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Mitt Romney Claims Credit for Saving Auto Industry; John Edwards Trial Continues; Interview; Clay Aiken on Gay Marriage in North Carolina
Aired May 08, 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: And now roll it. Hour two as we continue on. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. One state's issue catching fire across the nation, right now, folks in North California are lining up voting on same-sex marriages.
Celebrities, politicians, religious leaders, they're all weighing in on this one particular state issue. In a moment, I will speak live with Clay Aiken, whose home state is under the microscope. Stay tuned for that. That is coming up.
Also unfolding, a dramatic twist here in the frantic search for these two young girls, the man on the loose suspected of kidnapping four members of one this family. Now the bodies of a mom and her teenage daughter have been found. But the other two sisters, they are all still missing. Here's the new development just this afternoon.
The suspect's wife and the suspect's mother have been arrested in connection with this kidnapping. We're told the wife drove a car with the four victims inside all the way from Tennessee to Mississippi. More on that straight ahead.
But, first, with all due respect to Governor Romney, this is one of those things where you go, say what? The same Mitt Romney who once wrote that America should let automakers should go bankrupt now is saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. And, frankly, that's finally what the president did. He finally took them through bankruptcy. That was the right course I argued for from the very beginning.
It was the UAW and the president that delayed the idea of bankruptcy. I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy. And finally when that was done and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So I will take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry has come back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: All right, let's (INAUDIBLE) in on this one with Jim Acosta for us in Michigan. And this sounds a little bit like holy switch switcheroo, Batman. Can you explain Romney's line of thinking to us?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brooke, the Romney campaign has been saying this for several weeks now. And we heard Mitt Romney talk about this in that interview with that local affiliate in Cleveland.
He is making the case that it is the managed bankruptcy process that helped the U.S. auto industry, not the auto bailout. So he is, as he said in that interview, taking credit for the survival of the U.S. auto industry. Obviously, that is not going to sit well with the unions.
There were some union protesters outside of this event for Mitt Romney that just wrapped up here in Michigan. They were basically saying, hey, wait a minute, you were the one that wrote the op-ed in "The New York Times" -- and you just mentioned it, Brooke -- that said basically let Detroit go bankrupt.
He also predicted in that op-ed that if the bailout were to happen, those auto companies would go out of existence. He was wrong about that. But he's trying to make the case now that he was right on this issue of managed bankruptcy and how that process was the best medicine for the industry.
BALDWIN: OK. Now, you mentioned a moment ago that Romney did finish a speech, what, within the past hour or so. What did he say there today?
ACOSTA: Well, getting back to the auto industry, one thing he did not talk about was the auto bailout, did not talk about that at all during this speech.
But he did go after the president. And we have been hearing this from Mitt Romney over the last couple of days, hitting the president's new campaign slogan of forward. Mitt Romney said during an event that just wrapped up a few moments ago that the country is heading in the wrong direction, not forward, but sideways.
And then, Brooke, he also laid into this new interactive tool on the Obama campaign Web site called Julia. She's a fictional character. And you can sort of go through the various stages of her life from cradle to grave where she receives government programs every step of the way to sort of help her through life. Here's what Mitt Romney had to say about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Have you seen, by the way, the president's vision of the future?
To help us see it, his campaign has even created a little fictional character. It's on the Web site, living an imaginary life filled with happy milestones for which she will spend the rest of her days thanking President Obama. (LAUGHTER)
ROMNEY: It's called "The Life of Julia." And it is a cartoon. Julia progresses from cradle to grave, showing how government makes every good thing in her life possible. The weak economy, high unemployment, falling wages, rising gas prices, the national debt, the insolvency of entitlements, all these are fictionally assumed away in a cartoon that is produced by a president who wants us to forget about them.
By the way, what does it say about a president's policies when he has to use a cartoon character rather than real people to justify his record?
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Brooke, he also went after Obama saying that he's more liberal than President Clinton. These are attack lines that we're going to be hearing over the next couple of days. He's heading to Denver and Oklahoma City next, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Jim Acosta, thanks, Jim.
Just a short time ago, we should mention Romney's opponent unveiled a new to-do list for Congress when it comes to jobs and the economy. In a speech in Upstate New York, President Obama challenged Congress to make tax code changes to discourage outsourcing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I'm announcing a handy little to-do list that we've put together for Congress.
(LAUGHTER)
You can see it for yourselves at whitehouse.gov. It's about the size of a Post-It note, so every member of Congress should have time to read it.
(LAUGHTER)
And they can glance at it every so often. Hopefully, we'll just be checking off the list. Just like when Michelle gives me a list, I check it off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: President Obama just a short time ago in Albany, New York.
