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Jury Deliberates in Conrad Murray Trial; Herman Cain's Accuser's Attorney: Decision on Statement Close; The Unemployable Generation; "Roll Call:" Congress' Rich Now Richer; Rumblings from Jerusalem; Rhino Rescue; Reports: Israel Mulling Attack on Iran; Restoring the Dream: Fixing Education in America
Aired November 04, 2011 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Randi, you have a wonderful weekend as well.
Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Let's go. Let's get you caught up on everything making news this hour. We call it "Rapid Fire."
We're going to begin with this. Check the clocks here. We are just about two-and-a-half hours into jury deliberations in that involuntary manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor.
Conrad Murray's freedom, his career, on the line right now, all over this decisions as to whether or not he gave the pop star that fatal dose of the anesthetic Propofol. Prosecutors say Murray is to blame for Jackson's death. The defense, meantime, calling Murray the victim.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID WALGREN, PROSECUTOR: Michael Jackson is dead. And we have to hear about poor Conrad Murray.
ED CHERNOFF, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He was just a little fish in a big, dirty pond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Murray could face anywhere from probation to four years in prison if convicted.
Right now let's take a look at the Big Board on Wall Street. Let me look with you.
The Dow, it is down here. I haven't seen a down day like this, this hour, in a couple of days. Down 73 points, in the red. Affecting those numbers today, you had the monthly jobs report out this morning, the unemployment rate, and, of course, Greece's debt.
The country added 80,000 jobs in the month of October. Economists were hoping for at least 90,000. A tiny bit of good news here, the unemployment rate did dip just a smidgen, to 9 percent last month. Each of us will play their part, that is the word from all the countries participating in the G-20, which wraps up today in France. Leaders agree to an action plan to boost the world's economies and to stabilize the global financial system, but the Greek bailout, top priority there, has to be done quickly.
Here is President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Events in Greece over the past 24 hours have underscored the importance of implementing the plan, fully and as quick as possible. Having heard from our European partners over the last two days, I am confident that Europe has the capacity to meet this challenge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Want to take you now from France to California, and Oakland. Tempers flared inside the city council meeting where Occupy Oakland supporters, also their opponents, came face to face in the same room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're all under citizens arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I'm going to ask -- so --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We (ph) find you guilty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will ask the police to escort you out of here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Wow. The Occupy Oakland supporters are asking city council to embrace their right to assemble and to ensure their safety. After a five-hour meeting, council members said they needed a little bit more time to think about it.
Brand-new video of survivors of this coal mine explosion in China. This is video. This is the hospital of some of the 14 rescued miners. At least four others died in that explosion. Workers are still trying to get 57 others trapped underground. The explosion happened after a small earthquake hit that area.
And this next story, this is pretty much straight out of a horror movie. Listen to this.
Dozens of mummified women are found in this man's apartment in Russia. According to the BBC, this man is a local historian. He reportedly not only kept these bodies in his home, he dressed some of them up as dolls, and one reportedly as a teddy bear.
Remember these pictures from yesterday? This is the tail end of our show. Two workers, they were, thank goodness, successfully lifted out of this hydraulic lift. It was stuck 122 feet off the ground in New Jersey.
Apparently, they were way up there, trying to find some pigeonholes on this church bell tower, and when they got stuck, fire department ladders couldn't reach them. State police helicopter, couldn't get to them. Finally, a crane company had to swoop in with their equipment high enough to send firefighters up there to their rescue.
Former New Jersey governor Jon Corzine has resigned as president of MF Global. Corzine has also hired a criminal defense attorney who has repped clients for several troubled financial institutions. MF Global filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this week.
And finally, some good news for those JetBlue passengers stuck on the tarmac in Connecticut for as many as eight hours just this past weekend. An airline spokeswoman says full refunds are being sent out. Passengers will also receive a free round-trip voucher.
Remember, the severe snowstorm, it actually grounded five different JetBlue planes, at least one flight here, the one we're talking about. They didn't have food, very little water. The toilets stopped working.
Passengers, they were fighting. Apparently, some even had medical issues there. Eight hours on the tarmac.
The woman claiming Justin Bieber fathered her child in a new paternity suit may have to face the judge herself if there actually was a backstage rendezvous last year. Keep in mind, she is currently 20, he is 17. You do the math. That would have been barely legal.
Listen to what her attorney told HLN's Dr. Drew Pinsky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT PAGE, ATTORNEY FOR MARIAH YEATER: Even if she is guilty of statutory rape, that has no bearing whatsoever on the right for child support. Under California law, if the difference in age is less than three years between the two people, then it's only a misdemeanor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Did I say barely legal? I meant barely not -- not legal at all.
