Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Debt Negotiations Continue; Remembering Betty Ford; Panetta Criticizes Iraqi Indecision; Boy Dies After Years of Abuse; Ron Paul Announces Retirement From Congress

Aired July 12, 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: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM to you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's get straight to it, the debt negotiations. Another round at the White House is just about to begin, and President Obama has just upped the ante dramatically. I want you to take a listen to this. He says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks after that August 2 deadline. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty billion dollars worth of Social Security checks that have to go out the day after the government is supposedly going to go into default.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, this is not just a matter of Social Security checks. These are veterans' checks. These are folks on disability and their checks. There are about 70 million checks that go out each month.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you guarantee as president those checks will go out on August the 3rd?

OBAMA: I cannot guarantee those that checks go out on August 3 if we haven't resolved this issue, because there may simply not be the money in the coffers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Seventy million checks, Gloria Borger, chief political analyst. Did we hear that correctly? I mean, the president saying if they can't get this debt reduction deal and can't extend government borrowing because Republicans have said they won't allow it, then potentially no government benefit checks to millions of Americans.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Right, 55 million Social Security recipients get checks, and that's what the president is talking about.

You know, it's interesting. Before this stage of the negotiations, I think both sides have been pretty wary about talking about the dire consequences of U.S. -- of the United States defaulting on its debt, because you don't want to spook the markets. You don't want to spook the American people. But it's very clear to me from hearing the president in that clip that we're now in another pessimistic stage of the negotiations, where both sides are taking their arguments outside, rather than keeping them inside the room, because the president wanted the big deal. John Boehner it seemed wanted the big deal, and it's very clear that that is not likely to happen.

So at this point the president had his press conference yesterday, said, you know, I'm the grownup in the room here. We each need to give a little on something. And he was talking to Scott Pelley of CBS News, saying, by the way, if we don't agree, guess who will suffer? The American people.

BALDWIN: Yes. We heard the president yesterday talking about shared sacrifices. And, Gloria, you mentioned spooking the American people. I saw a poll today and I'm sure the White House saw it as well. And in it, it showed that Americans are more worried about raising the debt limit than they are about the government defaulting.

Could the statement by the president be, I don't know, a calculated effort to warn the country, right, talking about these millions of people who wouldn't get their checks, about the severity of this government default?

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Absolutely.

I think the president is now starting to say, OK -- and we're getting a little into the blame game now. OK, if the government defaults, you're not going to get your Social Security checks, you're not going to get your veterans' benefits. In the end, interest rates will go up. This will spook the markets.

And I think you will begin to hear more and more of that. All of these people sitting in this room seem to agree that they don't want to default, OK? There's some presidential candidates out there in the Republican Party saying maybe that wouldn't be such an awful thing, but at least all the congressional leaders and the president seem to agree on that one thing. Their problem is, they can't get there.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Yes. They all agree on it, but you have the top Senate Republican, Gloria, you have Mitch McConnell, he takes to the floor of the Senate, he talks about these crucial talks. And if you listen to the verb tense, it's past tense as if they're over. Listen to this.

BORGER: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: Well, I was one of those who had long hoped we could do something big for the country. But in my view, the president has presented us with three choices, smoke and mirrors, tax hikes, or default. Republicans choose none of the above.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So McConnell and the Republicans, we have heard this before, they're ruling out any tax increase on anyone, no matter how wealthy they're talking about. But, Gloria Borger, refresh my memory, because didn't the bipartisan debt commission say that there's no way to pay down the debt, zero, without raising new revenues?

BORGER: Right. Yes, they did.

And I think it's interesting. The Republican Party to me has moved from this political point of view to kind of a religious theology about no taxes, none at all. And I think you would have to say that the no-tax camp outweighs the deficit reduction camp right now in the Republican Party.

The president and John Boehner were talking about a deal that had $3 of spending cuts for every dollar of tax increases. If I -- the Republicans of five years ago would have jumped at that deal and they would have said, this is our dream. This is what we wanted.

But now the Republican Party has become so pure on the no-tax issue because the Tea Party contingent is so pure on that, that there is absolutely no give. And John Boehner had to go back to the president, called them, gave them a heads-up and said, you know what? I can't do this because I won't have the votes in my caucus for it.

