Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Moammar Gadhafi's Recent Broadcasts; Surviving Tropical Storm Irene in Vermont; Rick Santorum Grilled By College Student About Gay Marriage; Wildfires Burn 6,000 acres in Texas; Venus Williams' Diagnosed with Debilitating Disease. White House Lowers Expectation for Economy; Haunting Symbols of Grief From 9/11; Libya's Long Gas Lines; 4.2 Quake Hits L.A. Area; Police: Father Abandons Son

Aired September 01, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The tale of two sons. One Gadhafi says the family is still fighting, while another talks of possibly surrendering. And now their father speaking out from hiding.

The president's jobs plans, we don't know what's in it. We don't know how it will be presented, but somehow controversy erupts over when he reveals it.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is sort of unheard of in politics.

BALDWIN: Plus, another chapter in a gruesome mystery. A shoe washes ashore with a human foot inside. Make that nearly a dozen in four years.

And a woman's wallet, cell phones, even letters belonging to the hijackers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would be emotional for any American.

BALDWIN: We are now getting a look at evidence from 9/11 and haunting pieces of grief.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Hour two here in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And I'm going to begin this hour with a question to you. What the heck does it take to get a jobs speech scheduled? Last time I checked, the unemployment in this country sits at 9.1 percent, but the White House seemed to get its signals crossed to when to unveil the president's jobs plan.

As we told you, House Speaker John Boehner pushed back on that White House proposal for a joint session of Congress next Wednesday. Here's a little bit more of the White House briefing just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) QUESTION: There's a perception even among Democrats that he doesn't have enough clout with the Hill to figure out what day it is, how is he going to pass a plan to help the American people?

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, you guys, I honestly think that -- that your obsession with this is...

QUESTION: It's not an obsession.

CARNEY: ... is not -- is not -- what the American people expect the president to do, what the American people expect their senators and congressmen and women to do is listen to them and take action.

They do not give a lick about what day next week the president speaks before Congress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's talk a little bit more about this with A.B. Stoddard, associate editor of "The Hill."

And, A.B., how could the White House not know that Speaker Boehner might object to that joint session on the same night as a very, very important Republican presidential debate?

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "THE HILL": Well, the White House certainly did not get its signals crossed. It absolutely knew it was the night of a big Republican debate.

Even if the White House team did not anticipate that Speaker Boehner would respond by blocking the request and objecting, and playing equally silly partisan games, it was the wrong move. It was a fight that the White House should not have picked. They knew that this would spark accusations of politics, even if they welcomed him for a joint session on Wednesday, September 7, which they ended up not doing.

But it was really a risk that they shouldn't have taken with a very important speech, when they're down in the polls, an opportunity lost, and I think that it was a huge mistake and misfire on their part.

BALDWIN: We all have to deal with schedules. A lot of us maintain calendars, so let's just look here at this graphic. This shows next week. And first you will see Mitt Romney. By the way, he is unveiling a jobs plans Tuesday, so the president is beaten to the punch already there.

Then fast-forward to Wednesday. As we know that's the GOP debate that night. Thursday, hello, start of pro football. What could possibly be more important? Slightly facetious there. After that, you're into the weekend, which of course includes that Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

So, A.B. Stoddard, how did the White House get so boxed in when it promised this speech? STODDARD: Well, I mean, look, they could have given this speech whenever they wanted to. They announced it a month ago, and they have been hyping it and raising expectations for it, expectations I don't think that can be met. The American people have been waiting for this speech for over a year.

And I think that this is really a mistake on their part. They didn't have to schedule this important speech between Mitt Romney and the opening of the NFL season. It's just -- it's a box they put themselves in, and at this point, their speech is going to come right after not only Mitt Romney's unveiling of his own jobs plan, but a Republican presidential debate.

It looks like a rebuttal. It looks like a political speech. It's not how he wanted it to be receive. And he will lose some audience to football that night.

