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President Obama in India; The Battle for 2012; Reset your iPhone Alarm; The Man with Two Faces; Couple Gives $11 Million Away; Tomas Drenches Haiti; Grandmother Tries to Sell 2-Month-Old for $75K; Conan O'Brien's Comeback

Aired November 06, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Now, as we head across country now, first stop is going to be in Oakland, California. Angry demonstrators threw rocks, bottles, broke windows is upset over the sentencing of transit officer Johannes Mehserle.

Mehserle who is white shot and killed an unarmed black man last year. He says he thought he was reaching for his taser. With the time he has already served, he could go free in as few as seven months.

We turn now to Brownsville, Texas. The University of Texas campus there has cancelled classes when gunfire broke out across the border. A top Mexican drug cartel leader died in a gun battle with Mexican security forces there.

Also we'll take you now to Issaquah, Washington. The Costco Company headquartered there says its stores in Arizona, California, Colorado and New Mexico as well as Nevada sold Gouda cheese -- what is it, gouda -- I don't eat this stuff -- its gouda cheese right -- gouda cheese -- it was tainted by e-Coli, Twenty-five people have gotten sick. The FDA recalling this cheese -- Gouda.

We turn you now to Silverton, Oregon. Some trick-or-treaters didn't just get candy in their Halloween bags. They got condoms. The family handing them out says they only gave them to older kids and they said they were doing it as a community service. Some parents, as you can imagine, were outraged.

And hello to you all from the CNN center, this is your CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'm glad you're here with us.

President Obama, he is just starting a ten-day tour of Asia. His first stop in India delivers a pointed message to terrorists. We'll have a report from there just seconds away.

Also in Oakland -- Oakland on the edge after a night of civil unrest. We'll tell you why protesters were outraged and what led police to arrest more than a hundred of them.

Also Canadian authorities are calling it an unbelievable case of concealment. Now they're trying to figure out how a passenger got on a flight disguised as an elderly man.

Our Josh Levs has been following this story for us.

But President Obama says he's sending a message to terrorists. The president arrived in India today, the first stop on his ten-day Asian tour. Economics is a key focus but the president is staying at the Taj Palace Hotel where terrorists killed 30 staff members. And yes two years ago in those attacks.

CNN's senior White House correspondent Ed Henry has this report now on the president's visit.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE CORRESPONDENT: This three-day visit to India is President Obama's longest to any country since taking office and that's for personal and political reasons. The personal is few people know this but the president has a fascination with the life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. He hung a picture of him in his Senate office back in the day.

And so he and the First Lady Michelle Obama came here at the Gandhi Museum in Mumbai. They signed the guest book. The president saying it was pretty cool to see that another guest book had been signed by Dr. Martin Luther King in 1959. Of course the White House knows however that all this globetrotting could back fire on the White House so quickly after that pivotal midterm elections.

So the president's big focus here politically is on creating jobs back home in America. The president noting that U.S. exports here to India have quadrupled in recent years and he announced some big contracts today for American companies. That Boeing and GE are going to get contracts for commercial and military aircraft here as well as jet engines, totaling $10 billion, meaning over 50,000 jobs back home in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For America this is a job strategy. As we recover from this recession we are determined to rebuild our economy on a new stronger foundation for growth. And part of that foundation involves doing what America has always been known for, discovering and creating and building the products that are sold all over the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: On Sunday the president holds a town hall meeting with local students, then has private meetings with Prime Minister Singh followed by a joint news conference with him in New Delhi on Monday. Then it's on to Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan.

Ed Henry, CNN with the President in Mumbai.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: Well, back home here now just four days after winning the Florida Senate election, Marco Rubio is considered by all accounts a rising Republican star and he delivered the weekly GOP media address today declaring that Americans sent a message and Republicans will take action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR-ELECT MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: The challenges are too great, too generational in scope for us to be merely opponents of bad policies. Instead we will put forward bold ideas and have the courage to fight for them.

This means preventing a massive tax increase scheduled to hit every American taxpayer at the end of the year. It means repealing and replacing the disastrous health care bill. It means simplifying our tax code and tackling a debt that is pushing us to the brink of our own Greece-like day of reckoning.

For many of us coming to Washington for the first time and others returning to serve, it's a long way from home. A long way from the peoples whose eyes we looked into at Town Halls, at diners or roundtables and promised that this time it would be different, that if you elected Republicans to office again, we would not squander the chance you gave us. And we must not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, Rubio defeated Republican-turned-independent Charlie Crist and the Democrat Kendrick Meek in Tuesday's election.

