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Campbell Brown
Global Warming Data Rigged?; Senator's Daughter Carjacked
Aired December 03, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, here are the questions we want answered.
Have scientists rigged the data on global warming?
THOMAS FRIEDMAN, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": It seemed that they were trying to keep certain research out, you know, of the discussion.
BROWN: A growing scandal over stolen e-mails that critics say are proof of a conspiracy. But is it just a distraction from the facts? Tom Friedman on what we all need to know about climate change.
Plus, Congress outraged today over the White House party crashers, but is this really the best use of their time? And was this worth the president evoking executive privilege?
REP. PETER KING (R-NY), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE RANKING MEMBER: In this instance, they are stonewalling.
BROWN: Also tonight, a senator's daughter carjacked and OnStar saves the day, the thieves caught red handed.
SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: It's pretty incredible. I'm certainly glad my daughter remembered we had that service.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is your only source for news. CNN prime time begins now. Here's Campbell Brown.
BROWN: Hi, everybody.
We start tonight, as always, with the "Mash-Up." We're watching it all, so you don't have to.
And, tonight, President Obama trying to get Americans back to work. He met with business leaders from around the country today and says he's open to any new ideas for creating jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: A White House jobs brainstorming session, with one big question on the table.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How do we get businesses to start hiring again? How do we get ourselves to the point where more people are working ?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democrats' word of the day...
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... was hard to miss.
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But what they plan to do about 10.2 percent unemployment is far less clear.
OBAMA: I am not interested in taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to creating jobs. What I'm interested in is taking action right now to help businesses create jobs, right now, in the near term.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Across town, Republicans held their own where are the jobs summit, blasting the White House for creating uncertainty.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Employers don't know what the effective tax rate is going to be. And, as a result, you can't make a decision about reinvesting in your company without having some idea of what that cost is going to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And new unemployment numbers are coming out tomorrow.
Now to the story of technology vs. the carjackers. Last night, a senator's daughter was attacked and her car stolen just nine blocks from the U.S. Capitol Building. There is a happy ending here. Just like in the TV commercials, OnStar saved the day. Here's dad explaining how it all went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORKER: Someone came to the window seeking some directions. And, you know, obviously, she rolled down the window. And, you know, a gentleman appeared and grabbed her by the neck.
And she, you know, kicked to try to get away, threw her -- opened the door and threw her down on the pavement and drove away in her vehicle.
Thankfully, she's fine. She's really sore. She did have an OnStar service. And it's pretty incredible, I mean, how quickly they were able to apprehend the folks in Maryland. Every month, when I get the bill, I have been tempted, you know, not to pay it. It is an additional small charge. But certainly it paid off tremendously last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: So, there you go. That $12 a month did, in fact, pay off. Later in the hour, we are going to go to the L.A. car show to find out how OnStar and other new technologies out there are making things a lot harder for criminals these days.
The White House party crashers refused a request to testify in front of the Homeland Security Committee today. Two empty chairs were put out in their honor. The Secret Service did show up and took full blame for the security breach.
But what really ticked off members of Congress is that the White House refused to let social secretary Desiree Rogers testify. It was her office that organized the dinner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: I think it's wrong. I think it's stonewalling. I think it's an affront to our committee, because this was a bipartisan request, Mr. Chairman, a bipartisan request to the White House, which prides itself on being open, which prides itself on cooperation, but in this instance, they are stonewalling.
REP. CHRIS CARNEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Certainly, for a White House that touts transparency, we would expect somebody to be here.
REP. CHARLES DENT (R), PENNSYLVANIA: We always expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president. We don't expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president's staff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, this White House, so committed to openness, so committed to transparency, is keeping social secretary mum for the moment.
National security reasons, or more likely, they would probably just like the story to go away.
And now for the very latest on the Tiger Woods saga -- new details tonight about what actually happened the night he crashed his SUV. His neighbor was one of the first people on the scene, and called 911 for help. He says the golf star didn't smell like alcohol, but that he was actually snoring.
This is audio of his interview with the Florida Highway Patrol. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JARIUS ADAMS, EYEWITNESS: I saw Tiger laying on the ground, OK. Elin was talking to him. Then, from that point, I just said, OK. I immediately just ran back in the house, got the phone, dialed 911, and ran back out of the house again to go out there to see if she needed any assistance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was he conscious, unconscious? ADAMS: At that point, he was snoring.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was snoring?
