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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Afghanistan; Wild Animals on the Loose in Ohio; Search for Missing 10-Month-Old
Aired October 19, 2011 - 13:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, Don Lemon, thank you so much, friend. Nice to see you.
And now it's my turn. So let's go. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Let's get you caught up on some of the stories making news this hour.
First up here in "Rapid Fire," we're going to begin with this exotic animal story out of Zanesville, Ohio. We are learning that just about every single animal has been caught except for two.
A frantic hunt under way because these exotic animals were set free on this wild animal farm. The flashing signs on highways warning drivers of the danger. Schools in the area closed, people having to stay inside, as Ohio law enforcement hunting down lions and tigers, wolves, grizzly bears.
Police say the owner of this exotic animal farm set the animals free before killing himself. All but two of these several dozen animals have been captured or killed by now. And in just a couple of minutes I'll speak live with Sheriff Matt Lutz and ask him which animals are still running wild.
Also coming up, we have wildlife animal expert Jack Hanna, live on the show today, to tell us about some of these exotic pet regulations, how the laws perhaps should be stricter.
And the FBI and Homeland Security have been called in to investigate this bizarre courthouse break-in. This is San Antonio, Texas.
Five foreign nationals have been arrested. Three of them were caught inside the closed courthouse in the middle of the night. Two were discovered in a rented recreational vehicle just outside.
All of them claim to be French-Moroccan. Immigration looking into that angle of the story. The sheriff's office in San Antonio says these men were playing with a judge's gavel and robes, and they put on sombreros from a courthouse display and were just walking along the halls.
We're going to have a live report from Texas on that coming up next hour.
Take a look at this. This was the scene in Athens today as protesters and police scuffled in front of Greece's parliament. Much of this country was shut down by a 48-hour general strike. Greeks are angry about tax increase and pay cuts. Greek lawmakers are set to begin voting on these austerity measures at any moment.
Also, this just in from California. Actress Lindsay Lohan has been removed from court in handcuffs. The judge just revoked Lohan's probation. Her bail, not set at $100,000. If she bails out, she has to serve 16 hours of community service at the Los Angeles County Morgue.
Take a look at this home with me, or what was a home. Clearly, storm damage here.
This is Plantation, Florida. It has not been confirmed yet, but this damage may have been done by a tornado. We're told more than 30 homes were destroyed. And what's stunning as you look at these different images from this aerial -- these aerial pictures, amazing, only just a couple of minor injuries were reported there.
And if you need anything from an Apple store right at this moment, you're going to have to wait, at least for another 28 minutes, because all Apple stores across the country shut their doors just about an hour ago in memory of Apple founder Steve Jobs. Jobs died just recently, October 5th, of pancreatic cancer, and the store closings today coincide with a memorial at Apple headquarters in California.
And here is a tidbit from the French media. They are now reporting that Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been admitted to a maternity clinic in Paris, is about to give birth, possibly, we're hearing as early as today.
These images showing her husband -- not these. Others showing -- there he is. Of course, he's the president of France, leaving the clinic earlier today. He's reportedly on his way to Germany with a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
And now let's take a look at this plane together here. This is how it ended up after was supposed to be a pleasure flight over Williamsburg, Virginia. Clearly, the -- taking a look at that aftermath, the pleasure all went out of this flight when the plane lost power. The pilot says he tried to land in a field, ended up bringing it down in a parking lot.
Not a pretty landing. The pilot clipped a wing on a light pole. And you can see the damage for yourself. No one was hurt there.
And I want you to look really, really close. You can see on the upper right hand, on the veggie section, you can see the black blob sort of crawling towards us. That is a very young and apparently hungry black bear.
Somehow he got into this grocery store. This is Ketchikan, Alaska. Somehow, this little guy crawled past those automatic doors, headed for the produce cooler. And I guess this is just how they do it in Alaska. A customer grabbed the little guy by the scruff, tossed him out the store's back door.
Here he goes. And there he grabs him. I don't want to leave the carrots.
But you've got to go, buddy. Go find mama bear.
Now to this, a surprise visit to Afghanistan today. One day after visiting Libya, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has just arrived in Kabul under very, very tight security.
Traveling with Secretary Clinton, CNN's Jill Dougherty. And Jill is on the phone with me now.
And Jill, who is the secretary meeting with?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, tomorrow, which will be Thursday, she will be meeting with President Hamid Karzai, and we understand they'll actually have a smaller meeting in which -- both Mrs. Clinton and President Karzai. And then they will broaden it out with some of their officials.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of officials on both sides. This is a complex relationship, and, in fact, that's really the theme, the strategic arrangement, as it's called, with Afghanistan, this relationship between the United States and Afghanistan.
