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Arrests in Alleged New York City Terror Plot; Bin Laden's Diary; An American Man's Struggle to Gain Custody of His Son After He Was Abducted to Brazil; Southern States Prepare for Flooding Along the Mississippi River; Libyan Rebels from All Over the World

Aired May 12, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Randi Kaye, thank you so much.

Want to begin this hour with a developing story this afternoon, news being made in New York City right now. It's all about this terror plot bust in Manhattan. Two men are suspected of buying guns and a grenade to attack a Manhattan synagogue.

National correspondent Susan Candiotti all over this, watching this conference, as has our team.

And, Susan, I understand just in the last couple of minutes here, news has been made first with regard to the motive and also we're learning that the synagogue wasn't the only target.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

According to authorities now, including New York's mayor and New York's police commissioner, they arrested overnight two men who were conspiring, they say, to attack a New York synagogue. It was an alleged terror plot spawned by two men described as anti-Semitic and wannabe jihadists.

Now, in addition to the synagogue alleged plot, also according to authorities, there was talk about eventually taking down the Empire State Building. But, again, authorities are indicating that at the point that they took down this alleged plot, that the men that they arrested, two of them, were more of an aspirational -- in that mode, as opposed to operational.

However, police when they heard about this case, and it -- and it started about a few months ago, they set up a sting. And the sting went down yesterday after some guns had been sold to them, as well as a hand grenade. They said, after the arrests, that the suspects were said to make a couple of comments. This was just said a couple minutes ago -- quote -- were "fed up with the way that Muslims are being treated around the world," as well as additional comments, including, "I hate Jews and I want to kill them" -- Brooke.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: So, new details eking out with regard to the motive.

We also, Susan, have just turned around some sound. This is from NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly talking about how this whole thing went down, how they took these guys down. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Twelve detectives in six unmarked police vehicles converged on a gray late-model Toyota Corolla occupied by Ferhani. Mamdouh was arrested by three detectives at about the same time on the corner of West 57 Street and Ninth Avenue.

Just before Ferhani was apprehended, he said he wanted to obtain more handguns, silencers, a box of hand grenades, bullet-resistant vests, and police radios. By way of explanation, Ferhani said, using an expletive, that he was fed up with the way Muslims were being treated around the world. "They're treating us like dogs," Ferhani, a 26- year-old native of Algeria who currently resides in Queens.

Now, he conspired with the 20-year-old Mamdouh to bomb a synagogue in Manhattan. They did not identify the synagogue by name. Mamdouh, a native of Casablanca, is a delivery service dispatcher.

He came to the United States with his parents in August of 1999. By virtue of his parents' naturalization, Mamdouh is a United States citizen. Ferhani is unemployed.

And in addition to discussing the bombing of synagogues -- quote -- "one after another" -- unquote -- Ferhani also expressed interest in bombing the Empire State Building.

Seven months ago, New York City undercover officers encountered Ferhani, who expressed interest in killing Jews. He also said -- quote -- "We will blow up a synagogue in Manhattan, and take out the entire building."

On the same day, after Mamdouh said -- quote -- "I hate Jews," Ferhani replied, "I want to kill them."

Like the plotters in the Herald Square bomb plot, Ferhani discussed growing a beard and payos to disguise himself as an Hasidic Jew.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Commission Kelly.

Susan, I just want to bring you back in, because what we have now learned is that the synagogue was not the only target. This is the first time we're hearing that they wanted to take down the Empire State Building.

CANDIOTTI: There was talk of that.

It's important to stress in this operation that authorities are saying that they have not uncovered any links as some sort of revenge plot to the death of Osama bin Laden, nor have they uncovered any specific links to extremist groups.

However, they stress, this is exactly the kind of thing that we have to be mindful of in the United States, that authorities do in particular and people looking out for things happening, about looking for lone wolves, looking for wannabes, people who are acting on their own, and not necessarily part of any organized group, that these people, these type of people pose a particular kind of danger.