BALDWIN: All the talk though about this speech, and a lot of folks up there seem to believe it's all window dressing in the first place, because whatever it is that the president proposes, Republicans seem unlikely to go along with the president's plan. Am I right?

STODDARD: It is very true. One of the main proposals that the president has is to extend this payroll tax cut, which is set to expire by the end of the year.

It is something that he thought the Republicans would surely agree with. They are saying no. They're going to have a fight over the gas tax. There's un-insurance employment -- excuse me -- unemployment insurance expiring, lots of things on the table that the Republicans are already bristling at.

And you can tell by this incident, by the fact that they would block the president of the United States from coming up and having a joint session before the Congress, they are not in the mood to work with him. He really has to propose something center-right that Republicans have agreed on in the past. If he tries to pick a fight over more stimulus, it's going to go nowhere.

BALDWIN: OK. So, again, the president, joint session of Congress next Thursday, pre-football.

A.B. Stoddard of "The Hill," thank you very much, A.B.

STODDARD: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We have got a lot about talk about next.

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, you feel for the little boy, because he just has had his whole world ripped from him. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: An unemployed father close to losing his home writes a note to his 11-year-old son and then up and leaves him all alone. Ahead, you are going to hear the heartbreaking words and where police finally tracked this father down.

But coming up next, Moammar Gadhafi calls for war, the ousted Libyan leader speaking from his hideout with a direct message to his enemies. And his son is warning, if you come to our hometown, be prepared. Nic Robertson standing by live in Tripoli next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As we have mentioned this once before on the show, Moammar Gadhafi, 42 years to the day here since his violent rise to power, now threatening to plunge Libya into a drawn-out civil war.

Let's listen to Moammar Gadhafi himself, a message to his supporters, airing earlier today.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): Go. Attack them. Confuse them. Take the -- deprive them of the arms. See, we have got the people. We are the power. All they are is just armed traitors and weapons. Go. They will stop. The excitement, it will stop.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Want to take you back out now live to Tripoli, to our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson.

And, Nic, I know that was earlier today on that pro-Gadhafi Syrian TV channel, but I'm also hearing we're awaiting perhaps -- or maybe we have already gotten another message from Gadhafi speaking right now. What are you hearing? What is coming out of that?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he does seem to be part of the way into another speech now.

This interestingly Gadhafi for the first time, the first speech we have heard, actually I would say months and months and months, where he actually sounds remotely calm. They have sort of done an echo effect on his voice, whoever has produced this. It perhaps is intentional by Moammar Gadhafi himself.

It's sort of an echo on the voice, sort of a godly sound, if you will, that they're using here. And the speech is interesting. He's calling now Sirte the capital of resistance in Libya. He's saying that's because where NATO is focusing its bombing. Of course that's the town about 250 miles east of here, the town that is surrounded by rebels that has had until the weekend to surrender.

They have been given an extension on that. He's also talking interestingly as well about the manmade river here, this river that supplies -- underground tunnels that supply from wells in the desert the water here in the capital, Tripoli. And he says that NATO and the rebels or the West and the rebels have been monopolizing or using this river, which is interesting, because essentially Gadhafi has cut off that water supply that is coming into capital, for the first time is talking about it.

But he's saying the people of Libya, Libya have been forced to fight. So this is a slightly different message, not as angry, not as such a call to arms, if you will, still very defiant, but a new tone, a more sort of relaxed tone that we're hearing from Gadhafi right here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Nic, why, though? Because we hadn't heard from him in a little while, why we hear from him twice in one day, and also as you had mentioned the previous message from earlier in the day, he mentioned to his followers, you may not hear from me for a couple of days.

Can you just speak to those two points?

ROBERTSON: I think it's very hard to analyze Gadhafi, because he's been mercurial. He does things that people don't expect.

I think a lot of people would say, look, we have had a flush of messages over the last few days from two of his sons, different messages, two messages from him today, another one a few days before. It gives the impression that this regime is sort of flailing, it doesn't know which way to turn.

