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Syracuse Assistant Coach Fired; Pakistan Puts U.S. on Notice; Bill Clinton Publically praises Newt Gingrich; Craigslist Job Ad May Be Linked to Murders; Eight-Year-Old Taken From Mother Because He is Obese; Should Supreme Court Justices Recuse Themselves From Healthcare Decision

Aired November 28, 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: Top of the hour. Watch this. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Here's what we're looking at right now. A Syracuse coach fired soon after a shocking tape has come to light.

Also, the markets getting a bit of a Black Friday bounce.

Pakistan puts the U.S. on notice after a deadly NATO strike.

And a wet, dare I say possibly snowy, day for the Southeast.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette" here on this Monday.

Ed Lavandera, let's begin with you in Syracuse, where Syracuse University fired assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine. Fine is accused of sexually abusing kids. Ed, also news of Fine's termination coming just hours after the world heard this tape recording of his wife. Tell me about it.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a recording between one of Bernie Fine's principal accusers, a man by the name of Bobby Davis.

And in that phone recording, he was talking with Bernie Fine's wife, and it was a dramatic phone call. These are phone calls that lasted quite some time. We can listen to a little bit of it, and it really seems to bolster what Bobby Davis has been saying here over the last few weeks accusing Bernie Fine of molesting him hundreds of times over the course of some 16 years back in the 1980s and 1990s -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

LAURIE FINE, WIFE OF BERNIE FINE: I know everything that went on. I know everything that went on with him. Bernie has issues maybe that he's not aware of, but he has issues and you trusted somebody you shouldn't have trusted. Bernie is also in denial. I think that he did the things he did, but he's somehow through his own mental telepathy has erased them out of his mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Obviously, Ed, it sounds quite incriminating initially. Head basketball coach Jim Boeheim came out in strong support of Fine. What's he saying now?

LAVANDERA: Well, we also want to be very clear about this. We have made repeated attempts to speak with Bernie Fine's wife about these tapes, repeated phone calls. We have knocked on her door several times trying to get comment from her. We have gotten nowhere with those.

But Jim Boeheim's reaction, the head coach of the Syracuse basketball team, fascinating because early on when this story first broke, just before Thanksgiving, Boeheim was very adamant about his support for his assistant coach, in fact also came out and said that these two principal accusers at the time were lying, very strong words.

Boeheim backtracking dramatically in a statement that he released last night, saying he's shocked and devastated by these new allegations. There's now a third accuser who has come forward and he's actually apologizing if his comments were in any way disruptive and not allowing other people to come forward and tell their stories to authorities, so quite a dramatic change for the Syracuse basketball coach -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Just to underscore your point, of course we will continue to follow up and make those phone calls to Mrs. Fine.

Ed Lavandera for us in Syracuse, Ed, thank you.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: Next on "Reporter Roulette," let's go to the Pentagon and Chris Lawrence.

And, Chris, we know over the weekend there was a NATO airstrike that killed two dozen Pakistani troops, sparking protests, also strong words from Pakistan's prime minister. What is the latest today?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the situation is so sensitive that about all you're hearing from U.S. officials are condolences and an announcement that the U.S. has launched an investigation and to find out how this happened.

On the Pakistani side, they have asked the U.S. to leave an air base that the CIA had been using to launch drone strikes against al Qaeda elements within Pakistan. And they have closed two key border checkpoints, checkpoints that control about 30 percent of the supplies for the American troops in Afghanistan.

BALDWIN: Let's just talk a little bit more about U.S./Pakistani relations. It hasn't always been peachy, if you will. Why is that?

LAWRENCE: Yes, that's an understatement, Brooke. They have had obviously some very rocky moments, most especially earlier this year with the raid to kill Osama bin Laden.

But, look, Afghanistan -- controls a key area, an access point into landlocked Afghanistan that is very important the war effort in Afghanistan. Pakistan -- I should say Pakistan controls that. Pakistan also has between 70 and 90 nuclear warheads, a strong nuclear power that the U.S. needs to engage.

