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High-Level Libyan Defection; Japan's Nuclear Plant Crisis Plan?; Let the Fundraising Begin: 2012 Candidates Hit the Ground Running

Aired March 31, 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 hour two. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: CNN has gotten a crew inside the city of Misrata. And this is our closest look yet at how all those Libyan rebels are struggling to keep a grip against Gadhafi's forces. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): They're not organized. They're poorly trained.

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It's pretty much a pickup ball game at this point.

BALDWIN: We're learning more about the rebel operation in Libya. And our secretary of defense says someone else show them how it's done.

A stretcher, a fax machine and 50 protective suits. "The Wall Street Journal" says those were the must-have items on the Daiichi plant's disaster plan.

And the Albany seven claim their prize, and it looks like they're not sharing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you get in, we mark you in. If you don't get in, we just put a line through your name and you're out.

BALDWIN: Come on. Would you? The news starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's begin with hour two. And let's talk Libya here.

And the question a lot of people are asking is, is the regime of Moammar Gadhafi crumbling from within? With the rebels stalled and asking for arms now, an internal collapse in Tripoli appears to be the allies' best hope, Moussa Koussa, former foreign minister, now a top- level defector. He arrived yesterday in London.

And if you heard our live report from Tripoli just a little while ago, CNN's Nic Robertson cited rumors of other people within the Gadhafi government trying to leave, rumors, but nothing confirmed. Joining me now from Washington, Peter Brookes, senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation, also a former CIA operations officer and a former deputy assistant defense secretary.

Peter, thank you for joining me.

PETER BROOKES, SENIOR FELLOW, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: It's good to be with you.

BALDWIN: And I want to begin with the fact that we heard some sound bites from President Obama essentially alluding to the fact that Gadhafi's inner circle is crumbling. Now this is perfect case in point, perfect tangible example of that, Former Minister Moussa Koussa now in London defecting. How big of a deal is this today?

BROOKES: Well, it's certainly symbolic. He is one of the inner circle. He was a former intelligence chief. It could be showing some cracks in this regime. And that's what the administration and NATO allies and other coalition partners had been hoping for.

But once again, what's going on on the ground is a military operation. And I would feel much better, I think, if I heard about senior generals or senior military commanders defecting. So, right now, he's the first one. It could be the beginning of a deluge of people that leave.

But I think, although he will hopefully provide some very important information, perhaps some points of leverage that we can use against Gadhafi, I think really we have got to pay attention to what's going on, on the ground on the military front.

BALDWIN: But at the same time, he was a confidant. He had Gadhafi's ear. He was the head of intel when Lockerbie happened. He has to have some secrets to tell.

BROOKES: Well, sure, but it depends if those secrets will be decisive in dealing with what is happening on the ground.

Right now, we're seeing the rebels in retreat. And we could be leading towards a stalemate, a protracted civil war. We have not been able to end the violence through the no-fly zone, or no-fly zone plus, whatever you want to call it. And sure it's a good thing that somebody has left. We will have to see if others follow him.

But once again, the real issue, the real important emergency issue right now is what is happening in the ground war --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I understand. I understand. And that's one issue, that's what's happening right now on the ground in Libya, but at the same time, a whole other storyline is the fact that this guy has defected, Moussa Koussa, several other people may be defecting. As Nic said, there are rumors that other high-level people within the government could be defecting.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Who do you think would be the most powerful defector that could ultimately lead to the crumbling of Gadhafi?

BROOKES: Well, I think if he loses his military support, that's going to be critical. Obviously, Gadhafi is nothing without the support of his military.

If you start seeing military commanders, the leader of the armed forces leave, I mean, something even more symbolic, if one of his sons were to decide to leave, I don't think that's going to happen, but you have to remember, Brooke, Gadhafi is a survivor. He's not going to leave there very easily. There is also a possibility that Moussa Koussa could turn around and act as an intermediary between the coalition and Gadhafi --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How would that work?

BROOKES: -- or a place for him to go?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead.

BROOKES: Yes. I'm sure they see him as a traitor now, but in theory, what you could do is you find somebody whose good offices such as Moussa Koussa could turn around and relay messages or find out -- come up with maybe how Gadhafi is thinking and where he might be willing to go and under what circumstances.

For instance, if they were to decide to say, well, we're not going to prosecute you for war crimes -- I'm not advocating that, but I'm saying this is a possibility. And then he goes back and says to Gadhafi, hey, look, this is what's going on, and I think this is a deal you may want to take. So there's a possibility, although I think they probably are going to denounce him as a traitor.

