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Navy Investigates Raunchy Videos; Dead Birds Rain Down On Town; Airlines Vs. Travel Sites; Shootout in Ohio
Aired January 03, 2011 - 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, the top of the hour -- watch this:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
BALDWIN: It's raunchy, it's homophobic, and it's under attack. A Navy video featuring a senior level officer shown to sailors during wartime. Who's behind this video and what and when did the Navy know?
I'm Brooke Baldwin, the news is now.
(voice-over): One neighbor says all hell broke loose.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF GENE KELLY, CLARK COUNTY, OHIO: Never had the opportunity to return fire or take cover.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A shotgun blast, a fire fight leading a sheriff's deputy dead. What happened moments before this trailer park ambush?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: This is the worst day in my 24 years as a sheriff of Clark County.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A passenger plane burns after its fuel tanks explode. A tragic accident or criminal negligence? We have the dramatic video.
Plus, outgoing California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cuts the prison sentence of a convicted killer. And it happens to be the son of a political ally.
And speaking of the top spot in California, out with the old, in with the new? Not quite. Jerry Brown doing this more than 30 years ago?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JERRY BROWN (D), CALIFORNIA: I, Jerry Brown -- (END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Governor Jerry Brown, 2.0.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Happy New Year. Here's to our first show here in 2011. I'm Brooke Baldwin, with a lot of news happening today.
"Rapid Fire," let's begin with this story: John P. Wheeler, that's this man. He is dead today. And police are looking to the possibility of foul play. Wheeler was a long-time official of the Department of Defense, serving not one, not two, three presidents who chaired the committee that raise money for the Vietnam Memorial there on the National Mall in Washington.
But here is what is raising police suspicions. Wheeler's body was found in a garbage truck about to be dump in this landfill. This is Wilmington, Delaware. A medical examiner has determined the death a homicide. That investigation is ongoing.
Next? Taking you to Sanford, Florida. The son of a police chief turned himself in today. This is Justin Collison. He's been under investigation for beating a homeless man last month. A couple of hours after he surrendered, his dad was relieved of his duties.
Chief Brian Tooley was just weeks away from retirement. The NCAAP wants the entire police department investigated because police did not arrest Collison until after someone posted the video of the attack which we showed you last week on YouTube.
Next -- big guy in a black shirt. This is Alfredo Simon, the relief pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles -- he is in police custody in his native Dominican Republic. He's accused in a shooting death of one man and wounding another. This whole thing went down New Year's Eve. Simon's lawyer says he fired a gun in the air, had no idea anyone was hurt. No comment yet today from the Baltimore Orioles.
Next -- once was lost, now he's found. This is Jake Denham. Apparently, he's a better survivalist than he is a navigator. He's a 14-year-old from Portland, Oregon -- got a tad separated from his family while skiing on Mt. Bachelor. And just like that, he was lost.
And temperature, it was a tad chilly, fell way below zero. Jake knew he had to do something or perhaps he was a goner. So he remembered something he actually saw on his favorite TV show. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE DENHAM, SURVIVED MOUNTAIN ORDEAL: I built like a hole in the ground and I laid in it. So then there's a little ridge, so the wind and the ice would blow over me.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Would you know how to do that? I don't know if I would.
Rescuers found Jake nine hours later. A little bit cold, otherwise unharmed. He says his favorite show is "Man Versus Wild" -- I lover that show -- where he got the tip that certainly saved his life.
You know that trash that went uncollected during New York's blizzard clean up? It turns out to be a lifesaver. Police say a 26-year-old man tried killing himself Sunday by jumping out of a ninth story window. But guess what? He landed on this pile of garbage that had been sitting there on the street for a week. The trash cushioned his fall.
The man was taken to Bellevue Hospital. He's in critical but stable condition today.
Next, Dollar General will add 6,000 new jobs this year. The retail giant also announcing plans to open more than 600 new stores in just two years. The company will have added more than 15,000 jobs, including brand new positions.
Next -- count on your iPhone for that alarm in the morning. You might want to consider a backup plan, folks. For the third day in a row, and maybe you're thinking, yes, this happened to me today -- iPhone users are reporting their alarms failed to sound. Apple said the problem would have been fixed by today. Apparently, it wasn't. The third time since September the alarm clock app has had some sort of problem.
Next -- nine people in Milwaukee pleaded guilty to rigging bingo games at a casino. A former casino employee apparently friends and co- workers to help pull off this whole scheme, allowing them to walk away with more than $160,000. The casino administrators declined to answer questions except to say that as soon as they were made aware of it, they took immediate action to make sure this never happened again.
Next -- what do we say here? Brett Favre, he says he'll retire from football, again. Guess we're going have to see.
