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Youngest Arizona Shooting Victim Remembered; Killer Floods in Brazil; Interview With Colorado Senator Mark Udall
Aired January 13, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
We have a lot happening this hour, particularly in Tucson, the scene of that horrific mass shooting from Saturday morning. At this hour, we are learning more about the movements of the -- the shooting suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, in the hours leading up to that rampage.
Also, investigators believe that they have now found that mysterious black bag Loughner's father says he saw him carrying the morning of the shootings. We will have more on that.
Also this hour, as Ali was showing you those pictures, the youngest victim, all of 9 years of age, in the shooting rampage, Christina Taylor Green, she is being honored and remembered at a funeral mass in Tucson.
Susan Candiotti, we have in Tucson. She's going to have the latest on the discovery of the black bag and the investigation there.
But I want to begin with Ted Rowlands, who is outside of that church with family and friends and the community there are gathering to say goodbye to a young, young girl who -- clearly, whose life was cut short because of this tragedy.
And, Ted, I want you to just set the scene for me. I have been watching the long, long line there streaming into that -- that church. I imagine many people, not just friends and family, members of the community, going in to -- to pay their respects. And also the significance, Ted, of that American flag?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
Well, first off, the scene is, as you can imagine, Brooke, very somber here. People in Tucson have rallied around this family. And people around the country and the world have gotten to know Christina Green since last Saturday's tragedy.
You saw that little coffin just being taken into the church just a few moments ago. Right now, the bishop is doing a blessing inside, just inside the doorway of the church. And that's why you see a lot of people outside the church waiting to get in. Once that blessing is done, her coffin will be brought up into the altar.
And then the rest of the people will file in, and the service will begin. And we do expect it to be a full Catholic mass. And we are told that Christina's father will speak after the communion section of that mass. We got ahold of one of the programs. And if you zoom in there, we don't know if you can see it...
BALDWIN: We see it.
ROWLANDS: ... but there's a big picture -- big picture of Christina there.
As you can imagine, a very somber, somber scene here, as they get ready to lay this young child to rest.
BALDWIN: Ted, we saw the top of the program, where and when Christina Green was born, on 9/11/2001. And, if you can, just explain to me -- because of that date, there is a flag, there is an American flag that was brought from New York, from a New York firefighter there, to be there at that funeral mass.
ROWLANDS: Yes. And the -- the Tucson Fire Department brought out a couple of their ladder trucks. And the first-responders that responded to last Saturday's massacre performed a ceremony earlier this morning, a couple hours ago.
And basically they put this flag up in between the two ladders. And Christina's coffin went underneath. And the -- the significance -- significance of that flag -- this is the 9/11 flag -- this was the largest flag that was recovered from Ground Zero after 9/11.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
ROWLANDS: As you mentioned, Christina was born on 9/11. It was stitched together years later by some tornado victims in Oklahoma -- or Kansas, I believe.
And it's on a tour of the United States right now. It -- that flag, that massive flag, will end up being part of the memorial at the World Trade Center. Right now, it's going around the country and obviously it is here today. And there was a firefighter from New York, Jimmy Sands, was out with the flag today. And the family was very appreciative of that. And they said so publicly yesterday.
In fact, here on CNN, talking to Anderson Cooper, they talked about how much that flag meant to them.
BALDWIN: Right.
ROWLANDS: And when they came out today, they -- they all got out, the family got did, and they were looking at it for a long moment and hugged. Christina's father was -- was rubbing his -- his young son as they looked up at that flag. It really did mean a lot to them.
BALDWIN: And I want to show a shot. We have a -- a shot, a live shot of all these people who apparently couldn't fit into this church, this Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church there in Tucson.
And, Ted, if you can just explain to me, I'm sure it's a -- it's a capacity crowd as is. Is the family, are they allowing members of the community? I know Tucson is so tight-knit. So many people knew Christina. Who is allowed in and who are these people we see standing in front of it?
ROWLANDS: Well, I had an opportunity to go into the church before this started, about two hours ago.
And it's a -- it's a very large church. They have invited guests. They're -- they're not allowing everybody in the community to come, because, quite frankly, everybody would obviously show up. Their story has become synonymous with this city.
And so what they have done is, they -- they had it sectioned off. And there were placards for different areas. And there was a couple of pews for Christina's elementary school. Major League Baseball -- there's a significant amount of people here from Major League Baseball.
BALDWIN: Mm-hmm.
ROWLANDS: Dallas Green, who was Christina's grandmother, was of course a Major League Baseball manager for years, and Christina was vowing to be the first girl to make it into the Major Leagues.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
ROWLANDS: And people that know her say that they thought she probably would have been able to do it.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
ROWLANDS: So, there's a lot of people from baseball there and a lot of people from the hospital we saw. A lot of hospital workers are here as well.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
ROWLANDS: Of course, Christina died at the hospital. They were not able to save her life when she was brought there on Saturday.
