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Erin Burnett Outfront

Zimmerman Asks for Donations to his Defense; Fighter Jet Crash 911 Calls; Inside North Korea

Aired April 09, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Breaking news tonight. The man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin now wanted the website to raise money for his defense. We have that.

Plus, more breaking news tonight. We have just gotten the 911 calls placed right after that fighter jet crashed into that massive Virginia Beach apartment complex.

And then we'll take you inside North Korea days before they launch a rocket. How concerned should America be?

Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening to you. I'm Brooke Baldwin sitting in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news. George Zimmerman, the man who shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin has just launched this Web site to plead his innocence and ask for donations for his defense. Here it is.

The Web site has been going offline repeatedly today because presumably it can't handle all the traffic. It includes a statement from Zimmerman. I'll read part of it for you tonight here. Quote, "as a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately my entire life." He goes on, quote, "I have created a Paypal account solely linked on this Web site as I would like to provide an avenue to thank my supporters personally and ensure that any funds provided are used only for living expenses and legal defense in lieu of my forced inability to maintain employment." And on this Web site, it is signed George Zimmerman. And multiple sources have told CNN this is his Web site.

Meantime, tonight all eyes are on the special prosecutor in Florida. She is Angela Corey. She made news today announcing she would not convene a grand jury in the shooting death of this Florida teenager.

Corey has said for weeks now that a grand jury is not necessary to file any charges against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin back on February 26.

In a statement today, Angela Corey said, quote, "the decision should not be considered a factor in the final determination of the case," end quote. Still, Trayvon Martin's parents' said they were hopeful an arrest would follow the state prosecutor's decision.

Natalie Jackson is one of the attorneys representing Trayvon Martin's family. She comes OUTFRONT tonight. I talked to her earlier and asked why she thinks the special prosecutor made the right move.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATALIE JACKSON, TRAYVON MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: We think that she has the enough evidence to make the arrest herself. In this climate sending it to a grand jury, you know, we just don't know what the outcome would be. With the racial implications that have been brought into this case and the other agendas that have been brought into this case.

BALDWIN: Despite today's development, we still don't know what will happen. You know, but looking back with all these different developments, you have the 911 tapes coming out, Trayvon Martin's phone records were released and I'm sure being in touch with his parents each and every time they thought maybe this time, maybe an arrest.

But here's my what if to you tonight. What if the evidence speaks for itself and George Zimmerman doesn't ever get arrested? What then?

JACKSON: That's an impossibility at this point because the evidence is out there. We need to look no further than George Zimmerman's own words in his taped phone call to the police dispatch. That's enough evidence to send this to a jury and to make him prove his self defense.

BALDWIN: I understand. But to George Zimmerman and his attorneys' perspective, they say he was, you know, standing his own ground, was acting in self defense. I just have to press you and say what if he never, ever faces charges?

JACKSON: If he never, ever faces charges, which we don't think that should happen, then I think that for his family, his family will have to move on and they'll have to continue to try to carry on Trayvon's legacy and carry on for their quest for justice, be it in the public arena or the legal arena.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about something that we got from George Zimmerman's attorney, who texted Martin Savidge today. I just want to read this text here. Saying this is from attorney, "not surprised in reaction to the fact we won't be having a grand jury. I'm not surprised. I'm in reaction in fact, we won't be having a grand jury now. Not surprised, don't know what her decision will be. Courageous move on her part."

Interestingly, you all seem to agree that this is a good move.

JACKSON: Right. I think we're all lawyers, and we are to uphold the judicial system. We are to believe in it. I will say that I think that their lawyers know and George Zimmerman knows that he's going to face a jury and he has to face a jury and he has all the rights that he would have when he faces that jury. He has a presumption of innocence. He has the right to remain silent. He has the right to bring out any witnesses that he has in hi defense or to testify for himself.

The problem is and the most egregious thing about this case is that there was never an arrest so George never had to do it. No one should be able to say not my fault, self defense, when they kill an innocent child who's walking home from the store 70 yards away from his house.

BALDWIN: This story really has catapulted into the national spotlight and my question is this. Where do you think you and Trayvon Martin's parents would be right now had all of this national media coverage never happened?

JACKSON: We have said it once and we'll say it a thousand times. We know without the public outcry this case was a dead case. There would have never been a special prosecutor assigned, there would have never been a chance for this to go to a jury. So this family is so appreciative to everybody who's out there and been supportive of them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I want to bring no now Paul Callan.

Paul, I just have to first ask you here, we've got the news and are seeing now for the first time George Zimmerman's words on this Web site, essentially thanking his supporters, pleading for this Paypal for money to live. What's your reaction to this?

