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Battle For Libya; Murder Picture on Facebook; Water Landing; Sandstorm; Buried Alive; Gadhafi's Son on U.S. Internship; Syrian Government Falls
Aired March 29, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, a disturbing suggestion by NATO: Al Qaeda may be infiltrating the rebel ranks. So does the U.S. really know the opposition?
Plus, a massive sandstorm comes out of nowhere in just minutes. You will see the frightening moments.
And should illegal immigrants be killed or shot off into space? Those questions showed up on a quiz for third-graders. Wait until you see the rest of the test.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: All right. You ready to go? Hour two. Want to begin with Libya, the civil war there. It is Moammar Gadhafi's troops and tanks battling ragtag opposition forces, and we have some amazing new pictures I want to show you from a gunfight in Misrata. That is just in a second, but beginning today, you have a new front, a diplomatic front -- 40-plus world leaders and diplomats, they are all there in London today for one reason, that being, find common ground on Libya and hammer down a plan.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is representing the United States there in London, and here's what it looked like outside the summit in London, protesters urging restraint, shouting down Moammar Gadhafi, waving Libya's pre-Gadhafi flag to show solidarity with those fighting against government forces.
But now to this: incredible images of fighting today. Listen to this, fighting, fighting today in the city of Misrata. That is not too far from Tripoli. Let's listen again. Now, CNN did not shoot this video, but witnesses in the city of Misrata describe especially heavy fighting there today with Libyan tanks shelling residential areas, calling the scene, and I'm quoting, absolute carnage.
I want to go live now to Libya, to Arwa Damon.
And, Arwa, I know your travels took you to Ras Lanuf earlier today with the opposition forces. Talk to me about what you saw, and was that at all anything like what we just saw in the video from Misrata? ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke, the oppositions are really getting a hammering, not just from Gadhafi's military, but from his loyalists as well, as they continue to try to push westward.
They are finding themselves in hostile territory, these tribal pro-Gadhafi lands that surround his hometown of Sirte. We actually caught up with the opposition in an area called Bin Jawad, and moments after we arrived, there was intense artillery fire. We saw the opposition turning around and immediately having to withdraw, telling us that this artillery fire had been happening for quite some time now, since around 8:00 in the morning.
They were no longer able to stand their ground. They lost the town of Bin Jawad, and then the fight moved to Ras Lanuf. And there, there was an intense exchange between both sides, the opposition determined not to let Ras Lanuf fall, but there's not a lot that they can do in the face of Gadhafi's armament at this stage, Brooke.
BALDWIN: It seems, Arwa, your reporting the past couple of days, that the opposition, the momentum has really been gaining strength, that they have been moving westward. And my question now is, does it at all seem to you that their momentum has slowed? And if it has, and as you have been reinforcing to us, these are just civilians who have just recently learned how to fight here, are they ready for potential street battles?
DAMON: Yes, Brooke, their momentum hasn't just slowed. It has in fact reversed. They have now lost territory that they had gained in the last few days.
We saw their initial push westward being relatively easy, thanks to those airstrikes and to the fact that they were moving through friendly territory. The initial cities and towns that they moved through either supported the opposition or were in fact the opposition in and of itself.
Now that they have entered the western territories, they are encountering an entirely different battlefield, entirely different dynamic. Yesterday, opposition fighters went into one town around 60 kilometers to the west -- to the east, sorry, of Sirte, and there they say residents themselves were firing on them.
During the battle in Bin Jawad, they say residents, pro-Gadhafi loyalists, elements of his military were inside that town firing at them from rooftops. And, no, they do not have the capability to be able to win this type of street-to-street battle. They lack the military discipline. They lack a fundamental command-and-control structure. They lack the weapons, and they lack the equipment.
And so this is why we're probably going to see a very different turn in the battlefield with many opposition members telling us they are increasingly concerned because they say they are determined to fight this out until the very end, but it does seem as if that quick victory they were hoping for is going to turn into a long and bloody battle, Brooke. BALDWIN: Yes, it's an important point you made. Momentum hasn't just slowed; it's reversed.
I do have to ask you about this item. We just learned this today. NATO's commanders saying today that there were signs, elements of al Qaeda and Hezbollah are now part of the opposition forces. You have been covering the opposition. Can you add anything to that?
DAMON: Yes, Brooke, we were hearing initial accusations from Gadhafi himself that al Qaeda had infiltrated the opposition.
To be quite honest here on the ground, we have seen absolutely no indication of any sign of influence by al Qaeda or by Hezbollah. Opposition leaders, when they were questioned about whether or not there was any sort of affiliation by al Qaeda, flatly denied it, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Obviously if that's the case, that would be a major concern internationally. Arwa Damon, my thanks to you, as always.
