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Shark Attack in California; French Senate Approves Retirement Age Hike; New President Bush Exhibit; Trending Topics; Chandra Levy Murder Trial; Afghan Government Bans Security Contractors

Aired October 22, 2010 - 16:02   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And with that, we begin the top of the hour here. Want to welcome the men and the women watching us on American Forces Network all around the world. We're going to hit you fast this hour. Let's go.

We will start in California here. A shark attacks and kills a man off the California coast here. It happened this morning off Surf Beach. You're looking at the math. This is Santa Barbara County. The victim we're told is a 20-year-old man. Several sharks have been sighted off Surf Beach over the past couple of years. But we looked back. We saw in 2008, a surfer's board was bitten by what was believed to be a great white shark.

Next, police are defending the time it took to get medical treatment for a college student shot by police early Sunday in New York. That police chief released this timeline that he says shows Pace University football player Danroy Henry was treated within three to five minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUIS ALAGNO, MOUNT PLEASANT, NEW YORK, POLICE CHIEF: At 1:30, the first EMTs arrive at the scene, rendering aid to Police Officer Hess and Danroy Henry. At 1:31, a paramedic arrives on scene, momentarily checks Police Officer Hess, then goes immediately to Danroy Henry.

At 1:35, Danroy Henry is loaded on a stretcher and wheeled to an ambulance. While medical aid is being administered to Danroy Henry, another police officer bandages the wound to Brandon Cox's arm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, police say they responded pretty quickly.

Witnesses say, no way. They say Henry was neglected for as long as 15 minutes after she was shot outside that Mount Pleasant bar. Lawyers for the witnesses and four of Henry's teammates are now accusing local authorities of a cover-up. They want state and federal agencies to investigate and are now asking for a court order to protect all that evidence.

Next, O.J. Simpson's appeal here to overturn his conviction on kidnapping and other charges is denied, denied by the Nevada Supreme Court. Simpson went to prison for a 2007 gunpoint heist in that Vegas hotel room. You remember that? The former football star claims he was just retrieving some sports memorabilia stolen from him. Although the court denied Simpson's appeal, it did order a new trial for one of his co-defendants.

Next, a fast-moving cholera outbreak kills at least 130 people in Haiti, hospitals totally overflowing with people rushing to get help. The U.N. says more than 1,500 people have gotten sick. The bacteria spread amid flooding caused by heavy rains that forced a river that serves as Haiti's main drainage system to overflow.

As you know, Haiti is still struggling to recover after that massive earthquake that hit in January.

Next, France's Senate has approved a highly unpopular reform bill, case in point, unpopular. Look at this video. Hundreds of thousands of people have been protesting against it. The bill would be raising the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62 and hike the age for full state benefits from 65 to 67. The government says the pension system will go broke without the changes. They say this is a money-saving measure. A final bill could be signed by the French president next week.

Next: lunchtime for those of you out on the West Coast. And, hey, put down that hamburger, if we want to change our ways. The number of Americans with diabetes could triple in 40 years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts one in three American adult will be diabetic by the year 2050.

Most will develop they say type 2 diabetes. The usual causes, obesity, lousy diet, and not enough exercise. Two factors in the diabetes expected rise here, the fact that people are living longer and they are being diagnosed earlier.

Next, get that deposit ready, space tourism almost here. See the guy behind the podium there, that's British mogul Richard Branson. He's in New Mexico in the desert out there this afternoon to dedicate this runway at Spaceport America. That is where Branson's Virgin Galactic company will be based. Branson plans to be, of course, on that first flight. He's taking his parents, his children. That is still just a couple years away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD BRANSON, CHAIRMAN & CEO, VIRGIN GROUP: We're getting close. The mother ship has been finished and flying for a while now. As you say, the spaceship did its glide flight and is entering its test program.