Also, Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has just taken the stage in Washington, D.C., at the Defend the American Dream summit. We're going to keep an eye on his appearance. We'll tell if you he addresses the firestorm around him.
And our own Gloria Borger is going to join me with more on that in just a couple of minutes here on CNN.
Meantime, we have a lot more to cover for you in the course of the next two hours. Stay right here.
Here is a look at what's coming up. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: It's a growing drumbeat in Israel. One politician is calling all the speculation a crazy free-for-all. Are leaders there considering an attack on Iran's nukes?
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
EHUD BARAK, FMR. ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I don't think that we are in a stage of discussing any kind of military action.
BALDWIN: So why is this simmering right now, and what's at stake?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have said many times in the last weeks and months that we do not seek a military confrontation with Iran.
BALDWIN: Then, it's hard for some Americans to forget this day in history when Iranians invaded the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. Now the owner of a Texas barbecue joint says he won't take down this poster that symbolizes that era.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If this was any other race, this would be a very, very huge deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my choice to have it up. It's your choice where you want to go.
BALDWIN: Cowboys and Iranians. Is this OK in 2011?
And a generation on the verge of being unemployable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so hard to find a job.
BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow tells us what today's jobs numbers mean for your kids' prospects.
And a paternity suit against this teen heartthrob may backfire on the woman who filed it.
The news starts now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Jurors are well into hour number three now deliberating the involuntary manslaughter charges against Michael Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray.
Ted Rowlands, once again outside that L.A. courthouse for us.
And Ted, got to ask, any word at all from the jury room?
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, actually. We just got word that they have asked for some evidence. And Deputy Jones, the bailiff, took a boxful of evidence back to the jury room. So we know this, they didn't go in there, take a vote, and come to a decision. They are actually deliberating and going through the evidence.
We don't know what they're going through, but that's the latest from the jury room.
BALDWIN: I see all the tents set up behind you. I can only imagine the media circus there in L.A.
Can you just set the scene for me at the courthouse? I know there was chanting earlier today.
ROWLANDS: Yes. The circus is back in town, that's for sure.
You have -- the media is camped out not only across the Street, but on this side of the Street as well, right in front of the courthouse. And then you have the handful of folks that have been out here every day. And there's another handful of folks, a good 40, 50 people, up on the ninth floor that have been camped out, really, for the last couple of weeks.
Most of them, 90 percent of them, Jackson supporters. But there are some Murray supporters as well. So every half hour or so they fight amongst each other and chant back and forth, "Guilty!" "Not Guilty!"
BALDWIN: So these are the people outside. Let's talk again though about the members of the jury. Just want to learn a little bit more about the individual jurors.
It's seven women, five men. Correct?
ROWLANDS: Yes. And there's a different makeup in terms of occupation. You have a bus driver. You have a lot of professionals.
Interesting, there are several managers as well, people that oversee folks at their work. There's a person that has a biology background. So, a real good mix on this jury.
And when you watch them throughout the trial, they seem like a group that has not only taken this very seriously, but they were taking a lot of notes.
BALDWIN: I think I hear the audio of people chanting now over your shoulder. I wasn't sure with the video, so I guess that's begun again.
I do want to show -- Ted, let's show this clip from yesterday's closing arguments. We're going to see Conrad Murray's attorney, Ed Chernoff.
We'll watch. We'll talk about this on the other side. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: This is not a reality show. It's reality. And decisions you make isn't making good TV, it's how it affects real human beings and people that love them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Inside that courtroom, Ted, did jurors at all react to that speech, reality versus reality show, reality TV?
ROWLANDS: You know, actually, they did a very good job during both of the closings of masking their emotions and not make anything reaction. They were dialed in and taking notice of what the attorneys were saying, but there was no visible reaction.
They did a very good job. They knew that all eyes were on them, and partly because the attorneys during the close were right up against the jury box, so the entire courtroom was looking at the jurors the whole time, and they knew it.
BALDWIN: All right, Ted. Obviously, if any more news comes back with regard to the jury today, we'll have you back in front of the camera, bring you back up live.
Ted Rowlands for us in L.A.
Ted, thank you.
Meantime, new developments today in the Herman Cain sexual harassment allegation case. Today is the day we could hear from one of those accusers. This comes as fellow Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry refuses to apologize.
We'll get you those details in two minutes.
