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Attorney Hints at Soldier's Defense; Soldier En Route to Leavenworth; Gas Prices Still Rising; Racist Rant at NCAA Game; Severe Weather Outbreak; Gadhafi's Son Ordered Ship with Shark Tank; Eau De Pope: Benedict Gets Cologne; Insane Shot for March Madness

Aired March 16, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Where's your green, Soledad?

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR, "THE STARTING POINT": Tomorrow, right? Tomorrow? Yes.

COSTELLO: All right.

O'BRIEN: They're celebrating tomorrow. I got some in my office, somewhere.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Happy St. Patrick's Day. Have a great weekend.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Carol Costello.

Stories we're watching in the NEWSROOM right now. This morning, new questions from the attorney representing the U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering Afghan civilians. John Henry Browne says he wants to know why his client was deployed on a fourth tour of combat after being diagnosed with brain trauma.

A March Madness match-up turns ugly after members of the Southern Miss pep band are caught on camera yelling an offensive chant at Kansas State's Angel Rodriguez.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you see Mills was just trying to come over and draw the charge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's your green card? Where's your green card?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rodriguez has already let the ball go. And he's a freshman but he's about as cool as they come right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: USM's president has issued a formal apology to Kansas State for the band's behavior.

A rave March tornado was caught on camera in Dexter, Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. Oh, my god, oh, my god.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, my god is right. The twister touched down about 5:30 yesterday damaging or destroying more than 100 homes. Luckily, no one was injured or killed.

And people are lined up at Apple stores this morning. You know what that means. A new gadget that Apple lovers must have right now. This time it's Apple's latest iPad.

Let's go in depth now. A hint of a motive this morning for the American army sergeant accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan. "The New York Times" quotes an unnamed official who says alcohol, stress, and marital problems led to the shootings that night. The official went on to say the soldier just snapped. It's something the soldier's attorney disputes.

That attorney is John Henry Browne. He joins us live now from Seattle.

Welcome, Mr. Browne.

JOHN HENRY BROWNE, SOLDIER'S ATTORNEY: Thank you. Glad to be here.

COSTELLO: Well, the article in "The New York Times" characterizes your client as someone who drank that night with two other soldiers, was under heavy stress because he just witnessed a fellow soldier get his leg blown off, and he had marital problems and that's why he went on this terrible shooting rampage. What do you say?

BROWNE: Well, I know for a fact that the marital problems issue is totally bogus, and I'm not -- I'm a little concerned as to why that's being floated out there by the government. The other part is, you know, anyone who's in Afghanistan right now, particularly someone who's been in Iraq three times previously and been injured, would obviously be under a great deal of stress. So stress is always a factor.

I know for a fact that there is no issue with his marriage. It's a very strong marriage and, frankly, we're all taking offense at that. Now whether there was alcohol involved or not I simply don't know. I haven't spoken to my client about that.

COSTELLO: Have you spoken to him at all? I understand you had a short phone conversation. How did that go? How did he sound?

BROWNE: He sounded distant and kind of like a deer in the headlight but OK. I conveyed his family's love for him. I told him I did not want to speak to him about specifics of the case because I don't trust the phone not being monitored.

I can tell you that I just learned that he is now on his way to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and I was to have a phone conversation with him this morning at 6:00 a.m. Seattle time, but he's in transit to Fort Leavenworth right now.

COSTELLO: Do you know if he'll be tried in military court or some other kind of court?

BROWNE: He will be tried in military court.

COSTELLO: Well --

BROWNE: I mean, there's a possibility he could be tried in a federal civilian court, but that's remote.

COSTELLO: When you talked with him on the phone, did it appear that he knew what he'd done?

BROWNE: No. First of all, I'm not sure what he's done either. I'm a defense lawyer so I don't really make comments about my client's involvement in a case until I know more facts. Certainly there's a lot of allegations. This is a very serious matter and certainly understand why the Afghan people and Muslims in general would be upset about it, but I don't know what the facts are. He seemed to be unaware of some of the facts that I talked to him about, which makes me concerned about his state of mind obviously.

COSTELLO: Do you think -- you know, some people think that if he did these things he couldn't possibly have acted alone. Do you suspect somebody else may have been involved?

