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Tension Eases on Korean Peninsula; "Spend More Time in Session"; Animators Take Jabs at White House; U.K. Terror Raids Lead To 12 Arrests; Chasing Congress; Day in the Life of a Capitol Hill 'Chase Crew'; 'On the Case'
Aired December 20, 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: And, now, watch this.
(MUSIC)
BALDWIN: North Korea, not following through on the threat to retaliate against South Korea, at least not yet. And how much does a threat does the whole situation pose to the United States? Should you be worried?
I'm Brooke Baldwin, the news is now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): An American college student serving time for murder. Now, the Italian court is taking a closer look at the evidence that convicted her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBIE NADEAU, THE DAILY BEAST: Two very key elements of evidence that were used against her.
BALDWIN: Plus, talk (ph) about a key witness. Will Amanda Knox go free?
Three college football players charged with depraved sexual crime against teammates from their high school days. We'll tell you about this huge case of alleged hazing.
Muddy in L.A., snowy in Spokane, and stranded in London. Extreme wintry weather blasts the U.S. and Europe.
Look at this double demolition. Wait, nothing happened. A botched building implosion with a nail-biting end.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Hello once again to you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
A lot of news happening right now on this Monday. "Rapid Fire," let's go, beginning with this.
They were the first men and women on the scene when those two Twin Towers fell. And they want better health care. New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is on their side, urging the United States Senate to keep working and not take a break for Christmas until they pass that health care bill aimed to giving 9/11 first responders some medical coverage. Today in New York, city leaders aimed a message directly at Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNY SPECHT, RETIRED NYC FIREFIGHTER: To those who don't support this bill, say get out of our way. President Lincoln said that any country that does not honor its heroes will not long survive. I'm not a hero. I'm just a messenger for 343 New York City firefighters who laid down their lives in September 11th and the tens that have died from horrific illnesses since.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Next, this is Christine Logan. She is American. Police in Israel are trying to find out who killed her and why. Her body was found yesterday in a forest near Jerusalem. She'd been stabbed to death.
And the only clue police have come from a woman who was with Logan at the time, her friend and co-worker who is in the hospital today. She suffered severe stab wounds. The friend says she and Logan were out and attacked by two men while hiking. Christine Logan worked for a Christian ministry.
Next, police say a book this man wrote specifically teaches adults how to molest and rape children, Phillip Greaves. He was arrested today in Colorado after he allegedly mailed an autographed copy of his book to undercover detectives in Florida. Get this, the book even had a title, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: A Child Lover's Code of Conduct." Ugh! A Florida sheriff who saw the book said he couldn't believe his eyes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF GRADY JUDD, POLK COUNTY, FLORIDA: You cannot deal with materials that are obscene in nature and harmful to children. And that's what he did with real life examples in his book. It was a horrific manifesto instructing step-by-step how to sexually batter children, from grooming them and all the way through safe sex and sexual activity. It was outrageous and that's why we went for him and arrested him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Well, as a result of that, Phillip Greaves now faces extradition from Colorado to Florida. His book made news earlier in the year when Amazon stood behind its decision to continue selling it. The online retailer did eventually pull the book from its Web site.
Next, take a look at me, one of those yellow things in the water, floating booms that emergency crews put out in the Gulf of Mexico to try to keep that spread of the oil -- to keep it from spreading. Well, guess where they are now? This is great.
General Motors has collected about 100 miles of the booms and they are reusing the perfectly good plastic to make parts to go on their electric car, the Chevy Volt. The alternative was to chuck them in the landfill, decided not to do that. G.M. is calling the project creative recycling.
Next, check out this fiery scene. This is Interstate 70 in Indiana. This is a Greyhound bus burning just east of Indianapolis in the wee hours this morning. Fortunately, everyone got out of there. But our affiliate WRTV is reporting that some passengers had to climb out of those bus windows just to escape the flames. They reported hearing a loud pop just about an hour before the flames swept right through.
Next, take a look at what happens at this Walgreens counter. This is Dayton, Ohio. Man walks in to hold up the clerk. But he misses the fact that the police officer -- whoops -- has walked in behind him. The officer you see intervening, fighting off the feet, eventually gets him locked up.
Here's the irony -- that officer was only in Walgreens that time of night to pick up store surveillance video from another armed robbery that happened earlier that same night. Good timing, Officer.
Next, Kroger is recalling packages of certain cat and dog food in 19 states. The grocery chain says it may be contaminated with the dangerous chemical. So, your pet seems lethargic, doesn't want to eat its pet food, those are warning signs. You should take your pet to the vet.
