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Bin Laden Was Always Plotting; Dogs and Ponies, Oil and Taxes; Inside View of Syria's Revolt; Troubled Waters; FBI Director May Stay Longer; Where are the Republican Presidential Candidates for 2012?; An Look Inside Google's Workshop; Tiger Woods Limps off Golf Course

Aired May 12, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne, thank you.

Well, out of sight, under wraps but still very much in the loop, ten days after the world's most wanted terrorist was killed by U.S. troops in Pakistan, his own words are proving he never stopped plotting and his number one target never changed.

Among the virtual mountain of intelligence that Navy SEALs recovered from Osama Bin Laden's compound is Bin Laden's own handwritten journal and the journal, according to a U.S. government official, speaks volumes about the Al Qaeda leader's mindset and methods.

The official says Bin Laden remained determined to attack the U.S. again and again. What's more, he wanted to strike on dates that are meaningful to Americans. July 4th, for instance, Christmas, and 9/11.

There also are said to be strong indications Bin Laden had back- and-forth communications with others in the Al Qaeda network. That contradicts reported claims by Pakistan that he was an out-of-touch figurehead.

So, I want to bring in CNN's Reza Sayah now, he's in Islamabad.

And, Reza, tell us first about Bin Laden's fixation within America. That was not actually a unanimous view within in Al Qaeda, was it?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it wasn't, there were some Al Qaeda affiliates in the region. Now, Al Qaeda affiliates, for example, in Yemen, Algeria, Somalia, who didn't necessarily want to attack targets on U.S. soil. They didn't want a retaliation in their particular regions where they had grievances with their own governments. But certainly according to U.S. officials, when they looked through these documents they said indeed Bin Laden was fixated in carrying out another attack on U.S. soil on the scale of 9/11.

According to U.S. officials in these documents, Bin Laden had mark off key dates on the U.S. calendar, like the Fourth of July, Christmas, the 9/11 anniversary, he wanted to attack on these particular dates. The documents also show that he had contact with some of his senior officials, for example, Ayman al-Zawahiri, the number two man, but that communication was not always effective. The only way he could communicate apparently was putting information on these flash drives, these thumb drives, and sending them out, obviously very time consuming process.

So, some scary details in these documents, Randi, but the fact that Al Qaeda, over the past ten years, has been ineffective and the fact that there was never any indication in these documents that any command that he delivered actually came to fruition, that they carried out exactly what he commanded, paints a picture of an ineffective group that was fragmented throughout the past several years.

KAYE: So Reza, we've heard this journal described as a, quote, "playbook" and the compound described really as a command post. I mean, as we learn more, do those terms still hold up?

SAYAH: You know, it's really hard to describe this place as a command post. Basically, what you see in these documents, according to this "Washington Post" reports that came out and U.S. officials, is Bin Laden delivering his desire, his views, what he wanted to see. Rarely do you see him devising plans in details and being involved in plots. And again, the way he communicated with Ayman al-Zawahiri, it didn't even seem as if he knew exactly where he was.

So, this is a man who certainly wanted to attack the U.S., that's not a shocker. To him, the U.S. was enemy number one. It has always been his view that the U.S. has been a leading cause in this region of oppression and injustice and it's his view that the way to get the U.S. forces out of this region was to attack civilians on U.S. soil.

But again, I think it's important to remember, over the past ten years, he failed to do so in the U.S., and these documents indicate that never a command that he delivered came to fruition on U.S. soil.

KAYE: It is all so interesting. I also want to ask you, what have we learned just in general about Al Qaeda's structure as a result of this? I mean, we used to think that the various factions worked pretty much independently, is that still accurate?

SAYAH: Right now -- again, and these documents support this. They show that Al Qaeda, over the past ten years, has been increasingly only an ideology. This wasn't a person, a leader of a group that would devise a plan, give a command, and have his affiliates, his operatives, carry out those attacks. Increasingly, it was an ideology. And what you have is the affiliates of Al Qaeda, again in places like northern Africa, Somalia, Yemen. They were the ones carrying out smaller scale attacks, more so targeting governments they had grievances with. Again, their focus was not on attacks on U.S. soil -- Randi.

