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Amanda Knox Appeal Continues; Will Chris Christie Run?; FEMA May Not Run Out of Funding Before End of Fiscal Year; "SNL" Skewers Rick Perry; President Holds Town Hall in California; Defunct Satellite Plummets to Earth; A Day to Play; Most Caffeinated Cities; Inside View of a Quake; Michael Jackson's Doc on Trial

Aired September 26, 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: And now top of the hour, watch this --

Is New Jersey governor Chris Christie reconsidering his decision not to run for president?

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I'm governor of New Jersey. I'm not going to run for national office.

BALDWIN: A blunt thanks, but no thanks. But he is giving a big-time speech and meeting with big-time donors. Has something changed?

Plus, a she-devil who loves wild sex, that is how prosecutors are describing Amanda Knox.

CURT KNOX, FATHER OF AMANDA KNOX: What I find very hard to believe is how this person can start calling her that when he's never even talked to her, never met her.

BALDWIN: What is it going to be for the American college student accused of killing her roommate in Italy, life behind bars or will she walk? We're on the case.

Saudi Arabia's king says women can vote in a couple of years, but they still can't drive. We go globe trekking for a look at what life is really like for women in the kingdom.

Then the price you pay depends on your race -- a statement about a affirmative action that's not going over so well.

ANAIS LAVOIE, PRESIDENT, U.C. BERKELEY CAMPUS DEMOCRATS: The fact that they humorized and mocked the struggles of people of color on this campus is very disgusting to me.

BALDWIN: I will explain the trouble with this bake sale.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Here we go, hour two in the NEWSROOM. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time to talk politics here.

And a lot of people are still wondering if New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will get into the Republican race for president. Time, time again, you have heard the sound bites. Chris Christie says he will not run. The field is already crowded. And it is getting a little late to start any presidential campaign.

But after Texas Governor Rick Perry got into the race, he shot into the lead over Mitt Romney. But his poor performance in the last debate has some urging Christie still get in there, run.

Here he is, Craig Crawford, political analyst writing for CQPolitics.com, joining me live from Orlando.

And, Craig, nice to have you on.

Let's just get to it. Chris Christie, is it possible? We have seen the mash-up of the sound where he says, no, no, no thanks, I'm not running. But might he cave to pressure now and run?

CRAIG CRAWFORD, COLUMNIST, CQPOLITICS.COM: I don't think so, Brooke. I could be wrong. But there's a lot of desperation among the conservative establishment. They just don't trust Romney.

I think this shows that Romney is starting to scare them, that he actually could get the nomination so they are getting desperate because they're worried that Perry isn't going to do the job. But Christie, he is not all that popular in his home state of New Jersey. He is up for reelection next year. That could be a dicey prospect for him. It is getting late. Getting the money is going to be tough. I just don't see it happening.

BALDWIN: When we say, it is getting late, how late is too late? How late is the absolute last possible moment to throw your name in for a primary filing deadline, let's say?

CRAWFORD: The drop-dead deadline is end of next month, end of October. The filing deadlines for getting on the ballots of the primaries and caucuses start hitting the calendar at the end of next month and come pretty rapidly.

We only have up until then. And so that doesn't leave Christie a lot of time to make a decision. I would he would have to get in within the next few weeks. And another thing about Christie, we got to say it, Brooke, his weight. This is a period, this is a -- I mean, I'm not saying I'm thin, but I'm not running for president.

And I just wonder what factor that would be. He would be probably not as heavy as William Howard Taft, who was 330 pounds and got stuck in his bathtub in the White House. I don't think he is that heavy. But I just really think we have to accept that that could be a factor in today's media age. BALDWIN: Well, what about other factors though with regard to let's say the other front-runners for now, Rick Perry and Mitt Romney? What is it about them? Why can't Republicans settle on someone already?

CRAWFORD: Well, Perry has disappointed.

I was here at this conference of Republicans about, I guess about 3,000 or more here over the last few days, starting last Thursday with the debate. In talking to lots of them over those few days, I found that at first there was a lot of excitement for Perry. Then they saw him up close and personal in the debate and some of the speeches.