And so that's one of the things, they say, is so important about this plot that was taken down before anything really got in motion -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right. I understand. This is really just good old- fashioned undercover police work there on behalf of New York.

Susan Candiotti, thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

CANDIOTTI: Well, they got a tip and they followed it through.

BALDWIN: They did, indeed, and bravo to them. Thank you so much.

Also, speaking of Osama bin Laden here, secrets, they are starting to pour out of his personal diary. This is the journal that is written in the terrorist's own hand. U.S. officials are referring to this thing actually as the al Qaeda playbook. The writings show bin Laden was focused on attacking the United States again.

In fact "The L.A. Times" is reporting the al Qaeda leader was looking for ways to kill the maximum number of Americans possible. And a U.S. official tells CNN bin Laden wanted to attack smaller cities. He urged his network of followers to look for ways to recruit minorities. And he was specific in those minorities. He wanted track down Hispanics and African-Americans to help join him, join his jihad against the U.S.

The bin Laden diary contains a list of dates that are significant to Americans, including the Fourth of July, Christmas, the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Everything in bin Laden's diary is more big- picture thinking, rather than specific plans for future attacks, but it does show bin Laden was in fact communicating with other members of al Qaeda outside of that compound there in Pakistan. And he was not just sending messages. He was also getting responses.

Meanwhile, more members of Congress are getting a look at pictures of a dead Osama bin Laden. And those who have been invited to Langley, Virginia, to CIA headquarters to take a look at these photos, they sit on the House and Senate committees on intelligence and military.

So, coming up next hour, I will talk to a congressman who got to look at bin Laden's death photos just today. Find out if he thinks they should be released to the public.

And this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: Well, you would have an easier time convincing the American people that a unicorn just flew into this hearing room than that these big oil companies need taxpayer subsidies. That's the real fairy tale.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sky-high gas prices igniting sparks today in Washington, some Democratic leaders throwing cold water on the nation's big oil execs.

We will play you more of that dramatic sound, unicorns and such, coming up. Plus, I will talk to a senator who was inside.

And did you hear? Moammar Gadhafi back on television. Wouldn't have anything to do with this show, would it? We will get to that, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: How many times have we heard it? Reducing the federal debt means we all have to sacrifice, right? So, should sacrifice also apply to corporations, in this case big oil?

The Senate's going to vote next week on a plan to cancel some of the oil companies' tax breaks and steer that money toward reducing our national debt, about $20 billion over the course of the next 10 years. And with the price per barrel sky-high, those big oil companies are reporting record profits, but they're digging into to fight for those tax breaks.

Want you to take a look at this. This part of ConocoPhillips' press release. You can see it right there. They're calling oil subsidies un-American. That was yesterday, un-American, and maybe a case of bad timing since today the nation's top oil execs were called to Capitol Hill to explain why their subsidies should not be cut. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUMER: Do you think anyone who advocates cutting these subsidies is un-American? Yes or no?

JAMES MULVA, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, CONOCOPHILLIPS: Well...

SCHUMER: Yes or no, sir. That one, we deserve a yes-or-no answer on. It was your release that said un-American. Yes or no?

MULVA: Senator, maybe you could hear me out on this, because it's a very important question. So, I just, if I could, make a comment or two to respond to your question.

SCHUMER: Do you apologize for it?

MULVA: Make no mistake, were these proposals enacted that we're talking about today, which you say subsidies, incentives -- if they were proposals that the Senate is considering and the committee is considering, if they were enacted into law, they would place the U.S. based oil companies, natural gas companies like our company, and probably others ...

SCHUMER: Sir, I have limited time. I know your view on the issue. Do you consider it un-American to have a different view? Yes or no?

MULVA: Senator, I believe that the proposals under consideration are going to have a very adverse impact with respect to energy policy ...

SCHUMER: I know, but ...

(CROSSTALK)

SCHUMER: But, sir, there are many people who disagree with that. You obviously have your point of view. That's why you're here, I'm glad the chairman let you do it. But do any of you others consider it un- American to be against the subsidy that you're for. If you do, raise your hand.