KAYE: All right, Reza Sayah for us. Thank you, Reza, appreciate your insight on that.

Our "Sound Effect" is a PG wisecrack in a place that's usually rated "B" for boring. We knew there would be drama at a Senate hearing on tax breaks for big oil companies, but no one expected the upright and proper Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah to complain about the spectacle quite so colorfully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), FINANCIAL COMMITTEE: This should not be used to score cheap political points but I'm afraid, with all due respect, Mr. Chairman, that that's what we're going to see here today. I have a chart depicting what I expect this hearing to turn into, and there you go. That's a really nice picture. I think that's pretty good, myself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's the horse and who's the dog?

HATCH: I think we both know. I know who the horse's ass is, I'll put it that way. It is perfectly -- I shouldn't have said that. Elaine's going to give me heck when I get home, I'll tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Yes, he's regretting that one. Well later, some of Hatch's colleagues weighed in regarding unicorns, rhinoceroses and rats. And oh, yes, some serious business came up as well, we'll bring you that next hour.

We're also keeping a close eye on the historic and already devastating flood from the Mississippi River. The floodwater is slowly snaking its way into the deep south.

I want you to take a look at this map along with me. You can almost follow a schedule of when and where the Mississippi River will crest. This is its current predicted path. The crest is steadily pushing through Arkansas and Mississippi is right now, cresting in Helena, Arkansas today.

You can see here, it will take more than a week before it hits the tip of Louisiana near New Orleans. But residents in southeast Louisiana are already being asked to evacuate the area. The Army Corp of Engineers is expected to open more of a spillway near Baton Rouge to spare New Orleans.

Flooding has already caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage in the towns in its destructive path, that includes Memphis, Tennessee. Martin Savidge is there and has the latest.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, we're standing in north Memphis here and what we're looking at is a community of motor homes, or mobile homes as they are described. There are about 150 homes that are back there and as you can see, just about every one of them is flooded up to the level of the windows. It's been like this actually for almost a week.

You see, that's the interesting thing about a flood from a Mississippi River like this, and this is it actually tributary water. There was plenty of warning, in fact the fire department was going through this community days in advance telling people water is coming, you better get ready and you better get out of here. Well the people did leave and if they were smart most of them took out their belongings with them, otherwise most of their belongings right now are in ruins.

We're told, according to EMS here in Memphis, this is one of the hardest hit areas. There are others, there are about 800 people that in total have evacuated, 400 still in shelters and 800 to 1,000 properties affected.

So overall in this city, you understand that the flooding is relatively minor. What we have here going on right now is an animal rescue group that has come to check on the welfare of any pets that may have been left behind. Josh Cary's with the team here and you're going to go back in.

JOSH CARY, AMERICAN HUMANE ASSOCIATION: Yes, we got a dispatch report of some cats that might be on the property. An initial search didn't turn up anything and we came back and tried to get some more information. So, we're going to go back and do a finer search in the area and look for, obviously, any animals but any signs of animals being in the area to kind of hone us in even more.

The goal is to do our best effort to get whatever is out there because if they're stuck on a roof, they can't fend for themselves at all. So, we just want to get them back in and take care of them.

SAVIDGE: Boy, Josh Cary, thanks very much. Good luck to you and your organization.

In the meantime, those that have been forced out here have either gone to shelters, or gone to relatives, or gone to hotels, and they hope that rain, which is in the forecast, won't be too severe. I'm Martin Savidge, back to you.

KAYE: All right, so picture this -- tanks lining the city streets, no tourists anywhere, a country denying visas to journalists. Next, we talk to the one guy that made it in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Human rights groups in Syria say a city-by-city crackdown on anti-government protesters is spreading with troops rounding up opposition leaders. This comes one day after witnesses say tanks and snipers opened fire in the cities of Hawk (ph) and Daraa killing at least 19 demonstrators.

