Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Libyan Defection; Budget Battle Continues; Escaped Bronx Zoo Cobra Caught; Radiation Detected in Milk from Cows in Japan; Syrian Anti-Government Protests Continue; Office Workers Win Multi-Million Dollar Lottery

Aired March 31, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone.

I want to begin today along the battlefront in Libya. Take a look at some of the video here, because you're going to see the rebels. These are the ones who have asked for new weapons to try to overthrow the Gadhafi government.

Now, yesterday, they retreated. Today, they tried -- tried -- to regroup. Those are the rebels. And what you see right there is actually the road we spoke about just yesterday. This is that coastal road sort of meandering along the Mediterranean Sea, where most of the fighting is taking place. Here's the maps.

You can get a lay of the land. Today the rebels have regrouped near Brega. You see Brega there. But I want to turn the corner because all eyes today are on Tripoli and the question of whether Gadhafi's inner circle perhaps has begun to collapse.

We have new details today about the defection of Moussa Koussa, by some accounts, Gadhafi's number two guy. He turned up yesterday in London, defected. Here's what we know. There was a phone conversation last Friday between Moussa Koussa and British Foreign Secretary William Hague, details undisclosed.

Monday, Moussa Koussa arrives by car in neighboring Tunisia, government business. Wednesday, a British charter plane arrives there in Tunisia and then at 11:00 in the morning, that plane leaves with Moussa Koussa on board.

Fast-forward, 3:00 London time, the plane lands at a British military airfield. And that's how it happened, a potentially huge crippling blow to Moammar Gadhafi.

Standing by for me is -- in Tripoli, CNN's Nic Robertson. Nic, of course, has interviewed Moussa Koussa, right, I know, Nic, when you got to Tripoli.

And let me ask you this, though, looking ahead. Are the other top players right now in Gadhafi's regime, are they all accounted for today? And is there any way to definitively even know?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, there isn't. And we had the briefing by the government spokesman here earlier on today who was trying to sort of play this thing down, saying that Moussa Koussa was an old man, he was ill, he was tired, he had a heart condition, he had that problem, this problem. And the government had said that he could go and recover in Tunisia, all of which seems to patently ring somewhat hollow because the government was absolutely tricked here by Moussa Koussa.

And it's taken the government almost 24 hours to put out a message. When he was asked is there anyone else in the government who's feeling ill and has been given medical leave in Tunisia, he said no. But we are hearing rumors of other people that have left the country. So I wouldn't be surprised if we see some more people leaving. Certainly it has to be a concern for the regime here, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Did Moussa Koussa have the kind of stature, I know we were saying he could be the number two guy, that might prompt others, you mentioned there were rumors, but could his disappearance, his defection prompt others to follow suit?

ROBERTSON: Sure.

This is a guy a lot of other people are going to look to and they will say he was close to the regime. He was the head of intelligence from '94 to 2009. He was once one of the most wanted men in Libya for various terrorist acts in Europe during the 1980s. He's been close to the leader for several decades. Yet, now, now he is deciding to jump ship?

What is it he knows that we don't know? That's what some people here are going to be thinking. He managed to negotiate it seems his exit and get himself successful out of the country. That's going to be a big challenge for other people to do. But they will be looking at it. They will be looking at him and thinking, is he making the right move? Is he going to be on the right side of history? Are we going to be in the wrong place?

A lot of people are concerned about their backgrounds here catching up with them and being in the wrong place when the regime changes -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: What I'm also, Nic, sort of fascinated by is the relationship between Moussa Koussa and Moammar Gadhafi and I'm just curious what the influence on Gadhafi has been. Was he a moderating influence? And can we say what this departure, what this defection means to Gadhafi psychologically?

ROBERTSON: Well, he was trusted by Gadhafi. So I think that's one of the first things, trusted to sort of negotiate the end of Gadhafi's dabbling in WMD and close enough to negotiate a way out of the international impasse over Libya's involvement in downing of Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland. So he's trusted, and, therefore, you know, that he was close to the leadership.

He's also seen as a man who wanted to make these reforms, who wanted to reach out to the West, who wanted to change the regime and bring this country in from the cold and had seemed to be successfully doing that for a while. So this would have been a person who seems to have been, A., close to leadership, B., a moderating, reforming influence, and now he's gone. Who's to hold Gadhafi back from the worst of his excesses, these excesses allowing his army to kill and maim citizens in cities and towns around the country?

