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Texas Child Survives Brutal Child Abuse at Hands of Her Mother; British Prime Minister, French President Visit Libya; President Obama Awards Medal of Honor to Marine; Fareed Zakaria Airing Special on Job Creation in America; Millionaire Accused of Murder; School in Dallas Considered Among Nation's Best; Speaker Boehner to Unveil Jobs Plan

Aired September 15, 2011 - 15:10   ET

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

(JOINED AFTER CNN COVERAGE OF A LIVE EVENT)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Sergeant Dakota Meyer, we salute you.

We will take a quick break and then CNN NEWSROOM will continue right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And we will begin with a story that is tough to tell. Take a look at this picture. This is Elizabeth Escalona and her 2-year-old daughter. This is Joselyn Cedillo in obviously happier times.

Back on September 7, Joselyn was rushed to a hospital in Dallas, Texas. She was covered in bruises. Her ribs and a leg were broken. She had a concussion. This little one was in a coma.

And at one point she wasn't even expected to live. Joselyn not only survived. She was just released from the hospital. But her 22- year-old mother is sitting in jail, held on half a million dollar bond in what Dallas police say an extreme case of child abuse, some going as far as calling it torture.

Here's what the Dallas Police Department says is among the things Joselyn's mother is accused of doing, dragging the 2-year-old by her feet from the kitchen, putting glue on her little hands and sticking them to the wall, taking a jug of milk and hitting the toddler in the stomach with it. Police say this was punishment for the child soiling her pants.

I want to bring in Dallas crime reporter Tanya Eiserer.

Tanya, you have been covering the story for "The Dallas Morning News."

Like I said, Dallas police say this is clearly a case of excessive child abuse. First, just I have to say, how is Joselyn? TANYA EISERER, "THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS": As far as we know, she is doing much better. One of the police officers I know that has been involved in the case said that Joselyn is an example of how resilient children are.

Last week, things were looking really bad. But this week, she has made dramatic improvements. She is walking. She is responding to touch and sound. And, of course, she is out of the hospital and in foster care with her siblings, from what I understand.

BALDWIN: What is it that sets this case apart? Some are saying it was a miracle she survived.

EISERER: I think what sets it apart is the glue. People -- the e-mails that I have received from readers, they really respond to the issue of the glue. Putting the glue on the child's hands and then pressing her hands against the wall, that is really shocking to people.

Unfortunately, in my many years as a police reporter, I have seen many cases of child abuse. But it is the glue that really bothers people.

BALDWIN: Yes. That would resonate with anyone whether you're a parent or not.

We also know that on the day Joselyn was rushed to the hospital, her mother changed her Facebook profile, took the time, changed the photo to a picture of her and Joselyn and posted the following. She wrote this: "Why does God put obstacles in my life?" What is this mother's story, Tanya? We mentioned she is 22. How many other kids does she have? What is her background?

EISERER: We don't know a whole lot about her. She has got three other children ranging from 7 to 1. Given that she is 22, that means that she had her youngest at around 15.

I talked to a relative yesterday who said that Elizabeth's growing -- childhood was very difficult, very rough. And the relatives said she thought that Elizabeth was overwhelmed by having so many children. And she is also pregnant again. And I'm told that she is within her first trimester. So this would be her fifth child.

BALDWIN: Wow. And, again, so she is pregnant. She has several other kids, three other kids. And you said these three other kids are in the custody of other family members -- four other children.

EISERER: No, no, no. Well, the three -- Joselyn and her three siblings are in foster care.

BALDWIN: Right. OK.

EISERER: Yesterday, there was a court hearing, a CPS hearing. And both fathers of the four children appeared in court. And CPS is going to conduct home studies on both fathers to determine whether or not they're a suitable placement for the children. And difficult to say what will happen with that. But there is a court hearing November 16 where we will find out presumably what will happen to the four children.

BALDWIN: So two fathers, what is their reaction to this?