ADAMS: He was actually snoring.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Did she say anything to you?
ADAMS: No. I mean, at this point, she was actually very quiet and kind of in shock, just kind of sitting there. She wasn't very verbal.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BROWN: The neighbor also says Tiger's only injuries seemed to be a cut lip.
Well, TV lovers, hold your remote, a mega-media merger announced today. General Electric says bye-bye to NBC. Cable giant Comcast is taking over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning. We have been sold.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a $30 billion deal that creates the largest entertainment company in the U.S.
BRIAN ROBERTS, CEO, COMCAST CORPORATION: This company will have, if not the best, a fantastic suite of cable channels, each a multimedia brand, each growing. And we are very excited today.
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": Today, I was trying to think of a joke about our new potential boss, Comcast. But then I realized, how do you do a joke about the country's largest provider of cable services and one of the world's leading communications companies?
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Quality, reliability, and innovation can be summed up in one word: Comcast.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: Right, Andy?
ANDY RICHTER, CO-HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": You bet, Conan.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Expect a long legal battle before this deal gets done. The FCC still has to sign off. And that brings us to the "Punchline" tonight, which also happens to be courtesy of Conan O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Last night, FOX commentator Bill O'Reilly said that President Obama's speech was -- quote -- "no Gettysburg address."
(BOOING)
O'BRIEN: That's what he said. Yes. Yes. When he heard this, Larry King said: How would you know? I don't remember seeing you there.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Ba-dum-bum. And that is the "Mash-Up."
Is global warming just a big scientific conspiracy? Some climate change disbelievers think that they have got the proof in form of hacked e-mails. But, tonight, Tom Friedman says the controversy all a smokescreen distracting us from the facts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRIEDMAN: When you put that CO2 in the atmosphere, it stays there for about 3,000 years. So, if we keep putting it there and it stays there for 3,000 years and it does start raising temperatures, it is going to be hot here, Campbell, for a long, long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight, the political storm over global warming. Skeptics claim that e-mails hacked from a leading British research center prove that climate change data was manipulated and that global warming is, in fact, not happening at all.
Well, the news did get a lot of people a little more confused about what the truth really might be. So, we asked Pulitzer Prize- winning author Tom Foreman for some answers. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Give me your take on this scandal, if we can call it that, and what it has done to the credibility of the environmental movement overall.
FRIEDMAN: Well, these were hacked e-mails from one of the important climate research centers over in the U.K. And, frankly, Campbell, as someone who follows this issue, cares about it, I found some of those e-mails disappointing, frankly in the kind of way in which it seemed that they were trying to keep certain research out, you know, of the discussion, because I think transparency here is really...
BROWN: Is everything.
FRIEDMAN: ... is everything. OK. You say this. I say that. Here is my data. Here is your data.
That said, OK, to me, we have to understand the whole climate change issue, the climate is the most complex system you can possibly imagine. But what do we know? What does your viewer want to know when they think about it?
We know that the Earth is enveloped by a greenhouse gas blanket. That's what actually keeps -- creates this greenhouse effect that we have a nice warm Earth, even though it is freezing out there, as you know, when you go up in a spaceship, all right?
BROWN: Right.
FRIEDMAN: And that greenhouse blanket is made up of CO2 and methane and other greenhouse gases.
If you pump more carbon, more CO2 into that blanket, it will get thicker. When it gets thicker, it will trap more heat. Average temperatures will rise. Ice will melt.
What we don't know -- and this is what the debate is about -- is exactly what the effects will be. We don't know whether 100 percent for sure that something else in the climate won't compensate for that rising temperature. That's what the debate is about between deniers, skeptics, whatever, and scientists.
BROWN: Right.
FRIEDMAN: But here's my take on it.
Maybe it isn't 90 percent, like some of the skeptics say. Maybe it is 80 percent. Maybe it is 50 percent. But you know what that means? There is a 50 percent chance that -- when you put that CO2 in the atmosphere, it stays there for about 3,000 years. So, if we keep putting it there and it stays there for 3,000 years and it does start raising temperatures, it is going to be hot here, Campbell, for a long, long time.
So, to me, what...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: The bottom line...
