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Whitney Houston's Behavior Before She Died; Syrian Government Loses Control of North; School Accused of 'Lunchbox Policing'; Interview With A Syrian Activist; Fight Over Child Killer's Burial Site; Lin Drives Knicks To Seventh Straight Win; Underwear Bomber Being Sentenced; Sources: 65 Killed In Syria Today; Inside The Siege Of Homs; Adele On Vogue's Cover

Aired February 16, 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: Hello, everyone. I'm Brooke Baldwin, at the top of the hour here.

Let's get you caught up on everything making news. As always, we begin with "Rapid Fire." Let's go.

Video and pictures of Whitney Houston's final days coming under scrutiny as investigators piece together what caused the singer's death. We are learning much more today about her final hours. They included boozing, mismatched clothing, and erratic behavior. This is all according to a source briefed on Houston's activities. And another source tells us that Houston's co-star in "The Bodyguard," actor Kevin Costner, will be speaking at her funeral this coming Saturday.

The crisis in Syria now hitting the northern part of the country. Opposition groups are rising up against the government. In fact, much of the north has been out of government control for months.

CNN's Ivan Watson and his crew are now in the region. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The countryside here in northern Syria is in open revolt. And this is a rebellion of farmers, of carpenters, of high school teachers, entire communities, villages and towns and stretches of northern Syria that tell us they have not seen presence of central Syrian government authority in months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Ivan Watson there in country.

Today alone, at least 65 people were killed in Syria. That is according to an activist group.

And a fight -- you heard about this? -- really developing here in Washington State over where one man who murdered his two young sons should be buried. I'm talking about Josh Powell.

His family wants to bury him beside the sons who were killed when he blew up their home with them inside two Sundays ago. But a Crime Stoppers group has now bought the burial plots on either side of the sons to stop the Powell family from doing so. The boys were buried Saturday in the town of Puyallup.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK COX, FATHER OF BOYS' MOTHER: I can't see this happening. And I just hope that, you know, it goes away quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVEN DOWNING, COX FAMILY ATTORNEY: And it's unacceptable to have him anywhere near these boys and their mother.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RALPH DANNENBERG, PUYALLUP CITY MANAGER: I feel it's in the best interests of the city and both parties to let -- if they file that, let the judge decide, and we will abide by that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Talking to a member of that Crime Stoppers unit in this show. Stay tuned for that.

Also, we should tell you Josh Powell was also a suspect in the disappearance of his wife, Susan. That dates back to 2009.

And new numbers show President Obama's job approval rating on the rise. Take a look.

You can compare month to month here. A new CNN poll has the president at 50 percent for the first time in eight months. That is up three points from last month, six points from November. The poll also shows the president beating the Republican leaders, topping Mitt Romney 51 percent to 46, and leading Rick Santorum 52 percent to 45 percent.

Here's some good news. A California couple missing since Sunday found alive back home today.

Mark Schroeder and his girlfriend Janette DeGrace were just out taking an afternoon drive just west of Lake Tahoe when their car got stuck in the snow. And according to reports, Schroeder eventually hiked nearly six miles through two feet of snow until he could finally get a cell phone signal and could call 911. Obviously, the couple's family and friends relieved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Relieved.

JOHN SCHROEDER, FATHER: Relieved. Much relief. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): John and Jean (ph) Schroeder can finally breathe again after a tense three days of not knowing where their son Mark and his girlfriend Janette DeGrace have been.

SCHROEDER: He said, "Hi dad. I did a stupid thing."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John says his son --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The pair was treated and released from the hospital just this morning.

And America's leading fake news pundit abruptly suspends his show, and it's not clear why. Comedy Central confirms "The Colbert Report" shut down production due to imploding unforeseen circumstances. A rerun aired last night, another one now scheduled for tonight.

"The Wall Street Journal" is reporting an emergency in Colbert's family, citing people familiar with the show.

And sentencing under way right now for the so-called "Underwear Bomber" in Detroit. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane back on Christmas Day of '09. Remember, with a bomb hidden in his underwear?

The now 25-year-old Nigerian is facing a life sentence. And CNN's Deborah Feyerick is in the courtroom. We're going to bring you the sentence, obviously, that news, as soon as it's announced live here on CNN.

