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Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney Drop the Gloves; East Haven, Connecticut, Mayor Apologizes for 'Taco' Remark; Wall Street Buzzing Over Federal Reserve; Obama's Tense Exchange With Arizona Governor; Alleged Honor Killings In Ontario

Aired January 26, 2012 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from D.C., I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Want to get you up to speed for this Thursday, January 26th.

The Republican presidential candidates go toe-to-toe tonight in their final debate before the Florida primary. Now, as they face off in Jacksonville, there is a new poll that shows Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in a virtual poll. In a CNN/"New York Times"/ORC poll, Romney is ahead by just two percentage points.

On the campaign trail today, Gingrich conceded that all the super PAC attack ads have now hurt, but he's not backing down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can promise you I am going to fight every day from here until we win the nomination, because I am not going to allow the money interests that are buying those ads to come in here and to come into other states to misinform people and then to think that we're too dumb to fight back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Jessica Buchanan, she is safe right now at a U.S. Navy base in Italy after her rescue from kidnappers in Somalia. U.S. Special Ops troops parachuted in. They picked up Buchanan and a fellow aid worker and killed all the people that were holding them hostage. Now, Buchanan's father says that he expects to see his daughter some time today.

Massive crowds of people said to be supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gathering in Damascus and cities across the country today. Now, these pictures ran on Syrian state television at the same time opposition groups are reporting death and injuries from street clashes today between security forces and people who defected from the army. The Syrian government blames the violence on what they say are terror groups.

That's Australia's prime minister, Julia Gillard, after her security detail shoving her into the safety of a car, protecting her from sticks, rocks and a rowdy crowd of protesters. Now, the mob surrounded a restaurant where she was and other politicians attending a ceremony, and the protesters shouted, "Shame on you!" They're angry at the Australian government's policies towards aboriginal people.

The prime minister got away safely. No one hurt, nobody arrested.

Unbelievably tragic story out of Pakistan. At least 100 people have died after taking what officials suspect was tainted heart medicine.

Now, investigators say in Lahore, the medicine may be contaminated with a heavy metal. What's even worse, it was provided by a government-run agency for free. The factory where the drugs were manufactured has been sealed off.

Brazilian rescue workers are desperately digging through the rubble of three collapsed buildings. This is in the historic center of Rio de Janeiro. They have recovered five bodies, rescued five people so far. Nineteen are still missing.

Just look at those pictures. No word yet on what caused those buildings to crumble.

And the Coast Guard and divers from the port of Long Beach, they are training on how to respond to an underwater disaster like the shipwreck in Italy. We are watching live pictures here as you see them going through that mission.

Our Casey Wian, he's going to join us later this hour for a live look at that training exercise. He's out with the divers off the California coast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are actually using sort of a welding torch to cut into a piece of metal. And this would be done if a ship was submerged, if a ship was run aground.

They might use this type of a technique to salvage this ship. They might use it to try to get a ship upright. They also might use it to cut through a ship to rescue people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Pretty amazing stuff.

Joe Paterno fans, they are paying their respects today at a public memorial service for the former Penn State football coach. Thousands of tickets were handed out for the event. The school is expecting a huge turnout. Paterno was buried yesterday.

Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The U.S. military is touted by some as a symbol of our global power, so not everyone is on board with President Obama's decision to trim the military, including the leading Republicans running for president.

That brings us to today's "Talk Back" question, and Carol Costello with me here in Washington.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. I'm one floor below you. Welcome to Washington, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: It's good to see you.

COSTELLO: The United States is about to become a lean, mean fighting machine. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will announce half a trillion dollars in military cuts later this afternoon. That means trimming the Army by 38,000 soldiers. Marines will see a reduction in troop strength, too.

The Navy's number of carriers were dropped. And a number of drones will be grounded.

The underlying strategy here is to focus on small, secret operations like the raid that killed Osama bin Laden instead of larger ground wars like Iraq and Afghanistan. Although when it comes to Iran, the president says he's up for anything.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let there be no doubt America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But many Republicans say the president's desire to snip, snip, snip will hinder America's ability to wage a ground war if necessary. Mitt Romney says a leaner, cheaper military will endanger the United States because it not only has to worry about Iran, but North Korea and China, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president, on day one I will focus on rebuilding America's economy. It's a foundation of our strength.

