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Higher Security At NYC Jewish Sites; Police Release 911 Tapes In Martin Case; Cruise Ship Crashes Off Vietnam; Flash Flood Warnings In Oklahoma; Storms Across Nation's Midsection; Massacre Suspect Grew Up In Ohio; The Stress Of War; Teen Girl Forced To Marry Alleged Rapist; Hot Air Balloonist Fell 17,000 Feet; Poll: Romney Has Edge In Illinois; Major Re-Election Money For Obama

Aired March 19, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Storms affecting places like Dallas right now. These are going so give way to flash floods in some areas. In fact, we are getting reports into our weather center there is extensive flooding in Oklahoma City right now. They're breaking rainfall records for March 19th that are more than 100 years old. Oklahoma City.

Also this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it is. Crossing right in front of us, guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Look at this. This is video also from Oklahoma. Storm chasers. You heard his voice. They're coming face to face with that tornado. This was Sunday. This was the town of Willow. And half the size of tennis balls pelted this area as well. This massive storm spawned twisters as well in Nebraska.

Again, we want to emphasize, we are keeping an eye on where this storm is headed next. Chad and those guys are all over it. Texas under the gun, as I mentioned now, as the storms are moving forward.

Also today, the American soldier accused of slaughtering nine children, three women and four men in Afghanistan meets with his attorney for the very first time today at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. He is Sergeant Robert Bales. He was brought back from Afghanistan via Kuwait back to the states to face charges. We are learning Bales' family was under some financial pressures back home. I want you to listen to Bales' attorney. This is John Henry Browne.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN HENRY BROWNE, ATTORNEY: I think there's an effort to try to paint him as someone who, rather than having a serious brain injury and maybe he shouldn't have be there to begin with, had some other factors. The financial situation for all of us is stressful, I think. But, you know, nobody goes and kills women and children because they have financial stresses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bales is being held at Ft. Leavenworth Military Prison in Kansas.

Mitt Romney appears to be in pretty positive spirits, fresh off that primary win over the weekend in Puerto Rico. In fact, at a campaign stop today in Springfield, Illinois, the presidential candidate sounded fairly optimistic regarding the U.S. economy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe the economy's coming back, by the way. We'll see what happens. It's had ups and downs. I think it's finally coming back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A new poll shows Mitt Romney leading closest rival Rick Santorum by double digits going into tomorrow's primary in Illinois.

And a luxury cruise line passenger says his ship t- boned a container vessel in the thick fog off of Vietnam. Look at this. Both ships then ended up slam into one another. And these are the scrape marks. You can see them there on the sides. Scrape marks that were left on the Silver Sea cruise liner. It was called the Silver Shadow. This all happened Friday morning. The passenger sent us these photos while onboard the cruise. And you can see -- you can see there, the cruise ship caused a huge gash in the container ship. Silver Sea says the cruise continues and the ship is fully operational.

And the owners of the New York Mets are about to write a big old check, as in $162 million. That is how much it's going to cost to settle a lawsuit with the trustee representing victims of Bernie Madoff. The Mets owners were among thousands of investors who gave money to a Wall Street firm that was ultimately that front for Madoff's Ponzi scheme. The baseball owners denied knowing it was at all any kind of scam.

Apple is dipping into its massive cash balance which tops $97 billion. Apple says it will pay investors a dividend of $2.65 a share starting this summer. It will also buy back stock, $10 billion worth over the court of three years. Record-breaking sales. You've got the iPhones, the iPads, you know, your iPods, IMAX all helping Apple accumulate that massive wealth. Just about $100 billion.

In Greece, a soccer match turns into a violent riot, ending with the stadium there in flames. Sunday night's game had to be abandoned after fans began throwing broken stands and fire extinguishers at police. The rioters also setting various parts of the stadium on fire. Take a look with me. The aftermath there in Greece on Sunday.

Also, big news here for Kate Middleton. Another royal milestone for her. The future queen of England making her very first public speech today as the Duchess of Cambridge. She spoke at the opening of a hospice in England. And we're going to play you a little bit of it. She seems kind of nervous, but she remains, of course, elegant and poised and even apologized for her husband's absence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE MIDDLETON, DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE: I am only sorry that William can't be here today. He would love it here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So elegant.

And we've got a lot more for you in the next two hours, including this. Watch.