BALDWIN: Well, to your point, Peter, if a military commander, let's say, or even -- and we don't know if it would happen -- even if one of his sons were to defect, and you have this image of Gadhafi standing alone in a room. How does he then control any forces he may have left on the ground? What happens then? Is he stubborn? Does he leave? Does he stay?

(CROSSTALK)

BROOKES: Well, you remember, like I said before, I used the word survivor. He's been in charge of that country for four decades. He's fought a number of wars with his neighbors. Some were disastrous. He remained in power. He tragically brought down the Pan Am flight, Lockerbie flight.

He's been involved in terrorism. There have been strikes against him by the United States and he survived. He's going to be very hard to dislodge from there. And once again it's very important that he's able to communicate with his military forces. And one of the things I think the coalition is trying to do is reduce that ability to communicate, because if he doesn't know what he's doing..

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let's say they take those C-130s. They destroy the radar, they destroy any method of communication. That's a major arm that would be cut off.

BROOKES: Sure. Well, it's possible. We were thinking about that today here. You could take out the military communications, which are probably secure communications, but I'm guessing just like the rebels that maybe Gadhafi's forces are using cell phones, so then you have to bring down the cell phone towers.

So it just becomes a little more difficult. And eventually he could actually even use couriers. You're talking about some great distances there. But Gadhafi I think will do what he thinks he needs to do to survive and prevail.

Once again, the rebels haven't had a chance to -- haven't gotten to Tripoli yet. So they're in Benghazi. They have gotten to about the middle of the country. And now they're potentially in retreat. I'm not sure exactly where things stand right now, but they have not gotten to -- they have not really gotten to Tripoli. So Gadhafi is still in control of that major city, and he's still in control of some forces, which continue to act on his behalf.

BALDWIN: Right. The rebels say they want to keep moving, and they say, many of them, they have no choice left. We will have to wait and see how far they're able to move westward and also who else is next to defect.

Peter Brookes, thank you so much.

And just in here from the Bronx Zoo news conference, just announced, the Cobra, a she, is alive and well, resting comfortably. Remember this little three-ounce thing had been missing somewhere within this reptile house there at the Bronx Zoo. So she's been caught. We will have more on that after the break.

Also this, a stretcher, a fax machine, and 50 protective suits. "The Wall Street Journal" says those were the must-have items on the Daiichi nuclear power plant's disaster preparation list. I will speak with the columnist who got the exclusive access to those plans next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. Before we get to Japan, we have quickly turned around some sound for you. You're going to hear from the director of the Bronx Zoo just announcing the Bronx Zoo cobra is alive and well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're really happy right now to announce that the cobra that was missing for the last seven days has been recovered inside the reptile house. And she's alive and well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So there you have it, problem solved.

Let's move on, shall we?

Let's go back to Japan. The disaster response plan that the Toyota Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, had in place for the Fukushima nuclear plant was so basic, so bare-bones, it called for only having one stretcher on hand and relying on a fax minute as a backup to tell the outside world of a disaster.

We know all of this because "Wall Street Journal" columnist Peter Landers got a look at these disaster response documents. He's now on the line with me from Tokyo.

And, Peter, first, I read your article. Just first got to ask you about this fax machine. And in a case of an emergency here at this particular plant, their go-to mode of communication is a fax?

PETER LANDERS, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": That's right. Well, this is a plan that is written based on a law based in 1999. And I guess at that time, the fax machine was more widely used. And they do have to write the plan in accordance with the law. So, I guess that's why they told us they rely on the fax machine.

BALDWIN: I see.

LANDERS: There is one sat phone, satellite phone, called for in the plan, but that's it.

BALDWIN: OK. What about the medical teams, what about oxygen tanks on standby, or even any kind of radiation equipment? What about that?

LANDERS: They have some -- they seem to be envisioning a small- to mid-sized accident. So they have 50 protective suits, four of which would come with oxygen tanks, one vehicle on hand to measure radiation and that kind of thing. So it was ready for a mid-sized accident, perhaps, but not for the kind of giant accident that occurred after the tsunami.

BALDWIN: They were prepared for a small to mid-size. So were they not at all then prepared for a 9.0 earthquake and a 45-foot tsunami? I know at the same time who really can prepare for that? But were they not prepared for a massive disaster?

