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Secret Service Prostitution Scandal; Oklahoma Tornado Kills Six; GSA Grillings to Begin Today; Obama Pushing Buffett Rule; More Workers Suing for Overtime Pay; Go Green with Energy-Efficient Bulbs; Afghan Forces Stop Insurgent Attacks

Aired April 16, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

O'BRIEN: Let's throw it right to Carol Costello with "CNN NEWSROOM." I'll see everybody else back here Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m.

Hey, Carol. Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. And good morning to all of you. I am Carol Costello. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM.

Not-so Secret Services. Prostitutes, pesos, and presidential police. A shakedown the White House just wants to go away. President Obama this morning promising a thorough investigation. Ahead, new details in what's being called the biggest scandal in Secret Service history.

Monsters storm. More than 100 reports of twisters tearing through towns and lives in the Midwest. This morning we're live as Woodward, Oklahoma, begins to recover.

Heart warning or heat warning rather. We're just 30 minutes from the start of the Boston marathon. Forecast high by afternoon, a sweltering 84 degrees. Organizers telling some runners to come back next year.

Eighteen hours of attacks. Afghanistan's military putting a bloody end to a weekend barrage bombings. This morning new questions about American troops and the risks they're facing.

And the "SNL" surge. Mitt Romney said to be considering a guest spot on the show, but will the late-night gig help or hurt his image?

And overworked on overtime. Have you ever put in more than 40 hours a week and not been paid for it? There's a new wave of lawsuits. This time the workers are fighting back suing their employers.

NEWSROOM begins right now.

And we begin this hour with shocking new questions about the president's inner circle and the Secret Service agents entrusted with protecting his life. This morning, 11 agents and officers are on leave and under investigation. They are accused of hooking up with prostitutes at a hotel in Colombia where they were preparing security for the Summit of the Americas. The president says he'll be angry if those allegations are true. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What happened here in Colombia is being investigated by the director of the Secret Service. I expect that investigation to be thorough and I expect it to be rigorous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar is at the White House for us.

So, Brianna, first off, is there any reason to believe the president's safety was compromised?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Carol, in this case, no. That is what the Secret Service and the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee are saying at this point.

The concern, though, of course -- and one of the reasons they'll point to the fact is this is -- this was not the president's personal detail. This all came to be before the president ever even got to Colombia. It was Wednesday night. We're told by sources who were briefed on this incident that this went down. And on Thursday, it was -- it came to light and then quickly replacement agents were sent in from Puerto Rico and Miami to replace this 11 Secret Service agents who were recalled.

And also Carol, this wasn't the president's hotel. This was a different hotel that actually a number of members of the media were staying at, although a lot of them weren't in town at this point.

I think the bigger concern is what it could have meant or in other instances, what it might mean. It could be someone who ultimately might try to blackmail a Secret Service agent or someone nefarious who is trying to gain some sort of access to the president's zone of security. But in this particular case, we're hearing from officials, that no, his safety was not compromised.

COSTELLO: Republican Congressman Daryl Issa is suggesting the scandal may run deeper that more agents might be involved. How serious is that concern?

KEILAR: Well, this is a concern of the chairman. And he says that his committee is looking into this. There are also critics who say that this may essentially be the tip of the iceberg but there's also folks on the other side of this saying that that's not the case, that they don't think that this reveals some sort of systematic problem in the Secret Service and, for instance, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Peter King, he said that he certainly has confidence very much in Mark Sullivan who is the head of the Secret Service.

But I think we're going to see that question being answered, Carol, because the Secret Service is conducting an investigation and one of the things they'll be looking into is other trips to see if this is a pattern on other foreign trips and specifically with some of these members of the Secret Service who were involved in this alleged incident involving prostitutes -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Brianna Keilar, live at the White House for us.

In the meantime a leading Republican congressman says lawmakers may hold hearings on the reported misconduct and what's more he says this type of body behavior and potential security breach has probably happened before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DARRELL ISSA (R), CALIFORNIA: So when you look at this you realize that if you can have this kind of breakdown, one that could lead to blackmail, as Nora said, and so on, then we've got to ask where the systems in place to prevent this in the future? The reason that the investigation will not be about the 11 to 20 or more involved, it will be about how did this happen and how often has this happened before? Things like that don't happen once if they didn't happen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A former head of the Secret Service denies Issa's claims, saying he has never even heard of an incident similar to this.

