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Fast And Furious River; Shootout At Falcon Lake; Talking To Bin Laden's Wives; Casey Anthony Murder Trial; The Defining Music; Gadhafi Accuser Flees Libya; Reaping the Bounty

Aired May 09, 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, we're rolling on, top of the hour, watch this.

Thousands leaving behind everything they own as epic floodwaters threaten cities across the country. In the next 24 hours are critical. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): An emergency chief in Tennessee blaming evil for the rising river, but as crews race to fight the waters, new questions about how they're waging the war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you're playing God here, deciding who gets flooded and who doesn't?

BALDWIN: We will take you to that troubled spot live.

Scary moments on board in American Airlines flight. A passenger bangs on the cockpit door just before passengers and crew take him down, and he has a connection to Yemen.

Plus, summer driving season is close, and $4 gas averages are even closer. Find out why you can soon get relief at the pump very soon.

Who gets Bin Laden's bounty? Several politicians offering up their own idea on how to split the millions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (on-camera): Hi, there. Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's continue on, shall we? Let's talk Mississippi River. Right now, it is the deepest it has been, near Memphis, in 74 years, and keep in mind, it has not reached its peek yet. The water is flowing fast enough, listen to this, to fill a football stadium, 44 feet deep in one single second. And that has cities and towns all the way from Memphis, all the way down to New Orleans bracing for the worst case scenario.

We've already watched the U.S. army corps of engineers blow up that levee, flooding some 130,000 acres of farmland in Missouri to save a town in Illinois. Now, today, they opened floodgates just northwest of New Orleans. The goal there is to calm the rising river and also to reduce all the stress, the pressure on the levees, but if one of those levees fails, we could be facing a real disaster.

David Mattingly live in Memphis there, in the thick of things, in the water there. David, I understand where normally, I guess, it's half a mile wide, the Mississippi, it is now three miles across. So, talk to me about what you're seeing and when they even think that this river could crest there.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're only looking for this river to come up just a couple of more inches, and we're looking for that to happen sometime tomorrow morning. So, this river really is just about done encroaching on the city of Memphis. You mentioned how big the river is, going to give you a look right now. It's not -- from the half mile mark, now what it looks like at three miles. This is what it looks like now. It looks more like the Mississippi Sea instead of the Mississippi River.

But what the amount of water that we've been seeing coming in has actually been affecting Memphis, not in the downtown area, like where I'm standing right now. The downtown area is high and dry, but what we're seeing is the tributaries on the Mississippi. They can't empty their water into this river anymore because it's so high. So, those rivers have been backing up, causing flooding in different parts around Memphis, some isolated areas.

It's been covering some roads. It's been getting to some neighborhoods. We've seen a couple of trailer parks that have been -- almost completely inundated, and at this point, we've got a little over 300 people in shelters, and they're probably going to be there for a little while, Brooke, because it only took days for this water to come into Memphis. It's going to take weeks for it to go out.

BALDWIN: Now, you mentioned before there's this huge barbecue festival, right? You think of Memphis, you think of barbecue, you think of Beale Street. I mean, how close is that water sort of encroached upon those areas and what are they doing about this huge festival coming into town?

MATTINGLY: Well, May is a huge tourism time for Memphis. And that barbecue festival is always big. It's internationally known. They hold it down this way on the riverfront, but you can see the river's already encroached upon that. They made a decision earlier last week to move it. They've moved it to dry land. They've moved it to a stadium. So, it won't be down here on the riverfront. They're still saying it's still going to be open.

Beale Street is still going to be open. The party is still going to be going on. Public officials are kind of nervous because they see all of this on television, and they're worried what affect that's going to have on their tourism, but they've been out. They've been aggressively pointing out the fact that we are still open for business, we're still -- the party is still going on here, and Memphis is not shut down by a long shot.

That's partially thanks to the great levee system they have here, and they say they have a great deal of faith in that levee system. It was built with the flood of 1938 in mind and now that -- all that work and that planning is paying off.

BALDWIN: Right. After all that massive flooding back in 1937. David Mattingly, thank you. I want to bring in Chad Myers. You know, David said that it won't crest until tomorrow morning, just a couple of more inches to rise. The next chapter, if you will, is folks down river. What are we looking for next?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're now looking for that water to recede by an inch in Memphis for three days. So, we talk crest. We think of flash flooding. The water is up, and then three minutes later, it's down. It's not going to happen like that.

BALDWIN: He said weeks.

