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American Accused of Murder in Pakistan; Police Investigate Gruesome Florida Case; 'Bunga Bunga' Scandal Deepens; Protests Erupt in Libya; House Votes to Cancel F35 Engine; Massachusetts Democrat Proposes to Cut Military Funding for NASCAR; Skechers Being Sued for Causing Hip Injury
Aired February 16, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go, top of the hour. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: An American behind bars in Pakistan accused of murder, and now Senator John Kerry is there hoping to help bring him home, but there's a whole new twist in this unfolding story.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): Police are calling it a horror movie, a boy found dripping in toxic chemicals on the side of a busy highway. Now a shocking revelation about the body found near him. What happened and who is responsible?
What is this Democrat's beef with NASCAR? Find out why one lawmaker is upset with the military for taking your dollars to the races.
Plus, are your shoes causing you pain? One woman is blaming Skechers for hip problems and she's suing. We're on the case.
And a breathtaking moment. You have got to hear this kid's story.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Hi, everybody. I'm Brooke Baldwin. If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it, rapid fire. Let's go. And I'm going to begin with new gruesome details that are emerging right now from Florida.
A couple with four adopted children is under investigation today. This man you're looking at, this is Jorge Barahona. He's now been charged with aggravated child abuse. And according to West Palm Beach Police, they found Barahona's adopted 10-year-old son inside that pickup truck soaked in chemicals next to an open gas can.
Barahona told police he gave his adopted son a handful of sleeping pills while he intended to light himself, the father, on fire. Later, the boy's twin sister was found dead stuffed in a bag inside the bed of that truck. Barahona's wife was just at a court hearing. There she was. She covered her face for a second. It's underway right now to decide what to do with her other two adopted children.
President Obama tries to console the family of a murdered customs and immigration agent. He spoke with them by phone saying their son served our country admirably. The agent here, Jaime Zapata, was ambushed along the road north of Mexico City just yesterday. A second ICE agent was wounded in that same attack. That unidentified agent is expected to survive.
U.S. police, the FBI and agents from the Justice Department and from Homeland Security, they are all working with Mexican authorities to find the killers.
Royal watchers will have their eyes on Canada come this summer. Here is why. Just two months after their big wedding, Prince William and Kate Middleton will make their first official trip abroad as a married couple. They are visiting Canada from June 30 to July 8. The trip will take them all across the world's second biggest country by land size, all the way from the Arctic to Prince Edward Island.
And now we have for you sharks, just because we can. This is one of the cooler shots that chopper crews in Miami get to see every now and again. And we kind of thought it was breathtaking. Look at the water and what lies beneath. So there you have it. WSVN's crew spotted a school of 100 sharks, maybe more, just chilling off Boca Raton on a Wednesday afternoon.
Take you to space now. Pictures show two Russian cosmonauts taking a little walk outside the International Space Station. The pictures, we just love them. They are amazing. And this time around, the Russians are wearing helmet cameras provided by NASA that provide point-of-view video.
This is so cool. Mission controls in both the U.S. and in Russia will then take this video. They are going to analyze it, and the rest of us earthlings get to ooh and ah all over it.
Lance Armstrong putting his bike away again. The seven-time Tour de France winner announced today that he is retiring. Armstrong is 39, and he says he wants to devote more of his time to raising his five children, and he says he will promote LIVESTRONG, the global fund-raising campaign.
Armstrong is the chairman. And his cycling career is marred by doping allegations, but he's always denied using performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong retired once before back in 2005.
And now to Canada. Watch and listen. Yes, I know it looks like he's wrecking a car. It's actually the sound of recycling, Canadian style. This is part of a program called Retire Your Ride. It gives Canadians a way to safely retire their old vehicles. The idea, you take the older polluting vehicles off the road.
People who participate can earn cash or get discounts on public transit or bicycles. No word as to what happens to the mess afterwards.
No banker, no money, no plastic game pieces like the thimble, the top hat. I always liked getting the shoe. Folks, I'm talking "Monopoly." There is a new digital version of the game. It's called "Monopoly Live." It premiered this week at New York's Toy Fair. So instead of rolling the old-fashioned dice and chance and community cards in the center of the online board here, it's now -- it's now online, so you have this infrared tower with a speaker that issues instructions. And it also keeps those of you from pocketing any of that cold hard "Monopoly" money cash.
