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Saving Wounded U.S. Troops; Dangerous 24 Hours for Police Across the Country; Gunman At Police Station in Detroit Killing; State Of The Job Market; Dire Prediction from the GAO; Rahm Emanuel No Longer Front-Runner in Chicago's Mayoral Race; How to Prevent Your Baby from Being Kidnapped from Hospital; Top Palestinian Official Accuses Al Jazeera of Smear Campaign; Moscow Bombing, At Least 35 Dead
Aired January 24, 2011 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Carol, good to see you. Thanks, very much. And you have a great afternoon. I'm going to continue with one of the stories that you've been reporting. From all indications, the blast that rocked Moscow airport, today, was not just deliberate, but it designed to do maximum damage. Smoke filled the international rivals section of Domo Dedivo Airport, southeast of the Russian Capitol, where, at least, 35 people were killed and more than 150 people hurt.
The cause of the blast has not been confirmed, but the government was quick to call it a suicide bombing with a homemade device packed with shrapnel. The airport, itself, remains open, but many, if not all, incoming flights are being diverted while investigators comb through debris. President Dmitry Medvedev has postponed his trip to the world economic reform beginning in Davos, Switzerland this week. He stepped up security at other transportation hubs. Here's a bit of his nationwide address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DMITRY MEDVEDEV, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (translator): We need to establish an investigation committee to perform, as soon as possible, on the investigation actions on site. I have ordered the Moscow mayor and the governor of the Moscow district to come there. They are, currently, heading for the airport. And we need to make -- to do everything we can to make sure all investigation -- investigative actions are carried out and all information is obtained.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: And we're going to go live to Domo Dedivo Airport in just a moment. CNN's Matthew Chance is there. But, first, I want to bring in Tom Fuentes, former assistant of the FBI, now a CNN contributor on security issues, joining me from Washington. Tom, where are we looking, initially, to find out where this blast may have come from? Who is responsible for it?
TOM FUENTES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali. Well, I think, from Russian standpoint, they're going to look at this as possibly the usual suspects, which has, in the past, been Chechen terrorists. As you know, they've committed numerous attacks. If you go back to 2002, they took over an opera house, and 129 people were killed in that attack. In 2004, they attacked the Russian-Moscow metro system and killed dozens of people. They blew up two airliners that left from that same airport, on August 24th of '04, killing hundreds. On September 1st, in Beslan, Russia, they killed 300 when they took over that school. They did another metro attack last March.
So, I think, from the Russian standpoint, they'll be looking at the explosives used, and the packaging of the bomb in that airport, to see if it's similar to the other -- the other bombs that were used in prior attacks.
VELSHI: What does it mean, Tom -- I mean, you did mention that a couple of airliners had been blown up, leaving from the airport. But, typically, the other attacks that we've seen in Russia have been on facilities less secure than an airport. I mean, for most people, airports are some of the most secure installations around. Is this an escalation to see an attack at a major, major airport, the biggest of Moscow's three?
FUENTES: I don't know. I mean, it's a soft target, when you're attacking the baggage claim area or you're attacking the ticket counter areas. Those areas are outside of the security. You, typically, don't go through security until after you've received your ticket, your passport has been checked, and then you go through the magnetometers to board the aircraft. When you're coming off an aircraft, other citizens that have not been screened, are, normally, allowed to meet you at baggage claims. So, once you go through the doors, and this airport is similar to almost every other airports around the world, you go through those doors and you're entering an unsecure area to be greeted by friends, family, taxi drivers, others, who are going to help you get out of the airport.
VELSHI: Tom, any sense that this is anything more that some of the internal struggles that Russia's been dealing with for so long? In other words, is this, in any way, connected to attacks that we've seen in western Europe?
FUENTES: No, I think, it's too soon to tell any of that. And, as I mentioned, the Russian Federal Security Service, FSB, will be the lead agency in this. They have a great deal of experience in dealing with -- especially Chechen-based terrorism, in Moscow and throughout Russia. So, they'll be looking at, again, the manufacturing process that was used in that bomb, what chemicals were used. Typically, the Chechens have used a white powdery substance, similar to the PETN that was used by the underwear bomber, last Christmas.
So, they'll be looking at that. They'll be looking at the exact blueprint used to make that bomb, what components were in it, what DNA, or other forensic evidence, can be obtained from it. Try and determine if it was a suicide bomber or whether someone left a package. You know, when you go through baggage claim to go recover your bags, you, normally, see dozens of bags sitting around that have been taken off the carousels, that haven't been picked up yet, and they're lying around there for a long time. So, that could have happened as well. Someone could have placed a baggage piece amongst a group of other pieces, walked away from it, and the bomb gone off later.
VELSHI: Tom, thanks for shedding some light on this. We'll, of course, stay in touch with you and all of our other security contributors, here, to find out a little bit more about what has happened. Tom Fuentes has joined me from Washington.
