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Anti-Gadhafi Protests Continue in Libya; Major Pull Bust in Florida; Baby Dolphin Deaths; 'On the Case'

Aired February 23, 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, here we are, top of the hour. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: She fears for her life inside of Libya, but she's willing to risk it all to talk to us live.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): He's defiant. He's outspoken, and there are now reports Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi may blow up oil pipelines to prove a point. But, if that happens, what does it mean for gas prices here in the U.S.?

A staggering number of baby dolphins are showing up dead in the Gulf, so experts are asking, is the oil spill to blame?

Also, an 11-year-old slapped in cuffs, arrested, all over a stick figure drawing. Does his alleged threat deserve that punishment?

Plus, a woman goes on a rampage inside a repair shop. She punches, she kicks, she's scratching an employee. Find out what set her off and who was videotaping the whole meltdown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Hello. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We begin with breaking developments out of Libya. We once again have this rare opportunity to talk to someone who is in the capital city tonight, capital city of Tripoli, where it is just after 11:00 p.m.

And for her safety, for your safety, I'm not going to tell anyone your identity. Or we can't even share how we established this line of communication. But I can say you are in Tripoli.

And tell me tonight, tell me what you're seeing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I'm seeing is everybody is scared. Everybody are in their homes. Everybody are afraid. They don't know what is happening. What everybody knows, though, that the system is falling. It's falling very fast, although that the regime is doing everything they can. They are very desperate. They are trying all the means of communicating -- of breaking all means of communication.

I just found out right now that they are trying to track everybody who is using Internet, everybody who is calling media from their phones. They are also recruiting people. Their job is to call (INAUDIBLE) and giving them false information, so the international media wouldn't be a credible source anymore.

There is a war, a massive war against the international media. There's a massive war against independent journalists. The system is trying until the last moment to fight with every last breath they have.

BALDWIN: How many days -- I know we spoke this time yesterday. You told me you're fearing for your life, that you can't get out on the streets of Tripoli. How many days have you been holed up in your home?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So far, six days. I can't even see my family. I can't see anybody.

BALDWIN: For five or six days. So how do you eat? Are you running out of food?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since the current -- the things -- the actions happens in Benghazi, people had run into any shop they can find open and they have been saving whatever they can get, from essentials, whether it was vegetables, whether it was bread. They have been just putting everything in freezers.

BALDWIN: How many days can you continue to live like this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I honestly don't know, but, for me, I have enough stocks to last me for another month.

BALDWIN: You do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BALDWIN: We were hearing from our U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. She was echoing the same sentiment that our president, President Obama, has made, that being that they are vehemently against all the violence there in your country of Libya.

But in speaking with our correspondent there, it's a message that he imagined was falling on deaf ears when it comes to your leader, that Moammar Gadhafi doesn't care what the U.S. has to say. Would you agree?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly I'm praying for an intervention. I am praying for sanction. I am praying that the government takes one stand to save whatever is left from this country. People are dying every second, and he doesn't care. He can kill the whole country just for him to stay in his chair. And he's going to be lasting, like the only person lasting in this country.

BALDWIN: We are hearing that we will be hearing live from President Obama in about an hour. Speaking as a native Libyan, what would you want to hear him say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want him to say that he supports Libya, that he will do whatever he can to save the lives and to stop this massacre happening.

BALDWIN: What are you seeing from your balcony?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, the streets are empty, although the government has been sending text messages and trying so hard to push people to get out of the streets. But all the people are afraid in their homes. They are trying to stay as safe as possible.

BALDWIN: What if the revolutionaries, in this case these people we see on the streets, what if they lose? What if Moammar Gadhafi stays in power? What then?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people wouldn't stop. Even if he was the last person remained in this country, the people will not stop.

BALDWIN: You know, you said something yesterday that really resonated with a lot of us. You said that you had been grown -- brought up in Libya and brainwashed to think that freedom wasn't a right, and now you know you want to be free.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

BALDWIN: You want to be free. So, if and when, if and when -- go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing everybody -- the only thing everybody is praying for, the only thing that keeps this society all together, the only thing that keeps everybody fighting against what's happening is the word freedom. We have been occupied by a person from my -- our own land, and it is not fair.

BALDWIN: What does -- let me end on this with you. What does freedom mean to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom means that I can go out and feel safe. Freedom means that I can talk without feeling that I'm going to be arrested and executed immediately.

