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Bales Being Held in Solitary Confinement Awaiting Formal Charges; Many Afghanis Mad About Moving Bales to U.S. for Trial; A Look at the GOP Candidates' Delegate Count; Teacher Under Investigation for Comments Made to African-American Student; Author Discusses Jumpstarting Careers; Apple iPad 3 Released

Aired March 17, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now there is a name attached to that deadly shooting rampage last weekend in Afghanistan, Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales. He is the soldier the Pentagon says is in solitary confinement awaiting formal charges that he went house to house in Kandahar and killed 16 civilian men, women and children.

Dan Simon is at the soldier's home base in Washington State. Sara Sidner is watching reaction in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Let's get to the Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington. That's the last place Sgt. Bales was station before his deployment, and where CNN's Dan Simon is now -- Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Fredricka. Of course, the focus is trying to see if there were clues or warning signs that may have caused this Army soldier, Robert Bales, to carry out this unthinkable rampage. Right now there is a lot of speculation about whether or not he suffered deep emotional problems after having been to four different battle zones, three in Iraq, one in Afghanistan. Of course, his attorney tells CNN, in 2010, he suffered a serious brain injury after his vehicle hit a roadside bomb. That attorney telling CNN that the day before the rampage took place, his client watched a fellow soldier get seriously injured. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN HENRY BROWNE, ATTORNEY FOR SGT. ROBERT BALES: What I 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 had his leg shot off right in front of my client.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: The military moved Bales' family. He's a father of two children, and his wife, they moved here to this military base for their own safety and security. They actually put their home up for sale, which is about 20 minutes away from here, just the day after the shooting. Neighbors described him as somebody who was a patriot and seemingly incapable of committing such violence.

WHITFIELD: Dan, Bales still has not been formally charged, yet he is in solitary confinement. What more do we know about the process that is ahead?

SIMON: We know that he is due to be charged some time within the next seven days. As you said, he is in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, in solitary confinement.

One thing interesting to note, he joined the military shortly of a 9/11. His wife wrote on a blog that she was upset that he didn't get promoted. She felt like he deserved to get a higher ranking. She was hoping for the opportunity for them to move perhaps to a more glamorous setting such as Germany, Italy or Hawaii. There is some talk she may have been upset and he may have been upset, as well, that he wasn't moved -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Dan Simon, thanks so much for that update.

Many people in Afghanistan are furious Staff Sergeant Robert Bales was moved out of the country. They believe he should stand trial in Afghanistan.

CNN's Sara Sidner is in Kabul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, family members of the victims of Sunday's massacre, allegedly by a U.S. soldier spoke to Afghanistan's parliamentarians today, giving much of the same story they gave to President Hamid Karzai on Friday, asking that justice be done and to be done here on Afghan soil.

Meantime, there were protests that erupted in Jalalabad again. This is the second time protestors have taken to the streets there because of this case. They were screaming things such as "Death to America," and asking the suspect be tried using Islamic rule as opposed to any foreign justice system.

That is not likely to happen. There is an agreement that governs what happens to anyone who is accused, particularly members of the military. So that agreement is in place between the United States and Afghanistan. Likely, we will not see this soldier tried here. We certainly will not see him tried in the Afghan judicial system or using Islamic law.

One more thing I want to mention. This relationship between the United States and Afghanistan seems to be fraying. The Afghan president talked much yesterday about some of his frustrations, saying that the United States did not cooperate fully the way they had expected them to when it comes to this investigation, saying that his investigators were not able to even speak with this accused soldier.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: We'll have much more on the outrage in Afghanistan and the impact the massacre is having on relations between Kabul and Washington in about 20 minutes. The GOP presidential candidates are splitting their time between Missouri, Illinois and Puerto Rico. They are vying for big wins in contests there this weekend. Rick Santorum is campaigning in Missouri where caucuses are currently underway. Missouri held a primary last month but that was just a beauty contest, as they say. Today's caucuses will determine who gets Missouri's 52 delegates. Mitt Romney is dividing his time between Puerto Rico and Illinois today. He began on the Caribbean island, which holds its primary tomorrow, then travels to Illinois where voters head to the polls Tuesday.

Here is a look how the candidates are faring with delegates going into these latest races. Mitt Romney is leading with 498. Rick Santorum is in second place with 239 delegates, followed by Newt Gingrich with 139, and Ron Paul trails the pack with 69 delegates.