Now, I should also tell you, Brooke, we have gotten some late news that McConnell has just gone onto the floor of the Senate, and he's actually proposing a backup plan if they don't come to some agreement.

BALDWIN: That's what I want to ask you about, this contingency plan. Do we know yet what Mitch McConnell's contingency plan would be, and would it have anything to do with Social Security checks still being mailed out?

(CROSSTALK)

BORGER: Well, obviously, no politician wants to stop anybody's Social Security checks from getting in the mail, because that is not a good political move.

So, what he's proposed is three installments essentially to raise the debt ceiling, and it's a procedural move that would do kind of short-term deals. It is something that the White House will reject summarily. The president has gone out there and said no short-term deals.

BALDWIN: He doesn't want those short-term, 30, 60, 90 stopgap. He wants the grand bargain?

BORGER: Right. Exactly. Or he wants some bargain, some deal. He doesn't want any kind of short-term deals. But, again, what I think you're looking at is people taking the story outside the room now, as opposed to inside the room. So they're going to go back in a half-an-hour or so. They will try to negotiate a little bit more.

And we will have to see whether the view is a little less pessimistic than we're really seeing today. I don't see any kind of optimism today. But you know what? It always falls apart before it comes together, right? Or so we hope.

BALDWIN: Well, perhaps we will get to the brink and then we will have some sort of deal done. They meet at the White House in I believe just about 30 minutes from now.

BORGER: They do.

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, appreciate it. Thank you so much.

BORGER: Sure.

BALDWIN: And minutes from now, former President George W. Bush, first lady Michelle Obama and other famous faces will be arriving in Palm Desert, California, for a memorial service for Betty Ford. We will take you live outside that church.

Also, did you know Betty Ford chose two people to speak at her service? One of them, former first lady Rosalynn Carter, the other journalist Cokie Roberts. I will speak with her live from California next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Pioneering first lady Betty Ford is being remembered today at a memorial service in Southern California, Betty Ford, who really broke the mold of the little woman in the White House.

She spoke and she spoke often about the movement for equal rights, about sex, about cancer, about her own breast removal, and dealt with both. Betty Ford also struggled with alcoholism and founded the iconic, the groundbreaking Betty Ford clinic.

And they are remembering Betty Ford in Palm Desert, California, today. She died Friday at the age of 93.

And I want to go to Thelma Gutierrez first here live for us near the site of that memorial service.

And, Thelma, who are we expecting to attend?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, in under two hours, we're expecting a steady stream of dignitaries.

We're talking about first lady Michelle Obama, also Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Her husband, Bill Clinton, former president, was expected to attend, but we just got word that he's having problems with his aircraft, will not attend this funeral, but instead show up at the funeral in Grand Rapids. We're also expecting former President George W. Bush.

And you can see right behind me, Brooke, some of the local buses have been showing up. They have been pulling up to the church, and many people are getting out, but the dignitaries not expected to arrive for another couple of hours. Inside the church about an hour ago, the Fords did arrive. They're here for private visitation. And at 2:00 local, 5:00 Eastern, we understand that the national tribute is scheduled to get under way.

BALDWIN: Thelma, tell me about Betty Ford's connection to Rosalynn Carter. They were very close friends, despite her husband, Gerald Ford, losing to Jimmy Carter in that 1976 presidential election.

GUTIERREZ: Yes, and that's what's so interesting about their relationship, Brooke.

President Carter, a Democrat, beat out President Ford back in 1976. He's a Republican. And these men started out as political adversaries. But within time, through the years, they would become great friends. In fact, President Carter called President Ford his political hero and a great human being.

And that relationship translated to the wives. They became very close. In fact, I understand that Betty Ford actually chose Rosalynn Carter as her eulogist. They had an enduring friendship. And she described it as one of the deepest personal relationships of her life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARBARA LEWANDROWSKI, FORD FAMILY SPOKESWOMAN: As the years grew on and they were out of office and had their own time to champion their own causes, they really developed this personal relationship of, I'm a grandmother, and how do we juggle being with our grandkids, but yet doing things that our nation expects of us?

And then when they went up on Capitol Hill to lobby and speak on behalf of health care issues, I think the world really saw that they were going they were a force to be reckoned with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Now, the Ford grandchildren, all seven of them, are also here at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church. They will be speaking as well as and read psalms -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Thelma Gutierrez in Palm Desert, thank you.

