for example, if you look at families that census identifies as poor, they have satellite and cable television. what the problem -- >> robert, i'm going to have to break right here. we're running out of time. robert, thank you for being with us. join us here tomorrow. thanks for watching. good night from new york. rick sanchez in for campbell brown. tonight, here are the questions we want answered. who killed annie le? there are new details from the yale grad student's murder. also, another crime on a different campus. a student gang-raped. students not warned. >> we should have gotten e-mail, should have gotten a cell phone alert, should have gotten anything to say that this happened. >> are your kids safe on college campuses? we're asking. also, this former president says what many were thinking.

>> there is an inherent feeling among many people in this country that an african-american ought not to be president. >> is he right? is this racism or just a political difference kbm? plus, a.c.o.r.n., you fund them and they're caught on camera giving advice on how to run a prostitution ring. listen to this. >> heidi is my hero because i used to employee girls that would do this, because they didn't care. i had people that would take care of every little wish, every fantasy. >> what's up with a.c.o.r.n.? we've got the facts on this developing story. and hello, everybody. we're going to get started with something that's going on right now. this is breaking news that we're bringing you. it's out of denver. fbi agents searching an apartment and a single-family home today. the information we're getting

right now is that they're looking for investigation in the investigation of that terror plot that we told you about earlier this week. that was monday. apparently, agents right now are at homes where reportedly they've been wearing hazardous material suits and apparently several people have been taken away. let me do this. let's go to our cnn all-platform journalist jim spellman. he's live on the phone from aurora, colorado, which is just outside of denver. jim, set the scene for us. what's going on there right now? >> sure, rick. the fbi is serving two search warrants at two separate residents associated with zazi. he was in queens, new york, last week, stayed at one of the apartments searched during those big searches in queens. i spoke with him briefly as he left his home and not 45 minutes later, the fbi was sweeping in with dogs, men in hazmat suits looking for evidence. meanwhile, at a separate residence, a similar seen going

on. right now, we don't know where zazi is, the fbi is not talking. but a lot of action going on. >> forget zazi, what i'm concerned about is these hazardous material suits that they're using to go into this area. that would lead one to believe that maybe there's something there that's dangerous. we heard earlier this week on monday that they were looking for explosives in new york. is this where they might be looking for those now, jim? >> reporter: well, rick, first they evacuated the entire apartment building where zazi lived and the adjacent apartment building. and after an hour or so, they let everybody get closer and just kept a normal police perimeter. so it seems the best information we have is that that's under control there at that situation. this situation here at the single family home, they only have police lines about two houses away from the build. so it doesn't seem that there's anything hazardous here at the moment. but, remember, it's been several days since he's been back from queens. so if there was any hazardous material associated with him,

plenty of time to be moved out of these residences. >> this is a curious situation. those of you joining us right now, there are raids taking place as we speak in denver, colorado. i'm reading from our own cnn sources that at least two women wearing head scarves have been brought out of the apartment. agents have evacuated several complexes. about 12 units there as a precaution. and that's jim spellman who's following the story for us there, just outside of denver. jim, just let us know if anything changes on that story and we'll put you right up on the air immediately, okay? >> reporter: will do, rick. thanks. >> all right. now let's get to some of the other top stories of the night. it is what we call our "mashup." these are a look at some of the stories making an impact right now and the moments you might have missed. we're watching it all so you don't have to. let's begin with a version, notice i didn't say the version. this is a long-awaited senate health care bill that's been unveiled by democrat max baucus. and you should know that the cost is staggering, $865

billion. this is over ten years, folks. those on the right, they don't love it. those on the left, they don't seem to like it either. in fact, the only one that seems to love it is the man who authored it. and boy, he was on message today. >> i know this bill will pass. it is a balanced bill. it is balanced. very balanced bill. it can pass the senate. it can pass the senate. a good, balanced bill that can pass the senate. and we're going to pass this. >> there's something here that i want you to know. senator baucus has received close to $4 million in contributions from the health care industry. that's important. that's more money than anybody except the president of the united states himself. we called him about this and he sent us a note saying money has no influence on his decisions, $400 million almost. so what's in this bill? let's walk you through it. >> the plan would require every american to buy private health insurance. there's no government-run insurance plan. there would be nonprofit co-ops

