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U.S. Soldier Accused of Killing Afghans; Taliban Reacts to U.S. Soldier's Shooting Spree; Comic Foxworthy Stumps for Romney; GOP Candidate Court the Deep South; U.S. Soldier Accused in Afghan Massacre; Average Gas Hits $3.80/Gallon; Marine's Facebook Page Tests Rules; Marine: "Real Issue is PTSD"

Aired March 12, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We'll be there. Thank you, Soledad.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Carol Costello.

Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, heartbreak and outrage in Afghanistan just hours after a U.S. soldier reportedly went on a horrifying rampage in an Afghan village. The Taliban issues a chilling threat. It vows to avenge the deaths of those 16 civilians.

We'll take a closer look at what happened and the American sergeant now being held in the killings.

Pushing ahead to tomorrow's Alabama and Mississippi primaries. Mitt Romney gets a boost from -- from a son of the South: comedian Jeff Foxworthy, known for his redneck jokes. Foxworthy is stumping for Romney in both states today. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are fighting Romney for the conservative vote in the Deep South.

One week after posting his best ever closing round, Tiger Woods suffered a tournament ending injury. Watch him after this approach shot on the 10th hole at Doral. He looks disappointed. And look at him. Favoring that left leg. Tiger withdrew after the 11th hole. He later said he felt tightness in his Achilles. He injured that tendon in the Masters last year.

But we begin this hour in Afghanistan where an American is accused of a cold-blooded killing spree and a strange alliance reels from another disastrous blow. The Pentagon has not released the soldier's name but says he's an Army staff sergeant in his mid-30s. He had served several tours of duty in Iraq but was on his first deployment to Afghanistan. He is now in custody. U.S. custody. And the military says he acted alone.

Here's what we know. At 3:00 a.m. local time, Afghan troops reported seeing a soldier leave his army outpost near Kandahar. The United States dispatched a patrol to find him but before they found him, he had reached a village about 15 miles away. The military says he then went door to door shooting people. Most of the victims were women and children.

We're covering all angles of this developing story. Sara Sidner is in the Afghan capital of Kabul, Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon working her sources. But we want to begin with Sara.

Sara, the Taliban are now vowing revenge. Does that reflect -- of course that reflects a sense of growing outrage in the streets, too, doesn't it?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It does indeed. The people in the village that we've been watching some of the images and some of the interviews coming out from the area where this happened and they are basically saying, you said to trust us, you said we could trust you, and look at what you've done to us. So there's definitely some anger coming from the village and today many families are burying their dead including nine children and three women and four men.

There are five others who were wounded in this attack and the international security assistance forces say they have been working on those five people in a coalition facility there in the area but there is definitely, definitely anger especially coming not only from the villagers but also from President Hamid Karzai who has called this an act of terror and said it's unforgivable. I mean so some very strong words from the president there.

What we know right now again is that this soldier is in custody but there are some disputed details of what happened. Some of the villagers saying that there was more than one U.S. troop on the ground when this happened, though, ISAF is disputing that, saying no, there was one person that did this on their own. There was no mission going on in the area -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm just curious, Sara. What was the mission of the combat outpost where the suspect was based?

SIDNER: Well, they've been based there for quite a long time. And it's gone through several people sort of being over that first Canada and now the U.S. But the situation is that everyone has been quite mum on what exactly surrounded all this. How did this person get off base without people noticing.

And if you listen to what the villagers are saying, this seems to have gone on for quite some time because it happened in two different villages and the villagers are saying four different houses were attacked where people were literally pulled out by their hair in some cases. One villager saying that their child was stomped and then a gun put in his mouth, and that people were just shot randomly.

So there's going to be a lot of deep investigation into this by not only NATO but also Afghans as well.

COSTELLO: Sara Sidner reporting live for us. A Seattle newspaper put it starkly. This isn't the case of a rogue soldier. It's a case of a rogue base. The suspect was stationed in Washington state. The Joint Base Lewis-McChord is located outside of Tacoma and has been tied to other attacks on Afghan civilians.

In 2010 four soldiers from Lewis-McChord were accused of forming a kill team and slaughtering three unarmed men for sport. That same year the "Military Stars and Stripes" newspaper called it the most troubled base in the military. They quoted a retired general as saying there was a leadership problem.

The next year the "Los Angeles Times" cited a spike in suicides and called it a base on the brink. The "Seattle Post Intelligence" newspaper quotes one veterans' advocate as saying this, "This was not a rogue soldier. This was a rogue base."

