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Casey Anthony Trial Continues; Bin Laden-Pakistan Deal?; Obama Meets With Polish President; Protests in Egypt; Looking Back on Alabama Tornadoes; Survivor's Tail That Wags; Don't Fry Day; Obama "Signs" Bill with Autopen

Aired May 27, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And now rolling with the stop of the hour. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: An Iraq war veteran shot and killed by a SWAT team. His family wants answers, but police say there's more to this case than meets the eye.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it right here on our left?

BALDWIN (voice-over): What really happened in this Arizona community? We will look at both versions of a drug raid gone horribly awry.

And stuck in tents, waiting for FEMA trailers after a tornado ravaged their town. But the mayor says single-wides aren't allowed. It's the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) did not say no trailers. I said the ordinance didn't. I hope somebody can get that right for a change.

BALDWIN: Oh, you can count on it, Mr. Mayor.

NANCY GRACE, HOST, "NANCY GRACE": Tot mom's car -- quote -- "reeked of a dead body."

BALDWIN: Then: new details in the dramatic trial of Casey Anthony. We're on the case with Nancy Grace today.

And it's the best-friend story you are all talking about. Little Mason (ph) with two broken legs crawled home to his owners after a tornado.

The news starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: All right. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We're starting the hour with some shocking news from the so-called treasure trove of information found in the files of Osama bin Laden from within that compound, discovery among the items here, among -- from the SEAL Team Six. They picked up these items during the raid at bin Ladens's Pakistan compound, documents indicating that the world's most wanted terrorist was apparently considering a deal with Pakistan, a protection deal.

Now, under the terms of this possible deal, al Qaeda wouldn't attack Pakistan if -- and that's a big if -- Pakistan would protect al Qaeda.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence live now.

And, Chris, what do we know? And, again, how precisely do we know this?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you pretty much laid it out, Brooke.

How we know is that from all of that material, those documents that the Navy SEALs took out of Osama bin Laden's compound, intelligence agents have been poring over these documents and what they now show is that Osama bin Laden communicated with al Qaeda's operations chief about the possibility of trying to broker some sort of protection deal with Pakistan.

And, as you said, the basic framework of the deal would be al Qaeda would not stage any attacks in Pakistan, and, in exchange, Pakistan would sort of allow al Qaeda leaders to live there, sort of a hands- off approach.

But there's no evidence right now that they actually approached Pakistani officials with that deal.

BALDWIN: OK.

LAWRENCE: A U.S. official said right now it just looks to be something that al Qaeda talked about internally.

BALDWIN: Just an internal discussion, and that's a huge differentiation to make.

Also, Chris, we have learned that Pakistan, they are allowing the CIA in to that compound to examine maybe -- maybe what is left. But you have reported this countlessly about everything that the SEALs had taken out of there. So, what really would be left for the CIA to find?

LAWRENCE: Everything that you can't see with the naked eye, Brooke.

You have got to remember those SEALs were only in that compound for 40 minutes. Maybe only half that time was spent actually searching the compound. So, this forensic team is going in sort of like you would think of a CSI investigation, in terms of, you know, possibly swabbing surfaces to find DNA samples that could potentially be matched with someone in a database, to see exactly who was in that compound at various times.

Another way they could do is also looking perhaps through infrared cameras at anything that could be embedded in the walls, anything that could have been buried in the ground.

We also know from U.S. officials that Osama bin Laden and the people who lived there burned their trash, instead of taking it out, like everyone else in the neighborhood.

BALDWIN: That's right.

LAWRENCE: The CIA has certain ways to even extract information even from fragments that have been burned. All of these things are things that the SEAL team wouldn't have been able to do in 20 minutes on the ground there in the middle of the night.

BALDWIN: That's amazing, isn't it? That's the CIA for you, taking bits of burned trash and putting it together.

Chris Lawrence, thanks so much.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What happened at this Marine's home in Arizona is pitting a police SWAT team against this community. The Marine is dead. His family wants answers. The SWAT team stands by their mission, a drug raid. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to tell you about a story. This one is unfolding in Tucson, Arizona, and it has a lot of people there asking questions about how and when police use deadly force.

We're begin here with Kara Finnstrom's report on the controversy surrounding this shooting death of an Iraq war veteran by a SWAT team.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it right here on our left.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It began the morning of May 5th with a raid of four houses near Tucson, Arizona, where investigators suspected a violent drug smuggling operation was being run.

