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British Prime Minister and Wife Visit D.C.; Panetta Visits Afghanistan; Analyzing What Caused the Afghan Shooting; Should Newt Gingrich Get Out?; Delegate Count Math; Filmmakers Mocks Pork Barrel Spending

Aired March 14, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

ASHLEY BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Hey, Carol Costello. It's nice to see you and hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield and, as Carol said, I'm sitting in for Kyra Phillips today.

It's 11:00 a.m. on the east coast, 8:00 a.m. on the west coast and we have a very busy hour ahead, so let's get straight to it, shall we?

Enough with the brackets. Today, it's all business today for President Obama and the visiting prime minister of Britain, David Cameron. It's mostly business, anyway.

Hours after the leaders caught a first-round game in the NCAA basketball tournament, Mr. Obama welcomed not only the British prime minister, but also his wife to the White House in a ceremony that I daresay might have been fit for a king.

Right now, though, they're meeting in private with a world of tough issues to talk about - Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, the European debt crisis. Stop me any time.

The prime minister and Mrs. Cameron will be honored tonight at a state dinner as well. But first, a little over an hour from now, he and the president will be stepping into the Rose Garden for a news conference, and you'll be seeing it live right here on CNN, so stay tuned.

Also making news, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, is in the eye of the Afghan storm. Today and tomorrow, he's going to be visiting with troops and commanders and government officials and tribal leaders there.

He won't actually see the area where a U.S. Army sergeant allegedly went on that killing spree early Sunday. But that is certain to be a big focus of his meetings there. Leon Panetta was in the same province as a huge roadside bomb blast today that killed eight people who were traveling in a minivan.

Military investigators want to know whether alcohol was, in fact, a factor in the cold-blooded shootings of those 16 Afghan men, women, and mostly children. That's according to two senior military officials who say toxicology tests on the suspect are not yet complete. Authorities are said to have presented some probable cause, though, and that keeps the accused killer locked up pending trial in a military court. And for more about that, stay tuned for my interview with a former military prosecutor. That's coming up just a little bit later on in this hour.

Switching gears, you just might not think of the Deep South as Rick Santorum country, but maybe you should. The ex-Pennsylvania senator is savoring his sweep of the Tuesday Mississippi and Alabama in those primaries.

You know the polls did not predict it. They didn't. And rival, Newt Gingrich, was desperately trying to prevent this. That didn't happen, though.

Anyway, Gingrich is still saying he's staying in the race and Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich says, is, quote, "not much of a frontrunner."

Mitt Romney came in third in the South, but he did win last night's caucuses in Hawaii and there are some delegates there and he still enjoys a huge lead in the only race that really matters so far, and that is the big one, the delegate count. GOP delegates is really what matters.

Syria is said to have answered the cease-fire proposals from a high-level U.N. envoy and it does not look like the answer is what the U.N. was hoping for.

Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan met with Syria's president over the weekend, representing not just the world body, but also the League of Arab Nations. Yet, the Syrian government onslaught against dissidents and army defectors just keeps continuing.

Activists say 56 people have been killed today across that country, many in the opposition stronghold of Idlib which reportedly has fallen now to government forces.

Investigators in Switzerland want to know what caused a bus crash that killed 28 people and most of them were kids, 11- and 12-year-old kids. The bus was on its way back to Belgium with 52 people on board when it slammed into a highway tunnel.

Another two dozen children were hurt in that crash and rescuers spent hours trying to get everybody out of the wreckage and then, of course, tending to the injuries.

Actor George Clooney is not on a movie set, but he is on Capitol Hill today and he's testifying before Congress about the violence in Sudan and South Sudan. This testimony comes a day after he returned from a trip to the region.