Next -- leaders in Iran apparently don't like cupid. Listen to this, according to state-run media there, the country is banning anything having to do with Valentine's Day. I'm talking cards, the furry stuffed animal, gifts. We're told February 14th getting popular across Iran. But Tehran is against the spread of western culture. They're killing cupid.
Next -- twin babies born in different years. How could that happen? It happened New Year's Eve, of course. I want to take you to Rockford, Illinois, for the story. Madison Lewis (ph) born at 11:59 Friday. Her little brother, Aden Lewis (ph), came in to the world just a minute later at 12:00 a.m. Saturday. The proud papa says one of the doctors was counting down the minutes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRANDON LEWIS, FATHER: He said, you know, if we wanted to deliver this year and one next year, we would that if everything was OK. So we decided to do it that way and everything worked out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That's kind of cool. I mean, that's like bragging rights for a lifetime, right?
Take a look at the big board here -- finally, the first trading day of the New Year. The Dow was up, 93 points to the positive, sitting at 11,670.
I want to bring in Alison Kosik live in New York.
Alison, there's a lot of buzz today over this whole fight between travel sites and airlines. It's the latest dispute between American and Expedia, right?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. And just so you know, if you're looking to book a flight on American Airlines, I wouldn't go to Expedia or Orbitz, because you're not going to find those flights listed there. Basically, Expedia and Orbitz have kicked American Airlines to the curb.
It's a really a battle that's been brewing over the past few weeks. It's a battle over fees, Brooke, one that the online travel sites charge airlines. So, they're at odds as to how many fees they should be charged. And as for consumers, it really makes it harder to find the best deal because what's going to essentially happens is you're going to have to go to each individual airline site to find a fare like we did in the old days.
But keep in mind, you can still find American Airlines fares on other sites like kayak.com and Priceline -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Alison, isn't the fight bigger than just American and Expedia?
KOSIK: It really is, because, you know, if you think of the online travel industry as a whole -- well, it's pitting them against the airlines. But, you know, it's turning into kind of a game of chicken and we're going to see who the last one standing is going to be because, you know, the airlines need these sites almost as much as the sites need the airlines.
And who's going to lose in the end? It's going to be the consumer because we're going to have do more work finding the best rates and we're not necessarily going to find the best rates because we don't have this one aggregate site.
But the airlines are really pushing this -- pushing this along because they really also want to have more control over these fares. They also want to have the ability to charge extra fees like for leg room and priority boarding and, you know, charging to bring your pets on. And these extra fees are not necessarily available on these other Web sites, like Orbitz and Expedia. And that's why this battle is really brewing, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange -- Alison, thank you.
It is hard to believe the video comes from the Navy. It's lewd, it's crude, it's offensive. It was shown to sailors -- thousands of sailors -- during wartime. Wait until you hear who's behind it and who could be in big, big trouble. That is ahead.
Plus, a shootout at a trailer park kills a sheriff's deputy and she's also a mother of two. I'm going to tell you why police believe someone was ready to kill. The details were disturbing. The video is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: I want to show you something that happened on Saturday -- New Year's Day in Springfield, Ohio. So, you're about to see a shootout. And some might find it pretty tough to watch. But it all unfolded as a deputy sheriff lay dead, allegedly shot by a man involved in a shootout with law enforcement officials.
I want you to watch this. Then we'll do some explaining.
(VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I want to play that again for you in just a moment. You hear all of the shots sort of rapid fire. Listen.
(VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We'll play it again in a moment.
But I want to give you some more information. Springfield, Ohio, is about 50 miles west of Columbus. And we're told the shootout happened right around noon on Saturday after Sheriff's Deputy Suzanne Hopper responded with her partner to a call about shots being fired at some campground. This man here, this is Michael Ferryman, allegedly opened the door of his trailer, shot deputy Hopper dead.
Now, law enforcement officials descended on the scene. They surrounded Ferryman's trailer. They say he fired first -- which led to what you're about to see.
Let's watch this again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): We stop the tape for you because we'd like you to make note of this man -- German Township patrolman Jeremy Blum. And this man, he is Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly.
(GUNFIRE)
BALDWN: We stopped the tape again because we want you to listen to what comes next. You're going to hear the words, "Hold your fire."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold your fire! Hold your fire!
BALDWIN: The shooting now stops, but as you'll hear in just a moment, a volley pierces the silence.
As we hear those shots again, once more, we see Patrolman Jeremy Blum. Patrolman Blum lies wounded and again we'll see Sheriff Gene Kelly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Now, the patrolman on the ground there, Patrolman Blum, he has survived. In fact, Sheriff Kelly spoke later about the initial call to the scene, the one that led to the slaying of Deputy Hopper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: The deputy was on the outside of the lot 84 trailer. When the deputy was investigating and saw a footprint and took out her camera to take a photograph of the footprint, and it appears that the door of the trailer opened and the person inside fired one shotgun blast, striking the deputy and fatally wounding a deputy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Deputy Hopper was 40 years old. She was also a mother. She leaves behind two children. The suspect here, Michael Ferryman, is dead as well.
