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Rick's List
Closing Arguments in Connecticut Home Invasion Murder Trial; Massive Storm Drenches East Coast; Rahm Emanuel Steps Down; Mariel Hemingway Gives Advice on Eating Healthy; Critically Acclaimed Film "The Social Network" Premieres; Midterm Election Campaigns Heat Up
Aired October 01, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, GUEST HOST: If you are headed out, it is a Friday. We're talking weather, weather, and a little bit more weather here.
Topping my LIST today: what a stormy mess out there in the Mid- Atlantic and also all the way up the Northeast region. A lot of you, you know who you are, you are trapped in your home and in many areas you can't go out, not safe to travel.
Take a look at this video with me. This is video we have just gotten in. This is -- this is Windsor, North Carolina. And the county manager there describes the situation as -- quote -- "dire." At least 75 people had to be rescued since last night.
The county -- county library, in fact, is under five feet of water. I have Chad standing over my shoulder here to -- to help me walk through this video as I'm squinting at it and looking at it. And perhaps that is, what, boats and homes --
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
BALDWIN: -- and cars underwater.
Before I get to Chad, though, we do have an iReport. Stand by for just a second. We have this iReport. This is from outside Baltimore. We told you it's up and down the Northeast. This was sent in by Jake Miller. Miller told us he captured these pictures on his iPhone right around 1:30 this morning.
Look at that car just driving on through. He says he was traveling on I-95 just about 30 miles north of Baltimore. And he told CNN -- quote -- "Once we left Philadelphia, it was raining pretty light. Once we got on I-95, in a matter of 15 minutes, it got brutal. We had to stop. A lot of cars were hydroplaning. The rain came way too fast."
Chad Myers, the story is rain, rain, and a whole lot of rain up and down the Northeast. And you I were talking, I mean, this is not just North Carolina. This is Virginia. This is Maryland. This is up into even Connecticut. There is this home invasion trial that was actually held off a little this morning because of the rain up there.
But let's -- let's start first with the story out of Windsor, North Carolina.
MYERS: OK.
BALDWIN: You and I were looking at the map. And you were saying --
MYERS: Right.
BALDWIN: -- the story is more the area, not necessarily the depth.
MYERS: Well, you're talking about this water is about to get into Albemarle Sound, almost. It's almost there. But it's not. There is a town in the way. It's Windsor. It's Bertie County and kind of the Cashie River as it comes in.
And then it's just going to spread out and it's going to go into the sound and there will be no more flooding. But it's the towns in between where it rained, some spots 10 to 15 inches and finally when the water gets into the ocean when there will be no rain -- no more flooding.
BALDWIN: Those are the guys in the boats who cannot drive.
MYERS: Right, 75 rescues, although they weren't swift-water rescues.
If you notice those pictures, a couple things you will notice. There is oil in the water, which means a gas station probably got flooded or some -- some type of oil, something underground flooded, that water -- and the oil floats to the top. Also, you will notice that the water is not running very fast. That means there's no slope to the land.
So the water came up, but the water is going to be up for a while until it finally gets off there.
Here's Elizabeth, New Jersey, pictures there from WABC, splashing around. That's not good for the car.
BALDWIN: Driving on through.
MYERS: Yes. Yes. People still do it.
BALDWIN: Did you see that? It was just about up to the -- to the front lights.
MYERS: Yes. Well, they can do it one time, until the car stalls. Then you don't do it anymore.
BALDWIN: So, where is the worst of it right now?
MYERS: Well, the worst of it is in places where there are hills, where there are valleys.
I mean, so, if you have 20 inches of rain, but it's flat, you have got a 20-inch flood. You have got 20 inches in a mountain area, like Pennsylvania or into New York or up into Vermont and now even into New Hampshire, that's where the flash flooding is going on, because there's not a flat spot in New Hampshire. I haven't seen a good one yet.
If -- if there's a flat spot, it's a farm. OK?
BALDWIN: Right.
(LAUGHTER)
MYERS: And when the water comes in, the water goes down into the river valleys into the creeks and streams, and then you get a 15-foot flood from a 10-inch rain where it --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: That's that -- there's that Windsor you were referring to.
MYERS: We're back into Windsor, North Carolina, right.
BALDWIN: And it looks like homes, perhaps even some trailers. And you saw all those trees.
MYERS: Businesses.
BALDWIN: Businesses all underwater.
MYERS: Yes.
BALDWIN: All right. I'm sure we will have more video as the two hours progresses --
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Yes.
