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Massive Wildfire Burns in Colorado; Egypt's New President Addresses Nation; Obama Tours Fire-Ravaged Area; Justice Department Won't Prosecute Holder

Aired June 29, 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: Now this, hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We are about to hear from President Obama, who is on the ground in Colorado for this firsthand look at the damage by these wildfires. The fire in Colorado Springs is now officially the worst in the state's history, consuming nearly 350 homes. And now we have learned at least one person has been killed, another person is missing. And this fire is not even close to being contained.

Keep in mind, tomorrow, eight military C-130s will be joining this firefight. These are pictures of one of the planes in action. This was this week in Boulder, Colorado. It's been four years since all eight of them aircraft were called into action.

And I want to go straight to Jim Spellman, who is in Colorado Springs.

And, Jim, just talk to me about some of what you have seen today. We have already talked to someone who has lost everything. It's horrendous.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is, Brooke.

They have really made a lot of progress against the fire, only 15 percent officially contained. But this is their third good day in a row with favorable weather conditions where they have really been able to get in there and make some progress against the fire.

It's also allowed them to do assessments through these neighborhoods and figure out which homes have been lost. That's what led to the search that discovered the deceased person yesterday. And they will still look today for the missing person associated with that same address.

Now, last night, they had a community meeting where people in the affected area were invited to come and have a private meeting where they each informed individually about the state of their home. So, tomorrow some of these people are going to be able to go in just on a bus. They're not even going to be able to get out of the bus to take a look at this.

I spoke to a woman today. Her name is Susan. Brooke, four of her grandchildren, she takes care of, because both these grandchildren's mother and father died separately about a year-and-a- half ago and now her home has been destroyed, this grandmother taking care of four grandkids. Now they have to rebuild from scratch.

Every person I have spoken to who has lost something, they show so much strength. But it's just tragic what these people have gone through. And they don't even know if they're going to want to go back to their neighborhoods. As this woman told me today, it's going to be like an episode of "The Twilight Zone" to go back to a neighborhood where so many of her neighbors' homes are destroyed, all the trees are gone, the hillside is black.

It's going to be a long time, Brooke, before these people are able to really get to feel like they are part of this community again.

BALDWIN: I'm going to talk to one of those people here right now.

Jim Spellman, thank you very much. Thanks to you and your crew.

And 346 is the number we have in terms of homes now consumed by this fire. More than 30,000 people have evacuated. And when you just think of the numbers, it's mind-boggling. But to hear the stories, that's quite another issue.

Francine Hansen is one of those thousands who had to escape the flames. She joins me now by phone from Eagle-Vail, Colorado.

And, Francine, how did you get the news that your home was gone?

FRANCINE HANSEN, RESIDENT OF COLORADO: I got it on the Internet.

BALDWIN: You saw it on the Internet. What exactly did you see? What was your first reaction?

HANSEN: Hello?

BALDWIN: Francine, can you hear me?

HANSEN: Yes. Yes. I can hear you now.

BALDWIN: So, You were saying you found out you lost your home. We're looking at the before pictures. You lost your home. You found out on the Internet. How exactly did you find out? What was your first reaction? Did you believe it?

HANSEN: We were just (INAUDIBLE) we were just standing around looking at pictures. A lot of helicopters had gone over, going over and taking pictures.

And my sister found a picture and she said, that's you're house. And we couldn't tell if it was up or down since half our house was up. And the house next door is up. We are caught between -- the whole block is gone except two houses. And we're between it.

And so they said you could write and ask a question. So we wrote and asked a question. And then the next morning (INAUDIBLE) get a note back with condolences about our house. So they could see the picture better than we could.

BALDWIN: You got a note saying condolences on your home.

You also, as we're looking at these pictures -- guys, let's put up the video. You sent us a video taken by your son of the evacuation.

What was that like?

HANSEN: Well, we were watching streaming video when we called because we had already evacuated because there was smoke. And it was probably 10 minutes between the time I think I talked to (INAUDIBLE) and the police were in front of the house telling me to run.

That's my grandson who took that picture.