BALDWIN: And, Ted, you -- you mentioned something. I want to pick up on your point that, you know, we know little Christina was just in third grade when she was killed.
And you mentioned some of her young classmates were in attendance. How many children have you seen filing into this church today?
ROWLANDS: Well, you see can outside -- I don't know if you can see -- there doesn't seem to be any there, but, boy, there has been a significant amount of young kids.
There's a couple there. You can see the picture. But they have been streaming in, because, of course, her -- her middle school -- I mean, her elementary school has been affected. And, like I said, when I was in the -- in the church, there were several rows taken up for with the -- with placards for her elementary school. And we have seen a number...
BALDWIN: Wow.
ROWLANDS: ... of -- of -- of children coming in.
BALDWIN: Coming in to pay their respects.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: And I want to just show the pictures. We saw her parents, John and Roxanna Green, coming into the church earlier. And she was one little brother as well.
And, Ted, I think I heard you said earlier -- if you could just reiterate, you said her father will be speaking.
ROWLANDS: Yes. After the communion portion of the mass, basically, near the end of the mass, he will get up and -- and he will speak in the remembrance section of it.
We should also note also here is Mark Kelly, the husband of Congresswoman Giffords, and Congresswoman Giffords' mother and sister also here...
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: He's there. How about that?
ROWLANDS: Yes.
BALDWIN: Ted Rowlands, I thank you. We will -- will check back in with you in a little while. Thank you for that.
We're also, though, learning a little bit more about this mysterious black bag that this shooting suspect here, Jared Loughner, actually, his father says he saw him carrying Saturday morning, the morning of the shootings.
And it's been the subject of this intense search. And it might possibly now have been located.
Susan Candiotti has been digging on -- on this part of the investigation.
And -- and, Susan, first of all, let me just ask the obvious. Do we know for sure -- do police know where sure if this is the bag, and -- and do we know where they found it?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They don't know whether this is the bag, but it could be the bag. And they say that they're looking very hard at that. But, certainly, it's a significant find.
Right now, Brooke, we're on the scene. And no one else is around but us. We're observing a number of federal agents, including the FBI and the ATF, that are in the neighborhood where the bag was found that they're looking at right now.
They're looking around the area. There's a dry riverbed. It's in the vicinity of where Loughner lived, the suspect in this case. And I can't tell you exactly where we are, but it is in the vicinity of that house. Now, agents have been combing through the area. They're talking to a number of different people to see whether they saw someone -- it's a teenager who was walking his dog and discovered the bag this morning, a black bag. That person turned it over to someone else, who in turn called the police.
So, now they are canvassing the area for any additional information. We watched them pick up a box and put that away in a car. We don't know whether that has any significance here. But when we showed up, they taped off the area to prevent us from getting any closer.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
CANDIOTTI: It's also -- the bag was found in a dry riverbed that around here they call the Wash. We are in the vicinity of that. And we don't know whether it's the spot, but, certainly, they're keeping us away from it.
So, it could turn out to be a significant find, of course, if they -- once they test the bag. Obviously, they will look for fingerprints, they will look for DNA, they will look for for any hair and fiber evidence to see whether they can link this bag to the suspect in this case.
BALDWIN: So, just so I'm...
CANDIOTTI: And we have some...
BALDWIN: Just so I'm hearing you right, you are in the vicinity. You said you're -- we're the only network here in the vicinity of this neighborhood where this teenager found the bag this morning.
Did I hear you right?
CANDIOTTI: We're in the search area.
BALDWIN: Got it.
CANDIOTTI: We cannot see anyone else but us in a taped-off area where they have -- they are concentrating on.
BALDWIN: Got it.
CANDIOTTI: The significance of it, of course, we don't know, because they're not telling us.
But we also have new information from police in regard to the hotel where they say the suspect was staying the -- the night before the shooting. It was a Motel 6. They're not identifying exactly which one. But they found evidence that obviously pointed them to this particular spot. They won't reveal exactly what that is. But, naturally, from previous experience, it could be records. It could be credit cards. We do know that they found a credit card on the suspect. So, that might possibly be how they located this.
And, also, they have now closed, officially closed down their evidence collection at the crime scene, at the Safeway shopping center. They had to finish up some cleanup of the area, including biohazards, naturally, from what had happened there, that kind of thing, before they can completely open it up for everyone -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: So, what -- what you're reporting is that we're learning a little bit more here. CNN is learning more into the lead- up here of the Saturday morning shooting. And you're -- you're hearing from investigators that -- that Loughner stayed at this Motel 6.
