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President Obama Talks Jobs & Manufacturing; Iran Trumpets Nuclear Advances; Whitney Houston Death Subpoenas; Almost 300 Die in Honduras Prison Fire; Syria's New Constitution; Anti-Government Demonstration In Syria; Paid To Murder Syrians; Being Bobby Brown; Mississippi Pardon Controversy; Tax Cut To Stay

Aired February 15, 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: Just wanted to give you a little flavor of the president of the United States of America there speaking in Milwaukee, speaking at a company there, discussing manufacturing. You heard him get a little bit of an applause talking insourcing jobs, new investments, and of course training workers right here in the U.S.

By the way, Master Lock, where he's standing right now, it is the world's largest manufacturer of padlocks and related security products. And since 2010, this company has returned about 100 jobs to the U.S. that had been outsourced overseas.

And with that, let me continue on, right along with you.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Hi there.

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

A big story today, that being Iran. Iran now bragging about its newest nuclear accomplishments today.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went on national television to show off these new fuel rods being loaded here into a reactor in Tehran. Now, this is all part of Iran's intent to eventually enrich uranium.

So one of the questions is, what's the U.S.' reaction to the news today? Here's what we're hearing from the State Department. This is part of a briefing just in the past hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA NULAND, STATE DEPT. SPOKESWOMAN: It is absolutely clear that Iran is clearly feeling the pressure of its international and diplomatic isolation, of the increasing economic pressure on it, unprecedented sanctions which are growing that the international community is continuing to strengthen. So, with regard this news today about activity at that reactor, we frankly don't see a lot new here.

This is not big news. In fact, it seems to have hyped.

The Iranians have for many months been putting out calendars of accomplishments, and based on their own calendars, they are many, many months behind. This strikes us as calibrated mostly for a domestic audience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Not a lot of news here. So says the State Department. More on Iran in just a couple of minutes.

Meantime, I want to move along and talk about Whitney Houston.

Still, we don't know yet what killed her, but the investigation is now turning toward the prescription drugs that were found in the singer's hotel room. All of them, we now know, were in Whitney Houston's name, and investigators say it doesn't look like she was doctor shopping.

But they have issued subpoenas for her medical records, for her prescriptions, and are also reaching out to all the pharmacies where Houston's prescriptions were filled. Results of those toxicology tests not expected for weeks now, at least six to eight.

A fast-moving fire roaring through a prison in Honduras, killing at least 300 inmates, just about. The fire hit overnight in this minimum security prison. One survivor says inmates were asleep, awoke to screams. Human rights groups and the United States State Department have complained in the past about overcrowding and poor conditions in Honduran prisons.

And 17 Texas Christian University students arrested today, including four football players. These TCU students are charged with selling both prescription and illegal drugs to undercover officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF STEVEN MCGEE, TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY POLICE: They included marijuana, cocaine, molly, which is a powdered form of ecstasy, ecstasy pills, acid and prescription drugs, which include, but not limited to, Xanax, Hydrocodone, and three different types of Oxymorphone, which is similar to the highly-addictive painkiller Oxycontin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police say the arrests were made at both on and off-campus location, including frat houses.

The Syrian government blames terrorists for sabotaging an oil pipeline near the city of Homs, a stronghold for opposition activists. But those activists say it was actually government warplanes that blew up the pipelines. Look at the smoke.

At least 25 people were killed in Syria today. President Bashar al- Assad has set this date of February 26th to vote on this new constitution, but his critics say it's too little, too late, with more than 5,000 dead under this crackdown.

And the story was horrific. I'm sure you remember this, teens accused of dousing one another -- excuse me -- dousing another teenager with rubbing alcohol and then setting him on fire.

Today, in Florida, two suspects reached a plea deal. One was sentenced to 11 years in prison, the second sentenced to eight years.

