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Immigration Changes; Syrian Crisis Continues

Aired August 16, 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: The international standoff over Julian Assange ratcheting up a notch today. Assange founded the web site Wikileaks, put thousands of leaked U.S. cables and war documents online for all the world to see.

Today, Assange is saying a great-big thank you to Ecuador for granting him political asylum. Assange has been holed up inside Ecuador's embassy in London.

And if he so much as sticks his head out, he faces being arrested and sent to Sweden to allegations of sex charges. Assange says he is afraid Sweden will send him to the United States to be charged with spying and treason.

Top of the hour here. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And just into us here at CNN, a major, major health warning to all baby boomers.

Let me bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen to talk about this one test they need to be taking, that test being hepatitis C.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hepatitis C.

I will tell you it's not very often that the CDC comes out and tells this huge group of people, hey, you need to get tested for something.

BALDWIN: So when they do, you pay attention.

COHEN: We want to listen.

Here's the issue with hepatitis C. Much more common among baby boomers than people of other ages. And the problem is that you're fine, often, for many, many years after you get infected, you don't know you have it, and sometimes by the time you figure out you have it, it is too late.

And it's estimated that 15,000 baby boomers die every year from hepatitis C. So they're saying get tested now, so hopefully we can try to treat you before you get that sick.

BALDWIN: Was there a catalyst? Was there a certain something that happened that's making them now say this? COHEN: I think they did new studies that looked at how many baby boomers have hepatitis C and how many don't know it, and they realized that between 50 and 75 percent of baby boomers who have hep C don't know it.

BALDWIN: I think hep C, I think needle sharing. Right?

COHEN: Needle sharing is a major way that people are -- using infected needles, that's a major way.

BALDWIN: But not always.

COHEN: But not always. It's from infected blood.

So, for example, borrowing a razor from somebody who is infected. Or as we saw, unfortunately, in this case in New Hampshire and seven other states...

BALDWIN: That guy.

COHEN: A health care worker had hepatitis, shared needle, took other people's drugs and got those patients sick. And sadly, there's probably more of that going on than we know about.

BALDWIN: Hepatitis C for the baby boomers, get tested, get tested, get tested. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: The suspect here accused of opening fire at a D.C. conservative group is due in court this afternoon.

Floyd Lee Corkins allegedly said, and I'm quoting, "I don't like your politics," before shooting a security guard just yesterday inside the Family Research Council's lobby. Authorities say Corkins had 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches in his backpack, along with a pistol and extra ammunition.

Family Research Council is a Christian conservative group that recently supported the stance by the president of Chick-fil-A opposing same-sex marriages. Here is Chick-fil-A's statement -- quote -- "Chick-fil-A has not been contacted by the authorities in relation to the incident at Family Research Council headquarters yesterday. Because it is a police matter and we do not yet know the facts, we would prefer not to speculate on the issue." They go on, "Our thoughts are with the security guard who was injured in the incident and his family."

Now, a source does tell CNN the suspect volunteered at a group that supports gays and lesbians in Washington. That group's leader condemned the violence. And we do expect a statement from Family Research Council shortly. Should be hearing from Tony Perkins, he is the head of this group. And as soon as we see him or get that statement, we will bring that to you on CNN.

It is being called the mini, mini-DREAM Act. Thousands of undocumented immigrants who came here to the U.S. as children are lining up today to enroll in this federal program that allows them to avoid deportation for two years. But Arizona's governor has issued a harsh wakeup call.

Jan Brewer released this executive order later yesterday, pointing out that the program does not give immigrants legal status, so they cannot receive any public benefits under Arizona State law. Protests against Brewer's move soon followed.

You're seeing them, heading toward the state capitol yesterday. The new federal guidelines do allow undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria to work in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: We will issue an employment authorization card to those people that apply, but they will not be entitled to a driver's license, nor will they be entitled to any public benefits in response to the public overwhelmingly voting that no public benefits would be extended to illegal aliens in the state of Arizona.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And our legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, she's on the case.

And, Sunny, I have a lot of questions on this one, first being, can Governor Brewer even do this?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, that really is the question, right? And this is a very complicated area of the law, because typically, federal law trumps state law.

