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Marines Investigate Corpse Abuse; Banner Quarter For Obama Campaign; 21 Killed In Syria Attacks; School Shootings In D.C.; Lawsuit In Alleged Hazing Death; Caught On Tape In D.C.; 10-Year-Old Boy Saves Mother; Miss. Attorney General Against Barbour Pardons; Doctors Face Cash Crunch
Aired January 12, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. It's 1:00, let's get right to the news.
NATO, the Pentagon, the State Department, the Afghan government all are condemning an apparent act of corpse desecration by four men in Marine combat gear. Few details are known about a video clip that turned up on YouTube, but officials say they have no reason to think it's not what it looks like. Marines urinating on three dead Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. Investigations are under way and defense secretary, Leon Panetta, promises the people in this picture, and I quote, "will be held accountable to the fullest extent." Stay with us. I'm going to talk more about the outrage and the fallout with retired Army generals, Mark Kimmitt and Spider Marks, coming up. That's in Facetime just about seven minutes from now.
Well, it sounds like a vacation, Sun City, Hilton Head, West Palm Beach, but trust me, nine days before the South Carolina Primary, and 19 days before Florida votes, it is all work for the half dozen Republicans who think they have a shot at their party's nomination. That includes Jon Huntsman who came in respectable third in New Hampshire and this guy who came in sixth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL PERRY: One of the reasons that we're here in South Carolina is because we don't quit. We've got the heart of the world. (INAUDIBLE.) And I want to ask you between now and the 21st to go do everything that you can, to talk to your friends, to anybody that's not going to be here, or absentee vote to get them in -- to get their votes in to count. Because I want to make you this pledge. If you'll have my back on the 21st of January, I will have your back for four years in Washington, D.C.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The man they all want to replace will have plenty of cash to spend on keeping his job. President Obama's re-election campaign says it took in more than $42 million in the last quarter of 2011. The Democratic National Committee raised another $24 million besides. 98 percent of the Obama donations were $250 or less. Republicans like to say the president is building up a $1 billion war chest, but the Obama camp says that has never been the goal. Now the case of a Mississippi pardon, shocking, yes. Outrageous, maybe, but unconstitutional? The state's own attorney general says pardon requests are supposed to be publicized 30 days before they are granted. Instead, the public found out Tuesday, Governor Haley Barbour's last day in office, that he pardoned almost 200 convicts including 14 murders. Four murderers already have been let go and the A.G. says, they've hit the road running.
More bloodshed in Syria today. Opposition groups say at least 21 people were killed in clashes with government security forces through the country. The latest violence comes as warriors reports that some Arab League monitors have pulled out of Syria or may do so soon because they failed to stop the crackdown against anti-government protests. Monitors today began an investigation of the killing of a French journalist in a mortar attack yesterday.
We have a series of shootings near a D.C. school to tell you about. Three teenagers were wounded this morning within about a half mile of each other in Washington. We don't know their condition. Police say they aren't sure if the shootings are related. A local T.V. station says two possible suspects are in custody.
We have new information on the beating death of a Florida A&M University drum major, Robert Champion. You'll recall he died in November after an alleged hazing ritual on a bus transporting the band. A lawyer says the family will sue the Florida-based bus company, Fabulous Coach Lines. Attorney, Chris Chestnut, says that although the bus and air conditioning system were believed to be running at the time, the driver was not on the bus. The bus owner defends the actions of his company.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY LAND, PRESIDENT, FABULOUS COACH LINES: Ultimately we feel that our liability begins whenever we pick up our passengers at the first destination and ends whenever we arrive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Chestnut also says the family plans to sue the university for wrongful death and negligence.
And now some dramatic video which you may find disturbing. A bus slamming into a pedestrian. We're told the person wasn't seriously injured. And in another accident, the bus rams the back of an SUV stopped at a school zone, there you see it. In clip after clip, collision or close call all involving Washington, D.C. metro busses. CNN radio affiliate, WTOP, got 134 clips of collisions and violations from the bus system through a public records request. They occurred during a two-month period last summer. Not all are the driver's fault. Metro bus officials say their driver's training is excellent and that accidents are declining.
