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Senate to Vote on Insider Trading; Gingrich Vows to Stay in Race; Interview With Gingrich Florida Campaign Chairman; Romney Still Leads In Latest Poll, Occupy Oakland Protests Escalate

Aired January 30, 2012 - 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. Now this. Here we go, hour two live from beautiful Tampa, Florida, the skyline over my shoulder. I'm Brooke Baldwin, day before the big Republican primary here in Florida, couple stories we're watching.

First, Newt Gingrich says he is in it for the long haul. Also, the Senate today taking up insider trading, and Occupy protesters stand their ground.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

Want to begin with Joe Johns, who is not too far away from me in Tampa covering the Gingrich campaign.

Joe, from what I understand, you just caught up with the candidate and one of his major supporters. What did they say?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, interesting. I just talked to him a little while ago, Newt Gingrich, and I got to tell you, Brooke, the big question for the former speaker of the House is, what are you going to do once you get out of Florida?

There's been a lot of talk here in the state about how he didn't seem to have an answer as all the attacks from the Romney campaign came from just a variety of sources, from television ads, from sort of a lackluster appearance in the debate, from newspaper ads, from surrogates of Mitt Romney just showing up at Newt Gingrich events.

So when I spoke to Newt Gingrich a little while ago here in Tampa, I asked him, what do you do going forward? Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: ... that you didn't have an answer when the Romney campaign sort of did the full-court press, the carpet-bombing. What's your answer going to be when you move from Florida to some of these other states?

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to tell the truth much more explicitly and much more aggressively. George Soros gave us the perfect answer yesterday. He said, flatly, there's no difference between Romney and Obama. He doesn't care which one wins.

He said, now, Gingrich would be different.

But you're you have the leading left-wing billionaire in the world saying to the Europeans, look, Romney and Obama are the same people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The other issue, another big issue, I should say, is that of surrogates. The Romney people just have so many individuals who can go around and talk about their candidate, and Newt Gingrich not so much.

Well, Herman Cain, you remember him from not too long ago, he has now endorsed Mitt Romney -- I'm sorry -- he has now endorsed Newt Gingrich, and he says he is going to go out and make the case for Newt Gingrich when Newt Gingrich isn't there.

So, looking down the road, they hope it's going to be a little bit different. We will see, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, by the looks of these last couple of polls with Mitt Romney in the lead by double digits, we will have to see how, if at all, Newt Gingrich changes his message and his narrative moving forward.

Joe Johns, I appreciate it here with me in Tampa, Florida.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," I want to take you to Washington, where we have senior correspondent Dana Bash standing by on Capitol Hill, where the Senate is considering this bill that would make it illegal, illegal for members to make stock trades based upon insider information.

Dana, this is something -- we have booked segments on it on the show, but I think a lot of Americans are actually still sitting there thinking, hello, how is this not illegal already?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly.

And you talk to some members of Congress, they will tell you they believe it actually is technically illegal already, but the problem is that there is a perception that members of Congress are exempt from this insider trading law.

What this effectively is, is trying to make sure that members of Congress who get information that is not available to the public because they're in hearings, because they get briefings, that they don't then take that information buy and sell stock to personally profit for themselves.

And I talked to someone who has been involved in writing this legislation who said the issue really is that the SEC really can only prosecute people who have a duty to report or have a duty to not use this insider trading information. And it's not entirely clear in the law that members of Congress have that duty. So this legislation will just make it abundantly clear, again, just to make it clear to the American people that Congress isn't held to a different standard than anybody else.

BALDWIN: And this is something that we heard from President Obama. He made this point as well during the State of the Union, did he not?

BASH: He did. He said, send this to me and I will sign it tomorrow.

Look, this is kind of a gimme when you talk about what Congress can and can't do in an election year. In fact, Scott Brown, he is a Republican senator from Massachusetts, is in a tight reelection campaign to keep his seat. He actually mentioned this, because he's a co-sponsor of the legislation in the Senate, to the president during the State of the Union, actually after it. Listen to what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SCOTT BROWN (R), MASSACHUSETTS: (OFF-MIKE) trading bills on (OFF-MIKE) desk right now. (OFF-MIKE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell him. I'm going to tell him to get it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So you hear Scott Brown saying to the president, I want you to get Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, to get this on the floor soon, and the president saying, I'm going to get it done.