It trumps state law in areas of immigration. But what does that really mean? The courts haven't been very clear. So at this point, now you have a state order saying that this is the deal. This is what can happen. And unless and until it is challenged in a court of law, which I suspect it will be, that will be the state of things in the state of Arizona.

BALDWIN: OK, so, as we heard the governor mention, you know, they will still issue those work authorization cards as the federal program, under the White House, you know, now allows.

But explain to me how it's possible to work here legally, but not have legal status as a citizen.

HOSTIN: Yes, well, when President Obama did sign this executive order, called the Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, it was very clear, Brooke, that this is just a stopgap measure, that this was a measure that would allow people under the age of 31, that have been here throughout their childhood, certainly to remain here and work here without fear of deportation.

That was the law. It never granted -- or order, rather. It never really granted official legal status. And so that is why people can certainly fill out the forms that have now been made available. My understanding is that over a million people will be filling out those forms for this federal program.

BALDWIN: Yes.

HOSTIN: But it does not give them the ability to -- it doesn't give them legal status.

So the fact that now Governor Brewer is saying, OK, well, then you're not going to get driver's licenses, you're not going to get public benefits, you're not going to get business professional licenses. You're not going to be able for government contracts. You're not going to get state-subsidized child care. You're not going to be eligible for a children's health insurance program. Unless they challenge this in court, that is going to be the state of things.

BALDWIN: And you say that is likely. I talked to Jeff Toobin. He agrees with you.

Sunny Hostin, thank you so much.

HOSTIN: Yes.

BALDWIN: You're in agreement.

Got to pull away from you. Let's go to Washington. Here is Tony Perkins. He's the head of the Family Research Council. This is where that security guard was shot and injured just yesterday.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

TONY PERKINS, PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: ... manager. He does have a secondary duty as a security guard, but he is not in uniform and does not carry a gun.

And so he was unarmed when he was confronted by the shooter and disarmed him. But as he was coming to out of the surgery, I was there and I told him, I said, Leo, I want you to know that you're a hero and that's what we believe you are and that's what Americans all across the country believe you are a hero for what you did today.

And he was still kind of groggy, and he said, well, this hero business is hard work. So he did not lose his sense of humor, and we are grateful that his injuries, while it's going to take a while for him to recover, we expect him to be back here very soon, assuming his duties here running the building and making sure that this environment is secure, which he did yesterday, and to which our entire team here is grateful.

Let me also give a caveat about what I'm going to say today. As one who worked in law enforcement, I understand the importance of not making statements that would in any way hinder an ongoing criminal investigation. So my comments are going to be very short.

But the reason we're here is because some statements have been made that are not completely accurate, and the fact that many of you have called wanting a statement.

And obviously, yesterday, our first concern was with Leo and with the well-being of our staff here. That does bring me to my final point that I want to make. Let me say this. I do also want to -- and I should do this. I want to express my appreciation to the groups and organizations that we do not agree with on many public policy issues who have also expressed their outrage at what took place here yesterday.

For that, I appreciate it. I appreciate them making those statements. But I would ask them to go a step further, and to join us in calling for an end to the reckless rhetoric that I believe led to yesterday's incident that took place right behind me.

And that does bring me to my final point. Let me be clear that Floyd Corkins was responsible for firing the shot yesterday that wounded one of our colleagues and our friend, Leo Johnson. But Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center that have been reckless in labeling organizations hate groups because they disagree with them on public policy.

And I believe the Southern Poverty Law Center should be held accountable for their reckless use of terminology that is leading to the intimidation and what the FBI here has categorized as an act of domestic terrorism.

There's no room for that in a society such as ours that works through differences that we have on issues in public policy through a peaceful means. And with that, I will take a few questions.

QUESTION: Sir, what evidence do you have that Corkins...

BALDWIN: Tony Perkins getting a little political there at the end. But let me just get to the facts,the facts being that he mentioned this security guard who was working at the Family Research Council, which, by the way, is in Chinatown, full of, you know, tourists in this part of D.C.

So this man by the name of Floyd Lee Corkins apparently walks inside this conservative group and is stopped by this security officer by the name of Leo Johnson. You know, who knows what really was the motive behind this particular individual, Floyd Lee Corkins? But this man stopped him and he was caught and he will be charged later today.

