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Trayvon Martin Was Suspended; Trayvon Martin's Family Speaks; Health Care In Supreme Court; "He Loves Children", Wife of Afghan Massacre Suspect Speaks; Use of Malaria Pills Questioned; North Korea Planning Rocket Launch; Suspicious Test Scores In Schools

Aired March 26, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Ashleigh. I will see you tomorrow in New York.

Hi, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Alina Cho, in for Brooke Baldwin today. A lot happening over the next two hours and we begin with "Rapid Fire."

Just in. We've learned that Trayvon Martin had been suspended from school just before he was shot to death. In fact, we are told he'd been given 10 days suspension after the school apparently found a baggy with marijuana residue inside his book bag. That suspension is the reason he was in Sanford, Florida, visiting his father's home. We're about to take you live to Florida on this developing story.

The Supreme Court hearing arguments today on one of the most impactful laws of our time. The Affordable Health Care Act. At issue, whether the government can require all Americans to have health insurance coverage. It's called the individual mandate. Twenty-six states are leading the challenge to the high court. We'll have much more on this story in a few minutes.

The wife of the Army sergeant charged with 17 counts of murder in the massacre of 17 Afghan civilians on March 11 says her husband is innocent. Karilyn Bales spoke on the "Today" show about her husband Robert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, "TODAY" SHOW HOST": You've spoken to him twice on the phone. Did you say, sweetheart, did you do this?

KARILYN BALES, WIFE OF STAFF SGT. ROBERT BALES: No. No.

LAUER: I mean, as a spouse, wouldn't you want to ask that question quickly? Honey, why are they saying these things about you?

BALES: Not on a monitored phone call. So we couldn't -- we couldn't discuss those details. He was -- seemed a bit confused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Karilyn Bales has set up a fund to help pay for her husband's defense. Meanwhile, Afghan officials say that the U.S. government has paid $50,000 to the families of each of those killed, plus $10,000 to each of the six Afghans wounded in that attack.

Pope Benedict XVI is on his way to Cuba now. The pope left Mexico just this morning. He says his goal was to build bridges between Cubans who fled the island and those who stayed. That's already happening. Hundreds of Cubans returned to the island nation over the weekend for the pope's visit. This is the pope's first trip to Cuba.

Signs North Korea is getting ready to launch a long range rocket seen by the United States. That news from a U.S. official comes just hours after President Obama gave the North a stern warning. Mr. Obama is in Seoul, South Korea, for a nuclear security summit. He warned North Korea about its plans to use the rocket to launch a satellite next month. The president said a launch, quote, "would bring repercussions."

A landmark catholic church sex abuse trial begins today. The first time prosecutors have charged an official from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for trying to cover up sex abuse accusations. Prosecutors say Monsignor William Lynn moved abusive priests from parish to parish. Lynn says he made his superiors aware of the problems, including his boss, the cardinal, who died in January.

An alleged prostitution ring in Spain takes the bar code to a whole new level. Listen to this. Police in Madrid rescued a 19-year- old girl from a prostitution ring. And, get this, she had a bar code tattooed on her wrist. See it there. Police say that bar code was used to signify ownership. Authorities say the ring leader tattooed the teen after she tried to escape. Under the bar code, apparently, was a dollar amount, representing what she owed her pimps. Police also found guns and money in the raid.

Now you see it. Now you don't the Amway Arena is now a huge pile of dust and debris. The home of the Orland Magic basketball team was imploded over the weekend, as you just saw there. A man two blocks away was hit in the leg by some of that debris. Not seriously hurt, though. The city has big plans for the area. A live/work neighborhood will rise from the rubble.

Tim Tebow speaks for the first time as an official New York Jet. As a New Yorker, I'm very excited about this. He'll be a back-up quarterback. Could play other roles on the field. Tebow says he's OK with that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM TEBOW, JETS BACKUP QUARTERBACK: And I'm excited to be a Jet. You know, to go out there and to help this team any way that I can. You know, whatever my role is, however I can expand that role, you know, I'm going to try to do that. I will give my whole heart to being the best Jet that I can possibly be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Probably a smart decision to wear a green tie too. The Broncos traded Tebow to the Jets last week after signing Patriots (ph) quarterback Peyton Manning. And "The Hunger Games" rakes in $155 million in this opening weekend. That's double "Twilight's" first weekend, by the way. And the third best debut in movie history. The teen flick sequel "Catching Fire" comes out in November of 2013.

