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Blasts Rattle Syrian City Of Homs; Record Flooding Forces Rescues In Louisiana; Southern Primaries and What's at Stake; Delta Jet Veers off Runway; Settlement for Pipeline Explosion in California; Little League Turns Down Strip Club Donation; Neighborhood Watch Turns Deadly; Fighting For Rare Earth; Study: Red Meat Increases Risk of Early Death; High-Tech Parents Prefer Low-Tech Schools for Kids

Aired March 13, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed.

From the deep south to the Pacific, voters having their say. Primaries underway in Alabama, Mississippi, and Hawaii also holding its caucuses tonight.

Latest polls show Mitt Romney with a slight edge over Newt Gingrich in Mississippi. But Gingrich has a slim lead in Alabama. Rick Santorum trails in both polls.

Romney is trying to downplay expectations, looking ahead to the next contest. He's campaigning in Missouri.

The Afghan people are outraged. 16 civilians, mostly women and children, died this weekend when an American soldier allegedly went on a shooting rampage. Well, now the Taliban are vowing revenge, threatening to behead any Americans they can get their hands on. President Obama offered his condolences to the Afghan people earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens and our own children who were murdered. We're heartbroken over the loss of innocent life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: In Syria, explosions are terrorizing the besieged city of Homs. Opposition activists are calling this a day of mourning. They say more than 9,000 people have been killed in government attacks over the past year alone. The U.N. puts the death toll lower at 8,000 plus.

Hundreds of people had to be rescued from flash flooding in southern Louisiana. Rescuers used boats, dump trucks, to pluck people from their homes and their cars. A bus filled with middle school students got stuck in four feet of water. More than 20 inches of rain came down in some areas. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

LT. CHAD CANEZAR, LAFAYETTE PARISH: It's more than we bargained for. We even had some local citizens that volunteered with their boats and came to help do some rescues.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: There's still a flood warning for Lafayette Parish today.

And the Republican presidential candidates fighting for southern support, voting underway in the Alabama and Mississippi primaries. Everybody's got something to prove today. Shannon Travis at a polling place in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Shannon, good to see you. This is going to be an exciting day. Obviously --

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Hey there, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: -- folks, everybody's got something at stake here. You're in a pretty conservative place. What are they hoping for?

TRAVIS: Yes. I mean, this is one of the most conservative parts of conservative Mississippi, right here in Ocean Springs. I'm right outside of the Ocean Springs civic center, where it's been a steady stream of voters coming in and out here. But in terms of what the candidates have to prove, obviously, they want to win the delegates, remember delegate math, they've got to 1,144, 84 between the two states, Alabama and Mississippi today, 110 of the four contests total for today.

But in terms of something to prove the question you asked, you're absolutely right, Mitt Romney, he wants to basically prove, Suzanne, that he can win in the south -- win very conservative voters over. Newt Gingrich wants to prove that he can win other than Georgia, you know, that was the only state that he won on Super Tuesday. He won the South Carolina primary as well. Rick Santorum wants to prove that his particular brand of conservatism plays well down here.

And Ron Paul, don't forget about him, Suzanne. He hasn't won a contest yet. You've got the caucus in Hawaii, so he hopes that he can at least pick up one today. So, heading into this, all of them have something that they're eyeing in addition to those delegates.

MALVEAUX: And Shannon, I understand you've got some voters that you're talking to there as well?

TRAVIS: Yes. I mean, obviously, you can't come here to a polling place and not talk to real people. I'm joined here by Martin and Jane Reeves. They've been married -- how many years did you tell me?

JANE REEVES: Since --

MARTIN REEVES: Thirty-eight years.

TRAVIS: Thirty-eight years, Suzanne. And you just came out and voted. We notice your I Voted, and tell us who you voted for, Jane.

JANE REEVES: I voted for Mitt Romney.

TRAVIS: OK. And how about you, sir?

MARTIN REEVES: Mitt Romney.

TRAVIS: OK. And why did you vote for Mitt Romney?

MARTIN REEVES: I just feel like he's one that totally has a chance to beat the current president, and also I think he's very well rounded. I think he's not one side or the other real strong.

TRAVIS: And how about you, Jane?

JANE REEVES: I pretty much feel the same way. I think he's very broad minded. He's going to be a president for everybody in our country. And I think he's -- I think he's very astute and very, you know, well defined in his ideas of what he wants to do and accomplish, and I feel he's going to do that.

