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Packages Detonate at Maryland Government Buildings; President Obama Announces New Chief of Staff; The Media and the Speaker; Reading the Constitution; 'On the Case'
Aired January 06, 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: Breaking news: Two incendiary devices flare up in two totally different government buildings, all in the state of Maryland. We are all over it.
Plus, this:
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Is politics a man's world? Nancy Pelosi, for example, she is both a lightning rod and a legislative workhorse. And now one magazine is calling others out for underestimating her. Is it because she's a woman?
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): A man is convicted of killing his mother-in-law. Now he is set to inherit her estate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's sitting in jail knowing he's got $250,000 waiting for him when he comes out.
BALDWIN: Really? Is this possible? We are on the case.
In broad daylight, a dad is murdered right outside of his son's preschool. Now, one day after an arrest, a shocking twist. Wait until you hear how the accused gunman is apparently connected to the family.
Plus, Apple reportedly telling its retail employees, sorry, no time off later this month. Is this tech giant getting ready to announce its next hot product?
Could it be a cure for baldness? Coming up, the possible breakthrough.
And cocaine, heroin, pot -- smugglers are using all kinds of new methods to sneak in drugs, everything from birthday cards to packaged peanuts, and, oh, names of celebrities. You got to see this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Hello, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin, a lot of news happening right now, rapid fire.
I want to begin with a breaking story out of Maryland. Here is what we have got right now, two incendiary devices going off in two separate buildings within the state of Maryland about 25 miles apart. You have one there in Annapolis. It's the State House office building, inside of a mailroom, goes off, flash of fire, smoke, smell of sulfur.
The employee's fingers were singed, according to a spokesperson just a moment ago. Also in Hanover at the Maryland Department of Transportation headquarters, similar situation there. In fact, listen to what authorities said just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY SHIPLEY, MARYLAND STATE POLICE SPOKESMAN: This is the package that was opened by that employee. It was addressed to Governor Martin O'Malley. And state mail comes through this mailroom. When the employee opened that package, there was an initial flash of fire and smoke and a smell that emanated from that reaction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Again, we are waiting for the fire marshal in Hanover, Maryland, to step forth and speak, give a news conference there on the situation at MDOT. We will bring that to you live here on CNN.
Meantime, let's move on and talk about remember just not too long ago, when Juan Williams, he was the then-senior news analyst for NPR, remember, he was fired, caused all kinds of controversy? And then a review was launched into the facts and circumstances leading to his termination.
Well, in light of that review, NPR senior vice president for news Ellen Weiss has resigned. She was with NPR for nearly 14 years.
Next, just a short time ago, President Obama introduced William Daley of the famed Chicago Daleys as his new chief of staff. There he is. The former commerce secretary comes over from the investment bank J.P. Morgan Chase.
And as Ed Henry was just reporting, some of the president's union backers are expressing some resistance to Daley for a perceived pro- business agenda.
Next, a judge in Los Angeles tossing out the conviction of Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer and boyfriend. The ruling is this. There is no evidence Howard K. Stern intended to break the law by using bogus names to get prescriptions for the actress. She died nearly four years ago of an accidental overdose.
Next, drug smugglers going to all kinds of lengths to hide their stashes. Listen to this. Investigators in Britain releasing a list of the most unusual methods over the past year. So, some hiding spots include, stay with me here, yams, packages of peanuts, there you go, birthday cards, metal drums, ornaments, even a painting of a famous soccer player.
Next, speaking of drugs, you may not believe this one, these are heroin pellets, 91 of them. And the feds say a woman actually swallowed all 91 to get through the airport in Detroit. They say she is a drug mule from Nigeria. All of them weighed more than two pounds.
Next, a grass fire igniting propane tanks in Oklahoma City. Crews say it also spread to a couple of nearby buildings. Still no word as to what caused the fire. Crews, as you can see there, on the ground working to contain that.
Next, Connecticut is worried been an Asian invader, AKA stinkbugs. The little critters have turned up all over the state, hitchhiking on cars and trucks from neighboring states. Their agenda, much like that of a vampire, actually.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. LOU MAGNARELLI, CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION: The insect has sucking mouth parts, so what it does is it will get onto a peach or a pear, a tomato, a pepper, and then it will insert those mouth parts into the fruit or the vegetable and then it sucks juices out of that source.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Next, an Oregon man behind bars after allegedly trying to conduct a drug deal with his baby in tow. Salem police say the 1- year-old girl was in the back seat of his car. The father was arrested for trying to sell a quarter-pound of marijuana. And then when police searched his home and a storage unit, look at what they found, an elaborate pot-growing operation. They found 20 mature plants and three pounds of dry pot. He is also facing charges of child neglect.