PAUL CALLAN, FORMER NEW YORK CITY HOMICIDE PROSECUTOR: This is bizarre. This is a murder case that's started to look like a political campaign. I mean, you have a potential defendant in a murder case who started his own Web site to raise funds. Obviously, he's anticipating that there's going to be a criminal charge lodged against him. He needs money to pay lawyers and that's why he's starting this Web site.

BALDWIN: You think so?

CALLAN: I think he's fund-raising for his lawyers, yes.

BALDWIN: The news today, Angela Corey now deciding not to take this to the grand jury. Bold move, a surprising move? What does this tell us?

CALLAN: Bold, surprising, fascinating move. And I'll tell you why. Although most cases in Florida do not go to grand juries, a grand jury was impaneled in this very case by the prior D.A.

Now, the state's attorney when he impaneled it could have used it for investigative purposes. And all of a sudden a new prosecutor comes in and disbands that grand jury and she says I'm going to make this decision myself. I think it's a very, very startling move. BALDWIN: So she's feeling confident, if this thing had gone to grand jury, she could or one could scapegoat saying sorry couldn't get the indictment based on the folks who heard this case or with the evidence. She's a pretty tough cookie.

CALLAN: She's very, very tough. You look at her back ground and she's tried over 50 homicide cases, indicted tons of people. She doesn't have a reputation for not indicting. And on this grand jury thing, a lot of times prosecutors will use a grand jury for political cover. It's a weak case. They want to get the case thrown out and they say well, the grand jury dismissed the case, I didn't. So she's taken away the political cover here, which says to me he's going to be charged with either murder or manslaughter. I think it's a done deal that criminal charges are going to come down against George Zimmerman.

BALDWIN: So, we know he won't face capital because that's what you can only got when you in front of the grand jury. So, she take that away. There are other options.

Is there a clock ticking? When might we anticipate if she is feeling confident and there could be an arrest imminent, is the clock ticking at all?

CALLAN: The clock is not ticking in the sense that she could extend this investigation for months if she wanted to. The clock only starts to tick when an arrest is made and you have speedy trial issues. But I would anticipate she will move quickly on this. She's been involved in the case for quite a while. Pretty much all of the facts have been gathered. It's from a factual standpoint, most prosecutors would say this is a rather simple fact pattern in the sense there aren't a lot of witnesses, there's not a lot of forensic evidence.

I think you are going to see her come down with charges probably very, very soon. Of course she could opt not to charge, but she wants a complete investigation. She needs all the evidence she can come up with because it's going to be a tough case. You have to convince 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt. That's not going to be easy.

BALDWIN: Unanimously.

CALLAN: Yes.

BALDWIN: Paul Callan, we shall see.

CALLAN: Nice being with you. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up ahead here on "OUTFRONT" do these new photos of Mitt Romney give President Obama the ammunition he needs to win the fight for middle class voters? We are going to show some of those pictures to you.

Also, two men charged in a shooting spree that left three dead in Oklahoma. Did race play a role there?

And we show you the new tool doctors are using to fight cancer. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. We all know Mitt Romney is a rich man, it's just a fact. But he has been criticized in this campaign as being out of touch with the average American. And, well, there are some new photos, they were released today from the campaign, doing not so much to tamp down those attacks. So, check it out.

Here he is with his family. This was Easter, at his 3,000 square foot Spanish style home along San Diego's beautiful La Jolla beach. Price tag a cool $12 million. All the while President Obama spend the week making the Buffet rule taxing the wealthy more, the centerpiece of his re-election campaign.

So, is the Romney campaign tone deaf or is he just trying to give voters an image inside Mitt Romney's real life, his family life?

Joining me now, Abby Huntsman, a conservative commentator and daughter of former presidential candidate, Jon Huntsman. And Tim Punke, Democratic strategist.

So, both of you, welcome.

Abby, let me begin with you. You know, look. As we see all these pictures, family fun, Easter weekend. You see the grandkids and the kids and the beautiful home. I mean is this what it looked like in the Huntsman family household for Easter weekend? Is this difficult?

ABBY HUNTSMAN, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: You know, it is. He's in a very tough position. He can't win. You know, look. He does come from money. He does have a beautiful family. At the end of the day, the American people want superman for president. They want him to handsome. They want him to save the world. They want him to save the economy. So, he can't win here. You know, I think these pictures actually make him look somewhat human.

BALDWIN: Somewhat human. He said before, you know, he shouldn't be apologizing for his success. Tim, do you agree? He's been successful and we shouldn't penalize him for it?

TIM PUNKE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, look. I think it's just a strange decision by the campaign, to be honest. I think if anyone -- no one doubts that Mitt Romney is a family man. I think that's almost a given. The idea he would release campaign pictures of his house in La Jolla, I think just shows that he's out of touch with most Americans.