The 911 calls at the center of this mysterious shooting, calls many hope would provide answers, are finally released. We're told Trayvon Martin's family broke down minutes after hearing them.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

A teenager kills herself after a judge ruled she must marry the man who raped her. Now the backlash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I finally get to see one. It may be the last one I see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A powerful twister races toward a couple, and their very last words to one another caught on video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I knew, you know, I just knew when he was laying there like that, that he didn't make it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Plus, a six-year-old girl shot to death in a drive-by. She had been playing on her own front porch and police say the guy behind the trigger are teenagers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what the politicians should focus on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Also, a search is underway for a missing balloon pilot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hot air balloon collapsed and started spinning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Hear what he told sky divers standing right next to him moments before trouble hit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just into us here at CNN. The New York Police Department is now telling us that they are going to increase security around Jewish institutions, synagogues, places of that nature in different neighborhoods simply because of what happened this morning in Toulouse, France. There was a shooting at a Jewish school in France and so basically New York Police, they don't want to take any chances, that something could perhaps happen in New York City.

So let me just back up and tell you what happened exactly this morning. There was a shooter who basically open fired at close range this morning. Killed a teacher, his two sons, a little girl. And this is the third shooting by a gunman on a motorcycle in the southern part of the country just in the last 10 days.

And CNN has just learned that the same gun was used in all three shootings. French President Nicolas Sarkozy calls today's killings a national tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY, FRANCE (through translator): Schools must continue their work. Our compatriots should also keep practicing in their synagogues, in their mosques, in their churches. Keep doing what you do. We will not bow before terror. Of course we're thinking about the family that is hurting. Thinking about the mother who has lost her two children and her husband on the same day. Thinking about the director of the school who witnessed all this tragedy. This barbarism, this savagery, this cruelty will never triumph.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The gunman in France still on the loose. And I want to bring in Jim Bitterman, who's been following this story for us all day from Paris.

And we mentioned previous shootings. Jim, what connection are police making among all these shootings? JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there's a pretty strong connection, Brooke, in the sense that the same gun was used in all three of these incidents. The first one took place about eight days ago when a soldier was killed in a very cold blooded fashion on the streets of Toulouse. A then a second incident took place just shortly -- a couple days after that when three soldiers were attacked. Two of them were killed. One is in critical condition after being shot somewhat randomly as they were using an ATM machine. And then this morning's incident. In all three incidents, the method of operation was pretty much identical. The gunman pulled up on a motor bike, jumped off, started shooting, and then jumped back on the motor bike and got away.

At one point, in one of the shooting incidents, the police were able to track the motor bike using surveillance cameras for a short distance. But when he hit the expressway, they lost track of him.

So the only thing they know is that this is somebody that's cold blooded, determined. He's riding around on a black, or at least dark stolen motorcycle or motor bike. It's not clear which. And he's using very heavy weaponry to perpetrate these attacks. They, of course, would like to find out who he is and what exactly what the motivation is.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: As we mentioned, you know, now New York Police here in the United States, they are taking extra precautions around synagogues and places of that nature in the city of New York. I imagine the same is happening in Toulouse, when it comes to Jewish and also Muslim schools and businesses.

BITTERMAN: Pretty much across the country that's true, Brooke. In fact, President Sarkozy said today that they're stepping up security around not only the Jewish centers and synagogues, but also Islamic centers because of the nature of this, the soldiers who are predominately from North Africa and the Jewish school, of course, where Jewish children that were targeted this morning. So there's a feeling that this could be somebody bent on racist attacks. Perhaps even a neo-Nazi element. There's not anything really to give police a real solid clue on that, but that's what they're looking into anyway, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jim Bitterman, we appreciate it, from Paris.

Coming up next, for weeks the family of a teenager shot to death in a neighborhood, demanded that police release the 911 calls. Well, you're about to hear those tapes. And new questions surrounding the death of this young man. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I'm about to play you long portions of some of those 911 calls that came in the night Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was shot and killed. And we know who shot Trayvon, but police have yet to arrest him. And now the FBI might get involved. And police across Florida are protesting over this story.

But it really all boils down to this. A neighborhood watch volunteer told Sanford, Florida, police that he was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed this 17-year-old boy. Police say nothing they came across disproved that story, so no arrest yet. But as you're about to hear, the 911 tapes, they are riddled with questions from witnesses that night just about a month ago in February. The first you're going to hear is actually from the security volunteer himself. He is George Zimmerman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE ZIMMERMAN (voice-over): Something's wrong with him. Yep. He's coming to check me out. He's got something in his hands. I don't know what his deal is.

DISPATCHER (voice-over): Are you following him?

