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Shipwreck Investigation; American Couple Among Missing Passengers; Fact-Checking GOP Debate; SOPA/PIPA Protests; Murder Charges In Serial Case; Concerns Over Booming Industry; Manmade Earthquakes To Pollution; Twin Snowstorms Hitting; Python Ban
Aired January 17, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
As always, top of the hour. Let's get you caught up on everything making news, "Rapid Fire."
Let's go, beginning with pictures out of Anaheim, California.
Guys, are these live -- live pictures?
Yes, where authorities are holding or they're about to hold this news conference to give new details today about the man they believe killed those four homeless men over the last month. The suspect here is 23- year-old Itzcoatl Ocampo, who was arrested Friday night after he allegedly stabbed a homeless man and killed him. Ocampo has not yet been formally arraigned in connection with the killings.
We're going to monitor the news conference, obviously, and bring you the highlights throughout the hour here.
Meantime, the other huge story we're watching for you, Italian navy divers, they are blasting holes in the side of that sinking cruise ship just to try to find new ways to get inside. Live pictures, I'm being told here. As you can see, night has fallen. You can see some of the lights flashing, which tells me rescuers are still out there.
The ship's captain did arrive in court today and he did not leave. More questions about his behavior.
Listen to what Mr. Viber (ph) is now saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN AHO, SHIPWRECK SURVIVOR: There were two announcements that there was a problem with the generators, an electrical problem, there are technicians on the way, everything is under control. Some people were actually sent back to their rooms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Again, as we look at these live pictures, this is just off of Giglio Island. This is the Tuscany area of Italy.
We're all over the story in the next two hours. In fact, coming up, I'll be talking to a friend of those two missing Americans, Jerry and Barbara Ann Heil.
Also, a former NASA worker is behind bars after allegedly driving to the home of her husband's mistress and killing her. She is 52-year- old Shannon Griffin. She and her husband were in therapy sessions in Kansas when he confessed to having an affair and refusing to end it. Police say Griffin then hopped in her car, drove 250 miles to the mistress's house in Missouri, shot her in the head three times.
Griffin is being held without bond today. She faces first-degree murder charges.
And the U.S. House of Representatives back to work, back in session today. The Senate returns next week. And yes, they have their work cut out for themselves if they want you to like them.
Take a look at this. The latest CNN/Opinion Research poll shows Congress has an 11 percent approval rating. More on that next hour, when we talk about that new payroll tax cut deadline looming ahead of Congress end of next month.
And the Obama administration wants drug companies to document the payments they make to doctors. This is all according to "The New York Times."
The proposed rule would cover everything from research and speaking fees, to trips and even entertainment, and it would apply to any company that has at least one product covered by Medicare and Medicaid. And then the log with the payout to doctors would be posted on a public Web site for you to see.
Just before this scene here -- look at this -- a big rig plummeted 100 feet, burst into flames, killing its driver. Rescuers in California kept that from happening to a mother and her two young daughters. One is a little baby, was inside that car.
It dangled from a bridge. This was Highway 101 near Santa Barbara. And emergency teams then were able to take the victims straight to the hospital.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER DANNY MAHER, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: A 40-year-old was flown and the 10-year-old was flown. The young child, the 10-week- old, she had minor injuries and was driven to the hospital.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The highway patrol says the truck hit the car from behind.
And starting tomorrow, some of your favorite Web sites will be down. I'm talking about Wikipedia and the user-submitted news site Reddit. They're staging this whole blackout to protest an anti-piracy bill. The Stop Online Piracy Act is working its way now through Congress.
If it passes, copyright holders could complain to law enforcement and get Web sites shut down. Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, is among the industry supporters of that legislation.
And heads up. AAA says the average gas price nationwide, it's $3.39 a gallon right now. That is up nearly 30 cents from this time last year and the highest January price on record. Saudi Arabia's oil minister promises to pump more oil just to try to keep prices from hopefully not getting out of control.
And it's lunchtime for a lot of you. Got a craving for, I don't know, a Whopper and fries? Why not get it delivered?
Burger King rolling out delivery service in both Virginia and Maryland. The fast-food chain requires a minimum order of $8 to $10. It then tacks on a $2 fee. Ordering starts around lunchtime, at 11:00 a.m.
Got a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Crews are using explosives and special divers to hunt for survivors in that cruise shipwreck, but as they race against time, they have found more bodies, and they were wearing life vests.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a giant every man for himself to get onto the lifeboats.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Also, where was the captain? We've got new tapes.