In other news, a notorious Nazi criminal has died. 91-year-old John Demjanjuk was living in a home for the elderly in Germany when he passed away earlier today. The retired U.S. autoworker was sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty of assisting in mass murder as a death camp guard in Poland. But he was released pending his appeal.

The director behind the documentary of a notorious Ugandan warlord is in the spotlight himself. Jason Russell was taken to a hospital after he was seen running through the streets of San Diego in his underwear and shouting incoherently. His family says he does not have a drinking or drug problem.

It is tough enough to be a 14-year-old boy and have to read poetry out loud in class. But it's what this student says his teacher said that has the school district now investigating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDON SHUMATE, STUDENT: When I read it in my normal voice, she told me to read it blacker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A lesson in poetry is turning into a lesson on racial sensitivity in Virginia. A high school teacher is now under investigation to comments she made to the only African-American student in her class.

Suzanne Kennedy of our Washington affiliate, WJLA, reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE KENNEDY, REPORTER, WJLA: Jordan is still in a state of shock over what he says his freshman English teacher told him to do as he read a poem aloud in class.

SHUMATE: When I read it in my normal voice, she told me to read it blacker. KENNEDY: The 14-year-old George Marshall High School student was asked to read Langston Hughes' "Ballad of the Landlord." He is the only African-American student in the class. Jordan says the fact he was asked to read it blacker shows racial insensitivity by his teacher.

SHUMATE: It's very unprofessional and should not happen. She didn't do it to any of the other kids, why did she have to do it to me?

KENNEDY: Jordan brought it to his mom's attention after a lesson in English this week about stereotypes. The freshman says he was again singled out to explain why African-American people like grape soda and rap music. His mother says she was humiliated for her son.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we have reached out to the school district and they did send us this statement saying, quote, "Marshall High School administrators are taking these allegations seriously and school officials are vigorously pursuing an investigation of these incidents. The school launched the investigation on Wednesday immediately after the student's mother made them aware of her concerns." That statement coming from the school district.

Let's bring in Jordan's mom, Nicole Cober Page.

This had to be quite the phone call that you got from your son when he let you know this is what happened. Explain to me how he approached you.

NICOLE COBER PAGE, MOTHER OF JORDAN: Thank you very much. I want to clarify because there are a couple of things that were wrong. Number one, I do -- actually this was right. I do believe the principal and the administration are vigorously resolving this issue. I'm confident an equitable decision will be made. Jordan is proud to go to Marshall. It's a wonderful school. But even in the best places, some bad things happen.

Number two, everything that I'm going to say has been corroborated by the administration. These facts came because there was a second teacher in the class on the separate four occasions that took place.

Each time, my child was singled out because of his race to educate the class about black issues. Number one, at the beginning of the year they were reading "A Lesson Before Dying." My son was singled out to explain what Creole means. He said nothing.

Number two, fast forward two weeks ago. He was asked to read the Langston Hughes poem "Ballad of the Landlord." The teacher asked him to read it blacker. "Come on, Jordan, aren't you black"? When he didn't comply, she read the poem in what the students called a, quote/unquote, "slave-like manner." When Jordan asked her, is that what you think blacks sound like, she reprimanded him and had him sit down. The third occasion happened a couple of days after, where she had him, quote/unquote, "rap a Tupak Shakur poem." Because my son didn't say anything under those other three circumstances, he only brought it to me this week when the teacher first raised the issue of stereotypes.

And there was a PowerPoint presentation where Jordan was asked to explain why black people like grape soda. Then she completed the presentation with pictures where she said -- where they presented examples of larger women and presented a picture of Oprah Winfrey and the actress that portrayed Precious.

So at that point, my son -- let me say, my son only then brought it home to me this week, and said, mom, I don't know if this is racism. It just doesn't feel right. I say to that, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, let's call it daffy.

WHITFIELD: So after the series of incidents you just described, your son internalized this for a long time before sharing with you these incidents. Give me an idea what this experience has done to him emotionally, and how he expressed this to you, and how you could tell it had impacted him greatly.

COBER PAGE: I think Jordan is a very thoughtful person. He's a very analytical person. That is the reason why he delayed in coming to bring this to me. When he saw images and he was constantly put in a position of pressure to quote/unquote, "talk about all things black," that was the stress that led him to come to me. I think he's always known I love him. I support him. He's a truthful child. When he says something, and if he brings it to me, I'm going to vigorously pursue it.