Any more clues? Anything else they have found in the motel room, or they're still holding that close to the -- to the vest right now?
CANDIOTTI: We have asked all those questions. They're not revealing what, if anything, they have located, they have found and discovered at that -- at that motel.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: And also inside the bag...
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Inside the bag, we don't know...
CANDIOTTI: We don't know, correct. They're not revealing what, if anything, they have found in the bag.
BALDWIN: Susan Candiotti, let us know. Let's be in close touch. Where you are, if investigators do find anything, please, please let's get you back on the air and pass that along to our viewers.
Susan Candiotti for us in Tucson -- Susan, thank you.
Still ahead here: some more good news, more encouraging news about the condition of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. G. MICHAEL LEMOLE JR., CHIEF OF NEUROSURGERY, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: This is a major leap forward. This is a major milestone for her. And we're hoping that she crosses through many more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: If you haven't heard yet, we are going to tell you what she's able to do now. It's wonderful news. Plus: defying tradition in the name of bipartisanship. One senator wants all lawmakers to sit together at the State of the Union, instead of sitting being separated by party. We will be talking with the senator who has written this letter -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: As we bring you back here to Tucson, live pictures outside of this church. It's the Catholic funeral mass for the youngest victim of Saturday's shootings, for 9-year-old Christina Green.
You can see there are a number of people in front of this church, the Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. They couldn't even fit inside, so they are standing outside, paying their respects to this young, young girl whose life was just much too short.
But we do have some encouraging news here. I do want to get to that, some good news about Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. As you know, we found out last night that she has actually opened her eyes for the very first time.
And you have to listen to her friends, two -- two colleagues here, describing what it was like to be there in that hospital room at that very moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D), FLORIDA: And all of a sudden, the -- the -- the slits -- the slits of her eyes started to open. You could see the determination, that she was struggling to get them open. Then -- then Mark started encouraging her, and telling her, "Honey, if you can -- if you can see me, give me the thumbs-up, give me the thumbs-up."
And she didn't at first.
Then we kept talking to her. And Speaker Pelosi was talking to her, talking to her about how much her colleagues care about her. And then she opened them up more and then -- and stayed opened a little bit, then opened -- it was about five times that she got -- she finally got them almost all the way open. It was the most amazing thing.
And, finally, when Mark said, "Honey, if you can -- if you can see me, give me the thumbs-up," all of a sudden, her arm flew up in the air.
(LAUGHTER)
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: She started touching him.
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D), NEW YORK: The full arm comes up.
(LAUGHTER)
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: It -- it was amazing, just incredible.
GILLIBRAND: It was amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I love how encouraged they were.
And even more encouraging news now, we -- we have found out that Congresswoman Giffords is even doing more than just opening her eyes. A short time ago, her doctors spoke about her progress. I want to play you some of what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PETER RHEE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER TRAUMA CENTER: She's yawning. She's starting to rub her eyes. And -- and then she will spontaneously wake up, whereas, before, she would just go back to sleep right away, like you would do if you were woken up.
But it's like she would be, in the morning, when you get up for work and you're about to have your cup of coffee. She's arousing. Then the eyes stay open, stays open for long periods of time. And then, if you were to put stimulation in front of her, you can tell that she can see.
LEMOLE: She is able to move both of these legs to command. And that's huge. Everyone has been talking about right-sided vs. left side. She's moving both her legs.
Yes, miracles happen every day. And, in medicine, we like to very much attribute them to either what we do or others do around us, but a lot of medicine is outside of our control. And we're -- we're -- we're wise to acknowledge miracles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And, you know, the doctors went on, and they went on to say that, although you can't quite quantify it in science or medicine, the presence of her -- her family -- you saw her husband there -- and her friends inside that room definitely contributing to her recovery.
And Dr. Sanjay Gupta will actually have a little bit more on the congresswoman's condition in a special edition of "SANJAY GUPTA M.D." this weekend.
Checking some other stories here, some other top stories right now: The Bernie Madoff payback pot now tops $10 billion. Today, a judge approved a deal to add $7 billion to the fund for Madoff's victims. The money will come from the estate of a deceased investor who got in early and profited big from Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The investor's widow says he was totally unaware it was ever a fraud.
And for the first time in 15 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is recommending some changes to school lunches. Parents, pay attention here. The proposed changes would increase the amount of fruits, veggies, whole grains that are available and require schools to offer more fat-free and low-fat milk.
You want to know why the change is necessary? Because 32 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight, obese. Folks, that's one of three.