Let's go to the scene of the attack now. CNN's Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance has just pulled up to the airport. Matthew, as you're getting there, what do you see?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we see, Ali, a great deal of security presence here. Police have been placed on high alert. And not just here, at this airport, but at other airports, (ph) transport installations, as well. But here could be another bomb attack of the kind we've seen this evening. There's a good degree of chaos in and around the airport, although, I have to say, within the past hour, or so, it seems to have diminished somewhat.
The bombing took place in the arrivals area of the airport, and that's been sealed off. It's a crime scene. The investigates committee and detectives and other police officers are there, trying to gather what evidence they can. Also, there are still injured people, I see, in ambulances being taken to the various hospitals in and around Moscow, who have been earmarked to deal with this emergency. So, we are not permitted to go to where the bomb was detonated but the departures area of the airport is very, very busy.
Obviously, thousands of people still arriving to take their flights out of the country. It's the main international airport in the Russian Capitol, and, so, it's always been very busy anyway. The disruption caused by the bomb, clearly, has caused a lot of delays and, of course, a lot of bloodshed. Let's not forget those casualty figures. Terrible (ph). I tell you, an airport spokesperson has confirmed that 35 people have been confirmed dead, so far, in this bomb attack. More than 150 others Are -- have been injured. Some of them said to be very critically injured, indeed. And, so, the expectation -- no one is saying this on the record, but the expectation is that that death toll could well rise in the hours ahead -- Ali.
VELSHI: Matthew, give us some sense of it. As Tom Fuentes has just said, Moscow is a city that has, over the last decade or so, seen a number of these terrorist attacks. At this point, 35 dead, at least 35 or so, that same number, critically injured of the 150 who are wounded, is there some -- how is this -- what was the sense -- as you made your way to the airport, of what was -- what the sense was in Moscow? Is it a sense of terror around the place? Is it a sense of, oh, here we go, again? What is it?
CHANCE: You know, I think it's fair to say that Russians live every day with the prospect of being attacked by suicide bombers. It happens relatively frequently there -- here. The war (ph)period over the past several years, they became pretty rare, suicide bomb attacks, relatively speaking, but there were more suicide attacks against Moscow's transport system just ten months ago. In March, last year, suicide bombers targeted the Moscow metro, killing dozens of people, injuring dozens more, as well.
And, so, this is something that happens in Russia. It's something that is affecting Moscow, virtually, every day. People on the look-out for devices, there's heavy security, around key installation, like airports, like train stations and metro stations, as a matter of routine. But what we've seen here, today, Ali, is clear demonstration, once again, that if you're a determined suicide bomber, or a (ph) bomber of another variety, it is, virtually, impossible to stop that person from detonating explosives in a crowded, public area. Justice will happen today with such a heavy casualty toll -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Matthew, thanks very much. I'll let you go and proceed to gather some more information for us, and we'll check in with you a little bit later as you update this story. Matthew Chance, our senior international correspondent on the scene, at the airport, in Moscow.
Now, to some other stories that we are following. Well, look, their jobs have always been risky but it has been a particularly dangerous 24 hours for police across the country. At least ten law enforcement officers have been shot in the last 24 hours. The latest incident began early this morning in St. Petersburg, Florida, where a fugitive task force, looking for a suspect, went to interview his girlfriend. She told them she -- he was, actually, there in the house. As they approached, police say he opened fire. Two city officers and a U.S. Marshal were hit. Both officers -- both officers have died. We're told that the Marshal is in stable condition with two gunshot wounds.
Police haven't, officially, named the suspect, but local media are reporting he's a registered sex offender wanted, this time, for aggravated battery. It was thought he was still hold up inside the home, but we've just gotten word that Police made entry in the last hour or so and couldn't find him. Updates on this story as soon as we get them.
Detroit police have now identified the gunman who barged into a police station, yesterday, and started shooting. The 38-year-old, apparently, had a relative being sentenced today on murder charges. Still, the city's police chief doesn't want to speculate on a possible motive. Four officers were wounded but will be OK. The shooter was killed by police returning fire. The department says it does plan to release surveillance video of the rampage.
And services today for two Miami-Dade officers killed in a raid last week. The situation was similar to today's shooting in St. Petersburg. Detectives, Roger Costeo (ph) and Amanda Hayworth, were working with U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. As they went to arrest a murder suspect, a gun battle broke out and the suspect was killed in the shootout. Today's services are being held at Miami's American Airlines Arena. Hundreds of hundreds -- hundreds of hundreds of police and law enforcement officers are paying their respects.
