Transcripts For CNN CNN Newsroom 20120315

karzai as the u.s. soldier who is a kutsed of slaughtering 16 people is moved from the country. the washington monument is sinking. it's sunk a fraction of an inch since the quake hit last august. today the circus ends and the prison sentence begins. former governor rob blagojevich has left illinois and might not be back for quite some time. he's on his way right now to a federal prison in colorado to start his 14-year sentence. he was convicted last summer of corruption. zoraida zsambolin is with us. >> my pleasure. >> zoraida, his going away thing was kind of like he was a rock star rather than a corrupt politician. why is that? >> as i was watching it this morning, i thought the exact same thing. this guy still does what he does best, right? he has this rock star status in the state of illinois. he was the golden boy of illinois politics for a very long time, and he has a way of connecting with people that have never seen before. this is a man that if he meets you once, he makes eye contact. he learns your name and he never forgets it. and you also have to remember, carol, that illinois has a long history of republican governors, and he was the first democrat elected in 30 years and so, you know, you this guy really had a strong following. he was serve his second term. >> well, i want to show folks, if we have it, the pictures of him leaving his house this morning. he steps outside of his door. neighbors surrounded him showing him the love. do we have that tape? if we could just listen to a bit of the natural sound, as we're calling it the bizz of what he's saying. >> how are you feeling this morning, governor? how are you feeling? how are you feeling this morning, governor? >> what did you say to your daughters? >> okay. so he's leaving his house, zoraida, leaving his family for the last time. he's going to prison for 14 years and all of these reporters are greeting him. now he has a publicist so apparently he wanted this. i mean, do some chicagoanns, some people from illinois want him to disappear and go away? >> oh, my gosh, yes. there are a lot of people that want him to go away. you're taking a look at that, carol. this was almost a daily occurrence at rob blagojevich's home in chicago. so i think he even said as he was leaving that hopefully this can finally return his neighborhood back to normalcy because, you know, this trial lasted a long time. it was two trials. this was common place in his community. so i think there are -- i know that the neighbors are happy to see this or are hoping that this is going to dissipate finally for him. this is the way he was greeted all the time. i have to tell you, carol, he had a lot of followers. he did some really good things for the state of illinois and some people will not forget. >> he did some really bad things for the state of illinois, too. >> oh, yes. i've got to tell you something, that folks really are not focused on. we talk about president obama's senate seat, right? what really infuriated a lot of people in chicago was the fact that he implemented this kid care where he gave all of this money in order to get all of the children in the state of illinois insured but then one of the things he was convicted on is that there's a children's hospital in chicago and he held hostage some money for campaign contribution. those are the types of things that the people in the state of illinois will never forget. >> zoraida, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. >> you are welcome. any time. >> thank you. in the next hour we'll talk to another chicago journalist who covered the blago scandal from start to finish. natasha wrote a blog. today she just might write her last story about him for quite some time. a story that's echoing from wall street to your corner cafe. an executive announces his resignation and says he's fleeing a culture that's toxic. greg smith rails against goldman sachs in a scathing op ed piece. we told you about that yesterday. it was in "the new york times." let's remind you though, here's one snippet. quote, it makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. over the last 12 months i have seen five different managing editors refer to their own clients as puppets. alison kosik is at the new york stock exchange. alison, i know that goldman stocks kind of sank yesterday and goldman responded. so is it going to get worse? >> let's talk about that response first. yeah, goldman sachs actually coming out in full damage control mode defending itself. ce oh, lloyd blankfein, president gary cohn sending a letter saying our response is best through how we help our clients and our commitment to their long-term interests. he points to the internal surveys that most employees don't feel the same. 89% of the workers there say they put their clients first. goldman sachs says it has reached out to smith and company executives say, hey, we weren't aware any of this was going on, that he had any misgiving until that letter came out in "the new york times." carol? >> so you work on wall street every day. is this letter -- i mean, i know it's goldman saying it's not indicative of what goldman does, but a lot of people feel it's indicative of what the entire industry does. >> you know, it depends on who you ask. some traders down here on the floor say it is indicative of the industry as a whole but others say it is just maybe a goldman sachs culture. goldman sachs, it's been around for 150 years. you know, it's got this gold-plated reputation. it's known for delivering big profits and that is what attracts big clients. so, you know, it's no surprise that these investment banks are in it to make money, and they make no bones about it. that's what they're here for. they're here to make money for their shareholders. so with that understanding, some analysts say comes some responsibility upon the clients of these investment banks, carol. >> yeah. alison kosik live at the new york stock exchange. now we want to turn our attention to afghanistan. leon panetta's mission to tamp down the outrage there. before he met with president karzai this morning we learned that the afghan man who exploded a car dangerously close to panetta's arrival has died of his injuries. and there are new protests near the sight of the weekend massacre. hundreds of afghans take to the streets demanding that the u.s. soldier be publicly prosecuted in afghanistan. as protesters chant the anti-american slogans they find a knew cause for outrage. the u.s. military says it has moved the staff sergeant to kuwait. the news is stirring new suspicion and a lot of anger. >> translator: the u.s. soldier must be tried in kandahar city. why was he taken away from afghanistan when he murdered innocent people in this country. he has been transferred to be freed. why did he murder 16 people? we want to see him punished here, in afghanistan. >> also new this morning, a detdly roadside bombing that bears the hallmarks of a taliban strike. sara sidner is in the afghan capitol of kabul. what can you tell us about this latest attack? >> reporter: we understand 13 people have been killed, including nine children, and the government saying that this was the act of terrorists. this did not happen anywhere in the provinces that we've been hearing of different things going on, including obviously the visit of mr. panetta. mr. panetta met with mr. karzai today. we have just confirmed that mr. karzai has asked for american forces and nato forces to leave all afghan villages and remote areas. that's coming in from the presidential palace and that is after this massacre allegedly by a u.s. soldier that u.s. soldier sent out of the country overnight. we've talked to a local afghan official from cab da hakandahar. he said people are angry because they had asked to talk to him. saying we as afghan officials should actually be able to question him ourselves. now he's out of the country and we can't do that. so some anger there from afghan lawmakers in that area. we do understand that we will perhaps be hearing more from the lawmakers from kandahar because they're going to be talking about some of the evidence they say they've been shown by u.s. officials, including a surveillance video of this alleged u.s. soldier who is accused of shooting and killing 16 civilians in kandahar. >> you talked about today's protests near the massacre site. they were organized by religious leaders. is there a concern there could be more of an uprising tomorrow because it's the muslim day of prayer? >> reporter: there are concerns about that certainly. this protest broke out in kalat which is not actually where the massacres happened, but not too far from it in a different province. of course there's some concern that there is going to be more and more protests. however, we have to say that so far things have been relatively calm. the two protests that have happened, namely there's only been two, both have been peaceful. no one has been injured, killed, and there hasn't been any damage. some are saying, look, this shows that the afghans have this under control but we're not seeing the same kind of protests that we saw after the koran burns last month. >> sara sidner live in kabul, afghanistan. the pentagon says it will not release the soldier's name until he's charged. military sources tell us he is a he a staff sergeant in his 30s. he has a wife and children. he's an infantry sniper trained to fire fatal shots from up to 800 meters away. he suffered a traumatic brain injury in 2010 during his third and final deployment in iraq. his medical history is now part of the investigation which is being handled by the u.s. military. in just a few minutes we're going to talk with the parents of another soldier in afghanistan. they are worried he might pay for the deaths of those 16 afghan civilians even though he had nothing whatsoever to do with it. a deli owner goes on the offensive after getting pepper sprayed by a robbery suspect. have you seen this? we'll show you exactly what happened next. and later, the controversy over haley barbour's pardons grows deeper. cnn has exclusive information about how the former mississippi governor's staff and wife helped several prisoners. you know when i grow up, i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. 