And the people here, the Republicans here were really taken aback by what they see as his liberal stand on the immigration issues, on particularly college tuition for the children of illegals. That worried them. Then is a lot of resistance to Romney because they see him as more of a technocrat type.

The problem, Brooke, is they are looking for Ronald Reagan. They're trying to find Ronald Reagan again. And one of the gags, running gags at this thing in Orlando over the weekend, I heard two or three times, is we are looking for Ronald Reagan and we can't even find Fred Thompson, Fred Thompson being -- he was the Reagan wannabe of the last cycle who disappointed.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes. But then you look at -- there you are in Florida. How about the straw poll win for Herman Cain? He wins. That's what so many people are talking about today. I think he got like seven standing ovations just before the vote. What is it? Is it his 9-9-9 tax plane? Is that what is resonating with people?

CRAWFORD: I heard 9-9-9 over again -- over and over again. It started to sound like some sort of German chant.

(LAUGHTER)

CRAWFORD: But I heard over and over again at the event. People really liked it. It's sounds simple. Sounds easy, 9 percent individual income tax, 9 percent corporate tax and 9 percent sales tax and we are said and done.

I think there are details to get into it as to whether that is workable. But people like that. Also he is very charismatic speaker. As you said, he got seven standing ovations. Also, so much resistance to getting held to the choice between Romney and Perry.

Another thing that I heard resistance to Romney and Perry is, they are tired of the bickering between the two of them. And they are looking for an alternative. I also heard a lot of talk about Cain as running mate from these delegates.

BALDWIN: Ah, OK.

(CROSSTALK)

CRAWFORD: They voted for him. Many of them voted for him in the straw ballot knowing that he probably wouldn't win the nomination, but they wanted to send a signal that they like this guy. They want the party to take him seriously. And a lot of people talked about him as potential running mate, which would be a very interesting prospect.

BALDWIN: Interesting.

Craig Crawford, CQPolitics.com, thank you sir.

CRAWFORD: Good to talk to you.

BALDWIN: And the price you pay depends on your race? A statement about affirmative action on a campus that is not going over very well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVOIE: The fact that they humorized and mocked the struggles of people of color on this campus is very disgusting to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A pay-by-race bake sale stirring controversy, but what might this bill mean for the state of California?

And then Saudi Arabia pulling the veil back on politics, saying women will have a greater political voice, but they still aren't allowed to drive there. We will take a look at everyday life for women in Saudi Arabia with Hala Gorani. We're going to go globe trekking coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A controversial bake sale at the University of California, Berkeley, is still going to happen tomorrow, even though a lot of people are pretty upset about it. What's the big deal?

Take a look at this price list here. This is from the College Republicans, who are holding what they call the Increase Diversity Bake Sale. They say, look, this whole thing is satirical. They are just trying to make this political point. We will get a little bit more on that in a second.

But first you see the prices here from top to bottom. Baked goods, $2 if you're white, $1.50 if you're Asian, $1 for Latinos, 75 cents for African-Americans, a quarter, a mere quarter for Native Americans, and a quarter off if you are a woman.

Now, the president of College Republicans says the event is inherently racist and that it is supposed to be. This group is trying to draw attention to this bill sitting on the governor's desk right now that would allow universities to consider race, consider ethnicity, gender, in looking at student admissions.

Now that bill would reverse Proposition 209 in the state of California. And that was a ballot measure that was approved some 15 years ago. And essentially it told public universities that they could not consider race, ethnicity and gender. But here's the important point. This current bill doesn't say schools must consider those things. They just say that they can consider those things.

And we just so happen to have the man who wrote the bill to help us explain exactly what this is. State Senator Ed Hernandez is with me from West Covina, California.

Mr. Hernandez, nice to have you on here.

From what I understand, you say that there has been a significant drop in minority students since Prop 209 took effect, so that this is really just about making sure student bodies across the state of California are more diverse. Is that correct?

ED HERNANDEZ (D), CALIFORNIA STATE SENATOR: Yes, that is correct.

The bill was introduced so that the state, the U.C.s and well as CSUs may consider, and as you mentioned earlier, it does not violate Proposition 209.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about some of the specific language. And we pulled some of the language from the bill. And let me just read this together.

I'm going to quote here: "The University of California may and the California State University may consider race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, geographic origin and household income along with other relevant factors in undergraduate and graduate admissions, so long as no preference is given."

