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Unrest in Egypt; Black Friday Chaos; Gabrielle Giffords Serves Thanksgiving Dinner at Air Force Base, Police: Wife Turned Husband into Stew; Most Popular Passwords; "Curiosity" Set for Liftoff to Mars; No Newt on Missouri Primary Ballot; Regis: A Morning Legend

Aired November 25, 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: And hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's get you caught up on everything making news this hour. as always, we begin with "Rapid Fire," starting with Egypt.

Competing political forces are going head to head today in Egypt. Keep in mind, this is just a couple of days ahead of the parliamentary elections. In the heat of Cairo, Tahrir Square here, a massive anti- government demonstration is under way. That is counterbalanced elsewhere in the capital by a pro-military rally that supports, of course, the government. The Muslim Brotherhood also has a rally planned for today.

Unrest over the past week has claimed more than 40 lives. And those three American students who were arrested in Cairo earlier this week, they have been ordered free. But so far, Derrik Sweeney, Gregory Porter, Luke Gates, they still remain in custody. They're accused of throwing Molotov cocktails during these anti-government protests. We will get you a live report on the status of their anticipated release in just a couple of minutes.

Also, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONA ELTAHAWY, JOURNALIST & COMMENTATOR: I was cornered by four or five riot police. They beat me with their sticks. And that's how I got the break on my left arm and my right hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: But the assault didn't start there. An American journalist, Mona Eltahawy, who has been on this show many, many times, is describing her terrifying experience in the streets Egypt. She will reveal what happened to her in just minutes.

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: Got a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Blindfolded, arrested and sexually assaulted, one American journalist is now revealing what happened to her as chaos swirls in Egypt. She's about to share every painful moment. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): Black Friday turns dark. As bargain hunters race to stores, fists fly, gunfire rings out, and one shopper pepper sprays her way to the front of the line.

A woman says she feels no regret for killing her husband, chopping him up and turning him into stew. Find out what pushed her over the edge.

Plus, a man slaps a politician, then whips out a knife. We will show you what happened next.

And the man, the voice, the morning legend.

REGIS PHILBIN, ENTERTAINER: You keep asking me, where am I going? I have got no place to go.

Regis Philbin joins me leave. We will dish on celebrities like George Clooney and Steven Spielberg. And I have a little surprise up my sleeve for the Rege.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In Cairo, Egypt, three American students remain in custody today after getting caught up in these mass demonstrations against the country's military rulers. You have Luke Gates, Gregory Porter, and Derrik Sweeney. They were all accused of throwing Molotov cocktails.

They have since been ordered free, but for some reason that release has yet to happen. The situation in Egypt remains volatile. This is a pro-military rally. It was a sharp contrast to the anti-government protests we have been seeing over the course of the last few days. Days of unrest have thus far claimed at least 41 lives and in addition thousands of others have been injured.

I want to bring in CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman, who has been covering this pro-military rally today.

And, Ben, just if you can, compare this for me. Compare the pro- military rally to what we have been seeing, the masses in Tahrir Square.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, there were many fewer people at this demonstration.

But, nonetheless, it was fairly impressive that somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 people came out to express their support for the military. They say they are the silent majority, and they have watched now since last Saturday as the world has been transfixed by the drama here in Tahrir Square. Now they want Egypt to hear their voice. They're worried about the economy, law and order, the future of this country at a time when it seems everybody takes their grievances to the street. The people at this pro-government rally were insisting that the elections that are planned to take place on Monday go ahead as scheduled.

They say it shouldn't be up to the crowds in Tahrir to decide the fate of the country. They say it people going to the ballot box and voting for the candidate of their choice that should be the really deciding factor -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Ben, just quickly, I'm curious geographically speaking how close are these two demonstrations and rallies, and are they close enough that they might ever cross paths?

WEDEMAN: Fortunately they're about three-and-a-half to four miles apart. It seemed from we were at that demonstration that there was not any intention to move toward Tahrir because this has been a problem in the past, when you have two competing groups come together. They usually don't settle their differences or discuss their differences peacefully. Usually it becomes rocks, sticks, and bottles flying in both directions.

So, at the moment, they're well-separated.