Plus, a young woman who criticized the Iranian government and promoted women's rights is shot to death in Texas, and so far the mystery is stumping police.
Then, the U.S. is taking rare steps, including secret communications to warn Iran, don't push it. At the center of all of it, 20 percent of the world's oil.
And --
PAULA DEEN, CHEF: Hi, doll baby. How you doing?
BALDWIN: -- she's known for her southern comfort recipes full of butter and bacon. So what took Paula Deen so long to reveal she has Type 2 Diabetes?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Again, just over my right shoulder you see these are live pictures. Night has fallen off Giglio Island, off the coast of Italy. And here's what we know. This is as of right now with regard to this cruise ship. So, Italian navy divers, they have been blowing holes in this ship today in their frantic and dangerous effort to try to find survivors. They did recover five bodies, raising the death toll now to 11 today, and the 23 still missing include this couple.
This is Gerald and Barbara Ann Heil of White Bear Lake, Minnesota. We're going to speak with a good friend of the Heils here in just a moment. He's standing by on the phone.
But I want to talk about the captain here. This captain by the name of Francesco Schettino, today he went to court and didn't come out. He is being held amid suspicions of grave wrongdoing that may include abandoning ship.
Let's get the latest on that side of the story from CNN's Dan Rivers -- Dan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- yet, but he is facing possible charges of manslaughter, of abandoning a ship, charges which could carry up to 15 years in prison.
He, of course, is at the center of this disaster. His employers, the Costa Cruise Company, have already pretty much said that they think that he recklessly decided to go way too close to the shore of Giglio Island, ignoring warnings on the bridge would have been vigil and audio warnings.
They've done a preliminary examination of the GPS plots from the black box on board the ship and seem fairly convinced that his accounts of what went wrong. He's maintained that he went no closer than about 300 meters to the shore. They think he was much, much closer than that, and that's why he hit this underwater rock, rocks that are now embedded in the hull of the Costa Concordia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Dan Rivers, thank you.
And please stand by, because in just a couple of minutes we're going to play you this recording. You're going to hear this conversation between that ship captain -- between Francesco Schettino and a very angry official of the Italian Coast Guard. That official telling Schettino, "Get back to your ship." You can hear those words.
First, though, we have a man on the phone, as I mentioned a moment ago. He's calling in from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. That is the hometown of the missing American couple, Gerald and Barbara Ann Heil. And the friend's name is Dennis Bechel.
Dennis, I'm sure you were waiting by the phone, waiting for good news. From what I understand, you've know the Heils for 35 years. You spoke with their daughter Sara (ph) this morning.
How is the family holding up? DENNIS BECHEL, FRIEND OF MISSING AMERICAN COUPLE: The family is holding up very well. There's contact over there all the time, continually, waiting for word that they found them. You know, each time you get a news bulletin that they found a body, or whatever it is, you're in hope that it's not them, that they're still alive, and this type of thing.
So the family is holding up real well. The news media is bothering them pretty bad. That's something that we were trying to avoid, that happening. But we were hoping that the news media don't embark on them heavily in demand.
BALDWIN: Well, that's why we're talking to you. And again, we appreciate you talking to us.
And from what I understand, the Heils, they're church-going folks, they've attended the same church for four decades. I understand there have been a number of prayer services for them.
You mentioned that the family hoping that that phone call won't be -- you know, that it's their parents and they have been found in a recovery effort. But how hopeful is the community where you live?
BECHEL: We have a prayer service going on continually, 24/7, and we do have a special prayer ceremony tomorrow night at 7:00 for the public and whoever wants to come. We'll have a prayer service for hopefully the return of Barb and Jerry.
BALDWIN: Just trying to learn a little more about Barb and Jerry. I know that they sent all four of their kids to private school. It sounds like this couple oftentimes put others before themselves.
Is that a fair assessment?
BECHEL: They did. And they still do. They did put their kids -- all four of their kids through private school right out to high school and then college. So they've spent a lot of their time educating and getting their kids through school.
BALDWIN: And this kind of trip, this kind of fancy Italian cruise, not something they do often. You described this as sort of a honeymoon sort of trip. How so?
BECHEL: Well, through all the years that they gave to their family and to their health that they went through, and so forth, it was time that they were able to take time for themselves and enjoy some time together on a trip that they wanted to do. They wanted to go to Italy. So it was their trip of a lifetime, you know.
