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Secret Service Scandal; Bullying Goes Beyond the School Yard; GSA Faces Congress over Spending Scandal; Pippa's Pal Caught Pointing a Pistol
Aired April 16, 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. Roll it. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Your cash, their waste. A grilling is going down right now on Capitol Hill over this big bash in Las Vegas. Government workers spent more than $800,000 of your money to party it up. And they even made videos mocking how they spent the money. Who is to blame here? Is criminal action even possible?
The deputy commissioner of the GSA is not going to talk. Here he is, taking the Fifth in a dramatic exchange just in the past hour on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R-CA), OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Neely, what is your title at GSA?
JEFF NEELY, REGIONAL COMMISSIONER, GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION: Mr. Chairman, on the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege.
ISSA: Mr. Neely, did you attend the 2010 Western Regional Conference in Las Vegas?
NEELY: Mr. Chairman on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege.
ISSA: Mr. Neely, did you approve the funding for the 2010 Western Regional Conference?
NEELY: Mr. Chairman, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based on my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege.
ISSA: Just a few more.
Mr. Neely, was the original -- what was the original budget for that conference?
NEELY: Mr. Chairman, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege. ISSA: Mr. Neely, are you currently employed by the GSA as a federal employee?
NEELY: Mr. Chairman, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege.
ISSA: Lastly, Mr. Neely, are you prepared to answer any questions here today about your participation in the 2010 Western Regional Conference?
NEELY: Mr. Chairman, I respectfully decline to answer any questions here today based upon my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: OK. You see how that goes. We will have much more as this hearing is under way on Capitol Hill with our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, who is in that hearing, including what else investigators are now looking into with this group. That is coming up.
But, first, I want to talk more about this scandal. The scandal around the Secret Service. Now the Pentagon is saying more members of the military than initially reported may have played a part in alleged misconduct at this hotel in Colombia. So total here, having just talked to Barbara Starr, maybe 21.
Reportedly, members of the Secret Service brought prostitutes to a room where they stayed for hours. It all allegedly happened before the president arrived in Colombia and happened at a hotel he was not using. So you're talking 11 Secret Service agents and officers and they're under investigation. They were sent home early.
Then these new details we're getting now, the five members of the U.S. military who may have been involved, Barbara Starr reporting that could be from the Army and as many as five more members in addition to that. We're talking again possibly 21 facing questions. And yesterday, the president did respond to the scandal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If it turns out that some of the allegations that have been made in the press are confirmed, then of course I will be angry, because my attitude with respect to the secret service personnel is no different than what I expect out of my delegation that is sitting here. We're representing the people of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I want to bring in CNN contributor Fran Townsend. She is a member of the Department of Homeland Security External Advisory Board and a former homeland adviser to George W. Bush.
Fran, first out the gates, prostitutes. I know this is something folks in the intelligence world they are made aware of and told to avoid. What do you know about that?
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: It's not just prostitutes. Alcohol -- whenever you're traveling, especially in a security or an intelligence job, you're briefed and reminded to be very aware of your surroundings because of course you possess sensitive information that could put the president or protectees in jeopardy.
The notion that this may have been according to various reports a lot of alcohol involved, prostitutes, all of which are classic tools that are used by foreign intelligence services to collect information, this goes against every grain of their training, against discipline, against the culture of the Secret Service.
BALDWIN: You mentioned the word culture. We're hearing the world culture and questions about this culture from Congressman Darrell Issa, who heads the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. It begs also the question is this an isolated incident, has it happened before? Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISSA: To assume 11 people did something on a one-time basis is a little bit questionable. If one person has a failure, a personal failure, that's one thing. But for 11 people to violate the basic security premise tells us there's a problem larger. It would be regrettable if they close ranks rather than make changes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Fran, how do you stand on that? Do you agree with Congressman Issa or do you think, no, this has to have just happened once?
TOWNSEND: I traveled around the world internationally with Secret Service agents and I was the protectee.
I will tell you I have never experienced or seen anything of the sort, bad judgment or inappropriate behavior, none of that. And so I question -- this seems to me aberrant and completely against anything I have ever witnessed myself.
