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U.S. Secrets Spilled; Search Continues For Missing Michigan Boys; President Obama Proposes Federal Pay Freeze; Wikileaks Dumps More Documents; Scientists Reverse Aging Process in Mice; Celebrities Suspended Tweets Until Charity Fundraising Goal Met; RNC Chairmanship Elections Upcoming

Aired November 29, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Have you heard what they're saying in Washington about America's friend, you know, the French president? According to a U.S. diplomat, President Nicolas Sarkozy is a naked emperor with a penchant for hard partying. Hmm.

In the words of another diplomat, Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, suffers a deep ignorance of economics. As for Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi, he's rarely without his Iranian nurse, who, by the way, just so happens to be a -- quote -- "voluptuous blonde."

Those are just the little bits and pieces, the nuggets, if you will, and a whole lot more -- U.S. diplomats speaking not so diplomatically in official cables published today by the muckraking Web site WikiLeaks.

And these were all allegedly obtained through this American soldier. Here he is, all of 23 years of age. This is Bradley Manning. He was this Army intelligence analyst who now is facing charges.

And according to these cables, our friend Hamid Karzai here in Afghanistan is -- quote -- "driven by paranoia." Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is hesitant, is afraid. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the words of one cable, is unbalanced, even crazy.

So, no small wonder, then, the U.S. government is embarrassed and angered. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reportedly spent much of the past week, not days, the whole week, doing global damage control.

In fact, just a short time ago, she issued a public apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am confident that the partnerships that the Obama administration has worked so hard to build will withstand this challenge. The president and I have made these partnerships a priority, and we are proud of the progress that they have helped achieve, and they will remain at the center of our efforts. I will not comment on or confirm what are alleged to be stolen State Department cables. But I can say that the United States deeply regrets the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Obviously a lot we can talk about here.

Joining me live from Washington, we have Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence. We have White House correspondent Dan Lothian, and, from the State Department, CNN's Jill Dougherty.

And, Jill, if I may, I would like to begin with you here. And in listening to Secretary Clinton just within the last hour or so, I guess, what is the bigger issue in listening to her with -- with regard to the State Department? Is it embarrassment, Jill, or is it concern?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I think it's both.

I mean, it's embarrassment, because the things that are supposed to be confidential -- I mean, they don't want their diplomats out in the field to lie and say a leader is great, if he's not. But the -- the problem is that, now that it has been splashed all over the place, they have to assure their allies and others that, if they talk to the United States, there is going to be some type of confidentiality.

And that's going to be a very hard case to make. And, you know, Brooke, the timing of this is very bad, because Secretary Clinton at this very moment is starting out on a trip, an international trip. And, conceivably, she could come in contact with some of the leaders who were not flatteringly portrayed in some of those cables.

BALDWIN: Right. She was underscoring the bad timing of this whole thing. Here she was from this afternoon. And she also, though, underscored the point. She said, look, you know, policy -- and perhaps this is a message to some of those leaders -- policy is not made in -- from the cables. It's made in Washington.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. And that's a major point that she is making. And you're going to hear that -- and we have -- from other officials, which is, just one cable does not a policy make --

BALDWIN: Right.

DOUGHERTY: -- that these cables can -- and there are cables every single day with a lot of information. But they have to be sifted through. Some actually may not be precisely on the mark.

But that's one thing. And an interesting thing that we -- I just got out of the briefing with P.J. Crowley --

BALDWIN: Sure.

DOUGHERTY: -- a spokesman for the State Department. And he said that they actually have now a crisis room that started up on Friday here at the State Department 24/7. And it is in continual contact with posts around the world.

And they are following up on conversations with officials and with civil society, because all of those people in these countries are going to be -- have to -- have to be assured --

BALDWIN: Responding and reacting.

DOUGHERTY: -- that they can talk to U.S. diplomats.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. So, we know --

DOUGHERTY: Yes.

BALDWIN: Thank you, Jill Dougherty.

We know there's a crisis room in the State Department.

Let's talk DOD, Chris Lawrence, Pentagon specifically.

We have been talking a lot also about this -- this 23-year-old. I can't that's all he is, 23-year-old. But here he is, Bradley Manning, the alleged leaker here in this story.

And I guess my question to you is, Chris, this. Specifically, is there any concern there at the Pentagon that they have perhaps recruited other, dare I say, rogue youth who may be more Internet- savvy than their superiors?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the investigation into Manning is still going on right now, Brooke.

