Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Obama Invites Republicans to White House; Nancy Pelosi Speaks Out; Surfing Legend Found Dead; Charlie Sheen Committing to Sobriety According to Publicist; The Green River Killer

Aired November 04, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hundreds of passengers on board and then suddenly a bang. This Qantas Airbus falls apart midair. Everyone lived, but you're about to hear the stunning play-by-play from one of the passengers in just 60 seconds.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want us to talk about how we can move the American people's agenda forward.

(voice-over): President Obama invites top lawmakers to the White House after Republicans win big.

OBAMA: What we need to do is make sure that everybody is pulling together.

BALDWIN: But will they actually get anything done?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: If the administration wants cooperation, it will have to begin to move in our direction.

BALDWIN: Or will we see gridlock?

A gifted surfer dies in a hotel room in Dallas. What killed Andy Irons?

Plus, federal agents discover a tunnel the length of six football fields. So, what did they find down there? We will take you live inside that tunnel.

And sheep to the slaughter? Not for these fluffy fugitives. Just wait. You have got to see this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Got a lot going on today.

But I want to begin with some breaking news. Here we go again. You have another scare, another airplane, and another suspicious object, package, in a cargo hold. Folks, this is regarding Delta's Flight 70. It originated in Amsterdam in -- in the Netherlands, intended to land in Delhi, instead had to be rerouted to Mumbai.

Want to take Sara Sidner now live. She's -- she's on the phone with me, joining me from Delhi, India.

And, Sara, obviously, I want to get the latest information, but also the timing here is significant, as the president of the United States heading to Asia Friday -- stop number one, Mumbai.

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, yes, already headed to the area and is supposed to be here on Saturday for many different events, President Obama.

As for what has happened with this plane, it was Delta Flight 70 flying from Amsterdam -- actually, Amsterdam to Mumbai. And after speaking with the Mumbai International Airport spokesman, he told us that there was a full emergency declared on that flight, and that was because there was an unidentified object on the pallet in the cargo hold.

Apparently, the Delta staff in Amsterdam informed authorities. The question everybody is asking now is, why did that flight take off if the Amsterdam authorities knew that there was a problem or an unscreened item in the cargo hold?

At this point, the latest update is -- and I just got off the phone with a Maneesh Kalghatgi, who is the spokesperson for the Mumbai International Airport. He told us that the plane did land. It is -- has landed in Mumbai. The passengers have been taken off the plane. But security checks are still in progress right now -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, certainly, Sara, this just adds to the jitters, if you will, globally. We have been reporting on a number of suspicious packages, most recently, you know, Friday -- Friday, the packages originating in Yemen. And, of course, we can't connect the two. This is way too early in the investigation.

But this is clearly an issue that is still ongoing, a lot of people very fearful right now.

SIDNER: Certainly.

And, you know, considering what's been happening across the country and the world, a lot of people concerned about every little thing they hear. But, right now, this is appearing to be a situation that is completely under control, and no real reason to panic as the screening goes on with whatever that unidentified object is. They will surely find it on the ground in Mumbai.

But, yes, there are already a huge number of security folks here for President Obama's visit, and it certainly gives people the jitters, especially in the city of Mumbai, where, as you remember, back in 2008, there...

BALDWIN: Yes.

SIDNER: ... was a Mumbai attack. BALDWIN: Yes. We all remember that. I know you do very well.

Sara Sidner, if you get any more information, obviously a status update perhaps on those 244 passengers, or, obviously, on this suspicious piece of cargo, let's get you back on the phone, give us an update.

Also want to let you know we have reached out to Delta. And, if we can -- I see Robert over my shoulder grabbing that camera -- we're going to head over to the Twitter board, because we're trying to get an update from Delta -- Delta good enough to be tweeting about this. So, I want to read this for you.

Here we go. Here's Mark (ph).

"We requested rescreening of some cargo on Flight 70 in Mumbai. Passengers deplaned safety."

Sara just mentioned that.

"We are working with authorities."

So, again, to reiterate what Sara said, right now, these passengers are going through some of these security checks. But as for that piece of cargo, that is really still the big question mark. We will stay on it, of course.

But I want to get to another story, certainly frightening in its own way. Let's talk about the -- the world's biggest passenger plane. This is a super jumbo jet. I'm talking about the Airbus A-380. And, today, one of them blew an engine in flight. This is Qantas Flight 32. It had just taken off from Singapore.

