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All-Clear at 2 World Financial Center; Zimmerman's Court Appearance Soon; Zimmerman's Court Appearance Soon; Working Moms Versus Stay At Home Moms; Fury Over Women, Work And Politics; Fury Over Women, Work & Politics; John Edwards' Jury Selection; The Help Desk; Talk Back Question
Aired April 12, 2012 - 12:00 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 CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where it's 12:00 noon, 9:00 a.m. on the West Coast, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.
I want to get you up to speed for this Thursday, April 12th.
We are awaiting George Zimmerman's first court appearance. The man who says he shot Trayvon Martin in self-defense is now charged with second-degree murder. This is his mug shot.
Here is how Trayvon Martin's mother reacted to the news of Zimmerman's arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: First of all, I want to say, thank God.
We simply wanted an arrest. We wanted nothing more, nothing less. We just wanted an arrest, and we got it. And I say thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Zimmerman turned himself in yesterday after authorities said he would be charged in the case. Now, that's him ducking in the Seminole County jail with the jacket over his head.
His brother tells CNN that Zimmerman's arrest was bittersweet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, JR., GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S BROTHER: We're relieved that he's safe. That is -- it's the most bittersweet news to hear in your life that your brother is being charged with a murder and to see him being taken into jail on live TV, and to somehow have to think, well, at least there's something good in all of that, is that he can't be attacked this way or he most likely can't be, you know, hurt, killed, injured in a way that he has been on the run and underground in the streets for quite some time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: It's ceasefire day in Syria. Both sides of the fighting, Syrian troops and the rebels promise to stick to the U.N. peace plan that calls for all shooting to stop today.
Now, everyone seems to be cooperating for now. People across the country are reporting the calmest and quietest day in months. Still, at least seven people are reported killed today. A peace plan may be the last chance for diplomacy to work in Syria.
And it could be the day, any minute now, North Korea says its long-range rocket is all gassed up ready to launch. The United States, Japan, and South Korea all nervously scanning the sky for any sign of this rocket. Officials in North Korea say they are putting a weather satellite in orbit. But neighboring countries believe it's a weapons test.
Mitt Romney already facing some questions about a potential running mate. Romney is all but certain to win the Republican nomination now that Rick Santorum has dropped out. So, would he consider Santorum as a possible veep pick? Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody's on my list. Everybody's on my list. I'm not taking anybody off the list, all right?
I actually don't -- I don't have a list yet. So I can't say someone is on or off my list. The people I've had the privilege of running against would surely be among those I'd consider.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Newt Gingrich says he has no intention of dropping out. He says it's a two-man race between him and Mitt Romney. Gingrich is facing questions about whether his campaign even has the money to go on.
On "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer, he said he is determined to stay in the race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to continue doing what I do best, which is talk about big solutions and big approaches. I want to keep campaigning. And we'll see what happens.
As you self-admitted, Governor Romney does not yet have the nomination, despite every effort to get people to concede it. I have every right to continue to campaign until he gets a majority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The 911 call made to Beverly Hills police the night Whitney Houston died is now released. I want you to listen as the dispatcher speaks to the hotel security officer. He tells her the woman who called for help, believed to be Houston's personal assistant, was quote, irate, and pretty much out of it.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DISPATCHER: She was not breathing?
CALLER: Yes.
DISPATCHER: OK, but she is breathing now?
CALLER: I don't know.
DISPATCHER: OK.
CALLER: The person that called me was irate and didn't get much out of her. We have security going in there now.
DISPATCHER: OK. We'll send some police and fire over there if there's a person not breathing. Does it sound is like the person is still not breathing?
CALLER: Yes, that's correct.
DISPATCHER: OK, we'll put down for not breathing. Is there anyway you can give me to the room so I can try to do CPR?
CALLER: Yes, we're going in now.
DISPATCHER: Can you get me into the room so I can try to give CPR instructions?
CALLER: Oh, I'm sorry. No, because she kept hanging up on us.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The autopsy report says Houston's personal assistant found her facedown in a tub of extremely hot water, after returning from running errands. The report concluded Houston died of accidental drowning with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors.
We are monitoring a breaking news story. This is out of New York. NYPD telling us that two world financial tower has been evacuated. A suspicious package nearby.
I want to go to Susan Candiotti who is on the phone in New York. First of all, what two buildings? Are they two buildings, one building that's been evacuated? What do we know so far?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Kyra. Yes, this morning -- this involves a building called Two World Financial Center. It's one of the buildings down there in the construction area of the World Trade Center.
