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Tropical Storm Debby Causes Massive Flooding; Crisis in Syria Continues; A Look Into Hospital Bills; Tips for Investing; Many Arrested Over Financial Fraud; Queen of England Takes Trip to Northern Ireland. Iconic English Tower Big Ben to Be Renamed; Targeted Marketing Becoming More Prolific; Years Later, Murder Case Reopened; Investigation Into Polygraph Tests; Home Prices on the Rise; Rescue Crews in Canada Searching Rubble of Collapsed Mall
Aired June 26, 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: Here we go. Top of the hour. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Just into us here at CNN, we're getting word of a major bust involving stolen credit cards and bank information and we're told it involves your information online. We're gathering the facts. More on this story in just a moment.
But some are calling this a catastrophic flood, Tropical Storm Debby slowly creeping across the state, dumping a deluge of rains, rivers and lakes and streams. Take a look for yourself. And you can see they are absolutely spilling over their banks, 2,000 people given mandatory evacuations in Pasco County, where a portion of Interstate 10 is closed in both directions because of standing water, and still Debby isn't done yet.
The storm could bring in another foot of rain.
CNN's John Zarrella is in Tampa for us, where the storm surge I know is an issue.
And, John, explain to me, I know I see some water, of course on days like this beautiful skies with the water behind you. Where does the water come from and is it going away?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Sure.
We always hear, Brooke, and you know this -- you have heard it -- head into the right of where the storm makes landfall. And even in the case of a tropical storm like this, that is still the scenario of where you're going to see that onshore flow, that surge of water.
And when you have a storm like this that's been moving so slowly towards the coast, you have had two days of nonstop wave action just coming and coming and coming pushing this water on shore. This is not rainwater flooding. This is tidal flooding. This is Bayshore Boulevard, a primary artery here in the Tampa Bay area.
Now, earlier today, we were over in St. Petersburg just across Tampa Bay back there. And we talked to some people over there who were experiencing the same thing in a community called Madeira Beach.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JO GRADDY, RESIDENT OF FLORIDA: You see the water marks here. The water was up this high on the doors. Everything inside the garage was floating. Everything -- there was a walkway in the center. And everything was stacked up on the sides. The water came up high enough that it started to float everything and so it started to collapse down on itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: So now, clearly, Brooke, you have had rainwater flooding. That's been significant. You have had tidal flooding from here in Tampa bay all the way north around the big bend of Florida, Cedar Key, Crystal River, up in Sopchoppy south of Tallahassee, all the way around almost as far as Panama City. That's been serious, as well as tornadoes and as well as the waterspouts.
We have seen just about everything from this very, very slow moving system -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: John, what about the mayor? I know you talked to the mayor of Tampa. How concerned is he? What is the plan?
ZARRELLA: Yes.
Yes. You know what? We talked to the mayor about the fact they have got the convention, the Republican Convention here at the end of August, about two months from now. About 400 yards from here is the Convention Center and the forum, which is where the convention will be held.
And he said you know what? When we bid for the Republican National Convention, we factored in, did an analysis, what are the odds of a hurricane hitting Tampa Bay that week in August, the last week in August, less than 1 percent. Clearly, he said we are prepared. We have got contingency plans in place.
If it was something like this again, they would be able to deal with it. It wouldn't be a problem, wouldn't really affect the convention. Anything worse than that, he said, it's his decision what would happen as far as evacuating the city, if that would be necessary. But again they factored all that in before they ever bid on it, and again less than 1 percent chance.
BALDWIN: Hopefully, that doesn't happen.
ZARRELLA: But he also said he didn't want to be the mayor if that 1 percent -- exactly. What he said to us, he didn't want to be the mayor if that would happen -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: A lot of Republicans just stuck in hotels in Tampa.
ZARRELLA: Sure. Yes.
BALDWIN: John Zarrella, thank you so much.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
BALDWIN: A lot more news coming at you this hour. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: It happens to all of us. You get the hospital bill in the mail, and you think, why the heck does it cost so much? Why?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, most people don't even bother looking at those bills. But if you do, you might be surprised. So we're going to go straight inside the operating room to figure out why.
I'm Brooke Baldwin, along with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The news is now.
(voice-over): The race to find survivors. A landslide buries entire villages and hundreds are missing.
Plus, be careful the next time you want to spill a secret. The government will use lie-detector tests to uncover leaks. You're about to find out exactly how they work.
And the rules of engagement are changing after Syria reportedly shoots down a Turkish jet. Turkey says any more action is a threat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Twelve hundred dollars for a surgical stapler, $200 for an I.V. bag, folks, these are real prices. And they are just part of the reason why health care costs are soaring.
Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes us inside the operating room for this really eye-popping look at exactly how much hospitals charge for basic supplies and why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: One of the questions that comes up all the time is what about these hospital bills, how exactly do you break down, how do you make sense of it. There's no question, it leaves a lot of people scratching their heads.
So I want to give you a little bit of an example here but taking you inside this operating room. This is the hospital where I work where I'm a neurosurgeon. And just having an operation performed in a room like this costs about $3,000 an hour. That's for starters.
Come on in. I will give you a couple of quick examples. If you look at a hospital bill, you might see an IV bag charge, so an IV bag like this, $280 just for the IV bag. That might strike people as very high. A stapler. This is a stapler that's often used in surgery, something like this costs about $1200. This is a chest tube, if someone has compression of one of their lungs, they might need a chest tube like this. That costs about $1100. And you'll find examples like that really all over a room like this.
Suture. Something that's used in just about every operating room in the world. This type of suture over here costs about $200. And if you look at even devices like -- this is a needle that's used for biopsies. So if there's a concern that someone has a tumor, they would use a needle like this and this is going to cost about $800.
Now it's important to keep in mind, if you ask the manufacturers of a device like this, why so much money? They'll say well, it took years to develop something like this, the research and development costs are significant. Also they're guaranteeing a certain level of effectiveness of this needle. That cost money as well.
But something maybe you didn't know. When you look at a hospital bill, it's not just the cost of the supplies, there's also administrative costs that are built in. There's the cost of covering people who simply don't have insurance or can't pay. That's built into these costs as well.
And finally keep in mind that what is charged and what is ultimately paid are two very different numbers.
RICHARD CLARKE, HEALTHCARE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION: The typical hospital collects about 4 percent of every dollar that they -- or about 4 cents of every dollar that they bill. So it's not coming out in massive profits, it's coming out as a result of underpayment from the government.
GUPTA: I will tell you, you know, the cost breakdown like I just gave you on lots of these different supplies, a lot of people simply never see. And what we have found is a lot of people don't care as well. If you're insured, some people may not even open the hospital bill. But there are about 50 million people uninsured out there and they care very much about hospital bills like this.
And what you can do is you can call the hospital and get a detailed breakdown. And while you're on the phone with the hospital, if the cost seems still too high or just hard to understand, you might be able to negotiate some of these prices down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Negotiate prices with the hospital?
GUPTA: It's hard to believe, and it's a laborious process, but people sometimes do that, especially when you're -- you're not -- if you're uninsured and you're not paying this bill -- you're paying this bill out of your own pocket...
BALDWIN: Every dollar matters.
GUPTA: Yes, absolutely.
BALDWIN: Wow. So that's your other office. That's the O.R.
GUPTA: Right.
BALDWIN: And it's 3,000 bucks an hour to be in that room. I cannot believe that number.
GUPTA: It is remarkable.
And even for me, as part of this doing this piece, I got a look at some of these numbers, which even as a physician we don't know that. This is the hospital charges.
But, Brooke, the thing to keep in mind is, when we talk about health care, there's about $56 billion a year that's uncompensated care, the uninsured who go to hospitals for E.R. visits, for operations, uncompensated. Those costs are passed onto all of us. We know that sort of instinctively.
But the point of this piece is to show you exactly how. The reason these things cost so much money is because we're -- everyone is absorbing those increased costs.
BALDWIN: And so as we look ahead to Thursday and the Supreme Court finally handing down this ruling on Obamacare, if the individual mandate, if that requirement for Americans to buy health insurance, if that's struck down, do those prices then go up?
GUPTA: I think so. And here is why, because let's say you have just part of the health care bill that says if you're sick, Brooke, we're not going to discriminate you based on your sickness. We will give you health insurance at the same price as anybody else.
BALDWIN: OK.
GUPTA: You would immediately say, fine, I'm only going to buy health insurance when I get sick. And what's that going to do? It's going to raise the cost of health insurance for everybody.
They tried this in Kentucky at the state level. But what they saw is that premiums for everybody went up about 40 percent. Again, people out there are not paying attention to this issue because they say, look, I'm insured. I'm OK. This issue isn't about me. If the mandate is struck down, just to your point, the premiums will go up for everybody.
BALDWIN: That's so important just for people who aren't insured just to know they have that power, too, to call up hospital and say, hey, this and this, why is not?
GUPTA: Right, $800 for a needle.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Right. (CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: ... for a stapler.
Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much.
