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Manhunt for Armed Man in Maryland; Obama to Hold First-Ever Twitter Town Hall; What Causes Autism?; Bleak Forecast for Friday's Space Shuttle Launch; Report: Atlanta Educators Cheated; Solar Energy Fuels High-Speed Train
Aired July 06, 2011 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Suzanne Malveaux. Thank you so much. We'll see you here again shortly.
Hello to our viewers.
We're at the top of the hour here following this breaking situation Suzanne was telling you about a second ago. We got certainly a traffic situation, but it could be much more serious than that. This is in the Baltimore area, reports of a man described with a long gun. You could use your imagination there. It could be a rifle here.
But reports of a man with a gun -- he was spotted near the highway there, I-295, around I-195 there and they have shut down traffic in both directions. I'm told this is an area not terribly far from BMI, from the airport there, the Baltimore airport.
But right now, they are searching for this man. Not sure of the reports of shots being fired, or anybody being shot. I want to be clear about that at least. But they are looking for someone described as a white male, the suspect here, a white male between the ages of 50 and 60 wearing a black and red flannel shirt, as well as blue jeans.
They have -- the police now called out officers on foot. They have the K-9 unit out there. They have helicopters. So, they are certainly taking this quite seriously.
But, still -- certainly a serious situation because there are questions about who this person might have been, who might be, what their intentions might be, where they might be at this point. But, again, I do not have any reports to bring you right now of anybody being injured right now.
So, important to tell you about, but right now, a nasty situation in the Baltimore area at least traffic wise. But a major highway, I- 295, certainly important there, has been shutdown in both directions, at route 195 as they look for the possible suspect that was seen with a long shotgun, a long gun, rather I should say, is how they described it, a long gun.
But the search is on for that suspect. We're keeping a close eye on that. We are also keeping a close eye on the White House today, where the president, you know, he has done a number of town halls. He's done a YouTube town hall. He's done a Facebook town hall.
Might as well throw in a Twitter town hall -- you're just about an hour away from that. He will hold what they are holding a Twitter town hall, a first of its kind for the president. And this is happening in just about an hour and it will be talking about the state of the economy.
You -- if you have a question, possibly the president will answer your question. If you have a question about the deficit, and debt ceiling, taxes, spending, unemployment -- go right ahead and tweet until your little heart is content, and use the hashtag, ask Obama.
And then at 2:00 Eastern Time, again, right about an hour from now, the president will answer some of the questions out there. He will not be limited to 140 characters. There will have somebody that will tweet out some answers at 140 characters, but the president is going to be speaking. So, he won't be limited in answering your questions.
This is happening at the White House East Room. You will see it live here on CNN.
Now, the back drop of this Twitter town hall on the economy, of course, is the standoff with Republicans right now in Congress over the authority to keep borrowing money.
The treasury says it can tap-dance, if you will, for another 27 days, after which it may have to default on debt payments for the first time. Republicans say they won't raise the ceiling without equally sizable spending cuts. But the president wants to increase revenue as well by ending certain tax breaks and plugging some loopholes.
Here is what he said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's my hope that everybody is going to leave their ultimatums at the door, that we'll all leave our political rhetoric at the door, and that we're going to do what's best for the economy and do what's best for our people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Political rhetoric -- well, it's not going anywhere just yet. The talks themselves haven't come to much. Congressional leaders are due to head back to the White House tomorrow.
Here's where they stand, at least, today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: Will we be the kind of country that protects tax breaks and giveaways for the riches and corporations while sacrificing seniors and the middle class? That is the America my Republicans colleagues are proposing. Those priorities are simply backwards.
Democrats, on the other hand, believe that in a nation where half the country's wealth is controlled by probably less than 1 percent of its people. That perhaps 1 percent should not be exempt and asking sacrifices from everybody else.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Americans expected that in a negotiation about a debt crisis, that talking about a debt crisis, that we would do something that significantly reduce the debt. And with so many still out of work we expect the president to not insist on proposals that his own administration says will put even more people on the unemployment line. So, we're eager to meet with the president to see if he is really willing to do something big for the country.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HOLMES: All right. Again, it's askObama. That's the hashtag you're supposed to use. I think we have this up for you right now. These tweets, thousands and thousands of them, are pouring in. Again, it gets going here in just about an hour. These are all you are seeing in real time behind me right now.
Again, the president responding to your questions, one coming in on Twitter at his Twitter town hall coming up at the top of the next hour.