Within minutes, it ended with a SWAT team killing, now sparking community outrage, 26-year-old Iraqi war veteran, Jose Guerena, who investigators now say grabbed, but never fired his semiautomatic rifle.

He was shot 22 times with paramedics kept away while police say they secured the home. Also inside, his young son and wife who called 911.

VANESSA GUERENA, WIFE: I don't know what happened. He's bleeding.

FINNSTROM: Questions have since mounted about whether deadly force was justified and whether the Guerenas understood it was police, not invaders storming their home. GUERENA (on camera): I saw this guy pointing me at the window so I got scared and I got like, please don't shoot. I have a baby. FINNSTROM: Now the Sheriff's Department has released this video of the crucial minutes when they say warnings were sounded. The general counsel for the police union describes what SWAT team members say happened next.

MICHAEL STORIE, SWAT ATTORNEY: Guerena makes eye contact with these officers, who are in gear that says police, the shield says police, and their helmets say police. They have patches that say police. He makes eye contact with them, raises his weapon and points it right at these officers.

FINNSTROM: Also just released, hundreds of pages of investigation documents, which detail what officers' say they ultimately found inside the home, body armor and a large number of weapons, but no huge cache of drugs or money.

Guerena family attorney Chris Scileppi released this statement in response, saying we just learned that the Sheriff's Department has released voluminous amounts of information in regard to this incident. We will review the documents and C.D.s and will make ourselves available for comment in the near future.

Guerena's wife says he was not involved with drug dealing. Scileppi says the Sheriff's Department has tried to defame Guerena and paints a different picture of a man with no criminal record, who had worked for a mining company since leaving the Marine Corps five years ago and was a husband and father of two.

(on camera): Sheriff officials say their internal investigation of those chaotic minutes that led to Guerena's death continues. Supporters of his family who have been critical of the department have announced plans for a march to the scene of the shooting on Memorial Day.

Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So this whole incident happened back on May 5, but it wasn't until yesterday and a lot of public pressure that the sheriff's department released this helmet cam video. There are a lot of questions about how it went down.

So, we wanted to bring in Andy Hill to help pick this thing apart and help me, help all of us understand what it is that happened. Andy is a retired sergeant from Phoenix P.D. He also spent three years with the DEA that involved many tactical operations similar to the one we just saw.

Andy live from Phoenix.

Andy, good to see you.

I want to begin. I want to show the entire helmet cam video. I have seen it. I want you to see it. I want our viewers to see it. It's a minute and 17 seconds long. This is from one of the SWAT team members. Let's watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) number 23.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it right here on our left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On our left.

(SIREN BLARING)

(SHOUTING)

(GUNSHOTS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And there it is.

Andy, without being part of this tactical team, but having experience, does it appear that the SWAT team is acting in accordance with the law?

ANDY HILL, FORMER PHOENIX, ARIZONA, POLICE SERGEANT: Well, obviously, it's difficult to tell just from a few brief clips of what happened.

But it certainly appears that they had a valid search warrant which they were serving on behalf of the investigators. That's a huge deal because that means that a judge reviewed the probable cause and felt that they had the search warrant to go -- the ability to have that search warrant and go forth.

And that SWAT team was doing what they do, what they practice to do, what they train to do. And they went ahead, just from what I can see in the video, and they were exercising and enforcing what they were told to do, which is serve a search warrant signed by a judge.

So the facts of the case and what led up to that point, the whole investigation, those are the things we don't really know. An unfortunate tragedy when someone loses their life, but those officers that are there on the front lines, they risk their lives every day. They train to do what they do. And they also usually keep a medic with them when they are making entry, someone that is medic-trained, paramedic, so -- in case something happens.

And I would guess from the number of rounds that were fired that the suspect or the person that was pointing the rifle at them probably died immediately.

BALDWIN: Seventy-one rounds, to be specific.

How does it work in terms of -- we see the guys. We see the SWAT team approaching this front door. We see the door open. How do the members of the SWAT team identify themselves? How does that work? HILL: Well, there are a number of ways of identifying yourself.

You want to try and use as many as your senses or the senses that people have, sight, hearing, sound. All these things come together and they obviously were using a lot of sound. They were in sight. They were looking and dressed and carrying that police insignia.