And Thelma mentioned Rosalynn Carter was selected by Mrs. Ford to speak, to be a eulogist, as was Cokie Roberts.

Joining me by phone from right around the same location is Cokie of ABC. She will be giving one of the eulogies for the late former first lady Betty Ford.

And, Cokie, of course I want to have you on and talking about her legacy. But I have to ask, the reason you're there today is because of a conversation you had with Mrs. Ford, what, some five years ago. What was it she asked of you then? COKIE ROBERTS, ABC NEWS: Well, she actually communicated to me through her daughter Susan, who is a friend.

But she said the military has first ladies and presidents plan their funerals. They can't get around it. And so she told Susan that she wanted me to be one of the eulogists. And of course I was incredibly honored.

But what Mrs. Ford was very clear about was that she wanted me to talk about how things used to be in Washington before we had the kind of partisanship that we have today, and to remind the world that that is possible.

And I must say I'm accusing her of picking her time of death, so she could have it come out at a moment when it could not be more appropriate.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ROBERTS: But those of us who grew up -- I grew up with a father, Hale Boggs, in Congress, and Jerry Ford came shortly after daddy did that to Congress.

And so we all knew each other for decades, our whole lives, and everybody was politically on different sides. Jerry Ford ended as minority leader of the House when my father ended up as majority leader. But everybody was good friends.

And what that meant was that you could get a great deal more done for the good of the country. And that's what she wanted me to talk about.

BALDWIN: And as you mentioned particularly apropos given this back and forth over the debt this week between the Republicans and the Democrats.

ROBERTS: Right.

BALDWIN: But I do want to talk about her legacy. And everyone knows Betty Ford for the iconic Betty Ford clinic. She certainly saved countless lives because of that.

ROBERTS: Right.

BALDWIN: But she also...

(CROSSTALK)

ROBERTS: Hundreds of thousands of lives.

BALDWIN: Hundreds of thousands, but she also saved lives, Cokie, when she publicly came forward I think, what was it, '74, saying she had breast cancer.

ROBERTS: Absolutely. And as someone who has had breast cancer myself I am forever indebted to her, because what the results of that was, was much greater awareness, not only of women going and getting their own checkups and finding out early that they had cancer, and therefore could treat it, but greater awareness of the disease, so that there was much more attention paid, research done, dollars donated, and so people are now living a great deal longer and living with breast cancer at least in part as a result of her efforts.

BALDWIN: Right. These days it's not uncommon to come forward and talk about having breast cancer, but then it certainly was and people are honoring her bravery.

And also when you think about the time when her husband, Gerald Ford, came in post-Nixon presidency, Watergate scandal, all the lies, how is it Betty Ford as the first lady sort of worked in her own way to change that image at the White House?

ROBERTS: Well, in part, it wasn't hard, because she just did what came naturally.

And she was just a down-to-earth, delightful person who didn't try to fake anything. She just -- she just went with who she was and understood that in that time, above all others, that Americans needed no -- nothing out of the White House that was, you know, a lie or even, you know, a lack of response. And so she was the perfect person to come in at that particular moment.

BALDWIN: And how has she been just in the last few years having had her husband die in 2006? I think I read a close family friend and their florist said sort of a light went out in her. Did you notice that?

ROBERTS: Well, she of course -- I don't want to pretend to have known her well. I knew her all my life, but she was my mother's friend. She was Mrs. Ford to me.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Sure.

ROBERTS: And I haven't seen her in recent years.

But I have seen Susan. And Susan has said that her mother has been very frail, but that she was mentally quite fine. And I have to tell you, the last time I talked to her, she knew every detail of what was going on at the Betty Ford Center. And every -- she knew exactly what insurance covered and was working to figure out how to handle things insurance didn't cover. And, I mean, she was fabulous.

BALDWIN: That's amazing.

Cokie Roberts, I appreciate you getting on the phone on such an important day for you and so many people. Cokie, thank you.

And, of course, we will bring you some other live moments as some of those dignitaries, as Thelma mentioned, begin to trickle into that memorial service in Palm Desert, California.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I failed to protect thousands of children, children who come from homes like mine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A grown man crying over the cheating scandal involving dozens of teachers and principals in Atlanta. Well, the superintendent has just made a huge move, one that could signal criminal charges in this case. That is ahead.