Freedom means that I can't -- I won't be seeing a seven-month baby killed right in front of my eyes. Freedom means not waking up in the morning on a -- a bullet in my balcony. That's what freedom means to me.

BALDWIN: That's what freedom means to you.

I thank you for risking your life to speak about your hope for freedom from Tripoli. Thank you so much.

And just a reminder to you: President Obama is expected to speak live at 5:15 p.m. Eastern time. And he will be addressing the eroding situation in Libya.

And now, if it's interesting, if it's happening right now, you're about to see it, rapid fire. Let's go.

A victory of sorts for same-sex marriage supporters. The Obama administration orders the Justice Department to stop defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. That is according to Attorney General Eric Holder. He says the law defines marriage as federal purposes is only between a man and a woman. The White House says the Obama administration will still enforce the law.

And just one day after pirates killed those four Americans after hijacking their yacht, warships from San Diego are on their way to waters off the Middle East, their mission, to help fight against piracy. More than 2,000 Marines are on board. They will be gone for seven months.

And good news for travelers, at least in North America. Last year was the safest in aviation history if you were flying on a Western-built jet. The International Air Transportation Association says Canada, the U.S. and Mexico were all the safest areas to fly. Africa, by the way, is considered the worst, since it has the highest accident rate.

And now to Oklahoma and this bizarre story of shoplifting. Here's the story. A man is under arrest for allegedly trying to steal a chain saw. Police say he tried to hide it, in of all places, his pants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE GRAHAM, STORE EMPLOYEE: I felt sorry for him. I thought he was crippled.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He says he needs to pull his pants up. I said, no, you have got the chain saw down them.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I seen the bar between his legs. It's pretty obvious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First down I ever seen a chain saw go down anybody's britches, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He could have cut himself up real good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He would have been walking with a permanent limp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Chain saw in the britches. The suspect faces several charges, including larceny and possession of a stolen weapon.

In Tennessee, a pizza delivery woman is being called a hero today. When one of Susan Guy's regulars failed to call in her daily order for a large pepperoni pizza, that was a red flag. Guy told her boss she was going to check on her faithful elderly customer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN GUY, PIZZA DELIVERY WOMAN: She hasn't called in three days. I go, I got to go, I got to go, and he was like, no, you don't have to do that. I said, yes, I do. I said, clock me out if that's what you got to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So she did. She went to the house. That elderly woman didn't answer the door, so she called 911. That lady had fallen three days earlier, couldn't get up and reach the phone. There she goes off to the hospital.

Dramatic images out of Florida. A semitruck carrying drywall erupts into flames. Look at that. Wow. Police say the driver reported hearing some sort of pop near a highway toll plaza in Orlando. He thinks it was a blown tire. So the truck swerved, slammed into the concrete barrier. Several lanes had to be shut down for repairs. The driver, by the way, was taken to the hospital, but he's said to not be injured too badly.

And in Texas, a woman hits the gas pedal, instead of the brakes, the result, what you're looking at right here. Her SUV plows through a pet store, the whole thing caught on video. You can see all those shelves falling over. No one was hurt, including the animals.

And a disturbing rampage at a tow truck company as a woman learns the fee for getting her car back. A reporter was there covering a different story, had to hide to escape injury, but kept the camera rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please quit. Let's go! Knock it off! Quit it!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You hear that? An estimated $10,000 worth of damage, and a shop employee suffered some bruises, some scratches. Police issued a warrant for the woman's arrest.

And I am just getting some breaking news here. There is word in a big-time bust in Florida allegedly involving doctors, prescription drugs and a highly lucrative pill mill. Amber Lyon is standing by for me in Miami. She's next with the breaking news live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, here we go, breaking news into CNN, the feds busting a major pill mill in South Florida. Now, remember, the state has had a massive problem with all those pain clinics giving out highly addictive prescription drugs.

In fact, Florida is said to be the biggest source of drugs for the entire East Coast.

Want to go live to Amber Lyon there for me in Miami.

And, Amber, what are you learning?

AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Brooke. How you doing?