BALDWIN: Right.

Finally, with the regard to those three American students who were arrested, they have been ordered freed, but that has yet to happen. Ben, why not? What do you know?

WEDEMAN: Well, it's often the case that a judge will order the police to release somebody, but given sort of the independent nature of the security forces here, which really are, in many respects, a law unto themselves, they will take their time in implementing that court order.

It's not at all clear where they are, when they will be released. But when the judge gives the order, they should release them. It just may take a few days -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Just can't help but think about their parents.

Ben Wedeman for us in Cairo, Ben, thank you.

Also want to -- have you heard about American-Egyptian journalist Mona Eltahawy? She is now sharing her frightening experience on Twitter and with us here on CNN. Eltahawy says she was covering Wednesday's mass demonstration in Tahrir Square when she was attacked by riot police.

If you go to her Twitter feed to confirm, she was not raped, but she says she was sexually assaulted. She suffered a broken left arm and right hand, and Eltahawy described her attack earlier today here on CNN. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELTAHAWY: Well, I was standing on the front line where protesters have had this confrontation with the security forces, and all of a sudden some riot police crossed over on to our side and some of the people were standing around me managed to get away.

But I was cornered by four or five riot police and they beat me with their sticks. That's how I got the break on my left arm and on my right hand. And then they dragged me beyond what was basically this frontline into this no-man's-land all the way to the Interior Ministry, which was close by.

And as they were taking me there, I experienced a terrible sexual assault. I mean, it was basically just hands everywhere, groping my breasts, hands between my legs. I lost count of the number of hands that tried to get into my trousers as I was trying to push off. They were calling me all kinds of terrible names. I fell to the ground at one point. And they grabbed me by my hair.

But I want to emphasize that what happened to me is not just unique to me. This is the kind of brutality that was one of the main catalysts for the Egyptian revolution. As an Egyptian, I came back to Tahrir Square because I wanted to be here with fellow Egyptians to basically say this revolution will continue. I will not be hijacked by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and I will not be hijacked by these brutal security forces who beat me and beat so many other Egyptians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We are keeping a close eye on Mona Eltahawy's Twitter feed. As soon as she tweets anything more, we will bring you those developments here on CNN.

Meantime, this is coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People started grabbing things. And when people started grabbing things, this woman just decided to spray.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Still ahead, Black Friday turns ugly, gunfire, fights breaking out, one shopper apparently unleashing pepper spray just to get to the front of the line. We will take you live to that store.

Plus, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they go back up to the school, there's no dinner. There's no money.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: TV host Nate Berkus introduces us to a chef who serves up free dinners to kids. You have to hear this heartwarming story, one of the "CNN Hero' top 10 finalists.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was on the serving line as military families enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner at an Air Force base in Tucson. Also dishing up some food on Thanksgiving, Giffords' husband, retired Navy Captain and astronaut Mark Kelly. It was Giffords' first event in her home district since being critically wounded in that shooting from back in January.

And how do I move from that to this? I will just tell you. In California, a woman apparently desperate for Black Friday deals pepper sprays, pepper sprays the competition at a Wal-Mart store.

More than a dozen people had to be treated for burns from this pepper spray. Also, in South Carolina, listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard some gunshots, what sounded like gunshots at least, about five of them. At first, we thought they were firecrackers until we saw people running. And we came over and we saw some guys laying on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police in Myrtle Beach say guns were pulled on people leaving the Wal-Mart there. One shopper took a bullet to his leg. Police suspect robbery was the motive.

And this chaotic scene, this is a Wal-Mart in North Carolina. It happened after an off-duty police officer pepper sprayed the crowd. Included in that crowd, little kids. The trigger here, onlookers say it began when a cell phone marked down from $200 to $35 fell into a display case. Pepper spray, guns, really?

It makes the reports of fists flying in New York and Florida sound downright tame.

Let's go to Sandra Endo. She is that Wal-Mart in the Porter Ranch Los neighborhood or Angeles.

Sandra, we're hearing this woman accused in the pepper spraying incident, she had two small kids with her. Do we know what she wanted so bad?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, it's pretty incredible. Police are on the scene here at the Wal-Mart in Porter Ranch.

