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"Fast and Furious" Report Released and Aftermath; Romney Still Defensive About 47 Percent Remarks; Home Resales on the Rise; Final Voyage of the Endeavour; U.S. Leads Persian Gulf Exercise; Marine Predicted His Own Death; Resignations In Wake Of "Fast And Furious"; 350,000 Chicago Students Back In Class; Michelle Rhee Interviewed

Aired September 19, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You can see more it of this weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN NEWSROOM" continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Fred, thank you so much.

And hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. We have some news just into us. We're talking about this Fast and Furious report has just released online. I know Joe Johns has just gotten his hands on it.

So we're going to go to Joe here in just a couple of minutes, he's paging through what I imagine is a multiple hundred-plus page account of exactly what may be happening with some of the officials within the ATF, et cetera.

In the meantime, let me set this up for you and remind you what exactly is at issue here. Remember, Fast and furious was that controversial gun-running program. It was operated by the ATF. I say controversial because it was a sting that went very, very wrong.

But here's how it was supposed to work -- supposed to, keyword -- federal agents put what they thought would be traceable guns in the hands of low-level drug runners and they allowed these guns -- basically the word they used was to "walk."

Right? So once the low-level guys actually had the guns, the agents thought that they could then track them all the way to the big shots running guns in Mexico, leaders of some of these Mexican drug cartels.

Now, give a gun to a drug runner and they will take it to their leader, that was the hope, that was the anticipation, except it didn't exactly go as planned. More than 2,000 guns went missing and a lot of those guns ended up being used in crimes, both in this country, and also in Mexico.

And the thing is, we may never have known about this botched operation had it not been for the killing of a U.S. Border Agent by the name of Brian Terry in this gun battle, just outside of Tucson, back in December of 2010.

Just so happens that not just one, but two Fast and Furious weapons were found near his body. Now, the program ended there, but certainly not the fallout.

Earlier this year, the Republican controlled House voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress because Holder refused to turn over documents related to this Fast and Furious operation. That vote went down party lines.

And so that brings us to this moment right now, and this report that has just been released. It took -- let me just say this -- it took more than a year of research to put this whole thing together. There was a lot in it and there is a lot of digging that certainly CNN will do.

But Joe Johns, let me go ahead and bring you in, as you have this, I imagine a very thick report here. Talk to me here, just first begin with what you're seeing, what is jumping out at you?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, this is the report here, a review of ATF's Operation Fast and Furious and related matters. It is 478 more pages, huge report, very comprehensive, and scathing in some ways in its approach to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as well as the Justice Department.

I'll give you some of the takeaways off the top. Something like 14 individuals who worked for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Justice Department, referred for some type of discipline. Absolutely no referrals for criminal prosecutions here.

And so the first question that many people have wondered, how high does this operation go? Well, according to the inspector general's report, it did not -- it did not extend to Attorney General Eric Holder, at least until February of 2011.

The report plainly says Attorney General Holder was not made aware of the potential flaws in Operation Fast and Furious until that time. So there are two high-ranking people working at the Justice Department here, who are named for some type of disciplinary action here -- that would be Lanny Breuer, a top official, as well as Jason Weinstein.

Now, what did these officials do or not do to get them in trouble in this report? It is pretty simple, according to this, either they failed to send information up the chain about this Operation Fast and Furious as it was developing or they failed to inquire. That means they had enough information to know that they needed to ask more questions about Operation Fast and Furious.

But why was it allowed to continue? Well, the simple answer is the people on the ground in Arizona figured they had a very good case, and they were trying to make it. We have talked to a whistle-blower who says there were some lower-level agents on the ground who were trying to make a career out of this, and this was the result.

When did the red lights start going off? Well, it is pretty clear from this that, in large part, people really weren't thinking about this until the death in December 2010 of agent Brian Terry.

So I think those are some of the takeaways, Brooke. And if you want to jump in here, we can ask questions --

BALDWIN: Yes, let me -- let me --

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNS: -- 14 people referred for discipline, no prosecutions.

BALDWIN: Let me allow you a moment, Joe Johns, to take a breath. And I appreciate you for going through bits and pieces, I imagine, of this 478-page report.

