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Michael Jackson's Own Words; School Kids Flee Alabama; Angry and Frustrated in Athens; Burning Stock Car Rescue; Wrecking Spree Caught on Cam; Freedmen Fight for Cherokee Rights; Mom and Crying Baby Kicked Off Bus; Man Sells Babe Ruth Recording; Boy in Diaper Found in Basement; America's Most Dangerous Cities; Money Feud Could End "The Simpsons" 23-Year Run

Aired October 05, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's get you caught up in everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire."

Let's go, beginning with some pictures. Week number three now of those Occupy Wall Street protests in lower Manhattan, and still without a clear mission or leader. The protests are spreading to other cities today. Several unions have now joined the protests against corporate greed and big companies.

In Seattle, for the first time in four years, Amanda Knox is spending the day at home with her family. She arrived last night after that Italian court overturned her murder conviction going back to 2007 in the death of her former roommate, Meredith Kercher.

I want you to listen to what Knox said when she finally got home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA KNOX, MURDER CONVICTION OVERTURNED: They're reminding me to speak in English because I'm having problems with that.

I'm really overwhelmed right now. I was looking down from the airplane, and it seemed like everything wasn't real.

What's important for me to say is just thank you to everyone who has believed in me, who has defended me, who has supported my family. I just want -- my family's the most important thing to me right now, and I just want to go and be with them. So thank you for being there for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now Amanda Knox deals with the media frenzy. If the high interest leads to a lucrative interview or book deal, it could help her family, who mortgaged everything to try to pay her legal costs.

And Aruban authorities, they are spending the next two days looking for this missing American woman. They are using six dogs to search for Robyn Gardner in an area where they think she might have disappeared. Keep in mind, she's been missing since August.

Gary Giordano, her travel partner, is being held in connection with the case in Aruba. He says they went snorkeling and Gardner just never came back.

Amazing new video has surfaced of a dump truck that caused a Houston metro train to derail. Take a look at this here. This all happened yesterday.

Cameras on the train actually show the truck crossing into the path of the metro. Watch it again. Fifteen people were taken to the hospital -- there it goes -- including the train conductor and driver of the dump truck.

Bernie Madoff's cheated victims get their first checks today. Madoff ran the largest, longest-running Ponzi scheme in history. He took billions from investors.

The slice his victims get today is more than $300 million in total, and they are set to get even more when more funds are recovered.

The NTSB started its investigation today into that deadly helicopter crash into the East River. It happened right around this time yesterday. We now know the only passenger who died was a woman visiting from Australia. She was celebrating her 40th birthday.

Listen to this eyewitness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DRESS, CHOPPER CRASH WITNESS: This thing just went up and it went down. I thought I was going to see people bobbing up and down in the water. There was no one. It was just those two struts pointing towards Queens, and then they popped up. And I honestly think that they went down to try to, like, rescue the others and came back up, and they are like, look, they're dead (ph).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We now know that the helicopter was private, not one of those commercial ones touring passengers. The pilot is described as experienced, with more than 2,000 hours of flying time.

And we have a lot more ahead for you this hour. And next, take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: We told you about a 7-year-old boy found crying in a basement. He had been stuck down there in a coffin (ph) as punishment. Today we have an update.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): A crying baby just too loud for one city bus driver. She stopped the bus, and passengers stood up for the baby's mother. So whose side would you take?

You're not reading this wrong. "How to get pregnant fast, cheap, and in public." Some people so desperate to have children, wait until you hear what lengths they're willing to go to.

Yesterday we told you about those thousands of school kids disappearing in Alabama. Today, where they are turning up.

And one moment he's racing against the guy, the next moment he's saving his life in this fiery cash.

KIP HUGHES, STOCK CAR RACE DRIVER: When something like that happens, I'm not going to be the guy standing back.

BALDWIN: An incredible rescue caught on camera.

Hold on. It's going to be a wild ride.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: A developing story for you now out of northern California. Police are looking for a gunman who opened fire on a limestone quarry in Cupertino. Eight people in total were shot. Police say at least two of them are possibly dead. This is the area of Silicon Valley, packed with computer companies.

