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Hotel Attacked in Afghanistan; Los Alamos National Lab Threatened by Fires

Aired June 28, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

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

Want to begin this hour with some breaking here news out of Kabul, Afghanistan. Here is what we're learning. And I literally am just getting this as I'm telling you, so bear with me.

But we know that the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital city of Kabul has been attacked. Let me read this to you.

Mohammad Zahir, the chief of criminal investigation, tells CNN that a group of suicide attackers have attacked the Intercontinental and fighting is going on between Afghan security forces and the suicide attackers.

Zabiullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, has claimed responsibility for this attack and says a group of Taliban suicide attackers attacked this hotel while there were international and national guests at that hotel at 10:00 p.m. local time in Kabul. We're working that story for you. And as soon as we get more information on the breaking news there, certainly we will bring it to you.

But I do want to bring you up to speed here on a couple of other stories we're working for you on a very, very busy Tuesday here. First up, it is the site that makes America's most dangerous nukes. It is Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico, and folks it is under attack right now by a ferocious, fast-moving wildfire.

One other one I want to pass along, take a look at this. This is the scene in Athens, Greece. We're talking rock-throwing, tear gas, even fireballs. Folks, they're clearly furious at their government on the eve of a desperate measure to save that country from financial ruin.

But, first, alleged mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger back in court this afternoon, at issue, whether Bulger can afford to even hire a lawyer. Bulger wants taxpayers to pick up the tab. Now, remember, the feds found and confiscated more than $800,000 in cash in Bulger's Santa Monica apartment, you know, the one that was about a block from the Pacific Ocean?

Well, most of it was stashed inside a wall and prosecutors say Bulger has admitted to stashing more cash with people he trusts. But he won't name names. Now, the feds are also detailing Bulger's 16 years on the lam in court. These court papers that were filed just yesterday, they say Bulger claims he went back to Boston several times in disguise, and I'm quoting, "armed to the teeth to take care of some unfinished business."

Bulger also told agents about going to Vegas to play the slots. And he is saying he also went to Tijuana, Mexico, to buy some medicine.

Now, it's probably lucky for Bulger that he did not run into some of his old associates during one of those armed trips to Boston, because I with to a man -- many of you caught that interview from Friday -- who used to be an enforcer, used to run cocaine for Whitey Bulger back in the day, for Bulger and his mob. And it's clear there is no love lost. Watch what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN "RED" SHEA, FORMER MOBSTER: I have this dream that I have occasionally, and it's a dream of me seeing him in the streets of New York, just bumping into him and grabbing ahold of him and pulling him into a building and asking him, why? Why did he -- why did he become an informant against basically myself and betrayed the code of silence? And...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What do you do in that dream?

SHEA: ... he wanted -- in that dream, I snap his neck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Red Shea from Southie.

Mike Bello, perhaps you have talked to Red in your past covering this story. You're deputy editor of "The Boston Globe." You have been covering Whitey Bulger since the '80s.

And, Mike, we know that Bulger -- now we are learning that he wasn't exactly laying low on the lam. I want to get to that in a moment, but quickly here let's talk about his court appearance this afternoon. Essentially, he wants the government to pick up the tab in the form of this court-appointed attorney. Why does he want that? Is he just wanting to stick it to the taxpayer?

MIKE BELLO, DEPUTY EDITOR, "THE BOSTON GLOBE": Well, Whitey Bulger is claiming he has no money to defend himself.

He says because that $800,000 was taken from him, he has no money to hire a lawyer, so he thinks the federal government should foot the bill. There was a 15-minute hearing in federal court today where Shelley Murphy and Maria Cramer were at, it was a somber Bulger that showed up, no outbursts in the courtroom, no talking to the judge.

No decisions made on whether the feds will pay for his lawyer. Two lawyers stood up, Kevin, a number of -- Max Stern and Howard Cooper stood up and said they would represent Bulger before the court. But the judge has to rule whether he is indigent. They have put off a hearing until Thursday to make some possible ruling. BALDWIN: OK.

BELLO: There was no -- so that was the big thing that happened today.

And there was also some talk about leaks. The judge wants to crack down on leaks regarding the case from the federal investigators. And the judge asked federal investigators to make sure there are no leaks regarding Bulger's statements and information.

BALDWIN: Sure.