And we're told that there very possibly could be other people punished as part of this investigation. They're going back and looking at all of this to see who else may have been involved or who may have just been simply negligent in allowing Manning to do what he did.

I mean, in sort of his e-mails with the man that he was trying to give this information to initially, you know, he said it was pretty simple. He brought in a few C.D.s. He pretended they were Lady Gaga, and he acted like he was listening to music, and, all the while, he was downloading some of this material.

BALDWIN: Unreal. Not so much Lady Gaga, as we have all discovered.

Chris Lawrence, thank you.

Want to get to specifically one of those leaked cables. It mentioned talks in South Korea, in which diplomats spoke of the eventual collapse of North Korea and possible Korean unification. And this is huge, obviously.

But this comes, you know, amid the heightened tension here between the two Koreas.

And our Dan Lothian just asked the White House spokesman whether the leaked cable here is complicating things.

Here is Robert Gibbs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The information that may or may not be on the Internet doesn't affect our ability to continue to focus on that, as obviously you heard the president say there's not a stronger ally in that region of the world than the Republic of Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dan Lothian, we were happy you asked the question. It was a question on all of our minds.

So -- so, I guess, to you, what is bigger at the White House? We know they're strongly condemning. But what about worry or embarrassment?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BALDWIN: What's a bigger deal?

LOTHIAN: Well, you know, I think they're playing down the worry and embarrassment factor, and -- and playing up that this is a serious issue here, that, by the leaking of this information, that it potentially could put people's lives at risk.

But, in particular to North Korea, and you heard from that question there that I asked of Robert Gibbs, what the administration is saying here, without confirming the specifics of what is inside of those cables, that nothing that was allegedly said in conversations will impact the U.S. policy to any of these foreign countries at issue here, whether it be North Korea or Iran.

That's sort of the basis for the response from the White House here. But they are pointing out that, listen, while this administration, dating back to when the president was running for office, he always played up the need for transparency, for openness, but, in this particular case, when someone allegedly does something like this, the White House believing that this is criminal, Brooke.

BALDWIN: If I can, I want to bring Chris Lawrence back in, Chris at the Pentagon.

And we heard from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton talking specifically, so this won't happen again at the Pentagon, at Department of Defense, and she mentioned some security safeguards.

What can you tell me? Have -- have those been put in place? What are the plans?

LAWRENCE: Well, it's starting to get put in place. There's a special secure network that they are now putting a new security system on. It's about 60 percent done, still 40 percent to go. But some of the ways in which, say, Private Manning was able to access some material, that won't be able to be done anymore. For example, you won't be able to write any material off of this classified information. So you wouldn't be able to, say, stick a -- a thumb drive in to just download some of the -- the classified information.

So, there are some safeguards being put in. But, you know, we, as journalists, too, Brooke, we -- you have got to be careful of not coming off, you know, sort of hypocritical in that.

BALDWIN: Right.

LAWRENCE: You know, we condemn the government for being lax in security and, you know, allowing these leaks, while at the same time, when we get these leaks, whether it's CNN or "The Washington Post," you know, we publish them. We win awards for -- for bringing this material to the public.

BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.

LAWRENCE: So, there can be a fine line there as well.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Excellent point, Mr. Lawrence.

I want to end, if we can go back to Dan Lothian at the White House.

And, Dan, we heard -- we heard Hillary Clinton. She's sort of, you know, bad timing, in the thick of things, meeting with some of these leaders, perhaps doing a little damage control on her behalf, but what about the president? Does he pick up the phone and call some of these world leaders? I mean, what does he do?

LOTHIAN: That -- you know, that's a very good question. And Robert Gibbs was asked about that today at the briefing, whether or not the president has to this point made any calls to foreign leaders on this issue.

He said that any questions like that should be directed at the State Department. But he did point out that, in conversations that the president might have with particular world leaders in the coming days, that he would definitely he would definitely -- he had -- he would definitely deal with this issue. I mean, this would certainly come up.

I mean, how can it not?

BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.

LOTHIAN: In fact, if the president doesn't bring it up, most likely, he will be asked by one of the foreign leader about it. So, certainly, there will be some damage control that the White House will have to do when confronting this issue during -- during conversations going forward.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. And we will follow that part of the story as well. Want to thank the A-team here, Dan Lothian, Chris Lawrence, Jill Dougherty.