And here's what the victim had to say after these two were sentenced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BREWER, SET ON FIRE BY OTHER TEENS: I think they should get longer, but that's all right. I know they're going to mess up, anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: In an unusual move, Apple's new CEO speaks publicly about working conditions at the Chinese plant where Apple products are made. Tim Cook says Apple is doing everything it can to address all these different concerns. He cited the company's decision to allow labor inspectors into its China's facilities as evidence of Apple's commitment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM COOK, CEO, APPLE: The audit that they're conducting is probably the most detailed factory audit in the history of mass manufacturing in scale, in scope and in transparency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And to Texas we go. Keep your eyes on the screen with me.

Police have released this video. This is from a cruiser dashcam of country star Randy Travis being arrested for public intoxication the night of the Super Bowl. There he is.

Officers say Travis' speech was slurred when they talked to him in the parking lot of a Baptist church. He had no I.D. He was parked there with an empty bottle of wine in the car. Travis told CNN he was just celebrating, as so many other Americans did on that Sunday night.

And we have a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Iran is accused of launching terror attacks all around the world, but there are new fears the next one could be right here on U.S. soil.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): Hundreds of inmates burned alive as flames rip through a prison. We're now hearing how some escaped and how others screamed out in their final moments.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "A major put a gun to my head and said, 'Slaughter him.'"

BALDWIN: CNN slips into Syria and gets an exclusive look at an assassin who is paid to kill civilians.

Plus, a new turn in the investigation of Whitney Houston's death, why police are looking into her doctors and pharmacies.

JEREMY LIN, PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER: And I'm just very thankful.

BALDWIN: And just two weeks ago, he was sleeping on his brother's couch. But in a matter of hours, Jeremy Lin will step onto New York's biggest stage, where his undefeated streak will either continue or crumble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK. What are we to make of what Iran is doing today?

I want you to take a look at this, if you would. You're going to see Iran's president -- there he is -- wearing a white lab coat. There he is. A lot of people wearing white lab coats.

Cameras in tow, strutting into this room full of nuclear scientists. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad there making darned sure that you know and I know, that the whole world knows that his nuclear program just took a small step forward. Right.

That nuclear program, the one that's triggered sanctions that are hurting Iran's economy, even as Ahmadinejad insists his program is peaceful.

Listen to what he said. Just try to follow it, if you would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): All world nations should know and they do know that time has changed. It's not time for bullying, it's not time for empires. It's come to an end.

These are the last efforts. They're making their last-ditch efforts. They want to make a few steps forward, but their historical time has come to an end.

And the world has changed. People's mindsets, cultures, people have changed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Now, economic sanctions, as I mentioned, they're taking hold against Iran. And what's Iran saying? Tough, full speed ahead on the nukes. I want you to hold thought, and I want to also now consider the Israelis. Reports have surfaced over the past few weeks that the Israeli leadership is increasingly bent on stopping Iran's program in its tracks.

And Kevin Flower is standing by for us there in Jerusalem.

And Kevin, what are the Israelis saying today about these advances we witnessed by Iran?

KEVIN FLOWER, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Brooke, there is no official reaction from the Israeli government today, which is not exactly surprising. Oftentimes when there are announcements from Iran about its nuclear program, what the Israeli government prefers to do is to leave the talking to the Americans or to the Europeans, because Israel likes to frame the Iran issue as an international problem, not just an Israeli problem.

But that said, one Israeli official I spoke to today said, "If you believe that the Iranian nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, then you also believe in the Easter Bunny." So that gives you a good estimation of what Israelis think about what they saw on television today -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: I see. The Easter Bunny, huh?

I want to also point something else out that we noticed during the ceremony they held today in Iran. They held it in this room flanked by pictures of murdered Iranian scientists, the most recent of whom was killed just last month in Tehran after a motorcycle pulled up next to his car, attached an explosive to it.

Kevin, are the Israelis taking responsibility for killing these Iranian nuclear scientists that we saw there on the wall?