LANDERS: I think so. I think, in Japan, maybe elsewhere too, there's a tendency, when things have gone well for so many years -- this is a plant that's been operating for 40 years, without any major accidents, some mishaps along the way, but nothing so major that there's a tendency not to want to think about that kind of really huge accident that requires outside help.

So that is another thing we see in the plan. It doesn't really envision calling in the Japanese military, the U.S. military, the French nuclear operators. None of those scenarios really emerged in the plan, I think maybe because they didn't think it would ever be necessary.

BALDWIN: I guess it's one thing not to have to think about it, but another thing to think about it and prepare. I know as a reporter you must have talked to TEPCO. Are they acknowledging the plan? How do they describe the plan? Would they say it was inadequate?

LANDERS: They say it did prove useful in some instances, for example, that they injected water into the plant on an emergency basis. And that was a key step to at least bring it under some kind of control. So they're not necessarily denying that the plan was a little short of what happened, but they do say that it helped in certain cases.

BALDWIN: Helped. OK.

Peter Landers, "Wall Street Journal" reporter from Tokyo, Peter, thank you. Thanks for your column today.

Now, we know the attack that brought down Pan Am 103 was carried out by a Libyan. We know that. So why are we talking about that now when the Libyan government is falling apart? So it turns out the Lockerbie investigation may be picking up some new focus, that Gadhafi's right- hand man has defected to the U.K. We are going to go to London next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back to this dramatic defection in the Libyan government today. One of Gadhafi's right-hand men is now in Britain, and that is where our correspondent, Phil Black, picks up the British angle on this developing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The British prime minister, David Cameron, says Moussa Koussa's defection tells a compelling story of the desperation that now exists at the heart of Gadhafi's rotten regime.

And that is very much how the British government has sought to portray this development, a blow to Gadhafi, to his leadership, proof that his regime is crumbling from within and that its seniors members are now very much under pressure and some of them are considering just which side they should be on.

WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: Moussa Koussa is one of the most senior members of the Gadhafi regime. He's been my channel of communication for the regime in recent weeks and I have spoken to him several times on the telephone, most recently last Friday.

His resignation shows that Gadhafi's regime, which has already seen significant defections to the opposition, is fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within.

Gadhafi must be asking himself who will be the next to abandon him?

We reiterate our call for Gadhafi to go.

BLACK: So a clear propaganda win for Britain and the international coalition.

And more than that, Moussa Koussa represents a significant intelligence prize. He is a man who has detailed knowledge of the Gadhafi regime and how it works and much of its recent history.

For that reason, he's also of interesting of significant interest to the authorities in Scotland who are still investigating the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. Mr. Koussa is Libya's former intelligence chief. For that reason, they want to talk to him about what he knows, what role he may have played in Britain's worst ever terrorist strike.

The British prime minister says that investigation is independent of government, and the British government will not stand in its way.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Phil, thank you.

Now strangely enough, U.S. Senator Schumer also brought up the Lockerbie bombing investigation in the midst of other news out of Libya today. He issued a press release suggesting the U.S. State Department should not commit any long-term support for the Libyan rebels unless they promise to extradite the Lockerbie bomber, the only person convicted, al-Megrahi.

You remember al-Megrahi was sent home from prison with cancer on the grounds of that compassionate release. He is still alive, as far as we know.

It is one of the biggest companies in America, but last year GE didn't pay any taxes. Today, the CEO was on the defensive. We'll tell you what he said.

Also, is there a link between ADHD and food dye? An FDA panel just weighed in. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it. "Rapid Fire," let's go.

After seven days, the Bronx Zoo cobra has just been found. How? Where was she?

Here is the director of the Bronx Zoo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BREHENY, DIRECTOR, BRONX ZOO: We wanted to create an environment where the snake felt comfortable coming out, so we kept the lights dim and we tried to keep as much noise and commotion down so she would feel comfortable coming out. And as I said, we were fairly confident she would come out, and she did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: They dimmed the lights for the snake.

OK, here we go, number two story, decision sort of from the FDA on food dyes. After two days in meetings, a Food and Drug Administration committee decided there was not enough evidence linking food dyes to hyperactivity to warrant action, but it says more research is needed. So far now there will be no warning labels. In fact, there will be no change in labels at all.

Let's talk General Electric. The head of the company says it's zero tax rate in 2010 was just business. Jeff Immelt spoke today for the first time since the controversy of the tax bill, or really lack thereof, erupted. He said the company was compliant with regulations in getting it's taxing down to nothing. He also called for changes to the U.S. tax code which he called old, complex and uncompetitive.

Immelt, by the way, is the chief of President Obama's Innovation and Jobs Council.