And on the other side, the U.S. provides billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan. So there are elements there that suggest the relationship will find a way to continue.

BALDWIN: OK. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon, Chris, thank you.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

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

New developments this afternoon in the death of the Florida A&M band member. We have now heard from the attorney for the band director.

Plus, a University of Utah professor is allegedly caught watching child porn on an airplane on a flight to Boston. Find out how exactly he was caught.

And a border fence between Mexico and the United States is being extended into the ocean. We're talking about 300 feet in the Pacific. We will get you those stories and much more coming up this hour here of CNN. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And welcome back. If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it "Rapid Fire."

Let's go, beginning with Syracuse University. Disturbing new allegations in the Syracuse University sexual abuse case. There is audio tape now. The school fired assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine last night after a third man came forward saying Fine molested him when he was a young boy. A phone recording surfaces now from nine years ago. ESPN says the woman on that tape is Fine's wife, Laurie, who says she knew everything that went on with her husband.

The family of a Florida A&M drum major who died in that possible hazing incident plans to sue the university. Robert Champion died back on November 20 after a game in Orlando and an attorney says the family is concerned about a -- quote -- "culture of cover-up" at the school. The school's band director has been fired and earlier today he said he was doing everything he could to rid his band of hazing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIAN WHITE, FIRED FLORIDA A&M BAND DIRECTOR: I wish that we were not meeting here now. I wish that this could have been avoided. And I took the necessary steps that this tragedy could have been avoided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Julian White was fired shortly after Robert Champion's death and all band performances have now been suspended. The U.S. Border Patrol plans to replace and extend what they call a surf fence -- this is 300 feet -- into the Pacific Ocean. This is at the western most point of the U.S.-Mexico border, so it goes between Imperial Beach California, and Tijuana, Mexico. According to "The Los Angeles Times" a new steel fence some 18 feet tall will replace the barrier which apparently has several gaps in it.

A professor on a Delta flight to Boston Saturday winds up in jail. Police say university of Utah professor Grant D. Smith was caught looking at child pornography on his laptop while on the airplane. The university paper says Smith is a material science and engineering professor and is now on leave pending an investigation.

Mitt Romney getting ripped by a new ad from the DNC today. This ad here paints the GOP presidential candidate as wavering on issues like abortion and health care. They're calling this ad "Trapped." It's airing in five states and in our nation's capital. In a statement, Romney's campaign spokesperson says Democrats' focus on the GOP candidate was a distraction from real issues today like jobs and the economy.

And a high-profile fighter for the liberal cause is retiring from politics. This man here, Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts, has decided not to seek reelection. The congressman says when he leaves the Capitol he's not coming back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: There is no way I would be a lobbyist. Look, I will miss this job and I will have some twinges of regret when the new Congress is signed up, but I will tell you this. And maybe you are going to laugh, but one of the advantages to me of not running for office is, I don't even have to pretend to try to be nice to people I don't like.

(LAUGHTER)

FRANK: So some of you may not think I have been good at it, but I have been trying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Congressman Frank known for his quick wit, keen knowledge of husband House rules and for being one of the first openly gay members of Congress.

A teenage girl in Kansas said some pretty ugly things about the governor of her state to her 65 friends at the time on Twitter while on this Youth in Government. Well, now this tweet and her story, it has gone viral. The governor's office called the Youth in Government folks. They then in turn called the girl's principal. The girl was called to the school office, told to apologize. She said no thanks. Find out what happened next all over one tweet. And that teenager, I should mention, Emma Sullivan, she will join me live to tell her side of the story in two minutes. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you ever doubted the power or the reach of social media, I want you to listen really closely to this story.

And we will want to warn you up front you might find some of the language a little rough. Here we go. A high school senior on a Youth in Government field trip tweets to her followers at the time, all 65 of them, blasting this guy, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback.