MYERS: Weeks before all of this will go away. Weeks before farmers can plant. This is the bottom river. This is the most fertile part of America because it has been flooding for centuries if not millennia, OK? So, that's why all of this stuff is there.

BALDWIN: What was the catalyst? Just a lot of precipitation over the last couple of weeks?

MYERS: Yes and yes.

BALDWIN: OK.

MYERS: One more thing too, there was a lot of snow this winter, and the snow was up there waiting to melt in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, all those places, all that snow waiting to melt and then it got rained on. Twenty inches of rain over the past three weeks. Now, we talked about all the tornados that happened. Well, tornadoes just don't happen without rain. All of those weather systems that we talked about that devastated so many lives put this slow moving devastation on to the ground.

About 20 minutes ago, maybe a little bit less, we talked about the Bonnet Carre Spillway and how that's going to put water into the Lake Pontchartrain area here is New Orleans right here. Here's where it flooded for Katrina, also back up here is the water came in from Pontchartrain. This is what it looked like back in April of 2008 when they last opened up this spillway. All of this mud and muck and debris, and man, I don't even want to go with the rest of the stuff, overflowing sewage and spillways and just pesticides and fertilizer, all getting into Lake Pontchartrain.

All these fish that were here are scooting out as fast as they can possibly get out of here, and let's hope they all get out, because otherwise, this will poison a lot of this lake for a little while. Now, it will all come back, because this happens, this flood happens even without the spillway opens. It could happen and it did happen hundreds of times over the past millions of years, but this is not a great event for Lake Pontchartrain. We'll get to that in a little bit again.

BALDWIN: We were talking tar balls last year. This year, we're talking pesticides and Mississippi flooding. MYERS: I know. Yes.

BALDWIN: Chad Myers, thank you. We'll talk more about this, because, you know, we've got what's happening coming up covered, but also, we're looking back in Illinois. Governor Pat Quinn ordering another 200 national guard troops to the flood zone. The governor just took a tour of some of the worst hit areas in his state as crews are monitoring the levees in Illinois. He will join me live with a quick debrief. That is coming up.

But also this, this major scare in the air. An American Airlines passenger gets up, pounds on the cockpit door before other passengers and the crew can actually take him down. We are now hearing precisely what happened and why he is connected to Yemen. We'll get you a live report on that, next.

Plus, a pretty stunning development here in the hunt for a serial killer in New York. Investigators, just this afternoon, calling this unexpected news conference. Now, they're suggesting there could be more than one killer on the loose. Find out why a victim's tattoo is involved. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's talk again about a crazy day in the skies. You have this flight to San Francisco, man gets up, approaches the cockpit, resists the flight attendant, starts banging on the cockpit door. Here's what happened from there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. MICHAEL RODRIGUEZ, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE, AIRPORT BUREAU: The flight attendant called for some help, some passengers from the first class section along with some other flight attendants assisted the flight attendant. Some flexible plastic handcuffs were used by the flight attendants to secure the hands of that passenger. That passenger was then placed into a first class seat where he was held until the flight arrived at SFO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That man has a Yemeni passport. He is still being held. We're going to talk a little bit more about him in just a moment, but it, really, was a strange day all around in the skies. Yet a delta flight from Detroit to San Diego made an unscheduled stop in Albuquerque after a flight attendant discovered this suspicious note in the plane's lavatory. The FBI met with the plane when it landed. The note's origin still not know.

Then, on a caught (ph) middle flight from Chicago to Houston, a man described as unruly made a break for the emergency exit. The unidentified offender was left with the feds at an unscheduled stop in St. Louis. And this harrowing scene, we told you about just before, it also happened on a flight from Chicago, but the plane wasn't actually diverted. As you heard the man say, the police say, I should say, the man who allegedly rushed the cockpit was handcuffed. You can quickly -- there he is in the back of the patrol car. You can see him there. Well, as we've been reporting, he had a Yemeni passport. Thelma Gutierrez is live for me now in Los Angeles. Thelma, this suspect, we know his name and is he still even in custody?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, yes. His name is Rageit Almurisi. He's 28 years old. He's a resident of Vallejo, California, which is up in the bay area. Now, he is in FBI custody. An FBI spokeswoman told us that he could be charged later today with interfering with the flight crew which is a federal offense. Now, one law enforcement official told CNN that Almurisi had no known links to a terrorist organization but appeared to have mental problems.