For all of the products details involved in this particular recall, just go online. We have a link for you at CNN.com.
Next, New York Governor David Paterson has to pay more than $62,000 in fines. The state ethics board issued the penalty for, quote, "soliciting, accepting, and receiving five free tickets to the World Series last year." You may remember, the Yankees won the series and the Yanks do business with the state of New York, but the club is not commenting today.
Next, the ladies -- UConn ladies, the University of Connecticut basketball team. Congratulations to them. They have already broken one record. And they are about to break another one.
They have won an unprecedented 88 games in a row. And if they win again tomorrow, that game is against Florida State, it will be for passing the record for consecutive wins in men's basketball set way back in 1974 by UCLA.
Go, girls.
California is hit with heavy rains causing floods and mudslides. But let's not forget all the snow as well. And there was more ugly, ugly weather your forecast. If you're on the West Coast, that is ahead.
Also, North Korea choosing not to retaliate after South Korea's military drills. Did New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's visit to the North have a little something to do with this response? That conversation is next.
Stay there.
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BALDWIN: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.
You know, thousands of South Korean people had to flee their homes, they were bunker down literally over this past weekend. They did that in case the worst case scenario unfolded. North Korean leaders vowed to fire southward if this military exercise near the border went off as planned.
Well, that exercise did, in fact, happened. And North Korea did not respond militarily. And a lot of people exhaled today on the Korean Peninsula as a result.
So, I want to talk about all of this. Joining me now from Washington is John Park. He runs the Korea Working Group at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
And, John, how likely was North Korea to really actually retaliate with military action today?
JOHN PARK, DIR., KOREA WORKING GROUP, U.S. INST. OF PEACE: Brooke, we were really bracing for the worst here. The statements coming out of North Korea are very clear that they would retaliate on a larger scale that went far beyond the island. And also, we have reports that the North Koreans were moving pieces in terms of their artillery battery.
So, all of the movements, all the words pointed to some kind of a clash. So, as you mentioned earlier, we're all breathing a collective sigh of relief right now.
BALDWIN: As you're bracing for a clash, as were so many people globally, there is still the fact that North Korea, you know, had vowed to retaliate against South Korea in reaction to those drills.
Do you think, ultimately, they will follow through on that promise?
PARK: This is a very alarming thing. If you look at the history of North Korea and provocations, there very rarely is an instantaneous response. Usually, there's a time lag.
And many analysts are concerned that we may see this. So, this time around, the North Koreans didn't respond. But they may retaliate at a later point. And so, we have to be very vigilant in the months to come.
BALDWIN: What about the South, specifically? You know, President Lee went ahead with the drill today. Despite even Russia and China coming out advising otherwise. Why did they do that today? Is this just the way for them to show that they're tough, they're defiant? PARK: Well, this is the thing. We have very little knowledge at this particular point in time what happened behind the scenes. We had a lot of reporting in terms of some of the shuttle diplomacy that occurred with state counsel (INAUDIBLE) went to Seoul and Pyongyang, very high-level meetings with the South Korean president and Kim Jong- il.
But in terms of what actually happened leading up to the events where North Korea did not respond, frankly, in many respects, we have to be lucky because of bad weather.
BALDWIN: Really?
PARK: Bad weather delayed these exercises and gave another extra time for diplomacy to work its work.
BALDWIN: To prevail. And then, though, John, you have the U.S. And you reminded me the last time you were on, we have specifically 28,500. We have military personnel in South Korea. So, we certainly have a dog in this fight.
But beyond that, should we here in the United States be concerned over this semi-volatile situation?
PARK: I think there is a strong need for concern. It's largely overshadowed because of the tensions in the Korean Peninsula. But last month, the North Koreans revealed that they have a uranium enrichment facility. This is the second pathway, potentially, to nuclear weapons.
So, for, you know, the United States, when you look at it from the perspective of the national security, this extra pathway for proliferation is a big concern.
BALDWIN: What about the fact that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, he's been in Pyongyang, actually took our own Wolf Blitzer along with him, and Governor Richardson was there as this unofficial ambassador and said that the North has made two major concessions toward, you know, reopening those six-party talks, including, you mentioned, allowing inspectors into the Yongbyon Nuclear Complex.
Do you think that the North will actually follow through on what they told the governor?
PARK: Well, we have to piece together once the dust settles. This is a very dramatic few days that we went through. Are the North Korean conditions -- under what conditions will the inspectors be allowed back? So, while these are initial proposals that have been discussed, they haven't entered the official round yet. And when you do enter the official round, we'll be hearing more about these North Korean conditions.
BALDWIN: John Park, how long you think it will take for the dust to settle?