This is -- this latest bloodshed is the latest embarrassment to Rock Lewis, McChord's military community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN ERICKSEN, ARMY CIVIL AFFAIRS TEAM LEADER: I mean, it's going to complicate missions most definitely but also it' just -- you know, it's just -- you know, I think we're all affected by senseless death regardless of how it happened. Spending years away from my kids, my wife, my family, my community, you know, stressful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In Afghanistan one government official warns the United States to not send the suspect back to the states for a trial. He said Afghans are demanding swift justice and will feel betrayed if the accused gunman is whisked out of the country.

Barbara Starr covers the Pentagon for us.

So, Barbara, I want to start there. You have the soldier who allegedly did these terrible things. The United States military has him in custody in Afghanistan. At what point do they get him out of the country for some kind of trial?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, this will be a key decision for commanders to make, Carol. Do they hold the trial in Afghanistan on a U.S. military base once charges are made against this man and if he goes to court-martial or do they send him back to the United States?

We've seen things go both ways. The issue of his safety, the safety of the troops around him, the safety of any base where he's being held is going to be one of paramount concern. One can only imagine. Make no mistake. He will be handled by the U.S. military justice system and not turned over to Afghans. There are very strict laws and regulations about that.

I want to go back a minute, though, and touch on the Lewis- McChord situation. That base. Certainly that base is a place where there have been many, many very well documented problems. Things that have gone through the military justice system. But what we don't know right now -- we need to be careful of course -- is whether this suspect served at Lewis-McChord at the time when those other things happened, whether he even have the same commanders. We just simply don't know when he joined up with the Lewis-McChord base. So I just wanted to make that one point.

COSTELLO: We appreciate that, Barbara. We do.

Let's talk about the mission in Afghanistan.

STARR: Sure.

COSTELLO: There's a new ABC News poll out that shows 60 percent of Americans don't think the war in Afghanistan was worth fighting. This is disturbing since Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda used the country as its base. So how will the Pentagon handle this and Congress and the president?

STARR: Well, you look at those numbers and it's -- it is concerning to U.S. military commanders because they've long said they can't prosecute a war that American people don't support. I mean that's a real tenant -- in the Pentagon ever since the days of Vietnam. But right now the policy, the strategy remains unchanged after this, which is NATO, the U.S., the Afghans have all agreed that combat operations will wind up by the end of 2014.

There is talk about a new agreement that would keep U.S. troops there for some time after that. Hunting down al Qaeda. But this incident combined with the accidental Quran burning incident combined with just the general unease of what you constantly hear, what we all constantly hear, and the issues that the Afghan government has with all of this, it kind of makes you wonder whether it's really all going to last that long and really that remains to be seen -- Carol.

COSTELLO: It does. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.

Of course, we're looking at this tragedy from every angle this morning. Less than 15 minutes from now we'll take a closer look at the mental strain facing our men and women in the war zone. A psychologist will be here to tell us how something like this could happen. How things can go so terribly wrong.

And then at the top of the hour, General Mark Kimmitt joins us to discuss base protocol and how this tragedy affects Afghan relations with the White House.

Now troubling new reports out of Syria. Rebel activists say more than 100 people were killed across the country yesterday. But the most gruesome stories are coming out of Homs. Opposition groups say government troops stormed into Homs and stabbed to death at least 45 women and children. The government blames terrorists for the attacks. CNN is unable to verify because as you know Syria bans most foreign reporting.

And today a funeral is planned for an American reporter killed in Syria. Marie Colvin was killed in Homs when government forces shelled a residential area. The "Sunday Times" correspondent will be laid to rest in her childhood hometown of Oyster Bay, New York.

Well, on to politics now. Mitt Romney reaching out to southern conservatives ahead of tomorrow's Alabama and Mississippi primaries, and he's getting some help from one of the south's funny men, Jeff Foxworthy. He spoke just a short time ago in the heavy rain in Mobile. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF FOXWORTHY, COMEDIAN: The fact that you would stand here in this pouring down rain to listen to the next president of the United States pleased to meet you all --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's bring in our Paul Steinhauser.

Romney, Foxworthy. Will it work?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: I thought I saw -- I saw Foxworthy there. But I really couldn't see Romney. That umbrella was kind of just -- listen. I think this is part of Mitt Romney's strategy here to try to reach out to voters, conservative voters in the Deep South, in Mississippi and Alabama.

Listen, not his -- not his strong suit down there. Social conservatives dominating both states. And well, Mitt Romney, not doing so well among those voters. Maybe his Mormon religion has something to do with it.