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: A serial killer draws a map that leads to hundreds of bones, jewelry, even a purse. And I'll speak live with a father who believes some of those remains belong to his missing daughter.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): New revelations about Whitney Houston's final days, including her erratic behavior by the pool, plus what she was like behind the scenes of her last movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we seek the light, we often have to be prepared for --

BALDWIN: Have you ever heard of the lunchbox police? A firestorm is brewing after a school confiscates a preschooler's homemade lunch.

Plus, beneath those flames. More than 300 inmates tried to escape before dying, and some of them may have been locked up without a single charge. And Adele is everywhere -- top of the charts, the radio, even the cover of "Vogue." But many accuse the magazine of airbrushing her figure and changing her curves. Plus-sized model Emme chimes in live.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are continuing to learn a lot more about Whitney Houston's final days. And the details are not all pretty. A source says Houston was drinking heavily earlier in that day, wearing mismatched clothing and behaving erratically.

Don Lemon is in Los Angeles. He's been working his sources for us.

Don, what do you know? What was she doing the final day leading up to her death?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm so glad you said it's not all pretty, because it is not, Brooke. And you know, it's a reality.

There are people in all of our families, some of us personally, who have issues with addiction. This is the reality of what happened to Whitney Houston in the days before her death, and this is what investigators are looking into. And that's what they're telling me.

They're saying that Whitney Houston -- this is a source who is very close to the death investigation. They're saying that Whitney Houston was seen at the pool, and hotel staffers confirm drinking at the pool, drinking at the pool bar, a lot of alcohol, complaining about alcohol being watered and too much ice, jumping in and out of the pool, acting erratically, so much so, that other guests and staff members became concerned.

Those are the realities. That's what happened.

And, Brooke, if she had prescription medication -- we know that she had Xanax, that is confirmed, in her room, and that she was taking Xanax, according to her family. If she's doing that and drinking, from a known addict, that is a problem.

As much as some people don't want to hear it, that's the reality we cannot turn away.

BALDWIN: You hit on two points -- two points -- and I want to go back to the point about being at the pool. We have a picture.

It's from TMZ. Let's go ahead and throw it up. And you can see her lounging, and sort of behind the chair is this glass.

Do we know what was in the glass?

LEMON: Well, we don't know what was in this glass, but let me tell you, if you -- and when we say "sources," we don't say "sources confirm" very lightly here. This means these are people in the know. And they're saying she was drinking copious amounts of alcohol. And according to her friend Kelly Price, America, she was drinking at this bar on Thursday night, which was just a day and a half -- or a night and a half -- before she turned up dead.

And she was drinking before 10:00 in the morning. OK? So that's the reality of it.

We cannot pretend that it does not exist. We can't pretend that Whitney Houston never had addiction issues.

And if you have addiction issues, you shouldn't be drinking. If you're taking prescription medication, you shouldn't be drinking. Every single prescription I know of and I'm sure you says, "Do not take with alcohol."

BALDWIN: I talked to Jane Velez-Mitchell yesterday. She talks very openly, written a book about being a recovering addict, and she would absolutely agree with you in that they've sort of been enablers, the circle around her. But I just want to also get to other facts about the investigation.

I mean, this is a huge hotel. Right? I mean, I've been in it. You've been in it. Cameras are pretty much everywhere.

I imagine investigators are also combing through every piece of surveillance video they can get their hands on.

LEMON: Right you are. Not just surveillance video, but from television interviews.

There's an interview -- there's a piece of video from Clive Davis where he's doing an interview, and Whitney Houston comes in, and her clothes are completely dry. Her hair is wet. They're looking at that.

Investigators do say that they have asked for surveillance video. They're not saying that the surveillance video exists, but they say it will be part of the investigation if they have recovered it. Some parts they have to keep private and they won't share -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: What about the room itself, Don, this room in the Beverly Hills Hilton? You have some news as far as when officials actually entered the room and where they found her.

LEMON: Yes. According to the source who is very close to the death investigation says at no point does the source believe that Whitney Houston was ever seen by an official in the bathroom or in the tub. Once the paramedics got there, anyone official got there, outside of her assistant, outside of her personal bodyguard or security, that she had been removed from the bathtub and the bathroom, and was on the floor of the hotel room face up, on her back, which adds another dimension to this investigation.

