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Leaders Declare Iraq War Over; Alabama's Immigration Controversy; Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman Square Off in Debate; Cellphone Camera Captures Shooting; College Basketball Teams Fight at End of Game; Woman Uses Facebook to Help Solve Murder

Aired December 12, 2011 - 15:02   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now this. Hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Here are a couple of stories we're looking at.

First, the Iraq war formally declared over. New developments about the American drone lost in Iran. And a fantastic light show soon for many of you.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

Dan Lothian, let's start with you at the White House. This is where President Obama is hosting the prime minister of Iraq today. Did we hear this correctly that the two men formally declared the Iraq war over?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You did hear that correctly, saying this is a war that lasted almost nine years.

But the president and prime minister also pointing out there are some big challenges that remain. There are concerns over whether or not Iraq can handle its own security, whether or not it can have a stable government, and how it will be able to deal with influences from neighboring countries like Iran. And so those are some key issues that will no doubt draw the attention and continue to keep the attention of this administration.

I should also point out though on this day both of the leaders using this phase to remember all of those who lost their lives in the war, laying a wreath over at Arlington National Cemetery, where some of the 4,500 U.S. troops are buried.

BALDWIN: Dan, what about support? What kind of support to Iraq did President Obama promise, be it trade, military, et cetera?

LOTHIAN: Yes, certainly all of those. We heard the president talk about that, in fact , the U.S. planning to sell F-16s to Iraq to replace some of their fighter jets that were destroyed during the war. The president also talked about lifting some of the trade restrictions to allow more exports, also assisting in the areas of health care and agriculture.

So the U.S. will still be playing an active role inside Iraq, although it will not be a military footprint.

BALDWIN: Dan Lothian at the White House -- Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," President Obama making a huge revelation also about that missing American drone.

For that, let's go to the State Department to Elise Labott.

And, Elise, we're now hearing the U.S. has in fact reached out to Iran about said drone, yes?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN PRODUCER: That's right.

Secretary Clinton just said moments ago the U.S. has offered a formal request to Iran to send back that drone that was basically a reconnaissance drone according to U.S. officials over the border with Afghanistan.

Iran has basically said, forget about it. They have called the Swiss ambassador to Tehran who looks out for the U.S. in Iran to complain about the drone, and the deputy commander of the Iranian armed forces said, look, nobody likes spy drones in its territory and we certainly don't give them back. No nation would do that.

So it doesn't look like President Obama is going to get that drone back for an early holiday present. And Secretary Clinton just meeting with Foreign Secretary of the U.K. William Hague. It looks like there's going to be a lot of pressure on Iran over the coming years. So this is just another dot point, as they like to say, connecting the dots to put the pressure on Iran.

BALDWIN: Yes. OK, knowing though that they have communicated trying to get that thing back, obviously.

Elise Labott, thank you very much.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And that's your "Reporter Roulette" for us for this Monday.

Still ahead, a Republican changes his mind on about his state's tough immigration law. Incidents involving Honda and Mercedes has sparked another about-face. We're going to speak with him live.

Plus, a woman sees this on Facebook -- quote -- "Someone call 911. Three dead bodies."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just kind of freak out when I seen it, thinking to myself, is this true or is it fake?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Just minutes after a man changed his status update on Facebook, a horrific discovery there. We're on the case.

Also, Newt Gingrich sort of sounds like a bit of a broken record when it comes to pushing for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate, right? He's been wanting to do this. Well, he's about to get his wish less than one hour from now.

And some shoppers who have some items on layaway suddenly don't have to pay for it. They're getting it for free. Wait until you hear why. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

Now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The clock is ticking. We're in the final minutes now. Troops and sailors are in position, ready for whatever the president says they have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Kyra Phillips in the middle of Iraq during the war's biggest moments, including her time inside -- this was her exclusive inside Saddam Hussein's cell, and what General David Petraeus did not tell her on the ground. Kyra is going to join me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In depth this on CNN, we are all about Iraq, now that we're in the home stretch here of the U.S. military presence, 6,000 U.S. troops there today on four bases. That is quite the contrast to the nearly 200,000 troops on more than 500 bases just a couple of years ago.