TRAVIS: We were talking just a moment ago about -- you were saying you've heard the criticisms about he doesn't have southern conservatism.

JANE REEVES: Yes.

TRAVIS: What was your reaction to that, again?

JANES REEVES: Well, I feel like that, you know, people in the south are going to vote as I did for the person. I'm conservative to a point, but I'm moderate in some ways, too. But I just feel like he's the candidate that I think is the best one of the three -- of the four that we have running. I think he's just the better choice. I really do. I believe in him.

TRAVIS: We appreciate you stopping and talking there. Suzanne, two votes for Mitt Romney. We'll stay, stick around and see if we have some other supporters for some of the other candidates -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. We'll see how it turns out. And congratulate them for 38 years together. That's awesome. That's a great accomplishment there.

TRAVIS: Congratulations, she says.

JANE REEVES: Thank you. Thank you very much.

MALVEAUX: Be sure to watch as Wolf Blitzer goes one on one with Mitt Romney, live in The Situation Room. That is happening today -- later today, the 5:00 hour Eastern time. Tune in as well for the results from the Alabama and Mississippi primaries. Our coverage beginning at 7:00 Eastern with Erin Burnett followed by complete live coverage of the results at 8:00. Join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and the CNN political team. Here's a rundown on some of the stories that we're covering in the next hour. First, the Taliban are calling U.S. forces sick-minded American savages. Anger is building after American soldiers accused of gunning down Afghan women and children.

And a new Harvard study says you may -- might want to actually rethink the bacon for breakfast or even for lunch. Could cause premature death.

And to you, it's just a tablet, right? But it took some rare minerals to make it, and that is causing some big problems between the U.S. and China. We'll explain what it means for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: President Obama is taking the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians very seriously. The tragedy could jeopardize U.S., Afghan relations, put U.S. Troops in danger. Here's what he said about the massacre this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'd like to say a few words about the situation in Afghanistan. Over the weekend, as many as you know, there was a tragic incident in which a number of Afghan civilians were killed. What I've made to President Karzai, when I spoke to him, is that the United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own is citizens and our own children who were murdered.

We're heartbroken over the loss of innocent life. The killing of innocent civilians is outrageous and it's unacceptable. It's not who we are as a country, and it does not represent our military. And for that reason, I've directed the Pentagon to make sure that we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation. I can assure the American people and the Afghan people that we will follow the facts wherever they lead us. And we will make sure that anybody who was involved is held fully accountable with the full force of the law.

Yesterday, I met with General Allen and Ambassador Crocker, who were here in Washington. And I have extraordinary confidence in them and in the many Americans who are serving in Afghanistan and who have made extraordinary sacrifices to be there. Today, I'll be meeting with Prime Minister Cameron, who's part of our broad coalition, serving in Afghanistan. And we'll have an opportunity to consult about the way forward, as we prepare for the NATO summit in Chicago later this spring.

So, make no mistake. We have a strategy that will allow us to responsibly wind down this war. We're steadily transitioning to the Afghans who are moving into the lead. And that's going to allow us to bring our troops home. Already, we're scheduled to remove 23,000 troops by the end of this summer, followed by -- following the 10,000 that we withdrew last year. And meanwhile, we will can continue the work of devastating Al Qaeda's leadership and denying them a safe haven. There's no question that we face a difficult challenge in Afghanistan. But I am -- I am confident that we can continue the work of meeting our objectives, protecting our country, and responsibly bringing this war to a close.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The president's words may not be enough to smooth over the situation with the Afghan people. Sara Sidner is in Kabul, Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT : Suzanne, we're hearing from local leaders in the village where this massacre occurred on Sunday, allegedly by a U.S. Army staff sergeant that left 16 people dead, that there was a rocket grenade attack, as well as some small arms fire, going off during a funeral of one of the villagers who was killed in the attack on Sunday. There were several high-level Afghan officials there, including the brother of Hamid Karzai, all those officials, however, are OK. But four people, four Afghan soldiers, have been injured.

Now, we did see protests today in Jalalabad, which is quite far from the Bonjoy (ph) district of Afghanistan, Jalalabad in Eastern Afghanistan. Four to five hundred people took to the streets. They were chanting, down with America, down with Obama. But officials there say while they managed to close the important route between Jalalabad and Kabul, eventually that was opened and there was no violence there or any damage left by the protesters.