WHITFIELD: What do you want Marshall High School to do at this juncture? What do you want to see from one if not two of the teachers that were aware of this taking place, including the one who your son said articulated these things? What should be done, what can be done, in your view?

COBER PAGE: I think this -- I've always been raised to make lemonades out of lemon. I think Marshall and Fairfax County have a very unique opportunity while we're talking about this issue. Let's -- the facts are not in dispute. The Marshall community is extremely diverse. Fairfax County Public Schools is a majority minority population. Yet they don't want to -- just recently when they were at a school board retreat, they did not want to put the word "diversity" in their mission statement. Let's use this as an opportunity to say, hey, when kids come forward with things that are harmful to them or they feel uncomfortable about, let's be a place where they feel safe and their cares can be validated.

WHITFIELD: How has this impacted Jordan? Do you feel like, or can you tell whether this has done anything to his self-esteem or has it in any way damaged what you described as his excitement about going to Marshall High School?

COBER PAGE: I will tell you, the biggest lesson that came out of this. I was nervous. I know everyone has different beliefs. He said, mom, when he went to school, what he got back was support for standing up for himself. And more importantly, there were many, dozens of other kids that said, this has happened to me. With this teacher and other teachers, this had happened. So this is not just about my child. Let's not make this about stereotypes. Let's make this about properly educating our kids. Let's learn more. Put stereotypes into context and not diminish them and put the responsibility on a 14-year-old child to explain a bigger issue. That's our teachers and our administrators' responsibility to do. I know that they can do it. I feel confident that Mr. Pearson and the members of the Marshall family will resolve this properly.

WHITFIELD: Nicole Cober Page, thanks so much for coming on with us, joining us from Washington.

And thanks to Jordan, too, for having the courage to speak up.

COBER PAGE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And this from Ohio. Dozens of students at an elementary school in Garfield Heights were injured after a food fight broke out there. School officials described it as a melee and say 26 students were injured. Police and fire crews were called to the school, along with rescue squads from five other cities.

Every Sunday Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiles innovators from all walks of life and all fields of endeavor. Watch "The Next List" tomorrow as he talks to the men who created the Blue School.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CREATOR, THE BLUE SCHOOL: We are spending a lot of time in workshops working on new material for the Vegas show when we move into the Monte Carlo in October. The Blue Men interacting with robots is a nice way for them to take a look how we are using technology and how is it using us.

UNIDENTIFIED CREATOR, THE BLUE SCHOOL: It's not really about this cold machinery. It's ultimately about how can we use the robots to show something about the human spirit?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Tune in tomorrow at 2:00 for "The Next List."

But first, are you wasting your time at work or are you reaching all of your goals. Now is the time to give yourself a tune up. That's next in this "Reclaim Your Career" segment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Look at the calendar. Can you believe we are halfway through March? Do you remember your new year's resolutions? Specifically your career goals? Every week we focus on ways to get a jump-start in the work force. In our "Reclaim Your Career" segment, giving yourself a tune-up.

Valorie Burton, author of "Successful Women Think Differently," joining us right now.

Good idea. We are in the third month of the year. We talked in January about setting goals throughout the year. Now assess. What is working, what isn't working?

VALORIE BURTON, AUTHOR: I think a lot of times we get to March and we are like, is it March already?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BURTON: It's spring. So we start thinking about what were my goals? It's important that we give ourselves a tune-up. Otherwise, we go to work every day, going with the flow.

WHITFIELD: In a rut.

BURTON: Yes. Saying where am I going? There are a few things you can do. One of the most important is to make sure you set authentic goals and they are purposeful. In the next 12 months, what are the top three goals you want to achieve? I say put them in three different categories. There are learning goals. Are there new skills you want to acquire over the next 12 months that will get you further along in your career? There are relationship goals in your career. Is it about expanding your network?

(CROSSTALK)

BURTON: That's right. It could be about getting along better, becoming a better leader. And then there's financial goals. You want to have financial goals tied to your career, whether it has to do with your retirement savings, increasing your income. What is your biggest financial goal over the next 12 months? That's the first part of your tune up, making sure you're setting meaningful goals.

WHITFIELD: Then you want to make sure you're not repeating mistakes. If something is not working, don't force it at this point.

BURTON: That's right. That's right. Ask yourself, what is working in my career right now and what's not working. When you ask what's working, you're looking at the things you want to make sure you keep doing. Sometimes we take those things for granted.

