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Carnage in Syria; Whitney Houston's Funeral Scheduled for Saturday; Fair Labor Inspects Apple Suppliers; What Whitney Houston's Friends Knew; U.S. Pressuring Syria; Cold Blast Aftermath Lingers; Preparing For Sudden Iran Attack

Aired February 14, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Top of the hour. Let's go and get you caught you up on everything making news, "Rapid Fire." Let's go.

Want to begin with pop legend Whitney Houston will be laid to rest this weekend. Her family will say their final good-byes at a private funeral this Saturday. Services we now know will be taking place at the church Houston attended as a young child in her hometown of Newark, New Jersey.

And a friend of the family had these words about the singer's final days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN, FRIEND OF WHITNEY HOUSTON'S FAMILY: Back on her mark, back on top, back being Whitney.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And as far as you know, was she doing anything hard?

SEAN: No. No. No. And I can't say it enough.

No, she wasn't. She was fine. She was Whitney again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How Houston died still a mystery. The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office is downplaying the amount of prescription medications found in the singer's hotel room. Toxicology reports coming back in six to eight weeks there.

Snipers aiming at the streets of Homs, Syria, targeting civilians, some of whom are trying to get bread just to feed their families. That's the word we're getting from an opposition activist. The opposition also claims the government has killed 40 people today alone.

CNN now has a crew inside Syria. Stand by, because in just a couple of minutes, we're going to have a report from Arwa Damon, again, from in country.

Also, politically speaking today, Mitt Romney -- at least his home state -- seems to like the other guy. Take a look at these numbers.

In new polling out of Michigan today, Rick Santorum is beating Mitt Romney 33-21 -- excuse me, 27 percent of the American Research Group poll of likely voters. Michigan's primary, two weeks away, but the Santorum camp already has ads on the air. And if you look at these Gallup poll numbers nationwide, it's really pretty much a statistical tie between Romney and Santorum.

Stay tuned, because CNN will release new national poll numbers in just a couple of hours here.

The man charged with killing three members of singer Jennifer Hudson's family is in court today. Thirty-one-year-old William Balfour is charged with killing Hudson's mother, brother and nephew back in October of 2008. A judge is ruling on whether to throw out his arrest. Balfour's lawyers argue he wasn't breaking the law when he was arrested.

The man expected to be China's next president is now in the United States. Chinese vice president Xi Jinping met with President Obama to talk trade. Earlier, Vice President Joe Biden talked with Chinese leader and had these words on that subject --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As we discussed, we're not always going to see eye to eye, we're not always going to see things exactly the same, but we have a very important economic and political concerns that warrant we work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, Xi's visit doesn't come without controversy. Protesters, there they are outside the White House today, calling for freedom for Tibet.

And General Electric plans to hire 5,000 veterans, specifically, over the next five years. The goal, they say, to help boost the nation's economy. GE is also expanding its aviation business at home, opening three new plants next year in Mississippi, Alabama and Ohio.

And both police and Child Protective Services visited the dad who fired a gun nine times into his disrespectful daughter's laptop and posted it online for everyone to see.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got one left. I got two left. Now I'm out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now he's out. There went the laptop.

Neither agency in North Carolina is taking action against this guy. This is Tommy Jordan. The former Marine posted video on YouTube of the shooting and explained why he did it. His teenage daughter complained about her chores. In a rude Facebook post, the former Marine said on his Facebook account the police said kudos and actually showed their own kids the clip. Yes.

Hey, remember MySpace? The one-time giant social networking site says they added a million new users just over the past month. Why, you ask? Well, one of the site's owners, Justin Timberlake, credits a new music player for the surge. The MySpace player offers unlimited music to a library of more than 40 million songs.

And you can get a look into the private thoughts of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Dinner invitations and notes on decorating, they're just part of this first batch of personal papers being made public by the Kennedy Presidential Library. The documents are also available online, and one includes a transcript of remarks Mrs. Kennedy made to Cuban dissidents captured during the Bay of Pigs. Kennedy's children donated the collection to the library after her death in 1994.

