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Gadhafi's Exit Strategy; Obama White House Transparent Enough?; CEO of GoDaddy.com on Video Killing an Elephant in Africa; 'The Kennedys' to Air on Reelz Channel; U.S. Economy Adds Over 200,000 Jobs In March, 2011; Little Girl Killed In Arizona Shooting Given Special Statue; Dr. Drew Pinsky Will Premiere New Show on HLN; Busch Sued Over Girlfriend's Death; Obama's Transparency Award; No First Pitch from Obama

Aired April 01, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BROOK BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN (voice-over): An elephant killed on camera to feed a small village. Now, the Internet show who did the killing said he did it to help feed the African people. He'll join me this hour to defend himself against all these animal right critics.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

Is Gadhafi's inner circle crumbling? Is a cease-fire coming soon? We're live in Libya.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: This country is ours for the taking.

BALDWIN: An all-star cast in this version of "Camelot," but is it just a twisted take on history?

Snow on April 1? This is no April Fools' joke.

And is the Obama White House transparent enough? Friday's edition of "Political Pop" goes top secret.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Hour two. Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Again this hour, disturbing news from the war in Libya. In classified briefings, the CIA has told members of Congress the Gadhafi regime is killing large numbers of people, killing large numbers of people in towns where the media simply cannot get in, cannot get access.

Now, one of those such towns is the city of Misrata. It's the country's third largest town. It's the town you're seeing here in some of this video. Now, a CNN team was actually able to enter Misrata and do some reporting, and then they quickly got out of there. We're going to speak to the correspondent there in just a moment, Fred Pleitgen. But, first, here's some of what he saw. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As heavy fighting rages in downtown Misrata, many residents have fled from the tank and artillery shells raining down on their neighborhood, but they have nowhere to run.

The opposition-held city of Misrata is encircled by pro-Gadhafi troops. Masud el-Masoudi (ph) says he barely managed to get his family out of the city center and into the school on the outskirts.

"All the houses next to ours were knocked down in the fighting," he says. "People were killed in the houses right next to ours, including women and children."

Constant barrages of artillery, tank and mortar fire have clearly traumatized, especially the children. And as urban combat destroys more and more of downtown Misrata, many foreigners who came here to work during better times are now stranded.

Some were hoping to leave via Misrata Port, but they can't get out, so they have ended up here at a makeshift refugee camp near the port. It was set up when the fighting started and now stretches for several miles.

(on camera): All along the road leading to Misrata Port, you find thousands of refugees, most of them from African countries, and they are stuck here, they're stranded here. They can't get anywhere. The worst thing about it is, first of all, all the refugee camps are makeshift. They have basically no food, no water that they are getting from the international community.

What they are getting, they are getting from the people of Misrata, and they are right in the middle of the combat zone. They gave us this piece of shrapnel. They say artillery shells fell right near the area where the refugees are.

Ibrahim Prince Mohammed (ph) from Ghana says he and many others have been staying under the tarpaulins for more than a month and feel abandoned by their government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Want to go to Ghana simply anybody will not be comfortable when he's -- hear gunshot and shouting all over the city that -- people are dying. People are dying. We are not comfortable. We want to leave. So we need help from U.N.

PLEITGEN: Cries for help have so far gone unheard as the situation of those caught here gets worse every day. While Misrata remains under siege, food, water and medical supplies are further depleted and desperation grows.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I want to begin -- bring in Fred Pleitgen. There's Fred in Malta. And, Fred, now that you're safely out of Misrata, I can ask this question I really wanted to ask you yesterday. How long were you and the crew in Misrata? How did you get in, and how did you get out?

PLEITGEN: Well, were on the ground for a little more than 24 hours. I would say it was about 27 hours, Brooke.

And what we did was, we took an old fishing trawler that's actually making runs to get food and medication into Misrata from here in Malta into the town of Misrata. It's a very, very dangerous for them thing to do, because the pro-Gadhafi forces are actually shelling the port area in Misrata, which is in the hands of the opposition at this point in time.

And, actually, about 15 minutes after we left the port, disembarking from the ship after we got there, the port was again shelled by pro-Gadhafi forces and the shells landed only about 100 yards away from the boat. So it was quite a dangerous undertaking. We were on the ground for about 27 hours.

We spent one night there, and then it was time for us to get out. And the reason why we're starting to release the reports after we got out was also for security concerns, so that the Gadhafi forces wouldn't know that we had taken that boat in while we were still inside the city -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Of course. And I know this story is about the people of Misrata, and I don't want to make this whole thing about you and your crew, but, I mean, Fred, how big of a personal risk was there to be in Misrata, as opposed to some of the other dangerous places you have reported from around the world?