Coming up, another video that you have to see to believe. U.S. marines apparently urinating on the dead. We'll talk with two retired generals straight after the break. But, first, what would you do if your apartment is on fire and mother is trapped inside? Kick down the door and save her, of course. And if you're only 10-year-old, it's easier said than done. But Javion Jones of St. Paul, Minnesota did just that. With his friends' help, he fought off his mother's boyfriend who had started the fire, kicked down two doors and rescued his mom. St. Paul police gave him an award, and we'd like to give him a shout out. Way to go, Javion, you are today's Rock Star.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Barbaric, egregious, disgusting, just some of the global reactions today to a 39-second video posted on YouTube that appears to show four U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of three dead Taliban fighters. We're going to show you a blurred version of the video now, but a warning, it is quite disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at mine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have a great day, buddy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you get it on video?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see you zoomed in on one of our (inaudible.)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Golden like a shower.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and the whole thing --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: It's still not clear who posted the video, but the Pentagon says there's no reason to believe it's not authentic. Defense secretary, Leon Panetta, who viewed the video this morning called it, quote, utterly deplorable and is ordered the Marine Corp to investigate. I'm joined now by retired Army Major General James Spider Marks and retired Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt. Thank you to you both.
General Marks, let me start with you here. First, your reaction.
MAJOR GENERAL JAMES SPIDER MARKS, FORMER COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. ARMY INTELLIGENCE CENTER: It's totally egregious, makes you want to throw up. This is behavior that you certainly hope that they wouldn't go down the path to take part in this type of behavior, and if someone was to choose to do that, you would hope that there would be a leader involved that would say, no, we're not going to do that. So, I think what you see is failure in leadership at multiple levels. The Marine Corps will get their arms around this and fix it. KAYE: General Kimmitt, what did you think when you first saw this?
MARK T. KIMMITT, BRIGADIER GENERAL, U.S. ARMY: I think everybody that saw that came up with the same reaction deplorable, disgusting and certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our troops are doing over there.
And General Kimmitt, let me ask you this as well. What is the process in terms of I.D.ing the men on that video? Will it -- will it be swift or will it take some time?
KIMMIT: I don't know, I'm not a forensic expert, but I would suspect that it would appear that the faces were pretty well seen. So, I think it won't take investigators long to determine what unit and what individuals were involved in this.
KAYE: I know, General Marks, that you believe identifying these men will be the easy part, in fact, but it is this breakdown in leadership that you mentioned, that's going to be the tough part. How does something like this happen?
MARKS: I think, frankly -- and I'm not familiar with the circumstances specifically of this event. But I would tell you that it's failed leadership. There is a noncommissioned officer who's in charge of that group of snipers, that group of Marines. They were elite up until the moment that they executed this kind of a -- they performed this and they gave up that elite status. Leadership failed at multiple levels. I mean, that's very, very clear. The NCIS, the criminal investigative investigation that will take place will get to the bottom of the criminality. The parallel investigation will take place which it will be as a result of leadership getting involved to determine what was the climate, who was in charge, how did this come about and is there a broader problem? My suspicion is this isn't a broader problem. This problem needs to be fixed.
KAYE: Let me read you a statement from defense secretary, Leon Panetta, he said, I've seen the footage and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable. I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. This conduct is entirely inappropriate for members of the United States military and does not reflect the standards or values our armed forces are sworn to uphold.
General Kimmitt, let's talk about the general training of Marines. I mean, not -- both ethical and otherwise, I mean, are they trained that this is against the rules? I mean, isn't that simply understood?
KIMMITT: Well, certainly they are trained. They do have standing rules of engagement. They're taught from the first day they come in the military that battlefield conduct is of the highest order. You don't want your adversaries to treat your troops in a manner such as this. And naturally, you're not going to do it either. But we would expect this type of training didn't need to be reinforced in the military, this is what you learn in kindergarten for any civil society. You don't need to be trained to avoid this kind of conduct in or outside of the military.
KAYE: And General Marks, what can you tell us about the protocol when it comes to disposing or returning the bodies of enemies of casualties?
MARKS: You know, Randi, soldiers, marines, everybody in the military, they are trained to execute a task. And in this particular instance, these guys -- their job was to kill enemy combatants. And it's obvious that they did that very, very well. They need to compartmentalize after that job has been done, to then make sure they can get on to the next task. And in this particular case, clearly there was no other enemy threat, they had time to do what they just showed you they could do.
