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U.S. Army Sergeant Held for Mass Killing; Romney Leading Obama in New Poll; Teacher Fired over History in Porn; SXSW in Full Swing; Fallout Over Afghanistan Killings; Family Seeks Answers After Son is Killed

Aired March 12, 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: All right, back here top of the hour live from the CNN Grill in Austin, Texas, here at South by Southwest. We're going to talk about that in just a moment here, but I want to begin with a story that is just absolutely heart-wrenching.

This American soldier is being held this hour in Afghanistan. He allegedly left his base in the middle of the night. He walked to two nearby villages, broke down doors, then he shot, stabbed and burned Afghan civilians. In total, the number we have is 16 -- 16 people are dead. That includes nine children, a horrible turn of events in Afghanistan.

And CNN's Sara Sidner is live for us now in the city of Kabul.

Sara, I know that this massacre, it happened near Kandahar. But as best as you can, tell us what happened.

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're hearing from villagers in the area of Panjwai, which is the western district of Kandahar province, and those villagers are describing a horrific and very, very scary scene that happened in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday.

They said that a soldier busted through their doors, kicked through their doors and in one case a mother says he dragged out one of the people inside the house by the hair and shot and killed that man right in the doorway, and then went on to start spraying the house with bullets.

We have been seeing pictures coming out of the area that are absolutely gruesome. We're seeing a picture of a toddler that is wrapped up that looks to have a bullet wound in the head. We're also seeing pictures of men that have been laid on the back of a truck who are dead, and just gruesome pictures coming out.

Inside of a home you're seeing blood on the floor and on the walls, splatters of blood, and then some shell casings that are being picked through by investigators. There is anger, of course, rising in that particular area where people have had to bury 16 loved ones.

In one family alone, a tribal leader says 11 people were killed. So there is a great deal of anger coming from the two villages that were affected by this, which were about one to two kilometers as we understand it away from the base. ISAF saying that this involved a single U.S. Army staff sergeant who went on his own, not under any kind of mission, and left the base early in the morning and apparently walked to these villages and then returned to base and turned himself in.

And that's the latest information that we have, but it certainly has terrified people in that village who thought they might now be safe and were asked by the base to come back to the area saying that they would be left alone -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's heartbreaking to hear about it both here in the United States and I'm sure where you are on the ground in Afghanistan. We talked about this before. I just want to talk a little bit more about the reaction.

The reaction among the Afghan people has, at least thus far, not quite reached the levels we saw recently after the Koran burning. Are the government appeals for calm, is that getting through right now?

SIDNER: Well, they certainly have appealed for calm in this case, but there's also been appeals for calm in the past, and those haven't gone over in any shape or form.

There's still been huge violent protests, especially when you had the burning of the Korans and it left 40 people dead, including four U.S. service members. But in this case, what we are seeing from people is outrage in the very places where this actually happened.

But you're not seeing the massive, violent protests that broke out after the burning of the Koran. So it will be interesting to see in the coming days what does unfold here. The U.S. says that they have detained someone. They quickly came out with that information. And the Afghan lawmakers are asking for whoever is going to be trying in this case to be tried here in Afghanistan in front of the public to teach a lesson to anyone who is thinking about putting themselves in this place in the future.

But at this point, we're hearing from a Pentagon spokesperson that that's not going to happen. This person will be tried and charged, if charged, in a military court, most likely, and that they certainly will not be given to the Afghan authorities to be tried in the Afghan judicial system -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Sara Sidner in Kabul, Sara, thank you very much.

Back here at home, what is President Obama saying? I know the Obama administration, they have been quick to react to this alleged shooting by the American soldier. In fact, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is just the latest U.S. official to try to assure the Afghan people that justice will be served in this case.

In fact, she spoke out earlier this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I join of course with President Obama and Secretary Panetta and other representatives of our government and the other American people in expressing our deepest regret and condolences. A full investigation is under way. A suspect is in custody, and we will hold anyone found responsible fully accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to go straight to the White House, to Brianna Keilar.

Brianna, in the past, we have obviously seen what you might call crisis management tensions here between Washington and Kabul. Is the administration there pleased with the Afghan government, how they responded this time around?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think this is going to play out over days, Brooke, so I think really the best way to phrase what they're doing right now might be a little bit of holding their breath.

