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U.S. Secrets Spilled; Urgent Search in Michigan for Three Brothers; South Korea Warns North Korea; Church To Protest At Soldier's Funeral; Detained Hikers In Iran Phone Home; NYP Police Badges On Display At Capitol
Aired November 29, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Real quickly, looking at the numbers, down just a tad. The Dow down about 40 points at 11,052 on this first day of trading since Thanksgiving. You can always check these numbers. Go to CNNMoney.com.
Three young brothers are missing. Their father says he dropped him off with a woman before he tried killing himself, but the thing is police say this woman now may not even exist. So, where are these three young boys? The mystery is unraveling as this desperate search continues. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States strongly condemns the illegal disclosure of classified information.
BALDWIN (voice-over): After 9/11, politicians demanded that government agencies share information. But now, has that backfired? And is the whistleblower website, WikiLeaks, a terrorist organization?
Plus, are North and South Korea closer to war?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a (INAUDIBLE) any additional provocations against the south. We will make sure it pays a dear price without fail.
BALDWIN: The leaders of both countries are issuing major warnings, and the U.S. is caught in the middle.
Police and drug gangs battling it out in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. Keep in mind, this is the next home of the World Cup. So, who is in control of the city?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN (on-camera): Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin. A lot of news happening right now. Rapid fire, let's go.
First, I want to begin with one lawmaker calling the website that leaked U.S. secrets a terrorist organization, and now the Obama administration is in damage control mode. The documents reveal these candidates assessment (ph), we're talking foreign leaders and details about sensitive talks between the U.S. and other countries. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning the website, trouble is coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I want you to know that we are taking aggressive steps to hold responsible those who stole this information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Coming up in a matter of minutes, the story you're not hearing about how this stuff got leaked and whether Wikileaks kind of even be prosecuted.
Next to Ohio now, members of the controversial Kansas church that imposes homosexuality planned to protest that the funeral of an Ohio soldier tomorrow. Army Specialist Jesse Snow was killed two weeks ago in Afghanistan. The protest is just the latest for the Westboro Baptist Church which travels around the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think about those protesters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're showing the world that there's a reason why he passed away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Next, families of the U.S. hikers imprisoned in Iran get a surprising phone call home. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal called their families just this past Saturday. Keep in mind, this is just the second call they received from these men in 16 months. The two hikers have been imprisoned in Tehran for more than a year after allegedly straying into Iran. Sarah Shourd who is released back in September was with the families when Bauer and Fattal got to call home.
Next, police badges belonging to 29 New York police officers will soon be on display at the nation's capitol. The officers, like thousands of other rescuers, were on the front lines at Ground Zero on 9/11 but later died from related illnesses. The special exhibit will take place as the Senate weighs in as whether or not they should pass this 9/11 health bill that provides medical benefits and compensation to all those emergency workers.
Next, developing now, this massive grass fire. Look at this -- burning in Oklahoma near the town of McCloud. You can see the massive blast smoke, the clouds of the black stuff, and if you look really, really closely, you can see the flames. You can see them kind of closer to the ground. We still don't know yet what started this fire, but firefighters fighting this thing now on the scene.
Next, Bernie Madoff's family and former employees are being sued. A conman is serving life in prison for running what's been called the largest scam in history. Here's the deal -- a trustee trying to recover money for its victims is looking for $69 million for Madoff's wife, relatives, and 18 co-workers. Next, the Colorado state trooper risked his life while off duty to save a little boy from drowning. The trooper was with his family at a park when he noticed some boys playing out there on thin ice. And then -- you guessed it -- that ice broke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN HALEY, COLORADO STATE TROOPER: Just kind of doing the whole army crawl all the way across the ice until I got about 10 feet from him. And that's when the ice broke through on me, tossing the water as well. The whole time, crawling out there and looking around just telling him, look at me (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Frightening. Both were taken to the hospital and released after being treated for hypothermia.
Next, Chicago police. They're investigating today this death at the home stadium of the Chicago Bears. This is sad stuff. Police say a man fell from the upper level of soldier field to the ground outside the stadium Sunday while the Bears were playing the Philadelphia Eagles. And this just in, the coroner is ruling the death an accident.
Next, first it was Four Loko, now, any weaker concoction is whipping up concerns. Get this, alcoholic whipped cream. What? The booze of few whipped cream is flying off towards shelves and some liquor stores with nine popular flavors you get to choose from.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tastes like chocolate, but it was a lot of strong alcohol-after taste.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Oh, boy. Experts say the product contains 15 -- 15 percent alcohol by volume three times the amount found in most beers and wines that is if you eat that whole canister.
