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Shooting at Family Research Council; Hypersonic Jet Test Fails; West Nile Outbreak
Aired August 15, 2012 - 14:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, hour two. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin. This health emergency in one of America's biggest cities, the mayor of Dallas talking to me making this declaration as an outbreak of West Nile virus grows.
More than a dozen people have now died in Texas. More than two dozen nationwide. Experts are blaming mosquitoes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join me live in a couple of minutes on this state of emergency.
But first another developing story at this hour, we have this security officer at the Family Research Council. That's a conservative group led by a man by name of Tony Perkins. The security officer has been shot.
The feds have this gunman in custody trying to figure out why the shooting happened. Sandra Endo is just outside this building there in Washington.
Sandra, what have you learned? Sandra Endo, can you hear me? We're going to work on getting you up live. Let me go ahead and steer a hard right here and go to the Pentagon. And let me just switch gears here, because we want to about this hypersonic jet. We're going to talk about this hypersonic jet. We talked about this yesterday.
The Air Force is testing this X-51A WaveRider. It's a hypersonic aircraft unmanned. It is supposed to launch from a modified B-52 bomber. It will try to reach Mach 6. It is more than 45 miles per hour. That will take basically you from New York to Los Angeles in 40 minutes. And it's called the WaveRider because it literally rides the shockwaves created by traveling so fast.
But here's the thing. We're now learning the test failed.
Chris Lawrence, the test failed. What happened?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It got off to a good start.
The Air Force is telling us right now that it launched OK, separated from that B-52 rocket that was carrying it and the booster rockets fired appropriately. But about 15 seconds into the launch they found out they had a problem, a faulty control fan. That is sort of what keeps it going in the right direction in layman's terms.
Basically, once it separated from that rocket booster, it was not able to control it and it was lost. Big disappointment obviously to the Air Force who wanted to see a success. But again, this is very, very new technology and they haven't had the best success so far. So far, their biggest success has been keeping the WaveRider in the air for maybe about two minutes, maybe a little longer than that.
BALDWIN: It was a fin. Is it recoverable? I know this thing is not cheap.
LAWRENCE: No. They never planned to recover it. Even if it was very successful, it was going to splash down in the Pacific ocean. There were no plans to recover it. It was designed to basically see if they could keep the hypersonic speed for up to five minutes.
That's one of the problems with a design like this. You can't simulate that kind of speed in a wind tunnel. Basically they can't go slow before they go fast. They just have to go fast and hope that the preparation pays off.
BALDWIN: OK. Maybe the second time is the charm.
Chris Lawrence, we will what happens. Chris, thank you for us at the Pentagon.
I do want to take you back to Washington to the shooting just outside the Family Research Council. The security guard has been shot.
I want to go back to Sandra Endo, who I'm told can hear me now.
Sandra, tell me what happened.
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, a very active scene here. You can see this block cornered off.
And the FBI, Metropolitan Police and fire are all responding to a shooting that happened earlier this morning. Law enforcement say it happened around 10:50 this morning at the building of the Family Research Council. That's when they say a man walked into the building and confronted by a security guard got into an altercation and then opened fire.
They say that the security guard endured a gunshot wound to his arm. He was transported to a local hospital, but is in stable condition. Now, law enforcement sources say they believe the suspect is in his late 20s.
And an eyewitness says they describe him as a big kind of 6-foot guy, kind of stocky, that he was complying with police orders to put down his gun, but again a very active scene now. Take a look at the evidence response teams still in action here trying to get to the bottom of what exactly went on and right now we do know that the suspect is in custody. The FBI is questioning him.
No word yet on motive or any charges. But let's listen to what the FBI had to say a little earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUELINE MAGUIRE, FBI: We are looking at the motive, the intent, and working with the U.S. attorney's office. It depends on what charges are brought forth and whether it's a local crime here in D.C. or a federal crime that the case would move over and be led by the FBI.
But domestic terrorism is one of those violations as in any situation like this that would be looked for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ENDO: The Family Research Council is a conservative Christian policy organization based here in Washington, D.C., led by Tony Perkins. He released a statement earlier today saying: "The police are investigating this incident. Our first concern is with our colleague who was shot today. Our concern is for him and his family."
Again, Brooke, the security guard who was shot in the arm in stable condition today, and the suspect is in FBI custody.