A bomb meant to bring down an American airliner, it was supposed to happen. It was intercepted. But what's particularly frightening about this latest terror attempt is, it shows the terrorists, they are getting smarter. The device, authorities say, shows a new level of sophistication.
And investigators belief this is the man who made it. We have talked about him before. He is Ibrahim al-Asiri. He is linked to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP. They say he crafted this particular device worn by the underwear bomber who tried to blow himself up. Remember on Christmas Day, the flight en route to Detroit, 2009?
So the FBI is now analyzing this latest bomb and there could be others out there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), MICHIGAN: It was more advanced than the Christmas Day bomber's or the underwear bomber's gear, and still not something that we believe could have circumvented security. But we just don't want that information so widespread that they can go back to the workbench and come up with way to try to circumvent security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Homeland Security officials say the device never actually put passengers in immediate danger. But could this latest attempt impact airport security and how we hop on flights in the future?
Joining me now is former inspector general of the Transportation Department Mary Schiavo.
Ms. Schiavo, nice to have you on.
Here's what I want to know.
MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER TRANSPORTATION INSPECTOR GENERAL: Thank you.
BALDWIN: If I'm going to the airport tomorrow, how will this affect me?
SCHIAVO: I'm going in an hour.
And it will affect you in that the TSA will be extra vigilant. Now, they are supposed to be extra vigilant all the time, but there will be probably some delays as you're going through the screening devices. The body scan devices, they will be looking very carefully at anything on the body.
It isn't just metal. They can see other things and textures on the body. Anyone refusing a scan will get a very thorough pat-down. And they will do extra checks on your luggage. They will do extra explosive device screening. They will do swabbing luggage. All your checked backs are already checked for explosives. So they will just be doing extra, extra care. It might slow things down, but I believe they will just step it up.
BALDWIN: OK. So as they step it up and as perhaps you will have to wait bit longer when you are heading to the airport in an hour, my next question is something we actually talked about last week, talking about this al-Asiri character from AQAP about these human body bombs and how now they're getting creative, they're surgically implanting bombs in between organs.
My question is, can these people -- will the screeners at the airport be able to detect that?
SCHIAVO: Things actually implanted in someone's body will be very difficult.
That's why the older technology, we had it in the airports for a little while and it wasn't performing up to standards of the -- they call them the sniffer devices where they could actually detect explosive materials enclosed in things, hidden in things, et cetera.
The TSA and others will be looking to see if we can develop that. And, also, there are devices that are used at ports -- I won't go into too much detail -- but ports and port security which can actually sense explosive materials through containers concealed in various ways, much like we do with the baggage on the planes.
And so all those devices are being revisited and see if we can move those to the front of the line and get those redeployed again. It will all be very important, particularly on anything surgically implanted. It's going to be tough.
BALDWIN: So, right. I guess what I didn't hear was a yes to my question, are they detectable? So if the answer is no, we don't have -- our technology is not quite, you know, sophisticated enough to detect these body bombs, then how does that allay my fears if I'm going to the airport in an hour?
SCHIAVO: Well, it doesn't necessarily do that if it's completely untouched.
We do have technologies which are already at the airport. If someone has touched the materials, obviously, you have to have a detonator. You have to have more than just the plastic explosives. And those things can be detected. And if anyone has touched the explosive and then touched their luggage, the equipment that is already at the airport can pick that up.
But that is why the CIA, the FBI, Homeland Security are very concerned about surgically implanted materials. And we will have to rely, as we did on this case today, the news that broke last week. The CIA broke this before the person was actually able to select his flight and get on it.
So it takes a wide variety of methods to catch the terrorists and constant vigilance every day.
BALDWIN: Sure. Mary Schiavo, we understand why we need to be patient at the airport for a very good reason. We appreciate it.
SCHIAVO: Thank you. BALDWIN: And we also know there are some closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill happening right now both with the House and on the Senate side. Specifically, members of Congress want to know who knew what and when.
From Billy Graham to Bill Clinton, heavyweights from across the country, they are weighing in on the same-sex marriage vote. It's under way this minute in North Carolina. And I'm about to speak live with "American Idol"'s -- you're probably watching him because of "Celebrity Apprentice" -- here he is -- Clay Aiken about why he says this particular amendment, this Amendment 1 hurts children.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Clay Aiken, we all know Clay Aiken for a voice that raises the roof.
And, today, the Broadway performer and "American Idol" runner-up using his voice to try to bring down Amendment 1. That's the referendum his home state of North Carolina is voting on today. So what it would do would change the state constitution to say -- quote -- "Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this state."
A little bit of background here. A march survey by our TV affiliate out of Raleigh, Durham, found 58 percent of North Carolinians are for passing the amendment.
Clay Aiken, born and raised in North Carolina, still lives there.
Nice to have you on, sir.