And they're investigating, still looking for this woman who as you mentioned pepper sprayed people just to get those Black Friday deals at 10:00. We just spoke to a witness, Brooke, who cell phone videotaped the entire scene. I saw that video and it was a feeding frenzy.

You can see the crowd just descend on these items once that 10:00 deal deadline was in place. And then the cardboard boxes were flying. People were just grabbing things. In this video, you can see very clearly.

Then, in a matter of moments, you see some people saying, my eyes, my eyes. People were sprayed and rubbing their eyes because of this pepper spray. And the witness said it was just a chaotic scene. He caught it all on tape though from his cell phone. And clearly it is going to be a part of the investigation.

And that is why police are here as well. Wal-Mart officials are saying they're cooperating. They're saying it's unfortunate that it happened, but they're glad everyone was OK. They were just treated here on the scene. No one had to be transported to the hospital.

But of course they're cooperating in the investigation as welcome, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, Sandra, so this happens. She's with her kids, gets whatever deal it is, maybe an Xbox, I don't know. She pays. She leaves. I imagine police are -- they're looking for her right this very minute.

ENDO: Absolutely.

According to this witness who was right there, he himself was inhaling this pepper spray. He said it felt tense and tight in his throat. It was around that section of the coveted electronics that go on sale for Black Friday. He was in line to get some Wii video games that normally sell for $60. They were down on sale for $20.

All he got from this massive chaotic scene and this feeding frenzy was a $2 DVD.

BALDWIN: Oh. Oh.

So you mentioned you saw the video. We have a little sound from a woman who says she was in the store with her two kids when this pepper spraying happened.

Let's listen to her.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ANNA RECALDE, EYEWITNESS: As we were passing by to get through the other side, they decided to I guess open the section. And people started grabbing things. And when people started grabbing things, this woman just decided to spray. When she sprayed I guess she got everybody, because we were just passing by and we caught a whiff of it.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Quickly, Sandra, I imagine if and when police find her, she's going to face some charges, yes?

ENDO: Oh, absolutely. Police are on the scene right here this morning already looking through a lot of the surveillance video from Wal-Mart taken here at this location. But clearly they are on the lookout. They're looking for this woman and want to talk to her, of course, because even though these 15 people are OK, pepper spraying just for some holiday deals not a good idea.

BALDWIN: Sandra Endo live in L.A. for us -- Sandra, thank you. Keep us posted on that one.

Coming up next, three videos you need to see. The first, a politician on the receiving end of a slap from a guy waving a knife. We will show you what happened next.

Plus, manis, pedis, and punches, as a brawl breaks out in a nail salon.

And a woman sports a bikini in public, yes, in November. We're going to tell you what she's begging the public to do.

We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It was a real slap in the face for the agriculture minister of India. Take a look at the video with me.

This is one furious man in New Delhi slapping the Indian official, then yelling, you're all thieves. This video also shows him taking out -- here you go -- a ceremonial knife and threatening to slit his own wrists in protest. The man reportedly angry about corruption and rising food prices.

OK, now to this. This woman knows how to get a little attention. Right? She's standing on a street corner in her bikini. Why? Because she wants her missing dog to come home. We should probably mention she is in California. Her Chihuahua ran away last week. She thinks a neighbor may have taken the Chihuahua in. So she's posing. She's also apparently on a hunger strike until Chippy (ph), the Chihuahua, comes home.

By the way, not exactly bikini weather in La Jolla, forecast high today 63 degrees. OK.

Moving on, this is what you call a knock-down, drag-out. This brawl broke out inside a Wal-Mart nail salon. This is near Atlanta. A customer was berating the employees over their prices when their kids got into an argument -- look at this -- with another customer's child. They're down on the floor.

Next thing you know, witnesses say there were firsts, porcelain balls flying. A teenager waiting to get her nails done had her teeth knocked out. Yikes.

You know I love music. It's universal language. And perhaps no other musician of our time really embodied the philosophy more so than John Lennon. So now a bus carrying his name also carries his message and some very nice, very high-tech equipment, might I add, that travels the country making stops at schools and recording studios, so professionals and budding musicians can sharpen their skills.