Let me ask you about this other news item that's come down, that the federal prosecutors are now dropping the '94 case that led him to flee in the first case, that racketeering indictment, so they can just now focus on the 1999 indictment that includes the charges that he participated in some 19 murders.

Are you surprised by that?

BELLO: No, I'm not.

The U.S. attorney pretty much wants to focus on the bigger case, which is the 19 murders. The 1994 case focuses more on racketeering and him running Winter Hill Gang. That appears to be small potatoes compared to him involving -- either him executing people or ordering the executions of people.

They want to have the victims to have their chance for justice. They think that's the big case, and they want to focus on that.

BALDWIN: OK. Let's talk about the little bits and -- let's talk about the little bits and pieces we're learning about his time in hiding, where I guess he wasn't so much in hiding.

According to these court documents here, he went to Tijuana, he went to Vegas, and he went to Boston at least twice, at least in that first year on the run in disguise. Do we know, Mike, how he was disguised and what kind of unfinished business he was referring to?

BELLO: No. That wasn't revealed in any of the documents. He did make several trips to Boston. We know in fact he also made two trips within the first year or so after he took off.

There was a man named Stephen Rakes who claimed to have seen Bulger at the L Street Bathhouse in 1995. There was no verification of that. Right now, we don't know why he came back to Boston. We know he was heavily disguised. These were some of the boasts, statements he made to investigators on his way back to Boston.

But no other information has been released on that. The interesting thing is he also said he went to Las Vegas and played the slots and gambled...

BALDWIN: Played the slots. BELLO: ... and won a lot. So -- and he was going to Tijuana to get heart medication, some type of medication he could get down there without a prescription, apparently had a fake I.D., went down there, and was able to walk across the border and get this medication in Tijuana and then come back.

BALDWIN: All right. So there he was getting some meds, winning the slots.

Final question. Do we know in the days that he's been in custody, has he been talking at all, talking to the feds?

BELLO: No, I don't think it's -- it's interesting, because his appearance today appeared to be totally different from the court hearing on Friday and the one on Thursday, very somber, looking down as he left the courtroom.

The situation is, he's incarcerated in Plymouth at a house of correction, where he's basically in solitary for 23 hours a day. He gets an hour to come out and walk around and stretch. But other than that, he's alone. So it's not a very happy existence. And for the first 10 days, I don't think he can have very many visitors, although obviously he's communicating with his lawyer.

BALDWIN: OK. Mark Bello, we will be following this right along with you. What a case, Whitey Bulger, a very different Bulger this afternoon in court.

Thank you so much.

Just want to remind everyone we're still paying very close attention here to this -- these attacks in the capital of Afghanistan, attacks on the Intercontinental Hotel, the Taliban apparently already claiming responsibility to the attack and say they attacked this hotel while there were international and national guests at the hotel in the evening hours -- more on that coming up.

Also this: The flames are high, the danger is close. And clearly it's too close for comfort. I'm talking about the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico. A fast-moving wildfire is inching closer and closer, and is now within three miles of where several metric tons of plutonium and hazardous materials are stored. So what happens then?

Also, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD BLAGOJEVICH (D), FORMER ILLINOIS GOVERNOR: As tough as things can get sometimes and as unfair as you think things might be, you just keep doing the best you can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Not a bad attitude for someone who was just convicted of corruption -- coming up, Rod Blagojevich responding to his guilty verdict, guilty times 17 in his case, and the prospect of prison time, federal prison time.

Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: No doubt by now you have heard about the big fire out in New Mexico. It's now scorched nearly 50,000 acres since Sunday, and last we heard, zero percent containment and potentially very strong winds on the way.

And here of course is the kicker. The fire has marched to the edge of the United States government's nuclear weapons plant, right up to the edge. That's what they just told us. Now, this is a place where we make nuclear weapons, Los Alamos National Laboratory. In fact, this is the very place where they put together the first nuclear bomb.

So, here's the deal. We're getting conflicting stories as to whether this fire poses a nuclear danger. You see the smoke there in this iReport? So, obviously, that is worrying a lot of folks that it might be contaminated somehow.

Now, authorities are saying, hang on, it's not contaminated. They say they're just taking readings to make sure. But also say that all this potentially toxic material stored at the site is protected. But certain watchdogs are saying that is not true. They say plutonium waste stored at the lab, waste exposed to plutonium is just sitting around in barrels like these, tens of thousands of barrels. Also these watchdogs are saying the barrels could catch fire, split open, spew plutonium right out into the atmosphere.

