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Animals Loose in Ohio; Texas Courthouse Break-In; Mattel Releases Controversial Barbie; Democrats Push President's Jobs Bill; Lindsay Lohan Breaks Probation; Trial of Michael Jackson's Doctor for Manslaughter Continues; Herman Cain's Battle with Cancer Profiled

Aired October 19, 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: Here we go, hour two happening right now.

You see Jack Hanna taking to the mike in a news conference happening in Muskingum, Ohio. This is where all of those wild animals were let loose after the owner killed himself -- before the owner killed himself, I should say.

Standing behind him, here he is, Sheriff Lutz. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MATTHEW LUTZ, ZANESVILLE, OHIO, SHERIFF: -- the people from our Wilds preserve and from the zoo.

The experience they have, I believe at one point they told me it was over 100 years -- over 100 years of experience of dealing with animals and that's far more than what we have. So it's just -- it's been great to have them here.

I have prepared a little bit of a statement. It's just going to be some different things that I have been thinking about that we wanted to get out to you and we will take some questions afterwards.

First of all, at this point, still I have no new information on the death of Mr. Thompson. We are still waiting on autopsy reports, which is not uncommon. We still feel our earlier preliminary report is what we are sticking with. And we have no new evidence that would indicate anything different with that.

Let's get right to the animal totals. As I said earlier, the numbers we released was 48 to 52 was very sketchy, and it was. The total number of animals we were dealing with was approximately 56 animals on this farm. Those numbers included 48 of which are now deceased. There are 48 animals that we had to put down.

Those animals included one wolf, six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one mountain bear, one baboon, three mountain lions, and 18 tigers. There are two missing animals at this time, one being a gray wolf and one being a monkey. We also were able to transport six animals to the Columbus Zoo for Jack's crew and their work.

One of those was a grizzly bear. There were three leopards and two monkeys.

I want to state that, as somebody asked me earlier about Mr. Thompson's wife, Marian (ph), she has been here. She was taken up to the scene. She did help the zoo officials get these animals out of the house and is cooperating with us. We are not interested in taking her animals, but tonight for safety reasons these animals were taken to the zoo and that situation will be worked out at a later date.

The animals that were dispatched were buried on the property. That has already been done. That was at the request of Marian, the recommendation of Jack and the crew. We have also talked with the Agriculture Society. We made sure we did everything proper in that regard. And we felt that was the best thing for this situation.

We are -- will be, currently are and will be talking about a game plan for the missing wolf and the monkey. Obviously, a very large part of this investigation that we want to conclude is catching those two animals before they get out in the public and do anything.

The director of the Columbus Zoo, as well and the Wilds has recommended the monkey be shot and killed. It is very possible that this monkey is carrying herpes B. We do not have any tests to verify that, but it is highly likely that this animal is carrying herpes B.

A lot of these species carry this disease. I will open these up later for questions if you have anything pertaining to that and let these experts deal with that.

We also will be conferring with them as well as forming a game plan about how to pursue those two animals if there is anything else we need to be doing.

A couple questions that I remember getting I didn't have the answers for you, one, the farm is about 73 acres in size. I know there were a couple of you that were talking about that. And so we wanted to give that information to you.

We -- I don't have the exact criminal record of Mr. Thompson, as some of you have asked. I can tell you that he has done some time in our county jail. He has been charged, I believe, with misdemeanor animal charges in the past. And I know a couple of you were asking me about that.

We will be -- this will be the last press conference of the day. We will be holding a press conference tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. I don't know if we will have a lot to update on that, but we will be doing that in case there is something that we can give you.

Before I answer any questions or ask anyone else to step up here, this was a very, very bad situation. It couldn't have been handled without everybody involved that was here doing their job, starting with our first-responders and the job they did. To keep that number contained to this property and this area was just phenomenal. And as Jack said, that was our main goal, was to protect the citizens of our county.

Some of the people that I want to take a minute to thank, of course, Jack, Columbus Zoo officials and Wilds officials, anybody and everybody in our county that brought out food and refreshments that came out here. The Ohio Highway State Patrol really helped us last night and today on traffic enforcement, taking care of the roads. We had the Ohio Department of Natural Resources here providing trucks, providing rifles and providing men and foundation-wheelers to go with our deputies.