That is absolutely gold for someone like Scott Brown because he is running against a consumer advocate that's pretty well-known, Elizabeth Warren. This is a perfect example, Brooke, of the fact that members of Congress understand their approval rating is lower than ever before. They want their first legislation out of the gate, Democrats and Republicans, to show they get it. They're going to try to explain or prove that they are going to, again, be held to a different standard or the same standard that most people are.

BALDWIN: Well, the president says we will get it done. I just remember doing my homework the last time this sort of tried to come to Congress and they couldn't get enough co-sponsors for this piece of legislation, so perhaps that will change. We will wait and see, won't we, Dana Bash?

BASH: I think it will.

BALDWIN: Thank you so much. You think it will.

Next here on "Reporter Roulette," some tense moments today between Occupy protesters and Washington, D.C. police.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," we have Brian Todd in Washington.

And, Brian, do me a favor. Just set the scene, tell me what's happening right now.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, it has been one of the most active days here in the four months that these protesters have been here.

We're going to walk this way a little bit. Our photojournalist Oliver Janney is going to follow me. Want to show you one thing check out first and foremost. Check out this statue here. This is James McPherson, a Civil War hero. But they pulled a large TARP over his statue. You can see the ears of his horse popping out over there, a lot of protest messages stamped on here. Protesters gathering around. They have been a lot of singing and dancing and a lot of chanting here and some confrontations with police.

The police have not moved in yet, but they said they will do that if they don't get compliance with an ordinance that they're trying to enforce, and that is an ordinance against camping out here.

The National Park Service has been under pressure from the D.C. government and from some members of Congress to start enforcing that ordinance. And what they want to do, as we walk over here, we will show you some of the tents. But they want to do is to get people to remove bedding, some personal items, anything indicating that they're going to be staying overnight.

The police have said they have had compliance in this. They haven't had to move in and take down tents or anything like that. They haven't had to make any mass arrests yet, but they are threatening to target some people if they keep those items here and do not comply with it.

So we're waiting to see if that happens. Again, there have been some minor confrontations with police, basically protesters just kind of yelling at them and the police not doing anything yet.

But come nightfall, if people come back here and try to sleep here, Brooke, then you might see some trouble and you might see some arrests.

BALDWIN: Brian, what about this video? I know it surfaced on YouTube of this Occupy protester being Tased. What do you know about that?

TODD: Yes, that happened on Sunday night.

One of the protesters, we're told, went around taking down letters that the Park Service had posted. When he did that, the Park Service police moved in. He said he had done nothing wrong, but there was a confrontation and they used a Taser on him.

We are told now that he's in custody. Not clear if he's been under full arrest or if he's been charged with anything yet, but he is in custody. So that was really a source of tension. And that kind of boiled over a little bit to today, when people did confront the police a little bit here. So that was a bit of an ugly incident last night -- Brooke. BALDWIN: All right, Brian Todd, thank you at McPherson Square. If people don't know Washington, just a couple blocks from the White House. Brian, thank you.

And that's your "Reporter Roulette" here on this Monday.

Coming up next: tragedy on the highway. We are now learning what caused a series of deadly crashes, and I will be speaking live with one survivor who says it felt like the world was ending. Look at this.

Also, this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My body is sore. Sometimes it gets me to a point that I want to cry from twitching so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: No one can figure out why more than a dozen teenagers all from the same school suddenly began twitching. Dr. Drew joins me live with new developments in this medical mystery.

And new fallout today in the racial profiling case in Connecticut involving several police officers. Stay right there, live show, Tampa, Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: And Interstate 75 in Central Florida, it is back open after smoky conditions overnight made it nearly impossible to see. The low visibility is also believed to have caused a series of crashes that killed 10 people early Sunday morning. And at least a dozen passenger cars and seven semitrucks were involved in these massive wrecks.