Carol, remember last -- into last week we heard Mitt Romney talk about his love of cheesy grits and biscuits. So again, I think this is part of Mitt Romney trying to reach out to voters in both states. Of course tomorrow primary day in those two states.

At the same, though, Carol, Mitt Romney also admitting, listen, kind of an away game for me. That's what he said about those two contests. So I think he's trying to lower expectations in Alabama and Mississippi.

COSTELLO: He's done that in a lot of states, hasn't he?

Let's talk about Rick Santorum, though. He's coming off a good weekend win and he's hoping to convince Newt Gingrich to drop out. Is it working?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Big win for Santorum in Kansas. He won 51 percent of the vote in the caucuses there on Saturday, 30 points ahead of Mitt Romney and everybody else. So a big win there. He gets some delegates. As for Santorum and Gingrich, yes, I think Rick Santorum would love for Newt Gingrich to get out of the race so Santorum would be the last remaining so-called conservative candidate to go against Romney. But he won't actually say that. Take a listen to what he said on the Sunday talk shows.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The speaker can stay as long as -- as long as he wants, but I think the better opportunity to make sure that we nominate a conservative is to -- is to give us an opportunity to go head to head with Governor Romney at some point and hopefully that will occur sooner rather than later. But we'll wait and see what the speaker decides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: That's like hint, hint, Newt, get out of the race. But, well, not happening. In fact Gingrich's campaign for a while some top aides were saying, yes, if he doesn't do well in Mississippi and Alabama, you know, maybe that is the end. But the candidate himself sounding very, very serious here saying he's going to go all the way to the convention. Stay tuned. Let's see what the results are in Alabama and Mississippi. We'll talk more on Wednesday about that one -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will. Paul Steinhauser, thank you.

What would you do if your flight attendant told you the plane was going to crash? That's what happened -- I'm sure you've heard about those. That's what happened on an American Airlines' flight about to take off from Dallas to Chicago. Passengers say the female attendant got on the intercom screaming she wouldn't be responsible if the plane crashed. She even referred to the 9/11 attacks. Please listen to this again.

(VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That's just unbelievable. Stephen Termunde is the passenger who shot that video. We're going to play some more of that new video on CNN and we'll also talk to Stephen this morning. That will come your way at 10:20 Eastern Time. He'll tell you what American Airlines is offering him for his trouble on board that flight.

Republican candidates down in the Deep South. And who's got the best chance of winning the southern conservative vote in Alabama and Mississippi? We'll have a preview for you just ahead.

And March Madness is here. Coming up in sports highlights from Sunday's conference title games plus your chance to join our bracket challenge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Primaries in the Deep South wouldn't normally get this much attention, but Mississippi and Alabama could be the deciding factors in whether Newt Gingrich stays in the race, although Gingrich insists whatever happens, he ain't leaving.

A conservative columnist and former Gingrich speechwriter Matt Towery is here.

Welcome, Matt.

MATT TOWERY, FORMER GINGRICH STAFFER: Happy to be back.

COSTELLO: We're happy to have you.

OK. So, this interesting article in "The Washington Post" this morning. It said that of these three candidates, none of them really connect to the South.

And I know Gingrich is supposed to be the closest connection but he was born in Pennsylvania. He served in Georgia. He hasn't lived in the South for decades. He lives near Washington, D.C.

So how can he connect with Southern voters?

TOWERY: Well, let's put it this way. He doesn't sound Southern but at least Newt Gingrich has had more experience in seeing grits and gravy and these other things that other candidates are talking about.

Look, we've got basically an even split in both states in the polls that we see today. No one has clear momentum to just carry the day. I think what it means is what you talked about earlier and that is it may be that we're going to keep seeing this thing go on and on and on. There may not be clarity that comes out of these votes in Mississippi and Alabama tomorrow.

COSTELLO: Normally, we really wouldn't be talking about these states because the primary would have already been pretty much decided.

TOWERY: I mean, the Republican Party did this to themselves. They made all of these primaries and caucuses proportional for so long.

They also subjected their candidates to way too many debates that they had no control over. There's been overexposure.

They're running out of funds. Not all of them. Romney has money. Santorum is doing OK. Gingrich I'm stretch is a stretch right now in terms of having money. But he's hanging in there. And you have these super PACs on top of everything else that complicated the system.

This is just a marathon miserable experience.

COSTELLO: Speaking of miserable experiences, it's raining at a campaign stop for Mitt Romney. He has Jeff Foxworthy for him and Jeff Foxworthy just isn't as funny in the pouring rain. Nobody is.