FLOWER: Well, in a word, no. There is no admission from Israel that they have any responsibility for those attacks, those assassinations on Iranian scientists, or any other acts of sabotage in Iran, for that matter.

But there is always a wink and a nod to these sorts of things. It doesn't deny that it's involved, it just generally doesn't say much about it at all.

But that's a very sensitive issue for the Iranians. And Israeli analysts here believe that some of the bombings that we've seen all over the world, in New Delhi, recently, in Bangkok, that those were actually Iranian operations that were staged against Israel in response as payback for those assassinations of those Iranian scientists -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right. That happened in India, Thailand, Republic of Georgia.

How angry are the Israelis at Iran over all of those bombings? FLOWER: Furious. Today, for the second day in a row, the Israeli prime minister came out publicly, came out swinging against Iran. He called it the greatest exporter of terrorism in the world, holding Iran firmly responsible for these attacks in those locations that you mentioned.

Other Israeli officials here have vowed a response. They haven't said what that will be, but clearly, the war of words is escalating, and also this sort of a covert shadow war that neither side will admit. So fighting seems to be escalating, too -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Kevin Flower in Jerusalem.

Kevin, thank you very much.

Want to move to Washington now and bring in Iranian national Trita Parsi. He is the president of the National Iranian American Council. He is also author of the book -- it's called "A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama's Diplomacy on Iran."

And Mr. Parsi, today the Iranians are saying they've fired up some new nuclear centrifuges, they've loaded nuclear fuel rods that they have produced themselves.

Are these major steps toward Iran's nuclear program?

TRITA PARSI, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICAN COUNCIL: Well, this is quite a breakthrough, because in my interviews with American officials, as well as other countries, there was a belief that the Iranians would not be able to achieve this in the next couple of years.

Now, it still remains to be seen if these fuel rods really are functioning, et cetera, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the Iranians sent a letter to Lady Ashton in Europe indicating that they're interested in pursuing talks on the same day that they announced that they have made this breakthrough, because what we have seen in the last years is a process in which both sides are adding pressure on the other one in the hope that it's going to give them a negotiating benefit.

The West, of course, has been pursuing very, very crippling sanctions that have been quite effective in crippling the Iranian economy and making the suffering of the Iranian people all the greater, as well as sabotage. You mentioned the assassinations that the U.S. government believes Israel is behind. And the Iranians are doing it by expanding their nuclear program, hoping that that will give them a benefit in the negotiations.

The bottom line is, I think, unfortunately, this is not going to be a successful tactic. In order to get success in negotiations, we need to have a process of diplomacy, not just these one-off meetings.

BALDWIN: Let me jump in, because I feel like you've brought up multiple points, and I want to just back you up and talk about specifically, before we talk about potential diplomacy, what happened today. And as you mentioned, a possible breakthrough, assuming this is all functioning, what we saw Ahmadinejad unveiling today.

And what's also interesting is his face is all over this. I mean, here he is, again, in this white lab coat. You see a cameraman there. I don't know how many cameras were at this sort of unveiling.

Why is he so invested in this program, especially given the fact, as you bring up, the Iranian people -- all these sanctions have really started to hurt the country's economy.

PARSI: Absolutely. I think we should be careful, though, not to pay too much attention or to take to seriously a lot of the theatrics that the Iranians put on display around these different announcements.

Ahmadinejad is not the most important decision maker, far from it, in Iran. His influence in the Iranian political system has significantly reduced over the last year or so.

BALDWIN: It's a power struggle.

PARSI: It is a very intense power struggle, a power struggle that actually has been quite problematic for the U.S. as well, because it's rendered it more difficult to negotiate with the other side when the other side is, at times, almost paralyzed politically because of this power struggle.

BALDWIN: How bad are all these sanctions likely to hurt the people of Iran? And could they also damage the credibility of the country's Islamic leadership?

PARSI: I think that sanctions so far have been quite devastating on the Iranian economy. There is no doubt that they have been effective in the sense of putting a lot of pain on the Iranians.

