billies. they treated the critters better. >> reporter: look where dukt hound gets to sit. >> i ain't budging out of this. >> reporter: and granny's in the shamus position for shame. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. the news continues next on cnn. tonight a man is held in mississippi for convict just grant freedom as anger over the former governor's last-minute pardons intensifies. michelle obama grows the twitter universe. and suze orman visits to share her new project on working families and the campaign conversation about dollars and cents. we begin this evening with the still growing political and legal uproar in the state of mississippi. state officials may ask for

nation-wide help tracking down some convicted murderers pardoned this week by the outgoing governor halee barber. some victims' families are worried and furious. >> we are in jail now and david is out of jail. we will forever be looking over our shoulder wondering if today is the day that david decided that he was going to finish what he started. >> cnn's martin savidge is in jackson, mississippi reporting the story. martin they've been pardoned but now the state says guys you have to come back. do they have to come back? >> reporter: you know what, that's a really good question that they are still trying to decipher at this very hour, john. last night a judge granted an order that said at least for the time being the pardons that had been approved by former governor halee barber had to be stopped. that's at least those people who were still behind bars. but as far as the four convicted murderers released on sunday, these are the ones that authorities are really concerned

about, well, the judge said that they will have to report in on a daily basis their whereabouts. but they aren't obligated to do that until they receive an official copy of the court order. the problem is, authorities can't find the murderers to give them the copy of the court order to force them to start reporting in. it's a real catch 22. because once they were pardoned, when they left the confines of a prison, they were under no obligation to tell mississippi authorities where they were going or where they were going to be or what they were even going to do for the rest of their lives. they disappeared. and state authorities say they now have no idea where they are. >> there's going to be a national search for some of them. we'll catch them. it's just a matter of time. >> do you know where they are? >> no. we know where their family -- we're in contact with their family, local law enforcement. there's a search going on out there for them. and we'll lay hands on them at some point. >> because they were pardoned, again according to the department of corrections, they were under no obligation to tell

anybody where they were going or what their future plans were. >> that's right. all we have is like old addresses and who their family is and all our people are working on it. >> reporter: so this is the problem. you can see it right now. they cannot ask for help from other states if they left the state of mississippi. because these guys really are not wanted for anything because they haven't done any crime. they were pardoned. john? >> so there's the legal quandary, martin. what about the political controversy? i've known former governor halee barber for some type from his role as the former republican chairman in washington, d.c. and other political activity here. i tried to reach him today and i couldn't. i did speak to somebody close to him who says he has an explanation and he understands he's going to have to give it pretty soon. is he saying anything back there? we heard from the family. what's the controversy back home that awaits him? >> reporter: it's a huge controversy here. many people loved halee barber. they believe he had been a great leaded in this state. now they're having second thoughts because of what he did

in his final hours. he issued a lengthy statement last night. he didn't deliver it in person. he delivered it on paper. he said that the clemency process has been miscon sfrued by a lot of people. he also said "approximately 90% of these individuals were no longer in custody. and he said that these pardons were intended to allow them to find gainful employment and/or acquire professional licenses as well as hunt and vote. he means of course if you're a convicted felon you couldn't own a gun or could not vote. by pardoning them he allowed them to do that. he didn't address the fear, what about the murderers, rapists that you pardoned and are now free. he didn't respond to that. john? >> when you hear the accounts from those family members it's pretty clear he's going to have to respond to that. martin savidge, thank you. on the presidential campaign trail tonight, mitt romney's trying to stay astep ahead of his components. he's campaigning and fundraising in florida which will hold its primary on the last day of this month. most of the republican pack back in south carolina where republicans vote in just nine