So I'm clear, you mentioned 14 individuals, both ATF and DOJ, referred for disciplinary action. Do we know -- you said not criminal, do we know -- does that mean they lose their jobs, they're suspended? And that also rings true, same question for the two high-ranking Department of Justice officials.

JOHNS: Well, inspector general doesn't make that determination, Brooke. It is solely up to the Justice Department. He simply refers them for appropriate discipline, if you will. It is up to the Justice Department to decide what to do about it.

Of course, Congress will be hearing from this inspector general as early as tomorrow on Capitol Hill. So there will certainly be calls for the discipline that members of Congress think is appropriate. But he doesn't say what he thinks should be done with them; he merely says they should face appropriate discipline.

BALDWIN: What about Attorney General Eric Holder? Correct me if I'm wrong, but he's holding some sort of news conference today. What should we expect to hear from him? We mentioned he knows -- this is the first time he was held in contempt. You and I were on the air during the breaking news many months ago, talking about how Congress was holding him in contempt.

What happens, if anything, to the attorney general here?

JOHNS: Well, I just want to read to you some of what the Justice Department has put out in regard to that. And there is a broad heading here; it says the attorney general was not made aware of the potential flaws in the operation until February 2011.

The OIG found, quote, "no evidence that attorney general was informed about Operation Fast and Furious or learned about the tactics employed by ATF in the investigation prior to January 31st, 2011. The Office of Inspector General found it troubling that a case of this magnitude and one that affected Mexico so significantly was not directly briefed to the attorney general.

So they're making it pretty clear here that the information just did not make its way to the attorney general.

As you know, the reason why that is important is because the attorney general has been cited for contempt by the United States Congress, the first attorney general ever to be cited for contempt by the Congress, in large part because Congress said he failed to provide them with certain information that they requested in their subpoena relating to Operation Fast and Furious.

So to that extent, and to that extent only, the Justice Department and Democrats may be able to claim a measure of vindication for Attorney General Eric Holder.

BALDWIN: OK. Joe Johns, we're going to give you another hour to continue reading and digesting some of what you have in your hands. We're going to talk about this a little bit more next hour and some of the ramifications.

We're also talking to a Republican member of Congress, who certainly will weigh in on this, the top of next hour. We'll see what he has to say when it comes to the attorney general and the rest of what Joe was just reporting.

I want to move along and tell you that we have just gotten word -- yet another elected Republican breaking ranks with Mitt Romney and Romney's widely reported remarks recorded last May that close to half the country is financially dependent -- that was his word -- on the government and has developed a sense of entitlement.

Tip of the hat to my colleague, Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent, because she's just spoken with Senator Dean Heller of Nevada. And so here is what he told Dana, quote, "I have five brothers and sisters. My father was an auto mechanic. My mother was a school cook. I have a very different view of the world."

He goes on, "I don't write off anybody. My dad had back surgery and was out of work six to eight weeks. I think the government has a responsibility," end quote.

Important to keep in mind here, Senator Heller is in a race for re- election, as is Senator Scott Brown, who is also coming out criticizing Mitt Romney.

Also, Linda McMahon, a Republican running for a Senate seat in Connecticut, has also broken with Romney on this very issue.

Romney now has adopted a riff on his own original remarks while staying away from the notion he advanced at that fundraiser that he had written off 47 percent of the voters. Here he is just moments ago in Atlanta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY, R-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. I know that there are some people who believe that if you simply take from some and give to others that it will all be better off. It's known as redistribution. It's never been a characteristic of America.

Just a tape came out a couple of days ago with the president saying, yes, he believes in redistribution. I don't. I believe the way to lift people and to help people have higher incomes is not to take from some and give to others, but to create wealth for all of us, to create an economy so strong, it lifts everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Again, moments ago that was Mitt Romney.

And Gloria Borger, it's nice to see you.

She is our chief political analyst.

And so just out of the gate, Gloria, to what extent has that leak from May during that Boca Raton fundraiser, the video, forced the Romney team to just adjust its whole message, seven weeks, seven weeks, Gloria, before the election?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, they're defensive and, as Dana Bash reported, you know, you've got senators who are up for re-election, Republicans who are nervous about what Mitt Romney said.