All right, thank you. I appreciate the other four of your not labeling those who are different from you, un-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Whew. And that is just one snippet from the hearing on Capitol Hill. We have got more for you later in the show.

But I want to -- on that note, I want to bring in Senator Maria Cantwell. She was there. She is a Democrat from Washington State.

Senator Cantwell, thanks for coming on.

SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D), WASHINGTON: Yes. Thank you.

BALDWIN: You know, we heard it more than once. The oil companies are saying they're being singled out for punishment, discriminated against. That is the word they're using. What is your response?

CANTWELL: Listen, we have a top deficit problem and so we're looking at things that look like subsidies that we don't need to be giving to individual companies.

But I also think we heard something very important from the oil company executives today. They said they are not price-makers, that it's a global market, that they can't control the price. And, yet, one of the execs said that he really thought that if it was based on supply and demand, that, today, we'd only be paying somewhere between $60 and $70 a barrel, which means Americans would have much cheaper oil than the $4 a gallon they're paying today.

BALDWIN: Yes. That's not what we're all seeing.

But here's something else we heard today. If these oil companies do not get favorable treatment right here in the United States, these American-owned companies said, they're headed overseas. Let's listen to a piece of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN WATSON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, CHEVRON CORPORATION: If our nation's concern is keeping investments here at home and ensuring reliable, affordable energy for all Americans, then what we ask for here is what we look for anywhere we invest -- conditions that are not punitive and discriminatory, but stable, transparent and equitable.

REX TILLERSON, CHAIRMAN & CEO, EXXONMOBIL: You give me a different tax burden than my competitor has, I don't get to develop that lease.

I'm going to take my capital then. Since the U.S. is not attractive, I have got to go somewhere else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Hmm. So, Senator, is that -- is it an empty threat here, or will we end up chasing these oil companies, our own oil companies overseas?

CANTWELL: Well, the U.S. has so small amount of what is the larger global world market, I think that's really what they were referring to today.

And I think, when you ask them that oil really should be at $60 to $70 a barrel, if it's based on supply and demand, it really gets you asking a question. What else is going on in the market? And I think many consumers are saying they think that excessive speculation, a lot of money by people who aren't legitimate commodity hedgers are having an impact on this marketplace.

So, I think that it was a very illuminating hearing, as you can see today, a lot of people making different calls and different accusations. But that's -- you know, what the American people want to know are, what are we going to do help drive down the price of oil and make it market fundamentals, really supply and demand?

BALDWIN: I think -- I think that is precisely what people are wondering. And when -- you know, when you talk about the prices, you have the price of oil, it's coming down, but the gas at pumps, you know, pretty much averaging four bucks a gallon.

We see spikes coming from nowhere, totally unconnected to the market. But in rising taxes here and increasing taxes for those oil companies, if that's supposed to fix that, then why can't you and your colleagues on Capitol Hill get this issue fixed for all the Americans who can't afford gas?

CANTWELL: Well, there's two issues.

One is, do they need a -- do they need a subsidy? And we were saying today it doesn't look like they really do. And then the second issue is, what are we going to do to rein in the oil markets to make sure that they are based on supply and demand?

BALDWIN: How do we do that?

CANTWELL: And I think -- well, I think, as one of the witnesses said, he mentioned the CFTC, the Commodities Future -- the Commodities Commission.

They need to do their job. And what we're seeing in the market is volatility. We're not seeing price discovery. We're not seeing that it's rational. And we can see that that volatility is hurting a lot of people. And we need to go back and make sure that there are the rules put in place in the last banking reform bill...

BALDWIN: Yes.

CANTWELL: ... to make sure that the Commodities Commission is doing its job.

BALDWIN: Whose job is it to handle that, though? Is it Congress? Is it the president?

CANTWELL: Well, they have enough commissioners right now to vote on this. They're not voting on this. They're not implementing this.