So today this young woman is at the center of an Internet storm. Let's start with her. She is 18-year-old Emma Sullivan. And her tweet -- apparently as the story goes she was standing with a group of students and she was listening to the governor speak. And she tweeted this -- and I can only read part of it for you, speaking of some of this language.

So she tweeted -- quote -- "Just made mean comments at Governor Brownback, told him he sucked in person." And then she follows it up with a crude hashtag.

So the repercussions from that tweet were swift. The governor's office saw Emma Sullivan's tweet. They then contacted the Youth in Government program. And then Emma got called to the principal's office and told to apologize.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMA SULLIVAN, STUDENT: He started off just saying that he had to do a bunch of damage control and I need to do damage control and that I needed to fix this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Emma has the full backing of her mother. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE SULLIVAN, MOTHER: I think it was a cowardly move for him to go after her. This is the lingo for this generation. And it's not entertaining if she said, well, my political views differ and went on to explain in a more intellectual forum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, since the story broke, I mentioned she had initially 65 followers. Last time I checked her Twitter site, it was like 8,000- plus. Whole thing blown up on social media.

In fact, I want you to take a look at some of the reaction, some of it coming from you as I was tweeting this out today -- quote -- "Emma Sullivan should be applauded, not criticized. Just how much power and influence should Brownback have?"

Another tweet: "Emma Sullivan is a spoiled brat who probably doesn't even know why she was tweeting about the governor."

Another one: "Not sure I get an adult acting like a teen to try to show up a teen acting like a teen."

Emma Sullivan on the phone with me from Fairway, Kansas.

And, Emma, we should point out you just got word from your school district, the principal had given you a deadline, right, today to officially apologize. And now they're backing off that. They say that this should be a teachable moment.

So, Emma Sullivan, what have you learned?

SULLIVAN: I have definitely learned the power of social media, for sure.

I have learned that people will see what I said and that my words do have an impact and that everyone's voice will eventually probably be heard.

BALDWIN: Emma, let's go back to your tweet. Why did you tweet that in the first place? Why did you think that about the governor?

SULLIVAN: It was a decision on my own part to kind of joke around with friends.

I didn't mean to get his attention or to cause an uprise like it has. Just, I wanted to, you know, continue the conversation with my friends. We were all standing around, joking around, kind of saying things they would like to say. And it was just kind of spur of the moment.

BALDWIN: So it was a joke with friends.

But, guys, let's pull the tweet up again because given some of the words -- have you ever met the governor? Did you have any kind of conversation with him while you were there last week to at all prompt you to tweet this?

SULLIVAN: I follow his policies, and my sister does regularly, too, and she keeps me updated.

He was actually at the time talking about his plan for education and funding. And me and my friends are at that point where we all are registered to vote, so we do have to keep up with the government. We all are in government class. So I do know his background and I do know what I believe in. And I know what he believes in, and I know that they don't match up.

BALDWIN: So, just so I'm clear, you have never met him?

SULLIVAN: No.

BALDWIN: OK. Did you have any idea, Emma, that your 65 followers who initially got that tweet would turn into 8,000 in a week? Did you have any idea this story would blow up the way it has? SULLIVAN: I had no idea whatsoever. I didn't think it would get any bigger than me getting called into the principal's office.

BALDWIN: Would you -- if you were to ever meet the governor, would you ever use that kind of language if you were speaking with him face to face?

SULLIVAN: I wouldn't use that language. At that time, I was speaking to my 60 followers, which are a bunch of teenagers who wouldn't take the time to read a tweet that said, I disagree with Brownback because of this and this, very actual critical words and mature.

My friends are still teenagers. If I said something that used their language and something they could relate to, of course, they're going to read it, instead of me droning on about something too serious for them to comprehend.

BALDWIN: Well, let me let you know we here at CNN, we reached out to Governor Brownback's office. And we actually have heard back from him.

