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Officials Testify On Spending Scandal; Rebels Assault Kabul and 3 Provinces; Energy Efficient Lights; "Protect Our Kids"; Dempsey, Panetta Speak on Secret Service Scandal; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; Music Monday

Aired April 16, 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: And hello to all of you. Happy Monday. A lot happening this hour. "Rapid Fire," as always. Roll it.

Want to begin here. These are live pictures. This committee on Capitol Hill is looking into how the General Services Administration, or the GSA, spent $800,000, your dollars, taxpayer dollars, in a word, hearing from some of these folks, both now former and current GSA, the theme is remorseful, apologetic as they're going on down the row here. Now the GSA, here's the back story, they spent this $800,000 on videos and many other high-dollar items at a Las Vegas conference. The conference happened in 2010. Here's an example of one of those videos. And so the man you see here speaking, this is Jeff Neely, a deputy commissioner. He may be pleading the fifth at today's hearing. But other top officials of the GSA, they are expected to testify.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), HOUSE OVERSIGHT CHAIRMAN: Our duty on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee is to protect these rights. Our solemn responsibility is to hold government accountable to taxpayers because taxpayers have a right to know what they get from their government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The head of the GSA, Martha Johnson, she resigned because of the scandal. We're going to keep our eye on this. We're going to talk to Dana Bash there in this hearing room in just a moment.

Meantime, as many as five more military personnel are facing questions about what happened at that hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia. That is in addition to the five Army troops and 11 Secret Service agents and officers now under investigation for possibly bringing prostitutes to the hotel. The Secret Service members were in Colombia ahead of the president, planning for the president's trip to the country. The president had not yet arrived and he did not stay at that particular hotel.

And despite rising gas prices, people are still shopping. Retail prices, retail sales for March were up 0.8 percent -- so just a teeny, tiny bit -- beating economists expectations. Some of the biggest gains in sales were at building and garden supply stores and car dealerships. The World Bank announces its new president. President Obama's nominee, Jim Yong Kim, the president of Dartmouth. His specialty is public health rather than finance. And while it turned out an American was once again chosen to head the organization, this was the first time ever there was a competition for the top spot at the World Bank. The other contender was Nigeria's finance minister.

I love this video. The first of four space shuttles retired last year heading to its final home. This is the time lapse video from NASA. It shows teams connecting space shuttle Discovery here to the top of this -- look at this -- to the top of this 747 for the trip to Washington. The orbiter will soon be on display at the Virginia facility that is part of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Thousands and thousands of space fans are expected at its sendoff ceremony in Florida tomorrow.

And summer-like temperatures in the spring? They're kind of great, unless you have to run a marathon. People who ran the Boston Marathon today faced a high of 88 degrees. Race organizers directed runners to go slower, take more breaks. The heat apparently affected the winner's time. A man from Kenya won was two hours, 12 minutes, 40 seconds. That is the second slowest -- so slow, isn't it -- the second slowest Boston Marathon finish since 1985.

And Bee Gee's great Robin Gibb is clinging to life today. One-third of the famous brothers, Gibb is in a coma, has pneumonia. The prolific songwriter has already had battles with colon and liver cancer. We're going to keep you posted on his health fight.

And Tom Petty says no questions asked, just wants to get his five guitars back. They were stolen from a rehearsal sound stage. Petty and the Heartbreakers are getting ready to go on tour Wednesday. There is a $7,500 reward for those stolen guitars.

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

Government workers go to Vegas, party on your dime, then they make these videos poking fun at spending your money. Well, there is a grilling going on. We're going to find out who did what.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

A man says he killed 77 people in this rampage of bullets and bombs. But despite his confession, he's claiming self-defense. Wait until you hear why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Of course I'll be angry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sex, cash, hookers and a hotel. The allegations against agents in charge of protecting the president make us question the inside world of the Secret Service. Plus, as paparazzi chase Katherine Middleton's little sis, her driver waves a gun. Now in the same city where Princess Diana died, Pippa Middleton could be in some trouble.

And, they have the number one song in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Why is that so hot right now, do you think?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So on this music Monday, I'm going to have some fun.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So, right now, as we mentioned at the top of this show, this House Oversight Committee right now, led by Darrell Issa, meeting. And so they're talking to different people involved in this GSA scandal. I just want to read you what we've just heard from Jeff Neely, deputy GSA commissioner. I'm just going to read this verbatim.

