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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  May 8, 2012 12:00pm-1:00pm PDT

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folks in california are lining up for same sex marriage. celebrities, politicians, religious leaders, they're all weighing in. in a moment. i will speak to clay aiken. plus, a man on the loose suspected of kidnapping four members of one family, now the bhod bodies of a mom and a teenage daughter have been found. but the other two sister, they are all still mising. here's the new development this afternoon. the suspect's wife and the suspect's mother have been arrested in connection with this kidnapping. we're told the wife drove with the four victims in side from
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tennessee to mississippi. the same mitt romney who said auto makers should go bankrupt now is saying this -- >> the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. and frankly that's finally what the president did. he took them through bankruptcy. that was the right course. it was the uaw and the president that delayed the idea of bankruptcy. i pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy. and finally when that was done can and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. so i'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry has come back. >> let's go to jim acosta in michigan. holy switch dps eroo, batman. can you explain romney's line of thinking to us? >> the romney campaign has been saying this for several weeks now bm.
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he is making the case that it is the managed bankruptcy process that helped the u.s. auto industry, not the bailout. so h eis, as he said in that interview, taking credit for the survival of the u.s. auto industry. obviously that is not going to sit well with the unions. there were some union protesters outside of this event for mitt romney that just rapped up here in michigan. he said hey, wait a minute, you wrote the op-ed that said let detroit go bankrupt. he also predicted if the bailout were to happen, those auto companies would go out of existence. he was wrong about that. but he's trying to say he was right on managed bankruptcy. >> what did he say about the speech today. >> he did not talk about the
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auto bailout. he did go after the president and we've been hearing during an event that wrapped up a few moments ago, the country is headed in the wrong direction, not forward but sideways. and then brook brooke, he also laid into this new interactive tool on the obama campaign website called julia smep's a fictional character. you can go through the various stages of her life from kraden to grave where she receives government can programs every step of the way to help her through life. here's what mitt romney had to say about that. >> have you seen, by the way, the president's vision of the future? to help us see it, his campaign has created a little fictional character. it's on the website. living an imaginary life filled with happy milestones for which she will spend the rest of her days thanking president obama. it's called the life of julia. and it's a cartoon.
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julia progresses from gracradle grave showing how government makes every good thing in her life possible. the weak economy, unemployment, falling wages, rising gas prices. the national debt, the insolvency of entitlements, all of these are fictionally assumed away in a cartoon produced by a president who wants us to forget about them. by the way, what does it say about a president's policies when he has to use a cartoon character rather than real people to justify his record? >> he also went after obama saying he's more liberal than president obama. >> in a speech in upstate, new york, president obama challenged
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congress to make tax code changes to discourage outsourcing. >> today i'm announcing a handy little to-do list we've put together for congress. you can see it for yourselves. at white house.gov. it's about the size of a post-it note so every member of the congress should have time to read it. or they can glance at it every so often. hopefully we'll just be checking it off the list, just like when michelle gives me a list, i check it off. >> president obama just a short time ago in albany new york. a bomb meant to bring down an american airliner was supposed to happen. it was intercepted. but what's particularly frightening is it shows terrorists are getting smarter. the device, authorities say, shows a new level of sophistication. and investigators belief this is the man who made it. we talked about him before.
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they say he crafted this device worn by the underwear bomber who tried to blow himself up, do you remember christmas day, the flight to detroit in 2009. the fbi is analyzing this bomb and there could be others out there. we don't want them to go back to the workbench and circumvent security. >> they say the device never put passengers in danger.
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if i'm going to the airport tomorrow, how will this affect me? >> the tsa is going to be extra vigilant. there will probably be some delays as you're going through the screening devices. the body scan devices, they will be looking very carefully at anything on the body. it isn't just things. they can see textures on the body. anyone gettirefusing a scan wil an extra pat down. they will do extra explosive device screening. all your checked backs are checked for explosives. so they will just be doing extra care. i believe they will just step it up. >> you have to wait longer when you head to the airport in an hour. >> talking about this character about these human body bombs. they're planting bombs in between organs. my question is, whether the
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screeners at the airport be able to detect that? >> things actually implanted in someone's body will be very difficult. that's why the older technology, we had it in airports for a little while. sniffer devices could actually detect explosive materials enclosed in things, hidden in things, et cetera. the tsa and others will be looking to see if we can develop that. and also, there are devices that are used at ports. all of those devices are being revisited. we'll see if we can get those deployed again. >> what i didn't hear was a yes to my question. are they detectable? our technology hasn't quite, you
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know, sophisticated enough to detect these body bomb, then how does that allay my fears if i'm going to the airport in an hour? >> it doesn't necessarily do that. if it's completely untouched. we do have technologies at the airport. if someone has touched the materials, you have to have a detonator, you have to have more than the plastic explosives 37 those things can be detected. if someone touched it and touched the luggage, the equipment at the airport can pick that up. we will have to rely on this case, the cia broke this before the person was actually able to select his flight and get on it.