Now, look at this -- I want to show you the U.S. Constitution. Guess what? Republicans are planning on reading this entire thing aloud when lawmakers return to the floor this week. So, how long could that possibly take?
And apparently, once was not good enough for Jerry Brown. He's now governor of California again. And he inherits an economy in serious, serious trouble.
Joe Johns, back in Atlanta, you couldn't get enough of us. He joins me live for "Political Pop" -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: It is now time for one of my favorite segments, "Political Pop." With me here in studio, Joe Johns in Atlanta.
And I want to start with a story that had some of us asking some questions about. We know that Congress is back this week in Washington. We know Republicans take over control of the House starting Wednesday. And they have a lot of procedural stuff to go through.
But what we learned is starting -- isn't it Thursday morning -- Republicans plan to read in its entirety the U.S. Constitution, which I printed out and handed to you, give you a little prop.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's nice, huh?
BALDWIN: Yes. Why -- why are they doing that? Do we know?
JOHNS: Well, this was something that Congressman Robert Goodlatte of Virginia thought about. He thought it would be a good idea. He thinks that the members of Congress need to hear the entire Constitution, start to finish, because he wants to sort of reinforce the notion that the Founding Fathers wanted limited government, limited spending, limited reach. And that's the whole point.
And the truth is -- I mean, I've looked around. And you know, I worked up there for years. I never heard them read the Constitution on the floor of the House. And it's really hard to find a place where they actually read it. It was once put into the congressional record, but as far as someone actually reading it, I don't know.
BALDWIN: Yes, never in the history of any of the readings I've seen that they have done this?
JOHNS: Right.
BALDWIN: Is this a sort of a tip of the hat to the Tea Party thing?
JOHNS: Yes. Definitely, you know, I think. I mean, at least I've heard that if you read this thing start to finish, it's about --
BALDWIN: About an hour.
JOHNS: Yes, or even less than that, you know? So, it's not that long. It seems like a lot of words. And not that -- I mean, how can you argue with the idea?
The problem is, really, that if members of Congress haven't already read the Constitution by the time they get to office -- I mean, what's wrong with these guys.
BALDWIN: Yes.
JOHNS: Because in the first place, the oath -- you know, you talk about here on Article VI, it lays out, what, oaths are supposed to say. And one of the things you're supposed to say is -- you're supposed to uphold the Constitution of the United States. So, if you're taking an oath --
BALDWIN: So, you should probably know what you're taking an oath to. That would sort of make sense. Can Democrats join it? Or is this just a Republican reading?
JOHNS: No, this -- this is Republican rules and it's the full House of Representatives. So, I haven't seen any real pushback from the Democrats at all --
BALDWIN: OK.
JOHNS: -- because, you know, it's kind of bad to be against the Constitution.
BALDWIN: Yes, kind of bad.
All right. Well, also today, we're watching the swearing in of Jerry Brown who is back. JOHNS: Yes. It's pretty amazing.
BALDWIN: Back in charge, decades later.
JOHNS: Right. After all these years, here comes Jerry Brown one more time.
And the funny thing about him --
BALDWIN: Yes.
JOHNS: -- there are a lot of similarities and differences between the Jerry Brown way back the first he was sworn in and now --
BALDWIN: We'll call him Jerry Brown 2.0.
JOHNS: Right. Exactly.
All right. First thing is back in '75, Jerry Brown succeeded a governor who was an actor before he was the governor who happened to be Ronald Reagan. This time, it was Schwarzenegger.
BALDWIN: Yes.
JOHNS: So, you have some similarities. You also have some big differences.
Back in the day, Jerry Brown was the guy, who, you know, dated people like Linda Ronstadt, the musician.
BALDWIN: He was Governor Moonbeam, wasn't he?
JOHNS: Yes, he was. People thought he had way far out ideas, which don't seem so far out by now, you know? Things like capital punishment, he was opposed to that. He was a staunch environmentalist. Now, it makes a lot of sense.
This time, Jerry Brown is talking about cutting the budget, putting the state on a diet, if you will. And that is really not Governor Moonbeam at all.
BALDWIN: He's got a huge job ahead of him, doesn't he, in California?
JOHNS: He sure does. Now, one of the funny things is if you listen to the sound we're going to roll right now --
BALDWIN: OK.
JOHNS: -- you can actually see that there's a flub in there. But it's also a tip of the hat to the days facing this once governor now governor. Let's listen.
BALDWIN: Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That I take this obligation freely --
BROWN: That I take this obligation freely --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- without any mental reservation.