All of you, thank you.

Also, want to remind all of you, we're standing by right now for this teen's court appearance. Perhaps, by now, you recognize the face. This is the guy accused of trying to bomb that Christmas tree lighting ceremony over the weekend in Oregon. We're going to take a closer look at the suspect and the plot. That is up next.

And there is a new twist in the disappearance of these three Michigan boys. This father claimed this mystery woman is watching them, but police, well, they're telling a much different story. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.

OK, a couple of stories moving this hour. First want to take you to Portland, Oregon. That is where this teenager born in Somalia is scheduled to appear in federal court in a little bit over an hour from now. The FBI says 19-year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud plotted to bomb a crowded Christmas tree lighting ceremony Friday night. But thanks to an undercover agent, the bomb was fake.

Mohamud is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and he faces up to life in prison and a $250,000 fine if he's convicted of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Six Americans died in Afghanistan today when a local trainee wearing a border police officer uniform opened fire on them. The troops who died, they were all part of this NATO mission to train Afghans to defend their own country. The shooting happened at a region that borders Pakistan. The gunman was -- was also killed during the shoot- out.

And have you heard? President Obama wants to freeze federal workers' pay. And if Congress approves a freeze here -- this is the key part -- it would affect civilian workers, not the military.

Here is what the president proposes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, I'm proposing a two-year pay freeze for all civilian federal workers. This would save $2 billion over the rest of this fiscal year and $28 billion in cumulative savings over the next five years.

I want to be clear: This freeze does not apply to the men and women of our armed forces who, along with their families, continue to bear enormous burdens with our nation at war.

I did not reach this decision easily.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And if you were looking really carefully, did you see the president's lower lip? There he is kind of touching it. Ouch.

Here's what happened. The president had to be stitched up after he got a sharp elbow to the mouth. You know he likes to play pickup, right. Friday morning, this was during a basketball game. Well, the president says doctors -- the president says that doctors have given him a clean bill of health. That, we just got in today. And, of course, he's not staying off the court. He's still planning on playing basketball.

And we're just getting some pictures in. I want to share these with you. And we're going to look at them together for the first time. Look at this black smoke. So, you're looking at this -- what are you looking at? This is Oklahoma. This is live pictures, live aerial footage over this grass fire just east of Oklahoma City.

That is some thick, thick stuff. So far, our affiliates are reporting no injuries, no evacuations, just thick black smoke there covering what looks like a fairly decent sized area, at least from our point of view. Firefighters, as you can imagine, having a pretty tough time getting to the area. We will keep our eye on that, see how that develops, again, live pictures from Oklahoma.

And how did Anne Hathaway and James Franco shock Hollywood today? The secret is out, and we have got it ahead in trending.

And speaking of secrets, you know WikiLeaks. The big release has Washington talking about criminal probes, policy changes, diplomatic embarrassment. And Gloria Borger, she has all the political fallout. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This is some story, this whole WikiLeaks thing.

And some of the -- the -- the items, the nuggets, the leaks, the details contained in these American diplomatic cables, have you heard about some of this stuff? Here's what we're hearing about some of these world leaders.

According to a U.S. diplomat -- this is all from these cables -- President Nicolas Sarkozy is a naked emperor with a penchant for hard partying. Then you have America's friend Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan. Apparently, he's -- quote -- "driven by paranoia." Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is hesitant, is afraid.

Iran -- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the words of one cable, is unbalanced, even crazy. And our government is, as you can imagine, pretty embarrassed.

Let's turn to Gloria Borger, senior political analyst.

And, Gloria, let me just throw a different perspective at you. And that would be some people are saying, hey, you know, some of these leaders around the world, they are saying the same thing about us, aren't they? No big deal.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There probably are.

I don't think anybody is surprised by this, honestly. I have talked to some fairly senior members of the diplomatic community today, Brooke. And what they say to me is, look, this is the diplomat's job. The diplomat's job abroad is to size up the conduct and the character of the people the United States is dealing with.

And that's why these cables need to remain private. It's essentially like having your private e-mails read, right, publicly. And it is their job to send these cables back to the United States, so that our officials here at the State Department, including Hillary Clinton, know who they're dealing with.