TOWERY: No.

COSTELLO: But I guess what I want to ask you is that a smart move?

TOWERY: I think it is. You know, Romney has admitted that this is sort of an away game for him as he put it -- probably not the smartest thing in the world to say. But at least he was being honest about it. He has Foxworthy.

Foxworthy is very popular throughout the South and really across the country. So, whenever you get that star power. Now, you always have to wonder are they coming to see me, the candidate, or just coming to see Jeff Foxworthy.

COSTELLO: Yes, but does it really matter? At least they're coming.

TOWERY: At least they're coming. And the real question is: are they going to come back and vote tomorrow and are they going to vote for that candidate?

Right now, I don't see any clear leader in this situation. I think Gingrich has sort of helped himself a little bit because he is at least clawed back up to that front-runner status. But they're all just neck and neck.

And quietly frankly, they are trying to hang onto Texas, because they know that Texas has been moved back. It could be winner-take-all state. That's why Rick Santorum wants Newt Gingrich out.

I will say one quick thing, though. I don't think Santorum is really thinking about this. Having pull this race so much, a lot of Gingrich's vote, a certain substantial amount, would potentially go to Romney because they are long-term Republicans. So, I think he needs to think about it before he asks the speaker to exit stage left.

COSTELLO: OK. Matt Towery, always interesting.

TOWERY: OK.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much. I hope you come back.

TOWERY: Thank you. Sure.

COSTELLO: A U.S. soldier accused of killing Afghan civilians, did he have a psychotic episode? Did he snap? Were there signs there was something wrong? Next, I'll talk to a clinical psychologist with an organization that helps military families deal with mental health issues.

We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: To Afghanistan again and why -- why would a soldier allegedly, systematically go door to door killing civilians mostly women and children. The U.S. military officials say the soldier acted alone in the middle of the night. They say he suffered a mental breakdown. So, let's explore that.

Barbara Van Dahlen is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder of Give An Hour. Her organization has created a network of mental health professionals to provide free services to military families. Thank you so much for joining us.

BARBARA VAN DAHLEN, PRESIDENT, GIVE AN HOUR: Thank you. Good morning.

COSTELLO: I just think people are sitting at home scratching their heads. Was it a psychotic episode? Is it possible for a person to just snap one night and decide to do such a thing?

VAN DAHLEN: Well, I think we'll learn a lot more in the coming days to understand this soldier's behavior. But this behavior was an act of an irrational man. This is not something that we would expect to see if in fact he was functioning healthy, in a proper way, emotionally, psychologically, I suspect we'll come to understand that this is someone who is probably pretty tormented, disturbed and that this was an act of irrationality.

COSTELLO: So, would there have been signs that something was wrong?

VAN DAHLEN: Well, from what I understand just in terms of his history, this is someone who has a family. He served apparently three tours in Iraq and this one in Afghanistan. So it's likely that when we look backward, we will see things that people say about him, changes in his behavior, reactions -- messages that he maybe conveyed to people but maybe to people who wouldn't have known what to make of that.

I suspect that we will come to understand there were things that had we known what we were looking at could have told us that something really horrible was brewing.

COSTELLO: You work with military families every day. When you hear about something like this, and maybe the signs were missed. I mean, what does that say to you about our military commanders? Are there military doctors and psychologists stationed at these bases in Afghanistan?

VAN DAHLEN: Well, in my experience with DOD over the last seven years, there's a tremendous amount of effort going into trying to assist our service members there when they are in theater and here back at home. A lot of attention is being done to screen, to watch. We're addressing needs in ways that have never been done before -- again overseas and back here at home.

But you can't really catch every person who is in this kind of psychological distress. And again this is not the act of a rationale person. This is somebody who in fact did as you say something happened that triggered this kind of violence.

COSTELLO: What does it say to you? Because he turned himself in.

VAN DAHLEN: Absolutely. Well, again, you know, people have said was this cold blooded murder? The behavior absolutely is cold blooded and horrific. But it's irrational because clearly he knew that he was not going to get away with this. And he turned himself in.

So, we will come to understand, I think, over the coming days and weeks what was happening inside this man's mind that led him to do this horrible act. It's a very unusual thing that we see. This is not what we typically see even from people who are struggling with post-traumatic stress. This is not how people behave

COSTELLO: Barbara van Dahlen, thanks so much for at least trying to help us understand. We appreciate it.