And I want to let you know this. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, will be on "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT." And you can bet Piers will be asking her about the diplomacy surrounding Libya on his program tonight. Watch it with me, 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
But now I want to get you to a very disturbing story that could eventually affect what you and I and all of us do online. Parents, they find their daughter strangled inside her own apartment. The EMT who responded to the scene, responded to their daughter later posted a picture of their daughter's body on the Internet. Coming up next, I will speak live with the mother who is now suing Facebook, and they are demanding names here. They want to know who clicked on this picture. Stay right here. Do not miss this conversation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Losing a child is devastating enough for any family, but imagine having that horror compounded by a crime scene photo of your child's body posted on Facebook.
That is the nightmare the parents of one young woman are living today. Her name is Caroline Wimmer. She was strangled in her apartment some two years ago. Her parents, they were worried when Caroline didn't call home. They went to her apartment. They found her body and then they picked up the phone and they dialed 911.
Before they left, one of the EMTs who responded to the scene used his cell phone to take a photograph of Caroline's body. How do they know he did that? Because he posted it on Facebook?
Well, now Caroline Wimmer's parents are suing everyone involved, including Facebook. They want that horrible picture taken off the Internet, and they want Facebook to turn over the names of anyone and everyone who looked at it or downloaded it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTHA WIMMER, MURDER VICTIM'S MOTHER: This is the second anniversary of my daughter's murder, and I just want to get by day by day.
RONALD WIMMER, MURDER VICTIM'S FATHER: I found my daughter. I seen what she looked like. She was horrible. And I know these people at night, they are all looking at it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: This is a tough one.
Caroline's mother, Martha, is on the phone with me from Albany, New York. Mrs. Wimmer's lawyer is also on the line with me as well.
And, Martha, we heard you just say it was two years ago yesterday your daughter was murdered. And just as a mother here, I imagine you miss her every single day.
M. WIMMER: Oh, you have no idea how much we miss her. We miss her laughter and the fun she put into our lives.
BALDWIN: It's one thing to -- to lose your daughter, first of all. It's another to have to find her body as a mother, find her murdered body, and then third to learn that the EMT who you called to the scene posted a picture of your daughter's body on Facebook. How did you even first learn he did this?
M. WIMMER: A reporter from "The Staten Island Advance" had called us, and he had asked me if I heard about the EMT, and I had no idea what he was talking about.
And he said, out of respect, he wanted to call us and let us know before it hit "The Advance" the following morning. And he proceeded to tell us that the 911 respondent, Mark Musarella, had -- when he responded to the house, he took Caroline's picture and posted it on Facebook.
(CROSSTALK)
RAVI BATRA, ATTORNEY FOR THE WIMMERS: In fact, Marti (ph), that was in May of '09, wasn't it?
M. WIMMER: Excuse me.
(CROSSTALK)
BATRA: Marti (ph), that was in May of '09, right?
(CROSSTALK)
M. WIMMER: Yes. Yes, it was.
BALDWIN: Martha, what did you do when you got that piece of information? Did you believe it? Did you log on to Facebook and find it yourself?
M. WIMMER: No, I did not. My daughter Christina (ph), who was with me, she logged on to Facebook, but it wasn't there anymore.
BALDWIN: It wasn't.
M. WIMMER: He had closed down his page. I -- when St. Vincent's Hospital had found out about it, they had, you know, called him, and then I'm sure they have a copy of it, unfortunately, and they made him close his page.
BALDWIN: So, this EMT, and you named him, Mark Musarella, he was charged with...
(CROSSTALK)
M. WIMMER: Correct.
BALDWIN: He was charged with a misdemeanor, disorderly conduct. He got 200 hours of community service, but served no jail time. And he learned he lost his job just last month. Is that good enough for you, Martha?
M. WIMMER: Oh, definitely not, definitely not. That's why I'm on my way to Albany right now to meet with Senator Diane Savino. And my lawyer, Ravi Batra, is accompanying us, and we're going to go there and I'm going to try and fight for a law to be passed, and it will be called Caroline's Law, so that it will be a felony for anybody, any first-responders to take pictures of crime victims and post it on the Internet.
(CROSSTALK)
M. WIMMER: Brooke?
BALDWIN: Let me -- it would be a Class E felony, I read. It would be a Class E felony punishable one to four years in prison for a public servant to broadcast or publish an image of a crime scene outside their official duties.
I know some people listening may think, why does this even have to be a law?
Ravi, go ahead. What were you going to say?