EISERER: Joselyn's father, when he left the courtroom, he was in tears. He didn't want to stop and talk. But he seemed very clearly overcome with emotion by what had happened to his child.

Now, him and -- he and Elizabeth were living together in an apartment here in Dallas. So they were together.

BALDWIN: They were?

EISERER: Yes, they were.

The other father avoided us. We couldn't get to him. He went out a back way and we weren't able to speak with him. My understanding, also, I heard from the relative I spoke with yesterday was that Joselyn actually was born in Mexico and had spent most of her brief life in Mexico and then had recently -- that recently she had been brought back to the States to live with Elizabeth and her father.

BALDWIN: And so there have been no other reports of any other family members, neighbors, even siblings saying anything to authorities? This is the first time that we know of, of this happening?

EISERER: This is the first time we know of. CPS has a policy here in Texas that unless there is a child death, they don't talk about a family's history. So if there are other reports to CPS, we don't know about it.

And I am not aware of any other complaints to the police regarding Elizabeth or her children.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth is in jail as we mentioned on $500,000 bond. What does she face here?

EISERER: Here in Texas, that is a first-degree felony. She faces up to life in prison. It is just as serious as being charged with murder. It's a very, very serious charge here in the state of Texas.

BALDWIN: Tanya Eiserer, thank you so much for coming on and talking about this.

And I know so many of you are moved by stories like Joselyn. I sit here, I read your tweets during the show. I read your posts on Facebook. And I know stories like this affect you. You want to help change the system. My team today picked up the phone. We called the Texas Department of Children and Family Services and they reminded us they are always in need of good foster parents to take care of children in protective custody like Joselyn here. And I'm sure that that goes for your state as well. Coming up here, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy paying a surprise visit to Tripoli today. And the reason includes money. Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, actually just touched down in nearby Niger, where some of Moammar Gadhafi's family members have escaped to. He is next.

Also, it is bigger, it is better, and now even easier to find, CNN's most compelling video. Check out the CNN.com's groundbreaking new video experience. It is CNN.com/video.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Call it an even bigger nod to the legitimacy of Libya's National Transitional Council, or the NTC. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and also Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron paid a surprise visit to the capital city, Tripoli, today.

They are the most senior Western leaders to visit the capital since Moammar Gadhafi lost control of the city just last month. And both of these men, Sarkozy and Cameron, are pledging continued support of Libya's new leadership. They're also pressing for Libya's assets to be unfrozen so the new interim council will have access to billions of dollars.

They say Gadhafi must face justice and vowed to have NATO help track him down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We must keep on with the NATO mission until civilians are all protected and until this work is finished. We will help you to find Gadhafi and to bring him to justice.

And we also want to help you to take the dangerous weapons out of Libya.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, actually just landed in nearby Nigeria, where several members of Gadhafi's family have fled.

And, Nic, we know that the NTC wants them back, including Saadi, who I know you communicated with multiple times in the recent past. How would this work? Has a formal extradition request actually been made?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that seems to be what the National Transitional Council is sending a delegation here tomorrow to do, to actually make that representation to government officials. It's not clear if they will meet with the president or prime minister or who they will hand that petition to. But the justice minister has said that, from his perspective, from this government's perspective, they wouldn't want to hand back Saadi Gadhafi or any of the other senior officials, government officials, the government officials that have crossed the border from Libya because they say there is still fighting in Libya and it's still dangerous.

He has come here as a guest. They say that he is not -- it is not up to them when he leaves the country or where he goes to. But it seems to be clear that they're not, at least in the initial analysis, they're not ready to hand him over to the National Transitional Council so far.

He is believed to be in a palace here. I have been exchanging communications with him in the last few minutes. And certainly, from what I understand, talking to him, is that he is not free to move, that his movements are controlled to some degree by the government here. And that seems to be what the National Transitional Council is going to do, come here, tell the government here to hand him over.