BALDWIN: Don Lemon, appreciate you talking to your sources. Thank you so much for us there in Los Angeles. Another side of Whitney Houston now for you from the man who produced her final project.

I want you to listen to Bishop T.D. Jakes. He is describing Houston's performance in this film "Sparkle," which also stars singer Jordin Sparks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHOP T.D. JAKES, PRODUCER, "SPARKLE": When she walked out there and began to perform, we were all just stunned at how well she did not only with the singing, but also with the acting as well. There was certainly a synergy between she and Jordin Sparks. And when you look at how natural -- how Jordin has shot into stardom, and Whitney had been there and done that, there was almost a sense of mentoring or camaraderie between the two of them that existed on and off the set.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So he talks a little bit about the mentoring. But if there is any doubt that Whitney Houston was still the voice, want you to listen to Jakes, how he describes her rendition of the spiritual hymn "His Eye is on the Sparrow."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKES: That was probably one of the stellar moments in the movie, when she began to sing it. We had had some deliberation about that, and singing possibly another song that we all knew and liked, "Mary Don't You Weep." But she said she preferred to sing 'His Eye is on the Sparrow," and I think it was, in some way, a personal testimony, because when she began to sing it, the entire cast and crew were teary-eyed.

It was almost as if we were not filming, that we had really gone to church there for a few moments. It was a great moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, on the defense over his decision to lower flags to half-staff for Whitney Houston's funeral this upcoming Saturday is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

First, listen to the initial announcement and his decision to honor the singer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: Whitney Houston was an important part of the fabric -- cultural fabric of this state. And as I said, on the night of her passing, I think she belongs in the same category, from a musical perspective in New Jersey history, with folks like Frank Sinatra and Count Basie and Bruce Springsteen. And she was a cultural icon in this state.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: But the backlash over that decision, it has been fast and furious. A lot of reaction on Twitter.

One quote, "Are you serious? Whitney is no hero."

Christie tweeted back, "Flag being lowered for her cultural contributions as an artist and New Jerseyan. Her struggles with substance abuse are a different topic."

Other critics argue the honor should be reserved for fallen soldiers and police officers. The governor's response to that? "Not saying sacrifices were equivalent. Her cultural contributions to the state merit the honor. Sorry you disagree."

And Whitney Houston's co-star in "The Bodyguard," actor Kevin Costner, will speak at her funeral Saturday in New Jersey. That is according to this CNN source with knowledge of the funeral plans.

Also learning a bit more here. Among the 1,500 mourners at this invitation-only service in Houston's childhood church, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan. Fans have been clamoring for some sort of public memorial. So you will now get to watch the funeral right here on CNN.

Our coverage of Whitney Houston's service begins Saturday morning, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

The United Nations is set to vote on a Syria resolution soon. And so as we're looking at these pictures, we're monitoring the U.N. for that breaking news, my next guest is a Syrian activist who says while his home country may not have money or oil, his people are dying. And he can hear bullets when he talks to loved ones on the phone.

Don't miss this conversation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: That is -- I should say was -- was a building. It was just flat-out imploded from the strain of repeated shelling by the Syrian armed forces. This is day 13 of the Syrian army's onslaught against its own people in Homs.

Opposition sources tell CNN at least 65 people have died today in attacks by the Syrian government and in fighting between the army and the insurgents. The dead are said to include four people in Homs, a city of 800,000.

Homs now staggering under the weight of this two-week siege, which has begun to recall the block-by-block destruction of the Syrian city of Hama back in the 1980s. That was the work of the then-Syrian president Hafez al-Assad, father of the current Syrian leader, Bashar al-Assad.

So listen, if you would, to this analysis. It was given today by the U.S. director of National Intelligence, and it's quite chilling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLAPPER, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Assad, himself, probably because of his psychological need to emulate his father, sees no other option but to continue to try to crush the opposition.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: But I guess my question, sir, was, unless something changes as far as assistance from the outside, do you see a continued stalemate in Syria?

CLAPPER: I do, sir. I think it will just continue. We don't see any -- short of a coup or something like that, that Assad will hang in there and continue to do as he's done.

MCCAIN: And the massacre continues?

CLAPPER: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The massacre continues. A grim prediction there.

Hold that thought. CNN's Ivan Watson has just now gotten into northern Syria, and he has witnessed a growing revolt against the rule of President Assad.