He said, "Mr. Chairman, on the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based on my Fifth Amendment constitutional privilege." So as a result of that, on Capitol Hill, he has chosen not to incriminate himself and now they're taking a time-out for the moment.

But these men and these women, and other government officials involved in this lavish Las Vegas conference, they are speaking out for the very first time. Today they are on Capitol Hill. And what they're doing is they're appearing before Congress in this investigation into a spending scandal at the agency that's supposed to cut government waste. The House Oversight Committee is questioning General Service Administration officials about this 2010 conference that cost $800,000. GSA administrator, Martha Johnson, stepped down two weeks ago as details of this conference and other items began to emerge.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Videos, like this one, began to surface, joking about spending too much money and avoiding an investigation. Let me show you another video. Another video shows a fake red carpet ceremony with deputy GSA Commissioner Jeff Neely. He's seen saying, and I'm quoting, "what's done in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

House Oversight Chairman, as I mentioned a moment ago, Darrell Issa, says the goal of the investigation is to ensure something like this never happens again. Let's go to CNN's Dana Bash, who is on Capitol Hill, as we're looking live. Here's Chairman Issa.

Dana, run through this group for me. Who exactly is testifying?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, right now I think what you're looking at is the chairman beginning to do the questioning, the grilling of the panel. And he just started to question Martha Johnson, who is the -- was the GSA administrator until she was effectively fired two weeks ago today. Her opening statement was -- in fact, almost all of them were remarkable in that they weren't just falling on their swords, it was like they were diving on their swords, saying how incredibly sorry they are.

She, in particular, talked about the fact that she apologized for what she called really over the top and extravagant spending and behavior. And she said she will mourn for the rest of her life the loss of her appointment. And she talked about the gall of a handful of people and all of this lavish spending. But she said that she -- that she tried to at least make broom (ph) or make move to fix some of this while she was still there.

BALDWIN: Right. And you point out, she is an Obama appointee. And, Dana, if I may, just --

BASH: And she's an Obama appointee. But I think the most dramatic moment so far, you talked about Jeff Neely, the one who was on the fake red carpet. He was the one who really organized this 2010 Las Vegas conference. He just told the committee that he is going to take the fifth effectively.

BALDWIN: Right.

BASH: But not before the Republican chairman, you know, knows that the cameras are there, and asked I think about six questions. Really basic questions. Were you at the conference? Who do you work for? Do you still work for them? Just to make the point that Neely was not going to answer any questions. Then he dismissed them.

BALDWIN: But you mentioned --

BASH: But this is just the beginning of this hearing. And I've got to tell you, though, who needs the Republicans when you've got the Democrats. The top Democrat --

BALDWIN: Let me jump in. Let me jump in.

BASH: Yes.

BALDWIN: Because the top Democrat, Elijah Cummings, his opening remarks, ripping --

BASH: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Ripping into Neely, who, as we mentioned, took the fifth. Let's just play the sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELIJAH CUMMINGS (D), MARYLAND: In one e-mail, Mr. Neely invited personal friends to the conference, writing, and I quote, and this is simply incredible, quote, "we'll get you guys a room near us and we'll pick up the room tab. Could be a blast." End of quote. He then wrote -- then went on and wrote this. "I know I'm bad, but as Deb and I often say, why not enjoy it while we have it and while we can. Ain't going to last forever." End of quote. Well, Mr. Neely, it stops now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow. It isn't going to last forever, so enjoy it now.

Dana, take me back. We're talking about this 2010 conference in Vegas. What kind of items did the GSA spend money on in Vegas?

BASH: Well, the overall cost was, first of all, exorbitant. It was more than $800,000 for one conference. But the specifics is really what gets people going. $75,000 for a contest to help build bikes. $59,000 for the audio-visual system. And the list goes on and on and on.

But specifically what we're hearing more and more, and especially from Congressman Cummings, the lead Democrat on this committee, are things that Jeff Neely, again who the organizer, just was completely flagrant in his spending, knowing, according to these e-mails, that he was doing this in violation of what is really right, never mind what should be legal, but really common sense. As Cummings sure (ph) said, this is not your money, this is taxpayers' money. And he just was spending it in an extravagant way.