You know, by some estimates, there are more pain clinics here in Broward County than McDonald's, so today was one of the biggest crackdowns against these clinics in history. And a multi-agency prescription drug task force fanned out and raided some of the biggest pill mills in Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

We had IRS, DEA agents out at these pill mills. Seventeen people now face charges for trafficking. More than 600,000 Oxycodone pills were said to be sold as these clinics. Authorities say the owners and doctors who they call -- quote -- "legal dope dealers" took in more than 22 million bucks in profits from these clinics.

Agents also seized dozens of cars. They had Lamborghinis, Mercedes,, even yachts all bought with the drug money.

Now, one of the doctors indicted today on multiple counts of racketeering and drug trafficking, it was Dr. Zvi Harry Perper, he is the son of a well-known Broward County medical examiner, Dr. Joseph Perper. If you remember, Joseph Perper was the one who performed an autopsy on Anna Nicole Smith after she died in the area from a prescription drug overdose.

I've had the opportunity to interview Dr. Perper several times. He's a vocal critic of these pill mills, so we've made calls to get responses from both father and son, but we haven't yet to hear back.

Now Zvi Perper faces more than 490 years in prison if he's convicted. And to put things into perspective, Brooke, about this problem, yesterday we spoke with an Oxycodone addict in the area. He says that in six months he was given this many bottles of prescription Oxycodone. Sometimes he'd go see the doctors and they would prescribe, like had this instance, 308 pills at a time. On average, if you have a major surgery, you're usually only prescribed about seven pills.

So this is something that's just becoming an epidemic down here in south Florida, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Amber, hold that bag up for me once again and tell me -- so he would get --

LYON: Look at all those bottles.

BALDWIN: Look at all of those bottles. And you mentioned with this whole bust $22 million in profits seized.

Let me ask you this. Wasn't it Florida that passed that law that monitors prescription drugs, it was supposed to take effect back in December? What's the story there?

LYON: Well, the problem with that, Brooke, is that Governor Rick Scott killed it out of his budget for 2011 citing privacy issues. He says that the government has no place in our medicine cabinets, he also doesn't believe the prescription drug monitoring program will work.

On the other side of the issue you have advocates, law enforcement that say that this is the only way for them to know how many pills doctors are prescribing to patients and how many prescriptions patients are getting filled. Like, for instance, in this case, that prescription drug monitoring program would have alerted authorities that this particular addict was traveling to all these different clinics getting all these bottles of pills -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Look at that. Keep on digging, Amber Lyon. I know that's what you're so good at. We appreciate the breaking news there, you're hustle out of Miami, thank you.

LYON: Thanks.

BALDWIN: There are also new developments today in Libya. Is Libya really targeting oil pipelines?

Plus, reports Moammar Gadhafi's regime is warning journalists in his country they are now considered outlaws.

Plus, the rush to get Americans out of New Zealand. No one is flying after that deadly earthquake in Christchurch, and now we're hearing this a famous politician and his wife are trapped. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time to go "Globe Trekking" and the I want to get back to the volatile situation developing now in Libya and bring you the latest also on the aftermath of that massive earthquake in New Zealand. For that, we go to Hala Gorani here from CNN international.

And I want to get straight to these reports here, reports that Moammar Gadhafi may be attacking his own oil fields, but CNN is hearing from U.S. officials saying at this point there is no sign that he's done that.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Right, there is no sign and that was just one report.

BALDWIN: OK.

GORANI: And part of the reason I think this report got a little more play is when two fighter pilots and a Libyan military jet ejected, according to reports, from their plane because they refused to carry out orders to bomb targets in eastern Libya.

However, we haven't been able to confirm that the military in Libya has given these orders to bomb oil fields in Eastern Libya, and it's something, as you mentioned, Brooke, that U.S. officials are saying they have no confirmation of at this point.

BALDWIN: We've also talking about that ferry that was supposed to leave for Malta. We've heard because of the weather they are staying overnight in Tripoli. So governments, though, scrambling to get their people out, and then you have Moammar Gadhafi calling now journalists in the country outlaws.

GORANI: Right, and Moammar Gadhafi at this point it's difficult always to tell inside of Libya, even though we do have crews in Eastern Libya, just how much of a grip on power he still has. We understand that at least the capital city of Tripoli is under his control still, the surrounding areas and the highway leading to Tunisia, we heard that from our Nic Robertson, as well. Because we've heard reports from people fleeing Tripoli that there are checkpoints on the way between Tripoli and the border with Tunisia to the western side of the country, that there are still checkpoints and military personnel there taking SIM cards out of phones and cameras and making sure that any evidence of human rights abuses or violence is destroyed.