Let's shift gears now to the cleanup and assessment going on this morning after tornadoes ripped across much of the central part of the United States this weekend. The outbreak spun off more than 130 reports of twisters. Today, 10 states bear the scars. Thousands of people trying to put their lives back together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in a second, the whole house was gone. We were looking up at blue sky and everything that had fallen on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Today, authorities from Texas to Minnesota are trying to size up the damage from flattened homes to downed power lines. And just about an hour ago, sadly, the death toll inched up. The sixth person has died of their injuries. Remarkably all the fatalities occurred in one small town, Woodward, Oklahoma. Another 29 people were injured.

Those numbers take on added significance when you realize this town's entire population is only about 12,000.

Rob Marciano is in Woodward this morning.

Good morning, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol. The sun coming up now, a much calmer day and the cleanup pace a little less frantic than it was yesterday. I'm sure as the morning wears along that will change. But nonetheless the images are the same. And images like this. I mean, a bread truck. A Sara Lee -- bread truck, delivery truck here, completely flipped over, giving you the idea the intensity of this storm. By the way, it was an EF-3 as deemed by the National Weather Service survey teams that were out here yesterday. That means winds of -- at least 136 miles an hour doing damage like this.

One of about 80 homes completely destroyed in this town. Other homes really deemed done little. While looking at some of this damage and some of the other damages that we've seen around this neighborhood and listening to some of the stories it's just amazing to me how some of these people survived.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO (voice-over): It's been 65 years since the big one hit Woodward, Oklahoma. In 1947 more than 100 people died in a twister here. Back then, Charles Hogue lived 30 miles away but he remembers it well.

CHARLES HOGUE, WOODWARD RESIDENT: I was 10 years old and I've seen it when it wiped out this whole town.

MARCIANO: But now he lives in Woodward and this latest tornado hit his home, blasting into the living room, blowing off the roof and ripping the house inside out.

(On camera): Look how the tornado actually shoved this house off its foundation. It's tilted by a good 20, maybe 30 degrees. Last night before the storm hit, though, Mr. Hogue and his wife got warning. They came outside of the house into the backyard. Why? Because it's a valuable commodity out there. A storm cellar, heavily fortified and heavy to open up. He and his wife got down there and that's what saved them.

That door is heavy. How were you able to -- you're a strong man.

HOGUE: Yes. You just do it.

MARCIANO (voice-over): Paul Lord's family didn't have a storm cellar or any basement and now they're lucky to have their lives. The tornado threw Paul out of the house and on to the street.

PAUL LORD, WOODWARD RESIDENT: When I was laying down there on the curb, and I looked up and saw the house gone. I didn't know what to do. And then neighbors come in and start pulling bricks off and tilting walls up and everybody start coming out.

MARCIANO (on camera): What kind of injuries did you sustain?

LORD: I got a big gash on the side of the head where the flap laid over and laid open. And they stitched that back up.

MARCIANO (voice-over): His grandson had deep cuts, too, after getting buried under appliances.

LORD: That's about where the bathroom was at. And that's where he was underneath in the tub and had the washer and dryer on top of him. MARCIANO: Paul got into a battered truck, drove himself and his bleeding grandson to the hospital. His wound is bandaged now but still stunned. The Lords are getting a helping hand with the cleanup but searching for keepsakes and sentimental items are a low priority.

(On camera): What specifically are things that you want to find in this rubble?

LORD: I found them. My son, my daughter, son-in-law, my grand babies, my wife. Everything else just brick and stick. And they're always be replaced.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: A man who truly appreciates life for another reason. He's had four brain surgeries, two invasive heart operation, and now -- and now he survived this.

They are actually scheduled to sell that home, Carol, later this week. They were supposed to close on Friday and they're supposed to move out of there. Obviously moving out with it but the sale not going through. But he, happy to have his family and happy to have -- he saw all those people helping him, I mean, this whole community coming together to help the people that got hit the hardest, for sure -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That's such a great attitude. I want his secret.

Rob Marciano reporting live from Oklahoma for us this morning.

The Discovery shuttle makes its final journey tomorrow. Discovery saw the most voyages of all of NASA's space shuttles. A modified Boeing 747 will fly Discovery from Florida to the Smithsonian in Washington where it will go on display. That starts Thursday.

Temperatures for today's Boston Marathon could climb to a sweltering 85 degrees. The race gets under way in just about 30 minutes. Temperatures right now are in the mid-70s but they are expected to soar into the mid-80s by afternoon when many of the runners will be finishing. Organizers are asking those who have not run the race before or people with medical conditions to come back and run next year.

