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Significant Find In Bobo Case; McDonald's Beating On Camera; Missing Mom Leaves Baby in Car; Thumbs Down from U.S. Supreme Court; Taliban Prison Break; Arizona Governor Considers Tea Party Car Tags

Aired April 25, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, hour number two. Take a look at this.

Behind the walls in Gitmo, there's an explosive new report revealing exactly how the detainees are living and the threats they're making. Also, where learning exactly where Osama Bin Ladin went in the days after the 9/11 attack.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): Syria declaring war on protesters. Government forces reportedly shooting people at random, breaking into homes, and sending in tanks. We will take you to the streets.

Plus, hundreds of inmates on the loose after a dramatic prison break, and some of these inmates are Taliban commanders. Wait until you hear how they pulled off this escape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (on-camera): Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. I'm going to begin with Libya where NATO's unleashed some of its heaviest air strikes yet. Take a look at this video with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): What you're being looking at is what's left after today's strikes on oh Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli. Obviously, this is significant. Concrete crumbling, just a bookshelf there. Sort of what remains. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports. This is one of the homes. One of the residents says that Gadhafi often used himself within this compound. NATO says it was a command in control unit being used to kill civialians.

Meantime, a government official says today's strikes were an attempt to kill Gadhafi with state TV broadcast these images of the Libyan leader hours after that strike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (on-camera): I want to go straight to Fred Pleitgen who is now live in Tripoli. Fred, I know you just got back from seeing the compound. We've seen the images. What was it like to see in person and what was the message, you know, in talking to some of these government officials. What was the message that was received here with this hit?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Brooke, that you used the word message because shortly after the attacks earlier this morning, the government actually put out the statement. This is Moussa Ibrahim, the government spokesperson of Libya, and he said that, quote, "The message that NATO was trying to send was sent to the wrong address." That, of course, indicating that Moammar Gadhafi was not in this compound.

And when you looked at the building there in that compound, it was just absolutely flattened. We heard two large explosions coming from that area yesterday. Far larger than anything that we've heard in the past couple of weeks, and certainly, when you saw the damage today, you saw that that building was just absolutely mangled. There were a lot of books laying around there, sort to be computer parts, air conditioners just absolutely flattened.

There was almost nothing in there that you could salvage. And I think that the message that the Libyan government is trying to put out is that they're saying that this is an assassination attempt on Moammar Gadhafi, but that didn't work, that he's still very much in-control of the situation here in Libya. Of course, NATO is saying something very different.

They're saying this was a command in control headquarters, and the interesting thing that you would have to see is whether or not there might be a bunker underneath that building from where they might command their forces. We were not allowed to actually inspect the rubble to that point. We were only allowed to stand in front of it, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, unfortunately, I can't ask you what you were not allowed to see because I suppose you just don't know, but let me ask you this. We are seeing these pictures. We just showed them from the Libyan state television the broadcasting images of Gadhafi today, apparently, hours after this strike. What does this say to you? Is this again just, you know, vintage Gadhafi? Defiant Gadhafi?

PLEITGEN: Vintage Gadhafi, defiant Gadhafi, and of course, this is also a very important message to this country saying that Moammar Gadhafi is still very much alive, very much in power, and very much controlling and commanding his forces that are, of course, fighting against the rebels. That's a message that he's not only sending to his supporters that he certainly still does have here in Libya but also, of course, to the other side.

And I think if you wouldn't send that message, you might have seen more sort of protests here erupt in some cities here in Libya if people were unsure whether or not Gadhafi was still alive. So, certainly, that would have been a very important message to him and one of defiance, one of showing that he is still very much in control of the situation. Keep in mind, this is something that he's done in the past. After there were big air strikes on that compound called (INAUDIBLE) which is the one that he sort of resides in in downtown Tripoli, that he's put himself on television with that message of defiance to show that he is still there, and now, of course, they're playing this as an assassination attempt and saying this is illegal under the U.N. resolution, but again, NATO is saying something very differently saying that that building was used to, in fact, attack civilians, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Fred Pleitgen for us in Tripoli. Fred, thank you so much for sharing that video you just turned around for me. Thank you, Fred.

Also, did you know Osama Bin Laden was so low on cash? Would he escape (INAUDIBLE). He actually had to borrow $7,000? He did pay it back within the year. How about this one? One of the rebels fighting Moammar Gadhafi in Libya used to be a detainee at Guantanamo Bay. Folks, just, you know, some of the details now leaking out from its latest dumps of hundreds of classified military documents by WikiLeaks, and they offer a fascinating look inside the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists and new insights into the detainees themselves.