So it does have to be a concern. If the moderating voices are gone that were trusted by the regime, who's left to hold Gadhafi back? So there will be people looking at this situation worrying about it in that way as well, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And as you pointed out, who would be the next to go? Nic Robertson from Tripoli, Nic, my thanks to you.

But I want to take you back now to the fighting and some exclusive CNN reporting here. This is from the main battlefront near there. This is near Brega. But smaller battles are taking place elsewhere again along this coastal highway. And you see this town? We have been talking a lot about Misrata there off to the west.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen, he got in, got out and then dropped this story for us. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Weeks of urban combat have taken their toll in Misrata. Badly damaged buildings, streets littered with wreckage. Libya's third largest city, the final opposition stronghold in the west is under siege by pro-Gadhafi forces.

(on camera): All right. So we're close to the front line right now we're with a couple of the fighters from the opposition forces and this is in downtown Misrata. There is a lot of destruction everywhere. Most of the buildings here have some sort of damage to them; pockmarks. There's a lot of destroyed cars in the streets as well and we can also see that the people that we're with -- the fighters that we're with are very, very tense at this moment.

(voice-over): The celebration on a destroyed armored vehicle a step too far for pro-Gadhafi forces nearby. And the scene turns ugly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire, fire, fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you see, that all is destroyed pro-Gadhafi forces. Buildings, gas stations, schools, (INAUDIBLE) police station, even fire station, they destroyed it.

PLEITGEN: Most residents have fled downtown Misrata as pro-Gadhafi forces have positioned snipers on tall buildings, used tanks and artillery in the city center. The anti-Gadhafi fighters badly outgunned, fight back with the few weapons they have.

They provided us with this video saying it shows a man disabling a battle tank with a rocket propelled grenade. Those civilians still left in Misrata are suffering. Twelve -year-old Mohammed and his 15-year-old brother were wounded when mortars hit their parents' home. Mohammed lost several fingers on his left hand and his whole right hand.

Their father swears revenge."Gadhafi should be killed," he says, "he's not a human and he should be killed." But for the now, the medical staff at one of the few functioning hospitals are struggling to keep many of the wounded alive. They lack even the basics, anesthetics, operating tools and space. Some patients must stay in the parking lot. The emergency room is in a tent in front of the building.

DR. ALI ABDALLAH, SURGEON: All the doctors and medical staff are here now.

PLEITGEN: And they won't leave any time soon as opposition fighters struggle to hold on to this besieged town and forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi continue to pound what not long ago was one of Libya's most prosperous places.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Those images in the hospital tough to look at, incredible, incredible stuff from CNN's Fred Pleitgen and crew. He's now live on a boat off of Libya.

And, Fred, I just want to begin with the fact that the images of the 12, the -- the 15-year-old boys in the hospital, it's chilling stuff. And I'm sure you and your crew had to just sort of look over your shoulders as you were walking through Misrata. But that is reality for thousands of people there.

PLEITGEN: It's absolutely reality for the people there.

And I can tell you there's a lot of people who are very, very afraid. And those boys that we showed in that hospital, that was one of many of the terrible scenes that we saw when we were in Misrata. And the hospital is really a very, very difficult place at this point in time.

What you have there right now is the doctors are operating on the corridors. You have some patients that are out in the parking lot. There's not enough medication or anything there. So certainly right now, it's a very, very difficult time for people, especially if you obviously get wounded in battle at this point in time, but generally for the population of Misrata.

I saw many, many people where you could see that the fighting was not only taking a physical toll, but also a psychological toll on the people -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Of course. And in terms of the situations really in any of these cities, it's so fluid, it changes hourly. In terms of Misrata, where you were, who is winning for now?

PLEITGEN: Well, that's a very, very difficult question. Right now, what's going on, it appears as though that the opposition forces are holding on. And that's quite a big thing, because they're more badly outgunned than I really would have thought before going in there. It's not only that they have very light weapons; many of them have makeshift weapons, where you have like people who had air guns and try to make them into higher-powered rifles, people using machetes, people using petrol bombs.

