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Outed Gay Sheriff Resigns in Arizona; Avalanche Survivor Used Air Bag; Driven Into Underground Bunkers in Syria; Santorum Surges Ahead Of Romney; Santorum Inviting Scrutiny; What Defines America; 19 American Workers Held In Egypt; Stephen Colbert's Private Life; Predicting Lin's Rise To Fame; SNL Takes On Sports, Media

Aired February 20, 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: And hello, everyone. Happy Monday.

I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's get you caught up on everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire." Let's go.

I want to begin with this. A prominent Arizona sheriff resigns from his role in the Romney campaign after being outed and accused of threatening his ex-boyfriend with deportations. And these pictures here show Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and his ex-boyfriend. He's only being identified as Jose.

He says that he received threats of deportation from Babeu's lawyer. It is a claim that Babeu staunchly denies. And coming up in a matter of minutes, CNN speaks exclusively to Jose.

Also, the Red Cross is trying to set up a cease-fire between Syria's government and opposition forces just to get help to the people there. In the meantime, a top military adviser to President Obama says it would be premature for the U.S. to help arm the opposition since it does not appear unified.

CNN's Ivan Watson reports many Syrians, they're desperate. They're desperate for outside intervention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He calls Syria's 11-month-old uprising the "Orphan Revolution," because unlike the revolts in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, he says, the Syrian rebels haven't received any foreign support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A monitoring group reports at least 18 people have been killed today, almost 9,000 since last March.

And oil prices, they are up now to more than $105 a barrel today. That is part because of this announcement from Iran that they are cutting exports to both Britain and France. And now analysts are worried gas prices may go up as well. One trader tells CNN the price of unleaded will hit $4 a gallon by summertime.

And the murder trial of University of Virginia lacrosse player George Huguely is now in the hands of the jury. Huguely is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, Yeardley Love, in 2010. In closing arguments Saturday, prosecutors say Huguely beat her in this drunken jealous rage. The defense said he hurt her but never intended to kill her.

Deliberations are set to start Wednesday.

And if you are in Virginia, just a heads up. You may want to stay off the roads.

State police have responded to nearly a thousand car crashes just in the last 24 hours. Snow late Sunday night left commuters facing slick and very icy roads this morning.

And the surgeon who helped get Adele's voice back says he's hoping the singer's ordeal, her story, helps others as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. STEVE ZEITELS, ADELE'S SURGEON: The surgery went beautifully. I think she demonstrated that pretty well. But it was a very special moment.

The Grammy Foundation invited my wife and I to attend. It's been an incredibly influential case to raise awareness throughout the world about laryngology and human voice and its importance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He mentioned the Grammys. A little over a week ago, Adele won -- count them -- six Grammys, and she gave her doctor a shout-out.

Elizabeth Smart, she is now a married woman. Yes, you know her story.

Smart, she was just a teenager when she was abducted right out of her own bedroom in her Utah home, held captive for months and months. Of course that all a thing of the past, because this past weekend she tied the knot in a private ceremony in Hawaii. Congratulations to her.

And space geek alert here. Today is the golden anniversary of America's first orbit of Earth. Fifty years ago, astronaut John Glenn made the historic journey all the way around the planet, and Glenn recalls the moment like it was yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GLENN, FIRST AMERICAN TO ORBIT THE EARTH: I guess I've recalled it quite often over the past 50 years, and that's kept it fresh. But it was such an impressive thing at the time, that it's indelibly imprinted on my memory and I can recall those days very, very well.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: That mission paved the way for more American space exploration, including the moon landing seven years later.

And we're just getting started here. We've got a lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: -- the debate over arming the opposition in Syria. What will the country's neighbors and world powers decide?

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've just been swamped, bombarded by these people's private stories here.

BALDWIN (voice-over): CNN's Arwa Damon safely out of Syria with a story from underground bunkers.

That deadly avalanche had one survivor saved by an air bag device. Hear from a pro snowboarder who was rescued all thanks to one of these devices.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It inflates a big balloon and it keeps you above the snow.