CLAY AIKEN, MUSICIAN: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Let me just begin with this. And I know you're very private, but I just have to preface for people, you have a child. You posed with him proudly on the cover of "People" magazine. I know you don't speak very publicly about whether or not you have a domestic partner or not. But here's how this might relate to you.
If Amendment 1 passes, would this affect you? How would it affect you?
AIKEN: You know, I think the thing that affects everyone, whether it's same-sex couples or opposite-sex couples who have children is, unless they are married, opposite-sex couples who are in a domestic partnership or who are living together, who have children, run the risk of losing health insurance for the child if they're not married.
The thing that's really sort of deceptive about this amendment in the way it's written is that it restricts domestic partnerships, it restricts civil unions for both and straight and gay couples. And that's something despite the poll you just showed, all the major polls in North Carolina right now show that there is widespread support for domestic partnerships. BALDWIN: And that's the funny thing and that's the perplexing thing, because you have obviously some -- some outrage in the state of North Carolina. Gay marriage, it is already banned in North Carolina, despite the fact that the polls you mentioned, they show a majority of North Carolinians support some, some kind of legal recognition for same-sex couples.
So I guess my question to you, and I know you have been retweeting a lot of people who have been voting, do you think people in North Carolina even understand completely what they're voting for today with this amendment?
AIKEN: There is a poll that was just in "The Raleigh News and Observer" just this morning and yesterday saying that despite the fact that those polls -- those polls are showing that people are supporting the amendment, in that same poll, they're being asked if they know what it does and the majority of people aren't aware of the fact that it restricts domestic partnerships for straight couples as well.
So people aren't really necessarily being educated exactly on what this amendment will do. And I think that's the reason that you're seeing the polls so skewed.
BALDWIN: Right.
I read someone in Carrboro, down the road from Chapel Hill, saying this seems deceptive. Bill Clinton, perhaps -- you bring up the concern with kids, whether it's same-sex or opposite-sex domestic partnerships. He would agree. He has already lent his voice to this state issue recently.
But on the flip side, you had the Reverend Billy Graham. He has advertised in these 14 newspapers saying the Bible is clear, God's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. And I know you know that North Carolina, there are a lot of voters who agree -- you have even -- I have read an article where you talk about your mother and your brother, who are, what, what, typical Republican voters.
And had it not been for you and them knowing you and your full story, they would have voted for Amendment 1.
AIKEN: It is possible.
And I think there are a lot of people in this country in general who fit in that middle ground, you know, of people who are -- who are, not to use the word persuadable necessarily, but people who are compassionate and understand the need for equality.
North Carolina, the thing that bothers me the most, it is the only state in the South that has not yet voted for a constitutional amendment and hopefully won't, if people get out and vote today. But North Carolina has a history of being a state that takes deliberate steps. We were the last state to secede from the Union during the Civil War. In general, we have always been a state that takes responsible steps. And this is one of -- this is an example, the only example in my lifetime really of the state taking a very irresponsible step, doing something that's somewhat redundant, because, as you mentioned, there already is a law banning same-sex marriage.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: It's already there. It's already on the books.
AIKEN: And it's already there. And we're essentially putting something in the constitution which even the Republican leader of the North Carolina General Assembly has admitted he doesn't believe will stand for -- in future decades.
BALDWIN: And he said these folks now are young and in 10 or 15 years, perhaps it will be repealed once folks who feel strongly today, but won't necessarily have their voices heard, will repeal it down the road.
But I do have to ask you this while I still have you. In terms of more of I guess a national level, you hear from the president, right, and his perspective specifically on gay marriage, and the word he uses is it's evolving, his stance. I'm just curious, what do you think of that? And what more do people like the president need to learn?
AIKEN: It is -- it's frustrating, of course, to hear that.
It's promising to hear Joe Biden and other national leaders coming out in support of gay marriage. But I understand the word evolving. I do come from a relatively conservative area and from a conservative family. And my mom would be someone whose stance has evolved. And it doesn't always happen quickly.
So I certainly want -- I certainly want the president to hurry up and evolve faster, but I definitely believe that he is a champion for equality, not just for gays and lesbians, but for all people in general. And I'm proud that he's my president.
BALDWIN: Clay Aiken, nice to meet you.
AIKEN: Nice to meet you. Thank you so much.
BALDWIN: Thanks, Clay.
A movie executive, one of the guys who brought you "Avatar," suddenly up and disappears. His family is now saying something is terribly wrong.