BALDWIN: Sandra Endo, thank you very much.
I just want to read this for you because we're also getting not just reaction from Tony Perkins, head of Family Research Council, but Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney is weighing in.
This is what he says -- quote -- "I'm appalled by the shooting today at the offices of the Family Research Council in our nation's capital. There's no place for such violence in our society. My prayers go out to the wounded security guard and his family, as well as all the people of the Family Research Council whose sense of security has been shattered by today's horrific events."
We're making calls. We want to find out the motive. And we're on it.
Also developing now, worst West Nile outbreak in years, it is spreading, and in one city planes are about to take to the air here and spray with pesticides. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he joins me live about what folks really across the country can do.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Now to those deadly cases of West Nile virus.
The disease carried by mosquitoes is on the rise here in the United States. And today there's fear of an outbreak nationwide. Look at the map here -- 16 people have died alone in Texas, 10 others dead across several states from California to Louisiana. Folks, there's no vaccine. No treatment for the disease.
How can this be prevented? What should you be doing? Health officials in several cities, they are now spraying from the air these pesticides. But there are worries about the safety of doing just that.
So, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent, is here to talk about this.
It's frightening when we think of the U.S. and West Nile and these cases cropping up. Before we talk though about aerial spraying, how do you know if you have West Nile?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It can be hard to know.
In fact, the vast majority of people who get West Nile don't know it either because they have hardly any symptoms or the symptoms are mild and vague. So you would be hard to attribute it to West Nile. People have sort of moderately severe symptoms. They get fever, they will swollen lymph nodes. That's because your body is starting to try and fight off the virus, so your lymph nodes get swollen.
In rare cases, about one in 150 according to some of the papers, you can get what is called a neuroinvasive form. It's exactly what it sounds like. It gets into the neurosystem, brain and spinal cord. People get profound headaches. They can develop stiffness of neck. They can develop coma.
Eventually that's going to lead to these deaths as well. But again that's pretty unusual. What I think is important as well is that there's what is known as incubation period. It can be up to two weeks after you get bit. People may have gotten bit some time ago and then developed symptoms and think there's no way that could be West Nile because that was so long ago.
In fact it can sort of harbor itself in the body for some time and then if you do get the symptoms they can last a few weeks as well.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Pay attention to what your body is telling you.
GUPTA: Yes. If you have something unusual about this, West Nile, especially if you live in those areas, has to be on the list.
BALDWIN: I talked last hour to the mayor of Dallas, Mayor Rawlings, and we were talking specifically about the aerial pesticide spraying. I know there are concerns. But let's just -- let's roll what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE RAWLINGS, MAYOR OF DALLAS, TEXAS: Nobody wants planes flying overhead spraying things. That's not great thing, but I have got to listen to our state health officials. The CDC has recommended this as well in Atlanta.
And so science needs to rule when we get in a situation like this, and science says it's healthy and it's effective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So the CDC says it's OK. We believe the CDC, yes? GUPTA: I think so. Look, we have done a lot of reporting on this sort of thing.
And it's also worth pointing out that this sort of spraying does happen a lot more than we realize. We're paying more attention to it because of the context here of what is happening in Dallas, but this sort of spraying does happen in places where it's just so rampant, these mosquitoes are so rampant.
The basic rules still apply. Dawn and dusk are the worst times. That's when you have the most mosquitoes. Standing water, just getting rid of standing water, because that's where they breed and using insect repellents.
But I think in this sort of situation, obviously talking about people who have died now from this disease.
BALDWIN: The mayor told me he's wearing his deet. He's wearing long sleeves. But still that's the pesticide that's outside.
Right? But you told me before we came on, you said the Sanjay Gupta household is a no-shoe household because people can track the stuff inside.
GUPTA: This is a tip that we use. I tell all my friends. I have told you as well. And I think it's applies here, but in other situations -- is that one of the most difficult things about this sort of spraying or just having these sorts of pesticides or insecticides in the environment is you can bring them inside your home on your shoes, for example.
People track it inside the house. It lives on the floor there. You have kids, they play on the floor. It can get into all the other areas of your house. We simply take off our shoes. It sounds simple, but it can be so effective in terms of preventing an external contaminant getting inside a house, which is confined, and possibly being more of a problem.
BALDWIN: OK. If Sanjay Gupta does it, I think I...