ZIMMERMAN: Yeah.

DISPATCHER: OK, we don't need you to do that.

ZIMMERMAN: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: "The Miami Herald" reports Zimmerman made 46 emergency call since January of 2011. After Zimmerman's call that night, Trayvon was shot. Another six people called up 911. And in one of the calls, you can hear the gunshot. The gunshot that killed Trayvon Martin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DISPATCHER (voice-over): So you think he's yelling help?

CALLER (voice-over): Yes.

DISPATCHER: All right, what is your --

CALLER: There was gunshots.

DISPATCHER: You just heard gunshots?

CALLER: Yes.

DISPATCHER: How many?

CALLER: Just one.

DISPATCHER: So when you heard screaming, it was a male screaming?

CALLER: Yes.

CALLER: And the guy -- the guy on top had a white t- shirt.

DISPATCHER: What do you mean guy on top? Did you see a fight?

CALLER: I don't know. I looked out my window and there's a guy on top with a white t-shirt.

DISPATCHER: OK. Well, he's on top of what?

CALLER: I couldn't see the other things. I couldn't see the person he was on.

DISPATCHER: So he is on top of a person?

CALLER: Mmhmm.

CALLER: Oh, my God, he shot -- he shot the person. He just said he shot the person.

DISPATCHER: Who's saying they shot who?

CALLER: The people out there, a guy is raising his hands up, he's saying he shot a person. I think it's a police officer that's with him right now, arrest -- uh -- oh, my God, why -- why --

DISPATCHER: Our officer is there. He has somebody at gunpoint. They're going to handle the situation from here.

CALLER: Oh, my God, somebody would be shot!

DISPATCHER: It's probably going to be best if you stay inside your home for the time being, OK?

CALLER: I know. But that -- I can't believe somebody's killed. He was saying help, why didn't someone come out and help him?

CALLER: I didn't see cause it was too dark and I just heard people screaming "help me, help me!" And this person shot him. He was like wrestling with him, you know what I mean, on the ground, from what I could see. It was very dark.

It's right outside my window. I mean it's like two feet away. I mean it's like 10 feet out my window. Oh, my God, why would somebody kill someone like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: David Mattingly back from Sanford, Florida.

First, what about this security volunteer, George Zimmerman? Has he spoken to anyone yet?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. In fact, we're told that he has left his family home there. His father saying that he had received some death threats. His father coming to his defense in a letter to "The Orlando Sentinel" describing him as someone who is Hispanic, growing up in a multiracial family. The father, in fact, went further to say that he was not racist and that he believes that his son will be vindicated.

BALDWIN: The family, the parents of Trayvon, they had wanted these 911 tapes to be released. They have now been released. They now are calling on the FBI to step forward to take over this case. Right now it's in the hands of the state attorney general. Why the FBI?

MATTINGLY: Well, the FBI is being reached out to by not only the family of Trayvon Martin but also a local congresswoman and the mayor of the city of Sanford. They've all reached out to the Justice Department to get involved. In fact, the police department is welcoming that kind of scrutiny to get involved in this case because they feel pretty confident with the way they've handled this investigation.

BALDWIN: Have we heard anything from the FBI?

MATTINGLY: Only that they are monitoring this. That doesn't say that they're involved in this case yet.

BALDWIN: Not a yes or a no.

MATTINGLY: But it is on their radar. They're aware of -- that they've been asked to get involved, but not part of the investigation yet.

BALDWIN: OK, David Mattingly, thank you.

I want to dig a little deeper as far as the legal parts of this story. We have Sunny Hostin, our CNN legal analyst here.

And, Sunny, I just want to bring you in. As a former federal prosecutor, what's your reaction, just visceral reaction in listening to those multiple calls to 911?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I'm saddened, Brooke. I'm saddened not only as a former prosecutor, but as a mother. And I'm getting some feedback in my ear. But the bottom line is, it completely disproves this self-defense claim. It tells me that this child was murdered in cold blood and there are several witnesses to that murder.

You know, I heard so many people in law enforcement talk about the fact that the, you know, that there aren't any witnesses to disprove this self-defense claim made by Zimmerman. Well, that is not true. First of all, prosecutors try homicide cases, Brooke, every single day without the victim, OK, because the victim is dead. And so to say that the self-defense claim cannot be disproved, for law enforcement officials in Florida to say that, I think is just so ludicrous. And I'm angered by what I've heard and I'm saddened.