You know, I think Abby is right. The bottom line is that ultimately Americans are going to judge Mitt Romney by his plans. And as you noted at the top of the segment, we've been talking about the Buffet rule. We have been talking about Romney's plan to actually cut taxes for the wealthy versus Obama's plan to ensure middle income earners are paying a lower income tax percentage than the wealthiest Americans.

BALDWIN: Yes.

PUNKE: When these pictures come out, when Romney says things like I'll make Rick Perry a $10,000 bet, it just shows that he's out of touch with most Americans on issues.

BALDWIN: Yes. I mean, I think there are some folks who say, look, it is who he is. He's not an ordinary guy that he needs to really be authentic. And then we are talking today and I just want to throw these pictures up because you have iconic -- you know, John F. Kennedy and some people are wondering is he trying to project a similar sort of Kennedy-esque, you know, image, here it is sitting around the table painting their own eggs, very photogenic, large family. Do you see a comparison there, Tim?

PUNKE: You know, it was such a different time. I mean, again, I just think that most Americans will -- take for granted the fact that Mitt Romney is a good family man. I don't think anybody really questions that at all. This campaign has never been about that. So again, the idea that he would put forward these pictures seems like an unnecessary kind of rubbing in, if you will, of kind of his wealth which I think is frankly a mistake by the campaign.

HUNTSMAN: One thing I wanted to add to that is, well, people forget back in 1968, Nixon would walk the beach in a black suit with black lace-ups and people said he's aloof, you know. They would say Reagan rode a horse, he's a cowboy. It's so easy to pinpoint one thing and say he's out of touch to whatever.

BALDWIN: Let me ask you about this. We also know that the Romney camp has yanked their negative ads sort of out of deference to Rick Santorum's daughter, Bella, who was in the hospital. Right thing to do?

HUNTSMAN: I absolutely - the one question I have is would he have done this if he were neck-in-neck with Santorum? Or, you know, the timing is a bit strange. He now, it's look like he's willing to take the nomination. So, you want to believe that he would but I still question that a little bit.

BALDWIN: Tim, do you think this is the right thing or is it really more like, OK, I look at my delegate count versus your delegate count and need to focus my sights on the general election and someone else beating President Obama?

PUNKE: I think for Mitt Romney right now it's all about the general campaign. I think for him right now, he's really got to walk a really difficult line of trying to win back some of these conservative voters who simply don't trust him because he's flip- flopped on so many issues. To, as his own campaign, someone admitted trying to reinvent himself a little bit for the general campaign. So, he's got to show some deference to Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich still. But at the end of the day he's trying to figure out how to position himself for the general campaign.

HUNTSMAN: I do think it shows that he has a heart and I think that's good. BALDWIN: He has a heart and that is a good thing.

Abby Huntsman, thank you for pointing that out. Abby and Tim Punke, I appreciate you both tonight.

Ahead on "OUTFRONT," we mentioned this at the top of the show.

Breaking news. We have now those just-released 911 calls, the 911 calls, made after that Navy fighter jet crashed into that Virginia Beach apartment complex. We are going to play that for you.

Also, the man accused of murdering Jennifer Hudson's family goes on trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Today is the first day of jury selection in the murder trial of William Balfour. He is accused of fatally shooting singer Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother inside their Chicago home back in 2008.

Now, the judge here has asked these prospective jurors to fill out a questionnaire answering several questions about how much they know about Jennifer Hudson. For example, questions like have you seen "American idol" or have you seen the movie "dream girls." Jennifer Hudson, of course, was in both.

Ted Rowlands is at the courthouse in Chicago covering this very tragic, very high profile case, and he has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In January, 2008, Jennifer Hudson was on top of the world, winning an Oscar for her performance in "dream girls."

JENNIFER HUDSON, SINGER: It's going to take a while to get used to this.

ROWLANDS: Nine months later, Hudson's world was rocked by tragedy. Her mother, Darnell, and brother, Jason, were murdered and her 7-year-old nephew, Julian, was missing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is an amber alert that was out right now.

ROWLANDS: Hudson returned to Chicago where a frantic search was under way for Julian and for the gunman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neighbors in the neighborhood did report hearing gunshots sometime earlier this morning, about 8:00, 9:00 this morning.

ROWLANDS: Three days later the little boy's body was found inside this abandoned SUV. He died of a gunshot wound and a police investigation led to the arrest of 27-year-old William Balfour. The Hudson family knew William Balfour quite well. He grew up here in their neighborhood on the south side of Chicago and ended up marrying Jennifer Hudson's older sister, Julia.