BROWNE: I don't have any information on that one way or the other.

COSTELLO: You talked before about him suffering head trauma and yet he was deployed yet again to Afghanistan. Just your initial thoughts about how that might affect your case -- his case.

BROWNE: Well, there's been a big problem with soldiers who have been previously deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan with concussive head injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. I know there's been a lot of controversy about this particular base in Washington not treating those illnesses. We do know he had a concussive head injury. We also know he was injured in his leg severely and I am somewhat confused as to why they would send him back to Afghanistan.

He was told he was not going to go and then overnight he was told he was going to go and as a good soldier he did what he was told.

COSTELLO: So from what I understand his injury, he was injured in a roadside bombing and part of his foot had to be amputated?

BROWNE: Those were two separate incidents but that's correct.

COSTELLO: And then what happened shortly before this incident in Afghanistan took place?

BROWNE: I don't know. What I've heard from the military lawyers who are working on this case with me, who I'm very impressed with, that another soldier at this base was brutally attacked the day before this incident and actually had his leg shot off right in front of my client.

COSTELLO: And this incident apparently affected the entire base, right? Is that what you heard?

BROWNE: That -- that's correct. No, I've been told that by the military. I don't have any independent knowledge of that.

COSTELLO: And just in listening to you, it seems as if you're sort of thinking about putting the entire war on trial and how maybe the military treats its soldiers. Am I being fair?

BROWNE: I think it's a real question. You know, I'm old enough to remember the My Lai massacre in Vietnam and how that hastened the end of that war. Maybe a tragic incident such as this will get people to rethink the war in general. I certainly don't want to put the war on trial, but I think that people should start thinking more about why we're there and how long we're going to stay there.

COSTELLO: It does sound as if you're going to put the war on trial though.

BROWNE: We'll see.

COSTELLO: Tell us something about this man that we don't know, because we have this image of him going door to door and killing children allegedly. Tell us something that we don't know about this man.

BROWNE: Well, he's a very strong family man. He has two young children. He's a devoted father. He's a career military individual. He has never said anything racist or hostile towards Muslims or Afghanis, so this whole thing is obviously a great surprise to his family.

COSTELLO: And why did you decide to take his case?

BROWNE: Well, they asked me to. He actually apparently asked for me and his family contacted me and I had some reservations about it simply because I'm busy and have some concerns about security for everybody involved in this case, but I am a defense lawyer. This is what I do for a living, and I am being paid to do this.

I certainly have great empathy for the family and for everyone involved in this so I figured it's something I shouldn't turn down.

COSTELLO: John Henry Browne, thank you so much for agreeing to go live with us this morning. We appreciate it.

BROWNE: You're welcome. And you can see why people should not move to Seattle. COSTELLO: Because it's dark and raining now, is it? And cold.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWNE: Man, it's miserable.

COSTELLO: It's going to be beautiful here in Atlanta. You have to come down.

(LAUGHTER)

BROWNE: I'd love to. I'm jealous.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Mr. Browne, we appreciate it.

BROWNE: OK.

COSTELLO: Here's some more information on Mr. Browne. John Henry Browne has tried more than 250 criminal cases. Among them, Ted Bundy, the in famous serial killer from the 1970s. Last year he defended Colton Harris-Moore, the so-called "Barefoot Bandit." He was the young man who would go shoeless to steal cars, boats and aircraft. Browne unsuccessfully argued that Harris-Moore suffered from post- traumatic stress from a rough childhood.

There are also worries today that the -- that anger over the massacre in Afghanistan could spark a terror attack here in the United States. A new security bulletin says the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are concerned that this event could contribute to the radicalization or mobilization of homegrown violent extremist in the homeland, particularly against U.S. based targets.

In the next hour I'll talk to CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend. She was President George W. Bush's homeland security adviser and is a member of the Homeland Security Department's External Advisory Board.

Terror caught on camera in Michigan. This rare March tornado touched down in Dexter around 5:30 yesterday afternoon. That's Eastern Time. There were no deaths or injuries reported and that truly is amazing. But many residents say they're still in shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB BRICAULT, RESCUED NEIGHBOR: Started yelling in the back door, and they responded but they wouldn't come out so we climbed in the window and they were standing in the stairwell and he wanted to go upstairs but there's no upstairs left.