BALDWIN: This man says he used to date a controversial sheriff in Arizona, a sheriff who just stepped down from a role with Mitt Romney's campaign.

SHERIFF PAUL BABEU, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA: This is a moment of truth for me, and I want to set the record straight.

BALDWIN: You'll hear why this man says he felt threatened.

And today's "Music Monday" artist went from librarian to one of the hottest electronic acts in the world.

The news starts now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You know, it seemed to unravel all at once. This prominent Arizona sheriff publicly came out of the closet, resigned from his role in the Romney campaign, and denied these claims being made by a former boyfriend.

Take a look with me at these pictures. They show Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu and his ex. The man only identified as "Jose" tells CNN that he felt threatened by Babeu and that the sheriff allegedly went as far as to insinuate he would deport the Mexican national. Now, that is a claim that Babeu staunchly denies.

I want to bring in CNN's Miguel Marquez. He actually spoke exclusively with Jose.

And Miguel, what did he tell you?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he said a lot. And it is an extraordinary story that you have this 34-year-old Mexican national who is here in now the middle of presidential politics in a year that couldn't be more bruising politically.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BABEU: All these allegations that were in on of these newspapers are absolutely, completely false.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): It's a Grand-Canyon-size political shocker.

JOSE: We're out-manned. With all the illegals in America, more than half come through Arizona.

MARQUEZ: The tough on illegal immigration Arizona sheriff outed by his migrant ex-boyfriend.

BABEU: This is my personal, my private life, but now it's not so private any longer. And it's an awful position for me to be in.

MARQUEZ: He's in that position because of this man, Jose, a 34-year- old Mexican national afraid to be identified, but speaking out because he says he was threatened by his powerful ex-lover.

(on camera): And then at some point you felt --

JOSE: Yes.

MARQUEZ: -- used and then threatened?

JOSE: Yes.

MARQUEZ: Why threatened?

JOSE: I got a text from him, directly to my phone, saying that I will never have business, that my family will be contacted.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): The alleged threat to have Jose deported if he went public with the affair.

BABEU: At no time did I or anyone who represents me ever threaten deportation. Ever.

MARQUEZ: Babeu stepped down as co-chair of Mitt Romney's campaign in Arizona, but the tough-as-nails sheriff he's not ending his run for Congress.

Jose says he's here legally and wants to get on with his life, but with the story playing a role in presidential politics, that won't be happening anytime soon.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BALDWIN: So, Miguel, a couple questions.

One, did he say why he's coming forward right now? Is there anything specifically he wants?

MARQUEZ: He's trying to stave off what he feels is a threat, and he feels that it's the only way he can do it. Both sides have now lawyered up. It's like a bad relationship and the breakup is even worse. It's kind of a he said/he said situation out here, but he feels that if he didn't go public, that the threats would continue.

BALDWIN: You know, you see the pictures of Sheriff Babeu over the weekend, and he's obviously flanked by this crowd of supporters behind him. We heard from Senator McCain over the weekend, speaking very highly of him. You're there on the ground.

I mean, how is this playing out in Arizona?

MARQUEZ: It's a little hard to tell. I think everybody is kind of taking in a deep breath and sort of seeing where this goes from here because it's just such a -- sort of a shocking allegation. A lot of people will say, oh, well, we knew that he was gay, it wasn't really a big deal.

This is a conservative district, but Arizona tends to be a little libertarian on these issues. And it may not matter in the end very much.

The problem is, is that he -- you know, he was in this relationship with this guy. He was on gay dating sites as well. And so there's a lot of stuff out there that may be coming out in the local press, and that, in the days and weeks to come, may be harder for him to overcome -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Final question for you. As the sheriff is stepping down as co-chair of the Romney campaign there in Arizona, has the Romney camp itself made any comment, any reaction here?

MARQUEZ: Well, it sounds like they've been very gracious. The sheriff called them to step down on his own volition. The Romney campaign actually told him, according to the sheriff, that he didn't have to step down, that it was fine for him to stay on, that they liked him, they trusted him, and they would weather through this.

