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Libyan Rebels Retreating; Unrest in Syria; Judge Halts Wisconsin Labor Law Again; Bronx Cobra Tweets; Justice Scalia Causes Accident, Gets a Ticket
Aired March 30, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And now watch this.
The U.S. considers giving weapons to the rebels in Libya, but would arming the opposition help al Qaeda? I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
As Moammar Gadhafi continues to draw blood, should the world hand out guns on the front lines? Fears grow those guns could end up in the hands of terrorists.
In Syria, the country's president refuses to step down. Take a guess now at who he is blaming for the bloodshed. Also, find out what happened when his car was attacked.
Plus, they served our country and paid the ultimate sacrifice, but at Arlington National Cemetery, the bodies of many veterans are not in the right places, and now explosive new evidence reveals the situation is way worse than previously thought.
And, oh, boy, forget dating, forget making friends. There's a new Web site out there strictly for casual sex. Wait until you hear their slogan and who they are targeting.
Got a lot coming up for you here in this hour. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
But I do want to begin with Libya, specifically the rebels. They are retreating today. They are asking the West for more help. They want tanks, artillery, communications. In fact, take a look at some of the fighting. This is from today. This is west of the main front, the government-held town of Misrata. You hear all that echoing off of those buildings, clearly fighting ongoing in Misrata, the rebels retreating, but let's look big picture.
Take a look at what's happened with me. So over the weekend, the rebels took advantage of all the NATO air cover. They stormed into Ajdabiya. They then overran the oil centers. You have Brega, Ras Lanuf, chasing Gadhafi forces westward. But now here's where things suddenly have turned around. This has been a game-changer.
It appears that Gadhafi got reinforcements in. They met the rebels just west of Ras Lanuf, and the rebels began to retreat. Today, Gadhafi's forces chased the rebels farther eastward reportedly past Al Brega. Also late today, a spokesperson says the rebels have staged a tactical withdrawal. He also said his troops need arms. They are simply outgunned.
I want to bring in from Washington General James "Spider" Marks, U.S. retired former commanding general of the U.S. Army Intelligence Center.
General Marks, thanks for coming on here.
BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Sure.
BALDWIN: Question number one, I said it two different times. You have the rebels' momentum not just slowed. They are now retreating. So why aren't the allies then bombing Gadhafi's forces right now, keeping them from driving the rebels back eastward to Benghazi?
MARKS: Well, I have to assume that they still are engaging targets that Gadhafi is presenting to them.
So, frankly, if the rebels and Gadhafi's forces are engaged in close combat, which certainly they are, then the no-fly zone and the air-to-ground attack missions that are ongoing will continue to suppress Gadhafi's forces.
So, Brooke, I have to assume that that's taking place right now, but obviously it's insufficient to meet the requirement of the rebels to maintain the momentum.
BALDWIN: OK. What if you are NATO? What if you are running these airstrikes? Is there a possibility at all, General, that Gadhafi's forces could be falling into some sort of a trap, maybe wandering a little too far east, exposing themselves to those airstrikes by NATO?
MARKS: Oh, of course.
In fact, I think it's fair to say that some of these very tight battles that are taking place in places like Ras Lanuf and in Sirte, that what could really happen is those could be isolated, and the rebel forces could bypass them.
And if Gadhafi's forces that are in those cities decide to come out, now they are very much exposed and could be engaged in air-to- ground missions. So, I think the rebels in many cases, well, frankly, they don't have logistics. They don't have training. They don't have leadership. They don't have weapons.
So what do we have right now? We have patriots that are Libyan patriots, ostensibly, mixed with al Qaeda and a bunch of unknowns trying to overthrow Gadhafi. So, we're at the crossroads. What do we continue to do? Do we arm them or do we just let the no-fly zone try to establish what it is we're trying to achieve?
BALDWIN: Well, let me just ask you, if we were to arm them, what exactly would that even entail?
MARKS: Yes, that's a great question. What we -- we don't know a lot about the rebels, and any time you arm a force like this, you're taking great risk. Now, obviously the long-term risk is you might see those weapons fighting yourself in the future at some point. And we have got a checkered past with that.
But, more importantly, if we're giving arms to the rebels, and let's say the rebels achieve some additional success and let's say we are now in -- they're now in Sirte -- are they going to use those weapons against pro-Gadhafi civilians? And clearly the charter is to protect civilians' lives. Is NATO now going to have to go after the rebels because they are using those weapons against civilians?
This is really a very difficult question.