Steven Camps was traveling on Interstate 75 with a friend when the crashes happened. Steven is on the phone for me.

And, Steven, I just first want to ask, how are you physically? I understand you had some stitches, scratched up a bit?

STEVEN CAMPS, CRASH SURVIVOR: Yes. Right now, physically, I'm just a little sore, and I have got some stitches in my leg. But, other than that, I'm doing pretty good.

BALDWIN: Steven, as we look at the aftermath of this wreckage here, just set the scene for me.

I understand you were on your way back to Gainesville, you're in the passenger seat of a car, traffic, it is at this total standstill. How bad was the smoke at the time?

CAMPS: Oh, the smoke was very thick.

You couldn't see anything. I think I heard it best when -- that you could stick your hand up front of you if you were standing outside and you wouldn't even be able to see it. It was completely blinding out there. You couldn't see a thing.

BALDWIN: Wow, you couldn't even see your hand in front of you, let alone drive. I know you because it's essentially a traffic lot where you were, no on was moving. You end up talking to a driver nearby and then wham. Can you tell me what happened, what you heard and saw?

CAMPS: Yes.

My friend James, he was the driver. He was talking to them. And I leaned over to tried to get involved in the conversation. And as soon as I leaned over, he was rear-ended into the back of a semi truck. And we just lost it right there in the car.

BALDWIN: Right in front of your very eyes.

What happened to your car? What happened to you? Were you able to help at all or did you feel entirely helpless?

CAMPS: After he was hit, shortly after -- we were hit twice. And we were, you know, kind of jolted out of the way a little bit to one of the side of the semi trucks. We were kind of (INAUDIBLE) into both of them that were near us.

And we were able to get out the car and go over there to the shoulder of the road and just kind of sit and just like -- not really sit back, but try to keep ourselves away from the carnage, because the cars were still hitting by the time we got out of the car.

BALDWIN: Just looking at these pieces of mangled metal, I can't imagine having to actually sit there and witness these crashes happening right in front of your eyes.

Steven Camps, we wish you the best, and heal quickly. Steven Camps, thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: It is a state that could go either way in November, a state that could decide an election. Right here, we're in Florida. It is coming down to the wire. Voters will decide which Republican is best suited to take on President Obama come November.

Joining me next, a man who knows these voters very well, once serving as a congressman and the state's attorney general. Bill McCollum tells me why he supports Newt Gingrich next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I spoke last hour with a woman by the name of Andrea Saul. She's the press secretary for the Romney campaign. And now I want to bring in from Orlando former Congressman and State Attorney General Bill McCollum. And he is chairing the Gingrich effort right here in Florida.

And welcome, sir. Nice to have you on.

BILL MCCOLLUM, CHAIRMAN, NEWT GINGRICH FLORIDA CAMPAIGN: Glad to be with you.

BALDWIN: We had heard Newt Gingrich accusing Mitt Romney of spreading falsehoods against him. And I just want to play a little sound, if I may.

Let's listen to Romney talking about your guy, Newt Gingrich.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The speaker had one chance to lead our party. In 1994, he came in. And after four years, he had to resign in disgrace.

And he did not serve our party -- by the way, at the time he had left the speakership, his approval rating was 18 percent. It did not work out so well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Question to you, Bill McCollum. You were there when Newt Gingrich served as speaker. What did Mitt Romney just say that was false?

MCCOLLUM: Well, he said that the speaker resigned in disgrace, and he said things that just weren't true when I was there.

The problem is that Romney wants to deflect from the real issues of the campaign, his own record in Michigan and so on. I believe, in fact, he's not as conservative as Newt on many issues. So he's attacking him on a personal basis.

When I was in the -- I served with Newt Gingrich. I was there in leadership with him in the 1980s.

BALDWIN: Right.

MCCOLLUM: I was there for the election of 1994 and was in as many congressional districts just about as he was campaigning.

And I will tell you we would not have won in 1994 without him and his vision. We would not have won with the Contract With America and enacted much of that or welfare reform or the balanced budgets without Newt Gingrich. He was the force.