This morning, I am told by police they got a package that went through the mail room, typical inspection, and they picked up what they said a possible device, could be a hand grenade. They do not know at this time whether it's inert, whether it's active. For all they know they said it could be a paperweight.
They immediately called in the bomb squad. Building security decided immediately to evacuate the area. That decision was made within seven minutes of finding this package.
Right now, the bomb squad is on the scene trying to determine whether this is a real explosive device or something else, and they'll take out x-rays, they will examine it, and then they'll decide what they have on their hands.
But in the meantime, there are hundreds of people literally outside the building who had been working inside 2 World Financial Center, and they have been told to evacuate to a safe area. Everyone is remaining calm until they find out what the package is.
MALVEAUX: Are you close to the building, Susan?
CANDIOTTI: We are close to it, but I'm not on site just yet, almost there.
MALVEAUX: OK. Do we know what time the suspicious package was discovered?
CANDIOTTI: Yes. They discovered this at about 11:00 -- or just before 11:00 this morning, about 10:53 to be precise. That's when they discovered it, determined there was something not quite right about it, suspicious, and the building security people decided to evacuate the area, and that's when that happened, about seven minutes later.
At 11:00 people started peeling out of the building. They were notified they should leave. I don't know the exact manner in which people were alerted to that, whether alarms were set off or how an announcement was made, but, in fact, everyone was told to get out of the building, and that's what they've done.
MALVEAUX: Do we know where the suspicious package was in relation to the building that's been evacuated? Was it outside the building? Was it inside the building?
CANDIOTTI: It was in the mail room. That's where it was discovered, and they have normal procedures where they do examine all packages that come into the building.
I'll try to find out whether the package itself was addressed to an individual or to one of the companies that's located at the financial center. But police say they don't have that information yet. Hope to as this investigation continues.
MALVEAUX: Do we know why they thought the package was suspicious in the first place?
CANDIOTTI: They put it through a screening process that involves x-rays, among other things, and that's when they determined that there was something inside of it that they described as possibly an explosive device and possibly -- they actually use the word "hand grenade".
The question is whether if, in fact, it is a hand grenade, whether it's live or inert or it could simply be, you know, sometimes people buy things that look like grenades, it could be a paperweight.
But, of course, to be safe, it's what they have to do. They decided to take it aside, call the police, alert the bomb squad, and they were rushed over to the scene to try to determine what it is.
Now, as we're approaching the area now, there are police, clearly more than are usually out visible and standing around at intersections. Traffic is still flowing past the construction of the new World Trade Center and in the area where these office buildings are located around this construction area. But traffic is flowing normally. There's just more of a police presence right now.
MALVEAUX: Have they removed the package from the mail room? Have they taken it outside of the building or is it still inside the building in the mail room?
CANDIOTTI: I don't know yet because I'm not on the scene, but that's information we'll try to determine.
Often times what the bomb squad does is they sometimes will look at the device right there where it is. And other times, they will regardless suit up, pick it up. Sometimes on their own, sometimes they bring in a robot to pick it up and remove it to what they consider to be a safe area, possibly outside the building. I'm not sure whether the mail room is on the ground floor or in the basement area.
They'll get it to as safe an area as is possible and then get a look at it, try to x-ray it. They can either do that with a robotic device or they can bring it to a separate truck that they have set up with all kinds of equipment which they can take a closer look at it.
MALVEAUX: We are looking at pictures, Susan, first, of people who are outside in the courtyard. It looks like a courtyard area outside of the building there. It looks very calm. It looks like they're just milling around, standing about waiting to see what happens next.
Can you tell us a little bit about who would be inside of that building, the 2 World Financial Center?
We've lost Susan Candiotti.
I want to just summarize quickly here. We're following a breaking news story out of New York.
This is the 2 World Financial Center building that was evacuated. It started when somebody in the mail room discovered what they believed was a suspicious package at about 10:53 this morning. They called in authorities, fire, emergency workers, bomb squad seven minute later arriving on the scene, according to Susan Candiotti, at 11:00 is when they evacuated the building.
And they said that they thought this package was suspicious because it went through a process of x-rays and screening process and that in looking inside of this package, they saw what they believed possibly some sort of material, explosive material, potentially an explosive device that they had identified.
So they have called in the authorities to look at that package. Susan Candiotti is on the way. We know that they have evacuated the building. It looks like people from what we can see, our vantage point, and it's an aerial shot we're looking at, that people are outside it seems relatively calm.