Now, a lab spokesman is saying, no, that these barrels here are locked away in fire-resistant vaults. But we found this very photo that you're staring at on the Web site of a group called nukewatch.org, and it purports to show these barrels right out in the open at the lab's disposal area. They call it Area G.

And we're going to get to the bottom of this story, because I will be speaking with U.S. Senator Tom Udall from New Mexico. He is right there in the thick of things. He's out there getting a briefing right now. He is going to join me live next hour. We're going to get some of this stuff cleared up.

Now this: This is the scene today in Greece, all-out fury on display by folks enraged over what their government is about to do, as in tomorrow. We are going to take you live to Athens coming up.

And have you heard? Sarah Palin's got a new movie. It's got its big debut tonight. We're going to tell you how she is celebrating straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here are some of your top stories.

First up, the jury heard from key witnesses today in the Casey Anthony trial, including George Anthony and Roy Kronk. He is the man who found little Caylee Anthony's remains, and George Anthony, the father of Casey, still denying any affair with a volunteer searcher. He also denied ever saying that Caylee's death was -- quote -- "an accident that snowballed out of control."

Meanwhile -- and again, live pictures here -- here he is testifying. This is Kronk on the stand, testifying earlier that he attempted to alert police to an object he saw in the woods back in August of '08. And according to the defense, Kronk discovered the remains and hid them for monetary gain and then claimed he found her body months later. Kronk denied those allegations.

Also, the board of the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, today electing a new director. She is French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde. She will be the very first female managing director of the global lender. Earlier in the day, the Obama administration endorsed Lagarde. She will be replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned last month after being charged with sexually assaulting a hotel housekeeper.

Sarah Palin once again has all the political world abuzz today, but it's not over a possible presidential run, folks. It's over her movie. The pro-Palin documentary "The Undefeated" will premiere tonight in Pella, Iowa. The former Alaskan governor will of course be there.

So, what's the movie about, you ask? What does this say about a possible Sarah Palin presidential run? Well, stick around, because Joe Johns is in Pella, and he's going to give us those details next hour in "Political Pop."

And a glimmer of good news for those of you thinking about selling your house -- prices are up slightly. This is the first time prices have gone up in nine months. This spring buying season bumped up. The numbers for April, the biggest gains in the 20-city survey were seen in Washington, San Francisco and Atlanta.

Overseas to Athens, Greece. Have you seen these pictures? I want to show you the center of the city. It is a mess today. Look at this. So you have furious protesters on one side. They're hurling rocks at riot police. You see all the gas, the tear gas, also some fires burning around the city too. It's chaos today in Athens, thousands of people out there on strike showing their anger.

Why? Well, they're angry over this government plan to raise taxes, to cut spending, to raise the retirement age. And then it basically affects nearly all aspects of life in Greece, you know, from college tuition to taxes on cigarettes and gasoline.

I want to show you to watch what happened just a short time ago when our own CNN crew, our correspondent Diana Magnay and her cameramen, Joe Duran, were caught between these two sides fighting it out in Athens. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you can see, there's quite a lot of fighting now going on between protesters. And we're being forced out of the way, because it's really kicking off around that corner, a fire burning in the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Obviously, Joe, the cameraman, going down there.

She is Diana Magnay for me in Athens tonight.

And, Diana, first, before we talk about this story, I just want to ask are you and is Joe OK? A bit of a tense moment there for you.

MAGNAY: It was quite a tense moment, actually, Brooke.

And thank you very much. We are OK. Joe had to bandage up his knee, but he's doing fine.

But it was interesting to see. I was here this time last year, when the first round of austerity measures were pushed through. And at that point, the crowds weren't as opposed to journalists as they are this time. We really have been targeted, not just with these green laser pens that they have been pointing at every camera that they can see from the square, but also a lot of camera crews having their cameras targeted this time around, really because the protesters feel that over the last year, they have been painted in a very bad light by the international press.

That's why I think we got the treatment that we did, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Well, Diana, you mentioned the why, the austerity plan. Let's talk about these protesters. They're rallying around Parliament ahead of tomorrow, ahead of this vote where essentially these lawmakers vote on this massive package, this five-year package of tax increases and spending cuts.

What do you make, though, of these protesters you're really in the middle of? Are they more rabble-rousers, or is it a unified voice there on the streets of Athens?

