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Rick's List

Mom Accused of Killing Sons; Where Is Gulf Oil?; Floods Devastate Pakistan; Flight Attendant, Police Address Accusation of Child Abuse on Southwest Flight; Neil Patrick Harris to Have Child With Partner; Arizona Rancher Says He's Afraid of Illegal Immigrants Crossing His Land

Aired August 17, 2010 - 15:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST on this day

SHERIFF LARRY WILLIAMS, ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: We felt that the story that she was telling us wasn't factual.

SANCHEZ: In other words, she lied about how her own children died in this car, a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're adding to the puzzle.

SANCHEZ: Where is the spilled oil in the Gulf? A special report indicating these experts have found it.

Who is saying that Israel has eight days to attack Iran? He's no lightweight.

After eight-and-a-half years in Gitmo, he is out. What's the back-story?

And waiting to be rescued. There they are on the wing as the plane goes under.

The lists you need to know about. Who's today's most intriguing? Who's landed on the list you don't want to be on? Who's making news on Twitter? It's why I keep a list.

Pioneering tomorrow's cutting-edge news right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez. So glad that you're with us once again. We first broke this story here yesterday, told you all about it. Well, it's gotten even worse than what we knew yesterday.

This is about a South Carolina mother facing murder charges after admitting that she suffocated two of her own children. Again, this is the story we first began telling you yesterday. At the time we were telling the story yesterday, we weren't sure whether this was a possible accident or a heinous crime.

We told you then the children were found in a car and that the car was submerged in the river. Well, listen to what we have now learned from the arrest warrant. Both children, a 1-year-old and a 2- year-old, both boys, were strapped in their car seats in the mom's sedan.

And this is somewhat unreal -- 29-year-old Shaquan Duley, the mom -- there she is -- told police she first smothered her sons with her own bare hands. She did this at a motel in Orangeburg, South Carolina.

And this is where it happened. This is the last place those children were alive before they were strapped in that car. Tomorrow, their mother is going to be formally charged with murder. The sheriff says that Duley is not a hardened criminal, but a desperate woman who just couldn't find work and she couldn't support her children.

Tragically, she thought that things would be easier if somehow she was able to get rid of her kids. That's what the police officers are saying. Listen to what else the sheriff told us today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF LARRY WILLIAMS, ORANGEBURG COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: At the conclusion of our lengthy evening on -- last night, the determination or the statement was made by the mother that she had suffocated the children.

And, of course, the children were dead when they was placed into the water. I believe she was fed up with her mother telling her that she couldn't take care of the children or she wasn't taking care of the children, and she just wanted to be free.

And we believe that her thoughts were: For me to be free and for me to do what I wish to do, whatever that may be, if I didn't have the children, I will get rid of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Interestingly enough, this case, we know, we have read many of your tweets on this, it reminds a lot of people of another story that is also from South Carolina. Remember? 1994, Susan Smith trapped her two sons into their car seats and just let the car roll into a lake with the children still inside. She's serving a sentence of life in prison.

Now, we have been doing a little digging, and I want to share something with you. Each day in the United States, three to five children are killed by their parents. That's according to the American Anthropological Association.

And the Bureau of Justice is also telling us today that a parent is the murderer in most murders involving children younger than 5, something most people would not know, some very tough statistics, stuff for us to really think hard about as we follow the story in the next couple of days and ask, why?

Ashleigh Walters is of affiliate WLTX. She has more details on the Shaquan Duley case. She's joining us now from Orangeburg, South Carolina, at the river where this whole thing happened.

Most of this to our national audience, Ashleigh, is new information. How soon did you guys start getting a sense last night that this was in no way an accident?

ASHLEIGH WALTERS, WTLX REPORTER: Well, unfortunately, police have guaranteed us today that this was not an accident. We are unfortunately hearing this news, just like you are, that the woman had smothered her own sons with her own bare hands at a hotel that's just about 11 miles up the road. And it's called the Trumps Inn. The owner there was in tears today talking to us about this.

