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CNN Sunday Morning
Afghans Killed, U.S. Service Member Accused; Prayers, Tears as Japan Looks Back; "Kony 2012" Sparks Activism, Outrage
Aired March 11, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: From CNN's world headquarters, bringing you news and analysis from across the nation and around the globe -- live from Studio 7, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's 8:00 a.m. in the East. Did you remember to reset your clocks?
Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.
Here's what's happening. A U.S. service member accused of shooting multiple Afghan civilians. We'll go to Kabul for a live report and get you the latest on the number casualties and local reaction.
Also, it's within one year since an earthquake triggered a tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan. You'll see how the people of Japan are marking this sad anniversary.
And a Houston pastor asks members of his congregation to get tattoos for Lent. I'll ask him.
We begin first with breaking news out of Afghanistan where government officials say seven people are, quote, "feared dead" following a shooting blamed on a U.S. service member. The incident taking place in the Kandahar province.
CNN's Sara Sidner in the capital city of Kabul.
Sara, a lot of conflicting reports on this story so far this morning. What have you been able to sort out?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've heard finally from the Kandahar government who say that there were 15 total casualties as they know it. Seven of those casualties feared dead and the other eight wounded. Those people being treated by coalition forces in a medical facility in Kandahar.
ISAF -- according to ISAF, so far, they have not released any kind of numbers when it comes to those who may have been killed. They are only saying people have been injured and that those people who are injured, all civilians, are being treated by coalition forces. So, yes, conflicting information. The Taliban also weighing in saying that 50 people have been killed although their numbers a bit hard to believe in that they tend to exaggerate the number of casualties.
That being said, we are getting information now from the U.S. embassy. ISAF has already released information saying they are deeply regrettable this incident involving civilians. And any time you have an incident involving civilians, it makes it harder on coalition forces because generally there is another push and more talk from people saying that these forces need to get out of Afghanistan.
Let me read you what the U.S. has put out in part of their statement. Here's what the United States embassy has released just a few minutes ago.
It says that it extends its deepest condolences to the families of the victims of today's tragic shooting incident in Kandahar province. By the way, this incident happening overnight actually on Saturday. It says further, "We are saddened by this violent act against our Afghan friends."
So there you have it from the American embassy. You do know, Randi, this area in western Afghanistan is a place that is known to have quite a sizable Taliban presence there. It's seen a lot of action. And certainly there is going to be a reaction to this in some form or fashion, Randi.
And, Sara, what can you tell us about -- we understand this took place off base. And then this service member just turned himself in?
SIDNER: Yes. What we're hearing now is that they confirmed it's a U.S. soldier, that the person left the base. They were not apparently on any sort of mission according to ISAF. They went off base, opened fire on civilians and then came back to the compound and turned himself in. That's what we've heard so far.
And at this point, that person has been detained and certainly is likely being questioned. What we don't know is what the motive might have been behind this, what the reason was for this particular incident, and whatever happened before the incident.
So we're still waiting for those details. Certainly an investigation is going on not only with NATO but also Afghan officials are involved in the investigation as well as we hear it, Randi.
KAYE: Sara Sidner, thank you for that reporting from Kabul for us. Appreciate that.
Diplomacy seems to be making little headway in Syria as fierce fighting grips part of the country this weekend. Tanks rumbled through a northern city of Idlib. Opposition activists say at least nine people have died today in Idlib and other Syrian cities.
Special U.N. envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, is meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for a second straight day today. Annan wants the Syrian regime to agree to a cease-fire and to allow access to humanitarian aid.
Exactly one year ago today everything changed in Japan and the world can only watch in horror.
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KAYE: A massive earthquake struck Japan. The 9.0 quake was so powerful it shifted the earth's axis. But what happened next was even worse.
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KAYE: The quake triggered a giant tsunami that roared on to Japan's northeast coast. The towering wave washed away nearly everything in its path.
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KAYE: Terrified residents fled in panic as the wall of water chased them. In this amateur video, you can hear a man screaming at the others to get to higher ground before the wave swallows them up.
The tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant sparking a meltdown and unleashing radiation that forced thousands to flee. The quake and tsunami killed nearly 16,000 people and leveled entire towns. The disaster caused at least $300 billion in damage.
It is evening in Japan right now. And across the country, many people have been holding candle light vigils. At a national ceremony of remembrance in Tokyo earlier today, Japan's emperor and empress led prayers for those who died in last year's disaster. Emperor Akihito the country will never forget and will rebuild. People also paused in remembering cities along the tsunami battered coast.
