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Republican Race Continues; Plan for Syria?; Vatican Web Site Hacked; GOP Hopefuls Soldier on After Super Tuesday; Panetta Rebukes McCain on Syria; Tobacco Companies Marketing to Kids?

Aired March 07, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. A couple stories we're working here on this Wednesday. You have Defense Secretary Leon Panetta telling John McCain what he doesn't like about McCain's call for U.S. intervention to Syria.

Also, Super Tuesday fails to cull the GOP field.

And this news just in, the Vatican's Web site, the Vatican, has been hacked.

Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

Chris Lawrence, I do want to begin with you there at the Pentagon talking about these multiple testy exchanges between a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, Senator McCain, and Secretary of Defense Panetta.

What happened? Where do they disagree?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: There was a big disagreement between Senator McCain and Secretary Panetta about the U.S. going alone into Syria.

Senator McCain made a very strong point going back to the '90s saying, look, when the atrocities were happening in Bosnia, the United States acted and it's time for the U.S. to act here. He had a very pointed question to Secretary Panetta, saying, how many more tens of thousands have to die before you're willing to go in?

But Secretary Panetta countered and said, look, I'm not going to send American troops, men and women, into this situation unless I'm sure of exactly what we can accomplish there. We heard today some of the real factors that the U.S. is considering, you know, that you have got 100 different groups as part of the opposition, so not a clear idea of who they are, high density, high population centers, and a Syrian air defense force that presents much, much more challenging defenses than Libya's did.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about this, another testy exchange just specifically about the U.S. asking permission to launch an attack. Tell me about that.

LAWRENCE: Yes. That's right. Secretary Panetta said basically they want to go to the international community, get permission and then come back and inform Congress about that. You know, one of the senators, Jeff Sessions, said, you have got it mixed up. You're supposed to get permission from Congress and then take that to the international community.

Again, all of this was playing out over the fact of going it alone. And I spoke with a senior defense official here just a couple minutes ago who said, look, in this part of the world, does the U.S. really want to go to war in another Arab country by itself? He says no. He says, what they're trying to do is get some sort of international consensus. He said it lends legitimacy to the effort and it's important how the action is looked at not only within the U.S., but all these other countries that surround Syria as well -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Chris Lawrence, thank you.

Next on "Reporter Roulette," no knockout, no clear knockout on Super Tuesday. The battle, it wages on with all four congressional contenders pressing on.

Next on "Reporter Roulette" senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash like magic from Hamilton County, Ohio, to Capitol Hill.

There you are. Sort of Romney eking out that victory where you were last night, what's ahead for these four guys?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the spin is on big time.

The Romney campaign political director released a memo first thing this morning arguing that there is virtually no way for any of his three opponents to ultimately gather enough delegates to win, but went very specific in terms of the map.

And I will show you just a couple examples of the argument that he was making. For example, on April 24, that is going to be the next big day, and it will be a total of 222 delegates, by our count, that day, Connecticut, Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island. He argued that those are not good states for particularly Rick Santorum, his chief rival.

Then the next big day, we're talking several months from now, so hold on to your hat, June 5, also talks about California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota for various reasons, whether it's a proportionality of the way the delegates are allocated or just the terrain, the political terrain for Rick Santorum vs. Mitt Romney, trying to argue this is not good for him.

Also just makes the point at the end, Brooke, saying that Governor Romney's opponents keeping in this race is only going to help one person, and that's Barack Obama.

BALDWIN: When we talk about all these numbers, let's just play the what if game real quickly. If no one actually hits that 1,444 magic number to get the party's nomination and we have a brokered convention, when is the last time we had a brokered convention?

BASH: Oh, boy, you're putting me on the spot now. I want to say Gerald Ford.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Well, 1970, right?

BASH: In the '70s. I'm sure I will get a million tweets about this, but I think that is the case. And I will definitely be looking that up.

But I also want to mention, should mention the Santorum retort to what I just mentioned about the Romney campaign. Very interesting. They call this voodoo math. That's what John Brabender, Santorum's top adviser, called it. That's reminiscent of another -- if you want to talk about history, another big fight.