And I think what you saw there with the redistribution of wealth issue is an old video they pulled up from the late '90s of Candidate Obama talking about wealth redistribution. So they're clearly trying to change the subject here.

The big issue for Mitt Romney is that his 47 percent remarks really plays into the White House narrative that he's out of touch with the middle class, that he doesn't care about average people.

And this is, if you look at poll after poll after poll, the president outpolls him on the question of cares about people like me anywhere between 2 and 3 to 1.

And when you're trying to get middle class voters to listen to you and vote for you, and independent voters to vote for you, that's not a good number, which is why you see Candidate Romney taking that pivot there, trying to throw it back at President Obama.

BALDWIN: I want to just quote what you wrote, Gloria Borger, in your column. Here is what you say, quote, "Romney has a businessman's approach to politics, which means he sizes up the situation or an audience, he figures out what he needs to do to cut the deal, then he does it and expects it to work.

"Ergo, Romney speaks to a group of conservative GOP fat cats and tells them what he thinks they want to hear so they will cough up the dough. Belief is almost beside the point. He was closing the deal."

So you know, a guy that'll say whatever he needs to get, you know, people's money for their votes, doesn't sound like a businessman to me. It sounds like a politician.

BORGER: Well, they're not mutually exclusive. I think he's both. You know, it is interesting. In looking at Mitt Romney, as I have over the last few months, it seems to me there are two kinds of politicians. One is the kind who comes into politics out of belief in a cause or loyalty to a party, or with a definite sort of policy goal in mind. Then there is another kind of politician -- I think Mitt Romney is in this second category, which is somebody who has done something first, like Mitt Romney's been in business just like his father had been in business before he went into politics, and then goes into politics with a businessman's view, which is what do I need to do to get this done?

It is almost as if campaigning is just the means to the end. And he considers himself a Mr. Fix-it. In a way, Brooke, I think Barack Obama is a lot like Mitt Romney that way, because President Obama sees himself as transformative, not a Mr. Fix-it, he wants to transform things, and the politics is the way to do it and it is what he has to put up with to get there.

BALDWIN: I always encourage folks to read your column. Go to CNN.com.

Gloria Borger, thank you very much.

BORGER: Sure.

BALDWIN: More news developing this hour, including a controversial move by a French magazine, one that could stir up even more anger among Muslims. It has decided to publish a cartoon character that resembles the Prophet Muhammad. The director of the magazine is now weighing in on the controversy. You'll hear his words. That's coming up.

Plus, good news for the economy. Home resales are on the rise. What this means for the real estate market and your home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now, where did this come from? New homes are being built, existing home prices are up, but people are still looking for jobs. I know a lot of you are. Then today, we hear about a nearly 8 percent bump in home resales.

The economy was supposed to be sluggish, nearly 8 percent. That's a bit of an odd coincidence because that's where our nation's unemployment rate sits right now. And keep in mind we have yet to break the record, that streak, the longest since the 1940s, of that number. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange for me.

And Alison, what is going on?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK, when we talk about housing, it is not stuck in the mud like the jobs market is. When we talk about the housing sector, there are a couple of things going on here. We are seeing some bright spots.

For one, the National Association of Realtors is saying more buyers are taking advantage of lower prices for houses right now. and even though prices have been slowly climbing, they're still pretty darn cheap because of the big hit we took during the recession.

Mortgage rates are still near record lows as well. The current 30- year fixed is sitting at just 3.5 percent. And those mortgage rates are expected to go even lower. That's because of the Federal Reserve's announcement last week that it would buy up $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed securities.

What all this stuff does, it makes buying a house very attractive. And, you know, National Association of Realtors says, you know what, there is a lot of pent-up demand that's been accumulating since the recession started. A lot of people have been holding out about moving.

And the fact that it is still so tough to get credit and people still manage to buy, yes, I think that speaks to how motivated these home buyers are getting, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Do you -- is this bump, though, in resale, is that just one specific area or is this a nationwide trend?