BALDWIN: Do we know how far into the flight this guy gets up and starts rushing the cockpit?

GUTIERREZ: Yes. Witnesses aboard that American flight from Chicago to San Francisco say that everything appeared to be normal, Brooke, until the plane began to descend about 30 minutes before landing. That's when witnesses say that Almurisi who was seated in coach (ph) walked into the first class cabin and approached the cockpit door and started pounding on it and mumbling something, possibly an Arabic.

Now, when he refused to leave first class, the flight attendant called for help. A male flight attendant and several passengers helped to restrain him. And according to the "San Francisco Chronicle," Brooke, one was a retired secret service agent, the other, an off duty police officer. Now, after that altercation, Almurisi was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for abrasions to his face and arm, and now, he's back in federal custody -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Still frightening. Thelma Gutierrez, thank you so much for that.

And also, some new information here, actually, a lot of new information this hour in the search for a possible serial killer. It appears investigators are dealing with more than one killer in the discovery of at least nine sets of human remains on Long Island, and they say the area appears to be a long time dumping ground for bodies.

Steve Kardian is a former New York State Police Detective. Steve, good to have you on here. You know, I was listening to the press conference and taking those before I had to run up here to the studio, and the Suffolk County district attorney cautioned today, look, this is not an investigation -- this investigation is not an episode of "CSI." It's going to take a long time to solve the case, and it sounds like it got quite a bit more complicated because it sounds like there's more than one killer and more than one modus operandi.

STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER N.Y. STATE POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, they were looking from the beginning of this investigation that the possibility existed that there was more than one killer. So, yes, now it does complicate it. The good thing is that they are locating these bodies. The FBI is going to be doing some very sophisticated aerial photographing to try and identify other bodies. And they, right now, have 125 federal state and local police officers working on this case. So, this is going to take a long time to solve this, but it's en route.

BALDWIN: It's very different, though, especially from the four female victims were found back in December and then the D.A. described today these two females were found today or actually they didn't (ph) even say females. They're actually just their heads and their hands were found today. This is separate from finding the other pieces of their bodies some years ago. Also interesting, the killer tried to remove one of the women's tattoos, I guess, to hide her identity. So, Steve, what do you glean from that information?

KARDIAN: Well, this is a very smart individual that we're dealing with here. By dismembering, by the attempting to remove the tattoo, the young woman you're speaking of, Jessica Taylor (ph), was killed back in 2003, and she was subsequently identified through her tattoo, to the authorities in Washington and that led to her being identified. So, we have a man that is trying to cover up every, every possibility that could tie him back to this specific crime, including the mutilation of their bodies and using prepaid cell phones and making phone calls from a very, very crowded area.

BALDWIN: So, help me understand, if this killer tries to remove a tattoo, and he's also removing a head and placing ahead, I don't know how far from Mandeville (ph) Gilgo beaches, maybe you know the lay of the land better, going to great lengths, as you say, intelligent, so they don't find him, because they don't want this woman to be identifiable, is that correct?

KARDIAN: Yes, yes. He is -- he is going and taking every measure to ensure that he cannot be linked specifically to any of these crimes.

BALDWIN: The D.A. -- no, go ahead.

KARDIAN: The specifics -- this area that the bodies are being found, I mean, if you could pick a perfect -- a more perfect dumping spot, very familiar with this area, I've been down that road. There's no reason for any person to drive or at the very least jog in that area. So, it's a very secluded area, good spot for concealing a body or anything.

BALDWIN: That's pretty exactly what the New York D.A. said. It appears the area has been become a popular dumping ground for bodies. Is it just a great dumping ground because, you know, they assume they can't be found? I mean, do you -- and this is speculating, but would they be linked or is it just coincidence?

KARDIAN: It appears now that they're looking at this case as more than one killer, that could be two, that could be three. It could be that it's a good popular dumping grounds. This area, if you're familiar with it, it's highly densely wooded. Very difficult to manage your way through. Law enforcement is having a very difficult time searching that area, and it would be an ideal place because there would be no reason for anyone to be in that specific area.

BALDWIN: And so quickly, though, in terms of -- in terms of, you know, more of a profile for the serial killer, that then furthers what had been guessed before that this individual is highly intelligent.

KARDIAN: Law enforcement, the profile that they've created for him is that he's highly intelligent. He's organized. He likely lives a very normal life outside of this. He is a sadistic individual. He likely tortures these poor women before he disposes of them. We're dealing with a really, really intelligent, very deranged individual.