Balfour known as Flex on the street has a long criminal record and according to people who know the family, the Hudson's, including Jennifer, didn't want Julia to marry Balfour. Prosecutors say Balfour threatened to kill Julia, who was at work the day of the murders.

Today, three and a half years later, the Hudson home in Chicago is boarded up. Jennifer Hudson has said very little publicly about the murders but did open up on a VH1 behind the music special.

HUDSON: I remember being asked to do a film around that same time. And I was like, I have to get adjusted to who I am now. So I can't be another character -- be another character if I don't know who I am.

ROWLANDS: Prosecutors say Balfour killed his ex-wife's family members because he was jealous she was seeing another man. The defense says there are no eyewitnesses and no fingerprints linking Balfour to the murder scene, which has Hudson's neighbor, Michael Jones, concerned that Balfour could walk.

MICHAEL JONES, HUDSON'S NEIGHBOR: And a murder, especially in the black community, is so easy to beat.

ROWLANDS: Opening arguments are scheduled to begin April 23rd, forcing Jennifer Hudson, who's on the witness list, into a role she never dreamed of.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in Ted Rowlands live outside the court house.

And Ted, what is it, 6:30 there Chicago time. They are still selecting this jury. How's it going?

ROWLANDS: Yes, the judge is holding the first 50 prospective jurors. They have seated nine people so far so they have made some progress, but he's going late into the afternoon here. They likely won't get to the 12 jurors plus the six alternates today, meaning the next pool of 50 will be back here tomorrow.

BALDWIN: How concerned is the defense? We're talking about Jennifer Hudson, high profile, sitting in that courtroom. How much of a concern is there over her?

ROWLANDS: Well, a huge concern. You mentioned that a lot of the jury questionnaire centered around Jennifer Hudson. If you have a victim family member in the courtroom during a trial, it doesn't matter who it is, they're going to get empathy from a jury. If that person is a celebrity on the status of Jennifer Hudson, that changes the complexity of the courtroom. Today during the void dire process, one of the jurors said I can't be partial. I'm a huge Jennifer Hudson fan and I just feel so bad about what happened to her, so they bounced her. But it's those ones that don't admit that during void dire, the defense has to worry about.

BALDWIN: What about for the prosecution, how easy will it be for them to make their case against Balfour?

ROWLANDS: Well, quite frankly, this is a triple murder with not a lot of physical evidence, which is unusual when you usually have -- when you have three dead bodies, there's usually a lot of forensic evidence that ties it to the suspect.

In this case there's not a lot of physical evidence to link William Balfour to the crimes. They do have a little gunshot residue but they do have a hurdle to climb and how they will do it, they're going to basically establish for this jury that Balfour threatened to do exactly this, to kill his ex-wife's family.

BALDWIN: Ted Rowlands, we know you'll be watching. Thank you.

Bubba Watson's unbelievable hook shot helped him win the first- ever masters tournament and now gets to wear, of course, the infamous green jacket. One problem, though, it covers the logos of some of his sponsors which include ping, Travis Matthew and Foot Joy.

And another one of Bubba's sponsors is Marquee Jets, owner of Net Jets, whose customers by fractional ownership in private jets. So, here's our number tonight, $119,900. That is the base cost of buying one of these marquee jet cards that gets you 25 hours of flight time at a hacker 400xp which the company describes as the ideal entry level business jet. Doesn't include government taxes and fees, by the way, but Bubba can afford it. He won about $1.4 million last night. Though, we are betting marquee gives him a wee bit of a discount. Much more about Bubba Watson and his big win coming up.

Also ahead, we are just days away from North Korea's rocket launch. What it means for America?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: And we start the second half of our show with stories we care about, where we focus on our own reporting. So we did the work and we found out the OUTFRONT five.

At first here, breaking news. We have just gotten the 911 calls placed moments after that massive Navy fighter jet crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach, Virginia on Friday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIPS)

CALLER: Hello, yes, we just had a jet explode on Birdneck -- 900 block of birdneck. Yes!

CALLER: A Navy plane just went down on 24th Street. It's in the Birdneck Village apartments.

CALELR: There's a pilot on my patio.

911: The pilot is on your patio?

CALLER: Yes, and nobody is there.

(END AUDIO CLIPS)

BALDWIN: The Navy says the F/A-18 Hornet suffered a mechanical malfunction causing it to crash shortly after takeoff Friday around lunchtime. Both pilots ejected safely and somehow amazingly no one on the ground was seriously hurt. We're told the Navy has recovered the flight recorder which should provide more details as to what caused the jet to crash.