days. there rick santorum is arguing romney isn't trustworthy. >> ultimately aren't you looking for someone as president you can trust? >> yes. >> what would give you the idea that someone who has changed his position on almost every single issue is someone you can trust? >> john huntsman is telling south carolina voters romney's own words make him unelectable. >> my problem is really a political issue. and that is when you have a candidate who talks ability enjoyment in firing people, who talks about pink slips, who makes comments that seem to be so detached from the problems that americans are facing today, that makes you pretty much unelectable. >> cnn jim acosta tracking the campaign at the moment with the romney campaign in west palm beach, florida. jim, that pro gingrich political group released that documentary essentially savaging mitt romney's record saying he's heartless and greedy and laid people off. how is the romney campaign

trying to deal with what could be a pretty big negative? >> reporter: john, we basically heard mitt romney say today he can feel people's pain. if you watch that pro-gingrich superpac documentary you'll see people talking about how their lives were destroyed at the hands of bane, talking about bouts with depression, broken marriages. listen to what mitt romney had to say earlier here in west palm beach. he almost offered a rebuttal to that documentary and talking about the plight of the unemployed. >> unemployments is not just a statistic. being unemployed for a long period of time means families having a hard time making ends meet. it means in some cases people having trouble in their marriages, losing faith, becoming depressed. it's a real tragedy when people are out of work for long periods of time as we've seen. and my job is to get americans back to work. if i'm president of the united states i'll worry about your jobs, not my job. [ cheers and applause ]

>> reporter: now newt gingrich and rick perry have both been going after mitt romney big time on this issue of bane capital. both of those contenders in south carolina today were sort of making the pivot away from bane capital and more towards accountability on wall street. rick perry went so far as to say he loves capitalism. here's what both had to say. >> it's almost as though if you ask questions you're somehow challenging the whole system. but i want you to understand how i feel as a candidate for president. the american people have the right to know what has been happening to their economy, and they have the right to know where all the money went. >> listen. i love capitalism. i mean, free market capitalism in the state of texas has created over 1 million jobs. we understand how capitalism needs to work. but this corrupt and fraudulent activity that's been going on in washington, d.c. between them and wall street has to stop.

>> reporter: now, something interesting happened this week with all these attacks on bane capital. they've actually worked to rally conservatives behind mitt romney. today the romney campaign released a long list of conservatives from rush limbaugh to the "wall street journal" to the national review to the governor of south carolina who are all coming to mitt romney's defense over this issue, criticizing newt gingrich and rick perry over their comments on bane capital, john. >> so you see those adjustments today in south carolina. nine interesting day to go. jim acosta, we'll stay in touch in the days ahead. a week from tonight we bring you the southern republican presidential debate thursday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern two days before that all important south carolina primary. here in washington today, secretary of state hillary clinton acknowledged there are discussions about a possible transfer of some taliban prisoners now held at guantanamo. and the opening of a taliban office in cutter. those talks could be a prelude to some kind of afghanistan reconciliation process.

all that is threatened tonight by an uproar over a video that surfaced on the internet showing u.s. marines urinating on the dead bodies of taliban fighters. if you haven't seen it it is graphic but we've blurred the most offensive parts. >> did you get the middle guy? >> look at mine. >> yeah. >> you get the idea there. pretty heinous act. cnn pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us with new details on this investigation. barbara, among those new details they've now identified at least some of those marines, right? >> reporter: absolutely, john. they moved very quickly on this. the marine corps is not all that big. those marines were known to people who saw the video. it is -- this is a unit now. it is widely believed out of camp lejeune, north carolina that served in afghanistan until late last year. two of the marines now who

participated in that video, their names are known to the marine corps. they're moving very quickly to investigate all of this, both the marine corps investigation and the naval criminal investigative service investigation. it really couldn't be more serious. they want to nail this down very quickly, john. >> quick to investigate, barbara, also very quick to condemn. both at the military level and senior civilian administration officials. what is the sense inside the administration of why they thought it was so urgent not only to investigate but to try to condemn this and pretty forecefully? >> reporter: they've seen these misconduct issues arise in the past. abu graib back in iraq. the burning of koran. rumors that sparked riots in afghanistan. the anti-american sentiment every time one of these misconduct cases emerges on the internet and goes viral around the world. so you saw the military move with the investigation. but you also saw secretary of state hillary clinton take this

