0 regulations to such a degree to win political support that he will allowed dangerous environment to fester. so there's going to be a back and forth in this fight. it's going to go national. >> we'll follow this remarkable events overnight. obviously we're going to have ray bigger conversation about the vote are rights acstory in this block. quickly while we're on politics, anthony weiner's candidacy for mayor of new york city was looked upon by skepticism by many. a lot of disgust. >> just like you were skeptical about barack obama in 2007. >> i was not skeptical. >> who was that? mark halperin. >> i was not skeptical about obama or anthony weiner, believe it or not. >> really? >> yeah. i told you all his wife would help him out a great deal because she's an amazing woman. but after trailing by a wide gap for weeks, a new poll shows him in the lead. an nbc 4 new york "wall street journal" poll shows the former congressman taking a lead over front-runner christine quinn. 49% of voters say they would consider voting for him up before he entered the race. he leads among men and even women. and for those who said they would consider voting him, he's up by nine points since before he entered the race. those who said they wouldn't consider vote are for him dropped to 45%. >> new york city politics stranger. >> very strange. but stranger things have happened. >> can he win? >> he can win. whether he will win, i have no idea. he's come up to our headquarters and spoke. he was well received. but i still think it's anyone's race to call. it's not going to be decided until very late. >> lucky enough to be with christine quinn last night at an event in the city and she seemed upbeat and agreed to come today at 11:00 a.m. >> he works around the clock. what's wrong with him? >> he doesn't sleep. >> you need to take a break. >> invite this man to a dipper party. assume he'll try to book. >> you when he's not watching documentaries. >> i've been known to do that. >> so why is quinn, mark halperin, not -- she seems to be facing resistance. why, in the city? >> i think she's not found her voice and a message and lost control of her public image. she's had a lot of negative press coverage. she's been a weak front-runner all along. i still she can win. right now she has to change the dynamics of the race to make the runoff. >> mayor bloomberg, is he helpful, hurtful? >> the only candidate who has a better chance than anthony weiner is bill thompson. mayor bloomberg has turned his guns on bill thompson. >> which may help because you are talking about a democratic primary and a democratic primary, i would want bloomberg against me because the third term is still something he changed the law and a lot of democrats including me did not agree with that. stop and frisk and other things. in a general bloomberg may be helpful. in a democratic primary, this could help thompson. >> oddly enough in the are upoff, you know, hypothetical runoff, christine quinn qun leads anthony weiner by about 2%. there's 14% that remains undecided. you've got to imagine they are setting their sights on the undecided. >> i guess the who shock is anthony weiner has so quickly come back. you know what will he? headline writers at the "new york post" celebrating am i reading what they say about anthony weiner being top banana? scenario of no, i haven't even shown that. >> angry. i'll use the word angry because. >> what. >> i'll tell you what. >> what? >> first of all, there are men in politics who have done far of 1965, there would be no barack obama as president of the united states of america. we've come too far, made too much progress to go back. >> this decision represents a serious setback for voting rights. and has the potential to negatively affect millions of americans across the country. >> in a 5-4 ruling the court's conservatives said the areas covered by the voting rights act have changed but the law has not kept up. the act requires states with a history of voter discrimination to get permission from the federal government before changing how they conduct elections. the court left that part intact. but it struck down the map, the coverage formula of where that requirement applies. that's all of nine mostly southern states and parts of six others. chief justice kru john roberts said the map is based on decades-old data and eradicated practices. in five of the covered southern states, he said, african-americans have a higher voter turnout percentage than whites. opponents of the law who helped shelby county, alabama challenge it hailed the ruling >> we've just elected a black president of the shelby county board of education over a white incumbent in a county wide election. >> african-americans are an integral part of southern political life and that's a good thing and that's never going to change. >> but writing for the court's four dissenters justice ruth bader ginsburg said gutting the law that helped it end voter discrimination is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet. >> interesting. pete williams reporting. reverend al? >> i'm confused. i'm genuinely confused here. the law stays in place. they take out the part though that targets these states that extraordinarily offensive diskrimnarily practices back in -- poll taxes and literacy tests and with to do anything to keep minorities from voting. and they succeeded. why roberts asks all these years later do we keep what is section 4b that targets the states who actually now have moral african-americans going out percentage wise than white voters? >> well, first of all, the fact that you have more going out does not go with his ruling. you have more going out because they're protected to go out. you don't remove the remedy and then say the patient or the healer himself or herself, what they've done in this ruling which is devastating to voting rights in my opinion, is they've said, oh, voting rights is fine. section 5 is fine. the preclearance by the justice department. but we're going to take the pap away. and what that is equivalent, to, joe, is saying yes, the patient is sick. medicine is helping the patient. but it's not healing the patient totally. so let's take the medicine away that is in place until we can find the medicine that's going to heal him totally, which means you end up with no medicine. >> no, it means you treat all 50 states the same because it's not. >> why are you going to take the medicine out now? why would you remove the map until you get a better map? what you're saying is these states that last year, not '65, last year, a federal court in texas said that the voter i.d. laws that texas was changing was discriminatory. last year you had texas, florida, south carolina that the remedy was work. last year. we're not talking about '65. why would you now have it open where texas yesterday came in with voter i.d. so they can discriminate now while you figure out something else out. >> seconds 2 still allows the court to continue to apply -- the '65 voting rights act is still intact. >> yes. >> all the court said yesterday was we're not going to presume that arizona is moraysist than new york. >> no, what it said yesterday, joe, you can't have free clearance. what it means you can go in the justice department and sue or try to spend a lot of money and get an injunction. but you no longer have to have clearance. none of these states have to come to you to change things which handicaps our voting rights. >> you think in arizona, in alabama, in georgia, if they want to move a voting polling place from a middle school in a neighborhood to an elementary school in a neighborhood, that the federal government has a right in 2013, in 2013, to presume that they're bigots and they have to clear it first with the justice department? >> no, i presume that in 2013, based on 2012, the last election -- that in texas and in south carolina and others that they may come up with schemes that would disproportionately impact the voting of minorities because the perl court in texas said it last year. so we don't have to argue about it. this is a fact. >> i'm not arguing. i'm talking about numbers here and the numbers are overwhelming. african-american participation has exploded across america. >> because we were protected. >> including. >> yes. >> now that protection is gone. >> let me talk. will you please let me say a sentence or two here. i'm giving you fakes and numbers, okay? i'm not getting mad. i'm i'm the one that's keeping my voice down. al and i are friends. we're just talking through this. i think you look, and i heard all last year about voter suppression. i heard it in all 350 states and everybody was trying -- it was a higher turnout for african-americans than ever before in the history of the united states. and let's look at mississippi for instance. again, i'm just talking about numbers here. in mississippi back in 1965, 6.7% of the african-american population voted in 1965. in 2004, 76.1% of the african-americans, from 6 to 76%. last year, over 80% of african-americans in mississippi voted. more than white voters percentage wise in mississippi. and i guess you and i see this differently. i believe the voting rights act feeds to stay in place forever. but this one section that says these states are racist and have to be looked at and that history ended in 1965, to me and perhaps it's because i've lived in the southeast and i've lived in the northeast and i've heard people talking behind closed doors in the southeast and the northeast and in a lot of ways, the southeast has been through the fire. and we actually have a more open view on race than a lot of places i've lived in in the northeast. perhaps i don't think we should treat these states and arizona based on how they were in 1965 any more than we should judge germany based on how it was in 1945. >> let me respond. one, i agree with you that there are more than those states but do you not therefore say that we're going to let those states go, not have to preclear, even though there is recent history. last year, joe, not '65, 2012, that courts found discrimination. we're going to let that go. they can change whatever they want. yesterday, texas went instituted voter i.d. yesterday rit after this decision came which a court last year said was discriminatory. it. i want to ask you, do you want in perpetuity for these states to be treated unequal. >> no, i have no problem with a new map as long as you kept what was there in place to protect people while you went through trying to find a new map because what you just said is the problem. this congress is not inclined to come with a new map. so what you've really done is you've killed precleerps and that is something that is terrible. >> i think the strongest part of joe's argument is you've got some states who are currently treated under law before this decision differently. the presumption is that those states have a bigger problem handling these issues than states we au saw in the last election cycle in the northeast which tried to pass laws which were also a fight. isn't it time, isn't there an argument at least there's a time for these southern states and arizona to not be treated like they've got some long-standing problem. >> then the congress ought to come with a new map. you don't let that go when some of these very states were found in court to be discriminatory. last year, we keep talking about '65 like we didn't have this argument last year. >> there were other states, as well. >> those states ought to be included. you can't just open the door and say i'll tell you what, because he may be guilty too, we're going to let you go. that's crazy. >> those states you can still if there's a problem in one of these states, there are still remedies ta people have. >> by and by when the morning comes, when we get a congress that will do it, not now because now those states are wide open as texas did yesterday. they didn't even wait. yesterday. >> reverend, didn't they reauthorize this in '06? from '06 to 2013, have we moved far enough as a country to get where we are with the supreme court and what they issued? because in '09 the onus was on congress to get this done and they did not do it. chuck todd said yesterday on air that he didn't think there was the maturity necessary in congress to take this on and get it done. from '06 to 2013, have we come far enough to be where we are now? >> i think the answer is obviously no. i think the real problem is, i don't think anyone around this table or any other table believes this congress will come with that map. so we're right back to where we started having to fight for preclearance because they've now opened the door to things that we had to fight last year in courts. >> does anybody around this table though think that these states are run by racist and bigots in 2013? because let's just be really blunt about this. let's strip this down. when i was reading the headlines yesterday and i heard the president talking about these states having a history of discrimination, i said damn right they did. i grew up in them. so i know. but in 2013, let's be very clear. if you're outraged by this decision that section 4 b takes the map away as you say, you are not suggesting that racists and bigots still run government in arizona, in alabama, georgia, louisiana, mississippi, south kirnl, and virginia? >> no, what i'm saying is that racial inequality as far as voting still occurs in those states which some of what i c cited, some of which the federal courts. those states have agreed are discriminatory. the effect is a racial imbalance. you don't have to be a bigot, i don't have 0 prove one is a racist if the results are that there is unequal protection of voting rights under the law, then you should have the justice department still there to preclear. >> here's the problem with that argument. in five of the six states, the voting percentages of african-americans are higher than the voting percentages of white participation. so. >> that's right. >> there is not that evidence of unequal treatment. >> of course, it is. the evidence is the reason that it was higher is because there were preclearance laws protecting those voters. you now have removed what made that possible. >> what would you -- >> you capital say i gave you medicine to make you feel better. therefore, see you didn't need the medicine. >> what are you waiting for to say these states should be treated like all the others. >> the congress should have done exactly what he said. do i anew map but keep that map in place till you do a new map. you don't remove all maps and say now let's go back one day and do a new map. why would you remove a map that was needed last year? three states eric holder the attorney general had to stop three states last year. you're going to remove a map now and say we'll get to a new map one day but right now you can do what you want. that is outrageous. >> we're going to continue this conversation after a break. also the dissenting justices were very upset and did some things that were apparently unconventional in terms of their response. >> talking with joe. >> no -- there are those that agree. it's a fascinating conversation. reverend, thank you for coming in early. stay with us if you can. coming up on "morning joe" congressman keith ellis son wil be here. also robert gibbs, tina brown and later natalie cole, daughter of the late nat king of cole joins us here with her new album. up next, the top stories in the political playbook. you're watching "morning joe," brewed by starbucks. we're at the legendary southfork ranch in dallas for a cookout with world champion grill master brett galloway. he's serving his guests walmart choice premium steaks. but they don't know it yet. they will. it's a steak-over. steak was excellent. very tender. melts in your mouth. it was delicious. tonight you are eating walmart steak. what???!! good steak. two thumbs up? 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0 about the reckless use of our tax dollars. this was all in conjunction with the release of a scathing report by the treasury department's inspector general. his investigation revealed that between the years 2010 and 2012 the tax agency spent $50 million on 225 conferences for irs employees. now, event planners were awarded well over six figures to help the planning of these lavish affairs. $60,000 used to make videos. be the way, including the infamous star trek spoof. a single guest speaker handed nearly 30 grand. an artist was paid $17,000 for creating a drawing designed tos "find their creative solutions to challenges" and the list goes on which is why things got so heated today on capitol hill. >> today more than any other hearing we revisit the kind of waste and the kind of failure to secure taxpayers' hard-earned money than i can remember in history. >> you cannot take the money of american workers and waste it. >> the irs effectively was guilty of tax evasion. >> mr. george, according to your report the irs conference in anaheim in 2010 cost more than $000,000 is that correct? >> yes, it is, sir. >> you could have saved a million dollars by holding this conference in orlando? >> mr. fink, are you familiar with this guy? >> this is the gsa official in the hot tub. have you ever seen that picture? >> i have seen that picture, yes, jury mr. george, in your report you have squirting fish as part of $64,000. is any one -- has any one seen a squirting fish. did you see one at the conference? >> no, sir,, i did not. >> mr. fink, we have what we understand is the swag from the event. it also included i'm kind of confused by saying this, a plastic squirting fish. why would people get a plastic squirting fish? >> congressman, as i mentioned, i honestly have no idea what the plastic squirting fish was. >> when did you think that something was wrong here? did you ever think something was wrong here? you are in charge. this is what is so infuriating. you are in charge. >> while your fellow he americans are losing their jobs and their health insurance and their homes you do not spend $4 million at a conference for which there is no accountability. >> i'm in the wrong business. i never got a plastic squirting fish ever. joining me with reaction, former speaker of the house newt gingrich. did you ever get a plastic >> sean: the one irs official, part of this is funny except when you look into the way that that he have been treating conservative tea party members. the guy that played spock in the star trek spoof was asked what were you thinking. watch this? >> were you thinking this will never be seen or were you thinking what will it look like when it is seen? >> those video he were an attempt to in a well intentioned way to use humor a star trek video to open the conference. the fact of the matter is it is embarrassing and i apologize. >> sean: that was your reaction to that? >> -- what was your reaction to that? >> typical of the whole lack of accountability. can you imagine if you made a major mistake with the irs and said look, i want to apologize? >> sean: is that a question? [ laughter ] >> if he say i'm sorry five times can i go home? the imbalance, you know, i'm writing a newsletter at gingrich productions .com that is going to come out in which i just ask a simple question. what does it mean to be illegal when you go through the various scandals you are told this was illegal. that was illegal. the next thing is illegal. nobody gets held accountable. nobody gets fired. nobody goes to jail. so what does it mean to say these things are illegal? and i think it is just part of the decay of bureaucrat eck big government that it is across-the-board just beginning to fall apart. >> sean: what did you make of the transcripts because the narrative has been that the people responsible were in cincinnati. rogue agents. but the transcripts they said they were directed by washington. what do you think of that? >> i believe that the obama administration has been even more dishonest about the internal revenue scandal than it has been about benghazi and it has been almost completely dishonest about benghazi. when you learn for example that the commissioner of internal revenue visited the white house 157 times, more than the attorney general, more than the secretary of state, more than any cabinet officer. 