So that was Tony Perkins there reacting to that. More news unfolding right now. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (on camera): A month-long war, that is the candid prediction from one of Israel's civil defense chiefs about a possible battle against Iran. But he doesn't stop there.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): It is the first day insiders can dump Facebook stock. And by the end of this hour, we will know the damage.

And:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty wild, the story.

BALDWIN: A popular musician disappears for decades. But when two fans go to find him...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found him.

BALDWIN: ... they discover something that changes his life forever.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to jump real quickly here to Syria, because there's a lot happening here today, specifically concerning the international effort to do something to blunt the effects of Syria's ongoing war.

We are getting word today that the United Nations mission to Syria, which by the way expires this weekend, it will not be extended.

Hala Gorani with me now once again from CNN International.

Are they allowing in the towel? What does this mean?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it does appear as though they're saying, at least as far as the U.N. observer mission is concerned, we are done. This mandate expires this weekend.

Here are a few more details for you. A U.N. civilian office is going to remain in the country, 20 to 30 U.N. staffers are going to be manning that. Unclear exactly what their role is going to be. Certainly, their range of movement is limited.

Even the observers, when they were at their maximum capacity in terms of the numbers in the group, were at 300. They were all unarmed and in some cases weren't able to go to some of the worst hot spots because of security concerns. This, of course, was all part of Kofi Annan's six-point plan.

As many of our viewers know, Kofi Annan is resigning. He will not be kept on as the U.N. Arab League envoy. Reuters is reporting that Lakhdar Brahimi -- and I will tell you why this is important -- has accepted to become the new U.N. Arab League envoy. Why is this important? Some of our viewers might remember him as the U.N. envoy to Iraq and Afghanistan during the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

So this is a familiar figure, a career diplomat in his late 70s. Is it a mission impossible for him? Many people are saying, you got to be brave to take this on, possibly somebody who's going to face the same exact issues as Kofi Annan.

BALDWIN: I'm sure you talked to Ben Wedeman today, as have I, and he said the people on the ground in Syria, in places like Aleppo, the news sort of falls on deaf ears.

It doesn't really seem to impact them much, what they have seen thus far with regard to the U.N. Also, you know, the civilians, they appear to be innocent young men, women, and children appear to be targeted by the government in places like Aleppo.

Let's just look at some of his reporting.

GORANI: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The shelling and air raids have no rhyme or reason. The rounds smash into crowded neighborhoods, far from the front lines.

Mohammad Delaha (ph) was in a backroom when his apartment was hit. He had sent his family away just a few days before. "Thank God they weren't here," he says, "but what am I going to do? Where am I going to live?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The government targeting civilians.

GORANI: That's what witnesses are saying, and that's what also -- with the increasing number of journalists in northern Aleppo, many professional reporters are now telling us.

In a city -- I should call it a town like Azaz in northwest Aleppo, this was a town that was leveled. Parts of it were leveled by the Syrian air force. These are aerial bombardments on densely populated civilian areas.

BALDWIN: How is this a winning strategy?

GORANI: Well, this is a -- I think you can argue it's not.

You can argue that, longer term, it's not. But what you can say is if it's proved that the Syrian military is targeting civilian areas in order to send a message that if you are a city that has gone over to the rebels, supporting the rebels, sympathetic with the opposition, we're going to send a message and it's going to be a clear message for you, we're going to flatten your homes, we're going to kill civilians.

That's what opposition activists are saying happened in Azaz and that's what we're also hearing from some reporters who visited the city.

BALDWIN: One more point to you, as we talk a lot about geography, Lebanon. It's spilling over now into Lebanon. And now Saudi Arabia telling their people in Lebanon, get out. GORANI: And here's why, because there's been tit for tat kidnapping in Lebanon. You have had kidnappings in Syria in retaliation. You have clans in Lebanon who are conducting their own kidnappings.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: This is ominous.

GORANI: In order to -- it possibly is. In Lebanon, it doesn't take much for a spark to light a real fire. It's a very clan-based society, and it's rather tribal, many, many factions.

And so when you have start having issues like tensions in Syria, they easily spill over into Lebanon. There are many groups in Lebanon that are armed as well. So what could be a disagreement between two groups ends up in many cases becoming a violent confrontation. And the big risk is going to be, what happens in Lebanon, what happens in other neighboring countries as well.

