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Testimony Continues in Casey Anthony Murder Trial; Palin E- mails Released; Alaska Releases Palin's E-Mails; Ex-NSA Worker Takes Plea Deal; TSA to Fire Screeners in Hawaii; CNN Goes Inside WikiLeaks; Morgan Apologizes for Gay Jokes
Aired June 10, 2011 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we're crossing over the top of the hour. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): The case that's captivated the nation -- a circus outside the courtroom and drama inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you cannot control your emotions, I ask you to leave.
HOLMES: Emotional new testimony about Caylee Anthony's remains hours after her mother breaks down and has to leave the courtroom.
Just a week after Sarah Palin's bus tour, we're learning more about her pad. Alaska is releasing thousands of her e-mails as governor, including personal messages. We have them.
More than any other time in history President Obama is taking on those who spill secrets, but the administration was just dealt a major setback.
And speaking of leaks --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The material exposes an extraordinary range of abuses.
HOLMES: CNN takes you inside the power of WikiLeaks and the man some call a menace and others call a maverick.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, hello to you all. We're at the top of the hour here now, T.J. Holmes in for Brooke Baldwin.
This day was maybe one of the most gruesome days yet in the Casey Anthony murder trial, the jury hearing extremely graphic testimony about Caylee Anthony's remains. And there's been a lengthy battle over a photo C.D. containing images that the defense calls disgusting.
Our Sunny Hostin on the case for us here now.
Sunny, always good to have you here. And let's start with -- I think we have a picture now at least of Casey Anthony's face. This is her face as they were showing some of those images on that C.D. Now, anybody could make their own estimation of what they think is going on in her mind, but what is it about this C.D. that has maybe Casey Anthony and also her defense team so upset?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It really is remarkable. They are trying to introduce this C.D. to the jury through a forensic anthropologist.
And the C.D. starts by showing a picture of Casey and Caylee, and then sort of through time-lapse photography, T.J., portions of Caylee's smiling face are replaced with pictures of her skull, her remains. And then through also this sort of time-lapse photography, you will see -- or the jury will see, because it's been admitted, pictures of the duct tape and how they may have been positioned over little Caylee's face, so extremely disturbing, almost a reenactment forensically of the potential cause of death.
HOLMES: All right.
HOSTIN: And that's why we see Casey Anthony reacting that way.
HOLMES: And on the stand today was a medical examiner saying that she certainly believes this was a case of homicide, but that would fly in the face of what at least the defense is trying to say.
HOSTIN: Oh, no question.
She's sort of a celebrity medical examiner. She has her own show on the Discovery Channel. Her name is name is Dr. Jan Garavaglia. And she basically said that she -- she believed that little Caylee Anthony died of a homicide, manner of death, and then cause of death, she said homicide by undetermined means, meaning she didn't know for sure, for certain how she died, but she said chloroform could have led to her death and duct tape could have led to her suffocation and her ultimate death.
What was so fascinating, T.J., is that she was almost angry on the witness stand. She said, a little girl shouldn't have duct tape on her face and be left in the woods, so really, really strong testimony for this prosecution through its medical examiner, chief medical examiner.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And we talked about maybe Casey Anthony's -- that face. I guess people can try to read it and see maybe she was reacting and upset to some of the pictures being shown.
But I guess other images we have seen at least of Casey Anthony, or she was crying in the court. We have had back-to-back days now where she seemed to have broken down a bit. What is she reacting to in the courtroom? And of course I'm sure you are hearing as well people wondering, well, is she just putting on or not? HOSTIN: Yes. People certainly believe -- many people believe that these are crocodile tears, but this morning, she was sobbing, T.J., when one of the expert witnesses started talking about the fact that little Caylee's remains, the bones, had been chewed upon by animals.
And that seemed to really, really affect Casey Anthony. Whether or not this is -- these are crocodile tears, we will never know. But, certainly, this is the type of emotion she showed this morning during that testimony.
HOLMES: OK. One other thing I can tell you here -- I think we have these images. But we have been fascinated. And you can help me get some perspective here, because you cover more trials than the everyman and certainly more than I do.
But this type of trial, we have seen people lined up, dozens and dozens every day, running and literally in some cases, we're showing here, almost fighting and scuffling, trying to get a seat inside.
Is this just what happens with these big trials now, I guess the trials that get so much media attention? Not even a celebrity trial here, if you will.
HOSTIN: T.J., I have never seen anything like this.
HOLMES: Wow.
HOSTIN: And you're right. I have covered many, many trials. I have tried my own cases. I have never seen anything like this.