on very publicly today to get the diplomatic part of this out in public. she had some very strong words. listen to what she had to say. >> i share completely the views expressed by secretary panetta earlier today. i join him in condemning the deplorable behavior that is reflected in this video. it is absolutely inconsistent with american values, with the standards of behavior that we expect from our military personnel. >> reporter: so john, it's not very often but the u.s., the afghan government and the taliban all in agreement all condemning. this and you're absolutely right. what's at stake here is can they now move forward with reconciliation? will the taliban still try to come to the table or will this be a deal breaker? so far no indication it's going to be a deal breaker but it does make things tough. >> fine reporting from barbara starr. thanks for your help tonight. one of the republican's rising stars could be a power broker in

the next presidential primary. he's south carolina congressman and tea party favorite tim scott. he's with us live tonight and maybe we'll ask him. he hasn't endorsed anybody yet. is it finally time? later alaskans cope with twice as much snow as usual. ♪ you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem.

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a big announcement from the president today one that's certain to have a quick impact out on the campaign trail. officially notifying john boehner the government is close to the debt limit. republicans like south carolina's tim scott joins us live in his state. i'll get to the presidential primary in just a minute. this was part of the deal that was cooked. the president had to ask twice for this. this is asking for the second installment. he'll get the money, get to raise the debt limit. but what are we going to hear in the debate about that proposal? >> there's no question that when you think about the $1.2 trillion that the president's requesting, the obligation of the super committee producing results did not happen. so as i did in the debt ceiling, i said no therngs i'll say no now. i think you're right.

bottom line is he'll probably get the increase. but we have started questioning ourselves on how can we consistently move forward knowing that we're borrowing 42 cents on the dollar and this debt deal did not produce any savings for the american people. that's a problem. >> and so you raise how important this is. it will be a debate in congress. the president will get his money. is it getting as much attention on the campaign trail? nine days from now republicans have the choice. they could give mitt romney a 3-0 record, pretty impossible to stop or say not so fast. a lot of the conversation has been about other issues. i want you to listen to speaker gingrich saying why is the establishment coming after me for raising questions about mitt romney. >> saying i have two great credentials, my governorship which you're not allowed to talk about because it's really pretty liberal, and the work under bane capital but you're not allowed to talk about because that's an attack. if you talk about my record that's an attack on free enterprise. that's baloney. >> you have not been kind to

newt gingrich or rick perry for raising bane capital. the state senator jim da dimint -- why is that not fair game? is mitt romney's record not fair game? >> i think mitt romney's record is without any question fair game. here's the question. should we as republicans, as conservatives, who believe that capitalism is a foundation to a good economy, attack the principles that undergird capitalism? we believe that when you're looking at bane capital as a whole, you're talking about a company that created jobs for domino's pizza sports authority and staples. so if you have a balanced perspective on bane capital, you find a different picture. but more important than defending romney or defending bane capital, what i think you hear at least as an undertone and going to grow louder is that we believe that capitalism is the mantra of the day and anything that creeps towards socialism is a problem. so that contrast is in the prime

picture today. it is in the frame of the conversation about who will be the next president and what they represent philosophically. >> you became a national figure, sir, and a member of the leadership in the congress because of the tea party movement and your involve nt in it in the last cycle el. i want you to hear amy kramer of the tea party express, saying if you look at the campaign so far, romney wins iowa, wins new hampshire. he's hardly a tea party darling. will the tea party be heard from? let's listen. >> the tea party movement is saying not so fast. you cannot just shove these candidates down our throats and expect us to take it. you know, we're going to be involved in this process. we're going to have a say in the matter. and i think we're going to be influential in what happens next week. >> should the tea party in south carolina stop mitt romney? >> well, there's no question that each voter should have an opportunity to vote their conscience and the tea party represents many of us who believe that we are taxed enough already. we believe in free markets. the question is, is there a one candidate that represents the