We know that there are security procedures since September 11th, the attacks there that hit in that area, that the security has been beefed up tremendously. There is a process by which all of these packages go through the mail room, are screened and x-rayed.
And this one in particular has alerted authorities. They have called in a bomb squad to deal with this, and as we are seeing now from these shots, at least that one building has been evacuated.
When we get more -- I do believe we have Susan back on the line.
Susan, it's Suzanne. Can you hear me?
Susan, can you tell us where you are, how close you are to the scene, what you're seeing around you?
CANDIOTTI: Yes, I'm right in front of the World Financial Center building that has been evacuated. We're seeing a lot of police officers directing traffic to keep on moving on the road that goes alongside it down to Lower Manhattan. It's still called the west side highway.
You might be able to hear the background, they're waving us, keep going, keep going, keep going.
Now, off to the right along the Hudson River, that is where it appears a lot of the people who were inside the building are located. So there are a lot of police cars in the area where people have been asked to leave that building, but other than that traffic is flowing around the rest of the area.
I have not caught sight yet of where the bomb squad is located right now and where they might be examining the package.
MALVEAUX: Describe for me the scene around you. Are people relatively calm? Do they seem concerned? I mean, clearly this is a place where the 9/11 attacks created quite a bit of trauma for people where you are.
CANDIOTTI: Again, yes, everyone seems to be walking about as though they're conducting normal business. People are crossing the street, no one is running, everyone is calm. I can't tell exactly whether this is a normal ebb and flow or whether these are some of the people who were evacuated from the building.
As soon as we get to a spot, we're going to jump out of the car and walk toward the river where a lot of people may be evacuated.
You know, this is happening in the lunch hour. It could very well be that a lot of these people had moved out of the building and are going to take advantage of this and get something to eat while this package is being investigated. Again, we're going to try to find out where they're looking -- taking a look at this so we can get additional information about that.
But other than that, again, traffic is flowing as normal. They're keeping cars going north and south without stopping or making any right-hand turns toward this office building.
MALVEAUX: Susan, do we know if this is the only building that has been evacuated or are there other buildings around that seem to be on a higher state of alert?
CANDIOTTI: It's my understanding this is the only one that has been evacuated. In fact, I'm seeing people walking right by the buildings on either side of it.
MALVEAUX: What kind of presence, police presence, fire department, what kind of presence are you seeing on the ground there? Is there a bomb squad on sight?
CANDIOTTI: Unfortunately, not able to hear you terrifically well, but we just got out of the car now, walking toward where a lot of people were asked to get out of the building, and so I plan on talking to some of them to find out whether they work inside or what they think about what's going on.
MALVEAUX: Susan, we appreciate you actually if you can grab some folks and see what they've learned or if they were part of that group, that crowd inside the building that was evacuated.
Just to remind our viewers what you're watching here, this is an aerial view. This is 2 World Financial Center. It is at the site of the September 11th attacks. So, clearly there is a lot of security in that area. This is one of those buildings in the area.
It was discovered about 10:53, a suspicious package inside of the mail room of that building. Seven minutes later, we are told, that the building was evacuated. That was at 11:00.
People started to file out of the building into the courtyard that you can see right outside. It looked like it was a relatively calm situation as people were walking towards some of the surrounding buildings. We are told that the package was deemed suspicious because of something that was potentially detected inside of it through an x- ray screening process, possibly some sort of explosive material, perhaps even a hand grenade. That is according to Susan Candiotti who is our reporter who is on the ground.
We're going it try to get some more information on this breaking news story. We're going to take a quick break and then we'll get right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Following a breaking news story out of New York. We're taking a look at some live pictures here. These are aerial pictures at the site here. This is the 2 World Financial Center. That is what the building is called, across from the World Trade Center.
Earlier this morning, there was a suspicious package that was found inside of the building in the mail room. We are learning from the police department spokesperson that a package was screened, x-ray screening process and alerted some authorities who saw something that they thought could be an explosive material, explosive device, even potentially a hand grenade. That's when seven minutes afterwards they evacuated the people from the building at about 11:00 or so.
We are getting some pictures and some reports that perhaps they are going back into the building. We're not exactly sure, so we're going to stay with this for a while. If they are being let back into the building, that would suggest that perhaps they've deemed this package is safe, that it's not a threat, but we don't know that for sure.