Plus, the man in charge of everything from FOX News to "The Wall Street Journal" is dealing with an exploding hacking scandal, one that could put his entire empire at stake. And we're just getting word Rupert Murdoch is about to go on the hot seat and answer some pretty tough questions. Find out who is asking them and could it affect what you watch right there on TV right here in the U.S.? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: There is no bigger news story shaking the United Kingdom today than this one. One major newspaper is out of business. Two other equally huge newspapers caught in the same scandal that brought down the "News of the World."

Now, the man who owns all these papers is being called onto the carpet in London. Lawmakers want to ask Rupert Murdoch about his own employees who are accused of phone hacking and bribing policemen and stealing private information about people as highly placed as the prime minister and the queen.

Howard Kurtz is with me now. He's in our Washington bureau. He's a bureau chief at "Newsweek" and The Daily Beast as well, also hosts "RELIABLE SOURCES." You see him each and every Sunday here on CNN.

Howard, let's about how we may see some sort of effect here in the States.

HOWARD KURTZ, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi.

BALDWIN: How will we see, you know, perhaps some sort of manifestation of the scandal reactionarily within our own newspapers and TVs here?

KURTZ: Well, a few quick points.

This is such a black eye, such a debacle for the Murdoch empire. He will be under some pressure to sell all of his newspapers because they're close to his heart, but they don't make their money. The television and movies do, so perhaps he would get rid of "The New York Post."

"The Wall Street Journal," the parent company, Dow Jones, headed by a fellow named Les Hinton, who was in charge of the London unit of News Corp., Murdoch's company, and who assured the British Parliament that there was -- that this is just a rouge reporter, there was no big scandal here, he will be called on the carpet. His position could be in jeopardy.

And the Federal Communications Commission here could -- I'm starting to hear rumblings -- could maybe create some problems for say some of Murdoch's local FOX stations.

BALDWIN: Well, let me pick up on that, because I thought that we learned today that the FCC made this announcement, saying they're not involved at all.

If what you're hearing is true, if they're involved, how would that affect, I don't know, if I watch "Glee" on FOX television, would that mean that would change? How would that affect things?

KURTZ: You probably will still get to watch "Glee." I think you can relax on that one point.

And officially the FCC has no role. This is a British matter. I don't expect to see any licenses challenged. But, informally, there are rumblings. And this may not come to anything. If the FCC wanted to be aggressive and review the public service practices of some of the local FOX stations, it could make trouble for Murdoch.

I'm not expecting any significant or dramatic impact on the U.S. operations, particularly in television, but given that this scandal gets worse and worse seemingly every hour, particularly with this story about people at London tabloids, not "News of the World" but some others, getting medical records allegedly of Gordon Brown's baby and reporting that the baby had cystic fibrosis, it's hard to tell where this thing will stop.

BALDWIN: Well, given the different sort of iterations of the scandal that continue to erupt at the U.K., let's take the Murdoch empire and just put it aside. Would it be fair to say that there are other tabloid reporters and other newspapers, et cetera, here in the U.S. that are perhaps looking into their own practices, just checking and double checking that none of this is happening currently?

KURTZ: Well, there have been some things that happened at "The New York Post" on the gossip page where there have been a couple people either took money or ask for money from people they cover.

It's not exactly -- tabloids live on the edge, but I don't want to equate what has happened at any tabloid in America with the kind of systematic and just appalling misconduct that went on at "News of the World."

But, you know, are all tabloids suddenly going to get religion and stop, you know, having paparazzi chase celebrities? I don't think so. It's just too lucrative a market.

BALDWIN: Well, let's say that this scandal were to happen here in the United States at some other paper not owned by the Murdoch empire. Hypothetically, Howard, would these newspapers here risk shutting down like we have seen happen with the "News of the World"?

KURTZ: You know, I was as surprised as anybody as somebody who has watched Murdoch for a long time that he chose to go the route of shutting down the "News of the World." It's the bestselling newspaper in Britain, published only on Sunday.

And I just think it had become such a toxic symbol of corrupt journalism that in part as a P.R. move and in part as a business move Murdoch chose to shutter it, 280 people losing their jobs. If there were a big -- look, there was a major fabrication scandal in 2003 that I was reporting on at "The New York Times" involving Jayson Blair.

BALDWIN: Oh, yes.