BALDWIN: Trip of a lifetime.
Dennis, I hope you and the Heils get that phone call, the good kind of phone call you're waiting for. Dennis, I appreciate you taking a moment and calling in.
Now, I mentioned a moment ago I want you to hear this recording. Remember, ship captain Francesco Schettino, he's suspected of not only steering his vessel too close to the shore, there are also suspicions he made a hasty evacuation, abandoned ship, as it were.
You're going to hear a call. This was Saturday morning between Francesco Schettino and a very angry Italian Coast Guard commander. It is in Italian. You're going to have to follow along.
Bottom line, this commander is telling Schettino, get back to your ship.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DE FALCO: Then why don't they get back on board to monitor the operation and then they can tell us? Thank you.
CAPT. FRANCESCO SCHETTINO, COSTA CONCORDIA: No, it is not possible.
DE FALCO: Send them on board. Send one person on board to coordinate.
SCHETTINO: But I am doing the coordination.
DE FALCO: I'm giving you an order, Captain. You need to send someone on board.
SCHETTINO: We are going on board to coordinate.
DE FALCO: Exactly. You need to get on board to coordinate the evacuation. Is that clear?
SCHETTINO: But we can't get on board now, the ship is now --
DE FALCO: Why did you tell them to get down?
SCHETTINO: What do you mean get down? We abandoned the ship. The ship turned.
DE FALCO: And with 100 people on board you abandon the ship? Damn it!
SCHETTINO: I did not abandon any ship with 100 people. The ship skidded. We were catapulted into the water.
DE FALCO: We'll see later what happened. OK?
Now tell me everything that takes place. Everything. Get on the lifeboat, don't move.
Clear?
SCHETTINO: Commandant, we are here. We are here.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Once again, that captain appeared in court today. He is still being held in court. Coming up next, we're going to dig a little deeper into the actual crash itself, how the cruise ship ran aground, how divers now are getting inside the ship to check for people.
Again, live pictures there of that ship grounded, tilted in the waters off of Italy. Chad Myers all over this. Details two minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right. I want to take you back to Italy and just talk now about the shipwreck itself and what's happening today right now just off the Italian coast.
Chad Myers, take me back to Friday night. Walk me through what exactly happened.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A clear shipping channel is between this island where the boat crashed and the mainland, and the shore, which is not that far from Rome. These people were on the boat for two hours. This was a two-hour cruise, and then this boat crashed.
The captain -- and this happens a lot -- was taking the boat close to the island so they could see kind of a vista as they drove by -- a sunset vista of the island and all of the little buildings along the side. Clearly, too close.
And they tore a hole in the side of this boat. And the rock that he hit is still in the hull. And it's not that far above the water line.
There's the rock.
BALDWIN: Look at that.
MYERS: OK, there's the water line. Where the black and the white meet, that's where the water is going to be. Above the white, that's going to be -- above the water. Below in the black, that is the dark part. That's under water.
Look where that rock is. It's less than 10 feet below the water. You might have been able to see that looking out of the bow of the ship. But it tore a hole in the side, water began to flood in.
The captain said, we have an emergency but we can take care of it. I'm not sure the captain knew how big that hole was, because water was flowing into that boat.
And then, all of a sudden, the power went out because, clearly, the generators were flooded. And then it started tipping over.
As he was turning the boat back to shore, that turn tipped the boat on its side, and that's when it listed. And at some point in time, you have to think back to "The Poseidon Adventure" when we were kids, right?
If you have a walkway, and you're supposed to be walking on it, and it's that tilted, you can't walk up that. There's nowhere for you to go. So those people were literally trapped in the bottom on the listing side if you weren't up on top of that boat.
BALDWIN: There are still 22, 23 people still missing. We know today there have been these divers. And from what I've read, they have now blasted five different holes, I think. I want to say two under water, three right above, in the hull. Right?
MYERS: Yes.
BALDWIN: Essentially looking for -- trying to create openings to get in and search for rescue or perhaps recovery.
MYERS: Here's what happened when that ship listed. The steel structure up on top began to tilt like a parallelogram. If you have tried to open up a door -- if you're in a room and it's tilted, that door may not open at all because the door frame isn't square anymore, and that door is completely jammed.
BALDWIN: Water pressure.
MYERS: So, those people may still be alive in that boat somewhere, unable to open the door that they're trapped behind.
BALDWIN: Let's hope so.
