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GM to Sell Saturn; Obama in Germany; Brazilian Custody Battle
Aired June 05, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama in a solemn march through history. In Germany, he is meeting with a modern day ally and reliving the horrors of war.
An American father back home and heartbroken. David Goldman returns without his young son who is caught in an international custody battle. Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Today is Friday, May 5th and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A whole lot is going on this morning. We certainly want to get right to it now.
The ghost of Buchenwald: This hour, President Obama is visiting the concentration camp and will revisit the lessons of intolerance. We'll bring that to you.
Also, Ed Henry says that the theme is echoing throughout the president's remarks today. He is traveling with the president. And we will check in with him, of course.
And also, Frederik Pleitgen -- he's joining us directly from Buchenwald. The president has arrived and is getting ready to speak this morning. We'll go to Buchenwald in just a moment.
But first, the big picture for you now. Ed Henry is in Dresden, Germany, a city that still bears the scars of World War II.
So, Ed, what exactly was significant about the president's remarks this morning with Chancellor Angela Merkel?
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Heidi.
In this historic city of Dresden, what was most significant is that the president made some dramatic remarks about Mideast peace, saying he thinks there could be serious progress by the end of this year. That dramatic coming just one day after his big speech to the Muslim world, specifically, the president is saying that he's now going to send his Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, to the region next week to try and help build some momentum coming out of that speech.
Appearing with the German chancellor at the news conference this morning, the president also praised his own administration by saying that they've created, in his words, the atmosphere to get Mideast peace talks back on track, but said that the hard work, the heavy- lifting, the difficult compromises will have to be done by the Israelis and Palestinians. He said there will be some tough choices ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: I think the moment is now for us to act on what we all know to be the truth, which is that each side is going to have to make some difficult compromises. We have to reject violence. The Palestinians have to get serious about creating the security environment that is required for Israel to feel confident. Israelis are going to have to take some difficult steps. I discuss some of those in the speech.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Now, what was also interesting is that Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, revealed that she and the president, in private, before this news conference, had discussed a possible time frame for Israeli/Palestinian peace talks. We had not heard about a potential time frame before. When pressed by a reporter for more details, the chancellor would not elaborate.
And I can tell you, U.S. official are not elaborating either. We've been pressing them for more information, Heidi.
COLLINS: That's what you got to do, I guess. All right, Ed Henry, we do appreciate that - from Dresden, Germany. Thank you.
And just minutes from now, President Obama is going to start his tour of Buchenwald concentration camp with German Chancellor Merkel. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is there.
So, Fred, if you can, walk us through a little bit about what's going to happen this morning.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the tour is going to take about an hour. We're thinking about 55 minutes that it's going to take with -- together with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And he's going to be seeing the most important site within that Buchenwald camp.
This, of course, was one of the worst and one of the biggest concentration camps on German soil. About 50,000 people were killed here from 1937 to 1945. Some of the things that the president is going to be seeing is the crematorium, where the bodies were burned over years. Very often those were at operation day and night. He's going to be seeing some of the main buildings, some of the arrest cells, really, some of these very oppressive places where so many terrible things happened.
And as you know, Heidi, this is a very personal visit for the president himself. His uncle, of course, his grand uncle, in fact, was involved in liberating one of the sub-camps here at Buchenwald. And I've been traveling here for the past couple of days, and some of the survivors of this camp say they actually feel very close to the president. They actually feel almost like he's a grandson of theirs, simply because his grand uncle was involved in liberating there.
So, such an important visit for him here today, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, understood. And, Frederik, of course, we are going to be waiting to get some of those pictures in here, and we will bring them to everyone just as soon as that happens. Thanks so much -- Frederik Pleitgen for us today.
Let me give you a little closer look now at some of what went on at Buchenwald concentration camp. Fifty-six thousand prisoners died at the camp. It's one of the largest on German soil. Victims were shot to death, hanged by Nazi guards or worked to death.
Key parts of Buchenwald have been preserved as a memorial -- and as we continue to share this information with you, looking at live pictures now -- as you see there -- of President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, making their way into the concentration camp.
Now, President Obama's great uncle -- as you just heard from Frederik Pleitgen -- was among the American G.I.s who liberated a nearby labor camp, just days before U.S. troops overran Buchenwald.
Now, just about an hour from now, President Obama and German Chancellor Merkel are expected to make some brief statements -- again, looking at these live pictures behind me now. We expect that that will happen at 10:05 Eastern. Of course, we will bring it to you live when it does.