Well, this hour's sound affect is the first victory of the 2018 Winter Olympics, the decision on where to hold them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUES ROGGE, PRES., INT. OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: The International Olympic Committee has the honor of announcing that the 23rd Olympic Winter Games in 2018 are awarded to the city of -- Pyeongchang.
(CHEERS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, after losing the 2010 Winter Games to Vancouver, then losing the 2014 games to Sochi, Russia, Pyeongchang pulled ahead of Munich, Germany, and also Annecy, France, to play host to the 2018 Games. South Korea never hosted a Winter Olympics. And Seoul, of course, had the Summer Games in '88.
Munich was vying to be the first city to host the summer and winter games. But they'll have to wait.
Some other stories that we are keeping a close eye on. A Facebook event that's expected at any moment and it's expected to be awesome. Yes. The site's creator, Mark Zuckerberg, you're seeing there, says, quote, "something awesome will be revealed."
Now, rumors have been swirling on the Internet from things such as the longer way to iPad app, to a video chat service, directly integrated with Facebook.
Well, interestingly enough, the event comes a week after Google unveiled its social networking try. They called it Google Plus. And would you believe that's the site where Mark Zuckerberg right now is the most popular person on that news site.
Turn to New York now where sources say attorneys for Dominique Strauss-Kahn are set to meet with prosecutors today in his sexual assault case. The meeting comes a few days after prosecutors revealed that there were credibility issues with the woman accusing Strauss- Kahn of assault.
Friday's revelations about the accuser left some thinking the case was on shaky ground, but the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance, says prosecutors are not ready to drop the charges.
Also, a U.S. Army general has approved a possible death penalty in the trial of Major Nidal Hasan. You'll recall that Hasan is accused of going on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood Texas in 2009. As a result of that shooting, 13 people were killed, 32 injured. Hasan's government-appointed defense attorney has urged the military against allowing the death penalty, saying the trial would be more time consuming and more expensive.
Also, this is certainly a case. Look at this. You've got to cover your eyes. This was the scene yesterday at Mesa, Arizona. This is the kind of dust storm here that is generally over desert land and can reach thousands of feet high.
Tuesday's storm has sustained wind of 69 miles per hour and at one point stretched wider than 30 miles. It was so bad that the FAA issued a ground stop of more than an hour at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. In addition to causing visibility that was near zero, the storms can uproot trees -- you're seeing some of this -- damage power lines and cause severe structural damage.
And just hours after Casey Anthony was found not guilty of murdering her daughter, crowds began flocking to her central Florida home. Look at this -- dozens of patrol cars, they lined the road near the house while deputies on horseback and ATVs were on hand for crowd control. Dozens of people gathered near the home. A number of them are expressing displeasure with the outcome of the trial.
While Casey's parents have returned to the house, some neighbors said they hope Casey would not return to the neighborhood.
That verdict, as we know, stunned a lot of people, analysts and followers of the trial. Up next, understanding how Casey Anthony could walk away a free woman tomorrow. Also, the new effort to find out who those 12 jurors are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As to the charge of first-degree murder, verdict as to count one, we, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That was the stunning conclusion after three long years of waiting, investigations and courtroom drama. Casey Anthony, who, of course, is the prime suspect of the murder of her 2-year-old daughter, will likely walk away a free woman tomorrow.
Despite harsh criticism of her defense team, at the end of the day, the jury could not find Casey Anthony guilty of murder, of child abuse or manslaughter of little Caylee. It turns out the only thing clear to the jury was that Anthony lied to the investigators.
This verdict is still sending shock waves through the country and shocked even some of the most seasoned lawyers out there.
The big question is: what led the jury to their decision? All the jurors are refusing to talk at this point. However, we're getting insight from an alternate juror who did not play a part in deciding the verdict, but what he says maybe is still telling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSSELL HUEKLER, ALTERNATE JUROR: I agreed with it wholeheartedly. It was the right decision that was made. The prosecution didn't meet the burden of proof. We had a lot of reasonable doubt there. They didn't show us the evidence that, you know, was good enough for a conviction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Let me turn to Lyann Goudie, who has tried criminal cases as a prosecutor and a public defender, joining me now from Tampa.
Lyann, it's good for you to be with us. Help the public to understand -- meaning the people outraged right now and saying, how in the world could the juror have gotten this wrong -- well, help the jury to understand how they could possibly be wrong in this case? It seems like everyone wanted to convict her and they did have access to the trials. So, how was the public so different in their opinion from the jurors?