And they're up against tanks and artillery. And yet they manage to hold the ground there. One of the interesting things that they did, they said they had a tank assault a couple of days ago. And what they did is they put carpets on the street and then they put oil on those carpets and set that on fire and managed to stop the tanks with that because the tanks caught fire when they tried to roll over that.

So those are the means that the opposition uses. Right now, as you said, a lot of the neighborhoods change sort of sides several times a day. So it's very difficult to ascertain who in fact is in control. I would say though at this point in time, the opposition controls more of Misrata than the Gadhafi forces do and they control the vital parts of Misrata, which is especially the ports and a lot of the factories that are in the areas of the ports -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Fred, just on a personal note, I mean, you and your crew shot amazing video. And we saw everything from the battles on the streets to these little boys in a hospital missing fingers. But what's the one image there, as you're on a boat off of Libya, what's the one image that's really sticking with you?

PLEITGEN: Oh, what's it like off the boat in Libya, you say?

BALDWIN: No, what's the one image, what's the one image in Misrata that just sort of sticks with you?

PLEITGEN: Well, I would say, I mean, the boys in hospital were a pretty bad image, but it was just generally the despair of the people there.

I would say that the worst scenes that we saw -- and we have a crew that has seen a lot of wars in the past -- I think that a lot of the injuries that people sustained there, those are probably the worst images and the ones that will stick with us the most, especially in light of the fact that many of these people are not going to get the medical attention that they need.

One of the things that the doctors told me is that right now if someone, for instance, gets a gunshot wound to the leg, they might not be able to treat that, they might have to amputate the leg simply because they're getting so many casualties in, that they're just overwhelmed by the situation. And that really is very sad and, of course, it becomes even more sad when kids get involved -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. We had heard how these hospitals had been overwhelmed. But to see it in person, thank you for bringing us that story, you and your crew. Fred, thank you so much. And now in Washington today, top officials within the Obama administration, they're taking part in, count them, one, two, actually, it's three hearings on Libya specifically today. In fact, these are live pictures from Capitol Hill, Secretary Gates speaking right now. This is the Senate Armed Services Committee. Defense Secretary Robert Gates had been asked once again about the anti- Gadhafi rebels, asked this question. Many people are wondering, who are they?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It's pretty much a pickup ball game at this point. And as I got a question yesterday in one of the briefings, the truth is in terms of providing that training, in terms of providing assistance to them, frankly, there are many countries that can do that. That's not a unique capability for the United States. And as far as I'm concerned, somebody else should do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So Gates seems to be saying let someone else arm these guys, arm these rebels. We will have more on Libya later, including more on Moussa Koussa, the high-level Libyan defector who is now in London.

But also what about his role in the Lockerbie terrorist bombing? Did he have one? More on that coming up.

Also up next here, a security scare at a military base in California. Was this a practice run? We're tell you what was in the car within that steering wheel that was so suspicious.

Also, have you met these lucky winners yet?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went into work and got the ticket, took it home and I said, what am I going to do with it now? So the only thing -- I'm frantic now -- what I did was, I put it in two Ziploc bags, put it in a five-gallon bucket of bird food I had in the garage and hid it in my basement.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know what to do with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: No, he didn't. Bird food? Is that what he said? So there are six other winners as well. But what about those co-workers who usually go in on the tickets, decided to opt out this time? Will these Albany seven, as they're being called, will they share the moolah? That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. You have got hear this story.

Camp Pendleton, it's near San Diego. It's been under heightened security earlier on in the week after three men described as Middle Eastern reportedly tried to enter the base three different times, each claiming to have made some sort of wrong term.

Well, criminal investigators say these men, here there are, two from Iran, one from Afghanistan, tried to get on this base early Sunday morning, each saying they were heading to Glendale. The first attempt was just after midnight Sunday. Investigators say the first vehicle with one of the men inside was being searched when the second car with these two other guys drove through the gate and had to be stopped.

Now, base security says the steering wheel and air bag in the second car had been tampered with, describing it as having some wires hanging out of it. The men were cleared. They were released. Then, eight hours later, one of the men showed up at the gate again saying he was lost. Base officials say there was no threat. But some in the area, they are pretty concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very concerning to me. My family lives there. And I know that it's very easy access to get on the base at the front gate. And all you have to have is a driver's license that isn't suspended.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, there's also some concern in some quarters that the men may have been on a fishing expedition, as in fishing for security information.