You see the administration working overtime to try to really assuage some concerns. You saw President Obama call President Karzai. The secretary of defense called President Karzai. There are a number of conversation going on between diplomats and military officials in Afghanistan with Afghan folks, all the way down to very much the local level.

But I think there is very much an awareness right now that the Taliban is trying to foment some of the anger. This is something that will be playing out over days, and even though the response has been what it has been over the last day or so, there's a sense that we're certainly not out of the woods, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We're not out of the woods. We know the U.S. and Afghanistan negotiating this long-term presence in country in Afghanistan after our combat troops leave. Could this affect that at all?

KEILAR: This was very much the topic of today's White House briefing. This is what White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked, and he said, no, it wouldn't. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Let me be clear. I do not believe that this incident will change the timetable of a strategy that was designed and is being implemented in a way to allow for the withdrawal of U.S. forces, to allow for the transfer of lead security authority over to the Afghans, and a process that will be completed no later than the end of 2014. And the discussions about the pace of that drawdown have been ongoing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I spoke, Brooke, with one senior administration official who was stressing that just last week there was an agreement that was signed about a U.S.-run detention center and transferring that over to Afghan control.

This was a sticking point that had been negotiated for more than a year, and yet even in the relatively immediate aftermath of that, the Koran burning, admittedly inadvertent, but caused a lot of uproar in Afghanistan, this was something the U.S. was able to achieve with Afghanistan.

But at the same time I think you can't ignore the fact that the timing here is terrible and we will see, over the next few days, how this plays out in Afghanistan, Brooke.

BALDWIN: How this plays out in Afghanistan and also those talks contentious between Washington and Kabul.

Brianna, thank you very much.

I want to point out coming up next hour in THE SITUATION ROOM, Wolf Blitzer is going to talk to the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. He is General John Allen. Do not miss that interview at 4:00 Eastern time today.

Meantime, still ahead here, how much is your college education worth over an entire career? You're going to hear the magic number.

Plus, new video just in showing the aftermath of a gold heist that left half a dozen people dead. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: New video just in showing the aftermath of this attempted jewelry store heist, this heist that turned into a deadly shoot-out with police. In total here, six people were killed as a gunman attempted to rob a pair of jewelry stores. This is Baghdad just today. We're told they escaped with an unknown amount of gold and cash, authorities said.

And now to this. As more people are dying in Syria, talks between the U.S. and Russia are heating up.

Also, as gas hits $4 a gallon here in some states, people are not loving that at all. Time to play "Reporter Roulette."

And I'm going to begin with Jill Dougherty at the State Department for us.

Jill, we know Russia's foreign minister and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, they have been holding these talks. What have been talking about? What are they saying?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's all Syria and this is a really, really important meeting. It happened in New York.

Actually, I'm here in New York today just for this meeting, but not a lot of fireworks, even though the timing is critical, right now, people dying in Syria. Secretary Clinton meeting with the Russian foreign minister and she wants him very much to come on board. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I pointed out my very strong view that the alternative to our unity on these points will be bloody internal conflict with dangerous consequences for the whole region.

So our message is clear. It is past time for action to save lives, to protect the dignity and rights of a proud people and to meet our obligations as Security Council members to protect peace and security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: And one of the biggest differences, Brooke, between the United States and Russia right now is in the timing of this, because Secretary Clinton is saying right now, the Assad government has to stop that fighting, it has to lay down its arms, and then the opposition won't have a need to defend themselves, and then you can have some type of political process.

What the Russians are saying is, everybody here is guilty, not only the government. It's these groups that are arming and carrying out atrocities, they say. And so -- and, in fact, they even said there is an al Qaeda presence. So what they say is everybody stops right now, cease-fire, and then you can move on.

It's a very different thing. Certainly, Secretary Clinton is not making any equivalence between what the government is doing in Syria and what the civilians who are arming themselves are doing -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jill Dougherty in New York., Jill, thank you.

(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

BALDWIN: And now a couple key phrases you may or may not use in your own vernacular, grits and y'all, maybe two things you don't exactly associate with this man, Mitt Romney.

But, on top of that, he also has a very famous -- and, hey, he's self-proclaimed, so I can call him this -- redneck on the campaign trail with him. Plus, according to one poll, Romney is leading President Obama. Gloria Borger is standing by -- her thoughts on all of this next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And now your "Political Pop" here on this Monday.