that could provide coverage. the proposal also forbids insurance companies from dropping policy holders if they get sick and it includes protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. >> there's 535 members in the senate and the house. it almost sees as if there's 535 different versions of what has to be in the bill. >> that's exactly right. and that's why this bill is having such a hard time. >> forget bipartisanship. right now, no gop support and some democrats aren't happy either. >> senator baucus is doing and framing this as a goldilocks option. too hot for some, too cold for others, so maybe it's just right. >> if you want to read the bill for yourself, i'm encouraging you to go to money.cnn.com and then you can decide on this bill for yourself. you've heard from many of the bill's critics, the signs, you've seen the protests. we've shown them to you. and of course, the infamous shout by a congressman calling the president a liar. well, now former president jimmy carter has gotten into the mix by suggesting that the joe wilson debacle is all about

racism because of the current president being black. first, here's what he told nbc's brian williams. >> an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward president barack obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's african-american. >> he went on to say that many white people, not just in the south, but around the country, can't see an african-american running the country. and that has set off 24 hours of fiery opinions. did president carter hit on something? well, it depends in many ways on who you ask. >> the president does not believe that criticism comes based on the color of his skin. >> they were racially driven, but we have a certain amount of racial prejudice, all people, towards all things in us and sometimes it's hard to suppress

it. >> it's absurd and untrue. >> painting him as a president with two eyes in a black box, calling him a nazi, calling him a monkey, how much evidence do you need? >> i don't think he was racially driven. i think he was just reacting to a statement that he didn't believe was a true statement. >> when you go down this road and you start just willy-nilly, as i believe president carter has, throwing race out there, you diminish real instances of racism that needs to be addressed. >> any criticism of an african-american president's policies or statements or misstatements is racist and that's it. therefore, the question. can this nation really have an african-american president? >> all right. this story is continuing tonight. you are looking now at live pictures of emory university in atlanta where president carter is getting ready to hold a question and answer session with students there. we're going to keep watching this for you. we'll let you know what he says. obviously, it's expected he's going to make some comments on the controversy that began last night and we are going to be

steeped into this issue during this show. expect it. now, there's this. we now know how yale student annie le whose body was found in a wall died. the cause of death, according to medical examiners, traumatic asphyxiation. and lab tech, raymond clark, was taken away in handcuffs but then released. and police are saying he was never really arrested. leading many to ask, what gives here? >> looks to me like that tape got stuck. we'll see if we can rerack it and show it to you a little bit later. in the meantime, is clark, raymond clark, who i just mentioned, this non-suspect, is he going to be charged? police say maybe we'll know in just a couple of days. let's move on to afghanistan now, shall we? it's taken almost a month, but all the votes in afghanistan's presidential election have been counted and the winner is supposedly president hamid

karzai. the problem is, the european union says one-third of the votes cast for president karzai should be looked at for fraud. >> a certain number of votes have come in. they're still not certified, but they give president karzai above the 50% he needs to avoid a runoff. on the other hand, the u.n. electoral complaints committee there says there is something like 2,500 instances that they need to investigate before they will sign off on it. and of course, the whole idea of legitimacy is one that's going to be very important for afghanistan itself and for the united states and its allies as it seeks to figure out how it can continues its mission there. >> certifying the votes, we understand, is still weeks away, and so, apparently, is president obama's decision on whether to send in even more troops. >> there is no immediate decision pending on resources, because one of the things that i'm absolutely clear about is, you have to get the strategy right and then make

determinations about resources. you don't make determinations about resources and certainly you don't make determinations about sending young men and women into battle without having absolute clarity about what the strategy's going to be. >> the president's comments came a day after his top military officer, joint chiefs chairman admiral mike mullen said more troops would probably, probably, be needed in afghanistan. all right, two videos. everyone's been talking about them on this day. the first is from the back lawn of the white house. enguard. president obama takes a stab at michelle obama with a foam sword. he was looking for a dual, but he wasn't playing. the first couple was quoting the hon chaos that could offer chicago the 2016 olympics. this second video, this one's special. watch what happens when the philly's jason worth hits a foul ball into the bleachers. there's a guy named steve. he leans over and makes a catch. follow me here. so what does he do.