BALDWIN: The grandson. And, what, you said police were in front of your home telling you to run?

HANSEN: They told them to get out, to get out. But they didn't give them much time.

We were at the north part of Mountain Shadows. And we had been on standby and then not standby, and then standby for evacuation. And at the 4:00 briefing, they said they had just changed it to evacuate.

BALDWIN: Looking at the pictures, I can't imagine being your grandson sitting in the car so close to this. Did you, did your grandson get a chance to at least grab the family photos and grab those precious life possessions before you had to evacuate?

HANSEN: Well, we left early, so we had more time. But we had done so much mitigation on our house. We put on a steel roof. We were brick stucco. We thought it would stand.

BALDWIN: You were prepared?

HANSEN: Yes, we were. And we had taken all our papers and jewelry and put them in the bank. So we didn't have to grab that. We had pre-packed some stuff. A year ago, we had led the neighborhood working with emergency management through a practice evacuation. So we all learned a lot. And so we just took clothes, took them up to my sister's house and (INAUDIBLE) to go back. There's not room in the car for that much stuff.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Francine, Now what? I know this was your dream home. Do you stay? Do you rebuild? Do you say enough is enough, I'm leaving Colorado?

HANSEN: I don't know. We're going down tonight to stay with friends. And we're going to go on the bus tomorrow. And I think I have got to see it. From the pictures that I see on the video -- I don't know if you have seen a lot of them, but our canyon is just totally burned out. There are two houses standing on our street. We were on Trevor (ph).

And I don't know. I don't know where my heart will be when we get finished with this (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Francine, our hearts absolutely go out to you. If you can, just final question. What do you want? For us, we're looking at pictures on a TV screen. For you, you're living this. What do you want the rest of the country to know about your community, what you're going through, your spirit?

HANSEN: Well, it was a terrific community. We had I think about 1,720 homes that we called Mountain Shadows.

And I know people from all over the neighborhood. We did events. We had a good -- we had a board. We did events. We had -- people walk a lot in the neighborhood because it's so beautiful up there and get to know each other. And a lot of us are communicating on e-mail and texting right now trying to kind of hold everybody up and help the people that have lost what they have lost.

We could watch the video when they first checked in Tuesday and say I know that house. I know exactly who this is.

It's very sad.

BALDWIN: Very sad.

Francine Hansen, with everything you're dealing with, I thank you for taking the five minutes out of your day to call us up and explain what this is like for you. We thank you. Our thoughts and prayers to you and everyone else in this area of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Thank you.

HANSEN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

As we mentioned, the president is there himself declaring this a disaster area, federal aid heading that way. So we're awaiting the president's remarks. We're going to take those for you live.

Also in this final hour of trading on Wall Street, the Dow on a tear, this as Congress is getting ready to decide very, very soon what happens to college students and their loans next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Congress, they get out of Dodge for an extended Fourth of July break, but before they go, they have been voting on extending the interest rate break on federally subsidized student loans.

(FINANCIAL UPDATE) BALDWIN: More now on Europe's debt crisis plan.

I want to bring in Richard Quest. He's in London with what's happening here.

And, as Alison just mentioned, so you have these European leaders. They say finally, yes, OK. They're going to send this bailout money directly to the struggling banks. Would you qualify the move here as a bold one?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a tough question.

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST: I don't think the Europeans ever do anything bold except have a bold meal in the evening after a long summit.

Look, I would say expectations were very low for this summit. And the fact they did anything was an achievement. But what was special about what they did here, and we don't need to get into the minutia, into like the bolts of it, what they did was for the time take realistic measures for long-term solutions.

So, for Spain and Italy, they put in place something that will work to bring down their interest rates, and longer term, they put in place, Brooke, policies or they're starting to put in place policies that will make the Eurozone work. But we're so early on, it's not to be believed.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Do we know then, if we're so early on, who stands to benefit the most from this?

QUEST: Yes, Spain and Italy immediately from what has been done. And we saw that with their bond yields coming down.