What we can tell you now, though, is that we got an e-mail from the Taliban. The Taliban making some very strong statements, basically saying that they must take revenge and that that will mean beheading any American, anywhere, in Afghanistan. Sara Sidner, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Donald Trump, he's not running for president, but he has a few things to say about how President Obama is running the country. He recently tweeted that he thinks Afghanistan is a disaster. HLN's showbiz reporter, A.J. Hammer, talked to trump about the comment. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": You just recently tweeted that you think Afghanistan is a disaster. What would you like to see happen there?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Well, it's a total and complete disaster. And I'd like to see money spent on this country. I'd like to see us take our money and build schools here and build highways here and build transit here, and reduce the debt of the country, which is now almost $16 trillion, instead of building a school in Afghanistan, and then it gets blown up the following week, and then we build it again, and we build highways to the school, and they get blown up, and we build them again. And honestly, we don't know what we're doing. We have a leader that has no clue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: You can watch more of A.J.'s interview with Trump on Showbiz Tonight on our sister network, HLN. Hear what he had to say about his sons being criticized for big game hunting in Africa.

Checking out our stories our affiliates are covering across the country. A Delta Airline's Boeing 737 ran off the runway there, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport this morning. No passengers, fortunately, were on board. But mechanics were testing the engine when something happened to the plane's braking system. Nobody was injured.

All right, do you remember this deadly pipeline explosion? This was in San Bruno, California. This was a couple of years ago. It killed eight people, destroyed dozens of homes. Well, the city now is getting $70 million in settlement money from the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. That is outside of separate lawsuits from victims' families. Investigators say a faulty pipe and inadequate oversight led to this blast.

And little league baseball teams in need of money, well, they are offered an unlikely donation, $1,200 from a Los Angeles strip club. Yes, that's right. The "Los Angeles Times" reports the league is not accepting the money. Money would have helped keep about 300 kids on the field for another season.

And a teenager holding a bag of Skittles, shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain in Florida. This community is outraged. Hear the full story. We also want to hear from you as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A Florida family is desperate for answers and justice. Their son, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed more than two weeks ago. He was walking towards his father's home in a gated community. He was carrying a bag of skittles and an ice tea. The neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, says he shot the teen in self-defense. But the Martin family, they would like to see him arrested and charged. Gayle Paschall-Brown, of our affiliate WESH, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMES DAVIS, SANFORD, FLORIDA RESIDENT: And I see that white man (ph), can I stop and detain that white man, get in an argument, and shoot that white man to death?

GAIL PASCHALL-BROWN, WESH REPORTER: What do you think?

DAVIS: I'm saying, no, absolutely not! I would be in jail right now. PASCHALL-BROWN (voice-over): Residents have been outraged by the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. During All-star weekend, Trayvon Martin was walking to his step-mother's home in Sanford when the neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, called the non- emergency line and reported the teen as suspicious. The two apparently got into a confrontation. And before Sanford Police arrived, the teen was dead, shot 70 feet from his step-mother's home.

NATALIE JACKSON, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think that it's been 15 days since Trayvon Martin was killed and I think that the family deserves answers. So it's not fair to keep everything secret. We're asking for the 911 tapes and the non-emergency record tapes.

CHIEF BILL LEE, SANFORD, FLORIDA, POLICE: In this case, Mr. Zimmerman has made the statement of self-defense. Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that, we don't have the grounds to arrest him.

PASCHALL-BROWN (on camera): Do you think this was a racial issue?

JACKSON: Um, I don't know if the whole thing was a racial issue. It may have been a "Zimmerman wants to be a hero" issue. It becomes racial because Zimmerman thought that black males with hoodies are criminals.

PASCHALL-BROWN (voice-over): George Zimmerman told police he shot the teenager in self-defense. The police chief says on at least 911 call, you can hear the confrontation and the fatal gunshot.

MAYOR JEFF TRIPLETT, SANFORD, FLORIDA: This is a tragedy. I hate it for the family, for the Martin family, and for the city of Sanford.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: This brings us to today's "Talk Back" question, what do you think should happen? Should the neighborhood watch captain remain free? Send us your thoughts to facebook.com/suzannecnn or on Twitter @suzannemalveaux.