But the government of this country, Niger, an incredibly poor government in Africa, has received millions and millions and millions of dollars from his father, Moammar Gadhafi, over the years. The grand mosque, the biggest mosque here in this town where the streets are full of sewage, where there's dirt and most of the roads are dirt roads here, Gadhafi spent a lot of money, so he has a lot of favors here to pull. This government here may yet stand up for Gadhafi and his family.

BALDWIN: Yes. Tell me, beyond Saadi Gadhafi, Nic, how many other Gadhafi family members are there in country, and couldn't they just continue to go into hiding, not go back?

ROBERTSON: At the moment, it appears that that seems to be one of the options that they have, which is to stay in hiding. But they can only do that if the government here allows them to do it.

The government brought them to the capital, Niamey. Saadi Gadhafi, the only direct family member that we're aware of that the authorities here have talked about, he came with about seven or eight of his assistants and associates, the government here calls them low- level, but also a number of high-level former military officials, Gadhafi's military officials, crossed over into Niger.

They're also believed to be in the capital. And no doubt the National Transitional Council will want them back, too. It is an unspecified number. We expect to get more details tomorrow when this delegation arrives here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, let me ask you about just to the north of you in Libya. If you can just speak to the significance of both Sarkozy and Cameron traveling to Libya, what does their physical presence in the capital city, what does that signify for you?

ROBERTSON: I think really it means -- and the fact that they traveled together -- these two were essentially kind of been joined at the hip from the beginning of the sort of military air operations that forced -- and turned the rebels' revolt into a rebellion that could succeed.

Just when Gadhafi's forces were poised to pour into Benghazi, it was French aircraft that struck that armored military column, the tanks that were already firing shells into the edge of the city. For these two leaders to arrive, it is really legitimizing the transition and recognizing the transition that has happened in the country. And has Cameron and Sarkozy have both said, there's no way that Gadhafi can come back.

And no doubt behind the scenes, they're also putting a lot of pressure on the government, on this new transitional government to make the right moves, to do the right things and also to get a handle on the international concerns about the Islamic elements in this country. People might gravitate to the likes of al Qaeda, concerns in the West about that and about the missing weapons that have been stolen, surface-to-air missiles and other things.

And they will bring a lot of concerns and a lot of things that they will want these National Transitional Council leaders to take care of, not least securing those bases as well as living up to their human rights the words that they have spoken about -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, certainly a tremendous amount happening of course behind the scenes, as you point out.

Nic Robertson in Niger, Nic, thank you for calling in.

Now listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE GARY COTTRELL, CRAWFORD COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: This guy came here to wipe out my office. And I believe that if he had killed me, that he would have killed everyone else in his pathway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That man there is a judge. And police say another man walked straight into his courthouse, armed, wanting blood. Find out why the judge was involved in the gunman's personal life.

Plus, a mom up and disappears. And the day she did, her husband says he took his two young kids out at midnight during a snowstorm to go camping. Well, now a major discovery that could be a huge break in this case, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Checking your top stories now, al Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan died in an attack there this week. This is according to U.S. officials who did not provide cause of death.

But we now know the U.S. frequently uses armed aerial drones in this country, the same country where a commando raid took out Osama bin Laden back in May. And this latest terror operative killed was considered a possible successor to al Qaeda's second in command, who died back in August.

And police in Arkansas are just amazed that more people were not killed in this week's courthouse shooting spree. We have some new video here. You can see some of those bullet holes inside and outside that courthouse. The gunman, James Ray Palmer, fired more than 70 rounds from his high-powered assault rifle. Also had two semiautomatic handguns on Tuesday. He was killed by police.

But for the first time now, we are hearing from that judge what Palmer was apparently looking for when he started the shooting rampage. Crawford County Circuit Court Judge Gary Cottrell apparently presided over Palmer's divorce and custody hearing. Cottrell wasn't there when Palmer started shooting, but his secretary was. She was shot in the leg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COTTRELL: Basically, her statement was to me, Judge, is, he came here specifically to kill you. And that's what she said.

