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Former Illinois Governor Reports to Prison; Insider's View of Goldman Sachs; Taliban Style Blast Kills 13; Afghans Protest Over U.S. Soldier; Inmates May Have Gotten Special Treatment; Santorum Stumps in Puerto Rico; Karzai Wants U.S. Troops Moved; Hamm Stands by Kardashian Criticism; Lions' Johnson Inks $132 Million Deal; Knicks Coach D'Antoni Resigns

Aired March 15, 2012 - 09:15   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Thank you.

And good morning to all of you. I'm Carol Costello.

Happening now in the NEWSROOM, this could be the last we see of Rob Blagojevich for quite some time. This morning the former Illinois governor is off to Colorado to begin his new term as a prison inmate.

An unidentified man quotes versus from the Quran seconds before a Syrian government tank explodes.

Today marks one year since Syria's uprising began with a day of rage. It is clear the rage has not let up.

We're keeping an eye, too, on Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta just met with President Hamid Karzai as angry Afghans protest the news that the U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 civilians has been moved out of the country.

And the Washington Monument appears to be sinking after last year's earthquake. Surveyors say the landmark has sunk a fraction of an inch since the quake hit last August.

But today we begin with this. Today the circus ends and the prison sentence begins. Former Governor Rob Blagojevich has left Illinois and might not be back for quite some time. He's on his way right now to a federal prison in Colorado to start his 14-year sentence. He was convicted last summer of corruption.

CNN's Zoraida Sambolin is from Chicago. She covers this whole Blago scandal.

Zoraida, thank you for staying late for us.

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, ANCHOR, CNN'S EARLY START: My pleasure.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: So, Zoraida, his going away thing was kind of like he was a rock star rather than a corrupt politician. Why is that? SAMBOLIN: You know -- as I was watching it that -- this morning, I thought the exact same thing. This guy still does what he does best, right? He has this rock star status in the state of Illinois. He was the golden boy of Illinois politics for a very long time, and he has a way of connecting with people that I have never seen before.

This is a man that if he meets you once, he makes eye contact. He learns your name and he never forgets it. And you also have to remember, Carol, that, you know, Illinois has a long history of Republican governors, and he was the first Democrat elected in 30 years and so, you know, this guy really had a strong following. And he was serving his second term.

COSTELLO: Well, I want to show folks, if we have it, the pictures of him leaving his house this morning. He steps outside of his door. Neighbors surrounded him showing him the love. Do we have that tape? If we could just listen to a bit of the natural sound, as we're calling it the bizz of what he's saying. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What did you say to your daughters and your wife?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How are you feeling this morning, Governor? How are you feeling this morning?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: How are you feeling this morning, Governor?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What did you say to your daughters and your wife?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So he's leaving his house, Zoraida, leaving his family for the last time. He's going to prison for 14 years and all of these reporters are greeting him. Now he has a publicist so apparently he wanted this. I mean, do some Chicagoans, some people from Illinois just want him to disappear and go away?

SAMBOLIN: My gosh.

(CROSSTALK)

SAMBOLIN: Yes. I mean there are a lot of people that want him to go away. But you're taking a look at that, Carol. This was almost a daily occurrence at Rob Blagojevich's home in the Ravenswood in Chicago. And so I think he even said as he was leaving that hopefully this can finally return his neighborhood back to normalcy because, you know, this trial lasted a long time. It was two trials. And this was common place in his community. So I think there are -- I know that the neighbors are happy to see this are hoping that this is going to dissipate finally for him.

But this is the way he was greeted all the time. I have to tell you, Carol, he had a lot of followers. He did some really good things for the state of Illinois and some people just will not forget.

COSTELLO: He did some really bad things for the state of Illinois, too.

SAMBOLIN: Oh, yes. And you know I've got to tell you something that folks really are not focused on. We talk about President Obama's Senate seat, right? But what really infuriated a lot of people in Chicago was the fact that, you know, he implemented this kid care where he gave all of this money in order to get all of the children in the state of Illinois insured but then one of the things that he was convicted on was that there's a children's hospital in Chicago and he held hostage some money for campaign contribution. Those are the types of things that the people in the state of Illinois will never forget.

COSTELLO: Zoraida, thank you for joining us. We appreciate it.

SAMBOLIN: You are welcome. Any time.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Thank you.