He visited the Nuba Mountains where villagers have fled to caves just to try to stay alive. Clooney spoke with my colleague, Soledad O'Brien, about the bombings and the attacks by the Sudanese armed forces. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: These are war crimes. When you're indiscriminately bombing innocent civilians, you are committing war crimes and that is what they're doing. It's a cowardly act and that's what they're doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Clooney's testimony will focus on the Sudan oil field dispute and then also humanitarian access to the region as well.

Voter backlash building against those political Super PACs that are pouring millions of dollars into presidential campaigns. In fact, a majority of voters want them outlawed altogether. A Washington Post/ABC News survey of registered voters finds that 69 percent want to do away with Super PACs.

Twenty-five percent, though, want to keep them. Might be some folks in the campaign. You never know. But independent voters are more opposed to them than Republicans or Democrats and that's right across the board.

Mitt Romney's comments about the women's group, Planned Parenthood, is raising a few eyebrow today. Romney was on a campaign stop in Kirkwood, Missouri, when a reporter asked him about balancing the federal budget and here's what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My test is pretty simple. Is the program so critical it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it. On that basis, of course, we'll get rid of ObamaCare. That's the easy one.

But there are others. Planned Parenthood, we're going to get rid of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The aides says he merely meant cutting funding for Planned Parenthood, not shutting down its existence since it is actually not a government organization.

And just released 911 calls reveal the chaos onboard an American Airlines flight last week when a flight attendant reportedly snapped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Harrowing for sure, but here's the story. She appeared to suffer some kind of a mental breakdown. She was screaming about 9/11 and the plane crashing.

It happened as an American flight, Flight Number 2332, was taxiing just before takeoff in Dallas and several passengers picked up their phones and made emergency calls. CALLER: It looks like they're physically restraining a flight attendant.

OPERATOR: OK, they're physically restraining a flight attendant?

CALLER: Yes, she's lost it.

BANFIELD: No passengers were hurt, and that's lucky, and no charges have been filed against that flight attendant. One of her colleagues reportedly told police that she is, quote, "bipolar" and that she did not take her medication.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Now, for a quick check of the markets. The Dow is up 11 points right now. U.S. stock market is opening higher today after, quote, "cautious optimism" about the banking sector.

Federal Reserve says most of the nation's largest banks have passed what's called a government financial stress test. That's always a good notion. Good sign.

President Obama and Britain's prime minister are behind closed doors right now at the White House, so what do you suppose the chatter is all about?

We're going to get answers for you after we check in at the White House and that is coming up in just a moment.

First, though, never give up. Hold onto your dreams. You're never too old. Everybody says that, right? But Sharon Handelsman actually lived that mantra. We caught up with her story on the Huffington Post.

At an age when most people are looking ahead to retirement, Dr. Handelsman is starting her career as an ob-gyn in Chicago. She spent her adult life as a nurse-midwife and instructor, but always regretted not getting her medical degree.

So, in 2001, at the ripe young age of 50, she went back to medical school and she graduated. She went through residency and she survived it all to become Dr. Handelsman at the ripe young age of 58.

And, Doc, today that makes you our rock star.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: After spending last night kicking back with some "Manner Madness" basketball, President Obama and British prime minister, David Cameron, are now getting down to serious business. They're meeting behind closed doors this hour.

And, next hour, we're expecting them to hold a live news conference at the Rose Garden because it's nice outside. They moved it outside. Isn't that nice? Brianna Keilar joins us from the White House. She's also in a nice location. She's on the North Lawn. And, Brianna, on the South Lawn, just a little bit ago, I was watching all the pomp and circumstance and thinking, wow, this is a pretty fancy set of digs they set up for this meeting.

And I'm trying to figure out how much of it is real strategic or how much of it is a message saying, boy, we really like you guys in Britain.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it certainly is very fancy. It is about building a rapport between the U.S. and between Britain. There have been some observers who have wondered if maybe that so-called "special relationship" has been neglected.

The White House resists any suggestion of this, Ashleigh, but, at the same time, they went through a lot of trouble to really welcome Prime Minister Cameron. He got a 19-gun salute. If the queen came, she would get a 21-gun salute, but this was a lot of pomp and circumstance, not too much of a difference there.