We are watching Sanford, Florida, where Trayvon Martin's parents are getting ready to speak live about the case involving their son. We will bring you there live when it happens. But first, watch this.

An Iraqi woman, mother of five, found beaten to death inside her own home. Next to her, a note with the words, go back to your country, you terrorist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not the terrorist. You are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: As the president's health care law goes on trial, I'll speak live with the young boy who became the face of the controversial overhaul.

Plus, bosses asking employees for their FaceBook passwords. There are new calls to stop this trend.

And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I can live on either side for about 25 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: James Cameron goes where no man has gone before. We'll take you inside the movie director's journey to the deepest spot on earth.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Just in to CNN. Florida teen Trayvon Martin was serving a 10-day school suspension on the day he was shot. Now, that is the reason he was visiting his father in Sanford, Florida.

We want to get straight to CNN's Martin Savidge, who is in Sanford for us.

Martin, so this news broke within the past couple of minutes. What can you tell us about this school suspension?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the information is coming from Trayvon Martin's family. And they are going to hold a news conference to talk on this very subject. But CNN has already learned that apparently in high school, down in Miami where he attends, in a book bag belong to Trayvon Martin was found a plastic bag by school officials. That plastic bag was empty. However, they did test it for residue and apparently it tested positive for marijuana.

Based upon a zero tolerance standard inside of that high school, he was then given that 10-day suspension. And as you aptly point out, that's the reason he was up here visiting and spending time with his father, who lives in Sanford.

CHO: George Zimmerman, the man who shot Trayvon Martin, hasn't been heard from publicly since this shooting, but his attorney did speak to "The Orlando Sentinel," giving some more explanation as to why this happened in what they're calling self-defense. Talk about that.

SAVIDGE: Right. Well, from the beginning, the attorney representing George Zimmerman has said that this was a case of self- defense, the stand your ground law. And also others -- when I talk to the chief, Bill Lee, when he -- before he stepped down, he had told me, too, that evidence seems to support that.

Well now we're beginning to find out more why that is being stated. And this, again, is information right now that's being attributed to "The Orlando Sentinel," the local newspaper. And they're reporting that there was actually a fight that took place between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. And as George Zimmerman tells it to authorities, Trayvon came up to him, struck him once, punching and decking him and then began pummeling or beating his head against the ground.

Now, this would seem to be corroborated somewhat, of course, by the attorney that represents George Zimmerman who says his client had suffered a broken nose and cuts to the back of his head during the altercation.

Alina.

CHO: Are we getting any sense, Martin, of when the parents will be coming out to speak? Of course we're talking about Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, the parents of Trayvon Martin, set to speak any moment now, right?

SAVIDGE: Right. We're expecting to hear from them regarding, you know, what we've been talking about, the suspension. They've also -- you know, they put out a statement earlier because, as you know, there's a large protest that is planned for today. There was also a town hall meeting that will take place inside the civic center here tonight. And there are concerns that tempers could run over the top. The family is asking for calm. So we're anticipating that at any moment we will hear from the family.

We have heard today from Angela Corey, I should point out. She is the special prosecutor on this case. She was talking to HLN, our sister network, and she was also speaking about what it is hoped her investigation will be able to prove. And they admits they have a tough case to try to prove here. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANGELA COREY, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: Justifiable use of deadly force has been asserted in this case and will continue to be asserted. Which will make our job more difficult. However, we do believe that when we're done with our investigation, the family will know all of the facts and details, as will the public. But they must be patient and we ask for their indulgence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Essentially she's got three choices there. She could either charge George Zimmerman, she could clear George Zimmerman, or she could turn the information that they glean over to a jury of some sort. So that's where it stands right now. Many people are growing impatient. But she says, hey, keep in mind, I was only appointed to this job last Thursday. And they've only had what they would say two business days to conduct their investigation and they still have a long way to go. And they have not talked to George Zimmerman yet.

CHO: All the while George Zimmerman suspended but paid all the while.