This guy came here to wipe out my office. And I believe that if he had killed me, that he would have killed everyone else in his pathway. I honestly believe that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The gunman's reasoning for singling out this judge still remains uncertain. The judge says he doesn't remember any specifics of Palmer's case, which he heard three years ago.

And the parents of that once-missing autistic boy have now lost custody of him. According to KCBS, an affiliate in Los Angeles, a California court today granted the parents visiting rights every Monday. Joshua Robb here, 8 years of age, came to national attention after he ran from his school in Twin Peaks, California, on Monday. He was missing for just about 24 hours, wandered far out into the woods in the San Bernardino National Forest.

He had recently been removed from his parents' custody after someone reported the boy was tied to a pole. The parents explained they were moving and were worried Joshua would simply run off.

And an anthropologist is now examining human remains found in the desert in Utah yesterday. The remains were found during a search for Susan Powell. She is the Salt Lake City mother who disappeared back in 2009. Her husband told authorities he had taken his young sons winter camping in near zero weather, had no idea where his wife went. He is the only person of interest in this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: What are your dreams?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have none. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Candid, heartbreaking words from this child living in poverty. Up next, CNN's Fareed Zakaria join me live. I will ask him what he would this young man and his mere can't find a job and sometimes can't feed her family. Is there hope America dig itself out of the jobs crisis? If so, how? Fareed Zakaria has been hearing ideas from some very powerful people in the U.S. We'll get his ideas, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: One of the smartest guys we happen to know is tackling the issue of jobs. I'm talking about Fareed Zakaria. He has a special airing Sunday night, "GETTING BACK TO WORK."

Fareed Zakaria, good enough to join me live from New York. Fareed, good to see you as always.

Let's talk about some tough numbers here. We have new unemployment claims topping 400,000 last week, the highest mark since June. With that in mind, obviously, we have an election coming up. We've got the president saying the government needs to step forward and lead. On the flipside we have the Republicans saying the government needs to get the heck out of the way.

Why are voters being presented with these same old two choices, neither of which seems to be working? Is there some solution out there that our leaders, our political parties are just incapable of grasping?

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, CNN'S "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": Well, you know, Brooke, it is a superb question, because really what we should be doing is looking at this as a kind of problem, a practical problem, and what are the best solutions, and then worry about what does the ideology mean? Which side of the box does that place you on? And then sort that out.

But first just ask ourselves, what are the things we can do? To his great credit, Jeff Immelt, the CEO of General Electric trick and president Obama's job czar is trying to do that and trying to figure out easy wins, places where you can increase employment very easily. We've talked to him and we look at a lot of specific examples.

For example, tourists come into this country and they spend a lot of money. We make it really hard for people to come into America. Why not double the number of tourist visas? You could easily do it, maintain security, and the people coming to America from China, for example, are not a security threat. There are so many simple areas where we could easily expand employment right now that we're just unable to do. The system doesn't work anymore.

BALDWIN: You mentioned Jeffrey, whom I know not only is he the job czar. I do want to talk about these people at the top of the White House, because I'm sure you've read it. There is this entire editorial from Democratic strategist James Carville. Essentially he's gone ballistic. The whole headline is "What should the White House do? Panic." One of the suggestions he has, start firing people. So here's my question for you, Fareed. Let's say the president fired his entire economic team. He comes to you, calls you up. I need you to right this ship, this economic ship. What is your first move on jobs?

ZAKARIA: The first movie I would do, the biggest move without any question is infrastructure. Brooke, you have unemployment in the construction industry at about 20, 22 percent. There are millions of people in construction who are unemployed. You have the reality this is never something the private sector never does. This has been the government if you know. It is not that the government goes out and builds roads. The government hires private construction company so these are private sector jobs about it has always been the government involved, taking the lead.