BALDWIN: I know you're there. You're going to be watching this. We're going to be watching this as well. But I can't let you go without also asking, I know Chairman Issa, he's admitting that some of this over the top GSA spending happened during the Bush administration as well. This wasn't just under President Obama. Do we expect the Bush officials will testify there as well?

BASH: Not today. That's something that I pressed the chairman on several times in several different ways when I talked to him yesterday in his office. He did admit that spending went up during the Bush years and he actually -- his office provided some numbers to me that shows it was, you know, nearly 100 percent in the last two years of the Bush administration. But he insists that this is about a president, meaning President Obama, who promised to turn things around. And the question is, why this current president hasn't done this. He promises he's going to keep investigating and look into the Bush year, but no witnesses planned right now.

BALDWIN: OK, Dana Bash, we'll check back, on Capitol Hill.

BASH: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Dana, thank you.

Meantime, explosions rocking the Afghanistan capital for 18 hours. Watch this. Now the only insurgent who survived tells us who was behind the attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to show you now what's happened in downtown Kabul. Ten years into the Afghan war, rebels paralyze the capital for 18 hours. Look at this. This was the scene in Kabul. And we're now told it's over. Four civilians killed, eight uniformed Afghan soldiers killed. Also killed, 35 insurgents.

What we're talking about here, though, specifically, wasn't confined to Kabul. You also had assault apparently on consort (ph) across four different provinces. Again, 10 years into this war. Joining me live from the Afghan capital is CNN's Mohammed Jamjoon.

And, Mohammed, the insurgents appear to have brought to this battle some very serious fire power. Do we know how they managed to smuggle the weapons into Kabul, which is supposedly heavily guarded.

MOHAMMED JAMJOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Brooke, we must emphasis the attacks in Kabul took place in a neighborhood that is very heavily fortified, very heavily secured. It's called the "ring of steel." It's an area where there are embassies. The ISAF NATO headquarters. It's close to the presidential palace.

Now, we got some more details today on how exactly these insurgents managed to infiltrate this part of the city. In a presser by the interior minister, it was announced that many of the insurgents disguised themselves as women wearing burqas. And, in fact, in the cars that they were driving in, a lot of them had flowers in those cars to try to sneak past security checkpoints and convince the guards that they were women that were possibly going to wedding parties here in the capital.

But again, we must mention, many checkpoints in this part of the city, very heavily fortified. The fact that they were able to get into this part of the city 10 years into this war, in a neighborhood that is so heavily guarded, a very, very worrying development.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Wow, flowers in the car to be a disguise. I know CNN's Christiane Amanpour, obviously hot on this story today, she spoke with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. How could this happen? That's the question. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: This is exactly the question the Afghan people are asking. This is exactly the question that the Afghan people have been asking now for some years. This is indicative (INAUDIBLE) of a serious intelligence failure, especially an intelligence failure of our allies and NATO and others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Mohammed, is President Karzai saying this is NATO's fault?

JAMJOON: Well, it certainly seems to be the case. Earlier he issued a statement in which he blamed Afghan intelligence, but also NATO intelligence. And this really just highlights the divisions here about who exactly is in control of security.

Now, Afghan security forces are supposed to be in charge of security in Kabul and they're supposed to be taking charge more and more in other parts of the country of the security. But the fact that NATO is blamed at a time when Afghan security forces were being praised for their response to the attacks yesterday is very confusing and it really leads to just many more questions about who exactly is in charge of security here in Afghanistan.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: But speaking of security, you know, as you point out, it was the Afghan security forces who really, you know, kept those rebels at bay. Did it on their own. Is that the takeaway here without apparently significant NATO backup? If that's the takeaway, that's really significant.

JAMJOON: Well, that's certainly the takeaway that the U.S. and other allies in Afghanistan would want people to take from this. Yesterday, even while the attacks were ongoing early in the day, you have statements by U.S. Ambassador Ryan Croker and by NATO officials really praising Afghan security forces for their rapid response to this, for their readiness for taking the lead, for doing this on their own, even though NATO had offered their assistance. We found out much later in the day and into the morning that, in fact, ISAF had offered aerial support in some of the attacks against the insurgents early this morning. So even though NATO and the U.S. saying, hey, Afghan security did such a great job, it really leads to more questions as to if they needed this support. And if insurgents were able to infiltrate such a heavily guarded part of the city, are they really that ready and are they really as capable as they're being sold by the west as being.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Mohammed Jamjoon, thank you.