So that's what we can tell -- that's what we can say with confidence at this point, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So that's Libya. What about New Zealand, the earthquake, death toll, what at 75 now?

GORANI: It's 75, and it's a very sad story, because as in every earthquake you still have people trapped. Hundreds at this point in New Zealand, in Christchurch, as we've seen, the cathedral there destroyed. And there we're seeing rescue workers working throughout the night trying to dig people out. And we understand that the Canterbury TV building, rescuers are saying it is not survivable.

So they are -- and you can imagine if you're a family member. There was one mother, we heard this on CNN International, saying I keep calling my daughter's cell phone and I'm getting a connection, and it's ringing, but nobody is picking up. It just breaks your heart.

And, of course, on a much smaller scale it reminds me of Haiti and those weeks we spent there. It's just heartbreaking because, of course, you can always put yourself in the position of someone desperately trying to find a family member, especially a parent and a child, the kind of grief that nobody should have to go through.

So, yes, we're, you know, still monitoring that, but it's heartbreaking. And those buildings that rescue officials say are not survivable, you can only imagine what goes through the minds of family members who believe maybe their loved ones are inside, knowing that they have died.

BALDWIN: I hear Christchurch is beautiful. I've never been.

GORANI: Yes, neither have I, but --

BALDWIN: Hadn't there just been an earthquake in Christchurch just months ago?

GORANI: Months before, but no deaths but some of the structures were weakened to the point where people are saying that this smaller earthquake might have leveled buildings that had they have been secured right after the earthquake a few months ago might not have gone down.

So mixed in with the grief, of course, anger, and now, you know, fingers being pointed at some officials there saying you should have done more.

BALDWIN: Of course.

Hala Gorani, thank you. The video is just so compelling there.

Have you heard this one? An 11-year-old boy arrested for what? For drawing some stick figures. So what did he draw that caused so much outrage, and was it worth the punishment he got? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now for the "CNN Equals Politics" update. Let's go to Gloria Borger with the latest political news hot off the Political Ticker -- Gloria.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Brooke, you know, in 45 minutes we are waiting for President Obama to come out and finally speak on Libya. There's been some criticism that the president has not spoken out before. As you know, we've had some pretty tough statements from the secretary of state, and today from the White House press secretary, but this is the first time the president has really come out and spoken on Libya.

As you know, the United States is desperately trying to get about 500 Americans out of Libya. That may account for the fact that we haven't heard from the president before this time. I think a lot of us in the press are waiting to see whether there is some news of any kind of international coalition that might establish a no-fly zone or some kind of targeted sanctions. We'll just have to wait to hear from the president on that.

Also related to Libya, there's something they are really watching at the White House, and that is oil. As you know today, the cost of a barrel of oil went over $100 for the first time since 2008. Libya only provides about 2 percent of the world's oil, but as you know and as we've been watching on CNN, there is unrest all over the Middle East, so people are worried about how the cost of oil will go up and could affect our very delicate economic recovery in this country.

But there is some good news for the White House. They are celebrating over there because, of course, Rahm Emanuel is now the mayor of Chicago. The president says he couldn't be prouder of him. What's really interesting about Rahm's race in Chicago is that it was a huge field and he had to win over 50 percent of the vote. And he did that handily, and he won the majority of the African-American districts. And so, that is very, very important to him as he puts his coalition together in the windy city.

BALDWIN: Yes, and no term limits in Chicago.

BORGER: Mayor for life.

BALDWIN: So perhaps like Mr. Daley we could see Rahm Emanuel there for a long, long time.

BORGER: There for life, yes.

BALDWIN: Thanks, Gloria.

BORGER: Good job.

BORGER: Want to get to a couple other stories unfolding right now.

First up, heads up if you drive a Ford. They are recalling nearly 150,000 pickup trucks both in the U.S. and Canada for a potential air bag problem. That is just a fraction of the 1.3 million trucks government auto safety regulators asked the company to recall. The recall affects 2005 and 2006 Ford F-150.

And if you got one of these for Christmas might be time to trade it in. Apple is expected to unveil its highly anticipated iPad 2 next Tuesday. One of Apple's typically sort of, you know, cryptic, mysterious sort of revealing invitations to a March 2nd event arrived in media e-mail inboxes today. We don't know for sure what Apple plans for this second generation iPad, but bloggers who follow Apple closely expect the addition to be a camera.