BALDWIN: So, General, then, how do you ensure, A, that that doesn't happen? And, B, I know that, you know, time is not exactly on anyone's side, but these are folks who are not sophisticated. Some of them, this is the first time they have learned how to hold a gun just a couple weeks ago, so what about any kind of training also?
(CROSSTALK)
MARKS: Well, the most important aspect is the training. You just hit the nail on the head.
BALDWIN: Yes.
MARKS: Weapons are important. Training is far more important, but the time domain doesn't allow for training to take place.
And then, to answer your first question, there are no guarantees. I mean, the only way that you can ensure that you can minimize the risk is you have to have a ground force on the ground in Libya to ensure the separation and measure the progress of some peace settlement or some reduction in the violence. And that has been taken off the table, at least by our commander in chief. And I'm not sure why.
BALDWIN: One final question. I was talking to Nic Robertson out of Tripoli, and he was saying to me, yes, there's definitely fuel shortages as a result of the arms embargo. And his belief was that perhaps Gadhafi and his militia are stockpiling fuel, leaving some of these farmers, some of these rebels, you know, to run out of the fuel. But what if eventually even Gadhafi runs out of fuel? What happens then? Does he have a huge problem?
MARKS: Well, he does have a huge problem. And clearly what we have learned is that embargoes like this, whether it's arms embargo or if there are economic sanctions, clearly those that pay the price are the citizens of the country, not necessarily the bad guy who we're trying to target with these sanctions.
But if Gadhafi still exists and is a living and breathing form in Libya, we don't have an end state that's acceptable by any of the nations that are contributing right now.
BALDWIN: Interesting you say if he still exists.
I do want to tell you something. One of our correspondents on the ground, Reza Sayah, was reporting that in this news conference in the opposition capital of Benghazi, there was an opposition spokesperson saying that the fighters had executed, and his words were specifically, a tactical withdrawal from a territory it had previously controlled. So can you just translate for me? Does that say -- does that mean they are losing?
MARKS: Oh, tactical withdrawal is a term of art. Is really is trading space for time. In other words, you give up that piece of terrain that you have owned so can you regroup, get your act together and then conduct operations again.
BALDWIN: Retired Major General James "Spider" Marks, General Marks, thank you.
MARKS: Thanks very much.
BALDWIN: They are America's heroes paying the ultimate price to defend this country, but many of our veterans are being disrespected back home. Families visiting Arlington National Cemetery wondering if the remains of their loved ones are actually in the right place. We have known about the grave mix-up, the wrong coffins, but there is shocking new evidence that reveals the situation is much worse than even previously thought. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: When the story broke last summer, it was a national disgrace. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of remains buried at Arlington National Cemetery have been misplaced, misplaced or misidentified. The country's most famous military resting ground was so poorly mismanaged, Congress had to hold hearings to find fault.
People lost their jobs. The Army promised to identify problems to fix the problems. But now the new administrator, new superintendent is admitting the Army may never be able to straighten out this massive case of mistaken identity.
Mark Benjamin a "TIME" contributor. His new article on the Arlington mix-up appears in "TIME" magazine on stands Friday and on TIME.com. And I also tweeted out an article myself from my Twitter address.
And so, Mark, let's just begin with this. Let's begin with the FOIA. Through FOIA, you -- "TIME" magazine got these transcripts from workers who had been digging in some of these graves, what they thought were empty graves. But, instead, what did they find?
MARK BENJAMIN, "TIME": What they found were coffins that weren't supposed to be there, and what we did is, we used the Freedom of Information Act to find that these are the statements that workers gave to the Army last year and even in 2009. And they were really shocking. They found caskets in graves where there shouldn't be any. They didn't know what the remains were. And they also found several urns. It's perhaps many urns that had been thrown out in the dirt landfall there.
BALDWIN: Explain with the urns. My grandfather is buried at Arlington. I know my grandmother is looking into -- they have this policy, right, where you can have a significant other can be placed with somebody who is already buried in urns. And so that's a whole other issue, because workers would be scooping up these urns and not even find them until they find them in a landfill; is that right?
BENJAMIN: That's right.
The way it works is an urn is buried three feet down. And then, sometimes, the spouse who is buried later wants to be buried in a coffin seven feet down. What was happening, according to the workers, is they were not given word in many cases that there was an urn already in a grave when they go to dig the second time.
What happens is, the backhoe would just scoop that urn up, throw it in a truck. It goes to what they call the fill pit and it's dumped out. And what we would have is these workers just working in the fill pit, using the dirt, they would just come across these urns that had been tossed.