KURTZ: The paper didn't shut down. Usually the response...

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: Well, because usually the response when you have a scandal is to clean house, hold the executives responsible as well as the reporters.

But usually the institution is not threatened, because unless it can be shown that everybody at the newspaper was involved in some kind of illegal or questionable conduct, you do it by having an independent investigation and firing people. And that's one of the things that Murdoch hasn't done, is he hasn't fired any of the executives who oversaw "News of the World."

It's the reporters and editors who are losing their jobs, many of whom had nothing to do with these -- the phone hacking in past years.

BALDWIN: Yes. Well, I have a feeling, as I'm sure you can suspect as well, that we have certainly not seen the end of this story, very much so still the beginning phases, right, Howard Kurtz?

KURTZ: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Howard, thank you so much from Washington. Appreciate it.

KURTZ: Sure.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Afghan President Karzai's half-brother shot dead, and the person accused of pulling the trigger is someone he trusted very, very much.

Plus, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta surprises everyone when he answers a soldier's question about Iraq. Got to tell you, this is very candid here. You will hear the sound next.

But, first, this one is for you, ladies. Listen up. You think life in America is stressful for you, you are not alone. They have actually put out this new study ranking the countries with the most stressed-out women. So did the ladies of the USA top the list? Let's find out. Rounding out the top five, you have 66 percent of the women saying yes, we're stressed. Spain, huh, coming in at number four, 67 percent. Brazil taking the number three spot with 69 percent of ladies admitting feeling overworked. You have Russia. What could the top two most stressed-out-lady locations be? After the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, when I left you we were talking about stress. Are American women more stressed than women around the world? Well, a new study released just this week ranks the countries with the most stressed out women. Did the U.S. make the top two? You have been thinking about this one? Let's take a look. Coming in with 74 percent of women saying, yes, we're stressed, is Mexico. And the number one country, is it the U.S.? Nope. It's India. In case you were curious, according to the study, American women ranked 12th most stressed.

Checking some of your top stories here. Four Atlanta public school superintendents and a principal got the boot in the wake of that massive cheating scandal. Also a former board chairman resigned his seat at a meeting just last night. Investigators say about 178 educators from 44 different schools cheated, replacing incorrect answers on tests with correct ones. And this goes as far back as 2001. School officials didn't know about it or looked the other way when it happened.

A man regarded as one of the most powerful politicians in southern Afghanistan was shot dead today in Kandahar. Ahmed Wali Karzai was Kandahar's council chief and the half-brother of Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai. He was killed inside hi home today during a gathering of tribal elders. Witnesses say he was shot by a bodyguard, a man Karzai trusted and was close to them for years. The Taliban has claimed responsibility, saying the shooter worked for them.

Leon Panetta has some strong words for the Iraq government as he expresses his frustration with its delay in decided whether to keep U.S. troops in the country through the end of the year deadline. The secretary of defense was in Baghdad Monday and he was wrapping up his first overseas trip. And he met with some troops at Camp Victory there where he did take several questions. And one soldier asked if the Iraq leaders were ready to take over. I want you to listen to Panetta's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There are people that are going to disagree, there are people that are going to have different views. That's got to play out. And that's what's happening here. Very frankly sometimes it can be frustrating. I'd like things to move faster here, frankly, in terms of the decision-making process. I'd like them to make a decision, you know. Do you want to stay or not stay? Do they want a minister of defense or a don't they want to have a minister of defense? But damn it, make a decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Leon Panetta. Panetta also stressed that Iraqi leaders need to crack down on armed groups targeting U.S. forces.

Here's what's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL PETIT, PRESIDENT, EVERY CHILD MATTERS: There are in fact 2,500-plus deaths a year, about five times the number of U.S. soldiers killed in two wars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Did you hear that? That bears repeating. More than 2,000 kids reportedly die every year because of abuse in this country. but the solutions to help come at a price. I'll speak with someone who is telling Congress the hard truth today.

Plus the young boy, he was beaten, kept in a cage, then buried in cement left behind heart-breaking letters. You're going to hear what he wrote while inside a cage. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "I'm hungry, I'm thirsty. Why doesn't anyone come check on me?" Those are the precise words, the kinds of questions investigators say a young boy was asking while locked up in a dog cage by his parents. I'm talking about Christian Choate, who was telling us in heartbreaking letters that he wanted to die.

