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President Obama Hits Campaign Trail; Gay Military Ban Restored Temporarily; Sue the Chimp Moved to Kansas City Zoo; Linda McMahon Not Polling Well With Women; Fighting Debt From the Pulpit; Video Captures Rescue

Aired October 21, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: By the way, top of the hour, here we go. Want to welcome the women, the men watching us on American Forces Network all around the world right now. I'm going to hit you fast this hour. See if you can keep up with me.

Want to begin, though, with this breaking story here. This is out of Mexico. What you are looking at is the 6.9-magnitude earthquake. This is in the Gulf of California. People in the region have reported, you know, somehow feeling it.

Now we are getting some reports of aftershocks rattling the area. But there are no immediate reports in terms of major damage or injury there as of yet. Of course, Chad Myers, he is monitoring the situation. As soon as we get more on that, we will bring it to you here at CNN.

Next, one man in custody at this mall in Roseville, California. Police tell our affiliate KCRA that there was some kind of standoff with a man who claims he had a gun at a GameStop store -- it's a video game store -- in Westfield Galleria.

There was a fire and smoke could be seen over the shopping center. So, they have cordoned the area off. They have evacuated it. There's still the backpack in there. So, we are still waiting to get an update on that.

Also this, President Obama talking women and the economy in Seattle today. He took those issues to this backyard forum, meeting with about three dozen people at this northeast Seattle home just this morning. There he is in the backyard. The president spoke about the challenges women face specifically in this recession and took some questions about small business loans and health care overhaul.

Next, it was illegal under court order just for about a week here. Now the military's don't ask, don't tell policy is back in place. A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco gave the Obama administration the delay it wanted. Now, this blocks at least temporarily last week's ruling that stopped the enforcement of don't ask, don't tell. The reason, the White House says it does want to repeal the policy in Congress, not in the courts.

Next, first-time unemployment claims fell last week, hovering right around 450,000. That is about 23,000 less than we saw the previous week. But jobless claims have remained in this range pretty much since last November. And analysts say it signals continued weakness in the labor market.

Next, Tiffany Hartley moving from Texas to her native Colorado without her husband's body. You know the story. Hartley and her husband, David, had been planning the move just before he was allegedly shot last month by pirates on that border lake. Hartley had hoped to stay in Texas until her husband's body was recovered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIFFANY HARTLEY, WIDOW: Even though he's not with me physically, he's in my heart. And when they do find him, I will be right back down here on the next plane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Mexican authorities suspended their search last week after their lead investigator was beheaded.

Next, the former city manager of Bell, California, pleaded not guilty to corruption charges. Robert Rizzo and seven other former or current officials were arraigned today to face those charges that they stole city funds and used the money as their personal piggy bank. Rizzo was reportedly paid an annual salary of $800,000. He and other officials are accusing -- or are accused, I should say, of misappropriating more than $5.5 million.

Next, Boy Scout stripped out of his uniform and what he calls his leadership position, but the reason is what is making news here. It ignited controversy. Jon Langbert is openly gay. That's the thing. And he was involved in his 9-year-old son's Cub Scout troop, and he wore his shirt proudly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON LANGBERT, FATHER: And it wasn't until last week that I found out that I'm not allowed to wear this anymore because I'm gay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A Scout council official says Langbert was never registered as a leader and cited a longstanding policy that the Boy Scouts of America does not allow gays or atheists to be a registered leader or member. They say Langbert is welcome to volunteer, But Langbert says his son plans to leave the Scouts.

Next, here we go. This is her first TV appearance since her husband Brett Favre's alleged sexting made headlines. Now Deanna Favre spoke with Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America" today to promote her new book. She's calling it "The Cure for the Chronic Life."

But Favre briefly did speak about how she is now coping over this whole scandal involving her husband.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANNA FAVRE, WIFE OF BRETT FAVRE: I'm handling this through faith, Robin. We were talking earlier about us a verse that I have on my fridge. Isaiah 41:9-13 is on my fridge right now: "Don't be afraid. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."

And that's what I'm leaning on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The league is investigating.

