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Violent Protests in Bahrain; Cure For Baldness?; Deadly Crackdown in Bahrain; Subpoenas in Countrywide Sweetheart Deals; Your Tax Dollar and NASCAR; One Adopted child Found Dead and Another Burned with Acid by Adopted Parent; Famous Trees at Auburn University Poisoned; Congresswoman Proposes Bill to Cut Army of NASCAR

Aired February 17, 2011 - 16:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now a little past the top of the hour, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: First, Egypt and Tunisia, and now blood is spilling in Bahrain. So why is that country so vital in America's strategy in the Middle East?

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): Tear gas, clubs, rubber bullets, the army in Bahrain pulling out all the stops against protesters, and people are dying. Why is Bahrain so important to America's strategy in the Middle East?

A college prank turned criminal act. Someone poisoned these historic oak trees at Auburn, confessed to it on the radio and now:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was charged with criminal mischief in the first degree.

BALDWIN: The big question remains, can the trees be saved?

Plus, a horrifying tale of abuse ends with a shocking scene along the interstate, a child dripping in toxic chemicals, his sister dead in the back of the truck, but did this tragedy have to happen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not allowed to do investigations on the weekend.

BALDWIN: Did child welfare workers drop the ball? We're on the case.

And could it be a cure for baldness? Scientists may have just stumbled upon something big.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin. If it's interesting, if it's happening right now, you're about to see it, rapid fire, let's go, beginning with this developing story out of Washington.

Here's the deal. Several Democratic state senators are basically in hiding. When I say several, I'm talking 14. This is their way of boycotting a vote on this controversial budget proposal that many are calling an anti-union bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Citizens of Wisconsin, sign the petition, step up, sign the petition. Let's kill this bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: For two days in Wisconsin, scores of teachers and other state employees have swamped the state capitol, protesting the part of the bill that would give their collective -- that would cut their collective bargaining rights, totally eliminating them.

The Senate majority leader spoke with me on CNN just last hour. He told me he wouldn't exactly say where those missing state lawmakers are, those Democrats, but did say their absence is their sign of solidarity with all those protesters you see right there.

Also developing now, chances are really low that the detention center at Guantanamo Bay will close -- that huge prediction from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Gitmo is of course the place where the U.S. holds suspected terrorists. So, why is Gates saying this now? And what does it mean for President Obama's promise to close it? We will have a live report from the Pentagon with some answers coming up.

New Mexico, how about this for a field trip, kids? Go to jail. Parents, would you sign that permission slip? One state lawmaker thinks it's a fantastic idea for seventh and eighth graders to get a up-close and personal look at the inside of a jail cell. He says it will help them stay in school. Obviously some parents are saying this is a horrible idea. The bill is being considered, but the lawmaker who introduced it reportedly says it will not pass.

From Chicago, this massive, fantastic announcement from Mayor Richard Daley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD DALEY (D), MAYOR OF CHICAGO: The facts are the facts. These young men are going to college.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: These young men as in the entire graduating class at Chicago's Urban Prep Englewood Campus. Folks, this is the second year in a row that the entire class has been accepted, the whole class, into a four-year college or university. Urban Prep is an all-male public charter high school made up entirely of African-American students. New Jersey, where police have arrested one of their own. Morris County Sheriff Supervisor and volunteer firefighter Jason Campbell is accused of deliberately setting two fires. He's charged with multiple counts of arson and burglary. Campbell was picked up after an undercover investigation. Prosecutors call the arrest of a breach of the public's trust.

To Pennsylvania, where it's not every plumber who gets this reaction from a customer. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity, probably never happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, take a good long look at that rock. That's why she's so, so happy. That plumber you just heard from was able to get her wedding ring back after she had accidentally flushed it. Whoops.

To make matters worse, it happened on Valentine's Day, and a bunch of other plumbers told her to forget it, the ring was gone. But she persevered, found a plumber willing to try. So, outcome of that whole thing, priceless.

Wild turkey and cars do not mix. And Southerners, I'm not talking about bourbon here. I'm talking wild birds. They're doing more than ruffling feathers in Nebraska. They're forcing motorists in one suburban Omaha neighborhood to take alternate streets. Wildlife experts say the turkeys are hanging in the burbs, causing people to feed them. So, the best way to get rid of them? Don't do that.