But I will tell you whenever the Secret Service finds that there's been some sort of breach or failure, they do a very comprehensive lessons learned and then they incorporate those lessons into future training. So this is a very long and storied organization that has sort of trained its agents to do a very professional job.
And I think you can't assume that a single incident is indicative of a larger problem. I think we have to learn what the facts are.
BALDWIN: But, Fran, being the protectee, this is a certainly a world I don't, what are -- the general public thinks of members of the Secret Service as this elite, protective, sort of the palace guard.
But I also know they're in these high-stress environments. I mean, how would you characterize members of the Secret Service just from your perspective?
TOWNSEND: Incredibly professional. It's a family-oriented culture. There are men and women who are agents.
When I was there at the White House, once a year, the president would invite the agents and their families and their children to the White House. It's a very tight organization. That's why I say to you, Brooke, it really seems against everything I have ever witnessed on my own to what the ethos of the organization is, very proud, very disciplined. I think this is an unfortunate aberration from their normal behavior.
BALDWIN: If, in fact, the allegations are true and we heard the president say I would absolutely be angry. And would heard General Dempsey saying we basically let down the boss.
We will see where it goes. Fran Townsend, appreciate your insight. Thank you so much.
BALDWIN: Meantime, a man says he killed 77 people with a gun and bombs. But despite his confession, he is claiming self-defense. Wait until you hear why.
Plus, a 19-year-old accused of targeting black people in this rampage that terrorized Oklahoma. Breaking today, we have a letter his mother wrote with big revelations about his family's past. Sunny Hostin is on the case and she is next.
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(NEWS BREAK)
BALDWIN: The man accused of killing 77 people in Norway last summer says he acted in self-defense.
Anders Behring Breivik was in court today facing charges of committing acts of terror, involuntary homicide. He allegedly went on a shooting rampage that killed 69 people, a lot of kids in July at that youth camp. Another eight people were killed in a bomb blast in Oslo ahead of time.
As the trial started, Breivik -- there he goes -- raised a clenched fist and said he did not recognize the authority of the court.
Sunny Hostin is on the case.
Sunny, I know experts have given all kinds of different opinions about his sanity or lack thereof at the time of those shootings last summer. Why, though, is that so important to establish with regards to these proceedings?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is really a complicated case and very difficult to understand.
I think many people are familiar with the concept of self-defense but he's claiming he killed all of these people in self-defense because it was as part of his war against multiculturalism in the European nation. Earlier, as you mentioned, he was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. His lawyers are fighting and saying, no, that's in fact not true and rather he's claiming self-defense and that they intend to prove it in court.
He does not want to be found insane. Rather, he wants to sort of go with this self-defense justification. It's a very odd position, I think, that this case finds itself in, because, again, now you have a court finding him sane, finding him able to stand trial, yet what we're seeing in court as you just showed is very much in line with someone who may be suffering from some sort of mental disorder.
BALDWIN: Yes. I remember when the story broke. It was during these hours last summer. I remember he got on that island and he was pretending to be a police officer and telling the kids to come to him and instead he was slaughtering these people. Again, back to the self-defense claim, he's saying as you point out the shooting was sent to -- I'm quoting him -- save Norway from being taken over by multicultural forces.
How can self-defense even apply here period?
HOSTIN: I don't think it applies, actually.
It certainly doesn't appear to apply when you think about the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. I really wonder what's going to happen in a case like this. I almost feel that this is a case of first impression. It's just something you don't really see, someone who refuses to acknowledge any sort of mental disorder yet is claiming self-defense based on his beliefs.
BALDWIN: Meantime, we know the prosecutors they have painted this picture of his life before the killings last summer. What do they hope to gain from all those life details?
HOSTIN: I think they certainly hope to gain, Brooke, a conviction in this case because again they do not believe he was insane at the time of his actions.
They tend to show this was a very deliberate, deliberate massacre. And remember 77 young people died in this rampage. The prosecution is going forward with their case and they want to show someone that acted deliberately.
BALDWIN: We will see how that self-defense claims works out for him.
Meantime, let's talk about this story here out of Oklahoma, and a judge has entered not guilty pleas for those two men accused of a shooting spree in Oklahoma earlier this month. One of the suspects' mother has now written a letter to her son's attorney revealing very personal details asking him to help her son. What do you know about these details? Can even this attorney use this in court?
