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Passenger Revolt?; Murders Shock Ohio; MSNBC Suspends Joe Scarborough; North Carolina Democrat Incumbent Bob Etheridge Concedes Election; Film Hopes to Help Detained Hikers; Story Behind Elizabeth Smart's Abduction; Polls: Americans Split Over President Obama; Outrage Over Pat-Downs
Aired November 19, 2010 - 16:00 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 (voice-over): Passengers are revolting now at the airports, accusations of groping, even abuse, but wait until you hear what they're doing at this one airport that may have all of us rethinking our own security.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): Tense moments 34,000 feet in the air.
MIKE FLEMING, PASSENGER: The pilot came on and said I have got a little problem up here in the cockpit.
BALDWIN: A pilot spots a crack in the windshield. Wait until you see and hear what happens next.
A cab driver accused of kidnapping his passenger.
KATE PATTERSON, PASSENGER: Please help me. I'm in a taxi that will not let me out of the taxi.
BALDWIN: But wait a second. The driver says that's not what happened. So, who is telling the truth?
A week of desperate searching ends in tragedy.
JOHN C. THATCHER, KNOX COUNTY PROSECUTOR: This is probably the saddest day in Knox County history that I can remember.
BALDWIN: The bodies of a mother, her young son and a family friend found in garbage bags in a tree. So, who led police to the scene and what did the young girl who survived it all have to see and hear?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Here we go, hour two. Want to welcome the men and the women watching us right now on American Forces Network all around the world. We're going to move fast. Let's go, rapid-fire.
First up: at least 27 miners right now missing after an explosion in one of New Zealand's biggest coal mines. Listen to this. Two miners managed to walk out of there, but we are told both are recovering in the hospital, and crews now just waiting to begin the search-and-rescue mission, but first need to repair ventilation inside the mine before they can head in there. It is still not clear what caused the blast. Of course, updates as soon as we get them.
Next, New York City and the people who worked at Ground Zero following the 9/11 terrorist attacks have reached a deal. More than 10,000 first-responders say they are battling health issues after being exposed to toxic debris. So, after years and years of bitter fights, their attorneys say the city has agreed to pay more than $700 million.
Next, big welcome, welcome to Congress -- 95 newly elected freshmen smiling for the cameras. There they are on the steps of the Capitol. It is what they call the traditional class photo. This is the largest group of House freshmen in more than six decades. And, yes, we looked closely, two of them wearing cowboy hats in the picture. They are finishing up a week of orientation.
Next, the war is changing now in Afghanistan. For the first time in nine years, U.S. troops will use heavily armored tanks on the battlefield, the military saying the extra firepower will help protect troops when they go into insurgent safe havens, the tanks scheduled to hit the war zone by early spring.
Next, tragedy in Ohio. After a weeklong search, the bodies of a mother, her young son and a family friend found in garbage bags inside a hollowed-out tree. The discovery comes days after police found her teenage daughter bound and gagged inside a basement. She is alive, back with relatives, but take a look with me at the chilling scene.
Look at that. Three white hearse showed up near the wooded area where they found those three bodies. I want you to listen now to police describing the shocking find.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THATCHER: This is probably the saddest day in Knox County history that I can remember.
You know, as elated as we were Sunday morning when Sarah was rescued, I think the tragedy today is just devastating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Investigators say the man accused of kidnapping the girl is the one who told police where to find those bodies. There he is on the right side of your screen. That is Matthew Hoffman, currently behind bars.
Next, twin sisters shoot themselves in the head in a suicide pact. That's the new development today, according to some of the investigators in Colorado. We first told you about this bizarre case just a couple of days ago. Police say the women went to the shooting range near Denver, and we are told surveillance video shows those two sisters falling out of the same gun stall about half-a-second apart. One sister is dead. The other is in the hospital. She told police about their plan, but will not say why they wanted to die.
Next, another day, another delay for space shuttle Discovery. NASA is saying that the shuttle's final launch will happen no sooner than December 3. You know, that date, it's been pushed back a couple of times here due to bad weather, gas leaks and technical issues.
Next, we are now hearing what sparked a massive security scare for a plane heading to Namibia -- from Namibia, I should say, to Germany. Crews found a suspicious piece of luggage yesterday and inside of it they found some kind of clock attached with wires, but no explosives. Well, get this. It turns out that device is a kit aimed at training screeners on how to detect bombs.