In Alabama, a close encounter between a deer, a car and a baby. This is the aftermath picture. Witnesses say the deer zipped through a school parking lot at a speed approaching 25 miles per hour before it slammed into a parked car, landed inside with a baby. Listen to the eyewitness account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARREN KIDD, WITNESS: The deer come around like so. I caught it, watched it come around in the mirror. And it come flying through, hit right here. The head -- I think -- and the head hit right here, because this was dented in. And this right here was dented in and went through the window in on the baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, sad ending for the deer there. It was killed on impact. The baby got a bump on its head, but is not seriously injured. Yikes.

A U.S. -- a young U.S. Army National Guard soldier fresh from Afghanistan is reunited with his wife just in time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPC. CODY PEACOCK, U.S. ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: I didn't think I was going to make it at all. But I kept telling Caitlyn I was just to keep her in a good mood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He got to his wife's hospital room an hour and 15 minutes before his first child was born on Saturday. It's a baby girl, by the way. Her name is Jazlynn. He will not have much time, though, with his new little one. In less than two weeks, Peacock heads back to Afghanistan for six months.

And now to the battle in Bahrain, protesters speaking out against their government and the government fighting back. Coming up, what this means for the U.S.

Also, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY BONADUCE, ACTOR: Charlie, keep something in the reserve tank. You're going to need it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You heard that conversation yesterday, Danny Bonaduce's advice to Charlie Sheen. The question is, will he follow it? Sheen seems to have a lot of time on his hands. The latest news on him and what his bosses at CBS are doing today. Brooke Anderson is next with that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time for what you're talking about. Time for what's trending.

And it looks like Charlie Sheen is headed back to the work -- back to work, I should say, at the end of this month. And "Entertainment Weekly" is reporting production on "Two and a Half Men" will resume on February 28. Now, Sheen surprised many people on Monday calling into a syndicated radio show for an erratic 28-minute conversation.

Well, guess what? Charlie Sheen picked up the phone. He called back to the same show just yesterday morning.

I want to bring in "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT"'s Brooke Anderson.

And, Brooke, what are you hearing in Hollywood about all this?

BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Well, I think most people are acting with concern, Brooke, I think, because judging from his words, the tone of his voice, the things that he said in the interview, he seems to be pretty unstable right now, and everybody is really concerned. He did say in the interviews that when he's bored, when he's idle, that's when trouble starts. So a lot of people think, hey, get the guy back to work, keep him focused, keep him occupied, but then at the same time a lot of people think, wait, wait, wait, wait, his problems have to be much deeper and more complicated than just going back to work, problem solved that easily.

Charlie did say that the crew is heading back on February 28, and that he is scheduled to be back on set March 1. And he seemed, Brooke, to be really ready to get back on set and to get busy again.

BALDWIN: He seems ready. He talks about maybe being bored, and I guess when he called into the Dan Patrick radio show just yesterday, he defended his behavior on set. But he also had some advice for, of all people, Lindsay Lohan. Let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CHARLIE SHEEN, ACTOR: Work on your impulse control. Just try to think things through a little bit before you do them. Never been drunk, never been high on the set once, but would show up having not slept much, doing a network run-through and asking the director, Jamie Widdoes -- huge shout-out, best guy alive -- to move my mark a little bit, just so I could be next to a piece of furniture or table.

DAN PATRICK, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: So you could lean on it?

SHEEN: Yes, so I wouldn't fall over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So what are we to make of that?

ANDERSON: Well, first, I don't think that guy Jamie is probably appreciative that Charlie Sheen thanked him and called him out for doing that on the set of "Two and a Half Men."

And to Lindsay Lohan, the advice that he's giving Lindsay Lohan, if Charlie Sheen thinks you're too impulsive, maybe you should pay attention, but, really, Brooke, he's joking and he's keeping his sense of humor throughout all of it when nothing about it is funny. He's obviously dealing with some very serious issues, and it's troubling.