Next, just in time for the New Year's resolution making Weight Watchers announcing it's changing its point system for dieters. So, that means when you eat all of these foods, you know, high in fiber, you will count fewer points towards your daily goal than before. And when you eat foods high in fat, you will count more points. One rule remains consistent. Burn more calories, and you consume, you'll drop the pounds, but the new plan, and the improve plan, they says, takes overall nutrition into account.
And finally, the 2010 U.S. capitol Christmas tree has arrived. There it is, in Washington, D.C. This thing is 67 feet tall. It's an Engelmann Spruce, comes all the way from Wyoming, and it will be decorated in 5,000 ornaments. I wonder if you like to do that. how many people -- 5,000 ornaments crafted there with the theme, Wyoming, forever west. And now this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any time you have children this old that are not with a caring love one, I think you have to assume they're in some kind of jeopardy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Have you heard about this? Here's the story. Three young brothers. Here they are, they're missing. And their father is locked up in a mental institute. He says he dropped them off with a woman before he tried to kill himself. This mystery is still unfolding. That is coming up.
And there are some new developments in the alleged plot to attack a tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Oregon. The fed says the suspect wanted innocent people to die. So, who was this guy? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right. Developing now. I want to keep you in a loop (ph). We are waiting for the first (INAUDIBLE) by the teenager suspected of plotting to blow up a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Oregon. The fed say he wanted to kill families. You're going to hear more details about that alleged terror plot. We are minutes away from that.
And whether you are at home or at work, and apparently, a lot of this is happening at work, I'm sure not you, right? A lot of Americans are clicking away. They're shopping, taking it manageable to cyber Monday deals. Poppy Harlow live in New York. And Poppy, how big -- I mean, I know we were talking this is kind of a gimmick, but how many people buying cyber Monday?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's incredibly big, and it's getting bigger by the year. It's really been going on only since 2005, but what they're saying, Brooke, is 106 million Americans will shop online today. They say, look, 9 out of 10 or about 88 percent of retailers are offering these special bargains just today.
And you know, this was coming about 70 million people are going to be shopping from their desks, from work today on the employers' dime. And I just got this number, pretty interesting, websites for retailers across the country drew 1.3 million page visits per minute during lunch hour, Brooke. Was that you?
BALDWIN: Not at all. Poppy, 30 seconds, what are people buying?
HARLOW: Sure. They're buying what you'd expect. They're buying plasma televisions, LCD-TVs. Those are two of the top sellers at Wal- Mart and target to find digital cameras. Both apparently are 60 percent of at target.com there selling very well. The iPod touch is selling very well at Target, also video game stuff.
Connect for the X box, those sorts of things are selling. And I will say I have gone on some of these sites like amazon.com. They have the lightning flash sales that are going on today, and they do a countdown from 30, 29, 28 items that they have. So, it's almost becoming like you're betting on them, trying to get one before they all run out.
BALDWIN: That's what they would think. I'm sure a sense of urgency, can I get in there, right?
HARLOW: Sense of urgency, yes.
BALDWIN: Absolutely. Poppy, thank you.
HARLOW: You bet.
BALDWIN: I want to get back to the WikiLeaks reports. This is a huge bombshell that could affect our standing all around the world, but did some law makers and their demands actually make it easier for someone to leak you as secrets? Wiat until you hear that.
Plus, you know the voice in the loud annoying car alarms? Well, apparently, that voice belongs to one very high-ranking congressman. Can you guess which one? Joe Johns knows exactly who that congressman is. We are so lucky to get Joe Johns in the ATL, in the studio. We're going to get the political pop with this guy.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Step away from the door.
BALDWIN: Step away -- you could be the voice.
JOHNS: Step away.
BALDWIN: That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You can get relaxed. I'm already excited about having him here. OK. So, we're still sorting through the 250,000 diplomatic cables leaked by whistleblower website, WkiLeaks. These are cables from, you know, U.S. embassies all around the world detailing this backroom deals and some really are downright political gossip. So, they're leaks that point out, no surprise here, the U.S. spies on its allies.
Now, the White House very much so strongly condemning the release of these cables and so are some congressional leaders today, but is this security leak a case of "be careful what you wish for? Joe Johns joining me now every day. Hello, sir.
JOHNS: This is going to be fun.
BALDWIN: So awesome. So, you were saying this is a case of "be careful what you wish for" and this is what people wanted post 9/11.