(LAUGHTER)

If we lose them, we find ourselves in trouble. Who is helping me a lot? Do I need to pour into that relationship? What things do I need to keep doing? What's not working? Make sure you come up with solutions. Each month say, is this working? Is this a good solution? Do I need to tweak it and try something else? So it becomes learning and action. I call it self-coaching.

(CROSSTALK)

BURTON: What's the right solution going to be?

WHITFIELD: Then we've got nine more months to go for the year. We are not at a halfway point. Not even at the quarter really. Kind of. It's time to start thinking about how am I going to utilize the rest of the year.

BURTON: That's right.

WHITFIELD: What am I going to do?

BURTON: That's right. The third thing you want to do with your career tune up is scrutinize your time. Even if you looked back over the last year or maybe just the last month, what are those things monopolizing your time and there's no return on investment? Maybe there is a meeting you had every week or every day and it's not very purposeful and you're wasting time. Maybe there are conferences or things you're going to that are not reaping benefits. You want to eliminate those but then you also want to say, what do I need to spend more time doing? When we have that consistent action, we deliver the results we want. Most importantly, with your time, schedule time for that rest and relaxation.

WHITFIELD: You've got to recharge the batteries.

BURTON: It was so funny, this week, I had someone on Facebook saying, I'm at the beach. Does that count for productivity? I was like, absolutely.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Recharging those brain cells.

BURTON: That's right. It's recharging. It's productive.

WHITFIELD: Exactly. If you feel like you haven't accomplished all those things and you still have -- we have many months to go in the year, don't kick yourself over it or feel bad about it. Find a way to find a bright spot.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: To reassess those goals?

BURTON: Sometimes we want things to happen in a certain timing and they're not meant to happen in that timing, or we have to accept we are where we are. Don't focus on what you haven't done. Focus on what do you need to do now so this time next year you won't say the same thing.

WHITFIELD: Valorie Burton.

It still feels like therapy even though we don't have the sofa right now.

(LAUGHTER)

BURTON: Coaching, coaching.

WHITFIELD: It's coaching. (LAUGHTER)

Life coach, career coach, Valorie Burton. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. BURTON: Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: The new iPad is pushing Apple's value even higher. How high, you ask? Will have your answer straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This just in to CNN. Word from Iraq that an American citizen has been released from captivity in Iraq. We don't have many details, but a United Nations official tells CNN an American man held hostage for nine months has been set free in Baghdad. He was allegedly held by a group connected to the radical Shiite cleric, Muqtada al Sadr. A spokesman for the group says the American was, quote, "captured in battle," but the Pentagon says no active-duty military people have been missing in Iraq. The U.S. embassy in Baghdad is working to confirm details.

Other top stories we're following, a year after the uprising began, the situation in Syria has taken a dangerous new turn. Violence is now striking the heart of the capital. The state-run news agency says at least 27 people were killed in a series of explosions targeting government facilities. Thousands of miles away, a peaceful protest took place outside the White House with calls for Syria's president to step down.

WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, apparently plans to run for a seat in the Australian Senate. Assange is currently under house arrest in England, facing possible extradition to Sweden for sex crimes allegations. WikiLeaks made the announcement on Twitter. The Australian elections are scheduled to be held next year.

The Pentagon has released the name of the soldier blamed for a deadly rampage in Afghanistan. Robert Bales is an Army staff sergeant now in solitary confinement in Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas. He is accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians last weekend in Kandahar. Shocked people in his Washington State neighborhood described Bales as a, quote, "normal family man."

Well, there is plenty of diplomatic fallout from the shootings from Afghanistan. Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, suggesting the U.S. is not giving a completely candid account of what happened. And he says the incident has taken a significant toll on diplomatic relations with the United States.

Earlier I asked our foreign affairs reporter, Elise Labott, if the U.S. state department will attempt to get involved with the legal case against staff sergeant bales.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELISE LABOTT, FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: The uniform code of military justice will dictate how this Staff Sergeant Bales is tried. There are particular rules in this. And basically, it's a Pentagon show.

WHITFIELD: Whose idea was this? Was it the U.S. military who said we need to go ahead and try Sergeant Bales in the U.S. or did the state department play a role at all by trying to make a case or help make the case that Afghanistan was making that perhaps there is a way to try him overseas?

