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Lava Lake In Hawaii Volcano Explodes; Man Impersonates Missing Texas Boy; Christie e-Election Campaign Subpoenaed; Official: Holder Open To Snowden Resolution; Man Behind "Wolf Of Wall Street" Music; Texting While Driving: Can Teens Be Stopped?

Aired January 23, 2014 - 14:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Half past the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Usually I would warn you about the video you are about to see because you'll see this car running over this little boy, but instead of a major injury, this video shows what some are calling an apparent medical miracle here. This is a footage from Liveleak. Watch this with me.

The car coming out of the right approaches and a woman -- it's still tough to look at, the woman and the young boy, 5 years of age. The little boy gets up. Liveleak this happened Wednesday in Brazil. A British tabloid, "The Daily Mirror," reports that both wheels went over the boy's head. But it was his grandmother who was hurt more because she has wounds to her legs and her feet. He left the hospital the same day, she, a day later.

CNN's Jennifer Gray joining me to walk through a couple of these videos, which is -- this is still stunning. It is still hard to watch.

JENNIFRE GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: He only had a bloody nose.

BALDWIN: What about the driver? Do we know anything?

GRAY: We don't know anything about the driver. Of course, you know, the grandmother is in a little bit worse condition, but to walk away with a bloody nose after that.

BALDWIN: My goodness. It's right. My goodness to the video we are about to see. Let's go to Hawaii and we will see Kilauea. I have been there, but not like this.

GRAY: Yes, this is insane. This is the Kilauea Volcano, some incredible pictures coming out of here. You know, the lava has been flowing for the past couple of days and could intensify for the next couple of days. It has been flowing into the ocean, but then has since switched directions so now it's going into more of a remote area, but just some incredible pictures coming out of there.

BALDWIN: And then from the lava to the waves, much ado about these waves in Hawaii. They are so huge they are calling off surfing. GRAY: Yes, they had that quicksilver big wave surf competition and it's just postponed. If they can get it in by the end of February, it will still go on. Some of the biggest waves they have seen in a decade. I have some weather graphics to kind of illustrate what's going on there. There is this huge area of low pressure that --

BALDWIN: It's the wind.

GRAY: Yes, that's to the north of the island chain. It's not going to affect the island directly, but it is bringing in crazy wind and huge swells and it's creating these 40 and 50, 60-foot waves.

BALDWIN: OK, maybe some of what Hawaii is getting is headed toward California. I was reading last night about that big Mavericks surf competition, which I think is still on, Halfman Bay, California. Those surfers are like sweet. Let's get out there. Jennifer Gray, thank you very much.

Tonight the CNN Films presents "The Impostor." It's a gripping true story of a Frenchman who passed himself off as a missing boy from Texas. He might have gotten away with it if not it hadn't been for this one private investigator. Michaela Pereira has a preview of the film.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": In 1994, 13-year-old Nicholas Barclay vanished from his suburban Texas neighborhood. For three long years, the Barclay family grieved for their missing son until one day his mother got a phone call saying someone in Spain had Nicholas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was really nervous and anticipation, pretty happy.

PEREIRA: From there the story of a soft spoken master manipulator begins to unfold. Incorporating a blend of interviews with the Barclay family and reenactments. The film shows how the 23-year-old impostor assumed the identity of a blond haired blue eyed teen fooling everyone including the Barclay family themselves who welcomed him into their home as he begins a new life in America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was born there.

PEREIRA: But as the film rolls on, the serial impersonator is foiled by a skilled private investigator, Charlie Parker, who plays himself in the film.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't let him go. No way in the world I could let him go.

PEREIRA: Using an unorthodox technique, he starts to uncover the disturbing truth.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BALDWIN: Do not miss this compelling thriller. CNN Films presents "The Impostor" tonight at 9:00 Eastern. "The Wolf of Wall Street" raked in $90 million at the Box Office and also got four Oscar nods including best actor -- for the best supporting actor this guy, Jonah Hill. So how much do you think he got paid for the role? That answer might surprise you.

And people say the sound track for that same film, "Wolf of Wall Street," a little different from Hollywood, kind of bluesy. Coming up, we get to meet the man who partnered up with Martin Scorsese has been working with him for years to create such a unique sound.