Just as the civil war rages, you mentioned the civilians. We can't forget the civilians -- 23,000 last count, according to organizations that are independent, have been killed in a country of 22 million. So you see the proportion there, if it were in a country the size of the U.S., how many that would be.

BALDWIN: Hala Gorani, thank you. Appreciate it.

Police, they -- ambushed when investigating a shooting. Two deputies are dead, five people in custody. We're going to Louisiana next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A horrifying incident today in Louisiana against the people whose job it is to protect us.

Two deputies, 34-year-old Brandon Nielsen and 28-year-old Jeremy Triche, here are their pictures. They were ambushed, they were shot and killed. Two other deputies were wounded here. And you can see the map, because this is where it all happened.

Authorities say the first shoot-out happened in this remote parking lot near a refinery in LaPlace, Louisiana. The sheriff says the officers were ambushed then in a second shoot-out where they went to a trailer park to then question the suspects. And the sheriff talking about this today was quite emotional.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE TREGRE, ST. JOHN'S PARISH, LOUISIANA, SHERIFF: As we were interviewing the two persons, the two subjects, another person exited that trailer with an assault weapon and ambushed -- excuse me -- ambushed my two officers. The investigation is ongoing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Five suspects are in custody. It is unclear why, what prompted these attacks today.

I talked with Mike Hoss. He's an anchor with our affiliate there, WWL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HOSS, WWL: The sheriff, Mike Tregre, said one of his officers, Michael Scott Boyington, had made some type of stop and during that stop was fired upon multiple times. He's believed to be OK, according to the sheriff.

But he's alive enough to give what we believe is some description of the vehicle. That vehicle is then seen later by an eyewitness who calls in and says, hey, I have got this car going 80 miles an hour down the road. That leads deputies to a trailer park, basically on the Mississippi River, a levee, again about two miles max from where the initial shooting took place.

They go up to the door to a trailer, where they believe the suspects are. In fact, they have got one suspect with them. They knock on the door. A guy comes to the door. There's a dog there. They can see inside the trailer and inside the trailer is a man underneath, fully clothed, but underneath a blanket.

So as they call him to the front door, another person exits the rear of the trailer with a semi-automatic assault rifle, opens fire, and to the best of our knowledge, from the sheriff, kills two of his officers and wounds a third.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Two of the five suspects are in the hospital. There will be a news conference at 4:00 Eastern time.

A month-long war, that is what one Israeli leader is saying his country would likely face if it attacks Iran's nuclear site. My next guest says the U.S. needs to jump in now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: There is we will call it intriguing, it's an intriguing story coming out of Israel today.

This Israeli official, this man here has offered a window into his government's thinking concerning a possible war with Iran. His name is Matan Vilnai and he is Israel's civil defense chief. He said Israeli government planners are prepared for 500 Israeli deaths, should Israel launch attacks against Iranian nuclear targets.

Let me quote him. "There might be fewer dead or more perhaps, but this is a scenario for which we are preparing in accordance with the best expert advice," went on to say, "The war would be expected to last about 30 days and would occur on several fronts." This is all according to the Israeli paper "Maariv," which conducted this interview with this man, Matan Vilnai.

And we can't just leave this hanging out there, so I wanted to bring in Matthew Kroenig. He's a professor of government at Georgetown University and also an expert at Council on Foreign Relations.

Matt, welcome.

Question number one, is the Israeli government sending a message to someone through this official?

MATTHEW KROENIG, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Yes, Brooke.

Well, I think the Israeli government is sending a couple of messages, one to Iran, saying that they're very serious about Iran's nuclear program, that they need to stop the program, and that they're developing all options, including military options, to deal with it, in an effort to convince Iran to give up the program.

They're also sending a message, I think, to the United States. Israel knows that the United States has greater capabilities to deal with the Iranian nuclear threat to inflict lasting damage on Iran's nuclear program. So I think Israel would much prefer the United States to do it. I think the message to Washington is, take care of this for us or we will take matters into our own hands.

BALDWIN: I want to get more on the U.S. in just a minute.

But there was a quote that really jumped out at me as I read this morning. Let me quote again. He said, "The assessments are for a war that will last 30 bays on several fronts."

We know from bitter experience that wars tend not to go according to script. So how realistic do you think this estimate is, 30 days?