PARK: Right now, if you look at the military assets in the region and the high level of military alerts both on the North Korean and South Korean side, I don't think the dust will settle anytime soon. But, again, you know, we're looking for this diplomacy to work in terms of prevention.
BALDWIN: John Park for me today out of Washington -- John, as always, thanks so much.
PARK: My pleasure.
BALDWIN: Police in London have arrested 12 in total -- 12 terror suspects they say were planning some kind of large-scale operation. I'll walk you through some of those details ahead in "Globe Trekking."
And does working in Congress as the lawmaker for about four months out of the year actually appeal to you perhaps? Four months? You may be surprised at what one incoming lawmaker has to say about that time frame. Joe Johns has your political pop -- next.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: When we're looking for questions that just aren't getting answered, we turn to our D.C. veteran guy, our favorite dude, Joe Johns for Political Pop.
Joe, we love you. We want to start with this story we unearthed today. We're talking of a guy who's not even actually in office yet, Congressman-elect Allen West who apparently have already shaken things up on the Hill. What's the story?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure. He's one of the favorites in the Tea Party. He's one of the people to watch in the new Congress. He hasn't taken office yet, but he is sure making headlines on Facebook.
Over the weekend, he wrote a letter on his Facebook page criticizing the repeal of "Don't Ask Don't Tell." He wrote, "The liberal left of the lame duck Congress and the misguided Republicans," this is a quote, "are truly more concerned with members of our fighting force are sleeping with at last gasp because of impertinent, special interest groups pushing this bill because it's utterly disturbing and totally pathetic." That's just the latest missive from Allan West.
BALDWIN: That is for the liberals. What about the Republican leadership? What is he saying about them, dare I ask?
JOHNS: Well, he's clearly not backing down. He's taking on the Republican leadership because Congress needs to stay in Washington and work more. He took a peek at the 2011 Congressional calendar, a lot of white space.
He fired off an e-mail to Republican Leader Eric Cantor. He says his constituents complain more of them. He's also complaining the House apparently is going to have a very few work days in January.
He's also complaining about House Republicans go on retreat. So he's really shaking things up as far as Republican leadership goes too. BALDWIN: Well, let me play devil's advocate and say look a lot of people may agree with that. The Congress, they may be surprised to think that Congress is only in Washington for a couple of months out of the year not to mention the fact they have like primo parking, great seats on planes, short work weeks. I mean, it's kind of a nice gig, right?
JOHNS: Absolutely. A lot of people would certainly would agree and say Congress needs to work more, but the other issue really is how often do you want the Congress in session?
Eric Cantor spokesman said more days in Washington have, quote, "historically resulted in bigger government, greater weights, more spending, not more production." He also said what's important, of course, is the Republican speaking is who's in charge and the process in place, not the number of days in session. So -- kind of a back- and-forth.
BALDWIN: A back-and-forth. A little bit of back-and-forth apparently with regard to Wikileaks. What has Congressman-elect West said about that?
JOHNS: Well, again, this is also - this is off Facebook. West is a former military officer. Not surprisingly he weighed in on the Wikileaks. Now West recently appeared on an African-American conservative radio show. I'm not going to set it up. I think we have the tape.
BALDWIN: We do.
JOHNS: Not taking sides here. Just want to roll this and you listen and tell me what you think about what he says about American news agencies?
REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT ALLEN WEST: We should also be censoring the American news agencies that enabled him to do this and all of those who supported him. So that's kind of aiding and abetting of a serious crime.
BALDWIN: Censoring --
JOHNS: Is that what you thought you might have heard? I don't know. A lot of people said we should also be censoring the media, which is kind of the thing that could get a lot of free speech types riled up, you would think, coming from a future congressman and all.
Well, he sort of got that back not long after he said it. He said he was censuring. In other words -- like a person is highly criticized for something they did or said.
So he says he didn't say censoring, but he said censuring. Anyway, it's fascinating stuff on social media. It's pure political pop and everybody is waiting for this new Congress to show up.
BALDWIN: I know it should be fascinating to watch come next month. Before I let you go, I know we've talked about President Obama. We've talked Christmas. I know he was like on myth busters and who else is at the White House, HD-TV? What's the scoop there?
JOHNS: Right. Yes, this is good. This home and garden TV. This is another of those things we've really been trying to get on. Mrs. Obama sort of took them on a tour, showed them the inside the White House and how it works around Christmastime.
Also, Jill Biden took them over to the vice presidential residence and they got a real good look at what's going on there. And what's fascinating is some of the decorating tips you get. I'm kind of a homemaker kind of dude, right?