In the next hour we'll talk to another Chicago journalist who covered the Blago scandal from start to finish. Natasha Korecki (INAUDIBLE) a blog about Blagojevich for the "Chicago Sun-Times." Today she just might write her last story about him for quite some time.

Now a story that's echoing from Wall Street to your corner cafe. An executive from one of the most iconic investment firms announces his resignation and says he's fleeing a culture that's toxic.

Greg Smith rails against Goldman Sachs in a scathing op-ed piece. We told you about that yesterday. It was in "The New York Times." Let's remind you, though. Here's one snippet. Quote, "It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing editors refer to their own clients as puppets."

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

So, Alison, I know that Goldman stocks kind of sank yesterday and Goldman responded. So is it going to get worse?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about that response first. Yes, Goldman Sachs actually coming out in full damage control mode defending itself. CEO Lloyd Blankfein and president, Gary Cohn, sending a letter to employees yesterday saying our response is best demonstrated in how we really work with and help our clients through our commitment to their long-term interests. In this letter, he points to the internal surveys that Goldman has done, showing employees -- most employees there don't feel the same as Smith did, saying 89 percent of the workers there say they put their clients first.

Now Goldman Sachs says it has reached out to Smith and company executives say, hey, we weren't aware any of this was going on, that he had any misgiving until that letter came out in "The New York Times" -- Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: So you work on Wall Street every day. Is this letter -- I mean, I know it's Goldman saying it's not indicative of what Goldman does, but a lot of people feel it's indicative of what the entire industry does.

KOSIK: You know, it depends on who you ask. You know some traders down here on the floor say it is indicative of the industry as a whole but others say it is just maybe a Goldman Sachs culture. You know, and Goldman Sachs, it's been around, you know, for 150 years. You know, it's got this gold-plated reputation. It's known for delivering big profits and that is what attracts big clients.

So, you know, it's no surprise that these investment banks are in it to make money, and they make no bones about it. They -- you know, that's what they're here for. They're here to make money for their shareholders. So with that understanding, some analysts say comes some responsibility upon the clients of these investment banks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. Alison Kosik live at the New York Stock Exchange.

Now we want to turn our attention to Afghanistan. And Leon Panetta's mission to tamp down the outrage there. Before he met with President Karzai this morning we learned that the Afghan man who exploded a car -- exploded a car dangerously close to Panetta's arrival has died of his injuries.

And there are new protests near the sight of the weekend massacre. Hundreds of Afghans take to the streets demanding that the U.S. soldier be publicly prosecuted in Afghanistan. But as protesters chant the anti-American slogans they find a new cause for outrage. The U.S. military says it has moved the staff sergeant to Kuwait. The news -- the news is stirring new suspicion and a lot of anger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GULAM HAZRAT, KABUL RESIDENT (Through Translator): The U.S. soldier must be tried in Kandahar City. Why was he taken away from Afghanistan when he murdered innocent people in this country. He's transferred to another place to be freed. Why did he murder 16 people here? For what reason did he massacre them? We want to see him punished here, in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Also new this morning, a deadly roadside bombing that bears the hallmarks of a Taliban strike.

Sara Sidner is in the Afghan capital of Kabul.

Sara, what can you tell us about this latest attack?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We understand 13 people have been killed, including nine children, and the government saying that this was the act of terrorists. This did not happen anywhere in the provinces that we've been hearing of different things going on, including obviously the visit of Mr. Panetta.

Mr. Panetta met with Mr. Karzai today. We have just confirmed that Mr. Karzai has asked for American forces and NATO forces to leave all Afghan villages and remote areas. That's coming in from the presidential palace and that is after this massacre allegedly by a U.S. soldier that U.S. soldier sent out of the country overnight.

We talked to a local Afghan official from Kandahar just a few moments ago and he basically said that people are very angry about that because they had asked to be able to talk to him, saying that, you know, we as Afghan officials should actually be able to question him ourselves. Now he's out of the country and we can't do that. So some anger there from Afghan lawmakers in that area.

We do understand that we will perhaps be hearing more from the lawmakers from Kandahar because they're going to be talking about some of the evidence they say they've been shown by U.S. officials, including a surveillance video of this alleged U.S. soldier who is accused of shooting and killing 16 civilians in Kandahar.

COSTELLO: And you talked about today's protests near the massacre site. They were organized by religious leaders. Is there a concern there could be more of an uprising tomorrow because it's the Muslim day of prayer?