BROWN: -- without any mental reservation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or --
BROWN: Really, no mental reservation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: No, really, I promise.
JOHNS: Yes, right. Absolutely.
BALDWIN: That's kind of funny.
JOHNS: That is funny. So, mental reservation or not, he's got a long way to go here. He's quite a character. I've interviewed him.
BALDWIN: Have you? What's he like in person?
JOHNS: He's very funny. He's very intense. And he wants to get his message across, you know? Very different breed of politician, he's one of the most colorful characters in American politics.
BALDWIN: I love that every day, we get to talk to you about different people and you're like, yes, I interviewed him.
JOHNS: Yes.
BALDWIN: Yes, I interviewed her. That's why we love you, Joe Johns.
JOHNS: Well, they stick around long enough, you learn something.
BALDWIN: Well, awesome to have you. You're back in Atlanta tomorrow, yes?
JOHNS: Yes.
BALDWIN: It's a date. Thank you.
Seven years ago, a college student started a social networking site from his dorm room. And today, this site is worth $50 billion. So, could this number be changes to Facebook? That is ahead.
And a passenger plane explodes and it burns to the ground. Look at the pictures here. Did someone make a deadly mistake?
Michael Holmes is on his way here. There he is. He's waving at me. OK, he joins me live coming up. There he is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, "Globe Trekking" time. It's a time to look at the news outside of the U.S. We bring in Michael Holmes from CNN International.
Hello, Holmes.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Who nearly didn't get here.
BALDWIN: Who nearly didn't get here. I didn't see you on our martini couches. So, I'm kidding. But yes, I didn't see you on the sofa, so I got a little worried over there being miked up.
OK. So, let's begin with what the pictures -- I can't believe these pictures out of Russia, the plane who was taxiing and then poof.
HOLMES: Some lucky people -- 135 people onboard this plane. Think about that. And look at it. Look at that.
Guess what? Four dead, 40 injured, the rest got out. They were taxiing off of a take off. This is western Siberia and an engine caught fire and, you know, people onboard the plane reported the black smoke and everybody started to panic. They couldn't get the doors open.
BALDWIN: Wow.
HOLMES: Eventually they did. And actually, I read a quote by a member of a Russian pop group called Na Na who were saying that people were just climbing over each other to get out. These are people at TU-154. There's been a couple of incidents involving these planes.
BALDWIN: Is this commercial?
HOLMES: It is commercial. It's one of the smaller commercial airlines. Aeroflot stopped using these planes precisely because of some problems with them becoming unreliable. An Aeroflot, the national airline. But there's 200 still being used by the little airlines around.
BALDWIN: It's amazing they were able to get most of the people out.
HOLMES: Yes, it was their luckiest day.
BALDWIN: Moving on to -- we've seen pictures of this, it's just getting worse. Australia, the flood in Queensland.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. You got to imagine, Australia -- a lot of Americans don't realize, Australia is a size of the Continental United States. Queensland is the size of two Texases and, think of this, the size of Texas -- one Texas, that's where this flooding is. Absolutely unbelievable.
BALDWIN: So, the size of Texas is underwater right now.
HOLMES: It's underwater with these floods. It's all caused by monsoon rains. But a lot more obviously than they usually get. It's four times the size of Japan. It's six times the size of the U.K. It's just unbelievable.
BALDWIN: Is it typical flooding, Michael, in this area?
HOLMES: They get floods around this area every few years, but not at this level. This is an absolute record breaker here, you know? And authorities are worried that the receding flood waters are going to reveal just -- as you can see there, horrible destruction of infrastructure.
It's also had a major impact because this area is a big coal mining area and a lot of crops as well -- $1 billion worth of crops gone. There's something like $100 million a day of coal exports not getting out. Major economic problem for Australia, not to mention, you know, you've got 200,000 people impacted in houses --
BALDWIN: Two hundred thousand people impacted. What about injuries or deaths?
HOLMES: Yes, 10 deaths. The Australian media reporting 10 deaths so far. People are being swept away as most of them in cars as they're trying to get from one place to the other. People are lucky, actually. That's interesting. They have these houses they called Queenslanders, ironically, which were actually built on stilts just in case of this --
BALDWIN: Are they holding up?
HOLMES: They are holding up. So, you know, a lot of these houses sit up higher than the regular house. Yes.
BALDWIN: And then Brazil. Big news over the weekend.
HOLMES: Yes, first woman president.
BALDWIN: Dilma Rousseff.
HOLMES: Yes, Dilma Rousseff. She's got quite a tale to tell, you know?
BALDWIN: Yes.
HOLMES: This is a rapid rise for someone who was a Marxist guerrilla back in the '70s. She was actually in prison and torture during the military dictatorship. Now, she's in charge of, you know, Latin America's powerhouse. And the guy there on her right -- on the right of your screen, on her left, that's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He's the guy that she's taking over from, a tough act to follow.