So, those bodies needed to be disposed of. If there wasn't somebody local -- I'm sorry. Locally, a local civilian or some villager who would reclaim the bodies, then it was the obligation of these Marines to bury them in a hasty manner, take care of that, and then move on to their next task. And clearly, that wasn't done. Their job was completed and they need to move on to the next one and they failed in that task.
KAYE: General Kimmitt, I'm not sure if you're on Twitter, if you have a lot of time to read Twitter today, but the reviews of this video and the reaction to it have certainly been mixed. Many people saying that the Taliban fighters that we see there on the ground deserved what they got. So, I want to ask -- I mean, what is the impact here? Is there a dehumanizing effect really that we should be worried about here? I mean, you hear the attitude of these guys on this video.
KIMMITT: Well, my guess is that anybody that's ever been in a professional military organization would take a look at this and say, this is absolutely unacceptable behavior. We don't promote this. No, the enemy does not deserve this. Can you imagine if we saw Taliban urinating on dead Americans, the outrage that that would involve?
The fact remains is that the Taliban are among the most brutal organization in the world. Their record for the last 20 years has been one of depravity, but at the same time, professional militaries conduct themselves in a professional matter on the battlefield, and we did not see that happening in this case and it's absolutely despicable. And nobody who has ever been in the military could ever justify what they saw in the video.
MARKS: Randi, if I could jump in real quickly. Mark's point is absolutely spot-on. I don't need the Taliban to tell me I did something wrong. A military organization polices itself. I need to be able to tell myself not to differentiate between right and wrong. That's what will happen moving forward.
KAYE: Generals Mark Kimmitt and Spider Marks, appreciate your time and your insight into this very disturbing story. Thank you both.
KIMMITT: Thank you. MARKS: Thank you.
Kaye: Medical costs are on the rise, but it's not just patients suffering. Doctors are going broke. How this impacts you even more, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Imagine you run a small business and most of your customers don't pay you for the service you provide. Instead, somebody else pays. And those people also set the amounts. And, guess what, they're less than what you asked for and you never know when they're going to drop even more.
Your doctor doesn't have to imagine all that. He or she probably lives it. Financially, the private practices where half of America's physicians spend their lives are in serious, even critical condition. Low reimbursements are a primary reason. Not just for Medicare, but from private insurers that follow Medicare's lead. At the same time, drug and business costs keep going up. Business costs include the labor involved in dealing with insurers. Also malpractice insurance premiums that often run six figures a year. And by the way, MDs are not MBAs. Just because someone can do a triple bypass doesn't mean she can run a business.
My next guest can do a triple bypass and can and does run a successful practice, but he's faced problems that are largely "Under Covered" till now. Dr. William Pentz is a cardiologist and a professor in Philadelphia.
DR. Pentz, thank you for coming on the program.
We've heard about reimbursement issues, but heart doctors have been hit especially hard. Tell us about that. Tell us why.
DR. WILLIAM PENTZ, CARDIOLOGIST: Yes. Well, expenses for a cardiac care make up a large part of Medicare expenses. So in 2010, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services made very severe cuts to the testing that is done in physicians' offices.
It, fortunately, was a very short-sided policy and what it's done is it forced the cardiologists to become employed by hospitals and health systems and also to do the tests that normally we did in our office, we -- a lot of times now that's having to be shifted over to the hospital. And it's actually more expensive to have the test done in the hospital. And the patients themselves, it's more expensive for them. They have higher out of pocket costs and co-pays if they have a test done in the hospital as opposed to the office.
KAYE: Let's talk about some of what you've been through personally. I know that -- I understand that you told our colleagues at cnnmoney.com that you've actually had some trouble making payroll and you've had to dip into your personal funds. How did that happen?
PENTZ: Well, we have had issue with payroll from time to time. That's not so unusual for a small business. At one point the -- our reimbursement from Medicare was due to have quite a drastic cut and every year Congress has to try to come up with a patch (ph) to prevent that, and they didn't do it in time. And so Medicare actually held our payments for two weeks. And being cardiologists, we take care of a lot of elderly patients. So that's quite a substantial portion of our business. So to have our payments held for two weeks, you know, gets to be quite a strain.
KAYE: Yes. And, overall, how does this cash crunch impact patients in general?
PENTZ: You know, it really calls into question, can we do what we need to do in order to care for patients. And this is really why people should care about this issue. You know, I'll survive. My practice is going to survive. But the question is, are we going to be able to do what we need to do in order to care for patients.
