Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Top Woman at JP Morgan Gone; Army Jobs For Women; Syrian Violence Spills Over The Border; Anderson Cooper On The Syrian Border; Ron Paul To End "Active Campaigning"; Top JPMorgan Chase Exec Resigns; Manhunt For Missing FBI Agent; John Edwards Begins His Defense; Full Contact Politics; 49 Headless Bodies On Roadside; Jealousy Inspiring Job Perks

Aired May 14, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, in for Brooke Baldwin today.

As President Obama delivers his first commencement speech of the season, everybody's talking about a magazine cover calling him America's first gay president. I'm going to speak live with one of the editors behind the decision to put that cover out there. It is a cover that's sparking a lot of conversation.

First, however, the fallout intensifying over the $2 billion bungle at JP Morgan Chase. $2 billion down. The stock price down 9 percent. And now its chief investment officer out on the street. One of the top women on Wall Street, Ina Drew, retiring. Retiring, not kicked out, retiring. It was her unit that posted that 10-digit loss. CNN's Lizzie O'Leary live on Capitol Hill now with the story.

So, I mean a lot of people are talking about being kicked out versus walking out on your own and whether she gets a golden parachute. Does she?

LIZZIE O'LEARY, AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, that will be something that we'll get to see once the company actually puts out those papers that everyone can comb through with the regulators who look at this. We know that she made about $15 million a year for the two previous years. This unit, we're all talking about this one trade, but they did make a lot of money for the bank. So it's not unreasonable to think that she is probably going to walk away with a fair chunk of change. Certainly when you look at what her annual compensation had been over the last couple of years, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Well, that's one woman's story. And I've got 2 billion other reasons to ask you this next question, Lizzie. How does this kind of thing happen? We have banking regulations. So to speak, there are eyes on Wall Street. How do you get a loss like this? And is this something we need to be concerned about as we move forward?

O'LEARY: Well, I think a lot of Americans are out there thinking, wait a minute, what about Dodd-Frank. That great big piece of the financial reform legislation that passed through Capitol Hill, where I am, and what happened? Why isn't this prevented? One of the things that was in Dodd-Frank, and this is where people really have to pay attention, is a question of whether a bank that takes deposits, like JP Morgan Chase, those Chase depositors, can also, at the same time, make great big risky bets at the other side of the bank. And there was a rule called the Volcker Rule, named after the former Federal Reserve chairman, Paul Volcker, that was supposed to say, if you take deposits, you can't make those risky trades. And it's sort of in limbo.

So one of the big questions here has been that banks, like JP Morgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, wanted to water down that part of Dodd-Frank. That's the big conversation here on Capitol Hill. Do those rules need to be tougher? And is this great big loss that we've seen an argument for the Volcker Rule and for a stricter interpretation of this law that was passed?

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: All right, since you brought up Jamie Dimon, I want to go there too. And do we need wrist slaps or do we need something more than that? I know that the Democratic Senate candidate, Elizabeth Warren, who set up the Consumer Protection Agency, was calling for his head, but not at the head of JP Morgan Chase, as I understand it. They don't want him to be -- or she doesn't want him to be sitting on the New York Fed.

O'LEARY: Right. And the New York Fed is an interesting animal because it's one of those regulators that also has a lot of the top banking minds in the country -- and those tend to be the top CEOs of the big bank -- as a part of it, so that regulators can be close to the people who are making decisions. It's really a question of what your regulator is supposed to do or how you think about what your regulator is supposed to be, whether he's supposed to be on the outside looking in saying, follow these rules, or are they supposed to be on the inside listening to the people who run institutions? And it seems to be that the fed is sort of in the middle of those two decisions. But we've often also seen in the run-up to the financial crisis there was a lot of listening to the folks on the inside and maybe not a lot of listening to people who were critical on the outside.

BANFIELD: Well, it's certainly not the last we'll be listening to this and certainly in an election year as well.

Lizzie O'Leary, thanks for that.

And we also have more news unfolding right now. It's "Rapid Fire." So, roll it.

And here we go. Yahoo's new departed CEO has thyroid cancer, according to "The Wall Street Journal." Scott Thompson is out at Yahoo! after the company learned he padded his resume. He fibbed about having a degree in computer science. He had a degree, just not in computer science.

