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Madoff Victims Getting Checks; Getting Pregnant on the Cheap; U.S. Military's Opinion of Wars?; India Debuts Cheap Tablet; Michelle Obama Hosts Harvest Festival

Aired October 05, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. Hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

City hits its bank customers with checking account fees, the military gets polled and a deadly dust storm in the West. A lot happening today.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: Next, on "Reporter Roulette," how do the men and women serving this country really feel about the wars they are fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan? The answers are in, in this new poll.

And the results could surprise you.

Barbara Starr, live at the Pentagon -- Barbara, do tell.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Brooke.

You always hear the phrase Americans support the troops, but not necessarily the war. This new poll from the Pew Research Center really underscores that. In fact, about one-third of American troops have a lot of questions about the war, whether the wars have been worth it over the last decade.

But here's what the American public thinks. Look at these numbers. In Iraq, nearly 60 percent of Americans, the American public thinks the war was not worth it, just slightly over half with the wars in Afghanistan. This poll is perhaps one of the most downbeat ones we have seen lately about the souring American public opinion for being involved in two wars, 10 years, the most sustained and longest period of conflict in the country's history, bad economic times.

People are concerned about jobs and the economy, as are the veterans who are coming home. So people, by all indications when you look at these numbers, Brooke, have pretty much had it with wars overseas -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, thank you.

(WEATHER UPDATE) BALDWIN: Now to a story that certainly caught our attention. Perhaps that's an understatement. If you're looking for a sperm donor, all you might need is the Internet. "Newsweek" is looking at a riskier, cheaper way to conceive. We're going to talk to the reporter behind this cover story coming up.

But, first, nearly three years after Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme unraveled, his victims are getting some of their money back -- next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: And Bernie Madoff's cheated victims get their first checks today. Madoff, you know, ran the largest, longest-running Ponzi scheme in history. He took billions of dollars from investors. The slice his victims get today is more than $300 million in total. They are also set to get more when more funds are recovered.

Now this:

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON, MUSICIAN: Children are depressed. They're in the hospitals, no game room, no movie theater. They're sick because they depressed.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jurors heard new recordings from Michael Jackson himself in the Conrad Murray trial just within the last hour -- more of that audio coming up.

But, next, is cheap, private sperm donation a good, safe idea? It's cheaper than a sperm bank, but it could end up costing you more money later. But ,apparently, it's a growing trend. More on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Have you heard about this?

Some people are so desperate to have a baby, they're risking their health and possibly breaking the law to get and give free sperm donations at unusual locations. "Newsweek" broke the story on this nontraditional method that bypasses sperm banks, take those places out of the equation.

People are saving hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars in artificial insemination costs. The method may also help people who have a more difficult time adopting, be it same-sex couples, maybe single women. But the trend is raising all sorts of ethical and medical red flags.

Want to bring in Tony Dokoupil, staff writer for "Newsweek" and The Daily Beast. And, Tony, you broke this story. I read it. I couldn't stop talking about it. I was fascinated. So let me just begin with this. OK?

How exactly, without too many details, how exactly does this work for wishful parents? Is it really simple as Googling free sperm?

TONY DOKOUPIL, "NEWSWEEK": The way it works is this.

You register at one of the many Web site that put women in touch with donors. And you find a donor you like. You screen that donor yourself. You meet with them. You get STD tests back from them, and then you have a rendezvous for the exchange of the specimen, for lack of a better term. And that can happen in a Starbucks bathroom, and it can happen in your home, and it can happen in your car.

The donor essentially hands over a cup of himself, and you use the old turkey baster method or there are some variations on that to self-inseminate.

BALDWIN: How big of a demand really is this? How often is this really happening?

DOKOUPIL: It's a growing, growing community, because there are scandals in the traditional sperm bank industry that are driving people to this alternative market.

You may have heard or read about recently traditional sperm banks that have clusters of kids, 150 kids around a single donor, rare diseases being spread by sperm banks, and plus, astronomical costs. For lesbian couples, it's often difficult to get insurance coverage if you go to a traditional sperm bank.