Voodoo economics is what George H.W. Bush called Reaganomics. Also, they're really making the case inside the Santorum campaign now -- they are saying explicitly that Newt Gingrich should get out of the race, but they are saying emphatically that Tea Party voters, the socially conservative voters, they need to really get behind Rick Santorum because they believe that is the only way they can believe who they call -- quote, unquote -- "moderate" from Massachusetts in the race, again not calling Newt Gingrich to get out, but, boy, are they coming right up to the line inside the Santorum campaign.

BALDWIN: Thank you, Dana Bash. And bring on the tweets. We will fact-check that and get that right number out. Thank you.

Next here, the feds say cyber-attacks could soon become America's biggest threat. In fact, we have now just gotten word that the Vatican Web site has been hacked. Coming up next, you're about to find out how easy it is to hack into a government Web site. Plus, find out what these criminals are actually looking for, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This just in to us, a hacker group has now taken down the Vatican's Web site.

I want to bring in Amber Lyon. She's all over the story.

Amber, I know you have sources within this hacking group Anonymous, and certainly this isn't the first time they have caused a little trouble.

AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, a spokesman with the Vatican is confirming their official Web site was hacked today.

Also some members of this online collective Anonymous are taking credit for this. I spoke with one Anon and he says he was not involved in the actual attack, but he did speak with some of the hackers. This Anon tells me their main reason for targeting the Vatican's Web site was that they're upset with the Catholic Church's teachings on birth control and abortion and the way they handled the widespread sex abuse scandals.

This certain source also tells me that these hackers, Brooke, were able to take control of the Vatican's Web site for more than two hours, which means most likely they were able to extract some information, and we will probably be hearing about that if it's leaked later on, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Do we know yet? Did your source tell you what kind of information that either that they got or that they wanted to get?

LYON: The source is not confirming or denying that they were able to extract any information, but odds are as we have seen in the past with this online collective, when they are able to penetrate a Web site, it's usually followed by some type of a leak online, on the online site (INAUDIBLE) or some type of leak to the media, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Amber Lyon, thank you.

Talking about the Vatican today, we talked about NASA before, lapses in security at NASA that have compromised the space agency's computers.

Now Senator Bill Nelson, himself a former shuttle astronaut, wants to know how hackers gain access to what should be the world's most secure computers?

And to get answers, we have brought in Dave Aitel. He is a computer security expert whose business it is to know where the weaknesses lie in these computer networks. He's also co-written a couple books on the topic, joins me today from Miami.

Dave, how easy is this? How easy is it for a hacker to gain access to a computer such as NASA's computer systems?

DAVE AITEL, COMPUTER SECURITY EXPERT: I think it's funny that he said that NASA should have the most protected computers.

Historically, they have been hacked over and over again for the past decade. So I don't know that -- maybe they should, but they certainly don't have the world's most protected computers. But, certainly, I think the bad news is that every computer can be hacked and possibly the worst news is that every computer basically is being hacked all the time.

You know, in terms of how easy it is, I would have to say that even if it's somewhat a little bit technically challenging, it's definitely doable and you saw that with the Vatican hack. I guess even if you're protected by a deity, you will still have to face the wrath of teenagers with (INAUDIBLE).

BALDWIN: So, what is the impetus from -- and I know you're not a hacker, but from a computer security expert perspective, what is the impetus to hack? Is it bragging rights? Is it the information you can gather? Why?

AITEL: I think the impetus for each of these individuals and each of these groups is very different.

NASA has explicitly said they were attacked 37 times -- or 47 times -- sorry -- and that 13 of them were successful last year alone. And in that case, what they're looking at is nation state against nation state, industrial espionage because they clearly have secrets that the Chinese or other nations would like to have.

In that case, even the most protected computers are going to be at risk because they're going to be hitting you with things you have never heard of, that you have basically no way to protect yourself against. And in the case of the Vatican, I assume what we're looking at there is more on the bragging rights side of the cycle. I think you will see relatively little impact.

BALDWIN: What do you do first specifically talking U.S.? And these were government entities. You would think this should be Fort Knox and it's not always. If you're brought in or you have a security expert brought in to help close any holes, loopholes, what do you do? Is it possible to totally close all that?

AITEL: I don't think with current technology any information security officer is going to tell you it's possible to totally close it.