But the sheriff felt it was in his best interest and Romney's best interest for him to step away from this and not involve them anymore. Clearly, it has involved them just because he stepped down as well. But the Romney campaign at this point has been nothing but supportive.

BALDWIN: Miguel Marquez for us there in Arizona.

Miguel, thank you very much. Welcome to CNN, by the way.

Moving along here, children, families hiding in makeshift bunkers. They're hiding from a rainfall of rockets in Syria.

Coming up next, we'll take you inside these bunkers to see how these people are surviving.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, a group of 15 extremely good skiers got caught by an avalanche Sunday. This was Washington State, the Cascade Mountains. They had departed the designated ski slopes.

Now, we have the video, and you can't tell a lot from this video, but this wall of snow came just hurdling down the mountain and swept four of those skiers downhill, close to 3,000 feet. Three of the skiers died. All three were men. The single survivor, one woman. She was actually on "The Today Show" this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the skiers triggered the avalanche. We were -- the skiers that were below, that were caught in the avalanche, we were considered to be in a safe zone, and we didn't really anticipate it, but when we saw it happening we knew exactly what was happening. And it's amazing how quickly an avalanche happens and it progresses very rapidly into something really major. And I -- when I was caught in it, I immediately pulled my air bag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, she talks about how she immediately pulled this air bag, and these air bags are designed for precisely this purpose, and they actually seem to work.

So let me take you back to an incident. This is last month, a ski slope in Colorado.

And that is -- as you see, she's teeny, tiny on the slope there, but this snowboarder Meesh Hytner. She's caught right in the middle of this avalanche. You start to see the snow pouring down on her, but she, too, had one of these avalanche devices, pulls the rip cord, inflates one of these air bags. She dusted herself off and walked away.

Meesh Hytner is on the phone with me now from Breckendridge, Colorado.

And Meesh, I can't say I've ever been in your shows, but I do have the CliffsNotes version, I guess, of kind of how this bag works.

Can you just talk me through this, tell me how it sounds like it saved your life?

MICHELLE HYTNER, SNOWBOARDER: Well, you know, like she said, avalanches happen very fast and they progress very quickly. These are people who knew what they were doing. They were in a safe zone. I think this season is really redefining the word "safe."

BALDWIN: So, going from there and speaking about these avalanches that are happening, I mean, how many -- is it seconds that you have to yank this ripcord? HYTNER: Yes. I mean, I can only speak for myself, but once I felt the snow take out my legs, I knew I was in an avalanche, obviously, and I had to pull it.

BALDWIN: So what did it feel like? What does that sensation feel like once you pull the cord?

HYTNER: You know, it really was quite gentle. I know that sounds odd, but it just -- it felt like it was keeping my head above the snow just by providing, like, a huge cushion, basically, for me to lie back on. It's really just an amazing piece of technology.

BALDWIN: So, with folks like you, the group we just mentioned in Washington State, if you are skiing out of bounds -- and you mentioned this season seems to be increasingly unsafe -- obviously it's smart to have one of these devices, but is it mandatory?

HYTNER: You know what? I would say the smartest thing to do this year would be to not go at all. As you can see, it doesn't matter how educated you are. Like, avalanches don't care. But yes, I would say it couldn't hurt to have one. I think they're wonderful.

BALDWIN: Do most people you're out snowboarding with or people out skiing in these kinds of conditions, is it a -- is it just the thing to do, or are you the anomaly?

HYTNER: You know, I feel like the anomaly sometimes. This is a device that's not yet commonplace. I could definitely see it being a commonplace object in the next couple years because it just works. It just works.

BALDWIN: And gosh, looking at some of these pictures, I mean, I'm lucky if I can go down at Black Diamond without wiping out myself. I mean, you know, I know a lot of people, right, they ski out of bounds.

Why do it? Why risk it?

HYTNER: Better turns, less people. I mean, and you hope that you're going to be safe.