And if a diplomat has a suspicion about a head of state, then this diplomat, that -- that's his or her job, is to tell the people in Washington about it. So, there isn't a lot of surprise about these, Brooke, but there is a lot of consternation about it --

BALDWIN: Hmm.

BORGER: -- because the question is, of course, what happens next, now that you see that these things have been revealed, and you know that that could possibly happen again in the future.

BALDWIN: I know you say that this is the diplomat's job, to send this information in a cable back to Washington.

BORGER: Mm-hmm.

BALDWIN: But some may say -- and I'm sure you have read some of these bits, as I have. There was a wedding I read about in Russia talking about the vodka, the partying, the dancers. And some may kind of wonder, look, I know these are diplomats, but are -- are -- they're not really behaving diplomatically, are they?

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: Well, they may a little too revealing.

But, you know, in -- in a way -- you know, one way we might want to think about it is that a diplomat, in many ways, is like a journalist.

BALDWIN: Hmm.

BORGER: A diplomat is reporting back what he or she sees and feels and observes firsthand.

I mean, these aren't intelligence reports. These aren't -- they're not intelligence analysts, which do something different. But what they are, are reporters, to a -- to a great degree. So, when one of them goes to a wedding, such as you talk about, or is --

BALDWIN: Mm-hmm. BORGER: -- in a meeting with someone, and they size up that person about whether that person may indeed be corrupt, or may indeed be playing a diplomatic game, that's their job.

The big question now, Brooke, is, who is going to invite American diplomats into those kinds of high-level meetings anymore if they believe that what goes on in those meetings and what is said in those meetings is --

BALDWIN: Could possibly be leaked and --

BORGER: -- not going to be kept a secret?

BALDWIN: Right, and get out there.

BORGER: Right.

BALDWIN: Well, I mean, how would that -- that's the huge next question? You know, how would the relationships, the communications --

BORGER: Sure.

BALDWIN: -- between this diplomats, the embassies and the world dealing with Washington -- it has to be affected to some degree, at least in the short term.

BORGER: Well, exactly.

On -- on -- the one level is, are they going to continue inviting our high-level diplomats into these kinds of meetings, where people feel that they can that they can -- that they can speak honestly about what they feel about other heads of state, for example?

Also, will our diplomats -- how will they be able to report back to Washington about what they observe? For a while, will we see, you know, these cables being curtailed, for example? Are people going to self-edit?

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Will they only do things over the phone? And, you know, again, this is a problem that we have, because, post-9/11, we all complained that information like this was siloed and that -- where we didn't have enough communication among various branches of government.

Now we have got so much communication that we see that low-level folks get to take a peek at this, and then you have the whole WikiLeaks episode.

BALDWIN: Right. It's almost like --

BORGER: So, it's a huge problem that they are going to have to deal with.

BALDWIN: Right. It's almost like be careful what you wish for, you know, when you look at right after --

BORGER: You got it.

BALDWIN: -- 9/11 and today.

We will be getting into that with your pal and my new pal Joe Johns in the 4:00 hour, because I think that's an excellent point.

Gloria Borger --

BORGER: Great.

BALDWIN: -- thank you.

BORGER: Great.

BALDWIN: So, Whoopi is out. So are Steve Martin, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal, and Ellen DeGeneres. So who is left now to host the Oscars this year? We were kind of surprised by the picks, and you might be as well. That is ahead.

Also, Black Friday, you know, got all the drama, but does Cyber Monday have the better stuff, you know, the deals? Poppy Harlow has been tracking the action and will let us know what we all need to know when we are shopping online.

That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. We promised you we would keep our eye on those pictures from Oklahoma.

I just want to show you a little bit more of the scene. This is the picture, again, an aerial view, a little bit of a closer look. And the smoke almost seems to be clearing out, a bit more white. You can see the firefighters attacking it there from the crowd, a little bit of the hose.

Apparently, they had a bit of trouble trying to find the area. But allow me to reset. Again, this is Oklahoma. This is apparently this grass fire that started just east of Oklahoma City. No injuries. No evacuations. According to our affiliates there out of Oklahoma City, just a bunch of smoke, black earlier, white now. Some of the firefighters having a tough time getting there. We will stay on that and bring you more pictures, more information as soon as we get it.

Now, are you still looking for the best price on the perfect gift? Hmm. Retailers are hoping the momentum from Black Friday will carry all the way into today. Is Cyber Monday the real deal, or really just kind of a lot of hype?

CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow joins me now from New York.

And, Poppy, I know it was -- it was Shop.org. They basically created this Cyber Monday five years ago -- POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- as this -- look, let's be honest, as a marketing gimmick.

HARLOW: Uh-huh.

BALDWIN: But I guess there are some pretty great deals to be had today, huh?

HARLOW: There are.

And, you know, I had my first Black Friday experience on Friday, which I hope to never do again.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: I prefer Cyber Monday.

But, you know, what -- what the National Retail Federation is saying, Brooke, is that 106 million Americans are going to be shopping today online. That would be a record high. They also say that 88 percent, almost nine in 10 retailers are going to offer special deals today, and only today.

I have seen some pretty good sales out there. I will tell you about some of them in a minute. But what they also say is, when do you think these people are going to shop? They're going to shop during work.

BALDWIN: Uh-oh.

HARLOW: They say 70 million Americans today are going to shop during work.

We have talked to some of the retailers, some of the top things, Wal- Mart, of course, plasma TVs, the iPod Touch, Kinect for Xbox. Target, similar story, Plasma TVs, digital cameras, but, Brooke, they said books. Can you believe it? Books are also selling well?

BALDWIN: Good. People should be reading. We like that.

HARLOW: Yes, it's very good. I just didn't know anyone, you know, held books anymore. I thought it was always on the -- on the tablet. Those are doing really well.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I'm old-school, archaic. I'm a book reader.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I don't have a Kindle or one of those fancy-schmancy things.

And, of course, we're not --

HARLOW: Neither do I. I like -- I like to turn the pages.

BALDWIN: I do, too. I kind of like the smell of a book as well.

But -- but can people -- you know, you talk about these deals, and they're making it --

HARLOW: Yes.

BALDWIN: -- you know, today being the day, Cyber Monday.

Can people, though, afford to wait until after work to shop, or are all the deals, you know, gone?

HARLOW: Can -- can we afford to? I think we can all afford not to shop as much as we do.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: But, no, we have seen some really interesting things. If you log on to Amazon.com, what you're going to see right there on their home page is that they have these lightning flash deals, where they will literally show you 30 items, 29, 28. They will count down as if it's almost an auction and you are going to miss out.

So, you have got those deals, a lot of promotions just going on today, a lot of these very aggressive promotions. But, look, do your research first? Go online to some of these Web sites, like RetailMeNot or CouponCabin. They are going to offer more coupons you can use online. So, the best deals aren't necessarily just through the retailers.

Also, do not pay for shipping on Black Friday, because you shouldn't have to -- or on Cyber Monday, today, because you shouldn't have to. Almost all the big retailers, Brooke, they're shipping almost everything for free right now.

BALDWIN: Poppy, 10 seconds. Are you buying into the Cyber Monday bit or are you like me and buy last-minute?

HARLOW: I'm buying in. I even bought something yesterday as a gift and then went online today. And it was cheaper, and then they gave me the cheaper price.

BALDWIN: Huh.

HARLOW: So, I'm buying into Cyber Monday.

BALDWIN: How about that?

HARLOW: But be careful of gimmicks -- of gimmicks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes.

HARLOW: They have a lot of fraud related to this. So, make sure to check --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Beware.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: -- all those e-mail promotions. Be aware, yes.

BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow, thank you.

HARLOW: You got it.

BALDWIN: Hey, there's a new reality for former a "Survivor" producer. Try jail. How long will the alleged wife killer stay behind bars? That's ahead in trending.

And just how seriously is the State Department taking the WikiLeaks revelation? Secretary Clinton in her own words -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, damaging as they may be, these leaked United States diplomatic cables provide kind of a fascinating view of places around the globe, perhaps places you've never heard of, places large, small, important, and obscure.

I want to read some of them to you. This is part of a cable sent by a diplomat who had just attended this wedding. This is a wedding in the Russian republic of Dagestan hosted by a local powerbroker and attended by the president of Chechnya.

Read with me here. "The cable states that the host ensured that all his guests were constantly plied with food and drink. The cooks seemed to keep whole sheep and whole cows boiling in a caldron day and night, dumping disjointed fragments of the carcass on the table whenever someone entered the room."

It goes on, "The guests at the party were spectacularly fat. The alcohol consumption before, during, and after this Muslim wedding was stupendous." Again, this was a wedding in Dagestan the eyes of a U.S. diplomat.