HERNANDEZ: Correct.

BALDWIN: So the important word there is may. School may do this. But it's not an imperative.

HERNANDEZ: And that's correct. And that's why we spent hours working with legislative council to (inaudible) measured be constitutional. And all we are saying is that race, gender as you mentioned, geographic location, can be considered as part of a comprehensive review where many factors are also considered.

BALDWIN: But just to push back, others could say, why not just look at test scores? Why not just look grades? Why does it need to be about race, ethnicity, gender?

HERNANDEZ: Well we should, we should look at all those factors. But if you also look at communities of color, let's take for example, the Latino population, where comprises of 45 percent of California's K-12 student population, but yet only compromised 13 percent of the UCA undergraduate studies or students, the other thing that you keep in mind, that these students that come from these particular communities, I am one of them who came from a low income community, don't have the same opportunities and don't have, we're talking about facilities teacher quality. They don't even have access to the same kind of classes. I will give you an example. Did you know that more than 600 schools in California don't even offer AP courses and how does the student be able to compete?

And most of these schools where they don't offer AP courses, come from these exact same communities. So how do they-how can they compete to even get a GPA over 4.0, for example, to apply for the UC's? They can use AP courses as part of their prerequisite and brings them above 4.0 to be able to attend.

BALDWIN: But shouldn't the issue or perhaps the onus then fall on the school for not offering AP's to begin with?

HERNANDEZ: Yes. And that's why I also introduce a bill this year. Unfortunately it was-it was gutted and amended and wasn't even able to get out of the senate education committee. But we're going to continue to bring that bill to require that every school offers A minimum number of AP courses, which is-it's 4. Because all of the UC's require a minimum of four or -- you can use up to a minimum of four towards your admittance.

BALDWIN: I do want to get your reaction though on the micro level, being this bake sale at UC Berkeley. And we looked back and we know that this certainly isn't the first time you have you a conservative college group doing a bake sale like this. We tracked down similar sales Starting some nine years ago. But it seems this time it is different. Obviously they say they are doing it because Governor Brown is considering this bill right now. But have you seen the list of the prices for this bake sale that will be happening tomorrow? And just quickly Senator, your reaction?

HERNANDEZ: No, actually I haven't seen the list. I was able to just briefly hear you before I got on because when you were priming about what had happened. And I think unfortunately that this stunt by the UC Berkeley Republicans is insensitive and is a perfect example of why I introduced the bill in the first place. And I think if the University campuses were as diverse as they should be, I think we'd much more tolerant to issues like this.

BALDWIN State Senator, Ed Hernandez. Sir, thank you very much for calling in. And next, it's girl power in the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah says women will have a greater political voice. But for some reason they still aren't allowed to drive there. We'll talk to Hala Gorani, that's next in "Globe Trekking."

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: By Saudi Arabian standards, something King Abdullah said, is nothing short of historic. He says in future municipal elections, women will be allowed to run for office, and nominate candidates, but he never said anything about voting. And with elections coming up this week in Saudi Arabia, the king is under even more pressure to give women the vote. Hala Gorani back with us. Nice to see you back in here, with "Globe Trekking". And we're talking about something that prior the Arab spring could have really been considered unthinkable. Explain what the king said over the weekend, and I guess the reception of these changes. HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well the understanding is that women eventually will be allowed to vote Brooke, even though it wasn't expressed so explicitly. And it is interesting that you say that this comes within the context of the Arab spring. Because more than nine months ago perhaps, this would have been considered a very sort of reform-minded announcement. Right now though within the context of the Arab Spring,. it is seen by critics that isn't going far enough, because women will be able to stand for municipal posts, they will be able to nominate municipal election candidates. They might even be allowed, Brooke and this is what's important, to be members of the committee that advises The king.

However, they can't drive. They are going to be have to chauffeured to whatever polling station they will need to go to, to cast their ballot. So these fundamental rights that some women say they really don't think they can live without, going forward, aren't being granted. And what's important also is that beyond the municipal elections this year, we don't know when the next municipal elections will be held.