President Obama set a date, December 31. That is for nearly every American service member to be out of the country, and that appears to be, that timeline appears to be track.

And CNN's Kyra Phillips made four different trips to Iraq over the course of that war. She talked to Iraqis. She traveled with troops. And now she reports on the men and women who are home, combat veterans of America's most recent war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mission objectives, hit the target.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seven aircrafts did drop bombs over Iraq.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Eight years ago I was there when the Iraq war began, from the air.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: they have got it in their sights. PHILLIPS: Land.

(on camera): The number of threats ground troops are dealing with.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): And sea.

(on camera): There are five weapon stations on this special operations craft.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): I met some of the bravest men and women I have ever known. A bravery that came at a physical and mental price.

(on camera): In one word, how would you describe the war in Iraq?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sacrifice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bittersweet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mistake.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): These are veterans of "Operation Iraqi Freedom," from the Army, Air Force, Marines. All impacted in some way by this war.

(on camera): Was the war worth it to you?

JOSH AGUILAR, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: As an infantryman I was on the ground a lot. I talked to a lot of families and individuals in the Iraqi populous.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Staff Sergeant Josh Aguilar was on the ground when it began, his first of three deployments.

AGUILAR: I felt as long as I gave somebody else the opportunity to have the same democracy, same hopes and freedoms that we can have every day, maybe some of those things that I did, some of the sacrifices that my friends made were worth a little bit of something.

PHILLIPS: Aguilar retired six months ago and starts school in January.

(on camera): Sarah, how about you? Was it worth it?

SARAH OLDRIDGE, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I think I'm on the fence. I know there have been a lot of Iraqi casualties, but how many more would there have been if we weren't there?

PHILLIPS: Staff Sergeant Sarah Oldridge is now a paralegal in the Air Force Reserve and works at a private security company.

(on camera): You were a teenager building bombs. How did you process that?

OLDRIDGE: You build those bombs. They don't come back. You know that someone's dead and it's hard to be happy about that, but at the same time, I was happy that it wasn't me.

PHILLIPS: How did that change you?

OLDRIDGE: I think at the time you just kind of become cold and callous to it. It's self-preservation.

PHILLIPS: That you went from being a U.S. marine to studying peace and conflict at U.C. Berkeley. Talk about a switch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have say hard time understanding why we went there in the first place, going in under false pretenses for weapons of mass destruction. I wanted to gain a better understanding of what I had experienced. Getting out of the military took me at least a year to try to negotiate being a civilian again.

PHILLIPS: Negotiate being a civilian. What do you mean by that? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very definitely ready to end my five-year enlistment, but when I got out I didn't anticipate the feeling of loss, especially in terms of really strong ties and bonds between me and the guys that I served with.

JESSI TSENG, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I struggled with seeing my friends contemplate suicide.

PHILLIPS: Jessi Tseng was an Army sergeant in Iraq, an assistant to a brigade commander. Now with a degree in sociology, she's dedicating her life to saving fellow vets.

TSENG: Seeing them deal with alcohol abuse, drug abuse, homelessness, that was the most difficult thing for me to see. I witnessed them save someone's life in Iraq and they can't save their own anymore? It hurt me.

PHILLIPS: Ramsey Raher was an army specialist, honorably discharged just five months ago. He's now living in a transitional housing facility.

(on camera): You've also struggled quite a bit since you got back. You're two months sober. That's positive.

RAMSEY RAHER, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Why did you turn to alcohol?

RAHER: I had to see good patriotic Americans with good fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, pay the ultimate sacrifice and that played a heavy emotional toll on myself.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Ramsey received two purple hearts in less than a year.

RAHER: There was small arms contact, mortar attacks, interact firearm bases. I mean you're constantly dealing with a barrage of ammunitions. Some of those events still haunt me.