And also, another focus will be, as it's called, civil society. That's non-governmental organizations, women's groups, groups like that. And she will be holding a meeting with them. She does that, by the way, Brooke, in almost every city that she goes to.
And another event -- we don't have the details yet -- will be meeting with ethnic minorities. You know, one of the big issues here really is reconciliation and how you bring some type of political resolution to the conflict, because it's not going to be one just with guns, as they say. So that's really a major focus here as well.
BALDWIN: Jill Dougherty, on the ground in the capital of Afghanistan, traveling along with the U.S. secretary.
Jill Dougherty, thank you very much.
And you have now a little less than two hours with me. Take a look at what we've got for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Lions, tigers, bears, even wolves, they have all been on the loose here in this small Ohio community, and we're still pulling in developments on the story from our assignment desk.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): New developments in the John Wayne Gacy serial killer case. The sheriff asked for help from the public, and he got it, in a very big way.
Plus, candidates. They talked immigration, jobs, taxes, even apples and oranges. And it even got personal at the Republican debate last night in Vegas.
But how much truth was actually thrown out there? We're going to fact-check the hot topics.
Also, America's retirees getting a raise. Social Security's first increase in three years. Find out why it took so long.
Plus, another death from tainted cantaloupes, and the CDC is now telling us the root cause of this listeria outbreak.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Near Zanesville, Ohio, they are down to a wolf and a monkey. A wolf and a monkey, still on the loose, and what a crazy past 18 hours.
We have finally gotten pictures of one of the dozens of very dangerous animals set free from this private zoo. Dozens of wild animals.
This here is a grizzly bear. They also have mountain lions, Bengal tigers, wolves on the loose. As many as 51 wild animals.
So, you had law enforcement officers trying to hunt these animals down in full darkness. Hunt them down and, in many cases, shoot the animals dead. A harrowing night in Ohio.
Let's listen to the sheriff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF MATT LUTZ, MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO: We had animals outside that fenced area along the road that were trying to get loose. I had deputies that had to shoot animals with their side arms at close range. That's how volatile this situation was.
We are not talking about your normal everyday house cat or dog. These are 300-pound Bengal tigers that we've had to put down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That was Sheriff Matt Lutz. He is actually standing by on the phone to brief us a little bit more.
But quickly, let me just tell you how all this happened, because this part, it's pretty crazy as well.
Take a look here. This is the man who owned all these animals.
He was Terry Thompson, age 62. And authorities say when they arrived at Thompson's property last evening, he was dead, his animal cages empty.
They believe Terry Thompson set the animals free and then took his own life. That part of the story, that is still developing as well. But I want to turn to the Sheriff Lutz, who is on the phone with me, Matt Lutz, in Muskingum County, Ohio.
Sheriff, I know it's been quite a while, 18 hours, for you. You told us a short while ago that you are down to a wolf and a monkey still on the loose. So are you sure now, sir, you have the lions, the tigers, bears, et cetera, caught or dead?
LUTZ: Yes, we believe so, as well as can be expected. We have compiled a list of the animals basically off of the two farmhands that helped here on the farm. That number was approximately 48 to 52 from the start of this incident, and from what we have recovered, the inventory that we have done, we feel that we're down to those two animals.
BALDWIN: So this part of Muskingum County, help us understand the lay of the land. Are you dealing a hilly landscape, heavily wooded? Describe it to me.
LUTZ: Well, Muskingum County is about 680 square miles. The population is about 86,000 people.
We have the city of Zanesville that is our metropolitan area that sits inside that area that has probably 25,000 to 30,000 population. Muskingum County, in the southeast corner of the state, is very well known for deer hunting. We have some of the biggest deer in the state of Ohio that are housed here in Muskingum County, and that tells you that this area is very wooded, it's very mountainous, and it's an area that these animals could thrive in.
BALDWIN: Sheriff, we just heard a sound bite from you talking about how some of your deputies had to pull out their side arms and shoot these animals at close range. Did you not have tranquilizers, or is that the only option?
LUTZ: No, we do not carry tranquilizers in our cars. It's extensive training. And to be able to maintain the medicine that goes into those darts is very hard to do. Most of the time you have to be a veterinarian to discharge those types of things, and we do not and never have carried any kind of tranquilizers in our vehicles.
BALDWIN: And help me understand this owner of these -- you said 48 to 52 -- animals, Terry Thompson. Can you just confirm for me, was this man semi-recently out of prison? What more can you tell us about why he also would have wanted to just let these animals go?