Martin Savidge, I know you'll be watching all the developments for us. Thank you very much.

And, of course, we'll take you live to Florida as soon as we hear from the parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. That is expected at any moment. So stay with us.

We should mention that there's more proof now how truly national the Trayvon Martin story has become. Look at this here. A CNN/ORC poll of more than 1,000 adults showed that 73 percent of respondents say police should arrest George Zimmerman, 11 percent say he should not be arrested, and 16 percent say they're unsure.

One of the most controversial pieces of legislation in years, the health care law championed by President Obama, goes before the highest court in the land today. You will hear just released audio of what happened inside the Supreme Court next.

OK, as you see there, there is the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Al Sharpton alongside the parents of Trayvon Martin as they get ready to speak. Let's listen in.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY FOR MARTIN FAMILY: Good afternoon. I'm attorney Benjamin Crump, here with attorney Gail Parks (ph) and attorney Natalie Jackson, as well as the parents of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, as well with Reverend Al Sharpton and Reverend Jesse Jackson. We're going to address you all at this time and take a few questions.

And I simply want to start off very clearly -- very clearly. Whatever Trayvon Martin was suspended for had absolutely no bearing on what happened on the night of February 26th. We told you previously when you asked questions that he wasn't suspended for anything violent and he wasn't suspended for anything criminal. And if he and his friends experimented with marijuana, that is still completely irrelevant to George Zimmerman killing their son on the night of February 26th. It is one of those things that the family said, what does that have to do with him killing my son? What does it matter? And that is one of the reasons they continue to say it is irrelevant and we say today that it is completely irrelevant what Trayvon Martin was suspended for on February 26th.

Once again, law enforcement is attempting to demonize and blame the victim by releasing bits and pieces of their ongoing investigation that they feel will help build Zimmerman's claim up. It is irrelevant. Completely irrelevant.

The most important thing in this whole tragedy, this whole -- the most important thing in this whole tragedy is that George Zimmerman disobeyed the police dispatcher and went and stopped and pursued Trayvon Martin and initiated what proved to be a fatal encounter. And beyond that, that is the only thing that is relevant. Listen to the tape.

You're now going to hear from Mr. Tracy Martin and then Ms. Sybrina Fulton and then Reverend Sharpton and then Reverend Jackson.

Mr. Martin.

TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FATHER: Good afternoon.

I'd just like to say that, even in death -- and Trayvon is gone. He will not be returning to us. Even in death, they are still disrespecting my son. And I feel that that's a shame.

Sybrina.

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: The only comment that I have right now is that they've killed my son and now they're trying to kill his reputation.

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Let me say that when we first got involved in this case, the day the police chief announced there would be no arrest for probable cause, I had a very candid and open conversation with the attorneys. And then with the parents. And we haven't been involved in many of these cases. That (ph) day I was told of all of the particular issues that they may try to raise. We saw them as irrelevant then. We see them as irrelevant now.

I said to the parent, as much as it will hurt, they will try to make your son a junkie, a thief, an assaulter and everything else before this is over, because they've done it in every case we have fought. The only thing that is relevant is what Mr. Zimmerman knew that day. If Mr. Zimmerman had no knowledge, he had no reason to do anything. If he did have knowledge, the only thing he was -- had the reason to do was to call the police and turn that in. We're dealing with a self-appointed watch guy (ph) who disobeyed the dispatcher's instructions that he agreed to. All else is irrelevant.

Now, if you want to discuss something relevant, discuss what Zimmerman might have had in his system. Discuss his past. Mr. Zimmerman was not tested. Trayvon was. Let's examine why we had a test on the victim rather than the one that was aggressive. Let's not play this double standard of trying to demonize who is dead and sanitize who was the cause of the death.

CHO: There you heard from the Reverend Al Sharpton speaking from Sanford, Florida, along with Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, who fought back tears. Obviously emotions still running high. She said her son is dead, but now they are trying to kill his reputation with the news that's just coming out within the past hour that Trayvon Martin had been suspended from school for 10 days for what authorities are saying were drug residue found in his book bag, marijuana, in empty baggies.