You know, there's a lot of reasons to go out of bounds, but I don't think there are any good reasons to do it this year. I don't want anything else to happen to anybody. It's just been so sad.

BALDWIN: Wow. It's just that bad.

Meesh Hytner, I really appreciate you coming on and talking to me about it. Thank you.

As we mentioned a moment ago, CNN's Arwa Damon, she is now safely out of Syria. She's going to take us underground with these Syrian families defending themselves from the government forces the only way CNN can tell the story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: A comparison now. And the Arab revolution was just about less than three weeks from the time Egyptians revolted against their president, Hosni Mubarak, to his exit.

To Libya. Six months for Moammar Gadhafi to fall there.

But in Syria, it has been more than 11 months since the protests began against the president, Bashar al-Assad -- began, and Syrians continue to try to overcome their government trying to kill them.

These images, these are from YouTube. They show civilians carrying children from a burning home hit by government bombs. And CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this video, but one of the questions, why has the Syrian uprising been so stubborn?

Many in the opposition believe it's partly because there's been no help from the outside. And the United States is not going to arm the activists anytime soon. This is all according to the president's top military adviser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I think it's premature to take a decision to arm the opposition movement in Syria, because I would challenge anyone to clearly identify for me the opposition movement in Syria at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now is Arwa Damon in Beirut.

And Arwa, first, just incredible reporting from in Syria. We're going to get to that in just a moment. But you spoke with a lot of people during your time there. How do they see the United States right now in terms of not yet intervening?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of disappointment, naturally, Brooke. Many of the opposition members believe that the U.S., being the superpower that it is, should it really choose to do so, could in fact force the Assad regime's hand, could in fact bring in much needed medical and food and other humanitarian supplies.

There is this growing belief that America does not actually intend on helping the opposition in any way, shape or form bring down the Assad government, and that they do, in fact, perhaps secretly support the Assad government itself. So there's been a growing negative sentiment when it comes to how people are viewing and feeling about the United States. And actually, of course, a lot of frustration and anger, because the longer this drags on, they know the longer it is they're going to have to continue to suffer.

BALDWIN: Speaking of suffering, the piece that really stuck with me was when you were standing by the bedside of a man who was trying to draw for you with a head injury. He couldn't speak, drawing for you how he was injured on a piece of paper, and that's just one story you told.

Just describe the degree of suffering you saw first hand.

DAMON: It's so widespread, Brooke, and it's so incredibly hard to put into words exactly what it is that this population is going through. The shelling in the neighborhood of Baba Amr is so intense, that it has driven some families underground for shelter.

But we have to warn our viewers that the story they're about to see does contain some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): This small hall was once filled with laughter and celebrations of marriages. Now it echoes with tragedy. These are some of the families of Baba Amr who have nowhere else to go, finding relative safety in this makeshift bunker, but little comfort.

"We're not sleeping at night, we're not sleeping during the day!" Iham (ph) howls. "The children are always crying. The bombs are coming down like this."

They huddle in near darkness. Some cover their faces, afraid they will lose more than they already have.

(on camera): This woman's son has been detained since the end of August. Another woman's son has been detained. This one right here, for a month and a half.

We just walked in and we've just been swamped, bombarded by these people's tragic stories here.

(voice-over): They survive on basic staples of rice and lentils taken from a government warehouse in the neighborhood, but supplies are running low.

At a wood-cutting-factory-turned-bunker nearby, baby Fatima (ph) is cradled in her grandmother's arms. The image of innocence, though the world she was just brought into is anything but.

Her 19-year-old mother gave birth to her in this makeshift shelter 24 hours ago. "There are no painkillers. I couldn't sleep all night," she tells us. Still, in excruciating pain.

She says her husband left a month ago to get supplies and hasn't been able to get back. He doesn't know he's a father. Baby Fatima (ph) has two great uncles she will never meet, both detained and returned as mutilated corpses.

"It was a site you don't want to see." Fatima's (ph) grandmother's voice trembles as she describes how one of her brother's neck was broken, his skin pealed off.