PHILLIPS (on camera): Do you feel safe now? RAHER: Now that I'm sober, yes.

PHILLIPS: The war on Iraq, how did it impact your marriages, your families?

OLDRIDGE: You know how they say the first year of marriage is tough? Try deploying three months after you get married. You learn a lot about yourself, about your marriage, about your spouse. We had a lot of fights, but we talked it out and I can definitely say that our marriage is much stronger.

PHILLIPS: Josh, you've got a bit of a different story.

AGUILAR: A little bit. I was married six months before I deployed for the first time in Iraq. I very specifically remember writing my wife a letter saying things are different for me. I can feel them. I can tell.

So when I came home on top of me dealing with my own issues and on top of her becoming pregnant with our first child, it caused a lot of big gaps in our relationship.

By the time I deployed for my second deployment a year and a half later, it was over. As I was walking out the door, I already knew this is the last time we're going to share a home together.

PHILLIPS: Our troops are coming home. What's your advice?

RAHER: My advice is just listen to the command. They do a very good job of giving mandatory briefings that deal with subjects such as suicide, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse and don't diminish the good work that you did.

OLDRIDGE: You have to be open. You have to communicate. You have to be willing to talk about what you're feeling. Otherwise, you just going to ball it up and be angry.

MATT HOWARD, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: My advice is just listen to the command. They do a very good job of giving mandatory briefings that deal with subjects such as suicide, domestic abuse, alcohol abuse and don't diminish the good work that you did. Realistically, people are not necessarily meant to kill other people. They're going to have a reaction to that.

AGUILAR: Fighting those emotions and fighting those problems on your own isn't going to help. You fight as a team. You need help as a team.

TSENG: Eighteen veterans succeed in committing suicide a day and 32 veterans attempt to commit suicide every day. These are insane statistics and it's real. I always think about everyone that we've lost in Iraq, and I live my life to fulfill what they could have done in the future but they can't now.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Five voices of survival and sacrifice soon to be joined by the nearly 40,000 troops headed home leaving Iraq for good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Kyra Phillips, what a piece.

And I just respect you and I respect that you -- the four times you went, the fact that I think it speaks volumes that you kept up with these people, that they were willing to sit back down with you. So, I have so many questions on that, but I do want to ask you about when you were...

PHILLIPS: Pretty amazing individuals, let me tell you.

BALDWIN: It's amazing.

PHILLIPS: And I saw a lot of very young kids, and I'm talking teenagers, early 20s. I mean, I know that's -- they grew up really fast.

BALDWIN: You watched them grow up, kind of.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: You did. You were also -- one of your trips over there, you got the exclusive inside Saddam Hussein's cell?

BALDWIN: Yes. This was interesting.

From the start of the war and then spending so many months there and then going back a number of times, one of the generals, I told him I really want to get inside Saddam's cell. I know there was a diary. He wrote poetry.

BALDWIN: I imagine that wasn't easy getting in there.

PHILLIPS: No, it wasn't.

And let me tell you, it was fascinating from a number of perspectives. Nobody knew this until we broke the story. Saddam was actually -- he was being held as a prisoner in the one palace he used to reign in.

BALDWIN: Wow.

PHILLIPS: So the palace that he committed so many crimes and lived this luxurious life, he was now being housed.

BALDWIN: Locked away.

PHILLIPS: Locked away, held as a prisoner with no rights.

And he -- every day, he would sit in this garden. He tried to plant a garden. Everything died. Thought that was interesting.

BALDWIN: Symbolic.

PHILLIPS: And he would write in this diary every single day. Some of it just crazy manifesto-type language. He would write poetry. I actually -- here is a little clip. Do you want to hear a bit of little bit of this?

BALDWIN: Yes, please, Saddam Hussein poetry.

PHILLIPS: I had to write this down.