BALDWIN: I hear the anger but I just have to ask, what is it about these calls? What did you hear that says, cold blooded murder?

HOSTIN: Yes, and I've heard all of the calls, actually, because they've all been released, in addition to the few that we've played.

BALDWIN: Right.

HOSTIN: And bottom line is, you hear a warning shot, Brooke, and then you hear a voice pleading and a cry. And then you hear another voice and you hear the pleading stop. So that -- and you also have these other people saying that the man in the white shirt -- which is what Zimmerman was wearing, we know that Trayvon Martin was wearing a red sweatshirt -- that the man in the white shirt was on top of the other person. And so that tells me that he was on top of this boy, young boy, not even an adult, an unarmed young boy, takes a step back and shoots him in the chest. You cannot avail yourself of a self-defense claim when you are the first aggressor, you start a fight, even if you're losing it. You cannot avail yourself of that.

And so in hearing all of these tapes, I'm convinced that I've heard a murder. That -- and a murderer that is walking around our streets free without being arrested. And so I'm just -- I'm horrified.

BALDWIN: We can't -- we can't convict George Zimmerman. Hopefully we'll ultimately hear from his side. I know when you -- just briefly, if I can get this in -- when you were in Florida, you talked to a man last week who was in one of your pieces who said, this guy saved my life. There were multiple people you talked to standing up for him. So until we hear his side, and until he is fully prosecuted, we will not know.

MATTINGLY: That's right. And we really don't know whose voice that is on the 911 tape, the one we hear in the struggle. We don't know whose voice that is calling for help. And they are going to be bringing in voice experts to analyze that tape to maybe get to the bottom of that soon.

BALDWIN: What a story. David Mattingly and Sunny Hostin, I appreciate you both. Thank you.

Meantime, as we mentioned a moment ago, we are keeping a close eye on the radar. Severe weather threatens big parts of the country, including possible flash flooding in some areas. We're all over it. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want you to listen to this passenger recall the moment his cruise ship collided with a container ship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW LOCK, CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: My wife and I both had stood up and braced ourselves for the impact. And then after the immediate impact, we could see that the Vietnamese ship rolled over at a 90-degree angle. We thought it was going to capsize. It then righted itself. And with the forward momentum of our ship, it pushed the Vietnamese ship around so that it actually came down the side, the length of our ship, scraping along the side as it went.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Yikes. Look at these pictures. These are new pictures of the scraping damage that guy was talking about from Friday's crash right off Vietnam. The cruise line, Silver Sea Cruises, is calling it a minor incident, but the collision actually punched a hole in the container ship. Look at this. Brian Todd, he's watching the developments for us.

And, Brian, given all these picture we're looking at, wow, I mean, the pictures, the damage to the container ship, saying this was minor? I mean, I guess it could have been worse. Was anyone hurt?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It could have been worse. At least as far as the cruise ship was concerned, Brooke, yes, some people could have been hurt there, but apparently none were onboard the cruise ship. Now on the container ship it could be a different story. Getting these first-hand accounts, as you said, just now about this collision between the cruise ship and the container ship. It happened off the coast of Vietnam on Friday, but we are just now getting the details and those pictures that you showed of the aftermath.

I spoke with that passenger, Andrew Lock. He was onboard the Silver Shadow. It's a high-end cruise ship that was passing into Ha Long Bay in Vietnam on Friday. This occurred as the cruise ship was just moving into that bay. He says he was in the observation lounge with his wife on Friday morning. Says the fog was so think, there was virtually no visibility outside. And then, in another clip, different from the one you just aired, he described for us actually the moment of impact when they looked up. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOCK: There was a certain point in time where the fog horn at the front of the ship suddenly sounded. And there was much, much louder and it caused us to look up. And, in fact, we looked -- looked up straight out of the window and, through the fog, we -- to our horror, we saw this Vietnamese container ship appear sideways on. And it was as if our ship was perfectly lined up to hit it in the side. So it was a horrifying moment. And in less than about five seconds after the ship appeared, we did, in fact, collide right in the side of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, again, Lock says there were no injuries onboard his cruise ship, but he told me he did see people lying on the deck of the container vessel as it was scraping alongside the cruise ship. We're trying to get more information on the possible injuries on the container ship. Also that vessel's name and who owns it. It's a bit of a slow process now because it's overnight there in Vietnam right now.

BALDWIN: Yes.