Next, Starbucks fans, you will soon be seeing something a bit different there on your coffee cup, the coffee giant streamlining its logo, new look there on the right side of your screen. So starting in Match, you are going to see the twin-tailed mermaid or siren, as she is known, without the company name. The company says it will help with expansion plans.
Next, don't look for hookers in Arlington, Texas, during the Super Bowl. You see there, that is the warning a billboard sign. The sign shows pictures of men convicted of trying to buy sex. Police hope a little public humiliation, maybe a lot of public humiliation, will scare away prostitutes and their customers next month near the Cowboys Stadium.
And now for more on the incendiary device flare-ups in Maryland, I want to go to live now to Brian Todd, who is in Maryland.
And, Brian, tell me where you are and what do you know.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, we are in Annapolis, Maryland, just yards from the Maryland State House. The governor's office is just over there a few yards away from us.
We are in front of a government building called the Jeffrey Building. This is where the first incident occurred this afternoon. We just got some additional detail from Maryland State Police officials on exactly what happened.
The first explosion occurred at about 12:30 p.m. Eastern time today in this building right behind me, the Jeffrey Building. This houses the state Department of Homeland Security, the secretary of state. It also has some members of the governor's staff who work here.
The first package that exploded was addressed to Governor Martin O'Malley. We got a picture of it a short time ago. Not sure if we can turn that around for you right now, but we will have that shortly. It was about the size of a book. According to officials, it had five holiday stamps on it. I saw a picture of it a short time ago.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Here we go. We have got a picture right now, Brian.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: And they said that it was received in mailroom. OK, great.
BALDWIN: We have got the picture. We're showing it.
(CROSSTALK)
TODD: So you see what the package looked like. Right.
The package was addressed to Governor Martin O'Malley. That's the package that came here. The package that came to the Maryland Department of Transportation in Hanover, Maryland, near Baltimore Washington Airport, just north of here, that was addressed to Department of Transportation, but we were told a short time ago that the packages were very similar in size. They looked very similar.
When the package here was opened by an employee, officials say it triggered a reaction involving smoke and a sulfur-like smell. That employee did sustain some minor singeing of his fingers, but he refused further medical treatment and was not more seriously injured than that.
There was a similar injury, we were told, at the other location where a package was opened. And some people, we were told, were taken to the hospital, but just as a precautionary measure, we have to stress. There were really no significant injuries at all in these incidents.
Police immediately evacuated this building and the building in Hanover, Maryland. That incident in Hanover occurred about 15 minutes after the incident here occurred. The one here was at about 12:45 Eastern time -- excuse me -- 12:30 Eastern time. The one in Hanover, Maryland, was at 12:45 Eastern time approximately, both buildings evacuated.
There were about 50 people in this building who were taken out of this building. The were about 250 people in the one in Hanover taken out. At least in this building, we were told that a couple of hours later, people were allowed to reenter when it was declared safe.
The package was quarantined here. And the investigation is now in full swing, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Brian Todd, we appreciate the hustle from D.C. to Annapolis there and hopping in front of the camera.
Brian, thank you.
Now, also, a dad gunned down, broad daylight, outside of his son's preschool. The accused gunman -- there he is -- now in custody, but now there is this new word he has some sort of connection with the family. That is ahead.
Also up next, the bombshell in the debate over what may cause autism. It is a confusing time for parents. What should they do now? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: It has been this major debate and a major concern for parents really for more than a decade now: What causes autism and is it linked to childhood vaccines?
Today, a study linking vaccines to autism is being labeled -- quote -- "an elaborate fraud." "The British Medical Journal," it's called "BMJ," it says Dr. Andrew Wakefield faked or lied about the medical histories of 12 children in his 1998 study.
The study said nine children developed autism soon after being vaccinated, but "BMJ" discovered only one actually had it. Five had developmental problems before getting the vaccines and three never had autism at all.
So, why would a doctor fake a study on such an important issue? Money is a reason, according to the journalist who investigated for "BMJ."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN DEER, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: I believe that his motivation was essentially to make money, initially to make money from litigation.
He was retained as an expert in a lawsuit for which we know he was paid three-quarter-of-a-million U.S. dollars. But he had all kinds of business interests which he thought would make considerably more money through promoting the scare and promoting public anxiety over the MMR vaccine.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Wakefield's response? He calls Deer a hit man out to get him. And Wakefield defends his study from 1998.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW WAKEFIELD, AUTHORED RETRACTED AUTISM STUDY: The claims to whether the vaccine caused their children harm or not came from the parents, not me. I didn't have a preconceived notion about this at all. I hadn't heard of autism since medical school.