Police say the man reportedly showed up in an early morning meeting, left and came back armed with a rifle and a handgun, and then ran out of there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. JOSE CARDOZA, SANTA CLARA SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Right now he is possibly still in the area. We have tactical teams looking for him, thoroughly searching for him to try to track him down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you evacuating the homes there?

CARDOZA: We are evacuating, and we have tactical teams out there. He is obviously armed and dangerous, so the nearby residents and citizens have got to be aware and be careful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did he get the car?

CARDOZA: We can't confirm. He attempted to carjack -- no. Actually, he did not. He's on foot.

According to witnesses over at the quarry business on Stephens (ph) Creek, the incident lasted no more than two minutes. So it was enough time for him to go, shoot, take off in the area, and also possibly get to this second location on Homestead, where we have reports of another shooting over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, that quarry is about three miles just down the street from Apple's headquarters.

The voice of superstar Michael Jackson, woozy, rambling, slurring his words. Some of that startling audio was first played on day one of his trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. And today the jury is expected to hear much more of that audio.

I want to bring in Ted Rowlands, who is inside the courthouse there in Los Angeles.

And Ted, how do prosecutors plan to introduce that recording from Michael Jackson?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now -- that's actually happening right now, Brooke. Steven Marks (ph) is a DEA computer forensics investigator, and he's the one that got a hold of Dr. Conrad Murray's iPhone, and he's the one that is on the stand now as they are delivering this evidence.

We just heard a voicemail message left on Murray's iPhone from Frank DiLeo. That is Michael Jackson's manager, and this was on June 20th, the day after Michael Jackson had an issue during rehearsals which the jury is aware of because of earlier testimony. And in this voicemail, DiLeo says, hey, we've got to get Michael a blood test, we've got to figure out what he's doing.

BALDWIN: Ted, let me interrupt because we're hearing -- forgive me -- we're hearing that new sound now. We just want to take it live.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON, MUSICIAN: (INAUDIBLE)

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Ted, let me bring you in. It's stunning to hear this voice, this voice that was also that of Michael Jackson. And we had a transcript. Clearly, it's difficult to understand what he is saying, as he is sort of slurring along.

With a couple of notes I made, he's talking about his final show is his big finale. And he's saying he'll be bigger than the Beatles, bigger than Elvis. And he was also talking, I suppose, to Dr. Murray about how "I wanted to have a big Michael Jackson's children's hospital," because he said he didn't have a childhood.

Why play this recording? This is all new to the jurors.

ROWLANDS: Well, the jurors heard some of this during the opening. And what the prosecution is trying to do here is show that Murray was aware that Jackson was under the influence of drugs. And they will try to make it look like that was Murray's doing.

Now, the defense will turn around and say, that wasn't Propofol, ladies and gentlemen, that was Demerol. And that was that other doctor, Dr. Arnie Klein, that did this to Michael Jackson. And the defense is going to have a tough time with that, because it's Murray's cell phone that they have it on. They will argue that Murray wasn't there and Jackson recorded it himself, and he had just left his cell phone at Michael Jackson's home.

But, boy, it's heartbreaking to listen to that. I was in the courtroom right behind Jermaine and Randy Jackson this morning, and David Walgren, the prosecutor, came up to them and whispered to them for a while. And presumably, he was warning them, get ready, because we're going to hear this in court today, just so the family knows. And typically, a prosecutor will do that to victim family members.

You just listen to that, and it is -- no matter what you think of Michael Jackson, it's heartbreaking, yes.

BALDWIN: It is. "I didn't have a childhood. I hurt," he said.

Ted Rowlands, thank you very much.

And coming up, we talked to you yesterday about all those Alabama schoolchildren who have not been showing up to school, children of immigrants -- perhaps they are without papers -- all because of this new law that has taken effect. Where are they going? That's the question that we're asking.

Rafael Romo has a bit of an answer next, in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have a follow-up for you to a story we told you about yesterday regarding this new immigration law in Alabama. You know, hundreds -- in fact, thousands -- of school kids are not leaving public schools out of fear that they and their parents could be deported.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY OROZCO, ALABAMA RESIDENT: People right now, they're not going to school, their kids are not going to school. Why? Because they are scared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Why are they scared? Because just last week, a federal judge upheld most of Alabama Bill 56. It requires -- just as part of it, it requires public schools to ask about the legal status of kids born in a foreign countries, as well as the status of their parents.