BATRA: Yes, two things. I do want to publicly thank on behalf of the family District Attorney Dan Donovan, who took an old traditional law, official misconduct, which really didn't fit what Mark Musarella did, but charged him with it. And Mark Musarella was afraid of facing a jury of his neighbors and hence pled guilty to that.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Sure. No, I understand. And he didn't face any jail time. And, Martha, I'm sure that's very frustrating for you. But I have to ask you...
(CROSSTALK)
BATRA: Well, we're not suing Facebook for money.
BALDWIN: Well, let me get to that. Let me get to that, because I do know. I have a whole list here.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: You're suing the apartment owners. You're suing the EMT, the university hospital that provided the EMT, the City of New York, the fire commissioner, your daughter's killer, and Facebook.
But Facebook is protected by the Communications Decency Act, which gives the site -- essentially it gives it immunity. We here at CNN, we have reached out to Facebook specifically over your case and here's what they told us.
They said -- quote -- "As to Facebook, the case is without merit, and we will fight it vigorously."
Martha...
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Excuse me, excuse me, sir. Let me just -- I just want to speak specifically with the mother who lost her daughter here.
Facebook says they will fight your case vigorously. What do you say to them? What do you say here in general about that?
M. WIMMER: That I'm going to fight them right back, and I'm not going to stop until there's no breath left in my body. They can argue the point any way they want, but they are 100 percent wrong.
All I want is my daughter's picture back. Why do they have to have it? What are they going to do with her picture? They don't need it. If it was their daughter, would they want it on there? I don't think so. So all I want is my daughter's picture back. I want my daughter's picture destroyed.
BALDWIN: Martha Wimmer, I'm going to -- I will leave you with that last word. And we are thinking about you. Let us know what happens. Let us know if Caroline's Law passes. I know it's a bill right now.
Ravi Batra, my thanks for hopping on the phone as well. Thank you so much. We'll follow this one.
Now to the escalating violence in Syria. The country's president making a major announcement, and then what happens over the next couple of hours there is critical. We'll get to that coming up.
Plus, who is the woman behind the Syrian president? She's young. Her husband is the center here of this mayhem that's been unfolding, but her history is fascinating as well.
Hala Gorani there sitting on the sofa ready to roll with "Globe Trekking." We will talk about the first lady of Syria, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: OK. To "Globe Trekking" now. And we're always glad we get to have Hala Gorani with us from CNN International.
Big developments today in Syria. The entire government basically quits, and angry people are packing the street, demanding new leadership. It's a familiar scene we've seen playing out in the Arab states this way, and not necessarily in a good way.
Hala Gorani, let's first with the fact that this whole government resigning.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Right. And the people packing the streets today were pro-Assad, the demonstrators. How spontaneous those demonstrations were is an open question. But those were the images that were broadcast on state television. These are the pictures you're seeing there on our screens with pictures of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian flag, more pictures of Bashar al-Assad and signs and support of the Syrian leader.
You mentioned the cabinet, Brooke. Well, that was a mass resignation of the cabinet. However, the prime minister stays on as caretaker prime minister, more symbolic than anything else since the power is concentrated in the hands of the president in the Syrian system.
BALDWIN: OK. So, President Assad, we had been wondering, when will it be? When will it be? We know for sure tomorrow he'll be speaking.
GORANI: OK. There's no such thing as for sure.
BALDWIN: That is an excellent point.
GORANI: No. There's no such thing. We are a little more sure today than we were yesterday that it will happen tomorrow. We don't know what time. We don't know what form or what stage.
We were thinking, and some people were speculating, that perhaps he would use this opportunity, this moment of crisis in his country, to address his compatriots and his countrymen and women and speak directly to the people.
BALDWIN: Speak directly to the people. Sort of Obama style, you know, Western leader style, straight into the camera sort of thing. But we're hearing possibly that it will be during a session of parliament in which case it will be similar to other speeches from the president where he will address lawmakers rather than his countrymen and women directly.
And that -- it's still up in the air. We don't know, but it looks more likely that it will be a traditional setting rather than something brand new for him.
BALDWIN: You're a little more sure, to quote you.
GORANI: Yes.
BALDWIN: We're learning -- we know about him. He's fairly young for a president, 45, trained ophthalmologist. But we'll also learning a little bit more about his wife.
GORANI: Right. His wife has also been sort of the charm card for President Bashar al-Assad. Bashar al-Assad is part of the --
BALDWIN: What do you mean by that?
GORANI: Well, she's educated in the United Kingdom, went to King's College London. She's 35 years old. She's 10 years junior, by the way, of Bashar. She comes from a prominent Sunni family, the Akhras family. She speaks in a Queen 's English.
BALDWIN: Beautiful.