BALDWIN: -- because that's news. And that's what we love about what we do.
Chad Myers, thank you so much. We will check in with you a little later.
And I mentioned that Connecticut home invasion trial.
Let's -- let me back up and get into that.
Also making the LIST here: descriptions of a normal day in a normal home full of love and family that turned into a house of terror, literally in a matter of hours, lawyers squaring off in closing arguments in the Connecticut home invasion trial today, as prosecutors wrapped up their recap of this hellish evidence that we have walked you through the last couple of weeks, the courtroom today total silence. In fact, we were reading some of the tweets, some of the reporters in the courtroom who were tweeting. They described two jurors who were just in tears. And the man whose wife and daughters were brutally killed held his head in his hand.
I want to take you back, though, to that 911 call. You remember this video. It was chilling video. This was the wife. This was Jennifer Petit withdrawing money from that bank in a desperate attempt to save her family. Watch this.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. The people are in a car outside the bank. She is getting $15,000 to bring out to them, that, if the police are told, they will kill her children and the husband.
Her name is Jennifer PETIT, P-E-T-I-T. She lives at (ADDRESS DELETED). She says they are being very nice. They have their faces covered. She is petrified.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Today, the defense has been doing its very best to minimize Steven Hayes' role in those killings. They say that whole situation a couple of years ago just completely spun out of control because of his partner, Joshua Komisarjevsky.
The case has just been handed over to the jury this afternoon.
And Michael Christian has been in the courtroom throughout this whole trial. He is a senior producer for "In Session" on truTV.
Michael, thank you for -- for walking me through this today. I know it's been tough for you, as we know it's been tough for the jurors --
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, SENIOR FIELD PRODUCER, "IN SESSION": Sure.
BALDWIN: -- certainly Dr. Petit.
Let's first begin with these closing arguments. And, just, first on the defense side, I read -- this is the line we read over and over. They are saying, "We concede much, but not all."
What do they mean by that?
CHRISTIAN: Well, they said that in openings, Brooke.
They said, basically, they were conceding that Steven Hayes, this defendant, strangled Jennifer Hawke-Petit, the mother in this case, and that he had sexually assaulted her. But they didn't concede to some other things.
Well, we heard concessions this afternoon, let me tell you. They -- there are 17 counts that Steven Hayes is facing. His attorney conceded kidnapping counts. He conceded burglary counts. He conceded an arson count. Basically, the only thing that they are not conceding are two murder counts, counts two and three, and those are the murders that relate to the two daughters in this case, Michaela and Hayley Petit. Michaela was 11. Hayley was 17.
What I think is happening here is that those counts are so horrendous, because we now know, which we didn't know at the beginning of this trial, that those girls died of smoke inhalation, that --
BALDWIN: Hmm.
CHRISTIAN: -- that an accelerant, probably gasoline, was literally poured on them while they were alive.
They were lit up while they were alive.
BALDWIN: Hmm.
CHRISTIAN: And I think the defense here is so worried about those counts inflaming the jury in a penalty phase, that that's what they're not -- that they're not conceding.
They're conceding that perhaps he should be found guilty of arson murder in those -- in those two counts. And arson murder means, well, yes, he was part of the arson, and that, because of an arson these girls died, but it's not an intentional death.
BALDWIN: So, Michael, let me --
CHRISTIAN: And I think that's what they're really, really worried about.
BALDWIN: Let me jump in and -- let me jump in and just help people --
CHRISTIAN: Sure.
BALDWIN: -- kind of understand.
So -- so, the defense has conceded that Hayes has killed the wife, Jennifer Petit.
CHRISTIAN: Correct.
BALDWIN: But what you're saying is, they're not conceding to two -- to the two daughters. And that makes a huge difference because, why? Because there is death penalty -- they have the death penalty in Connecticut, correct?
CHRISTIAN: The -- the -- the thing is, they don't want this jury to be any more frustrated, obsessed with these folks than -- than they already are going to be.
Now, there's horrible, horrible details in this trial. And, clearly, the jurors are going to remember that if we get to a penalty phase. But, if these girls died as a result of arson murder on Hayes' part, it's not as much of an affirmative act on his part. It just means that he was involved in the arson and, as a result of the fire, they died. But it doesn't require an intent on his part to kill them.
If he intended to kill them, if the jurors believe he intended to kill them, then even if he's not the one who poured the gasoline on them, or he's not the one who lit the match, it still means he intended for them to die. And that is very heavy baggage for him to carry over into a penalty phase.