(CROSSTALK)
FRIEDMAN: The bottom line is that the risk is still there. They say it is only -- what if they said there is just a 10 percent chance? What if I told you there is a 10 percent chance if you keep smoking you are going to die of cancer?
BROWN: Still reason enough to quit smoking.
FRIEDMAN: Right. Exactly right.
BROWN: Right.
FRIEDMAN: And so -- and this ain't 10 percent. This is a lot higher. So, that's kind of how I deal with it.
BROWN: To that point, because you have written so much about this -- and the president is going to Copenhagen. This is going to be a big moment, e-mails aside.
FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.
BROWN: Do you think the world fully appreciates right now what's at stake here?
FRIEDMAN: It is hard.
You see, the hard thing about the climate issue is that we are dealing with a gas, CO2, you can't see, touch or smell. So, there is no Pearl Harbor. When Pearl Harbor happened, people saw that. They said, wow, we have got to react. We have got to rebuild our army, and we have got to go to war.
The problem with the climate issue is, when Pearl Harbor happens, it is too late. And that means it is the toughest leadership issue in the world. You actually have to get people mobilized on a Pearl Harbor level without Pearl Harbor. Very hard.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: To this issue, you have been advocating for a long time for a gas tax in this country.
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
BROWN: Do you think -- I mean, look at how people went crazy when gas prices were through the roof, what, last summer.
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
BROWN: Do you think it is politically viable in any way, shape or form for that to ever happen?
FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, somewhere along the way, something is going to have to give, because just go back to -- we talked the other day about Afghanistan. How are we going to pay for this? Are we going to borrow more money from China to now try to stabilize Afghanistan so it will be safe for Chinese mining companies? I mean, we have got to pay for this somehow, some way. Why not have a tax on gasoline that actually has multiple advantages, reduces driving and pollution, stimulates innovation, and makes us less dependent on the very people who have drawn a bullseye on our back. Makes sense to me.
BROWN: You also have drawn this interesting connection between climate change and the financial crisis. Explain that to people.
FRIEDMAN: Well, I actually rewrote the front of my book for the paperback edition. It's now called "Why Citibank, Iceland's Banks, and the Icebanks of Antarctica All Melted at the Same Time," or if you don't like that, why Bear Stearns and polar bear both faced extinction at the same time.
(LAUGHTER)
FRIEDMAN: And the reason is they actually are both based on the same accounting.
That is, what we call the great recession has actually been an environmental crisis and an economic crisis coming together. How so? Well, in the financial world, what did we do? We allowed people to massively underprice risk, the risk of subprime mortgages. We allowed them to privatize the gains from selling those mortgages.
And, then, when it all blew up, we allowed them to socialize the losses. You and me and all our neighbors basically picked up the tab.
We are doing the same in nature. We allow people to massively underprice the risk of emitting carbon molecules. We allow them to privatize the gains from cheap coal-based electricity, and we are socializing the losses by charging all those CO2 molecules in the atmosphere on our kids' Visa cards, which they will pay for in the form of future climate change.
So, we are actually practicing the same faulty accounting in both the market and Mother Nature. And that's why you really need to bring sustainability, an ethic of sustainability to both.
BROWN: Tom Friedman, on that note, thank you, Tom.
FRIEDMAN: A pleasure.
BROWN: And Tom's book "Hot, Flat and Crowded" just out right now in paperback.
A senator's daughter attacked by carjackers. Tonight, the gadget that helped cops catch the suspects.
Plus, a new gig for Grammy winner Stevie Wonder. It is not like his day job.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Sure, a couple of reality TV wannabes crashing a White House party is troubling, but is it really worth a Capitol Hill hearing? We are going to ask one of the congressmen who was there.
(NEWS BREAK)
BROWN: Listen to this story. This is when we come back. A senator's daughter gets carjacked. She calls OnStar. They catch the suspects and find the car. No, it is not a commercial. It is a true story. We will have the details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: The daughter of a U.S. senator had a violent scare last night in Washington, D.C. Julia Corker, the daughter of Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, was driving her dad's SUV when she was carjacked and forced out of the vehicle. But the two suspects didn't get very far. Police found them by using a GPS device inside the SUV's OnStar unit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORKER: It was sitting in a parking lot in Maryland. And, with OnStar, they were able to identify that they were actually not moving, and the police were able to come up and apprehend them. So, it's pretty incredible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: OnStar has been around for a few years, but there are new technologies coming, some of which can potentially save lives.