And when he won, he was attacked by his opponent of 1994 with 84 ethics charges, all which all were ultimately found to not be true. Gingrich then took a reprimand, though, to get rid of it after three years because the House Ethics Committee is equally balanced, equal number of Republicans and Democrats, and we weren't getting it off the table, and it was continuing to fester.

So he said, I will take a reprimand for a very minor count -- that's one that said that my counsel didn't produce the records they should have in a timely basis to the committee -- and pay the costs of this matter.

(CROSSTALK)

MCCOLLUM: And then he was completely exonerated by the IRS two years later on the main charges. They said, hey, it was perfectly legal. So that's wrong.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Forgive me for interrupting. Forgive me for interrupting. But let me just be precise. If you're saying that he didn't resign in disgrace, how would you characterize his departure?

MCCOLLUM: No.

Well, one year after the ethics charges were off the table and all this was resolved, he concluded that it wasn't a good thing for him to continue after we didn't succeed as well as we should have in that 1998 election.

And I think he thought he would continue to take fire on other bases, and he just said, I'm through. But he would have won again, I'm confident. A majority of Republicans would liked to have had him stay. And some of these fellow congressmen of mine have very selective memories. Some of them, like Bob Dole, whom I respect a lot, Bob is just the "steady as you go" guy, and he doesn't like the "shake it up" mood and methodology of Gingrich, which is what we need right now.

We need somebody who has a bold plan, like "The Wall Street Journal" says he has for reducing the taxes and getting the economy going again. And that shakeup mentality that Newt has is what we need.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Sure, shakeup.

Now, I know the Gingrich folks, they are complaining about Romney's truthfulness, but an impartial observer might say that the Gingrich campaign left South Carolina with a huge jolt of momentum, that was a huge, huge win for them, but now is flat-out getting hustled and outplayed here in Florida.

What do you say to that?

MCCOLLUM: Well, first of all, we have been outspent 4-1 or 5-1, in an onset of just attack ads, many of which, as you pointed out -- the one I gave an example of -- several more that aren't true.

But we're doing rather well right now. We were up. Romney was up 25 points a couple of weeks ago. Then Gingrich was up after South Carolina. Then Romney went up maybe 10 points, eight or 10.

The poll overnight last night that I saw last night which is a good poll, not ours, said that Romney is only up five points and that we're gaining momentum after Perry endorsed -- I mean, after Cain endorsed. So with Perry and Cain and then Michael Reagan going around the state today with Newt, because Newt is the Reagan Republican legacy in this race -- there's no question about that.

I think that we have a good chance of winning tomorrow. We certainly are going to have a close race. And we may very well prevail in the vote tomorrow because people are beginning to take notice of the fact that it is Newt Gingrich who is the stronger one on the issues and would be better able to debate Obama, much more of a contrast.

Mitt Romney on Obamacare, which we saw an article in "The Wall Street Journal" this morning about, his Romneycare is very, very similar to Obamacare. And I don't see how he takes on the president like that, like Newt can do.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Well, as you point out, the margin right now, as we are looking at the last couple of polls, Mitt Romney is up by double digits, but it's more like 11, 12, 13, 14 percent, one out of every four Florida voters still undecided.

Still, before I let you go, I want to ask you about Rick Santorum. He is running last in most opinion polls. And we know he's tending certainly to family issues. Our thoughts go out to his family, in particular his little daughter Bella.

Do you think, Mr. McCollum, that the Gingrich campaign believes that Rick Santorum should drop out, leave the race for president?

MCCOLLUM: Well, of course I think that Newt Gingrich will go on to become the nominee of the party, whether he wins in Florida or not. I think, as I told you, that the polling we saw last night shows a very much narrower race than it was two nights ago. So we will wait and see on that score.

But, regardless, look, after tomorrow...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But what about Rick Santorum? That was the question.

MCCOLLUM: Well, Rick Santorum is not -- he is a factor in this race. If he weren't in it, we would clearly be beating Romney right now.