Andrew Lehren is with the "New York Times," and he got an early look at some of these docs, and we're learning a lot about some of these tough al Qaeda operatives from these documents. And Andy, I want to ask you about, you know, a couple of them, and of course, I read your article today in "The Times." I want to begin with KSM, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the supposed plot to kill Pakistan's president.

ANDREW LEHREN, NEW YORK TIMES: Right. So, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed as your viewers may know is, perhaps, one of the most famous detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Water boarded, also someone who's informed on many, many people. So, in this report, what we see for the first time is that he actually asked a former Baltimore resident to go and try to kill then Pakistan President Musharraf.

The man went about his round, showed up with the vest, and it turned out just to be a test. Musharraf was not there. And instead, they wanted to see whether he could pass the test and he did.

BALDWIN: To see if he would go through with it.

LEHREN: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Also, part of your findings here in this article, you talk about this man who actually claims, to use your words, claimed to be more senior than Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. He talks about how he was so dedicated to jihad that, Andy, what did he do?

LEHREN: He was so dedicated that he thought an impotence drug could be a good thing so to sway a jihadist would not be distracted by women.

BALDWIN: So, he injected himself and he was promoting that for other not to be distracted by women? LEHREN: Yes.

BALDWIN: To follow the jihad?

LEHREN: That's right.

BALDWIN: Another item, there are a number of people who are innocent, perhaps, you knows, cases of mistaken identity or misfortune who were sent to Gitmo who did nothing wrong?

LEHREN: Right. You're talking about an 89-year-old man bordering on senility. There is another 70-plus-year old man suffering from dementia, and there are reports where they literally say they captured the wrong person and brought them to Guantanamo Bay.

BALDWIN: Is there anything in parsing through all of these different documents that struck you that was missing? I.e. maybe the use of, you know, interrogation tactics that have certainly made news?

LEHREN: Right. So, there are occasional references to harsh interrogations techniques, but the well publicized examples that we know of water boarding and other controversial methods used by the United States interrogating these detainees, that is absent from these reports by and large. There are just whiffs of it here and there.

BALDWIN: Andy Lehren, I tweeted out your article. I recommend it to everyone. Andy Lehren with the "New York Times," thank you so much.

LEHREN: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And now, a brutal attack at a McDonald's in Maryland all caught on video. Now, prosecutors are considering hate crime charges because of who the victim is. You're going to see the video. We'll tell you that story next.

Also, the search seemed like it was running out of steam, then suddenly, investigators have announced the significant find in the hunt for missing nursing student, Holly Bobo. Coming up, I spoke with the lead investigator in Tennessee about the discovery made a little bit of news. We'll replay that for you. Don't miss it.

Also, we're also just getting some breaking news here out of Minnesota. We're told a threat has prompted an evacuation at the university in the state. We'll get more on that and pass It along. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. I want to pass this along to you. This is some news just here in the CNN. We're getting word of an evacuation at the University of Minnesota, the Science Teaching and Student Services Building. This is on the east bank, if you know the area. It is being evacuated because of a threat against the facility. Again, an evacuation at the University of Minnesota. We're making phone calls. As soon as we can get some information for you, we will pass that along. I want to get you another developing story here. A significant find is reigniting the search for missing Tennessee nursing student, 20- year-old Holly Bobo. This weekend's discovery comes just as investigators were about to call off the search for the 20-year-old. Detectives will not say for fear of compromising their search here, only that it's significant enough for them to accelerate their search efforts for her today.

Keep in mind, it has now been just about two weeks since Bobo was last seen outside of her home being led away into the woods by a man wearing camouflage. Now, this latest clue discovered by a volunteer search team just yesterday afternoon is giving Holly's family hope, whatever this is. A spokesman tells CNN's affiliate, WSB, it makes you feel great Easter Sunday and finding some good information.

The director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Mark Gwyn, told me this, in fact, could be a game changer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF MARK GWYN, DIRECTOR OF THE TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: Not only has it given the family hope, but it's given the investigators hope. Any time you find, that you believe to be evidence from someone that's missing, it gives you -- it revives the search and investigation, and we're going to analyze that evidence, and hopefully, there will be a piece of the puzzle put together once that's done.

BALDWIN: This reward is now more than triple. It started at 25,000. Now, it's upward of $80,000 being offered for information leading to an arrest.