Saddam Hussein, you would not think that he would write this: "The nights are darker after the sunset, but the smoke and burning overwhelms the city. You will feel suffocated under its skies. My days are now nights and numbered, no stars, no moon, but lots of screams."

It's pretty wild.

BALDWIN: Wow. Thanks for sharing, Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

BALDWIN: And thanks for your piece and these amazing people. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Appreciate it.

BALDWIN: Coming up here next: a Republican in Alabama having some second thoughts about his state's tough immigration law, partly because of what happened to Honda and Mercedes workers in his own state.

Alabama State Majority Whip Gerald Dial is standing by live. He's going to tell me what has changed his mind. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In Alabama, you have got supporters of the state's new illegal immigration law expressing some buyer's remorse. It recently came to a head after police arrested a German who ended later turned out to be a Mercedes-Benz executive, Mercedes-Benz, a major employer in the state of Alabama.

Also then, a Japanese man was detained, and he turned out to work for Honda, another big employer. That prompted a paper in Missouri to invite foreign carmakers to relocate there. Take a look at the quote: "We are the Show Me State, not the show me your papers state" -- "Saint Louis Post-Dispatch."

Joining me now from Montgomery, State Senator Gerald Dial. He is Alabama's Republican whip.

And, Senator Dial, thanks for coming on.

I know you supported this law, parts of which took effect back in September. It's considered now -- and I have talked to your governor, he agrees -- the nation's toughest. Are you, sir, having some second thoughts?

GERALD DIAL (R), ALABAMA STATE SENATOR: We certainly are. And we're also looking at making some changes in this law.

We probably overreached. I think most people in Alabama agree that we overreached on this law. And we have met with Attorney General Luther Strange and look at some change that needs to be made to this law. And that's the good thing about the legislature. The bill we passed last year, we can start in this legislative session and make some changes.

BALDWIN: We will talk about some of that overreaching and maybe potential changes in a minute.

But in terms of I guess the image, are you worried at all that your state is being branded as being hostile to overseas businesses, some surrounding states, i.e. Missouri, clearly eager to push that idea?

DIAL: Well, I certainly am.

And, you know, recruiting industry is one of the most competitive things in America. It's worse than recruiting quarterbacks for your high school or college football team. And so we're certainly concerned about this. And we have worked diligently in this state for 40 years to overcome some of the images that we have had.

And to see it certainly regress back to those images that are certainly not Alabama, that don't portray the true and real Alabama certainly bothers all of us. So, we're committed to making some changes so we can help to overcome those images.

BALDWIN: And just so I'm clear, sir, when you say make changes, we're not talking repeal the law. You're making tweaks. Is that correct?

DIAL: Well, we're talking about some tweaks, but some major tweaks that we think will make this law more amenable to people of this state.

What we did, we overreached, and we -- not only in trying to make sure we didn't have illegal immigrants in this state. We also have penalized our own citizens who have lived here all their lives. All the hardships we placed on them are also hardships that we tried to place on illegal immigrants. And this was not the intention of this bill. It was not my intention.

And I made a mistake in voting on this bill as it is today, and I'm a person that will admit I made a mistake, and I'm committed to trying to correct those mistakes. And we're working on those as you speak.

BALDWIN: All right. So, as you -- you admit this mistake, how, then, do you craft legislation that would ensure your police officers don't arrest more foreign executives whose firms provide jobs to the people of your state? DIAL: Well, you know, that was a unique case and certainly one that probably could have been handled with a lot more compassion. But, you know, when with I go to Europe I have to have my passport to even check in a hotel.

So the individual should have certainly should have had identification with him. He made a mistake. I don't know all the details, but he could have been a little more compassionate, say, send somebody to the room and get your passport and identify yourself.

We've put our law enforcement people in an awkward position of trying to enforce a law that's not really that clear. I've met with the attorney general of this state, Luther Strange, last week. He has come forward with some suggestions in changing the bill, and some of these we're going to encompass into a bill that we're going to introduce early on in the session.