I want you to listen to what an undercover security expert told our San Diego affiliate KGTV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know that the bad guys, al Qaeda, they have sleeper guys, sleeper cells, people that their sole job is to just lay low and wait to get contacted. And that's exactly what could be happening here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Also of note here, authorities at Camp Pendleton say each of these men gave them the same details about how they got lost, saying they had missed the entrance to Interstate 5.

Now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: If liberals in the Senate would rather play political games and shut down the government, instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, I say shut it down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Republican Mike Pence at a Tea Party rally happening today in Washington. By the way, he is not the only one who thinks a government shutdown would be a good thing. We're going to take you to that rally next.

Also, look at this picture. A plane in Orlando flips in severe weather. Look at all that wind. We will show you where the strong storms are heading next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time to fill you in on the budget talks happening up in Washington. And, yes, with eight days to go before a possible government shutdown, they are actually talking. Last night, the vice president went up to Capitol Hill and later he said the outlines of this deal on the budget are basically there. It's details now. That's Biden essentially raising expectations. Let's pick it up from there.

National correspondent Jessica Yellin.

So what kind of details are we talking?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, whether there's even really the outline of a deal, whether the discussions got them there, is kind of in dispute, because the Democrats, they're showing here that they will agree to deeper cuts. That's what Vice President Biden is saying.

But the Republican leaders, Brooke, are under enormous pressure to cut even more than Democrats would agree to, because, not surprisingly, they're contending with the new force of the Tea Party. And, today, one of the leading Tea Party groups held a rally on Capitol Hill to pressure Republican leaders not to cave. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: I'm here to give you a message. Stay courageous. And I know you will. Don't back down. And I know you won't. We will stand for cutting the size of government. We won't change our principles. We're going to say no to another debt ceiling increase. We're not going there.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

BACHMANN: We're going to bring government back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: So, clearly, before Speaker Boehner considers cutting a deal with Democrats, Brooke, he's going to having to consider how the Tea Party activists will react. BALDWIN: Well, you talk about pressure not to cave. Is the Tea Party movement at all driving Speaker Boehner on this? And also how would the Tea Party's stance on this budget even be reflective of the rest of the country?

YELLIN: Ah. CNN actually did -- CNN and Opinion Research did a poll on this and found that, within the Tea Party, 62 percent of Tea Party activists support shutting down the government for a few days; 52 percent think shutting it down for a few weeks would be good just to force spending cuts.

But compare it to the rest of the country -- 53 percent of Republicans support shutting it down for just a few days. Democrats and independents, they are not on board at all. Look at the numbers among them. So none of these groups has a majority for shutting it down for weeks. And the bottom line is, Brooke, is, for Republicans, if they please the Tea Party on this one, they will certainly risk upsetting independents, who are also important to them.

BALDWIN: So those are big numbers. We just looked at the opinion poll, big numbers on the Republican side, a lot of reaction from the right with regard to the Tea Party movement. But what about the activists on the left, Jess, where are they on this whole issue?

YELLIN: Well, they're getting a lot less press. But a group of religious and progressive leaders are protesting some of the budget cuts, Brooke. And, as you know, Reverend Jim Wallis of Sojourners, he started a hunger strike on Monday. He is fasting to protest proposed cuts in food assistance to the poor. And he's been tweeting about it.

He's asking in his words, what would Jesus cut? And his group is essentially making the case that there's too much hunger the U.S. and it's government's responsibility to help. And they're also making visits to Capitol Hill, urging members of Congress to find other areas to cut and continue food assistance to the poor.

BALDWIN: Yes, I know Jim Wallis and Sojourners. And I know we were actually speaking of a hunger strike. We're going to be talking to him tomorrow about what he's doing.

Jessica Yellin, thank you very much.

And a lot of you have been tweeting me about the weather. You in Florida, severe weather slamming Florida right now. Take a look at the very colorful radar. We are going to have pictures of the latest damage next.

But, first, want to go to Stephanie Elam with some free money advice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the Help Desk, where we get answers to your financial questions.

With me right now, Donna Rosato. She's a senior editor at "Money," And Lynnette Khalfani-Cox is a writer for Walletpop.com. Thank you so much for being here with us.