And we're just getting started here. Got a lot more for you in the next two hours.

Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: It's a world where the government kills its own people, drops bombs on homes, and snipers hunt families, yet CNN is now inside Syria, where the government has forbidden foreign reporters.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Anger is running at an all-time high.

BALDWIN (voice-over): One expert says the world has three military options against the Syrian regime. We'll break them down, live.

DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST, "DR. DREW": I think I'm outraged by this. I'm sick of it.

BALDWIN: As we learn new details about Whitney Houston's final days, there are serious questions about prescription drug use in America.

And the Taliban kills U.S. soldiers in war, and now not only are the militants saying they will only negotiate with Americans, they claim the talks have already begun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Forty more people have died today in the government onslaught in Syria. But I want to begin with one survivor.

This is not from today. It's actually from last Friday. But I want to watch this together, and we're going to explain here in just a moment.

Did you see the little one there? Here he is. This is a small Syrian child running loose in the midst of sniper fire.

And you see the guy racing -- there he goes -- risking his own life, swoops this child up, whisks him to safety there behind that wall. And then the hero returns to the street to collect the child's stray shoe.

This is life in Syria. And this is life in Syria as well. Take a listen, if you would. This is in the northern city called Idlib.

(GUNFIRE)

BALDWIN: We are hearing more and more reports of Syrian government snipers pinning down entire neighborhoods, trapping people inside their homes. More on that in just a moment, but first, I want to show you what's happening today in the besieged Syrian city of Homs.

Blast after blast, smoke billowing from this neighborhood. Again, this is the Syrian city of Homs today.

Opposition sources saying more than 700 people have died, mostly there in this city alone, since the Syrian government ramped up its crackdown 10 days ago. And today's shelling by the government is said to be the heaviest since last Thursday.

And as we told you, the Syrian government in Damascus -- that's the capital -- has refused entry to CNN crews who are trying to cover this story. However, CNN's Arwa Damon and her crew have managed to enter Syria, and for her Arwa's safety, I cannot tell you her location, but this is what she's seeing and what she's hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the areas where the government crackdown is at its worst, people say that there are snipers positioned on every single street corner. You can hardly cross a main thoroughfare without coming across government snipers. And then, of course, there are all of the tanks and the government checkpoints.

People that we've been talking to, every single one of them has some sort of horrific nightmare story, and some of them are afraid to publicly talk about it with their names attached to it. One man who we met, he had four members of his family executed as government forces, he said, were raiding their village. And he wanted to tell the story, he wanted to put out the images of loved ones, but he was afraid because he said at the same time, his uncle had been obtained.

They believe that at the end of the day, at some point in time -- who knows when -- the regime is going to fall. That, quite simply, they cannot go back and Syria will not go back to the way that it was.

But one young activist I was speaking to put it this way. And he said, "If there is military intervention, yes, there will be a lot of bloodshed, but it's going to be over a lot quicker. If there isn't military intervention, there is going to be even more bloodshed, and it's going to take a lot longer to bring down the regime."

What a lot of people are realizing and accepting at this stage is that this is going to be a bloody battle, that more lives are going to be lost, and that perhaps the biggest challenge for Syria, too, is going to be after the regime topples.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Arwa, thank you, again.

That's Arwa Damon from an undisclosed location in Syria.

Funeral arrangements, they are now in place for Whitney Houston. The funeral is being held at her childhood church in Newark, New Jersey. But if you were hoping, as I know many, many fans are, to pay tribute in person, you won't be allowed in the door.

Find out why after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Back to Syria. And we just heard from Arwa Damon, speaking. She's been in country now at an undisclosed location talking about potential outside intervention. And really, a lot of questions here.

What would anyone do? What could the United States do? What could NATO do?

Joining me now from Washington is Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution. He is senior fellow of foreign policy. He's been writing about potential military scenarios.

And Michael, I've read -- you talk about these three different scenarios, so I want to walk these through for our viewers step by step.

