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Georgia City Council Clash; Protests Continue in France; Bill Clinton Hits Campaign Trail
Aired October 21, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: A white councilman tells a black colleague he should be working in a cotton field. Now both of these men are accusing one another of injecting race into politics. You will see this video, and then I will be talking to both of these men live.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): So, what age do you want to retire? Millions of people in France know exactly what they want. And they're not going down without a fight, strikes, protests and gas shortages sparking chaos. And why is Lady Gaga suddenly involved?
LUCRETIA KEMPSON, MOTHER OF DAYNA KEMPSON-SCHACHT: Because I couldn't believe someone would belittle my daughter like that, no.
A firefighter is accused of making a video of their daughter's lifeless body moments after her violent car accident. But is there a law to protect them? You will hear a family's tragic story.
Plus, one former president in high demand on the campaign trail, yet another missing in action. What gives?
And this woman puts up this amazing fight to protect herself from a purse-snatcher. So, why isn't she letting go of her bag? Wait until you hear what's in it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Hi there, everyone. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
We're going to get to our top story here in just a moment, but first, this news just in of this earthquake in Mexico's Gulf of California.
Chad Myers standing by for more on this.
Chad, who felt it?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, pretty much everyone in La Paz for sure felt this. And I'm going to zoom in here. We're going to talk about Cabo San Lucas and La Paz.
But there's something else. I want to go back to the Richter number that -- that Ali was just talking about. And I want to talk about foreshock. We always talk about aftershocks. Aftershocks happen after a big earthquake.
Here's the earthquake that we just had a little bit over an hour ago. It was red. When it's over an hour old, it turns orange. If it's over a day old, it turns yellow. Look at all the earthquakes we had already in the same area, over 10 over 4.0 in the past day-and-a- half. So, yes, those were foreshocks foreshadowing this earthquake.
You never know whether the earthquake that you're feeling now is the end or the beginning of a cluster. And here's what we saw. This is the L.A. seismogram, came across, doing nothing, doing nothing, then all of a sudden, bang, about an hour ago seeing that. So you could have maybe even felt it in L.A. if you really were very, very quiet and still. Probably felt more like a truck going by.
And then I'm going to go back and we will talk about the Richter scale and how it's so obsolete, because now there's this PAGER scale for a 6., and it depends on where the earthquake is. So, this is what we have. I'm going to make this even bigger so you can really kind of get an idea.
Here's what the USGS already has out. This is less than an hour old, this earthquake. There's a 50 percent chance of less than one fatality. There's a 38 percent chance of one to 10 fatalities, and an 11 percent chance of 10 to 100 fatalities.
Now the economic loss -- $1 million or less, 65 percent chance of there being less than $1 million damage, 30 percent chance of $1 million to $10 million, and a 4 our percent chance of up to $100 million.
Now we will scroll up. This is how technical now the USGS has become, your tax dollars in motion right here. This is where the worst of the shake occurred, right here in the Gulf of California. Here's Cabo San Lucas. This is where all the tourists go. Here's La Paz, 200,000 people here.
So, there's people here that live here. Also more people living over here on the main shore. This is Mexico itself. This is Baja California. A pretty big shake at 6.9, but it was under the water and there was no tsunami.
BALDWIN: I know, Chad, it's still a story with a lot of moving parts. If you get more information, we start hearing from folks, of course iReport -- iReporters on the ground, I want to go back to you within the show to make sure we stay on top of that story.
Meantime, 12 days to go until the registered voters of American, you, get to impact the -- the politics of this country on a national level. But I want you to set aside those high stakes for just a moment for me. And there is a place where you can create waves with your ballot, not just a ripple. Do you ever watch city council meetings, you know, on your local government channel? These people make decisions each and every month that affect how much you have to spend on your taxes, your schools, your roads, and your transportation.
Look, that's a lot of responsibility. And I want to take you to this town. This is Warner Robins, Georgia. So, we will look at a map together. It's about 100 miles south of where I'm sitting right now in Atlanta. It's a town that perhaps is a lot like yours, 58,000 people, a couple of community colleges, demographically speaking, 62 percent white, 32 percent black.
By the way, it's also home to this huge Air Force base. Now I want to show you, that said, exactly 15 seconds of video. That's it, 15 seconds. This is a snippet from a recent city council meeting there. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARON LEE, WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: I was disrespected last Monday. I'm getting about tired of you all getting -- talking to me any kind of way. I'm sorry. I'm not in a cotton field. OK?
JOHN WILLIAMS, WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: You should be.
LEE: Oh, I should be?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That exchange that you just watched prompted the NAACP to demand the resignation of John Williams, the white city council member in that video.