The 466 people on board were -- were settling in for a very long flight to Australia. And, basically, six minutes after takeoff, they -- they hear this loud bang, followed by another. And then some saw this bright flash, watched parts of a -- a Rolls-Royce engine fall off, crash through the left wing.

So, look at these pictures with me. This is a photograph. This is the smoke trail in this photograph. The pilots then had to, you know, circle for about an hour-and-a-half. They had to dump some of the fuel just to lighten the load, and then turn that plane around and flew back to Singapore on the remaining three engines.

Got more pictures for you. Take a look at this. This is -- these are pictures from one of our iReporters. That is a chunk of the cowling. If you don't know that word, that -- that's the piece of the engine -- that's what they call the piece of engine that covers -- the -- the piece that covers the engine.

And it landed on an island in western Indonesia. That is another engine part here on top of the vehicle. You see this? An hour-and-a- half after the engine blew, the -- the plane, as I mentioned, did land safely in Singapore. Amazingly, no one was hurt on board. And we have still yet to hear of any injuries on the island where those engine parts you just saw, where they fell.

But you have to hear this. One of the passengers on that flight, his name is Ulf Waschbusch. And he was heading on vacation. He told me he wanted five days, first trip to Australia. And he was sitting on the window seat. If you can imagine, this is the side where that engine blew. So, take a look at this.

This is the -- this is our Twitter board. This is one of the pictures he passed along. This is the window, just out the window, just a -- just a couple of minutes after that plane took off. And -- and look at this picture he took of the same wing just after the plane landed in Singapore, appears to be some sort of hole.

I talked to Ulf this morning about this whole ordeal. He described it in -- in detail for me. Listen to his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ULF WASCHBUSCH, PASSENGER ON QANTAS FLIGHT: So, I was sitting right on the left side where that engine is located at the window, right over the wings.

And, suddenly, right after we lifted off, five, six minutes in, I heard a loud sound from -- from that left-hand side. So, I looked out the window. And when I looked outside, I saw debris coming from that engine, flying through the wings, so from a -- and in an upward motion through the wings. And I saw flares of fire for about a second or two at that moment as well.

It's -- it's a very weird moment. It feels a little bit like watching a Hollywood movie (INAUDIBLE) and actually being inside of it. It took me quite a while to realize that, you know, this is -- this is actually happening right in front of me.

And the first thing that comes to find is -- is what's happening next. If the wing is falling off, are there more holes going to be in there? You know, because -- because -- because you can't really assess that situation. You're just really witnessing something that you have no control over. And it's a pretty scary moment.

I mean, it was surprisingly calm in there. I was really surprised. It was an eerie calmness, I would describe it as. You know, people weren't talking to each other much. Most people were just sitting there and kind of waiting for things to come.

And it was a long wait. We were circling for about one-and-a- half-hours...

BALDWIN: Hmm.

WASCHBUSCH: ... dumping fuel before we could head back safely to Singapore.

And those were pretty much the longest one-and-a-half-hours people had. They did a great job, actually, all the way from the flight deck to the crew. About a minute into the incident, we had a P.A. from the cockpit telling us that they're well aware what happened, that the engine was shot off, and that we're heading back to Singapore.

Throughout that process, we were being told that we're dumping fuel, the rationale for why it's taking so long, mainly that it is a big engine -- sorry -- that it's a big plane with a lot of fuel on board...

BALDWIN: Hmm.

WASCHBUSCH: ... and that it's just safer to do it this way, and the fact that we're very close to Singapore still, so if something worse would happen, we can always land.

I'm not going to hop on the flight they offered me for tomorrow because I just don't feel like going on a vacation right now anymore. But I will definitely fly A-380 again. And the reason is just that we made it out alive. I mean, the fact that you can have an engine blow up through the wings and this thing still flies safely and land so safely is fascinating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Doesn't feel like going on vacation, right now, doesn't feel like hopping on a plane. Can you blame him? Ulf, by the way, still tweeting about that experience on that Qantas flight.

Take a look at the Twitter board. This is his -- one of his most recent tweets. He says: "Realization is just starting to kick in how serious today's event was. Damn."

Can you blame him?

Zain Verjee has been working the scene for us at Singapore Airport, where that flight then returned.