I had a call from every one of my surrounding sheriffs. I'm not going to name them because it will take too long and I might forget one, but all five of them around us have been very supportive. We have also had some of their guys here today, the public help, so many people showing up at one of the situations to offer any kind of help. Doug Davis, my county engineer, was here providing equipment and everything.

Ray Daily of ODOT working together with us. State Representative Brian Hill was here newly announced to the 94th district. It's great to have their support. County commissioners have been represented here all day during this whole incident. And, of course, one of our area business owners, Fred Polk (ph), even gave us his Polaris to be using at the scene.

We are going to try to keep or try to open Copchecht (ph) Road at about 4:30 p.m. I have been asked on whether we are going to allow any video up at the property, and that is not going to happen. We again are going to try to open the road up at about 4:30.

Also been asked about public records request pertaining to this incident or any other incident with Mr. Thompson. And those are going to be put on a disk and we will be passed out tomorrow, possibly available at the 10:00 a.m. press conference.

Before I -- Jack, is there anything else you want to say before we take any questions?

JACK HANNA, DIRECTOR EMERITUS, COLUMBUS ZOO: What do you say when you have 18 I guess Bengal tigers? In India, we thought there were 5,000 Bengal tigers left in the world, until a study last year. We were so far off. There were not 5,000.

There was less than 1,400 Bengal tigers left in the world. There are more tigers in zoological parks than there are in the wild. So probably in 20 years the Bengal tiger will be gone in the wild. So that's why obviously to hear 18 Bengal tigers had to lose their lives over something like this, obviously, is emotionally -- not just -- not emotionally, but you see our people give their lives to save the animals.

When I heard 18, I am still in disbelief. They're the most magnificent creature in the entire world, the tiger is. And you would understand that if you filmed them in the wild and you saw them.

so, I am sorry this had to be done, Sheriff, but if you had 18 Bengal tigers running around these neighborhoods, you folks would not have wanted to see what would have happened. That is all. LUTZ: And real quick, the gentleman here in the uniform to my left is Captain Jeff Vacoke (ph). He was in charge of most of the operation up at the property. Director of operations Kim Handel (ph) has been in the command van. And Bo Keck is our EMA director. You see the trailer.

A lot of great cooperation in this county. It is easy to be sheriff in this county. And it takes these kind of things on these types of incidents.

I will open it up to questions. Make sure you identify yourself, who you are, and make sure you speak up, so I can hear you.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: Don't know where you got that information from. I never released that, no.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) When is the last time (INAUDIBLE) a mobilization this big? (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: Well, under my watch -- this is my third year as sheriff -- the last incident we had, we had a shooting, officer-involved shooting back in January or February of '09, was probably the last major incident we had.

It didn't gain near the attention that this has gained. So I don't know that we have had one this big.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Can you describe what the officers or the deputies saw when they got on property, pulled up for the first time? Was Mr. Thompson's body in the driveway? Was it near the cages? And where were the animals at that point?

LUTZ: To set the stage for you, Mr. Thompson's house sits at the end of a very long, long lane.

I guesstimated earlier 300 yards that you have to drive. That is probably not doing it justice. It's probably 400 to 500 yards away from the road. So obviously when our officers got there, Mr. Thompson has always usually kept his gate locked at base of the hill.

We did not even get inside the gate. We had animals that were visible from the roadway. These animals obviously were out of their pens and out of their cages, but were now were outside the fenced-in property and down towards the property and attempting to get out.

So they did a phenomenal job, risked their lives to get out and get these animals contained, very close encounters, hand-to-hand basically with handgun on the animals, and basically took care of that when they first got there.

QUESTION: And where was Mr. Thompson's body?

LUTZ: Later on discovered, we had officers make it to the house to check to see where he was at and he was later discovered in the driveway.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: I might leave that to Jack or to zoo officials. I am not an animal person as far as knowing how they will travel, what they will do. With it raining, will they lay down and bed for a while? I don't know how far they travel.