GORANI: She dresses in -- she's an attractive woman. She dresses in designer clothing, and she also spearheads NGOs, non- governmental organizations charity initiatives in her country. She's a graduate -- her major was computer science.
So, this is one big sort of project that she has for Syria to increase the number of computers that or Internet penetration, computer penetration in her country.
BALDWIN: So, when you look at her and you look at him and they seem to be this younger couple and he's been in power, what, for 10 years, 11 years.
GORANI: Yes, 11 years.
BALDWIN: And people have been calling for reforms, but they have not really yet delivered on what the people want.
GORANI: No, they haven't, and the question is: will these promises of reform, which will be promises when he makes them. They won't have been implemented, of course, at that stage, will they quiet demonstrations, or are we looking at a situation like Egypt where little by little, incrementally, day by day, the demands of the protesters increase until they -- they will accept nothing less than the resignation and the departure of the leader? And that's the question, and some experts are saying Syria might not be like Egypt.
BALDWIN: Might not.
GORANI: Yes.
BALDWIN: Well, perhaps, we'll be talking about the president's speech tomorrow. Perhaps we may not.
GORANI: Perhaps we may not.
BALDWIN: We shall see, Hala Gorani. We shall see. Thank you so much.
GORANI: Sure.
BALDWIN: And as the race to prevent a nuclear catastrophe continues, crews in Japan are dealing with an unimaginable situation here. More than 4,000 bodies are still unidentified. That is coming up.
Plus, what happens if your plane has a hole in it. The U.S. Airways flight here did. That is next.
Also, you asked for it. You got it -- an update on the hunt for the deadly cobra.
Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: If it's interesting and happening right now, you are about to see it -- "Rapid Fire." Let's go.
We begin in Japan. Radiation levels outside that troubled nuclear power plant, they are down but radioactive material is still seeping into those surrounding areas. Workers are using sandbags and concrete panels to hold that contaminated water and place it -- put it in a place to store it. Radioactivity has also been found in the sea near the plant.
Meanwhile, we are now hearing that those 4,000 bodies, they are still unidentified. Police are posting information about clothes, belongings -- all in hopes that survivors will recognize them.
And the father of an 11-year-old girl now is finally speaking out here after police say his daughter was gang-raped at least six different times. Nineteen young men are accused of this horrific crime in Texas. Her father reportedly said she had been sneaking out of the house and one night came home crying and shaking. He says she still has the mind of a child, stuffed animals piled up on her bed, but also adds she will never ever recover from this.
Federal regulators hit Massey Energy with more than 80 citations for safety violations in its mines in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Virginia. This followed a round of special investigations of mines in five different states. Massey owns that Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia where there's 29 miners killed in an explosion last spring.
And just in here. Two government sources now telling CNN this small hole inside this -- or outside rather that U.S. Airways jet was caused by a bullet found inside the plane. The sources say they don't think it's terrorism-related. A pilot discovered the hole while checking the plane before a scheduled takeoff. The plane recently arrived from Philadelphia.
Finally, you won't stop tweeting me about the most famous snake in America. Well, here you go. Here's your cobra fix for the afternoon. Cobra is still missing, New Yorkers are still terrified, venom is still deadly, the hunt is still on, and snakes still my biggest fear.
And now, Jessica Yellin in Washington -- I have a feeling Jessica doesn't love snakes either.
Jessica, are you following this faux cobra Twitter handle thing?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I heard about it on your show and started looking it up. It's so funny.
BALDWIN: Hilarious.
YELLIN: I mean, serious story, but funny tweets.
BALDWIN: Right, right, right.
YELLIN: I'm afraid I can't really compete with humor value for that so I'm just go straight to the political news, Brooke.
I did sort of a fact check. A number of Republican -- potential Republican presidential contenders have been saying, suggesting that some of the American forces who are serving in the mission in Libya are taking their commands from non-Americans or answering to non-Americans. Mike Huckabee for one called this unconscionable.
So, I asked some experts how does it really work, and I was told that Americans serving at the unit level always answer up to another American and that the president himself never can give a direct command over American units. Allies, I'm told, can set the operation or direct American units to conduct missions, but they never actually have direct command.
I even went to the national -- the allied commander's office, the head guy who is running the overall NATO mission, and he said the president always retains and cannot relinquish national command. Americans can even opt-out of assignments if they think it doesn't square with U.S. rules of engagement. So, that's on that point.
A more political -- another political story related to 2012. U.S. ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, there's been a lot of speculation that he might run for president next year, and that's super interesting because as a Republican, he's serving under President Obama and he would be challenging the man he now serves. Well, his own brother was interviewed by "Bloomberg News" and told "Bloomberg News" that while Jon Huntsman wants to run some day, 2012 might not be the year, might not. We'll see.
