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CNN Sunday Morning

Innermost Thoughts Revealed; Primary Day in Puerto Rico

Aired March 18, 2012 - 07:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's 7:00 a.m. in the East, 4:00 a.m. in the West. Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye.

We know his name. We know where he lives. And now, we know his wife's pain.

We're talking about U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, who allegedly murdered 16 Afghan civilians one week ago today. We'll bring you revelation from his wife, Carolyn's blog. And a live report from his hometown in Ohio.

And it's primary day in Puerto Rico. Twenty delegates up for grabs, but most eyes are already focused on Tuesday's contest in Illinois. We'll tell you why.

And starting Monday, flying gets a whole lot easier, especially if you are over 75. We'll explain.

ANNOUNCER: From CNN's world headquarter, bringing you news and analysis from across the nation and around the globe. Live from studio 7, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.

KAYE: We now go to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state where U.S. Army Sergeant Robert Bales served most of his military career when he was not deployed. That's why we find our Casey, and he has more on Bales' defense team.

Casey, good morning. The attorneys say they will meet with Bales this week. What, if anything, do you think we can expect from that meeting?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randy, that's right. We got a word late yesterday from Staff Sergeant Bales' defense team. It's two civilian attorneys and his military attorney saying that they will, in fact, travel to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Staff Sergeant Bales is currently being held and meet with him in person sometime this week. As of right now, up until now I should say, there have only been phone conversations between the attorneys and the staff sergeant.

They released a statement yesterday afternoon and I'll read that to you now. "Public reports that Sergeant Bales' supervisors, family, and friends describe him as a level-headed experienced soldier are consistent with information gathered by the defense team. It is too early to determine what factors may have played into this incident, and the defense team looks forward to reviewing the evidence, examining all of Sergeant Bales' medical and personnel records and interviewing witnesses."

Now, those glowing reports that the defense team referred to, Randi, include neighborhoods and soldiers who served with Sergeant Bales. Neighbors say he was a nice -- he is a nice man. Soldiers say he is a model soldier.

There have, though, been a few blemishes in his record, including a 2002 assault charge, which was dismissed after he went through anger management training.

Also, his wife wrote on a blog not long ago that the family was very upset, very disappointed that Staff Sergeant Bales was passed over for a promotion last year.

So, that's the picture we're getting from Joint Base Lewis- McChord.

KAYE: And, Casey, in terms of the picture and direction that his defense team might be taking, every time we hear from his defense lawyer, he seems to mention his traumatic brain injury. Do you think mental incapacity -- do you think -- is there any indication that that's the strategy they're going to go with?

WIAN: That seems to be the ground work that the defense team has been laying. This was his fourth combat deployment. He served three previous deployments in Iraq. During two of those deployments, he received injuries, including one of those traumatic brain injuries that you mentioned. Also, post-traumatic stress disorder could be a factor here.

The defense team has said that Staff Sergeant Bales witnessed a fellow soldier not long before this incident happened, receiving a very, very traumatic injury -- very serious injury. And that may have been a factor in this case.

So, it's clear that they will be investigating that and it's a possibility that if there is a trial, that that will be a major factor, Randi.

KAYE: Casey Wian reporting for us this morning -- Casey, thank you very much.

And turning now to Iraq -- we're digging for answers into a military mystery, a really strange story. The United Nations says an American believed by some to have been held captive for nine months has been turned over to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. That embassy is now working to verify his story. He is identified as Rand Michael Hultz.

Hultz, wearing a military uniform, speaking out about his experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RAND MICHAEL HULTZ, SAYS HE WAS HELD CAPTIVE: I was taken inside Baghdad and had been kept in and around different locations within the city by al-Maoud. It was explained to me that my release has been for more of humanitarian reasons and that there was no exchange involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: A Pentagon official says that while the Defense Department is reviewing the reports, there is no knowledge of any active duty military member missing in Iraq.

The man who turned Red Bull into a global phenomenon and became a billionaire in the process has died. Chaleo Yoovidhya and a business partner transformed a sweet energy drink that was popular with truckers and construction workers in Asia into a brand now sold in 164 countries. Chaleo died in Thailand of natural causes. He was in his 80s.

It is primary day in Puerto Rico. Polls open in about an hour, where 20 delegates are up for grabs. But the big battleground state is Illinois's primary on Tuesday. All the candidates are focusing on those 54 delegates. Polls indicate this is a contest between team Romney and team Santorum.

Joining me now is Patricia Murphy, founder of Citizen Jane.

How are you? Good morning.

PATRICIA MURPHY, CITIZEN JANE: Good morning. Thanks.

KAYE: Nice to see you on this Sunday.