Rare earth elements, they're in our cell phones, computers, airplanes, and the U.S. now going after China for them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we're working on.

Next, why President Obama is going after China for rare minerals.

And, put down that burger. You've got to do that. You've got to listen to this. Harvard researchers say a daily serving of red meat can shorten your life.

And then, in about 15 minutes, looks like a jump back to another time. Schools banning computers? Hmm.

And did you know the TV that you're watching me on right now is full of elements called rare earth. That's right. These things, they run all these high-tech devices that we really couldn't live without. So we're talking about your computer, the cell phone, even guided missiles. President Obama is going after China for holding them back from us. Here's what he said earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're bringing a new trade case against China. And we're being joined by Japan and some of our European allies. This case involves something called rare earth materials. Now, if China would simply let the market work on its own, we'd have no objections. But their policies currently are preventing that from happening. And they go against the very rules that China agreed to follow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Chad Myers, he's joining us.

Chad, before we talk about what they are, tell us what they do.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They will power your battery, they actually -- they're the part that makes the power. They will turn red, green, and blue, which are the colors of your TV set. They will make a tiny magnet, which in -- with real magnets would be this size. They can be almost down to the size of a quarter for the same amount of power, therefore making very small motors for aerospace or for spacecraft or for satellites that go up.

They are elements. They are plentiful in the world. They are all over the place. But a long time ago, China really reduced the cost of them and a lot of mines just basically went out of business. They couldn't compete. Now China makes 97 percent of these minerals. They don't want to give them away anymore. They want to make things with them and sell the things rather than just give away the elements. Color TVs, smartphones, wind turbines, all of these things rely on these rare earth elements. There are very powerful things.

And they're in the periodic table. I remember this from school, like third grade. But there are 15 here. The (INAUDIBLE) here down on the bottom. And then the 21 and 39 here in the middle are the biggest ones that we need. And you need them to make anything, really, that's now high-tech.

And here's the deal. China says we're just not going to give them away and let you make the things. We're going to make the things and then sell them for higher value than just giving away the elements. That's the issue here. Light bulbs, power generating units, the batteries that will go into hybrid cars. It takes a lot of this stuff.

Now, Japan, about, I remember, six months ago said they found all kinds of this stuff in the seabed floor. So they're going to suck it out of the seabed floor and separate it and make it, but they can't really do it without creating a lot of pollution on the seabed floor, so that hasn't happened. We have a couple of mines in America. There's a couple of mines in Canada. There's one in Australia. This all started up into like Norway and Sweden. That's where they found the first ones. But now China has the market. They have 97 percent of everything that's made out there.

MALVEAUX: And, Chad, all this technology that we depend on, does it just run on these rare elements, these rare earths that we're talking about?

MYERS: No, not the crystal, not the glass, but the battery that's in there. Think about how long that battery lasts in your iPhone now or in your iPad. My kid works on his iPad for like, I don't know, eight hours before he has to charge. That's the power that these things can generate. Without them, batteries get bigger again. They will get bulky again. And they will get more expensive, of course, because now you have one person supplying all of this stuff. They can basically set the price. That's the issue right there. The setting of the price, getting it out there. The market needs it.

They are going to start opening up mines across the world again because obviously we know now there's a choke point for this stuff. But it's going to take a long time. Plus, there's another thing going on here. When you mine this stuff, a lot of time uranium and other things that come through this are mined out and then dumped into a slurry. Well, that can be radioactive. That can be a problem. And that's one of China's calls here. It says, wait a minute, we need to figure out that we're not polluting the ground here with all of this uranium and all this radiation out there. We're going to slow this down. We're going to do it right. We're just not going to sell you very much of it.

MALVEAUX: All right, Chad, thank you. Thanks for explaining it.

MYERS: You're welcome. You got it.

MALVEAUX: Time for a red meat show. Yes, we're talking about, are you a steak lover, hold on. We want to tell you something that might change your mind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're going "In Depth" now about a story about making a business profitable again. A trucking company in Chicago that was on the edge of bankruptcy is now making money.

Ted Rowlands asked the owner, how did he do it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Tovo's company, DNJ Trucking, outside of Chicago, is busy again.

JOE TOVO, OWNER, DNJ TRUCKING: We've really tightened up our ship and it turned things around.