VAN DAHLEN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Turning our attention now to gas prices. They're back up and still rising. We'll tell you what you can expect to pay. That comes your way right after break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Was that the opening bell I heard? No. It's coming your way soon though.

Let's talk about gas prices for a bit. So much for a reprieve -- after 27 straight increases, gas prices fell last week but it sure didn't last long. Gas prices are going back up.

There's the bell.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Hi, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Let's talk about gas prices first while we wait for stocks to get into motion here. We are having -- we are starting lower right now, a few seconds into the day.

Let's talk about the oil prices. Yes, oil prices didn't go down much. We've kind of watched them fluctuate a little bit here, a little bit there over the past week or so. But overall, oil prices are staying high. They're at $106 a barrel. So, you're seeing the national average for gas sitting at $3.80 a gallon.

Guess which states are getting hit the most? Take a look. The red states you're seeing gas already above $4. Yellow states there, that's where gas prices are within a few cents of $4. Now, those states actually account for about a third of the country's total population. So, a lot of people are getting hit by these higher gas prices.

But analysts says that prices actually should peak soon because gas supplies right now are strong but really the big question as we go forward, Carol, is will tensions with Iran ease to take some of that pressure off oil prices and hopefully take that pressure off gas prices as well.

COSTELLO: We hope so.

OK. Let's talk about the markets. The Dow has fallen for the past two weeks. Any hope for a rally this week?

KOSIK: It has.

Well, as far as today goes, no rally. Take a look -- stocks are starting off pretty flat right now. Not many major economic reports coming out today for investors to take direction from. Europe is quiet. That could actually be a good thing.

Overall, though, the trend, it remains positive. You know, although we've seen plenty of peaks and plenty of really tough valleys, the bull market actually begins its fourth year today.

You know, stocks have had a great run of it. Three years ago, the Dow was at 6,547. It's at 12,924. It's up 97 percent since then. You look at the S&P 500, the NASDAQ, they have more than doubled from those 2009 lows.

But that's the excitement. Not seeing much excitement right on the board. That's an OK thing on a Monday morning after daylight saving, right?

COSTELLO: Yes. That's way OK. Alison Kosik, thank you.

U.S. officials apologize to people of Afghanistan over the Koran burning. Now, an American soldier is allegedly responsible for more than a dozen civilian deaths in a shooting rampage.

And a new ABC/"Washington Post" poll asked, is war in Afghanistan is worth fighting for? Just 35 percent of Americans say yes, 60 percent said no.

Will Cain and L.Z. Granderson are joining us with some insight.

Welcome to both of you.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: A lot of people are coming out and saying we should just get out of Afghanistan right now. Why wait until 2014? Why wait until the Afghan security forces are trained? We should leave right now.

Do you agree with that, L.Z.?

GRANDERSON: No. I don't. I agree in a sense that I don't think in the long-term was this war the way we fought it worth fighting for -- no, but we're in it. If we're going to withdraw, we can't leave the region in total chaos, leaving Afghanistan in total chaos. There's questions about whether or not we can trust the president once we do leave and we're trying to figure that out. We have a tense situation, relationship with Pakistan still. And we just can leave that vacuum be filled by the Taliban and by al Qaeda.

So, no. As tragic as this shooting was, we cannot leave right now.

COSTELLO: So how do you mend fences, Will?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You can't. OK? So, let me say this to L.Z.'s answer to you there, Carol. It's long past time we leave Afghanistan. All of the conditions that L.Z. just described, the conditions we would leave should we immediately get out of Afghanistan, would be present a year from now and they'll be present a decade from now. They would have been present five years from now.

We can never satisfy that country coming up to some level of stability or civil society. It's just not going to happen. So, we just don't have a goal that's achievable in Afghanistan.

COSTELLO: L.Z., what is the goal? I mean, he has a good point. What is the goal?

I know it's to train Afghan security forces but that's not a big goal that the American people would rally around, is it?

GRANDERSON: No. No, it's not. But it's not the American people's job to understand long-term what's in the best interest of the U.S.

It's the job of the executive, legislation -- it's the job of the president to figure that out. You cannot respond to the situation emotionally. He must work with the military generals and figure out a longtime workable strategy.

We don't have all of the information. We don't really understand the full conditions. We just get these news reports and we respond somewhat emotionally to them. It's up to President Obama, it's up to his chief of staff, it's up to his military to decide the best long- term strategy.

I am not in a position to communicate those goals because I'm not involved with those meetings. But we have to trust that our government, that our leaders --

CAIN: Somebody over the last decade ought to have. Somebody over the last decade ought to have been able to give voice to what that goal is.