SIDNER: There are concerns about that certainly. This protest broke out in Qalat which is not actually where the massacres happened, but not too far from it in a different province, in Zabul Province. But yes, of course there's some concern that there is going to be more and more protests. However, we have to say that so far things have been relatively calm.

And the two protests that have happened, namely there's only been two, both have been peaceful. No one has been injured, killed, and there hasn't been any damage. And so some are saying, that look, this shows that the Afghans have this under control but we're not seeing the same kind of protests that we saw after the Quran burnings last month.

COSTELLO: Sara Sidner live in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Pentagon says it will not release the soldier's name until he's charged. So here's a quick rundown of what we do know about -- do know about him. Military sources tell us he's a staff sergeant in his 30s. He has a wife and children. He's an infantry sniper trained to fire fatal shots from up to 800 meters away.

The suspect suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2010 during his third and final deployment in Iraq. His medical history is now part of the investigation, which is being handled by the U.S. military.

In just a few minutes we're going to talk with the parents of another soldier in Afghanistan. They are worried he might pay for the deaths of those 16 Afghan civilians even though he had nothing whatsoever to do with it.

A deli owner goes on the offensive after getting pepper sprayed by a robbery suspect. Have you seen this? We'll show you exactly what happened next.

And later, the controversy over Haley Barbour's pardons grows deeper. CNN has exclusive information about how the former Mississippi governor's staff and wife helped several prisoners.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking stories "Cross Country" now.

In Oregon a deli owner fights back after a robbery suspect wearing a helmet sprays him with pepper spray. Surveillance video shows the owner repeatedly hitting the suspect. You see it there? With a baseball bat. He hits him so hard the bat eventually breaks. The suspect fled. He's still at large.

In Mississippi, Canada geese are going on the attack. They're nesting in an office park and going after -- oh, my gosh, that would be scary. They're going after workers who are getting to close to their hatchlings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was coming at my face full force, and it would not stop and I ran and it continued to come after me. It just would not stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sadly, there's not much the workers can do about the situation. This time of year those geese are protected by federal law.

And now to Memphis, Tennessee, and an honor many say is long overdue. The city is naming a street after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 44 years after the civil rights leader was assassinated at the Lorraine Hotel.

And now a report you'll see exclusively on this network. Investigative documents obtained by CNN revealed former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, his wife, and staff may have given prisoners special treatment before they were pardoned.

CNN's Ed Lavandera has the details for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just days before these two Mississippi killers were pardoned by Haley Barbour, CNN has learned David Gatlin and Charles Hooker were issued brand new driver's licenses, even though they were still technically incarcerated working as trustees at the governor's mansion -- which begs the question: how do two inmates get licenses while they're still in custody of the prison system?

(on camera): Well, Haley Barbour's chief security officer tells CNN he personally drove both men from the governor's mansion here over to the driver's license office himself.

(voice-over): Barbour's security chief suggests the licenses would help them find jobs. But why else would they need a driver's license? To drive their newly-purchased cars, of course.

CNN has obtained these investigator's reports from the Mississippi attorney general's office, which detail how Gatlin and Hooker also had cars ready for them the day they were pardoned. According to the report, Haley Barbour's wife called a salesman at this car dealership. It says, "Marsha Barbour contacted him regarding the purchase of vehicles for Hooker and Gatlin."

The salesman allegedly told investigators that the inmates had been brought to the dealership on January 6th, 2012, in a black Ford Crown Victoria to complete paperwork for the sale.

January 6th is the very day that their pardons were signed, but two days before the men were officially released. The salesman also stated that he delivered both vehicles to the governor's mansion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera joins us live from Washington now.

So there are so many disturbing aspects to this story. So, if we don't know who paid for the cars, how did the prisoners get them? I mean, they're in prison. They're not exactly making a big salary.

LAVANDERA: Exactly. Both of those men have been in prison for almost 20 years or so.

And based on the documents that we saw, what stood out to us and what still has many questions we're unable to answer at this point, we know that these men got these cars without putting any money down as down payments. And victims' families are asking, well, if they didn't do that, who put forth the collateral to be able to guarantee these loans?

I mean, these men are still responsible for paying off the loans but they were able to get these cars without putting any money down, which is for many people across the country would full well know that that is something perhaps highly unusual.