Two New Orleans police officers convicted last year in the killing of a man during the post-Hurricane Katrina chaos have now been sentenced. David Warren, a former officer, got more than 25 years in prison and Officer Greg McCray was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison. Prosecutors said Warren shot the victim, Henry Glover, from the balcony of a police station. McCray was found guilty of later burning a car with Glover's body inside.

In Ohio, despite weeks and weeks of protests, a bill limiting collective bargaining rights for public workers has been passed, and now the governor has to sign it. The bill basically stops some 360,000 public workers from striking and allows them to decline paying union dues. Ohio's Republican-controlled legislature says this will help close the state's $8 billion budget gap. Democrats, they want to repeal this soon-to-be law. They hope to put the issue on the November ballot.

If you thought the Governator sounded a little bit more like a cartoon character than a politician, you are indeed correct. The former California governor and "Terminator" star told "Entertainment Weekly" he's now part of this new cartoon and comic book superhero called "The Governator." That is a sneak peek of what the animation looks like. Not bad. That's the other cover you saw. The cartoon and comic book are being developed with the help of Stan Lee, who is the same guy who brought us Spiderman and a slew of other superheroes.

I'm so excited. Grab the Cracker Jacks, opening day today for Major League Baseball, but check the weather outside. Doesn't exactly feel like spring, does it, if you're anywhere in the east? Rain and cold temperatures pretty much making it miserable. In New York, it barely made it into the 40s for Yankees' fans. In our nation's capital, the president did not go to opening day -- or he will not, I should say. Events in Libya and elsewhere keeping him pretty busy, so for first pitch at the Nationals game today. And if it feels early for baseball, it is. The last time opening day fell in March was 1998.

And now to Jessica Yellin joining me with the latest news from the Political Ticker.

Jess, you heading to the Nationals game?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's baseball?

(LAUGHTER)

YELLING: I'm joking. Yes, it's not so much my thing, but I know a lot of people are.

But today is another big day for reason here D.C. and around the country. It is the first filing deadline for politicians running for office in 2012. And so, if you happen to be a political donor or political reporter, your inbox is filled with things like this -- copies of solicitations from candidates. They want to raise a lot of money, because they have to put it on their finance report, not just because they need the money, but as Sharron Angle, Republican of Nevada says, I need your help to ensure we report strong numbers. These days, how much you fundraise is a reflection of how well you're going to do throughout the campaign, that's what politicians think.

Here is somebody who is doing well, at least according to public opinion. A new Gallup poll shows that approval rating for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is up almost to her all-time high. Her approval favorability is at 66 percent. That is ahead of President Obama, Vice President Biden and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and up from just a few months ago. Remember those vast right-wing conspiracy days and it's amazing how much public opinion has shifted. Sixty-six percent of Americans have a favorable view of her.

And also today, another trailblazer, remembering Geraldine Ferraro. Today was her funeral in New York City. She, of course, passed earlier this weekend.

I thought this might be a good opportunity, Brooke, to talk to you about something that stood out to me. "The New York Times" obit over the weekend for her said she ended the men's club of national politics. It really struck me, because when you have only 17 percent of people elected in Congress are women and you've never had a woman president or vice president --

BALDWIN: You're saying the men's club is still alive and well, aren't you, Miss Yellin?

YELLIN: You think she ended it? I mean, she was a trailblazer, a first.

BALDWIN: They threw the door pretty wide open. We'll leave it there.

YELLIN: Waiting for someone to walk in.

BALDWIN: Yes, Jess, thank you.

Have you seen the pictures coming out of Florida today, the wind there and this plane upside down? Our affiliates are reporting from everything from this to trees on cars, and that is not all.

Plus millions of dollars split, millions of dollars split among co- workers, and we can put that story about the left-out co-worker to rest. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Tea Partiers on Capitol Hill, severe storms in Florida, and seven lucky winners in New York. Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

But I want to begin in Washington on Capitol Hill with Brianna Keilar. And Brianna, what are do the Tea Partiers - what do the Tea Party protesters want?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What they really want is for Republican leaders to really stick to their guns when it comes to calling for spending cuts. Right now, House Republicans are negotiating with Senate Democrats in the White House over spending cuts for the rest of the budget year. They initially said they wanted $61 billion in cuts. And some of these Tea Party activists wanted even more.

Yesterday we heard from vice president Joe Biden, who's doing negotiating on behalf of the White House. And he said they had come to a tentative agreement on roughly $33 billion worth of cuts. You can imagine that didn't go over very well with this group, and we certainly heard some anger from them today on that.