It's from a U.S. company, and the owner tells CNN he sells them to police, to governments, even the TSA, but has no idea who bought this particular model. The flight eventually took off and landed seven hours later.
Next, another scare in the air, this time on a Delta flight from Atlanta to California. The pilots are forced to make an emergency landing because of this -- look at this picture -- windshield cracks. Listen to how one of the passengers described those frightening moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLEMING: The pilot came on and said, ladies and gentlemen, I just want to let you know we have got a little problem up here in the cockpit. We're going to be descending kind of rapidly. He says we need to get down below 10,000 feet. We have a crack in the windshield.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, all is well. The plane did land safely. No word yet exactly what caused that massive crack.
Next, a daring jewelry heist caught on video. Look at everyone scatter. Several men broke into the Glendale store Monday. They smashed glass counters with hammers, took everything they could, got out of there. Well, it turns out, days later, police arrested four men after a similar heist in South Pasadena. We're talking California here. Police looking into whether the men might be connected to both of those robberies.
And, finally, Wesley Snipes being asked to surrender, a federal judge ordering the actor to begin serving a three-year prison sentence for tax-related crimes. So, let me take you back to 2008. That was when a jury convicted Snipes of failing to pay millions and millions of dollars to the IRS. Well, today, the judge rejected Snipes' request for a new trial. No word as to where or when Mr. Snipes may be turning himself in.
And you ever been in a cab and the driver's going so fast, you want to yell, slow down? Well, that's precisely what happened to one passenger. She was so frightened, so scared, she dialed 911 and accused him of kidnapping. We have the call and the cabbie's side of the story. Stay tuned for that.
And later, as I just mentioned, the bodies of a mother, a son and a family friend have been found in Ohio, but the mystery still has not fully been solved. Why were they killed and how did that teenaged girl manage to survive, and is the prime suspect talking? That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Talk about a frightening ordeal inside of a cab. Here's the story.
A Massachusetts cab driver pleading not guilty to charges that he kidnapped a female passenger just this past weekend. Osei Kwame says he did nothing wrong in the early hours of Saturday morning. The woman accusing him says there was an argument after Kwame took her and her male friend to the wrong street. She's alleging Kwame let the friend out, sped off. She's still inside. She's telling him, stop, stop. He wouldn't.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PATTERSON: Please help me. I'm in a taxi that will not let me out of the taxi. Please help me. Please, please help me, like, like, please. I'm really, really worried about this. Oh, my God, this is crazy.
He's not even stopping for the cops. Oh, my God.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Not even stopping for the cops. Kwame maintains he was taking the woman to a police station, adding the two passengers -- quote -- "refused to pay."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSEI KWAME, DEFENDANT: They refused to pay, so I don't think I -- I (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't have money to pay. That's why they press charges that he's kidnapped. He did not kidnap them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Police ultimately caught up to the cab. No one was hurt. Kwame says he thought the police were there to help him.
We want to let you know CNN reached out to the cab driver. He did not want to comment, but the cab's owner, the owner company, Top Cab did respond to us, defending Kwame and blaming this whole thing on a language barrier. They also said Kwame has a perfect record, no complaints in the 22 years he had been -- he's been driving with the company.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: There will be a couple of mornings without this man. Joe Scarborough of MSNBC, he has been suspended. His mistake and MSNBC's reaction -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We're less than a week away, if you can believe it, from Thanksgiving, and that's really the beginning of craziness in the airports, right? So, we've been talking a lot about these new full- body scanners and some of the more aggressive pat-downs that the TSA has been tasked to do to all of us. A bunch of you have been tweeting in. I want to roll over to Twitter board and read some of your tweets.
Barry tweeted, "The number one concern at airports is and should always be passenger safety." And a lot of people agree with him.
Thomas tweeting, "Private companies are not the answer for airport screening. Private companies work for profit. The quality of people are not the same."
And Donna West, "Pat-down is a misnomer. This is a hands-on search. I don't care if it's a male or female, TSA or not. It's an invasion!"
And a lot of you agree with that. We'll have a little bit more, actually on some of these procedures and it will be pretty interesting. We're talking to a guy who ran security for a different airport, took a very different stance on the security and it seems to be working. We'll talk a bit about that later in the hour. Stick around for that.