I think that Rick is not the player long haul at all. I don't know how long he stays in it. He's a friend. I know him well. But I think a vote for Rick is simply not a vote -- I think it's a vote that's wasted at this point. When we get that clear choice, and we're beginning to get a race between two people, and that may be what the voters of Florida are looking at tomorrow, then we are certainly going to get it in the next couple of elections -- then I think you're going to see Newt win most of those.

We have Super Tuesday with a very high percentage of the delegates being chosen that day. And Georgia is among those with 76 delegates, with overshadows the 50 Florida chooses tomorrow, because we handicapped ourselves on that. And there are a number of other very favorable states to the Gingrich campaign coming up after Florida.

BALDWIN: Bill McCollum, I appreciate it, live in Orlando.

We should point out that's where the Gingrich headquarters will be tomorrow night and where you are hoping to have a victory party. Thank you so much, sir.

MCCOLLUM: Yes, ma'am. You're welcome. Thanks.

BALDWIN: Coming up next: Is Mitt Romney reaching deep into his playbook way before he planned to just to beat the guy we were just talking about, to beat Newt Gingrich? And is Gingrich actually making Romney more electable to conservatives?

Gloria Borger answers that question when we come right back live from Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back here live from Tampa, Florida. Why are we in Florida? No, it's not just because of this beautiful backdrop, it's because Florida's Republican primary is tomorrow. And I want to show you yet another poll here. This one shows Mitt Romney with a double digit lead over Newt Gingrich. Take a look at the numbers; Romney 43 percent, Gingrich 29; Ron Paul, Rick Santorum each sharing 11 percent.

I want to bring in to look at those numbers, one of our Anchor Gloria Borger, our chief political analyst. And Gloria we talk about South Carolina, and Newt Gingrich certainly blew the doors down there, came to Florida coming off that, you know, momentum. But Romney is waving in all the polls I've seen. So, what happened?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Its kind new a Mitt Romney. I mean it's like a winning in the phone boost sort of came out the other end like superman. I mean, this is somebody he has gone on the attack. We haven't seen that really before. He spent four times, as much money, in the state as Newt Gingrich.

And so I think what the Romney campaign has been trying to do, and they've done very effectively, is when you talk about the campaign, they said you know what, Newt Gingrich has a long biography. People don't know about it because it happened in the '90s. What they've been trying to do is fill in the blanks about Newt Gingrich as speaker, Newt Gingrich when he left the speakership, and they think they're having a great deal of success in telling people, you know what, the word they're using is erratic, that he's unreliable, not dependable, and that's not what a lot of Republicans want to hear. So their message is clearly getting through.

BALDWIN: So far it seems, you guys are sitting, you know, just looking at some of the numbers coming from the absentee ballots or earlier voting, public opinion polls, Romney is ahead. But even though, when you look at the number, Gloria Borger, and it's looking good for Romney here in Florida, there are still some national polls that show that Romney would have some work to do, you know, in the general election.

BORGER: Well, if you look at Romney's unfavorable ratings with independent voters since the start of these primaries that number has decreased by 20 points. Because, of course, in a Republican primary, you kind of run to your right. And independent voters are looking at it. They looked at the debates, and they didn't like what they saw.

So what you're going to have to see from Mitt Romney if he is the nominee heading into a general election, he's going to have to do some bobbing and weaving there to kind of get back in the middle. But there's a long way to go before then. And as you know, Newt Gingrich just said he's going to be there for the long haul, so don't expect this to be over anytime soon. I certainly don't. And I think he is going really continue.

BALDWIN: Very quickly, I was just talking to Bill McCollum, you know, (INAUDIBLE). He's the chair of, you know, Newt Gingrich's campaign down here. And he was basically saying, look, I don't know how long Rick Santorum is going to stay in the race. Every vote for Rick Santorum takes way votes for my candidate. Do you agree with that? And how long has Santorum realistically stay on the race?

BORGER: You know that's not necessarily true. If you look at some poll numbers and if you remove Rick Santorum out of the race, they don't all go to Newt Gingrich. Some of those Santorum voters would actually go to Mitt Romney. I think it is something that Gingrich's campaign likes to believe, that Santorum voters would have a natural home in Newt Gingrich.

