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Schwarzenegger's Secret Child; State of U.S.-Pakistan Relations?; IMF Head Behind Bars; Alleged Mass Grave in Syria; Presidential Baby Rumors in France; Boy Missing After Mother's Suicide; Facebook Privacy Bill; Soldiers Get Help from Band "Train"; Jack Johnson Pleads Guilty Corruption; High Schooler Challenges Bachmann

Aired May 17, 2011 - 15:59   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, to our viewers, I am T.J. Holmes in today for Brooke Baldwin. It turns out Osama bin Laden did in fact communicate with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and the terror mastermind was planning more attacks even while he was in hiding.

Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is here with us for details. Barbara, hello to you. We're understanding that Osama bin Laden was apparently in the loop. Does that mean, however, that he was actually had a hand in planning a possible attack later? He was just aware of what was happening.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, T.J., this is the question that the U.S. intelligence community and the Obama administration still days later is struggling to answer as they move through that mountain of computer material, handwritten documents, journals, and everything that the Seals grabbed on their way out of that compound.

A U.S. official says, yes, there is now documentation, if you will, from the compound that bin Laden was communicated with the affiliate group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, basically, Al Qaeda in Yemen. A very dangerous group. The question is, how effective were his communications?

HOLMES: Barbara, can you hang tight? I want to go to the secretary of state speaking. Let's listen in.

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: -- senior Pakistani leaders, including President Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani, Army Chief of Staff General Kayani. Special Representative Mark Grossman will be in Pakistan later to continue more detailed consultations. And, obviously, there are important concerns and many questions that have to be addressed and worked through.

But I would just remind us all that, in recent years, our cooperation between our governments, our militaries, our law enforcement agencies has increased pressure on al Qaeda and the Taliban. And we want that progress to continue.

Going forward, the United States is committed to supporting the people and the government of Pakistan as they defend their own democracy from the constant attacks by violent extremists.

I'm not going to comment on any specific issue that Senator Kerry referred to in any of his public remarks, but we're going to be working very hard in the days and weeks ahead to ensure that we have a path forward that continues the progress and answers a lot of the concerns that both sides have at this point.

QUESTION: The second question goes to Tim Wilson of TV New Zealand.

HOLMES: All right.

And, again, forgive me, Barbara Starr standing by with me here at the Pentagon.

And I guess pretty good timing there, as we're talking about al Qaeda and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in particular, and some new documents -- or, of course, those documents, everything pulled out of that compound in Pakistan. The secretary of state there, she had a meeting today -- to our viewers, to explain there, she had with the New Zealand foreign minister, and she is being asked some questions there.

So, of course, she's responding to relationship with Pakistan, the U.S. and Pakistan, an important relationship that is certainly in a delicate position right now.

Let me bring you back in here, Barbara Starr. And, again, my apologies for jumping in like that.

But let's pick up there with al Qaeda. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, people hear the name, AQAP, or they hear al Qaeda and they assume that there is a very close relationship or a tight-knit relationship between it and al Qaeda that everyone knows. But is that necessarily the case? There is a separation, but, again, from what was found at this compound where bin Laden was found, it seems like there maybe was a closer relationship than we realized.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it all really goes back in part to what Secretary Clinton is just talking about, which is they have to find out how effective bin Laden's communications really were, because that may go to question of how much support he had inside Pakistan.

Was it official support? Perhaps, yes, perhaps no. Or was it other people inside Pakistan that were acting as his operatives, moving out, communicating with other elements of al Qaeda? It's very crucial for them to find out right now what this all means.

So we know now that he was communicating outward to al Qaeda in Yemen. We also now know -- officials are confirming to us that bin Laden was really behind some plots that emerged in late October of last year that led to a travel warning for Americans traveling in Europe.

HOLMES: Yes. STARR: You may recall a number of travel alerts issued. Officials say they suspect that bin Laden was behind it. But now, going through the documentation they grabbed, they now know that bin Laden was very active in that period of time in plotting and urging attacks against Americans in Europe, against transportation infrastructure in Europe, that he was really, as you said, in the loop, pushing his operatives.

But, again, how was he doing this? We know he may have had some thumb drive communication. But who was carrying those thumb drives? Who else in Pakistan were his direct contacts that he was using to make these communications happen, and who was receiving them, critical question.

And critical, as the secretary is somewhat pointing out, if they are going to move ahead in the relationship with Pakistan, they have to figure all this out so they can move ahead -- T.J.

