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Joe Paterno Fired; Air Force Admits to Dumping Cremated Remains of Soldiers in Landfills; Nixon Grand Jury Testimony Released to Public; Rick Perry Makes Gaffe in GOP Debate

Aired November 10, 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: All right, welcome back, hour two here. Live from Washington, D.C., I'm Brooke Baldwin.

First up, the president of Penn State and head football coach Joe Paterno out. Also today, armed kidnappers grab a national baseball player. Plus, investors are still on edge and intense weather battering Alaska.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette" here.

And, Jason Carroll, I want to begin with you in Pennsylvania on the sudden firing of coaching legend Joe Paterno. Set the mood for me today on campus.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, things are much calmer out here today, stark contrast to what was -- what it was like out here last night.

You know, many students, thousands piling into the streets after the announcement was made that Paterno was out. They tipped over news vans, directing much of their energy at the media simply because they feel as though, Brooke, too much attention has been focused on Paterno and not enough attention focused on Jerry Sandusky, the man at the heart of this sexual abuse scandal that has rocked Penn State -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, Jason, do we have some sound? I know you talked to, who was it, the president of the student body?

CARROLL: Yes, president of student body in terms of what he was saying, things much better out here today. He was saying that they wanted to put more attention on the victims. And in fact, that's what Paterno said.

Last night, right after the announcement was made, cameras were at his house. He came out with his wife. He was very emotional and he spoke to the students about his thoughts. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE PATERNO, FORMER PENN STATE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: Get a good night's sleep. All right? Study. All right? We still got things to do. All right. I'm out of it maybe now. I got a phone call that put me out of it. But we will go from here, OK? Hey, good luck, everybody. And thanks for coming. And pray a little bit for those victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Also out, Penn State's President Graham Spanier. In is Rodney Erickson. He will be the interim president. He released a partial statement saying that they have authorized a full investigation to determine what failures occurred, who is responsible, and what measures are necessary to ensure that this never, ever happens again -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jason Carroll live for us at the Penn State campus -- Jason, thank you.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," Luis Carlos Velez in New York.

Luis, you're following the kidnapping this morning of a Major League Baseball, this player Wilson Ramos out of the Washington Nationals, this kidnapping in Venezuela. What are you hearing this hour?

LUIS CARLOS VELEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke.

This is a huge case in Venezuela. According to preliminary reports, two armed men actually stormed his house in Valencia, Venezuela. Neighbors tell local media that gunmen were there. They were around in his house before they went in. And witnesses say the gunmen threatened to kill the player if he refused to go there.

You know that Venezuela, this is a very common case in that country. Kidnappings have been rising in the country but this is the first time actually that happened to a baseball player -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: What about the Washington Nationals, his team here in D.C.? Have they released any kind of statement?

VELEZ: Yes, absolutely. I am going to read the statement here.

It says: "Our foremost concern is with Wilson Ramos and his family. And our thoughts are with them at this time. Major League Baseball's Department of Investigation is working with the appropriate authorities on this matter. Both Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals have been instructed to make no further comment."

Now, Brooke, you could be asking yourself, what is the U.S. going to do about this? Well, the answer to that question is that the FBI is not involved because Ramos is not a U.S. citizen and this kidnapping didn't happen in U.S. territory.

BALDWIN: Luis Carlos Velez, thank you so much for that strange story. Thank you.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BALDWIN: That's your "Reporter Roulette" here for this Thursday.

You know the phrase no good deed goes unpunished? Heard that? Listen to this. A mental health care worker fired for reporting child porn she found on her client's computer, that same client gets charged with sexual abuse. So why is the person who reported in it trouble for telling the police? Think about it.

Also, former President Nixon's secret grand jury Watergate testimony is unsealed today. What did it reveal about the infamous 18-and-a- half minute gap in a tape recording between him and his chief of staff?

Also, Prince William leaving home already? We're going to tell you why.

And a pretty special rescue, a baby elephant -- aww -- and its mom pulled from a mud lagoon where they were stuck because they didn't want to be separated -- all of that coming up. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: And Dover Air Force Base, officials there now admitting they dumped some cremated body parts of our war heroes into landfills. Yes.

Their relatives had no idea until "The Washington Post" started asking some questions. And we're going to talk to one of the "Post" reporters about his investigation. What a story.