Here once again a look at the president's schedule now. At 12:05 Eastern, he's expected to meet with wounded U.S. troops, that will happen at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. That event is closed to the media. Then, he will travel on to Paris where he spends the night. And tomorrow, the president takes part of ceremonies marking the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
One day after President Obama reached out to the world's Muslims, a deadly attack on a mosque in northwest Pakistan. At least 30 people are dead. Another 40 people wounded. Police in the Upper Dir District say it happened during Friday prayers and as people tried to stop a suspected suicide bomber from going into the mosque. The area is part of Swat Valley where the Pakistani military has been battling those Taliban militants.
I want to quickly take you back what is happening in Germany right now. We are seeing President Barack Obama and near him is the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. They are being greeted right now at Buchenwald by the young volunteers. These are camp survivor group representatives. This is at the main gate of Buchenwald and this was to be one of the first stops to meet these young ladies and gentlemen. Once again, youth volunteers there, camp survivor youth representatives.
So, we will continue to watch these pictures and just let them breathe for a moment.
(INAUDIBLE) COLLINS: As you can tell, we can't quite hear any of the exchanges that are taking place right now. But we did want to just take a moment to the look at these pictures. And I believe our correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen, who is nearby where all of this is taking place is joining us now.
Fred, what can you offer us here?
PLEITGEN: Well, Heidi, what's going on is -- as you've said just a minute ago -- is that he is being greeted by some of the volunteers who actually help run this camp through better parts of the year. They take some time off to do this. It's a voluntary service that they do. They certainly want to greet the president ...
COLLINS: Yes.
PLEITGEN: ... as he comes in there. A little later, he'll also be meeting with Buchenwald survivors who are going to, obviously, be telling him their stories. It's going to be a very ...
COLLINS: And quickly, Fred, I'm sorry for the --
PLEITGEN: ... thing for them as well.
COLLINS: Sorry for the interruption, but we are also looking at Elie Wiesel. I've seen now. They weren't sure if he was going to actually be there, but a lot of people certainly in the United States know that name -- Elie Wiesel, a camp survivor and, of course, Nobel Peace Prize winner. We are looking at him with the president and the German chancellor right now. I just want to make sure I get that in as we continue to look at these live pictures.
Fred, go ahead.
PLEITGEN: Yes, you're absolutely right. And that's actually a very interesting point. Of course, Elie Wiesel is a very big name here in Germany as well. And there was speculation here in Germany as well whether or not he would come.
And, also, one of the things that we learned over the past couple of days is that it was actually an initiative by Elie Wiesel that brought the president out here to this camp. One of the things that the president said yesterday in his press conference and also something that we've been hearing from German officials is that it was Elie Wiesel wrote a letter to the president, asking him to come here to Buchenwald.
Of course, as you know, Heidi, Elie Wiesel himself was intern at this camp.
COLLINS: Yes.
PLEITGEN: He was an inmate at this camp. There is a famous photo of him in very young years here at this camp. Later then, he was deported to Auschwitz. But he was also here when this camp was liberated by American troops. So, he certainly knows what that moment was like.
Also, not only what the inmates went through, but also what the troops went through, what the American soldiers went through who actually liberated that camp, who went through that gate that you're seeing right there, the building that the president is standing in front of right now who saw what was going on there and who saw those inmates who were really starved to the bone ...
COLLINS: Yes.
PLEITGEN: ... who many of them couldn't walk anymore. Many of them actually died after the liberation because they were simply too weak to live.
And it was the initiative of Elie Wiesel who came here now with the president actually as a guest of the president. The way this works, Heidi, is that, each of these two leaders, both the president and Angela Merkel, were inviting one guest to come with them and Elie Wiesel is the guest of the president.
So, this is certainly a very big moment for these two gentlemen, and it was certainly something that the president was saying in the past couple of days that was very important for him to do and was an initiative from Elie Wiesel that led him here. Certainly, a very historic moment that you're seeing right here, Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. And I did not know that. So, so thank you so much, Frederik Pleitgen, helping us out with some of the pictures that we are looking at here.
Once again, just to give you a little context, you see President Barack Obama, Elie Wiesel by his side, and also, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Let's listen for just a moment.