BALDWIN: Really?
JOHNS: Yes, I like this stuff. I get into it. I get into the recipes and all of the different ways you make Christmas nice around the house.
BALDWIN: I like that.
JOHNS: My mom was homemaker major.
BALDWIN: Very nice. I was the gal drinking my eggnog while my fiance was putting up the Christmas tree, thank you very much.
JOHNS: All good.
BALDWIN: It's all festive. Joe Johns, thank you so much. We'll see you tomorrow for your political pop, thank you. Speaking of Christmas trees. Take a look at this.
Guess how much this Christmas tree. How much could this possibly be worth? You're going to be surprised. I promise you when you hear the price. We'll tell you the answer after the break.
Speaking of Christmas, travelers at London Heathrow Airport may be stuck for the holiday because of the snow. That's ahead.
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BALDWIN: Time for what is trending. What's got your attention on the web and on TV. You know, the web site, they're called "Jibjab" with the whole parity song, the animations, the puppets. Well, it's the end of the year. You know we have to see it again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He arrived in '09 on a rainbow of hope, but 2010 it's a joke the party rallies so long to you 2010.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Kind of catchy right? That's a snippet by the way of the 2-1/2 minutes, Jibjab. Their vision of President Obama and Vice President Biden in their end of the year message and they hit on the midterms, of course, the BP oil spill, the Tea Party Movement, health care, Don't Ask Don't Tell even the guy from Airtran who like split out off the airplane. They get him as well. So they must watch -- jet blue, they must watch a lot of CNN. Also, this is trending as well. You think your tree is over the top. Just wait for me to tell you how much this thing costs. Managers of the super swanky hotel in Abu Dhabi today said that they may have overdone it when they decorated their towering Christmas tree with $11 million. Let me catch my breath there, $11 million of diamond, pearls, precious gem on the tree.
Really? Statement released by the hotel says they were trying for a world record, most expensively dressed tree. Yes, apparently that is the category and, admit it. This is the time of giving? Maybe perhaps some poor taste there.
Now to a guy who I bet has been in that hotel or in Abu Dhabi for sure. Jim Clancy one of the anchor and correspondent CNN International. You've been in that hotel. Can you imagine $11 million?
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Not exact hotel. I think they build that one not so long ago -- the sky is the limit. That's a Muslim country. I mean, celebrating Christmas.
BALDWIN: Right?
CLANCY: But they do that.
BALDWIN: Let's talk about the U. K. And these arrests, 12 men in total. We don't know a whole lot about it, but they swoop in. How do they move so quickly? Why?
CLANCY: Well, they haven't obviously under surveillance. They said this was the result of a lot of surveillance. We've got 12 young men aged from 17 to 28 in custody right now. Some reports say they're Bangladesh. Some reports say they're Pakistani. That's probably irrelevant at this moment.
They say it's not related to any of the investigations that have been ongoing, the bomb in Sweden and other things that were tied back to Britain, but some of the people in the same areas. I think, right now the concern is, they saw something. they didn't have a specific act involved. They're not naming it.
But what they're saying is that they had to act now to protect the public. A lot of people reading in to this. All of the threats that we've seen about an attack over the Christmas holidays so they made their move in all of this. They can hold them now for 28 days.
BALDWIN: So given what happened with Abdul Matulab, the year ago Christmas, here in Detroit. They're not taking any chances.
CLANCY: Exactly, they're not taking any chances. They want to be seen to be acting out in front of all of this. They're not releasing the details about the actual -- what might have been their plan. What might have been the target?
None of those kinds of details and I think we ought to be a little cautious here, Brook, because it was back in April of 2009, they arrested a dozen young suspects and some months later they ended up releasing all of them without charges. We'll watch it. It's definitely got a lot of people's interests.
BALDWIN: Got a lot of people's interest and here's another one that has a lot of people's interest for all of the wrong reasons -- the weather in Europe.
CLANCY: Yes, the nightmare before Christmas that's how the British press is telling this story. Look at that. Thousands and thousands of travelers. You add insult to injury. They were forced to sleep over the weekend at Heathrow Airport.
They said the heat shuttles off at midnight. Stranded, no way home, now today out comes British airport administration and they announced that even when they get things going, even when they get things back on track only about one-third of the flights will take off. Heathrow was literally almost shutdown today.
BALDWIN: What are you talking? Heathrow? We're talking Paris
CLANCY: Paris is hard hit but not as hard.
BALDWIN: So the big story is London.