BALDWIN: It's troubling. And someone who could empathize, who told me he was the poster boy for addiction here once upon a time, Danny Bonaduce. Here's what he told me just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONADUCE: CBS has a responsibility. Are they going to be the guys that pay $2 million a week and Charlie ends up dead? Or they going to be the guy who fires Charlie Sheen for this behavior and because he's so distraught, Charlie ends up dead? CBS is the one, aside from Charlie, with the most to lose. This is a precarious situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I mean, Bonaduce made a good point. CBS, they're in a bit of a pickle.

ANDERSON: They certainly are, but they have said that they want Charlie to get well, that his health is more important than their show.

And I have to say that Charlie doesn't really seem to be taking much of any of it seriously by what he said, because even is the executive producer Chuck Lorre has been putting these vanity cards, he's been showing these screens at the end of the show kind of outlining Charlie's problems.

On Monday night at the end of the show, his vanity card read, "I've had chest X-rays, cardio stress tests, EKGs, colonoscopies, I see a psychologist, have a variety of hobbies to reduce stress, I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I don't have crazy reckless sex with strangers. If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I'm going to be really PO'd."

And, Brooke, I have to say Charlie found it as a compliment. He thought it was brilliant --

BALDWIN: He found it as a compliment?

ANDERSON: He did, and he thought Chuck was kind of just writing a reflection of his thoughts, and Charlie thinks that Chuck is calling him Superman.

BALDWIN: Wow. Like you said, it's just sad. We wish him well.

ANDERSON: He has so much talent, so much potential, and a nice guy to talk to. Everybody just wishes him well.

BALDWIN: Well, hopefully, he'll call you, Brooke Anderson, and you can find out what the deal is, get the inclusive there for HLN.

Brooke Anderson, thanks so much.

Now this, what is this? This is a hospital. This is in the tiny island nation of Bahrain. Injured people have been taken there. In fact, at least three people have died in all they protests against the government.

And as we see more countries take action here, it's important to note how each one of them really is different. Hala Gorani, she has been to Bahrain, she's going to take me through it, explain what's happening there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to take you back to the Middle East and the volatile situation over there. At least three people that CNN has confirmed are dead, dozens are injured after security forces swarmed over protestors who had hunkered down for the night in Bahrain, some of them were sound asleep. And antigovernment protest seemed to be gathering even more steam in Libya.

I want to bring in Hala Gorani here, once again, with "Globe Trekking."

And, of course, we're talking again, as we predicted, Bahrain. So three fatalities thus far?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: That's what we've been able to confirm, many more injured in these -- in this police crackdown on Pearl Roundabout.

You know, Bahrain, Brooke, is a country, it's a tiny island kingdom. It's better known for its sky scrapers, flashy Formula One races.

BALDWIN: Michael Jackson lived there for a second.

GORANI: Exactly, you have that. It's one of the more open, Western-style Gulf states. But look at these images. This is what the world has been seeing over the last few days. And a police crackdown on Pearl Roundabout, Lulu Roundabout as it's called over there in Arabic, that many protestors say happened without warning and at 3:00 a.m. when some were sleeping.

BALDWIN: Sound asleep.

GORANI: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Now, you talk, though, about sectarian violence, but this is nothing new?

GORANI: No. It's sectarian frustration. Bahrain is -- it has its particularities. It's a majority Shiite country. It's only about 1.2 million people, half of whom are not even local, they're expatriates. So we're talking about the 600,000, 700,000 remaining, with a large majority of Shiites.

The ruling family is Sunni. The Shiites say, we are being discriminated against. Several years I reported on Bahrain -- it angered the government, this report, I can tell you that -- and I went into the Shiite villages, and this is what some young men told me at the time.

BALDWIN: Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI (voice-over): Inside this hours, I talk with the head of a Shiite family, who says two of his sons are unemployed.

The presence of our camera gets everyone going. The mother chimes in and then a young Shiite man, so candid in his tirade against the Sunni prime minister, I'm taken aback.

(on camera): How do you see your future?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My future is like my present, that's what I think.

GORANI: So not good?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no future. Khalifa bin Salman, here in country, there is no future. Let him to listen, to know, what is this life? Really, it's a bad life. We need something good for us.

GORANI: Now are you afraid that if you say this and it appears on camera that -- ?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care about them. Let them see anything what they want to see. If I have something good to do, I will do. I'm not afraid about it.