MAGNAY: It's a fairly unified voice across the whole of Greece.

But this new round of austerity measures, so pension cuts, further wage cuts, further cuts to jobs in the public sector -- and bear in mind 10 percent of jobs have already gone in the public sector. This new round of cuts is going to take another 20 percent. That's pushed the unemployment rate in Greece up to 16 percent. It's 40 percent amongst the youth.

So there is a real feeling in this country that the Greek citizen is hurting under all this austerity, under all these cuts. They're going to have taxes hiked again, and they're also going to have to look at a round of privatization, where the government wants to raise $70 billion. And that means that a lot of these public sector workers are going to see their jobs go if those state assets are sold off. So, everybody is feeling this. And the mood on the streets is: We have already been put through enough. Just because the European Union and the IMF say we need to go through these measures so that they can give us more money to pay off debts which we will never be able to pay back entirely, why do we have to go through this pain?

That's pretty much the mood on the street. They don't have any answers. They don't know what to do about Greece's debt burden, but they don't want to go through any further cuts -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Diana Magnay for us in Athens.

Diana, we will check back in with you tomorrow, of course the day of this massive vote of this austerity plan. Diana, thank you.

And now, nearly seven months after a man shot her in the head, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords making her very first public appearance. We will tell you the -- what the event and the special person who brought her out.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The astronauts on the International Space Station had to actually shelter in place for a short time today in the Soyuz capsules due to a -- quote -- "dangerous approach of space debris." This trash, the space trash, got about as close as two football fields away from the ISS. This is according to projections from NASA.

They are still investigating exactly what that space debris was. But let me take you back here on Earth, because this is -- it's exciting. It's bittersweet for this group, this crew of four. It's a week of lasts at Kennedy Space Center. Today, NASA teams are conducting their last flight readiness review of a U.S. space shuttle.

It's all part of the series of checks they have to go through before the big launch of space shuttle Atlantis next Friday, July 8 -- at the launchpad, another batch of tests going on there. They're checking the spacewalking suits the astronauts will take up to the International Space Station during that mission.

And if you can't tell, I'm kind of excited about this. I am a bona fide space geek. I was honored to have the commander of the final shuttle, Chris Ferguson. He joined me on this very show.

So imagine how excited I'm going to be next week when I join my colleagues Anderson Cooper and John Zarrella live from Kennedy Space Center for the last launch. I know you're going to be watching. Just if you need a friendly as to when that happens, it's 11:26 a.m. next Friday Eastern time on July 8.

And our coverage begins Friday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. I will see you there. Also, semi-related space news here: Gabrielle Giffords, the wounded Arizona congresswoman, attended a NASA function last night in Houston, and she appeared alongside her astronaut husband as he received a spaceflight metal. The congresswoman's spokesman says it shows how clear Giffords' physical strength is improving. She was released from the hospital not two weeks ago.

An update now on the man accused of shooting her and 19 others back in January -- officials at the federal prison where Jared Lee Loughner is being held are being ordered to explain their decision to forcibly medicate this man. Loughner's defense lawyers say their client is taking these mood-altering drugs against his will, and they're now challenging the reasoning behind it.

Loughner was reportedly assessed as dangerous after several outbursts and attacks in prison. A federal judge last month ruled that Loughner, in his current mental state, is not competent to stand trial.

And one day after he was found guilty of corruption, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAGOJEVICH: Through that adversity and hardship can come good things. And that's kind of how I'm approaching this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He may be hoping for good things, but prison time looking very likely. Up next, I'm going to speak with the only male juror in this case and I will ask him what it was that convinced him that Blagojevich was guilty. You don't want to miss this interview.

Also, a reminder: We're monitoring the breaking news out of Afghanistan, where the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul has been attacked. We will get you a live report coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Convicted on 17 different counts of corruption, former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich now facing the possibility of many, many years behind bars. Ted Rowlands has been covering the trial for us at CNN. Ted, you were inside the courtroom, you gave us that excellent color after the verdict came down. We're here 24 hours later after the dust was settled. And you caught up with Blago this morning.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I didn't. But some reporters that were camped outside his house did. He was leaving to take his daughter to algebra, he said. Take a listen to what the former governor said the day after he was found guilty on 17 counts. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BLAGOJEVICH: A lot of what life is, is how you deal with your adversities, it's a true test of who you are, and an example to your children how you deal with the tough times. One of the things that motivates me and has motivated me and continues to motivate me and Patti is to show our kids as tough as things can get, sometimes, as unfair as you think things might be, you just keep doing the best you can, and dealing with the adversity. And through that adversity and hardship can come good things. And that's kind of how I'm approaching this. And we better get to school because she's got algebra for three hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: One of the things people will be watching is how Blagojevich conducts himself if he addresses the court during sentencing. Will he show remorse or will he continue to have this stance that he can't believe that this jury came to this decision? It could go a long way in terms of the sentencing he goes to the judge and says, I'm sorry, I admit it? It will give the judge an out to give him a lower sentence. Right now if you do the math, he's looking at some 300 years, he's not going to come anywhere close to that.