Mitt Romney might go right into the lion's den. "Saturday Night Live" reportedly wants him as a guest. This is a show that skewers him without mercy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you so much. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was certainly a primary season to remember, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure was. There was even a time when people were saying, I was the frontrunner. I got to thank you for that, Mitt. You're the only candidate who could ever make me look exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And you're the only candidate who could make me look gay friendly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, yes. You can see the real Romney and the unreal Romney together on "Saturday Night Live." Word is he's thinking about it.

Coming up in 20 minutes, we'll talk to our CNN contributors if Romney should agree to go live from New York or politely decline.

Clowning around at taxpayers' expense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever it takes, man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the GSA will not be laughing today. Lawmakers begin a week packed with hearings and questions. Dana Bash gives us an exclusive preview coming up.

And President Obama pushes for a vote on the so-called Buffett Rule. If it passes millionaires would pay at least a 30 percent tax rate. Details on that coming up, too.

Plus. Don't do me like that. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are heartbroken after some of their guitars are stolen in California. Details later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's time to hand out the pitchforks and torches. In just a few hours, Congress will begin grilling the GSA and demanding answers on how the agency has been spending your money.

Outraged lawmakers already knew some of the way the lavish convention in Las Vegas and the way its employees mock its own inefficiencies in videos like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think meetings are good to have in between breaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The GSA faces hearings from a number of committees this week and all are sure to be testy.

Senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash has an exclusive look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) REP. DARRELL ISSA (R-CA), OVERSIGHT & GOVT. REFORM CMTE. CHAIRMAN: Dana, when we gavel the hearing, this will be a filled room instead of an empty room.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sneak peek at the first congressional hearing on excessive spending at the GSA, the agency that's supposed to look out for taxpayer dollars, yet held a lavish 2010 conference awarding videos like this.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BASH (on camera): What is your primary goal?

ISSA: Our primary goal is make sure this doesn't happen again. What often happens is an I.G. does their job and perhaps some people are held accountable, but the culture doesn't change.

BASH (voice-over): The GSA inspector general briefed now former GSA administrator Martha Johnson 11 months ago about over-the-top spending.

House GOP Chairman Darrell Issa wants to know why the aministrator sat on the information.

ISSA: Let's remember that when you're a political appointee, you're there for two reasons. One is you have the confidence of the president to execute. The second is you're the eyes and ears of the president through the process. We want to know where that process failed.

BASH: Issa invited us from the public hearing room --

ISSA: You ought to see some people that don't get overtime.

BASH: To the committee's private offices for an exclusive look at the weekend prep.

ISSA: These are some of the men and women working on a Sunday.

BASH: Issa's aides praise the GSA inspector general.

ISSA: This is an efficient investigation by comparison to the ones in which the administration is fighting us.

BASH: But why not question past administrations? Excess GSA spending in the Bush years. Issa insisted he'll get to that, but, for now --

ISSA: Remember, this president ran saying he was going to make changes. The question is: was he well-served by his political appointees when they were ordered to go in and make these cultural changes? If they didn't make it because they didn't listen to the president or because he didn't really mean it?

BASH: Yet for all its criticism of the Obama administration, why did Issa who took over the powerful oversight committee vowing to expose government waste rely on the inspector general to find it? (on camera): Were you asleep at the switch here?

ISSA: We never -- we are never feeling like we are doing enough. We have 120 people between the majority and minority on this committee. The I.G. is 12,000 people.

BASH (voice-over): And they found more GSA excess. Issa showed us a commemorative coin from that Las Vegas conference.

ISSA: Sixty-three hundred on about 300 of these in velvet boxes.

BASH (on camera): Taxpayer dollars?

ISSA: Taxpayer dollars.

BASH (voice-over): And a souvenir book.

ISSA: Just to have something to remember it by.

BASH: Eight thousand bucks.

ISSA: Eight thousand dollars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Dana joins us now from inside that hearing room.

So, Dana, who will we hear from today?

BASH: Well, we are going to hear from some people we haven't heard from before. As you said, we are inside the hearing room. We have about four hours before it starts.

But I want to come around and give you a sense of where the witnesses are going to sit. It's now set up for two, but we will initially have four here.