What also struck me, though, is this is a campaign year, of course, and you heard that come out a little bit in President Obama's comments as he was talking about Americans getting a fair shot. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We believe that every person, if they're willing to work hard, if they play by the rules, deserve a fair shot. Deserve a chance to succeed.

So, in these tough economic times, we stand united in our determination to create the jobs that put our people back to work and expanding trade that is both free and fair and in fighting for a global economy where every nation plays by the same rules.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Every nation playing by the same rules, that was sort of a veiled point to be made to China there over trade issues, Ashleigh.

And we also heard President Obama make an illusion to Iran, saying that the U.S. and the U.K. basically stand unified in stopping countries that would endanger the globe with the world's most dangerous weapons.

And Iran, of course, a big topic of discussion today between the president and the prime minister during this visit.

BANFIELD: But I'm looking at the schedule today. I think right now they're supposed to be probably in the Cabinet Room with official delegations, both the U.S. and the U.K. delegations. That's after that one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office between the two leaders. And then it looks like it gets pretty fun. Tonight is a big state dinner. Anything to that, or are we really focusing on what's going on today with the serious talk and the serious meetings?

KEILAR: I think we are focusing. We certainly want to see because it's not every day that you get the opportunity to hear from President Obama and hear from Prime Minister Cameron during a press conference like this.

And there's so much going on right now, especially with the recent "New York times" report about an accelerated withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and it's timely during the visit with the British prime minister.

So, expect President Obama to be asked about that and we'll be paying very close attention to what they're saying in this Rose Garden press conference.

But yes, there is also this big event tonight, the state dinner. I will tell you. We don't have the guest list yet or the menu. We're still waiting for the White House to release that, Ashleigh.

But we do know that Rory McIlroy, the golfer, will be one of the guests -- he tweeted that -- as well as Damien Lewis. He's a British actor on the cable TV series, "Homeland," of which President Obama is a very big fan.

BANFIELD: Well, how about that? I'm not going to read anything into it. I'm just going to let that one ruminate for a while.

Brianna Keilar, thanks very much. Stay on the job for us. Let us know just when they get underway with that press conference, OK? Thanks.

And I want to remind you about that press conference. Both President Obama and the British prime minister are set to be together in the Rose Garden, setting up the mics, podiums and all the rest. Expected to talk more about not only the Middle East, but also Iran and the upcoming G8 summit, too.

So, keep an eye. I'm doing the time and the math real quick. I think it's about like 50 minutes from now.

Afghans are outraged. They're calling for an open trial against the U.S. soldier who's suspected of going on that awful killing spree a few days ago. But that is not going to happen, at least not the way they want it to.

So, what is going to happen? How is any kind of trial likely to play out? Will there even be a trial? Just what is it about military justice? Is it the same as civilian justice?

You're going to hear from a former military prosecutor who has done this stuff in-country before. He's going to give you the lowdown in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: More now on this week's cold-blooded rampage in Southern Afghanistan. And this time from the legal front.

As you know, a U.S. Army staff sergeant is in custody over in Afghanistan while the higher-ups investigate his alleged killing of 16 Afghan civilians, including women, and most of them actually were children.

Steve Raiser is a criminal defense attorney who served in the judge advocate general corps in Iraq, and he joins me now live via Skype from Mineola, New York.

I'm so excited to be able to talk to you about this, Steve, because there is so much that the general public doesn't know about the uniform code of military justice and how it applies in a circumstance like this.

Start me off right now with the notion that this young man may not be competent. Because competency is step one in determining whether we're ever even going to get to a trial. What would they be doing in-country right now as he's being held to determine his competency?

STEVE RAISER, FOUNDING PARTNER, RAISER & KENNIFF: Well, as far as his competency, I mean, this is a similar issue to any civilian trial that you're going to have. There is going to be a ton of evaluations done by psychiatric experts, both the prosecution and the defense.