Human rights groups say more than 770 people have been killed since the uprising began in March, and some 9,000 demonstrators have been arrested.

Foreign reporters are banned from the country, but the associate editor of the "Times of London," Martin Fletcher, recently managed to get inside on a tourist visa and made it to the besieged city of Hams where he was briefly detained. He joins us now from London.

Martin, thanks for coming on the show today, what a story you have to tell. Tell us first how you got to Hams and what you saw.

MARTIN FLETCHER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "TIMES OF LONDON": I -- as you said, I went in to Syria as a tourist. I was amazed they let me in, but they did. I took a bus, a local bus, from Damascus to Hams (ph) and we drove straight in, straight past the barricades. When I got there, I found I was the only guest in the hotel, probably the only foreigner in the entire city and it was extremely tense.

There were very few people in the streets and those that were were manifestly frightened and talking about explosions and gunfire. The shops and the businesses were largely shut. The public buildings were heavily protected by gun positions.

There were plenty of tanks on the streets. Most of the main intersections were guarded by four tanks, each pointing in one of the four directions. There were checkpoints all around the city and I counted at least 100 tanks ling the road, the highway that leads north out of the city towards Hama and Del Epi (ph).

KAYE: And you were arrested, you were detained while you were there. What did you see while you were being held?

FLETCHER: OK, we ran into a checkpoint, they looked at my passport and they saw stamps for Libya and Egypt because I had been covering the revolutions there. They took me to what I can only describe as a secret detention center, it was one of four or five rather drab apartment blocks in a sealed off street.

We went into the basement, it was -- there were no windows, just strip lighting. What caught my eye immediately I went in was a large pile of belts and shoelaces at one end of the corridor and behind them was a steel door. They opened the steel door and I could see inside dozens of young men sitting on the floor huddled together and I was held for about six hours and at regular intervals during their six hours more men were brought in off the street.

It was very obvious what was happening. They were rounding up young men of certain age, of fighting age, for want of a better word, wholesale and locking them up.

KAYE: And in terms of President Assad, what is your take on support for him? Where does it stand? I mean, is there any indication that he might step down?

FLETCHER: No, not at all. And there's no sense -- I didn't come away with a sense that this situation was spiraling out of control from the regime's point of view.

It's an interesting question. I was surprised, actually, how much support Assad does have. Not only support, there's also lots of fear among a large section of the population that if he were to go, Syria would descend into the sort of sectarian conflicts that Syrians have seen taking place in Iraq to the east and in Lebanon to the west.

And he also has -- and this is crucial -- the total support of his military, which Gadhafi didn't have in Libya, Mubarak didn't really have in Egypt. The military have shown that they're prepared to do what it takes to suppress these protests. To fire on their own people if necessary.

The other side of the equation is the --

KAYE: And how organized --

FLETCHER: I'm sorry. Go ahead.

KAYE: I was going to say, how organized are the protesters? How organized is this opposition compared to Libya or Egypt?

FLETCHER: You know, this is the other side of the equation. Much less so. Though numerically you're measuring them in the tens of thousands, not the hundreds of thousands. Geographically, they're scattered around the country. They haven't got a large presence in Damascus. And, until today, they didn't have a very large presence in Aleppo. I hear there are some several thousand students now demonstrating in Aleppo.

It's not -- not just geographically. Demographically they are predominantly drawn from the poorer Sunni neighborhoods. There isn't that amazing sort of cross section of society that you saw in Egypt. By in large, the middle class as set this out. The religious -- the Christian and the aloites (ph) minorities remain loyal to the president. The Kurds in the northeast haven't really got very involved. And I think that is one of the weaknesses of the protest movement.

KAYE: Well we're certainly glad that you made it out safely and we're glad that you can be a voice for the people there in Syria to help us understand exactly what's going on inside.