Plus, did you realize that in the last two years, the net worth of Congress has gone up nearly 25 percent? Twenty-five percent. We're going to break down the numbers for you, straight ahead.
And you have to se this, amazing images. Folks, this is a rhino. This is a rhino rescue.
What is going on here? Got to stick around to find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Let's bring up some live picture.
This is Herman Cain, speaking right now in Washington, D.C. This is the Defending the American Dream summit. Actually speaking at the same event is fellow front-runner Mitt Romney.
This is an event, as I mentioned, in Washington, sponsored by Americans for Prosperity Foundation. We are keeping an eye on this.
We're also keeping our eye on some new poll numbers. They show Herman Cain in a dead heat with Mitt Romney. Take a look at these with me.
Twenty-four percent, 23 percent. This is the poll. This is from ABC/"Washington Post." This is the first poll since the sexual harassment allegations against Cain surfaced.
Both Cain and Romney, as I mentioned, are addressing conservatives today at the Defending the American Dream summit in Washington.
But I want to bring in, as we have been the last couple of days -- she's been all over this story -- Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger.
Gloria, we're going to crunch those poll numbers in just a moment. But I understand you have a new development here to report.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, we do.
BALDWIN: So, the floor is yours.
BORGER: We do. We've just -- CNN has just gotten off the phone with Joel Bennett, the attorney for one of Herman Cain's accusers, and he tell us that he is confident that he is close to an agreement with the National Restaurant Association, that they are working cooperatively and pleasantly, in a mutually satisfactory way, to release some kind of statement from Herman Cain's accuser. He would not tell us the details, but again, the lead here is that the attorney believes that they are close to an agreement with the restaurant association.
We have contacted the restaurant association, and they confirmed that they are moving along. But what this means is that perhaps some time today, later today, we will get a statement from the attorney on behalf of his client which, in a general way, asserts what is he says will tell us, "what she did and why she did it."
I don't think we are going to get a lot of the details of what occurred or did not occur, but I think this is her way of saying to Herman Cain, yes, something did occur. So, again, they are making progress towards releasing something, which would mean that they would, in one form or another, be releasing her from confidentiality.
BALDWIN: OK. Right. That's the crux of the issue, and that's why they're having to speak with the National Restaurant Association, because of this confidentiality agreement signed back in '99.
BORGER: Exactly.
BALDWIN: Back to the poll numbers, because we can always go back to that later.
BORGER: Yes.
BALDWIN: But they're not quite as good for Cain as we saw earlier in the week from the Quinnipiac University poll. Still, obviously not too bad.
Gloria Borger, are you surprised by that? I mean, still, he's sitting there with 23 percent. as we mentioned, this was done after all of this -- the news surfaced this week. And also, sort of secondarily, will Cain be able to deflect, will he be able to change the focus here?
BORGER: Well, I think we have seen him already try and do it. First, he tried to change the focus to this question of sexual harassment to a question of political dirty tricks. That was the story yesterday, when he accused somebody in the Perry campaign of leaking the story. And now the campaign is kind of lashing out at the media, which is always convenient to do, and in some cases warranted, but he is lashing out at the media and saying, you know, this is a media creation, and he wants to get back to talking about the issues.
So I'm not surprised that he remains up there. I think if this story drags on, and if more details do come out over the next days, that I think it will have some impact.
The important thing to look at is whether it's going to have an impact not so much nationally among Republican, but whether it's going to have an impact in those early primary states like Iowa. And my colleague John King has been out in Iowa, and so far, at least, the people who are organizing for Herman Cain out there are saying, you know what? It's not affecting them. And the national campaign is also saying they are continuing to raise a lot of money off of this.
So, so far, they are kind of holding steady.
BALDWIN: What about though just Americans overall? People are following this. How is this sitting with them?
BORGER: Well, people are following this, but honestly, they are not the ones who are important in the presidential primary.
BALDWIN: They are the ones voting -- correct, for the primary.
BORGER: The ones who are important are the ones who have an impact on who the Republican nominee is going to be. So that's Iowa and that's New Hampshire and that's South Carolina.
So we have to look at the early states, and we have to see whether we see some erosion in Herman Cain's numbers and who that goes to. Does it go to Newt Gingrich, who has had a little boomlet there? Does it go to Rick Perry?
So it's a little too early to tell.
BALDWIN: It's a waiting game. It's a waiting game thus far.
BORGER: On everything.
BALDWIN: And we'll continue to wait to see if we see that statement coming down from his client.
BORGER: It's moving in a direction. I think we'll get something.
BALDWIN: I know you will get it, Gloria Borger. And we thank you so much for popping back on the show once again today.