CLANCY: Well, yes. This is part of the problem. People are really shaking their head saying what is wrong with Heathrow Airport. You know, you got Gadwick, just some miles away in Britain. London is the second biggest airport, 730 flights. Seven hundred of them took off today now that's a far cry from only a third getting out.
Yet, Frankfurt, they got the heaviest snow. They're still operating and people are shaking their heads saying, what's wrong? Well, we know what's wrong. They don't have the equipment.
BALDWIN: The luggage.
CLANCY: They don't have the snow cleaning gear. They don't have the people cleaning off the snow. They have acres and acres of runways and runways they have to clear and they don't have the plane de-icing equipment either. They can't fly those aircraft. You know, the transport ministers weighed in, a huge fight.
BALDWIN: I know it sounds like fun to be stuck in London, but it's really not actually fun at an airport and not getting out.
CLANCY: Everybody is being told to take the trains, Brooke -- the trains are saying, we don't have any seats available.
BALDWIN: Hang on a second, don't do that.
CLANCY: There's thousands, tens of thousands of people who are not making it home for the holidays. That's clear today.
BALDWIN: Jim Clancy with the --
CLANCY: Bad news. BALDWIN: Bad news. Thank you.
CLANCY: All right, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Appreciate it. Not always stunning in California either. Just check out the muddy mess cause by record-breaking rain there. The question is, will it dry up any time soon? So some of the homes can finally be spared. Stay there.
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BALDWIN: How tense is the White House?
DAN LOTHIAN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, here, they're expressing confidence that this treaty will be ratified by the Senate before lawmakers head home for the holidays, but this is very important for the president. This is an issue that he has talked about and pushed forth since he was senator. And one top aide pointed out, this is very personal for the president, but it's much broader than that as well. He's very concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons.
He wants to make sure that these weapons don't end up in the wrong hands. And so while there's confidence here at the White House, they're also working the phones. The president and the vice president is reaching out. Not only to Republicans up on the hill but also democrats to answer any kind of concerns that they might have, also making the case that this is something that has been reviewed and has been debated for months, and that across the political spectrum, there are a lot of people who believe that this is the right thing to do, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Dan Lothian at the White House. Dan, thank you.
Next in "Reporter Roulette." Reynolds Wolf here at CNN Weather Center. And Reynolds, I don't know what's worse. You got mud and you have snow. And, of course, like there's all of the above.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: How about a little bit of both? How about mud and snow?
BALDWIN: OK.
WOLF: In some parts of California, they've been dealing with incredible amounts of rainfall. California has been virtually a punching bag for Mother Nature. You see the heavy rain. You see the effects especially the San Gabriel Mountains over near Malibu. Areas where we had widespread wildfires earlier in the years, now, just rivers of mud as the rain continues to cascade down. What's even more frightening, Brooke, is that we're expecting even greater rainfall, stronger winds, more snowfall over the next 24 to 48 hours.
When we are talking about the snowfall, it has been measured not only in inches but rather in feet. In fact, some places up to ten feet of snowfall, and the high peaks in the Sierra Nevada, but all is said and done. By the time we get to mid week, we're maybe seeing up to 12 feet, maybe even a little higher in part of the Sierra Nevada. Just brutal stuff. Winter is definitely here.
BALDWIN: They're feeling it. They're feeling it for sure.
WOLF: You bet.
BALDWIN: Reynolds, thank you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette". Now to Dan Rivers in London on a dozen men arrested in today's terror raids.
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the police are describing this as a large-scale preplanned intelligence operation involving the security service, MI-5, and police sources across the UK. Twelve men in total detains, five in Cardiff, three in Stoke, three in London, and one other man in Birmingham. All of the men apart from the man in Birmingham were detained absolutely near their homes. They're fairly young age at age, 17 to 28 years old.
Detained on suspicion of being involved with the commission preparation or instigation of the act of terrorism. More than that, the police aren't saying officially no idea of the target or the method that these men were allegedly going to use, but we're all being told this not being linked to the attack earlier this month in Sweden. And there is no suggestion at the moment that this would have been a Mumbai-style terrorist attack on a shopping center or something, something that had been talked about by the police, the fear that this might happen (INAUDIBLE).
That's not being suggested as the case here. One other source said that these men were more aspirational than equipped ready to perform an attack. But nevertheless, the police felt it was necessary to round these men up now and arrest them. They can be held now for 28 days before they have to appear in court in the UK -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Dan, thank you. And that is your "Reporter Roulette" for this Monday.
Next, a knife imprint and part of a bra worn by the victim. These are two pieces of evidence back in the spotlight now in this Amanda Knox case in Italy. Will the American college student have to serve all 26 years of her prison sentence? That is ahead when we go "On The Case."