The most senior of his government officials to be captured, or at least hand themselves into the rebels, that happened overnight last night. So, really, he must recognize now, he must see that his regime is collapsing. He's not in Tripoli. It's the 42 anniversary, if you will, of when he took power here.

So, perhaps this is an indication that -- that he and his family, the regime know they have got their back to the wall, and -- and essentially they're breaking down, if you will. It's too soon to say that they're over, but these many broadcasts are perhaps an indication they're really flailing, not knowing how to sort of get the support that they thought they had, that they've always been talking about here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: At the same time though we know now, Nic, that the rebels in Libya, they've balked, at least for now, that threatened assault on the hometown of Sirte, which you mentioned Gadhafi called the capital of resistance.

Do you think they may have concluded that perhaps Gadhafi is just not there, it's not worth it?

ROBERTSON: I think there's a number of things at play. They do need to take control of Sirte. They don't need to do it by killing a lot of people. They're in Paris. The leaders are in Paris right now with Hillary Clinton, with Nicolas Sarkozy, with other world leaders. And the message to the rebels there is, you need to be democratic.

So it's not going to look very good if they're on the verge of launching an offensive in Sirte. It may also be partly because they're hearing from the elders of the tribes in Sirte and these other locations that there is room for negotiations, rather than rush it to a conclusion that won't be positive, and therefore they'll have to go in and fight.

We've also been hearing from our own Fred Pleitgen, who's on the front lines with some of these rebels outside Sirte, some of these guys are young students that have come back from the United States, from Europe, to join the fight here, and some of them are ready to go back to their lives. They don't want to sort of continue fighting.

So I think there's a lot of things at play here -- international pressure to move democratically, a real will not to kill needlessly, and a sense among the fighters that this can be achieved without just pointing a gun at people and shooting -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Also at play, just the day today there in Tripoli. We keep seeing celebrations, but we're also hearing about long lines just to get gas, a dire lack of water.

How long does the jubilance last?

ROBERTSON: You know, I think we're already beginning to break through some of that. You know, if you will, the party is beginning to be over, the hangover is kicking on. But I think on the plus side there, people are already beginning to see changes over the past week.

They know the fuel trucks having been getting to the gas stations, so rather than waiting five or six days, they see the trucks getting there inch by inch, their cars are moving along the lines. Incredibly frustrating, but they can see things are stepping in the right direction.

Water is still a big issue, but they know who is responsible. They know Gadhafi is responsible. And also, the United Nations bringing in food today, half a million -- there's a ship behind me in the harbor. I was down there when it docked a couple of hours ago. It's bringing in half a million liters of water. In another couple of days, another three million liters of water.

It is a drop really in the bucket of what they actually need here, but the people can see there are some positive changes coming. So I think there is a sense that patience -- and there's that optimism. There is that real sense of freedom, and that brings with it a sense of optimism as well, albeit a lot of work and hurdles ahead here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Sure.

Nic Robertson, live in Tripoli.

Nic, as always, many thanks to you.

Back home, oil companies, they are right now evacuating their rig workers. They're in the Gulf as a powerful storm, this disturbance is a brewing. We're going to tell you where it's heading.

Plus, it's a crisis unfolding before our very eyes. Even though Irene is long gone, folks are still stranded, they are still waiting for help. Emergency crews can't even get into some of these towns.

Coming up next, I'll speak with a mother of two little ones who is one of those stranded. Find out what has her very concerned about this specific time of year. You're going to hear a heartbreaking story about a little girl who lost her home.

Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: When we are finally able to close the book on Hurricane Irene, it will be filled with personal stories of loss, but also survival. Right now I want you to hear from a woman who not only survived, she hiked for almost five hours through storm-damaged terrain, trying to find her horses.

Debra Lyon is on the phone with me from Jamaica, Vermont.

And Deborah, before we talk about your family, did you find all your horses?