GUPTA: Thanks for having me.
BALDWIN: Packing up your home, leaving quickly. Hundreds of people are evacuated because of this, these huge wildfires raging in Colorado. We're going to talk to one woman considering getting out of Dodge next.
But, quickly, a note for you, if you are heading out the door, keep watching CNN from your mobile phone. If you're at work, you can also watch CNN live from the desktop. Just go to CNN.com/TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Young professionals are told to invest part of their salary. Where and how to do this is today's "Help Desk."
Here is Poppy Harlow.
Hey, Poppy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, everyone.
Here on the "Help Desk" today, we're talking investing.
With me, Ryan Mack and Carmen Wong Ulrich.
Interesting question we got on the street. Take a listen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it better to invest your money or not to invest your money?
HARLOW: Important especially for someone young who might not have that big of a salary. What's your take, Ryan?
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Right.
Well, everyone should always be looking to invest. But the questions you want to ask yourself are what are you investing in and can it be sustainable? You have stocks, you have bond, you have real estate, you have a business you might want to put money into. But have you had your budget together putting a surprise aside to figure out can you put money in that in regular intervals every month, every quarter, every half-year, whatnot, to make sure it can go on for the duration.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, ALTA WEATHER MANAGEMENT: And what is this money for? That's the question, because money has to do something for you, and it shouldn't be invested, which is risk, investing is risk, if this is money that you need for the short term. If this is your emergency fund, if this for down payment or house, maybe you don't want to put it -- expose it to risk and to invest it.
HARLOW: I think risk is the key question. This is a young person looking at what the market has done over the past four years, looking at what the housing market has done, those ways of investing, and wondering what's best for me.
I think that's definitely the question. So, good point as to what is the money for, where does it come from. Do you need it to be liquid, because then you're not going to want...
(CROSSTALK)
ULRICH: For the long term, invest it, if it's long-term.
(CROSSTALK)
MACK: And if you have $10,000 in credit card debt, and no emergency fund, you probably shouldn't be putting money in the market. So it all depends on what your financial situation is.
(CROSSTALK)
HARLOW: Good point. Guys, thank you.
And if you have a question that you want answered, just upload a 30-second video with your "Help Desk" question to iReport.com.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: As our crews on the ground are just saying, it's just absolutely brutal in Colorado. Take a look at some of the wildfires that they are dealing with, wildfires, not only that, triple-digit temperatures, high winds, low humidity and no rest in sight.
Officials say it could be three weeks before crews contain their latest focus, the Waldo Canyon fire in the Colorado Springs area. Right now it's just 5 percent contained and has grown to more than 5,100 acres.
The good news, if we can call it that, the number of people evacuated is down, 6,000 people from 11,000. That's according to our affiliate KMGH. Plus, so far no injuries, no homes lost.
And I want to bring in someone now who lives in the area and has chosen to think about getting out of there. And that's Clarissa Hobson from Colorado Springs.
And full transparency to our viewers, Clarissa and I graduated high school together.
And, Clarissa, I know you and I have been e-mailing with Rashad (ph), who also lives sort of in the same neck of the woods. We have been reporting on this on CNN. And he said, my goodness, Clarissa is pregnant. So, that just adds another sort of layer to I'm sure your nerves, you and your husband. How are you all doing?
CLARISSA HOBSON, RESIDENT OF COLORADO: Well, Brooke, it has been nerve-racking. I saw the fire Saturday afternoon.
I can actually see it from the front porch of my house. And when you see something like that coming your way and the temperatures are up close to 100 and we have very low humidity here, it does make you worry.
And it makes you think about what steps do I need to be taking to prepare myself in case I need to go somewhere else?
BALDWIN: And here you are, baby number one on the way. We're looking at some of these pictures. I know we have some daytime pictures that you took and some nighttime pictures I just kind of want to go through.
And, Clarissa, you're an Atlanta gal, so is this the first time you have dealt with this or have you been out there a while?
HOBSON: Well, I have lived in Colorado Springs since 2005. But this is really the first time that we have had a serious fire threat in the close vicinity while I have lived here. We're always in a fire zone during the summer just because of the temperatures and the humidity levels.
But this is the closest to the city that it's been by far since I have lived here.
BALDWIN: And we're looking at these pictures. Is this taken from your back patio?
HOBSON: There are actually -- there are two photos that were taken from my front porch, so looking out the front. We face in the direction of Garden of the Gods, which is a big tourist attraction here.
And the fire at that point where it started was really kind of right behind that area. And so we're probably within about a mile or so of where the fire is right now.