I just want to say that, obviously, we want our public to be safe. We want them to use caution. Obviously, I would be a lot more in fear if we had a bear or a lion out there, but definitely want them to stay away from these animals. Do not take action in your hands. That's the main thing. Dial 911. Let us know what you are looking at. Let us know where it's at and let us know where it is headed for.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Yesterday you asked schools to think about canceling classes. Most of them did. Will you ask for them to do that again tomorrow?

LUTZ: We have been in constant contact with the schools. I have to make some phone calls with them after this press conference. Our recommendation will probably be that they open.

We will talk with the zoo officials to make sure of that, but we may need to use some caution around the bus stop at different areas, but we will probably recommend that they can open school now.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Sheriff, how is Marian doing? (OFF-MIKE) How is she doing when you talked with her?

LUTZ: Can't express it. She is upset. She has lost a husband. And, now, she has lost a lot of animals that she has been very close to, so, very, very upset and I guess dealing with this as good as anybody could.

QUESTION: Sheriff, any idea why the cages were open (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: No.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: Well, as we released -- let me verify the numbers -- we have 48 animals that are dead. And those are animals that were released from pens or got out of pens.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: Yes. Yes.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: Again, I am not very good with distance as far as we have not really got a specific distance. The estimate I used earlier was probably five football fields, 500 yards these animals had got away from their pens that they were being kept in.

Back here.

QUESTION: So we're not talking miles?

LUTZ: Yes, we're not talking miles.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: I would to, yes, have the vets take care of that question. And repeat your question a little louder.

QUESTION: I was just curious about what this virus is this monkey might be carrying?

BARBARA WOLFE, DIRECTOR, WILDLIFE AND CONSERVATION MEDICINE, THE WILDS: The virus is called herpes B. It's carried by macaque monkeys, which are not affected by the virus, but it's very dangerous for humans.

A bite wound is considered very serious condition. That's why the sheriff is recommending do not approach the monkey. Monkeys can be cute and attractive. Do not handle it. If it approaches you, call 911.

QUESTION: Can we get your name and title too?

WOLFE: My name is Dr. Barb Wolf. I'm the director of wildlife and conservation medicine at the Wilds.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Did Mr. Thompson leave any kind of, show any kind of indication about what he was doing and why?

LUTZ: To our knowledge, we have investigated that. We have evaluated the crime scene. We have not found anything like that, no.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) You talked about earlier you did try an attempt at tranquilizing effort.

(CROSSTALK)

LUTZ: Yes.

Obviously, as I have said before, one of our biggest hurdles here was dealing with the amount of animals, the type of animals, but, more importantly, we only had about an hour to hour-and-a-half of daylight.

As Jack said, this wasn't a situation where we could just walk in and have some binoculars and stay a safe distance and evaluate animals. These animals were on the move and they were showing aggressive behavior. Once the nightfall hit, our biggest concern was having these animals roaming.

Today, when we went back in, we had, of course, daylight hours. We found a Bengal tiger, a mature adult Bengal tiger, close to it, was laying in some brush. This would have been, I'm going to say, to the southeast of the house approximately 200 yards. This veterinarian had more guts than I did, by far, with a dart gun got very, very close, probably from one side of this tent to the other, and tried to tranquilize this thing. Think we hit it, but as we did, got up, showed very aggressive behavior started towards her and then turned and started running away from us. At that point, we didn't know for sure if the tranquilizer would work. We didn't know for sure how far the animal was going to go. And we weren't going to take any chances of that tiger getting loose. And we had to put it down.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: Well, all the animals -- there was a bear, too -- I don't know if you mentioned that. There was a bear there.

All the animals that were left were transported out of here. I made that decision based on some good, experienced people behind me recommending that, that as volatile as this situation was, the conditions that these animals were being kept in, it was apparent that we wanted them transported to a location to where they could be evaluated, they could be inspected and checked out.

And we felt, also, that there could be some danger if they stayed at this property due the fact we had some try to steal a lion last night, a dead lion. So we made that call. And in no shape or form are we trying to take those animals away from Marian. And she's been instructed -- she took part in that part of removing them. And we have her got information for her to work with the zoo about visiting them and getting them back.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

LUTZ: There are horses. There are horses up there. They have been there. In fact, the bears and the lions were charging at the horses.