DEBRA LYON, JAMAICA, VERMONT, RESIDENT: I did. I found both of my horses. And they were a little shaken up, but they were fine.

BALDWIN: I know that you're one of the only ones I've actually talked to in Vermont -- I've talked to a number of people in the past couple days without power. You have power. It sounds like you guys were pretty prepared in terms of having extra food, putting water in trash cans.

But what about use you are neighbors? Were they as forward- thinking?

LYON: Most of them were, yes.

BALDWIN: How prepared were they?

LYON: Well, everybody took in supplies as much as they could the day before, and just followed the regular emergency procedure -- make sure you have batteries, flashlights, candles, food, water.

BALDWIN: Sure. Tell me about -- I understand you were out -- I don't know if this was one of the times when you were out just walking -- and you came upon a 13-year-old girl. Tell me about her.

LYON: Oh, it was tragic. I had about a two-and-a-half hour window of opportunity to get to the horses and back. So I scaled the side of a mountain to try to get over to where the roads were broken.

And I just kept running and running. And there was this young girl, and half of her house was wiped out, and their yard was gone.

And I just looked at her and she had tears in her eyes. And it just broke my heart, but I just kept moving forward to try to get to my destination, because I hadn't heard from my sister and her husband, and I was very worried because they were right in the middle of it all.

BALDWIN: Are they OK?

LYON: So I found them and they were OK, but definitely shaken up.

BALDWIN: Wait. So back to the 13-year-old with tears in her eyes, did you talk to her at all? What was she saying?

LYON: We shared a glance, and I just looked at her with a sympathetic look and I just mouthed, "It's going to be OK." I had to keep going.

BALDWIN: I understand your concern right now is looking ahead to winter. I mean, what are you normally doing at this time of year to prepare? And as a result of the storm, what is that preventing you from doing?

LYON: Oh, my goodness. Well, most people here in Vermont, their secondary -- or first form of heat is wood, so everybody is trying to get their wood in this time of year, buckle down, get their gardens closed up, get their hay in the barns for their animals and livestock. And those who have been waiting on that are not prepared. So it's going to be difficult to get wood and hay into your barns.

BALDWIN: And so without that right now, what could winter look like for you, for all of you?

LYON: Well, we're bracing ourselves. It's about four weeks out until the first snow flies and the ground freezes. So hopefully the roads will be repaired enough so that people can get through. The large trucks definitely can't get through. I know that the logging trucks can't bring the logs out from the Woods to the lumber mills, so that's difficult, too.

BALDWIN: I didn't realize it got that cold that fast in Vermont.

Debra, best of luck to you.

Debra Lyon, who also has a husband and two little kids sort of trapped there in Jamaica, Vermont.

Debra, thank you.

And I want you to look at this now. This is a tropical disturbance. That's what we're calling it for now. It's got folks in the Gulf of Mexico very, very worried. Several oil companies -- in fact, major companies -- are ordering their workers on the different rigs in the Gulf to get out, to evacuate.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BALDWIN: And now, did you hear this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Are you suggesting that the bible and that the Catholic Church is bigoted? Well, if that's what you believe, fine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Things got heated between CNN's Piers Morgan and Rick Santorum, but not as heated as the Republican's next incident. Still ahead, video of a college student confronting Mr. Santorum over same- sex marriage. Neither side backs down.

Lisa Desjardins is standing by. She's got the scoop on that one.

But first, do you ever wonder how safe you are from fender- benders in the city you live? Good news. Allstate unveiled its list of the safest cities to drive in America today.

The list here is based upon the frequency of auto accidents in each city. So first we're going to give you the good news, the three safest cities right now if you're out on the road.

Coming in at number 3, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Number 2, Boise, Idaho.

And the safest city on the road? Fort Collins, Colorado. Our associate producer Craig Schultz (ph) likes to point out that is where he went to school. Go Rams. It is the second year in a row the city is ranked number one on the list.