What they're going to say is maybe we should spend a little bit more on it. If you look at NASA, they spent 4 percent of their I.T. budget on information security. And I think right now they are wishing they had spent 5 percent, or whatever it may have taken.

On the other hand they're going to get to the point where they just sort of assume they're going to be hacked at some point, and they learn how to deal with that. They have to have a policy that sort of classifies information properly, stores it appropriately.

And you have to run your business as if you assume everything you say and do will eventually become public, which is a bit of a change in business corporate philosophy, in a way.

BALDWIN: So if it becomes public no matter how much you spend on I.T. security, is there any consumer takeaway here? Is there anything you and I can do if some government entity is hacked?

AITEL: I think what you or I do is probably very different from what these big corporate entities do.

They do have some new technology coming out and some hope. What you or I can do, of course, is to not make basic mistakes. For example, you or I could not reuse the same passwords over and over. And that's one the key simple things any consumer can do.

BALDWIN: So, 1234 over and over not exactly the best idea, Dave Aitel.

AITEL: Well, that is my password, so you shouldn't use it as well.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Not. I'm not. Dave Aitel, thank you so much talking computer security with us here.

I do want to get this in just into us at CNN. We have gotten a report suggesting the tobacco companies are getting around the law. This is something the government is unveiling tomorrow. You're about to hear it here first. Elizabeth Cohen just walking up. We will get the news from Elizabeth in 60 seconds. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just into us here at CNN, a new report is coming out from the Surgeon General's Office regarding kids and tobacco. Parents, pay close attention.

I want to bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.

You have been talking to sources. You have exclusively gotten this report. What does it say?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. This is a report that comes out tonight from the surgeon general about kids and tobacco.

We have obtained part of it and talked to sources who have read the whole thing. And basically what it says -- the surgeon general is saying that you're not supposed to market tobacco to kids, you're supposed to have Joe Camel, but that there are other ways the tobacco industry is getting to kids, and they say the tobacco industry is spending $10 billion a year marketing to young people.

That's $29 million a day. I want to show you an example. As I said, it's not Joe Camel anymore, but take a look at this.

BALDWIN: Right.

COHEN: When you see marketing for Marlboro next to an ice cream snack at a convenience store and then a Newport there, what does that say to kids that those ads are right near the products that they love.

BALDWIN: So, Marlboro would have control over where their sign is placed in a convenience store?

COHEN: There definitely has been accusations that the tobacco industry and the convenience stores are sort of working together to make this happen. Again, you see Marlboro with Slush Puppie, other examples of where the -- here's the actual product.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Take a close, Brooke.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What is that? COHEN: Those are actual little cigarettes, those things in the back. The colored things in the back, that's not candy. It looks like candy, but it's not. It's actually tobacco that's fruit flavored.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: I know my kids would love this, right? You look at it, it looks delicious. It's right next to chocolate Easter eggs. What kid isn't going to sort of put that together and associate tobacco with being something fun, like candy?

BALDWIN: But, again, that's something you're not supposed to be buying until you're 18. Yes?

COHEN: Correct. Correct. I think the feeling is when you put it next to candy or ice cream, you're sort of giving the subtle or not so subtle message that this is a product that, you know, it's like ice cream or candy.

The tobacco industry, we have reached out to them. We have not been able to get in touch with them but in the past they have said we do not market to underage smokers, but anti-smoking advocates say they have got to stop this, you have got to stop juxtaposing these two kinds of products together.

BALDWIN: So these are examples of how some of these companies are allegedly trying to bring in the kids, right? But then beyond just cigarettes, are there other products they're trying to sell?

COHEN: The tobacco industry has come out with some new products that some people believe are being marketed to kids in some subtle ways.

Let's take a look at one that is called snus. This is a non- smoking tobacco. It's one you put in your mouth. And so it comes in sort of fun flavors like winter chill and mellow. And if you look at the graphics of this, it's fun-looking, right? So some of these advocates feel they're trying to appeal to kids.

And even things like flavorings, for example, this is interesting, I didn't know this. Half of all middle schoolers who smoke, smoke menthol cigarettes.

BALDWIN: Why?

COHEN: It's interesting, isn't it? It's, one, because it's flavored, according to these advocates, and, two, the menthol apparently anesthetizes your throat to a certain extent, but so that it's easier to get that tobacco down.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And you don't like the taste of it.