TODD: We have a statement, though, from the owner of the cruise ship. This is the company called Silver Sea. It's owned by an Italian firm. It calls this, quote, a minor incident. And here's part of the statement. "There was contact between Silver Shadow and a local commercial vessel. Silver Shadow incurred limited minor dents and guests' safety was never compromised. The ship is fully operational and continued on its course to Ha Long Bay where all shore tours operated normally. Silver Sea will carry out a full investigation into the incident."

They are doing so now, obviously, Brooke. Andrew Lock has a lot of good descriptions about this incident. And just basically the fact -- he said to me, he thought that his vessel was going to go down. And he said, of course, you know, with all the irony here, they were thinking of the Costa Concordia accident back in January when all this was happening. They couldn't get that out of their minds.

BALDWIN: I can't say I blame them. What a year. What a year for cruises.

TODD: Right.

BALDWIN: Brian Todd, appreciate it.

Strong storms are drenching part of the nation's midsection. Record rainfall swamping parts of Oklahoma right now. Chad Myers, talk to me about -- we're talking potentially the worst they've seen in like a century.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, there's an awful lot of rain now across parts of Oklahoma.

BALDWIN: Wow.

MYERS: Now for this date. For the entire month of July or June, July, there's a lot more rain. And in some spots, Oklahoma City can get almost eight inches of rain in any one day. But for this date, Oklahoma City did get almost two inches of rainfall already. And it's still raining.

But the big story will be east of there, where it hasn't rained yet. All the way -- parts of Indiana, Illinois, all the way back down into Texas, that's the area that the sun is heating up right now. That sun makes the air bubble. That bubbling air will make severe thunderstorms later on today and into tonight. In fact, all the way from Iowa right on down through Eastern Oklahoma down into Texas, large, damaging hail, some wind and also the potential for tornadoes today.

It's all because of a very cold air that's in the west was 55 inches of snow in the past seven days at Snow Bowl in Flagstaff, Arizona. That's a lot of snow. Crazy, cold here, warm here, when warm and cold bump together, they get along like vinegar and oil.

They want to separate. They don't want to be together. So we're going to make a spring salad here in the middle of the country today. We'll watch for big time hail and wind and potential for tornadoes.

One thing right now, bring all the cars in the garage so you don't have to be doing that when the hail starts coming down.

BALDWIN: Or pollen in the case -- you have pollen voice as do I. Chad, thank you. I apologize, by the way. I feel fine, just don't sound it.

The American soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians meets with his attorney for the very first time today in person. Coming up next, we're going to talk to a man who has known Sergeant Bales his entire life.

And we hear from an Afghanistan war veteran about a day of a life of an American soldier on the frontlines. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Nine children, three women, four men, Afghan civilians, slaughtered allegedly by this American soldier. That soldier is Sergeant Robert Bales. And Sergeant Bales is scheduled to meet with his attorney for the very first time today at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Bales joined the military a couple of months after the 9/11 terrorists attacks. He served multiple deployments, both in Iraq. This was his first in Afghanistan. Sergeant Bales also suffered a traumatic brain injury and then went back to war.

He had part of his foot blown off and then went back to war, a seasoned soldier. But he was also a regular guy who grew up the youngest of five kids in a Cincinnati, Ohio suburb.

And CNN's Susan Candiotti, she spoke with a family friend who lived just next door to the name he calls Bobby.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Robert Durham remembers his last conversation with Sergeant Robert Bales who called from Afghanistan.

ROBERT DURHAM, FAMILY FRIEND: Said I love you, Bobby. You know, take care of yourself.

CANDIOTTI: That was in December, shortly before he was redeployed to the region for a fourth time.

DURHAM: A real caring, real understanding individual. Even from a real young age. CANDIOTTI: Durham has known Bales all his life. They lived next door to each other in Norwood, Ohio. He still calls him Bobby.

DURHAM: Bobby and my son were best friends.

CANDIOTTI: An uncommonly kind friend, because Durham's son, Wade, two years older than Bales is severely disabled.

DURHAM: Bobby was just a very understanding, very accepting kid. He didn't at one time point out a kid's disability. It was what they could do.

CANDIOTTI: Bobby took Wade swimming, to school parties, to the zoo. Bobby made sure wade was never left out, no matter what anyone thought.

DURHAM: With Bobby around, there was never a question. All of Bobby's friends accepted Wade because Bobby accepted him.

CANDIOTTI: At Norwood High School outside of Cincinnati, Bales was a football captain. Yearbook photos show him typing and a playful side. After attending two colleges and working in finance, a fateful day, 9/11.