And we've seen this play out over years now with the Major Hassan trial. That trial has been going out since November of 2009. The main issue in that case as to why the trial is still pending is because of psychiatric issues.

So, they're going to have psychiatric experts from the prosecution, most likely saying that he is capable and able to stand trial, understanding the consequences of his actions and the case can move forward.

And, at the same time, we're going to have the defense, putting forward their psychiatric experts, getting him evaluated, and somehow coming to a ground where we could say which is more reliable and be sure that he is able to withstand trial in order to assist in his own defense.

BANFIELD: So, what's the focus right now, Steve? And I'm sure that they're trying to figure out a lot of things since we are so early in this developing story.

But what's the focus in country right now of people who are actually involved with the legal process? Are they more concerned with processing CSI, the crime scene, and getting the evidence in- country that they're going to need to present at trial, or are they more focused with dealing with him and determining what kind of defendant he may end up being? RAISER: Right now, they're very interested -- I would say most interested in gathering all the evidence that they can in order to prove the case.

I mean, that's always going to be the main issue in any criminal action, especially one like this where it's involved in a foreign country, in Afghanistan, where evidentiary procedures are quite a bit different.

Collecting and preserving evidence is difficult under this environment because you're not dealing with somewhere in the states where you have all the resources at your disposal to be able to preserve evidence.

So, as of right now -- and the thing about this case, too, the physical evidence, of course, is important and that's what I'm speaking to right now, but we also have a lot of civilian witnesses, so it doesn't appear that in this particular case that it's going to become an issue regarding evidence.

That brings us to the next point. Where is this trial going to be held? Most likely, it will be held in Afghanistan, and the reason for that is because the eyewitnesses are all in Afghanistan, which also presents some other complicating factors.

BANFIELD: Oh, you led me right to my next question, so I'll make it a two-fer. You mentioned the witnesses. We all know that when you're in a circumstance like a war and you're trying to deal with collecting evidence in-theater and trying to round up witnesses in- theatre, they don't speak English. And even the best translator can make mistakes which sometimes can lend very well to a defense.

So, to that point, how do you troubleshoot that and get ahead of that, and at the same time, is this going to placate the Afghans who want this public trial in Afghanistan?

They're not going to get Afghan justice, but they may get American justice in their country.

RAISER: Well, absolutely, and I think that is another reason, what you just put the finger on, as to why this trial will likely be in Afghanistan.

The reason being that if we were to take the soldier back to the United States, there would be a huge uproar. They want public justice. They want justice in the country in which the crime was committed.

As far as translators and such, yes, that's obviously a big issue. Nonetheless, the translators are going to be used and going to be vetted to make sure that they're highly qualified in order to translate specifically.

In other words, you can't just get any local Afghan to translate. These are going to have to be certified individuals who we know that we can trust based either on prior experience or based on their own credentials.

So, the Afghan people are going to be made to feel that they are involved in this process. While we understand justice must be served and will be served, we cannot forget the angle that the public perception must be good. The public must be on the side of the process. If it is not, it will become an absolute nightmare.

BANFIELD: I am so glad that I had a chance to talk to you about that. Listen, I personally have experienced the local translator and just how lethal their work can be if they have an agenda.

And, so, in this kind of a situation, there is just a whole can of worms that can be opened up at every stage.

Steve, I hope you'll come back and join us again.

RAISER: I'd love to. Thank you for having me.

BANFIELD: Thanks so much.

Now, to a serious problem right here at home -- the mortgage crisis. Consider this. For those of you who have not refinanced your home -- are you ready? Are you sitting down?

You could be overpaying nearly $500 a month. That's 5-0-0. Just so I can drill it home there.

So, how to keep more money in your pocket? We're going to explain right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: All right, let's face it. In this economy, who wouldn't like to keep a couple of extra greenbacks in their pockets?