COHEN: Right. (CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Exactly. Exactly. So half of all middle schoolers and four out of five African-American middle schoolers who smoke, smoke menthol cigarettes.

So these advocates are saying just take menthol off the market because it's a kid magnet.

BALDWIN: So, looking ahead, since you have obtained this report, the surgeon general will be releasing this later tonight. What are they trying to do with this, this new information?

COHEN: Part of what they're trying to do is to get the federal government, especially the FDA to enforce the rules that are already out there and to take a look at these kinds of things and see, is there more that we need to do so that cigarettes don't appeal to kids?

BALDWIN: I never smoked.

COHEN: Good for you.

BALDWIN: I never did. Just...

COHEN: And you're beautiful and have great teeth and great skin, and that's why.

BALDWIN: Well, we all have our vices, I suppose.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much. It's kind of fascinating.

Now we move along and show you this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isabella and Natalia were the two sweetest angels you could ever ask for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A Green Beret dies trying to save his two young daughters. You're going to hear what happened moments before this dad rushed back in after his family's house burst into flames. Please stick around for this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A special forces soldier who returned home after multiple deployments makes a daring escape from a raging fire, and he and his wife they jumped from their second floor of their burning home to safety.

But Chief Warrant Officer Edward Cantrell went back in to try to save his two daughters.

WRAL's Bryan Mims has the heartbreaking story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYAN MIMS, WRAL REPORTER (voice-over): It was a handsome old house, four white columns secluded by trees and a big yard, plenty of room for two little girls to roam with a Little Tikes wagon.

By the driveway, a sign, "Cantrell Family Est. 2004." A young family in a house built nearly a century ago. So when the fire broke out, it broke through fast. Mom and dad jumped out of a second floor window, but the girls, they were still in here. Here's what investigators say happened next.

The children's dad, Chief Warrant Officer Duane Cantrell, 36, a special forces soldier, six times deployed, wrapped himself in a blanket and went in. His wife, Louise Cantrell, ran to this Alzheimer's care center next door. A neighbor heard her scream.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she was banging on the door and she said for them to call 911 and her babies were in the house.

MIMS: Her babies were Isabella, 6 years old, and Natalia, 4 years old. Bella was a kindergartner here at Ed Baldwin Elementary School.

TODD YARDIS, PRINCIPAL: You walked past her in the hallway and she would be the one that would come up and grab onto your leg and give you that hug.

MIMS: But she and her dad and her sister would not make it out of their house alive.

For Cindy Jacobs, who works next door, the image of toys against a backdrop of ruin is not the image she wants to remember. It's a trip one of the girls had last week to the hairdresser.

CINDY JACOBS, FRIEND: She just made her laugh and laugh and was talking about me, because her mother knew me. And she said, we just had the best time. And that's the last thing I can remember right now.

MIMS: And we leave you with this image, dad and his two princesses.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Again, that was WRAL's Bryan Mims.

Still ahead, six soldiers, they are missing in Afghanistan. We are now getting a clearer picture as to what exactly happened to them.

Plus, the feds are coming down on one company for a product that promises caffeine without the coffee. Lizzie O'Leary has the scoop next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWS BREAK)

BALDWIN: And coffee lovers, caffeine lovers, there's a product out there and it's raising some eyebrows. It's a shot of caffeine actually without the coffee. And now the feds have issued a big warning over this.

Lizzie O'Leary live for us in Washington.

First, we're talking about this thing. It's called breathable. It's like breathable, like you inhale somehow this caffeine. Remind me how it works.

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Exactly.

You kind of nailed it there, Brooke. This is one of the points of controversy. Here they called are. It's called the AeroShot. And it's basically a caffeine powder that you spray into your mouth. And they say breathable energy on here. We have reported on it.

And this is where the feds' eyebrows get raised, both marketing, that question of breathable energy, and safety. What are you doing shooting this caffeine into you? It's only about as much as a cup of coffee, but the questions are, if you're breathing it in, it's not really inhaling. It's injecting it into your mouth. What if some gets into your lungs? What could happen then?

So the FDA wants this company to review both the marketing, what they're saying about these little things, and also whether they truly are safe. The company now says they will essentially comply with the FDA, they want to work closely with the FDA they said in a statement to meet their requests for information and labeling changes to ensure compliance with dietary supplement requirements.