As of right now, we can't hire more staff, we can't invest in the technology that we need in order to provide excellent patent care. And myself and my colleagues have been providing outstanding patient care for many years. But I think this really does threaten our ability to be able to do this going forward in the future.
KAYE: I want to give you a chance to respond to someone who might be watching and thinking, you know, it's hard to feel sorry for doctors. They're very well paid. They make a lot of money. They're not in the poor house. So what do you say to those people?
PENTZ: Well, I say that is true. I mean doctors still do relatively well. That is true. But you should care about this because this is going to jeopardize essentially your access to care. Is your doctor going to be there when you need him or her? And is your doctor going to be able to do what he or she needs in order to take care of you? And as I said, this really does threaten that. The instability of the Medicare funding prevents us from being able to invest in technology that will help us improve patient care.
KAYE: Dr. William Pentz, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.
PENTZ: Oh, thank you.
KAYE: Convicted criminals, including murders, walk out of jail thanks to Mississippi's governor. A move the attorney general calls a slap in the face to all of law enforcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM HOOD, MISSISSIPPI ATTORNEY GENERAL: Former Governor Barbour, he kind of ran the state and the governor's office like Boss Hog. I mean he didn't follow the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: What he is doing about it right now. A live report straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: They are convicted murderers, armed robbers', rapists and other criminals pardoned by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. A get out of free jail card despite their convictions.
Now the state may have to issue a nationwide fugitive manhunt to find some of them. This comes after a Mississippi judge blocked the state from releasing at last 21 of those inmates still serving time. But keep in mind, according to state records, the governor pardoned nearly 200 convicted criminals, including 14 convicted murderers, on his way out the door.
Five inmates on the list were already freed this past weekend. That includes these guys right here, David Gatlin, Joseph Ozment, Anthony McCray, Charles Hooker. All of them convicted murderers serving life sentences. And did you know this. They worked as trustees at the governor's mansion.
The state's attorney general tells CNN that the four men have, quote, "hit the road running." Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood just spoke with my colleague, Martin Savidge, and he joins us live now with much more on this.
Martin, what did he tell you?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we found out is that the greatest concern, of course, for law enforcement for the attorney general, the top law enforcement officer in the state, is trying to find those four murderers that were pardoned by the governor that were set free on Sunday. And he admits, they have no idea where they are. And that is really a problem.
Last night there was a court order that was issued by a judge that was trying to put a halt to the pardons. And part of that court order was demanding that the four murders that had been set free essentially have to report into the state. But the problem is, they aren't obligated to report in until they are served their papers. And apparently they're having trouble doing that. Here's what Jim Hood, the attorney general, had to say just a short moment ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Have you been able to serve this court order to any of the four murders that were released on Sunday?
JIM HOOD, MISSISSIPPI ATTORNEY GENERAL: Unfortunately, we have not. You know, these convicts got out and hit the road. Some -- we were -- were we shadowing areas we thought that they were located in. We have not been able to serve them at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: This is the problem, of course, not only for law enforcement, but also for many of the victims' families. They fear that these murderers potentially could be a threat to them. That they may want to exact some sort of revenge as a result of the time in prison they spent. Again, authorities last night thought they had an idea where these murderers, these men were, but it turns out today they really don't have any idea. Because they were pardoned, those men were under no obligation to tell the state of Mississippi where they were going or what they planned to do. In fact, it is believed many of them may have left the state.
--Randi.
KAYE: So what, Martin, are they doing to actually find them? If they don't think they know where they are, I mean what's actually happening on the ground to try and find where they might be?
SAVIDGE: Well, they're not sitting on their hands. They do have enforcement officers that are out there canvassing the old neighborhoods, checking up on old address, certainly following family members to see if they have had any contact. But beyond that, as I say, these prisoners, because they were pardoned, this all goes back to the pardon process, they weren't having to tell anybody.
There's no parole officer that they had to report to. There is no way to exactly know where they are. And, quite frankly, as the attorney general said, he believes that many of them may have left the state. And if they have, it makes it much more difficult because then the state of Mississippi has no jurisdiction to go and try to get them elsewhere. They would try to have to seek out the help of the federal marshals. But before that, they'd have to come up with a crime to charge them with and they don't have any crime to charge them with.