But first, are you fed up with government overspending? You are not the only one. In fact, Senator Tom Coburn released as what is the most wasteful spending by our government in 2010. Let's do the list together here. Number five, a the federal grant gave researchers $700,000 to study greenhouse missions from organic dairies a.k.a. cow burps.
Number four, (INAUDIBLE) has recived $5.2 million in federal grants to open a museum for retired neon signs.
Number three, Medicare paid out more than $35 million in state claims to more than a 100 or so called phantom clinics allegedly run by criminal gangs. Those are the three. What spending was even more wasteful than those two? Top two, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Sick runaway spending in Washington? Senator Tom Coburn is. In fact, he's released his list of most wasteful government spending for this whole year. Topping the list, here we go, number two, the IRS paid out $112 million in tax refunds. OK? Thinking nothing too strange about that except for the fact that it was the prisoners who filed fraudulent returns. Hmm.
Number one, the Department of Veterans Affairs spent a whopping $175 million every year to maintain hundreds of buildings it doesn't use. And those are your top five.
There are some new numbers today, some new CNN polls number conducted after the president signed into law the tax compromise. Remember, we brought it live. It's about this time last Friday. Gloria Borger joins me now live from the latest news from a political ticker. And Gloria, talk to me about the survey, these numbers. How is the president faring against the liberals and the moderates?
GLORIA BORGER, SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's really interesting. Let's start with the liberals, Brooke, because, of course, you know that this White House has always been concerned about its liberal base. It doesn't want to offend its liberal base, but take a look at what our poll shows. It shows that the president's approval rating among liberals, now, 72 percent. That's a little bit down from November where it was 79 percent and up from October and September when it was 67 percent.
So, it may be down a little bit with liberals because of the tax deal. He'll probably go up again with this group because he'll sign "don't ask don't tell," the repeal of that in to law. But my big takeaway from this, Brooke, is why is the White House so worried about its liberal base? When you've got that kind of approval rating, that's pretty good, right?
BALDWIN: Right.
BORGER: And let's take a look at moderates. Let's take a look at moderates because there's also some good news for the president with moderates here. His approval rating now was 60 percent. That's up from November when it was 55 percent. So, that's also probably due to the passage of the tax cut measure which everyone saw as bipartisan because it was.
BALDWIN: Right, right. But I'm also curious, Gloria, how does the president rank -- in looking at presidents past, how did Mr. Obama rank compared to them?
BORGER: Right. Well, I thought it would be interesting if we called out those presidents who did badly in their midterm elections --
BALDWIN: OK.
BORGER: But then went on to win re-election and compare Barack Obama to those. So, let's take a look. Bill Clinton in 1994, at this time, and you know, he took a real shellacking in his midterm losing control of the Congress.
BALDWIN: Right.
BORGER: He had a 54 percent approval rate. So, that's better than Barack Obama now which is at 48 percent. But take a look at Ronald Reagan in 1982. He lost 26 seats in the House. He was at 41 percent. And then, of course, he went on to win re-election. So, the lesson from this for Barack Obama is you listen to what happen in the midterm elections. You take a turn, and I think we see him trying to do that.
Listen to the public, and then, it will be better for you when you're up for re-election. One big issue here for him, though, is that unemployment number.
BALDWIN: Yes.
BORGER: That's the number he's got to focus on. That's the number he's got to get down. That's the number Ronald Reagan got down, and he went on to win re-election.
BALDWIN: That's the number Americans are looking at. That is for sure, economy, number one issue right now.
BORGER: You bet. You bet.
BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, thank you for sharing those numbers, the new numbers from our CNN Poll. And you can also get updates from the Political Ticker, just go to CNNPolitics.com or folks like Gloria on Twitter, go to @PoliticalTicker.
And not every demolition goes the way it planned. This one was double troubles. Two buildings you see them (ph) and not everything fell into place. I'm not going to play all that for you right now. Just wait for it.
Also, what reportedly happened to student athletes in a small town school is egregious. Parents, you want to hear this one. You may even want to stop tonight and talk to your teenager about it. Stay right there.
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BALDWIN: Christmas is right around the corner. Nothing is going to stop Santa from making all his deliveries. You know, no chimney too tall or small, or ocean too deep.
Ocean? Wait a minute. "You Gotta See this!"
Check this out. Old St. Nick delivering gifts to some underwater friends. Talk about determination there. What is that, like, Rudolph under water? I guess so.