GRANDERSON: I agree with you, Will. But just because that voice hasn't been given doesn't mean that we should abandon or lose faith in what's happening right now, because I just don't want us to respond to this emotionally. I don't want us to respond to this because we're frustrated. We have to respond to this as best as we can through information that we have and I believe that President Obama is doing the best that he can in working with NATO, doing the best he can to lead in a sensible way in the best interest of this country.

CAIN: Let me just say this real quick, Carol.

COSTELLO: Let me just interject, because L.Z. is saying we can't respond to this in an emotional way.

CAIN: Right.

COSTELLO: But most of the people who were killed were women and children -- mostly children. You cannot -- I mean, you have to respond in some emotional way because it's just so horrible.

CAIN: You know, it's absolutely terrible. I actually, though, agree with L.Z. that this incident -- you can't take these kinds of incidents that are possibly the result of a deviant, you know, a deviant of a behavior and try to draw a larger narrative from it.

The problem in Afghanistan is much bigger than this story that we're going to talk about for the next 48 hours. The problem in Afghanistan is that we've been in this country for a decade totally and utterly purposeless -- or if L.Z. is right, maybe with a purpose but unable to articulate it.

You must tell the American people what are goal is there so that we know what we are sacrificing our boys and girls' lives for over there.

Now, you had said one thing, L.Z. We might have a corrupt leader. We don't know. We do know. Karzai is a corrupt leader.

And it looks like we spent ten years in a country where in the last couple weeks Karzai now said he's going to legalize beating your wives to appease the Taliban in the negotiation. This is -- what are we fighting for? It's just not clear why we're sacrificing our children in Afghanistan.

GRANDERSON: Well, here's the thing, Will. It's not about Afghanistan either. It's really about our foreign policy in that entire region. It's about our dependency on oil. It's about a lot of things beyond Afghanistan.

And I think what we really need to be talking about is, yes, we need to address the tragedy that happened this past weekend, but a much larger conversation needs to be about how are we handling foreign policy in that region. We've been fighting for what we think is the best thing for those people and maybe the conversation should be -- leave that region alone, period. We've given billions of dollars to Pakistanis government and they actually may have been harboring the one person we've been looking for for the past 10 years.

And so, I agree with you -- yes, we do need to communicate things better. But I think the larger conversation and most significant conversation should be: what is our foreign policy in that region because what we have been doing for the past 30 years just has not been working.

COSTELLO: OK. So, Will, is there a meeting of the minds -- on the last point?

CAIN: No, I don't know that we have a meeting of the minds because I'm not quite as hands off in the region. I think you cannot -- if you have a purpose, if you have a strategic objective in these countries, then you should public that. But when you don't have one, I don't understand why you just stay for narcissist (ph) purposes.

COSTELLO: Will Cain, L.Z. Granderson, that's an interesting conversation. I was fascinated listening to it myself. Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

CAIN: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Sharing her grief with the world one month after the death of pop star Whitney Houston -- her daughter speaks publicly about her loss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: One month after the world mourned the death of pop star Whitney Houston, Bobbie Kristina opens up about losing her mom.

Kareen Wynter joins us now from Los Angeles with the details of Oprah's exclusive interview. Good morning.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

You know, it was so courageous of this young woman to step forward in the way she did. It was so touching to see Bobbi Kristina talking about her mother in public for the first time since Whitney Houston's death.

Bobbi Kristina told Oprah she feels her mother's spirit and also comforted by it. Listen to what she had to say, Carol.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBI KRISTINA BROWN, WHITNEY HOUSTON'S DAUGHTER: I can sing her music, but to hear it right now --

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: You can't.

BROWN: I can't. You know, to hear it -- I can her voice, you know, in spirit talking to me and telling me, you know, keep moving, baby. You know, I'm right here. I got you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WYNTER: Wow. And, Carol, she says she also plans on carrying on her mother's legacy.

As the investigation into her mother's death continues, I've been doing some digging on this story. My sources are telling me investigators have contacted all of the doctors, all of the pharmacies tied to Houston. They found nothing criminal so far in her death. We should have information about what happened soon.

Some of my sources also telling me that the toxicology results could be completed by March 23rd or so, Carol.

COSTELLO: In listening to that interview between Oprah and Bobbi Kristina, did you have a sense that Whitney Houston's daughter was doing OK? Because a lot of people are worried about her.