So, Rafael Romo, we ran your piece yesterday. The obvious follow-up -- and we're so glad you did it -- is if they are not going to school in Alabama, are they going to another state, or are they going back to their home country?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Those are exactly the two options that these families have. So if they are going somewhere, where are they going? BALDWIN: Yes.

ROMO: And the question -- the answer to this question seems to be Arkansas. And you would say why Arkansas? Well, there's no tough immigration law in Arkansas just yet.

It's relatively close. There are plenty of cultural jobs and construction jobs as well, and there is also an immigrant community well established there, as many as 50,000 people who are already in the state.

There was a question as to a member of the League of United Latin- American Citizens, and this is what he had to say about this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN CALZADA, LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN-AMERICAN CITIZENS: They are going to be looking to better themselves. They cannot get on the programs. They are just not qualified for that. So they are going to hustle out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: So, in other words, it's a practical thing to do.

BALDWIN: Practical, yet -- OK. So, Arkansas, I hear you on the fact that you are saying there's a fairly large immigrant community. But why else? Why not another state with other immigrants? Why that state specifically?

ROMO: That's right. Well, in addition to the jobs, there are also the family connections that a lot of these people have.

If you come to a place like Alabama, chances are maybe there is a connection to Arkansas. And there are not many connections for these immigrants. However, as you can expect, organizations that don't favor a large increase in the number of immigrants in Arkansas are already voicing their opposition to this.

In fact, we have somebody who spoke about this issue. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNIE BURLSWORTH, FOUNDER, SECURE ARKANSAS: When is Governor Beebe going to do something about this? Because this is not what the population here wants. We want some federal laws enforced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And so now the question is, is Arkansas going to follow on the steps of Alabama, Georgia, Arizona?

BALDWIN: Trickle down, right.

ROMO: That's really the question right now. But for the time being, people are moving from Alabama to Arkansas, although, I have to say, a portion of those people are going back to Mexico.

BALDWIN: Then you have the issue though, I guess -- I was talking to someone from "The Huntsville Times" the other day, talking about the issue in Alabama, and he was saying that one of the state senators who sponsored this bill in Alabama met with a number of these farmers, and they said because these men and women are up and leaving, they are having time getting people to do the labor; thus, the fear is that the prices will go up.

ROMO: In a really bad economy, it's the same issue that farmers in Georgia are dealing with, because you're expected to have a certain number of workers, and they are just not there because they have left the state.

BALDWIN: Well, like you told me, so far the law is the law.

Rafael Romo, thank you very much.

ROMO: That's right.

BALDWIN: Now to this -- protesters, tear gas, riot police. Take a look.

Nope, this is not New York. This is not those Occupy Wall Street protests. This is going down in Greece today. We're going to take you live to Athens and talk about this ahead.

Also, have you seen this crazy crash today? This is a stock car race. Look at this. This is Oklahoma.

Coming up a little bit later in the show, we're going to talk to the race car driver. Here he is, pulling this other guy out of this burning car. Amazing.

And as we he go to break, a quick check of the numbers on Wall Street. In the positive territory, up 87 points.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Have you been watching what's been going on in Greece? If not, if you've missed this, let me just show you what's happening there today and then we'll talk about what effect it could be having on you and on me.

First, of course, you've seen those Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, right, the hundreds of protesters? Well, multiply that crowd and you have the scene here in Athens today.

The Greek government now struggling to qualify for that next round of money designed to save the country from default, from bankruptcy. Thousands of people have now taken to the streets to protest this new wave of government cutbacks.

At one point, protesters and riot police clashed in central Athens. While protesters shut down the streets there, public workers went on strike. Look at this, emptiness, forcing the cancellation of flights at Athens airport, all but shut down the commuter rail lines. Hospitals even running on skeleton staffs.

Suzanne Daley is the Europe correspondent for "The New York Times." She is in Athens and joining me by phone.

And Suzanne, just tell me about today's demonstrations, if you will. And then, if you could also compare them. We just remember from a couple of months ago, when you saw the Molotov cocktails being thrown in the streets then.