Actually, this guy's real name is Spencer Slate (ph), and every year he dons a jolly old man suit as a way to raise money for local children's charities. Wonderful. And that is how he spreads holiday cheer. Next, to Coral Gables, Florida. Now usually -- you know, the holiday is time for giving to others, not taking from them. And we hope the police explain that to this man.
You see him -- I know it's kind of grainy -- pulling out presents, and he's about to run, run with stolen Christmas gifts. He was there throwing them over the fence.
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch.
Next, there is nothing like the sound of buildings imploding in the morning. Crews plan for both of the old sugar refinery buildings to come down at the same time Sunday morning, but as you can see by your picture, that did not happen. Just a slight snafu.
The second building didn't budge. It took another explosion time and gravity to bring the one on the left-hand side of the screen down. But it did go down. A new stadium is planned to go on part of that land.
And if you think lawmakers have a tough job on Capitol Hill, not so fast. You know, every so often we like to lift the veil, take you behind the scenes. So you're going to get to see what our own CNN crews, hustling up there, running back and forth on Capitol Hill, how they duke it out with our competition. Let's just say sometimes there are elbows involved.
Also, Sunny Hostin is "On the Case" in just a couple of minutes. We're going to look at that case in Idaho. Could teenagers go to prison for life for something they allegedly did in high school?
We'll be right back.
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BALDWIN: Now I want you to look at tomorrow's news today. Let's " Fast Forward."
First, the man accused of plotting to blow up a military recruitment center in Maryland will have his day in court tomorrow. Antonio Martinez, AKA Muhammad Hussain, was identified in an affidavit we got earlier this month. Inside of that, FBI agents describe working undercover to arrest him. They stopped Martinez, a recent Muslim convert, when he got ready to drive to that recruitment center in a vehicle he believed was full of explosives.
Also tomorrow, the 2010 Census figures are do out, and they are expected to reveal some surprising population shifts. All very important, because population is what dictates congressional districts. Remember we were talking a lot about that during the midterms? And those new districts actually will need to be set before, of course, the 2012 election.
And the government purse strings are controlled by Congress. And tomorrow, the Senate is expected to vote on a plan that would keep the government running through early March. The most recent funding resolution expired on Saturday and had to be temporarily extended through Tuesday.
And, you know, working in news can sort of kind of be equated to working in an emergency room. You know, you have to be on standby, you've got to be ready for anything because news breaks in a second's notice. And that especially holds true for our fantastic crews on Capitol Hill.
And you don't actually ever see them, but we have chase crews. That's what we call them, chase crews, who work behind the scenes.
And in this little holiday bonus that we wanted to share with you today, CNN producer Larry Lazo gives us a glimpse into the Rush.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FLOYD YARMUTH, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Working in Washington, D.C., is unique by itself. But covering the Hill, covering the U.S. government, has its own challenges, and it's a completely different kind of assignment. Covering the Hill is its own animal.
OLIVER JANNEY, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Being on a Capitol Hill chase crew is different from other assignments because you have to be mobile and you have to be ready to move at a moment's notice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should try East Drive.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- actually get a spot this time of day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one's taken it yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See what we can do.
JANNEY: On the Hill, you've got crews from every network. Depending on who is in town, you might have foreign press that you're dealing with.
The D.C.-based network crews are all pretty respectful of each other. We all have a job to do. We all need to get the shot.
Why make it harder than it has to be? So we're pretty cordial. We work together. If you're running low on tape or battery, it's not unheard of to have a crew from NBC or CBS or ABC, you know, help you out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or even Fox News.
JANNEY: Or even Fox News. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, here we go, turning into East Drive. Hopefully, we can get some parking this early. This is a pretty convenient spot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let the fun begin. YARMUTH: Capitol Hill is more than just the dome and the two houses of Congress. The actual senators and congressmen are only in there when they're voting. Their offices are across the street in a series of six different buildings. In order to get to these buildings, there's underground tunnels underneath the Capitol that go under the street.
JANNEY: News may be breaking on the House side and you go off to cover that, and then a development happens on the Senate side, and you've got to jump over to the other side of the Hill. You know, in one shift, you might be shooting an interview, a sit-down interview with a senator. You might be staking out someone's office. You might be doing live shots in one of the rotundas.
DANA BASH, SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mobility is the key. There's no question about it. The crews that are running around with us have to be ready at the drop of a hat, but also informed.
DEIRDRE WALSH, CNN CAPITOL HILL PRODUCER: And the greatest thing about the photojournalists in Washington is a lot of them recognize all these members of Congress. I mean, that's a lot of people to remember. And they're up here a lot, so they know who all the key players are.