BALDWIN: So, that's what they wanted towards the cuts. But do the Tea Party protesters actually want the government to shut down?

KEILAR: They were saying today, and we also heard this from some conservative Republicans who spoke at this rally, like Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, that they would rather there be a government shutdown if it's a way to get Democrats to cave. That they would rather Republicans really stand firm on the demands, and if there is a shutdown -- which remember, Brooke, if there's no compromise between the White House and Congress, that would take place a week from tomorrow.

BALDWIN: How much of an issue would it be for Republicans if the government did in fact shut down?

KEILAR: It's politically a bigger issue for them with independents. With Tea Party voters, as you can see folks today calling for this. And polling shows that Tea Party voters actually think this could be a good thing to kind of get their way. Independent voters tend to have a different point of view. They think a government shutdown would be a bad idea for the country. That's what creates a problem for Republicans and House speaker John Boehner. He's trying to walk a fine line between these two very important contingents for his party.

But you know, at the same time, I think if you listen to Democrats and Republicans, both sides are concerned with the political fallout here. You can hear them posturing, Democrats say if there's going to a shutdown, it's Republicans' fault. The Republicans saying the exact same thing, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And again, this time, the deadline this time is next Friday. Brianna Keilar, thank you.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," we have Chad Myers here to talk about the crazy Florida weather. This state has been hammered. I can't get over the image of the plane just - upside down.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Planes all the way from Tampa and St. Pete Regional all the way over to Lakeland flipped over. There was a air show at Lakeland where these tents were set up. The tents were blown down, some people were injured.

The tornado that actually came onshore north of St. Pete Beach but then moved over Largo, and out into the ocean again - the bay, and then back just north of MacDill Air Force base. And this is the - they timed this thing out all the way over. It eventually knocked some things down from Tampa almost all the way over to central Florida, with one tornado skipping along near Brandon, and then back over toward Lake Wales and then finally to the east. By the time it got over to about Melbourne, it was finally over. It was finally done.

BALDWIN: Well, the car we just saw not OK, the plane's not OK. What about injuries?

MYERS: We know there were a few, but at this point in time, seven injuries where a tornado that might have been skipping along the ground for 40 or 50 miles, they did pretty good. People got out of the way.

BALDWIN: Chad, thank you very much.

And next here on "Reporter Roulette," Alison Kosik in New York with the tale of the seven lucky lotto winners. Alison, I know there was only one winning ticket. So these folks, they were all going in on the whole office pool, right? They're sharing?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. So, this office pool has been going on for years, and finally the odds were in favor of them. The odds were 1 in 176th chance that they would win. What happened was seven of them pitched in $2 each. They bought about 14 tickets, 14 different sets of numbers, and voila. Yes, they have the winning ticket there. What's interesting about this is this office pool has been going on for a while. It usually has about 12 people, but five, Brooke, opted out -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So are they sharing?

KOSIK: You know, I asked one of them that, and they weren't very forthright in saying they definitely would give money. But there is definitely -- you feel this unity, this sort of a big bond between these winners. They were each telling these great stories about how the whole process was, everything from how the winner actually bought the ticket -- for instance, he went to the convenience store was in line and went ahead and bent down to get a Snickers bar and someone had cut him in line, and he let it happen. He didn't say anything.

And what do you know? That other person bought a lotto ticket, and then the winner bought his. You wonder if that guy who cut in line is watching this and knows exactly who he is and thought, hmm --

BALDWIN: Thank goodness for the line cutter in that case. And then big question - the million-dollar question -- wah, wah -- what do they do with the money? Do they know yet how they're going to spend it

KOSIK: You know, they really haven't said what they're doing with the money. They're really just settling in. I think that hasn't sunk in. They say it's sort of -- it really hasn't hit them. You know, you're right They feel overwhelmed.

One person I talked with said he hopes his friends still treat him the same, and he said he had been getting calls from friends who he hadn't talked to in years. Another person said his wife clips coupons, and he said his wife in fact probably clipping coupons right now. He thinks that they're going to get used to a different way of life soon.

BALDWIN: Yes. Total change. I'm sure cousins are coming out of the woodwork. Alison Kosik, thank you so much. That is today's "Reporter Roulette."

So, if you were trying to earn your riches the hard way, like the rest of us, not winning the lottery, maybe you have been used the Web site LinkedIn to network. It turns out LinkedIn may have been using some of you, too. Sunny Hostin is "On The Case."