Plus, it's a hot, hot topic in politics: border security. And the man in charge of it reveals his new plan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: More news unfolding now, "Rapid Fire." Roll it. The border control chief lays out his new strategy for securing the U.S. border from terrorists and drug smugglers and human smugglers while curbing illegal immigration. He is Michael Fisher. And he says the new plan would be less about blanket resources and more about targeting specific problem spots.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL FISHER, BORDER PATROL CHIEF, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The principal theme of our strategy is to use information, integration and rapid response to meet all threats. These pillars are essential as we continue to build upon an approach that puts the Border Patrol's greatest capabilities in place to combat the greatest risks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: A film studio executive for 20th Century Fox is missing. Here he is. This is 57-year-old Gavin Smith. He was last seen a week ago leaving a friend's home in Los Angeles, driving away in his Mercedes.
Now, Smith's sister said he didn't pick up his son Wednesday morning to take him to school, which she says is out of character. They're asking for the public's help.
The author of classic children's book "Where The Wild Things Are" has died. A spokesman for HarperCollins publisher says Maurice Sendak passed away today from complications of a recent stroke. Sendak illustrated close to 100 books during his 60-year career. His final book inspired by his love for his brother will be published next February. Sendak was 83 years old.
"A sick little man," just one phrase campaign insiders used to describe John Edwards. Talk about sordid testimony today here in the corruption trial of the former presidential candidate. We are also learning Edwards made several phone calls to certain people asking for cash.
And Yahoo!'s chief executive in some hot water today for padding his resume. Scott Thompson just made a big move in response to the firestorm. But is it enough?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A couple stories for you here. First, John Edwards being called sick and evil, and AIG expected to pay back taxpayers in a big, big way. And Yahoo!'s CEO basically issuing a mea culpa.
Time to play "Reporter Roulette."
BALDWIN: Want to begin with the trial of former presidential candidate John Edwards, accused of misusing his campaign funds to cover up his mistress and their love child.
Not only was Edwards called blistering names. President Obama was also mentioned.
CNN's Joe Johns has the details from Greensboro -- Joe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, there was cross- examination today of a very important prosecution witness. His name is Tim Toben. And he's a friend of Edwards' former right-hand man, Andrew Young.
Toben had at first come across as a solid prosecution witness who had dealings with John Edwards and didn't like him and pointed out why he felt Edwards was sleazy. But on cross-examination, Edwards' attorney Allison Van Laningham brought out that Toben had given information about Edwards' affair to the campaign of then Senator Barack Obama for president.
And, essentially, he told the Obama people they needed to believe the stories about Edwards they had seen in "The National Enquirer." He said his concern was that Edwards could be selected as Obama's vice presidential running mate. The defense also attacked what could be construed as bias on the part of Toben.
He and Andrew Young exchanged numerous e-mails, some of which were scathing in their assessments of Edwards, at one point Toben calling Edwards a sick, evil bastard and using the B-word to describe his wife, Elizabeth Edwards.
Toben was also asked about the infamous John Edwards sex tape, which has not been shown to the jury, and whether his friend Andrew Young had ever said he wanted to sell it. Toben said Young actually suggested he was thinking about selling, but changed his mind.
The prosecution now pushing toward the next big witness, who is expected to be a former Edwards aide who in 2009 was asked to help him draft a statement admitting his relationship with his mistress, Rielle Hunter -- Brooke.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Joe Johns, thank you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," remember the disgrace that was AIG, one of the companies dubbed too big to fail? It billions of dollars in that bailout. Now AIG is making billions back.
CNN's Alison Kosik is live for us at the New York Stock Exchange.
So, the question is, how much money, how profit are U.S. taxpayers expecting to make off AIG?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that is the question to ask, right?
So, when all is said and done, it looks like taxpayers are going to make $15 billion, this coming from the General Accounting Office. That's the watchdog agency. Now, keep in mind, though, Brooke, the government still owns a piece of AIG. So -- in stock, that is. So the final profit is really going to depend on when it sells all of that AIG stock.
And that, of course, depends on what the stock price is. But the report does say AIG is stable, it's profitable. That's of course after it got that $180 billion bailout during the 2008 financial crisis. In March, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke, he called this bailout distasteful, but necessary.
And it was necessary because the insurance company, it was a major player in credit default swaps and mortgage-backed securities. It had such a big footprint in the industry. And, Brooke, analysts said its failure could have really rippled throughout the world -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: And now $15 billion back to taxpayers.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Talking about Yahoo!'s CEO, why is he apologizing?
KOSIK: Because he's causing some problems at Yahoo!
So, yes, what happened here last week, CEO of Yahoo!, Scott Thompson, he admitted he lied on his resume. And he hasn't talked actually until now. And, today, he's apologizing to his employees, saying: "I regret how this issue has affected the company and all of you. We have all been working very hard to move the company forward. And this has had the opposite effect. And for that," he said, "I take full responsibility."
But here's the thing. He did not explain why he lied. But then, if you look on his bio, he has degrees in accounting and computer science. But, in reality, he only has an accounting degree. This was -- of course, this all surfaced after an activist shareholder group caught it, made it public.
