members of the united states congress, people in imported positions of power who are pointing fingers at individuals working in this government making allegations or spreading innuendo about them without any direct evidence. they're dragging people's names and reputations through the mud. these are the five members of congress we're talking about. over the weekend, they've got a new and powerful ally seem. he refers to congressman bachman and the others as the national security five. he blames political correctness to the threat. he goes on. the national security five are doing their duty and asking difficult questions designed to make america safer. asking the difficult question, he says. he says that critics are the five, in his words, the kind of willful blindness that keeps america at risk. now, they've named these two to investigate muslim brotherhood infiltration. on the left is a member of president obama's homeland security advisory council. on the right is hillary clinton. now, we learned late last week that both have received threats since being named. now, some top republicans have been raised. >> allegations about the reports from which they are drawn are nothing less than an unwarranted and unfounded attack on an honorable citizen, a dedicated american and a loyal, public servant. >> now, the bachman 5 web site claims to connect in a following very convoluted way. the web site alsz makes allegations against her brother and mother. now, as a top aid to the secretary of state, ms. abadine has a security clearance and has undergone extensive background checks. mr. abriari was cleared by security officials when the allegations first surfaced months ago. now, last fall, he was given an award for his extraordinary contributions in specific cases in support of the counter terrorism mission. we have looked into it and the f.b.i. has looked in to it and found no credible evidence. >> nor have colleagues provided credible evidence. we've asked them five times and each time they've all refused. what they keep saying is they're not really making allegations at all. just asking questions. remember, newt gingrich also said so in his political piece and said so again today. >> i think all they ask for is an investigation. i think it's totally legitimate to ask that question. >> see, no one is saying anything. >> what i think these members of congress have done is simply raise the question. >> just raising questions. when asked by charlie rosen whether he thought congressman bachman was out of line, congressman canter said no. >> if you read some of the reports that have covered the story, i think her concern was about the country. >> they all are defending their tactics to interviewers they are, perhaps, more comfortable with. >> i wish that some of these numb nuts would go out there and read the letter before they make these horrible allegations about the horrible accusations we're making. the letters name names and con neblgt those names to sinister plots. what they don't do is supply any direct evidence that justifies putting anyone in the spotlight. some late reporting on the story. also on the phone is john esposito, professor of religion and international affairs at georgetown yumpblt. you've got some information about a closed door meeting in which there appears to be a crack in the security. what v you heard? >> anderson, well, publicly, they're being unapologetic. but privately, at least one is expressing some regret. i was told that trent franks of arizona stood up in a meeting last week at the republican study committee. and he told his colleagues that they maybe should nt have singled out abadine by name. it was confirmed by two other republicans. what i'm told is that franks said his regret was mostly in using the name and that it overshadowed the general point that they were trying to make. i should also say franks told republican colleagues that he still stands behind that question and what he wants the inspectors general across the government to investigate. you know, you talked about the fact that republican leaders, at least some of them, have really shunned this leader. i talked to a pretty conservative congressman today who said a lot of us, conservatives like me, are saying are you kidding me? they're idiots for making this mistake. why go after hillary's body person without having rock solid evidence. >> you said this whole thing was a wake up call. how so? >> well, i think what it really points to, and i think that the events of the so called mosque at ground zero, that, you know, we have a kind of deep anti-muslim here in the united states. if you look at poland, you find out that a considerable number of people are willing to believe anything about islam and muslims. people like newt gingrich slated that for political reasons. you know, in your comments, which are really interesting to me, is that what you kept saying and what most people keep saying, in effect, is where's the beef? these people make claims all of the time. and, like most racists and antisemimites, there's no obligation placed on them to demonstrate what my undergraduates say any statement you make is an assertion, unless you can provide hard evidence. and i think going after that -- and i think that conserve tef republican is the most agreejous indication of what our problem is. this is a woman who was born and raised here, had all kinds of security cleerps worked for the secretary of state and would not be seen as anybody who's particularly soft on terrorism. she's in the right place with regard to many people. i would disagree, at times, with regard to israel and palestine. she is a muslim, but it's not as if she's anybody who speaks out publicly, et cetera. so to target her, one has to ask the question why. >> i imagine it's got a chilling effect on just muslims working at all levels of the u.s. government who suddenly, i assume, by these congress people, i assume they are as well. at a time we are fighting a war and we need people in the government who are a dincht phase. >> if you take a look at the obama administration, and let me say this ahead of time, i was