Marian will be -- the property will be turned back over to Marian to take care of the horses. And I believe there's even some people that keep their horses out. So they will instructed to contact her for reference to those horses.

HANNA: By the way, this is -- a macaque -- a macaque, knowing cold weather, they love weather like this, the rain. It's not a matter of having a monkey that is a warm weather climate monkey. This is an animal that can exist in very cold temperatures. So this animal is having a good time out here today. And, of course, with the virus it has that she said, you just don't want to mess with it. And that's a little bit about the monkey. You were asking what kind of monkey is it.

QUESTION: Sheriff, we're hearing that some animals have gotten loose before from the property. Can you confirm that and, if so, how many times?

LUTZ: Yes, I can't confirm the number, but I'm going to say that we have had some complaints in reference to animals at large before this, yes. QUESTION: Are you concerned that these other animals are coming back from the zoo (OFF-MIKE) property?

BALDWIN: All right, we have been listening for just about 20 minutes to Sheriff Lutz, who we actually had on the show last hour.

What a past really 19 hours now for him and these folks in Muskingum, Ohio, Muskingum County, Ohio. This is just outside of Zanesville. So essentially we finally heard officially the tally of all of these animals, these exotic animals that had been on this man's property, the 73-acre property, 56 animals in total -- 48 are now dead. That includes wolves, bears, grizzly bears, mountain lions, 18 tigers.

Here's a look at some of the numbers on your screen. They have all since been buried on the property actually with the help of the wife of Terry Thompson. Terry Thompson was the 62-year-old man who apparently lived on this property. And he was very familiar -- the sheriff was very familiar with this man.

He basically, according to the police, let these wild animals go last night and then turned the gun on himself and shot himself. There are six animals that they were able to save. They are now in transport to the Columbus Zoo.

And right now they are looking for two more animals still on the loose. They are trying to figure out a game plan for that, the gray wolf and a monkey. We just heard from a veterinarian there in the news conference saying highly likely has hepatitis B. So, once they find that monkey, that monkey will likely be shot.

And just really to reiterate what the sheriff kept saying, they, he says, had no choice but to shoot and kill many of these animals given the fact what happens, their behavior, when tranquilizers are guns are used on them, and also given the fact that they are doing this in the thick of night, so one fatality given all these animals, but, again, the hunt still continues for the gray wolf and a monkey. We will continue to follow it as well.

Also, a San Antonio courthouse was broken into early this morning. Three people were found inside. Two were found in an R.V. outside, all five in custody. We will go live to Texas to get the details there.

Plus, new efforts to identify victims of Chicago serial killer John Wayne Gacy, that is still under way, even though this case is some 30 years old. The sheriff of Cook County asked for the public's help. And you will not believe how many people have responded. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you get a monthly Social Security check, it's about to get a little bit bigger. The increase based upon inflation is 3.5 percent.

So for the average Social Security recipient, that amounts to just about 38 extra bucks each and every month -- 55 million Americans do get Social Security. But -- yes, there is a little bit of a but here. The Social Security raise will be eaten up by a hike in Medicare premiums coming in January.

Now to this story. A break-in at courthouse in San Antonio, Texas, sounded alarm bells with police, the FBI, Homeland Security. Here you have five foreign nationals, they have been arrested on burglary charges. Police say three of the men were caught inside this closed courthouse after police say they climbed the fire escape, broke through this fourth floor window.

Two more were apparently waiting in some sort of vehicle outside.

I want to bring in Ed Lavandera kind of putting the pieces together here of this story together for us in Dallas.

And, Ed, are police treating this as a possible terrorism case or something else entirely?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have been looking at that throughout the day. But the more and more we are hearing about what has happened here in San Antonio in these overnight and early morning hours, the less and less it looks like anything that was serious or going to turn out to be any real threat.

In fact, officials down in San Antonio holding a press conference as we speak. And what we were told just a little while ago by a law enforcement source in the San Antonio area says that there were actually two men that scaled up a fire ladder on the outside, broke into the fourth floor -- the fourth floor of the courthouse building, and that they were being watched the entire time by security agents there at the gate, at the courthouse.