Even with the Connecticut vs. Hayes case that you know I covered, which was the home invasion case, and it got a lot of media coverage, there were seats open to the public. We lined up pretty early, but nothing like this. There are about 48 to 50 seats open to the public that these folks are vying to get. And they are running and lining up as early as 1:00 in the morning to get into this courtroom by 9:00 a.m. It's just remarkable.
HOLMES: Well, Sunny, you stay with me, because you might be interested to hear from our next guest as well who can help give us some perspective here.
The trial -- Kelly Heaney is one of those folks who have been lining up in Orlando to see this trial.
Now, first of all, Kelly, you were there today, but you were also there last week. How early have you been lining up to try to get into the courtroom?
KELLY HEANEY, CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL WATCHER: Yes, I was. I actually got there as early as 3:00 a.m., both last week and yesterday.
HOLMES: OK. Kelly, help us all understand, why do you want to be in the courtroom for this? HEANEY: Being in there just makes everything so much more real. Just seeing Casey in person, same with George and Cindy and Lee. It just puts everything into perspective for me and just makes it all come into place, rather than just watching it on TV.
HOLMES: Now, is that just part of our culture now, where we're fascinated by -- and maybe you can admit this -- you're fascinated -- this coverage -- this story has gotten a lot of media coverage for a while now.
Is it just that almost celebrity culture and nature in you that you just want to see it and be a part of this reality television?
HEANEY: I think so.
It's very interesting, this whole case. You don't hear about this on an everyday basis. The whole thing is just very strange to me. So it's -- that's why it makes it so fascinating to be in there.
HOLMES: Now, ma'am, what is it like as well? You said you lined up at 3:00 a.m. And we're showing video here, I believe. I can't make out which one you are in there, but I believe we have a shot of you.
Just how difficult is it? I guess how crazy is it even, because we have seen scuffles even break out? What is it like down there trying to fight for a spot?
HEANEY: Oh, yes.
When I got there, I was the fifth person in line. And once they started getting past 50, we all started counting on our own and writing on our hands which number we were. But the people in the back of the line did not care at all and said that they were going to be running in front of us.
But I just took off my shoes and gave my bag to my friend, and I sprinted as fast as I could, and I got number nine.
HOLMES: And, ma'am, I will let you respond to some of the folks who you know are talking -- I'm sure you have heard it -- but who look at you and some of the other folks who are -- even, in some of the video, we see smiling. And this is a murder trial, and we're talking about a little girl who was killed.
And it's also -- or seems to be -- by some, it seems to be made into some kind of a spectacle there for entertainment. How do you respond to that?
HEANEY: I guess it has been turned into that, unfortunately. It's kind of like a dramatic "Lifetime" show you would watch. But, I mean, it's sad to say, but it's true.
HOLMES: You plan on going back?
HEANEY: I do. I plan on going at least once a week from now on. It's very draining being in there, especially because I get no sleep, and just hearing everything. But I will try to go in there at least once a week.
HOLMES: And it was one of my first questions when I heard that somebody was lining up at 3:00 in the morning or 1:00 in the morning to get in line. I was asking, do these people have jobs?
Now, I assume you are doing this, I believe, though, on your days off, I would assume, or how are you handling being able to be down there all day?
HEANEY: Yes, I am going on my days off. I mean, it is six days out of the week. And so I -- I go when I can. So -- but everyone else, I think they come on their days off or they're retired or just unemployed right now.
HOLMES: And, Sunny -- now, I think Sunny is still standing by, who I have been talked to.
And, Sunny, I think you could -- you have been able to hear Kelly as well. Now that you are hearing that and the explanation for someone who has actually been lining up every day, does that sound about right?
HOSTIN: I think it does.
I think people are just so obsessed and connected to this case because it sort of cuts against everything we believe in, right? We believe that mothers are nurturers and mothers protect their children, Mother Nature, Mother Earth. And now you have a story of a woman who may have killed her little girl.
And so I think that's part of the fascination as well. How could this happen in our world?
HOLMES: All right.
Well, Sunny Hostin, appreciate having you, as always.
Kelly Heaney, we appreciate you taking the time out. And my goodness, be careful down there. We have seen some scuffles and we have seen a woman actually get trampled down there. I believe that happened today.
So, thank you for taking the time out. And to both of you ladies, have a good weekend.
HEANEY: Thank you. Thank you. You, too.
HOLMES: All right.
I want to turn to some politics now and something that happened just a short time ago, Alaska releasing thousands and thousands of e- mails from, yes, Sarah Palin during her time as governor. It includes some personal messages as well. The media has been asking for these records for years, finally got them today. And our Drew Griffin is one of them who was digging and, yes, literally dragging around boxes upon boxes full of those documents. We will see what was inside. We're checking in with our Drew Griffin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, today, we learn a lot more about Sarah Palin, the governor.