JAMES BOYNTON, TORNADO SURVIVOR: There's neighbor's houses that have chairs in the windows. I mean, you know, find a place to sleep tonight. Find the next thing tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The tornado destroyed or damaged at least 100 homes. Dexter is located about 10 miles west of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Later this hour we'll talk with meteorologist Rob Marciano about the tornado and today's risk for severe weather.

The president is not impressed with Republicans' sniping on gas prices as you might expect. Now he's getting a little snarky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do not tell me that we're not drilling. We're drilling all over this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We're going to drill past the political chatter and find out what we can really do about gas prices and about more drilling. That's after a break.

Also, a university president tries to smooth things over after his school band's racist chant at the NCAA turny last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you see Mills trying to come over and draw the charge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's your green card? Where's your green card?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rodriguez has already let the ball go. And he's a freshman but he's about as cool as they come right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the apology she issued may have actually made things worse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We have a bit of breaking news to bring you. A rifle has been found outside of a residence hall at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Of course that's in Rochester, New York. We expect the residence halls to go on lockdown shortly. The rifle was just found lying there. We don't know where it came from. We do know no shots are fired. That's what authorities are telling us there.

But if you have somebody, a student, a child going to the Rochester Institute of Technology, please note this. There was a rifle found outside the residence hall. No shots fired but police are investigating.

When we get more information on this of course we'll pass it along to you.

Let's head back to Seattle now and check in with CNN's Casey Wian. He's there, he's been working the story on this U.S. soldier accused of these terrible Afghan shootings. He's been working on this the whole week.

So, Casey, I wanted to find out a little bit more about how the family led to this famous attorney that they've hired to represent this soldier.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the family has been in this area for a while and he's a very high profile attorney. He represented the Barefoot Bandit and has had some other high profile cases over the years, and so they contacted him. They wanted him right away, is what he says.

What's interesting and what we can report now, according to the attorney, John Henry Browne, that it's a little bit different in some of the other information that's been out there. He's telling me that the family remains at the base where this soldier was stationed, the Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma. There had been some reporting that the family had been moved off of the base for protective reasons, but the attorney telling me that the immediate family, his wife and two children, remains on the base.

Also, Carol, as he said, very important development. His client is now who remains unnamed, no one is releasing his name at this point, is now en route to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He had been in detention in Kuwait after being moved out of Afghanistan a couple of days ago.

There are reports that the Kuwaitis were not happy that this suspect accused of killing 16 Afghan citizens that was being held on Kuwaiti soil. So, he's being moved to Ft. Leavenworth. He's expected to arrive there late this afternoon according to the attorney, John Henry Browne.

What he does say is he does not where an eventual trial will take place. He does not know when formal charges will be filed, but it seems unlikely that a trial will be held anywhere but in the United States. They would have to take him back to perhaps a Middle Eastern country. The attorney ruling out any trial in Afghanistan -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. The attorney also said it would be in military court, which isn't so easy for a traditional criminal attorney to prosecute a case, but he is working with military attorneys as well, is that right?

WIAN: That's right. He described the cooperation with the JAG attorney that was representing the suspect from the very beginning as very good. He says he's very cooperative. Mr. Browne says he's got experience with military cases and has a high degree of confidence in the military's ability to give this suspect a fair trial.

What he does worry about though is the political implications of this case and how that could affect the defense, Carol.

COSTELLO: Casey Wian, live for us in Seattle this morning -- thank you.

The president isn't so impressed with Republicans sniping on gas prices. Now, he's getting a little snarky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Do not tell me that we're not drilling. We're drilling all over this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. We're going to drill past the political chatter and find out what we can really do about gas prices. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Gas prices up another penny to $3.83 a gallon. And while you continue to feel the pain, our political leaders continue to play the blame game. If you caught the president's energy speech in Maryland, it was dripping with sarcasm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We've seen this movie before. Gas prices went up around this time last year. Gas prices shot up in the spring and summer of 2008. I remember, I was running for president at the time.