We are following this story very closely. Of course, a lot of questions, fundamental questions remain on what happened on the night of February 26th between the time that George Zimmerman called 911, saying that there was a suspicious person and the time police arrived to find Trayvon Martin on the ground face down and dead. We are watching this developing story very closely. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Welcome back.

A line of people, hours, even days of waiting. Not for a concert, but for a court case that will impact every American. Today is the first day the Supreme Court began listening to arguments about the Affordable Health Care Act. Of course opponents call it Obamacare. These people wanted to make sure they got a spot in the courtroom. The act would mandate nearly every person have health insurance coverage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Open our hearts so that we are not afraid to get involved in meeting the needs of --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: No doubt it's a red hot topic with rallies outside the courthouse for and against the mandate. And Republicans who want to be president wasted no time in using the case to their advantage. Take Rick Santorum on the courthouse steps. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's not. The reason that I talk about Obamacare and its impact on the economy and on fundamental freedoms and Mitt Romney doesn't, is because he can't because he supported government-run health care as governor of Massachusetts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: CNN's senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us live from outside the Supreme Court.

You were inside the courtroom for these first day of arguments, Jeffrey. Some pretty tense legal speak, but this is why you're here for us. So simplify it so that our viewers and I understand what happened inside the courtroom today.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: OK. Here's the English language version.

CHO: All right.

TOOBIN: What happened was -- the issue to be discussed today was actually very discreet, very limited. Is was, is this whole case premature at this point? As many people know, the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare if you prefer, doesn't go fully into effect until 2014. And a couple of the judges who have reviewed it have said, look, because the law doesn't go into effect for a couple of years, we don't think we should deal with the issue. That's the question that was before the court.

And I think, through the justice's questions, we could see clearly that they were not buying that argument. They felt that now was the time to deal with the law, now is the time to weigh the constitutionality. So I think that much about the argument is clear. That just raises the stakes for tomorrow when they will hear arguments on whether the law is, in fact, constitutional.

CHO: All right. We don't often get to hear the voices of the Supreme Court justice. But today we got in some audio of today's proceedings. We're going to hear from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I want you to listen to this and we'll pick you up on the other side. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG, SUPREME COURT (voice-over): All this talk about tax penalties, it's all beside the point because this suit is not challenging the penalty. This is a suit that is challenging the "must buy" provision. And the argument is made that if indeed "must buy" is constitutional, then these complainants will not resist the penalty. So what they're seeking is a determination that the "must buy" requirement, stated separately from the penalty, that "must buy" is unconstitutional. And if that's so, that's the end of the case. If it's not so, they're not resisting the penalty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: All right, Jeffrey, this was, again, a lot of legal speak. But the bottom line here is that they're going to listen to some six hours of arguments. They're going to make a decision in June. I'm being told we lost Jeffrey Toobin. And a big question, of course, remains -- and we're going to try to get Jeffrey back -- a big question remain, will ultimately Obamacare, as critics call it, or the Affordable Health Care Act, be upheld as constitutional or not?

And we want to bring in Elizabeth Cohen, who is talking a little bit more about this.

Elizabeth, OK, so the individual mandate, obviously, is the biggest point of contention here that would mandate some -- more than 40 million Americans who are currently uninsured to have health insurance. And one of the provisions is that there would be a penalty if you don't get that health insurance, right?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I like how Ruth Bader Ginsburg called it. She called it the "must buy" provision.

CHO: Right.

COHEN: You must buy health insurance. And, Alina, that's really pretty unprecedented in this country. We don't tell people you have to buy something.

CHO: Right.

COHEN: So let's break it down. Now, for people like you and me who work for a company that has insurance, we don't really care about this.

CHO: It's not an issue.

COHEN: Right, it's not an issue. They give us insurance. We're fine. But many, many millions, tens of millions of Americans, buy insurance on their own. And so they will have to keep buying it. And then lots of people don't buy it at all. They say, you know, I don't want to buy it. So this says you have to.

So I'm going to introduce you to some fictitious friends of mine. My imaginary friends for the day.

CHO: Yes, cute, cute people.