It's safe to say, though, this is a very serious matter, and as we've explained the State Department is working overtime trying to placate friends abroad who had been named in some of these cables. In fact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issuing just a short time ago a public apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am confident that the partnerships that the Obama administration has worked so hard to build will withstand this challenge. The president and I have made these partnerships a priority, and we are proud of the progress that they have helped achieve, and they will remain at the center of our efforts. I will not comment on or confirm what are alleged-to-be stolen State Department cables. But I can say that the United States deeply regrets the disclosure of any information that was intended to be confidential.

I'm aware that some may mistakenly applaud those responsible, so I want to set the record straight. There is nothing laudable about endangering innocent people, and there is nothing brave about sabotaging the peaceful relations between nations on which our common security depends.

This disclosure is not just an attack on America's foreign policy interests. It is an attack on the international community, the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: As Jill Dougherty just told me at the top of the show, the State Department has now set up this special operation called the "crisis room" to try to handle all of the fallout coming in from overseas.

Take a look at this. This is how Rio gets ready for the Olympics. No, this is not pretty stuff at all. Coming up next is some astounding footage from one of the biggest security crackdowns in Brazil's history.

And is Spider-man the musical unraveling before it makes an official debut? Wires falling on the audience, actors stuck midair -- can it be? This is Broadway, right? These are just some of the glitches that marred last night's preview. That is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You want to watch this next piece of video closely because you are about to hear a lot more about Brazil. It's a beautiful country. Rio specifically is an amazing place also. It's about to host the World Cup in 2012 and the summer Olympics in 2016.

With that in mind Brazil has just executed the biggest security operation in the nation's history. It's army of police and soldiers, more than 260 of them raided this complex of shantytowns in the northern part of Rio de Janeiro. Essentially they say their goal to bring down powerful drug gangs in their strongholds in these Rio slums. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Brazil's defense minister says 800 federal troops and other reinforcements are being sent to Rio over concerns the violence could be spilling over into some of the neighboring communities there. And coming up next, how to get rid of the gray hair and wrinkles without hair dye and Botox. I want you to think Benjamin Button -- reversing the signs of aging at the cellular level. It is the scientific breakthrough everyone is talking about today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Scientists find a way to reverse the aging process. You heard me -- not slow it down. Reverse it. But there is kind of one catch. So far it's only worked with mice. But researchers are now trying to duplicate the effects with humans, which obviously is pretty amazing stuff, Elizabeth Cohen, to even consider the fact that they're talking about reversing it, even if we're talking mice specifically.

So tell me about this study and what do the researchers do?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, I want to say this is a huge day for mice. They should be celebrating in the streets because this is so exciting what they can do with mice.

I'm going to show you a picture. It's kind of a before and after picture of these mice. OK.

BALDWIN: We don't have the picture.

COHEN: We don't have any pictures?

BALDWIN: No.

COHEN: OK. So what happened with these mice was that they intentionally aged them prematurely. So they made them gray. They made their brains shrink. They were no longer fertile. These were old mice. Their tissue degenerated.

And then they went in and did genetic engineering and reversed it, because with aging you think of a point of no return. But they gave it a return and did a u-turn. They were fertile again and coats were black again. They became young.

BALDWIN: All at the cellular level this was happening.

COHEN: And they changed their very DNA.

BALDWIN: So they're changing the DNA. The obvious question is, let's connect the dots to humans. A lot of people sitting out there and their ears are perking saying, great, can we stay younger a little longer?

COHEN: Right. There's a reason why people aren't celebrating in the streets, and the reason for that is, no, it's unacceptable. You can't change a person's DNA because you could wreak all sorts of havoc by doing that. So we don't as the doctor who did the study said, don't genetically engineer humans. We do that to mice, but not to humans.

BALDWIN: In fact you talked to the lead in the study. Do we have the sound, guys? Let's go to the sound. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. RONALD DEPINHO, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: What we've learned is that there is a point of return for even aged tissues that tissues retain the remarkable capacity to rejuvenate if you remove the underlying cause of the aging, which in this case was excessive DNA damage in the mice. And DNA damage is a major cause of aging.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So what does that mean?

(LAUGHTER)

COHEN: OK. So what that means is that our DNA gets damaged as we age. And when they do this genetic engineering they reversed that. So what they're hoping to do is in the years to come develop a drug that would have the same effect as this genetic engineering without having to change the DNA.