SUZANNE DALEY, EUROPE CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Right. Well, today, thousands of people did turn out. But except for a few very isolated incidents -- my guess is that you have got some videotape of those.

BALDWIN: We do.

DALEY: -- it was a very peaceful, very low-key protest march. If the unions were looking for a big show of force that would topple the government or convince them that they had to go up against the EU and the IMF, which were trying to get them to crack down, this would not have come close.

BALDWIN: OK. So this is peaceful by Greek standards? I'm just asking.

DALEY: By Greek standards, this is totally peaceful, and it's about half the size that they were in the spring. And in the spring, you had a lot of passion and spontaneous people coming to protest. And today was really a union turnout. People carried a lot of the same banners, they talked about being there for solidarity, they sipped their iced coffee. And it's kind of a ritual in Greece to come out and --

BALDWIN: So, then, can you just bottom-line this? I mean, how bad are those austerity measures that people are facing there? What is the bottom line, the impact been on the people of Greece?

DALEY: Well, you know, when you talk to the people, especially who are bystanders, who are watching some of this, they have sad stories. They have stopped the dance lessons for their kids. Their elderly parents are helping them pay the mortgage. But the sense is they are beaten, they are resigned, and they just don't feel that taking to the streets is going to do them any good.

BALDWIN: OK. Suzanne Daley --

DALEY: One man said, "We're like zombies."

BALDWIN: Like zombies in Greece.

DALEY: It was just taking too much.

BALDWIN: Suzanne, thank you for helping us to sort of put that in perspective for you there.

And now, how does this relate to us?

I want to bring in CNN Money editor-at-large Paul La Monica, who's normally in New York.

But we're lucky to have you here in Atlanta.

So I just wanted to continue the conversation, because, you know, look, we see what is happening in Greece. And as she is saying, parents not being able to continue lessons for kids. I'm sure a lot of Americans can also relate to that, right?

But if and when -- let me just say that -- if and when Greece defaults, how does that affect us here?

PAUL LA MONICA, CNNMONEY.COM EDITOR-AT-LARGE: The real concern with a Greek default, which is increasingly likely, is the possibility of this contagion, and we don't know where it stops. If Greece defaults, what is that going to mean for Spain, Italy, Portugal? What is it going to mean for the Italian, French banks that have big investments in Greek debt, and what does that mean for the big U.S. banks that may have exposure to the French banks, to the Italian banks?

Some of the banks have been trying to show some confidence and say that they do not have the types of credit problems the way they did in 2008, when Lehman went under, but there is still a lot of doubts.

BALDWIN: How would it affect potentially our banks?

LA MONICA: If the big banks have to take major losses, write-downs, because investments in Europe are getting hit by a Greek default, that could wind up leading to another credit crunch, which many people feel like we're already in. It's hard to get approved for a mortgage as it is with rates as low as they are.

BALDWIN: Paul La Monica, it's tough already. Is it just going to get worse? Can you get worse?

LA MONICA: I think it probably will. Banks are scared, and that's why they are not lending. And that's why you're seeing them try and do everything they can to juice their profits with some of these new fees that they're charging, the Bank of America controversial debit card fee, Citigroup.

BALDWIN: Five dollars, right.

LA MONICA: Citibank raising the fees for checking account customers. Unfortunately, I think that's the way of the future. Banks aren't making money lending, so they are going to try to squeeze existing customers with higher fees. And all of this really just comes back to the uncertainty in the global economy.

BALDWIN: And back to the point of uncertainty, here we are, we're Americans sitting back here. We watch what is happening in Greece. We are understanding sort of what's happening there, but there is really nothing we can do to anticipate any negativity affecting our banks, thus affecting us. Like, look, if we're going to go out and try to buy a home, there is nothing we can change about that despite what is happening globally, correct?

LA MONICA: Right. Unfortunately not.

It's so difficult to tell what the global market and economic reaction will mean to something like this. I mean, people like to say that, oh, a Greek default is expected, it won't be that calamitous, but people were saying the same thing in August about the U.S. getting downgraded by a credit rating agency after the budget fiasco in Washington. And when S&P downgraded the U.S., you had this huge sell- off.