(INAUDIBLE)
COLLINS: Of course, out of respect for the many thousands of people who died at Buchenwald, I wanted to take a moment there as they are remembered. The stop that they are making right now is at the living memorial. And you may have seen there very quickly as they put the flowers down on that stainless steel plate, it marks the ground as the first memorial to the internees at Buchenwald. It was dedicated 50 years ago actually.
Now, that plate bears the names of 51 national groups that were victimized at Buchenwald. It's also interesting -- it is constantly heated to the body temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit -- day and night and summer and winter. So, that was one of the first stops that they made once again at the living memorial as we continue to watch the live pictures coming in to us at Buchenwald concentration camp.
(INAUDIBLE)
COLLINS: Quickly, as we continue to watch these pictures, and you see a conversation going on with Elie Wiesel, to the right of the president, the president's left, of course, and to the right of the president is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They are making their way, we believe, to the "Little Camp" memorial now. And important because that is exactly where Elie Wiesel himself was incarcerated.
Again, as they make their way to the "Little Camp" memorial, we, here, will take a very quick break and bring these live pictures right back to you in just a moment. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly, we want to continue to bring you these live pictures that we are watching coming out of Buchenwald, Germany -- Buchenwald concentration camp, to be specific. You see the president with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and also with Nobel Peace Prize Elie Wiesel. And interestingly, right now, if you are just joining us, they are slowly making their way to the "Little Camp" memorial inside Buchenwald, and that is where Elie Wiesel himself was actually incarcerated -- a memorial that we will soon see.
And again, to give you a sense, this is a pretty concentrated small area that they are touring. We saw, just moments ago, them make a stop at the living memorial, a special place that bears the names of 51 different national groups that were actually victimized at Buchenwald.
So, we continue to watch this and will bring you any updates throughout the tour that the president is making today.
(INAUDIBLE)
COLLINS: All right. We will continue to watch the pictures.
Meanwhile, back here at home, new unemployment numbers are out. I want to give them to you. They came out just a half an hour ago or so. Employers cut fewer jobs in May, but, still, the jobless rate is the worse in more than 25 years.
CNN's Christine Romans is here now to break it at all down for us.
Hi there, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
It's a truly terrible job situation in the jobs market for the six months and these are the first concrete signs that the massive, massive job losses are slowing. Last month, employers cut 345,000 jobs. That's about half of the rate they've been cutting over the past six months or so. And, frankly, it's the fewest number of job losses since Lehman Brothers collapsed and since the whole financial crisis really spun out of control last fall.
Still, let's be honest -- you got 6 million jobs lost over the past -- beginning of this recession in December of 2007, and there are still a lot of people out of work. I don't want to take anything away from that. I want to be very clear about that. But the pace of the job losses is moderating.
And specifically when you look at different industry sectors, you can see where the pain is a little -- it's abating. For construction, for example, and housing, those job losses are moderating. Also from business and professional services, job losses moderating there.
And a big surprise here -- in hospitality, in hotels, restaurants, for the first time since 2007, Heidi, you saw a few jobs added in this sector. We have been seeing a lot of job cuts there because the consumer is so hurt, they're not going to the stores as much, they're not going to stay in a hotel, they're not going as much out to eat. But for the first time since 2007, you've seen jobs creation there.
So, some moderating of the jobs lost, but, still, the unemployment right now is the highest since 1983.
COLLINS: Wow.
ROMANS: That's because job losses are slowing, Heidi.
COLLINS: Right.
ROMANS: But it's taking a long time to get another job.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. We have seen many, many examples of that. In fact, though, some cities -- specific cities are seeing unemployment numbers way higher than this, right?
ROMANS: That's right. You look, there are, I think, 13 cities that have ...
COLLINS: Yes.
ROMANS: ... unemployment rates above 15 percent. You look at some of these towns. It's really painful in parts of California, in Arizona. Elkhart, Indiana, for example, has a 17.8 percent unemployment rate.
But there are some places where the unemployment rate is very, very low. These were all numbers for April: Iowa City, 3.2 percent; Ames, Iowa, 3.6 percent; a two in Louisiana, in North Dakota, at Kansas, Utah. There are some places where the unemployment rate remains very, very low.
We asked economists why and they say diversification in their -- in their base. They're not too heavily influenced by industrial, a lot of different kinds of businesses maybe in some of those places. Also, very high education rates in some of those places means that more people with a college education have a better chance of staying in the labor market.
The unemployment rate, by the way, is about 4.4 percent with people with a bachelor's degree. That's a lot better than the 9.4 percent that you're seeing for the broad economy.
