Republican-led Wisconsin Assembly Passes Anti- Union Legislation
BALDWIN: Republicans in Wisconsin Senate vote in the union showdown without the missing Democrats, you have the Texas terror suspect going to court today, obviously a lot going on this Friday. Time to play "Reporter Roulette." I want to begin in Madison, Wisconsin, Ted Rowlands. Ted, let's start with the assembly. Know they passed that Bill in the wee hours of the morning, but the Democrats, they did not go very quietly. Did they?</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. It was pretty ugly scene at 1:00 a.m. local time here. The Republicans basically pulled the old quick vote maneuver. When Democrats thought they were still debating they voted within a few seconds and walked out of that room. You saw the video of all the Democrats on the floor chanting at them and yelling at them. A lot of people were very upset on the democratic side there. Clearly the political divide here is growing by the day as the stalemate continues, Brooke.</s>BALDWIN: And Ted, so we know, there were shouts of "shame, shame." I read drinks thrown. It was quite a scene, but what happens now? Mean, those 14 state senators, those Democrats, they are still MIA, are they not?</s>ROWLANDS: Yes, and what happened to the assembly was basically a foregone conclusion. The way it went down made some people upset, but everybody knew that was going to happen. The other side of the coin here is the Senate, and the 14 senators remain in the state of Illinois, and there is no indication from them that they are coming back here to Wisconsin to establish a quorum. So that means that the governor is basically having to wait. It's a stalemate. He went around the state today to try to apply pressure saying get back to work, do your job, do your job. He went to all the different districts and tried to plead with those constituents to put pressure on the senators. But at this point they say they are not going coming back unless the governor budges a little. They will give him all the money he wants but he's got to budge on the collective bargaining or they won't come back. That's what they are saying now. It's coming down this, this game of chicken. By next Tuesday if somebody doesn't budge, the taxpayers here will lose some money. So it's interesting to see who blinks.</s>BALDWIN: We'll be watching right with you, the game of chicken in Madison, Wisconsin. Ted Rowlands, thank you very much. Second here on "Reporter Roulette" we're getting our first look at a man accused of planning to use weapons of mass destruction at both nuclear power plants and President Bush's home. Next here Jeanne Meserve in Washington, good to see you.</s>JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Welcome.</s>BALDWIN: Thank you. Let's begin with the fact that he was in court this morning. What happened?</s>MESERVE: This was his first court appearance, very short. He came in in shackles, prison jumpsuit, asked a couple of questions and appeared largely expressionless through the entire proceeding. His lawyer says he'll enter a plea of not guilty. The lawyer issued a press release criticizing media coverage saying it was biased and one- sided, questioning whether his client would be able to get a fair trial in Lubbock and urging that he be presumed innocent until proven guilty.</s>BALDWIN: What else on this guy today?</s>MESERVE: Law enforcement continues their investigation, still telling us that they are not finding any links to any other people or groups with terrorist links. And in addition we talked about a freight company, Conway freight. They were one of the companies that tipped of law enforcement about this shipment of a chemical phenol. Law enforcement said that's the only thing he needed to put together an explosive. The company would not be very specific. They said something unique that someone on the loading dock and managers noticed. Thought it was unusual and bumped it up the chain there and because an investigation is under way they are holding it pretty close what it was that tipped them off.</s>BALDWIN: Whether it was a matter of an employee being astute or something else, we don't know.</s>MESERVE: Right.</s>BALDWIN: Jeanne Meserve, thank you so much.</s>MESERVE: You bet.</s>BALDWIN: And finally here on "Reporter Roulette" -- that is our "reporter roulette" for this Friday. The Obama administration has a new social secretary, have you heard, and the appointment is historic. Why? And who is he? That is ahead. Also, Motown night at the White House, several singers honoring the oldies in front of the president. But did you see, and perhaps more importantly hear, what Jamie Fox asked of the president? That's next.