He's probably looking at between six and 20 years, depending on how this judge treats him. So a lot of people are going to be watching Mr. Blagojevich when he approaches the judge during that sentencing hearing no, date has been set, he's free on bond until the sentencing hearing set later this fall.

BALDWIN: No date set yet. Ted, thank you.

Want to tear away from Chicago, we will be talking to the sole male juror on the jury. But right now I want to get back to Kabul. There's been some sort of suicide attack in Afghanistan at the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul. I want to go Erin Cunningham. She's a journalist for "The National" on the scene. Erin, bring me up to speed. What do you know. What happened?

ERIN CUNNINGHAM, JOURNALIST AT HOTEL UNDER ATTACK (via telephone): Well, actually, what we're hearing right now is that there were three Taliban fighters that were able to penetrate the hotel. One detonated on the second floor. Right now there are several snipers on the roof who are firing at afghan security forces. Backup has been coming pretty steadily since I got here a half hour ago.

Just about five minutes ago there were RPGs launched from the roof of the hotel toward the area of the vice president's house, the first vice president. And everyone is -- there are a lot of people fleeing the scene. I'm about 500 meters from the door of the hotel. But afghan security forces won't allow us to go any further. We're continuing to hear small arms fire right now.

BALDWIN: This is still an ongoing situation. I hear you. You're not too far from the front door of this intercontinental hotel? Can you just -- bigger picture, how long ago did this attack happen? CUNNINGHAM: It probably started about an hour and a half ago, that's when people started first hearing the gunfire, reports were trickling in, and then about an hour ago it became clear that there were a number of suicide bombers that had entered the intercontinental and a battle was going on with afghan security forces.

BALDWIN: According to, and this is what I have here at CNN. According to this spokesperson, they've already come forward claiming responsibility for this attack, and they're answering a little bit of the why, I want you to add on to this. These attackers specifically targeted the Intercontinental because there were prominent guests at the hotel. Do you know anything more about who was staying there? Who was at that hotel?

CUNNINGHAM: Actually, right now I don't. We're hearing reports that up to ten people have been killed. I don't know if they're internationals or Afghans. However, the hotel is popular with both, frequented by foreigners who come to Kabul as well as --

BALDWIN: I think we just lost her, Erin Cunningham. You just heard her, that was incredibly significant. That's the first we're learning again, according to Erin Cunningham on the scene for us. Saying ten deaths after this suicide attack in which the Taliban has claimed responsibility at the intercontinental hotel in Kabul. We'll work on getting more on that story.

But again, other story, Chicago, Blagojevich's retrial, we learned around this time yesterday the verdict was handed down guilty on 17 of those 20 counts. And this retrial, the first one ended in a hung jury. You remember on all those charges except one. We have one of those jurors on the phone. We'll take to him on other side of the break. I'll ask him what was that one piece of evidence that to you said guilty. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's go back to Chicago. This was Blagojevich's retrial. The first one ended in a hung jury and all the charges except one. What did this second jury here that perhaps the first jury did not? John McParland was the only male jury, he was sitting with 11 women. He's now online with me now. John, so unique to get to talk to you. You were the one sitting in that courtroom when that verdict was read, 17 out of 20 counts guilty. Did you try to make eye contact with Blagojevich at all? What was his reaction?

JOHN MCPARLAND, BLAGOJEVICH JUROR: I was trying not to -- trying not to look at anybody. I kept looking straight at the judge. It's hard for me to study the people and everything. That's how I was even when I first walked into the courtroom for the first time. It was just -- I mean --

BALDWIN: You were nervous?

MCPARLAND: -- the counts called off.