Williams says Daron Lee, the black city council member, makes everything racial.
Both men are joining me live.
I want to begin -- Mr. Williams, I want to begin with you. Have you apologized?
WILLIAMS: Well, actually, I'm really offended that the Councilman Lee would make me appear to be a -- maybe a slave master. You know, I didn't -- I didn't bring the racial comment up. I didn't think it was racial.
And I was commenting on his behavior. And that snippet actually cut out the whole conversation. What I told him is --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Sir, let me -- let me -- let me just try to -- let me try to get you just, though, to -- to answer the question I asked. And perhaps the answer is no. But, given what you said, have you -- have you apologized?
WILLIAMS: No, ma'am, I have not.
BALDWIN: Do you at all --
WILLIAMS: He should -- he should apologize to me. If he wants to apologize to me, then I'll gladly apologize to him.
BALDWIN: I'll ask him about that in just a moment here, sir. But I want to ask you, do you at all think you should apologize?
WILLIAMS: Would I consider apologizing?
BALDWIN: Yes, sir.
WILLIAMS: Certainly, if he would. But he made the -- he made the remark first.
BALDWIN: Mr. Lee?
WILLIAMS: And I didn't -- I didn't make a racist remark.
BALDWIN: I have Mr. Lee.
WILLIAMS: I told him his behavior was becoming of being on a cotton field -- not him, his behavior.
BALDWIN: We are going to get to that. We are going to get to that.
Mr. Lee, do you --
WILLIAMS: OK. Sure.
BALDWIN: He -- he says he's not apologizing until you apologize. Do you accept what he just said?
LEE: Absolutely not. I don't believe that I was put in a position where I should apologize for the comments that were made during the pre-council session.
Indeed, not only did it affect me, but, more so, it offended the people that make up the city of Warner Robins. Not only -- I think he -- he really needs to apologize to his city, the citizens that represent -- represent the district that he serves, as well as myself. But he needs to thinks foremost about the citizens.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Let me say for now, let's say apologies aside, I want you to just set up the context of this.
You say that these particular comments that we just watched -- that was this past Monday.
LEE: Yes. BALDWIN: But you say that you have been disrespected before. I want you to explain that.
LEE: Well, yes. In a previous council meeting, the first -- the first one of the -- this month, Councilman Tom Simms called me a boy twice.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Called you a boy? How? How did he call you a boy?
LEE: Boy. We were in discussion. Actually, it had something to do with an e-mail that I had sent out in regards to the -- the agenda that we were going to look over and pretty much exercise that Monday.
It's -- it was -- it was an e-mail that he said he did not get, but I remember sending it to him, as well as all of the other council members. And, from that point, he said, I received -- he received it -- he said that he did not receive it. And I said, you did. I told him that he did receive it. And he said he didn't.
And upon going upstairs during a recess, I was eating, and he leaned over my ear and told me, don't you ever call me a liar in front of the people again.
BALDWIN: So, you say, bottom line, you have been disrespected before?
But, at the same time --
LEE: Oh, yes.
BALDWIN: At the same time, Mr. Williams makes a point -- and it's a point we all need to make right now -- the fact that you were the one -- in the snippet of video that we just saw, you were the one who brought up the cotton field reference.
So, in case someone missed it -- it's very quick -- I want to show it again. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEE: I was disrespected last Monday. I'm getting about tired of you all getting -- talking to me any kind of way. I'm sorry. I'm not in a cotton field. OK?
JOHN WILLIAMS, WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: You should be.
LEE: Oh, I should be?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, you brought -- there's no denying --
LEE: Oh, yes, I did bring it up. (CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: -- you -- you brought up the words cotton field.
LEE: Yes, I did.
BALDWIN: And you say -- Mr. Williams says you make everything about race. That's what -- that's what he says. So, can you understand how some people may say, you know, you're -- you're being too sensitive?
LEE: Well, some people may say that, but they're not me.
You know, what they feel and how I feel are two separate things. You know, what may offend some people may not offend me, or what offends me may not -- may not offend someone else.
BALDWIN: Mr. Williams, I want to go back to you, because I -- can you explain -- explain why you didn't mean harm by the phrase when you -- when you said "You should be" when he says, "What, do you think I should be working in a cotton field"? You said you didn't mean any harm by that. Just explain that for me.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Our famous -- our famous and respected leader Martin Luther King spent his entire life building bridges for whites and blacks. Warner Robins has never had a racial issue. We get along good. We work hard together. My best friends are black people.
And this gentleman has steady built a wall between the white and the blacks since he's been in the community.
BALDWIN: Mr. Williams --
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: And I'm -- I'm really offended and I'm hurt.