And, then, finally, Brooke, you know, if you're going to get your car stolen, it pays to be a congressman and a former district attorney. Congressman Bill Keating was home in Quincy, Massachusetts -- home in his house, he heard his car starting up outside. Two thieves were in the car and sped away. Keating called 911, and get this? They apprehended the guys and the car within four minutes -- four minutes flat. And --
BALDWIN: Pretty good.
YELLIN: Yes, right? It pays.
Now, this is the part of the story I love. How did the thieves break in? They found the keys to the fancy Lexus SUV inside Keating's other car, a Ford Escape. They picked the Lexus to steal, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Of course, they did. Of course, they did. Thanks, Jessica Yellin. Thanks very much.
YELLIN: Thanks.
BALDWIN: Barry Bonds' former teammate set to take to the stand there in the player's perjury trial. After hearing from his mistress, we're now hearing secrets from the world of baseball. That is ahead.
Plus, a teacher gives third graders a pretty disturbing quiz. Here's what it asks: What should the U.S. do with illegal immigrants? Wait until you hear the multiple choice answers. There's a sneak peek. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You have a major meeting on the situation in Libya. Personal secrets revealed about Barry Bonds, and third graders see disturbing questions on a quiz. Time to play "Reporter Roulette" beginning in London with Becky Anderson, where world leaders there are talking about the next move in the Libyan operation. Becky?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, if there was one clear message from the delegates here at the conference here at Lancaster house in London earlier today, it was this. While Moammar Gadhafi refuses to comply with the terms of Resolution 1973, the military coalition will continue to intervene in the country. That was the message that was clear.
But I've got to say. I can't remember a story where EU members, G-8 members and NATO members have been so divided as to what happens next, and this is the crux of the issue. More questions from this meeting than answers.
Will they push Moammar Gadhafi out? They certainly don't (ph) to have a mandate for that from the U.N. resolution. Will they arm the rebels? It's only the Americans, it seems, at present who believe that the resolution might allow that, that certainly the NATO chief saying to me that that is not part of the deal as far as he is concerned. So, NATO takes over command and control of the operations in Libya. Tomorrow they say they effectively are looking at the embargo on arms, still making sure that that is still in full fledge. They are looking at the no-fly zone and making sure that civilians, they say civilians aren't attacked on the ground. But as I say, more answers to many questions that are still outstanding after events close down here today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Becky, thank you. Becky Anderson in London.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," things are getting very, very personal in the Barry Bonds perjury trial. Want to go to Ted Rowlands live in Los Angeles. And Ted, we heard some colorful testimony from the ex-mistress yesterday who today is taking the stand.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, we've heard from a couple of lab technicians and a trainer. Basically, the crux of the testimony revolves around a urine sample that tested positive for steroids that they say came from Bonds. Later today, we expect to hear from the Giambi brothers. They are two former Major League baseball players who admit to using steroids, and they had the same trainer as Barry Bonds. Greg Anderson, of course. Anderson, not in this trial, sitting in jail because he refuses to testify.
BALDWIN: What about the ex-mistress' testimony from yesterday, Ted? has there been any kind of fallout from that?
ROWLANDS: Well, a lot of press reports obviously in the courtroom really got a lesson on the side effects of steroid use. Kimberly Bell was his mistress for nine years. She says that he admitted to using steroids to her, and she also says that he had the telltale physical signs of using steroids. He was getting bigger. He was getting -- losing his temper, the roid rage, if you will. And his -- private parts getting smaller, so a lot of very graphic testimony yesterday.
BALDWIN: Graphic indeed. Want to talk about this guy, Greg Anderson. The feds say this guy gave the steroids to Barry Bonds. I think you said he is refusing to happen. What happens to their case then?
ROWLANDS: Well, it's tough because the one guy that knows for sure whether or not bonds used steroids is Anderson. He has said I'm not going to testify, so he's sitting in jail. The judge sent him to jail, his third stint in jail. So, what the prosecution has to do is build the case around, using the ex-girlfriend. Using other ballplayers that used the same trainer, Anderson, and sort of building Anderson up as part of this trial along with Barry Bonds.
It's going to be a tough sell to this jury, though. You've got to convince everybody that he used steroids and then lied to a grand jury about it.