BALDWIN: That is the big word. You hit right on it, intent.
On the other side, Michael, what about the prosecution? How are they countering the defense's closing arguments?
CHRISTIAN: Well, you know, they're saying, this was a plan that got out of hand. They're saying that the original plan was, these guys were going to go into this house, they were going to tie the people up, steal their money, and get out.
They keep saying the plan got out of hand. According to the prosecution, the plan got out of hand the minute there was some violence done. All of a sudden, they -- they had this plan to take Mrs. Petit to the bank, but, to do that, they had to take their masks off, because he couldn't drive -- Steven Hayes couldn't drive Mrs. Petit to the bank with a mask on.
Once these people knew the identities of these guys, the plan changed. Once Joshua Komisarjevsky, the co-defendant, according to the prosecution, once he had molested Michaela Petit, the plan changed. Once Steven Hayes had strangled and molested Mrs. Petit, the plan changed.
So, again, according to the prosecution, this was a plan that got out of hand, but it was out of hand because of this defendant, just as much as it was out of hand because of Joshua Komisarjevsky.
BALDWIN: So, now these are the two arguments the jury heard. They will be deliberating over the next week, coming days. We don't know how long that will take.
Meantime, with regard to the jury, Michael, this just struck me in reading articles about this case. And correct me if I am wrong, but there was a juror, an alternate who was excused because of some serious medical condition, which, by my count, this is the fifth juror who is out.
And I'm just curious, if -- if it's the brutal -- brutal nature of the testimony and the photographs, the rapes, the twine, the -- from -- from the burning of this home and the beds. Did that relate at all to any of the jurors 'dismissals?
CHRISTIAN: That -- that's certainly possible, Brooke.
They -- they literally started out with 12 jurors, six alternates, and two backup jurors. So, they basically started out in June with 20 jurors -- or 20 potential jurors. The jurors came back to start this trial in September. They lost, I think, four of them immediately. Two of them said they just realized they couldn't do this case.
One, they lost the following day because he said he had problem -- problems trying to follow the prosecution's logic. He just wasn't getting it.
BALDWIN: Got it.
CHRISTIAN: And then they lost one this morning because she said she had some medical problems. So they're down to 12 jurors and two alternates. That hopefully will be enough to get through them a penalty phase, should we go to one. But it is cutting it a little thin. I'm sure everyone is a little bit nervous about the total.
BALDWIN: It just struck me. It struck me. I was curious.
Final question, Michael, and then I have to let you go.
CHRISTIAN: Sure.
BALDWIN: What about the emotions inside the courtroom? We heard there are two jurors who were tearing up. Yet, Steven Hayes looked right ahead, emotionless? Is that correct?
CHRISTIAN: He -- he -- he does. I can't see his face because of the way we're positioned in the courtroom.
But I do see that he looks straight ahead most of the time. At least part of the time, I think he's looking at the laptop on his attorney's table right in front of him, because he can see whatever photograph is being projected on the screen.
I didn't see a lot of emotion on Dr. Petit's face at all. He's been very stoic through this. He's just trying to be as calm as he possibly can. I did see one juror cry. I heard there were two. But I can tell you the reporter sitting next to me was crying --
BALDWIN: Really?
CHRISTIAN: -- during the prosecution's rebuttal. Very emotional in that courtroom.
BALDWIN: I cannot imagine.
Michael Christian, I thank you for walking me through that. Tough, tough stuff to listen to. Thank you.
For 18 months, he was the closest man to President Obama. There he is. Today, though, all of that changes -- Rahm Emanuel out, Pete Rouse in. Who is this new interim chief of staff? That is ahead.
Also, some are calling it an attempted coup. The leader of a country apparently kidnapped. Now chaos. Look at this video. This is Ecuador. That is next on the LIST, rolling on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: And welcome back to RICK'S LIST on this Friday.
On our follow-up list: unrest in Ecuador. Ecuador's national police chief resigned just a couple hours ago. His resignation is effective immediately. His departure comes one day after this chaotic uprising. At one point, Ecuador's president had to be rescued by his country's military troops.
But it's really who he had to be rescued from that sets this story apart. Follow me -- follow me here. Ecuador's military troops actually had to fight off the police officers in the shoot-out. Here's the video. The police were protesting this new law they claim would take away their bonuses and reduce their pay. They weren't too thrilled about that.