Well, good it's a good news development in a war that has had little good news. Last year, the percentage of wounded American troops, who died, was at an all-time low. I'll tell you more about it, after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Hey, breaking news for you, right now. We have just got word in from an Illinois Appellate Court that in a two to one decision they have overturned a lower court ruling saying that Rahm Emanuel is not a resident of Chicago. This is the Appellate Court saying that Rahm Emanuel is not a resident of Chicago, thereby making him ineligible to run in the Chicago mayoral race.
You will recall that the decision was made after a number of hearings that Rahm Emanuel, who has been a long-time resident of Chicago, had left, because of public service, to go to the White House. And that he did not, as a result, give up his status as a resident of Chicago and was, therefore, able to run as mayor.
Now, the Illinois and Illinois Appellate Court has ruled two to one to overturn that ruling saying that he is now not a resident of Chicago and ineligible to run in the mayor's race. We will find out more about this and get one of our friends who follow this, very closely, out of Washington, up to talk about it, very shortly. Rahm Emanuel, at the moment, ruled ineligible to run as the mayor of Chicago.
Hey, last year, more Americans -- last year saw more American troops, than ever, fighting in Afghanistan. The number of Americans killed was the highest ever. But there's a ray of hope for the wounded. Four hundred ninety-eight American troops died in combat, in Afghanistan, last year. About 55 hundred were wounded. But, of those, fewer than 7.9 percent died of their wounds. In 2009, by contrast, more than 11 percent died. In 2005, nearly 20 percent died of their wounds. So, the improved survival rate, of the wounded, is due to several steps being taken out on the battlefield.
Chris Lawrence joins us now from the Pentagon for more on that and the general state of the U.S. military on the eve of President Obama's State of the Union address.
Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Ali, there's no one reason why more troops are surviving. For example, a few years ago they shied away from using tunicates. Now every soldier carries one and they're applied immediately. They've also learned to use mass transfusions. So some of these wounded soldiers are getting 100 units of blood within the first day or two. And those medevac helicopters are now so close to the fighting, that troops can be on board getting attention within say even 20 to 30 minutes.
Well, we talked to some of the best defense experts in the country. Some were liberal, some very, very conservative. So we're not relying on one point of view. We combined their insight to find out that when it comes to caring for troops, the state of the union right now, they feel, is strong. Some of that is because what I just mentioned. Also, it comes to caring for families. President Obama, just a couple of hours ago, announced this huge new initiative about getting more education for some of these troops, providing more programs for kids when their mom or dad is deployed. But across the board, all the experts said, look, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries are a severe problem. One expert told me that basically it is almost a crime that the nation and the military asks so few to do so much for so long. It puts such stress on them. They feel that's going to have to be addressed and that's the reason why the rank wasn't at very strong.
Ali.
VELSHI: All right, Chris, thanks very much. Appreciate that.
Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon for us with that.
Be sure to tune in, by the way, for special coverage of the president's State of the Union here on CNN starting Tuesday night starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
All right, if you're looking for a job or know someone who is, you really need to hear our next story. I'll be back in two minutes to tell you about the state of jobs in this country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: President Obama will give his assessment on how the country is doing tomorrow night. That's the State of the Union. But what is the state of the union specifically of jobs. Christine Romans is the host of "Your Bottom Line" and my good friend. She joins me here to talk about --
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ali.
VELSHI: A promising new survey released today by the National Association of Business Economics, which is a part of more work that you've been doing lately.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: Because you've sort of been taking the pulse of where people think jobs are going. I don't think anybody out there needs to hear what the job situation is because they live it, most likely. But what's your sense of where it's going.
ROMANS: Well, look, the NABE today said 42 percent of companies they surveyed, their members, plan to hire in the next six months.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Forty-two percent of that means most don't. but compare that with last year, 29 percent said they were going to last year.
VELSHI: OK.
ROMANS: So this is the best -- the difference between hiring and firing in the survey, Ali, is the best it's been in 12 years.
VELSHI: Right. OK.
ROMANS: So that's a little thing. There's also a Fed official -- former Fed official today who said, look, they think -- he thinks we're at a turning point.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: You're hearing from a lot of the economists that we've talked to, to try to declare the state of the union for jobs. All of them say, when asked, if it's weak, improving, strong, or very strong. They say the state of the union for jobs is improving.
VELSHI: OK.
ROMANS: With a lot of caveats, but improving.
VELSHI: Sure.
ROMANS: It's going to take a long time to dig out of all those jobs, get everybody employed. People with the best skills, the best background, the best education and the right mix of those things are going to get hired first.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Still have a big problem with the so-called 99ers. But improving is what they say the state of the union is.
VELSHI: Yes. So the issue, of course, is that we have a lot unemployed, particularly long term unemployed, who don't have the necessary skills that we're going to see on the growing side.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: So the net number of jobs that we create in 2011 should be higher than last year.
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: Might even be starting to get to the speed that we needed to be at, above 3 million jobs a year. But for some people, it's just -- the rising tide is not going to lift all boats.