COSTELLO: But still, you found out that the governor's wife helped them get driver's licenses. I mean, what was it about these two men that made the Barbour's fall in love with them while they were still in prison and they were convicted of murder?

LAVANDERA: Just to be clear, it wasn't -- the driver's license, it was the chief security officer who said he personally drove these two men while they were in custody from the governor's mansion over to the DMV office.

COSTELLO: So, a man on the governor's staff, right?

LAVANDERA: Right.

COSTELLO: So --

LAVANDERA: But, you know, Haley Barbour, even though he has refused to answer our questions specifically, we gave him a long list. His spokeswoman told us that our assumptions and the assumptions of fact in this case were wrong but wouldn't specify any more than that, didn't give us a long statement. They said it was -- they believed that these men had fulfilled their promises and their responsibility as part of this trustee program and they felt it was their responsibility to do what they could to prepare them for a life in the free world.

So they felt that it was their duty and that they had -- their way of ensuring that these men don't fall back into the traps of committing crime and are productive once they would get out of the trustee program. That's what Haley Barbour has told us in a statement. He refuses to answer our questions on camera, but he's told us this through comments via e-mail statements.

COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera, live in Washington for us.

It wasn't exactly a rubber chicken dinner. A state dinner at the White House draws several, more than several celebrities. Boy, does it draw high fashion types too.

Who was there and what they wore and we'll get to the serious stuff too. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: It was a night of ball gowns and black ties. President Obama and the first lady hosted a state dinner for British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife. Michelle Obama wore a Marchesa gown by Georgina Chapman who was, by the way, at the dinner. While Samantha Cameron's dress was by Alexandra Rich, she was not at the dinner.

Of course, they have to look their best since "Vogue" magazine editor Anna Wintour was there.

We just had to throw in a picture of George Clooney just because. A lot of other celebrities were there as well, as you can see.

If you're wondering what they ate for dinner, the main course, bison Wellington.

Let's get a little of the behind the scenes from CNN White House correspondent Brianna Keilar.

Brianna, the theme was America's Backyard, 362 guests. It was quite the night.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And, Carol, I don't know what your backyard looks like, but I can tell you George Clooney is not in mine, unfortunately, nor is Rory McIlroy, the professional golfer, he was also a guest at this event. And also, Damien Lewis who is a British actor on "Homeland", that cable TV series which I should tell you President Obama is a very big fan of.

So this was a dinner that took place on the south lawn where there was a very large tent set up. It was actually quite a ways from the White House. So, trolleys took guests down to the lawn, to the dinner.

And, of course, you know, the highlight of this, I think, especially for a lot of women, is the fashion and wondering what Michelle Obama wore. You said she wore Marchesa, this beautiful gown that had a very bold necklace on it. This was kind of, you could tell, by looking at Samantha Cameron and a lot of other women at the state dinner last night. It seemed like hues of blue were the colors of the evening.

At one point, President Obama, sort -- as he was entering the dinner, said to the prime minister, "They look better than us," which, you know, I think the tuxedos are nice but the men don't have as much latitude for sure. The entertainment was pretty entertaining, Mumford & Sons, as well as John Legend.

I think it was pretty OK night for --

COSTELLO: Actually, I was looking at the seating arrangement seating arrangements and I found it interesting that George Clooney was seated at the president's table, alongside, you know, Warren Buffett was at the table.

George Clooney -- I mean, just sort of stuck out. He was right by Michelle Obama.

KEILAR: I don't know the reasoning behind that. At dinner parties you mix up people who have maybe different takes on things.

COSTELLO: You're so nice.

KEILAR: Varied conversation perhaps. I'm not sure.

COSTELLO: I'm sure it was a fascinating conversation. Well, he's smart guy. Probably was a fascinating conversation.

Okay. Let's get down to business. The president does get to serious business today. He's in Maryland to deliver the speech on an energy policy that he says will stabilize gas prices in the long run. Tell us more.

KEILAR: Yes, that's right. All this glitz and glamour last night kind of gives way to the reality of that political pinch that the president is feeling over high gas prices.

He's been talking a lot about energy lately. He will continue that push again today, making his case to the American people that he's doing everything he can. Now, he's going to a Maryland community college to make that case, but he's also going to be talking about a refrain that we've heard before, which is that there's no silver bullet. There's no quick fix for fixing the prices of gas and really stopping Americans from feeling that pinch at the pump.