President Rafael Correa went to the protest to try to talk to the police, but he says officers kidnapped him, tried to suffocate him, and then overthrow his government. He's thanking his bodyguards for saving his life and is pledging to stick with these reforms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAFAEL CORREA, ECUADOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We knew these risks that we would face when we said that we were going to change our country. And if those risks mean losing my life for my country, so be it.
I wouldn't say I would happily give my life. We all fear death. But I would be willing to make the sacrifice if it means having the kind of country we all want.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Today, a group of South American leaders condemned the disturbance in Ecuador as an attempted coup.
I know you have heard about this movie. It is out today. It is the movie that's been making headlines for months now. You know what I'm talking about. "The Social Network" finally opens. So, will people go see a movie about Facebook, and will it perhaps even spark more controversy? That's ahead.
And then: There were jokes, there were tears, and Rahm Emanuel officially bid the White House goodbye. So, what does this mean for President Obama and his agenda? Hmm. Jessica Yellin is on that, will be next.
Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Want to take you back real quickly here to May 9, 2009. You're going to see Barack Obama. He will be speaking at a dinner about his White House chief of staff, the incurably foul-mouthed Rahm Emanuel.
But you probably -- to set this up, you need to know this was the night before Mother's Day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do have to say, though, that this is a tough holiday for Rahm Emanuel, because he's not used to saying the word "day" after "mother."
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Oh, that was Mr. Obama last year. And here he is today announcing Emanuel's long-rumored departure and introducing Pete Rouse as his interim -- that's what the president said -- interim replacement.
Emanuel, as you have heard, is planning to run for mayor of Chicago. But our concern, of course, is the effect this might possibly have on the White House.
Jessica Yellin has been looking into this for us today. She's our national political correspondent.
Jessica, good to see you.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Hey.
BALDWIN: We -- we know that the president had a lot of wonderful things -- kidding about the four-letter words perhaps he says sometimes --
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: -- but he had some lovely things to say about Rahm Emanuel today at that news conference.
But I'm wondering, given his combative style, how much blame Emanuel can be assigned for the failure to change the climate in Washington?
YELLIN: Oh, that's a tough one.
Brooke, it's in -- that's really in the eye of the beholder. So, you will get radically different answers to that question depending on your political view. Many Republicans have criticized Rahm Emanuel as a partisan gunslinger who would never compromise with them.
But some on the far left consider him their enemy, because they say he made too many compromises with conservatives and sold out liberal principles, like the public option on health reform.
His supporters, they say, when you're enraging both sides, you're probably doing something right. And supporters say that he's a pragmatist who gets stuff done.
And the bottom line is, during his tenure, this administration passed major legislation that Democrats have been trying to do for decades. It might not be so popular right now -- or it isn't, so that's a big problem for the administration. But the question, how did he contribute to the mood here, no consensus on that one.
BALDWIN: And then some have said now the -- the interim chief of staff, Pete Rouse, could not be more opposite than Rahm Emanuel. Let's talk about Rouse in two seconds here. Let me get to this sound bite. This is today. This was the president announcing the new interim chief of staff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: There is a saying around the White House: "Let's let Pete fix it."
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: And --
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: -- he does.
Pete's known as a skillful problem-solver. And the good news for him is that we have plenty of problems to solve.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That's what -- a lot of people, Jessica, they talk about him as a fixer.
YELLIN: Right.
BALDWIN: He is a guy who can fix things, fix relationships. But can he fix perhaps a relationship -- and I say that loosely -- you know, the White House has with some Republicans?
YELLIN: Well, Pete Rouse is a -- is a different kind of person. He spent three decades, about, on Capitol Hill.
And that's a place where history and knowledge of the rules and the players can actually be enormously helpful with staff. He is a sort of discreet, behind-the-scenes person who is well-liked internally by the White House team. He's trusted by the president.
And, you know, he probably can be a steady hand, especially right now, when everyone in Washington is really waiting to see how things shake out in this election.
BALDWIN: And, Jessica, we heard the president say, and here is the interim chief of staff.
YELLIN: Right.
BALDWIN: What does that mean? Does that mean he's the interim and he could be permanent, or we will be looking for someone else?
YELLIN: Yes.
BALDWIN: Translate that for me.
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: It means yes.
He's interim, he could be permanent, and they could be looking for someone else. We don't how this will play out. They could shop around and then decide to stay with him, if he will take it. There's word that he would rather not do this full-time, but who -- who knows.