anti-romney? the answer seems to be no. when you have rick perry, when you have mr. santorum, mr. gingrich all working on the social conservative platform in south carolina, you see there is a divide on the social conservative side and all four candidates are absolutely going after the businessman. so i think it's going to be very difficult for any of us to find one candidate that becomes the anti-romney candidate the next nine days. but the question we should ask ourselves is, who is the next visionary leader of america? how do we have the aspiration to inspire americans to reach their highest level? we need a president that does so. that's what we're looking for in this primary process. >> appreciate your time tonight. we'll see you in south carolina early next week. >> absolutely. most of us it's been a pretty mild winter. but it's worse than usual in alaska. some parts look at it there, 20 feet of snow since thanksgiving. we're going to show you more in just a few minutes. later, workers tell us what happened when mitt romney's bane capital took over a couple of south carolina companies. 6

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welcome back. kate baldwin is here with the latest news you need to know now. welcome. >> good evening, everyone. here's a rare look at the city that's been at the center of syria's anti-government protests. this is syria's third largest city. the government organized this unprecedented tour today for journalists including cnn's nick robertson. they saw gun-toting soldiers in

civilian trucks, checkpoints, wounded soldiers. in other neighborhoods open stores and a sense of normalsy. in other news, alaska, expect snow in winter, of course, but maybe not this much snow. forecasters predict anchorage well get another 6 to 14 inches today. that's on top of 45 inches since december 1st, about twice as much as normal. think that's a lot? well, in the same period valdez, alaska has picked up 247 inches of snow. that's more than 20 feet. we could have used some of that on the ski slopes, huh? >> yeah. >> and in other news, don't you hate it when you hear that noise when you're in an audience and somebody's cell phone goes off and it just keeps ringing and ringing? well, okay. got it. it happened during a new york philharmonic concert. just the other night. and according to the "new york times," things got pretty rowdy. yes, at the philharmonic. people started shouting and pointing. the conductor of all people even stopped the performance until the offender reached in his pocket and shut off the phone.

that of course is file video of the beautiful sounds that you should be hearing when you go to the philharmonic. >> good for the conductor. shouldn't have had to do that. i remember when george w. bush came to office in the oval. oh, boy. ouch. >> so embarrassing. it happens to everyone. >> we should all know better by now. >> by now. >> we'll see you in a little bit. just yesterday michelle obama dismissed allegations she was "an angry black woman." now sarah palin taking aim at the first lady. we'll tell you why in a minute. plus tonight's truth tackles a moment that happened right here last night. a war of words between the democratic national committee chairwoman and republican national committee chairman about the tea party. who's right? stay with us. my name is jill strange, i'm forty-nine years-old, i love gardening, and i love volleyball. i've been taking osteo bi-flex for several years now. i really can't see myself not taking it. osteo bi-flex is a great product. i can go back and do gardening with comfort. [ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex, the glucosamine chondroitin supplement with 5-loxin advanced.

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welcome back. in this half hour south carolina workers tell us just what happened when mitt romney's bane capital took over their businesses. here's a hint. those firms aren't there anymore. also the truth about what the democratic party's chairwoman did and did not say about the tea party in the tucson shootings. and was stephen colbert run for president? he's about to tell us. first lady michelle obama is getting a quick reminder of the scrutiny that comes with campaign season courtesy of sarah palin. michelle obama was on cbs yesterday defending her husband's achievements on the economy. governor palin speaking on fox news didn't think much of her argument.