And even if you're a traditional couple, you face caps that mean out-of-pocket to pay to the tune of thousands of dollars. These are women who are finding fault with the traditional industry. And they are not really desperate for a child so much as wanting a child and finding that their needs are not met through the normal channels.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I can just hear maybe potential moms out there thinking, though, OK, yes, I really would want a baby, and if I can't have a baby, what are my options. But I would imagine a big issue would be fear of disease.

And I know you have talked to a number of people. You talked about this couple and they vetted medically STD tests, et cetera. But how can you know for sure that this person is safe, their history, et cetera?

DOKOUPIL: Well, you can't.

But what women told me repeatedly was, they trust themselves. If you go with a free donor, you meet that person, you look them in the eye and you get a sense of them. You are not just going into a sperm bank where you don't meet the person, you have a booklet that you flip through maybe and you rely on the bank to check the person out.

Banks have been show to make mistakes or to not catch things. And so people, they want to take control of the process themselves. And they trust themselves to come to the right decision and a safe decision.

BALDWIN: Also, it's interesting you point out -- yes, you point out the difference. This is obviously a much cheaper way to do things. But also I guess with sperm banks, a lot of the would-be fathers don't want to be I.D.ed down the road and so this is a way for a mother to be able to introduce their child to the father. That's one of the reasons.

DOKOUPIL: Right. That's a huge issue.

The U.S. is one of the only major countries left that has not done away with anonymous sperm donation. The U.K. and Canada is on its way to doing this and Norway, they don't allow donors to be anonymous, because they feel that it's in the best interests of the child to one day be able to know their father, at least know where he came from, what he looks like, things that as it currently stands, donor kids cannot do in the U.S.

BALDWIN: I also found it fascinating, Tony. Part of the piece, you talk about how you registered at one of these sites as a just- looking member. But I want to just read one line from this article. You say, describing the site, "Far from being overrun by sex-crazed sperminators and desperate girls," you go on, "most of what I found was mundanely human."

What do you mean by that? And also with regard to the donors, what's in it for them? What's their motivation?

DOKOUPIL: Well, the women just want to have a child. And they choose this method because they think it's the best one for them.

The donors are a mixed bag. Some of them are honorable and are doing this for altruistic reasons. And there's a subset that just do it because they want a lot of kids. They really, really want a lot of kids. And they will do whatever is necessary to have those kids.

There's a sort of a sexual satisfaction, a caveman response that they have to the notion of having lots of kids like them out there. That's something I heard a lot. I just want to have a lot of kids like me out there.

BALDWIN: That's interesting. That's another segment, another day I guess.

(CROSSTALK)

DOKOUPIL: OK.

BALDWIN: But is this -- this is perfectly legal, yes?

DOKOUPIL: Well, it's in a legal gray area. The world's governments are scrambling as we speak to figure out whether this is legal or not. Proponents of it would say it's no different than going to a bar and sleeping with a stranger who you haven't checked out, who hasn't gone through STD tests.

These men are handing over a cup of sperm. And it's fresh. How is that different legally speaking than receiving sperm in some other way? And there's actually a very interesting test case on this in California.

The FDA raided the bedroom of one of these donors and has determined that he's essentially a one-man sperm bank and he's illegal. Normal body function, as we speak, is illegal for this individual. And he's appealing that ruling on the grounds that he's essentially a sexual partner.

BALDWIN: Wow.

DOKOUPIL: So he says it's plain old sex.

BALDWIN: Tony Dokoupil--

DOKOUPIL: And the FDA is going to have to make a ruling in the next -- in couple months.

BALDWIN: It's fascinating. It's fascinating.

Thank you so much for coming on.

If you haven't seen it, it's the cover of "Newsweek."

And send me a tweet. Let me know what you think if you have just watched this interview. Send me a tweet at @BrookeBCNN.

Thanks again.

Fans get some bad news from Adele. We have the details coming up.

Also, Jim Acosta with our America's Choice 2012 "Political Ticker" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time now for an America's Choice 2012 politics update.

