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Americans Evacuated Out of Libya; Obama Administration Imposes Sanctions on Libya; Republican-led Wisconsin Assembly Passes Anti- Union Legislation; White House Recognizes History of Motown

Aired February 25, 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: The violence in Libya is escalating alarmingly. Protesters under attack. Forces are said to be taking them on with bullets. And now a human rights group says thousands may be dead.

Also, a couple hundred Americans have finally left that war zone. We are live on the ground where they have arrived on a ferry.

The fight in Wisconsin hitting a fever pitch, the state assembly investigate against union workers. The governor wins the first battle, but will he win the war?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so sad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police say three foster children were treated worse than dogs, burned, beaten, kept in cages. The sheriff says it is the worst case of abuse he has ever seen. Not only will I talk with him live, I'll ask him about the accused parents and how it is that they are free right now.

BALDWIN: And hello once again here. I'm Brooke Baldwin coming to you live from Washington, D.C. It's been a big, big day for 300 passengers leaving Libya, now in Malta.

Take a look with me, live pictures as that ferry, Maria Dolores, approached that port there in Valletta in Malta.

This is taped from within just the last moments here. We now know it has docked, and those folks have begun disembarking. In fact, we have spoken to some of them, some of them speaking to the fact that it's almost bittersweet, because they are leaving behind many people they loved, yet at the same time chilling just to hear some of the descriptions, some of the violence that they heard holed up in their own homes essentially as prisoners here, but, again, more pictures of these people, many of them children.

This ferry was chartered by the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. now today also imposing sanctions against Libya. They have also shut down the embassy there, all of that coming out of White House daily briefing within the last hour or so as well.

The Libyan ambassador to the United Nations speaking out against his once confidant Moammar Gadhafi on the U.N. floor.

Want to get to Diana Magnay, who is there perched right next to the ferry, for me on the phone.

And, Diana, what a huge day for these people. I know they have been waiting several days to get on that ferry. What are you seeing?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke.

Well, I'm just seeing a stream of actually not American citizens, but people coming out. And if I do manage to get someone to speak to you on the phone right now, then I'm going to put them on.

But, basically, we have been speaking to a couple of people who said that it's been quite strange, because they haven't heard anything that's been going on over the last few days. They had no Internet on that boat. They were on it for two nights. So they feel really quite cut off from what happened, at least they are of course hugely relieved to be on this side. They said that the journey over was pretty choppy, fairly unpleasant, lots of people being sick.

I spoke to a mother who had -- an American citizen married to a Libyan who is still staying in Tripoli, so she obviously worried about him, because she thought the situation was so unstable, so dangerous, so terrifying that she had to come out with her family, her two little girls and her mother, so she is here, her husband back there.

And I'm looking at these coaches which are beginning to fill up besides the port. One of them is filled with lots of little children who seem to have survived the journey in fairly good spirits. But they are taking quite a long time to disembark. When they disembark, they are going to -- embassy staff are sort of helping them change currency and make travel arrangements and make hotel reservations for the evening.

And as you can imagine, there are about as -- many more press members than there are passengers coming off the ship now waiting to speak to them, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. We could see some of the flashes from some of the cameras. I can only imagine the media presence as we have all been waiting for this ferry to arrive there in Malta.

Just to remind everyone, 300 people were on board that ferry that was chartered by the U.S. State Department, 168 of whom were Americans, as Diana pointed out, many of them children.

And, Diana, to your point that you made once before, this ferry could hold some 600 people, yet it was only half-full. Do we know why that is?

MAGNAY: I talked to the U.S. ambassador to Malta about that. I said, why is that the case? And it (AUDIO GAP) appear that the U.S. did manage to get a hold of the citizens that it wanted to pull out. He said, we managed to get the message through, but it could be that other countries didn't quite manage to get their people to Tripoli on time to make the boat. They might have been spread out in other parts of the country and unable to come.

The U.S. obviously chartering a ferry that could accommodate more people than they actually needed to get out, because we do know, of course, as you have been reporting, that now that this ferry has docked here, now that a plane has left Tripoli today full of U.S. citizens also, they have now suspended diplomatic relations.