And take a look at this little guy. He actually saved his grandma's life. She collapsed. This kid acted so quickly. It's so impressive. He pressed the button on his grandmother's emergency lifeline necklace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSHUA DOUCETTE, SAVED GRANDMOTHER'S LIFE: I tried to press her button, but I wasn't strong enough. So I went in and got uncle Paul and aunt Karen in the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They wouldn't have (INAUDIBLE) me. I truly feel in my heart, if it had not been for him, I wouldn't be here today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Aww. The 6-year-old got his family to call 911, prepare the house for the paramedics to get there.
And one of the hot stories developing today surrounds an American being held in jail in Pakistan. He is Raymond Davis, the man at the center of what's shaping up to be a diplomatic mess between the U.S. and Pakistan.
Davis admits, yes, he said he shot two Pakistanis to death last month in Lahore, but he says it was all in self-defense, but what's more here is that Washington, D.C., says Raymond Davis has diplomatic immunity since he was there, he was working for the U.S. Consulate and holding a diplomatic passport.
Now, here's today's developments. You have Senator John Kerry. He's visited Islamabad. He's actually now on a plane on the way home. He went to try to get Davis released. It was a very quick visit. He's already on his way back home. And just this morning, the U.S. Justice Department announced a criminal probe into the killings that has triggered this mess overseas.
So the question of who Davis is, his status, if you will, came up today at the State Department briefing. And I want you to listen as CNN's foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, pushes into answers here into what Davis was doing for the U.S. in Pakistan. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Is he a contractor? Is he a, you know, consulate employee? What is he?
P.J. CROWLEY, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS: He is a U.S. diplomat, currently incarcerated in Pakistan, who has diplomatic immunity and should be released.
DOUGHERTY: And what exactly was his job?
CROWLEY: I can go back -- he has technical -- provides technical services to -- a member of the administrative and technical staff of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad.
DOUGHERTY: And is it a --
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: I'm not going to go any further than that.
DOUGHERTY: But just one thing. The reports say that he was carrying a gun. Obviously, he shot the two guys. Is that --
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: I think that's a safe assumption.
DOUGHERTY: Is that standard operating procedure that diplomats carry guns?
CROWLEY: Again, there are people with diplomatic status in countries around the world who are authorized to carry weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Also of note today, while in Pakistan, Senator Kerry expressed what he called the sorrow of the American people for the loss of life in this case.
Now to an unfolding story, this one out of West Virginia, three U.S. Marshals, they show up at a house to arrest someone. Then, shots ring out. The brand-new developments and the new pictures from the scene, we will have that for you straight ahead.
Plus, you have heard all the fighting, what to cut from the budget, what to keep in the budget, but cancer funding, cancer funding could be on the chopping block, and now one person is speaking out about that, this woman. This is Patrick Swayze's widow. She is on Capitol Hill today, and guess who caught up with her? My friend Brianna Keilar. We are going to have that conversation next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Developing now, someone opens fire on several U.S. Marshals and now one deputy has died. The whole thing happened today in West Virginia. We are told three Marshals walked up to this home. They were there to serve an arrest warrant. The suspect pulls a shotgun, then the trigger. Investigators say the man was wanted on drug charges. He died in the shoot-out. The second deputy is recovering, and the third has been released.
Refugees, orphans, hunger, AIDS, each is certainly familiar to us as a cause celebre, but today a celebrity who has already left us is now raising awareness on Capitol Hill. You know him. There he is, what with some serious moves from "Dirty Dancing" and from "Ghost." And now his widow is making sure Patrick Swayze's spirit brings attention to pancreatic cancer.
I want to bring in Brianna Keilar, who caught up with her on Capitol Hill.
And, Brianna, what does she say? What does she want us to know about Patrick Swayze's form of cancer?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She wants people to know, Brooke, that it needs more in the way of research funding.
Lisa Swayze was here on the Hill today as a spokeswoman for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network trying to raise awareness. Pancreatic cancer is, of course, a very deadly type of cancer. In fact, 75 percent of people diagnosed with it die within a year. So she was here lobbying Congress to make it more of a priority, to put aside these funding dollars for research, because it really doesn't get a lot of funding, even though it's the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths here in the U.S.
The thing, though, Brooke -- and you know this -- we have been covering this -- it's a really hard week to be asking Congress for money. This is a week that's all about spending cuts.
I asked Mrs. Swayze about that, and here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA SWAYZE, PANCREATIC CANCER ACTION NETWORK: Part of me kind of wants to go, I don't care, you know? It's our turn. But I do care. Every -- everybody that's fighting for something that will prolong their life and improve their quality of life is very, very -- it's important.
But pancreatic cancer has been at the back of the line for a very, very long time.
KEILAR: You're really Patrick's surrogate here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Oh, it cut off, Brianna. What did she say?