COLLINS: Understood. All right. Christine, we know you are watching those numbers for us, and always bringing us such great perspective on them but -- unfortunately, not always the greatest news. Christine Romans, part of our CNN Money team, thanks so much.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
COLLINS: I want to take you back to these live pictures that we have been watching all morning long. In fact, I'm hearing a little bit of audio. Maybe we could listen in just a moment. Once again, pictures out of Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany.
(INAUDIBLE)
COLLINS: Again, not quite able to hear much of what is being said there, but I want to let you know now the stop that they are making. This is "Little Camp" that we mentioned moments ago, and as we have also mentioned, Elie Wiesel is there with the president and the German chancellor. This is where he was incarcerated there -- taking a moment to recognize the victims of Buchenwald and of "Little Camp."
The reason why "Little Camp" is being recognized in this manner and you see such a memorial that has been erected is because it was notorious for its extreme brutality and conditions far worse than in the main camp. We'll tell you a little bit more about that in just a moment. But let's pause here now and watch as the president and German chancellor and Elie Wiesel are there remembering the victims.
(INAUDIBLE)
COLLINS: You can only imagine what the emotion must be like for Elie Wiesel himself there. I imagine every time he steps foot in Buchenwald, Germany, and specifically where he stands right now, those memories must be incredibly intense.
Again, Little Camp, extremely, extremely brutal conditions for those who were housed there. In fact, I can tell you a little bit more about those conditions. They were first discovered through the liberation of Buchenwald by U.S. troops.
It all happened back on April 11th, back in 1945. They actually found thousands of people, inmates, including more than 900 children, teenagers that were living in conditions that, to this day, are very difficult to even describe. Say, as many as 2,000 inmates were kept in these windowless stables that had actually originally been built for about 50 horses.
So, again, 2,000 inmates being kept in an area that was originally built for 50 horses. American soldiers say that many of them just could not bring themselves to go inside Little Camp at the time of the liberation back in 1945.
Again, taking a time here to remember the victims and also the survivors as well of Little Camp, inside the concentration in Buchenwald, Germany.
We'll be back in just a moment right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM: Heidi Collins.
COLLINS: Well, this is the day investors have been waiting for all week because of the government's monthly jobs report. As we've told you just a few minutes ago: 345,000 jobs were lost last month and the unemployment rate skyrocketed to 9.4 percent.
We want to go straight to Felicia Taylor at the New York Stock Exchange to see how Wall Street will react to all of this.
Keeping in mind, Felicia, if I could just remind you when we continue to watch these live pictures coming out of Buchenwald concentration camp. So, at any moment, I apologize in advance for potentially having to interrupt. Meanwhile, back to you -- take it away.
FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Heidi. Well, as bad as those numbers sound, Wall Street is still fairly pleased with them. Stocks are set to jump at the open. That 345,000 job cuts pale in comparison to the 500,000 job losses that investors were expecting. So, those are good news on the jobs front.
Also, for the fourth month in a row, the job losses had eased from the month before. Economists say that is a sign of stabilization.
We're also keeping an eye on Citigroup today. "The Wall Street Journal" says the FDIC is pushing for a shake-up of Citi's management, including CEO Vikram Pandit. The bank has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of federal bailout money -- so far, getting about $45 billions. The FDIC is not, as of yet, commenting.
G.M. has taken another step towards downsizing. We've now learned that that bankrupt automaker has reached a deal to sell its Saturn brand to mega auto dealer, Roger Penske. Initially, G.M. would make Saturn cars but Penske would also sign deals with other automakers to manufacture the vehicles.
And there you can hear it. The opening bell just began.
Finally, today marks the end of an era for two of the elite Dow 30 stocks. Citigroup and G.M. will be replaced on Monday by Travelers and Cisco Systems.
We'll take a look at the early numbers as we just begun the trading day. The Dow Industrials is now up about 10 points. That's a change of just about 1/3 of 1 percent. And we'll keep track of the market as things come in.
Oil prices, though, have topped $70 a barrel. That is the first time since last October -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, I know. We're watching that, aren't we?
All right. Felicia Taylor, we sure do appreciate that. Thank you very much.
And, once again, we are continuing to watch the live pictures coming out of Buchenwald concentration camp, where the president is today, alongside the German chancellor and Elie Wiesel, and another prisoner of this concentration camp, Bertrand Herz. So we will continue to follow these pictures for you and bring them to you as they happen.