BALDWIN: I have no words. Steve Kardian, thank so much for hopping on. New details even more coming out on this story. Thank you.

Also, as the feds race to dig through the intelligence that was found inside Bin Laden's compound, Pakistan is now saying the U.S. can interview Bin Laden's wives, but only on one very specific condition. We'll share that with you coming up.

Also, I'm just getting word there has been another deadly shootout on Falcon Lake, which you remember, sits along the U.S./Mexican border. That's where an American says her husband was killed last year. His body, by the way, has never been found. We're getting new information on this. You're going to hear it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to stories unfolding right now. Let's go, developing now. Officials south of the border say a shootout on Falcon Lake left 12 suspected members of a Mexican drug gang dead as well as one member of the Mexican navy. Falcon Lake straddles the U.S./Mexico border in Texas. It is where an American woman says her husband was shot last September.

Pakistan set something ground rules for U.S. investigators who want to question Osama Bin Laden's wives. Here is one of them. Three were captured at his compound last Sunday. A senior intelligence source tells CNN Pakistan will allow the U.S. to question these wives only if their country of origin actually gives the OK. Pakistan says Bin Laden's family members will be sent to their home countries once they are interrogated.

And a violent weekend in Egypt, and it has nothing to do with all that political upheaval that ended the presidency just this past year. Those are the crowds of Coptic Christians battling crowds of Muslims in Cairo. Two groups threw rocks, one point firing shots at one another. Rioting erupted after rumor spread that a woman, a Muslim convert, was being held in a church against her will. At least 12 people were killed, more than 200 injured there.

And CEOs getting paid a lot more money these days. Look at these numbers. According to a "Wall Street Journal" report just out today, chief executives of some of the biggest U.S. companies got an 11 percent increase in pay in 2010 over 2009. So, who cashed in the most, you ask? Well, CEO of Viacom who made a whopping $84 million in 2010, which is almost double what he made in 2009. The goose (ph) in pay comes from surging profits and bigger bonuses.

Space shuttle "Endeavour" now has a new launch date, the new target time, one week from today. Mark your clocks, 8:56 a.m. NASA, you remember, they scrubbed the initial launch because of an electric problem, one of the heaters. We are told Congresswoman Gabby Giffords will be back at Cape Canaveral, will attend the launch to watch her husband, Mark Kelly, command "Endeavour's" final mission.

And Major Bill Conner gave his mother one of the best surprises for Mother's Day, of course, himself. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I couldn't wait. I haven't seen you. I love you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, mom.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you so much. Oh, my God. I'm so happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Surprise. Happy Mother's Day. Conner is biking across America to raise money for the Semper Fi fund while on vacation from his tour of duty, and while on his 3,300-mile journey, he stopped by his hometown to wish his mom a happy Mother's day. She had not seen him since December of 2009.

And now for your "CNN Equals Politics" update. Let's go to senior political editor, Mark Preston, with the latest news from the "Political Ticker." Mark, good to see you.

MARK PRESTON, SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Brooke, good to see you. You know, Brooke, I have to acknowledge, I do not remember who gave my high school commencement speech, let alone my college commencement speech, but I will tell you, there are three high schools out there right now vying to have President Obama come and speak to them. The schools are Booker T. Washington in Memphis, the Bridge Port High School in Washington State and High Tech High School in San Diego.

Now, these are three schools that really came to the top of the class of many schools that were trying to get the president to come out and give their commencement. They should learn this week, Brooke, who is actually the winner. And to learn more about these schools, go to CNN.com and look at the great report up there by CNN's Sally Holland.

You know, talking about President Obama is going to have a new advocate on the campaign trail, and you're going to be hearing a lot from this congresswoman from South Florida. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was elected the DNC chair last week. Her goal is going to be go out over the next year to have raise as much money as possible and really try to fire up the troops. I spent some time with Congressman Schultz last week. I have a story up on CNN.com. It's an excellent just to kind of find out what drives this mother, this 44-year-old mother of three. She's going to give up much of her life to try to get the president elected -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Really? You don't remember your commencement speaker, Mark Preston?

PRESTON: For high school, not even for junior high for that matter.

BALDWIN: Oh, high school, yes, never mind. OK. I can't make fun of you. I remember college, but not high school. Thank you, Mark Preston, appreciate it.