DURHAM: The 9/11 really affected Bobby.

CANDIOTTI: Within two months, he joined the army.

DURHAM: He was like a lot of young men and women who decided that not on our watch. You don't do this to our country.

CANDIOTTI: When they talked about the war, Durham says Bales empathized with civilians.

DURHAM: People are people to him. People are people. I never heard him say that he hated anyone.

CANDIOTTI: Like most, Durham was horrified to hear about an American soldier who allegedly gunned down 16 Afghan villagers door to door.

(on camera): How did you react when you heard the news?

DURHAM: They're saying Bobby did that and I couldn't believe it. I still can't believe it. I can't believe it. The Bobby that I knew is not the Bobby that could have done that.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Durham suspects his friend may have snapped and he's worried.

DURHAM: I don't think he can live with it. He'll never be the same and that he's such a great person, that just -- that crushes me. I don't know.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): What questions do you have?

DURHAM: I think everyone has the same question because everyone knew the same Bobby. What happened? What happened?

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Questions with few answers.

DURHAM: I don't know what happened to my friend, Bob Bales. I hope somebody figures it out.

CANDIOTTI: And gets him help. Susan Candiotti, CNN, Norwood, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in war veteran, Nick Colgin. He was stationed in Afghanistan, three year and a half, was awarded the bronze star.

Nick, you just heard a reporting on Sergeant Bales as a young man growing up. I was just jotting down adjectives like accepting, empathetic.

He was a good guy, a leader. When you hear all of that and then you know what he's accused of doing, what's your reaction?

NICK COLGIN, AFGHANISTAN WAR VETERAN: It's hard to even put it into words because I was in a similar situation in Afghanistan. I served as a small fire base. I did 15 months in Afghanistan and just like Staff Sergeant Bales. I suffered a traumatic brain injury.

And it's hard to believe that something like this could happen because it's not represented of 2.4 million veterans that have served in Iraq or Afghanistan up to this point.

BALDWIN: Nick, you point out the similarities of your tours and where you were based. If you can, help us who have never been to war understand what life is like. I mean, you know, from when you wake up in the morning to when you go to bed. What is a day like and describe the stresses?

COLGIN: It's -- you can't hardly describe it. You're sleeping out on the ground in the middle of Afghanistan, getting shot in day in and day out. You're having to worry about the stresses of life back home.

But that's when you turn to your battle buddies to the left and right to kind of get that pure support. While (inaudible) shot in the head, we also lost a few Special Forces, individuals that same night.

But I went back to the base, got about three hours of sleep and headed back out the next day, but I served honorably overseas. I helped save 42 Afghanis from a flooding river. It's hard to imagine something like this could happen. BALDWIN: And we thank you for your service. But I have to ask, is there's anyone on base, if you need to talk to somebody and you mentioned stresses back at home.

Certainly that's, you know, presence of mind as well as, you know, what you're doing being shot at day in and day out. Do you feel like there's an outlet? Instead of, you know, leaving base and doing something you would regret?

COLGIN: When I was over to Afghanistan, there was definitely an outlet. I've seen it work before where we had a couple of individuals they were starting to feel combat stress quite heavily.

They self-identified and we sent them from our fire base back to the main base. They saw individuals in combat stress, basically mental health specialists. I don't hold it against them.

I'm still friends with them to this day. I think those types of mechanisms are in place. And the command should support it, just like they did in my case.

BALDWIN: I don't know if you've ever been stationed quite at the location where Sergeant Bales was, in the Panjwai District in Kandahar where he was living, you know, in an outpost in these metal cargo containers.

You know, in a place like that, what kind of supervision would soldiers get in that kind of environment? Can you just help set the scene for me.

COLGIN: Definitely. It's important to remember that when you're deployed to Afghanistan, especially at a small fire base, it's not like working in the states where you get a 9:00 to 5:00 and you only see the individuals you work with then --

BALDWIN: Of course.

COLGIN: While you're overseas, you're -- like when I was overseas, I think most nights I was never more than five feet away from my commander whenever I went to bed. You're with the guys you serve with 100 percent of the time.

So any small changes in each other, you notice. It's almost like they become one with you. It's hard to imagine that something like this could happen. It's important not to jump to stereotypes as well, but you spend a lot of time with your brothers and sisters in arms overseas.

BALDWIN: You mentioned, you know, both you and Sergeant Bales suffered a TBI, traumatic brain injury. You know, he had suffered in Iraq, ended up deploying to Afghanistan had voiced, according to reports that he didn't really want to go. How were you functioning -- how are you currently functioning post TBI?