KOSIK: The good news is that it is not just the middle pockets of the country, that these sales increases are all -- in all regions of the country. The biggest jump actually is in the Northeast, almost 9 percent there, followed by the West at around 8.3 percent.

The median price of a previously owned home now stands at just over $187,000 and that's been going up for six months in a row. That's good news. These rising prices are really just a good sign overall, not just if you're a seller, but overall, it means, you know what, we finally hit a bottom, that you're seeing this recovery really take hold in the housing sector and better yet, this report is just the latest.

And in a string of mostly positive housing readings that we have been getting, it is pushing homebuilder stocks up around 2 percent to 5 percent across the board right now, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We'll take positive, we will even take mostly positive.

Final question for you, oil and gas prices, they're down, why?

KOSIK: They are. But you know what, you'd have to tell me that twice because I know when I go to fill up my car, I still have to do a double take at what I'm paying. But yes, gas prices have fallen for five days in a row.

AAA says the price for a gallon of regular (inaudible) is $3.85. So we asked Tom Close (ph) at Oil Price Information Service about this. He says, you know what, It is typical to see the seasonal pullback, the peak driving season is over, the hurricanes are mostly done with, so you should see this kind of stall pattern in prices for a few months.

As for oil, crude oil right now is tumbling more than 4 percent, sitting at $91.40 a barrel. Saudi Arabia said it would take action to keep prices in check.

We also learned of a much bigger than expected rise in oil stock prices. That is all helping to push oil prices lower. We just want to see if this all translates even more to the gas pump. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Alison Kosik, you have little kiddies, were you up early this morning watching the final voyage of the space shuttle Endeavour, perchance?

KOSIK: I did watch it, yes, amazing.

BALDWIN: Amazing. So coming up, I was up this morning as well, I hope you were on Twitter with me were. I mean, look at these pictures. When do we get to see these? This is Endeavour piggybacking on this 747 jet, final voyage, to Los Angeles. We're going to show you the pictures after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Man, oh, man, I got goose bumps this morning. NASA's last space shuttle on its final voyage, here she is, Endeavour, wheels up from Florida's Kennedy Space Center, right around 7:30 this morning Eastern time. You can see, these are just the coolest pictures ever, piggybacked to a modified 747 jumbo jet. There it goes as it lands.

This is Houston, just a short time ago. You know the story, it's expected to land at its retirement home, if you will, in Los Angeles, where it will be on display during this hour on Friday. But right now, it has a pit stop in Houston.

Want to bring in Chad Myers and, I just always marvel at these pictures. When do you see a space shuttle piggyback on a jet?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I saw it because you tweeted about it this morning.

BALDWIN: I did.

MYERS: You were so excited this morning.

BALDWIN: I was up and at 'em.

MYERS: You were up and at 'em. Looking, talking to John Zarrella, obviously during the morning show. You know, I just want to sing "Leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again," there it is. It flew by Hobby.

And if you (inaudible) and you follow NASA; they are retweeting people's pics that they're sending. So it's here. I saw it here. I saw it here. Now it's not going anywhere today, but it is in Houston at this point and time. And it's finally a couple of days late.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I know you were talking about the weather. It was supposed to go Monday. It was supposed to go Tuesday. So today was the day with the good weather. So it's making a pit stop in Houston.

I know a lot of Texans are frustrated that they're not getting one of the space shuttles, nevertheless, it is saying a quick hello to Hobby, as you point out, and then finally headed to Los Angeles I believe tomorrow. We've talked about this. A lot of folks there are upset, a lot of trees cut down, but, hey, L.A., you get a space shuttle.

MYERS: Big trees are cut down. They're not so worried about the 3- year-old trees they're going to replant anyway. It was some of the big, large ones that have to go. There was just no way -- when the boulevard is there, and the trees are in the middle of the boulevard, you can't move the shuttle around it.

Now they will kind of take this thing almost like back and forth on a ski run. If there is a tree here, they will move the shuttle to the right and then they will turn it, move it back around the tree. So they did try to save as many trees as they could. It was a big deal.

BALDWIN: You can't exactly fold up the space shuttle.

MYERS: You can't fold up the wings. Doesn't go on a carrier.