So, those are the safest places to drive, according to Allstate. But what about the most dangerous? Might your city be one of them? Can you think of who they may be?

We'll show you the top two after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, so before the break we were talking about the safest cities to drive in America. Did you figure out where the two most dangerous cities must be to get behind the wheel? Buckle up, here they are. Number two, Baltimore, Maryland. And the most dangerous city, not too far from Baltimore, Washington, D.C. Apparently the city has an accident rate more than 60 percent higher than the national average. Each driver on average is involved in a collision, yikes, once every six year.

Staying in D.C., not on a collision course here, let's go to Lisa Desjardins with CNN radio with news from the Political Ticker. Lisa, let's talk about presidential candidate Rick Santorum. He know he spoke at Penn State Tuesday night. And the subject of same-sex marriage was brought up, it sparked quite a back-and-forth that was all caught on camera. Explain.

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN RADIO CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: How about it? That's right. You know, it's funny. Santorum is a Republican senator, and that's where we are right now in the Senate. There's a podium he used to speak at.

But you're right, Rick Santorum had two prize fights it seems on Tuesday night, first with our Piers Morgan on air over his views on homosexuality, then after that, as you said, Brooke, he went to his alma mater, Penn State, where he spoke to a group of students. He defended his views as being based on the bible. He blasted our Piers Morgan.

And then, Brooke, came round two for Santorum when a student questioned him. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The American Psychological Association has been --

RICK SANTORUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- since 1994 that gay marriage --

SANTORUM: I understand that. The America Psychological Association is a group of people who agree with the American Psychological Association, just like the AMA --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Other people who are educated --

SANTORUM: Excuse me, a lot of psychologists don't belong to the American Association. A lot of doctors don't belong to the American Medical Association. All these associations prove is that they have a point of view and the people who join them --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just asked for --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DESJARDINS: So how about that?

BALDWIN: We could see he's surrounded by the students at Penn State, but it's one gal, I guess, off who does a lot of the talking. Who is she?

DESJARDINS: Right, we do. Actually there were two students who questioned him about his view on homosexuality, but there was one who did most of it, as you say.

I talked to some reporters from the daily newspaper there. They gave me the name of who they think it is. I don't want to give it out, because I haven't confirmed it, but that name matches a person who is very involved with a pro-lesbian and gay group, a group that tries to make a better atmosphere for lesbian and gay and transsexual students in campus. She's also involved in a poetry group. So it seems she does have a stake in this issue to some degree.

It's also interesting, Brooke, there was a protest right before this appearance by Mr. Santorum, gay and lesbian students from the transgender community as well on campus, loudly were cheering "We are not straight." Then when Santorum came through, they were silent but held up signs against his point of view. So he really had had quite a night between Piers Morgan, then a protest, and then being confronted by very feisty and determined college students.

BALDWIN: Yes, these candidates get Piers, and then the students. Tough, tough crowds.

DESJARDINS: It's interesting.

BALDWIN: Lisa, thanks very much.

Coming up next, Texas raging wildfire scorching 6,000 acres as crews race out to put the new flames out.

Also the facts behind Venus Williams' diagnosis, and whether the tennis star will actually ever fully recover.

Plus, criminals have a new way to steal your ATM pin, and there is veer zero way to protect yourself. Reporter Roulette times three, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here we go, wildfires in Texas, a new disappointing economic forecast, and an illness sidelines one of the world's top tennis players. It's time to play Jim Spellman, let's start with you in Possum Kingdom Lake, Texas. I see a lot of scorched land over your shoulders. Give me an update on conditions out there today.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, take a look at this, Brooke. They've been working on this part of the fire today doing helicopters drops. We still have these areas flaring up. Just after we spoke last hour we saw a pretty large area of active flame, and then they brought some more helicopters in. Right now they paused that to try to bring some air tankers in to douse this with larger amounts of retardant.