I will reverse President Obama's massive defense cuts. Time and again, we have seen the attempts to balance the budget by weakening our military only lead to a far higher price in the future not only in treasure, but also in blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Romney suggests funding a larger military by defunding what he calls Obamacare.

So, the "Talk Back" question for you today: Does a smaller U.S. military make sense?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your responses later on.

MALVEAUX: You know, it's interesting, Carol. I was covering the Pentagon when it was Secretary Rumsfeld, and they were talking about this idea of trimming the military back then. It's only now that we're seeing this finally happening. And I suppose it's all about the timing here, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. The commander-in-chief is going to take the hit for trimming the military

COSTELLO: I know. It is an interesting twist, isn't it? Because back then, Republicans were all for Defense Secretary Rumsfeld's plan, right? But they're not so much for President Obama's plan now.

And you heard Mitt Romney say why, because who knows what might happen with Iran, for instance? I mean, what if Iran does develop nuclear weapons? What if we do go to war against Iran? Then where will we be with a smaller military?

MALVEAUX: Yes. I'd love to hear what folks have got to say. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We've got a big Republican debate tonight here on CNN, and of course the fists already flying. Newt Gingrich out on the trail right now, trying to rip Mitt Romney's record as a conservative.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: And he says, you know, I don't want to go back to the Reagan/Bush years. I was an Independent then.

Now, he won't tell you that now because he's counting on us not having YouTube. That's how much he thinks we're stupid. And we're not stupid. The message we should give Mitt Romney is, you know, we aren't that stupid and you aren't that clever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Wow.

Joe Johns, live from Florida, where this is all going down.

Joe, the gloves coming off. How ugly do we think it's going to be tonight between these two front-runners?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anybody's guess. You know, we got a chance to talk to Newt Gingrich just a little while ago, after that fiery speech he gave here. And I've got to tell you, he says all he's going to do tonight in the debate is talk about the truth, but he also admits he's clearly angry.

He's angry at Mitt Romney and his campaign for what he calls dishonest assertions about him and his record. Also angry about television ads that they have been putting out here in Florida that Gingrich admits have affected his campaign in a negative way.

So, Gingrich gave a speech here, also talked to the news media, lashing out at Romney about his connections to Wall Street, about his connections to lobbyists, to money interests, and even the Republican Party. But as far as going after Mitt Romney tonight in the debate, Suzanne, he says what he's going do is tell the truth. So you can read into that whatever you want.

MALVEAUX: All right. We'll see what that means.

Joe, thank you. We'll be watching.

Stakes are high, especially for the leaders of the pack, as we mentioned, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich.

Paul Steinhauser joining us from Jacksonville.

Paul, as we know, this debate is crucial for these guys just five days before the Florida primary. How do we think this is shaping up between the two front-runners?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: So crucial, Suzanne, you're absolutely right.

Remember, this a winner-take-all state, 50 delegates at stake. This is the last showdown, the last time we're going to see all four of these candidates on the same stage before Tuesday's primary.

If you want to see how close it is, take a look at this, our new CNN/"TIME"/ORC poll of people likely to take part to vote in that primary here in Florida. Look at that -- 36 percent for Mitt Romney, 34 percent for Newt Gingrich. That's basically a dead heat. You can see Rick Santorum and Ron Paul lower down.

Suzanne, one more number. Look at this.

We asked, "Are you going to change your mind?" Twenty-five percent of people who say they're backing one candidate or another say, yes, I may change my mind. They'll be watching tonight. Another reason why this debate is so crucial.

Debates have been outsized in importance this cycle, and I think tonight is going to be the exact same. We've got the bus behind me over here. That's the building right over there, eight-and-a-half hours from now, where you'll see Wolf Blitzer.

We are ready for show time -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: We are counting down, Paul. We are ready. Thank you.

CNN, the only place to see tonight's presidential debate. We have teamed up with the Florida Republican Party to bring you the latest match-up just days before the Florida primary. You don't want to miss this one, live from Jacksonville tonight, 8:00 Eastern.

All right. So the mayor who made the insulting "taco" comment, he's now apologizing. Mayor Joseph Maturo from East Haven, Connecticut, he makes this remark during an interview with a Hispanic reporter following the arrest of four of the city's police officers. Now, they're charged in a racial -- a federal racial profiling investigation.