And right now you just don't have much consumer demand. Whatever you do for companies, you give them tax holidays, tax breaks, they're not going to hire a lot more people because there isn't a demand for their products. The one thing we know we can do is take advantage of this incredibly cheap interest rates we have, borrow for 30-year money, in other words, with very low payments, and rebuild America. Rebuild our bridges, our highways, our airports, our power grids, our smart grids. That's the biggest thing we should be doing.

BALDWIN: OK, we've heard you talk infrastructure. We've heard you talk about innovation. I have new numbers. They show that the rate of poverty Fareed has climbed to the 15 percent, the highest levels in 18 years. To anyone, obviously, that is a distressing statistic. So is this, though. I want you to listen to this young man interviewed for stir done by Poppy Harlow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The spirits of these people, they are completely gone.

HARLOW: All right, what are your dreams?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I have none. I walked away from that yesterday and it resonated. And at the same time, you have the president saying this is America. Fareed, how can we have a kid, 12 years of age work no dreams? What would you tell him?

ZAKARIA: The American dream is really fundamentally about a job. There's a lot around it -- a nice house, a car, a family. The center has always been a good job with rising wages. What I would tell this kid is not to despair, because the greatest danger here, and we've we see this statistically and through history, the greatest danger is if somebody feels a sense of despair and doesn't search and doesn't educate himself. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

So people unemployed for more than six or nine months, it becomes harder and harder for them to ever get a good job with the rising wage because they sort of lose the, just the drive, the energy, the hope more than anything else. I think you cannot lose hope.

BALDWIN: Don't lose hope. You have this big prime time special on Sunday night telling us, you know, don't lose hope. Don't despair. Get back to work. Give as you quick preview.

ZAKARIA: We begin by trying understand the jobs crisis. This is actually a much bigger crisis than the last two or three years. We've been having difficulty creating jobs in America for 10 years, maybe even 20 years. And we explain why. And it is all these new forces, technological change, globalization, that are pressing on the American worker.

Then we go to very practical solutions. I really believe in trying to figure out how to solve this problem. So we talked to the CEOs of General Electric, Dow Chemical, we talk to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson. And the whole emphasis is, OK, how would you create more manufacturing jobs in soon. How would you create more jobs in the travel and tourism soon? How would you fund infrastructure so you don't bust the budget? And we come up a series of very simple, doable solutions. And I hope somebody in Washington is listening.

BALDWIN: I'm taking notes because I know we'll continue this conversation tomorrow and I want to focus maybe a little bit more on solutions. People want to hear concrete specifics. Fareed Zakaria, thank you very much.

Let's remind everybody this weekend your special airing, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: GETTING BACK TO WORK" Sunday night 8:00 Eastern.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN WILKINSON, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: Ladies and gentlemen, this case is about the fact that it was Bob Ward that shot her almost dead between the eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Prosecutors say millionaire killed his wife in cold blood. But the defense is giving this whole other side of the story as opening arguments begin here. You'll hear what the suspect told this 911 operator when he picked up the phone to call. You'll also hear some video of him laughing and dancing behind bars. Back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A cold-blooded murder or just a tragic accident? Those are the central questions jurors are now beginning to weigh after opening statements in the murder trial of the millionaire developer in Florida. He is Bob Ward. He's charged with second-degree murder here with his wife, Diane nearly two years ago in their mansion in Orlando. They were married, by the way, more than 25 years. Ward initially told this 911 dispatcher that he shot his wife but later that it was an accident and then later claimed it was a suicide. I want to you listen to the 911 call he made that very night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just shot my wife.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just shot my wife.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where's your wife?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's right here on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Prosecutors seized on that call in their opening statement today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILKINSON: Ladies and gentlemen, this case is about the fact that it was Bob Ward that shot her almost dead between the eyes. The 911 call that came in, and the very first words out of Bob Ward's mouth about his wife of 25, 26 years, "I just shot my wife."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Meantime, you have the defense coming forward today saying that was not the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRK KIRKCONNELL, BOB WARD'S ATTORNEY: Diane Ward was killed by a single gunshot wound as she struggled with her husband over a loaded gun. This entire incident happened in the blink of an eye. Her death was an unexpected and tragic accident. No crime was committed by Bob Ward on the night of September 21st, 2009.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And then there's this video. Do you see this? This is of Ward dancing and laughing with family members during this jailhouse visit after his arrest. Ward's attorneys have filed a motion to have this video thrown out. But it has been widely distributed by the media by now. His trial expected to last two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some more than others, but we're all nerds.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Welcome to the number one school in America. As test scores drop across the board, across the U.S., what is this school doing right? CNN's Ed Lavandera found it, and it could it change future of education. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the help desk where you get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Lynette Khalfani-Cox, the founder of financial advice blog AsktheMoneyCoach.com and Stacy Francis, a certified financial planner and also president of Francis Financial. Thanks, ladies, for being here.