(on camera): We've just been given a photograph of her second brother who was detained and the state that she received his corpse in. And it's absolutely horrific. (voice-over): It's a room filled with endless stories of death and despair. Safa's (ph) brother and husband were killed when a round struck their home 10 days ago, but she can hardly pause to grieve. "I have to keep going. I have to live for my children," she says.

Activists gather the children for the camera, leading a song against the regime.

"My husband died on the first day of the bombing. They didn't let me see his body. It was shredded to pieces," Amhada (ph) recalls. "His blood is still in the streets, and Hil (ph), his son, he's sick and there is no medicine."

"He keeps crying, saying, 'I want daddy! I want daddy!' I can't bring his daddy back. What is the world waiting for, for us to die of hunger and fear?"

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Arwa Damon, once again, live for us in Beirut, Lebanon.

One of the mothers said the children are always crying, and they seemed to surround you. And one question I have, Arwa, actually from Twitter, from Sue Vaughn (ph), she wants to know of you, "What do the people you meet on the streets of Syria ask you?"

DAMON: You know, they ask a series of questions to which there is, tragically, absolutely no response. They want to know why the international community isn't helping them. They want to know how it is that the world can continuously be watching these horrific images coming outside of Syria and yet be incapable or unwilling to take some sort of action to bring about an end to their suffering. And they also want to know when this is all going to end.

And it's incredibly difficult to be confronted with all of these questions, because there's nothing reassuring that someone can say. There is absolutely nothing that we can say to them, that we can do for them that is going to somehow ease their suffering.

BALDWIN: I imagine you got that question many, many times.

Arwa Damon and crew safe and sound now.

I really appreciate you going in country and telling those stories, Arwa. Thank you so much.

In the roller-coaster ride that is now the race for the White House, Rick Santorum has a significant lead in this latest Gallup poll. All of this comes after he makes some of his most controversial remarks yet about women. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The way the Republican race for president is going, you blink and someone new has now overtaken Mitt Romney. Speaking of, there he is. These are live pictures coming in from Cincinnati, Ohio, just wrapping up speaking to a crowd there. Talking jobs, the economy in Ohio, it's part of the grouping of states as part of Super Tuesday in March.

But I want to show some numbers here. This is a new Gallup tracking poll shows a burst for Rick Santorum. Rick Santorum suddenly leading Mitt Romney nationwide by 8 percentage points. Just last week, the same Gallup poll showed a 6-point lead for Romney.

Mark Preston for us live Mesa, Arizona. You our own CNN political director and simple question to you, looking at the flipping of the numbers, how did that happen?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, it's going to be Rick Santorum, right, Brooke? The fact of the matter is Rick Santorum has come out of nowhere.

You know, Brooke, it was only a month ago, five or six weeks ago, Rick Santorum was being told he should leave the race. That he had no right to be in the race anymore, that he was polling so low. That was coming from Newt Gingrich.

While Newt Gingrich now has literally fallen out of the cliff, so to speak, and Rick Santorum now can arguably be considered the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. Really, it comes to a couple things.

One is that, the Republican establishment while backing Mitt Romney, Mitt Romney has not been able to get the real conservative base to come behind his candidacy, and that is something we've seen Rick Santorum do.

And he's done that by really throwing out red meat lines, things that really appeal very well to conservatives, specifically social conservatives, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And now looking at Rick Santorum's positions, you know, just as we saw with Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, you mentioned Newt Gingrich.

Now people start listening very closely to Rick Santorum and as a result, you know, that the bulls eye is on their backs, microscope as it were and he's already finding himself having to defend one of his statements.

I want to just play some sounds as Rick Santorum on the health care law enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It should require free prenatal testing in every insurance policy in America. Why, because it saves money in health care. Why? Because free prenatal testing ends up in more abortions, and, therefore, less care that has to be done because we call the ranks of the disabled in our society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And that might give pause to some female voters. He has also said he's against contraception, against women taking part in combat.