Three hours ago, the state of Alaska released the e-mails Palin wrote during her two years as the state's top executive, more than 24,000 pages of this stuff.
CNN's Drew Griffin is in Juneau, Alaska. He's been sorting through this new mountain of information. He's just taking a break right now from it so he could talk to us.
We do need to note to our viewers that CNN and others requested these e-mails way back in 2008, when John McCain tapped her as his running mate.
Drew, I'm going to talk to you on the other side.
But, first, I want you and our viewers to listen to what Palin said on FOX News trying to head off all of this -- release of all these e-mails. Let's take a listen and I will ask you about it on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FOX NEWS CHANNEL)
SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: A lot of those e-mails obviously weren't meant for public consumption. They are between staff members. They are probably between family members.
So, I'm sure people are going to capitalize on this opportunity to go through 25,000 e-mails and perhaps take things out of context. They will never truly know what the context of each one of the e-mails was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Drew, let me bring you back in.
The context. What are you kind of seeing? Is it hard to, like she said, trying to piece this all together? Are things kind of out of context, or is something standing out to you?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, just think of how you deal in e-mails, a lot of abbreviations, a lot of acronyms that you maybe only use with your friends. So, there's a lot of that deciphering that has to go on.
But I think what we're seeing here in the few hours that we have had to look over all of these documents so far is a hardworking governor, working hard for the state of Alaska, a lot of discussion about policy, about taxes, about cutting budgets, a lot of just the mundane state government work.
And we're also seeing what would be very interesting if you were writing a history book on Sarah Palin, is her evolution as a politician, not only as a state politician, but eventually as she becomes a national politician and she's kind of thrust on to the national stage.
We have seen some of those supportive e-mails in the end of this. This, of course, ends just as she is being picked as vice president.
But I want to give you just a little sample. In 2007, she's learning about leaks in her department and how to deal with them. And one of them involves John Bitney, an aide that she had to fire. And she saw something in "The Anchorage Daily News."
"Wonder how the Bitney replacement mention already got in the 'Ear'?" That's a column for "The ADN" in Anchorage. "Sheesh. I can trust people in this business as far as I can throw them. Have the two ever been officially offered and accepted the jobs yet?" And then she says, "Reading the 'Ear' today was another lesson to me that nothing is considered confidential to some folks, so fewer and fewer people should be brought in to 'think out loud' re:administration business."
She's been accused of being somewhat secretive and has a tight, tight group of people she trusts. T.J., you kind of see the evolution of where that came from.
HOLMES: Do you also see -- I mean, the things we know about Sarah Palin now, we know so much more now about her than as her time as governor. But she was - she's often been criticized for being -- she doesn't appreciate all of the criticism sometimes that comes her way.
Are you seeing any indication of that where, you know, there might be some -- if she takes shots at the media, doesn't appreciate how she is being covered, anything like that? And also, you remember, trooper-gate and also the ethics violation -- any of that stuff we know about her, you're finding any indications of?
GRIFFIN: You know, we haven't -- you know, that's what -- we haven't seen it. It may just be -- literally, I don't want to move so fast because we're on this computer system, but look at all of this stuff we have to go through, right? I have not seen anything on, quote-unquote, "trooper-gate," with her former brother in law, the trooper who was fired. I have not seen any e-mails really involving Todd Palin, who was supposedly the shadow governor in this administration.
And as far as any cheap shots at the press, I haven't seen much of that. And at many times, T.J., she deflects the criticism to her staff. She's trying to take the full brunt of this. I just pulled this one out -- this is from August 31st, 2007. She's obviously driving home or being driven home and is listening to a talk show.
"Wow, Jay is brutal on Holcrow's (ph) talk show right now. I hope he's crucifying me and not all of you, as he tells Alaskans how ill-equipped we are to run the state." She sent that to her top staff members.
I also want to point out that she's very concerned about not getting information that she thinks she needs. This is about troops who are being sent from Alaska to Afghanistan, and also those troops, fallen soldiers who have come home.
And she's writing this to her staff, "As usual, I'm hearing on the news of our troops being deployed with ceremonies to Afghanistan and Sean just asked if I'm going to funeral today for five of our soldiers. I had to tell him that I haven't been told of deployment nor funeral. Why doesn't McHugh let me know what's going on with my troops so I can help honor them? I've asked repeatedly to be in the loop and it's unacceptable to still not be given info on military activities that I am expected, and should, be participating in."
Later on, there's a follow-up on that where she learns, unfortunately, that these funerals happen once a month in Alaska and she writes back, "didn't know there was once a month funeral. I do want to get to those. Thanks for tracking down the info."
A lot of e-mails like those, somewhat different than the narrative that we've been hearing from certain political parts of the country, you might say. But we're still going through it page by page. Unfortunately, T.J., all of this coming out in paper, not in any kind of digital, searchable form.