But they were actually seen on these surveillance videos walking around, got into a judge's chambers, played with their gavel and played with the robes, and even found a display inside the courthouse that had Mexican sombreros in it. And they were seen walking around on the videotape wearing these sombreros.

We asked for this tape, as you might imagine. Still haven't gotten it, so I can't imagine this is going to turn out to be anything very serious.

BALDWIN: OK. So sombreros and banging on a judge's gavel. Do we know, Eddie Lavandera, what was found in this R.V. that was ready and waiting outside?

LAVANDERA: Well, this one of the things that I think kind of sparked some suspicion early that there were some reports out there saying that they had found pictures and photographs of water utility locations and various other kind of suspicious things around the country.

But the contact that we have spoken with down in San Antonio says that is not true. What they found was computers on board and a map of the United States, very typical for tourists. So they are checking all of that out. They have been going through the R.V. this afternoon. But they still haven't found anything that leads them to believe it's terrorist-related.

BALDWIN: OK. So do we have any idea though yet as what it was that they were doing, what they were looking for in the courthouse, and also who are these men and where are they from?

LAVANDERA: Right. And early on as well, the men are of -- five men in all of Moroccan descent.

I spoke with the CEO of the company that rented these gentlemen the R.V. out of New Jersey. They picked it up in mid-September. I was told there that they showed French driver's license, so they're of French-Moroccan descent, that they had a long-term contract to rent this R.V. for two months. So they were about a month into this trip.

At some point, they had gone through Florida, according to the CEO of the R.V. company. They said there was nothing suspicious--

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera, forgive me for interrupting you. I think you will appreciate this.

Take a look, if you have a TV next to you. These are the images that we have just gotten, sombreros and all. It looks like two of the guys. One has a sombrero. This are images we're just getting in of them I guess along one of the hallways in the courthouse.

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: Yes, I think we can chalk it up to a long, crazy night perhaps on the River Walk is all I can think of at this point, to be honest.

BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera, we don't know such things about that at the River Walk. Thank you very much, though.

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: At least they didn't fall into the River Walk.

BALDWIN: Yes. We don't know. Thank you very much, Ed Lavandera, for us in Dallas, Texas.

Now what President Obama is doing here on this third and final day of his bus tour, visiting two different states -- Dan Lothian live at the White House with details coming up after the quick break.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We have some news just here into us at CNN. You're about to here from Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer mocking millionaires.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, (D) NEW YORK: The only thing that stands in this legislation is a small handful of very, very, very wealthy people. Not all wealthy people because, as Joe Biden said, I believe most people who makeover $1 million believe this is the right thing to do. But it's a small number who are very greedy. Their view is, I made all my money all by myself. How dare your government put its fingers on any of that money. And they, unfortunately, control on issues like this the Republican side of the aisle on that side of the Senate. That's the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Senator Schumer there flanked by firefighters, et cetera. I'm sure Dan Lothian knows all about that, right. That was a rally on Capitol Hill all in an effort to get this jobs bill passed. To the White House to you now with our America's choice 2012 politics update. Dan, we saw President Obama not too long ago in North Chesterville, Virginia, also flanked by firefighters, station number nine, he wants this bill passed?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And we saw a couple of things from not only the president but the first lady, as you pointed out, speaking surrounded by firefighters, talking about how in pieces of this jobs act and specifically aimed at firefighters, that the money can used to keep some of them on the job and certainly hire other firefighters that will protect communities around the country. We saw yesterday the president focusing on teachers.

But something else happened today as well. The first lady announcing this effort by some 270 private companies saying that they're pledging to hire 25,000 veterans and their spouses by the end of 2013. So this is all part of an effort that the president has been on for the last three days trying to get pieces of his jobs plan passed so that Americans who are unemployed can get back to work.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you also with regard to last week's big CNN GOP debate, is there any reaction last night from the administration?

LOTHIAN: Well, there is. The campaign held a conference call earlier today. And while they said they are not going to get into the blow by blow, play by play of what happened during the debate last night, they did talk about how Republicans in general, these Republican presidential hopefuls are backing millionaires again, millionaires and wealthy Americans, Wall Street, companies, large companies.