Watch this with me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATSON: The countryside here in northern Syria is in open revolt. And this is a rebellion of farmers, of carpenters, of high school teachers, entire communities, villages and towns and stretches of northern Syria that tell us they have not seen presence of central Syrian government authority in months. They have been governing themselves, and they have clearly established militias, as well as pockets of what's been called the Free Syrian Army, defectors from the Syrian army who have come and joined these villages and rural communities in opposition to the Syrian government.

As we have traveled across this region, we have gone everyone village to village, from small council to small council, where young men and old sit on the ground, chain-smoking, next to Kalashnikov assault rifles, weapons, light weapons, that they say they've gotten within the last couple of months. The residents of these communities say they haven't seen any presence of the Syrian government in months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Ivan Watson for us there in country.

I want to introduce you now to Syrian dissident Ahed Al Hendi. He fled Syria four years ago after enduring imprisonment and torture at the hands of the Syrian government.

And Ahed, thank you for coming on. I know you are in contact with the opposition in Syria right now. But before I ask you about your sources, I just want to ask about your family.

Your family's still in Syria. You're able to call them. I know there aren't landlines, cell phones in most places. People are sneaking in sat phones.

What are they saying and what do you hear in the background?

AHED AL HENDI, SYRIAN ACTIVIST AND DISSIDENT: Well, I haven't talked to my family during the last few months, but I'm talking to activists on the ground. I mean, we could hear the bullet sounds on the phone.

Everybody's telling us, why the world is silent? This regime is murdering us, is using tanks, using even air strikes in some areas of Homs. And the world is still silent.

Some banners were held in Syria. People were saying, "We hope that our blood would be turned into oil so people would come and the world would come and save us." So it's a big shame on the world that nobody's helping the Syrian people.

BALDWIN: "If our blood would turn into oil, then perhaps the world would save us." That's what you're saying the people say.

What are you hearing then from theses activists and your sources? Is this revolt now spreading to the north?

AL HENDI: It's in all of the Syrian cities. Today, the Syrian army has stormed the city in the south, Daraa, which -- the revolution started from this city. And they are killing people and they are even raping women.

Yesterday, in Homs, they raped a 15-year-old girl -- she's a teenager -- in front of her father. When her father reacted, they killed him.

And the situation is really miserable. It's like the United States, they have a golden opportunity now to have friends and allies in the Middle East if they have a strong position against Assad. But unfortunately, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she defers to Assad and said, we would not get troops to Syria unless Assad would approve that. And this is really viewed as a ridiculous thing by Syrian people.

BALDWIN: And again, this is information you're getting from your sources. CNN has not been able to independently verify that. I just want to put that out there.

But we just played some sound from James Clapper, the director of U.S. National Intelligence, essentially saying that President Assad has -- let's just say this -- daddy issues. I mean, given what happened, it was 30 years ago this month that the town of Hama just totally shelled 20,000 people, emulating sort of the brutality of his own father.

Daddy issues? Does that sound right to you? AL HENDI: I mean, we're afraid that the Hama massacre that occurred in 1982, and the world, they didn't do anything back then. Even no statement, verbal statements against Assad back in 1982. Now we're afraid that it's going to be repeated and the Syrian people would be left alone.

Assad is doing like just his father and is killing more people. The difference now, the people -- there is more technology, we have sat phones inside the country. They are telling us what's happening.

We are seeing the atrocity, the real atrocity by the Assad dynasty. They have been ruling Syria since 1970 the same way. They're killing people, imprisoning people, putting people in the prison.

BALDWIN: Ahed Al Hendi, thank you so much. Appreciate it there, live for me from Washington on the state of Syria both then and now.

A turkey sandwich, a banana, chips and apple juice. It seems like a pretty healthy school lunch. Right? Well, one school lunch monitor didn't agree and gave the 4-year-old chicken nuggets instead.

That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. I definitely want your feedback on this story a lot of people are talking about.

This family in North Carolina says their daughter's school confiscated her school lunchbox not for drugs, not for a gun, but for not having milk. Now the school is under fire for claims of overstepping its authority and becoming "the lunchbox police."

Alina Machado of our affiliate WTVD has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So stay out of my kid's lunchbox, or grandchildren's, for that matter.