Guess what? His approval rating was --
BALDWIN: It was huge, wasn't it?
HOLMES: Ninety-seven percent. Barack Obama would be pretty pleased to have his approval rating. But she's inheriting a healthy economy, currency value is great. She's going to head to the United States in the next couple of months. You know, she does have some challenges. There's going to be some cost-cutting. They're going to get the debt down like everyone else. Inflation is a little bit high.
But Brazil has really become, as I said, it's the region's economic powerhouse. They've done well. So, yes, so first woman president in Brazil.
BALDWIN: Upcoming World Cup there, Olympics. Why don't we get sent to Rio? I bet you will be.
HOLMES: I went there a few years ago. It's jolly good fun.
BALDWIN: It is fun. I've been as well.
HOLMES: Yes, going to try to get there.
BALDWIN: I thought you'll be --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: There you go.
HOLMES: That should get a berth, you think?
BALDWIN: All right, Holmes. Good luck.
HOLMES: Good to see you, though. I'm going to try to do that.
BALDWIN: I'll see you all week, by the way. You're coming back. We're making you come back every week, every day.
HOLMES: I hope so.
BALDWIN: All right. Now to this: earlier in the show, we identified a suspect, Justin Collison in the taped beating of a homeless man in Sanford, Florida. Well, we erroneously stated that Justin is the son of the police chief in Sanford. He's actually the son of a police lieutenant. Big, big difference there.
The police chief has announced he will retire early because of the poor police response to this entire beating investigation. Of course, our apologies to that error.
It is raunchy, it is homophobic, and now a Navy video is sparking this huge controversy. Who is behind this video? I am going to tell you why the clock is ticking on a decision. That is coming up.
Plus, why did thousands of dead birds fall from the sky in Arkansas? I think the number is up to like 5,000 now. The whole thing happened just before the clock struck midnight on New Year's Eve. They're lining up now. Reporter roulette is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: President Obama gets ready to return. A Navy video is under fire. And a mystery over dead birds. Time to play reporter roulette. I want to begin at the White House with Dan Lothian. And Dan, my question is this -- we know President Obama returning to Washington tomorrow after a long and extended vacation in Hawaii, and already Republicans are targeting his signature accomplishment.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And what you're talking about is health care reform. It's the president's signature domestic achievement. And what Republicans are suggesting that they want to either defund it -- essentially starve it -- or repeal it.
Now, one lawmaker is even suggesting that they want to schedule a vote on this before the president's State of the Union address. So what will the president be doing? Well, a White House aide telling me that he'll be vigorously defending health care reform, talking about all of the benefits that are now taking place. And in a broader sense, Democrats will be talking about the downside of repealing health care reform, how premiums could go up, how they'll increase the number of the uninsured, and you'll have the bulging federal deficit will even grow bigger.
So, this will be a big push by this White House to push back on this Republican push to repeal health care reform.
BALDWIN: But, Dan, the unemployment rate hasn't budged. Why won't jobs be the main focus for the White House?
LOTHIAN: Listen -- no doubt jobs will still be the big focus for this White House. The economy in a broad sense in 2011 will be the focus of the White House. The president will be talking about job creation, about looking for ways to find more savings by cutting. Looking at, you know, reforming the tax code as well. The president will be talking, as you heard in his weekly address over the weekend, about the progress that's being made already in terms of the economic recovery, but that there's a long way to go, and he wants to look for ways to not only improve things over the next two years, but in the decade and beyond.
BALDWIN: Dan Lothian, thank you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," an investigation into raunchy videos made and shown aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon today for us. And Barbara, these videos were made by and starred a top commander.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Brooke. They featured Captain Owen Honors, at that time in 2006 and 2007 when the videos were made, the number two in command of the enterprise. Now, he is the commander of the aircraft carrier which is scheduled to deploy and go to the war zone in the next several days. These lewd videos now raising the question in a navy investigation about whether or not he is fit for command and should anyone else be punished in all of this.
BALDWIN: And we're playing some video there in the split screen. Barbara, is this the case of boys being boys or is there something much deeper, much more meaningful about whether this captain should be in charge of an aircraft carrier?
STARR: Well, it is -- it's certainly more than boys being boys to use the expression, Brooke. What really the question is for the navy here and for the U.S. military. In this day and age, how does something like this happen when an aircraft -- an aircraft carrier goes to see the commander is his word is law for the 5,000 troops onboard? He really runs their lives day in and day out for six months. Who else knew about it? How could this have happened?
So many videos being made shown onboard the ship and no one spoke up. No other senior officer spoke up and said this needs to stop. There was a verbal reprimand at one point, but apparently, nothing else. That's the question for the navy. What kind of command environment did they have here?