BALDWIN: OK. We'll talk about this tomorrow.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: And we'll get the pictures and it's supposed to be a huge parade, huge party. I think Inglewood, specifically. We'll talk about it tomorrow, Chad Myers. Thank you very much.

Coming up next, the U.S. and other nations launching an exercise in the Persian Gulf that is -- certainly has Iran's attention. We have talked about this. We have a report straight ahead from the deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As tensions escalate over Iran's nuclear ambitions, the United States, along with two dozen nations, are stepping up movement in the Persian Gulf. This exercise, we're told, will not reach the Strait of Hormuz, you can see there on the map, where it is, very, very close to Iran.

Of course, are the waters through which a fifth of the world's oil is shipped every day, a waterway Iran has threatened to basically shut down. And CNN's Chris Lawrence is along for the ride.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm standing on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Enterprise, here in the North Arabian Sea. And we're just days away from one of the largest anti-mining exercises ever conducted. The U.S. and more than two dozen of its allies will be putting ships (inaudible) as well as divers and (inaudible).

In fact, earlier this year the head of Iran's navy said that mining the Strait of Hormuz would be as easy as drinking a glass of water. Iran has also disputed U.S. claims that it could stop Iran from mining the strait or could prevent such a mining operation. That is what the U.S. and many of its allies will learn over the next few days, how well they can work together to possibly prevent the mining and if the strait and some of the waterways were mined, how quickly they could demine it.

The Pentagon has been steadily beefing up its naval presence in the Gulf, in response to some of the Iranian threats to mine and close the Strait of Hormuz. The Pentagon moved four more mine sweepers to this area.

And it also plans to bring another aircraft carrier in earlier. It is all part of the military's new plan to keep two carriers in the area at all times. Now, the Navy tells us this training is not meant to be provocative.

But Iranian officials who earlier this year boasted about having thousands of mines, say they are watching these exercises very closely and call the situation in the region sensitive. Chris Lawrence, CNN, in the Arabian Sea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Chris Lawrence, thank you.

Coming up, it is an interview I really don't want you to miss. Chilling words from an American Marine 21 years of age to his own father.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BUCKLEY SR., FATHER OF FALLEN MARINE: He goes, you got to be able to tell mom and Justin and Shane, you know, that I'm going to be killed over here. I said, out in the field, you know? He goes, no, in our base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: A young Marine, killed in a green on blue insider attack in Afghanistan. I'll speak with the father live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This is a tough one, but it is a story I want you to hear. We first shared this story back on Monday. And when we hear about deaths of troops in combat, it is always incredibly painful.

But this particular story took all of us to really a deeper sadness, felt by families of those who have lost loved ones. The father of a Marine told CNN how his own son basically predicted his own death on base in Afghanistan. And how an Afghan officer repeatedly warned him, maybe threatened him, you are going to die.

The words were so powerful that I wanted to talk with the father, myself, of that Marine whose name is Greg Buckley Jr. He's one of at least 50 coalition troops in Afghanistan killed this year in what are called green on blue attacks. Blue is what NATO designates as quote/unquote "friendly force" and green, an allied force. Back on August 10th of this year, in Helmand Province, a shooter considered green opened fire on Buckley, killing him, who was 21 years of age, also two other Americans.

The Marine's father, Greg Buckley Sr., is good enough to join me live from New York. And, sir, I can't say this enough, my condolences to you. I thank you for joining me. And if I may just begin with, tell me about your son, and why did he join the Marines to begin with?

BUCKLEY: Well, it all starts from 9/11. I was down there for two days helping out the fire department. And after that he wanted to turn around and become a Nassau cop. So right thing to do was go into the Marine Corps and serve his country, and that's where it all started from.

And he wanted to do it when he was 17, I was against it, so was his mom. But, you know, at the end after the day, this is what he wanted, he was very persistent about it, that he wanted to serve the country. And at the end of the day, we signed the papers and he left two months after he graduated high school.

BALDWIN: So he left, he ends up deployed in Helmand Province, and his task is to train these local Afghans to become security guards. My question is, and you're talking to him on the phone, I'm sure as much as you can.