BALDWIN: So this is something that could potentially then be happening multiple years from now. Yet he also didn't explicitly use the word vote, though I guess though, that's sort of inferred, if they can run for-or be a candidate-

GORANI: I'm not sure how significant it is, that he didn't use that particular word. I think it was inferred in what he said. But that would mean that women would be allowed to vote. I think what's important also to note regarding Saudi Arabia, is that, municipal representatives don't hold much power. Look the political power in Saudi Arabia is in the hands of king. So you have you cynics and critics who over the weekend said, great, so women are going to have to be chauffeured to go cast ballots for completely meaningless local elections. Then you have others and it is important to talk about the other side. Others who say, look, Saudi Arabia is an extremely conservative slow-moving Kingdom. It's socially conservative, it's religiously conservative. The fact that the king of Saudi Arabia feels the need right now to make these announcements is in itself significant almost regardless of the impact on the ground. That eventually and slowly it will translate into meaningful reform.

BALDWIN: And then perhaps eventually they Can drive.

GORANI: Eventually, perhaps, yes.

BALDWIN: We're going to keep you over the break. I want to continue the conversation with regard to Syria and what is happening also at the UN today. So just, we will be right back with Hala.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In Syria, a horrible story about the regime's brutality today. An opposition leader's sister was kidnapped to force him into the open, he was then killed. And now they found the sister's dismembered body as well. President Bashar-Al-Assad getting more brutal perhaps, as his regime is building. I want to bring in Hala Gorani. What's your reaction to the story today?

GORANI: Well Amnesty International said that this would be the first female death in detention in Syria. This potentially turning a new page in the historical account of this uprising once it's written. The question for us is, did this woman truly die in detention? And if she did, was the victim of the horrific torture that her body showed. Honestly, Brooke, we have seen video after video of dead bodies, of tortured bodies. Nothing comes close to the body of this young woman. Decapitated, dismembered, skinned. I mean if you have any--if you don't want to think about this type of violent impact on a human body, do not watch this video that is circulating. And we also have still pictures. We at CNN have decided not to air them, not even blurred.

The story that was told by the parents of this young woman, 19 years old, Zainab al-Hosni, is that they went to the morgue to identify the body of their son. Mohammed al-Hosni, and by chance, came across the body of their daughter, Zainab, who was, according to an account given to Amnesty International, taken into custody to force the brother, Mohammed to turn himself in. He did not. Either way, both children were, according human rights groups, and activists on the ground, tortured and killed eventually.

So this story has gotten a lot of traction on line. The level of brutality inflicted on this young woman is something the likes of which I have never seen.

BALDWIN: We'll continue to follow this story, and continue telling the story, from Syria. Hala Gorani, thank you very much.

And now to this, Mitt Romney meeting with Donald trump a little later today. Will he get fired or get the Trump, Donald Trump Stamp of approval? That's coming up in your "Political Ticker."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Talking politics today. We know one of the front runners here at the GOP race, Mitt Romney, meeting with Donald Trump this afternoon, in New York, let's bring in Jim Acosta with more on this. Jim do we know any details yet with regard to this meeting?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Forget details Brooke. We're looking for pictures of this meeting, between Donald Trump and Mitt Romney. You know, this is one of the stories that we have been talking about all day today. The former Massachusetts governor going up to New York and meeting with the Donald at his offices there on 5th avenue in Manhattan. And despite the fact that, aides to the former Massachusetts governor were located outside of that building before and after this scheduled meeting. Apparently Romney went inside, met with Donald Trump, left the building and left the scene. At this point without anybody taking a picture of him.

So what that says, we're still trying to figure out at this point, but as you know, this meeting between Romney and Donald Trump follows a similar meeting between Perry and Donald Trump. Although we are able to get pictures of the Texas Governor with the Donald after that one. So make of that what you will, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Perhaps pictures will surface. We will wait to see that. Meantime, we also know Donald Trump will be talking to Wolf on "The Situation Room." So we will glean a little info, from that interview.

Also, today Jim. new poll numbers are out. Give us a peak here at the Republican's choice for nominee.