BALDWIN: And what is it the president said? He said, you know, Pete Rouse, this is a guy who never met a TV camera and a microphone he liked. I mean, this is not a guy who we will be seeing -- seeing sitting with Candy Crowley on Sunday mornings, is it?
YELLIN: Probably -- probably not, right. He's much more press- shy and wary, a much more behind-the-scenes guy.
BALDWIN: All right, Jessica Yellin, thank you very much. Have a great weekend.
YELLIN: Thanks. Good to see you.
BALDWIN: Here's a question for you. What does Michael J. Fox see as the future of Parkinson's treatment? That unique interview with our own Sanjay Gupta, that's next here on the LIST. It is Friday.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Actor Michael J. Fox was a television success -- I don't know about you, huge "Family Ties" fan right here -- and a box office draw, when a terrible disease began to disrupt his body.
And over the last couple of years here, Fox has had to learn to train his body to live with Parkinson's disease. And that makes him one of the inspiring we talked to in our new series. We're calling it "The Human Factor."
In fact, Fox recently spoke candidly about living with Parkinson's in this exclusive interview with our own chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I had the rare opportunity to sit down with Michael J. Fox for an unprecedented 90 minutes. These long interviews are something he hardly ever does anymore. We wanted to talk about Parkinson's disease, talk about his foundation, and the numerous obstacles that he's overcome the last 20 years since he was diagnosed.
MICHAEL J. FOX, ACTOR: There was a real clear period around 1993-'94, two years after diagnosis, when I just got it. I just accepted it.
And I realized that -- you know, there's a -- there's an old saying that my -- my happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance and in inverse proportion to my expectation. You know, it's just about, this is what it is. And so now what?
GUPTA: So, once you -- once you were not in denial, you think you were happier?
FOX: Yes, absolutely, because when you -- when you can look at the truth of something, then -- then, I mean, that's what it is. It is what it is. Now you have options.
The only thing I don't have a choice about is whether I have Parkinson's. Everything else is my choice. And that's incredibly liberating. That's much more liberating than the physical constraints of this disease are limiting.
GUPTA: Is -- is -- are there things that you particularly miss that you -- you can't do, I mean, things that you say, God, I really just wish I could do this still?
FOX: Truthfully, no.
GUPTA: You do everything?
FOX: I do anything I ever did before. Yes, no. I play hockey. I play golf. I play guitar. I hang out with my kids.
I mean, that's -- if it seriously limited or restricted or adversely affected my ability to interact with my kids, I think that would -- that would be something that would be hard to deal with.
GUPTA: He's just a remarkable guy. It was a captivating conversation.
You know, his foundation has raised over $200 million, which they're putting to lots of different uses, including trying to answer some of the questions regarding the mystery of Parkinson's. They have also set up this biomarker study, trying to figure out, are there little clues about Parkinson's within people's bodies that can help become targets for medications down the line?
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Speeding motorcycle police chopper cam. Do those things ever end well? This one did not. That's why it's in "Fotos."
This is kind of scary. Don't try this at home. Watch this with me. Here's a guy going around traffic on his motorcycle flying down the interstate. This is near Indianapolis. He's weaving around cars a passing on the shoulder, obviously desperate and dangerous.
Police by the way, they're chasing him. That's what you can't see. But he can't get away from the eye in the sky. Listen to how this ends. And he runs away. The driver laid down on the bike, made a run for him. You see him going through the woods.
Almost, do they catch him? Do they catch him? I'm thinking they do. Turns out the bike was stolen, the driver on probation. And he goes down. Yep, they got him. We're just glad nobody was hurt.
All right, next photo. This is for those of you who perhaps haven't had your -- there he goes out. Shall we go to the next one, guys?
This one is for you. If you haven't had your adorable and unlikely animal friendships fix today, moving on. Let's talk texting and go-carts here. Let's see, texting and go-carts, maybe they go together and maybe they don't. These are teens in Canada. Officials are trying to teach kids about the danger of texting and driving.
The challenge as you might surmise, type out the lyrics of the song "Happy Birthday." Harder than it looks. Try doing that at home. The tests showed young drivers were slower and more prone to accidents when they weren't concentrating on the road. That's precisely the point, isn't it? Pay attention, folks.
And that's "Fotos." Finally, you can always see them on the blog at CNN.com/RickSanchez.
This is one of the stories of the day. Have you heard about this? The U.S. government is apologizing to Guatemalans. Why? For subjecting them to some pretty awful experiments. You will be outraged when you hear what they did to these people. That is coming up.