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we know specifically members of congress want to know who knew what and when. heavyweights from across the country are weighing in on the same sex marriage vote. it's under way this minute in north carolina. i'm about to speak live to "american idol." you're probably watching him because of "celebrity apprentice." clay aiken says this particular amendment 1 hurts children.
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a march survey out of raleigh durham found 58% of north carolinians are for passing the aelt. clay aiken, born and raised in north carolina. still lives there. nice to have you on, sir. >> thank you. >> let me begin with this. i know you're very private, but i just have to preface for people, you have a child. you don't speak publicly about whether or not you have a domestic partner or not. but here's how this might relate to you. if amendment one passes, would this affect you? how would it affect you? >> you know, i think the thing that affects everyone, whether it's same-sex couples or
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opposite sex couples who have children, unless they are married, opposite sex couples who are in a domestic partnership living together, who have children, run the risk of losing health insurance for the child if they're not marry pd .the thing that's are sort of deceptive about this amendment is it restricts domestic partnerships, it restricts civil unions for both and straight and gay kocouples. that's something despite the pole you just showed, all the major poles in north carolina right now show that there is widespread support sfr domestic partnerships. >> that's another perplexing thing. gay marriage is already banned in north carolina. despite the polls show a majority of north carolinians support some kind of legal recognition for same-sex couples. i guess my question to you, and
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i know you've been retweeting a lot of people who have been voting. do you think people in north carolina even understand completely what they're voting for today with this amendment? >> there was a poll just this morning and yesterday saying despite the fact that those polls are showing that people are supporting the amendment in that same poll they're being asked if they know what it does and a majority aren't aware it restricts domestic partnerships for straight couples aez well. people aren't being educated exactly on what this amendment will do. i think that's why you're seeing the polls so skewed. >> right. i read someone down the road from chapel hill saying it's deceptive. bill clinton, perhaps you bring up the concern with kids, whether it's same sex or opposite sex partnerships. he lent his voice to this recently. you have the reverend billy graham, he advertised saying the bible is clear, god's definition of marriage is between a man and a woman.
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i know you know in north carolina, a lot of voters, you and i agree. we talk about your mother and brother who are typical republican voters. and had it not been for you and knowing you and your full story, they would have voted for amendment one. >> it is possible. i think there are a lot of people in this country in general who fit in that mitt middle ground. you know, of people who are not to use the word persuadable, necessarily, but people who are compassionate and understand the need for equality. north carolina, the thing that bothers me the most it it is the only state in the south that won't vote for a constitutional amendment and hopefully won't, but north carolina has a history of being a state that takes deliberate steps. we were the last state to ksecee from the union during the civil war. we've always taken responsible steps. and this is an example, the only example in my lifetime really of the state taking a very irresponsible step, doing
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something that's somewhat redundant. because as you mentioned there already is a law. >> already there on the books. >> we're putting something in the constitution which even the republican leader of the north carolina general assembly has admitted he doesn't believe will stand for future decades. >> you said these folks now are young and in 10 or 15 year, perhaps it will be repealed. once folks who feel strongly today won't necessarily have their voices heard will repeal it down the road. but i do have to ask you this, in terms of more of a national level, you hear from the president, right? his perspective on gay marriage and the word he uses is it's evolving his spans. -- stance. i'm just curious. what do people like the president need to learn? >> it's frustrating, of course, to hear that. but i understand the word evolving. i come from a relatively conservative area and from a
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conservative family. and my mom would be someone whose stance has evolved. and it doesn't always happen quickly. i certainly want the president to hurry up and evolve faster, but i definitely believe he is champion for equality, not just for gays and lesbians, but for all people in general and i'm proud that he's my president. >> clay aiken, nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you. thank you so much. >> thanks, clay. a movie executive, one of the guys who brought you avatar suddenly ups and disappears. his family is now saying something is terribly wrong. plus, it's a hot, hot topic -- border security. ♪ ♪
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♪ ♪ that should do it. enjoy your new shower. [ door opens, closes ]
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>> of michael fisher says a new plan would be less about blanket resources and more about targeting hot spots. >> integration and rapid response to meet all threats. these pillars are central as we continue to build upon an approach that puts the border patr patrol's greatest ability in place to combat the greatest risks. >> a film studio executive for 20th century fox is missing. here he is. this is 57-year-old gavin smith. he was last seen a week ago leaving a friend's home in los angeles, driving away in his mercedes. now smith's sister said he didn't bik ppick up his son wedy
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american oi for school which she says is out of character. author of "where the wild things are" has died. maurice sendak died from complications of a recent stroke. sendak illustrated more than 00 books during his 60-year career. his final book inspired by his love for his brother will be published next february. sendak was 83 years old. a sick little man. one phrase campaign insiders used to describe john edwards. talk about sordid testimony today here in the corruption trial of the former presidential candidate. edwards made several phone calls to certain people asking for cash. and scott thompson just made a big move in response to the firestorm. but is it enough? everyone in america depends on the postal service.