ACOSTA: Well, you know Brooke it is interesting. After all that talk, after Rick Perry's pretty shaky performance in that debate on Thursday night, he was dubbed Texas toast by some on the beltway establishment. Well as it turns out he is not so crispy after all. If you look at the latest CNN-ORC polling, Rick Perry is out in front by a fairly comfortable margin, 30 percent for Rick Perry, 22 percent for Mitt Romney, 11 percent for Newt Gingrich, a pretty good number there for Newt Gingrich despite all the problem he's had, then follow by Cain, Paul, Bachmann, Santorum, and Huntsman.

Then if you look at how Rick Perry does against the president in a potential hypothetical match-up, the news is not so good. He follows President Obama 51 to 46 percent. Mitt Romney actually does better in that head to head match-up. But the headline, I guess, from all of this is that he is not quite toast just yet, Brooke.

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

ACOSTA: You bet.

BALDWIN: Now, remember there?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY REID, (D-NV) SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I mean, do they want the government no shut down? Do they want FEMA to close? And FEMA will close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Is FEMA really running out of money? Keep in mind in Washington they are bickering over 0.4 percent of the federal budget. We are going to live to Capitol Hill for the latest on that.

And you know how we kept talking about the satellite tumbling toward earth wringing our hands about where could it land, Friday? The question we're asking today, where did it go? NASA doesn't have the answers. We will talk more about where we believe it landed, coming up.

BALDWIN: Reporter Roulette now. You have another possible government shut down. Markets are reacting to UBS's new chief, and where did the falling satellite go? Also, President Obama out at the west swinging, talking. Let's talking first though with Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill on the issue of another government shutdown and this dispute over disaster relief funding and spending cuts. Kate, the clock is ticking. What is the latest from the Hill? KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the latest is that while there is a vote scheduled for 5:30 on a short term spending measure, the real news here, Brooke, is that there could be, we could see a breakthrough in avoiding a government shutdown. And this has to do with the FEMA funding. Additional FEMA funding as discussed as part of the short term spending Bill that would keep the government funded.

FEMA came out today saying that it's much depleted disaster relief fund, it may be able to stretch those funds to make it through this week, saying in a statement quote, "The disaster relief fund could be fully exhausted by the end of the week." This is different from previous predictions that FEMA fund might be depleted by the beginning of this week.

This is key for this single point. The end of this week is the end of the fiscal year, and by making it by the end of the fiscal year, it makes this central obstacle in the short term spending bill debate a moot point because Democrats and Republicans were really fighting about the additional funding for just the next few days for FEMA should be paid for or not, Brooke.

And it seems that we might be reaching a point where that might not even be necessary because FEMA might have enough funds to make it through this week, so we could see a breakthrough, some developments we could see in the next few hours. Brooke.

BALDWIN: We'll watch for it. Thanks, Kate.

Next on Reporter Roulette, Jessica Yellin live in Mountain View, California, where President Obama took part in this virtual town hall today sponsored by Linked In in the middle of this three day trip to the West Coast. Jessica, what kind of questions about the president field today?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brooke. He got a lot of questions about unemployment and the American jobs act. Boy, did he get a freebee. A guy named Doug Edwards who said he was retired because essentially he hit it big at Google because he is doing so well for himself, asked the president would you please raise my taxes? Well, if that's not a question the president couldn't have begged for, here is how president Obama answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right now, we've got the lowest tax rates we've had since the 1950s. And some of the Republican proposals would take it back as percentage of GDP back to where we were back in the 1920s. You can't have a modern industrial economy like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Not quite as fired up as we have heard the president lately, but I did get a chance to interview Doug Edwards afterwards. He said he doesn't have a lot of faith that will raise his taxes but he wanted to get the conversation going and would be happy to pay more.

BALDWIN: I don't know how the CEO of Linked In feels about his taxes. I know you talked to him today. What did he say?

YELLIN: I asked him.

BALDWIN: Did you?

YELLIN: He said he would be open to it too. He said he would be open to it too and he admires Warren Buffett and would be open to the Buffett rule too. So there you have it, a couple of CEOs out here willing to pay more.

BALDWIN: Jessica Yellin, thank you so much.

Next on Reporter Roulette we have Allis Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange where investors are reacting to this management shift at the giant Swiss bank UBS. Alison, I'm sure this is related to the trading scandal we talked about a few weeks ago.