So here's how it starts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With such tension in the Latino community, with a force of 50 officers, still no police officer of Latino ancestry.

MAYOR JOSEPH MATURO, JR., EAST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT: And your point being?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing for the Latino community today?

MATURO: I might have tacos when I go home. I'm not quite sure yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: All right.

Jason Carroll, you spoke to the mayor. Some people saying he put his foot in his mouth, not just a taco. What did he say?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the mayor admits, Suzanne, that he did in fact put his foot in his mouth, as you say. And he did offer an apology.

He basically told me that the stress of the situation got the better of him. And so what he did was he told us what he was going to do was read a statement, an apology. He did do that.

But when pressed, he went on to explain what he meant by that statement that got him into so much hot water. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Can you at least tell us, do you think the apology will be enough? I think that would help.

MATURO: I certainly hope so. I created something that went viral. It was something that the media says "gotcha" and ran with it. I accept full responsibility. I have apologized profusely.

CARROLL: Do you think it would be helpful at least at this point if you at least --

MATURO: It might be, but I already said enough.

CARROLL: -- explain -- but it would be helpful if you at least tried to explain what you were trying to say about the Latino community. That's what I'm saying. If you were --

MATURO: Here I go getting myself in trouble. CARROLL: In hindsight, looking at it, what were you trying to say?

MATURO: All I meant was that I don't feel bad going into any community. I didn't feel persecuted by what happened in our town prior to that.

So by going into another section, that's all it meant, that I could go into a different section of a community and have a bite to eat. I didn't feel -- I didn't feel as though I was being -- or our town was being discriminatory or that I was, that I wasn't afraid to talk to or be in the company of anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So, once again, Suzanne, there you have the mayor's explanation of why he said what he said and why -- what he was actually trying to get to the heart of.

Connecticut's governor basically saying that the mayor's comments showed an incredible lack of judgment. When I asked Mayor Maturo about what the governor had to say, he said, "Look, I guess I have to admit the governor is right. I am sorry."

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Jason, how is the Latino community -- how are they reacting to this apology? Do they think of it as an apology? Do they accept it? Are they satisfied?

CARROLL: Well, you know, when we were out in East Haven and spoke to some members of the Latino community, basically what we're getting from them is that they feel as though there's so much hurt in the community, so much distrust between the Latino community and officials, especially police officers, they feel at this point it's going to take more than just words. And in fact, Suzanne, some members of the Latino community are calling for the mayor to step down. And remember, he's only been in office at this point for about a month -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Jason, finally, does the mayor believe that he's got a real problem with racial profiling in his community? Does he realize the serious nature of what the charges are here?

CARROLL: Well, I think he understands the nature of the charges. I mean, that is clear.

But in speaking to the mayor, I think at this point he is standing by those officers and that they are innocent until proven guilty. But when you look at what federal prosecutors are saying about this particular situation, saying that there is a culture that exists within the department, basically saying that these four officers were bullies with badges, this investigation going back until 2009. And basically saying that this is an ongoing situation and there might be more charges forthcoming.

And so, even though the mayor is standing by his officers, offering an apology, obviously if you look at the other side of this, there might be some serious problems there.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jason Carroll, thank you.

Well, New Orleans has dealt with a lot of brazen, deadly street crimes, but one is causing a lot of outrage because a good Samaritan was killed in front of his kids. A 44-year-old father tried to stop a woman from being carjacked. He ran to her aid, he jumped on the hood of the car to stop it. That is when the carjacker shot him and ran off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL AINSWORTH, VICTIM'S BROTHER: His two boys were with him and getting ready to get on the school bus, 9 and 10 years old. And pretty much saw what happened. And they ran down at sat with him until somebody showed up. They were there with him when he passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Mike Ainsworth, he was a contractor who spent his free time volunteering for police causes. I'm going to talk to his brother about his loss and New Orleans, the crime problems, in the next hour.

And responding to a shipwreck. We're going to take you live -- that is right, live -- off the coast of California for underwater emergency training. You're going to see first hand what would happen if disaster strikes like it did on that cruise ship in Italy.