ROMANS: And this is what's so perplexing from a policy point of view. What does the White House do about this? Is this something that becomes chronic and isn't news anymore?
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: And so it's not a political problem for the White House?
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: Or is it that all these people who once were in the middle class, who once made a decent living --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Who were once part of maybe a two-income family and suddenly that whole family is angry and restless and has become the political problem.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: No one knows exactly how that's going to turn out. But you do have a lot of people who are left behind. And what, as a country, are we going to do about that?
VELSHI: Let's talk about the two big areas where people lost jobs, in manufacturing and construction. Construction may come back as there is another boom --
ROMANS: Sure.
VELSHI: And as things -- we start building and we get rid of all these extra houses we've got. That could come back. But the manufacturing jobs that we've lost, is there some likelihood that they -- that some percentage of those come back?
ROMANS: Well, manufacturing has started to show some small gains.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Ten thousand jobs here and there. But 10,000 --
VELSHI: Yes. After many years of losing.
ROMANS: After many years. And you look, since the 1970s, and I'm not quite sure about this statistic, but I think it's something like 7.5 million manufacturing jobs that have been lost since the 1970s.
VELSHI: Yes. Yes.
ROMANS: This isn't a great recession story. This is a story of complete changes in the American economy.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: What happens to the people that used to carry those lunch buckets?
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: What are we -- are we, as an education system, I mean can we put those people -- can they go through our education system and come out on the other end with a job waiting? So far, no.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: So, what are we going to do about it?
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: This is a -- this is still a tricky subject. So improving is a state of the union on jobs with asterisks and every one of the economists that we surveyed, you know, top people in their field, all had an asterisk on the improving number.
VELSHI: OK. All right. Well, that's -- so the asterisk is the key part here?
ROMANS: Yes.
VELSHI: Improving, but for some people, they are going to have to take a hard look at restraining into something where there is going to be demand for them.
ROMANS: That's right.
VELSHI: It's just -- it's not going to be demand all across the board. OK, you'll be doing this -- I know this is something that you follow very closely, but thanks very much for talking to us.
ROMANS: Next hour I'll have housing for you as well. And that's --
VELSHI: That's another -- that's another big leg --
ROMANS: Housing and small business next hour.
VELSHI: OK. We'll talk to you about that. Christine Romans.
ROMANS: Sure.
VELSHI: Be sure to tune in to "Your Bottom Line," by the way, each Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. "Your Money" airs Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. So, on the weekend, three opportunities to get smarter about how to make more money and how to be more prosperous.
OK, you can't buy a lot with eight cents, can you. But after the break, I'm going to show you how the whole federal government may have to get by on eight cents out of every taxpayer dollar. You really can't afford to miss it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: We just received a ruling from an appellate court in Illinois that seems to be kicking Rahm Emanuel out of the mayoral race in Chicago. Let's go right to our political desk. Shannon Travis joins us now with an update on that.
Shannon, what do we know?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: That's right, Ali. This is a stunning development out of Chicago. As you just said, Rahm Emanuel being kicked off of the ballot for his Chicago mayor's race. We're still going through the ruling right here. It's pretty long. We're trying to figure out why the court is -- this appellate court is ruling against Rahm Emanuel, saying that basically he wasn't a resident of Chicago. Our viewers remember that. He was White House chief of staff. He came to Washington for a while.
Back in December, the Chicago Board of Elections said, hey, he was actually eligible to be on the ballot because he was a resident in Chicago, even while he was here in D.C. But this court says, hey, no, by a two to one decision, they are saying that his name should be booted off the ballot.
We are expecting Rahm Emanuel's campaign to appeal this decision to the Illinois state supreme court. So it's not over yet. But right now this is a stunning development to his chances. If you'll remember, in a recent poll by "The Chicago Tribune," WGN (ph), he was up 44 percent. If he had cleared 50 percent in this February 22nd run-off -- primary, he could avoided an actual run-off. So things were looking pretty good. So this is a huge setback for him, Ali.
VELSHI: How much time does he have to start with these appeals and the concern that another court might overrule it. I mean at some point there's an election and he's got to be in it. Does he still got enough time to make this work?
TRAVIS: Well, we're trying to -- we've placed some calls to Rahm Emanuel's campaign now. We're trying to ascertain the time line that they'll move and to try and have this thing appealed. Of course, they will want to wrap this up as soon as possible. Again, that primary is February 22nd. So they don't have a whole lot of time to play with. But we've got some calls out to see when they'll actually be appealing this to the state supreme court there in Illinois. But it's our guess that they'll want to move fast on this, Ali.
VELSHI: Shannon, the issue initially was that he moved away to work at the White House and the initial ruling was that he had worked away -- he moved away because it was -- he was performing a public service and that doesn't count as him sort of abandoning his residence in Chicago. That was the initial thinking.