Yes, so she said today that unfortunately the woman had come in about 1:30 a.m. Monday morning, very early, had to ring the bell to get in because it was so late and that, by 6:00 a.m., when the owner of that hotel has actually woken up to put on the lights, that she did not see the woman's car there anymore. And, by 8:30, police had arrived.

SANCHEZ: What is it about -- can you tell us about this conversation that she apparently had with her mother either the night before or a few nights prior that police seem to be intimating in their news conference that may have somehow spurred her on to do this?

WALTERS: Right. Well, what we can tell you is that this -- the woman, Shaquan Duley's mother, I guess had disagreements with her before about the way that things were handled with the children and that they had had some sort of dispute about how things were being handled in the parenting.

And I guess Shaquan Duley is unemployed, like you said, under financial strain living with her mother. We did speak with Shaquan's mother today, who said that obviously they are very saddened by the situation. They are asking for a lot of prayers, hoping for funds to actually help to bury these two young children.

SANCHEZ: What are we hearing about the details of how she was able to not just go to the motel and do what police say that she did, which was kill both of her children, but then she put them in the car, strapped them in the car seat, went down to this river. Did she drive the car into the river?

WALTERS: That's what it sounds like, because, so far, as you can see here, this is the scene actually where the car was in the Edisto River. She had driven the kids, put them into the car seats, strapped them in, driven them here, and put the car into this river here.

Now, you can see there's no damage. Originally, she had said this was an accident. But it appears that she was the one that drove the car with the two children. People have been putting flowers and stuffed animals down here today as they have heard about the news. But from what we hear, it's mom putting them -- SANCHEZ: What a story.

WALTERS: Yes, so sad.

SANCHEZ: So terribly sad, you're right.

Ashleigh Walters of WLTX bringing us the very latest on that story. If there are any new details to follow, we will certainly bring those to you.

Meanwhile, take a look at this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: What offends me the most about all this is that it's being used as a political football by both parties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I have been telling you about this guy for some time now. There is a new voice in the debate over whether an Islamic center that includes a mosque should be built near Ground Zero. That's New Jersey's governor, Chris Christie. He's been making news a lot, not on the mosque, but on other things having to do with fiscal matters.

Well, now he's speaking out against members of his own party. It's a warning that he seems to be issuing for Republicans. And we're going to tell you what he says.

Also, have you heard what was found inside the jail cell of the accused Craigslist killer? Messages that were apparently scrawled in blood. We're going to tell you what they said and who they were meant for.

Also, why did he swallow toilet paper before apparently ending his life? Remember, he was in medical school and he knows about the human body, anatomy and surgery. This is kind of chilling.

It's next on the LIST. Stay right there. We're coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Let me tell you about a story that we might be breaking in on in just a little bit here right quick. It has to do with Governor Blagojevich and the charges that have been leveled against him, as you know. There's some file footage of the governor that you have probably seen on several occasions.

The jury has been acting an awful lot like they seem to be in deadlock. And they have just shot some questions today to the court which appear to show they're ready to make a decision one way or another on this thing. Let me just tell you what the questions the jurors deliberating now for their 14th day, 14th day, have said.

They're asking the judge for a copy of the oath that they took when they were sent in to deliberate. This is interesting, because the oath says, do each of you solemnly swear that you will well and truly try and true deliverance make in the case that is now in trial and render a true verdict according to the law and the evidence, so help you God.

So, they wanted to know what it was that they had sworn to do. And then they also asked a question about this. This is the exact question they sent to the judge. "If we do not reach a consensus of a specific count, do we leave it blank or do we report the votes split?" Two questions from the jurors for the judge. We expect that there might be some movement on this.

If they come back and there is a decision or a ruling of any kind or a hung jury, maybe no ruling, either way, you're going to hear about it right here on RICK'S LIST because we are all over it. We have got reporters standing by. We have got analysts standing by for you as well.

We also have some disturbing details on the Craigslist killer. This is the man accused of killing a woman after finding her on Craigslist. "The Boston Herald" is quoting now jailhouse sources saying that Philip Markoff, a former medical student, used a pen to puncture arteries in his neck and in his ankles. Apparently, he had stuffed tissue down his throat and wrapped a plastic bag over his head.