Option one, you outline this air or naval options to encourage a coup against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Talk me through that scenario, 30 seconds or less.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, SR. FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Yes. The basic idea is to increase the pain of the sanctions that are being applied now and to make sure Syria can't sneak oil out through the Mediterranean. So you do a naval quarantine of some kind, that kind of thing.

Or you might even hit a couple houses of cronies of the regime with bombs if you know nobody is in the house. You know, try to do it as low casualty as possible, really just trying to increase the pain, and to some limited extent, the fear, but not really exacerbate the ongoing violence on the ground. So that's sort of option one.

BALDWIN: Option number two here, you talk about a Balkans-like campaign. What do you mean by that?

O'HANLON: Well, in the Balkans, as you know, especially in Kosovo, but to some extent in Bosnia before that, we used air power in a much more concerted way to go after the regime. And we went after headquarters, we went after military communications, we went after depots. We tried not to cause any more causalities than absolutely necessary, but we kept it all in the air and we did not risk American lives, for the most part, at least not a very high-risk operation, and we tried to weaken the regime. But also, we tried to make, again, the cronies of Milosevic, in that case, recognize that their hold on a functioning economy was not going to last.

So we started taking down bridges. We started taking down radio towers. We started turning off electricity. And that gave them a very clear message that if they held on to the old way of doing business, the war would not be confined to Kosovo. We had options in between staying in Kosovo or doing an all-out ground invasion, and the same kind of thing could be applied to Syria.

BALDWIN: So maybe those two, possible this third. And certainly, we've heard this one discussed, a safe zone for Syrian civilians.

O'HANLON: The problem with a safe zone in Syria's case is you don't have one clear part of the country with a population that's most at risk is getting -- is from. And, therefore, because these cities are interspersed, you would have to create a safe zone and then rely on people to get themselves to it if they felt the need, which means you're not going to save everybody by any stretch of the imagination.

But, still, it could be the basis where you save some people and where even an insurgent army could mobilize and organize if you wanted to then help prepare to take on the Assad regime in a more concerted way. So, again, it's not an easy option, none of these are easy, and none of them promise a rapid resolution of the crisis, but they are things that are short of an American-led invasion that you could seriously consider.

BALDWIN: None of them are easy, none of them, as you point out, are optimal. You mentioned -- let's talk about American support.

We saw how a lot of people felt about our intervention in Libya. A lot of people were appalled.

I mean, do you think that the American public could be persuaded to support a Syrian intervention? And keep in mind, it's an election year.

O'HANLON: Yes, it is. Well, I think things might have to get worse before the American public would consider even the kind of options that I was talking about.

BALDWIN: How much worse?

O'HANLON: And on top of that, I think that we have to see -- it's a good question. But, you know, this is tragic, but the world is full of tragic wars. This is nowhere near genocidal in scale. I mean, we're talking about maybe 6,000 people dead. That's terrible. It's horrible. But Rwanda had nearly 800,000 people killed in the spring of 1994.

I'm not saying we wait until that point, but 6,000 dead, there are a few other wars around the world that have had casualties to that magnitude in the last few years that we haven't always gotten involved in. And in Sudan and Congo, the causalities right now are a lot higher than that, as well as in Somalia.

So if it's all based on the scale of the killing, Syria might have to actually get a little worse before the American public or, perhaps, just as importantly, the Turkish public, many of the Arab countries' publics get fully behind the idea of a more muscular approach.

BALDWIN: You are not the first person who has come on this show and said that, that it needs to get worse before it could possibly get better.

Michael O'Hanlon, with the Brookings Institution.

I appreciate it. Thank you.

O'HANLON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: I mentioned a moment ago we do have the latest on the death of Whitney Houston and a tribute from legendary singer Aretha Franklin coming up in 60 seconds.

Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, funeral arrangements for Whitney Houston, they're now officially set. Here's what we know.

The service will be held in just a couple of days here on Saturday. Houston's body is now home, arriving in that gold hearse at a Newark, New Jersey, funeral home.