That's where our Kyung Lah in Ishinomaki.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A year after the tsunami, this is downtown Ishinomaki, still baring all the scars of when the tsunami roared ashore a year ago. There is so much work and rebuilding to be done.
But for just this moment, this city paused to remember all the victims who had died in the tsunami. People stopping here to lay flowers, to remember the dead.
Monks walked through Ishinomaki chanting for the souls of the dead so that they may rest in peace. But many of the remembrances here in Ishinomaki is small scale. Chia Kozosumi (ph) laid flowers for two friends who today are still missing.
"All I can do is keep going," she says, "and live in the best way I can." One foot in front of the other as Japan continues to recover.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Ishinomaki, Japan. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: To politics now. Rick Santorum is celebrating another win this morning. He picked up 33 more delegates in yesterday's Kansas caucuses.
And here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've had a very, very good day in our neighboring state of Kansas. This election is about big things. This is an important election. You've heard everybody say it on our side of the aisle that this may be the most important election of our lifetime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So, all now looking to Tuesday's primaries and caucuses, which could be a make or break day for them. Alabama and Mississippi both have primaries. While American Samoa and Hawaii have caucuses.
All the candidates are trying to reach 1,044 delegates. That will earn them the Republican presidential nomination. Here's the current delegate count: Mitt Romney's campaign won the most delegates this past week. His current count stands at 458 delegates. Rick Santorum has 203, compared to Newt Gingrich 118, and Ron Paul with 66.
Time now to check our forecast. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is in for Reynolds Wolf today.
Good morning, Alexandra.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Randi.
All right. A few things to note in the weather department -- one, temperatures today and this week off the charts. So, I'll tell you which direction they're headed. Also, a very wet and stormy day around the lot of the country, in the central and southern places. We're going to see potentially some severe weather. I'll show you that.
And also when I come back, we're going to take you to Japan where the tsunami that we've been talking about has created a line of trash 2,000 miles long in the Central Pacific and it is headed toward the U.S. West Coast.
So, I'll tell you when it gets there. That's coming up a little bit later. See you soon.
KAYE: That is a big pile of garbage you're tracking for us. Thank you, Alexandra.
A YouTube video goes viral, bringing an old message to a new generation of activists. But could "Kony 2012" hurt the ongoing mission to find the man believed responsible for killing and raping thousands of women and children? A journalist from Uganda joins me after the break to tell us why she actually feels the film falls short.
Plus, another rescue at sea in Italy. The details of this latest incident, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
A documentary about one of the world's most wanted man has inspired some and outraged others. The half hour video about violent African warlord Joseph Kony has received more than 1 million clicks. And it seems the viewers just keep coming on YouTube.
The nonprofit group Invisible Children produced it. It's trying to raise awareness about Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, and the crimes he's accused of committing against children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: We have reached a crucial time in history where what we do or don't do right now will affect every generation to come. Arresting Joseph Kony will prove that the world we live in has new rules, that the technology that has brought our planet together is allowing us to respond to the problems of our friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The filmmakers hope it will promote their movement and put a stop to what many believe is the longest running armed conflict in Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON RUSSELL, FILM NARRATOR: We are living in dramatic times. And so, the world is waking up to the fact that Joseph Kony right now is listening to the world. And what we want the world to know and start hashtagging right now, because he can hear my voice, hashtag Kony surrender -- Kony surrender -- because he can hear us. He knows. He's watching.
And we don't want this to end with war. We don't want a bullet through his head and we don't want bombs dropped on him because there are innocent children and women surrounding him. That's why he's gotten away with murder for this long. But he can hear us and he can make the choice to surrender.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: But critics have a different view of the film and its producers. Many say Kony 2012 manipulates the facts and believe the video may be doing more harm than good.
Rosabell Kagumire is a multimedia journalist who has spent years working on global peace and conflict issues. And she joins us now. Rosabell, you think this video is actually a misrepresentation of what's really happening there in Uganda. Tell us why you think that.
ROSABELL KAGUMIRE, JOURNALIST: First of all, the war in Uganda against LRA ended in 2006, and people of northern Uganda are facing different challenges like nodding diseases. The film features a lot on perpetrators rather than victims of the war who are now picking up the pieces, trying to rebuild their lives. It is silent on the current situation in Uganda. It gives you false image of Uganda in 2003.