Also, President Obama is set to meet with the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari tomorrow. The two leaders will be discussing ongoing efforts to fight terrorism in Pakistan. The meeting comes just days after Vice President Biden offered increased aid to Pakistan in exchange for a crackdown on Afghan militants based there. Zardari will also attend a memorial service for former U.S. Envoy Richard Holbrooke.
Vice President Joe Biden is in Iraq, fresh off of that trip to Pakistan. The vice president met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki and President Jalal Talabani.
While in Iraq, the president also addressing U.S. troops. This is the third leg of an unannounced Middle East trip that started in Afghanistan earlier this week.
It seems to happen at every single State of the Union. Have you noticed this? Republicans, they sit on one side and the Democrats sit on another. But why is that? Because, guess what, it's actually not written in any kind of State of the Union rule book.
Well, now one U.S. senator trying to change all of that. I'm going to talk to him about his proposal, about this letter he has written to member of -- members of Congress.
Also, we are watching Brazil. Thousands there are ordered to evacuate, as the death toll from floods and mudslides now climbing closer to 400. We will have an update on just how bad it is there and how bad the flooding is now in Australia.
A lot to come. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You know, in the wake of the Tucson tragedy, we're hearing this renewed talk of bipartisanship. And perhaps this will prove to be an early test.
It concerns seating arrangements at the president's State of the Union coming up later this month. I have this letter here. This is a letter from Senator Mark Udall proposing that: "Instead of sitting in our usual partisan divide, let us agree to have Democrats and Republicans sitting side by side throughout the entire chamber, beyond custom," he says.
He goes on: "There is no rule or reason that, on this night, we should emphasize divided government separated by party, instead of being seen as a united country."
And I want to bring in Senator Mark Udall, live from Denver.
Senator, good to see you. As I -- as I mentioned before...
SEN. MARK UDALL (D), COLORADO: Hi, Brooke.
BALDWIN: As I mentioned before, this whole, you know, sitting separately, it is not part of any kind of, you know, political playbook. So -- so, talk to me about what you envision and why.
UDALL: Yes.
Look, this isn't war. This is politics. It's about governing our country. And it just struck me that the symbolism of this would be enormously helpful, particularly in the wake of what happened in Arizona.
I'm not into pointing fingers and blaming anybody in particular, either party, for their rhetoric. But we all agree, in our private conversations, that the rhetoric has been over-the-top. We ought to throttle it back. And we ought to operate in the spirit of Christina Green, the little girl that was killed last Saturday.
As the president pointed out last night. Let's work to make the country she imagined real.
BALDWIN: Right.
UDALL: And this would be one big step in -- in -- in that direction.
BALDWIN: Making it real.
UDALL: It really would.
BALDWIN: I want to play just this -- this bit of video. This is last year's version of a moment that we seem to get at every single State of the Union. So -- so, watch this with me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JANUARY 27, 2010)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We cut taxes for small businesses.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, let's watch this together. We see a version of it every year. We see the Democrats standing, making a big show of applauding. And then you see the Republicans are making a show of not standing, not -- not applauding. And then the president enters the act here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JANUARY 27, 2010) (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I thought I would get some applause on that one.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: So, Senator, does -- does official Washington recognize that, outside of the Beltway, this view is a little juvenile?
UDALL: It is -- very well-put. It is juvenile. And we all end up playing to the cameras and we all get caught up in it.
And, look, the challenges the country faces are serious and significant. And I would think that, by sitting together, we could make a commitment implicitly to work on an energy policy that makes sense, that's comprehensive, on reforming our immigration system, on making sure we meet this real need to drive down our long-term debt and return our country to economic health.
If there wasn't a time to do this, I don't know when it have -- would have been.
BALDWIN: Well, let me jump in, sir. And let me...
UDALL: And that's I think this idea has salience. I haven't...
BALDWIN: Let me jump in, though...
UDALL: Yes.
BALDWIN: ... because I just really, specifically want to get to this letter.
UDALL: Sure.
BALDWIN: I'm just curious if anyone has, you know, reacted to the letter, taken you up on your challenge.
And let me just ask you this. Would you be willing, Senator, to plop down among a group of Republicans?
UDALL: I -- I have already. I will already do so, even if nobody joins me. When I come down the isle of the House -- I...
(LAUGHTER)
UDALL: ... served in the House for 10 years -- I will make a right turn and go sit where the Republican senators sit.
I would tell you, Senators Shaheen and Wyden and...
BALDWIN: Uh-huh? UDALL: ... and Senator Murkowski and Senator McCain have expressed a lot of interest.
BALDWIN: OK. Excellent.
Well, we're going to follow up with you and we're going to see if this thing goes down. And, if it does...
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: ... let's talk again, sir.
Senator Mark Udall for me...
UDALL: I -- I really would...