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there's not much the workers can do about the situation. this time of year those geese are protected by federal law. and now to memphis, tennessee. the city is naming a street after dr. martin luther king jr. 44 years after the civil rights leader was assassinated at the lorraine hotel. now a report you'll see exclusively on this network. investigative documents obtained by cnn revealed former mississippi governor haley barbour, his wife, and staff may have given prisoners special treatment before they were pardoned. cnn's ed lavendera has the details for you. >> reporter: just days before these two mississippi killers were pardoned by haley barbour, cnn has learned david gatlin and charles hooker were issued brand new driver's licenses even though they were still technically incarcerated working as trustees at the governor's mansion, which begs the question, how do two inmates get driver's licenses while they're still in custody of the prison system? >> reporter: well, haley barbour's chief security officer tells cnn he drove both men from the governor's mansion here over to the driver's license office himself. >> reporter: he suggested the licenses would help them find jobs but why else would either of these men need a driver's license? to drive their newly purchased cars, of course. cnn has obtained these investigator's reports from the mississippi attorney general's office which detail how gatlin and hooker also had cars ready for them the day they were pardoned. according to the report, haley barbour's wife called a salesman at this car dealership. it says, marsha barb bour contacted him regarding the purchase of vehicles for hooker and gatlin. the salesman allegedly told investigators that the inmates had been brought to the dealership on january 6th, 2012, in a black ford crown victoria to complete paperwork for the sale. january 6th is the very day that their pardons were signed but two days before the men were officially released. the salesman also stated that he delivered both vehicles to the governor's mansion. >> ed joins us live from washington now. so there are so many disturbing aspects to this story. so if we don't know who paid for the cars, how did the prisoners get them? they're in prison. they're not exactly making a big salary. >> reporter: exactly. both of those men have been in prison for almost 20 years or so. and based on the documents that we saw, what stood out to us and what still has many questions we're unable to answer at this point, we know that these men got these cars without putting any money down as downpayments. victims' families are asking if they didn't do that, who put forth the collateral to be able to guarantee these loans? these men are still responsible for paying off the loans but they were able to get these cars without putting any money down, which is for many people across the country would full well know that that is something perhaps highly unusual. >> but still, you found out that the governor's wife helped them get driver's licenses. what was it about these two men that made the barbour's fall in love with them while they were still in prison and they were convicted of murder? >> just to be clear, it wasn't -- the driver's license, it was the chief security officer who said he personally drove these two men while they were in custody from the governor's mansion over to the dmv office. >> man on the governor's staff, right? >> reporter: right. >> so -- >> reporter: haley barbour, even though he has refused to answer our questions specifically, we gave him a long list. his spokeswoman told us that our assumptions and the assumptions of fact in this case were wrong but wouldn't specify any more than that. didn't give us a long statement. they said -- they believed that these men had fulfilled their promises and their responsibility as part of this trustee program and they felt it was their responsibility to do what they could to prepare them for a life in the free world. so they felt that it was their duty and that they had -- their way of ensuring that these men don't fall back into the traps of committing crime and are productive once they would get out of the trustee program. that's what haley barbour has told us in a statement. he refuses to answer our questions on camera, but he's told us this through comments via e-mail statements. >> ed live in washington for us. wasn't exactly a rubber chicken dinner. a state dinner at the white house draws several, more than several celebrities. boy, does it draw high fashion types too. >> cheers. >> who was there and what they wore and we'll get to the serious stuff too. that's just ahead. ♪ you're so lovely with your smile so warm ♪ it was a night of ball gowns and black ties. president obama and the first lady hosted a state dinner for british prime minister david cameron and his wife. michelle obama wore a marcasa gown by george gina chapman who was at the beginner. alexandra rich was not at the dinner but that's what mrs. cameron wore. we just had to throw in a picture of george clooney just cuz. a lot of other celebrities were there as well. if you're wondering what they ate for dinner. the main course, bison wellington. let's get a little of the behind the scenes from cnn white house correspondent brianna keilar. brianna, the theme was america's backyard. 362 guests. it was quite the night. >> reporter: yes. carol, i don't know what your backyard looks like, but i can tell you george clooney is not in mine, unfortunately, nor is rory mcelroy, the professional golfer. dame enlewis who is a british actor on homeland, cable tv series which i should tell you president obama is a very big fan of. so this was a dinner that took place on the south lawn where there was a very large tent set up. it was actually quite a ways from the white house. trollies took guests down to the lawn, to the dinner, and of course, you know, the highlight of this, i think, especially for a lot of women, is the fashion and wondering what michelle obama wore. you said she wore marcasa, this beautiful gown that had a very bold necklace on it. this was kind of, you could tell, by looking at samantha cameron and a lot of other women, it seemed like hues of blue were the colors. at one point president obama, as he was entering the dinner, said to the prime minister, they look better than us, which, you know, i think the tuxedos are nice but the men don't have as much latitude for sure. the entertainment was pretty enterta entertaining. it was an okay night. >> i was looking at the seathing arrangemen seating arrangements and i found it interesting george clooney was alongside president obama along with warren buffet. just stuck out. he was right by michelle obama. >> reporter: i don't know the reasoning behind that. at dinner parties you mix up people. >> so nice. >> reporter: varied conversation perhaps. i'm not sure. >> i'm sure it was a fascinating conversation. smart guy. probably was a fascinating conversation. okay. let's get down to business. the president does get to serious business today. he's in maryland to deliver the speech on an energy policy that he says will stabilize gas prices in the long run. tell us more. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. all this glitz and galllamor gi way to the pinch that the president is feeling about gas prices. he will continue the push on energy today making his case to the american people that he's doing everything he can. now he's going to a maryland community college to make that case, but he's also going to be talking about a refrain that we've heard before, which is that there's no silver bullet. there's no quick fix for fixing the prices of gas and really stopping americans from feeling that pinch at the pump. he'll be talking about his energy strategy which he's selling as the all of the above. you have renewable energy, solar and wind. he'll also be making the case, this is what he's done before, carol, talking about how oil production is at an all-time high domestically. the reason he's doing this is to say to the american people, if it were about just increasing the amount of oil and gas production, prices would go down and they're not. he's really trying to show the american people he's doing everything he can, carol. >> brianna keilar, live at the white house this morning. well, campaigning in puerto rico for sunday's primary, rick santorum spoke about potential statehood for the u.s. territory and then he add the the whopper. if, of course, they make english the official language then, of course, they could apply for statehood. paul steinhauser is here to parse this all out for us. so he's campaigning in puerto rico and he says something that probably won't make many puerto ricans happy. >> reporter: probably not but it could make conservative voters here in the lower 48 happy because that has been an issue for a while. carol, here's exactly what he's told a puerto rican newspaper down there. like any other state, there needs to be compliance with this and any other federal law. that is that english needs to be the principle language. he was talking of course about the statehood referendum that is on the ballot in puerto rico come november. the thing is there is no federal law. it's not in the constitution either that english has to be the official language of a state entering the nation. 31 states do have laws that say english is the official language of their state. >> they were doing a little bit of research. english and spanish are the official languages of puerto rico. >> reporter: most people speak spanish much more than english. the contest is on sunday. 20 delegates. mitt romney is probably considered the favorite. rick santorum can pick up some delegates. romney, by the way, will be campaigning in puerto rico on friday and saturday, carol. >> paul, i also want to get into this because it's just so weird. santorum aid is bringing back that romney dog on the roof story. that story will not die. >> reporter: that was a big story when it first came out four years ago when mitt romney was first running for the white house. let's flashback. the story was back in the 1980s when mitt romney was packing up the family in the family station weighing gone, driving them 12 hours to a family vacation home. they put the irish setter, their dog at the time on the roof in a dog carrier. the dog got sick and threw up all over the car. listen, the story's now back by the santorum campaign. take a listen to this. >> quite frankly, i'm not sure i'm going to listen to the value judgment of a guy who strapped his own dog on the top of the roof of his car and went hurling down the highway. >> reporter: that was john bray better with soledad o'brien on "starting point." they're bringing it up again. a democratic group is trying to start a pac called dogs against romney. they're fundraising. their line is we ride inside. there you go, carol. >> dogs against romney. >> reporter: i'm not making this up. i know it sounds like i am, but i'm not. i promise. >> it's such a weird political season, isn't it? >> reporter: you can't make this stuff up. >> thank you, paul. top stories happening now in the newsroom. rob blagojevich is off to colorado to begin serving a 14 year prison sentence. lat year he was convicted on several counts, 18 actually, of corruption including a charge he tried to sell a senate seat once held by president obama. investigative documents obtained by cnn reveal two convicted murder remembers may have received special treatment from former mississippi governor haley barbour's wife and staff. we'll have more details. today in afghanistan defense secretary leon panetta met with president hamid karzai four days after a u.s. soldier allegedly massacred 16 after gab civilians. today angry afghans took to the streets in protests after word that soldier had been moved out of the country. wall street is opening for business. they say stocks will continue trending higher on positive economic news. another sign this morning, jobless claims have matched a four-year low. back after a quick break. oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. sort of like two in one. how did you guys think of that? it just came to us. what? bundling and saving made easy. now, that's progressive. call or click today. we have a bit of new information out of afghanistan to tell you about. afghanistan's president, hamid karzai, wants u.s. troops moved out of villages and remote areas. he says afghan security forces can protect the villagers so combat outposts could be dismantled. barbara starr is at the pentagon. i don't know if i explained that very well. barbara, is the u.s. likely to agree to this? consider carol, the u.s. military has a long standing view. it doesn't stay where it isn't wanted when it's trying to work these situations. it remains to be seen. here's what we know. the presidential palace in kabul has put out word that following the karzai/leon panetta, secretary of defense meeting, that what the two men discussed this morning is just what you said, that u.s. troops should be pulled out of these remote combat outposts at all u.s. and nato troops should be back in their main bases. no response from the pentagon yet to any of this, but it would be a fundamental change in nato strategy because for many years now you keep hearing counter insurgency. what that means is the troops are out there in the remote villages in the remote areas working with the people, offering assistance, hunting down the taliban where they live. if they go back to the main bases, if that is agreed to, it may be a very different mission and karzai says he also wants it ramped up. he wants foreign troops largely out of there by 2013. that would be a year early. carol? >> 2014 most u.s. troops are supposed to leave afghanistan. i want to ask you some more about this suspect. the u.s. military moved him to kuwait because i guess you can -- they have better facilities there to detain him, at least that's what they said. they still have no clue why this suspect snapped. are you finding out any more about this man? >> reporter: you know, we are talking to people around the clock about it, and, you know, maybe the investigators have some information out there, but largely, carol, what we are hearing is nobody knows why he snapped and those are the words you are hearing. he did suffer a traumatic brain injury back in 2010 in iraq but was deemed fit for duty. so what they are doing now is going through the unit talking to everybody. did you see anything did you know anything were there any indications of any of this? let me just wrap up by saying, as long as he remains in kuwait and is not convicted of a crime, he'll get his full military pay and he'll even get his combat pay. carol? >> barbara starr, live for us at the pentagon. as you know, the taliban had threatened to kill americans as pay back for the deaths of those civilians. that has allen and cindy perry worried about their son phillip. he's with the army's 82nd airborne division and he's serving right now in afghanistan. they're joining us from tampa. thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> thank you for having us. >> you're welcome. >> the military has been so quiet about this. have you heard anything at all from phillip since the killings? >> no, nothing yet. >> nothing at all? does he usually communicate with you every day? >> not every day. we hear from him from time to time. it depends on his deployment, where he is, if he's out on missions or not. but we get the e-mail every now or then. it's not my unit if we hear something bad happen. it's not my unit. i'm okay. love you, bye. we hear from his wife more often than from him because he contacts her more often. >> and we know that when there is ab incident, they usually shut down communications for a short time so we won't worry until we hear from him. >> i know he's in afghanistan. is he stationed in a remote village? is he at an outpost somewhere? do you know? >> we're not real sure where he's located at the moment. when he left last september he told us where he was supposed to go. three days later they moved him. . so he doesn't actually identify exactly where he is, which is probably a good thing. it keeps us from watching the news and worrying as much as -- you know, we worry as much as we can right now, but we would worry more if we knew exactly where he was. >> allen, i know you're proud that your son is serving over there, but do you think it's time for him to come home? >> i think it's way pastime. it's his fifth tour. not only him. he's had a couple of minor injuries while he's been over there. he was offered at one stage with one of those injuries to come home early and