And one of our producers, Dennis Lovello, hopped on board for a jam session.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're on board the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus.

What we do is bring on a group of students at a local school. Today, we happen to be at the SAE Institute of Atlanta. And they get to come on board and write and record an original track for free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just graduated, but I haven't gotten field experience. It's not easy to get into studios right now. But this is as live as it gets, as real as it gets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Let's record some bass.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I feel like I can do anything I wanted here, all in one room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's one of the coolest parts about the bus, is that students and artists get to combine in certain sessions. And today we have Joel Kosche and William Turpin of Collective Soul helping us out with the session.

WILL TURPIN, COLLECTIVE SOUL: They're doing everything that is asked of them and it sounds pretty good. And all the original inspirations and melodies and harmonies that are going on are coming from the students. I'm tweaking -- we're tweaking a little bit here and there. But these guys are coming up with the ideas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are in control over there on that amp of everything that it sounds like right now.

TURPIN: Yes, we're here creating music on the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scrap that. Go ahead and put that bass track back on one and two.

It's on. It's working.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.

(MUSIC)

JOEL KOSCHE, Collective Soul: What's great about this group is that we have got a wide range of talent. There's some guitar players back there. Of course that's who I'm hanging out with.

Can we play it like the right ways in different sections, like maybe the first half, the back half?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing is seeing these students come on board in one frame of mind, and seeing them leave in a completely different in frame of mind. Like, they're inspired. And that's whole reason why we're doing this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Pretty cool, right? Dennis, thanks for doing that.

And from Lennon to Regis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILBIN, ENTERTAINER: You keep asking me, where am I going? I have got no place to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Oh, Rege, you got a place to go, right here on this show with me. Mr. Philbin will join me live coming up, and I promise you, this will be fun. Don't miss that.

Also we're following a bizarre story. Police say a woman killed her husband and decided to make him into a stew. But wait until you hear what drove her to do this. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you are at all squeamish, we need to warn you this next story is both (inaudible) and disturbing. It involves the murder of a husband by his wife. But what allegedly happens next is truly the stuff of nightmares. Here is CNN's Reza Sayah in Islamabad, Pakistan with the gruesome details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It doesn't get more grisly and gruesome than this. According to Pakistani police, 32- year-old Zainab Bibi, a woman from Karachi drugged her husband, and then hanged her husband, but it doesn't end there.

According to investigators she proceeded with the help of her 22-year- old nephew to cut up her husband's body into small pieces, and then she started cooking the body parts. According to investigators, Zainab Bibi didn't want to consume her husband's body parts. She wanted to get rid of the body parts without getting caught.

She thought this was the way to do it. She was wrong. She got caught. According to investigators, her neighbors smelled a putrid odor. They called police. Police arrived at her home. They went in and they saw Zainab Bibi with a number of pots and pans on her stove cooking up her husband's body parts.

A Pakistani television station managed to interview Zainib Bibi in jail. She said this was her second husband. She had a daughter from the first marriage. Apparently, the second husband wanted to divorce her and marry her daughter.

Obviously, she was outraged. In the interview, she was not remorseful. She wasn't sorry. She said he deserved it. She told the television reporter that she managed to kill the husband before he laid a hand on her daughter. Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Voting under way right now for 2011 CNN Hero of the Year and TV host, Nate Berkus introduces us to one of the top ten finalists, Chef Bruno Serado.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATE BERKUS, TV HOST: Hi. I'm Nate Berkus. As a member of the American Red Cross Celebrity Cabinet, I am committed to emergency preparedness, disaster response and lending a helping hand to those in need. Now I'm thrilled to help introduce one of this year's Top Ten CNN Heroes.

BRUNO SERATO: I came to this country 30 years ago. I love to cook. Y ou must love the people. How is your lunch, ladies? In 2005, my mom was here on vacation from Italy.

I said, let's go to the boys and girls club. He was eating potato chips for dinner. He was a motel kid. When they go back after school, there's no dinner. There's no money.

Mom said, you must feed them. I'm Bruno Serato. I listened to my mama. Now, my mission is feeding hungry children. Spaghetti.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bruno brings a tray, and all the kids get excited.