KEILAR: That was actually really a very interesting moment, because she is Patrick Swayze's surrogate, Brooke, and that's because so many people who suffer from pancreatic cancer never survive to tell their stories.
She actually -- and to raise awareness. So she said yes and she kind -- she actually kind of looked around and said, but I do feel like he is here. And that's really the point, that she's here to raise awareness for so many people who can't. She said she wanted to carry on his message so that his death isn't in vain. And of course he did die a year-and-a-half ago, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes. And I love how she said that. And so many people who have lost loved ones to cancer would probably say the same thing. She said, we don't care.
And my question then to you, Brianna, would be, would we actually see a showdown on the House floor today over the funding dollars here for cancer research? If we see that, how would that then play out?
KEILAR: Yes, we're expecting to see that because the spending cuts bill includes a provision that would cut hundreds of millions of dollars to the National Institutes of Health, which is one of the preeminent funders of cancer research.
That's in the bill, and there is actually a Democratic congressman, Ed Markey, who is proposing to reinstate that funding. So we could be seeing a vote really here just in the next little while, Brooke. But I think what you're really seeing here in this specific example is what's going on, on the House floor.
You have some people saying, oh, my goodness. Look at these cuts. There are serious consequences for the kind of cuts that House Republicans are talking about making. But House Republicans are saying, yes, but we're facing a mountain of debt, and, if we don't deal with that, if we don't all make cuts to many agencies, we're going to have consequences there.
And I should tell you that this push to make pancreatic cancer funding a big priority, it has broad bipartisan support. It's not just Democrats, a lot of Republicans want to see it, too.
BALDWIN: I can only imagine a lot of people thinking, yes, I can relate, absolutely.
Brianna Keilar for me on Capitol Hill. Brianna, thank you.
And now this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Have you ever been topless in the presence of the prime minister?
NICOLE MINETTI, LOMBARDY REGIONAL COUNCILOR: No. I haven't.
(LAUGHTER)
RIVERS: And you're laughing --
MINETTI: And I'm laughing because it seems -- it's -- it's very much -- I mean laughable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: How about those questions? What's so funny? What's so laughable about being connected to a prime minister's sex scandal? A woman at the center of this whole thing gives CNN this exclusive interview. Hear what she found to be so laughable.
Don't miss this. We're back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A certain world leader has been putting on "bunga bunga" parties. You heard me correctly. The words "bunga bunga," and everybody's got their thing, you know, guy is a world leader here, needs to blow off steam. You got it?
But here's the problem. Lurid details of these private bacchanalias have come to include this young woman. This is the woman known as "Ruby the Heart Stealer" and the world leader in question here is alleged to have paid her for sex.
And not just that here, but Ruby got herself in jam with police, he allegedly made a little phone call that might help spring her from jail. On that one, he says he intervened because he thought at the time that Ruby was related to another world leader and he didn't want an international incident. You follow?
So in case you haven't guessed here, we're talking about Italy's Silvio Berlusconi. He is, of course, denying both charges, and yesterday he was ordered to stand trial. You can bet we'll be following that, but back to these "bunga bunga" parties.
Our own CNN's Dan Rivers has tracked down one woman who is suspected of rounding up some of these attending prostitutes. Her name Nicole Minetti and some way or another she found her way into politics. Go figure.
Here's Dan with the interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TEXT: Minetti on Ruby.
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you introduce Ruby, this young Moroccan girl, to the prime minister?
NICOLE MINETTI, LOMBARDY REGIONAL COUNCILOR: No. Absolutely not, no.
RIVERS: At what point did you know that Ruby was a minor, was under 18? MINETTI: That was the night that I went to the costuran (ph), the 27th of May. Yes. She had told us that she was 24 years old, and that wasn't hard to believe because she seems much older than what she is actually, yes.
RIVERS: Did you think that the prime minister knew that she was a minor?
MINETTI: Absolutely not. He did not know her real age, no.
RIVERS: Describe to me what happened that night. How did the prime minister appear on the phone after Ruby had been arrested?
MINETTI: I remember that there was this Brazilian girl which told me that Ruby was -- had been stopped because she didn't have any documents with her, any ID. And then it came out that she was under 18. So we stopped in costuran at 2:00 in the morning because obviously she didn't have any ID and the police were trying to find the ID.
RIVERS: Did the prime minister call you during this process?
MINETTI: Yes. Yes. We -- yes, a couple of times. I think I called him as well to let him know how the things were going. And obviously, he was quite worried as well, because I mean we were young girls in costura (ph). So I called him to let him know that everything was OK. That we were OK. That the girl was OK, and how things were going through in the night.
TEXT: Minetti on "the wild parties" in Berlusconi's basement.