KAYE: Do you feel like the film doesn't show the efforts that have actually taken place on the ground there by Ugandans themselves, to also try and get Joseph Kony.
KAGUMIRE: Perfect. Because we have people (INAUDIBLE) who went into the jungles as early as the 1990s who are trying to get Kony to talk peace.
And we see in this video, it does not reflect African initiatives. It does not reflect government initiatives. He just overlooks the African input to this.
It's like the conflict -- it's like the children being abducted were only known when he stayed in Uganda. Yet, that is not true. As far back as 2002, we had the U.N. chief of humanitarian affairs Jan Egeland said it was the worst forgotten crisis in the world. In fact, he helped the world know about it at the time.
But right now, the situation in northern Uganda is totally different from what he portrays.
KAYE: Another issue that you have with the film was that it only promotes a military solution. Kony has been out there for some time. So, do you really think that this long standing war with Kony can be ended without military intervention?
KAGUMIRE: That's not what we think. Indeed, this has been a long meandering war. Right now, I just read a moving story from a Ugandan who is working in the north, who has brothers and cousins held by LRA. Of course, the military solution would stay on course. But we have to make sure other channels are open to make sure others' relatives are not killed just to get one man.
We must be very careful in how we coin the military solution. Even the Office of Children in Armed Conflict has warned a military solution alone cannot bring peace. Killing just Joseph Kony alone will not bring this war to an end.
KAYE: Rosabell Kagumire, thank you very much. We appreciate you weighing in on Kony 2012 with us -- our journalist from Uganda. Thank you.
KAGUMIRE: Thank you.
KAYE: And Uganda, of course, isn't the only place where women and children have been victimized like war criminals like Joseph Kony. The video has brought new attention to what really is a worldwide issue. But not everyone thinks the attention is helpful.
Charity Tooze is a senior communication officer with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees or UNHCR. She has been working for years with the organization on the worldwide battle to save lives.
Charity, nice to have you on the show this morning.
Let's first take a look at a graphic, because it really has some startling information that you actually provided to us. According to UNHCR, of the 43 million refugees in the world, approximately 33 million are under protection of the United Nations refugee agency in some form and 80 percent of those refugees are women and children.
Charity, tell us, why are women and children at a much higher risk here?
CHARITY TOOZE, SR. COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, UNHCR: Well, thanks for having me, Randi.
I mean, you know, it's almost actually almost 34 million refugees are under the care of the UNHCR. We suspected that about half of them are children.
So when there's forced displacement or internal conflict, oftentimes the men are killed or, for instance, in Somalia, may stay behind to watch the -- watch the crops. And the women and children, the most vulnerable, flee. It is the most vulnerable children that are at the highest risk of recruitment, forced recruitment. And if the infrastructure internally is so weak, potentially voluntarily recruiting themselves in order to receive some security and/or financial support and/or just a warm -- a warm meal.
So there's all kinds of ways in which children who are displaced around the world are particularly vulnerable to recruitment by armed forces.
KAYE: You recently returned from Colombia where this type of activity has also been a problem for years. Just tell us briefly about that trip.
TOOZE: I went down to look at our projects and learn about a project outside of Bogota in an area called Swatcha (ph). And I actually went to a school for displaced children where some families have been displaced two, three, four, five times to illegal armed groups throughout the country for varying reasons.
I think it's important to note that, you know, while children are recruited to participate in arms, they're also recruited to be laborers. You know, I spoke with one man where they're forced to sell drugs as young as 10 years old.
These children are kind of in this limbo land. They're not protected, necessarily, by the government. Their parents are no longer voting because they're constantly moving. And so, they can particularly fall through the cracks.
KAYE: And just very quickly, if you wanted to leave us with one thing, I know your agency has many strategies and priorities to try and help rescue the refugee children. We have some of them. We're not going to have time to get through all of them.
But just give me the one goal here of your program.
TOOZE: Demobilization, disarmament and reintegration of children. The video talks about getting the children to go home. What's essential in that is having a transit center where children receive psychosocial services which the UNHCR is providing in south Sudan for some children who are being rescued right now.
Education and employment opportunities are two of the most preventive measures in places that are vulnerable and need infrastructure. The UNHCR is working on all those fronts.