And what's really frightening about that is the Arlington debacle is a fiasco as it is, but these are -- those remains can't be recovered. They are gone forever.
BALDWIN: Wow.
What is Arlington saying? I know, with the hearings, they kicked out the old superintendent. They have a new woman in charge at Arlington. What is she saying? Is she acknowledging the massive problem?
BENJAMIN: She is not acknowledging the massive problem, and that's one of the things that we -- I focus on a lot in the article.
My reporting shows that there are likely burial mistakes across the 230,000 graves that are at Arlington, from brand-new graves dug in just the past few years, going back to the Civil War. That I would consider to be a massive problem.
What the cemetery is saying they are burying people correctly now, so, in other words, the grave that goes in tomorrow is done well, but they are being much dodgier about what they are going to do about the mistakes out in the 230,000 graves that are already there.
And what they are basically saying is, in most cases, they are not going to dig in the dirt to make sure they know where everybody is. They are just going to try to sort through the paperwork and figure out where people are. And I think a lot of veterans are going to be very, very upset about that.
BALDWIN: I know you spoke with someone at the end of your article -- I think it was Bill Koch -- who points out the irony. The military pulls out all stops, as you point out in your article, identifying finger bones from the jungles of Vietnam, but then they can't -- they don't want to go in and identify bodies in Arlington National Cemetery.
BENJAMIN: That's right, Brooke, and it's very strange.
You know, the military has a powerful leave-no-one behind ethos. Nobody gets left on the battlefield. And you're right. The Pentagon runs a really amazing program, where they travel around to Laos and Vietnam or Germany or wherever to look for downed airmen that might have been missing for 40 years. And they analyze those remains at the largest forensic laboratory in the world in Hawaii.
And it's just very strange to me that the military would make such a strong commitment to no one left behind for a -- yes, right, a finger bone in Vietnam, but they won't even use a backhoe at Arlington. It's very, very strange.
BALDWIN: I can imagine a lot of veterans out there want a fix, and they want a fix now.
Mark Benjamin, "TIME" magazine, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it.
BENJAMIN: Thanks for having me.
BALDWIN: Just moments after the president of Syria stood before his country and refused to step down, a woman outright lunges for his car. You're going to see the pictures, the aftermath of that. Plus, one protester there says the government is firing so many bullets, it looks like rain falling.
Also, did George Clooney allegedly see the Italian prime minister with an under-aged prostitute? You know these parties, these bunga- bunga parties? We could soon find out. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We are just getting some information in to CNN. This is news. This is according to Reuters. We're making calls, of course, to the White House. Thus far, they are not commenting, nor is the CIA. But here's what we're hearing. President Obama has signed a secret order authorizing covert U.S. government support for rebel forces seeking to oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. Again, according to Reuters, the president signed the order -- it's known as a presidential finding -- within either the past two, possibly three weeks, according to four U.S. government sources familiar with the matter. Again, want to reiterate CIA not commenting. We're working the phones here at CNN to confirm this ourself. (SIC)
Now, if it's interesting, if it's happening right now, you are about to see it, "Rapid Fire." Let's begin in Syria. President Assad spoke defiantly one day after his cabinet resigned and says he is staying put. Assad blames the uprising on enemies trying to undermine his country's stability. He did acknowledge that Syrians want reform and that the government has not met their needs.
After the speech, an incredible slight (ph). A woman approaches al Assad's car -- you can see it here. She gets almost close enough on the driver's side before she's restrained, her intentions not immediately clear.
Back here at home, tragedy in Hawaii. One Marine is dead after a military helicopter crashed in Kaneohe Bay. Three others on board are hospitalized with injuries. We are told that pilot shouted a "May Day" just after takeoff. One witness says the crash sound like a thunder boom. The Marine Corps is investigating.
In Wisconsin, there is still legal wrangling over whether the new collective bargaining law is even actually a law. For a second time here, a Wisconsin judge has put it on hold, did not mince her words in her warning to anyone who tries to push it forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE MARY ANN SUMI, DANE COUNTY, WISCONSIN: Those who act in willful and open defiance of a court order place not only themselves at peril of sanctions, they also jeopardize the financial and the governmental stability of the state of Wisconsin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We talked a lot about that law -- you know, the law that curbs most collective bargaining rights for public employees in the state of Wisconsin. It was published by the state legislature last Friday after the judge had already issued a temporary restraining order.