BALDWIN: So perhaps the toughest immigration law in the land may no longer be that way if you have a little something to do with it. We'll stay on this, Alabama state senator Gerald Dial. I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

DIAL: Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: Still ahead, Newt Gingrich and one of his fellow presidential candidates minutes away from facing off in this Lincoln/Douglas debate. And one of the Republicans has a lot riding on this. Jim Acosta is standing by live for us in New Hampshire. He's got a preview of that debate.

Plus, you are about to meet a guy who is changing the future of technology and how we listen to music. His invention may actually show up in your living room. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to a guy who's creating new worlds through the magic of technology. And his work, you will see it soon. He's on CNN's "Next List" First.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So an app album is a brand new thing. The idea is to create a complete, fully immersive interactive experience that involves visuals, music, and interactivity. You used to take an album home and you'd have to play it on a record player. I think there's something kind of reverential, like almost spiritual the way we would kind of bond with an album. So the app has the potential to bring that back. And the way it does it is by demanding all of your senses at once.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Don't forget to watch CNN's brand new show "The Next List," featuring some of America's brightest minds. Dr. Sanjay Gupta hosts on Sundays right here on CNN. Now you have Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman both in New Hampshire today, ready to battle it out one-on-one. And Jim Acosta live in Manchester for our America's choice 2012 politics update and preview of this debate. So we know, Jim, Jon Huntsman has been behind in the polls for a little while now, even in those critical battleground states. Will this debate help him at all?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it could. If there's a moment during this debate, Brooke, where Huntsman really draws blood from Newt Gingrich, then that is something that you can just talk to Mitt Romney about, it's not easy to do, then perhaps it could serve Huntsman well.

He is really banking his whole campaign on New Hampshire. As you know, Brooke. He's not campaigning in Iowa. He's basically putting Iowa to the side altogether and is staking his entire campaign on winning the New Hampshire primary.

But really, you know, this is going to be interesting to watch Newt Gingrich, because earlier today it was not so much a battle between Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman. It was a battle between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. And it started this morning on FOX News when Governor Romney was on Fox News. He said that Gingrich should give back the money that he made advising Freddie Mac, the housing giant earlier this decade -- earlier last decade, I should say -- and Gingrich with very little time to spare retorted to reporters at an event here in New Hampshire that perhaps Mitt Romney should give back the money he made downsizing companies when he was in charge of the private investment firm Bain Capital. So there's been a back-and- forth all day long today between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, and it sort of overshadowing this debate somewhat.

BALDWIN: So during the debate we'll be watching the back-and- forth between Huntsman and Gingrich. I know Gingrich has been calling for this Lincoln/Douglas style debate. Why is that?

ACOSTA: You know, I think it's mainly because Newt Gingrich -- I think when we look back at this campaign, Brooke, the hallmark of this campaign, the turning points of this campaign have really been these debates. And for Newt Gingrich, almost each and every debate he has wowed conservative audiences. They have liked how he has gone after the media. They've liked the fact that in many of these debates he's said, hey, let's not beat up on each other. Let's focus on President Obama. So these debates have served Newt Gingrich well. They really revived his presidential when it was dead and buried by much of the mainstream media.

And so Gingrich wants to do these every chance he gets. He even challenged Romney to one. Romney said no thanks. And Gingrich says if he gets the nomination he is going to challenge President Obama to a series of Lincoln/Douglas debates. And now he likes to say it at every campaign stop if President Obama does not agree to those debates, Newt Gingrich will now chase him all over the country during a presidential race, saying, hey, I'm in the same town as President Obama. Why won't he debate me? So for Newt Gingrich, this is his bread and butter, and he'll be spreading it extra thick in the next half-hour or so, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You'll be watching. Jim Acosta, thank you so much in New Hampshire.

Still ahead, a grandmother slapped in cuffs after her son-in-law records this wild incident all on his iPhone. We've got the video for you.