TRAVIS: That's right. That's right. And the board of elections again -- the Chicago Board of Elections in December said, hey, that because of those reasons that you just outlined, that he was actually still a resident of Chicago. You remember that he was also a congressman from the Chicago area for a long time before becoming chief of staff to President Barack Obama. So those issues, at least we thought were cleared up by this ruling back in December. But this appellate court is saying, hey, no, that's not the case. That he was not, in fact, a resident and his name should be tossed off the ballot.
VELSHI: All right. Shannon, we'll stay on top of this with you. Thank you so much for joining us. Shannon Travis. We'll find out more about that story and find out what those timelines are and get back to you with more on that.
All right, we all know we've got to pay our bills before we buy our snow tires or football tickets or paint the house. Well, the government's the same way, sort of. The government has to fund so- called entitlements. Those are Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the interest on our gargantuan debt. In theory, just like you, those are the things that have to be paid. There's no flexibility on that.
Well, what's left? At the moment, after you pay those things, 24 cents out of every dollar the Treasury takes in is left. You don't think that is too much. If you think that's scary, just wait a few years. My colleague Jeanne Sahadi from CNN Money joins me with a pretty dire prediction from the GAO.
Who is the GAO and why is this so dire?
JEANNE SAHADI, SENIOR WRITER, CNNMONEY.COM: They're an independent agency that's basically like the government's auditor.
VELSHI: Right.
SAHADI: They're nonpartisan, they tell it like it is. Right. So, they made a simulation looking at the long-term fiscal outlook. They do this every year. And they said that -- certain assumptions they assume the tax cuts stay in place, they assume AMT, everyone's protected from that wealth tax and so on.
VELSHI: Right.
SAHADI: And they say by 2020, we're going to have about eight cents of every federal tax dollar available to pay for everything except Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and interest.
VELSHI: So one-third of what the government has now will be left in 2020?
SAHADI: Right.
VELSHI: Let's show our viewers how this all breaks down. I think we've got an animation we can show them.
You take the whole pie, the whole 100 cents and you start taking out big things and you're left with eight cents. So the first thing is Medicare.
SAHADI: Right. That's about 21 percent. Medicaid is about 15 percent. So total, 36 percent. Then you've got Social Security, which is 28 percent. And another 28 percent for interest, which should be cut. And then you've got eight percent left for everything else which encompasses everything that most people think of as federal government.
VELSHI: So here's -- this may be the best explanation yet of what this debt crisis is about. Ultimately, that's what it comes down to, that in 10 years -- less than 10 years, nine years, we could be, if you believe these projections, left with eight cents out of every dollar for everything that is not those things you mentioned.
Such as what? What are the things that would have to suffer?
SAHADI: The Department of Labor, National Parks, air traffic control, food and safety, food and drug safety.
VELSHI: Right. So you complain you don't want things recalled and you don't want --
SAHADI: Student loans.
VELSHI: Right.
SAHADI: Federal student loans. Pretty much everything that the government does except those three programs and the interest on the debt, which nobody really thinks about.
VELSHI: So if you didn't want cuts to any of those programs, which is generally how we operate, right? We don't want to pay more taxes but we don't want cuts. If we don't want cuts, according to these kinds of things, what's the alternative?
Do you have to pay more taxes or the economy has to be roaring at such a speed that everybody's paying -- you may not pay more as a percentage but everybody's paying taxes?
SAHADI: I think it's -- this is why they call the budget unsustainable. I don't think we can get by on eight cents of every tax dollar. We're not at that point -- we're already in deficit. We're borrowing more so we only have 24 cents to pay for everything else. But by eight cents you're really looking at some, you know, creditors may say, no, sorry. Or, sure, we'll loan it to you at a much higher interest rate. Which then makes your debt that much harder to beat (ph).
VELSHI: Right. Because that translates into all of the interest rates we all pay for everything. Businesses that want to take loans, mortgages, student (INAUDIBLE). So everything becomes more expensive.
SAHADI: Right.
VELSHI: OK. What does this calculation, the GAO that you've articulated for us. What implication does that have for lawmakers right now?
SAHADI: Well, Susan Irving, who's the head of federal budgeting analysis at the GAO is a very sensible woman, very calm when she says, she says, you know, both Americans and lawmakers need to ask some tough questions about our priorities.
We either need to decide what we want government to do, figure out how much it costs and then ask whether we're willing to pay that.
VELSHI: Right.
SAHADI: Or we need to say how much money do we have, how much are we willing to pay and what can that buy us? Those are the two questions that we need to ask ourselves. And, you know, there's a lot of diverse opinion and it's kind of a national conversation we're not having.
VELSHI: I wonder whether the president's going to touch on that tomorrow in the State of the Union.
SAHADI: I don't know. He hasn't called me so I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
VELSHI: All right. We'll keep a close eye out for it -- a close ear out for it.