So I just want to read part of a statement that his office sent us here. I'm going to quote: "My staff overreacted to this tweet, and for that, I apologize. Freedom of speech is among our most treasured freedoms."

So they're apologizing. Are you still not apologizing for any of your language used in the tweet, number one? And, number two, would you be willing ever to sit down with the governor and have an actual conversation?

SULLIVAN: I wouldn't mind maybe voicing my opinions to him.

I'm not a politician myself, so I can't sit down and tell him, this is what you need to do for, you know, this, this and this, different policies or what he needs to do to help our education system.

But I wouldn't apologize for the tweet itself because, like I said, that was aimed towards my audience. It was not aimed toward him. I wasn't talking directly towards him. It was to my high school friends.

BALDWIN: Emma Sullivan standing behind her tweet.

Emma, thank you for calling in. I appreciate it, calling in from Kansas for us.

SULLIVAN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: If a parent turned over the car keys to an 8-year-old, we would be shocked at the level of irresponsibility. Stick around and see if you agree with this case coming out of Ohio where a small child was removed from a home because he weighs 200 pounds.

And then our own John King, he hits the road to talk to Newt Gingrich, the new Republican front-runner in the presidential battleground state. And you better believe we're going to discuss why Bill Clinton felt compelled to give Gingrich such high marks in a conservative publication. Don't miss that.

But, first, a look at this weekend's "The Next List" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Episode four features social roboticist Heather Knight. Meet Heather her sidekick robot Data.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER KNIGHT, SOCIAL ROBOTICIST: My name is Heather Knight. I'm a social roboticist.

A social roboticist is someone that makes robots that can interact with people in a human way. When I tell people that I make robots, they're usually like, oh, wow, that's really cool. And when I tell people I make social robots, usually they're a little bit confused at first. And I have found that the best way to talk about what I actually do is by example.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Time for a special "America's Choice 2012" update.

John King is live in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina.

And, John, huge interview today. Current Republican flavor of the week, if you will, this week's poll topper Newt Gingrich, you have to be pretty excited about this one.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that's the question.

Is he the flavor of the week? We have watched the anybody-but-Romney ball, Brooke, be handed from Michele Bachmann. Donald Trump had it even when he wasn't even running. Then it was Rick Perry. Then it was Herman Cain.

Now it's Newt Gingrich. The question is, can he keep it? And one way he hopes to keep is he's now saying he's the only bona fide conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. And this state, South Carolina, votes third, Iowa, then New Hampshire, South Carolina 54 days. Republicans here like to say Iowa and New Hampshire winnow the field a little bit. South Carolina picks nominees, so an important night for Newt Gingrich, a town hall here with the Tea Party favorite Congressman Tim Scott, trying to tell conservatives in this conservative state, look at me.

And I know you were talking earlier how this is just -- this is the first television interview he will do since getting the "Union Leader" endorsement up in New Hampshire. He's trying to build momentum. We will see if he can keep it.

BALDWIN: Talk about that, the significance of the "Union Leader" endorsement. Why is that such a big deal?

KING: Well, it's important because it's a statewide newspaper. It is the leading conservative editorial voice in the state of New Hampshire. It is a newspaper that Mitt Romney has courted and courted and courted in hopes of getting that endorsement. And he's been at it for three, four, five years courting them.

And essentially the editorial says on the front page Mitt Romney will say anything to get our endorsement. Newt Gingrich might not be perfect, but we think he is a good candidate.

What is different about "The Union Leader" is when give you that front-page editorial endorsement, they don't just do it one day. They tend to do it over and over again. And, again, remember, New Hampshire votes second, after Iowa. Mitt Romney is way ahead there right now.