he fist bumps all the guys around him. high fives a 3-year-old daughter and gives her the ball and look what she does, she throws it back on the field. the phillies saved the day, they sent the dad another brand-new ball now they are the toast of the town. and we've got some pretty good grub here at the cnn controversy, but what does the president eat when he comes to new york? >> in new york, president obama had lunch with former president clinton. they had lunch, yeah. yeah. afterwards, clinton told obama, remember, if hillary asks, he had lunch and dinner and then i slept over at your place. that's the story. >> conan o'brien, everybody. and that is tonight's "mashup." coming up, a story that says a lot about race in america in these times. one that you've told us about, you've been telling me all day on e-mails and on tweets and on facebook posts. this is about a black female army reservist, beaten by a

white man who screamed racial slurs at her while he was doing it, according to police. it happened in front of her 7-year-old daughter and we've got the exclusive interview with her. also, how close are police to arresting the killer of a yale grad student, annie le? and why is the man that they handcuffed and took away and searched his house and searched his car still not really arrested? >> if we have one match, a person that we know was at that location, we will be going for an arrest warrant. i've been growing algae for 35 years. most people try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on. in using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply. and they absorb co2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem, as well.

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clark not arrested? they searched his home, searched his car and took him into custody, but he's not a suspect? >> we have approximately 250 seized items now. the lodge number of those will eventually all have to go through the lab. we're prioritizing those issues and they're up at the lab now and they're doing dna as we speak. i could get the results in 30 minutes or it could be hours. it's all up to the lab now. >> and there's even more news on this. the same day annie le's body was found, another horrible crime is alleged on a college campus. this is on long island, hofstra university. an 18-year-old freshman was apparently raped by five men in a dormitory, men's room, after a night of dancing at an on-campus nightclub. four are charged. a fifth is still at large. carolyn rayknack wolf is a safety consultant at hofstra. by the way, she has two college-aged kids of her own. what can you tell us about this

case? and were these alleged suspects students? should they have been there? >> to my understanding, at least one of them are a student. and that raises the spectrum as to what are colleges doing with regard to safety and security on their campus. what programs do they have in place, what training do they have in place? how are they going about protecting the students that are on their campus, whether it's a large campus or a small campus. >> we've got a lot of people that are concerned because it took so long for them to tell the students and vis-a-vis the parents. they didn't put it on a blog or website until wednesday and it happened sunday. >> i travel across the country working with different college campuses. some are doing text messages, some are doing e-mails, some are doing blogging. it really varies by campus. but the idea is to get the information out, get it out accurately. don't start faearmongering, but do it in a way that people feel safe on campus and safe sending

their children to college. >> in both cases, the victims are women. the one at yale and the one at hofstra. you have a daughter in college? >> yes, i do. >> what do you tell her? >> i gave her the spiel before i dropped her off. we tell our daughters, don't go places you're, use the buddy system, know where you are on campus, what's your surrounding. are you walking across camp late at night when it's dark and deserted. >> sounds like a checklist we need to be aware of as parents. my thanks to you, carolyn, for being with us. it's chris brown as you've never seen him before. working off his sentence for beating up rihanna. and a.c.o.r.n.'s boss will be joining me here to explain several things, including the new provisions that they're enacting. we'll tell you what they are. stay with us. so we're so proud to manufacture...