And the brutal beating caught on camera at a Baltimore area in McDonald's as prosecutors considering filing hate crime charges. Have you seen this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): The victim here is 22-year-old Chrissy Polis. She's a transgender woman. She says these two girls here kicking her. They assaulted her, she says, when she tried using the ladies restroom. Hollis is now speaking out about this vicious attack.

CHRISSY LEE POLIS, VICTIM: They started ripping my hair, thrown me on the floor. They kick me on my face. They just -- they really hurt me really bad, and I'm just afraid to go outside now because of stuff like this.

BALDWIN: Police have taken the two accused attackers into custody. Here they are, including 18-year-old Teonna Monae Brown. She's behind bars charged with felony assault. Her 14-year-old accomplice also faces assault charges. McDonald's fired the employee who taped the attack on the cell phone saying, quote, "There is no room for violence under the golden arches, and we strongly condemn this brutal assault."

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN (on-camera): A vigil is plan tonight for Pollis outside of that McDonald's in Baltimore.

Now to this here, a gunman opens fire on an LAPD helicopter. The chopper made an emergency landing after bullets hit the fuel tank. Coming up, we'll you show more of the video and hear why the guy allegedly pulled the trigger on a helicopter.

Also, this. Some are now calling this war. War in Syria. Government forces said to be unleashing terror on the streets. Now, the White House is making a threat. We're getting some brand new information. Hala Gorani is back from being overseas, try to get into Syria. She joins me now live in the studio next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. Terror in the streets of Syria. The government sends thousands of troops in tanks into the town where this stuff rising, started trying to shut the movement down. We are on the story. We're going to go "Globe Trekking." Hala Gorani is back after four weeks of trying to get into Syrtia.

HALA GORANI, CNNI ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, thankfully, we were able to cover other --

BALDWIN: News items.

GORANI: Interesting stories out of Egypt, especially, because Egypt is in this post-revolutionary period and has challenges ahead on its road to hopefully Democracy, but Syria --

BALDWIN: Yes, let's talk Syria.

GORANI: In the same way that many other international journalists have been denied access, we have been unable to report independently out of Syria. So, in order to paint an accurate picture of what's going on in the southern city of Daraa, for instance, we rely on eyewitness accounts. And many eyewitnesses today have told CNN that tanks, as you see there on this amateur video that's emerged on YouTube, tanks have entered the city, and we understand four to five people have been killed today, but that's after more than 100 deaths, according to human rights groups, on Friday.

BALDWIN: We have the deaths, and I was talking to a gentleman out of the Netherland today with the human rights group talking this disappearance (ph), these two, since Friday.

GORANI: Right. As we've seen, yes, that authorities have started, according to human rights groups, disappearing people. So, people they might suspect of wanting to organize demonstrations of wanting to take part in the uprising, and there you see some more video we believe to be from Daraa (ph) in the south of Syria of the military with tanks moving into the city.

And by the way, Jordan and Syria share a border, and Syria has closed its border with Jordan. So, it's impossible for anyone to leave through the southern border and also not possible for anyone to enter through the southern border.

BALDWIN: And how might that help the government?

GORANI: Well, how might it help the government in not allowing, perhaps, young men who live in the southern part of Syria to come back home? The government has a very different take, of course, on what's going on. They are saying that the military has entered the streets of Daraa upon the request of the citizens of Daraa. That is not at all what we're hearing from the residents of that part of Syria.

They're saying that they're going after extremist terrorist groups. That has been the light motive (ph) coming from the government. They have said from the beginning that armed gangs, as they call them, have been roaming the streets of Syria, shooting unsuspecting civilians. That's not what we're hearing at all from there.

BALDWIN: Well, we are hearing from the U.S. government.

GORANI: Yes.

BALDWIN: And we know that the president is condemning the violence in Syria, and now today, we heard from a daily briefing, White House spokesperson, Jay Carney, now talking sanctions possibly, but if that even happens, if they use the sanctions, how effective would that be?

GORANI: Well, it would have a limited impact, according to, you know, experts and observers, because Syria is already under sanctions, for one thing, and the United States doesn't have a strategic allegiance with Syria. Syria is aligned in the region with Iran. Unlike Egypt, for instance, where the U.S. finances the military, where the U.S. military has a close connection with the Egyptian military.