If Newt Gingrich can surprise Mitt Romney in New Hampshire -- and surprise could even mean a strong second-place finish -- that would be a decent springboard into South Carolina. Now, "The Union Leader" does not have a perfect track record. It has endorsed many candidates that have gone on to lose New Hampshire, let alone beyond New Hampshire. But the goal for Gingrich right now, the number one goal is to convince conservatives he's the leading alternative. In that fight the endorsement helps a lot.

BALDWIN: Then the Bill Clinton factor suddenly. The former president saying some pretty nice things about Newt Gingrich in that recent interview. Let's remember they were blood rivals when Clinton was president. Is Bill Clinton being straight-up, or is he playing Republicans with this?

KING: I think both, actually. I covered Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich back in those days, got some of those gray hairs back in those battles. Remember, Newt Gingrich was the head of house Republicans during the impeachment of Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky scandal. So these two are not -- they wouldn't sit down for tea, they're not likely friends.

However, Bill Clinton really respects Newt Gingrich from a policy perspective. Yes, they sparred over impeachment, yes they fought viciously over other things, but they cut a deal to balance the budget. They cut a deal to change Welfare reform in the United States of America, and Bill Clinton respects Gingrich the thinker. So when he compliments him on policy grounds, he means it.

He also knows the last thing Newt Gingrich needs is praise from Bill Clinton when with he's running for the Republican nomination. So he means everything he says, and he winks when he says it and smiles, trust me.

BALDWIN: I look forward to that interview, Mr. King, 6:00 eastern on your show "JK USA." Thank you so much for us live in Charleston.

KING: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now to this. This is not what we need. Three years ago we had the meltdown. And now we're just kind of staggering out, sort of. We he had a record black Friday. We have some other positive signs. But as if on cue, Europe has a problem and it could be contagious. A lot of talk today about this at the White House. Let's go to Brianna Keilar there no for us now. And Brianna, what if anything is the White House doing to either help, to push, to prod the Euros with their dead cris?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, we've been hearing the same thing from the White House for quite some time now, that they believe it's a European issue and Europe is equipped to handle it and that they will deal with this effectively. But there's a lot of concern right now, growing concern, some experts worried of course that some of the countries who use the euro might default, that you could see the Eurozone break apart. And, of course, that's something that would affect the European economies but U.S. economy as well. And it's really this backdrop that we saw President Obama today meeting with EU leaders.

He spoke on camera a short time ago. Here's part of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I communicated to them that the United States stands ready to do our part to help them resolve this issue. This is of huge importance to our own economy. You know, if Europe is contracting or Europe is having difficulties, then it's much more difficult for us to create good jobs here at home because we send so many of our products and services to Europe. It is such an important trading partner for us. And so we've got a stake in their success and we will continue to work in a constructive way to try to resolve this issue in the near future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, we've heard White House Press Secretary Jay Carney say over and over that the Eurozone countries need to move quickly, they need to move strongly. But there's this open question that I think is causing nervousness, and that is aside from applying this gentle pressure, at least publicly, what can the U.S. really do to help this situation?

BALDWIN: We just heard the president say, yes, the U.S. has a stake in the success of what's happening in Europe, and publicly the folks at the White House are saying they're confident that the Europeans are taking steps in the right direction. But are they saying that as well behind closed doors?

KEILAR: You know, privately at least at this point, Brooke, it's not a whole lot different than that. We've heard the White House -- we've heard Jay Carney say that top officials in the administration stand ready to provide assistance in the form of expertise.

Now, at the same time, there's sort of this sensitivity as you can imagine to certainly tread publicly on an ally like Germany, like France. We know that President Obama is speaking constantly, to hear Carney say it, to the chancellor, to President Sarkozy.

And what we're seeing really from the White House now is a focus instead on -- you'll hear this, let's focus on what we can control, and that would be our economy here. No matter what happens in Europe we need to make sure we can do everything we can to shore up our economy. And the focus there is on the president's jobs plan which he is continuing to push and will continue to push this week as he goes to Pennsylvania with his message on Wednesday.