(CROSSTALK)
GUPTA: No shoes.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: No shoes for you.
Sanjay, thank you so much.
GUPTA: You got it.
BALDWIN: A lot more news unfolding this hour. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BALDWIN (voice-over): A man accused of robbing a home apparently didn't realize who owned the house. We now know what the suspect found inside.
Plus, someone slaps a bomb on an oil tanker behind a hotel in Syria, but who was the target?
And going to the movies is about to change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seats move. Strange items touch you and you get water blown in your face.
BALDWIN: Behind the scenes of luxury theaters coming to America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Think about the last flight you took and the number of people on the plane with you. Today, about that many people lost their lives because of fighting in Syria.
An activist group here says 191 people were killed in the country. More than half of the deaths were in nation's two largest cities. You have the commercial hub being Aleppo and the capital being Damascus. Aleppo considered really to be roughly Syria's New York, and Damascus, as I mentioned, is the capital. Think of it as Washington, D.C.
And the Syrian capital here was the scene of a bombing that damaged this hotel. We can zoom in. This is the hotel right here. This is the Dama Rose Hotel. It houses U.N. workers, for example. The regime says the bombers were -- quote -- "an armed terrorist group " who put the device on a diesel tanker behind this hotel, injured three people there.
The Free Syrian Army said, yes, they set the bomb but the hotel was not the target. In fact, it was a military complex that was nearby. One Dutch journalist was in this area when the explosion happened.
He talked to CNN by phone. Here he was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDER VAN HOORN, DUTCH JOURNALIST: We looked straight out of the window at a black pillar of smoke.
We tried to get close, which were allowed actually. And by that time, a lot of the fire had been put out. We saw a ripped small fuel tanker which seemed to be the cause of the blast. And one of the buildings adjacent to it was smoldering still, firefighters trying to fight the fire within.
Well, we didn't see any casualties at that time. Reported, there are some three to five casualties of lightly wounded people. We did however see the hotel where the U.N. personnel, the observer mission is staying. The hotel was very, very lightly damaged, on the order of one window that was broken.
The hotel and all the military compounds around it are very well guarded. The street between them is sealed off. Your car is being checked as you approach. And of course you cannot even get close to the military buildings around there. So, the U.N. personnel is very well guarded, as is the military base.
I have to say though that, for us, this was exactly the reason why we changed hotels, because we figured that a military base might become a target one day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That was the Dutch journalist on the phone.
This is Hala Gorani back with us to talk about Syria.
Question number one being if we know these rebels really were targeting this military compound near this Dama Rose Hotel and the fact that they could get so close, what does that say about their strength and perhaps the weakness of the regime?
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You will remember that on July 18, top military, defense and security officials who were part of the regime were killed in a rebel bombing.
This isn't the first time that rebels have been able to get close and in fact penetrate the inner perimeter of a military building. This is a psychological victory for the rebels and the Free Syrian Army, who are making no secret of the fact they conducted this operation.
And they are saying that essentially they will be able to get closer and closer. Psychologically, it's a victory for them. It's a good propaganda victory as well. The regime right now in that assassination on July 18 of its defense minister and the defection of its prime minister is now every week or two losing key members of the inner circle of Bashar al-Assad -- or I should say of the top ranking members, perhaps not the inner circle of that regime, but certainly high-ranking members of the government.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: What about Iran? I want to get your take, because I was talking to Barbara Starr. She was doing this reporting from the Pentagon because Defense Secretary Leon Panetta basically saying they're getting information that Iran is -- we know Iran and Syria are very, very tight, that Iran is now helping train members of the Syrian militia, these government troops, very much so upping the game.
What is your take?
GORANI: These are reports that we're getting and this is something that Leon Panetta, of course the defense secretary, is saying.
One the one hand, if you have Iran involved at that operational level inside of Syria, it would be one more layer in a proxy war in Syria between some of these gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, that are making no secret of wanting to help the rebels, and Iran very much firmly allied with Syria in the region, Iran, Syria's main regional backer and only firm ally right now.
BALDWIN: You have been talking a lot I know on your show. Let's zoom out of Damascus.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Talk to me about a town up here.
GORANI: All right. This is something we're getting new information on. This is a town that's not on a map, but would be close to Anadan, called Azaz.