Also, a kidnapper who raised the baby she stole to adulthood is going to have to wait to learn her fight. Sentencing for Ann Pettway is pushed back from today to July 6th. You might remember, she admitted to snatching a three-week-old baby from a hospital back in 1987. The victim found herself on a website for missing children and lo and behold found out who her parents were.

And now we're going to hear John Edwards' side of this whole sordid tale. The defense is about to begin its case. It's happening today in the Edwards' trail in North Carolina. He is accused of misusing campaign money to hide an affair with a mistress.

And also, the drums and the symbols will go quiet, at least for the next year, at Florida's A&M school. That school's acclaimed marching band suspended through 2013. It's all punishment for that hazing incident that allegedly led to the death of the drum major Robert Champion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES AMMONS, PRESIDENT, FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY (voice-over): I was heavily influenced by the need to be respectful of Robert Champion's family, as well as other alleged victims. A young man lost his life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And also making news today, Arizona in flames. Five different wildfires searing across nearly 6,000 acres. Hundreds of firefighters out in full force, trying to do their level best to get a handle on the pictures on your screen. Arizona didn't get a whole lot of rain this winter, so the state is a veritable tinder box right now.

Also, we've got a lot more to cover in the next two hours. Watch.

Be all that you can be. Even if you're a woman close to combat. The military is opening up more roles to women, but just how many are still out of reach? I'm Ashleigh Banfield and the news starts now.

A stunning discovery. Dozens of bodies without their heads. Now fears grow as drug gangs get closer to the U.S. border.

Plus, a wife wakes up to find her husband gone. The frantic search for a missing FBI agent just became the biggest of its kind. But why?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Go Army. Go strong. Go ladies. Today, the U.S. Army is opening up as many as 14,000 combat-related jobs to women. Women make up almost 16 percent of the Army. And while the "Army Times" reports this new directive opens up about 3 percent of combat related jobs to them, there are still about 30 percent of Army jobs that are for men only. Chris Lawrence is at the Pentagon.

Chris, so what -- why did they change? Why is this happening?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Basically, Ashleigh, it changed because of the experiences of a lot of women in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 10 years. They've learned a lot. And the battlefield has really changed. It's no longer as linear as it was in the past. And so a lot of the women who had been serving as attachments to some of the more combat oriented units, they were getting caught up in conflict, in combat, supply units, things like that. And so the military felt it just made sense to open up some of these jobs.

Now, there had been about a quarter of a million jobs across the military that women were not allowed to go to. This opens up about 5 percent of them. And how you feel about that depends on how you come down on the issue. Some people say there was no reason to open up these jobs to women. That the jobs had been performed just fine. Others say the policy didn't go for enough and should have open opened up even more jobs -- more combat jobs to women.

BANFIELD: But when we say combat jobs, we need to be careful about combat-related or combat jobs. Because as I understand it, we are really not even close at this point, Chris Lawrence, to see women on the frontlines in shoot 'em up.

LAWRENCE: That's right. These are jobs that would necessarily be -- they're not frontline. They're not the guys who are kicking down the doors and things like that. But they're jobs that could attach or co-locate with actual ground combat teams. Women were not allowed to necessarily serve in those jobs.

What this means now is the Army, or whatever branch, can recruit women to specifically go into some of these jobs and some of the women who are already in the Army could cross train and maybe switch over if they were interested. So it does open the door. And, really, when you look at the idea of, you know, the first class of women training to go aboard submarines for the U.S. Navy, these female engagement teams that walked the patrols in Afghanistan with some of their Marine -- the male Marines, it's a step along the way. It's probably not where we're going to end up in 10 to 15 years when, you know, when you look at the issue of women serving in combat.

BANFIELD: And I sort of always hearken back to Jessica Lynch, which she was in her crisis. I think she was part of a mechanics brigade. So we're basically talking about expanding roles like that, that end up either adjacent to, close to or within, you know, a stone's throw to the front line, but just not front line, you know, identified work?

LAWRENCE: Exactly. And, remember, what is the front line? It's one thing, you know, in Iraq or Afghanistan. Who knows what the front line is going to be in the year 2020 or 2025. As the military gets more and more technological, in other words your brain being -- required a lot more than just your brawn, you know, you may see more of these specialties start to open up to women where physical strength isn't necessarily, you know, the biggest, you know, asset that you can bring to the job.