ROWLANDS: In late 2007 and into 2008, the business, which was started by Joe's father, was on the verge of bankruptcy.

TOVO: It was probably the hardest time in my life, working 16, 20 hours a day to do anything you could to keep it going.

ROWLANDS: Keeping it going, Joe said, wasn't easy. Business was dropping because of the recession, while expenses like tolls, licenses, and labor were going up.

(on camera): And as time went on, things got even worse. At one point, Joe said he was having a difficult time even paying his employees.

TOVO: We hit the point where we just about lost it. When on Thursday, when your bank account doesn't have enough money to make Friday payroll, you're there.

ROWLANDS (voice-over): To stay afloat, Joe figured out he had to cut, so even though he was running out of money, he hired an outside accounting firm to help him measure every expense.

TOVO: When you're talking about 120 trucks doing $20 million a year in business, you know, you're only looking for little bits of money.

ROWLANDS: Joe took a pay cut and then asked his employees and his vendors to do the same. It took about a year, but Joe says he remembers the relief he felt when he finally had an expense report that actually showed a profit.

TOVO: It didn't mean that I really made money, because I had lost so much the last two years, but I was heading the right direction.

ROWLANDS: Joe says his company now runs 93 trucks, down from 120. He's cautiously optimistic about the future and says the lesson he's learned is to be prepared to change and manage every dime.

TOVO: If it's your business, chances are you have a lot invested in it, emotionally, financially. Look after it. Tend it. Don't take your eye of the ball.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: All right, now on to something you need to know, before you take a bite of that burger. If you even have one serving of red meat a day, you're increasing your risk of an early death by as much as 20 percent. That startling finding, it is the headline from a new study by Harvard researchers.

Elizabeth Cohen explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Before I tell you what the results are, let's take a look at what they mean by a serving of meat. This is a serving of red meat. That's right, that's a little piece of steak. It's just three ounces. That counted as one serving. And a serving of processed meat was the equivalent of two slices of bacon.

So let's see how these folks did. So the study subjects who ate just one serving of meat a day, just one three-ounce serving, had a 13 percent increased risk of dying during the course of the study. Now, folks who had just one serving of the processed meat had a 20 percent increased risk of dying.

So what's in red meat that might possibly make it not particularly healthy? Well, doctors tell us it's the saturated fat, that that's the number-one culprit. One eight-ounce steak has all the saturated fat that you're supposed to have in an entire day. So you're getting it in one steak. And that's all the saturated fat that you're supposed to have that day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: The study's lead author says you don't have to stop eating red meat all together, but anytime you can replace it with chicken, fish, beans, you could be increasing your life span.

A school surrounded by technology takes a low-tech approach to learning. They are kicking it old school. No computers, no gadgets. We've got details in our "Tech Tuesday" report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: You'd expect a school in Silicon Valley to have all the latest high-tech tools and gadgets, but in our "Tech Tuesday" report, we visit a place where learning is old school, literally. Tech-savvy parents, they prefer it that way.

Here's Dan Simon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a senior executive at eBay, Matthew Mengerink is at the forefront of computing, leading a force that requires the very latest technological tools.

MATTHEW MENGERINK, SENIOR EXECUTIVE, EBAY: I would say it's fundamental not just to the business, but my personal life and success.

SIMON: Yet, he would prefer that his children lead technology- free lives.

UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: One, two, three, wee.

SIMON: Learning to be creative and use their imaginations without anything that requires a glossy screen and electricity, not just in their free time, but at school as well. MENGERINK: If I go back to my education as a computer scientist, we didn't have computers in the classroom. We had algorithms and we had logic and we had textbooks. And we were working through that and really trying to understand the science behind the computer.

SIMON: So Matthew and his wife, Elaine, looked for a school that shared that philosophy.

ELAINE MENGERINK, MOTHER: Our homes are so filled with technology that they're going to be exposed. It's -- they're sponges. They soak it up. But in the classroom, you need to be learning the basics. You want them interacting with their peers, learning how to get along with each other.

SIMON: That belief set let them to the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, a school with old-fashioned chalkboards and a curriculum centered around physical activity and hands-on tasks.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: All the way over.

SIMON: Third graders using balls to help coordinate both sides of the brain. High school students drawing on a chalkboard as the way of interpreting a book. The school has zero technology, nada. No computers, no internet.