And it is confirmed George Clooney and his girlfriend could be called to testify in the sex case against Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. The leader denies allegations of paying for sex with an under-aged prostitute. Prosecutors say Clooney may have seen Berlusconi and a girl at a party. A judge will decide whether Clooney will take to the stand next month.
In Norway, Britain's Prince Harry takes a polar plunge as he gets ready for a trek in the Arctic. Doesn't that just make you freezing cold looking at that? He's heading out with a group of soldiers wounded in Afghanistan to raise money for a charity. The 200-mile walk will take about four weeks. The prince is just along for the first five days, and then he's going to head home for, you know, that little wedding his brother is having, Prince William, Kate Middleton, next month.
A chemist with the Food and Drug Administration is charged with insider trading. Investigators say the man used confidential information about dozens of upcoming drug approvals to make more than $3.5 million. The Securities and Exchange Commission also alleges that this chemist hid his dealings in seven different brokerage accounts, none of which were in his own name.
And more than a year after drowning its trainer, the killer whale Tilikum back at work at Sea World, but there are certainly questions about whether Tilikum could kill again. We're going to go live to Florida. That's ahead.
Plus, the wait is over. I have a missing cobra update! I know you've been waiting for this. The Bronx Zoo now guessing when this deadly snake could show up and where it might be hiding. Plus, the snake has a warning for all of us. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, ladies and gentlemen, keep your hands and feet inside the ride. It is time for today's cobra update. The deadly snake is still missing. The Bronx Zoo says it is probably still inside that reptile house and are guessing the cobra could show up in days, maybe weeks.
Meantime, it's having a ball sightseeing around New York. This is kind of fun. I know a lot of you are following the faux cobra twitterers. Let's take a look at one of the Twitter messages -- tweets. "Getting my morning coffee at the mudtruck (ph). Don't even talk to me until I've had my morning coffee. Seriously, don't. I'm venomous." Wah. Wah.
Jessica Yellin -- Jessica Yellin joining me with some "Political Ticker." But Jessica, we have to talk cobra here first and foremost. Are you following now the Bronx Zoo's cobra? Because it's kind of hilarious.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I understand he has 100,000 followers!
BALDWIN: Like, overnight, too!
YELLIN: It's amazing!
BALDWIN: It's hilarious.
YELLIN: It's so funny. Let's hope he is in the zoo because I feel like somebody in Hollywood's going to buy movie rights to this if he isn't.
BALDWIN: I know. What's up with that?
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: He'll come out eventually. Maybe they'll send some mice in. Anyway --
YELLIN: I wouldn't want to be on that job looking for him.
OK, your political news --
BALDWIN: What you got? Yes.
YELLIN: So you know, we've talked previously, Brooke, about the fact that this year, the presidential election is starting much later than it did for the 2008 cycle. Well, here's yet another sign of that. What was supposed to be the very first presidential debate of the season has been postponed. That's because there are so few top- tier candidates in the game, they didn't want to hold it without enough of those big names. So it was supposed to be on May 2nd at the Ronald Reagan library, and it has been pushed back -- I'm just double checking -- to September 14th.
But fear not. If you're dying for your first Republican presidential primary debate, there will still be one in May. It's a little bit later in May, in South Carolina. And CNN will be having a debate of its own, sponsoring one in June in New Hampshire.
All right. Well, here's another story, this one on the Tea Party, and I do wonder if this one is a sign that it's becoming part of the establishment. A new CNN Opinion Research poll shows that a growing number of Americans are developing a negative impression of the Tea Party. Forty-seven percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Tea Party. Well, that puts it right in line with the Democratic and Republican parties. Forty-eight percent of Americans have an unfavorable view of those parties. So Tea Party, welcome to the club.
And since car crimes seem to be a theme for us on the "Political Ticker" this week --
BALDWIN: Yes, what's going on there?
YELLIN: Here's one about Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Believe it or not, on his way into the Supreme Court yesterday, he got into a fender-bender. He rear-ended one car on the George Washington Parkway, which set off one of those chain reaction car crashes involving four cars.
BALDWIN: Oh!
YELLIN: Eek! He was ticketed, and he has to either pay a $90 fine or go to traffic court. Could you imagine being the traffic judge presiding over that one?
BALDWIN: Um, no.
YELLIN: In the end, he made it to oral arguments in time, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Justice Scalia. Imagine being the officer responding to his car, you know?
YELLIN: Awkward, right?
BALDWIN: Very awkward.
YELLIN: Do you call him "sir," "Justice," --
BALDWIN: I would say Justice, Justice Scalia -- yes, sir, yes, sir.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: OK. Jessica Yellin, thank you for that.