Just into us here at CNN, killing new video, this alleged killer. Police say this 19-year-old took a young, targeted black people and went on a murder spree. We now are hearing a jailhouse interview. We're going to play that for you next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A judge has entered not guilty pleas for those two men accused of a shooting spree in Oklahoma. It happened earlier this month. You have Jake England and Alvin Watts. They allegedly killed three people in a predominantly black neighborhood in Tulsa. Another two people were wounded. And defendant Jake England's lawyer has just released this jailhouse interview. It is raw and it's very personal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After your father died and your mother was in prison and you were taking care of your sister, what was your occupation? What were you doing at 17 years old?

JAKE ENGLAND, TULSA SHOOTING SUSPECT: I was trying to take care of my dad's business the best I could. Trying and carry it on. But that was quite a handful for a 17-year-old.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your dad's business?

ENGLAND: He ran a (INAUDIBLE) tree service. That's in removal of trees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And you weren't able to carry it out at 17?

ENGLAND: No, it was pretty tough. So I went ahead and went and started working with another guy that my dad did business with, Trees By Daniel (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did you work for him for a while?

ENGLAND: Yes, I worked with him for around two years and, met Sheran, and we've got a baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, now that's your girlfriend, Sheran?

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how old at that -- how long were you with Sheran?

ENGLAND: Under two years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, all up until the time you were arrested, were you working essentially full time on the job?

ENGLAND: Yes. Every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Now, let's talk about Sheran. When you and Sheran lived together, you had a little baby.

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When was the baby born?

ENGLAND: He was born October 25, 2011, at 1:01 a.m.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And his -- that's Jacob Jr.?

ENGLAND: Yes. Jake (INAUDIBLE) II.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now Sheran and you, where did you live?

ENGLAND: We lived in my dad's old house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that in Turley?

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now you lived on the north side essentially your entire life?

ENGLAND: Yes, my whole life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you felt you knew everybody there, had a lot of friends?

ENGLAND: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Had a lot of friends?

ENGLAND: Yes. I knew every neighbor, everybody down my street, half the people in Turley.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I noticed, as we were coming in today, neighbors were visiting you.

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now let's talk a little bit about, if we could, Sheran. Something horrible happened in January of this year to your -- to the mother of your child.

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

ENGLAND: She shot herself in the head about two feet away from him. And our son (ph) was right there in the same room.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's your little child?

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old -- how many children did Sheran have?

ENGLAND: She had three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One with you.

ENGLAND: She had one with me, an eight-year-old girl and a two-year- old boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you were the father of --

ENGLAND: The two-year-old boy didn't know anybody else to call dad but me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bu you? And when did Sheran take her life?

ENGLAND: January 10, 2012. Approximately at 9:00 in the morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just a few months ago?

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you -- did you witness that as well?

ENGLAND: Yes, I was standing about two feet away from her when it all happened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did that impact you? ENGLAND: (INAUDIBLE) more than anybody could ever really ever imagine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you love her?

ENGLAND: Yes. Tremendous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, after Sheran took her life, did you continue on being a father to Jake Jr. and to Case (ph)? Did you take care of them?

ENGLAND: Yes, I did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you work every day?

ENGLAND: Every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Did there come a point in time when, as a result of these deaths relatively close in time of people that you greatly love, that you had to get help and get some medication to deal with that depression?

ENGLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And did you do so? Did you get help?

ENGLAND: No, I didn't. I just got medication to help me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

ENGLAND: Overcome bad thoughts, I guess.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't easy, was it?

ENGLAND: No, it wasn't. Still isn't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jake England in jail. Again, he is one of the men accused of shooting and killing three people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last week. We're going to have more of the stunning video of this interview next hour. And we're also going to talk to Sunny Hostin about what this may mean for Jake England's defense next hour here on CNN.

Still ahead, though, the investigation over the alleged sex scandal involving the Secret Service just got bigger. CNN has learned several others are now facing questions about their behavior, and they're not agents. We're live at the Pentagon in 80 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: How about this. A light bulb that lasts 46 years is on the market. And something simple you can do for Earth Day, which, by the way, is Sunday. I want you to watch this from CNN photojournalist Jeremy Moorhead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEREMY MOORHEAD, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST (voice-over): We are at Fragers's Hardware. Established in 1920, 11 blocks from the U.S. capital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would call this energy efficient land.