And when Republicans take over the House in January, current Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she plans to run for House Minority Leader. She says that way she can protect some of the programs passed since 2008 like health care reform. Some fellow Democrats already lining up against her saying they're looking to vote for someone more moderate.

Well, we'll turn now to the competition, Keith Olbermann in particular. The MSNBC anchor is off the air, at least for now. MSNBC has suspended him indefinitely without pay for violating its ethics policy. He donated to three Democrats seeking federal office. Network policy requires employees to get permission first to avoid a possible conflict of interest.

Of course, we just got past the midterms. That doesn't mean it's time to stop talking about politics or, of course, speculating on 2012. That includes our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey good morning, T.J.

Four days now since the midterm elections. And you know what? I've already moved on. I am now looking ahead to the 2012 presidential race.

Check this out. New numbers from CNN Opinion Research Corporation National Survey, we asked the Republicans in this question who most likely you would support for your party's nomination in 2012.

Look at the top there. Some familiar names. Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas Governor who ran last time. Mitt Romney as well, former Massachusetts governor who also ran last time, they're both neck and neck at the top.

Sarah Palin the former Alaska governor who of course was the Republican vice presidential nominee at 14 percent. The former House Speaker, Newt Gingrich at 12 percent. Ron Paul, the Congressman from Texas, he ran in 2008 from the GOP presidential nomination. He's at seven percent.

Moving on we've got some current governors. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota both at three percent, as is Congressman Mike Pence from Indiana he is at three percent and Rick Santorum at two percent. He is the former senator from Pennsylvania.

Now, what all these gentlemen and ladies have in common is they may -- may want to run for the White House but nobody has made any announcements yet. And remember these early polls are pretty much a popularity contests. They are named recognition contest at this point.

And there are some other people we didn't even put on there. It's a big list. But what if one of these people wins the nomination. Some hypotheticals, check this out. Let's say it's Barack Obama or Sarah Palin in 2012. Well, check out these numbers.

The president gets 52 percent support, Palin gets 44 percent support. This is of all Americans not just Republicans. What about the President versus Mitt Romney? Romney comes in at 50 percent, 45 percent say they would be likely to back the president.

And what about a hypothetical 2012 match-up between the President and Mike Huckabee? Fifty 52 percent for Huckabee, 44 percent for the President.

One other thing, it's not just the race for the White House that is under way. The battle race for the Senate is already under way as well. You've got 33 seats up for grabs the next -- next time around in the Senate. And of those 33 seats Senate seats up for grab 23 belong to the Democrats, only 10 belong to Republicans.

So it's going to be a challenging climate and a challenging cycle for the Democrats to keep control of the Senate in 2012. That's what I have right now, T.J. back to you.

HOLMES: Well, thanks to our Paul Steinhauser as always.

Meanwhile authorities in Oakland, California, insist protesters will not be allowed to, quote, "tear up the city". More than 100 people were arrested last night after protesters, outraged over the sentencing of a former transit officer, reportedly turned violent. Transit officer was white, was given a minimum, possible prison sentence for killing an unarmed black man on a train platform last year. Police say protesters tore up fences, threw rocks and bottles. The police chief says violence is not going to be tolerated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BATTS, CHIEF, OAKLAND POLICE: You cannot continue to allow this to happen in the city of Oakland. We had this happen in January of 2009 for many days, we had this happen in July. And now we're having it happen now. And I'm trying to send a message that is clear you don't get to do this in Oakland. You have a right to protest. You have a right to have freedom of speech. You have a right to voice your opinion and your discontent. You do not have a right to tear this city up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, the officer in question, Johannes Mehserle claimed he thought he was grabbing his taser gun, not his actual gun when he shot Oscar Grant. He was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, sentenced to two years in prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL RAINS, MEHSERLE'S ATTORNEY: But Johannes Mehserle is still in custody. He is still behind bars. And I can't be happy, and I can't rest and I won't rest until he is out of custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Mehserle will be given credit for time served and could be out of prison in as little as seven months.

I want to turn now to Iraq where there has been another outbreak of violence there. Attacks today in Baghdad and Kirkuk have wounded dozens of people. Three car bombs exploded in Kirkuk in the northern part of that country, wounding at least 27 people. Authorities say the bombers apparently were targeting the homes of Kurdish officials.

Meanwhile, in the capital at least 10 people hurt in bombings and rocket attacks. It's been an especially violent week in Iraq; more than 150 people were killed.

Meanwhile what you're hearing there is violence along the border, the U.S. border. Mexican military officials say a major drug cartel leader and at least four of his henchmen died in a gun battle with Mexican naval troops yesterday in the border town of Matamoros.