So, for instance, threatening any kind of sanction at this point, in the same way they did with the Libyan leader, in the same way applied targeted sanctions to the Iranian leadership, there is no expectation that this is going to change anything internally. And Syria, what analysts say is what will threaten the regime? What is threatening the regime potentially is internal. It's not external pressure.

BALDWIN: OK. Hala Gorani, we'll leave it there. We'll talk about this, I have a felling, again tomorrow. Thank you so much. Welcome back.

Coming up here, police say an NFL's player's wife stabbed him in the stomach. We now have that chilling 911 called. We'll play that exchange for you coming up.

Also, Jessica Yellin is standing by with more on our breaking news from the world of politics today. Mississippi governor, Haley Barbour, making a big, big announcement this last hour. It will have a big effect on the Republican Party's quest for the White House. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And now, let me take you to Washington. Check in with Jessica Yellin with the latest news on for "Political Ticker" including Haley Barbour no go for 2012.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And the next big question now is who does he endorse? Of course, Mississippi governor, Haley Barbour is not just a politician but has, for many years, been a successful Washington organizer, able to build very sophisticated campaign operations and fundraise, and so, a big question now since he's not going to get in race himself is who will he send that campaign machine over to because he is basically a campaign without a candidate, as one Republican source said.

So, expect a lot of other Republicans visiting Jackson, Mississippi, to spend some time with Mr. Barbour and see if they can't get his support. One of the big question marks now, we mentioned before is around another governor, Mitch Daniels. Will he get in or not? As I mentioned when I spoke to you a little earlier, Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour are quite good friends, and it was understood that probably they wouldn't both run.

So, does this mean Daniels gets in? Well, he gave an interview to "The Washington Post" today. And one of the things that's interesting about Daniels is he speaks a lot more frankly than a lot of politicians often do. He says when he comes to deciding whether or not he'll run for president, he's thinking he's, quote, "muddled." You don't really hear that often from a politician, pretty honest. Muddled. But he says, if he does get in, he'll be all in.

Now, the question is, would he be a candidate Haley Barbour endorses? Would he be formidable? We'll have to see. So, Brooke, he raised, when we last spoke, these weird time lines of who's in and who's not. So, I wanted to give you a little sense. Now that -- so this fellow Mitch Daniels, I just mentioned, he had said he will decide by the end of this month. Newt Gingrich has also said he'll make a big decision by the end of this month about whether he's really in.

Then, there's Mike Huckabee. He says he'll decide sometime this summer, and of course, we can't forget former Governor Sarah Palin. She says she will decide, but she won't say when.

BALDWIN: OK. So, maybe, we'll get some actual names soon, soon-ish. Jessica Yellin --

YELLIN: Ish.

BALDWIN: Thank you very much-ish.

Now, this is interesting. It is happening right now. You are about to see it. "Rapid Fire," let's go. In Florida, police have released the 911 tape from that incident involving Miami Dolphin's wife receiver, Brandon Marshall, who was allegedly stabbed in the abdomen over the weekend by his wife. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911, what's your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please come. It's an emergency. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From where? Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please come. It's an emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come to where?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The operator did call back, no one answered the phone. Police responded. Marshall is OK, does not have serious wounds. His wife is charge with aggravated battery. No word yet on what lead up to that incident.

Former President Jimmy Carter is heading to North Korea. He hopes to meet with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Il, and get talks over the north's nuclear program moving again, but another concern here, severe food shortages affecting North Korea's people. Carter is part of a group of retired world leaders founded by former South African president, Nelson Mandela. He is joined on the trip by former president of Finland and Ireland and a former prime minister of Norway.

Some sad news to pop along to you out of Ohio. The body of that miner trapped nine days ago has been found. Larry Marek was 53 years of age. Investigators still have not figured out what caused that mine's roof to collapse.

To Long Island where this is the aftermath of a blast that just totally leveled a home here. This happened Easter Sunday morning, but here's the amazing part. The home vacant. The woman who lived there moved out two months ago. Police say debris shot up into the sky, rained down, and did injure 21 people all around there. The gas company says they responded to a leak complaint about two weeks ago but say it was fixed.

Over in Los Angeles, (INAUDIBLE) for a man accused of firing at a police copter early Sunday. The aircraft made an emergency landing after its fuel tank was hit. The 18-year-old was allegedly upset over the death of a friend and reportedly firing at random until the helicopter appeared. Police say his family captured and held him until the officers arrived. They're on the scene. The helicopter landed safely and no one was injured.