LYANN GOUDIE, SERVED AS FELONY PROSECUTOR: Well, I think the public probably didn't sit and watch the case day in and day out like the juror was forced to, because they are a captive audience.
What everybody needs to understand is that there are two things the criminal prosecution has got to prove in every single criminal case, that's number one, that a crime was committed; and number two, that the defendant is the person that committed the crime. And they've got to prove that beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt.
If you watch this case or if you know anything about it -- I mean, the case was racked with reasonable doubt. The prosecution, I think, did a very valiant job in trying to present its case, but it was not a surprise to me or, frankly, anybody that I know here in Tampa that the jury came back the way they did.
HOLMES: Now, we talk about this thing, reasonable doubt, all the time. You can have -- help explain that just a little bit more as well. Reasonable doubt, you can have some doubt, but then reasonable doubt is different than having some doubt, right?
GOUDIE: Right. What the jury got instructed on was a reasonable doubt is not an imaginary doubt or possible doubt or speculative doubt. A reasonable doubt is a doubt that rises based on the evidence, and it creates in you whether an abiding conviction of guilt. When a -- when a prosecution has proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt, it has given the jury collectively an abiding conviction of guilt as to the crime that was committed and the fact that the defendant committed the crime.
I mean, it's a pretty strong and high burden for the prosecution to have to make.
HOLMES: And a lot of people will tell you as well, it should be. We are finally hearing from the prosecutor, Jeff Ashton. I believe we heard from him this morning. We're going to listen to him and come back and ask you about the job the prosecution did.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ASHTON, PROSECUTOR: I cannot believe that's what happened. But again, beyond a reasonable doubt is a high standard. And, you know, the jurors may have thought, as I do, but beyond a reasonable doubt is a high standard. I respect the fact that they, you know, applied the law to the case as they saw it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, did he just have the odds stacked against him quite frankly from the beginning? You have to prove that a crime was committed and the defendant committed that crime. Well, it wasn't necessarily clear that a crime was committed.
So -- and people also argue that the case was overcharged. So kind of was the deck stacked against the prosecution from the very beginning?
GOUDIE: Sure. But they wear their big boy and big girl pants, and they made a decision to bring the prosecution. And they put their best effort forward. And that sometimes happens. As a prosecutor, you believe you have a good-faith basis, that you can prove your case beyond reasonable doubt. But it's up to 12 citizens of our community to sort through that and decide whether or not you did or didn't.
And, you know, I couldn't agree with that prosecutor more with what he said. I can tell you this much, I'm a grandma and a mom, and there's nothing about Casey Anthony that I like. But liking her doesn't equal proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
HOLMES: And something you just mentioned, too, those 12 citizens that are sitting in there. They decided they did not want to speak to the media afterwards. Who knows in the days or weeks or even months down the road if they'll decide they want to come out and start doing interviews.
But now, there are some media out let's that have gone and filed a motion to have the jurors' names released. The judge in this case did not release their names and said they would not be released.
What happens in a case like this? Does the public -- does the media have a right to this information from the jurors? Or can this be a situation where there is safety concerns maybe even in this case that would lead the judge to still not release those names?
GOUDIE: It will be interesting to see what the judge does. I do agree that there's probably some safety concerns, especially considering the amount of police that they put outside of the Anthony home to protect them. And so, if I were a juror, I'd be concerned about that.
And, you know, the balancing act that takes place between the public's right to know and that, the judge will play it out and the press can take it up on appeal. As far as -- I'm sure as you well know, that somebody will get offered money and decide that they're going to divulge what went on in the juror room.
HOLMES: Yes, we know those offers --
GOUDIE: I hate to be a cynic, yes, but that's probably going to happen.
HOLMES: No, that's not cynical. We know. We've seen this happened in the past. And money is offered in these cases. People used these cases oftentimes. People are also waiting for Casey Anthony, to see if she is going to make a buck off this case well.
GOUDIE: Yes, I'll be surprised if MTV doesn't give her a reality show. So, there you go.
HOLMES: Oh, wow. Ad people will watch it in all likelihood.
Lyann Goudie, it's good to talk to you today. Thanks so much. We'll see you again.
GOUDIE: Nice talking to you. HOLMES: All right. We're at 18 minutes past the hour.