YARMUTH: There are different rules that you have to play by that you don't necessarily have to worry about when you're on the street covering news. I mean, they have very strict rules on where you can be, when you can shoot, what you can shoot. And you have to be aware of where you're standing and what you're shooting at all times, or you can be reprimanded by Capitol Hill police or the press gallery.
When you see one camera go, you've got to get that shot, too, and especially when your reporter is heading in that direction. I got to follow my reporter. So I got to get the shot. I deal with the consequences later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Connor (ph) here takes off running. He's with Fox News Channel. And we're going to take off running, too. We're going to get the same shot, even if it means bending the rules. You know, they're not going to arrest us all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole point is for our footage to make it on TV. And at the end of the day, when we're -- the cables are wrapped, the cameras are off, we can turn on that TV and we see the material that we provided to the network on the air, we know we've done our job.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: How about that?
The family of an American college student in prison overseas is hopeful today. A judge in Italy wants to review some of the DNA evidence that sent Amanda Knox to prison.
Sunny Hostin is on that case when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: There has been a big break in a murder case that was splashed all over the tabloids. In three different countries, big headlines that called the defendant "Foxy Knoxy."
Sunny Hostin is "On the Case" for us.
And over the weekend, a judge in Italy approved an independent review of evidence used to convict American college student Amanda Knox in the bloody slashing death of her British roommate. Now, one piece of evidence is the clasp from the victim's bra, Sunny. The other is the knife police believe was used in the killing.
So, before we chat, I want to listen to what Amanda Knox's mother has to say about this ruling regarding this DNA evidence. Here she was speaking this morning on "Good Morning America."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDDA MELLAS, AMANDA KNOX'S MOTHER: We've been asking for this all along, from the very beginning, because there were so many contradictions, we just said how about having independent people, unbiased people really look at it? So, yes, we're thrilled.
The way the testing was done on the knife, I guess really beginning with the way the knife was found, the way it was just randomly chosen, the way the testing was done, they didn't follow protocols, I mean, it's a mess. There's no motive if you take away this -- the possible murder weapon that even, you know, the prosecution said it's the wrong size. So, you throw that all out there, and the fact that there's no evidence of her and the crime scene, there's nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, Sunny, this could be huge. I mean, does the ruling essentially reopen the Amanda Knox case?
SUNNY HOSTIN, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: Absolutely, this is significant. It is huge.
It reopens, Brooke, the best part of this case, which is the DNA evidence. It connected, allegedly, Amanda Knox and her boyfriend to these horrible crimes.
But the bottom line is, now this judge is saying, I am going to grant an independent review using a team from the University of Rome, and we will now get a review of not only the DNA that was found, but also the protocol used. And I think that is what is so significant here -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: So, in reviewing all of the DNA, how long might that process itself take?
HOSTIN: Well, many people are saying it's going to take at least nine months, or it could take nine months, and that is because not only is the DNA evidence being reviewed, there are other issues also being reviewed in this case. But nine months is really the number that's being discussed right now.
BALDWIN: We're talking a lot about Amanda Knox, but also involved here, the case against Knox's boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, who was also convicted of murder.
HOSTIN: That's right. And many people are asking, well, will this ruling have any bearing on his case? And my answer to that is absolutely.
Again, he was connected to this crime through this DNA. And so if an independent review of the DNA finds that Amanda Knox is not connected to it, or even finds that the protocols used were tainted, that would have a bearing on his case as well.
BALDWIN: Now, during Amanda Knox's trial, I remember we all sort of were watching that case. It was huge. The defense had raised questions about pieces of evidence during that trial.
Why wasn't, Sunny, an independent review allowed back then?
HOSTIN: Well her family and her legal team had been asking for that for sometime during the trial, but the trial was really run by the prosecution. The prosecution had its experts. The defense had its experts.
So this will be the first time that an independent review is granted. And that, I think, is what is so important here. People are saying, finally, finally, a win for the Amanda Knox legal team.
BALDWIN: And then we're also hearing from her father, speaking with a Seattle TV station, hoping -- he's hoping Amanda will be out of prison by next Christmas. Is that even possible?
HOSTIN: Well, it certainly is possible. I mean, they are saying about nine months from now until the review and the decision by the judges. So it's quite possible that by next Christmas, if the rulings are favorable, she could be home for Christmas, back in the United States.
BALDWIN: Wow. How about that? Huge, huge turn. Very significant for their family.
Sunny Hostin, thank you for being "On the Case." I know we had a whole other case to get to, the Idaho case. We'll do that tomorrow.
HOSTIN: Yes.
BALDWIN: Deal.
BALDWIN: And now I want to turn things over to Candy Crowley, who is hosting "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Candy, to you.