BALDWIN: Brianna Keilar, good to see you. Thank you very much.

Question for you -- should a judge be able to decide on a case she worked on as a government lawyer when the judge is a member of the highest court in the land and the case is the president's health care overhaul? That question gets aloft attention. We're going to go on the case next.

Also, we're going to tell you about an eight-year-old boy removed from his mother's home because he's morbidly obese. Folks, he's eight years of age weighing in at 200 pounds. Don't miss that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: On the case today, the fight over which justices, which U.S. Supreme Court justices should or should not be on the bench for the upcoming Supreme Court battle over health care reform. Two justices in particular are being targeted here. Some on the right say Justice Elena Kagan should sit this one out. Keep in mind she was the Obama administration's top Supreme Court lawyer before joining the nation's highest court.

And then some on the left want Justice Clarence Thomas to bow out because his wife has been very active in conservative causes and that could create a conflict of interest.

Let's bring in Sunny Hostin. Sunny, what do you think? Should these two justices remove themselves from the health care case?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, if you look at the history, I don't think that's appropriate or necessary in this case. I mean, when you think about Justice Thomas, they're asking that he recuse himself because his wife Virginia is opposed to the health care law. Judges are allowed to have their own personal opinions and their families and friends are allowed to have their own personal opinions. I don't think that would affect Justice Thomas in any way.

I think Elena Kagan's position is a little more tenuous. It's a little -- it's a closer call in the sense that she was the solicitor general for Obama had when this law was passed. And my understanding is she sent an e-mail to Harvard professor Larry Tribe expressing sort of her excitement over the law, saying, wow, we've got the votes.

So when you look at that, that's probably a closer call, but the bottom line is, it's up to Justice Kagan to recuse herself. She has given no indication she is going to recuse herself, and I think we would know already if she weren't going to listen to the five-and-a- half of argument, Brooke. So is she going to recuse herself? I think the answer is no.

BALDWIN: So does anyone even have power, Sunny Hostin, to remove one of these justices from a case? HOSTIN: I did a little research on this, and, surprisingly, no. It's really p up to the justices to recuse themselves. I think most justices generally do recuse themselves when there is sort of a conflict of interest or certainly this appearance of impropriety. But, in this case, people's opinions are sort of all over the place, not when it comes to Justice Thomas but sort of when it comes to Justice Lagan. But I don't know it's necessary for her to recuse herself in this case, and I don't believe she's going to, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, we have to talk about this eight-year-old boy who lives in Cleveland, Ohio. He has been taken away from his mother, placed in foster care, because he weighs over 200 pounds. Child welfare workers say the mother wasn't doing enough to maintain or control his weight. Have you ever seen or heard of a case like this, Sunny Hostin?

HOSTIN: I have not. It's remarkable, right? Oftentimes children are removed from homes when they aren't being taken care of, when they aren't being bathed, when they aren't being fed. You see these cases when had children are malnourished and abused. You don't typically see cases where this type of thing happens, when a child is fed too much.

But I think it's appropriate, because the standard here is what is in the best interest of the child. And we're talking about a kid that's morbidly obese, Brooke. I mean, 200 pounds at age eight is so far off the scale. And look at the average height and weight for an eight- year-old, a boy four foot, two, 57 pounds, a girl four foot, two, 56 pounds. This child is about four times the average weight for an eight-year-old boy. So there's no question this is not healthy for him.

BALDWIN: Yes, I was reading about this in the "Cleveland Plain Dealer" this morning. They kept talking about medical neglect here. But he's removed from his mother. Are there any other alternatives than simply foster care for a child in this kind of situation?

HOSTIN: That's the thing. I mean, again, the standard is what is in the best interest of the child. Is it ever in the best interest of a child to be taken away from his mother, the only family he's known. I don't think so.