But the one thing they are not really factoring in there is that Republicans above all else want to Barack Obama. So, Santorum voters may decide, you know, we really like Santorum, we like his values, but in the end, they want to go with somebody who they believe has the most electability. And all the polls show, in match ups, that Romney does much better against President Obama of the Newt Gingrich.

So, they might very well go to Mitt Romney.

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, it's always a pleasure. Thank you.

BORGER: How come I'm in Miami and you're in Florida.

BALDWIN: I don't like it actually. I'll take this gig, thank you very much. Talk to you tomorrow. Meantime, you're about to meet a guy who pushes the antelope in the kitchen and his success comes despite growing up homeless and hungry. Here is the sneak peak at CNN's next list.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the way, everything in this menu that you see is not going to taste like that what you think its kind a taste like. It's going to taste like that in the beginning. But then while you're eating it, it's just going to change flavors.

You know, what's going on over there at first glance just seems kind of playful and fun. But there is a whole new world of astronomy that we're opening the doors to that's really kind of mind blowing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Don't forget to catch CNN's brand new show. We're calling it "the Next List" between some of America's brightest minds. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the host. You can watch is every Sunday at 2:00 p.m., only on CNN. Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are gone. I hope it's not Aylas's blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She has been missing for weeks but there is a chilling revelation in the search for little Ayla Reynolds. Blood found inside her father's home belonged to the toddlers. Sunny Hostin is all over this one on the case. It's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Ayla Reynolds is just 20-months-old. Her family has - has actually been sick over the last six weeks because they still do not know where she is. There is now the new detail that plays into their worst nightmare. Police in Maine said they found Ayla's blood in the basement of the home from which she vanished. And it's just even worry then the child's grandfather blamed Ayla's father who is home with her the night she went missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON REYNOLDS, AYLA REYNOLD'S GRANDFATHER: Every day is hard. Every day is hard not knowing where she is. I want somebody in that family to have the guts to come up and tell the state police who has her or where she is so we can bring her home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin is on the case. And Sunny, I mentioned, you know this blood was found, but it's important to point out police say the blood is much more than what would be produced from a small cut. How bad does this make Ayla's father, Justin DiPietro about that he makes him look?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, certainly it doesn't make him look good. Because of the bottom line is this is information that the investigators already knew. This isn't necessarily new information for the investigators. It is new information for all of us. And clearly they are now releasing some of that information because they need the public's help, because quite frankly, the story that he has given to the investigators, just doesn't make sense.

And I will tell you, Brooke, statistically it doesn't make sense because small children, child abductions from the home, stranger abductions, very, very rare. Very, very rare. So, the fact that the story coming from the father and his family is that there were three adults and two children, including little baby Ayla, in the home that night and none of them heard anything, and while they were home, this child was abducted and taken from the home and just sort of vanished into thin air really just doesn't make sense.

BALDWIN: So you point out the reason we're learning about the blood now, police knew about it. They're releasing it to us so that hopefully someone can call in and help, provide information. Do you know as far as how much blood or where the blood was found specifically?

HOSTIN: We're not being told yet where the blood has been found. There are some reports that the blood was found in the basement. We know that baby Ayla's father lived in the basement and slept in the basement with his girlfriend and his girlfriend's son, but we haven't confirmed that. And we don't know exactly how much blood other than what's been reported, which is more than a cut which, of course, doesn't look good.

I want to remind our viewers also that when little baby Ayla was in her father's care, she was in a soft cast on her arm. And so, many people were saying she was with her mother for 18 months, the mother went to rehab and then the little girl went to her father. There was no indication of child abuse when she was with her mother, but now the little girl did reportedly get hurt on the father's watch.

So, many people are wondering whether or not this was a case of child abuse or abduction, we're just not certain. But some of the information from the investigation is now being released to the public because they need the public's help.

BALDWIN: They do. Hopefully someone can call in and help. Certainly that family wants their little girl back. Sunny Hostin on the case. Thank you.