HOLMES: Twenty-four thousand of those pages and a number of boxes, Drew Griffin going through it for us. Drew, we appreciate. I know we'll be checking in with you plenty throughout the day here on CNN.
Also of note, you folks, you can see it yourself, those e-mails -- they will be available this weekend on CNNPolitics.com.
Well, also, (INAUDIBLE) numbers are in. Wall Street is not pretty. The Dow is dipping below 12,000 for the first time in months. We'll tell you what's behind the plunge. That is coming up.
But, first, in the history of the U.S., it's extremely rare for a prosecute government employees who leak information to the media. But the Obama administration has already taken on five cases. And the last one didn't quite work out the way that maybe the administration had hoped. Find out what this worker admits to leaking and why. It's a setback for President Obama's push to punish these guys. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: He is accused of leaking classify government information to a reporter. But under a plea deal, an ex-NSA worker probably will not go to jail. Thomas Drake pleaded guilty to a minor offense, rather than faced espionage charges.
Our homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is keeping up with this case for us. She is in Washington.
Always good to have you, Jeanne.
Help us understand here. This isn't what the government was hoping for. Were they hoping to make an example out of this guy?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They were. And they're not going to be able to do it.
Drake pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge in Baltimore today after government prosecutors decided they could not pursue the more serious charges against him without revealing classified information in open court and do harm to national security.
According to "The Washington Post," the case concerned a $1.2 billion data sifting program called "Trailblazer" and NSA efforts to collect Americans' e-mail and phone call information without court orders. Prosecutors accuse Drake of leaking information about those programs to a reporter and they charged him last year with 10 counts, some of which fell under the Espionage Act. If convicted, he could have faced 35 years in prison.
Well, today, Drake pleaded guilty to just the one misdemeanor, which was accessing official NSA information on the agency's intranet site and passing it on to another person. Last April when he was awarded a whistleblower prize, he said he was exposing government illegalities, malfeasance, fraud, waste and abuse.
And after today's deal, his lawyers issued a statement saying, "This is a just result. Tom Drake never should have been charged under Espionage Act. Tom never intended to harm his country. And he didn't."
But Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer had a different reaction altogether. He said, "Individuals who are granted special access to our nation's most sensitive information cannot unilaterally decide to disregard the law and agreements they make with the government and how that information may be handled."
Sentencing is scheduled for July, T.J., but the government has agreed not to press for jail time here.
Back to you.
HOLMES: OK. But can it have the same effect, even if they don't make the example with the conviction and he actually goes to prison? This isn't the only case that the government is going after and trying to prosecute folks who leak stuff. So, still can that have an effect on trying to keep people from leaking?
MESERVE: Well, this is certainly a setback for the government. It wanted a much harsher consequence for Mr. Drake, obviously. But, as you mentioned -- there are these various other cases pending and we don't know what the impact will be on those, how those will turn out.
You've heard of some of them. Bradley Manning, of course, is accused of leaking information to Julian Assange and WikiLeaks. We know the Justice Department has been looking at the possibility of charges against Assange. There were cases pending against FBI, state and CIA employees.
So, a number of other things on the burner, but this certainly is not great news for the government.
HOLMES: All right. Jeanne Meserve for us, our homeland security correspondent -- Jeanne, as always, thank you.
MESERVE: You bet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On to the stage. Here we go! Whoa! Are you all right?
So, look, this is -- this is a stage. This is where you're going to see John King, Wolf, Anderson on the stage. They are doing the lighting now --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, coming up, Don Lemon apparently having a good time. He is going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at when Republican candidates will debate. That's in three days. He's even going to -- Don, you're even going to breakdown where everybody is sitting.
Don lemon on the road in New Hampshire apparently having a blast. He's coming up right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Just in to CNN: we have confirmed that Leon Panetta is in Pakistan. The CIA director is there, according to -- I want to read exactly what I had here coming to us from one of our producers. That a U.S. official saying that the CIA director is in Pakistan to, quote, "reiterate U.S. commitment to cooperation with them against al Qaeda," end quote.
You're seeing video of Panetta at his hearing on Capitol Hill this week. But he, of course, has been tapped to be the new secretary of defense. So, this relationship with Pakistan is something that he's been dealing with as CIA director and certainly will continue as the head of the Defense Department as well.
But, as you know, there was a bit of a hubbub between the two countries after the U.S. raids going in unannounced to kill Osama bin Laden. There was some back and forth between the two countries. But, again, the CIA director who has been tapped, as you know, to be the next defense secretary is in Pakistan right now, trying to work on the relationship and continued commitment to cooperation against al Qaeda.