And when you serve a search warrant, you have to try and be as tactically safe as possible. When you have probable cause and you are going to go in, it's up to that SWAT team leader to go ahead and review all the information. They go ahead and do probably some surveillance beforehand, make sure they know what they are going up against as best as they can. But you never know what you have until you go inside that door.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But do they have to yell "Police"? Do they have to make it, you know, very, very obvious that they are law enforcement before they bang in that door? Or do they not have to?

HILL: Well, it depends what kind of warrant you have. You may go ahead and get a no-knock warrant at some point.

But, in this case, and in most cases, most search warrants have to be served within certain hours of the day or night, and they have to have some kind of a notification, and you have to give a chance for a response.

Basically, if you then become immediately aware that someone is threatening deadly harm inside -- and we don't know all the details about what kind of surveillance they may have had or what information they may have had, then you have to react appropriately to protect the lives involved. Unfortunately, it happens sometimes and somebody will lose their life.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I want to slow-mo some video because here's one question I have for you and I heard the counsel for the police department saying, look, these guys, they identified. Police, their helmets on their shields. You can see it clearly, sheriff marked on the back of the vest, but as the camera will begins to spin, you see this guy quickly and I know it's not a great shot, but I've seen it, my team seen it and there isn't any kind of -- it doesn't appear to any clear marking on the front of this individual SWAT team member. Is that an issue to you?

HILL: You know, not at this point because, typically, we don't know which person went in first. You have a line up and different people have different assignments. Not all of those folks may have gone inside the house.

As you can see out front, there were a lot of other people. I think what we really need to do is to slow down here. You know, the tragedy has occurred. The family is grieving and in difference to them and indifference to the officers who also are involved in the shooting who also suffer when somebody dies, you have to allow everything to be examined and investigated.

And that's what happens in every police shooting. Nobody is going to be more diligent than sheriff do, making sure that these people do the job investigating and, of course, we don't know all of the facts of the investigation. So, there may be things that they're holding on to that they're not going to release.

But a judge will determine what information will be released eventually.

BALDWIN: Two sides to every story. Andy Hill, thank you very much.

HILL: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Now this --

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BALDWIN: Protesters filling Cairo's famous Tahrir Square. What has changed since in Egypt since Hosni Mubarak left power?

And Dominique Strauss-Kahn spotted on the move today. We'll tell you why the former IMF chief accused of attempted rape is allowed to move around in his cushy New York digs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time to take you "Globe Trekking."

And I want to start with an iReport we got from Egypt. This is from an iReporter. Kristian Johansson sent us this video of the large crowds. Take a look with me. This is Tahrir Square, you know, this is Cairo. He shot it just earlier today.

Thousands of protesters filling the square there. They are pushing for Egypt's military ruler to speed up the pace of democratic reforms that so many of them fought for several months ago.

Now I want to bring in our own Diana Magnay. She's live for me in Cairo.

And, Diana, these protesters, they say they are returning to the site of a revolution. Why?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They say that they don't see the pace of reform that is moving fast enough. You know, whereas four months ago we saw protesters protesting, of course, against the Mubarak regime on a day of rage. What day has been named after, day of rage two, day of rage one in January was really a turning point in revolution when you saw people saying, we are not going to move until our demands our met.

Now, four months later, they are saying our demands still haven't been met. The military council is ruling this country too close to Mubarak and the previous regime. They don't understand democracy. They joined the revolution but are not revolutionary themselves. People are very angry, Brooke, because we've been seeing hundreds if not thousands of arrests, people brought to military tribunals, military justice rather than actually civilian justice being used against revolutionaries. They are also seeing no freedom of speech.

So, people are really saying, how can democracy go forward when this regime has really just been more of the same? We want to see some change and we want to see it now, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, Diana, if these Egyptians aren't confident now that their demands aren't being met and keep in mind, elections slated for September. How do they feel -- how confident do they feel about proper democratic change come this fall?

MAGNAY: Well, the decision to hold elections in September was really decided by a referendum. And a lot of people say that that referendum was to an extent sabotaged by sort of religious right and it was billed by, for example, the Muslim Brotherhood, the religious vote. If you want to vote as early as September, then you should say yes in this referendum.