Markoff also allegedly scrawled in blood the name Megan and the word pocket on the wall of his cell. Now, no suicide note was found and the word pocket is a mystery to investigators. Megan is the name of his ex-fiancee, Megan McAllister. She called off their engagement following his arrest. McAllister and Markoff were supposed to have married August 14 last year.

Now, a year and a day later, Markoff is dead. He was on suicide watch for a month following his arrest after guards found marks on his neck that resembled shoelaces. An official close to the investigation says that Markoff should not have been taken off the psych ward, saying -- quote -- "Here was a guy that kept saying that he was going to kill himself. He was hell-bent on doing it."

Here's what we do know. A psychiatrist under contract with the jail cleared Markoff to return to the general jail population. That was, eerily enough, May 14, 2009.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIE: It would be wrong to so overreact to that, that we paint Islam with the brush of radical Muslim extremists who just want to kill Americans because we're Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's a man who's not afraid to say what he thinks. A fiery debate over the proposed Islamic cultural center that includes a mosque near Ground Zero, this has become extremely partisan. But New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is attacking both Republicans and Democrats in this case.

I'm going to ask the question. Is it possible that he makes more sense on the issue than just about anyone else these days, as most of America tussles with this? That's next. It's right here on the LIST. Stay with us. Coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: On our follow-up list now, the political fallout from the president's comments, comments defending the building of an Islamic cultural center in New York City, a center that developers say would include a mosque near Ground Zero.

Now, yesterday, we should bring you up to date on this, we reported about the senior Republican strategist who had talked to CNN. The strategist said that GOP candidates are being encouraged to talk about this issue as much as possible. They probably meant something like this ad by Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott which many have been describing.

Jessica Yellin is joining us now.

Now, apparently, this is Rick Scott that we're talking about, gubernatorial candidate in Florida. What did he say and how does he play into this news story on this day?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Rick, there are two different things.

One is, Rick Scott does have this ad out where he takes on the whole cultural center mosque issue quite directly and makes it a political issue in his race for governor. At the same time, there is a Republican governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, who's warning all sides in this debate, Democrats and Republicans alike, not to demagogue this issue.

As you know, he's the former U.S. attorney for New Jersey. He dealt with a lot of terrorism cases. And this was what he said. Listen to this.

Do we have that Chris Christie SOT?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIE: We cannot paint all of Islam with that brush. We can't paint all of Islam with the Mohamed Atta brush. We have to bring people together.

And what offends me the most about all this is that it's been used as a political football by both parties. It would be wrong to so overreact to that, that we paint Islam with the brush of radical Muslim extremists who just want to kill Americans because we're Americans. But, beyond that, Josh (ph), I'm not getting into it because then I would be guilty of the same thing that, candidly, I think some Republicans are guilty of and the president is now guilty of, of playing politics with this issue.

I'm simply not going to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: Again, Rick, so warning folks not to demagogue the issue. And the truth is, it's not clear how much this issue is actually resonating with the American people.

I will tell you why. Because, you know, our polling has shown that a majority of people say they oppose building the mosque there, the mosque and cultural center. But Pew Research Center has a poll that measures the intensity of interest in this kind of an issue. And when you ask folks what issues they're paying attention to right now, it's still the Gulf oil spill, the economy and Iraq. Interest in this cultural center comes somewhere after same-sex marriage.

SANCHEZ: That's fascinating. Interesting way of looking at a poll more than one way, I suppose, Jessica.

YELLIN: Right.

SANCHEZ: Let me ask you about the Sarah Palin situation going on, because we saw the ad. And I thought -- and I had said on television -- in fact you and I were watching this -- that it seemed like a very effective ad that Sarah Palin had put out. Professionally speaking, it was very clean, very well put together, the whole grizzly mom ad that everyone was talking about.

And, apparently, there's some blowback on this now. What is that?

YELLIN: That's right. Well, that Sarah Palin momma grizzly ad has caught a lot of attention and driven a lot of media interest at least in Palin and this movement of women candidates she's endorsing.