Thanks. We have pure traditional incandescent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking for one of these lightbulbs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lightbulbs are a big factor in the store's success.

RICKY SILVERSTEIN, FRAGER'S HARDWARE: You could use a compact florescent in there, too. It's using gases to illuminate the glass. You're only using roughly 20 percent or 25 percent of the wattage on a compact florescent than you are in a 60-watt soft white incandescent bulb.

My house converted to all compact florescents. I have seen an energy savings. It lowers your air conditioning bill, because you're emitting less heat.

A LED bulb, where you get two and a half to three times longer life than you do with the CFL. A bulb like this is in the $50 range. That's a Cadillac. This should last 46 years. That's longer than I'm going to be around.

$1.81 to operate this lightbulb. 65-watt is going to cost you five to six times more.

We're trying to reduce consumption in the entire country. It's going to benefit us in the long run.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I have with me here in the studio, such a treat, in the studio, one of the sharpest guys out there on all kinds of issues that we talk about each and every day. Gasoline, oil, global warming, energy independence, drill, baby, drill.

Pleased to introduce Daniel Yergin, longtime energy analyst.

His latest book is "The Quest: Energy, Security and the Remaking of the Modern World." Daniel Yergin, welcome, sir. Good to see you, nice to meet you.

We have lived through apparently - what is this, the fourth warmest winter on record? I've been to Chile and seen the glaciers melting. I want to get into that with you in just a moment. But first, this is something we talk about all the time -- Gas prices, this is something you've written about in your 800-page book. You touched on this just a little bit.

DANIEL YERGIN, AUTHOR AND ENERGY ANALYST: It's always an issue that churns things up.

BALDWIN: Always. Well it's continued the churning. Do you really think we're going to see $5-a-gallon gas prices?

YERGIN: I think it depends upon events. Prices have flattened out some. Inventories have built up. Discussions have begun with the Iranians. So I think a lot will depend on what happens with Iran between now and, really, the end of June.

BALDWIN: So if that begins to percolate --

YERGIN: Because the end of June is when the real sanctions on Iran begin.

BALDWIN: They're already crippling, but if it gets worse --

YERGIN: Yes. And officially, the question is will other supplies come in from other parts of the world. Will we see demand kind of slow down and so forth. So it's uncharted seas, actually, we're sailing into.

BALDWIN: OK. As we look into those uncharted seas, I want to talk about Atlanta where we sit right here in terms of - apparently there are armadillos, more and more armadillos here. I have not quite spotted one, but apparently

YERGIN: I should say, not in the studio.

BALDWIN: Not in the studio. You also have the Masters recently. Normally you have the beautiful azaleas blooming this time of year. They already bloomed back in March. Rhododendrons, some nice Rhodies (sic), courtesy of my producer Gary Daughters (ph), and they're blooming, what four to six weeks early. And we bring this up because when we talk about these trends, and you look at charts and statistics and graphs, but really people tend to pay attention to what they're seeing day to day, the flowes, the warming. Do you notice that?

YERGIN: Yes, well I think it is. There's always a distinction made between weather, which is what happens tomorrow, what we hear about in the morning when we wake up, and climate, which are these these big changes. But I do think people respond very much to what they see. And this winter has been about 15 percent warmer, we've had these violent storms in the Midwest and that makes people think, is this a harbinger of what might be coming?

BALDWIN: Might it be a harbinger?

YERGIN: Well I think it's still -- climate is a much more long term thing, but it is noticeable, that this is 15 percent warmer.

BERGIN: You have plenty of folks who absolutely accept global warming. And then you have people who say I'm going to do well by the environment, they hop in their gas guzzling cars and they hop to Home Depot, they buy that energy efficient light and come home. How much longer do we really have to get serious as Americans about energy? YERGIN: I think things are happening that we don't see. Our automobiles today get about 30 miles to the gallon when you get a new car, on average. In about 10 years, it's going to be 54.5 miles per gallon. That's a big difference. That's like several huge oil fields.

BALDWIN: When a are we talking?

YERGIN: We're talking by the early part -- the middle of next decade. So that's how long it takes. Detroit really needs to adapt to this, but it's in the process.