This was a town that a French reporter of the Agence France- Presse who visited this small village 20 miles outside of Aleppo said it's been in rebel hands for three weeks now. Life is starting to return to normal. Kids are playing in the street. What happened today, according to a Reuters reporter who visited Azaz, an airstrike by the Syrian military leveling 20 to 23 homes according to a tweet that she sent out just about an hour ago because of airstrikes in these rebel-held towns, that people are going home to home looking for their relatives that they can't find and in many cases finding them in the morgue or indeed already buried because Islamic tradition will just in fact will -- sorry -- compel you to bury someone within 24 hours.
That's what's happening there. So, when you have these rebel- held enclaves, the Syrian regime is wanting to make a point, and bombing in Azaz is what we understand happened over the last 24 hours.
BALDWIN: OK. We're watching. It is so important to tell the story that is happening in Syria day in and day out. We're committed to do it. Hala Gorani, thank you. I appreciate it.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Back home, some political pundits calling this presidential race the nastiest race ever. We're asking, really, ever? My next guest disagrees, a little perspective, if you will, on the 2012 race, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: In case you hasn't quite noticed, things are getting a little testy on the trail to the White House. We talked about this yesterday. You had Vice President Joe Biden talking to a mixed-race crowd there in Danville, Virginia. Told them that the Romney/Ryan tax plans would -- quote -- "put you all back in chains."
He later issued a clarification of sorts, but didn't apologize. Mitt Romney called President Obama angry and said his campaign is based on hatred and accused him of "disgracing the White House." And he has yet to issue a mea culpa later.
With me now, veteran political correspondent Wayne Slater, the senior political writer at "The Dallas Morning News."
Wayne, nice to have you back on. Good to see you.
Let's just get right to it. What do you make of this whole back and forth yesterday between these dueling campaigns and is there a reason that this grumpiness kind of coalesced like it did?
WAYNE SLATER, COLUMNIST, "THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS": Yes. Look, this is a negative campaign, no question about it. Both sides accuse the other of being negative and nasty.
And, in a sense, they are. But what is really happening is that this has not exactly been the most substantive campaign on major issues so far. What the Romney people want to do is frame this campaign as a kind of Chicago politics. They see in Barack Obama one of his strengths is his likability. People may not be happy with the economy, but they think he's likable.
And this is way for the Romney people to try to knock down, to diminish, to knock the edges off the likability of the president by suggesting he's negative and angry and so forth.
Now, from the other side, from the Obama side what you have is an understanding there's a lot of people who want to vote against him, not so much for Romney. That's what the polls show. Fundamentally, what that means is the Obama people have to go out there and give you lots of reasons to vote against Romney. That's sort of the underlying elements in this campaign at this point.
BALDWIN: It's funny. I hear you say negative campaign and I can just hear the people watching us saying, isn't that one and the same, Wayne Slater, isn't that one and the same?
I keep reading and I'm hearing this campaign for the White House is just lower than low. You watch TV, reading the papers and that's what they're saying. But for the life of me I can't quite recall any recent campaign that was particularly high-minded. Can you?
SLATER: No, I cannot.
There's always some elements to this. You only have to go back to the year 2000 during the Republican primary in South Carolina, where Karl Rove is directing the Bush campaign and Bush and his allies attacked John McCain suggesting that he had a -- was the father of an illegitimate black child, that his POW experience had left him kind of mentally incapacitated.
In 1988, there was Willie Horton. In 1888, one of the milestones of negative campaigning, Grover Cleveland was attacked with a big smear effort as the father of an illegitimate child. And you can go back to our first big presidential race, maybe the granddaddy of all negative campaigns, 1800, Jefferson vs. Adams.
Jefferson accused Adams of being less than a real man physically. Adams accused Jefferson of being the son of an Indian squaw and Virginia mulatto. Adams was accused of being a crook, Jefferson of being a coward and an atheist. This has been going on for 212 years.
BALDWIN: I'm hearing you. My producer and I were remembering it was 1804. Granted, he wasn't the president, but Alexander Hamilton and a certain Aaron Burr. And that didn't exactly go well for Mr. Hamilton.
If candidates though if they didn't highlight their opponents' shortcomings, do you think we in the media -- just us talking here -- do you think we are doing an adequate job of this?