GORANI: Is it OK if we use this on TV?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, of course you can. Put it on Bahrain channels, no problem.

GORANI (voice-over): Bahrain has been ruled by a Sunni monarchy for more than 200 years, first as a British protectorate, and since 1971 as an independent Gulf state.

But these Shiites say the story is not about poverty, but about systematic discrimination against them. Hanging on the walls of this house, pictures not of Bahrain's king, but of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And you could hear yourself, this was in 2007, but in the piece saying to the guy, are you sure you want to say this on TV?

GORANI: Well, I always make sure that we're perfectly clear that we're taping this, that you're going to be on television and if you're afraid of any recrimination or if you're afraid that authorities will come after you, I need you to know this is going to be made public.

This guy was 100 percent clear. He said, I want it to be made public. That's why the protests over the last few days haven't come as much as a surprise to me as maybe other places.

BALDWIN: Just wanted to get a flavor of your experience reporting in Bahrain. Hala Gorani, you're all over the place, but we appreciate it. Thanks so much.

And now to this, the CEO of a mortgage company is accused of giving sweetheart deals and special rates to his friends. Well, now some lawmakers, they want some names, but the thing is some of the deals -- some of the people, I should, who got deals allegedly are on Capitol Hill, and this could get ugly.

That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time now for the CNN Political Ticker. Mark Preston joins me from Washington with the very latest.

Mr. Preston, good to see you.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Brooke. Good to see you as well.

Let me just tell you just very quickly, I'm very disturbed by what happened in Toomer's Corner out in Auburn University. I actually have a seedling of Toomer's Corner in my backyard, my wife went to Auburn.

BALDWIN: Oh, no.

PRESTON: Hopefully, everything works out well there in Auburn, but let's talk about politics.

The presidential primary calendar in 2012 seems to be all set. We'll see Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina, all hold their contests in February, or will they? The Florida house speaker, Dean Cannon, was at CNN today. We sat down and had a discussion with him. He tells us that Florida is pretty much set on keeping their primary on January 31st.

What does this mean? It means that Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada will likely have to move their contests into January. You know, what Cannon was telling us is that Florida is really a great snapshot of the electorate across the nation and should have a very important role in choosing the next president, the next Republican presidential nominee. We'll see what happens.

He did say that they would think about keeping it on the 31st if Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Nevada decided to go earlier, but they wouldn't try to go before them. So we'll see what happens next year, this time next year as they chose the next nominee.

You know, Go Proud, the conservative gay group has a little bit of controversy up at the Conservative Political Action Conference last week. A lot of social conservatives were upset that they were included in the conference. Well, they weathered the controversy pretty well, and next we'll they're going to hold a high-dollar fundraiser down at the home of Mary Matalin in Virginia.

Tickets are $500 per person and the Go Proud folks tell me that they plan to raise $100,000 at this fundraiser, money they think will help expand their organization. So we'll see what happens next week down there.

And Donald Trump is talking about running for president. We talk about it day in and day out here. He has made no bones about the fact that he might seek the Republican presidential nomination, but there's going to be some questions because a new analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics shows that the Donald has given a lot of money to Democrats since 1990.

In fact, six of the top ten donors that Donald Trump has donated to have been Democrats. Among them is Charles Rangel of New York, as well as Frank Lautenberg who is a New Jersey senator. Some other notable Democrats Donald Trump has donated to? Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, and the late Senator Edward Kennedy -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: He might have to give a little money to Auburn. It sounds like that poisoned oak tree not doing so well. Stick around, we'll have a report with Chad Myers to help me explain this whole thing coming up.

Mark Preston, thank you.

So who got a sweetheart deal on their mortgages? Lawmakers want to know the answer. They could be going after their own on Capitol Hill.

Alison Kosik live at the New Your Stock Exchange.

And, Alison, first off, explain this whole VIP program.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, so you remember Countrywide Financial, right, Brooke?

BALDWIN: Right.

KOSIK: It was one of the mortgage companies to gown during the recession, and now it looks like lawmakers are going after the company. Now Bank of America, it now owns Countrywide, which -- Bank of America was the one that was subpoenaed on Wednesday over a loan program that's called "Friends of Angelo."