Next, Mexican authorities ignite what is called the country's largest marijuana bust in years. Look at these flames and smoke. Folks, this is 134 tons of marijuana, boom, up in smoke. That equals about 334 million joints. Someone did the math. There is so much of this stuff, it will take two days to burn it all. The Mexican army intercepted the load from drug traffickers early this week.

And you better check your refrigerators again. Here we go, another massive recall, this one over celery. And four people have died in this case. I'm going to tell you what you need to know. That's ahead.

Also, the anger grows across France, millions of people taking to the streets to speak out against a proposal that would raise the retirement age. So, how would that compare to us here in the States? Don't miss that. That's next here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. I am taking a moment to show you what is happening overseas today.

Folks, this is a mess in Paris and all over France today. I'm talking millions of people, they are angry. They are protesting. You hear the sirens. They are in the streets and in the faces of riot place. And wait until you hear what all of this fury, this chaos is all about.

I mean, look at this with me. You heard the sirens, the gas, the streets. This is Lyon, clouds of tear gas. We are seeing scenes like this in Paris, Marseilles, Bordeaux, and cities really of every single kind of size in France.

The issue is this. And we can relate, right? We have a retirement age here in the U.S. The government there is working toward changing the French labor laws to raise the minimum retirement age all of two years. So they're trying to go from 60 to 62.

The retirement age, that's why people are out on the streets. That's the heart of this unrest and violence.

Hala Gorani here from CNN International has been covering these strikes as they have been worsening and worsening. And for us here in the U.S., look, our retirement age is 65. And a whole lot of people want to keep working later than that. this is people who are frustrated over it just changing to 62.

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And a majority of people in France support this fight against the reform of the pension in France. They support it.

BALDWIN: They don't want --

GORANI: They support it, about 70 percent, 75 percent.

There's a contract in France. It's very different from the United States. You pay very high taxes. In return, you get to retire earlier. In return, your kids go to school for free. In return, you get free medical insurance.

And there is this feeling in France held by many that these are things that have been acquired over the decades, that these are rights that workers have fought long and hard for. So, whenever there's an attempt by the governor to reform that, then you see these strikes.

BALDWIN: So -- but that's the issue, but let's talk about the strikes themselves, because this is -- people are blocking the way to the airport. Schools are having to close down. Heaven forbid, Lady Gaga's concerts are postponed. My goodness. This is a mess.

GORANI: I know. Once the Lady Gaga concert is canceled --

BALDWIN: Heaven forbid.

GORANI: -- heaven forbid. Everybody should get back to work.

(LAUGHTER)

GORANI: Well, what -- this is -- what is interesting is, these images that you're seeing are pockets of demonstrations. That's Toulouse there.

BALDWIN: OK.

GORANI: And in the past there have been much wider demonstrations. I remember living in France in the mid-'90s. There was a strike that lasted a month. There was not a subway, not a cab for one month.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let's get to those strikes.

GORANI: And the governments have been forced to buckle them back down. In this particular case, these are pockets. They have not paralyzed the country, despite the images.

BALDWIN: I have more questions for you. But for now, we have an iReporter in France. This is Elisa Penner. Let's listen to what she's seeing and hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISA PENNER, CNN IREPORTER: Mass rioting, and people running around with gas, tear gas. There's smoke. There's burning cars.

Guys, I can't see anything.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. We should --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go.

(SCREAMING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK. Start running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: It gives you a great vantage point of what's -- in the middle -- you can see she is running with her camera still rolling. We thank her for that.

But I think what is important to point out is this has happened before.

GORANI: It has happened before.

BALDWIN: And this isn't as bad as it has been.

GORANI: It's not nearly as bad as it's been.

BALDWIN: That's crazy.

GORANI: Yes, absolutely, because subways are still working, because you can still find a cab, because people can still go to work. There are shortages of fuel and gas in gas stations and things like that. But the important thing to keep in mind is, there's going to be a parliamentary vote probably next week. This law, increasing the retirement age to 62, will probably pass in France.

And that's the first time in the history of France that a labor, something -- that a labor right, in the eyes of French workers, is going to go backwards, in other words, that they're going to have to give up something that was gained.

BALDWIN: So, when -- there was supposed to be the vote this week. It has been postponed to next week, and then will this be fini, over?

(CROSSTALK)

GORANI: Not necessarily. Unions have voted today to extend their strike action two more days, at the end of October and on November 6.