BALDWIN: A mile or so. So, what do they tell you? Do they say -- at what point do you decide, you and your husband, leave for the time being?
HOBSON: Well, what we're trying to think about right now, we're not in a mandatory evacuation in our area yet, but we are packed up and ready to go if with we need to move quickly.
So, we have pulled together all of our important documents, all -- the things we need to take care of our dog when we're gone, clothing, prescriptions and those things are at the ready so if we're told that we need to go, then we can go immediately.
BALDWIN: OK. I'm just going to talk to -- Chad Myers, are you listening to this conversation?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Brooke, I am.
BALDWIN: OK. So, what do you make of all this?
MYERS: Well, the problem with this fire is that we have now only 5 percent containment. Any other fire we talk about for a long time, the Fort Collins storm, the firestorm up there, the High Park fire, that's getting a little bit better and moving away from people.
The problem with this storm and with this firestorm is that we have so many people in the way, so many homes in the way. The structures, we haven't lost one yet, we haven't lost a home yet, but there are 2,000 that are in danger of being only just a couple hundred yards from the fire line itself.
This is a very scary fire because it started so close to the city. High Park fire started 15 miles into the mountains.
BALDWIN: And she mentioned Garden of the Gods. Clarissa is still on the phone. You were talking about that. We were talking about that before the show started.
MYERS: I love Garden of the Gods. You can't get to Pike's Peak either. That road is completely closed. There's a lot going on there.
And when we get some containment, that would be great. But we didn't have any yesterday. And this made a very big run toward the northwest yesterday toward one of the big reservoirs. And they use some firefighting efforts from the Air Force, believe it or not. They put this in a C-130 and dumped this Phos-Chek trying to get this fire out. They're working hard, but it's not working with as dry and as host as it is.
BALDWIN: Chad Myers, I know you're watching it. Thank you.
Clarissa, I'm thinking about you and your husband. Thank you for calling in. Thanks for sharing your pictures.
And, Rashad (ph), if you're listening in, I'm thinking of you, too, all the folks of course in the Colorado Springs area. We appreciate it.
Just into us here to CNN, word of a major bust involving a breach of your credit card and your bank information. We have got the facts.
Plus, Big Ben, Big Ben, as in London, getting some new royal connections. But disregard the rumors. The British landmark is not getting bumped aside by the queen. We will explain after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All new this hour, we're now hearing from the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, also, stolen credit cards, bank information, and a federal bust. Plus, the queen is about to have a towering effect.
Time to play "Reporter Roulette."
Ivan Watson, I'm going to go straight to you in Istanbul. We have just gotten word, I'm just glancing over at my e-mail. So, President Assad of Syria speaking to his new Cabinet saying we're in state of real war. What is he referencing?
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, clearly the conflict inside of his country with large chunks of his own territory that has fallen out of government control and into the hands of the rebels.
He's swearing-in a new government, but keeping a lot of same faces particularly in the positions of minister of interior and defense and the foreign minister, and conceding, however, that his country is under immense pressure. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASHAR AL-ASSAD, PRESIDENT OF SYRIA (through translator): We are in state of war in every aspect of the word. And when we're in a state of war, all our politics has been be concentrated on winning this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: But he also spent a lot of time talking about the economy and the need to keep subsidies in the country, almost ignoring the fact that there are entire cities that have been burning for months and that he has got a major diplomatic crisis right now with his neighbor to the northwest, Turkey, this after Syrian anti-aircraft defenses shot down a Turkish military reconnaissance plane on Friday with the Turkish prime minister now responding saying that if the Syrian military approaches the Turkish borders in the future, that Turkey can see this as a threat and will respond in kind.
The Turks not illustrating what exactly that response could be. The Turks have also taken this issue to the NATO military alliance and gotten a message of solidarity from the NATO military partners. It looks like an already tense situation is getting even more strained -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Ivan Watson in Istanbul, Ivan, thank you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," this big crackdown on stolen credit cards, financial fraud.
Alison Kosik, what's the story?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're still trying to find out word, Brooke, on how many people were actually scammed if there were any before these crooks were caught.
But we are hearing from the U.S. attorney's office is that their undercover sting operation wound up protecting over 4,000 potential cyber-crime victims and prevented over $200 million in losses in theft.
Now, 24 people have been arrested worldwide, including at least 11 here in the U.S. What this concerns is a sophisticated hacking group that authorities believe stole credit card and bank information online and exchanged it with each other online, meaning literally buying and selling these stolen I.D.s and these credit cards and counterfeit documents online.