So, even though people though it was priced in, if you will, that wasn't the case at all. There are certain types of negative news, and a country saying that we can't pay our bills anymore is the type of thing that's fairly unprecedented for a developed country.

BALDWIN: OK. We will sit and watch and wait, won't we?

LA MONICA: Yes.

BALDWIN: Paul La Monica, thank you.

LA MONICA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Good to see you here.

Still to come, we have some amazing video to show you coming up.

First, a man in a front loader takes a ride through a cemetery. And, yes, it's caught on camera. We're going to show you where else he went on his big ride.

Plus, this is unbelievable. A stock car crash in Oklahoma leaves this driver trapped in his car, but another driver gets out of his car, comes to the rescue. Flames all around his helmet, pulls the guy out.

We're going to have him live, the rescuer, live on the show in a matter of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So, yes, there are always plenty of dramatic crashes at car races such as -- in Oklahoma, but there is something that sets this crash apart. People who witnessed this are calling Kip Hughes a hero. Here is why.

So if you're watching this with me, Kip is the guy who's wearing the helmet, runs up to the burning car to help and not only helps, he defy the heat and flame. He reaches into this burning car and pulls, tugs hard and gets the driver to safety.

I am telling you this because Kip Hughes is joining me from Breckinridge, Oklahoma. Kip, I mean, you have flames whipping around your helmet. How hot was that fire and what were you thinking getting that close to it to pull this guy out?

KIP HUGHES, STOCK CAR RACER: It wasn't too bad. I mean, with the suits that I had on, you didn't notice the heat that much. There was a couple times where it jumped into my face a little bit. The adrenaline is going and I'm just thinking, we have to get this guy out before something bad happens, you know.

BALDWIN: So you do it, you get the guy out, but there's sort of a personal connection, too, as to I think maybe why you reacted in the way you did. This is all because of what happened in 1991 and your dad. Please explain.

HUGHES: He was racing a car in Kansas City and there was a big car and he was stuck in the car because of the window net and by the time he got out, he had to run out through the flame and burned his face real bad.

Somebody could have been there and I don't think he would have been burned. This is the fourth scene like this. My dad's in '91, a local guy here in '99, and got burned and heated up. I mean, it was really bad, and then I had a pretty big one in '05.

So it comes to a point where, you know, you've got to respect it because it will hurt you, but just jump this n there and do the best that you can do.

BALDWIN: I want to just replay quickly the announcer again. Guys, let's replay that moment.

This -- you hear him yelling. Here you are pulling him out. I understand racing cars on this track for 17 years. This is the worst crash that had he had ever seen. Have you talked to think guy since then? What did he say to you?

HUGHES: I talked to him that night after the races. You know, he was pretty humble about everything. He just said thanks a lot. You didn't have to do that. That meant a lot to me, to know that I put -- I let it sink in a little bit that I helped him out and stuff.

But what really hit me close to home was whenever his kids called me. His son and daughter, I talked to both of them. They thanked me and it's just -- you know, I've been to that kid watching that happen to your dad. You know, it's kind of cool to know that you helped out in a situation like that.

BALDWIN: That's awesome. Kip, I know that you won the race last year. You didn't win this year, but I think it was a pretty sweet victory in itself what you did. Kip Hughes, thank you so much.

HUGHES: Thank you.

I want to show you a different kind of crash. This is from the U.K. Police say a man went on a wrecking spree after stealing a front-end loader. He's in this thing, tries to outrun police, rips through this graveyard, hedges, farm fields, and causes $25,000 in damage. Keep in mind this did happen in July, but police just released this aerial surveillance video. There he goes on a front loader just, you know, chopping on the long road. The man is doing 4-1/2 years in prison. He was apparently paid to steal industrial vehicles and has been involved in 16 similar thefts since 2010.

So we've all heard it. You're on in a store, on a plane, on a train and a baby cries.

Coming up, we want to tell you the story of the city bus driver kicked a mother and her crying baby off this bus. But the union says the female bus driver was right. This story is moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The Cherokee nation recently kicked nearly 3,000 people out of their tribe. Their descendants of slaves, once enslave by the Cherokee tribe itself. In our special series "Black in America" Soledad O'Brien tells us how this current battle ended.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sam Ford is a Cherokee freedmen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm an African-American with Cherokee heritage. My great grandmother, Feliz Thompson Petit was a slave of the Cherokees.