PLEITGEN: Well, you know, the risk is actually a lot greater than reporting, for instance, from Iraq or Afghanistan, when you're moving with the U.S. military, for instance, because there really is no backup.

If you get shot or something in downtown Misrata, which is something that could very well have happened to us -- it was very close on a couple of occasions -- you're not going to get out of there. The only way to get out of there is by boat, and the boat ride takes 20 hours, and you have the danger of being intercepted by Gadhafi forces as well.

The medical situation there is a disaster, of course. If anything happens to you there, you will have a lot of trouble getting any sort of medical care. So certainly those were concerns. Obviously, the situation itself is very dangerous as it is, with Gadhafi forces shelling randomly the entire city. Basically the whole time that we were on the ground, hearing some sort of shooting going on, whether it was tank, artillery, mortar or small-arms fire.

So, yes, the risk was quite great. And, of course, that's something that's taking its toll on the people who are there, both physically, as well as psychologically, Brooke. BALDWIN: We appreciate you and your crew taking the risk to be able to tell this story, and I just want to talk about the people. I know you get inside the hospital in Misrata. Can you just paint the picture for me, Fred? How bad -- how bad was it?

PLEITGEN: Well, I think it's much worse than any of us could ever imagine. One of the things that really struck us is how overwhelmed the medical staff there were and how full that hospital actually was.

You had the doctors sort of trying to operate in the hallways of the hospital. Some patients had to be moved out into the parking lot. There wasn't enough anesthetics. There's not enough tools to operate. The doctors are basically working 24/7, and they are just now coming to terms with the amount of casualties that they get in.

We just got word a couple of hours ago that apparently yesterday, 20 people were killed in fighting in Misrata. That's according to opposition sources. Of course, a lot of people were also wounded, and there are only very few hospitals that are actually functioning. And, again, they are not getting the medical supplies that they need.

The boat that we were on brought medical supplies into Misrata. A lot of other boats that were going to try didn't make it in. And so therefore, they are short on pretty much everything. They are absolutely overwhelmed because there's so many patients coming in, and they just don't have enough staff to cope with what's going on in the ground there, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's one thing for us to see these images playing out on television; it's quite another to record them and then experience them firsthand.

Fred Pleitgen, amazing job. Thanks to you and your crew live from Malta.

And now to this. Take a look at this picture with me. This is a picture. This is from one man's vacation. He's a CEO of an Internet company. So you look at the pictures with a bunch of kids, not too controversial, but the video he took while he was in Zimbabwe on vacation, it is causing a massive uproar online with, in particular, animal rights groups. Why? Because he shot and killed an elephant.

And the whole thing is on camera. I'm going to get his take in two minutes. Bob Parsons joins me next. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, one man's vacation video has animal rights activists rampaging across Internet. The man is Bob Parsons. He's the founder and CEO of the Web hosting service GoDaddy.com. Now, Parsons and Go Daddy are certainly no stranger to controversy. You may remember the Super Bowl ads that raised more than a few eyebrows. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD) UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: It's true. I have enhanced my image with a domain name and a Web site from GoDaddy.com.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Enhanced. I will show you enhanced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, Bob Parsons' vacation video goes way beyond that. In this video, this four-minute video, it shows him shooting and killing an elephant that was trampling crops in Zimbabwe. And then it shows villagers crowding around the elephant and taking pieces of the meat.

Now, the video is far more graphic than we can show you here. Several of the villagers are also wearing these orange Go Daddy hats. And the video has gone viral by now, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, they are calling for a Go Daddy boycott.

So, why did Parsons kill the elephant and why did he post the video on his Web site, on his Twitter account? Let's ask him.

Bob Parsons on the phone with me from Hawaii.

And, Bob, let's start with just the simple question, why did you kill the elephant?

BOB PARSONS, CEO, GODADDY.COM (via telephone): Well, you know, I go there every year to Zimbabwe. I have been there for six years now.

And the thing to understand is that the people there are very impoverished. They exist at a poverty level that we just don't -- we cannot fathom. For example, one of the things I do over there is I drink bottled water so I don't get Montezuma's revenge. And the empty plastic bottles are very treasured items for them.

I mean, they are that poor. And so they are subsistence farmers. They rely entirely on the crops they grow, sorghum and corn. If they don't have a harvest, there's no food stamps. There's no welfare. They starve to death. One of the things they have to deal with is elephants, problem elephants coming in and destroying their fields, and it's just something that needs to be dealt with.

They try dealing with it using fire, beating drums, cracking whips, hollering. And the elephant ignore them. So what it takes is it takes like a guy like me, and there's just a few of us, to go into the field at night and to when a herd is there isolate a bull, shoot the bull. The rest leave immediately. They don't return, and so the crops are saved. And then the people have a very valuable source of protein.