This has been going on for years now. And every time prices start to go up, especially in an election year, politicians dust off their three-point plans for $2 gas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Republicans though say there is one thing we can do to lower gas prices for good -- drill on land here at home. The president says, we're already doing that.

We wanted to take the politics out of this with the help of Denton Cinquegrana senior market editor at OPIS, the Oil Price Information Service, that tracks gas prices. Welcome.

DENTON CINQUEGRANA, SENIOR MARKETS EDITOR, OPIS: Thank you.

COSTELLO: You have a tall order today. You have to take the politics out of this issue.

So the only thing no one has suggested, remember the gas tax holiday? That was a big deal during the election of 2008. You'll the strip the taxes from the price of gas for a time and lower the price. Why not resurrect that?

CINQUEGRANA: It probably wouldn't be such a bad idea. It would obviously take, you know, in some places even at least 18 cents of the federal tax. States obviously have their own tax structure, particularly, for example, New Jersey we actually pay taxes for just about everything else, probably to breathe even.

So, so our gasoline taxes are a little bit lower than some other states, particularly New York, Pennsylvania. And, that's why you see people come over the border to get gasoline in New Jersey, for example.

COSTELLO: Well, the big problem with that, of course, is the taxes that are tacked on to gas pay for things like road repair, bridge repair.

CINQUEGRANA: Correct. Exactly. Demand isn't exactly great right now.

COSTELLO: Exactly.

So Republicans charge oil production on federal land has dropped 7 percent since 2009. They wonder why the president won't allow more drilling on land the government owns.

And before you answer that, here's what Mr. Obama had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Do not tell me that we're not drilling. We're drilling all over this country.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I mean, I guess there are a few spots where we're not drilling. We're not drilling on the National Mall. We're not drilling at your house.

I guess we could try to have like, you know, 200 oil rigs in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay.

CROWD: No.

OBAMA: Well, that's the question. We are drilling at a record pace, but we're doing so in a way that protects the health and safety and the natural resources of the American people.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So Newt Gingrich would say, right, President Algae.

So from you, Denton, I want to know the truth. Are we drilling at a record pace or not?

CINQUEGRANA: We are. Actually, the U.S. is producing about roughly 6 million barrels of oil a day, but it's coming from the unconventional spots, the shale oil play, for example. Not drilling so much in the Gulf of Mexico because -- well, in 2010 there was a giant hole in the bottom of it. So actually that's one of the places where drilling is pretty stagnant.

But other places, like I said before, the unconventional shale oil plays and things like that is where a lot of new oil is coming from.

COSTELLO: Well, doesn't that mean the Republicans are right then because that's state land and private land, it's not federal land?

CINQUEGRANA: Right, it is state and private land. So, yes, it's a little bit of a double-edged sword. But you know what? With politicians, they're going to twist their words to make themselves sound right every time.

COSTELLO: OK. The other factor people don't like factor into all of this, we do have a problem turning oil into gas because our refineries aren't the best. Tell us about that.

CINQUEGRANA: That's actually not exactly true. Our refineries are pretty sophisticated. A lot of companies have invested capital earlier this decade to -- around 2002 to invest -- to be able to run more sour grades of crude oil and get more yield, more diesel, more gasoline, more yet fuel, et cetera.

One of the things we are watching is oil prices at some of the refiners on the coast, the East Coast/West Coast, they're paying for their oil. You know, you'll watch other news networks that have oil prices on there -- you'll see $105, $106, $107 a barrel. That's the WTI price. That's what the future's trade is.

These guys on the coast are paying closer to $100, $120, $125 a barrel because their water that's on the water is crude. WTI --

(CROSSTALK)

CINQUEGRANA: Yes, I'm getting a little too technical here. I apologize.

So what you see on TV is not necessarily what these refineries are paying. So a lot of times, particularly on the East Coast, we've seen a couple refineries already close. And then a big refinery in Philadelphia is slated to close on July 1st because they're having trouble, margins, with making gasoline even.

COSTELLO: Right. That's what I was trying to get at. If you don't have the refineries to turn the oil into gas, the price is going to go up, too, or enough refineries, I should say.