HOLMES: And, again, right -- to that point again, it sounds like, yes, he was getting information out, but was he essentially giving moral support and encouragement, or was he laying out tactical plans? Do we know that?

STARR: Well, he -- well, I think we know that it was at this point, according to our sources, all of the above.

HOLMES: Yes.

STARR: He was giving support. He was offering doctrine, guidance, policy. He was encouraging his operatives to attack.

He very clearly, for many years, had the continuing goal to attack the United States. It led, in part, to this travel alert last October. Americans might not have been aware bin Laden was behind it all, but at that time, officials now say they do believe very much he was behind the so-called threat stream, the stream of threats coming in late last year that led to the travel alert.

But still smoking gun may be a bad analogy, but an apt one. Was he really behind a current plot, a current plan that had any legs to it? We know about this period in late October, still looking for the evidence from the administration, from officials as they go through all of this. How effective was he?

Was he just, you know, an out-of-touch guy sitting tapping on his computer in a house in Pakistan? A lot of officials say it's somewhere in between. In this case, they think he was in the loop.

HOLMES: All right, Barbara Starr for us from the Pentagon -- Barbara, we appreciate you, as always. Thanks so much.

Want to continue talking about this and this tricky relationship between the United States and Pakistan, and how it's even trickier now since the takedown of Osama bin Laden. A firefight today on the Afghan-Pakistani border is testament to that. Also word today that U.S. officials are actively negotiating Taliban higher-ups, with the goal of making some progress toward ending the war in Afghanistan.

CNN's Stan Grant is in the Pakistani capital tonight with both of these issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: T.J., there's been a lot of speculation for a long time now about when the Taliban will be brought back in from the cold, a lot of pressure on Afghanistan and also the United States to try to reopen negotiations, because conflict, apparently, it seems, seemingly, not going to win the day.

So we're hearing reports about discussions between the U.S. and one high-ranking official from the Taliban in Afghanistan, someone very close to the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar. Now, apparently, these discussions have taken place already in Qatar. Their long-term -- it's a long-term plan -- is to try bring the Taliban back into the fold.

But at the same time, the fighting continues. There's still so much pressure here on Pakistan, trying to get Pakistan to recommit to the fight against the insurgency, so much lack of trust, so many fractures appearing in the relationship between Pakistan and the United States.

And we have seen just how sensitive that is once again today. Two NATO helicopters, according to the Pakistan military, ventured into Pakistan airspace. The Pakistan military fired on the choppers. The choppers returned fire, wounding two Pakistan troops.

There's so much sensitivity about Pakistan airspace after the Osama bin Laden raid, the fact that Pakistan did not know about it. It's leading to this anti-American feeling, and with that incident today just underscoring how accidents can happen and how volatile this situation is -- T.J.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right, thanks to our Stan Grant, as always.

Well, coming up, the inside story of the scandal involving Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has admitted to fathering a child outside of his marriage. But how in the world did he keep it a secret for so long, apparently for 10 years? And how close is the woman to Maria Shriver?

Plus, one of the most powerful financial guys in the world right now sitting in a notorious New York jail -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn accused of trying to rape a hotel maid.

Up next, an inside look at Rikers Island -- also, French reaction to how the U.S. is treating him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Maria Shriver has now reacted to the news of her husband having fathered a child outside of their marriage with a household staffer.

Her husband -- of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger, we're talking about -- is the newly former governor of the state of California.

Here is Maria Shriver's brief statement -- and I quote -- "This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."

It's barely been a week since the couple's separation, which followed the expiration of Schwarzenegger's term as governor.

An expert told us Maria Shriver had had enough before this latest news even.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: Maria has been miserable in the marriage for several years and made that very clear to people who knew her. And part of the reason was the womanizing, so it is not this one incident that set Maria off by any means, and it was also Arnold's ego. She felt ignored by him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Schwarzenegger has confirmed news of the child which was broken by the "L.A. Times." The mother, according to sources, worked for the family for 20 years. A source tells CNN the child was born more than 10 years ago.

Well, the man accused of chasing a maid naked around a $3,000-a- night hotel suite and trying to rape her is being held at one of this country's most notorious jails. IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was taken to New York's Rikers Island Monday after a judge refused to release him on bond.

He trades days of champagne wishes and caviar dreams for now dry cereal and plenty of time alone.