SLATER: I'm not a media basher. There's no question that the media -- we in the media -- and you do it and I do it. We all do it.
We follow to some extent the narrative as set out by each campaign. On the other hand, we could do a heck of a lot better job paying less attention probably to the, oh, nanny nanny boo-boo, you're being unfair and mean, and more attention on what exactly are the two Medicaid and Medicare programs as each campaign has developed them?
I think the media tries to do the job. But I do think that we get caught up in the kind of exciting, interesting and largely irrelevant name-calling that's the modern American political campaign.
BALDWIN: The Obamaloney and the Romney Hood, they're catchy and make it on TV, don't they? Guilty. Guilty, Wayne Slater.
SLATER: They do.
BALDWIN: Thank you so much. Great to see you again.
And a quick heads-up for all of you. I am going to Tampa. So thrilled to be doing this. Republicans, they are holding their national convention there. That kicks off August 27. So join me live. We will be doing the show all week long from the CNN grill in Tampa. So see you from -- from then.
Now police say a man, handcuffed, shot himself in the head sitting in the back of a police car. But there's this new video that shows police -- you see this officer reenacting how this could have happened? But an outraged community and an emotional mother still wants answers. We're "On the Case."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: I want you to take a look at this newly released video because it shows how a suspect could have shot himself in the head while sitting in the back of a police car, even though his hands were handcuffed behind his back. Here's this officer, similar build, apparently, as this young man, this Chavis Cordor (ph), staged by police, this reenactment video. This is Jonesboro, Arkansas. Now this video also contains stills of several officers of different sizes, reenacting the same incident. But it does not address a very big concern about Carter's (ph) death. "On the Case" with us today, legal analyst Lisa Bloom. She's the best-selling author of "Swagger: 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys in an Era of Failing Schools, Mass Joblessness and Thug Culture."
So Lisa, we see in the video, you see this officer. He's able to bring his right hand up to his right temple with a gun. The question though, really also -- this doesn't really get into this in the video. How did Carter get the gun?
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, that's right. We don't have a video of hypothetically somebody else could have shot him and that's also a possibility. We don't know what happened here. What we know is this is a very suspicious situation.
You mean to tell me a 21-year-old young man, who is being pulled over for marijuana possession is going to pull out a gun and kill himself in the back of a police cruiser? It's possible but it's extremely unlikely.
The fact that the police are releasing this video as to how it could have happened really sheds no light on it at all. This is simply a hypothetical example of what could have happened among many hypotheticals.
BALDWIN: Yes. Police say they searched him, not just once but twice. They found pot on him but not a gun. Is the police -- is this reconstruction video here, is this standard operating procedure or is this just really odd?
BLOOM: It's very odd. It may be standard operating procedure if there was a trial happening and you have an expert witness and you put together a package to show to a jury. But just at this stage for PR purposes, I find this very odd, Brooke. And you're right, they found marijuana but they didn't find a gun. Hard to understand.
BALDWIN: OK. I know the community is absolutely outraged. The mother apparently saying -- I'm quoting her -- "Look where the handcuffs are, I'm still not buying it."
Lisa Bloom, thank you, "On the Case" with us today.
BLOOM: Thank you.
BALDWIN: More on our developing story out of Washington, where someone opened fire at the Family Research Council, this conservative group there. This is the group led by Tony Perkins. More on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We're getting some new information now on the security officer at the Family Research Council, this conservative group in Washington led by Tony Perkins, this officer has been shot. The Feds have the gunman in custody. I want to go back to the scene. We have Sandra Endo on the phone with us.
And, Sandra, first to this new information, talk to be about the FBI. What are they doing right now?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Brooke, it's still a very active scene here in downtown D.C. Police, FBI, fire crews, the bomb squad is all here responding to this shooting that happened earlier this morning at 10:50 here, where they say a person walked inside the Family Research Council at about 10:50 this morning.
He was approached by a security guard working for the council and a law enforcement source says the suspect made comments about the council. They say an altercation broke out and that's when the suspect opened fire.
A guard suffered a gunshot wound to the arm and was transported to a local hospital, but is in stable condition. Now law enforcement sources say that the suspect is believed to be in his late 20s. And eyewitness said he was stocky in nature and stature, about 6 feet tall, but that when police responded, Brooke, the suspect reportedly was complying with orders to put down the gun.