First of all, the inspector general who as you heard from Chairman Issa really did most of the work for this investigation he is going to testify. Now former administrative Martha Johnson who resigned two weeks ago today, we're going to hear from her for the first time, here as well as David Foley who, remember, one of those videos -- for those paying attention to this -- he was the one who doled out the awards at that talent show at that lavish conference.

And the last person I want you to take a look to remember -- this guy who we are talking about, Jeff Neely. He is going to come here and take a look at the video. He was the man on the red carpet who joked about wearing Armani. He is going to come here we are told and plead the Fifth.

Why is that? Because we are told at least through his attorney through the committee that he feels he has possibly under criminal satisfaction investigation because this has been referred to the Justice Department and he doesn't want to incriminate himself by testifying before this committee. That should be kind of dramatic if he does actually come and plead the Fifth.

COSTELLO: Yes, it will. You're going to have an interesting afternoon.

Dana Bash, thanks so much.

BASH: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: At the top of the hour, we'll talk to a lawmaker heading up one of this week's hearings. Congressman Jeff Denham says he's already been digging for answers.

Also still to come, President Obama pushes for a vote on the so-called Buffett Rule. What happens after the vote? Details after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: President Obama is urging the Senate to pass the so-called Buffett Rule today. To say it's been a major talking point for the president, that would be an understatement.

It started in earnest on Wednesday, with the president surrounded by millionaires and their secretaries. On Thursday, the president talked Buffett Rule with the local TV stations. On Friday, the president released his tax returns in the name of Buffett. And on Saturday, the president pushed again for the Buffett Rule in his weekly radio address.

Today, it goes to the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope you'll ask your member of Congress to step up and echo that call this week by voting for the Buffett Rule.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN political director Mark Preston is with us.

So, Mark, talk about pressure for a law that doesn't have a snowball's chance of passing.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, it's certainly not going to pass today and very much what we are going to see in the Senate, Carol, there is going to be a procedural vote to see if actually the senate can vote on this rule and doesn't look like there's going to be the 60 votes needed to get that vote to happen.

However, as you said, this is going to be such a huge political issue this year. We have seen the president really talking it up in major, major way. And, of course, he will continue to do so.

You know, it's interesting is that he not only did that in his weekly cease from the White House while he was down in Cartagena. We expect him this afternoon this does not pass the Senate to continue to push for this to go through.

COSTELLO: It was interesting that the Obamas released their 2011 tax returns and that Mitt Romney responded by filing for an extension. What will the political fallout be?

PRESTON: Well --

COSTELLO: If any?

PRESTON: Yes. Well, you know, of course, let's tie this altogether with the Buffett Rule and the fact that this campaign is all going to be about the economy and jobs. And what we are seeing from Democrats in the Obama administration is that they are talking about how the fact is that millionaires and billionaires need to start paying more money to try to help get the economy going forward.

Now, we know that right when President Obama and Vice President Biden release their tax returns late last week. A short time later, then Mitt Romney filed an extension. But we do know that in the extension that he filed, he did put some numbers out there. In fact, he estimated his tax liability to be about $3.2 million.

Again, this is in the extension that he filed on Friday. And we also know that earlier this year, he did have an estimated earnings of about $21 million, but this doesn't give us all of the details of really where Mitt Romney is making his money and what he is doing with it, quite frankly, Carol.

COSTELLO: Mark Preston, live in Washington for us, thanks.

PRESTON: Thanks.

COSTELLO: Now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The question for you this morning: should candidates return campaign donations from controversial donors? Democrats were hoping they gotten past that Hilary Rosen comment about Ann Romney never working a day in her life, but no. Comedian Bill Maher stepped right back in it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAHER, COMEDIAN: What she meant to say I think was that Ann Romney has gotten her (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out of the house to work. There is a difference between a mother in that tough job and getting your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) out the door at 7:00 a.m. when it's cold, having to deal with the boss, being in a workplace or even if you're unhappy, you can't show it for eight hours! That is kind of a different kind of tough thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: You may remember, Maher gave a million bucks to Obama's super PAC. Now, the Republicans are calling on the president to give that money back. Fair or unfair?

After all, billionaire Foster Friess was the guy who contributed $1.6 million to Rick Santorum's super PAC. And remember his comment about contraception on MSNBC?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER FRIESS, SANTORUM DONOR: This contraceptive thing, my gosh! It's such an expense. You know, back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees and that wasn't that costly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. That made a lot of people uncomfortable. But does it mean every candidate is accountable for everything a donor says or does, where would that line be?