SERATO: Right now we are between 150 to 200 kids. Who like the pasta? Now I could never stop. They're our customer, my favorite customers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: You have less than really, little less than two weeks now to vote for the CNN Hero of the Year. So here's how you do it. You go to cnnheros.com. Don't forget to watch live on Sunday, December 11th. Anderson Cooper hosting CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute live from Los Angeles.

Still ahead here, the Republican frontrunner for president misses an important deadline and now Newt Gingrich will not be on one ballot.

But first this, before you go online to do your holiday shopping, listen up, splashdaddy.com has released its 2011 list of the 25 most popular and therefore least saved passwords. So we're hoping your password isn't on the list. So here you go. Running up the top 10, you have dragon. Number nine, trustno1. Number eight is my favorite, letmein.

Seven, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. And the six most common password, monkey, who knew? So did your password make the top five most popular? Let's hope not. The answers after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you're thinking of shopping online for the holidays, you need to this, as we mentioned before the break, splashdata.com released this list of the most popular passwords.

Is your password on the list, the number five, abc123. Coming up at four is qwerty and number three is 12345678 and two, 123456. And the number one password is, password.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Nice.

BALDWIN: Really?

MYERS: Yes. That's default, sometimes.

BALDWIN: I was just having dinner with someone who said that's always been her password. I said, really, come on. Come on. Come on, Chad Myers. Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?

MYERS: I was supposed to come in if there's one bad weather, there was no bad weather. That means that was good for me and that was good for everybody else that was out there.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about the Mars rover?

MYERS: It's going tomorrow.

BALDWIN: Curiosity, tell me about it.

MYERS: It is giant. It's as big as Volkswagen bus. I mean, literally. Big wheels that will be able to go for big rocks and it launches tomorrow. There is some good news on the horizon. This will only take eight and a half months to get there.

As soon as it gets there, there's this incredible display of how it will get down. Typically you just put out a parachute and thing lands and it bumps the ground and it's done. This thing is tough.

This little guy goes out there, flies around for eight and a half months. Finally gets to the Marsian atmosphere if you will. It burns up a little bit. The parachute comes out and drops off the bottom.

You think it's going to land, no, another part comes out and thrusters come out and wires lower it down. This is like, I don't know, cirque du soleil must have come up with this. The wires let go. That thing that had the thrusters flies away and Curiosity is ready to drive around. BALDWIN: And inside Curiosity, what is it like 10 different experiments to figure out past lives, et cetera.

MYERS: They know from the other two rovers that went around, there's no life sticking up. There's nothing really on the surface. They're going to have a dig a little bit to see. This thing has a borer.

This thing has a drill. It's going to drill into the surface of Mars and pick up some of those rocks, put them inside analyze them and send the analysis back.

BALDWIN: OK, and at least Cape Canaveral tomorrow.

MYERS: Tomorrow morning and one good thing. Remember that Mars rover, that's probe from the Russians that we lost. They had a little contact on Tuesday. It talked a little bit to them. It's not burning yet. It's not flying to Mars yet, but they're happy that they're getting a little bit of communication.

BALDWIN: Interesting.

MYERS: See you tomorrow.

BALDWIN: Will you?

MYERS: I'll see you Monday.

BALDWIN: It's Friday. Chad, thank you.

Coming up next, Michele Bachmann asks NBC for an apology. She gets a response. We're back in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You can call it an "oops" moment for the Gingrich campaign. They missed the application deadline for the Missouri primary. That means no Newt Gingrich on ballot in February.

Let's go to Joe Johns in Washington with your America's Choice 2012 politics update. Joe Johns, good to see you. What does this mean for Camp Gingrich?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's one of those moments I think where the people in the campaign look at each other and say, yikes. How do we do that?

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich may be surging in the polls for the race - for the Republican presidential nomination, but multiple news organizations now reporting he won't be on the Missouri primary ballot in February.

His campaign was supposed to file papers last Tuesday to get on the ballot. Somehow they didn't do it. The rest of the Republican field, yes, on the Missouri ballot though this is not a monumental mistake. The primary is nonbinding. No delegates at stake, but being at the ballot would really be a matter of keeping a candidate's momentum going, if you will, through the primaries.