LUTZ: The only thing I know -- and this is speculation on my part from what I've heard -- I believe he got out of prison three weeks ago. He did a stint in the federal prison system for a federal firearms violation.
He does have, I think, some local jail time from us. We're checking on that right now, just to be accurate with it for me, an animal complaint that went through Muskingum County Court.
So we are very familiar with Mr. Thompson. I've got almost 23 years in law enforcement. I've known him pretty much for my entire career. And we've had numerous complaints, and we've had to go to his property numerous times.
BALDWIN: So was this an accident waiting to happen?
LUTZ: In my eyes, definitely was an accident waiting to happen.
I understand -- and I want to be clear that this incident, we believe Mr. Thompson cut the fences and opened the gates and let these animals out. And so, that being said, this was a senseless killing of all of these animals.
But to have these kinds of animals in the environment that they were in, to me, was just not a safe environment and not the best environment for the animals. And we have always known that this could happen.
I felt, as lax as Terry was in dealing with these animals, and as trusting that he was, we would find him deceased at some point from an animal attacking him. But in this situation, from our preliminary investigation, we feel that he had let the animals out before he took his own life.
BALDWIN: Wow.
Sheriff Lutz, thank you so much. I have so many more questions given the point you just made. I'll save them for wild animal expert Jack Hanna, who is going to join me a little later this hour.
He was on the scene. He's been assisting Sheriff Lutz in that search as well.
There is a whole lot of activity happening at the home of missing baby Lisa. Police now executing a search warrant. We're going to have a little bit more on that story with Jim Spellman, who's standing by. Or we'll go.
OK. We're live at the home coming up next.
And then, talk about a gloves off kind of night in Vegas, did you see it? I'm sure you did. More after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Now that a promising lead in the search for a missing baby in Missouri has turned into a false alarm, police, FBI agents now honing in again on the family home where little Lisa Irwin was last seen asleep in her crib. Investigators have a search warrant to go over every single inch of that home, and it also bars the family from coming back inside until they are finished. And to make sure they don't, there is a patrol car parked right outside their house. All of this comes after the baby's mother, Deborah Bradley, revealed that she was drunk the night her daughter disappeared.
And Jim Spellman is covering this for us in Kansas City.
And first, Jim, just talk to me about what you are seeing, any kind of activity around the house, police, FBI.
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Take a look at this, Brooke.
This has been going on here since early this morning. Last night, they got the search warrant, and part of that was barring the parents, like you mentioned, from reentering the home.
They had police cars out here. Then, this morning, once the sun came up, there's about a dozen or so CSI people in white suits -- they call them moon suits -- to keep them from contaminating the scene.
They are in there, and they've been joined recently with another dozen or so FBI and police officers in here. They even have a bomb squad here. Now, police tell us the bomb squad is not because they found explosives, but there are some sort of tools in there that can help them in their investigation.
In the back of the house, there is a whole other team back there that are digging with shovels in an area behind a large shed garage area back there, Brooke. So, a lot of activity here today.
We've seen police come and go with doing consensual searches over the last two weeks, but nothing like this. That would be a couple of officers, plainclothes officers, or a couple of officers in uniform. Nothing like this kind of unit in here.
They've had ladders going in and out, they've been on top of the house, everywhere, going over this scene with a fine-tooth comb -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: OK. Jim Spellman, thank you very much for the latest there in Kansas City. Obviously, keep us posted if anything at all happens with regard to that search. I know the parents, also, there have been questions over their cooperation with authorities.
Thank you so much.
And did you see our debate last night? Talk about a slug-fest.
Seven Republican presidential contenders live last night from Las Vegas. Things got angry, things got loud, things at times got very personal. And right in the middle, time and time again, the number one guy, Mitt Romney.
Let's watch this together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're shaking your head.
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, that's not what you said. It's in your book, that it should be for everybody.
ROMNEY: Guys, hey --
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You took it out of your book.
SANTORUM: You took it out of your book.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: And the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is, on its face, the hype of hypocrisy.
ROMNEY: I'll tell you what, why don't you let me speak?
SANTORUM: You're allowed to change your position. You can't change the facts.
ROMNEY: Rick, you had your chance. Let me speak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: I'm looking forward to finding your facts on that, because that just doesn't --
PERRY: I'll tell you what the facts are.
ROMNEY: Rick, again -- Rick, I'm speaking. I'm speaking. I'm speaking.
PERRY: Your newspaper -- the newspaper --
ROMNEY: I'm speaking.
PERRY: It's time for you to tell the truth.
ROMNEY: You get 30 seconds.
PERRY: It's time for you to tell the truth here, Mitt.
ROMNEY: This is the way the rules work here, is that I get 60 seconds and then you get 30 seconds to respond. Right?