And the location of the funeral very significant. It's going to be held at New Hope Baptist Church, the very place she learned to perform. This is a YouTube clip of one of Houston's solos when she was just a little girl.

Deb Feyerick is in Newark covering this story for us.

And Deb, what else do we know as far as these funeral arrangements go?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we can tell you that Whitney Houston's mom, the legendary gospel singer Cissy Houston, has been involved in all of the arrangements. She was here when her daughter's casket arrived in that gold hearse yesterday, having been flown from Los Angeles in a private jet owned by comedian Tyler Perry.

Her mom, very, very involved. They've decided on an intimate, invitation-only, private ceremony Saturday at the New Hope Baptist Church. And in the words of the funeral director, who is also a family friend here, "The world had her for 30 years. She's ours now."

Now, the New Hope Baptist Church, it was a place that she loved, a place where she did learn to sing, learn how to harmonize four parts, and sing a cappella, use her voice. One friend we spoke to said that when she was there, she just was filled with the holy spirit. And even she said in an interview back in 2009, when she was in that church, she felt as if she was singing for God as a teenager.

She lost a little of that during the dark years, but ultimately she did find her way back to God. Her last album, her last CD, I should say, very much reflective of that. But the church is a place she felt safe and adored, and knew that when she went there, which she often did without security, without bodyguards, she knew that she would be protected.

So there's a lot of significance there, and the family wanting to keep this dignified. Cissy Houston, a very dignified woman -- wanting to keep it dignified and private, and send her daughter off with the right kind of service so that her legacy as she wants is preserved -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. I know her mother has said she's obviously devastated, but she's sort of working through this with her faith.

As far as an investigation goes -- and of course we can't say this enough -- we won't definitively know until those toxicology reports come back six to eight weeks from now. But we do know the L.A. County coroner seems to corroborate with what we're hearing from a family friend, backing off. There is a lot of speculation out there about prescription drugs.

Did the friend say what, if anything, Whitney Houston had been taking or for why?

FEYERICK: You know, we asked that, because this is somebody who she grew up with in the church, and they knew each other for a very long time. He had nicknames for her and they shared a lot of different stories.

She was in rehab. You do have to keep in mind she was in rehab in May, and then went off to do her movie, "Sparkle," about a singer that is wrestling with drug addiction.

But he says that, as far as he knew -- and he knew pretty well, it seems -- that she was clean and had been clean from the hard stuff, from the cocaine and the marijuana, for quite some time, a number of years, as a matter of fact. But there were prescription medications.

She apparently had insomnia, needed something to ease her anxiety, help her to sleep. And so that could have been a factor. Plus, she also had a voice infection, a throat infection, and needed to relax, because remember, she was really kind of going from zero to 100 with this movie and really kind of getting up to speed. So, all of that may have played a factor, plus a very, very warm bath. You know, fatigue -- there are a lot of different things that the medical examiner and the coroner are going to be looking at to see what ultimately was what did it -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. We just don't know yet.

As far as her fans, Deb -- and she has so many -- and I know a lot of them, they want their chance to pay their respects. We mentioned the funeral, and I also know that the gravesite is private Saturday.

So will members of the public have any chance to memorialize her?

FEYERICK: A number of folks we spoke to today, they are a little bit disappointed. They thought -- they were actually looking forward to having some sort of a memorial at a local arena here, and when they found out it that it likely wasn't going to happen -- it appears that the mayor of the city, the mayor of Newark, Cory Booker, may have been planning something.

The funeral director, not aware of any public memorial services. It could still happen. Things are so fluid, Brooke.

So I think they're trying to gauge the level of interest. But, yes, many wanted to go in to see her, to see Whitney Houston, but there is, according to the funeral director, no sort of public wake whatsoever.

They're really keeping it private. They really want to circle the wagons and make sure that she's protected now.

BALDWIN: Protected, and the family is in mourning, and they certainly want to pay their own respects privately, and that's understandable.

Deb Feyerick, thank you so much for us in Newark, New Jersey.