Whether they are successful in changing the Iranian government's position remain to be seen. I myself remain quite skeptical. I think the risk that we're running here is that there is a higher likelihood that the Iranians will escalate, as they did today, rather than capitulate as a result of all of this pressure.

BALDWIN: Escalating. You qualify it interestingly by the theatrics of Ahmadinejad today.

Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council.

I thank you so much.

PARSI: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: Also, new developments today in the investigation into the death of Whitney Houston. Now, the coroner's office issued subpoenas for her medical records, for her prescriptions. And we now know whose name was on those prescription bottles that were found inside her hotel room.

Also, new details today on the allegation that she was "doctor shopping." Was she? That, in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Before we take you live to Los Angeles, we've just gotten word into CNN here that Aretha Franklin has been asked to perform at Whitney Houston's funeral. That happening this Saturday in New Jersey. Another singing legend, Houston's cousin, Dionne Warwick, is already in New Jersey helping the family with the funeral arrangements.

Meanwhile, Whitney Houston's medical records are being subpoenaed as investigators try to determine what killed her.

And Don Lemon has been on top of the investigation, really from the start here. He's there for us in Los Angeles.

And Don, so who is being subpoenaed now?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very simple answer. Doctors and pharmacists, and it's the names that were on the prescription pill bottles that were found in Whitney Houston's hotel room. That's who is being subpoenaed.

And just real quickly, Brooke, there had been reports that it had been up to 11 doctors and pharmacists. The coroner is telling me -- and I spoke to him not long ago -- not so. Not that many being subpoenaed, but doctors, pharmacists, simple answer, across the country. Here, West, and also out East.

BALDWIN: Talking about these prescription bottles, sometimes celebrities, they have prescriptions filed under fake names, maybe use the name of their assistant. You mentioned that coroner, who I know you've been in contact with.

Is there any indication that Houston did that?

LEMON: No indication, according to the coroner. The coroner says he has spoken to -- or has been in contact, I should say -- I don't want to misquote him -- he has been in contact with several of the doctors, and he said everyone has been cooperative. Everything now appears to be above board.

It doesn't look like, at this point, Brooke, that Whitney Houston was doctor shopping or pharmacy shopping. But again, they want to make sure that the number of pills that were found in the bottle, that she took them as prescribed. And they can find that out from the pharmacy, from the date, and how many different people were prescribing things for her.

BALDWIN: So the issuing of subpoenas to get her medical records, prescription information, is this standard death investigation processes here? And how does a subpoena -- how does the power of a subpoena help in determining those toxicology results?

LEMON: These are coroner's office subpoenas. And I don't think anything about this case is ordinary when you have someone who is a superstar the caliber of a Whitney Houston.

Usually death investigations aren't this complicated, especially, Brooke -- and we know, and it's sad -- the history that Whitney Houston has had with drugs to her own admitting. So, no, there is nothing that is ordinary about this case.

In order to get someone's medical records, yes, you would have to have a subpoena. But usually they have an idea pretty quickly as to how someone died. But to subpoena pharmacists and doctors on both coasts, that's out of the ordinary.

BALDWIN: Yes. I know investigators have said -- thus far, you've been reporting, so far, nothing here looks criminal.

Don Lemon, on top of it there for us in Los Angeles.

Don, I appreciate it.

Also, some tragic news to pass along to you today out of Honduras. Look at these pictures. Look at this fire.

Hundreds of inmates died when this fire roars through a minimum security prison.

Coming up next, we're going to tell you how the fire started and why so many inmates were trapped.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to talk about just the sheer number of people killed in this prison fire in Honduras. It's staggering.

The death toll is nearing 300. Obviously, that number could change. More than 100 are still unaccounted for, and all of this comes after a U.S. State Department report last year that was critical of the Honduran prison system.

I want to bring in Rafael Romo.

And obviously, question number one, do they even know yet how this started?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Not really. They're following to lines of investigation, one being that an inmate may have set a mattress on fire. Number two is that it might have been caused by a short circuit. But the reality is that investigation is only beginning.