And in the wake of the Penn State scandal, tough questions on how powerful people are able to target vulnerable children. We're talking to well-known psychologist Jeff Gardere with advice for parents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In honor of Veterans Day, CNN is going in focus on the men and women who have bravely served our country.

And in this next piece we want to share with you, amputee veterans from Walter Reed Medical Center take on a team of amputee Haitian earthquake survivors, showing the world that competitive spirit and the ability to overcome cannot be removed with simply the loss of a limb.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go out there thinking, I'm going to be OK. I'm going to come home safe. But then all of a sudden something happens to you. And everything was just like slow-motion.

I was in Afghanistan. We were running an overnight patrol on a previous blast site. I would lead the squad clearing the road and stuff for bombs. And it was really dark. I could not see anything. So I was just going off the beeping noise and the light on the metal detector.

I just remember, I was looking down at the ground and I see a bright flash of life. I couldn't see anything because the dust was just everywhere. It took me about 30 seconds to realize that I had stepped on an IED. I have never felt that amount of pain, so I didn't know if I was going to die or live.

RICK HOFFMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN AMPUTEE SOCCER: The vets are here. It's going to be a good day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just about ready to start. And you will notice the guys in the green shirts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my first time playing soccer ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are all wounded warriors who have lost their limbs in Afghanistan.

HOFFMAN: What's going on today is we're having a friendly match between the U.S. National Amputee Soccer Team Taryen from Haiti.

It is part of the three-day effort here to give something back to the U.S. veterans in Walter Reed Hospital, show them how the game is played, show them that they can look forward to playing this game even if they were wounded in action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a soccer background. Three of the guys came up to me and they asked me to play on their team today. And they were just like, hey, we would be honored if you would put on this jersey and play for us.

So, of course, I'm going to say yes because I love this game. After the injury, I was kind of thinking I'm not going to be able to play any of the things that I love to play. And when I heard about this, I just jumped on board right away. I was excited.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great pass. I can't believe the goalkeeper got that.

HOFFMAN: When I see these guys coming into Walter Reed with their combat injuries, I understand that there's been a lot of trauma, that they are in a new configuration. They're in a new body and they're not quite sure what they're going to be able to do with it.

One of the things that drives us is to say, OK, you're in a new configuration. That doesn't mean you have to be limited in your competitive nature.

When I lost my leg, I really didn't know what there was to do. I literally forgot I was on crutches. I forgot that I had no leg.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have got to pass the ball.

HOFFMAN: With a shoe and a shin guard and two crutches, they can become world-class athletes.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

HOFFMAN: It's hope. It's participation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a last-minute goal in that was an amazing header, and we ended up winning it.

HOFFMAN: It's opening a door into the future that they may not have thought they had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALES: USA! USA! USA!

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, I want to take you back to this story, this scandal out of Penn State. The man at the center of it all charged is former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

So he is accused of sexual offenses, child endangerment and corruption of a minor involving eight boys. Investigators say he met and, in their words, groomed most, if not all of these boys through The Second Mile. That's the charity he founded to help troubled kids and teens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK NOONAN, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE COMMISSIONER: If you read the presentment, what you saw was something that we do investigations like this would call grooming.

What happened here was grooming, where these predators identify a child, become mentors. They're usually children that have had -- they're having a little difficulty. They're at-risk children. Through The Second Mile program, he was then able to identify these children, then give them gifts, establish a trust, initiate physical contact, which eventually leads to sexual contact. And that is very common in these type of investigations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere in New York to talk a little bit more about these cases.

And, Jeff, if -- we have to say that if these allegations are true, this is about a man in a position of power who preyed upon vulnerable children, many of whom as part of this grand jury report that we have all read that he met through his charity. But the key word here is vulnerable, correct?

JEFFREY GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: That's right.

These were at-risk kids who were having emotional issues, perhaps financial issues, and therefore grooming these particular kids worked for, if this happened, for Jerry Sandusky in a way that he could take advantage of them much easier. BALDWIN: Let's talk a little bit more about this word that we just heard in that news conference, this word grooming, right? They used this word Monday, part of this news conference, that Jerry Sandusky groomed these young boys.

Can you be more specific? What exactly does that term mean?

GARDERE: OK. When we look at this issue of grooming, especially with sexual predators, towards children, they gain their trust. They put themselves in a power of position where that person almost becomes like a parental figure. They begin to buy them gifts and they let them know that the safe haven is in this predator's home.