As for the rest, well, Italy seems to have trumped Germany. Greece is still muddling along. And it's still got its negotiations. The euro -- the analogy I would you is this. Tonight, the Eurozone sleeps a little bit better, but it still won't get a good night's sleep. It will probably have to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and when all is said and done, you almost certainly, as we go towards this next stage, hear the snoring and grumbling as it goes through the night.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: OK. Snoring can be a good thing, nice REM sleep.

Hey, I know European leaders, they are calling this agreement a breakthrough. Financial markets, we just checked the Dow on our end, pretty optimistic, nice rally here. But -- but -- but could this run into trouble, Quest?

(CROSSTALK) QUEST: An inch thick and a mile wide. Scotch missed. This 200- plus points on the Dow could evaporate quicker than you're going to cut me off. Bearing in mind, the fiscal cliff in the U.S...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And we're done. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

(LAUGHTER)

QUEST: You get the idea.

BALDWIN: I get the idea. Love to you , Richard Quest. Thank you very much. Appreciate you playing.

Here is today's "Help Desk" with answers how to manage your personal budget.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, everyone.

Here on the Help Desk today, we're talking about your budget and how to balance your budget.

With me, Ryan Mack and Carmen Wong Ulrich.

Ryan, this question comes for you. Take a listen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just got my first job in New York today, actually. How do I balance a budget when you live in New York City?

HARLOW: And how much money are we talking about here? Can I ask, ballpark?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't found out yet, but I'm thinking about $45,000 is any salary.

HARLOW: All right, so what do you think? It's expensive to live in any big city.

RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: This really takes me back to year 2000 when this young scared kid from Detroit was just moving out and starting his job on Wall Street.

HARLOW: Might that be you?

MACK: It was me. But what I had to do is I had to figure out to be smart. I didn't want to go too far deep into the hood and save a lot of money. I couldn't afford Manhattan prices. I got a roommate and I put a budget together. I put a plan together to figure when I would like to start a business.

And thank God I did, because I was able to start it about seven years later after I had moved here. And then don't get caught up in the hype. A lot of individuals, you're hanging out and you're having fun. People are spending money like water. It goes into money heaven out here frequently in New York. Just figure out, you know what? They might not have plan. You should. Stick to it. Budget and be wise.

HARLOW: Cook at home.

(CROSSTALK)

CARMEN WONG ULRICH, ALTA WEALTH MANAGEMENT: That's a big point. It's the spending here. It's about the budget. It's not so much how much you're taking in.

HARLOW: Yes.

ULRICH: A big component is where you live and how you spend on that.

But you're spending when you love. And I go before 2000, my friend, when I was making that much. And you really got to pay attention. So I want you to have apps your phone to save money, like Retail Me Not, all these coupon codes, promo codes. Never pay retail for anything and make sure that you hang out with people that share your values and your need to stick to a budget.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Absolutely. Guys, thank you. No bad influences.

If you have got a question you want our financial experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your questions to iReport.contempt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Poppy, thank you.

He's the first freely elected president in Egypt, the first Islamist president. And today Mohammed Morsi addresses his nation and calls for the release of someone right here in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: One soldier shot to death, not on the front lines, but right here in the U.S. at an Army base. It happened at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

And officials say his shooter was another soldier facing a court- martial.

CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has the story Chris,

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, a defense official is revealing new information that may help explain why a soldier allegedly shot and killed his commanding officer at Fort Bragg.

The official now says that this soldier, a specialist who had been in the Army about eight years, was facing possible court-martial on criminal charges. The Army had accused this soldier stealing a toolbox from the motor pool. This toolbox was worth nearly a couple thousand dollars and that he may have been dishonorably discharged if he had been found guilty in the court-martial.

We're also learning that this soldier had a special relationship with his lieutenant colonel who is the commanding officer. He, the soldier, was part of this lieutenant colonel's security detail while the two were deployed on a tour in Afghanistan.

Well, what we do know happened during a safety briefing, basically, the commander just standing there, saying, look, guys, have a very safe Fourth of July weekend. Stay safe out there. Don't drink and drive. The soldier pulled out a gun and started shooting.