The next big test flights will be with the rocket working, and we will do many, many, many test flights over the next 12 months to maybe 18 months before we actually send people up into space. But we're entering the last stages of the test program. And we can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Virgin Galactic is already taking deposits. Can I go? Just kidding, kind of. The suborbital flights cost $200,000 a ticket. Yikes.

Still ahead, I'm going to talk to you about this controversy in Houston where a confused child, a 13-year-old, turned to a police officer for help. But that reaction he got infuriated his mother. We're going to take you beyond the headlines for that one.

Also ahead, the Afghanistan aid crisis, have you heard about this? These American organizations trying to bring aid, bring relief to the war-weary are growing more fearful of their safety. What's changed? That is ahead.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time to go beyond the headlines today. I want to take you to Texas, where a mother's fury is making front-page news there, front-page as in this headline. The story comes to us from "The Houston Chronicle."

And you see the headline, "A Son's Odyssey and a Mother's Outrage." This is all about a 13-year-old special-needs boy. That's part of the headline. The odyssey began Monday when he disappeared. His name is Kenneth Miller. He was finally reunited with his family yesterday.

But here's where the outrage comes in, folks. It turns out a deputy picked up this boy Tuesday, one day after the parents filed a missing-persons report. And according to this newspaper, "The Houston Chronicle," the deputy tried to find an organization to take the boy, but when he failed and couldn't get the boy's name, the deputy simply dropped him off on a street corner.

That was Tuesday. The 13-year-old with special needs wandered the streets until yesterday, when someone called campus police at the University of Houston and reported a suspicious person.

Within a short time, Miller was reunited with his family, bringing his four-day odyssey to an end, but igniting that outrage with his mom.

Reporter Rucks Russell has been covering this story for us from our CNN affiliate KHOU and he's joining me by the phone.

And, Rucks, have you had a chance to talk to this young man's parents, and what in the world are they saying?

RUCKS RUSSELL, KHOU REPORTER: Well, yes, the parents actually joined a local activist in town today and held a news conference.

They're still extremely outraged over what took place, as anyone can imagine. They reported this child missing on Monday. Somehow or another, there was some sort of confusion, communication breakdown. And that message did not get through to police.

So when this kid was picked up by a deputy on Tuesday, the first thing the deputy did apparently was check with Houston Police and ask if they had a report of a missing person matching this description. And police said no.

So, herein lies the journey of this child. You have got this deputy who then takes the kid to CPS, Child Protective Services. And they conduct an interview with the boy. Well, the boy is somewhat confused. He suffers from confusion.

And he told the CPS workers that he was a 23-year-old visiting student from Beijing, China. Well, the CPS couldn't discern who he was, so they told the deputy to get this kid to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Somehow or another, the deputy never brings the kid to a hospital. He drops him off on the corner.

BALDWIN: Do we know, Rucks -- let me interrupt you. Do we know why he dropped him off on the corner? What is he saying?

RUSSELL: Well, right now, the deputy we're told just feels awful about this, actually offered to resign, but his boss refused to accept the resignation.

Instead, the deputy has been suspended for two weeks without pay. There is actually a second deputy who also had some involvement in this, and he's also been suspended for two weeks without pay.

Training is going to be kicked in on Monday. They're going to train all of these deputies on how to handle mentally ill persons that they may come into contact with. So this has really kicked up a major storm out here and you're already starting to see some of the fallout.

BALDWIN: And, Rucks, you mentioned the deputy. And I have read -- I have read he feels awful. But, at the same time, I read in the "Chronicle" article that he's apologized to the parents via text message. Is that right?

RUSSELL: That appears to be the case.

But the mother and the father today decided that they weren't going to talk, under the advice of an attorney. So we don't know what that means, but normally when an attorney gets involved, there's some sort of legal action that's being considered.

BALDWIN: Right.

RUSSELL: But at this point, it's just a big mess.

BALDWIN: Rucks Russell from KHOU, at least this young man is finally home. We thank you.

RUSSELL: You got it.