We now know Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords will be going to Florida to see her husband on its final space shuttle "Endeavour" launch, second to last shuttle launch ever, but we're also learning some fascinating new details about how she's recovering including what her hair, what her face looks like, what she's saying, about what she knows about the shooting in January. More details, that is ahead.

Plus, the countdown is on, folks, in London, getting ready for one of the most anticipated wedding in years, but there's a little bit of drama brewing over the guest list. Richard Quest is standing by. He's getting in the middle of it all for all of us. Coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: London is gearing up for the royal wedding. Gas prices are rising again. And a behind-the-scenes look at the recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Time to play "Reporter Roulette." And Richard Quest, I want to begin with you. Live at the Westminster Abbey in London.

Do me a favor, sir. Set the scene for me. Are you seeing anyone, you know, pitching tents and throwing out the sleeping bags there? Or not quite yet?

RICAHRD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, we still have four days to go. There was one moment where I thought there was a guy down there who was just about to start pitching a tent, and then I realized it was just a drunken reveler left over from the Easter weekend.

No doubt, though, within 48 hours, I'm expecting some of the first people, the real hardened royalists, the monarchists, the old growlies (ph) who are determined to be there. Listen, 30 years ago, I slept on the ground the night before Diana's wedding to Charles. And I think it's one of those times when people decide that they're going to do the unusual, the different, the bizarre, because they want to be - and that's the place where it's going to take place. The west door. That's where we will see the first look at Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

BALDWIN: Well, let's get straight to the scoop. The people who will be passing through the doors, you know, the guest list is out. And I think that maybe what's a little more interesting than who is going is who is not invited. Tell me who.

QUEST: Right. Well, the first thing to note is which door you go in. That says a lot about who you are.

BALDWIN: Huh. Why?

QUEST: If you are just the general congregation, friends and maybe minor family, you are going in over there, over the north door. It's only if you're royalty, European royalty, Middleton family, basically, big bananas, then you get to go through the great west door and down the nave.

Who is not going to be here? Well, we haven't got Tony Blair, the former prime minister. We haven't got Gordon Brown, the former prime minister. And who know why. The palace has come up with an excuse that, frankly, sounds half-baked.

We haven't got Sarah Ferguson. That's because she baked herself when she tried to take a bribe for introducing someone to Prince Andrew. And the relationships there are extremely bad.

The ambassadors who will be coming here, including the U.S. ambassador, they are not allowed to bring their spouses. This is an invitation that is not plus one.

You have to remember, it's a wedding! They've got a thousand of their friends, they've got 50 members of the royal family, 60 members of the diplomatic corps and others, governors, generals, there's a lot of people to fit in that small abbey.

BALDWIN: I can't even imagine having to figure out the seating charts for this party. But it's beyond - no go ahead. What do you know?

QUEST: Well, we know the seating chart. Look, this is the Bible. All right. This tells us. "The wedding of his royal highness" This is from Sir James' palace. This is everything you ever wanted to know, and a great deal more than you ever wish to know. Even right down to the names of the horses, 160 of them that they will be using.

What you've got is it's in sections. And interestingly, unlike most royal events, the prime area, the north transset and the north has been reserved for Kate and Katherine's friends. They are going to have the best views. Those boring ambassadors and diplomats and prime ministers, they are shoved somewhere near the back and don't get as good of a view. So, there's a real reflection in this wedding that it's a young couple in love getting married, and they want their friends and family to be around them.

BALDWIN: And I'm sure you've read every single page of that thick booklet there and you know all of the horse's names. Richard Quest, I will quiz you next time. Thank you, sir, so much. Live in London.

Next in "Reporter Roulette" here, let's talk gas prices. Obviously, they are on the rise again. But are we getting any closer to the peak? Alison Kosik, back from vacation, live in New York. Good to have you back, by the way.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And we talked a lot about gas prices when you were gone last week. And I know right now, there are a lot of mixed opinions about how high we could see the prices go.

KOSIK: There are mixed opinions, but one thing everyone can agree on, we are feeling that sticker shock at the pump. Right now, the average price $3.86 a gallon. You know, gas prices have been on the rise for 34 days straight. In fact, they are just shy of the all-time high where we saw gas hit $4.11 a gallon in July 2008.

Get ready for this, rumblings of the possibility of $5 a gallon. But the head of the Lumberg Gas Survery is more optimistic, Brooke. She says that you know, these prices, they wind up peaking before we hit the summer driving season, if they haven't already peaked. Let's hope that she's right, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Well, you know, part of the argument, and there's obviously some on both sides, but some argue that if you drill here at home, the gas prices go down. What are you hearing?