Investigators say three naval officers were also killed in that clash. Because of this violence now, two American universities nearby cancelled classes and also scaled back some weekend events.

Let's move to the Caribbean now, Tomas now a tropical storm after brushing past Haiti as a hurricane. The storm destroyed houses, sent floodwaters into the streets. It's the latest problem of course, as you know, for Haiti. Many of the one million Haitians displaced by January's massive earthquake still living in tents. Also the country is coping with the recent cholera outbreak that has killed about 450 people.

So in Indonesia the death toll there rising as Mount Merapi the volcano continues to erupt. As many as 81 have died, they died yesterday and actually the death toll is now up 120 overall. The volcano started erupting some 12 days ago.

Well, it's time for us all to fall back as you know. And as we do that, many of our phones, you've got some of the fanciest phones out there that can do all kinds of things but one thing that your iPhone can't do is reset itself with Daylight Saving Time properly, and that could cost you on Monday morning as you try to go to work. You could end up being late.

I'll explain that coming up. Its 11 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, 14 minutes past the hour now.

It's Daylight Saving Time, you need to -- when you go to bed, you need to set that clock back an hour. You're going to get an extra hour of sleep. That's great.

A lot of us use our phones to set an alarm to wake us up in the morning. If you have an iPhone, you need to listen up because you're going to possibly have a problem.

If you use your phone and you have one of those recurring -- recurring alarms set, for instance it wakes you up at the same time every day, at 6:00 a.m. or it wakes you up every Wednesday at a certain time, if you have those, you're going to have a problem because the phone has a glitch that won't allow it to reset that alarm for you with Daylight Saving Time.

That that means if you're not aware come Monday morning you could have a problem and you're going to end up an hour late. So this applies to not just the iPhone 4. We're talking about the older iPhones as well, even the iPod Touches out there. You need to go in and manually change the alarm. You need to go in there and essentially cancel out that old alarm and start a brand-new one.

Now, we've got some steps on our Web site you can go to CNN.com. It's a very easy fix. And also you can just set one daily alarm to save you. But you need to be aware of that so you don't have problems.

And for all of you all out there, don't forget change all the clocks in the house before you go to bed tonight. You need to go back one hour. Fall back. Then we spring forward. So fall back. You're going back. Give yourselves an extra hour of sleep. And Reynolds, we could all use an extra hour of sleep.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know. But do you find it weird about the iPhone? I mean the iPhone can help you -- how to find a great place to eat in a far away city. You can catch a plane to see where a plane is traveling. HOLMES: True.

WOLF: You can find out the weather all over the planet.

HOLMES: Yes.

WOLF: But it can't adjust for Daylight Savings?

HOLMES: They thought about all those other bigger things. They never worried about the small ones.

WOLF: Yes.

HOLMES: Maybe that's it.

WOLF: When it comes to Daylight Saving, do you say Daylight Saving or do you say Savings?

HOLMES: There is no "s". I think we've learned that a lot, right? There's no "s".

WOLF: Yes. It's not as if you're taking it stored someplace. It really isn't savings. I mean -- although we like to say it but you can't -- but "saving", there you go.

Hey, we're going to be showing you some cool thing and showing people in Tennessee who are wishing they could save a little bit of that snowfall. Yes, snowfall right now up in parts of Tennessee from Johnson City back over to Jefferson City. They've had -- some light flakes have been coming down.

A little bit heavier up towards Kentucky and we even see some up towards Wheeling, West Virginia, which isn't too unusual. But Tennessee, that's a little bit unusual for this time of the year.

What's not unusual at all, rainfall in the Pacific Northwest, from Bellingham, southward to Seattle even into Portland. On the I-5 corridor the rain is coming down. In Eugene you have a big game today. We're going to show your forecast for that coming up. And yes, it may involve some raindrops and definitely a few clouds.

In Denver, 76 your expected high; Los Angeles, it's been warm for you, I know over the last couple of days. Outside the Staples Center, 76 the expected high. Seattle, 55; New York City, 53 -- beautiful fall day; and New Orleans, 63 degrees with plenty of sunshine.

All right. Let's get to the game forecast very quickly. For Oregon and Washington, the game gets under way at 3:30 Eastern, 55 degrees; some scattered showers possible for Albany and Chattanooga. Should be -- should be an easy game for Auburn, that's a noon start. For TCU and Utah, it's number 3 and number 5, 3:30 start, 67 degrees, partly cloudy skies.

And that huge game, Boise State -- somewhat a big game, the big one at least here in the southeast. Alabama and LSU, each team with one loss, and Baton Rouge -- to wrap it up -- 64 degrees. T.J., are you watching the game?