But right now it's a dream. It may never happen, or it may happen in 20 years or 10 years. If it does happen it's going to be a while.

BALDWIN: Part of the concern, and I was trying to read about the study as well -- part of the concern is if they were able to do this with humans there would be a higher likelihood of cancer.

COHEN: Right, that's a huge concern, or all sorts of other things. Again, when you mess with DNA, you don't know what you're doing. With the mice, these are mice that have short lives anyhow. They're not living to 80 or 90 years old, so it's a totally different situation when you're doing this with mice than human beings.

But this is a really fascinating proof of principle that you actually can do this.

BALDWIN: That is amazing, not just slowing down the aging process but entirely reversing it.

COHEN: And the doctor I talked to said we wouldn't want to reverse ageing in humans but maybe more healthily. So in your senior years you would be healthier, but you would still have senior years.

BALDWIN: I can't imagine the magic pill. No Benjamin Button happening.

COHEN: Not any time soon.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, fascinating nonetheless with the mice. Thank you.

Take a look with me. All you guys are on Twitter, right? Who's quitting twitter altogether? These stars have more than a million followers and they're willing to leave them all behind, that's right, all you tweets behind, if the price is right. That is next. I bet you didn't have this kind of whipped cream with your dessert last week. It apparently packs more of a punch than some beers and wines. So you know it's already causing a bit of trouble out there. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have all kinds of stuff trending today. First, you'll never guess who's hosting this year's Oscar awards. Also, Hollywood mourning the loss of actor and comedian Leslie Neilson, responsible for one of the most quotable lines in movie history, "Surely," following me, "Airplane" fans.

And the favorite celebrities, they are missing from twitter from social media, but you can help get them back. No time to waste, HLN's host Brooke Anderson with the latest. I have to admit, Brooke, I was kind of surprised about the Oscar host -- hosts.

BROOKE ANDERSON, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I'm going to start with this just in. The hosts of the 83rd annual Academy Awards have been announced, and they are actors Anne Hathaway and James Franco. Each has appeared on the show previously but never as a host.

They picked the two because, quote, "they personify the next generation of Hollywood icons -- fresh, exciting, and multi-talented. We hope to create an Oscar broadcast that will both show case their incredible talents and entertain the world."

The Oscars will be handed out February 27 in Hollywood. They're young, hip, they can sing, they can dance. So Oscar producers really want to revitalize the telecast with these choices.

BALDWIN: All right, I like them individually. It should be good to watch them together. Also this morning, tweeting, got to go home and watch "Airplane" tonight in the honor of the hilarious Leslie Neilson.

ANDERSON: Leslie Neilson sadly has died. He's best known for his roles in "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun" series. And, Brooke, you referenced the memorable line in "Airplane" when he was told, "Surely, you can't be serious," and he replied, "I am serious, and don't cause me Shirley." Classic, right?

Neilson died from complications of pneumonia at a hospital near his home in Florida. Celebrities have been tweeting about his death. Comedian Russell Brand says "Rest in peace, Leslie Neilson. Surely he will be missed." Rock n roll icon Slash says, "And don't call me Shirley."

He was 84 years old, Brooke. He'll forever be known as a comic genius whose deadpan delivery was unforgettable.

BALDWIN: Started out as a dramatic actor, but a wonderful comedian.

Also that "Survivor" producer hoping to get out of jail.

ANDERSON: Yes, a really disturbing story here. A former reality TV producer could soon be out of jail. Bruce Redman is expected in court today. That's where a judge will decide if he can post jail.

Redman is accused of killing his wife in April at a resort in Cancun, Mexico. Her body was found in a resort sewer. His attorney claims he's innocent and that he's being wrongfully accused by a foreign government. Redman worked on the CBS reality series, "Survivor," and NBC's "The Contender" and MTV's, "Pimp my Ride."

And finally, Brooke, I want to tell you about another story trending. It's some of the biggest names in Hollywood saying good-bye to Twitter but not for long.

Here's what's going down. Alicia Keyes is hoping to raise $1 million for her Keep a Child Alive Foundation. So she's recruited a lot of big name celebrities including Lady Gaga, Usher, Kim Kardashian, Justin Timberlake. And they're all going to stop tweeting December 1 which is world AIDS day. They won't come back online until the $1 million is raised.