KROENIG: Well, it's, of course, impossible to tell, but if Israel or the United States for that matter attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, Iran would almost certainly retaliate.

Iran doesn't have a powerful conventional military, so this wouldn't be kind of a ground war, but Iran does have a number of ways to retaliate. So, it could launch missiles into Israel, into Tel Aviv and Jerusalem and other population centers. It has ties with terrorist groups, Hamas and Hezbollah. So it could ask those terrorist groups to attack Israel.

And Iran also has a navy in the Persian Gulf, so it could harass and attack ships in the Persian Gulf. So, Iran would almost certainly retaliate. It's impossible to say whether it would last three days, 30 days, or longer, but Israel is clearly preparing for a long war, if possible.

BALDWIN: OK, impossible to quantify that, though.

And I just want to show our viewers this map because these are some of the known Iranian nuclear targets. Does the Israeli government, Matt, do they have the ability to do what it takes to take all of these out, plus all of the other associated targets in Iran? Can they do that?

KROENIG: Well, Israel's a little bit like the guy in the bar fight saying, you know, let me go. I'm going to rip that guy to shreds.

But it's not clear if we let them go, whether they would actually do anything or not. Israel doesn't really have the capabilities to get at Iran's most important nuclear facilities. They're building them deep underground. Israel's bunker-busters simply can't get there.

So, again, they would much prefer that the United States do it because the United States does have bunker-busters that can penetrate deep underground and destroy these Iranian nuclear facilities.

Unclear whether Israel will do it, but if the United States doesn't make it very clear to Iran, to Israel, that we'll take care of this, if necessary, I think there is a real risk that Israel will go ahead and conduct an attack on its own, which would be a pretty bad outcome because, again, they may not be able to destroy the facilities, but we would get all the downside consequences, including Iranian military retaliation.

BALDWIN: Israel's the tough guy in the bar, U.S. is quite tough. So, we'll have to wait and see if, you know, the U.S. would work sort of lock and step with Israel's plans or not.

Matt Kroenig, we'll follow up, if and when that happens. We appreciate you there in Washington for us today.

Scorching temperatures, extremely dry ground, at least 60 large fires burning across 14 states. We're going to take you to one hot spot, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In parts of the Pacific Northwest, this is what a drive on the highway has come to. Look at this, flames chasing your tires. This huge swath of the country looks like this. Fourteen states are roasting from more than 60 large wildfires.

This iReport shot on Monday shows one that has burned dozens of homes in Washington state and CNN's Rob Marciano, he is there. He is tracking the damage.

Rob, pretty bad.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Brooke, there are more people and more equipment here at the command center, just outside the fire lines of this 23,000-acre fire, which now, thankfully, has 25 percent containment.

The last day-and-a-half, the winds have died down just a little bit, but that wasn't the case Monday night when sparks flew on a construction site and carried those flames on 30-, 40-mile-an-hour winds, through this town. Sixty-plus homes completely destroyed, not only in town, but on the outskirts of town.

With that, you had some barns that were burned, livestock and other animals running for cover. We still have 450 families that are evacuated and will be for quite some time. They may be able to go look at their property tomorrow, but that is about it.

Still a dangerous situation here, as temperatures begin to heat up, not just in this state, but states across the west. You know about California, from San Diego to San Bernardino, big fires burning down there, although less in the way of structures threatened.

And then Lake County up just north of Napa, they've been dealing with that for several days.

But that heat, that record-breaking heat in California, is now in Oregon and Washington. Excessive heat warnings are posted, not only for here, but the western valleys could reach 100 degrees in some spots.

And here in the fire zone, dangerous levels of low humidity will make it even more difficult for firefighters.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: Rob Marciano. Rob, thank you.

And this next story, I have been so excited to share this with you. This failed Detroit musician gives up on his dream of rock 'n' roll. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIXTO "SUGAR MAN" RODRIGUEZ, MUSICIAN (singing): Hey, baby, what's your hurry?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Here's the thing. Half a world away, he was bigger than the Rolling Stones. Now, after four decades, he is back. The story of Sugar Man, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And now, the true story of the most famous musician you've never heard of. Decades after giving up on a career in rock 'n' roll, Detroit construction worker, Sixto Rodriguez learns he's an icon halfway around the world.