HOLMES: You know what game I'm watching.

WOLF: I do. Hopefully you'll be happy when it's over.

HOLMES: Yes. It's a very stressful time for me this time of year, Razorbacks.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: And LSU/Alabama, all eyes.

WOLF: Should be fun.

HOLMES: Appreciate you as always, Rennie, thanks so much.

We're keeping an eye on some of the stories that are making headlines right now.

President Obama says his visit to the Taj Palace Hotel in Mumbai is intended to send a message that the U.S. and India stand together, united against terrorism. Terrorists staged an attack, you remember, at the hotel in 2008 as well as other sites around Mumbai killing at least 164 people.

The president and first lady are actually staying at the Taj to sign the memorial guest book for the victims. India is the first stop of the president's ten-day Asian tour.

So the launch of the space shuttle discovery is being postponed once again until at least November 30th. That's the very earliest. NASA scrubbed yesterday's scheduled launch because of a fuel leak. That was the fourth postponement in a week either triggered by technical problems or bad weather. Discovery's planned mission to the International Space Station will be its final voyage.

Also jurors in Connecticut, they're back this Saturday trying to decide whether to give Steven Hayes life or death. Hayes was convicted last month in the killings of a mother and two daughters during a home invasion in 2007. The father survived the attack and testified against Hayes. An alleged accomplice will be tried later.

What do you do? You just won a fortune. What are you going to do with it? Well, a Canadian couple just gave it away. What were they thinking? Their answer straight ahead.

It's 19 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Twenty-three minutes past the hour now.

A lot of folks, you can imagine, you're sitting on a plane. Somebody's sitting next to you, a stranger. Imagine, though, that person you're sitting next to has to get up and go to the restroom. They come back as a completely different person. That's what happened this week when a passenger dropped his disguise mid flight.

Josh Levs, this is a story everybody's interested in because of the dramatic change from one person to another.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And because we want to know how it was possible for this to happen and because it seems like something out of a movie.

Let's get to the close up; we got video for you here. Let's show it to you all. If you haven't seen this yet. You'll see the difference.

The man on the left there is who he really is. The man on the right; that is what he looked like when he got on the plane. CNN obtained this as a confidential intelligence from Canada, they laid this whole thing out. And the name of this alert is, quote, "unbelievable case of concealment".

Authorities are saying that at the beginning of the flight he appeared to be what they call an elderly Caucasian man with young- looking hands and then during the flight he goes to the bathroom and he comes back like that, an Asian 20-something. This is an Air Canada flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver.

Air Canada corporate security alerted authorities so they'll have agents meet him at the gate in Vancouver, he made a claim for refugee protection. According to this alert from the Canada Border Services Agency, this passenger then told authorities he'd only brought one bag with him but the flight crew brought over two more bags and one of them contained the disguise which included the silicone mask and head and (INAUDIBLE) over his head and his neck and they have the glasses and all that.

He even put it on for them. They say he actually looked like and acted like, and knew how to walk like and mimic the movements of an older man. And T.J., right now, he's being held for an immigration hearing.

HOLMES: And we still don't really know what this guy -- what he was up to. A lot of people have questions, though. He's in disguise, but you have -- don't you have to have an ID to match up to your face when you get on the plane?

LEVS: Yes. And that's part of what's so perplexing. Authorities say that what they think happened is that he switched boarding passes with a U.S. citizen inside the airport and then he used something called an aero plan card to get on the flight. That's a card that tracks frequent flyer miles.

But who is this U.S. citizen that he switched identities with? We don't know. Authorities say the citizen was born in 1955 but that disguise looked a heck of a lot older than someone 55 years old.

I do have this for you. This is a statement here from Air Canada. The spokesman told CNN there are multiple identity checks before departure at Hong Kong International Airport including Chinese government run Hong Kong passport control which Hong Kong originating passengers must undergo.

But look there are a lot of questions here. Why did it happen? How did it happen? Who is this guy? Who did he switch identities with? And what needs to be done so that people can't get on airplanes disguised as people that they're not.

This introduces a whole bunch of questions. And yes, T.J., the thing that has people talking the most is that in a way he really did look like that older guy and nothing like himself.

HOLMES: Yes. A lot of questions we'd love to answer them for you right now, folks.

LEVS: Yes. We're working on it.

HOLMES: A lot of explaining to be done. Josh, we appreciate you as always.

I ask you this question. Imagine this. You just won $11 million. What are you going to do with it? Are you going to give it away. That's what a Canadian couple did.