He'll be talking about his energy strategy which he's selling as the all of the above. In addition to oil and gas, you've got renewable energy, solar and wind. And he'll also be making the case -- this is what he's done before, Carol, talking about how oil production is at an all-time high domestically.

The reason he's doing this is to say to the American people, if it were about just increasing the amount of oil and gas production, prices would go down and they're not. So, he's really trying to show the American people he's doing everything he can, Carol.

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar, live at the White House this morning.

Well, campaigning in Puerto Rico for Sunday's primary, Rick Santorum spoke about potential statehood for the U.S. territory and then he added the whopper. If, of course, they make English the official language then, of course, they could apply for statehood.

Paul Steinhauser is here to parse this all out for us.

So, he's campaigning in Puerto Rico and he says something that probably won't make many Puerto Ricans happy.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Probably not, but it could make conservative voters here, you know, in the lower 48 happy because that has been an issue for a while.

Carol, here's exactly what he's told a Puerto Rican newspaper down there. "Like any other state, there needs to be compliance with this and any other federal law. That is that English needs to be the principal language."

He was talking of course about the statehood referendum that is on the ballot in Puerto Rico come November.

The thing is there is no federal law. It's not in the Constitution either that English has to be the official language of a state entering the nation. But 31 states do have laws that say English is the official language of their state. And this has been the cause of conservatives for a while to make it the official mandated language of the U.S.

COSTELLO: We were doing a little bit of research, English and Spanish are the official languages of Puerto Rico.

STEINHAUSER: In Puerto Rico. But most people down there speak Spanish much more than they do English. The contest is on Sunday. This is a primary, 20 delegates at stake. It's proportional.

You know, Mitt Romney is probably considered the favorite. But Rick Santorum can pick up some delegates. Romney, by the way, will be campaigning in Puerto Rico on Friday and Saturday, Carol.

Paul, I also want to get into this because it's just so weird. Santorum aid is bringing back that Romney dog on the roof story. I mean, that story will not die.

STEINHAUSER: That was a big story when it first came out four years ago when Mitt Romney was first running for the White House.

Let's flashback -- the story was back in the 1980s when Mitt Romney was packing up the family in the family station weighing gone, driving them 12 hours to a family vacation home. They put the Irish setter, their dog at the time on the roof in a dog carrier with the shield. But the dog got sick, and, well, you know, kind of threw up all over the car.

Listen, the story's now back by the Santorum campaign. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRABENDER, SANTORUM CAMPAIGN SENIOR STRATEGIST: Quite frankly, I'm not sure I'm going to listen to the value judgment of a guy who strapped his own dog on the top of the roof of his car and went hurling down the highway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: That was John Brabender, senior strategist for the Santorum campaign yesterday morning better with Soledad O'Brien on "STARTING POINT." So, they're bringing it up again.

And guess what? A Democratic group is trying to start a PAC called Dogs Against Romney. They're fundraising. They want to put some commercials.

Their line is we ride inside. There you go, Carol.

COSTELLO: Dogs against Romney.

STEINHAUSER: I'm not making this up. I know it sounds like I am, but I'm not. I promise.

COSTELLO: It's such a weird political season, isn't it?

STEINHAUSER: You can't make this stuff up.

COSTELLO: It's true. Thank you, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Top stories happening now in THE NEWSROOM.

Rod Blagojevich is off to Colorado to begin serving a 14-year prison sentence. Last year, the former Illinois governor was convicted on several counts, 18 actually, of corruption, including a charge he tried to sell a Senate seat once held by President Obama.

Investigative documents obtained by CNN reveal two convicted murderers may have received special treatment from former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's wife and staff. We'll have more details and a live report. That's just ahead.

And today in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met with President Hamid Karzai four days after a U.S. soldier allegedly massacred 16 Afghan civilians. Today, angry Afghans took to the streets in protests after word that soldier had been moved out of the country.

Wall Street is opening for business. Analysts say stocks will continue trending higher on positive economic news. Another sign this morning, jobless claims have matched a four-year low.

We're back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We have a bit of new information out of Afghanistan to tell you about.

Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, wants U.S. troops moved out of villages and remote areas. He says Afghan security forces can protect the villagers so combat outposts like the one involved in the massacre could be dismantled.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

I don't know if I explained that very well. Barbara, is the U.S. likely to agree to this?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Carol, the U.S. military has a longstanding view. It doesn't stay where it isn't wanted, when it's trying to work these situations. We -- it remains to be seen.

Here's what we know. The presidential palace in Kabul has put out word that following the Karzai/Leon Panetta, secretary of defense meeting, that what the two men discussed this morning is just what you said, that U.S. troops should be pulled out of these remote combat outposts, and all U.S. and NATO troops should be back in their main bases.

No response from the Pentagon yet to any of this, but it would be a fundamental change in NATO strategy because for many years now you keep hearing counter insurgency. What that means is the troops are out there in the remote villages, in the remote areas working with the people, offering assistance, hunting down the Taliban where they live.

If they go back to the main bases, if that is agreed to, it may be a very different mission and Karzai says he also wants it ramped up. He wants foreign troops largely out of there by 2013. That would be a year early -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes, because 2014, most U.S. troops are supposed to leave Afghanistan.

I want to ask you some more about this suspect. The U.S. military moved him to Kuwait because I guess you can -- they have better facilities there to detain him, at least that's what they said. They still have no clue why this suspect snapped.

Are you finding out any more about this man?

STARR: You know, we are talking to people around the clock about it, and, you know, maybe the investigators have some information out there, but largely, Carol, what we are hearing is nobody knows why he snapped and those are the words you are hearing.

He did suffer a traumatic brain injury back in 2010 in Iraq but was deemed fit for duty. So what they are doing now is going through the unit talking to everybody. Did you see anything, did you know anything, or were there any indications of any of this?

Let me just wrap up by saying, as long as he remains in Kuwait and is not convicted of a crime, he'll get his full military pay and he'll even get his combat pay -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Barbara Starr, live for us at the Pentagon.

As you know, the Taliban had threatened to kill Americans as pay back for the deaths of those civilians. That has Allan and Cindy Perry worried about their son Phillip. He's with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and he's serving right now in Afghanistan.

The Perrys joining us from Tampa.

Thank you so much for being with us this morning.

CINDY PERRY, SON IN AFGHANISTAN: Thank you for having us.

ALLAN PERRY, STEPSON IN AFGHANISTAN: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: The military has been so quiet about this. Have you heard anything at all from Phillip since the killings?

C. PERRY: No, nothing yet.

COSTELLO: Nothing at all? Does he usually communicate with you every day?

A. PERRY: Not every day. We hear from him from time to time. It depends on his deployment, where he is, if he's out on missions or not. But we get the e-mail every now or then. It's not my unit if we hear something bad happen. It's not my unit. I'm OK. Mom and dad, don't worry. Love you, bye.

We hear from his wife more often than from him because he contacts her more often.

C. PERRY: And we know that when there is incident, they usually shut down communications for a short time, so we won't worry until we hear from him.

COSTELLO: I know he's in Afghanistan. Is he stationed in a remote village? Is he at an outpost somewhere? Do you know?

C. PERRY: We're not real sure where he's located at the moment. When he left last September he told us where he was supposed to go. Three days later they moved him.

So he doesn't actually identify exactly where he is, which is probably a good thing. It keeps us from watching the news and worrying as much as -- you know, we worry as much as we can right now, but we would worry more if we knew exactly where he was.

COSTELLO: Allan, I know you're proud that your son is serving over there, but do you think it's time for him to come home?

A. PERRY: I think it's way pastime. It's his fifth tour. Not only him. But he's had a couple of minor injuries while he's been over there. He was offered at one stage with one of those injuries to come home early and he declined and said that he wanted to stay with his troops. He didn't expect them to do anything that he wasn't prepared to do.

But I think it's time that all the troops came home and al the families can rest easy instead of -- a lot of sleepless nights for a lot of families.

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. You know, with these threats from the Taliban, Cindy, do you -- I mean, do you feel confident that the U.S. military is protecting its soldiers and the Afghan security forces for that matter as best they can?

C. PERRY: According to our son, yes. He's being looked after. They're doing everything possible that they can to protect our troops, and I have to believe that.

COSTELLO: I wanted to ask you this since your son has -- this is his fifth tour, right?

C. PERRY: Yes.

A. PERRY: Yes.

COSTELLO: Everybody talks about this guy who snapped. He served three tours in Iraq and he was serving his fourth tour in Afghanistan. And maybe that's too much for anyone to handle.