157 times. you have to ask yourself what were they talking about? what were they meeting on? his answer was tells you the contempt he has for the congress. was well one of them was is going to the white house easter egg roll. that is the kind of contempt for the american people that should not exist in somebody who holds public he office. >> sean: that was a poll that came out this week that showed the american people do not believe the president, personally he has taken a hit. if they lied more here and they didn't tell the truth in benghazi and didn't tell the truth on the irs and eric have speaker gingrich weigh in on that after the break. the new york times saying even the president has "lost all credibility." this after it was revealed that the administration is secretly seizing the phone records of more than 1 million americans. tonight, breaking news about the government tapping into your internet use. join us tomorrow night, a 9:00 p.m. special studio audience adegrees of "hannity" featuring average americans targeted by the u.s. pick the video of the day. the winner will be picked at the beginning of the program. a sneak peek. this is the first of the three choices. >> he says he doesn't want to leave. he is going to put his arms back across his legs and sit down like he is going to work down like he is going to work on a sun tan everybody has different investment objectives, ideas, goals, appetite for risk. you can't say 'one size fits all'. it doesn't. that's crazy. we're all totally different. ishares core. etf building blocks for your personalized portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus, which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. ♪ now you can give yourself a kick in the rear! v8 v-fusion plus energy. natural energy from green tea plus fruits and veggies. need a little kick? ooh! could've had a v8. in the juice aisle. ♪ even if it's so wrong ♪ i wanna scream out loud ♪ boy, but i just bite my tongue ♪ ♪ this one's for the girls messin' with boys ♪ ♪ like he's the melody and she's background noise ♪ [ volume decreases ] thanks, mom! have fun! you too. ♪ sanity. [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] and time. oh, and money. technology saves lots of money. take esurance for example. they were born online and built to save people money on car insurance. [ boys laughing ] yep. technology can do some amazing things. but it can't unhurt feelings. esurance. insurance for the modern world. now backed by allstate. click or call. >> sean: another day another scandal rocks the obama white house. it is the latest power grab by thed a hen station and it has to do with -- administration and has to do with your personal phone records. ' cording to the guardian newspaper the federal government under a secret court order has been gathering the phone records of millions of verizon customers rearing the company to hand -- requiring the company to hand over to the national security agency callsation on telephone calls in its system. in typical fashion the president's allies ran out immediately to come to his defense and that included the chair woman of the senate finance and senate intelligence committee democrat dean are now learning that the war on terror is so real that we are basically looking at virtually every american now one or the other has to be true. and i think it is just one more example that the president i think has an enormous gap between what he says and the real world. and so i don't pay a lot of attention to the fact that there is in enormous gap. i take it as a fact of every day life. he promised an open transparent administration. virtually every member of his cabinet has a secret e-mail account which is illegal. just go down the list of things he promised that he failed on. and it is nice to notice that the "new york times" actually founding is on which they have lost faith in him. >> sean: what do you think about the vast, the sheer numbers in the verizon case and then, of course, we have the prism issue which literally they are monitoring the servers of microsoft, yahoo, facebook, you tube, apple. the scope seems massive. >> there are two things that people ought to ask themselves about this. the first is and this is where the internal revenue you service scandal is so devastating. why would you trust this government with any private information? this is a government which we clearly now know with the irs was asking christian conservative groups what were you saying in your prayers? they were asking an 83-year-old woman what she was saying at her coffee club on friday mornings. i think this is a huge problem that people have to really ask themselves is do you really trust this government with that kind of information? flu is a second problem -- but there is a second problem, sean. when you gather all this data you don't when what you are looking for. why couldn't they figure out there were two that had bombs in boston. why couldn't they figure out there was a pakistani creating a car bomb in times square. in the fact that they relentlessly refuse to profile and be accurate and focus on people likely to kill us and so instead they gather mounds of data about everybody. actually i think weakens our ability to find out the people who are the most dangerous. >> sean: it seems like if you hired millions of people you wouldn't be able to is sift through all that, would you? >> they do it all by computer and code word and looking for is specific things. ask yourself the question. if they had the data how come they didn't find the pakistani car bomber in new york or the bombers in boston? how come they couldn't find major hassan who by the way is still getting paid his salary. what is it they are missing when they have all this information on innocent people and can't figure out who the guilty are? >> sean: also a little bit odd to me that the president was against this and now i guess he is for it. he was against enhanced interrogationnd but is all for drone strikes and gitmo is still open. after he lost the presidential election al gore went off the rails. he sent out a tweet today you know things are really bad when i start agreeing with al gore which nobody thought would ever happen. he wrote in the digital era privacy has to be a priority. is it just me or is a secret blanket surveillance obscenely outrageous? he has come back to his senses. >> i'm surprised al gore didn't suggest this was one more example of global warming, so you may be right. >> sean: i may be right. i'm thinking do i have to rethink where i am in this? all right, mr. speaker, good to see you. thanks for being with us. >> good to be with you. >> sean: when we come back, ann colter is here to react. we have all of the highlights. haulmakers hit eric holder with questions about every single scandal we will show it to you come up next. here is your second option. you get to vote for the video of the day. see what happens when a high school valedictorian rips up his speech and decides to recite the lord's prayer . . . . . . . . . . . and metamucil that can take up to 3 days. for predictable relief try dulcolax.
0 >> sean: the one irs official, part of this is funny except when you look into the way that that he have been treating conservative tea party members. the guy that played spock in the star trek spoof was asked what were you thinking. watch this? >> were you thinking this will never be seen or were you thinking what will it look like when it is seen? >> those video he were an attempt to in a well intentioned way to use humor a star trek video to open the conference. the fact of the matter is it is embarrassing and i apologize. >> sean: that was your reaction to that? >> -- what was your reaction to that? >> typical of the whole lack of accountability. can you imagine if you made a major mistake with the irs and said look, i want to apologize? >> sean: is that a question? more dishonest about the internal revenue scandal than it has been about benghazi and it has been almost completely dishonest about benghazi. when you learn for example that the commissioner of internal revenue visited the white house 157 times, more than the attorney general, more than the secretary of state, more than any cabinet officer. 157 times. you have to ask yourself what were they talking about? what were they meeting on? his answer was tells you the contempt he has for the congress. was well one of them was is going to the white house easter egg roll. that is the kind of contempt for the american people that should not exist in somebody who holds public he office. >> sean: that was a poll that came out this week that showed the american people do not believe the president, personally he has taken a hit. if they lied more here and they didn't tell the truth in benghazi and didn't tell the truth on the irs and eric on that after the break. the new york times saying even the president has "lost all credibility." this after it was revealed that the administration is secretly seizing the phone records of more than 1 million americans. tonight, breaking news about the government tapping into your internet use. join us tomorrow night, a 9:00 p.m. special studio audience adegrees of "hannity" featuring average americans targeted by the u.s. pick the video of the day. the winner will be picked at the beginning of the program. a sneak peek. this is the first of the three choices. >> he says he doesn't want to leave. he is going to put his arms back across his legs and sit down like he is going to work on a sun tan on the infield. so♪ ♪ even if it's so wrong ♪ i wanna scream out loud ♪ boy, but i just bite my tongue ♪ ♪ this one's for the girls messin' with boys ♪ visa signature. your idea of what a card should be. thto fight chronic. osteoarthritis pain. to fight chronic low back pain. to take action. to take the next step. today, y will know you did something for your pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a pain reliever fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can helpeduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. anti-depressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta inot for children under 18. people taking maois, linezolid or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, lir disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. take the next step. talk to your doctor. cymbalta can help.
0 controversial now won't seek re-election. we're taking a closer look at the surprising reasons behind michele bachmann's announcement. a new tornado threat in the midwest. severe weather possible right now literally at any moment. we have storm chasers on the ground. and governor chris christie opening up the new jersey governor talking candidly about his political future and his weight loss surgery. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." she rode the tea party ascension like a wave becoming one of the most visible vocal and controversial members of congress. she became a household name with a presidential campaign that wilted under the national spotlight. but now a surprise announcement from republican congresswoman michele bachmann. she has decided to leave congress. our brian todd is taking a closer look. he is joining us now with more. what do we know? >> wolf, it's hard to imagine right now but in spite of her reputation for gaffes michele bachmann was for a brief moment the leading contender for the republican presidential nomination. with this announcement today, she's once again exhibiting a knack for drawing attention. >> i fully anticipate the main stream liberal media to put a detrimental spin on my decision not to seek a fifth term. >> reporter: a surprise announcement from a leading light of tea party conservatives. >> i will continue to do everything that i can to advance our conservative constitutional principles. >> michele bachmann will complete her current term and said neither an investigation into her 2012 campaign finances nor fear of facing re-election pushed her out. in recent election cycles she certainly had a knack for making headlines. >> i just want to make an announcement here for you, john, on cnn tonight. i filed today my paperwork. >> she electrified the grass roots on the right hitting a high mark when she won the republican presidential straw poll in ames, iowa in the summer of 2011. but that campaign surge was short lived. it was tripped up in part by a reputation for unscripted remarks like this widely disputed comment about the hpv vaccine on nbc. >> her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. >> they often caught her firing off inaccurate statements. >> the president of the united states will be taking a trip over to india that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. >> we are also the ones who are paying for someone to walk the president's dog. >> when cnn's dana bash tried to verify that last one -- >> what about dog handlers and there are four americans killed? >> congresswoman, you are the one who brought it up. >> she also came under fire for her strong opinions about sexuality. and obama care. >> let's repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens. >> if you're involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it's bondage. it is personal bondage, personal despair, and personal enslavement. >> bachmann drew sympathy when "newsweek" magazine put an unflattering snap shot of her on the cover. "saturday night live" also made her a favorite target. >> i hope you enjoy a future that will be littered with death panels, re-education camps, and forced immunizations all ending in an iranian nuclear bomb that will bring about the rapture. >> but for her supporters michele bachmann is a visionary who stood against regulation, big government, and debt spending. and was antiabortion, pro family, and a defender of liberty. >> she made the tea party case in a way that really excited the grass roots. i mean, similar to the way sarah palin did or herman cain. she made the case against obama better than anyone else according to a lot of the tea party folks. >> some early hand capping for michele bachmann after she leaves office? there is speculation she could become a cable news commentator as other former candidates like mike huckabee, newt gingrich and sarah palin have done. but, interestingly, so far in 2013 she has not been booked once on the sunday talk shows. wolf? >> brian, what is the status of the investigation into her 2012 presidential campaign? she is under investigation by an independent congressional panel. most of this has to do with questionable transfers of funds. bachmann's attorney insists she has done nothing wrong and they're cooperating with these investigations. >> she will stay in congress though to finish up her term which ends at the end of next year. so she is going to be around at least in washington for a year and a half. all right. we'll have more coming up later. thank you. conservative groups who say they were targeted by the irs are taking the agency and some top obama administration officials to court. they're seeking vindication and money for what they say was unconstitutional conduct. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is working the story for us. what are you learning? >> wolf, the attorney representing these groups insists that the idea this was the work of rogue irs agents is not believable. he wants top officials found guilty of wrongdoing and he wants ten clients he has who still have gotten no word from the irs to have their cases resolved. we talked to one of those today. diane belsom applied for tax-exempt status for her tea party group three years ago. still no decision from the irs. >> at this point in time we haven't been approved. >> reporter: in a skype interview from her south carolina home she described excessive irs questions she called inappropriate. >> do you honestly believe based on the kinds of questions that you were getting from the irs that you were targeted for your political views? >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: her lawrence county tea party group is one of 25 organizations that today filed suit against the federal government accusing federal officials of violating tea party groups' constitutional right to free speech and the irs's own policy against discrimination based on a political point of view. this attorney is representing them. >> unfortunately the irs primarily was engaged in a witch hunt about who the members were and what the positions of the members were and what the position of the organizations happened to be on various issues none of which the irs was entitled to. >> cnn reported earlier this month that some of his clients received lengthy irs questionnaires asking for mountains of information. including names of donees, recipients, and grantees. some bearing the signature of now former tax-exempt division chief lois lerner whose former boss has insisted that doesn't mean she is guilty of anything. >> her signature was on 70,000 applications so let's not personalize this one to ms. lerner. >> reporter: but this lawsuit is personal. singling out top irs and obama officials for wrongdoing. >> these were the decision makers, the people in charge of the offices or the divisions that we've sued and the idea here that you're just going to blame the line agents i found to be offensive from the beginning of this. >> he says he is hoping to win damages for clients who had to pay for accountants and attorneys to help answer those lengthy irs questionnaires. wolf, up next week, congress is going to be back in town and will have yet another irs hearing. this time they're going to call representatives from the tea party groups who say they were targeted and they want to really use this forum, public forum to allow them to formally share their experience. these committees are going to be talking to the irs officials and these tea party groups and going to be talking to them privately and in public for a very long time. this investigation is going to go on for months. >> i suspect it will. we'll be learning a lot more in the course of the next few months. thank you. let's turn to another story we're following. a new twist in another huge controversy embroiling the obama administration right now. the government seizure of reporters' phone records to track unclassified leaks, classified leaks i should say. we're getting important new information about whether or not fox news' parent company the news corporation was notified about the investigation into one of its reporters james rosen. our national political correspondent jim acosta is over at the white house getting new information. what is the latest? >> well, wolf, as you know the justice department has been working to lower the temperature, lower the heat in this james rosen matter. one thing that the justice department did confirm is that attorney general eric holder will be meeting with bureau chiefs for the various news organizations here in washington over the coming days to talk about some of the issues. something else that came up earlier this afternoon. the justice department is telling us here at cnn, wolf, that it showed a fox news notification according to the justice department of this james rosen investigation nearly three years ago. to back that up, earlier this afternoon justice and law enforcement producer carol crowdy was shown by a law enforcement official documents indicating as much of this notification to the parent company of fox news, news corporation happened three years ago and also want to show you the statement that the justice department is passing along to us, wolf. here it is. it says, quote, consistent with the department policies, and procedures, the government provided notification of the subpoenas they're saying for phone records and other pieces of information nearly three years ago by certified mail, fax, and e-mail. we should go on to say that, wolf, we have been in contact with the man who was the general counsel at news corporation during this time in question and that man has told cnn he has no recollection of receiving that notification from the justice department but we should also point out justice department officials do caution that this does not take away from the fact that the attorney general eric holder remains concerned about these investigations, these federal investigations into the activity of journalists here in washington but we should also point out republicans say they are concerned about what eric holder has been saying in all of this. they are concerned that he has not been telling the truth and are pointing to a hearing that occurred just a couple weeks ago up on capitol hill. they're raising questions about whether or not holder may have perjured himself in sworn testimony at that hearing and we'll be talking about more of that in the next hour, wolf. >> this story continues obviously as well. jim acosta, thanks. as jim said we'll have a lot more on what is going on, more developments in our next hour right here in "the situation room." up next, she is an american mother of seven. she is a mormon. she's in jail in mexico accused of smuggling drugs. her very, very anxious family is speaking out and now the mom is speaking out exclusively to cnn as well. plus senator john mccain talking exclusively also to cnn's anderson cooper about his secret trip inside syria. just by talking to a helmet. it grabbed the patient's record before we even picked him up. it found out the doctor we needed was at st. anne's. wiggle your toes. 