A U.S. military official confirms that five of those bullets did hit the lieutenant colonel. A third soldier was also wounded. He is expected to be OK. But then the soldier turned the gun on himself. The shooter turned the gun on himself, and right now he is not expected to live -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Chris Lawrence for us at the Pentagon, Chris, appreciate it.

Quick reminder. We are watching for the president. He is now on the ground. He is in Colorado Springs, Colorado, touring the destruction and devastation caused by multiple fires raging there. As soon as we hear the president speak, we are going to take it for you live right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A high-flying life comes crashing down in a Phoenix courtroom.

This man who made millions of dollars, even climbed the world's tallest mountains, apparently killed himself in the middle of this courtroom just moments after a jury found him guilty of burning down his mansion because he couldn't afford to pay the mortgage.

Kristine Harrington of affiliate KTVK has the life and the death of this daring adventurer who was facing years in prison.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTINE HARRINGTON, KTVK REPORTER (voice-over): Michael Marin, banker, art collector, adventurer and one-time multimillionaire, will now also be remembered as an arsonist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, duly impaneled and sworn in the above entitled action, upon our oaths, do find the defendant, Michael James Marin, guilty of arson of an occupied structure.

HARRINGTON: This man who lived life large with original Picasso sketches lining his walls in his multimillion-dollar Biltmore mansion is the same man who in May 2009 Skyped with 3TV as he scaled Mount Everest...

MICHAEL MARIN, DEFENDANT: I have already gone up to 25,000 feet without oxygen.

HARRINGTON: It was a very dangerous climb to the top that nearly cost him his life.

MARIN: It's a reminder that you're in a very business and you're profoundly grateful for just the grace that gives you life to breath.

HARRINGTON: It was just a couple of months later that Michael Marin's Biltmore home went up in flames. And again, he was thankful, this time for the grace of his scuba gear.

MARIN: Actually had some air left in that tank, and that's what made me get back to the window and deploy that ladder. If I hasn't had those two things, we wouldn't be talking.

HARRINGTON: But the tank and the ladder made firefighters suspicious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my years on the job, it's the first time I saw somebody use scuba diving equipment to get out of a fire.

HARRINGTON: A month later, Marin was charged with arson accused of torching his home because he couldn't pay the mortgage, three years later, a guilty verdict and a shocking reaction. Deputies say it appears he took something in court, collapsed and moments later died.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Michael Marin could have been sentenced to 16 years in prison on that arson conviction.

He is Egypt's first freely elected president, as well as its first Islamist president. And today Mohammed Morsi he spoke to thousands in Tahrir Square, the focal point of the revolution that paved the way for him to take over the office.

And our senior international correspondent, Dan Rivers, is there in Cairo for us

Dan, what did Morsi say today?

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a pretty sort of rabble-rousing speech to tens of thousands of supporters in Tahrir Square behind me.

This was the kind of crucible of the revolution, if you like, so it wasn't un-symbolic that they chose this location for his address. He tried to be as inclusive as possible, not only sending out the words that his Muslim Brotherhood followers wanted to hear, but also reaching out to women, to Christians, to other sections of society, secular sections of Egyptian society, who are deeply worried about his rise to the presidency.

Here is a short clip of the kind of thing he was saying.

MOHAMMED MORSI, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT (through translator): We will continue our path to establish a civilian, national, constitutional, modern country.

RIVERS: He talked about the tree of freedom that had been planted decades ago at the beginning of the last century that had been watered by the blood of successive martyrs.

So, that was the kind of tone he was striking. Also, at one point, he almost bizarrely opened his jacket and said, look, I'm not wearing a bulletproof vest, as if to say to the crowd, I'm here. I trust you. I'm with you. I'm one of you.

An important speech for him. The most important day for him perhaps will be tomorrow, when he's officially sworn in as president.

BALDWIN: Dan, I have to ask. I hear the shouts over you. Are people still in Tahrir Square tonight?

RIVERS: They are.

You probably can't quite make them out there.

BALDWIN: Fireworks.

RIVERS: But the square is actually still completely full of people.

There's lots of fireworks going off, people waving flags. There's lots of kind of firebrand speeches going on, on the stage behind me. This has been the case for a week or so now, since that election result.