Yahoo! came out and said, you know what, this was an inadvertent error. But the thing is, it happened several times, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Huh.
KOSIK: Both of these degrees, they were listed on Thompson's bio on Yahoo! and also on the PayPal Web sites when he was president of eBay.
One senior Yahoo! executive told us here at CNN, at this point, Thompson is facing a big credibility problem now for adding that little something-something to his resume -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: No adding something-something, because that...
KOSIK: Yes.
BALDWIN: ... something-something, well, they will catch you eventually. Alison Kosik, thank you. And there's your "Reporter Roulette" for us today.
Hey, welcome to the future. Cars that drive themselves. And one state takes a huge step in making this a reality on the highway. But which ones could be next?
Plus, guess who's here? Katie Linendoll has new gadgets gets to show off. I don't even know what this stuff is. She's all about it. This is for the tech geeks.
(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, Greg Olsen is a certified financial planner and partner at Lenox Advisors; Lynnette Khalfani-Cox is the founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com. Thank you both for coming in.
Greg, interesting question for you from Ann in Washington. Ann wrote in, I have two credit cards and a credit score of 770. I always pay my bills on time and I never spend more than 10 percent of my total credit limit. I would like to open another credit card that offers cash back and points on gas purchases. Will opening that other credit card hurt my credit score?
GREG OLSEN, CFP, LENOX ADVISERS: Well, Ann, first of all, congratulations for being so financially responsible. It could slightly negatively affect your credit score, so you want to really think about it before you open up another card.
If you really need to because of the benefits that go along with, maybe ask for a lower credit limit. If it's just for gas, maybe $500 a month would be sufficient.
The other thing would be possibly look at the other two credit cards that you have if you really need this third and say which one don't I need? This way you'll keep your overall credit limit about the same. And that shouldn't negatively affect your credit score.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: But closing one, that couldn't hurt her credit score?
OLSEN: It really depends. In that situation over time, you're constantly opening and closing cards. So I would seriously consider it, depending on how good that next card -- you really need that next card.
HARLOW: Got it. All right. Lynnette, your question come from Joe in Arizona. Joe wrote in after a short sale and a bankruptcy, how long do I need to wait to buy another home?
I don't know, should he even buy another home?
LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: Not immediately. Certainly, you have to get that credit cleaned up and sort of get back on track financially. Generally speaking, the short answer could be as little as one year, believe it or not, or as long as maybe three years.
It depends on two things. One, the type of loan you get. If it's an FHA or government-backed loan versus a conventional mortgage. And also, two, the type of bankruptcy proceeding that he was in. Believe it or not, you can be in a chapter 13 where you reorganize your debts and pay them off over a period of three to five years, you can actually get a mortgage one year after you file bankruptcy.
You can get it while you're in bankruptcy proceedings. You have to show a lot of stuff to the bankruptcy court and your trustee. I've been making all my payments on time; I've sort of gotten back on the right track.
But legally, you can do it. The government wants to make sure obviously that people don't just walk away from homes and foreclose and then get it again. So that one- to three-year type period is the general rule.
HARLOW: Got it. Thank you, guys. If you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail at anytime to CNNhelpdesk@cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Google's self-driving car has a license to drive in Nevada, anyway. It passed its driving test there with successful test drives in Carson City and on the Las Vegas Strip, this clears the way for Google to test the technology on Nevada's public roads.
And, you know, techies love that kind of stuff, including our tech expert, Katie Linendoll, who is so lovely and joining me in the studio.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE), my friend. This is ahead of Mother's Day.
KATIE LINENDOLL, TECH EXPERT: Yes. Here's the deal. We're giving people softball ideas. Like do not mail it in this Mother's Day.
BALDWIN: We're not mailing it in. We're doing it for you, moms. So number one, the Mama Roo, this thing that --
LINENDOLL: That's a Mama Roo. So here's the deal. This is 200 bucks. It's from four moms. And it's the first infant seat that actually moves like a mom. It has five different speeds. You can change the speed. It also has --
BALDWIN: Why is the iPod hooked up?
LINENDOLL: OK. So you can actually hook your iPhone in here and you can dock it and play music. Or you can play nature sounds, which are preinstalled. Also, this was created by doctors and nurses and input from hundreds of parents.
BALDWIN: That's pretty awesome. OK, let's kill the jungle noise.
LINENDOLL: All right. Killing the jungle noise.
BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE) jungle noise. OK.
LINENDOLL: Next up --
BALDWIN: Number two, moms who love photos.
LINENDOLL: Moms who love photos. Brooke has --
BALDWIN: Stop it!
LINENDOLL: -- not seen this yet. OK. This is from Canvas Pop. Hang on to that one. It's Brooke and Don, my faves.