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welcome back. i'm rick sanchez. let's check some of the other stories that are making news right now. hln's mike galanos is at the cnn center with tonight's download. >> following a couple of breaking stories. first we go to denver, colorado, where fbi agents, some in hazardous material suits searched a single family home and an apartment. a search with knowledge of this investigation tells cnn agents suspect afghan immigrants associated with a new york area mosque might be planning a bomb attack in new york. the denver apartment belonged to an afghan national who was also the focus of raids earlier this week in new york city. his lawyer denies he has any tires to terrorism. more breaking news. this in california. within the hour, police found more bones on an adjacent

property where jaycee dugard was allegedly held for 18 years. investigators don't know yet if they're human or animal bones. police returned the kidnapping suspect phillip garrido's property this week to search for clues in two other child abduction cases from the late 1980s. you mentioned this one, rick. singer chris brown started his court-ordered community service today, clearing weeds and debris at police horse stables. this in richmond, virginia. brown was sentenced to five years probation, six months later and counseling after pleading guilty to abusing his sex girlfriend, rihanna. police have extra guards on hand while he works and brown has to pay for them out of his own pocket. rick, with that, back to you. >> thanks so much, michael. we appreciate it. next, as he speaks, former president jimmy carter is holding a town hall. this is just a day after his comments triggered a new race debate in america. and as you might imagine, we are monitoring this for you. any comments that he makes, we'll flip them around for you and you'll hear them on cnn. stay with us.

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welcome back. i'm rick sanchez. just taking notes. i'm being told some information that's coming out of the carter center. right now we're following former president jimmy carter. you see him there speaking. he's holding a town hall meeting in atlanta, just a day after making some explosive comments about people who are angry with president obama. what he did is he suggested that racism is behind congressman joe wilson calling the president a liar. by the way, moments ago, and

those are those notes i was telling you i was taking. he went on to say that he thinks the president of the united states is integrity enough to withstand the condemnation that he has been receiving. by the way, the president, many believe is saying what many have thought in this country, but not said publicly. among those, a man over here to my left, roland martin, will be joining me in just a minute. before we start the discussion, let's listen to what the president said exactly. this was him yesterday on nbc "nightly news." >> an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward president barack obama is based on the fact that he is a black man, that he's african-american. that racism still exists. and i think it's bubbled up to the surface because of a belief among many white people, not just in the south, but around

the country, that african-americans are not qualified to lead this great country. >> today, almost as expected, president obama's press secretary said the president does not believe it has anything to do with the color of his skin. speaking on behalf of president of the united states. roland martin, is a cnn political analyst who you've known, tim wise, is the author "between barack and a hard place," and also with us is john avalon, a columnist for thedailybeast.com. roland, first, is former president carter right? >> i think, obviously, he's painting a broad brush, but he's realizing you do have elements of race when you talk about the level of criticism. you talk about the viciousness, if you will, in some of the things that are being said. when you look at comments being made at rallies, look at posters, things along those lines. stuff you're seeing online. you see the kind of hateful language being targeted to the

first lady. got tammy bruce calling her trash. got people who say he hates white people and white culture. and it's not only that, reports show, 400% increase in terms of threats against this president. now, explain to me -- >> by the way, by the way, by the way, just as a caveat, i checked on that and secret service has told me that that figure has been exaggerated. so nonetheless -- >> so what's the number? >> but it does appear to be up. >> absolutely. >> but do you believe the president's right? >> i think, clearly, there are people who are making -- who have criticism and racial undertones are present. i can't sit here and say, you're absolutely a racist, but there's no doubt race plays a role in some people that are criticizing this president. >> tim, let me bring you in. you talked to some americans and you saw the interviews we did earlier on this newscast. and they will tell you, no, this is not racism, it's policy-based. and other americans are