BALDWIN: We will be following that story right along with you, Barbara Starr. Thank you from the Pentagon.
And finally on "Reporter Roulette," Ed Lavandera is in Beebe, Arkansas. He's more on the mysterious death of thousands and thousands of birds. Ed, perhaps, it's a silly question, but did they just fall out of the sky?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what everyone is telling us here in Beebe, Arkansas whose New Year's Eve going into New Year's Day. Many people were reveling. Actually, I haven't spoken with anybody who actually saw the birds falling, however, but the remnants, even though, city officials have gone around yesterday, cleaning up many of the birds, we still found dozens and dozens of birds still laying around the city.
BALDWIN: Any idea, Ed, what killed all these birds?
LAVANDERA: Well, that's what they're trying to figure out right now. We know just a little while ago, the livestock commission here in Arkansas put out a -- what they're calling a preliminary finding that showed that some of the birds had been tested so far had shown signs of some sort of trauma. No signs of being poisoned, but this is very preliminary. They sent off about 65 of these birds to a lab that's much more specialized, much more equipped to deal with these kinds of investigations into what happened to these birds up in Wisconsin.
We haven't heard any results back from those folks just as of yet. But there are, as you might imagine, in a mystery like this, many theories kind of floating around. Some have talked about being a lightning strike or fireworks, but not many people here in Beebe are buying that explanation.
BALDWIN: Yes, but a lot of people in Beebe would like to know what happened. Ed Lavandera, thank you from Arkansas and that is your "Reporter Roulette" for this Monday.
And now this, the family of one politician says it has scared to death of him running for president in 2012. Who is he? And is he planning to run? Shannon Travis has your CNN Political Ticker. He is next.
But first, I want to get to this list. If you made a New Year's resolution, make sure you have doing your taxes early on the list. So, to help you get started, I've got the list of the top five most common tax deductions according to walletpopone.com. Here we go.
Number five, medical and dental expenses. Number four, real estate taxes paid. Number three, income taxes paid. What could be the top two? Most common tax deductions? That's after the break. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: So, the New Year is here and that means, oh, yes, it is about the time to do our pesky taxes. And so, to help you get going, we have the top two most common tax deductions. This is all according to walletpop.com. Coming in at number two, charitable donations. And the number one most common tax deduction you ask, home mortgage interest. There you go. Top five.
And now, let's talk politics. CNN Shannon Travis joins me now with the latest news from the Political Ticker. Shannon, good to see you. Happy New Year.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Hey, Brooke, how are you?
BALDWIN: I'm doing well.
TRAVIS: Happy New Year to you. Let's talk politics.
BALDWIN: All right.
TRAVIS: It dents (ph) off to a New Year often running already. Let's get some of the stories of the New Year. Let's start in Nevada. Today, the state made history. Why? Because it's the first Hispanic governor ever in that state to be sworn in. His name is Ryan Sandoval. He's a Republican. You may remember, of course, you remember and our viewers probably remember as well. He ran against who? Rory Reid? Rory Reid is Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's son. He defeated Rory Reid -- won against Rory Reid. So, he's the first Hispanic governor.
And another little tidbit for historic sake, he was sworn in by the very first African-American chief justice of Nevada. So, a little bit of history going on there in Nevada. And another story, let's continue with another governor, Indiana governor, Mitch Daniels. He's a Republican. A lot of buzz around him about whether he'll run for president, whether he won't run for president. He's not saying just yet whether he will or won't, but he is talking to a local newspaper there in Indiana, and he's talking about the potential impact of his family.
He says he tells the Terre Haute Tribune Star that a potential campaign run, quote, -- his family is, quote, "scared to death" of a potential run. Who wouldn't be, you know, running for president in a cycle like we have right now. And lastly, I'm working on a story right now about the tea party. Earlier, you were talking to Joe Johns about how they plan to read the constitution on the House floor on Thursday.
Well, that will make a lot of tea party activist happy, but another thing that will make them happy is their intention to hold a town hall style meeting to basically, from what they're telling me, to halt these lawmakers' feet to the fire. They feel like, hey, we helped to elect a lot of you, you tea party-type of lawmakers now, no longer candidates, and we want to hold your feet to the fire but in a supportive way.
So, they hope that tea party favorites like Michelle Bachmann, Rand Paul of Kentucky that they might participate in some way, and they're going to be doing that soon. Stand by for details.
BALDWIN: So, you're writing that one up, Shannon, so they can check on it soon, hopefully?
TRAVIS: That's right. It will be up on the ticker before you leave.
BALDWIN: Good deal. Shannon Travis, thank you, good to see you. And remind everyone where they can find Shannon's piece. Go to CNNPolitics.com. they're also on Twitter that is @Political Ticker.