>> i think people are confused about what some may be confused about, how much has been accomplished. but you know, that's what you do in a campaign. >> are we confused, governor? >> oh, lord. oh, lord. are we just a bunch of numb skulls out here? >> apparently. i'm confused. >> just a bunch of numb skulls who can't read the unemployment numbers? >> no doubt. that's a taste of what's to come. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin has been talking to the obama campaign about their plans for the role for the first lady. are we about to see michelle obama out on the stump? >> reporter: not yet, john. she has just opened a twitter account today and been holding a lot of fund raisers and she'll continue to do that. but her activity for the campaign will be limited for the time being to fundraisers, holding calls with supporters. she held a call with michigan women, for example, earlier this week. but beyond that we are not going to see her at major rallies and open campaign events for quite

some time. she will be doing first lady events for the time being, john. >> but wait a minute. 2008 obama campaign was the social media campaign. he keeps his blackberry. why then finally get her on twitter? what's the point? >> reporter: excellent question. well, look. first of all, they're not going to openly campaign. neither of them is openly campaigning until the president or the first lady until there's a republican nom knee. there's just no point politically speaking. but when she's on twitter she can start building an audience and a following and a group of supporters who can follow her as first lady and then into the campaign and reach an audience. and i'll tell you something, john, i have seen her on the campaign trail. and as much as people say she can be a lightning rod and for many people she is, sometimes she is so clear spoken that you sort of wonder why doesn't the president borrow her language? why don't they just use her speech writers or maybe it's her? because she can be a very

effective mess enger, a very effective communicator. and i think that's one of the reasons they're putting her on twitter now. >> i think she got 100,000 plus followers in one day. making the rest of us look not so great. >> reporter: i know. >> jessica yellin at the white house tonight. thanks. mitt romney is taking a lot of heat over his record as ceo of a private equity firm called bane capital. newt gingrich supporters produced a scathing documentary about people who lost their jobs after bane took control of the companies where they worked. >> a story of greed, playing the system for a quick buck. a group of corporate raiders led by mitt romney. more ruthless than wall street. for tens of thousands of americans, the suffering began when mitt romney came to town. >> true or political spin? cnn's david mattingly went to two companies in south carolina that bane took over when romney was there. david, what did the facts say?

what did you find out? >> reporter: john, mitt romney today was describing how sometimes they have to go in and buy companies and make some cutbacks to make these companies stronger. that seemed to be the case or the strategy they were following with one such plant here in south carolina. it was a steel company in georgetown, south carolina. it was part of a larger steel company that bane industry -- that bane was operating and owning. and they only owned it for a few years. and during that time there were about 600 employees there. they had to lay off about 50 of them. but then the bottom fell out of the steel market. the place went into bankruptcy. and then it's changed hands a couple of times since then. bane doesn't own it any longer. but the plant is still operating. i've talked to steel workers there, the president of the steel workers union. it was very critical of bane saying at the time bane didn't invest a lot back into that plant. a bane spokesman tells me that's not true. but at the same time the plant is still operating under a different owner.

now, another plant in cherokee county, south carolina actually made a photo albums where the market fell -- the bottom fell out of that market as well when bane had that plant here. but they built that from the ground up. the county later says that they lost about 150 jobs when that plant closed. but again, that plant was part of a much larger company that bane was operating. so we're looking at about 200 jobs between those two plants that were lost. but at the same time, we were talking to mitt romney about that today. he's talking about the success stories of bain when we're looking at sports authority, staples, pizza hut, those companies employ well over that number of people here in south carolina, john. >> and david, you had a chance to track the governor down today. what did he tell you? >> reporter: well, there were two things on my mind after learning this about these companies. one was bain in this for short-term profit because they only had these plants for a couple of years. and what do you say to the people who did lose their jobs?

so here's my question. and listen carefully to his answer. >> was your strategy strictly a short-term profit with those companies? and what do you say to the people who did lose their jobs in those situations and might view venture capitalism as a job killer instead of a job creator? >> i think any time a job is lost it's a tragedy. for the family, for the individual that loses a job, it's just devastating. and every time that we invested in a business it was to try and encourage that business to have ongoing life. the idea of making a short-term profit actually doesn't really exist in business, because no one wants to buy something or buy stock in a company that's just going to be a short-term success. you want it to be a long term. >> reporter: and he went on saying that sometimes the plans just don't work and the companies just don't work but their plan always was to go in and make these companies stronger. john? >> david mattingly checking the facts on the ground in south carolina. going to see much more from david's reporting on bain