MYERS: So that's the thought process, that not all those souls are lost just yet.
BALDWIN: OK. And then there's the issue of the fuel, potentially.
There is still, what, several thousand tons of fuel? There is the concern that it could leak. It hasn't yet that I've seen, but there is a concern that it could leak.
MYERS: There certainly is some fluid leaking somewhere. When you have that much water inside of a boat, it's just going to happen.
But I think what they're going to do, they're going to patch these holes that they just blasted, they're going to patch the hole on the side just like the Cole, the USS Cole. They will patch it, they will fill it back up with air. They will literally blow air back in the boat, float the boat, and then salvage it, scuttle it somewhere, whatever they're going to do.
BALDWIN: So do they get the fuel out before they pop it right side up?
MYERS: They can pump it out, but it's probably easier to float that boat and move it around, drag it back to a dock, than it is to try to pump it out. And you have to realize, it's full of fuel because it just started its cruise.
BALDWIN: I know. Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
BALDWIN: Thank you. Thank you. And also, as we mentioned, divers right now, they are searching the cruise for survivors under water in total darkness. So what kind of mindset does that actually take? What happens when one diver makes a discovery, good or bad?
We're going to speak live with a dive unit member next hour who is going to tell us what the biggest risk is for these men and women who are diving right now, right there off Giglio Island.
Meantime, Republican presidential candidates, they squared off in yet another debate last night, and there were some feisty moments. Newt Gingrich said -- and I'm quoting here -- "The fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history."
Is that true? How accurate is that statement? We did a little digging, a little fact-checking for you. We've got the hard numbers, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: South Carolina heads the polls in four days. Count them, four days. And the field of GOP presidential candidates now whittled down to five, meeting in Myrtle Beach last night to debate.
And while Mitt Romney was the main target, the candidates certainly didn't shy away from President Obama. In fact, case in point, here's Newt Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUAN WILLIAMS, MODERATOR: It sounds as if you're seeking to belittle people.
(BOOING)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first of all, Juan, the fact is that more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So we wanted to cut through the rhetoric, do some fact- checking ourselves.
I want to bring in CNN's political reporter, Peter Hamby. He is live in Charleston.
So, Peter Hamby, listen, we've heard this line before. We've heard this attack line from Gingrich. Is it accurate?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Unfortunately, yes. The number of Americans monthly receiving food stamps, Brooke, is over 44 million. That's up from around 26 million or so in 2007 and 2008. Of course, you know, it depends how you look at it. The economy crumbled before Barack Obama took office. He expanded access to food stamps while in office beginning in 2009.
So, you know, is the economic collapse Barack Obama's fault? No. Has he expanded assets to food stamps? Yes.
But politics and debates seems like more important at times, and Newt Gingrich, this is one of his favorite lines. And he got a standing ovation for this last night, Brooke. And I've got to tell you, having gone through 16 of these debates this year, not once has a candidate gotten a standing ovation.
This played right into Gingrich's hands, just attacking what he called the sort of liberal and politically correct line of questioning, and it really helped him last night, quite frankly -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: We'll have to see if it translates for him come Saturday.
Another big moment last night, you had Rick Perry hammering Mitt Romney on releasing his tax returns to the public. Here's that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mitt, we need for you to release your income tax so the people of this country can see how you made your money. And I think that's a fair thing.
Listen, here's the real issue for us. As Republicans, we cannot fire our nominee in September. We need to know now. So I hope you'll put your tax records out there this week so the people of South Carolina can take a look and decide, you know, if we have got a flawed candidate or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And again, we know the candidates, Peter, they have been hitting Mitt Romney from all sides when it comes to making those tax returns public.
Two questions, I guess, out of this. One, is Mitt Romney going to do this? And two, legally, does he have to? Are there any election laws requiring any of the candidates to do so?
HAMBY: To answer your second question first, there is no laws requiring him to do this, but candidates have voluntarily put their tax returns forward in the interest of transparency. Bob Dole did it in 2006. George W. Bush, in 2000, put out most of it, but not his full returns. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton both did it. John McCain did it.
And Newt Gingrich says he's going to do it here before the primary. Rick Perry has because he's governor of Texas.
The interesting thing about Romney is last night -- and I was talking about this in the spin room with different Republicans and reporters -- it's surprising Romney wasn't really prepared for this answer, because his opponents have kind of been telegraphing that they were going to attack him on this, and he kind of stumbled and waffled a little bit on whether or not he would. He said he might release his tax returns maybe sometime in April.