The redneck of them all, Jeff Foxworthy, he is hitting the campaign trail with Mitt Romney. The host of the show "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" actually joked with supporters at a rainy campaign rally. He's behind some umbrellas. It's kind of hard to see them, but I want you to listen closely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEFF FOXWORTHY, COMEDIAN: The fact you would stand here in this pouring-down rain to listen to the next president proves to me you are smarter than a fifth grader.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Foxworthy says he has stayed out of politics for 53 years until now.

And now let's keep talking politics. And I want to show you some new numbers. A new poll out today show Mitt Romney beating the president, but just barely here. Look at this. This is from "The Washington Post" and ABC News. And here's what they found.

In a matchup of President Obama vs. Governor Romney, Romney is ahead by two points, more or less a virtual tie here. What is more, though, I want you to look at this. This is against Rick Santorum. You can see the president at 49 percent to Santorum's 46 percent. Obviously, very, very close hypothetical there as well.

I'm going to bring in our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, here to talk to me about some of these numbers and perhaps a little bit as to why the numbers are getting closer and closer, it seems, and I have to believe having talked to Peter Hamby too about this it's the economy and President Obama, and a lot of Americans aren't happy.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely.

One month ago, Obama, President Obama was up six points against Mitt Romney. You see how that's flipped. And I think Peter Hamby is absolutely right. It's the economy, and more specifically, of course, it's gasoline prices. When you look closer at this "Washington Post"/ABC News poll, you see people are very upset about the economy -- 59 percent believe that the president hasn't done a good job managing the economy.

That's despite the fact that unemployment numbers are going in the right direction, so you have to believe it's because people are really feeling the pain at the pump. They're having to shell out more every week. And they're saying, you know what, we cannot afford this, even though, by the way, voters also admit there's probably not a lot the president can do about it, but they're still blaming him. He's the person in charge.

BALDWIN: Right, a scapegoat for a lot of people on a lot of different issues.

But I want to ask you about one constituency. We were talking about this last week. We were talking about women and how when you look at the current crop of candidates here, they have definitely been losing support. You were talking specifically how they need to capitalize on those suburban women. Are we seeing more evidence of that? BORGER: We are seeing more evidence of it, and it's quite striking to me. The real voters in a presidential campaign you want to go after, as you know, Brooke, are the independent voters.

You want really -- among those independent voters, you want suburban women, because suburban women come out and vote. What the "Washington Post"/ABC News polls show now is these independent women who favored the Republican Party by 11 points in the 2010 midterm elections now favor the Democratic Party by five points.

You see a shift. It's no surprise, then, that President Obama's reelect campaign is really making an effort to go after women, particularly, Brooke, on the issue of health care, pointing out to women how health care reform will really help them and will really help the elderly parents they take care of and the children they need to insure. That's going to be a real battleground in the fall campaign.

BALDWIN: What about also looking ahead to tomorrow? I know that's why you're in Atlanta for the Mississippi and Alabama primaries. We're talking Deep South. Mitt Romney needs to show up. He did not win Tennessee. He did not win a Deep South primary back in 2008. What do you see happening tomorrow?

BORGER: Right. Look, I think if Mitt Romney wins one of these states, he can really start to pull away in a big way. I think what he's got right now is a big psychological hole in the middle of this campaign, and the hole is the South.

He didn't win in the South in 2008 when he tried for the presidency, and he isn't winning in the South now. So if for some reason, because, say, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are splitting conservatives or they're splitting Tea Party voters or they're splitting evangelical voters, for whatever reason, if Mitt Romney is able to win in Alabama or Mississippi, that takes away the talking points, certainly, of Newt Gingrich and certainly of Rick Santorum.

If Newt Gingrich does not win in one of those states, he's also, I believe, going to have a problem continuing in this race.

BALDWIN: We shall see. We will be all over it here on CNN. Gloria Borger, we will be watching you and Wolf and the rest of the gang. Thank you so much.

Meantime, now this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love my son dearly. My heart is broken and I don't know what else to say. I'm hoping that one day, one day, he's going to walk through the door and this is going to be a nightmare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police say her teenage son bought candy, and on his way home, a neighborhood watchman shot and killed him. There is still some mystery here, including why police haven't released the 911 calls. We're going to speak live to the family's attorney to find out what he is demanding now of police when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A Florida family is absolutely desperate for answers now because their son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed more than two weeks ago. But the man who allegedly shot him has not been arrested.