capital in south carolina on anderson cooper 8:00 p.m. eastern here. suze orman is here in washington today with an idea she says will help both the economy and comp sumers. pay cash. to help she's come up with a new prepaid debit cardio can use online or shop anywhere. since it's prepaid you're following her common advice, don't spend money you don't already have. >> we need to go back to cash. what has gotten every single person in trouble is they were able to borrow money they couldn't afford to pay it back. it ruined their lives. it ruined the lives of people they possibly borrowed money from. if we could just go back to cash, maybe we could start all over again. >> we've talked many times. >> yes. >> and you are a strong d disciple. don't spend what you don't have. that's the beginning of the mess if you will. prepaid debit card. how else does it help? especially those who are at the lower end maybe who don't have an established history?

>> here's how i hope it's going to help. i'm creating what i'm calling the credit project. currently today, john, if you have a debit card or you pay in cash or a prepaid card, it does not report to a credit bureau. none of them do. i don't care what they say. none of them do. if it doesn't report to a credit bureau, it doesn't generate an fico score. so here are the people that are needing help the most. they don't want to carry a credit card anymore. they got into credit card trouble. they now just want to be helped. it's kind of like an alcoholic would not want liquor in their home. many people don't want to carry credit cards anymore. so we have a problem. their fico scores have been ruined. they're not able to help their fico score by just paying cash or a debit card. so i made a deal. this is the first prepaid card in history that is going to share information with transunion, one of the three major credit bureaus, in the hopes that 18 to 24 months from now there will be enough information that they can look

at this and go, oh, a debit card can create a fico score. if a debit card can create a fico score legitimately, then the true need for credit cards for your kids to have a credit card so they can have a fico score so they can buy a home one day or get a job goes out the window. if that goes out the window then everybody is back to cash on a debit card. >> this idea of a prepaid card is not new. and some of them have been quite controversial. the kardashian card had ridiculous fees. >> yes. >> walmart has one that seems to be on the low end. >> walmart is great. >> how does this one fit in? >> this one is very simple. as long as you deposit every single-month automatically depositing at least $20 per month on this card, then this card will allow you to take any withdrawal out of an all-point atm. it will allow you to do so many things i can't tell you. all for $3 per month. there are so many features, unlimited credit scores from transunion, identity theft

protection. card to card transfer for free. checking your statements online for free. every morning you get a text saying, john, you have $80 left on your account. every time you swipe it it's a free. it will say you just spent $50. you have $30 left on your account. everything is free. as long as you deposit from your payroll check or a bank at least $20 per month. >> answer someone out there who's watching. and i'm sure someone out there watching is going to say, okay, this can't be just saint suze. she must be making a buck. >> at this point i'm not making any money. i funded this venture entirely on my own. i did not take any partners because they would want to make money. so my first thing that i want to do here isn't about money. it's i want to change how fico scores are calculated. i want to change history. and hopefully if i make money and things are doing well, the first thing that will go is the $3 a month fee. >> what's your sense of where is the economy? are we treading water, turning a

corner? >> i still think we're treading water. you've asked me this before. and i was more in the recession camp. now where our real trouble is coming from in my opinion is europe. and until europe gets their act together, i don't care what people say over here. we will be in danger. so i still say to people, do not become optimistic. don't go out an start spending your money again. you really need to save save save, especially until europe is solved. and i don't think they know how to solve europe to tell you the truth. >> i don't want to drag you into the campaign debate. we have plenty of people in this hour every day who do that. but more broadly, are we having the right conversation? are the politicians having the right conversations with the american people about the choices they face as individuals and the country faces? >> no. because it goes far beyond unemployment. it goes to the tune of poverty. today there are so many middle class that are now em poferrished. they have gone with a highway into poverty. and as i've said before, there