We -- we are going to -- we just sent a letter with 17 members of Congress saying please implement this new law, oversee these markets, make sure they're based on basics of supply and demand.

BALDWIN: We will be following this.

CANTWELL: And we will see -- and we will see prices come down when they are.

BALDWIN: I hope so, Senator. I hope so.

CANTWELL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Senator Maria Cantwell, thanks so much live on the Hill for me.

And if you were watching our show -- of course, you were, right -- this time yesterday, you probably saw this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Where is Moammar Gadhafi?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, folks, we now have an answer, at least kind of, sort of. Just a few hours after this newscast, the Libyan leader, poof, appeared on state television, and he got a heck of a wakeup call from NATO -- that and a live report from Tripoli coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back.

OK, if you were with me yesterday right around this time, you remember we were wondering out loud where Moammar Gadhafi is. Take a look and you're going to see why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Where is Moammar Gadhafi? Consider this. He has not been seen publicly since the NATO airstrike on his compound, count them, 12 days ago.

Gadhafi, by the way, was in the compound at the time of that strike.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, what happened just a couple of hours after I said that? This happens. Take a look with me.

You're going to see the Libyan leader apparently resurfacing. This video was released by Libyan state television. It claims to show Gadhafi at a meeting yesterday with tribal elders at a hotel in Tripoli.

Now, that wasn't CNN on the TV screen behind him. And it is showing a program apparently dated from yesterday, but just need to be totally transparent here. We have no other independent verification that this was in fact shot Wednesday.

It also doesn't seem to matter where Gadhafi is, because the battle in certainly Libya rages on. At least two people were killed when rockets hit the Libyan leader's compound again today.

Nima Elbagir is in Tripoli once again live for us watching the situation evolve there.

And, Nima, does Gadhafi's appearance, I guess we should say, according to Libyan state TV, yesterday on television have anything to do with today's strikes against the compound?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we spoke to -- CNN spoke to NATO on Sunday. And they said, as far as they're concerned, this is now the endgame. And they seem to be doing all that they can now, whether Gadhafi is in these command-and-control centers, as NATO is calling them, or not, to bring about delivering that prediction of theirs.

You know, we -- as you said, Gadhafi appeared on state television. The timer that you zoomed into in there show it about 7:53 local time. At about 2:30 in the morning, just a few hours after that, we were woken up by a blast. The Bab Al Aziziya Gadhafi compound, the Gadhafi compound, is very close to the hotel where we're staying.

We heard four consecutive blasts. We went out attempting with government our minders to see, to be allowed into the compound, very thick smoke. They told us there were four rockets and that the rockets targets had targeted the civil pro-Gadhafi supporters who since this airstrike began have been congregating in the compound, they say, to protect the leader from this kind of aggression.

We were finally allowed in today. And when we went in, we did see pro-Gadhafi supporters, but some of them seemed to be rather strategically placed. And any time Chris (ph), our cameraman, tried to move in or (INAUDIBLE) the producer, tried to circumvent them, they seemed to be very keen that we didn't go near a certain spot in the compound.

And once we managed to get slight -- to slightly higher ground, we realized why. There were actually steps leading down just to the left of the crater that the missile had created. So, it did look like the -- the NATO strike has hit an underground bunker. Whether Gadhafi was in that compound, whether Gadhafi was the target of the hit, which NATO consistently has said is not the case, obviously, we can't verify.

But it does seem strange that they have been hitting bunkers inside the Libyan leader's compound -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's interesting. Yet, we still don't know where Gadhafi's been hiding out.

Let me ask you about something you and I were talking about yesterday, and that's the airport in Misrata. I know government forces are disputing those rebel claims that rebels have now captured this key -- the key airport in Misrata. Can you tell exactly who is in control of Misrata at this point?

ELBAGIR: That's really becoming the -- that's really becoming the storyline in this conflict, if you like. It's not only that territory is swapping hands at incredible speed. One day, we will hear of it turning to government hands. The next day, it will be in rebel hands. But there are also all these competing claims.