There's a way you can do it, you know. You can cut back on what you shell out each month on your mortgage because you're probably shelling out a lot.

If you've been thinking about refinancing but don't know where to begin, we are here for you. In fact, Alison Kosik is the one who's here for you.

She's joining us with a couple of steps on how to help out. Hey, girl, I'm really glad that you're here to talk about this because I've actually been in this process and it is a nightmare.

For some people, it might be easier. But, for those who might not be - well, first of all, how many people aren't taking advantage or are taking advantage of great refinancing?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And that's a great question, Ashleigh, because there is a recent survey out from Credit Sesame that finds that only 30 percent of qualified homeowners actually tried to refinance. And homeowners who just didn't pursue a refinance wound up overpaying on their mortgage by an average of $470 a month and that works out to $56,000 over ten years.

Now, mortgage rates today average around 4.06 percent for a 30- year fixed and 3.36 percent for a 15-year mortgage. Go ahead and compare that to a year ago when rates were at 4.93 percent and 4.17 percent.

Now, we spoke to Lynnette Khalfani-Cox. She is the founder of the financial advise blog, AsktheMoneyCoach.com, and she told us if your rate is over 5 percent, it is likely is very, very worth it for you to refinance now and go ahead and lock in that lower rate, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, so, here's the big question. It sounds like a great thing, but for all those people who have lost a bunch of equity with plummeting housing prices, they might not all of the sudden qualify unless they shell out a bunch of money to get their principal back up, right?

KOSIK: Right. There's a whole process to this and you make a really good point there, Ashleigh, and you know what? The best deals wind up going to borrowers who have the best credit ratings. Mortgage lenders typically use data from all three of the major credit reporting companies.

So, Lynnette recommends that you review each report to avoid any big surprises and you can get those reports for free once a year at annualcreditreport.com. You can also dispute any errors as well because credit reporting agencies are required by law to fix mistakes within 30 days. Lynnette also recommends you check your FICO scores, at myfico.com. Lynnette also told us many financiers make the mistake of going to their lender. Do some comparison shopping. You may be anyone to save thousands of dollars.

One more thing to tell you about, Ashleigh, Lynnette recommends you prepare for your home appraisals. They will compare your home to nearby homes that recently sold. Lenders use something called a home devalue ratio, or LTV, and that's the home balance divided by the market value of your property. The more your home is worth, the lower your LTV. If you have an LTV over 18 percent, you need to apply for private mortgage insurance. It does pay to clean up your home, add some curb appeal, but she says don't go overboard on it because expensive renovations aren't necessary for refinance. Some good tips there -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: It was that darn loan-to-value ratio that bit me. I was so mad. And when the appraiser goes around the neighborhood and finds out who else had to dump their house at a low rate, that can really bite. You have no control over it.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It's frustrating.

Alison Kosik, you're great. Thank you, honey.

He is the only southerner in the GOP race, and despite that, just couldn't manage to pull off a win in the Deep South last night. So here is the question some folks are asking, whether they're in the elite media or the regular media or the other media or whatever media is out there, is it time for Newt Gingrich to get out? Is that "Fair Game," even? We're going to ask the question next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Two big questions facing the Republican candidates in the aftermath of the bruising primary fights in the Deep South with Rick Santorum's two victories in Alabama and Mississippi yesterday, is it now a two-man race between Santorum and Romney? And if that's the case, is it finally time for Newt Gingrich to pack it up and move on home? Another question, take a look at our total delegate count. Mitt Romney is still way out front with 489 delegates, and rim Santorum not even close. he has 234 delegates. You can see the numbers dwindle from there, so has anything really changed with yesterday's big results?

Here to talk about it, Pete Dominick and Ford O'Connell in a segment we like to call "Fair Game."