Jim Acosta, live for us in Washington, I see him laughing historically out of the corner of my eye, I hope you know. There he is. I don't know why.

(CROSSTALK)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, boy. We're live on TV right now, guys.

BALDWIN: I almost see tears streaming. I won't ask. I won't ask, Jim Acosta. Just have a moment for me. Take a deep breath.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: They wanted to ask how I was getting back from Trenton yesterday covering the Chris Christie press conference up there. And I just didn't want to go into details. And they were forcing me to do so right before this--

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: So I apologize.

BALDWIN: OK. Well, we won't do that on live national television.

Paul Steinhauser, walk away. There he goes. Walk away from Jim Acosta.

ACOSTA: That's right. He gets enough airtime.

Get out of here, Paul.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about Herman Cain making -- what comments did he make with regard to the Occupy Wall Street protesters?

ACOSTA: I don't know if you saw this, Brooke, but Herman Cain made some very interesting comments about those Occupy Wall Street protesters that have been making a lot of news lately. And Herman Cain, who doesn't mince words, he basically says how he feels on any given subject.

And he was talking to "The Wall Street Journal" in a video interview. And we don't have the video just yet, but I want to read you a quote of what he had to say, because basically he said, what is the big deal here? Why are these mainly young protesters down on Wall Street complaining about not having any jobs?

And he said -- quote -- "I don't have the facts to back this up, but I believe these demonstrators are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failures of the Obama administration. Don't blame Wall Street. Don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself."

And he said it in typical Herman Cain style. He's never at a loss for words. And he wasn't in this interview about that. And it's interesting that he said this, because I don't know if you heard Mitt Romney. He was talking about these Wall Street demonstrators yesterday, Brooke, and basically accusing them of class warfare.

So, for all of the talk out there of people writing off these kids on Wall Street as really not having much of an effect on the political scene, they have got the presidential candidates talking about them, which just might raise their profile a little bit -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Jim, thank you very much. ACOSTA: You bet.

BALDWIN: And now to this. NBA fans hoping to see your favorite players on the court this fall, keep waiting. The entire preseason schedule is now officially canceled. And if a new deal is not reached by month, the first two weeks of the regular season would be canceled as well.

That would mean hundreds of millions of combined dollars lost by the owners and the players. The main sticking point here with the NBA lockout is how to divide up basketball-related income.

Love her. Adele, not the only one with a fire in her heart. Fans were so sad to hear yesterday that she has canceled her 10-city U.S. tour because of a vocal cord hemorrhage. The 23-year-old posted an apology on her blog Tuesday, saying, "I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Sincerely, I do."

Keep in mind this is the second time Adele has canceled this year. Back in April, she canceled her shows because of laryngitis. We wish her well.

Now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colors seem real bright to me now. The women are real good-looking.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Twenty-five years behind bars for his wife's murder. Now this wrongfully convicted man is free. You have to see more of that reaction from him. That's next.

Also, the defense making its case why a second man should not get the death penalty for a deadly home invasion in Connecticut.

Back in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Michael Morton has been in a Texas prison for 25 years after being convicted of 1996 beating death of his wife. All along, he maintained he didn't do it. Well, guess what? New DNA evidence helped prove his innocence. Yesterday, he walked out a free man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MORTON, CONVICTION OVERTURNED: I thank God this wasn't a capital case. That I only had life because it gave these saints here at the Innocence Projects times to do this. Colors seem real bright to me now. And women are real good looking. (LAUGHTER) PATRICIA MORTON, MICHAEL'S MOTHER: This is one of the happiest days of my life and we're so thankful for it.

BILL MORTON, MICHAEL'S FATHER: We're so thankful the truth finally came out. And we're happy, happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: DNA test linked his wife's murder to a known violent offender who investigators believe might also be related to another murder.

Also on the case today, a face of the trial of the man accused of killing a mother and her two daughters during that brutal home invasion in Connecticut, in Hartford.

Criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Holly Hughes is here. Nice to have you back.