Martin Fletcher, thank you. Good to talk with you.

FLETCHER: Thank you.

KAYE: So much lost along the Mississippi River. A nation already drenched in debt. So who will be picking up the tab to rebuild? You probably aren't going to like the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The all-new cnnmoney.com is refined and redesigned. Fuel your financial success, whether you're a serious investor, small business owner or just looking for tips to reach your retirement goals. Check out the all-new cnnmoney.com, powered by CNN, driven by you.

When it comes time to clean up from the flooding along the Mississippi River, who will be picking up the tab? It turns out it could be you. That's because the government's flood insurance program is broke. Alison Kosik is with us from the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, not very good news. How bad is this situation? ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not good news and it is pretty bad when you consider FEMA's national flood insurance program is $18 billion in the hole. You know, and you think about the national debt crisis we're in, this just adds to it. In fact, an analyst says this program's in the worst financial shape it's ever been in, in the program's 42-year history.

Now this program covers a lot of people. Almost 6 million people carry government flood insurance. And if you live in a high-risk area, it's probably the only flood insurance you can get, especially because most private insurers don't offer it.

But, the program is so deep in the red, it has to borrow from the U.S. Treasury just to pay the claims. So it's unlikely the $18 billion it owes will ever be paid back. And, of course, Randi, that leaves taxpayers on the hook.

Randi.

KAYE: So I guess a lot of people are probably wondering, how did the program get in such bad shape to begin with?

KOSIK: Oh, yes, it really makes you wonder. I mean the flood insurance program isn't structured to make money, if you can believe that. You know, for instance, FEMA can't reject high-risk applicants, but it also can't raise rates too much. So basically it pays out billions of dollars in claims but unlike private insurers, it can't collect enough money to make up for that.

Another problem, many people pay discounted rates even though their flood risk is high. Also, there are a lot of repeat claims. That's when your house or your business is destroyed. Then you file a claim. You rebuild in the same disaster-prone area and then you get hit with a disaster again.

And, get this, Randi, the GAO, it says only 1 percent of policyholders file repeatedly over and over again, but that accounts for 30 percent of all claims. So now you can see why it's a huge financial drain on this program.

Randi.

KAYE: So is it fixable or is $18 billion just too much to get a handle on?

KOSIK: You know, that's a really good question. I mean FEMA itself, at this point, is calling for a review of the program. You know, as for solutions, there are analysts who say, you know, people should be encouraged to move from where they are if they live in a high-risk area. But, you know, in reality, it can be really difficult. But there's an environmental expert that we spoke with and he said, you know, if it comes to that, it's really all about timing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CONRAD, CONSULTANT, WATER PROTECTION NETWORK: If we can move quickly to help people, they need to get back on their feet. And the speed is essential to help them with maybe some financial support to remove the building from the floodplain and to get relocated. If we wait -- and unfortunately many communities are a bit slow to get in to this -- then people get reestablished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: So basically he's saying that people need to get the money to relocate before they invest in rebuilding their own home that was destroyed. He also says in many cases people really don't have to move that far away. They just have to go to higher ground or away from the water. But one thing's for sure, any change is really going to take one of those coordinated efforts, you know, because flooding has really become everybody's problem because the government is spending your money, it's spending my money, it's spending everybody's money if you're paying taxes, Randi.

KAYE: Yes, we don't have to be anywhere near the Mississippi River to be feeling it.

All right, Alison Kosik, thank you.

KOSIK: Yes.

KAYE: And be sure to join Christine Romans for "Your Bottom Line" each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern. And don't miss "Your Money" with Ali Velshi Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Sundays at 3:00.

It is 23 minutes past the hour. Let's check the latest developments in our top stories.

