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Payroll Tax Cut Battle Continues; Egypt's Election Results; Herman Cain Returns Home; Cancer Patient Runs Marathons; Unemployment Rate Drops; Prosecution Calls for Death Penalty in Home Invasion/Murder Case; Country Singer Mindy McCready Kidnaps Son

Aired December 02, 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: We're rolling on, though, hour two. Take a look at this.

Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Here is what we're watching for you.

First, big news this morning, the November jobs report. Those numbers are out. Hiring number is up, the unemployment is down.

Also, looking for ways to pay for the payroll tax cut.

A huge turnout in the first Egyptian election since Hosni Mubarak was ousted.

And troops are returning from Iraq today.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And your wallet is on the line as Congress is battling it out over extending the Social Security payroll tax cut and how to pay for it.

Let's go live to Capitol Hill to Kate Bolduan.

And, Kate, Senator Democrats had a plan. So did Senate Republicans. Why couldn't either plan get through the Senate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This vote was last night.

Neither proposal was really expected to pass. You can consider it -- people are seeing it more as kind of the opening offer from either side. Why did they not pass? Because, in both proposals, Democrats and Republicans had proposed paying for extending this payroll tax in a manner that the other side did not, could not support.

Democrats wanted to pay for their extension of the payroll tax cut by putting a surtax on income over $1 million. Republicans wanted to extend a federal pay freeze on federal employees, as well as reducing the federal work force by 10 percent over time.

Neither side was going to support the other's proposal, Brooke. But an interesting development, a very surprising development from last night is the Republican proposal did not win a majority of support among Republicans themselves, which is getting quite a bit of attention.

Republican aides though of course are stressing that that was not the final offer, not the final proposal. So kind of wait and see how things turn out as they look for a compromise solution. But it's revealing real divisions amongst Republicans on this issue of the payroll tax cut, not only how to pay for it, but really whether to extend the payroll tax cut at all is what we're hearing from more Republicans, because they don't think that this payroll tax cut has helped stimulate the economy while taking away from Social Security.

And as you can probably guess, Democrats see a real political opening there and they are hammering Republicans from the president on down that Republicans are not supporting a payroll tax extension which would largely help middle-class Americans, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Kate Bolduan, keep us posted live from Capitol Hill on that payroll tax cut extension there.

Next to this on "Reporter Roulette."

CNN's Jim Clancy is live for us in Cairo, Egypt, for the outcome of Egypt's first election since President Hosni Mubarak was tossed out of power.

Jim, the election commission, they made a statement, a very lengthy statement today. We know that 62 percent of eligible voters cast their votes, but still do we know who won?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't have a list but we have a great idea about all of this, Brooke.

There's no doubt about it that the Islamist parties, the Muslim Brotherhood, some of the Salafist parties making an unusually strong showing. They are now expected to get between 60 and 70 percent of the total vote. We don't have that total vote yet.

The election officials indicated that they are going to post that on a Web site. They say they have been working nonstop for 100 hours trying to get the ballots counted. They are going to post it on the Web site and let everybody read it there. They say there was just too many papers for them to go through it.

But they reveled in the fact that this election was pulled off and pulled off peacefully. This was what Egyptians had been fearing the most. Now that they see people have turned out in these kinds of numbers, 8.5 million, or 62 percent of the eligible voters in this first round of the election went out and cast their ballots. And they are calling that a success for the army, for the police, for the election workers and for the people of Egypt.

In the words of one election official, this is the best turnout since the time of the pharaohs -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jim, though, it sounds fairly loud around you. I'm just curious as to how this news is being received, especially among those young activists we have seen for days upon days in Tahrir Square. How are they receiving the news that an Islamist group will be in control of parliament?

CLANCY: Well, you know what? I talked with one man who is tour guide here in Egypt in Sharm el-Sheikh, had come all the way back to Cairo to cast his ballot.

And he was feeling shocked, really, that one of the hard-line Islamic candidates, someone not with the Muslim Brotherhood, but with a more radical group, someone who had called for people to boycott the election, actually is going to be a member of this new parliament.