And when you go to the hospital, you trust, you hope you're getting the best care possible, but nine people are dead, even more are sick because their IV bags, that liquid inside there, apparently was contaminated. We're going to get to the bottom of what happened.
Plus, if you don't care about dating, if you don't care about making friends, there is actually a Web site out there that's just for hooking up. You're going to hear its slogan and which group it hopes likes casual sex. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A couple of stories here. A killer whale back in action today. Nine patients are dead because of what was apparently in their IV bags, and Tylenol announcing a massive recall. Time to play "Reporter Roulette."
John Zarrella, I want to begin with you in Miami. Tilikum, the killer whale performing again after killing its trainer some 13 months ago at Sea World. Why is Sea World making this decision?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sea World said that the bottom line was that they have taken all kinds of precautions to make sure that their trainers are safe. They put up a barrier around the pool. They have put in special netting, devices that can be dropped immediately into the water if there were a problem. and they said for the health of Tilikum. it needs, as they said in a statement, "physical, social and mental enrichment," so after a year they decide to go ahead and reintroduce Tilikum into the show.
Again, remember, Brooke, none of their trainers have been in the water nor will they be at any of these killer whale shows. Tilikum or any -- or with any of the orcas.
BALDWIN: But it was, I remember her name. It was Dawn Brancheau who was the trainer, taken down. She drowned because of Tilikum. What is her family saying about this? Are they speaking out about this?
ZARRELLA: You know, we talked to one of her nephews today who is involved in the Dawn Brancheau Foundation. He said, look, we're not commenting one way or the other on Sea World's decision to reintroduce this orca into the show. We are concentrating on Dawn's life and her legacy and what she did. And what they concentrate on is raising money for underprivileged children which is one of the things that they do.
Interestingly enough, Brooke, real quickly, if you go to their Web site, you can see there that they said that back -- her hair was very, very long on the day that she was pulled under by the orca, grabbed by her pony tail. The reason why her hair was that long that day it says on their Web site is because she was growing it out for Locks of Love.
BALDWIN: Oh! What a wonderful person it sounds like she was. It's interesting that the family is coming out saying, yes, this is a great idea putting Tilikum back in the water or not. John Zarella, thanks to you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," nine hospital patients are dead; ten others infected. And health officials think tainted iv bags, the liquid inside of them could be to blame. Elizabeth Cohen is here with me. Again, tell me what happened and what went wrong.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. What they think went wrong is somehow the IV bags that were filled with liquid food for patients got contaminated with this bacteria called sirotta, and they don't know it happened. It could have been a bunch of different things. It could have been that someone at the plant where it was made didn't wash their hands. It could be the equipment was tainted. They just don't know.
BALDWIN: Should people, because a lot of us have go to the hospital, a lot of us have had IVs, should we be worried? Should people in Alabama be worried?
COHEN: No, people in Alabama don't need to worry that this is going to continue because they know which bags were affected and have gotten them out of the hospitals. That's done, so you're not going to hear about any more people -- you shouldn't hear about any more people getting sick. So, that's not the concern.
And as far as getting this bacteria, which really obviously can make you quite sick. I mean, nine out of 19 people are dead. This happens when someone is getting or can happen when someone is getting actual food in their veins. Most of us who go to the hospital are getting a drug, so this bacteria doesn't grow in drugs. It grows in food. But it's extremely rare. They hardly ever see this happen.
BALDWIN: How are those ten infected patients? Are they OK?
COHEN: We hear that some of them are doing better, but we also hear that some of them are in really serious condition and are struggling. So, you know, glad to hear that some of them are doing better. Really, this bacteria can wipe you out. It can really give blood pressure changes and a fever very, very quickly when it's put into your veins.
BALDWIN: Yikes, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for the update on that one.
Finally here on "Reporter Roulette," another major Tylenol recall. Alison Kosik is live in New York. And Alison, apparently people are opening up these Tylenol bottles and smelling some sort of musty smell. Is that right?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. That strange musty or moldy smell is in mostly adult pain relievers, so Johnson & Johnson, Brooke, is recalling 34,000 bottles of one batch of Tylenol eight-hour extended release caplets. Now, J&J says the smell seems to have come from trace amounts of chemicals in the packaging, the materials actually used to store the medicine. Of course, the newest recall affects medicine produced at the same facility that was closed last April. You remember, that followed the recall of millions of nonprescription children's drugs. So, that's what is happening. This is affecting the adult nonprescription drug. BALDWIN: OK. So, that's a head's up on the Tylenol, and then Alison, you are on the receiving end of some of the wackiest stories we find. We've got one for you today. We know there's a Web site out there. Leave it to college kids to figure this one out, though. A Web site strictly calling for casual sex. Do tell.