O'BRIEN: It's a little known chapter in American history. The Cherokees were one of five Indian are tribes whose members owned slaves.

(on camera): So what were those slaves doing for the Cherokee nation?

CELIA NAYLRO: They were agricultural laborers and individuals who worked as domestic slayers.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): But in 1866, the Cherokees freed their slaves. They signed a treaty guaranteeing that all freedmen and descendents would, quote, "have all the right of native Cherokees."

Today, that treaty is at the center of a controversy involving nearly 3,000 African-Americans. On August 22nd, Cherokee nation kicked them out of the tribe.

DIANE HAMMONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL, CHEROKEE NATION: The treaty of 1866 did not give citizenship to the freedmen nor to their descendants.

O'BRIEN: Diane Hammons is the attorney general for Cherokee nation.

HAMMONS: The heart of the issue is whether or not an Indian tribe can describe, can determine who is eligible to be a member of that tribe.

O'BRIEN: In 2007, Cherokee nation passed a law requiring proof of Indian blood to be a member. The proof is based on a record that was created a century ago called the Doss Rolls. The freedman say the Doss Rules are wrong because they were based on how you looked.

SAM FORD: If you looked black, they wrote Cherokee freedmen. If you looked not black, they wrote Cherokee.

O'BRIEN: Many freedmen were of mixed Cherokee and African blood, but on the rolls they were listed with no Indian blood. Last month, it all went to federal court.

FORD: I was restored as a member of the Cherokee nation.

O'BRIEN: A settlement has let the freedmen back into the tribe for now. The descendants can vote in the election for the Cherokee chief, but there's no guarantee that they will get to stay in the tribe. Reporting for "In America," Soledad O'Brien, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Catch the "New Promise Land, Silicon Valley." A "Black in America" special hosted by CNN's Soledad O'Brien. It's Sunday night, November 13th, 8:00 Eastern only here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We came across this story out of Portland, Oregon that got everyone on my team talking this morning, talking loudly all at once, we thought we need to bring it to you.

It has to do with the mother of a young child getting kicked off this Portland City bus at night because the child was crying. Listen to the witness explain what she saw that night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER CHAPMAN, FILED COMPLAINT AGAINST BUS DRIVER: The baby was crying, like not screaming, just fussing tired baby. Nobody else minded or even noticed. Some people around me were saying, it's not bothering us, why is it bothering you?

And I spoke up and said to the driver that it's a baby. Babies don't work that way. You can't just turn them off. When she came back to the front, the woman got off the bus and I said, you can't kick a woman of with her baby at night in the middle of Hillsborough. And she said, if you don't like it, get off the bus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, this story is getting a lot of you talking. I know my Twitter page definitely heated up this morning over this. So in this case, most of the passengers sided with the woman and her baby.

But all you have to do is check the blog and check Twitter to get a taste of the anger that's really boiling over when this kind of topic comes up, crying kids in a public space.

So we brought in Wendy Walsh. She's a clinical psychologist in California. Maybe you recognize her as one of the co-hosts of "The Doctors." Wendy, great to have you back on. First, reacting to the story in Portland, what's your first reaction?

WENDY WALSH, DOCTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY: Well, my first reaction as a mother of a baby who cried for the first three years of her life, I'm shocked because nothing makes it worse for a mother who's trying to sue the baby is public than to have some kind of discrimination because the babies, you know, pull off the mother's emotions and feelings.

But you know, there's another piece, they're saying, the union is backing this bus driver because she's a woman. The interesting thing is that she's a woman. They are saying that it's a safety issue.

We have to remember, Brooke, that men and women have different capacities for hearing select out for sound. We all know, we've had a boyfriend or husband watching football who doesn't hear a word of what we're saying, right? Women are far more likely to get flooded.

BALDWIN: Yes, I know. On the side of the bus driver, though, if you're on the bus and this bus driver could say that she was distracted and thus stopped the bus because she said it was a safety issue, a lot of people could side with the bus driver.

WALSH: People could side with the bus driver, but I think this points to a much bigger cultural trend that disturbs me and that is that we're seeing more and more discrimination against children.