BALDWIN: Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, 2001)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you. And the people --

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BUSH: And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow. Do you remember that moment nine years ago? The world is hearing a lot more from George Bush these days all from a new exhibit to an upcoming memoir. The most moving and controversial parts of his presidency are back in the spotlight. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Former President George W. Bush is back in the public spotlight, but this time it's because he's promoting his memoirs. "Decision Points" is what he's calling it and in this advanced copy, so to speak, about the book, Mr. Bush gives us an inside glimpse of his presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: When I sat down to write my memoirs, I decided to take an untraditional approach. Rather than provide an exhaustive chronological account of my life and years in office, I wanted to give readers a glimpse of the presidency from my perspective. That meant focusing on the most important part of the job, making decisions.

I write a little bit about the experiences that forged my character -- growing up in west Texas, being the son of a president, meeting my wife, Laura, and raising our twin daughters. I reflect on what I got right and what I got wrong and what I would do differently if I had the chance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: His memoir, if you're looking to buy it, is set to hit stores one week after the November elections.

How about this? Sapphires, diamonds, a bronze football -- these are just a couple of the artifacts from President George W. Bush's new exhibit on display at the Meadows Museum, that's at Southern Methodist University, SMU, down in Dallas.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: I ask hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people -- the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.

ALAN LOWE, DIRECTOR, GEORGE W. BUSH PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY: That was the bullhorn that President Bush used when he first visited the World Trade Center site on September 14th, 2001.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Our guide is Alan Lowe, the director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

(on camera): How did it now get lost in the commotion?

LOWE: The folks with him that day luckily kept it with him and it was transferred through the White House office.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): September 11th takes center stage at this exhibit.

LOWE: When he was going to make his first public statement, he made notes to himself on what to say so in the heat of the moment on that amazing day, he says today we've had a national tragedy.

BUSH: Two airplanes have crashed into the World Trade Center in an apparent terrorist attack on our country.

LOWE: Goose bumps as you think about what was going on, what he was in the middle of right at that moment.

LAVANDERA (on camera): The other great one, the baseball.

LOWE: The president threw out the pitch on game three of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium not long after the attacks.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The George W. Bush Presidential Center is scheduled to open in the spring of 2013. Friends of the Bush family say, you might see more of the former president here soon, but not much more.

MARK LANGDALE, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH FOUNDATION: I think that you'll see him and Laura active in things here at the center. But they enjoy their private life, too.

LAVANDERA: The exhibit also offers a small glimpse into that life. A painting given to Laura Bush by Senator Ted Kennedy. The dress worn by Mrs. Bush to the first ever white-tie state dinner with the Queen of England.

And more impressively, this necklace.

LOWE: A sapphire and diamond set from the king of Saudi Arabia that was given to Mrs. Bush. Absolutely stunning.

LAVANDERA: And there's also Saddam Hussein's gun from the day he was captured. We're told it's one of the president's prized possessions.

LOWE: A very historic piece. LAVANDERA: Of course, this exhibit showcases the greatest highlights of the president bush years. Don't expect to find the low lights of a controversial presidency.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right, jail or rehab? Where will Lindsay Lohan be spending the next couple of weeks? We're going to have a live update, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And now for the part of the show where we talk about what you're talking about, and that is "Trending." Sandra Endo is here to talk about this story -- what is it out of Colorado?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Denver.

BALDWIN: Denver, Colorado. This elderly woman is on a plane and she says the word we're not supposed to say.

ENDO: Right. It's not funny anymore. You know, you can't take a joke or say jokes anymore without repercussions.

So this is what is trending today, a joke that wasn't really too funny. An elderly woman was removed from her Southwest flight because she made an apparent joke and she told a flight attendant oh, be careful with my bag, it has a detonator in it.

Now apparently another passenger complained to the flight attendant that had they made that statement, they would have been thrown off the plane. And initial impressions were that the woman may have misused the word, using detonator instead of defibrillator.

BALDWIN: Maybe she wasn't joking, It may have been just a slip of the tongue.