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BALDWIN: Got some breaking news for you right now. Started with a lane closure on the bridge that connects New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey, the George Washington Bridge, the whole thing snowballed. You know the story. CNN has just learned that Chris Christie's re- election campaign for New Jersey governor has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, has been subpoenaed.

Joining me now, Chris Frates, of our CNN Investigations Unit and Chris, we know they are looking for documents. What can you tell me about the subpoena?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, what we are learning today is that the state party as well as Chris Christie's re-election campaign have now been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney. They are looking for anything that connects Chris Christie to these lane closures. This is something that has been going on, this U.S. Attorney's investigation.

You have bridge gate and they are also looking into at this point, Dawn Zimmer, the Hoboken mayor and her claims that Chris Christie pressured her and said that in order for her town to get Sandy funds that they are going to need to approve a redevelopment project that the governor supported.

So there is a widespread U.S. Attorney's investigation both at the bridge gate and into the Sandy funds. So they are looking for anything that connects the governor to either of those things.

BALDWIN: OK, as we know, we have been talking to state officials in New Jersey. The state has been investigating this now, of course, on the federal level. Chris Frates, thank you very much.

I want to move along. We have more breaking news here specifically as it pertains to Edward Snowden. We know that Edward Snowden who sought asylum in Russia will be holding some sort of a live Q&A over the Internet next hour. Here's the news.

Let me read this for you. This is from the Justice Department. A Justice official says today the Attorney General Eric Holder said that if Edward Snowden is prepared to plead guilty, keep in mind, he faces federal charges for leaking all of that information as it pertains to the National Security Agency, the NSA.

If he is prepared to plead guilty, the Justice Department is prepared to discuss with his lawyers how he can return to the country. Paul Callan is on the phone with me, CNN legal analyst, and Paul Callan, when you hear that, when you hear this from our attorney general, what do you think?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): This is really surprising in some respects and not in others. There is a lot of speculation that because of the staggering amount of information that Snowden allegedly took from NSA computers a deal would have to be made or the U.S. must face enormous embarrassment and compromised intelligence operations in the future. Obviously this opens the door now to the beginning of realistic negotiations for his surrender and the return hopefully of the intelligence information that he has hidden someplace.

BALDWIN: Just to remind people when we talk about these three felonies and we learned about these charges, we are talking conveying classified information to an unauthorized party, disclosing communications and intelligence information and the theft of government property. This is a huge deal. I heard the phrase open the door from you, Paul Callan, my first thought was doesn't this also though open the door for others? Doesn't this send a message to others whether you want to call them leakers, whistle blowers or criminals? This would have ramifications down the road legally.

CALLAN: Well, yes, it does. Those within the administration and the intelligence community who opposed making any kind of a deal with Snowden raised that point exactly. It's going to encourage other people who characterize themselves as whistle blowers to steal intelligence information. Hopefully from their point of view broker a deal with the U.S. government that sets a really, really bad precedence.

But you know, on the other hand, just to take out of the intelligence role, the Justice Department for instance with organized criminals traditionally you make a deal with somebody to protect somebody else or to close a case or to make the case against somebody else.

There are wide variety of reasons that the U.S. makes deals and they do it with people who commit murder. So in this case, we have someone who allegedly committed an act of espionage, but with the amount of material he has in his possession, that will damage or compromise U.S. intelligence operations in danger, lives of agents in the field, someone in Justice.

And maybe the president himself has decided we have to open the door to negotiations here or the U.S. will be armed. So we will have to see what they offer. You don't have a final deal being announced yet. A lot of behind the scenes talk and the outline for the deal is probably already in place.

BALDWIN: It certainly makes you wonder what else he has. Paul Callan, thank you for calling in. Justice correspondent, Evan Perez, joins me now. He is the one who broke this news from the AG, from Eric Holder. So Evan, tell me more about what you know.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, as you know there has been a lot of pressure on the Justice Department in the last few months to try to figure out a way to bring Edward Snowden to justice not only back to the United States, but also perhaps do some kind of deal. There are a lot of people who say he has done a great service to the country by exposing some of these NSA programs.