convinced it'si racism. how can so many people see something so differently? >> we can define racism and see things very differently. but there are folks on the leadership level of the forward right who are every day stoking the fires of racial resentment. that doesn't mean that everyone that responds is for that reason responding. for example, if you have glenn beck saying to millions of listeners that the whole health care debate is really just about reparations for black people -- >> code word. >> if you have rush limbaugh saying in april that to get a job with this administration you have to hate white people, obviously, there is this button that's being pushed. when folks respond, they may have multiple reasons, but you cannot take the racial element out when mark williams, one of the big tea party organizers calls the president of the united states an indonesian muslim and a welfare thug. that's racial imagery. >> obviously, you'll be able to come up with examples that are extremely strident and very poignanted and very focused, as you mentioned. but there are areas of gray. you at home, i want you to join the four of us as we look at

something that john has done for us. you went to a rally recently, right? >> i went to the d.c. tea party rally on september 12th. >> and you took some pictures. let's go through these pictures. this is one is a picture. describe this first one for us, john. apparently it's the president with hitler and lennon. >> yep. >> you at home watching right now, is this racist? >> i think you're associating the president with two dictators. >> tim, hateful or racist? >> i think it's pretty hateful. the only way it might be racial, you think of hitler, he wasn't just a fascist, a racial fascist. so if you say the black guy running the country is a racial fascist, it might set off psychologically, oh, who's he going to come far, and white folks get nervous because of that. >> let me get to the next one, if you don't mind, tim. this one does say, "go back to kenya." roland, racist? >> hell, yeah, it's racist.

"don't make the u.s. a third world country, go back to kenya." that harkens, go back to frederick. >> that's some racist stuff. >> tim, clearly racist? >> absolutely. all the birther stuff is. if this guy's name was o'malley and i made up a birth certificate that said he was born in ireland, nobody would believe it and nobody would care. >> john? >> what's really going on here, look, slavery was the original sin of america. we have wrestled with the race in our country. it's naive to believe that we can the first election of a black president of the united states of america and not have that bubble up. >> if you accuse everyone there being a racist because there were 10,000 people there that had racist signs, aren't you making more fervent? >> the issue is not, i'm going to accuse somebody of being a racist. there are racial undertones of how we perceive things. >> but not to all people? >> no, but when people make

racial assumptions, they go through different levels in getting there. when we say racist, it's someone with a klan outfit, a swastika. >> the tea party protesters, there is principle policy opposition behind a lot of it. but there's also a paranoid, pathological hatred of the president as well. you're looking at the fault license of american politics here, folks. the party of lincoln's base is at the heart of the confederacy. this is something we need to deal with. it's not the vast majority of these folks, but to to ignore that it's not motivated some of them is not paying attention. >> that's why we're having conversations about it. they're open, free, and we thank roland, john, and tim for being with us tonight. >> thank you. another charge of racism. this is a story that takes it more to the microlevel, all right? you the viewer have been tweeting me all day long about this. you've sent me e-mails, i've seen blogs and you want us to dig deeper into this, so we will. a mother beaten up at a georgia restaurant while her 7-year-old

girl watched. the suspect is a white man, the mother is black, the feds are investigating and she joins me live. >> punched me and kick on me and he called me vulgar names. called me a racial slur and then, you know, curse words. been true since the day i made my first dollar. where is that dollar? i got it out to show you... uhh... was it rather old and wrinkly? yeah, you saw it? umm fancy a crisp? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

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uncertain terms unlike the discussion we were having a little while ago. you've twittered me, blogged me, e-mailed me throughout the day about this. it begans a woman who's walking out of a cracker barrel restaurant with her 7-year-old daughter. the two who are african-american were in georgia just a week ago. as they passed through the entrance, a man identified as troy west allegedly forced the door open, nearly hitting the little girl. okay, stuff like that can can happen. the woman, a u.s. army reservist honorableably discharged said something, and the man, west, began punching her and kicking her and calling her the "n" word. police call it a racist act. the fbi is investigating it as a possible hate crime. and mr. west, we have not been able to reach despite repeated efforts by cnn. joining me now, exclusively tonight, is the woman who was attacked in this case. a case that's being talked about throughout the country, her name is tasha hill. miss hill, thanks so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> by the way, her attorney is in atlanta along with her.

