pageant contestant is told you won. Less than 24 hours later, whoops, sorry, we made a mistake, typo, that cost her the crown.

Plus, the cast for the upcoming movie "Killing Kennedy," find out who is playing JFK and Jackie O. in today's CNN Pop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: President Obama, lipstick on the collar, pretty funny moment I want to share with you at the White House. This was inside the presidential event honoring Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders and yes, we have the evidence. It's right there in red and white, but, the president had an explanation about the makeup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I want to thank everybody who is here, the incredible warmth of the reception. A sign of the warmth is the lipstick on my collar. I have to say I think I know the culprit. Where is Jessica Sanchez? Jessica. It wasn't Jessica. It was her aunt. Where is she? Auntie, right there, look at this. Look at this. I just want everybody to witness. So I do not want to be in trouble with Michelle. That's why I'm calling you out, right in front of everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Listen, if it's there, you have to be transparent. You have to point it out, we're assuming, of course, it got him off the hook with the first lady.

Now to the hottest stories today from the big screen, to beauty queens, here is today's pop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miss Universe Canada 2013 --

BALDWIN (voice-over): Beauty queen for a day. Yes, never mind. Less than 24 hours later, the pageant took her crown back because of a typo. She actually finished fourth. Organizers apologized and the real winner, a private ceremony.

You know the complaints, movie previews, they're too long, too revealing, too many.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember, danger is very real.

BALDWIN: Well, theatre owners across America agree and they're pushing for shorter trailers. No more than 2 minutes. Studios which depend on promotion none too pleased. The upcoming TV movie "Killing Kennedy" has a cast. Rob Lowe is playing JFK. Jennifer Goodwin is Jackie O. The movie is set to air this fall.

New day, new trouble for Justin Bieber, angry neighbors calling police to complain about the pop star's speeding habits. The sheriff's investigating, but he says Bieber is refusing to chat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please talk to us and tell us what you believe occurred. BALDWIN: Finally, a fan crosses the line with Sasha Fierce, but as CNN Jeanne Moos points out, Beyonce didn't seem to mind, a stage slab from her hubby, Jay-Z.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: CNN Pop for you today. Coming up next, more and more moms are bringing home the bacon. Four out of 10 moms are the soul or primary breadwinners of their households. Some people are saying it makes it more difficult for marriages to succeed, really, you think? We're going to discuss after this break. Tweet me @brookebcnn.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This is a story, has everyone talking, talking to some of my girl friends about this recently and debating. More and more ladies and specifically in this case a lot of moms are becoming the breadwinners in families across America. This new study, there was this great piece in the "Washington Post" this morning that talks about that nearly 40 percent of the primary income earners are the moms.

And it's not only a record, but that is up from just 11 percent back in 1960. Some of the major factors, a couple, you have more men having being laid off so the ladies feel the need to get a job, get a better job and also an increase in single moms. It was a Pew study that also shows this. That most Americans don't necessarily approve of the new changes, 51 percent according to Pew say they believe kids are better off when mom stays at home.

Let's talk about this. Joining me now, Maggie Mistal, a career consultant and radio host and she joins me from New York, and fitness expert, Donna Richardson, who is in the big D in Dallas today. Ladies, welcome to both of you. This topic fascinates me. Let me just say that first and foremost.

But I want to start here first with the stigma, that, you know, not talking about working moms because that's old news to me, but the women who were bringing in more money. I know some of the differences in opinion may be sort of regional, geographic, but why do you think, Donna, let me start with you, why do you think according to this one Pew study more than half of Americans feel women's place is still in the home?

DONNA RICHARDSON, FITNESS EXPERT: I don't know why. I just think that these traditional roles have changed because the times have changed. And I think that women now have such huge responsibilities, not just to take care of their kids, but I'm among the women who take care of a parent.

And that's quite different because I face many challenges, but I'm blessed to be in the position to take care of my dad, my dad is suffering from dementia, I'm the primary caretaker. And I -- and I will say this, I have to find a balance between taking care of his personal needs, while honoring him in terms of being a man and a father and keeping his dignity intact. Not like I can say, Brooke, dad, time-out.

BALDWIN: I want to get to men in a second. I think that's equally fascinating. But Maggie, when it comes to the numbers, I mean, despite where we are in reality in 2013, so many of these roles, how it should be, you know, so engrained that the traditional housewife role, it is still isn't broken. It isn't.

MAGGIE MISTAL, CAREER CONSULTANT: Well, no. You know what is interesting? I still think it comes down to the individual attitude because these mommy wars have been going on. And you know what? I tell my clients, forget about it. Don't listen to what anybody else says. Do what's right for you and think about your own attitude.