JOHNS: Be careful what you wish for. It's actually pretty embarrassing, too, though, I mean, when you think about it. We have what? We have September 11. People running all over Capitol Hill saying we got to do better information sharing. We need DOD, CIA, FBI all get together and share their information so we can catch the bad guys.
BALDWIN: Right.
JOHNS: Even the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Diane Feinstein in, what, about seven years ago on September 11 to thereabouts. I have the quote here. She said, "key agencies in our government have to share information. They -- you know, we could have prevented 9/11. Unfortunately, these bits of information were often held by different intelligence agencies are not shared at all." So, in response to that, what happens? They start putting everything --
BALDWIN: Sharing.
JOHNS: Right. There's this internet system they have called ciprinet. It's sounds like, you know, something you'd be drinking the information through a straw, right?
BALDWIN: Right. Sipping the info.
JOHNS: Secure protocol.
BALDWIN: Oh, it's a big fancy acronym (ph).
JOHNS: And everybody gets the information. More and more people get on the system. Then, suddenly, one wrong guy, presumably, gets ahold of this information puts it out to everywhere, and boom, we got a problem. Now, people on Capitol Hill haven't talked to Diane Feinstein yet. I have called here. People on Capitol Hill are saying that's not what we meant by information sharing. We meant something completely different.
BALDWIN: Of course. Of course. And then you bring up this kid. We shouldn't call him a kid. He's a young man, 23 years of age, Bradley Manning. He's the one who said, oh, wait, it's just a bunch of gaga. I'm downloading off of this ciprinet.
JOHNS: Right.
BALDWIN: But oh no, it's not. And then, you know, one big question is, so if we have this 23-year-old with access to this information, what about other teens?
JOHNS: Sure. Right.
BALDWIN: What sort of security, you know, safety net is there?
JOHNS: Well, you know, I'm talking around today to people in the intelligence community.
BALDWIN: Yes.
JOHNS: There's a lot of concern not just about Bradley Manning. We have known about this entity, but it's more of a question of, come on, who was watching this guy? What kind of supervision are you doing?
BALDWIN: Right. JOHNS: You know, if this guy or anybody else can download 250,000 e- mails, what else are they doing with their time? So, the concern is about the system and all the people who are supposed to be gatekeepers. Something just really broke down and, you know, people are talking about D.C. right now.
BALDWIN: They're talking about it. We at least saw that in D.C. far, far away from DC. We saw Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with strong words, obviously, condemning the person. We haven't heard from is the president of the United States. We've seen, you know, statements strongly condemning it, but we have to hear from him a lot to see what happens as far as damage controls goes. But he is something else on his plate come tomorrow.
JOHNS: Absolutely.
BALDWIN: Meeting this congressional republicans. We're all waiting with bated breath. This is slurpee summit as it is.
JOHNS: Yes, which got us to think, you know how it all got started with the metaphor -- the president of the United States going out saying that the Democrats are trying to push a car up out of the ditch.
BALDWIN: Right. The car --
JOHNS: And the Republicans are standing on the side drinking slurpee.
BALDWIN: Slurpee.
JOHNS: Well, as it turns out, there's one guy in the Congress we haven't talked too much about this who has his own real connection to sort of the automotive industry. In fact, Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, the guy who's supposed to be doing so much investigating of Democrats, presumably, in the system that the Obamas have in place. He is a guy who has a history going back to the 1980s. He started the viper car alarm system.
BALDWIN: Had no idea.
JOHNS: Right. It's pretty incredible, too, because a lot of people don't realize, you know, these alarms they have voices that talk to you. Well, Darrell Issa, the congressman, has his own voice on this car alarm.
BALDWIN: Do we have it?
JOHNS: Let's just listen to it.
BALDWIN: Let's roll it.
JOHNS: Hilarious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Protected by viper, stand back. (END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Congressman Darrel Issa -- wait a minute. Do you want to hear it again? One more time.
BALDWIN: One more time. Let's do it.
JOHNS: It happened real fast.
BALDWIN: Roger (ph). We roll.
JOHNS: Protected by viper. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Protected by viper, stand back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So that is Darrel Issa. He's going to be the lead --
JOHNS: Yes. He's the guy investigating the Democrats, investigating the administration, and he --
BALDWIN: And he was the voice of the viper.
JOHNS: And he is the voice -- now, he doesn't own the company anymore, obviously. So, just saying, the next time the president rolls out its metaphor, maybe Darrel Issa has will something to say.