LABOTT: Well, I don't think any of this is really has been worked out yet. I mean, some military officials are saying there is nothing to preclude him from being tried in Afghanistan. And let's be clear, when we say tried in Afghanistan, we don't mean tried by the afghan justice system. We would mean the U.S. military would just move the trial over to Afghanistan. But I think that, again, they are leaving this up to the military and how they decide they want to proceed. Certainly, they want to take into account the Afghan concerns that justice being served.

There are also a lot of particular rules about whether witnesses can be introduced, whether Afghan witnesses can be introduced because if the prosecution uses afghan witnesses, the defense will need to question them, as well. So, those questions are still being worked out. Again, nothing to say as they have in the past that he couldn't be actually tried in Afghanistan.

Bu, you know, as we've been talking about, this agreement that governs U.S. military in Afghanistan, when the fall of the Taliban happened, U.S. and Afghanistan had agreement these soldiers had immunity from Afghan law and would be processed according to the U.S. military justice system.

So, this agreement is in effect. I don't see the U.S. going back on that. They don't want to leave their military up to a trial. The Afghan system which even though they are starting to build accountability rule of law. Afghan justice system considered very weak and corrupt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we do know more about the legal timeline in this staff sergeant's case, at least in the short term. A former military judge says officials have seven days to formally charge him. They must begin a trial within 120 days. Today staff sergeant Robert Bales is in solitary confinement at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas.

Some bloggers are calling it the, quote, "tell your boss you're on the pill bill." An Arizona proposal would allow employers to deny contraception coverage to women. My conversation with the female lawmaker who rattle that bill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Doctors say it's a natural part of aging, a slowing metabolism. And you know what that means. It can be easier than ever to pack on the pounds, but there are things you can do.

Elizabeth Cohen has more in today's "health for her."

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Rene was 42; she began to notice unwelcome changes.

RENE ESLER, 43-YEARS-OLD: I can't wear tight shirts. I have budges I swore I would never, ever have.

COHEN: Esler realized her metabolism was not the same as in her younger years. The process of metabolism converts food and drink into energy to fuel the body. Dietician, Marisa Moore says as we wage, both men and women tend to see a slowdown.

MARISA MOORE, REGISTERED DIETICIAN: The primary cause for the slowdown of the metabolism is the fact the body tends to start to replace lean body mass with fat mass. And muscle burns more calories than fat does.

COHEN: And that means it's easier to gain weight. Moore offers these tips to maintaining a healthy metabolism.

MOORE: Make sure you are physically active, as much as you can every day. Make sure that you do maintain a healthy and balanced diet. Stay away from fad diets and products that promise to help rev up the metabolism because they generally don't work.

COHEN: Esler says she is accepting this fact of the life.

ESLER: I just want to be healthy by at the end of the day if my definition of healthy and my feeling my best isn't me in my 20s, that's OK. It's just OK.

COHEN: For this week's "health for her," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Imagine having to tell your employer your personal private information about how you use birth control. Women in Arizona could have to do just that if a bill in the state Senate right now becomes law.

Under the bill, women who want to get reimbursed for birth control pills through their employer-provided insurance could have to prove they are taking it for a medical reason and not to prevent pregnancy. This bill was written by a woman. Republican state representative Debbie Lesko, and I spoke with her about this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBBIE LESKO (R), ARIZONA STATE HOUSE: Government should not be telling the mom and pop employer or a faith-based charity organization that they have to provide something that's against their religious belief. That's all it does. It does not allow an employer to ask a woman if they're using contraceptives or not. It does not allow an employer to fire women. You know, unfortunately -- WHITFIELD: Well then, why is that the interpretation by some? That it does empower an employer to get into the privacy or business, medical conditions, et cetera, of a woman as it pertains to contraceptives?

LESKO: You know, all I can guess is that the opposition is trying to spread a whole bunch of misinformation out there to confuse the issue. My legislation does one thing and one thing only. It protects the employer, the mom and pop organization, or the faith-based organization that doesn't want to be forced by the government to do something against its religious belief.

You know, I'm a woman. I'm not going to do something that hurts a woman. You know, if the bill actually did these things that everybody is saying that it did, I wouldn't even support the bill. It just frankly does not do that. You know, it's unfortunate that the opposition is spreading around these lies.

WHITFIELD: But, isn't it this applies to all employers, this applies to all.

LESKO: Yes. If they have a religious objection, if and only if, I really don't think a lot of --

WHITFIELD: But doesn't that put the employer in a position where they have to ask that employee, are you using contraceptive, and if you are, in what way are you using it? How would an employer know if not to ask that question?

