Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer 20

CNNW The Situation Room With Wolf Blitzer April 23, 2012



on this holocaust remembrance day, the president gave a powerful speech at the u.s. holocaust memorial museum right near in washington, d.c. speaking of -- government slaughter in syria which has now claimed more than 11,000 lives. jill dougherty is joining us with the latest details. >> at the museum, president obama referred to the unhappy record of the state department during the holocaust in world war ii. now he says preventing mass atrocities is no only a moral responsibility, it's a key security issue of the united states. >> reporter: barack obama shook hands with people who survived the death camp more than 60 years ago. he found new meaning in the phrase never again. >> never again is a challenge to nations. it's a bitter truth. too often the world has failed to prevent the killing of innocents on a massive scale and we are haunted by the lives we did not save. >> we are seeing the -- the killings in bosnia, the killings in darfur. they shock our conscience, but they are the extreme of a spectrum of uneasiness and intolerance that we see every day. >> reporter: before the president spoke, a nobel lawyer yet and holocaust survivor elie -- >> have you learned anything from it? and if so, how is it that assaad is still in power. >> reporter: the president announced no sanctions against the governments and the individual who is helped them use new technology like internet technology and cell phone tracking to start and hunt down their citizens. the obama who visited the death camp in 2009, also announced he's creating an atrocities prevent board, aimed at preventing mass crimes against humanity. critics charge that obama is not doing enough to prevent modern day atrocities. >> the syrian people still brave the streets, they still demand to be heard. they still seek their dignity. the syrian people have not given up. which is why we cannot give up. and so with allies and partners we'll keep increasing the pressure. >> reporter: and the president said the world can take pride of saving lives in libya, with the death of moammar gadhafi. and now there's another situation brewing, with the lord's resistance army. >> he also ordered the intelligence community to go ahead and prepare a routine national intelligence estimate to fight genocide and mass atrocities. we'll have much more on this part of the story in our next hour. in pennsylvania, meanwhile, a site that no doubt had some republican hearts beating a little bit faster, they're almost certain presidential nominees, side by side with the young, hispanic senator from florida that some believe would be the ideal running maid for mitt romney, marco rubio. what's the latest with mitt romney and marco rubio speculation? >> this was marco rubio and milt romney's first public appearances together. what do they think about that prospect? they aren't willing to say. >> his name is mitt romney, the next president of the united states. >> reporter: add marco rule know to mitt romney's list of potential running mates. >> first of all i think you look great. >> rubio is assume the vice presidential attack dog. >> barack obama is a reality and for millions of americans today life is worse than it was three years ago because he doesn't know what he's doing. but before their town hall in pennsylvania, both men steered clear of these questions. so far signs point to rubio -- bp wish list, he's repeatedly said he doesn't want the job. >> i'm not going to be the vice president. unlike rubio, other -- first christi, paul ryan and bob mcdonnell all appeared with romney before their state contest. rubio and -- i hope you'll say yes if a future president romney asks him. >> reporter: there's also been some differences in illegal imgrachlgts romney did move to the middle on financial aid for higher education. >> i fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans. >> he has the understanding of the economy that's far deeper than the president and far deeper than most people. >> that drudged up memories the former new york city mayor hasn't always been on. >> am romney wax poetically on trance. >> i have a lot of memories, i think the best memories are with my wife on vacation from time to time in france. >> reporter: returning for vice president is politically risky business, the last losing vice presidential candidate to go on and win the presidency was franklin roosevelt, but if you win, it increases your chance of becoming president. >> jim acosta on the road for us. let's dig a little bit deeper right now, gloria, are we seeing the morphing of mitt romney from a republican primary candidate to a general election candidate. >> if this were a dance, you might call it the pivot. that's exactly what mitt romney the doing, he's doing it with hispanic voters, saying that he is looking at a newer version of the dream act that senator rubio is proposing it. younger voters, an extension of those low interest rates on student loans that none other than president obama supports and we have also seen it with women voters in recent weeks, they have a large gender gap. when he was asked a question about hispanics and the potential legal status for person groups of now illegal immigrants, just listen to what he said. >> obviously our first priority is to secure the border, and yet we also have a very substantial visa programs in this programs in this country. i have spoken about the need to have a visa program on both sides. how we adjust our visa program to make it fit