Zain, what can you tell us about what happened to the engine on that flight?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's move to the investigation now, where what they're going to do is look at the parameters of the engine, things like the speed at the time, the temperature. They will also take a look at the black box to see what the -- some of the last communications were before the engine had trouble.

Now, Qantas has grounded six of its A-380 Airbuses. And what we're hearing now is that Singapore Airlines is doing the same. They are temporarily holding their fleet of 11.

Zain Verjee, CNN, Singapore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Zain, thank you. Now to a barrage of bullets along the border. You have these two college students from the University of Texas El Paso killed on their way home from class when gunmen opened fire. I'm going to tell you what police found at the scene. That's ahead.

Also, people in Haiti on high alert, a deadly storm rolling on through, headed straight for the country still reeling from January's earthquake. But, with so many plastic tents, you know, all the tent cities, where do you go? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM.

Just got handed some information regarding a gunman situation in a hospital in Florida. Here's what we know. This is Palm Bay, Florida. Palm Bay police officers and SWAT personnel are responding to a barricaded gunman inside Palm Bay Hospital. If you know this area, this is on Malabar Road.

And, obviously, these are pictures from one of our affiliates down there covering this. You know the media down there hustling to get some -- some visuals. Shots have been fired. But there are no injuries at this time. And that's pretty much all we know.

We're making calls on this. I know our Southeast desk is making calls. As soon as we get some more information about the situation inside this hospital -- it sounds like they're getting a public information officer en route to the scene as well to answer some of those questions, lots of questions at this moment, but again happening in Palm Bay, Florida, at Palm Bay Hospital on Malabar Road.

Meantime, let's get you caught up on some of the other stories. Right now, a death to report from the world of Major League Baseball. George Lee Anderson has died in California. He was better known as Sparky, Sparky Anderson, Hall of Fame manager here. He won two World Series with the Cincinnati Reds, one later on with the Tigers.

They called him Captain Hook. Why? Because he was quick to change pitchers. He also got in the habit of having the same pitcher hurl the ninth inning every night. And, today, they call it the closer.

We are also following a developing story for you out of California, at least eight students from George Washington Carver Middle School in L.A. hospitalized after eating some kind of brownie dessert. Many were described as having accelerated heart rates. CNN affiliate KTLA is reporting that the students are being treated for marijuana poisoning. It's unclear at this point how the students got the brownies. CNN will bring you more information as it becomes available.

Also, a bit -- a bit of good news for Cuba and earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Tropical Storm Tomas is not expected to regain hurricane strength as it passes over the island nations. But, you know, with so many Haitian refugees -- you see the pictures -- living in these tents, aid workers right now scrambling to move them into storm shelters.

But many are worried. You know, this storm could deal another devastating blow to Haiti, which is still struggling to -- to recover from that horrific earthquake from back in January. Tomas, by the way, also shifting its path.

Want to bring in Chad Myers, been tracking Tomas in the Severe Weather Center.

Chad, still bad news, though, for Haiti. I mean, how do you -- how do you escape when you have all these tents basically as shelter?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

And the Hurricane Center just put out a new advisory. Bill Read was just on our satellite just now talking back and forth to the media and saying, you know, five to 10 inches for Haiti. I can't imagine even the low number, five inches of rainfall, for an area that's living -- a million people living in tents.

And then you add in the potential for the wind. There is a hurricane hunter aircraft flying through this thing back and forth and back and forth. And it may eventually find something stronger, but the number we just got was 50 knots. So, what does that mean? Do a little multiplication. That's somewhere around 60 miles per hour at the surface.

The last advisory was 50. So, yes, it appears that the bigger -- this storm is getting bigger, getting a little stronger. The colors are getting a little bit more vivid. When that happens, we know that it's intensifying. As you said before, it's not expected to get to be a hurricane, but it's going to be very, very close.

I mean, even right here at 70 miles per hour, that's right here, making its closest approach to Port-au-Prince. And this is the area right here that most people are living in tents or in shelters or whatever you might want to call it. There's a mountain range right through here. That mountain range is where the earthquake actually occurred. That, for a while, will catch some of the rain, and then the rain will fall back this way.

Another thing that's happened in Haiti over the past 10 years, they cut down all the trees. They cut down all the trees to make charcoal so that they could cook and live with the trees.

Well, when you deforest a country, and then you get five to 10, in some spots, more rain than that, that ground doesn't have any roots in it to keep it from moving. So it's going to be a mudslide disaster as well.