And there have been precedents set in the past where laws have passed through the National Assembly in the Senate, but governments have been faced with so much strike action that they have had to modify them or back down completely. So, it's a really wait-and-see situation in France right now and very interesting times, if this indeed sticks.

BALDWIN: All of this over two years in the retirement age.

Hala Gorani, thank you. Come back.

GORANI: They have gone on strikes for longer for less than that.

BALDWIN: Unbelievable. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY KEMPSON, FATHER OF DAYNA KEMPSON-SCHACHT: That's why we have been on the shows that we went on, is to make everyone aware that -- how easily this can happen and how fast it can spread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: This is a tough one. That was a father talking about a video he saw of his daughter's lifeless body. There was his little girl. She was in a car accident this summer. A firefighter allegedly shot the video, sent it to others, wound up on the father's phone. But are there laws to protect the family from this kind of heartbreak? You're going to hear their story. That is ahead.

Also, there is a brand-new video of that chimp -- oh my goodness -- going ape -- I had to say it -- going ape in the neighborhood. You are going to see the extended cut, what people are saying. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, I know you were losing sleep over this story yesterday. You thought, man, what in the world happened to that chimpanzee? I know, I know. Well, we have a little resolution to this story we brought you this time yesterday.

Remember Sue, that big chimpanzee, that bold chimpanzee. We showed you her pushing a garbage container and there she went sort of heading toward that police car. Kansas City Police have now released the dashcam video from inside the cruiser.

So let's flip that switch, Roger. Flip it. There we go.

From this vantage, you can watch as Sue approaches the car. There she is with the garbage can. She's over it, she's climbing up on to the hood. When she gives the windshield a good bashing with her foot. So she ends up smashes the windshield and scaring the entire neighborhood. I mean, imagine if you're watching this thing.

Listen to what the neighbors said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEY HALEY, NEIGHBOR: And the chimpanzee comes out of nowhere, and I'm just thinking, get to the house.

TONYA JENNINGS, CHIMPANZEE JUMPED ON CAR: Came up, jumped up on top of my Explorer. Looked through the window, got on top, started punching the sun roof. I flipped down the visor. He eventually got down, walked around my car.

MICHAEL ABRON, NEIGHBOR: He opened up the door and he's like staring. And he is a smart monkey, starts smiling, laughing, and he's like pointing at us, ha-ha. So he gets down and he starts running and he ran and jumped onto Tonya's car and opened up her door, and she got out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I love how he says that, she's a smart monkey.

Here is what we know, we have been digging deeper on the chimpanzee today. She is 21 years old. Her owner has had her since she was an itty baby. But she has been bad before, she's been in trouble. This time, Sue was loose for about 40 minutes before an animal control officer plugged her with a tranquilizer dart.

Let's take a look at the owner here. There he is in the red shirt. He's a long haul trucker, often takes the chimpanzee on cross- country runs. You can hear her squealing. Not so happy having to go back.

But after this run-in with the law, Sue will be calling, oh, the Kansas City Zoo home.

Now as far as Sue's owner goes, he's facing fines and possibly jail time. This for the man who refers to Sue as his baby. How about that?

All right. Question for you, is the American dream still alive or is debt killing that dream? This is a fascinating report on the wealth gap in this country. That's ahead.

And there are two major recalls we need to tell you about. One can involve your car, the other one will involve some produce sitting right inside your refrigerator. They are both trending. We're going to have those for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Sandra Endo right here again. She's been keeping her eye on what is trending today, and this one is potentially huge here. We had a writer in our morning meeting pull their celery out of her purse and say yikes. What is this?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, kind of unfortunate.

A couple of recalls to tell you about that are trending big time. and it's all about vegetables and eating veggies are not really supposed to kill you, but four people have died from eating contaminated celery.

A Texas food processing plant, Sangar Produce and Processing in San Antonio, was actually shut down because of this because state laboratory results found listeria monocytogenes in their chopped celery products. Health officials are recalling all the products shipped from that plant since January, and the company is denies any wrongdoing and refutes the findings.