And this is essentially all about branding as well. They say it is a dietary supplement, and what does that really mean? So, they're going to have about two weeks to figure it out. But there are a lot of safety questions about this as well, particularly when you start to think about kids, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Speaking of kids, this is something that is -- is it targeting young people, the fact that it's this breathable, easy thing?

O'LEARY: Well, you saw those ads, right? They look like a party.

And one of the things that they say on the AeroShot Web site is that this could help you stay up at the library or hit the books all night long. They say they don't target people under 18, but the FDA certainly has concerns about lines like that.

And the safety, we talk to a doctor about this -- you and I would probably be fine with a few of these, but if you're an 80-pound, 14-year-old girl, that becomes a slightly different medical question.

BALDWIN: What's next?

O'LEARY: They've got about two weeks to figure this out. And here's one of the tricky things -- because this is a dietary supplement, that's the way it's marketed, to actually get it off the market, the feds would have to prove that it is unsafe in order to get them off the market. The last time they did that was with Efredra, the weight loss drug back in 2004. The law is a little squishy there.

So, the FDA has the burden of saying, wait a minute, that's not safe. We don't want consumers to see it.

So, in about two weeks, we'll know what the company says about all this.

BALDWIN: Call me old-fashioned. I'm a gal that likes a cup of coffee. Right, Lizzie O'Leary?

O'LEARY: Yes, I may have a few.

BALDWIN: All right. Lizzie, thank you so much for us in Washington.

Coming up next, you have a student get kicked out of school allegedly for not listening to her teachers. Here's the thing: the student is hearing impaired. Find out what her parents are doing. Sunny Hostin is on the case. We're going to talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here's the story. A student in a Chicago private school gets expelled. The reasons cited include failure to listen and failure to respond to teachers' request. Now, the student's parents are suing. But as we mentioned before the break, the student is hearing impaired and has to use hearing aids.

Sunny Hostin is on the case.

Sunny, here's my question. If this was a public school, the law says they have to accommodate children with special needs. It's a private school. Does the same requirement apply?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, certainly, if the private school receives some sort of federal funding, even if there's limited federal funding. Students with disabilities certainly do have some protections. To be sure, though, Brooke, there are less protections at a private school than there are in a public school.

But assuming that there are those protections, sort of the general rule of thumb is that you don't discipline a child with a disability for acting in conformity with the disability. So, for example, if you have a child that wears a hearing aid and can speak quietly during library hours because of his disability, you can't punish a child for that.

But, you know, we're not sure about this -- they are just allegations at this point. We don't know all of the facts. I did reach out to the school, to St. Scholastica Academy, and I did receive a response from the president, Loretta Namovic, who is also named in this lawsuit. And she said at this moment, the school has not received any legal documentation regarding the particular matter that I asked about, because I did reach out to her. And she said the school's practice is not to comment on private matters concerning students.

But she does also mention that this school is 146-year-old college prep school for girls and that they provide a very high level of personal attention to each student. They have, you know, students with diverse learning styles.

And so, my sense is that at this point we just don't know about what happened here, but certainly the lawsuit does claim that she was discriminated again because of her hearing impairment.

BALDWIN: OK. So there you have it, the school getting back to you. I do want to ask you about this letter. It's dated -- from a doctor, dated two months after this young woman was expelled, stating that her hearing loss is severe enough that even with hearing aids, she would have problems understanding teachers.

And I know a lot of people could be asking, if this school is really the best place for her with this condition -- I mean, is that at all a factor in the lawsuit?

HOSTIN: You know, I'm sure that it is a factor, and I'm sure that it is something that a judge will consider. But my understanding is that the child wore hearing aids, if the hearing aids were visible. She was a senior at the school. So, she had been at the school for sometime. The school was aware of the disability.

And the parents indicate in the lawsuit that they asked for certain accommodations like having her move work closer to the teacher, so sort of preferential sitting arrangement, which is typically asked when children have disability.

So, you know, will it be considered? Yes. I think so. But, again, the facts are not all that clear because we haven't heard from both sides yet.

BALDWIN: OK. And perhaps we will soon. We'll go back to that one if we do.