Our first question is from Jeff in Michigan. And he writes: "I'm underwater on my home, but no one will help me because I'm unemployed. I have paid my mortgage on time, but I have been told that I could get help if I stop. What should I do?"

Donna, we hear this so often.

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY": Oh, yes. It's never a good idea to stop paying your mortgage. And he's in a tough situation where he's unemployed. But last year the Obama administration did expand some programs to help people like this young man here. And one of the things he can do is apply for a loan modification, which may help him reduce the amount of payments, or he can get a suspension on his home mortgage payments.

But he really needs some good advice to do this. And what I recommend is calling a Housing and Urban Development, a HUD-vetted counselor, which he can do through the Making Homes Affordable Program. The number is 888-995-HOPE. And he can also Google Making Homes Affordable Program and get advice what's best for his situation. But the damage to your credit score by stopping paying on your mortgage is really long-term. And he wants to try to avoid that if possible.

ELAM: And there should be help for people who are actually making their payments despite their personal situation.

ROSATO: Sure.

ELAM: All right. Our next question is from Brad in Arizona. He says: "I'm 31 years old and I'm just now at the stage of being able to save for my future, instead of living paycheck to paycheck. I'm interested in investing in gold. Where should I start?"

Lynnette?

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, WALLETPOP.COM: You shouldn't start with gold. I can tell you that.

(LAUGHTER)

ROSATO: I thought you might say that.

KHALFANI-COX: I'm sorry to tell you. He's probably seen there's been a huge run-up in gold prices lately. But gold just hit a record high. And so you don't necessarily want to buy in at the top. I'm not saying gold doesn't have more room to go. But if you have just stopped living paycheck to paycheck, and you're getting started in investing, gold isn't where you want to start.

First of all, if you just stopped living paycheck to paycheck, before you invest anywhere, you need to do two quick things, get an emergency cash cushion, $500 to maybe $1,500, in case something goes wrong in your life, the car engine goes out, the roof leaks, whatever. Then start saving for the long-term. Three to six months worth of your expenses you need to amass in case you lose a job or in case some other long-term unexpected thing happens. Then you start investing. And again I would suggest something like mutual funds, index mutual funds, low-cost index mutual funds, but I would not get started investing in with gold.

ROSATO: Start putting away for your future, if you haven't been able to do that. Then you can go and think about those high-price expensive metals.

KHALFANI-COX: That's a little later.

ELAM: All right, well, Donna and Lynnette, thanks so much.

Of course, if you have a question you want to get answered, we would love to help you, so send us an e-mail anytime to CNNHelpDesk@CNN.com.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, got some news just in from St. Louis, Missouri. This wrongful death case was filed against August Busch IV filed by Kevin Martin. Martin's ex-wife Adrian was found dead in Busch's home back in December. August Busch is the grandson of Mr. Busch as in you know Busches and Anheiser-Busch. No criminal charges have been filed against Busch here. This is big news coming out of St. Louis county circuit clerk office.

Now, Geraldine Ferraro has been laid to rest now. The funeral for the former vice presidential candidate was held in New York City this morning. Ferraro died Saturday after a 12-year battle with blood cancer. And in 1984 she became the first female from a major political party to run for vice president when Democrat Walter Mondale chose her as his running mate.

And look at these pictures from Florida. Palm trees sort of battered by the winds there. Storms have ripped through central Florida, causing damage to homes, businesses, even an airport. Winds have been so strong they flipped of this plane totally upside down. Look at that. Thunderstorm and tornado watches are in effect in several areas tonight till 8:00 eastern.

And, folks, it's opening day, the 2011 major league baseball season officially under way today with six games across the country. And in a bit of a break with tradition, the president will not be throwing out the first pitch at the nationals game tonight, nationals versus the braves.

Now, I know you know the story. Listen to this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are several other people that work on the floor with us. And I think it was as John said, we keep a list and we ask everybody on the floor. There is no real eighth person. There's several other great people we work with, and some of us got in and some of us didn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Hmm, she talked about that eighth person. A lot of people have been wondering will the lottery winners share with the people who didn't go in with them this time. More on that coming up.