Well, the banks out there, they are counting on a new way to increase revenue. Wait until you see how this going to affect you. That's ahead in "Your Money."
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It 20 minutes past the hour. Give you a look at some of the stories that are making headlines.
And this one just in to CNN: Maryland state police are looking for an armed gunman right now. This person is described as a white male between the ages of 50 and 60s, wearing a black and white flannel shirt and blue jeans.
Now, reportedly, this person was spotted with a long gun. It's how they described it. So, it could be a shotgun. It could be a rifle. They're searching in the area of I-295 in the Baltimore area. This is at Route 195.
There are also some reports possibly that shots were fired at cars on the road. So the highway has been shut down in both directions in this area.
This whole scene has been going on for about the past almost two hours now. The first calls came in around 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time. But so far, no injuries to report, but certainly, a story to keep a close eye on.
Also, jury collection for the Roger Clemens perjury trial is now under way. The former baseball star is accused of lying to Congress in 2008 when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. The presiding judge of the case has chastised Congress for refusing to turn over audio recordings of Clemens 2008 deposition.
The existing counsel to the House of Representatives says the recording can only be released by a resolution of the House of Representatives.
Well, reputed mobster James "Whitey" Bulger is expected to be arraigned an hour from now, in a federal court in Boston. He's facing 19 murder counts. Prosecutors say he was the head of a South Boston Irish gang before he fled an impending racketeering indictment back in 1995. He was arrested last month in California with his longtime girlfriend who was since been charged with harboring a fugitive.
And 10 members of the Afghan parliament have boycotted the chamber after a fight that broke out between two female members. This is the video of it. You could one woman throws a shoe, and then another throws a plastic water bottles, and then -- that broke loose.
The scuffle began when President Karzai's supporters and detractors started yelling at each other at issue: rocket attacks coming from Pakistani soil. That's been a hot topic recently in parliament. One group wanted to call Karzai in to speak on the issue.
Turning to your money now. The big banks have found another way to cash in on you.
Alison Kosik is joining me now from the New York Stock Exchange.
Alison, they always find a new and creative way to get more money out of us.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You took the words out of my mouth. They really do.
But you know what? In this case, T.J., it doesn't mean any fees for you, and instead some of the biggest banks and some of those credit card issuers are going to be selling your shopping information to retailers because retailers want you to get into those stores and banks are trying to find new ways to make money.
So, here's how it works -- what the bank does is it tracks what your shopping habits are, how much you spend, where you shop, what you buy, and then they sell that information to retailers, so those retailers can send you coupons via text, email or with your bank statement.
So, let's say you go to Nordstrom's and you buy shoes -- one of my favorite thing to buy -- you may get a coupon for shoes at rivalry retailers. And when you use that coupon, the retailer pays the bank a fee.
So, this really opens up a huge revenue possibility for banks. You know, they could take in almost $1.7 billion a year with this, T.J.
HOLMES: A lot of the banks we're talking about here?
KOSIK: You know, this kind of that's hard to say, but some of the banks we know are doing this -- Wells Fargo, Citi, Sovereign Bank, Discover, and Visa.
You know what? There's one group that estimates almost 5 million credit cardholders are going to be involved in this. But keep this in mind, you still can opt out if you don't want to be included. But don't be surprised if this spreads even more because you know this, the government is cracking down on the fees that banks charge and these banks -- they are looking for new ways to make money, and this is a great way for them to make money -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. One last thing here. We heard that phone companies, the smart phones, people are getting rid of -- these companies are getting rid of the unlimited data plans now. Who else is jumping on this bandwagon?
KOSIK: Yes. So, Verizon is getting rid of all of those -- whatever calls all you can eat data plans. It goes for $30. So, starting tomorrow they will do away with that. New customers who have a smart phone can pick from three a la cart plans. They can have two gigs of data for 30 bucks a month, five gives for $50 a month, 10 gigs for $80 a month.
But this isn't new. Verizon is just kind of entering the fray because AT&T and T-Mobile already this did.
So, why is the Verizon doing this? Because the fact is we're using more data, we're sending pictures, we've got email, we've got streaming video, and these phone companies, they want to cash in on it, because it's a huge money maker.
But what's interesting here, T.J, many of us -- we don't know what a gig is, so we think what plan are we going to sign up for? So, Verizon has got a fix. They say they're going to said they're going to alert you when you're getting close to your plan's data limit. Isn't that nice? Won't get billed for $10,000 at the end of the month.