It would suggest they have got the bulk of their U.S. citizens out of the country and that these are the passengers that we're seeing right here now and that we're expecting to land in Turkey any minute -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Diana, and I'm being told that these are now live pictures, quite a crowd now massing off of that ferry, so it looks like a good number of people are off.

And who do you have standing by? You mentioned some buses. I know there are some ambulances. Tell me, Diana, what's next for these people? Where do they go next?

MAGNAY: They are going to go to their hotels now that hopefully they have just reserved one as soon get off the plane. I'm just seeing an American citizen. They have these badges. The Americans have (AUDIO GAP) and the others have TCN on them, which means third country national.

I'm really trying to ask one of them to speak.

I'm with CNN. Would you mind just telling us a little bit about your experience on the telephone?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, you mean on the -- the actual journey?

MAGNAY: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we arrived here on last Saturday (AUDIO GAP) on Sunday, heard all the gunshots Sunday night (INAUDIBLE) woke up early the next -- on the Sunday and went to the airport to see if we could get an early flight, couldn't get anywhere.

And the rest of the time we spent at our hotel until we went down to get the ferry, waiting there most of the day. But the (INAUDIBLE) put (INAUDIBLE) on the ferry, people (AUDIO GAP) ferry staff and the American Embassy has been absolutely marvelous. They did everything for us. And they were just so welcome. And we're really, really grateful to them, been absolutely marvelous.

BALDWIN: Hi. This is Brooke Baldwin. You're speaking with me in Washington, D.C., ma'am. Are you still on the phone?

(CROSSTALK)

MAGNAY: Could you tell us a little more about your experiences on the ferry. How was the crossing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was quite rough. Personally, I was all right. I travel well like that. But it was quite rough.

But we were looked after so well. That's really the main thing. There was plenty of food. We were warm and dry, when we knew we could have been at an airport waiting for hours. It was absolutely marvelous.

MAGNAY: Was it quite scary to be in the port for such a long time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not really, no. The scariest part was hearing the gunshots during the night when we were in the hotel.

MAGNAY: And was it problematic getting to the port?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not particularly. We're part of a group. And, fortunately, our -- the group leaders sorted everything out for us.

MAGNAY: And you were there as a British tourist?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes, a British tourist, that's right, yes.

MAGNAY: OK. Thank you very much.

Brooke, I hope you heard that interview. I couldn't work out whether you were talking to her or whether I was. Anyway...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Diana, you did a -- that was fantastic. That was fantastic.

We love doing things on the fly here at CNN. And we appreciate you getting her, just one more person who can help us understand how excited -- you could hear it in her voice -- how excited she was to get off that ferry and to get out of Libya.

Diana, I'm going to let you go, because I know what it's like to be in the field. And you want to go do your job. So, I want to give you some time to try to round up perhaps another person, Diana Magnay for me in Malta -- Diana, thank you so much.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And Moammar Gadhafi is telling his supporters to retaliate, his words, and he says he will fight until the death. So how will the world respond to this defiant leader? Brand-new developments just coming into us here at CNN. We're going to take you straight to Ben Wedeman on the ground next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back here to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brooke Baldwin coming to you live from Washington, D.C., today.

And we have been watching this breaking news here out of Libya as hundreds of passengers have been disembarking off of this ferry in Malta, after leaving the capital city of Tripoli.

And I want to go to CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman, first journalist to enter and report from Libya.

And, Ben, I think it's just important to juxtapose almost the excitement we're hearing from some of these folks now in Malta fleeing Tripoli and the escalating violence in the capital city and the fact that you have Moammar Gadhafi coming out and saying he's not going anywhere.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yes.

The statement from Moammar Gadhafi was fairly disturbing to people in Benghazi, this threat that he's going to open the doors to his arsenals and provide weapons to his supporters and sympathetic tribes.

But that may be the bravado of a man whose sink -- whose ship is sinking. Here in Benghazi, we're seeing huge numbers of people coming out to demonstrate for Gadhafi's ouster. They are also expressing sympathy for the people of Tripoli, who have had a very hard time of it today.

According to a woman I spoke there -- with there, she said that, when people came out on Friday prayers to peacefully protest against the government, they were fired upon with intense gunfire. That was the words she used, when -- on the streets of Tripoli. So the situation continues to be very difficult.