ENDO: Right, but then other passengers and flight crews say, maybe this woman was on medication and so it seems to be a lot of confusion. But she was questioned, Southwest alerted TSA to investigate the situation and there were discrepancies in eyewitness accounts. And that's really why they took all this precaution.

And apparently, several passengers also told people that the woman seemed a little clouded in judgment. Maybe so, a lot going on.

And I contacted Southwest and they told me the lady did not have any medical devices in her bag and appeared to have said the comment in jest. And she was questioned, cleared and put on the next flight. So they did say that it had nothing to do with any medical condition.

BALDWIN: So we have no idea what she meant by it.

ENDO: Not funny, though. BALDWIN: Not a joke. Do not say that word on a plane.

Number two, we have this story that just never seems to go away.

ENDO: Yes, we can't get enough of this girl, right?

LeLo back in court, and she was ordered back to rehab today. The judge is giving her one more chance to get clean after violating her probation for failing a drug test. She has to enter a treatment program until January 3rd.

Now, if she violates these new terms or fails a drug test before her next court date in late February, she will be sent back to prison for 180 days. No joke here.

She was sobbing apparently in front of the judge today and this is a three-year long saga the actress has been through. She's been in and out of jail and she first was arrested for driving under the influence back in 2007 and later charged with cocaine possession.

This is very ongoing for her. And the judge said today, I hope you understand that you have to change your lifestyle.

BALDWIN: The judge flat out said, you're an addict. That's what Kareen Wynter said. She was at the courthouse, she was a half hour early.

ENDO: Trying to show best behavior, I guess.

BALDWIN: Yes, absolutely.

So what do you have? Number three?

ENDO: Another trending thing, also a celebrity we're talking about. Mel Gibson, yes, there will be no hangover for him. The star was set to have a cameo appearance in the sequel "Hangover 2," but apparently the other cast members protested and didn't want him in the movie.

BALDWIN: So it was the other cast members who gave him the boot, oh.

ENDO: Yes, a little fighting there, yes.

So he will be replaced by, "People" magazine is reporting that Liam Neeson will be tapped for the cameo role and will lend some A- list credibility to the lineup.

So what do you think? Is it fair to keep Mel Gibson out of the movie or will Mel Gibson ever make it back again? Tweet me, tweet Brooke, tell us what you think.

BALDWIN: yes, we'll have to wait and see. Mel Gibson, he wanted his comeback, not getting it just yet.

Sandra Endo, pleasure having you in Atlanta. ENDO: Thank you, it's been fun.

BALDWIN: Safe travels to Washington. We'll miss you. Thank you.

Go back in your mind, I want to take you back nine years to the nation's capital. A congressman reportedly having this extramarital affair with an intern. Man, this was all over national news for a little while when this young woman was found dead. So whatever happened with the Chandra Levy case? CNN is investigating here on the eve of her suspected killer's trial.

And "CNN Equals Politics." Up next, Gloria is going to tell us which incumbent is saying he doesn't have to prove his manhood. Huh, no manning up, Gloria?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: All of them.

BALDWIN: The CNN Political Ticker in a moment. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just 11 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 has a thing or two about politics. She is at the CNNPolitics.com desk.

And, Gloria, what was it, it was first Sarah Palin who used this whole "man-up" phrase and now we're hearing, this is Harry Reid firing back at his opponent's demand to man up. What's up with that?

BORGER: You remember in that debate out there in Nevada that Sharron Angle said to Harry Reed, time to man up on the issue of Social Security, right?

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: And he kind of didn't know how to respond to that, but now he's saying -- he said, look, I've never had to prove my manhood to anyone.

Don't forget: Harry Reid, before he became a politician, was actually a boxer. I don't know if you know this. But now, he's boxing back and fighting back at Sharron Angle and saying, "By the way, I don't live in a bunker, like Sharron Angle does. I do interviews with the press." And he said, quote, "I don't know if it's Dick Cheney's bunker, but it's some kind of bunker some place." So, so much for taking the high road in the campaign.