BADLWIN: We're following it right there with you, Mr. Rowlands. Thank you so much. Live in L.A. And finally here on "Reporter Roulette," a teacher - have you heard this story? A teacher is under fire for this quiz given to her third graders in Georgia. Rafael Romo is following this one. And we know that this is all about illegal immigration. Do tell.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: So, social studies assignment gone awry. The topic was "What does the U.S. does with an illegal immigrant?" And it looks good? You have some reading materials, but when (INAUDIBLE) from Duluth, Georgia, was helping her brother doing this homework assignment, she noticed there was some questions that she was offend by. One of them, in response to that question. And one of them is "what does the U.S. do with illegal immigrants, and one of the -- one of the answers was "Shoots them into outer space."
BALDWIN: This is an actual answer on the quiz.
ROMO: This is an actual answer on the quiz. The other one was "puts them to death." I went online, and this was originally published by Ed Helper. This is an educational Web site that is supposed to be there to help teachers. And here you have them, you know, as part of four answers, multiple choice. One is "the U.S. puts them to death." Another one is "the U.S. shoots them into outer space," and as you can imagine she was very offended by it.
The district agrees with her and calls this inappropriate, and now they are considering whether the teacher has to face any -- any disciplinary action.
BALDWIN: Where does the teacher stand right now? Still teaching third graders?
ROMO: Teacher is still there, but the district is taking a very close look at situation and trying to decide shortly whether she's going to face any consequences for this.
BALDWIN: Let us know if she does. Rafael Romo, thank you so much for catching that.
And coming up here is the biggest lawsuit of its kind. The stakes could not be higher. Women suing Wal-Mart, alleging discrimination, unequal pay. But the outcome could affect every American business and by the way, your paycheck. What you need to hear. That is straight ahead.
Plus, I ust spoke with a mother who is suing Facebook. Many of you heard this compelling conversations. This is after an EMT pulls out his phone and takes a picture of her dead daughter, posts it on Facebook. The move could change what everyone posts on our Facebook accounts. Sunny Hostin is looking at this one. She's "On the Case," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: What started as six women taking on the world's largest retailer may now become the biggest sex discrimination lawsuit in U.S. history. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether the lawsuit should even be given class action status, allowing as many as 1.6 million women to band together to sue Wal-Mart over pay and promotions.
Now, the court heard arguments from both sides today. Sunny Hostin is following this one and is on the case. And Sunny, what is the argument in favor of class action?
SUNNY HOSTIN, TRUTV CORRESPONDENT: Well, these women are saying, of course, we are a class. We're all women, we all worked for Wal- Mart. We got paid less than men. It was harder for us to get job promotions. Of course we should be together and be able to share lawyers, share resources and bring this together as a class.
Of course, Wal-Mart is saying the exact opposite. They are saying, hey, listen. There are 170 different job classifications for 3,400 stores. Bottom line is you're not birds of a feather. You're all very different, and if you have these discrimination claims, you need to bring them one by one against Wal-Mart because we have a policy against discrimination, and it just isn't feasible for all of these different women to sort of join together in a class.
So, those are sort of the diametrically opposed points of view of Wal- Mart versus the plaintiffs.
BALDWIN: OK. So those are the two sides. Another issue here is the fact that this impact, if this case goes through, could have a huge impact far beyond Wal-Mart.
HOSTIN: Well, there's no question about it. And that is why, Brooke, everyone is following this case. I mean, up to about 20 major U.S. companies have filed briefs and come out in support of Wal-Mart. They are saying GE, Bank of America, Microsoft, they are all saying, listen. This could open up the floodgates of class action lawsuits.
And we saw this kind of thing, Brooke, with tobacco litigation, antitrust litigation, all those big, big sort of hotbed issues, and they say this is going to affect millions and millions of people. The Chamber of Commerce is saying listen this could really hurt American business.
But, of course, there are folks on the side of the women that are saying, well, no. This is what we want. We want women to be able to band together and people that have been allegedly discriminated against, to band together. So everyone is watching this hot, hot case.
BALDWIN: When should we expect some kind of decision from the Supreme Court?
HOSTIN: We are not going to hear from the Supremes I think until a late summer, probably sometime the end of June.
BALDWIN: Oh, wow. OK.
HOSTIN: Yes.
BALDWIN: We'll wait for that. Several months away.
Also here, case number two, a tough one. Earlier this hour, I spoke to the mother of a murder victim whose crime scene photo, the body of her daughter was posted on Facebook by an EMT. Now, the parents of Caroline Wimmer are suing to get Facebook to get the picture from its servers. Now, Facebook says it's going to fight this lawsuit, but they are facing a very determined mother. I want you to listen to her.
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MARTHA WIMMER, MOTHER OF CAROLYN WIMMER (on the phone): I'm going to fight them right back, and I'm not going to stop until there's no breath left in my body. They can argue the point any way they want, but they are 100 percent wrong. All I want is my daughter's picture back.