What was your first indication from your son that he was and tell me if this is the right word to use, but just nervous. Tell me about the run-in with the Afghan he was training.

BUCKLEY: He was just doing duty at night, and he was standing guard. And he called me the following day, told me that when it started, maybe around 12:00 at night, that all the gentlemen, the Afghani officer was tormenting him and saying they didn't want him there, didn't need him, just kept on going, repeating it over and over again.

And Greg repeated back to him, I'm here to try to help you guys. I don't understand and one of his superior officers came over and heard Greg and him going back and forth and told Greg to apologize.

Greg went to apologize, went to shake his hand, like a man, the way he was raised and he refused to shake Greg's hand. And all throughout the night, the rest of the night they went through.

He was tormenting Greg throughout the night, saying the same thing over and over and over again to him, that we don't want you here, we don't need you here.

BALDWIN: For hours and hours on end as they were standing guard. And when he calls you, and as a father and you hear this on the phone, what are you saying to him? And then what is he saying to you in that fateful call in November?

BUCKLEY: First, he started -- he was upset. And, you know, he just said, dad, I just want to come home. He goes, these people don't love us. They don't care about us. They're cold. They're vicious people.

But out of nowhere, he said, but the children, the kids are so great, but he says after they start turning a certain age, they're just vicious people, through and through. And I just -- me and my fellow Marines, we all just want to leave. They don't want us here.

If I don't leave here soon, you have to be able to tell mom and Justin and Shane that I'm not going to be coming home because if I don't leave soon, they're going to murder me here.

And as a father, it is heart wrenching because I couldn't get him. And I try to talk to people and they said it is never geeing to happen. You'll never get your son out of there until they let him go.

And then, you know, we talk time and time again and he just said he can't sleep at night because they're underneath him and they're in the same facility. And they walk around with AK-47s and we don't.

And I asked him why. And he said, well, it is a Marine base, but it's on Afghani soil so they have more authority than we do. And it is just heart wrenching because as a dad, you want justice.

Now, I have no justice here. The Afghani police officer that murdered my son, I found out last week, was released. He's nowhere to be found.

So how can I sit here and just let this happen over and over and over again for these young men that are going over there thinking they're doing the right thing and just being executed?

My son was executed. He was in a gymnasium with a pair of shorts on and a tank top, lifting weights. This man walked in, 25 years old, after they said he was 15, he wasn't, he was 25, or in his mid-20s.

He walked into the gym, walked over to my son, 165-pound boy, a Marine, who just turned 21. And put an AK-47 right to his chest, 5 feet away and pulled the trigger and then shot him again while his other officers watched.

And they called me and told me exactly what happened. I still haven't had a report yet from the Marine Corps probably because I know the truth.

BALDWIN: I -- I just have to say this, just, you know, CNN has reached out to people internationally, to try to corroborate the story and we have yet to get specific corroboration.

But I trust this is exactly what your son what your son told you, and so here you are, you know, your son is inspired because of what happened on 9/11. He wants to be a hero, fight for his country.

And here he is taken out by supposed -- should have been a friend, should have been someone he was training. We have heard here, Greg, there are more than 50 NATO troops killed this year by local forces.

And so they have prompted now these suspensions, I'm sure you heard about this, the suspensions of training these new recruits. If your son were alive today, what would his reaction be to that news, appropriate, too little too late?

BUCKLEY: Too late, it's way too late now. It is enough. You know, the ambassador -- the U.S. ambassador passed away. My heart goes out to their families. But now there is justice to be served because they were executed.

They were blown up. They were murdered. Now there is justice, they say, but how about all these young, young men that are out there serving their country. They're being murdered and nothing is being done about it.

BALDWIN: What is justice -- what does justice look like for you in this case? You're never going to get your son back. I can't even begin to imagine getting out of bed every morning. You have sons. I'm sure they're all coping with this. What does justice look like?

BUCKLEY: Justice, to me, is to just let the other young men and women come out, leave them alone. You know what, it goes like this, if you want to come over to my house and I don't want you there, you won't come, you know?

They don't want us there, why be there? Our government tells us that they want us there. They don't. There is so much more involved that I know it is not even -- I don't even want to get into it right now with you.