the needs of our country is something we'll obviously be speaking about down the road. >> if this were the republican primary, i don't think that's the answer he would have given. >> hispanic-americans are the fastest growing group in the approximate country right now. >> they're probably the most important swing voters in this country. particularly if you look at the battleground states, like florida, nevada, colorado, new mexico, hispanic voters are so important. the problem the romney campaign has right now is that they're not doing well with hispanic voters. take a look at this new wall street nbc news news poll, who would you support for president, 69% for president obama, 22% for mitt romney. there's a 47% difference. that is a man who talked about the self-deportation of immigrant who is had been illegal immigrants who had been in this country for a long time. what he's doing right now is shifting to an economic method saying hispanics are suffering. they're saying they should vote against barack obama because he's is one that can fix the economy. >> his advisors believe that colorado might be in play, nevada might be in play. >> and maybe even arizona. >> and maybe even arizona because he's doing so well with hispanic voters. how important would it be potentially for him to pick a has spannic as his running mate? >> i think it would make hispanic voters make mitt romney take a second look? >> did sarah palin campaign that john kerry was getting rid of his -- handing mitt romney an opportunity, saying, look, i'm revising the dream act, which is something that's very important to hispanic voters in a way that could probably support it. so if mitt romney supports marco rubio on this, i think that could be just enough to get hispanic voters on either side. >> i don't think anybody knows for sure, including mitt romney itself, doesn't know who it's going to be. unlike four years ago when they vetted sarah palin in five days. 45 million americans now on food standing, jack cafferty is standing by with the caffertyfile. plus the man who shot trayvon martin walks out of jail sooner than most people wanted. blrk kblk and right to left. ♪ the cadillac cts. ♪ we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaids, 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, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. trouble with a car insurance claim. 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[ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." >> wolf, 45 million people, that's one in seven living in the united states got food stamps last year. that's a 70% increase from 2007. it shows that in 2010, about three out of four food stamp households, included a child, a person over 60 or someone who's disabled. most people who use foods stamps get by with very little. the worst part is food stamp use is only expected to grow. the cbo report says the number of people getting food stamps will rise for the next two years at which point it should start to drop off as long as the economy continues to improve. we're still talking historic highs here. in 2022, it's estimateded spending on foot stamps will be among the highest on all health related programs for the poor. speaking of spending, it follows that -- the growth of the number of participants. it's gone from $30 million in 2007 to $72 billion last year. the cbo says about 2/3 of the cost increase due to more people getting food stamps, but it's also up from temporarily higher benefitses from the stimulus law. here's the question, what does it mean when one in seven people in the united states is getting food stamps? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile.com. pretty staggering numbers in the land of the free and the home of the brave. >> and the richest country in the world. these people, a lot of them would starve to death if they didn't get these food stamps, because that's what they survive on. >> $8,800 average income. how do you live on that? you got to have help. elet's get to the prostitutes in columbia. another member of the united states military has been linked to the incident. he had been working with the white house communications team, we're also learning about a 12th secret service agent who brought a woman to the exact same hotel from barack obama was staying. the number of people involved seems to be growing by the day. >> it sure does, at the white house, however, they say, at least announced today that -- he doesn't believe that any white house staff did anything inappropriate on that trip. but we now that 24 individuals in both the military and secret service who are underneath investigation. when it comes to the secret service, thanks to an internal investigation, and sources that are familiar with it, it appears there's more troubling conduct. >> reporter: the cartegena hilton, the hotel where president obama stayeded on his trip to columbia. and now we're hearia source fam the investigation it took place five days before the president arrived. that was two days which the now infamous evening where 11 other prostitutes and -- according to the source as well as house homeland security chairman peter king. >> he was by himself with this other woman. he was not agents going on. >> that 12th secret service member was put on administrative leave, six have been forced out. >> it is wreckless, dangerous behavior that could endanger the security of the president of the united states. >> at this point, investigators do not think security was compromised. in fact, a source familiar with the investigation tells cnn that