BALDWIN: Yes, go ahead. Go ahead.
UDALL: I look forward to doing so.
BALDWIN: Good deal.
UDALL: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Thanks, Senator. Appreciate it.
Coming up next, I want to take you to Brazil, this dramatic rescue, as the death toll from flooding and mudslides continues to climb. Look at those pictures.
And in Australia, similar situation, way too much water there -- search crews stepping up efforts to -- to find dozens of people still missing after massive flooding. We are going to have an update from both areas when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Overseas now to Australia. Weeks and weeks of rain has left much of the state of Queensland this dangerous, wet disaster zone. Case in point, look at these pictures. Emergency military crews, they are searching for dozens of people still missing today. At least 15 people are confirmed dead.
But with so many areas still underwater, that toll may rise. More than 20,000 homes are inundated with these muddy, icky floodwaters. Some 118,000 homes are without power. And the -- the good news, if I may, here, the waters are starting to recede. The bad news: Cleanup could take months.
People who live, they are talking about it. They have been talking about friends and neighbors who -- who didn't make it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was trying to save the youngest child, to get to a higher area, and couldn't make it. The force of the water just ripped the child away from her.
ANDY ROGERS, NEIGHBOR OF MISSING PEOPLE: The father and the daughter are gone. I just can't imagine how the mother feels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Aussie police have started working really around the clock, these patrols in Brisbane and neighboring areas, to deter looters.
That's Australia.
Let's talk Brazil now. Raging floodwaters have claimed more than 400 lives there. Many, many more people, they -- they surmise, could be dead -- the big fear, that victims could be buried under all of this muck and mud and debris from the landslides triggered as gushing water slammed through towns just north of Rio de Janeiro.
Many are expecting more heavy rain, thousands of families being evacuated. And one local man is credited with rescuing his neighbor. I want you to watch this. This is just in the nick of time, as floodwaters in the mountain village destroyed her home. Just -- just watch.
So, you saw. We know she made it. But she started off with her dog there under her right arm, and obviously losing the dog in the rushing floodwaters.
Chad Myers, this is, what, just 60 miles north of Rio?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it's -- it's in an area that's very tropical. And -- and this happens.
But when you put people in the way of this -- and they have -- they have built so much on top of this tropical land.
BALDWIN: Mountainous.
MYERS: And we don't know anything about the -- about the little puppy dog that she was holding for a while.
BALDWIN: Oh.
MYERS: But the water swept it away, so...
BALDWIN: Thank goodness she made it out.
MYERS: Yes. And, you know, you said one good thing about Australia was that the water is going down.
BALDWIN: Right.
MYERS: There is another huge thing about Australia that is good.
BALDWIN: What's that? MYERS: There was a cyclone that w was only about 1,000 miles away, a hurricane, but spinning the wrong way, and it's not going to hit Australia. If you can believe this, if you can believe this, this could have been another devastating blow to Australia.
Here's the country of Australia. Right there is what we would consider to be a hurricane, although it's in a different ocean so they call it cyclones. And then they call them typhoons in other oceans, but it's the same thing. It's a spinning mass of water that could have come onshore here, but it's going to turn to the south and away. The same way that when they're running at Florida, they make a big right-hand turn and they run away in the Atlantic Ocean, the same thing is going to happen. It's going to re-curve away from the land. Thank goodness for the people there.
Something else that we've kind of lost track of with all of these other disasters, a significant rain and snow event for the pacific northwest. There could be eight inches of rain from Seattle through Portland and then 70 to 80 inches of snow on top of that. There are avalanche warnings going on right now because it is raining on top of snow. That snow was there. Now it's getting heavier and heavier and heavier because it's raining on it.
BALDWIN: Which could lead to an avalanche.
MYERS: And there it goes. And all of those people that are looking up on top may see snow coming down for the next couple of days. A lot of passes may be closed as all of this comes by. And Maui had flood warnings today as part of the roadways were closed there as water and mudslides closed roads in and out of central Maui.
BALDWIN: A lot of water happening all over the place.
MYERS: Yes. You would think it's the middle of summer in some places, but it's not.
BALDWIN: Right. Chad, thank you.
MYERS: Sure.
BALDWIN: Coming up here, we'll talk about gold. You know gold is selling at record highs these days. We'll take you inside one of the biggest gold mines in the whole country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If you are looking for an American town with low unemployment, stable home prices, and oodles of jobs, we have found just the place for you, Elko, Nevada. The reason, gold. With near record-breaking gold prices, Elko's mines are running full tilt. It's not every day you get a chance to get inside one of these mines, but our own Poppy Harlow did in fact do that. She brings us this exclusive look inside one of the country's biggest goldmines.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your self-rescuer is going to go on your right-hand side.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: We're gearing up to go two miles keep into one of the biggest gold mines in the country.