A quick break here. We're back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Once again, President Obama is in Germany this hour. You are looking at live pictures. Still pushing his message of Mid-East peace, but taking quite some time now away from that as he meets with Chancellor Angela Merkel and also with Elie Wiesel, as you see, a former concentration camp prisoner of this particular camp; little camp that we have been talking about. And also the fourth person that has been with them throughout this tour is Bertrand Herz, also was a prisoner of Buchenwald.
So we continue to watch these pictures on this day where they take this time to remember those who died at Buchenwald and also those survivors as well.
As we said, the president is in Germany, still pushing this message of Middle East peace. He did meet with the chancellor of Germany earlier this morning and called for international support for a separate Israeli and Palestinian state.
The president said his speech in Cairo to the Muslim world was just a beginning.
Actually, we want to take a moment to bring in our correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen now to talk a little bit more of these pictures standing very near where the group has gathered.
Frederick, tell us more what we are looking at here. We had seen him go to a couple of different important spots inside Buchenwald already this morning which consists of the living memorial and also little camp.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN BEIJING CORRESPONDENT: Sure, you're absolutely right, Heidi. And what's happen right now is that they have actually left the little camp complex and they are now, if you will, back in the main Buchenwald camp, or what used to be the main Buchenwald camp.
But if you look at the shot right now, it's actually very interesting because what you see there, it seems to be actually kind of a, sort of a plain field right in front of our circle. A plane gravel field right in front of them with little sort of stones sticking out.
What that actually is is the foundation of what used to be the prisoner barracks here at Buchenwald. What happened after World War II is that the Soviets and then later the East German government which was in power here tore down the barracks here at Buchenwald. The wood barracks where the prisoners were kept in and ravels.
And what you have today here at the memorial in Buchenwald, is you still have the foundation of those barracks, with sort of a black stones laid on top of them, but you don't have the actual barracks themselves. And what we understand from the program as it's going to continue with the tour that the president is taking, is that the next place he and the chancellor and Elie Wiesel and Bertrand Herz are going to go to is really the, what you could almost call the dark centre piece of this concentration camp as probably almost all concentration camps that you have, that used to be run by the Nazis.
And that is going to be the crematorium where, over years, bodies of people who died and were killed at this concentration camp were burned. I was saying earlier before, that, of course, was, for many years, basically, running day and night.
And it really is a very, very dark sort of area that we're going to see in just a couple of minutes as they make their way through these former barracks towards that building.
It's really a very small sort of a structure. Once you go inside, you really do see the full horror of what must have been going on there for those years at this camp was in operation.
But, again, right now, you can see that -- you can see that plain, sort of gravel field there that they are walking across. That's where 60,000 people were kept at any given time here in Buchenwald. And what would happen early in the morning is that there would be a morning appeal, where 20,000 of those inmates were forced to come out and stand in the mornings and listen to the German, the Nazi national anthem every morning.
And that would happen in three ways. You would have 60,000 people. And then 20,000 would come out. They'd be force back into the barracks. The next 20,000 would be forced to come out. So, really, there was a really rigid system here in this concentration camps in the years that it was in operation.
This, of course, we do have to point out is a concentration camp that was not what we would call an extermination camp. There were no gas chambers here or things like that. This was a force, a slave labor camp for the years that it was in operation and the people were killed at this camp. The 56,000, as you pointed out earlier, were killed, either were executed. A lot of them were strangled to death. Some died of exhaustion. And others died simply of starvation. It was really a very, very horrible place. And, certainly, something that you learn in history classes here in this country. It's really one of the darkest places that was ever made on German soil.
Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes. I was actually reading, Frederik, as we continue watching the pictures, again, coming out of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, as the president tours the area, about how when they went in to liberate this camp in 1945, many of the soldiers just really couldn't even -- couldn't even bring themselves to go inside because of what you're talking about.
PLEITGEN: Well, you're absolutely right. I mean, a lot of the soldiers couldn't bring themselves to go inside. A lot of them, of course, were very angry at the German population. What happened shortly after the liberation is that the American soldiers actually brought a lot of the people from the German town that is close to here from Baymar (ph) into the concentration camp, and forced them to see what was going on here. Because a lot of the Germans had said they didn't know what was going on.
You know, the place that we're in right now, Buchenwald, is actually quite is secluded in a forest. Of course, the American soldiers didn't believe this people, but they forced them to come here and see themselves the horror of what had been going on here for a very long time.