KOSIK: Oh, yes. Think of this, Brooke, as, you know, Facebook of a different kind. You go to eduhookups.com, and Brooke, its sole purpose is for college students to arrange for casual sex. You post what you want and how you want it. Literally. Did you go on this Web site and take a look at some of these? Very pornographic. It's a must-see.
BALDWIN: I didn't go on. I just read about and I heard it started at the University of Chicago and I heard someone saying, look, we're the biggest geeks. We're at the University of Chicago. They're brilliant by the way, and they were just laughing, come on. We're allowed to do this.
KOSIK: Exactly, but they are tired of being seen as bookish, Brooke. So you know what? Hundreds of people, they have posted these anonymous ads, and, you know, they want to shake that reputation of, you know, University of Chicago being the place where fun comes to die. They say now with this new Web site it's now where fun comes to thrive. That's what they say.
So, they are really trying to change the stereotype and they're doing this casual sex thing online. It's interesting, to say the least. Other colleges are following suit.
BALDWIN: Yes. We'll leave it there with interesting, and it's college. Alison Kosik. Thank you very much. You handled that brilliantly, and that's your "Reporter Roulette" for what is this - what's today, Wednesday? Wednesday.
A firefighter poses with a photo of the remains of the World Trade Center. Now the banner on this photo reads "I was there." Problem is he wasn't. Coming up, the backlash from that ad and the back story.
Plus, there is new word BP could face criminal charges in the Gulf oil spill, including manslaughter. Sunny Hostin is "On the Case." We'll talk to Sunny here next.
But first, the next time you get in your car, you may want to think twice about which way you go. According to a new safety report released today, one in nine bridges and overpasses in the United States are in desperate need of repair. We have the list of the states with the most structurally deficient bridges, so head's up here.
Rounding out top five, you have South Dakota where 20 percent of its bridges are in poor conditions. No. 4, Rhode Island, 21 percent. Rapidly deteriorated bridges, and No. 3, where you need watch out where you're drivers here, 22 percent -- this is near dangerous conditions, this is Iowa. So, what could the top two be? Could you be living in one of these top two states with the most bridges in poor condition? Find out after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: How's this for a scary statistic here? One in nine bridges here in the United States have been rated structurally deficient and may be dangerous to drive on, according to a new safety report just released today. In fact, we have a list of the states with the worst bridge conditions. We told you the top five, four, three.
Here's No. 2. The bridges in Oklahoma, 22 percent of their bridges rapidly deteriorating, and No. 1 on the list with 26 percent of these bridges structurally deficient, you have Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania there at No. 1.
And we have gotten a lot of reaction to our interview, our interview from yesterday, on those parents who are suing Facebook. They want the service to turn over that picture of their murdered daughter's body. It was posted on Facebook by an EMT who was actually called into the scene. This girl was murdered two years ago.
In fact, I spoke with this young woman's mother. This is Martha Wimmer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: How did you even first learn he did this?
MARTHA WIMMER, CAROLYN WIMMER'S MOTHER (via telephone): 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.
BALDWIN: Facebook says they will fight your case vigorously. What do you say to them? What do you say here in general about that?
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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The words of a mother, Ronald and Martha Wimmer. They are heading back home to Staten Island after lobbying New York State lawmakers to pass Caroline's Law. In fact, she spoke with me as she was en route to Albany yesterday. Now, this proposed law named after their daughter would make it a felony, a Class E felony for emergency workers to publish pictures of crime victims. Could go to prison one to four years for that.
And we are used to seeing ads featuring Photoshopped models, but there is an ad in New York that even has the model in this picture crying foul. This is an ad for a law firm that specializes in lawsuits involving 9/11.
Sunny Hostin is "On The Case."
Sunny, let's first here -- people haven't seen it and let's look at the ad together. And as we do, tell me who -- who this guy is in the picture, there it is, "I was there," he says -- or the ad says, I should say, and why was he upset?
SUNNY HOSTIN, TRUTV CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and he's upset. His name is Robert Keely. He joined the fire department in 2004, but he certainly wasn't a firefighter on 9/11, and so he says that he moonlights as an actor and a model. He got about $350 for this ad, but he did not know that it would be used in this way. He thought it would be in a fire prevention ad.