Plus, a horrific discovery minutes after this man changes his status update on Facebook, an update that one woman saw in real time. Sunny Hostin is all over this. She is "On the case" for us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Tyler Clementi, the name is synonymous with the debate over cyber-bullying. Clementi was that Rutgers University Student who jumped of the George Washington Bridge some 15 months ago. He killed himself after his roommate allegedly used a webcam to stream video of Clementi in a sexual encounter with another man.

So on Friday, that roommate here turned down a plea deal that would have kept him from going to jail on hate crime charges. And tonight in an exclusive prime-time interview, Tyler Clementi's parents talk about their loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH CLEMENTI, TYLER CLEMENTI'S FATHER: For a long time, I didn't believe it. I didn't think that he had done that. I thought maybe he was kidnapped or he had run away, you know, all of those things. And when they found his body, then I was forced to accept the fact.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now that some time has passed, I'm sure you must be going over in your mind, over and over again, why.

JANE CLEMENTI, TYLER CLEMENTI'S MOTHER: I have gone over it many, many times in my head. And I really cannot come up with -- I guess because there is no good reason for what Tyler did. It was something he did do and it's something that cannot be changed. There is no good reason.

JOSEPH CLEMENTI: And we truly don't know why. We don't know what the why is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And we hope you watch that entire interview. It's an exclusive primetime interview with Tyler Clementi's parents tonight, "AC 360" 8:00 eastern, of course only here on CNN.

A bitter custody battle that ends with a Florida grandmother in jail and her son-in-law treated at the hospital, lucky to be alive. Salvatore Miglino had his cellphone camera running when he went to his mother-in-law's house to pick up his son for court-ordered visitation. Just a warning before we play some of this, what he captured on his camera is tough to listen to. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe you did that! What, are you crazy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You shot me!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe you shot me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get off me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You shot me!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sunny Hostin, I mean, you hear this man, you hear the gunshots, you hear him screaming "You shot me!" have you ever seen anything like this?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: I've never seen anything like this captured on a video camera. It's really remarkable that he had the foresight to think that perhaps something was going to happen to him and he turned on the video camera. That will be state's exhibit number one in the trial against her.

BALDWIN: Apparently he had this feeling that something was up so he turned on that cellphone. I'm sure he's going to be grateful he did. Authorities say this mother-in-law lied to the 911 dispatcher. I want to play part of the call between Cheryl Hepner and the dispatcher.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is 911. What's your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911 -- somebody just shot at me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your address? Do you know this person?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay on the phone with me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just shot at me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shot at you or shot you, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hurt. I'm not shot, but he said I shot at him. He shot at me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So you hear her Sunny in this call. She's flipping the script in the call, saying my son-in-law shot at me. But clearly from the video that her son-in-law shot, she's not telling the truth. That can't help her.

HOSTIN: That's right.

BALDWIN: That can't help her case down the road.

HOSTIN: No, it can't. It's remarkable. She's already been charged with attempted murder. I wonder if she'll be charged with lying on a 911 call. It's pretty unbelievable that without this videotape certainly her version of events may have been the version of events that people may have given credit to.

And so again, it's sort of the wonders of our new social media, or videotaping, of our picture taking, video capabilities, you can always, always use this type of thing as evidence. So I think it's a word to the wise for most people. Big brother is watching. You can always be found to be on camera are or videotape.

BALDWIN: We know there was a whole custody battle playing out as a backdrop of this. What impact does this have on that?

HOSTIN: Well, my understanding, Brooke, is that he was there to pick up had his three-year-old son and that the three-year-old may have seen or at least heard some of this. So the legal standard is what is in the best interests of the child. It certainly isn't in the best interests in the child for his grandmother to shoot his father.

And so I would imagine that the court is going to look at this and grandma will not have visitation anymore. I wonder if the mother is going to have any visitation. Certainly this will change the dynamics in the custody battle.