BANFIELD: But when we're talking about physical strength, something like a special ops, you know, division is still, you know, one part -- well I'm not going to suggest how many parts, but many parts physical brawn and many parts savvy. And we're still not talking about women in special operations, are we?

LAWRENCE: No, No. We're not even close to that. I mean you're not even talking about, you know, women in recon patrols and things like that, you know, much less special operations. So that's probably still a long way down the road if that happens.

BANFIELD: All right, Chris Lawrence, nice to see you, at the Pentagon.

LAWRENCE: Yes.

BANFIELD: Thanks for that.

Moving on. A zip line adventure going horribly wrong, leaving a graduate student fighting for her life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY COPELAND, AIMEE'S FATHER: We see the miraculous survival. And that's really, I think, where -- I think that's the story that's inspired us. That's the story that's inspired, I think, the nation at this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: A flesh eating bacteria has already taken Aimee Copeland's leg and part of her abdomen. But will she also lose her fingers? You're about to hear from her parents.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Minute by minute, hour by hour, parents in Georgia are watching as a flesh-eating bacteria ravages their beautiful daughter. It was just 13 days ago when Aimee Copeland was with some friends at a place called the Little Tallapoosa River, about 50 miles outside of Atlanta, Georgia. She was on a home-made zip line. But the zip line snapped. And when that happened, Aimee suffered a huge gash in her leg. But that's also when the bacteria entered her body. Now she's fighting what's called necrotizing fasciitis. Basically it is flesh eating disease. Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, explains the bacteria and why it hit Aimee Copeland so hard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Many different kinds of bacteria can cause this disease. She, unfortunately, got infected with a particularly virulent kind of bacteria that lives in the water.

Now, this is pretty rare. We don't have exact numbers. No one really knows. But it is really unusual. But, unfortunately, the small number of people who do get this disease, about 25 percent of them die. Now, it took doctors a while to figure out that Aimee had this disease. And that's not unusual. The signs can be very subtle. So Amy went to the hospital about four times before they figured out what this was. She was prescribed one antibiotic that wasn't strong enough to fight this kind of bacteria at one point. She was also prescribed a pain killer at one point. What she really needed was a much stronger antibiotic, which she did eventually get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And she may have eventually received those antibiotics, but it was too late. The bacteria had already wreaked havoc on her body and now she has lost her leg, part of her abdomen, she's on a breathing tube and the sad part is she may also lose her fingers, but we don't know yet. Her parents recognize that this is a moment by moment story, but they are pointing to her amazing outlook.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY COPELAND, AIMEE'S FATHER: The doctors are doing the best they can to try to save as much of her extensions, her hands, as they possibly can. And literally it's day by day or even hour by hour.

We really don't see the suffering side of it. We see the miraculous survival. When we told her how long she had been at the hospital, I mean her eyes just widened in horror. She goes, I've got to work on my thesis.

After we assured her of that, her eyes grew big again. And we couldn't understand what she was saying. And so we called the nurse in, who was a little better at lip reading, and her nurse looked at her lips and looked at us and she said, I think she's saying "job." And I asked her, I said, Aimee, are you worried about losing your job? And she nodded her head.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Those parents are counting down to what they're calling Aimee day. That's the day when Aimee's breathing tube is set to be removed. And they're elated about that, but they're also pretty scared about it because Aimee day is also the day that they may have to tell her that she could be losing more of her limbs. An absolute tragic story.

Living in a tent for more than a year, not knowing if you'll ever go home. Many Syrians are stuck running for their lives as violence erupts in their country. Our Anderson Cooper is live on the Syrian border and it going to join us with this story, next.

And just a quick note for you. If you are heading out the door, you can continue to watch CNN from your mobile phone. Or, if you're at work, you can also watch CNN live from your desktop. Just don't tell your boss. Or tell him that it's, you know, research. Just go to cnn.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: Tough times call for tough college grads. And the president said just a short time ago that the grads of today are very much equal to that task. Mr. Obama spoke to the class of 2012 at Barnard College, the all women's school in New York. A pretty excited group.