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0 that benchmark. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper. i'll turn you over to wolf blitzer right next door in the situation room. take it away. >> thanks very much. happening now, president obama and governor chris christie are together again on "the jersey shore" and they both have something to gain from this visit. house lawmakers now investigating the attorney general eric holder and whether he lied to congress. plus, a truck and a train collide and the resulting derailment sparks a possible hazmat crisis. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." they were first brought together by superstorm sandy last october. today the president and the new jersey governor both teamed up once again seeing the results of billions of dollars in federal disaster aid and rekindling what you could call their bromance. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin travels with the president today to new jersey. she is joining us now live. jessica, how did it go? >> reporter: wolf, the reunion was short and sweet with a short-term upside for both men. political odd couple together again. >> let me first of all say thank you to governor christie for that introduction and the great work he has done here. >> reporter: visiting a reopened boardwalk and facing off on an arcade game where the president went 0 for 5. but no worries. the governor won him a stuffed bear. the obama/christie political bromance started days after superstorm sandy devastated new jersey and the president promised -- >> we will not quit until this is done. >> reporter: since then the federal government has poured more than $3 billion into the state. for a governor facing re-election, this visit is a chance to highlight progress rebuilding after the storm. >> it's pretty amazing what they've done. >> and win some free media for the shore. >> welcome back to "the jersey shore." >> the jersey shore is back and it is open for business. >> reporter: that's got to be a plus for christie, who was slammed for spending $25 million in federal funds on this ad campaign. >> because we're stronger than the storm. >> reporter: the president's return is not without long-term political risks for new jersey's republican governor. just months after he welcomed the president last time, he was not invited back to the annual gathering of conservatives known as cpac, important to gop presidential hopefuls. and the latest visit showed off plenty of fresh material for future gop attack ads. so far in this blue state his bipartisan approach has been a political plus. >> i really must think him and the president work together and that's the way they should be working together in washington. >> reporter: since sandy christie's poll numbers have risen 15 points. now at 69% approval in the latest survey. the governor told nbc news when the president wants to visit -- >> i'm the governor. i'll be here to welcome him. >> this resident who was also a little league coach says the dieting mr. christie should apply his governing principles to his waist line. >> i'll stoug him that just got to get in a training program and stick to it like he is sticking to his promise to help the people here in new jersey. >> reporter: wolf, the president had something to gain from this visit, too. it gave him a chance to pivot away from the controversies in washington and to focus on an example of government working. wolf? >> what does it look like to you over there along the jersey shore, jessica? business back almost to normal? >> reporter: well, here where i am on the boardwalk it is remarkable. the people i've talked to said it was places that were completely decimated have been brought back to full functioning order. you wouldn't know a storm has hit here, wolf. it was open for business all day long. there are other parts of the state where there is real devastation still and the governor acknowledges that and says more work is yet to be done. they're on their way. >> i'm sure there's a lot of grateful people in new jersey right now, grateful to the federal government for stepping in with those billions and billions of dollars. thanks very much, jessica yellin traveling with the president. let's dig a little bit deeper right now with our chief political analyst gloria borger and chief national correspondent john king. who gets more out of this visit today, the president politically we're talking about or governor christie who is up for re-election as we all know? >> i think it's a win-win for both men. who gets more? i'll be a little contrarian and say governor christie in the sense he is way ahead of his democrat opponent. he is in a blue state. why not play it safe? you spend more time with the most popular democrat in the country. does it hurt him in 2016? maybe. but it fits chris christie's dna. what does the president get? he's out of washington. if you look at the irs controversy, many of the other things, his critics say can't run a lemonade stand essentially. obama critics say they don't manage the government very well. fema, i was just in oklahoma. you have a republican governor there, republican governor christie all across the country fema gets high marks and the president deserves some credit for that. >> he certainly does. gloria, the republican strategist, our contributor, he wrote this. some republicans will not only never forget but never forgive. christie's embrace of obama is much like florida governor charlie crist's obama love. after jumping in bed with obama crist eventually had to leave the gop. >> come on, alex. i don't think so. look. chris christie has a problem in his own party but if you look at the national polls he's also the only one who can give hillary clinton a run for her money. the republican party right now is split. you see john mccain fighting with republicans in the senate and you're going to see the same issues with chris christie. i would argue that the visit from the president doesn't hurt him any more than he already has been hurt because people believe he's moderate and if you don't like a moderate republican, you just are not going to support him. >> he has made this calculation that he is who he is and is going to call it like he sees it and stand with a president who helped his state, answered his phone calls, has checked back to see how you're doing. chris christie's calculation is there are some republicans who will never forgive me, they'll blame me for mitt romney's loss, not going to get their vote anyway. his take is if the party doesn't grow up using his words he'll lose anyway. but that if he can win a broader group of republicans who say this is a, absolutely no pun intended, here is a larger than life personality who has a chance to be somewhat of a different politician, different kind of republican like bill clinton was a different kind of democrat, if he can make that argument then that little fringe will get left behind. >> i'll make a prediction here that the truth teller will be the most appealing kind of politician in 2016 because people are waiting for one and that is exactly chris christie's brand. embrace a democrat if you're telling the truth and embrace a republican if you aren't. it's got a lot of appeal. >> i think christie looked better today than seven months ago the last time he was with the president. he clearly has lost some weight. take a look. before what he looked like seven months ago right at the height of the aftermafgt the storm and now look at him and the president, clearly his face looks thinner. he's lost some serious weight. he's had a procedure. i think it's paying off. he has a long way to go but clearly looks a lot better. >> do they always dress alike those men? look at them. >> matching ties. >> and jackets. set politics aside for a moment and take the governor at his word his top priority was his wife and children and family. that he wants to be there for them. he does have a long way to go but he's made key steps. he is about 40 pounds lighter right now. god bless him and good luck. >> i feel the same way. standing next to president obama anyone can look a little hefty right? >> the president is tall and thin. >> yes. >> it looks great. >> i'm very impressed. thanks very much. two men assigned to the united states embassy in the veinsan capital have been shot but the state department is staying very tight lipped about the incident raising even more questions about what really happened. cnn's lisa sylvester is looking into this story for us. what are you finding out? >> well, we know that the two officials worked at the u.s. embassy in venezuela and this occurred after hours in northeast caracas. what we don't know is what led up to the shooting. the shooting happened early tuesday morning outside a night club in caracas. two members of the defense department assigned to the u.s. embassy in venezuela were hit. one in the abdomen the other in the abdomen and the leg. the state department confirmed the shooting took place but provided few details. >> i don't have any more information about the extent of the injuries other than to say we don't believe they are life threatening at this point. this did not happen at the u.s. embassy compound. this was off site. >> where did it happen? >> my understanding is this was at some sort of social spot or somewhere outside of the embassy grounds. but in terms of the exact location of it i don't -- >> a social spot? do you care to be a little more -- >> i'm not sure if it was a night club or actual establishment. that's why we're in touch with the personnel -- >> was it in fact a strip club? >> i have no information on the site whatsoever. >> reporter: cnn has confirmed the shooting happened here at the antonella club 2012 located in the basement of a mall. local police are investigating and we're told family members of the men have been contacted. >> we'll wait until all the information comes out to establish what occurred there. right now, two people are injured. information is being accumulated at the site of the incident. once everything is mapped out regarding the offense that took place there, we can provide an official version of the events. >> now both men were taken to the hospital and they are both expected to make a full recovery. we are waiting for more information from the department of defense. wolf? >> when you get it, let us know. lisa, thank you. up next a collision, a derailment, and a fire. they sparked fears about hazardous materials. we're going there live. and what's possibly the largest u.s. money laundering case, an alleged $6 billion scheme involving theft, fraud, child pornography, and drugs. all of it based on lying. all of it based on lying. stand by. at start off white, it yellows over time. when it comes to your smile, if you're not whitening, you're yellowing. crest whitestrips whiten as well as $500 professional treatments. guaranteed. crest 3d white whitestrips. you know who you are. you can part a crowd, without saying a word... if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... you stash tissues like a squirrel stashes nuts... well muddlers, muddle no more. try zyrtec®. it gives you powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because zyrtec® starts working at hour one on the first day you take it. claritin® doesn't start working until hour three. zyrtec®. love the air. mommy's having a french fry. yes she is, yes she is. 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0 excuse me. >> machine in kansas is paying the taxes and that is begin to the irs employees and their union turns around. i like president obama because he keeps me in office and i can plead the fifth when bad stuff happens. that's the problem. >> and to a local mayor of new york city if you are part of the firefighters. >> there is a difference. the federal government has a right to tax. that's the difference. in the case of a local. >> cities don't tax? nlet me finish. they can tax your income and tax your income tax and hold you accountable for that. yes, there are state income taxes and local taxes, but they are not having the taxing authority that the federal government has. johnathon? >> i think any employer and big corporation and large are moving away from the unions. we vee the destruction. why is the irs different than any other branch of government? >> coming up. it is getting worse. government sifting through the roars of journalist and family members it is a not so secret threat to your wallet. >> one law maker using the massive twister to sell the global warming agenda. he said he is sorry, but will taxpayers be more sorry. >> why should a democratic in rhode island care if we republicans run off the climate cliff like lemons and disgrace ourselves? . from your smartphone be photos actually worth sharing? introducing the nokia lumia 928, only on verizon 4g lte. easily capture vibrant photos in near-darkness. even without the flash. sharing photos from the best low-light smartphone camera around. that's powerful. verizon. available out there. i knew devry university would give me the skills that i needed to make one of those tech jobs mine. we teach cutting-edge engineering technology, computer information systems, networking and communications management -- the things that our students need to know in the world today. our country needs more college grads to help fill all the open technology jobs. to help meet that need, here at devry university, we're offering $4 million dollars in tech scholarships for qualified new students. learn more at devry.edu. what makes a sleep number what makes a sleep number store different? you walk into a conventional mattress store, it's really not about you. they say, "well, if you wanted a firm bed you can lie on one of those. if you want a soft bed you can lie on one of those." we provide the exact individualization that your body needs. the sleep number memorial day sale. not just ordinary beds on sale, but the bed that can change your life on sale. the sleep number bed. this is your body there. you can see a little more pressure in the hips. take it up one notch. oh gosh, yes. oh, yeah! they had no idea that when they came to a sleep number store, we were going to diagnose their problems and help them sleep better. and right now save on the closeout of our classic special edition bed set. just $1299-a savings of $600-and discover the only memory foam bed with dual air adjustability. plus 36 month financing on all beds through memorial day only. once you experience it there's no going back. wow. don't invest in a mattress until you you find your sleep number setting. only at the sleep number store. sleep number, comfort individualized.