And a new study ranks the most literate cities in America based on the number of bookstores, newspaper circulation, and how educated folks are. In fifth place, Boston. Fourth, Atlanta. Minneapolis residents were named third, most literate in the country. Seattle coming in second.

So, let's think on this. Number one most literate city in the country? We'll have it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. So if you live in one of these cities with a lot of well-read, smart people, here's the list, top five. But what city comes in as the most literate? Washington, D.C.

There you go. My hometown.

Borrowing rates the big buzz on Wall Street today.

Felicia Taylor live at the New York Stock Exchange.

First of all, give us a run of the numbers now. What are we looking at?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, first of all, ,I knew you were well read. I could just tell that about you for sure.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: We read all the time.

TAYLOR: You probably have read some of those economic reports today.

MALVEAUX: Oh, sure. In my free time, of course.

TAYLOR: Of course. OK. So I'll do for it you.

When it comes to the jobless numbers, that actually increased in this previous week to 377,000. That's not the kind of thing that we want to see as those numbers tick higher, but then again, it is still below that key level of 400,000.

The revised number for the previous week was increased by 4,000. And again, that's not the direction we want to see, but it's still moving in the right way in terms of it staying below 400,000.

We saw weaker-than-expected new home sales, but durable goods orders were up three percent. And that's on those big-ticket items. So that's a good thing.

We have also had some corporate earnings today, particularly from Caterpillar. Its earnings were stellar, and that stock is up about three percent.

Netflix, which is a company that's been under some pressure lately, it saw added subscribers. And that's really good in terms of forward guidance for that country. That stock is up 23 percent. It's trading at about $115, $116, which is well below the over $300 price level we saw just a few months ago. But nevertheless, good news for Netflix.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

MALVEAUX: So, Felicia, the fact that things are generally improving, and then the Fed says yesterday they're not all that optimistic about the economy, does that explain the disconnect, that it's just not happening fast enough?

TAYLOR: Yes. That's exactly right.

I mean, you know, we'd like to see things picking up a at a faster pace. In terms of that jobless number that I talked about before, we need to really see three, four months of job creation and it staying below that 400,000 level.

The other thing that was key in that report on Wednesday is that the Federal Reserve has left the door open for added stimulus. And what does that mean? That's sort of pumping money into the economy.

What that means is that they think that those problems in Greece could be a serious -- of a serious nature, that they're not going to get an agreement that's going to satisfy their debtors. And that's what we need to see, added stimulus in the economy, and the Federal Reserve is willing to do it, but nevertheless, that's not something that we want to happen. MALVEAUX: All right. Felicia, thank you. Appreciate it.

So, God forbid if we were to have a disaster like that shipwreck in Italy -- you remember -- would U.S. emergency crews actually be prepared to act?

Casey Wian live to let us know.

Casey, show us something.

WIAN: Well, Suzanne, I'm at the port of Long Beach, California, where dozens of law enforcement agencies train to handle a disaster just like or even worse than the Costa Concordia.

Coming up, we're going to show you how the Long Beach Police Department gets divers into the water to rescue people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. I want you to check out this amazing video that we have just gotten here. I'm going to read the latest information.

This is actually out of Slovakia. What it shows is the collapse of a roof that was above an ice rink. You just see the people seem to be panicking, they're running here.

This was a tremendous amount of snow that was on top of this ice rink that just had that -- just crumbling to the ground there. And there was a Slovakian former National Hockey League star, Richard Zednik (ph), who was training a number of those hockey players at the time when this -- the players suddenly noticed that there was a trickle of plaster that started to fall from the roof,. and then that trickle turned into a torrent before the entire roof collapsed.

Let's listen in.

Now, the people who were there are quite lucky, because this collapse didn't actually happen -- it didn't extend to the outer edge of that rink. So all the folks who were there managed to escape unharmed.

This is a rink that was only opened back in November, but there was an incredible amount of snow that was on the roof there. And when they were training, those players just watched that unfold.

You're looking at the damage there afterwards, but the trickle that just kind of mounted. And within a matter of seconds, you can see it just breaking away, huge pieces.

I believe that is the trainer who was running. And then this tremendous amount of snow and pressure that built up, causing that roof to collapse. Thank goodness, nobody -- amazing, no one was hurt in that accident.