But that word was just in to us at CNN, confirmation now we can pass along to you. We can move now to some politics.
Republican presidential candidates are converging on New Hampshire as they always do for the first debate of the 2012 campaign hosted by CNN. Crews are working feverishly right now to get everything in place for Monday's faceoff.
Don Lemon going in depth as part of our listening tour to see how they are doing. Take a look to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: A sneak peek inside the debate hall. Let's go. Come see.
Look. There's the plans, I forgot. Check it out. Really cool.
This way. This way. You know one of the coolest things, look at these huge light bulbs. These go inside of those cubes right there to light them up. Amazing.
All right. Come over here. Come over here. Check this out. A lot of scaffolding right there. A bunch of cables.
Look at all of this stuff. Basically, what they are going to do is turn this into a big studio. Look at that. It's done. No, I'm not going to do that.
All of the cable right here.
What are you guys doing over there? R.F. Look, there are guys under there working on the stage. But we've been told we can get up there, we're going to go up on to the stage.
Here we go. Whoa. Are you all right? So, look, this is a stage. This is where you're going to see John King, Wolf, Anderson on the stage.
They're doing the lighting now. You can see that. This is going to be big LED screens. And some of those cues that we talk about that we like to use during the election season.
Look at that. Giant stage, all those guys up there. Check them out.
The draping and there are the risers, people sitting, look at the big star the stars of the debates, of course, are going to be the candidates. They are going to be here as well.
I love these things right here, these round circular things. That's what I've been told, they are called the chandeliers. They are going to go around and reuse them for different debates.
But, any way, this is the first one. We're very excited. You got the first preview inside the hall here.
Look at all of these workers getting it ready just for you. You got to see it first.
So, welcome to our temporary home here at CNN. We're excited. Hope you are, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Don, you look happy to be there.
LEMON: Don't start, T.J. Don't start, man. When you talk like that, I know you are up to something. What do you want to know?
HOLMES: No, you look like -- it reminds of that line from "Coming to America," that you are very happy to be there.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: That's how it looked like.
LEMON: Anytime I get paid to be outside of a studio and having fun, then, you know, it's not a bad gig. You've been on this.
HOLMES: Yes.
LEMON: It's awesome. It's like a hotel on wheels, right?
HOLMES: But that hall is impressive. Everything is going on. I mean, it doesn't look like we're ready just yet.
LEMON: Yes, it's not ready. I think we have time lapse video. I don't have a monitor so I can't see it. But put a time lapse video.
HOLMES: We got it. We got it.
LEMON: This is sort of a day in the life. Yes. One day, that time lapse video. I mean, these guys have been working around the clock.
And what's different this time, T.J., is that they are going to have people in remote locations around the country and they're going to be able to ask questions to the candidates and ask questions to our anchors as well. It's going to be interesting.
Let me get my official information on one of the track-offs (ph) came up with. Eleven cameras. We just did this on our own.
LED walls this time, over 500 lights, maybe more. At least three miles of cable easily and three projection screens. So, three projection screens and 11 cameras, that's official. The other stuff we kind of just came up with.
But it's going to be great. This is the best part of being out there. Let me see that.
All right. Jeremy, go along. Are you ready? This is what we've been doing here all day.
HOLMES: Oh, wow.
LEMON: That's not long, man. Go long!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Throw harder.
LEMON: All right. He says I throw like a girl. Go long. Go long.
There you go. We're having a good time. I'm going to be doing my show from here.
HOLMES: This weekend, yes, all weekend, right?
LEMON: I'm going to see you this weekend.
HOLMES: All right. And now, what about the candidates themselves s? I know you ran into Santorum at the airport. But are they spending their weekend there or are they just swooping in on Monday?
LEMON: Well, a lot of them are just hiding from us, for sure because they'd rather just be here for the debate. Some of them are. Some of them are coming late.
I know Rick Santorum is coming in on Sunday night. We ran into him at the airport and had a very interesting conversation, T.J., that we're going to play. About five minutes, he talked to us for a long time about some controversial and interesting stuff.
A lot of the candidates are coming in over the weekend and they will be here for the debate. But you know what? I'm sure you want to hear from -- I want to hear from Newt Gingrich because everybody just backed out and now people want to know exactly -- oh, my gosh.
HOLMES: Who is that?
LEMON: Come here. I don't know. He looks familiar. Oh, yes, I think it's John King.
HOLMES: Tell John, his show don't start for 2 1/2 hours. He can't hijack this one.
LEMON: T.J. says your show doesn't start for 2 1/2 hours.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He can tell excellent time.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: He can tell time. We've been having a good time, haven't we?
KING: You're pretty good as Frisbee thing.
LEMON: Yes, pretty good, right?