HOSTIN: It's really remarkable.
It really shows a mother's love. This mother, Teri Alexander, and I have the letter in front of me, wrote a letter to attorney Brewster, a very well known and very skilled attorney, asking that he help her child. He has taken on the case.
She says he's not hateful, that she has and obviously he also has African-American relatives, that they have African-American grandchildren, and that she is desperate really to save her son in any way possible. She also indicates her son has lost his will to fight, will to live, and that she's asking for this attorney to fight for his life. She's really interestingly enough indicating she has a severe drug problem and that she hasn't been as present in this defendant's life as she wanted to be. But she's still asking for someone to help out her son. So it's a very, very candid depiction of a mother's love for her son.
BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, thank you on the case with us.
Meantime, one working mother admits she leaves the office at 5:00 sharp. Why is that so important? Because she is the chief operating officer of one of the largest social media sites in the world.
Also, live pictures here on Capitol Hill, this House hearing well under way. The General Services Administration, the GSA, under fire for lavish spending at a Las Vegas conference two years ago. This House hearing is -- House committee is holding this hearing right now. We will go there live coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
BALDWIN: And space shuttle Discovery going on what NASA calls the world's greatest piggyback ride. I say piggyback. You're about to see why.
John Zarrella, talk to me about this shuttle. I love the pictures -- I'm blanking on -- basically the fast-forward of this 747, the shuttle on the top of the 747. It's stunning.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Brooke, this is the exclamation point to the end of the space shuttle era.
Tomorrow morning at first light, Discovery riding on the back of a 747 will depart here from the Kennedy Space Center, its destination the Smithsonian, and appropriately certainly the Smithsonian.
Now today out at the shuttle landing strip, the runway there, the astronaut crew that flew the last shuttle Discovery mission back last February out there and talked to the media. Take a look at the vehicle sitting on the 747. They talked about what a remarkable flying machine it was, but also how it was time to move on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL DREW, NASA ASTRONAUT: My take is that it was built by people who were 19 feet tall for people who were also 19 feet tall. We had bigger budgets and a bigger tolerance for failure and loss of life back in the '60s and early '70s than we have in this particular generation.
And so the shuttle was built for that generation of explorers. And I'm not sure it fit well in our current society, our current culture. The risk you would take with a shuttle I think are higher than most people are willing to accept in 2012.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: It's going to be a remarkable event here tomorrow, hundreds, maybe thousands of people here to wish Discovery farewell.
When it leaves here , it's going to fly over launchpad A, where it lifted off from so many times, then down the beach, then back around, over the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex, then up the East Coast, flying at about 15,000 feet all the way. You may get a look at it if you look outside and it's close enough to the coast.
Then of course it's going to fly over several landmarks as it makes its way into Dulles Airport in Washington. Touchdown, probably around 10:30 tomorrow morning.
BALDWIN: I cannot wait to see those pictures, John Zarrella. You and I, we are talking again tomorrow about what a spectacle that will be.
John, thank you.
ZARRELLA: Sure.
BALDWIN: And that's your "Reporter Roulette" here on this Monday.
Bullying, bullying can happen at any age. Surely, you have worked somewhere in your own career that you would consider perhaps toxic. Well, now there's this film, this documentary addressing what so many Americans really do feel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you have a lot of things that are happening to you in the work force and you're facing them every day and you're going there and not wanting to be there, but knowing you need the money and you need it for survival, and you try and maintain and they keep heaping one more thing on you and one more thing on you, you know, somewhere, it overrides the brain and that switch does go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Sound familiar at all? We're going to talk about workplace bullying with the man behind the movie here. He's going to join me live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We hear so much about students that are bullied in some cases to death. You can think of Phoebe Prince, the new girl at a Massachusetts high school, tormented mercilessly by other girls in her class. I know you know the name Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers freshman who jumped off that bridge after his roommate used a Webcam to spy on his romance with another man.
But we don't talk a lot about bullying tactics beyond the schoolyard, the belittling comments, the exclusion, the outright hostility perpetuated by and suffered by adults on the job. And, in some cases, it can end in bloodshed.