But first, if you are among the folks who have yet to file the taxes, listen up. CNNMoney did a little research, and got a list of some of the wackiest tax deductions that the IRS has ever received. Side note, you should probably leave these off yours.

But number 5, buffalo meat. A professional body builder tried to claim it as a business expense. The IRS, not buying that one. Number 4, loofahs? Sponges? Got any of those in your shower? A pilot from Tennessee tried to pass the sponges off as a business expense for his aviation activities. The IRS said, no.

You see number 3, undies? A musician playing for rocker Rod Stewart's band once tried to claim them as stage clothes. Really?

OK, so what could possibly be the top two wackiest tax deductions that the IRS have ever gotten? That is after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The last day to file your taxes is closing in. And for those of you who have yet to do so, I've got some items you might want to leave off the whole deduction list.

Like number two on the wackiest deductions list, a Scientology class. Yes a self-employed meat and seafood salesman said the $1,500 class was necessary for his career. The IRS said, read the book at home.

And the number one, what is it? What could it be? Prostitutes. Really? You heard that right. A lawyer from New York tried to deduct $65,000 in -- and I use this term loosely -- services as a medical expense. Only problem, folks, prostitution is illegal. The IRS denied that deduction. Come on, now.

Felony charges were filed late yesterday afternoon against a Houston daycare owner who allegedly left seven children alone while she just left. She went shopping. Oh, and by the way, prosecutors say she also left a pot of oil on a hot stove. So, a fire broke out, four children were killed.

Sunny Hostin is "On the Case." And Sunny, we know she's already charged with manslaughter. Why felony murder?

SUNNY HOSTIN, TRUTV CORRESPONDENT: Well, the prosecutors kicked up those manslaughter charges, Brooke. Typically under Texas law, if you want to charge felony murder, you basically have to charge someone with committing a felony, and the result of that felony is the murder of another human being.

Now, in this case they said the felony she committed was child abandonment. Because now that we know the facts of this case, Brooke, we know she left all those children by themselves in a home to go shopping at Target while leaving hot oil cooking on a heated stove. And so, that's where the felony murder charges come in. Four felony murder charges. Really, really kicking it up by the prosecution against this 22-year-old defendant.

BALDWIN: So, she's charged with abandoning these kids. You mentioned the hot oil. But criminal complaint accuses her of using a deadly weapon. What is the deadly weapon?

HOSTIN: That's right. The deadly weapon in this case is fire and a heated stove, believe it or not. That is pretty novel for prosecutors. But it makes sense, again, because the felony here is child abandonment, and then the murder is a result of her leaving these children by themselves while leaving that heated stove on.

And let's face it. That's why child abandonment is a felony, Brooke, because bad things happen when you leave little children by themselves. BALDWIN: This woman here who's charged, her name is Jessica Tada. She fled to Nigeria shortly after the fire. She was brought back just last week. Will that make her defense more difficult, the fact that she left?

HOSTIN: It certainly will. Because flight certainly can be used as evidence of consciousness of guilt. So, the fact that she fled the scene of the crime is very important here in this case. And I'm quite sure it will come in. I do want to say it is unusual they got her back from Nigeria so quickly. I mean, this happened very recently. She's back in Houston being held without bail. Kudos to law enforcement efforts in this case.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. Case number two, a lawsuit accusing the networking site of LinkedIn, -- so many people use LinkedIn, accusing them of sharing users' private information with an outside company. What's the story here?

HOSTIN: Wow, yes. March 28th, LinkedIn has been sued. And it's not just one lawsuit, it's a class-action lawsuit. Why? They say there are 90 million users of LinkedIn as of January 2011. And these lawyers are saying, hey, LinkedIn was giving other people -- third parties, we don't know exactly who those third parties are -- browser information, unique user information. So, this is a pretty significant lawsuit that's been filed against LinkedIn.

BALDWIN: Who has brought this suit forward? And what do they want?

HOSTIN: Well, there's one named plaintiff. Again, a class-action lawsuit, so probably more people will be asked to join the class. His name is Kevin Lowe. He's out of San Francisco. He wants, guess what? He wants some money, but he also wants LinkedIn to stop these activities. They are suing also for injunctive relief. They don't want them to allegedly give away this unique user information to third parties.

BALDWIN: What about LinkedIn? What are they saying thus far?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST, CNN: Well, we reached -- we reached out to LinkedIn and we heard from their director of corporate communication, Tommy Dorsey, and he says, "We're reviewing the complaint. At this point, we believe that it has no merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously." So, LinkedIn ramping up for a fight.