KAYE: Well, this is certainly a problem around the world just highlighted by this Kony 2012 video. Charity Tooze, appreciate your time and all your efforts around the world.
TOOZE: Thank you very much.
KAYE: Well, did you know there's a mini gold rush going on? Ahead, I'll tell you where you can make some money the old-fashioned way.
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KAYE: Let's take a look now at a few stories making news across the country. We'll start in the Golden State.
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CROWD: DREAM Act, united, we'll never be divided.
KAYE (voice-over): The 3,000-mile march from San Francisco to the nation's capital has begun. Supporters of the so-called DREAM Act are planning to visit 285 cities and towns nationwide to raise awareness for legislation to providing a path for citizenship for undocumented college students. They call it the Campaign for the American Dream. They expect to reach the U.S. Capitol in October.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm fighting for them because I believe that they deserve -- that they deserve the future.
KAYE: No, it's not 1849. But there's a gold rush in California. OK, a mini one. Ideal conditions, including a dry, warm winter plus a rise in the price of gold are bringing people out to auburn waters in search of gold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can go down to the river and make better than minimum wage.
KAYE: Gold panners say if conditions get drier, the gold rush will only get bigger.
A round of applause for Vietnam veteran Robert Roach. For the past eight years he's been living without something very important to him, his stolen Purple Heart. But this weekend, American Legion post 1111 teamed up with his choir to honor the hero, presenting him with a new Purple Heart.
ROBERT ROACH, VIETNAM VETERAN: I expected to cry. But I was able to just enjoy the situation with the people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And you are going to want to see a dramatic rescue at sea. You'll see how they ended up stranded, next.
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KAYE: Nineteen people are safe after they were rescued from a stranded ship off the coast of Sicily. Two coast guard helicopters rescued the crew of an Italian cargo vessel that ran aground during pretty rough seas and heavy winds yesterday. The crew members are all in good condition.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly earthquake and tsunami that ravaged parts of Japan. The disaster also sent a wave of garbage into the sea. It's thousands of miles long, still floating in the ocean and it's now getting closer to our shores.
I want to bring in meteorologist Alexandra Steele for much more on this.
So, Alexandra, you're tracking this big hunk of junk for us. What can you tell us?
STEELE: Yes. You know, Randi, you saw in those pictures, you can see that hunk of junk. But now, because it's so dispersed, satellites really can't pick it up. So, computer models are kind of looking out and trying to track this.
So, how big was this junk initially? Well, 23 million metric tons of materials were displaced from the tsunami. Now, most of that did sink to the ocean. But there are still about 900,000 metric tons still floating about.
So, computer scientists are out there. And what they're doing is looking at and using computer models by look agent the ocean currents and winds in the Pacific and trying to estimate where this kind of wall of junk will move.
Now, so far the one year, it's traveled about 2,000 miles. But scientists simulating this project, what they're expecting is the northwest Hawaiian islands to begin to see some of this trash, believe it or not, beginning next month. And then, it will continue to move eastward, move into the Pacific Northwest, potentially, in 2013. And then because of the effect and currents, we could see the trash go back again and move in 2014 to the central Hawaiian Islands. So, that's kind of all the estimation. Much of it, again, has and could sink. But, obviously, there could be problems. Some of those biggest ones are the contamination, Randi, of, of course, the oceans and the food chain.
But a lot of this is just kind of speculation. But obviously with this massive wall of junk, there's going to be some major issues.
KAYE: So, if you're planning a vacation to Hawaii, you want to do it before this junk reaches there.
STEELE: Right. Well, the northwest Hawaiian Islands, and it's continuing northwest. The southwest coast shouldn't see it maybe in 2013. The northwest will. And then cycling back in and get into the central Hawaiian Islands potentially in 2013 because of the ocean currents and the winds. That's a lot of the factors that are being put into the simulation to figure out where the motion of this will go.
KAYE: Yes, it's not good no matter how you look at it, right, for anyone in the sea, any of those living creatures or anyone on the beach. Alexandra, thank you very much.
STEELE: Sure.
KAYE: Several Afghan civilians now feared dead and a U.S. troop member is accused of pulling the trigger, the latest on this breaking story just ahead.
And church members in Houston getting tattoos for lent. I'm going to speak with their pastor about why he not only thinks it's a good idea, but, yes, he did get one himself.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. And thanks for starting your morning with us. I'm Randi Kaye.