And of course, right now, all the precautionary measures are being taken in place here at the building we're right in front of, and they are looking through all evidence they can find in the building.
We know that they are, according to FBI agents here on the scene, they are looking at a, what they call just "something" they're looking at that they want the bomb squad to look into. But they don't know if it's at all in connection with this morning's shooting, Brooke.
BALDWIN: OK, so that's that new piece of information, the fact that FBI, they're in the building, looking at something very specific. They are not telling us what it is.
Quick question, just following up on this alleged shooter making comments at the security officer. Do we know what those comments entailed?
ENDO: No, unfortunately, the details are very sketchy at this point obviously. This is just a very new investigation.
The evidence response team is still here on the scene collecting that evidence and of course going through all the material they can find as well as conducting many interviews with witnesses, from people inside the building as well as, of course, the suspect and the guard who was injured. So clearly there are not a lot of details being told to us.
Right now all we know from a law enforcement source is that the suspect did make some comments about the council, which you know is a conservative Christian policy organization. And I should mention they released a statement that President Tony Perkins, saying that the police are investigating this incident. And their concern is with the colleague who was shot earlier this morning.
BALDWIN: Sandra Endo, thank you. Stay on that for us.
Also today, young people -- young people who were brought to this country illegally when they were just young children, they are in line today, long lines, taking the government's offer not to deport them for at least the next two years.
These youngsters, they have to have clean records, no criminal records here, a high school degree, proof of military service and honorable discharge. We have been talking about the student aspect of this all day. But what about the veterans? I want to read a statement here from Robert Gates when he was Secretary of Defense in 2010.
Quote, "There is a rich precedent supporting the service of noncitizens in the U.S. Military. Since the Revolutionary War, noncitizens have enlisted in the Armed Forces during periods of national emergency."
And "Today," he goes on, "about 35,000 noncitizens served and about 8,000 permanent resident aliens enlist every year. The DREAM Act represents an opportunity to expand this pool to the advantage of military recruitment and readiness."
Of course we know in 2010 the DREAM Act went nowhere in Congress.
Let's go to Miguel Marquez. He's live for us in Los Angeles, surrounded by people lining up.
And, Miguel, let me just read some numbers here. We have numbers of debt (ph) from the undocumented community that Gates gave two years ago.
A lot of people -- lot of people -- what's been set up to handle this workload and is it enough?
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are hoping it's enough. They believe it's enough. The citizenship and immigration services are going to be handling all of these applications. They put this program together in about six weeks.
I will tell you where we are right now this immigrant organization in downtown Los Angeles, the line has not abated at all. They have been letting people in about 50 at a time here. They can handle only about 200 to 300 applicants a day here at Cherla (ph). But the line, so snakes around the corner here, and up the hill. And there's -- last I checked there was perhaps 500 people still in line here.
They're going to have to go to some sort of system to hand out numbers at some point and try to get people to come back on a different day. But people want to get these applications in. There's a great incentive to get these applications in at the moment, because as soon as that application is submitted, then they are no longer deportable.
And that's a huge thing for these people who don't want to have to worry about traveling in the U.S., about being deported, picked up and deported for jaywalking in some cases. And it would make their life a heck of a lot easier, there, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Miguel, you mentioned 500 people where you are.
Guys, let's show the pictures from Chicago, because we're hearing something like 10,000 people -- look at this -- look at this, 10,000 people lining up to fill out these forms here in Chicago.
Miguel, question is this, what happens after November? What happens in two years?
MARQUEZ: Well, this is the huge question and this is going to be an incredibly big crush of people to get into consulates, to get the basic documents they are going to need to get these applications in, to get those applications in as quickly as possible.
And then the big question for these people is what about their future. They are putting all of their information on these documents. It gives not only their information but their family's information. There is a concern, a fear, although they have been promised that information won't go to enforcement agencies.
There are concerns that in the future it might, given whatever happens in November. There's also concerns of course, what happens in two years when this program ends and what do they do then? Do they become undocumented again?
Do they become illegal again? Or will there be some other path, some other way. And as you know, there's been an incredibly contentious issue to get immigration reform passed in Washington, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Indeed. As we mentioned, DREAM Act went nowhere in 2010. Miguel Marquez in L.A., Miguel, thank you.