So, the talkback question today: should candidates return campaign donations from controversial donors?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

Just ahead, longer hours and no overtime pay? Well, workers aren't taking it any more! They are taking aim at their employers to pay up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Have you ever worked more than 40 hours a week and didn't get paid overtime? Well, more and more Americans are taking their employers to court over that and it's working.

The Labor Department won $225 million in back pay for employees last year. That's up almost 30 percent from the year before.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange.

So, Alison, why the surge in these lawsuits?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Carol, you know, part of it is because employers are saying, you know what, we are fed up for being overworked. You know, work to the bone and not getting paid for that extra time.

The other part of is kind of a side effect of the recession because with the recession, came those mass layoffs and workers who are left behind to pick up the slack but the problem is, those workers aren't necessarily getting paid for all of that extra work.

So what are they doing? They're taking their cases to court. And, in fact, over 7,000 suits have been filed in federal court just last year. Some of their biggest gripes include force to work while off the clock. Their jobs are misclassify as exempt from getting overtime and say their work is bleeding into personal time because of our smart phones and telecommuting.

You know how that is. You get e-mails in the middle of dinner that you just have to get to night after night after night -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, I was just going to ask you about that. So is that considered overtime if your boss sends you and e-mail at dinnertime?

KOSIK: And that's really kind of the gray area there. You know, employers say these labor laws right now, Carol, they really need to catch up with the time to account for all of these electronic devices that we use in our sort of off hours. You know, otherwise, companies say you know what?

They are going to have to be forced to rein in these modern office privileges, you now, like working from home. Or employers are saying, you know what, employee? We're going to make you an hourly employee, so you get that O.T. that you want, but we're also going to knock down your total salary.

You know, employers, Carol, are saying that employees, they can't have it both ways. If you want a flexible work schedule, it may mean having to put in some hours of the clock, you know, suck it up.

But the Supreme Court may have to -- may be getting a chance to weigh in on these issues. In fact, today the Supreme Court is going to be hearing arguments in a case against the drug maker GlaxoSmithKline. At issue in his case is whether pharma sales rep should remain exempt from overtime pay.

This decision is going to be an interesting one. It could wind up blazing a new trail on this issue -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Fascinating.

Alison Kosik live at the stock exchange -- thank you.

You're probably used to seeing "Saturday Night Live" secure Mitt Romney. He has been comedy for gold for them. Check out what they did to him over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got to thank you for that, Mitt. The only candidate who could ever make me look exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're the only candidate who could make me look gay friendly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here you go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great. Thank you.

And I placed your tip in this envelope. Make sure you give it to your husband when you get home. He'll know best what to do with it!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't spend it on birth control!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes! Cheers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Oh, soon, you could be seeing double Romneys, though. "The New York Times" is reporting the real Romney, that would be the one on the right, is considering the show's offer to come on as a guest. Of course, he wouldn't be the first Republican punching bag to do the show. Remember, Sarah Palin's trip into the lion's den at 30 Rock in 2008?

The question we want to know this morning: should Romney say yes to "Saturday Night Live"?

Let's bring in our CNN contributors Will Cain and L.Z. Granderson.

Welcome to you both.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, Will, start with you. Would it be a good idea if Romney agreed to go on "Saturday Night Live"?

CAIN: Well, I guess it depends on when he would go on and where he is standing in the polls at that moment. I mean, you got to recognize it's a little bit of a risk, right? Will he bomb or will he be a huge hit?

And if he is way behind in the polls, then why not? You have nothing to lose.

I'll say this, Carol. Look, I have this sneaky suspension and I feel the same way about his presidency, potential presidency that the bar is so -- that the bar is so low for him, that he might actually exceed it. He might be pretty good. So, he goes on "Saturday Night Live," he ends up being pretty funny. I think that's a real possibility here.

COSTELLO: He did a good job on David Letterman as I recall.

L.Z., the question for you -- I mean, Sarah Palin went on "Saturday Night Live." And I don't know whether it helped or hurt her because she was so skewered by Tina Fey at that point, voters couldn't distinguish between the two.

GRANDERSON: Well, you know what? First, I disagree with Will. If I were Mitt Romney, I would not do "Saturday Night Live" because he doesn't have the personality. Sarah Palin, on the other hand, she does. She's a natural. She was in television before she got into politics. So, she was comfortable in front of the camera.