The government in Kandahar, Afghanistan says seven people are quote, "feared dead following a shooting blamed on a U.S. Service member". No motive for the shooting is known, officials say the service member acted alone.
In a statement the U.S. embassy says it offered its condolences for the incident. An investigation is under way.
For some perspective on that shooting in Afghanistan, let's bring in retired U.S. Army Colonel Bob McGinnis. He joins me now by phone from Woodbridge, Virginia. Bob, let's talk about this. So we're told by our Sara Sidner that it is a U.S. soldier.
So let's talk about this soldier first. What's next for this U.S. soldier now that that he's been detained?
BOB MCGINNIS, U.S. ARMY (RET.) (via telephone): Well Randi, he will be held, obviously. And then he'll be given an attorney and will be, you know, questioned with that attorney present. Whether or not he waives his rights will be determined.
And then of course, you know, it could be a protracted process as the investigation goes forward. All the evidence is gathered. But then obviously if he's charged ultimately, he will be tried by court- martial. Now you know there's no extradition in this case. So the -- a military court-martial and he would then be probably brought back to the United States for that court-martial because of the potential geopolitical issues that are associated with an incident like this.
KAYE: Right.
Well let's talk about Kandahar as a whole. I mean, this is certainly a tough place -- I don't have to tell you this -- a tough place, certainly a difficult place for a foreign soldier to be fighting. Do you think something like this could have come from fatigue or stress or other elements taking place there?
MCGINNIS: Yes. I think it's quite possible. Keep in mind, Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban. So it's not perceived to be the greatest place around. We do have some forward operating bases there that are well secured. And then once you go outside the wire, though, you feel as if you're in no man's land for the most part.
Now given the fighting that has been ongoing, that you're separated from your family, you're in a strange country and of course, you're recently as we all know the tension is very, very high outside all our forward operating bases because of the demonstrations associated with the Koran burning.
So it is a very tough environment. And unfortunately, it could happen to have occurred here that one person went off the deep end and obviously did something very wrong.
KAYE: And let's talk about the tension there in Kandahar province. I mean this comes after the -- the Koran burning. The -- the number of deaths there as a result of that including U.S. soldiers and of course, the protests there taking place. What do you expect will -- will be the result following this?
MCGINNIS: Well, you know, this is really to a certain degree and a larger sense about trust. You know, we had some soldiers that were killed by their Afghan comrades here recently. And that, of course, undermined trust. And of course, the trust was undermined when six soldiers allegedly burned the Koran.
So this is something that I think that you're going to see spin out in the geopolitical environments. Already President Karzai has made statements that "It's time for the foreign troops to leave. Our military is capable of doing the job." And of course, the President, President Obama, has already announced that we're going to withdraw most of our forces by 2014.
So these sorts of incidents sour the relationship and if anything, they expedite our departure. Hopefully Karzai is right and that they can handle the threat. And of course, the Taliban, the enemy, will take advantage of this unrest and this distrust between foreign forces and Afghans to do whatever they can to speed up their own return to power if, in fact, that's going to happen.
KAYE: Colonel Bob McGinnis, thank you for your insight on this. We appreciate you calling in this morning.
MCGINNIS: Thank you, Randi.
KAYE: Candy Crowley is talking to the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today. She joins us with a preview, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley is coming up right here at the top of the hour. And Candy is joining us now with a live preview. Hi there, Candy.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Hi Randi.
KAYE: Let's talk first -- I want to talk about what's coming up on your show. But I also want to ask you first about Tuesday. We have the primaries, of course, in Alabama and Mississippi. How do you think Romney is going to do in the south?
CROWLEY: He hopes to pick up some delegates, I will say that. Look, it's been a tough, tough place for him. The Evangelical vote has been tough for him. Those who self-identify as very conservatives -- that has been tough for him. I think if you're going to look at Tuesday through any prism, you probably should look at it as a match- up between Gingrich and Santorum.
If Newt Gingrich doesn't do well, you're going to hear lots of people saying, you know, one of these guys ought to get out of the race. What the Romney people hope to do is kind of survive on -- on Tuesday, which they clearly will. And they're going to push delegates.
We saw over the weekend that Rick Santorum won Kansas. And he got most of the 40 delegates there. But when you add up some other, you know Virgin Islands, the Marianas as well as Guam, what you see is the Romney people putting out press releases saying, yes, but we won the most delegates when you add up all the contest. So they are very delegate focused when it comes to these southern states on Tuesday in the Romney campaign.