Whereas, in fact, liberals, and a lot of those young activists down on the street below me, they believe that, really, September is far too early to try and establish any kind of political party so that there should be a little more time given so that the various sort of opposition groups can establish themselves properly so there is actually a broad spectrum, political spectrum of parties that people can vote for.

So, there is definitely a sort of conflict about the election and whether it is too early, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Look at those crowds. Thousands of people. Diana Magnay, appreciate it, from Cairo.

A couple of minutes ago from our political team, our duo in the political unit told you about the Romney special pizza delivery. But that doesn't even close to the campaign involving burnt popcorn.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If it's interesting and happening right now, you are about to see it.

I want to begin here. We have just learned that all eight NATO soldiers killed in a blast in Afghanistan yesterday are Americans. Two IEDs took the lives of the Americans in a big hot spot for Taliban activities, just about 60 miles south of Kandahar. Both U.S. and Canadian troops are deployed in the region.

President Obama has made his final stop on his six-day, four-nation trip to Europe. He stopped in Warsaw, Poland, where he co-hosted a dinner for central and eastern European leaders with Poland's president. The president praised economic and political progress in Eastern Europe.

While they are in Poland, the president also visited the World War II Warsaw Ghetto memorial.

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn back at his Manhattan residence after leaving earlier this morning. Strauss-Kahn is under house arrest while on bail for his alleged sex assault crimes. It's unclear why he left the apartment. Under court orders, he is allowed to leave only for medical, legal, and court visits or by religious services.

And a heart study ends after some participating patients have a stroke increase. Researchers thought that those with the high cholesterol and heart disease would have fewer heart attacks and strokes if they took the B vitamin niacin and (INAUDIBLE) drug. But they found no additional health benefit there.

And a woman believed to be the alleged grandma bandit was shot to death after a police chase today in Atlanta. Someone noticed the woman matching the description of a person wanted in several drugstore robberies over the course of the past two weeks, called police. Officers say they tried to stop 58-year-old Roxanne Taylor while she was in the drive thru of a restaurant, but she took off. During the chase, police heard a single gunshot and return fire, hitting her several times. No officers were injured there.

And for most of you, the Memorial Day weekend has already begun, hopefully not quite yet. You're sitting there. You're watching me and our show. But apparently the high price of gasoline is not keeping folks from packing up the car and hitting the road. According to AAA, 35 million Americans are expected to travel some 50 miles or more. This marks a slight increase from last year by just about 0.2 percent.

And actor Jeff Conaway, probably best remembered from -- here he is -- "Grease," TV series, "Taxi," he died this morning from pneumonia. Conaway also suffered from sepsis in recent weeks and had been in medically induced a coma for two weeks. We're told his family surrounded him in a hospital when Conaway was taken off life support. He was 60 years old.

Time now for your "CNN Equals Political" update this hour.

Senior political editor Mark Preston joins me now for the latest news hot off the Political Ticker.

Mark, what do you have?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Brooke.

You know. there's a lot of talk about Sarah Palin -- is she going to run for president? Is she not going to run for president? Well, she does pretty well in the new CNN/Opinion Research poll. In fact, let's take a look at it.

Problem is for her, she's not at the very top. That goes to Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor. Look at him. He comes in at 16 percent. Now, Rudy Giuliani has indicated that he might be interested in running for president, but he has taken no formal steps. And the fact is, he doesn't have a real strong campaign operation around him nor does he have the fundraising right now.

But, still, Sarah Palin embarks on that bus trip up the East Coast starting this weekend. Well, she's doing pretty good in that CNN/Opinion Research poll.

Now, Brooke, more to the point -- looking at the current GOP field, let's look at these numbers right now. Are Republicans satisfied with the current field? The number that we should look at right there is the fact that 39 percent, four in 10 Republican voters are not happy with the current GOP field.

So, the likes of Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, perhaps Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich and others really need to do a lot to try to reach out to these disaffected Republicans who might be looking for someone else to run for president.

BALDWIN: Story number two you had for me last hour. You and I chatted about cold pizza and Mitt Romney. What's this about burnt popcorn?

PRESTON: Yes, burnt popcorn. This is going to be one of those moments on the campaign trail where people will look back and have a little laugh. Just a few hours ago, Mitt Romney was in Iowa, giving a speech, taking questions when, all of a sudden, these alarms went off. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: I'm the same guy I was last time. It's just that the things that I know and the --

(ALARM)

ROMNEY: Uh-oh! They want to get us out of here, don't they? My guess is -- my guess is that means we need to exit the building. Is that right? I presume that's the fire alarm.