We do see that, steadily, the anti-Gadhafi forces are gaining ground, but the worry is that, when Moammar Gadhafi truly feels cornered, he could become even more dangerous.

BALDWIN: Dangerous. He's defiant. You mentioned what he had said on state television today.

And then, Ben, we're also hearing from one of his sons. His Saif spoke with CNN Turk and he was asked if he has a plan B. And I want to read to our viewers what he said.

He said: "We have a plan A, plan B, plan C. Plan A is to live and die in Libya. Plan B is to live and die in Libya. Plan C is to live and die in Libya."

So it sounds to me like father, like son, Ben. Are we -- will we be hearing from Gadhafi's son again?

WEDEMAN: Yes.

And, in fact, we're seeing on the very entertaining and informative Libyan state TV that he will be holding what's being described as a press conference later this evening in Tripoli.

Libya has allowed a small group of international journalists to enter the country legally, as opposed to what we have done. And they sort of -- they are going on a dog and pony show. It's unlikely they will have much of a look at what's really going on in Tripoli. This may be one last attempt by the Gadhafi regime to win over international public support. I doubt they will have much luck at it, though.

BALDWIN: I was speaking with Richard Roth at the United Nations awhile ago. We were speaking about the significance now that the U.S. government will be imposing these sanctions against Libya. There had been sanctions for some ten years, and now there will be sanctions once again.

Will that, though, fall on deaf ears, Ben?

WEDEMAN: Well, I think if you look at the behavior of Moammar Gadhafi since these -- this uprising began on February 17th, the behavior has been erratic. He doesn't seem to really be paying much attention to international public opinion, and he certainly doesn't have much regard for the opinion of his own people.

But at the end of the day, if the oil revenue dries up, if Libya once more becomes a pariah state and has to exist under an air embargo as it did for many years like in the year 2000, the price of that defiance for deaf ears may become almost intolerable.

BALDWIN: Ben, thank you, so much. Stay safe.

Also, moments ago there was some crying and hugging on the floor of the United Nations. Folks, this is certainly not something you see every day. We're going to talk a little bit more about that with Hala Gorani who is standing by live with "Globe Trekking."

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time to take you "Globe Trekking," and I want to take you back to the unfolding crisis in Libya. I want to bring in Hala Gorani who is there in Atlanta as part of this whole thing.

Hala, talk me through this, I don't know, if saying historic is going too far.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: I don't think so.

BALDWIN: But the fact that we saw this what, Libyan deputy ambassador --

GORANI: I don't think it's going too far.

BALDWIN: The floor is yours. GORANI: I'm sorry, just because it's the first time I've seen anything like this at the United Nations or anywhere else. An ambassador for an Arab regime who not only steps down, says he's representing now the Libyan people, not the Libyan regime, lashing out against the leader Moammar Gadhafi.

You know, the man crying there on the right is the deputy ambassador for Libya to the United Nations. That man who several days ago said a genocide might be going on in his country. And a little bit later the ambassador himself said it is finished, referring to the Gadhafi regime and that a new era of democracy, of reform, would stretch from Morocco -- of course, Morocco on the other end of north Africa to Egypt -- all the way from Morocco to Egypt, and that it's a new dawn.

And this is really the first time -- I never thought I'd see anything like this at the U.N. or in any other forum, a diplomat that represents a dictatorship for years and years, then steps aside and finally lashes out so publicly at the regime that he represented just days ago, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Amazing. These grown men hugging on the floor of the United Nations during the Security Council emergency meeting. It is historic, we'll use that word.

But, Hala, I also want to talk about Saif Gadhafi, one of the sons, who said something pretty interesting to CNN about plan A, B, C and D. What did he say?

GORANI: Right. Saif al Islam Gadhafi, one of the sons of Moammar Gadhafi and once the heir apparent to the regime in Libya, speaking to one of our affiliates, CNN Turk, one of the reporters who flew to Tripoli, the Libyan capital, flew to state television in Tripoli; conducted this interview at 1:00 in the morning because that's when they were able to make it to the state television building.