Here's a rundown some of the stories we are working on. An underwater emergency training session. We'll take you live off the coast of California. And the tense exchange that a lot people are talking about between President Obama and Jan Brewer. Find out what happened there from a reporter that was there.

Later, a father labels his three teenager daughters dirty whores. He is accused of killing the girls and a wife. Shocking story about an alleged honor murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So it's been 13 days since the cruise ship disaster off the coast of Italy. Divers are now back on the scene searching for more than a dozen people who are still missing. They do not expect to find survivors. Italian newspapers say the ship's captain told a friend that his managers pressured him to steer toward the island. But in his answers to the court, that captain admitted that he made a mistake when he crashed into the rocks. That tragic accident has raised the question of how U.S. ports train for similar disasters.

Our Casey Wian, he's about to show us. He is with rescue divers at the port of Long Beach.

Casey, tell us what it's like, what they're doing, what kind of training exercise is going on.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, we are at the port of Long Beach, California, with the Long Beach Police Department. And they have got a specialized diving team that's trained to deal with any kind of a disaster that might happen here, especially involving people in the water.

Now, there's 250 cruise ships that depart from the Los Angeles- Long Beach port complex every year. Think of all the people on the ships and think of how they have to get divers into the water quickly. They can't do that with a boat all the time. So one of the ways they do that is with the helicopter. Long Beach Police Department as you can see there has a helicopter ready to deploy to have the divers drop into the water so they can get to potential victims very quickly.

They are one of more than a dozen agencies under the direction of the Coast Guard that responds to an actual emergency. So we're -- there you see it now. They're actually diving in that -- that helicopter flying very, very low. Gets out of the area very quickly. So these divers are trained. They have access to sonar and to communication equipment. They are able to get into the water very, very quickly and rescue people out.

Now, as we mentioned, depending on what kind of a maritime disaster might be encountered here, they have a dozen different law enforcement agencies who work together. If it's a cargo vessel that's a different type of activity that they do. If it's a passenger ship, and as we mentioned there's a lot of cruise ships that come out of this terminal, they're able to respond very, very quickly with quick- deploy divers like that - Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: That's amazing. We'll show more of that later in the hour. Casey will have more of the underwater recovery exercises. Pretty cool stuff there.

Thank you, Casey.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're getting a lot of responses to our "Talk Back" question: Does a smaller U.S. military make sense?

Thomas says, "Yes, a smaller military makes sense in the new world that we exist in. The next war is going to be a cyber war and we could always rebuild the Army in a crisis if we had to."

Carol Costello has more of your responses.

But first, time for "Travel Insider." CNN reporters, producers, yes, we all get the inside scoop on great places to travel, to go. Our Karen Wagen (ph), she gets and up-close look at the sea manatees in Florida.

(TRAVEL INSIDER)

MALVEAUX: You've been sounding off on the talk back question. Carol Costello with some of your responses.

Hi, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi, Suzanne. The "Talk Back" question today: Does a smaller U.S. military make sense.

This from Ryan, "Yes, the military going in a different, more automated direction. We can commit crimes against other Americans by putting citizens in harm's way. By making the military smaller is a horrid idea. The United States is a military power and that's one reason we can defend the freedom so our country stands for so the military cut is a bad idea."

This from Samantha, "I'm a military brat spouse and even I can see the necessity of a small military. We're in debt up to our eyes and we need to cut spending wherever we can. It is only logical that we trim back. With the amount of technology that's developed, a strong military is no longer dependent upon the number of boots on the ground."

And this from MRTBJ, "Of course it makes sense. The GOP will tell you that you don't have military bases in every country, where we're not safe. And these are the same people that led us into two wars. It's not the U.S.'s job to police the world. A smaller military does not mean a weaker one."

Keep the conversation going. Facebook.com/carolCNN. I'll be back with you in about 20 minutes or so.

MALVEAUX: All right, Carol. I think someone was trying to call you. Do you know who I think it is?

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Was it you?

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Of course it was me. I've got another story to tell you. So, you know, you hear the expression one man's trash, another man's treasure, right? So there's this woman in Arkansas, she pulls out a lottery ticket at a trash can at the store, and the prize is $1 million, so you'd think she'd walk away with the money. It would be an easy thing to do. Her name is Sharon Jones. Not so fast. She's in a legal battle with the store's manager. The manager said this is my trash can, this is my property, this is my ticket. What do you think, finder's keepers?