People have not forgotten the sacrifice that has been made in order to get this far. Look at the wall over here next to me, as you can see a mural, people (INAUDIBLE) and heroes all (INAUDIBLE) faces of some of those who have lost their lives.

Remember, just in the past dozen days or so, more than 40 people have lost their lives. In all, it depends on who you talk to, 900, according to official statistics, perhaps as many 1,200, if you listen to what the activists themselves are saying.

People in Egypt, though, tonight are proud of what they have accomplished -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jim Clancy live in Cairo, thank you, Jim.

And finally here on "Reporter Roulette," let's go to San Mateo, California. We have Dan Simon standing by for one of those just tremendous moments where you have this group, members of California National Guard finally coming home.

I imagine it was quite emotional.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's incredibly emotional, as these reunions always are.

As you said, we're in San Mateo, California. We're outside of a California National Guard armory. And what we saw today was highly symbolic, given the fact that this was the last California National Guard unit to leave Iraq. These guys, these men and women were over there for nine months. This is a medical company. You're talking about doctors and nurses and X-ray technicians and all kinds of medics.

And I want you to listen now to a mother who just reunited with her son outside of the armory. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMELDA SAPANLAY, MOTHER OF SOLDIER: Well, this is one the best blessings of my life. Very proud to be the mother of a soldier.

And I'm very proud and very blessed. I remember his dad always, though he's gone, I bet that he would be very proud of his son. I miss him so much, every day, sleeping and thinking about him, praying that he's going to come back home safe.

I have two boys. And almost my younger son joined the military, too. I don't know. But I would consider this the best day of my life, being a single mom and I'm very, very proud of my son.

Welcome back home, son. I love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow.

SIMON: Well, this unit deployed in February and Christmas coming a little early for them, Brooke. They were supposed to come home in a couple of months, but when President Obama set a withdrawal date, they were actually able to come back home three months earlier -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: The best day of a single mom's life. I got goose bumps.

Dan Simon, thank you for sharing that with us. We appreciate it.

And that is your "Reporter Roulette" for this Friday.

Staying on the West Coast, parts of the West Coast look like they have been hit by a hurricane, but, no, this is result of the Santa Ana winds -- more on that.

Also, I know you remember these images and the screams. This is when the stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair before Sugarland went on stage. So, today, we are now hearing the people who called 911. We're going to play that tape for you.

Also, what would snake charmers hope to accomplish by releasing dozens of snakes? Yikes.

And nearly a million cars are being recalled,some because of air bags that can kill. We're going to tell you what they are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it, "Rapid Fire." Let's go, beginning with this.

The Camden County, Georgia, Sheriff's Office has just solved part of this mystery involving the body of a woman and two very distinct tattoos. This woman's body was found Wednesday alongside I-95 in South Georgia. The autopsy results do in fact indicate this was a homicide. And the only clues to this woman's identity is what you're looking at, a partial fingerprint and two tattoos, a blue ribbon, and a butterfly with the word "Babycakes" on top of that.

So, when we began our show, deputies confirmed who this woman is. They have to notify her relatives though before of course releasing any details.

Want to take you to Indiana now, where last summer's horrible accident happened at the state fair. Who could forget this, the images of that stage just completely collapsing in the middle of the storm?

So now today we're getting this terrifying view of the tragedy from the perspective of these first-responders. Affiliate WTHR compiled the radio traffic from that night. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation is this. The stage framework and the speakers have collapsed on to the rows of chairs just in front.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you estimate total quantity of patients?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear. Do you think I need to start more than five units?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Seven people died as a result of that collapse.

Four children had to be airlifted to a hospital after a school bus and an empty logging truck collided in Mississippi. More than a dozen kids were injured. The bus was carrying about 20 students, some of whom were elementary and others high school age. They were headed to school. The bus driver was shaken up, but caring for the children when help arrived.

And heads up if you drive a Honda or an Acura made in the years between 2001 and 2003, you're going to want to take it back to the dealership and I'm going to tell you why. There's a recall here involving nearly one million cars sold by Honda.

The air bag inflator on about one-third of these cars needs to be replaced. The other two-thirds need to be inspected for defective air bag parts. At least two deaths have been caused by faulty air bags.