Also, passengers and pilots have been griping about the TSA security measures -- invasive, too much radiation, most likely not effective. And the last one is really the point -- is the system really able to prevent another terror attack?
Coming up, as I mentioned, I'll get another perspective from the man who used to run security at the airport in Tel Aviv.
Stay there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, here we go. It's another Friday, another cable news anchor suspended from his day job. MSNBC is putting Joe Scarborough on the bench for two days. He told his bosses today he made several political campaign contributions, and that violates policy over at NBC News, as we found out just a couple weeks ago when Keith Olbermann was in the penalty box. So, keep in mind, though, Joe Scarborough is a former Republican representative from Florida.
And joining me now, CNN's Howie Kurtz, who will no doubt have plenty of fodder for his Sunday morning talk show "RELIABLE SOURCES."
And, Howie, as we were talking about, Mr. Olbermann one or two weeks ago. I suppose NBC set the bar there and so they couldn't look the other way.
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Yes. I was just on the phone with MSNBC to write a piece for "The Daily Beast" and they had to suspend Joe Scarborough. It had to be the same length of suspension, for two days, which is what Olbermann got.
But there are a couple key differences here, Brooke, and one is that Scarborough contributed only to state candidates in Florida, including his brother, by the way, and other friends that he has from his political career there.
And secondly, he issued a very contrite statement of apology, which Olbermann apologized, but he apologized to viewers, not to MSNBC. And Scarborough, by contrast, said that he should have known the policy and apologized to MSNBC. He promised not to do it again and he accepted the punishment without complaint.
BALDWIN: You brought up the Scarborough statement, and I have to be blunt, and to your point about giving to family members and state House representatives in Florida.
He said "To be blunt, I had no interest in their campaigns other than being kind to longtime friends. Because the contributions involved local, noncompetitive races -- and were given for personal rather than political reasons -- I mistakenly believed I did not need approval from MSNBC. I also apologize for that oversight."
But then you have Bill Griffin, president of NBC, essentially saying, look, he violated the rules.
KURTZ: And Scarborough knew that going in. He asked for this meeting today, once having learned about these contributions which he says he forgot about. It's over a series of years, they're $500 contributions.
But still, talk show hosts, people employed in the network news division should not be making political contributions. He knew he would be suspended going in, and you know, what they're trying to do here s get this disposed of without the melodrama.
You'll remember, that Olbermann went through, debate over how long he should be off the air, and try to move on. And I think the abject the apology here really helps MSNBC wrap this up.
And boy, these things always seem to break on a Friday and then they kind of disappear into the weekend news cycle.
BALDWIN: We noted that as well.
Here's my final question for you, though. Isn't a verbal endorsement from a morning show host, national morning show host, worth more than just $500 as a campaign contribution? KURTZ: Well, national talk show hosts shouldn't be endorsing anyone, but do they offer their views when they're commentators and talk show hosts, and isn't that worth, you know, 100 times more than writing a $500 check?
BALDWIN: That's my question.
KURTZ: Of course. And that's the reason why these guys -- I know there's a debate about this, is it an old-fashioned policy? They should respect this policy, because one, people in the news division shouldn't give money to politicians, period; and two, they could be a lot more effective to their cause by using that big megaphone they have than by opening up the checkbook.
BALDWIN: See, Howie Kurtz, if everyone behaved, what would you be talking about on Sunday morning?
KURTZ: I would be out of a job.
BALDWIN: Howie Kurtz, we'll be looking for you on Sunday. Thank you.
KURTZ: Thanks.
BALDWIN: It's been a busy, busy afternoon in politics and the news keeps rolling along. Gloria Borger has the latest for us on the Political Ticker. That is next.
And need a lift? There are easier ways to get around, guys. Look at this. This is something you've got to see. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM on a Friday. CNN has all your latest political news with "The Best Political Team on Television." That includes Gloria Borger, she is at the CNNPolitics.com desk.
Gloria, what do you have?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I am. Well, we have that one more Democrat has conceded today. Seven-term incumbent Bob Etheridge of North Carolina kind of said, OK, there was a recount, and he lost.