BALDWIN: Bob, let me jump in. And you mentioned you have been there, what, you said six different years to Zimbabwe.

PARSONS: Yes. BALDWIN: And if I can just back up, where did you learn that elephant kills are a solution to crop damage and to the poverty you just described there?

PARSONS: OK.

I learned that by going over there and talking to the villagers, and watching what they are dealing with, and watching the aftermath, and watching when it doesn't happen, and also when it does happen.

I mean, you know, the one voice that's not being heard in all this, Brooke, is the people that live over there. I mean, the villagers, they -- if you talk to them, they would say, please come back and please do this again.

BALDWIN: Did you at all, though -- were you -- was this organized through some sort of hunting outfit? Did you pay a fee to shoot the elephant?

PARSONS: Did I pay a fee? Well, no, not problem elephants. There's no fees associated with that.

BALDWIN: So, no fees involved, no exchanging of money in any way for an elephant?

PARSONS: No, no, no. I will tell you what, though. I do pay my own expenses. And, you know, I don't know what the problem would be with that. There's expenses associated with everything. There's plane tickets. There's gasoline. There's travel. There's trackers. There's skinners. There's guides. There's government agents, I mean, all that sort of stuff, and that costs money.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Bob, let me jump in. Because we did talk to an elephant expert, an elephant manager at the Columbus Zoo. His name is Harry Peachy and for people who are wondering, you know, we found out at CNN, yes, it is legal to shoot and kill elephants. He described if the elephants prove to be threatening crops or humans. And he also gave us a bigger picture, the fact that there is a big conflict between elephants and humans in Zimbabwe. It's a huge problem.

But he told us, Bob, that shooting and killing is not a solution. There are other, you know, conservation solutions like electronic fences, like honeybees. Apparently, the elephants hear the swarm of honeybees and they leave.

Why not -- why not choose that method versus shooting and killing?

PARSONS: Well, first of all, electronic fences, there's no electricity. And there's nobody to put up the fences to begin with, and the amount of fencing you'd have to put up would be incredible.

BALDWIN: Apparently, there are in some parts of Africa because that was one example of someone had? PARSONS: Well, you know, I'll tell you what. There are not in Zimbabwe and, you know, I'd be interested to see somebody come over there with their checkbook and put that up.

The other thing -- the other point that I'll make is that the deal with the honeybees. I just cannot imagine working with a -- with an African elephant and, you know, I can imagine the individual who is going to go there put up honeybees and explain that to the farmers what they are doing. I mean --

BALDWIN: According to this elephant manager, according to him, it could work.

So one part of this story is that you did shoot and kill an elephant. The other part of the story is that you came home and you posted this video that we're not showing. You know, it's afternoon. If people want to watch this whole video, they can go to the website and watch it.

PARSONS: Sure.

BALDWIN: But why did you decide to put it online and add some rock 'n' roll music at the very end?

PARSONS: Well, you know, OK, I did post it online, and the reason is, you know, I wanted people to know what goes on over there. I mean, the fact that, you know, that -- that there is that type of poverty, that people live in that type of situation, that that's what's happening.

You know, one of the things about being an American is, you know, quiet often we want to put our heads in the sand and have this Poly- Anna outlook on the world, and it isn't always the way we would like it to be.

BALDWIN: Let me just challenge you and ask this. If you want to show and illustrate an impoverished Zimbabwean town, why not show the rags that children are wearing and the lack of water, et cetera. Why show shooting and killing an elephant?

PARSONS: Well, I'll tell you what. You know, did I show it, and if you look at that video and you watch those people --

BALDWIN: I've seen it.

PARSONS: -- butchering the elephant, you know, you see that they are dressed in -- in absolute threads. I mean, you talk about some hungry people. You know, those people that walk 25 miles to get to that elephant, so it was, you know, it was -- it was quite a deal.

So, I mean, you can say, hey, why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do that? The fact is, you know, what I have shown is very real. It's what happens. It's a good thing. Those people are happy that day, and they were happy that day because their crops were saved and because they got to eat. BALDWIN: Let me jump in because I do want to read -- you know, we've been really scrolling through your own website and looking at all the different comments that have come in -- some positive, some not positive. And I want to read just a few of them, guys, if you can put the full-screen comments up. Here's a few we pulled.

Connie writes, "His money could have been used to set up fencing, financing, et cetera, to help the farmers as other groups do. Just because it isn't illegal doesn't mean it's right."

We got, two more. The next one, "You are the best. I'm faced with the decision though. There's nothing you can write here that will make it OK with me that you go to Africa and shoot elephants."

And one more, "I believe it is wrong on so many levels. You should read the book, 'Babar.'"