Matthew's daughter used to attend a school where every child had a laptop.

SABRINA MENGERINK, STUDENT: I think I prefer it much better without them, because it's a distraction. I didn't really feel connected to the other students as much as I do in Waldorf.

SIMON: At a time where some schools are now embedding social media into their teaching, like this school in Los Angeles --

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Remember, Damon, make sure you have a pound in front of the WWI.

SIMON: -- the Waldorf School looks like it's from another era, though most of the children have parents working in high-tech.

LUCY VALENTINE WURTZ, DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, WALDORF SCHOOL OF THE PENINSULA: It's amazing when parents go on tour and they come on our campus, a lot of people feel like it's just a really natural way to raise children.

SIMON: Lucy Wurtz is the school's development director and helped establish a Waldorf High School here in 2007. Her husband is a prominent Silicon Valley executive.

WURTZ: Sometimes people feel like life is going way too fast and they want their children to have a more natural, slow-paced developmental childhood. So I think that's what we provide at the Waldorf schools.

SIMON: The 160 Waldorf Schools are spread across the country. Students don't take standardized tests, so its success in comparison to other schools is difficult to measure. But its leaders boast that 94 percent of its graduates go on to college.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Dan Simon is joining us live from Los Altos, California.

Dan, it's a really fascinating idea, the fact that all these folks are surrounded by technology, but they've got this low-tech approach to learning. I noticed, there weren't a lot of students in those classes. Is this a very expensive school to attend?

SIMON: Well, tuition definitely isn't cheep. Here in the Bay Area, tuition is $18,000 for kindergarten through eighth grade. And high school it's even more, about $24,000. At a time when many are clamoring to bring technology into the classroom, whether it's laptops or tablets, trying to scrap up the money, this school says, no-go, they're just fine with using chalk and a chalkboard -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: What do the kids think about it? Do they enjoy that? Do they realize how unique this experience is for them?

SIMON: You know, most of them, you know, can't really compare it to anything else, because they start here, you know, at a young age. They say, though, that when they talk to their friends, that they have technology in their schools and, you know, they're just fine with their own approach.

We should point out, though, that as they get older, some of them start using Facebook and Twitter, so they are exposed to technology to some degree. But when it comes to here at school, they really prefer a no-technology approach -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Dan, it's fascinating. I love that story. And it brings back the good old days, using everything that's totally old school.

Thanks, Dan.

I want to talk more about the school's low-tech approach to learning. Lucy Valentine Wurtz, she's the outreach director. You actually saw her in Dan's piece.

And in our report, you talked about a more slow-paced approach to learning. So is it the main reason that you don't rely on technology? Give us a sense of what it is behind the philosophy here.

WURTZ: Well, good morning. And I'm sorry we couldn't have better weather for you here in California.

(LAUGHTER)

And thank you for visiting our school.

I think it's important to realize that this recent phenomenon of increasing technology in schools is, in fact, that very recent. And Waldorf education has been providing a basic curriculum for over 90 years. And the curriculum focuses on all parts of the child, not just the head, but what we say, the heart and --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: And do you think that these computers --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: I'm sorry. Go ahead.

WURTZ: That we teach to bring out these capacities in children, throughout their education so that they're able to be very academically prepared for life. They're engaged in the arts and they're very enthusiasm about learning and have a lot of practical skills when they come out. And we've never used technology in the classroom to do that. And we don't actually see the need now.

MALVEAUX: Do you think that computers and high-tech gadgets, all these kinds of things that so many kids have these days, do you think it actually impedes creativity in young kids?

WURTZ: Well, if you look at the statistics, the recent Kaiser Study found that the average 8 to 18-year-old spends 7.5 hours in front of a computer or a social media device a day. And it's really over almost 10 hours when you look at multi-tasking.

Yes, I think that definitely impedes creativity. Because when you look at that amount of time, you have to ask, what are the children not doing? What are the young people not doing that would be developing physical skills, artistic skills, and academic skills. So, yes, there's a place and time for social media and technology. And here in the Silicon Valley, we really embrace that, but not in the classroom.

MALVEAUX: What is the place and the time to introduce it? Because I understand that computers are introduced at some point. Is that right?