Now, your son has been an exemplary soldier, right?

C. PERRY: He has.

COSTELLO: So, I want to get your perspective on, you know, when -- I mean, what is too many tours?

A. PERRY: How long is a piece of string? I guess for everybody it's different. I think five is way too many. I think one is too many.

I don't think we should have been over there, but that's another issue. I certainly think three, four, five -- one or two maybe. I don't know.

Everybody's different. We're lucky with Phillip he's very level headed and he's not -- he's not showing any signs. I talked to him when he's home quite a bit and he's handling it very well. A lot better than a lot of people I'm sure.

But he has his problems, but he sees on top of them for the most part.

COSTELLO: Well, sometimes CNN is piped into Afghanistan. So, Cindy, would you like to say anything to your son, Phillip?

C. PERRY: Yes. Just hi, Bub. We love you. Come home safe. He's due home in May.

COSTELLO: Thank goodness.

C. PERRY: Just for R&R. We'll have some time with him. We're looking forward to that.

COSTELLO: When will his current tour end?

C. PERRY: September.

COSTELLO: So not too long.

C. PERRY: September. Yes.

A. PERRY: No.

C. PERRY: No, not too long.

COSTELLO: Long enough.

C. PERRY: We're looking forward to it.

A. PERRY: Oh, yes. It can be a long time at times, especially when incidents like this happen and you hear it every time you turn television on. You hear about it. It brings it all to the forefront and makes you worry again.

COSTELLO: Allan and Cindy Perry, thank you for being with us this morning.

C. PERRY: Thank you.

A. PERRY: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: The TSA is trying out a new screening procedure. Elderly travelers will find it easier to pass through security at four airports. Yes, you might not have to take off your shoes. We'll have more on that story ahead.

And it's the last week of winter, but across much of the country, boy, does it feel like summer? Find out what's behind this extremely warm weather pattern we're having.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is going to be a beautiful day in Atlanta. I cannot wait to get out and enjoy it. Temperatures are expected to, again, be in the 80s. It's part of a warm weather pattern covering nearly the entire country.

Take a look in Washington, D.C. The forecast today, 83 degrees. The normal temperature would be 55. In Detroit, it will be 77, more than 30 degrees above normal. And in St. Louis, the mercury will hit 83 compared to an average temperature of 55.

So, what the heck is going on?

Rob Marciano is here to answer that question. Everyone thinks it's going to be a miserably hot summer.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right. There's no correlation to think.

And remember, last year around this time we were thinking what's going on because it was so cold and snowy. So, we are just kind of paying the piper.

You know, we talk about how this is a nasty winter thing happening right now. Actually, technically, we think of March as being spring. We're almost there as far as the calendar is concerned.

But let's go over what we did for winter, December, January and February, the fourth warmest winter in the U.S. So it's been -- it's been an ongoing thing. It's not just now. So we're just continuing that trend. New York City, Boston seeing the second warmest. And D.C. seeing -- seeing the third warmest.

And boom, yesterday did we have a slew of records, over 200 records yesterday. Just in the past week we've seen over 800 record high temperatures in the past seven days. And some astounding stuff happening yesterday.

Saint Louis, 86 degrees; Topeka seeing 84 degrees; Nashville, 83 degrees; a little bit farther north in Chicago, 81 degrees; Columbus, Ohio, 78 degrees. Some spots in Michigan seeing 80 degrees for the earliest they've ever seen. Minneapolis was I think 78 degrees. That's the earliest, warmest they have seen temperatures as well.

So this is remarkable stuff that shows really no signs of ebbing with the exception of the folks who live in the Northeast. We've got a little of what we call back door front, meaning this time of year we'll get winds off the ocean. So it's actually going to be a high temperature of about 54 degrees today in New York City.

Meanwhile, 82 degrees expected in D.C., the high temperature normally is 56 degrees in -- in Washington, D.C. So we're in many cases 30 plus degrees above average. Chicago was 81 degrees yesterday. You'll be 74 degrees today.

Is this going to last? There are indications that, yes, there's going to be more red and orange on the map, not only today and tomorrow, but going forward, big dip in the jet stream out here its winter out west.

But everywhere else is going to be above average for this next six to ten days, maybe longer than that. So get used to it. Allergies have come in early. The good news is that a lot of cities have saved on snow-plowing and your heating bills are probably lower as well.