BALDWIN: You're hurt.
WILLIAMS: I'm hurt.
BALDWIN: You're hurt. Why, though, did you say "You should be"? What did you mean by that? Why should -- why would he be working in a cotton field?
WILLIAMS: His behavior, his behavior was becoming of someone unbecoming of a council member.
He should be -- have more respect for the citizens of Warner Robins and the community than to get up there and make me appear to be a slave master, when I'm nothing but a hardworking councilman. I have worked my entire life for the city. I work for Rebuilding Together. I'm on the board of directors. I have spent all of my years working for the underprivileged community, primarily black community. BALDWIN: So, Mr. Williams, I just want to make sure --
WILLIAMS: I have community -- letters of commendation from the community. I mean, it's not fair.
BALDWIN: Forgive me for interrupting. I just want to make sure -- I want to make sure I'm hearing you right, because from what I have read, from what you have said in the past, you said, look, I have worked in a cotton field. You didn't mean harm by it.
From what you just said, though, I'm hearing you did mean it in a -- a negative way. I want to make sure I'm hearing you correctly.
WILLIAMS: No, no, not at all. No, ma'am, not at all, no negative -- nothing negative at all. Cotton field work is just hard work. There's nothing wrong with it, nothing demeaning about it.
But he told it totally out of context. And, furthermore, the other issue he brought up about lying to -- calling the mayor a liar on TV, and he called Tom Simms a liar and he called me a liar. Then he goes upstairs in an uproar.
Councilman Simms leans over and whispers in his ear, like I would to him or him would to me, "Boy, don't you talk to me that way anymore." It was nothing racial about it. I would say it to him and he would say it to me, or Tom would say it to me. It was just meaning in a friendly way. It was nothing racial about it. But he turned it racial.
BALDWIN: You say you meant nothing racial by it, Mr. Williams.
WILLIAMS: No, ma'am.
BALDWIN: But, at the same time, the NAACP is very much so calling on you right now to step down, to resign. Will you?
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: No, ma'am, absolutely not. The people elected me. When they don't want me to be there anymore, then they can vote me out, and I will be very happy, because I have enjoyed serving them. And I continue to serve them as they want -- as long as they want me to. I'm proud to, and I do a good job.
BALDWIN: Proud of serving the city of Warner Robins, says he will not step down.
Mr. Lee, I'm going to give you the final word. At the beginning of the interview, he said, if you apologize, he will apologize. The floor is yours.
LEE: I have no reason to apologize to him. I will not. I will not apologize. The comments that he just made in regards to Building Together, he has been removed by that board. As well as the comments that he said I made up in -- in the conference room, it was totally untrue. BALDWIN: You're angry. You're angry. I'm --
LEE: I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated in regards to how he could say certain things, that this is not the first time. He said back in the latter part of 2009 that he didn't want another black employee to touch his -- his skin to touch his. It has been an ongoing thing.
BALDWIN: Bottom line, ongoing.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Are you sticking around, or are you -- can you all just get along?
LEE: Yes. It's not about us. And that's the thing. It's not about us. I want to get along in order to move along.
But, at the same time, you're going to respect me. You don't have to like me, but you're going to respect me enough in order to move the city business of Warner Robins forward.
BALDWIN: Where does this -- where does this leave us?
LEE: It leaves -- honestly, it's really out of my hands, basically.
BALDWIN: Out of your hands.
LEE: It's out of my hands.
He's offended organizations who do want to see him removed. And it's basically satisfying the citizens of Warner Robins and the organizations that make up that city.
BALDWIN: Got to leave it there.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Daron Lee, John Williams, I want to thank both of you for joining me.
Take a look at this. A proposed two-year hike in the retirement age was enough to set off violent clashes in France. It's not over yet. Even Lady Gaga has been caught up in all this protest drama. Why? That is next in our top stories.
Also, take a look at who is the top crime fighter for this dangerous Mexican town. Folks, she is 20 years of age. She's a mom. And she's a college student, plans to work unarmed. You will not want to miss this story.
We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. All right, let's get you caught up on some of the day's top stories.
First here, first-time unemployment claims fell last week, hovering just around 450,000 there. That is more than 20,000 less than the previous week, but here's the rub. Jobless claims have been in this range since last November. Economists say this is a sign the recovery is anemic.
Let's take a check, though, of how the markets are responding here. Last we checked -- there we go -- Dow, oh, it is up a little bit, 25 points, sitting at 11132 by this latest jobless number, an encouraging corporate earnings there.