KAYE: Could you actually see the conservative vote consolidating and maybe Gingrich actually dropping out?
CROWLEY: You know -- well, look, Gingrich says he's going to Tampa. So that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll actively campaign from now until the Republican convention in Tampa. But nonetheless, he seems at this moment determined to stay in. They generally, if they want to stay in, can find some reason to say here's -- you know, here's why I'm staying in and it's a good reason for it.
But I do think that there have also been lots of ways that folks who crunch the numbers look at these races and they -- they can make a compelling case that if conservative conservatives coalesce around either Santorum or Gingrich that would give Mitt Romney a greater run for it. But there are other cities going yes but when you break down some of these exit polls there are people who would go from Gingrich to Romney rather than from Gingrich to Santorum.
KAYE: Right.
CROWLEY: So I think -- I think it's you know sort of an unknown at this point.
KAYE: Yes. I know that you have Senator Harry Reid. He's on the show today. Is he making any presidential predictions, do you think, for the GOP race?
CROWLEY: I think probably the only presidential prediction that he would make is that he thinks President Obama will win re-election. They tend not to want to get into the other party's mess because each party has a mess of their own they have to deal with.
KAYE: All right, Candy Crowley. Looking forward to the show coming up here at 9:00 a.m. Eastern -- "STATE OF THE UNION." Thank you.
Well, in a lot of churches, people with tattoos are a rare sight. But at Ecclesia (ph) Church in Houston, Texas, one of the pastors is embracing people with tattoos. In fact, he has encouraged some of his members to get tattoos to demonstrate their faith for Lent; photos of their designs being incorporated into an art exhibit.
Chris Seay is that pastor. And he joins me now. Pastor, tell me first, where did this idea come from?
CHRIS SEAY, PRESIDENT, ECCLESIASTIC BIBLE SOCIETY: Well Randi, I was reading a book called "Cruciformity" that was about embracing the suffering of Christ. And every year we do the show of the Stations of the Cross. It's -- it's been a beautiful thing we do every Lent in telling the story of Jesus.
And this year we just decided to embrace an art form that's pretty common among our people but hasn't maybe been commonly embraced by the church. But it's a great way to tell the story of Jesus suffering, ultimately of his resurrection that we celebrate on Easter.
KAYE: So are lots of folks taking part?
SEAY: Well, you know, this invitation wasn't for everybody. So we have a lot of people that already have tattoos. But we invited people to do it. We only needed ten. We created ten of the Stations of the Cross. And the invitation we made to everybody that we've shared and passed on to many churches. I talk about in my most recent book called "A Place at the Table" is one to embrace the suffering of the poor. To eat as the poor would eat during Lent.
There are a few that we've said you might want to get one of these tattoos. Remarkably we've had about 60 people so far get these tattoos. And it's displaying in our art gallery here in downtown Houston and telling the story of Jesus in a way that a lot of people are really connecting with. And that's -- that's what we get excited about.
KAYE: Well, I understand that you got one of your own. Is that correct?
SEAY: I did. So I got the resurrection tattoo.
KAYE: Can you show it to us?
SEAY: I can. Let me show you. So this is literally life coming from death. So this tree emerging from the coffin that reminds us that Jesus rose again and that we will all rise with him. I've experienced a great deal of loss this year, not only of some people in our church that we love, my grandfather who is a long-time pastor here in Houston. His name, I call him Papa, he's on my tree. And his -- this reminder to me that this life is not all there is which is at the heart of the Christian message. It's the one I want to talk about. That's what I get fired up to tell people about.
KAYE: We have some -- a photo of you actually getting this tattoo. I can't imagine how painful that might have been.
But I want to ask you about -- about Leviticus 19:28. Because it does say that "you shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead nor tattoo any marks upon you, I am the Lord". So what do you say to those who might look at your tattoo and the others and say this isn't right, this is just simply wrong?
SEAY: Well I'd say like every place in the Bible you have to read this in context, right? So it was about in that culture, particularly what tattoos meant, the verse before that also says not to cut your hair or to ever trim your beard.
So if anybody's had a haircut, they've violated Leviticus 19. But no longer does cutting your hair or getting a tattoo mean that you're a part of worshipping a pagan god. So, in our culture it means something quite different.
In fact about 30 percent of people under 30 already have tattoos and in the urban context wherein it's much higher. And it's the way that people are telling their story and inviting people to understand who they are.