WYNTER: Well, of course, she had to put on a brave face for this interview, especially sitting in front of Oprah. But that's what we're hearing, that, you know, it's a day by day challenge for her. Of course, it's not easy. But Cissy Houston, her grandmother, is such a strong figure in her life. You know, we all know how much Whitney Houston loved her mom. So, she has that, that support system by her side.

So, let's just hope -- you know, we've been hearing all of the reports of alleged drug use. It doesn't appear that way right now. Let's hope she continues to pull and push through, Carol.

COSTELLO: We hope so. Kareen Wynter, live from Los Angeles.

An anti-Obama Facebook page and active duty U.S. Marine is the man behind it. In fact, he says he won't follow unlawful orders from the commander-in-chief. I'll talk to him just ahead.

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COSTELLO: Checking stories cross-country now.

In Pennsylvania, a key ruling expected today in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case that involves information about psychological evaluations and times and dates of the alleged molestations. The judge will decide how much information the prosecution must share with Sandusky's attorneys.

In California, three men walk away from an emergency landing in a backyard in Rio Linda. Officials say the plane crashed as the pilot attempted to land after both engines failed.

The world's first nuclear powered aircraft carrier is on its final deployment. The USS Enterprise left Norfolk, Virginia, Sunday for the Middle East. It is not expected back for another seven months. The U.S. naval vessel was launched on September 24th, 1960.

Coming up in sports, we'll take you to CNN's March Madness Bracket Lounge. Yes, there is one. The big board has the games. We'll talk about the top seeds and your chance to join our bracket challenge.

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COSTELLO: A U.S. Marine Sergeant is not only speaking out about the political process in this country, he's also launched a Facebook page that is highly critical of President Obama. Sergeant Gary Stein says it is within his First Amendment Rights to do so and that he will fight attempts to keep quiet.

Sergeant Stein is the founder of the Armed Forces Tea Party. He joins me now from San Diego. Thank you, Sergeant, for being with us this morning.

GARY STEIN, FOUNDER, ARMED FORCES TEA PARTY: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. Before we get into what's controversial about your Facebook page, I want to ask you about what happened in Afghanistan. Because you wrote a post this morning, you said, "The shooting last night in Afghanistan is a sad reminder of the stress troops have been under in this 10+ year war. While this soldier's actions are horrible let us not forgot the many, many U.S. troops killed by the Afghan people during the war. If Hamid Karzai" the Afghan President, "wants to state this is unforgivable then we should pack our bags and head back to the states."

I just want to get into more of what you mean by this. Because isn't this soldier's actions indeed unforgivable?

STEIN: You know I -- this soldier's actions are horrible. And I don't think there's not one American that would disagree with that. Killing innocent women and children is -- is not what soldiers, Marines, airmen or sailors stand up for. And it's not what we are trained to do.

But when you look at here, the real issue is the PTSD issues in the military and the lack of training that our senior leadership is getting to identify when soldiers or sailors, marines or airmen have issues with PTSD.

This soldier had at least four combat deployments. I mean, any person that has to go through that is obviously going to be stressed at some point. And I would like to know what were the signs, were there signs? And why weren't the signs picked up on by his squad leaders, his platoon sergeant, his platoon commander? Those are the questions that need to be asked.

Not so much you know why did he get out, or how did he get out, but why is this happening? And how can we stop this from happening to other young men, women, soldiers, sailors and in the marine?

COSTELLO: I want to pivot to your Facebook page, the Armed Forces Tea Party page. You're active military. Yet you post political positions on your page, the most recent concerning, Syria. You say, "If the President doesn't seek congressional approval for military action in Syria that would be unconstitutional". You go onto say "We cannot let our elected officials trample on the very document which defends the right of each American citizen and is the foundation of this country."

You've stated in the past you wouldn't follow unlawful orders from the President. So if he ordered military action in Syria and you were ordered to go, would you go?

STEIN: If the President of the United States ordered military action in Syria without first getting the approval and authorization from Congress, that in fact will be an unlawful order. That's unconstitutional under article I of the Constitution.

COSTELLO: Could the military kick you out for not following orders?

STEIN: They can kick me out for not following lawful orders. Yes, they could. But I have -- I have never refused to follow a lawful order.

COSTELLO: Sergeant Stein, thank you for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.

STEIN: No problem. Have a great morning.

COSTELLO: You, too.

Stories we're working on later today in the CNN NEWSROOM.

At 11:00 a.m. Eastern, a hearing in Pennsylvania on the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse case on how much information to release to his attorneys.