The historic flood from the Mississippi River is slowly moving through Arkansas and Mississippi. Right now the flood has crested in Helena, Arkansas. Further south, residents in southeast Louisiana are preparing to evacuate their homes. The Army Corp of Engineers is expected to open a spillway near Baton Rouge to spare towns further downstream, including New Orleans. At least 26 parishes have declared states of emergency ahead of the flood.

In New York, two men were arrested last night in an alleged plot to attack a synagogue. Law enforcement sources say this terror plot had been on their radar for months and the suspects were caught buying several guns and a hand grenade. Investigators believe the men are lone wolves acting on their own and not part of a larger terror network.

In Libya, rebels and government forces are in a tug-of-war for control over Misrata. The city's seaport and airport are important strategic locations. Right now there are conflicting reports who has taken control.

Meanwhile, in Tripoli, there was another attack on Moammar Gadhafi's compound with four rockets hitting the building. At least two people were killed. The attack comes after Libyan state TV showed Gadhafi in his first public appearance in two weeks. The president is asking someone to extend their stay. We will head to the White House, let you know who it is next with our Ed Henry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We just learned today that President Obama wants to extend FBI Director Robert Mueller's ten year term. Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry broke this story. He's live at the White House.

Ed, why does the president want to keep him in office for a couple more years?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, I think it comes down to one word, and that's stability. You know, Bob Mueller was supposed to be leaving in September. This is a ten year term which was instituted by Congress many years ago because of the abuses of J. Edgar Hoover as FBI director, was on the job for decades and decades. So they want to limit it to one decade.

But also you'll notice at 10 years, obviously, it enables you sometimes to serve in both Democratic and Republican administrations so there's no supposed to be above politics, if you will. Robert Mueller is somebody who was appointed by George W. Bush and nominated by him and confirmed by the Senate, now serving in a Democratic administration.

But yesterday I just asked Jay Carney whether this shows that they had trouble finding someone who replace Bob Mueller. He kind of dodged that question. But I think it clearly shows it's very difficult now to find someone willing to take on such a bruising job for 10 years when the FBI -- remember, Bob Mueller was sworn in a week before 9/11. He has now served for almost a decade with the specter of al Qaeda, other terror groups around the world. FBI at the center of a lot of those counter terror efforts. And I think since they had trouble finding someone who fill his shoes, he made no secret publicly about his desire to move on and retire, go on to other areas in the private sector.

This clearly shows they had trouble finding someone to take on such an enormous task. And also reminds us that while Osama bin Laden was just killed, al Qaeda is still around. As the administration has been suggesting, you got to keep your guard up. They realize it might have been risky right now to rush into something else. They want to have the stability of Robert Mueller for two more years. They still have to get Congress to approve that, but mostly on The Hill the reaction's been pretty positive.

KAYE: Yes, I mean, boy, what a decade he has been at the helm for.

So do you think that the president's request then is likely to get much opposition or no?

HENRY: I don't think it will get much opposition. Just literally a minute ago, before we came on the air, a top Republican, Chuck Grassley from Iowa, put out the first sort of lukewarm statement on this. Most of the others in both parties have been pretty glowing about Robert Mueller's credentials. And Chuck Grassley is saying the same. He says he's a great FBI director, but he's concerned about what kind of precedent this may set if President Obama gets Congress to go along. Again, it's supposed to be a 10 year limit.

If you extend it now two years, that may open the door to future presidents doing that more and more, and there might be a concern that if it's someone who's politically favorable to that president, maybe they want to crush some sort of criminal investigation that's going on, and you keep your friend in the FBI director job.

No one's suggesting that's going on now, it's just a concern this sets maybe a dangerous precedent, if you will. But at the end of the day, I think by in large, most Democrats and Republicans are going to be on-board because as you noted, very tough job. Bob Mueller clearly has done a great one.

KAYE: Sure. And it shows also that nothing is simple in Washington. But, if we can, let's just change topics here for a second. It seems like the president is certainly talking a whole lot about immigration as we move closer to 2012, including today.