a strong supporter of president obama. but the reality of it isn't with regard to the obama administration, elections and appointments, where are there muslims in the government? they are not. the president has never visited a mosque in the united states. so there's a tremendous sensitivity to talk about there's some sort of infiltration within the government is really absurd. and part of what demonstrators, that the reality of it is that we don't want to face it. that we have a real problem in the u.s. the problem is we are brush stroke i stroking the vast majority of muslims and sending a message to not only them, but to some politicians that you don't want to appoint anybody with that kind of name or look. the fact is, if they are a muslim, you can wind up with these kind of allegations. people like mccane and the intelligence committees themselves, some of bachman's own colleagues, the real question becomes why isn't the media every day in response to this, not just talking about the story, but just con stantly saying to them, what is your evidence on anything that you are saying? >> does this play to congresswoman's base? and gomar's base? and then bringing them back to, you know, countries in the middle east where they're raised up as terrorists for 20 years and then come back to the united states to attack us 20 years from now. >> is this just playing to the base? >> oh, it's very much playing to the base. when i talked to senior republican lawmaker who just said point-blank to me, anderson, focusing on the story. >> it's a great gift because it really riles up the circles that they have. it's important to them that really thinks that they are doing the right thing here. and on that note, i've talked to other aides about this, as well. just on the substance of what they're trying to do, they actually think that they're canaries in the coal mine. that they're trying to raise an issue that maybe 4, 5, 10 years from now is going to be an a ha moment. in fact, one aid said to me that they're like winston churchi talking aba threat that nobody sees. let us know what you think. we're at facebook. follow me at twitter. let's talk about this on twitter right now. up next, raw politics making overseas trip. will the tough talk help in november? and what does the tone reveal by the kind of foreign policy president he'd be. we'll be right back. i was having trouble getting out of bed in the morning because my back hurt so bad. the sleep number bed conforms to you. i wake up in the morning with no back pain. i can adjust it if i need to...if my back's a little more sore. and by the time i get up in the morning, i feel great! if you have back pain, toss and turn at night or wake up tired with no energy, the sleep number bed could be your solution. the sleep number bed's secret is it's air chambers which provide ideal support and put you in control of the firmness. and the bed is perfect for couples because each side adjusts independently to their unique sleep number. here's what clinical research has found: 93% of participants experienced back-pain relief. 90% reported reduced aches and pains. 87% fell asleep faster and enjoyed more deep sleep. for study summaries, call this number now. we'll include a free dvd and brochure about the sleep number bed including prices, and models plus a free $50 savings card. and how about this? 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>> well, there's no question, but in terms of geopolitics, i'm talking about votes at the united nations. and actions of a geopolitical nature. russia is the number one adversary in that regard. it doesn't make them an enemy. it doesn't make them a combatant. they don't represent the number one national security threat. the number one national security threat of course to our nation is a nuclear iran. >> mr. romney has drawn praise from conservatives for his line on iran as well as his vocal support on israel. how will it affect his chance in november if at all? what does it say in how he'd run foreign policy if elected? let's talk about the raw politics with ari fleischer. an unpaid occasional adviser to the romney campaign. and also with us cornell belcher, a pollster for the obama 2012 campaign. do you think romney did what he needed to do overseas? >> in israel, he certainly did. even though i think it's been exaggerated, he did commit a mistake in england and it cost him the opportunity to bask in the glow of the olympics. but if he was running for prime minister, it might hurt him. he's running for president. in israel, i think he knocked it out of the ballpark. i think if the issue there is the impact this trip will have on the jewish community in the united states, calling jerusalem the capital is what those american jews who vote on the basis of foreign policy and defense will remember from this trip and also today of course giving him a virtual endorsement. that's the power of the trip for him. >> cornell, one of your campaign surrogates, former ambassador questioned romney's ability to be commander in chief. saying if he can't engage our allies on a simple topic like the olympics, how will he be tough enough to stand up against our enemies like iran? in fact, he articulated policy. it sounded pretty similar to president obama's. is that really, then a fair criticism? >> here's the problem. cnn's been covering it for two days now. it is gaffe after gaffe. you leave israel after insulting the palestinians. and here's the problem, if you're, in fact, president romney, the problem is, you've now offended the palestinians. and they don't see you as a fair arbitrary. so in fact president romney would set the peace process back in the middle east. step back from sort of the politics back and forth of it. from a campaign standpoint, i know we want to say this one incident or that one incident this gaffe or that gaffe, isn't problematic. at this point, it's become accumulative. there is an aggregate problem here, after gaffe after gaffe. at some point from just a purely campaign standpoint, i have to pile on. like some of -- the campaign itself is problematic because some of these