That refers to Angelo Mozilo. He was the CEO of Countrywide, he was a huge part of the subprime loans at the core of the housing crisis. And Mozilo had a VIP program to allowed him to give low rates and good deals to his pals. And now lawmakers want to know how those pals were and they want names.

Now, here's the kicker, Brooke. Many of the people who benefited are the ones working right on Capitol Hill, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, how do we find out the names, Alison?

KOSIK: Well, in this -- in the subpoena, it says, by March 7th, B of A has to hand over documents, including e-mails that relate to these loans that were given to government officials, including members of Congress. A B of A spokesman has said that they discontinued Countrywide's VIP program after it acquired the company and that B of A would comply with the subpoena.

But, you know, these names very well could come out. These lawmakers are kind of frothing at the mouth to let this whole story come out. And the new subpoena, Brooke, definitely is going to make clear that. It wants the whole story to come out.

"The Wall Street Journal" says that the scuttlebutt is most of the loans actually may have gone to the staff on Capitol Hill. And that's not fair, either, you know? BALDWIN: Not fair. We'll be watching, right along with you, for those names.

Alison Kosik, thanks to you.

KOSIK: Sure.

BALDWIN: Now, Iranian warships on the move, not so fast on Gitmo, and closer to a cure for baldness? We have a lot of stories developing at CNN right now. We've got reporters on every single one of them. We're taking a spin at "Reporter Roulette" times four today. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Iran, Gitmo, Obama and baldness -- we have a lot of news to get to here. Correspondents are covering all of it for us. We want to play "Reporter Roulette."

But I want to Egypt with Fionnuala Sweeny, where we understand there have been several high-profile arrests ordered tonight.

Fionnuala, what are you learning?

FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed. We are hearing that there are more arrests of former government ministers under President Hosni Mubarak who have now been arrested for corruption. They include the interior minister, the housing minister, the tourism minister and a business tycoon who was very senior in the former president's party.

These are all former ministers, all out of a job now since President Hosni Mubarak's ouster last Friday. They have been placed under arrest for 15 days while an investigation is carried out into allegations of corruption and lawsuits against them. This brings to six the number of former ministers, Brooke, who are under arrest, and also, a former prime minister.

So, it is an indication that the military government here is at least acknowledging the people of Egypt's demand. But those guilty of corruption or at least suspicious of corruption -- suspected of corruption be tried and held accountable.

BALDWIN: Now, Fionnuala, we heard today that Iran applied to get access to send some warships through the Suez Canal. Will Egypt allow those ships through? And does that mean that the rest of the region and the world should be concerned?

SWEENEY: Well, this has been a store that's been bubbling under for the last 24 hours. And Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said that Israel was monitoring these warships, but they intended to pass through the Suez Canal. And if they did, Israel would regarded it as a provocation. Now, the last time Iranian warships passed through the Suez was in 1979, which is the year of the Islamic revolution there. Egypt today saying that it had receive requests through the Iranian embassy in Cairo to the defense and foreign ministries of Egypt, requesting permission to pass through. But our understanding is that under maritime law, Egypt will let any ship pass through --

BALDWIN: I see.

SWEENEY: -- as long as it is not at war with the country that that ship is aligned to.

BALDWIN: They would allow. Fionnuala Sweeney live in Egypt -- Fionnuala, thank you.

Next on "Reporter Roulette" -- Chris Lawrence live at the Pentagon.

And, Chris, I understand the defense secretary threw a bit of a wet blanket today on the president's plans to close Gitmo.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, if only you believe the defense secretary, and we probably should. He says the chances of closing Guantanamo Bay prison are, quote, "very, very low." The reason he says is because of Congress. He says the numbers just aren't there. There's not enough support in Congress right now. He doesn't see it happening.

BALDWIN: What happened to the president's promise to close Guantanamo Bay?

LAWRENCE: That's right. He campaigned to this before he became president, and then two days after the inauguration, he issued an executive order requiring that Guantanamo Bay be closed. But, unfortunately, where everything went off the rails is the ongoing debate whether these prisoners should be tried in federal court or in military commissions.

BALDWIN: Right.

LAWRENCE: And that bogged down and it never went anywhere.

BALDWIN: So, Chris, what would happen now if the U.S. were to capture someone like Osama bin Laden?