HARLOW (on camera): I can't believe we're two empire state buildings down below the surface of the earth.
HARLOW (voice-over): And we still have quite a ways to go. Hunting for gold goes all the way back to 4,000 B.C. Today the obsession continues. Here in the Cortez mine, more than 1 million ounces of gold were mined last year alone. That's over $1 billion worth.
DAVE BUNDROCK, MINER: Geology has figured out where it is and they just point us toward it.
HARLOW: But finding gold these days is much more complex and expensive than just, well, panning for it. In fact, you can't even see the gold in this mine.
HARLOW (on camera): It's amazing to me to think that this is gold. But it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
HARLOW: It's right here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You can't see it. It's microscopic.
HARLOW (voice-over): Miners have to drill and blast through layers and layers of rock to reach the gold.
RANDY HAGER, MINER: There's gold in this. What I'm going to do is turn this into a pile of muck.
HARLOW: It looks like dirt, but muck is actually gold ore, tiny particles of gold that will eventually make up a gold brick.
HAGER: I'm going to get about ten truckloads out of here, 10 to 15 ounces of gold at $1,400 an ounce. And we'll do this several times during a day's work.
HARLOW: Not bad money.
HAGER: Not bad money.
HARLOW: So after the gold mine, about 400 tons of it goes in massive trucks just like this one. Of that, only four ounces is pure gold. It's taken, it's crushed, then it's taken to the mill and then it's refined.
JULIUS STIEGER, PROCESS DIVISION MANAGER, BARRICK-CORTEZ: After the ore is crushed and ground, we leech the gold out. From there, we put it into a pressure cooker environment, high temperature in pressure with various chemicals and it pulls the gold out. This is the final step before pouring the gold bar. HARLOW: Barrick mines gold for about $300 an ounce, and gold is selling for record highs, around $1,400 an ounce. Those big margins mean jobs, nothing desperately needed in Nevada, a state struggling with the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the country.
JOHN ALEXANDER, SHOVEL OPERATOR: I can provide for my family, you know? And I don't know any other job in this world that can -- I get paid for what I get paid and survive these days, the way the prices are. There's job security here with gold that high. Not going to run out of work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: And there she is. Poppy Harlow, good to see you. Glad to see they didn't have to use that self-rescuer they strapped on you.
HARLOW: I was terrified.
BALDWIN: I bet. You said exactly what I was thinking, which is you are way deep down in there. It doesn't look like what you think a gold mine would look like.
HARLOW: It doesn't at all. I mean, I had honestly had this naive perception that you go in and they chip away the gold. The gold looks just like the dirt. And they use all of these chemicals to leech it out. They spend a lot of money doing it, but the margins -- they're making three to four times what it costs them to produce the gold. So that's a boom for the company.
But spending a few days in Nevada, seeing the communities there, this is sort of the one bright spot for a lot of towns across Nevada. Major gold mines are there. This is one of the biggest in the world. They provide good-paying jobs for thousands of people. And 1,000 workers were at that one mine that we spent the day at. A lot of them were women. You know that big truck I was walking down --
BALDWIN: Which was huge.
HARLOW: It was huge, and it was operated by a woman. And she said, you know, I love this job. It is what allows me to provide for my family, to provide for my kids. It's all we have here. So this is a huge industry for a state that is struggling the most right now when it comes to foreclosures and unemployment in this country, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Did you get any souvenirs?
HARLOW: I tried to take some gold. But, you know -- I said, can I take the little bit? They said, sure. You don't have the chemicals to make it anything.
BALDWIN: You have gold dust in your pocket.
HARLOW: Yes.
BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow, loved the piece. Thank you so much. Coming up next, this is someone who does not need to go gold mining. The other winner of last week's Mega Millions jackpot is now identified. We'll tell you more about her next.
And then from Princess Leia to the face of Jenny Craig. We'll tell you what Carrie Fisher has to say about her new role when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Carrie Fisher becoming the latest diet-endorsing celeb. That is what is trending today. I want to bring in our entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter for me in Hollywood. Let's begin with Carrie Fisher, known for that tiny metal bikini from "Star Wars." Now I'm hearing she'd like to put that thing back on.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's what happens to all of us, right. You get a little older, it gets that much harder to start shedding pounds. That's all right. A former "Star Wars" star, she has a new gig. Princess Leia, she's teaming up with Jenny Craig as their new spokeswoman.
Fisher, she says that she's been battling the bulge for, well, the last three years and said she was absolutely mortified when someone dared to compare her to a certain British singer. You have to listening to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARRIE FISHER, ACTOR: I came across a posting that someone made about me which was what ever happened to Carrie Fisher? She used to be so hot. Now she looks like Elton John.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Oh, ouch!