What a deal for those grads. You get the president as your commencement speaker. Not half bad. And just listen to a little piece of what the president had to say to them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And, of course, as young women, you're also going to grapple with some unique challenge, like whether you're be able to earn equal pay for equal work, whether you're be able to balance the demands of your job and your family, whether you'll be able to fully control decisions about your own health. And while opportunities for women have grown exponentially over the last 30 years, as young people, in many ways you have it even tougher than we did. This recession has been more brutal, the job losses steeper, politics seems nastier, Congress more gridlocked than ever. Some folks in the financial world have not exactly been model corporate citizens. No wonder that faith in our institutions has never been lower, particularly when good news doesn't get the same kind of ratings as bad news anymore. Every day you receive a steady stream of sensationalism and scandal and stories with a message that suggests change isn't possible. That you can't make a difference. That you won't be able to close that gap between life as it is and life as you want it to be.

My job today is to tell you, don't believe it. Because as tough as things have been, I am convinced you are tougher. I've seen your passion and I've seen your service. I've seen you engaged and I've seen you turn out in record numbers. I've heard your voices amplified by creativity and a digital fluency that those of us in older generations can barely comprehend. I've seen a generation eager, impatient even, to step into the rushing waters of history and change its course.

And that defiant, can-do spirit is what runs through the veins of American history. It's the life blood of all our progress. And it is that spirit which we need your generation to embrace and rekindle right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And we're going to hear more from the president a little bit later on. We're also going to talk about the very provocative magazine cover that declares Barack Obama to be the first gay president. Hope you'll stick around for that.

In the meantime, want to talk about this. Gunfire, mortar shells erupting across Syria today in what has become a daily occurrence in that country. But now there's a twist though. In the meantime, there is an attempt to stop increasing violence, all at the time that European Union foreign ministers have imposed new sanctions on the Syrian regime and are urging it to adapt a U.N.-backed peace plan. But even with a cease-fire deal in place, 1,000 people have been killed in just the last month. Again, there's a cease-fire in place and 1,000 people are dead just during that cease-fire. Some of them executed, some of them tortured to death, according to the opposition activists.

It's been 14 month since all of this began, Syrian President Bashar al Assad's forces began cracking down on anti-government demonstrators. And since then, the country's infrastructure has really begun to unravel. CNN's Anderson Cooper is in Turkey, near the Syrian border.

And, you know, Turkey's just one place where refugees have been streaming across the border. There's also Iraq. There's also Lebanon. And there's also, you know, a number of different border countries. But how bad is it where you are, Anderson?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's about 23,000 Syrians now in these camps along the Turkish border. And, look, the Turkish government is doing a good job in terms of maintaining, running these camps. They're very clean, they're very well organized. Most importantly, they're more or less safe. Certainly safer than where these people came from.

But refugee camps, by their very nature, are miserable places. These are people who have had their lives uprooted, who have had their businesses destroyed, who have lost loved ones. I haven't met anybody who doesn't know somebody who has died in this conflict, died mostly going out protesting in the streets.

And as you know, you know, some 14 months ago, 15 months ago, when this uprising began, it began as peaceful protests in the streets. People not even calling for regime change, just calling for reform. It was only after the Assad regime responded with bullets and with mortars and with torture of men, women and even children that this became a violent uprising. And there -- it shows no sign of letting up. The latest violence is just the latest example of that.

You know, you know have this situation where the regime cannot -- has not been able to stop the protests, no matter what they've done, no matter how many people they've killed. And according to the U.N., some 9,000 -- opposition forces some more than that. No matter how many people they've imprisoned, and we have no idea the actual number on that, they've not been able to stop these -- the people from crying out for freedom. They've not been able to stop the so-called free Syrian army and other forces from trying to overthrow the regime.

In the same token, the opposition forces are not strong enough, are not well armed enough, well equipped enough in order to actually be able to overthrow that regime. So the violence continues. And at this point, for the people in the refugee camps, who we've been visiting these last two days, there's no sign they're going to be able to go home any time soon.

BANFIELD: Apart from the fear of not knowing that you can return -- and you and I both know that no matter where you are, if there's civil discourse or unrest or war, the neighboring countries bear the brunt of the refugee crisis and those can end up being, you know, veritable cities for decades. The problem is that a lot of these refugee camps also end up being bases for the opposition.

Do you think there's any truth to that where you are? And that if it is an operation base for the opposition that it could be a dangerous place to live as well?

COOPER: Well, there's no doubt. I mean, the Turkish government doesn't even call the Syrians here refugees. They call them invited guests and they have an open border policy.