LAWRENCE: Again, the secretary was very blunt when he said we don't know. He said, if they were captured out of the area of war, you know, sort of out of Iraq or Afghanistan, then it's possible that they could be held by their home countries. And just a couple of months ago, the former spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said that it's very possible that some could be tried in federal courts, some by military commissions, and held in those maximum security prison. But he said there's a possibility that some might regrettably have to be held indefinitely.

BALDWIN: Wow. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon.

Next on "Reporter Roulette" -- Dan Simon live in San Francisco, where the president is expected to meet with some pretty big names in the technology sector tonight -- Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hi, Brooke. I'm not sure you could get together a more distinguished list of CEOs. This is the who's who of Silicon Valley. Let's just show you some of the names. We got a graphic here.

We got Carol Bartz, the CEO of Yahoo!; Dick Costolo, the CEO of Twitter; John Chambers of Cisco; Larry Ellison of Oracle; Reed Hastings of Netflix; John Hennessy, president of Stanford; Steve Jobs, chairman and CEO of Apple; Eric Schmidt, Google; Mark Zuckerberg, of course, the CEO of Facebook -- and who, by the way, Brooke, at 26 years old will be the youngest person in the room by a long shot.

BALDWIN: He will indeed. Dan, just quickly, what's the takeaway for the president from this meeting?

SIMON: Well, I think this is a situation where you're getting together, obviously, this group of CEOs to talk about innovation and how you can take what's been applied here at Silicon Valley and promote it throughout the rest of the country. If you look at Silicon Valley as an industry, as a whole, it's on fire right now. Last year, it was one of the few places in the country that actually saw job growth.

So, when you talk about innovation, you talk about green technology, of course, these are the people up to talk to, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Dan Simon, big meeting tonight in San Francisco -- thank you, sir.

And finally here on "Reporter Roulette" -- could it be a cure for baldness? Elizabeth Cohen has that -- Elizabeth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, this is a great day if you happen to be a bald mouse. And here's why: take a look at these pictures. Scientists genetically engineered these mice to be stressed out. And you can see the results: they're bald.

They then gave them shots every day for five days of something that's supposed to block a hormone, a stress hormone, and look what happened about a month later. They're hairy. They're just like their hairy brethren.

So, you might think, well, gee, this must be great news for men as well, right? I mean, for human beings. Well, not necessarily. This is sort of a proof of principle for mice, but who knows if it will work in men, and certainly wouldn't work in men who have baldness because of genetic reasons. It would only work for men who become bald because of stress -- Brooke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you. That's our "Reporter Roulette" times four today. And you know what? Let's talk about a topic that slammed my Twitter account yesterday. I'm talking hours after the show -- indeed the military using your tax dollars to pay for NASCAR sponsorships, and one lawmaker says you are getting ripped off.

Well, now, the Army's NASCAR driver is fighting back. And our resident NASCAR expert, aka, congressional correspondent, Brianna Keilar, is the person to ask. She loves some racing. Your "Political Pop" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So, I don't know how to tell you a lot of you this, but the Daytona 500 is this weekend. But could future race of some of your favorite cars be in jeopardy? A Minnesota congresswoman is pushing to get rid of the Pentagon's funding of NASCAR teams as a way to trim the budget. In fact, here's part of her amendments. It's not very long. This is kind of three lines here.

But we're talking millions of dollars. I mean, how many people even knew that the military sponsored NASCAR race teams? Apparently, though, a lot of you, according to my Twitter account. And today, one of the Army drivers is very much so firing back.

Brianna Keilar is here with the "Political Pop."

In all transparency here, Brianna, you are a big, big, big NASCAR fan. But take off your NASCAR hat for a minute and just remind me what this congresswoman out of Minnesota is calling for.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, Brooke. I think a lot of people are surprised just how involved the military is in NASCAR in all kinds of ways, but certainly in sponsorships. You have the Army, you have the Air Force and you have the National Guard -- all of whom sponsor race teams. In fact, the National Guard sponsors the most popular driver in NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who even if you're not a fan, you probably heard of him.