Here now is how a former New York City correction commissioner describes it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN HORN, FORMER NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION COMMISSIONER: He is in a single cell by himself. He's in a small housing unit. There are probably no more than seven or eight cells on that housing unit. His day begins probably around 6:00 a.m., when he is served breakfast, which he will take in his cell.

And then much will depend upon the status of his case. He may then go out to court. He may have meetings in the building with his attorneys. He might get a visit. Or he may just sit in his cell by himself all day until lunchtime. And then the afternoon would be a repeat of the morning. And lights out would be at 10:00 or 11:00 at night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, here in the U.S., this is just another criminal case. He's another criminal, albeit he is a criminal in which the accused is very rich and powerful, again, the accused here.

But, in France, the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a whole lot more. The man was widely expected to run for president of next year. And a lot of people would tell you he was the front-runner and there was a good chance he was going to win.

Emmanuel Saint-Martin is in New York. He's a New York correspondent for news channel France 24 and joins me now.

Sir, we appreciate you being here.

It's one thing that France -- that's what we want to hear. France may be shocked at what is happening here, shocked by the allegations, shocked that he's been arrested. But is there also some surprise and shock even at how the U.S. media is treating such a story?

EMMANUEL SAINT-MARTIN, NEW YORK CORRESPONDENT, FRANCE 24: Yes, absolutely, shock on those many levels.

But you have to understand French don't know the American judicial system. They don't know that cameras are allowed in the court. They don't know this tradition in New York City, at least, of the perp walk.

So, in France, it's -- for example, it's forbidden to show somebody with handcuffs that has not been convicted. So, on these many levels, they are discovering what it is here in the U.S. to be treated as a criminal. And, of course, it's in addition to the shock of seeing one of the most influential politicians in France ending his career like that, basically.

HOLMES: And are there some in France as well who may be reserving judgment on whether or not he's guilty or innocent, but still are a bit offended at how the U.S. is treating one of their citizens?

SAINT-MARTIN: Yes, absolutely. You know, I think, after two days, three days now the reality is starting to sink in for French people. But at the beginning, there was a lot of maybe doubt.

And the fact that it's happening in the U.S., the fact that in the U.S. there is a long history of sex scandal that everybody knows in France. And so, they were, you know, maybe cautious about that. But now we are learning more details. That it is in fact in jail, it helps maybe French people to see this reality now.

But it's a huge shock and maybe some French people are also ashamed of that, because there was a pride element of Dominique Strauss-Kahn the head of one of the most prestigious international organization and, of course, that has ended.

HOLMES: The last thing here. On the political front, and you kind of alluded to it in your answer, yes, the French people are quite forgiving, I guess you could say, when it comes to extramarital affairs or sex scandals when it comes to their politicians, but does this fall into a different category given this is not just about an affair, this is about a criminal sexual assault?

Do you think that the French people will be less forgiving no matter if he's found guilty or innocent, but less forgiving of the possibility of him having a political career down the road?

SAINT-MARTIN: Absolutely. I mean, you know, the Strauss (INAUDIBLE) story that you just talked about, it was very (INAUDIBLE). You know, you have seen a lot of stories in France like, Francois Mitterrand, for example. He had a child out of wedlock and that was hidden for years because everybody, every journalist and reporter in France was knowing of the story, but they didn't talk about it. That would be different maybe today. But the fact is that people are forgiving these kinds of, you know, infidelities and indiscretions maybe.

But that's a different story. Here you have violence, you have rape involved, that kind of thing. So people won't be forgetting that. I mean, rape is rape, either in the U.S. or in France. So you're right, it's absolutely a different story.

HOLMES: All right. Emanuel Saint-Martin, again the New York correspondent for news channel France 24, we appreciate your time. Hope to check in with you again on this story. Thank you so much.

SAINT-MARTIN: Thank you.

HOLMES: For the first time since the story broke, we are hearing from the lawyer representing the maid who says that the IMF chief attacked her. The attorney, Jeffrey Shapiro, describes his client as young, dignified, intelligent, sensitive and extraordinarily devoted to her daughter. He says she does not have an agenda and he describes what this is doing to her life.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF SHAPIRO, ATTORNEY: Her world has been turned upside down. This is a person who was a hardworking woman. She is a single woman, supporting a 15-year-old young woman; they live together. And she was grateful to have a job for which she could provide shelter and food for the two of them.

Since this has occurred, she hasn't been able to go home, she can't go back to work. She has no idea what her future is going to be in any respect. So this has been -- aside from what took place in the hotel room, the trauma that has taken place in her life is extraordinary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The attorney also says that the maid is frightened and keeps playing the alleged attack over in her mind.