What's interesting, though, is that they singled out Mitt Romney. They keep going after him. And they pointed out the comment that Romney made yesterday in defending the use of illegal immigrants on his property hired by a company that he had hired, and they said that this just shows that Mitt Romney really doesn't have any credibility and that, quote, "He will say and stand for anything to get elected."

So clearly the campaign going after Mitt Romney even though we've seen Mr. Cain and some others who have been getting some traction recently. BALDWIN: He is the frontrunner after all, I suppose, Dan Lothian. That makes sense. All right, Dan, thank you so much for us at the White House.

Coming up, Conrad Murray's defense about to begin selling their part of the case, but will the jury in Los Angeles buy it? What's their defense? We're on the case. Sunny Hostin is back. She's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: After five days off, the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor resumes. Also, the latest on this new effort to identify the murder victims of John Wayne Gacy. And today Lindsay Lohan is in trouble again. Sunny Hostin is back with us on the case today. And Sunny, let's begin with the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray. We know that the trial has been on hold since last Thursday. Lawyers can study up on this new lab test. What came of that?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the lab test was a test conducted by the prosecution on Michael Jackson's stomach contents because the defense in this case is that Michael Jackson administered sort of the deadly cocktail that killed him, not only the Propofol but also a sedative called Lorazepam.

Now the prosecution after two years tested the stomach contents, Brooke, and guess what. They found, no, that there was not this sort of Lorazepam in his stomach so he could not have self-injected it. So certainly a big blow to the defense case because they opened their case on that. During opening statements they said Michael Jackson killed himself.

BALDWIN: Also Sunny, I want to ask you about the latest effort to identify I think it's the last eight unknown victims of John Wayne Gacy. And we talked about this last week, there were a couple people coming forward because they are extracting DNA from some of these bones. Do you know what kind of response they have gotten since then?

HOSTIN: It has been extraordinary, Brooke. We're talking about dozens of families coming forward. At last count 70 families have come forward with information about their missing loved ones. So certainly the sheriff's department is thrilled about this response because we know there are eight victims at this point exhumed, which we're showing now, last week, and they're trying to identify those eight victims. Perhaps there will be even more identifications. Perhaps there will be even more identifications. We know that he was a serial killer, so perhaps here are victims out there.

BALDWIN: Finally, Sunny Hostin, got to ask, a California judge revoking actress Lindsay Lohan's probation. What happened?

(LAUGHTER)

HOSTIN: Unreal. Yes, Judge Stephanie Sautner revoked once again Lindsay Lohan's probation for failing to really do her community service requirement. What's so interesting about this, Brooke, is she has like line legal lives. Time and time again she gets chances, 380 hours of community service at the downtown women's center was supposed to perform, also 120 hours at the morgue. She may be, apparently, did about two hours at the community service at the downtown women's center, saying that she just wasn't fulfilled by that work.

So of course, the judge really laid it into her today and said something that I often said when I was a prosecutor, which was probation is a gift, not a right. So she revoked her probation. There's going to be a hearing November 2 to see if Lindsay Lohan will go back to jail. Up to one year exposure at this point.

So we'll see. But she has so many nine lives, Brooke, I just don't know.

BALDWIN: Community service, it's a good thing for the community.

HOSTIN: It's a good thing. Come on, you know.

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, thank you so much, and welcome back, by the way.

Still to come, have you seen this, ladies and gentlemen? It's a whole new side of Barbie. She's got pink hair, tattoos. The question is, is this Barbie sending the wrong message to kids? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, so she's been in a body controversy in the past because of her really impossible figure. But now Barbie is in an online debate over a number of things, including body art. That's right. You can see the tats on her neck and arms. A lot of you are talking about it. It's trending today.

So Mattel has partnered with a Los Angeles based clothing and accessories company to create a collector's Barbie that comes with tattoos on her neck, shoulder, and chest. And she wears a hot pink miniskirt, leopard leggings, and sparkling silvery stilettos. And some parents say that this crosses the line, including Rachel Campos Duffy, who reached out. She's a popular mommy blogger who tells us, quote, "I really don't like this Barbie tattoo idea. It's not going to harm girls, but I am concerned in a general sense with the fact that corporations are transforming childhood and introducing kids to products, ideas, and styles that are not age-appropriate."