But back on the campaign trail, unannounced, Sarah Palin showed up at a rally in Phoenix just about an hour ago. Folks didn't even know she was going to be there on the platform, which raises the question about her level of political activity during this campaign. Lots of folks have been talking about whether or not Sarah Palin is actually going to run for president.

And it seems to me that she's getting quite involved out there for a lot of these Senate candidates and some people are saying it may make it more likely that she does decide to mount a presidential bid. She's been quite coy about it. So, we're going to take a look on election night, I'm sure, about how many victories she chalks up here and the candidates she's endorsed.

And the last item on our Ticker is that: get ready. It's going to get even nastier out there.

Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul has just changed his mind and announced that, yes, he will have another debate with Jack Conway, the Democratic candidate, in the state of Kentucky.

You know, Conway, of course, has run that very controversial ad about Rand Paul and the so-called Aqua Buddha, remember that?

BALDWIN: Right.

BORGER: Saying -- accusing that Rand Paul of being a member of a secret society when he was a student at Baylor College.

And it's clear to me that what's happening now, and Rand Paul deciding he was going to debate, is that he thinks he's getting some traction on this, and this ad may indeed be backfiring against Jack Conway.

BALDWIN: Yes, I know --

BORGER: So, we'll have to see and watch that debate.

BALDWIN: Mr. Paul is saying, why are you bringing that up 30 years later? And we'll we have to see if they actually shake hands this time, won't we, Gloria?

BORGER: Right. Well --

BALDWIN: Gloria, thank you.

BORGER: Yes, don't hold your breath.

BALDWIN: We'll have to see.

By the way, we'll get another Political Ticker update for you next hour. You can always get the latest political news, go to CNNPolitics.com and go to Twitter. They're at @PoliticalTicker.

And we'll have a quick update for you on the breaking news out of California this afternoon. A scary situation there -- this 20-year- old man killed in a shark attack. This is Santa Barbara County. We'll have an update for you -- that is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to get you caught up in our breaking story out of southern California. Frightening, frightening stuff out there on Surf Beach -- if you know the area, I'm talking about Vandenberg Air Force Base area. A 20-year-old man attacked and killed by a shark this morning. Beaches were closed for the next 72 hours.

And Chad Myers is out here?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

BALDWIN: We see Chad. Yes.

Chad, where are we talking about, where in California?

MYERS: Well, here's San Diego, Long Beach, L.A., and all the way past Malibu, up toward Vandenberg Air Force Base. And it's on Vandenberg property technically. Actually, this is the Surf Beach, and then there's Minuteman (ph), and all up here Wall Beach, all closed right now because of this attack.

This is the time of year that, when sharks go out for real (ph) across the Pacific, they all kind of come back and they look for the rockeries around the coastal section. But if this was a great white bite, great whites are out here all the time. There's -- April, there's been attacks. But, literally, there's only been just a few fatalities over the years, many, many years. I think, what, we look back --

BALDWIN: It was 2008 was the last fatality, but it was like 96 killed since 1926.

MYERS: Yes, over the years, so few bites have actually ever been a fatal bite. But there in the Surf Beach, the high wind should get there, and this is what it would like.

BALDWIN: With the water temperature, Chad, if I may ask, isn't it cooler off the California coast? I mean, this -- so this is just run-of-the-mill to have a shark this close to the coastline?

MYERS: Yes, you know, the water comes down from Alaska. It's the coastal current that comes from Alaska, down past Washington, Oregon and down into California. Very rarely can you get into water in California and be out there for any length of time without a wet suit on to be surfing.

BALDWIN: Right.

MYERS: So, this guy has a little shorty on, this is the picture off of Google. This is not the guy that got attacked. This is just a random picture from Google Earth. But this is what it looks around Surf Beach, and shark beach today, all the way back up there in Wall Beach as well. Those other two are closed all the time to the public they're on Air Force base property. But Surf Beach is closed as well today.