HOLMES: Oh, how sweet of them. Alison Kosik, good to see you as always. Thank you so much.
Well, actor Hugh Grant says he's been hacked by a British Sunday tabloid. He's not the only one caught up in what is now a huge scandal. We'll hear from him next in today's "Globe Trekking."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a phone hacking scandal surrounding the British tabloid "News of the World" is now widening.
Today, the father of a victim of a 2005 London terror attack says his son's phone may have been hacked by a private investigator working for the Sunday tabloid. Folks are calling on the paper's parent company, News International, to come clean about what happened.
Police are looking at claims that "News of the World" targeted murder victims, politicians and celebrities in a widespread hacking campaign.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, the owner of News International, as well as the "New York Post," "The Wall Street Journal" and FOX News calls the allegations deplorable and unacceptable.
British actor, Hugh Grant, says he was hacked by "News of the World" and he says police interviewed him about the case. Our Richard Quest interviewed him as well.
Richard, good to see you as always. We know these individual cases now, including Hugh Grant of this hacking going. But this thing sounds like it was widespread and systematic over there.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Oh, that's putting it mildly. This was hacking on an industrial scale. Look, to viewers that may not be familiar -- this is the publication I am talking about. It's the "News of the World." Now, statistically, it is the highest selling English-speaking Sunday newspaper anywhere in the world. It's the usual Sunday tidbit of gossip, scandal and scurrilous nonsense.
However, what they engaged in over the previous eight or nine years for several -- at least in the early part of the century, was a systematic phone hacking of celebrities of stars, and now it appears even victims of bomb blasts, parents of murdered children, and so on.
The advertisers have already started to withdraw their advertising. Some like Ford said they're pulling out immediately. But Hugh Grant, the actor, has really come out on his own and basically gone on the war path against the News of the World. And I asked him why, when you've the advertisers and the government, why he became such an unlikely spokesman for the campaign against them?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUGH GRANT, ACTOR; Rather like the government, they're hoping to kick the whole thing slightly into the long grass, maybe some other big news event will come up, you know, the pressure will die down. And that's why it's the job of unlikely people, like me, to keep the pressure up all the time because it's not coming from the government. And it's not really going to come from the opposition who are squirming at the moment, because they like to have a cozy relationship with Murdoch press, as well. So it's not going to come from politicians. It's certainly -- it's not much going to come from the police. So it's left to, as I say, a few unlikely souls like myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Now, Hugh Grant with a checkered past himself, illegal past in the U.S., he recognizes he could be making himself a target for more abuse and investigation by the tabloids. But his policy is pretty much this. Someone has to stand up and be counted, and that's why he says it's him.
And T.J., just to put this into context, this is really taking not only the British by storm, but the Murdoch media empire. And if you think that doesn't affect anybody else, bearing in mind, Murdoch owns the "Wall Street Journal", the "New York Post" 20th Century Fox movies, the FOX Network -- television network, FOX News Channel and so on. And not just in the United States, and this is a story maybe not of hacking in other places, but certainly one that goes to the heart of the Murdoch empire.
HOLMES: Good way to give us some perspective there. Not just a story happening over there.
Richard Quest. Good to see you, as always, buddy. Thanks so much.
The space shuttle Atlantis expected to liftoff on Friday, but mother nature might have some other plans. We will tell you all about the mission's cloudy future, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Thirty-five minutes past the hour now. Checking on some of the headlines right now.
And again, a story we've been keeping a close eye on for the past couple of hours here in Maryland where state police are looking for a gunman, a gunman who is described as a white male between the ages of 50 and 60, wearing a black and red flannel shirt and blue jeans. Looking for him because this person was reported to be standing along the highway with a long gun. That's how they describe it, a long gun. A shotgun or a rifle. But they're looking in the area of I-295 and Route 195.
They had to shut down the highway in this particular area. At one point, at least, had to shut it down in both directions. Certainly caused a mess there. But they had to shut it down because there were reports possibly of shots being fired at vehicles.
Again, this is a situation that's been going on for the past couple of hours now when the first calls started coming in. But we are report no injuries at this point. But still, the search goes on for a man who was spotted with a gun.
Also, something we're expecting in the next 25 minutes or so. This is happening live at the White House. A live pictures inside the East Room at the White House where the president is going to be answering questions in a town hall. But this is not just any town hall meeting, this is his first ever Twitter town hall.