But the president of the company says that the Tokidoki Barbie was designed for an adult collector. The doll is limited in edition and only 7,400 units were created, sold in collectors stores. On the Tokidoki website this Barbie is $50 and not distributed in toy stores.

Let's ask mommy blogger Catherine Connors. Catherine, I understand you say, Tokidoki Barbie, no big deal.

CATHERINE CONNORS, AUTHOR, HERBADMOTHER.COM: I think Tokidoki Barbie is awesome, actually. I want it for myself. I think she's pretty cool.

BALDWIN: Why? Well, she presents an image from the traditional image that we usually see. For that reason alone, I think she's kind of interesting. As we just heard Tokidoki Barbie is presented as a collector's item so she's not being marketed to kids. But I would probably hard-pressed share her with my daughter which she would love her.

BALDWIN: That's the issue, Tokidoki Barbie is for adult collectors but they could pass it on to their kids, whatever. And I just want to read the rest of Rachel Campos Duffy's statement because I think this also really explains it. She says "Let's let girls be girls and not take the sweet and innocent out of childhood play." A lot of people would also agree, saying sweet and innocent and tattoos? Come on.

CONNORS: Yes, but, Barbie has never been age appropriate if we just go by what Barbie is. Barbie is an adult woman. Barbie's been a flight attendant, a doctor, Barbie's been many things. So if you want to go on, does Barbie reflect little girls? No, she never has.

But then arguably neither do Disney princesses. They are all adults, right? Little girls have always wanted to play with dolls that reflect adult life, that reflect what they are going to be when they become women. I don't think that there is anything wrong with that.

We can debate endlessly -- we can debate endlessly what is age appropriate and what sorts of outfits or styles might be suitable for young girls. But, really, young girls aren't universal. I have a little girl that likes baseball caps and skateboard shoes and stick-on tattoos, and I think that's awesome.

BALDWIN: Well, I guess ultimately the onus falls on mom and dad. Catherine Connors, thank you so much for popping on the show and talking about this. I really appreciate it.

Couple more minutes to go here. We always like to check in with Wolf Blitzer to see what he has going on in "THE SITUATION ROOM." He is back from Washington from being in Las Vegas for the big CNN GOP debate last night. We'll check in with Wolf after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: CNN's in depth coverage this week taking a closer look at a GOP frontrunner who has already beat the odds in one arena, cancer. Herman Cain survived stage four colon cancer that spread to his liver. The former Godfather's Pizza CEO talks about how winning his battle with cancer actually contributed to his decision to run for president. Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story. Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're learning more about Herman Cain's history of colon cancer. It was stage four, as you said, in the colon first but then had spread to his liver. Anytime you have spread like that, that makes colon cancer stage four.

We know he had four cycles of chemotherapy, and then he had surgery to remove the cancer both in his colon and in his liver. Then he had six more cycles of chemotherapy. It's important to point out, if you can surgically resect this type of cancer, your odds of survival overall in your favor go up significantly. Without treatment, this is a tough cancer to beat, usually in the single digits in terms of survival. But even with treatment sometimes the numbers can be from 35 to 65 percent.

In Herman Cain's case, he was able to have this tumor removed in both places. And he had this to say specifically about his treatment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I got my five-year check-up from my oncologist, cat scan, x-rays, the special blood tests you do if you're a cancer patient. And I got a clean bill of health, five year, totally cancer free, and that's after having a 30 percent chance of survival. That's an "aha" moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: So, the doctor says he is five years without any evidence of disease, cancer free in his body. It doesn't mean it's a cure necessarily. It means in his most recent scans, they didn't see evidence of the cancer, obviously a very good sign.

There's about 100,000 cases of colon cancer detected every year and those numbers are going up because more people are thinking about screening than before. They say around age 50 people should get screened or earlier perhaps if you have a family history if you are high risk for some reason. In Herman Cain's case, he had lower abdominal discomfort in 2006 and that's what prompted this whole thing. But again, his doctors are very optimistic about his recovery, saying he should do well and continue to monitor him. But at the five-year mark, a very important benchmark for Herman Cain. Back to you.