Because what is most important for that mom going to work and I'm a working mom who actually happens to be the breadwinner in my family, is that you have to actually love what you do and want to go to work. Because you're leaving your child at home and you're leaving your child with the father or someone else, a caregiver, and that's not easy.

There is biology built into being a mom that I didn't even realize. It is harder for us to leave our kids. So you have to have the attitude you love what you do and it is worth it. It can't only be to pay the bills. That is important too, but you got to enjoy this work and show your child that this is a way they can have a living and a life.

BALDWIN: But let me stay with you, Maggie, because if you say, you know, you're the breadwinner, you're the mom. I'm wondering about the men because I don't care how comfortable they say they are with the new roles and helping with the kids. I'm hearing the laughter, I think it is so engrained deep down that men are supposed to be -- supposed to be the providers. How does your husband feel, Maggie?

MISTAL: Well, I think what my husband -- what is great, we see it as a team effort. We really do. That's another key point I think for the working moms out there to recognize, study or not, single mom or not, breadwinner, you got to have this whole family involved, the whole household is involved in raising a child. It is more than a full time job.

If you're leaving your child in someone else's care, I can tell you it is wonderful to have that person be my husband. He still works too. It is interesting because we both have our own freelance lifestyle. It is one of the best setups out there because we both get to share in the joy that is raising our child, and we each still get to pursue our careers.

I think too often we feel this is an either/or and we get miserable about the choices. To be honest, that's just useless. You really got to let go of that attitude and have, you know, recognize happiness is a choice and your child is picking up views on how you view career right now. And they are going to know, can I be happy in my job? Can I make a living? Does it matter if mommy and daddy works?

BALDWIN: Yes, the kids are watching. Mom and dad interacting, they're watching and they're learning very, very on, but Donna, not all situations are as happy and hunky-dory.

RICHARDSON: No, they're not. I mean, I work with so many single family moms and we have seen this number increase. Even in the African-American community, about 70 percent of African-American children are raised by their moms who are heading the household compared to 39 percent of the rest of the country. So it is a little different situation there and moms are now not only the mother, but also the father. So I think we change because the times have changed.

BALDWIN: I think this is such a huge topic. I have to go, but come back, will you? Maggie and Donna, thank you so much. I think this is important to bring out in a public sphere, the public dialogue. Thanks, ladies, so much.

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann releasing an 8-minute YouTube video to announce she will not run again, but could there be more to her story? We're going to go there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: One of Washington's most outspoken Republicans says she's planning to exit the stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michele Bachmann!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Michele Bachmann, founder of the House Tea Party caucus, former presidential hopeful, says she's done. Done in Congress, that is. That's what she says in this YouTube announcement released early this morning. Bachmann is known best for outright defiance of the Obama administration and the president personally.

She's also known for shooting from the hip on more than one occasion, in March, she accused the president of paying someone with government funds to walk his dog Bo. Our Dana Bash did her darnedest to get a clarification, but Bachmann preferred to talk Benghazi. There she goes, running.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: That's it. That's what's important. You want to talk about dog handlers and there is four Americans killed? That's --

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But Congresswoman, you're the one that brought it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Nice try. No dice for Dana Bash. Dana Bash, you spent a lot of time over the years chasing down members of Congress such as Michele Bachmann. As far as that exchange we just showed, is that emblematic of Bachmann's career in Congress, making allegations that don't strictly adhere to the facts?

BASH: Well, unfortunately for her it was one part of her career, one part of her career in congress that was about a speech she gave to the conservative group CPAC where she was talking about presidential excess that she used examples like the fact that he has a dog walker, which just wasn't right and she did make several comments like that over the years.

It turned out not to be based in fact like accusing the president of spending $200 million a day to go on an official trip to India. That wasn't true. But in fairness to her, the many times I talked to Michele Bachmann, other reporters did as well. She was always polite, even when she didn't want to answer questions.

But I can tell you, in the recent months, she had been staying away from the national press. It looked like her strategy was to focus on her district because she did have a much tougher than expected race last year and Democrats were really hoping that they could use the fact that she's a lightning rod to beat her and capture a very Republican leaning district in her state of Minnesota. Now Democrats are going to have a harder time doing that.

BALDWIN: OK, Dana Bash, thank you so much.

It was the trip that shocked the world. These pictures taken of Senator John McCain after sneaking into Syria, here he was, to meet with rebel fighters who are waging a war with one of the most brutal regimes in the entire world. The senior senator from Arizona is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the country since civil war broke out there, more than two years ago.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has just spoken with Senator McCain about the emotional toll this visit has had on him and whether he still supports an increased U.S. role in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": Has being there, has, you know, shaking these people's hands, looking them in the eye, being on Syrian soil, has it changed or intensified your feelings in any way?