We knew this was going to happen if a storm got close. It was October. We thought, oh, it's -- maybe they missed it. Maybe they missed it. Maybe they're not going to get one this year, but you never know, because the hurricane season is not over until the end of November, not the beginning.

BALDWIN: It's awful. I know you're watching it.

MYERS: Sure.

BALDWIN: Chad, thank you.

MYERS: OK.

BALDWIN: To Hollywood. Apparently, the list of bad boys just got a little longer. I'm going to tell you which former teen heartthrob just got arrested.

And Charlie Sheen just hired someone to help him clean up his life. But wait until you hear what the job title is.

Plus, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I know that I have already called Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi to invite them to a meeting here at the White House in the first week of the lame-duck on November 18.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow. With all those names, wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall in that meeting? So, what will they all be talking about? That answer -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Take a look at the Big Board behind me here. The Dow is up, oh, 11,400, looking pretty good. But it has been flirting with that 200 mark. In fact, I was told it hit 200 just a couple of minutes -- minutes ago -- huge numbers today on Wall Street.

I want to go to Alison Kosik. She's is in the midst of things at the New York Stock Exchange.

And, Alison, to what do we owe this to? Was this the Fed announcement from yesterday, the elections, what? What are you thinking?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All of the above, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes.

KOSIK: You know, we have got 40 minutes to go before the closing bell -- before the closing bell, the Dow right now up 195 points.

Let me tell you, the Dow, the Nasdaq, the S&P, they're all at the highest levels in more than two years. It's been a great day on Wall Street. Traders are downright giddy at this point. They're exuberant.

(LAUGHTER) KOSIK: They think this rally is going to stick at least until the spring. And you're asking, why did this happen? Well, midterm elections, for one. Republicans, as you know, took control of the House. That's a good thing for Wall Street. Investors think that Republicans are good for big business.

Also, you mentioned the Fed. The Fed decided that it's going to pump $600 billion into the economy, basically stimulating the economy, throwing cash at it, and also moving investors right here to the stock market to buy into stocks and prop up 401(k)s, so Americans across the country can see their 401(k)s rise and then feel confident about the economy, and hopefully spend -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. So, in case you have been looking at your 401(k), like so many people out there, kind of like opening it, like, oh, gosh...

KOSIK: Oh, yes.

BALDWIN: ... open it up today.

KOSIK: I'm not going to look.

BALDWIN: Today's a good day.

KOSIK: Now you can look. Now you can look. And...

BALDWIN: Now you can look.

KOSIK: ... come back in about 40 minutes. I will have the closing numbers for you.

BALDWIN: Fantastic.

KOSIK: Then you will really probably want to look at your 401(k).

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Yes. Fantastic.

We will see you in 40 minutes. Alison Kosik, thank you.

Today, the president is reaching out to the newly empowered Republicans. But a top Republican leader is saying, not so much. Mr. Obama announced he invited congressional leaders to the White House, both parties, to try to carve out a joint agenda. He says, even though the parties disagree on a lot, the country cannot stand still.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We can't afford two years of just squabbling. What we need to do is make sure that everybody's pulling together, Democrats and Republicans, and independents, folks at the federal level and the state levels, private sector with the public sector to make sure that America retains its competitiveness, retains its leadership in the world. And that's something that I'm very much looking forward to helping to be a part of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Not so fast, says Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell repeated today that his priority is to get the president out of the White House for good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: If our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill, to end the bailouts, cut spending, and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all of those things is to put someone in the White House who won't veto any of these things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Here's some news.

John Kitzhaber has won the race for governor of the Beaver State -- not the Duck State. Folks, this is the Beaver State. This is Oregon. Democrat Kitzhaber was trailing overnight, but when came the returns from the liberal-leaning Portland, he beat former NBA baller Chris Dudley, one of the worst-ever shooters from the foul line -- ever, underscoring.

Four other governor races do remain undecided. You have Minnesota, Illinois, Connecticut, and Vermont.

But I want to take you to Alaska here. Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski, they are lawyering up. Murkowski looks very, very close to retaining her Senate seat via write-in. And now Miller is upset that election officials are moving up to the final counting procedure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE MILLER (R), ALASKA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: We want to make sure that there is a legal and proper process, not the suggestion that, oh, two days ago, we're going to have the -- the ballots counted on the 18th and then suddenly moving it forward by a week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Did you know -- here's some good trivia for you for dinnertime, West Coasters for lunch -- did you know the last write-in candidate to win a Senate seat? Bet you didn't know this: Strom Thurmond, the year, 1954.