KING: Frisbee golf?
LEMON: I have. I actually took a badminton (ph) class in high school. Someone tweeted me saying they took a Frisbee class in high school and college.
KING: Did you ask T.J. what he's doing from 7:00 to 8:00? We're going to go play Frisbee golf. He's going to fill in for me.
LEMON: Seven to 8:00, we want to you fill in because we're going to play Frisbee golf.
HOLMES: Guys --
LEMON: Seriously, in all seriousness, have you been inside that arena?
KING: Yes. They are doing a great job.
LEMON: It's amazing, isn't it?
KING: These guys are working really hard. They're doing all the hard work right now while he plays Frisbee.
LEMON: Where is that Frisbee? Go along, John King.
HOLMES: Don, just a word of advice, man. Do not let the bosses see this. You've got to pretend like you're working. Don!
LEMON: Oh, come on, John! I'm not going to do that. One more time. There we go. Whoa! Nice!
HOLMES: We've lost our way. We have lost our way. Did we not tell you this was live, Don?
Don, please. Word of advice, don't let the bosses see you enjoying yourself out there. You're having too much fun. I know you guys are working.
But, again, Don, we will see you this weekend. Again, your show live from New Hampshire Saturday and Sunday evening.
Don, we'll talk to you soon, buddy.
LEMON: We'll see you there live. Thanks.
HOLMES: Yes, folks, that's "The Best Political Team on Television" right there. Don't forget to catch the New Hampshire debate, Monday night, 8:00 Eastern. And you can only see it right here on CNN.
Well, a lot of folks day in and day out take a look at that 401(k). Well, you might not want to look at it today. The Dow took a bit of a plunge, hitting a depressing milestone as economists reveal how long they think the economy will take to speed back up. That is next. Also, a developing big story. We are getting word that the TSA is getting ready to fire dozens of screeners and supervisors at one U.S. airport. I'll tell you what they are accused of doing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Well, the heat is still boiling hot across bit parts of the country. And the economy is still lifeless, some will tell you. And now, a survey raises some new concerns. It's time for roulette.
Alison Kosik is live in New York for us.
Alison, hello to you. What do you have? It wasn't pretty up there over the last 40 minutes or so.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No, the Dow ending down 172 points, ending below that psychological mark of 12,000 for the first time in three months. The NASDAQ ended lower, but it lost all of its gains for the year.
And, you know, there was this new survey out from CNN Money showing that the odds are still very low that we can fall into another recession. But the survey is also showing that there's growing pessimism and a lot of negativity, too. Experts are now saying there's a 15 percent chance of a new recession, that double the chance that they saw at the start of the year. But still, nonetheless, it is a very small, slim chance -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. The other thing we are getting, no big surprise. Kids cost money. But you might be surprised at just how much.
KOSIK: Yes. You're sitting right. So, get this -- the latest estimate from the USDA says it will cost you $226,000 -- $226,000 from when your child is born up to the age of 18. Talking numbers all day, they are all spinning in my head, T.J. Sorry about that.
HOLMES: It's all right.
KOSIK: This dollar figure is up -- this dollar figure is up 2 percent from last year. And I'll tell you what, your income matters in this as well because, generally, the more you make, the more you spend on your kids. But the big caveat with this figure is that it doesn't count college and that could cost as much as $50,000 a year at the current rate.
Of course, the biggest expense, guess what that is, T.J.?
HOLMES: Biggest expense, feeding the child? Feeding?
KOSIK: Close. It's actually housing. It's housing, child care, and then food. You're very close there. Yes, it costs a lot to raise a kid these days. I'll tell you that much.
HOLMES: So -- I'm looking at the screen here. Housing, child care, health care, clothing, transportation, I guess miscellaneous.
KOSIK: Exactly.
HOLMES: That would be the Xbox and everything like that, miscellaneous?
KOSIK: Here's the good news, though. If you want to decide that you want to have a second child or third child, you know, your expenses are going to end up dropping if you have more kids. You know, they share the bedrooms, the hand me down clothes, the toys, and, you know, the private schools give you discount. So, yes, go have a second and a third. Go for a fourth.
HOLMES: That is the economic advice, straight out of Alison Kosik's mouth today. Alison, good to see you as always. Thanks so much.
KOSIK: Sure.
HOLMES: Next on the roulette, we're talking about the heat that's holding the central and eastern U.S. in a dangerous grip right now.
Bring in Chad Myers.
And, Chad, we always -- we've been talking about severe weather over the past several weeks and months with storms and whatnot. But heat, that counts a severe weather as well.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wouldn't we like to get a shower or storm now to get rid of 102 degrees?