Outrage in California over the arrest of this 11-year-old boy. His crime? Drawing inappropriate images at school. Now, take a look at this. The elementary schooler, who is being identified as "Tim," was arrested and hauled away in handcuffs from his family home in Arveda, California. Now the boy did admit to police that he had drawn stick figures of four people with guns pointed at them, and he wrote the words, quote, "Teacher must die." That was written on the drawing.

This boy had been undergoing therapy for attention deficit disorder. His parents say his therapist told him to draw the pictures when he was upset. So, a teacher spotted the boy drawing this drawing anyway and sent him to the principal's office.

This little boy now is charged with third-degree misdemeanor. The school district says the move is in the best interest of the child. But his therapist calls handcuffing Tim and putting him in a cell an overreaction.

There may be a new way to tell whether a kid can grow up to become a criminal or a psychopath. Also, protests get heated in the Midwest, and -- oh, boy, here we go again. Lindsay Lohan finds out whether she will be going to jail. They are lining up now. "Reporter Roulette" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Wisconsin's governor speaking out today on all those budget protests, Lindsay Lohan finds out whether she's going to jail, and there may be a new way to tell whether a child will grow up to be a criminal -- time to play "Reporter Roulette."

I want to begin with Kate Bolduan in the capital city of Wisconsin in Madison.

Kate, we know Governor Walker spoke just a short time ago. What was the crux of his message?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think you heard it. And we talked about it right afterwards, after the governor's press conference. What you heard from, I believe, the governor in that press conference was that he was sticking firm. He was sticking to his message and saying that he wasn't budging.

He talked a lot about why he thinks this budget -- this budget repair bill, as he calls it, needs to go through and why it would mean savings and jobs. He's really sticking to his guns here.

But on the other side, the unions and their supporters are also sticking to their guns. There's really no indication at this point well into the second week of this budget battle of either side really backing down. And I think that's what you really got from the president's press conference today and what we're hearing here on the streets of Madison, as well as inside the capitol where a lot of the protests are happening as well, Brooke.

So, while a lot of conversations going on, one thing that you are hearing very loud and clear here in Madison, is that neither side seems to be offering any signs of backing down in from this issue, this core issue of collective bargaining rights, and that's really what this comes down to, Brooke. We're going to be watching very closely as the day continue.

BALDWIN: Quickly, Kate, I see some people behind. I know this is getting into the second week of demonstrators there in Madison. How many people have you seen today?

BOLDUAN: I've seen quite a few. I would say the largest protests that we're definitely seeing were like tens of thousands of people over the weekend. We know that at the beginning of this week, the teachers union had voted that the teachers were heading back to class and that they did. BALDWIN: Right.

BOLDUAN: We're seeing a large presence of the Teamsters Union, and many protesters out here again today. The temperatures here are definitely pushing people back inside a little bit, but I'll assure you that there are many people still outside here today.

BALDWIN: Kate Bolduan, stay warm. We appreciate you. Thank you.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," Kareen Wynter is live in Los Angeles where Lindsay Lohan got a bit of a stern warning today from a judge -- Kareen.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, this is one judge, Judge Keith Schwartz, is not playing around. He leveled some really tough words at this troubled actress, and believe it or not, her eight -- her eighth court appearance, Brooke, in the last nine months. This one involves that felony theft charge for allegedly stealing a $2,500 designer necklace from that Venice, California, jewelry store back in January.

Anyway, the judge is saying, you know what? Either way you slice it, Lindsay, you're looking at some hard time here.

Even before today's hearing began, Brooke, both sides, the D.A., Lindsay's defense attorney, Shawn Holley, they met behind closed doors in judge's chambers with the judge, hoping to work out some sort of deal here. The D.A., of course, pushing for some jail time because Lohan violated her probation from another case, that 2007 DUI conviction. In any event, there was no deal reached, and so, the judge is saying that you either come to some sort of deal, because if this case goes before me, guess what, you're going to jail.

So, it will be very interesting to see what happens between now and March 10th. That's the next time she's actually in court -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: March 10th, tough-talking judge today. Kareen Wynter in L.A. -- Kareen, thanks.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen in this new study that could perhaps predict which children could turn to a life of crime -- Elizabeth.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, criminologists have often wondered if people born a criminal or do they become a criminal based on the way they were raised. Well, there were some new evidence that seems to say that it may be the former. It may be based on how our brains are wired.