And Florida police arrested 29 Occupy protesters who just refused to leave this park in Tampa. More than 100 members of the group held a peaceful demonstration last night. Afterward, police issued warnings and then moved right into this riverfront park. This is the largest number of Occupy protesters arrested at one single time in Tampa since the movement began there three months ago.

Country singer Mindy McCready is getting a lot of attention lately, but not for the reason she probably would hope for. She is accused of stealing her own son and defying a judge's order to return him to her mother. So we're going to be talking to McCready's counselor from her stint on "Celebrity Rehab." That's coming up.

Also, winds as strong as a major hurricane hitting an area of the West that is bigger than Pennsylvania all told. Chad Myers is all over it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BALDWIN: Still to come here, we're talking about Herman Cain. He should be home in Atlanta in just about an hour from now. And when he gets home, from what we understand, he's going to have to have a chat with his supporter number one, his wife, Gloria, of 43 years, as to whether or not he should stick with this race for president.

And he's also going to be talking about that friend Ginger White, the woman who has come forward just this week alleging some 13-year affair with him. He denies that, but did say he has known her and he did give her money.

We're live outside his home. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: To politics we go.

And here are a couple of verbs you have heard lately, reassess, reevaluate and clarify. These are words Herman Cain has been using a little bit lately. And, right now, that candidate is heading home to suburban Atlanta for some heart-to-heart conversation with his wife.

And Shannon Travis is standing by near the Cain neighborhood in Atlanta. I have got Shannon on the phone with me.

And, Shannon, just set the scene. And any sign of Mrs. Cain?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes, I'm on my way there actually now, Brooke. Our crew is there on site. And they are saying that they don't see any sign of anything.

This suburban neighborhood that you just mentioned where Cain lives is only about a 30-minute or so drive outside of Atlanta. But it will likely be a really long drive for Mr. Cain.

Let's talk about some things that we know and that we don't know. We know that this is the first time, according to Mr. Cain, that he will see his wife face to face and talk about this situation since this latest story broke, this allegation of an alleged affair with Ginger White.

We also know that his wife -- from his own words, that his wife did not know about this friendship -- he calls it a friendship -- with Ms. White. We also know, though, that in the past that Gloria Cain has stood by her husband through the other allegations, as well as Herman Cain said earlier this week that when she first learned of this latest claim of some dealings with the woman, that his wife said, "Here we go again."

So, we're going to be standing by right outside of Mr. Cain's home. I have spoken with him several times. We're hoping to get a glimpse of him, maybe even perhaps even speak with me. It will likely be a -- it will definitely be a private moment. Will the family be there? Will it be a painful moment given all of these other things? We're standing by to see what we can get.

BALDWIN: Shannon Travis, I'm glancing down at my notes here, because I have a transcript of what Herman Cain said when he was speaking at a town hall in South Carolina not too long ago.

And I just want to read this in case -- I know you know this, but perhaps our viewers missed it.

He said: "Tomorrow in Atlanta, I will be making an announcement. But nobody is going to get me to make that prematurely. That's all there is to that. Tomorrow, we're going to be opening our headquarters in Northwest Georgia, where we also want to clarify" -- there is that word again, clarify -- "exactly what the next steps are."

Can we read anything more into that, Shannon Travis?

TRAVIS: I don't know that we can.

One has to wonder if Herman Cain has made the decision yet before he has actually met with his wife. One would think that obviously his number-one supporter, that what she has to say about the situation would decide whether he stays in, whether he goes forward or what the reassessment looks like, what have you.

That will -- a lot of that will play into what happens with Mr. Cain. Again, it will obviously be a very private moment for this couple. But now that we know that he will be making some sort of announcement tomorrow about the path ahead, he will -- that decision will obviously be informed based on what happens with his family this evening.

BALDWIN: Shannon Travis en route to the Cain neighborhood in Atlanta -- Shannon, thank you.

So, if you were trying to protest corruption, what would you do? Release snakes in a public place? Yes, that happened, and we have the video.

Plus, November's unemployment report came out just a couple of hours ago. There are some solid numbers. We're going to be talking to Alan Krueger, head of the president's Council of Economic Advisers. We will hear what he says about the economy. And I'm also going to ask him why so many people have given up, given up looking for jobs. That's an important part of the conversation. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Each and every week at this time, we like to profile someone who's accomplished something fairly remarkable, despite having to overcome a major obstacle.