Let me talk to you about this case. It's out of Washington state. A 9-year-old brought a loaded gun to school, critically injured a classmate. He struck a deal with prosecutors. So this 9- year-old is going to be testifying against his mother and his boyfriend, accusing them of making the gun available.

Have you heard of this before?

HOSTIN: Isn't that remarkable? I have heard of -- well, you know, it's hard to put very young people on the witness stand, but this is a plea deal that the 9-year-old reached. And the parents have been -- there is a warrant out for their arrest. Brooke, get this -- and apparently they're not in town because they're at a NASCAR event in Las Vegas. So, they're on holiday right now.

But it isn't unusual. There are about 27 states that have these types of laws on the books that hold parents responsible for kids to get their hands on guns. So, this fact scenario certainly isn't peculiar or unique because there are statutes in place to protect against this.

And, you know, unfortunately, these parents are accused of allowing -- or the mother and her boyfriend of allowing this kid his hands on a gun. And I think what is so remarkable is that his mother is a felon. And so, she wasn't supposed to be around firearms, wasn't supposed to be allowed to possess firearms.

And, unfortunately, this child lives with his grandmother. She adopted him. In 2010, she dies of pancreatic cancer. His uncle is now the custodian. His uncle didn't have guns in the home. But his mother and her boyfriend brought the gun in the home on a visit, just unbelievable facts in this case.

BALDWIN: I do want to read this statement and this is from the parents of the girl who were shot here. And let me just quote.

"Amina's life has been forever altered, along with the rest of our family, due to the breakdown of the system that allows parents deemed unfit by the state to have unrestricted access to this student and his siblings."

So, final question, I mean, could the family here also be blaming the state of Washington with a lawsuit there, talking about the system?

HOSTIN: I suspect, Brooke, that we will see more of this case, and I suspect there will be a lawsuit filed.

BALDWIN: Just calling it now. We'll see if it happens.

Sunny Hostin, appreciate it, on the case.

Coming up next: As Republicans do get out on the campaign trail, the biggest issue facing African American voters, it's going to have a huge impact come November on the general election.

Marc Morial from the National Urban League is releasing the group's report tonight on the state of black America. He's good enough to joining me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Question: What is the single most pressing issue for African-Americans' this year?

According to the National Urban League, it's voter participation.

The National Urban League urging Africa-Americans to occupy the vote this year -- educate, employ and empower. That is the key focus of its 2012 state of black America report set for release tonight on a big town hall at Howard University.

And he is here live in Washington, Marc Morial. He's the president and CEO of the National Urban League.

And, Mark, wonderful to have you on.

MARC MORIAL, PRES. & CEO, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's just begin with concern number one. I know you've written about galvanizing the black vote. Why is that difficult? What's the issue?

MORIAL: Well, all of a sudden, there is an avalanche of new laws that have been proposed in some 34 states that will have the effect of making it more difficult for people to vote. These are new voter ID requirements, cutbacks on early voting, restrictions on how one can conduct even a voluntary voter registration campaign.

Indeed, yesterday in Ohio, a World War II veteran went to vote, showed his veteran's photo ID and was denied the right to vote in Ohio, because, quote, "the law" there is so restricted that it requires an ID that has a matching address.

These new requirements are simply voter suppression tactics. We asked why, we asked why now. We have to increase awareness about these new tactics because they're just not right and they're not consistent with American values.

BALDWIN: You look at 2008, Marc, and President Obama carrying the majority of the black vote out. You know, with the concerns you raised here in these multiple states, folks not being able to go, how might that affect President Obama? Does it hurt his chances?

MORIAL: Well, there's no doubt all people should be concerned about any and all restrictions on people's rights to participate in this very cherished institution, and that is folding in the electoral system. We are hoping that the Justice Department will exercise its authority in Southern states covered by the Voting Rights Act to disapprove of these voter ID laws.

And indeed, in Wisconsin, a circuit court judge just this week issued an injunction against Wisconsin's new voter ID law.

So, there's going to be a great deal of resistance. But we're saying to people, become aware of the laws and the restrictions and the requirements in your own state. That's why we will launch tonight the Occupy the Vote election center online. It will be a place where people can go get the information about voting laws in their particular state.

BALDWIN: OK.

MORIAL: -- connect with registration, et cetera.