They looked at 3-year-olds, and they talked to the 3-year-olds about some punishment they might get if they did something wrong, and what they found is that the 3-year-olds who didn't really care about their punishment and really just went ahead and did whatever they wanted to do were more likely to grow up and be criminals.

Now, fear is governed by an area of our brain called the amygdala, and what they found in other studies adults who are criminals, tend to have smaller amygdalas. So, maybe there's something there and maybe this knowledge will help doctors come up a way to prevent people from growing up in a life of crime -- Brooke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

And that is your "Reporter Roulette" for this Wednesday.

And now to this, there's an interesting e-mail. I got a copy of it from a couple of years ago that's making the rounds. It comes from former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And I've got to warn you -- it sounds a little bit like the movie "Office Space." Joe Johns has a pretty interesting "Political Pop" for us. He is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "OFFICE SPACE")

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, Peter, what's happening? Now, are you going to go ahead and have these TPS reports for us this afternoon?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I don't need to tell you what movie that was. It's a classic "Office Space," the boss, Lumbergh, seems to be making a lot of demands from his employees like the TPS reports.

But was another famous boss doing kind of the same thing? That is what some papers of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld might suggest.

Joe Johns is here with the "Political Pop."

And, Joe -- so Rumsfeld we know, when the papers, the specific e- mail that I know you have a copy of, as do I, for two years, he was secretary of defense at this point and overseeing two wars. And now, papers from this time are getting a little bit of circulation. Do explain.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's awesome. You know, Pentagon is the largest office building in the world. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used to be the top guy there. He's written a book. He's put his papers online.

"Atlantic Monthly" or actually "Atlantic" magazine was digging around in the site and came up with this gem that really tells you, I think, a lot about Rumsfeld as a boss. Fifty-six, 57-word memo from early April 2003. It's from Rumsfeld to Doug Feith, who is his policy guy at the Pentagon, and in it, Rumsfeld basically asked Feith to come up with solutions to some of the world's biggest problems. Check it out. Here's what it says. "We need more coercive diplomacy with respect to Libya and Syria. And we need it fast. If they mess up Iraq, it will delay bringing our troops home. We also need to solve the Pakistan problem, and Korea doesn't seem to be going well. Are you coming up with proposals for me to send around? Thanks." You know, could you just save the world from itself.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Korea doesn't seem to be going well.

Now, apparently, Joe, there's something known around the Pentagon as "snowflake."

JOHNS: Right.

BALDWIN: What is that and what is that about?

JOHNS: This memo is one of the notorious snowflakes -- sharply- worded memos asking big questions. People at the Pentagon called them snowflakes during the Rumsfeld days. I don't know how they came up with that.

BALDWIN: OK. That was my next question.

JOHNS: Yes, exactly. Sometimes he'd write a couple dozens of these a day, we're told sometimes 100. And how do we know that? It turns out the guy who got this memo, Doug Feith, wrote about it in his book. And, you know, you go to page 57 of his book and there you go.

BALDWIN: What did he say?

JOHNS: Well --

BALDWIN: What did he say? How did he react? How did others react to these snowflakes?

JOHNS: Yes. Actually, you know, I reached him on e-mail today. He's still around, and he said the snowflakes actually were not as laughable as some commentators and others like to make them out to be. In other words, he said they got people thinking a lot of times, though he admits that some of them were pretty wild -- his word -- on occasion.

BALDWIN: Yes. Serious topic, Syria, Libya, Pakistan, Korea, you can kind of understand that.

JOHNS: Yes.

BALDWIN: Joe Johns, thanks for reaching out to Doug Feith and him reaching back to you, of course, because you're Joe Johns. And we appreciate it. We'll talk to you tomorrow in another "Political Pop."

But still to come here, dozens of dead dolphins are washing up on the Gulf Coast. Are there deaths related in any way perhaps to that BP oil spill? I'll be talking to someone on the ground in Mississippi looking into this, next.

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BALDWIN: Have you heard about this disturbing new finding along Gulf Coast beaches right now? Dead baby dolphins are washing ashore right now at an alarming rate.