ALINA MACHADO, REPORTER, WTVD (voice-over): That's the message this woman has for state officials. She's the grandmother of a 5-year-old Pre-K student here at West Hoke Elementary whose story has made national headlines. The woman, who as asked to remain anonymous, says a few weeks ago, a state agent inspected her granddaughter's homemade lunch and forced her to eat cafeteria chicken nuggets. She says the lunch consisted of a turkey and cheese sandwich on white wheat bread, potato chips, a banana, and apple juice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is very healthy. She had her dairy, she had her protein, and she had her grain.

MACHADO: Hoke County assistant superintendent Bob Barnes agrees that the lunch was healthy, but he says it was missing milk, a key part of what is considered to be a healthy meal under state guidelines. BOB BARNES, ASST. SUPERINTENDENT, HOKE COUNTY SCHOOLS: We are not the lunch bag police. OK? But if we observe that a child who's brought their lunch is missing one of the key components of the healthy meal, we simply say, if it's milk, here's some milk, you may have it or not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Barnes says there was likely a misunderstanding between the child and staff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She went through and got a school meal. She didn't have to do that.

Meanwhile this woman says the state should not be inspecting lunches and that the focus should be on academics is instead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get your priorities straight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was Alina Machado, our affiliate WTBD, which reports that officials say the girl's lunch was never taken. They say the girl misunderstood a direction to get some milk in the cafeteria and bought a new meal instead.

I was tweeting here. I want to hear your thoughts as always tweeting through my two hours, send me a tweet @brookbcnn, was that fair? What is not? Can you relate? Let me know.

Meantime, Josh Powell, what a story. Josh Powell killed himself and his own little boys in that house fire a couple weekends ago. Now there's this whole fight over whether he should be buried next to those boys. Crimestoppers has gone so far to buy the burial plots on either side of the boys' graves. That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Even after death, the sons of Josh and Susan Powell are now in the middle of this tug of war, 5-year-old Braydon and 7-year-old Charlie were killed back on February 5th when their father blew up the house they were all in saying he couldn't live without his boys.

Josh Powell had been a suspect if the disappearance of his wife, Susan back in 2009. And Susan's parents had custody of these two boys. They were supposed to be on a supervised visit. It was a court mandated supervised visit the day of the explosion.

Now Josh Powell's family wants to bury him next to the sons he killed at a plot at this cemetery in this Washington State town. On the phone with me now is Ed Troyer from the sheriff's office in Pierce County, Washington.

Ed, I know you're part of this Crimestoppers unit that just bought these plots on either side of these boys' graves. Why did you do that?

ED TROYER, PIERCE COUNTRY SHERIFF'S OFFICE (via telephone): Well, the bottom line is they did because we wanted to make sure when anybody ever wanted to visit those boys that they didn't look down and see Josh, their dad's tombstone or some sort of memorial or plaque next to them.

That way, you know, who wants to be a murder victim and have your murderer rest in peace next to you for eternity or have some sort of plague or marker up on the grave for everybody to look at?

I think it would have been shameful. We wanted to take this land and give it to the Cox family and let them do whatever they want with it, something that honors those two boys.

BALDWIN: Ed, let me ask you specifically, whose idea was this? Was it the sheriff? Was it someone in the community who said we have to do something?

TROYER: Well, we knew it was going on. We heard from the family attorney and there's a lot of outrage here. The sheriff of Pierce County Paul Pastor told me. Let's try and do something about this and he came up with an idea to see if we could get the plots next to or near where this is going to happen.

And so Crimestoppers is a non-profit 100 percent volunteer that does not use government funds. No taxpayers' moneys were used to do this. We got separate donations to make it work.

So we went and spent the day yesterday and were able to acquire and purchase the two plots, one on each side of where these boys are buried. And we'll leave them empty and leave them available for the Cox family however they want to use them.

BALDWIN: You mentioned donations, Ed. Who is giving here?

TROYER: Well, right away, you know, myself personally and the sheriff personally and within two or three hours, we had $1,000, really quickly. And then now it's ramped up to where we expect to get a lot more money than we even paid for the plots.

So instead of saying Crimestoppers is did this, now we're saying the community came together as a whole and decided this wasn't right. And has put a lot of money into making sure that these areas next to the grave don't get disturbed and the proper memorial is put on it for these boys.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about Josh Powell's family because from what I understand they said OK, perhaps if -- they couldn't bury him next to these boys, he could be 50, 80 feet away.