But now the president himself, President Obama himself, has said need to be changed and perhaps need to be reigned in. Today in Roanoke, Virginia, the Attorney General Eric Holder addressed some of those requests for some kind of brokered deal with Edward Snowden and what he has said is simply that if Snowden is willing to return to the country and plead guilty, then he is willing to have discussions with the lawyers to discuss how that could be done.

You know the attorney general previously had given reassurances that these offenses that you read just a little earlier against Snowden will not bring the death penalty, which was a huge concern.

BALDWIN: That was my next question. If he pleads guilty, what then could happen to him?

PEREZ: Right. There are a lot of options and many years in prison perhaps. But what the first thing, this is an opening offer essentially, which if you are willing to come back and plead guilty then we can have a conversation on how you can come back and what that will entail.

BALDWIN: Amazing. Evan Perez, breaking the news here from the attorney general basically saying that if Edward Snowden is willing to plead guilty to these federal charges, federal espionage charges then they could begin possibly negotiating his return home back to the United States. Much more on our breaking news right after this.

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BALDWIN: The "Wolf of Wall Street" nominated for slew of Oscars, best picture, best screen play and best director and best actor here, Leonardo Dicaprio. But this guy for best supporting actor, this is Jonah Hill. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple coming in like a week. I will give you a call and you can pick it up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to work with you, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have my money here. Technically you do work for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So you would think Jonah Hill earned a hefty chunk of change for his role in "Wolf of Wall Street." The movie has pulled in nearly $90 million at the Box Office so far. If that's what you are thinking, you would be wrong.

Entertainment correspondent, Nischelle Turner joins me and you know, you would think, hello, my friend. You would think these guys would be making salaries with many, many zeroes, but did I read this morning, he got 60 grand?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We are literally flipping the script on people, these numbers. I know it's a very surprising number because you're right. Normally when we discuss the salaries of Hollywood stars, we are talking about these absurd amounts of money. He is playing investment banker in the movie and yes, he got paid $60,000.

But you know, if you are thinking about the realm of Hollywood paydays, that number is so low, it's like he did this movie for free. He went on Howard Stern's radio show Tuesday and he revealed that he didn't try to negotiate his salary because he wanted to work with Martin Scorsese so badly.

I mean, he said when he heard that Martin Scorsese was making the "Wolf of Wall Street." He told Leonardo Dicaprio that he was the only actor for the part and he wanted it and was not going to let anybody else get it.

BALDWIN: So for $60,000, he gets to work with his pretty legendary, I will say, it's pretty amazing in the movie. Good luck to him. Nischelle, thank you very much.

Let's stay on this movie because if you have seen "Wolf of Wall Street," you probably notice the amazing albeit amazing sound track. Everything from the Hallen Wolf to Billy Joel to the Foo Fighters and then this, this is a moment no one can forget.

This is a whole song that comes with that that you see Matthew McConaughey doing. There is a man behind the whole money chant. He is the same musical heavy weight who wrote and performed this classic with the band.

I feel like I have seen this "The Last Waltz" like 8,000 times. So it's such a pleasure to be talking to singer/songwriter and author of the book, "Legends, Icons and Rebels Music that Changed the World." Robbie Robertson joins me now from Los Angeles. Robie Robertson, welcome.

ROBBIE ROBERTSON, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Hello, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Hi. Let's begin with the movie "Wolf of Wall Street" because I know you collaborated with your buddy, Martin Scorsese. You two go back many, many years, back to "The Last Waltz" late 70s. Here you are, you are producing and composing the music for the film, kind of like you did, I read in "Raging Bull" where the music really puts you there. But Robbie, it's very bluesy.

ROBERTSON: Well, the idea of finding a wonderful counter point and the unobvious that worked like a charm in this is a big part of the chore when I worked with Marty and the idea that we were able to get blues from the early '50s to work with Wall Street in the '80s and '90s, it was like a bulls eye for us.

BALDWIN: We have as we talk music, the Grammy's this upcoming weekend. I know last year was an amazing tribute to Levon Helm, the drummer and singer for the band who passed away a couple of years ago. I'm curious, Robbie, because looking ahead to this weekend and the awards, who are you listening to, who was Robbie Robertson listening to in this current day? Who would surprise me?

ROBERTSON: You know, I listen to a lot of young new artists, but not so much the trendy people.