We're talking, of course, here about Joshua Komisarjevsky new trial. We know that the prosecution has rested. Defense started today. What is the defense focusing on?

HOLLY HUGHES, FORMER PROSECUTOR: They're focusing on trying to save this man's life. He confessed, Brooke. So, basically, they're stuck with, he was there. He was in it. What the defense is trying to argue is that the codefendant who was tried earlier and convicted, Steven Hayes, that he was the mastermind. He was the one in charge and that this particular defendant, who's on trial now, and I won't even say his name because I won't give him that kind of dignity and air time, but they are saying he didn't do it. He was under the control of Steven Hayes.

BALDWIN: The same tactic as last time, throwing the guy under the bus.

HUGHES: Right. And I won't work. You know why, Brooke?

BALDWIN: Why.

HUGHES: The problem here is that he's the one who let Steven Hayes go out to the bank with Mrs. Petit, one of the victims here, and get the money and come back. Now, if you were not in charge and in control, would you let the other guy go and get the money? No, because he is going to take off with it if he is the one running the show. He's going to leave you back at the house, take the 15 grand they're forcing poor Mrs. Petit to withdraw, and take off.

You send your lackey out because you know you control him, you know he's scared and he's going to bring you back that cash and that victim.

BALDWIN: Can they counter the evidence, Komisarjevsky's statement to police?

HUGHES: No. They absolutely cannot. Not only does he give a statement to police but then he's got these horrible journals.

BALDWIN: Many, many journals.

HUGHES: Where he is writing -- and he's writing the most hateful things. He's calling Dr. Petit, who we know is the only survivor here. And let me tell you something, Brooke, this poor man may be alive, but his life will never be the same. His wife and his two beautiful young daughters were not only sexually assaulted, but then they were brutally murdered. The girls were burned alive. The evidence is that gasoline was poured on the bodies and those beautiful girls were burned alive.

So, Dr. Petit is alive but will absolutely not be the same. And when this animal is writing out -- he calls him a coward. He says, this man had an opportunity to save his family. I gave him all kinds of chances.

BALDWIN: So given the evidence, given the journals were wondering would he testify? Would he testify? Would it be in his best interest?

HUGHES: Absolutely not. I don't think there's any way they're going to put him on the stand. At this point, they are trying to save his life.

I think they probably know, they're calling it well enough and know that if he does get on the stand, he is going to revert to the egomaniac we see in the journals, where he's calling Dr. Petit a coward and say, I gave him a chance to save these people's lives, he could have save his family and he was a coward, he ran away.

That's a God complex. That's "I'm in charge."

And that also combats the argument that Steven Hayes was in charge. I think the attorneys are going to say, don't do it. But if a client insists, Brooke, the client calls the shots.

BALDWIN: Case number two, the prosecutors in the Conrad Murray trial we know that they played a little bit more of a message Michael Jackson left on Dr. Murray's cell phone. I want to play a little bit of that and then we'll talk on the other side.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON: I love them because I didn't have a childhood. I had no childhood. I feel their pain. I feel their hurt.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Saying again, difficult to understand, I know, which is so sad. He said he felt their pain, children, he didn't have a childhood. What impact might this audio recording -- we heard a little bit about this on day one. What impact will this have on the case against Dr. Murray?

HUGHES: Well, again, Brooke, what this does is it shows that Dr. Murray should have known that this particular patient had a problem with some type of substance, some type of drug addiction, or some type of alcohol abuse. And we don't know what it is specifically, but when you hear Michael Jackson in this type of state, you don't have to be a doctor to know that he's clearly under the influence of something. This means Dr. Murray was on notice that his client was because this is -- again, recorded. Dr. Murray thinks it's important enough to record.

BALDWIN: Right.

HUGHES: But then he either administers too much Propofol to this man, or he walks out of the room and leaves his patient who we clearly knows has a problem with access to drugs and Propofol and Lidocaine and Demerol and all of the other things that were found there. So, it goes to state of mind. It goes to show the jury the doctor was careless. You do not walk away and leave a man who can be that far under the power or the influence of drug with access to them.