So, you guys, it's great to be with you. Oh, they stopped it.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMNEY: Oh, somebody went out the emergency exit. OK. If we need to go, we'll let you know. I wasn't trying to get out of tough questions, I promise.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That's hilarious.

PRESTON: Right. A little bit of an awkward moment here from Mitt Romney just a few hours ago in Iowa. In fact, they had to cut short that Q&A session. What happened was the alarm was sent off by burnt popcorn in a microwave.

BALDWIN: See, that's what happens. You send somebody cold pizza in the morning and that whole thing (ph). It's going to bite you with the burnt popcorn later on.

PRESTON: Jumps right back to you, Brooke. You're absolutely right.

BALDWIN: Mark Preston, thank you so much. Have a great holiday weekend to you.

PRESTON: You, too.

BALDWIN: And Mark, I know you learn how to drive in Boston, by the way. Some keeping you out of this next segment, but Alison Kosik, she's going to join me for the mean streets of Manhattan, Wall Street, to be precise, with some pretty interesting tidbits about America's driving habits or lack thereof. I will let you be the judge. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time for "Reporter Roulette". We're following two stories today. We have President Obama's dinner with the president of Poland and as many as one in five Americans wouldn't pass a driving test if they took one today. But I want to begin with you, Ed Henry, following the president in Warsaw, Poland today -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the president is here in Warsaw tonight for dinner with a large group of Central and Eastern European leaders. He wants to show respect to some allies in this region, but he also, interestingly, wants something from these leaders. He wants some lessons learned about their own transition to Democracy in the post soviet world that might now apply to Egypt, Tunisia, others given the Arab spring.

They've been going through some growing pains of economic problems, and that dovetails nicely with what the president just did at the G-8 summit. He and his other allies there in France were putting together an aid package for Egypt, Tunisia. You know, Egypt, for example, was battered economically during the revolution. It really hurt their tourism industry, for example.

And so, the president believes it is important to try to get them back on their feet as they transition to Democracy. Something people here in Poland know all about. In fact, the president tomorrow is going to be meeting with the delegation from Poland that actually had just come back from Tunisia to try to pass along some of those lessons learned -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Ed Henry for us. Ed, thank you.

Thanks in our "Reporter Roulette." Good news if you're hitting the road this weekend. Bad news about some of your fellow drivers. Apparently, many of them should not even be behind the wheel. Alison Kosik live in New York. Yes, I can think of a few people who I would like to say, could you take the test again, please? What do you have?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Yes. You know, especially after GMAC insurance came out with this startling test finding that, you know what, if you ask Americans to take a driving test today, 37 million Americans would fail it. That's 20 percent of all licensed drivers. Case in point, 85 percent have no idea what to do at a steady yellow light. Brooke, do you?

BALDWIN: At a steady yellow light, you slow down?

KOSIK: Steady yellow light -- uh-huh.

BALDWIN: You slow down?

KOSIK: No. Actually, it doesn't mean slow down or speed up. The answer is stop if it's safe to. You know, let me go through a few more of these questions.

BALDWIN: Maybe, I shouldn't be taking this quiz with you.

(LAUGHTER)

KOSIK: No, I just won't drive with you, Brooke. But go ahead. Listen to this. So, when you tailgate other drivers, Brooke, it can A, frustrate other drivers, make them angry, B, your actions can't result in a traffic citation, or C, you help reduce traffic congestion? What's the answer?

BALDWIN: Well, you shouldn't be tailgating. I would say B?

KOSIK: No. Definitely not taking a girl's road trip with you.

BALDWIN: Oh goodness. I was promised this will be easy. I got a 96 on my drivers test a little while ago.

KOSIK: Well, you have to go back and say, let me give you one more way to make up for it, OK? The best way to keep from hydroplaning is, A, turn to avoid the puddles, B, apply the brakes firmly or, C, slow down on wet roads.

BALDWIN: Slow down.

KOSIK: Yey. All right. We can take that road trip together. Where do you want to go?

BALDWIN: Go to Miami. We're go back to your home town.