BALDWIN: I know politics, Marc, is top of mine. You know, Super Tuesday last night, it's a big election year, but I want to talk about education because there's a news feed today. We learned that the U.S. Department of Education found that minorities in general, they face harsher disciplines in schools and African-Americans are suspended in higher rate.

My first question when I read that is: why? Why is that? And how do we fix that?

MORIAL: Well, I think that the Department of Education Secretary Duncan and his team are doing the public a great service by finally documenting some of these disciplinary disparities that we've noticed for quite sometime. And I think it requires a focus on this nation on how to fix those problems, how to recognize the difference between bad behavior and what may be learning difficulties. There are some other underlying concerns.

And this really, really demonstrates why our report this year has a focus not only on voting but on education and jobs, too -- because the future of the nation says we have to provide educational opportunities and motivation to every single young person if we're going to have the type of 21st century economy we want.

BALDWIN: We talked about jobs. You know, we've been paying very close attention this last cycle and a lot of it is sort of pivoted on these social issues. And you talk to regular folks, they say, I want to hear more about the economy, how are we going to improve that unemployment number. Nationally, it sits at 8.3. The African-American number, that is 13 percent unemployment.

What do you want to hear from any of these candidates to try to turn that number around?

MORIAL: I like -- right now, the president has proposed the American Jobs Act. It includes a number of recommendations that we make. I'd like to see Congress, both the Senate and the House, give the American Jobs Act, the entire American Jobs Act, an up or down vote.

And I challenge anyone who has a problem with the American Jobs Act to offer another comprehensive proposal. Not a slogan, not a set of talking points but a comprehensive proposal.

There is no one-shot fix to the economic challenges we face. But the American Jobs Act certainly is a legislative step that we can take in the Congress of the United States right at this time. That bill has not been afforded an up or down vote. We need to focus on education, focus on entrepreneurship -- a whole range of things.

But that's something that every single candidate running should give their position. If they don't like the president's proposal, they need to have a better idea.

BALDWIN: You don't want a bumper sticker, Marc Morial, is what I'm hearing. You want concrete solutions. We appreciate you.

MORIAL: We want action.

BALDWIN: Good luck tonight at Howard University, with your town hall.

MORIAL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: By the way, if you want to take a look at this report, state of black America report, it is online. Just go to www.iamempowered.com.

And it's got America talking. An NFL team cutting one of the greatest players in history, 4-time MVP. We're not going to sugar coat it. Peyton Manning, he got hurt and the Colts didn't want to pay him. So, today, during a news conference, it got a little emotional.

We're going to get Wolf Blitzer, are we, we're going to get Wolf Blitzer to talk football? News to me, folks. Where does he think Peyton Manning is going next?

You're a Washington guy. You pay attention to the Colts?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I played football in high school.

BALDWIN: Well, there you go.

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Today, one of the greatest players to ever play the game of football was cut from his longtime team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEYTON MANNING, FMR. INDIANAPOLIS QUARTERBACK: I've been a Colt for almost all of my adult life. But I guess in life and in sports, we all know that nothing lasts forever. Times change, circumstances change, and that's the reality of playing in the NFL.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was Peyton Manning just minutes after Colts' owner Jim Irsay announced the quarterback's release. The four-time league MVP missed all of last season with a neck injury. He's now free to sign with any team in the league. The Colts are expected to draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the number one that is for the NFL draft pick next month.

Quickly before we talk anything serious, Wolf Blitzer, we just mentioned before the break --- you played high school football.

BLITZER: Not like Peyton Manning, though. I was at Kenmore West Senior High School outside of Buffalo.

BALDWIN: What position?

BLITZER: Linebacker. Not good. Not very good, but I did have fun.

BALDWIN: OK.

BLITZER: If I knew then what I know now, I wouldn't have played, with the concussions.

BALDWIN: I know, quite serious, indeed.

Let's talk about more serious news, Iran. Who do you have on the show?

BLITZER: Dennis Ross is joining me today. Dennis Ross was President Obama's top Middle East adviser on the NSC, especially issues related to Iran. He's recently left the Obama administration and he's going to be joining me.

You know, he wrote a really provocative piece in "New York Times" a couple weeks ago, saying there is time for diplomacy, for negotiations, for inspections to work with Iran. So, I want to pick his brain on that.