But then again, today, on the campaign trail, after the debate, he said, definitely, yes, actually, I will release my tax returns. And he actually revealed that he estimates he's paying roughly a 15 percent effective tax rate, which is less than many Americans pay. And that's the point the Republicans were trying to draw out, that Mitt Romney plays less taxes than ordinary Americans. And I guarantee you, Democrats are going to make that an issue in the general election, Brooke, as they try to paint Romney as out of touch.
BALDWIN: Well, perhaps we'll hear a little bit more on the issue this Thursday at our debate in Charleston, South Carolina.
Peter Hamby, thank you so much for us down there.
Again, primary this Saturday.
More disturbing details here in the case of the serial killer who preyed on the homeless. We're talking about the case out of Orange County, California.
The suspect was apparently extremely helpful to homeless people in his community for years. Gave them money, donated items to people in need, even when he didn't have much to call his own.
More on that story in two minutes. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: New development today in that serial killer case in Southern California. Authorities are holding a news conference right now and they have announced they have charged 23-year-old Itzcoatl Ocampo with quote/unquote, "special circumstances murder."
That's the Orange County DA speaking there. Now if convicted, he could receive a minimum sentence of life in prison. He was arrested just this past Friday night after witnesses say he stabbed a homeless man to death, but so many questions remain.
How did Ocampo's service in the U.S. military in Iraq affect him? What was his family life like for him? Louis Sahagun from the "L.A. Times" joins me on the phone from Santa Ana, California.
Louis, I just want to begin with the piece that you guys picked out today, by appearances Itzcoatl Ocampo felt a deep affinity for the homeless and needy, a deep affinity. Lewis explain.
LOUIS SAHAGUN, STAFF WRITER, "LOS ANGELES TIMES" (via telephone): Thank you for having me. When Itzcoatl returned from Iraq in 2007, he brought with him -- he was a different man. He had many psychological issues, many of them very alarming to his relatives. But in addition to searching for bombs in the house and knives that weren't there, in addition to apocalyptic notions, he also had this profound affinity for the poor. He wanted to give. He didn't have a job.
His family was in financial -- dire financial straits. So they found it alarming when he would round up toys in the family in the house to give to "Toys for Tots," or when he would buy -- once a year ago, he bought two backpacks and filled them with school supplies with money that, you know --
BALDWIN: He didn't really have.
SAHAGUN: -- that he got from unemployment benefits and he gave them to a local fundraiser for the needy.
BALDWIN: This penchant for giving to those less fortunate, was this only after he came back from Iraq or was this before as well?
SAHAGUN: Yes, and I asked his father that very question. His father said he was a lot more generous when he returned from Iraq. His younger brother, who was 17 years old, said, quote, "I found it extraordinary," end quote.
BALDWIN: But then also in your piece you say, some described as affinity be giving to others compulsive and sometimes reckless. What did you mean by that?
SAHAGUN: It was, yes, and also foolish. Once not that a few months ago, his family traveled up to Bakersfield, and they had no money for gas to get home to Orange County so while they were huddled by this on a sidewalk in Bakersfield to figure out how to get -- that's right.
They were actually trying to pawn a Nintendo game to get gas money. They were unsuccessful. So while they were trying to come up with an idea of what to do next, a street person, a homeless person walks by and says, do you have any money?
And Itzcoatl reaches in his pocket and gives the last $5 in his pocket, which was the last $5 the family have and gave it to that fellow.
BALDWIN: It's incredible details just learning a little bit more about his personality, but I do want to ask about his deployment to Iraq. And from what I understand he was inspired to join the military because of 9/11, but his deployment was particularly grisly, wasn't it?
SAHAGON: His deployment was particularly grisly. He was assigned to the First Medical Battalion, which he was putting bodies in bags, and he was looking at -- inspecting the wounded and the dead. But he didn't see action.
BALDWIN: He didn't see action though he did lose a friend to combat.
SAHAGUN: He dealt with the results of combat, that's correct. BALDWIN: And so as you described in your article, he's waking up in the middle of the night, he's screaming, he's searching for guns and knives that aren't there at all. Did he ever get help? Was he diagnosed with schizophrenia, PTSD, anything like that?
SAHAGUN: Good question. The answer is, as I understand it, yes. However, his mother and father told me that he was diagnosed with a particular psychological problem, well, one or more. But their lawyer has asked them not to share that information.