So, let's talk about Puerto Rico first because that's today. Any surprise where you think the support will land?

MURPHY: Well, I think the surprise is anybody cares what happens in Puerto Rico. You know, the American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, what's going to happen? You know, there is no unimportant election in this contest, so every candidate has been down there or sent their surrogates to go down there and campaign.

Mitt Romney looks like he is doing much better. Rick Santorum had a little bit of a controversy, saying that English should be the main language of Puerto Rico.

KAYE: Right.

MUPRHY: It's obviously a bilingual territory. So, it looks like he's hurt himself in the process. But looks like it's going to be a Romney day.

KAYE: As we have bean saying, though, all eyes are looking ahead to Tuesday, to Illinois's primary. Anybody, you think -- you think this will be a game changer for?

MURPHY: Well, it could be a game changer if Santorum were to win a state like Illinois. Illinois is the kind of state that has gone from Mitt Romney, so far. He won Ohio. He won Michigan. He is winning those industrial states that are less evangelical, more urban and suburban populations.

So, if Mitt Romney were to not win Illinois, that would be a game changer. That would have every Republican in the country saying, oh, my gosh, it's just getting worse.

KAYE: Yes, if they haven't already.

MURPHY: Yes, exactly, exactly. So, I think it will be very, very important. A big bucket of delegates, 54 delegates. So, it's a hugely important state because, again, there is no unimportant election so far.

KAYE: All right. One just very quickly -- the magic number here. Of course, 1,144 delegates need for the nomination. Mitt Romney needs to add 646 more to clinch the nomination. So, are we looking at a brokered convention possibly? I mean, where they're going to determine who the nominee is on the floor?

MURPHY: There is more and more talk among GOP insiders and on every campaign that this come down to a contested convention. That means that they would get to the convention not knowing who was going to be the nominee because nobody had gotten to 1,144.

Romney has not been able to pull away enough to convince people that that's not going to happen. So, every campaign, Santorum, Gingrich, they both hired delegates specialists. They know where every delegate is. There's a big bucket of unbound delegates.

Those guys want to go in and they say relitigate the delegates, convince them. You don't want to vote for Romney. You want to vote for us.

They're allowed to change their minds, and so Romney can't count on them to stay with him. Santorum and Gingrich are betting their futures that they can change their minds.

KAYE: Thirty-six years or something since we've seen that.

MURPHY: I know.

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: What a story that would be.

All right. Patricia, nice to see you.

MURPHY: Thank you.

KAYE: Thank you.

Later on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, by the way, Newt Gingrich's daughter will join me live here in studio. I'll ask her if there's any chance of her father dropping out of the race and what it would take for that to happen. That live interview coming up at 8:10 Eastern Time.

Well, it's about to get a whole lot easier for senior citizens to fly. The changes set to take effect tomorrow, just ahead.

Plus, Reynolds is keeping a check on the forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Good morning, Atlanta. Look at this -- look at that crowd in downtown Atlanta. No, the new iPod is not -- iPad is not on sale in downtown.

This is the Georgia marathon taking place, Reynolds, isn't it?

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it is.

KAYE: Just getting started.

WOLF: Well, some will be doing the half marathon.

KAYE: Yes.

WOLF: So, we're talking about 26.2 miles for some people, and then for others it's going to be just the 13.1. What's funny, when they start off everyone has a nice little smile like this, but then when you go halfway through the race, there are a few people that start having their faces looking like this.

KAYE: Yes.

WOLF: Changing just a little bit.

KAYE: You run, though. You have done one of these.

WOLF: Done one of those. I know you have done some 5k's. There's a great sense of accomplishment. But glad here doing that and not me.

Glad to be here with you this morning and sharing some weather. Randi, we've got a lot to share with people around the country.

Let's take a peek of what's happening. First and foremost, pretty quiet day for much of the Eastern Seaboard, with the exception of the Carolinas. Might see some scattered showers there in parts of the outer banks, but also back in parts of the Piedmont region, a few showers that are forming there. Some snow still back out towards the west, especially in the Sierra Nevada, but the Rockies too, could get on the snow action, where some places could get well over a foot. Great for the skiers and not so much for the drivers, especially on I- 70. You might have a tough time going west of Denver, could be kind of tough there.

On the other side, back to the planes, we've got have a big mix there. One side, a lot of community, and with it with the daytime heating, we could have strong storms. But on the back half of that, very, very low humidity. The strong wind, you get a fire threat. And a segment one at that. It could be kind of a messy day to say the very least. We'll watch it for you very carefully.

Across the Ohio Valley, it's going to feel like summer today. Very muggy. Temperatures in Memphis and even places like Cincinnati will be in the 80s. With the high humidity, wow, it's going feel much warmer. It's going to feel like it's pretty close to 90 in a few places.