I imagine, Mark Preston, some of these positions, some of what he's been saying, especially recently, could really hurt him among voting women should he win the nomination.

PRESTON: Yes, but really voting women in the general election, not necessarily the race for the Republican presidential nomination. In fact, the Susan B. Anthony List, which is a conservative women's group, just recently endorsed Rick Santorum.

These are the kind of positions that play very well in a Republican presidential primary. Rick Santorum knows what buttons to push. Brooke, he's been part of the movement for many, many years.

When he was in Congress for 12 years as a senator and a couple years as a House member, he was very much one of the most vocal social conservatives in Congress.

While positions like these could hurt him in the general election, if he walks the very fine line right now, they could help him in the primary.

BALDWIN: I have to ask because it's over your left shoulder, that big sign, right? Tell me why you're specifically in Mesa, Arizona. There is not only a primary looming in that state, but a little something happening Wednesday night?

PRESTON: Well, it's cold back in Washington, D.C., so why wouldn't we be here in Arizona? No, we are here because this is potentially the last time we will see these Republican presidential candidates on stage debating.

So right now, we just saw Mitt Romney as you showed him in Ohio. We saw Rick Santorum down in Georgia this weekend as well as Newt Gingrich. This debate, while taking place in Arizona, and is focused on the Arizona primary as well as the Michigan primary on the 28th of February, this is very much the Super Tuesday debate.

Where we're going to have 10 states that are going to be voting so this could potentially be the last time we have all the candidates on stage. I have to tell you what, Brooke, we've seen a lot of fireworks in these past debates.

This potentially could be the most explosive because this could be a make or break for many of these gentlemen on stage.

BALDWIN: I can't wait. I can't wait. Mark Preston, thank you so much. Appreciate it there for us in Mesa, Arizona.

So coming up, how exactly do you go from being a physical therapist to the principal of the school? We're going to introduce you to one man who did that and find out why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Who are we? It seems like every election year we hear the rhetoric about Americans, what politicians think we are. But this week, CNN NEWSROOM is examining what defines us by looking at the individuals who make up our towns, our communities.

What do we like? What do we believe in? What unites us? Here's George Howell with a look at one such American and as you watch, I want you to join the conversation on Twitter, use the hashtag #IAmAmericaCNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, how are you, sweetheart? Good morning. Good morning. How are you? Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I got a $51 paycheck.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The school morning starts with a simple gesture from the principal.

ED CHANG, PRINCIPAL, KIPP STRIVE ACADEMY: When I shake your hand, squeeze my hand hard and look me in the eyes. Good morning, sweetheart. All right, that's a big deal.

HOWELL: A reminder to these students that Ed Chang is always watching. The first person they see each day. Chang runs the Kipp Strive Academy that he founded like a business.

He even implemented a paycheck system to mirror real life, where students can earn rewards based on their work ethic and behavior. And like any good boss, Chang keeps a close eye on things.

(on camera): Why do you check each class?

CHANG: I check each class because it's really important to make sure kids have a good start to the day. Usually if a kid starts out in a good place, they finish in a good place and opposite stream as well.

HOWELL (voice-over): These are some of the lessons Chang learned from his previous career as a physical therapist and medical recruiter. As the son of first generation Taiwanese immigrants who came to this country for their piece of the American dream.

Chang's parents wanted him to find a job where he could make a lot of money. And for several years he did, until he realized something that broke from his parents' expectations.

CHANG: It really wasn't my personal passion and that's what led me to do a lot of soul searching. It led me to really think about what I wanted to do it as a career, right.

Not the job piece, but as a career. Through that I discovered really that there was a common thread for me based on how I was brought up, based on my personal values, and it was this idea of service over self.

HOWELL: An idea that meant a 60 percent pay cut from his previous salary to instead invest in his own community.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: He takes care of us a lot and he does a lot of things for us.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: He's always there in supporting us and giving us a lot of hope in each other.

HOWELL: And that's the reason Chang says he chose education, a career field that he admittedly stumbled into, but realizes his work here is important.