0 but i think there's a long recovery process and it will try to be there for each other to help along the way. >> all right. dr. jo shapiro, thank you so much. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper and i leave you in the capable hands of wolf blitzer in "the situation room." >> jake, thanks very much. happening now, breaking news. the white house has just released the e-mails showing how the obama administration planned its public response to the deadly benghazi attack last september 11. will that defuse the first of this wave of scandals? there's already bad blood between the attorney general of the united states eric holder and house republicans. can he survive his latest grilling on the judiciary committee hot seat? and we're also hearing right now from o.j. simpson. this for the first time since he was sent to prison for armed robbery and kidnapping. you'll see him take the witness stand in a bid for freedom. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we have breaking news right now. battered by controversies the white house makes a very bold move to defend its response to the deadly attack in benghazi, libya. just now it has just released the e-mails showing how officials tried to decide what to say to lawmakers and to the american public. you'll recall this was the attack that killed four americans including the united states ambassador to libya. the administration and congressional republicans have battled for months over the initial response in which the u.n. ambassador susan rice called the attack a spontaneous protest. we have since learned there was no protest at all outside the consulate in benghazi, libya. republicans have suggested the truth was deliberately covered up for political reasons to try to help the president get re-elected. our chief white house correspondent jake tapper is here. he's been going through these documents. jake, you have them right there, about a hundred pages of e-mails. what's going on here? >> a hundred pages of documents. a lot of the names of career diplomats have been redacted but job titles are there. what you see is an interagency process of individuals from the fbi to the cia to the state department, national security council, weighing in on the talking points, what to say to congress, what to say to the american people. here is a quote from one of the quotes, an e-mail from cia public affairs officer to victoria nuland. they say, that being said there are indications islamic extremists participated in the violent demonstrations. the question of course being who to blame for the attacks that killed these four americans including the ambassador. then we see this is a big oft discussed part of the e-mail chain victoria nuland writing in an e-mail the penultimate point could be abused, a point about the fact the cia warned the state department that the cia put in the talking points nuland from the state department objects to this. the penultimate point could be abused by members of congress to beat the state department for not paying atoengs agency warnings so why do we want to feed that either? concerned. there have been a lot of issues about that statement because people think it suggests that victoria nuland was trying to protect hillary clinton and the state department from political concerns. but, wolf, a senior administration official tells me that long before the cia heard about that issue, the deputy director of the cia, mike morell, independently decided to remove that point about all of the warnings that the cia had given the state department. they say he did that because, one, the talking points are supposed to be about what happened in that day, not six months before, and, two, that he didn't think it was professional or fair for the cia to say they had provided the state department with all these warnings. so this is a real window into the decision making process, a hundred pages with all sorts of individuals weighing in and offering their suggestions. >> because it goes through the various agencies of the u.s. government whether the state department, the pentagon, the cia, the national security council. they're all weighing in. what to put in these talking points, what to tell members of congress, members of the house and senate intelligence committee, what to tell the american public. and so there's a treasure trove of information. >> that's right. you see specifically four changes that the cia makes. in the original draft they say we do know that islamic extremists participated in the attack but they change it to something else because they don't want to state with certainty that there was complicity, so there is a back and forth about that. they change attack to violent demonstration. then because they had changed it to violent demonstration they also changed a word from attack to something else because the idea that an attack evolved into an assault, they said, doesn't make a lot of sense. they took out the al qaeda reference because again they say they did not want to get ahead of the fbi investigation. they weren't certain at that moment, remember this is just a few days after the attack, they weren't certain who had killed the four americans and the last thing of course was they added this section that the state department objected to about all the warnings about the deteriorating security conditions in libya at the time. >> let's bring gloria borger into this conversation, our chief political analyst. so what are the e-mails telling you about this exchange, the sort of internal bureaucratic battle that was going on within the obama administration? >> let me set the scene for you and jake can talk about this as well. you have david petraeus, former cia director, going up to the hill after this to brief members, and he tells them what he knows. and they say oh, that's kind of interesting. what can we say to the american public about that? he said, okay, guys. i'll get back to you on that. he goes back and he says, we need to come up with these so-called talking points that members of congress can use when they talk about this publicly. the more they go through the iterations of this, there are questions as jake was just pointing out, about what is classified, what was unclassified? what the cia wanted to say. and, most of all, wolf, and you can talk about this, is there is a conflict between the state department and the cia here. this was a cia outpost. four people from the state department were there for probably 30 or so people from the cia. they weren't talking about that. the state department was a little anxious that it would look like they had gotten all of these warnings that they hadn't paid any attention to. so what they're saying here is this was not about politics. this was about figuring out what we could say to the american people that was unclassified and that was accurate. as it turned out, of course, it was completely false. >> because i know in some of these documents, victoria nuland who was the spokesman, spokeswoman for the state department, she was very concerned about the reputation understandably so of the state department. >> well, that's one of the issues gloria just touched on was the fact that there was a huge cia presence in benghazi. and when they evacuated 30 individuals out the morning after, more than 20 of them were from the cia and the state department thought that this, especially the cia annex, that it was unfair they were wearing a state department jacket. the official idea was this was a state department out post and now the cia was going to blame the state department for a problem that they, themselves, were also responsible for. they're responsible for their own security, the cia. the state department had their own diplomatic security obviously inadequate at the time. >> because, gloria, the question obviously remains. why didn't they just release these documents a long time ago, end this controversy, if in fact it will end the controversy. why have they waited so long as part of this damage control operation? >> okay. so if wolf blitzer sends me an e-mail and i just thought i want to release it i can release it because it's not classified. okay? and these are -- lots of these e-mails have to get declassified. and i think the white house is doing it now because they're in damage control mode obviously. and they believe that these e-mails make their case that what was going on was not political. it was just about being consistent and figuring out a way to be on the same page and figuring out a way to give people information that they thought to be the most accurate at that particular point in time. of course, the only thing that survived was something that was inaccurate. >> let me just button this up. what really emerged was susan rice's appearance on the five sunday morning television shows in which she blamed a spontaneous demonstration, angry reaction to that youtube anti-muslim video, which by then even according to these documents i suspect they knew was not necessarily true. >> no, not according to these documents. according to these documents in all, i believe it's 14 iterations, of the talking points, the cia is saying this was related to the demonstration in cairo, which was because of the anti-muslim video. that is what comes through here. susan rice did work off these talking points and of course we all had sources in the u.s. government. we were hearing from the prime minister of libya, the president of libya. others who were saying this was something more than just a demonstration. but the official position of the cia at that point was that this was as a result of being inspired. >> the number two diplomat who became the acting ambassador testified that he immediately was told by the -- by chris stevens the u.s. ambassador who was slain, we are under attack. it had nothing to do with these anti-muslim videos on youtube. >> right. >> it's staggering. >> what petraeus may have told folks in that briefing, i mean, we weren't there, but he may have gotten a little out over his skis as the saying goes in that briefing and said, okay. i'll get this stuff together for you and then the bureaucracy and the people in each of the departments said, wait a minute. we can't do that. that's classified. so -- >> the question is, the political imperative, obviously the white house was talking about that al qaeda was on the run. this was in the weeks before the presidential campaign. so there was this idea that this was part of the president's re-election pitch. al qaeda is on the run. we're defeating terrorism. all of a sudden there is what is obvious to most of us at the time a terrorist attack, a preplanned terrorist attack on 9/11 in a very vulnerable out post that indicates, a, an intelligence failure. b, inadequate security, which ultimately we all know now the state department was not appropriately prepared for and then, c, questions about why the obama administration in supporting the arab spring is letting everything spiral so much out of control. >> bottom line, the release of these documents, is it going to end the controversy over benghazi? >> no, no. >> it will not end the controversy but what it does do is it does suggest that those alleging that the only reason that people were blaming this on that antimuslim video was political. that case is undermined because you have the cia repeatedly arguing and the cia, it is clear, they are the ones taking the leadership role here, they are pushing that. >> and i think in the end what you may discover with most things in government is that it could be more bureaucratic and than anything else and, also, the unwillingness of people to go beyond what they had already stated, particularly at the state department. what the concern was at the state department was, don't get out ahead of what we've already been able to say or why wouldn't we have been able to say it? if it was unclassified. >> i think the controversy will survive, bottom line right now, because it was such a dangerous place, benghazi. the british had pulled out. the international red cross had pulled out. there had been numerous warnings about al qaeda. ans aral sharia targeting westerners. for the united states ambassador to be in benghazi on the anniversary of that date with limited security is going to be the continuing scandal, the continuing crisis. why were all of these americans in benghazi at such a dangerous time when other allies had pulled out because it was so dangerous? why -- who made that reckless decision for those americans to be there when it was so, so dangerous? >> and why were they allowed to stay overnight there? >> and when you listen to the testimony of the career diplomats, the whistle blowers, that's what they focus on. >> yes. four dead americans. >> yes. >> because someone said, go to benghazi and be there. whether they were cia, clandestine officers or state department diplomats or diplomatic security, someone made a decision you should be there on the anniversary of 9/11 even though there were numerous warnings that this was crazy. this was dangerous. don't be there especially at night. they went there and we know what happened. i think that -- this investigation will continue to try to follow those actions. >> make sure it doesn't happen again. >> even more so if i could just say, why wasn't there enough security? why when diplomat after diplomat, security officer after security officer in libya is saying, we need more security, why was the state department rejecting those requests? that is what the diplomats, the whistle blowers who have testified, that's what they have been focused on. they have not been focused on the talking points, the whistle blowers. they have been focused on the inadequate security for these brave men and women who go to these dangerous places in the service of the country. >> and that's what ambassador pickering's report was about. >> yeah. >> when he took a look at what was dysfunction in many ways about this whole event, and also in terms of security at the state department, he was quite critical. they implemented, you know, more than the 28 or 29 things that they were told to do, but i think this is an issue that the state department obviously will be looking at and the cia will be looking at. >> we are just tuning in right now, i want to recap, this is the document that has just been released, about a hundred pages. >> 100 pages of e-mails. >> e-mails back and forth between the state department and the cia, the pentagon, the white house, the national security council. what should be told to members of congress about the killing of the united states ambassador and three other americans, the attack on the diplomatic outpost there, the cia operation that was under way. what should be told to members of congress in a classified version and in a public version and then what should be told to the american public? but both of you are now saying based on what you've read, and i've gone through these documents as well, this uproar and we'll be hearing later from republicans and some democrats, this uproar over benghazi will continue. >> well, i think so. because this is only the -- there are three focuses of the uproar of the controversy. before the attack why wasn't there enough security. during the attack -- >> why was the ambassador even there. >> during the attack was enough done by the military? and then after the attack, was the administration trying to cover up? this adds to public understanding of the last one, the talking points. why were mentions of al qaeda and extremist groups scrubbed from the talking points? why were the fact that the cia had been warning the state department, why was that taken out of the talking points? what you see here in this hundred pages, and i think we have it all online at cnn.com, what you see here is an interagency process of people from the fbi, people from the cia, people from the office of the director of national intelligence, national security council, the national -- others -- the national security staffers, all of them weighing in trying to come on the same page about these things. you see the process of why the mention of islamic extremists is taken out, why violent demonstrations put in instead of attack. why all these decisions are made. you can believe it or not but it is the reason we see in black and white the cia making their objections, the state department making their objections. >> we posted all of those documents on cnn.com. >> the important thing keep in mind ishat these so-called talking points were being put together to give to members of congress who would then talk to the american public about it. there was a real concern particularly on the part of the state department, don't get in the way of the investigation and don't get out ahead of ourselves. don't talk about classified information. the state department had not been able to talk about itself. after all, you were giving this to members of congress. and there is not a great deal of trust. >> i interviewed the chairman of the house intelligence committee, mike rogers, the next day, september 12th. he was here in "the situation room" and he had been briefed. he had been briefed by the cia and he had been briefed by others in the u.s. government and in the exchange i had, because i pointed out to him, i don't believe in coincidences. on the anniversary of 9/11 this looked like a pretty sophisticated terrorist attack. it looked like it was an assassination plot against the united states ambassador and he basically said the same thing. he didn't say anything about this video, this anti-muslim video. he had already been told apparently that this was a pretty concerted, direct assault on the u.s. operation in benghazi and then for susan rice to say a few days later, well, it looks like it was a response to the anti-muslim video, that's what makes so many people upset. >> and what is significant about that, also, is that that video was causing a lot of demonstrations, violent demonstrations, throughout the arab and muslim world in tunisia, in cairo, egypt, and other places. >> that's true. in cairo and other places. right. there was an american restaurant in beirut that was attacked. but that doesn't necessarily mean -- >> of course -- >> that the benghazi operation was -- >> but the sources at that moment, intelligence sources on the ground, did not think that it was in response to that anti-muslim video. >> right. >> but completely noncontroversial at that time to assume it might have had something to do with this at that particular moment in time. >> five days later they knew pretty much what was going on. >> as it turns out i think the question will still be asked about why that was really the only thing that actually survived. >> the scrubbing of the talking points. >> in the scrubbing of the talking points. >> jake makes an excellent point. as controversial as the points were and we focused in, this document focuses on the talking points, the two other issues that are not addressed by the release of these documents, why was the u.s. ambassador there to begin with? at such a dangerous time why was he there with limited security? and then why didn't the u.s. military, special operations forces, do more once the attack started to try to save those americans? >> and those were the questions asked at the congressional hearing particularly by mr. hicks. >> one other point to make about this talking points that were released and the e-mails surrounding them is everybody is talking now about the deputies meeting, the meeting that took place at the white house the saturday morning after the attack but before susan rice went on the sunday shows the next morning. the deputies meeting. what i've been told by senior administration officials is that the talking points were a very, very small part of that meeting. when they were talking about it, what they were concerned about was the fact that the arab spring was spiraling out of control. there were demonstrations here, there, tunisia, cairo, yemen. they wanted to make sure americans were safe. that was the focus. at the end of the meeting according to a senior administration official, mike morell the deputy cia director stands up. he says, i am going to take essentially i'm going to take ownership of the talking points. i hear the state department's concerns. i have concerns. i am going to take control of this. dennis mcdonagh now the white house chief of staff says, thanks, mike. that i'm told was the only discussion of the talking points in that meeting. >> hold on for a minute. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is joining us for a little context right now. i know you are speaking to officials over there. what are you learning? >> reporter: hi, wolf. as jake says, officials here are adamant that these talking points should now disabuse the public of the idea that they were up to any kind of political trickery, that in fact all they were doing was hashing out a normal kind of e-mail discussion about an ongoing, what they call fluid, very tense situation overseas and very sort of boring, mundane discussion about talking points over here. that this wasn't their number one concern. what their number one concern was, kwtheir number one concern was the ongoing protests taking place in tunisia, in front of embassies, in pakistan, in front of embassies throughout the region at the time. and these talking points were sort of a very tertiary concern that was pushed to the back of the deputy cia's agenda and he didn't get to them until hours after they were sent to him on the day he was supposed to review them. that is why they say for example he put off reworking that until after his deputies meeting. that is their take and what they told us. as jake has reported and as gloria emphasized they said it was the cia who really took out those things that the white house has been hammered for, for example taking out al qaeda, changing the word attack to demonstration. all of that came out from the cia. so, wolf, that is what senior administration officials are emphasizing. separately, i would point out that when you look through these papers there are some other things the administration isn't pointing out. for example, there is one e-mail from an unnamed person whose name is taken out, which goes through a list of things that happened at the deputies meeting, which they say, the officials say is wrong in every specific -- every single thing in this e-mail is wrong. they say this person outlines that there was heavy editing in the e-mails because they had to develop more appropriate talking points and that they have to rework it after the meeting to make it better for the sunday shows. everything about it they say is wrong. we asked why it was so deep wrong in detail. they couldn't specify. also, at the end of the documents, it indicates that director of the cia, petraeus, had concerns, and it said i spoke to the director earlier about the state department's deep concerns about mentioning the warnings that the cia had made about libya before and the other work done on this. you will still want to reemphasize that in your note to the director of central intelligence. thanks. so there were a lot of things that they couldn't explain to us that contradicted their story. >> everyone hold on for a moment. we are just learning that the president will be making a statement to the american people on the irrelevans scandal unfol capitol hill right at the top of the hour. 6:00 p.m. eastern. we'll of course have live coverage here in "the situation room." the president speaking on the irs scandal from the white house in about 35 minutes or so from now. we'll have live coverage when the president makes his statement on the irs. that's a whole separate scandal. we'll get into that in a moment. let me bring up dana bash up on capitol hill. dana, we're watching all of these investigations unfold, the benghazi investigation, the irs investigation, the associated press phone conversations investigation. there are three at the same time. it's almost unprecedented at least in my opinion having covered washington for a long time for three such investigations to be brewing at the same time. i know you're standing outside the speaker's office, john boehner. he and other republicans have been asking the white house to release all of these e-mails involving the so-called benghazi talking points. now they have been released. are we getting any reaction yet from republicans up on the hill? i think we may have lost dana, unfortunately. but she is standing outside the speaker's office. as we know, the speaker and others have been saying to the white house, release all of these e-mails. they were shown in private to members of congress. now they have been released once again. if you want to take a look at them go to cnn.com. we have posted all of them. so let's move on and talk a little bit about the irs, gloria. you know, all of a sudden the president now about to go and deliver a statement on the irs investigation. the fact that the irs, officials at the irs decided to specifically target conservative groups, tea party organizations, others with the name tea party or patriot or groups like that. this is a huge scandal that's unfolding right now. the president is outraged. he says he didn't know anything about it until he read about it and heard about it from the news media the other day but he is going to make a statement now. >> i'm not surprised because in talking to senior advisers at the white house they believe that this is sort of one of the scandals that they can actually push aside because they're on the same side of the american people as this one. they're not fighting it. the republicans are on their side. the democrats are on their side. nobody is supporting the irs in any of this. and so i was kind of surprised the president didn't last night when the inspector general report came out actually go and make the statement apologizing to the american people and saying we're going to get to the bottom of it. maybe that's what he is going to do today. i was told yesterday that they intend to take what one adviser told me was meaningful action. we'll have to see what that is. he is limited in who he can fire there. >> he's asked his treasury secretary to take some immediate action already. >> it's obvious of the three scandals we have brewing right now or controversies depending on your point of view, one benghazi, two, the irs improperly targeting conservative groups and, three, the department of justice subpoenaing broadly a number of phone records of reporters of the associated press and also other media organizations, it is obvious -- >> other media organizations besides the associated press? >> they're also in a separate war with the "new york times" but a different leak but that general idea. but my point is just of these three controversies, the fact that the president is going to address this one shows you which one they actually think could hurt them. they obviously do not think the benghazi scandal -- they wouldn't have released a hundred e-mails if they didn't think they needed to do so, but i don't think they're worried about that long term. i think they believe people see it as a partisan divide. 40% think the president is telling the truth. 40% say he isn't. 20% say they don't know, which is pretty much means nothing. but the irs scandal is something every american understands. big government, big brother improperly going after me because of what i believe. >> and he needs to show the american people he is on their side with this. that there is no fault line here. that he wants to get to the bottom of this and that his administration is taking responsibility and trying to get to the bottom of it. that's how he can dispose of it, not dispose of it but essentially deal with it and say, i am going to fix this. this was wrong. i am with you. >> yeah. >> because as jake just said, this is politically damaging. >> because they are clearly in damage control mode right now over at the white house releasing all of these documents after months refusing to release all of these documents and now the president going out and speaking on the irs investigation. we're going to hear from him in about a half an hour. let's go up to capitol hill. i think we've reconnected with our chief congressional correspondent dana bash. you're on the phone. you're right outside the speaker's office. is that right? >> reporter: well i'm in the hallway between the house floor and the speaker's office because there are votes going on right now and i'm waiting to try to talk to him. he's actually been swearing in a new member of congress right now but as i'm standing here i had a chance to talk to the top democrat on the house intelligence committee dutch rupers berger. he is important for lots of reason but most importantly he is the one who asked for these talking points in the first place right after the attack in benghazi so members of congress would have a sense of what they could say to the media, what would not be classified. i just talked to him and he said that he is very happy, very relieved that the white house finally put these out so that from his perspective we can all see what really went on with the back and forth and trying to decide what people like him should and shouldn't say in interviews. and, you know, he is a democrat, so he -- he believes what really went on was not something nefarious from the white house point of view but was done to protect sources and so forth from the point of view of the cia. that's what dutch rupersberger said and when it comes to the speaker who has as late as this morning had a press conference and called on the white house to release these e-mails i'm waiting to see what he has to say about that. >> i'm sure he'll welcome the release of the e-mails. on the issue of the irs the president in about a half an hour will make a statement from the white house on this irs investigation. he is outraged as i think almost everyone is that officials at the irs were specifically targeting conservative groups for special treatment when they applied for tax-exempt status, not necessarily targeting liberal groups but only certain conservative groups and we heard from the speaker and you're standing right outside hoping to get him. he says people should go to jail as a result of what happened at the irs. >> that's right. he is not waiting for the criminal investigation to be done to make that statement. that certainly was kind of the thrust of the news on capitol hill today with regard to the irs. the attorney general was here for hours talking to the judiciary testifying before the judiciary committee and made the point that he is going to take the facts where they lead. he is going to not just focus on the office where this allegedly started, the cincinnati office where they deal with tax-exempt issues but will deal with it all across the country and he said this is something where these employees could face criminal charges for civil rights violations, for violating the hatch act which makes it illegal for civil servants to do anything political, and maybe even lying to congress. so that certainly is kind of the thrust of where things stand here now. politically, you're going to have a lot of democrats who have been showing how out raged they are very relieved to see the president giving the statement to try to get out in front because they are concerned about the combination, the irs, benghazi, and of course these ap phone records that were subpoenaed. they're concerned this is going to hurt the agenda they want to do here mainly what i've heard in the hallways immigration reform. that is the one thing everyone thinks they can do and they're concerned this will be a distraction. >> the president has critically important issues he wants to get done in the second term and obviously focusing on the other investigations, three simultaneous ones at the same time, is going to obviously undermine. jessica yellin, i understand the president will deliver his statement not from the briefing room but from the east room of the white house which obviously makes it a lot more formal and potentially a lot more significant. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. while officials here have not said what he will do, they have signaled all along that the president sees this as the kind of situation where severe action is necessitated. they pointed out or i -- the gsa scandal that's another agency scandal you'll recall where people on the government dime went to las vegas and partied it up and abused their position and they were dealt with severely. people ended up resigning and losing their jobs. the point there was when governments positions were abused, there was a lack of integrity, the president acted. and so the point is this is a case where we expect to see the president make some heads roll. so i don't know definitively that the president is going to announce that anybody is losing their job. but i wouldn't be surprised if we see the president say that severe consequences either have resulted from the ig's report or will. we do know that he met with senior treasury officials this afternoon and that the treasury secretary is in charge and directing the treasury secretary to carry out, make sure that people were held accountable. we'll see if he has decided already what the results will be or is telling us that there will soon be consequences, wolf. >> gloria, what should the president say on this irs investigation when he shows up in the east room? >> i think he needs to tell the american people what he is doing, that this happened on his watch, that he is sorry that it -- it occurred -- that he is fixing it as jessica just pointed out. he met with treasury officials about 4:45 today. so, clearly, something transpired in that meeting. i've been e-mailing trying to find out. and that he has to announce some action and be in charge of this. he's got to get in front of it. he's going to try and move on from it because this is a problem. >> it needs to be the statement of a leader not a lawyer. >> right. >> it can't be if this happened the way that it's reported, then therefore it would be outrageous. that's not what people want to hear. that's basically what he said in the east room, i forget when it was, monday maybe. >> that was before the report right? >> before the report came out but when there were -- before the inspector general report came out. >> he used the phrase if this happens. >> if the media is correct even though the irs and official had already admitted and apologized and called it inappropriate it can't be that politically. he has to show anger. he has to show this is unacceptable. he maybe even needs to announce some staffing changes at that organization if he is not constrained by labor laws. >> yes. >> he needs to really make it clear that t untenable. but, wolf, there is one other thing i wanted to -- you asked if the benghazi, the release of these e-mails would end the controversy and as you were saying that i was tweeted by republican congressman jason chafitz of utah who as you know is on the house investigative committee, the one that flew over to libya. he wasn't -- there was a back and forth about whether he was allowed to meet with the deputy diplomat there, the deputy -- he e-mails me or tweets me rather the white house should release all the unclassified benghazi documents and e-mails. instead they pick and choose. another tweet that he says there are 25,000 documents but they won't give us to them so the idea this hundred pages is going to end it for members of congress on the oversight committee especially republicans obviously the tweet speaks a thousand words. >> the question is whether it ends the sort of hyperbole of calling this worse than watergate, worse than iran contra, and all the rest. i mean, that is a question of whether there is any sort of modulation in the investigation or the tone and whether, in fact, congress proceeds differently. i mean, it's clear that jason chafitz has not changed -- this has not done anything to change his mind. >> jason -- congressman chafitz, twitter handle is jason in the house, the congressman's focus has not only been on the talking points. the committee has been looking at everything, both the denials of security and the military responsibility. >> don't go too far. stand by. we'll continue our breaking news coverage. once again we're waiting for the president of the united states. he is going to be speaking from the east room of the white house. you're looking at live pictures of the white house right now right at the top of the hour in less than 25 minutes if it's on time. 6:00 p.m. eastern. we'll have live coverage here in the situation room. the president will speak on the irs investigation. i'll also talk about the release of all of these benghazi e-mails. the irs scandal, much more. the veteran democratic congressman charlie rangel is here live in the situation room. also, there is another piece of bad blood developing between house republicans and the attorney general eric holder. he got a grilling today up on capitol hill. but he was also dishing it out. >> i'm not going to stop talking now. you characterized something -- >> mr. chairman would you inform the witness as to the rules of the committee? >> -- it's too consistent with the way in which you conduct yourself as a member of congress. it is unacceptable and it's shameful. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities.
0 the king and queen will be named during prom on june 1st. cnn newsroom with carol costello begins right now. good morning to you. thank you so much for joining me. i'm carol costello. what did they know and when did they know it? 40 years later that simple, iconic question from the watergate era once again hangs over the white house. some republicans are accusing the embattled obama administration of abusing its power and your trust. unlike anything we've seen in generations. >> never seen anything quite like this except in the past during the nixon years. >> i can tell you people who make those kind of comparisons need to check their history. >> this morning, though, double trouble. the irs accused of targeting and bullying the president's critics and the fbi investigating government snooping on a news agency and even its reporters' personal calls. later today lawmakers will grill the president's attorney general eric holder. now keep in mind the republican national committee has called on holder to resign although that wouldn't be the first time. holder has long been a lightning rod for criticism. >> ladies and gentlemen, will you please join me in welcoming the 82nd attorney general of the united states, eric holder? >> eric holder, america's first african-american attorney general, stirred controversy from the moment he took office. at a black history month event holder said the country remained voluntarily socially segregated. >> though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and we, i believe, continue to be in too many ways essentially a nation of cowards. >> america's first black president stood by holder, a man he nominated as the nation's chief law enforcement officer for his toughness and independence. but some republicans take issue with how holder demonstrates those traits. >> i believe eric holder is one of the worst attorneys general in the history of the country because he selectively enforces the law based on his own ideology. >> two years ago republican congressman peter king called for holder's resignation, upset because holder favored civilian criminal trials rather than military tribunals for the 9/11 terror suspects. king wrote in a new york post quote, the guy just doesn't get it and because he doesn't he should resign forthwith. there was also anger over holder's assertion arizona's tough immigration law would lead to racial profiling and that the justice department would no longer defend the defense of marriage act which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. but the pot really boiled over in 2011 with fast and furious, a failed atf operation that put weapons in the hands of suspected gun smugglers. one of those guns had killed border patrol agent brian terry. republicans accused holder of a coverup. >> if i'm the president of the united states, and i find out that there is an operation like fast and furious, and my attorney general didn't know about it, i would have him resign immediately. >> through it all, holder remained defiant, charging some of his critics were playing gotcha politics. he told the "new york times", quote, this is a way to get at the president because of the way i can be identified with him. both due to the nature of our relationship and, you know, the fact that we're both african-american. but this time even some democrats are appalled at the latest controversy, mainly that holder's justice department secretly collected phone records of journalists