Jeanne, thanks very much. Great description of very much specifically the problem we face.
Tell everybody who didn't watch this, by the way, if you're watching this, to go to money.com and check this out for yourself. It's listed on the site.
All right. A stranger walks into a hospital, then walks out with somebody else's baby. It happened in New York, 23 years ago and believe it or not, it still happens today more often than you might think. How parents can protect their newborns, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Happening now, it looks like a former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel no longer the front-runner in the mayor race. That's because an appeals court ruled just moments ago that Emanuel isn't a Chicago resident. The appeals court overturned a lower court's ruling that had cleared him to run.
In Moscow, a bombing has killed at least 35 people inside the city's busiest airport. Russian officials say at least 150 people are wounded in the apparent terrorist attack. So far no confirmation of reports that this was a suicide bombing.
And much of the nation is dealing with dangerously cold temperatures and wind-chills today. And a storm heading up the east coast, could bring more snow and sleet and freezing rain to the northeast. Amtrak service between New York City and Albany is suspended today due to the extreme cold.
While the suspect in a 1987 baby kidnapping has reportedly confessed, court documents indicate that Ann Pettway admitted her guilt after turning herself into FBI agents yesterday. According to the documents, she expressed sorrow for the pain that she's caused. Now investigators say Pettway snatched an infant from a New York City hospital 23 years ago. Then, raised the girl as her own daughter. Now a grown woman, Carlina White says she's always had a nagging feeling that Pettway wasn't her true birth mother. She used an internet search to learn the identity of her real mother and the two were reunited earlier this month.
Now babies are kidnapped from hospitals more frequently than you might expect. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been looking into that. She joins me now.
Elizabeth, even in a hospital, you'd -- I mean, you'd think that that's the one place a parent can let down their guard, that everything's taken care of.
You're telling me this isn't the case?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, this isn't the case. And you would think that that would be the case. That you're in a hospital, there's all these doctors and nurses around. The problem is, is that sometimes people pretend to be doctors or nurses.
And in fact, take a look at this video, Ali. This is really -- I found it very disconcerting. See this woman walking back and forth? She does this for quite a while -- the woman in the black shorts and the white top. And then you can see her, she walks in, she changes into nurse's scrubs -- that's the same woman -- she just changed her shirt so she'd look like a nurse. She goes into that room and watch her come out with a bag under her arm. A baby is in that bag and that's how she managed to get away with it.
Now here you can see the hospital personnel saying, oh my gosh, we've had an abduction, what do we do? And they did get that baby back. And, Ali, in most cases, they do get the baby back. There are only five case where they can't find that baby. There were six, of course, until Carlina White came forward and found her parents -- Ali.
VELSHI: All right. Is there some profile as to who these people are, who kidnapped other people's babies from hospitals?
COHEN: Yes, there is a profile. It usually is a woman. And it's usually someone who lives near the hospital. And it's also someone who has lost a baby or can't have one and is in a very difficult relationship.
Now, I want to add here, Ali, that this is unusual. I mean, since 1983, there have been 128 cases. There are fewer and fewer as hospitals get smarter about how to safeguard against them. In 2010, there was one case of an infant being abducted from a hospital. The year before there were three cases. So parents shouldn't be incredibly panicked about this, but it is something you want to keep in mind.
VELSHI: Right. But it's probably -- is there something that you can do fairly simple without being panicked about it to just sort of ensure against your child's abduction when you're not with them in the hospital?
COHEN: Right, Ali, there certainly is. And here's the reason why. More than half of the abductions are from the mother's own room. So you can -- while the baby is in the room, that seems to be a particularly vulnerable time.
So here's a tip. Never leave the baby alone. You think, oh I'm just going to run into the bathroom, I'll be right out. That's not OK. Call a nurse, ask them to stay with the baby while you're in the bathroom.
Ask everyone for ID. I know, having had four children, there are people flooding in and out. Ask people, look for IDs, make sure you know why everyone's there.
Also, be careful with tests. Some of these abductions happen when someone says, oh, I've got to take this baby to go have a test. Well, you should ask, what test? If you haven't heard of a test being needed, you should say what doctor ordered this? And really question people. You're allowed to do that. As a matter of fact, you should do that. You don't have to say yes to everyone. Ask questions.
VELSHI: All right. Elizabeth, interesting topic. I really wouldn't have known that this was as common of a situation as you've brought to our attention.
Thanks for doing that.
COHEN: Thanks.
VELSHI: Elizabeth Cohen, our senior medical correspondent.
Speaking of kids, are your innovators? Do they have ideas that could change the world? Well, if they do, stick around for two minutes to hear how to get them a $50,000 scholarship or a trip to the Galapagos Islands.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: Well, heated debates are nothing new in the Middle East, but the latest uproar involving Israel and the Palestinians has something of new twist to it.