he declined and said that he wanted to stay with his troops. he didn't expect them to do anything that he wasn't prepared to do. i think it's time that all the troops came home and all the families can rest easy instead of -- a lot of sleepless nights for a lot of families. >> with these threats from the taliban, cindy, do you feel confident that the u.s. military is proteching its soldiers and the afghan security forces for that matter as best they can? >> according to our son, yes. he's being looked after. they're doing everything possible that they can to protect our troops, and i have to believe that. >> i wanted to ask you this since your son has -- this is his fifth tour, right? >> yes. >> yes. >> everybody talks about this guy who snapped. he served three tours in iraq and he was serve his fourth tour in afghanistan. maybe that's too much for anyone to handle. your son has been an exemplary soldier, right? >> he has. >> i want to get your perspective on, you know, when -- i mean, what is too many tours? >> how long is a piece of string? i guess for everybody it's different. i think five is way too many. i think one is too many. i don't think we should have been over there, but that's another issue. i certainly think three, four, five -- one or two maybe. i don't know. everybody's different. we're lucky with phillip he's very level headed and he's not -- he's not showing any signs. i talked to him when he's home quite a bit and he's handling it very well. a lot better than a lot of people i'm sure. he has his problems, but he sees on top of them for the most part. >> sometimes cnn is piped into afghanistan so, cindy, would you like to say anything to your son, phillip? >> yeah. just hi, bub. we love you. come home safe. he's due home in may. >> thank goodness. >> just for r. and r. we'll have some time with him. we're looking forward to that. >> when will his current tour end? >> september. >> so not too long. >> september. yeah. >> no. >> no, not too long. >> long enough. >> we're looking forward to it. >> oh, yes. it can be a long time at times, especially when incidents like this happen and you hear it every time you turn television on. you hear about it. it brings it all to the forefront and makes you worry again. >> alan and cindy perry, thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you, carol. the tsa is trying out a new screening procedure. elderly travelers will find it easier to pass through security at four airports. yes, you might not have to take off your shoes. we'll have more on that story ahead. and it's the last week of winter, but across much of the country, boy, does it feel like summer. find out what's behind this extremely warm weather pattern we're having. r! ohh dear... i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hiiiiiii!! come sweat with me! keep going richard. keep sweating!! geico. fifteen minutes could save you sweat! sweat! fifteen percent or more on car insurance. for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. ♪ it's a beautiful day it is going to be a beautiful day in atlanta. i cannot wait to get out and enjoy it. temperatures are expected to, again, be in the 80s. it's part of a warm weather pattern covering nearly the entire country. take a look in washington, d.c. the forecast today, 83 degrees. the normal temperature would be 55. in detroit it will be 77. more than 30 degrees above normal. and in st. louis the mercury will hit 83 compared to an average temperature of 55. what the heck is going on? rob marciano is here. everyone thinks it's going to be a miserably hot summer. >> right. there's no correlation. last year around this time we were thinking what's going on because it was so cold and snowy. we are just kind of paying the piper. we talk about how this is a nasty winter thing happening right now. actually, technically, we think of march as being spring. we're almost there as far as the calendar is concerned. let's go over what we did for winter, december, january, february. the fourth warmest winter in the u.s. it's been an ongoing thing. it's not just now. we're just continuing that trend. new york city, boston seeing the second warmest. d.c. seeing the third warmest. boom. yesterday did we have a slew of records. over 200 records yesterday. in the past week we've seen over 800 record high temperatures in the past seven days. some astounding stuff happening yesterday. saint lewis, 86 degrees, topeka, 84. nashville, 83 degrees. chicago 81 degrees. columbus, ohio, 78. some spots in michigan seeing 80 degrees for the earliest they've ever seen. minneapolis was 78. that's the earliest, warmest they've seen temperatures. this is remarkable stuff that shows no signs of ebbing with the exception of the folks who live in the northeast. we have a back door front, meaning this time of year we'll get winds off the ocean. it will be a high temperature of 54 in new york city. 82 expected in d.c. the high temperature normally is 56 in washington, d.c. in many cases we're 30 plus degrees above average. chicago was 81 yesterday. you'll be 74 degrees today. is this going to last? there are indications that, yeah, there's going to be more red and orange on the map, not only today and tomorrow, but going forward. big dip in the jet stream. it's winter out west. everywhere else will be above average for the next six to ten days, maybe longer than that. get used to it. allergies have come in early. the good news is a lot of cities have saved on snowplowing and your heating bills are probably lower. >> that's true. i think it's looking at the glass half full because i'm enjoying the warm temperatures. mosquitos are out and flies are out too early. >> a lot of negatives. >> but i'll take it. >> get the swimsuit out and enjoy. >> no, i'm not ready for that yet. the detroit lions lock up calvin johnson. yes, megatron. he signs a deal for $132 million. that's a record. that story plus march madness. that's coming your way next. actor jon hamm says he does not regret for a minute calling kim kardashi an idiot. "showbiz tonight" a.j. hammer live in new york. i guess they're fighting via twitter. >> yeah. well, it's via twitter, through magazines. carol, jon hamm not backing down at all from this little spat with kim at all. the mad men writer started this earlier this week. he said in that interview, whether it's paris hilton, kim kardashian or whoever, stupidity is celebrated. being an ex blah active idiot is being rewarded in this culture. kardashian called hamm's remarks careless. last night, "showbiz tonight" caught up with hamm at the new season of "mad men." he's telling us he doesn't regret a single word. >> no, i don't. i'm a -- i don't mind it at all. i believe in that. i think we are as a culture sort of wall lowing in this celebration of the wrong things and, you know, i never said anything personal about anybody in particular. that was taken a little out of context. but i do believe it's an unfortunate place we're in. but, hey, here we are. we've made our bed. >> we have made our bed and, to be fair, carol, he did point out previously that while he mentioned kim kardashian by name, he wasn't really specifically singling her out as he mentioned there. >> sure, he wasn't. >> jon hamm, kim kardashian, they do many come from two very, very different worlds. let's all just get along. >> i don't know, i'm kind of on jon hamm's side. i'm not supposed to say that. >> a lot of people are. >> thank you, a.j. actress charlize theiron's story is coming up. i'm walt gale, i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ oh, fear the lions. the detroit lions have made calvin johnson the highest paid receiver in the nfl. they have a $132 million contract. johnson caught 92 passes last season for a whooping 16 touchdowns. johnson, and quarterback matthew safrd from one of the league's top passing combos, i cannot wait for football season to begin. i'm a detroit lions fan. sorry. new york knicks coach mike dantoni resigned. reports said he lost the locker room. knicks on a 16-game skid hosting portland. boy, is jeremy lin still making the plays. he passes to carmelo anthony. who hits the three. this game was a blowout. knicks win, 121-79. march madness, well under way. the ncaa field is now down to 6-4. the team held the bears to 16 points in the first half. south florida goes on to win, 65-54. the bulls advance to play temple on friday. vermont moved on last night. they shot 60% from the field, beating lamar 71-59. vermont's only other win in the tournament came from 2005, an upset of syracuse. the catamounts will take on the number one seed on friday, unc. rod blagojevich gets a one-way ticket from illinois to colorado. he begins a 14-year prison sentence today. we'll talk to a chicago sun times reporter who followed the trial from start to finish. what will she have to blog about now now that blago has gone away? for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. helping generations achieve dreams. buy homes. put their kids through college. retire how they want to. ameriprise. the strength of america's largest financial planning company. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you, one-to-one. together, for your future. ♪ oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen and this morning's health for her, a u.s. health advisory panel says women no longer need to get a pap smear every year and can, in fact, wait five years between screenings. the test for hpv that causes most cervical cancers is enough screening. they point out the risk of cancer death doesn't increase with a longer wait time. the tsa is testing a new series of procedures to modify screening for elderly air travelers. people 75 years old or older will be able to leave their shoes on as well as light outer wear, as in light coats, and there will be fewer pat-downs. the tsa has been criticized for aggressive screening of elderly passengers. the tsa has proposed changes will help screeners manage risks. >> we're trying to move from a one-size fits all approach to security and look at more of a risk-based security program. >> the trial program will be conducted at airports in chicago, orlando, denver and portland, oregon. and good morning to you. i am carol costello. this is what we're watching now. disgraced former governor rod blagojevich is on his way to jail. he left his home this morning and basked in the love fort last time. >> saying good-bye is the hardest thing i've ever had to do. it's going to be hard. clear conscious. but i have high, high hopes for the future. >> blago will spend the next 14 years in a colorado prison. a day of big developments in afghanistan as that country's president meets with the u.s. secretary of defense as angry afghans protest. we learned the u.s. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 civilians has been moved out of the country. and there's another headline. we'll have that for you in just a minute. extraordinary youtube video out of syria. a man quoting from the koran as what appears to be a government tank explodes. [ speaking foreign language ]. >> today marks one year since syria's uprising began with a day of rage. it is clear the rage has not let up. just days after an american soldier slipped out of his combat outpost and allegedly mass occurred 16 villagers, afghanistan's president is demanding change. hamid karzai wants troops pulled out of remote areas and pulled back to their main posts. sarah, how is the u.s. military likely to receive this? >> reporter: yeah. it's interesting because for this whole time, we've been hearing that they are not going to change the overall mission, even considering some of the things that have happened in the past three months, including the u.s. soldier accused of massa e massacring 16 civilians. this could put a crimp in that, at least hearing from president karzai asking that international forces move out of the villages and remote areas of afghanistan and back to the larger bases. and then, further saying that he would like international forces to finish up their transitional period in 2013, a year earlier than they had planned on doing that. how is that gone over? we do not have any official statement yet from defense secretary leon panetta who is here speaking to mr. karzai. as our sources tell us, it seems he and his people have been caught off guard by this. it will be interesting to hear from him when we can. furthermore, carol, you had mentioned that there is violence in the country. we understand there has been a roadside bomb that hit a station wagon, killing nine children and three adults. carol. >> sara sad in the r, live for us in kabul. the pebt gone says it will be release the soldier's name until he is charged with a crime. sheer a quick rundown of what we know about him. he is a staff sergeant in his 30s with a wife and children. he's an infantry sniper trained to fire shots from up to 800 meters away. and his medical history is now part of the investigation, which is being handled by the u.s. military. president obama, he has an energy speech ready to go. that will happen later this hour. he's speaking at a community college in maryland. maybe he'll talk about gas prices. a month ago, around the time he gave his first energy policy speech, prices average dollars $3.51 per gallon. today, they're running $3.82. white house correspondent brianna keilar joins us now and what can we expect to hear from the president this time around? >> well, carol, it will be some of what we've already heard from the president. he has a very big challenge and that is trying to convince voters that high gas prices are not his fault and that he's doing everything he can. so expect to hear him, again, talk about how there's no silver bullet or quick fix for gas prices and also trying to frame his energy policy as an all of the above approach, not just renewable wind energy, solar, oil and gas production because he has been known certainly more for renewable energy and having made green energy such a priority. he will try to make the point, as he's done before, that domestic oil production is at an all-time high and that if the answer were really just to drill and create more oil and gas production, the prices would go down. that's an argument that he's going to try to refute as he try toes really refute some of the arguments from republicans who are saying that he's standing in the way of some of those kinds of production, carol. >> and it seems like his campaign is ratcheting up a bit because vice president joe biden will be out and about. i guess he's going to ohio to talk to union people. >> yeah, that's right. he'll be in toledo, ohio. all of the time we're wondering, when does this campaign start? it sort of feels like the president is making his case. but a couple of tangible events today, he will really be making the case in a very strong way and this should be seen as biden really stepping into the frai here for the first time. also, the obama campaign is releasing a movie. we saw the trailer last week for this movie called "the road less traveled" which is directed by an oscar award winning director trying to create some of the energy among obama supporters because polls do show, carol, that some of that enthusiasm they had in 2008 is lacking this go around and that's really a challenge for the campaign to re-ignite that. >> brianna keilar, live at the white house, thanks so much. a reminder for you, the president does speak, he's going to give him big energy speech in may remember. that's now scheduled for 10:55 eastern. we'll carry the president's remarks life. it was a story that helped sparked a national debate on bullying. but did a college roommate intimidate his roommate into committing suicide? 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(announcer) starts working on contact and at the nerve level. to block pain for hours. new capzasin, takes the pain out of arthritis. jury deliberations are now under way for dharun ravi, who is accused of spying on his roommate with one of his female friends. she struck a plea deal with prosecutors and testified during the trial. ravi's roommate, 18-year-old tyler clementi committed suicide by jumping off the george washington bridge. randi kay takes a closer look at the lives of both boys behind this tragedy. >> reporter: like many universities, rutgers randomly assigns a roommate for each of its new freshman. so it was pure chance tyler clementi and da rharun ravi camo share a room here. before school, ravi lived here with his family in plainsboro, an upper middle class suburb. ravi graduated from high school. in his senior high school year book, dharun ravi was named best dancer. he was well known for break dances and is nope for playing ultimate frisbee. those who know him say he was a good student. some say he led a charmed life. clementi grew up here and graupted from ridgewood high school. in a statement, his family described him a as, quote, a fine young man and a distinguished musician. tyler clementi had been accepted to the prestigious symphony orchestra at rutgers. >> he had a exceeding ability. >> two young gentlemen, roommates for only three weeks when the events that would lead one of them to take his life began. >> randi kaye reporting. i want to bring in the president of the rutgers university student association. welcome, matthew. >> how is it going? >> pretty good. i was just wondering, this trial has been going on for, what, 13 weeks now? it's now wrapping up. can you give me a sense of how this trial is being felt at rutgers? >> everyone knows about it. it's on the forefronts of everyone's mind. as this whole tragedy has been for the past 18 months, every student knows about it. it's been on the cover of the student newspaper for the past week. it's pretty big news here on campus. >> mr. ravi, he could be convicted of a hate crime or found guilty of a hate crime. during the trial, though, things didn't seem to cut and dried. at the beginning of this one, we find out mr. clementi committed suicide, everyone has