Number two tonight, a top official at the General Services Administration has been put on leave just days after a video emerged showing him joking, joking about excess spending. The GSA says it is now reviewing David Foley's (ph) conduct at this 2012 conference in Las Vegas. Foley there to the right of the video, the agency spent $820,000 on the conference in Vegas that featured a clown and a mind reader.

Video from the four-day event shows Foley, a deputy commissioner, rewarding an employee who starred in a fake rap video. In fact, one line in this rap brags about never being under investigation for spending.

We're told eight GSA officials have now been fired, removed or placed on leave.

Number three tonight, CNN now has new video showing Osama bin Laden's widows and their children. Take a look. The video shows his wives often praying and his children playing with toys while under house arrest. This is Islamabad, Pakistan.

Three of bin Laden's wives and two of his daughters were sentenced to 45 days of house arrest after being convicted of illegal residency. The widows and the children are being deported back to their home countries, that being Yemen and Saudi Arabia. That happens next week.

Number four, Facebook has now acquired Instagram, the widely popular photo-sharing app for smart phones. Mark Zuckerberg announced the $1 billion deal, not surprisingly on his Facebook page. The Instagram app allows its 30 million users to apply filters to photos and share them on various social media sites.

In today's announcement, Zuckerberg said he wants to keep Instagram connected to sites beyond Facebook, such as Twitter. Instagram is 19th on the list of all-time free apps for the iPhone. If you're curious, Facebook, number one.

And it has been now 249 days since the U.S. lost its top credit rating. What are we doing to get it back? It was a rough day for the markets. The numbers here, the Dow ending lower by 130 points, closing below that 13,000 mark. This was the fourth day of losses for the index.

A victim of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, shootings spoke out late this afternoon about his feelings toward the men who shot him, and four other African-Americans, killing three early Friday. Oklahoma prosecutors say they are looking into whether race was a motivating factor in those particular shootings, and one of the shooters, 19- year-old Jake England, had posted a racially charged message on his Facebook page the day before the shootings, noting it was the second anniversary of his father's death at the hands of a F-ing N-word.

A judge today ordered England and 33-year-old Alvin Watts, England is being described as either white or Native American, held on more than $9 million bond each.

One of those victims, Deon Tucker, he spoke out for the very first time today saying he believes the community was targeted because it was black and close to the shooter's home. He wants to see these shooters go to jail but doesn't harbor, he says, any bad feelings. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEON TUCKER, TULSA SHOOTING VICTIM: I ain't got no hate towards nobody. I just got caught at the wrong spot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now is Reverend Warren Blakney, president of the Tulsa chapter of the NAACP.

Reverend, nice to se you.

You know, based upon what you know about this case, do you believe this was a hate crime?

REV. WARREN BLAKNEY, PRESIDENT, TULSA NAACP: You know, I think in the words of the person who was best fit to say that and that was the gentleman that was shot, he believes it was a hate crime and so do we, based upon the fact that they selected African-Americans, came deep into the African-American neighborhood in order to find his victims and because he had a vendetta against -- a hurting inside him against African-Americans for the killing of his father. We do believe indeed that it was a hate crime.

BALDWIN: Even though we're hearing from police they're still saying, you know, you have to go by the evidence and thus far they don't have it to make it a hate crime. Still this gentleman, you're referring to, believes it was?

BLAKNEY: Yes. Yes, as a matter of fact.

When it comes to one of the victims as opposed to us, who are on the outside, he believed that he was selected because he was black. And if he believes that and he was close to the situation, along with others who have said the same thing, we believe that if you look at Facebook, you look at some of the other things they say may not be admissible, we think that that points to the fact that he was looking for some black folks to kill and we do believe it was motivated by race.

BALDWIN: One family friend of one of the shooters whose now behind bars said this about -- talking about Jake England. Quote, 'He didn't care what color was, it wasn't a racist thing."

Also his uncle goes on to suggest he just snapped. That was his word, he snapped after the killing of his father. And also more recently, the suicide of his girlfriend. It's a lot for one person to deal with. He goes on.

Reverend, is it all possible in your mind that the victims were just chosen at random?

BLAKNEY: You know, I believe and I understand that there are a lot of things that can cause a person and drive them to do things that are heinous in terms of their activities. But if you kill one person or if you'd shot two people by the stretch of one's imagination, you shot three people, when you go through and shoot five people and kill three of them and all of those folks, again, are African-Americans in the heart of our neighborhood, then what are you left to believe?

We may say this, but I honestly believe if people look at this seriously, that they selected African-Americans systematically to shoot them. I think that constitutes a hate crime to me in my mind, in my thinking anyway.

BALDWIN: Then based upon that thinking, are you at all fearful that there could be some retaliation within your community?