BORGER: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much. Meantime, we have some pretty incredible pictures I want to pass along to you. This is really from across the country.
We'll seen these images from the Occupy Wall Street protests. One of the driving forces behind the protest, the lack of jobs in this country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so hard to find a job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A job that actually pays, darned near impossible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people just don't have much of a future to look forward to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Oh, boy.
Well, guess what? It's even worse if you're young in this country. We're going to dig a little deeper into what Poppy Harlow is calling the unemployable generation.
That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: With Occupy Wall Street protests now moving into their eighth week, and frustrations mounting, we are seeing more arrests. Sixty-four Occupy protesters arrested in New York alone, showing up for court yesterday. They are charged with nonviolent offenses.
And now more protesters are talking about what's fueling these demonstrations. Some are young people, they are out of work, they are uncertain about their own future, as they see themselves as the unemployable generation.
Poppy Harlow goes "In Depth." She talks with them about their dashed hopes of finding a job, getting ahead, and ultimately living the American dream.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRANDON COBLE, 22 YEARS OLD: They want people with experience. And, of course, you know, being as young as we are, there's no way we can have experience.
KARA DEMETROPOULIS, 20 YEARS OLD: That's a lot of the issues that a lot of my friends are facing back home. It's just -- it's so hard to find a job.
ANGELIQUE RICHARDS, 18 YEARS OLD: I've interned a lot. It's never been an issue of finding an internship. But a job that actually pays? Nearly impossible.
PETER VAUPOTIC, 22 YEARS OLD: It's just harder and harder, and you make less and less. And I think people just don't have much of the future to look forward to.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): A future to look forward to -- it's the promise of the American Dream. But in this sluggish economy, America's youth may be starting to lose hope. Unemployment among 16-to-24-year-olds has been higher in the last three years than during any time on record.
This year, over 17 percent of America's youth are jobless. Even 2010, college graduates faced a record 9.1 percent unemployment when they finished school. But for those youth with only a high school diploma, unemployment is more than twice as high.
(on camera): It's part of what's driving this movement -- the lack of a job for young people. It gives them a reason and a time to occupy cities across the globe.
(voice-over): It's not just an American problem. The world's largest developed economy cans have all seen sharp increases in youth unemployment since 2007. Except for Germany.
If you look at the most troubled European nations, the numbers are staggering. In 2010, unemployment for 16-to-24-year-olds in Italy was 28 percent, 33 percent in Greece, and over 41 percent in Spain.
But back here at home, 16-to-24-year-olds make up 26 percent of the unemployed.
What does it all mean? Studies show that being unemployed at a young age means several years of lower earnings and an increased likelihood of unemployment in the future.
DEMETROPOULIS: The last two times that I acquired jobs, it took two months of straight job searching.
RICHARDS: And I just showed up and I started working. And one day after the show, my boss just said, you know, take the staff (ph), you're a part of the team now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Wow. Poppy Harlow, you know, and you're -- you know, in one sense, you talk about some of these young people who, you know, have been to college and they can't get work yet. Right? And then I can't even imagine how tough it is for people to who don't have that college degree and are trying to find a job.
HARLOW: It's a very good point. A critical one, right? Because we look at how much college costs, and I think a lot of young folks these days are questioning whether or not it's worth it.
BALDWIN: Yes. HARLOW: Yes, the unemployment rate right now for people out of college is over 8 percent. But if you don't have a college degree, it's double that. And if you don't have a high school degree, Brooke, the jobs numbers this morning showed us that you're going to have an unemployment rate over 23 percent. So that's right near depression levels.
So, it is important still to have some sort of degree. It doesn't need to be a college degree. It can be a professional degree of some sort, some skilled labor degree, but a degree does help.
I think the overall numbers are so troubling. One economist put it to me best. She said, "It's a selling short of this generation." She said, "The longer you're unemployed, the harder it is to find work." That's a fact.
You can't argue with that, and especially when you have so many people, 14 million Americans, looking for work. Employers just like you heard from those kids at Occupy Wall Street, they're going to say to these younger folks, well, you don't have the experience, so I'm going to take someone who is older, who has more experience, and give them that job.
The way that the economists put it to me is it's an absolute disaster. And it's something we don't always look at in the jobs report, but it's very, very important, because this is America's future. And so many young people in this country, over 17 percent of the youth, are not working.
And I have to point out, Brooke, some people would say, well, aren't they in college or in school? No, these numbers take out anyone that's in school. They only look at people that are trying to be a part of the labor force and are looking for work.