WURTZ: Well, we don't teach with them in the classrooms. In the high school, the teachers do use them when the computer is better than the teacher. For example, we do use graphing calculators to help children. You know, the students figure out patterns between data more quickly, or something in geometry that will demonstrate, have them see the connection between theorems more quickly. But there's a difference between technology in the classroom and technology in their life. So definitely, there is some purpose in the high school, but not before that.

MALVEAUX: Lucy, finally, how did the students do after high school?

WURTZ: Well, Waldorf students do extremely well. 94 percent of them graduate -- that graduate from high school go on to colleges and universities, and 88 percent of them finish college. I think one thing that is really interesting, people, if they know anything about Waldorf and the incredible arts that our students do, they may think it's an art school, but actually, I believe it's 42 percent go into math or some kinds of sciences. And that's three times the national average. So you can find Waldorf students really in all profession and all walks of life when they graduate.

MALVEAUX: All right. Sounds like you're doing something right over there.

Lucy Valentine Wurtz, thank you very much. Good to see you. And of course, all the best to your students there as well.

A teenager holding a bag of Skittles, shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain in Florida. He says it was in self- defense, which brings us to today's "Talk Back" question, what do you think should happen? Should the neighborhood watch captain remain free?

Melanie says, "Are you serious? Because the shooter said he shot in self-defense he cannot be arrested? This is a shame. And I'm appalled that something like this can be justified in the United States of America."

More of your responses up ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Now an in-depth look at a man who decided to bake his way out of a financial pit. He was unemployed, out of cash, living on credit cards for more than a year. But a dinner party changed everything.

Christine Romans tells us how that party helped Dave Tuttle reboot his career.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dave Tuttle has a passion for pie.

DAVE TUTTLE, REBOOTED HIS CAREER: Let's face it, pie is wonderful stuff. It makes people feel great.

ROMANS: A passion that was born of necessity in 2009 after this former film and TV producer couldn't find work in an industry that was shedding jobs.

TUTTLE: For about a year, I really made it full-time to try to find a job, to get back into the business, because that's what I had been doing for 20 years.

ROMANS (on camera): So you were living on your savings, living on your 401K?

TUTTLE: 401K, and it had came to the point where I had depleted all of our funds.

ROMANS (voice-over): Then, an idea.

TUTTLE: We were sitting at a dinner party one night and I had brought one of my pies. And we were sitting around with my friends, and they were like, Dave, you should start to sell these pies. And my wife was, like, yes, you need to do something.

(LAUGHTER)

And I said, well, OK, that's cool. Maybe I'll try it.

I'll bake an average of 16 to 18 hours straight. I use only what's in season here in the Hudson Valley. I do everything by hand. I'll peel my apples. I mix all my crusts, roll them out by hand. The name of my company is Tuttle's Homemade.

ROMANS: His unique cost-saving measure, bartering for kitchen space at local restaurants.

(on camera): So you save the space for pies, which is also advertising for you.

TUTTLE: Bingo.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMANS: So you're selling those pies.

TUTTLE: Bingo. Right. Right.

ROMANS: Brilliant.

(voice-over): He sells and hand-delivers up to 200 pies per month, mostly locally. But now Tuttle is ready to take the next step.

TUTTLE: I can definitely see Tuttle's Homemade up there.

ROMANS (on camera): Tuttle's Homemade.

TUTTLE: No problem. A sign out here that says fresh-baked pies. I wouldn't have to do a lot of work.

ROMANS: It would take money, though. It would take money.

TUTTLE: It's all going to take money.

ROMANS (voice-over): A hurdle as a year of living off his savings didn't help his credit score. And he's not alone. Demand for small business loans is up, but lending is still tight.

Tuttle says he could help the economy grow if given a chance to grow his business and start hiring.

TUTTLE: Our government needs to take advantage of that. There is a huge, huge amount of people doing this. ROMANS: While he hopes his business will continue to heat up, Tuttle says the experience has given him a new recipe for life.

TUTTLE: Before it was about making that paycheck. Now it's more about family, it's about being connected back to my community, what I was doing before wasn't as great, but it wasn't as real as what I'm doing right now.

ROMANS (on camera): There's nothing as real as a real good apple pie.

(LAUGHTER)

TUTTLE: Exactly. Exactly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: A family is calling for justice after a neighborhood watch captain shoots and kills an unarmed teenager. 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot to death last month walking to his dad's house. The shooter, George Zimmerman, claims he acted in self- defense. Zimmerman has not been charged.