BALDWIN: Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much. Now, for a quick preview of what's coming up on "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf Blitzer is back inside the beltway. Wolf, how was your trip?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Vegas was great. It was a fabulous debate, as you probably saw. We're going to have full assessment coming up here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" over the next two hours, what happened. We'll get a democratic perspective, I should say an independent perspective, from a senator who caucuses with the Democrats, Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He's joining us. We'll assess what's going on among the Republicans, their proposals for jobs, the president's proposals for jobs.

And we'll also make the turn you've been covering all day here. What happened in Ohio with all these wild animals on the loose? Jack Hanna is going to join us live. We're going talk about what's going on. That's coming up in our next hour. So we got a lot of news here, around the world, and a lot more. To answer your question, Vegas was good.

BALDWIN: Vegas was good. Good deal, Wolf Blitzer. We'll see you in a couple of minutes. Thank you so much.

Coming up, question for you -- would you pay $10,000 worth for a picture with a certain someone? What if that certain someone lives in the White House? Joe Johns has the "Political Pop" next.

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BALDWIN: We here at CNN have been tracking all the new and we'll call it creative ways some of these politicians are raising money this election cycle. And here's the latest. How about a family fun fundraiser, and it's not cheap? Joe Johns has that. Joe, I know we're talking photographs, $10,000 a pop for who?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Right. Think about it. People complain how much it costs to take the family to an amusement park, Disney, say. You might have travel costs and you have to get hotel tickets. Tickets to the park aren't cheap. You've got to pay for food, drinks, and the picture with your favorite character.

But imagine if just the picture of the family outing is going to run you $10,000. Next week in Chicago, that's what the cost of the Obama for America is calling a family photo reception with Michelle Obama. And get this -- only six people are allowed in the photo. Seems kind of random, right? When you shell out $10,000, you would think the more, the merrier. Get a whole crowd. But those are the rules. I asked them why, haven't gotten back to me.

BALDWIN: OK, so, $10,000. And then you mentioned Chicago. The first lady's going to be there for what's being hailed as a food dessert summit. Huh?

JOHNS: That's what I thought, but actually, it's food desert.

BALDWIN: I'm sorry. Maybe I have brownies on the brown.

JOHNS: I thought the same think too. It's an underserved neighborhood where you can't find a good grocery store. Rahm Emanuel, the mayor is holding a conference on it. It looks like she's going to get a little something on the side for the campaign.

BALDWIN: I was going to say Michelle Obama with all her gardening and such, dessert.

JOHNS: No, of course.

BALDWIN: Meanwhile, we are also hearing the president not showing a lot of love for the Kardashians. Why are they even talking about the Kardashians?

JOHNS: Who knew? Keeping up with the Kardashians is getting the presidential seal of disapproval. I can't imagine why he wouldn't want Sasha and Malia staring at the Kardashian family baggage on TV all the time. Lots of baggage there is you ever watched the show.

Mrs. Obama said in an interview with i-Village that the president doesn't really like it much when his daughters watch the Kardashians. But she says she, Mrs. Obama, tends to work with the daughters to focus on the lessons they get out of watching the show.

BALDWIN: So, reading between the lines, are you telling me that "Keeping up with the Kardashians" is somewhere on a television in the White House occasionally?

JOHNS: That's what it sounds like, which is pretty amazing. If you've ever watched it.

BALDWIN: Maybe once or twice.

JOHNS: Not going there.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Finally, we have it on good authority, Joe Johns, that a California movie star who is considered as a possible vice presidential candidate, and we're not talking Arnold.

JOHNS: Yes. Think about it, it's kind of logical. Clint Eastwood. This is a story told in an oral history symposium at the University of Virginia by none other than James Baker, former secretary of state, held a bunch of other jobs.

He says the campaign of President George H.W. Bush, Bush 41, gave serious consideration to asking Eastwood to be his running mate. Baker says they were pretty desperate because Bush at the time, was far down in the polls against Michael Dukakis.

So somebody throws out the name of Clint Eastwood, and Baker says, yes, I got shot down pretty quickly. Eastwood of course Dirty Harry among other movies. But people forget Eastwood was the mayor of Carmel, California.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much.

That will do it for me. Now to Wolf Blitzer. You're "SITUATION ROOM" starts right now.