Also, actress Mariel Hemingway has been a longtime advocate for healthy eating. There she is in it looks like New York. Hello there. She says there are five foods that can change your life. Hmm, Mariel, what's the secret? That is next on "The List." You got secrets? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: "Eatocracy -- "Mind, Body, Wallet," probably know that by now, this whole week we've shown you how different food choices affect your health, your mood and your budget. So we have a special guest today, Rick Sanchez is very jealous. Actress and author Mariel Hemingway is a strong advocate of healthy eating.
And in her book "Mariel's Kitchen" she outlines the top five foods that can change your life. And she joins me there in New York to talk to me about all of this. Rick did say yesterday he had a huge crush on you I guess some years ago. You can marinade on that.
(LAUGHTER)
I was reading about you. We all know you're this famous actress, model, but also the mom of two daughters. I think they're in their 20s, right?
MARIEL HEMINGWAY, ACTRESS AND AUTHOR, "MARIEL'S KITCHEN": Yes, they are, actually. They're grownup girls.
BALDWIN: And you're a yoga instructor. How long have you been living this life of balance? When did you go there?
HEMINGWAY: You know what's -- well, what's interesting about my life is I sort of was an environmentalist and into the environment long before it was hip and cool to do so. Now of course we don't have much of a choice. I think the way that our society is we're really coming -- I love that you're doing this program this way, this "Eatocracy." It's fabulous, because we're focusing on the necessity to really understand food and how food can change your lives.
And one of the things I say to people is you take an Advil and 10, 20 minutes later you don't have a headache. We seem to forget our food has exactly the same effect but we become kind of resistant and don't feel the effects of our food. So food is a very powerful medicine. But it can taste good too.
BALDWIN: On that note, let's talk food. And so I want to run down a couple of these secrets I guess that you'll be willing to share with us and our viewers. First you say change your breakfast. I feel like I'm doing good to eat the breakfast. What do you have mean by change your breakfast?
HEMINGWAY: What I mean is most people run out the door and have a cup of coffee and get a cup of coffee. There's no nutrition in that. Breakfast is breaking a fast so you want to break a fast with really good food.
That can be a green drink which is made up of green juice, raw honey. You can put dates. You can put protein powder in that. There's many different options to a healthy breakfast. I have a cookie in "Mariel's Kitchen" which is a gluten-free business cut which is a great way to start your day. There are ways better than caffeine and sugar.
BALDWIN: Are you telling me, and, yes, I'm Brooke Baldwin and I have an addiction to coffee every morning. Are you telling me this green shake is going to give me that caffeine jolt I feel, I think that I need?
HEMINGWAY: Well, the thing is a caffeine jolt is just that. It's not dissimilar to a sugar jolt. It amps you up but then you dip. And then couple of hours later you need something. And it's frustrating.
So a green drink will give you energy. You can also cut back your caffeine by half and start drinking green tea, which is also a great antioxidant. There's been a great study done that combinations of different kinds of green tea, say jasmine and another together creates this anti-cancer sort of antioxidant. So there are ways of making food really your friend.
BALDWIN: Food is my friend. Caffeine is my friend, I'm afraid. I'm hearing you say take the --
(LAUGHTER)
HEMINGWAY: But you can cut back.
BALDWIN: Half your caffeine intake. Green tea, I love some green tea so we can do a little green tea. You also say which we hear everybody say, don't drink soda. What is so bad other than the sugar?
HEMINGWAY: Well, the sugar is bad, and then of course there is diet soda which is a processed food. Who knows what the effects are going to have over a long period of time? But also there's phosphorus in soda. It actually makes you hold weight. People that are trying to diet, they're doing diet sodas and doing soda -- soda is -- if you want to lose weight, cut out soda. You will drop weight very, very quickly.
BALDWIN: Even if it's diet soda?
HEMINGWAY: It's an addiction. Diet soda is worse because it actually creates hunger. It makes you hungry. So the irony is you'll see people going to McDonald's getting the happy meal or whatever they get, and then getting a diet soda after they've ordered all this junk. And it really just -- it's so counterintuitive, but the thing you thing is there's nothing about that that's good for you.
And I really -- why do you not want to go into your life feeling fantastic? My whole point is and I'm writing a book about this with my partner Bobby Williams right now called "Be You Now -- Stepping into the Life you're meant to Live," which is how can I feel as vital, healthy, and wonderful, and this whole thing "Eatocracy" you're talking about the wallet, that I can afford because it's about my choices. It's about making good choices every single day.