I've been denied access to restaurants, for instance, because I've been told they're adult only. But I wanted a good plate of food and a decent glass of wine. So how is this possible and how is this legal.

The airlines are talking about having adult only flights and I think the more and more that we keep family life and children away from general society and culture, the less accepting we are of them and I think we need to see more integration of it all not separation.

BALDWIN: But some people say Wendy Walsh who don't have babies and they're sitting on that plane and they got a big meeting coming up in a couple of hours. They're trying to do their work and they hear the screaming kid knocking on their seat, you know, from those people they say, look, let's have, you know, child free zones, but is that really possible?

WALSH: I don't think it's possible. That's like saying, you know, we want an animal-free zone. I mean, I just think that we are all part of a multi generational culture. We have to learn what are we doing, we're warehousing babies in daycares. We're warehousing old people and maybe people with disabilities.

Where does it stop when you start saying, no, not in my space. I don't want to be disturbed. I think that families are the backbone and everybody who's complaining on their Mr. Adult on his way to his meeting was also a baby once and probably kick somebody else's seat. So we have to be much more accepting and forgiving and understanding a family.

BALDWIN: It's a talker that's for sure. Wendy Walsh, thank you very much.

Coming up, in news similar to a movie plot, a major theft from the National Archives involving recordings of Babe Ruth. Find out what else is missing from the archives coming up in two minutes.

And also the president taking to the road again. He is taking the bus on another big tour. We're going to show you where straight ahead.

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BALDWIN: Time now for America's Choice 2012 politics update, Peter Hamby is live with us now with the latest news off the Political Ticker. Peter, let's talk about the president. We know he's about to embark on this, you know, big bus tour hitting a couple of key states on the East Coast, North Carolina and Virginia, are these must-win states?

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, I mean, Brooke. It's no mistaking that he's gone to Virginia and North Carolina for a reason. He's not going to Oklahoma or Vermont on this bus tour as he did a bus tour through Iowa back in August.

These are states that Barack Obama must win in 2012. He won them in 2008. He won Virginia by six points. He won North Carolina by one point. These are the states where his base really showed up, college students, African-American voters and independents in 2008.

But those people are moving in a different direction. Some polls have come out recently in North Carolina had a poll basically showing that 50 percent disapprove of Obama in that state of his job performance rather.

And in Virginia, 53 percent disapprove of Obama and among the independents, those voters he really, really needs to get in this key battle ground states. In a Quinnipiac poll last month, he was at 29 percent approval and 62 percent disapproval among independents of Virginia.

Those are terrible numbers for him as he heads into the re-election next year, Brooke. But the goal of the bus tour on October 17th through the 19th, our White House unit confirms is to sell the jobs plan so we shall see how that goes later this month, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We shall see. Peter Hamby, thank you. Let's go to a place not too far down the road from him. Items missing from the National Archive and now a Maryland man has pleaded guilty to embezzlement of government property.

The 66-year-old Leslee Woffin worked at the National Archives and Records Administration for more than 40 years. He has now admitted to selling a 1937 voice recording of Babe Ruth. How much did he sell it for $34.74 on eBay.

And according to court documents, authorities searched his home and 955 other recording were there worth at least 30 grand. Also, side note, the National Archives keeps a running tab of other items missing, right now the Wright brothers patent for their flying machine missing.

Target maps are also missing from the Hiroshima bombs along with former President Lyndon Johnson's class ring. Got to say this though that these items are not at all connected to Leslee Woffin missing nonetheless.

We also have an update for you on a case that had you writing to me yesterday. We share stories here on this show about kids who have been abuse and neglected in a segment we call "We Can Do Better."

And this week, one neighborhood did do better for a child left in a basement as punishment. We'll share the new developments. In this case, they did do better next.

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BALDWIN: You know I think we can do better with kids overall as a society. We can keep them safe and happy and healthy by calling authorities when we see something truly awful happening to a child.

That's why I gave kudos on this newscast yesterday to a neighborhood that snapped into action. They heard a child crying inside this home and called police. When police arrived and found the boy locked in a basement wearing a t-shirt and a diaper.

He said that he had been placed in a coffin down there as punishment and asked if the police were there to help him. Then he hugged one of the officers.