A close friend of Houston's family insists the superstar was no longer an addict. He says the family is upset, as we mentioned, about all of the speculation about drugs being a factor in her death.

And friends like fellow singer Kelly Price say Houston had a little champagne, but was not high when they saw one another just this past Thursday night. But "People" magazine is reporting Houston was acting erratically when sources spotted her earlier on the day Wednesday, and Thursday as well.

And People's Carlos Greer joins me live from New York with the details.

And first, Carlos, what are you hearing right now? What are your sources telling you about the final hours?

CARLOS GREER, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Well, the final hours, I mean, she arrived at the hotel on Wednesday, and she was shopping in the gift shop. And I spoke to a source at the gift shop, and she described her as being out of it. She said she was very nice and she was very pleasant, but she was shopping and she seemed to be a little bit out of it.

BALDWIN: Out of it. I read your article. You know, multiple sources, odd, erratic behavior. Can you be more specific?

GREER: Well, yes. She was acting erratically.

She appeared at a rehearsal for Brandy and Monica, and she was complaining and ranting about a blue dress. She was saying, "I don't want no blue dress." She was twitching her nose and she was really fidgety.

BALDWIN: Now, let me jump in, because I read that as well when she was talking to Monica about the color blue. And, I mean, you could read into that, look, maybe that's a little diva-esque behavior and she's joking about what she won't wear to Clive Davis' gala, versus something more nefarious.

Is that fair?

GREER: Well, that is fair, but what was shocking was that is it was a press event. There were tons of media there, and so it was shocking to see Whitney Houston at this junket, and she was without makeup, her hair was wet. And again, she was fidgety and just wandering around the hotel.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about her inner circle, and that also includes her bodyguards. And one of her former bodyguards appeared this morning on "Good Morning America," and he told them he never saw her take drugs, but he did say he did think something was going on.

Take a listen with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever was going on was not something that was in control and certainly was something that I felt needed to be addressed. So I took action to address it. I eliminated access to her by certain people that I thought were negative influences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Carlos, there were reports -- according to this bodyguard, I think he left her after a year or two, according to a "Newsweek," "Daily Beast" reporter citing this bodyguard saying, once upon a time, her inner circle wouldn't allow her to take baths, that it was only showers, and she would be checked on for fear she would fall asleep.

Are you hearing anything that's corroborating that?

GREER: I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you.

BALDWIN: So this bodyguard is talking about how in the past, they wouldn't actually allow Whitney Houston to take baths. They were fearful she would fall asleep, and that she could only take showers, and they could be every seven or 10 minutes. They would check on her.

Did you ever hear anything like that?

GREER: I haven't heard anything like that, but Whitney, she has been dealing with addiction and struggles, and so there has been a lot of ups and downs. And friends have told us that you never really knew what Whitney you were going to get, whether it was the effervescent, bubbly Whitney or if it was the Whitney who was acting more erratic.

BALDWIN: Her most recent rehab stint was last May. Her family and friends say she isn't an addict.

What do you make of all these different stories?

GREER: Well, like I said, she was dealing with -- for the past 10 years, at least, we've seen the dark side of Whitney. We have seen a Whitney who was up, and then we've seen a Whitney who was down. So it appears that Whitney, again, she was just dealing with addiction and trying to get off of her addictions.

BALDWIN: Carlos Greer, "People" magazine.

Carlos, thank you.

GREER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: And the "Queen of Soul," Aretha Franklin, actually took a moment to remember her goddaughter on stage. "Good Morning America" caught last night's touching tribute to Whitney Houston, which included Franklin's own rendition of "I Will Always Love You."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARETHA FRANKLIN, SINGER: Share this moment with me in acknowledging one of the greatest singers that has ever stood before a microphone --

(APPLAUSE)

FRANKLIN: -- Ms. Whitney Elizabeth Houston.

(singing): I'll always love you. I will always -- I'll always love you. I will always love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Gives you goosebumps. I want to let you know that Sunday night CNN is taking a look back at the life of Whitney Houston, including her rise to fame, fall from superstardom, and of course, this investigation into her untimely death. She was just 48. We're calling "Death of A Diva," Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern.