at the associated press. still, holder remains resolute when it comes to his record. >> i'm proud of what we have done. there have been a whole host of things that this administration has done, this justice department in particular that are consistent with what i think the president campaigned on and what we promised at the beginning of this administration. >> but holder is a busy man these days. he has now launched a criminal investigation into the irs. as you know, irs employees have for the past 18 months targeted conservative groups with the words tea party or patriots in their names. as a result, applications for their tax-exempt status were delayed. a new treasury department report put it this way. quote, the irs inspector general found that irs agents used inappropriate criteria to identify tea party and other groups and the report also cited ineffective management that allowed the criteria to be in place for 18 months, which resulted in substantial delays in applications and unnecessary questions. and today at 1:00 eastern we'll hear more from holder. he is due to testify in front of the house judiciary committee. as for what the president's mouth piece is saying about all of these scandals, press secretary jay carney sang a familiar tune, at least 11 times. >> all i can tell you is i cannot and he cannot comment specifically. i can't comment on the specifics of that. we simply can't comment on the specific investigation. but i cannot and he cannot appropriately comment on the specifics. this i think refers to this investigation so i cannot comment on that. we can't comment on an ongoing criminal investigation. i'm not going to comment on the specifics of an investigation here. i just can't comment on the specific reports that you cite. i cannot comment on this specific investigation for all the obvious reasons. it would be inappropriate to comment on the specific investigation. you know, i cannot comment on the specific case. >> this from an administration that promised full transparency. brianna kieler is at the white house this morning. even president obama's friends say he has to do something dramatic to turn the tide, that he needs to fire someone. >> reporter: i think you're already seeing perhaps the way paved on that because last night the white house put out a statement from president obama saying at least when it comes to this controversy involving the irs that he is having his treasury secretary hold accountable the people in the irs who are responsible for this. i think when you see the report, that's going to mean not necessarily just the folks at the irs who executed this but also those who are overseeing this because the report cites ineffective management. but the question is, is that going to be i guess you could say dramatic enough to show that he's really leading on these issues? the white house, and you heard from jay carney's comments there, carol, feels that it's in a bit of a pickle here because when it comes to the irs story, they were loathe to be seen as too much involving themselves in what is supposed to be an independent investigation of an agency in their administration and then when it comes to the department of justice's seizure of ap records, there is this sort of firewall between the white house and the department of justice as history has made it so but the president also sort of runs the risk of looking somewhat ineffectual and removed from this and republicans are certainly seizing on that, carol. here's mitch mcconnell. >> but we do know this. we can't count on the administration to be forthcoming about the details of this scandal. because so far they've been anything but. >> so, carol, it's really a delicate line that the white house is trying to walk here but certainly, yes. i think they do need to do something to show that they are sort of in control here and they aren't just bystanders as they're watching these controversies unfold. in other news, 13 of boston's 14 deputy fire chiefs have signed a letter of no confidence in the city's fire chief. "the boston globe" reporting the deputies said chief steve araiba failed to assume command responsibility after arriving on the scene of the marathon bombings. the deputy chiefs also suggest his conduct was part of an ongoing pattern. abraira shields himself from immediate accountability while setting the stage for undermining the confidence and authority of his command staff. while acknowledging his ultimate accountability for department operations, he avoids on-the-scene responsibility. that's from the letter. abraira defended his actions to "the globe" saying when he arrived on the scene he was comfortable with the level of response. we're learning new details about how cleveland kidnapping suspect ariel castro allegedly treated three women through their years in captivity. cnn's pamela brown has the latest developments from cleveland. good morning, pamela. >> reporter: good morning to you, carol. that's right. we're learning some new information from sources this morning. sources say that castro's behavior toward the women evolved over time and that there were varying degrees of treatment with the three women. according to sources i spoke with, amanda berry who fathered ariel castro's child was treated slightly better than the other two women. but again, we have to keep in mind here that these were poor conditions that the women were living in according to sources so it's all relative in that everything was to a varying degree. but nothing too significant as far as their treatment. we have learned, carol, from a source, that michelle knight was ariel castro's main punching bag and that he abused her with anything and everything including hand weights according to the source. so it appears amanda berry was treated slightly better than the rest and that michelle knight was treated the worst. we also learned that all three of the women were under weight when they were rescued from the home by authorities. that michelle knight is in the worst condition. that she has vision loss and muscle and joint damage and various physical issues as a result of the abuse she endured according to sources we spoke with. >> i also understand we're hearing from ariel castro's attorneys for the first time. what are they saying? >> reporter: yeah. it might be a little bit surprising for people to hear, carol. his attorneys are saying that he is going to plead not guilty if he faces kidnapping and rape charges from a grand jury indictment. that his attorneys say they're going to mount the best defense possible, that at this point castro hasn't told them anything of what he's done as far as, you know, the kidnapping and rape charges go. we have been reporting that castro has confessed to at least some of his actions over the past ten years to authorities during interrogations but, again, his attorneys are saying that he hasn't told them or confessed to them what he's done. so maybe a little bit surprising for people to hear. let's take a listen to what his attorneys had to say. >> well, i think the initial portrayal by the media has been one of a, quote, monster. that's not the impression that i got when i talked to him for three hours. he is a human being and what's offensive is that the media, and i don't mean it toward you, but the media and the community wants to demonize this man before they really know the whole story. and i think that it's unfair and just not equitable. >> reporter: castro's attorneys we just heard were interviewed by one of our affiliates in cleveland wkyc and also during that interview his attorneys talk about wanting to move the trial outside of cuyohoga county because of the media attention and the recent high profile case involving a convicted serial killer of 11 women who kept the women in his home. that was a case many people know of anthony sowell. they also talked about how they know how castro made contact with the women and an explanation for that will come out in court. carol? >> all right. pamela brown reporting live from cleveland this morning. just ahead we hear from a teenage girl who was trapped 17 days in a collapsed factory building in bangladesh. >> translator: suddenly i heard the call to prayer. then i heard sounds. i heard the sounds of voices and i wondered where is the sound coming from? >> a cnn exclusive, next. we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of tim and laura. it's amazing how appreciative people are when you tell them they could save a lot of money on their car insurance by switching to geico...they may even make you their best man. may i have the rings please? ah, helzberg diamonds. nice choice, mate. ...and now in the presence of these guests we join this loving couple. oh dear... geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. it's easy to follow the progress you're making toward all your financial goals. a quick glance, and you can see if you're on track. when the conversation turns to knowing where you stand, turn to us. wells fargo advisors.
0 that's it for me live here in phoenix, arizona. but "the lead" with jake tapper is coming up next. thanks for watching. remember that kids book, alexander and the terrible horrible no good very bad day? i bet president obama does. he's having a week like that. i'm jake tapper and this is "the lead." the national lead. facing the firing squad. attorney general eric holder going before the republican controlled house judiciary committee and on the defensive over the many scandals swirling around the administration. the world lead. two years after the revolution in egypt, a plot to blow up western embassies there by a militant group with suspected links to al qaeda. the egyptian media reporting the u.s. embassy among the targets. thankfully it all unraveled. we'll tell you how. the national lead. for so many of our s from the enemy on the battle field but from their own brothers in arms. senator gillibrand joins us to speak out about the military's sexual assault epidemic which is taking on ironic if not epic proportions. welcome to "the lead." now the national lead. you know the slow motion crash tests they show in car commercials sometimes? it's kind of what it has been like watching the obama administration this week and it is only wednesday. president obama began the day with a tribute to slain police officers sitting next to his attorney general eric holder. later, holder took another seat before the house judiciary committee. republicans had their choice of scandals to pick from in their questioning and went after him on benghazi, the irs targeting conservatives, the justice department subpoena of journalists' phone records among a host of issues. both republicans and democrats alike wanted answers about those subpoenaed phone records. >> who authorized the subpoenas for the ap? >> why was such a broad scope approved? >> the actions of the department have, in fact, impaired the first amendment. >> was it in writing? was it orally? did you alert the white house? >> the ap investigation involved leaks about a cia operation that foiled a bomb plot. holder says he recused himself because he had been interviewed by the fbi about leaks. he deflected questions about the record seizure any way that he could. >> i was not the person who was involved in that decision. i was recused in that matter. i am not familiar with the reasons why. i'm simply not a part of the case. i don't know. i don't know. >> they must teach that technique in attorney general school. at first holder wouldn't even say that his deputy attorney general james cole issued the subpoena for the ap records before eventually confirming it under questioning. across town white house press secretary jay carney had some bobbing and weaving of his own to do over many of the exact same issues. carney says the white house is asking senator chuck schumer, democrat of new york, to reintroduce a media shield law that could have protected the associated press. >> the president's support for this kind of media shield law is well documented. it is long standing. and he does believe that it is appropriate to resubmit that legislation and to try to convert it into law at this time. >> of course, the obama administration is a big reason that media shield law was sheffieshell everybodied in the first place. schumer even said so. we haven't even gotten to the latest on the irs scandal yet. every single republican in the senate today sent a letter to the white house demanding full cooperation with the congressional investigation into how and why the irs targeted conservatives. i want to bring in cnn political contributor paul begala also a democratic strategist. paul, do you think the white house has any idea how bad things are right now? how it's not just something that's going to disappear? >> oh, yeah. they read the papers and read the wires and the internet. i'm quite sure they know they're in a bit of a storm. i think it's a good thing that, for example, the attorney general was up there testifying. now, unsatisfactory answers because he was recused from it. what i want to see is the deputy attorney general or whoever approved the subpoenas testifying. what i want to see is a legitimate inquiry into this irs thing. what i want to see and expect to see is the white house advocating that. put this all out. no fair minded person believes the president of the united states was directing low level employees of the irs in cincinnati to target conservatives. right? so don't act like it. don't be defensive. put it all out there. answer all the questions. >> that's the basic plot when it comes to crisis communication. >> right. >> let's talk about benghazi for a second. >> right. >> yesterday i broke -- i got an e-mail, ben rhodes e-mail, and i think it is obvious that the white house is going to have to release the e-mails to talk about the talking points. it's just going to have to happen. why didn't they do it after the election? i understand why they clammed up before the election. they're paranoid, political, they want to get re-elected. but november, december, shouldn't they have done a document of that? >> the sure answer is yes. but i don't know what's in there and you don't know. the most important thing for the president to do is protect national security. you don't want to do anything that compromises the sources -- >> redact the national security stuff. >> it is a good rule that anything you give to the hill at least half of whom of are your political adversaries is going to end up in the press anyway. >> they let the hill see it in december. why not go to one of their favorite reporters then or just the whole white house press corps and give them anything? >> anything you give to the hill is certain to wind up in the press. sometimes it looks like in this case you set the record straight, it looks like the first reporter who got this got it from a source who kind of had an ax to grind and misled that reporter. >> why not do that? >> they should. >> what are you going to recommend? you're going to the white house tomorrow to meet with the chief of staff. >> this is a long standing -- it's not about these scandals. >> i get it. >> should i be asked about it, yeah. i'd say what i'm telling you is you have to get out ahead of these things. you have to put everything out. there is another side of it, though. you cannot be too dismissive. you have to honor even if you think the motive is political. this is the legitimate role of congress to look into four diplomats being murdered in benghazi. that is a legitimate inquiry. this irs thing is very legitimate as an inquiry. so is the question of when we should subpoena journalists which should be almost never. this is legitimate. it is not like when i worked for bill clinton and right wing republicans were inspecting his christmas card list. you can't be obsessive either. he has a job to do. today he was honoring those slain law enforcement officers. i'm glad you showed that tape. i hope everybody else does. he still has to do his job. it's that balance between being obsessive and wallowing in it and on the other hand not being too dismissive. that's what we'll watch and see. >> thank you so much. cnn contributor. the benghazi scandal may not be as fresh as the irs and phone records seizures but rest assured the republicans haven't forgotten about it. to really understand the push and pull over the bungled talking points in the wake of the attack you have to understand the nature of the mission in benghazi. officially, the building, the presence of the u.s. there, was a diplomatic one. it is under the purview of the state department. but in practice, and this is what so few people have focused on, it was mostly like -- it was mostly a clandestine presence operated by the cia. was the u.s. presence in benghazi, libya largely diplomatic as the white house and others have described it? >> the diplomatic facility in benghazi would be closed until further notice. >> reporter: scratch beneath the surface and the answer seems fairly obvious. about 30 people were evacuated from benghazi the morning after the attack and more than 20 of them were cia employees. clearly, the larger mission in benghazi was covert. the cia had two objectives in libya. countering the terrorist threat that emerged as extremists poured into the unstable country, and helping to secure the flood of weapons after the fall of gadhafi. weapons that could have easily been funneled to terrorists. >> good morning, everybody. how are you? >> reporter: the state department was the public face of the weapons collection program. >> we had a concerted effort to try to track down and find and recover as many man pads and other very dangerous weapons as possible. >> reporter: but the cia's role during and after the attacks at the diplomatic post and the cia annex in benghazi have so far escaped much scrutiny. the focus has instead been on the failure of the state department to heed growing signs of the militant threat in the country and ensure adequate security and on the political debate over why the white house seemed to downplay what was a terrorist attack in the weeks before the presidential election. but republican congressman frank wolf says the public needs to know more about the cia's role. >> there are questions that must be asked of the cia and this must be done in a public way. >> reporter: sources at the state department say this context explains why there was so much debate over those talking points. essentially, they say, the state department felt it was being blamed for bungling what it saw as a largely cia operation in benghazi. current and former u.s. government officials tell cnn that then cia director david petraeus and others in the cia initially assessed the attack to have been related to protests against an antimuslim film and, officials say, petraeus may have been reluctant to conclude it was a planned terrorist attack, because that would have been acknowledging an intelligence failure. frank wolf says he and his office are getting calls from cia officials, who want to talk. >> if you're 50 years old and have two kids in college and a mortgage, you're not going to give your career up by coming in so you also need subpoena power. let people come forward, subpoena them to give them the protection so they can't be far. >> after the attack the cia was reluctant to acknowledge that the two navy seals, former navy seals killed at the annex in benghazi, tyrone woods and glen darty, worked for the cia. that is not always how it's done. with high profile attacks leading to cia deaths as with the attack on the cia boast in afghanistan in december, 2009, in which seven cia officials were killed, sometimes the cia publicly acknowledges and honors cia officials killed but that did not happen in this case. then cia director david patraeus did not attend the funerals of woods and doherty. obviously cia officers feel it imperative to keep their work in the shadows but that in this case may also keep some of the answers about benghazi in the dark as well. coming up, not a great week for the president but while the scandals swirl there is a little teenie bit of good news getting ground out, the deficit problem may be slowing -- not disappearing -- slowing. breaking news out of the arab world. an al qaeda backed suicide attack is foiled in egypt. the reported target? 