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Family of Woman Who Died at Six Flags Sues; Kerry and Lavrov Address Media; Syrian Exile Pianist Malek Jandali Parents Tortured in Syria; Measles Cases on Rise; Hostage Sues Kidnapper, Others; Voyager Space Probe Leaves Solar System

Aired September 12, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. is officially going from the president's red line on chemical weapons to John Kerry, U.S. secretary of state, and his Russian counterpart working on this blueprint of how Syria will get rid of them.

Secretary of State Kerry meeting now with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to come up with this plan on how Syria will hand over its chemical weapons to international control.

The two men here spoke just over an hour and a half ago to members of the media. Lavrov stressed how the U.S. needs to back down from a strike. Kerry stressed how Russia and Syria need to live up to their word.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It has to be real. It has to be comprehensive. It has to be verifiable. It has to be credible.

It has to be timely and implemented in a timely fashion. And finally, there ought to be consequences if it doesn't take place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: As they are meeting, as I speak, behind closed doors, other developments here out of Syria. A U.S. official says weapons funded and organized by the CIA have begun to reach Syrian rebels.

And when we talk about Syria, it's hard to remember sometimes that this is not about whose reputation is at stake. It's not about, you know, who said what in some piece in the newspaper.

This is about the Syrian people, more than 100,000 of whom have been killed.

And CNN's Alina Machado talked to one expert and heard really an incredible story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALEK JANDALI, SYRIAN EXILE PIANIST: Every time it's a different journey, but Syria somehow, somehow it's always there.

I'm just in a different world where it's so beautiful. It's full of love, peace, and it's harmonious, everybody is happy.

At the same time, from the minute I wake up, I realize this is not reality. The reality is so much more painful.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's that painful reality that keeps Malek Jandali up at night.

JANDALI: I can hardly sleep these days because the images of those children is so heartbreaking. When you see children gassed to death, how can you sleep?

MACHADO: Jandali has lived in the United States for years, but grew up in Syria. He's been closely following the developments back home.

JANDALI: I believe the world community fail failed on a moral basis to help save the Syrian children over the last two and a half years.

War doesn't solve humanitarian crisis and catastrophes. You need a political decision. We need a human intervention.

MACHADO: Jandali wrote this song in 2011 at the start of the Syrian civil war.

JANDALI: I called it, "Watani Ana (I Am My Homeland).

And I said, "I am my homeland, and my homeland is me. My love for you is fire in my heart. When am I going to see you free?"

MACHADO: He says hours after he played that song during a protest in front of the White House, Assad's security forces retaliated by beating his father and mother at their home in Homs, Syria.

JANDALI: You couldn't capture my music. You went to my parents, to my home. You raided it. He hacked off my dad and they start beating my mom. In her bedroom.

Why? Simply because I was performing a song for humanity, for freedom.

MACHADO: His parents left Syria soon after the alleged attack. Jandali returned in October 2012, visiting Syrian refugee camps.

It's these faces who haunt and inspire him.

JANDALI: What fuels my music is the heartbeat of those children, what fuels my music is the hope in their eyes, and what I long for is the unity, for us to come together and save those children.

That's what I feel a sense of hope for. That's my message.

MACHADO: A message he'll keep sharing through his music.

Alina Machado, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: It's incredible, the power of music, isn't it? Alina, thank you.

Coming up here, parts of the country hit hard by the measles. How hard? It's the worst year for measles in nearly two decades.

Find out why this outbreak could get worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This year is on track to be the worst year for measles in 17 years. At least that's what the folks at the CDC are saying. So when you look from January to August, there were 159 cases.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining me. Measles, measles, why so many cases?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Largely because people are not vaccinating their children. The anti-vaccine folks think autism can result or whatever they think, and so they don't vaccinate their kids, and those kids get other people sick.

And you're seeing these outbreaks to a large extent in religious communities. So there was that church in Texas, remember, that was basically kind of preaching at one point not to vaccinate, another religious community in New York.

So there's some big outbreaks among these religious communities.

BALDWIN: So it's the folks who aren't vaccinating their kids even if you're doing the right thing with your kid, your kid could still get sick.

COHEN: Right because, see, here's the problem is that you can't get vaccinated until your first birthday.

So by definition, every baby is vulnerable to measles. So, if you don't vaccinate your kid and your kid plays with my baby, my baby's going to be in huge trouble.

BALDWIN: What do people do?

COHEN: Nothing. Stay away from kids who haven't been vaccinated.

Measles is so contagious that, if I have measles and walk into a room, I'm going to get almost everyone who's in that room sick who hasn't been vaccinated.

BALDWIN: What?

COHEN: Yeah. Almost everybody. It's a really easy thing. It spreads like that.

BALDWIN: Be aware of who has it and keep the kiddies away.

COEHN: Certainly the babies.

BALDWIN: OK, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much. Just in to us here at CNN, nothing made by us humans has ever entered interstellar space until now. We're about to geek out folks.

Find out what has happened now to the "Voyager," just ahead, big news from NASA today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you watch the show enough, you know that we try to dedicate time to stories, stories that show us all how we can do better focusing on people who oftentimes have no way of speaking for themselves. These are young victims of abuse.

The next story I'm about to share with you, it's so disturbing you need to get the kids out of the room now. Get them out.

It involves a man whose name is not Ariel Castro, but his crimes are just as stomach-churning, and the sentence he just received, 20 years, after he cut a deal.