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BALDWIN: Martha Wimmer talking to me on the phone this hour.
Now, the Wimmers are also pushing for a law. She called it Caroline's Law, that would make it a felony for public servants, i.e., an EMT to publish crime scene photos outside of their official duty. So, Sunny, the first question that comes to mind, why does there even have to be a law for an EMT or public servant not to be posting some kind of a picture like that on Facebook, A. And isn't there some sort of code of conduct for EMT and other emergency responders saying don't do this?
HOSTIN: Isn't that unbelievable? I mean, you think, do clowns like that get jobs? Of course it shouldn't -- it's certainly against policy for a crime scene technician or an EMT to take a picture of a victim and then post it on their Facebook page. Certainly, and this particular gentleman was charged and found guilty of official misconduct. He pled guilty to that.
However, I think that Caroline's Law is a wonderful idea because it makes it a class e felony, Brooke. It makes it a crime. I mean, certainly common sense not to do something like this, but when you criminalize that kind of conduct I do think it's a deterrent.
Someone could spend up to four years in prison for doing something like this if Caroline's Law is passed so certainly a very, very important law, and I hope that it gets enough support to pass.
BALDWIN: That's Caroline's Law and another facet of the story is Facebook. My question is legally here could Facebook be forced to remove this picture, turn it over, turn over all of the identities.
All the names of anyone and everyone who ever looked at the picture or downloaded the picture? Wouldn't that have some pretty broad implications for all of us who are on Facebook using social network sites, Sunny? HOSTIN: It certainly would and Facebook does have immunity as we know. They are not responsible for the content of what third parties post, but Facebook is very good about when a complaint comes to Facebook.
They aggressively manage the content and they do take things down, so I don't think it's implausible for Facebook to be forced to take the -- the photo down and sort of destroy the photo. Giving all the information of the users that perhaps looked at the photo, I think that's overreaching.
And I love her spirit and I feel for the victim's mother. I mean, she's such a momma bear, as I am, but I think it really is far- reaching to certainly ask for everyone's identification. I can't imagine that the judge is going to force Facebook to do that.
BALDWIN: Well, what is Facebook, Sunny, specifically saying about the Wimmers' suit?
HOSTIN: Well, I did reach out to Facebook. I think I have their comment there.
BALDWIN: Here it is.
HOSTIN: And they basically said, listen, as to Facebook, the case is without merit, and we will fight it vigorously. That comes from Facebook today, and, again, I -- I do think that they have a fairly strong position.
They are not being sued for money. They are only being sued for injunctive relief. She just wants the picture back, but she also wants -- the parents also want of that user information. I don't think they are going to get it, Brooke.
BALDWIN: What a story. You relate as a momma bear and a lot of momma bears thinking that's unbelievable.
HOSTIN: I do.
BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, thank you so much for that today. And now this, a snowboarder crashes and gets buried alive. The whole thing caught on his helmet-cam. Coming up, you'll actually hear his desperate cries for help.
Plus, dramatic video of a massive sandstorm, look at this. The guy behind the camera say it came out of nowhere. You're going to see the frightening moments next.
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BALDWIN (voice-over): OK. You've got to see this. The crowd here showed up for the grand prix race as in cars, but a plane stole the show with the pilot of the war bird had to ditch into the water just short of the runway. This is St. Petersburg, Florida. You see that massive splash. Both the pilot and a passenger made it out with just minor injuries. Obviously, that's good to hear. But look at that into the water, down she goes. And how cool is this?
Well, to look at but not to drive through. An I-Reporter in Kuwait captured this picture of a sandstorm and sent it into us here at CNN. Thank you so much, Dwayne Williams.
He is stationed at a U.S. base there. Said the wind picked up. The temperature dropped. Look how massive that thing is moving or the lights. Before he knew it he could see only two feet in front of his car.
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BALDWIN: And here's a cautionary tale for all of you snowboarders out there. Craig, you listening in the studio here?
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BALDWIN (voice-over): Take a look at this. This is James Drummond snowboarding down Mt. Shasta in California when he falls head first into a tree well and gets trapped upside down under six feet of snow.
Caught the whole thing, you're looking at it from his helmet cam. Luckily, he was able to reach his cell phone. He called his wife and got some help from the ski patrol.
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BALDWIN: Drummond was eventually rescued by the Ski Patrol 30 minutes after making that phone call. Imagine being buried under snow like that, must have been the longest 30 minutes of his whole life.
And now, I don't know if he's so much of a snowboarder, Wolf Blitzer, joining me now. No way, you ski?
WOLF BLITZER, THE SITUATION ROOM: No skiing, no snowboarding. I like to walk. Walking is nice.