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i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices
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coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions.
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>> couple stories for you here. john edwards being called sick and evil. and aig expected to pay back taxpayers in a big, big way. and yahoo's ceo basically issuing a mea culpa. time to play "reporter roulette." >> want to begin with the trial of former presidential candidate john edwards, accused of misusing his campaign funds to cover up his mistress and their love child. not only was edwards called names, president obama was also mentioned, cnn's joe johns has the details from greensboro. joe? >> brook, there was cross-examination of a very important prosecution witness. he's a friend of edwards' former right hand man andrew young. he first came across as a solid prosecution witness who didn't like john edwards and pointed out why he felt edwards was sleazy. but on cross-examination, edwards' attorney brought out that tobin had given information about edwards' affair to the dam
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pain of then senator barack obama for president. and essentially, he told the obama people they needed to believe the stories about edwards they had seen in "the "national enquirer."" he said his concern was edwards could be selected as obama's vice presidential running mate. the defense also attacked what could be construed as bias on the part of tobin. he and andrew young exchanged numerous err mails, some of which were skate scathing in their assessment of edwards. at one point calling edwards the sick back tard and using the b-word to describe his wife, elizabeth edwards. the sex tape has not been shown to the jury and whether his friend andrew young ever said he wanted to sell it. tobin said young actually suggested he was thinking about selling but changed his mind. the prosecution now pushing towards the next big witness who was expected to be a former edwards aide who in 2009 was asked to help him draft a
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statement admitting his relationship with his mistress rielle hunter. brooke? >> joe john, thank you. next, remember the disgrace that was aig, one of the companies dubbed too big to fail? now aig is making billions back. allison kosik with more. how much profit are taxpayers expected to make off of aig? >> that is the question to ask, right? when all is said and done, look loosic taxpayers are going to make $15 billion coming from the general accounting office. keep in mind, though, brooke, the government still owns a piece of aig. in if stock that is. so the final profit is really going to depend on when it sells all of that aig stock. and that, of course, depends on what the stock price is. but the report says aig is stable, it's profitable. after it got that $180 billion bailout during the 2008 financial crisis in march, the
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fed chief ben bernanke called this bailout distasteful but necessary. it was necessary because the insurance company was a major player 2346 credit default swaps and mortgage backed security. and its failure could have really rippled throughout the world. >> and now $15 billion back to tax pairs. why is yahoo's ceo apologizing? >> he's causing some problems at yahoo. so yes, what happened here scott thompson admitted he lies on his resume and he hasn't talked until now. today he's apologizing to his employees saying i regret how this issue has affected the company and all of you. we have all been working very hard to move the company forward and this has had the opposite effect. and for that, he said i take full responsibility. but here's the thing he did not explain why he lied. but then if you look on his bio, he has degrees in accounting and computer science. but in reality, he only has an
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accounting degree. this, fk o, all surfaced after a shareholder group caught it, made it public. yahoo came out and said you know what, this was an inadvertent error. but it happened several times. both of these degrees were listed on thompson's bio on yahoo and also on the paypal websites when he was president of the ebay. one senior told us at cnn at this point, thompson is facing a big credibility problem now for adding that little something-something to his resume. >> no adding something-something. because that something-something, well, they'll catch you eventually. >> yes. thank you. and there's your "reporter roulette" for us today. welcome to the future. cars that drive themselves. one state takes a huge step in making this a reality on the highway. but which ones could be next? plus, guess who's here? katie lindenhal has new jaj gets to show off. this is for the tech geeks. this is $100,000.