Well health officials found traces of that bacteria in other parts of the plant as well. The company distributes mostly packaged vegetables to restaurants, hospitals and schools and other large institutions that serve food. So, of course, the state is concerned and contacting the places that received shipments from that plant. So, pretty --

BALDWIN: So heads up on your celery and also heads up if you have a Toyota.

ENDO: Oh, absolutely. This one is kind of big because this company has been in the news all last year, having some trouble. Well another recall for Toyota. It's putting the brakes on 740,000 vehicles sold right here in the United States, 1.5 million worldwide.

The problem is unsafe brakes. It applies to a list of cars, so listen up if one of these are yours. Avalon models built from 2005 to 2006. Non-hybrid Highlanders from 2004 to 2006. Lexus models RX330, and 2006 models of the Lexus GS300, IS250 and IS350.

Now the problem, the company says, is a small amount of brake fluid that leaks from the main brake cylinder and the company says it's due to the use of non-Toyota brake fluid. Of course, they would promote their own. But the dealers will fix the problem no charge.

And also another recall, Honda plans to recall some vehicles for the same problem, leaky brake fluid as well. And they're not sure how many vehicles it will effect yet, but 2005 to 2007 Acura RLs and Honda's Odyssey minivans from the same years are the vehicles in question.

BALDWIN: Tough year for Toyota. So this is a totally separate brake issue recall, they say got to use Toyota brake fluid.

ENDO: Of course, promoting their own.

BALDWIN: Got it. Got it. All right, Sandra Endo, thank you. See you tomorrow.

Just 12 days, here we go, until the midterm elections. Candidates, they're scrambling out there all across their states. Gloria Borger, she's not scrambling, she is standing by, she's ready to go. Brand new information here just in from the world of politics. Your CNN Political Ticker is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Twelve days to go here until election day and CNN has all your latest political news with "The Best Political Team on Television," "CNN Equals Politics."

Gloria Borger is at the CNNPolitics.com desk. And Gloria, let's talk about the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell. He is trying to clamp down on expectations from the Tea Partiers.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He sure is. You know, Mitch McConnell wasn't born yesterday, right? He's been through a lot of this. And today, he had a message for those Tea Partiers. And let me read you something he told the "National Journal."

He said, quote, "One of the things we have to remind newcomers and those who have supported them is that even though we will have a larger Republican conference, we do not control the government and cannot control the government when the president holds the veto pen."

Now I just got off the phone with a top aide to Mitch McConnell and I said, so what does he mean by this. These Tea Party folks might not be so happy. And this aide said to me, look, the senator is really a student of history here. The last three presidents who lost Congress in their first midterm election went on to actually get reelected. That would be Clinton, Truman and Eisenhower.

And he said, you know what? You cannot overpromise and underdeliver in politics, it's really bad for you. So he just wants to kind of temper people so that folks out there don't expect things to change on day one, Brooke, you know. So, sort of smart on the part of the leader.

Also, one other item, Connecticut is really looking up for the Democrats. The Republicans were sort of hoping they could win control of the Senate. Doesn't look likely that that will happen.

In this Senate race, the Democrat, the state attorney general, Richard Blumenthal, is really been pulling away from Linda McMahon. He has an 18-point lead with just over a week to go in the election. It's really, really hard to make up that kind of a deficit.

One thing that's interesting to point out about Linda McMahon, of course, she's the former CEO of World Wrestling.

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: And guess what? She's got a problem with women voters.

BALDWIN: Really? Just because you're a female candidate doesn't mean you get those female votes, does it, Gloria?

BORGER: You know, it might be a little World Wrestling getting in there, but not really great for her.

BALDWIN: Yes, I guess the video of her in the ring, not working for the ladies.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: Bowing down, yes, we don't like to do that kind of thing. Yes.

BALDWIN: Not so much.

Gloria Borger, thank you.

BORGER: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We will get another Political Ticker update for you next hour and you can also get the latest political news at CNNPolitics.com and at Twitter at @PoliticalTicker.

And we're going to show you some video. This is unbelievable. This is a man. He falls of this train platform as a train comes plowing down the line. You're going to see what happened after that tumble, that is ahead.

Also, we have gotten so much feedback on that interview we did yesterday. I hope you watched it, it was the top of the show yesterday. If not, we're going to show you part of it again.