What you're seeing right now actually is very interesting. It's sort of the outer perimeter fence of this concentration camp with one of the guard towers with barbedwires. There several rows of barbwires to keep the inmates from trying to escape this place. And, of course, over the years, a lot of them did try to escape. And there's this -- basically little monuments outside a lot of these barbwire places here where you can see people had been killed in the past.
Heidi?
COLLINS: Wow. Wow. It is just really incredible pictures coming in. Frederik Pleitgen for us there near Buchenwald. Thanks so much for that, Frederik. Giving us a lot of the history as we continue to watch those pictures of President Obama taking a tour of Buchenwald Concentration Camp. We are monitoring those pictures. We'll continue to bring them to you throughout the morning here.
We do have some other news to cover today as well, though. A father and son separated for five years. The latest on this father's long battle to try to regain custody of his son.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Very quickly, we want to bring this breaking news to you regarding General Motors and Saturn actually.
Peter Valdes-Dapena is joining us from CNNMoney.com.
All right. So what is going on here? The company is splitting apart a bit?
PETER VALDES-DAPENA, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: Well, this is something that GM announced a while ago that they would be selling off several other brands. Hummer was one of them. They recently announced the sale of that brand to a Chinese company. Now, they're announcing -- today, they're going to announce the sale of Saturn division which is much, much bigger than a Hummer to the Penske Automotive Group.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: Yes, actually --
VALDES-DAPENA: And that is expected shortly. COLLINS: A lot of people surprised not by the fact that this is happening, really. But Saturn, in particular, as you mentioned is a much larger company. That it really needed to happen this way.
VALDES-DAPENA: Yes. Actually, Saturn sells generally around 200,000 cars a year -- 188,000 last year. That's a lot more than Hummer, which sold like, you know, 5,000 cars globally...
COLLINS: That's right.
VALDES-DAPENA: ...last year. Saturn is a much bigger brand, but GM has really had a hard time, I think, making it profitable. The brand was well-regarded mostly for its retail network. People like the no haggle, no hassle dealerships.
Until recently, people didn't like the car so much. They tended to be a little boring. The last few months they've done a model lineup revamp. The cars are much more interesting and exciting now, but the brand never really picked up sales, and I think they just figured, you know what? We're going to concentration on just our core brands and we're going to let this one go.
But, apparently, as many as 16 companies were actually bidding on Saturn at one point. There was a lot of interest in them.
COLLINS: Yes, yes. Understood. All right, so once again, that breaking news we're giving you today. GM has agreed now to sell the Saturn unit to this car dealership of Penske Automotive Group. Sure do appreciate you helping us out with that one.
Peter Valdes-Dapena, we will stay in touch with you if there are more developments here from CNNMoney.com.
Thanks, Peter.
Meanwhile, a New Jersey man at the center of a child custody battle in Brazil is back in the U.S. today, but without his son. David Goldman arrived in New York this morning after a heart-wrenching week in Brazil.
Those pictures of him walking out of the airport there. A court in Brazil awarded him custody of his now 9-year-old son, Sean, but one day later, the Brazilian Supreme Court rejected the ruling. Goldman vows to continue his fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GOLDMAN, FIGHTING FOR CUSTODY OF SON: There's only one choice and that's to bring my son home. That's it. There's no other way to look at it. And it's a continual tragedy, but there's no other choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Goldman's congressman is seeking trade sanctions against Brazil for its handling of the 5-year-old custody case. Republican Representative Chris Smith has actually traveled to Brazil with Goldman, and now he is pushing for legislation blocking Brazil's duty-free privileges, joining us now live from Washington this morning.
First off, I just want to ask you, your reaction to all of this. Certainly, when you see the quick interview that was done with David at Newark Airport there.
REP. CHRIS SMITH (R), NEW JERSEY: Profoundly disappointed. The government of Brazil, the Lulu government has failed miserably over the last five years to provide what is clear and unambiguous. This ought to be a simple Hague international child abduction case. Return the child to his father. The mother has passed away. A man who is not the father of the child, of Sean, has custody of him. That's outrageous. And I think most Americans and most Brazilians who have heard the case would be outraged as well.
So we've got to take it to the next level. We've tried moral persuasion. Both Houses of Congress have gone on record admonishing the Brazilian government to send Sean home. That has not been availing.