Also, a suspected serial stabber charged in a fatal stabbing spree is now charged in two more killings. Elias Abuelazam was charged today in the deaths of Darwin Marshall and Frank Kellybrew. The 34-year-old suspected of 14 stabbings, three different states. Five of those attacks were fatal. Abuelazam was already charged with homicide in three of the deaths. He was caught in Atlanta -- You remember this? -- while trying to board a flight to his native Israel.
And a wave of protests is heating up in Central France. Look at these pictures, sirens continues for days and days here. More a million strikers spilled out into the streets. They're furious over government reforms, specifically -- look at them running -- President Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age all the way from 60 to 62. The unrest is crippling transportation. It's still cutting off fuel supplies. It's affecting schools as well.
By the way, Gaga, what does she have to do with this? Well, pop star Lady Gaga, she is now having a postpone two of her Paris shows, citing logistical difficulties because of the strike.
When a purse-snatcher grabbed this woman's bag -- this video is unreal. Lock at he look at her. She is just being dragged along. She is fighting back, though. Why is she holding on for dear life to her bag? We are going to tell you what was so precious, so irreplaceable, she could not let it go.
Also, President Obama thinks the West Coast Senate races are so crucial. There he is saying hello, waving to the crowd, live pictures from Washington, a couple of days out West. He's spending four days, to be precise. Which Democrats are on the ropes 12 days here -- 12 days -- before the election?
Jessica Yellin has the latest poll numbers, some new numbers, interesting stuff here. You won't want to miss it. Stay there.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Here we go. Are you counting with us here at CNN? A big 12 days now until the election. How important does the White House view California, Washington, Nevada? Well, the president is in Washington right now speaking as I speak. He will be visiting all three of those states. The vice president, by the way, just got back from doing the same thing. And the first lady will be taking a trip out to California next week as well.
So a new poll -- let's go to California. Look at these numbers here -- a new poll has Senator Barbara Boxer leading her Republican challenger, Carly Fiorina. You see the numbers with me -- Boxer up by a mere 5 percentage points, 43-38 among likely voters.
And those races in Nevada, in Washington, folks those are neck- and-neck. A new poll has Democratic incumbent Patty Murray in a statistical dead heat with Republican Dino Rossi.
Jessica Yellin joins me now to break down some of these numbers.
Jessica, tight, tight, tight here, as we are in the final sprint. And obviously you know the White House has got to get these wins to keep the control of the Senate.
YELLIN: Right.
And the reason these states in particular really matter for that, Brooke, is because these are races the Democrats should be able to win without the president's help. You see, bottom line, there are many more people registered as Democrats in Nevada and California than as Republicans.
Washington State doesn't break down by party, but it usually votes Democratic, so you can assume there are many more Democrats there, too. So the fact is, the president spending time going to help these campaigns really means the Democrats are badly on the defense.
The one state where it seems like Barbara Boxer tends to be pulling ahead of Carly Fiorina in California pretty consistently, but in a normal year for Democrats, it just wouldn't be this close in any of these states, Brooke.
BALDWIN: I know you're fascinated by the California race.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: I think, for me, I think Alaska is fascinating, because you have this incumbent GOP Senator and now write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski. She is in this dead-even race.
Let's look at the numbers, Jess, together. The CNN/"TIME" poll has Murkowski and the Republican nominee, Joe Miller, they are tied at 37 percent among likely voters. But the big news, other than the fact that she's this write-in incumbent and she's tied, is the fact that 6 percent of Murkowski voters say they're not so sure if they get the whole write-in thing.
I mean, that's kind of a big deal.
YELLIN: Yes. It is a huge deal.
Now, I would point out the opposite, too, which is 93 percent say they do think they know what to do when they go into the poll to write in Murkowski's name, but, still, Brooke, let's admit it, Murkowski is not the easiest name to spell.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: And when you go into the voting booth, do you think it's that easy to remember, oh, I remember I want in this category to put a person who's not even listed here?
So, to mitigate that, she's running ads teaching people how to spell her name, hoping that that will help. But, to -- to your point also, one of her own first ads misspelled her own name at the bottom of the screen.
BALDWIN: Ooh, not good, not good.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: And my favorite piece of trivia, it was since 1954. That was Strom Thurmond, when he won that write-in seat.
YELLIN: Yes.
BALDWIN: So, it's been a whole -- it's been a long time.
YELLIN: Doesn't happen often.
BALDWIN: It will be interesting to watch that.
Let's go back East. I think we have another poll I want to show you. It shows the Senate battle in Pennsylvania deadlocked. I'm sure you watched that debate last night. The Republican Senate nominee, Pat Toomey, leads the Democratic nominee, Joe Sestak, 48 percent to 46 percent in the race for Arlen Specter's old seat.