And this was a clinical examination of children on the merits of their clinical problems by the best people in the world, the best clinical experts in pediatric gastroenterology in the world. And they came to the diagnosis, not me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Wakefield's study alarmed millions of parents out there, many of whom stopped vaccinating their children against measles, mumps, rubella. There was a sharp increase in measles cases, in fact.
And I want to bring in Susan Ellis. She is a parent, mom, of 10- year-old Ryan, who has autism.
And thank you for coming in here to the studio.
SUSAN ELLIS, "THE TV TEACHER": Oh, my pleasure.
BALDWIN: I just want to first begin with, what is your reaction to this whole investigation into this study, calling it an elaborate fraud? What do you make of it?
ELLIS: I feel bad for Andrew Wakefield because honestly -- it is very hard to probably backup everything that's gone on and I'm sure -- you know, I haven't read the study, I haven't read the report, so it's even hard for me to be able to come to his rescue and say exactly what happened.
I know as a parent, I think vaccines definitely played a role in my son's autism, that, you know, I feel very strongly about.
BALDWIN: Do you think that so you definitely believe the vaccinations and autism are linked somehow?
ELLIS: You know, I definitely think there are some red flags there. I think in our case, there was probably a genetic predisposition to it. My son was very ill from five weeks old, continually for years and we did antibiotics after antibiotics. We didn't know about probiotics, so we couldn't build up his immune system. He was born with jaundice. I mean, it was continually doing that and we stayed on a vaccine schedule and we continued to give him the vaccine. So I think a lot of all of those played into the role of triggering his autism.
BALDWIN: Now there are a lot of parents out there who are very angry today who, you know, have -- didn't give their kids shots because they believe that these vaccinations most definitely led to autism.
Your son has autism. Did this study at all, looking back, I know Ryan's just 10, but in years past, because of this, Dr. Wakefield's study in '98, did you that make you as a parent pause and say I'm going to stop vaccinating my child?
ELLIS: I don't know if it was the Wakefield study that we had pulled at the time, because this is going back probably about eight years. I know when we did the research that was on the Web site, several reports were flagging that there was a -- there was a connection with vaccines and it was enough for us to say, we are not on a really good place right now, so, if people are calling this a red flag, I'm just stopping right now. What can I do to help turn this boat around and, you know, change this guy and do these things? So, it was definitely one of those changing opportunities that we did, we stopped the vaccines.
BALDWIN: Stopped them cold turkey?
ELLIS: Completely.
BALDWIN: Done.
ELLIS: Yes.
BALDWIN: With this new investigation from this medical journal, will this perhaps change going forward with your son? Will you vaccinate him or is that still off the table?
ELLIS: I'm still -- don't think he is ready to be vaccinated. I -- you know it has taken us seven years of consistent therapy and consistent biomedical intervention to get his body start to be clean again, to get him to the level that he's at. And I don't know if his body is ready to handle vaccines, so I'm not ready.
I mean, a lot of children on the autism spectrum are very sensitive to minute little things in food and additives and so forth, so that's where we're coming from.
BALDWIN: I guess final question, there has been some frustration also expressed because of all the time and money and emotions that could have been, I guess, diverted into finding out what causes autism or instead, you know, part of maybe looking at the study and resting on this idea that vaccinations do indeed lead to autism and now, it's still really a big question mark.
Is that frustrating for you as a parent of an autistic child?
ELLIS: Sure. I mean, I think all we really want probably are just their answers. We just want to know how to fix it, because our lives are very tough every day.
And hopefully, a lot of the money that's going into the research is certainly going to be finding out those triggers early on and just how can we help the future generation as well as fix the children that we've got right now and just try and help --
BALDWIN: Get those answers that you would love to have?
ELLIS: Get the answers. Absolutely.
BALDWIN: All right, Susan Ellis, thank you so much for coming in. I appreciate it.
ELLIS: Thank you for having me. You're welcome.
BALDWIN: They love to -- they love her, they hate her, but were Nancy Pelosi's accomplishments overlooked because of sexism? Apparently, one magazine definitely thinks so. Jessica Yellin has the scoop, she is hang out for "Political Pop" today and we are going to have that conversation, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Something interesting has come to our attention, I want to see what you think.
So since the Republican triumph in the November House elections, Representative John Boehner has got an lot of media coverage and we shouldn't expect otherwise, should we? After all, as of yesterday, he is now officially the new House speaker, and you see him there on the cover of "Newsweek," showed him a second ago on the cover "Time."
And that brings me to his predecessor, that being Nancy Pelosi, the outgoing speaker and as you can see there, the cover of "Ms." magazine. So here is the cover of "Ms." magazine, you see Nancy Pelosi, and what it says to the left of her is this, quote, "The woman 'Time' and 'Newsweek' won't put on their covers."