KOSIK: Deal. Let me ask you one more question. So, who do you think are actually the worst drivers, Brooke?

BALDWIN: Those young kids out there. Those young whipper snappers. They don't know anything. I don't know.

KOSIK: OK, but men or women?

BALDWIN: Mern. KOSIK: Who's worse?

BALDWIN: I'm going to say men just because I'm a woman, and I don't want to say that we, ladies, are worse.

KOSIK: You know what? We are worse. Women are the worse. apparently.

BALDWIN: I can hear all the men out there, the collective grumbles.

KOSIK: I know say, yes!

BALDWIN: The collective grumbles. We knew it, we knew it.

KOSIK: Exactly.

BALDWIN: OK. We'll do that again. I'll redeem myself. Alison Kosik, you have a nice weekend.

KOSIK: OK. You, too.

BALDWIN: I won't drive too much. Alison, thank you. That's our "Reporter Roulette" for this Friday.

Shopping sprees of the Anthony Family (ph). You got to hear to what the evidence there on display in the case of the Anthony trial there in Florida. Nancy Grace has been in the courtroom all week long. She's going to join me, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Prosecutors paint Casey Anthony as a woman who went shopping when she should have searching for her missing daughter, Caylee. So, today, they played one jury -- one store surveillance tape after another after another, all showing that Casey Anthony out about shopping between the time two-year-old Caylee disappeared and when she was reported missing. I spoke with HLN's Nancy Grace who's been watching every move all week long inside that court room. I want you to watch our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NANCY GRACE, HOST OF HLN'S "NANCY GRACE SHOW": I counted out 11 surveillance videos, the tot mom on various shopping sprees. I'm talking Target, JCPenney, IKEA, the grocery store. You name it. She was there. Sometimes, hitting stores two times in one day in different outfits. Yes, one of the witnesses did break up on the stand describing what she thought to be a loving relationship between tot mom and little Caylee, but what really broke my heart was when George Anthony, father, George Anthony, was called back to the stand today.

BALDWIN: Uh-huh.

GRACE: A tow truck operator, Simon Birch, took the stand previously and said that tot's mom car, quote, "reeked of a dead body." BALDWIN: It was the odor of death, right? He's describing odor of death.

GRACE: Yes.

BALDWIN: Why was that significant?

GRACE: Well, the state's theory is that tot mom murdered Caylee, then hid her body, either primarily or secondarily in the car trunk where it decomposed, and they're going to bring scientific evidence to show that, but this tow truck operator, Simon Birch, said, he was walking along with George Anthony, tot mom's father, Caylee's grandfather, and George had just been saying, I'm so worried.

My daughter's been gone for weeks. I haven't seen my granddaughter, and then, they both get hit with this smell. They both say they started praying that tot mom or Little Caylee were not in the trunk. George says he opens the trunk and sees maggots.

BALDWIN: Maggots. Yes. The owner of this tow truck company said it was unmistakable. And we also, though, Nancy, you know, we're talking and I know you saw on the stand today was the fiancee of Casey Anthony's brother, talking a little bit more about the relationship between -- you know, the bond between Caylee and Casey. I want to play some sound. I want everyone to watch this here. And Nancy, I want your reaction on the other side. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALLORY PARKER, FIANCEE OF CASEY'S BROTHER, LEE ANTHONY: Casey and Caylee have a very special bond.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did it appear genuine to you, Mallory?

PARKER: It did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did Caylee ever go without food as far as you know?

PARKER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she ever appear neglected to you?

PARKER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you ever see Casey strike or torture or punish Caylee in any harmful way?

PARKER: No, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the best way that you can describe their relationship would be amazing?

PARKER: Amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: All right. Nancy Grace, we just saw both Casey Anthony and we saw Mallory Parker, both of them wiping away tears in the courtroom. What were your thoughts as you were watching that?

GRACE: Well, I have to say it was a poignant moment. It was, because this witness is convinced that tot mom had a loving and genuine relationship with her daughter. But, you know, you've got to analyze that. You could say that about any number of murder victims.

I mean, look at Lacy Peterson. Her husband had just taken her out to dinner. Elana Clarkson, (ph) her killer. Robert Blake had just taken her to an expensive restaurant. Kitty Menendez, her sons were very loving and beautiful to her and her husband. They're dead. They're all dead. They're all victims of murder.