KAYE: So how do locals feel there? I mean I'm sure you've had a chance -- you've spent some time there in the last day or so. What are they telling you?
SAVIDGE: Well, there's still a great deal of outrage. It is a combination of things. One, the fact that you have murders and rapists. These are clearly the worst of the worst when it comes to criminal intent that have been set free. And then you have the sheer numbers, over 200 people that have been cleared in some way. Most of them pardoned.
And that means their records are expunged. It would mean that say it was somebody who was a sexual predator. They would not have to be obligated to report into any way. So it's the same with -- if you had been a murder. You don't have to report to a parole officer. It's possible these people could move next door and you would never know who they were because the pardon cleared them of any obligation to report to anybody.
KAYE: Great reporting. Martin Savidge there on the ground for us. Martin, thank you.
And if you're wondering about the inmate trustee program in Mississippi, inmates are allowed to work at the governor's mansion because of good prison behavior. They're allowed to serve part of the sentence doing odd jobs, like cleaning, waiting tables and other chores around the mansion. But Mississippi isn't alone in that. These states also have similar inmate programs.
Mitt Romney faces an all-out fight in South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly, if I can't take a few shots coming from my colleagues on the Republican side, I am not ready for Barack Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Are his GOP opponents doing him a favor or are they his worst enemies? That's "Fair Game," next.
But first, we learn today that President Obama's re-election campaign has raised more than $42 million over the past three months. So here's a question for all of you political junkies. How much money did President Obama raise when he ran in 2008? Here's a hint. He shattered all previous records for a White House campaign. Tweet your answer to me @randikayecnn. The first person with the right answer gets a big shout-out from me right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Before the break, I asked how much money did the Obama campaign raise in 2008. The answer? Almost $750 million, the most money ever raised in a White House race. And congratulations to Cameron, first to tweet me the right answer.
Money is always "Fair Game" in politics. Let's talk about South Carolina. Some Republicans are having questions about the attacks on Mitt Romney's career at Bain Capital. Newt Gingrich has been at the center of the storm. He tells CNN the atmosphere is only going to get worse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is going to be like Armageddon. They will come in here with everything they've got, every surrogate, every ad, every negative attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: I'm joined by Lenny McAllister, a Republican analyst, in Chicago; and, in New York, Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman.
Thank you to you both.
Lenny, let me start with you.
Newt Gingrich said Armageddon is coming and signaled yesterday that his attack of Romney about Bain Capital may have been a mistake. Did the attacks go too far?
LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, the attacks didn't go too far. He wants to stay above the fray. He wants to stay positive. And he has the negative baggage from 10, 15, 20 years ago. Unlike Santorum or other candidates, he doesn't have the wiggle room to go negative and then try to paint himself as this positive inspirational figure. He's trying to ride the line and it's a very difficult ride because he's now in third place and, in some instances, fourth place. If he doesn't do something to climb the polls or pull Romney down the poll, he's going to be stuck in third place, and that's not going to give him the nomination.
KAYE: Robert, I want to ask you, we know that Rush Limbaugh is defending Romney. We know that Huntsman and Santorum are sort of calling off the dogs and saying, OK, guys, let's stop this. Just today, a major financial backer for Rick Perry defected to Romney's team in South Carolina because of some words that Rick Perry has used because of the whole Bain Capital experience, including the word "vulture." Are the attacks on Romney at Bain Capital, do they seem to be backfiring to you, Robert?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Here's the reality. When Republican Mitt Romney has to defend himself about outsourcing jobs overseas for profiteering and laying off middle class people, you can't get hurt too badly in a Republican context, because that's the Republican economic mantra. So I don't think he gets hurt very much by these attacks. And you can see the wagon circling around Romney. Let's also put into perspective Newt Gingrich. He now says maybe he went a little too far. And he talks about his experiment in positive campaigning. When it comes to personal slashing and vicious attacks, he's the campaign -- he's politics answer to West Praven (ph). He stops --nothing stops him. And right now, his strategy is not to win the nomination but to bring down Mitt Romney. If he doesn't do it directly, he'll do it through a super PAC.
KAYE: Some are saying that this is making Mitt Romney a better candidate. That he's finding his voice. Listen to what he said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's pretty straightforward. Just look at the companies I mentioned, Staple's, Bright Horizons -- let's see, it's Steel Dynamics and the Sports Authority. And you can just go on their web sites, you can see they are well over 100,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So there he is once again trying to taut the positive effects that Bain Capital has had.