Wow! Look at this, Atlantic City, New Jersey, yesterday, breaking a record, 102. Has never, ever been in the lifetime that they've been taking temperatures, there are records in Atlantic City, never been this hot, never over 100 this early in the season. New York was 102. D.C. was 102 yesterday as well. Baltimore, 100.
Sunny, hazy, and hot and humid here. A couple of showers and storms south of Chicago later on into tonight and into parts of Indiana and Illinois.
There will be -- maybe the place to be this weekend would be New York City. There will be a cold front coming through now that will really enhance your weekend. This front is going to drop to the south. It's going to give you temperatures back down into the 70s for highs.
That's not all the way down to New York City from Philly down, let's say, maybe Washington, D.C., not going to be there. You're still going to have to drive to the north, up into New England. Maybe to the Hamptons, if you can get a house. Or maybe a tent.
HOLMES: Whatever works.
MYERS: T.J.? (LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: All right. Chad Myers, we appreciate that. Thanks as well to our Alison Kosik for playing in today's roulette.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIAN ASSANGE, WIKILEAKS: They are playing videogames with real human lives looking for excuses to kill people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN taking an inside look at the power of WikiLeaks and a disturbing video that launched the controversial Web site into the world stage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We got a story to tell you about developing out of Hawaii right now. The TSA said it's taking steps now to fire about 36 airports screeners, supervisors, and TSA managers. This is at the Honolulu airport. The announcement follows an investigation earlier this year that the screeners allegedly did not check bags for explosives on several morning flights.
The man who founded WikiLeaks calls himself a self-appointed champion of free speech. Julian Assange has revealed the secrets of both dictators and democracies and on Sunday, CNN presents documentary revealed the side of Assange maybe you don't know.
Our Kaj Larsen takes a look inside one of the most controversial things we have seen in some time. WikiLeaks, it's a video of a U.S. Army helicopter allegedly shooting at civilians.
You may remember the video when you see it, but as we show you this preview, we need to let you know that some of what you're about to see may not be suitable for all viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right down there by the body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, yes.
KAJ LARSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And what you see is a van that is coming to help grab some of the wounded people on the ground. The Apache crew asked for permission to engage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, this is an active battlefield. That van could have other fighters inside of it with weapons. Those fighters could put our soldiers at risk and kill those soldiers that they are fighting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we can see in this video that the young pilots in the Apache helicopter have the debates in their character.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, look at, right through the windshield.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are playing video games with real human lives and looking for excuses to kill people.
LARSEN: It turned out that there were children inside of the van.
Sir, as you know, I have almost a decade in naval special warfare. You're obviously 30 years in the army, soldier to sailor, ground pounder to ground pounder. Should these men have exercised more restraint?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think so. What we have here, from everything that I've seen, is that they follow proper procedure.
LARSEN: So if they did everything by the book, is there something wrong with the book?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think so. The book doesn't have every scenario, doesn't have every possible outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, Kaj Larsen here with me now. Good to have you. We always see you out in about. Good to have you in studio. Good to have here in Atlanta.
That video, what was the point of it in the first place and did it accomplish what Julian Assange wanted it to? It seems like that is what put them on the map.
LARSEN: Yes, I think that's absolutely right or that was the intention. Julian Assange's intention with that video was to have his own shock and awe campaign, to sort of shock the consciousness of the general public into seeing what was actually happening in Iraq.
Now, it did not have that intended effect. It didn't accomplish its results because people got hung up in a bunch of other things. Now when he released those documents later on, that had a more gigantic impact.
HOLMES: Did he always know what he had. It's like WikiLeaks is a household name. Even Julian Assange, the name is a household name. Did he really expect it to become this?
LARSEN: I think he did. One thing that I learned as I track him overall these months is that he's extraordinarily keen and he's extraordinarily ambitious. Now this was his goal. This was his strategic objective was to change the balance of power.
HOLMES: OK, and the man himself, we know he had gotten into some legal trouble outside of anything related to WikiLeaks, with some sexual assault allegation. Where is he now and is he able to, quite frankly, continue with the work is he doing with WikiLeaks, given his legal situation? LARSEN: Well, physically he's at a mansion in London, owned by a man named Von Smith, who is a well-respected journalist. Whether he can still be effective running WikiLeaks is really the important question because frankly his name is synonymous with WikiLeaks and has both the investigation in Sweden and potential impending investigation here in the U.S. so his ability to run WikiLeaks is damaged.
HOLMES: Can it survive without him? I mean, did he get something started here that can kind of go on its own even if he's not running?
LARSEN: It's unclear whether WikiLeaks can persist without Julian Assange, but certainly there are other copycats. One of his top lieutenants started a site called OpenLeaks. It's a rival of WikiLeaks and even some journalism media organizations have opened their own Wiki web sites.