Apple today under some major heat because of a global outcry over working conditions into some of its suppliers factories overseas. Apple, they're firing back. Coming up, we're going to show you how. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Inspections are under way at factories all across China that manufactures Apple products. Apple has been under fire since poor working and living conditions were revealed at the Foxxconn plant in Shenjin, China.

Apple is one of many, many companies that outsources its manufacturing, and Alison Kosik is standing by with more on this. So what specifically, Alison, are auditors looking for?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, Brooke, what these auditors are looking for is anything that is not legitimate. These are members of a fair labor association. They are actually at Foxconn in China this week.

Apple invited them to come and assess what's going on there. So what these folks are doing is they're interviewing thousands of people that work at this plant to assess what the work and living conditions are, what their pay is, what kind of hours they're working.

Keep in mind that Foxconn is just one of Apple's biggest suppliers and they have been under fire for a few years now. You know, back in 2010, some Foxconn workers committed suicide because allegedly because working conditions were so horrible.

A Foxconn employee actually talked to CNN's Stan Grant saying that Foxconn uses women as men and men as machines that she feels like an animal. Other manufacturers as well are going to be investigated -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: We were just talking about Apple yesterday, were we not, talking about how well they were doing? The price of a share of stock was like $500? It doesn't appear to be hurting them.

KOSIK: You're exactly right about that, and today the stock is going even higher. Shares right now are trading at $503. So yes, I mean, this comes after, of course, they posted those record iPhone, iPad, Mac sales last quarter.

But you have to remember, just to put it in perspective, Brooke, this is not just about Apple. But other companies are customers of Foxconn as well, but everyone is kind of time it to Apple because it's really the biggest tech company that Foxconn supplies.

And Apple apparently is kind of being the fall guy in this because it has the biggest and has the most well known products. Now what Apple says it does do its own audit of suppliers, it actually cut ties with one supplier that was a repeated offender of work rules.

And Apple maintains that it wants to improve conditions for the workers. We shall see.

BALDWIN: Yes, we will see. We'll follow that audit and see what, if anything, they find. Alison Kosik, thank you so much. Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I can say this, that we were all around a lot of drugs and that she had -- I hate to say that she had started before she had met Bobby Brown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Singer and actress, Jennifer Holliday talking about Whitney Houston. Coming up next, we're going to hear more from Holliday and from singer, Chaka Khan about Houston's decades all battle with drugs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Whitney Houston's friends and colleagues opened up on "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT." What they knew, how the family is doing and so here what's fellow performer, Chaka Kahn and Jennifer Holliday told Piers about drug use during her career and whether her ex-husband Bobby Brown was an influence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": Would she have gone that down that road do you think without Bobby Brown in her life?

CHAKA KHAN, SINGER: Well, if it was not him, someone else. If you want to get high, you get high.

JENNIFER HOLIDAY, ACTRESS: Well, I can say this, that we were all around a lot of drugs, and that she had -- I hate to say that she had started before she had met Bobby Brown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Chaka Kahn describes the last time she saw Whitney Houston and how it ached Houston not to be on stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAHN: It killed her. It killed her. It would have -- I know. We were -- the last gig I did was -- the last time I saw her was at my gig with Prince here in L.A. on May 5th.

And when I was seeing hinging, I saw her in the audience. I was so happy to see her, and I could see in her eyes that she just wanted to sing. All she wanted to do was sing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Kahn also said given that Houston had just gotten out of rehab last May. Her Grammy plans should have been thought through.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAHN: If I was coming to a city like L.A., we made specific plans that I come in the day of the performance especially if you're still -- if you had gotten to proper treatment and gotten really handled, gotten your situation handled. Yes, that was the first big mistake, for her to come an entire week before her performance at the party. I would have never done that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: As for Whitney Houston's mother, Cissy Houston, how is she doing? Kahn said she feared this might happen to her daughter one day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAHN: She's coping. But she's also, you know, I'm sure, many times would fear for her daughter's life. I know my mother did, and my little girl did, and my friends. So I know what this world that we're living in, this business, particularly, can do to one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bobby Brown just released a statement to "People" magazine saying his daughter with Houston, Bobbi Kristina, is dealing with the loss with the help of her family and also her mother's death. She's had to be taken to the hospital not just once, but twice to treat stress and anxiety.