Now, for the past two years, the FBI has had an undercover operation happening around the world. And they were able to catch these crooks by setting up a fake online forum for these crooks to network and communicate. And what happened was investigators were able to that track their conversations.
In a statement today, the U.S. attorney's office said today's arrests caused significant disruption to the underground economy and are a stark reminder that masked I.P. addresses and private forums are no sanctuary for criminals and are not beyond the reach of the FBI.
It's also a reminder, Brooke, to keep track of your own credit cards and get that credit card report regularly and make sure people aren't using your information.
BALDWIN: How can people know if it's their information via credit card or bank information was stolen or would they know by now?
KOSIK: Well, with this particular investigation, we are trying to find out whether or not any -- or how many people may have been affected.
BALDWIN: Got it.
KOSIK: But if you want to make sure you're trying to protect your own stuff, yes, you really should go ahead and get those free credit cards on an annual basis, at least, and keep track of whether or not you're seeing activity that really shouldn't be there.
BALDWIN: Pay close attention, Alison Kosik.
KOSIK: Exactly.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
Next on "Reporter Roulette," even for the queen of England, a big honor awaits. Elizabeth -- Queen Elizabeth II made a historic visit to Northern Ireland today, a move that many see as a symbolic end to the conflict between that region and the Republic of Ireland.
The Queen lost a cousin to the violence involving the decades- long rift between Protestants and Catholics. Also, the Queen is going to have her name on arguably Britain's most iconic landmark, that being Big Ben, and CNN's Max Foster has the details.
Hey, Max.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, when this idea first came up, it was very controversial because a lot of people were very concerned that the name Big Ben would disappear. In fact, that's not the case. In fact, Big Ben is the bell which is in this tower known as the Clock Tower. It's the tower itself that's being renamed, the Elizabeth Tower.
So a big tribute for the Queen in her Diamond Jubilee here, but she's not the first to have a tower at parliament named after her. In fact, the tower at the other end of parliament is called Victoria Tower.
So now the two main towers are named after the two monarchs, Victoria and Elizabeth, who have served the longest length of time, more than 60 years. So a big tribute to both of them and the Queen clearly very pleased.
There will be a naming ceremony, a grand occasion I'm told, at some point in the future to formalize all of this. But I think in reality whether we call it the Elizabeth Tower is another thing. Probably this landmark, this icon of Britain around the world will still probably be known by most people as Big Ben.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: Big Ben. Our royal correspondent, Max Foster. Max, thank you from London.
And that's your "Reporter Roulette" here on this Tuesday.
Heads up. Because if you book travel online, you may not be getting the cheapest deal because of the computer you're using. How one company is watching you.
Plus, folks, no one gets hurt so I can see this. It's by far my favorite video of the year. You're about to see what happens. I laugh just thinking about this. It's horrible. You're going to see what happens when the government and fireworks next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Fireworks are dangerous. You know that, I know that, but for those oblivious to that fact, don't worry. The government is here to show you. Every year, right around this time, the Consumer Protection Safety Commission put on this demonstration and they show not only the power of fireworks, but the many ways you can hurt yourself just being stupid on the Fourth of July.
This is all done to raise fireworks safety awareness, so without further adieu, I know this serious. No one gets hurt, folks. This is the piece of video I wait 364 days to see. Roll it.
There you go. Just be safe this Fourth of July. I'm sorry. The watermelon exploding is just fun. It's just fun. Let me have some fun.
Getting the best bang for your buck when you travel, it can depend on which travel website you use, but also apparently on the computer you use. The travel site Orbitz has started showing Mac- users different and sometimes more expensive hotel recommendations than people who use PCs.
Orbitz says the Mac-users generally spend more money on hotels and the company is just trying to give them what they think they want.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARNEY HARFORD, CEO, ORBITZ WORLDWIDE: I think this is absolutely trying to recommend for customers what they are more likely to book.
All the hotels are available to the users. You can sort by price. You can sort by alphabetical. You can sort by any hotel name.
There's no way that we're treating Mac- or PC-users any different. We love them both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Let me bring in our favorite tech reporter, Katie Linendoll, to explain to me what's the deal. What's Orbitz up to?
KATIE LINENDOLL, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Here's the deal. Targeted marketing, nothing new here. However, online retailers are getting smarter and perhaps a little craftier in ways that they target consumers.
In this particular case, we're having a look at Orbitz. What Orbitz did is they took all this data compiled on their users and found some key findings, particularly when it comes to Mac-users. I want to show you a couple of those findings.
First and foremost, Mac-users tend to shell out as much as 30 percent more on a hotel room. This is pretty significant, considering the average nightly booking is 100 bucks.