WYNTER: Oh, honey, you are still hot. You still have got it. Brooke, people can be so mean. Fisher said she tried everything, every diet out there. Nothing worked. So she started the New Year with a brand new resolution that she wanted to drop 30 pounds. She's lost quite a bit so far. But may the force be with her. That's what I say.
Carrie, do it for yourself. Don't listen to that mess online. People are so mean.
BALDWIN: They are. That's Carrie Fisher. And then you also have this new study and out talking about celebrities and claiming certain celebrities are great for endorsing products and others, not so much.
WYNTER: Not so much. This really surprised me. It seems like really a no-brainer here. You pay a big star with a product, it would spell big bucks, right? Not exactly. Huge stars like Tiger Woods, Donald Trump, Lance Armstrong, they're all a part of endorsement deals that aren't paying off. Take Tiger, for example, and his deal with Nike following by Lance Armstrong, he has an ad for Radio Shack. They actually made the list for the worst celebrity spots of 2010.
And, Brooke, it was based on effectiveness. And not far behind was a Macy's commercial featuring Donald Trump. I haven't seen that one. It came in at number five for celebrity endorsements that just didn't cut it.
Brooke, it all really boiled down to product confusion and dislike of the stars. A few reasons companies may not be cashing in on those deals. I'd love to hear what the Donald would have to say about this. I'd love to hear him weigh in. He's such a savvy businessman he'd probably have a lot to say.
BALDWIN: He probably would.
Let me get to this. I'm excited. Everyone has been wondering who won the mega millions. We saw the cute couple in Washington that came forward. But then there's this woman who has waited a little while to come out saying she's won this Mega Millions. Who is she?
WYNTER: She's a northern Idaho woman. She has $190 million. Look at that big check right there. She's not coming forward. Her name is Holly Lahti. She's from Rathdrum, Idaho. She's the second of two lottery winners from the big Mega Millions drawing, the $380 million jackpot.
Now, we know about America's newest millionaire. She's a single mom who works as a bank teller, probably worked, not sure if she kept her job. And talk about luck. According to the clerk who sold her the winning ticket, Lahti doesn't play much lottery. And so the clerk also said that they had to show her how to pick the numbers.
And so that gamble for her obviously paid off. This lucky mom will be splitting that prize with a man from Washington State. He's retired. He claimed his share last week. It's always great to hear those stories, everyday Americans just hitting the big one.
BALDWIN: It must be nice. Kareen Wynter, thank you.
Still ahead, a former captain captured and held by pirates more than a month talks about his experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. COLIN DARCH, FORMER HOSTAGE: I had to use the ship's satellite telephone to call the owners in Copenhagen. And the main purpose was for me to relay the ransom demands and the threats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: "High Stakes on the High Seas" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Before we move on, I do want to update you on this developing story we are following out of to Tucson, Arizona, right now. In Tucson, that is where our own Susan Candiotti, she's our only reporter on scene following investigators who have just discovered the black bag that may be the one that accused shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner saw Jared carrying the morning of the shooting, so Saturday morning. Obviously, as soon as she gets any information from that scene from any of those investigators, we will pass that along to you here on CNN.
All week long, we have been looking at piracy -- who are the pirates, who are they targeting. Today, we are going to show you how the tense terms of a ransom are played out. Zain Verjee has been all over this story. Here is part three of her series "High Stakes on the High Seas."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lillian Omondi has no news. She doesn't know when her husband, a hostage is coming home, or even if he is OK.
LILLIAN OMONDI, WIFE OF HOSTAGE: It's sad because I have children.
VERJEE: At her home in Mombasa Kenya, she tells me Somali pirates attacked a Korean owned ship in September, 2010, and her husband was on it.
OMONDI: I'm just praying for him. There's nothing I can say but praying for him.
VERJEE: Her neighbors say their husbands are hostage, too, on the same ship.
VERJEE (on camera): How hard has it been for you? How hard?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not knowing when he is coming back is difficult.
VERJEE (voice-over): I met a Kenyan fisherman who tells me Somali pirates held him hostage for five days. "I was scared, we suffered a lot, they mistreated us," he says. "They wouldn't give us water. I was lucky a Spanish ship eventually rescued me."
But most of the 400 hostages have to rely on negotiations to deal with the pirates, money for their freedom. Stephen Askins, a maritime lawyer, says the pirates have the leverage.
STEPHEN ASKINS, PARTNER INCE AND COMPANY: They are not under any pressure of time they under no real threats of intervention by the military. They are unlikely to be arrested. They are not losing money by sitting on the ship.