And I know you and D.C. pay a lot of money. I was in stop (ph) there looking at the gas prices. How much do you spend on gas every month? You're going to find out whether you're shelling out the same cash as other Americans. Also, there is word gas prices could drop dramatically very soon. We will tell you why.

Plus, she sparked a firestorm after signing a controversial immigration law. Then, the justice department sued over it. Well, now, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has a new plan to fight the Obama administration, but will it work? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The wives of Osama Bin Laden, new to CNN, we now have their names. Also something else, your next trip to the gas pump might not hurt so bad. And the governor of Arizona, she has a plan to fight President Obama over immigration. Time to play "Reporter Roulette" on this Monday, and I want to begin with Allan Chernoff live in New York. Allan, if you head to the gas pump today, try to fill up, a little bit of a pleasant surprise.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Everything is relative in life, right? Gas prices now down for four straight days. AAA is saying the national average, $3.96 a gallon. Little more relief might be coming in the next few days because oil last week took a big hit. And so, the Lundberg Oil survey this morning argued that gas prices may have peaked, and we could see a 10 to 20 cent decline in the coming weeks. Let's not bet on it. Today, crude oil jumped by $5 -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. So, $3.96 the average right now, but I know you also have some more numbers that showed us exactly how much people are paying for gas every month. How much is it?

CHERNOFF: The average household, they're spending $368 on gas every month. That's from the oil price information survey done exclusively for CNNMoney.com. $368, that's double what we were spending two years ago when gas prices were in the range of $2 a gallon. Well, 368 bucks, you could buy two iPod nanos or a plane ticket from New York all the way to L.A., and you certainly could not drive that distance on 368 bucks -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's exactly what I was just thinking. LAX to LGA for that price. Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

Now, I want to get some developments here that we have learned just minutes ago about the many wives of Osama bin Laden. Let's go straight to D.C., to CNN's Brian Todd.

Brian, now we can put, what, some names to some faces? BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke. U.S. officials -- a U.S. official, specifically, has confirmed to us the identities of the three wives who are with Osama bin Laden at the compound when he was killed.

One of them is Amal al-Sadah, who married bin Laden in 2000. Officials believe that passport photo you see there that was found at the compound is her. She had a daughter with bin Laden named Safia shortly after 9/11, and Safia has told Pakistani officials she saw her father being shot. Amal al-Sadah is Yemeni and is bin Laden's youngest wife.

Another wife who was in the compound, according to a U.S. official, Khairiah Sabar, also known as "Um Hamza," because she is the mother of bin Laden's son, Hamza. They were married in 1985. She is a Saudi national who stayed with bin Laden in Afghanistan after 9/11.

And there was a wife named Siham Sabar. She's also known as "Um Khalid," the mother of bin Laden's son Khalid, who was killed in the raid. She's also a Saudi who also stayed with bin Laden in Afghanistan after 9/11.

The national security adviser, Tom Donilon, has told CNN the U.S. has requested access to them. No response as of yet. Well, the Pakistanis actually do say -- a senior Pakistani intelligent source tells CNN Pakistan will allow the U.S. to question or take into custody the wives, but only if their country of origin has been asked for permission.

Brooke, it's not clear if that's happened yet.

BALDWIN: Yes. That is one very clear condition we're learning about today.

TODD: Right.

BALDWIN: Brian Todd, thank you for that.

Finally here, "Reporter Roulette," Rafael Romo here with me.

And, Rafael, I know we're learning some information about Arizona's governor, Jan Brewer, and she's planning on taking, what, her immigration fight to court.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. It's known as the toughest immigration law in the land. And now, Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona says she's going to go all the way to the Supreme Court.

Last year, it was approved in the Arizona legislature. Then, it was -- a federal judge issued an injunction against this law. Just last month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals basically upheld the ruling.

And, this afternoon, less than two hours ago, Governor Brewer said that they're going all the way to the Supreme Court and this is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: It's nothing more than doing the job that the feds won't do. So, we believe that the Ninth Circuit, we believe -- I believe at least -- the federal court was wrong, the Ninth Circuit court was wrong. And now, in order to get quick resolve, we'll take it to the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And, Brooke, this is basically going to be a fight between the states and the federal government. The main argument that Arizona is making is that they're doing this because the federal government is not enforcing immigration laws, so they have no other alternative. And the federal government is saying, well, it is always -- it has always been our jurisdiction to enforce immigration law.

Just to put it in perspective I was looking at some numbers about the arrests at the border of illegal aliens and they're going down in last five year. Back in 2006, there were more than a million arrests --

BALDWIN: Wow.