The interesting thing about it, Brooke, though, is that he's a veteran who lost to someone named Renee Ellmers. She is a former registered nurse who has absolutely no political experience.
And I had lunch yesterday with a veteran House Republican who said to me that by his count, there are at least 23 new members on the Republican side who have never held political office before. So, she's going to join those ranks, and that's going to be a very, very interesting group because they don't want business as usual. They want things to be run differently. Now, the latest count that we have is that the Republicans have overall gained 61 seats in the House. You know, you and I have been talking about this an awful lot, but the Pew Research Center did a poll asking Americans what they actually absorbed about this election. And while most people do know that Republicans did better than the Democrats in this last election, less than half know that the Republicans actually took over control of the House.
And by the way, only 38 percent of them know who John Boehner is, who's going to be the new speaker of the House come January.
Now, there is one more election on our radar, and it's not 2012. It's the internal election that's going to happen in January about who's going to be the next chairman of the Republican National Committee. We've been talking about it an awful lot. Michael Steele running for reelection has been a very controversial chairman, as you know.
I've talked to lots of Republicans throughout the midterm who were complaining about him, saying that he didn't raise enough money, he didn't do the "get out the vote" effort well enough, he didn't deploy resources the way he should have. And so, he's going to have a fight on his hands.
And today, he put out a five-page memo defending his record. And you can see, Brooke, that he's really going to start to fight back. So, this should be one kind of internal party race that we should pay attention to because it's going to have great implications as we head into 2012.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. We will wait and see come January. Gloria Borger, thank you, ma'am.
Remember, you can always get the latest political news, go to CNNPolitics.com. They're hip, they're on Twitter. Go to @politicalticker.
And have you heard about this new documentary? It's about the American hikers held captive in Iran. It's shedding new light on how they got so, so close to that border, the Iran/Iraq border, and their life now behind bars. It's compelling, it's interesting, but will it help or hurt their efforts to getting them released? That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: There's this new documentary that hopes to increase international pressure on Iran. Now, the filmmaker wants to force them to free those two detained American hikers. Recently, they released hiker Sarah Shourd. She contributed to the film "Free Shane and Josh."
Well, this film sheds new light on to what they're doing and what they did really to lead to their imprisonment in Tehran. But is it enough to sway the government to pardon those two remaining hikers?
Here's CNN's Kareen Wynter. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH SHOURD, AMERICAN HIKER RELEASED FROM IRAN: I just told them that we would always be together, that nothing could separate us, and I was going to tell the world the pain and the suffering that they were in, and that every minute I was going to be fighting for them.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sarah Shourd says it's that fight to free these two jailed American hikers that's fueled a new documentary pushing for their release. Shourd's fiance, Shane Bauer, and friend, Josh Fattal, have spent more than a year imprisoned in Iran, labeled by that government as spies. They're supposed to stand trial, and Shourd says right now, it's more critical than ever to sound an international alarm on their innocence.
SHOURD: To appeal to the Iranian authorities. A documentary is so powerful in that it can bring light and clarity to a very obscure region of the world for a lot of people. What we did, you know, our whole life up to that fateful moment that we were detained.
WYNTER: A moment Shourd says still haunts her. She, too, was imprisoned for more than a year and freed in September on humanitarian grounds.
But in the documentary, Shourd, who had moved to the Middle East as a peace activist, recounts that day their lives changed. On July 31st, 2009, the trio, who described themselves as tourists, went on a hike on a trail in northern Iraq and say they were ordered on to Iranian soil.
SHOURD: There was no fence, no flag, no indication of a border of any kind. I looked up and I saw a soldier, and he was holding a big gun, a rifle. And then he was motioning with his arm. He was doing like this -- for us to go further down the trail.
WYNTER: Fattal had just gone to Iraq to visit Shourd and Bauer when, on the advice of an Iraqi native, the three decided to visit this scenic part of the region that from the pictures and the documentary was a popular destination.
Jeff Kaufman, who produced the documentary, got his hands on exclusive footage like private videos and photos to piece together, along with some dramatized scenes, the story of what happened to these Americans.
JEFF KAUFMAN, PRODUCER/DIRECTOR, "FREE SHANE & JOSH": Being locked up in a small cell 23 hours a day, you know, hardly being able to get any sunlight, and these two remarkable, young, curious, innocent people.