But EMILY's List is a political action group that raises money for Democratic women pro-choice candidates and they are now unveiling a new get-out-the-vote effort that's hitting back on this idea that Sarah Palin speaks for women voters who are -- quote -- "conservative momma grizzlies."

EMILY's List's campaign is called Sarah Doesn't Speak For Me. And they're taking the whole idea of momma grizzly quite literally. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When my cubs are threatened --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But want to know what threatens me? My daughter not having the right to choose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that if you were in charge of this country, my little cubs wouldn't have health care.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the salmon stopped coming down the stream and I didn't work for three months, guess how we survived? Unemployment benefits, which is something that you and your gang of candidates want to do away with.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know, Ms. Palin, that really gets under my skin and my --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

SANCHEZ: Oh, my God. Did we have to stop it there because the bear was going to really get mad?

YELLIN: It was going to climb out of the TV screen and get you.

(LAUGHTER)

YELLIN: So, you see what they're doing. It's a get-out-the-vote campaign. That's on their Web site. They also ask people to go in and sign a pledge that they will turn out to vote. Obviously they're trying to drum up interest among Democratic voters who aren't that energized right now compared to Republicans by taking on this whole idea, and with a little bit of humor.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

YELLIN: I think that's humorous.

SANCHEZ: Humor both ways. We will let the viewers decide. My thanks to you, Jessica. Good segment. We will be looking forward to seeing you a little bit later.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, take a look at this. All right, as we listen to this warning from a former top American diplomat, Israel has exactly eight days to attack Iran. Let me say that again. Israel has eight days to attack Iran. Who is saying that? Why is he saying that? We're going to break that down for you in just a little bit. That's ahead.

Also, chaos in Pakistan. Have you seen the latest pictures? Time is running out, as millions of people race against the threat of disease and death. So, why aren't flood victims getting more help? That's next right here on the LIST.

But first, every day, we give you an exclusive look into how it is that we put ourselves together first thing in the morning to put these shows together, including me. Head to my blog at CNN.com/ricksanchez. Take a look what we do for you every day. Now, this is called -- and you can see it for yourself with your laptop or your computer -- this is called "Behind the List."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I don't think there's a more interesting story in the news today than this mother who police have just said killed her own kids. They're charging her with infanticide. This -- you can't imagine that anything could be more horrible than that. So, I want to show you something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: We just brought you some of the political stories of the day. Welcome back. This is RICK'S LIST. I'm Rick Sanchez. So glad that you're here.

Here's another political story. The president of the United States, we understand, is now in Seattle in place and has just started speaking there. Let's do this, Rog. Let's go ahead. You see him behind me there. Let's go ahead and dip into this and see what the president has to say.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nobody here is getting too fat and happy. Everybody here is operating on very lean margins. And they are constantly thinking about their employees, their obligations and responsibilities to them.

So, in the same way that they're looking out for their employees, we need to be looking out for these small businesses. They are who this bill is for. They will see the positive benefits right away.

Now, unfortunately, a partisan minority in the Senate has been standing in the way of giving our small businesspeople a simple up-or- down vote on this bill. They won't even let it go to vote. And every day this obstruction goes on is another day that small businesses somewhere in the country can't get a loan or can't get the tax cuts that it needs to grow and to hire.

I think Patty would agree with me when I say, there will be plenty of time between now and November to play politics. But the small business owners beside me and around the country don't have time for political games. They're not interested in what's best for a political party. They're interested in what's best for their employees and their communities and for the country.

So, when Congress reconvenes, this jobs bill will be the first business out of the gate. And I ask Senate Republicans to drop their efforts to block it. I believe we can work together to get this done for the folks standing beside me and for small businesses, their employees and communities that depend on them all across the country.

Thank you very much, everybody.

SANCHEZ: And there we have the president of the United States as advertised to us by the White House making his comments today in Seattle. You saw there with him -- he's traveling with both U.S. Senator Patty Murray and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, who had scheduled this meeting to talk not just about the bill, but about the small business initiative that the White House has been proposing. And, of course, the White House, somewhat as expected, took some shots there at Republicans for not helping them with the passage of said issue.

Millions of children could get sick and die. Nearly a million homes are destroyed and not enough help is coming in. This is a perfect storm of misery in Pakistan, after two weeks of devastating flooding.