COHEN: Cute people, yes. So let's introduce you to Eddy The Entrepreneur. Eddy works for himself. He doesn't get insurance through his employer. He earns $80,000 a year. Under this rule, they say to him, Eddy, buddy, write us a check for $4,500. And if you don't, if you don't buy insurance, we are going to charge you a penalty of $2,000. So Eddy has a choice. Eddy can pay the lower amount, the penalty, which would seem like the obvious thing, right, you know, it's less, but he doesn't get anything for it. He just pays the penalty and doesn't get anything.

CHO: Right. So for $2,500 more --

COHEN: Exactly, he could actually get insurance.

CHO: Right.

COHEN: So, you know, one would hope that he would make that decision because, if Eddy doesn't and he gets sick and ends up in an emergency room, you and I have to pay for him.

CHO: Right.

COHEN: And then let me introduce you to Eddy's friend Maria. He has a friend Maria who's a musician. She doesn't do as well as Eddy does.

CHO: OK.

COHEN: She only makes $25,000.

CHO: So she's a struggling musician.

COHEN: She's a struggling musician, right. You can see she's kind of struggling with that violin there. She would have to pay $1,726 for insurance or pay a penalty of $695. Again, Maria has a similar choice. Now, Maria's insurance, you'll notice, Alina, is a lot cheaper than her friend Eddy's. It's not because she's cuter. It's because she makes so little money that the government has stepped in and subsidized the rest of the cost.

Now, a lot of people I'm sure are wondering, gee, what would it cost me to get insurance and would I get help from the government?

CHO: Right.

COHEN: If you go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient, we have a link to a calculator and you can put in your income and see the answers.

CHO: All right. But then the penalties don't apply to everyone, right? There are exceptions.

COHEN: Yes, there are exceptions. Some people would not have to pay a penalty. Actually, a pretty hefty percentage wouldn't have to.

CHO: Oh.

COHEN: So I want to introduce you to the Clark family. So this is a family of four. Together they earn $80,000. They would have to pay $7,600 for insurance. If they choose not to, they don't get any penalty. Zero. And the reason for that is that $7,600 is such a big chunk of their income, that the government kind of gives them a pass. The government says, you know what, we understand. We get it. That's a huge amount of money. I mean that's --

CHO: Is that percentage based?

COHEN: It's percentage based. So it's very good. So it's less than 8 percent. You get an "a" for this segment. So it's less than 8 percent -- I mean, I'm' sorry, it's more than 8 percent and so they say it's so much money that we will not charge you a penalty. And so, again, it will be interesting to see what the Clark family does. That's a lot of money for them.

CHO: Uh-huh.

COHEN: But before it would have cost them even more.

CHO: Sure.

COHEN: Or maybe they couldn't even get insurance. So they may say, great, it's worth it to us. We have kids. We want them to be safe. Or they might say, you know what, forget it, we don't want insurance, we're healthy, we don't even want to go there.

CHO: Thank you for the "a." I'm not as dumb as I look.

All right, you have a story coming up about a little girl who really is depending on this coverage, right?

COHEN: That's right, because people forget sometimes, the health care reform, some of its already gone into effect.

CHO: Right.

COHEN: And so there's a little girl named Violet who was about to lose her insurance --

CHO: Pre-existing (INAUDIBLE).

COHEN: Partly because of pre-existing and partly because of lifetime limits. But she was going to lose her insurance and now she has it. It's stable. It's not going anywhere. But if the Supreme Court reverses its -- and reverses health care reform, if it overturns it --

CHO: Right.

COHEN: Violet will lose her insurance.

CHO: Oh, boy.

COHEN: So we spent time with her and her family and they talk about -- this family is glued to this argument. They are -- the Supreme Court argument is everything to them. It's their daughter's health.

CHO: You're talking about boiling down this issue, which is so complicated. I mean, two years out, we were talking about this earlier.

So many people are still so confused by this health care act and then you look at this family. I mean, this is why we're debating this issue because it does impact so many Americans and so many little girls and boys out there.

COHEN: You know, for her it's not confusing at all. For her, if the Supreme Court overturns health care reform, she will lose her insurance and she will not be able to get new insurance. She will be uninsurable and she's very sick.

CHO: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you as always for simplifying it for us.

COHEN: My pleasure.

CHO: Stay with us because I want you to watch this.