I want to read you something that we have been just getting from our Seattle affiliate KIRO reporting that the Cox family attorney says that the Powell family has told them Josh Powell will not be buried at all in the same cemetery as these two little boys. Can you confirm that for me?

TROYER: Well, I can't confirm it. I know they're going to court to try and stop that from happening. But if that happens, that was our end goal. We didn't want him there and it would be a distraction. And it wouldn't be an honor to the boys.

I know that they did acquire a grave about 30 yards away and one of the things we're telling people here is, you know, legally and per the court order, we may not be able to keep them out of the cemetery. But what we've done is kept them away from being next to those boys.

BALDWIN: Ed Troyer, Pierce County Sheriff's Office, Ed, thank you so much for talking about these little boys and these plots there. Ed Troyer, thank you.

Jeremy Lin, the latest NBA rock star. His face was used on a graphic with a fortune cookie during last night's game in Madison Square Garden. It is causing a stir. We're going to show that image next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Make it seven in a row for Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks. Lin kept his extraordinary hot streak alive last night in a victory over Sacramento. And there he goes. He's probably topping himself with a new career high of 13 assists.

This Harvard grad who so few believed in now is the most buzzed about player in the game. CNN has also learned that Lin has been invited to the NBA All-Star Weekend at the end of the month. He'll be showing of his skills in the shooting stars competition.

But it seems like some don't know how to handle the athletics of success of an Asian-American such as Lin. Case in point, take a look with me at this graphic of the MSG Network showed while broadcasting the game.

It's got Lin's face above a fortune cookie that reads "The Knicks good fortune." What was MSG thinking when they aired something that seems so entirely stereotypical you asked? We asked, as well.

CNN has reached out to the network for comment. We've got nothing so far. That aside, Lin has the made the Knicks the hottest ticket in town, but it's all happened so fast. Could the hype go to his head? The young point guard seems very aware of the potential pitfalls.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY LIN, NEW YORK KNICKS GUARD: I want to be the same person before and after and you know, that's where I want to be. And I don't want to let anything affect me or this team. And I think you know, playing in New York is a big stage. And that's obviously a temptation and a danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The conditions are right for Lin and the Knicks to keep their streak going. They begin a four-game stand at home starting tomorrow night. And CNN's Arwa Damon with even more incredible reporting within Syria. She talks with this injured man here who says his life was forever changed when he just walked outside to take out the trash. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Sentencing is under way right now for the so-called underwear bomber in Detroit. He is Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He pleaded guilty to try to blow up that Detroit bound plane on Christmas Day back in 2009 with a bomb hidden in his underwear.

So let's go straight to Deborah Feyerick. She's been inside the courtroom for us. Deb, sentencing, is it still ongoing, the hearing?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's still ongoing. As a matter of fact, Brooke, Abdulmutallab is speaking right now. He's giving a statement to the court. He's telling the judge, I am not -- he meant to say patsy. It sounded a little bit different.

But he said my life and lives of Muslims have also changed due to U.S. attacks. He believes that Osama Bin Laden and Anwar Al-Awlaki who was his mentor, his spiritual guide, the man who actually approved him for this mission, he says he believes they are both still alive.

Now, prosecutors say that Abdulmutallab, he is an unrepentant would be mass murderer and if given the chance of let out that he would do it again. His lawyers were arguing that no, in fact, Abdulmutallab is capable of reform and they were fighting saying life in prison, that's not only unconstitutional, but it's cruel and unusual punishment.

The judge basically denied that and said no, it is an applicable sentence. Should that be the sentence she decides to mete out, big ruling that goes against Abdulmutallab. The judge decided she will allow a 52-second FBI video, which is a recreation of the 200 grams of explosives that if detonated could have taken down that plane.

So that 52-second video they're going to be showing after Abdulmutallab finishes his statement. He was looking very placid in the courtroom. Victims got up to speak. One woman actually said, you know, Omar, I forgive you.

He just didn't even look at her, didn't make eye contact. The one flight attendant who put out the fire on board the plane, he said his whole life has changed. The joy has been taken out of it -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Saying they forgive him and he wasn't even looking back. Deborah Feyerick, thank you very much. As soon as there is sentencing news obviously, we'll put you back in front of the camera and get it here. Deb, thank you very much.