BALDWIN: We know that the entire time Mr. Blagojevich maintained his innocence. When he took the stand, he's been on TV, radio, he wrote a book. How did that not taint your perception of him as a juror in this trial?

MCPARLAND: I never really followed much of him. I'm not really into politics, itself. So I was just sticking to the facts of what I was hearing and what I was reading and --

BALDWIN: So you were the perfect kind of juror that they wanted. What was John, the one piece of evidence that said to you, this guy's guilty?

MCPARLAND: Well, it's just, the wiretapping, when you're hearing things like, you know, "This is f-ng gold" and "this is mine" type of thing.

BALDWIN: Referring to the vacant Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. That's what you're referring to?

MCPARLAND: Yes. It sounds like he should be getting something for all this. I mean, it's -- if they want this, give me that. And it's just the talking, the way I keep hearing the talking on the wiretaps, it's just hard to believe that it's supposed to be the opposite of what he really meant.

BALDWIN: They were arguing that it was nothing nefarious at all, and he was brainstorming for a possible next senator. I want to play you some sound, John. I don't know if you heard this. This was Blagojevich after he left the courtroom yesterday. This is his reaction to the verdict and talking about how his family would react. Listen to this with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAGOJEVICH: Patti and I obviously are very disappointed in the outcome. I frankly am stunned. There's not much left to say. I'm sure we'll be seeing you guys again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So he talks, John, about his school-aged daughters. Did you or any of the ear jurors, the other women sitting around deliberating think, this guy's a father, has kids? Maybe we should go easy on this guy?

MCPARLAND: Well, no, we were considering that. We felt sorry for his children especially. But we just kept our eyes on him only, in the governor, you know. He's the one being charged. And we had to throw all that aside and not even think about that.

BALDWIN: How long should he be sent away?

MCPARLAND: I'm not really good at estimating that. But there should be some jail time definitely, since it's so many charges against him.

BALDWIN: Five years, ten years, 25 years? You were the judge, what would you --

MCPARLAND: He wouldn't say 25, but -- I mean, I -- probably no more than five.

BALDWIN: John, you had a unique role here as a member of this jury. You were the only man out of, what, 11 women with you? You were the only man. What was that like, and what kind of role did you play there?

MCPARLAND: Well, I was more or less -- I sat in the back most of the time, because I'm a quiet guy. The ladies themselves, they were great, they were very thorough on everything. They took notes galore, like anything. They gave -- everything matched. I mean, everything was good, I mean, I was great --

BALDWIN: Are you happy it's over? Ten days you're done? Is it a huge relief for you?

MCPARLAND: Could you say that again?

BALDWIN: It's a huge relief for you, sir?

MCPARLAND: I am sort of glad it is over, though. I will sort of miss going downtown and everything, but I'm sort of glad it's over.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much for hopping on the line and talking about your experience here. The only male juror, Blagojevich, 17 counts guilty, thank you.

MCPARLAND: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the hack job done for revenge. The hacker group gained access into Arizona's department of public safety, exposing highly classified information, personal information about police officers, even their wives. Now a rival group is hacking them. You will want to stick around for this. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We're going in depth, talking about the end of privacy this week here on CNN. This is how computer hackers earned the anger of an entire state police department. Members of a group somehow got their hands on a pile of sensitive personal information about officers at the Arizona department of public safety and then posted that sensitive information on the internet for all to see.

Now, the Arizona law enforcement community has, you're about to find out, a big problem with what has happened here. I want to go straight to Phoenix and talk to the president of the Arizona highway patrol association. This is Jimmy Chavez. Jimmy, thank you for coming on. Sorry about the circumstances here. And I think I know the answer to this, but I just want to ask, was your personal information hacked or no?

JIMMY CHAVEZ, PRESIDENT, ARIZONA HIGHWAY PATROL ASSOCIATION: My personal information, some of that information was hacked and that was part of a bigger file that had a lot of other information on it as well.

BALDWIN: OK. I know this was a serious breach, probably some of t the people you work with would say that's an understatement. Without divulging anything, what kind of personal information was hacked and put out on the internet?

CHAVEZ: Well, obviously when you're talking about that information, it deals with password information into the e-mail system, officers, residents locations, phone numbers, that kind of information.

BALDWIN: Also pictures? I think I read pictures of wives even, right? I mean, that --

CHAVEZ: Right. And I have not reviewed or seen all the information that was released by this group, but I do understand -- and the agency is sifting through the information. They have the investigation ongoing right now. But I understand via some of the information, or some of the sources that I talked to that that did include some photographs. How detailed those photographs are, I couldn't tell you for sure.