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the hot seat. he's facing serious questions right now about the handling of the associated press telephone records and allegations the irs targeted conservative organizations. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm wolf blitzer reporting in washington. we're seeing a first today and it's happening right now inside a courtroom in las vegas. o.j. simpson, he is under oath on the stand and on camera for the first time in his long history of legal trouble. this is not a trial. it's a hearing, letting simpson argue his request for a new trial. he's four years into a 33-year sentence for armed robbery, assault and kidnapping. let's listen in right now. >> -- how much going to be and then just general other people. >> okay. so at the point where you're concluding your conversation with them and saying, thanks, but i don't really need you, you're still expecting stewart to come back and to bring other people to help? >> yeah, well, him and someone. by that time he told me a guy would be coming over -- that the guy might be coming over to the hotel. >> okay. and you heard the trial testimony from mr. mcclinton and mr. alexander regarding you asking them to bring weapons when they came to help you. did that conversation happen? >> absolutely not true. not at all. >> okay. so there was no weapon talk at that time other than -- >> other than he told me that i guess he felt that that showed he was legit. >> okay. and if i'm understanding right, he wanted to be security? >> yes. >> okay. and at that point, did you have any arrangement with them that they would be helping you? >> no. none at all. >> so then what happens next? >> well, i'm still in the room. i'm now being told by stewart that these guys, it doesn't look like they are going to be getting back for a while. stewart said that mcclintock and alexander, you know they said they'll help. and i voiced my concern about alexand alexander. and stewart said you can trust mcclintock, didn't he show you? i said, yeah, why is he so hung up on being my security? he keeps hammering about being my security. he says, o.j., you forget who you are. he can put on his resume that he did security work for you. i told him that made sense to me. so i got -- i don't know if i had the number, maybe it was already on my phone. i called them and said i might need them. and they said, well, call me -- call us back if you do. and as we -- man, i waited as long as i can wait. i even had left the room and gone downstairs at the bar in front of the hotel hoping these guys would drive up before i finally call them and told them i needed them. and when i said that, mcclintock said i'm there as your security. say i'm there as your security. i said, okay, man, you're there as my security. but these guys aren't really bad guys. >> okay. so when you're down at the bar, do you know what time you go down to the bar? >> it had to be 5:00 or 6:00. >> what time was mr. stewart supposed to be back to meet up with you? >> i thought 4:00, 4:30. >> okay. how long did you actually end up waiting at the bar before you determined to take some other course of action? then wait for mr. stewart, i mean. >> well, i had been waiting for him in my room for a while. but then when i went down to the bar, i met charles. and at some point in there this cash moore guy walked up and introduced himself. and we must have been there about 45 minutes, i would think. we had enough to have a couple of drinks at the bar. i bought him a drink. and some people came up, you know, wanting to buy me a drink. just normal. >> okay. so do you recall what you were drinking? >> at the bar i think it was jack on the rocks. >> all right. and how soon do you leave after you had these couple drinks? >> well, it got nuts. it really got kind of crazy because they were panicking over at the hotel, the other hotel, which turns out to be the palace station. i was panicking because i had -- what was i going to put this stuff in? stewart had an suv. and as you said i'm looking at the limo, do i use the limo or -- >> let me ask you this, would you have driven a car yourself at that point? >> no. i didn't think about renting a car myself. i wouldn't drive a car. >> was that because you were drinking? >> yes. >> okay. so who is with you when stewart finally pulls up? >> i was standing -- we were standing literally lost, myself, cashmore and urlich when they drove up. i went over to the car and tom got out and said he was really tired. i said don't worry about it, man, cause i'm looking at cashmore there -- >> all right. we're going to break away from o.j. simpson's testimony. he's answering questions from his own personal criminal defense attorney patricia palm. let's get some analysis. paul callan is joining us from new york. he's one of our legal analysts. also danny cevallos is joining us, a criminal defense attorney in philadelphia. paul, first to you. as you know, o.j. simpson is blaming his own lawyer for losing this case four years ago. and he's now spending 33 years in jail. he didn't testify then, so why is he testifying now? >> well, it's very interesting. the only time he actually had testified, it was a very minor case of road rage case in florida. that's where he met yale galanter, who is now his personal attorney and plays a major part in this case. he's saying that galanter basically was orchestrating his defense in the robbery case, told him not to take the witness stand, there are other allegations that galanter was making a lot of money and he didn't share enough of the money with the local las vegas council to give o.j. simpson a fair defense. and finally, o.j. is saying that galanter basically told him that because he was retrieving property, personal property that actually belonged to o.j. simpson, it would not be a robbery or illegal for him to have done that. so he's attacking the advice of his attorney. he says the attorney didn't tell him that there was a plea offer. told him not to take the witness stand. so the judge has said, you know, i'm going to have a hearing on this. we're going to have a testimony of all the lawyers and o.j. simpson to get to the bottom of it. it's called a habeas corpus proceeding. that's what we're looking at. very unusual to see o.j. on the stand. >> it certainly is, for those of us who have watched him over the years going back to when he was a football player and then movie star. danny, let me bring you into this conversation. one of the arguments he's making is he had legal malpractice, if you will, from his lawyer during this case in the sense that the prosecution supposedly offered a plea deal, he would serve a year in jail in exchange for pleading guilty, that yale galanter rejected that supposedly o.j. wasn't even informed of that plea arrangement. as a result he's seeking this hearing now arguing he was not well-represented by his lawyer. he deserves another trial. what do you make of that argument? >> well, i think it's probably strongest in a host of not-so-strong arguments. it's maybe the best of the worst. the defense attorney has an obligation to mitigate every plea offer made. i have to do it all the time. letter, visitation, however you can get that offer communicated, it's critically important. however, that being said almost daily thousands and thousands of petitions are filed alleging ineffective assistance of council. it is not unusual. and also it's a very difficult case to make because the law understands that attorneys make certain strategic decisions, not all attorneys are created equal. however, those strategic decisions if they have a bad result do not necessarily mean ineffective assistance of council. the conflict of interest although this is an unusual factual case where the attorney was involved prior to andkoun c high burden to meet for o.j., however this is not your normal assistance. if o.j. can establish the attorney was directly involved in this sort of heist, which is the word i'm using, there may be something there. however, overall very difficult habeas petition to make. people need to understand this is not a trial we're watching. this is just a hearing where o.j. has to climb a very steep hill to have a court decide whether or not he gets a new trial. >> very quickly, paul, if in fact it is proven in this hearing that, you know, the lawyer yale galanter did not inform his client o.j. simpson about this potential plea agreement, a year in jail as opposed to the 33 years he eventually got once he was convicted, is that enough to reopen this whole case? >> yes, it could very well be. there are about two or three points that are -- that have been raised in this. if the judge finds in simpson's favor, she could order a new trial. it's a serious proceeding. the one thing i would just end with is that galanter being involved financially with o.j. simpson is a big point. simpson is saying, you know, he didn't want me to take the stand. he didn't want to spend money on my defense because he has a financial interest in my career. you know, when lawyers get involved financially and in a business way with people they represent, they often get into trouble. and that's what simpson's focusing on here, that claim. >> all right. we'll see what the attorney yale galanter says about this as well because he's right at the heart of this appeal that o.j. is undertaking right now. guys, don't go too far away. we're going to continue to monitor what's happening in this courtroom. but let's go to phoenix right now. another courtroom where the same jurors who convicted jodi arias of first-degree murder must now decide whether she lives or dies. to get a death verdict, prosecutors have to convince jurors that arias killed her ex-boyfriend travis alexander in a cruel or especially depraved way. dramatic and potentially graphic testimony expected today from the medical examiner. we'll have a live report from phoenix. that's coming up shortly. here in washington the attorney general eric holder, he's on the hot seat right now up on capitol hill. he faces some serious questions about those phone records the justice department secretly collected from the associated press. holder's about to testify before the house judiciary committee. the justice department defends the seizure of the phone records. officials saying it was part of an investigation into what they described as a major national security leak with american lives at stake. our crime and justice correspondent joe johns is following these late breaking developments for us. joe, how potentially damaging is all of this to the obama administration and the president's critically important second term agenda? >> well, certainly, wolf, there's a problem here for this administration. the first problem of course is just the question of getting off the ball and getting ahead of controversies like this instead of having to react to them. that's something the obama administration certain ly has nt been good at so far. in the long-term a lot of this remains to be seen. because what we have is two investigations. we have the irs investigation as well as the associated press investigation. these are things that the attorney general can invoke the fact it's an ongoing situation and he can't comment. he's also recused himself. sounds like it's not going to be very satisfying for this committee. and there are a lot of unanswered questions we're going to have to hear more about down the road, wolf. >> so will he be able to simply say i recuse myself, i don't really know anything about it since i myself was questioned about this leak, is that going to satisfy members of congress? >> it's a tough position for this attorney general to be in. and as you know he's been in many tough positions before committees on capitol hill. he's had a lot of critics there especially as you'll remember during the fast and furious investigation called a scandal by many over gun running out of mexico. so he's been in this position before. they have been tough on him. and i expect he's probably not going to -- he's probably going to take as good as he gets, wolf. >> on the irs investigation, the president has now received a letter from all 45 republicans in the senate saying they want a lot of documents, they want a complete investigation. as you know, republicans especially they think someone or some people should go to jail as a result of what's going on in the irs investigation. i know holder's going to be questioned about all of these kinds of related issues. that seems to be escalating the intensity of the anger on this irs specifically going after conservative tea party groups. >> it certainly does seem to be escalating. and we've been asking around as to what individuals might be charged with in this situation after this fbi investigation is complete. our sources have told us the first thing they'd be looking at is whether there were any false statements made, either to members of congress or perhaps later to investigators. there's been some talk also of possible charges or investigation into breaking the laws of civil rights. so a couple opportunities there, but if you talk to legal scholars, they will tell you that in previous administrations both republican and democrat there have been similar charges leveled before on these types of matters relating to the irs. and a lot of times it didn't go anywhere, wolf. >> and holder yesterday announce that had a criminal investigation is underway to determine if any laws were in fact broken as far as this irs scandal is concerned. joe is going to be following this hearing for us throughout the day. criticism of the obama administration is coming from some members of his own party. congressman charlie wrangle says president obama owes the public an explanation about the a.p. phone records and the irs scandal. he'll join me live today 5:00 p.m. eastern "the situation room." and chairman darrell issa, he's planning his own hearing next week on the irs scandal. congressman issa also will be in "the situation room." that will happen during our 6:00 p.m. eastern hour. here's a question, does jodi arias deserve to be put to death for brutally murdering her ex-boyfriend? 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[ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. as we mentioned, we're watching a number of high profile court cases. right now, o.j. simpson, he's on the stand in las vegas. he's trying to get a new trial on robbery, assault and kidnapping charges from 2007. simpson says he received bad legal advice from his lead attorney four years ago. currently he's serving a 33-year prison term. they're taking a break right now. they'll resume that hearing shortly. just a few minutes ago jodi arias returned to a phoenix courtroom for a critical phase of her trial. the same jurors who convicted her of first-degree murder will now be deciding whether she deserves to die for killing her ex-boyfriend travis alexander. but before they make that decision, they must determine if arias was cruel when she committed the murder. ted rowlands is joining us from outside the courthouse in phoenix right now. ted, arias stabbed alexander, what, nearly 30 times, she slit his throat from ear-to-ear, she shot him. that sounds pretty cruel to me. so will prosecutors have to lay out even more evidence of brutality? >> yes, wolf, they will. this is basically a little minitrial where jurors will listen to first the coroner we believe will take the stand. and we're just watching the judge give initial instructions to the jury now. we believe it will be the coroner and possibly a detective. and what the prosecution will lay out exactly what you said in more detail to express to this jury this was especially cruel. they'll deliberate that. if they agree with the state, then she's eligible for the death penalty. >> so when can we expect a decision on this second phase of the trial? >> as early as today. we're only expecting one to two witnesses. it's a relatively short proceeding. and immediately after both sides have finished with miniclosing arguments, the injury will have this portion of the case and they could decide relatively quickly because there won't be a lot to discuss, but it all depends on how much decision time it takes once they arrive at a decision one way or another, if they say yes, then she's eligible for death penalty. we step into the next phase. if they say no, then their job is over and the judge will sentence jodi arias either to life in prison with or without parole. that will come 30 to 60 days after the jury is finished. >> we'll see what the decision is today presumably. standby for that. ted, appreciate it. here's more of what we're working on in "cnn newsroom" this hour. we're learning more disturbing details about what one of the cleveland kidnapping victims went through allegedly at the hands of ariel castro. plus, his former daughter-in-law speaking out about how castro allegedly abused his own son and wife years ago. n: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ it's hard to describe, because you have a numbness, but yet you have the pain like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point i knew i had to do something. once i started taking the lyrica the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eyesight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. we're getting disturbing new details on the condition of the women rescued after years of alleged captivity inside ariel castro's home. a family friend of victim michelle knight says she was castro's main punching bag. and that's a quote. the friend says castro abused knight with every and anything including hand weights. as a result she suffered vision loss, joint and muscle damage and has other physical issues right now. according to the friend, amanda berry was treated slightly better than the other two girls and knight was treated the worst. the former daughter-in-law of ariel castro says she steered clear of the ohio kidnapping suspect because of stories she heard about his abusive nature. monica stevens talked to our piers morgan. >> what kind of man was he? >> i never had the desire to get to know him personally or very closely. both my ex-husband and his mother had shared with me stories of how he had beaten them, locked them in the house. you know, just treated them like hostages. so i never had a desire to get to know him. he didn't have that like, you know, father-in-law appeal. >> castro faces charges of rape and kidnapping in connection with the alleged ten-year abduction of amanda berry, gina dejesus and michelle knight. a ang lee na jolie planning to have her ovaries removed. jolie got