ROMO: -- at the southwest border, the border with Mexico. Now, it's down to about 450,000.

BALDWIN: Four hundred and fifty thousand.

Quickly, the president will be in El Paso tomorrow, correct?

ROMO: Exactly. He's going to be in El Paso. He's going to talk about border security and he is expected also to address this issue.

BALDWIN: OK. Rafael Romo, thank you very much.

And that is your "Reporter Roulette."

Nearly three years ago, a toddler goes missing. Her mother didn't tell a soul. Months later after a frantic search, Caylee Anthony's body was found.

Well, today, her mother's murder trial begins. But this case is considered so high profile, wait until you hear the lengths they're going to find an impartial jury. Find out why Casey Anthony started crying in court.

Sonny Hostin all over this one -- on the next, case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Imagine being chosen for a jury in a trial that is so high profile, the judge predicts it will get more news coverage than the O.J. Simpson trial. More than 100 potential jurors are facing that prospect right now in Florida. Jury selection began today in the trial of Casey Anthony, who was charged with murdering her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.

Sonny Hostin is on the case.

And, Sonny, I mean, wow. Talk about the great lengths that they're going through to try to put together this jury, an impartial jury, for this particular case. The judge didn't announce where the jury would be chosen until this morning. So, why Tampa-St. Pete -- what that area is being selected here?

SONNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Well, it's demographically similar to Orange County where this crime allegedly took place, very similar types of jury pools. We did just find out this morning, it's a very new courthouse, sort of a state of the art courthouse, can feed video. So, the perfect place really, Brooke, to pick a jury.

What was so interesting though today is Judge Perry explained to the jurors what a hardship it could be to be chosen for the jury. They get chosen in Pinellas County, but then they get bused back over to Orlando, into Orange County, over 100 miles away. They get to stay in a hotel for almost two months, could be longer.

BALDWIN: Wow.

HOSTIN: They can't see their families. They may see their families on a Sunday. They can't watch television. They can't talk to anyone about this trial, quite a hardship, but a pretty good choice, I think, in trying to pick an impartial jury.

BALDWIN: Also, I read that more than 400 different people were called in from the jury pool. I mean, you're the expert here, is that an unusually high number?

HOSTIN: Not for a case like this. I mean, we're talking about a case that received such media attention, this judge says in his 30-some-odd years in the system, he's never seen anything like this.

Today, he was expected to interview about 110 perspective jurors. He got through about 45 so far, Brooke. Out of the 45, almost 50 percent, over 50 percent actually have already been excused for hardship. And so, that number, 400, he may get through it before he finds the 12 jurors and eight alternate jurors that will pass judgment on Casey Anthony.

BALDWIN: So, help me understand this process. Sonny Hostin, put yourself, you know, in the judge's shoes. You're interviewing the different potential juror candidates. What are the questions you're asking? What are you looking for in each juror?

HOSTIN: Well, you want a juror to be fair and impartial. That's the bottom line. I don't think you can probably find a juror who's been living under a rock and hasn't heard about the Casey Anthony case.

So, you want someone open minded, sort of someone that can push aside the fact that it has received such media attention, someone without preconceived notions.

I mean, I was thinking, you know, this is a trial in Florida in the summer. You're looking at retirees. You're looking at probably teachers. You're looking at folks unemployed. You're looking at students that can sit judgment for almost two months or longer.

So, I think you probably want someone that's a teacher, someone that's educated, a lot of scientific evidence, no one that has very young children or no one that has a child the age of Casey Anthony's.

So, pretty tough pick, I think.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Tough pick, thus the reason why the judge, I guess, dismissed, you know, as you said, 50 percent of these candidates so far.

We also noticed that Casey Anthony, Sonny, was crying this morning. Do we know what prompted that?

HOSTIN: She sure was. She started crying.

And I was watching the trial, the jury selection, Brooke. She started crying when the judge read sort of the fact sheet of this case, read the indictment -- tears, such emotion.

In my experience, Brooke, oftentimes when these defendants get there, it is show time. They can't believe that this is actually happening. Sort of judgment day, people are being traipsed in to pass judgment on them. And I think it just hit her. She hit a brick wall, and we saw her crying for a large portion of the morning.

BALDWIN: Reality sinking in. Sonny Hostin, thank you very much.

And since it is music Monday, we've got a special treat for you. I got to interview one of my absolute favorite bands and the conversation actually got personal. You're going to see that ahead.