The president is going to be answering questions that you send in on Twitter. People have been asked to send these in for the past day or so now. Thousands have come in. And you have to -- you can still send them now, by the way. Just include the hash tag askobama.
The White House sees this as an opportunity for Obama to engage with Americans across the country. The president, they will send out some answers with the 140 characters on Twitter, but also the president will be verbally answering the questions. So he will not be limited to 140 characters as he speaks.
Again, this is expected to start at the top of the hour. You will see it live here on CNN.
Also, the Obama administration is reversing a long-standing White House policy and will start sending condolence letters to families of service members who commit suicide. This move comes nearly six weeks after a group of senators asked President Obama to change what they called an insensitive policy. A senior administration official says the president hopes that the policy change will help to de-stigmatize the mental health costs of war and help prevent these tragic deaths in the future.
And some possible bad news for NASA and the Atlantis space shuttle crew. According to space shuttle weather officer Kathy Winter, there is now only a 30 percent chance of favorable weather on Friday for the NASA's currently scheduled 11:26 a.m. liftoff time. This forecast is down from a 40 percent chance of favorable weather reported yesterday.
New clues on what may cause autism. Up next, we have two important new studies to look at.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Two new studies are offering more insight into the mystery of autism. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us to help put these findings in perspective.
Elizabeth, hello to you.
Why these two studies? Why are these two -- there are always some studies about autism. Why should be we paying attention to these two?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think what's going on here is you remember there were all these theories about vaccines and autism. That has been debunked and I think researchers are now feeling, you know, let's move on here. Let's figure out what does cause autism.
And there's been a belief for a while that a lot of it had to do with genes. And certainly genetic makeup does carry some weight. But what this first study found, which is really interesting is that perhaps it's not just genes, they found other factors, some outside factors that may influence whether a kid gets autism.
For instance, air pollution. They found that that perhaps may have an influence. Parental age, the age that the parents are at the time of conception, and the weight of the child at birth, that those are just three of the things that they think researchers really ought to be taking a closer look at.
HOLMES: OK. Another here. Children whose mothers were on anti- depressants?
COHEN: Right. And I tread carefully on this ground because I certainly know many mothers who have taken antidepressants and I would hate for them to hear me and say, oh no, look what I may have done to my child.
But what they did is they looked at 300 children with autism and found that about seven percent of those kids, the mothers were taking SSRIs, which are antidepressants, during pregnancy. And they thought the number seemed a little bit high.
So this is some suggestion that there's a link between the antidepressants. But, we would hate for women to just go off antidepressants during pregnancy. These drugs serve a purpose. Many women need them.
HOLMES: How common are they, anyway?
COHEN: They're quite common. They're one of the most highly, commonly prescribed drugs in this country. And many women really need them and you wouldn't want them to go off of them. You want to talk to your doctor and this is just one study and a relatively small study at that.
HOLMES: OK. Last thing here. And I know you and I have talked about this plenty. The big question. People now hear these two studies. What can you really do to try to limit the risk of autism? Do we even know?
COHEN: You know what, all can do is look for the signs of autism, and you can catch it earlier, because catching it earlier really does help.
So, a couple red flags that you want to look for, for example. If your child does not respond to their name or they have difficulty forming conversations or sort of repetitive movements. If your child should be talking, should be engaging and they're not, talk to your pediatrician. And you can go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient to learn more of these red flags.
HOLMES: Elizabeth Cohen, always good information. And always good to see you.
COHEN: Good to see you.
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
Well, folks out there, when you hear of cheating in schools, you probably first think of students, right, cheating on tests? But an investigation of the Atlanta school system has uncovered widespread cheating by the principals and the teachers, and it goes back some 10 years. Details now on how this could land somebody in jail.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Turns out it was all a lie. According to a state investigation as many as 178 teachers and principals, and nearly 50 schools in Atlanta were involved in perhaps the largest cheating scandal in U.S. history.
Just a couple of years ago, Atlanta public schools were nationally recognized for students that mastered state tests. Now this report says teachers, administrators and principals were helping students cheat on the state's standardized tests called the Criterion Referenced Competency Test, or CRCT, did I get that right, Ed Lavandera?
Close enough, all right.
This has been going on for nearly 10 years now. And let me bring in Ed Lavandera, who has been reporting on this.