This new documentary is chronicling his amazing discovery. Poppy Harlow tells his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought he was like the inner city poet. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was this wandering spirit around the city.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Sixto Rodriguez, a Dylan-esque Detroit native who tried his hand at rock history in the '70s.

MIKE THEODORE, CO-PRODUCER, COLD FACT BY RODRIGUEZ: When we logged in and heard the songs he was singing and what he was writing, we had to record him. We had to make a deal because he's great. This was it.

HARLOW: But it wasn't. Rodriguez's albums flopped in the U.S.

Somehow, though, his first album, "Cold Fact," made it halfway around the world and became a massive hit.

MALIK BENDJELLOUL, DIRECTOR, "SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN": In South Africa, he was in the pantheon of rock gods.

STEPHEN SEGERMAN, OWNER, MABU VINYL IN CAPETOWN: To us, it was one of the most famous records of all time.

HARLOW: The soundtrack of the anti-apartheid movement, fueling a revolution.

But at home in Detroit, Rodriguez had no idea. He'd given up his music career. That was four decades ago.

You used to play right across the street right there, right?

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: I played a lot of places in Detroit.

HARLOW: Unaware of his fame abroad and getting no royalties, Rodriguez lived on little, raising his daughters, doing demolition work.

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: I'm not a stranger to hard work.

HARLOW: He made failed bids for mayor, city council, and state rep.

You call yourself a musical/political.

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: Musical/political, yeah. I don't see anyone can't be and is not political.

HARLOW: Then, at 57, he was rediscovered by a South African music journalist and a record store owner, who found clues in his lyrics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found him! We found him!

HARLOW: They brought Rodriguez to South Africa and he played to thousands of adoring fans.

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: Thanks for keeping me alive. SANDRA RODRIGUEZ, RODRIGUEZ'S DAUGHTER: He's on stage and the crowd is just going wild and they're singing and they're crying.

REGAN RODRIGUEZ, RODRIGUEZ'S DAUGHTER: It brings you to tears, to see something like that happen to someone.

SANDRA RODRIGUEZ: Yes.

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: Well, that was -- it was epic.

HARLOW: Do you not think that your story is exceptional beyond belief?

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: Oh, it's pretty a wild, the story. I'm a lucky man to be so fortunate at this late date.

BENDJELLOUL: This is a true Cinderella story.

HARLOW: Filmmaker Malik Bendjelloul tells it in his documentary, "Searching for Sugar Man."

BENDJELLOUL: A man who lives his whole life in Detroit working as a construction worker, really hard, manual labor, without knowing that at the very same time, he's more famous than Elvis Presley in another part of the world.

So, I thought it was the most beautiful story I ever heard in my life.

HARLOW: A beautiful story, but also a mystery. Where were all the royalties?

BENDJELLOUL: I don't know. I don't know. I do think it's an important question, because the reason why Rodriguez didn't know that he was famous for 30 years was that he didn't get royalties.

HARLOW: Asked if he feels if he feels ripped off ...

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: Oh, well, no. Not in that sense of it. Hate is too strong an emotion no waste on someone you don't like, you know?

HARLOW: Do you want the fame and the fortune?

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: Well, fame is fleeting.

Hey, baby, what's your hurry?

HARLOW: Now 70, Rodriguez may finally get his due.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Rodriguez!

HARLOW: Do you ever pinch yourself and ask, is this real?

SIXTO RODRIGUEZ: Is it real? It's certainly a different life, you know? It's certainly not what it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow joining me now from New York.

I just scribbled down this quote. I love that. "Hate is too strong an emotion to waste on someone you don't like."

And, to think, we were talking about this last week because you were so excited about this story. We were. This could never happen today because of the Internet.

HARLOW: It could never happen. I mean, it was the '70s. There was no Internet.

Rodriguez, he's sort of a wanderer, Brooke. He never had a phone. He lived in 26 different homes in Detroit, so people couldn't really reach him and South Africa was so isolated because of apartheid.

So, if you fast forward to today, a story like this probably isn't going to happen again.

BALDWIN: So, obviously, the end of apartheid in South Africa, a huge, huge event that was, you know, came after years and years of bloodshed and struggle.

What does Rodriguez think about his role, huge role, in such a powerful and political movement?