I don't think Mitt is comfortable. He doesn't come across physically comfortable. He's not able to rift.

Even when he laughs at himself, it doesn't seem like a sincere laugh at himself. It's like a mock of what it should appear to be like.

So I wouldn't do it. And as far as Sarah Palin is concerned, you know, she has said some stupid stuff! Let's just face the fact and it made for good comedy and good humor, and because she's a natural, she is able to tap into that and she is still relevant still today even though she is not in politics.

COSTELLO: I know --

CAIN: Look --

COSTELLO: Wait, wait, I know some of our viewers are thinking, this is a ridiculous conversation.

But just consider this, Chevy Chase, the comedian, pretty much owes his career to President Ford. He got famous by moving Ford's clumsiness.

Listen to what he told CNN's Alina Cho about those days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEVY CHASE, SNL ORIGINAL CAST MEMBER: They wanted Carter in and I wanted him out and I figured, look. We are reaching millions of people.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wait a minute. You mean to tell me in the back of your mind you're thinking, hey, I want Carter.

CHASE: Oh, yes.

CHO: And I'm going to make him look bad.

CHASE: Oh, yes.

CHO: Wow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So, he is admitting it. There was a political motive here. It's not just all for fun and games.

So, do you think "SNL" is trying to get Obama reelected, Will?

CAIN: By making fun of Mitt Romney? You know what -- I think Chevy Chase admission is pretty telling actually. I don't know if they are trying to get Obama elected.

I'd say this. You said earlier on, Mitt Romney has been comedy gold for them. And I -- they're doing a good job with the impression. I think it's good.

But in the end, you've got to have a palate to work with and Mitt Romney is pretty plain and so is Obama. So, I don't know for their careers which one is better for the potential segments and skits that they would do. But I don't think either one of them are comedy gold.

COSTELLO: I think one of the "Saturday Night Live" comedians said that he's already bored with the election. It's like, what else can we do?

I'll still ask the question of you, L.Z. -- how big of an influence do you think these shows have on voters?

GRANDERSON: Not much, you know, especially this election, because it seem assess people are so polarized that there is very little that Mitt Romney could do that would entice voters to vote for him and vice versa in regards to Obama. I don't think independents are turning to "Saturday Night Live" for their political guidance.

So, I don't think it's going to really influence it one way or another. I just think in Mitt's case, because he has shown not have much of a personality worth, you know, viewing, that I don't see how this is going to look good for him. He should just stay away and just kind of keep what is he doing now because it's working for him for him much better.

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: Because it's not an ad-lib show. It's not an ad-lib or ripped show. It's scripted. He does very well when it's scripted and predictive. L.Z., I think he might do OK.

COSTELLO: Well, let's see if he agrees to be on --

GRANDERSON: We'll see.

COSTELLO: We'll see. Exactly. We'll end it there. We'll see.

L.Z. Granderson, Will Cain, thanks so much.

A quick reminder for you. Please converse with us. Today's talkback question: should candidates return campaign donations from controversial donors?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN, Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your responses later this hour.

Still to come on NEWSROOM.

(MUSIC)

COSTELLO: Don't do me like that. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers dealing with a little petty theft.

Showbiz headlines is next.

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COSTELLO: Robin Gibb, the singer with the legendary British band Bee Gees is in a coma, battling pneumonia. Gibb has recently fought with colon and liver cancer. And now, doctors believe the 62-year-old has a secondary tumor.

There's a flood of support on social network sites and in the music industry, hoping for the musician's speedy recovery. A.J. Hammer, host of "Showbiz Tonight" is in New York.

So, A.J., is he expected at all to pull out of this coma?

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Well, unfortunately, it's kind of difficult to say at this point, Carol. A lot of people are praying for him but it's a tough battle. His family has released information on his Web site and that led to a flood of support from fans and contemporaries like Peter Frampton and Julian Lennon, Jackie Jackson all reaching out.

In addition to the problems that Carol just mentioned, Gibb's rep confirmed to CNN that the pop star has needed two emergency surgeries since 2010 for bowel obstructions. Robin Gibb's twin brother Maurice died in 2003 of a twisted bowel. The brothers Gibb, of course, we all know them as the Bee Gees, broke out in a huge way in 1977 after "Saturday Night Fever" was built around the group's disco songs.

The Bee Gees were inducted into rock n' roll hall of fame back in 1997. And they have told more than 200 million albums.