And Saif al Islam Gadhafi was there in front of a big monitor showing map of Libya and saying that apart from eastern Libya, essentially, that is in a state of chaos, everything else is under the control of Moammar Gadhafi.

Then he was asked about what plans he has for the future and this is how he answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAIF AL ISLAM GADHAFI, MOAMMAR GADHAFI'S SON: We have plan A, plan B, and plan C.

Plan A is to live and die in Libya.

Plan B is to live and die in Libya.

Plan C is to live and die in Libya.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: So you heard that there, Brooke. Plan A, plan B and plan C -- all three plans are the same, and they all call for the Gadhafi family to stay in Libya and die in Libya.

BALDWIN: Amazing. That is the sound bite being seen and heard around the world. Thanks to CNN Turk. Sounds like father, like son.

Hala Gorani for me today with "Globe Trekking." Hala, thank you. Have a good weekend.

And back here at home now, one week from tonight, the U.S. government is scheduled to totally shutdown. So will lawmakers come together to keep that from happening? That is next.

I'm Brooke Baldwin live from the nation's capital on this Friday afternoon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now for our "CNN Equals Politics" update. Speak to two ladies I've been so lucky to lay my eyes on in Washington. We have Dana Bash and Gloria Borger, both of whom in Washington, along with me. Let's talk politics, ladies.

And Dana, I want to begin with you and this looming possibility here of potentially a federal government shutdown. The deadline is one week from tonight, 11:59:59.

Where do things stand right now?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, were things is that House Republicans, as you know, they have said that they won't support any spending measure at all, even short term to keep the government running unless it includes spending cuts.

And so -- in fact, we just got details on this moments ago on my BlackBerry, but they will have a vote early next week that will keep the government running for two weeks and cut about $4 billion in spending.

But they did something with this that they clearly sympathy clever and that is that the cuts they are proposing -- again, we're going to look at details -- but in general we've heard from sources, these cuts are cuts that Democrats have supported. So the idea is that this will make it very hard for Senate Democrats to block because, you know, this is the big question is whether or not Senate Democrats will go along with even what Republicans consider minor cuts.

We just got a statement that does seem to suggest some of the sentiment from Democrats is warming, Brooke. The Senate Democratic leader, his spokesman, just released a statement saying that they are encouraged by the Republicans' cuts saying that they are not the extreme cuts that they have seen in the past. So perhaps we could see at least early next week -- get to close to the brink of a shutdown but maybe quite there. But again, we're just talking two weeks now. There's a huge gulf between the big issue, which is House Republicans want to cut $61 billion, Senate Democrats say we don't want to do any of that.

BALDWIN: Well, a week from tonight, we'll find out, shall we.

Dana Bash in Washington. Dana, thank you.

And, you know, staying on the topic of government shutdown, Gloria Borger, we know it was Newt Gingrich back in '95, speaker of the House, during that government shutdown. Now we hear he's a possible presidential hopeful.

What is his message now on a possible shutdown, and is he worried that it would hurt his party?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's kind of interesting, because I was scratching my head this morning. He wrote an op-ed piece in "The Washington Post." It was kind of interesting, talk about revisionist history.

He wrote this piece, Brooke, saying, you know what? That government shutdown all you elites talk about as being really bad, well actually it wasn't so bad. It was kind of good because it got the country set towards deficit reduction and that was a good thing for the country. So he said, look, while we wouldn't want a government shutdown in a perfect world, he said what would be far worse is that if Republicans didn't stand on their principles.

Now, Brooke, the way I remember it is that the government shutdown was the single thing that catapulted Bill Clinton back to some sort of popularity, and the polls that I look at by a two to one margin the voters don't want a government shutdown. And so, you have to think that's why the current speaker, John Boehner, is working so hard to avoid one.

But there you have Newt Gingrich, you know, could be saying, look, it wasn't so bad and maybe I ought to be president of the United States.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: We'll wait and see, but according to Dana there is some enthusiasm and potential for compromise.

Gloria Borger, thanks to you as well.

BORGER: Thanks.