In a stunning move, Palestinian officials apparently agreed to seed (ph) large tracks of East Jerusalem to Israel. That's according to the alleged secret documents on the negotiations leaked by the Arabic TV network al Jazeera. The network has dubbed the document "The Palestine Papers." It says that more than 1,600 confidential records of meetings, e-mails and other documents between the Palestinian, Israeli, and U.S. officials covering the years 2000 to 2010.
A top Palestinian official accuses al Jazeera of a smear campaign. The alleged Palestinian offer said to have been made in 2008. In a later document from last year, the chief Palestinian negotiator is quoted as telling a U.S. State Department official that the offer would give Israel the biggest Jerusalem in Jewish history. Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem since 1967. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is declining comment on this.
In Italy, American Amanda Knox is said to be cautiously optimistic as she begins her appeal of her murder conviction. You'll recall she was convicted two years ago of sexual assault and the murder of her British roommate. Two forensic experts were sworn in Saturday in advance of their retest of two forensic experts from Knox's trial. Knox's former boyfriend was also convicted in the killing of Meredith Kercher.
And it is 44 minutes after the hour. Time to check in on the developing stories that we're watching for you right now.
It looks like former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is no longer the frontrunner in Chicago's mayoral race. That's because an appeals court ruled moments ago that Emanuel is not a Chicago resident. The appeal's court overturned the lower court's ruling that had cleared Emanuel to run.
And security at airports and transportation hubs in Moscow is being stepped up right now in the wake a bombing at the busiest airport in the city. At latest count, 35 are dead, more than 150 injured. The blast ripped through the entrance of the international arrival section of the Domodedovo Airport. Much more during the course of the day.
OK. I like these types of challenges. Today's "Big I," Google is reinventing science fairs by taking them to the Web in the world's first online science competition. Students age 13 to 18 from around the world are invited to enter and compete for scholarships, trips, and work opportunities.
Joining me now for more on the science fairs, Tom. He's the director of product marketing for Google apps and enterprises. Tom, thanks for joining us Good to see you.
TOM OLIVERI, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MARKETING, GOOGLE APPS AND ENTERPRISE: Thanks, Ali, for having us on the show. Excited to be here.
VELSHI: Right behind you is the product or prototype of the product that came out of an exhibition, out of the X-Prize spaceship that was born out of an X-prize. I know it's something that Google's founders are very close to. Tell me about what this is meant to be, what this competition is meant to do.
OLIVERI: Thank you. Yes. We're very excited about science and about how science can change the world. If you think about Google, it actually started with a big idea. Our founders had an idea that science could change the world in the way people organize information.
And we think there are countless ideas like that that students around the world have today. Our hope is that a program like this could help those students unlock those ideas using the Web.
VELSHI: All right. For someone who's watching this who thinks they've got a smart kid, how smart do you have to be? What kinds of things are you looking for:
OLIVERI: You know, there's a range of ideas that students can participate in. Everything from computer science and earth science to physics and chemistry. We have different age groups as well. So, if you're between the ages of 13 and 18, there's the enormous opportunity to participate.
We get a lot of inspiration from the students that we worked with to help build this program. As an example, Tesca (ph) Fitzgerald is a 14-year-old from Oregon who has been very passionate about artificial intelligence. In her case, she was thinking about how nurses spend close to half their time to date restocking shelves in hospitals. And she was thinking you know, it could be great if those people could spend that time with their patients direction.
So, she took her interest in artificial intelligence and in robotics to help create a way to help create a way for those robots to help restock supplies in hospitals and give those nurses a chance to spend that time instead with patients. There's a wide range of possibilities here across a big range of topics where students can dream and help create the future through their scientific vision.
VELSHI: All right. But Google is one of those companies that employs real talented engineers. What is it that somebody who's in high school could possibly tell you that one of your engineers hasn't? I mean, are you looking for ideas that you can actually use or somebody could actually invent, or just looking to stimulate how high school students think about things, which wouldn't be a bad goal in and of itself. But what are you hoping to achieve?
OLIVERI: Well, I hope first to help students engage in the scientific discovery process. We think they can benefit tremendously from that, and we want to give them twenty-first century tools to explore twenty-first century problems. And we have a lot of confidence in the next generation. There are big problems that we face, and we think students like Tesca, who I mentioned, can help dream and solve those problems.
The other thing that struck us is if you look at science fairs today, they have not changed much in the past 90 years. Students are still going to gymnasiums, they are still using poster boards and paper and glue to describe their ideas. And we thought there's an opportunity to use the Web to reach a much bigger audience of students around the world and also to help them describe those ideas in ways that go deeper.
So, for example, you can research your ideas online, you can use Google Docs, a spreadsheet application that allows you to describe the data more completely. You can describe your ideas and the results you've achieved to the world on YouTube. There are a lot of ways that the Web can make this a richer experience for the student.