Right now as we speak a firefighter just told me this is the most difficult time of the day to fight these fires because the winds are picking up pretty significantly. And we can see how it's kind of changing the smoke patterns here and creating some, you know, more challenges, because these flying embers, they fly down from the edge of the fire and start a whole new spot here.

They have made a lot of progress. They're still saying this fire is 50 percent contained. They're trying to put together a plan to get other people back. But with these severe drought conditions, this can break out anytime almost anywhere in this region and have more fires going.

BALDWIN: Another challenge you were pointing out, isn't there one road in, one road out kind of thing? How did the evacuation process go? Is everyone OK?

SPELLMAN: Yes, well, these are communities along a lake. On one side you have a lake, then usually just one road bringing you into a development. That caused a lot of problems. Some people had to evacuate by boat. So they're really cautious. They're not letting people back in without feeling like they have secured the area.

But they actually apologized in advance. If you come back and tell you to leave again, we're sorry, but be ready to go. They have to be ready to move.

BALDWIN: Jim Spellman, thank you very much, sir.

Next on Reporter Roulette, don't get your hopes up over the economy, at least the White House isn't. Karina Huber live at the New York Stock Exchange. And Karina, the Obama administration, they're releasing the new forecast, and it's not pretty?

KARINA HUBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it isn't pretty, Brooke. The White House is less optimistic about the economy than it was in February. But there is a bit of a silver lining to all this. The good news is that the White House sees the economy growing and is not predicting a double dip recession.

Let's get to the bad news. The pace of growth is getting slower and slower. It's has lowered the forecast not only for this year but next year as well and 2013, more in line with most other forecasts. The White House also sees the unemployment rate falling, but only slowly. The normal unemployment rate is below six percent. The White House says we won't get there for another six years, so we have a bumpy road ahead of us. Brooke?

BALDWIN: The other story is we all have a pin to get cash out of the ATM machines, so these crafty criminals coming up with a new way to steal our pin. Dare I ask how?

HUBER: OK it is a crafty new way. I know it works, because this happened to one of my friends. It's all about body heat. So hackers can basically steal your ATM code from the heat that your fingers leave behind on the keys. Researchers at U.C. San Diego figured it out. And we have a picture. Take a look. Hackers must use a high- quality infrared camera within 90 seconds of when you touch the keys.

The good news is the high-quality infrared cameras can cost upwards of 15 grand. This is not your regular crook that will be able to pull this one off. Also, it only works on plastic keypads. There is a way to handle the problem. Before you walk around, touch all the keys and then Purell your hands.

BALDWIN: Very smart, Karina. Thank you very much.

That just about does it here. One more on Reporter Roulette. Tennis star Venus Williams, breaking news, she pulled out of the U.S. open. Williams says she as an autoimmune disease called Sjogren's. It's sidelined her game. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains what this syndrome is.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, it's really impossible to predict how Venus will do with this disease. There are about four million people who have Sjogren's, most of them women, and it affects them in various ways. Some are able to run marathons, for others it really is debilitating. So it's impossible to say how she's going to do.

There are some questions. One is will she be able to continue to play tennis. The other is will she be able to continue to play at the level she's been playing. Now, Venus says she was having health problems for some time before a doctor figured it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VENUS WILLIAMS, TENNIS PLAYER: I lost a lot of feel. I would miss shots by feet, and I couldn't feel my hands. My hands would hurt when I was playing. I had swelling, numbness, and then fatigue, which is really debilitating. I just didn't have any energy. And it's not that you don't have energy, you just feel beat up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: This is a disease where to get the right diagnosis, you obvious do have to be an empowered patient. When you see the symptoms you'll see why. People who have this disease, they have dry eyes and mouth. Often they have joint pain and fatigue. You know what? Those are symptoms of many, many diseases.