Still a mistake for the Gingrich campaign, but more importantly another sign that Gingrich's success in the polls is creating a lot of challenges for him.

You know, he's got some work to do to get his campaign organization up to speed. We reached out to them. They haven't gotten back to us yet. Gingrich is expected to appear, Brooke, at a town hall in Naples, Florida today.

BALDWIN: OK, let's talk about another candidate. You know Michele Bachmann, you and I talked about this earlier in the week.

JOHNS: Right.

BALDWIN: She was on the Jimmy Fallon show a couple of days ago. In the intro, there was that song with a derogatory word in the song. She got an apology from Jimmy Fallon, but what about the network?

JOHNS: Right, well, the network has now weighed in. Yes, I mean, this was just sort of embarrassing all around. We know about the house band on the Jimmy Fallon show playing part of the song with the title -- I don't want to say on TV, which included the derogatory term to women.

Michele Bachmann was there. NBC has apologized and also reports out today that Michele Bachmann has actually accepted, if you will, the apology of the network. But she's also said this is the kind of thing that would have created outrage had it happened to a liberal woman.

But she says, it sort of gets passed over when it happens to a conservative woman so apparently a little bit of hard feelings still out there. Even though she said she accepts the apology. She said that on a radio station interview I think in Texas.

BALDWIN: OK so, Joe Johns, I hear you're in for the blitz, for Mr. Blitzer.

JOHNS: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: What do you have coming up on "SITUATION ROOM?"

JOHNS: Right, yes, well, we're going to talk a lot about the situation in Egypt and the very latest there including the reporter who was sexually assaulted while she was covering the story.

We're going to take a close look, of course, at politics, as it stands right now. The race who is hot and who is not, and all the day's news coming up on THE SITUATION ROOM while Wolf Blitzer is taking up a badly needed rest. He's the hardest working man --

BALDWIN: The man loves his job, and never takes a break so good for him. We love seeing you on, Joe Johns. We'll see you in two hours. Thank you so much.

JOHNS: We match. Did you know? BALDWIN: Very nice, you and I like this. Joe, thank you.

Coming up next, the moment you've been waiting for, I've been waiting for this. This guy is a TV legend. Buddy/buddy with some biggest celebrities on the planet.

Really, one of the few stars who's on a first name basis with the world, he is Regis Philbin standing by. We're going to talk George Clooney. We're going to talk about his retirement from his daytime TV talk show and who he says, may be able to replace him. Don't miss this. Talk about his new book.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: He is one of the few celebrities we know really by just one name, Regis and he became a celebrity in his own right by talking to the rich, the famous, and sometimes infamous. After more than 50 years in show business, last Friday Regis retired.

Certainly not want to take retirement seriously, today he's back working. Good enough to join me live from Los Angeles. Regis Philbin, it's so nice to meet you. I'm a huge fan.

And you're an amazing story teller. Obviously, I watch you on the show, but I read your book here. I have it. "How I Got This Way." So let's talk.

In the book it's all different chapters depending on different stories, different people who have been very important in your life. First, chapter one, we got to talk about Bing Crosby. I mean, obviously, he's a legendary singer.

But what was it about him? I mean, you go all the way back to when you were a kid, 6 years old in the Bronx and hearing his voice. What was it about Bing Crosby?

REGIS PHILBIN: Well, the sound of his voice meant everything to me. It was beautiful. It was tender. It was just like somebody talking to you, telling you a beautiful story, which turned out to be a beautiful song.

But every night at 9:30 on the WNDW, the premier radio station in New York, I would listen to Bing Crosby for a half hour. It got to the point where I knew every lyric of every song. I just enjoyed it so much. I wanted to be Bing Crosby. I wanted to be in show business. And of course, it never happened, but I sure enjoyed meeting him years later on the "Joey Bishop Show."

BALDWIN: Let's talk about that because if I may interject though, there was a sort of a step where like you said, you wanted to be Bing Crosby. You're singing it for your parents the day before you graduate because you want to be him.

Your parents not exactly plussed I guess about the plan. So here you go, fast forward a couple of years, here you are on the "Joey Bishop Show." You guys book Bing Crosby and then there was a moment when what did Joey Bishop do?