BALDWIN: Yes. We're waiting to get an idea on this guy, perhaps, if this was an Air Force, could have been a member of the military. Chad -- MYERS: Yes, we think now it was from the Santa Barbara City College. Pretty soon, we'll see.

BALDWIN: Got it. Got it. All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: Sure.

BALDWIN: Every generation of parents wants their kids to have a better life than they did, but in this day and age of foreclosures and outsourcing, is the American Dream merely a memory now?

CNN's Fareed Zakaria wrote this week's cover story have you seen this? It's "TIME" magazine. It's called "How to Restore the American Dream." And last night, he talked to CNN's "PARKER SPITZER" about what's changed?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN PARKER, CO-HOST, "PARKER SPITZER": How do we restore the American Dream?

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": A part of it, I do think, is optimism. You know, one of the things I remember about America when I first came here, it was such an optimistic country, even in the midst of a recession, even in the midst of difficult times. And now, that's why the world really has turned upside down. Where you go to India and you feel like there's energy, there's optimism, there's a sense that the country is on luck.

And Americans are just so gloomy and they're so sour and so pessimistic, that part of the answer, I think, is we have to believe we can get something done. We have to believe that we can -- we are masters of our destiny.

And I really do believe that while there are tremendous challenges out there, bigger than we've ever had before, there are solutions. And there are actually pretty doable solutions. There are things we can do that will change this and I try to outline some of them in the article. But I do think you've got to believe that, otherwise, you know, it becomes despair and pessimism and you start blaming other people, which is the game we're in now. We're blaming Mexicans and Chinese and Muslims for our problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Fareed Zakaria -- by the way, you will notice every night on "PARKER SPITZER," they're holding politicians and analysts accountable on the economy. Everyone who comes on their show with the political agenda, they are asking them, what would you cut? And the answers are pretty interesting.

Remember, you can watch "PARKER SPITZER" every single night here on CNN, 8:00 Eastern.

Now, to a story caught all of our attention a whole nine years ago here. The disappearance of a D.C. intern ended a congressman's career and dominated those headlines for months. But that was nine years ago. Where does the Chandra Levy case stand today? We'll have an update -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The big story. I know you remember this. Back in 2001, keep in mind, this was right before 9/11, was the disappearance of Washington intern, Chandra Levy. This was a mystery that really rocked the nation. Her murdered body would not be found for a year, but speculation brought down a powerful Democratic congressman, an illegal immigrant would eventually be arrested and his trial is just now getting underway.

And this coming weekend, CNN will be revisiting, you know, all the different twists and the turns in the Levy murder investigation that mistakenly ruined a California congressman's career.

Here's an advanced look, they're calling it "Murder in the Capital: The Death of Chandra Levy."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A murder mystery that rocked the nation's capital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody who has information surrounding Chandra's disappearance, please contact us.

LYON: And captured the country's attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not the usual type of missing person case we normally handle.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The missing Washington intern and her U.S. congressman from California.

LYON: A beautiful, young intern, missing without a trace. An investigation that ensnared a powerful congressman and scandal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Condit, do you know anything about where Chandra Levy is?

LYON: A story of sex and secrets, filled with strange twists and turns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: The ultimate story of Washington palace intrigue, is there a murder in the midst of the United States Congress?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have spoken with Congressman Condit's attorney.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Shame! Shame! Shame! Shame!

LYON: In the summer of 2001, a scandal that erupted on Capitol Hill ignited a media firestorm. Twenty-four-year-old graduate student Chandra Levy had simply vanished. Allegations of an affair with a married congressman soon surfaced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Condit why not --

LYON: Congressman Gary Condit's denials and revelations about his relationship with Chandra Levy would complicate and consume this investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Condit, why not talk to the counselor?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to get anybody and everybody involved in finding her and bringing her home safely to her family.

LYON: And during a slow news summer, this was a story that grabbed the nation's attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, we know nothing, we have no leads.