HOSTIN: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not to alarm you but somebody needs to contact somebody because you're the fourth girl of the week to come in with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: This is a medical mystery. It is absolutely baffling doctors. More than a dozen teenagers at the same high schools are twitching uncontrollably. And since no one seems to have the answers, Erin Brockovich and other experts are now stepping in. They are looking into this intimate and having way back in the '70s, and possibly tie the two together. HLN's Dr. Drew all over this case is going to join me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Heated elements in this medical mystery. This is out of a town called Leroy. It's in New York, and at least 15 high school students are suffering from a strange illness. Take a look. It causes them to have uncontrollable twitching, verbal outburst. Health officials believe the girls' symptoms are consistent with something that's called the convergence disorder.

So, if you don't know what that is, it's basically a condition in which a person suffers from blindness, paralysis, other nervous system symptoms usually brought about by stress, but the families involved here are questioning that diagnosis.

And now, famed environmental activist Erin Brockovich is getting involved, and she says a 1970 train derailment that caused a dangerous chemical spill. She is conducting her very own investigation. Brockovich and her team are trying to figure out if contamination from that spill could possibly be to blame for the girls' strange behavior.

But I wanted to bring in HLN's Dr. Drew Pinsky who has been all over the story. He is going to join me today. It's what we previous from Los Angeles. And I know your team is in Leroy. My first question, though, is in regard to these teenage girls, when did these symptoms first start manifesting themselves, and so far, what has your team found?

DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST, DR, DREW: What my team has found is kind of an elaborate story, and I want to remind people we'll be walking through it with Erin tonight on HLN at 9:00 because there's a lot of new breaking information we're learning almost hour by hour.

But, this all started back in the summer. So, one of the things we're looking for is one locality or one exposure that all of these girls may have had, back say in August. They are very - well, it's very complicated. Let me just say that the latest story is it's looking like these girls may be just the tip of the iceberg, that Erin Brockovich is getting literally hundreds and hundreds of testimonials from people in that vicinity with similar syndromes and regions of outbreaks of cancer. So there is great concern about these trichloroethylene compounds that vital chloride which were lost during that spill.

Now, the other sort of headlight on this story is, my team and Erin's team went up to the area the train derailed of this last weekend. And what was discovered there, the gentleman who has been working with Erin for over 20 year says; he's never seen anything like this in his entire career. This was supposed to be -- BALDWIN: What did they find?

PINSKY: What they found was rather than remediation, that whoever tried to clean up this toxic spill turn this -- and there's a picture alongside me right now -- with those drums you're seeing in the background, there is actually continuous exposure to toxic chemicals. You see how broken down they are. This site is itself a toxic dumping compound. It was supposed to have been a site that was cleaned up. Instead it's a toxic dump.

BALDWIN: Wow. So based upon, then, when you've heard from, you know, team Brockovich, what you'll be talking about tonight, where do you fall? Do you believe it could be connected to the spill? What do you think of the fact that some say this is a conversion disorder? What is it?

PINSKY: Well, that's the question we're trying to answer, and the girls are under the care of a good team. It's not as though their team is inadequate, they've just decided its conversion. And what happened with me, I spent 20 years working in a psychiatric hospital where one of my primary responsibilities was to evaluate psychiatric patients for any potential underlying medical conditions or medical conditions which could be contributed to or precipitating psychiatric symptoms. And you would be stunned how frequently I found bona fide medical conditions underneath.

And so, that sort of made me wonder about these girls. Then number two, I have a couple mothers coming to me and saying, you know, as a mom, I just have an instinct there's something more going on here. They're not saying these doctors don't know what they're talking about. No one is listening to me. They're not defensive. They're saying, you know as mom, I have an instinct and I'd - my position is I would to follow that instinct. At least, follow through. I'd take another look around. And in the course of doing so, we've at least uncovered something else if not the very cause of what we're looking at here.

BALDWIN: So bizarre. And as we were talking in the commercial break, more and more people are coming forward calling you and Erin Brokovich because of what you've discovered. We'll be watching tonight, you and Erin on this bizarre medical mystery. Dr. Drew 9:00 p.m. Eastern time on HLN.

Dr. Drew, we appreciate it. We'll be watching.