Well, just 48 hours ago, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the most powerful woman in all of Congress. But now she's a lame duck, uncertain about her own future. So, what does she do now? Pelosi in her own words next.

Plus: A news director in Florida called it a gut-wrenching car chase. And the whole thing -- you know it did -- played out on live TV. I'm going to tell you why this particular chase was so bizarre. Don't miss this.

Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The balance of power shifted in Tuesday's midterm elections. Now, you have Democrats holding on to the Senate, but the Republicans took charge of the House.

And Representative Nancy Pelosi was reelected -- she was -- to her 12th term, but she will soon have to hand over the big title of House speaker to a Republican.

And, just yesterday, the outgoing speaker of the House reflected on that and what life may be looking like for her in 2012.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: What are you going to do next?

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: First of all, today, I'm talking to my members who courageously fought the fight, carried the banner, took the tough votes. That's what I'm doing today. When I'm toward the end of doing that, I'll start thinking about what I do next. But it's never been about me.

SAWYER: Are the odds you will stay?

PELOSI: I'm -- I'm -- as I said to you, in our caucus, we always do things by consensus. And when we have that consensus, we will also have some announcement to make.

SAWYER: And do you feel you would have the support to be minority leader?

PELOSI: Well, I, as I said, when we -- I don't want to speak for my caucus at this time.

SAWYER: Will President Obama win in 2012?

(CROSSTALK)

PELOSI: I believe that Barack Obama will serve eight years as president of the United States. I believe that he will also demonstrate to the American people, and he has, that what we had to do in the short-term is because we had an emergency situation. Some people interpreted that as too activist. But it was emergency and it saved us from a depression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Congresswoman Pelosi mentioned carrying the banner. She is the first female speaker of the House and the highest-ranking elected female politician in American history.

How did a surfer die in the prime of his life, so suddenly? The body of Andy Irons found inside this Texas hotel room. We have some new developments in the unsolved mystery.

That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: He was a legend in the surfing world. You have this three-time world champion who was on the trail to a comeback. Then he died this week at the age of 32. I'm talking about Andy Irons. He pulled out of a big competition in Puerto Rico, said he wasn't feeling well, headed back home to Hawaii, wanted to see his wife.

She is eight months pregnant with the couple's first child. Irons was also scheduled to compete in another big surfing contest that would have been next week. But Andy Irons never made his connecting flight in Dallas.

He was found dead in a hotel room at the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. And his family said he had dengue fever, a tropical disease that's spread by mosquitoes. And police found prescription bottles by his bedside, one labeled for anxiety, the other was sleeping pills.

But the "Honolulu Star Advertiser" reports one of the bottles contained methadone. Andy Irons did talk about his personal struggles in a documentary by his sponsor, Billabong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY IRONS, SURFER: I have a lot of inner demons. If I didn't have surfing to get those out of my system, I would self-destruct. Surfing is the only thing that keeps me going in the normal state, keeps my life at an even keel. Without it, it would just tip into the oblivion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Also within that documentary, Irons also talked about his love for surfing, about catching that first wave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRONS: The first wave I ever caught, I remember to this day, clear as day. I went left, right, left, and the wave never broke. I thought right then, I was like, this is the coolest thing in the world.

And from that day on, I thought of that every night "I want to go surfing, I want to go surfing, I want to go surfing." I'll never forget that wave until the day I die. That was one of the most purist moments of my whole life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: It will be a little while before we know what killed Andy Irons. Apparently results of the toxicology tests are weeks away. Our thoughts are with Iron's family and the surfing community that admired him so very much. Let's go back to Florida. We're keeping our eye closely on the ongoing situation in Palm Bay, Florida. Officers and SWAT personnel have been responding to this barricaded gunman inside Palm Bay hospital. Here are some pictures of the parking lot, a bunch of investigators rolling up on scene, trying to get inside and figure out what's going on in there.

We know that shots have been fired. There are no injuries at this time. Here is the update. We know that according to the hospital spokesman, the gunman is barricaded inside, but the situation is considered self-contained -- this is the hospital's words here -- and all hospital personnel there are safe.