Also coming up, a disturbing discovery out of Syria. Underneath the dirt, you can see in this video, you can see apparently bodies and the condition that their hands were found are sending out some clues about this being a mass grave. That is ahead.

Also coming up, the first lady of France reportedly pregnant. Find out who spilled this secret and why the timing is especially significant for her husband, the president, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Hala Gorani, so glad you could be here. We're going to have a little chitty-chat here next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, it's that time of the day where we go "Globe Trekking," looking at the news of the day around the world. And for that, let's turn to CNN International, our good friends there.

Hala Gorani, good to have you here with us. Always good to chat, but we have to start with a quite disturbing story. We probably need to give our viewers a heads up that some of this video is a little disturbing out of Syria.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: It is indeed. This is video that activists in Syria say shows a mass grave. A farmer told an activist who then relayed the information to us that he smelled dead bodies in a field and this is what was unearthed. He saw a hand, he saw feet, he saw extremities.

And, of course, this is not video we can independently authentically because Syria is not allowing international journalists in. It is really the most important story nobody is able to report on, T.J., because we are having to rely on activists and eyewitness testimony.

Meantime, the regime is saying this is untrue. There is no mass grave outside of Daraa in the south of Syria. That is where the uprising began two months ago in Syria against the government.

HOLMES: OK, what could this mean? If this turns out to be the case, and who knows when we'll be able to possibly confirm this or if we ever will, what would the implication really here be if this turned out to be what many think it is?

GORANI: Well, it would mean that human rights organizations say, up until know, at least 800 people have been killed in these uprisings, that potentially the regime, secret police, police forces, security forces, whatever you want to call them, are, in fact, not allowing families to bury their dead.

In some cases, keeping the bodies of loved ones away from their families so as not to create an opportunity for people to congregate during funerals where we have seen anti-government protesters break out as well. And if that is the case, some of these bodies might have been thrown into sort of a mass grave and buried that way.

But again, it's very difficult for us to confirm any of that. But that's what activists are telling us and it does crosscheck with some of the other information we've heard from eyewitnesses that bodies are kept from their loved ones after death for several days.

HOLMES: What was this information that we're hearing, kind of disturbing as well, but what were we supposed to glean about the hands that were there in the dirt? People say they were finding them in a certain condition they were in. What do we know there?

GORANI: Well, it's, again, difficult to tell, because some of these bodies are decomposed, but it seems as though, according, again, to eyewitnesses, that these people might have been subjected to some sort of violence before they were killed.

All of this is extremely troubling, of course, and Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, her E.U. counterpart, Catherine Ashton, and her saying be prepared for new sanctions against the regime. There will be a number of moves in the coming hours and days, according to Catherine Aston.

Could it target Bashar al-Assad, the president, directly? That is a question, because, so far, these sanctions have not targeted him directly.

HOLMES: All right, disturbing video.

We will turn from that and we'll turn over to France. Much different story here, but rumors are flying about the first lady.

GORANI: It seems that as -- yes. And these rumors have been flying for awhile, except that at this time, Carla Bruni Sarkozy, the glamorous ex-supermodel wife of Nicolas Sarkozy -- you saw her picture there, I believe -- today, I believe, at an event against the literacy. But if we remove the banner, we might be able to see possibly a little baby bump.

Her father-in-law, the father of Nicolas Sarkozy, told a German newspaper that she was pregnant, her mother told the Italian press that she is pregnant. If this is indeed true, she is 43, so that might possibly be a reason that they kept it under wraps, it's still sort of a higher risk presidency at that age, it would be the first presidential baby in the Elysee Palace since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1950 -- I have to remember my French class -- 1958.

So that would be quite a -- and it would come right on time for the presidential election campaign. Now the Dominique Strauss-Kahn story seems to be out, Nicolas Sarkozy --

HOLMES: Why are the parents spilling the beans here?

GORANI: That's a good question. It's a good question. It's hard to imagine a scenario where the parents have not told their children that they are going to talk to journalists, some sort of let it slip out. But if it's the case, maybe it was the biggest slip of the Sarkozy family. We don't know.

By the way, quickly, Carla Bruni did not attend the premiere of that Woody Allen movie that she had a cameo appearance in, and that also fueled the rumor mill.

HOLMES: All right. We'll have you back. You'll confirm this, I'm sure, within a matter of hours.