Now that is obviously deliberately provocative. Remember, if you will, Pelosi was the first woman in history to serve as House speaker, so obviously not small potatoes there.
Want to bring in Jessica Yellin joining me now from Washington with "Political Pop" today.
Jessica, is "Ms." magazine implying that all this media coverage of the former House speaker might possibly, perhaps, be influenced by sexism?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Is it? In a word, yes. I mean, that's clearly what "Ms." is saying.
And look what speaker Pelosi said herself. Brooke, she was asked by "New York Times" magazine and she said that women frequently come up to her and say, is this job less important when a woman holds it? And she said, Pelosi said, we as a country have to dispel that notion, including the media.
Now, to be fair to those magazines, we should make clear, she has gotten profiles and "Time" magazine made her one of the most powerful people in their list, but she is the most powerful elected woman ever in U.S. history and she never had the cover of either of them.
BALDWIN: The most powerful elected woman in U.S. history, I think that bears repeating.
And you know, when I was having this conversation earlier ahead of this segment, I was thinking, wait a second, she wasn't on the cover? I mean, I remember there was a lot of media coverage, she became the first female House speaker, and undeniably, Jessica, she was quite effective, at getting -- was she not? -- getting some serious legislation pushed through the House.
YELLIN: Sure. Look, whatever your politics are, you can't deny that she got a lot done. Not just health care reform and welfare reform this year -- I'm sorry, health care reform and financial reform this year, she also passed an energy bill that didn't get through the Senate. Remember the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to make pay same for women and men? (INAUDIBLE) which extended health coverage for children, a minimum wage increase.
I mean, Congress did a lot under her. And I talk to Republicans all the time who acknowledge that they respect her abilities even though they disagree with her politics, and that is what is at the heart of this -- Brooke. I mean, she is just as able, is she not?
BALDWIN: Let me just pause, though, because what you said earlier about women come up to her and say is your job not as important? Do we know what her answer is?
YELLIN: Oh, she just said this is -- she made it clear that she believes women have to work hard to change and raise awareness about it.
BALDWIN: Interesting.
YELLIN: So that those of us who are in the media pay attention to it.
I mean, one of the things, Brooke, to be honest, you know, people make decisions about what's going to sell on a cover and you never know how those decisions do get made in the end.
BALDWIN: Right. Perhaps that's it, just the bottom line of if you're going to pick up a John Boehner magazine, perhaps, versus a Nancy Pelosi.
Jess, let's go back to January of last year. And how soon we forget that, you know, at the time, it seemed that through this whole push for health care reform, it was dead in the water, essentially. And I want to remind everyone the very strong words Nancy Pelosi used back then.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), MINORITY SPEAKER: We go through the gate. The gate is closed, we'll go over the fence. The fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn't work, we'll parachute in, but we're going to get health care reform passed for the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I remember that sound bite. I mean, and no one, Jessica, really sort of believed she'd actually get this done. How did she get health care? How did she get all these other things you mentioned through the House of Representatives as a female?
YELLIN: She is -- well, she did because she's, according to people who work on the other side of the table from her have cornered the who will hallway by her, other members, she is just enormously effective at corralling votes and figuring out where the compromise point is.
So, you might not like how she is in public, might not think she's good interview or that her public demeanor, her image is what the Democratic Party necessarily wants always, but behind-the-scenes, she is said to be just a master at figuring out how you can -- remember the health care bill, bring in people who are opposed to reproductive rights and those in favor of reproductive rights on a bill that seeks a careful balance, the health care bill, and negotiate these compromises. They just say that is her gift. So it's something the public doesn't see, it is behind closed doors.
BALDWIN: Negotiating the compromises and now cover of "Ms." magazine.
Jessica, interesting segment. Jessica Yellin, thank you.
Also trending today, you now know his name, you're about to know his voice, hear his voice. Big new show, "PIERS MORGAN," he will be the newest addition to us here at CNN. Why is he actually his name trending right this second? Because he has just announced his very first guest on his show.
And, Robert (ph), let's roll over to the Twitter board. Here we go, he tweets, "Official first guest is," ta-dah, "Oprah Winfrey." So there you have it.
"PIERS MORGAN" starts -- correct me if I am wrong, guys, I've seen enough of these promotions -- it's January 17th, yes, indeed.
All right, now, I also want to give you a head's up here from about 40 minutes from now the person who bought one of those golden tickets, we're talking about the Mega Millions, will finally be coming forward here. But keep in mind, that is just one of the tickets. The other ticket, that search, it is still on for the other winner of the Mega Millions jackpot. So we'll be hearing from that one winner here at 5:00 Eastern.