And while brother Barry singing lead on the most of the vocals, Robin did step forward on self start tunes. You might remember them, "I Started a Joke" and "I've Got a Message for You" -- all memorable songs. So, clearly, we need to be sending our thoughts to Robin and his family this morning.

COSTELLO: Yes, our prayers, too.

Tom Petty, he's dealing with some petty thieves. Let's talk about that now.

HAMMER: This is unfortunate. And not all that petty actually. He is offering a reward for five guitars that were stolen from a sound stage where he and the band Heartbreakers were rehearsing for their upcoming tour.

Well, he is willing to pay $7,500 reward, no questions asked, to get back these guitars. They include a vintage 1967 Rickenbacker, a 1965 Gibson and another classic from 1967. It's from classic instruments.

You know, pretty exclusive instruments here. Things that have been with Petty for a long time. He went on his Twitter feed asking for people for help saying sometimes people make mistakes but we'd like these back.

Hopefully, they will get them back, Carol, in the time for the start of their tour on Wednesday in Colorado.

That's just unfortunate.

COSTELLO: It is. A.J. Hammer, thanks so much.

We all know Sarah Silverman has a wicked sense of humor. Well, now, she is being accused of, oh, insensitivity. That's too weak of a word. But anyway, she is being accused of insensitivity for a tweet. A.J. will be back in the next hour to explain.

A famous New York landmark goes up in flames. It was one that was featured in a hit movie starring Patrick Swayze.

Plus, before you make your next salad, you'll want to hear about a recall over possible salmonella contamination.

Those stories and more are coming up.

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COSTELLO: With Earth Day just around the corner a closer look at simple green solutions you can try at home.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are at Frager's Hardware established in 1920, 11 blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

I would call this energy efficient land.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have your traditional incandescent?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking for one of these light bulbs.

RICKY SILVERSTEIN: The light bulbs are a big factor in the store's success. I'm like -- put up to a hundred or you could use, you know, a compact fluorescent in there too. It's using gases to eliminate the glass. You're only using roughly 20 percent or 21 percent of the wattage on a compact fluorescent than you are in a 60-watt soft white incandescent bulb.

My house converted to all compact fluorescents. I have seen, you know, energy savings. It lowers your air-conditioning bill because you're emitting less heat.

A LED bulb where you get two and a half to three times longer life than you do with CFL. Bulb like this is in the $50 range. That's the Cadillac. This should last 46 years. That's longer than I'm going to be around; $1.81 to operate this light bulb; 65 watts is going to cost you five to six times more.

So we're trying to reduce the consumption in the entire country and it's going to benefit us you know in the long run.

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COSTELLO: You can get more energy saving tips. Watch "GREEN SOLUTIONS IN FOCUS" this Saturday afternoon at 4:30 Eastern on CNN.

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COSTELLO: Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai this morning blaming NATO for a series of deadly attacks by insurgents that lasted nearly 18 hours.

Explosions rocked central Kabul earlier today, hours after periodic bursts of gunfire lasted well into Sunday night. The attacks targeted a district that houses government offices and allied embassies including the U.S. embassy.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is with NATO forces in the Paktika Province eastern Afghanistan. Nick, NATO commanders are praising Afghan Security Forces for being able to stop these insurgents yet Hamid Karzai is blaming NATO for the attacks.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually let's get clear what President Karzai said. He said there was an intelligence failure that should be investigated and wanted to be particularly cautious at looking at NATO's role in that. Now NATO have been praising what they say was the swift response of Afghan Security Forces which is key in their minds to the eventual drawdown of NATO and American troops.

But let's still bear in mind it took 18 hours for these explosions, for this gunfire to stop ringing out across the central parts of Kabul that should be safest. More troubling details emerging too about what may have been this intelligence failure. This attack is incredibly similar to another one that happened six months ago, both targeted NATO HQ and embassies, both using an abandoned building to launch themselves from, both seem to involve militants from the sophisticated Haqqani Network and both took about 20 hours for Afghan Security Forces to suppress.

So many questions today as the dust settles -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So -- so who is behind these attacks?

WALSH: Many different questions about that. The Taliban have claimed responsibility and said this is the start of their spring offensive and have suggested there had been no role of Haqqanis. But the tactics are so similar to this network known as the Haqqanis based out of Pakistan according to many U.S. officials active in the east where I'm standing in Paktika particularly known to be able to harness the kind of resources that carry out these long sophisticated multi pronged attacks in the safest parts of Kabul -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Nick Paton Walsh reporting live for us from Afghanistan.