It will all come out, soon enough. But at the end of the day, my justice is to another parent who feels the heartache that I feel. I'm done inside. They tore my whole heart out. I have a hard time going to bed.

I think about him every day, every minute. His brothers kill me when I look at them because they're hurt. His mom is hurt so bad, but they didn't just take my son. They destroyed my family. I don't want other families to feel the pain I'm feeling.

I don't want to see another family out there, seeing their son being brought back on a plane and being rolled of a plane in a box, with an American flag around it. But you know what, it was our government that dropped the ball and they won't admit it.

This boy should have been protected inside a military base. We're training people and my son said that, we're training people that are going to turn their weapons on us and kill us, as clear as day.

I thought it was the most outrageous thing I ever heard. He said, I'm telling you, dad, they're going to kill us. We all feel the same way. We talk to our superiors and they just push us to the side and say, don't worry about it. We'll take care of it. But they didn't take care of it.

BALDWIN: Greg Buckley, it is tough to put into words, and angry and I'm sad with you. Thank you. We'll be right back.

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BALDWIN: All right, want to take you back to Washington, to our breaking news there. We have been talking about this "Fast and Furious" report, this 478 page review released at the top of the hour.

We are now getting word of a handful of resignations. I want to bring Joe Johns back in, live for us in Washington. And, John -- Joe Johns, excuse me. What do you know?

JOHNS: Well, we know that there are at least a couple of people who have taken steps after having their names come out in this report that would be Kenneth Mousen. This is the former acting director of the Federal Bureau of alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

We're told now that he has gone ahead and retired, a long-serving government official. And the other person has actually resigned that would be Jason Weinstein. He is the deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department. He is one of the couple top officials who were named in all of this.

And what they have been named for, by the way, Brooke, is failure to send information up the line so that people like the attorney general and others could get a hold of it and failure to inquire. In other words, failure to ask enough questions, the belief of the inspector general was that they had enough information to ask some questions, but apparently did not do it.

Now, the -- the Attorney General, Eric Holder, has actually put out a statement here, I'm just trying to get to part of that statement. He said he's reviewed the office of inspector general's report and it is consistent with what he and other Justice Department officials have been saying.

The inappropriate strategy and tactics employed were field driven, he says. They date back to 2006. Leadership of the department didn't know or authorize the use of flawed strategy and tactics. And the department's leadership didn't attempt to cover up information or mislead Congress about it.

And so that's what he says and I wanted to throw in before we go, Brooke, a statement that came out from Eric Schultz over at the White House. I have to put on my glasses to read this.

It said, today's report affirms the problem of gun walking was a field-driven tactic that dated back to the previous administration, says it was this administration's attorney general who ended it.

Down further in the statement, they make a political turn and say if Republicans still have any legitimate questions about "Fast and Furious" this report answers them in light of the thorough report in Congress, a 16-month investigation.

Republicans, it says, have no excuse to keep wasting time and taxpayer resources on politically motivated election year attacks. So the back and forth over politics on "Fast And Furious," I guess it continues, Brooke. BALDWIN: Yes, no surprise. We'll post that statement from the White House to a Republican who we have on at the top of the hour. Mr. Johns, I appreciate it.

Back home, hundreds of thousands of kids back in school after a crippling teachers strike, but the deal in Chicago would have national implications.

My next guest, one of the most respected voices in education, here she is, Michelle Rhee, she gave the teachers a piece of her mind. That conversation is next.

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BALDWIN: About 350,000 kids are back in school today in Chicago. Chicago teachers, as you know, went on strike for eight days, but finally a deal has been made one that I'm sure has both parents and teachers very much so relieved.

Here is what got them to call a truce. A tentative contract calls for average teacher raises, 17.6 percent. Teachers' union delegates agreed to budge on teacher evaluations, meaning student test scores among other things will count and teacher evaluations.

And something Mayor Rahm Emanuel wanted, a longer school day and year. But, this deal isn't done yet until the rank and file vote in the coming weeks.

I want to bring in Michelle Rhee who is joining us live from New York. You know her. She is the former chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, founder and CEO of "Students First."