Plus, baby boomers have pull in this country. Just consider the things they get to enjoy -- gadgets, cars, music, and especially the music. Coming up next, the tunes that defined the generation as first baby boomers turn 65 this year.

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BALDWIN: This week, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, we're talking baby boomers because the first wave of them is turning 65 this year. And for a lot of Americans, no conversation on this topic is complete without a soundtrack.

Here is Kareen Wynter with a look at the tunes that really defined an entire generation.

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KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the needle dropped on the 1960s, millions of baby boomers were just coming of age. They were destined to live through some incredible musical moments.

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WYNTER: The Beatles hit U.S. shores in 1964, triggering a sensation with songs like "She Loves You." Their impact on the culture was profound, according to "Billboard Magazine's" Phil Gallo, co-author of "Record Store Days".

PHIL GALLO, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, BILLBOARD MAGAZINE: The teenage audience was looking for something that they could call their own. And it just sparked mania.

WYNTER: The mania continued when another British import reached America.

(MUSIC)

WYNTER: "Time is On My Side" was the Rolling Stones first single to crack the "Billboard" Top 10, and more hits quickly followed. Remember these favorites?

"Paint It Black," "Satisfaction," countless Boomers bought the 45s and played them on their turntables. As "The Stones" were getting rolling, a home grown artist was emerging as an important voice.

Bob Dylan's early performances are captured in the Martin Scorsese documentary "No Direction Home." Gallo says Dylan's influence should not be underestimated.

GALLO: "Highway 61" landmark record, something every baby boomer should own, greatest rock song of the '60s, like a Rolling Stone. The way he wrote, challenged political morels, it made rock and roll grow up in a hurry.

WYNTER: Meanwhile, out of Detroit came the young Aretha Franklin who demanded --

GALLO: Whether it is a chain of fools or respect, these songs become anthems and become anthems in a hurry.

WYNTER: As the '60s progressed, the counterculture flourished and music was an inseparable part of it. The Beatles, The Doors and Jefferson Airplane explored psychodelia. Other artists confronted racism and the Vietnam War. Graham Nash of Crosby Stills Nash and Young remembers a sense of idealism.

GRAHAM NASH, MUSICIAN: We felt like that we could help change the world that we could bring subjects to the minds of people that they never thought about.

WYNTER: The decade was capped by an event that would come to define the entire era, Woodstock, a documentary about the festival captured spectacular performances, none more powerful than by Jimi Hendrix.

Carlos Santana played his first major gig there. He sums up not just Woodstock, but what the music of that time was about. CARLOS SANTANA, MUSICIAN: We weren't thinking about, you know, some superficial nonsense. We were talking about making a change, an unprecedented change of consciousness in this planet.

WYNTER: That idealistic wish may be the lasting musical legacy of the baby boomers. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Some awesome music? Coming up tomorrow, boomers helping seniors. So many people in this generation will have to care for an elderly parent, even as they approach retirement age themselves.

And speaking of music, I'm letting you in on a little secret here. I'm a huge lover of music. So we're starting something new here, hash tag music Monday.

When I got to sit down with some of my favourite bands and I really recently had one of those pinch me moments. When I got to sit down with a group I have been listening to for a couple of years now, "The Decemberist."

And they just released, may have heard of them, just released a new album. It's called "The King is Dead."

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BALDWIN (voice-over): Now, not a lot of people realize, here he is, lead singer Colin Meloy, has a 5-year-old son with autism, Henry or he calls him Hank. In fact, "The Decemberists" new song, "Rise to Me" was inspired by his son. Listen.

COLIN MELOY, THE DECEMBERISTS: Hank was diagnosed with autism when he was 2-1/2 and right around the time that we were starting to record. And I think the first year was sort of like a, an experience of just trying to figure it out and, you know, looking at therapies and learning about it.

I don't think I was really processing it until I started working on songs for this record and that song in particular was just really an exploration of -- sort of a conversation, I think, between the three of us, my wife, Carson and Hank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He talks quite a bit more about it. We're posting that whole interview for you to see, the raw interview, by the way sitting next to bassist Nate. Thank you to Colin.

You can watch that interview and a little bit more of that show. We have a couple of songs we'll share with you. Just go to my blog, which is cnn.com/brooke. Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN (voice-over): The woman who claims she was gang raped by Moammar Gadhafi's men has just pulled off a dramatic escape from Libya. Found out how she fooled the Libyan forces and the surprising person who helped her. That's next.