This is Violet and Allen Large. They won the money in a lottery but decided to give just about all of it to charities and family members.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN LARGE, $11 MILLION LOTTERY WINNER: It made us feel good that we could do something to help other people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, they're doing something to help other people. They actually say they gave away 98 percent of that money to hospitals, churches, fire departments, you name it.

You see there, Mrs. Large, she has just finished chemo therapy. Her last round of chemotherapy for her cancer she was battling. She and her husband decided their love for each other meant more than any amount of money. They kept a little bit for themselves for emergencies, but they said, really, the money became such a hassle because people kept calling. Strangers calling, organizations calling, wanting them to donate. They said, hey, we don't know what it's like to have money anyway so it's not going to make us one bit of difference.

Well, with that money they could have bought them a new house. Not quite this castle though. You've got a chance now if you'd like to live in a castle. This is Castle Post in Kentucky. It's up for sale. The price tag as you can imagine is a hefty one.

The owner, Tom Post, says the number is negotiable, but right now at $30 million for this -- if we can call it a home -- he said it had an elevator in it but it has been sitting on a particular highway there in Kentucky. A lot of people familiar with it. And now it's up for sale; a castle can be yours.

U.S. troops arriving at Atlanta's Hartsfield International airport aren't just being greeted by family members and friends. They're also getting a greeting from Betty Rose Bauers (ph). She's known as the "hug lady". Bauers lives up to her name, greeting military personnel with a big hug and a word of thanks for their service.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETTY ROSE BAUERS, HUG LADY: Not a soldier gets by me that doesn't get a hug.

Welcome home, soldier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: There she is in action. You can see more inspirational stories on the men and women who serve this country. Catch the CNN special, "Veterans in Focus". That's next Saturday, 3:00 Eastern or you can also visit cnn.com/veterans.

Well, Haiti. Haiti just seems like it can't get a break. We're going to be live to Haiti here in a moment for a look at how the country is now coping after getting hit with Hurricane Tomas.

Twenty-eight past the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. For Haiti, it's been one nightmare after another. Tomas brushed past the country as a hurricane, destroying houses, turning roads into rivers. Now the million people still living in tents after January's earthquake. Haiti also dealing with a deadly cholera outbreak.

Andrea Koppel, with the American Red Cross, is in Port-au-Prince. She joins us now by phone.

Andrea, we appreciate you hopping on the line with us. There was so much concern about Port-au-Prince, which was hit heavily by that earthquake and so many people still living in tents.

How bad was it there in the capital?

ANDREA KOPPEL, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Well, T.J., we're going be going out this morning to make a more thorough assessment as to just how badly impacted the capital has been. We did have some teams out yesterday, on Friday, driving through, and we were very pleased to see that the impact was not nearly as bad as we had expected.

Most of the tarps and tents that we saw had not been torn. We were expecting heavy winds that never materialized.

But I can tell you that once Tomas passed on Friday night, overnight, we had very, very heavy rains. In fact, much heavier than when the hurricane itself was over Haiti. So we may see much more damage this morning. We're just not sure.

I can tell you that on Friday, the biggest impact had been in the northwestern part of the country, part of the island, and there had been a lot of flooding in a city named Leogane, and there were a lot of people who had been evacuated there. But at this point, we don't know just how the heavy rains from overnight affected Port-au-Prince and other part of the country.

HOLMES: And we've just seen some pictures, and we're showing them to our viewers right now, of some of those outlying areas outside of the capital city. And again, so much of the focus is on Port-au- Prince, and rightly so, after the earthquake. But how are those outlying areas doing as well/ And how does that complicate even some of those areas who might have gotten some impact from the earthquake earlier this year as well?

KOPPEL: Absolutely. And it's even more than just the earthquake, Tony -- T.J. -- excuse me --

HOLMES: That's all right.

KOPPEL: -- as you just alluded to a moment ago. The cholera epidemic has been in the northern part of the country, and one of the things that led to that were people drinking the river water there. And our understanding is that that river in that area in (INAUDIBLE) has flooded, which is certainly not going to help matters.

We've been successful to this point. The Red Cross has been successful and other aid groups in trying to contain the spread of the cholera. That is actually one of our bigger concern right now with flooding, to make sure that there aren't the spread of disease that can certainly happen in circumstances like this.

One of the things that the Red Cross, the American Red Cross and our partners in our network, had done is to make sure that we're getting fresh water. At least a quarter million people have been getting fresh water every single day in Port-au-Prince in these tent communities so that they're not drinking the dirty, potentially contaminated water. And we've propositioned emergency supplies all around the country so that the more affected areas, whether it be from the hurricane or the cholera epidemic, would get the tarps, tents, blankets, water, whatever they need as quickly as possible.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Andrea Koppel, we appreciate you hopping on the line. Again, with the American Red Cross. But again, Haiti just seems like they can't catch a break right about now.