BALDWIN: Walking is good.
BLITZER: Skiing, not so great.
BALDWIN: You got some laughs in the studio here, Wolf. What do you have coming up on "THE SITUATION ROOM"?
BLITZER: Bill Richardson, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., former governor of New Mexico, he'll be joining me. We're talking about Libya. We're talking about Syria, what's going on in both of those places. It looks today, and Arwa Damon is going to be joining us right at the top of the hour.
It looks today like the rebels are making some -- are suffering some major setbacks to the Libyan forces, and a lot of questions being raised what's going on? Are the rebels getting the kind of air support from the NATO coalition and some of the Arab league countries that they really need right now if they are going to beat back Gadhafi's forces?
This is a tenuous very sensitive moment of what's going on in Libya right now. The rebels had been making significant progress over the past week, but that looks like it's ending, at least on this day. We're trying to assess what's going on. I think our viewers will be interested if they are interested in what's going on in Libya, and I'm sure they are.
BALDWIN: Situation very tenuous. Arwa said to me the momentum hasn't just slowed it's reversed for the rebels. So Wolf Blitzer will look for that report there coming up in a couple of minutes on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Now just days before the crisis erupted in Libya, Moammar Gadhafi's son was right here in the United States doing an internship. Do you know what he was doing? We're going to tell you. What he was doing when he got a very urgent call just recently to come home.
Plus, Donald Trump, he is on a bit of a warpath lately. He's targeting President Obama and his birthplace. What's really behind these Donald Trump attacks? Joe Johns. He knows. He's in the "Political Pop." That's next.
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BALDWIN: Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi is attracting media attention over the decades with his strange behavior, but did you know - we know he had several sons, but he had one son in particular right in the U.S. living days before the upheaval began in Libya.
Joe Johns is here with the "Political Pop" about a story about the Libyan dictator's youngest son. So what was he doing, Joe?
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: This guy kind of shocked the world. His name is Chanis Gadhafi. He's widely reported to about 27 years old. Right before the unrest started in Libya, he was in the United States, traveled coast to coast meeting with high-tech companies, universities, defense contractors.
Remember, the defense contractors part. He was supposed to be on a month-long internship for a company on the west coast. The company had been working on modernizing Libya's infrastructure and their executives said they thought Chanis was planning to go home to help improve the quality of life for Libyans, but it didn't turn out that way.
It turns out he's a military man, and when the fighting breaks out this guy goes straight back home and takes charge of a unit called the 32nd reinforced brigade. He's been waging war against the rebel forces, and the U.S. military says his unit has actually engaged in some brutal acts against civilians. Surprise.
BALDWIN: There have been some reports that this Gadhafi son was also killed. What do you -- have we been able to confirm that?
JOHNS: Well, the report was that he -- he died when a plane flown by an angry Libyan pilot crashed into a military compound, but CNN's Pam Vincent reports that on Monday night Libya's state TV broadcast what's being described as live footage from Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli of Chanis right there before the people dressed in uniform and greeting people, so it sounds like maybe he's not dead at all.
BALDWIN: OK. A-OK. All right, topic number two here. If you thought the discredited birth movement was finally quieting down. Leave it to real estate mogul to stir the whole thing up again.
Donald Trump who says he's seriously considering running for president for 2012 has been calling for President Obama to publicly release his birth certificate, but the message has gotten all kinds of mixed up. What's the story here?
JOHNS: Well, it's also hilarious and a little embarrassing.
BALDWIN: It is kind of hilarious.
JOHNS: Yes, at first Trump was out there questioning whether President Obama was born in this country, but now Trump is actually the one getting questions about where he was born. He was trying to make a point about transparency and openness and released what he said was his birth certificate to News Max to prove he was born in New York.
It turns out what he released wasn't his official birth certificate. All he released was a document the hospital gave his parents. A real birth certificate would have been issued by the state of New York. It would have had the state seal on it, all the proper attestations and it just didn't so a little trouble there for him.
BALDWIN: So that was a birth certificate, let me make sure I'm hearing you right. It's a birth certificate that his parents got from the hospital?
JOHNS: Well, yes, it's just a document the hospital gave him to say your son, Donald, was born here, and the date and it's got signatures, but it was not an official state document.
And so, you know, his spokesman says there's no doubt Trump was born anywhere, but New York. But he's created a pretty valid question here, you know, and now people are looking into it, and it's kind of funny.
BALDWIN: It is kind of funny, and that's why we put it in "Political Pop." It's a very poppy, as we say. Joe Johns, thank you so much. That does it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin here in Atlanta. Time to turn things over to my colleague, Wolf Blitzer in Washington, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Brooke.