We'll get to the question about the delegate count, but I want you to hear what Newt Gingrich had to say last night about this stage of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I emphasize going to Tampa because one of the things tonight proved is that the elite media's effort to convince the nation that Mitt Romney is inevitable just collapsed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And there you have it. It's the elite media's fault again.

Pete Dominick, I'm going to start with you. I got a little bit confused about that one because I always thought the elite media was connected to the left but yet Mitt Romney is on the right. What the heck was he talking about?

PETE DOMINICK, RADIO SHOW HOST: I really have never really understood that claim of elite media or mainstream media which Newt Gingrich has always been a part of and has made a lot of money off when he was a contributor to FOX News. But Newt Gingrich is so full of ego. He's running on ego and almost running on hatred for Mitt Romney at this point.

It's absolutely time for him to go out. The only reason he should be going to Tampa is to retire. He had a showing last night in those two states, but they're overwhelmingly born again Christian voters. They've got two Catholics and a Mormon to choose from, and many think President Obama is a Muslim. It's almost like a guy who locks his keys outside his car but he keeps pulling on the handle thinking, it's got to open, it's got to open.

BANFIELD: Ford jump in here and answer this question for me. I always figured that at this point, Obama would prefer not to run against Mitt Romney. So if the elite media or leftist media were pulling for somebody, it would be somebody who would be easy for Obama to beat. So what is Newt talking about when he says the elite media says Romney was the front runner all along? Does he have his paths crossed somewhere?

FORD O'CONNELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: There is no path for Mitt Romney to lose 124 delegates. He's saying, I helped you, I need something before I retire.

BANFIELD: But who is the elite media backing?

O'CONNELL: The elite media is backing President Obama. Look at the campaign trail, we all know it. When we go to Puerto Rico, I hope many members of the media stay there, because all they're doing is in the tank for President Obama. I agree. I don't know what Newt Gingrich is talking about.

BANFIELD: Let's talk about delegate count, folks, because if you look at that media board, Mitt Romney is still way out ahead. There is a lot of arguing going on, on the campaign trail, about fuzzy math. They were on the air the other day saying it just isn't true that Mitt Romney can clinch this nomination before the convention, Rick Santorum has every opportunity to make that math happen. I was never good at math and I'm not going to say on national television that I get math, I don't. Does anybody else get the math here?

Peter, I'll start with you.

DOMINICK: I'm the same way as you, I'm not great at math. That's why I look to people who are really good at math. I saw a bunch of reports this morning, one of which said Mitt Romney got more delegates last night in Mississippi and Alabama. He got 42 to 48 delegates. He's still way out in front. Maybe it was 1812, Rick Santorum -- Newt Gingrich would win. I'm shocked this guy is actually still a candidate.

(CROSSTALK)

O'CONNELL: Come on! Mitt Romney has the best chance.

DOMINICK: But listen --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Ford, go ahead. Go Ahead.

(CROSSTALK)

DOMINICK: Mitt Romney has the best chance. O'CONNELL: Rick Santorum has a miniscule chance. It's not likely to happen. The only question is, when will Mitt Romney get to 444. Will it be during the primary or after? That's the only question we're listening to.

BANFIELD: My big question is, when are we going to be able, in this day and age of electronics, get rid of the delay because that drives me bananas.

Pete Dominick and Ford O'Connell, it was great to see you.

That's "Fair Game."

Thanks for being with us.

The sleigh ride to remember. Snow, the dogs, the lonely 1,000- mile trek all part of the annual Iditarod dog sled race. Here's the big question. You wait every year for it. Who won the race? I got a hint. It's a family affair. We'll tell you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Time now to go to the stories making news.

We go to Birmingham, Alabama, where prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a grandmother. She's accused in the death of her own granddaughter. Joyce Gerard forced the young girl to run laps for three hours after she lied about stealing a candy bar. She died of low sodium levels. Her mother is facing charges as well.