BALDWIN: Maybe Darrell Issa can be the next voice of who knows --
JOHNS: Yes.
BALDWIN: Your voice is kind of good too. I can see you, the voice of viper.
JOHNS: Yes, I think -- I'll take the --
BALDWIN: You have a pretty good day job, Joe Johns.
JOHNS: Yes, but I think Darrel Issa made more money than that than I make --
BALDWIN: I love that you knew that. Hold it out there that's we're on meeting (ph). We're like no way, Joe Johns, no way.
JOHNS: Yes. They laughed at me. They didn't believe it. See?
BALDWIN: You were true. Good to see you, sir.
JOHNS: We've met. Glad to be here.
BALDWIN: We'll see every day. Thank you. Come back.
Spiderman, in the Broadway. You're theater guy? JOHNS: Love it.
BALDWIN: Me too. So, Spiderman, the musical now on Broadway. It is said to be the most expensive show ever, but wait until you hear why it may also be the most dangerous show for theatergoers. Wait for it. That is next.
Also, nearly one month after "Partridge Family" star, David Cassidy, was charged with drunk driving, remember, we brought it to you a couple of weeks ago, well, police today, they're releasing the dash cam video of his arrest. And you know we're going to show it to you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: OK. Time for trending. And we were just talking about Broadway, right? You like going to the theater? I love it. Now, apparently, there's this new Broadway musical out. In fact, it's the most expensive Broadway musical at a cool $65 million. It's called "Spiderman Turn Off the Dark." It debut some less than favorable reviews. So, they actually did have to turn off the dark -- not once when this thing debuted last night, but reportedly five times during the show.
Imaging, you're sitting in the audience and it goes dark. Technical problems apparently plagued the show. But it was created by some big names, U2's Bono and the Edge. But apparently, one flab (ph), Spidy was left hanging over the audience toward the end of act. One is flying over it in the big exit. Whoops. Stay tuned for night number two.
Also trending today, legendary country singer, Willie Nelson, no stranger to marijuana, but celebrity here not exactly protecting him from being arrested for pot possession again. 77-year-old marijuana activist who was arrested in Texas Friday charged with possession of six ounces. In fact, if you remember back to April, Willie Nelson was interviewed by our own Larry King? Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Did you smoke today?
WILLIE NELSON, COUNTRY SINGER: Did I smoke cigarettes?
KING: Did you smoke pot today? Today, this day.
NELSON: Yes, sure.
KING: You did. Before you came in here.
NELSON: Yes.
KING: So you -- you have pot in you right now.
NELSON: Yes. You could arrest me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, speaking of being arrested, been arrested, he has, twice before, charged with pot session. It was recently as four years ago in 2006. This time, it could land him in prison.
And finally, "Partrdige Family" star, David Cassidy, who is 60 years of age, who is arrested for DUI in Florida. We first told you about this. It happened a couple of weeks ago. Well, as promised, we have the video of the arrest. Look at it with me. This is dash cam video from the highway patrol officer's car. It's making the rounds today on the internet and here you go on the air waves. You can only see the back of them so far.
But according to the police report, Cassidy's breath test resulted him blowing about .14. So, that's almost double the legal .08. Report also indicates there was a half bottle of bourbon found in his car. His spokeswoman, Joanne Geffen insists her client was not drunk but admitted to taking pain pills and being tired and that is what is trending today.
BALDWIN: Everyone in South and North Korea is more or less pretty tense. Could the two countries be close to war? That is ahead.
Plus, violent jihad comes to the U.S. What in the world could drive 19-year-old U.S. citizen want to kill innocent families, lighting a Christmas tree, kids watching this tree getting lit in Portland? The suspected terrorist expected in court any minute. We're going to get "Reporter Roulette," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: There's obviously a lot going on in the world today. We've got it all covered for you. Let's play "Reporter Roulette." First stuff, Jill Dougherty at the state department for us. And Jill, Secretary Hillary Clinton on the proverbial warpath today over the spill, diplomatic informations by WikiLeaks.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's a big deal over here as you can imagine. And also, we have the Secretary of State leaving on a trip, an international trip, in which she's going to be potentially meeting some of the people who might have been dissed in those diplomatic cables. So, they -- she's saying, by the way, that this is not only an attack on the United States foreign policy, but it's an attack on the international world's policy.
And last thing, you know, they have a war room over here, a kind of situation room where they're dealing with the fallout all over the world and these things around the world with this.
BALDWIN: They have the crisis room. They're dealing. Jill, what is next. What's the next step here?