COLGIN: It's still a struggle every day. While I was overseas, I sought help for TBI and they realized that I could finish out the extra month of deployment I had left. I got back and ended up getting diagnosed with TBI. It was hard.

Coming on was hard for any soldier and I was just fortunate enough to looped into the VA hospital and with troops such as Iraq and Afghanistan (inaudible) they got me the help I needed.

But there definitely needs to be a higher focus on mental health screening. If that was the case in this incident, like I said, it's hard not to jump to conclusions.

But America needs to be 100 percent focused on getting troops the support and resources they need from the second they deploy to -- for the rest of their lives quite frankly.

BALDWIN: We know that he did have that traumatic brain injury, lost part of his foot because of an explosion in Iraq. And ultimately, he had voiced. He wanted to be a recruiter. And they wanted to move to Hawaii or Germany.

That didn't happen. He ends up going back to Afghanistan and from what I understand. He did voice some concern about not being deployed. I mean, Nick, ultimately if you don't feel like something is quite right, can you say no?

COLGIN: Honestly, quite frankly, I haven't experienced that. I actually volunteered for my deployment and then there were others in my aid station before I deploy that were trying to fight to get on deployments. It's it may have been the culture I'm from where I was at Fort Brag with 82nd Airborne Division.

But I'm sure there's mechanisms in place because I wouldn't want to go overseas and risk my life every day as a medic if the guy to my left or right or female to the left or right didn't want to be there.

I'm sure it's the same for the command, but the culture down where I was at Fort Bragg is we join to serve our country and we want to make them proud of us.

BALDWIN: Nick Colgin, Afghanistan war veteran. Sir, we appreciate you. We appreciate your service. Thanks for coming on.

COLGIN: Thank you, sincerely, thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you, now this. What are they angry about? Listen to this. This teenager kills herself after a judge rules she must marry the man who raped her.

Find out what this girl apparently did moments before collapsing in the street. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In Morocco, angry demonstrators take to the streets to protest the suicide of a teen girl. They're demanding immediate reform of rape laws after a judge ruled that the 16-year-old, Amena Falali, must marry her alleged rapist. They held up pictures of Falali and chanted to, quote, "end the marriage of minors."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OUM, MOROCCAN SINGER (through translator): I am here today because I could have been a victim myself. All of these women could be like Amena. There could be hundreds of similar cases if we keep quiet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Amena Falali's father says she swallowed rat poison after being severely beaten by her husband. Under Moroccan law, rape is punishable by prison time, but if the rapist and victim marry, the attacker is no longer liable.

Just in to us here at CNN, a major development in the search for a hot air balloon pilot. That's next.

Plus find out what he told the sky divers standing right next to him high, high up in the air before the trouble hit. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This just in. The body of a missing hot air balloon pilot who saved the lives of five sky divers has just been found. Crews (inaudible) Georgia where Pilot Ed Restano's balloon hit a storm, ultimately fell to the ground.

The weather had pushed the balloon too high in the air. So, he told all the skydivers up there with him to jump, jump out with their parachutes and then here's what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF BOBBY MCLEMOREIS, BEN HILL COUNTY, GEORGIA: The draft took him up to 17,000, 18,000 feet in which the hot air balloon started to collapse and started spinning and twisted his ropes up. We had hail, lightning, heavy rain, wind. It was a bad wind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Restano about fell 17,000 feet. He is being called a hero for saving those five sky divers.

And now on the eve of Illinois's Republican primaries, some encouraging news for Mitt Romney. Wolf Blitzer joins me now from Washington to breakdown some of these new poll numbers.

So he's got a pretty decent lead in this American Research Group poll.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Very impressive lead, I got to say. Take a look at these numbers. We'll put them up on the screen right now.

Among registered Republicans, getting ready to vote, likely choice for nomination, Romney with 44 percent, Santorum 30 percent, Gingrich 13 percent, and Ron Paul 8 percent. Nice double- digit lead going into tomorrow's primary in the state of Illinois coming off a very impressive win in Puerto Rico on Sunday.

It's looking like it's pretty good news for Romney right now moving ahead to Illinois. And remember also as far as all the important delegate count is concerned, Santorum wasn't able to do the proper paperwork to get on four of the congressional districts in Illinois.

So he's not even going to be eligible for delegates in those congressional districts so he's at a disadvantage right there. The Romney folks keep pointing out, this guy can't even get on the ballots whether in all the congressional districts in Illinois or Virginia for that matter.