Also, Mac-users are 40 percent more likely to go to a four- or five-star hotel than a Windows computer-user.
And, last but not least, Mac computer-users make a little bit more in terms of average household income.
So, in short, Brooke, what we're seeing here are different options and different recommendations for Mac-users. Now, depending on who you are, you either think this is very smart on the part of Orbitz or it might strike a sensitive chord.
BALDWIN: There's a key difference because Orbitz is saying this doesn't affect search results, per se. It's just the recommendation results, right?
LINENDOLL: Correct. And, in all fairness, we did hear from the CEO earlier on CNN and he did say this doesn't affect the price of the hotel or the flight that you're booking. It just affects the recommendations, so I think that's a very fair point. However, I will tell you I am somebody that uses and books off of Orbitz about two to three days a week. I am a loyalist on the Orbitz site. I've been using the site for years and I was kind of like, you know what? I'm on my Mac Book Pro and I don't know if this is exactly cool.
Then I started reaching out and polling people on social networking and they were like, I'm definitely not OK with this. So it's like, hey, we have this predictive analysis here. Is it very smart on one hand? Absolutely. Should companies that are having all this data from users being using it in target marketing? Sure.
But is it sensitive and is it going to become a problem in terms of sensitivity? Perhaps.
BALDWIN: Yes, I guess if you just know if you're on a Mac, you just have to adjust the price index, so you know you're getting the good deal that a PC-user would.
But what about consumer privacy in all of this? Because are companies just going to target us depending on what browser we're using, what mobile device we're on? I mean, it could be a slippery slope.
LINENDOLL: It's a great question and I think, again, using this term, "predictive analysis," we're going to see it more and more and I think we should expect to see it more and more.
But on the consumer side, the advantage that we have is transparency, now, more than ever. Here we have a company like Orbitz using these tactics, but then we're saying we're not OK with it and we're bringing it to the table.
So if you're ready to answer the questions behind it -- you better be prepared to, in other words.
BALDWIN: Katie Linendoll, good to see you. Thank you.
LINENDOLL: Thank you.
BALDWIN: He heard the gunshot. He was told his mother committed suicide, but actor Dylan McDermott pressed the police who now say his mother was killed by a mobster. We're on the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You know Dylan McDermott. He stars in the TV show, "American Horror Story," but did you know that when he was five-years old, he lived through one himself? Being the only witness to the fatal shooting of his own mother in their 1967 Connecticut home.
Now, police in Waterbury, Connecticut, say her death was not a suicide, but a murder. The story was first reported in "The Republican American." Police re-opened the case after her son made this request. Investigators told the newspaper they have enough evidence to file charges against a man by the name of John Sponza for the murder of Diane McDermott. "The Republican American" reports Sponza was a known mobster.
Defense attorney Joey Jackson on the case with us today. And John Sponza is dead, so what's the next step for investigators here?
JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Brooke, I think this more from closure than it is from anything else. From a criminal perspective, there couldn't be a trial that proceeded. Why? Because as a criminal defendant, you're entitled to due process, which is notice and an opportunity to be heard. If you're a decedent, then, obviously, you can't be afforded notice, nor could you be heard nor could you confront your accusers, which is a constitutional requirement.
If you look at the civil side of it, there could be a wrongful death proceeding against the estate, but I think this is more because he had deeply personal reasons is what we are learning about in the press as to why he wanted this re-opened. And he really wanted answers and I think that he's getting those answers.
This is not to suggest that Sponza's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Only a trial could determine that, but there seems to be some questions that it was not a suicide based upon the caliber of the gun that was found next to her body and, of course, based upon the manner of death. It appears to be the gun was pressed against the back of her head which would make it sort of difficult for it to be a suicide.
BALDWIN: We should point out Dylan McDermott's not commenting on his mother's case, but as you point out, hopefully, some answers for him. For someone to see something so horrific at five-years of age.
Moving on. This other case, country music singer Kenny Chesney responding to a security guard at his Saturday weekend concert kicking out one of his fans. Have you heard about this? Take a look at this. You'll see Chesney on the left and on the right is the fan who got booted.
He is Nathan Blankenship. He told our affiliate, WKRN, that security said he was too disruptive in trying to impersonate the star.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NATHAN BLANKENSHIP, KENNY CHESNEY LOOK-ALIKE: I thought he was going to lead me to my seat, but he grabbed me by the arm and he started pulling me up the walkway to go to the very top.
I said, "Because I wear the hat? I've seen a million of these hats here."