Bob Parsons --

PARSONS: And I should also watch the movie "Dumbo."

BALDWIN: Are you surprised? Are you surprised by some of these reactions?

PARSONS: The deal is -- the deal is, Brooke, the deal is is all these people with all these solutions, when it comes next year, and I get ready to go over there to kind of help these people out, you know, I'll be on that plane alone again.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me just ask you, let's just not even talk solutions, just in terms of the reaction, and some people are very much so been a fan of Go Daddy and some people are yanking their domains from you because of this.

Are you surprised by this reaction that you've gotten over the last couple of days?

PARSONS: You know, I'll tell you what. The reaction is not as negative as you think it might be. You know, the problem that we have in this country is there's this politically correct cadre that is a minority, and they are very vocal and they move as the tsunami.

But the silent majority of Americans, you know, they understand what's happening. They know people need to eat, and they know people need to have their crops protected --

BALDWIN: Bob Parsons --

PARSONS: -- and they understand the situation.

BALDWIN: Bob Parsons, last question. I think you answer it had already in one of your answers already.

Given all of this that's happened, are you going back? Are you going back to hunt elephants?

PARSONS: Well, here's what I'm going back to do. You know, see the thing is, you guys only tell part of the story, just shoot elephants, shoot elephants.

BALDWIN: Sir, we're having you on for five whole minutes here.

PARSONS: I'm going back next year and the year after and the year after to deal with problem elephants and to help the farmers raise their crops and to have something to eat, yes, absolutely.

BALDWIN: Bob Parsons, GoDaddy.com CEO, thank you, sir.

And now watch this.

(VIDEO CLIP, "THE KENNEDYS")

BALDWIN: A controversial new movie about the Kennedy family debuts on television, but not on the channel that commissioned its filming. What's up with the brouhaha? That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You remember that Kennedy miniseries the History Channel decided not to air in the United States, the one starring Greg Kinnear as JFK, Katie Holmes at Jackie? Well, it premiers on the Reelz Channel this Sunday.

CNN's Kareen Wynter looks at the controversy surrounding the miniseries and why some say it's just bad history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG KINNEAR, AS JFK: You haven't said anything yet.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But some critics who have watched Hollywood's latest take on the famous Kennedy family dynasty say they have seen enough, and that the $25 million miniseries, "The Kennedys," is as controversial as the Kennedy family itself.

Presidential historian and USC Professor Richard Reeves, who has seen advanced copies of the series, say the portrayal of the 35th president was not the real John F. Kennedy.

RICHARD REEVES, AUTHOR/PROFESSOR, USC: Eight hours, much of which was imagined conversations about unimportant things.

I would say half the show, I'm guessing, was just made up out of whole cloth.

WYNTER (on camera): Even the History Channel, which commissioned the docudrama, dumped the project saying, quote, " --this dramatic interpretation is not fit for the History brand."

(voice-over): Robert Kennedy Jr. recently told "Access Hollywood," "The Kennedys" is nothing more than a twisted take on history.

ROBERT KENNEDY JR.: It's historically inaccurate. I don't think that in any case, whoever it's about, we should be -- we should be teaching history to Americans that is not true.

WYNTER: Reelz Channel pick up the series, which begins airing this weekend. The company CEO, Stan Hubbard, stands by the project.

STAN HUBBARD, CEO, REELZ CHANNEL: We've got a lot of the history backed up on it. It's all there. It's not like we went out looking for the most radioactive miniseries ever made.

WYNTER: Greg Kinnear plays JFK and Katie Holmes stars at Jackie Kennedy. Their performances aside, critics have panned the project say the series isn't breaking new ground with tireless references to JFK's womanizing ways.

KATIE HOLMES, AS JACKIE KENNEDY: I've had my private humiliations, but I won't have them in front of the American people.

WYNTER: And the president's prescription drug use.

REEVES: The other thing I think they should have emphasized is not that the man was using drugs, but why he was using -- or pharmaceuticals -- why he was using pharmaceuticals. Because he was a very sick man. They present him more as an addict.

WYNTER: Kinnear say JFK had his flaws, but doesn't feel his portrayal in "The Kennedys" is too salacious.

KINNEAR: There's nothing in this show that you can't go read in my daughter's school library.

WYNTER: While story has been told many times, America is still fascinated with this famous family and their political reign. Reeves says that's what will attract viewers.

REEVES: You've got a classic narrative where the young prince becomes the king, tries to change things and is killed. The story is -- is irresistible.

WYNTER: As irresistible as America's thirst for stories about this famous family.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So who goes first? Who goes fifth? Order is everything in presidential primary season. Jessica Yellin has the very latest off the CNN Political Ticker next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And now let's talk politics with one of my favorite colleagues, Jessica Yellin in Washington with the latest news from the Political Ticker.