GORANI: All right.

HOLMES: Hala Gorani, good to see you as always. Thanks so much.

We'll turn back home here in a moment. A frantic search going on right now across three states for a missing boy. Police say his mother took him out of school, and she killed herself in a hotel room. Find out why the biggest clue in the search could be a note that she left behind.

Also, coming up next, high-profile Republican Paul Ryan has announced whether or not he will run for Senate. Jessica Yellin, I will let her break the news to you. She's joining me right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. It's coming up on the bottom of the house now, time for us to take a look at the Political Ticker. And for that, let's go back to Washington and our Jessica Yellin once again.

Hello, Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, T.J.

You set it up as a cliffhanger before the break. Will Paul Ryan, the GOP House Budget chairman, run or not run for the open Senate seat in the state of Wisconsin. The answer is, he will not run. He has decided, he said, to continue at his work in the House of Representatives where he is leading the charge in the Republicans effort to reign in government spending, and he's getting a lot of attention for that issue.

We also know that former Governor of Wisconsin Tommy Thompson, also former Health and Human Services secretary, has told Republicans that if Paul Ryan were told not to run, Tommy Thompson would then run. So putting two and two together, expect an announcement from Tommy Thompson soon.

Moving on to presidential politics, Haley Barbour, now remember, he -- Mississippi governor, was going to run for president, looked like he might and he decided not to. Well, now he's saying that he has had conversation with his good friend Mitch Daniels, the current governor of Indiana, who is playing Hamlet lately trying to decide will he or won't he run for president, and Barbour, we're told, has said -- urged Daniels to run. And that's meaningful because Haley Barbour has not just an enormous rolodex for fundraising, but also huge organizational and political know-how. And if Daniels were to get in, with Barbour behind him, he would have a formidable force.

And then finally, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, also running for president. He has put out an interesting statement, T.J. ahead of the president's meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Pawlenty has taken the opportunity to defend Israel but also slam the United Nations. In the statement, he said that the United Nations has been, this is a quote - "has been and continues to be the single worst forum to resolve key issues between the Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians should be sitting down to negotiate peace with Israel." On and on. "We shouldn't have the United Nations making its own decisions about Palestinian statehood."

Now, the U.N. is about as popular with conservative Republicans as is national health care reform. So, he is not taking any political risk there, but a very pointed statement. And that's the latest.

HOLMES: All right. Jessica Yellin with the Political Ticker. We appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.

Meanwhile, coming up, after weeks after stirring the political pot, Donald Trump is not running for president. But my next guest says Trump showed Americans how scary the political system has become. In fact, he calls Trump's whole campaign of sorts a house of horrors. He's with me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, that was a good time, wasn't it? It was a blast. By that I mean, Donald Trump's brief little flirtation with running for president. For those engaged in politics, he's been sort of a one-man highlight reel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

DONALD TRUMP, CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Look at my polls! They are through the roof!

This is very serious.

I am seriously thinking about it.

I am seriously considering --

I've never taken it seriously like this.

One of the big pollsters said if you actually announced, your poll numbers would go substantially up, because a lot of people think I'm having a good time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to give a lot of stuff up. But you know what? It's peanuts.

TRUMP: I hate saying it because it sounds trivial. But I have a very, very successful show on television. I have a show called "Celebrity Apprentice."

His birth certificate --

Look, his birth certificate.

I just tell it like it is.

I know how to make money. I've always known how to make money.

Donald is a sovereign nation. You can't do that. It's a sovereign nation. (INAUDIBLE)

When the show is over, I will be free to announce. I think you will be surprised at what my announcement is.

So, I said we go in, we take (INAUDIBLE) out.

I've accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish. Our president has finally released a birth certificate.

I don't know why he doesn't release his records. Why doesn't he realize his Occidental records? Everyone says he was this great student. If he was that great, that's great. And if he wasn't, that's great. I was a very good student.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. Joining me now from Washington is Dana Milbank of "The Washington Post." Had some interesting insights today in the column that you wrote, talking about Donald Trump, the media, our political system, which you said is "scary." So, I appreciate you being here.

You also talked about Donald Trump making suckers out of a lot of us. So who was the bigger sucker? Was it Republicans? Was it voters in general? The media? Or was it President Obama which you hit on in your column as well? Who was the bigger sucker in all of this?

DANA MILBANK, COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Well, T.J., I would like to pick all of the above. Because just think about it. The only guy who comes out well in this is Donald Trump. He gets reportedly $60 million to renew his contract. He's able to turn this -- and here's a guy who really needs another $60 million, right?