DOUGHERTY: You know, it's too early to say whether it's ruined dealings. I mean, a lot of diplomats are adults. They kind of know how the game is played to a certain extent. That said, it could make dealings with individual leaders who have been criticized a little bit more difficult -- and especially when you get into policy decisions, this is where we don't know precisely the implications. It's not only the U.S., but there are other countries quoted in here making comments about other third countries. So, there are a lot of ripple effects of this.
BALDWIN: Jill Dougherty, thank you.
To the issue in South and North Korea -- South Korea's president goes on national TV to issue a warning to the entire North. They will pay a dear price if they launch a military attack like the one that killed four people on a border island just last week. One of the hot spots, of course, is getting a lot hotter these days.
And our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joins me with more.
Chris, in terms of South Korea, you have the president taking a tough stand. Is that, perhaps, the government was criticized by some for having a lax response to the attack on Yeonpyeong Island?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. What we saw in the video of people taking to the streets, burning to the North Korean flag, burning signs of Kim Jong-il -- the population really turned. The population at a few years ago was all about reconciling with the North and sort of appeasement, now has really turned and wants a stronger defense policy -- even though South Korea's leader gave a very tough answer about what would happen next time.
The South Korean military did cancel some live fire artillery drills on that island, the same sort of drills that sort of sparked that conflict last week. So, saying one thing but not going as far to hold these new live fire drills.
BALDWIN: So, as you -- you mentioned the drills. We have U.S. and South Korean military exercises are happening right now, just all of, you know, 60 miles south of the border. I'm curious if that's adding at all at some of the tension because we know Sunday, the North came forward, called those exercises an attempt to start war.
LAWRENCE: That's true. But the North has said provocative things like that before. I mean, these exercises have gone on a periodical a couple of times a year. Every time, the North condemns them, talks about how provocative they are. But they still usually go on as planned.
BALDWIN: Chris Lawrence, thank you.
The Feds now say he's a U.S. citizen who wants to kill Americans. This 19-year-old who wanted to carry out jihad. Now, he is due in court any second now in Portland, Oregon. In fact, Thelma Gutierrez on the scene for us -- Thelma.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, I'm standing in front of the federal courthouse here in downtown Portland, where very soon 19- year-old Mohamed Osman Mohamud will make his first appearance before a U.S. magistrate. Mohamud is charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. According to an FBI affidavit, he had plotted for months to detonate a van full of explosives during the tree- lighting ceremony here in the city square that was packed with thousands of people on Friday night. He had said allegedly that he had wanted people to either be dead or injured -- Brooke.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Thelma, thank you.
And, of course, we'll let you know what happens as soon as he is in court. It c ould be any minute now.
Also just in, we're waiting for a judge's decision as to whether or not this former producer of, you know, the big reality show, "Survivor," if this guy will be allowed out of jail. He's accused of killing his wife in a resort in Cancun. We're on the case minutes away.
But first, which product was most popular during the Black Friday shopping rush? Here are the winners, according to PriceGrabber.com. You know, it's a Web site tracks online shopping trends.
Here we are, number fived: an HP mini netbook. Number four: Ultimate Ears Pro 10 stereo, a headphone. And number three: a Husky 68-piece screwdriver tool set.
What could the top two be? Wait for it after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: OK. I know you've been waiting what are the top two product most popular online during the Black Friday rush? Here you go. According to PriceGrabber.com -- number two -- oh, not too much shock here: the Apple iPhone 4. And number one, the Lenovo notebook laptop.
Also worth noting, the Web site reports one in three holiday shoppers actually grabbed their, you know, cell phone, the BlackBerry, the iPhone to make these big buys. That is what's new this year.
Have you heard about this bizarre story? It's out of southern Michigan. At the center of this whole thing: three little boys who are still missing. You have Tanner, Alexander, and Andrew Skelton.
Now, police and hundreds of volunteers have been looking for the little ones for a couple of days now. Their father, John Skelton, told police he dropped him off back on Friday with a woman named Joanne Taylor. That is before he says he went to go kill himself. So, that suicide attempt is not a success. Right now, John Skelton is sitting in a mental health facility.
The FBI is now stepping in helping with this case. And they're asking people to call in with any tips, any information to try to find these missing three boys. So, a little while ago, the police chief said he does not think the dad's story about this Joann Taylor is even true. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF LARRY WEEKS, MORENCI, OHIO POLICE: We can confirm that there's no established relationship between he and the person that he described to us as Joann Taylor.