VELSHI: And, Tom, on the screen it says your kid's $50,000 idea. $50,000 is the top prize that you can win?
OLIVERI: The grand prize winner has access to a $50,000 scholarship as well as their choice of a number of different experiences that even create a richer scientific experience for them.
As an example, Lego has provided a one-week internship where the student can work with scientists there to dream up next-generation toys and gadgets. National Geographic is helping the student and his or her parent go to the Galapagos Islands and explore that firsthand. CERN (ph) is actually opening up their scientific laboratory for a week and helping the student work with scientists there is to do physics research.
So, a lot of exciting prizes. We're hopeful that will inspire kids to get involved and dream big.
VELSHI: All right, Tom. And by the way, behind you as I was referring to, the full-scale replica of Spaceship One, which was the winner of - I'm sorry, the X-Prize. So , this is ideas of incentive competitions not new to Google.
Tom, good to see you. Tom Oliveri of Google, joining me via Skype. OK. For more on Google's global science fair and to submit ideas for future "Big I" segments - by the way, we'd love to get your ideas for what you want to see on "The Big I" - we do this every single day, go to my blog, CNN.com/ali.
OK. Will he run again? Rudy Giuliani says his decision may lie with one other contender. So, who is influencing his decision? Find out next.
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VELSHI: One more story for you on the political front. Former Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is Piers Morgan's guest tonight on CNN. You obviously remember America's Mayor, the mayor of New York during 2001 -- 9/11, 2001. In their discussion, his thoughts on taking on Sarah Palin for president in 2012. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST, "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": Would you be more tempted to run if she wasn't?
RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Maybe the opposite.
MORGAN: Really?
GIULIANI: Yes. Maybe the opposite. Because, you know, my one chance -- if I have a chance, is that -- I'm considered a moderate Republican.
MORGAN: Yes.
GIULIANI: So, the more Republicans in which I can show a contrast, probably the better chance -- the better chance that I have.
MORGAN: So, you've been the acceptable face of the Republican party.
GIULIANI: I don't know if I'm acceptable.
(LAUGHTER)
GIULIANI: But the question is -- the way I got elected mayor of New York City was not being acceptable. My slogan was, you can't do any worse.
(LAUGHTER)
GIULIANI: Things were so bad, you need me. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Well, you can catch more of that interview with New York's former mayor tonight 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
A trip across America fueled by drugs. It's a new film making its debut at Sundance. I'll take you there and talk to the director on the other side.
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VELSHI: It is day five of the Sundance Film Festival, one of the biggest entertainment events of the year. We're bringing you hot interviews all day.
Joining me now is an award-winning director Alex Gibney, who's there screening his new trip -- his new film, "Magic Trip." I can't even get the word "trip" out of my mouth fast enough!
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: That's right. It's a bit of - a film about a trip. It documents Ken Casey, the author of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and his 1964 trip across America on LSD. Alex, how did you make a film out of a trip that was sort of designed to be kind of incoherent?
ALEX GIBNEY, CO-DIRECTOR, "MAGIC TRIP": I don't know. It was kind of organized chaos in some ways. What was magnificent is they filmed it. They filmed it with these wonderful, very lightweight cameras in 16-millimeter color. It had been collecting dust in cans for many, many years. And Alison Elwood and I recovered it and brought it back to life. It's a pretty fun ride.
VELSHI: Why did you? What made you think that just because they filmed it, that this would make an interesting film?
GIBNEY: You know, it's kind of an origin story. Everybody -- this isn't the '60s that has become kind of the stereotype, the Haight-Ashbury summer of love, long-hair kind of thing. This is a moment. Kind of one foot in the 1950s era, you know, sort of like the period of "Mad Men." And then one foot in the '60s that was about to become.
So, this trip really marked the beginning of a new era. They were going to New York World's Fair to see Tomorrowland, this kind of corporate vision of the future, it was at the World's Fair. And it turns out when they got there that was the vision of the past, and the vision ever the future was on that bus. And so, that was interesting to me. It's kind of an origin story.
VELSHI: Talk to me about the magic bus.
GIBNEY: Well, the bus itself -- I mean, this was designed to be a kind of caravan of dreams. They had in the refrigerator, which was on the bus, was a pitcher of orange juice laced with LSD. They had all sorts of sound equipment so they could blast music to people as they went by and also cameras and recording equipment.
You know, one of the things they wanted to do is there was a sense by Ken Casey that particularly after the Kennedy assassination and out of the Red Scare, that fear was abroad in the land. And their idea was to tootle through towns and bring people out of the bomb shelters, into the streets, to have fun.
VELSHI: All right. Good conversation, Alex. Look forward to seeing the film.
Alex Gibney joining us from Sundance in Utah.