Well, Congresswoman Betty McCollum of Minnesota, she's a Democrat, is proposing as part of a spending cuts bill that House Republicans are pushing, what she is saying and what she wants to do is say to the Pentagon, you know what? You cannot spend these millions of dollars a year -- millions of dollars per year that you're spending on sponsoring these NASCAR teams.

And her point, Brooke, to hear her say it, is that if you're going to be doing spending cuts that negatively impact, say, low- income children and women, and she even argues, homeless veterans, why would you be spending this kind of money sponsoring a NASCAR team?

BALDWIN: So, that's her side of the story, but because of this story that's come out, there's this crazy uptick in reaction today from NASCAR and beyond. What are you hearing?

KEILAR: Yes, I think that her office, in particular, is kind of surprised by how much reaction they got. They told me they had several dozen e-mails, phone calls from people not really her constituents, but really NASCAR fans, many of whom were upset about her effort. They say they also got some contacts who are supporting what she did. They even received a threatening fax from someone that they had to send on to Capitol Police, Brooke.

But they're getting reaction today from a driver, Ryan Newman, who is sponsored by the army. In fact he tweeted a couple -- a few different tweets. I know you were following them. One of the things that he said was directing people to tell your Congress person that you support the U.S. army's involved in motorsports, and then that link will actually take people who follow him on Twitter, and there are so many of them, to basically just send an e-mail to their member of Congress.

He also said to another tweet that the amendment is not cutting the money from the budget. It's just preventing them from using it on NASCAR, which is true. It doesn't actually cut the money. It just says how they can't use it.

BALDWIN: So bottom line, another big argument I guess on behalf of the army these are moving billboards, army cars, marine cars, that really helps recruitment?

KEILAR: They're billboards that travel at almost 200 hundred miles per hour at times. The NASCAR crowd is typically a very patriotic bunch, and for all of the corporations, nonprofits, even political candidates -- I know we have covered that story -- this is a chance for them for hours at a time to have a captive audience. They'll tell you it's a really good tool.

We actually got a written statement from Ryan Newman to CNN a short time ago, which he said being prohibited from advertising in NASCAR, which is the second largest sporting venue in the nation behind only the NFL, would severely limit the army's ability to reach its recruiting goals, maintain public support, and build for the future.

But I think the point is the Congresswoman McCallum is trying to make, either way, she feels like this doesn't really pay off and it's not an effective investment.

BALDWIN: Well, I will let you hand me a pit passes or the hookup you have, we will go, Ms. Keilar. you can school me on some NASCAR. Thank you so much, Brianna.

We know college rivalries can get heated, but someone went way too far. Now a prank is bringing some grown men to tears. I'm going to talk to a famous alumni making a surprise appearance in the studio, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In case you hadn't noticed, there are folks who get too crazy when it comes to college football. I want you to hear a clip. This is from a sports radio show. You'll hear from Al from Dadeville. Al from Dadeville, Alabama, calling into a station in Birmingham. In some of the sports term escape you. Don't worry. I'll explain that to you. By the way, this is now, you're about to hear criminal evidence. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"AL FROM DADEVILLE": The weekend after the iron bowl, I went to auburn, Alabama. I live 30 miles away and poisoned the two trees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that against the law to poison a tree?

"AL FROM DADEVILLE": Do you think I care?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Have you heard about this? Alabama loses a football game to its archrival Auburn. They play a game every single year, called the iron bowl. An Alabama fan claims to have taken revenge.

He claims to have driven do you to Auburn, poisoned two trees that figure deeply in the school's collective psyche. They anchor that spot that every single college has, the one where students gather to celebrate and commiserate and mark all kinds of rites of passage. So the caller we just heard from now had to have been kidding, right? He couldn't have possibly poisoned those trees?

Well, someone did. Here's an Auburn university scientist asked today whether the century old tumor oaks will survive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN ENLOE, AUBURN UNIVERSITY TREE SCIENTIST: I always want to hold out hope. Based upon the technical experts I have consulted with around the country, the concentration of spike basically found within the soil would suggest there is a low probability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Folks, I think he was choking up. These trees really were poisoned with something called spike. They are now expected to die. Not just that, but dies a slow, painful death.