Also at 11:00 a.m., health advocates rally around the Georgia State capitol in support of women's issues.

And at 1:30 p.m. the Japanese Ambassador to the United States will give a keynote address at the American Enterprise Institute. Sunday marked one year since an earthquake and tsunami killed more than 15,000 people.

We're following a lot of developments in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with Brianna Keilar.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Carol. President Obama calls a U.S. soldier's reported killing of 16 Afghan civilians tragic and shocking. And he placed a call to President Karzai amid concerns that this will lead to even more anti-U.S. violence in Afghanistan. I'll have details at the top of the hour.

PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: This is Peter Hamby in Austin, Texas at the CNN South-by-South West Grill. One day ahead of two crucial primaries in Alabama and Mississippi. Can Mitt Romney finally score a win in the south, and can Newt Gingrich score a much- needed win to keep his candidacy alive? We'll have more on that in the next hour.

COSTELLO: Thanks to both of you. Passenger Steven Thurmond videotaped this flight attendant flipping out just as the plane was about to take off. So what is American Airlines going to do for a passenger on board that terrible flight? We'll talk to him live at 10:20 a.m. Eastern. Stay with us.

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COSTELLO: As you well know, March Madness is here. Jeff Fischel has his brackets filled out and I do too. Game on, Jeff.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: That's right Carol, of course, the field of 68 is set. It's national bracket day. It's time to fill out those brackets, figure out who is heading to your final four. Behind me the big bracket is up here at the CNN Center. The number one seed is Kentucky in the south. Michigan State in the west. Over in the east, it's Syracuse. And the number one seed in the Midwest region is North Carolina.

We'll talk more about the tournament coming up in a minute. First there's some other big sports headlines we want to hit on, including in the golf world. Tiger Woods -- will he be playing the Masters? That's the question after yesterday at Doral. Look at him.

First of all, went into the water at ten. And then he's walking gingerly on his left leg. He would withdraw after the 11th hole saying later he felt tightness in his Achilles. He hurt it in last year's Masters. That, along with a knee injury forced him to miss some events last year.

NFL free agent quarterback Peyton Manning held talks with the Arizona Cardinals yesterday. Manning also visiting with the Denver Broncos last Friday. ESPN reports those two teams are the favorites right now to sign Manning though neither has entered in the contract talks with him yet. There have been reports a dozen teams are interested.

NBA, Lakers and Celtics. Less than a minute left in this great rivalry. Who else comes through but Kobe Bryant? Hits the jumper. The Lakers go on to win 97-94. The Lakers lead their division.

Ok. We are talking about the NCAA tournament. As I said, 68 teams; the games start tomorrow night. The number one overall team is Kentucky even though the Wildcats lost yesterday in the SCC tournament finals. They were riding a 24-game win streak but Vanderbilt went on a 62 run in the final five minutes. The Commodores stunned the Wildcats. It's Vanderbilt's first SCC title since 1951. Kentucky, though, still the number one seed in the south.

In the ACC championship game, Florida State versus North Carolina, the Tar Heels, Kendall Marshall, pump (inaudible) hits the three. Brings UNC to within one with 30 seconds to go. But the Tar Heels get no closer. Final three runs out and win 85-82. It their first ever ACC title but just like Kentucky UNC loses and still get the number one seed.

In the Big Ten, the big battle between Ohio State and Michigan State. This is really a battle for the number one seed. It's (inaudible), they pull out, 68-64. They're number one seed, Ohio State gets a extra (ph) seed.

All right Carol, you and I, we both filled out our brackets. Let's look at who our final four picks are. Carol let's see. I'm trying to remember what you have. You have Duke, Missouri, Ohio State and UNC. I know you're a big Missouri fan because you love Tigers in all forms right. Any sports with a tiger right?

COSTELLO: Any Tiger mascot out there.

FISCHEL: And then you have the Buckeyes beating Missou for the title. And I have Kentucky and New Mexico, Ohio State and Kansas. New Mexico is kind of like my upset pick and, Michigan State's great but I had to pick somebody that will be a surprise and that's the Lobos.

All right. And of course, Carol and I we'll be talking about it after each round, discussing who is been doing better. I plan on having bragging rights, Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. We'll be discussing who is doing better.

FISCHEL: All right.

COSTELLO: I think we'll be arguing.

Jeff Fischel, thank you.

FISCHEL: You got it Carol. COSTELLO: You have until halftime of tomorrow night's opening ground game to join our March Madness bracket challenge at the cnn.com/brackets and join the CNN group.