Denton Cinquegrana -- thank you so much for being with us this morning. We appreciate it.

CINQUEGRANA: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Senator John McCain's daughter Meghan is making a splash on the pages of "Playboy." She remains fully-clothed but reveals quite a bit about herself and her opinion of one of Sarah Palin's daughters. And it ain't pretty. We'll have that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories now.

No relief at the pump. The average cost of a gallon of unleaded gas rose a penny in the last 24 hours. It now stands at $3.83 a gallon.

Just last week, it was nearly seven cents cheaper. Rising oil prices are largely to blame. They surged 10 percent over the last month.

Senator John McCain's daughter Meghan is blasting Bristol Palin. It's in the new "Playboy" interview. McCain says Sarah Palin's daughter lied when she claimed McCain carried around tons of designer luggage on the campaign trail and had hair and makeup people follow them around constantly. McCain also reveals personal information about herself, saying she almost overdosed on Xanax the day before the election in 2008.

An American Airlines flight attendant whose video's poked fun at the carrier's financial trouble has lost his job. NBC Miami says Gailen David, a 24-year-old veteran of American Airlines, was fired and he's fighting that firing. One of his online videos characters, the aluminum lady, is like Margaret Thatcher's, you know, the Iron Lady.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those people on the ramp creep me out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madam (INAUDIBLE) of our regional managers, who's the weakest link?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'll tell you right now, the woman that's running the flight attendants down in Miami is probably the most ineffective person I have in the whole country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you fire her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, don't fire her. I like it like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: American Airlines filed for bankruptcy a few months ago and plans to cut 13,000 jobs. An American spokesman didn't mention the videos when talking about the firing but told NBC Miami that David published the private details of American Airlines passengers and promoted his competitors on his Web site.

We now have new details about the American soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians. His attorney says his client will arrive at Ft. Leavenworth military prison in Kansas later today. John Henry Browne, the attorney, says the soldier was stressed after witnessing a comrade getting wounded the day before the alleged shootings.

Earlier this hour, I talked with that Washington state attorney who's now representing the accused soldier. Mr. Browne describes his initial conversation with his client.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HENRY BROWNE, ATTORNEY FOR ACCUSED SOLDIER: He sounded distant and kind of like a deer in the headlights but OK. I conveyed his family's love for him. I told him I did not want to speak to him about specifics of the case because I don't trust the phone not being monitored.

I can tell you that I just learned that he is now on his way to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and I was to have a phone conversation with him this morning at 6:00 a.m. Seattle time, but he's in transit to Ft. Leavenworth right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This morning there are new concerns, too -- the massacre in Afghanistan could trigger violence here in the United States.

In the next hour, I'll talk to CNN national security contributor, Fran Townsend. She was George W. Bush's homeland security advisor and she's member of the Homeland Security Department's external advisory board.

Let's talk basketball now. March Madness is supposed to be competitive in a spirited, fun kind way. It didn't play out that way at the NCAA tournament in Pittsburgh as Kansas State's Angel Rodriguez made a series of free throws, the crowd chanted, "Where's your green card?"

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPORTS COMMENTATOR: Yes, as you see Mills trying to draw the charge. Rodriguez has already left the ball go in.

AUDIENCE: Where's your green card?

SPORTS COMMENTATOR: He's a freshman but he's about as cool as they come. No facial expression whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You hear it in the background there? Those chants came from members of the Southern Miss's pep band. The USM president has issued an apology to Kansas State for the behavior of the school's pep band.

Buzz Bissinger has written sports books like "Superstars" and "Friday Night Lights." He joins me now from Philadelphia.

Good morning.

BUZZ BISSINGER, AUTHOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: OK. So the NCAA tournament is about brackets and betting. But it also shines the national spotlight on individual universities.

What does this say about Southern Miss?

BISSINGER: Well, what it says is terrible. I mean, it sounds like it was an isolated group of individuals, but it doesn't really matter. You could hear it on television.

I mean, you know, saying to a player, "Where's your green card, where's your green card," is absolutely offensive. It's racial stereotyping. It's racist. It implies that the kid is there illegally, and there's just absolutely no business for it.