And in today's "Human Factor," Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to a man by the name of Don Wright, who refuses to let cancer get in the way of his passion for running marathons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Don Wright's career spans engineering, being a company vice president, and the law.

And at age 62, he discovered a new passion, marathons. Eight years ago, just days after running his first 26-mile race, though, he got some devastating news.

DON WRIGHT, MARATHON RUNNER: I had gone to the doctor a couple of times for pain in my back. It was multiple myeloma.

GUPTA: This is a cancer of the blood, where the white blood cells invade the bone marrow, causing pain, usually in the back or the ribs. And patients are rarely cured. But Wright refused to let that slow him down, even qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

WRIGHT: I got this devastating diagnosis. And -- and we just -- my family and I, we just kept on going. You know, there wasn't any reason to stop and be sorry, you know. We kept running marathons.

GUPTA: Incredibly now, in the last eight years, Wright, who is now 70, has run 60 marathons in 41 states, and his wife and daughter have been by his side for most of them. His goal is to run a marathon in every state.

WRIGHT: Finally after Boston we decided to pick off states, never imaging -- well, imaging, yes, nut never expecting to be able to finish all 50. Now I'm really hoping for it.

GUPTA: Never expected that he could fulfill his dream because the median survival for his cancer is just five years. He's had a number of treatments that have failed. But for the last three years, Wright's taken an experimental drug. It's just one pill at night that's kept the cancer at bay.

WRIGHT: And it doesn't cure the cancer but it keeps it stable so it's not hurting me. And I can still run. And I can still enjoy life, and I'm riding that for all it's worth.

GUPTA: He has advice to others for what seems like insurmountable odds -- take charge of your own destiny and never give up hope.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As we said through the show here, encouraging news on the job front. The nation's unemployment rate just took a big dip today. We say the numbers that came out this morning There you go. The rate was nine percent on the button as of today. It's down to 8.6 percent. This is according to figures released this morning by the Labor Department.

The government says in November employers added some 120,000 new jobs. And let's go to the White House, shall we, to Alan Krueger, chairman of the president's council of economy advisers. Alan Krueger, it's nice to meet you. Thanks for joining me. I hear there is construction news where you are. So let's roll through it. At least you have some construction jobs there. Let's talk about these 120,000 new jobs last month, new jobs. Where do these come from?

ALAN KRUEGER, PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Well, we've seen job growth in retail trade last month in the health care sector. And if you take a step back and look more broadly, the private sector has been expanding for last 21 months. It's not fast enough growth. We certainly have headwinds. Construction is one of them, the work being done around here notwithstanding, especially residential construction.

So it's been a trend in which we've seen private sector growth for 21 months now, although we would still like to see much faster growth in order to put people back to work.

BALDWIN: So you have the growth and you have this jobs creation but how much of it -- I mean, the seasonality has to be a conversation, right? I mean, how much of the jobs creation can really be written off to holiday hiring? These are jobs that, as we know, they are going to go away in a couple of weeks.

KRUEGER: Well, first of all, you should never make too much out of one month's numbers. That's why I try to look back at what has happened over a period of months. Second of all. The numbers are seasonally adjusted. What the bureau of labor statistics does is to try to use standard statistical technique to adjust the data so the effect of holiday shopping or season upturns or downturns each month are removed. And the figures you sited were seasonally adjusted.

BALDWIN: But you do acknowledge to some extent some of these numbers will be affected by seasonal job creation?

KRUEGER: Well, it's certainly the case that in November and December, you get a lot of retail hiring for seasonal reasons for holiday shopping. But, as I said, those effects, in principle, are removed from the data that the bureau of labor statistics produced.

BALDWIN: OK, Alan, I know that you are aware that even though the jobless rate dropped, growth was stronger as 2011 began. We have this chart. We still have some 13.3 million unemployed. If we look again, at November, you have that 120,000 new jobs. But far more people dropped out of the labor force, just gave up looking entirely. See the number. It's a large number, 315,000 people. Alan, that's a grim number as well.