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we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.
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>> time now for the 4e7 desk. gregg olson is a partner at lennox advisers. thank you both for coming in. greg, interesting question for you from ann in washington. anne wrote in, i have two credit cards and a credit score of 770. i always pay my bills on time and never spept spend more than 10% of my credit limit. i would like to open another credit card that offers cash back. will it hurt my credit score. >> first of all, congratulations for being so financially responsible. it could slightly negatively affect your credit score, so you want to really think about it before you open up another card. if you really need to because of the benefits, maybe asking if credit limit. maybe $500 a month would be sufficient. the other thing is possibly look
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at the other two credit cards you have and say which one don't i need? this way you'll keep your overall credit limit about the same. and that shouldn't negatively affect. >> closing one couldn't hurt her credit score? >> it really depends. in that situation over time, you're constantly opening and closing cards. so i would seriously consider it depending on how good that next card -- you really need that next card. >> your question come from joe in arizona. after a short sale and a bankruptcy, how long do i need to wait to buy another home? i don't know, should he even by another home? >> you have to get that credit cleaned up. generally speaking, the short answer could be as little as one year, believe it or not, or as long as maybe three years. it depends on two things. one, the type of loan you get. if it's an fha or government-backed roan vers eed conventional mortgage. and two, the type of bankruptcy proceeding. you can be in a chapter 13 where
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you reorganize your debts and pay them off over three to five years, you can get a mortgage one year after you file bankruptcy. you can get it while you're in bankruptcy proceedings. you have to show a lot of stuff to the bankruptcy course and your trustee. i've been making all my payments on time. but legally, you can do it. the government wants to make sure that people don't just walk away from homes and foreclose and get it again. that one to three-year type people yod is the general rule. >> if you have a question you want to answer, just send us an e-mail at anytime to cnn help desk.
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>> with test drives in carson
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city and on the las vegas strip, this will test the technology on las vegas's public roads. this is ahead of mother's day. >> here's the deal. we're giving people softball ideas. do not mail it in this mother's day. >> doing it for you moms. number one, this thing? >> here's the deal. this is $200. it's from four moms. it's the first infant seat that moves like a mom. it has five different speeds. you can change the speed. >> why is the ipod hooked up? >> you can hook your iphone in here and dock it and play music. or play nature sounds which are preinstalled. also, this was created by doctors and nurses and input from hundreds of parents. >> okay, let's kill the jungle noise. number two, moms who love photos. stop it! >> brooke has not seen this yet.
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hang on to that one. it's brooke and don my favs. >> and canvas pop.com. you be upload any photo and you can create your own art. and it comes in a number of different sizes, a number of different frames, but moms love stuff like this. >> this is when i went to skate camp. >> you were going on everything. >> i loved it. that's amazing. okay, next thing. >> this is an app for lazy people who are like oh, it's saturday, tomorrow's mother's day. there's an app for that. turn to the karma app. it allows you to send gifts to someone using yo you are smart phone. variety from cookies to organic fruits. and they come wrapped so you don't have to worry about anything. fire up the app, choos what you want. it pops up on facebook, e-mail
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or text. karma app. where were you? vegas? >> ces, the consumer electronic show. this is the origami. this is the stroller on steroids. >> this is the power folding stroller which brooke was obsessed with. when we put this on at ces, it blew up in the media. $850, also has pathway lights, generators are right inside the wheels. but the paste art about it, you don't have 20 kick the stroller anymore. >> how much? >> it's $850. i know it's pricey. >> last but not least, i have one of these, my jam box. explain. >> this is the best wireless speaker, best-selling wireless speaker. a lot of audio power. no now, not even on retail yet. it's going to be out may 15. this is the big jam box. and talk about some serious power inside here. 15 hours of continuous play. $299, an option option for backyards, take it to the beach. put it anywhere, in a small apartment or a home. >> for moms who love to rock out.
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because moms rock. thank you so much. >> and now, switching gears hooer. -- here. word of a dramatic twist in the search for two missing girls. their sister and mom found dead. but now in man on the run. but his wife and mother have been arrested here in connection with this kidnapping. ight. find me a store that sells organic mushrooms for my risotto. [siri] this organic market looks pretty close to you. how many ounces in a cup? [siri] this might answer your question. oh, i knew that. and remind me in an hour to put the gazpacho on ice. [siri] here's your reminder. shall i create it? yeah...unless you like hotspacho. siri? [siri] sam. you can take the night off. [siri] if you say so.