Anderson?
PERRY: And they want the truth. And they want to hear you say that you knew you had illegals working at your --
ROMNEY: Would you please wait? Are you just going to keep talking? Are you going let me finish with what I'm just saying?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And did you notice -- did you see Mitt Romney actually reach out, touch Rick Perry? He reached right over. He touched him, and he got talking to him about a couple personal things, including -- talked to him about immigration, talked to him about other things. Now, as you probably noted, a lot of the back-and-forth had a lot to do with illegal immigration. Texas Governor Rick Perry trying to claw back into contention, bringing up something that has certainly been brought up before. And we want to fact-check this.
So let's go to CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The basic claim of Rick Perry against Mitt Romney is that Romney hired illegal immigrants. But is that true?
Well, let's look at the facts.
Back in 2006, this is something that came up, that haunted Mitt Romney during the previous election, so he knew how to answer to it. Yes, a company that he hired to work on his lawn -- it was reported by "The Boston Globe" -- had illegal workers from Guatemala working for them. Mitt Romney said he knew nothing about those people until it was discovered by "The Boston Globe."
Then, he approached the company, gave the company a second chance to say, no more of that, hire only legal workers. Found out it had happened again, also to "The Boston Globe," and he dismissed the company after the same problem was found.
So, in a simple matter, if you add this all up, what you have to say is that both Rick Perry and Mitt Romney were misleading. Rick Perry suggesting that the governor was knowingly going out and hiring illegal workers, and there doesn't seem to be evidence of that. And the governor suggesting he knew nothing at all about what was going on, when, in fact, he's already admitted that he did.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Tom foreman, thank you so much.
Now, watch this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH HOYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was small, it was dark, and the smell -- the smell of urine and other human waste was so pungent, it burned my nostrils.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That is our own Sarah Hoye talking about what it was like inside that tiny basement, dank broiler room, where four people were held captive there in Philadelphia. She's going to join us live as new disturbing details are emerging in that particular investigation.
Also, as we promised, animal expert Jack Hanna is going to be here. He drove all the way through the night to just arrive in that small Ohio community to help law enforcement capture these wild animals, 48 to 52 wild animals, let loose by their owner. Could stricter animals laws prevent this from happening? We're going to ask him in two minutes.
But first, as we are honing in, about an hour and a half away from the close of this trading day, down 45 points. The Dow, at 11,529.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Another arrest claims a pregnancy and new victims today. And this time we're learning there were children involved.
This is the so-called dungeon of horror case we've been reporting about the last couple of days out of Philadelphia. Police now have arrested this woman.
This is 32-year-old Jean McIntosh. She is the daughter of one of the three original suspects, the daughter of 51-year-old ringleader Linda Ann Weston.
McIntosh is accused of being a co-conspirator in the kidnapping and imprisonment of the four initial victims found in that basement. And one of those victims, Tamara Breeden, says she gave birth to two children while in captivity. The police are not saying how she got pregnant.
Breeden and those three men were found locked in this filthy 15 x 16 foot basement boiler room with no food, only a bucket for a toilet. One of them was found chained to the boiler.
Also new today, police discovered 10 additional alleged victims in this horrifying case, six of whom are young children. Among them, a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old believed to be Breeden's children. Also, the 19-year-old niece of one of the suspects.
Sarah Hoye has been covering the story for us. She's live in Philadelphia.
And Sarah, I was just talking to a Philadelphia police lieutenant yesterday on the show, and he predicted -- in fact, I think his words were, "I can just about guarantee you, Brooke, that there will be additional victims." And now here we go.
What do you know today?
HOYE: That's right. You're exactly right. He said that yesterday to you.
And they did find these 10 additional people. They range in age from 2 to 19, with that 19-year-old, as you had just mentioned, being Weston's niece, apparently, was in pretty bad condition. She it looked like she had been abused some sort of way, possibly physically, mentally. They are still working all that out.
And then speaking of those children, the young ones who might be one of the victim's kids, they are now doing DNA testing on all of those four captives to see potentially who the parents are.
BALDWIN: Wow. And as we look at these images here of this sort of graffiti, small, filthy room, I understand you, Sarah Hoye, went into this room. I imagine it stunk.
HOYE: Yes, it did.
Brooke, I did have the opportunity to go in that basement. I even had them turn off the lights and close the door so I could feel what it was like to be like them in that room. It was pitch black and that smell, you are exactly right. That ammonia from the urine as well as the human waste just penetrated the entire room. It actually singed my nostrils. So, you can only just imagine. I was only in there for a couple of minutes. Imagine being in there for days and weeks even.