Also, we've gotten pictures in from Syria. These are personal photos taken by a young American woman who just left the country. She's going to join me live to share her personal pictures. Plus, reaction after the Syrian president's speech. That was just yesterday. And I'm going to ask her why some Syrians are going to such lengths as removing their batteries from their cell phones. Why would they be doing that? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: There has been more pressure on Syrian president Bashar Al- Assad. Protesters are calling for rallies across Syria after tomorrow's prayers. Keep in mind it's been one day since the president delivered the speech that failed to end about 50 years of emergency rule. Today there is a small sign the pressure may be working. Syrian state media says a committee will study doing away with the emergency rule. That report is due out June 25th.

But one Syrian activist is accusing the government of playing around. I want to bring in Lauren Bohn. She's a Fulbright fellow studying Arabic at the American University in Cairo and she just spent two weeks meeting people in Syria and listening to them talk about their country and its leadership. In fact I'm hearing we just lost her on the phone as she was about to talk to me from Egypt.

We're going to move on to this. We have been talking about this story. We've been talking about it at work around the dinner table, the man who opted out of the office lottery pool because he just wasn't feeling lucky. It was a bad time to drop out because, you know the story, his co-workers won the $319 million jackpot. Everybody's been wondering would the winner's share with this unlucky soul and what would you do if it happened in your own office? Maybe a conversation you've had over the past couple days.

Alison Kosik was there when the lottery winners came forward this morning. Alison, let's get to the unlucky souls who didn't go in on the pot. Are they going to get any of the goods?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: At first everybody thought there was this eighth person who opted out but it turns out it was about five people at least. So what happens is, these -- the seven who won are now being called the "Albany Seven." They have this office pool going. It's been going on for years. They've played the big jackpots and wait till the jackpot is at least $100 million dollars. Usually when that happens, they get everybody to chip in. Usually it's about 1 people. That's what's been the case lately. So with this winning, five people actually opted out. They didn't want to join in. You're talking about five people who are not sharing in the winnings. It really does make you wonder, you know, will they share it? I asked the question actually, Brooke. They said they're not sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HILTON, LOTTERY WINNER: I went into work and got the ticket, took it hoax, and I said what am I going to do with it now? So the only thing I'm frantic now what I did was put it in two Ziploc bags in a five gallon bucket of bird food and hid it in my basement. I didn't know what to do with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: So that was John Hilton. He was actually talking about when they picked up the winning ticket from the office he didn't know what to do with it. He was actually afraid. It was like a hot potato. He went ahead and hid it in his basement. Here's the kicker, even after he put it into that bird feed into that bucket in those Ziploc bags, when he brought that ticket over to claim the prize at the lottery commission, he left it in the bucket. So he carried the bucket to the lottery commission. He was afraid to take out the ticket.

BALDWIN: He left it?

KOSIK: Yes.

BALDWIN: Then what did he do?

KOSIK: He carried the bucket. He wanted to claim the prize. You have to step up to the plate and say yes, I've got the winning ticket. That's how he did it, which is pretty funny. There are kind of -- they're a little camera shy, at least they were at first. It's a lot all at once. It's overwhelming for them.

BALDWIN: How much money?

KOSIK: They says it doesn't feel real.

BALDWIN: How much money do they each get? How much are they walking away with?

KOSIK: They walked away today with at least $19 million each. Can you imagine winning that much at once?

BALDWIN: We were all sort of elbowing one another, you would share with me right, even if you didn't go in on this? You would share with me, wouldn't you, Alison?

KOSIK: I would definitely share with you.

BALDWIN: Allison Kosik, thank you so much. Alison, you live in New York City. I love how someone wrote this for me. This just in, OK, I went to journalism school. Breaking news sort of. The search is over for the Bronx Zoo cobra. Folks in New York, do not worry. This thing's been missing for six days. WABC is saying the zoo has scheduled a news conference for the top of the hour.

Here's the deal though. We don't know the condition confident cobra. This teeny tiny three-ounce thing, female, but the zoo is telling it WABC, that the cobra did not hurt any workers during the rescue and recovery. So everyone in the Bronx and surrounding area can breathe a sigh of relief. We'll have more coming up I'm sure.