If you get thrown in prison for a crime you didn't commit and you end up spending decades upon decades behind bars and you're finally released, should you be compensated? Some innocent inmates who've gotten major pay dates, but in one state, that's far from the case. That is ahead.
Plus, what exactly is a panda cow. Well, for one thing, it's a money maker. You got to see this. Next.
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BALDWIN: OK. Your choice. Do you want to see people who act like polar bears, or do you want to see cows who look like panda bears?
Well, why don't I just show you both? How about that?
"You Gotta See This!"
First up, it's a panda, it's a calf. Wait. What is this?
This is a beautiful miniature calf born New Year's Eve, wondering what is all the fuss about? Why are you shoving cameras in my face?
Well, look at its markings and you can figure this out. The little guy is showing his very rare genetics that make him look just like a panda bear. In fact, he's believed to be just one of about two dozen miniature cows in the whole world with these very unique markings. Oh.
Without a doubt -- and they're off -- this is the single best hangover cure on earth after New Year's Eve. I'm talking early morning New Year's Day.
Two thousand people made of tougher stuff than me dove into the English Bay. This is Vancouver, British Canada.
And they take it pretty seriously as well -- Vikings costumes, maybe I see some devil horns there. I don't know what that wig was.
But for 91 straight years, the Polar Bear Plunge has marked the new year. And what's everyone shouting about? Yes, I think you'd be shouting too if -- look at that guy in the bikini. My goodness.
A balmy 35 degrees. I'd be getting out of there as well.
And "You Gotta See This!" A small town mayor in the Philippines getting all dolled up for an annual New Year's festival there -- makeup, wig, long dress.
Apparently, it's tradition. Every year the mayor dresses up as a woman, and he's the hit of the town's parade. It's a custom that started decades ago after a natural disaster, and the people in the town needed a laugh or two at the time. And now one of those officially unofficial duties of the mayor.
Happy New Year, Mayor.
And now for a look at what's ahead in "THE SITUATION ROOM," I want to bring back in Wolf Blitzer.
And Wolf, we know this month in Sudan, there's a huge vote. It's a referendum ahead of that. And perhaps in anticipation of some violence, there is a group putting up satellites. Tell me about that in the big interview you have.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's George Clooney, and he's deeply involved. He's been involved for years in trying to help the people in Sudan. There's been a genocide in Darfur that's been going on, as you and all of our viewers know.
He's heading back, by the way, to the region this week. We're going to speak with him live in "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today, and we're going to pick his brain. He's got some new ideas on how to deal with some of these issues, including using some of the new technology, some of the satellite technology, to show pictures, live pictures, of what's happening on the ground all of the time in case there are mass movements of people or mass movements of troops.
The world will know. We'll have a chance to see what's going on. He wants to make sure that no one ever again has an excuse of saying, you know, there may have been genocide or brutality going on, human rights abuses, but we simply didn't know, as was the case, let's say, in Rwanda back in the '90s.
He wants the whole world to know what's going on, and he's going to explain his mission. Right now, as you know, in addition to acting, he's been deeply involved in Darfur.
BALDWIN: Yes. So we'll be watching for George Clooney coming up next hour.
What else do you have on "THE SITUATION ROOM"?
BLITZER: There's a lot of news going on. We're following up some of the stories you've been working on, what's happening with that videotape aboard that aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise. There's new information coming in on that front. Barbara Starr is all over that story, Brian Todd is working that story.
We're also looking at what's happening on Capitol Hill right now, because the Republicans are coming to town. They're going be in the majority in the House of Representatives within a matter of only a couple of days.
They're already making it clear -- issue number one for them right now, repealing President Obama and the Democrats' health care reform law. They're working aggressively on that. I know that Dana Bash is all over that story. We're going to be checking in with her right at the top of the hour.
BALDWIN: We will check in with you at the top of the hour nine minutes from now.
Wolf Blitzer, good to see you. We will see you then.
Meantime, Jerry Brown may now be governor of California, but Arnold Schwarzenegger still making news today. Why? Well, it is over one of his 11th hour pardons.
Have you heard about this story? It involves a politician's son. And Sunny Hostin is on the case -- next.
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BALDWIN: Now tomorrow's news today. Let's "Fast Forward."
And I want to first go to Florida, where Rick Scott will be sworn in as the state's 45th governor. The two-day inaugural celebration got started today. The events include luncheons and dinners, a prayer breakfast, a parade, and a ball.
And way up in California, a judge starts to try to answer this question: Is there enough evidence to try Dr. Conrad Murray on involuntary manslaughter? Murray is the doctor accused in the death of pop star Michael Jackson. Thus far, he hash pleaded not guilty.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, he left the California governor's office in a blaze of commutations and appointments. And the most controversial move has some people wondering if Schwarzenegger was more interested in justice or politics? You see, he shortened the prison sentence of another politician's son.