Lenny, could these attacks, do you think, make Mitt Romney a stronger candidate?
MCALLISTER: Yes, they will. And it's funny, Robert, you know that I love you as a child of God, but, please, four years ago, you had the Democrats just -- the current vice president told the current president that he wasn't ready for this job because he didn't take on the job training to be president. And you have the current secretary of state saying he wasn't qualified to take the 3:00 a.m. phone call, the same guy that took out Osama bin Laden.
Of course, this is going to make him a better candidate. Both sides of the aisle do this. This is not unique to the Republicans. The Democrats did it the same exact way and helped President Obama go from a Senator that was a junior Senator, with not a lot of experience, to winning in November.
(CROSSTALK)
MCALLISTER: It's the same exact thing and it will strengthen Romney --
(CROSSTALK)
MCALLISTER: -- if they acquiesce around him. You can't say that he won't.
ZIMMERMAN: Lenny, here's what's different. Barack Obama grew during that primary in the personal attacks on him. He was able to defend himself and make his case and govern effectively. This is not just personal attacks on Mitt Romney. And right now, yes, in a Republican primary, this issue of defending his track record at Bain Capital, that's going to help him with the Republican audience. In a general audience, there's an entirely different audience.
They are going to want to know how he can claim he's a jobs creator when his claims about job creation at Bain Capital have been disputed by many reputable sources, including the Associated Press. Or how he can defend himself when, as governor of Massachusetts, his state was the 47th in job creation. How he can defend his position of supporting 11 million undocumented workers. You have a very different audience in the general election. And these are not personal attacks. This is about the economy, the economic recovery. That's why I think he's vulnerable on these issues.
KAYE: Robert, I'm going to let Lenny respond to that.
MCALLISTER: President Obama had the same issues.
(LAUGHTER)
President Obama had the same exact issues. As a matter of fact, he was the president of no record. He was the president of voting present. As a matter of fact, any time there was a key issue that came up, they looked back at the president's record in regards to being here a state Senator her in Illinois, he was voting present every single time.
(CROSSTALK)
MCALLISTER: He was not a guy who had a record. He was a guy that would not take a stand for anything.
(CROSSTALK)
MCALLISTER: He was a guy with rhetoric, not substance. You have a similar type of issue that Obama had in 2008 that Mitt Romney may have if he's the nominee. It's going to be the same type of thing. I think this will strengthen Romney if he gets the nomination.
ZIMMERMAN: Lenny, you need some new talking points.
KAYE: Robert, you have 20 seconds.
ZIMMERMAN: Lenny, you need some new talking points because --
(CROSSTALK)
MCALLISTER: I tell the Democrats that all the time, Robert. I tell the Democrats that all the time. We have to deal with the American reality, not the rhetoric from the Democratic National Committee.
KAYE: All right. There you go.
MCALLISTER: But thank you for bringing that up. America does deserve something more.
KAYE: Lenny, you stole Robert's final 20 seconds.
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
KAYE: Robert Zimmerman, Lenny McAllister.
That is "Fair Game."
Thank you both very much.
ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.
KAYE: International outrage over the video that we showed you earlier of U.S. Marines apparently urinating on insurgent corpses. Could it cause harm to our troops? A live report from Kabul straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We're "Globe Trekking" to Afghanistan where President Hamid Karzai has sharply denounced the video that appears to show U.S. Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says those responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent. The commandant of the Marine Corps., General James Amos, has ordered an investigation and strongly condemns the behavior in a statement that says, in part, "The behavior depicted in the video is wholly inconsistent with the high standards of conduct and warrior ethos that we have demonstrated throughout our history."
Nick Paton Walsh is in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
Nick, a very tough reaction from President Karzai today. Just what did he say and how is that playing with ordinary Afghans? NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's important to point out that while these pictures have been shown on Afghan television, not Afghan has a TV set. This is going to go wild maybe in a number of days perhaps, a number of days maybe to percolate through all of Afghan society. We may see protests at the presidential palace.