Thank you so much for taking the time, the work you are doing there. Thank you so much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: Coming up, we're going to tell you about what's being called a shocking crime by a Florida woman accused of trying to sell her 8-week-old grandson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

HOLMES: And again, the shocking story I was telling you about a short time ago out of Florida. A grandmother is accused of trying to sell her 2-month-old grandson to anyone who wanted him.

Blaine Tolison with our affiliate WFTV has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLAINE TOLISON, WFTV REPORTER (voice-over): Special agents with the FDLE say 44-year-old Patty Bigbee and her boyfriend were willing to sell her 8-week-old grandson to anybody. Sources told Eyewitness News she's been involved before in giving away babes and extorting people for money.

(on camera): Do the parents know about this at all?

(voice-over): The FDLE says its agents worked for two weeks leading up to this evening's arrest. It started as a tip in Tampa from someone who caught wind of the baby for sale. FDLE says that person became a confidential informant and lead agents to Bigbee and her boyfriend, Lawrence Works.

WAYNE IVEY, FLORIDA DEPT. OF LAW ENFORCEMENT: When you look at this, where the grandmother was willing to sell her own grandchild, obviously, to some degree, for profit, it's appalling.

TOLISON: The FDLE says as Bigbee discussed the transaction with the confidential informant, she first asked $75,000, but Bigbee and Works eventually met the CI in a parking lot across from the Daytona Speedway and negotiated $30,000 for the boy.

We talked to a neighbor near Bigbee's home.

SANDRA WELLS, NEIGHBOR: I couldn't believe it. I thought they must be in some kind of trouble. That's why they had to get rid of the baby and they couldn't keep it.

TOLISON: Agents took the baby away, and he is now in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, her mother played a huge role in the midterm elections, but the daughter was too busy to vote. Bristol Palin explains why she didn't cast a ballot even as one of her mother's biggest supporters is in a very close race.

It's 43 minutes past the hour. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, time for your "CNN Equals Politics" update. We're keeping an eye on all the latest headlines, CNNPolitics.com Desk. Here's what's crossing.

Right now there's finally an official winner in the race for governor of Connecticut. Election officials say the Democrat, Dan Malloy, defeated the Republican, Tom Foley, by about 5,600 votes. Foley is still trying to decide whether he'll challenge those votes.

Also, the two rivals in the Delaware Senate election have buried the hatchet. The winner, Chris Coons, the loser, Christine O'Donnell, participated in an old Delaware tradition. After every election, candidates gather for a ceremony where a hatchet is buried to symbolize the end of the campaign.

Also, some people already talking about the 2012 presidential elections, but not this former president. George W. Bush, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that airs Tuesday, he refused to offer an opinion. He says he's through with politics and he's not a political pundit.

Meanwhile, still on the political beat, can't tell by this video, but this is a political story. Bristol Palin, the daughter of the former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin, she was too busy "Dancing With the Stars" to go vote.

She tells "Inside Edition" that she just didn't send her absentee ballots to Alaska. But she may be in a little more trouble than she thinks.

Sarah Palin's pick for U.S. Senate, the Tea Party's Joe Miller, still in a dead heat with incumbent Lisa Murkowski. Actually, we're not exactly sure where that race is. There's some 13,000 of those write-in candidates. Lisa Murkowski has the write-in campaign of course.

Thirteen thousand write-ins need to be calculated, counted to see whose name is on them, so on and so forth. I don't know how much longer I can just talk here, because I can see you writing notes. I thought you were busy.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I was just taking notes of all that you were saying.

HOLMES: I didn't think you were ready for me yet, Fredricka. No you were not.

Good morning.

WHITFIELD: How are you?

HOLMES: I am OK.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you.

HOLMES: Good to see you as always.

WHITFIELD: Just OK?

HOLMES: You must be really busy, because you were working pretty hard here.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I know. Sorry. Sorry. We've got a lot going on. But, you know, it's all good.

We're happy. You know?

HOLMES: It's all good.

WHITFIELD: I mean, you've had a very busy morning. We're going to have a very busy afternoon, beginning with the noon Eastern hour.

HOLMES: Right.

WHITFIELD: And you know our favorites, our legal guys --

HOLMES: Legal guys.

WHITFIELD: -- Richard and Avery, will be along with us.

And everyone knows that when you go through airport screening, you should not -- this is like no joke zone. You don't joke about anything.