KOSIK: Oh, yes. And you know what, when the prices do go higher, everybody calls for drilling. Remember drill baby drill? Yes, a lot of us remember that. But oil analysts say that wouldn't help much. They say, sure, increasing oil and gas drilling, it could create jobs, lower the trade deficit. But the fact is, it wouldn't have a huge impact on gas and oil prices. CNN Money says the amount of extra oil that could be produced for more drilling in this country is real tiny compared to what the world consumes. Plus, any extra oil produced in the U.S. would be offset by OPEC cutting production.

But there is one way to have control over this. We can back off how much we actually put into our tanks because then if there's less demand for oil and gas, it could bring down those gas prices, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, yes. We all need to work on or carbon footprints. Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

KOSIK: There you go.

BALDWIN: And finally here on "Reporter Roulette," great news for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Doctors have now officially given her the green light to attend Friday's launch of the space shuttle Endeavour. And John Zarrella joins me there from Miami.

And John, it was such a fascinating article in the AZ Republic this morning in terms of all the details about her rehab, that she is now bowling and using, what, a grocery cart for rehabilitation. What else have you learned?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and we also know she gets around sometimes with a walker. She talks in single words, mostly, and that she and her husband are playing a lot of Scrabble together. And the reason they are doing that is because it helps with her vocabulary.

And the doctors did clear her so that she could attend the launch. And in essence, there's therapy in itself, getting out of the hospital, going to the Kennedy Space Center. A doctor will not accompany her. She will fly on a private plane with a nurse and she will attend Friday's launch of her husband, Mark Kelly, who is the commander of the space shuttle Endeavour on its final flight.

And Brooke, I have to ask you, do you know how many people are going to the royal wedding? I don't. Because I can tell you there are half a million coming to this shuttle launch.

BALDWIN: Yes, I think you've got more people possibly. More people would like to be inside of that church, but they are not allowed. So you've got that covered there, John.

Let me ask you this, though. In terms of the congresswoman being there on Friday, would we, the public, be able to see her, or will she be in a very private section there at Kennedy?

ZARRELLA: She's going to be in a very private section. The question is, will the president be with her? Those details have not been released yet, because we know that the president and his family are also going. NASA told me today, look, that they are still working out the details. They hope they'll be able to get some pictures of her and the president that they can release, but they don't know that for sure yet.

BALDWIN: We'll be talking all about that as the launch falls during this show, the 3 o'clock hour Eastern. So, John Zarrella, we'll be talking. Thank you, sir.

And that is today's "Reporter Roulette."

And now to this. The U.S. Supreme Court making a decision involving President Obama's controversial health care law, and accusations that it's unconstitutional. That is ahead.

Also, a mom just up and disappears. Her car found running in a parking lot and her baby still strapped inside the car seat. Now, police are saying someone took the mother. Sunny Hostin is "On the Case." That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: What happened to Krista Dittmeyer is a crime. That is what police in New Hampshire are now saying. Dittmeyer is missing, her car has been found. I want you to listen to what, or really who, police say was inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. CHRISTOPHER PERLEY, CONWAY, NEW HAMPSHIRE POLICE: At 6:30 in the morning, a citizen was pulling into the area of the Crenmore Fitness Center and saw a vehicle with the flashes on. They thought this was unusual, so they pulled behind the vehicle to see if the person in the car needed any assistance. When they approached the car, they found that it was unoccupied, running. The driver's door was slightly ajar, and there was a baby in the back seat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A baby in the backseat. Now, her family said Krista Dittmeyer would never leave her baby. And police in New Hampshire say she did not leave voluntarily. I want to bring in Sunny Hostin here "On the Case." And Sunny, it appears that Dittmeyer just simply vanished. Do we have any clues as to what happened to her?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, TRUTV: We do have more information. Just a few minutes ago, there was a press conference in this case, Brooke. We've learned that some physical evidence was taken from the scene where the car was found and taken from another location. We also know that the police are now executing two search warrants. One on the car where the baby was found and another on another car. We don't know anything about that other car.

Finally we learned that there are going to be some search warrants applied for to seek cell phone records. Of course, one is for Krista's cell phone, but we don't know about the other cell phone. So, we know that this investigation is ongoing and I know from my experience, Brooke, that the investigators are not going to give as much information out to the public as they know because they don't want to compromise the investigation -- BALDWIN: Of course.