We do have a reporter who is on the ground who is asking people what they know about the situation so far. But from what we can tell, this is something that is still ongoing and people seem to be relatively calm there outside of the building. They're simply waiting for instructions. We know that there are firefighters and police on the scene.
We are now just learning that there is an all clear at this building, at the 2 World Financial Center -- an all clear now. That means that the people who are working there can go back to work inside of the building. We're assuming that that certainly means that whatever that device is that was suspicious, that that has been rendered safe, that that is no longer a danger.
As you can imagine, situations like these happening at that location, at the very place of the 9/11 attacks, there is a lot of concern about security, a lot of anxiety, and so every suspicious package is checked out.
We are being told now that it was -- what they're calling a novelty grenade. I don't know exactly what that means. We're going to try to find out what kind of grenade that is and whether or not it was a live one. I'm now being told it was a toy grenade.
So people are now milling back into the building after this alert. This is something that has lasted just a little bit more than 90 minutes or so.
Susan Candiotti, who is on the ground there at the site, what have you learned? Susan, it's Suzanne, can you hear me?
She just -- our signal just dropped. I understand that there are a lot of people who are trying to get through and make phone calls, and it is a very difficult thing to get through. So her call just dropped. We're going to try to get back to her.
But we're told that the workers now have gotten the all clear, they can go back inside of this building, that this was a toy grenade, but this toy grenade certainly set some alarms here and created quite a scene, but it does look like it is getting the A-OK at this point.
Let's go ahead and take a quick break. Let's see if we can get Susan back on the line and we can get some more information.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Following this breaking news story out of New York, this is the 2 World Trade Center building. It was earlier this morning about an hour -- a little more than an hour ago there was a suspicious package discovered in the mail room. They suspected that it was some sort of hand grenade or explosive device.
They found out it was a toy grenade that was in this package. They had evacuated the building. We are now getting the all clear. People are going back into the building. It's just a toy grenade.
You can imagine the anxiety. This is the site of the September 11th attacks, and there is a high level of security in that area, but the workers there now getting the all clear.
I want to get back to the Trayvon Martin case. The shooter, George Zimmerman, has his first court appearance next hour. He is accused of second-degree murder.
Now, prosecutor Angela Corey says that public outrage over the killing of this unarmed teenager did not factor in her decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA COREY, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: Let me emphasize that we do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition. We prosecute based on the facts of any given case as well as the laws of the state of Florida.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Martin Savidge, he's been covering this. He's in Sanford, Florida.
So, what are we going to see? Are we actually going to see George Zimmerman in court today?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I believe we are. Actually, the way it's been set up, it's gone back and forth as far as the explanation.
But inside of the correctional facility behind me, which is where George Zimmerman is being held, is apparently a courtroom, and he will appear inside of that courtroom as part of his first appearance, the arraignment. Charges will be read against him by the judge. The judge actually will be in another building, and the two will be connected by a television set.
We know it's second-degree murder. We expect to hear a plea of not guilty coming from George Zimmerman. The other question to be answered is what about the issue of bond?
His attorney, Mark O'Mara, says it could become complicated, so it may not be dealt with immediately at this first appearance. It could require another hearing. We'll have to wait and see.
MALVEAUX: And this first appearance does not involve the Martin family, is that correct?
SAVIDGE: No, no, it doesn't. And, in fact, it's a very limited number of people that will be allowed.
The media will gain access. Actually there will be a television camera that will be allowed to peer into the courtroom where George Zimmerman is. There will also be someone from still photography and one reporter, I believe, again allowed to watch from a specially built viewing room.
MALVEAUX: Martin, do you know anything about his first night in custody?
SAVIDGE: Well, you know, he had to be transported from Jacksonville. It was the Jacksonville area where he turned himself in when he understood that there was charges filed against him.
That would have been about a three-hour drive when he showed up here at the corrections facility. There was quite a gathering of journalists that were waiting to catch a glimpse as he went inside. After that then you have, you know, a lot of office work that has to be done, photograph that was taken, the mug shot. Then there's a medical exam, a mental exam that's done determining how you're going to house him.
We understand that he is being held in isolated confinement, and that his attorney got to meet with him for at least an hour, and he described that George Zimmerman appeared to be very tired and very stressed, and that's one of the reasons he wants to get him out on bond as soon as possible to help him in that regard and also to begin building the case.
MALVEAUX: Is it possible he could be released today, if he makes bond?
SAVIDGE: Right. You know, I'm not an expert on that, but I have read a lot of material, and there seems to be the issue that it's complicated because right now, he doesn't have a bond.