Watch this. This is my colleague Sara Sidner in Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Desperation unleashed on a dusty Pakistan road -- men, women and children dart out in traffic, hoping to grab a morsel of food randomly flying off local trucks. Nothing is wasted, even if there's a bit of earth mixed in.

In each of the affected districts, victims of Pakistan's worst flood in decades are still fighting for survival two weeks after the initial flooding.

Inside this makeshift clinic, smoldering heat punishes the senses. Lethargic babies croak out tears. Their exhausted parents try to comfort them. Dozens of families are piled on top of each other with nowhere else to go.

"In the flood, everything is gone, nothing is left. We were only able to save our family," 50-year-old Baktawer (ph) says. "Our kids are vomiting. They have diarrhea. They are in miserable conditions. We don't have any money. The doctor is giving us treatment, but it's not effective." She is now left to comfort 25 members of her family, who all live in the same home washed away by raging monsoon floodwaters.

In the next room, a painful sight -- a father gently holds his stick thin daughter.

"I am worried about her," he says. "If it's God's will, nothing will happen to her. Every day, I'm buying 50 to 100 rupees worth of medicine, which is what I can afford, because I need to feed my whole family with the money I make as a laborer."

Amir Mirani (ph) says one and a half-year-old Sabiya (ph) has been sick since birth. But since the floods, she's grown weaker by the day due to diarrhea and fever.

(on camera): She's so skinny. It's -- this is so dangerous for her.

(voice-over): "They advised me to given a IV drip, but I cannot afford it," he says. (on camera): In this high school turned clinic directly off the floods, doctors say they're treating about 250 to 300 per day. They were overwhelmed. But now they say two weeks on, things are getting a little bit better. There are about 80 to 100 people who need help per day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mostly commonly are waterborne diseases such as malaria and skin diseases.

SIDNER: Here treatment is free, but not everyone appreciates the cure at this government-run clinic. Still, with 24-hour access to government doctors. These families have more of a chance at survival than most. As aid agencies warn, it's potential deadly outbreaks of diarrhea and alcohol that tend to claim the weakest among the survivors.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Have I told you about a man on the Arizona border who calls himself a cowboy? He's afraid he's about to die because he says that traffickers and drug cartels are crossing on his land. So what we're going to do is bring an up-close look at what's happening along the border. That's ahead here in just a little bit on RICK'S LIST.

Plus, this is a nightmare scenario -- a plane suddenly loses power over a big body of water. So what happens next? You're going to see the people trying to bail out as the plane goes down. It's a split-second decision. Dramatic video right here. That's next on the day's best photos.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Ringo Starr famously sang "I get by with a little help from my friends." Truer words, folks, have never been spoken. Let's do "Fotos."

A convenience store clerk is being robbed in Houston and is clearly outmanned by the attacker until one of the store's regulars jumps over the counter and comes to his aid. Police arrive soon after and take the alleged robber into custody.

The pilot of a small plane is forced to make a water landing in Lake Erie after the plane lost power. It hit the water about 100 feet from the nearby ferry boat. See the people bobbing right there? Pilot, three passengers, thrown life vests. They're pulled onto this boat just before the plane went all the way down to the bottom.

New meaning for the phrase "holy roller." This Roman Catholic priest, god bless him, in Hungary has become an Internet sensation for his skateboarding skills. But he's not just showing off. The priest says that after showing kids a few tricks, a lot of the youngsters who never attended church before have started showing up for mass. That's one way to get them, padre.

That's "Fotos." You can see them for yourself right here at CNN.com/RickSanchez. This guy's good.

Several years ago somebody found a box, and this box was filled with tapes under a desk at the CIA. And now we know what's inside of those tapes. Think about it -- CIA, lost tapes. This may have a lot to do with September 11th and the attacks. It's a huge discovery, and I'm going to tell you what was in them.

Also, yet another incident on a plane involving a flight attendant. This time it happened in flight. There are conflicting reports that a Southwest flight attendant physically removed a baby from the hands of a passenger. This is what people are talking about. It is trending, which means Brooke Baldwin is on the case.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm on the case. I like that holy roller. I'm going to have to find that.