isn't even a sidewalk out. and nobody is acknowledging what are we going to do for these people? these people have lost their homes. they've lost their cars. they don't have anything. they can't find a job. and they're there. and they're the face of everyday americans. and so they're not being -- nobody is talking about them. everybody's still talking about well i'll do this with taxes and i'll cut here and i'll do that. but the total em pofrished group of people which is a lot now, nobody is addressing at all. what a shame. >> appreciate your coming in. we'll watch how the new card works out. bring you back later in the campaign. >> it's kind of cute, isn't it? know why it's purpose snell. >> why is it purple? >> come on. when you do red and blue you get purple. get it, everybody? it doesn't have any political affiliations. >> people will think you're running for president, suze. >> do i look stupid? >> suze, thanks. good answer there, wasn't it. up next what the national

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democratic national committee thinks her republican counterpart took a cheap shot at her last night. this started with a question about, yep, the lack of civility in our politics. let's take it from the beginning. this is the democratic national

committee chairwoman, debbie wasserman schultz, at a morning event yesterday in new hampshire. >> the american people are losing faith in congress. i think it's over a lack of civility. what do you think can be done to bring that faith back and that we can stop thinking that they're just fighting with each other? >> as someone who spent 19 years as a member of a legislative body, i really agree with you that we need to make sure that we tone things down. particularly in light of the tucson tragedy from a year ago where my very good friend gabby giffords, who is doing really well, by the way, and i know everybody is -- [ applause ] >> -- is happy to hear that. making tremendous progress. but the discourse in america, the discourse in congress in particular to answer your question very specifically, has really changed. and i'll tell you.

i hesitate to place blame. but i have noticed it take a very precipitous turn towards edginess and the lack of civility with the growth of the tea party movement. >> the republican national committee chairman, reinc reince preibus, heard that and took issue. >> any insinuation that somehow such a tragedy would occur because of a movement to get our government and our spending and our debt under control is -- is ridiculous. and i think she odd to apologize and admit the stupidity of that comment. >> well, here's tonight's truth. wasserman schultz did not as preibus suggests say the tucson shooting happened because of the tea party movement. she said no such thing. she did though blame the tea party for what she called edginess, a declining level of civility in our politics. and she did that just after mentioning the tucson shooting. so the truth is, my hunch is

most of you watching this at home are going to process this through your own personal political filter. brad knew house did for example. he feeted this reaction to preibus. "would it kill you folks in the republican party to stop making crap up? republicans on the other hand will see a deliberate, underhanded effort to smear the tea party. after all, if you listened closely there, the question was about civility in congress. there was no mention of tucson in the question. no mention of the tea party in the question. congresswoman wasserman schultz chose to raise that tragedy and in the same answer went on to take a swipe at the tea party. some republicans will assert that was no accident. one thing we're pretty consistent about here is saying we can't read minds. what we can do is point out in this edgy environment, to borrow wasserman schultz's language, everyone in politics should choose their words very carefully. if wasserman schultz wants to bash the tea party she should leave the tucson tragedy out of the discussions and then make whatever point she wants to make. and chairman preibus should

rebut or take issue with exactly what wasserman schultz said, not his interpretation of what she meant. let's continue the conversation. cornell belcher the democratic pollster with the obama 2012 campaign is here. terry holt the national spokesman for the bush-cheney campaign back in 2004. ron brown, a cnn contributor. i want to start with you first. the more neutral voice in the conversation. forgive me. >> you held that job for a long time. >> she did not say -- >> she did not -- >> she did not say the tea party has a link to tucson. >> right. >> she did answer a gentlemen question about congressional civility and it has become part of the dnc's maunt remarks it's cloudy today it's the tea party's fault. there's traffic today it's the tea party's fault. >> right. >> if you're a republican do you think she's doing that on purpose? >> you know, i don't think -- i think it's a stretch to associate the comments on the tea party with the second half of the answer with the comments about tucson in the first half