A more appropriate method perhaps would be to find a program for the child and for his mother so that they could learn how to make these healthy choices. Just because you take a child away from his mother and place him in foster care, what if that foster parent isn't equipped to take care of a child that's now morbidly obese, to take care of a child and show the child these healthy choices? So we know the first lady has given us so much information about obesity in this country, especially as it relates to children. But most people just don't know enough about it, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We'll follow this and see what happens with this eight-year- old boy, if he does get to come back home. Sunny Hostin, thank you.

Looking for work far from home, they went missing for days. But one man followed his gut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait a minute. He owns a 688-acre farm and he doesn't know the exact exit it's at? Something's wrong there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up, we'll talk to that man who did not get the job and lived to tell about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The deaths of three men in Ohio are believed linked to a Craigslist ad, but the motivation wasn't to find girl, which you might think when you hear "Craigslist." These men were look for work, responding to a job on a cattle farm. The only identified victim here so far is Timothy Kern. He said this in his last Facebook posting, quote, "Just got one of the strangest job offers, a good offer but strange."

This job is to watch over 680 acres. Drawbacks? No cell service. The local sheriff has two in custody. This whole thing started after one of the applicants, a fourth man, escaped. Sarah Buduson from our affiliate WEWS has the timeline.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARAH BUDUSON, WEWS: November 6th, a man from south carolina is shot in the arm in rural noble county when he answers an ad about a job on craigslist. He escapes and tells police. Later that week, police begin searching the area. November 13th, Timothy Kern is last seen in Plain Township. His father said his son interviewed for a job advertised on Craigslist.

November 14th, cadaver dogs begin searching rural areas in Noble County. November 15th, the dogs find the body of a Virginia man in a shallow hand-dug grave. Police say he was lured to the area by the promise of a job, also advertised on Craigslist.

November 16th, police arrest two people in connection with the case, 52-year-old Richard Beasley of Akron who has not yet been charged but was picked up on unrelated charges, and a 16-year-old boy from Summit County.

November 18th, the teen is charged with attempted murder. Also Beasley's mother says she knows the teen. She talked with News Channel 5.

CAROL BEASLEY, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: He's a kid we have taken to church since he was 7 or 8 years old. Wow, he's had such a tough life.

BUDUSON: November 22nd, a Summit County man told News Channel 5 he interviewed with Beasley for a job advertised on Craigslist. But the man never got a call back from Beasley. November 25th, police find two more bodies in shallow graves, one in Noble County and one in Summit County.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Now, as that affiliate reporter mentioned, police arrested a 16-year-old boy. His father, Michael Rafferty, tells our affiliate WJW that his son Brogan is charged with attempted murder. The other suspect that she mentioned, Richard Beasley, is in jail on prostitution and drug charges. And I want to bring in Ron Sanson on the phone with me, responded to this ad, met Richard Beasley in person. First, Ron, can we be more specific about the ad? What exactly did the job entail?

RON SANSON, APPLIED TO JOB ON CRAIGSLIST: Basically he was asking for someone single, older gentleman, to look over a farm they have, 688 acres. You would have a two-bedroom trailer rent-free, utilities paid for, and $300 a week.

BALDWIN: Sounded pretty good.

SANSON: Oh, yes.

BALDWIN: So then you go, you meet this 52-year-old Beasley. Where did you meet him and what was he like?

SANSON: I met him at the Chapel Hill Mall here in Akron in the food court.

BALDWIN: And how did he strike you? Was he a pretty regular guy? Was he odd?

SANSON: Yes, he was regular, from what I seen of him. He talked nice about everything, you know. Nothing -- no bells went off in my head about it.

BALDWIN: Continue your thought.

SANSON: Not that this guy is up to no good or anything. So I filled out an application. And he said he was going to talk to a couple more guys there that day. So after we talked -- the only thing that he really didn't answer was, when I asked him where the property was, and all he said is it's couple exits south of Cambridge.

BALDWIN: Now that news has come out that these bodies have been found in these shallow graves, these men applied for the jobs, who had gotten the job, are you glad you didn't get the job?