HENRY: Yes. It was funny. He was at the Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, a serious setting of course, but at the same time he spoke about comprehensive immigration reform, that it's not just an economic issue, it's an issue of humanity because people that live in the shadows may take dangerous jobs, may be in dangerous situations because they're afraid to come out of the shadows.

But then it was funny because he made a little light of the fact that he got a special bible at this event.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was told this will help improve my Spanish and I said I'll pray on that. Amen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So a bilingual bible may be helpful for the president in 2012. I mean, as you noted, he was just down at U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, a couple days ago talking about comprehensive immigration reform. And I noticed that later today, the president's doing an interview with Univision. He is clearly reaching out to Hispanics in this country. He knows that it's a critical voting bloc in 2012, maybe even taking it down to spiritual proportions, as well, I guess, Randi.

KAYE: Yes. Well I'm sure that voting bloc to happy to see that.

Ed, great job breaking that news about Robert Mueller. Appreciate it. Good to see you, as always.

HENRY: Good seeing you.

KAYE: Tiger Woods return to golf, a big short-lived. See what the struggling golf star did just a short time ago. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is half past the hour. Let's update the headlines in other news you may have missed.

Of all the items Navy SEALs found in Osama bin Laden's hideout, the most revealing appears to be his personal journal. Officials who have seen it say it was written by bin Laden, not his associates. The journal indicates that bin Laden was planning more attacks against the U.S. and lists key dates to carry them out, including July 4th, Christmas and the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. But officials emphasize that the journal contains no specific details for any attack.

In Germany a retired U.S. autoworker today was convicted of helping to murder nearly 28,000 Jews in a Nazi death camp in World War II. John Demjanjuk was sentenced to five years in prison, one year less than requested by prosecutors. Defense lawyers argued that Demjanjuk was a prisoner of war and was forced to work for the Nazis. This trial caps a 30-year legal battle over whether he was camp guard known as Ivan the Terrible. He was freed pending an appeal. Demjanjuk is 91 and had been in custody since being extradited from the U.S. two years ago.

In New Orleans, the big question right now is will the levees and other anti-flood systems protect the city from that swollen Mississippi River? The river already has poured over one levee upstream flooding thousands of acres of farmland. The Army Corps of Engineers says is opening more bays along a major spillway just north of New Orleans that diverts water into Lake Pontchartrain. The Corps also says it's considering opening another spillway which would flood thousands of homes and farmland, but would help protect both New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

Evangelist Billy Graham plans to resume his normal activities after having a comfortable night in a North Carolina hospital where he's being treated for pneumonia. Hospital officials say the 92-year- old preacher is in fair condition now. Graham entered the hospital in Asheville after experiencing coughing and some breathing problems. His doctors say Graham's been watching television and joking with the hospital staff. No discharge date has been set.

In sports, well, it hasn't been a good day for Tiger Woods, that's for sure. He limped off a golf course in Florida today during the first round of the Players Championship and told officials that he was withdrawing from the event for the second straight year. He was six over par after nine holes. This was Woods' first competition since taking part in the Masters last month where he said he injured his left knee and Achilles tendon. Woods, who is 35, has already had four operations on that left knee.

A playground for innovators. For the first type, TV cameras go inside Google's ultimate perk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It could be the ultimate perk at Google. The company has more than 26,000 employees worldwide, but just 300 are allowed to play in and around what's known as the Google workshops.

Here's CNN's Dan Simon with this week's edition of The Connection.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With a car and high- tech cameras affixed to the roof, Google pioneered the 360-degree street view from the Golden Gate Bridge to New York's Times Square to other landmarks here and overseas.

(on camera): Google Street View became such a popular feature on the site but there was one small problem -- you can't take a car everywhere. So you're looking at the solution.

(voice-over): It's a jumbo tricycle designed to take to you those hard to get places. Daniel Ratner came up with the idea a couple years ago during a trip to Spain.

DANIEL RATNER, GOOGLE ENGINEER: Walking along cobblestone alleyways where it was so narrow cars couldn't even fit inside there and yet that was one of the coolest areas of the whole city.