Basically the story is this, a family is trying to get this message out, after a firefighter, of all people, allegedly shot a video of a woman's body, it's their daughter's body, at a car accident scene. You're going to hear how the family wants to keep that from ever happening again, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to get to this news. This is just in, we now have comments from the head of National Public Radio, NPR. This is the CEO, Vivian Schiller. She was in town today speaking at the Atlanta Press Club about ethics. And of course, about the firing of NPR political analyst Juan Williams. That conversation came up. Williams, by the way who is also a political analyst on Fox News, made a comment on that network basically saying, look, he gets nervous when he sees people wearing Muslim garb on board an airplane. NPR says those comments violated their journalistic ethics. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIVIAN SCHILLER, CEO, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Yes, we are all for civil liberties. Here's the deal. This gets to the Juan Williams issue, too. If you want to be a political activist, you may notes will be a reporter or news analyst for NPR. This is very well understood by the lion's share of our staff and by journalists all over the country and all over world.

So, despite this hyperventilating , I have to say I actually think this has been a fascinating experience and continues to be at this moment. And in many ways, a very good experience. It's gotten people talking about news issues that matter in a mostly, want to emphasize mostly, healthy way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She also went on to describe the NPR policy in further detail. She said a memo went out a couple weeks ago reminding all their employees that as journalists, they have to be careful about participating in the Jon Stewart rally next weekend in Washington.

Switching gears now. This was a tragic, tragic chain of events that had all of us shaking our heads in disbelief here, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We have been talking about this all day yesterday. This family who faced the horror of a daughter's sudden and violent death, forced to relive the same pain and more just a couple of months later.

Let me take you back. Here's what happened at this location, that's the memorial. This is the scene of this fatal car crash, this is south of Atlanta. That's where 23-year-old Dayna Kempson Schacht died. Now, Dayna's family. Of course, they grieved, they mourned, they buried their daughter.

Now, imagine their shock when they learned that a cell phone video of the scene, including Dayna's body, the whole wreckage inside the car, it began circulating on the Internet. You sit there and wonder who in the world would make such a video, would take a video? Tell their friends about it? I asked Dayna's parents that very question right here yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What -- you -- we don't want to go into what we saw, what you saw in the video, but it was horrific, needless to say. You saw her blonde hair. You knew it was your daughter. You immediately start thinking what? Who shot this?

J. KEMPSON: Who shot it? Why did they shoot it? For what reason would they have to disrespect her in that way?

BALDWIN: And, so, you had perfectly reasonable questions.

J. KEMPSON: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: At what point did you pick up the phone and figure out it was a firefighter?

J. KEMPSON: Well, because of the accident itself. We -- there's an ongoing investigation. We have spoken with an attorney. And I called him for advice.

And he told me, he said, you need to go to every department that was on scene that night and file a complaint. They would start their own internal investigation as to if it was their department, and they could exclude or include themselves. So, I started with the -- I started with the investigative agencies first, the state patrol, the -- the sheriff's department the city police department. It was through the city, the police department's investigation that they actually uncovered that it was the fire department.

BALDWIN: So, you find out this is a firefighter supposed to be doing his job on the scene possibly rescuing your daughter, sense of urgency in the audio and the video. I mean, at what point do you turn from your mourning over your daughter to, I imagine, rage, rage?

J. KEMPSON: It was fairly quickly.

You know, she just -- she was hurt so bad. And to just -- I just can't describe to you have how -- how much it hurt to see her like that, to know that somebody actually was just sitting there talking about her lying in that vehicle like that.

BALDWIN: How angry are you?

L. KEMPSON: I get more angry every day.

If it was -- I want to ask him, you know, if -- what if that was your child or your mother or your sister? Wouldn't you feel the same way? My daughter, she didn't deserve this.

BALDWIN: Have you --

L. KEMPSON: We don't deserve this.

BALDWIN: How -- where do you stand with the fire department? What did -- what has the fire department said to you? And have you spoken with this firefighter?

J. KEMPSON: No, we have not spoken with the firefighter. They haven't disclosed to us even who he is. We haven't received anything from anyone from the fire department, from the county. We have had no contact, or they have not contacted us at this point.