BALDWIN: Name one. I'm curious.

ROBERTSON: There is a group that I was just talking about earlier. This group from Brooklyn called "The National." I like their work, and yes, well, on and on and on. There is a lot of great talent out there today and people talk about it like why the golden age. That's when all the good stuff was. Today leave so much more to be desired and I disagree. I think that there is always magical things happening.

BALDWIN: I saw "The National" open up for REM a couple of years ago, but let's talk about the good stuff because I have your book. Thank you for sending it to me. I'm working through it with the two DVDs. This is called "Legends, Icons And Rebels." You wrote this with your son. It's beautiful, two CDs in here and a huge beautiful color copy.

You talk about Ella Fitzgerald, Chuck Berry, and Bob Dylan, you know, 27 incredible artists. What amazed me, Robbie, was that this is for -- tell me the story, the back story here involving your son and then your son's son.

ROBERTSON: Well, my son was the first one that came to me and said -- years ago, he was working at a place called "Bright Child" and part of his responsibility there was choosing music for the kids to play to and hang out and learn and do their thing. He said I discovered something that when I played kiddie music for them, they are OK with that.

But when I play something really good, something by Johnny Cash or Marvin Gay or somebody, the place lights up and he said, you just see a whole different feeling in the room. I think that it would be a good idea if somebody put together a collection of music that would be great for kids -- really for this book we are talking about kids from 9 to 99.

There was something missing and to be able to do a book that turns kids on to some of the greatest music that was ever made and that they carry with them for the rest of their lives, it's like building a foundation that from then on you kind of know what's good and what's medium.

BALDWIN: You played with a lot of these people. Just because I have you, a quick last question because I have seen "The Last Waltz," and an embarrassing number of times. If you could relive one song with one artist from that stage that night in San Francisco, who would it be?

ROBERTSON: Well, that's a very difficult thing.

BALDWIN: Like asking me to pick your favorite child, but I'm asking none the less.

ROBERTSON: Yes. Well, you know, the whole thing came to a culmination when we were finishing up with Bob Dylan. We had such a history with Bob and everything. When we did that, it felt like OK, mission accomplished.

BALDWIN: OK, well, then we'll go with Bob Dylan. Robbie Robertson, thank you so much. Truly a pleasure.

ROBERTSON: OK, thank you very much, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up here, we will get back to our breaking news, Eric Holder, Attorney General Eric Holder will consider a resolution involving NSA leaker, Edward Snowden. This is a huge, huge deal. What they are offering with the big if for Ed Snowden. We will explain that to you.

Plus one week after a raid on his mansion, Justin Bieber slapped in cuffs, accused of driving drunk and resisting arrest. We will speak live to Nancy Grace who as you can imagine has some thoughts about the pop star's new predicament.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: What is more frightening than your son or daughter lying about texting while driving? How about them admitting they do it even when you tell them exactly how dangerous it can be. For teenagers, it is an inconvenient truth, texting is life-threatening. Not just for them, but for everyone they pass on the road.

CNN's Kelly Wallace joins me now and Kelly, I read your piece. You talked to this family that did, you know, everything right. They told their son about the dangers and thought them never to text while driving. How did that work out for them?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN DIGITAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. This mom drives with her son every day to and from school. She's the passenger and they talk about everything including texting and driving. So she was probably the most surprised when the topic of texting and driving came up with how he answered. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How often do you text?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A pretty good amount.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So texting and driving. Are you going to do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably. I don't think I would text while I'm like driving on the highway.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: While the car is moving, will you text?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm taking a deep breath.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: Yes, Brooke, she had to take a few deep breaths there, but you know, she also appreciated her son's candor and she said it really shows, you know, teens are texting all day long. They think of it as second nature. So she wasn't really that surprised when she thought about it that her son may think it's OK to text every once in a while when he drives and she is going to be reiterating the message about how dangerous it can be between now and June when he gets his license.

BALDWIN: I'll never forget it. I talked to a parent on the show who lost their child because of this and they said, Brooke, just imagine closing your eye for 10 full seconds, the length it would take you to text and that did it for me. Kelly Wallace, we will be part of your conversation online. Click on Kelly's article, cnn.com/living. Kelly, thank you.