But yet it's another in the now million and one litany of problems with college sports. All of this junk about camaraderie, team work, pep bands spirit is a joke.

COSTELLO: Oh, come on. Some of it's real, isn't it?

BISSINGER: Not much of it's real. Not much of it.

I just read a story yesterday in "The New York Times" about how most of these students in the major sports of basketball and football do about 15 percent to 25 percent worse than other students in academics. They consider themselves athletes primarily first and students second. They're always taking the easiest courses to get through.

They're not students. They're hired guns and they should be paid and universities have to bite the bullet. This thing is out of control.

COSTELLO: Yes, but this doesn't come from the players. This came from the pep band.

BISSINGER: Well, I agree. It's from the pep band, but it's an atmosphere of college sports that I think has gotten out of control. I agree that these kids are beyond ignorant. Those were clearly racist comments. But I think it goes to this overall mentality, as you say, NCAA March Madness, betting, you know, a little team from nowhere like VCU coming out of nowhere to get close, that's what it's supposed to be about.

It's not supposed to be about a group of idiots from Mississippi yelling green card, green card. It's isolating -- yes, but I think it goes to the larger symptomatic problem that college sports, like most sports, frankly, is rotten.

COSTELLO: You know what made matters worse is the university president, she apologized, but she spelled the player's name wrong. It's probably her P.R. department. They spelled Rodriguez with a Q instead of a G.

BISSINGER: With a Q? I mean -- I don't know --

COSTELLO: Rodriguez is like Smith for God's sake.

BISSINGER: It's a racial stereotyping unto itself with a Q? Well, she should be fired, too.

COSTELLO: Well, it was probably her pr department, we don't know. But maybe she'll apologize for the apology.

BISSINGER: It probably was the P.R. department. That just is sloppy as well. The kid's trying to play a basketball game for God's sake.

You know, I don't know if he heard it. Let him play the game. Let them play the game out. Let it be about winning and losing, making last shots and not having -- it looked to me like one player heard it and was upset.

Just let them play the game without this garbage.

COSTELLO: Well, I'd have to agree with that. Buzz Bissinger, thank you so much for joining this morning. We appreciate it.

BISSINGER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Russell Brand out on bail after being arrested last night. We'll tell you what he allegedly did, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Russell Brand out on bail after getting arrested last night in New Orleans.

CNN showbiz correspondent Nischelle Turner joins us live from Los Angeles.

So, Nischelle, give us the dirt.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN SHOWBIZ CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Carol. It's been a tough couple months for Russell Brand, right? You know, CNN can now confirm that Brand was arrested for allegedly grabbing a photographer's cell phone and throwing it through the window of a New Orleans law firm.

Now, New Orleans police say they arrested Brand Thursday. They charged him with criminal damage to property. He was only in jail a short time before paying bail and being released.

Now, this all began on Monday night in New Orleans where Brand's in town shooting a movie. A photographer filed a police report claiming that Russell got mad at him for taking pictures on his iPhone and told police brand took the phone and hurled it through the window of a law office.

Now a photographer got the phone back and Russell did agree to pay for the window. That didn't satisfy the cops or the prosecutors. A warrant was issued for Russell's arrest.

Meantime, the comedian was still joking about the incident on Twitter. On Wednesday, he tweeted, "Since Steve Jobs died, I cannot bear to see anyone use an iPhone irreverently. What I did was a tribute to his memory." All right, Carol?

COSTELLO: He could have hurt someone. You don't throw something.

TURNER: Exactly. Exactly.

COSTELLO: OK. Whatever. Rihanna is revealing more details about her collaboration with her ex, Chris Brown.

TURNER: Yes.

COSTELLO: A lot of people were upset that she even decided to speak to Chris Brown. So what more is she saying about this?

TURNER: Yes. Lots of people have opinions on this one because people were seeming in shock over this. Now, recently, former flames Rihanna and Chris Brown released two remixing each containing vocals of the other despite their controversial history included that rather high profile incident of domestic violence.