Also, Iran says it has arrested another American, in this case, a woman, and accuses her of spying with her teeth. Really? That's ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Time to go "Globe Trekking" with stories from around the world. Jim Clancy making me smile here during the commercial break. Jim Clancy, anchor/correspondent with CNN International.
Mr. Clancy, we have you up here on two stories. Let's first begin with who is she? Is she American? Is she Armenian? Is she a spy? What is this story that's really percolating today?
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Her name, Hal Talian. Beyond that, we have conflicting reports. First, the Iranians said we have her, she is a spy, we will hold her, she will be prosecuted. Suddenly, another perhaps more official source comes out and says she is not even here. Then we heard from the U.S. State Department. They say they're is not sure she is an American at all and yet, the story continues to whip up a lot of interest.
BALDWIN: Where did she come in? Where did they find her?
CLANCY: Armenia. She's said to have tried get in through Armenia. One Iranian report says she was turned back at the border. The other report says no, no, no, she made it in and then they discovered a secret.
BALDWIN: Oh! Tell me the secret. This has all of our ears perked this morning.
CLANCY: One of the reports from the semi-offical news agency, Fars (ph), suggested she had a microphone or a spying device secreted in her teeth.
BALDWIN: In her teeth?
CLANCY: You know, I just tell you --
BALDWIN: How does that work?
CLANCY: I have no idea how it would work or why somebody would do that in this day and age. But that's -- the State Department says, we are trying to figure out what the heck is going on here.
BALDWIN: OK. So, State Department is working that story, as I know you guys are at CNN international.
Story number two. We've been talking a lot about Sudan. Big vote this weekend as to whether they should make southern Sudan an independent state. Huge deal.
CLANCY: This is momentous. After this weekend, you could you see the newest state in the world form. You take a country of some, what, 40 million people. About eight million live in the south. The backdrop here is 20 years of civil war with.
In 2005, they signed a peace deal. Part of that deal was after five years, they got to vote whether they wanted to stay with the north, with Khartoum, or whether they wanted to break away. And I'm telling you, verybody is will there. George Clooney.
BALDWIN: Let's talk about George Clooney. Because there's been a lot of violence over the years -
CLANCY: And he has been active as a human rights activist, standing up for Darfur. Now, Darfur is something totally different. Darfur is in the west, but the two conflicts have been tied together, really. People rebelling, breaking away from the Arab-led Muslim state of Khartoum.
BALDWIN: And so George Clooney along with his organization and Google and Harvard and I think a couple of other groups, are paying to have these satellites up so they can't -- they can no longer say, hey we didn't know about the violence. We didn't see the violence. Yes, you can see the violence from the satellites.
CLANCY: And Clooney has correctly pointed out, as John Prendergast has alongside him, that one of the biggest problems with Sudan is things have happened there, terrible things have happened and nobody has witnessed it. So, he wants to put some satellites up.
Anyway, he is on the ground right now with Prendergast, John Prendergast, who almost became the special representative of the U.S. over there. The two of them are on the ground. Clooney described to my colleague, Becky Anderson, what it was like, how the mood there is just different than anything he has ever seen.
BALDWIN: Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR/ACTIVIST: We are. We're all a lot more optimistic. I don't think there was a -- there weren't very many people in the world who thought that the government of South Sudan would be able to put together the coalition of many of their past enemies in order to put this together to make it work. Not only that, but the fact that it seems as if the North, including Omar Bashir, seem to feel that some of this is inevitable and he seems to have accepted that, which means that for now -- now that's just for now -- it looks like it's a very good chance for a peaceful transition.
Remember that there's a -- about a six month to a year process where this will continue to go on. And we would hope that everyone will keep cameras here and keep covering it because that's when bad things happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Clooney has his own spy satellites up there. Interestingly Prendergast told me, said, look, a lot of things are happening. Yes, the president may see the inevitable and he's willing to go along with it. Remember, it is all about oil there. There is oil there. The Chinese have a huge investment and china is firmly coming down on the side of China. They are actually negotiating with the south as well. They expect there will be a split, and they are probably telling the president, Omar al-Bashir, cool it. Just chill things out, we have a huge investment here, keep the oil flowing.
BALDWIN: OK. We will watch that, though, it is the 10th?
CLANCY: Yes. Straight ahead.
BALDWIN: Jim Clancy, thank you so much. Amazing seeing all these different celebrities sort of coming forward.
CLANCY: Oh, he's big one, a great one. They don't know who he is, but they love him.
BALDWIN: We know who he is! And also know who Matt Dillon is. We actually got Matt Dillon. He is going to be coming on this show tomorrow. Matt Dillon has been working with this international refugee agency to help situation in Sudan as well. Will be joining me tomorrow, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Don't miss that.
Switching gears, Michael Jackson's last doctor is in the hot seat. New testimony today about the singer's final moments. We are live in Los Angeles for you.