I want to continue our conversation about much more important topic being Syria. We'll speak with our Fulbright fellow to just took a trip to Syria. We'll get her back on the phone next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. We've got her back on the phone. Lauren Bohn studying Arabic at American university in Cairo just spent a couple of weeks meeting people in Syria, listening to them talk about their country and their leadership, President Al-Assad. What led to you Syria?

LAUREN BOHN, FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: I went to Syria for a conference funny enough on Arab news of today and the Arab world of tomorrow under the patronage of the first lady. And when I was there, I had planned to do a story on that conference which just happens to have been on the street. And while I was there, events started happening in Daraa and pockets around the country. So I stayed on for where four days to do some reporting.

BALDWIN: I know you're sharing some pictures you took, some of your own personal photos. I want to talk about something you say you definitely noticed and that's paranoia in Syria. Explain why some Syrians are removing it batteries from their cell phones.

BOHN: Sure. Well, young, one young man that I spoke to, you know, he said that he's one of many Syrians who have internalized the paranoia that's been the hallmark of the regime. There's a vast network of Syria security forces in Syria that has essentially many say turned Syria into an island.

My friend said it's funny, but it's basically North Korea except we have better food. There was a lot of -- people are removing their Facebook, their Twitter pages. They feel they have no immunity, that any voice of opposition or any action on the street could land them in jail.

BALDWIN: I know you've said people are worried about GPS tracking devices could be in their Simm cards.

BOHN: It's not just Syrians. It's diplomats and Americans living in Syria, as well.

BALDWIN: Wow, I know we have some video. This is YouTube video. The person says this was shot somewhere in southwestern Syria. What we're looking at, it's showing a crowd of people throwing shoes up at this billboard the face of President Al-Assad. We know throwing shoes in the Arab world is a show of extreme insult. Did you see anything like this in your time in Syria?

BOHN: Well, I went into Daraa about four times. Two of the times I was successful in getting in, but I wasn't able to get near those protests. When I was in -- I saw many pro-Assad demonstrations, loyalty demonstrations they call it. Of course, the attitude there was -- many speculate the people taking to the streets supporting President Al-Assad are simply trolls of the government that they might be paid to go out there, they might just be fearful. But it was a very different scene in Damascus and some other areas.

BALDWIN: Laura, I've got one more question for you. We know that he President Al-Assad spoke yesterday and made no mention of ending this nearly 50-year emergency law. When you talk to people within Syria, a, what is their reaction? I know you're back in Egypt. B, do they feel that he is someone who could eventually being meaningful reform or not?

BOHN: No, unfortunately, I'm not hearing that. A lot of my sources on the ground many of whom initially wanted me to use their first names in the story I did for CNN yesterday, told me please remove my name. We feel defeated. It's essentially a slap in the face. The fear is they think they were able to get over is now stronger than ever, many say.

BALDWIN: Lauren Bohn, enjoy your time in Egypt as a Fulbright fellow. I want you to let you watch. You can read more about Lauren's experience and the people she met in Syria with a piece on CNN.com/opinion. Lauren, thank you.

And now to this -- radiation has been found in milk on the west coast. We're going to tell you why there is absolutely no need to worry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In Japan the levels of radiation our shooting up in the ocean waters just off that crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. And what is troubling is that Japan's nuclear safety agency doesn't have a clear sense of what's causing the spike or how to stop it.

Here is what the EPA says it's stepping up its monitoring after town in two states and California reporting very low levels of radiation in milk. We're told they're far below what any of us experience day to day.

Chad Myers is here to talk me through this. How concerned should those around the Fukushima area, how concerned should they be? And what about us?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The radiation in the water, and I've gone to the PDF that came out of TEPCO, the company. We're focused on this iodine-131, it's three times, four times what it should be, my goodness, but there are other isotopes. Iodine's half-life is eight days. It will go away. It's a beta emitter it will go away.

There are cesium products with a life of 30 years, and the half-life -- this isn't going to be half as strong for 30 years, and then another half as strong in 60 years and so on and so on. There are isotopes that we should be focusing on that are very, very bad. These isotopes will settle into the subsurface and by covered up by the plankton and the fish stuff and by fish scales, and eventually --

BALDWIN: It will not rise to the top and move?

MYERS: It will not. As long as you don't move it, you're OK. That's no help. It's still there, but because it's underwater, it won't be emitting gamma-rays, it can be OK until other stuff that covers it up.