HARLOW: Huge role. I mean, the music really motivated part of that, we've learned.

You know, I asked him, did you ever think that your songs would fuel a revolution? He said, no. And, of course, he never expected that. He still feels a little bit overwhelmed from all of this.

But he does sing about being anti-establishment, Brooke, and that's what that was. I was looking at some of his lyrics. I mean, everything from "the system's going to gall soon" to "an angry young tune." And that's a concrete, cold fact. That's very anti- establishment.

He also sang a song called "Establishment Blues" and it starts out saying, "the mayor hides the crime rate, the councilwoman hesitates, the public gets irate, but forget the vote date."

And what's interesting, I think, is that those lyrics, when you talk about anti-establishment and uprisings, they're just as pertinent today as it was four decades ago, right.

So, that's why he's really catching on today, again.

BALDWIN: I could totally see the Dylan comparisons. And, so, you have this, Detroit construction worker turned Cinderella story. Wasn't he on Letterman this week?

HARLOW: He was on Letterman. I don't know if we have the clip, but you can go online and you can see it. He played with a full orchestra on Letterman on Tuesday night and it was absolutely beautiful.

You know, he's such a shy guy and it's hard to really pull answers out of him. He really only comes alive when he sings for you. And when he performed on Letterman, you could see that. And he also played a song for me in Detroit.

But, Brooke, you know, I asked him, play one of your own songs and, instead, he did a cover. He did "Blue Suede Shoes." So, he's sort of a very interesting, almost ghost-like figure, but, you know, you can get his album on iTunes now and they rereleased it with the film, so, hopefully, he gets some of that fame and some of that fortune.

BALDWIN: "Sugaring for Sugar Man," adding to it my Netflix queue today.

Poppy Harlow, great story. Thank you.

HARLOW: Thanks.

BALDWIN: When it comes to the tax debate, Democrats insist Mitt Romney should turn over many, many years of his tax returns. In fact, Harry Reid floated the idea Romney hasn't even paid taxes.

But today the Republican fought back and made a rare admission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, Mitt Romney's taxes, they are back in the conversation, in the race for the White House. Here you see Romney. This is Grier, South Carolina, today.

Took a couple of questions from reporters and, when asked about accusations from Senator Harry Reid that a Bain investor told Reid that Romney hadn't paid taxes in ten years, he not only flatly rebuked it, but gave us rare insight on his personal income tax rate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did go back and look at my taxes and, over the past ten years, I never paid less than 13 percent. I think the most recent years is 13.6 or something 13.6 percent or something like that.

So, I've paid taxes every single year. Harry Reid's charge is totally false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: No less than 13 percent, he says. Today, the Obama camp quick to respond to that, saying, quote, "Since there is substantial reason to doubt his claims, we have a simple message for him. Prove it." Romney has publicly released his 2010 and 2011 returns, but don't expect anymore. In a new interview on NBC, Romney's wife, Ann, says that they are done releasing tax returns.

And just a reminder, I'll be an anchoring this show, live from Tampa where Republicans will be holding their national convention. Join me, either in person, come say, hey, or on TV, of course. That kicks off August 27th, right here on CNN.

Two British men who are totally paralyzed learned today they will not be allowed to ask their doctors for help in ending their own lives. The British high court called their stories, quote, unquote, "deeply moving," but unanimously upheld the country's long-established law against assisted suicide.

The court said that any change in the law must come from parliament. Tony Nicklinson is one of the men impacted by the decision today. He says, and I'm quoting him, he is "bitterly disappointed and will appeal."

His story now in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY NICKLINSON (via computer-voice): My name is Tony Nicklinson and I have locked-in syndrome. This means that most of my body is paralyzed, but my mind is as it was before the stroke.

JANE NICKLINSON, TONY NICKLINSON'S WIFE: He was a big bloke, ex- rugby player. He worked hard, but he played hard. He was, you know, full of life, great sense of humor, loved the sound of his own voice.

T. NICKLINSON (via computer-voice): All I can move is my head and the stroke took away my power of speech. Now, I talk to people with a perspex spelling board or computer, operated by my eye blinks.

My day typically begins at 5:00 a.m. I need only four or five hours of sleep because I lead a very sedentary life. I watch television until 8:30 when the first of the carers come.