Plus, it is one of the shows technology junkies wait for every single year. We are getting this cool inside look at the brand-new electronics on the scene. They are lining up right now. "Reporter Roulette" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back. You know, there is a lot going on today. It is time to play "Reporter Roulette."
I want to begin with Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, talk to me about the fact that more marines now will be heading to Afghanistan.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT; Well, more than 1,000 additional marines, Brooke, are headed to southern Afghanistan, to the war zone. These are marines homebased a Camp LeJeune here on the East Coast. They're on ships out in the region. So, they're going to go ashore and join the fight.
You know, here is the thing though. We keep hearing about all the progress in Afghanistan. Progress, progress, progress, but it looks like the Pentagon has decided it had is even going to take more troops, Brooke?
BALDWIN: More troops? What about the mission, Barbara? Do we know how long that will be?
STARR: Well, you know, they are saying right now, this is going to be temporary for these thousand troops. But you know, we will see how that goes. The big issue right now, Afghanistan's in the middle of winter. Some of the fighting has tamped down just a little bit because it's so cold there, the weather's so bad, the insurgents are sort of hiding out. Everyone is waiting for spring. When the spring thaw comes, do the insurgents come back and challenge the U.S. troops once again? These thousand troops are a little bit of a buffer for that but at some point, they can't keep adding troops, that will be a problem. Brooke.
BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, thank you so much from the Pentagon.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," Beth Karas at In Session on truTV joins me from L.A. where she's watching this prelim hearing which will he decide whether Michael Jackson's doctor will, in fact, face involuntary manslaughter in the pop star's death. Beth, what about this picture that emerged the past few day including today, the final hours before Jackson died and also after that 911 call was made?
BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION" : The picture that has emerged is one of chaos in that household and that Dr. Murray apparently was more concerned with covering his tracks before calling 911, placing a lot of medicine bottles inside a bag that one of the security guards was holding and then secreting the bag. Then having 911 called.
And even after Jackson was put in an ambulance, one of the paramedics sees Murray up in the bedroom straightening up, putting more things in a bag. And he doesn't tell the paramedics about all the medicine that he has given Michael Jackson. That doesn't look good for the doctor.
BALDWIN: What about, Beth, other evidence? What other evidence might be presented there?
KARAS: Well, the judge has now heard about the cell phone calls that Dr. Murray made after giving Michael Jackson Propofol but before finding he wasn't breathing, about 47 minutes worth of phone calls. One is interrupted when apparently he sees Michael Jackson isn't breathing.
But to come will be autopsy results and toxicology results and also the statements that Dr. Murray gave to the police two days after the pop star died, where he admits giving him that drug that killed him, Propofol but says he didn't give him enough to kill him. And also there will be medical experts, doctors who are going to talk about how Dr. Murray did a lot of things under the standard of care expected of a physician.
BALDWIN: Beth Karas, thank you so much.
Finally on "Reporter Roulette," Dan Simon got a pretty awesome gig. We sent had him to Vegas, to the Consumer Electronics Show. Dan, oh, boy, I don't know what you have going on right there. You had that blood pressure iPod app yesterday.
Talk to me. What do you have on your face?
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you can see, we are not having any fun here today. BALDWIN: Not at all!
SIMON: This is a mask, a ski mask and what it has got a high definition camera inside of it. This is from a product called Liquid Image, from a company called Liquid Image. You can see the camera lens right in there, full HD quality.
We just want to highlight a few of these products we have seen on the floor today. Never seen a camera like this. This is a 3-D camera from Sony coming out in April, going to be retailing for $1,499. Yes, you can shoot your home videos in 3-D, if you want to. These are just some of the products that we have on display, Brooke.
BALDWIN: What -- so far, Dan what is your favorite, if you could take one thing from CES, what would with it be?
SIMON: Well, you know, everyone's talking about the tablets here at CES. I have to say it really is the year of the tablet. Some 50 tablets here on display, everybody trying to take on the iPad. So, if you had to really think about one thing as you left the show, would you really have to sort of say, well, these tablets are going to be ubiquitous. They're going to be in a lot of hands in 2011 and 2012.
And you really sort of have to hand it to Apple for creating this whole new cottage industry, everybody trying to copy them. So, I guess that is really lasting impression, I would say at CES so far this year, Brooke. But we're having a lot of fun, as you can tell.
BALDWIN: Yes, I can tell! I can't believe that 3-D camera, 3-D cameras, 3-D TVs now. I mean, can you imagine the news in 3-D? That'd be a little frightening, but perhaps that is the next step.
Dan Simon, thank you so much. And that is today's "Reporter Roulette."