First question for you, Lynette, a pretty straightforward one. Elizabeth asks, "How can I get a loan without a co-signer if I have a limited credit history?"

LYNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: Elizabeth, the truth is you might not be able to do so if you don't have a cosigner if you don't have very strong credit on your own. You have a couple of options though. One is to wait, build your rating and try to apply for a loan later. The second is maybe put up some collateral of some form depending on the type of loan you want. She wasn't very specific. I don't know if it's personal, home loan, whatever. But really lenders want to see that you have some skin in the game, so collateral may be the way to go.

HARLOW: Especially now. Stacy, your question from Allie, has an IRA balance of $50,000, a 51-year-old, $10,000 in taxable income this year and next. Is it wise to convert to a Roth IRA?

STACY FRANCIS, FINANCIAL PLANNER: It may not be that wise for him. He's age 51. The first hurdle is, can he pay the taxes from outside money? If he's able to do that, then he has to look at how long can this money stay in the IRA before he has to tap it? The longer, if it could be in there one, two, three decades, possibly. But the younger you are the more sense it makes for you to do that Roth conversion.

HARLOW: Thank you, ladies. Folks, if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail anytime to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I have a pretty eye opening report to share with you today showing SAT scores dropping across the country and dramatically. So what does it take to be the number one school in America? CNN's Ed Lavandera, he got an inside look at a Dallas school voted top notch by "Newsweek" magazine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don't let the crayons and baby wipes fool you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're seeing the tiny dots and pixels.

LAVANDERA: This isn't child's play. These students are learning how to write Java, a widely used computer programming language.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to have a quiz on Thursday.

LAVANDERA: At the Science and Engineering Magnet School in Dallas, this is considered a basic course for freshmen.

JOVAN WELLS, PRINCIPAL, SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: We want them to really quench that thirst for knowledge.

LAVANDERA: Jovan Wells is the School of Science and Engineering. "Newsweek" ranked it the number one public high school in America. Here's why.

LAVANDERA (on camera): Some of your students take three math classes a day.

WELLS: Absolutely. We have students that can handle that challenge, pre-calculus, and calculus all in the same year.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Students take a rigorous series of math and science courses that most schools don't even offer, dozens of college level labs in their junior year. The students have won so many academic contests they've run out of room to show off the trophies.

WELLS: All of these are our trophies. We have tons of trophies here in boxes just everywhere.

LAVANDERA: This school has a unique culture and sense of humor -- 400 students all completely infatuated with learning. Christian Yulloa is a senior. He says students feel at home here.

CHRISTIAN YULLOA, STUDENT, SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: Everybody here is a nerd in a way right? Some more than others. We're all nerds. Inside we're all nerds. And that got us here and get us through here.

LAVANDERA: It's not a question of if you'll go to college but which top school you'll get into. Alfredo's father didn't graduate from high school. He has his sights set on MIT.