BALDWIN: Actively seeking work.
HARLOW: So it's a very accurate reading of the youth population in this country, yes.
BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow, thanks for the reality check for all of us. Thank you so much there in New York.
HARLOW: You got it.
BALDWIN: Congress, considerably more wealthy today than they were, say, two years ago. And when I say "considerably," I'm talking 25 percent more. Think about how much of a raise you've earned, if you've gotten a raise, right, in the last two years.
Now remember, these are the men and women who handle the regulations for corporations in this country. They're the ones with also charged with trimming the fat. So, within Congress, who is worth the most, money-wise?
Care to guess? Send me a tweet, @BrookeBCNN. We're going to talk to "Roll Call," a Capitol Hill paper. They crunch the numbers. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: I know you've heard the saying, the rich get richer. Well, perhaps nowhere in America is that better illustrated than the U.S. Congress.
Just look at this analysis from Capitol Hill newspaper "Roll Call." Take a look with me. So the net worth of all members of Congress rose an astounding 25 percent just over the past couple of years. They look from 2008 to 2010.
So, in '08, lawmakers had a combined net worth of $1.65 billion. Fast forward two years that figure surpassed the $2 billion mark. "Roll Call" also found that 40 percent of Congress, that's 219 members, they are millionaires. That is an average net worth of $3.8 million per lawmaker.
So by any measure, most members of Congress are far wealthier than, say, your typical Americans. Let's bring in the guy who helped crunch some of these numbers, "Roll Call's" investigative editor, Paul Singer.
Paul, nice to have you on. Obviously, we all read your article. And I just first have to ask, how did you get the numbers? How did "Roll Call" crunch these numbers and also according to your article, the numbers are underestimate, correct?
PAUL SINGER, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "ROLL CALL": That's right, Brooke. These numbers are, we believe, significantly understated. We take the numbers directly from the financial disclosure forms that members of Congress are required to produce every year.
We basically just run through them all and add them up. It is a tedious process. But all of those forms use ranges of categories. So, somebody worth between $1 million and 5 million, we can only count them as being worth $1 million, even if it is worth $4 million.
And there's a bunch of stuff they leave off the forms entirely this doesn't include their homes, for instance.
BALDWIN: OK, so, but we will go with the numbers that you have, the official numbers and --
SINGER: They are the best we can get.
BALDWIN: The best you can get. And I do have to ask also, you know, these particular members of Congress, were they affluent before they held office?
SINGER: Many of them were of a fluent before they held office. You know, both parties have been recruiting wealthy people to run for office because, as you probably know, running a congressional campaign is wildly expensive.
BALDWIN: Not cheap. SINGER: You have to raise millions of dollars. Well, it is better than if you are rich because then you can raise millions of dollars easily.
BALDWIN: So then do they become richer once they are in office?
SINGER: Well, they do become richer once they are in office. You will see a trend line upwards, as you saw from that graphic. Overall, congressional wealth is up 25 percent.
The question is whether there is any connection between their congressional work and their sort of improved financial status. We have never been able to prove that any individual member of Congress has done something to enrich themselves, but they sure get richer while in office.
BALDWIN: Be more specific, Paul, what are you talking about?
SINGER: Well, like I said, we have never been able to prove that any member of Congress took a vote that helped them get richer.
BALDWIN: Right.
SINGER: But what we do see is that they do get richer and you know, they vote on stuff all the time that relates to some of their investments. There is no rule against that. We can't really prove that anybody is cheating to make themselves rich.
BALDWIN: Here's where I'm curious, because, you know, we have been covering a lot about "Occupy Wall Street," right? These protests and you know, saying that they are the 99 percent. That, you know, America's wealth is really concentrating on this elite few. I'm just curious what kind of feedback you have gotten from your readers from this article.
SINGER: Well, you know, a lot of people were upset by our finding that Congress is up to $2 billion. Interestingly what we found also is that the richest members of Congress made up like 90 percent of the increase in wealth in Congress.
Which means is that not only is Congress richer than everybody else in America, but the richest 1 percent, basically, on the richest 10 percent in Congress make up almost all the wealth in Congress. Overwhelming percentage of wealth in Congress is concentrated in the top richest few.
That has gotten a lot feedback from people. They're saying, well, basically it just replicates what's going on the rest of the culture, the very richest control most of the wealth.
BALDWIN: Let's talk about that because you do name names in this piece. Who is the richest in Congress?