MINETTI: This was not how the evenings used to finish. I mean, in any way, absolutely not.
There is a music room, let's call it, in which there can be some soft music, rather than more modern music. But I would not absolutely describe it -- describe it as night club in any way.
RIVERS: Some of the evidence suggests that you were topless at some of these parties. That you were dressed up in some sort of uniform. Is that true? Have you ever been topless in the presence of the prime minister?
MINETTI: No. I haven't.
(LAUGHTER)
RIVERS: And you're laughing --
MINETTI: And I'm laughing because it seems -- it's -- it's very much -- I mean laughable. That's all I can say.
RIVERS: So you completely deny that you procured any women for the prime minister for prostitution?
MINETTI: Yes, I deny that. Absolutely, yes. TEXT: Minetti on Berlusconi.
MINETTI: He's a really great man. He's generous. He's good, good in the heart.
The great thing about him is that he believes a lot in young people. He's not afraid of believing and investing in young people.
RIVERS: So you would deny ever having received any money from Silvio Berlusconi?
MINETTI: Well, he helped me in some -- in some situations. I mean he's -- he doesn't have any problems helping people even in an economic way.
RIVERS: How much money did he give you?
MINETTI: That's a detail which I wouldn't go into.
RIVERS: But thousands of Euros?
MINETTI: It doesn't matter. That's not the -- that's not the matter.
RIVERS: Well, some people say it does matter because it -- it would suggest that he was either paying for your services or paying to keep you quiet.
MINETTI: Or he was helping me just because he cared for me. It could be one thing or the other.
RIVERS: Do you -- how would you describe your relationship with the prime minister?
MINETTI: I had an affectionate relationship meaning of someone that you care for and cared for you.
RIVERS: But not an improper relationship, a sexual relationship?
MINETTI: I wouldn't go in those details. Those are private details -- private details.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Dan Rivers with the exclusive there.
Now Prime Minister Berlusconi is set to go on trial April 6th before a panel of three judges, all women. The charges are paying an underage girl for sex and abuse of office.
A new wave of protests rattling the Middle East. The revolution that sent leaders in Egypt packing is now spreading. So for these other countries does it mean there's no turning back? And who goes down first, the protesters or their government?
Hala Gorani fresh back from Egypt standing by for me. We're going to talk about these countries nearby.
Stay right there. Back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Back to the urgent situation overseas. Spreading Arab unrest, triggering more protests.
CNN International anchor and international correspondent Hala Gorani joining me with perspective on the unrest we're seeing now.
We're no longer just talking Egypt and Tunisia. We're talking Bahrain, we're talking Libya. Let's start with Bahrain.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Bahrain is a tiny --
BALDWIN: Pearl Square.
GORANI: -- yes, Pearl Roundabout, I think it's called. I was there a few years ago, in fact, reporting on the Shia unrest in that country.
Bahrain is a tiny island kingdom. Half a million Bahrainians live there and the other half a million are expatriates who work there.
Now what we're seeing here are some demonstrations that are largely Shias, they're the majority, but the ruling class is Sunni. So the demonstrations in Bahrain are a little bit more sectarian in nature than what we saw in Egypt where it was really an anti- government movement that brought the dictatorship down.
BALDWIN: So this is secular?
GORANI: It's sectarian. You have the Shia majority and the Sunni ruling family minority, they've ruled for two centuries. And there's discontent because Shias says they're not represented in government, they're not given responsibility posts within the government and the military.
BALDWIN: So why does the U.S. -- we're watching this tiny island nation, why do we care?
GORANI: Because the United States has important naval bases in Bahrain. The United States relies on a country like Bahrain to sort of -- its Sunni family minority to keep the Shia majority in check, so there is a counterbalance of all these Sunni Gulf States against Iran.
So the United States, in any case, regardless of what its interests are strategically, cannot afford for instability to hit country after country. So I think that's part of the reason the United States cares so much, but militarily Bahrain is important to the U.S.
BALDWIN: Militarily. And then we have right next to Egypt, right next to where you were just recently, Libya.
GORANI: Libya is a whole other story. This is a -- an autocratic regime. Muammar Gadhafi is the longest-serving Arab leader.
BALDWIN: What is it, 32?
GORANI: I think it's closer to 40 years.
BALDWIN: Wow.
GORANI: We've seen in the coastal city of Benghazi hundreds of protestors.
What you're seeing here, however, are state-approved pictures of pro-government protestors. A joke in the Middle East, you know, whenever there's discontent in the street, there's the Ministry of Spontaneous Demonstrations that kind of organizes. You know, people try to make light.