Did the kids have any idea? The teachers were doing it for their own benefit, right?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, and that's what -- I was just talking to someone in the governor's office here in Atlanta and they were saying that this is really the sad part about this story is that they have children who've moved on from elementary school into middle schools, told they did excellent on the tests and they're saying some of the kids aren't even able to read.
So this is exactly what the horrible downside of this story is.
HOLMES: So some of the kids didn't even realize they needed help, so they maybe should have been held back or could have got a tutor --
LAVANDERA: Yes, and their parents had no idea. They are probably getting these reports saying, oh, your kid is doing great, nothing to worry about.
HOLMES: Are we talking about somebody could go to jail over this?
LAVANDERA: Absolutely. There is a -- this report, and it's hundreds pages long, has essentially been turned over to local officials. This was a year-long investigation done by the governor's office here in Georgia over multiple administrations, it started back during the previous administration here in Georgia. That's been turned over to not only the Atlanta School Board and those folks, but it's also been turned over to the district attorneys in three counties here in the Atlanta area.
So there are questions of fraud. If you have taken a test, erased answers, put in new answers and passed that along to the state, that essentially is committing fraud. So there are a lot of officials who could be facing criminal prosecution.
HOLMES: And this has been going on a long, long time it sounds like. How do they keep this from happening in the future?
LAVANDERA: According to this report, dating back 10 years. And that's why you heard the interim superintendent, who just took over the post about a month ago, and everyone knew this report was coming out at some point, but they said this is really a lot worse than what they expected.
We listen to what the superintendent said yesterday in talking about it, very frank about what they had done to these children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERROLL DAVIS, INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT, ATLANTA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: We have cheated students. This angers us all. It is hard for us to quantify and often express that anger.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And here's the fascinating thing about it. The woman who was in charge, the superintendent, a woman by the name of Beverly Hall, has been charge of this district for like 10, 12 years, in 2009, she was named superintendent of the year. So imagine her entire tenure, her entire time in Atlanta has really come under this cloud now.
And I have been talking to school officials here today in Atlanta, or I will -- you're asking what happens next, how do you kind of rectify what has happened. And so far, they are just trying -- they say they're just trying to process all of the information that has been given to them.
And how -- the school year starts here shortly, they've got a bunch of teachers that they need to fire, so all of this needs to be done before the school year starts.
HOLMES: All right, and as we leave it here, and Again, this was all done because the teachers and the principals are under pressure, I guess you could say, to make sure students --
LAVANDERA: And that's a nationwide issue. You know, you get questions of standardized testing, the pressures for these teachers to get the kids to perform well on these tests, in some places it comes with monetary incentive, and a lot of people say, look, you do that and you invite this kind of behavior.
HOLMES: All right, Ed Lavandera, appreciate you, as always.
LAVANDERA: Good to see you, buddy.
HOLMES: Good to have you here in Atlanta as well, thanks so much.
Well, coming up, a high-speed train fueled by the sun. We'll show you the revolutionary technology in our "Big I" in minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, every day on this show, we show you a segment called "The Big I." It's about big ideas, innovations and solutions to problems.
Today, we take a look at a green high-speed train that could revolutionize how we travel. It's a first of its kind in Europe. What we're talking about here could be a model for us here in the U.S. as well.
This is a grown-breaking project, it was unveiled in Belgium where a high-speed train traveled from Antwerp to Amsterdam, about 80 miles, powered by solar energy. Now what makes this ground breaking is the source of that solar energy. The train was getting its electricity from a one of a kind solar tunnel.
Now, the tunnel is about 2.2 miles long. Now, more than 16,000 solar panels were installed along the tunnel's roof; that's about eight soccer fields' worth of solar panels here. That alone is enough to power 4,000 trains or 1,000 homes in Europe.
Now, heading up this project is solar developer Enfinity, and Enfinity's CEO Steven De Tollenaere joins now from Belgium via Skype. Steven, I hope I explained that fairly well, how this thing essentially works, but you help me with the tunnel part of this. How does that part of it work? How do you get the energy from this tunnel you built to power the train?
STEVEN DE TOLLENAERE, CEO, ENFINITY GROUP: OK, well, typically what we do, we develop the solar installations on many rooftops, generally because rooftops are idle space that are unused and it allows us to connect the electricity producing system directly into the electricity system of the people that live under the roof.
In this case, it is the Belgium infrastructure railway system and those people use the electricity directly to power that train going through that tunnel up to Amsterdam, as well as part of the station at Antwerp.