BALDWIN: Do you think Casey Anthony, tot mom, as you call her, will she take to the stand?

GRACE: Well, all along, I have been saying, no way. And I've got to tell you this accident theory, I thought they were coming out with was pretty good. It was pretty good. And I think they could have hung up that jury or gotten a lesser offense like man slaughter. On accident until they through in George and Lee Anthony and George disposing of the body. Crazy. Until they did that, I did not think she would have to take the stand.

Why would she take the stand and subject herself to cross-exam, but there's no other way right now. They've pinned themselves into corner to get the story of her molestation to the jury. Who else is going to tell that story? There's nobody else. No other outcry witness to tell that story other than tot mom.

BALDWIN: She has to testify.

GRACE: And now, they don't have a choice. She may have to take the stand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, in every tragedy we cover here on our newscast, we look for one happy ending, and I know you do as well. So, today we're going to share the tale of mason or maybe more accurately, I should say, the legs of Mason. This is a little dog who crawled on broken legs all the way home to his owners after tornado wiped out their town. That's next. Don't miss this.

BALDWIN: It was just a month ago, one month ago today the horrific tornado ripped through Alabama killing more than 230 people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): This, you remember, is what the twister did to Tuscaloosa. Also, how it hit Birmingham, but those twisters did not discriminate. They also hit smaller Alabama towns as well.

Which brings me to the town -- see Cordova, a number of folks in Cordova had their homes destroyed as well. So as often is the case, the federal government comes in and offers them trailers to use as they're rebuilding their homes.

Well, not so fast says the mayor of this town. Cordova Mayor Jack Scott has to enforce this ordinance dates all the way back 50 years and it bars single wide mobile homes.

Scott has been quoted as saying, "we want other people, young people, professional people to come here. We don't want them in a trailer."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We have also called Mr. Scott several times so far no call back. But a lot of these folks in these towns are saying, you know, look, Mayor, we have a huge emergency here. Make an exception. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHELLE REED, CORDOVA, ALABAMA RESIDENT: What I had suggested doing was putting FEMA trailers in my backyard, but because of the mayor, we can't do that. We can't help our neighbors because he won't let us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): That's something these Cordova neighbors were trying to change. Some were in tears.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you don't want to listen, get out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But when asked about how much buying a home within the city costs --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cheapest one I found is $105,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You might have your sights set too high.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many, like Danny Banks, said since the storm destroyed his home, he has no place to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here all my life.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't want to leave Cordova so he pitched a tent in his front yard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's tough out here. Having to sleep on the ground, it's rough having to sleep on the ground. But I am not leaving my property until I get me something to live in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And others say they simply want to stay in their home town until they can rebuild. But if the city doesn't budge on the ordinance passed during the 1950s, they say they will have to find rental space in another town.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are being forced to move out because of this law and we want to do something about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMAEL: This is not meant and broken. This is Cordova. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are being called trailer park trash.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mayor Jack Scott says he wants to make it clear, he's not trying to keep people from having a place to stay, but rather follow the city codes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why should I destroy a zoning ordinance for --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: That report was from our affiliate WBMA. But here's something else the WBMA is also reporting that the Cordova Police Department -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN (voice-over): Set up a trailer in the week of those tornados. There is also a trailer where folks can go pay their water bills and a bank has been allowed to install a trailer as well. WBMA sought an explanation from Mayor Scott and they called the mayor, he hung up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Amid all of the tragedy and destruction from all of these storms and tornados, which have clearly swept across the country, trending now, a survivor's tale, about a puppy dog.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): This is Mason. He is one tough little Terrier mix. He loves his family. Look at that tail. Now, in April, the family's home in Birmingham, Alabama destroyed after tornados blew it off its foundation.

Now, Mason had been hiding out in the garage. It was levelled. The family was forced to get out of there and seek shelter somewhere else. They figured they would never see this little guy again, but they were wrong. Cue the Kleenex.

Nearly three weeks after the tornado, look at him, the family returned to sift through the debris, looked for their belongings and guess who was sitting on their front porch? This guy. He was dirty, matted, and you saw him walking -- look at him now.

Two broken front legs, all indications he had been through a horrific ordeal, poor guy. But somehow Mason managed to crawl back home from wherever he was taken by that tornado. The vet had to install metals plates to both of his legs just to stabilize them while they heal.