Also more news out of Syria today. Another 65 people have reportedly died in attacks by the Syrian government and in fighting between government forces insurgents. We also heard today from the U.S. director of National Intelligence who said the fighting and stalemate are likely to continue.

He says Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has dug in his heels and is likely to try to cling to power. We now have not just one, but two reporters, two crews in Syria, including CNN's Arwa Damon.

She is in the besiege Syrian city of Homs. She filed this report from the embattled neighborhood Baba Amir and got to just tell you here, her report includes some scenes you might find upsetting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the horizon, thick smoke billows from a sabotage gas pipeline. This is the war zone that Homs has become. We are in Baba Amir, a neighborhood that's endured constant shelling.

Where civilians are killed and wounded every day. A 30-year- old man lies on the brink of death after shrapnel hit him in the head.

(on camera): He had brain matter that actually came out of the wound last night.

(voice-over): I couldn't really do anything for him, Dr. Muhammad says. I just stitched him up to keep the brain matter in and inserted a tube. It's actually a nasal tube to suction the blood. He will die if he doesn't get out.

Dr. Muhammad is one of only two doctors here. His specialty is internal medicine. The other doctor is actually a dentist. The 36- year-old's arm is attached by a few muscles only. I just went out to take out the trash.

I saw that the shelling had quieted down, he recalls. I had hardly stepped out the door when I heard a massive sound. The father of three tried to get his wife and children out of the area, but he says, government forces turned them back.

In a weak voice, he implores, we are begging all countries in the world, please, get involved. Muhammad also tried to escape, but wasn't allowed through the checkpoints. He says he was hit by a tank round after running to help those wounded in a rocket attack in front of his house.

(on camera): The doctor is just saying that this is a patient that has to get outside of Baba Amir within 24 hours or else his leg is most definitely going to need to be amputated. And the doctor was also pointing out how at this point you can smell the rot coming from the wound. This patient has been lying here like this for four days now.

(voice-over): The feeling of helplessness in the face of such suffering is overwhelming. We've lost all feeling, Muhammad says. There is no value to life. The rockets just rain down. Dr. Muhammad can't hold back the tears.

This is a case that survived, he says. Most cases we get like this they die within an hour or two because we can't do anything for them. This is how they have to move around just a short distance to get from one location to the other where they have the patients.

Six patients were killed in this building after a strike. The shelling is relentless.

(on camera): What they've had to do because the clinics keep getting targeted is try to distribute the patients around so they have a number of houses in the vicinity where they also have these makeshift clinics, as well.

(voice-over): In what was a living room, one man groans as he shows us his wound. Next to him another patient, struggling to speak, as well. He initially traces the shape of a tank on the wall. And then communicates through crude drawings.

(on camera): This here is Abad. And he's been drawing trying to explain what happened because he's in so much agony he can't speak. He is one of the cameramen who goes out, risks his life all the time. It's some of his clips that we constantly see posted to YouTube and broadcast.

And he's been drawing two tanks and explaining how he was moving down the street across from them when they fired at him. His -- he's also got a severe head injury. His skull has been cracked and the nurse is just saying he's suffering from internal bleeding, as well.

(voice-over): Lying in the room nearby, 19-year-old Abudi is barely hanging on, wounded when the clinic was hit a few days ago. Among those treating him is 27-year-old Nura, who like Abudi is a volunteer.

There is a team of 20 volunteers now on the medical frontlines after just 15 days of training. I swear to you, he's just a youngster, Nura cries. Her voice filled with anguish. He came here to help people. And now he needs help.

No one is equipped to deal with the scale of the casualties. An average of 60 wounded a day. Not to mention the rising death toll. These are humans, Nura says, her voice trembling. They are not stone. And all they want to know is how many, how many have to die before some sort of help arrives. Arwa Damon, CNN, Homs, Syria.

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BALDWIN: That is so tough to watch. Arwa, thank you for being there and sharing their stories. More sad news for you just to add to Arwa's report. Since she filmed in that makeshift clinic, we have now learned the 19-year-old Abudi featured there has died.

And there are plenty of reasons for a young person to want to be like Adele, her amazing voice for starters. So when "Vogue" published this cover here it, obviously photo shopped, it didn't go very well with a lot of people. I'm going to talk to plus sized model, Emme about this one, get her thoughts next.