HOLMES: Yes. You can't play about anything.

WHITFIELD: You don't say, "I have something," and then, "I really don't." But what happens when a TSA worker pulls a prank --

HOLMES: I couldn't believe this story.

WHITFIELD: -- alleges that you may be smuggling drugs, and actually has a little prop? What happens? It becomes a legal case that our legal guys want to talk about.

HOLMES: He was just having fun, wasn't he? I mean, he wasn't trying to butt somebody.

WHITFIELD: No joke zone --

HOLMES: He was just trying to be funny.

WHITFIELD: -- when you're going through airport security. No, that's not funny.

HOLMES: He was amusing himself.

WHITFIELD: That would not make me laugh.

HOLMES: No. It would freak you out.

WHITFIELD: I would be mortified -- yes. My goodness. And then you're looking at the clock, am I going to miss my plane? And what is this stuff?

So, yes, we're going talk about all that.

And then Happy Meals, maybe not so happy in San Francisco.

HOLMES: We spent a half hour on this today, yes.

WHITFIELD: Well, we're going to spend some more time on it from the legal perspective. You know, can this be enforced?

HOLMES: Can they do it?

WHITFIELD: Can the city say, you know what, we don't like that the nutritional content is, in our view, lacking? And so fries, no toy. Apples, you get toy.

Is that right? I'm not asking you. Rhetorical.

HOLMES: Oh, OK.

WHITFIELD: I'm not putting you on the spot. But I'm going to ask our Avery and Richard.

Don't want to get you in trouble with anybody out there.

HOLMES: But don't people consider that just a part of American culture? The Happy Meal has been around for some 30 years now --

WHITFIELD: I know.

HOLMES: -- burger, fries, drink, toy.

WHITFIELD: And making a lot of people happy.

HOLMES: That's the menu.

WHITFIELD: I know. All right.

And then, 2:00 Eastern Time, this time of year people loathe to even think about taxes.

HOLMES: Oh, yes.

WHITFIELD: But it's time to start getting your stuff in order. And there's some new tips that our financial expert, Karen Lee, will be along with to try and help you in what's usually a loathsome time of year.

All right. And then, you can't have the weekends without good movies. Right?

HOLMES: OK. What have you got for me this weekend?

WHITFIELD: You heard about "Due Date" that's out, Robert Downey, Jr.

HOLMES: Heard of that one.

WHITFIELD: And Zach Galifianakis. I hope I'm saying that right.

HOLMES: Well, everybody knows the guy with the beard.

WHITFIELD: Yes, hilarious.

HOLMES: He's hilarious.

WHITFIELD: We're going to have a reviewer here to see if it's worth your bang. Something tells me it has got to be hands-down funny.

HOLMES: He is just hilarious.

WHITFIELD: Because I love Robert Downey, and I do like Zach, even though I can't say his name right.

Sorry, Zach, but --

HOLMES: What is it, Galifianakis? I believe that's right.

WHITFIELD: I think that's right.

HOLMES: From "The Hangover." Everybody knows.

WHITFIELD: Yes, from "The Hangover." Hilarious.

HOLMES: And then, of course, not funny at all, a very powerful, in-depth movie. We're talking about "For Colored Girls." And we know that's an adaptation from a 1975 play, where it is was choreopoems that helped tell the story of women and various struggles.

Well, now it's on the big screen, big stars, incredible lineup. You see right there Whoopi Goldberg.

Well, I sit down face-to-face with Kerry Washington and Kimberly Elise. We talked a little bit about that last weekend. And you missed your (ph) part of the interview. Sorry.

HOLMES: Well, I just -- you didn't tell me they were in the building. I just wanted to know they were in the building.

WHITFIELD: I didn't tell you they were in the building for good reason. They were on a tight schedule. And I knew --

HOLMES: Oh, really?

WHITFIELD: -- we don't have the time.

But we did have the time to talk about what "For Colored Girls" is really about. And Kimberly and Kerry will let you know that this is a movie that is profiling mostly African-American women, but this does not mean this is a movie for, by and about only black women.

The "colors" represent their emotions, the emotional journey that these women go through. Kimberly Elise's character is brown, and Kerry's character is blue. And we sit down face-to-face. They discuss why, how and why you need to see this movie.

It's powerful. I did see it this week.

HOLMES: You did see it this week? OK. We can see the other part of the interview today, because you teed it up yesterday. Or, excuse me, last weekend.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I did, because we didn't have a whole lot of hours in which to reveal all their thoughts. But today we do.

HOLMES: Oh, OK.