I'm also anxious to hear what he says on this feud that's broken out between John McCain and the Obama administration on whether or not to launch air strikes to deal with Syria, the brutal crackdown on the protesters and all of that. I'm anxious to hear what Dennis has to say on that subject.

BALDWIN: What, with regard to Iran, what would be I guess the breaking point for the U.S. to then say, OK, we'll help?

BLITZER: President Obama keeps saying they're not -- the U.S. will not allow them to have a nuclear bomb. He says flatly and said this several times over the past few days, there is no U.S. policy of containment, of containing a nuclear-armed Iran, as there was with the old Soviet Union, for example, there was a policy of containment throughout the '50s, '60s '70s, et cetera, until the collapse of the Soviet Union. There is no policy of containment. He says Iran will not get a nuclear bomb.

But you know, that threshold -- I think there's a difference between how the U.S. sees it and the Israelis, and I'm going to push Dennis to see, you know, where those differences are. He has the inside information. He knows.

BALDWIN: We'll look for it, the Dennis Ross interview, the next hour?

BLITZER: It's going to be on the 5:00 p.m. Eastern --

BALDWIN: Five p.m. Eastern hour.

BLITZER: -- hour in THE SITUATION ROOM.

BALDWIN: With Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: One of my favorite shows on television.

BALDWIN: As it should be.

BLITZER: Did you see that picture I tweeted of you?

BALDWIN: It's a little scary. Thanks so much.

BLITZER: No, you look great.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Apple -- thank you -- unveiling its new toy. But, folks, this is more than the iPad. Dan Simon was in the room tweeting out the details of this new gadget. He has the latest surprise. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you are thinking about getting an iPad, Apple has unveiled a brand-new model today.

And our Silicon Valley correspondent Dan Simon got a look.

So, give me the skinny, Dan Simon. What are the cool new parts about it?

DAN SIMON, CNN SILICON VALLEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I actually did get to play with it just a few minutes ago. And when you hold it in your hands, it looks and feels like the old iPad, the iPad 2. But the big difference is the screen, the retina screen.

And so the text and the photos that you see on it look a lot crisper. I want you to hear now from Phil Schiller who handled the presentation, he is worldwide marketing officer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL SCHILLER, APPLE: When you hold it at a normal distance, in this case, 15 inches or even closer, your retina in your eye cannot discern those individual pixels. There is enough pixel density that you can't pit out the pixels, and images on it look stunning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: So that is the signature feature, Brooke, of the new iPad. And, yes, they're just calling it the iPad. A lot of people thought they would call it the iPad 3 or iPad HD. But no, it's just the iPad.

The new feature in this new device is the camera in the back. It's a 5-megapixel camera. So, in theory, you could use it as your primary camera. The pictures really look stunning. And also, one thing you can't see is there's a new chip inside, so you get a faster data connection that's really as fast as using a typical Wi-Fi connection. This is the 4G network you may have heard about.

The new iPad is going to go on sale on March 16th. Ands I'm sure it will be another phenomenal success for the company, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. So, March 16th. But you know, people don't want to wait for that, so I know they're taking pre-orders, right? Can you start ordering today online?

SIMON: You can start ordering today, Brooke. And one thing we should also mention, is the company released an updated Apple TV device. This is the set-top box that allows you to stream movies and TV shows. This is not to be confused with an Apple television, which some people think will be coming out later in the year.

And CEO Tim Cook kind of hinted at that. He said that there's going to be all kinds of new innovation coming out throughout the year. So, he said, this is really the tip of the iceberg, and stay tuned.

So, I think he got people in the audience very excited with what will be coming up in the months ahead.

BALDWIN: OK. Hang on, we have 20 seconds. Apple and Apple TV, what is that? What could that be?

SIMON: An Apple TV, it's a good question. A lot of people think that will have a Siri enablization, where you could talk to the TV and say I want to watch "War Horse" and all of a sudden, boom, it starts playing. And also, of course, Apple is known for creating brilliant displays, so we probably something like that. Just my guess.

BALDWIN: We'll wait and see. Just a guess.

Dan Simon, thank you so much. We appreciate it there, our Silicon Valley correspondent.

And that's it for me. Now, I'm going to toss things up to Wolf Blitzer. "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now.