And so, the attorney is going to ask that there will be a bond. He'll say, look, he's not a risk for flight. He turned himself in voluntarily so those are all good points in his favor. However, the judge, you know, if they haven't worked it out ahead of time, may require a separate hearing and that could take some time.
We also though could learn perhaps a bit of insight into what evidence the state has against him because that would be part of the testimony required for a bond hearing.
MALVEAUX: All right. Martin Savidge -- thank you, Martin.
I want to bring in our legal analyst Sunny Hostin. She's joining us from New York.
Sunny, we just talked to Martin about what we can expect. We know that we will see George Zimmerman before the judge here. Is it possible that if he gets bond, that he could actually walk today or is it likely that he's going to be back in jail?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think that's unlikely, and that's because he's been charged with second-degree murder, and that's a non-bondable offense, and that's because second-degree murder exposes him to a maximum penalty of life in prison. And so, unless the prosecutor and the defense team have agreed on a bond package -
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: -- second-degree murder exposes him to a maximum penalty of life in prison. So unless the prosecutor and the defense team have agreed on a bond package, they would have to have a hearing called an Arthur hearing to determine whether or not bond is appropriate.
And at that hearing the government would have to show that bond isn't appropriate and the defense would have the opportunity to go over several things like whether or not George Zimmerman has ties to the community. We know he does.
Whether or not he is a flight risk, he did turn himself in, I think that's helpful. And whether or not he's a danger to the community and so I suspect, Suzanne, that all of that won't happen today.
If the prosecutor, again, and the defense team have not agreed on a bond, and this is a very high-profile case and very serious charges, they will have to deal with all of those issues at a separate hearing.
So I suspect today perhaps what we will hear is the judge read the charges to George Zimmerman. He will not enter a plea. That's for an arraignment, which will happen a couple weeks later --
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Right.
HOSTIN: And then we may discuss bond. MALVEAUX: Is it possible you think, Sunny, in light of the fact that so many people have heard this case, it seems so polarizing, that they will be able to get an objective jury?
HOSTIN: I do believe that. You know, and so many people have been asking me that question not only in this case, but in a lot of high-profile cases.
And the bottom line is you're not going to find someone that hasn't heard about this case, I think, especially in Florida. This is an international -- this is part of our international discourse at this point.
But I don't know, Suzanne, that you want someone that hasn't heard about this case, someone that's been living under a rock. You want someone that perhaps knows a bit about the case but can still willing to be fair and impartial.
I believe in our jury system and if this goes to trial, they will be able to find six jurors because in Florida it's six, not 12 on this count that can be fair and impartial.
MALVEAUX: I have to ask you this because it really was quite interesting what happened this morning here. We saw Trayvon Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, say on cable television, earlier today, a lot of people who are watching this.
That she believes her son's killing was an accident and she said it just got out of control here. Does that actually help George Zimmerman's case, that he acted in self-defense?
HOSTIN: Look, I don't think it helps his case. I don't think it hurts his case. I have met Sybrina Fulton. She's everything that you see on television. She's elegant. She's lovely, but she's also a mother who is grieving.
What mother wants to believe that someone killed their son with ill will, with ill intent? Of course, she believes it's an accident, but she's not a lawyer. She doesn't -- she's not privy to all the evidence that this government has against George Zimmerman.
So I think we should just take her words at face value. She's a grieving mother. It's her take on it. She perhaps wants to believe that this was an accident. That's not a legal term.
MALVEAUX: Right.
HOSTIN: And, again, she's a lovely, lovely woman.
MALVEAUX: I guess I'm wondering though if Zimmerman's attorneys, can they use that to their advantage? The fact that she sees it or hopes that it's an accident?
HOSTIN: I don't think so. I mean, she's not a witness in this case. She wasn't there on February 26th when her son was murdered. And so I don't think they can use that. Of course, you know, often times, victims are consulted by the prosecution in terms of how they feel about a case, how they would feel about bond, but it's the government that tries this case and makes the decision.
MALVEAUX: All right, Sunny. Thank you very much. She is a lovely woman. We've spoken to her a couple times on the show.
HOSTIN: She really is.
MALVEAUX: Obviously, it's a very, very stressful time for that family and they simply want to see justice done. We'll see how this plays out. Thank you, Sunny. Appreciate it.
All right, stay at home moms versus moms who work outside the house. The battle for the female vote and it's adding up to a political firestorm.