BALDWIN: And before the uprising in Libya this week, you had probably noticed prices going up again. And as part of our series today, we're calling it "The Price We Pay," Stephanie Elam looks at the brewing spike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This might give you a jolt, coffee lovers. The cost of that cup of Joe is about to go up some more.

JOSE SETTE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL COFFEE ORGANIZATION: Prices have been rising steadily over the last four or five years, but these price rises have accelerated since May of last year.

ELAM: And roasters are passing some of the coast on to you. Last fall, Starbucks said it was raising the price of large and labor- intensive drinks to offset the cost of coffee beans. Well, the price of packaged Dunkin' Donuts and Folgers coffee products sold in retail outlets rose by 10 percent this month.

And with coffee prices hitting a 14-year high and rising more than 100 percent in the last 12 months, more hikes could be on the horizon. So what's behind the boost?

SETTE: Coffee prices are high primarily because we have had three disappointing harvests in Colombia in a row, and Colombia is the biggest producer of fine quality coffee.

ELAM: While prices are high, this isn't the worst we've seen.

SETTE: If we talk about adjusting for inflation, then prices are not as high as we have seen in the past. But in nominal terms, we are at the highest level since 1977.

ELAM: It's hard to pinpoint when prices will gun at the store, but consumers should get ready.

HECTOR GALVAN, SENIOR TRADING ADVISER, RJO FUTURES: The sticker shock they may think is bad now. It will be nothing compared to, you know, what they will have in the next six to eight months.

ELAM: So will the price hike stop folks from hitting up their local barista?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If it gets high I won't get cove every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, not at all. Coffee is important.

ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Stephanie, thank you.

And the governor of Wisconsin won the first battle in the budget showdown, but will he win the fight here, this overall fight against those union workers? Listen to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Shame! Shame! Shame!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Protesters up in arms. We'll get a live report from that scene next.

Also coming up, brand new video of that man accused, 20 years old, accused of plotting terror attacks. His alleged targets, George W. Bush and nuclear power plants. They are lining up now. "Reporter Roulette," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Republicans in Wisconsin Senate vote in the union showdown without the missing Democrats, you have the Texas terror suspect going to court today, obviously a lot going on this Friday. Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

I want to begin in Madison, Wisconsin, Ted Rowlands. Ted, let's start with the assembly. Know they passed that Bill in the wee hours of the morning, but the Democrats, they did not go very quietly. Did they?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. It was pretty ugly scene at 1:00 a.m. local time here. The Republicans basically pulled the old quick vote maneuver. When Democrats thought they were still debating they voted within a few seconds and walked out of that room. You saw the video of all the Democrats on the floor chanting at them and yelling at them. A lot of people were very upset on the democratic side there. Clearly the political divide here is growing by the day as the stalemate continues, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And Ted, so we know, there were shouts of "shame, shame." I read drinks thrown. It was quite a scene, but what happens now? Mean, those 14 state senators, those Democrats, they are still MIA, are they not?

ROWLANDS: Yes, and what happened to the assembly was basically a foregone conclusion. The way it went down made some people upset, but everybody knew that was going to happen.

The other side of the coin here is the Senate, and the 14 senators remain in the state of Illinois, and there is no indication from them that they are coming back here to Wisconsin to establish a quorum. So that means that the governor is basically having to wait. It's a stalemate.

He went around the state today to try to apply pressure saying get back to work, do your job, do your job. He went to all the different districts and tried to plead with those constituents to put pressure on the senators.

But at this point they say they are not going coming back unless the governor budges a little. They will give him all the money he wants but he's got to budge on the collective bargaining or they won't come back. That's what they are saying now. It's coming down this, this game of chicken. By next Tuesday if somebody doesn't budge, the taxpayers here will lose some money. So it's interesting to see who blinks.

BALDWIN: We'll be watching right with you, the game of chicken in Madison, Wisconsin. Ted Rowlands, thank you very much.

Second here on "Reporter Roulette" we're getting our first look at a man accused of planning to use weapons of mass destruction at both nuclear power plants and President Bush's home. Next here Jeanne Meserve in Washington, good to see you.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Welcome.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Let's begin with the fact that he was in court this morning. What happened?