And he said his real concern is that people will think, you know, his firefighter brothers will think that he's trying to cash in on such a tragedy. He even had to call one of his closest friends whose brother died in 9/11 to explain to him that he had nothing to do with this ad, so certainly he is very upset about the way the picture is being used.
BALDWIN: Upset, I imagine awkward for him, too. Is this --
HOSTIN: Very.
BALDWIN: Is this kind of Photoshopping common in ads for law firms?
HOSTIN: I hate to say it's just common in ads for law firms, being the lawyer that I am, but certainly it is common, Brooke, in all sorts of industries. I mean, we see it in the pharmaceutical industries. We see it in the cosmetic industries, and we do certainly see it in ads for law firms, yes. This is a common practice.
BALDWIN: So we've heard about what he's saying. What is this law firm or the ad agency, what are they saying about the ad?
HOSTIN: Well, we did reach out to the president of the ad agency. His name is John Barker, Brooke, and he said that this unfortunate coincidence makes the ad into something we never intended it to come off this way.
BALDWIN: Case number two, the possibility of criminal charges against BP executives. I can't believe -- it's almost been a year since that oil rig blew up in the Gulf of Mexico.
Now we're hearing that Bloomberg is reporting the feds are thinking about charging some of the executives with manslaughter for last year's oil rig explosion. In cases like this, Sunny, are criminal charges unusual here?
HOSTIN: They are not unusual. I mean, certainly there's precedent for it. Remember Exxon Valdez that happened 20 years ago. Criminal prosecution occurred there. I mean, there are three sorts of remedies available to the government in these sorts of environmental disasters, administrative penalties, civil enforcement and certainly criminal prosecution.
We have to remember 11 people lost their lives here, and that is, I think, where this investigation is going. You can't put a corporation in prison, but you certainly, certainly can put a person in prison, especially if it was because of their negligence that these people lost their lives.
So I -- my understanding, I've tried to reach out to some of my government contacts, is that this investigation is ongoing, although it happened a year ago, but this perhaps may be something that we are going to see. I suspect, Brooke, that we will see some manslaughter charges.
BALDWIN: We remember BP CEO Tony Hayward testified in front of Congress. It was, you know, came under fire with some of the words he -- some of the things he said. Could the testimony come into play?
HOSTIN: Well, there's no question. I mean, government prosecutors will be poring over that testimony, and I think it could come into play in terms of perjury. I mean, if he said anything that was untrue before that body, we're talking about a perjury charge.
Each time you lie to either a government official or federal prosecutor that could be seven years in prison for perjury. So I'm sure they are looking at his testimony for that but they are looking at it to try to figure out who is negligent, Brooke, who made the decisions, and are they to blame for the loss of life of 11 people on that oil rig that day?
BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, as always thank you so much.
Coming up, two videos you've got to see. One involves a conversation, we're calling it that, I guess some people are saying it was a conversation between babies, and the other could be scandalous.
Someone has caught myself and Wolf Blitzer dancing. Wolf, along with the whole world, will see the video for the very first time next.
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BALDWIN: Can babies really talk to each other? I know it's a question many of you parents have probably asked at some point or another. Thanks to twin baby boys, we may be finally have an answer. You've got to see this.
(VIDEO CLIP) They are waving. They are talking. I don't know, parents? What do you think? Do you think they are actually talking? We need a translator in baby talk for you.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" now coming up in a couple of minutes here with my colleague Wolf Blitzer. Can't get enough of the babies there. Wolf Blitzer, I have a little bit of a surprise for you.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Yes.
BALDWIN: Because of this little conversation we had yesterday. I don't know where I come up with this stuff for you, but first tell me what's coming up on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
BLITZER: We're going to talk obviously about what's going on in Libya right now. There are these report - there is the A report, I should say, that the president may have signed a secret order, a secret finding authorizing covert action to assist the rebels who are fighting Gadhafi's forces.
If in fact that's true, and we're checking it out, as you know, Brooke, if in fact that's true I wonder how the NATO allies, some of them -- the more concerned NATO allies are going to respond, Germany and Turkey, for example.
The former NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Jalwan is here. We'll discuss that with him. Also Senator Lindsey Graham, he's one of the top Republicans on the Armed Services Committee. He's got strong views about what's going on in Libya. We'll talk with him as well. So we'll have lots of what's happening in Libya at the top of the hour.
BALDWIN: Again, according to that report the president signed this two, maybe three weeks ago. So we'll look for that there on "THE SITUATION ROOM." And then you know how we were talking yesterday and I don't know how, we got on the subject of snowboarding, you don't snowboard and you don't ski and just really like to walk.