And I'm sure these people will stay out all night, as they have done every day this week.

BALDWIN: Dan, what about the fact that Mohammed Morsi also called for the release of this convicted terrorist serving a life sentence here in the U.S.? What did he ask for?

RIVERS: Absolutely.

Yes, something that the Muslim Brotherhood has long called for, this is the release of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, who was the spiritual leader really of the Islamic group here in Egypt which was responsible, it's claimed, for the World Trade Center bombing attempt in 1993, the Luxor massacre in 1997.

Members of his family were actually here tonight. And again the president-elect, Morsi, called for the release of all political prisoners, including this sheik. So that will definitely raise eyebrows in America, where, as you say, he's being held in prison, the blind cleric, in North Carolina, I believe, on a life sentence for seditious conspiracy.

BALDWIN: Dan Rivers for us in Cairo -- Dan, appreciate it.

Now this:

In the middle of the night, families sound asleep, this explosion, gunfire. It is the horrific reality inside Syria day to day. But there is one piece of video that made us stop in our tracks. We're going to share it with you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Want to take you back to Colorado. And let's just go ahead and bring up these live pictures here where the president has just -- there's a group of people, here they are, and the president was in the midst of this group of people. This is a fire station in Colorado Springs. He, of course, is there to tour and take a look with his own eyes the devastation, the destruction from multiple fires that have been burning.

I want to bring in Dan Lothian, who I know is also somewhere nearby.

And, Dan, we thought that the president would give some sort of live statement. I see a podium. Is that still happening or not the case anymore?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. You know we were just told by the pool reporter that that live statement has been cancelled because earlier the president was taking a tour of the Mountain Shadows neighborhood, which is here in Colorado Springs, and at that point someone asked him a question and he decided to start making some statements there. And so these sort of formal -- more formal statements now have been cancelled.

But during that tour, the president had a chance to see some of the devastation up close. And he remarked how, you know, it was amazing that you had a number of homes that were wiped out, but then right next to them you would have homes that are still standing. The president met with some of the firefighters who were there. He thanked them for their hard work and said that because of what they had done, countless lives had been saved.

I mean this is a chance for the president, as his aides point out, to come here and tell the people of Colorado that, yes, they're dealing with a very difficult situation, but that the federal government will provide all the help that they need. Resources on the ground, money. And in addition to that, the military will be sending specially outfitted C-130 aircraft here to help in the firefighting effort, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. And as we look at these pictures, and many of them coming from our own i-Reporters. Many of them coming from the denverpost.com. we hear that -- I'm sure whatever helicopters buzzing above you. Just quickly to give our viewers -- just stand by with me. Actually, check that, here's the president. Take a listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hi, everybody.

Obviously you guys -- everybody in? Well, we just had a chance to tour some of the damage that's been done by this devastating fire. I've had a chance to thank Mayor Bach, as well as Governor Hickenlooper and the entire congressional delegation, members of the fire service, the forest service, as well as local fire officials and have gotten a full briefing.

I think what you see here is an example of outstanding coordination and cooperation between federal, state and local agencies. We have been putting everything we have into trying to deal with what's one of the worst fires that we've seen here in Colorado. And it's still early in the fire season and we still got a lot more work to do. But because of the outstanding work that's been done, because of not only the coordination but also some unprecedented arrangements that have been made with military resources, combined with the civil resources, we're starting to see progress.

Obviously, as you saw in some of these subdivisions, the devastation is enormous. And our thoughts and prayers go out to all the families who have been affected. One of the things that I've tried to emphasize is that whether it's fires in Colorado or flooding in the northern parts of Florida, when natural disaster like this hit, America comes together. And we all recognize that there before the grace of God go I. We've got to make sure that we have each other's backs. And that spirit is what you're seeing in terms of volunteers, in terms of firefighters, in terms of government officials. Everybody's putting together the try to deal with this situation.

Now, as I said, we're not completely out of the woods yet. These folks, some of them have been working 18-hour days, 20-hour days, trying to make sure that these fires get put out. They're going to be carefully monitoring the situation. Ultimately they're going to need a little bit of help from mother nature in order to fully extinguish these fires.