CNN affiliate WFTV reports that the neighborhood's watch captain, he is George Zimmerman, saw the 17-year-old, called 911 and reported seeing a suspicious person. But when police arrived, Martin had been shot fatally in his chest.

Now, Zimmerman has not made any comment. Certainly, CNN has tried reaching out and others have as well. Police insist they are conducting a thorough investigation.

I want to bring in CNN's David Mattingly, who has been working this case for us today.

I know we have very, very few details here in terms of filling in the blanks, but I know CNN did have a brief conversation with the chief of police. What did he say happened?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he told us some interesting things late last week, Brooke, in that they were looking very closely at the 911 tape, listening very closely to what was going on there. They said they were able to hear a verbal altercation. They were able to hear a gunshot.

They said what they were hearing on there seemed to back up Zimmerman's claim that he felt threatened at the time. We don't have any further findings released from the investigation as of yet. We're expecting to hear later today from the police chief and the mayor of the city where this investigation stands. We know they have been canvassing the neighborhood multiple times to find out from other witnesses what they may have seen or heard that night.

But again, it was a couple weeks ago. The police department under tremendous pressure from the family now to come up with some answers. They believe that Zimmerman, that man with the community watch who was carrying a firearm, should have been arrested and should by now be charged with something in this death, because they said that the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was just walking home to his father's house from a convenience store. He had no weapon. He was completely unarmed. They say there is no reason that he should have ended up dead in this encounter.

So we're going to wait to hear from the police department. That comes in a little while, about a half-hour from now, to find out where they stand. They may be wrapped up with their investigation. They may be ready to turn it over to the state's attorney, and at that point the state's attorney will decide. It will be up to him to decide what kind of charges, if any, will be filed in this case -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. So, as we await that -- that news conference -- and, again, just to confirm, David Mattingly, that is 4:00 Eastern time when we should be getting perhaps a little bit -- a little bit more information?

MATTINGLY: That's right.

That's what we're going to be listening for. We are going to be listening to -- for some answers to the big questions. How did this encounter escalate the way it did? How did Zimmerman feel like he was threatened and felt like it necessary to pull his gun and shoot this unarmed teenager?

Huge questions in this case, the pressure's been building over the last couple of weeks, and today, hopefully the police will come forward and say, here's what we have, here's what we're giving to the state's attorney, and maybe we'll get some insight into how this tragedy happened.

And, Brooke, no matter how you slice it, it is a terrible tragedy. I mean, this was an innocent situation. These two men came in contact with each other. We just don't know at this point how it escalated so quickly and ended so tragically.

BALDWIN: David Mattingly, my thanks to you.

As David mentioned, there is going to be a press conference at the top of the hour. Obviously, that will give us more details as far as perhaps what happened, if there could be any charge (INAUDIBLE) the investigation (INAUDIBLE) under way. But really, until then, we have very little to go on, very little information as far as what happened that night to 17-year-old Trayvon Martin when he was shot.

I want to bring in Ben Crump. He joins me live from Atlanta. He is actually the attorney for the Martin family, and obviously, Mr. Crump, my condolences go out to this family here. But I just have to ask right at the top here, why do you want these 9-1-1 tapes released?

BEN CRUMP, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Brooke, we think it's clear if those 9-1-1 tapes are made public, we will be able to answer some very important questions.

Number one, we will know why George Zimmerman, this homeowner's association loose cannon, thought that Trayvon Martin was suspicious. That's very, very important to tell you where his mentality was.

Secondly, it will tell us why he just disregarded, just ignored the police instructions when they told him to stay put, they'll be there in a few minutes. On those 9-1-1 tapes it's going to tell you why he said he's not going to follow their instructions.

And most importantly, it's going to tell us his mentality, when he confronted this 17-year-old kid wearing 140 pounds, with a 9 mm gun, a neighborhood watch happening, going around the neighborhood with a 9 mm gun. And the family's outraged. If you were Sabrina Fulton (ph), his mother, Tracy Martin, his father, wouldn't you be outraged that the police is aligning themselves with a shooter, the murderer of your son, who admits he shot this kid in cold blood?

BALDWIN: I understand, and I cannot imagine what these parents are going through right now. And just doing our due diligence, I just want to point out, we have obviously reached out to this alleged shooter, this watch captain, George Zimmerman. He is all of 28 years of age. He's not returning our phone calls, he's not talking, bottom line.