But look, he played all of us in the media, of course, for suckers because we gave him all of this free publicity, didn't have to pay a thing for it. Made the Republican primary electorate look ridiculous. Here was this guy that changed all of his positions on health care, abortion, everything else. And sure enough, he rose to the top of the polls. You know, he made the whole electorate look awful because of this. So many people - large plurality of Republicans and large numbers of others are accepting this whole birther controversy.

And he even made the president kind of look foolish because he has to go out there in the White House briefing room and explain why he's having this public argument with this guy he called a carnival barker. Well, I think the carnival barker won the whole thing.

HOLMES: Well, you call it "scary." This shows just how scary our political system is. Are we going to learn from this in some way and not make this mistake again? Or was this another reminder, in your opinion, how scary things are. And what do you mean by "scary" when you talk about our political system?

MILBANK: Well, everybody was talking about Donald Trump as a clown or as his campaign being a roller coaster ride, the carnival barker. And that's why I said, no it's more of the house of horrors. Because it really did show all you need is name recognition and the potential to spend a lot of money. Nothing else in your ability to actually govern and work in the government doesn't mean a thing.

We in the media knew - I mean, the first time he appeared in February, I said it is almost certainly a publicity stunt, but there is always that one in thousand chance that it's not, so you kind of have to follow the guy. Then he jumps up in the polls. I think he just showed how broken the system really is. He exploited it, played us like a fiddle. And I don't see how we stopped this from happening.

HOLMES: You say he played us like a fiddle, don't see how we stop it. Well, how much responsibility should the electorate take. Because I mean, we reward him with air time, but oftentimes, even though he's not running, does the electorate reward those folks, these carnival barkers, these hucksters, folks with name recognition and money -- do they reward them as well with victories on election day?

MILBANK: Well, it's highly doubtful that Trump would have had any sort of electoral success. I think he pulled out of the point where it appeared sort of -- the all of his little support he had was completely falling away.

But we've seen over and over again, the whole notion of celebrity has just taken over here in Washington, and I mean, whether it's a member of Congress appearing with his shirt off in a men's fitness magazine - you know, these guys have come to see themselves as some extension of Hollywood. And I think that's how we're looking at them as celebrities rather than as public figures.

HOLMES: All right But again, it sounds like I heard you say there is nothing we could have done differently. Because of that one in one-thousandth chance

MILBANK: Not you, T.J. None of this is your fault.

HOLMES: I take full responsibility. We at CNN take full responsibility. I mean, it was a show. It was fun there while it lasted, wasn't it.

Dana Milbank. It was a good read and I encourage folks to certainly read it. I sent it out a little earlier today. I'll send it out one more time for people to check it out. Dana, good to see you, as always.

MILBANK: Thanks, take care. HOLMES: All right. Let's turn to that flooding now, Chad, shall we? More than two million acres of land underwater in central Mississippi right now. It's only going to get worse. Levees that protect millions of people from floodwaters are holding up fairly well for right now. But there is this planned flooding, as you know, expected to save New Orleans and Baton Rouge. But other communities in Louisiana and Mississippi will get swamped.

Martin Savidge is in Vicksburg for us. Martin, good to see you as always. You are going to some places now that look like ghost towns?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are, T.J. Let me show you another interesting scene. Right now. Right behind us. See that beautiful, idyllic scene there. You've got the white herring (ph). And it just looks gorgeous. And it looks so much like nature. Until the camera pans off to the left, and you realize we're in somebody's neighborhood. And that neighborhood now is completely inundated with water.

This is the King's community. It's north of Vicksburg. It flooded about a week ago and the water continues to rise. 1,700 people have been forced to flee as a result of the water. Hundreds of homes, five subdivisions up in this part of the city. More to the south of the city, and the number grows because the water level continues to rise and we are not expected to see the crest here until Thursday. So, that's been one of the major impacts.

We took a boat ride through this community, and it's really startling to see the pictures of just how high the water has come. In many cases, it completely swallowed home. I mean, not to the point of coming up to the roof line but over the roof line. Eleven feet, 15 feet of water. Some houses built on stilts designed never to flood -- yes, they flooded because that's this kind of historic flood.