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: It's intensified because when you look at the faces of these people, and hear their stories, so many of them have lost family members, so many of them have lost friends. This is a pretty bloody, bloody business that they have been in. And, of course, it has been -- as you might imagine, identified -- intensified because these are human beings that are trying to achieve the same thing that we have shed American blood and treasure for, for well over 200 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Make sure you catch Anderson's entire interview with Senator John McCain tonight 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

Coming up next, home grown pot, now the marijuana is legal for recreational use in Colorado, a lot of amateur gardeners are, shall we say, honing their green thumbs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Last fall you know the deal, Colorado voters approved a law that would allow pot to be sold legally for personal use in retail stores. But it is also legal to grow your own weed. And as CNN's Jim Spellman found out, that gives urban gardener a whole new meaning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chloe Villano, a long time marijuana advocate, voted along with 55 percent of Colorado voters to legalize pot in last year's election.

(on camera): Who's this?

CHLOE VILLANO, MARIJUANA GROWER: Rudy Villano.

SPELLMAN: Rudy has a little pot leaf collar --

VILLANO: Tag, yes.

SPELLMAN: What do you like about smoking cannabis?

VILLANO: I just like the way it makes me feel as far as, like, pain. Did you like the blueberry?

SPELLMAN (voice-over): But Colorado is in a holding pattern. State law allows possession of small amounts of marijuana and it is available in dispensaries for medical marijuana patients, but it won't be sold in retail stores until next year. It is, however, now legal to grow your own cannabis and that is exactly what Chloe is doing.

(on camera): Let's see your grow.

VILLANO: OK, let's go.

SPELLMAN: So this is not a big apartment. You're still able to grow marijuana in here?

VILLANO: Yes. You just have to make sure that you can control the smell.

SPELLMAN: Even here in your bedroom in this apartment you can grow marijuana?

VILLANO: Yes. I mean, this huge tent is full of 12 plants.

SPELLMAN: Let's have a look. Wow. You're growing these 12 marijuana plants right here in your one bedroom apartment in Denver.

VILLANO: Yes, sir.

SPELLMAN (voice-over): Chloe works as a consultant for the medical marijuana industry and as a medical marijuana patient, Chloe is allowed to grow up to 12 plants. Non-patients can grow six. VILLANO: I'm definitely what I would call a cannabis connoisseur. So, you know, as a patient, and as somebody who enjoys the plant, I definitely know good cannabis and I grow some of the best cannabis.

SPELLMAN: People like Chloe are flocking to The Grow Store where they help people set up and maintain home marijuana grows. General Manager Ted Smith says it is not just new growers, but a different kind of grower.

(on camera): What are the new demographics? Who are the new people?

TED SMITH, THE GROW STORE: We have a lot of married couples. We have a lot of 40 and up, 50 and up and 60 and up individuals coming in.

SPELLMAN (voice-over): Some enjoy growing as a hobby. Some grow for the sake of discretion. Everything happening in the privacy of their own homes and others just want to grow the highest grade weed they can.

SMITH: Today's culture, they want absolutely the finest quality products with the least of, you know, inconsistencies.

SPELLMAN: For between $150 and $500, The Grow Store will set the grower up with the equipment needed to grow about a pound of marijuana every 12 weeks. It is illegal to grow cannabis outdoors in the view of others, so growers need a light source, ventilation, maybe an air filter to keep the smell away from the neighbors, soil, and nutrients for the soil. Some of the materials are the same used to grow more conventional plants, but some products have a distinctly stoner vibe.

SMITH: So this product is called Kushy Kush and is a blossom booster.

SPELLMAN: Growing marijuana in your basement or bedroom may be legal, but it is not exactly easy.

SMITH: I tell our customers that if you're just getting into the fray, if you will, that they will be MacGyver within six months because you will have so many different hurdles that you've never considered.

SPELLMAN: Chloe Villano said her MacGyver marijuana grow is worth it. She hopes her cannabis consulting business will continue to grow and even when retail stores open, Chloe says she'll keep growing and smoking her home grown weed.

(on camera): So is it comforting to wake up every morning in your bed looking at your marijuana plants?

VILLANO: Awesome. We go to bed together, we wake up together.

SPELLMAN (voice-over): Jim Spellman, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Right now, our own Chad Myers is chasing storms in America's heartland. This region is a possible bull's eye for tornadoes. We're about to go to him live. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.