So they allow people from the camps to go back into Syria and then come back across. There's no doubt opposition fighters are living in some of these refugee camps, members of the so-called Free Syrian Army who were crossing over, taking part in fighting and then coming back.

There's no doubt that that is happening. Whether that makes the camps themselves more dangerous, it -- evidence doesn't really show that. There was an incident at a camp back in April where some skirmishes near the border and people retreating across were shot.

And some Turkish people as well helping the people across the border were also shot. But you don't see systematic attacks against these camps though they are very close to border. They have been, by and large, safe.

BANFIELD: And then what about just the Turkish government trying to deal with this, as you mentioned, they may be calling this a group of invited guests at this point.

But we have all been to Afghanistan. We've all seen the Afghan refugees in Pakistan that are literally now permanent residents and have been for decades. Are the Turks worried that this is one of those beyond the point of no return situations?

COOPER: Well, Turkey would certainly like more support in operating these camps. They have received some supplies for the U.N. High Commissioner for refugees, large numbers of blankets and tents. But by and large, this is a Turkish operation, overwhelmingly, a Turkish operation.

I've been to a lot of refugee camps all around the world. These are probably the best run, best organized, you know, cleanest, safest refugee camps I have ever seen. But certainly, it's -- you know, if more people keep coming, and we do see more people coming every day from Syria.

If the numbers continue to grow it's going to become a bigger and bigger burden on the Turkish population. And, you know, they're going to obviously want to try to get some help from other countries as well.

BANFIELD: Yes, and let's hope the conditions there continue to be, as you describe them, much more acceptable than many other refugee camps. Anderson, good work on keeping the spotlight on this story. It's not going away and it definitely needs to be highlighted. Thank you.

Also want to remind you to watch more of Anderson's reporting tonight on "AC 360." That's at 8:00 Eastern on CNN. He'll be live in the Syrian border. Excellent stuff, make sure you tune in.

An FBI agent suddenly vanishes. And we're told he's armed. Not only that, but suicidal. So why is there such a massive search under way? What does he know? What was he working on?

And this just in to CNN, Ron Paul is suspending his campaign, but he's not getting out of the Republican race. What, you say? We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Welcome back. This is just in to CNN, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says he's going to end active campaigning. So does that mean what it sounds like?

Let's go live to Washington in our political editor, Paul Steinhauser. So here's the deal, Paul. This was just in to CNN, that it was literally this is just in to me and I said suspend.

And I'm not so sure this is a suspension. There is -- there is method to the madness and every word counts when it comes to campaigning, fundraising and delegates.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, and suspension was not in a statement put out by Ron Paul's Republican presidential campaign. Really just in the last few minutes, not a suspension, not like what we saw with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum.

They suspended their campaigns and endorsed Mitt Romney. Ron Paul is not doing that. Here's what he says in his statement, Ashleigh. Moving forward, however, we will no longer spend resources campaigning in the primary states that have not yet voted. Doing so with any hope of success would take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have.

He also says in a statement this, though. Our campaign will continue to work the state convention process. So I guess two things here. He's not going to go out. He's not going to stump, spend money, put up ads any more in the few remaining states.

And there are a bunch still who are going to be voting later this month and in June. Not doing that, but he will continue to try to secure delegates from his statement his 'marches towards the convention in Tampa.

And he's had some success much to the chagrin of the Romney campaign over the last few weeks with these state conventions that held caucuses earlier this year. A lot of Ron Paul supporters flooding these conventions and grabbing delegates. And we've got a couple of more states to come that are holding these types of conventions -- Ashleigh. BANFIELD: So working the state convention process to try to shore up some of those delegates to take to the national convention. So what exactly can Ron Paul do at the national convention if he has a few delegates?

Because as I recall, he has not won a single races yet, but it doesn't mean he doesn't have a couple of, you know, quivers and you knows, arrows in the quiver, right?

STEINHAUSER: Listen, Mitt Romney, by far hands down the presumed nominee. He's going to win the nomination. According to our latest CNN estimate, he has almost 1,000 delegates, 1,144 needed to clinch. But that's not a problem, OK. He's the nominee.

Ron Paul had about 100 delegates according to our most recent estimate. He's trying to grab some more in the state convention processes. What does he want to do? He wants to probably have a nice speaking role at the convention in Tampa.