sort of demonized dharun ravi. after paying attention to the trial, do you have a different impression of mr. ravi? >> definitely from students i've talked to and in my own observations, this case is very complicated. a lot of students know that what ravi did was plain out wrong and shouldn't have happened, but now i do think students are looking at this case and are people making an example of ravi? does the punishment kind of fit the crime? students are asking themselves this. definitely, i think that students still understand that what he did was wrong and there still needs to be some sort of punishment, but this whole big trial, how it's ballooned into somewhat epic proportions, i do think there is -- there's students that understand the complexity and, you know, sometimes their attitudes change when new information arises. >> right. have there been any changes at the school as a result of this case? >> i would say that there's two big things. one, rutgers was already a pretty inclusive place. but now the administration, students and faculty have really come together to ensure that no matter what your compel orsexua orientation, your race, your creed, that you're really welcomed here at school. but the second thing is there has been some policy changes here at the university. we now have a floor and a dorm gender neutral space so students of different identities have a dorm that they can live in where they really do feel comfortable. >> it's tough when you get on campus and you're rooming with this person that you've never met. that's tough, anyway, right? and when you room with someone -- go ahead. >> i think that is tough. but because rutgers is so diverse, it works out well because you get to meet someone with a different background. it is part of the overall learning experience here. i was a freshman and i roomed with a person who came from a very different background. in the beginning, it was a learning experience and i think most students have a pretty positive experience of it and, unfortunately, this time it didn't seem to work out so well. >> matthew cordero, president of the rutgers student university association, thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you for having me. >> sure. bye, matthew. at this moment, we won't have rod blagojevich to kicked around any more. the disgraced illinois governor is on his way to a colorado prison for 14 years. he had a big sendoff this morning as his neighbors gathered around him and showed him some love. yesterday he called a news conference to talk to the media and talk to supporters. >> everything i talked about doing i believed was on the right side of the law. the decision went against me. when i became governor, i fought a lot. and maybe i fought too much and maybe one of the lessons to this whole story is that you have to be maybe a little bit more humble. you can never have enough humility and maybe i could have had more of that. >> lest we freft, blago was convicted on 18 counts. we'll talk to a "chicago sun times" reported who covered blah go vich expensively. in barington, illinois, the state is holding a primary on tuesday. gingrich is hoping to pounce back after fail to go win primaries in alabama and mississippi on tuesday. here is a look at where the other candidates are today. ron paul is in missouri and rick santorum is in puerto rico which holds its primary on sunday. reeling against wall street in a culture that he calls toxic, one executive from an iconic firm goes public with his resignation. and you won't believe the shock waves it's caused. we'll have more on that story, coming up next. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. call now for our free guide and tips on planning for your retirement this tax season. ♪ oh, my maltipoo's depressed. but my affordable prius c means i can pay for his acupuncture. whew. i love my pooch. oh no! my homemade sushi... turned p-ushi! use estimated 53 mpg to find a gluten-free alternative. look, this means i'm a chef. [ male announcer ] be a winner with the all-new prius c from toyota. ♪ now for an update on the new york op-ed that's been making headlines. a goldman sachs executive rocking the boat when he wrote a scathing op-ed calling goldman sachs tox iic. it makes me ill about how people talk about ripping their clients off. over the last 12 months, i have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as muppets. end quote. allison is at the new york stock exchange. wow, it's like an earthquake struck wall street, isn't it? >> yeah, you can say that again. traders i've been talking to say, you know what? this guy has guts to resign this way, so publicly and leaving that trail of smoke behind him. but they're saying, you know what? i'm not too sure if it was the best way to quit. he definitely burned some bridges on this one with one trader telling me that greg smith's tone in this letter is vicious. but they're, you know what, not surprised by what he says. i also spoke with josh brown, the author of backstage wall street. he says, you know what? it's about business. people are in it to make money. that's why they're here. these things happen. >> there are going to be people that make caustic remarks. you go into the kitchen of a restaurant and the customer sends the food back, the chef may call a customer a muppet. i think this is just like any other business. the difference with wall street is that it kind of is running the show politically for so long and so people grab on to these types of things as an opportunity to vent. >> and others are coming out cheering smith, give him a high five for highlighting how little the wall street culture has changed for the better after three years on the financial crisis. >> goldman isn't so happy about that op-ed. its stocks plummeted yesterday. so what's been their response? >> by the way, its stock is up about 1.3% as we speak. but that's the market for you. what's goldman's response? you know goldman. it has a reputation to defend and they're defending it, the ceo coming out and saying goldman was voted as one of the top places to work in the uk. that's where greg smith worked and lived. they have ways for the employees to complain anonymously. but carol goldman says this is the first they're hearing about these xlaims complaints from smith. >> so he didn't make any trips to hr, huh? >> apparently not. he took the "new york times" route. leave in a blaze of glory, right? burn a few bridges. >> yeah. alison kosik, thank you. the president seems to be playing it safe with his march madness picks. why fought a cinderella story? we'll give that question to the political buzz panel, that's next. 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. 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[ erica ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ herb ] from the moment we walked in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work, i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪ the weather is so beautiful over most of the cup, but not in hebr hebron, ohio. you can see there's massive flooding here. licking county, hebron, lots of farms as you can see. lots of farmland flooding right now. earlier we were looking at pictures with people in boats. an emergency official there telling us two-thirds of the village of hebron is now under water. as you might imagine, some rescues are under way. some people are stranded in their homes, in their cars. the dive team in licking county is suiting up, ready for any kind of emergency. meteorologist rob marciano is here. was there a massive downpour here? >> hefty thunderstorms have been developing and more are developing on the back side of it. you're familiar with the area east of columbus. here are the storms that rolled through. these were severe this morning, but mostly because they had some hail and a decent amount of quick winds with them. but, obviously, some rain. some radar estimates -- and this is as far as where this is, it's right here. so the first batch of rain is just beginning to move out. you can see there's more pockets of moisture back here in this disturbed areas that's beginning to roll through, as well. 7 inches of rainfall fell estimated by our doppler radar here and that's why we're seeing the flooding in this area. they've got their hands full here in the next few hours, carol. >> i know you'll keep your eye on it, see if anybody is in any real danger there. rob, thank you. political buzz this year, rapid fire looks at the best political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. pete dominick, stand up comedian and political talk show host on sirius, patricia murphy and cnn contributor will kaine. welcome to all of you. >> hi. thank you for being with us this morning. first question, rick santorum campaigning in puerto rico saying if it takes on statehood, it has to take on english as the official language. he's campaigning there for votes. is this smart politics or not? >> i don't know if it's great politics in puerto rico. i