BALDWIN: So then, quickly, in this case, should Dr. Murray testify?

HUGHES: He's going to have to. He's absolutely going to have to take the stand to defend himself, to insist that he did not administer that Propofol and to say Michael gave it to himself. He has to.

BALDWIN: Holly Hughes, thank you.

HUGHES: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up: chances are you have sat, or been seated close to someone who's baby wasn't in the best of spirits. One woman was even kicked off the bus for her fuzzy baby. Find out how the passengers on that bus reacted. That's coming up next.

Let's see -- it looks like the iPad without the iPad price tag. We're going to tell you all about this new device that some are calling the world's cheapest computer. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We came across this story out of Portland, Oregon. They got everyone on my team talking this morning, talking loudly all at once. We thought we needed 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 explains 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. And 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 she's a baby. Babies don't work that way. You can't just turn them off.

And when she came back to the front, the woman got off the front and I said, you can't kick a woman off 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 the 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 Doctor."

Wendy, great to have you back on.

WENDY WALSH, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: First, reacting to the story in Portland, what's your first reaction?

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

But, you know, there's another piece. They're saying, the unions backing this bus driver because she's a woman and the interesting thing is that she's a woman, they are saying it's a safety issue. Now, we have to remember, Brooke, that men and women have different capacities to 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?

BALDWIN: Never. I don't know what you're talking about.

WALSH: And we are likely to get more flooded.

BALDWIN: Yes, I know.

WALSH: Women are far more likely to get flooded.

BALDWIN: On the side of the bus driver, though, if you're on a bus and this bus driver could say, you know, 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 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 are sitting on that plane and have a big meeting coming up in a couple of hours and they're trying to do their work and they hear a screaming kid knocking on their seat, you know, from those people, they say, look, let's have 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 just think that we are all part of a multigenerational culture and we have to learn.

What are we doing? We're warehousing babies in day care. We're warehousing old people and people with disabilities. Where does it stop when you start saying, oh, no, not in my space. I don't want to be disturbed.

I think that families are the backbone and everybody who is complaining on their Mr. Adult on his way to his meeting was also a baby once and probably kicks somebody else's seat. So, we have to be much more accepting and forgiving and understand of families.

BALDWIN: Good to talk to her, that's for sure.

Wendy Walsh, thank you very much.

Now, where in the world can you get a computer for less than 50 bucks? We're going to to tell you.

Plus, Wolf Blitzer is standing by with the preview of what's coming up next in THE SITUATION ROOM. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: India is showing off the world's cheapest computer today. And while it's actually a table, even a bit smaller than the iPad, the price tag for this thing? Less than 50 bucks.

CNN's Sara Sidner has all the details here -- Sara.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, there were a lot of skeptics on this one. They did not believe that India could pull it off but it has. A computer tablet for less than 50 bucks. Earlier, we got our hands on one and tried it out. Take a look.

Now, computers are getting cheaper and cheaper. But this is crazy cheap. India's ministry of education has announced it has come up with the world's cheapest computer and this is it.

Now, we got a sneak peak at this little gadget here. It's about seven inches, so it's smaller than an iPad. It has two USB ports here. It also has an HD screen, so you can watch videos for example.

What the ministry has done, because obviously, it's the Education Ministry, it has uploaded some applications in here so that you can actually watch, for example, a lecture. This is a lecture from one of India's very prestigious schools, one of their IITs. And so, students can use it for all sorts of things, basically anything that you can do on a computer, typing your notes, sending an e-mail, you can do this on little gadget.

The HD screen is nice because you can again watch different things, including movies if you so like on this computer.

One of the things with this is that basically you have to have Wi-Fi in order for it to get a signal, in order for you to be able to get online. So, that's one thing that people might have a bit of an issue with.

The other thing is some of the touch screen technology is a little bit difficult. You have to be a bit forceful to try and make it work. It's not as sensitive, for example, as an iPad.