Sunny Hostin is "On the Case."
And Sunny, let me get you to set this up for me. Who is the convict we're talking about, and who is his father?
SUNNY HOSTIN, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: Well, the convict's name is Esteban Nunez. And he is the son of the former Assembly Speaker, Fabian Nunez, a Democrat out of Los Angeles, Brooke.
And people really are scratching their heads here, because Nunez pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter just in May, and that plea was in connection with the stabbing death of a 22-year-old. Now, his friend, a guy by the name of Ryan Jet (ph), stabbed the victim to death, but Nunez also stabbed someone who happened to survive the attack.
BALDWIN: So, Schwarzenegger says Nunez's sentence was unfair. In fact, I want to read this -- I want to take a look at the statement -- it's from the commutation order he signed Friday.
And Schwarzenegger said this: "I do not discount the gravity of the offense. But given Nunez's limited role in Santos' death, and considering that Nunez had no criminal record prior to this offense, I believe Nunez's sentence is excessive."
So, Sunny, does this commutation strike you as questionable?
HOSTIN: It really does. It real strikes me as questionable, Brooke, because, of course, there is a sound legal basis because governors do have this pardon power. But that power is typically reserved for those egregious cases that sort of offend your sense of justice.
When I look at the facts of this case, given the fact that he did stab someone who just happened to survive, and there was a 22-year-old that died from this, it doesn't offend my sense of justice that he received a 16-year sentence. What does appear questionable is the access. That is, a politician's access to the governor.
How is it that Esteban Nunez's paperwork got to the top of the pardon row? And that is very striking, and I think it has many people sort of scratching their heads about this one.
BALDWIN: People are scratching their heads about this one. Would it be common, Sunny, for someone who -- as you mentioned, two people involved here -- someone who was considered a party to a murder to get the same sentence the actual killer got? Is that common?
HOSTIN: Well, absolutely, it's common, especially in cases where there's an accomplice, where there's someone that is a coconspirator. And in this case, he was involved in this role.
Apparently, they were looking for a fight, found a fight, and he did stab someone else who happened to survive. But for that, he could have also been convicted or pled guilty to murder. And so, again, this is a questionable call by the then-governor.
BALDWIN: A questionable call, says Sunny Hostin.
Case number two. We have reported on several people -- I've done some of these reports -- on exonerees. These are people who spent years and years in prison for crimes they didn't commit. It always seems like when they get out, they get big, big money, big settlements when the wrongful conviction is discovered and they're finally set free.
But there's this case in Wisconsin that caught your attention that really calls into question how much states should pay innocent people who are put behind bars. In this case, $25,000 for 23 years in prison.
Twenty-five thousand dollars, I mean, that's not a lot of money.
HOSTIN: Yes, that's right. It really did catch my eye when I looked at it, because, you know, under the Wisconsin compensation law, the board is only allowed to give him $25,000.
This is someone that was wrongfully convicted at the age of 21, and basically gave up everything -- an education, gave up his ability to get married, to have a family. And then receive $25,000.
That's just really not adequate. And the board agreed, that it just wasn't adequate. But the law didn't allow them to give him anymore.
BALDWIN: And briefly, before I move on, if people aren't familiar with these kind of exoneree stories, other states, I mean, they give multiple millions to these exonerees. Correct?
HOSTIN: Absolutely. I mean, even in Florida, a board can give up to $50,000 per year. And so in a case like this, that would have been about $2 million, as opposed to $25,000. That's about what, a little over $1,000 per year for your life lost in prison?
BALDWIN: Yes.
How old is the law, Sunny, the compensation law in Wisconsin?
HOSTIN: Well, the law in Wisconsin was enacted in 1913. And perhaps, Brooke, that gives us some insight into why the compensation level is so low. Our economics have changed quite a bit since 1913, and perhaps the law in Wisconsin needs to catch up with what's going on today.
BALDWIN: Is there any way that the law could catch up, that this guy could get more money?
HOSTIN: Well, the board did recommend that the legislature give him about $90,000. And so that's -- I think that gives him some more relief, but it's still probably not enough, inadequate.
But my understanding is that he is suing the state of Wisconsin, and so perhaps he'll get that relief. And he's also suing an expert that testified against him for the prosecution.
BALDWIN: Fascinating.
HOSTIN: He'll have his day in court.
BALDWIN: He will.
Sunny Hostin, you always find us the most interesting cases. Thank you so much.
Sunny Hostin, "On the Case." HOSTIN: I try.
BALDWIN: You do a great job at it. Sunny, thank you. Have a great rest of your Monday.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks so much for watching this first Monday here of the new year.
I want to turn things over to my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.