And with Karzai very quick to come out with a very stinging condemnation of the video, saying, "They are deeply disturbed by it and consider it a simply inhuman and condemnable act." It should be condemned in the strongest possible terms and pushing for the severest punishment for any American soldiers found guilty. At a time when the U.S. military was still putting disclaimers around the authenticity of the video, the palace here coming out with a very strong statement, clear in that condemnation, increasing these the tensions between the Afghan government and NATO.
KAYE: And the Taliban as well has had a very harsh reaction?
WALSH: Absolutely. They came out as well saying quite clearly they believe it was a barbaric video. How many more things have they done in the past 10 years that have not been revealed, referring to NATO? They have done something that even your tongue is ashamed to talk about, calling this a human act that reveals the real face of NATO to world. The concerns are that this could turn into a rhetorical war in different parts of the insurgency and NATO that could fuel Afghan anger.
Frankly, it's a deplorable act. Deplorable across the globe, but particularly in the Islamic faith, held sacred, postmortems forgiven and seeing a video like this disgusting to everybody but revolting to many of the Islamic faith, Brooke.
KAYE: Could this put U.S. troops in danger there?
WALSH: I think it's unlikely that they will be in more danger than they previously would. Of course that could put any people involved in the NATO presence here or even simply western civilians in the coming weeks but that hasn't happened just yet but it will heighten those tensions and increase the suspicion of the occupation after ten years not doing them good anymore and things like this just remind everybody of what happened in Iraq, Abu Ghraib and turned things around. We haven't seen that but that is the big risk.
KAYE: And you've been out with combat troops. Give us an idea as best you can how much tension is there that might have caused something like this, how much stress, how much tension?
WALSH: Well, obviously what you saw in that video, what it depicts is unforgivable and most soldiers that I know would condemn it and it's not something that any could excuse. Not knowing who their friend or foe is as they walk through Afghan villages, at the end of the day, they were killed very recently and the act that the U.S. Marines appear to be undertaking isn't justifiable by any kind of hostility or tension or any recent casualties by insurgents in that particular area.
KAYE: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you for that reporting.
A homeless man finds a way to make a living without getting a job. How he pocketed 20 grand.
But, first, America's iconic little cakes that always could, may not be able to much long. The maker of Twinkies has filed for bankruptcy protection. Hostess brands say it just can't compete with the growing number of health conscious Americans. They are well known for having a shelf life of, well, forever, quite frankly. But their 15 minutes could soon be up if the company can't make a comeback. Go grab a golden cake while you still can.
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KAYE: Now it's time for a look at stories making news around the country at "Street Level."
A fuel tanker on an important mission is very slowly plowing through the ice and snow to Nome, Alaska. The drone takes pictures of the sea ice who are guiding the ship through the ice. The town is waited for much-needed fuel which could run before spring but even with the help of the ice breaker it could run out before spring. The tanker advanced only 50 feet yesterday.
In North Carolina, severe storm damage that may have been caused by two tornadoes. Several homes were destroyed and 800 lost power. Officials say at least five people were hurt.
After 120 years, Dr. Pepper's oldest bottle company will no longer be making the beverage in Dublin. Feel bad. But our grandfather would have said, keep going. It is the story of big business versus little business. Dublin Dr. Pepper lost a trademark suit with the dr. Pepper Snapple group and had to let go 149s workers.
In the Bronx, a homeless man believes one man's trash is another man's treasure. John Jones picks up discarded subway cards that still have a balance and resells them. He says he's brought notice $20,000 over the years. The city's metropolitan transportation authority says it's illegal. Although Jones has been arrest aid few times, he has no plans to stop looking for hidden treasure.
Now to Orlando where gay couples are flocking to city hall to sign the city's first partnership affidavit. 20 couples are signing the document today. The legal status will allow couples to visit each other in jails and hospitals. Orlando's domestic partnership registry is not marriage or civil you know but gives gay couples basic rights that were not there earlier.
A story in Tucson, Arizona. Protesters chanted slogans after the school district voted to stop the Mexican-American studies program. The district hopes to avoid losing millions of dollars of state funding for being out of compliance with state law. Supposedly the program promotes racial resentment. In South Carolina, apparently, even the dead have their voices heard. Over 900 deceased people appear to have voted in recent elections. South Carolina's attorney general is asking for an investigation into possible voter fraud in the state with the state's primary in a couple of days. These numbers have officials worried. No doubt.