SHOURD: I cried and screamed all night long. I think it was clear to the people questioning us from the very beginning that we weren't spies.
WYNTER: Quite the opposite, argues Shourd, whose activism included teaching English to Iraqi refugees in Syria. Her fiance, Shane, was an accomplished photojournalist who had done films for Amnesty International and worked on other human rights projects like the crisis in Darfur.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would recommend that people stand around this side.
WYNTER: And Josh Fattal, an environmentalist, headed a sustainable living community in Oregon. Their parents, who are profiled in the film, agonize over their release.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're hoping it strikes the compassionate chord and pushes for a humanitarian release.
WYNTER: While the U.S. and Iran have had broken diplomatic relations for decades, last month, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke out on Fattal and Bauer's behalf.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We do not believe there is any basis whatsoever for them to be put on trial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have enormous support from many parts of the government, but the kids are not home.
WYNTER: Sarah Shourd says that's why she's working tirelessly to share their story with the world so Shane and Josh can finally make it home.
SHOURD: I'm very hopeful. I just want it to be tomorrow.
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: If you're interested, you can see the documentary. It's called "Free Shane and Josh" on the Web site dedicated to getting them released. That Web address is freethehikers.org.
And ahead: one of the bravest 9-year-olds we've ever seen. You've got to see this. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Two energy-conscious friends taking a cue from the Wright brothers as they push to make their brewery soar. More in today's "Solutions."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AYESHA TEJPAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aubrey Davis and Eric Reece don't think like your average business owners.
AUBREY DAVIS, OUTER BANKS BREWING STATION: Our t-shirt sums it up best. "Beers with character, characters with beer."
TEJPAR: The two North Carolina residents own the Outer Banks Brewing Station located less than a mile from where the Wright brothers flew their first airplane. They say it's America's first wing-powered group pub. Though other businesses may buy wind credits, these two owners actually have a turbine right on site, generating about 10 percent of the power they need.
DAVIS: We had originally talked about doing solar, but wind is a more viable, cheaper source of energy with the resource that we have here.
TEJPAR: The 92-foot, 10-kilowatt turbine saves the brew pub between $20 and $250 a month. But it's not just about saving money, it's about allowing people to interact with green technology.
ERIC REECE, OUTER BANKS BREWING STATION: It's all theory until you can see it. So, we got it in our backyard and people can come by.
TEJPAR: They partnered with the North Carolina Solar Center to offer a touch-screen computer, to detail exactly how much energy the turbine creates.
REECE: Before, it was that's kind of strange, kind of out there, and then gas hit $4 and everybody was coming by going, hey, this might be something to look into.
DAVIS: I like to think, for the people that aren't really careful, that you might learn something while you're drinking one of our beers.
TEJPAR: Ayesha Tejpar, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: OK, it's one of my favorite parts of the show, and I'll tell you, this is going to make your skin crawl. It makes my skin crawl.
There's this California couple who gets more than they bargained for after a trip to the grocery store. You've got to see this.
Watch with me here. Under this car, you see this guy kind of hanging out, not really moving? Oh, now he's moving. This is a massive, ginormous boa constrictor who took a really good liking to one couple's car while they were grocery shopping. Yikes!
You can imagine their surprise when they walked out, opened their door, found a nine-foot boa waiting for them. And you see these animal control officers? It took them, apparently, about an hour to capture this long, nasty thing, which by the way, was wrapped around the engine. And you thought the movie "Snakes on the Plane" was scary. Hello!
Next, you have probably heard of bungee jumping and sky diving, but have you ever heard of wing-walking? Check it out. You're strapped to a 22-foot wing of a plane 500 feet above the ground. Not for the faint of heart, but this is a very real hobby for a man you see -- not right there.
Well, you see him in the middle of the plane, 90-year-old Thomas Lackey (ph). There he is with his big award. Apparently, he's broken the Guinness world record for oldest wing-walker. I should probably mention, he was the previous record holder as well. Congrats to him, 90.
Over to Paris, where there is another Guinness record you probably haven't heard of. I hadn't. This is a male and female balancing act. They're in the running -- get this -- for the most stairs climbed while balancing a person on the head. Did you hear me right?
Most stairs -- there they go, up, up, up, with this -- I guess that's a guy? I don't know, hanging out at the top, balancing them. Needless to say, you don't want to try this at home.