However, Rihanna doesn't see what all the fuss is about. You know, the pop star told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show Thursday that Brown just happened to be the right man for the job. She said she reached out to him about doing a remix to the song "Birthday Cake" because that's the only person that made sense to her to do the record.

She added, quote, she thought of Brown as just a musician despite everything else. She went on to say the hottest R&B artist out right now is Chris Brown so she wanted him on the track. Brown in turn wanted Rihanna on the remix of one of his songs, "Turn Up the Music." Rihanna returned the favor and says there shouldn't be a divide because, in her words, music is innocent, Carol.

COSTELLO: And it's just business, I guess, right?

TURNER: Just business. That's right.

COSTELLO: A lot of people are hoping it's just business.

Nischelle Turner --

TURNER: Yes, exactly.

COSTELLO: Nischelle Turner, thank you.

We have new details about the "American Idol" contestant kicked off the show for lying. Nischelle will be back with that and other showbiz headlines in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

A twister caught on tape just minutes before ripping apart a Michigan neighborhood.

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COSTELLO: We're back after a break with details on whether we can expect more of this, this weekend.

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COSTELLO: Checking stories cross country.

In Dexter, Michigan a tornado caught on camera as it approaches. Incredibly, no one was killed or injured. But more than 100 homes were damaged or destroyed.

In Santa Cruz, California workers are trying to protect the beach board walk from a rain swollen river; it's already caused damage in the thousands of dollars. Crews are moving sand up against a retaining wall to try to protect the iconic structure from any more damage.

Let's bring in meteorologist Rob Marciano. That tornado in Michigan was unusual. Was it brought about by these incredibly warm temperatures we're experiencing?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It certainly didn't help the fact. And because the front that's moved through the area, and we'll take a look at some of the fresh video that's coming in now. The National Weather Service is going out there to determine and try to determine just how strong it was. Probably an F-2 storm, if it was an F-3 storm, meaning winds 135 or higher, and this would be the earliest that strong a storm has hit in -- in Michigan.

So you'll see some of the damage there as they go house to house yesterday afternoon.

All right, we've got that storm -- powerful storm that's moving into the Pacific Northwest again today. So the storms you saw through California, more energy, more wind, more rain, more mountain snow coming in for those folks. We had three reports of tornadoes yesterday across Michigan. That alone is rare, so just one more nugget in this unprecedented season.

This is a weak front. But again, the temperatures, the heat humidity out ahead of that front was enough to make the severe weather happen. And most of the severe weather report yesterday were hail because the air is still cold well up aloft but still very, very warm across the parts of the surface.

76 degrees the expected high temperature today in Chicago; that is 30 degrees above average. We will remain above average according to the Climate Prediction Center not only through the rest of this week but for the next three months. And this is the outlook for spring or the remainder of it and into the first month of summer, above average temperatures for a good chunk of the U.S. So get used to it -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes, thank you very much, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

COSTELLO: We knew Moammar Gadhafi's sons were living large in Libya before the regime fell. Hannibal Gadhafi had a swanky seaside villa. And now we're learning he wanted his own fancy cruise ship too with one unusual and scary feature. The details next.

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COSTELLO: Libya's uprising didn't just end Moammar Gadhafi's regime and his life, it also ended some grand plans for one of his sons. Hannibal Gadhafi had put in the order for a fancy cruise ship complete with a huge shark tank.

Let's talk to CNN's Zain Verjee.

Hannibal wasn't exactly a nice guy, isn't -- he's one of the sons that made it through. He's still alive, it makes you wonder what else he was planning to do with that tank, though.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, totally. I mean, you know, he decided that he needed to get this cruise ship, Carol, because the problem was for him and it was a major one, he just couldn't get a cruise ship on short notice.

So what do you do? You get your own cruise ship and well, it would be nice to have six sharks in a tank, you know. You're a dictator's son, so why not? So he had commissioned a shark tank and in fact there were even four biologists that were supposed to be on it. It was supposed to be a cruise liner for about 3,500 guests.

According to the "Financial Times" it was really going to be like a floating palace with things like marble columns and gold mirrors as well as these shark tanks, but now it's being turned into a passenger liner after the regime collapsed.

COSTELLO: And they're going to use the shark tank too so, yes.