BALDWIN: Oh, I stole his glasses that day (INAUDIBLE). It's me --
LINENDOLL: -- canvaspop.com. (INAUDIBLE) you can upload any photo and you can actually create your own art. And it comes in a number of different sizes, a number of different frames, but moms love stuff like this.
BALDWIN: This is when I went to space camp and got my space camp uniform (INAUDIBLE) --
(CROSSTALK)
LINENDOLL: -- booed on that. You were going on everything.
BALDWIN: I loved it. That's amazing. Moms, that's amazing.
OK, next thing.
LINENDOLL: Next up, well, I want to feature an app. This is for lazy people for people that are like, oh, it's Saturday, tomorrow's Mother's Day. Well, there's an app for that.
BALDWIN: Some of us like that (INAUDIBLE) roll that way.
LINENDOLL: (INAUDIBLE). Fair enough. So turn to the karma app. And karma app allows you to -- and I think we have some video. It allows you to send gifts to someone using your smartphone. And the gifts are --
BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE) just like that.
LINENDOLL: Variety from cookies to organic fruits. There's tea sets.
BALDWIN: These cookies look delicious, by the way.
LINENDOLL: And they come wrapped so you don't have to worry about anything. Just go ahead and fire up the app, choose what you want. Send it to mom. It pops up on Facebook, e-mail or text. Couldn't be easier.
BALDWIN: Karma app.
LINENDOLL: Correct.
BALDWIN: OK. Now to the thing that you were out -- where were you? In Vegas?
LINENDOLL: I was at CES, the consumer electronic show.
BALDWIN: You -- we made you do this over and over. So you brought it back. This is the origami.
LINENDOLL: This is the origami.
BALDWIN: This is the stroller on steroids.
LINENDOLL: This is the power folding stroller which Brooke was obsessed with. And let me tell you something. When we put this on at CES, it blew up in the media, 850 bucks, also has pathway lights, generators are right inside the wheels. But the best part about it, you don't have to kick the stroller anymore. It does all the work for you.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: How much? How much?
LINENDOLL: It's $850. I know it's pricey.
BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE). OK.
LINENDOLL: Last but not least --
BALDWIN: Last but not least, I love this. I have one of these, my jam box.
LINENDOLL: Yes.
BALDWIN: Explain.
LINENDOLL: This is the best wireless speaker, best-selling wireless speaker.
(CROSSTALK)
LINENDOLL: (INAUDIBLE) a lot of audio power. Now, not even on retail yet. This is actually going to be out May 15th. This is the big jam box. And talk about some serious power inside here, 15 hours of continuous play. 299 bucks, an awesome option for mom for backyards, take it to the beach. Put it anywhere, in a small apartment or a home.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: For moms who love to rock out. LINENDOLL: Exactly.
BALDWIN: Because moms rock.
LINENDOLL: Yes.
BALDWIN: Katie Linendoll, (INAUDIBLE) pleasure, my friend. Thank you so much.
LINENDOLL: Thanks.
BALDWIN: And now, switching gears here. Word of a dramatic twist in the search for two missing girls, their sister and mom found dead. But now this man on the run. Listen to this. His wife, his mother have been arrested here in connection with this kidnapping.
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BALDWIN: New today, the wife of a kidnapping suspect out of Tennessee has now been arrested. And so has his mother. I'm talking about Adam Mayes. Mayes' wife and mother arrested and charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap. Here they are.
Here's Teresa Mayes, the wife, facing four counts of aggravated kidnapping and being held on $500,000 bond. The suspect's mother, Mary Frances Mayes, facing conspiracy charges and held under $300,000 bond. The FBI thinks Adam Mayes is the one responsible for kidnapping Jo Ann Bain and her three daughters. They were last seen back in the Bain home in Tennessee on April 27th.
And today, police say Mayes' wife says she drove the vehicle with these four victims in it all the way from Tennessee down to Mississippi. Jo Ann Bain and the oldest of the girls, 14-year-old Adrienne, they were found buried. They were found buried in a shallow grave in Mississippi. And authorities say their bodies were found behind the home belonging to Mayes' mother.
Checkpoints, roadblocks, they are set up all over the state of Mississippi now, because these two remaining girls, they are believed to be with Mayes and he is considered armed and extremely dangerous. A $50,000 reward is being offered by the Feds in 12-year-old Alexandra Bain and 8-year-old Kyliyah and Mayes are all found.
It is the first blockbuster of the year. Did you see it? "the avengers" getting all kinds of reviews. It appears everyone loves it except for the Department of Defense. Why it reportedly says the movie isn't realistic enough.
Speaking of movies a bizarre moment when The Dictator, you know who The Dictator is, endorses a presidential candidate. You are about to hear from The Dictator next. Just a quick note for those of you heading out the door here. Please continue watching CNN. Grab your mobile phone. You can find us there. If you are back at work, watch CNN live from your desktop. Just go to CNN.com/TV.