But I do want to put a question to you, based upon the reporting from David Mattingly, who I just spoke with, who spoke with the Sanford (ph) police chief, basically said as he had heard these 9-1-1 tapes, you can hear arguing, then hear a gunshot, and that that could perhaps back up Zimmerman's claim that, in fact, he was, in fact, acting in self defense.

What's your response?

CRUMP: Well, it, you know, it's just unbelievable to us that you can disregard the police and go confront this kid with a 9 mm gun and then try to claim self-defense, it's one of those things when you add it up, it just doesn't even make sense.

Trayvon Martin, a kid has a bag of Skittles. You have a 9 mm gun. Trayvon Martin didn't approach George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman approached Trayvon Martin, so how can he now assert self- defense? Self-defense is a legal argument you make in a courtroom. You -- if Trayvon Martin would had been the trigger man, there is no question he would have been arrested day one, hour one.

The family is outraged, the community is outraged that they have to go through such extraordinary efforts to get simple justice. The 9-1-1 tapes are the key. Why won't they release these 9-1-1 tapes? It's going to be the same today as it would be next year or 10 years from now if the tapes are not tampered with.

BALDWIN: I understand. And perhaps we will learn more about those 9-1-1 tapes, perhaps we will hear about possible charges at the top of the hour, when we hear that news conference. Before I let you go, though, I would be remiss just not simply asking about Trayvon. He was 17 years of age. What was -- what would his family want you to share about him with us right now?

CRUMP: Well, he was a good kid. He wasn't violent like George Zimmerman, and he was just walking home to watch the NBA All-Star Game. And, Brooke, this press conference, is just going to be they're passing the buck, they don't intend no arrest, George Zimmerman today. They're trying to pass the buck, and you watch.

BALDWIN: Ben Crump, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.

CRUMP: Yes, ma'am. Thank you on behalf of the family.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

And now I want you to listen to this next story. So a high school loses a teacher because of his risque past as a gay porn star. Well, he challenged that and a huge decision has now been made (INAUDIBLE) say he is very surprised. Sunny Hostin is on this case. She is next. We're live at South by Southwest festival here in Austin, Texas. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A substitute teacher in South Florida is now one step closer to getting his job back. He was abruptly fired a year ago when his past as a gay porn star resurfaced. Shawn Loft (ph) has challenged his firing Friday in a hearing in Orlando. The state's education commission decided in his favor. Sunny Hostin is on the case for us.

And, Sunny, so here's what we know. He was fired for violating a school board rule that states employees must (INAUDIBLE) both in their employment and in the community in a matter that will reflect credit upon themselves and the school.

But so his job was in the past, and he was also arguing porn is not exactly against the law, so what's the deal?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, that's right, and the commission agreed with him, Brooke. I think what's fascinating is that many people don't think about these morals clauses when it comes to teachers. It's something that we hear about in athletes' contracts, it's something that we hear about in entertainers' contracts, television contracts.

But you don't often hear about in employment contracts for teachers or teacher contracts. But let's face it, teachers, especially those of lower schools or middle schools have this unique opportunity to affect the lives of young people, and so sometimes you do see these moral clauses.

Well, he argued just what you said he argued, porn is not against the law, and moreover, it's something he did in the past.

Let me do point out, though, Brooke, that when he was suspended or fired from his teaching position, he then went back to his porn job. So many people are really sort of up in arms that he was given his certification back, based on the fact that he was no longer a porn star because he sort of picked that career back up when he was unable to teach.

BALDWIN: OK. So moving past that, do we think the school will refine its morals clause as a result of this?

HOSTIN: Well, we haven't heard that from the school, but many are saying, absolutely, they're going to try to make it even -- sort of more streamlined and more transparent. But we haven't quite yet heard what sort of the future is for this moral clause in this school district or school districts across the country. BALDWIN: Move along to case two, shall we? I know you're following this New York madam case. We were talking about it a lot last week. So I know today there were some legal fireworks and it was over who will represent her in court. Is that right?

HOSTIN: Isn't that something? Yes. One of the few times you hear lawyers sort of fighting for the right to represent someone for free, because attorney Peter Gleason (ph), who has been representing her, isn't being paid for it and he wants her court-appointed attorney sort of booted from the case.