statements coming out right now should have never been green lighted. like the whole line of -- the cultural line with the palestinian stuff. someone along the process should have said, there's a way to talk about israeli exceptionalism without offending its neighbors around them. so that becomes problematic. no, you're not going to sort of win the presidency on foreign policy. this trip has not helped him. >> part of this i guess is making inroads among jewish-american vote. which i guess if you look at polls, traditionally has gone toward obama. is this -- do you think he won over some jewish-american voters? >> some. here's the equation. i'm on the board of the republican jewish coalition. i was just over in israel registering americans to vote. the jewish votes overwhelmingly vote democratic. the republicans are not going to get a majority. the question is, how big inroads can they get. if barack obama gets between 25% and 30% of the jewish vote, if he loses 3-1 is huge victory for republicans. it means florida goes republican. ohio likely goes republican. if he breaks 30%, those two states are in the bag and pennsylvania likely goes republican. that's the margin this race could come down to. especially if it's close. >> cornell, do you think he made inroads with jewish-american voters? >> i think it's tough to say he made inroads. the think the major news coming over the last two days has been about gaffe's. most of the press that's been covering right now -- i don't even know what his statements on israel is because everything i read is about the gaffes. what ari says is important. we're increasingly becoming a country of minorities. i think the republicans more broadly have to start competing for more of these minority votes, be it jewish voters or hispanic voters, especially in these key battleground states, if they're going to be a majority party. >> you got to read more than the huffington post here. that's why you've been reading about the gaffes, i think. >> well, they're -- >> the daily caller or something. we got to leave it here. thanks very much. the disabled veterans charity that's refused to answer our questions on camera, they're now bashing our reporting on twitter and their website. cnn's drew griffin has been investigating them for two years. response to their claims ahead on the program. syou know, i've helped a lot off people save a lot of money. but today...( sfx: loud noise of large metal object hitting the ground) things have been a little strange. 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(sfx: loud thud sound) what a strange place. geico®. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. the u.s. hadn't won gold in over 100 years. but thanks to them... and her... and especially this guy, all those years were just a prologue to this. ♪ it's amazing how far you can go with a little help along the way. td ameritrade. proud sponsor of the 2012 u.s. olympic team. deadly diseases spreading through one country. details on that ahead. tonight, a "360" follow-up. we've been reporting on a group called the disabled veterans national foundation. dvnf. tonight, a "360" follow-up. we've been reporting on a group called the disabled veterans national foundation. dvnf. we've been reporting on them for months now. this is the same charity and i use that word -- well, some questions. it is an alleged charity. this is the same charity that sent a shelter for homeless veterans thousands of bag, of coconut m&ms. the same charity that raised nearly $56 million over the past three years. i want to repeat that. they've raised nearly $56 million over three years. but according to tax records and other documents, little of that $56 million raised has gone directly to help disabled veterans. instead, they've given nearly $61 million to a company they signed a contract with. a company to boost their mailing list. that company is called quadriga art. one of the world's largest direct mail providers to charities. $61 million they've given to quadriga art. the long story short, the senate finance committee is now investigating dvnf to see if it should keep its tax exempt status. we've tried to get dvnf to talk to us on camera but they refused. off camera, they had plenty to say about our reports. on their website they wrote, "cnn's anderson cooper 360 has run a series of misleading and inaccurate segments which have ranged from being unfair to irrational. despite being provided a multitude of information, ac 360 has knowingly withheld information that would have provided a balanced view of dvnf's work and fund-raising program." last week the charity attack our reporting on twitter writing, once again ac 360 has done another incorrect report. to see the real facts, visit helpingdisabledvets.com. they also tweeted anderson cooper dvnf will focus our efforts to help vets. we have given proof and documents to "a.c. 360" and will no longer waste our time with cnn. we obviously stand by our reporting. drew griffin, who spent two years investigating, joins me now. so, drew, i think first, we need to point out that all of their responses to our reporting is either on twitter or on their website. for years you've been trying to get them to talk on camera. >> all we want to know is how this charity got in such a pickle with this fund-raiser. we're not saying that dvnf and its volunteer board members are taking any money. we can tell all the money is going to this fund-raiser. we'd like to know how. we went to washington, baton rouge, even sacramento, to get an answer from dvnf. they will simply not meet with us. they've even gone through two public relations firms. now they're just resorting to tweeting. >> those tweets, even what they posted on their website, they insist they've given away as much as $16 million. >> yeah, but look at what they say on their website. in cash and requested items. gifts in kind. we've got no way to tell what they're talking about in terms of money. no proof they're giving away any money. we know they're giving away m&ms. navy shoes. basically donated items that they're redonating somewhere else. but all of the actual cash mo