HOLMES: Wow. All right. Kaj Larsen, it's coming up Sunday night. I think we have that graphic that we're going to put up. There it is. If you're selling people on why they need to watch this on Sunday night?
LARSEN: Because you're going to see a side of Julian Assange and learn things about WikiLeaks that you've never heard before.
HOLMES: All right. Kaj Larsen, good to have you here. Good to see you, buddy. Thanks so much. Again, on Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Meanwhile, have you heard what is happening with Tracy Morgan, one of the biggest comedians in Hollywood under fire for what he said at a comedy show? And one of the guys in the audience is telling his story, an emotional one, to CNN and find out what he revealed to his parents just before appearing on television. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, time to fast forward a bit now and you basketball fans or are you LeBron haters or just fans of drama?
You've got a big day on Sunday because Sunday could be the day that LeBron goes home without a championship. Game six between the Mavericks and the Heat coming up on Sunday night. The Mavs pulled one off last night.
So now LeBron and his team of stars just one loss away from missing out on at least one championship in their first year together.
Bringing in Wolf Blitzer now who's in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
But Wolf, I know you're a basketball fan. I know you've been watching these games. But didn't think we would be at this point, a lot of people as well, as Miami has played, but now a lot of people might get their wish, which is to see LeBron lose.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, a lot of us just want to see seven games. I want to see the Heat win on Sunday so there will be a seventh and final game. For those of us who love basketball, I love watching the NBA finals.
LeBron has to show up in the fourth quarter. He's got do what he normally should do. Let's see how he does in game six and if there's a game seven. If he comes up and does what he needs to do, there will be a game seven and all of us will be watching game seven.
But I'm sure most of us will be watching game six as well going back to Miami. It's a surprise the way how well Dallas has done. Dirk Novitski, you know, he was sick. He had a temperature, but he's amazing. You've got to admit. I just love the game.
HOLMES: It's a head scratcher to see how LeBron has been playing at the end of the games, but we're not here to talk to basketball.
BLITZER: He's not showing up in the fourth quarter. He's MIA and I'm not talking about Miami. I'm talking about missing in action. He's got to show up in the fourth quarter. He's got to play. He's got to be LeBron. That's it.
HOLMES: Well, they are going to jump on me now. We weren't supposed to talk basketball. What have you got on your show coming up in a few minutes?
BLITZER: We're going to talk about what is going on in Libya, among other subjects. The top State Department official is joining us live, Jeffrey Felton, the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs.
And I'm going to ask him bluntly, has the mission of NATO in Libya now changed dramatically not just protecting Libyan people from Gadhafi's forces, but going beyond even regime change and is the mission now to kill, to assassinate, to target Moammar Gadhafi directly, just kill him and get him out of the way and see what happens next.
We've got some blunt questions for Jeffrey. He's going to be joining us live in the next hour. I think our viewers will want to see this interview.
HOLMES: All right, Wolf, we'll see you here in just a moment. Thanks so much.
Meanwhile, to our viewers come right back, have you heard about the Tracy Morgan controversy? Yes, we've gotten an apology as this thing continues to escalate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Trending today, Tracy Morgan stirring up some controversy in this country because apparently his stand-up has been perceived as an anti-gay rant rather than a comedic performance.
During a recent appearance, people claimed Morgan said, he would, quote, "pull out a knife and stab his own son if he found out the boy was gay." Today, Morgan issued a statement, an apology.
He said, I want to apologize to my fans and gay and lesbian community for my choice of words in my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I'm not a hateful person and don't condone any kind of violence against others.
I'm an equal opportunity jokester and my friends know what is in my heart even in a comedy club, it's clearly went too far and was funny in any context.
Today, our Randi Kaye interviewed Kevin Rogers who attended Morgan's performance. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN ROGERS, ATTENDED TRACY MORGAN'S SHOW: I greatly appreciate his apology. I only hope that it actually is genuine and that's how he feels. And if that is the case, he shows my community and his fans that he is truly sorry for those remarks and takes content like that from his show. I greatly accept his apology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Mr. Rogers, you saw there he actually had to call and tell his parents that he was gay. He had to reveal that to them before they did any interviews on television today.
Meanwhile, the human rights campaign, the largest lesbian-gay bisexual and transgender of Civil Rights organization also put out a statement saying that Tracy Morgan exercises extremely poor judgment and he did the right thing by apologizing, but that's just not enough. He's a role model and Morgan now has a responsibility to make amends for his horribly hurtful and dangerous comedy routine.
We have not heard the last of that. We do appreciate you spending some time with us here at the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you for allowing me to be here. Brooke Baldwin, I think she's back next week. Hope she's having a good weekend.
Right now, let me hand it over to Wolf Blitzer.