By now, you have heard lawmakers have read the U.S. Constitution aloud on the House floor today. But did you hear who actually disrupted the whole thing? Candy Crowley standing by for me. She has our CNN political ticker today. That is next.
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BALDWIN: Of course "CNN Equals Politics." Candy Crowley, host of "STATE OF THE UNION," joining me now with the latest news from the "Political Ticker."
Candy, nice to see you.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.
And, you know, first full day of the House at work. And what could be the least bit controversial about reading the U.S. Constitution? It turns out quite a few things.
First of all, it sort of started out -- and this is explained on our Ticker item about this -- it started out as this kind of salute to the Tea Party, which kind of propelled the Republicans into control of the House because they had complained so often that Congress and, indeed, the president, had overstepped their constitutional bounds, particularly when it came to health care. But it kind of settled into something a little different, because what happened was when they began the reading of the U.S. Constitution, it turns out they pretty much took turns. A Republican would read a little and a Democrat would read a little.
And everything was going pretty well up until the time they got to -- and I know I'm not going to have to tell you what this is -- they got to Article 2, I'm thinking, of the Constitution, where, in fact, it says that the president must be a native of the United States. In other words, must be an American, must be a natural-born citizen.
And someone in the gallery -- that is, a visitor who was up watching this take place -- we know for sure yelled out the name "Barack Obama!" It was later tweeted by the Democrat who was reading this particular article that, in fact, it was sort of one of the birthers, those who believe that Barack Obama wasn't born in the U.S., something that has been brought up many, many times and, of course, has been disproven.
So, not even the Constitution can actually clear the House floor without some amount of controversy.
I should say though that John Lewis, just a civil rights icon, read the 14th Amendment, which said that -- which outlawed slavery. Big cheers and rounds of applause. Just a really, really nice moment there.
So, it was -- it was intended -- it started out political, had some politics in it, but pretty much a nice day. I mean, if you watched it, as I did, it was kind of fun to see it happen.
And finally, a little bit of politics in Ohio. Always a little bit of politics in Ohio.
John Kasich is the incoming governor, used to be a congressman here. He had barred the press from covering his private swearing-in ceremony. That would be the official one. It was to take place, as we understand it, in his residence.
The governor's people, the governor-elect people, said, well, not enough room for the media. The media went, I think rightly -- said, wait a second this is a swearing-in of a public official, it can't be a private thing, we have always been privy to these things. Also, they had been banned from some other inaugural activities.
Kasich relented -- the Kasich department, at any rate -- the elect department -- and said, sure, we'll do it. They moved the location, so now they are going to have a public official swearing in, and then another public ceremonial swearing in. So, two swearing ins for John Kasich, so we will make sure that he is the new governor of Ohio. So that dispute settled.
BALDWIN: Candy, before I let you go, back to the U.S. Constitution, I was watching right along with you, and I'm sure a lot of other people. And look, we knew this was going to happen this morning. Members of Congress of course knew this was going to happen.
What did you make of that back and forth before they actually -- you know, John Boehner gave the Preamble -- did a back and forth between some of the Democrats and the Republicans before the whole thing started? Would it be the original, would it be the amended Constitution?
What did you make of that?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, I think there is still sensitivities, and some of the back and forth was about that part of the Constitution which talked about slavery, which, of course, was overridden by the amendment that outlawed slavery. So there was some back and forth.
And because you know what? Even this many years later, slavery is still such a sore point, people see it in one way, and what's PC, what should be read. Should we read the original, should we read the amended? They got over it.
It still, I thought, was kind of a pretty good, interesting day.
BALDWIN: It was an interesting TV moment, that is for sure.
CROWLEY: Yes.
BALDWIN: Candy Crowley, good to se you. Thank you so, so much.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
BALDWIN: A teenaged girl missing after leaving her home for a sleepover, but no one issued an Amber Alert. Why? We're "On the Case," ahead.
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BALDWIN: We are eight minutes away from "THE SITUATION ROOM," and Wolf Blitzer standing by.
And Wolf, I know I'm passing a lot of news to you, sort of in your background with what's happening in Maryland, but I also understand you are going to be talking to Senator Lindsey Graham, basically asking him to grade the president on his handling of Afghanistan.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, he is going to grade the president on Afghanistan. He's also going to grade the new White House chief of staff, William Daley, on what he thinks.
It's an interesting phenomenon, what's going on right now, the shakeup over at the White House. We're going to have extensive coverage on that, what it means for these next two years of President Obama's administration. There's certainly a lot going on, on that front.
But there's a lot going on in Afghanistan right now. We have got some specific issues.
The Taliban, just in the past 24 hours, has issued strong statement condemning Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. We're going to tell you why, and we're going to get his response.
So, it's an important subject, obviously. Let's not forget what is going on, especially on this day, when the Pentagon announced that 1,400 more U.S. Marines are now on the way.