his name is kip davis. >> kip jones. thank you. >> thank you. did you do anything to provoke this incident? >> i'm sorry, you asked? >> yes, i'll ask that question again. did you do anything to provoke this alleged attack on you? >> i did nothing but try to protect my daughter. i did not. >> how did you try to protect your daughter? >> i just spoke and i asked the gentleman to watch out for, you know, watch out that he did not hit her in the face. >> let me ask you something. because i've been going through the police report tonight, just to see -- because we weren't able to get ahold of mr. west. but in the police report he says, or he alleges, i should say, i hit her after she spit on me and accused me of trying to hit her daughter with a door. did you spit on him? >> i know that i -- i really can't go into detail about the case, just because of my -- the district attorney, but i know

that i did not. >> if i can answer that. >> go ahead, kip, if you would. >> i've observed the videotape and at no point did miss hill do anything to provoke the attack. she did not spit on mr. west. she spoke to him, he attacked her. >> where's the videotape, by the way? i would like to see that myself? >> well, cracker barrel is refusing to release the videotape to me or to the media, as i understand it. i believe that it's been turned over to law enforcement. but it's not being made available to the public by cracker barrel. >> tasha, this sounds horrible. it sounds like the beginnings of a misunderstanding, but then just got out of control. can you take me through that moment where you were at the door and then he pushed the door? >> i actually don't want to relive the entire situation. what i would just like to say is that, you know, he did attack me and i still cannot understand why he did what he did. he obviously felt very comfortable to attack me in the cracker barrel. i just -- and then once i did mention to him that i was a

service member and i didn't want any problems, it was just shocking to me how he was so comfortable to attack me, assault me and make verbal assaults as well. >> what do you call the attack? what did he do? the report seems to indicate that he punched you and kicked you. is that correct? and if so, can you quantify that for us? >> yes, he did punch me, with a closed fist, repeated times. my head is hurting still today. i have knots on my head. >> did he kick you too? >> yes, he did. >> how's your daughter. did she get involved in that melee at all? >> my daughter had to stand by and witness the entire thing. she was afraid. she had mentioned to me and had cried about the fact that she was trying to protect mommy by pushing the door and the man pushed the door back and squished her. >> are you convinced that this was a hateful, racist act as is being alleged, or at least investigated, by both local police and federal officials?

>> you're -- >> rick, we're convinced that this was a hateful, racist attack. the language was vile. it was racist, sexist, completely offensive, completely unprovoked. i've seen the tape. this was a vicious attack without provocation based on the "n" word, the "b" word, et cetera, it was nothing but a racist attack that occurred in cracker barrel, not outside of cracker barrel. >> we'll certainly take your word for it. you've seen the tape, we haven't it. tasha, you'll be joining me again tomorrow at 3:00 as we understand there may be some new details on this story. my thanks to both of you for taking time to take us through this tonight. >> thank you. >> thank you. there's some news that's just coming into cnn about the group a.c.o.r.n. minutes ago, a big political figure called for a investigation about who is in a.c.o.r.n. did a group that takes your tax dollars give advice on how to hide a prostitution ring? re i sd this job,

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we welcome you back. if you've heard anything about a.c.o.r.n., it's probably bad, right? allegations of voter fraud and now employees caught on tape in

a sting, allegedly offering tips on how to run a prostitution ring. you'll see that video for yourself, by the way, but first the facts about a.c.o.r.n. a.c.o.r.n. stands for associated community organization for reform now. on its website, it's described as a collection of groups working to support minimum wage policies, improve education, and support affordable housing initiatives. but it's the appearance of what they did during the last election by signing up voters, even if it didn't involve voter fraud in the end that got them in the news. let's take a look back. >> a.c.o.r.n. is a community organization. apparently, what they've done is they were paying people to go out and register folks and apparently some of the people who were out there didn't really register people, they just filled out a bunch of names. >> the community organizing group is now being frozen out by the catholic church. that can mean millions of dollars in grant money no longer going to that group. i have a feeling your investigation will just keep on giving. thank you, drew.