BALDWIN: Now, as we're making these choices and specifically as you say as part of your secrets you want to try a new food a week. And I'm guessing ice cream isn't a food in programs your food groups.
HEMINGWAY: You can do raw ice cream.
BALDWIN: Raw?
HEMINGWAY: My point is when you try one new food a week, that's one of the things I talk about in both my books, "Mariel's Kitchen" and "Healthy Living from the Inside Out." Try one new food you haven't tried before, say an organic food or a vegetable that's in season, because my point is that when we eat different foods, because a quality diet -- we've learned that a protein or carbohydrate or whatever in a vegetable.
But if you have actually tried different colored foods or an organic food that you never tried before -- maybe you never tried baby artichokes. Maybe you never tried okra, broccolini, broccoli raw. And if you think about it and prepare it in a way that's delicious, because food should be a wonderfully fabulous experience. And we're a food society. But our food can be clean and simple and still be really tasty. Hence, "Mariel's Kitchen" the cookbook.
BALDWIN: Mariel Hemingway, so wonderful of you to drop by our New York studio and talk food with me. Thank you so much. And just for you I will try tomorrow morning cut that coffee in half. Thank you.
HEMINGWAY: Just cut it in half. That's all I'm saying. Thanks for having me.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
Here is the deal. Cook clean and wash my clothes and you can keep your scholarship. That is precisely what the former dean of a major university allegedly told her students. And it's trending next on "The List."
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BALDWIN: And welcome back to "RICK'S LIST." Two stories on my trending list. These are stories trending, that you're talking about on Twitter.
First "The Social Network," a critically acclaimed movie about then 19-year-old Harvard sophomore named Mark Zuckerberg. He created a website you might have heard from that would give him 500 million friends.
Here's a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mark? Mark? There is a girl in your art history class, name is Stephanie Addis. Do you happen to know if she has a boyfriend? Have you ever seen her with anyone? And if not, do you happen to know if she's looking to go out with anyone?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People don't walk around with a sign on them that says I'm --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mark?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And cue that light bulb moment. Thus the idea that would become Facebook is born. The screenplay is done by Aaron Sorkin, did "The West Wing" and "A Few Good Men." Sorkin apparently had a little trouble researching Harvard's secretive private clubs which served as an inspiration for Zuckerberg.
So here's what happened, Harvard grad and famous actress Natalie Portman says come on over for dinner and I'll give you the scoop on some of the clubs, helped him fill in the blanks.
The action for the movie was framed by two lawsuits filed against the founder. There are two twin brothers that claim Facebook was their idea and that Zuckerberg stole it.
In the filing this is what they said. "Over the course of three months Mark led us on by pretending to complete work and making up excuses to stall our progress while he developed his own competing site. He did a tremendous job of duping us, so much so that we were completely blindsided when he came out with his website."
Those twin brothers settled with Facebook for nothing short of $65 million, and they are appealing that statement. John Roberts actually talked to those twin brothers this morning and they explained why. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TYLER WINKLEVOSS, CLAIMS ZUCKERBERG STOLE IDEA FOR FACEBOOK: We're looking for a fair race so to speak. The litigation they sat on documents that are radioactive, essentially, all of Mark's electronic instant messages. So we filed suit in '04 and settled in '08.
They have established in "The New Yorker" that the board of executives and lawyers at the company reviewed these instant messages. Yet two years later we didn't have them. Yet they had a duty and obligation legally to send those over during discovery.
So not only did we go into settlement with nothing close to the evidence we were entitled to. Then, as Cameron said, during the settlement, during the mediation, they said that the stock they were trading was worth one value when they knew it was worth entirely different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So that is their side of the story, but then you have Zuckerberg now a 26-year-old billionaire, that is with a "b." By the way, he was not involved with that movie.
Number two on my "trending" list, you know some students go out to get jobs to pay for college. These students did jobs by keeping their scholarships.
There are investigators who say Celia Chang, a former VP and Dean at St. John's University in New York State, she required scholarship students to work at her house and run errands. They were allegedly threatened with their scholarships being revoked if they said no. The affidavit says that Chang had the authority to actually be the one awarding the scholarships. So what did they have to do? Apparently take out the trash, cook, shovel her snow. The affidavit also says Chang asked students to conduct financial transactions and deliver cash to her at a casino.