think it's good politics for the rest of the cup, certainly for the republican base. actually, 87% of americans think english should be the language of the entire cup. i'm sure that 100%, maybe 90% of americans would like to see that be the official language of puerto rico. in puerto rico itself, that's not as popular. a significant number of people don't speak english in puerto rico. but it's good politics for him for now. >> will. >> patricia stole my stacks. the polls are overwhelming, 80% of americans think english should be the official language. so your question specifically, is it good politics? yes. patricia stole that info from me, it woon be the first time. in the 1800s, the kons put louisiana requirements in saying english has to be the same language. it's happened before, it's not unprecedented. >> pete. >> the u.s. times decision doesn't designate language or any other language nor a requirement for any a territory to become a state. is it good politics? i don't think so. the republican party is having a hard time to get hispanics come their way. maybe he's just mad because mitt romney won the only other island state. but the arrogance of him going into a country where they speak spanish and say, you should speak english. i can't wait until americans go into -- and say, hey, jose, i ordered some food. don't you speak english? come on. president obama and british prime minister david cameron talked about tapping emergency oil reserves to keep the economic oil recovery on track. do most of us even understand this will? will. >> no, clearly, we do not understand gas prices. they're role in the free market and their role to the presidency specifically. we think the president has some kind of control over long-term or marginally short-term gas prices when he clearly does not. americans don't understand it, specifically regarding strategic oil reserves. it's like walking through the deserts. you have a canteen of water on you and the slightest bit of thufrt thirst, you open it up and take a small swig of water. >> pete. >> will is exactly right, first of all. i totally agree. and no, members don't understand and politicians don't understand very well, either. what can be confusing about the u.s. wanting to, you know, tap the spr with the permission of the iea and opec with the purpose of counterbalancing a potential rising fuel cost for the -- you know, to help the nation's economy recover? really nothing. americans don't realize that problems takes a long time to be created and solutions take a longer time. that's why a lot of americans are buying that shaky weight to lose weight. it's not working. you have to do cardio and you have to eat right. >> i can attest to that because i got one for christmas. >> oh, carol, carol. >> and it doesn't work. >> eat rights and exercise. >> i'm tryinging. patricia. >> americans understand every time they go to the pump that it costs more. they understand that it takes money out of their wallets. i don't think they fully understand will's point that the president doesn't have a whole lot of control, certainly in the short-term. but it wouldn't be the first time that the president released from the oil reserves. he's done it before. he did it during the libbian crisis. but there's so much more that goes into it, the rise in india and china, the diminished value of the u.s. dollar. there's so much more topping the reserves that it could stabilize it a little bit. >> your buzzer beater now 20 seconds each, third question. president obama makes his pick for march madness. no underdogs or cinderella stories in his pick. please, discuss. >> oh, carol, come on. there's no doubt there's politics behind this. public he makes it because americans relate to this. americans all over are filling out their brackets right now or they should have already. but, yeah, i guess maybe when he gets re-elected, he's going to pick the university of phoenix online and come out strong for gay marriage because it won't be as risky. and, yeah, he picked unc because it's a swing state. and he's a huge basketball fan unlike romney who is a big fan of the owners. >> patricia. >> there is an alarming number of swing states on that list. i want to know where vanderbilt is, my alma mater. look for them. they're going on be mrarg in this one. that's my hope. they have not ever done it before. >> will. >> i'm going to outsource this because the "new york times" wrote an article the other day saying what your bracket says about you. if you pick all brackets, its says that you believe societal order must be encouraged at all costs. if you pick up set, you're for hope and change. it basically says that, i swear. one man can change the world. >> go syracuse at 3:00. >> vanderbilt at four. >> i picked ohio state to win it all, but i really love loyola. >> oh, look at that. look at that. >> i love loyola of maryland because i'm really involved in that community because i most recently lived in baltimore so i'm torn. loyola should be my upset. >> carol has lived in so many places, she's not sure who to root for any more. >> i know. i'm so confused. and this reminder, stay with us for president obama's big energy speech. he'll be giving that speech from prince georges community college in maryland. now scheduled for 10:55 eastern. we will carry it live. get my pr. check me out. everybody says i've got a friendly disposition and they love my spinach dip. five foot ten... still doing a little exploring. but... my sign is sagittarius, i'm into spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but i'm getting a weave. getting a weave. there's an easier way to save. who wants some ronald tonight!? 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[ male announcer ] 1, 2, 3 percent cash back for the things you buy most. the bankamericard cash rewards card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. actor john ha jon hamm says he does not regret calling kim kardashian an idiot. a.j. hammer live in new york, you guys talked to jon hamm and he doesn't regret it. >> no, apparently no regrets here, carol. although jon hamm is clarifying his remarks saying he wasn't specifically calling kim k. an idiot when he says, whether it's paris hilton or kim kardashian or whoever, stupidity is certainly celebrated. being an ex me active idiot is a value commodity in this culture because you're rewarded significantly. kardashian hit right back. she defended herself on twitter. she called hamm's remarks careless and pointed out how someone of her success could hardly be an idiot. so last night when "showbiz tonight" caught.with hamm at the hollywood premier of the new season ott mad men, we had to ask him if he regrets what he said about her and here is what he told us. >> no, i don't. i don't mind it at all. i believe in that. i think we are as a culture sort of wall lowing in this celebration of the wrong things. and, you know, i never said anything personal about anybody in particular. that was taken a little bit out of cop text. but i do believe it's an unfortunate place we're in. but, hey, here we are. we've made our bed. >> so there you have it. they're successful for their own reasons and let's leave it at that. >> well, i was just going to -- don't think this segue is mean or anything. i was going to say, and i will say it, let's go to a talented actress, charlize theron because there's reason to congratulate her this morning. yes, there is. charlize has a brand new baby. her publicist is telling "showbiz tonight" that charlize theron has adopted a child, a healthy baby boy named jackson. theron has been very open in the past about her hopes to have a child one day. in fact, in "w" wag zeeb she said i've always known i would be a mom from the time i was a little girl. it's her first child, so we wish her and jackson all the best. >> congratulations. thanks, a.j. want everything breaking in the entertainment world? a.j. has it don't at 11:00 eastern on hln. a u.s. health advisory panel says women no longer need to get a pap test every year and can, in fact, wait five years between screenings. the test for hpv that causes more cervical cancers is enough screening. well, the press won't have blago to kick around any more. he gets his one-way ticket to federal prison. the drama, the hair, the rock star treatment, that all stops now that he's trading his clothes for inmate duds. we'll talk to a "chicago sun times" reporter. 