BALDWIN: Have the police, you know, and talking about this 10 additional potential victims here, have police given you any indication that they, too, might have been held in that basement?
HOYE: No. Police are not saying that. Right now, what they believe is that only those four people were kept captive in that basement. Those additional 10 were at various locations across Philadelphia. So, they are trying to piece together how they got here and how they did get to the places that they were.
BALDWIN: OK. Sarah Hoye, continue please following it for us out of Philadelphia. Thank you so much.
Still to come, we talk to the sheriff minutes out of this county outside of Zanesville, Ohio, a man who owns 48 to 52 wild animals, let them loose before killing himself last night. Now, two are left.
Could this have been prevented? Let's ask animal expert and director emeritus at Columbus Zoo in Ohio, Jack Hanna, live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right. Back to that crazy story out of Ohio. Dozens of wild animals set free overnight from this private zoo near Zanesville, Ohio. This is a video.
This is a grizzly bear, new video we just got in. It's a first look at one of these animals. So they were roaming around all night long. I'm talking lions, tigers, wolves, deadly wild animals. Local law enforcement having to hunt these animals down in the thick of the night. And at last word, because I talk to the sheriff just a couple of minutes ago, he told me that they were down to a wolf and a monkey still on the loose.
Now I want you to look at this. This is the man who owned these 48 to 52 animals. This was Terry Thompson, age 62. Authorities say when they arrived at Thompson's property last night, he was dead. His animal cages were empty. They believe Terry Thompson set these animals free and then took his own life.
I want to go straight to wildlife expert Jack Hanna. I know he was called in to Columbus to help with the emergency, director emeritus at the Columbus Zoo. He joins me now on the phone from Zanesville.
And, Jack, I understand you drove through the night just to help law enforcement there. When you first heard about this, Jack, what was your first instinct?
JACK HANNA, WILDLIFE EXPERT (via telephone): Well, I (INAUDIBLE), I get in the car and back home. As I got home before the morning, I get 17 voice mails on my phone and thought what is the world is happening here? I thought the family was hurt. I heard the story and couldn't believe what was happening.
And, of course, I got here at 5:00 in the morning and then, of course, the reality started setting in, what happened here with 30 something animals obviously losing their lives. That's a tragedy.
But the first and foremost thing is no person lost their life. And that's what came out of this whole thing is. And what came out of this whole thing is, right now I am working on a law to put in here to stop the animal auctions in Ohio, we stop people like this that have animals like this in improper settings, we stop that and that law (INAUDIBLE).
BALDWIN: Jack Hanna, let me just jump in. I know you've been going solid for a number of hours today. If you can, just back up, how exactly have you been assisting with these animals? How have you been helping Sheriff Lutz?
HANNA: Well, right now, we have -- our veterinarians were here all day and all last night. They were trying to tranquilize animals today. We just taken three or four leopards. I'm not sure, a monkey and grizzly up to the Columbus Zoo where they will house them until we know what's going on with the people here. So, we're doing that.
And also, we tried to tranquilize a tiger this afternoon and the tiger started coming after the folks and they had to put him down this afternoon. So, we did everything we can do with my people here. We started last night, but we can't tranquilize in the dark. You can't. Obviously, we have officers and these animals were approaching them.
You can picture these guys going up there 5:30 last night with animals flowing down the driveway -- tigers, lions, bears, like Noah's Ark busted open, you know? I mean, animals approaching their cruisers. There's a neighborhood within a mile from this place, neighborhoods. And we had carnage out here.
BALDWIN: Like Noah's Ark just burst open, you said. Sheriff Lutz said you have to be trained to use tranquilizers. They didn't have that. They had to act quickly.
Can you just tell me in terms of the total amount of animals saved versus killed, how many have been tranquilized and saved?
HANNA: Well, probably so far 10, 11, total, you know? I don't have the total count because they are transferring the animals to the zoo, but I know there are at least seven to eight, and I'm sure there will be more before it's all over. BALDWIN: Yes.
HANNA: I hope we can find the wolf and the monkey and get them up there, too. They found a mountain lion in someone's yard that was shot last night and then a grizzly last night. So that leaves the two that are missing, ones that could have caused problems, obviously.
BALDWIN: If you can, Jack, just help us understand what a man in Ohio was doing with dozens of grizzly bears, wolves, you know, et cetera. I imagine you have to have some kind of permit? Or does he get these from animal auctions? How does this thing happen?
HANNA: Well, right now that's what the bill is going to say. There are several animal auctions in Ohio. They were going to be shut down, I can tell you that. According to the governor, what we have discussed. They were shut down hopefully in the next few months.