And with me tonight to talk about them, to give us some detail on all this is Lauren Fix, the car coach. And she's at the Los Angeles Auto Show for us tonight, which our timing, I think, on following this story was pretty good, Lauren.
The cops found the car through the basic GPS system that OnStar has. But there's even a more sophisticated system. Walk us through how it works.
LAUREN FIX, AUTOMOTIVE EXPERT: Well, the new OnStar system, Campbell, is certainly much more evolved. You can actually slow the car down. You can lock the door. And they even have a do-not-start. So, if they shut the car off and walk way, and it is a stolen car, you just let OnStar know, and you can't start it. Only the owner can start it.
So, that's really a great way to save some money.
BROWN: Yes, they can do all that remotely, right?
FIX: Absolutely. That's why you just make that phone call. So, it is worth the subscription to get OnStar.
BROWN: OK.
And OnStar, I know, only comes, though, with GM cars. So, say you don't have a GM car. There are a lot of options out there that are also available to protect your car, protect your family. What else is there?
FIX: Right.
There's a Blackline GPS, which just got released last month. And it is made by ESCORT. What is neat about it is, you can actually track your vehicle. So, if you have a child you are not allowed downtown driving, you can actually find where you are. You can track the car through Google Maps right down to its actual location.
So, technology has really improved. So, for those of us that don't have OnStar, this is another application that will allow you to also keep an eye on your teenage drivers.
BROWN: Also, new advances, I think, you have to share with us in seat belts as well?
FIX: Yes, absolutely.
The technology here is really big with L.A. Auto Show. When we come here, we know it's going to be green cars and hybrid. But some of the interesting technologies, believe it or not, come from plastics. Now, we don't usually think of plastics, other than maybe a drinking cup or a bottle.
But you may not know this, but they are now recycling bottles, water bottles, and detergent bottles to be used on interiors of cars, not just in the carpeting, but the inside of the seat and seat materials. And that recycling is actually making the car even greener, which makes it lighter, which means you also then will be using less fuel.
But, also, this is really interesting. They are now inserting foam. This is a Cadillac Escalade. What they're doing is, they are installing foam. It is actually a foam that is filling in all the gaps in the door, because it absorbs energy six to 12 times better than steel.
So, therefore, it is not just the design. But it is also making you safer and the car safer. And the nice thing is, it is not adding any weight at all. So, plastics are really making it possible.
BROWN: And, finally, I mentioned seat belts. I don't know if you could hear me. You had some information, I think, to share with us about seat belts, right?
(CROSSTALK)
FIX: You know what? We always think of seat belts as being cloth material. Believe it or not, they are made of nylon. And this is also plastic.
They also have what's called now pretensioners and load limiters. And that's when you have -- if you pull on a belt, you usually get that -- that pulls back on you, or if you are in an accident, how the seat belt cinches up and it pulls back to hold you in the seat. Well, now there is a load limiter also that has a little discharge that will allow the seat belt to release just a little bit, so that you don't break your collarbone. So, safety is continually evolving.
I would like to show you this one other thing. When you think of door panels, we think of plastic. But this is so light, even the people here couldn't believe it. This a composite plastic that's making cars safer, lighter, better designed, and more fuel-efficient, because they are making them lighter. So, this is really what the auto show is truly all about this year.
BROWN: All right, Lauren Fix, the car coach, with all the details for us. Lauren, thanks.
FIX: Thank you, Campbell.
BROWN: Former Governor Mike Huckabee says there is no way he could have known a criminal he set free would later be blamed for killing four police officers. But prosecutors believe there were plenty red flags, even back then. Tonight, Huckabee is talking to CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight's breakout story, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee talks to CNN about a decision that will haunt him forever. Huckabee has been under fire this week for what he did while in office back in the year 2000, granting clemency to a violent criminal.
A man now blamed for last Sunday's shooting massacre that took the lives of four Washington state police officers. Here now Drew Griffin of CNN's special investigations unit with Huckabee and some of his loudest critics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): County prosecutors in Little Rock say they were never notified Governor Mike Huckabee was even considering commuting the sentence of Maurice Clemmons. And if they were, they most certainly would have been on record opposing it. Former chief deputy prosecutor Warren McCormick says no way after just 11 years behind bars should Maurice Clemmons had his sentence commuted, had his sentence reduced, or have ever been released on parole and he told that in writing on the record to the parole board every time they asked.