SANSON: Yes.

BALDWIN: OK, Ron Sanson, thank you so much.

Now to this one. And this one come in close here. OK, come in a little closer. And you see this guy, talk to him, this guy over here. He's the guy anchors the show each and every day right after mine. So he has interviewed presidents, prime ministers, you name it, leaders of nations. He did a little something special, something different. We're going to talk about that. We're going to show the video next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: "THE SITUATION ROOM" coming up with Wolf Blitzer in minutes. As always we talk to Wolf about all things political and things newsworthy. I know have you a big interview coming up in the next hour. But we have to talk about what we saw on TV last night, the BET Soul Train awards. Tell me what you did.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, I had some fun. I was there with you, Susan Malveaux, Fredricka Whitfield. We sat in the audience, we had a good time. At one point I went up and did the scramble board. If you are old enough to remember Soul Train, they put the letters up there, give you a clue and that was Doug E. Fresh, he taught me the Dougie. Last year. It was fun, a brief little cameo appearance.

BALDWIN: Let's be clear. If you are looking at Wolf with the drum sticks and a box, that's Wolf Blitzer beat boxing, kind of. Who's idea was that?

BALDWIN: That was theirs. You know in high school I played the drums, did you know that?

BALDWIN: No, I didn't know.

BLITZER: I played the kettle drums. But I was all western New York timpani. I played at the music hall in Buffalo. It's one of the highlights of my life.

BALDWIN: Obviously.

BLITZER: Ask me how other competitors were trying to get that role as all western New York timpani player.

BALDWIN: How many?

BLITZER: I think I was the only one. I was really bad, but I got that assignment which was pretty good.

BALDWIN: Hey, Wolf Blitzer, I know you're talking about Herman Cain this next hour. We'll look for that, all beat boxing aside.

BLITZER: We will be live here. Cain and Blitz in the situation room.

BALDWIN: That's right. We will look for that, see you in a matter of minutes.

Meantime, Thanksgiving was spent decking the hall at the Huntsman house and apparently the Huntsman girls were rocking out around the Christmas tree. Joe Johns explains.

Also this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: What does this guy, that man, have in common with Mitt Romney? It has nothing to do with singing, everything to do with worship. It is making Political Pop today. Joe Johns is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And so it happens we have a bit after holiday theme for Political Pop for you on this Monday starting with Christmas at the Capitol. Joe Johns in Washington, you know, we know the lawmakers are back from their Thanksgiving holiday to the capitol annual Christmas tree.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The lighting ceremony is going to be December 6. And they have the Christmas tree for the capitol here. It is a sierra white fir, always a big deal, 65 feet ball from the Stanislaw National Forest in California. I don't mean to be a complete downer, but I worked at the capitol for a while, and I always wondered why do they cut down a tree? Why don't they plant one out there every year and decorate it? They've got a lot of space.

It turns out they actually tried to do that. In 194 or so they planted a live tree out there, but it only lived until like 1968, storm root damage, what have you. Then about 1970 the Department of Agriculture first service started provided the trees, Capitol Christmas tree. You know it doesn't get nearly the attention, the national Christmas tree.

But it does have its own song, and I give we're not going to be able to play it today, maybe later.

BALDWIN: Speaking of songs, let's skip ahead to Mitt Romney loves The Killers. Why?

JOHNS: Right. Well, this is interesting. And we find out from "People" magazine because these are the kinds of things that "People" magazine likes to ask about. He has an iPad, and he has both music and games on it. Among the music he has is music by The Killers. You're listening to "Mr. Brightside" of course, a very popular song. As it turns out the lead singer of the killers, Brandon Flowers, is a Mormon. So, yes, some new information. He also has "Angry Birds" on that iPad.

BALDWIN: Apparently a big fan. Who knew? Joe Johns, thank you so much. Thank you for watching. Now to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now.