BALDWIN: Middle Eastern jokes.
GORANI: Right, they try to make light of sometimes more tragic situations.
But I think we have video that was posted on YouTube of anti- government demonstrations. They are rare in Libya. Libya is not a government or a regime that tolerates open protests.
Now, the big question is will these protests, whether they are in Bahrain or in Libya, lead to the same result as what we saw in Egypt and nothing is less certain than that. I mean, in Libya, many analysts say the military there won't have much -- much trouble probably cracking down on protesters if they keep this going.
BALDWIN: We're watching. Nick Kristof in "The New York Times," we were talking, said looking historically, these kinds of protests are contagious and they have proven to be sort of outside of Egypt thus far.
GORANI: Yes, they have been. And it's just -- each country, though, is different and has its own set of rules when it comes to how the government responds.
BALDWIN: It's not all the same. We certainly can't talk about them, you know --
GORANI: No, it's not, but let me say something, too. I have predicted every turn of this wrong. I didn't think Egypt would lead to the fall of a dictator in 18 days. I didn't think that in Tunisia within a month Ben Ali would be flying to Jeddah to seek refuge in Saudi Arabia.
BALDWIN: So we're not predicting. Bottom line, we're not.
GORANI: Oh, I have completely stopped making predictions, Brooke, let me tell you, because each time a new surprise is around the corner this region that's going through such fundamental transformation.
BALDWIN: We'll see where the unpredictability takes us tomorrow then, Hala Gorani. Thank you.
Next, a guy -- you may remember, maybe you remember this song. Remember you say Alvin, I say Green? I'm not singing it, but you can YouTube it. Well, the Democrat just finished another political race. Yes, he is running. The results are in. Jessica Yellin is standing by -- maybe she'll sing, maybe not -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Time now for a quick political update. Let's go to Jessica Yellin in Washington with the latest.
Jessica, talk to me. Alvin Greene, or are you going to make you wait?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm making you wait. I'll always save those light ones for the end, you know?
We're starting with some news just in actually, Brooke -- a rare alliance between liberal Democrats in the House of Representatives and Tea Party Republicans, who have together voted to slash some military funding. They've -- the House has voted to cut funding for a redundant engine for the F-35 fighter jet which will save $450 million this year alone.
Here's why this is big news and surprising -- for five years, the Bush and Obama White Houses have both, have each, tried to get the House of Representatives, Congress, to cut this funding, but it's always been protected because this engine is made by G.E. and Rolls Royce and they have spread the jobs out through so many states that it has many protectors in Congress.
But now, with this much pressure on the members to start cutting spending, they voted for this, and it's one of a package of many spending cuts that the House and Senate will soon consider. The White House has threatened to veto this spending package -- keep in mind -- if those cuts go too deep into the president's top priorities.
Also on Capitol Hill, a political odd couple showed up. They are testifying next to each other, and it was a rare sight. Richard Trumka, the head of the AFL-CIO, one of the nation's largest unions, testified with a man some might consider his arch-nemesis, Tom Donohue of the Chamber of Commerce. In fact, they had to toss a coin to see who would go first. I think we have a picture of that coin toss.
They were there because they were both urging the Senate to invest more in infrastructure spending across the country, but they both had a little bit of fun with this. They -- I'm told we don't have the picture, I'm sorry.
BALDWIN: No. YELLIN: But believe me, it happened. Trumka joked, "That the fact that we appear together does not mean that hell has frozen over," and Donohue said, "No, we're not Facebook friends, but we do agree on some things." So, we'll move on.
OK. And your Alvin Greene story that you wanted.
BALDWIN: Yes, go for it.
YELLIN: OK. We all remember Alvin Greene, he's the guy who ran for U.S. Senate and said he might get jobs back to South Carolina by creating Alvin Greene action figures. He was a come-from-nowhere candidate.
Well, he got another thumping yesterday. He ran for an open seat in the state legislature there, and in the open Democratic primary, he got just 0.01 percent of the vote. Ouch.
BALDWIN: Ouch.
YELLIN: But you know what? My producer Kevin Bond called him, and they speak, and he told Kevin that he is not giving up. This is just the start. The start of what, Brooke, I'm not sure.
BALDWIN: We don't know, dot, dot, dot.
YELLIN: That means more Alvin Greene to come.
BALDWIN: We'll wait and see. I have a feeling we've not seen the end of Alvin Greene.
YELLIN: I think you're right.
BALDWIN: Jessica Yellin, thank you as always.
YELLIN: Thanks.