So if someone fears they have this disease, the first thing to do is go to CNN.com/EmpoweredPatient. Read all about this disease. Then if you think it's possible you have it, go to your doctor and ask if it's possible. Even when you do get the right diagnosis, doctors cannot cure Sjogren's syndome. All they can do really is treat the symptoms and really do the best that they can. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much. And that is today's Reporter Roulette.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was going to take her 4-year-old daughter to Disneyland. There were some families that got no human remains back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: For the first time the Feds revealing evidence from the World Trade Center site, haunting memories of what was left behind. And what crews found will forever change the way the FBI operates. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: A woman's wallet, cell phones, even pagers, letters from the hijackers themselves, the feds in Washington's museum releasing never before seen items found at the World Trade Center site.

These pieces of 9/11 have forever changed the way the FBI works. Here is Athena Jones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are haunting symbols of grief found in the rabble of the World Trade Center site. A mother's wallet and credit cards, packed for a trip cut short, when United Flight 175 struck the south tower.

SUSAN BENNETT, NEWSEUM SENIOR V.P., EXHIBITS: Ruth McCort who lived in New London, Connecticut was going to take her 4-year-old to Disneyland. There were some families that got no human remains back, so it was really important for them to get anything, whether it's a wedding ring or a credit card, a wallet, a shoe because that brought some closure to them.

JONES: Sixty artefacts make up the newseum's "War on Terror" exhibit. Items used as evidence in the FBI's investigation into the September 11th attacks, like engines parts from Flight 175 found several blocks from Ground zero.

Hijackers' passports found in Pinksville, Pennsylvania and part of the five-page letter translated from Arabic here that was given to each of the 19 hijackers with instructions on how to spend their last night.

And there are several more personal items that belong to victims like cell phones and pagers that rang for days after the towers fell. A team of 30 from the newseum work closely with the FBI for eight months to put the exhibit together, part of an effort to remember and to educate.

CATHY TROST, NEWSEUM DIRECTOR, EXHIBIT DEVELOPMENT: The story was not only the investigation, but also how it changed the FBI forever. The FBI's mission was indelibly changed by 9/11.

JONES: The FBI's top priority after 9/11 was to prevent another attack, and the exhibit includes articles from the shoe bomber case, like Richard Reid's boarding pass, shoes, and the four matches he struck in his attempt to bring down his transatlantic flight in December 2001. But it's the items from September 11th that hit home the most for this visitor.

PHIL BADUINI, NEWSEUM DONOR: It would be emotional for any American because so it's so searing. It's still so hard to believe, at least for me, even though it's been 10 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BALDWIN: Athena Jones, thank you. Something else to point out here, crews found 61 police vehicles and more than 100 fire department vehicles among some of the debris. And it gives you a sense of the scale of the rescue effort and of course, the sacrifices made.

And if you've got been to the newseum, it is incredible, go, but give yourself at least half a day. Also, for the very first time in eight years of war, not one American family, not one heard a knock at the door last month only to hear that your loved one has died in Iraq.

But the exact opposite can be said about Afghanistan, where more Americans died there than any other month in nearly a decade of war. So all told, 5,843 U.S. service men and women never made it home from either country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here's a quick check on Libya. There's another sign now of how Libya needs both an end to the fighting and help from the international community. Take a look from Tripoli from CNN's Dan Rivers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fuel situation in Tripoli is still pretty bad. There are still incredibly long queues. It's better than it used to be, but check it out. This is the back of the queue for gas. I want to show you just how long it is.

(voice-over): This queue just goes on and on and on. It's ironic because Libya has the largest oil supply in the whole of Africa, the ninth largest in the world.

Experts say it has some 23 years of oil reserves, and before the war, it used to pump about 1.3 million barrels a day. But now all the people in this queue care about is when these pet roll queues are going to subside. Some of them say they've been waiting in the scorching heat for hours.