REPORTER: Does that mean she doesn't exist?
WEEKS: Well, we've received a number of tips into the tip line from citizens that have done research on the Internet. You can find a number of Joann Taylors out there. So, to say that a Joann Taylor doesn't exist would be negligent. What I'm saying is a reported relationship between Mr. Skelton and Joann Taylor does not exist.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, that's the latest on the investigation.
Meantime, think about the family here. The little boy's grandmother says she doesn't know who this mystery woman is even if there is a Joann Taylor, even though if she exists or not. In fact, she, of course, wants these little ones to come home. She is devastated as you can imagine.
Here's what she told ABC just this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FROM ABC/"GOOD MORNING AMERICA")
ROXANN SKELTON, MISSING BOY'S GRANDMOTHER: Whether her name is Joann Taylor or Mary Poppins, it doesn't matter to me. All I know is that this child is -- that these children are with her. I know this. And if she can't bring them home, if she feels for some reason she can't do it, drop them off at a safety house, a fire department, a police department, a McDonald's, for heaven's sake, a hospital. Leave a note saying "I'm a missing child, dial 911."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Parents, I'm sure you'd be saying the exact same thing.
The "Detroit News," by the way, is reporting that investigators are now searching an 18-mile stretch of a roadway in northern Ohio. Police say John Skelton may have just dumped them on the road.
CNN has all your latest political news and "The Best Political Team on Television." Dana Bash joins me from Capitol Hill right now.
And, Dana, we've been wondering about this. Congresswoman Maxine Waters still hadn't had her ethics case heard. What's going on?
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, she has been under investigation by the ethics committee for allegations that she tried to get federal assistance for a minority- owned bank that her husband had dealings with. And she was supposed to have that trial start today, Brooke.
But the ethics committee said that they had cancelled it. They didn't give a reason why, except to say that they got a new e-mail about the investigation and they said that they didn't give an answer as to whether or not they're going to go forward.
Maxine Waters had a pretty defiant press conference today. She did it outside of the committee room where this is supposed to take place. And she said, come on, give it to me. Let's have this trial. Let's move on, because she says that she's not -- calls for due process.
Second on the ticker, there is going be a new Republican. And about under an hour in the United States Senate, Mark Kirk, Brooke, he is somebody who is going to take the seat of President Obama. It is a symbolic blow to Democrats and to the president himself because he's actually going to technically fill in the remaining weeks of President Obama's Senate term. It also is going to put the Senate more in Republican hands, I should say -- 42 Republicans, 58 Democrats for the remainder of this lame duck Congress, Brooke.
BALDWIN: And -- was it, Mitch McConnell, a couple of weeks ago, making big news when it comes to earmarks -- traditionally, a supporter of earmarks. He's now saying, OK, I favor the moratorium. The Senate is voting on this soon, is that right?
BASH: That's right. There's supposed to be a full Senate vote tonight. It looks like it might slip to tomorrow. But as you said, Senate Republicans also among -- already among themselves decided that they were going to ban all earmarks.
BALDWIN: Yes.
BASH: But now, there is going to be a vote before the entire Senate. It is probably (INAUDIBLE) as I said, and it is unlikely that it is going to go very far. And the reason is because it needs 67 votes even to come up before the Senate and it is unlikely, we are told, by sources on both sides of the aisle that they're going to get the 67 votes.
And this is, I should say, a bipartisan measure. Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Republican Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, they joined. They are putting this out there.
BALDWIN: But you say, still, not going to happen.
Dana Bash with the Political Ticker --
BASH: Not enough.
BALDWIN: -- Dana, thank you.
Always want to remind you, you can get the latest political news, hop online, CNNPolitics.com, or if you're on Twitter, they're @Political Ticker.
Coming up next -- this is not unreal, I promise. What happens when crows and cats get together? The contemporary version of west side story. This is an awesome video you have to see it. Got to see it.
Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: So, Thanksgiving is behind us. By the way, I hope you had a great holiday. I ate way too much.
Twenty-six days now until Christmas, and most of us feeling the holiday cheer, unless you're a Texas fan. And then you may be saying, "Bah, humbug." Why? You've got to see this.
Check this out. You're going to see Tennessee Titans quarterback Courtland Finnegan provoking -- ooh, look at them go -- this is Texas star receiver Andre Johnson. So, obviously, a little bit of a fight breaks out.
Helmets off, hands flying. Ooh, helmet flying, too. A fight breaking out not once, but twice.