So what they do is they get the complete trust of that child, not just to take advantage of the child, so that the child does not turn them in, and the child begins to believe that this inappropriate sexual behavior is actually something that is OK. So it is almost like you are taking their minds and wrapping it any way that you want to as the predator.

BALDWIN: When you read this grand jury report, it starts slow. According to these victims and their testimonies, some of them stayed with Sandusky in his basement. And they talk about how he would come down and want to crack their backs, blow on their stomachs, and then the touching would start to escalate. Is that a fairly typical M.O. of a predator?

GARDERE: Absolutely, because what they're doing is they're slowly gaining the trust by making moves, inappropriate moves, toward that child in a way that may not raise their suspicion. And then incrementally they begin to build towards more exploitive sexual behaviors.

BALDWIN: What about also -- and I know you talk about this -- the code of silence? There are really two witnesses. You have this janitor who witnessed a scene in a shower. He now has dementia. And you have this graduate assistant, who ultimately went to Paterno and didn't call police, didn't yell at the time when he saw, according to these allegations, Sandusky raping a child in the shower, didn't do a thing.

Why?

GARDERE: Well, this is beyond comprehension, because we're talking about a child who was probably screaming. There are a lot of noises coming from that particular situation that I don't even want to go into.

It is so heinous, what happened. You would think the first thought of that person would be to jump on whomever this predator is, in this case if it is Sandusky, and pull him off of the child, immediately call 911. And that didn't happen. And it is because its part of that old boys network. You don't want to ruin someone else's reputation. You don't want to get someone on the team, if you will, thrown off.

You're afraid that person may have too much power and you may end up getting in trouble. But the other fact is that people are in denial. And when they see something so heinous happening, they just can't believe it, they can't comprehend and therefore they go into some form of denial, so when they report it, and it is not to the police, they will say, well, I saw something happening. I wasn't quite sure what it was. I think it was appropriate, but they don't say, yes, that guy was raping that little boy.

BALDWIN: It's just a wakeup call, I think, too, for parents. Talk to your kids. Have conversations with your kids.

GARDERE: Teachable moments for the parents, that's right.

BALDWIN: Be involved, yes.

GARDERE: That's right.

BALDWIN: Jeff Gardere, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

GARDERE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now to this story, the Dover Air Force Base getting a lot of heat for dumping cremated body parts from U.S. troops in a Virginia landfall. The base acknowledged the practice in response to questions from "The Washington Post." We're going to talk to one of the "Post" reporters who has been on this story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Check the calendar. Tomorrow is Veterans Day. What a story we have here. In fact, we should warn you that this is a pretty tough one to hear but it is important and you need to know. Until just a couple years ago, cremated body parts from our fallen war heroes, which are processed through Dover Air Force base in Delaware, were sometimes ceremoniously dumped into landfills.

The "Washington Post" broke this story. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is now calling for this independent review. I want to bring in Greg Jaffe, one of the "Post" reporters who has been all over this story. And, Greg, my kudos to you for finding this and investigating. The Air Force now according to your article admits from 2003 to 2008 it never told family members disposal meant landfill. So where do these husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, think their loved ones remains went?

GREG JAFFE, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, they would have gone to a landfill in King George County, Virginia, that's run by waste management. So the body parts that usually were found after the main body was returned would have been incinerated, cremated, and then dumped this this landfill.

BALDWIN: The family didn't know they were going to a landfill. My question is, where did they think they were going?

JAFFE: You know, I think some of them thought they were buried. Some of them thought they would be incinerated and disposed of in some sort of military ceremony. You know, the box that they ticked off said if there are additional remains, do you want to know or would you rather that we make appropriate disposal of them?

And a lot of families I think assumed they had the whole body. But in a moment of grief and a lot of confusion, they ticked the box and they assumed they would be dealt with appropriately. What that means to each person, I don't know. I know for most of them it probably doesn't mean a landfill though.

BALDWIN: I would guess that you're right. I want to run through these quotes that were in your piece that really sort of struck me. Gary Lynn Smith, her husband died in Iraq I 2006, she said, quote, "My only peace of mind in losing my husband was that he was taken to Dover and handled with dignity, love, respect and honor. That was completely shattered for me when I was told that he was thrown in the trash."