In Virginia, the American Civil Liberties Union is challenging Virginia's ballot access law. It is backing those Republican presidential candidates fighting to get on the primary ballot. Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum all filed suit after they didn't qualify. The law allows only state residents to circulate petitions to get candidates on the ballot and the ACLU says that is unconstitutional. A hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
The GOP candidates are battling for votes in South Carolina, at times, getting a little nasty. Newt Gingrich calling it a campaign Armageddon. A live report from Columbia next.
Before we head to Columbia, a "Political Junkie" question for you. Mitt Romney competed in the South Carolina Republican primary four years ago but he did not win. Where did he finish? Tweet your answer to me @RandikayeCNN. The first person to get it right gets a shout out after the break.
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KAYE: Welcome back. Let's get you the answer to our political junkie question. Before the break I asked where Mitt Romney placed in South Carolina primary four years ago. The answer? Fourth place. John McCain won the primary followed by Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson, remember him? And then Mitt Romney. Congrats to @atc219 who was first to tweet me the right answer. Nicely done.
Now for a political update from South Carolina.
Peter Hamby joins us from Columbia.
Peter, I understand, judging from those signs, you're at a Newt Gingrich rally there. What's going on there? What's he talking about?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes, Randi, it's a rally at the state house in Columbia to promote homeownership. Gingrich is speaking here. It's not his traditional constituency. There's a lot of Democrats here. But he's been on the trail today and he's not letting up on Mitt Romney. He kind of signaled yesterday that he might back down on these attacks on Romney for being a predator capitalist when he worked at Bain Capital. We heard from him earlier today in Columbia. Listen to what he had to say, Randi.
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GINGRICH: How many of think we deserve to know why the big banks got bailed out with big money but folks who own the mortgage and folks in small towns and folks in small towns somehow couldn't get taken care of?
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GINGRICH: So I have been asking some questions. And I am amazed at the intensity of the counterattack. It's almost as though, if you ask questions, you're somehow challenging the whole system.
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HAMBY: That's some really tough language, and curious for a Republican primary to hear a Republican attack another Republican's business credentials. But Gingrich said -- also said that crony capitalism, the kind of business that is Mitt Romney engaged in, is a backdoor to socialism. That's drawing a lot of fire from Republican elites. As Gingrich mentioned, he tried to brush them off and say those people don't matter, regular people matter. So this fight is not going away. We'll have to see if it actually resonates among Republican voters here in South Carolina.
KAYE: Yes, that doesn't sound like he's backing off at all.
Let's talk about Rick Perry. He also has been attacking Romney using words like "vulture." He lost one of his key financial supporters possibly as a result of this, right, defecting to Romney?
HAMBY: Exactly. Exactly. I talked to Barry Wynn, the former chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, sort of a financial analyst here. A big deal, a big financial donor, bundler for Republicans. He was with Rick Perry until today. He abandoned Perry's campaign precisely because of these attacks. He said this isn't in keeping with the Republican Party. We celebrate capitalism. We don't attack it. He called it destructive and he quit on Rick Perry today. So that's a bad sign. Again, the Republican elites, the money people, many of whom, you know, make their livings on Wall Street and the financial sector and private equity are the really frustrated that Gingrich and Perry are attacking Mitt Romney this way and they're rallying to his defense -- Randi?
KAYE: South Carolina certainly has a reputation for dirty tricks when it comes to the primary and politics. Isn't that right?
HAMBY: It does. We haven't seen that this time though. You know, and quite frankly, that's sort of the conventional wisdom that this is a nasty state for politics, to see dirty tricks, anonymous phone calls, mail pieces. Those kinds of things haven't really derailed the statewide campaign since Bush and John McCain fought here famously in 2000.
You do see dirty tricks here. The question is, will it impact the race. And frankly, a lot of the negative attacks we're seeing are on television from these super PACs, bombarding voters with these messages about the different candidates. So there's still plenty of time for some of this nastiness to emerge. So far, in South Carolina, we haven't seen it and didn't see it in the 2008 Republican primary either. So we'll see.
KAYE: Peter, I'll let you get back to listening to what Newt has to say. Appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Thank you, everyone, for watching today. As always, I would love to hear from you. You can continue the conversation with me online. You can find me on Facebook or Twitter #RandikayeCNN.
NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin, who will pick it from here -- Brooke?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'll take it. Randi, thank you so much.