(on camera): And finally, this is the front of the queue. The coastal road is open, so it means some supplies are coming in, but you get the idea of just what an agonizing wait it is simply to fill up your car. Dan Rivers, CNN, Tripoli.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Dan Rivers, thank you very much. We're also just now getting news that a small earthquake in California. Several of you already started tweeting me about it. We're working on it, making some calls. More details on that right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I know a lot of you in the L.A. area felt this, an earthquake there. Let's go to Bonnie Schneider. Apparently, one of our producers in the control room, she was just talking to, I want to say her mom. She said the lamps and chairs of the house totally shaking.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right, shaking, but I don't think it's going to be a severe one although of course, anytime you have a quake, you always have the risk of aftershocks. That's very common in Southern California.

Here you are looking at where the quake is magnitude 4.1 occurring today on the first day of September. Now 4.1 quake is considered light on the magnitude scale. Now remember, we just had a 5.8 quake a week ago that was considered moderate near Mineral, Virginia last week that really shook everyone up all the way up to east - up and down the east coast.

So this one, as you can see the distance here just to the south and east of Santa Clarita in California, but considered in the L.A. area, 4.1 is the magnitude right now. We're monitoring it to see if there's going to be any aftershocks.

We're still gathering data from the USGS in terms of a shake map to see exactly how many people felt this quake, but at least we can say with confidence that right now it is a light quake in a fairly populated area. We're monitoring the situation for you. We'll have more very soon.

BALDWIN: Yes, a lot of people in the L.A. area, I'm sure they felt it. Tweet us, if you did. Bonnie, thank you very much.

Now, I just want to tell this story and some of us were wondering is this a sign of the tough economic times. Down on his luck Minnesota dad, unemployed, owing money from lawsuits, about to lose his home to foreclosure, he writes a set of notes, one to a neighbor, and the other two his 11-year-old son who's fast asleep while the dad is writing these notes in a house his father built.

So he tells the boy, take his Playstation, take the notes to the neighbor and before disappearing into the night, he writes this. If this paper is wet, it's because I'm crying so bad. You know your dad loves you more than anything. There are many great years ahead for you, not so for me. Then this father drives off, all alone. Listen to this woman. She lives just across the street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON ENGEBRETSON, NEIGHBOR: I think he knew he was losing his house quickly, and I think he just kind of snapped. You would see them playing catch in the front yard. So from all appearances seemed to be an engaged father and was good to his son. You feel for the little boy because he just had his whole world ripped from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Maricella Miranda is a reporter from the Pioneer Press newspaper. She's in Minneapolis writing about this story. Maricella, first, the boy where is he now? Is he OK? MARICELLA MIRANDA, REPORTER, PIONEER PRESS: Well, right now, the boy is currently living with an aunt, but that's just a temporary situation.

BALDWIN: So he's with a maternal aunt, where is dad? How did they find him? Wasn't he in California?

MIRANDA: Yes, yes, he was in California. Police here locally were in touch with California authorities who, you know, found him through e-mails living in the Coastal City of Carmel at first then he went south a little bit to Cambrio, where he was working at a deli and living in a van.

BALDWIN: Do me a favor, just run down, what was so bad for this father. I know I touched on it, what was so bad that he just up and leaves his kid?

MIRANDA: Well, he lost his home in a foreclosure back in January, and the home actually was taken just in July by the bank. So he said he had mounting bills. He lost his home. He was out of work. He was an architect who was out of work, so I guess he figured that his only option was to leave.

BALDWIN: Apparently from jail he told a California TV reporter it was tough being a single dad. I didn't want him to remember his dad as homeless, so where is mom? And when is dad coming home to face this?

MIRANDA: Well, apparently the mom is talking with the Child Protection Services here in Minnesota, and she wants to be a part of the court proceedings to place the boy. She did lose visitation rights in 2002 when the child was only 2 years old. So it's really unclear right now where this 11-year-old boy is going to be living.

BALDWIN: We will stay on it and follow up here. Maricella Miranda, thank you very much with the Pioneer Press newspaper. We'll follow up with you.

Thank you for watching. That does it for me here in Atlanta. Now to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts right now.