Jessica, happy Friday to you.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Happy Friday.

The big news today -- well, kind of big -- Florida, Brooke, says it will go fifth. What am I talking? Presidential politics and when each state gets to vote.

There's a big game that's played in setting up the early voting states, because, obviously, whoever goes first has a big say in winnowing down the field. Usually, it goes Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, then Nevada. But this year Florida said I'm not going to follow those rules, we're going to jump ahead of everyone.

Well, now word is Florida has agreed -- well, the Republican Party chair in Florida has said they will go fifth, and that's because the Republicans threaten to pull their convention from Tampa if they didn't play along nice.

That's even a compromise. We'll see if they are allowed to keep that seat, but we're going to hear a lot more stories like this one as we get closer to the presidential nominating contest right now.

This whole week, President Obama, you know, he's been on a clean energy push, and here's his latest announcement. This one is interesting. His administration has got some major companies to agree to cut their gasoline consumption by moving their vehicles in their fleets to more energy-efficient cars and trucks, either using alternative fuels or just more efficient vehicles.

So which companies? UPS, AT&T, FedEx, PepsiCo and Verizon have all agreed to do this, and their goal, the president's, is to cut the U.S. oil imports by one-third by 2025.

And today's April Fools' Day. So far no one has pulled a gag on me, I'm waiting. But the Republican Senatorial Campaign committee did pull a gag. They have a new ad up on YouTube, but it's the first fake President Obama for reelection 2012 ad, and it features President Obama riding a unicorn in a rainbow. I have a feeling we'll see more things like that coming up.

Did you get any April Fools' pranks played on you?

BALDWIN: Clever crafty VJs in the studio, they said what did you spill on your dress and, of course, did I this, and they said "April Fools'."

YELLIN: That's good. I would have fallen for that.

BALDWIN: Yes, I totally did.

YELLIN: You look great.

BALDWIN: No whoopee cushions for you. YELLIN: Not yet.

BALDWIN: All right, Jess. Thank you. Have a great weekend.

Coming up next here, we all remember this little girl, the little girl who wanted to learn how government works. She was killed, gunned down along with several other people back in January. Well, today angel wings for Christina Taylor Greene. We'll take you live and talk about that statue next.

And how good is the news in today's jobs report? Alison Kosik puts it all in perspective for us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Jobs and a lot of them. A tribute to a little girl we all came to know. And the surprise for you today, take a look at this guy. The newest host of the CNN family joins me. We're going to get to him in just a moment.

But I want to begin with Alison Kosik in New York. More than 200,000 jobs were added in the month of March. So the big question who is hiring?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the good news, Brooke, is that all of these job additions that you're talking about happened in the private sector, so, sure. If you're looking for a new job, at least this is who was hiring back in March. The biggest gains that we saw were in health care, manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, mostly food services there.

Temporary help, we also saw a bump there. It's a pretty good way to get your foot in the day door and make your stay a little longer and administrative services, clerical jobs, administrative assistants, gains in job positions there.

BALDWIN: Whenever we talk positive news, we have to couch it with we still have a long way to go, don't we?

KOSIK: And, you know, you're absolutely right about that. And 13.5 million people, Brooke, are still out of work. That's the reality we're in right now, and we have to see the big job gains of, you know, 150,000, to 200,000 every month to keep up with population growth.

And the thing about the unemployment rate. We've seen it tick down to 8.8 percent, but I'm telling you, it's going to go back up and that's not bad because what it really means is people are actually getting back into the labor force, looking for work, and then they are going to be counted in that unemployment number.

This happens when people hear that jobs are being added every month so they get less discouraged and more hopeful. Right now, you know, a lot of time is signature on the sidelines, don't think there's jobs out there. So hopefully as the months go along, when we see month after month hopefully that we're adding lots of jobs, they will get back out there and try and find a new job, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

BALDWIN: Next here in Arizona today the dedication of freedom's angel, a statue to honor Christina Taylor Greene, the little girl killed back on January 8th in that shooting rampage in Tucson. Ted Rowlands is joining me live from Arizona for the dedication. Ted, tell me about the angel statue.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, this is a quick glimpse at it here. Christina Greene was born on 9/11, and this statue incorporates a lot of 9/11 in it. Of course, she came into the world on 9/11 and was killed in the Tucson shooting tragedy. What you see here is an actual I-beam of steel from the World Trade Center.

BALDWIN: Oh, wow.

ROWLANDS: And inside the remnants of the crash site at the Pentagon. And then these two boulders on each side came from the flight 93 crash site. So her life touched a lot of people obviously, and the fact that she was born on 9/11 wore as a badge of honor according to her parents, so they are incorporating it in this statue that will be unveiled.