ALISON KOSIK, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely it is related. It follows unauthorized trades totaling $2.3 billion, Brooke. And that raised a lot of questions about what kind of risk management is happening at UBS? So no surprise here heads are starting to roll beginning right at the top. The former CEO said, you know what, he feels it's his duty to assume responsibility for this. So he stepped down. This is coming just two weeks after 31-year-old trader was charged in London with fraud, false accounting as well, for allegedly making these rogue trades. Those trades aren't the sole reason, Brooke, that UBS is expected to post a loss in the third quarter. Obviously shareholders none too happy about that. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Let's remind everyone on authorized trades totaling $2.3 billion.

KOSIK: Exactly.

BALDWIN: The resignation of the CEO is as high as it gets. Can we put a punctuation now? Is the scandal over or might more people lose their jobs?

KOSIK: It will be dot, dot, dot, because this is not going to be the last of it. Several vocal shareholders, they want more done, which means more personnel changes could happen. There are some shareholders who are calling for more changes at the top or even scaling back the size of Switzerland's biggest bank.

One possible idea floated, downsizing the investment banking side of the business, get out of making these risky bets to make a more stable firm. You have to remember, Brooke, the firm is trying to rebuild its reputation after taking mortgage backed-losses back in 2008. This is just one more black eye for UBS.

BALDWIN: Alison Kosik in New York, thank you very much. Last but not least, Mr. Chad Myers is here as we are talking about that satellite. We have been talking about this thing for like two weeks now. I'm kind of looking through my work e-mail over the weekend thinking, OK, the big moment. Where did it land?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Where is the video?

BALDWIN: Where is the video?

MYERS: Where is somebody's iPhone?

BALDWIN: Some reporters said, yes, they thought they said some pieces of the satellite but NASA is not saying yes, it did definitively.

MYERS: I think it fell somewhere between Hawaii and Portland. I was on the tweet deck until 3:00 in the morning. If you are in Portland, go out and look for it. They said, we didn't see anything. If Portland didn't see anything, then it probably burned up north of Hawaii, could see it there, south, southwest of Portland, couldn't see it there.

But there are pictures of people who think they saw things. This is over Minnesota. I can't tell what you that is. There is one up near Calgary. Somebody let Chinese lanterns off in the sky and they videotaped the Chinese lanterns. On the video, look, look what we see. So there are a lot of folks out there. This is something going up or down.

BALDWIN: Because NASA hasn't verified any of these images, right?

MYERS: Right. They can't verify anything. There is nothing at all on the ground.

This looked spectacular for a while in Hawaii. This is much too early. Three or four hours before it hit. People were looking in the sky for everything. I had video from San Antonio from a TV station. It didn't ever go over San Antonio. People were trying it see things and they saw other things that fall out of the sky all the time that we don't know about.

BALDWIN: Can we say, "hash tag anti-climactic"?

MYERS: Yes. And anti-sleep. We stayed up until 3:00 doing that.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Bless your heat. Chad, thank you so much.

And that is your Reporter Roulette for this Monday.

Coming up, I don't know if you stayed up late watching this, but you know you arrived as a politician on the national stage when there is a "Saturday Night Live" skit about your performance in a debate. What do you think of the actor who took on Rick Perry's persona? You will know who he this was next in "Political Pop."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, we have the collective ahh to this. Let me introduce you to the newest member of the CNN team. Here she is over my shoulders. My producer is not in the control room today, working hard is normal because of this little bundle of joy. She is so cute. We wanted you to meet her. She is Ella Harper Hall, born Saturday. As we got an e-mail from our uber-producer, he said she was born in primetime. Mom Danielle is doing well. We're all thrilled to hear Eric did not pass out during delivery. Good job. Eric, we miss you.

The GOP debate go the "Saturday Night Live" treatment over the weekend. And Michelle Obama teamed up with NBA superstar LeBron James. It was a busy couple of days in the world of "Political Pop." Joe Johns, catch us up.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Congratulations to Eric, by the way. He's a great guy. She's going to be cracking the whip in to time right there in the newsroom.

BALDWIN: I'm sure she will.