of the answer. no question the democrats want to argue that this republican congress is uniquely confrontational or uniquely more partisan than others. in fact we are seeing a steady progression that really goes back since the 1970s back since the 1970s. one thing that's striking, having been in iowa, how many voters are raising the issue. even in our republican primary, of the breakdown of cooperation in washington. most people still want the parties to work together more than they have been. >> if you look at the polling data, the democrats will tell you the tea party's becoming less popular. mitt romney says anything in a debate and the dnc puts out a statement saying tea party stooge, mitt romney, that's my words, not theirs. it used to be rove. has the tea party become the bad guy? >> i think reasonable people can look at what's happening in washington and the brand of politics and tea party does play

in. it is my way or the highway. it is my way or right. it's uncompromising sort of position of politics and say this is different and unique. they've gone against their own spoker from time to time because he wanted to compromise, so this uncompromising brand of politics, i think they're right to point at the tea party. >> i think people expect their politicians to have differences and they discuss those differences substantively and so when we talk about civility, to be on issues where it matters to the american people, some of these things are side shows, but let's be clear. debbie wasserman schultz, she has said some pretty caustic things herself. she who cast the first stone be without sin. she's cast a whole bunch of stones. >> most groups of americans in society say there's not enough compromise. one exception, republicans tend

to view compromise through expansion of government and prefer more con tronation. >> this is an election year. it's about confrontation. i don't think we should be so squeamish. >> it's different when you're going to take the federal government over a cliff. >> is that uncivil? >> let's close with i know if this is fun. it's a little off beat. we've had a lot of harsh attacks in the pral campaign. there's a new attack, a newt gingrich webb video. it goes back in time to an interview governor romney did, i believe fox news sunday, forgive me if i'm wrong. it's about a candidate and a dog. >> in a home a great deal of time as well. we loved the dog. it was where he was comfortable and we had five kids inside the car and my guess is he liked it a lot better than his kennel

would have liked it inside. who let the dogs out? >> the point is they used to put the dog up -- i don't know. >> on the roof. dog on the roof. from the point of view of most voters, most politicians are dogs, but if there is a dog whistle, i'm realtly torturing this, mitt romney's different. >> this is what happens when politicians don't spend money they raise. these ads are funded by a few group of people and it's a waste of money because i don't ultimately think that republican voters in south carolina are going to factor any of that in this their voice. >> if romney's the nominee, is president obama going to bring up the dog on the roof? i think that's what newt gingrich is insisting. >> i think there's plenty of other things the obama campaign

can bring up, but i do understand what he's trying to do. they have the undermine this whole electability thing. >> all right. we'll see if that dog hunts. thank you. all right. erin burnett is coming up at the top of the hour. you're speaking with a republican king maker from south carolina tonight. important. >> jim demint is going to be with us and we're going to find out what he's going to do. national journal saying today jim demint was the silent surrogate for mitt romney. plus, this letter. i don't know if you saw it, i'm sure you did. came out this afternoon. a letter signed sincerely barack obama, a letter to john boehner saying the debt limit is at its limit and further borrowing is required. you know how senator demint is going to feel about that. plus, a line in his book which in case he's watching right now.

i can't to preview, but we're going to ask him about that, too. >> he's rereading the whole book right now trying to find that line. we'll see you in a couple of minutes. ahead, you've all been wondering this. a long shot candidate may still enter the crowded field in south carolina. steven colbert says he's considering it. the details, next. [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot

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people who need more candidates. we don't love this field. need a new fresh face. well, today's moment you might have missed. the field of candidates in the republican presidential nomination might increase. look. >> this, this just got real. major pollster has me at 5% ahead of the third place fini finisher in new hampshire. i got to ask, what do you think, nation, should i run for president in south carolina? >> now, stephen colbert went on to say he's planning quote a major announcement on tonight's show. the nation is waiting. >> south carolina, baby. i guess that's where he's form. >> is he to the left of jon huntsman? >> i think he would like to say he's the conservative alternative to everything, however, i don't think it might not