COSTELLO: That's true. That's looking at well, I think it's looking at the glass half full because I'm enjoying the warm temperatures. Although mosquitoes are out and flies are out too early.

MARCIANO: Yes there's a lot of negatives too but --

COSTELLO: But I'll take it.

MARCIANO: -- get -- get the swimsuit out and enjoy.

COSTELLO: No, I'm not ready for that yet.

The Detroit Lions lock up Calvin Johnson. Yes, Megatron. He signs a deal for $132 million. That's a record. That story plus March Madness. That's coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Actor Jon Hamm says he does not regret, not for a minute, calling Kim Kardashian an idiot. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host A.J. Hammer live in New York. I guess they're fighting via Twitter.

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes. Well, it's via Twitter, through magazines. Carol, Jon Hamm not backing down at all from this little spat with Kim Kardashian. The "Mad Men" star ignited this bit of a feud with Kim a little earlier this week when "Elle" magazine's U.K. edition published an interview with Jon Hamm. And here is what he said in that interview, "Whether it's Paris Hilton, or Kim Kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated. Being an [expletive] idiot is a valuable commodity in this culture because you're rewarded significantly."

Well, Kardashian did hit right back on Twitter and defended herself calling Hamm's remarks "careless". Last night, trying to set the whole straight "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" caught up with Hamm at the Hollywood premiere of the new season of "Mad Men".

He's telling us he doesn't regret a single word about what he said about Kim Kardashian. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HAMM, ACTOR: No, I don't. I'm a -- I don't mind it at all. I believe in that. I think we are as a culture sort of wallowing in this celebration of the wrong things.

And you know, I never said anything personal about anybody in particular. That was taken a little out of context. But I do believe that it's a -- it's an unfortunate place we're in. But hey, here we are. You know we've made our bed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: We have made our bed and to be fair, Carol, he did point out previously that while he mentioned Kim Kardashian by name, he wasn't really specifically singling her out as he mentioned there. So --

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Sure, he wasn't.

HAMMER: Jon Hamm, Kim Kardashian, they come from two very, very different worlds. Let's all just get along, sorry to throw out the cliche but there it is.

COSTELLO: Well, I don't know. I'm kind of on Jon Hamm's side. I'm not supposed to say that. So --

HAMMER: A lot of people are.

COSTELLO: Yes, thank you, A.J.

Actress Charlize Theron's family is getting larger. A.J. will have that story; another "Showbiz Headline" is coming up at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

We're back in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Oh, fear the Lions. The Detroit Lions have made Calvin Johnson the highest paid receiver in the entire NFL. The Lions have locked up their star wide out for eight year with $132 million contract. Johnson caught 96 passes last season for 1,681 yards and a whopping 16 touchdowns.

Johnson and quarterback Matthew Stafford from one of the league's top passing combos, I cannot wait for football season to begin. I'm a Detroit Lions fan -- sorry.

New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni has resigned. Reports said he'd lost the locker room. Assistant Mike Woods taking over the team. Knicks on a 6-game skid hosting Portland.

Linsanity may have cooled but boy, is Jeremy Lin still making the plays. You should see him there. He passes to Carmelo Anthony, who hits the three. This game was a blowout. Knicks win, 121-79.

March Madness, well under way. The NCAA field is now down to 64. The team in green, South Florida used the cycling defense on Cal. Held the Bears to just 13 points in the first half. South Florida goes on to win, 65-54. The Bulls advance to play Temple on Friday.

Vermont also moved on last night. The Catamounts shot 50 percent from the field, beating Lamar 71-59. Vermont's only other win in the tournament came in 2005, an upset of Syracuse. The Catamounts will have an even bigger challenge Friday when they take on the number one seed, UNC.

Rod Blagojevich gets his one-way ticket from Illinois to Colorado. The former governor begins a 14-year prison sentence today. We'll talk to a "Chicago Sun Times" reporter who followed the scandal from start to finish. What will she have to blog about now, now that Blago has gone away?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And this morning's "Health for Her", a U.S. health advisory panel says women no longer need to get a pap smear every year and can, in fact, wait five years between screenings. The panel says the test for human papilloma virus or HPV that causes most cervical cancers combined with the pap tests is enough screening. They also point out the risk of cancer death doesn't increase with a longer wait time.