based on the ber views with the prostitutes and other women involved, there was no evidence that they even knew that they were involved with the secret service. >> my understand was everyone was drug tested and everyone came back negative. >> working the phones to make clear he is outraged and surprised by the conduct of his personnel and promises to get to the bottom of it. still, homeland security chairman in both the house and senate are conducting their own investigations. peter king sent sullivan a later with at least 50 questions to answer by friday. from all known actions and violations in columbia, to whether a gang organization or a drug organization was involved. >> reporter: wolf, another course confirms to me when scandals like this you hear members of congress here on capitol hill, calling for resignations of the agency at the helm. not in this case, mark sullivan believe -- he's doing a good job odds moving as quickly as he can to get to the people involved in this incident. >> any idea when sullivan will be called for a congressional committee for testify? >> the chairman of the homeland security committees and others who have oversight. they say they first want to get a lot of answers to questions that they have sent over, 50 questions again from the house committee and or, i think to do come in the senate storm, so i think i want to get it all announcement. >> i expect it will happen sooner rather than later. dana bash up on the hill for us. rudy giuliani now throws his support behind mitt romney. wait until you -- cnn's nick payton walsh was asked to stop reporting at a u.s. base in afghanistan. you're going to find out what he discovered, he has a cnn exclusive report. 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[ female announcer ] get the travelocity guarantee anywhere when you book with our new app. you'll never roam alone. an accident doesn't have to slow you down... with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy? here are some of the stories we're working on for our next hour. president obama comes out swinging. john edwards was once a favorite to be president of the united states, but now he faces up to 30 years in prison. if you have been waiting for snow all winter, wait no more, winter has arrived with a vengeance in spring. stand by, you're in "the situation room." kb kb kblk. >> right now let's go to our strategy session. joining us right now, and republican strategist fay buian unanimous, he's also the writer of a brand-new book. here it is right here. congratulations, bay. i know you worked hard on this book. it tells a powerful story, indead, a lot of people will watch to read it. let's start with rudy giuliani, actively endorsing mitt romney and i got two clips, may and back in december. >> i think he has an understanding of the understanding that's far different than most people. i think he has the strength and toughness to handle -- i have never seen a guy change his positions on so many things so fast, on a dime. everything. >> this is why a lot of americans are cynical about politicians because they can see this kind of flip-flop on a dime. >> yes, and in fairness, that's politics, it's the primary. >> that's why people are cynical about politics. >> we were in a -- they worked together four years ago, he ran against milt romney four years ago, so there's a lot of bad blood, a little bit, i think maybe exaggerated but i was there. so now he realizes that mitt did play fair. he's got a great mess ray. >> back in december, giuliani did like newt gingrich pretty much. didn't exactly happen as far as the republicans are concerned. but your pro obama superpack. >> you've got all three of these clips out there in do you think you're going to- >> i would say stay tuned. probably not the one from rudy jaumian any. >> i think the bigger problem for romney, today, again he had one of those rich guy gaffes. he was asked by a french reporter about hiss time as a reporter. he spent 30 months there as a missionary there, instead of talking about that, he talked about the luxury vacation he likes to take. the guy who's building an elevator for his car. talking got instead of luxury vacations he likes to take there. something rudy giuliani would not have done. >> rudy wasn't doing well when he was running for the republican thnomination. >> and in fact if you remember, everybody expected him to finally announce, enormous criticism, i think people didn't really understand the republican primary process and they would have understood that somebody in his mod ras si could not do well. what we care about most, wolf, is what we says today about mitt romney. >> those old clips, they're there forever nowadays. >> now john huntsman said some stuff that a lot of republicans think are not necessarily so good. here's the clip. >> last night i said, you know, if you're not on script and you get knocked out of an event like that, the parties are supposed to be big tent, you're going to bring in all ideas. and i naught for a moment about what they do in china, if you're off script for the party, they knock you out. we shouldn't be doing that here. i accommodate all voices, i'm a proud republican. >> nothing's wrong with candidates that had big ideas. i think big idea is a terrific idea. one idea that's not so big and certainly not welcome is when you talk third party, you can't them, the republican party to embrace you and bring you to gop fund-raisers. >> i think it's always a problem when you compare one of the political parties in

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