Meanwhile, we wanted to show you at least one elementary school that has been trying desperately in Redwood to fight of the floodwaters that have been encroaching up their way. Only about another week of school left, but the elementary school built a dike all the way around it. So far, that dike is holding. The water on the playground, absolutely up to the gymnasium, but you get to the jungle gym, rather, on the other side - you see the school.

And then lastly, Highway 61. That's the big north-south artery here. That one is completely underwater. We traveled it just two days ago. Now it's completely shut off that he is a major transportation problem, not only for just doing business but also first responders trying to do emergency work here.

It has cut off a number of communities, and that was the case with Eagle Lake, which we went to today. And that neighborhood is spooky because everyone is gone. It's totally dry, 1,000 people out of their homes because they simply are worried about two levees on either side that could break, could overtop, and if they don't they are completely surrounded by water anyway. If you needed an ambulance, it would take probably an hour and a half. They just can't tolerate it. Safest thing to do is get people out of the way.

And one last thing I want to show you here. Real quick in the water, T.J. The Army Corps of Engineers supposedly told the neighborhood here people that look, the water is coming up. You better be mindful how far it's coming. And they actually marked a line. They said, this is how far it's going to come. This was to scare people. That line is actually right here. You can't see it. It went over what the Army Corps of Engineers said. And in fact, the water has come up even higher. It's a good six feet farther up on shore, as you can see. And it's still going up.

As I say, Thursday is when they ought to crest, maybe another half foot, but to be honest, they're not quite sure. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right. Nobody really knows what is about to happen. Martin Savidge for us. We appreciate you, as always. Thanks so much from Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Meanwhile, the desperate search for a missing six-year-old boy is going on right now. Family members think he may have been left with someone after his mother killed herself. And she left a note behind.

Also, should parents be able to snoop on their kids' Facebook pages? The California Senate considering a bill that would let them do that. Sunny Hostin, I know she thinks that's a great idea. She's joining me next.

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SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: You know me well!

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HOLMES: All right. A mother checks her 6-year-old son out of school and then vanishes. She's found dead in a motel room days later, but there is still no search of the boy, despite a search stretching across three states.

That's just one of the cases we're looking at with our Sunny Hostin right now. Sunny, always good to see you. This is a little scary, here to think where in the world is this kid? Why has he not turned up? Are they tracking anywhere, where the mother might have taken the kid?

HOSTIN: Well, absolutely. Apparently, she took him out of his kindergarten class and they went on a whirl wind trip. She took him to the zoo. She took him to two water parks and then they went to a hotel.

They were calls made from her cell phone that were tracked. The relatives, the boy spoke to his relatives on Friday and he appeared to be OK. He said he wasn't in danger and so they knew that he was safe at least until Friday.

HOLMES: OK. I mean, at this point, though, why haven't they -- and there was some question about whether or not an amber alert was put out to look for the young man. Why not?

HOSTIN: That's a great question. There hasn't been an amber alert, but that's because there are specific guidelines for amber alerts and one of those guidelines is that law enforcement has to know that it's been an abduction.

In this case, he's almost disappeared into thin air and there's no indication that he was actually abducted. In fact, the mother left a note, T.J., indicating that she had given him to someone to care for.

Other clues that the police have found out in terms of not issuing an amber alert is that his car seat was gone. His Spiderman backpack was gone. She purchased clothes. She purchased toy.

That indicates that he wasn't abducted, but that perhaps his with someone.

HOLMES: Why hasn't somebody called up and said, he's with me?

HOSTIN: Exactly, and the family is asking people to do that. We just showed a picture of this little boy. If anyone has seen this little boy, if anyone knows where he is, we ask them really to help here.

HOLMES: All right, let's move to another case. One that I know that is near and dear to you. Parents, should they be able to snoop on their child's Facebook page. California, we're talking about the Senate there considering a bill that would let them do it.

And Sunny, I was joking around with you in the commercial break. I didn't realize that kids have rights, to be quite honest with you, in their parents' house. You're telling me that a kid could technically sue their parent if the parent violated their privacy?

HOSTIN: Not in my house, they don't have rights, but certainly children do have rights. You know, just because they are children doesn't mean that you can trample on those rights. Children are abused and that sort of thing.

But this case is a bit different. This bill is requiring Facebook and other social networking sites to have an increasing privacy setting default and to remove personal information of underage people. Personal information, I'm talking about home phone number, address, social security numbers, driver's license if a parent requests it.

This is really in my view, T.J., about protecting children from child predators. Don't we want that? Isn't that a good thing? Of course, privacy rights folks are going to be all over my case and sending me e-mails but bottom line is, we've got to keep our children safe. They're children. Some of them don't know any better.