BALDWIN: So, again, where does this stand right now? He now has been charged, from what I understand from this news conference. Does that hold for you?
SAHAGUN: Yes, he has spent since last Friday, since his arrest, on solitary confinement on some kind of medical hold and out of access. He has not been allowed access to an attorney. His attorney today was expected to file a motion or some kind of -- to seek a court order to see Itzcoatl for the first time.
BALDWIN: Louis Sahagun of the "L.A. Times," very incredible reporting you all had been doing. We really appreciate you sharing this latest article in bits and pieces about this man's personality. Louis, thank you.
SAHAGUN: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Now this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the kind of manufacturing jobs that states are drooling over right now. I think the average compensation for the hourly folks are somewhere between $40 and $50 fully loaded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: But do these high-paying jobs come at an even higher cost? We're going to tell you where these jobs are and why they're causing some huge concerns.
But first, we picked the quote of the day for you. Which newsmaker said this? Quote, "You don't want to make a steady diet of just lettuce. You don't want to make a steady diet of fried chicken. Who said that? The answer after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, I've been thinking about this. Who said this? Quote of the day, quote, "You don't want to make a steady diet of just lettuce. You don't want to make a steady diet of fried chicken."
The answer, the big reveal, is Paula Deen. She said this in her interview with "USA Today" after revealing that she is, in fact, diabetic. Coming up next hour, we're going to hear from Paula Deen herself. It sounds kind of crazy, man-made earthquakes? But many in the town of Youngstown, Ohio believe it is happening beneath their very feet. Nearly a dozen quakes have hit the city in the last year, the largest being just this past New Year's Eve.
And critics blame wastewater from a process known as fracking, but other credit fracking for creating a boom, hundreds of jobs, better property values and the promise of much, much more. CNN's Poppy Harlow digs into the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here at the Timken Company, the steel business is on fire. And the same thing that is energizing this factory could power cities across America. Natural gas released by fracking.
(on camera): To pump it out of the ground, you need steel piping. That's where you come in.
TIM TIMKEN, THE TIMKEN COMPANY: You need a lot of steel piping and obviously, that has served us very well.
HARLOW: Underneath all of this rural farmland lies one of the hottest energy resources in the world right now. The Utica shale and here in Ohio, it is what everyone is talking about.
TIMKEN: The ripple effect of Utica development really is pretty incredible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: December of 2008 going into 2009, I lost my job. So I was totally devastated.
TIMKEN: These are the kind of manufacturing jobs that states are drooling over right now. I think the average compensation for the hourly folks is somewhere between $40 and $50 fully loaded.
HARLOW: The question is, is this going to be America's next boom town?
(voice-over): It's a hot topic in Youngstown, Ohio, where a well for fracking wastewater is believed by scientists to have triggered 11 earthquakes since mid-March.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never had an earthquake in my whole life, never even heard of one around here.
HARLOW: Many are also worried about the possibility of pollution from chemically treated water used to break up rock and gas. But the industry says it can be done safely. Youngstown's mayor has been hearing about it all around town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we need jobs. Yes, we need good paying jobs, but not at the expense of our environment, of our safety.
MAYOR CHARLES SAMMARONE, YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO: A lot of people are not working. Again, we need the income tax.
HARLOW: The industry is bringing jobs. One study estimates 200,000 in Ohio by 2015 and others are profiting in different ways.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Landowners are getting some very sweet deals, $5,000 an acre.
HARLOW: Are people becoming millionaires by leasing their land out or selling their mineral rights?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're getting really close.
HARLOW: All over this region, you have people who have sold the mineral rights to their land for fracking and they end up with wells like this one in their backyard pumping out natural gas 24/7.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone else around us, we night as well join the bandwagon.
HARLOW: Pat D. sold his mineral rights year ago. It's pitting neighbor against neighbor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm probably the environmental hold out around here.
HARLOW: But Pat's neighbor, Karen, is likely to see much more fracking here. Just this month, French and Chinese companies invested billions of dollars to tap these rich resources. From start to finish, fracking is an explosive topic in what just may be America's next boom town.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow asked if people were becoming millionaires, and he said, yes, just about. I mean, how much money is actually flowing into the region from companies who want to tap the oil and the natural gas?
HARLOW: Billions and Billions of dollars and what's interesting, Brooke and part of why we went there is because it is that wow factor. It is increasing dramatically every single week.