Researchers are trying to determine what is killing them. Experts say it is still too early to link the deaths perhaps to that BP oil spill, or even those dispersants used to clean it up, but this is one factor that scientists most definitely are looking into.

In fact, I hopped on a helicopter last May as I was covering -- the first round of covering the oil down in the Gulf and checking out the impact of the spill, perhaps that it might have on those dolphins, and I was lucky enough to be joined by Moby Solangi. He's with the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies. And Moby -- there he is -- he's joining me from Gulfport, Mississippi.

Moby, it is good to see you again, though unfortunate circumstances. I'm reading at least 17 infant dolphin deaths in the past two months. And just help me put this into perspective. I mean, what's a normal number this time of year?

MOBY SOLANGI, INSTITUTE FOR MARINE MAMMAL STUDIES: Good to hear from you and talk to you, Brooke.

It is now 24 we have handled. Since that number, it has really increased. It's highly unusual.

Usually, we see one or two animals in the months of January and February. This year we have seen a tenfold increase, and it is alarming.

BALDWIN: Moby, I know you've been looking and watching dolphins in the Gulf for 30 years. Have you ever seen a number this high?

SOLANGI: Not really. Not in the months of January and February. And the unique about this is that the majority of them are calves.

We do see animals die, but there's a mixture of adults and juveniles and old animals and young animals. This is all -- and mostly calves. Some of them are stillborn, some of them are -- died soon after they were born.

BALDWIN: Yes.

SOLANGI: This is not a month when they should be delivering babies.

BALDWIN: Where are you finding them? I mean, we're looking at some of the pictures where you and I were flying over, some of those barrier islands. Are they along the barrier islands, along shallow water?

SOLANGI: They have been found everywhere, from Alabama to Mississippi, on the islands, on the mainland, in the marshes. I mean, the last few weeks have really escalated. They were going slowly, but suddenly in the last week or 10 days, we started seeing a huge influx.

BALDWIN: Now the timing right now, Moby, is so, so significant, because this is the first birthing season since that BP oil spill. And one obvious concern, did the toxins, did all those carcinogens affect the mothers, the mother dolphins, in carrying their young?

SOLANGI: That's a possibility that we have to look at. I mean, this is a forensic study.

The animals that are being born now were conceived in March, April and May, most likely. This was before the oil spill, so the gestation period is 12 months. So whatever events have occurred, have occurred from the time they were conceived until they are delivered.

BALDWIN: Final question, Moby. I know you said that the number of deaths now up to 24, and this isn't even full-blown birthing season. That happens next month. So do you anticipate that number to rise beyond even 24?

SOLANGI: I think it's quite possible. We keep on getting calls all the time, and February isn't over yet.

BALDWIN: Moby Solangi, stay in touch with us and let us know. Thank you so much.

And now I want to check in with Wolf Blitzer in 'THE SITUATION ROOM."

And Wolf, we know -- checking my clock here, what, we're about 25 minutes away now from President Barack Obama speaking live about Libya?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. He's going to break his silence. He's been under a lot of pressure to do so much. He's going to be speaking around 5:15 p.m. Eastern, as you say, about 25 minutes or so from now.

We'll have live coverage here in "THE SITUATION ROOM," complete analysis. We'll also check in with Ben Wedeman. He's in Libya right now for us. We've got Nick Kristof of "The New York Times," the columnist.

Also, we're going to get some regional perspective from the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak. He's got a lot of thoughts on what's happening not only in Libya, but elsewhere in the region, including those two Iranian warships that went through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean, the first time they have done that since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

So a lot coming up here in "THE SITUATION ROOM," as usual -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Of course. You're a busy, busy man, Mr. Blitzer. We appreciate it. We'll see you in 10 minutes. Still ahead here, a man is dying from cancer. Now, doctors say he has mere months to live, but the feds want him behind bars. So should he spend his final days at home, or should he be stuck in prison?

Sunny Hostin, "On the Case," next.

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BALDWIN: And now to this -- should a man with pancreatic cancer serve his entire prison sentence, or should he be allowed to spend the last few months of his life at home? A judge in Maryland is being asked to decide just that in this case of a man named Henry Cole.

Sunny Hostin is "On the Case."

And Sunny, first, let's just start with, what is Henry Cole doing time for?

SUNNY HOSTIN, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: He's actually doing time for tax evasion in a federal prison.

BALDWIN: Tax evasion.