LESKO: You know all it does -- this is about the mandate the government is putting on that the employer has to cover in their insurance plan. It has nothing to do with the employer asking the employee if they use contraceptives. In fact, it allows an employee to go out and buy contraceptives on their own if they happen to be an employee of one of those few employers that aren't forced to provide it in the insurance.

You know, I called Wal-Mart last week. And they said you could buy generic contraceptives for $9 a month. That's probably cheaper than co-pay. This has nothing to do with taking away the rights of a woman to buy contraceptives for whatever reason. All it says is don't have the government force an employer to provide it in their insurance plan. That's all this bill does.

WHITFIELD: Are you now kind of setting the stage there would be some women who would feel compelled to buy it on their owns and others who would enjoy the same privilege by way of insurance, that there is a real conflict here?

LESKO: There is no conflict. All, my bill is saying is that, the government should not be telling the mom and mom employer or a faith- based organization -- they shouldn't be forcing them to provide coverage on the morning after pill if it's against their religious belief.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let me ask you this about your proposed repeal of the no discrimination report. Our legal administrator Paul Callan was taken aback by that when he spoke with (INAUDIBLE), played it part of what he had to say.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ADMINISTRATION: From a political standpoint it was very, very foolish of Arizona to throw this into the hopper because it's illegal. That is clearly illegal. And by the way, there are federal laws that would protect women if they were fired for getting contraceptives. Federal law clearly protects that right. And it doesn't matter what the states say. Women will remain protected. So, it's very, very foolish for them to eliminate the provision. I think it creates a controversy and creates a totally unenforceable law.

WHITFIELD: And you are response to him?

LESKO: You know I talked to the lawyers that helped me write up this legislation. They said that language was not necessary. There has been no discrimination case. I certainly don't want to discriminate against women because I'm a woman. In fact, I'm not a catholic and I have no personal objection to the use of contraceptives. But I respect the women that do. My lawyers say, and the House of Representatives lawyers say this does not violate any Hipa rules, any privacy rules. You know, that language was just not necessary. And so, that's why it was taken out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Now, Arizona governor Jan Brewer says she does not yet have a position on the bill and doesn't know if she would sign it if it reaches her desk. But she told reporters the legislation could make it, quote, "a little uncomfortable for women using contraception for reasons other than avoiding pregnancy."

George Clooney is a name that attracts a whole lot of attention. And he knows it. Why the actor hopes the world was watching as he was hauled away in handcuffs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Crossing a police line to get attention, George Clooney did it in Washington yesterday. He says his goal is to get people focused on what could become the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Clooney was arrested at a protest outside the Sudanese embassy. He says the people of Sudan need help immediately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: You never know if you're accomplishing anything. All we are trying to do is bring attention to a moment in time that is actually important. We hope that this brings attention to it. We hope it helps. And we hope that as the people understand there really is a ticking clock on this and we need to get moving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Clooney accuses the government in Curcuma of killing its citizens.

All right, time for CNN equals politics update. We are keeping an eye on the latest headlines at the CNN politics.com desk. And here's what's crossing right now.

Missouri holds caucuses today. This is Missouri's second time around. It held a primary last month. But that was just what they call a beauty contest. No delegates were awarded.

Today's caucuses will determine who gets Missouri's 52 delegates. Mitt Romney is dividing his time between p Puerto Rico and Illinois today. He began on the Caribbean island which holds its primary tomorrow and travels to Illinois where voters head to the polls Tuesday.

And Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski is the longest-serving woman in the history of the U.S. congress. She has been serving for 35 years winner her Maryland seat back in 1976, she passes the late Massachusetts Republican Edith Norse Rogers (hp) as the longest serving woman in congress. Rogers served from 1925 until 1960.

And for the latest political news, you know exactly where to go, cnnpolitics.com.

Yes. That is President Obama raising the glass there, a pint, to celebrate St. Patrick's day. He made a surprise stop at an Irish pub in Washington, D.C. this afternoon. He ordered a Guinness at the Dubliner, a well-known pub in Washington, D.C., it's just around the corner from the capitol building.

And the fountains in front of the White House are flowing green today. This is the fourth year in a row the White House has dyed the waters green in honor of St. Patrick's day. We're told the first family actually dumped the dye in the fountain themselves.

All right, the new iPad, well, it is on the shelves and in the palms of hands. Why Apple's value is going through the roof. That's next.