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a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam
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have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex. for a body in motion. >> the wife of a suspect has
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been arrested. and so has his mother. his wife and mother are arrested and charged with kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap. here they are. here's theresa mayes, the wife facing four counts of aggravated kidnapping and held on $500,000 bond. the suspect's mother facing conspiracy charges and held under $300,000 bond. the fbi thinks adam mayes is the one responsible for kidnapping joanne bain and her three daughters. they were last seen in the home on april 27. and today, police say mayes' wife says she drove the vehicle with these four veebs in it all the way from tennessee down to mississippi. joanne bain and the oldest of the girls, 14-year-old adrienne were found buried in a shallow grave in mississippi. they were found behind the home belonging to mayes' mother. checkpoints, roadblocks are set up all over.
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the two remaining girls are believed to be with mayes and he is considered armed and extremery dangerous. a 50,000 reward is being offered by the feds in 12-year-old alexandria bain and 8-year-old kyleiyah and mayes are all found. have you seen "the avenger"? it appears everyone loves it except for the department of defense. why it reportedly says the movie isn't realistic enough. speaking of movies a bizarre moment when the dictator, you know who the dictator is, endorses a presidential candidate. you are act to hear from the dictator next. just a quick note for those of you heading out the door here. please continue watching cnn. grab your mobile phone. find us there. if you are back at work, watch cnn live at your desktop. go to cnn.com/tv. i needed a coach. our doctor was great, but with so many tough decisions i felt lost. unitedhealthcare offered us a specially trained rn who helped us weigh and understand all our options.
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for me cancer was as scary as a fastball is to some of these kids. but my coach had hit that pitch before. turning data into useful answers. we're 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. you'd use carbon fiber and machined aluminum, to make it more beautiful, and more durable. you'd use edge-to-edge gorilla glass for a stunning display in a more compact form. and you'd choose an intel® core i7™ processor for maximum processing power. everything that you could ever want in a laptop. introducing the dell xps 13 ultrabook™ everything. and more. ♪
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did you hear? mitt romney picked up a very serious endorsement yesterday. may not be too thrilled about this one. the man behind borat, in his upcoming movie called "the dictator" cohen pays admiral general aladin. he held a press conference and was asked about the thoughts on the current u.s. presidential race. what did he do? threw his support behind him, as he called him, mitchell romney. >> i support and i give my full support to a mitchell romney. he has the makings of a dictator. he is incredibly wealthy but pays no taxes. and it's not much of a leap to
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go from foreiiring people to fi squads and putting pets on top of a car to put in political dissidents on top of them. he taught me how to do that. >> did you understand a word of that? i'm not sure i did. anyhoo, "the avenger" pulled in a ton of money. and the department of defense reportedly didn't want any part of it. so it's kind of strange they don't really want a part of it, because the pentagon is usually eager to help hollywood produce movies but "the avengers" had 2340 backup. the liaison told wires magazine that it stopped cooperating with marvel studios during the production because of the film's, and i'm quoting, unrealistic portrayal of military book bureaucracy. the f-22 fighter jets all over the screen, guess what, they were computer generated. all 242 republicans in the house
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of representatives got a surprise this week. a kl len dar full of scandals allegedly all about themselves. the democratic congressional campaign committee or the dccc, is a campaign armed for all the democrats in the house, they hand delivered these calendars to every single republican's office. the name of this thing -- the republican house of scandals. the calendars highlight a different republican, each and every month, an alleged scandal of theirs. so take mr. february, new york congressman michael grimm. "the new york times" reported earlier this year grimm solicited improper campaign cash from a rabbi and a mystic from israel. for march, mary bono mack and her husband, the dccc says they're accused of cheating on their taxes. the calendar is a major attack on republicans six months out from elections. now the republican house campaign arm, the nrcc responded. and they say this, quote, the calendar the american people are focused on show 39 straight
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months where unemployment has been above 8% under obama's watch. the real scandal is the economic legacy of nancy pelosi and president obama, which has left middle class families with fewer jobs, higher gas prices and record debt, end quote. now to wolf now to wolf blitzer "the situation room." how are you, sir? >> missed you yesterday. took a day off. >> i hadda i long weekend. a gal needs a day off. how are you? >> ashleigh banfield did an excellent job and did an excellent television anchorwoman. i will say that. >> excellent. i agree. what's coming up on the show? >> you are excellent as well. mike rodgers, the chairman of the house intelligence committee has new information about what's going on with the improvised explosive device that was discovered apparently in yemen. it was bound for some sort of suicide bomber that was going try to get on a plane headed toward the united states. new information on that.