I don't think Wolf Blitzer is. I don't know how his balance is. Wolf Blitzer with a closer look, coming up, at the president's approval ratings. Did he take a beating after the midterm elections? We'll be talking to Wolf. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We have another developing story for you this Friday. We have just gotten word that the House ethics trial of Democrat Maxine Waters has been delayed. It was supposed to start coming up here on November 29th. Just a short time ago this afternoon, the ethics committee released a statement saying the case has been referred back to a subcommittee and we're digging for details.
We've got people on the phone, making phone calls, working sources, trying to find out precisely why.
And this brings us back to this moment. This was Charlie Rangel just yesterday afternoon, whose ethics case is now nearing its end. And as we pointed out to you just yesterday, Mr. Rangel looked like a broken man. In fact, at one point, while he was sitting there, and perhaps a little later, he shed some tears.
So, after we left you after our show yesterday, the committee, the full committee there reached a decision to recommend censure for the 20-term Democrat for violating 11 House rules.
Let's take a listen to some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D), CALIFORNIA: The committee voted 9-1 to recommend that Mr. Rangel be censured by the House and to be required to pay restitution for any unpaid taxes.
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: I know how much discussion went into this decision, but as I started out earlier, I hope that you can see your way clear for the record to make it abundantly clear, as the record would indicate, that any action taken by me was not with the intention to bring any disgrace on the House or to enrich myself personally or to -- or considered by counsel to be corrupt. That would be of great help to my family and my community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, we heard from Congressman Rangel. We're also reading the statement. This was released just last night.
He says, "This has been one of the most difficult days of my life. All of this has been brought upon me as a result of my own actions. In the end, I hope that you would judge me on my entire record as a soldier and a dedicated public servant, not by my mistakes. To my beloved colleagues, my constituents and the American people, I am sorry."
Well, Elizabeth Smart's kidnapping certainly captured the entire nation's attention eight years ago. And now, as we're watching this whole trial really wind down in Utah for the man accused of snatching her from her own bedroom, well, coming up this weekend, CNN is examining the story behind her abduction.
And our Martin Savidge has a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It had been nine months since Elizabeth Smart disappeared from her home when police finally got a break.
(on camera): Just days after Brian Mitchell's photos appeared on America's Most Wanted, police received two 911 calls. The callers said they had seen Mitchell on this street just outside Salt Lake City and he had been walking with a woman and a girl.
Police found Mitchell and his wife and a girl wearing a gray wig and sunglasses. At first, she denied her identity. But police knew it was Elizabeth.
TOM SMART, UNCLE: And then Amber calls me right after that and says, "Tom, they called me and asked me to come out to Sandy, to the police station." And he's in the car driving out there as fast as he can. And I told him, I said, "Ed, I think you're going to go see your daughter." And then Edward calls me and says, and he's just in tears and says, "It's her, Tom. You know, I thank you."
SAVIDGE (voice-over): It was the moment they had hoped for all those months but never knew would come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm so grateful for the prayers and the help and the eyes out there. It is just absolutely wonderful.
SAVIDGE: Ed called John Walsh and asked him to come to Utah.
JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": All the brothers were there and all the kids, and when she walked down those stairs, that was incredible. That was probably the best day I've spent on this show.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: How about that? We're calling it "Taken: The Kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart." It airs tomorrow night, 10:00 p.m., and Sunday night, 10:30 Eastern.
As President Obama meets with NATO leaders today in Lisbon, a new CNN Poll of Polls indicates the public is kind of split over his handling of duties at the White House.
Wolf Blitzer is joining me now from "THE SITUATION ROOM."
And Wolf, let's take a look at a poll together here. The latest poll is finding, overall, 47 percent of Americans approve of how the president is handling his job and 48 percent disapprove. So, 47-48.
What do you make of those numbers here, I guess, as the president is preparing either to work with or do battle with this new Republican majority in the House?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you just look at those numbers, it's pretty surprising, at least to me, as someone who's watched politics over these years, why the Democrats -- and the leader of the Democratic Party is the president of the United States -- why the Democrats did so poorly in the midterm elections, because that job approval number in the high 40s, that's actually pretty good, relatively speaking.