Well, the judge was having none of that. He maintained that her court-appointed attorney would remain on the case, that she doesn't get the, you know, right to sort of choose who is going to represent her. But certainly fireworks in the courtroom.

I think what was also interesting was that Peter Gleason (ph) offered his $2.5 million Tribeca loft up for collateral for her bond. We know that the New York --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I saw that.

HOSTIN: It was unbelievable, Brooke --

BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE) rare.

HOSTIN: -- oftentimes -- it really is, because oftentimes, you know, attorneys try to get bail packages for their clients, but they never put the money up themselves or put their homes up themselves. So certainly this attorney quite -- must believe in his client and believe that she is not going to plea, because if she got bail and then fled, he would be out of an apartment, Brooke.

And let me say this. I'm pretty jealous and filled with resentment that you are in Austin, Texas, at a media and music function and I'm still here in this extremely cold flash (ph) studio.

HOSTIN: Sorry! I know, it's beautiful here. We got a little sneak peek as to what happened over the weekend. But what a crazy story there in New York. Amazing. A loft hangout, just wear an ankle bracelet. You think you hear it all and you haven't. Sunny Hostin, "On the Case," thank you.

Coming up, I want to talk about Whitney Houston's daughter. She's now speaking out for the very first time ever since her mother's death. And she reveals these final moments with her mother, the famous, famous singer. I'm going to share that with you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, remembered those final, tender moments with her mother. We're finally hearing from her, really, for the first time in her first TV interview since her mother's death. It aired last night on OWN. That's Oprah Winfrey's cable channel. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBI KRISTINA BROWN, ACTRESS: Our very last day, it was so, so early in the morning, so early. What did I stay? I don't know why. I wanted to go to bed early. And I said, you know, Mom, will you just come lay down with me, like to come lay with me.

She stayed with me all night and all day. All night and all day. And then after that, she was rubbing my head, just holding me. You know, everything, and I just -- and I slept in her arms all night. All day, all night long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bobbi Kristina also says she plans to follow in her mother's footsteps. She wants to sing. She wants to act and dance in the future.

And certainly (INAUDIBLE), one of America's biggest problems is education. So one group of parents has come up with this idea that allows kids to have a hand in deciding what they want to learn. Here's a sneak peek at CNN's NEXT LIST.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem is that our current system's education systemically they're rooted not in the 21st century, but in the 19th century.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kids need to create their own world. They need to have risks, they need the opportunity for failure, they need to see what happens when they're creating something singular and they try and link it with a community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we can really hone our understanding of being an inquirer along with our students. Then we can bring a little bit of blue into every other school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matt (ph), Phil (ph) and Chris (ph), they're passionate, they're practical and they're inspired. And that's the kind of energy you want in a great school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to invite you to watch CNN's brand new show, we're calling it "THE NEXT LIST" featuring some of America's brightest minds, hosted by a pretty bright guy himself, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. You can watch it Sundays, 2:00 pm Eastern, only here on CNN.

We are in March. Basketball fans, I don't need to tell you this. Bracketology 101. Are you filling out that bracket? This year not only can you compete against myself (sic) -- go, Tarheels -- Wolf Blitzer. You can keep up with our brackets as the results come in. We're going to tell you how exactly you can do that, and we're going to talk to Mr. Blitzer there. I like that Carolina blue tie. We're going to see who he has going all the way, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Hold on to your brackets, folks. March Madness is here. The NCAA (INAUDIBLE) tomorrow night. You got 64 teams. They're all shooting for a national championship.

So here's a quick little 101 here. You have the top seeds, the number one seeds, of Syracuse, Kentucky, Michigan State and my own alma mater, thank you, North Carolina Tarheels.

Back in the CNN headquarters, I tweeted out this picture. This is an incredible, incredible picture. March Madness is looming. This is one of the biggest brackets, in fact, I'm just going to say it is the biggest bracket I've ever seen go up. That's smack in the middle of the CNN Center in our atrium.

Speaking of brackets, are you filling out one? Think you can pick the winners better than me, better than my fellow anchors? This is so cool. I want you to play. I want you to see who can win here, because you can test your brackets against all of ours. NCAA March Madness bracket challenge game. Here's what you need to know. Really simply, there it is in blue.