Coming up in the 10:00 hour of NEWSROOM, U.S. troops and Afghan Security Forces enter dangerous Taliban territory on a man hunt for militants. We'll go inside the assault for a rare look at what American troops are facing and the limitations they're dealing with now that the troops are being removed from the region.

We're back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: Stories we're watching this morning in the NEWSROOM.

A sixth death now being blamed on that deadly weekend tornado outbreak, all of -- all of those who died lived in Woodward, Oklahoma. The small town was among the hardest hit areas after the storm system cut a path of destruction across ten states in the Midwest and the plains. Now the focus is on cleaning up.

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ILEANA PEREZ, VOLUNTEER: We knew they just got hit hard and they have a bunch of trees down and the fence and everything. So we just wanted to come help.

PAT WILLIG, HOMEOWNER: It's really been a blessing to see everybody come out and help out.

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COSTELLO: Officials from Texas to Minnesota are now assessing all the damage from the powerful storm system.

You might want to check on that bag of salad in your refrigerator. Dole is recalling 756 cases of Seven Lettuces salads because of a possible salmonella contamination. The salad was sold in 15 states. The recall doesn't affect other Dole salads. No illnesses have been reported.

Investigators are trying to figure out this morning what sparked this fire at a famous Catskill New York landmark. The hotel turned condominium complex was featured in the hit movie "Dirty Dancing." Well, they went up in flames over the weekend. A local affiliate reports just last month managers had agreed to correct code violations at the complex.

We asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. The "Talk Back" question for you, "Should Candidates return Campaign Donations from Controversial Donors?"

This from Peter. "If the answer to that question is yes, then we would never have had a GOP primary race. And who is to decide what's controversial? One person's controversial is another person's logical and sensible."

This from Dave, "Yes, they should. If it doesn't match their belief then they should return the money."

This from Dylan. "Maybe not return it but give it to charity."

And this from Debra. "The money wasn't give to the President but to a Super PAC which by law is supposed to be independent of the candidate meaning even if President Obama wanted to return the money, it's not his to return."

Which is true. Please keep the conversation flowing, facebook.com/carolcnn. Thanks as always for your comments. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Say it isn't so. Tim Tebow booed last night.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORT: Hey, when you're in New York, that's going to happen. New York's newest superstar, Tim Tebow, after trade he's now a New York Jet. And he got booed. That's right. Last night at the Yankees game he was hanging out with Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade. And while they were some cheers there were also a lot of boos.

Now, they maybe were booing D. Wade. His team beat the Knicks earlier today or maybe it was New York Giants fans booing because Tebow's a jet. Or maybe they just want to boo Tebow because that's how it works in New York. I'm going with that last one.

COSTELLO: Could be, yes. Really.

FISCHEL: All right. Down in Miami, the Marlins in their new luxurious home. Finally after 31 innings Omar Infante hits the first Marlins home run ever at their new ballpark. But Marlins fans, all they want to see is what happens after the home run. I feel like I'm in a carnival and I'm going to throw a baseball and get a stuffed animal.

Somebody texted Infante, hey did you see the dolphins in the water? He didn't see any of it.

COSTELLO: Those are sword fish -- what are those? Are they dolphins or sword fish.

FISCHEL: Gaudy, to say the least.

COSTELLO: Ok.

FISCHEL: Ok. All right.

You may have noticed every player on every Major League team was wearing number 42 yesterday. That was in honor of Jackie Robinson. Yesterday was the 65th anniversary of his first game in the majors. Robinson, of course, broke baseball's color barrier in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Finally, the Denver Broncos held cheerleader trials yesterday. This weekend, in fact. And one man showed up, Sacha Heppel. He says it's been his dream to be a professional cheerleader. He did not make the cut. He says he did do it to prove something.

COSTELLO: What?

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SACHA HEPPELL, TRIED OUT FOR NFL CHEERLEADER: I really took this on as a project to really get -- prove a point to my students at Uzeke that, you know, you can accomplish your dreams. Don't be afraid to express yourself and go after the things you want. And just, you know, keep trying and never give up. (END VIDEO CLIP)

FISCHEL: It's shocking he didn't make it.

COSTELLO: I'm stunned myself. He should have worn a bikini.

Thank you, Jeff.

FISCHEL: That's sports.

COSTELLO: OK. Bye.