BALDWIN: So if we're in the process then and we're talking about now, do we have time to be lazy?

YERGIN: One of the things I talk about in "The Quest" is that one of our most important fuel sources is energy efficiency, and that it delivers - the U.S. is twice as energy-efficient today as it was a few decades ago. We ought to double it, but the issue is not only us, it's China. China, for instance, consumes more energy than we do. India is on that same kind of track. It's not what we do in this country, but it's really what the world does.

BALDWIN: What about the president? We see him, we have a picture of him in an electric car. What is it, it's the Opel Ampera. Here he is. And you have him talking a lot about investing in clean energy. How do you rate him as a leader in terms of everything that we're talking about?

YERGIN: It's interesting -- his political discourse has changed. There's no doubt that there's a huge commitment to electric cars, which they continue to pursue, but also what's happened is our own domestic energy conventional situation has changed. We were going to importing huge amounts of natural gas, now we're self-sufficient. And U.S. oil production is up 20 percent since 2008. And so we now get this dialogue which both Democrats and Republicans are using, all of the above.

BALDWIN: Give me something. In this book, you talk on and on, you talk about Henry Ford and Edison, you talk about history as we're looking into the future. Give me one item in your book that people will sit up in their chairs and think uh-oh.

YERGIN: In term of risk? I think in the near term the biggest risk is what's happening with Iran. I think what's happening though, is that we're seeing North America, Canada, the U.S. and South America, Brazil, production increasing. And I think one big change would be, seven, eight, ten years from now, the Western Hemisphere may not be importing much or any oil from the Eastern Hemisphere, and that would be a big change.

BALDWIN: OK. Daniel Yergin, thank you. The book is "The Quest," I appreciate it. Nice to meet you.

Coming up, L.L. Cool J, George Clinton, Flea? Yes, I hung out with some pretty awesome folks at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony over the weekend, and some moments surprised me. I want to share some of my personal pictures with you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you watch this show, you know we have a mission. We can do better. We need to do better for our own children. I've covered tragic cases like that of 13-year-old Indiana boy Christian Choate who died locked in a cage.

Also Jonathan Ramsey, the Texas boy who police say starved to death.

These children, they didn't have to die. And as we mark national child abuse prevention month, want you to just check out these numbers. Every day, more than seven children die from abuse and neglect in the U.S. That's about 2, 500 children dead each year. A child is abused or neglected every 36 seconds. Just think about that. 36 seconds. And less than half of the substantiated cases, just 40 percent, get some kind of help. And minority children are three times more likely to be killed.

Michael Petit has been pushing to make these issues a national priority. He is the founder and president of the "Every Child Matters Education Fund." And he's also a friend, now, of mine.

Michael, great to see you. Just beginning with protecting our kids. This bi-partisan "Protect Our Kids" Act. Before we even really talk about what that legislation is aiming to do, I sit here and I think what does it say about the state of our affairs when we need legislation to protect our children?

MICHAEL PETIT, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, EVERY CHILD MATTERS EDUCATION FUND: Well, it's true. Unfortunately, there's no national strategy for addressing the problems that so many families and children are facing. And absent any strong position nationally on these kids issues, we have turned to congress to say "help protect these children."

Since the start of the Afghan/Iraq war, some 6,000 soldiers have been killed and some 25,000 children have been killed in their own home. We think it's deserving of an overall national approach to solving this problem.

BALDWIN: As we talk about this, some of the goals of this piece of legislation, this bipartisan legislation - reduce abuse and neglect, establish a commission. What is, if you can think of one thing, what is the most important piece of legislation in your opinion here?

PETIT: Well, I think creating a national conversation on the issue right now because of confidentiality laws and child abuse deaths and other factors, there's very little coverage of these issues on the national level, we want to open it up to conversation.

We know when people hear these facts, these stunning numbers, they want something done. They don't want these children to be hurt. So, creating a commission, which would allow an examination of the issue across the country, is what we need right now. Let's have a conversation about it.

BALDWIN: Well, other folks might not be covering it. We're covering it. And I'm proud to cover it thanks to your help. I know that you're looking for a national standard when it comes to reporting these abuse-related deaths. Uniformity in how states follow state requirements. How do you mean?