Watch this from CNN's Patricia Wu.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICIA WU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): California, Virginia and North Carolina. Three shootings in three states in the last few months. Beyond the headlines a disgruntled worker. And experts say in many cases like this there's something at play which we normally associate with school yards. Bullying.
GARY NAMIE, DIRECTOR, WORKPLACE BULLYING INSTITUTE: It's a silent epidemic because we don't talk nearly enough about it, we don't address it, it's shrouded in shame and silence.
WU: But that silence can lead to violent consequences. A 2011 CareerBuilder study shows that 27 percent of U.S. workers have felt bullied in the work place.
NAMIE: It's on the rise because the people who are being bullied, the targets, don't believe there are good drop alternatives out there.
WU: That epidemic is the subject of a new documentary called "Murder by Proxy: How American Went Postal." Emile Chiaberi is the writer and director of the sobering new film that explores the mayhem behind the term going postal.
EMIL CHIABERI, WRITER/DIRECTOR, "MURDER BY PROXY": In this environment where people are under so much pressure and under so much stress, and experience so much fear, it's only inevitable that some of them are going to resort to violence. And again, only a very small percentage will do that. But that helps us illuminate the larger problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's complicated. He took mothers away from their children, he took fathers away from their children. On the other hand, I understand why he did it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WU: Chiaberi's film explores the pattern of workplace violence, a pattern that its director says is growing as the job market is shrinking.
(On camera): Not all victims of workplace bullying resort to violence, but experts say there is often a link. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics nearly 600 people a year are victims of workplace homicide.
(Voice-over): Emelise Aleandri says she was bullied in the workplace. But instate of getting mad, she got even winning more than $1 million in a settlement with her former employer.
EMELISE ALEANDRI, BULLIED AT WORK: With the gradual continual, unrelenting diminution of our work, our status as employees, our jobs, our careers. Everything was intended to chip away at that so that we would leave.
WU: When leaving isn't an option, workers feel trapped. Workplace bullying experts say employers should address the problem before it erupts into yet another crime scene.
Patricia Yu, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: And Patricia, she touched on this firm, it's called "Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal." And it's hard to look at what's behind mass murders at work including the 1991 massacre at a post office in Royal Oak, Michigan. A fired letter carrier named Thomas McIlvane returned with a gun, shot eight people killing four, before he tried and killed himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At Royal Oak, the deep-rooted tensions remain. On this memorial plaque honoring those killed, workers had defaced the name of senior supervisor Christopher Carlisle with red ink.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I found out that Chris Carlisle had been shot, sad to say, I was very happy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would hate to say something like that, you wouldn't want to think that way because you don't want to wish anybody dead, especially over their job, but there was just an overwhelming sense of relief some of those people were gone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's complicated because yes, I think it was terrible what he did. He killed five people. Several more are physically disabled for the rest of their lives. He took mothers away from their children. He took fathers away from their children. On the other hand, I understand why he did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If anybody ever knew about abusiveness, it happened at that post office. 1987, the same managers that were allowed up in Royal Oak did the same thing in Indianapolis, Indiana. They then rolled out to come out to Royal Oak, and there was a repeat. Only this time it was blood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Emile Chiaberi wrote and directed this film, "Murder by Proxy", how America went postal. Emile, thank you for joining me. When you put this film together, how shocked were you by the extent of bullying that you were documenting at the work place?
CHIABERI: Well, in the beginning of course it was very -- he kept getting more shocking and more shocking, you know, as I -- as I went down -- down the line, and I research more and more. Every time I watch this, I can never get used to it. It's just -- it sends a chill down my spine.
BALDWIN: And we say workplace bullying and we gave examples, obviously, you know, horrendous examples. You know, perhaps hopefully the rarity ending in bloodshed, but what other examples of workplace bullying? Do you notice?
CHIABERI: Well, I actually prefer a different term. Psychological violence. Because I think it more accurately describes the behavior as well as the effect on the victims.
BALDWIN: So what kind of behavior?
CHIABERI: And in many cases -- well, it's undermining another person. And it's -- I think it's innate in our nature, in human nature, but there are conditions under which it becomes more intense. You know, for example, if there's more competition between workers, it's only natural that we will see more behavior like this. You know, if you think that somebody is taking your job or about to take your promotion, your response may be to try to undermine them.