And speaking of just the air temperature, three degrees shy of 90 in Tampa, where the river is not green anymore, but, man, I'm telling you. It was a beautiful thing yesterday. Today, it's a tad warmer.

Sixty-seven degrees in Boston for your high, 63 in Billings, 52 in San Francisco, 56 in Los Angeles. Anyone taking that flight out to Los Angeles, you might have a few delays leaving. Getting there, won't have too many problems.

The big spot where you could have delays would be Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. The wind and the thunderstorms could keep you grounded for over an hour. Patience is a virtue. Enjoy your time at the airport today.

Let's send it back to you, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Reynolds, thank you.

WOLF: You bet.

KAYE: Flying may be a little smoother, though, for America's seniors. Starting tomorrow, the TSA is easing security procedures for seniors at airports in Chicago, Denver, Orlando, and Portland, Oregon. Under the new procedure, some passengers 75 and older won't have to take off their shoes and their jackets anymore. That's nice.

And if an alarm goes off at the body scanning machine, there won't be an automatic pat-down. That's even nicer. They can just go through the machine again.

So, how big do you think the world's tallest man is? Eight-foot- one, 8'3" perhaps, 8'5", 8'7"? There are all your choices. We'll tell you next. Plus, explain what caused them to keep growing and growing. Wow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Time now for a "Morning Passport" with Nadia.

How are you?

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: I am wonderful, especially because I have a rather fascinating story for you.

KAYE: I know. We gave a clue to the viewers --

BILCHIK: Yes.

KAYE: -- about this very tall man. Asking them how tall do they think the world's tallest man is. So, what is the answer?

BILCHIK: Well, Sultan Kosen who is Turkish originally is 8'3", and was growing until recently.

KAYE: There he is.

BILCHIK: The news is that the University of Virginia Medical Center has managed to get him to stop growing, but you can see how tall he is. Just look at those hands.

KAYE: So -- oh, my goodness. So he was just growing and then, what, there was a medical procedure or something?

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Look at him with the kids.

BILCHIK: I know. He does look -- it's so large. He has a condition called acromegaly, and that is the overproduction of the growth hormone by the pituitary gland.

So, what the University of Virginia Medical Center has managed to do is actually zapped the pituitary tumor within the brain. It's called gamma ray surgery.

KAYE: Wow.

BILCHIK: He is smiling now because the growth is very dangerous, and, in fact, it's life-threatening.

KAYE: Really?

BILCHIK: Because not only does the body grow, but it puts enormous strain on the heart, which then grows, and then the cardiovascular system as well as the joints. So, in fact, luckily, by stopping the growth, he will live a much longer, much healthier life.

KAYE: I wonder what he does for a living.

BILCHIK: Well, at this point he has been undergoing treatment.

KAYE: OK.

BILCHIK: People ask if he is a basketball player. No, he isn't. You can see him on crutches. It's so difficult.

KAYE: Yes, he struggled.

BILCHIK: It's difficult to walk because the bones grow, and then there's enormous strain on the joints. So, there he is, and he is very grateful to the University of Virginia Medical Center.

KAYE: I'm sure.

BILCHIK: But from the very tallest man in the world by the Guinness Book of Records -- KAYE: We have the smallest?

BILCHIK: -- to the smallest. And we go to Nepal, and we meet Chandra Dangi. And this delightful man is 72 years old, and he is 21 1/2 inches. And you can see --

KAYE: Twenty-one and a half inches. Oh, my goodness.

BILCHIK: There he is on the plane. You can see him relative to the back seat of that plane, but, you know, he is about the size of a computer monitor or scuba oxygen tank.

KAYE: Wow. Ands they just -- when did the Guinness book discover him?

(CROSSTALK)

BILCHIK: Only recently. Isn't that amazing? He lives in such a remote area of Nepal that what happened was a forest contractor saw him and there he is with his two certificates, because he's not only the smallest man in the world, but he is also the smallest person in the world. He said at that moment, "I am good. I feel happy holding my two certificates. I want to travel the world and spread the name of my country."

KAYE: So, I think what we need to get the two of them together.

BILCHIK: Absolutely.

KAYE: For some type of photo op. Don't you think?

BILCHIK: That would be very -- I mean, visually amazing. Chandra doesn't have any health issues and is very agile.

KAYE: Wow. That's good.

BILCHIK: So, the bottom line is it's healthier to be that small than that tall.

KAYE: Yes, I like being small.

BILCHIK: Yes, you are rather petite, Randi. You aren't that short. You're five foot, you're, what, five foot?

KAYE: Five foot three. So, the first guy is three feet taller.