Coming up, remember this image when the president signed the Affordable Health Care Act law? That boy right him in the similar tie is Marcellus Owens. He was 11 years old at the time. He's now 13.

He's going to join me live in the next hour. He's going to talk about how his work advocating for health care is far from finish.

And the wife of an American soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians speaks out today. You're going to hear from Sergeant Robert Bales' wife right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: The wife of the soldier charged with 17 counts of murder in the massacre of Afghan civilians has set up a fund to help pay for her husband's defense.

Karilyn Bales has two young children with Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, ages 3 and 4. She stands firm that he did not go on a murder spree that left nine children dead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARILYN BALES, WIFE OF AFGHAN MASSACRE SUSPECT: He loves children. He's like a big kid himself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is accused of killing nine children, innocent children.

BALES: I have no idea what happened, but he would not -- he loves children and he would not do that. It's heart breaking. I can't imagine losing my children. So my heart definitely goes out to them for losing all of their children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it possible in your mind that this is just the stress of war?

BALES: That's what I thought of, yes. It seemed like this mission was different than the Iraq tours so more intense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you read some of the reports coming out, that there's surveillance video that he walked back to the base and turned himself in. How do you square that and still say I don't think he was involved?

BALES: I used to believe that everything I read was true or you know, most things that were true. Now as I'm reading a little bit this, some things are true and some things aren't true. So I'm waiting to hear what actually is true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: That was Karilyn Bales on the "Today Show" this morning. She says she's never noticed signs of mental instability in her husband who is now 38.

But now there are questions that the pills soldiers use to prevent malaria may have had some kind of influence. CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joins us live to talk a little bit more about that. So, Chris, what's this all about? CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you mentioned there are questions. T he hard part is getting the answers. Primarily because Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, the medications he was taking is part of confidential medical information, like it would be for any of us.

His medical records are sealed. So we don't know what specific medications he was taking. There is an issue with one of the medications that the U.S. military has used over the years.

It's called mefloquine and it's used to treat malaria. Afghanistan is a country with malaria. In fact, there are a couple of different drugs you can use to treat malaria. And Afghanistan has strain of malaria that's resistant to one.

So in that country, you have a few less options than you would in other parts of the world. Let me read a statement from the Pentagon, sort of trying to distance their investigation from this drug from what happened in this case.

It says the department wide review of mefloquine prescription practices has no connection to Staff Sergeant Robert Bales investigation. The assistant secretary of Health Affairs requested this review in January to ensure that each service conducts proper screening, patient education and medical documentation.

However, just about a week ago, the Army put out a high importance memo ordering their people to sort of speed up that review. Apparently, they had not acted on it and there was a time constraint on acting on that review to look at this drug.

CHO: Meanwhile, there are new details -- of course, so many questions about what happened on that day, March 11th. And there are new details coming out that the victims were killed in two separate attacks on that day? Talk about that, Chris.

LAWRENCE: Yes, we always knew, Alina, that there were two separate attacks. One village was sort of north of this particular combat outpost. The other village was somewhat south of the outpost.

But what we've learned just recently over the weekend is that apparently a defense official confirms that from the investigation, it looks that as if Sergeant Bales or whoever committed this shooting that they left the base, went to one village, came back to the base and then went to the other village.

We don't have an exact time frame on that in terms of how much time may have been spent at that base, but you can assume it was talking to some of the security guards who noticed him leaving, going over some of the video that was available off his comings and goings.

But it does raise a lot of questions legally both for the prosecutor and especially for the defense if indeed he had time to come back to the base and then think about leaving again to go to this second village.

CHO: All right, Chris Lawrence live at the Pentagon for us. Chris, thank you as always.

Coming up, North Korea reportedly moved a long range rocket to the launch pad today. It comes as President Obama visits South Korea for a nuclear summit. We'll have that story after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: President Obama is in South Korea today and next door, a long range rocket is reportedly on the launch pad. A U.S. official says there are signs the North Koreans are preparing for a launch.

This comes as more than 50 world leaders including President Obama are in Seoul, South Korea, for a nuclear security summit. So what does this mean for the world community?

Georgetown University Professor Victor Cha is senior adviser and Korean chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Victor, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.