JOHNS: There is so much you can say about "Saturday Night Live" making fun of the Republican presidential debates. To be honest, this is the kind of thing we have come to expect from "SNL." Believe it or not, it is now in its 37th season. In the opening skit of the show, the writers actually introduce nine different characters and managed to skewer everyone in the space of about 10 minutes or so.

Of these, of course, the candidate who got some most memorable attention was Texas Governor Rick Perry. The show zeroed in on an actual moment during the debates we when Perry messed up his lines in an attack on Mitt Romney that frankly should have been rehearsed a little more carefully. Look at the real thing as it happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think Americans just don't know sometimes, which Mitt Romney they're dealing with. Is it the Mitt Romney on the side of against the second amendment before he was for the second amendment? Was it before he was before the social programs from the standpoint of he was far standing up for Roe versus Wade, before he was against Roe versus Wade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: OK. So there has been some reporting that Rick Perry seems to lose his focus and energy in the second half of these debates and the folks at "Saturday Night Live" picked up on that. In typical fashion, they showed him absolutely no mercy whatsoever. Check it out. Rick Perry played by none other than Alec Baldwin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to attack Mitt Romney as a flip- flopper.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure it's late in the debate. This is when you normally get tired and confused.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not tonight. I'm ready.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Romney said he was for, against, Obamacare. But what about -- Mitt Romney - Romneycare. Was it before he was before? Was it was -- he was before -- border control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He is hilarious.

JOHNS: He is totally hilarious. "Saturday Night Live" is one of those things that makes running for president tricky. You know, Brooke, there is always chance the show is going to go out and make fun of you and there is nothing can you do about it.

BALDWIN: I think he also eclipse, Alec Baldwin. I think it is the most a host ever appeared on the show. I think he bet out Steve Martin last Saturday night's appearance as well.

Also, I was looking through, you know, the papers this morning and I saw a picture of Michele Obama and Lebron James. What were they doing?

JOHNS: Right, well, this is the "Worldwide Day of Play." I mean, if you haven't heard about it, you don't have kids or your kids don't watch Nickelodeon, this event was in Washington, D.C. over the weekend. Heavily promoted with a bunch of nickelodeon stars, we're talking Icarly, Victorious Big Time Rush.

All of whom have their own shows. And the whole point of "Worldwide Day of Play" is to promote health and wellness, which by the day, dove tails very nicely with the first lady, Michele Obama's, let's move campaign.

So, yes, beautiful picture there of the two of them hugging. A lot of people there in Washington, D.C. perhaps as many as 50,000 out on the ellipse over the weekend.

BALDWIN: Wow.

JOHNS: Yes. Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Spongebob Squarepants, you know. The whole idea is to get off the couch and go play. I have really been scouring the internet because at these Nickelodeon events, they tend to slime people.

BALDWIN: I was going to ask you if either of them got slimed.

JOHNS: Yes, I've been looking for pictures of slime because I love it so much, you know, and I didn't see any. So maybe they reserved that for one of their other programs.

BALDWIN: Next time, I don't think you can slime them, just to note. But --

JOHNS: I wish CNN had slime. It will be great, you know. BALDWIN: I see a future "Political Pop". Joe Johns, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Still to come, she was called a she-devil who loves wild sex. That's how an attorney describes Amanda Knox. What happens to the American college student who is convicted of killing her roommate in Italy?

She is appealing the case, will she get life behind bars as per the prosecution with their pushing for or will she walk? We're not the case.

But first, if you cannot make it through the day, without at least one cup of Joe, you are not alone, bundle.com releasing its list of the most caffeinated cities. Did yours make the top five? Take a look.

People spend nearly twice the national average on their daily caffeine fix in Los Angeles, number four L.A. is a neighbor to the north, San Francisco. Folks there are spending double the rest of the U.S. on their cups of coffee.

This one works, right birthplace Starbucks, you have Seattle. So who could go beyond Seattle in terms of the coffee cups they drink? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, coffee lovers. I know you sat there. You marinated over this over the break. What is the most caffeinated cities? You saw five, four, and three.

Coming at number two, you have New York City where three times, just about, the national average on cups of coffee. The number one, most caffeinated city is -- wait for it. Chicago. Chicago apparently, you guys drink lots of coffee there.