DR. WILLIAM LAMB, VETERINARIAN: Right now, we have him on pain meds and antibiotics. We're using laser therapy to enhance healing so far, so good. Hopefully everything will heal like it is supposed to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Mason will have to stay with the vet for a little while longer and then he will be reunited with the family that he crawled through that tornado wreckage with broken front legs just to come back and see. Amazing.

It was not too long ago that I was supporting a band-aid on my nose on TV. Perhaps we all remember that. My entire team, as lovely as they are, supported what I call sympathy band-aids and I talked to you about it.

I had the lowest form of skin cancer, right there, boom, on my nose. But did you know that skin cancer is the most preventable form of cancer? Skin cancer. So we're heading into a holiday weekend, maybe you have plans for the pool, the beach, take it from me, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): The National Sun Safety Day, also known as "Don't Fry Day" is a campaign by the EPA and members of the National Council on Skin Cancer Awareness. Now in its third year, "Don't Fry Day" is aimed at educating the public about skin protection in the sun. It's held just before Memorial Day weekend.

DRUSILLA HUFFORD, EPA: Our hope in holding it on the Friday before Memorial Day really has been to peg to the expectation in most American families that that is the gateway to summer.

As of now, one in five Americans is expected to be diagnosed with skin cancer over a lifetime. So EPA and the National Council are asking folks to remember to slip, slop, and wrap. First, slip on some protective clothing. Secondly, wear sunscreen. Next, slap on a hat. Finally, wrap on some sunglasses.

BALDWIN: Dermatologists Rutledge Forney says sunscreen is key.

DR. RUTLEDGE FORNEY, DERMATOLOGIST: The first thing they look for a large number. We believe 30 or higher is very important. The second thing is, they need to have a broad spectrum. That is UVA and UVB coverage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: If you want to read my story, just go to cnn.com/brooke. There is political outrage today, one that our forefathers probably would have never imagined with their feathers and paper.

I mean, way back in 1776, do you think they would believe a president can sign a bill with a robotic instrument from France? But alas they can and Joe Johns, pen in hand, will explain why. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Late yesterday, Congress pass - on the Patriot Act, but one problem, President Obama has been overseas and the bill as we all know requires his signature.

Joe Johns is going to explain that you don't actually have to have a president literally signing a bill to make it to become law.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, no. You can use an autopen sort of sounds like Robocop.

BALDWIN: I know, autopen -

JOHNS: Yes. I don't know, but --

BALDWIN: What is this thing?

JOHNS: It's a device. I think we have a picture of it. It's something that has been around in politics in Washington, D.C., for the better part of about 70 years.

It signs a person's name with that person's authorization and it's because that person for some reason can't sign the document we're talking about.

This was the situation where the administration had a national security bill, the Patriot Act, provisions of which were expiring. They basically said, this is one thing where we just had to get it done.

BALDWIN: So all of those Christmas cards that you were getting from the president, it was probably autopen?

JOHNS: Got to be.

BALDWIN: This is not something that our founding fathers back in 1776, with their perfect parchment paper --

JOHNS: You think of it, one of the great moments in American history memorializing an image that we all know and love of the forefathers signing a document.

BALDWIN: So is this OK? How is this sitting with some people?

JOHNS: Well, a lot of people don't care at all and say no big deal. But some others say, look, the United States president should look at the document and sign it.

And in fact, Tom Gray of Georgia, the city that we're sitting in right now, has a letter written to the president of the United States saying, I don't know about this, not so much this situation, but he says any number of circumstances, which could arise in the future where the public could question whether or not the president authorized the use of an autopen.

For example, if the president is hospitalized, not fully alert can an aggressive cabinet member or members interpret that as an autopen signing? So a mystery novel that could be a great action novel.

BALDWIN: Interesting. So you're hanging out with us, but you didn't just come down for me.

JOHNS: No. I'm going to be hanging around all weekend. BALDWIN: For T.J., all weekend starting bright and early tell everyone, what is it, 6 a.m. Eastern time?

JOHNS: Yes, 6 a.m. on Saturday all the way through 11 Eastern and get off about 9 on Sunday so --

BALDWIN: There you go, Joe Johns -- you can get him all weekend.

Now, to Candy Crowley, sitting in for Wolf -- THE SITUATION ROOM. Candy, to you.