The NFL, we're hearing now, looking into disciplining both of these guys, both of these players, which could be bad news if you're a Houston fan, who is already facing a tough game against Philly this Thursday night.
Next, everyone needs friends. And this baby otter -- all together now -- oh -- no exception. This little fellow has taken a real shining to the stuffed walrus. Watch.
How cute is this? Do we have audio? Can you hear him?
No. Bummer. All right. Cute, nonetheless.
Next, see if you can catch what's wrong with this picture. The crows picking on the cat. See the cat on the right side?
Well, there's another cat nearby. Surely he'll -- there he is -- surely he'll attack the birds -- or not. Kind of standing there. What do I do?
Oh, talk about a rumble, a cat fight. Almost like the crows egging it on. Wait -- let's watch.
The cat's still going at it. And the crow's taking part as well, I guess.
The cats go at it, I'm told, if you watch this whole thing, for, like, two whole minutes. Just as quickly as it began, it's over. Epic battle. Cats, zero; crows, one.
Some of the biggest names in Hollywood have hosted the Oscars. Right? You have Steve Martin, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal.
Well, now you can add two rookies to this legendary list. The show today announcing that Anne Hathaway and James Franco will be gracing the stage next year. Hathaway known for her roles in "The Devil Wears Prada," "The Princess Diaries." Franco appeared in the "Spider-Man" movies. The Oscars are scheduled to air in February.
Coming up next -- I think he would make a pretty good host -- Wolf Blitzer, with a look at what's ahead in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Now we're going to take a look at tomorrow's news today. Let's "Fast Forward."
First, the Slurpee Summit finally here. President Obama is scheduled to hold a meeting with congressional leaders from both parties. That includes outgoing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the man who's replacing her, Republican John Boehner. The president says the summit is more than just a photo-op.
Next, the Department of Defense releasing the long-awaited report on the possible impact of repealing "Don't Ask, Don't tell." So not only will Congress see it, but so will the public.
Next, 'tis the season. New York City lighting the beautiful Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. That happens tomorrow night. The spruce, more than 70 feet tall. And if you're curious, you have Mariah Carey and Susan Boyle both scheduled to perform.
Look at that thing. It's huge.
WikiLeaks says that more than 100,000 of those exposed documents are labeled "confidential." Keep in mind that is the third lowest level of clearance. And more than 15,000 are labeled "secret." So these have the potential, maybe, to do some serious damage to national security.
Wolf Blitzer joins me from "THE SITUATION ROOM."
And Wolf, I guess reading it, I'm thinking they're trying to stress none of the documents is top secret.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Right. And then above top secret is what they call secure compartmented information. So there's an even higher level of classification beyond secret, top secret, SCI, as it's called. So there are all sorts of levels.
But there's plenty of damage, diplomatic damage, that can be done as a result of these documents that have been leaked to WikiLeaks. There's no doubt about that.
If you go through it -- and it's going to take a long time, but trust me, these foreign governments are going to read all of those cables that the U.S. ambassadors in these foreign capitals wrote, their staffs wrote. And they're going to go through line by line by line looking for information, looking for clues, who may be an informant, who may not be loyal to their respective governments.
They're going to go through this meticulously over weeks and months, and there could be some serious potential damage as a result of these secret, as opposed to top secret, cables that have been released. And it's only the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot more, still, Brooke, as you know, on the way.
They're making it clear they want to release these documents over a period of weeks, if not months. So this is only just starting.
BALDWIN: And to your point earlier, you know, you have this 23-year- old who is allegedly the one who got the leaks, that passed the leaks along. And so, certainly, we will wait to see what happens with them, and also at the DOD, if there are other young folks who have this kind of access.
Totally switching subjects, Wolf Blitzer, earlier this month we were talking about how the president was in India. And you remember the president was dancing overseas with his wife and those kids. And I was asking you what you said about that.
Here's what you said. I want to remind you of this quote. And I quote, "When I was on Ellen's show, I danced as well. Dancing is cool."
So here now, the coolest man on CNN. This is Wolf Blitzer on the Soul Train Awards.
Roll it, Roger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got some breaking news. Now joined by CNN's Wolf Blitzer in our very own Soul Train Situation Room.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready? You ready?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on. Do it! Do it!
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Wolf I think my favorite part of this whole thing is your facial expression. I'm sure you've seen this, like, ad nauseam today.
Any second thoughts on the Dougie, or are you standing by your moves?