BALDWIN: I understand one of the officers whose home address was leaked, he's left his house. The point I'm trying to make is this is seriously personal, seriously sensitive information.

And I want to get to the how and the why. We have an idea why. According to these hackers they did it because they're targeting DPS because they're against racial profiling, anti-immigrant police state that is Arizona. So that is part of the why. But what about the how? Do you even know yet?

CHAVEZ: I don't know. As I said, the agency has asked for some computer forensic help from FBI. And they're working diligently to try to determine exactly to find out how they were able to hack into the e-mail system.

Unfortunately, it was only -- fortunately it was only to the e- mail system. There are other secure files that were not breached, fortunately. But still they were able to get some sensitive information out there and release it to the public.

BALDWIN: This has to be some kind of wake-up call. It's one thing for my personal computer to be hacked. It's quite another for, you know, a government department of public safety to be breached. What is the agency doing? You mentioned the FBI stepping in. What are you doing so this never happens again?

CHAVEZ: I can't speak for the agency itself, but I can see we want to prevent this from happening again. We work very hard in the law enforcement community statewide over the last several years to try to add some protections for information, information relating to law enforcement personnel. That includes some law changes that we've made over the last several years to help protect our identities a little bit more, trying to redact a lot of our information from public access. BALDWIN: Quickly here, what do you want to see to happen to these hackers? We know there was a whole other group. They called themselves the A-team. What should happen to these guys?

CHAVEZ: Well, obviously if their identities can be discovered, we've got some support from law enforcement community statewide, we would like to see these folks prosecuted. We do have some statutes in Arizona they can be prosecuted for, for getting into the system as well as releasing personal information that belongs to law enforcement personnel.

BALDWIN: Jimmy Chavez, thank you very much.

CHAVEZ: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: Coming up next here, Wolf Blitzer has your personal ticker. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's go to Wolf Blitzer with the latest off the CNN Political Ticker. Wolf, talking a lot about Iowa today.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, we should. The president of the United States is in Iowa. Of course, that was his great victory in the Iowa caucuses that really put him on the map as far as the race to the White House is concerned. As you remember, he was facing all sorts of Democratic opposition to run for that nomination. He's back in Iowa today, gave a speech on the economy.

He's not the only politician, though, in Iowa. Sarah Palin is in Iowa. That's perhaps significant. She's there for the premier of this new movie about her called "Undefeated." We'll see how that works. Michelle Bachmann was in Iowa yesterday. Today she was in New Hampshire.

Iowa is almost the center of the political universe because as all of our viewers know, it's the home of the first caucuses in the race for the White House. Democrats and Republicans four years ago now are, just the Republicans running for the nomination. It doesn't look like the president is going to have any serious opposition for the democratic presidential nomination.

One other note I want to point out, Ron Paul, money presidential candidate gave a radio interview, did a radio interview and he was asked about bankruptcy, because there's all this concern that Greece could go bankrupt, what could that mean, spillover effect here. He was specifically asked about that.

He was asked, if bankruptcy is the cure for Greece, is it also the cure for the United States? And he's very concerned about what's going on in the United States with the national debt. He said absolutely. It's causing a bit of a stir. Ron Paul is libertarian. He has his own views on what's going on. That little exchange caused a little bit of a stir.

Brooke, ask me where I'm going to be tomorrow and Thursday.

BALDWIN: I already know the answer to that.

BLITZER: Ask me, "Wolf, where are you going to be tomorrow and Thursday?"

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Where are you going to be tomorrow and Thursday, Wolf Blitzer? The world wants to know.

BLITZER: I'm going to be in Chicago. Ask me why.

BALDWIN: Why are you going to Chicago?

BLITZER: I'm going to interview the new mayor Rahm Emanuel at city hall tomorrow. And on Thursday I'll interview the former president of the United States Bill Clinton in Chicago. His CGI, Clinton Global Initiative conference is taking place in Chicago. It's the first time the CGI is looking at strictly domestic economic issues here in the United States. I have an issue with Rahm Emanuel tomorrow, Bill Clinton on Thursday and then eventually back here in Washington.

BALDWIN: Big week for you, Mr. Blitzer. Have fun.

BLITZER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll be looking for you. Thanks very much.