PHILBIN: Well, Joey Bishop knew that I admired Crosby so much. They wanted Bing to sing on the show, but they were afraid to ask him. You know, it's stand at late night in the show and Crosby was a giant.

So Joey used this approach. Bing, see this kid? Biggest fan you ever had. Would you sing to him? One of Crosby's song in "Going My Way," which won one of the Academy award. So he turned no problem and he sang it to me.

I was thrilled out of my mind. Bishop not content with that then said, Regis, why don't you sing a song to Bing. Sing one of his songs. How about "Pennies from Heaven" and there I was. I hadn't sung that song since I sang it for my parents at Notre Dame when I wanted to tell them what I wanted to be in my life.

I wanted to be Bing Crosby. It was so ridiculous. After the song, I said, forget it. I'll try it again in television. But anyway, there was Bing. So I sang "Pennies from Heaven" to him and he hummed along with me.

That was the thrill of my life and the next day, to show you how crazy this business is, I got a recording contract. I never studied, never taken any lessons, never had any confidence in that, just wanted to do it.

BALDWIN: Wow, talk about a pinch me moment for a lifetime. Next, George Clooney, Regis Philbin, you, your wife and friends wind up in Italy. Can we talk about that?

PHILBIN: Yes, sure. George's PR guy called me and said, you know, George knows you are down in that hotel. He's right up the street. He'd love to entertain you. Are you kidding? Let's go.

So we all went and George whom I knew fairly well, but it wasn't closely, couldn't have been better. He opened his arms, brought us in. He showed us around this Italian villa that he bought.

And the reason he bought it was because his bicycle, his motor bike was dead in front of his house. And there you go and he bought the house. It was just amazing. He had the wine and Italian food. It's a night where you laugh and you told them all my stories. He told me all his. We had a wonderful time.

Then the next morning, you wake up with a slight hang over and say to yourself, did I bore him? Did I drink all his wine? I mean, what does he really think?

BALDWIN: You're really thinking that, Regis Philbin? You're really thinking did I bore him?

PHILBIN: Yes, yes, because we were there until about 2:00 in the morning. You know, he was so gracious that I thought well, maybe he can't wait for us to get out of there. You know, you always think something didn't go right. But then two years later I'm going to see a movie. I'm next to a gal who was well known in New York area. She said I was in Italy this summer. I said, really, great. She said I was over at George Clooney's.

I said, so was I. She said, I know. He said that's the best night he's ever had then. I said, wait a minute. Tell me exactly what he said. She said that was exactly what he said. I couldn't have been happier about that.

BALDWIN: Regis Philbin, will you do me a favor? Just standby for 70 seconds, I have a little more for you. I got maybe a surprise up my sleeves. Back in 70 seconds.

PHILBIN: All right, fine. I'll wait for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Regis Philbin back with me. He's just written a book, "How I Got This Way" and since I have and since your whole thing is going unscripted, would you mind speaking of "Pennies from Heaven, sir?"

Are you with me? Will you sing with your hero? That's Bing taking it easy.

One more I guess for you. What's next? Did you turn down "Dancing with the Stars"? You want to do some dancing. You want to do "Saturday Night Live. What's next for you?

PHILBIN: Brooke, I had a lot of fun with "Dancing with the Stars." I wanted to dance with Derek Hough. I was kidding. I couldn't do it. They sent me the schedule. That's a lot of hard work.

BALDWIN: How about "Saturday Night Live?"

PHILBIN: Nobody called. They do me all the time, but I didn't get any calls from them.

BALDWIN: Hello. Memo to Lorne Michaels, right.

PHILBIN: And I know Lorne, but it's a great show. I enjoy it. Nobody called.

BALDWIN: Somebody is going to call you, Regis Philbin. It is a pleasure to meet you. Thank you so, so much for coming on. We look forward to seeing you wherever you next pop up. Again, your book is "How I Got This Way."

It's an easy. It's a fun read. It's got take away at the end of each chapter. Lot of stories. Talking about George Clooney, Jack Nicholson, he calls him the Ridge. Howard Stern who it turns out is a good neighbor. Regis Philbin, thank you so, so much.