The fire started last night at 11:00. At this point, they're only going through the list of inmates who were there.

And you mentioned the word "overcrowding," and that's definitely the case. This prison was meant to be for 400 inmates. There were 851 last night when the fire broke out.

And the reality is that these numbers really -- they're underlying a problem not only in Honduras, but in the region, that prisons are overcrowded, conditions for inmates are just unsanitary and harsh. It's just incredible.

BALDWIN: We talk so much about the violence, drug trafficking. We just had a piece a couple weeks ago about all the drug trafficking through Honduras.

A lot of people, they've got to put them away. But 451 extra people in this prison, and the fire moved very quickly. A lot of them are trapped. Right?

ROMO: That's exactly right. And we have testimonies of inmates who were using their bare hands trying to break through the roof to get out in their desperation. Some older inmates who didn't have the energy to do so were the ones who perished.

And that's exactly right, what you're saying. In the last 20 years, violence has exploded in Honduras, one of the most dangerous countries in the world, definitely one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

And so the space for inmates in the prisons has increased at the same pace, and now you have the problems and the consequences.

BALDWIN: And this isn't the only horrific, huge fire in a Honduran prison. There were, what, one or two in the last ten years?

ROMO: That's right. In less than a decade, this is number three. There was one in 2003, very similar situation where 61 people died, 61 inmates then again in 2004, 107. But this is incredible, not only for Honduras itself, but for Latin America.

Think about it. Officials in a press conference this afternoon are saying that the death toll may very well surpass 300. So just one fire, all those people dead, and you have hundreds upon hundreds of relatives who are very sad.

And they don't really know what happened to their loved ones, they don't really know at this point if all of them are alive or if they died in the fire.

BALDWIN: What are these images of all these different people, just post fire everyone is getting around?

ROMO: Those are the people, the relatives, who showed up at the prison early this morning. At one point, there was a clash between police and the relatives because they were so desperate to get information.

And the information, as you can imagine, was very slow in coming. And people just got desperate and attacked the police at one point.

BALDWIN: That is a huge number, 300. Rafael Romo, thank you very much. Overcrowding a huge problem not just here, but there as well. Thank you. Now to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could see the protesters were unarmed, but he fired, anyway, claiming it was kill or be killed for not carrying out orders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up next, we have an exclusive interview with one of the assassins in Syria who says he was ordered to kill protesters. In fact, he says he would have been killed if he didn't shoot innocent people. Arwa Damon reporting from Syria, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Right now, one nation's leader is pushing for a whole new constitution. It would forbid discrimination based upon gender, ethnicity or color. It would stop the one-party rule. It sounds like something any citizen would want, except for the fact that the man proposing this is also responsible for this.

You can hear them yelling Arabic for God is great. That is often said when someone is about to die or is pleading to help. These are YouTube videos. These are out of towns like Homs, Aleppo, Idlib, Syria.

They show the mass murder President Bashar Assad is committing against his own people. There's the man scooping up a little boy, we showed that to you yesterday. The United Nations says so far more than 5,000 people have died since March.

When these uprisings began against Assad, at least 25 people killed today alone and his opponents consider his new constitution, too little too late. The citizens continue to show the extremes of his government crackdown.

This video shows citizens under arrest. They're hooded. You see them being walked away, bound. Now this, opposition says Assad has gone so far as to go behind and sabotage this oil pipeline. It has put a dark cloud over this entire country. Live pictures here.

This is Daraa, Syria. You can see these anti-government demonstrators waving flags. In fact, let's listen. Again, CNN covering the story like really no one else can. We are inside Syria. We can't tell you where we are, but we're able to bring these pictures to you live.

What we've shown you some parts CNN can't confirm because the government limits journalist access. But as I mentioned CNN is there, Arwa Damon is in the country. She's crossed into Syria.