BALDWIN: That's beautiful, all of that there. We have to think about, can't imagine what her parents are going through. Have you checked in with them? How are they?

ROWLANDS: Well, we talked to a very close family friend, and they are guarding their privacy very dearly over the last few months.

BALDWIN: Sure.

ROWLANDS: And they are, as you can expect, going through a whole horrible time, but they are going to be here tonight, and her father will speak at this ceremony. They are expecting a couple thousand people.

BALDWIN: Is this a little league field? That's kind of perfect, right, with her dad?

ROWLANDS: Yes. Absolutely. Her dad is a scout for the L.A. dodgers. Can you see they are getting things ready at the field and her grandfather, Dallas green was a major league player and won a World Series. Baseball is a huge part of the series and Christina wanted to be the first female baseball player, professional baseball player ever. A lot of people think she might have done it. One person pointedly said it's great she's getting a statue, but it's opening day here at this park, and she should be here playing baseball.

BALDWIN: Ted Rowlands in Arizona. Ted, thank you.

Next here, Dr. Drew, whose new show premiers Monday on CNN's sister network HLN. His show promises no show is too taboo. Dr. Drew, what top sick not taboo for Monday? Nice to meet you. DR. DREW PINSKY, NIGHTLY SHOW PREMIERES MONDAY ON HLN: Nice to meet you, Brooke. No topic.

BALDWIN: No topic.

PINSKY: How about that? No topic is too taboo. We'll be getting into the people in the center of the stories, dissecting what it is that makes people do what they do. We'll be doing things in a way that's somewhat different than most people out there.

BALDWIN: What about Monday, give me something, Dr. Drew. What are you talking about?

PINSKY: All right, as far as I know on Monday we have exclusive interview -- can I say this and talk about this, with the young girl, I don't know if you saw -- this is happening live right now in front of your eyes, the young girl who made an Internet sensation with this video that is so beautiful where she's holding up words about bullying and about the impact it's had on her life that it's driving her to the point where she's nearly cutting and needs help.

I recommend people to please click on to that and view that video. It is very moving. I have the exclusive interview with that delightful young lady and her familiar

BALDWIN: I how is she doing? How is she?

PINSKY: She's doing great. She's an amazing kid, and I think people will be very interested to hear her thoughts and as usual out of mouths of babes this 13-year-old gave us this incredibly clear and powerful message about the impact of bullying. I want to know from her what can be done about it. She had such a clear notion of what the problem is. I bet she's got some answers for us, and you'll have to watch here to find that out.

BALDWIN: We will, and speaking of children, Dr. Drew, we pulled out a little bit of trivia, not a lot of people maybe know about you, that you're a dad of triplets who I guess are all 18 and all of them are heading to college this fall.

PINSKY: That's right.

BALDWIN: Yikes, good luck with the tuitions there.

PINSKY: They are going to schools all over the country.

BALDWIN: Really.

PINSKY: New York and Tennessee and Massachusetts, so it's going to be something.

BALDWIN: Wow.

So with the fact that you're a father of multiples there's a little piece of video that I'm sure you've seen that's made the rounds this week. Watch this and I'm curious, Dr. Drew, your thoughts. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So what do you think? You see the video. Did your little ones do this?

PINSKY: Oh, absolutely. It looks very familiar to us. Triplets and twins have a long heritage of developing their own languages, and in fact one of my sons had that da-da-da type language in spades. He really did that a lot. The other two were more silent.

But can you see the source of language, the beginnings of elements in language developing. And twins are well known to develop their own language as well before they develop the language in the ambient culture.

BALDWIN: So they are communicating, according to Dr. Drew, fascinating. We have a picture I'm being told, picture of your three little ones. How long ago was that?

PINSKY: Oh, my gosh, about 17 years ago.

BALDWIN: Surprise.

PINSKY: If you wonder what turned my hair gray, it was that year. I had dark hair -- my kids look at the pictures now from when they were babies, what happened to your hair?

BALDWIN: Oh, my gosh.

PINSKY: Now they are 18 and going off to Amherst and Vanderbilt and Barnard and wonderful institutions, and I'm so excited for them. Have great lives ahead. I can't wait to see what they all become.

BALDWIN: I'm glad we could surprise that and pull that out. Dr. Drew, your three little ones. We'll all be watching the new show. The new show premiers Monday night 9:00 eastern on our sister network HLN. Dr. Drew, best of luck to you. No topic too taboo.

Coming up here, a prosecutor's unusual decision to release damning murder scene evidence even after the murder suspect is dead. Do you remember this, the Craigslist killer story? Sunny Hostin has details on that next.