CHANG: To me, education is the civil rights movement of today.

HOWELL: Ed Chang ends each day knowing he is making a difference.

CHANG: I am Ed Chang, principal of Kipp Strive Academy and I am America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Ed Chang, thank you. We're going to continue sharing your stories all week and I want to invite you. Go to cnn.com/inamerica, share your story with us. You can actually see my own I am America story. Several of us CNN anchor types have shared our "I am America" videos there as well, cnn.com/inamerica.

Steven Colbert is expected to be back on TV with a new "Colbert Report" tonight. There was reportedly an issue with his family. We have the latest details on that for you.

Also, we're going to introduce you to this guy who predicted basketball superstar Jeremy Lin's rise in the NBA. Who was that next

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham, they're in Egypt today talking to military leaders about those 19 Americans who are being held in the country. Now these 19 are accused of illegally working for and operating non-government organizations and they face criminal charges.

The offices of groups like the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute were raided back in December. The groups say they're in Egypt to advocate for democracy.

Senator McCain is a board chairman of the International Republican Institute and one of the Americans being held is Sam Lahood. He is the son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood and Senator McCain met with him and several of the other Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, ARIZONA: They're in the embassy there, as you know, and they're well taken care of. But there's a certain amount of concern, obviously, and tension because right now they are not allowed to leave the country.

And although the conditions that they're in the embassy are fine, there certainly are reasons for anxiety to get this issue resolved.

SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM, SOUTH CAROLINA: We're not negotiators, but the sense that this shelf life is due to expire on this issue and we want to start over, I think is well understood, and the sensitivity of the issue on both sides is well understood, so it's my hope sooner rather than later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Egyptian leaders have blamed the groups for contributing to protests there and said they didn't have proper paperwork. But the groups have denied doing anything wrong.

All right, those of you needing your "Colbert Report" fix, you are in luck. The show will begin airing new episodes starting tonight returning from what was described as, quote, unquote, "unforeseen circumstances."

Unconfirmed reports say that Colbert took time off to be with his ailing mother. But neither Comedy Central nor Colbert himself are saying much more on that, but we can show you this tweet. This is from Friday.

Steven Colbert tweeted, my family and I would like to thank everyone who has offered their thoughts and prayers. We are grateful and touched by your concern.

We have all seen the over top Colbert moments like his part in the 2010 rally to restore sanity event in Washington.

But despite things like that, Steven Colbert is a pretty private person, apparently, rarely stepping out of character. Even his own mother joked about it on a South Carolina public TV program back in 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is Stephen Cclbert?

LORNA COLBERT, STEPHEN COLBERT'S MOTHER: I was going to say, I have no idea. He's just a fabulous, wonderful, young son. For a while his children weren't allowed to watch his show because he sometimes says things he doesn't mean on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A little bit of back story on him. His father and two older brothers were among 72 people killed in a plane crash back in 1974.

This is according to our affiliate WBTV. At the time, Stephen Colbert was just 10 years old. He is expected to address his hiatus when he returns to TV tonight.

Also trending today, still trending like crazy, Jeremy Lin taking home another win for the Knicks and CNN's Jim Spellman actually spoke with this FedEx delivery guy who predicted Lin's rise in the NBA. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From out of nowhere, Jeremy Lin and the ensuing Linsanity has taken the country by storm. But one man saw it coming, self-proclaimed stat head, Ed Weiland.

ED WEILAND, AMATEUR SPORTS ANALYST: This is my sort of my master database.

SPELLMAN: Armed with a laptop and a mountain of college basketball statistics, Weiland pours over kin details looking for future NBA standouts. In 2010, Jeremy Lin, a little known player at Harvard caught his eye.

(on camera): When you're analyzing Jeremy Lin as a college player, did you ever watched him play?

WEILAND: No, I didn't.

SPELLMAN (voice-over): Based solely on statistics like his ability to rebound, steal and block, Weiland wrote blog post proclaiming Lin to be one of the best point guards in college basketball.