BALDWIN: What do you want to see happened? What do you want changed, because, so far, he would just -- this firefighter -- and we have reached out to the fire department, and they say, of course, they're investigating. He -- this firefighter could face disciplinary action, but there's no -- there would be no criminal charges, because there's no law preventing this, preventing someone to have a personal cell phone, taking video, spreading it around.

What do you want to happen, Lucretia?

L. KEMPSON: We want a law to prevent this from happening to someone else.

And the further we get into this, we're seeing that this happens quite often with people. We don't want someone else to have to view their child that way. It -- those are private moments. It's respect for the dead. When you're in a funeral procession, you pull over out of respect for the dead.

Is this respect for her? It's not.

BALDWIN: If you had that firefighter sitting next to you -- Toby, this is your -- your big sis. I have a little brother. I mean, we all try to put ourselves -- I -- I can't imagine. But if you had that firefighter sitting right here -- and we have reached out -- we're trying to get a hold of someone in the fire department -- what would you say to him?

T. KEMPSON: Ask him why. Why would you put this out for the public to see, I mean, to reopen wounds? I mean, it's -- it's appalling that our heroes are doing this. I just want to know why he did it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: It was a tough one yesterday. And I got a lot of twitter responses. Interestingly, a couple of you firefighters, you tweeted me back. I want to read some of these.

First from mike. Mike says, "as a fireman it's frustrating that this occurred, but taking cell phones away from rescuers is not the answer." He goes on, "There is no ethical reason to take a picture of a patient or body."

One more tweet from him. "There's a place to capture the mechanism for training and painting the picture for the hospital."

One more tweet from another firefighter. And we thank you all for sending these in. "During my career as a firefighter, I've seen many horrible tragedies. I see them because I have to. But no one else should." He goes on, "Solution, create department policies which prohibit unauthorized video photography at incidents, protect victims, limit liability." That's precisely what that family would agree with.

Is debt a bigger problem in America than possibly racism? There is a fascinating special right here on CNN tonight. And Soledad O'Brien, there she is. She is standing by with a preview, plus -- wow, Soledad, I heard about this tweet. I heard about your conversation this morning. We will go there in a second.

Got this tweet you sent out this morning, and it caught our eye. That's next. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The black church has long been the center of African- American life. Bolstering faith and assisting with everything from, you know, networking to debt reduction. And Soledad O'Brien, she has this brand new documentary called "ALMIGHTY DEBT" a look at America - excuse me - "ALMIGHT DEBT," a "Black in America" special. And what it does is it looks at how one church is helping members deal with the worst economy since the Depression.

And she's joining me now. And Soledad, I imagine this would resonate with a lot of pastors out there. It seems like a lot of African-Americans are fighting debt from the pulpit and the pews.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Pastor Soaries, who we will introduce you to tonight in our documentary "ALMIGHTY DEBT," has really started focusing on shrinking black debt because his goal is to grow black wealth. It's a passion of his, almost an obsession, you could say. He's been doing it for the last five years within his own congregation.

One of his parishioners is a gentleman, almost 60 years old named Carl Fields, who in spite of his struggle, he lost his job 20 months ago, still has not lost his faith. Look at his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL FIELDS, MEMBER, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: As soon as I opened the door, I knew something was amiss because saw a strange face sitting in the room. The lady proceeded to tell me that the company was undergoing further reorganization. And my job had been eliminated.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): That was a year-and-a-half ago. After 25 years working his way up the ladder to vice president at a large insurance brokerage form, Carl Fields was let go. It was four days before his 58th birthday.

FIELDS: I must tell you, there were a number of grown people who, when I told them what had happened to me, literally stood there crying. And I said to every one of them, "Don't cry for me. Rejoice for about what God is about to do." And that's what keeps me going.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord.

O'BRIEN: Keeps him going still.

FIELDS: Even now, in the midst of this storm --

Oh boy.

(singing): Amen.

My day starts with prayer and medication. Very seldom do I miss that.

Now I can face the day, your Lord.

O'BRIEN (on camera): Has your faith diminished at all?

FIELDS: No.

O'BRIEN: Not one moment where you said --

FIELDS: It was not a question to God about, why did you let this happen to me? Never. I never questioned him.

The most difficult thing is watching my wife get up every morning and go to work and I'm still in the bed. There is something horribly wrong with the fact that she gets up to go to provide for this family and I'm not able to do that. You feel less than a man because I'm not doing what a man should do.