HOLMES: Yes, that is a good point there, but with the debate that's going back and forth, is there a good chance that this will become law or will this just be a debate and really not find the support that it needs?

HOSTIN: I think it's possible that it will become law, but there has been a debate. A lot of social networking sites have weighed in. I have a letter here that was written May 16th to the Honorable Ellen Corbit of the California State Senate again.

This would be a state bill, not federal law. And I don't know if you can see this, tons of signatures. We're talking about Facebook, Twitter, Google, Skype, match.com, EHarmony, they, really, really are against this proposed bill.

We got a statement from Facebook. I think we have it here. Facebook is really, really fighting this. They are saying this legislation is a serious threat both to Facebook's business in California and to meaningful California consumers' choices about use of personal data.

So when you say debate, T.J., yes, this is certainly going to be a debate, California Senate, but not in my house. My kids have no rights.

HOLMES: Probably good debate to have, but I can't wait until your kids haul you into court and you have to defend yourself. We will be there to cover that one. Sunny Hostin, good to see you, as always. Thanks so much.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

HOLMES: Michele Bachmann, if she decides to run for president, Republicans will not be the only one standing in her way.

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HOLMES (voice-over): A high school student has also just challenged the congresswoman. Wait until you hear the topic this high school student wants to debate her on.

Also, this -- a soldier and the Grammy-Award winning group "Train" surprised a lady and it happened just downstairs from where I'm sitting right now. You need to see how this turned out.

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HOLMES: All right. You've got to see what happened downstairs here at the CNN Center, the Atrium downstairs. We get hundreds of thousands of visitors here every single day. Certainly a lot busier now that we're in the summer season, people come here, take the tour.

But take a look at what happened when a Grammy-award winning band, "Train," you may have heard from them, showed up to help a soldier who wanted to propose to his girlfriend. This happened downstairs in front of everybody.

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HOLMES: All right. A county executive accused of taking about $200,000 in bribes, the police showed up to his and he reportedly got his wife to quickly flush a check and stuff a lot of cash in her clothing. Joe Johns with the "Political Pop."

Joe, I remember this story. A lot of us remember it well. Interesting details here.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, I mean - and also the big thing is the guy pled today. This guy Johnson was a top government executive in Prince George County, a stone's throw away from D.C.

He pleads guilty, bribery and extortion. What puts him on the radar is he got caught in one of those really embarrassing political stings with audio evidence.

The agents come to the door. The FBI recordings indicate Johnson told his wife to flush the $100,000 check down the toilet, stash a bunch of cash in her underwear and bra. We're talking $79,000. So this story is coming to an end here in Washington. A source of endless jokes in the Washington area.

HOLMES: Yes, a lot of us wondered how in the world that eight grand -- let's leave it to that.

JOHNS: I know.

HOLMES: Let's turn to Michele Bachmann. Michele Bachmann now, we know she might get to throw her hat into the ring for the presidential politics. Go for the White House, think about her challengers there, but I didn't see this one coming. A high-schooler, she has a challenge from a high schooler?

JOHNS: I know, it's pretty - got to say it at the top, real fast, number one, we're hearing Bachmann might make a decision or make an announcement by the end of May, which is kind of new.

Meanwhile though, we try to approach these things with a little skepticism, but the school system up there in New Jersey confirms there really is a high school sophomore, Cherry Hill High School east in New Jersey.

This girl's name is Amy Myers and the student has challenged Congresswoman Michele Bachmann to a debate on the constitution. We haven't talked to Amy yet. I did talk reporter named Melissa Depinto with the newspaper up there, the "Cherry Hill Sun" who says Amy is the opinion editor of the school newspaper.

So she has a point of view and she took issue with Michelle Bachmann's knowledge of American history and now she's challenged her on the constitution, but Michele Bachmann has not taken the bait absolutely no comment on that one and probably smart for it.

HOLMES: OK. Not even commenting, not just saying, no, or it's cute or I applaud her for it? Nothing?

JOHNS: No, nothing at all. I mean, it's clear that the Bachmann supporters are feeling like the story won't have gone anywhere except for what they see as media bias, but you know the drill.

HOLMES: All right. Joe Johns for our "Political Pop." Good stuff today, Joe. Good to see you as always. We'll talk to you again soon.

To our viewers, thank you for hanging out with us here a couple of hours in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Right now, "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.