WHITFIELD: Noon to 3:00 and 4:00, face-to-face with Kimberly Elise and Kerry Washington, beginning at noon.

HOLMES: All right. Always good to see you.

WHITFIELD: How is that? I got it all in again this weekend.

HOLMES: You did get it all in.

WHITFIELD: Even though the producer is screaming at me, "Would you all be quiet?" Move on, lady.

HOLMES: You know, I enjoy this time. I enjoy this time. I get some company. I'm alone up there for the past several hours.

WHITFIELD: I know. It's lonely. I know.

HOLMES: Reynolds gets old sometimes.

WHITFIELD: Oh, come on! Reynolds!

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: He's yelling over there.

Well, thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Good to see you, T.J.

HOLMES: Thank you.

Well, it's not "The Tonight Show." A familiar face though coming back to TV.

Have you missed that face?

WHITFIELD: And the laughs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, after nearly nine months in television exile, Conan O'Brien, he is heading back to late-night television.

Our entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CONAN O'BRIEN, COMEDIAN: Hey, is it November 8th?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not yet, chief.

O'BRIEN: It will be here soon.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Conan O'Brien makes his return to late night TV Monday with his new show on TBS, the sister network of CNN. He warmed up by making a surprise appearance on "Lopez Tonight," which is moving to midnight to make room for Conan.

GEORGE LOPEZ, HOST, "LOPEZ TONIGHT": Welcome to TBS and, really, welcome to basic cable.

O'BRIEN: It's thrilling, basically, to --

WYNTER: "The Hollywood Reporter's" Matthew Belloni has written about Conan's return to late night.

MATTHEW BELLONI, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": For the cable universe, the expectations are high. He's a big star. He's coming over from network TV.

WYNTER (on camera): Coming over from NBC, to be specific, and his departure from "The Tonight Show" in an awkward game of musical chairs with Jay Leno is the stuff Hollywood nightmares are made of.

(voice-over): The TBS show represents the chance to prove, once again, he's one of comedy's best.

(on camera): So for Conan, what an adventure. Is this a shot at redemption?

BELLONI: It's absolutely a shot at redemption for Conan O'Brien. I mean, he - the way he was sort of cast out of NBC, he took it very personal. Conan is starting from scratch. If it succeeds, it's a huge personal redemption for him.

WYNTER: And O'Brien has given few hints about the look of the new show beyond saying it will have a more intimate feel than his "Tonight" show did. He will be joined by longtime side kick, Andy Richter.

ANDY RICHTER, CONAN O'BRIEN'S SIDEKICK: Thank you, Conan.

WYNTER: They posted a faux preview on line complete with a mini- band. As he gets ready to return, Conan's feeling the love from Hollywood.

JOVOVICH: We're always happy to see him because he's rad!

WYNTER: From Milla Jovovich to "Dancing with the Stars'" Jennifer Gray.

JENNIFER GREY, ACTRESS: Conan's smart. Conan's tough. Conan's special.

WYNTER: Even the Hoff's on board, more or less.

DAVID HASSELHOFF, ACTOR: As long as he doesn't do any David Hasselhoff jokes, which is probably impossible for him, he'll just be fine.

WYNTER: And if Conan is looking for any guests, we found no shortage of volunteers from Tina Fey -

TINA FEY, ACTRESS AND COMEDIENNE: Yes, absolutely. I would love to do it. WYNTER: To Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna.

LISA RINNA, ACTRESS: I don't want to beg, but I really would like to.

HARRY HAMLIN, ACTOR: Conan, let us go to your show.

WYNTER: Conan's return sets off an unprecedented battle in late night between some giant talent --

BELLONI: Now, you have three heavyweights overlapping. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are also players in this in addition to Jay Leno and David Letterman.

WYNTER: But in the crowded late-night landscape, Conan's always had an edge.

O'BRIEN: I stand out. I'm 6'9" with orange hair.

WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And Conan premieres this Monday night, 11:00 p.m. Eastern, on our sister network, TBS.

And I'm laughing because he said 6'9", and Fredricka screams out, "Is he really that tall?"

WHITFIELD: I mean, my gosh. He didn't seem like he was a tall man, but --

HOLMES: Is he that tall?

WHITFIELD: Is he that tall?

HOLMES: I didn't think he was 6'9". He's a tall guy.

WHITFIELD: No, me either.

HOLMES: But he's one of our coworkers, so we should just send him an e-mail.

WHITFIELD: But anyway, hey -- exactly. He's about comedy. He made us chuckle. HOLMES: Yes, he did.

Fredricka, it's all years, dear lady.

WHITFIELD: Oh, thank you so much, T.J. Have a great day.