A night out at the movies not getting any cheaper I'm afraid, but there's a new type of theater coming to the U.S. It will cost you 20 bucks for a ticket but the perks, they hope, will be worth it. We're going to take you inside these new luxury theaters. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Movie theaters are going upscale so you can lavish yourself in luxury. Just press a button and a waiter brings you sushi, maybe a big old fancy cocktail. Oh, and don't be surprised if your chair starts wiggling or water splashes in your face. This is all part of the show, apparently. Nick Parker looks at luxury theaters making the move to America.
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NICK PARKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The emphasize is on luxury. Fresh sushi made to order and cocktails just a blend away. Cinepolis, Latin America's biggest cinema chain, is pushing deeper into a niche market. PARKER: This is one of nearly 150 VIP cinemas in Latin America. This concept is really pretty simple. You take a seat. You relax. You peruse the menu. Call a waiter and feel pretty smart.
PARKER (voice-over): It's a brand they are now exporting to the United States. This cinema in California, like others, is in an affluent residential area. But the push comes as U.S. cinema audiences decline and the country struggles with a weak economy. Why now?
ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ, CEO, CINEPOLIS: We are pioneers of this concept in the Western Hemisphere. We have had luxury cinema since 1999. And we're actually the world largest operator of luxury cinema.
So we think that if they are working in six countries of Latin America and in India, where we also have operations, there's no reason why they shouldn't work in one of the most developed countries in the world.
PARKER (voice-over): At $20 for an evening show, it's a gamble. But the target consumer certainly exists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's expensive. But for a treat, it will be fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get all the other services that you get at a restaurant, a bar, some socializing that you have to go some place else and probably pay another hundred bucks for to do with your wife or your friends.
PARKER (voice-over): Other cinema companies, such as iPic (ph), are also pushing the luxury concept. So Cinepolis, a non-U.S. company, is going to have to fight for market share.
PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, HOLLYWOOD.COM: They'll be very successful. I don't think anyone really cares where the company of origin is. I don't think people walk into a movie theater and say who built this theater? Who runs this theater? I think they care about having a great experience.
PARKER (voice-over): In search of a new experience, Cinepolis has already embraced so-called 4D technology in Mexico. Seats move. Strange items touch you. And you get water blown in your face. The Korean tech company behind it is now planning a U.S. launch. America has been warned -- Nick Parker, CNN, Mexico City.
BALDWIN: Hello. Wear your rain jacket, I guess.
It shows you where you live, where you might want to go and what's in your relative's backyard. Google Earth showing us what's above ground and perhaps below.
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BALDWIN: Couple minutes away from "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.
Hello, Wolf Blitzer. What are you working on for today?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We have got lots of news coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Later, by the way, we're going to be hearing live from Paul Ryan, he's out on the campaign trail.
We'll also hear live from Michelle Obama and the president, President Barack Obama. They're going to be live. They're coming up. We're going to take those remarks later in "THE SITUATION ROOM" as well.
Ed Gillespie, a senior advisor to the Mitt Romney campaign, he's going to join us live. But wait until you hear and see, Brooke, the interview that I just taped with former Democratic Congressman Archer Davis. He's here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." He's seconded the nomination of President Obama four years ago at the Democratic convention in Denver.
But what a difference four years makes. Now a major supporter now of Mitt Romney, but wait until you hear what he says about the vice president of the United States. I think this is -- some of my staff already suggesting -- must-see TV. The interview with Archer Davis that will air here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
BALDWIN: Isn't all TV with you, Wolf Blitzer, must-see TV?
BLITZER: No. No. It's not all must-see TV. But this, this will be must-see TV.
BALDWIN: Good deal. Good deal. We'll see you then. We look forward to it. Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you.
BALDWIN: And speaking of the first lady, look who's joined the president here on this reelection trail today in Iowa, a rare glimpse, here she is, both Obamas campaigning side-by-side. Two of them, of course, seeking four more years. First lady Michelle Obama joining her husband one day after Mitt Romney assailed the president as quote, "angry," and running a campaign on hate.
We touched on this earlier when I talked to Jodi Kantor of "The New York Times," author of the book "The Obamas."
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BALDWIN: Well, hearing Romney call the president "angry" brings to mind similar things that were said about Ms. Obama during the last campaign, but we did this poll. This was at the end of May, and it confirms she's a pretty popular first lady. Look at the numbers here, 65 percent consider her favorable. How big of an asset, Jodi, do you think the first lady is in this whole reelection campaign?