One more quote from your article. Stan McDowell's son died in a fighter crash in Afghanistan in 2009. He said, quote, "We know Mark was a Christian and that he is in heaven. So maybe there are some remains that did not end up in his burial site. We know Mark is separated from his body and he is in heaven." Wow. Greg, what are these family members demanding of the Air Force? What kind of discipline has been handed out here?

JAFFE: Well, so far, I mean there have been a whole host of problems that have been uncovered at Dover. So far nobody has been fired. People have been sort of reassigned to positions of less experience. One sort of letter of reprimand was given to an Air Force colonel, which is essentially a career ender for him. He won't get promoted again. He will get retired at his full rank with full benefits.

But so far no one has been fired and I think there is some concern among families that appropriate accountability has not been put into place. People should lose their jobs.

BALDWIN: As we mentioned, Secretary Panetta now asking for this independent investigation. I know you'll stay on it and we'll read your articles there. Greg Jaffe at the 'Washington Post," thank you so much.

The president of Penn State and football coach Joe Paterno, they are out. Can alleged victims use that firing as evidence to sue the university? We're going to ask Sunny Hostin and "On the Case."

Is it all over for GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry? We'll talk to Jim Acosta who was there when he made, we'll call it the "oops" moment, the gaffe, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: A mountain of trash covered with 10 acres of solar panels. The idea, give an old landfill a new greener life.

DAVID STUART, REPUBLIC SERVICES OF GEORGIA: When a landfall is through taking waste, it is basically dormant. BALDWIN: But this new technology puts it back to use. This cover is lined with 7,000 flexible solar strips. It seals the landfall to keep rain out and methane gas in.

STUART: Any landfall generates gas as a natural by product. That methane is a resource that we will use as a beneficial product for local industry.

BALDWIN: The solar panels on this landfall in Georgia will produce enough electricity to power more than 200 homes. Initially more expensive than the usual methods of closing landfalls, liners covered with dirt and grass, the solar blanket pays off with lower maintenance costs.

STUART: For the next 25 years, it will continue to provide a benefit to this community through the power that it generates.

BALDWIN: Other solar landfall projects are underway in several states.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We'll call it the "oops" heard around the political world. Presidential hopeful Rick Oerry's self-proclaimed brain freeze at last night's GOP debate, did you see it? It has a lot of folks saying it is all over for the Texas governor. Or is it? CNN political correspondent Jim Acosta joins me now. And Jim, he had seemed so presidential for so many week until that moment last night. What happened?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean, Brooke, remember this was just 10 weeks ago when everybody was talking about Rick Perry as being the eventual GOP nominee. And he had been struggling in these debates before last night and his poll numbers were reflecting that. And last night he knew he got himself into trouble with that moment when he was trying to talk about the three departments of the federal government that he would eliminate.

And when you talk to people, and I don't know if you tried to talk the people about this today, it is really difficult to describe exactly what happened. It was really 53 seconds of just excruciating television. And the only way to describe it is to show it so here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I will tell you, it's three agencies of government when I get there that are gone. Commerce, education and the -- what's the third one there, let's see.

(LAUGHTER)

RON PAUL, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are five.

PERRY: Five, OK. Commerce, Education, and the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: EPA?

PERRY: EPA, there you go.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seriously --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And that wasn't even the full 53 seconds. As you mentioned there, Brooke, eventually he says "oops." And then he instantly knew he was in trouble. He raced into the post debate spin room. He ran right up to the report here's ran right up to him and he basically admitted that he stepped into it.

And we just have a brief clip from what he was talking about earlier on AMERICAN MORNING. And he was basically admitting this was a mistake. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: We're going to get going back to those primary states and talking about our tax plan and talking about how we get America back working again. I may not be the best debater, the slickest politician on that stage. But what they do know about me is that for 10 years, I've been the chief executive officer of the state that created more jobs than any other state in the nation while America lost 2.5 million. What they're looking for is substance, not necessarily the slickest debater.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: The Perry campaign, they're not trying to beat them. They're trying to join them. They're making light of what happened. Their website is asking people which department of federal government would you like to forget? And he is even going on David Letterman tonight to read the "Top 10 list." And I'm -- exactly, I'm guessing he will be working off of a teleprompter and not his memory, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jim Acosta, thank you so much. We'll be watching tonight "The Late Show." Thank you.