We talked about this story yesterday, and now I have new details that are even more upsetting, and we wanted to report them to you. Christian's father and stepmother are charged with murdering him. He died in 2009.

Now, court documents indicate it was his stepmother who told him to write his thoughts down while he was in a cage. The records indicate she assigned him topics like this, and I'm quoting, "Why do you still want to see your mom? Why did you let the past go?"

And the letters are desperate. They're heart wrenching. They're this attempt to get his family or someone, anyone to pay attention. Court documents give details about the letters, saying Christian asked why no one liked him. And he wanted to be liked by his family. He wrote about having to steal food, of being forced to relieve himself in that cage. He talked about how he was let out of the cage to clean or to vacuum, but put right back in after that. I want you to listen to what Christian's family is now saying about his death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALYSSA NIETO, CHRISTIAN'S SISTER: He was a happy kid, and he was like always, you know, close to me. We were really, really close before he got taken away. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Played with the neighbor boys, and they played tag. And no one could catch him. He was that fast. I always liked to watch him play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He was 13 years of age. Police say Christian's father led them to a shallow grave behind a trailer just this past May, more than two years after he died. No one had missed him or tried to find out where this little boy was. We want you to listen to this. This is how the sheriff describes discovering his 13-year-old body.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOHN BUNCICH, LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA: -- wrapped him in a blanket and plastic and buried him in a shallow grave underneath the shed and then put concrete on top of the body. He also indicated at the time that he put a bible on the boy's chest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Then there's this detail I want to share with you. According to the "Northwest Indiana Times," a review of the state and medical records indicates he told his pediatrician in 2008 he being was locked up at night. Child services officials say they were not informed of the abuse, though the doctor says she reported it. Christian's father and stepmother have pled not guilty in his death.

And it's a tough story to talk about. It's the kind of story that makes you wonder why? Why didn't anyone step up and help this child? They could have saved his life. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill happen to be tackling this precise issue today. In fact a House subcommittee held a hearing a couple of hours ago on child deaths due to mistreatment.

And my guest here is Michael Petit. He in fact testified just this morning. He's president of "Every Child Matters," an organization working to make children and families a national priority. Michael, you know, this is something at least my team here, we just were horrified by this story out of Indiana. And we felt it was important enough to talk about and broaden out.

And the nation has been obsessed with little Caylee Anthony, but there are hundreds of cases each and every year where a child dies at the hand of the abuser. We don't even talk about it.

PETIT: Actually, there are thousands of children a year that die. We just completed a report available on our Web site, everychildmatters.org, which people can download. Our report shows that since the start of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars, some 25,000 children have been killed in their own homes by a family member or a caretaker. That's in a comparison to 5,000 U.S. soldiers that died during that same period.

So it's altogether quite common. It's six, seven, eight children every single day. There's a very subdued coverage of it by the national press. Individual stories for sure, as we've seen in the last few days, but in terms of what this overall picture looks like, that's what we testified about today before a congressional committee.

BALDWIN: Your number is 2,500. The GAO report, which was part of the reason why the subcommittee was held, was something like 1,700. Bottom line, that's too many. And I know that the chair of the subcommittee, Jeff Davis, is a Republican out of Kentucky. He said this, quote, "Our role is to be the voice of the voiceless, especially those kids whose deaths are missing from official data today."

Yet Michael, we seem to be missing so many red flags. I think of Jaycee Dugard and all the times that child protective services went to that house or this case in Gary, Indiana. What are the red flags these people keep missing?

PETIT: Part of it is the work we do with young families at highest risk is very modest in this country. We do not have a strong social safety net and we have far more children who are in risky situations than we have people to respond to that as we're currently set up.

It's worth noting that our child homicide rate in people's homes is triple Canada's and 11 times Italy's. so the issue of reporting is a critical first step, but there are confidentiality laws that mask a lot of this from the general public and press.

BALDWIN: What do you mean by these confidentiality laws? What is that?

PETIT: There are laws meant to protect the confidentiality of the child, and a lot of agencies invoke that confidentiality as a shield in terms of knowing by the public by lawmakers, by journalists. Now, when a child dies, it's hard for me to see why there's any confidentiality. It was originally developed in order to protect young children who are going to school. You didn't want their names in the newspaper, what happened to them, perhaps sexually abused. So you create a confidentiality shield. But it has been overused, and it has basically shielded the public from just how severe this problem is.