However, we're talking about a device that does just about everything you can imagine a computer does except for the fact that it's only about $50. Now, initially, the ministry says that it will be handed out to students, given as a textbook, would be given. And so, this will be something that students can access and have a hold of, especially if they don't have much of an access, for example, in their dorm rooms to computers. They will now have one that can fit in their bag for example.

Eventually, though, as you might imagine, with technology that is so inexpensive, you will imagine that private companies will pick this technology up and try to go out there and sell it. All in all, it's a pretty cool gadget and it's a fraction of a cost of a smartphone, never mind a computer.

Now, the question is this, with such an inexpensive device, will it force other computer companies to start slashing their prices so that more and more people can have access to something like this?

Is it perfect? No. But the government is waiting for feedback on this and says it will continue to improve over time. It's not in stores or for sale.

At this point, the company who helped make it says they will try to make it available to everyday folks in November. For now, it is only students that will get a hold of these tablets. You know, all in all, though, for less than $50, to go into the hands of someone who has never have a computer and could never imagine a 41 is a pretty amazing advice -- Brooke.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I agree with you, Sara Sidner. Amazing indeed. Thank you.

Coming up next, "THE SITUATION ROOM." Let's get a little check with Wolf Blitzer and see what he has happening in there.

And, Wolf, I understand you have Theodore Simon, the U.S. attorney for Amanda Knox?

WOLF BLITZER, THE SITUATION ROOM: Yes. He's going to be telling us how Amanda Knox is doing on this, her first full day back in the United States in Seattle. She arrived last night, as you know, Brooke, and he's been spending a lot of quality time with this young woman who is now back with her family and friends.

So, he'll update us on what's going he's going on in Amanda Knox's life. But also, we'll talk about some of the legal issues that potentially, potentially still could face -- she could still face if, for example, the Italian Supreme Court overrules this earlier decision this week if there's a formal extradition request from United States to send her back to Italy. We'll go through some of those legal issues with Ted Simon as well.

In the next hour, that's happening in the 4:00 p.m. Eastern Hour. In the following hour, we'll speak with Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker. He's always got a lot to say on a whole host of issues and we're going to go through a lot of those issues. He'll join us live in the 5:00 p.m. Eastern Hour.

So, two good guests and a lot of news coming up information in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Wonderful. Wolf, we will see you in a matter in minutes. Thanks so much.

Coming up, though, still here, guess which GOP presidential contender is a big fan of "The Hangover?" And I'm talking about the movie here. Joe Johns is going to tell us next in "Political Pop."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now tomorrow's news today, we're going to fast forward and talk first about spiritual leader and self-help guru, James Ray. He will be sentenced. He was convicted on three counts of negligent homicide in the 2009 Arizona sweat lodge deaths.

Plus, Tiger Woods returns to professional government tomorrow. He'll be playing in the Frys.com Open, which marks his first tournament since the PGA championship. And Daniel Radcliffe stars in a benefit performance on Broadway. It's a portion of, portion I should say, of every ticket sold of how to succeed in business without really trying. We'll be going directly to the Trevor Project, the non-profit organization and partner of the It Gets Better campaign to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teens going through tough times.

And before we get to "Political Pop," I have a friend here. It's Karen.

Karen, will you look -- can you look this way? Look at your dad. This is my best friend's daughter. It's such a treat to have her in the studio.

So, do you want to say hi mom?

UNIDENTIFIED KID: Hi, mom.

BALDWIN: You want to help me do political we can say hi Joe? Let's do "Political Pop" together, shall we? She's going to take my job one day.

There he is.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Karen!

BALDWIN: Hi. Hi, Joe.

JOHNS: How are you doing? Does she have IFB on?

BALDWIN: No, not in her little ear.

But we're going to do this together. Let's talk first, Joe, Michelle Obama. She's hosting this event at the White House. What's she doing? She's in the garden, right?

JOHNS: Right. Well, you know, this is the time of year you have the Circleville Pumpkin Festival in Ohio, you have Octoberfest, squash festivals.

The White House has this Fall Harvest Festival. You know those vegetables Mrs. Obama planted in the garden?