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BALDWIN: Prosecutors try to prove they solved a murder more than six months after the suspect committed suicide. Remember this story, the craigslist killer case? A 25-year-old woman who advertised erotic massages on craigslist was found beaten and robbed and shot to death in a Boston hotel room.

A hotel camera captures medical student Philip Markov, arrested and charged with murder. Remember his fiancee that whole time stood behind him, described Markov as beautiful inside and out. Remember this? Last August Markov killed himself in jail before there could even be a trial, but now prosecutors have released thousands of pieces of evidence in this case, evidence they say would have easily convicted Markov.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL F. CONLEY, SUFFOLK COUNTRY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I would suggest, however, that you'll find as you go through these files that in this case that the evidence of his guilt wasn't just sufficient for a conviction, it was and remains overwhelming, absolute, and incontrovertible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin is on the case. Sunny, what evidence? What incontrovertible evidence did the prosecutors release?

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Well, I think the question is what didn't they release? I mean, they released 220 CDs containing 3,000 pages, Brooke, of documents, and they also had on hand the actual physical evidence in the case.

They had sort of this "Grey's Anatomy" book. Remember he was a medical student that carved out for many pages where a 0.9 millimeter semi-automatic handgun fit in perfectly and was allegedly that the weapon he used to murder Jalissa Brisman. That was also on display.

The ties that he allegedly used to tie his victims, that was also on display. Interestingly enough, also what's called a gag ball in law enforcement, it's something that a lot of times criminals put inside their victim's mouths to keep them from making any noise, to keep them silent during these crimes.

And last but not least blood on his shoes, the bloody shoes that also contained the blood of Jalissa Brisman, his last and final victim. Really, when he said damning evidence.

BALDWIN: He meant it.

HOSTIN: I would say that is accurate, yes.

BALDWIN: But Markov killed himself six months ago.

HOSTIN: Right.

BALDWIN: So why release the evidence now?

HOSTIN: Well, you know, a lot of people were saying, well, he killed himself. It doesn't mean that he did these horrible crimes, and there have been in the legal community, Brooke, just all of these rumors swirling around.

I think Jalissa Brisman's family really pressured this district attorney to release a lot of this evidence so that people would at least know, yes, they believed that he committed these heinous crimes.

BALDWIN: Case number two.

HOSTIN: And it is unprecedented.

BALDWIN: Yes, it is?

HOSTIN: It is unprecedented. It has never been done in Suffolk County, and in my career, it's something that I haven't seen.

BALDWIN: OK. Case number two, lawsuit filed against August Busch IV. It accuses the heir of the beer fortune of carelessness and negligence in the death of his girlfriend that was last year at his mansion.

It turns out his girlfriend overdosed on Oxycodone. She also had a lethal level of cocaine in her system. So Sunny, who is suing here?

HOSTIN: It's interesting. Her son, her surviving son is suing, and his father is suing on his behalf. I've got to tell you, I have a cope right here of this petition for damages. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

It doesn't really tell us why Busch would be liable. It doesn't tell us what the theory of the plaintiff is, but it does tell me that they are looking for some money here, and it also tells me, Brooke, that this is a case that may end up in settlement.

BALDWIN: So should we mark this one case solved?

HOSTIN: Not case solved, but certainly case ripe for settlement. That's how I would mark it.

BALDWIN: Got it. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much, as always, and now to this.

A developing story, it's happening right now. High over the tree tops of Iowa, thousands of you online have been captivated by these pictures of a live bald eagle birth cam. That's what they are calling it. We're going to check it out coming up next.

Also, remember this time last year that President Obama in his -- this isn't the picture, but he was in his dad jeans, got a little bit of flack over the dad jeans throwing out the first pitch in the Nats game.

Last night comedians will have curveball one-liners galore this year. Joe Johns explains in the "Political Pop."

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BALDWIN: If you thought watching little chicks hatch in the incubator in elementary school was way cool. Try watching an eagle's nest some 80 feet up in the air. You've got to see this.

This is live u-stream of an eagle's nest, mommy eagle sitting proud in her nest in a tree somewhere in Iowa where mother and father eagle await three eggs to hatch. Any minute now, pretty windy. You hear that? She's sitting tight, protecting her little chickies. Thanks to the Raptor Research Project. The more than 100,000 people from all over the world are watching this u-stream and will actually get a bird's eye view of those little hatchlings.

And now we are less than 10 minutes away from "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.

Wolf, I know, as you mentioned earlier, you're going to be talking a lot about that horrible story out of Afghanistan today, 12 dead.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": You know, it's really shocking that it's almost 10 years after the U.S. went into Afghanistan after 9/11. There still is this kind of deep anger that's manifested, tried to manifest is against the United States.