Jess, Toomey was up 7 percent in late September.
YELLIN: Yes. This one is a doozy, because, for the longest time, Toomey, the Republican, as you say, was way up. Republicans were sort of thinking, we got this one locked up.
Now, Republican strategists in the top tier began confessing to me about two weeks ago they were starting to get worried about Toomey and Democrats were getting excited. And now look at this race. The Democrat is surging.
And I want to underscore why voters who aren't even in Pennsylvania should care. That state is not only important to who controls the Senate, but it is a key battleground for presidential politics. President Obama won it last time around. John Kerry won it before that.
If Democrats cannot win statewide office there this year, that simply does not bode well for the president winning the state again in 2012. That's a state the White House desperately wants to win.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: I love how you say, "We got this.":
I don't think either side yet can be saying yet.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Jess Yellin in Washington -- thanks, Jess.
YELLIN: Good to see you.
BALDWIN: You can always count on Florida for some election fireworks. This year, it is a three-way Senate race. Which candidate is holding on to a lead? And is Charlie Crist's independent gamble, will to pay off? We're live in Florida next.
And a breaking story in California, this is happening at a shopping mall. Police are investigating a suspicious backpack left in a video game store. There's more to this. Stick around, more of that breaking story in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We have some breaking news I want to pass along to you.
This is happening in north -- Northern California in a town of Roseville. This is at the Westfield Galleria at Roseville. And here's what happened. Basically, this whole shopping mall has been evacuated because someone left behind a backpack in this video game store. It's called GameStop. Left this backpack, set a fire inside of that video store. So the whole mall had to get evacuated.
What we're watching behind the scenes which you can't see -- we have a crew watching this news conference that's under way right now. And basically the police have explained that they have one man detained. Is this the man that left the backpack? We don't know yet. But again this is happening right now. And the whole scene is still -- you see the crime tape -- it's still roped off, because that backpack is still in there. And they don't know what's in that thing. We're still watching this. As soon as we get any more, I will bring it to you from Roseville, California.
Meantime, let's switch gears, talk politics. One of the hot Senate races to watch this election season, I know you know as well as I do, coming out of Florida. Take a look at these numbers. This is our latest CNN/"TIME" poll -- 46 percent of likely voters support Republican Marco Rubio, Governor Charlie Crist, who, as you know, now running on the independent ticket, coming in with 32 percent support.
And that leaves the Democrat here, Kendrick Meek, trailing, with just 20 percent of likely voters supporting him.
T.J. Holmes, he is on the road still traveling with the CNN Election Express. Today, there he is, Gainesville, Florida. T.J., Marco Rubio doing pretty well down there.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he's doing really well. He's picked up a lot of traction over time.
You know, he's -- he's been on top for quite some time, to the point that a lot of people think is a foregone conclusion, for the most part. Now, for the most part, I'm on this college campus of 50,000 students. If you ask them what's going on in the races, you're not going to hear a whole lot right now, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Oh, no.
HOLMES: And that is unfortunate, because they're just, frankly, not engaged right now. We were all college students not too terribly long ago. We have got other stuff going on. That's fine and dandy.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But we talk about that Senate race. We talk about the gubernatorial race here as well, and also just being involved in the midterms.
It's hard to get these young people, like the president is trying to, get them to understand how what they do right now in a midterm is going to impact what happens to them down the road and their kids down the road. That's very difficult. It's a tough sell.
And Brooke, on this trip, as we've been talking to you about this week, kids aren't sold right now. The young people aren't. So maybe they'll surprise us in a week and a half or so when we go to the polls, and maybe they'll turn out. Right now I'm sad to report we haven't found too many young people engaged.
BALDWIN: Well, that is disappointing to hear. Yes, we were in college once. Maybe you can get them reinvigorated, T.J. Holmes.
Let's talk about the president. The president is not doing so well in terms of the polls in Florida. So we just said, you know, Kendrick Meek is down like 20 percentage points -- trouble brewing for Democrats.
HOLMES: It's trouble brewing for Democrats. Of course, you spoke of the president there. The president got overwhelming support from young people last time around, but that was last time around when they punched the ticket they could see exactly what they were voting for.
It's not just a matter of the president and Democrats and who's on the ballot. If you're not exciting the young people, then they're not going to go out and tell their friends.
That was such a big part of what happened with Barack Obama last time. It wasn't just a matter of getting them to go into the booth. It was a matter of exciting them enough to be involved in the process, to talk to their parents, to get them excited, to talk to their friends, their professors, and other folks.
And that's how that message spread and that permeated around a community or a neighborhood or a state. And then that led to a vote. But this time around, these foot soldiers that the president was able to depend on last time around, we don't know if they'll be marching this time for the president.