BALDWIN: Yes.

JOHNS: Well, now, they're harvesting them. There you can see. They have some local kids in the yellow shirts out in the garden helping pick all of these things up.

And this is that place where a whole bunch of White House ideas come together, if you will. The first idea is about the first lady's anti-obesity initiative called Let's Move. We've heard so much about that. And then the whole fresh veggies idea goes along with that.

The second idea, of course, is expansion of White House work on social media. This is what so many different campaigns, if you will, around the country, both Democrat and Republican are focusing on.

Garden Harvest is also going to mark what they call the first ever Let's Move tweet-up, opportunities for followers on Twitter to come to the White House, you know, sort of virtually and tour the kitchen, garden and so on.

BALDWIN: So the kids there today -- the kids there today weren't part of the tweet-up, per se. These were local elementary kids. That's for another time?

JOHNS: Right. Yes, exactly. Local elementary kids, but, you know, who knows how many Americans and their families, if they wanted to, could actually sort of access this by way of the Internet.

BALDWIN: OK. Let's talk movies.

Karen, you like movies, right? I don't know if you've seen this one. I know. I can hear your mom saying no, she hasn't.

"The Hangover."

JOHNS: She likes "Smurfs."

BALDWIN: She likes "Smurfs."

But let's talk "The Hangover" because somebody is a really big fan and has seen it many times.

JOHNS: Oh, my gosh. This is a movie that's become an instant classic. It's "The Hangover," of course. And it' hard to imagine a true social conservative getting much of a laugh out of it. There are some scenes from it. It's unbelievable.

I mean, you've got the nudity, the tiger, Mike Tyson, the drunkenness, the excess of Las Vegas all wrapped into one. I love that movie. A lot of people, though, might be offended by it.

BALDWIN: It's kind of hilarious.

JOHNS: Right. "The Concord Monitor" reporting that the former speaker of the House and his wife Calista have watched "The Hangover" -- seven count 'em -- seven times. Gingrich is quoted as saying the movie is totally stupid, which is right, but we can't help ourselves.

BALDWIN: Sometimes we like stupid things.

JOHNS: Right. Right. I mean, actually, that's why I went to see the movie because it was totally stupid and I laughed and laughed and laughed.

BALDWIN: It's an escape, right?

JOHNS: Yes, and totally socially inappropriate. So, it was very funny to me, and a lot of other people.

BALDWIN: It was wonderful seeing you in person. Come back -- come back soon to Atlanta, all right, Mr. Johns?

JOHNS: I can't wait to.

BALDWIN: All right.

JOHNS: Where is your friend? Where did she go?

BALDWIN: Oh, she -- poof.

JOHNS: Future news anchor.

BALDWIN: She's not very far from me, not very far at all. Karen Martin. Hi, K, hope you enjoyed that little moment on live television.

Joe, thank you very much.

Before I let everyone go, though, we have just learned about this, that Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, who helped lead the civil rights movement, has died. This is according to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Shuttlesworth, seen here in an interview from back in 2002, challenged segregated busing in Birmingham. He also helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders.

King once called the Reverend Shuttlesworth and I'm quoting here, the most courageous civil rights fighter in the South. Shuttlesworth was 89.

And one more thing here. Back by popular demand from last year, I want to show you video of a different kind of crash in the U.K. Police say a man went on a wrecking spree after stealing a front-end loader. He rips through the graveyard, hedges, farm fields, causes about $25,000 in damage. Let's just pause and watch this.

See him coming down the street. Steals this front-end loader, careens on by. By the way, this happened in July. Police just released this aerial surveillance. See the wider shot there. The police coming up on the front-end loader.

By the way, the man is now doing 4 1/2 years in prison. He was apparently paid to steal industrial vehicles. He has also been involved in 16 similar thefts since 2010.

And that does it for me here in Atlanta. Thank you so much for watching.

Wolf Blitzer has a jam-packed show coming up over the next two hours. We hope you join him. Stay right here.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer starts right now.