Again, this is Palm Bay, Florida, and this is the Palm Bay hospital. If you know the area, that's on Malibar Road, a self- contained situation and all hospital personnel are safe. We're still making calls. When we get that turned around for you, you'll see this live here on CNN.

Meantime, here is a take on underground drug trafficking. Look at this. We're going underground. We are live inside a new tunnel reportedly built to transport 30 tons of marijuana, 30 tons.

Also, David Cassidy to the mug-shot hall of fame. Why he was arrested? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time for what we like to call "Trending." What you're talking about. What's on Twitter. It looks like we're seeing some very, very busy celebrity bad boys. You have a '70s teen heartthrob, Charlie Sheen, Kanye West. Who is all over it? The lovely Brooke Anderson who is the host of HLN's show "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." She joins me from New York. Are you in New York today?

BROOKE ANDERSON, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hollywood, actually.

BALDWIN: Hollywood. That's what I thought, but it says New York. You're always in Hollywood. Let's talk. Busy, busy bad boys all over the place this afternoon. Let's start with David Cassidy. What has he done now?

ANDERSON: Yes. You know, he was a teen idol, but today, Brooke, David Cassidy's life is neither sexy nor glamorous. He's been charged with DUI. Here's what happened. The 60-year-old was pulled over last night in Fort Pierce Florida. This after a highway patrol officer saw his car go on to the shoulder of the road twice and then cut off another car at an exit ramp.

According to police, the former star failed sobriety test, blew a .14 blood level. That's twice the limit of .08. The arresting officer also said that Cassidy appeared somewhat confused and was very apologetic for having to be stopped.

Police said they found a half empty bottle of bourbon under the seat in Cassidy's Mercedes. But the actor claimed he had just drunk one glass of wine several hours earlier. He also said he took a Vicodin three hours prior.

His publicist tells CNN that Cassidy would like to, quote, "assure everyone that he is all right and thank his family, friends, and fans for their love and support." Brooke, he posted bail this morning and was released. He could potentially face jail time of six months, probation, community service, and/or a fine.

BALDWIN: OK, so that is David Cassidy. Let's talk about a very, very highly-paid TV star, Charlie Sheen. I thought we had closed the book on Mr. Sheen.

ANDERSON: Oh, no.

BALDWIN: Apparently there is a new chapter. Do tell.

ANDERSON: I don't know if we can ever close the book on this bad boy.

(LAUGHTER)

He really is the epitome of that term, Brooke, actor Charlie Sheen. But this is good news actually. Charlie is reportedly taking steps to address problems with substance abuse. TMZ says he has hired a sober coach who is living at Charlie's house and going with him to work. Charlie's publicist, he told CNN he does not comment on those things.

Now, these reports, of course, are circulating after that disastrous trip in New York that ended in Charlie allegedly going on a drunken rampage, trashing a hotel room.

Now he is back on the set of his hit sitcom "Two and a Half Men." Brooke you talk about him being highly paid. Listen to this. That show scored more than 13 million viewers this week. That's a seven percent jump from the week before.

So you know this ratings uptick really just proves that people are curious and Charlie has turned negative publicity for himself into great publicity for his show.

BALDWIN: So many people called that. We have been talking about Charlie Sheen so much and everybody tuned in to watch his show. Not surprised.

And then we have this update. You know President George W. Bush is coming out with his memoir. I think that hardback is coming out Tuesday. Part of it, he's told -- he's talked about the lowest point in his presidency. He says the lowest point was when Kanye West said that he didn't care about black people.

ANDERSON: Yes. And it's a shocking admission to a lot of people that former president George W. Bush's all-time low involved Kanye West because he took a lot of heat while he was in office for a number of issues. But, yes, if you had forgotten the Kanye West -- President Bush scandal, let's take a quick look now at what Kanye said during a televised fund-raiser for victims of Katrina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KANYE WEST, SONGWRITER: I hate the way they betray us in the media. We see a black family, it says they're looting. George Bush doesn't care about black people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Now in an interview -- yes, there is was. Now in an interview Bush just did with "The Today Show's" Matt Lauer, he revealed that he felt disgust after Kanye labeled him a racist. Quote, "I didn't appreciate it then, I don't appreciate it now, I resent it. It's not true, and it was one of the most disgusting moments in my presidency."

BALDWIN: Wow.

ANDERSON: OK, Brooke. Kanye, of course, always has a lot to say.