BLAKNEY: I've been asked that quite a bit today by different people. No, I'm not.

BALDWIN: Why?

BLAKNEY: I think that this community is waiting to see what the law is going to do. Wait until it plays out and see if justice is served.

I think we're a patient community and we're going to wait on that. I don't think there will be retaliations until we see which way this thing is going to go.

And we're pleading for calm and for quiet in our community and for folks not to take, you know, a vigilante kind of concept on this but to let justice be served.

BALDWIN: You know, you talk about justice and we've heard a lot of people in Florida calling for justice. There has been this national conversation, there has been a lot of hate rhetoric falling, I know you know the story in Sanford, Florida.

Do you think that at all might impact what's happening in Tulsa?

BLAKNEY: I think there's always a correlation, a connection between what goes on in this country, one with another. But I do think this community is one where we are going to wait patiently until the law has run its course. I think that's the kind of folk I know in the community where I serve as a preacher and that's the kind of community that I've come to appreciate, that we're ones who do not allow other circumstances in other places to impact us, that we act outside of who we are.

And this is a very good community and we're going to wait and see what justice is going to do here.

BALDWIN: Reverend Warren Blakney, appreciate it. Thank you so much for coming on OUTFRONT tonight.

Coming up, and I'm quoting, "Don't do it". That is the U.S. message to a defiant North Korea as it plans to blast a satellite into orbit this week.

The warning comes on the same day that South Korea confirmed its northern neighbor is digging this underground tunnel for what appears to be a third nuclear test. North Korea says, no, they're just planning a celebration marking the 100th birthday of its former leader, Kim Il Sung, who promised the country would be strong and prosperous by that date.

Stan Grant is in Pyongyang. He got a rare tour of the satellite launch site. I spoke with him moments ago about what it was he saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STAN GRANT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An extraordinary trip to go out there to the rocket site launch itself. You know, this is something that's kept hidden away from view in this very, very secretive country but suddenly opening up to the eyes of the world's media. We are invited, all part of a push by North Korea to send a message to the rest of the world that this is in fact a satellite launch. The rocket will take a small satellite and try to fire that into orbit.

Of course, the United States and others looking on and saying, no, this is in fact a covert missile operation, further developing a missile program that can land right into the heart of cities in the United States. And now, of course, concern that this missile test or rocket test will actually follow within the coming days with a nuclear test as well.

Now, North Korea of course not commenting about that, but intelligence reports coming out from South Korea suggesting that that is in fact what North Korea may do, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Well, Stan, you said it yourself. This is so -- or has been so tremendously secretive, so why? Why did they let you in?

GRANT: Two reasons. This is also the week of celebration of the 100th year anniversary of the birth of the founding farther of the country, Kim Il Sung. Now, this rocket launch is timed to coincide with that.

But beyond that, the government here wants to be able to show that they're transparent, that they are now opening up to the rest of the world and that they don't have anything to hide.

There's also another suggestion here, though, this is a country that relies on food aid. It goes to the international community to ask for food to be able to feed its own people. Now, a lot of that food aid is tied to the way the country behaves. I sat down with U.S. envoys in February and noted (ph) a deal that was contingent on stopping missile tests.

That's why North Korea is saying this is not a missile. This is just a satellite and opening up to us to try to prove that -- Brooke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Stan Grant, thank you.

Let's take it another step further and just ask how serious is North Korea about another nuclear test and what does this say about the Obama administration's policy toward this rogue state?

I want to bring in Gordon Chang. He is the author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World."

And, Gordon, you know -- look, by all accounts, North Korea is saying, no, this is peaceful, it's a satellite launch. But do they really expect the rest of the world to buy that?

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN": I actually don't think so. You know, a launcher for a satellite and a launcher for a nuclear warhead are basically the same, almost exactly the same. So that's the reason why the U.N. considers this really to be a violation of its own sanctions that were put into place in 2006 and 2009.

BALDWIN: So the when here -- when might this happen? I've seen dates ranging from April 12th, which is upcoming this week, all the way through the 16th.

What is it that we watch for as this launch date creeps closer?

CHANG: Well, I think that they will want to launch at the earlier part of the window, which they have announced to the world, because if the weather changes and they miss the window, that would be an enormous loss of face for the North Korean regime. And as you pointed out, this is meant to coincide with the centenary of the birth of Kim Il Sung.

So, this is supposed to be an important propaganda event. They can't miss it.

BALDWIN: And as we mentioned, Kim Il Sung, he wanted his nation to be, quoting him, you know, "prosperous." Is this what prosperity means in 2012 in North Korea?