In New Brunswick, New Jersey, Dharun Ravi is accused of watching his roommate kissing another man on a webcam and tweeting it to his friends. Tyler Clemente jumped to his death after learning he had been spied on. Dharun Ravi says he's not homophobic, just a confused young man. He could be sent to prison for 10 years.

Payne died of colon cancer at the age of 77. He is known for his role in U.S. Africa policies. Former President Bill Clinton, Chris Christie and Eric Holder were among those expected at today's service.

After 12 years, a Goldman Sachs executive has some pretty tough words for his company. Greg Smith resigned today. But boy, did he do it publicly. He slammed the investment bank in the newspaper! Said it was filled with toxic and destructive environments and that the interest of clients no longer matters. His letter was published in the op-ed pages of "The New York Times" just so everybody could see it. Goldman Sachs' spokesman says the organization does not agree with the article.

In Chicago, Rod Blagojevich will say a final goodbye at a news conference today. That's before he heads off to federal prison. The former Illinois governor was convicted on corruption charges last year, including trying to sell President Obama's open Senate seat in Illinois. And for that, he is to serve 14 years in a federal facility in Colorado. And in Nome, Alaska, a 25-year-old has been crowned prince. Well, of the Iditarod sled dog race, anyway. His name is Dallas Sevey and his furry friends made the trip in a little over nine days and four hours. His father and grandfather were also in the Iditarod race, so it's a real family affair.

Pork barrel spending, also known as earmarks, just some of the D.C. jargon, and we may not particularly care for it, but what you don't know is how much the government wastes every year. How about a $10,000 toilet seat? Take a look at these images because, up next, the filmmaker behind these pictures, outing the government on the dirty little secret. We've got it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: So, you know, Congress is constantly bickering about your tax dollars and where to spend them, where to cut. The deficit, it's all about responsible spending. But get this, prior to 2011, Congress poured tens and millions of dollars into earmarked pork barrel spending. It's this kind of spending that prompted two filmmakers to see if they can get Congress to earmark what is the most ironic pork project of all time. It's called the Museum Government of Waste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to get my own earmark. I just want to get an application for an earmark for the Museum of Government Waste. The Museum of Government Waste.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like a physical building?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A real building. For all the stuff our government wastes our money on, tea pots, waterless urinals. The chimps throwing feces at each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: This is a story that we think is under covered, which is why we wanted to talk to Ellen Hubbard, one of the filmmakers beyond this documentary. She joins us live from Reno, Nevada, and she's actually listening to me.

I know we had a few audio problems so we're going to let our viewers hear about this going forward. The fact that you actually embarked -- how long have you been at this film trying to figure out if you can get the actual earmark for the museum of government waste?

ELLEN HUBBARD, FILMMAKER: Hey, Ashleigh. Great to join you today. We've been at it for five years. It's been quite a journey for us. BANFIELD: So as I get it, you hired a radio host to go Michael Moore on this whole thing with undercover cameras and all sorts of efforts to try to get the real skinny on what the process is like if you actually want to get an earmark?

HUBBARD: Yes. Our friend who is also a radio talk show host, Greg Knapp, we thought he was the best front man for the job. It was going to be a tough task for us to have to get to meet some members of Congress and to meet lobbyist and actually really try to pursue this earmark.

BANFIELD: So here's a question. I would go to the museum of government waste. I would take my kids there. Do you really want to build a museum, a physical building to show this? Or is this just to see if you could get this project done, just to see if you could pull it off?

HUBBARD: It's a great question. At first, we thought it would just be something that would be fun to pull off. But as the journey progressed and we realized how much closer we were getting, you know, to actually getting government funding for an actual museum of government waste, we sat back and thought, this is actually a good idea. So we are pushing forward with asking the public for their help to donate to an actual museum of waste and where else, the nation's capital. So every American, taxpayer, and citizen can be educated on exactly where our funding, our government is spending our taxpayer dollars.