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BALDWIN: Did you hear? Mitt Romney picked up a very serious endorsement yesterday that he -- I'm being facetious. May not be too thrilled about this one. (INAUDIBLE) Sacha Baron Cohen, the man behind "Borat," well, in his upcoming movie -- it's called "The Dictator" -- Cohen pays Admiral General Aladeen, ruler of a fake Middle Eastern country.
Aladeen held a press conference in New York yesterday, was asked about the thoughts on the current U.S. presidential race. And then what did he do? Threw his support behind, as he called him, Mitchell Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SACHA BARON COHEN, "ADMIRAL GENERAL ALADEEN": I support and I give my full support to Mitchell Romney. He has the makings of a great dictator. He is incredibly wealthy but pays no taxes. And it's not much of a leap to go from firing people to firing squads and from putting pets on the top of a car to putting political dissidents on the top of them. He taught me how to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Did you understand a word of that? I'm not quite sure I did. Anyhoo, "The Avengers," it's the Hollywood blockbuster that was the talk of this weekend, pulled in a ton of money. And the Department of Defense reportedly, they didn't want any part of it.
So it's kind of strange that they don't really want a part of it, because the Pentagon is usually eager to help Hollywood produce movies, but "the avengers" had no military backup.
The Defense Department's Hollywood liaison told "Wired" magazine the (INAUDIBLE) blog, that it stopped cooperating with Marvel Studios during the production because of the film's, and I'm quoting, "unrealistic portrayal of military bureaucracy." So thoseF-22 fighter jets that's all over the screen, guess what, they were computer generated. I know. I'm sure you didn't notice.
Hey, all 242 Republicans in the House of Representatives got a surprise this week, a calendar full of scandals allegedly all about themselves. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee or the DCCC, is a campaign armed for all the Democrats in the House, they hand delivered these calendars to every single Republican's office.
The name of this thing -- the Republican House of Scandals. The calendars highlight a different Republican, each and every month, an alleged scandal of theirs. So take Mr. February, New York Congressman Michael Grimm. "The New York Times" reported earlier this year Grimm solicited improper campaign cash from a rabbi and a mystic from Israel.
For March, Mary Bono Mack and her husband, the DCCC says they're accused of cheating on their taxes. The calendar is a major attack on Republicans six months out from elections. Now the Republican House campaign arm, the NRCC responded.
And they say this, quote, "The calendar the American people are focused on show 39 straight months where unemployment has been above 8 percent under Obama's watch. The real scandal is the economic legacy of Nancy Pelosi and President Obama, which has left middle class families with fewer jobs, higher gas prices and record debt," end quote.
Now to Wolf Blitzer "THE SITUATION ROOM" coming up in a couple of minutes, how are you, sir?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I feel very good. I missed you yesterday. Just taking the day off to relax a little bit?
BALDWIN: Oh, I was missed by Wolf Blitzer.
BLITZER: Yes, you were.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
BLITZER: I'm sure a lot of our viewers missed you, too.
BALDWIN: I had a long weekend. A gal needs a day off. How are you?
BLITZER: Ashleigh Banfield, I must say, did an excellent job. She's an excellent television anchorwoman. I will say that. (INAUDIBLE) --
BALDWIN: Excellent. I agree.
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BALDWIN: What's coming up on the show?
BLITZER: You are excellent as well.
Here's what's coming up. Mike Rodgers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has got new information about what's going on with that improvised explosive device that was discovered, apparently in Yemen.
It was bound for some sort of suicide bomber who was going try to get on a plane headed towards the United States. New information on that. That story broke, as you know, about 24 hours or so ago. We're all over that.
Also, new information coming in on Alan Gross, he's the American citizen being held in a Cuban jail. He's been there for almost two and a half years. The secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, is now weighing in to CNN. She spoke about it with our own Jill Dougherty.
We're -- we have an interview with Patrick Leahy. He met with him for about two and a half hours in a recent visit to Cuba. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Cuban intrasection of the Swiss Embassy here in Washington is now weighing in, giving me their perspective. We're getting a statement from the lawyers for Alan Gross. We're al over this story and a lot more coming up right here on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
BALDWIN: Wolf Blitzer, we will see you in T-minus nine minutes.
In the meantime, this is an awful story here I want to tell you about this girl. She is forced to marry. She is then drugged, she is raped and then she is tortured with hot pokers. You are about to hear what she wants the world to know. This is an exclusive TV interview.
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BALDWIN: The plight of a 14-year-old Afghan girl caused international outrage when she was found tortured, allegedly at the hands of her in-laws.