President Obama said he did something he's never done before. Over the weekend, he visited, as you can see those pictures there. He visited the heavily fortified demilitarized zone known as the DMZ, which separates North and South Korea. You were quite taken by that, why?

VICTOR CHA, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, I think for anyone who's been to the DMZ, it is -- it makes a really big impression. I think in President Obama's case, in many ways it was a reality check for him with regard to his diplomacy on North Korea.

He's come a long way in many ways full circle in terms of the diplomacy on North Korea trying to be engagement oriented than getting slapped in the face by these North Korean provocations.

And then for him to stand on the DMZ and look into North Korea and see that this is, you know, the most heavily fortified militarized borer in the world where as he said the Korean War has never ended. I think in many ways, it probably made a very deep impression on him and what he is up against in North Korea.

CHO: I think it's important to note that the war they signed a ceasefire in 1953, but the war never officially ended. Having said that, you know, as President Obama looked across into North Korea, what he saw were flags flying at half staff, marking 100 days since the death of Kim Jong Il.

He also said it's like you near a time warp. Having been there now twice to North Korea, I can tell you that definitely is the case. I want to talk a little bit more about the satellite launch.

Because the best indications that we have from sources is that this satellite launch is going to happen sometime next month, probably between April 12 and 16.

Of course, this is in direct violation of an agreement North Korea made with the U.S. and really the world in exchange for food aid. Now, I want you to listen to what President Obama said about that. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There will be no rewards for provocations. Those days are over. To the leader of Pyongyang, this is the choice before you. This is the decision that you must make. Today we say, Pyongyang, have the courage to pursue peace and give a better life to the people of North Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Strong words, but strong enough, Victor?

CHA: Well, I think they are strong words. It's a very direct message both to the new leadership of North Korea as well as to the people of North Korea.

But at the same time, I'm a little bit concerned that the North Koreans are going to go ahead with this missile test. They call is a satellite launch, but it's basically the same technology for a ballistic missile.

Unlike their previous two tests, this one may actually be successful. If it is successful, they could potentially demonstrate an ICBM capability that could reach Hawaii, Alaska and possibly the west coast of the United States.

CHO: How concerned are you?

CHA: Alina, I'm quite concerned. I think the words are strong by President Obama, rightly so. But at the same time, you know, there are reports now that they're standing this thing up on a missile gantry and they're putting this on the launch pad and we're just watching it and not really doing anything about it.

CHO: One final question very quickly, just about Kim Jong-Un, the son of Kim Jong-Il now the new leader of North Korea, not even 30 years old untested. Are you getting an indication of just how he will lead the country?

CHA: Well, I think, you know, we know less about him than we knew about Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden, Moammar Gadhafi. You know, I think after the February 28th agreement.

The agreement you referred to earlier, there was real hope that this guy might be a young, enlightened leader that would take North Korea in a different direction.

But you know, following that agreement within days of this announcement of a missile test in violation of everything, not just the agreement with the U.S., but every standing U.N. Security Council resolution. These people who think not only is he dangerous, but he may be more dangerous than his father. CHO: Victor Cha, as always, we thank you for your insight into this complicated issue and we'll be watching, of course, what happens with North Korea in the coming days and weeks. Thank you so much.

CHA: Thank you.

CHO: Coming up, a massive cheating scandal in Atlanta leads to a much broader investigation. We're now hearing that nearly 200 school districts across the country may have some level of cheating. The details are just 2 minutes away. Stay with us. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: Welcome back. On the heels of the biggest school cheating scandal in American history, an investigation finds suspicious test scores in close to 200 school districts cross the country. More than 100 teachers and principals have been implicated in the Atlanta cheating scandal.

Atlanta alone and some level of cheating was found in more than half of the elementary and middle schools in the city. So the "Atlanta Journal Constitution," the main newspaper here in the city launched a nationwide investigation.

And it found that scores in about 200 districts followed a testing pattern that in Atlanta indicated schools had cheated. Now this doesn't mean that cheating actually occurred in all of those school districts, but it certainly doesn't look good.

Now we've got Carl Azuz with us. He's an anchor with CNN's Student News. This was a widespread investigation, 69,000 public schools. They found troubling and suspicious activity in hundreds of schools across the nation, right?