In the meantime, some lessons are being learned about how we can mitigate some of these fires in the future. And I know that the mayor and the governor and other local officials are already in those conversations. It means that hopefully out of this tragedy some long- term planning occurs and it may be that we can curb some of the damage that happens the next time, even though you obviously can't fully control fires that -- that are starting up, up in these mountains.

The last point I just want to make, and that is that we can provide all the resources. We can make sure that they're well coordinated. But as I just told these firefighters, what we can't do is to provide them with the courage and the determination and the professionalism, the heart that they show when they're out there battling these fires. When we had a chance to site to see some guys who had just saved three homes in a community that had been devastated, for those families, the work and the sacrifice of those firefighters means the world to them. And they are genuine heroes. And so we want to just say thank you to all the folks who have been involved in this. We're proud of you. We appreciate what you do each and every day. And so for folks all around the country, I hope you are reminded of how important our fire departments are, our forest service is. Sometimes they don't get the credit that they deserve until your house is burning down or your community is being threatened. And you have to understand, they're putting their lives at risk to save us and help us. We've got to make sure that we remember that 365 days a year, not just when tragedies like this strike.

So, thank you very much, everybody.

BALDWIN: And there he was, the president, reiterating thoughts and prayers, of course, go out to the folks who are in the middle of this disaster zone with these wildfires that have been raging on in Colorado, flanked by the governor, Hickenlooper, and the Colorado Springs mayor, Mayor Bach.

Let's go back to Dan Lothian, because, Dan, I guess we thought the president wasn't going to speak and he did. So, surprise.

LOTHIAN: That's right. And, you know, just to explain to our viewers, what happens is that we have a pool producer who's there sort of coordinating what the president is -- you know, coverage of the president and getting information from the White House. And so the White House has had initially planned for this live statement. But when the president was touring this neighborhood, talking to firefighters, he was asked a question by a reporter and he began sort of this impromptu statement. After that, the White House alerted the pool that, in fact, there would be no live statement. But as you see there, they made last minute changes. And, in fact, he stepped up to the mic and made that address.

But the bottom line, the president, again, promising to -- the federal government's full support to this state that has been impacted by this fire, these fires, rather, not only here in Colorado Springs, but in the northern part of the state. More than 600 homes have been destroyed, two people killed. The fire here is only 15 percent contained. The fire in the north is 85 percent contained, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. And the president speaking there at a fire station. It's so important as we think about the people who are losing homes, who are evacuating. Also the firefighters who are certainly putting theirselves in harm's way.

Dan Lothian, thank you so much for that.

Forget the politics. Forget the legal details. Many of you are asking, what does the health care law mean for me and my medical bills? We're about to break it down for you, I promise. You're going to understand all of this with Elizabeth Cohen's help, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In one way or another, the Supreme Court's landmark decision on Obamacare effects you and ever other American. But the law is so big and so many moving parts, I know there's a lot of confusion about what we're all required to do. So, senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is going to clear it all up for us.

Give me a checklist. Three things we have to know.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. The three things that you have to know about this new -- well, law that is now new because it was passed by the Supreme Court.

All right, first of all, you have to have insurance. Everybody. And there are (ph) almost everybody. And if you don't, you will pay a penalty.

Also, you may qualify for subsidies. If your employer doesn't give you insurance, you have to buy it on your own, you may qualify for subsidies. And you don't really have to be that low income. Families of four making 90,000 can get subsidies. That's the -- sort of the limit.

Also, lots of free preventive care. Your doctor has to give you these services for free when you have this insurance.

BALDWIN: What kinds of free? We like to hear free. What kinds of free preventive care?

COHEN: Yes. Yes, free is good, right. It's a very long list. It's all the same. A couple of things.

BALDWIN: OK.

COHEN: For example, all sorts of screenings. Like screenings for colon cancer, like colonoscopies. Screenings for sexually transmitted diseases. Screening your child for autism, et cetera. Contraception is considered preventive care. And that will save women about $600 a year. And also vaccines. As I said, it's a long list. Go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient and go through the whole list.