BILCHIK: It's extraordinary. And, again, he's just so grateful for this medical treatment.

KAYE: Wow.

BILCHIK: We're grateful to the Guinness Book of World records for bringing us these extraordinary people.

KAYE: All right, Nadia. Thank you very much.

BILCHIK: Thank you.

KAYE: Appreciate it.

"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." just moments away -- and here's a preview of what's ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Randi, this morning, we're taking a closer look at medical errors and also some simple things you can do to protect yourself and your family. There are things that we talk about as doctors. I want to make sure that we can share with everyone else. Also, I got tips on how to eliminate toxic substances in the kitchen and how to avoid the most common sports injuries as well. All of it 7:30 Eastern -- Randi.

(END VIDED CLIP)

KAYE: Thank you. Plus, the March Madness continues. Day five of the NCAA tournament. How's your bracket doing? We'll break down last night's scores and get you a preview of today's action coming your way next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Reynolds and I were just talking a little bracketology. Is that the right word? Bracketology?

WOLF: I don't know. I'm not Reynolds. I'm speechless.

Folks, look at this. She's still got 91 percent. Yesterday, you had 97 percent.

KAYE: Yes.

WOLF: There were a couple of things that didn't work out for you. But still, 9 -- you basically have an A on this. I'm still blown away.

KAYE: Well, thank you.

WOLF: It's amazing what a great job you've done.

KAYE: Yesterday, though, I was keeping my eye on Syracuse yesterday because that's why I am winning it all.

WOLF: Let's see the final four again.

KAYE: Syracuse.

WOLF: OK.

KAYE: Winning it.

WOLF: OK, you got Syracuse, you got Kentucky.

KAYE: So, all my final four teams are still in.

WOLF: Yes. Let's see -- so far so good.

KAYE: But things are settling down, right? I mean, as far as after yesterday?

WOLF: Absolutely. But there are a couple of key matchups. One game is going to be taking place this afternoon. It's about to be the Michigan State-St. Louis game. Now, my wife is a Spartan, and you are -- oh, didn't -- you are actually choosing the Billikens, the St. Louis, over the Spartans, and now that puts them up against Louisville. So, that could be pretty interesting to say the very least.

But, you know, we've already had a bunch of incredible games. We had one last night. Indiana against VCU. It was amazing. They actually returned to the sweet 16 for the first time in a decade. So, pretty amazing to say the least. Very dramatic towards the very end.

And sure enough, as March Madness is kind of got madness, pretty amazing to watch.

KAYE: And I'm looking forward to Syracuse, as I said, coming up on Thursday, I think it is, for the sweet 16? Should I be confident?

WOLF: I think so. I mean, Syracuse is a great team. They've go great history, a wonderful coach. I got to find a way to get Jim Boeheim, their head coach, here in the studio. If they end up winning the national championship, we have to make that happen.

KAYE: Yes. Or we can get him before that, and I could just beg him to win it so we're right, so my bracket wins.

WOLF: That's true, because he wouldn't have had pressure on him before, but if you give him the additional pressure, I'm sure they might be enough.

KAYE: There you go.

WOLF: I'm good to go. I'm enjoying just watching all this.

KAYE: And we only show mine because you didn't do one. You didn't have time. Otherwise, we would be showing yours as well.

WOLF: That's true. I'm having more fun watching you.

KAYE: OK, good You can play along with me.

WOLF: There you go.

KAYE: All right, Reynolds. Thanks.

NCAA March Madness is once again taking over America. As you probably noticed, watch every game live on TBS, TNT, TruTV. And if you are away from the TV, no worries. Catch all the action online at ncaa.com/marchmadness. You are watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING where news doesn't take the weekend off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Top stories for you.

Friends of U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers exactly one week ago say he seemed to be a quiet, happy, and nice guy. They're stunned at what's happened. Staff Sergeant Robert Bales remains in custody at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. An attorney on his defense team says they plan to meet with him next week.

Al Qaeda is claiming responsibility for a two-day shooting death of an American teacher in southern Yemen. Officials say two gunmen on a motor bike opened fire on the victim as he was driving to work. He is now identified as Joel Sharm. In a text message, the al Qaeda- linked group said it killed the teacher because he was spreading Christianity. The U.S. embassy in Yemen is now investigating.

Voters head to the polls in Puerto Rico in just about a half hour from now. At stake in today's Republican primary: 20 delegates. Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum personally courted voters in the U.S. territory. They each said they would support Puerto Rico becoming the 51st state, if that's what the people of Puerto Rico want.

More top stories at the top of the hour when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues. But, first, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores medical mistakes and how to make sure they don't happen to you. "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins now.