They've filmed videos of the last tweets. Those are going to be posted on line. They show the artists lying in coffins representing their digital deaths. They're calling these videos their "last tweet and testament."

BALDWIN: "Last tweet and testament," all for world AIDS day, Wednesday, December 1. And also, how cool is this, we're getting Alicia Keyes. She'll be talking to me Wednesday. She'll be talking to me Wednesday about this whole thing cannot wait. Brooke Anderson, wonderful to see you, thank you.

You know, Wolf Blitzer -- when he's not doing the Dougy, he's checking the latest news in the White House and the Supreme Court. The Political Ticker is next. I bet he knows exactly what Alicia Keyes is.

Also this story, three missing boys, one possibly unstable father, and a couple of clues about what happened to this Michigan family. What do police know now? That's ahead in our next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: CNN has our latest political news with "The Best Political Team on Television," CNN = Politics. And Wolf Blitzer is joining me from the CNN.com desk.

And Wolf, let's talk about Representative Mike Pence who apparently wants to overhaul the country's tax code.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": He's joining a list of other conservative Republicans by and large who want to do away with the complicated tax code we have right now and come into what's a flat tax. Steve Forbes when he was running for the Republican presidential nomination a few cycles ago, he supported the flat tax.

Mike Pence in a speech he's delivering in Detroit before the economic club, he said "The best option, the most pro growth option is a flat tax. I believe it's time that America adopted a flat tax and scrapped the current system once and for all."

There's a lot of grassroots support among conservatives for a flat tax where there would be one simple tax percent going to the IRS. Everybody would have the same rate. A lot of the deductions would be eliminated. It would make life easier but a lot of people say it would help the rich more than the poor. That's one of the reasons the Democrats don't like it. But it presumably will be a subject for discussion and debate, especially if Mike Pence does what a lot of people thinks he will do and announce he's running for the Republican presidential nomination.

This story we're following here at the CNN politics ticker, Michael Steele has another challenger now lining up to replace him as the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

By my count now, there are at least five or six who want to challenge Michael Steele. The latest in Ann Wagner who ran the successful Senate campaign for Congressman Roy Blunt, the next U.S. senator from Missouri. She's saying "The party needs an efficient, reliable, professional, and credible leader to run the party, especially doing fundraising."

There has been criticism, as you know, of Michael Steele. He's going to run that vote, by the way, in mid January. We'll see who the next chairman of the RNC turns out to be, whether it's Steele or someone else.

Finally, the Supreme Court has decided not to air the comment on this lawsuit that was filed challenging President Obama's citizenship, claiming his father was a British citizen from Kenya. Kenya was a British colony. The Supreme Court saying they don't even want to hear this case, hear this argument. So it's just simply thrown out, the latest of the series of challenges for the president to go to the legal system.

The courts right now, including the birther proponents who claim he wasn't born in Hawaii. He was probably born, they claim, in Indonesia or Kenya or someplace else. All of those challenges have been thrown out for the time being as well. So chalk one up for the president of this legal front.

A lot happening as always in the world of politics. Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Wolf, before I let you go, I want to ask you about WikiLeaks. A lot of this pertained to the Obama administration. At what point, I'm curious, from your vantage point in Washington. At what point does this become political?

BLITZER: Everything in Washington becomes political at some point. But it's really shocking to me and to a lot of people who studied this that a 23-year-old private first class sitting in a computer in Baghdad can go through all these documents, download all of these documents, put them on a disk or some sort of other device, and simply walk out, pretending it's a disk for Lady Gaga or whatever and then release allegedly these kinds of documents to WikiLeaks, and then they go out.

It raises all sorts of questions about the cyber security that the U.S. government has when someone at this level can do this kind of damage. No alarm bells go off when someone downloads hundreds of thousands of documents into some sort of disk? I mean, it's really shocking to think this kind of stuff can go on. And I think that's where the outrage -- at least some of the outrage should really be. How could the U.S. government be so derelict in allowing this kind of travesty to go forward and some private first class allegedly can do this kind of damage to national security.

BALDWIN: Twenty-three years of age, Bradley Manning, we'll be talking more about him. Excellent point. Mr. Blitzer, thank you. I want to remind you, we'll get another political update in half an hour. You can always jump online, get the latest political news, just go to CNNPolitics.com or they're on Twitter@PoliticalTicker.