And just before I came on air, we were told that, tomorrow, all of the Western press corps is going to be taken to Misrata to prove categorically, once and for all, that it is securely in -- in Libyan government hands. So, obviously, we will be getting back with you with that -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: We will look for you this time tomorrow.

Nima Elbagir, thank you so much, live in Tripoli.

Coming up next, a developing story: Is jail time ahead for a disgraced senator?

Plus, the father who battled the Brazilian government to get his son back home, his story sparked international attention for years. Well, guess what? Today, he is speaking out with me about his fight, the corruption, and how his son, Sean, is doing.

That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have got some new developments here just in the last couple of hours from Capitol Hill involving disgraced Senator John Ensign.

Dana Bash is live with more on I guess the status of these investigations. Dana, what are you learning?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we now have had time to go through this report, and it is very harsh, Brooke.

The bottom line is that the senator resigned in disgrace earlier this month, saying that he didn't want to be subject to the investigation going on still here in Congress. And now we know why.

This Senate Ethics Committee report says that they believe their former colleague John Ensign violated a lobbying ban, broke campaign finance laws and obstructed justice, and not just that. What they're saying is that they want the Justice Department to now take this up because they believe that he basically broke the law and could be subject to some criminal charges.

So, this is very serious when it comes to John Ensign. He left because he wanted to get away from this investigation. But it is not over for him. When the Senate Ethics chairman went to the Senate floor, she said that -- that this 22-month investigation that they went into, that they found so much, that, had he stayed, he likely would have been or could have been expelled from the Senate. But, again, it's the criminal charges, potential charges, that he's going to have trouble with right now.

BALDWIN: Wow, so now going on to DOJ. Dana Bash on the Hill, Dana, thank you for the update there.

And now to this. It's a story I'm sure you remember, because it really became an international saga. Look at these faces -- a little boy abducted by his own mother, held in another country for five long years. Well, now that boy's father, David Goldman, is speaking out. It is the first time we're really hearing how life is with his son here at home, after a years-long battle to get him back from Brazil.

That's next. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Who can forget the pictures? Look at this with me, a nine- year-old boy shepherded through this gauntlet of property reporters and photographs are to be reunited with his American father five years after kidnapped from his mother.

And this picture, the thumbs up as father and son boarded a plane heading home to the U.S. David Goldman is the father who never gave up fighting the system to get his son back. He's written a book called "A Father's Love" about this whole ordeal.

David, wow, quickly, let me just summing up your story initially, your wife, son, go to Brazil, several years ago on a scheduled vacation, suddenly on father's day, your wife calls you up, tells you, quoting from your book, "Our love affair is over. I've decided to stay in Brazil. I'm keeping Sean with me." In that instance, David, what went through your mind?

DAVID GOLDMAN, AUTHOR, "A FATHER'S LOVE": I was floored. I couldn't believe that what I had just heard was really happening. I was completely shocked. And basically I just put my face, my hands in my face and dropped to the floor. I peeled myself up and said, OK, is this a dream or a nightmare? But no, it turned out to on five and a half years of a father's hell.

BALDWIN: Points in the book early where you talk about you asked questions, did I miss signs when she and your then-in laws were packing four suitcases or maybe at the time cleaning out a classroom, signs that you feel like you missed?

GOLDMAN: Well, you know, again we had the suitcases. They said they were going to be in the mountains for a week for a wedding, and it was cold there and they had to go to a place where it was warmer, they were traveling with my son, one of the suitcase I was assuming for my son, so she would pack a lot of clothes so there was one more suitcase. But that was really it.

Not until she left and I got the phone call I realized there was a key missing for her parents' condo that we maintained and were responsible for. Her clothes were missing in her closet. My son's clothes were all there untouched, left exactly as they were.

So, yes, and then as it unfolded we find out she had been with a lawyer who actually, the one she ended up marrying in Brazil who specializes in international child abduction law.