>> i've thought for a long time that a.c.o.r.n. is corrupt. they have widespread corruption, voter fraud, embezzlement. you name these things, and this is probably just the tip of the iceberg. >> well, today, because of the humiliating videotapes, a.c.o.r.n. did announce a hiring freeze and an independent review. fbi director robert muller says that there may be, as well, a federal investigation. the tapes are embarrassing. in fact, the tapes are just plain wrong when you see them. here's the latest now. this is from california, which takes the controversy, by the way, to a whole new level. cnn's abbie boudreau is part of our special investigations unit. >> reporter: an a.c.o.r.n. worker in san bernardino not only offering advice to help a pitcher and a prostitute, but telling them that she gets it because she too was once in the sex trade. >> and i ran a service. >> really? >> yeah. heidi fleiss is my hero. i understand, and believe me, i do know, because i used to

employ girls that would do this, because they didn't care. >> reporter: and that she once killed an abusive ex-husband. >> i shot him. >> in self-defense? >> yeah. and then i just picked up the gun and said [ bleep ] you and i shot him and he died right there. >> reporter: but the worker caught in the sting now says she made it all up. >> it's a joke. everything's a joke. none of it's true. they came into my office. they were a little suspicious to me when they came in. they played with me and i played back. i shocked them like they were trying to shock me. >> reporter: kaelke told us she first told the filmmakers that a.c.o.r.n. would in no way help them with their prostitution project. but when they didn't leave, she became uncomfortable. alone in the office in a tough neighborhood, with strangers, she started to make up stories.

stories she wishes she could take back. >> it's affected my life extremely. and the lives of everyone around me. and i'm deeply sorry for that. it was a bad joke, i feel, but i felt a bad joke was being played on me. >> reporter: the video took the a.c.o.r.n. controversy to another level. in the earlier videos, workers were apparently caught offering advice on how to hide prostitution money from the tax man and even bring in underaged sex workers from overseas. but no one ever claimed to be a killer before. san bernardino police even investigated and found that the claims, quote, do not appear to be factual. investigators have been in contact with the involved party's known former husbands, who are alive and well. the couple who took the video, james o'keefe and hanna giles are both conservative activists.

a.c.o.r.n. contends they've been deliberately manipulating the videos to put the liberal group, which has become a target amid serious corruption and voter fraud allegations, in the worst light possible. amy shir is a.c.o.r.n.'s california chair woman. she accompanied tersa kaelke to the interview. >> we believe these conservative activists broke the law filming this. and then what are they putting on air and online? they are putting doctored, edited, sliced and diced versions of these tapes. >> reporter: that said, a.c.o.r.n. has already fired four workers for the earlier tapes and kaelke told us she's been placed on indefinite suspension. rick, i want to tell you, we've tried many, many times to get interviews with the filmmakers, but so far, they've refused. rick? >> yeah, they are another important part of the story. thanks so much. by the way, a.c.o.r.n.'s taking a lot of heat for all this. so what do they have to do now to fix this? can they?

i'll ask a.c.o.r.n.'s ceo, bertha lewis. she's good enough to join me live tonight and we'll do that right after the break. dallas. d. different rates. well with us, it's the same flat rate. same flat rate. boston. boise? same flat rate. alabama. alaska? with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. dude's good. dude's real good. dudes. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

welcome back. this just in. governor arnold schwarzenegger is calling now for an investigation into a.c.o.r.n.'s activities in california, saying that news stories he's seen troubled him greatly. now, with the organization under fire, a.c.o.r.n.'s ceo, bertha lewis said today, quote, we are going to go to whatever lengths are necessary to reestablish a public trust. but what's it going to take? here to tell us now just what's going on inside a.c.o.r.n., bertha lewis. miss lewis, thanks so much for being with us? >> thanks for having me, rick. >> listen, how do you explain what americans have seen on some