(on camera): Here is what you wrote. Objection. Clemmons is a violent habitual offender. This is apparent from his new 2001 conviction. This is in November of '01.
WARREN MCCORMICK, FMR. PULASKI CO. CHIEF DEP. PROSECUTOR: Yes, sir.
GRIFFIN: They let him out.
MCCORMICK: That's correct.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): By 1990, Maurice Clemmons at just 18 years old already had three felonies to his name. A violent teenager. Records show just before his fourth trial, Clemmons threatened the judge, injured his own mother by throwing a lock that hit her. He tried to grab a guard's pistol and even took a metal hinge off of a door, hid it inside a sock intending to use it as a weapon. He was considered so dangerous the trial judge had him shackled to his chair.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Needed to be shackled.
MCCORMICK: That's the one word that came to my mind or remembered about him is that he was that he was shackled in court. And deputies placed behind him while he was tried because he was such a security risk.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): The jury found him guilty of burglary and theft. And along with sentences for his three previous felonies, Maurice Clemmons was sent to prison to serve more than 100 years. He was just 18 years old. But young as he was, he was plenty tough.
(on camera): Even behind these prison fences, Maurice Clemmons continued to lash out violently. His prison record is filled with violations, aggravated battery, assault, theft, drug possession. Even at one time concealing a weapon.
LARRY JEGLEY, PULASKI COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Over and over again, (INAUDIBLE) engaging in sexual activity (INAUDIBLE), possession or introduction of drugs. Firearm. Somehow or other, I'm not sure.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Firearm?
JEGLEY: Yes.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): The records don't show what that firearm was. Larry Jegley is Little Rock's prosecutor. He says the man his office put away for life should have never ever gotten out and anyone who bothered to read Maurice Clemmons' record, his criminal record in court, his violent record in prison, would have never allowed this man to set foot outside of prison. So who does he blame? After all, it is the parole board that recommended Maurice Clemmons be released but Jegley says he doesn't blame the board. He blames one man.
JEGLEY: Those are Mike Huckabee clemencies from 1996 through the middle of 2004.
GRIFFIN: Jegley says mistakes were made with Clemmons. Warren's missed. Even in Washington State, bail granted, but none of it would have happened without the governor's signature.
JEGLEY: He bears the responsibility for that.
GRIFFIN: Nobody else?
JEGLEY: No. No. We did everything that we could do with him and got him sentenced to 108 years. Mike Huckabee with a stroke of a pen undid that and left us to our devices to try to deal with him.
GRIFFIN: We spent days looking for the governor, trying to get his side of this story. Finally tracked him down at a college in Jacksonville, Florida, where the governor was giving a speech. We asked him did he know how violent Clemmons was before he cut his sentence short? Surprisingly, the answer is yes.
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: I read the entire file.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Was it just this few pieces of paper?
HUCKABEE: No, no, no. It was a file this thick.
GRIFFIN: Did it tell you the violations he had in prison, the assault, the firearm possession? The fact that he tried to slip, you know, a metal into court.
HUCKABEE: I looked at the file, every bit of it. And here was a case where a guy had been given 108 years. Now, if you think that 108-year sentence is an appropriate sentence for a 16-year-old for the crimes he committed, then you should run for governor of Arkansas.
You're looking at this nine years later and trying to make something as if that, you know, I could look into the future. I wish I could have. Good Lord, I wish I had that power. I wish I could have done that. But I don't know how anyone can do it.
GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Jacksonville, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: The Obama administration stopped one of its own from talking to Congress today about that couple that crashed the state dinner. Tonight, you're going to hear from a Democrat who's not happy about that move.
And our series "Genealogy Identity Quest." It looks at how DNA testing can help you learn if you're at risk for disease but if you find out who else will know the answer?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Today, the White House party crasher investigation made its way to Capitol Hill. Members of the House Homeland Security Committee demanded to know who dropped the ball. Who allowed Tareq and Michaele Salahi into last week's state dinner? The head of the Secret Service made no excuses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK SULLIVAN, U.S. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: This is our fault and our fault alone. There's no other people to blame here. You know, look at me and blame me. This is our fault.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: The Salahis didn't show up for the hearing and the White House refused to let its social secretary testify.