CHANG: Well, it really means that the country is strong and they're going to divert people's attention by showing how prosperous and how strong the nation is. There's been an enormous building program in Pyongyang to sort of upgrade housing and that's the prosperous part.

The strong part is the missile launch and the following nuclear test, which we should expect within a couple of weeks.

BALDWIN: And then there is the current leader, Kim Jung Un, been in power, what, three months. We still have even yet to actually hear his voice. He's kept, you know, so almost secretive, tucked away.

Do we believe he's the one pulling the strings, running the show?

CHANG: Well, a lot of people think so. And he will be given two very important posts next week. He's going to be made really the head of the workers party and also the chairman of the national defense commission, which is the most important position in North Korea.

But we haven't seen him do some important things like meet foreign leaders, have him widely in state media. So, I think there's a lot of politics that need to be worked out before he can say that he really is in charge. And that's going to take years for him to learn and to be able to do that.

BALDWIN: As we watch to see what exactly his role is, I can't, you know, complete a conversation with you tonight talking North Korea without talking Iran. I know they have been working together coordinating really since the '90s. How closely intertwined are they, Gordon? And which country really is the greatest threat?

CHANG: Well, Iranians have been in North Korea for its missile and nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Essentially, North Korea and Iran have run a joint missile and nuclear weapons program for more than a decade. And what we see in terms of Iranian missiles are essentially North Korean ones with new names on them.

So really we have a joint threat. It's really hard to separate them because they support each other and they're just as thick as thieves.

BALDWIN: Gordon Chang, thank you.

Next on OUTFRONT. doctors turn to a computer named Watson in the fight against cancer?

And another Watson, Bubba, breaks through at Augusta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We're back with tonight's "Outer Circle" -- where we reach out to our sources all around the world.

To Bahrain, where concerns are growing about a human rights activist who has spent a year behind bars for his role in anti- government protests and has now been on this hunger strike now for more than two months.

Leone Lakhani is following the story for us from Abu Dhabi. I asked her what's the latest on his condition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEONE LAKHANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, the family hasn't seen him in over a week. His daughter says the last time she spoke to him just over two days ago, he was having trouble speaking and having trouble breathing. The family says they're concerned that his health is deteriorating.

But the government says al-Khawaja is in stable condition, that his life is not in danger and he's being tended to by doctors around the clock and that he's been given minerals, glucose and fluids. It's not clear how those fluids are being administered to him.

His daughter says she was worried that he was being force fed, but the government denies that. All that as al-Khawaja entered his 61st day of a hunger strike on Monday, Brooke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Leone Lakhani, thank you.

And now, let's check in with Anderson Cooper and see what he's working on for "A.C. 360". I hear you're working on new developments in Syria.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": Yes, we are.

Keeping them honest on Syria. In a matter of hours, Syrians are going to wake up and find out if their government will stop the shelling, stop the killing, stop the torturing and do what it promised, pull troops and tanks out of besieged cities. More than a thousand Syrians have died since Bashar al-Assad promised to stop the killing and agreed to a U.N. deadline two weeks ago -- a thousand dead in two weeks.

The question is: Will it actually stop in a few hours, stop tomorrow in Syria? Doubtful, we're keeping them honest.

Also tonight, the death of a legendary newsman, "60 Minutes'" Mike Wallace. We're going to look back at the stories he covered, the interviews he landed, remarkable career he had.

I'm also going to talk with my colleague from "60 Minutes," Lesley Stahl, about what Mike Wallace was like behind the scenes, what it was like day in and day out in that office.

All at the top of the hour, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Look forward to that, Lesley Stahl.

Anderson, thank you. We'll see you in 10 minutes.

Meantime, this next story, this is amazing. What is the wave of the future? That could be the answer from answer from Watson, you know, the IBM supercomputer that beat humans on "Jeopardy," about its latest project, diagnosing and treating cancer.

Deb Feyerick has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine being a cancer doctor able to diagnose and treat patients as quickly and accurately as this.

UNIDENTIFEID MALE: Watson?

WATSON: What is London?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.

Watson?

WATSON: What is staggering genius?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's right.

FEYERICK: Watson is the IBM supercomputer which last year beat previous "Jeopardy" champions. It won by analyzing millions of documents and synthesizing all the information into a likely answer in a matter of seconds.

Cancer doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering in Manhattan believe that data ability is not only a game changer, it could be a lifesaver.

DR. MARK KRIS, MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER: The medical field is growing from an information standpoint in every specialty. You cannot possibly know everything. Months matter. And things change that quickly.

FEYERICK: Dr. Mark Kris is a lung specialist at Sloan-Kettering.

KRIS: The beautiful thing about Watson is that it extracts the information. It doesn't tell you an answer. It tells you the possible answers.