BALDWIN: And I know. I'm sure Jessica read this article, I bet you did, too. Bernie Madoff -- he is speaking out. The convicted conman talks about what he is calling a life-altering experience in prison and also how he feels about his victims. New details from his first ever interview -- you should read this -- behind bars. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: There is a lot going on in the world, and, of course, we have correspondents covering all of it. Let's play "Reporter Roulette."
Now, I want to begin with John Zarrella in Florida with that gruesome case that began when police came. They come upon this pickup truck parked on the side of I-95. Inside, they find a sick little boy, his dead sister in a body bag, and their adoptive father just lying nearby. John, the story makes my stomach turn. But I do know that we need to talk about this court hearing about this family this afternoon. What have you learned there?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. Your stomach and everybody else's as well here, Brooke. Now, there's four children in all involved -- the boy, his twin sister whose body was in the -- in the vehicle and two other children who had also been adopted. All four had been adopted by the Barahonas.
Now in court today, it came out during this court hearing, a removal hearing for the other two children to decide what to do with them to pull them away from the family. During this hearing, it came out that the boy and the sister, twins, 10-year-olds, have been bound and we're only -- that the binds only taken off so that they could eat and that the little girl was kept in the bathroom for many, many long hours.
It also came out during this hearing that on the 10th of February, a phone call was received by the Florida Department of Children and Family's hotline saying, hey, look, there's problems at this place. You need to go to these people's house in Miami and check it out. An investigator was sent there the very next day on February 11th, and listen now to the exchange in court today between the judge, the investigator who was sent there and an attorney for the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you first went to the home the very first time with the mother, did you speak with both the children on that day?
ANDREA FREARY, FLORIDA DEPT. OF CHILDREN & FAMILIES: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you speak to either of the children?
FREARY: I saw them. She kind of hushed them --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But wouldn't that make you suspicious that something was going on?
FREARY: Yes, but, your Honor, they were not going to talk to me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, then you go to meet them at school or somewhere else?
FREARY: OK. You Honor, this was a private evening at 9:00.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
FREARY: OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So?
FREARY: I intended to go on Monday to speak to them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, we don't do investigations on the weekends? Is that what you're telling me?
FREARY: I'm not allowed to do investigations on the weekends.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Said she had absolutely no authority to go there and do an investigation on the weekend. Amazing.
BALDWIN: Wow. Kind of speechless. But let's move on here because we have to, and just let me ask you in terms of this scene, this morning with this pest truck along I-95. What else are you learning from police?
ZARRELLA: Well, a couple of real quick things. The little boy -- he has been transferred to Jackson Memorial Hospital because he may have had some kidney failure issues. They still don't know what the substance was, this acid that was all over the boy, all over his father, or what the little girl's body was buried in, and we still do not know how she died or when she died -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Awful. John, stay on this for us. John Zarrella, thank you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," Allan Chernoff in New York where Bernie Madoff is now talking for the first time after his arrest, two years, three years later really to "The New York Times."
And, Allan, I know you've spoken with someone today who has been in touch with Madoff. What is Madoff saying now?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, he did share with our source his feeling about the suicide of his son Mark, said that's actually rocked his world and that he's just absolutely devastated, a life-altering experience. At the same time, Mr. Madoff seems to have a little bit of a different feel for his victims. He's encouraged, believe it or not, because the trustee in charge of this case trying to get money back for the victims already has 50 cents on the dollar, and my source told me that Mr. Madoff is rooting for the trustee.
BALDWIN: Now, is Madoff still saying he pulled this whole fraud off by himself, or did others know?
CHERNOFF: Well, you know, he did say that when he pled guilty. He said nobody else knew. Well, now, in this interview with "The New York Times," he's saying, some hedge funds, some banks may have had a sense. In fact, let's take a look at the quote from the article, the interview by Diana Henriques. It says, quote, "They had to know," Mr. Madoff said, "but the attitude was sort of, if you're doing something wrong, we don't want to know."
Now that really doesn't jive with what he said previously. It seems that Mr. Madoff almost is trying to spread the blame.
BALDWIN: Saying they had to have known, so he says, behind bars. Allan Chernoff, thank you.
And, finally here, a major airline cancelling flights because of safety issues -- but, first, one of your own local book stores filing bankruptcy papers. Next on "Reporter Roulette" with Alison Kosik live in New York.
And, Alison, what happened to Borders Bookstore?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. Tell me about it. Well, you can call this kind of a new chapter in the Borders story. It's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. No, it's not liquidating, but about 200 stores are going to close. It's about 30 percent of those retail locations.
But if you're a shopper there, they will still honor those gift cards and the loyalty program, but Borders has got a lot of problems. You know, it's hurt by a $1 billion mound of debt. Its sales in the past few years have been falling in the double digits.