SIMON: This innovative idea was created here, the Google workshops and this is the first time a TV news organization has been given access.

GREG BUTTERFIELD, GOOGLE R&D LABS MANAGER: This isn't the stuff you're going to find in Home Depot.

SIMON: Top of the line machinery for wood, metal and electronics. Manager Greg Butterfield describes it as sort of a sandbox to test ideas. The company already known for its lavish perks, including round-the-clock free gourmet food, is offering this one to anyone with the skills.

(on camera): Where does this rake up in terms of the perks offered at Google?

BUTTERFIELD: I guess it depends on who you ask, right, but I think for a large population I think this would be considered a core perk, right? This is something that typically a company doesn't offer.

SIMON (voice-over): But it's not for everyone. Workers need to be certified before they operate the machinery. Only 300 of 10,000 on campus have a pass. But once you're in, the materials are free and come any time, even on weekends.

CHRIS ELLIOT, SOFTWARE ENGINEER: It's pretty much like being back in college. You work late into the night.

SIMON: Chris Elliot, a sophomore engineer who works on Smartphones is experimenting with robotic toys.

ELLIOT: So you got the arms, waist. You have, for example, the disco point.

SIMON: He hopes one day they'll show up in a store. But it doesn't have to be about business. Employees are free to pursue personal projects, as well.

(on camera): Tell me the project are you working on here. What is it that you're trying to make?

IHAB AWAB, SOFTWARE ENGINEER: So I'm making a recumbent bicycle. I enjoy recumbent bicycles.

SIMON: Ihab Awad is in here once a week taking a break from writing security software -- a benefit where sparks can fly on the ground and by firing up creativity.

Dan Simon, CNN, Mountain View, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: A year-and-a-half is a long time unless you want to be president. So where are all the Republican candidates for 2012? I'll check the field when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Let's agree that running for president is a huge decision. Still with the 2012 election now less than 18 months away, the field of Republican candidates is, well, small.

Let me show you the GOP hopefuls who have officially declared and whose names you might recognize. Yes, here we have it -- maybe. There he is. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who announced his decision online less than 24 hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm Newt Gingrich and I'm announcing my candidacy for president of the United States because I believe we can return America to hope and opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Tomorrow Newt will have some company -- or should I say competition? Ron Paul is expected to declare that he wants to build on the pre-Tea Party movement he helped inspire back in 2008.

Of course, you can run for president nowadays without technically running. You can set up exploratory committees. So far the explorer's list for 2012 includes businessman Herman Cain, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. Romney has a big speech next hour on health care and we'll talk more about that in just a few minutes.

Finally, if you don't want to say you're running or even officially exploring you can just let people think it is a possibility. That group includes the man who tops the latest CNN poll of Republican voters. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee narrowly edges fellow undeclared non-explorers Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. Romney comes in third, Gingrich is fifth.

And the time right now, 44 minutes past hour. Here's the latest on some of our top stories.

We're getting more details about Osama bin Laden's personal journal seized in last week's raid. In it there is evidence bin Laden was in close contact with al Qaeda using his compound as a command center. The journal includes information about the importance of attacking the U.S. and lists key dates on the American calendar. There's also reportedly guidance to other al Qaeda members on how to attack the United States.

French investigators probing the Air France crash that killed 228 people in 2009 say they will not bring up any more bodies from the crash site if they cannot identify two bodies being examined right now. If they successfully figure out who the remains belong to, investigators will consider recovering other bodies from the wreckage that's off the coast of Brazil.

In Libya, the fight over who will control the key port city of Misrata is intensifying. Right now there are conflicting reports who has control over the city's airport and seaport, which are strategic locations for both sides.

Meanwhile, in Tripoli, rockets have hit Gadhafi's compound. It's the same site where one of Gadhafi's sons was killed in an earlier attack. At least two people were killed in today's strike.