LYON: Now, nine years later, the mystery of what happened to Chandra Levy still remains.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And CNN's Amber Lyon is working on this special report.

Good to have you here.

LYON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Wow. I mean, we all remember the story nine years ago. And we had it on our show on Monday. I think it was, what, jury selection in this murder trial? Because I just sort of sat there and I was scratching my head. Why are we now talking about Chandra Levy?

LYON: I know, nine years.

BALDWIN: Why nine years?

LYON: That's the big thing. And we're covering this in the special.

Police definitely made some screw-ups that caused this investigation to take a little longer. Like we just said, it took more than a year for them to find Chandra's body. And this really was the story of that summer of 2001, if you remember. Everybody was talking about it.

BALDWIN: Of course.

LYON: I think CNN actually did a poll where we found that 63 percent of people in America were regularly paying attention to this trial -- to this murder case and what was happening.

BALDWIN: It was heartbreaking. And you see those parents breaking down. LYON: Heartbreaking when her father starts crying. And really, they were just so frustrated because they had nowhere to go. And now the prosecutors think they've got their man, and the trial starts on Monday -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Now, we can't, at the same time talk, about Chandra Levy without also talking about former California congressman Gary Condit. You know, the media's obsession with his alleged affair, it ruined his career.

LYON: It definitely ruined his career. It was the reason he didn't get re-elected.

I think during this big summer of 2001, all the media coverage, the line between having an affair and committing murder was semi- blurred. And so whether he was guilty or not, he was guilty in the court of public opinion. And that's really what happened to Condit, and it was unfortunate.

But one thing to mention to you as well, Brooke, police never named him as a suspect, and to this day, he's never admitted to sleeping with Chandra Levy.

BALDWIN: Never admitted to an affair?

LYON: Never admitted to an affair, but he did admit to police that she would stay at his house two to three nights a week. Now, whether she was just sleeping on the couch or not, I don't know. Put two and two together.

BALDWIN: Just a tease of what you have coming up this weekend.

LYON: Yes.

BALDWIN: Just to remind everyone, you're calling it "Murder in the Capital: The Death of Chandra Levy" premiers this weekend. So you can catch it tomorrow, 10:00

LYON: Tomorrow, 10:00.

BALDWIN: And Sunday at 10:30.

LYON: Yes. And one thing I want to ask you before we leave is, what do you think Condit did after he left Congress and moved back to California? Because that's something very surprising that we cover in the special.

BALDWIN: No idea. No idea.

LYON: It had to do with something with food.

BALDWIN: With food. You have me. You have me there. We'll watch it this weekend.

LYON: All right.

BALDWIN: Thanks, Amber.

Wolf Blitzer is next with more of the president's West Coast campaign swing. The clock is ticking. There are a lot of disappointed Democrats out there to try to woo.

We're going to be right back.

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BALDWIN: Eleven days to go until Election Day. The president is in the midst of this five-state, four-day tour.

Today, the president is in Los Angeles. There he is walking off Air Force One.

He's there to attend this fund-raiser luncheon for Senator Barbara Boxer and also for former governor Jerry Brown. Then tonight he will head to Nevada to fight for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. That's a tight, tight race there.

Wolf Blitzer joining me now.

And Wolf, he is firing back at his opponent's demand to this new phrase, "Man up."

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Right. There's no doubt that the president is doing everything he can, and these states, for example, California, it's the largest state. If the president wants to be re-elected in 2012, he's got to carry California. It's going to be a lot easier to carry California if there's a Democratic governor, as opposed to a Republican governor.

The same goes for Ohio, for example. That's why he's spending -- he was just there for his 12th visit since becoming president.

And Florida, if he can get Alex Sink elected in Florida, it's going to make -- these are three states, Florida, Ohio and California, that he desperately will need if he wants to be re-elected. So that's why he's spending so much time there.

A lot of folks don't necessarily appreciate how important these governor's races are, because they can help tremendously. A governor can help tremendously in a statewide election in a presidential election year. That's why they're so concerned about these governors' races.