COSTELLO: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

Money makes people do interesting things sometimes.

MALVEAUX: You know, the store manager, she wasn't shopping around in the trash. So she had no idea.

COSTELLO: No, she would have thrown it out.

MALVEAUX: That's right. That's right. So this woman, she's trying to keep her $1 million. Finders' keepers.

COSTELLO: What was the woman doing digging around in a trash can at the convenience store anyway?

MALVEAUX: I don't know. Maybe she's in a rough spot, rough patch anyway. That $1 million is going to do her some good. We wish her the best.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Maybe they'll split it. Maybe they'll split it.

COSTELLO: That would be nice.

MALVEAUX: All right. See you, Carol. I'll call you later. Pick up your phone.

COSTELLO: Sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: OK. See you. All right. So Mesa, Arizona, supposed to be what 76 degrees, got a lot hotter than that when President Obama and the Arizona governor met at the airport. We'll talk with a reporter about what happened when they met.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. The dustup in the desert, tension on the tarmac. That's just one of the headlines describing a rather intense exchange between President Obama and Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. So it happened when the president arrived for a campaign stop in Arizona yesterday, and keeping with tradition, Brewer was there to welcome the president. That's when things got interesting.

Carrie Budoff Brown, she the reporter picked to represent the print media covering the president's arrival, known as the pool reporter, she's joining us from Vegas.

Carrie, great to see you.

You and I covered a lot of the pools with the president over the campaign. We know at times it can be -- he can be thin-skinned but we know he rarely loses his cool. You were there. What really happened between these two?

CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN, POOL PRINT REPORTER: Yes, Suzanne, you can tell from the moment he stepped off the tarmac this was not going to be -- this was not a normal encounter. You know, we see him step off the plane, it's usually smiles, hand shake, very quick interaction before he moves on to the limo of off to see a crowd of folks.

But clearly when he stepped off, the governor handed him an envelope. She could be seen waving her finger at him. And then they started talking over one another. Sort of the final break was when he walked away when she was still talking. She threw her hand up in exasperation. Highly unusual for these types of events. These are very sort of relaxed, quick affairs. So clearly, there was something up. And you know, at that point we were able to go over to the governor to talk to her about it. And at that point --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: And Carrie -- go ahead, I'm sorry.

BUDOFF BROWN: I was going to say, everybody sort of moved away. Followed the president to the rope line. And she -- you know, we said, governor, what happened? And she said that she handed him an envelope to invite him back to Arizona to go to the border. It seemed that's was set it off. The root of this is a meeting two years ago at the White House, which she met with the president. She emerged from that meeting and said it was a cordial meeting.

But subsequently in a book she described it, you know -- quite differently. Said she felt it was -- he was condescending. It was one sided. He wasn't happy about it. When she asked him to visit again, he said, according to the White House, I'm happy to do that, but I'm not pleased with the way that you characterized the last meeting. So clearly, this was on his mind when he stepped off the plane. And when she brought it up, he obviously felt a need to say something.

But the whole encounter clearly, very, very unusual for, you know, a tarmac interaction.

MALVEAUX: Yes. And, Carrie, at one point she said she felt threatened. I want you to listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAN BREWER, (D), GOVERNOR OF ARIZONA: He changed the subject to my book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," and was a little bit disenchanted, if you will, about how he was portrayed in the book. I believe that when we were in conservation that I was in the middle of a sentence and he walked away. I wasn't angry at all. I felt a little bit threatened, if you will, in the attitude that he had because I was there to welcome him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: What do you think she meant by that, threatened his attitude. What did you see in the body language?

BUDOFF BROWN: I think she was clearly caught off guard. I can't speak to her being threatened, feeling threatened. Clearly, she was caught off guard. She did not expect I think for him to challenge her basically on the requests that she was making. It's not normal for that to happen in the sort of quick interactions. When I spoke to her afterwards, she was clearly caught off guard. She was flustered. I asked her if she was. She just said, I'm happy that he's here but I'll have to regroup, which clearly suggested that, at that moment in time, she was trying to make sense of what just transpired right there on the tarmac.