And now this entire election season we have heard from older voters. We've heard from the younger voters, the Democrats, the Republican, but there's one left out group here. It's the pirates.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BALDWIN: You're going to love this. Political pop involving pirates. (Inaudible). We're doing it live from Tampa, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Alright, live pictures. You're looking at Debra and Christina. We're working hard to bring you the show live from Tampa. Now, let's see, flip the camera around. We're talking political pop; pirate Sal because the pirate had in front of the camera in front of me.

When we arrived in Tampa, I got in Saturday night, we ran into these guys and gals, yes, pirates. It's the Gasparilla Pirate Festival. It's like Mardi gras with pirates, full swing. The blued eye patches, beads, moving cannons. And we just couldn't resist asking a couple of these swashbucklers their thoughts on tomorrow's primary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, man. They're just not up to par what I expect. You would figure out of the entire U.S. we would have better choices than we have. But not seeing it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate politics. I really do. Just going to tell you what you want to hear. I say we just start all over, get rid of all of them and do it the right way. Just like the pirate way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like Romney. I like a lot of what he believes in. I think he's more of a moderate in the middle because I'm actually a democrat and I will probably vote democrat, but I've got to hear everything on both sides of the election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's stay focused to the problems, not name- bashing. And stop the commercials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mitt Romney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm thinking I don't like any of them. I'm going to vote for a pirate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Thank you very much for shooting that and braving the pirate crowds. Pirates and politics, we thought we had to do it. Now a couple minutes away from Wolf Blitzer who I'm guessing he's in Atlanta getting ready for the primary coverage tomorrow night.

Hello, Mr. Blitzer. How are you?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S THE SITUATION ROOM: Good to see you, Brooke. Thanks very, very much. A lot coming up here on "THE SITUATION ROOM" over the next two hours. All the Florida primary news including my interview with John McCain who is supporting Mitt Romney, Shannon Travis - excuse me , Shannon Travis -- Joe Johns I should say, Joe Johns had a little interview with Newt Gingrich earlier in the day. We are going to play that for our viewers. I think they are going to be anxious to hear what Newt Gingrich is saying on this day. He seems to be on the ropes here in Florida.

All that and a lot more plus all the news coming out of Pakistan, Egypt, big news day, all that. We miss you in Atlanta. That's coming up.

BALDWIN: It's nice to be in Tampa though. I'm not complaining. Wolf Blitzer, thank you so much.

Coming up next we'll take you inside what police in Oakland call the largest mass arrest in the city's history.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I'll take you to Oakland, California now where it appears the "Occupy" movement might be gaining steam.

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BALDWIN: Confrontation is between protesters and police turned violent this weekend. How about this number? 400. About 400 people were arrested. Protesters stormed a YMCA and then later gained access to city hall. We have invited the mayor and members of city council to join us here live on the show, they have declined. Mayor Jean Quan did tell our affiliate, KGO, that there was no excuse for this kind of behavior.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN QUAN, MAYOR, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: This time I think for the occupy movement to take a stand on whether this behavior, this kind of behavior that has nothing to do with the 99 percent movement should be tolerated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Forgive me mayor Jean Quan, but the protesters tell a different story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a shame when all these thugs show up with all these weapons and want to start trouble, you know, the guys with the uniforms and the, you know, the masks and the guns and the poison sprays. Yes, you know. I saw a lot of abuse of people and it was really unnecessary and kind of heartbreaking. Seeing older ladies, children, it was just -- you know really a sad scene.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Oakland city hall re-opened this morning after employees cleaned up all the damage. The police say this is the largest mass arrest in the city's history.

And just about to hand you over to Wolf Blitzer before I go a quick reminder, we're live in Tampa, Florida. This is the city that will be hosting the Republican national convention come end of August. Where of course here though, is we're sitting hours away before Florida voters can cast their vote in the Florida primary tomorrow.

Beautiful live pictures here of the water. We're going to be here live today, tomorrow and Wednesday. We'll see you back here tomorrow. For now, here is Wolf Blitzer, your "SITUATION ROOM," starts right now.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Brooke.