PETIT: Well, right now, it's an accident of geography whether a child is going to be killed or not. Many more children are killed in some states than other states, even allowing for the difference in sizes. For example, Texas has between 200 and 300 deaths every single year.

BALDWIN: Why is that, Michael? why Texas?

PETIT: Texas has a very weak social safety net. Very poor network of health and social services. They don't do a lot for young families. They have a high out-of-wedlock birthrate. They just cut billions of dollars in health care and education, which will only contribute to this problem. But they have a philosophy down there that weakens the role of government in addressing these issues. And unfortunately for a lot of these kids, government is their last, best hope. They need assistance from people to protect them from the harm that they live in.

BALDWIN: Michael Petit, president of "Every Child Matters." Folks, if you want to learn a little bit more, they're on Twitter, @votingforkids. And again, this piece of legislation, it's "Protect our Kids." Michael, thank you. We'll talk soon.

PETIT: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Meantime, I have to get on to this just in, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon just asked defense secretary Leon Panetta about the alleged sex scandal involving multiple members of the Secret Service. You'll hear his response next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The sex scandal now swirling, involving members of the Secret Service, is now getting bigger.

Barbara Starr was sitting in the Pentagon daily briefing. Barbara Starr, I know we're talking, what is it, 11 Secret Service employees? Five members of the military. Do those numbers still hold? Are there more? What do you know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke. We just came out of a briefing with defense secretary Leon Panetta and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. We are at this total right now, 11 members of the secret service, five members of the U.S. military, believed all to be army according to our sources, were restricted to their hotel in Colombia over the weekend, because of the same scandal. And now, we are told by our sources here, that as many as five additional members of the U.S. Military may be facing questions over the same scandal. That's a total of 21 if you do the math. And just a few moments ago, the chairman of the joint chiefs made an extraordinary statement about his concern on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We are embarrassed. I mean, you said how embarrassed is the military? I can speak for myself and my fellow chiefs, who were embarrassed by what occurred in Colombia. We're not sure exactly what it is, but what we do know is that we distracted -- several of our members distracted the issue from what is a very important regional engagement for our president.

We let the boss down, nobody is talking about what went on in Colombia other than this incident. So to that extent, we let him down. The investigation is ongoing. It will chart a path for us and we'll hold those accountable if it turns out they violated orders or policies or laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: "We let the boss down." An extraordinary statement, I don't think I have ever heard from the U.S. military, about letting down the President of the United States, their commander-in-chief. A lot of embarrassment here at the Pentagon, Brooke.

And the investigation now under way by the U.S. southern command. That's the element of the U.S. military based in Miami, Florida. Now investigating what went on in Colombia, how many military people were involved, what exactly they participated in, and what violations of military policy and code there are.

Secretary Panetta also weighed in and said he was very embarrassed and concerned about the incident, promising people would be held accountable. Brooke?

BALDWIN: I wrote down the same thing, "we let the boss down."

The president spoke out on this for the very first time, saying, yes, if these allegations are true, I will, of course, be angry.

Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you. Much more on this inside world of the Secret Service. Got a lot of questions on this one. That's coming up in a couple of minutes, but first this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alicia Keys ended up being in the studio, she was the first person to hear what we had already done.

BALDWIN: Alicia keys was?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BALDWIN (on camera): No pressure. No pressure. And I just ran into the corner of the room and, went like this and said it's still really rough, it's still really rough. It has a long way to go.

BALDWIN (voice-over): No pressure.

By the way, these three guys have the number. 1 song in the country. Coming up after the break, I talk with the band Fun. That's Fun, with a period. The band with the big song, "We Are Young." And they reveal some new details behind the big song. "Music Monday" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I have a special "Music Monday" for you today. So if you follow me on Twitter, especially if you followed me over the weekend, you know I'm fresh off a trip to Cleveland. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame museum invited me to attend this weekend's induction ceremony. I know, I'm still - invited me.

So I grabbed my baby brother and off we went. It was a long late night. Here are just a couple of the highlights from my iPhone.

First things first, I ran into my new friend George Clinton on the red carpet. And seeing Mr. P Funk, I knew it would be a good night.

We packed into the public hall. I bumped into a very handsome L.L. Cool J, who inducted the Beastie Boys along with Chuck D. Then Kid Rock hopped up on stage in a green Adidas jumpsuit with others to pay tribute to the trio from Brooklyn.