Again, the details here, they're tough to listen to, but these are the facts. Authorities say kidnapping and rape were just a few of the brutalities that 46-year-old Edward Begley committed against his victim, who was 16 when they met.

They say that he also shocked her, water boarded her, and mutilated her. And court documents show he did it for years.

Investigators say the victim was under his control for six years. He also made her sign a slave contract as well as allowed others to violate her.

And when this man thought this young woman was pregnant, he forced abortions on her. This all happened here in this trailer in Lebanon, Missouri.

The victim was discovered by first-responders after she suffered a cardiac arrest during a torture session back in 2009.

The victim, who is now an adult, grew up in foster care and was a run- away when she met Edward Bagley, and prosecutors will sentence five others, including Bagley's wife in this case.

The victim is now suing all of them for more than $700,000.

If you see something, say something. Speak up. We can do better.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Space geeks, major historic announcement by NASA just a short time ago confirming the "Voyager" space craft, as in the thing that launched way back in 1977, exploring the moons, exploring the planets, well, it has entered interstellar space, aka it's out of the solar system.

I want to go to fellow space geek John Zarrella in Miami. This thing went out in the '70s, they thought it would be on a mission for five years and here we are more than three decades later.

What's it doing?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Twelve billion miles traveled and "Voyager" is now literally traveling between the stars.

There was this great debate for about a year or so had "Voyager" left the solar system. NASA finally got enough data together and it's still sending back signals they finally were able to say today that, yes indeed, "Voyager" has left the solar system.

A year ago last August, it entered interstellar space and is going to reach the nearest star to where it is on its current path in 40,000 years.

BALDWIN: Wow. Wow. Then you have this guy, project scientist Ed Stone, he talked of this mega press conference from NASA.

What is his story?

ZARRELLA: He has been the chief project scientist since before "Voyager" lifted off, 40 years ago. At the press conference today, you could tell he was really a very proud papa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED STONE, PROJECT SCIENTIST SINCE 1977: This historic step is even more exciting because it marks the beginning of a new era of exploration for "Voyager," the exploration of the space between the stars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: You know, I think one of the things to point out is just how simplistic this space craft is.

You got your iPhone with you? There's your iPhone. The iPhone has 240,000 times more memory than "Voyager," but it's still going.

BALDWIN: It's still going. It's still way out there.

ZARRELLA: Fantastic story.

BALDWIN: I love this story and I love this new exploration and new science that we'll be able to get from it.

John Zarrella, thank you so much for sharing the breaking news from NASA.

Still ahead, a Miss America beauty contest making some waves for an apparent first on stage.

Can you guess what by the looks of this picture? Probably just gave it away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Want you to take a look for yourself, and you can see how the numbers on Wall Street are doing. Stocks pretty flat, down just 30 points here.

We are five minutes before the end of the trading day. Facebook stocks still flirting with an all-time high, currently just below 45 a share, which is what it entered the markets on.

Coming up, all eyes on this one particular Miss America contestant. She is pulling off a pageant first. Her ink, anyone?

Plus the list is out. Find out which legendary musicians and actors will be honored at a pretty posh event, the Kennedy Center Honors, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. Now for the hottest stories in a flash, we call it "Rapid Fire." Roll it.

Royal duty calls for new parents, Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge taking an evening away from little Prince George.

They are clearly on the red carpet at this awards ceremony held by an environmental charity that William supports.

This is the couple's first red carpet appearance since baby George's birth seven weeks ago.

And set the DVR now. Catch the new documentary, "Prince William's Passion," premiering Sunday night, 10:00 Eastern here on CNN.

Today is the six-month anniversary of Pope Francis's election and the pontiff is, shall we say, doing things his own way, as we have seen.

In fact, he said today he is going to drive a 29-year-old car around the Vatican. This was a gift from an Italian priest. The car has nearly 190,000 miles on it.

The pope encouraged Vatican officials to avoid using expensive limousines. Pope Francis said he had that exact same car back home in Argentina.

There you go, the pope doing a lap around the Vatican.

Research shows one in five Americans has at least one tattoo. Well, one tattoo is getting a heck of a lot of attention today, this Miss America contestant showing off her ink there on the right side of her body during a swimsuit competition this week.

This is Miss Kansas. It is the Serenity Prayer, tattooed on her stomach. Apparently the first contestant here in the national pageant to have a visible tattoo and this pageant has no problems with it.

A spokeswoman says they're happy their contestants can show her individuality.

Now get your tickets quickly. This year's Kennedy Center Honors will be a piano lover's nirvana.

The legendary Billy Joel topped an impressive list of honorees announced today by the JFK Center for Performing Arts.

Joining him at this year's gala, another great piano impresario, jazz man Herbie Hancock, plus Carlos Santana, actress Shirley MacLaine and opera singer Martina Arroyo.

Be sure to catch tonight. Here's a look at what's coming up here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN tonight, at 7:00, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT," raising questions about Iowa gun permits for the legally blind.

And at 9:00 on "PIERS MORGAN LIVE," Piers talks to Senator John McCain about where America stands with Syria.

Plus Sheryl Crow tells Piers Morgan about her life with Lance Armstrong.

It's all on CNN tonight, starting --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Starting tonight on CNN, we'll be watching.

I'm Brooke Baldwin, thanks for being with me.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.