Democratic strategist finds herself in the middle of it all. A heated debate raises an issue that we want you to weigh in on and Carol Costello with today's talk back question.
Well, Carol, it's got a lot of us -- everybody is talking about this.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems like we've been talking about this issue for, what, 30 or 40 years now? And it's back.
MALVEAUX: It's not going away.
COSTELLO: You're right about because here we go again. The old culture war between working moms and stay at home mothers ignited by Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILARY ROSEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues and when I listen to my wife that's what I'm hearing. Guess what?
His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and how do we -- and why do we worry about their future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Conservative critics pounced, and it wasn't long before Ann Romney appeared on Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANN ROMNEY, WIFE OF MITT ROMNEY: My career choice was to be a mother, and I think all of us need to know that we need to respect choices that women make.
Other women make other choices, to have a career and raise family, which I think Hilary Rosen has actually done herself. I respect that. That's wonderful. But, you know, there are other people who have a choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Rosen told me earlier she has no problem with stay at home moms, but with Romney's quote, "woeful record on women's issues."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSEN: The issue here that I'm focusing on that I encourage other people to focus on, is does Mitt Romney have a vision for bringing women up economically and can he himself stop referring to his wife as his economic surrogate?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Keep in mind according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 71 percent of mothers either work or are looking for work. But still, why are we still talking about this?
The talk back question for you, is there still a war between stay at home moms and working mothers? Facebook.com/carolcnn. Facebook.com/carolcnn. I'll read your comments later this hour.
MALVEAUX: A lot of us were talking about this, and we were saying wouldn't it be great if you had the choice, you know, if you didn't have to actually go out and work? Everybody kind of wants that choice. They feel like if they could stay home, a lot of people would stay home and --
COSTELLO: If you asked Hilary Rosen, she would say that's exactly what I'm talking about. Ann Romney doesn't have to go outside --
MALVEAUX: It's a luxury to be able to choose.
COSTELLO: That's what she was saying that she didn't understand those 71 percent of American mothers who maybe have to work and raise their children.
MALVEAUX: Yes. One thing Ann Romney said that I thought was really important was she said, you know, I have struggled. I do know what struggle is. We know she overcame cancer. She has MS. She's raised five boys. She does have a sense of what it's like, that life hasn't always been easy for her.
COSTELLO: And Mitt Romney wasn't home all the time. She had the bulk of child rearing herself so that's not easy either.
MALVEAUX: Right. It's not easy for any of us, Carol, I don't think. COSTELLO: I know. I think -- I don't have children but, man, I admire, I don't know, the strength it takes to raise your children right.
MALVEAUX: I can't imagine doing it all, really.
COSTELLO: Me neither. That's why I don't have any.
MALVEAUX: All right, Carol. It's a great question. It's wonderful to see you, too.
COSTELLO: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: We're going to take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: All right, if you had any doubt about how important women are in the political debate these days, just look at the fury set off by Democratic strategist, Hilary Rosen. Here is what Rosen, who's a CNN contributor, said on "Anderson Cooper 360" last night.
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ROSEN: What you have is Mitt Romney running around the country saying, well, you know, my wife tells me that what women really care about are economic issues and when I listen to my wife that's what I'm hearing. Guess what?
His wife has actually never worked a day in her life. She's never really dealt with the kinds of economic issues that a majority of the women in this country are facing in terms of how do we feed our kids, how do we send them to school and how do we -- and why do we worry about their future.
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MALVEAUX: In her debut Twitter post, Ann Romney had this response. She said, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."
Rosen sent this tweet saying, "When I said Ann Romney never worked, I meant she never had to care for her kids and earn a paycheck like most American women."
You can hear what Hilary Rosen and Ann Romney are saying today, but first I want to introduce our political panel to talk about this, Democratic strategist, Jamal Simmons and editor and blogger, Crystal Wright of conservativeblackchick.com.
So this is all the talk here, guys. Get ready. Here is what Hilary said this morning.
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ROSEN: This is not about Ann Romney. This is about the waitress at a diner in some place in Nevada who has two kids whose daycare funding is being cut off because of the Romney/Ryan budget, and she doesn't know what to do.
This isn't about whether Ann Romney or I or other women of, you know, some means can afford to make a choice to stay home and raise kids. Most women in America, let's face it, don't have that choice. They have to be working moms and home moms, and that's the piece that I am not hearing from the Romney camp. Instead, everybody is attacking me. That's fine, attack me, but it does not erase his woeful record on this issue.