MESERVE: This was his first court appearance, very short. He came in in shackles, prison jumpsuit, asked a couple of questions and appeared largely expressionless through the entire proceeding. His lawyer says he'll enter a plea of not guilty. The lawyer issued a press release criticizing media coverage saying it was biased and one- sided, questioning whether his client would be able to get a fair trial in Lubbock and urging that he be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

BALDWIN: What else on this guy today?

MESERVE: Law enforcement continues their investigation, still telling us that they are not finding any links to any other people or groups with terrorist links.

And in addition we talked about a freight company, Conway freight. They were one of the companies that tipped of law enforcement about this shipment of a chemical phenol. Law enforcement said that's the only thing he needed to put together an explosive.

The company would not be very specific. They said something unique that someone on the loading dock and managers noticed. Thought it was unusual and bumped it up the chain there and because an investigation is under way they are holding it pretty close what it was that tipped them off.

BALDWIN: Whether it was a matter of an employee being astute or something else, we don't know.

MESERVE: Right.

BALDWIN: Jeanne Meserve, thank you so much.

MESERVE: You bet.

BALDWIN: And finally here on "Reporter Roulette" -- that is our "reporter roulette" for this Friday.

The Obama administration has a new social secretary, have you heard, and the appointment is historic. Why? And who is he? That is ahead.

Also, Motown night at the White House, several singers honoring the oldies in front of the president. But did you see, and perhaps more importantly hear, what Jamie Fox asked of the president? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Did you hear, historic day today? The first ever openly gay White House social secretary has been announced. Joe Johns with me here in person for a little political pop. Joe Johns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You need to come back to Washington.

BALDWIN: You know I have such a TV crush on you. So it's nice to see you in person.

JOHNS: The feeling is mutual.

BALDWIN: Tell us about who is this guy.

JOHNS: Jeremy Bernard is his name. He is a guy who has worked for this administration for a while.

BALDWIN: OK.

JOHNS: He actually has been the chief of staff for the ambassador to France which was certainly a big deal. He's held some other minor jobs, worked for the National Endowment for the Humanities, for the Kennedy Center. He's sort of been around in this administration.

BALDWIN: So he's been around the block in terms of the administration in Washington, but how did you -- I imagine there's a lot of people who apply for this kind of job? Do we have a political back story?

JOHNS: Definitely. First thing is he's a huge fundraiser during the president's last campaign, brought in millions and millions of dollars, so that really helps obviously for anyone in this administration.

But he's also a very good fit. His resume is the thing, you know. A lot of people around town are saying this is a guy who has done the kinds of things that really puts you right in the pipeline for this kind of job, social secretary.

BALDWIN: Beyond the resume, what more do we know?

JOHNS: Of course, we had to check him out a little bit more. And the first thing you want to know, at least what I wanted to know, what about the social secretary's appearance on social media, that will give you some kind of gauge so we went out to Facebook and took a look around.

BALDWIN: That's going to change like bam, real quickly.

JOHNS: And some type of a photography fan. He has some beautiful pictures of Paris, fantastic shots.

BALDWIN: What's his name again, I'll like him.

JOHNS: Jeremy Bernard.

BALDWIN: That's something I'll do.

JOHNS: That's the guy who will get you into the Easter egg roll.

BALDWIN: Which is something I'm just dying to do. State dinner, yes, my friend.

Speaking of social events, huge rocking party at the White House.

JOHNS: This is awesome and we should roll the videotape. This was a Motown celebration at the White House.

BALDWIN: Look at Michelle Obama looking beautiful.

JOHNS: It was for black history month. Right. And Jamie Fox called the president out on his dancing and said, you know, you've got to dance with us. Now, I've got to tell you, though, of politicians particularly presidents in Washington, I've seen him dance in person before, and he's not that bad a dancer. He can hold a beat.

BALDWIN: He's got a sense of rhythm.

JOHNS: Yes, not bad at all. So he went out and danced a little bit, amazing cast of characters there. Sheryl Crowe was one of the people. Why would Sheryl Crowe be at a Motown event, any idea?

BALDWIN: No clue.

JOHNS: She used to sing backup for Michael Jackson. Who knew? In the 1980s she sang backup for Michael Jackson. So a good night had by all, and apparently that's going to be on PBS sometime soon.