But again, they've still got ten days or so to figure this thing out. So maybe they'll surprise us.
BALDWIN: 12 days, sir, 12 days and counting. T.J. Holmes, thanks.
HOLMES: This bus, I don't know what day it is.
BALDWIN: You've been on the road. What are you going to do? Thank you, T.J.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes, all right.
BALDWIN: How far would you go to protect your handbag? We have one woman in this video, unbelievable video. She gave it all she had because of what was inside. That is next.
Also, what can a woman say when her husband's accused of sending a naked photo and some pretty suggestive e-mails to another woman? Brett Favre's wife breaking her silence today. We'll have her response coming up for you in our next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Wow. This piece of video, we were all sitting around today and watching this. What the woman did in the video I'm about to show you goes against every single piece of advice you have heard. But wait until you find out actually why she did it.
First, let's watch this together. Here is this woman walking in Los Angeles. It's a quarter to 8:00 on a Sunday morning. We're not seeing her just wait. Wait for it. You see the van. You see the guy jump out, run around, chases this woman down.
This is another surveillance camera angle, tries to snatch the woman's purse. You can see them on the sidewalk together back and forth. She's dragged. She punches her.
Folks, this attack lasted all of 16 seconds. I'm sure for this woman it felt like an eternity. There she is running away, still clutching her purse. But what's in that purse? What could be so precious that she's holding on through such a violent attack?
I'll let her tell you. We are hearing from her. Her face and the name of her loved one, they're obscured for her safety. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When it happened, I just -- I was totally ready to die. I did not care. It's like there were recordings on that phone of -- babbling and saying, mama and laughing. It was literally to the minute, to the day that -- had done it. Really it's more looking at the video that I realize it could have been so much worse. And I feel like -- it's protecting me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Doesn't that break your heart? She said she was ready to die. She was holding on to that purse. That attempt to steal her purse and the precious memories of her lost child. How adorable was that baby? It happened ten weeks to the day after her little baby died of cancer. Police are still looking for the would-be purse snatcher and his accomplice.
It is a 20-year-old criminology student, here she is, up to the job of police chief in one of Mexico's most violent towns. That's right, I'm talking police chief. Opposition to this appointment, it is growing. We're digging deeper. That is next.
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BALDWIN: This story really illustrates how difficult things have gotten in the war on drugs and the drug gangs just south of the Texas/Mexico border. When the police chief of a small Mexico town was shot to death nobody wanted the job.
Now after more than a year of searching, someone is stepping up. That someone is a 20-year-old college student. And, by the way, she's not going to be carrying a gun. CNN producer Nick Valencia is here. Nick, I heard about this last night you and I were emailing, actually. Some people say, you know, kudos to her, she's so brave. Others think she is one naive young woman. What do we know about her?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN PRODUCER: There are a lot of things raising question marks. Why would you do this? Why would you become a police chief in a town that's controlled by organized criminals? We know what she said. She's a 20-year-old college student. She's still in school right now. She's getting her criminology degree. She's a mother. She has a son.
And she is obviously really inspired to try to make change in this municipality just outside on the fringes of Juarez, Mexico's deadliest city.
BALDWIN: Explain to me -- this is a municipality. It's a municipal police department. What does that mean?
VALENCIA: In English, in American terms, this is a local police force. And there are three different levels of politicking there. Now, this is an area that also is patrolled by the Mexican military. Also, elements of the federal police do operate in this area.
Again, this is just 35 miles southeast of Juarez. And it's under the proximity. It's under this same area that's patrolled by the military and the federal police in Juarez.
BALDWIN: Let's look at the lay of the land.
VALENCIA: Sure.
BALDWIN: And as we do, one of the former police chiefs in her same spot was murdered. The next person stepped down. Now we have this 20-year-old.
VALENCIA: Just to give context about what kind of area this is, it is a dangerous area where area lawmakers are moving, in fact too, Juarez and moving away because it's that bad there.
BALDWIN: They're moving to Juarez, the bloodiest city in Mexico.
VALENCIA: Yes.
BALDWIN: From this area.
VALENCIA: From this area to go back into Juarez because it's safer there.
BALDWIN: This is the area known as El Baya.
VALENCIA: Yes, that's right. There's a lot of narco-terrorism there, a lot of narco-trafficking there. It's a main pivotal battleground for the cartels that are battling for the drug trafficking.
BALDWIN: This group she is heading, this is primarily women that want to be unarmed because they're thinking they can attack this issue with social programs.
VALENCIA: It's just unreal, Brooke.