KRUEGER: Well, we certainly, I think, need to do more to strengthen job growth. You need to be careful with the data not to mix the two different surveys. But holding that aside, we'd like to see faster job growth.

That's why the president proposed the American jobs act. In particular, he proposed extending and expanding the payroll tax cut. If Congress does not extend the payroll tax cut, then the typical American family that earns around $50,000 a year will see a $1,000 in January and I think it's very important that Congress act and expand the payroll tax cut and also extend and expand the payroll tax cut and also extend to small employers as well, which the president proposed.

BALDWIN: We heard the president speaking about those two things yesterday. He was out with a number of people, including former President Bill Clinton. Here's a video as they hopped into a limo together. They made an appearance at the green energy event. Let's just listen for a moment. A reporter asked former president Bill Clinton what advice he might have for president Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Clinton, did he any advice for President Obama about the economy?

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He gives me advice all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: "He gives me advice all the time," your boss says. So the president says he hears from Bill Clinton all the time. Does he get tired of suggest people suggesting that he needs to listen to Bill Clinton, especially as it pertains to the economy?

KRUEGER: No. I've always heard the president eager to hear advice about what we can do about the economy. He wants to explore every type of sensible economic policy we can pursue. I know in my meetings with the president he's always been open to advice about what we can do to try to strengthen the economy. So I suspect he was eager to hear what advice he would get.

BALDWIN: Here is hoping that 8.6 percent number stays where it is and continues to fall. Alan Krueger at the White House, sir, thank you very much.

And country singer Mindy McCready is begging for her grandson to be returned. Her daughter has the child, this five year old little boy, and wait until you hear why Mindy says why she says she can't return him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "On the Case" today, the courtroom is packed for the final battle over the life of the convicted home invader and murderer. Joshua Komisarjevsky has been convicted in a brutal home invasion that killed a Connecticut mother and her two daughters. Closing arguments in the penalty phase of this trial started just this morning. Prosecutors are asking the jury to sentence Komisarjevsky to death.

I want to bring in Mark Eiglarsh. He's a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. Mark, nice to see you. I want to set this up. Prosecutors, they are not at all mincing words to describe the evidence in this case. They are calling it, and I quote for you, "shockingly brutal, evil vicious." And they call Komisarjevsky a predator who stalked Jennifer Hawke-Petit and one of her daughters. Mark, did they hammer home how horrific this crime was? MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They do. I think they are doing a phenomenal job both in this trial and the codefendant's trial where they did get the ultimate sanction of death. The facts here really are especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel. And they have a good chance of getting the death penalty in this one.

Komisarjevsky's lawyer says he grew up in a house of secrets. During his closing arguments he pointed a finger over at the mother of Komisarjevsky, said she didn't give -- get enough help for her son even though she knew he had problems. And the defense is hammering home this list. I have this list, I'm sure you've seen it, of 42 mitigating factors, and I want to read the 42 mitigating factor to you, which is "Josh is a human being, albeit severely damaged, whose life has value."

EIGLARSH: Sure.

BALDWIN: Can his lawyer convince the jury that this was not Komisarjevsky's fault?

EIGLARSH: They are definitely going to go there. They already found that it's his fault. What they are going to find are mitigaters and find out the reason why to give life without parole are more significant than the reasons why you should kill him. Also on the list, that he grew up in a strict, conservative home. Yes, so what?

BALDWIN: Do you think the jury will agree with you? Do you think the jury will decide death for this man?

EIGLARSH: I do. He's got mitigaters. He was sexually abused. He prayed upon it instead of getting into counseling, apparently, that he need. But the x factor in this case is Dr. Petit himself. What a horrible tragedy he had to go through, losing his family. And they are going to have to look him in the eye and say, look, we're sorry about your loss but we're not going to give you what you want, the ultimate sanction for this defendant. I think they're going to give it to him.

BALDWIN: It's horrible indeed.

Case number two, country music singer Mindy McCready is making headlines. Her mother has custody of her five-year-old son. This week Mindy McCready took off with this boy during visitation. A judge ordered her to bring him home Thursday night and she said, no, I'm not going to do it. Mark, does this move into parental abduction?