BALDWIN: I love Motown. You a Motown fan?

JOHNS: Yes, yes, I was, big time. Now last thing, do we have time for it or not?

BALDWIN: No, no. I'm being told no. Wait for it for Monday.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm holding on to this other video. We'll tease you with some rapping video with regard to the president.

JOHNS: Think Notorious BIG.

BALDWIN: Love Joe Johns, thank you so much. See you after the show, sir. Coming next here, you will hear from an American who just got off that ferry in Malta from Libya. You've got to hear this whole story. We'll play it back for you in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. I want to take you back to Malta, where that ferry of 300 passengers has docked within this last hour.

I want to go to Diana Magnay, who's standing by with one of the Americans who just got off that ferry in Malta from Libya.

Diana, who is it?

MAGNAY: One passenger who doesn't want to tell us his name because he still has family in Libya who he wants to make sure stays safe. But he's been describing some really terrifying scenes that he witnessed in the Pashlum (ph) area of Tripoli. And I'm going to interview him on the telephone now with you.

So, sir, tell us what exactly you saw over the last few days before you boarded the ship.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw carnage. I saw carnage -- little kids, 16-and-15-year-old kids in Pashlum (ph) who were shouting and demanding the ouster of Gadhafi. And very quickly, as soon as the numbers grew -- I don't know how the Libyan authorities knew about it -- they sent army. I believe it is the 32nd division that reports directly to one of the sons of Gadhafi, and they shot first.

They didn't ask questions. And they were chasing the little kids. The little kids went into their homes and into side streets.

They followed them. They encircled the area. And they started shooting and shooting.

And then they followed the kids inside their homes, and I heard a lot of screams of women inside the homes. I couldn't see anything that was going on there.

And they did grab some of the kids out of their homes and carried them with them. There were a lot of injured and dead people on the streets.

And I saw the gunships shooting at them, and the army was using heavy machineguns and automatic rifles against little kids that were carrying nothing more than pebbles to throw at the army. And I talked to a lot of Libyan Libyans, and one thing that is very clear, they are all united. All the Libyan nation is united in their desire to get rid of the nightmare that they have been experiencing for the past over 41 years.

And they are certainly determined, and they are expressing their views and their desire in a very peaceful manner. But the authorities doesn't want them to do that, and they were crushed really brutally.

MAGNAY: Where were you? Where were you viewing it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On one of the side streets. Yes, on one of the side streets.

MAGNAY: And was this on just one night, or did it happen on a sustained basis?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, one night, the one night that the army moved into the Pashlum (ph) area.

BALDWIN: Diana --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wants to talk to you.

BALDWIN: Diana, we appreciate you talking to that American.

We're finally hearing the stories of these men and women, and some of the children. As he mentioned, for the last few days they've been describing this virtual black hole with regard to any kind of communications there out of Libya. And so now 300 passengers off the Maria Dolores ferry, now in Malta, and now many of them feel safe.

Coming up next, since I'm in Washington, D.C., today, I've got a -- we'll call him a surprise guest standing by.

You won't want to miss this. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So, as I mentioned a couple of times through this show, it's a real special treat to actually be coming to you live in Washington. And you know who I normally talk to right about this point of the show, a certain someone who does this show, you heard of it, "THE SITUATION ROOM."

So, since my studio was all of 10 feet away, follow me.

Welcome. Wave, guys.

Over there, the production guys. Come on in. This is Wolf Blitzer's neighborhood.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Let's give it up for Brooke.

(APPLAUSE)

BLITZER: Let's welcome Brooke. She's here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

BALDWIN: Yes. I am in.

BLITZER: We are so excited to have you here. You've been here before though. BALDWIN: I've been here before, but, you know, this is special. We wanted to -- I'm hanging out in the studio next door to you. How could I not come see you in person?

BLITZER: If you would have been here last night, do you know where you could have gone?

BALDWIN: Last night?

BLITZER: Yes.

BALDWIN: Were you at the Motown party?

BLITZER: No. I wasn't invited to that.

BALDWIN: Oh. What?

BLITZER: But I did go to the Verizon Center.

BALDWIN: You saw Lady Gaga?