HOSTIN: Not a violent crime, that's right.

BALDWIN: So how long do doctors say he has to live?

HOSTIN: They say he has less than a year to live. He is suffering from terminal cancer, and I think it's about -- between six months and a year they have given him.

BALDWIN: So how much of his sentence has he served, and how much does he have to serve?

HOSTIN: Well, he got a three-year sentence, 36 months. And he's served about 16 months of it. And so he's got 20 months left, and prosecutors are saying, listen, you've got 20 months left. You got three years, and you need to spend that time, that remaining time in prison, according to your sentence.

BALDWIN: Is there any precedent, Sunny, for letting a prisoner serve the remainder of their sentence dying at home?

HOSTIN: There really is, especially in the federal system. It's called the compassionate release. Thirty-six out of 50 states also have these types of programs.

I will say, remember the Lockerbie bombing person that was released because he was ill with terminal cancer. He was responsible for violent crimes, blowing up that plane over Scotland, and he was released to Libya, much in the news today. And so certainly there is precedent, and in this case, tax evasion is a non-violent crime, and typically, Brooke, in the federal system, they do consider that a possibility for compassionate release.

BALDWIN: So we'll have to follow and see how someone may rule in his case.

Meantime, case number two, there's this verdict today in the case of an Iraqi immigrant accused of running over and killing his daughter. And prosecutors have labeled this an honor killing, a father upset that his daughter had become too Westernized.

So what did the jury decide in this case?

HOSTIN: Well, they really decided that he was guilty of second- degree murder, guilty of aggravated assault, guilty of leaving the scene of a crime two times, because he not only mowed down his own daughter, he also struck and assaulted and really gravely injured the woman that she was living with, her boyfriend's mother. And so the jury really came back forcefully and said you are guilty of these crimes. They didn't find him guilty of first-degree murder, but second-degree murder, Brooke, is a big deal.

BALDWIN: But this was never a case of whodunit. They always knew who did it.

HOSTIN: They did. I mean, it was never a question of whodunit, it was really why? Was this really an honor killing or was this just a tragic accident? Did he get upset and start driving towards them and then lose control of his car?

That was his defense. But, again, as you mentioned, prosecutors always said this was an honor killing. They felt that she disrespected him, she wasn't living according to the Muslim lifestyle.

In fact, she was married in the Middle East and then came back and moved in with a boyfriend and his mother. And so the prosecutors were saying this defendant was livid about the fact that his daughter was not living according to his rules.

BALDWIN: He was. I remember the story when we first told it. You said second-degree murder. So what sentence could this father face?

HOSTIN: Well, second-degree murder carries with it a possibility of 16 years in prison. I will say this -- they started a hearing today to discuss aggravators, and that means that this sentence could be -- you know, go up to at least 22 years. But it could also be mitigated and go down to about 10 years. So although we have the verdict, we don't know yet how much time he's going to get.

BALDWIN: OK.

And then, third, new mug shots. These have made the rounds. New mug shots of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner, here it is, have just been released.

Now, there are two pictures, one from the front, this one, and then here's the profile picture. Now, CNN had these images before anyone else. We got them through a FOIA, Freedom of Information Act request that we had filed last month. You see the bump on the right side of his head there.

But Sunny, Loughner's lawyers, they fought against releasing these mug shots. Why was that? What was their argument here?

HOSTIN: You know, they had a couple of arguments. They argued that it was reasonably expected to constitute an invasion of privacy. They also argued that these mug shots were much more revealing than an ordinary photograph. And I think their most interesting argument is that mug shots are powerfully associated with criminality, so they thought by the release of these mug shots, it could possibly taint a jury pool.

BALDWIN: It could possibly. I mean, he's got that smirk, so you -- but obviously the judge overruled.

HOSTIN: Yes. The judge did.

And I will say this -- I thought that this could possibly help the defense. I mean, he's grinning and smiling in mug shots. That you typically don't see.

And so if they're going with an insanity defense, I think if the public sees this kind of thing, it could possibly help the defense. So I was actually surprised that had they didn't want these mug shots released. And also, he's visibly bruised, and so I thought, well, perhaps that would help the defense, too, but they decided to try to keep them away from the public.

BALDWIN: That's interesting. You say the smile could be argued in the defense favor in terms of insanity.

HOSTIN: Sure.

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, good to see you "On the Case."

And now Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.