EIGLARSH: I think it has. A judge has already issued a warrant for her arrest, ordering her to bring it back. I'm pregnant with twins, that's why I cannot return. Well, you just took the child. You were able to fly in.

Also, I'm not judgmental of her. Let me just state some facts -- four arrests, three suicide attempts, one sex tape, one alleged -- what would be called an affair with Roger Clemens, and a history of drug abuse. I wouldn't necessarily believe anything that fell from her lips. BALDWIN: Mark, thank you. We're going to keep talking about this story. We're going to talk to Mindy McCready's counselor when she was on "Celebrity Rehab" and ask him what she said the last time she spoke with him.

And it's not "Snakes on a Plane," it's snakes in a tax office. Why? That answer and these slithery images next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the Help Desk where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour is Jack Otter, the executive editor of CBSMoneywatch.com, and Donna Rosato is senior editor of "Money" magazine. Thank you both for being here.

Donna, your question comes from Nan in Colorado. Her and her husband are in their 40s and have about $50,000 in car loans and credit card debt. They want to know should they take money out of their 401(k) to pay off their debt and then reinvest into a new 401(k)?

DONNA ROSATO, SENIOR EDITOR, "MONEY" MAGAZINE: It sounds tempting but it's never a good idea to take money out of your 401(k) to pay off debt, and there's a good reason. The amount of money you can withdraw from your 401(k) is limited, but if they actually cash all of the money out, then they will pay a 10 percent penalty and, say, they are in the 25 percent tax bracket, that's 35 percent tax that they are going to pay. They surely are not paying that much on their car and credit cards. One thing that they can do is stop their contributions towards their 401(k) right and take those saving and apply it to paying down their debt, and that's a smarter option.

HARLOW: Yes, absolutely.

Your question, Jack, comes from Chris in Minneapolis. Chris says, "I have so much credit card debt that I cannot get new credit cards or loans." His son is starting college and he's doesn't his debt to hurt their ability to take out loans for school. He's asking if he should consider offering the credit card companies a settlement.

JACK OTTER, CBSMONEY.COM: First of all, you will hurt your credit rating with a settlement. So that's a problem. What's not a problem is, if you have a government subsidized college loan, say a Stafford loan for students, then they don't look at your credit rating so he would be OK here.

If he's so maxed out on debt that he can't get a credit card, I want him to be careful about borrowing more money for school. Stick with the government subsidized loan. The interest rates are lower. We did some math, and if they borrowed $24,000 for college, that would be about $276 a month on the Stafford loan. Do they have the cash flow to pay for that? If so think about strategies like going to a community college for the first two and then transfer to a state university.

HARLOW: And then cut where you can because education is so key.

OTTER: Exactly.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Thank you, guys, very much. Folks, if you have a question you want answered, send us an e-mail to CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It's one of those stories where I can't look at the video because this is probably my biggest fear -- snakes. Thanks, guys, that is awesome of you. So, snakes on the loose. Why? Apparently, these snakes were set free, but not just one but two snake charmers. This happened inside of a tax office in India. Reports are these charmers released the snakes to protest corrupt officials who they claim asked for a bribe. I'm leaving this. No one was injured. Move on. No more snakes, please.

Let's go to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is coming up at the top of the hour. We're going to talk to Wolf about what he's watching, I'm sure, including Ron Paul, right, joining you today?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": We don't have a frog, no frogs today. You have a snake. No frogs in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Did you see Kermit the frog? Very cute. Such a nice frog. I got to tell you. I haven't met many frogs, but he's an excellent frog. No frogs today. But we have Ron Paul, the Republican presidential candidate. He'll be live in the coming hour. He's got a lot of supporters out there. They're been tweeting me. We have got good questions for Ron Paul. He's going to be live here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" in the next hour.

And in the 5:00 p.m. eastern hour the White House economic adviser Gene Sperling will be joining me. We'll talk to him about what's going on, the latest jobs numbers, tax cuts, the economy, lots to talk with Gene Sperling as well. A good two hours in "THE SITUATION ROOM" coming up.

BALDWIN: Followed by previews in two hours in the newsroom.