BALDWIN: Tell me about him. Not only, I guess, is it insult to injury, your wife and your son don't come back, but you find out later she's divorced you under Brazilian law and marries a guy who ends up raising your son.

GOLDMAN: Yes, one blow after another. I mean, for over four years, I was going down there, trying to be reunited and bring him home under the rules of American law, international law, god's law, to be with my child. And I just kept getting sent home, kicked in the teeth.

And then we find out that she's remarried and having a baby with a man in Brazil while we were still married in America. And this man comes from a family of very well, prominent, politically connected, socialite sorts in the Brazilian legal community specializing in family case law, specifically international child abduction.

BALDWIN: Of all people you'd be dealing with in this fight, that's the last you'd want to deal with. Then you talk later, and when you finally were able to get down there, the visitation with your son, you write, "With a twisted face, he," being Sean, "he asked one of the most horrific questions I've ever heard, "Where have you been all of this time?" How did that make you feel?

GOLDMAN: That just broke my heart, over and over, as if it couldn't have been broken anymore. Well you have your little boy you'd been so desperately trying be reconnected with for over four years, and that's the question.

Obviously, it wasn't him, it wasn't his fault. Of course he wants to know, where's my dad been? But he's been told for this number of years that he'd been abandoned by me and the rest of his family. In fact, when his mom passed away, this man who became the second abductor in the eyes of Brazil and the rest of the world and the law went to the state court in Rio, the family court, and filed that Sean's mother passed away and he's been abandoned by his father, we have no idea how to get to him, essentially think boy's an orphan.

The man came with a Brazilian birth certificate somehow when my son was born in New Jersey, and he says, "I want my name on there, and this real paternal lineage should be taken away from the child." And they gave him that custody.

At the same time he went to the Supreme Court in Brazilia to get an expeditious ruling on the Hague Convention application that we were in with his -- with my wife, never disclosing to them that she had passed away.

BALDWIN: All these different chapters, David, all of these different hurdles. You write about it all, all details come out in your book. Here what happens I want to know, how in the world, David, you resisted temptation -- how's he doing now? How you resisted temptation, to pack a suitcase, go to Brazil, and snatch him back? Hold on to that answer. We'll talk on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back with David Goldman who battled Brazil's court system for five and a half years to get his son back, Sean, abducted by his mother. Friends, you write about it, why don't we hop down to Brazil and snatch him back? Why did you resist, take the higher road?

GOLDMAN: It's an unfamiliar area to me. I'm not proficient in Portuguese. It's quite dangerous. I was up against some powerful, powerful people. There had already had been credible death threats against me within our own country, and the FBI had to come and investigate, warned me to leave my house for a while. I write about it in the book and a lot never exposed to the public.

And you know what, it was the law. It was the rule of law. And Brazil needed to honor the reciprocal duties and obligations by signing on the Hague Convention. While my son had been abducted, America had been returning children taken to this country. This is a global problem, global issue. We need to help these other children.

BALDWIN: You're working as an advocate right now. But let me ask you, I mean, gosh, Sean has been back home for a little while with you, three days into being home. He finally calls you dad, you teach him how to ride a bike. What challenges have you experienced?

GOLDMAN: The biggest challenge was with all of the sort of brainwashing, abuse that he had to live with for those many years, saying terrible things about me, our country, everything that you could think about, the conflict was when he came home and realized, hey, you know what, my dad's a good guy. My dad loves me. My cousins, who are a year less old somewhere younger than I am, love me. And I have friends and I have family and, hey, I can't build an igloo in Rio and I love the snow. So he saw all of these things that he really enjoyed, his real memories that he tried to erase were coming back to him, and he realized, but I loved and trusted these people in Brazil for so long, why would they do this to me? How can this be possible? And then, of course, he still has issues when they dragged him through the streets on the last day before we were reunited for good.

BALDWIN: Through the gauntlet, we saw the video. What a story you have, David Goldman. If anyone wants to read it here it is, "A Father's Love." So many people are so happy you're able to build those memories now that you have your son, Sean. Thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it.