BALDWIN: A lot of people thinking with the milk, how does radiation get there? And how might it affect ultimately the food chain?

MYERS: It's the same reason that, when I lived on Lake Erie you would not eat a three, five or eight-pound walleye, because it had been in that lake a long time eating other fingerlings. So they told two friends, they told two friends, it's been there a long time. You have to understand how much grass a cow eats, eat, eat, eat, and then filters through the body. And eventually like a nursing mother, a human mother, anything that nursing mother eats gets into the baby. That's coming from the cow to the udders to the milk that's in it.

BALDWIN: This is milk coming directly from Japan?

MYERS: No, this is milk coming from the U.S. They have found this radiation in milk in the U.S. but what is a testament on to our radiation capability is there's no way 50 years ago we would have been able to detect this. Our detectors are so fine right now, that we can see numbers 1,000 times lower than what is dangerous.

BALDWIN: So the milk -- radiation in the milk may not be leaked to Japan?

MYERS: It is. It's the same isotope, but the cow eats so much grass, the grass has been rained on, the rain brought some iodine down to it, and now it is all in the cow, into the milk and into the milk you drink. Still, 1,000 times lower than what is dangerous. It's a testament to how good our testing is, not so much is the radiation, the testing is so amazing.

BALDWIN: Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Coming up in about 20 minutes' time I'm going to speak with Peter Landers, who is in Tokyo, looking at the official disaster plan at that Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Safe to say you could be pretty surprised to what you hear when you come to the emergency preparedness plan. One issue, the method of choice, if disaster strikes, go to the fax machine. We'll get the whole story in 20 minutes.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a man who truly maybe seems genuinely tired, exhausted. He's an old man. He has serious health problems. His heart, his body could not take the pressure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That's the Libyan government's spin on why its foreign minister Mussa Kussa has suddenly left the country. Everyone else around the world says Kussa has defected. Simply put, this is a really big deal. That's coming up.

And we're waiting for a news conference from the Bronx Zoo, folks. The missing cobra, what, seven days later has been found. You know that's strange, it's been recovered in the Bronx. Speaking of the Bronx, I know you've been following, as have I, this hysterical twitter. They're tweeting this. The last tweet is "If you see a bag of peanuts inexplicably moving along the ground at Yankee stadium, just ignore it, it's probably nothing. We're going to monitor that news conference. We'll be back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time to talk politics with our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. He's got the latest hot of the CNN Political Ticker. Paul, what do you have?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I have a family feud among Republicans, and it's a primary battle. It's between the states and its other which states get to go first in the primary battle.

Take a look at this. Here's a calendar right now. The Republican Party says there are four states that go first in February of next year. New Hampshire, Iowa first, then New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. But look at the top of that list. Florida right now they have their primary in front of everybody on January 31st.

Iowa and South Carolina, they said, Florida, if you don't move back where you belong, we're going to ask the Republican Party to strip the convention out of your state. Remember the Republicans are going to be holding their convention in Tampa, Florida.

A lot of bad blood going on here, Brooke. The Republican Party today saying, you know what, we're not going to strip the convention out of Florida, but Florida really needs to get in line with all the other states and follow the rules.

Hey, it's a great story. Peter Hamby, our political reporter, has a lot mote on the political ticker.

Brooke, I hope it all gets done and we get a calendar hammered out sometime before the start of next year.

BALDWIN: Get a calender. But, so far, we know the race for the White House is off to a slower pace than four years ago.

Any new news on when some of these possible contenders may finally throw their hat in the ring?

STEINHAUSER: It's starting a lot slower than last time. So let's get this party going. Who will help us out with that? Newt Gingrich, maybe.

Here's what happened. Newt Gingrich right here in Washington, D.C., today, he said, I will have some kind of announcement, he promises, by the first week of May. Remember, that first debate is scheduled in South Carolina for right around then. So, candidates, or potential candidates, if you want to jump in, maybe that would be a good time.

So, Brooke, I guess this dance is probably going to get started pretty soon.

BALDWIN: Begin the dance. Begin the dance.

Paul Steinhauser, thank you so much. We will get another "Political Ticker" update for you in half-an-hour. You can always get updates online. Go to CNNPolitics.com. Or they're on Twitter. Go to @PoliticalTicker.