BALDWIN: Word up. He's talking.

ANDERSON: Kanye has apologized. He feels sympathetic. Listen to what he told Houston radio station KBXX.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEST: The same thing happened to me, you know. I got accused of being a racist. And with his, it was a lack of -- well, both situations it was basically a lack of compassion that America saw in that situation.

You know, with him, it was lack of compassion with him not rushing, you know, in that -- him not taking the time to rush down to New Orleans. For me, it was a lack of compassion of, you know, cutting someone off in their -- in their moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: OK. Cutting someone off in their moment, Kanye, of course, referring to the harsh criticism he got after interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the MTV VMA's last year. Kanye feels he was vilified in a similar way to how President Bush was treated for the way he handled hurricane Katrina.

Brooke, all of this, of course, bubbling up now, coming to the surface because everybody has got something to promote, President Bush's book, Kanye west's new album.

Of course. It just continues to prove, you know, there is no such thing as bad press. BALDWIN: Old adage, yep. Very true. Kanye West, who would have thunk. Brooke Anderson, we'll see you tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Thank you.

Let's switch gears. How does a serial killer pick his targets, and who would be easy prey? Investigators are getting even closer to these crucial answers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I'm about to bring you some horrific words and unimaginable crimes. They're rooted inside the dark and evil place inside the mind of the country's most notorious serial killer.

I'm talking about Seattle's Green River killer. He was really a fixture during the '80s and all through the '90s. What he did was murder dozens of women before he was finally caught. And in order to avoid the death penalty, he agreed to take investigators inside his crimes.

And what he told them is now part of a CNN special investigation into serial killers. It's airing this weekend. We're calling it "Easy Prey." Let's take a look at the spine-chilling preview. This is from Abbie Boudreau.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing when you're doing this to this lady?

GARY RIDGWAY, GREEN RIVER KILLER: Kill, kill, kill, kill, kill.

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. For nearly two decades he murdered with impunity and terrorized Seattle, Washington. When he was finally caught in 2001, Ridgway had become one of the nation's most notorious and prolific serial killers.

RIDGWAY: I killed because I wanted to kill.

BOUDREAU: This was Gary Ridgway's hunting ground, what locals call the strip in suburban Seattle, a collection of bars and dive motels frequented by prostitutes, Ridgway's victims of choice.

RIDGWAY: I could kill a prostitute and have a lot less chance of getting caught because you don't know them, they don't know you. They're -- the police won't look as hard as they would if it was a senator's daughter or something, you know.

BOUDREAU: Throughout his 19-year killing spree, Ridgway dumped the bodies of as many as 70 women throughout the Seattle area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the green river, the site of where the first five of Ridgway's victims were found.

BOUDREAU: Mark Frothrow is Ridgway's attorney. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the reasons he left his victims together or at a certain site so was that he would have some ability to remember where they were and go back and visit those sites to relive the thrill of what he had done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you plead to the charge of aggravated murder in the first degree as charged in count 19 for the death of Linda Rule?

RIDGWAY: Guilty.

BOUDREAU: Facing the death penalty, Ridgway confessed to 48 murders --

RIDGWAY: Guilty.

BOUDREAU: -- in exchange for a life sentence. As part of his plea deal, Ridgway agreed to speak with investigators in grim detail about his two-decade-long killing spree.

RIDGWAY: The pleasure in killing is to get -- you know, be controlled, to have sex with them, if I wanted to, afterwards, and to and to take away another woman that -- so she won't hurt anybody else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "So she wouldn't hurt anybody else"?

RIDGWAY: Yes, like my ex-wife and everything.

BOUDREAU: While Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 murders, his name has been connected to as many as 70 deaths, but the larger question of why he killed so many remains.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Abbie has much more about the serial killers, who they are, why they kill, and what makes their victims easy prey. This is CNN's special investigation. You can watch Saturday and Sunday night at 8:00 eastern.

And with all the bad news we hear many days, it's time for something very, very cool. We have an amazing story. Here is a soldier, a preview, surprising his young daughter in front of the entire school. They haven't seen each other in four months. So what happens? Do not miss this amazing moment. That is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, love this. Ever heard the expression, "run for your life"? Some sheep and goats in upstate New York, that phrase takes on a whole new meaning. You got to see this. It looks more something like a rodeo, but it's not. More than 100 sleeping goats escaped from, wait for it, the slaughter house. They went back on the lam blocking the roads. It took a while for police and workers corral the animals. Police looking into how they got out.