She has found a group of opposition activists giving medical treatment to a man who described himself as a paid assassin of the government and he had been caught in this ambush. We are not disclosing Arwa's location for her own safety, but take a look at this. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sayid is a paid killer. These men would like to see him dead, but instead they're tending to his wounds. He agreed to be filmed if he received treatment from opposition activists.

He asked that we obscure his identity enough for the government can't recognize him, but he wants friends to know that it's him and that he's a changed man. His captors keep him blindfolded so he can't identify them in the future.

I can't untie your eyes because I am afraid of you, they say, his gun close by. Why are you doing this? Why are you killing us, he asks?

Sayid said he worked in the Ministry of Interior prison and was wounded when the mini bus he was traveling in came under fire. He doesn't know by whom. His story is chilling.

We would go out with the officers from the prison, he says. For each mission we would get 25,000 Lira, never less than 20,000. That's $4,500 more than Syrians make a month.

They gave us guns we scopes and you see your body as if you're looking at yourself in the mirror, Sayid told him. He could see the protesters were unarmed, but he fired, anyway, claiming it was kill or be killed for not carrying out orders.

Sayid admits he killed 60 to 70 people. Once, he says, he slit a man's throat. Two policemen captured another man, he recalled. A major put a gun to my head and he said, slaughter him. He said, I'm going to count to ten.

He cocked the gun, fired it in the air and put it to my head again. I slaughtered him. Sayid claims the regime turned him and others into monsters who would have killed their own fathers promising wealth if they helped fight terrorists.

Now he says he thinks differently. These guys I am with, I used to see them in a different light, he admits. But since I have been with them, I have seen only good. He seems ready to give up the names of others involved in kidnapping opposition numbers.

A lot of men from this area have been kidnapped by government supporters for money, he says. There's no way to confirm Sayid's story or be sure he hasn't been coerced.

But now he is a bargaining chip. His captors intend to trade him for some of those abducted. He may have killed their friends and comrades, but they vow to treat him well. Arwa Damon, CNN, reporting from inside Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Arwa, thank you. Now questions are swirling about the death of Whitney Houston. One of the singer's struggles over the years was drugs and one of the people who admitted to doing drugs with her was this man right there, Bobby Brown.

We're going to take a deeper look into the life and times of Whitney Houston's ex-husband and the father of her child, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It started out as this fairy tale marriage that generated into a really bad reality show, and the death of Whitney Houston has thrust her ex-husband, Bobby Brown, back into the midst of a Parazzi storm.

That is Brown there in that gray and blue hoodie being chased down by photographers after he landed in L.A. Monday night. It's that kind of spotlight that frequently fell on Brown and Houston during their tumultuous 15-year marriage.

I want you to watch what's it really like being Bobby Brown. Here's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Saturday, Bobby Brown took to the stage to declare his love for his ex-wife.

BOBBY BROWN, SINGER: I would like to say, I love you, Whitney.

KAYE: As this I-Report shows, he was there for a reunion for the 19- year boy band, "New Edition," of which Brown was a founding member with songs like "Cool It Now" and "Candy Girl."

New Edition rode a string of hits out of Boston's mean streets and into stardom. But Brown's on-stage antics and a few feud with fellow member Ralph Travant led the group to kick Brown out in 1986.

Undaunted, Brown went on to a successful solo career with hits like "My Prerogative" and "Every Little Step" from his 1988 album "Don't Be Cruel."

Brown and Houston married in 1992. On the surface it seemed perfect, the pop princess and the R&B singer. But there were signs of trouble. In 1995, Brown was present at a shooting outside a seedy Boston bar that claimed the life of his bodyguard, Steven Sealey.

Sealey was shot in the head several times and died inside a Bentley registered to Whitney Houston then there were Brown's arrests for DUI in 1996, for marijuana possession and speeding in 2002, parole violations in 2003.