HOSTIN: -- but certainly we are learning a little bit more about what they think may have happened.

BALDWIN: Well, something else we've learned, is we know Krista is from Maine. So, do we even know what she was doing in New Hampshire with her baby?

HOSTIN: Well, we've learned that there are some acquaintances that she knows there. We also know that the acquaintances are cooperating with the investigation, but that is the extent of the information that we have at this point.

BALDWIN: Do we know where the baby is now?

HOSTIN: We know that the baby was found in the car and doing well and the baby is now with Krista's relatives.

BALDWIN: OK. Case number two here, out of Virginia. They want the Supreme Court to rule right away whether it's unconstitutional for the health care reform law to require every one of us, all Americans to have health insurance, but today the court declined. So why won't the Supreme Court just jump right in?

HOSTIN: Well, it's very rare for the Supreme to jump in on a case that is still being battled in the federal court. The only time that that's sometimes even happens is during war or really an unconstitutional issue has popped up.

So for us legal nerds who have been following this case, it's not unexpected that the Supremes did not jump in. Brooke, this wasn't going to happen.

BALDWIN: So for you legal nerds then you obviously know that there are several states that are still very much challenging the health care reform in their own courts. Where do those cases stand?

HOSTIN: That's right. Five federal appellate judges have taken a peak at this. Florida and Virginia have found the law to be unconstitutional. Of course, those judges were Republican appointees.

The other three states that have looked at it, Michigan, Virginia and D.C., Democratic appointees, they have up held it. So it seems to be falling along party lines, but it's still winding its way up to the Supreme Court.

BALDWIN: How quickly might one of those cases wind its way up?

HOSTIN: Well, we know that there are hearings scheduled for May. Hearings scheduled in June and many are saying that the Supremes may take a look at this as early as 2012, just in time for the election.

BALDWIN: For the big year. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much.

Coming up here, hundreds of prisoners on the run after this dramatic prison break and some of the inmates are Taliban. Find out how in the world they pulled off this elaborate escape. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Bad news and a disaster, those are the exact words of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Spokesman talking about something we've touched down before here, the escape of hundreds of Taliban fighters from this prison in Kandahar.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): Take a look at this. This is the quarter of a mile tunnel that they carved out to get the bad guys out of there. And Nick Paton Walsh has the latest from Kabul.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They left in a hurry, but not too much of a hurry. For hours in a dead of night, about 470 Taliban insurgents left their cells in this Kandahar jail and far down the corridor, the prison guards not stopping them.

Into this room they went, down this hole, and crawling one by one out through a tunnel. The prisoners to the west of the city in the Taliban over five months were able to dig from a nearby house hundreds of meters up into the prison compound.

The political block (inaudible) for the most important prisoners from here Taliban claims as many as 106 commanders escaped, some speeding away on mini buses and others on foot.

Police say there's a man hunt on, but so far not many arrests and the questions are already ringing loud about the reliability of Afghan security forces, in this case, prison guards. It is a disaster indeed for the Karzai government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): For the government of Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan, it is bad news.

WALSHI: Bad news because NATO wants to begin handing over security to Afghan forces and bad news because hundreds more insurgents are on the loose. Exactly what NATO does not need as the traditional fighting season approaches.

This is the same hit on the same jail in three years. The last attack using a car bomb to breach the walls and it is also perhaps their answer to NATO's claim they are broken in this, the Taliban's heartland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you for that.

And coming up here, "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer about 8 minutes away here. Wolf, I'm sure you've heard the piece there from Nick Paton Walsh. You think about those prison guards in Kandahar, you think about the Afghan government and we also think about what is it, you know, one billion plus that we have sent to Afghanistan. WOLF BLITZER, THE SITUATION ROOM: Two billion dollars a week, if you think about it, $100 billion a year and that's just this year alone. The U.S. is supposed to begin a modest relatively modest withdrawal beginning this summer, but U.S. -- the U.S. strategy right now that President Obama came up with, with General Petraeus and Afghanistan is to maintain U.S. troops in Afghanistan through the end of 2014.

So we're talking, what, 2011, 13, 14. Another -- who knows how many hundreds of billions of dollars and a lot of people are asking a serious question. Is it money well spent? Can that money be spent better elsewhere?