BALDWIN: Case number two, Sunny Hostin, this woman is in Washington state, on her computer, she's on Facebook. She spots this freshly posted status update from a man she's obviously friends with. Here was the status update. Someone call 911. Three dead bodies, gives this address, says "I've killed Ryan, Erin, and myself. People were warned not to -- bleep -- play me and ruin me. They didn't listen. Sorry about your luck."

So this woman who's on Facebook in Washington state, she pick up the phone, she calls police in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. They go to that address, find three bodies all shot, all killed in this apparent double murder/suicide. The Facebook post is signed to 2:46 p.m. All people three pronounced dead 32 minutes later. Did this woman in Washington state do everything right here?

BALDWIN: She did. I mean, she basically helped solved the crime. It's really remarkable, and I've been speaking to a lot of my law enforcement sources recently, and they are saying, Brooke that Facebook, Twitter, these social media sites are becoming the new face of law enforce. They are being used as investigative tools. So there's no question she did the right thing, but this -- I feel this is sort of 21st century investigation. This is what people are using to crack cases.

BALDWIN: It's one thing people are using to crack cases. But there has to be a fine line. Obviously Facebook, Twitter, et cetera, cannot be the go-to for crime solvers.

HOSTIN: It is becoming the go-to. I think this is how people communicate with each other right now. And, again, it's really fascinating, but law enforcement officers are telling me this is one of the first places that they look when they're investigating crimes.

BALDWIN: It's amazing. Times have changed. Sunny Hostin. Thank you so much.

Next, speaking of new video, have you seen this? A brawl at a college basketball game. And just a short time ago one of the players involved in the fight took to the stage and choked up. We'll play it for you next.

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BALDWIN: An Ohio prosecutor is now saying he will be reviewing this weekend's huge fight between Cincinnati and Xavier basketball teams, and some players could face criminal charges here. It was a horrific sight. Just a couple seconds left in the game. Several days of trash talking between these rivals erupted into this brawl. You see unfold be right on the hardwood. Both schools have already suspended eight players, several for up to six games. But the situation worsened as Xavier players spoke out, then had to come back yesterday and apologize. Watch.

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TU HOLLOWAY, XAVIER BASKETBALL PLAYER: That's what you want to see from Xavier and Cincinnati. We got disrespected a little bit before the game, guys calling us out. We are a tougher team. We are growth men. We got a whole bunch of gangsters in the locker, not thugs, but tough guys on the court, and we went out there and zipped them up at the end of the game. That's our motto, zip them up, and that's what we just did to them.

We're not thugs, we're not bad kids at Xavier University. We will all get degrees. We are incredible young men. So I really apologize for what took place yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, about an hour ago, it was Cincinnati's turn to issue apologies. Look at this. One of the players involved in the fight covering his face, obviously got cloaked up as his teammates told reporters the fight does not reflect who they are. The coach, there, also apologetic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE CROWN, CINCINNATI HEAD COACH: I can tell you how I feel to our university, our alumni, our fans, everybody involved that we let down. We're sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Roots of this rivalry run deep. The two schools less than five miles apart, and some of the players have known each other since they were kids.

"THE SITUATION ROOM" is just a couple minutes away. Let's talk to Wolf Blitzer. Wolf, I just checked your blog. You say you are worried about Iraq. Why?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Very worried about Iraq. I know the president and prime minister of Iraq today put forward a relatively upbeat assessment, but there are so many potential danger signs down the road. We're going to go in-depth on what is going on.

I remember I was in Kuwait in March, 2003, when U.S. troops went in and I wrote on my blog today. I said if somebody would have said to me then with those tens of thousands of American troops going into Iraq they would stay, the U.S. would have sizeable numbers of troops through the end of 2011 at that time, I would have thought they were crazy.

But I'm still very worried about what is going on. I'm worried about the pressures on Nouri al-Maliki's government from some of his Shiite supporters who are closely aligned with Iran as to what they are doing. And there are some really brutal signals out there, potentially what is going on.