SINGER: The richest members of Congress, at the moment, is a guy named Mike McCall. He is a Republican out of Texas. His wealth has shot up over the past four or five years. Largely because he is inheriting significant chunks of his father-in- law's fortune in the Clear Channel Communications Company, but again, this is the minimum. He is worth at least $294 million. That is a minimum.
BALDWIN: But then on the flip side, juxtaposition, if you look at the graphic, I don't know if you have a TV in front of you, juxtaposing that with a guy who's I guess negative $2.1 million --
SINGER: Yes, Alcee Hastings carries on his disclosure form, he report that he's about $2 million worth of legal fees from 20-year-old legal case. That counts against -- wipes out all of his assets, he is worth basically negative $2 million.
BALDWIN: Well, Paul Singer, we appreciate you all crunching the numbers over at "Roll Call" and sharing some of your findings with us here on CNN. Appreciate it. Come back.
SINGER: Thanks for having us on, Brooke. I really appreciate it.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much. The battle between Israel and Iran hit a new level today. Israel's prime minister again considering an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
President Obama even weighing in, saying he was not going to lighten up on Iran. All of this has to do with Iran's nuclear program. We are going to go live to the Pentagon, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We have got a story tilting in the Middle East. We really just wanted to jump on this one today. The Israeli press now is rife with speculation of a possible strike by Israel against Iran against specifically Iran's nuclear program.
Now, we have heard this before, have we not? But this time around, in the words of one reporter, the smoke seems thicker than usual. OK, here is where it started. It started with this report out of Jerusalem.
That said, Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barack, has teamed up with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to persuade the Israeli cabinet to approve this attack on Iran.
Then came reports Israeli Air Force training exercises in and around the Mediterranean. So we went straight to the horse's mouth last night, Ehud Barack, the Israeli defense minister. Here is what he told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EHUD BARACK, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: I don't think that it is a subject for discussion in the open cabinet in front of the cameras. It's a kind of a public debate probably here in the United States, in Israel and duly so because a nuclear Iran could become a major challenge to any conceivable regional as well as world order. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Want to go straight to the Pentagon to Barbara Starr. And Barbara, are there any rumblings there at the Pentagon? Are they following these reports concerning Israel and Iran?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely, Brooke. They watch this kind of thing really around the clock all the time. Iran remains a top concern. Its nuclear program remains top concern.
It is a real target for the reconnaissance, the watching, full, by both the U.S. military and the U.S. intelligence community all the time.
And of course they watch Israel because they want to know if Israel is making any military movements to try and strike Iran. Right now, you know, no one wants to see a third war suddenly break out.
They are wrapping up Iraq. Nobody wants to add one to the table. It would be an economic disaster in the region, a disaster for oil shipping out of the Middle East, all of it.
So, no one wants to see this happen. The U.S. clearly reaching out to the Israelis all the time, talking to them, talking to them about their intentions and keeping a very are close eye on Iran.
Next week, we expect to see that report from the International Atomic Energy Agency about Iran's nuclear program and could wind up being a real marker as for what comes next.
BALDWIN: Well, let me get to just a little bit more as far as what we know. We know over the past week, we have heard of a big Israeli Air Force exercise at a NATO base in Italy.
Also, an Israeli test of a long-range missile. Do we know, Barbara, the Xs and Os of how an Israeli attack might happen, should it happen?
STARR: Well, look, military attacks only happen so many ways, don't they? So let's talk about it. Clearly, if there was, and no indication we haven't, an attack against Iran's nuclear program it would come from the air, two ways.
It could be ballistic missiles, essentially ground-to-ground missiles launched out of Israel. Those are the advantage of not being manned aircraft. They can go through that airspace and land on their targets. But still, they are going to go.
Look at the map. They are going to have to go through airspace to which they would not be granted permission. Manned aircraft, the Israeli military likes the manned aircraft option, they have always liked that very risky.
You are putting Israeli pilots into essentially enemy airspace territory. They would have to refuel. That is something that would be seen by radars. And Iranian air defenses, Iranian radars, Iranian anti-air missile batteries, all of that is top-notch stuff and would pose a threat to any aircraft trying to enter that airspace.
That's what makes this so tough, what makes it something nobody really wants to see, Brooke.
BALDWIN: But Barbara, you mentioned Iraq, and I know a lot of ears perk when we talk about Iraq, right? Because we know that Iran is already saying that if Israelis attacked, Iran would retaliate against the U.S.
We have, as you well know, tens of thousands of troops pulling out of Iraq right now, might they be especially vulnerable to attack by Iran?