BALDWIN: And specifically here, he's out there, he's trying to gain some traction for some of the Democrats. But looking at his own approval ratings, Wolf, it's below 50 percent right now, so really he has to be very careful picking and choosing the spots he chooses to travel to.

BLITZER: Right. You haven't seen him show up, for example, in Arkansas lately to campaign for Blanche Lincoln, who is in deep trouble, the incumbent Democratic senator there. He probably wouldn't help her much in a state like Arkansas. But in certain areas in Florida, in Ohio, in California, and in Nevada -- he's desperately trying to get Harry Reid re-elected and wants the Democrats to be the majority in the Senate, would like Reid to continue being the majority leader. So that's why he's heading out to Nevada. It's another one of these key battleground states.

So they're picking carefully where he can do the most good, and that's where he's going.

BALDWIN: And Wolf, we'll see you in a couple of minutes here on "THE SITUATION ROOM." I know you'll also have more on France, all these protests of the retirement age. I'm sure, Wolf Blitzer, though, we will see you working until the age of 100. You will never retire. But I know you'll have more from France tonight.

BLITZER: All these people in France who are complaining they're raising the retirement age from 60 to 62, and they're only going to get four weeks instead of six weeks of vacation, and work 34 hours instead of 32 hours a week, I mean, look at how hard people in this country work and they won't have much sympathy for that.

BALDWIN: I know. I know. Wolf Blitzer, thank you. We'll see you in a couple of minutes.

Also, can you still win over hearts and minds in a war-torn country if you have no armed security guards at all to protect you? This is the scenario that some of the most active American aid groups are facing right now in Afghanistan ever since Afghanistan announced private contractors are getting the boot.

More on that in a moment.

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BALDWIN: The Afghan government is banning private security contractors, and this has set off urgent talks here between the U.S., NATO and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Joining me now to explain really the potential ramifications of this whole thing is Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty.

And Jill, let's just get straight to this. How big of a deal is this for people in Afghanistan?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brooke, potentially it is huge, because we focus a lot on the military side of this war. But there's a whole other side, and that's the civilian side.

And the U.S. says basically, look, you can't win this war with bullets alone. You need to provide some services to the people of Afghanistan, services that the government of Afghanistan can't provide itself. Otherwise, they will turn to the Taliban. So, if these companies -- these organizations, I should say -- pick up and walk away, it will be bad not only for the people of Afghanistan, but certainly for the war effort of the United States and NATO. BALDWIN: And specifically, Jill, who are the groups? Aren't these the aid and the development folks?

DOUGHERTY: Yes, they are. You know, they're people who work for companies and organizations that you and I and other Americans fund with our tax dollars. And money comes from USAID, from the State Department, and it goes to these organizations that are really expert in carrying out services for the people.

They have projects. They have water projects, education projects, women's projects. They build bridges and roads, a whole lot of different things.

And, you know, we were recently just last month in Afghanistan for several weeks. We went around. I saw the projects myself up close, and I also talked here when we heard about this with a company that's called Development Alternatives, Inc. And they said, look, we're going to have to disappoint a lot of people, but we cannot function without these security companies.

So if they pull the plug -- yes?

BALDWIN: Well, you said you saw them in person. We were looking at some of the video. I mean, some may say this is sort of counterintuitive of the counterinsurgency effort. You know, they want less violence, they want to have these projects.

So, you know, wouldn't it hurt the war effort? You've got 40 seconds.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. Well, first of all, these people go out into very dangerous areas, so they can't do this if they don't have protection. So, right now, that ban that's going to go into effect on December 17th, they have to decide, how can you do that, how can you ban some of these companies because some security companies aren't good? But how do you do it without jeopardizing these programs?

That's the key.

BALDWIN: And we're hearing talks possibly to resolve this might happen in the next couple of days.

Jill Dougherty for us there in Washington.

Jill, I thank you.

And now I'm going to send it up to Washington, D.C., and my colleague, Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.