Remember, even while U.S. troops are going to be out, 16,000 Americans are staying. Thousands of American diplomats, thousands of American diplomatic support, and a lot of contractors are there to protect them. But a lot of them will be sitting ducks if some of these groups get carried away. I suspect they will. This is by no means over despite all the optimism that was expressed by President Obama and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today. I hope I'm wrong. I hope things continue to move in the right direction, but I'm very worried about what is going on.

BALDWIN: Wolf Blitzer, we'll be tuning. Thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it.

Finally, in my last couple minutes with you, Newt Gingrich gets his wish. Minutes from now he is going to debate Jon Huntsman in this Lincoln/Douglas style debate. We were talking to Jim Acosta about this. So Gingrich wants to challenge President Obama if this specific kind of verbal battle. So how exactly does this work? Joe Johns explains. Voila, hello, sir.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Hello.

BALDWIN: Good to see you.

JOHNS: Glad to be here.

BALDWIN: We'll talk in a minute.

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BALDWIN: We are mere minutes away from a one on one debate between Republican presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and John Huntsman. It will be similar to the Lincoln/Douglas style debates. We have heard over and over Gingrich challenge President Obama too.

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NEWT GINGRICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will challenge the president to seven three hour debates in the Lincoln/Douglas tradition.

Seven Lincoln/Douglas style three-hour debates.

Seven three-hour debates in the Lincoln/Douglas tradition.

Seven three-hour debates in the Lincoln/Douglas tradition of a time keeper but no moderator.

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BALDWIN: So I think he's challenging the president to seven three-hour debates.

JOHNS: In the Lincoln/Douglas style.

BALDWIN: Yes. So we don't know if that will happen with the president. We know it is happening, not exactly like that, but sort of Lincoln/Douglas stale debates happening with Jon Huntsman. What should we expect?

JOHNS: Well, the Huntsman/Gingrich thing is -- I don't know how long it'll go, but it is back and forth, back and forth. It sounds like it'll be substantive. It's at St. Ann's college in New Hampshire. It's going to talk about national security. It is going to talk about foreign policy. And these are two policy wonks, right, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich. So you would expect them to mix it up and really get into the policy ideas and the values behind the policy that they are supporting. That's the idea, at least.

BALDWIN: So perhaps the format of that debate will help them, I guess, express their views that way. But when you look at the roots, right, 1858, you know, fight for senatorship of Illinois --

JOHNS: Abraham Lincoln, Steven Douglas.

BALDWIN: But it wasn't five minutes and five minutes?

JOHNS: No. If they do a real Lincoln-Douglas style debate, it isn't going to be very exciting. You start out with one person getting an hour to make their case, and then a rebuttal of 90 minutes from the second, and then the first person comes back.

BALDWIN: With like half-an-hour.

JOHNS: Right. So that's the way it works. And it sounds like it's three really long speeches. And you know, basically, Abraham Lincoln, what he did was he took all of these debates that they did in that style, seven, I think, three-hour debates, apparently, and he wrote them up in a book, and they served him when he was running for president of the United States. People read them and said, oh, wow, this is interesting stuff. They are talking about slavery.

But what they are talking about now, if they ended up doing it, it would be boring, even I think between the former president of the United States and speaker of the house.

BALDWIN: You don't think people sitting in the House would want to listen to them talk for an hour, an hour-and-a-half, and 30 minutes?

JOHNS: I wouldn't. I mean, they're interesting, and I'm a policy wonk too, but come on, three hours?

BALDWIN: Three hours is a really long time.

JOHNS: Yes, to do anything.

BALDWIN: We will see how Huntsman fairs up against Gingrich. This is his cup of tea, debating.

JOHNS: Yes.

BALDWIN: And a man certainly of words and ideas.

JOHNS: And he's funny, too. If you have somebody who is a comedian or whatever and can make jokes, they you will be able to follow it a little better. They did this, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich, old buddies.

BALDWIN: So now Jon Huntsman and Newt Gingrich. Hey, good to see you. We'll see you back here tomorrow.

For now, let's go to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now.