SANCHEZ: What's not to like about a priest who's that talented and he's got the kids going to mass? God bless him. We'll be right back.

BALDWIN: I like that padre.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And here we go. It is time to bring in -- oh, did you want to do another tweet?

BALDWIN: No, I was just thinking ahead. What we like to do here.

SANCHEZ: It's time to do trending.

BALDWIN: Wait for it, wait for it.

SANCHEZ: Have you got it?

BALDWIN: Not yet, Robert. It's on the way.

SANCHEZ: But that's your fault. When the camera took you, you were looking over there. So Robert, who's shooting us right now -- Robert, take the camera up and down so people can say hi -- there you go.

He follows your eyes, and he goes over there to the twitter board.

BALDWIN: That was my, like, desert at the end of my trending block.

SANCHEZ: We still love you. So listen, with trending today, there's been a lot of stuff involving flight attendants in the news. And now they're saying there's another one? BALDWIN: There's another one. It's not the one you're thinking of but it's a pretty serious story. It has a lot of people talking today and a lot of attention.

We're talking about a Southwest flight attendant this time during this basically mid-flight, intervening with this family. I know you've heard about this today. Intervenes with this family and their one-year-old daughter, who, according to police, had a black eye.

Now, CNN has been doing our digging today and we talked to an eyewitness onboard. Here's what we know. This eyewitness saw the mother onboard slapping the child.

Also. according to this eyewitness, the flight attendant never, ever took the child into her custody, as has been reported. Instead, according to this police report, the flight attendant was asked to simply hold the child momentarily as the father got up out of the seat to take this baby who had been crying back to the end of the plane to calm the child.

According to police, this flight attendant and even other passengers on board, other passengers are noticing this back and forth between the mom and the child, worried about the wellbeing of the child. The flight attendant did in fact call police. When the flight landed officers were there and performed this welfare check on the child.

One of the officers spoke with the mother. This is what I want you to listen closely to this, very concerned with the discipline she was giving her child on board. Take a look at this. We've made a graphic for you so you can follow me along.

The mother responded to this officer who was concerned about the disciplining, saying, "I haven't done anything wrong with the child. I popped her when she kicked me, and that was it." The officer then asked if she popped her baby. The mother said, "Yes, ma'am," and proceeded to show the officer how she popped her on the officer's arm.

The officer asked her if she said she thought it was fine to hit a 13-month-old baby. The mother responded, "She's my daughter." No charges have been filed in the case. The case has been handed over to the U.S. Air Force for investigation as they discovered the father involved is an active member of the Air Force.

I tried reaching out to the parents to get their side of the story. I have yet to hear back from them.

SANCHEZ: That's interesting. This is kind of a debate people have all over the --

BALDWIN: What do you do when you're on board, is there an airline policy? I've tweeted Southwest. We hope to hear back from them. But there's more of the story --

SANCHEZ: And then there's the question of corporal punishment. The baby was how old? BALDWIN: It was 13 months old, pretty itty-bitty.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that's still a baby.

BALDWIN: And according to this report, here black eye, according to this report, being slapped.

SANCHEZ: So you want to show us a tweet?

BALDWIN: I will in a minute. Let me go to South Carolina. This is a new twist in an obesity story we've been talking about. If you're obese, studies show you have higher blood pressure, you have trouble sleeping, sometimes sleep apnea, not to mention the costly side effects.

But if you're obese and you work for the state of South Carolina, the state legislature, aka you the taxpayer, will be footing the bill if you would like to have a surgery that essentially staple your stomach to help you lose weight.

The South Carolina state house approved this pilot program to pay for 100 of the state's most obese employees. They say this is a first-come, first-serve thing. These surgeries cost $24,000. So the total costs, do the math, times 100, about $2.4 million. The South Carolina Senate president says, look, this is a great idea, it's a great investment, and it will save lives and money down the line.

Another lawmaker, another congressman told a reporter, quote, "With folks being furloughed, losing their jobs, South Carolina pretty budget-tight right now, as you know, it is the wrong message to send."