And in 2005, the couple put their rocky marriage on a short- lived reality show called "Being Bobby Brown" for all the world to see. By the time, that reality show aired, Houston's career was already in tatters. Two years later, so was her marriage. They divorced after 15 years together, and Brown was not awarded custody of their daughter, Bobbi Kristina.

Brown explained to "The Insider" why their marriage has been so volatile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often did you and Whitney use together?

BROWN: A lot of times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your drug of choice?

BROWN: Cocaine. Cocaine. It's a powerful drug. I just think I was bored, you know. I had just gotten married, you know, things wasn't right. Unfortunately, I turned to alcohol and drugs.

KAYE: But Brown was trying to leave that type of behavior behind and despite their tumultuous marriage, "People" magazine reports that on Saturday, Brown cried on stage over the death of his ex-wife. Randi Kaye, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I also want to let you know that Saturday morning beginning live at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, the funeral of Whitney Houston.

Join CNN's Piers Morgan, Soledad O'Brien and Don Lemon as the music legend is honored and remembered. Whitney Houston, life, death, music. CNN live on Saturday morning again, starting at 11:00 Eastern.

Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour pardoned convicted murderers and all kinds of other felons, but he is refusing to talk about his decision very much at all these days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Governor, can we get a few minutes to talk about your pardons with you?

HALEY BARBOUR, FORMER MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR: Not really. When the Supreme Court rules it will be time to talk. But I'm not so presumptuous to predict what they're going to do, but when they rule, we can talk.

LAVANDERA: The families want to hear from you. Why won't you talk to them?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Ed Lavandera, you're trying. Hear what else the governor had to say to us after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: A controversial decision by former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has created more questions than answers in fact. In his last days in office, Barbour granted full pardons to more than 200 people, including four convicted murderers.

Now he says they committed, quote, unquote, "crimes of passion," and according to him that makes them unlikely to commit another crime. The victims' families, however, want a better explanation from the man himself.

A man who has refused interview requests after interview requests from CNN for more than a month, so CNN's Ed Lavendera went and tried to find him and tried to get some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Since Haley Barbour won't come to us. We thought we'd go to him. We found the former Mississippi governor giving a speech at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

(on camera): Hi, Governor. Ed Lavandera with CNN. Can we talk to you real quick?

HALEY BARBOUR, FORMER MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR: Let me go get my instructions first.

LAVANDERA: Can you come out and talk to us here in a second?

(voice-over): He wouldn't give us a second and walked right inside the building, but not before he showing us what he thought of the questions.

(on camera): Governor, can you talk to us about the pardons?

BARBOUR: I'm here for this right here.

LAVANDERA: All right, we'll wait for you out here then.

BARBOUR: Stay where it's cold.

LAVANDERA: He just told me to stay where I'm cold.

(voice-over): We waited. Barbour didn't come back. We went inside to find him giving his speech. The theme ironically enough was how government needs to do a better job of explaining its actions.

BARBOUR: I learned a great lesson about government when we did the census in 1970s and that is the government is not a very good communicator. The government doesn't do a good job of getting things across. So I've been trying all my career to do a better job.

LAVANDERA: But Governor Barbour wasn't in the mood to practice what he just preached.

(on camera): Governor, can we have a few minutes to talk about the pardons with you?

BARBOUR: When the Supreme Court rules, it will be time to talk. I'm not so presumptuous as to what they will do, but when they rule, we could talk.

LAVANDERA: The families want to hear from you. Why won't you talk to them?

(voice-over): The governor walked away again. So we waited outside to give him one last chance. This time, he surrounded himself with security to keep us away.

(on camera): Governor, we can knock this out in 5 minutes. Can we just get 5 minutes?

BARBOUR: When the Supreme Court rules we can.

LAVANDERA: Why can't you talk to these families who want to hear from you, you refuse to meet with? Do you regret pardoning -- the door slammed before I could finish asking whether he regretted pardoning Harry Bostick, a repeat DUI offender.