Let's take to a city not on that, not on that list. Washington, D.C., we are now getting the first bits of video of that earthquake from inside, these are images, from inside the Washington monument. We just turned this video around from the National Park service.

These are images as people are racing down the stairs. Wouldn't you be as well from surveillance cameras inside when the 5.2 magnitude quake hit the east coast late last month. The monument has since been closed while engineers check out damage including four cracks in the marble.

Look at everyone get out of there. A couple of hours ago, the park service did tell us, the Washington monument is structurally sound. I'm quoting, "it is not going anywhere" they say, but they're still trying to figure out when repairs will be made and when the beautiful monument will be reopen.

Coming up, the Conrad Murray trial kicking off tomorrow. Sunny Hostin is on the case, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Amanda Knox is called a liar and promiscuous she-devil inside this Italian courtroom. She is appealing her 26-year prison sentence for the murder of her British roommate.

Sunny Hostin is on case as always. Sunny, my question is this, we know prosecutors, they raise the stakes in this appeals hearing over weekend asking the court to increase Knox's sentence to life in prison. How can they just up and do that?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Well, it is an appeal, but in Italy, an appeal means -- you get a do-over. You get a new trial. That's why they are hearing new evidence. So they have a lot of options available to them.

They can increase the sentence, Brooke. They can also uphold the original sentence and conviction. You know, she got about 26 years. They can completely overturn the convictions or they could convict her of something lesser.

A lesser crime and then take into account the amount of time she spent in prison. She has already spent four years in prison, Brooke. So there are a lot of options open to this appellate court and let's face it, it consists of six jurors and two judges.

So very, very different from what we are used to seeing in the United States where you see judges only hearing appeals. This system is just very different from the American system.

BALDWIN: If she wins the appeal, Sunny, what happens procedurally? Can she just leave Italy right away? Go home?

HOSTIN: Some people say she can. She can leave Italy on the first flight available, but in my view because all of these options are available. If she wins the appeal in the traditional sense and the sense that her conviction is overturned, but then she gets convicted of a lesser crime, she could still remain in prison for some time.

BALDWIN: I talked last hour to Curt Knox, Amanda's father and he gave me a preview of the defense. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CURT KNOX, AMANDA KNOX'S FATHER: Tomorrow is going to be the defense and then Thursday is going to be Amanda's defense. And what I think we're going to see tomorrow is really a focus on the forensic evidence that independent court experts have really defined as being bad and unreliable. Where what we saw and what we have heard during the first three hearings is all circumstantial evidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So I just wanted to follow up with you with regard to the forensic evidence. Could the issues with the DNA evidence be enough to free her?

HOSTIN: I think it could be. I mean, when you listen to those court experts that were appointed by the Italian court, independent experts they really have called into question the validity of that DNA evidence.

That's what ties Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito to the crime so no question about it that this is an important, important piece for the defense team. But then again, Brooke, there is other evidence.

She did give a confession of sorts, her behavior after the murder, so there is other evidence. But by and far, the most important evidence would be the DNA evidence.

BALDWIN: I want to move on to this, just about a minute left. We now have a jury for the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray. Opening statements set for tomorrow.

He's charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson from that overdoes of the anesthetic Propofol. Tell us, Sunny, just a little bit about the men and the women who will now sit on the jury.

HOSTIN: Well, we know there are seven men, five women that have been chosen, 12 jurors all together. There are five alternates. Six of them are Caucasian, five of them Latino and one African-American.

We know that there are Michael Jackson fans on this jury. We also know that some of them have seen the "This Is It" video, documentary. Some of them watched very carefully the Casey Anthony case.

So there's no question that it is an eclectic group of people with different races, different backgrounds, but they will be getting this case and starting this case tomorrow, Brooke. Opening statements, tomorrow in California.

BALDWIN: We'll be talking about it tomorrow. Twenty seconds, why not sequester the jury. This will be all over TV and print and the web.

HOSTIN: I thought the judge got it wrong, Brooke. I think this jury should be sequestered. The judge didn't want do it. He says he didn't want to hold them prisoner. I think was a bad call. Everybody will be talking about this case. I'm talking about it. You're talking about it.

BALDWIN: We will be talking about it again tomorrow. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much on the case. That's it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Now to Wolf Blitzer, "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts right now.