SANCHEZ: And I think most of our viewers would probably agree with that.

BALDWIN: You think so?

SANCHEZ: I do. But I won't speak for them, but I'll read their tweets in just a little bit.

BALDWIN: Here we go. We can show the tweet. I'm talking about Doogie Houser, Doogie is becoming a daddy. I'm talking about Neil Patrick Harris, star of, you know, "Doogie Houser," "How I Met Your Mother," he and his partner David Burtka are expecting a boy and a girl via surrogate.

It was announced -- voila, take a look. Robert, sorry, that was my bad. He announced it over the weekend. "David and I are expecting twins this fall. We're super excited, nervous, thrilled. Hoping the press can respect our privacy. Babies are expected in October," and congratulations.

SANCHEZ: You're going to make poor Robert crazy today. You know that?

BALDWIN: I'm sorry. SANCHEZ: I'll tell you what. We'll go to a break, and I'll try and keep you guys apart. You know he's going to yell at you as soon as we go to commercial. Thanks, Brooke.

Almost nine years after he was sent to Guantanamo Bay, a detainee is now on his way out. But we start asking questions about this, right, as you expect we would. Well, why is he out? Who is he? Where's he going? Is he dangerous? Questions you want answered. We'll try to answer them.

Also, Israel has one week to attack Iran. That is a message from a former U.S. diplomat. I mean, this guy is the real deal. We're not talking about somebody who doesn't know about these things. A high- profile figure today becomes our most intriguing person in the news. Who is it? Maybe by that little --

BALDWIN: You can't tell.

SANCHEZ: No, I won't give it away. But you can kind of tell if you look at that a certain way, if you squint. We'll be right back.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.

There's an urgent warning out, and it comes from one of the most intriguing people in the news on this day. Go ahead, roll it.

Listen to this -- "Israel has exactly eight days, eight days to attack Iran and stop the country from developing nuclear weapons." That explosive message comes from a former American diplomat to the United Nations.

Iranian leaders say that they are on track to launch Iran's very first nuclear power react tor this week. But according to this man, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, the countdown begins. He says next week will be too late to attack Iran since an assault would spread radiation and hurt the people of Iran once it is in place.

Bolton also says with this plant Iran will achieve something that no other enemy of the United States in the Middle East has done. So will Israel strike? He says it's unlikely, but John Bolton's message makes him certainly the most intriguing person in the news on this day.

We are going to let you know what it is the consensus is among people who have been, well, letting us know what they think. That's next. Stay with us.

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SANCHEZ: We've got some new information in the case that we've been following about Shaquan Duley. Yesterday at about this time we reported to you that her car had gone into a river. And this was in South Carolina. Soon after that police started getting suspicious, trying to figure out what really happened. Well, today they told us what really happened, and it's sad indeed. The woman, according to police, asphyxiated both of her children, then put them in the car, put them in their restraint seats, and then drove the car into the river apparently to make it look like it was an accident and the children had drown.

The coroners have just came back with a report sharing some new information with us, and I suppose adding light to what can only be a nightmare of a scene in the hotel or the motel where, according to police, prior to driving the car into the river she killed her own two children.

Now, look at this tweet that we just got a little while ago from Live-5 News. That's one of our affiliates. They are reporting that the Orangeburg County coroner is saying the older child had defensive wounds and there was a sign of a struggle.

And just to catch you up once again. Police say the children were smothered, asphyxiated. We don't know what they mean by that, but we do expect to get some sound in from the coroner in just a bit. When that comes in, I'm going to share it with you.

Meanwhile, a couple of weeks ago I asked this question -- why aren't we seeing oil in the Gulf of Mexico? Shouldn't there be a lot of it out there? The government reported that three-quarters of the crude is gone.

But now some scientists are saying no, we've checked. Not so fast. They say they found some of that oil, and you may be surprised to find out where they found it. This is an exclusive CNN report. We'll bring it to you in just a little bit.

Also, a real look at what's happening along our border. We're talking to one rancher that says his land is being used to smuggle people through to the United States. He's afraid he could become a target. That's next right here on the LIST. Stay with us.

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