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BALDWIN: The Libyan woman who accuses Moammar Gadhafi's troops of locking her up, beating and raping her has fled now to another country.

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BALDWIN (voice-over): This is video exclusive to CNN of the woman in Tunisia shortly after she crossed from Libya just a couple of days ago.

She says she ran for her own safety, she was helped across the border by a defecting Libyan army officer, and a CNN crew today spoke to Al- Obeidy's mother and father who are both delighted yet cautious.

ATIQ AL-OBEIDY, EMAN AL-OBEIDY'S FATHER (through translator): As a father, I was really happy. I was overjoyed. We're looking forward to seeing her, but we're not sure if she's safe.

AYSHA AL-OBEIDY, EMAN AL-OBEIDY'S MOTHER (through translator): When I heard the news, I felt like any mother would when she receives happy news about her daughter escaping. She was able to leave, but I don't know if the news is true or not.

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BALDWIN: Al-Obeidy tells us that the legal proceedings in a rape case have not progressed much at all and she was not able to return to her home to Libya. We did learn today she is in Qatar being protected by international diplomats there.

Coming up, who gets the Osama Bin Laden bounty? You remember the U.S. offered some $25 million for his capture? Well, now several politicians are pitching their ideas about how to split up the millions. That's next.

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BALDWIN: Perhaps you've forgotten, perhaps you haven't. The United States put a bounty on Osama Bin Laden. Multiple millions of dollars for information that would ultimately lead in his capture and/or death as it happened.

Let's go to Joe Johns in Washington. Joe Johns, if we're talking at least $25 million, something tells me that is quite a bit of change on the table, someone has to want it.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, it is even more than that because there is another $25 million to be awarded at the discretion of the secretary of state.

And the question is, you know who is going to get that money? Now remember Gary Brooks Faulkner, Brooke, this is - I heard that name? This is a guy from Colorado who went over to Pakistan with a samurai sword and pistol to try to find Bin Laden.

Well, he's one of the people that thinks he deserves this money. We're talking about just a lot of money. And a couple of members of Congress from New York have actually said that as far as they're concerned, that money ought to go to first responders, the families of 9/11 victims and so on. Let's listen to what they said in news conference yesterday.

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REPRESENTATIVE ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: These programs are ones that desperately need funding, that are still every day dealing with the ramifications of September 11th. Hopefully they will benefit from this reward money.

REPRESENTATIVE JERROLD NADLER (D), NEW YORK: It was allocated to -- for 9/11 victims in effect and this is simply saying use it more effectively for the purpose that it was set up in the first place.

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JOHNS: Now actually the Airline Pilots Association also offered an additional $2 million reward. We called them today, haven't heard back from them. I have to say the White House, Jay Carney, the spokesman said as far as he's concerned, he doesn't believe anybody is going to get the money because no one intentionally alerted the United States as to the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden. So up in the air pretty much.

BALDWIN: But wait, back to Gary Faulkner, it all came back when you said samurai sword, how is he claiming, how is he claiming some sort of justification in getting the money? Just curious.

JOHNS: It is pretty incredible stuff. He's claiming he flushed Bin Laden out. Called and tried to reach him today, but didn't get him. Faulkner did an interview with WLS radio.

He's claiming Bin Laden was precisely, he says, where he said Bin Laden could be found. He also claims Bin Laden was not in that compound for years as has been reported. Let's listen to some of that tape.

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GARY FAULKNER, "BOUNTY HUNTER": He was flushed out of exactly where I said he was at and stuff. The thing is that the man was very well in the mountains and everything else and need to be brought out.

What his downfall was having to move before he was ready to because he was flushed out, once his movements were made, that's what actually took him right where he was at. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: All right. Yes, I know.

BALDWIN: Hang on. We have less than a minute, but I have to ask, how, pray tell, was Bin Laden flushed out because of Faulkner?

JOHNS: You know, a lot of things about Gary Faulkner are just not that clear. He claims he actually went by the house in Abbottabad. He keeps saying nothing happened in Pakistan until he went there and so on.

It sounds like this isn't completely a joke because apparently he called the FBI and asked what he has to do to get some of that reward money. And I think they told him to go online and fill out a form so - there you go.

BALDWIN: Fbi.gov. Joe Johns, thank you. Thank you very much. We'll see you back here tomorrow. That is it for me. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer who, by the way, is live in Munich. Wolf, to you.