STARR: Well, this is one of the reasons the Pentagon is so concerned about all of this. You have got those troops still trying to get out of Iraq, making their way by air or out through Kuwait, so that is one potential retaliatory target.
You have the U.S. Navy shipping up and down the Persian Gulf. You have U.S. naval bases in Bahrain. You have a U.S. military headquarters in Qatar. All of this up and down the Persian Gulf and that whole region is an economic lifeline.
I mean, we know so much of the oil shipping comes in and out of there warships secure that shipping all the time if something was to break out, some hostilities were to break out, it is that one -- that economic impact on oil shipping and commerce around the world would be felt and deep concern that U.S. military installations in the region and U.S. troops could be at risk -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, thank you.
Fareed Zakaria, he is ahead. Co-incidentally, he just returned from a trip to Iran. I want to ask him to weigh in on this and get obviously to his education special this had upcoming weekend.
Also, have you seen these pictures? That's rhino about to be blindfolded. Here he is, upside down, being rescued. We are going to tell you the story behind these photographs. Look at this. Next.
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BALDWIN: How do you move a two-ton rhino? I will show you pictures from a group who did precisely that. I got to be honest. When I first saw this image, I kind of might have yelled out fake. It is not a fake picture, folks.
This is one of 19 endangered black rhinos. They were air lifted to a new conservation site in South Africa. This is all part of an effort to protect them from poaching and also to increase their population.
So the lift was organized by these conservationists at the World Wildlife Fund, which provided these pictures to us. Thank you WWF. Though the rhinos were sedated, they were blindfolded and hoisted up in the air by their ankles to this military helicopter.
After -- look at that image, after this ten-minute helicopter ride, doctors awoke the rhinos. I don't know exactly how that went down, but despite the upside down flight.
Apparently, the animals didn't feel a thing. Pretty incredible so welcome them to their new homes there in South Africa. Amazing story.
Time now to head back to Washington for your America's choice 2012 update. Let's go to Wolf Blitzer with the latest news. And Wolf, I know we talk a lot about Herman Cain this week. Can you just tell me what else is going on in politics, please?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, Mitt Romney is going on Herman Cain may be a frontrunner, but Mitt Romney certainly another frontrunner in the Republican race for the presidential nomination.
Mitt Romney going out today, delivering his major economic address, outlining all sorts of proposals, he previewed that with an op-ed in "USA Today," the newspaper. The Democrats are wasting no time, Brooke, in going after Mitt Romney.
They are saying his ideas, to put it in a nutshell are not very good. One of the ads that the Democrats they are putting out already, protecting $40 billion in subsidies for big oil, $700 billion in tax breaks for the wealthy, nearly $1 trillion to corporate America.
What will middle class families get in Romney's tax plan? This is the question the Democrats ask, 54 bucks, barely enough for a tank of gas. So, for all practical purposes, we have discussed this before, Brooke.
The Democrats, whether the Obama campaign, whether other Democrats, independent super pac, they basically are assuming right now that Mitt Romney is going to get that Republican nomination. They are giving all their attention going after Romney.
You don't see them spending a lot of time on web ads or other activities on any of the other Republican presidential candidates. By the way, in this new poll that just came out today.
Hypothetical matchup between President Obama and Mitt Romney, it's almost dead even. Look at this, we'll put it up on the screen right now, if the election were held right now.
BALDWIN: Wow.
BLITZER: Obama 47 percent, Romney, 47 percent. That's in the "USA Today" as well. That poll. You know who else is doing really well in some of these recent polls? He is really improving the status right now, Newt Gingrich. You're right, the former speaker of the House.
He's coming across sort of like the steady elder statesman in this latest national poll among Republicans. Romney and Cain, they're basically tied, statistically tied at 24 percent, 23 percent. Perry is at 13. But look at Gingrich, he is at 12 percent, a pretty impressive rise for Gingrich because he was only in the low single digits not that long ago. So Gingrich is doing really well.
And we will see if that continues to move in an upward direction. We are going to be all over this, as you well know, Brooke, in "THE SITUATION ROOM," which starts right after you at 4 p.m. Eastern.
BALDWIN: Of course, I know this, Wolf Blitzer. Thank you so much. Chat with you next hour as well. See you then.
Meantime, new developments in the case of a Texas judge that father caught on camera beating his daughter with a leather belt over and over. We have now learned whether or not he will be charged and his daughter also sat down with us here at CNN.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bruises were the worst I had ever had. I had had other lashings like that, but this one produced the most bruising. And the next day, it was all up and down legs and he also hit my arms when he couldn't get my legs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We're going to play a little bit more of that sound, hear more from her.