BALDWIN: When we -- when I heard that we were doing the segment, the fist thing I thought was, who are these people we're talking about? I guess to use your term, who are psychologically violent today, are these the bullies who were kids and now they've just grown up this way?
CHIABERI: Well, maybe. You know, I never traced kind of their history to their childhood. I think, like I said, you know, it's -- it's just innate in our nature. If you're in a position of power it maybe that you will choose to exercise it this way.
BALDWIN: What does it take to really push someone over the edge? Really push them.
CHIABERI: I think for everybody it's different. In some cases -- you just mentioned Thomas McIlvaine in that segment.
BALDWIN: Yes.
CHIABERI: That he wasn't fired. He actually -- he wasn't fired. He was suspended. He was suspended for more than a year. And there -- and it was an extension of bullying actually because what they did was, if they fired him, he would have gotten an unemployment, at least he would have been able to support himself. What happened was they suspended him so he could not get unemployment and he could not get another job. So, you know, he just sort of -- he was in that limbo for a year. And he was broke and according to Charlie Withers when they found him, he had $1 left.
BALDWIN: But were there warning signs?
CHIABERI: So --
BALDWIN: Were there warning signs, Emile, in that case? And are there warning signs overall that, you know, those of us who do work, especially perhaps some people in toxic environments should pay attention to?
CHIABERI: Well, you know every time these incidents happen, the most prevalent question that we hear is why, how come it happen? There is not a single person in Royal Oak who doesn't know exactly why it happened. In fact, when I interviewed people, the most common thing I heard was that -- when we came to work that morning and we saw the police lines and we've heard there was a shooting, we didn't know who it was because it could have been anybody.
The bullying by management was just so horrible that anybody could have snapped.
BALDWIN: Pay attention. Pay attention. Pay attention. And speak up.
Emile Chiaberi, thank you so much.
CHIABERI: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Coming up next, government workers go to Vegas, party on your dime and make videos poking fun about how they spent your cash. Well, there's a grilling going on in Washington right now to find out exactly who did what. We're back in 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Happening right now, Capitol Hill, live pictures as we're watching government officials involved in that lavish Las Vegas conference. They are speaking out. They have been called to testify in this investigation into this spending scandal of the agency that's -- the agency itself is supposed to cut government waster.
The House Oversight Committee right now is questioning General Services Administration officials about this 2010 conference that cost them $800,000.
And I want to bring in our senior congressional correspondent -- there she is -- on Capitol Hill. I know she's been listening to every word of this hearing.
Dana Bash, you were saying before that these members of the GSA, both current and former, were -- they're not just falling on their swords, they were diving on their swords today. What else have you been hearing?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We have been hearing these members of Congress express the outrage that they say they're hearing from their constituents. As one said, this is exactly why people are furious at Washington. This, meaning spending over $800,000 on a conference, that included $75,000 for a -- you know, a bike kind of event. Those are the kinds of things that really make people mad.
Now one of the key witnesses that the Republicans hoped to talk -- they actually subpoenaed him -- was a man by the name of Jeff Neely. He was the man who actually organized this 2010 conference that is really at the heart of this investigation. And he decided to invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to testify. He did that and he was excused. But that did not stop the questioning about him and about his conduct. Specifically to the former GSA administrator who's really been kind of feeling the wrath of all of these congressmen. She is Martha --
BALDWIN: Oh, did we lose her? We lost her. I think she was about -- OK, let's just listen in. Let's just listen. This is Chairman Darrel Issa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: You got bonuses when the president said there was a pay freeze.
MARTHA JOHNSON, FORMER GSA ADMINISTRATOR: The senior executives were entitled to bonuses under our -- we're entitled to bonuses. I don't believe the pay freeze affected those bonuses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would the gentleman yield for just one question?
CHAFFETZ: As long as it doesn't take some of my time.
REP. DARRELL ISSA (R-CA), OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM CHAIRMAN: The gentle-lady just had -- just seemed to say entitled, I thought it was that they were possibly going to be granted. Entitlement seems to be a question the gentleman may want to follow up on.
JOHNSON: I apologize. I did not -- not mean entitled.