JODI KANTOR, AUTHOR: Oh, not only is she a big asset, but one of the things I discovered when I was reporting my book is what an intentional strategy that was on the part of the White House. Remember that when the president was inaugurated in 2009, both of the Obamas' approval ratings were like this. And then the president's dropped.
And the White House just knew that they had to preserve Michelle Obama's popularity. They didn't want to get her mixed up in health care reform. They didn't want her to get mixed up in anything politically controversial because they knew that they would need her right now.
One of the stories I tell in the book is actually about a meeting in the Oval Office when political advisors came to the Obamas and they described almost the kind of scene we just watched in Ohio and said, look, Democrats like seeing the president alone, but they love seeing you together. This marriage has a lot of political potency.
BALDWIN: What about drawbacks though, Jodi? Are there any drawbacks to putting Michelle Obama out there from the Obama campaign perspective?
KANTOR: Well, they need her. I mean, This is clutch time. This is sort of what they've been saving her for. Politically, you know, there could be drawbacks if she was drawn into this sort of daily back and forth. Remember the comment about Ann Romney and whether she was too much of a stay-at-home mom? They want to keep Michelle Obama away from those kinds of firefights.
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BALDWIN: OK. Jodi Kantor of "The New York Times" talking to me about Michelle Obama not too long ago.
Now this. A North Carolina woman says she used Google Earth to find possible undiscovered pyramids in Egypt. Several experts said a look -- took a look. They said no way.
Chad Myers has been looking at some of these pictures.
And so what do we talk --
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Some are pretty impressive.
BALDWIN: Yes?
MYERS: You know, the Google Earth, taking pictures of the Earth all the time, updating new ones, getting higher-res all the time as well. Here's what she found. We have some video of this.
Kind of looks like maybe some mountains. But you know what? Remember how we found that face on Mars, too. So you never know what you're going to see. Google Earth is looking at these. Egyptologists will be going out to these sites, looking at them.
They're not very large, but they are big enough to actually be discovered, and at least looked at and find out whether there's actually something out there that no one's ever seen before, because the sands shift in the desert, right? Some things come up. Some things get buried.
I have something for you to see, though.
BALDWIN: We're having a little fun here.
MYERS: We are going to -- I'm going to try to see if you and the people at home can guess what's on Google Earth right now.
BALDWIN: OK. I'm craning my head to look.
MYERS: That's a lake in the middle.
BALDWIN: That looks like a big old -- is that Miami.
MYERS: That's fountains at the Bellagio Hotel.
BALDWIN: Oh.
MYERS: These are going to be places that you have been. And I know you've been here. What is that curvy little road?
BALDWIN: Oh, Lombard Street, San Francisco.
MYERS: I know you've been here because you recommended me going here. Down toward L.A.
BALDWIN: Oh, Santa Monica.
MYERS: Santa Monica pier.
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MYERS: (Inaudible) your favorite northeast city. That would be --
BALDWIN: Oh, you've got me.
MYERS: Lady Liberty.
BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness. I couldn't even tell. There's (inaudible) in the corner.
MYERS: And now your favorite rock in Central Park.
BALDWIN: Oh, it is my favorite rock.
MYERS: I know it is.
BALDWIN: That's my favorite place in Central Park --
MYERS: You have tweeted this.
BALDWIN: -- to have lunch.
MYERS: Some place you've been recently. Can you tell what that is without the 3D building on? BALDWIN: Tower Bridge.
MYERS: Yes. Now, turn it on, Sean (ph).
That's how cool it looks on Google Earth.
BALDWIN: I was so afraid I was going to see like Chad Myers, grilling out in his skivvies on the roof of his apartment.
MYERS: And now finally?
BALDWIN: Oh, wait, is this Cairo?
MYERS: The real pyramids. That's what they really look like.
BALDWIN: That is too cool. I'm a little dizzy but I love that. I love that.
MYERS: Give people at home vertigo flying around like that.
BALDWIN: Google Earth. You could just lose yourself in the vortex of Google Earth all day long, kind of like a good Wikipedia thread.
Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
BALDWIN: Appreciate it.
And that's it for me here. I'm Brooke Baldwin in Atlanta. Now to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" begins right now.