BALDWIN: Wow. All right. Sunny Hostin will follow it for you. Thank you so much. And, still to come, I think I might have mentioned this once or twice before when we've talked NASA. I'm a bit of a space geek. So, these images, look at this, that we're getting in. They're pretty amazing. This is of Mercury. We'll show you the new color images from space. You've got to see this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Juggling any kind of ball may be a tricky task for some humans, right? What about a machine, or maybe two? You've got to see this. Check out these devices. This is Switzerland. What are they -- they're juggling them up and back, up and back. These are called quadrocopters, juggling the ball all by themselves. We were told these quadrocopters use overhead tracking sensors to follow the ball and are not piloted by a human. Kind of cool.

Also, this, if you are a borderline space geek like me, you're going to get a kick out of this. These pictures. These were images taken by NASA's Messenger spacecraft, visited the planet Mercury. Messenger veered into Mercury's orbit just this month after six and a half years. Pretty cool stuff in color there.

Now, to tomorrow's news today. I want to fast forward and talk President Obama. He will be at Landover, Maryland, to visit a UPS shipping facility there. Two days after his energy speech, the president will speak to employees and check out clean fleet vehicles from several companies, including AT&T, Fed-Ex, and Verizon. Also, unemployment numbers for March will be released by the Department of Labor. We'll take a good look at that tomorrow and Robert Redford, going to be working on his arm, throwing out the first pitch at the Chicago Cubs game, Wrigley Field. The Cubs are playing the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Situation Room is in just a couple of minutes. Wolf Blitzer is there. And, Wolf Blitzer, I know, of course, you're talking Libya today. Big, big defection today, Musa Kusa.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Musa Kusa, major defection. The fall out from that, we're only beginning to appreciate. I don't know if you had a chance to see a lot of the testimony that the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, gave up on Capitol Hill. They were there for hours and hours and hours, answering a lot of questions from skeptical Republicans, skeptical Democrats. It -- it's very significant what has now happened, Brooke, now that NATO is in complete control of the air strikes. Gates announced that the U.S. no longer is engaged in any aerial bombardment of Libyan targets to protect civilians. Others, he says, are going to do that right now.

Also, it looks like there is a significant dispute emerging between the Obama administration on the one hand and the NATO Secretary General, Anders Rasmussen, on the other hand. Rasmussen says flatly that U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 does not authorize any arming of the rebels fighting Gadhafi's forces. The U.S. position is it may or it may not, it's a little bit murky. They certainly don't go as far as Rasmussen. We have lots to discuss.

The Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein, is with us. Also, Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic congressman from Ohio. Remember the other day he suggested perhaps, he was so angry at this U.S. policy in Libya, perhaps there was an opening for impeachment of the President of the United States, a member of his own party. I am going to ask him if he still believes that the President is -- could be impeached because of the way he has been handling Libya. A lot of Libya coming up right at the top of the hour.

BALDWIN: Fantastic. We'll be watching there, nine minutes away. Wolf Blitzer, thank you. And, could you get by on a six-figure income if you had six kids, if you had college loans? Joe Johns looks at one Congressman's claims. Political Pop coming up next. Stay right there.

All right, real quickly, before we get to Joe Johns. We have a picture of this cobra. She is alive and well. Caught. Problem solved. The Bronx Zoo cobra disappeared seven days ago. She was found. Where was she? How did they find her? Here is the Director of the Bronx Zoo.

(VIDEO CLIP)

DIRECTOR OF BRONX ZOO: ...we were allowed to create an environment where the snake felt comfortable coming out so we kept the lights dim and we tried to keep as much noise and commotion down so she would feel comfortable coming out and, as I said, we were fairly confident that she would come out and she did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And she did. Problem solved. Well, we have a full plate today. For Political Pop, Joe Johns. I hear you're getting flooded with e-mails from top politicians. Joe Johns, you're so V.I.P. Why all the e-mails? What's going on?

JOE JOHNS, CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR/REPORTER, CNN: Well, look, you know, I guess you should be flattered by all the attention, right? And, there's like this sense of excitement. You're finding out what a critical moment this is. It's urgent. But, you know it comes every year, Brooke, it's always the same thing. Tonight is the election -- the Federal Election Commission's quarterly fundraising deadline for candidates. You know, this is the kind of thing that actually occurs four times a year. No big deal, right?