Also, three days in a row, I get talk to Fareed Zakaria. We're going to talk, of course, education, his upcoming education special this weekend.
But co-incidentally, Fareed has just returned from a trip to Iran. So I also want to get Fareed's take on these reports out of Israel that they could be planning this attack on Iranian nukes. Those two topics, next with Fareed. Stay here.
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BALDWIN: Joining me now from New York, three whole days in a row, Fareed Zakaria. Normally, we get to see him Sunday morning. I get him every day for three days, host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
Obviously, Fareed, you're here to talk, you know, education, upcoming special discussion on schools. But since I have you in that seat, I would have to ask you.
I would be remiss not to about Israel and Iran and I'm just curious what do you make out of these reports. The report out of Israel that suggest possible planning of this attack on Iran?
FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, CNN'S "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": It's Israeli media speculating. So, one can't know how seriously to take it. I would hope that they would think very carefully before doing this number one, it seems very unlikely that we they would get the whole program. These are hardened sites dispersed very carefully. These are hardened sites with the knowledge that there would be air strikes placed against them, in places like mountains, near population centers, make it very difficult to do or have a huge amount of civilian casualty. Secondly --
BALDWIN: Go ahead.
ZAKARIA: Secondly, this would be a gift to the regime. This would be a gift to the regime because they are divided. They are fractured, in the midst of this, all you need is an Israeli attack to unify the regime.
Finally, Iran has the ability to retaliate against Israel and the United States in so many different ways against our forces in Iran -- in Iraq, our forces in Afghanistan, using Hezbollah in Lebanon.
So all in all there is a huge cost here and it is not clear what the benefit is. As Secretary Gates once said it seems as though we could probably delay the program by two to three years with an air strike. Is that delay worth the cost and the price that we'd all have to pay?
BALDWIN: Yes. Talking to Barbara Starr, certainly a lot of rumblings at the Pentagon and a lot of concerns about our men and women in Iraq still, tens of thousands.
But let's talk education, Fareed Zakaria, you have this special coming up, calling it "Restoring the American Dream, Fixing Education." You mentioned this guy yesterday, I will pick it up with this here.
You mentioned Sal Khan. Sal Khan produces these really cool education videos, but really not just cool. It is also effective because Sal Khan says we are pushing students ahead from A to B before they fully get to A.
Let's listen to him. He uses learning to ride a bike as a metaphor. Here he is.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I give you a bicycle, maybe I give you a lecture ahead of time and I give that you bicycle for two weeks. And I come back after two weeks and I say, well, let's see. You are having trouble taking left turns. You can't quite stop.
You are an 80 percent bicyclist so I put a big C stamp on your forehead and I say, here's a unicycle, but, as ridiculous that is sounds that is exactly what is happening in our classrooms right now.
Learn math the way you would learn anything, like the way you would learn a bicycle. Stay on that bicycle, fall off that bicycle, do it as long as necessary until you have mastered --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So he is essentially saying that kids can learn at home via video and then you go to class to bolster what they are learning on their own to? Do you think that's practical though?
ZAKARIA: It is more than practical. It is actually revolutionary, because what's doing is he is using technology to produce the kind of education every child should get, which is a personalized education.
What he is really saying is you know, if you were a really rich kid and you had a private tutor that tutor would sit with you and ask if you understood algebra before taking you to the next level.
Well, the beauty of these kind of video modules and tests online is that the course online can figure out, because, of course, you have got to get ten questions right before you can move on, whether you have really understood the material.
If you haven't, it will tell you, no, no, no, watch that video again and try and it take this test again it some ten questions, but until you get it right, don't move ahead. The biggest problem in math is that people don't fundamentally understand the concepts.
The other thing he does, as you mentioned, he says, do the passive learning, getting education at home, use the classroom to spend time with the teacher? How many of us can remember, sit in a math class and the teacher would lecture.
And you sit and take notes and you go home and do you the hard stuff, which was the problems so it's really a kind of revolutionary way of looking at - at reinventing education particularly math and science using technology. It is a wonderfully American idea because it is sort of really -- it is innovation just applied to education.
BALDWIN: Gosh, I took calculus in high school. I don't know if I could have taught myself antiderivatives. This must be pretty good videos. But I know this is a sliver of hope in your upcoming documentary.
Fareed Zakaria, I can't wait to watch it. Thank you so much for spending time with us here the last couple of days.
Don't forget to watch Sunday night, 8:00 Eastern, "Restoring the American Dream: Fixing Education." Do not miss it.
Fareed, many thanks.