And in fact, if you talk to a lot of Mexican experts about the drug problems of the drug war in Mexico, a lot of them will tell you it has to do with social decomposition. So in a way she's attacking the problem at its root. She's deciding with her 13-member police force comprised of three women, she wants to attack social programs, get to the youth that are most vulnerable and susceptible to being recruited by the organized criminals.
BALDWIN: Speaking of a gender issue, let's take a look at the Twitter board. This is the headline. Read that in Spanish and tell me what it means.
VALENCIA: "There's no men in Chihuahua. A woman of 20 years old assumes charge of the police force there."
BALDWIN: That's reaction from the Mexican residents. They don't like the idea of having a female.
VALENCIA: Absolutely not. This typically is not a position of power for women. They don't usually hold positions of office like this, let alone someone who is 20 years old. BALDWIN: Bottom line, you have sources. You've been in this area before. Will they protect her? And will they urge her to step down?
VALENCIA: That's a good point. Federal police spokesman Ramon Salinas, we spoke to him a little while before we got on this program. He says he has yet to receive a formal request from the government to protect her, the 20-year-old college student who you're seeing there.
She -- look how young she looks. Now she is the new police chief of one of the most dangerous cities in Mexico.
BALDWIN: We have sound from her. Let's listen.
VALENCIA: Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF MARISOL VALLES GARCIA, PRAXEDIS G. GUERRERO, MEXICO POLICE (via translator): Because it's a position that's very interesting. I believe there's a lot that can be done. It's something I believe in. I think it's something that can be done by working with families and children. We just want to help children and make their dreams come true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: You can see she's very driven about --
BALDWIN: Hats off to her message.
VALENCIA: These types of areas, these rural types of areas, it's about 8,500, 9,000 people. These are the types of areas that are giving federal authorities the most problems and it's where narcos have the most influence, in rural villages where they can assume control. And they can these social programs. They can provide money for churches, for playgrounds.
And now you have a police chief who is coming in here and trying to do away with what the narcos are doing.
BALDWIN: She's 20 years of age. Stay on it.
VALENCIA: Amazing character.
BALDWIN: Let us know if she stays put.
VALENCIA: Absolutely.
BALDWIN: Nick Valencia, thank you.
Next up, for thousands of Toyota drivers, the mechanic. We will have details on a major new recall that has put the carmaker back in the hot seat.
Also, you know this guy. Ever heard of, oh, LeBron James? He has become a twitter target, folks. Who is behind these racist, hateful tweets? And how has the Miami Heat's superstar reacted? We can't even show you the stuff. We have to black it out. That is next in "Trending."
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BALDWIN: Sandra Endo combs the social media and the web to find out what exactly you and the rest of the world are buzzing about. We have what is trending today. Trending number one, and he's here in Atlanta, right?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is trending big-time, Brooke, all the buzz on Twitter and social media. It really highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly of social media and everything that's going on online.
Miami Heat basketball player LeBron James turned to twitter to send an important message. He re-tweeted a hateful, racist tweet that he received from one of his nearly one million followers.
This is the tweet James received. Here you see it. "You are a big-nosed, big-lipped, bug-eyed" -- racist word we had to black out. "You're greedy. You try to hide your ghetto-ness."
In response the basketball superstar tweeted, here you see it, "You see, world, how people feel? Just use it as extra motivation in whatever you do best." So he's really trying to turn a negative into a positive here.
The NBA star says he doesn't really directly respond to insults or argue with people who send them, but he decided to expose the ugly messages he receives, he says to, quote, "show that some people will always downplay what you can do."
BALDWIN: You know, we were talking about. Some people on social media are saying this guy is a ba-jillionaire and not everyone loves us, and get over it.
ENDO: Yes. And he's trying to send a message out there because he does have nearly one million followers. Think of the millions of fans that social media can be put to good use. In this case he wants to highlight that, yes, there are bad people out there, but trying to turn it into a positive.
BALDWIN: Like you said, negative into a positive.
All right, number two, this is little cam. We've been looking at this just to see what was going on.
ENDO: You know how it feels. You live in a fish bowl when you're in the studio. Imagine being in a fish bowl 24 hours. That is what happened to one person in particular.
We're talking about Conan O'Brien. He opened up his headquarters for everyone to see. Look at that camera right there. He put up a live web stream of his office which began yesterday afternoon and sent a live video signal of his staff's antics for 24 hours straight.
Here's just a clip of it you see there, people playing poker, exciting stuff. And at about 3:00 this morning, they had some kind of aerobics or dance class going on.
BALDWIN: I missed that one.
ENDO: They were pretty much mugging for the camera all day long.
BALDWIN: Of course.