VERJEE: A long process of haggling over ransom starts and could take six months or more to make a deal.
ASKINS: They will use somebody who speaks English, who will not necessarily be a pirate himself. He will be brought in by the gang because of his -- his own expertise in negotiating.
VERJEE: British captain Colin Dodge was a hostage for more than a month. His ship was captured 70 miles off the Somali coast.
CAPT. COLIN DARCH, FORMER HOSTAGE: Every day I had to use the ship's satellite telephone to call the owners in Copenhagen. And the main purpose was for me to relay the ransom demands and the threats.
VERJEE: Once they tried to escape, but failed.
DARCH: They were very casual with these guns. It was a bit scary 'cause they were sort of wild and irresponsible and drugged up. You know, so, they weren't reasonable people.
VERJEE: In the end, most ransom money is parachuted down to pirates. This is a rare look at a ransom drop in action. Look at the upper right of the screen. See that red canister? It's water tight and it's filled with ransom money. Pirates count it on the ship and release the vessel with the hostages.
For Lillian and her neighbors, the wait is tough and the money running out. They say they will try and start small businesses so they can survive without their husbands.
Zain Verjee, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: And then coming up tomorrow, Zain's going to show us the rather low-tech way some pirates are being stopped on the high seas.
Still to come here, up next, Wolf Blitzer joins me for a check of the day's big political headlines, including news a U.S. senator first elected in 1993 is now retiring.
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BALDWIN: CNN = Politics. Now it's time for your update. As always, we get Wolf Blitzer to join us with the latest from CNN political ticker. Wolf Blitzer, good see you. What do you have?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Brooke, thanks very much. Lots crossing the CNN political ticker right now, including this. We have just learned a little while ago that the Republicans will go forward, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives next week, with the debate and the expected rejection, the repeal of the health care reform law.
They were supposed to do it this past Wednesday but because of the shooting in Tucson, Arizona, they delayed everything to pay tribute to those who died and those who were injured, including the democratic congresswoman from Tucson, Gabrielle Giffords. But now they're going to go back next week and try to repeal it. They certainly have the vote notice House of Representatives, and probably get some Democrats to support the repeal of it as well.
Even though it will be repealed, the vote will go forward in the House and pass, it is unlikely to go anywhere in the Senate. Even if it did, the president would veto it, and they don't have the two- thirds necessary override they would need in both the House and the Senate to do much now. But they get it on record, they do tonight camp pager the Republicans. They did get themselves the majority in the house and go forward.
In making the announcement, a spokesman for the House majority leader Eric Cantor, pointed out "It is our expectation is the debate will continue to focus on the substantive policy issues surrounding the new law." They don't want to get into the polemics, into some of the bitterness, especially in the aftermath of the new political climate after the Tucson shooting.
Republicans, by the way, they are beginning a three-day retreat out of Baltimore now and one of the subjects they will discuss is how to operate better, more effectively in the new political climate that has emerged the past few days.
A couple other political nuggets we are reading, Mitt Romney decided no longer on the board of the Marriott Hotel chain, the board of directors, suggesting he wants more time to get ready for a possible, almost certain presidential run are. That is just a little indication that he wants to do that. He says he doesn't think he has the time to serve on the Marriott board, which he has done over the past couple of years.
And finally, another little nugget, long-time Republican senator from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison has announced she will not seek reelection in 2012. So there's always stuff going on in the world of politics, brook. It never stops.
BALDWIN: Wolf, before I let you go, I don't know if you heard my conversation with Senator Mark Udall earlier. He wants Republicans and Democrats to be sitting together for the state of the union, big show of bipartisanship. You're a big Washington guy. Do you think it's going happen?
BLITZER: Probably not. I would be surprised if it did, only the tradition, a long-standing tradition the Democrats on one side, the Republicans sit on the other side, and I'm not sure they are ready to break with that tradition.
If it did happen, it would with be significant, although we would see, at certain points in the president's speech, we would see Republicans standing up and interspersed across the entire floor and Democrats -- see Democrats standing up if they like what the president said, Republicans sitting down.
Right now, half the room is up, half the room is down when they -- the president says something relatively controversial. But we will see what happens. I suspect it won't happen, but you never know.
BALDWIN: We could surprise even you, Wolf Blitzer. We'll have to wait and see. Wolf, thank you so much. We'll check in with you later this hour, see what is going on for "THE SITUATION ROOM." And we'll have another political update for you in half an hour. You can always logon to CNNpolitics.com for the latest off the Ticker, and also twitter. Go to @politicalticker.
And now, take a look at this.
How young is to young? Should sixth graders be subject to random drug tests at school? Wait to see what happens if they fail in one school district.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