BLITZER: Did a great job. Have a wonderful weekend.

BALDWIN: Same to you, my friend. We'll be watching in a couple minutes.

Meantime before I let you go, authorities are looking for country music singer Mindy McCready. She is accused of stealing her on son. We're going to talk to her counselor from "Celebrity Rehab," there he is, Bob Forrest. That's live, definitely stick around for that.

But first, it's Friday. We brought it back. This is when I tweet out you can ask me questions. I answered a couple of them. And this is a special today as one of our lead writers joined twitter. Roll it, Roger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Come over here. I have to whisper because he sits across from me. Big news on Team Brooke today. Our lead, curmudgeonly, salty, fun, wonderful writer is now on Twitter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you just call me a curmudgeon?

BALDWIN: I so did. This is Gary, who never will be on video, but today he is. And you're on Twitter because?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt like doing something new. I'm trying to do something new every day. This is today's. Does this make me like a member of some generation?

BALDWIN: Yes, you are. Welcome to our generation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BALDWIN: Country singer Mindy McCready, she takes off with her five- year-old son and refuses to return him. So now there's an emergency order that lets authorities take the boy as soon as they find him. This far from McCready's first tabloid rodeo, a string of celebrity boyfriends, a sex tape, suicide attempts, arrests and court dates in addition to a history of drug and alcohol abuse. There are a lot of layers to this story. We're going to start to peel one back with a man who counseled McCready when she checked into celebrity rehab. Here's just a quick scene from that show.

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MINDY MCCREADY, COUNTRY MUSIC SINGER: I was in a relationship with a guy for about three and a half years who just beat the hell out of me. And I was addicted to the relationship and you know --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the reason why you're here? Really?

MCCREADY: That's right.

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BALDWIN: Bob Forrest, I want to welcome him to the program. He spent more than a decade into the recovery field and he's a member of the treatment team on VH-1 "Celebrity Rehab" with Dr. Drew in the spinoff "Sober House." So, Bob, we're thrilled to have you. Let's start with Mindy McCready. How long have you known her?

BOB FORREST, COUNSELED MCCREADY ON "CELEBRITY REHAB": Well, I just dealt with her on the show. And it's strange that, you know, one of your producers asked me, what was the last conversation I had with her? My last conversation with her was to not go back to Florida and live in her mom's house that was discharging from our treatment. And now it's two years later and here we are in this mess.

BALDWIN: When you counseled her in that stint on "Celebrity Rehab" some two years ago, what was it that she was abusing?

FORREST: It was primarily prescription drugs, I believe. You know, the problem of Mindy is like you said in your intro, these layers of problems with men, with her mother, with her outlandish and outrageous behaviors. It's basically you have to weed through to try to figure out what's motivating the whole thing. And what I found at the center of her problems was this on again off again love-hate relationship she has with her mother. And then that looks like that's what this is about.

BALDWIN: I want to ask you about that because her publicist tells us that she -- she's asked a court to have custody of her son. It's her mother who has custody. She wants custody returned to her over concerns of her five-year-old's safety. What more do you know about this mother-daughter dynamic? What is the issue there?

FORREST: There's -- it's in a enmeshed, dysfunctional relationship. And Mindy kind of has problems in this area. One of the things that goes on in addiction treatment is trying to figure out almost all addicts are enmeshed in these dysfunctional relationships and how to keep them safe and contained away from that world so they can grow stronger and gain more insight about how to have relationships.

And that was my problem with Mindy was she wanted to return home to her mother's house so quickly, and I wanted her to stay in Los Angeles and get more treatment.

BALDWIN: Bob, when you say "enmeshed," can you be more specific? Does that just mean they're too close, too enmeshed with one another?

FORREST: Yes, they create feelings in the other and it goes back and forth and back and forth and there's always chaos, and then there's a make-up period. I mean, this is a common thing in addiction.

BALDWIN: And now, we're hearing the phrase "parental abduction" being used with regard to Mindy and her five-year-old son. Bob Forrest, let us know if you hear anything from her. Bob Forrest, "Celebrity Rehab," thank you so much for coming on. I really appreciate it.

And that does it for me here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Brooke Baldwin. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Now to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts right now.