BALDWIN: Four times a year so maybe not so urgent?

JOHNS: No.

BALDWIN: Yes. Ok.

JOHNS: The next election is a year and a half away but they want to show they got a lot of money in the bank. The latest e-mail I got from the Republicans and Speaker Boehner said there are less than 12 hours to go. A contribution is going to send a message. It talked about tax hikes, mandates, healthcare reform. Also got e-mails from Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Steve Israel. Now, I know, Jessica Yellin did the very spiel just a little while ago. We have all kinds -- I'm buried in e-mails that talked about the Tea Party, Boehner and Michele Bachmann in the same sentence. And, not just e-mails. Last night, the National Republican Congressional Committee held a fundraiser in D.C. They said their goal was $8 million but they actually raised $10 million dollars...

BALDWIN: Wow...

JOHNS: ... all about the Benjamins right now. BALDWIN: ... all about the Benjamins baby. All about the Benjamins, speaking of, Republican Congressman Sean Duffy's salary, his six- figure salary, big, big, hot topic today. What's the story there?

JOHNS: First, background. This is a guy who did a stint on MTV's Real World program and he has been elected to Congress and basically finding out, yeah -- finding out what the real world is all about, getting slammed because he said he's having a hard time making ends meet on his congressional salary which is, you know, something like $174,000, which is really nothing to sneeze at for most folks.

BALDWIN: Right, not at all, not at all too shabby. In fact, we have the audio. We have him saying that -- well, let's both listen, Joe.

(VIDEO CLIP)

CONGRESSMAN SEAN DUFFY: ...I (inaudible). I still pay off my student loans, I still pay my mortgage. I drive a used mini-van. I think (inaudible) got one paycheck. So, I -- I struggle to meet my bills."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Sorry about that. He was actually on Road Rules. But, here's the point of this. I just got off the phone with ...

BALDWIN: It's ok Joe, I don't expect you to know that, Road Rules, Real World. It'll be ok.

JOHNS: Yes. That's my fault. That -- that -- I've never seen the show. Here's the point though. I just got off of the phone with his office and they say this tape, which has been circulating and up on TPM on the Internet and whatnot is actually a case of selective editing. That the question he was posed was whether he would give up part of that big $174,000 a year salary...

BALDWIN: Ahh, big difference...

JOHNS: Right, right. And his answer at the end of it was, "Yes, I would give up some of that salary. I would take a pay cut." But you never really get to that in this little clip. So, I asked them to send me a copy of the whole clip and, you know, we can judge for ourselves.

BALDWIN: ...I see, I see.

JOHNS: Yes.

BALDWIN: That makes a big difference, doesn't it? Finally, you and I were e-mailing about this last night. You were at a big dinner in Washington with a few A-listers. How was it and who -- who stole the show? I know a lot of people spoke.

JOHNS: Yes. Yes, well, it was fun, you know, and I guess probably of the politicians who talked, the best one was Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner of New York. Now, this is a guy who is know as one of the most combative Democrats in the city right now and we also found out he's got pretty good comic timing too. So, check this out.

(VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY WEINER, DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN: ... it's part of the campaign slogans. It -- you know, it's -- I -- I use "Vote for Weiner, he'll be frank." "Vote for Weiner, he's on a roll." "Vote for Weiner, he'll relish your votes." Danny, that's a very good one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: I had no idea he had such great comic timing.

BALDWIN: You know what? I just had a thought. Maybe it's Congressman Weiner who is the at Bronx Zoo's cobra, pretty funny, guy from New York.

JOHNS: Yes. That -- that is pretty funny. You know, I want -- what I really want the cobra to keep tweeting through.

BALDWIN: I know. Keep tweeting cobra. But -- but before we go, I have been asking for this picture. So, guys, put up this picture of Mr. Johns looking dapper. Aww.

JOHNS: Ah, there we go.

BALDWIN: Very nice. With Janelle Rodriguez, our Director of Programming in Atlanta.

JOHNS: Yes. She used to work here until she ascended to the executive suite. So, that was -- it was a big night.

BALDWIN: She's thinks she's now. But, you're looking fantastic. Fantastic. Did you have fun?

JOHNS: Oh yes. It was a blast. You know, it always is and the President didn't come but maybe next year.

BALDWIN: Well, you have the White House Correspondents' Dinner to look forward too, right?

JOHNS: That's right. That's absolutely true.

BALDWIN: Joe Johns, thank you so much. And, now, let's go into Washington. Back to Washington and Wolf Blitzer. Wolf?