During this time, my wife checks on me at 7:30 and, between then and 8:00, she gives me my drugs and some juice for breakfast. These drugs are only to make my life more comfortable as I have refused all drugs that are designed to prolong my life since 2007.

Unfortunately for me, tomorrow will be exactly the same and the next and the next and until the day I die.

Some people have in the past spoken to me in the loud, slow and deliberate terms normally reserved for the deaf or daft. I am neither.

All too often, well-meaning, able-bodied people just assume that, if a person is so severely disabled that he needs assistance to commit suicide, he must automatically be unable to deal with such a choice. I say that, where a person has the mental ability, he should have the choice of his own life or death. The only difference between you and me is my inability to take my own life without assistance.

There is too much emphasis on saving life at all costs and not enough thought given by society to the quality of the life saved.

I am not advocating that doctors make the life-or-death decision, but the patient should be given the option of assisted dying sometime after he has been saved so he can make that decision if he chooses to do so.

J. NICKLINSON: It's taken so long to get to this point and he's never, ever waivered and it's what he wants. It's what he wants, desperately. So, if it's what he wants, it's what we want.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is a day of reckoning for Facebook's struggling stock price. Flashback to Facebook's IPO in May, such high hopes with that debut.

Since then, its stock value has dropped by nearly half and today is key for those investors.

CNN's Maribel Aber joins me live from the stock exchange. And explain to us, Maribel, you know, what is happening today with Facebook shares?

MARIBEL ABER, CNN NEWSOURCE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. Yeah, well, today officially ends the first of one of Facebook's lock-up periods, so what that means is that investors who got in on that IPO can sell share shares and, you know what, many of them are. Facebook shares are tumbling right now. It's down about six percent.

The lock-up period is normal for any company that goes public and what it does is require some shareholders, like certain executives, some big banks, to hang onto their shares usually for a 90- to 180-day period.

So, the goal is simple here. It's stability. You know, Brooke, it prevents the market from being flooded with shares immediately after an IPO.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: Maribel Aber, thank you very much. We'll check back and see how it goes.

Meantime, and we've been saying this for a while, never before has being a space geek been so cool. NASA's remarkable Mars landing has inspired this group of filmmakers to pay tribute to the space agency with a parody that, of course, has gone viral.

And, if imitation is the ultimate form of flattery, both NASA and the band LMFAO should be flattered. Roll it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): ... at my console, this is what I see.

OK?

Data streaming back from Curiosity. I got stars on my hawk on my 'hawk and I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it, show it ...

We're NASA and we know it. We're NASA and we know it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We're NASA and I -- this song has been stuck in my head since I saw this in "The L.A. Times" like 6:45 this morning when I was reading. I love this. Do you love this?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: When you sent it to me, I thought the song was going to be, if you're NASA and you know it, clap your hands.

BALDWIN: Oh, come on now, Chad. Come on, now.

MYERS: So, I'm looking at this, going, I have to click on this at 6:15 in the morning. And then I clicked on it and it was absolutely funny. It's great. Now, that's not the real Mohawk guy.

BALDWIN: Right, but he did ret-tweet this video.

MYERS: He loves it.

BALDWIN: He loves it.

MYERS: Yeah and so does -- they call him the "bowl-head-cut guy."

BALDWIN: The Mohawk guy.

MYERS: No, no, the ...

BALDWIN: Oh, the guy, the white-haired guy.

MYERS: White-haired guy. White-haired guy.

BALDWIN : Yeah, yeah, yeah.

MYERS: Now, this -- if you play these two videos, side-by-side, from LMFAO and this one, side-by-side, they really are in sync. They are in time. It's a great song.

BALDWIN: And just for fun, because I've interviewed LMFAO, I actually reached out to them this morning. They're in Germany on their European tour and they love it. They absolutely love it.

MYERS: I was wondering. But any publicity is great publicity and NASA loves it, too.

BALDWIN: NASA loves it, too, and there's great sort of references to the peanuts, which they traditionally eat in the control room.

So, anyway, I'll tweet this link out because I want it all to be stuck in your minds, as well, as we all need to be space geeks everywhere.

Chad Myers, thanks for having fun with me at the end of the show. See you tomorrow.

Yes, that is it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's go to Joe Johns, sitting in for Wolf Blitzer today. Your "Situation Room" begins now.