CHAFFETZ: Oh, I think you did mean entitlement. I think that's the fundamental problem that America gets and that government doesn't get. There are a lot of good federal employees who work hard, they're patriotic and they're frugal with their money. But when you see this widespread abuse of money and then you as the former administration say well, they were entitled to it, that's where there's frustration just steaming out of our ears.
It is totally unacceptable, and for the president of the United States to look the American people in the eye and say, well, we've got a pay freeze in place while you're getting bonuses and going on trips is totally unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: OK. So a couple of clip we heard from there. Martha Johnson was the one talking about bonuses, used the word entitled, entitled to give or to receive these bonuses. And that's Chaffetz and also Issa jumped on that and said entitled? Is that really the word you meant? So obviously, bottom line, there are fireworks on Capitol Hill and members of this House Oversight Committee are clearly furious and so questioning members both former and current of the GSA as they're looking into this alleged abuse of $800,000 plus of taxpayer money.
We're watching it, and Dana Bash as well.
Coming up next, he's got a lot of you talking, Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees is in a coma, clinging to life. That story in 70 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Bee Gee's great Robin Gibb is clinging to life right now. He's one-third of the famous brothers Gibb. He's in a coma, has pneumonia. The prolific songwriter has already had battles with both colon and liver cancer. We'll keep you posted on this latest health fight.
Still ahead, Katherine Middleton's little sis could be in big, big trouble for a picture the paparazzi took. It involves a gun, a car in the same city where Princess Diana died. We're going to show you those pictures next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You look at just about every skyline and you see big block buildings. And this Sunday, Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to a rising star in the world of architecture. Bjarke Ingels wants to change the view on "The Next List."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BJARKE INGELS, ARCHITECT: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The more wild ideas you want to realize, the more dry and rational and professional and rigorous you have to be in your approach. Because if you're just going to do the standard solution, you can actually be quite lazy. Whereas if you want to go just even a little bit beyond sort of the conventional path, you really have to try hard to convince a whole -- a whole series of authorities and also clients and investors and neighbors that this is actually feasible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: On my way to the Rock 'N Roll Hall of Fame ceremony just the other night, something happened on my plane ride. It was breathtaking, it was stunning and it forced every single passenger to watch in silence. I'll share that with you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We are 10 short minutes away from this guy, Wolf Blitzer, with "THE SITUATION ROOM."
How are you, Wolf? WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, THE SITUATION ROOM: I feel very good, very strong, had a nice weekend. Did you?
BALDWIN: I had a wonderful weekend. I was in Cleveland. It was great.
BLITZER: I saw. I saw you had --
BALDWIN: I was at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
BLITZER: You had a great time, you had the time of your life in Cleveland.
BALDWIN: Yes.
BLITZER: How cool is that?
BALDWIN: Very cool.
BLITZER: What was better, that or going to the BET Soul Train Awards with me?
BALDWIN: How about if only you could have come with me to the Rock Hall?
BLITZER: I -- you didn't invite me.
BALDWIN: Well, you know, I do have a brother, he does take precedence over Wolf Blitzer there.
BLITZER: Yes, of course he does. Of course he does.
BALDWIN: What are you going to do? So what do you have coming up?
BLITZER: But it sounded very cool.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: It was amazing.
BLITZER: Did you see what I just tweeted? Did you see what I just tweeted?
BALDWIN: You like my music Monday. Fun. Had you never heard the Fun before?
BLITZER: Of course, it's a great song but you made me go watch the video on YouTube. It was a great video. A lot of fun and there's Fun right there. How cool is that?
All right. Let me tell you what's coming up. We got a lot of serious news coming up at the top of the hour, brand-new poll numbers we're releasing right at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. We're going to show what the horse race looks right -- looks like right now. Romney-Obama, what's going on? How do they divide up among men voters, women voters. Lots of good stuff in this poll coming up. And we have a lot more new information coming in on the Secret Service investigation. What happened over there? Peter King, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, he's going to be joining us live in our 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour. So not just music and cool stuff, we got serious news coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
BALDWIN: Wolf, thank you. I've got something serious I want to share with you and our viewers as well. I just mentioned I was in Cleveland over the weekend so I was sitting on the tarmac in Atlanta on Friday on a plane headed to Cleveland and I noticed something out my window. and it didn't take me very long to realize what exactly it was. It was this. It absolutely took my breath away.