LYNETTE FIELDS, MEMBER, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH: I try to build him up as much as I can. I do everything and anything that I can do to make him know that he is the head of this house, and he is my man.

O'BRIEN: What's the stress on the relationship?

L. FIELDS: Not being able to pay all the bills exactly like we'd like to.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Their regular monthly expenses are roughly $6,000. With his unemployment benefits and her salary as an administrative assistant, they are about $2,000 short each month.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Wow, Soledad. It really struck me what he said. I wrote it down. "It was never a question to God, 'Why did you let this happen?'"

So his faith, strong throughout, but I imagine a lot of other people, this tested them.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I think there's no question about that. What we wanted to explore in "Almighty Debt" was the role of the black church helping the parishioners and even people outside of the church community to lower their debt, increase black wealth, which, of course, the lack of black wealth has all sorts of historic reasons which we wanted to explore as well in our documentary tonight.

BALDWIN: And, Soledad, about that tweet, you know, you and I were out and about, and I'm no Soledad O'Brien. And generally, the comment I get is, "Wow, you're a lot taller in person." But you got a comment that got us talking. And let's go over to the Twitter board, and I want to share this.

You tweeted about this. You say, "In a taxi with my crutches. Driver helping me says, 'You're much prettier in person than on TV because you're lighter skinned in person.'"

O'BRIEN: Yes, nice comment.

BALDWIN: Are you serious?

O'BRIEN: Yes. You know what's interesting about that?

BALDWIN: What's that?

O'BRIEN: Literally, if I didn't have crutches, I would have gotten out of the taxi, because I thought that was a ridiculous comment. And the sort of plain manner in which he said it sort of pissed me off.

But what's interesting is it makes me realize that for our documentaries and for the look that we do in our "In America" unit on race and ethnicity in this country, there's a lot of work to do.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: That, clearly, skin color is an issue that we could be talking about until the cows come home, clearly. And so maybe this is something to look at for another "Black in America" documentary in the upcoming years.

BALDWIN: Clearly and sadly. And on the crutches angle, Soledad, good luck with the big surgery tomorrow.

O'BRIEN: Plus, you know, a typo. I didn't realize I had so many typos when I tweet.

BALDWIN: It's your BlackBerry.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I know.

BALDWIN: Look, that happens.

Soledad, thank you.

O'BRIEN: You bet. Thanks.

BALDWIN: If you saw someone fall off the edge of a train platform -- you know, a lot of us take the train with the train seconds away -- what would you do? Would you just stand there? Several people faced that split-second decision.

We're going to show you what they did. That is ahead.

And Wolf Blitzer is standing by with brand new information just in from the world of politics. Your CNN "Political Ticker" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Twelve days until the election. The president, busy, busy. He's in Washington today, soon to hop a plane, head to California, Nevada. There he was in somebody's back yard talking to some folks.

Also, this is a trip that the vice president just came back from. And the first lady busy as well. She will be heading to California next week.

Wolf Blitzer is live for us in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

And Wolf, the White House pressing these particular states because, you know, let's face it, Democrats need to win these contests if they want to hang on to control in the Senate.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And as you know, Brooke, a lot of these races, at least according to the polls with 12 days to go, are tightening up right now in some key battleground states that the Democrats seriously feared losing. Pennsylvania, for example, Colorado, Washington State. A whole bunch of races are getting closer and closer.

I guess some of the Democratic base, they're thinking, you know what? They're not necessarily very happy right now with 9.6 percent unemployment, not necessarily happy with some of the other things going on. But they are worried deeply about a Republican majority in the House and the Senate, what that could mean.

So this Democratic base seems to be coalescing a little bit right now, suggesting some of these races could wind up being a lot closer than we thought. Remember, 12 days, these final 12 days, is a long time in politics.

I've covered a lot of political races. Someone was way behind with 12 days to go, and all of a sudden, comes from behind and wins. Most recently, Scott Brown in Massachusetts. He was way behind, and all of a sudden, he beat Martha Coakley. It was a huge upset.

So, stuff can happen, even in these unpredictable times.