Go to CNN.com/brackets. Fill yours out, join our March Madness at CNN. Make sure you watch the games, obviously on our sister network, CBS, CBS, TNT and truTV. CNN.com/brackets.

And from brackets, to Blitzer, Wolf Blitzer, we go here with a preview of what's coming up in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Wolf, on a much, much more serious tone here, I do know that you're talking about that heartbreaking Afghanistan story with the top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, THE SITUATION ROOM: General Allen is going to join us live in the next hour. He's the commander of all U.S. forces, all NATO forces in Afghanistan. We've got a lot of important questions.

I'm really worried, Brooke, I'm sure you are, all our viewers in the United States and around the world are worried about what's going on in Afghanistan right now, and a lot of Americans are beginning to wonder, is there any hope that this whole 10-year adventure, this opportunity that the U.S. had in Afghanistan, is going to all come to naught?

So we have got some good questions for the general right now in the aftermath of this rampage by this one U.S. Army sergeant.

So we'll talk about that. We've got all the days, other news, we're getting ready here at the CNN Election Center for tomorrow's big news. There's Alabama, there's Mississippi and, don't forget, don't forget, there's also Hawaii and what else, Brooke? You know there's one other contest we're watching tomorrow. Very important, every one of these contests are important. American Samoa. Who did we send? Did we a reporter, a producer to American Samoa? I want to know.

BALDWIN: Have you ever been? I've never been to American Samoa. They make pretty good football players, though, I do know that.

BLITZER: They make great football players in American Samoa. They certainly do. And I've actually been to American Samoa and I've been to Hawaii, but I'm not going to either place. You know where I'm going to be tomorrow after covering all of these elections?

BALDWIN: You will be at the CNN Election Center, doing your thing tomorrow night and we'll be watching all night long.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And by the way, tomorrow night at midnight, a special live "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT." He's got celebrities filling in for him all week, and you know the celebrity who's filling in for him at midnight tomorrow night? That would be me.

BALDWIN: Sounds good, Wolf Blitzer. We will look forward tomorrow night. Forgive me, it's tough to hear. This is a hopping CNN crowd. But before I let you go, I am at the CNN Grill here at South by Southwest.

If you have ever wondered quite what the fuss is about here, I'm about to give you a little behind-the-scenes look and explain. And this is a phrase somebody threw at me this weekend -- the nerd circus. The nerd circus is in town. This is too cool. Don't miss it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So here we are, just outside the Austin Conversation Center. This is basically the epicenter of South by Southwest. Inside there are hundreds of vendors, start-up companies trying to create buzz about their new product, maybe their new app. It is a rainy day in Austin. You need one of these. You got your phone. Definitely no high heels here. Let's go inside.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

BALDWIN: Well, sorry, this is how everyone here at the circus that is South by Southwest walks. Everybody is staring at their phones, and I tell you, we want to show you one thing, and we get turned off into something else. It's like information interactive overload on all these different hallways, there's different vendors trying to get the buzz out about the big next thing.

It was 2007 when Twitter really took off. They started Foursquare here at Delphi (ph) and so we're just kind of checking it out with everyone else from all around the world to see what the next top thing is. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keyboard. (INAUDIBLE) something like a skateboard. You lean forward to go and you lean back to stop. Rotate on the pad and lean forward.

BALDWIN: Sweet Jesus!

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: And this is just one thing that jumped out at us. You know, it just shows that this may be the interactive portion of this festival, but take a look at this. There are all these different sort of columns all around the Austin Convention Center talking about politics.

This is probably one of the, maybe, films. Music to go to tonight. Check it out. You know, the anonymous here or there are the little codes where you can use your phone to find out what this is. Where you can go.

So finally, since I had a little something, Sanjay Gupta, that's for you.

Back here outside, take a look at this rain. This is basically forecast for the next couple of days. But you know what? Who cares, because we're back here at the CNN Grill. This is actually the inside of the CNN South by Southwest beer garden. Yep. This is a beer garden. Take a look over here, you can see they have some hot apple cider.

Next you have the CNN Ale. It's actually -- thank you very much. I'll take that, yes, Oliver Channing (ph), thank you. I will trade that out for my apple cider in just a minute. And this is basically the end of one day, the beginning of the night, and a memo to CNN bosses, add Brooke, please, CNN. I'd like to come back next year.

BALDWIN: And now your "SITUATION ROOM." Wolf Blitzer begins now.