By the way, this just happened in the last hour or so. I wanted to turn around this tape for you. You be the judge. Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann forced to leave the stage after this group of Occupy Wall Street protesters disrupted this foreign policy speech she was giving aboard the historic USS Yorktown. You take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING) (END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And so eventually police had to escort Congresswoman Bachmann offstage. But she did return a couple minutes later and we should say did finish her speech there.

It has been a mystery for almost 40 years. What does former President Nixon say happened during those 18.5 lost minutes of a tape-recording between him and his chief of staff after the Watergate break-in? Nixon's secret grand jury testimony finally made public. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "On the Case" today, Joe Paterno out as football coach, head coach at Penn State. The question is whether his firing somehow open the way for potential future alleged sex assault victim to come forward, victims of former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky to potentially sue.

Let's go to Sunny Hostin, as always, "On the Case" for us. And Sunny, if there are other victims, do you think now with Paterno out, and we know Sandusky has been gone, will it be easier for them to come forward?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I certainly think that there is strength in numbers when it comes to this kind of thing and I think people are strengthened when they know that they're not alone. So I suspect that we will hear unfortunately about other victims coming forward.

I think there's no question that those victims will be suing the university and all of the folks that were involved in perhaps the cover-up, involved in the allegations, helped enable Sandusky to perpetrate these terrible crimes on these boys. And I suspect that these are cases that will be settled privately. I don't think that the university, given their stance, given the fact that they have let Paterno go, they have let the school president go, it's obvious that they are going to be aggressive in their internal investigation. And these are cases that I hope not to see tried publicly. I think these will be private settlements. There will be some civil litigation stemming from these horrible allegations.

BALDWIN: Sunny, second case, and this is complicated to follow. There is a woman in Montana working in a mental health facility. So she was fired for reporting that she simply suspected a client had child porn on his computer. A, was child porn even found? And why was she fired?

HOSTIN: Child porn was found. I'm actually looking at the criminal complaint that was filed against the defendant, the now defendant in this case. What is interesting about this case, and it is a stark comparison to what happened at Penn State, is that you have a mental health professional whose client she suspected of child abuse and she suspected of having child porn on his computer. She did report it to her supervisors because there are people that have this mandatory reporting requirement, including health care professionals, including teachers, Brooke, and she did the right thing. However, her supervisors felt that it didn't meet the mandatory requirement standards, and you know what, she went a step farther. She went to the police and she was fired because of it. They felt she breach that confidential communication.

But I think the take-away is there are people that do the right thing. When you suspect child abuse, when you see something, you say something. She lost her job because of it, but she still has her moral compass intact.

BALDWIN: Yes, so important your morality. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much, "On the Case."

And coming up, one heck of an elephant rescue. Baby elephant wouldn't leave mama, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the Help Desk, where we get answers to your financial questions. And joining me this hour, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, the founder of the financial advice blog AskTheMoneyCoach.com, and David Novick, a certified financial planner and adjunct professor at NYU. Thank you for being here.

David, your question come from Craig in California. Craig says "We have businesses, banks, and brokerages asking us to go paperless." He wants to know "Does it carry any legal ramifications for us that we should know about?"

DAVID NOVICK, FINANCIAL PLANNER: There's a couple of things with going paperless. One, you want to make sure your e-mail account that you're going to be using and your password is very secure. Secondly, you need to make sure you keep on top of the notifications, because you're still reasonable. If you make any changes to your e-mail or whatever you need to notify them right away, and you need to make sure you're able to keep a paper copy or have access to their sight for at least three years for tax purposes.

HARLOW: They say save paper, but print it out for your files. Thank you.

And Lynnette, your question comes from Frank in Virginia. Frank is 63-years-old and less than five years from retirement. He says he's at the top of his earnings power and the top of his tax rate. He wants to know if he should get a Roth IRA or stick with a traditional IRA. What do you think, at 63?

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: The question is whether or not he qualifies for the Roth IRA. He didn't say what his income is, and he didn't say whether he was single or married and his different income limitations. Generally around the $122,000 range for single people, $177,000 for married folks. So he may be locked into the traditional IRA. However, if he does equal, I think the Roth is a great deal because again, you can get those moneys, take them out tax free on the back end. When people do qualify, I do suggest the Roth.