BALDWIN: And then some of us get checks in the mail?

COHEN: That's right. Now you and I won't because we get -- probably won't because we get our insurance through our employer.

BALDWIN: Through CNN, right.

COHEN: Right. But if you get insurance on your own in some states, you are going to be likely to get a check. So that's about $150 per household. The check should arrive no later than August 1st. so this is happening as we speak. And about 12.8 million people are going to get checks. But again, not everyone who buys insurance on their own will get it. Just some people.

BALDWIN: And, again, if people want to see a list, cnn.com/empoweredpatient.

COHEN: You got it.

BALDWIN: Got it. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much. And we are now getting some news involving Attorney General Eric Holder and the contempt vote against him. The Justice Department now responding about whether it will prosecute Eric Holder.

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BALDWIN: We have gotten some news just in here when it comes to our attorney general, Eric Holder. You know the deal. The House voted to hold him in contempt of Congress, but there has been some news here. Let's go to Joe Johns. He's in Washington reporting. What's happening here with regard to the DOJ? Are they going to prosecute or not?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, this is all about the kabuki dance that happens when an official from the executive branch gets hit with a charge of contempt by the Congress. Typically if the executive branch has claimed executive privilege, as has happened in this case, then the United States attorney, who is the person who gets the referral from the United States Congress, doesn't act on that because there's a long precedent in this letter we just got in here, going all the way at least back to 1984, which says the Justice Department just isn't going to move on a case like that.

And, of course, sort of the operative language in this letter that came from James Cole, who's the deputy attorney general, says consistent with this uniform position and practice, the department has determined the attorney general's response to the subpoena issued by the committee on oversight and government reform and the Congress does not constitute a crime, therefore department will not bring the congressional contempt citation before a grand jury or take any other action to prosecute the attorney general.

And, of course, generally in this kabuki dance, as I was describing it, there will be howls of protest from Capitol Hill over that and they've already started. We've got a letter here from Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, who is complaining and essentially asking the United States attorney here in Washington, D.C., who's supposed to do this stuff, to go ahead and do it and act independently of the Justice Department. The problem is, the justice department is run by Attorney General Eric Holder, who is the guy who's been cited with contempt. So, check mate. All of this issue actually goes over to civil court and that is where it will be fought out. And it could take a long time unless they get an agreement.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: So, in the meantime, and I guess in civil court that's when a judge can say, you know, yes or no, the president's executive privilege can supersede that or not. What happens next? We know this House Oversight Committee, they wanted to subpoena these certain documents as part of this Fast and Furious operation investigation. Where does that stand now?

JOHNS: Well, eventually a court will have to look into whether the executives claim of executive privilege is, in fact, proper or whether the White House, the Justice Department, have to get together and provide documents to the United States Congress, that they are asking for. This clash, of course, could take a long time to resolve and that's why a lot of people suggest Congress and the Justice Department need to get together and figure out how they can redact some documents or let somebody testify or let certain people go into a room and look at the documents they're requesting. Work something out so that they can get this thing out of the courts because usually it's not good for the branch that loses.

BALDWIN: OK. The kabuki dance. Only Joe Johns with that one. Joe, we appreciate it. Thanks for the update in that case.

Now to this. Imagine it's nighttime. You're at home trying to sleep and you hear this. This is fighting. This is near the capital city of Syria, Damascus, between the government forces and the opposition. Rebel forces now say more than 14,000 people -- 14,000 have been killed since this uprising began. Almost all of them were civilians -- men, women, children. And here -- here, in an area near those explosions you just heard, you see body after body after body, the lives taken of more than 50 people. This is a neighborhood. Families live here. Many are calling it a complete massacre.

But it wasn't this picture, it was a picture we're about to share with you, that really made us stop. I have to warn you, it's tough to look at. You're going to see bodies of elderly people right here. They have been shot in their heads. They are believed too that they were killed by Syrian forces. And we always have to reiterate when we show you videos like this out of Syria, CNN can't confirm this because Syria severely limits journalists from entering the country and covering this. But what we can tell you is that these victims were killed deliberately. They were elderly. They were in their own homes. It's tough to think what threat they possibly could have posed here.