At that time, no one listened and Lin wasn't even drafted. But now, he's the hottest player in the NBA, and among his fellow stat heads, Weiland is looking pretty smart.

(on camera): Do you look for underdogs?

WEILAND: Yes. I mean, when I led the 2010 preview off with Jeremy Lin, the idea was that, you know, I thought this would -- if and when he broke out, you know, that there might be some notoriety there, but I never anything expected like this.

SPELLMAN (voice-over): But the notoriety has come for Lin and for Weiland. Weiland is not the obvious sports analyst. He makes his living as a FedEx delivery driver in a small town in Oregon, far from the glamour of Madison Square Garden. He watches the Linsanity unfold on an old TV in his simple apartment.

(on camera): At the moment, you're both kind of the underdogs in your chosen thing?

WEILAND: Yes, we are, aren't we? Connected.

SPELLMAN (voice-over): Will they meet?

WEILAND: You know, I guess so, if it fits his and my schedule. Yes, I'd love to. That would be fun.

SPELLMAN: Jim Spellman, CNN, Bend, Oregon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, Jeremy Lin have forgiven the ESPN after a write wrote an ethnic slur in the headline over the weekend, but SNL not at all letting them off so easily.

In fact, this past weekend, they took on the media's coverage of race in Jeremy Lin asking, with all the jokes and pundits go too far?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lin is the next good fortuned. He turned Kobe into Kobe beef.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Kobe is like, I ordered fried chicken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Coming up in our next hour, we're going to explore the controversial headline involving Jeremy Lin that got that writer from ESPN fired.

He has apologized, but the conversation still going strong. Do we treat Asian-American stereotypes differently than others in our own culture? That is in the next hour. Tweet me about that as well @brookebcnn.

Coming up next, it's Monday. That means it's "Music Monday."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the bedroom where I grew up, where I was recording much of this material.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That musical artist uses the words dreamy electronic pop to describe his music and I think you will be, too. I've been listening kind of nonstop to this guy for the last month. It is so good.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In 2009, he was an unemployed librarian fresh out of school. In 2012, he leads one of the hottest electronic acts in the world. I'm talking about Washed Out.

I have seriously been listening to him a little bit too much in the last month. Ernest Greene explains how he shot to success in today's "Music Monday."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERNEST GREENE, "WASHED OUT": My name is Ernest Greene and I've "Washed Out." I tend to think of it as kind of this dreamy pop music. I was getting a master's degree in Environmental Information Science and graduated and was doing the whole job search thing, and it was -- took a little longer than expected, so I ended up moving back in with my parents.

So it was the bedroom where I grew up where I was recording most of this material and happened to put a handful of them up on the internet and they got passed around really quickly via blogs and a lot of people were excited about it and writing about it.

It suddenly was this kind of real thing. I was considered, you know, a band expected to perform and all this, and it had always been this kind of bedroom recording project. It was kind of crazy. It was definitely a struggle, and it took about a year or so to even feel comfortable standing up there in front of people.

The crowd has gotten bigger and bigger, and for this tour for the new record, we have like a band with me and it's a much different experience. They're great musicians and there's much more energy on stage. That's my wife, Blaire.

That was taken on July 4, 2009 just kind of right before a lot of the media stuff started to happen. I really trust her taste. If she's into it, I think a wide range of people could be into it. More recently, she has started playing in the band. She plays keyboards. I'm very thankful for her.

I think the show is really great. It's really funny. So many people have discovered "Washed Out" through hearing the intro. I get an e-mail from Fred Armisen, and I thought it was like a friend of mine playing a joke or something because I was like, you know, this is the guy from SNL.

And a lot of people had never heard my music apparently have heard the song and Googled who I am. I think that a lot of different people, no matter what your background is or what your normal music taste is, might find something that might find appealing. I definitely feel lucky. Thanks a lot, guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Ernest Greene of "Washed Out." Thank you so much. You can always check out many, many other "Music Monday" interviews. Just go to my blog at cnn.com/brooke.