HARLOW: Thank you both, we appreciate it. And if any of you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail anytime to CNNHelpDesk@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So in case you missed it at the top of the show, I'm here in Washington today and tomorrow, and look where I am. This is the part of the show where I normally get to talk to Wolf in that boring double box. But guess what. Since I'm here, we're going in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Guys, follow me, wave to the tour who came by.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": How exciting is this?

BAIER: This is such a treat.

BLITZER: Brooke Baldwin in "THE SITUATION ROOM." I just tweeted you were about to walk in. Thank you so much. Please, stand right over here. This is your moment right here.

BALDWIN: This is my mark, my moment. It's been a while.

BLITZER: I know. Way too long. This is Washington, D.C., "THE SITUATION ROOM." You know where I'm going to be next week?

BALDWIN: Where?

BLITZER: Atlanta.

BALDWIN: You know, I was hearing something in the makeup room.

BLITZER: A big secret with why I'm coming.

BALDWIN: Does it rhyme with old rain?

BLITZER: I can't tell you why it is, but I'm coming into Atlanta next week, Atlanta, Georgia, CNN world headquarters next week. I will be there.

BALDWIN: I'm here today and it's wonderful to be in the Sit Room. And --

BLITZER: Have people in Washington been treating you nicely?

BALDWIN: The royal treatment.

BLITZER: You staying tomorrow, too?

BALDWIN: I'm here tonight because I'm emceeing an event at the house of Sweden. It's for this non-profit group called Every Child Matters. And I started this segment on my show "We can do better." And it's all about spotlighting child abuse. So this event is trying to get politicians thinking about kids, priorities, especially in this upcoming cycle.

BLITZER: It's in Georgetown. Nice place. You'll enjoy it.

BALDWIN: I figured you've been there.

BLITZER: Yes, of course. I lived here for a long time.

We've got a huge "SITUATION ROOM" coming up.

BALDWIN: What's going on?

BLITZER: You'll have to watch. Top of the hour, I want you to stick around. What time do you have to begin the beautification process for the House of Sweden?

BALDWIN: I got time. What you got?

BLITZER: You'll see.

BALDWIN: That was quite the tease, Wolf Blitzer. Thank you so much. And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Finally, this fun little piece of video we wanted to make sure to show you. A baby elephant trapped in mud. Its mother gets stuck trying to save it. Look at this, the elephant is screaming for help. A group in Zambia tries to rescue them, but they didn't want to separate. They finally were able to pull this baby out and with the mom on a tractor. Mom and baby, both dehydrated, but OK. They ran off to their herd right after that muddy rescue. Adorable.

Now to those just unsealed Richard Nixon grand jury tapes and transcripts. Athena Jones, what a story. Nice to meet you, by the way. What stood out most?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a really interesting day, and the thing everybody wants to hear about is the 18.5 gap in that tape, that famous gap. And you know, we don't have our questions answered. He's asked a few times. At one point says, I don't know how that gap occurred. I guess it was an accident. At another point, he said I've never heard this conversation that you allude to, this gap. So not a lot of light shed on that.

The most interesting thing was this late night trip to the Lincoln Memorial in the middle of the night. At 4:00 in the morning he wakes up, travels with just a few people. He dictated this memo. He ended up talking with college students who were there to protest the Vietnam War. This is only a few days after the Ohio National Guardsmen shot the kids at Kent State. So it was a really tumultuous time. He tries to explain his stance on expanding the war into Cambodia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They had not been able to hear the press conference because they had been driving all night in order to get here. I said sorry they had missed it because I tried to explain in the press conference that my goals in Vietnam were the same as theirs, to stop the killing and end the war, bring peace. Our goal was not to get into Cambodia but to get out of Vietnam.

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JONES: So a pretty remarkable night. You have the president escaping the White House in the middle of the night.

BALDWIN: Can you imagine President Obama decides, 4:00 in the morning, hey, I want to go see a memorial. That doesn't happen anymore.

JONES: Absolutely not. And then went to the capitol with his aide, Nixon did, then to eat at the Mayflower Restaurant.

BALDWIN: Wow. Athena Jones, thank you so much.

And thank you so much for being with me. I'm back in Washington tomorrow. Meantime, let's go next door. "THE SITUATION ROOM," Wolf Blitzer, starts now.