So, we'd say it's a great Bible lesson, really, to learn how to read the Bible well. And in Leviticus there was a particular meaning. And the great part is now you get to go read Leviticus and figure out what was that really fully about, cutting hair or getting tattoos or any of the rest of it? If we thought it violated scripture like we see it, we wouldn't do it. We think the scripture is our guide.
And ultimately we want to invite people to read the scriptures and to encounter the living God that we know that loves everybody. We think that means loves people that have tattoos, people that don't shower very often, people that are really poor or are really rich.
KAYE: Pastor Seay, very interesting take. I love how you're demonstrating the faith for Lent. Thank you very much for your time and nice tattoo.
SEAY: You bet, Randi, thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.
KAYE: Thank you. For much more on this story, you can go to our belief blog at cnn.com/belief. You can also share your thoughts there as well.
Just ahead, we're going to show you something that you've probably never seen before. Five people, five people playing a single guitar at the same time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back, everyone.
I want you to take a look at this -- five starving artists sharing one guitar. Well, actually, it's the Canadian band Walk of the Earth showing off their skills at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas. They're not really starving. They're just really talented, kind of cool and a little bit weird.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CANADIAN BAND WALK OF THE EARTH PERFORMING AT THE SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: See that guy just sort of on the end? He's just kind of hanging out, his arms are crossed. It's kind of funny. He wasn't really doing anything.
Selection Sunday for March Madness is today. We want you to join our bracket challenge. I'm filling out a bracket. I could use some help. Hope you're filling one out. If you are test your bracket skills against mine. Go to cnn.com/brackets to join the March Madness CNN Group.
And Ray D'Alessio is joining me now for some sports. I know you have a bracket going. Are you going to help me with mine a little bit?
RAY D'ALESSIO, HLN SPORTS: I might. But we're in direct competition. I can't help you too much, Randi.
KAYE: Well, give us some pointers.
D'ALESSIO: Well, you know, let's face it Randi. I mean bosses, they absolutely hate March Madness. People spend more time on their computer researching teams than they do working. I went ahead; I did the research for them. This way they can be more productive at work tomorrow.
For starters, when filling out those bracket sheets, immediately, I mean immediately put your number one seeds through to the second round. You writing this down? KAYE: Ok. I'm taking notes.
D'ALESSIO: Put your number one seed through to the second round. Since 1985 no number one seed has ever lost in the first round. In 25 years, the number 13 and 14 seeds have combined to win only 18 percent of first round games. Also, seeds worse than number 12, only six have made it past the second round.
Now, getting back to those number one seeds, this might be a little confusing, only once have all four number one seeds reached the final four. And that was in 2008. Last year no top seeds reached the final four. In fact, only one made it to the elite eight. That was Kansas.
KAYE: So who's going to take it all? Do we know?
D'ALESSIO: I got to tell you, I'm liking Syracuse.
KAYE: That's who I was told I should like, too.
D'ALESSIO: Yes. I'm liking Syracuse.
Now, speaking of bracket sheets, look at this. This enormous bracket is up at the Atrium here at CNN Center as part of the NCAA's bracket lounge. And I'll tell you what, what makes it even cooler is that if you stand in front of it and take a picture, there's a logo on the floor there. Well, the logo is actually in 3-d.
Snap a picture there -- there's the logo there. When you take a picture of it, it comes out in 3D. I actually went down there myself, took a picture. You can see more of that picture by just going to @RayDAlessionCNN.
KAYE: All right. Very cool. And so we should get started on those brackets immediately.
D'ALESSIO: Absolutely. When they announce it tonight, go ahead and start filling them out.
KAYE: Ok. I'm ready.
D'ALESSIO: Ok.
KAYE: All right. Let's talk about Peyton Manning -- sounds like he's got a bit of a road trip going on.
D'ALESSIO: Yes. Of course, once it was announced that the Colts were not re-signing him, all these teams lined up. They started, you know, contacting his agency. Now there's a big difference between teams that are interested in Peyton Manning and really interested. Right now there's some front-runners being the Denver Broncos, the Arizona Cardinals and the Miami Dolphins.
Now, Manning spent the better part of Friday and Saturday meeting with Broncos general manager John Elway before heading off to Arizona. The good thing about Arizona, Randi, Manning could play indoors on a natural grass field. They have that grass field that they move in and out of the stadium so it gets natural sunlight during the week. Something his soon to be 36-year-old body would certainly appreciate.