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MALVEAUX: And here is what Ann Romney said on Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: Look, I know what it's like to struggle, and if maybe I haven't struggled as much financially as some people have, I can tell you and promise you that I have had struggles in my life.
And I would love to have people understand that Mitt and I have compassion for people that are struggling, and that's why we're running. We care about those people that are struggling and we also recognize that this economic recovery has been very weak.
We also recognize that the debt burdens that we're facing in this country are huge and they're going to be a huge problem for our children. That's what I'm hearing when I go out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: I want our viewers to know, first of all, that we have reached out to Ann Romney. We were told that she's out campaigning the rest of the day.
She's only -- she's not available to do any more interviews. She just did that one interview earlier today. But Crystal, why do you suppose this has touched such a nerve?
CRYSTAL WRIGHT, EDITOR/BLOGGER, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM: Because stay at home moms have real jobs, and I think Hilary Rosen, maybe she needs to spend some time at home being a mom full time so she can recognize that moms are CEOs of the household.
They're paying bills. They are worried about how to send the kids to college, and they're driving kids to and from school, buying groceries, and they know more about the economic issues of the household than any other woman.
So I think what she did was stick her foot in her mouth big time and Hilary Rosen just proved that she's a spoke person for the Democrat Party and Barack Obama and this is what they really think about women.
MALVEAUX: Jamal, I want you to jump in here because the Obama administration has distanced themselves from her comments here. Why do you suppose that's true? Is this something that is considered damaging to them or why would they be distancing themselves?
JAMAL SIMMONS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It's not helpful for the Obama campaign. This is not a good way to talk about these issues. I think you have to separate them -- the two tracks.
The first track is Hilary Rosen talking about Ann Romney, and I think that's a bad idea. Anytime you bring up spouses, it never goes well. The Republicans tried to do it to Hillary Clinton. They tried to do it to Michelle Obama.
I was against it in both of those cases. I'm against it now when you criticize a Republican spouse. The second track, which is the Mitt Romney track, on the Mitt Romney track, he's got to figure out a way to talk to most of the women in the country.
Many of whom don't have the choices that he and Ann Romney had, and those women do have to work, and there are lots of women who would like to stay home, but they have to work. Lots of women who would like to work but they can't find a job.
So there's lots of issue that is women are dealing with. I think we have to deal with that. Four to five American households have women who contribute financially. In 38 percent of those households those women make more money than their husbands.
In fact, our entire economy is built on women contributing financially because if we didn't wage stagnation would mean our households would be a lot poorer. So we've got to figure out a way to talk about these issues.
MALVEAUX: I want to show -- sure. I want to show both of you. This is a tweet that came from the first lady here that we are reading. It says, "every mother works hard and every woman deserves to be respected." And it's signed M.O., Michelle Obama.
Do you think that this is going to have legs, Crystal, here? Do you think this is something that is going to play out in the months to come or are we looking at something here that is more of a -- kind of a 24 or 48-hour news cycle controversy?
WRIGHT: You know, no, Suzanne. I mean you said it, Ann Romney said it, women want to have choices in life. Some choose to stay at home and raise their kids if they can. Others choose to go to work. And I think this is going to have a lot of backlash because women, no matter what political stripe they are, don't like to be told how to live their lives and what to do. So I think that you're going to see damage to the woman vote that has been following Barack Obama and Democrats. And what you're going to see is Mitt Romney pick up even more support from women. I think it's reprehensible what Hilary said to Ann Romney and that's why women are so offended.
And it's not just Republican women that are offended by it. It's Democrat women as well. I mean I think Jamal points out that a lot of women would probably like to stay at home and raise their kids. But, I mean, to attack a woman and say that she never worked because she decides to stay at home, like Ann did, and raise five boys and be the CEO of her household, I think it's just -- it's offensive.
I'm not a mother, but I'm a product of a stay at home mom who raised three great human beings. And stay at home moms vote at the polls, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Right.
WRIGHT: Jamal knows it. We all know it. I think this is going to be an awful thing for Obama to shake come November.
MALVEAUX: I want to move on to another topic very quickly here, Jamal, because we are seeing jury selection beginning today in the trial of the former presidential candidate, John Edwards. He is facing felony charges, accused of using campaign money to hide his affair and the child that he had with his mistress. You remember this very well. You and I we were both covering the 2008 campaign.
SIMMONS: Yes.