So Michelle Rhee, it's nice to see you again.

MICHELLE RHEE, FORMER CHANCELLOR, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Nice to see you.

BALDWIN: Right off the bat, who won here?

RHEE: Well, let me say that first the most important thing that happened was that the children are back in school. You know, where when you're talking about a city where 80 percent of the children are not operating on grade level in reading and math, those kids can scarcely afford to be out of school another moment.

So the fact that they're back in school is the most important thing that happened. I think, you know, the two other important things that happened through this incident is, one, that the dynamic that it is really a new day in Democratic Party.

The fact that an icon in the Democratic Party, Rahm Emanuel, actually stood up to the unions, and was willing to go through this to ensure that he could push education reforms is incredibly important.

And I would say the second thing is that the contract shows that you can respect teachers for the professionals that they are, and still stick firm to education reform policies. Those are both good things. But me be very clear, this was also a missed opportunity.

Rahm Emanuel was not able to get some of the things he fought really hard for that would have gone even further in ensuring there was a high quality teacher in front of every single child, every single day.

BALDWIN: It could be seen as a win for the mayor. This is a first, a Chicago first, the district and the union, are tying teacher evaluation to student performance. They're going to be using test scores, student assessment is part of that evaluation. How exactly does that work?

RHEE: So the way that it works is that a model is created where, you know, student test scores or the advancement on student test scores, how much students actually grow in a given year academically will count for some of the teacher evaluation.

And then other things will also count, such as observations of their classroom practice, and how, you know, the school overall does factors like that. Test scores will count for one piece of it.

Of the test score portion, it is done in a very fair way for teachers. Instead of saying all teachers need to meet a certain mark, you actually measure the very children that the teachers are teaching in that given year.

We measure them at the beginning of the year and the end of the year and see how much growth was seen. So it actually is very fair for both the teachers and the school system.

BALDWIN: Let me just push you on that. I was talking to Randy Winegarten actually just last week. She was en route to Chicago. She's the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Here is what she called this particular part of this deal, growing obsession with high stakes testing and denying kids rich learning experiences, her words.

In your opinion, how does this improve education and might this be more of a trend we start to see nationwide?

RHEE: You are absolutely seeing this trend nationwide. In fact, 38 states across the country have agreed to use student academic achievement growth as part of a teacher's evaluation.

When you hear the union say this isn't fair, you know, the Chicago Teachers Union president said, well, you can't measure teachers based on how much students are growing. It is not fair because the kids are coming to school with so many challenges, the home life, the violence in the community, et cetera.

And the reason why that is so ridiculous is because we actually treat kids in a much different way. When children come to school, facing all of those challenges, whether they were fed breakfast the morning before they came to school or their electricity was cut off in their house the night before, we still hold them accountable. If they don't do well in school, they get a bad grade. If they get enough bad grades, you don't get to graduate from high school. If we're holding children accountable to overcome all of those obstacles, how does it make any sense that we wouldn't be able to hold the adults who are paid to teach them accountable as well.

BALDWIN: Sure. Quick question, you touched on this, big picture, as you mentioned, Democratic mayor, taking on his own, special interest in his own party. This is a run-up to the presidential election. What does this tell you, Michelle?

RHEE: It tells me that the tables have absolutely flipped. It used to be that the Democratic Party would just kowtow to the unions, give them whatever they wanted, et cetera.

What we're seeing across the country is something wildly different. You have mayors like Antonio Villaraigosa, my husband, the mayor of Sacramento, California, Cory Booker in New York, and now Rahm Emanuel, saying, you know what, we support teachers and we support unions.

But we have to challenge the teachers unions on the policies that simply are not good for kids, especially at this time, which, you know, for the Democratic Party is very important, given the presidential election.

The fact that the mayor stood up for kids to make sure they have the best contract possible was an incredibly important move.

BALDWIN: The stakes are high, Michelle Rhee, founder and CEO of "Students First." Thank you very much.

RHEE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Still ahead, my interview with Wyclef Jean. We talk about his apparent affair with Lauren Hill, about why the Fugees broke up, President Obama and I actually surprise him with a video clip. You don't want to miss his reaction that's coming up.

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