Next, we have heard swimming with the fish, but driving with them? Heavy rains near Seattle sent a river over its banks and flooding the roads with salmon. Bad news if you are driving home. Good news if you are this guy. This is Honey, and Honey apparently likes salmon. Wasting no time, got dinner, earning her keep. Thanks, Honey.

Next, back down to the sunshine state where a driver led police on this dangerous chase through Orange County. The suspects in the black pickup you see there on the right sped through a bunch of neighborhoods, hopped on the highway, cut across the median, into oncoming traffic. See the car -- actually tries to hit a car and spins out, starting to kind of spin, ending there. Police taking one adult and three juveniles into custody.

You know, there's never a good time to play a prank involving airport security, especially if you work for the TSA, but that is what one TSA worker allegedly did. What price did he pay for this prank? That's coming up.

Also, the politicians still standing by after the elections, have been busy al day. The politicians and pundits and favorite correspondents and anchor, i.e., Wolf Blitzer, he's standing by with the latest political news, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The balance of power has shifted on Capitol Hill. CNN has all your latest political news with "The Best Political Team on Television," CNN = Politics. Wolf Blitzer is at the CNNpolitics.com desk, and Wolf, there he is, back in Washington, back home. Wolf, good to see you.

Let's talk about some of these big changes here. The Democrats may have lost the house but the president still remains pretty competitive in this hypothetical election matchups.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, still two years to go, and we have seen how fast things can change over the past two years. It was exactly two years ago today, Brooke, November 4th, 2008, when President Obama was elected president of the United States and now, almost exactly two years later, you see the Republicans taking the majority in the House of Representatives.

So we don't know what's going to happen two years from now. But in this poll we took, we asked the question would you support President Obama for reelection or Sarah Palin? Obama wins 52-44 percent, but that's still very, very early and a lot can change over the next two years.

She has, by the way, a new video that she just released today, a minute and nine second, the mama grizzly going one step further. She certainly seems to be suggesting she could be a presidential candidate. Let me play a little clip of this new Sarah Palin video out on the web.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: America is speaking out, and based on what I've seen, there is more than enough reason to have faith in America.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You can see she has a lot of faces of winners, men and women, tea party supporters around the country, and at the end of the video, she sort of just makes the case with a lot of American flags and a big mama grizzly that they are moving forward. It looks like a presidential video, if you saw it.

I will say this, one other thing. I just wrote a piece for CNN.com and I make some comparisons between how this president is responding to the political setback of this week and former President Bill Clinton responded back in 1994 when I was the senior White House correspondent for CNN.

And it's going to be posted fairly soon. I want you to take a look, we put some of the clips of what Bill Clinton said the day after that setback and what Obama said the day after this setback. And you will see, maybe they had the same speechwriter or what, but they are very similar.

BALDWIN: The question you and I were talking yesterday, you said this word "triangulation." The question is will President Obama triangulate quite like President Clinton? We will wait and see.

Wolf, I got to ask you, you showed the head mama grizzly, the video of Sarah Palin, and that just smells presidential to a lot of people. A lot of the viewers are thinking why are we talking 2012? We just finished the midterms.

I want you to explain the road to the White House has really begun, and when might we see some of these people sticking their big toe in places like New Hampshire and Iowa? Well, remember, the Iowa caucuses are probably going to be in January of 2012. We are almost in January 2011 now.

So, we're only talking about a year to go until Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Michigan, Nevada, some of the early primaries and caucus states. And a lot of these candidates, they have to decide in the next few -- let's say the next few months.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BLITZER: Sometimes, it's even weeks, because there is a competition for getting the good staff, the best political staff people to get on board and to start working in some of these early states.

And one year away, and when you are looking at these elections, that is not a long time in the American political system. So, yes, we are looking ahead, not necessarily to November of 2012, which is two years from now, but we're looking ahead to January, December and January of next year and 2012, and it is coming -- it's going to be moving. That train is leaving the station. If you want to run for president, Brooke, you got to get your team together pretty quick.

BALDWIN: Good to know. Good to know, Wolf Blitzer. Thank you. Good to see you.

We will get you another political update in just about a half-an- hour. You can also get the latest political news. Go to CNNPolitics.com. They're also on Twitter at @PoliticalTicker.