Usually, when a president has that kind of job approval, his party or hers should not necessarily do as badly as the Democrats wound up doing. So, there are deeper problems that the Democrats have.
And obviously the biggest problem is the 9.6 percent unemployment and the sense that the country is not necessarily working -- moving in the right direction, but going in the wrong direction. That right track-wrong track number on the polls is the most important number in trying to assess the political environment out there. And right now, the country has the wrong track going up, the right track going down.
BALDWIN: Here's another number. Let's look at this one.
Apparently, this new Pew survey finds 46 percent of Americans polled did not know that the Republicans had won the House in the midterms.
BLITZER: I don't know what they've been doing. I have no idea what they've been doing. They obviously haven't been watching you and me.
BALDWIN: Not watching you and me, right. Exactly.
BLITZER: I don't know what they're watching right now, maybe "Dancing With the Stars," or something like that. But they're not watching the cable news channels, I can say that. If they were watching any of the cable news channels, they'd know exactly that the Republicans did very, very well on November 2nd.
BALDWIN: OK. Well, Democratic strategist James Carville has come out and he says, look, I'm not apologizing -- for a statement he made -- about the strength of Hillary Clinton versus President Obama. And this is kind of embarrassing, but, basically, Carville is quoted as saying, "If Hillary Clinton gave one of her (bleep) to President Obama, then he would have two."
Yikes.
BLITZER: I know. He's going to be in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in the next hour, James Carville. We're going to discuss this, and we're going to talk about it, because it's obviously a little bit of a slap at the president coming from a fellow Democrat, someone who supported Hillary Clinton.
So, all sorts of suspicions are out there as well, conspiratorial theories. We'll have a chance to talk to James and pick his brain and see what he was saying about the "bleep" and the "bleep."
BALDWIN: The "bleep" and the "bleep." That's all we'll say. That will be the tease for your show.
That, and we are talking, Mr. Blitzer, about Doug E. Fresh, your buddy. All right. So, listen, I want to take your Doug E. Fresh, and I'm going to raise you a princess tiara, because I'm sure as you're a busy guy, can't watch every minute of my show -- guys, let's roll the video -- of course we're talking about the royal wedding.
And so, by the way, I don't know if you knew this, Wolf, I'm kind of engaged. And so --
BLITZER: I know. I know. There's a lot of disappointed people out there.
BALDWIN: Well, earlier today, these guys from TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress" sort of -- not totally twisted my arm, but this little tiara, headband, bling thing on my head.
What do you think?
BLITZER: I think you look like Miss America right there. You look gorgeous. But then again, you look gorgeous all the time.
So are you thinking for the wedding with the tiara or without the tiara? You want my input, is that what you're saying?
BALDWIN: I do, Wolf. I do. What do you think? Bling or no bling?
BLITZER: You know, I'm going to speak to you and give you the honest opinion. Whatever you think works, because it's your wedding. You're going to have to live with that picture for the rest of your life.
If you want the tiara, wear it. If you don't want it, don't wear it. But I know one thing for sure, you're going to look fabulous no matter what you wear.
BALDWIN: Thank you. I'm blushing.
BLITZER: And congratulations, and we're very excited. And I hope the two of you are going to be happy for a long, long time.
BALDWIN: You know, Wolf, I hope we will be happy, but you know what will make me happier?
BLITZER: What?
BALDWIN: You doing the Dougie at my wedding.
Guys, let's roll the video just because we can.
There you were. When was that, a week or two ago?
BLITZER: That was at the Soul Train Awards in Atlanta that BET is going to air.
Doug E. Fresh is going to be coming into "THE SITUATION ROOM" today. And guess who else is going to be coming into "THE SITUATION ROOM," Brooke?
BALDWIN: Who else?
BLITZER: Because you're going to be very excited. "THE SITUATION ROOM" Soul Train dancers. They're coming in to Dougie with Doug E. Fresh in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
This is a moment of Zen --
BALDWIN: You're a moment of Zen. I like that.
BLITZER: -- that a lot of folks will want to watch.
BALDWIN: I like that.
BLITZER: I want everybody to see the Dougie in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
BALDWIN: You've made my day. I'm speechless. I don't know where to go from there.
BLITZER: And you made my day with the wedding. When's the wedding actually?