MALVEAUX: Carrie, it's interesting to see the White House response. It's not surprising that they are downplaying this whole thing. They are not talking about it very much. But she certainly is, the governor. Do you think there's an advantage for her to make hay of this and perhaps this is leftovers from the bad blood that they had over the immigration bill?

BUDOFF BROWN: It certainly feels like there's a benefit in some ways to both the president and the governor. The governor is seen challenging the president in a state where right now he did not win the state in Arizona. Their immigration law, they tried to pass that federal government challenging it. So this is her way -- the images of her on the front pages of the Arizona papers of her waving her finger at him. The president, on the other hand, put up a fight to her. So that might help him in some ways with his supporters.

MALVEAUX: All right. Carrie, as always, great to see you there on the frontlines in the pool covering the president. Good to see you again. Thank you.

BUDOFF BROWN: Thank you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Secretly taping and seeing the tape of three dead girls. You're going to want to listen to the translation of what he says about them.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: May the devil defecate on their graves. This is what a daughter be, such whore.

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MALVEAUX: A man is accused of so-called honor murders in the death of his wife and three daughters.

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MALVEAUX: Investigators secretly tape a man accused of killing four women. On the tape, he calls these dead women dirty whores. That is what is even more shocking is that these women are the man's wife and three teenage daughters.

Paula Newton has story of this alleged massacre in the name of what they say is honor.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): In so many ways, they were typical teens. Smart, beautiful, enjoyed going out with friends and flirting with boys but that's what might have gotten them killed. It was during a family vacation in June 2009, a car carrying the teenagers and the woman they knew as auntie, mysteriously plunged into this open canal, drowning all four. The girls' parents in tearful interviews explained, it was a horrific accident on their trip back from their trip from the Niagara girls. They say the girls took the car out for a spin while the rest of the family was in the hotel in Kingston, Ontario.

(on camera): But even as their bodies were being taken out of the water, as the vehicle was being dragged up from out of the locks, police say they were learning something very different about what went on here that night, and more importantly, what was going on in the household.

NEWTON: Suspicious police bugged the minivan. What they heard, they say, evidence of first-degree murder.

Investigators claim hours of wire-tapped conversations reveal how and why the parents, Tooba Mahammad Yahya and Mahammad Shafia, along with their son, Hamed, planned the murders. They also learned the so- called Auntie Rona was in fact Mohammad other wife, co--wife to Tooba in the secret polygamous marriage. Mother, father, and son were all charged with murder in the summer of 2009. Now they're on trial. They've all pled not guilty.

Prosecutors are relying heavily on the bugged conversations. In one, Mohammad Shafia said in the Afghan language, Dari, "I say to myself, you did well. Would they come back to life a hundred times, you should do the same again." In another, "May the devil defecate on their graves. This is what a daughter should be? Would a daughter be such a whore"?

CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD, EDITORIAL WRITER: I think the wire taps are extremely damaging to all three of them.

NEWTON: Christie Blatchford has sat through every wire tap, every witness, she's become an advocate to the victims.

BLATCHFORD: We've been treated to the amusing side of defense lawyers saying, when you said, "may the devil defecate on their graves," what did you mean by that? What other possible explanation, but that, is there for any of these things?

NEWTON: But interrogations of the family never uncovered a motive. Why would they kill four members of their own family? The prosecution contends these were honor killings carried out by parents from a very conservative Afghan background to punish rebellious, increasingly westernized daughters. Zainab ran off to marry a Pakistani man her parents hated. Sahar wore revealing clothes and had secret boyfriends. And little Geeti was failing in school and calling social workers to get her out of a violent home. Auntie Rona was her advocate.

Exactly how these girls died is a mystery but prosecutors say they have clues. The shattered headlight on the family Lexus matches the damage on the rear bumper on the girls' car, suggested it was ran into the canal. Police also believe the victims may have been killed or beaten unconscious before the car hit the water. That would explain why they didn't escape, even though the seat belts were unbuckled and the canal was only seven feet deep.

In one of the most chilling conversations recorded, Mohammad Shafia labeled his daughter dirty whores. Steadfast, he says, my "conscience is clear." Prosecutors are now trying to prove that to the Shafias, honor was more important than life, even if it meant killing their three daughters.

Paul Newton, CNN, Kingston, Ontario.

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