BLITZER: I did. Have you ever seen her in concert?

BALDWIN: Of course not. You do all the cool things.

BLITZER: Oh, my God.

BALDWIN: You saw Lady Gaga?

BLITZER: Very cool.

BALDWIN: What was the song that brought down the house?

BLITZER: "Bad Romance." I mean, she killed everyone with that. That was the penultimate song she did.

BALDWIN: The penultimate? What was the ultimate?

BLITZER: Her new one that just came out with. But the penultimate was "Bad Romance." But she did all of them.

BALDWIN: Are there pictures, anyone? Are there pictures of this, Wolf Blitzer at Lady Gaga?

BLITZER: At Lady Gaga? There are, but you're not going to see any of them.

BALDWIN: That's why we love you, Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: It was very cool.

BALDWIN: So, as we are in "THE SITUATION ROOM," tell me what's coming up.

BLITZER: We've got a lot of serious news. Not only Lady Gaga. A lot of serious news. BALDWIN: Libya.

BLITZER: Libya right now. Fouad Ajami is going to be here. Nick Kristof, "The New York Times" columnist, he's really got some strong views on what's going on.

And there are breaking developments right now. The White House finally taking some specific concrete steps. And we're getting new information on what's going on. We're going to be all over this Libya story.

And on this day much of North Africa and the Middle East reeling right now. Things are happening so dramatically. I've covered this story for a long time. I never thought I would see this kind of drama and dramatic developments happening as I'm seeing them right now.

BALDWIN: You've been I know in the Middle East. Just quickly, you've never actually sat across from Moammar Gadhafi, have you?

BLITZER: No.

BALDWIN: It was interesting talking to Fareed about that. Interesting, Wolf Blitzer.

We'll see you in just a couple of minutes right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

BLITZER: Welcome to Washington. We hope you'll be back.

BALDWIN: Hey, thank you. Hope you invite me back.

And we've got to do a quick break.

I'm almost done, and then I'll hand it off to you.

For now, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "On the Case" today, this is a horrific story -- burning children's tongues with hot spoons, forcing them to eat dog food, locking them in the storm cellar. These are just some of the allegations against this one Oklahoma couple charged with abusing their three adopted children. They are 9 years, 11 years and 15 years of age.

Sheriff Randy Edwards of Canadian County, Oklahoma, calls this the worst abuse case he has ever seen.

Sheriff, I appreciate you coming on.

I mean, just the details here are horrendous. Let me just start with this -- how did authorities even find out about these parents, about what was going on in this home of John and Sonya Kluth?

SHERIFF RANDY EDWARDS, CANADIAN COUNTY, OKLAHOMA: On November 28th, we received a report of a runaway. The child was found sleeping in a box behind the store, Brooke, that he was trying to stay in out of the cold, in a box, and sleeping in it.

He was reported to us. We sent an investigator over there to pick him up.

The investigator, Tim Thompson (ph), visited with him, talked to him, took the time to try to find out why he had ran away from home. After he gained the child's confidence, just a whole list of, as you say, horrific, different abuse.

BALDWIN: Scenarios and situations and details.

Sheriff, let me just jump in and ask -- the question so many people have is why? I mean, what have these -- and I hate even calling these parents -- what have these individuals even said to authorities about this?

EDWARDS: Well, first of all, they are adoptive parents. They adopted them as foster children out of the state of Wisconsin, and I understand they had been investigated in Wisconsin for child abuse on these same children. They had actually been turned in to the state of Wisconsin's DHS by their biological children for the way they allegedly were treating the children.

BALDWIN: Sheriff, I've got just 30 seconds, and I apologize for interrupting here, but so many people want to know, how are these kids? How are they doing?

EDWARDS: The kids are extremely malnourished, as you can well understand. They would spend months at a time in dog crates.

They have had everything done to them from having been beat, burned, cut with knives. And they are in care of Oklahoma's DHS custody. They are responding to treatment and doing quite a bit better right now.

BALDWIN: We hope they continue to improve.

Sheriff Randy Edwards, I appreciate you coming on and shedding some light on that story. Thank you.

And now to my colleague just next door in the studio, Wolf Blitzer, in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Wolf.