They don't have them right now. They have them certain times of the year. But that's going to be passe in this state.
Once that stop, that's like a drug source. Where do you get the drugs from, where do you get the animals from, they shut that down, same thing will happen. And probably these folks who have these animals, like this gentleman did.
I just met his wife. She left him, I understand, and came back today to see her children, which she referred to as her animals, she saw me thinking them, she started uncontrollably shaking, please don't take my family. I explained to her, I'm trying to help her right now. These animals, there are in substandard conditions. She comes back and tries to rearrange her life, that's fine.
But right now, they have to go to the Columbus Zoo. We don't need something like this to happen again with leopards and stuff. Somebody cut them loose or something like that. So how did he get them?
Some people just, you know, like to be around animals. But you just can't like to be around things and like a loaded gun. So, this is not what you do, with tigers and lions and this kind of thing. That's why it has to be stopped legally here in the state of Ohio.
BALDWIN: Yes. Sheriff Lutz told he was very familiar with this owner and said it was simply an accident waiting to happen. So, perhaps there will be some changes, legally speaking.
Jack Hanna, thank you so, so much for hopping on the phone and explaining. Again, still missing, a monkey and a wolf.
Now, I want to take you live to a President Obama underway at fire station in North Chesterfield, Virginia. Let's listen in.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, Chesterfield has been lucky, it isn't facing layoffs right now. But a lot of these guys have seen their pay frozen.
You've got cities and states like Michigan and New Jersey that have had to lay off big chunks of their forces. That means the firefighters can't always to fires before they become major fires and that makes their jobs more dangerous. That means police officers can't respond to every crime.
And when giving our children the best education possible, we know is the ingredient for success in this new information and technology-rich economy, how can we be laying off teachers when other countries are hiring teachers in droves? It's unfair to our kids and undermines our future.
So this week Congress is going to vote on whether or not hundreds of police officers and firefighters and teachers get back on the job. And I don't know if these members -- maybe they haven't met some of these firefighters. I don't think they want to tell them that their jobs aren't worth saving.
Some of these guys are pretty big. Captain Kemp is an ex-Marine, which means he's still a Marine. And these guys are risking their lives every day on our behalf. These jobs are worth fighting for.
Folks in Congress are also going to get to today later, in a month, whether our construction workers should sit around doing nothing while China builds the best railroads, the best schools, the best airports in the world.
We used to have the best stuff. Think about, the world says, let's travel to America. Let's see the Golden Gate Bridge. Let's see the Hoover Dam. Let's see these amazing things that America built.
Are we going to be the generation where we stop building? Where we've got run-down roads and bridges that are being obsolete? That's not who America is.
So, Congress will have a chance to see if they want to put Americans back to work to do the work that America needs done.
They say that, you know, they value our veterans. When I went before the joint Congress to present this American Jobs Act, I said, let's give tax breaks to the companies that are hiring our veterans. And we just got 25,000 -- a pledge of 25,000 jobs from companies all across the country aiming for a goal of 100,000 veterans being hired by the end of 2013. So --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: So when I talked about this part of the plan before the joint session of Congress, everybody rose up, Democrats and Republicans alike. So, the question now is, if you all stood and applauded, how are you going to vote?
It's not enough to applaud and go to a Veterans Day parade. People need help. And you've got a chance to help them right now. These are the choices that Congress will be presented within the next few weeks.
And if they vote against these proposals, if they say no to steps we know will put people back to work right now, they are not going to have to answer to me. They are going to have to answer to you. They are going to have to come down here and tell folks in Virginia and all across the country why people are going to have to cope with fewer first responders, why your kids can't have teachers back in the classroom. You're going to have to look construction workers in the eye and tell them why they are sitting idle instead of building infrastructure that we know needs to be rebuilt.
And they are going to have to explain why we couldn't afford to do it when we know that we can pay for all of this, plus keep taxes on middle class families low, prevent them from going up, and all we have to do in order to pay for it is make sure that people like me are paying our fair share of taxes, and the companies no longer are getting special tax loopholes. That's it.
So when you hear that the reason we're not supporting it, we like the ideas, but it's -- we don't want to see higher taxes. If we don't pass this bill, taxes for the average family will go up, because the payroll tax in December will lapse. If we do pass this bill, for 97 percent, 98 percent of Americans, your taxes will stay low. My taxes will go up, but I can afford it.
A fair shot for everybody, a fair share from everybody. That's a principle that built America. That's how we created the middle class.
Now, they can do the right thing in Congress and put the people back to work right now and reopen firehouses, but I'm going to need your help. I need you -- and that's the reason I'm here. It's wonderful to have a chance to see everybody and shake hands and take pictures.