CARL AZUZ, ANCHOR, CNN STUDENT NEWS: That's exactly right. It's not relegated to a specific region or specific area, anything like that. Hundreds of schools allegedly involved with suspicious activity.

And what we mean by that is we're looking at test scores and how these test scores change from year to year and grade to grade. What the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" did was it looked at 69,000 public schools, as you mentioned, Alina and it checked out these test scores own how they changed over time.

And what they basically found is results that they characterized as highly unlikely. For instance, in one school system, 42 percent of fourth graders passed a state math test. The next year, that school system was under investigation so the fifth graders, just 4 percent of students passed the state math test. Now the AJC said that doesn't necessarily prove cheating, but where there's smoke --

CHO: If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's most likely a duck, right?

AZUZ: It seems that way.

CHO: So what is the reasoning behind this? There's a lot of talk about race to the top and no child left behind. I mean, at a very base level. I mean, these schools, these teachers allegedly were afraid of school closures, right? They don't want their schools to be closed. They want to meet these minimum requirements, right?

AZUZ: In some cases it's the teachers and some cases, it could be the administrators. A lot of critics say this basically comes down to federal funds, federal requirements being linked to standardized test scores.

They believe that's responsible for a lot of problems here. And when you have test scores used to evaluate teachers or evaluate school funds as is the case on race to the top, or when use them to talk about whether schools can stay open.

That's a big one under no child left behind. They have to meet these federal requirements that some say can't be met, schools are threatened with closure. So when you have a situation like that, critics say that creates a culture to stay open at all cause it could encourage cheating.

CHO: Sure, when jobs are on the line. Sure.

AZUZ: Exactly.

CHO: Of course, Carl Azuz, thank you as always.

AZUZ: Thanks, Alina.

CHO: Great to see you.

Up next, a real musician's musician. Watch. He's from the Pacific Northwest. That's my neck of the woods. I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. That's an area known more for grunge rock than jazz. I can attest to that.

This is what you get when you add one part miles Davis a dash of Louis Armstrong and a sprinkle of Doc Sevrenson. We're serving up some smooth jazz for you on this "Music Monday."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHO: All right, so (inaudible) know him better than his neighbors do. He's on tour about 300 days a year and when he plays the trumpet, you'll hear hints of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, pretty easy on the eyes, too. We want you to sit down and relax and take in the smooth jazzy sounds of Chris Botti in today's "Music Monday."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS BOTTI, MUSICIAN: I'm really not one of those guys that, you know, want to have a clothing line and perfume and to be an entrepreneur, you know? I think there's something noble about going place to place and making music with a great orchestra. I grew up in Oregon and I heard Doc Sevrenson playing the trumpet.

I played the trumpet. I was fascinated by it and then three years later, I heard Miles Davis for the first time and that was it. You know, I heard him play that very beautiful, haunting, trumpet sound and it was mesmerizing to me.

I'm lucky enough to have this very old instrument, which resonates with me. It's a 1939 Martin trumpet. I've only had it for about 11 years. This little part is from 1926.

I played one note on it 11 years ago and instantly knew that this was my horn. So I've been touring. This is the only horn I have, unlike guitar players that have many, many different guitars. I just carry this one.

I know what I'm going to play, but I'm still mesmerized by someone like Billy Kilsen or Lisa Fisher singing so great or Arika Duka playing beautiful violin. You want to listen to it and appreciate them for being artists and also back away and let it soothe you.

I would love to make people aware of the impact of music for young people. What I'm even more concerned about is to get a kid to have that fire to want to play an instrument and maybe not so much time on the internet or the guitar hero.

When you're playing guitar hero, it's really not a guitar. It's this generation's verse of Pacman. People ask me all the time about my success and I just say well, the four ingredients to success are practice, practice, practice and be friends with sting.

I remember when I was able to pay my first month's rent in New York, it was a big satisfaction, to be able to pay it playing an instrument, you know?

I played on the streets of New York and we played Christmas carols. And then a lot of my friends went on to play trumpet and trombone and I went off and did my thing. It was nice to see that started out sort of really diminished and then grew from there.

I'm not necessarily trying to conquer the world with a shoe line. You know, it's not my fit.