This prison break underscores the fragility of what's going on in Afghanistan. Right now, there's a lot of fear that Hamid Karzai, the president of Afghanistan is really not doing what he is supposed to be doing, cracking down not only the Taliban, but the corruption that is so rampant in Afghanistan right now.

And how many al Qaeda operatives are left there? The last CIA testimony was under 100, if you will. So the question is, all of this money being spent, half a billion dollars recently just to try to bolster the police force of Afghanistan right now.

And people are wondering how many police officers have been created by this money. It's a real mess in Afghanistan right now. Serious questions have to be answered. And we're going to get into that somewhat in "THE SITUATION ROOM" coming at the top of the hour.

BALDWIN: Also, Libya, I'm sure you've seen the pictures of one of these - they said it was one of the residents of Moammar Gadhafi, you know, part of the compound bombed out. But we still see Moammar Gadhafi, state TV, alive and well.

BLITZER: Yes, and one of the most courageous journalists in the world. She's in Misrata right now. She writes with the "Sunday Times" of London. We're going to be speaking with her from Misrata.

This is an amazing situation going on right now in Libya and it could go either way. So we've got a full two hours not only in Libya, Afghanistan, what is going on in Syria. We've got some of the smartest people. Peter Bergen who knows more about Bin Laden than anyone so we've got some smart people joining us. We'll have a full in depth coverage coming up right here on "THE SITUATION ROOM."

BALDWIN: We will see you in 5 minutes. Thank you, sir.

Coming up next here though, should the Tea Party Movement get its own license plate? One state is clearing the way for them, but it's sparking big controversy. Have you heard about this? Wait till you hear who will be paying for them and where the money would be going? Joe Johns has the "Political Pop" on this Monday. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: To Arizona where the state legislature passed the so-called Birther Bill, which the governor vetoed. It would require presidential candidates to provide proof they were born in the United States.

But now Governor Jan Brewer has to decide whether she wants to sign this bill to create new Tea Party license plates for people who want them in her state. Joe Johns has this one in the "Political Pop." Joe, do you think this will happen?

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, another pretty good controversy for people to chew on, right?

BALDWIN: Right.

JOHNS: Arizona wouldn't be the first state to go this route though. The Tea Party vanity plate, as it is called, has been suggested in some other states. Texas I think already has one. Basically, if you so inclined, you kick in the right amount of money and get a license plate that has the slogan and symbol of the Tea Party on it.

Now the symbol is -- there you go. You can see the coiled up snake. You know what that is called, Brooke? That's called a flag. This comes from the revolutionary war. There is a slogan "don't tread on me." So basically the Tea Party has picked this up, made it part of their own and now they want to put it on the plates.

BALDWIN: On the plates, on the vanity plates. We know that the Tea Party stance is to cut spending, cut spending.

JOHNS: Right.

BALDWIN: And yet who are they asking to pay for this?

JOHNS: Yes, that's the fun part. The legislation appears to call for some of the money that's been on the Tea Party license plates to go to Tea Party minded individuals just like money from say charity vanity plates goes to certain charities.

But frankly charities in political groups are not the same thing so New York Congressman Gary Ackerman heard about this and wrote up, I actually have it somewhere, wrote up some legislative language of his own that he wants to submit when Congress gets back to work on this accruement.

He wants to tell states they can't take license plates money and give it to political organizations or they will get a penalty from the feds. Important to say here, we've said before, the Tea Party is not a political party, but the idea of somebody with a specific political agenda getting the money is a little controversial.

BALDWIN: Thought it was note worthy and I'm glad you did here in "Political Pop." I can't let you go, a day after Easter without talking Easter egg roll, the White House, how was it?

JOHNS: Beautiful day for it, but you know, frankly, they have to watch out for some of the kids. I was driving right by the White House and kids who had just gotten all of these eggs ran out into the street and I saw the eggs go flying everywhere. It could be a problem.

BALDWIN: No.

JOHNS: Yes, yes. But great day for this, this thing goes back to the late 1800s. Something like 30,000 kids there and they had a big online auction to decide who likes to go. So fantastic day the Easter egg roll and the Obamas putting their own spin on it, sort of a physical health motiffe there at the Easter egg roll issue.

BALDWIN: So maybe carrots without peeps and chocolate Cadbury eggs perhaps --

JOHNS: That's not a bad idea. A little bit of exercise.

BALDWIN: Not too bad. Joe Johns, thank you so much. Have a great rest of your Monday. Thank you so much for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin. That does it for me. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer in Washington - Wolf.