A prosecutor also alleges that Chang embezzled more than $1 million from that university.
After listening to weeks and weeks of disturbing and graphic testimony here, what were the last few words that jurors today heard before they began that deliberation process here in this Connecticut home invasion trial? That is ahead.
Also, Perez Hilton is one of the country's top bloggers, and he is using that to perform -- rather, platform to help people in desperate trouble right now. Here's his message, it's just three words. It is "It gets better." What does that mean? "The List" scrolls on. We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You see them just about everywhere you walk these days, discarded cigarette butts. They litter city streets, sidewalks, even parking lots. But now this innovative thinker wants to recycle the eyesore into something useful.
Our Gary Tuchman tells us how in today's "Solutions."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Blake Burich spends weeks working in his garage. The project? He's trying to put the unsightly problem of discarded cigarette butts to good use.
BLAKE BURICH, PATENT HOLDER: One bounced off my windshield while I was driving. There's got to be something we can do with these. It's just a huge problem
TUCHMAN: Burich collects the butts, peels away the paper and tobacco and mixes what's left of the filter with a homemade solvent.
BURICH: The process is very brief. From beginning to end it would take about 15 minutes at the most.
TUCHMAN: After the material soaks, Burich says the silly-putty- like substance can be used to protect against corrosion or reinforce materials like the pipes in your house.
And Burich isn't the only one hoping to see more green along the streets. New York Assemblyman Mike Dendekker has introduced a bill proposing a cigarette recycling program for his state.
MICHAEL DENDEKKER, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: I think it's about time we got responsible on this particular issue and try to work to find a worldwide recycling solution. TUCHMAN: The bill is only in the beginning stages now but could require deposits on cigarettes similar to a bottle deposit.
Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Here we go, time to check the list of most intriguing people in the news today.
Most times you're not always going to guess, this guy you're going to know in two seconds flat. Born in Plains, Georgia, Navy officer, peanut farmer, got into politics became the governor, then in 1980, elected a 39th president of the United States. Let's reveal, you know I'm talking about former president Jimmy Carter, intriguing today for his philosophy and his boundless energy.
And just yesterday, by the way, he was released from that Ohio hospital where he fought a stomach virus. His first order of business -- get back on the book signing circuit. And oh, yes, today's his birthday. Jimmy Carter, 86 years old, today's most intriguing.
All right, a whole lot going on in the world of politics. Just ask Mark Preston, I think I see him over there talking to his people over there in the politics area. Mark Preston, we'll check in with you momentarily here. "The List" scrolls on.
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BALDWIN: Let's talk politics on this Friday, shall we? Let's check in with Mark Preston on CNN.politics.com. He is with "The Best Political Team on TV." Hey, Mark, what do you have?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, how are you.
Before I joined this whole crazy world of television, I was actually a newspaper reporter. Six years ago I worked for a newspaper called "Roll Call" on Capitol Hill. In fact, I was able to interview Pete Rouse in one of these rare interviews. At the time offense Senate minority leader Tom Daschle's chief of staff. Right now he's the interim chief of staff for President Obama.
Even though the story is six years old, it really gives some insight into who Pete Rouse is and how he thinks. At the time he said his role as the Democratic leader was basically to keep things on track. Another thing about Pete Rouse is that he actually worked for a Republican in the late '70s and early '80s, a Republican lieutenant governor in Alaska of all places.
Go to politics.com, you can read a little bit more about Pete Rouse, especially during his time on Capitol Hill.
Let's shift down to the midterm elections. Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee running for governor down in Florida, bad news today, the second day of bad news. Another poll out of Florida shows that she's trailing Rick Scott, the Republican nominee down there. Alex Sink needs to make some inroads. He's a business executive that's throwing a lot of money into this race. A lot of people are surprised right now that he is holding a lead over Sink.
And this weekend if you have time, check out the "CNN 100" on CNN.com. Today's race we feature Gabriel Gifford from Arizona. She's a Democrat who represents a Republican district. She's running against Jeff Kelly, he's an Iraq war vet, the Republican. The "CNN 100" is a great roadmap to find out about the midterm elections and find out what seats Republicans really have a shot at winning. Brooke?
BALDWIN: We got. Mark Preston, thank you. Have a great weekend.
PRESTON: You too.
BALDWIN: By the way, another political update is just about half an hour away. You can always catch the latest political news. Just hop on the web, CNNpolitics.com, or if you're Twitter hip, as I know you are, go to @PoliticalTicker.