There has been -- you know, the legal team has done a wonderful job on behalf of David Goldman. He has been the quintessential father in all of this. He has had no malice towards the other side. I've been amazed at his restraint. And despite all of it, his son is still in the custody of a man who is not Sean's father.
COLLINS: It is a truly remarkable story. And we have been trying to find for a while now here the other side of the story, because that's what we do. And I want to get into that with you in just a moment.
But, first, you mentioned the Hague Abduction Convention. And, you know, yesterday, on our show here, we had an opportunity to talk with the State Department about that. And if you would, listen with me to one of the exchanges there and then I'll talk with you about it in a moment.
SMITH: Great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELE BOLD, BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS: Technically, it's what we call a wrongful retention. But whether it's an abduction or a wrongful retention, this is a situation which is covered by an international treaty called the Hague Abduction Convention.
COLLINS: Right. What exactly -- and it may be difficult to say -- but what exactly does that say. And how is it that five years later, there is a U.S. citizen, as well as these other cases that we mentioned, still in a different country and the natural born father basically has no right at this point?
BOND: Well, he certainly does have rights and he's worked hard to assert them with our full support. The Hague Abduction Convention is an international treaty, and its purpose is to prevent this kind of situation from occurring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So, Congressman Smith, I don't get it. What has the state department done?
SMITH: Well, frankly, Marie De Mora and the other members of the consulate general, the State Department folks here in Washington, have done a fine job. They have pressed this case. They have been very supportive of David. But the problem has been, it's been on the other side.
The central authority has been found to be noncompliant with the Hague Convention, and that's central authority in Brazil. They have, you know, the judiciary both at the local and at the federal level has dropped the ball profoundly. And we have a situation where the Lulu government, which prides itself on social justice, has been either incompetent or worse complicit in a kidnapping not only of Sean, but of many other American children who have been wrongfully held in Brazil. And again, --
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: That's right, because there are definitely other cases as well. And this is the case that we are hearing a lot about. And so that gives voice to these other cases as you mentioned. I believe there are 66 of them or so. So I guess, I just, I'm trying so hard to figure out whose responsibility is it to get this United States citizen back in the United States?
SMITH: Well, it is the responsibility of both parties. Obviously, the American side has done everything we could possibly do. We have worked with the courts. David has painstakingly followed the rule of law, filing all the proper filings in an appropriate time. He has not missed a single effort. Five years of this. You know, enough is enough.
It has been the government of Brazil, not the people of Brazil. Our argument is not with them. It is with the government that is either, like I said, that either incompetent or complicit in a kidnapping.
COLLINS: So, are you saying they are breaking the law?
SMITH: Oh, without a doubt. They are breaking international law. They are noncompliant, where they freely entered into international treaty. The Hague Convention on the civil aspects of child abduction. They didn't have to sign it, but they did.
COLLINS: I know that you have traveled to Brazil with David before. Does he fear for his life when he is in the country?
SMITH: Well, he's had threats. And, you know, but, frankly, his love for his son, his tenacity has overcome every other concern, including his own physical security. And our embassy certainly has been very mindful of that throughout this entire process and so have I.
COLLINS: Understood. Very quickly, the next step here is what?
SMITH: The next step is to keep pressing in the courts. The Supreme Court may take it up in Brazil as early as next Wednesday. But we never have any definitive word. I've introduced legislation that would take away generalized systems of preferences, a favorable tariff for products coming out of Brazil to the United States which can be suspended as a way of saying, it's time to think penalty. This is a wholesale violation of international treaty and there needs to be a penalty.
COLLINS: Once again, the news this morning that David Goldman is back in New Jersey now without his son after being told on Monday that he would be able to take him home after that five-year wait.
We appreciate your time, Representative Chris Smith from New Jersey.
SMITH: Heidi, thank you very much.
COLLINS: Thanks so much.
SMITH: Thank you.
COLLINS: In the NEWSROOM or in the operating room? It's all about team work, but for our resident neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent, some pretty interesting story. We're back in the O.R. with Dr. Sanjay Gupta after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Earlier this week, our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta took us along on his other job performing neurosurgery. Today, we go back into the O.R. to see Sanjay's team in action.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm going to the locker room to change my clothes. I don't suppose you guys want to come along, do you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.
GUPTA: This is my O.R. every Monday for sure and every other Friday, usually, as well. So I come in here. We have our team. You can see the camaraderie. Everyone knows each other. But more than just being pretty good friends, it actually, really, I think makes for a better and safer operations.