Let's talk about the Pope and this papal perfume.

VERJEE: Yes, I don't know, what do you think it should be called? Eau De Pope or maybe just Pontiff? What do you think? Or essence of his holiness?

COSTELLO: Pon-sniff?

VERJEE: Well, here's the thing -- well exactly.

So a lot of people are wondering about this Eau De Cologne for the Pope. But basically he's decided that he wants his own cologne. So he's gone to the same person that designed perfumes for people like Madonna and Sting and King Juan Carlos of Spain. And it's supposed to have this nature theme. The one making it says it's going to be based on his love of nature, it's going to smell like lime and grass and verbana (ph). The only thing is the Pope gets it, nobody else. And one other interesting fact is --

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COSTELLO: Oh so it won't be -- it won't be at Macy's or anything like that?

VERJEE: Yes, no just -- just him. And the interesting thing is, Carol, I found out that when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, before he became a Pope, according to the Vatican biographical site he was the theological adviser to the Archbishop of Cologne. It's a city -- which is a city in Germany. So we can look forward to his cologne.

COSTELLO: Ok Zain, thank you so much for the puns this morning. We needed them.

VERJEE: I do too.

COSTELLO: Yes -- auto sales are up, jobs in the industry are up, but is manufacturing really on the road to recovery? We'll break down the numbers for you. Showing how deep a hole we've really been in. That's in the next hour.

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COSTELLO: How about some March Madness now. VCU was a Cinderella team last season making it all the way to the final four, so last night's result may not be such a shocker. The Ram's Bradford Burgess, you'll see it here, knocks down a three, yes. That's with a minute and a half to go.

Wichita State cannot answer, the 12th seeded Rams beat the fifth seeded Shockers, 62-59. We talked about those 12-5 five upsets yesterday. VCU advances to play Indiana.

Syracuse leading UNC Asheville by three with 35 seconds left. Syracuse's inbound pass, (inaudible) out of bounds, but the ref gives the ball to the Orange. Syracuse holds on to win, the Orange avoided becoming the first number one team to fall to a six-team seed.

Harvard back in the tournament for the first time since 1946, taking on the Harvard of the south, Vanderbilt. The SEC champions, Commodores too much for the Crimson. Harvard did pull within five with last than two minutes to go, but Vandy sank free throws to win. 79-70, they move on to play Wisconsin.

Number two seed, Ohio State against 15th seeded Loyola of Maryland. The Greyhounds' top scorer, Eric Etherly, you're going to see him make a monster dunk here. It was such a monster dunk that a crew had to come out and fix the net afterwards. That was the biggest highlight for the Greyhounds, though. Buckeyes (inaudible) 78-59. Ohio State moves on to play Gonzaga.

That is a look at your March Madness highlights. But in honor of March Madness, we have a video you have to see. It's an insane basketball shot made from a helicopter. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Most basketball players are tall, but sinking one from this height is ridiculous. Now, we've seen basketball trick shots from a Ferris wheel and a trampoline. But a trio of Michigan guys --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Scott, can you bring us some basketballs?

SCOTT ERICKSON: Yes.

MOOS: Took the basketball trip to new heights and shot the swish from three angles.

(on camera): Of course the question everyone wants answered is how many tries did it take? Let's crunch the numbers. How many basketballs did you actually take up on the chopper?

ERICKSON: We took about 25 up in the chopper with us.

MOOS (voice-over): Scott Erickson said they made dozens and dozens of trips dropping around 25 balls each time. Freeze it.

(on camera): You can actually see the ones that missed scattered all over the place. One, two, three, four --

(voice-over): They finally nailed this one from 192 feet, which is not the highest shot ever made. Guinness says this one is 212 feet 5 inches. An Australian trick shooting group called "how ridiculous" got a basket from atop a lighting tower over a cricket field after more than 2 1/2 hours of trying.

So the Michigan guys aren't highest, but they think bombarding the net from a chopper is still pretty cool. Their last viral video hit was almost a year ago.

It was a 10-minute rendition of "American Pie" which required much of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan to be closed down as they did one continues take.

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MOOS: As thousands of extras lip synch. They used the chopper for the last shot --

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