BLITZER: Yes.
BALDWIN: Well, apparently our friends, I guess they are our friends over at Jibjab, you know, Jibjabbers who do everything for - you know, they Jibjab the presidents.
We've been Jibjabbed, Wolf Blitzer. Here's the tweet I got after I got off the set yesterday. Jibjab tweeted me and they said, guess what, Wolf Blitzer, you can now ski. So guys just quickly here let's run the video of Wolf Blitzer on the slopes.
BLITZER: Whoa.
BALDWIN: So there you go, on the slopes. This is you skiing and then they took it one notch further, and apparently we can samba. Guys, roll the samba video.
BALDWIN: I hear Wolf Blitzer laughing. BLITZER: We should be on "Dancing with the Stars."
BALDWIN: That is what somebody tweeted me.
BLITZER: Yes.
BALDWIN: "DWTS," Wolf Blitzer. Anyway, we can samba. There you go.
BLITZER: Looking good.
BALDWIN: You've got good moves.
BLITZER: So do you, friend. So do you Jibjab.
WOLF BLITZER: Have you learned how to do the Dougie?
BALDWIN: I have not.
BLITZER: Happening now, the Dougie.
BALDWIN: Did anyone just hear that? Thank you so much, Wolf. I appreciate it. Love talking to you every day. Another senator knows what open mike night feels like.
New York's Chuck Schumer overhead coaching his fellow Democrats on what to say about spending cuts and Republicans. Today, he's got some explaining to do. Joe Johns has the audio. You will hear it in "Political Pop." That is next.
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BALDWIN: So what happens when a senator's conversation is on an open mic? Well, Democrat New York Senator Chuck Schumer was heard coaching his colleagues when he thought no reporters were listening when in fact they were.
Joe Johns is here with the "Political Pop." Joe, what did he say?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if he ever leaves the Hill he might have a real career as a media trainer, I tell you that. Senator Schumer is well known as a master of the open microphone.
But this time he apparently did not know. His voice was going out on an open telephone line with reporters listening. He got recorded teaching Democratic colleagues to call Republicans extreme, blame the Tea Party when talking about budget-cutting negotiations. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: I always use the word extreme. That's what the caucus instructed me to do the other week, extreme cuts, and all these riders, and -- and Boehner is in a box, but if he supports the Tea Party, there's going to be inevitably a shutdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: So right after that Schumer and his colleagues start talking to the reporters and, yes, the Ds start calling the Rs extreme. Not shocking news, I would say, certainly not really surprising news, but a glimpse at least at way the message machine rehearses people on sound bites, and, you know, it happens all the time quite frankly.
BALDWIN: Yes, at least it wasn't something more egregious. We know Schumer was asked about it later. What did he -- how did he explain it? What did he say?
JOHNS: Stuck to his guns, no big surprise. Didn't back down at all. Needless to say the Republican Leader Mitch McConnell weighed in later saying Schumer's comments were not exactly helpful in the budget negotiations and just got this in my in box.
It's a letter from the fund-raising arm of the Senate Republican Committee, and they are asking for money from people who believe in them to send the real extremists in Washington a message so that's the way the city works.
BALDWIN: What about this story all the way from Washington. We go to Jersey, New Jersey. Controversy, all kind of swirling about the hit show, I'm sure you DVR it, not so much, nor do I, "Jersey Shore." What's the story?
JOHNS: Well, OK. Update actually. A developing story though. I don't think it warrants banner in the lower third of the screen just out. Several news outlets reporting CNN has not been able to confirm independently with MTV that most of the cast of "Jersey Shore" is a apparently holding out for more money, hasn't signed contracts for the fourth season. Why is that important?
Well, it's not but it's a headline and comes at a time when a highly visible politician has actually emerged who is coming pretty close to defending the show against all the haters who say it exploits some of the worst stereotypes of Italians and people from New Jersey, among other things.
This is Democratic Congressman Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, we're talking about. He's an American-Italian congressman. He says he didn't think it's damaging to the images of either place, end of story, so there you go.
BALDWIN: So unlike Chris Christie he says it's just a TV show.
JOHNS: Yes.
BALDWIN: OK.
JOHNS: He hasn't seen the show though.
BALDWIN: He hasn't seen the show. JOHNS: He hasn't seen the show.
BALDWIN: Very important note there, addendum. Joe Johns, thank you so much. That does it for me here in Atlanta. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for watching. Let's go now to Washington, to Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.