But the main reason I'm here is I want you to send a message to Congress that this is important. Let them know or get on the phone, write a letter, fax, tweet, whatever it is that people do these days, and remind members of Congress what's at stake here.
You know, it takes a special kind of bravery to be a firefighter. When that bell rings, it takes a special kind of courage to answer the call and rush at great risk to yourself to help your fellow citizens.
And you know what? That's the same kind of spirit that I believe embodies America. Looking out for one another, helping each other, being willing to make sacrifices for the greater good.
When our friends and neighbors are hurting, we don't cross our arms and just do nothing. We roll-up our sleeves and say we're going to help. We'll help figure out how to solve this problem.
We are not people who sit idly by and ignore our challenges. We step up and we meet our challenges. And that's the opportunity we have right now.
So, I hope is everybody is with us. We hope that you are willing to contact your members of Congress.
Tell them to get busy. Tell them to get to work. Tell them to put people back to work and let's show the world once again why the United States of America is the greatest country on earth.
Thank you. God bless. And God bless the United States of America.
BALDWIN: President Obama, he wants his jobs bill passed, $447 billion. He is standing there. That is station number 9 in North Chesterfield, Virginia. And essentially there, he was specifically telling that proposal to provide funding to prevent layoffs for your firefighters, police, and teachers of this country.
And now, let's move on. This --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Herman, I love you, brother, but let me tell you something, you don't have to have a big analysis to figure this thing out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Well, now, Rick Perry has released a statement explaining why he called Herman Cain brother more than once. We've got that for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: At the GOP debate, Rick Perry kept referring to fellow candidate Herman Cain as "brother." Did you make note of that last night when you were watching? Well, let's play this sound and tell me what you think.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: Herman, I love you, brother, but let me tell you something, you don't have to have a big analysis to figure this thing out. Go to New Hampshire where they don't have a sales tax and you fix them and give them one. They are not interested in 9-9-9. What they are interested in is flatter and fairer. At the end of the week, I'm going to be laying out a plan that clearly, I'll bump plans with you, brother, we'll see who has the best idea about how you get this country working again.
And one of the ways, right here in Nevada, you got 8-plus percent. You want 9 cents on top of that, and 9 cents on a new home, or 9 percent on a new home, 9 percent on your Social Security, 9 percent more? I don't think so, Herman. It's not going to fly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, I counted two there. Seriously, let me know, @BrookeBCNN, and I tweet all the time through the show.
By the way, here is what the Perry camp has now said. Quote, "He is a friendly fellow. He uses that kind of language. And he views all those folks on stage as colleagues, as fellow Republicans, and he speaks accordingly."
So, let's ask our senior political editor, Mark Preston, live in Vegas.
Mark, I mean, as I was watching last night, I definitely made note of that comment, I'm sure you did as well.
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Sure. You know, it's certainly something that the Perry campaign does not want to be talking about right now. They want to be talking about what they think was a very strong performance by the Texas governor.
We have to be very careful, though, not to characterize what he was saying there. They are saying that he meant nothing by that and in fact he's not racist and what have you. It would be interesting to see what happens if Herman Cain is asked that question and if Herman Cain decides to say that he doesn't have a problem with it and I do think the issue is dead, Brooke.
BALDWIN: What do you make of the debate, who did well, who didn't? I know it was definitely gloves off pretty much from the get.
PRESTON: Yes. You know, it certainly was. You know, I don't actually know actually really won the debate last night. I was surprised at how strong Rick Santorum was of his criticism of his fellow rivals there on stage. Of course, Rick Santorum needed to do that.
But, really, the biggest fisticuffs were between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. I mean, at one point, Mitt Romney, Brooke --
BALDWIN: Reached down and touched him.
PRESTON: -- was touching Rick Perry. Yes. That is something that up don't often see. There is that whole personal space. And Mitt Romney left his hand on there.
So, I think that was an uncomfortable moment for me certainly to watch during the debate. I don't know who came out as the big winner but, you know, Herman Cain, we're just talking about him, he really came under a lot of criticism for the 9-9-9 plan. It wasn't just Rick Perry as we heard. It was everybody on that stage last night, Brooke.
BALDWIN: But, then also I noticed and I think it was pretty much toward the end, you had Newt Gingrich come forward and say, look, we can't, you know, be bickering like this back and forth if one of us wants to become president?
PRESTON: Yes. And we've been hearing this over and over and over again from Newt Gingrich. He tries to be the grownup on stage.
But by doing that, he doesn't seem to be able to get the base energized. He's not very high in the polls right now. He's very low in the pack. I don't know how Newt Gingrich can break out of it.