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BALDWIN: Ever since she won six Grammys on Sunday night, Adele has been trending. But now it's not just her talent, her voice, but also her looks getting her some attention and not all of it is positive.

I want you to take a look here. This is the latest "Vogue". Came out Tuesday and a lot of fans have commented that the cover of Adele doesn't give a true picture of her size. In fact, we went pouring through all the comments.

I want to read you just one comment. Someone wrote, quote, "It's really disappointing that Vogue photographed Adele in a corset and did everything possible to disguise her weight. She's fine just the way she is. Vogue disappoints me in this area. Real women have curves. It's OK. I wish Vogue felt that way, as well."

I want to bring in, Emme, beautiful actress and model, Emme. Good to have you on as always. And if I may, I just want to show one picture. And just also point out, it's obvious she has clearly lost weight over the past couple years.

When you see the side by side pictures, that was her on left in 2009. Then that was her Sunday 2012. So, Emme.

EMME, ACTRESS AND MODEL: OK.

BALDWIN: OK. You've seen --

EMME: Makeovers do take place though, Brooke. I'm looking at the pictures and I can see her makeup is different. Her hairstyle has been changed and probably she has probably started working out a little bit, which is not a bad thing. There is definitely a difference. Her hair is different.

BALDWIN: But not just the before and after from '09 to 2012. I want to talk specifically about these "Vogue" pictures. You've thumbed through them, what's your first impression?

EMME: It's not the woman we just saw. It's just not the woman we just saw. I do have to say, however, that it is, you know, the whole spread is a work of art. There's a lot of beauty going on.

A lot of work with the photographer and the stylists and everything that went into this, but what the effect of this issue does to millions of women and children that have really followed Adele with her music career.

All of a sudden sees her in a very altered state that that's what I'm concerned about. That the retouching went past a line. I get lines taken out of my face. I get lines taken out of my clothes when I do different things for clients. But there's a line that you cross and I think they crossed the line. BALDWIN: Here's my question because I've never done a photo spread. You have done many. Are you made we're that once you're photographed that your photos will be altered? Do you have control over that? Can you say no to "Vogue"?

EMME: You can write it in your contract. Sometimes I have to stand with a photo shopper or a photographer and say that's great, that's great. No. If you're going to do take -- you know.

If there's something like something in your teeth or something seriously going on where you really haven't had a lot of sleep, but if it really alters or trims your image where your body shape becomes different.

That your face seriously becomes shaped differently, I don't want that in my life. I want to be what I am and I work hard at maintaining the vitality that I have. And if I am anything different than that, then I'm projecting a really strange image out there.

BALDWIN: An Adele has been very open about talking about body image and said to Anderson Cooper, I don't need to be some skinny minnie. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADELE, SINGER: I've never seen magazine covers and seen music videos and said I need to look like that if I want to be a success. I don't want to be a skinny minnie with -- I don't want people confusing what I'm about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: But will that be confusing given, Emme, what she's saying there and these images we're seeing in "Vogue?"

EMME: She has no control over that. She had no control over the last edit, that final edit, no matter who the people are in her group, they did not have that last edit. So it will be very interesting. This is not going to stop here I think.

BALDWIN: We reached out to "Vogue." We reached out to Adele. We haven't gotten a response from either, but bottom line, I mean, talk about messaging and this is why you're so wonderful at this. As a parent as well, as a parent, how do you fight images of these thin women, these Photoshopped women and try to tell your kids it's OK, you don't have to look like this?

EMME: Well, it's a good topic of conversation to show images of who she was just last week to the image in here and to really bat it home that this is a fashion shoot that is supposed to be taken in a vein of art and that images do get manipulated.

And take a look. This is what it is. Photoshop does this. And show them on the computer, so that they can be educated that this is not reality. Even the women on the covers of many, many magazines, it's not their nose, it's not their eyebrows, it's not their hair color.

If you can talk about this and communicate this with your kids, that's brilliant. This is a very, very good opportunity. But, also, read the article. It's a great article.

BALDWIN: It is. And it is beautiful.

EMME: We love Adele. We love Adele.

BALDWIN: We do. We love Adele.

Emme, thank you very much.

EMME: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: And now this. --