But it's going to be so hard to see him not in that, you know, blue and white -- I'm a die-hard Colts fan. Been one for a long time and to see Peyton Manning not be in a Colts uniform, it's still kind of hard to fathom.
KAYE: You going to be ok?
D'ALESSIO: I'm all right. It's not like the end of the world.
KAYE: Hey, listen, the story that caught my eye today is the idea that yoga could become an Olympic sport?
D'ALESSIO: Let me just start by saying this. Ok? I'm not going to knock yoga.
KAYE: Please don't.
D'ALESSIO: Because I know you do it.
Kaye: Yes.
D'ALESSIO: I have never done yoga but from what I hear you have to be in pretty darn good shape.
Kaye: Yes, it's pretty intense.
D'ALESSIO: Why not make it an Olympic sport. Finalists at the New York Regional and National Yoga Asana Championship -- is it Asana --
KAYE: There you go.
D'ALESSIO: -- contorted their bodies hoping to prove that, yes, the mental and physical aspects of the ancient art qualify the practice as an Olympic sport. I'm not going to argue with them because if they can do things like that, you know, go for it.
KAYE: Yes. Just for the record, I can't do that. Don't feel badly if you can't do that.
D'ALESSIO: I think the meditation part of yoga would be cool.
KAYE: Yes.
D'ALESSIO: But if I tried sticking my leg over my head, you guys would be carrying me out of here on a stretcher.
KAYE: Oh, boy. We'd help you, though. I'd like to see that.
D'ALESSIO: No, I wouldn't.
KAYE: All right Ray. Thank you very much.
D'ALESSIO: All right.
KAYE: Appreciate it.
We'll get the very latest on this morning's shootings in Afghanistan right after this very quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: The Kandahar government says seven people are feared dead following a shooting that is being blamed on a U.S. Service member. Officials say that service member who has been detained acted alone, walking off base to commit the shooting before coming back and then turning himself in. The motive for the shooting is unknown. An investigation is now under way. A spokesman for the NATO-led coalition in the region calling the incident, quote, "deeply regrettable".
Police in Kenya say an apparent grenade attack on a Nairobi bus station has left at least six people dead, nearly 70 others wounded. Authorities say they suspect the al Shabab terror group is behind the blast. And so far there has been no claim of responsibility.
19 people are safe after they were rescued from a stranded ship off the coast of Sicily. You can see it there. Two coast guard helicopters rescued the crew of an Italian cargo vessel. It ran aground during rough seas and some heavy winds. The crew members we're told -- all in good condition.
And let's get one last check of our forecast with meteorologist Alexandra Steele. She's in for Reynolds Wolf today. Hello again, Alexandra.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. All right, did everyone spring forward this morning? I hope you remembered. We did. We're here on time.
If you have a little spring in your step it may be because of the warmth today. Here's the country on this Sunday. A few areas of concern, rain and some snow in the higher elevations coming into the Pacific Northwest, number one. The potential for some severe storms around the ArkLaTex today but other than that high pressure in control, the Northeast will be beautiful.
Temperatures will be the story. Really as warm as these are today and tomorrow they will pale in comparison to Wednesday's and Thursday's really incredible warmth.
So look at this, Minot waking up there early this morning. Good morning to you. You're going to go whoa as you wake up and walk out -- 26 degrees above average, 63 there; Minneapolis, 64, 22 degrees above average. And the axis of that heat shifts eastward for tomorrow. Minneapolis, St. Louis gets to 80 degrees, 23 degrees above average. Then it all moves eastward.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, New York, Boston, Washington gets into the mid and upper 60s. Atlanta, Nashville, Charlotte flirts with 80 by Wednesday and Thursday. So the heat will be on. You know, Randi, part and parcel to this entire winter, right? Meteorological winter, December, January, February is over. On the whole around country it was the fourth warmest on record. We had some seconds and thirds in the northeast. So it really was incredibly warm.
KAYE: Yes. It's been sort of a weird though weather pattern all over actually this winter.
Alexandra Steele, thank you very much.
STEELE: Sure.
KAYE: Nice to have you here this morning.
Thank you, everybody, for watching today. We will continue to watch the situation in Afghanistan for you, of course.
But for now, I will turn it over to Candy Crowley. "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley starts right now.
Enjoy your Sunday.