GOLDMAN: Thank you, Brooke, thank you.

BALDWIN: You're welcome. Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're confident about these walls holding up?

MAYOR TIM MATTE, MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA: I have to be, yes. Have to be about.

LAVANDERA: And for whatever they fail?

MATTE: Total catastrophe. This entire city would flood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: There is no stopping the Mississippi floodwaters from drowning parts of Louisiana, but there is a way to keep it out of New Orleans. Next, the drastic measure to save that city that's putting another smack dab in the bull's-eye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: There is a lot of nail biting and anxiety along the overflowing Mississippi River right now. The river is already at flood state in New Orleans. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opening 13 more bays today. IReporters are sharing images of flooding along the river. By the end of today, 223 of the 350 bays should be diverting water into Lake Pontchartrain, the spillway just northwest of New Orleans.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to protect that from the approaching floodwaters, but some people may not be a big fan of that plan, because engineers could open the spillway Saturday here, and all that diverted water is expected to take pressure off levees. This is our Ed Lavandera as people are getting prepared.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gerald Gaudet will fight off the rising water with a little Louisiana bayou ingenuity, his own homemade levee wall.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Gerald, do you think this wall will be enough?

GERALD GAUDET, STEPHENVILLE, LA RESIDENT: I'm hoping so. If it gets any higher, there aren't going to be much of the neighborhood for sure.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Disaster is flowing downstream and residents in towns like Stephenville and Morgan City are at the end of the line. The Morganza spillway will be opened in the coming day, redirecting Mississippi River water away from Baton Rouge and New Orleans west into the river basin. Army Corps of Engineers Colonel Ed Fleming will decide when to open the floodgates.

COL. ED FLEMING, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: What the structures are designed for to take excess water beyond the designed capacity for the levee system off the top of the river.

LAVANDERA (on camera): This is one of the floodgates of the Morganza flood structure. On the other side the pressure from the floodwaters is already starting to rise. This structure's almost 5,000 feet long and it has 125 gates. In the coming days, some of those gates will be opened up, and when that does, a massive wall of water will continue to flow out this way, drowning out the area, and flowing toward the Gulf of Mexico.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): These floodgates have only been opened once back in 1973, bringing the kind of images people around here have never forgotten, like Morgan City Mayor Tim Matte.

LAVANDERA (on camera): This is part of the wall that held it back?

MAYOR TIM MATTE, MORGAN CITY, LOUISIANA: That's correct.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Now a 22-foot wall protects history ex- downtown morgan city.

MATTE: It will be water all the way, touch this wall and it will extend to that wall over there.

LAVANDERA (on camera): You're confident about these walls holding up?

MATTE: I have to be, yes.

LAVANDERA: If for whatever reason they fail?

MATTE: Total catastrophe. There's this entire city would flood.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): National Guard soldiers are building up levees around town, and it seems like everyone in the neighborhoods has a boat in the driveway ready to go. Gerald Gaudet will stay on the back porch.

LAVANDERA (on camera): You'll sit back here and watch that water start creeping up here in a few days? GAUDET: Pull my chairs here, my swing, watch, maybe catch some fish.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ed Lavandera, CNN, Morgan City, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: He's got the name, the money. He's even got the top slot on several presidential polls. Will an old political issue kill Mitt Romney's chance to become the nominee?

Plus the documentary and the pictures Britain does not want you see. Should the images of a dying Princess Diana be kept under wraps? The controversy and conspiracy theory is still ahead.

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BALDWIN: Checking our top stories for you now. Big drama in the Casey Anthony murder trial, and testimony hasn't even started yet. The judge dismissed 50 potential jurors in Clearwater, Florida. Judge Perry believed the pool was tainted because several people discussed the case in the jury room.

And to make matters worse, a woman on the trial witness list was in the jury pool. She took part in the discussion. Jury selection is still going on in Clearwater, but the case will be tried in Orlando.