Well, as it turns out his mother and stepfather were there as police started investigating the case. They were there. The "Scranton Times Tribune" reports that the mother told police they were just playing a game.

But after a child psychologist questioned this boy and police felt they had enough to warrant charging the couple, mom and stepdad were nowhere to be found. They were on the loose. Warrants out for their arrest for eight days until yesterday. They turned themselves in right around the time that I was telling you about the 7-year-old boy. I want you to listen closely to the mother as she's let away in handcuffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my babies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then why did you do that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, I love my babies, she said. That mother and stepfather were arrested and arraigned last night on felony counts of endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful restraint. They are in jail. The boy is in foster care. I thought would you like to know. We will be right back, but as we go to break, "Forbes" released its list of America's most dangerous cities. Rounding up the top five, Anchorage, Alaska. Number four, many blamed the down economy and high unemployment rate for the rising crime rate in this city Flint, Michigan.

Number three, analysts are not exactly sure what's behind the crime rate here, but its Springfield, Illinois. So what are top two most dangerous U.S. cities according to Forbes, that's next.

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BALDWIN: "Forbes" has released the list of America's most dangerous cities. And we've got the top two, coming in at second even with a crime rate dropping from the previous year, you have Memphis, Tennessee. The number one most crime ridden city in America according to "Forbes", motor city, Detroit, Michigan.

OK, don't have a cow, man. Is that bad? Three phrases for the animated tail of a middle class American family. That is what's trending again. After 23 years on TV, "The Simpsons" is still a Sunday staple in millions of American homes.

It's been on in primetime longer any other scripted TV show. But it could be coming to an end in a fight over, what else, dough. Steve Battaglio is the business editor for "TV Guide" magazine. Steve, good to see you.

Let's begin with this. The producers say they can't make enough money to keep this show, you know, going the way things are. The "Daily Beast" though is reporting that they want the cast of voices to take a huge pay cut. What do you know?

STEVE BATTAGLIO, BUSINESS EDITOR, TV GUIDE MAGAZINE: "The Simpsons" has made a lot of money for News Corp., the parent company of FOX Television Network and the FOX Studio. However, FOX over the last few years has not made money on the show because the cost of making the program goes up as time goes on and the ratings have gone down.

So FOX Network, for those new episodes that they are producing, they have been running them at a loss because the ratings are much lower than they used to be. However in repeats, "The Simpsons" continues to make a tremendous amount of money in reruns around the world. Certainly in merchandising, video games, Halloween masks, you name it and it will continue to make a lot of money.

BALDWIN: Let's talk dollar and cents specifically, Steve. I mean, this is a cash cow. How much per episode and how much at the end of the year?

BATTAGLIO: Well, the cast is making $400,000 an episode. So we're talking about the four main cast members and the rest of the costs, the producers and production and animation that adds up. And FOX Network is paying more than $5 million for the rights to show it on FOX.

They can't make enough in advertising money to cover that. And that's why they want costs to come down.

That is one unit of the company that is losing money on the program. What is tricky about it and maybe a little confusing is that, in reruns, when these shows are sold to TV stations, they make -- they throw off a tremendous amount of cash. And, ironically, if "The Simpsons" is canceled, the FOX could actually make -- or the FOX studio that produces "The Simpsons" can actually make more money because they will be able to do new deals with TV stations probably at a higher rate.

They would be able to sell them to cable. The deals for "The Simpsons" reruns are from another generation of television. They were made in the 1990s. New deals, they could probably earn a lot more in the future.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about a possible agreement, because I want to read a statement from 21st Century FOX. FOX TV says this: "We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement with the voice cast that allows 'The Simpsons' to go on entertaining audiences with original episodes for many years to come."

You think they are going to find a deal?

BATTAGLIO: I think that they are asking the cast to take a 50 percent cut. That's $200,000 an episode, instead of $400,000 an episode. It's hard to walk away from that kind of money, especially when you really don't even have to put on clean clothes to go to work. You're reading into a microphone.

BALDWIN: Must be nice, don't have to deal with makeup and nice clothes and anything. That's not too bad.

Steve Battaglio, "TV Guide," thank you so much for coming on.

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BALDWIN: Not that I enjoy dressing up for you. Thank you.