ALFREDO ARPERO, STUDENT, SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING: I was upset because I wouldn't find it in the mail. The day I told my mom, I didn't think I'm in. She went to get the mail and this was there. I was so happy. I was relieved.

LAVANDERA: American students are fall behind the rest of the world in math and science. Parents like Sylvia Carlson say this school is preparing the two kids she sent here to compete. SYLVIA CARLSON, PARENT: That's what our country needs. And so what better way to foster scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, the things that we need for our country to continue to climb that mountain and to stay on top?

WELLS: Here, everyone has this common bond because everyone loves math or science, everybody understands the physics joke that you just told. It's a great environment. I felt that way. They're funny to our group here.

LAVANDERA: That's the point, creating a space where young minds flourish. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Ed, thank you.

Still ahead, a major bank loses $2 billion, poof, gone. Why? Because of a so-called rogue trader. Richard Quest is joining me to explain whether it's fraud or what's called in the banking industry "fat fingers."

But a week after President Obama unveiled the plan, it is House Speaker John Boehner's turn, and the Republican leader has some different ideas. Wolf Blitzer is standing by. He is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Let's go to Washington now, shall we, and check in with Wolf Blitzer with the latest news fresh off the CNN Political Ticker, including, what, two things, new Republican poll numbers and of course, Speaker Boehner's job plan -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Yes, Brooke, it's very interesting that if you listen to what John Boehner had to say, he has major disagreements on the jobs initiative from the president. But he also said it's time for everyone to work together. Let me play a little clip of what the speaker had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER: There are some in both parties who would frankly rather do nothing. They would prefer to sit this out and wait to be dealt a better hand down the road after the next election, you know, the old kicking the can down the road. Guess what? That's not what I was elected to do. And I know what the hand is that we've been dealt, and instead of ducking from the challenge, we need to rise to the occasion and liberate our economy from the shackles that this government put on us. I'm ready. And I think for the sake of our country and our economy, I hope all of us are ready.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You hear I similar message from the president. He says, forget about politics right now. The country is in serious economic trouble. Everyone has to work together. The problem is that the devil is now in the details. There are major differences between what the speaker has in mind and the Republican majority and the House of Representatives and what the president and the Democrats have in mind when it comes to taxes, when it comes to government regulation and other substantive issues. So if they can work out a compromise, that would be impressive. Right now it doesn't look like that's going to happen necessarily.

You mentioned new poll numbers we have. We did polling among Republicans across the country. Take a look at this. Among Republicans, basically evenly split between those who are Tea Party advocates and those who aren't. Are you an active member or a supporter of the Tea Party movement? Among Republicans only, 49 percent say yes, 51 percent say no. So Republicans evenly split whether they want to identify directly with the Tea Party movement.

Take a look at the demographics. Of all the Republicans, regular Republicans, let's say, as opposed to Tea Party Republicans, you look at the these numbers and they're up on the screen. Take a look at this, Brooke. Tea Party Republicans are more educated, 64 percent to 53 percent. They're more male members, 63 percent to 45 percent. They're older, 50 and older for the Tea Party, 60 percent to 42 percent, and more born again, 46 to 40 percent. So interesting demographics. A little bit surprising, maybe, to some people. But it's interesting to see how divided the Republicans are 50/50 basically between Tea Party supporters and non Tea Party supporters.

We'll talk about a lot of this and much more to follow-up on the debate I moderated earlier in the week. Jon Huntsman, one of the Republican presidential candidates will join us live in "THE SITUATION ROOM," and Mitt Romney will join us live as well. So, we got two major Republicans coming into "THE SITUATION ROOM" later today.

I know, Brooke, you and a lot of our viewers will want to watch.

BALDWIN: Of course, of course. Yesterday, you said you have a big show today. You definitely have a big show, Wolf Blitzer. We will talk a little bit more about that in my second hour.

Thank you so much.

We will also get another "Political Ticker" update for you in half-an-hour.