Upcoming in the District of Columbia, how is he going to be able to put together the organization to beat President Obama in November? That's a big issue that the Romney folks are making against Santorum right now.

We'll see what happens tomorrow night, but right now, this latest poll on the eve of the Illinois primary, very good news for Mitt Romney.

BALDWIN: Let's talk about the president, Wolf Blitzer. You know, he's in full swing here, re-election bid, raising a little bit of money last month, $45 million, about 300 million total. But those numbers are definitely off pace from what we saw in 2008. Why do you think?

BLITZER: Well, it's only off pace when you take a look at the highest income, the people giving more than $2,000, a little bit off base. But he's raising a ton of money. He's got a lot of money that he's pocketing, getting ready for the general election.

And he's well on his way to having hundreds of millions of dollars in the bank ready to go once there's a Republican nominee. Here's where they're in trouble, the Democrats so far the pro Obama forces.

The so-called pro-Obama Super PAC that's run by Paul Begala, one of our CNN political contributors. They have not come anywhere near in raising all the Super PAC money that the Republicans, the pro- Republican Super PACs are raising, especially that Karl Rove is very much involved with, Ed Gillespie's involved.

They're raising a lot more money for that Super PAC as opposed to the pro-Obama Super PAC. Having said all that, the Obama campaign is in great shape going into the fall. They're not really spending that much money.

They're saving all of their money. They're hoarding it. The Republicans, Romney, let's say he's getting the nomination. He's spending a ton of money. He's raising money. He's not raising anywhere near what the president has raised.

But he's not going to have the bank roll that the president will have once the general election battle gets really under way. So yes, the president has irritated some fat cats by going after Wall Street and making some snide comments about those involved in Wall Street.

That's irritated some of his 2008 supporter, but he's raising money from a lot of folks out there and he's got a lot of money in the bank ready to finance this campaign.

BALDWIN: Got it. Thank you for the context. You can see the headlines, a lot of the articles today. It's important to put the context in when you look at the dollar figures. And now Wolf Blitzer, you're a music fan, as you would say. Stand by for this. Roll it, Rob.

BALDWIN: OK, so when you get a load of this band we're about to feature on this "Music Monday. You're going to want to groove. But you're true blue musicians and who know who you are. You tweet me all the time about my musical tastes and yours.

Do you notice anything missing here? Take a look at this stage. Stick around what look at what this group doesn't use to make music.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It's "Music Monday" folks. Time to take a little breather just for a second from what you're doing and feel the music. If you love bands and just can't be labeled as one genre, you're going to dig "Fitz and the Tantrums." We caught up with them recently at the Sundance Festival. Check them out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People like to give us the trifecta of soul indie pop. I won't fight that because we definitely draw a lot of influence from the Motown/Stax period of music, but we like to throw in a little bit of '80s, Brit pop, new wave, a little Talking Heads in there. The back beat of the record has a lot of hip hop influence. Then there's just sort of a little bit of an indie DIY aesthetic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just really let the music take you where it's going to go. We try to really widen the spectrum of what we talk about. This particular record was, you know, driven out of a heart break Fitz went through.

Just dealing with a breakup, you have a lot of love story in there. You're just trying to get over the person, getting through your life. We also have songs that have more of a play on what was happening in our economy here in America. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe it was Nietzsche said all art aspires to music. It can generate so much feeling and emotion. The only people that get mad are guitar players. They come out after the show and say do you know what you're missing?

I say let me guess, guitar. In every live setup, you see guitars everywhere. Would we make a big full sound that was relevant in today's modern music without it? And also you've got a lot of keyboard players in this band.

When I sit down at night and I'm feeling create I have it's at the black and white piano keys. Jeremy, amazing keyboardist, same with Noel. Joe is actually quite a hidden talent. He can do a fierce Elton John rendition for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great bag keyboarder in this band because there's no guitar player. It's a fun challenge not having that element in the band and still trying to make it sound huge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a sort of logical place and we started playing without it right from the get-go and created our own vocabulary without it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have always had the focus on wanting people to have a good time and really let go of themselves and we enjoy watching them clap and like lose their minds for a little bit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We always tried to make the audience the seventh member and really have them be a part of the show. And some people are excited and some people need a little encouragement, but by the end of the show we get everybody in the room to be a part of it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: No guitar, how about that? You can always look at our "Music Monday" interviews. We have interviewed all kinds of people. Just go to my blog --