With me now one of the committee members who was there today, Democratic Congressman Chris Carney of Pennsylvania to talk to us about this.
Congressman, welcome. The Secret Service you just heard there taking responsibility for this. The White House says it's already changed its procedures to make sure this doesn't happen in the future. So how much of today's hearing was just political theater?
REP. CHRIS CARNEY (D), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Well, I don't think it was political theater, Campbell. I think what we saw was a huge breach of security. And it's our jurisdiction within the Homeland Security Committee to know what happened. And we got the word today.
And as you saw, Mr. Sullivan was actually an amazing guy in terms of his character and willing to come and say that they messed up. We understand that the mistakes happen, but they can't happen around the White House, certainly in a situation like that. And you get a little bit concerned when a couple can talk their way into the White House.
You know, I'm a member of Congress and I've been to the White House countless times. And I'm always asked to show ID and make sure that I'm on some list.
BROWN: But, again, you know the Secret Service said from beginning they dropped the ball here. And in the context of everything going on in the world, the unemployment rate, the state of our economy, do you really think that this was the best use of your time?
CARNEY: Well, I don't think it was a bad use of our time at all to understand what went wrong and what can be done better. In the course of the hearing, we did elicit from Mr. Sullivan the notion that they can train a little bit better on some of these things. We got a sense of what possibly could have happened. And that's good. That's our jurisdiction in Congress, and I'm glad we were able to ask those questions. I'm glad he came to talk to us and was so forthright about it.
BROWN: Now your committee also asked Desiree Rogers, the woman in charge of the state dinner, to come and to testify. The White House would not let her. They instead invoked executive privilege.
And let me just say, too, that we invited a White House spokesperson on to sort of explain their decision. They declined to be here. Are they out of line taking that step in your view?
CARNEY: Well, I think they had an opportunity to come and tell their side of the story. And I think they probably will in some fashion. I think that that's important that we hear from them. But it's more important that we hear from the Salahis and what they were thinking. And as you heard from the committee that the -- the committee has decided to initiate the process of subpoenaing the Salahis to come and talk to Congress.
BROWN: But why are you so worried about a couple of party crashers who are trying to get on a reality show? I mean, isn't this more about the White House and protecting the president and the other people involved?
CARNEY: Well, we have to understand all facets of the story. That's why it's important. And what I think my colleague Sheila Jackson Lee pointed out is that Mr. Salahi was in possession of certain e-mails that said who was and was not going to be there. And that's quite a breach. And, in fact, the Salahis are, according to U.S. statute, in violation of trespass on federal property. So there is actually an issue in terms of a legality that they have to address.
BROWN: OK. But you sound to me like you're more concerned about getting to the bottom of the Salahis and what they were up to than you are about the fact that you have a White House who promised, you know, unbelievable transparency and yet, they're invoking executive privilege to prevent their social secretary from explaining to you what happened.
CARNEY: Well, I think that the White House has plenty of opportunity to come and talk to us. I am most concerned about getting the entire story. So we've got a third of the story today. We need to get the White House story and the Salahi story.
BROWN: Because you made -- I'm just curious because you very strong on this in your hearing. In your words, you said this wasn't, in your view, a profile encouraged by the White House and you sound like you're dialing it back tonight.
CARNEY: Well, no, I think that's right. I'm not dialing anything back. I'm saying that we need to get this story from all facets of this. And the White House, I think, will be forthcoming in telling us their side.
BROWN: Well, I know your committee is planning to subpoena the Salahis who, as we have said crashed the dinner.
CARNEY: Correct.
BROWN: Given that, shouldn't you also subpoena Mrs. Rogers?
CARNEY: Well, I don't know if that's going to be necessary. I think that the White House can have plenty of opportunity to let the committee know their side of the story and in some form or another.
BROWN: So you do expect them to cooperate ultimately.
CARNEY: I do. I expect to get the White House's side of the story. We have the Secret Service's side of the story and we are waiting to get the Salahis' side of the story.
BROWN: And presumably the White House's side of the story as well.
CARNEY: Right. Exactly.
BROWN: Yes. Congressman, I appreciate your time tonight. We'll see what happens. Congressman Carney, thanks very much.
CARNEY: We sure will. Thank you. Bye bye.
BROWN: "LARRY KING LIVE" just minutes away with more on the White House party crashers. Larry, what have you got tonight?