But, you know, what's also interesting about Newt Gingrich, Brooke, is he is that very critical of the us, the news media, saying it's our fault that they're fighting on stage, when, in fact, I think we saw it last night it was their fault, Brooke. So, it will be interesting to see what Newt Gingrich does in the coming weeks. If he does want to gain traction, he's going to have to start being more critical of his rivals up there, Brooke.
BALDWIN: One more for you, Mark Preston. I mean, I was also really watching Michele Bachmann sort of trying to interject herself in the debate? How did she do, how longer can she hang on?
PRESTON: You know, I was talking to one of her top advisors after the debate last night. They felt that she did very well. You know, there's a lot of talk about what's going to happen to these candidates, are they going to start dropping off.
And I've got to tell you, right now, with the exception of maybe Jon Huntsman who we didn't see here last night -- he was in New Hampshire, he was boycotting the debate because of dissatisfaction over a dispute between New Hampshire and Nevada, I don't think anyone else is going to get out. There's no reason for them to get out. If all they're doing is running shoestring budgets right now, and they're getting national attention. So, don't expect any of them, Brooke, to get out until at least the Iowa caucuses.
BALDWIN: Yes, we've got a little ways to go, not necessarily until Iowa.
But, Mark Preston, thanks so much.
And if you collect Social Security, you are about to start to get a little bit more. We have details as for as how much, coming up.
But, first, earlier this week, we showed you this list, it was a list of America's luckiest cities. This is all according to "Men's Health" magazine. And so, the luckiest list was based upon, you know, the cities with the most lottery winners, most hole in ones, fewest lightning strikes and fewest deaths from falling objects. Yes, they ranked these cities.
San Diego, if you remember, was number one. So, it got us thinking, let's flip the script. What's the most unlucky cities. So, grab your rabbit's foot. Let's count them down.
Bottom five, so to speak. Number five unluckiest city in America: Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Number four: Memphis, Tennessee. Number three: Jackson, Mississippi.
Who could the top two unluckiest towns? I'll tell you where I lived in number one. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Before the break, we were talking about the unluckiest cities in America. Finishing the list, number two: Tampa, Florida. And the unluckiest city in the nation, in wild and wonderful West Virginia -- Charleston, the capital city.
On to another city, not necessarily on that list, Omaha, Nebraska, home to five Fortune 500 companies, but it's also home to one of the poorest African-American communities in the nation. The statistics go on, Nebraska is among the state with the highest African-American school drop-out rate and ranks eighth when it comes to African- American unemployment.
Thelma Gutierrez introduces to a man who gave up a quite lucrative corporate job to help his community prosper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Omaha, Nebraska, in the country's heartland.
IVAN GILREATH, CEO, BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB MIDLANDS: You've really got a lot of big-time companies here.
GUTIERREZ: Ivan Gilreath learned his MBA here and launched a successful, corporate career. He drove us through a predominantly white neighborhood.
GILREATH: This is the majority of where your African-American population resides.
GUTIERREZ: To the other Omaha that Gilreath knows just as well.
GILREATH: This area here has been a sight site of lot of violence over the years.
GUTIERREZ: He says the disparity between whites and blacks is shocking and deeply rooted in the Omaha's segregated past, when many black families were denied banking loans and higher paying jobs and equal education. The percentage of black children who live in poverty here ranks number one in the nation.
GILREATH: You can be shocked and say, oh, my God, it's an awful place, or you can be shocked with feeling like we need to galvanize.
What are you doing over here, young lady?
GUTIERREZ: For Gilreath, that meant leaving a lucrative corporate job to return home to his community as CEO of the Boys and Girls Club, to make sure that kids like 14-year-old Markel Bon (ph) have a place to play and study.
(on camera): What are some of the challenges that you are up against being a single mom?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to see anything happen to my son. He's a good kid. I'm sorry. I'm thankful every day that I have him in my life.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): In the past seven years, five children from the Boys and Girls club that Markel (ph) attends had been killed.
GILREATH: There is still a need for us African-American men who can come back and provide that same kind of influence to these young people that I receive at the club.
GUTIERREZ: Like Markell, Gilreath also grew up in this neighborhood.
(on camera): What are your goals for yourself? What is it that you want for yourself?
MARKELL VAUGHN, BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB MEMBER: I want to be able to go to college and be able to make it to the pros. But if that don't work out, I want to be a veterinarian or a zookeeper or something.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): As an honor student and a star athlete, Markell is well on his way on the same road that Ivan Gilreath traveled.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Omaha, Nebraska.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Thelma Gutierrez, thank you very much.