It's seriously late to the e-reader game. You know, it didn't come out with its e-reader until three years after the Kindle.
And, as you know, Brooke, you know, it's not really good to fall behind the trend, especially in today's digital day and age where everything is electronic, everything from books to shopping and everything else we do, right?
BALDWIN: I know. But I still like the good old-fashioned book, like I know you do. We've had that conversation.
KOSIK: I do, too.
BALDWIN: But let's talk about United, because I'm curious as to how many people this really would affect. The airline -- they yanked their whole 757 fleet from the runway because of safety problems. So, one, you think yikes! And, two, how many people were affected?
KOSIK: Well, the good news is that everything is back to normal today. But here's where it all started: back in June 2004, the FAA ordered carriers to replace their jet's air data computers. Now, these are the ones that regulate speed and altitude, and United did that. But the problem is, it found out yesterday, it didn't do the follow-up safety checks that should have been done seven years ago.
So, all of its 757s, I'm talking about 100, which are used on those cross-country flights, those were all grounded. And it takes a while to do these checks. So, 15 flights were cancelled yesterday.
BALDWIN: Yes.
KOSIK: But United is saying that flights are operating normally today and there had been no cancellations today. So, they buttoned up and did it as fast as they could. Hopefully, they did it right.
BALDWIN: Good deal. All is good and ready to roll. Alison Kosik, thank you. And are you, the taxpayer, getting rip off by the military? One lawmaker says you are. And get set for this: it all has to do with NASCAR. So, what are you really paying for? We're going to explain this whole story. That is ahead.
Plus, it is the first day of school for the new White House press secretary. And some reporters -- of course, they took advantage of his rookie status. Did you hear some of the questions they put to Jay Carney? Coming up next, Joe Johns has that "Political Pop."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Are you a NASCAR fan? You're either are or you aren't, so maybe this story is for you, maybe not, depending on how you think about it, but here's the deal. A Minnesota congresswoman wants to pull the plug on the U.S. military sponsoring of NASCAR racing.
Joe Johns with the "Political Pop" today. Joe, I don't even think most people, myself included, really even fully realize that the Pentagon sponsors NASCAR.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's certainly a surprise to people who don't focus on the sport, but if you are a NASCAR fan, you probably know about the Motorsports program, Go Army, or some variation of it, has really been a fixture on the racing circuit since about the year 2000.
The Army's got a Chevy impala. Ryan Newman is the driver. He actually qualified for the NASCAR playoff series in 2009. So this is a big recruiting tool for the army, and NASCAR is big in a lot of states where the army gets a lot of recruits.
BALDWIN: So how much money -- how much money are we talking though, Joe? How much money does the DOD spend on racing?
JOHNS: I didn't know until probably about 15 minutes ago, and the army really started a big pushback on this. They sent me this information paper that sort of laid it all out. They say that in 2009 they spent something like $19 million on this, and in 2010 they spent a little less, $15.7 million. So we're talking about big numbers here.
But here's the thing. They also say in this paper which is news to a lot of us, that they got something like 46,000 leads, which I take to mean recruits, leads, just last year, so they see it as a huge tool.
BALDWIN: Yes. They see it as a recruiting tool, but what's the deal with this Minnesota congresswoman and why she does want to pull the plug?
JOHNS: Betty McCallum of Minnesota, she's not in a big NASCAR state, and she wants the House to vote on an amendment that would defund Pentagon sponsorship of this racing program for the rest of the year. Her office says it's about priorities, and we all know right now budget-cutting is just a huge priority in Washington. BALDWIN: It is a huge priority, and so bottom line though, this is also Charlotte. That's where the Democratic National Convention will be happening.
JOHNS: Yes.
BALDWIN: She's a Democratic congresswoman.
JOHNS: Right, and it's just so beautiful, isn't it? Right at a time when Democrats are really struggling to get a hold of the hearts and minds of, you know, men in the south, here comes something that strikes right at the issue of NASCAR, which is very close to a lot of people's heart in the south. And I talked to one southern Democrat today who said this is stupid because the --
BALDWIN: Can we quote him, "stupid"?
JOHNS: Right, stupid. And the only thing he said a proposal like this does is alienate some of the very Democrats the people -- the people Democrats are trying to reach. And, you know, you're going to have this convention in Charlotte next year, so this is one of those things that they are probably going to have to work out.
I haven't talked to a lot of people on the Hill who say they support this, but we'll see because --
BALDWIN: We'll see.
JOHNS: -- It's a real budget-cutting move.