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Campbell, we're going to pick right up where you left off. Find out how easy if we can to get into the White House. We'll try to answer that troubling question in light of that scandal which everybody knows about.
And then we're going to get into really important things. We're going to get into the subject of jobs and the economy with people like Magic Johnson and Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Tony Robbins and Mitt Romney. It might help you get a job. We'll take your questions, too. And they've got advice for you, next, on "LARRY KING LIVE," Campbell.
BROWN: All right, Larry. We'll see you in a few minutes.
The wife of South Carolina's cheating governor making a rare public appearance. Find out why she surfaced today. Plus our special series "Genealogy Identity Quest." It looks at how you can learn about your family's medical history right from home. A test that can unlock your own health secrets but also some raising concerns. When we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: A lot of nervousness right now on Wall Street and in Washington. The latest unemployment numbers coming out tomorrow morning already unemployment over 10 percent. So today the White House convened a jobs summit.
President Obama wanted to hear fresh ideas on job creation. And a short time ago, I spoke with two of the business leaders who met with the president today. Peter, Solmssen, who is chairman of Siemens, and David Barber, a small business owner. I asked them what more can be done right now to create jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Welcome to you, gentlemen. You are both invited to the White House to share your ideas for how to create more jobs right now.
Peter, what did you tell the president today?
PETER SOLMSSEN, CHAIRMAN, SIEMENS CORPORATION: Well, I told him that he would increase manufacturing jobs in the United States if he invested in green technologies. Our experience is that there's a demand for green infrastructure. We've opened a new plant in Kansas. We've been increasing our facilities in Sacramento, all driven by the new investments in green technology. BROWN: And from your perspective, if the government were to do one thing to help you and your company create more jobs, that would be it?
SOLMSSEN: Yes. I think to follow on the commitments that have been made, I mean, we ought to burn coal in a clean way. We need to invest in mass transit, and we need to make our buildings more efficient. And all of those efforts will drive job growth. At Siemens, we have 65,000 employees here. We've got a good base on which to leverage.
BROWN: David, as a small business owner, you're coming at this from a very different perspective. What did you bring to the table? What did you tell the president?
DAVID BARBER, EXEC. VP, BARBER FOODS: Well, it is a very different perspective from my point of view. What we want to make sure of is that we don't regulate jobs out of the market. And one of our big concerns is how regulation is occurring and that we don't drop more jobs off the back of the truck than we pull in on the front of the truck.
BROWN: Do you feel like it was worth it to go to the White House? Did you feel like you were heard and that something is going to come out of this?
SOLMSSEN: I think it was worth it. Any time government wants to listen to us, it's something that should be embraced.
I was very impressed by the president's management of the brainstorming discussion. He clearly knew all the issues and he looked like a law professor calling on people. It's a very robust discussion. The government officials seem to be taking notes, so it seemed worth it to me.
BROWN: David?
BARBER: Well, I was in with -- with Secretary Karen Mills from the Small Business Administration. And it was terrific to see the type of involvement. We had also Timothy Geithner in our sessions, so it was terrific to see their involvement. They are listening to the issues and their interest in what was affecting businesses at large.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And you can watch my whole interview online, CNN.com/Campbell.
Time now for the "Political Daily Briefing," and Erica Hill is back with us tonight.
Hey, Erica.
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have tidbits for you tonight, Campbell. We give you the latest installment of what could be really a soap opera of its own in South Carolina, the Sanfords. A little bit of good news for Governor Mark Sanford today. A House panel deciding 28 of the 37 charges brought against him by the Senate Ethics Commission are not impeachable offenses. As to the other nine or his leaving office with his mistress in Argentina, stay tuned for more on that. The committee is meeting again on Monday.
Meantime, Sanford's estranged wife, Jenny, showed off the holiday decorations at the governor's mansion this afternoon which is normal for the wife of the governor except she doesn't live there anymore. She made a special trip, though. Interestingly, this was not on the governor's schedule today.
In Washington, Senate hearings today on whether to give Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke a second term. Bernanke, of course, is one of the architects of last year's Wall Street bailout which seems to have made him at least one political enemy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: President making management, shareholders and debt holders feel the consequences of their risk taking, you bailed them out. In short, you are the definition of a moral hazard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Bernanke is considered a shoo-in for a second term, although apparently it will not be unanimous.