FEYERICK: Meaning Watson neither diagnoses nor replaces doctors who are ultimately in charge of their patients.

KRIS: Teaching Watson these things are really important.

FEYERICK: Hoping to build the ultimate cancer resource, Memorial Sloan-Kettering is partnering with Watson creator IBM, giving it access to the hospital's 1.5 million patient case histories. Along with the latest discoveries worldwide, Watson will have absolutely everything written on the subject. (on camera): You have essentially 92 servers. Each one of these functions like a brain with this as the nervous system that connects all of it together, right?

DR. MARTIN KOHN, IBM CHIEF MEDICAL SCIENTIST: That's correct. It's all these different processors working together and collaborating to do these massive calculations in a short period of time.

FEYERICK (voice-over): IBM's Dr. Martin Kohn says what makes Watson unique in a field of artificial intelligence is its ability to understand conversational language.

KOHN: The average transition has five to six hours a month to read. The Watson sitting behind us now can read and understand 200 million pages of text in three seconds.

FEYERICK: So, let's say a doctor has a patient with a suspicious lump.

KOHN: Watson says I understand the decision you have to make. I've reviewed all this information. Based on all that and my ability to prioritize, I'm giving you a prioritized set of suggestions.

FEYERICK (on camera): Is it fair to say that having that much information could potentially allow you to take a diagnosis in a different direction?

KRIS: Yes. You can ultimately analyze data in case histories at Sloan-Kettering and look for situations we haven't seen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: OK, Deb Feyerick, I wrote that down -- 200 million pages of documents in three seconds.

FEYERICK: That's exactly right. Imagine if you and I could actually process that much information --

BALDWIN: Impossible.

FEYERICK: It's impossible. Doctors have four to five hours to read, or five to six hours to read every single month. So, just imagine how much information they're going to have access to. It's like having the cliff notes.

BALDWIN: Specifically leading to a cure. That's what people want to know.

FEYERICK: And this is what's so fascinating. OK, the ability to synthesize all that information. What it does do is doctors won't go so far as to say, well, yes there could be a cure. What they will do is they say, look, it recognizes patterns. That means it may recognize clusters, it may recognize a genetic mutation or anything that might trigger that.

So they're going to be putting this all together. And it's all around the world.

BALDWIN: I love how we pointed out this does not replace doctors. This does not replace doctors. But it's IBM as you mentioned and Sloan-Kettering, how do they plan on making money?

FEYERICK: And what they're going to be doing is they're going to be licensing all the medical records that are in there, licensing that data base.

And so, the benefit obviously is that with this huge data base, you have people in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Southeast, Asia -- all of these cancer doctors who can look and say, oh, my God, they discovered this in India. Oh, something similar is going on in Australia, and they can really merge it together.

BALDWIN: Everyone knows someone touch by cancer, it's like the littlest thing that could potentially help. Wonderful.

FEYERICK: Months matter, that's what he said. Months matter.

BALDWIN: Deb Feyerick, thank you.

FEYERICK: Of course.

BADLWIN: And now golf. Golf's latest superstar has a boy band past. We're going to show you the video, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Jerry Bubba Watson Jr. defeated Louis Oosthuizen on the second hole of the playoff to win the Masters tourney yesterday. And he just might be the most interesting golfer ever. Here's why. He's never actually taken a formal golf lesson and he doesn't work with a swing coach. It was just his fourth win on the PGA tour and his first major victory. Imagine that.

In addition to the old green jacket, he does take home a cool $1.4 million prize money. And, yes, you know, that might sound like a lot, but it's only really enough to buy a couple of watches. That's right, watches. Because Bubba Watson's watch, check it out, the one he wore during the Masters, it cost more than $500,000. It is one of just 38 made by Richard Mille and won't be available to the public until this summer if you're interested.

He didn't actually have to buy it though. It was given to him as part of this sponsorship deal which is a good thing, because he prefers to spend money on cars or more specifically a car, the car. Bubba Watson, the proud owner of the General Lee, folks, the car used in the TV show "Dukes of Hazzard." He paid $110,000 for this car at auction last year and actually drives it to the tournament.

But before you think he's some selfish playboy all about watches and wheels, consider all of the charity work Bubba does. He lost his father to cancer in 2010, uses a pink driver to raise awareness for cancer research. And for every drive he hits over 300 yards, his sponsor Ping donates 300 bucks to a cancer charity. And that's not all. He's also one of the golf boys. PGA tour boy band that produced a hit YouTube video for charity. Here he is -- the shirtless guy in the overalls and they're not half bad.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BALDWIN: Farmers Insurance donates a thousand bucks to charity for every 100,000 views the video gets.

And with that, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts now.