The videos are difficult to watch, but we are committed to sharing them with you to give you an idea of just how horrific the conflict in Syria has gotten. Many fear the fighting will bleed over into other countries. The United Nations warning just a couple of weeks ago that Syria will, and I'm quoting, "explode." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Russia today trying to get help to end the slaughter in Syria.

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BALDWIN: Another Madoff soon to be behind bars. Bernie Madoff's brother Peter pleading guilty to charges that he helped cover up what has been the biggest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history. Peter Madoff lied to investors, deceived the IRS. He faces up to a decade in prison as part of this plea deal. Bernie Madoff, meantime, still in North Carolina serving a 150-year sentence.

The man who admits to shooting Trayvon Martin will stay in jail, at least for now, while the judge weighs evidence and reconsiders bond. George Zimmerman's attorney, they pushed for this new bond at a hearing today. He's been in jail since the judge accused him of misleading the court about his finances and revoked his first bond earlier this month. His attorney says the case is just too flimsy for Zimmerman to sit in jail until trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S ATTORNEY: He's as unhappy with that prospect as anyone else would be. He wants out. He wants to be able to be with Shellie. He's very worried about his wife right now. And he'll deal with it no matter what the judge's ruling. So we'll wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: At the time his first bond was set, Zimmerman claimed to be broke, but the judge later found out he had raised some $135,000 online.

An old mistress comes back to haunt an NBA coach. Golden State Warriors Coach Mark Jackson says a former stripper he had an affair with tried to blackmail him using dirty pictures he had sent her some six years ago. And according to court documents, this is a plain vanilla extortion case. But it has an unusual twist. Go to Sunny Hostin, our favorite CNN legal analyst here on the case.

And, Sunny, so here's the thing. The coach, Coach Jackson, he fesses up to the Warriors early on in this scheme and together they actually, you know, call in the FBI because don't most blackmail victims just sort of pay up and shut up?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: A lot of them do. And he was going to do the same. I mean on April 3rd of this year, someone approached him. His name is Marcus Shaw, we now know. He's 40 years old. And he approached him, confronted him with a folder full of the pictures and also a CD, Brooke, filled with voice mail messages that he left to his mistress. Well, Coach Jackson paid him $5,000 at that time. Unfortunately for Marcus Shaw, he then decided to send the photographs to Coach Jackson's wife. And that was on April 20th.

Well, Coach Jackson then fessed up not only to his family, but also to the Warriors and the Warriors and Coach Jackson went to the FBI and the FBI started monitoring these e-mails, these correspondents between the two parties. I think we have a copy of one of them.

BALDWIN: Sure.

HOSTIN: One of those e-mails. One says, "now I will ask only once, do you want to purchase these pictures before I sell them?" They also -- one of the other e-mails was, "I'm in the reputation management business and these pictures were shocking. I am not deliberately trying to hurt you, however, this is business, nothing personal."

And so with all of that information, the FBI was able to indict Marcus Shaw and Alexis Adams on not only conspiracy to commit extortion, but extortion. This is a federal case, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Business. Nothing personal. Uh-huh. What are Jackson and the Warriors saying? I understand the team is standing by their coach.

HOSTIN: They sure are. We have a statement from Coach Jackson. It says, "I made some egregious errors. I apologize for any embarrassment I may have caused my family, friends and, of course, the Warriors."

So they are standing by him. Remember, this happened -- this affair happened six years ago. He has come clean with the Warriors, with the public, with his family and now these two people are facing federal, criminal charges.

BALDWIN: Criminal charges. Sonny Hostin, thank you, on the case. Have a good weekend.

HOSTIN: You too.

BALDWIN: Quickly before I let you go, let's just take another look at the big board as we have seen quite the rally when it comes to the Dow. And 264 points up. Incredible here.

We're going to leave it on a high note with that. I just want to say, thank you for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin here at the CNN world headquarters. I'm going to toss it off to Candy Crowley. She is standing by with your situation room in Washington.

Candy, take it away.