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that story broke, as you know, about 24 hours or so ago. we're all over that. also, new information coming in on allen gross, the american citizen being held in a cuban jail. he's been there for almost two and a half years. the secretary of state hillary clinton is now weighing in to cnn. she spoke about it with our own jill dougherty. patrick leahy met with him for about two and a half hours with the senate of the judiciary commity. the embassy is now weighing in giving me their perspective. we're getting a statement from the lawyers, and we're all over this story and a lot more coming up on "the situation room." >> wolf blitzer, we will see you in t-minus nine minutes and an awful story about this girl. she is forced to marry. she is drugged, raped and tortured with hot pokers. you are about to hear what she wants the world to know. this is an exclusive tv interview.
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afghan girl caused international outrage when she was found tortured, allegedly at the hands of her in-laws. that young woman is now speaking out and cnn doesn't usually reveal the identities of women and girls who allege they have been raped, but this young woman wanted to be seen. she wanted to tell her story. it's a story that's already now being heard all around the world
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and cnn's pait paton walsh has that. >> reporter: she only plays with a girl doll and hates the male one. that's along with a terrible shyness that's most obvious trace of her unimaginable past. married off at age 13, she said she was drugged by her mother-in-law and raped by her adult husband. her in-laws locked her in a basement, she says and burned her with a hot poker and pulled out her nails. >> translator: they told me to go to the basement because there were guests coming to the house. when i went there they came in and tied my hands and feet and pulled me upwards from above. they brought very little food for me. while going to the bathroom they used to beat me a lot. i was crying all this time. when they put electric shocks on my feet i felt like i was going to die at that moment. i screamed and that's how our neighbors realized there is something happening. for one day and night i was unconscious feeling dead. >> reporter: the neighbors alerted the authorities who found her like this in december
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after five months of torture. she's safe in a shelter now, but last week she trembled when she saw three of her five in-laws, her attackers again, now they were in court, but she was again horrified. this time by the sentences for abuse the judge gave. >> ten years is not enough. they should be given 50 years. they should be punished in the prison. they hurt my eyes and pulled out my nail and hair and the same should be done to them. whatever they did to them, the same should be done to them. >> reporter: not only daily does she have to think about the trauma she endured. she is technically married and she fears to carry on living in afghanistan. >> i think the pushment given to these people worries me. the government is trying to find my husband, but if tomorrow he finds me it's possible he could kill me. i want to go abroad. if i sit here they will find me.
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i want to go to the school and study to become a doctor or prosecutor so i can give punishment by myself to these sort of people. >> reporter: her lawyer says she was abused because she didn't do house chores or bear children. she is just one girl among afghan women whose stories are never told. she feels she has no future in the country where she was born and then brutalized. >> it is infuriating nick paton walsh to hear stories like this and i am stunned that she came forward and spoke to you about this so candidly. you mention in a piece that she's in a shelter now? that's still the case? >> reporter: absolutely. we saw her this morning in a reasonably secure shelter somewhere in the capital. she seems to be, despite her terrible shyness, the trauma overshadowing most of her daily life. there are moments when you see her acting overjoyed to have the attention of some sort of future
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ahead and the idea of studying another language, poetry and interested in being a doctor or more personally saying she might want to study law, become an attorney and prosecute the kind of men who carried out the sort of attack she suffered, brooke. >> you mentioned, i think it would have been her husband, is on the run. the punishment was ten years. where can she go next because certainly he could come find her. >> reporter: i think it's a pretty slim chance at this time that her husband will be arrested somewhere in of aing of coursa, a country plagued by insurgency, lawlessness and much of it very easily for criminals to bribe their way out of justice. that fear of his return and that he might exact revenge upon her will always hold her. at this point most of the conversation we had seems to suggest she thought her best chance was to leave afghanistan
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and go abroad. that would involve asylum and that's a very sensitive issue and about the idea afghan women need asylum in this case, but certainly much of this desire to speak may be connected to the fact she feels she needs some kind of outside help for her safety in the future, brooke. >> give us a sense, nick, and you reported on stories like this before where this was just one woman's story out of i don't know how many others who we don't hear about and who aren't brave enough to come forward to speak to you. give us a sense of how prevalent this is happening in the nation in which you stand? >> reporter: there are deep concerns about the rights of women here. it was a key issue that when nato first came and it's a keen issue in the minds of many u.s. officials are that it will be a way of judging exactly what kind of progress afghanistan has made where u.s. troops abound here.