I think the way they handled it made it seem worse. It's like they were really escorting Kenny Chesney through the crowd.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Joey, I get it, especially when you see the two of them, side by side. Obviously, the guy looks a lot like him, but why? Why kick him out? What was the issue with security?
JACKSON: It's amazing. What security was claiming was that it was causing a disruption because people were actually, based upon their similarity, it's like a spitting image that he looked too much like him and, as a result of that people were disrupted. There was too much attention drawn and they felt that it could be problematic because the first thing you want to do at the concerts is keep people safe.
And so therefore, they escorted him out for his safety and the safety of everyone else. And the question now as to whether he can sue, lawsuits are about damages, Brooke, and ultimately Sony is saying they will give him his money back. They are sending him lots of CDs. He's getting a lot of fame based upon this little mishap here, so I think he will be fine.
BALDWIN: He'll be fine. Let me just get this in. We did reach out to Kenny Chesney's folks. They said no one in his camp actually knew about this whole thing until after the fact. The concert promoter says they are reaching out to make the situation right, as you mentioned.
Have you heard of something like this? You're paying your own money. Just so happens you look like the guy who's on stage. It's kind of wild.
JACKSON: It is kind of wild. I know you get mistaken for Miss America all the time, right, Brooke? You cause a lot of disruptions.
BALDWIN: Very funny, Joey Jackson. Very funny. Nice to see you. See you next time.
JACKSON: Good to see you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Next, be careful. Next time you want to spill a secret, the government will use lie detector tests to uncover leaks. You're about to find out exactly how these polygraph tests work and who's getting them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: It's sort of become part of our mission on this show to explain to you how we can all do better by victims who oftentimes go years without a voice, that being abused children.
And many are wondering exactly how long and how often a 10-year- old girl was forced into a closet in this apartment. This is Kansas City, Missouri. Police found her surrounded by her own feces and urine, breathing in a stench you can only imagine, and she couldn't escape it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEAN PETERS BAKER, JACKSON COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Not only was the door barricaded from the outside, but there was a shoe string or some kind of string that was bound around the two knobs of the doors.
She obviously had defecated multiple times in that room. The stench of urine was, I'm told, hard to bear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: It gets worse beyond the stench because that 10-year- old girl weighed 32 pounds -- 32 pounds -- and "The Kansas City Star" reports clothes meant for a 4-year-old child fell off this child.
What breaks your heart even more is that "The Star" is reporting that this little girl has two younger sisters who were fed and were bathed. It's not clear why the mother allegedly treated her oldest differently hiding her away so that neighbors didn't even know she existed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: .. three years and I have never even seen the child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I knew the baby was up there, I would have went and got the baby myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: This 29-year-old is charged now with child endangerment, child abuse and assault. The state has taken custody of all of her kids. The 10-year-old is now in the hospital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PETERS BAKER: She was very dirty and unkempt, but amazingly, as children tend to surprise all of us, she had very good spirits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Well, we know someone did do better because police say it was an anonymous tip that led them to this girl, showing what can happen when a person makes the choice to do better.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Who is spilling our country's highly classified secrets to the media? Once again today, Republicans called on the White House to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the recent series of intelligence leaks.
Senator John McCain says there is a definite political purpose to these leaks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: To make the president of the United States look like a brave, strong leader on national security.
This, what has taken place, I have never seen anything like in the many years I have been here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: As a result of these leaks we've been talking about, federal intelligence employees now have to answer a new polygraph question. And they better answer no if they want a job or keep the one they have.
The question is, have you ever given information to a reporter? National Intelligence Director James Clapper says he's now adding that to polygraph tests given to employees of the CIA, FBI, NSA and other agencies. Polygraph tests here.
Alex Manning is a former agent for the GBI, Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Welcome. Polygraph test, thank goodness, I've never had to take one. How do they work? You see them in the movies.
ALEX MANNING, FORMER AGENT, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: Right. They work based on response of your pulse, respirations, your hands get a little bit sweaty, definitely your blood pressure goes up, depending on whether or not you're lying or telling the truth.
BALDWIN: I've always wondered. Does the person administering the question, do they start asking easier questions and slowly getting to the point where they're asking the tough ones? Are there patterns they're looking for?
MANNING: You do pre-interview questions. You go over everything you want to know. For instance, I may ask you, have you ever stolen office supplies? We all know you've taken Post-It notes and ink pens. I saw them in your purse out there.
So we would ask you that and get you to get everything off your chest. Get you in there and ask you to give us a question you're going to lie about. Maybe I would ask you your name. Is your name Susan? You're going to say no and we're hoping that will give us a response from you when you lie.