BALDWIN: real quickly, Jay Carney first day of school, at the podium at the White House. How did he do?
JOHNS: He thought it went well, right?
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: How did he really do?
JOHNS: No gaffes that I could see, and that's probably the test for first time at bat. It looked like he didn't get hazed too badly. He comes from the media so that makes a little bit of difference.
But there was this one moment when he was asked a certain question, and he gave a certain answer. I have to set it up by saying most press secretaries say they don't want to speculate, and he got right out of the bat saying he didn't want to speculate.
And then somebody asked him who he wanted to play him on "Saturday Night Live," so let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Do you have a preference on which member of the cast of "Saturday Night Live" plays you this weekend?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: What generated the laughs there, and you couldn't hear it very well, is somebody told Jay Carney, hey, you just speculated.
BALDWIN: You just responded to hyperbole, which is a no, no.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: Exactly.
BALDWIN: You know that, Joe Johns. Joe Johns, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
A motivational speaker accused in the deaths of several people at a sweat lodge in Arizona. You remember this story from a little while ago? Well, now they are choosing jurors in his trial. So who are thee looking for? We're on the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A woman sues a shoe company. Why? Because her hip hurts her, so does she have a case? You have to hear this. Sunny Hostin all over it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: So, we ran out of time for one of my favorite segments. You've got to see this, so I promise we'll do it tomorrow.
But now I do want to get to a couple of interesting court cases we are watching. Sunny Hostin, as always, is on the case. I want to begin in Arizona. Remember this story, the self-help guru accused in the death of the three followers in an Arizona sweat lodge heading to trial.
Now, prosecutors say James Arthur Ray jammed more than 50 people into a sweat lodge and ridiculed them if they tried to leave. Three died. Ray's attorneys want the trial moved saying he can't get a fair trial in the rural county where the sweat lodge is located. Tell me. What's the story today?
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": Well, jury selection started today, and the judge is going to determine if in fact they can get that fair and impartial jury in this part of town. They are going to be reviewing some jury questionnaires because the defense attorneys say that they have reviewed some of those questionnaires, Brooke, and it's clear they can't get a fair trial. A lot of jurors are saying they won't be able to give him a fair shake because of all of the media attention.
And so it's too soon to tell. Opening statements are set to start March 1st, but they will determine whether or not they can find a fair jury here or whether or not they will have to move this case to some other jurisdiction. BALDWIN: OK. Topic number two, a lawsuit involving the shoes Skechers. Kim Kardashian may have broken up with her trainer during the Super Bowl ads for Skechers shape-ups, but an Ohio woman is suing the shoemaker, saying shapeups caused hip fractures in both of her hips. Sunny, does this lawsuit have legs?
(LAUGHTER)
HOSTIN: I like that one. It may --
BALDWIN: Pun not intended, by the way.
HOSTIN: The plaintiff, her name is Holly Ward, 38 years old, a waitress. She said she was wearing her shoes and walking around, and after about five months she suffered these hip fractures, and she's otherwise healthy.
Now one thing that the critics and Skechers, they all agree on is these shoes change the way that you walk. That's sort of the simple physics of it, and so perhaps she may have something here.
I mean, I think the bottom line is, Brooke, there is no special pill that you can take to get you in shape. No special shoes, you know. You've got to work out.
HOSTIN: You do. Good old-fashioned sweating it out. But I do, because we do our due diligence here at CNN. Let me read the statement from Skechers. "Two independent review boards found the statements made in advertising are supported by studies. Athletes and celebrities are also staking their names on the credibility of shape- ups, including, and can you read all the names on your screen here."
And as we look at that, there was also a class action lawsuit was filed last year which claims not only do they falsely advertise the health benefits as we were talking of the shoes, the shape-ups, but that the shoes can actually cause injury. What's happening with that?
HOSTIN: That's right. I mean, I have a copy of the lawsuit here. It was filed by a fairly well-known class action law firm. It was filed August 2010, and so we're going to see how it winds its way through the legal system.
If they are successful, people may be getting refunds. There will be damages. The lawyers usually make out in these class action lawsuits, but I think Skechers will have some explaining to do, certainly in court.
BALDWIN: Ten seconds, speaking of court, I guess you got out of your jury duty today, huh?
HOSTIN: I did.
(LAUGHTER)
Although they are supposed to call me in another six months, so we will see. BALDWIN: Isn't it fun. No one is immune from that, Sunny Hostin. Not even you.
HOSTIN: That's right.
BALDWIN: Sunny, thank you so much. We'll see you back here on the case tomorrow.
But for now I get to hand things over to Candy Crowley hosting "THE SITUATION ROOM" today from Washington.