BALDWIN: Michael, there could be people watching right now. I know the case in Gary, Indiana, there was a neighbor who thought she saw a boy in a cage. And she called child protective services but they came and didn't allow this person in the house. There are people that pick up the phone and call. What message do you have for those people who could be witnesses to abuse happening right now? What do you say to them?

PETIT: Well, there are literally thousands of child protection agencies scattered around the country virtually in every county in the United States. And if you suspect that a problem is taking place, you need to be persistent in speaking on behalf of that child so that the public officials take notice.

On the defense of the public officials, it's important to know that there are three million reports of child abuse and neglect a year. It's estimated the true number of kids abused a year is nine million such incidents. And all across the country we have understaffed child protection agencies. They're going out way after the fact of children having been injured when in fact we need to do more up-front.

BALDWIN: We're throwing out so many numbers. This is about the children, but I do want that number to resonate with viewers that you mentioned off the top, Michael -- 2,500 children die each year from abuse. Michael Petit, I guarantee you we are committed to following this story. Thank you so much, sir, for coming on.

PETIT: We hope you will support a national commission to end child abuse deaths that we are calling upon the Congress to pass legislation promptly and get it signed by President Obama.

BALDWIN: I promise you we'll follow it. Thank you so much, sir.

PETIT: Very good. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Developing now, police shoot and kill a former NFL player right in front of his son outside a convenience store. But witnesses say officers are lying about what happened. The story is unfolding right now. It's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, here's one that will have you asking yourself what will I do? A father was walking out a convenience store with his 19- year-old son. The father had just bought a couple of beers, and there's another boy with them that's 16.

Now, a scuffle breaks out between the dad and a sheriff's who is deputy investigating a report of underage alcohol sales. Dad ends up getting shot and killed. The dad also happens to be a former running back for the Cincinnati Bengals, David Lee Turner.

A police report says Turner complied at first when those officers approached him and then he tried to leave. One deputy describes Turner hitting him in the back of the head with a bad containing two large cans of beer. That's when the other deputy fired his handgun on Turner, who later died in surgery. But an eyewitness to the event says that's not exactly the way it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I seen stuff flying up, and it made the bag fly up. But he didn't hit anybody or do anything. He just abided by their rules. Then they just shot him. They shot the man execution style is what I call it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PETIT: Turner did have a police record. He had even lost his license because of a DUI conviction. The deputy who shot Turner is on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated. We are now learning just how far the CIA went to find Osama bin Laden, including the plan to interact with people living inside his compound. We're talking high stakes spying game here. That is next.

But first, some free money advice from the CNN help desk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time for the Help Desk where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour is Jack Honor, the executive editor at CBSMoney.com, and Ryan Mack, the president of Optimum Capital Management. Thanks for being here, guys.

RYAN MACK, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Great to be here.

HARLOW: Interesting questions today. Carol in New York writes this. I have a credit card charging me an annual fee of $59. My credit is good and I make my payments on time. Should I close this card and pay it off? I have another credit card that does not charge an annual fee. What do you think, Ryan? Does she need these two?

MACK: First of all, before you get a credit card always advocate individuals not get a card with an annual fee attached to it. I've never heard of someone getting rich off of frequent flyer miles. So we have to get those things out of way.

But since she has that card, the question that she has to ask if looking at the emergency fund, does she have nine to 12 months of living expenses, and are three to six of those living expenses covered by her line of credit? And would the elimination of that credit card cut into the total line of credit that she would need for a case of emergency?

If it does, I probably wouldn't cut it off and try to maximize the different perks that try to come with the card. If it does, then cancel that credit card. But just understand that 30 percent of your FICO score is the balance to limit ratio. When you cancel that score, your FICO Score will decrease a little bit. Give yourself about six months to re-establish that FICO score.

HARLOW: That's why you don't want ten credit cards and then cancel them left and right.

Question for you, Jack, from Linda in Georgia. Linda writes "I want to retire in June 2012. I will turn 66 in November of 2012. I've been delaying filing for Social Security until November. Can I still receive full benefits?