Which brings us to today's "Talk Back" question, what do you think should happen?

Nazim says, "Outragous. If I, a black man, had done that to a white youth going home, just like this young man did, I would be in jail. Why did the block watch captain have a gun in the first place"?

Tallmadge writes, "There is plenty of blame to go around here. "Trayvon should have better sense than to argue with a guy with a gun. The guy with the gun showed stunningly poor judgment using deadly force in a situation that did not call for it"

Jeff says, "Neighborhood watch is supposed to alert police, not be the police. Looks like I'm going to have another reason to watch 'Court TV'. May god bless the 17-year-old and his family."

Wally writes, "Innocent until proven guilty in a court of law."

Keep the conversation going online at facebook.com/suzanneCNN or on Twitter at suzannemalveaux.

For young men in Iraq, the wrong fashion sense could get you killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI MALE: There is a very strong wave of killing people who are such called Emos, or gays, people that look different than the usual Iraqi people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We'll take a look at a disturbing new trend on the streets of Baghdad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're looking at amazing live pictures here out of Ada, Ohio. This is live from our affiliate, WBNS. This is a historic church that's burned to the ground. We are told there is a daycare inside of this church, but we are told no one -- no one was injured as a result of this fire, that it did not spread to the neighborhood, the neighboring buildings that are around this historic church.

But this is pretty extraordinary when you just see the extent of damage there and you see the hoses as they continue to try to at least -- it looks like most of the fire is out there, just smoke, billowing smoke there. It looks like it's burned to the ground, just a shell remaining. Again, nobody injured and nobody inside.

A deadly culture clash on the streets of Iraq. Brian reporting on what is called Emo killing. Emo is a western style of dressing that's adopted from bands back in the '90s.

I warn you, some of the images you're about to see in this story are graphic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the streets of Baghdad, this is a different and dangerous look -- a western style with longer hair, tighter clothes. It's called Emo, and if you're a young man in Iraq who wants to look like this, it could get you killed.

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI MALE; There is a very strong wave of killing people who are such called Emos or gays, people who look different than the usual Iraqi people, you know, tight jeans, long hair, maybe a goatee.

TODD: We spoke to a human rights activist who didn't want us to use his name or show his face. He says he's not gay or Emo, but has long hair, listens to heavy metal music. He says he shaved his goatee out of fear.

TODD (on camera): What's it like for people like yourself just to walk around?

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI MALE: Well, basically, when I was come to go the CNN bureau here in Baghdad, there was two checkpoints who told me to cut my hair or they will kill me. Not them, but they were advising me so people won't kill me with a block cements, cement blocks.

TODD (voice-over): A senior Iraqi interior ministry official, not authorized to talk to the media, tells CNN at least 14 young men perceived to be gay or dressed in Emo style have been killed in Baghdad in recent weeks. Human rights activists put the number much higher and they put up graphic evidence. Photos posted online show people believed to victims because of their appearance. (on camera): It's not clear who is killing them, but activists have given CNN copies of warning letters and lists, like this one, distributed in conservative neighborhoods like Sadr City in Baghdad. Lists identifying potential gay or Emo targets. There are also serious questions about whether the Iraqi government is able or willing to protect these men.

(voice-over): Last month, Iraq's interior ministry released a statement saying it was following the Emo phenomenon or devil worshipping. Also saying, "We have the privilege of eliminating it as soon as possible." And that the so-called moral police would enter schools in Baghdad. The ministry later issued a statement saying it's received no reports of Emos being murdered. It warns vigilantes from attacking and says those dressed in Emo styles will be protected.

One young man, who says he's not gay but wears tight jeans and shirts, says he's not taking any chances.

UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI MALE: I can't do like the Emo thing in clothes. I can't do that anymore. I'm afraid I might be killed.

TODD: Contacted by CNN, a State Department spokesman says it is monitoring this closely, has expressed concern to the Iraqi government. And "We strongly condemn the recent violence and killings in Iraq by groups that appear to be targeting individuals based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or personal expression." The spokesman also points out that in recent days, Iraqi parliamentarians and religious leaders, including Grand Ayatollah, Ali Sistani, have denounced these attacks.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ashleigh Banfield, who is in for Brooke Baldwin.

Hey, Ashleigh, good to see you.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne. Nice to see you as well.