That young woman, she is now speaking out and CNN doesn't usually reveal the identities of women and girls who allege they have been raped, but this young woman wanted to be seen. She wanted to tell her story. It's a story that's already now being heard all around the world and CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has that.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sahar Gul only plays with a girl doll and hates the male one. That's along with a terrible shyness that's the most obvious trace of her unimaginable past.
Married off aged just 13, she said she was drugged by her mother- in-law and raped by her adult husband. Her in-laws locked her in a basement, she says, burned her with a hot poker and pulled out her nails.
SAHAR GUL, TORTURE VICTIM (through translator): They told me to go to the basement because there were some guests coming to the house. When I went there, they came in and tied my hands and feet and pulled me upwards from above. They brought very little food for me. While going to the bathroom they used to beat me a lot. I was crying all this time.
When they put electric shocks on my feet I felt like I was going to die at that moment. I screamed and that's how our neighbors realized there is something happening. For one day and night I was unconscious, feeling dead.
WALSH (voice-over): the neighbors alerted the authorities, who found her like this in December after five months of torture. She's safe in a shelter now, but last week she trembled when she saw three of her five in-laws, her attackers, again. Now they were in court, but she was again horrified, this time by the sentences for abuse the judge gave.
GUL (through translator): Ten years is not enough. They should be given 50 years. They should be punished in the prison. They hurt my eyes and pulled out my nail and hair and the same should be done to them. Whatever they did to me, the same should be done to them.
WALSH: Not only daily does she have to think about the trauma she's endured. She is still technically married to her attacker and fears it may not be safe to carry on living in Afghanistan.
GUL (through translator): I think the punishment given by the court to these people worries me. The government is trying its best to find my husband, committed but on the run. But if tomorrow he finds me, it's possible he could kill me.
I want to go abroad. If I sit here, they will find me. I want to go to the school and study to become a doctor or prosecutor so I can give punishment by myself to these sort of people.
WALSH: Her lawyer says she was abused because she didn't do house chores or bear children. But she is just one case, and there are many abused Afghan women whose stories are never told. And still she feels she has no future in the country where she was born and then brutalized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: It is infuriating ,Nick Paton Walsh, to hear stories like this and I am stunned that she came forward and spoke to you about this so candidly. You mentioned in the piece that she's in a shelter now? Is that still the case?
WALSH: Absolutely. We saw her this morning in a reasonably secure shelter somewhere in the capital. She seems to be, despite her terrible shyness, that sense of a trauma overshadowing most of her daily life.
There are moments when you see her to be acting almost overjoyed to have attention and some sort of future ahead, excited at the idea of studying into Dari (ph), the local language, poetry, interested perhaps in being a doctor or more personally saying she might in fact like to study law, become an attorney and then prosecute the kind of men who carried out the sort of attack she suffered, Brooke.
BALDWIN: You mentioned, I guess it would have been her husband, is on the run. The punishment, though, was 10 years. Where can she go next because certainly he could come find her?
WALSH: I think it's a pretty slim chance at this time that her husband will be arrested somewhere in Afghanistan, a country plagued by insurgency, lawlessness and much of it also very easy for criminals to bribe their way out of justice. So, yes, that fear of his return and that he might somehow exact revenge upon her will I think always, as she says, hold her.
At this point I think most of the conversation we had seems to suggest that she thought her best chance was to leave Afghanistan, to go abroad. That would of course involve asylum. That's a very sensitive issue here, a lot of sensitivity in Afghan culture about the idea Afghan women leaving, particularly leaving to the hands of foreigners, some may receive asylum in this case, but I think certainly much of this appeal, much of this desire to speak may be connected to the fact she feels she needs some kind of outside help for her safety in the future, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Give us a sense, Nick, and you've reported on stories like this before, where this is just one young woman's story out of I don't know how many others who we don't hear about, who aren't brave enough to come forward and speak to you. Give us a sense of how prevalent this is happening in the nation in which you stand?
WALSH: Well, there are deep concerns about the rights of women here. It was a key issue that when NATO first came here they hoped they could resolve it. It's a keen issue in the minds, I think, of many U.S. officials that it will be a way of judging exactly what kind of progress Afghanistan has made when U.S. troops draw down here.
Yes, many women suffer physical abuse, many suffer sexual abuse, often at the hands of their relatives or, even as we heard in this case, at the hands of their husbands, much of it goes unspoken. Nearly all of it, I think it's fair to say, goes unpunished because the law here often has, I think, a confused or contradictory perception of violence against women.
There have been most under Afghan law, new Afghan laws to try and prevent. There's some punishment, but really we're looking at a much longer game to be influenced by the short-term U.S. presence here in the years and months ahead, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Nick Paton Walsh, we know you'll be watching for it and reporting on it. We appreciate you. Thank you.
And now, THE SITUATION ROOM with Wolf Blitzer starts now.
BLITZER: Brooke, thanks very much.