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i was picked to be on the reality show, "i'm a celebrity, get me out of here in 2009, but couldn't leave the country to be a part of the cast. his wife took his place on the show. let's not forget why blago was going to jail. he was convicted on 18 corruption charges, including trying to sell president obama's senate seat. remember this phone call? >> i've got this thing and it's [ bleep ] golden. and i'm just not giving it up for [ bleep ] nothing. >> what can we take away from the blago spectacle, anything? or will we forget about blago tomorrow? natasha is from the "chicago sun times." welcome. >> good morning. >> take a look at this mob scene outside of blago's house yesterday. i know you don't have to because you were there. blago's publicly consistent called the media and he came. he's surrounded by blago lovers. he's a convicted crook. what gives in chicago? >> rod blagojevich has become the anti-hero. he's gathered a bit of a following on the one hand. on the other hand, some of his lawyers yesterday were complaining that where was the outrage? they thought that blagojevich didn't get a fairer trial and he should have gotten -- the public should have risen up and been a little more outraged about it. i think the spectacle that you saw yesterday was sort of everybody feeding off of each other. you know, rod blagojevich's lawyers thought it was a good idea if he addressed the public just to sort of, you know, let's talk to everybody at once because they knew it would be such a spectacle of people, of the media constantly hounding him. but then it just grew upon itself. i mean, it was like nothing i've ever seen before. >> well, in the midst of this -- i mean, he gave a campaign-striel speech, too, which was very strange. but blagojevich's 4-year-old daughter popped up by his side. he walked through media horde with youngest daughter. she yells at us, ask questions later. here is this little girl going some place, she probably can't understand. i don't know, it was just ugly. >> it is an interesting dynamic. on the other hand, they're saying, leave us alone, respect our family. on the other, he's walking through the crowd of media. she's around 8, his youngest daughter, annie, and he's walking her right through this crowd. and so, you know, she's in the midst of all of this. when he came out to talk to the microphones, later in the day to give his statement, she was with him and, i mean, the crowd almost -- people were trampling each other, there were so many people there. it was unbelievable. i got knocked back twice and somebody kaud caught me twice. there was literally nowhere to put your feet. >> so i was trying to, like, i don't know, figure out some deeper meaning to this spectacle and what americans should learn from this. have you figured out anything? >> i don't know about a deeper meaning, but i will say this. you know, i did think that blagojevich's yesterday had a great bit of humanity to it. i thought it resinated with a lot of people, what he actually said to the public. some of it was, yes, what we've heard before, his campaign, you know, his campaign speech. but some of it was, you know, very humane, very compassionate, talking about patti, talking about staying up late at night, his god, where he's going, that kind of thing. you know, it was interesting that he still wasn't -- he's sort of taking responsibility, but really not. he still called it political talk. he still referred to it as horse tradeling. those were the big issues at trial where the prosecution said, no, this went beyond typical horse trading. >> natasha from the "chicago sun times" thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. the ncaa tournament resumes in less than two hours. one school playing today is known for producing presidents more than nba stars. >> it's really humbling that we could achieve something here that has never been done before when so many things have been done before. >> coming up next, harvard returns to the tournament after 66 years. life with the prius c! ♪ oh, my maltipoo's depressed. but my affordable prius c means i can pay for his acupuncture. whew. i love my pooch. oh no! my homemade sushi... turned p-ushi! use estimated 53 mpg to find a gluten-free alternative. look, this means i'm a chef. [ male announcer ] be a winner with the all-new prius c from toyota. ♪ how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years, ameriprise financial has worked for their clients' futures. helping millions of americans retire on their terms. when they want. where they want. doing what they want. ameriprise. the strength of a leader in retirement planning. the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ are you done adjusting our big bracket? >> i'm still getting used to these specially made brackets for at least the next two to three weeks. >> we're talking about march madness, obviously. everybody is excited about it because tonight we have these things called the 5-12 matchup. bizarrely, the number 12 tooems team always seemed to upset the number five team. what is it about that? >> i think at least one time in the last 20 or so years, there's been one upset where the 12 team beat the 5 team. i also know this about the vegas odds. when that 12 team beats the 5 team, it has a 50% chance of winning. i practiced this yesterday and this ball is supposed to bring -- look at that. it brings up all of on our pictures. where are you? >> right here. >> so we can look at carol's bracket. let's see what you have. >> i think we great on our final four. >> you're going with bcu, i believe. >> yeah. you don't have that? >> no. >> oh, well, then we don't. >> yeah. you're going with bcu and i'm going with wichita state. bcu, they made a big defensive run last year. they lost a lot of their offense. but as you pointed out earlier, they have a good defense. >> that's right. >> we'll see about that. and then the harvard scenario, playing vanderbilt today, as well. >> that's your cinderella team, right? >> no. i'm going to vandy, as well. my cornell, big red, make it to the sweet 16. i'm thinking harvard could have a chance. they've got the janemy lin sanity scenario going on. that could be a tough pick. but vanderbilt beat kentucky in the s.e.c. championships. >> i'm more a blue collar girl and not an ivy league kind of gal. >> it's going to be the smartest team in the tournament when harvard plays vandy, that's for sure. >> let's talk about harvard. they haven't been in the tournament for 66 years. mary snow went to harvard to talk to the folks about that enormous achievement. let's listen. >> it wasn't long ago that the most famous basketball playing harvard alum resided in the white house. then lin-sanity struck. in february, new york knicks guard jeremy lin cat putted to the top of the alma mater basketball history, making harvard hoops cool. and now, there's this. >> harvard and the champ yops of the ivy league with reason to celebrate. >> for the first time in 66 years, the men's basketball team is in the ncaa tournament and crimson pride runs deep. >> arne duncan, my education secretary is playing for harvard. i will be rooting for harvard, but it's just too much of a stretch. >> even harvard's book worms are taking notice. >> they're telling you good luck, congratulations b with and these are people that you've never talked to before. >> that's what the coach was hoping for when the duke alum arrived in 2007. with a mission for his recruits. >> why not be a game changer? that's what our team has been known for in many ways, to think outside the box, to be different, to literally change the world. >> harvard has done that by producing eight u.s. presidents. but the future politicians and world leaders shared this ivy covered campus with a mediocre basketball team, until now. >> it's really humbling that we could, you know, achieve something here that has never been done before. when so many things have been done before. >> harvard students aren't used to all this march madness stuff and they got little chance to celebrate when the team finally made the tournament last week. that's because they were in the middle of doing what they are used to, studying for midterms. >> i heard bought it was talked about in the dining halls and everywhere on campus. >> i didn't expect to go to school and we did and it's been fun. >> have you heard any rumblings about the ncaa tournaments? >> not that, not really. >> would it be fair to say before a couple weeks ago one didn't care about basketball? >> that's probably true. >> and now? >> now, yeah, let's go to march madness. >> sports can be as fickle as politics. case in point, lin's knicks no longer have a winning record and the crimson's fortune could be even more fleeting with just one lot loss sending them back to campus. but with the team on the map in harvard yard, courting future players may not be as hard. >> the worst thing that happens to you here is you become a harvard graduate. that's not too bad. >> mary snow, cnn, cambridge, massachusetts. 16 games beginning on tap today. every tournament game is live on either cbs, tbs, tnt or trutv. watch online at ncaa.com/marchmadness. today, we stand against the tyranny of meager travel cards. battle speech right? may i? capital one is issuing a venture double miles challenge. show us how much you spent last year and we'll give you 2 miles for every dollar spent on your travel reward card. up to 100,000 miles! hawaii, here we come. claim your miles at capitalone.com today! what's in your wallet? 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