BALDWIN: And as, you know, we have all this unpredictability, part of that, then, as you look at the constituencies and some of the make-or-break voting blocs, we have talked a lot about Hispanic voters, but also you have women. And right now the president is targeting, in large part, to those female voters.

BLITZER: That's his base right there. He needs a lot of women to come out and vote because men, especially white men, they are not necessarily going to vote for him in the kinds of numbers that they voted for him back in 2008.

So the White House is making a major effort to reassure women that the president is on their side. Valerie Jarrett, by the way, the senior adviser to the president, she's going to be here live in "THE SITUATION ROOM" during the 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour, and we're going to have a chance to go through a lot of these issues, including the White House response on the latest back and forth on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S. military.

So there's a lot of good stuff coming up on our show.

BALDWIN: A lot of good stuff, a lot of back and forth. Wolf Blitzer, we know you're all over it. See you in a couple minutes of course, "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Meantime, we have some video you have to see. What happened after this guy falls off this train platform at a metro stop? Did the bystanders rush in to help?

You will see this video. Do not move.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. I want to show you this amazing rescue. But before I do, I need to tell you that the D.C. Metro Transit Authority says you should never, ever do what this guy did. But there is at least one person who is very, very happy he did any way. You're warned. Going on the record with that. So let's all take a look at this together.

This is surveillance video. This is from a Washington suburb.

You see the guy falls on the platform. We're told he's having some kind of a medical problem. Tumbles on to the train tracks just as the light starts blinking, folks. That means the train is coming.

You can see the people calling him. Finally, you saw that onlooker jumps down there onto the rail bed, runs across two sets of tracks, stepping over the electrified third rail, trying to beat the train.

This good Samaritan is able to push the guy back up onto the platform to safety. You get another look at him falling down. A couple of people kind of standing around, wondering what to do. He barely manages to get out of the pit as the train approaches.

Look at this guy running all the way across. Let's sit on this and just watch. And he finally pulls him out.

A Metro spokesman says the good Samaritan could have been electrocuted had he tripped and landed on that electrified third rail. Thank God he's alive.

The spokesman says bystanders should never do this. Let's get that in again. Instead, should contact the station manager who could then halt approaching trains.

Wow. But sometimes you just don't have the time, I guess.

I have got more video you just have to see. You know, it's one thing to get T-boned by a car, but take a look at this.

Aerobatics on display when the rider of a small motorcycle hits -- see that truck? Bam -- into the side of the truck.

It looks almost like he lands -- like, he does some flips, lands almost on his feet, amazingly. The rider, by the way, just fine. Amazingly, survived that crash.

Next to Marion, South Carolina. Call this one "Grand Theft Auto Jr."

The driver behind the wheel of that stolen truck -- you see it on the right side of your screen -- that's an 11-year-old. That's a no- no.

Apparently, he just couldn't resist the temptation, hop in the driver's seat, go for a spin, when he walked by a city fire truck. This was a city fire truck -- this isn't just any fire truck -- with the keys left in the ignition.

What's a kid to do? Start driving.

Get this -- this is not the first time he is driving illegally. Police say he stole his big sister's wheels once as well.

Miramar, Florida, all these gator stories. Imagine this -- imagine you're heading out to your back yard and, whoops, there's an alligator just waiting for you.

That is exactly what one person found when he went to clean his pool. You saw those pool pictures. Here he is back in the wild.

I guess swamps and rivers must not have been good enough for this roaming reptile. Wildlife authorities, of course they were called.

There he is swimming in the pool. I don't know, is that doggy paddle, gator paddle? Wildlife authorities swooped in, rescued and returned the little guy. There he goes in unchlorinated water. Wonder if he dreams of room service instead of hunting.

And one more look at that purse snatcher video. What in the world -- what the woman did in this video, I am telling you, it goes against every piece of advice any of us have ever gotten if somebody comes up and tries to attack you. But wait until you see why she did it.

First, watch with me. She is walking along the sidewalk. The guy in the white T-shirt pulling her down all around, dragging her on the ground, punches her.

Watch this though. She finally does get up, she's able to walk away. Why? Because there was a picture in her cell phone of her little baby that had died of cancer.

She is OK. Many of you tweeted me and said you would have done it as well.

Now to Wolf Blitzer in Washington.