of these videotapes? somebody advising, you know, alleged pimps and prostitutes, or people describing themselves as pimps and prostitutes how to set up brothels, how do you explain this? >> pretty horrendous? this stuff would curl anybody's hair. it was outrageous, indefensible. although we know these tapes -- no one has shown totally unedited tapes, because you don't see tapes where they were thrown out of a.c.o.r.n. offices. you don't see tapes where people are told, you know, we can't help you, but be that as it may, i will not tolerate unprofessional -- not meeting our standards. i've got -- >> so the people have been fired? the people that we see on these tapes have been fired? >> yes. but, listen, rick. i've got over 700 employees. and, you know, this is a handful of folks. i immediately took swift action and i said, you know what, we're going to look at this, we're going to make a review from top

to bottom so that this thing never happens again. we work too hard to have some trumped up thing like this happen. >> well, you got some serious problems right now. let me take you through them. the senate voted to block your housing grants. the census bureau is blocking your organization from being used in its studies. and now you may be investigated by the fbi as well. you know what this is, this is a credibility problem. how are you going to overcome it? >> well, i don't think that this is just a credibility problem. i think this is a well-orchestrated, well-funded, concerted, relentless campaign to attack this organization. we have been attacked from 2004, 2006, in fact, karl rove's e-mails just revealed a couple of weeks ago show that politically, he directed alberto gonzalez and u.s. attorneys to go after us and no matter what, prove something on them. >> but some people would say --

but some people would -- i understand that. but some people would say that you're shifting the emphasis here. because -- and look, as a journalism at cnn, i will tell you that neither our organization's standards and practices would allow the kind of interview or seeming misrepresentation that took place when they went after this story to get this video that everyone's talking about. that notwithstanding, the video is still there, bertha. and we still see these people doing and saying these things. so you could say anything you want to say about your attackers, but in the end, the evidence is what's hurting the credibility of your organization. how do you respond to that? >> well, i'll repeat it again, in case you didn't understand me the first time. >> okay. >> these people were terminated. we took immediate action. regardless, it is unacceptable and never met our professional standards. let me give you another fact. not one document, not one application, not a shred of

paper was ever put in or, you know, any process gone with these folks. they came in, they did their thing, and you know what, we said to these employees, this can't be tolerated. i am sorry. you don't meet a.c.o.r.n. standards, so -- >> and certainly that sounds like the right response. but here's the problem, this is not an isolated incident. it was the innocent of at least what you would have to consider sloppy voter registration campaigns earlier last year. >> let me stop you right there. >> please. >> there was no sloppy voter registration campaign. >> how would you describe them then? >> in fact, our quality control worked. because you know why? every single card, every single employee of ours that filled out a fraudulent card, you know who turned them in? >> who? >> we did. we turned in every card, we flagged them, we tagged them, we were the ones that supplied all of this evidence.

that's why we know our quality control works. that's why they went to dozens of offices, they were turned away. you need to make sure that cnn is able to show unedited versions of these tapes, show the whole thing so that we can get back to the work of helping low and moderate-income people of color in this country. >> your point is well taken and we thank you, bertha lewis, for coming on tonight and taking the heat. >> thank you. as we told you, former president carter has been speaking again tonight on the subject of race and criticism of president obama. well, he's definitely not backing down. you're going to hear what he just said moments ago. stay with us. we're turning this around for you. blueprint is free and only for chase customers. it lets you choose what purchases you want to pay in full to avoid interest...with full pay. and those you split... you decide how to pay over time. if having a plan matters.

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the next generation of brink's home security. call now. you wondered whether president carter would back down, whether he would echo what he said yesterday. he spoke again moments ago. we've got it for you. here it is. >> i think people that are guilty of that kind of personal attack against obama have been influenced to a major degree by a belief that he should not be president because he happens to be african-american. it's a racist attitude. and my hope is and my expectation is that in the future, both democratic leaders and republican leaders will take the initiative in condemning that kind of unprecedented attack on the president of the united states. >> two things. the president