HOLMES: Now, how far could that train go? We talked about an 80-mile trip here, but again, it traveled through the tunnel, but then it went about 80 miles, but how far could it have gone?
DE TOLLENAERE: Well, it will all depend on the amount of sunshine we have, right? This is a compliment to other sources of electricity, but it will basically -- it depends on the size of the installation. If you would complete the tunnel and build a larger system, it could power the train for many, many miles more.
Of course, we also need other sources of electricity to drive -- to travel at night or to use when it's more rainy and less sunshine. But there's no limit, really, to what you can do with this concept.
HOLMES: Now, this was a two-mile tunnel here. I guess, how practical is that to build these types of tunnels? I assume it has a lot to do with the terrain and geography of a particular area, but is it practical to put these tunnels and to have two miles of them around, that we could use this as a more practical application for our everyday travel?
DE TOLLENAERE: Right. Well, the tunnel we (AUDIO GAP) there for security reasons and ecological reasons to protect the environment. The tunnel really is then being used as an opportunity to put the solar system in. As the roof is completely unused, it's not visible to the outside, so it's a great space to use to produce electricity, because nobody's bothered by it and it's very optimal.
HOLMES: Now Steven, help me understand --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: OK, tell me how pricey this thing is.
DE TOLLENAERE: Well, it's about $22 million to do the installation. Of course, you have to take into account for solar. You have the entire investment up front, because once you have it you have electricity produced with no consumption of fuel or coal, no impact on the ecology or environment. It's basically, from there, free electricity. HOLMES: All right. Last thing here, Steven, what do we do next? Now that you've had this successful test run, if you will, what do you do with this technology from now? Where do we move from here?
DE TOLLENAERE: I think this technology is just in its infancy. I mean, there's just a tremendous amount of buildings that are out there with unused rooftops where we put our systems on, six or 700 of those already in the last couple of years. And we continue to put them on and we basically power the people under the rooftop, which are generator logistical sensors or production facilities or private houses, if you wish. And that's a great use of production of electricity straight into use, you don't have to use the grid or transport, it's optimal.
HOLMES: Steven De Tollenaere there. Interesting stuff, we'll see what happens to it down the road, but we appreciate you joining us on Skype from Belgium today. We'll see you down the road, thanks so much.
And for more on the solar train, you can check out Randi Kaye's Facebook page at RandiKayeCNN.
Well, a familiar name remains at the top of the polls in New Hampshire. We'll take a look at new GOP polling. That is next.
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HOLMES: All right, let's give you a "Political Update" right now, and for that, let's say hello to CNN's Jim Acosta joining me from Washington.
Jim, how you doing, sir?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, T.J.
You know, you would think it's a little early for the RNC and DNC to be putting TV ads out there attacking the president or the various Republican presidential candidates, but you would be wrong to think that, T.J.
The RNC has already come out with an ad targeting President Obama. This is going to run on TV, it's going to run on cable stations, and it's going to run, more importantly, in important battleground states all over the country. And it has something to do with the argument that the RNC, the Republicans, are making about the president's policy, saying that he is taking the country on a left- hand turn path, you could say.
Here's a little bit of the clip of the ad that we have to show you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADVERTISEMENT ANNOUNCER: He promised to change direction. Eight hundred billion in stimulus, trillions for government health care, 2 million jobs gone. Left turn after left turn. America's headed the wrong way fast. Six million foreclosures, $14 trillion in debt --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And if you keep watching that ad, at the very end, there's a car crash. There's a car that actually goes off a cliff. So not too subtle there with the ad from the RNC. And you do have to kind of hand it to them, T.J., for using some 1970s action show footage there at the very tail end of that ad.
And the Republicans are going after the president pretty hard right now for good reason. Obviously, they want to win in 2012. And at this point, they don't have a contender to get behind, but it's sure looking like they might have one in short order if this new poll is any indication.
Let's show you this poll that just came out of New Hampshire today. This is a WMUR poll of voters up in New Hampshire, who Republicans would like to see.
Mitt Romney, on top by a healthy margin. Take a look at that, T.J. Thirty-five percent.
The nearest contender after Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, with 12 percent. That is why right now, Republicans see Mitt Romney as a strong front-runner in this battle for the GOP nomination -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Jim Acosta, we appreciate you, as always. Thank you so much, kind sir.
ACOSTA: You bet.