Interestingly, not long ago, France banned hydraulic fracking. And so you saw a lot of big companies, one is a French company, Total come into eastern Ohio specifically and invests more than $2 billion into fracking capability there.
You saw the same thing with the major Chinese oil companies, Sinepec and the great thing about it is that it means the companies like the one you're looking at, Timken, is making so much on the steel, they can't hire quickly enough.
The downside of it as you saw in the piece that people are very worried about the ripple effect. What I heard from people over and over again from folks is, are we moving too fast? Is the industry moving too fast, but this is a town that desperately needs it. BALDWIN: Well, the number that jumped out to me was the number 200,000. They're estimating that number of jobs this city could see by 2013. Are we talking long term jobs, or here today, gone tomorrow?
HARLOW: And that's the key, right? When you have a boom town, does that boom town last or is only as long as the resources are? It's in full play right now in North Dakota, where they've got 3 percent unemployment across the state, it's because it's a boom town.
There is a woman that I met one night over dinner in Ohio who is a construction worker and she's benefitting because of the industry in Ohio because of oil and gas, but what she told me is that, I'm still so nervous that they're promising false jobs here.
I don't think they're going to be here for the long term. A lot of our friends are going to retraining school, paying for new education to get these jobs. She's worried they're not going to be there long term.
That's the question with boom towns. Do they last and what it means for the economy? Is it a little spurt, a little jolt or is this is a long-time shift?
We'll see, and it depends how many resources can be tapped there, how it's done, and I think mainly what regulation has to say about it all.
BALDWIN: Yes, it still sounds like a lot of unknowns. If you want to read more, go to cnnmoney.com. Poppy Harlow as always. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Massive snowstorms across the United States. Live pictures. Look at this, blankets of snow. Chad Myers coming back to give you the skinny on the weather. Brace yourselves, folks.
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BALDWIN: Twin winter storms slamming the Pacific Northwest, one after another. In fact, Seattle could see one of the biggest snowfalls since the 1940s.
Live pictures once again. We call this snowy in Seattle expecting snow through the rest of the week. Mountains east of there could get several feet. Chad Myers looking at the web site. It's just a warm-up for the coming storm.
MYERS: Correct, today, they're going to get a little sloppy stuff today like 36, 37 degrees that doesn't stick. But tomorrow it gets cold and about 26 degrees for tomorrow afternoon, and that's when the snow will be real.
And that's when it will stick. In fact, Seattle, you have a chance in the next 48 hours to pick up your typical one-year snowfall total. Somewhere between 11 and 12 inches possible, and that is your normal annual snowfall any one year.
The storm is still back here in the pacific and so is the moisture. The first batch just getting to you right now and we're talking Portland. We're talking the Olympics and the cascades. My gosh, Olympics and cascades could easily pick up 3 to 5 feet of snow.
Now that could cause avalanche danger as well, so keep that in mind, but here it comes, here's the snow, the dark purple well above 20 inches. That's easily up here obviously in the passes, but Seattle, Portland, 11 to 12 inches of snow coming down.
Winter weather advisories and warnings all the way through the area although the snow is just beginning. It will stop tonight, it will restart tomorrow for good. Don't worry about this little lull you have.
Don't lull yourself into a sense of accomplishment, because I tell you what, the snow starts again tomorrow. That's why it's a 48- hour snowfall -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Bundle up, send us the iReports. Chad Myers, thank you.
Now next to something I really don't like talking about, but I have to today, pythons. I can't even look at this video. A new ban announced today means you won't be able to sell them, own them or take them across state lines.
Coming up next, we'll hear why this is going down.
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BALDWIN: Trending today. Pythons and anacondas banned by the feds. There will now be no new imports or interstate travel for several types of snakes.
Let's go to John Zarrella live in Miami. John, I know the ban has been several years in the making with Senator Nelson there in Florida partially leading the charge. Tell me, what exactly is banned and why?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's banned is the Burmese python and that's the big one, a couple other species of python called the rock python and the yellow anaconda. Those are the species that are banned.
Now the Burmese python, why, because there could be up to 100,000 Burmese pythons in the Florida ever glades on the loose. Yes, how did they get there? Well, the biologists and scientists think we have to go back maybe 20 years to Hurricane Andrew when there were a lot of breeders out in the everglades.