ENDO: Yes, playing puzzles. But it's part of a stunt. Conan made an appearance as well as some other celebrities. It was a gag to basically publicize his new show which debuts next month.
People have been tweeting him to suggest who should be his first guest of his talk show-style program. And some of the suggestions we found out is the Pope, Justin Bieber, and the sultan of Brunei.
(LAUGHTER)
Today Brooke, we found out some of the guests were already booked for his first week and they include actors Tom Hanks, Seth Rogan, and Charlayne Yi. And the first guest is still a big mystery, and a lot of people are probably tweeting him still, and it will stay that way until it debuts on November 8th on TBS.
BALDWIN: Conan O'Brien, always with the latest antics. I love the Conan cam. Do we know where to find the Conan cam?
ENDO: I think they'll set one up here for us and for you in particular.
BALDWIN: Please, no. I'm not at all as funny as him. Thank you, Sandra. I think that's hysterical.
ENDO: You got it.
BALDWIN: Speaking of hysterical, you got to see this. This is not a pool toy, folks. What is up with the gators in the news? This is an alligator taking a dip where he shouldn't. That is next.
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BALDWIN: OK, it is one thing to get t-boned by a car, but check this out. Check out the aerobatics on display when the rider of a small motorcycle runs into the front of a truck. Oh. Ouch. I think a cheerleader might call this a front walkover. It looks like he almost lands doing some somersaults, lands perhaps on his feet. The rider was fine. He amazingly survived that unbelievable crash.
Check it out in Marion, South Carolina. Call this one grand theft auto junior, the driver behind the wheel of the stolen truck, 11 years of age. Apparently he couldn't resist the temptation to go for a spin when he walked by a city fire truck with the keys in the ignition.
But get this -- this is not his first time driving illegally. Police say he stole his big sister's wheels once, too.
And in Florida, imagine stepping out into your backyard to find an alligator hanging out, waiting for you. That's what happened with one resident. What he found when he went to try to clean his pool. Swamps and rivers must not have been good enough for this roaming reptile. Wildlife authorities swooped in and returned the little guy to the plain old un-chlorinated water. Bye, little guy.
A man collapses, look at this, onto the tracks with a train bearing down on him. What happened next? We have that. That is ahead.
And "The Best Political Team on Television" has been tracking all these poll numbers as Election Day comes in. Wolf Blitzer has the latest news from the campaign trail. Stay there.
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BALDWIN: Welcome back to the CNN newsroom.
Here we go, 12 days and counting until Election Day. CNN has all your political news with "The Best Political Team on Television," CNN = Politics. Wolf Blitzer is at the CNNpolitics.com desk.
And Wolf, President Obama, I know you've seen the numbers. He's facing numbers similar to the ones President Clinton was facing at this point in his presidency. People may not realize that.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": I remember it well. I was the senior White House correspondent for CNN back in 1994. So what's going on now brings back some memories for this Democratic president.
Right now in this new Gallup poll, let's put the numbers up. Does president Obama deserve to be reelected? And 39 percent say yes, 54 percent say no.
And as you point out, in '94 in the same Gallup poll only 38 percent of Americans said at that point that Bill Clinton deserved to be reelected. But guess what happened in 1996? He was reelected, beat Bob Dole in that election as a lot of us remember.
Let's move to Nevada right now, CNN politics covering all of these stories. Sharron Angle has a new ad she's putting directly going after Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, the Democrat, saying he's out of touch. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARRON ANGLE, (R) NEVADA SENATE CANDIDATE: Sharron angle and I approve this message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did Harry Reid get so wealthy on a public servant's income?
SEN. HARRY REID, (D-NV) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I did a very good job in investing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really? Like this shady deal where Reid made $1 million doing nothing? The truth is Reid is worth up to $6 million and lives in a $1 million Washington Ritz-Carlton condo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: You're hearing a lot about that Ritz-Carlton condo here in Washington D.C. They are really going after him on this issue, hoping it will resonate in the state like Nevada which has 14 percent unemployment, a very high foreclosure rate. They think this may score some points for Sharron Angle.
In Pennsylvania, by the way now, Brooke, take a look at these new polls. It is neck and neck between the Democratic Joe Sestak and the Republican Pat Toomey.
In this Quinnipiac University poll, 48 percent for Toomey, 46 percent for Sestak among likely voters, three point margin of error. So it's neck and neck there. This other Muhlenberg College poll, also likely voters, 43 percent, 43 percent, doesn't get much closer than that.
Only a few days ago Toomey seemed to have a considerably more significant lead, but this race, like other races, including in Colorado and West Virginia, some other states, seem to be tightening now in these final 12 days of the election. It will be a long night November 2nd.