BANFIELD: Ellen, what got under your skin to prompt you and your husband to take this on? Was this something you saw in your neighborhood, a particular story that you saw distasteful of waste and pork? Or was it just the overall pork barrel spending that comes up every year?

HUBBARD: Who among us doesn't have a story that we can recall where government spent money on something that we felt was unnecessary. By and large, I'm concerned with the federal budget but there was a specific case in which I read about a staffer who literally took his dog for a walk in a park on capitol hill, got into it with a police officer because he took the leash of his dog to run him and decided to do something about it and unlike the rest of us he actually had the power to do something about it. He got an earmark for a leash-less dog park. It got me thinking, you know, if everybody in Congress, not just the members themselves but lobbyists and staffers have this kind of a power, I wonder what a regular citizen would get trying to do the same thing.

BANFIELD: I want to point out, as you're outlining that particular case, it doesn't really match up to Ron Paul or anything else. You don't want to indict Ron Paul for the dog park. One last question, did you get the earmark?

HUBBARD: Oh, Ashleigh, I wish I could tell you that. The film is the documentary that shows the entire process. We're asking people to be a little patient and wait until fall to see exactly what happened. I will tell you, it's not cut and dry, but it was very possible to get federal funding for an actual museum of government waste.

BANFIELD: Man, when I heard about the toilet, I thought they had a good shot of this thing. For folks who want to know more about it, go to your website and find out the timing of when it will be released, right?

HUBBARD: Yes. And they will have the opportunity to help us open up a museum of government waste.

BANFIELD: I love it. You make me laugh. Especially that you're doing this on a television and you didn't miss a beat.

Ellen, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

HUBBARD: You bet.

BANFIELD: A lot of people are saying that Mitt Romney -- speaking of numbers and spending, let's talk about math, delegate math -- that he may have it in the bag. But apparently, Rick Santorum did not get that memo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM, (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're campaigning everywhere there are delegates because we are going to win this nomination before that convention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, so who's got the story right? We're going to crunch those numbers with the experts coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Despite Mitt Romney's lead, Rick Santorum is saying that he's going to win the nomination before the convention in Florida. And here's what he had to say about that last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: We want to make sure that everybody knows we're campaigning everywhere there are delegates, because we're going to win this nomination before that convention.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: CNN's political director, Mark Preston, is joining us live from Atlanta.

Here's the deal. As we put up the leader board, Mitt Romney has a sizeable advantage over Rick Santorum by -- well, I'm not going to do the math. I'll just say, 489 delegates to 234 delegates. You can see Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul as well. What kind of math are we looking at here? Does Rick Santorum have a math convention? MARK PRESTON, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL DIRECTOR: It's wishful thinking, at best. Look, the bottom line is Newt Gingrich says he's going to stay in the race. Mitt Romney probably has the best chance of getting it before the convention but that might not happen. But that means that this Republican race is going to go on and on and on until the end of June and perhaps the Republican convention in Florida.

BANFIELD: So here's the other question. I have heard a few pundits throw this out there. While Rick Santorum may have fuzzy math on his mind, Mitt Romney might also have fuzzy math on his mind. Is that a possibility if you're looking ahead to the big states that maybe he's not pulling as well in that even Mitt Romney might to be able to pull off the 1144?

PRESTON: Well, yes, no question about that, they're all trying to drive the message. We do not know what is going to happen. And just very quickly: we looked at the polls going into Alabama and Mississippi and Rick Santorum did not have a chance. Guess who won Alabama and Mississippi: Rick Santorum. So throw that all out the window. I don't even know how to explain this race anymore.

BANFIELD: Why do we do what we do, Mark Preston?

(LAUGHTER)

PRESTON: Because it pays the mortgage.

BANFIELD: Because it's navel-gazing. Mark Preston, thanks very much, nice to see you today.

And hey everyone, thanks for watching. It's great to be with you. Suzanne Malveaux with CNN NEWSROOM continues it from here. -- Suzanne.