We're about to do is the time-out. We got to make sure. This is a new protocol -- safety protocol in hospitals. So Carolyn is going to make sure that everything we're about to do is the right thing and on the right patient.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time-out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody time-out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time-out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has antibiotics been given?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. We have four units of blood in the room. We have the aneurysm clip and everything is here.
Everybody agree?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
GUPTA: This is a very big case for, you know, the residents of this hospitals. So a lot of teaching involved, which is just so nice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we get 50 Mannitol?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mannitol 5-0.
GUPTA: Make sure you keep the pressure nice and high. They'll all stop before we open the dura. I probably clipped hundreds of aneurysms, but every single one is pretty new. It's pretty challenging. So I think as far as neurosurgery goes, this is sort of when the rubber hits the road.
Just got a couple of brain blades in there and drill down.
OK. Good. The patient's going to do great. All the blood is out of her brain. Aneurysm is clipped. She's never going to have this problem again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. That was good.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Pretty interesting to see. Obviously, you have a team when all of this is going on. You get very comfortable with them, I assume. But you did take a time out there, sort of, for everybody to step back and just check what was going on.
What's that about? I think people will find that interesting.
GUPTA: Yes, and it is interesting. And it hasn't been in place that long. Just a few years now. It's literally a time-out. Everyone freezes. You make sure that you have the right patient in the room, you make sure thatyou're doing the right operation on that patient. That antibiotics are in the room, blood is in the room if necessary. Just things that you sometimes take for granted until someone says, time-out, do we actually have all these things? And do all these things.
COLLINS: Yes. GUPTA: And that's it and it helps. I have not been in the situation where, you know, the wrong patient was in the room or anything, but it's nice to have that sort of safety net.
COLLINS: Yes. I mean, it's sort of a checklist, right?
GUPTA: It is a checklist. And you saw Carolyn, who was one of the circulating nurses in the room. She sort of controls all these instruments, where they are. I tell her ahead of time even the night before sometimes these are the instruments I want in the room. And then when we start the operation, I expect them to be there. So she does a time-out and checks to make sure they're there.
COLLINS: Yes, definitely. Boy, you know, one of the questions I think we get a lot to is some of these operations, particularly neurosurgery can be really long.
I mean, I imagine sometimes you go in there and they're a couple of hours and it's pretty standard operating procedure for lack of a better term. But other times incredibly long. How do you stay focused? How do you -- I mean, this is what you do. You're trained for it, I get that. But it's got to be physically demanding, as well.
GUPTA: It is. I think there is a technical aspect to the job and just the training aspect of the job. I mean, we train for seven years after medical school and then a lot of people do a fellowship, as well, which I did.
You know, I think a lot of that becomes wrote memorization, muscle memory of your hands. You do have to stay very focused. And I think it's one of those few areas in my life where I do have to focus on something for several hours. Once, I've had an operation that's gone over 20 hours before.
COLLINS: And it's just -- how is that even humanly possible?
GUPTA: Yes, it's tough. Sometimes you'll break each other out, so you can at least go to the bathroom. Nurses will slip little chocolates behind your mask.
COLLINS: Really?
GUPTA: So you can have little sugar into your system. But yes, it's challenging, but, you know, you have a job to do. There's a beginning, a middle and an end. And so with that in mind, it makes it a little bit easier.
COLLINS: Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Thanks for sharing your day job.
GUPTA: Thanks, Heidi. I appreciate that. Thanks.
COLLINS: Wait, this is daytime.
All right. Thanks, Sanjay. Quickly, I want to get back to some of these really incredible pictures that we have been watching all morning long. President Barack Obama alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel are actually at the very moment inside the crematorium of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. That is why those live pictures, the memorial, the flowers that they laid to rest on little camp and the living memorial. Again, inside Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
We're back in a moment right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Back now to these live pictures that we have been watching all morning long. Really incredible shots of President Barack Obama who is standing behind the German Chancellor Angela Merkel right now who is making a statement.
They have just come out of the crematorium inside Buchenwald Concentration Camp. And are now, as expected, making brief statements. These statements being made by the German chancellor right now. Obviously, I thought that was in German, but it is not given the earpiece that the president is wearing. I thought there was some interpretation going on in his ear, but no. So we will come back to these pictures when the president begins to speak and bring them to you at that time.