Tiger Woods returned to links was short lived. The former number one golfer in the world withdrew from the Players Championship today. He limped off the course after only nine holes. Woods was trying to make a comeback after injuring his knee and Achilles tendon in the Masters Tournament last month. He was apparently still suffering ill-effects from the first shot today. When Woods quit playing, he was six shots over.

BALDWIN: Another state is legalizing same sex unions. Under the new Delaware law, gay and lesbian couples can be united in civil unions. The measure does not allow same sex couples to obtain marriage licenses, but Delaware will recognize such legal relationships from other jurisdictions regardless of what they are called, meaning either same-sex marriage or civil unions. Gay rights groups are applauding you the move. The new law takes effect the beginning of the new year.

In Libya, the rebels fighting the Gadhafi regime are a ragtag bunch, not highly trained or highly organized alto of the times. CNN's Sarah Sidner is live in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi with this exclusive story of one group of rebels and their desire to bring this regime to an end. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke. These men came from all over the world and came back to the homeland. And they have one goal in mind. They want to topple one man they say a tyrant, they want to topple Moammar Gadhafi by storming Tripoli.

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SIDNER: On the beaches of Benghazi, this unit is the latest weapon in the revolution. These masked men have traveled thousands of miles to prepare for a fight in the capital Tripoli to end Gadhafi's regime once and for all. She arrive from Ireland, Spain, France, Poland, Greece, Italy and Canada, more than 85 strangers originally from Tripoli now form the Tripoli revolutionaries brigade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had a perfect life. I couldn't complain. I had a good salary, a good job. But the situation demands this. I mean, we can't rely on or people to come and do our duty for us.

SIDNER: A few weeks ago 28-year-old Bashir traded in his life as a well-paid software developer in Canada for a rough existence in the revolution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to stay there and live with it, you know, just send money or collect donations and go on protests and stuff. But I realized that's not enough. And I couldn't sleep, I couldn't work.

SIDNER: Now, day and night, he and the others are working hard to learn the mechanics of war.

SIDNER (on camera): These fighters are learning all sorts of different weapons on all sorts of different terrain. We are here on the beach in Benghazi and they are learning right now how to set up a mortar.

SIDNER (voice-over): The rebel stronghold is the second largest city in Libya, but it still operates like a village. Word of mouth can lead you to what you are looking for. They have no agenda beyond ousting Colonel Gadhafi.

SIDNER (on camera): There are people who are worried about terrorism and see with their faces cover and guns. Are any of you involved in that sort of activity?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

SIDNER: Had you ever held a gun before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. My first time in my life ever I had a gun. But we are not a part of any terrorist group. Like I said, we are a mix of everyone.

SIDNER (voice-over): Their fight is deeply personal. They fear for their family members who still live in the capital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are just civilians. And we are just here to get them out and that's it. I'm going to throw my gun.

SIDNER: But not before the job is done. So, day and night, these men train together, they live together and they pray together, patiently waiting for the chance to put their plan into action.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So, Sara Sidner that guy never held a gun, yet getting into a war zone. Do you get a sense from some of these younger folks you are talking to, do they even have any idea what they were getting into with this war?

SIDNER: No, I don't think they did but I don't think they care. You know, they are living in tents, they are eating rationed food, having to be together 24 hours a day, and most of them are complete strangers. They came here for a purpose and a goal, like I said in the story.

They have family in Tripoli. That is who they really are thinking about when they are out there trying to learn all these drills and trying to figure out how to use all these weapons, thinking about their families, wanting to defend them but also thinking about the rest of this country. They say that it is important that they are involved in this revolution. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Sara Sidner, thank you very much, live in Benghazi.

Still ahead here, a controversial new documentary on the death of Princess Diana and the graphic pitch terse shows, pictures Britain is banning. The controversy and conspiracy theories coming up.

And we are now just getting new information about a terror plot targeting synagogues and, as we have learned in the last house, the empire state building. The chilling motive, next.

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