Spy planes, unmanned drones, satellite images, eavesdropping on cell phone conversations, I know it sounds like a spy movie. But it is actually happening with all these new detail about the United States military plans to keep track of Syria's president and his military.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As I told you just a moment ago, 40 more people have died today in the government onslaught in Syria. We spoke a short time ago about potential outside military help, right?

My guest outlined three possible scenarios for those fighting against the Bashar Al-Assad government. Nothing concrete from Washington yet, but as Barbara Starr reports from the Pentagon, the U.S. is stepping up pressure quietly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All eyes and ears on Syria. CNN has learned that spied on Bashar Al-Assad's moves in the brutal war against his own people is now a top priority for U.S. intelligence and the military.

The State Department released these images showing Syrian artillery guns outside a town. American officials tell CNN classified higher resolution images show military targets being tracked in case U.S. action is ordered.

The U.S. is looking to involve more satellites, drones, and U2 spy planes. Sources tell CNN that the U.S. is already secretly eves dropping on telephone and electronic communications of Assad's regime. It comes as a United Nations official accused Syria of crimes against humanity. NAVI PILLAY, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: Children have not been spared. Children have been killed by beating, sniper fire, and shelling from government security forces in several places throughout Syria.

STARR: Assad's government is not the only focus. U.S. intelligence picked up on cell phone communications of known al Qaeda operatives inside Syria.

After several suicide bombings including this police station, there are growing indicators a small group of al Qaeda operatives from next door Iraq are now inside Syria.

SETH JONES, RAND CORPORATION: What's already been clear is that al Qaeda in Iraq, in particular, has pushed in operational and tactical- level units into Syria right now and appears to have conducted some of the high-profile bombings.

STARR: Al Qaeda's leader now calls Al-Assad the butcher son of a butcher and praises Syrians for waging Jihad. But there is little indication Syrians endorsed al Qaeda or that he will have much impact just as he did not when he endorsed Egyptian opposition forces.

JONES: I think a safe bet that Sawahari is definitely not involved in operational and tactical level efforts in either Iraq or in Syria right now only urging action.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: By releasing those images, the Obama administration itself took the first step to putting the Syrian regime on notice it is gathering intelligence about what that regime is doing. Barbara Starr, CNN, The Pentagon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, guys and gals. Have you seen this? This is the cover of this year's "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit edition and it's racy. You're all clicking on it thus it is trending online.

The woman here is Kate Upton and we're going to show the cover and also give you some back story on the cover shoot and Upton's rise to fame. That's coming up in 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Chad Myers, you watching this with me?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure.

BALDWIN: A new kind of cover girl is on this year's "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit edition, one who is not only stunning, but she's also a social media hit as well.

In fact, you could call, as we sort of were around our editorial meeting this morning, 19-year-old Kate Upton, the Justin Bieber of swimsuit models.

Why do we say that? Because she's been able to translate her popularity online to grab what is considered to be really the top gig in modeling and the ambition she's had for years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE UPTON, SI SWIMSUIT COVER MODEL 2012: I grew up in an American family, so it was always on the coffee table, and to be that girl in the magazine on the coffee table would be really ground-breaking for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I'm assuming she was wearing a towel. Upton has 175,000 Twitter followers in one of her YouTube videos that's been seen more than 3 million times.

So what's she doing, you ask? Many say it was a clip of her doing the Dougie, obviously, right? This was in April last year that launched the whole internet following. She talked about her ascent on the "Today" show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UPTON: In my opinion, you know, everyone talks about agents going after models, but I think people want more, you know, we have new technology. So people want to see personalities, not just someone walking down a runway or just a face. That's why I campaigned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Upton was also number two on this year's ranking by asmon.com as the top 99 women of 2012. I say good for her. And Chad, hello.