After all that, how about a little bit of peace and goodwill? That should do nicely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: 'Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: First Lady Michelle Obama reading "The Night Before Christmas" as the first family presides over the lighting of the national Christmas tree. And here is the big moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. OBAMA: Four, three, two, one. Whoa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: There it worked. For a minute I was afraid it didn't light. But it did. There you have it.
BROWN: And a beautiful sight it is. Erica Hill, thanks, Erica, very much. "LARRY KING LIVE" starting in just a few minutes with Mitt Romney, Magic Johnson and Google CEO on today's jobs summit. Coming up next, do home DNA tests save lives or could they do more harm than good? Our series "Genealogy Identity Quest."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Simple DNA tests are now making it possible to find out everything you need to know about your family medical family history from home. But the same breakthrough science that makes that possible also raises some very serious questions. CNN's Deb Feyerick investigates in our special series "Genealogy Identity Quest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tucked in among Doe Rieger's cookie jar collection are family photos from way back. A collection of memories and a catalog of fears.
DOE RIEGER, IN FAVOR OF DNA TESTING: This is my father's mother. That's her when she was younger. Now, there is diabetes that runs at an older age.
FEYERICK: Rieger easily recites her family's medical history. Gout, diabetes, arthritis.
RIEGER: My uncle had stomach cancer.
FEYERICK: She worried she might be next that cancer was in her genes. So she took an at-home DNA test and the results confirmed her fears.
RIEGER: I have a risk for pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, stomach cancer and bladder cancer.
FEYERICK: Rieger took that information to her doctor. Further tests uncovered a hidden tumor that had not shown up during routine exams.
RIEGER: It had a weight of about three pounds. So it had been growing for some time. How long, nobody knows. It could have grown in spurts. We don't know. But they removed it.
FEYERICK: In the last five years, the number of people taking at-home DNA tests has skyrocketed. Fans like the Riegers say it empowers people to take control of their health. But critics like bioethicists Arthur Caplan say it opens a Pandora's box of unnecessary anxiety.
ARTHUR CAPLAN, BIOETHICIST, UNIV. OF PENNSYLVANIA: What you're getting is yes, you have risk factors but they're tiny. They're not things that necessarily you want to spend a lot of money to find out or lie awake at night worrying about. At the same time, for a lot of these genetic things you don't have much you can do.
DR. DAVID L. RIMOIN, CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER: You scare the hell out of a lot of people without giving them anything that's useful.
FEYERICK: Dr. David Rimoin runs a pilot program at Cedars-Sinai at Los Angeles testing Persian Jews for four (ph) disorders prevalent in a tight-knit community. He is in favor of genetic testing but not the at-home kind where you test yourself and send away for the results.
RIMOIN: I think there are tremendous dangers with certain tests when they tell you that you're susceptible to one disease or the other by the so-called sniff analysis.
FEYERICK (on camera): DNA testing companies are virtually unregulated. There's no federal oversight, no guarantee of accuracy, and no control over how the tests are marketed to consumers. While DNA companies do say the results are private, critics worry that the information may find its way to insurance companies and employers.
(voice-over): Congress recently passed a prohibiting employers and health insurers from using your genetic information against you. But the new law does not guarantee your information will remain confidential.
CAPLAN: We need more genetic privacy. I think our DNA should not be used without our consent, without our direct permission. And the problem of lack of privacy, lack of control over these databanks of DNA makes me a little bit nervous.
FEYERICK: Nervous or not, advocates, like Anne Wojcicki who runs the popular DNA testing company, 23andMe, believe having genetic information may lead to better, more efficient care down the road.
ANNE WOJCICKI, CEO, 23ANDME: The utopia is, for instance, if you can start to re-stratify individuals and say this group of individuals should get a colonoscopy earlier, this group of individuals should get colonoscopy later, because we know based on their DNA that they're either at high risk or low risk, that's how medicine should go.
FEYERICK: As for Doe Rieger, she is convinced the simple DNA test saved her life.
(on camera): What was your biggest fear in all of this?
RIEGER: That what I find out I couldn't solve. That what I found out wouldn't have a solution. And by -- if I had not done it, the tumor would have continued to go and would have become cancerous, and there would not have been a solution.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And that it is for now. And you can join us any time online, CNN.com/Campbell.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.