And then ask you other questions and then you get one that's just this -- have you ever spoken to a reporter? They're going to have to get more specific about that. They may know somebody that's a reporter and spoken to them. Have you ever spoken to a reporter about what you heard in a White House meeting? That may trigger response to show that they've lied.
BALDWIN: How does this work? They can't take these polygraph tests to the office. It doesn't work that way, does it?
MANNING: Well, they may do it in pre-interviewing for hiring. If you don't pass the polygraph, you don't get hired. Obviously, they have to get clearance for security and, if they're going to get, you know, get security clearance for the next couple of years and don't pass, they may lose security clearance, they lose their job and they could get terminated.
BALDWIN: Why is it you can't use polygraph results in a courtroom?
MANNING: Not admissible. They call it junk science.
BALDWIN: Junk science?
MANNING: It's not like DNA.
BALDWIN: So if it's junk science, how can someone lose a job over polygraph test?
MANNING: Different laws in different states. State of Georgia is a "work-at-will" state. They can fire you if you pass a polygraph. They could fire you because they want to fire you. Different states have different rules, different laws.
BALDWIN: If people, those folks, I don't know, can lie really well or somehow train their focus so that they could possibly beat the test, is that possible?
MANNING: Sure. If you remember, the very first victim -- I remember her first name is Vicki of the BTK serial killer. They looked at her husband. Her husband was innocent, flunked the polygraph two times. Innocent person flunking the polygraph.
BALDWIN: How does that happen? Just nerves?
MANNING: Upset. And if you're going to be upset, some people say if you're upset, there should be a consistent upset. Your blood pressure should remain the same. And then later when they got DNA, they found BTK's DNA under her fingernails. So innocent people. They've had double-agents pass and not pass polygraphs.
BALDWIN: Do you think you've pass one?
MANNING: I've passed it.
BALDWIN: Alex Manning. It's fascinating. Lie detector tests, I hope I never have to take one.
MANNING: We have one set up.
BALDWIN: That's after the show. Not to be happening on live television. Alex, thank you so much. It's so nice to meet you.
MANNING: Thank you. You, too.
BALDWIN: And now this. American home prices climbed higher in April for the first time in seven months. The average price rose 1.3 percent in 20 major markets, according to the Case-Shiller home price index, but prices are still near record lows. They are now back to where they were in early 2003.
Let's go to Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange with the news. Why is this?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN: First of all, home prices are up. That's the good thing. You saw prices go up 1.3 percent from March to April. But if you look over a year ago compared to a year ago, home prices are lower.
But, still, when you see that one-month move higher, that's a good sign.
Also, there have been other good signs in the housing market that things are slowly but surely getting better. Home sales are slowly, but surely getting better. You really want to see these home prices kind of find their bottom and then start moving up.
And so the hope is, Brooke, at this point, that this rise from March to April is a positive one that's going to stick, that's going to become a trend because then you can say with certainty that home prices have hit a bottom.
And that's the good news that's actually kept stocks higher today. If you look at the board, the Dow is up 47 points. We have about two minutes before the closing bell. That news has certainly helped stocks hold onto their gains today.
We are watching financial shares bounce back after they took a big hit on Monday when we saw the Dow fall in the triple digits. Energy stocks, they're rising as well. That housing report was the good report of the day.
The bad report was a weak reading on consumer confidence. We found out the consumer confidence fell short of expectations in June. It actually slipped to the lowest point since January and the big worry there is, if you don't have consumer confidence, people aren't going to be at the ready to spend their money.
Brooke?
BALDWIN: Right. We talk about confidence all the time. Alison Kosik, thank you.
And before I let you go, let me let you know what's happening right now in Canada. Rescue crews are trying to save anyone who could still be trapped under this rubble. This is a collapsed mall in Ontario, Canada. It's possible, we're hearing, one person may still be alive.
You see the rescuers here. They are bringing in a crane. They're bringing in heavy equipment just to try to dismantle outside portions of the mall to possibly try to find this person.
The scene is so dangerous at different points in time that crews were told the staff working, but the community outcry couldn't be ignored.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We come from a mining town where mine rescue never gave up on their people and it didn't matter how bad it was. They stuck it out. They were there.
You never left a man underground. Ever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't let them die. What if it were your son or your daughter or your wife?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The Algo Centre Mall collapsed Saturday, killing one person.
I'm Brooke Baldwin here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. We're going to take you Washington now. Joe Johns in the seat for Wolf, once again. "The Situation Room" begins now.