And I'm pretty sure I broke my tape, yes, tape listening to their album "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" way too many times in the '90s. Anthony Keidis, and Flea with his aqua-colored hair did not disappoint. They closed out the show before the big finale.

And yep, members of Guns N Roses were there, minus Axl. No one mentioned him in their speeches, and they brought the house down with "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City."

And I should also tell you, my brother and I, we grew up with a jukebox in our kitchen. Oldies were really the soundtrack to our childhood. So seeing Smokey Robinson up on stage on Saturday night, he was inducting groups like the Blue Caps (ph) The Comets, The Crickets, The Famous Flames and The Midnighters and The Miracles. That was special. And these guys, seeing them up on stage in their 70s and 80s smiling, getting this much-deserved recognition, was quite humbling.

And just a special shout out to Cleveland, home of the Rock Hall. They now host the ceremony every three years, and unlike New York, they open up the ceremony to the fans.

And check out the picture again. You have these 6,000 fans, there they are sitting all above. You could totally feel the energy all night long. It was amazing, it was a little bit of music magic. Seriously 48 hours later, I'm still pinching myself. So Rock Hall, thank you, thank you, thank you.

And now to "Music Monday," here. If you don't know the band Fun, I would bet you've heard their music. It's the kind of exposure having a song on "Glee" and in a Super Bowl commercial will get you, it's a mix of electronica, hip-hop, good old fashioned stadium anthems. Fun's music is simply that. It's fun.

And obviously, it's paying off. Their single "We are Young" is the hottest song in the country right now. Topping the Billboard charts five weeks now and running. I met up with the band at this year's South by Southwest festival to talk to them about their new album, the crazy success they've now found. So here on this music Monday is Fun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: My first question really is, does it still feel like you're dreaming or has it hit you? Your success?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the weird part, I think when you wake up at 6:00 a.m., and you want to fall back asleep and you fall back asleep and the dreams get really, really weird.

BALDWIN: Are you officially in the weird dreaming stage right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd say that is where we're at, right?

BALDWIN: Do you guys agree?

JACK ANTONOFF, GUITARIST, FUN: None of it has been too tangible yet. We hear all these things, like, this song is number one. We're like it's amazing.

BALDWIN: Why Fun, period?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because fun regular was taken by a Swedish death metal band.

BALDWIN: Thus the period.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thus the period.

BALDWIN: And now we know.

The first album was awesome, but this second album, "Some Nights," it's like something happened. What was the magic ingredient, do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was just changing it up a little bit. The band kind of had more of a retro vibe in the past. I think we wanted to embrace music that was happening in the future but still hold on to those things that we love. Like our parents albums. That classic style of song writing but incorporating so many amazing things in modern music. BALDWIN: When you read about influences, it's like, electronics is really hot. It's like electronic, hugely influenced by hip hop, right? And then also like '70s pop. Is that all like an accumulation of all your musical interests? How did that whole merging happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was trying all these different, like, things that I thought maybe we could incorporate to make the album feel a little more progressive, but eventually we just started listening to a lot of hip hop and falling in love with that style.

BALDWIN: Why do you think electronic is so hot right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.

ANTONOFF: I think - a friend and I were talking about this the other day. He said if Jimi Hendrix was alive today he'd probably have 10 laptops on stage. I think that kind of sums it up, it's the newest art form. It's like hip hop was in the '80s.

BALDWIN: It sounds like all this has happened so fast. Didn't you write the chorus to "We are Young" kind of one night?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One night driving in a car, and maybe five days later, just singing it to Jeff, I hadn't even sang him the chorus yet. I sang it to our producer in a meeting with him. His jaw dropped to the floor. I wasn't even sure what was going to become of the song, and right away he was like "We have to go in the studio tomorrow, we have to record it."

BALDWIN: You place a huge emphasis on bringing it on stage live at night. Not every band and not every necessarily electronic can do that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that it's just something that is so inherent to us, from just our like kind of punk rock background.

We're just -- we want to be entertaining. And fortunately we have a fan base that wants to the shows and stay as loud as possible. And it allows us to kind of shed this crazy self-aware layer that we constantly have and just go out there and, for lack of a better word, like have fun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Fun. Thank you, guys.

If you want to see all my Music Monday interviews, go to my blog CNN.com/Brooke. Send me a tweet @BrookeBCNN.