Bostick was in jail suspected of a fourth DUI after a crash resulted in the death of 18-year-old Charity Smith. The question remains unanswered still. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Lexington, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So what happens when a truck full of fireworks catches fire? The History Channel's top casts found out the hard way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to be kidding me. You're going to burn down the cornfield!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK, so no one was hurt. We were totally allowed to laugh. Did you see that guy's teeny, tiny fire extinguisher? He tried, I guess. Kind of funny, that's a no-no.

Now to this, bottom line on the payroll tax story. Will your paycheck get smaller if they don't pass this thing? We're going to check in with Kate Bolduan up on Capitol Hill to see how close the two sides of the aisle are on this particular issue. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: On the face of it, White House and its Democratic allies and Congress are in for a pretty big battle on Capitol Hill. House Republicans, well, they kind of caved in.

They have agreed to extend the cut in the payroll tax without corresponding cuts in federal spending. Kate Bolduan live for us now from the Capitol.

And Kate, just to be sure here, crystal clear, is this extension here, the cut of the payroll tax, is it a done deal or could something possibly still derail it?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, we always say it's not a done deal until it's a done deal up here, anything can happen, but I can tell you this. All of the negotiators involved say they are inching closer to it being a done deal.

I spoke with the two key negotiators on this conference report, on this agreement earlier today. The Democratic Senator Mike Baucus, the Republican Congressman Dave Kamp, both of them telling me that they are very, very close, but they're saying it's a done deal yet until it is just that.

I'm told by aides that they are still working out a few details that aides believe should not be a deal breaker, but of course, we're tracking that very, very closely. We do, Brooke, have an outline, if you will, of the tentative deal, the tentative agreement that the negotiators are working on.

It would include extending the payroll tax cut, as you and I have been discussing not paying for that, not cutting the budget elsewhere to cover the cost of that payroll tax cut extension.

It also include extending unemployment benefit all be it a face down numbers of maximum weeks you can receive those long-term benefits over time, as well as avoiding that cut in the reimbursement rate that doctors receive for treating Medicare patients.

So those details are starting to trickle out. There seems to be a little bit in there for everyone to not like, but I guess that is kind of what a compromise would look like. Leaders on both sides seemed confident though in the end when this comes of this conference committee, when the negotiators sign off, if you will, Brooke, that they'll be able to push it through the respective chambers.

BALDWIN: According to some of our reporting, this deal would add $100 million to the federal debt. So that is complete and total, you know, hearsay to a lot of the House's most conservative Republicans. How did they feel about Speaker Boehner? They feel like he just kind folded and handed this one over to the Democrats in the White House?

BOLDUAN: There are people on both sides of the aisle that are not happy about what they're hearing about this agreement for the respective reasons. There are quite a few conservative Republicans that are not happy with that exact point, that this payroll tax cut portion is not paid for.

It is something that they have insisted on all along and it's really a principal of what they were elected to bring down the deficit, to fight this adding to the debt, if you will. Democrats are also some Democrats, Brooke, that are not happy with this.

They're not happy that there is a reduction to the number of weeks that go to unemployment insurance, and they're also not happy with the way these are paid for, asking other employees to contribute more to their pension funds.

But on the issue of House Republicans, I actually asked Speaker Boehner this morning about that, about face if you will, in saying that they now will not insists to the payroll tax exemption be paid for by cutting elsewhere?

And he was also asked by another reporter what he would tell these House Republicans that are not happy about it. Listen here to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE SPEAKER: We're not going to allow the Democrats to continue to play political games and raise taxes on working Americans.

And so we made a decision to bring them to the table, so that the games would stop and we would get this work done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, Brooke, we're tracking this on a minute-by-minute basis. I'm told that they were hopeful to have this kind of signed off on by the end of the day so they can moves towards bringing this conference report, this agreement to the floor in both chambers. I'm watching, I'm waiting, and we will bring it to you when they have decide it.

BALDWIN: Let us know. Kate Bolduan, as always, thank you so much there on the Hill. Now this.