A creative way to slash health care costs in one U.S. city and a hotel that's helping to revitalize another city. Some of the top innovations from coast to coast revealed next in our "Big I."

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KAYE: Welcome back.

In today's "Big I," we're counting more states and bold ideas from urbanites who are helping to build the cities of America's future.

Jeff Chu is a writer and editor with "Fast Company," the magazine that compiled the list of top innovations in each state plus the District of Columbia.

Jeff, good to see you again.

The first state on the list today we have is New Jersey. What impressed you in New Jersey?

JEFF CHU, WRITER & EDITOR, "FAST COMPANY": In New Jersey, we went to Camden and found a doctor named Jeffrey Brenner. He's a data geek and he crunched the numbers and he found that just 1 percent of the patients were responsible for 30 percent of the health care costs in Camden's hospitals and clinics.

So his idea was to target these people for special care which has slashed their numbers of emergency room visits and cut the bills they were racking up that the taxpayer had to pick up in the end.

So we thought it was a really innovative way of turning mountains of data into something smart, good use of taxpayer funds.

KAYE: Yes. It certainly sounds that way.

What about New Mexico, as we work our way through the alphabet here?

CHU: The thing about New Mexico is, you know, all across the country, buildings are a big part of the face of a city, right? So two architects, Thomas Gifford and Christopher Calott, have done some innovative work with new buildings for infield -- infill locations and Brownfield sites, stylish, modern architecture that really helps Albuquerque look its best, and really helps that city put its best face forward.

KAYE: And in New York, it's design your own park competition that impressed you most?

CHU: This is one of my favorites. The Design Your Own Park Contest in Binghamton, New York, asks residents to come up with their ideas for how to fill vacant lots that have resulted from foreclosures and demolitions.

Sometimes the best idea is to ask other people for their ideas, and they've asked people to dream up their community gardens, their playgrounds, what you would like to have in the vacant lot rather than debris and trash piling up.

KAYE: How tough was it to whittle down this list? I mean, I would imagine there were a lot of places around the country that were pretty cool.

CHU: It's hard, but it's such a wonderful thing to be able to go coast to coast and realize there are brilliant ideas everywhere. And we're not saying these are the only great ideas or even the very best. We just think these are representative of great work that people in organizations are doing all across the country.

KAYE: And speaking of great work, what about in North Carolina?

CHU: We need to create jobs in America and the Charlotte Regional Partnership has targeted energy as the sector that they want to grow in Charlotte. What they've done is smart because they've gone -- they're not going it alone. They're collaborating. Universities, private companies, NGOs, local government, they're all coming together working on education and training in energy, and we think that through that teamwork they'll be able to create some jobs and get the work done.

KAYE: And the last state that we're going to get to for this hour, at least, is North Carolina. What do you like there?

CHU: The Hotel Donaldson and the entrepreneur who owns it, Karen Stoker. It's not just a hotel. It is one of the bright spotted in Fargo, North Dakota, which is one of the economic bright spots in the country. She has turned it into a gallery, inviting local artists to design and decorate each room which turns into a showpiece for each city. And I kind of want to get on a plane and head to Fargo and collect it out.

KAYE: Well, I think you should then, now that we're done for the day. We'll let you go. Jeff Chu, thank you, appreciate it. Good stuff.

CHU: Thanks, Randi.

KAYE: For more about the "United States of Innovation," visit our blog, it's CNN.com/Ali, and make sure to tune in tomorrow.

More Republicans are expected to announce their presidential intentions very soon. Paul Steinhauser will tell us exactly who, next.

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KAYE: We want to take you right now to the Rose Garden at the White House. There's President Obama speaking. He's there along with Vice President Joe Biden. They're honoring the National Association of Police Organizations, the top cops really. This is all happening now at the White House. It's all part of National Police Week.

Let's take a listen to what the president is saying.

(INTERRUPTED BY COVERAGE OF A LIVE EVENT)