They couldn't Americans so they went to the second closest target, which are United Nations personnel in Mazare Sharif. We thought it was relatively safe in that area. Obviously, there's a deep residue of anger.

We're going to go and check that out and see what's going on. Chris Lawrence, our Pentagon correspondent is all over that story. We're certainly going to take a look at what's happening elsewhere in the region throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Lots of demonstrations on this Friday after prayers, and we'll spend a lot of time obviously in Libya as well. Nic Robertson will be joining us. We'll check in with Ben Wedeman on the ground and Reza Sayah.

Also, Professor Fouad Ajami is going to live in "THE SITUATION ROOM." He's a professor of Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies here in Washington, D.C.

He has some strong views, excellent analysis of what's going on. Jim Zogby will be joining us as well. He's got a book on Arab voices. So got a full two hours coming up.

BALDWIN: The A-team lining up now, Wolf Blitzer. We will all be watching. Thank you so much.

And still to come here, how secretive is the Obama White House? Remember they promised not to be? They just won an award for being transparent. There's actually a hitch to that.

Joe Johns explains what we're talking about in the "Political Pop." Stay there.

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BALDWIN: So President Obama recently received an award for transparency, you know, the idea that of open government, but that meeting was completely closed to members of the media. Joe Johns with some "Political Pop" for this Friday. Joe, transparency, closed door, transparency, closed door. Explain.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I can't figure out why they did it. I've called and e-mailed them and have not heard back. You know, they not only closed the meeting to the media. They didn't even put it on the president's public schedule.

So you get this eye-catching headline closed meeting on openness in government and, of course, the people who went to the oval office to give the president the award, the transparency advocates as it were very open about that.

Calling the White House and the way it handled it baffling, bone- headed, and I think a bungled opportunity. A lot of Bs in there.

BALDWIN: A lot of Bs. A lot of Bs. We also know there's been some dispute over just how transparent this particular administration has been anyway.

JOHNS: Yes, right. Critics have compared this award to something like the Nobel Prize, giving the president recognition in hopes he'll do what he said he's going to do when he ran, but there are people around town who say if you compare Obama to some previous administrations like George W. Bush, Obama is going to get pretty decent marks.

BALDWIN: OK. Let's talk baseball, shall we. You a baseball fan, Joe Johns?

JOHNS: Yes, I love baseball. I'll go see the national's game.

BALDWIN: When I was still living in D.C., I got to cover the opening night of the NATS stadium, which was really fun and exciting. And we know, you know, every opening season, it's the president throwing out the first pitch, but last night, President Obama wasn't there.

JOHNS: Right.

BALDWIN: Why?

JOHNS: Short drive from the White House to the national's game. He could have thrown out that ceremonial first pitch. I mean, there's a widespread explanation, not attributed to the White House directly, that he got too much attention and criticism for picking his brackets for March madness.

And that he doesn't want to be seen as over indulging his love for sports while you have so many international crises swirling, that's the guess. He's done it before. We have pictures of him from last year, and then the year before, he wore these jeans that, what do they call them, the dad jeans.

BALDWIN: Dad jeans.

JOHNS: Right, people gave him a lot of -- a lot of heat for that.

BALDWIN: There they are. There are the dad jeans.

JOHNS: Nice.

BALDWIN: Do we know who threw out first pitch last night?

JOHNS: Several members of the U.S. Armed Forces there.

BALDWIN: OK.

JOHNS: So if you can't get the commander in chief, get some of the troops.

BALDWIN: I like it.

JOHNS: Right.

BALDWIN: Did we hear, this is confirmed, Larry King coming up?

JOHNS: I did hear that, but I don't know if it's confirmed.

BALDWIN: OK, not confirmed. Maybe we'll be seeing him. Finally, I want to give you the opportunity to update the story we were talking about yesterday, Congressman Sean Duffy and the videotape showing him explaining about the six-figure salary. What's the update?

JOHNS: All right, well, Duffy's press secretary yesterday complained to us and said this video, which appeared on tpm.com had been selectively edited. We got a response from TPM and they deny selective editing.

What they did though was they put the whole video up on the internet earlier this week and got a copyright infringement complaint from Republicans in Duffy's home state so TPM says on advice of lawyers, they republished a short clip, as short as possible to show Duffy's key statements. But after the reporting yesterday they reposted the whole video so just like we said yesterday you can judge for yourself.

BALDWIN: Yes, I saw that and woke up and read by TPM and glad you're able to give the update there and also speak with the congressman's office. Joe Johns doing the due diligence as always.

Mr. Johns, have a fantastic weekend. Thank you so much. All of you have a great weekend. I'm Brooke Baldwin. That does it for me here in Atlanta. Handing things off now to my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, in Washington, "THE SITUATION ROOM." Wolf to you.