And before we took off the pilot got on the loud speaker, let us know that we were on a special flight. He called our attention to a military officer on board, very highly decorated officer, who was escorting the body of 33-year-old Sergeant Michael Beecher to Akron. And he explained that this would be Sergeant Beecher's final flight home.
And as we arrived in Cleveland, our plane was met with military honor guard, saluting the plane. Here are just some of my photos just from iPhone, along with Beecher's family. The plane was silent as we sat at the gate area. I got to tell you, there were not many dry eyes in sight as Sergeant Beecher's casket -- there it is -- draped in an American flag was removed from the plane.
And so I was curious, I wanted to know more about him. I discovered later that Sergeant Beecher, a paratrooper, assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division and a father of five -- excuse me, father of four -- died in an accident on a motorcycle in Troy, North Carolina. He was taking motorcycle lessons at Fort Bragg, and was riding with a group.
Beecher, deployed four times, received multiple awards and decorations, and even though he didn't die in battle, he was serving his country. And I just wanted to stop and share these photos and my experience with you because while we are all busy with our own lives, there are so many military families whose worlds are changed each and every day, and I just wanted to take this moment right now to say thank you.
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BALDWIN: This was trending today. Shock across the pond as a photographer snapped Pippa Middleton, riding in a car with a gun- toting man.
Matthew Chance is here with the "Sun's" big headline.
Matthew, what happened? What is the paper saying?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it happened at the weekend, Brooke. Here's the paper right here, it's the "Sun" newspaper, a big popular daily newspaper here in Britain. You can see the headline, "Smirking Gun." A reference to these three images that are plastered all over the center pages of this newspaper. Pippa Middleton there, sitting next to a guy, a (INAUDIBLE) car, but wielding a gun, pointing it at a paparazzi photographer who is undoubtedly pursuing them for pictures. They're all smirking or smiling about it as well, obviously something they found jolly good fun wielding this handgun in the middle of the French capital Paris.
But it's obviously a very serious offense under French law. The French law is certainly they say that the person wielding the gun could face very serious criminal charges for threatening this photographer with a firearm. If the complaint formally is made, it's not clear whether Pippa Middleton herself, of course the sister of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge that's married to Prince William, will be subject to prosecution, but clearly, it casts doubts on her judgment on this obviously a very negative episode incident for her -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Matthew, does the paper give any more context as far as who these people were and who were in the car? And how he was carrying a gun?
CHANCE: Yes, it doesn't name any individuals apart from this guy here with the blue baseball cap on. It says he was an aristocratic French fashion designer. He staged a fancy dress party, hosted a fancy dress party the night before. That's why Pippa Middleton was in Paris. Apparently she's being driven back in this car to the Gare du Nord, which is the station which links the Channel Tunnel to London. She was on her back to the United Kingdom.
The other individuals in the -- in the images have not been named, but clearly the one wielding the gun may be subject to some kind of police investigation.
BALDWIN: OK. So still to be determined as far as whether or not Pippa Middleton faces charges.
What about the photographer, Matthew? Any indication he will pursue anything?
CHANCE: Well, it's not clear, Brooke, at this point whether the photographer has lodged a formal complaint. That will be instrumental in deciding as whether the prosecutors in France decide to interview or arrest Kate -- Pippa Middleton and the other individuals in the car. The lawyers that I have spoken to suggest that it will be very difficult to actually prosecute Pippa Middleton for this. She didn't touch the gun and apparently it wasn't her gun, whether or not the gun was real or not doesn't really matter under French law.
But nevertheless, the fact that she's been photographed in this compromising situation in a country, which is of course at the moment, very sensitive to gun crime. It was just last month where seven individuals including four people were killed in a -- in a gunshot incident. And it's a country which is also preparing for its presidential elections this weekend and so it's on a very high state alert. This will be viewed very dimly, obviously, to people observing the antics of Pippa Middleton. BALDWIN: Sure. And certainly a city of significance with Princess Diana who lost her life in that horrendous car accident back in 1997. We'll follow it right along with you, Matthew Chance.
Matthew live for us in London. Thank you.
And that's it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin here at the world headquarters in Atlanta. Now to my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, in Washington, "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now.