MALVEAUX: Is this a story, with all this money in the campaign, some isolated incident here or are we going to see more trouble when you talk about the dollars, the millions and millions of dollars that are floating around this time around?
SIMMONS: Well, we certainly are in the general election campaign, because these are not good stories for Democrats on either front today. Listen, I don't think John Edwards really matters and I'm not going to get in the business of defending him. I do think, though, that there is a real problem with criminalizing personal bad behavior. I mean we saw that in the Bill Clinton controversy during his impeachment trial and now we're seeing it with this John Edwards controversy. Some things we really, you know, we just don't have to deal with them as a society and we can focus on things that really are much bigger deal for most Americans in their day to day lives.
MALVEAUX: All right, we've got to leave it there. Jamal, Crystal, good to see you both. Thank you.
WRIGHT: Likewise.
SIMMONS: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: Later, the Trayvon Martin story, just now turning into a murder case. We're going to take a look at who's going to be arguing over the fate of the man who pulled the trigger.
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MALVEAUX: A firestorm brewing over a Democratic consultant's controversial comments about Ann Romney. Hilary Rosen's comments have also stirred up some debate over working moms versus stay at home moms. Michelle Obama said this on Twitter. "Every mother works hard and every woman deserves to be respected." We're going to read some of your responses up ahead. POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour is Gary Schatsky, a financial planner and president of objectiveadvice.com, Carmen Wong Ulrich is the president of ALTA Wealth Management.
Thank you both for coming in.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PRESIDENT, ALTA WEALTH MANAGEMENT: Thanks, Poppy.
GARY SCHATSKY, FINANCIAL PLANNER: Thanks.
HARLOW: First to you, Gary. The question came in from South Carolina. This person wrote in, they have a pretty large amount of credit card debt over 10 years. They now have enough money to pay it all off. The question is, should they pay it off all at once or set up a payment plan to pay it off gradually?
SCHATSKY: Well, first of all, congratulations if you're about to pay it off.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCHATSKY: Almost everyone is going to want to get rid of it in its entirety unless the credit card, somebody negotiated zero percent over a long period of time, you're going to want to wipe it out. The only other real exception is if for some reason they wanted to accept cents on the dollar, it's something you might -- meaning not pay the full amount --
HARLOW: Right.
SCHATSKY: To pay it off all at once. But why carry high-interest debt a second more than you have to?
HARLOW: (INAUDIBLE) more. Exactly. Absolutely.
Carmen, your question comes from Paul in Ohio. Paul wrote in, "when I got divorced, I bought a condo for $125,000. It's now worth around $80,000. I no longer live there, but I still owe around $114,000 on the mortgage. What are my options?"
ULRICH: Paul is underwater, isn't he?
HARLOW: Yes. And he's not living there.
ULRICH: So you've got three options. He can hold it, which -- to see if it actually grows in value in any way. Then he can sell it. Or he could short sell it and go for a short sale, which means, of course, it would sell for less than he owed. And it's a difficult process, but that's a good, responsible way to do it. Or he could walk away. Now if you walk away, it goes into foreclosure and it absolutely destroys his credit. So he needs to make that judgment call on his own. What of those three options does he want to do.
HARLOW: Does it change it for him since it's been -- would it be viewed as an investment property since he's not living there?
ULRICH: Well, that's the thing, there's not a lot of help for folks on their second property.
HARLOW: Yes.
ULRICH: It has to be a primary residence to get help from HUD, for example, to qualify for any of those programs. But a secondary residence, not there.
HARLOW: Yes. All right;. Thank you, guys, so much.
Folks, if you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail anytime to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.
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MALVEAUX: Strategist and CNN contributor Hilary Rosen, after Rosen said the mother of five has, quote, "never worked a day in her life." Ann Romney had this response saying, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work." Which brings us to today's "Talk Back" question and Carol Costello with some of your responses.
This is a hot one, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. We've had some interesting responses. The question, is there still a debate going on between stay at home moms and working moms?
This from Loreto. "Ann Romney had a choice. She could have done anything she wanted. Most other women don't have that choice."
This from Sanders. "Ann Romney was fortunate to be able to be a stay at home mom. She worked hard every day to be a good mom and a good wife. It's her husband who doesn't realize the majority of women must work outside the home."
This from Marge. "Stay at home moms are working moms, they just don't get a paycheck or the credit they deserve."
Keep the conversation flowing on facebook.com/carolcnn. Thanks, as always, for your comments.
Suzanne will be right back.
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