And here's the part I haven't told you. Police were there at that news conference to announce an arrest in this case. That guy, Harvey Updike Jr. was arrested overnight, charged with criminal mischief, now is being held on $50,000 bail. Police didn't say whether this guy is Al from Dadeville, the caller to that radio talk but he is from Dadeville 30 miles outside of Auburn.

And I want to bring in Chad Myers. Talk to me about what happened to these oak trees, and is there any salvo here?

CHAD MYERS, AMS CORRESPONDENT: This is not a chemical you just go to your local hardware store and buy. This is spike 80, a liquid chemical, a herbicide. You're supposed to pour it on hedge lines and fence rows so that trees don't grow through your fences, but the man right here, that's where he poured them. And the concentrations are almost 50 times more than it would take to kill these trees in general.

So now they want to know what can we do? This happened back in Austin, Texas back in '89. They poisoned a tree, but they were able to save about a third of it. They put sugar on the roots, watched it away and misted the tree for months.

BALDWIN: We have the poplar at UNC, everyone kind of has their famous tree. But I want to talk about this guy behind bars in jail in Auburn. That may be the very safest place this guy could be.

MYERS: To talk about that, the biggest auburn fan in the building, Reynolds Wolf, join us now.

BALDWIN: Our famous guy.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is an interesting situation. As an auburn fan, there is in bias here. It's a bizarre thing. What's interesting about this particular character. He has two children, one named crimson tide Updike, his team, and the other is Bear Bryant Updike.

BALDWIN: Folks, this is college. I get the Auburn-Alabama, I'm a southern girl, I get the rivalry. But come one, now.

WOLF: People wonder, why is this such a big deal? Let's give you an idea of what they do at Tumors' corner. It's a beautiful place. Again people go there. Since 1964, generations of auburn fans have been going there and they toilet paper the things. It can be for basketball, baseball, for wedding proposals. People have been married under the oaks.

But since 1964 people have graduated from the university, they go and celebrate. In the '80s they would bring their children with them to take part of the tradition, forever and ever and over. This is a huge deal. And a new round of future Auburn fans, kids that went right across the street had their taste of the lemonade.

BALDWIN: This is criminal.

MYERS: It's a big deal.

BALDWIN: People are furious. I know people have been tweeting me from auburn, they're furious. Thank you, famous fan. Chad Myers, thanks to you as well. And we'll be right back.

Speaking of criminal mischief. We're on the case, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is day two on this story. We're all still trying to wrap our heads around this horrific case out of Florida. A father found lying beside this hospital. His adopted son, 10 years of age, covered in chemicals in his pickup truck, his adopted daughter's body in a bag in the back. There are all kinds of questions still and so few answers.

Sunny Hostin on the case. Sunny, what's so tragic is it looks like this story could have been prevented. Child protection workers got this anonymous tip, and went to the house on Friday. Why didn't they take the kids out of the house?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": Apparently they didn't do so because no one answered the door, Brooke, no one was there. At least that's what I'm hearing.

And yes, they can be held liable for, you know, perhaps mismanaging this case. Where I used to practice prosecuting these kinds of cases, the department was held liability for perhaps inadequate protection of a child or inadequate investigation, which may have happened here and failing to paw a child in protective custody.

The system clearly failed these children. I know that child protective services agencies, you know, I guess trying to figure out what happened here, and they're also sort of trying to say their investigation was proper.

But when I hear something like this, Brooke, when I hear this could have been prevented, that our system let these children down that a child is fighting for his life, there's another child that is dead, it really, really angers me. And I think it's outrageous and it's outraging so many people in America.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about the father here, tried to hurt himself this morning as he was told to get ready to appear in court. What happened?

HOSTIN: Well, apparently he did try to hurt himself. He did something to his head. He was uncooperative and not in court today. People are saying it's being reported he's just sick about what happened here, but he did try to hurt himself.

BALDWIN: Quickly, what are the charges he's facing?

HOSTIN: Apparently facing at this point aggravated child abuse. But this investigation is ongoing. We know a dead child was found in his truck, his adopted daughter. So while the investigation continues, it's quite possible he could have been charged with more.

BALDWIN: Ten years of age. I'm still worrying about the other two kids they had.

HOSTIN: It's unbelievable.

BALDWIN: It is unbelievable. Thanks so much.

Now to Candy Crowley in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Candy.