JACK HONOR, CBSMONEY.COM: I hope she means November of 2012. She could start this November. She would get some benefits. But her FRA, the full retirement age doesn't occur until she turns 66 in November, 2012. So I would encourage her to wait till then to tap Social Security. Even better, if possible, for every year she waits until age 70, her monthly benefit goes up. If she's got a history of longevity in her family, if she could be living into her 80s or 90s, she's be really happy if she waits until age 70 to take those benefits. If not, at least wait till 66.

HARLOW: Delayed gratifications makes it a lot easier the older you get obviously. Thank you guys so much.

MACK: Thank you.

And if you have a question you want answered, just send us an e- mail any time to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, now get this -- a doctor has been arrested in Pakistan for trying to get Osama bin Laden. He is suspected of conducting a phony vaccination drive to try to help get DNA samples from Osama bin Laden's family. Reza Sayah has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This story sounds like it's straight out of a spy novel. A Pakistani security official telling CNN a Pakistani doctor is in custody, suspected of helping the CIA set up a plot to confirm the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. According to this official, this doctor staged a face vaccination campaign, offering free vaccinations and shots to the children and residents of Abbottabad where the bin Laden compound was eventually located.

According to the "Guardian" newspaper, this doctor hired two nurses who went from home to home. And the plan was to get to the bin Laden children and somehow extract some blood or use the syringe from the vaccinations to match their DNA samples with DNA samples from bin Laden's sister, who passed away last year in Boston, Massachusetts.

We haven't been able to verify if these nurses made it into the bin Laden compound. We did track down one of the nurses who was allegedly involved in this plot over the phone and she repeatedly told us that she cannot speak about this matter.

We also spoke to some residents of Abbottabad. At least six of them told us that indeed just the days before the bin Laden raid there were two nurses going around town offering these vaccinations. So a rare glimpse of the lengths the CIA was going to in Abbottabad in the days leading up to this campaign.

As far as the doctor in custody, it's still not clear if he's going to be charged with a crime. The Pakistani government had made it clear that they weren't happy about the raid on the bin Laden compound. They called it a violation of their sovereignty. This doctor's arrest could be some sort of payback or an effort on the part of Pakistani intelligence services to find out exactly how the CIA set up an intricate intelligence network on Pakistani soil behind the government's back.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BALDWIN: Reza, thank you.

Coming up, the man who drove Jared Lee Loughner to the grocery store in Tucson just moments before that shooting rampage is now breaking his silence. Find out what happened inside that cab.

Plus, presidential candidate Ron Paul just made a big announcement about his future. Wolf Blitzer is standing by. He's going to break it down for all of us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time now for CNN = Politics update. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer in Washington with the latest news fresh off the CNN political ticker. Wolf Blitzer, happy Tuesday to you.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Happy Tuesday to you. A special day for you. More on that coming up in just a moment.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: But first let's get to some of the political news out there. First of all, Michele Bachmann, she is doing according to the public opinion polls in Iowa right now, incredibly, incredibly well. For a second straight day she's now leading in Iowa. A brand-new poll has Michele Bachmann at 21 percent, Mitt Romney 18 percent, Ron Paul 14 percent. Sarah Palin is not even officially running at 11 percent. Everybody else in single digits.

Yesterday she was in a separate poll at 25 percent to Mitt Romney's 21 percent. So Michele Bachmann doing extremely well in Iowa right now. She needs to really win Iowa if she's going to take this presidential race off to New Hampshire and South Carolina. She needs to win Iowa in order to be a secure jumping off point for her race for the White House.

Ron Paul, by the way, who is, as we say, coming in third in Iowa with 14 percent, he did make a dramatic announcement today, saying he will not seek reelection in the House of Representatives next year. He's been in Congress for a long time, 24 years as a representative from Texas, the 14th congressional district. He says this is going to be his last term in the House of Representatives. He's going to run full speed made for the Republican presidential nomination, let some other Republicans, Democrats, independents run in that House seat -- for that house seat in Texas.

Now let's get to the really big huge, important news of the day, Brooke. And you know what I'm talking about. This is a very, very special day in the history of the world, Brooke Baldwin's birthday. Happy birthday, Brooke to you from me, from all of the Washington D.C. bureau, indeed, from all of our viewers out there. Have a very, very happy birthday, many more happy birthdays to come.

BALDWIN: That is so sweet of you, Wolf Blitzer. I truly, truly appreciate that.