MYERS: They know I'm 48. That just seems wrong.

BALDWIN: She's 19.

MYERS: You should at least be able to go into a bar if you're going to be on the cover of "Sports Illustrated."

BALDWIN: She's a couple years away from that. So let's talk snow, shall we?

MYERS: It was cold in Wichita, in places like Salt Lake City. We're finally getting -- I guess, that old groundhog that rodent was finally right.

BALDWIN: He did not see his shadow.

MYERS: He finally said, this year he said that we're going to see six more weeks of winter. General Beauregard Lee, on the other hand, which is out of here in Georgia, he was wrong. He said the spring is right on the way. I don't think that's spring although sure it does snow in spring, but it has been cold. The cold continues. The snow all the way across parts of Pennsylvania.

Could see a very, very rough, rough ride home in Pittsburgh and the mountains around there could be a little tough. Winter is certainly not over. Lots more cold air to come.

BALDWIN: OK, where is the best place to be right now in the country?

MYERS: I was in Vegas last week, and it was 70 and sunny every day. It was amazing. The southwest has been great. There will be a storm over Southern California the next couple days, but still the west and the southwest always the best.

Don't go to Europe. It has been brutal. It's been the coldest winter of all time. Five hundred to 600 people dead from this cold winter and we're sitting here in the U.S. going, wow. No winter at all.

BALDWIN: I wondered where you went. You've been awful quiet, Chad Myers. Thank you very much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: And now we're going to move on to this. Iran keeps warning the U.S. to stay out of the Strait of Hormuz. But the Navy is there anyway and CNN getting a firsthand look on board the ship. See how Americans are prepared in case there is a sudden attack. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Iran has warned the U.S., do not send your ship to the Strait of Hormuz, but America has done precisely that. CNN is on board for a firsthand look. Here is CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The "USS Abraham Lincoln," one of America's main deterrence against Iran's military, on patrol in the Persian Gulf.

The carrier is vital to keeping one of the world's most important shipping lanes open for traffic, the Strait of Hormuz. Now the carrier itself had to transit through this strait only a few miles from Iranian territory.

(on camera): The "USS Abraham Lincoln has more than 70 aircraft on board -- jetfighters like the (inaudible) that you see behind me. Nevertheless, the carrier of this size could be vulnerable when attacked from the Iranian navy.

(voice-over): About 20 percent of global oil exports go through the Strait of Hormuz. In a standoff over Iran's nuclear program, Tehran has threatened to close the strait, a move that could cause major damage to the world's economy.

Iran recently even warned the U.S. not to transit carriers through here. That's why Rear Admiral Troy Shoemaker, in charge of this carrier strike group has prepared his crew as what have the military calls a regular and routine transit of the strait.

REAR ADMIRAL TROY SHOEMAKER, U.S. NAVY: You hear the rhetoric in the papers about potentially closing the Strait of Hormuz. We just remain vigilant as we're coming through.

PLEITGEN: Part of that vigilance, machine gunners to fend off small boat attacks. Many of the jets were stored on lower decks to prevent them from getting hit if the Lincoln comes under fire and helicopters hovering overhead to detect approaching ships.

It doesn't take the choppers long to find one, an Iranian patrol boat shadowing the Abraham Lincoln, at times no more than half a mile away. While a vessel like this couldn't sink a carrier, a sudden attack could do a lot of damage.

(on camera): What are the specific threats that the Iranian Navy could pose for something like this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Specific threats? They have small boats. They have bigger boats. They have submarines. They have aircraft. I mean, they have pretty much the gamut of things.

PLEITGEN: But the Iranian vessels leave the carrier alone. After several hours, the passage through the Strait of Hormuz is complete without incident and the Abraham Lincoln is off to a new task supporting NATO operations in Afghanistan. Fred Pleitgen, CNN aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Strait of Hormuz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)