a preventive double mastectomy in february followed by reconstructive surgery. she carries a gene mutation that substantially increases her chances of getting breast and ovarian cancer. sources tell "people" magazine she'll get her ovaries removed as soon as possible rvelgts as two more victims of the boston bombings are released from the hospital, the city's fire chief is getting slammed for his actions immediately following the bombings. you're going to hear why his deputy chiefs are calling him out. i'm here at my house on thanksgiving day, and i have a massive heart attack right in my driveway. the doctor put me on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go talk to your doctor. you're not indestructible anymore. walmart has some great lunch options. a meal like this costs less than $4.25 per serving. if you swap out lunch just 3 times per week, you could save over 475 bucks a year. yeah? save on lean cuisine backed by the low price guarantee. walmart. inside a courtroom in las vegas o.j. simpson is making his case for a new trial. he's currently serving a 33-year sentence for armed robbery, assault and kidnapping. simpson says he received bad legal advice from his lawyer four years ago. let's listen to what he said just a little while ago during this hearing. >> so at this dinner, what's the conversation between you and mr. galanter? >> yeah. well, we talked about the wedding, tom getting married. this came up, what was going to happen tomorrow. i explained to him what i was going to try to have charlie do, to go in to verify it was my stuff and to try to get more -- see if he could get more personal out of the guys. i didn't think these guys would have everything laying around. i was hoping that maybe one of my watches or rings or something would show up. someone mentioned, i think cj, mentioned -- my daughter, mentioned was the suit going to be there. i said if that suit's there i'm going to take it and burn it. and yale, this is what i remember, you are not burning that suit. told me i was not going to burn that suit. to bring that suit to him. i said, man, these guys, they inflate everything. if this suit was worth what they're saying it was worth, they would have sold it a long time ago. he said, no, and he implied somebody that he knew was interested in buying it. >> we're going to continue to monitor this hearing that o.j. simpson is having. he's trying to reopen his case. today is also one month since the boston marathon bombings. two more patients have been released from the hospital, rose anne discharged from spalding rehabilitation hospital yesterday. boston firefighters escorted her to her home. she lost part of her right leg in the bombing. paul norton also released from boston hospital yesterday. he and his brother were severely injured in the attack. they each lost a leg. meantime, the city's fire chief is being criticized for the way he handled the bombings. jason carroll has a closer look. >> these are some very serious allegations being made against boston's fire chief. the allegations coming from 13 out of 14 of the deputy fire chiefs. they basically say that he was shirking his responsibilities the day of the boston marathon and that he failed to assume command. these allegations being made in a letter of no confidence mailed to boston's mayor. let me read you part of the letter. it set e says at a time when the city of boston needed every first responder to take decisive action, chief barerra failed to get involved in operational decision-making or show any leadership. you can unequivocally consider this letter a vote of no confidence. he basically feels a lot of this is infighting coming from his deputy chiefs. he feels these allegations are being made against him because he's an outsider. he came in from dallas about two years ago. he said he made some departmental changes to bring the department up to national standards that were not popular. and he says as a result of that he is constantly being criticized by some in the lower ranks. he responded by saying "in their estimation they believe that if you don't assume command, you don't have responsibility there for what goes on. i tried to explain to them, if i'm on the scene, i'm still responsible. that's it. but they don't believe it." sheaf abraira also made it clear to me that he said at least four deputy fire chiefs were here at the scene and handled the situation well. he says it's his responsibility to step in only if his deputy chiefs aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing. the mayor also weighing in on this basically saying that he has full confidence in the fire commissioner whatever happens. jason carroll, cnn, boston. for the second time this month a u.s. service member who worked in a sexual assault prevention program has been accused of sex crimes. we're taking a closer look at these serious allegations. enien. so here are a few reasons to choose university of phoenix. our average class size is only 14 students. our financial tools help you make smart choices about how to pay for school. our faculty have, on average, over 16 years of field experience. we'll help you build a personal career plan. we build programs based on what employers are looking for. our football team is always undefeated. and leading companies are interested in our graduates. we'll even help you decorate your new office. ok. let's get to work. in california, a 12-year-old boy accused of killing his 8-year-old sister is due in court next hour. leila fowler was stabbed multiple times in her family's home late last month. the children's mother called 911 to report that her children were afraid because a man had broken into their home. here's a portion of that call. >> hi, 9-1-1, how can i help you? >> my children are at home alone and a man just ran out of our house. my older son was in the bathroom and my daughter started screaming. >> says he will be tried as a juvenile. it's a growing problem for the u.s. military, the number of allegations of sexual assaults within its ranks now on the rise. and it also now appears another scandal is breaking, this time at ft. hood in texas. the coordinator is under investigation for sexual assault. a defense department official says initial indications show that at least one person may have been forced into prostitution-related activity, but the matter remains under investigation. the sergeant first class has been suspended of all duties. u.s. officials are remaining tight-lipped right now about russia's claim that it detained an american spy. russia's foreign ministry summoned the u.s. ambassador in moscow this morning to talk about the situation. michael mcfall left a short time later without any comment to reporters. russia claims this man was trying to recruit a double agent who's name is ryan fogel and he's a political officer at the u.s. embassy. russian officials said fogel had a spy arsenal. video shows a number of wigs, recording devices, cash and plastic bags with documents. russia has ordered his expulsion. video games, touch screen computers, interactive pod beds, sounds like an arcade, right? actually, it's a children's hospital. cnn's carol costello shows us how they're finding new ways to treat pain. >> paige is doing some high-tech rehab. interactive video games are just one of several innovative techniques being used at the newly open pain medication care complex in washington. >> this is where we engage video and gaming technology. >> plotken was diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome when she was a freshman in high school. games like this are engineered to target dimpt areas of a patient's body while distracting them from discomfort. >> how do you feel as you do this? >> not as -- i'm not thinking of the pain as much as i usually do for sure. >> while paige pushes herself, the system is providing realtime feedback to her physical therapist who can adjust treatment on the fly. >> you're going to have to lean on that foot back and forth. >> the game room isn't the only tech twist you'll find at this facility. there's no more waiting room. here it's dubbed a learning oasis complete with touch screen computers. >> it helps you relax. >> and patients rest in a pod bed that measures biofeedback. lights change along with body temperature. and music and aroma therapy can added to help them cope with pain and stress as they sleep. >> we hope over time we will develop more games and more technology that allow us to keep moving forward in this area. >> carol costello, cnn, atlanta. u.s. stocks right now back in record territory after hitting another high on tuesday. take a look at this. but how can we be doing so well when the eurozone apparently in the terrible recession right now. we'll take a closer look. [ kitt ] you know what's impressive? a talking car. but i'll tell you what impresses me. a talking train. this ge locomotive can tell you exactly where it is, what it's carrying, while using less fuel. delivering whatever the world needs, when it needs it. ♪ after all, what's the point of talking if you don't have something important to say? ♪ how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ walmart and the gap say they will not, repeat not, sign an international deal to increase safety standards in bangladesh. the five-year plan calls for independent safety inspections and reports to be made public. companies currently hire their own inspectors and results aren't usually publicized. walmart says it's inspecting all of its 279 factories in bangladesh and make results public. meanwhile, gap says it wants to sign the agreement, but it does not want the pact to be legally binding. right now pvh, which is the company that owns tommy hilfiger and calvin klein the only company to sign the agreement. most of the companies that have signed are from europe. turning to wall street where investors remain very much on a roll. stocks are on record highs, but just how long will the market keep this kind of momentum up? alison kosik is joining us from the new york stock exchange right now. alison, how is the u.s. market reacting to the news that the european union is back in recession? >> interesting you ask that because the broader market as you can see is taking it in stride. we are seeing some individual stocks, wolf, getting hit by the news. tech company hewelett packard is one of those. shares down almost 3%. hp is one of the many companies during the first quarter earning seasons reported it had weak sales in europe and that hurt their overall sales. funny thing is not much seems to be able to put the brakes on this rally. the dow, s&p 500, both headed for yet another record high. look at the dow, it's closed at a record high 19 times so far this year, going for number 20 today. wolf. >> people are making money in their 401(k)s and elsewhere. all of the optimism, alison, on wall street, what's it based on? i ask the question because there are concerns as you well know a lot of this could come crashing down. >> that's a good point. traders never like it when they see this trade going, you know, straight up or straight down. investors have actually been looking for some kind of pullback for months, but rally just keeps showing little signs of slowing down. keep in mind stocks are being in part propped up by the fed's stimulus dollars, but also higher corporate profits are also keeping stocks higher. and that strength is what will hopefully keep the market from falling too far too fast when the trend does inevitably turn lower. and just because the trade continues to move higher for the folks down on the floor who are actually trading these stocks, you know, one trader says it this way, he says greed keeps you from selling, and the record highs make it hard to find stocks to buy. believe it or not, some traders are having a hard time finding the wiggle room they usually have. wolf. >> we'll see if that negative trend in europe spills over here. we'll monitor that closely. alison, thanks very much. here in washington on capitol hill right now the attorney general of the united states eric holder is facing serious questions about those phone records the justice department seized from the associated press and facing questions on a wide range of other issues as well. holder is testifying before the house judiciary committee. here's what he said just a few moments ago about those a.p. phone records. >> a lot of criticism, in fact, the head of the rnc called for my resignation in spite of the fact i was not the person involved in that decision. but be that as it may, i was recused in that matter as i described i guess in a press conference i held yesterday the decision to issue this subpoena was made by the people who are presently involved in the case. the matter is being supervised by the deputy attorney general. i am not familiar with the reasons why the subpoena was constructed in the way that it was because i'm simply not a part of the case. >> we're going to continue to monitor the hearing up on capitol hill. we'll keep you updated of course on the latest developments. feces, profanity and urine sprayed at them on the job. for the first time ever, guards at guantanamo bay in cuba are talking exclusively to cnn about ga guarding gitmo's most exe dangerous. we're on the ground at gitmo. plus, boston red sox slugger david ortiz is turning some of his colorful language into help for the victims of the boston marathon bombing. you're going to find out how. that's next right here in "cnn newsroom." 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. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam 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 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your accent needs a little work. ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it. shortly after the boston bombings, the red sox slugger david ortiz had a message to the terrorists. this is our, his words, blanking, city. he didn't say the word blanking. but now ortiz is using that colorful language to raise some serious money for the bombing victims. joe carter has the bleacher report. >> yeah, wolf. basically david ortiz is taking that memorable quote and printing it on baseball bats and selling them for charity. we remember that moment, just after the boston bombings when ortiz stood in front of the fenway crowd and had no problem saying exactly what was on his mind. now, ortiz and the company that makes his current bats are partnering up to make these bats. not only does the bat have the quote, it also has a silhouette of ortiz pointing to the sky and the words never forget and boston strong. now, unsigned bats are going for 125 bucks. autographed ones are going for $500. you can purchase them on his website, big papi.com. 100% of the proceeds go to the bombing victims. let's talk basketball, the new york knicks, they're in trouble after last night's loss. 11-point loss to indiana. the knicks are down 3-1. carmelo anthony had 24 points, smith had 19. the rest of the knicks, ice cold. indiana's george hill, on the other hand, had another solid game. he's been the driving force behind the pacers playoff success so far. the most competitive playoff series is the spurs and the warriors. last night, anything but competitive because the old man spurs ran the floor like they were in their early 20s. they hammered golden state, one of the youngest teams in the nba. beat them by 18 points. san antonio is now in control, 3-2. game six shifts back to oakland and that's thursday night. for all things nba playoffs, go to bleacherreport.com. back to you, wolf. >> thanks very much. we're getting news just coming into the "cnn newsroom," want to bring in cnn's drew griffin. drew, the irs scandal is escalating. a lot of officials up on capitol hill, they want names. they want to know who was responsible for targeting tea party groups, conservative organizations, for specific treatment in order to get tax exempt status. you're learning some new information. tell our viewers what you're picking up. >> reporter: not the names yet, but the number of employees apparently involved, wolf. two employees. this coming from a congressional source who is telling us that the acting commissioner of the irs apparently identified two employees who, quote, according to the irs commissioner were off the reservation. the congressional source is telling us the acting irs commissioner has pinpointed these two rogue employees, that's a quote, in the agency as being principally responsible for overly aggressive handling of tea party requests for tax exempt status over the past two years. in a capitol hill meeting, the acting commissioner described the employees as i said as off the reservation. not clear to us, wolf, exactly what the quote/unquote rogue behavior involves. we do have another source that is familiar with the discussions with congressional investigators who said that miller disclosed the two staffs her already been disciplined and the second source said miller emphasized the problem with the irs handling of the tax exempt status were tea party groups was not limited to just these two people. wolf, we do know that the acting commissioner did meet with the senate finance chair, that's max baucus on tuesday to discuss an appearance before congress. we were able to -- able to track down senator baucus in the hallway, who told us he did not learn as much from that meeting as he would have liked. but he did tell the commissioner that it was in his best interest to be totally cooperative, that often the cover-up is worse than the initial allegations. we did reach out to the irs, wolf, we're waiting for any kind of comment. we'll pass that along. right now we're learning that apparently two employees, two irs employees, pinpointed at that cincinnati office, as being possibly the main targets in this entire irs scandal. >> i suspect a lot of republicans, especially, but there are a bunch of democrats outraged by this as well. they're going to suggest this may just be the tip of the iceberg, if you will. they're going to want to see who else could be implicated in this. i know you're working it, ted barrett, our capitol hill producer, our entire team, we'll get more information, share it with our viewers. thanks very much, drew griffin, on the scene for us, reporting. o.j. simpson takes the stand, trying to get himself a new trial. the imprisoned football legend trying to get his robbery, assault and kidnapping convictions thrown out. he was convicted, spending 33 years in jail. we'll listen in to his testimony throughout the day. 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[ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. hello i'm ashleigh banfield reporting live in phoenix for special coverage of a blockbuster day involving courtroom drama and -- it is all happening at this very moment. first, the jodi arias trial. she's in court for a mini trial of sorts. this is the first part of her sentencing phase in her criminal trial. it will decide whether she gets life in prison or death. in washington, eric holder is being grilled on a couple of scandals that are rocking the obama administration right now. we're going to begin in las vegas where america's most famous defendant officially speaks. o.j. simpson taking the stand. and o.j. appears wearing prison blues with his feet shackled and originally his hands shackled, but his right hand freed. he's testified now for nearly two hours in his effort to win a brand-new robbery and kidnapping