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WHITFIELD: The new iPad is finally here. It's like a countdown for New Year's. After less than 24 hours, the latest incarnation of apple's ground breaking tablet flying off the shelves. It starts by the way at $499 in U.S. New features include a higher resolution screen and faster networking capabilities than previous versions. Unbelievable!

So, sales of the Apple iPad clearly are soaring. I don't know if the numbers are that's far. But you know, Josh Levs with us now to talk about how this company seems to best itself all the time. Unbelievable!

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This type of economy and people are ling up to spend 500 bucks and be first. We talked about that the last hour. So, what's happening here is every time -- we don't know if it will outpace their previous iPad sales. But we know that people buying it right now.

So, Apple keeps growing huger and huger. And what we have seen recently is pretty stunning. Out folks from CNN money.com started to give us comparisons for us and so are some other sited out there. And I want to share this all with you folks because you really have to put in context how darn huge apple is becoming. And you know, people have mixed feeling about that.

Anyway, take a look at some of these examples on my screen here. Apple as of the other day was measured at being larger than the entire retail sector. It's incredible. This is a blog that follows financial information Web site as Grea called, zero hedge.com.

They look at the S&P retail numbers. Added them up and found out that at the point, Apple was actually out valuing all of the retail sector on the S&P. It has a larger sum that $546 billion is bigger than the GDP of anyone of these countries, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Taiwan. You can take smaller countries and put them together and find out all together they are still worth less than Apple from this stands. Apple is larger worth more than Google and Microsoft combined.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. That's insane.

LEVS: There is a Web site that is actually about this that's called things apple is worth more than.

WHITFIELD: Everything.

LEVS: Everything. I mean, I have considered it out, in case you want to go more -- So, one of the things they go to here is the global coffee industry. It, by far, trumps the entire global coffee industry.

And this where I want to show you ExxonMobil and this in particular significant because we have been reporting at CNN, that Apple earlier this year overtook ExxonMobil as the largest corporation in that sense.

So, it's a reminder in a way the world is changing. This technology company overtakes what traditionally has been so incredibly massive in that sense, the energy company as the biggest. So, those are just some of the examples. You can see more. I put my link all up for you. You can see from my twitter, also at facebook joshlevsCNN. And there are opt with the blog, cnn.com/josh.

But Fred, I will tell you.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: Those examples are powerful. And there is a debate some people are having and have had for years over when a company becomes too big. Take a look at these examples I think in a way, they kind a get --

WHITFIELD: I guess the answer is when they start losing money. Otherwise it's all relative. What's too big? LEVS: That is a good way to see it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Interesting. Thanks so much, Josh. Appreciate that.

Always big, huge, in fact. She is just so fabulous. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in the CNN weather center.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Huge? You are so petite.

WHITFIELD: But you are huge.

JERAS: Larger than life. Whatever. At least my mouth does. How are you? We'll talk huge today. We are talking huge snow amounts, OK? We've got a major storm system across of the west. It's dumping the snow like you wouldn't believe. Skiers are happy, the travelers maybe not so much.

Take a look at some of these numbers. And of course, many of these are ski areas that we have got these numbers for. Look at this, 48 inches in California, in the sierras.

WHITFIELD: God.

JERAS: Yes. That is four feet of snow if you need me to do the math for you, by the way. Alpine meadows, 47; Three feet in Squaw Valley; Mammoth Lakes up there at 30 inches. And these numbers that you are looking at, by the way, are 24-hour totals.

So, it gives an idea how heavy and wet this is and how fast and furious it's coming down. We also have some really windy conditions to go along with it. Now, ahead of this system, we have a nice conveyer belt basically as we are calling it very strong winds that are coming in across the plains states. And that is helping to drive your temperatures up to record levels in if many areas. We'll have a plethora of them falling throughout the day today. And 76 in Minneapolis, 80 in Chicago, just really incredible. We are also watching some thunderstorms across the middle Mississippi river valley. Not many of them are severe but we could see some damaging winds with them to keep that in mind on much of bigger severe whether day tomorrow, Fredricka, and I will talk more about coming about at 5:30.

WHITFIELD: All right. See? You're big on information and big on smarts, too, Jacqui.

JERAS: Love you.

WHITFIELD: Love you back. All right. Thanks so much.

That is going to do it for me. Thanks for being with me this afternoon. Much more of the "NEWSROOM" straight ahead with somebody else who filled the room with his charisma, that would be Don Lemon, up next.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred! (COMMERCIAL BREAK)