BALDWIN: Oh, that, I don't know yet.
BLITZER: You don't have a date yet?
BALDWIN: Sometime next year. Maybe after the royal wedding. Maybe some time after.
BLITZER: Your wedding will be a royal wedding.
BLITZER: Thank you, Wolf Blitzer. Have a wonderful weekend. We'll be watching for the Dougie and your show.
BLITZER: Thank you.
BALDWIN: All right. At the end of the day, are random screenings and extra pat-downs just a waste of your time? Plenty of passengers are griping about them, so I have invited a passenger advocate and the man who used to run security at Tel Aviv's airport to discuss.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN TYNER, PASSENGER: If you touch my junk, I'm going to have you arrested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Yikes. This is all part of the passenger rights protests, really, now, heard around the world. Certainly that sound bite has been.
This is John Tyner. He's from San Diego. He jumped into the spotlight earlier this week after refusing those new security screenings -- the pat-down, the full-body scan, recorded his entire conversation with a TSA agent on his cell phone.
So, now more and more people, perhaps you included, speaking out against procedures that some call invasive. It sort of hits home here when you see images like this.
These are pictures we got from "The Denver Post." They had a photographer there at the airport, at Denver International, and took a bunch of pictures of what people are dealing with right now. And yes, it is very personal and close, and some are actually alleging sexual assault. A lot of people wanting not to have to fool with this.
But others are calling for protests. So, bottom line, tempers are flaring, and it brings us to some important questions.
Are we tolerating too much here in the name of safety, or are we just being too sensitive? Do the procedures really work, and might there be a better way?
For answers, we bring in Rafi Ron, former security chief at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport, and a Logan Airport consultant; and Kate Hanni, founder of flyersrights.org and an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights advocate.
And Kate, if I can, I'd like to begin with you. You saw the pictures, right from "The Denver Post," when they're getting patted down in all kinds of places. And a lot of people say, look, the TSA, I get it, they're out for our own safety, but they've gone too far. KATE HANNI, FOUNDER, FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG: They've gone too far. We're getting 1,000 complaints a day from people who are literally saying they won't fly if the only option is either a scan or a very intrusive pat-down. And some of the reports that we're getting are akin to being molested, and they're from people that are very fragile, or elderly, or children who, apparently, you know, in my opinion, in most people's opinion, don't present any risk.
BALDWIN: But again, we've heard from John Pistole, head of TSA, saying, look, we know what the threat is coming from the enemy, and this is necessary.
Rafi, I want to turn to you, because we invited you on because of a clear record of success at Tel Aviv's airport, and it's really legendary. Talk to me about the screening. The screening really starts, really, even before you hop out of your car.
RAFI RON, FMR. SECURITY CHIEF, BEN GURION AIRPORT: Well, that is correct. But, you know, watching all the protests that is going on around the country, I must say that the American public has to decide, as long as we want to deliver one single level of security to everybody, we have to understand that it will be increased from time to time according to the threats.
BALDWIN: Absolutely, and that's exactly what the TSA is saying. But if we may, sir, let's just go to Tel Aviv specifically, because we're fascinated with the security there, the interviewing, the checking of the car, the luggage.
If you can, sir, walk me through how it works over there.
RON: Well, it's different because the security in Tel Aviv is delivered on a completely different paradigm, which is, first of all, identifying the level of risk for every individual passenger, and then adjusting the level of search to the level of risk. That has proven to be a very successful approach, and it allows us to let most of the public not be subjected to the kind of searches --
BALDWIN: The pat-downs --
RON: -- that you see in American airports today.
BALDWIN: -- the full-body scanners.
So, Kate, I want to hand it off to you before we go. Do you think -- if you're a low-risk passenger, not much of a hassle -- would it work here in the U.S.?
HANNI: Absolutely, it would work here. There's a technology called biometrics that would give the United States the ability to domestically pre-screen passengers with retinal scans and fingerprints. And low-risk passengers should be able to travel through the traditional metal detector and baggage scanner without having to go through these intrusive measures.
I do think that he is right, that we are going to have to accept many layers of security, but --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: We'll have to accept it, and then perhaps it will evolve over time.
Rafi and Kate, I apologize. We've got to go.
"THE SITUATION ROOM," Wolf Blitzer, starts now.
Thank you both.