BALDWIN: I was just on a plane with a member of the 101st Airborne heading to Afghanistan.
We'll be watching for you, Wolf Blitzer, in just a couple of minutes.
Should a man who has been convicted of killing his mother-in-law be entitled to inherit all of her money? I know, it's a pretty surprising scenario and, yes, it could happen.
Sunny Hostin all over it, "On the Case," next.
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BALDWIN: Let's now get to "On the Case."
And it has been more than a week now since 13-year-old Hailey Dunn -- she left her home to walk to this sleepover, all of this happening at friend's in Colorado City, Texas. Now, Hailey never got there.
She was reported missing the very next day when she didn't show up at home. Since then, bloodhounds, sheriff's deputies, Texas Rangers, they have all been called in to look for this middle school cheerleader.
But even though no one has actually seen Hailey for more than a week, the state of Texas has yet to issue an Amber Alert, and a lot of people are asking why.
Sunny Hostin is "On the Case" for us.
And Sunny, the obvious question is why they haven't done that. I'm going to get to that in just a moment.
But first, let's just begin with Hailey's disappearance. Have any clues turned up in this last week?
SUNNY HOSTIN, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: Well, my understanding, Brooke, is that the police are combing through hundreds and hundreds of tips that they have received. It appears as if she just vanished into thin air, and so it's been a difficult investigation for the police department.
I just learned today that they heard that she -- that the girl she was supposed to go to the sleepover with had no idea that there was going to be a sleepover. So they are now combing through the phone records, Brooke, of Hailey's mother and her boyfriend, Shawn Adkins. And my understanding is that they have also submitted him to a polygraph exam, because he was the last person to see her alive.
So a very active investigation, although now a week old.
BALDWIN: He is the last one to see her alive. In fact, we have sound. I want to play what he actually told our affiliate down in Abilene, Texas, KTAB.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAWN ADKINS, BOYFRIEND OF MISSING GIRL'S MOTHER: I would never do nothing to that little girl. I love her with all my heart. And I just wish for her safe return.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Abilene, Texas. Are police questioning the mother's boyfriend? He's the last one who saw her. They have to be.
HOSTIN: My understanding is that they are. Again, they did submit him to a polygraph exam, and they are questioning him, absolutely.
BALDWIN: Now, back to the Amber Alert issue, a lot of people asking why, why haven't authorities issued an Amber Alert because of Hailey's disappearance? I mean, wouldn't that be standard operating procedure?
HOSTIN: It would appear that way, Brooke, but Amber Alerts are really for stranger-on-stranger abductions. And if you look at what's called an Amber Alert request form, in Texas that form indicates you have to have a description of a suspect, you have to have a description of a vehicle, you have to have the description of the route that someone was taken.
In this case, because she allegedly left her home going to friend's house, they don't have any of that. It's as if she just vanished into thin air. And the Amber Alerts just aren't designed for this kind of disappearance.
BALDWIN: It has to be stranger-on-stranger.
I want to remind people, Nancy Grace, over at HLN, she's been all over this story, the story of this missing teenager, Hailey. She'll and continue to have the latest developments on HLN.
But I want to move, Sunny, to case number two. And here's the story. A man in prison, he's in prison for killing his mother-in-law. Apparently, he could soon inherit her assets. The woman's relatives, for obvious reasons, very upset, to say the least.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY LARSEN, MURDER VICTIM'S BROTHER-IN-LAW: He's going to get all her assets. Not just the jewelry he went to rob. He is getting the house that my wife's father built.
DONNA LARSEN, MURDER VICTIM'S SISTER: He is sitting in jail knowing he's got $250,000 waiting for him with when he comes out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Sunny, how does this happen?
HOSTIN: People are really outraged.
Well, he killed his wife's mother, and so his wife inherited all that money, which is about $430,000. I will say she that spent almost half of that in his defense.
Now, she died of a drug overdose, which means that he is her sole inheritor. So he ends up inheriting his victim's money.
Unbelievable story. People are just infuriated.
But I was looking at the law here, Brooke, and there just doesn't seem to be any way to prevent it. We are all familiar with the sort of the Son of Sam law passed about 30 years ago, which indicates that you can't inherit your -- you can't -- not inherit your victim's money, but you can't inherit according to something that you've done, your crime.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Sunny, let me cut you off. Forgive me. We're hitting that 5:00 mark for Wolf Blitzer.
Perhaps we pick up with this story --
HOSTIN: OK.
BALDWIN: -- because I have so many other questions about this case. We'll pick up with this tomorrow.
Thanks so much, everyone, for watching.
Wolf Blitzer now beginning with "THE SITUATION ROOM."