BLITZER: I'm standing by my love of the Dougie, even though I can't do it all that well. But I showed a lot of enthusiasm in my attempt, and I was really thrilled that the creator of the Dougie, Doug E. Fresh, he was there and he was teaching all of us how to do the Dougie.
We had a lot of fun. Look, I grew up watching "Soul Train," and I loved that show as a young guy. So I was just happy and thrilled that they invited me to make that presentation, introducing Doug E. Fresh.
And you know what else was cool?
BALDWIN: You got to accept an award on behalf of --
BLITZER: I got to accept an award on behalf of Eminem.
BALDWIN: Who would have thought?
BLITZER: Now, who would have though? All right, so you think of "Soul Train," you think of Eminem, and you think of Wolf Blitzer at the same time. How cool is that?
BALDWIN: Very cool. Very cool, Wolf Blitzer. You are passionate about your politics and your dancing.
Thank you, sir. We'll see you in seven minutes on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Now to a developing story out of Michigan here. You have these three little boys, they're missing.
Their father says he dropped them off before trying to kill himself, but police say that doesn't add up. The mystery, the search, that is next.
Plus, the former bit actor from "Ugly Betty" reportedly says he killed his mother with that samurai sword because there were "demons inside of her." But that's not the whole story.
Sonny Hostin is on the case next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Some major stories unfolding right now, including this desperate search to find these three little boys in Michigan.
I want to bring in Sonny Hostin. She is "On the Case" for us today.
And Sonny, what do you make of this story? I mean, you have this father who tells police he dropped these boys off with this woman to go kill himself. And now he's saying -- now the police are saying this woman may not even exist..
SONNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION," ON TRUTV: Exactly. I mean, it really almost reeks of Casey Anthony and telling police that "Zanny the Nanny" had her child. We're sort of seeing that same thing again, Brooke.
He told police that he dropped them off with Joann Taylor. Police don't think that there is any Joann Taylor.
He then claimed that he gave them to this woman because he didn't want them to see him commit suicide. And he did try to commit suicide, but that attempt was unsuccessful. And now I think, really, the question is, where are these boys? And if they are harmed, who did it? And I think the police certainly are looking at, unfortunately, their father as one of the targets of their investigation.
BALDWIN: We heard from the grandmother, saying, look, if you have our little boys, I don't care who you are. Just drop them off. Drop them off with someone safe so we can come and get them and pick them up.
The second story that we're keeping a close eye on is this horrific story, this producer of the "Survivor" reality show wants basically to get out of jail.
HOSTIN: He does. He wants bail. And we know that this crime was committed in Mexico, and he is now in California, and he's fighting extradition back to Mexico. And he wants bail.
Of course, her sisters are very, very involved in this. They want him kept in prison, they want him to answer to this.
He is being charged with her murder. And I would suspect that the judge is not going to give him bail. We don't know. We're awaiting that decision. But he certainly is a flight risk, and that is one of the considerations that the judge will take into account here.
BALDWIN: So, given the fact though, Sonny, that he is a flight risk, if you were a betting person, would you bet he'll get bail?
HOSTIN: I would bet he is not going to get bail. And I am a betting person, Brooke.
BALDWIN: And finally, this story -- this is just so bizarre. I think we first told this last week.
You have this really -- really, he's a bit actor. He's not some star on this TV show, "Ugly Betty," but he is accused of killing his mother.
He was wielding this samurai sword over her body, according to police, last week. And now this thing is even getting more bizarre today.
HOSTIN: It is. He's saying that he killed her because he needed to kill the demon inside of her.
He is currently at Bellevue Hospital, under psychiatric care, psychiatric evaluation. And he's saying that he really had to kill her because God told him to do it, she was possessed by a demon.
It's very sad, Brooke. It sounds really like a mental illness gone unchecked, gone amuck. And that is why I think he is certainly being evaluated right now. It's a very, very sad story, but he certainly is going to be charged with murder.
BALDWIN: What do we know, Sonny, if anything, about his background?
HOSTIN: Apparently, he does have a history of mental illness. He has had some episodes. Some of his family members are saying -- some people are saying, well, no, that is not the case. But there are very, very concrete reports that he has had bouts of mental illness.
BALDWIN: And for the most part, he is cooperating with police, Sonny? Ten seconds.
HOSTIN: That is my understanding.
BALDWIN: That is your understanding.
All right. Well, Sonny Hostin, thanks for joining us "On the Case." We'll check in with you hopefully every day now moving forward.
Sonny Hostin, thank you.
I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Want to turn it over to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf "Dougie" Blitzer -- in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.