They were wiped out and a lot of these snakes they were breeding got away. And others got there because of people who had them as pets and said, you know what, this thing is getting a little too big to keep in that tank so I'm just going to dump it in the everglades. You remember, Brooke, those famous shots we've seen of the 16-foot, 18-foot python with the alligator in its mouth, and then there's one more recently of the 75-pound deer inside of a python.
So they've got to try and get rid of them. The problem is this ban is going to keep any future pythons, perhaps, out of the glades, but they've got this tremendous problem they still have to deal with now trying to eradicate and reduce the number out there now, and as you know, they love the everglades. The climate is perfect for them.
BALDWIN: Well, I'm just so glad it's you in Florida not me having to cover these pythons, John Zarrella. In fact, I do recall your moments with the python wrangler. Roll it, Roger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Wow, look at this. That's a good ten feet. Yes, at least.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you take this side?
ZARRELLA: No, you take that side. You take the head and I got the back end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Zarrella, what was going on there?
ZARRELLA: You know what, that was on the Tamiami trail. A lot of you may know that. We were just driving, looking for -- that's how prevalent they were out there. This is going back two and a half years, and there it was, right there on the side of the road.
Joe (inaudible), a wild life expert, he's one of a dozen guys who actually had a license to go out and kill the pythons because they were so prevalent. He found that one for us without much difficulty in the matter of a couple hours driving at night on that road.
You know what's interesting, though, Brooke, we had a real bad cold snap a year or so ago, last winter, and it wiped out a tremendous amount of these pythons. Of course, they're coming back now, but nature sometimes has a way of balancing things out.
BALDWIN: OK, John Zarrella, thank you. So John provided the what here. The what is several types of pythons and the anaconda band. Now the why. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the snakes hurt native wildlife.
We've got Jack Hanna, the director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo on the phone with me. Jack Hanna, you have a python at the zoo named after you, and the last time you and I were chatting, it was a story about the pythons in Ohio. I assuming this ban today has the Jack Hanna stamp of approval, yes?
JACK HANNA, DIRECTOR EMERITUS, THE COLUMBUS ZOO: I lived in Florida for a while. There's no doubt there is a tremendous problem and Florida should have a ban.
However, there are breeders who are reputable, who have the proper permitting, who could be responsible from keeping a lot of these pythons from becoming extinct. We have to have reputable breeders.
Remember something. This is me talking. This is not like the thing that happened in Zanesville, Ohio. For example, you're not going to find a python in the state of Montana. As far as what I do in -- I take a python about ten feet long to an accredited zoo. So we know what we're doing when it comes to the python.
That has to affect us. We have to apply for a permit. That takes about four months. I tell people that most people should not buy a python from a shop or wherever they buy them from, because when they do buy these things, they get big, and what do they do, they dump them.
People dump them especially in Florida, the warm weather state. To me, this is my opinion. It should be a state law just like the state of Ohio is going to pass one of the toughest laws in the country in several weeks that deal with these lions, tigers, bears and that sort of thing.
BALDWIN: I understand they're dumping them in the everglades, and you heard John telling us, estimating about 100,000 of these pythons. Why are people buying them? Why are they importing them?
HANNA: You have to remember something. A lot of people are afraid of snakes, but some young kids who want to try to raise an animal. They see the little snakes in the shop. Kids are fascinated about seeing snakes in the wild.
They're fascinated about picking up a snake. I tell people a python gets about two feet long when it's bigger. In 1972, I almost lost my little index finger when I got bitten.
When a python bites, they cannot let go because their jaw muscles freeze. You have to wait 30 minutes until they let go. That's how they make kill, however, I still say that the accredited zoos and other folks that are reputable breeders and do programs, educational programs to teach people why not to maybe have one of these snakes. But remember something. Reputable breeders throughout the country, and there are several, by the way, really good ones that help us a great deal in preserving certain types of pythons that could -- critically endangered, some of these species, some of them, like the big ones -- and the state of Florida is doing the right thing.
Whether it should be a federal law or be part of the Lacey Act -- the Lacey Act is to stop interstate transportation of endangered species, that type of thing -- I guess it's part of the Lacey Act, from what I understand.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Right. It would be federal.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNA: But this does apply as far as a problem in every state. The problem we have with lions and tigers, yes, there are a lot of these pets in every state where we don't have some laws, like the state of Ohio. But we're going to pass these laws for these animals very, very shortly.
BALDWIN: OK. Jack Hanna on the pythons today, we will follow up with you and see what the state of Ohio does with the other animals. Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it.