But he also wants to have a say in the Republican Party platform at the convention. I think that's one of the reasons you see him continuing to push the fight with the state convention so not a suspension of his campaign, but definitely a change in his campaign.

He talked about the money there. He's got about $1.8 million in the bank, according to our last report as of April 1st. So, you know, money is an issue for Ron Paul. But then again, he's had success raising money online -- Ashleigh.

BANFEILD: Well, I for one am glad he's not going away. I adore him. I wish that Herman Cain did the same thing. I wish he was still part of the process too. Paul Steinhausser, always great to see you. Thank you, sir.

We got this for you. Heads are certainly starting to role at JPMorgan Chase. See the woman on your screen? Her name is Ina Drew and she is out. She resigned today as the firm's chief investment officer.

And she's the first exec to fall after JPMorgan lost $2 billion in really crappy trading. Drew is retiring. She's not forced out. She's retiring. She was one of the most powerful women on Wall Street.

Also, making news, an intense manhunt is under way for this man. It's happening in California. He is a missing FBI agent who authorities describe as suicidal and possibly carrying a handgun.

His name, 35-year-old Stephen Ivens and he was last seen by his family on Thursday at his Burbank home. They've been using blood hounds to try to track him in a rugged mountain area nearby. And 150 law enforcement officers are out there trying to find him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN MIKE PARKER, LOS ANGELES SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: We have special concerns given that -- given his apparent inclination to potentially commit suicide.

CAPTAIN DENNIS CREMINS, BURBANK POLICE: There's no evidence of foul play right now, but you know, that's why we still have a robust effort to look for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, Ivens is a special agent with the FBI and his specialization, he's a national secure-type cases and counterterrorism, but none is the word on specifics.

Prosecution has rested and now the defense in the John Edwards trial is unveiling its evidence. Will the former presidential candidate take the stand himself? Find out coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: For a little more than two weeks now, jurors have been hearing details of how John Edwards tried to cover up his affair and his illegitimate baby while in pursuit of the oval office.

But now Edwards' attorneys get their chance to tell his side of the story. Defense begins today in his trial and of course, it is a trial on charges that he misused campaign funds in that big old cover-up.

CNN's Joe Johns is covering this story in Greensboro, North Carolina -- Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, sidestepping at least for now all the lowered stories of sex, lies, politics, and John Edwards' mistress, Rielle Hunter.

The defense today tried to quickly refocus on the allegations of campaign law violations that are at the center of the case. The first witness for the defense was, Laura Haggard, a former chief financial officer for the Edwards presidential campaign in 2008 who was in charge of telling the Federal Election Commission how the campaign got its money and where the money went.

Haggard said she didn't believe hundreds of thousands of dollars from Edwards' benefactors that was used by his fixers and his mistress to cover up the affair was actually a campaign contribution at all.

Therefore she said it didn't have to be disclosed to FEC. Haggard's testimony was also intended to help Edwards out on the sixth and final count of his indictment, charging that he caused false statements to be filed in the FEC reports.

Haggard took full responsibility for the reports and said Edwards never had anything to do with them. Also on the stand was Harrison Hickman, a well known pollster and political consultant and friend of John Edwards who talked about how a cancer diagnosis for Edwards' wife Elizabeth completely changed the former senator's focus on his political career.

One of the most highly anticipated witnesses of the trial Wade Smith could also take the stand today. He is a lawyer and long-time friend of John Edwards from right here in North Carolina -- Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Joe Johns reporting for us.

Now to the other side of the border with Mexico, where nearly 50 torsos, no heads, no feet, stuffed into garbage bags and left outside of a refinery town as the drug gang war intensifies. Is it about to spill into our country?

I'll talk to the mayor of one American border town who served with the FBI and knows a thing or two.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Time to go "Globe Trekking" and we got a good one for you, some full contact politics in South Korea. Here we go. Yes, that's never good.

The left wing United Progressive Party was gathering to talk about a recent vote rigging scandal. Four party co-chairs stepped down and they were discussing whether there should be more resignations and that's when this all happened, about 100 angry party members rushing the stage.

One of the co-chairs later tweeting out that he was hit repeatedly, that he suffered injuries to his neck and to his back, and that he was left with thorn clothing.

All right, so elsewhere, 49 bodies decapitated and dismembered, left in garbage bags on the side of the road in Mexico. All of this, only 80 miles from the U.S. border. Those victims' names, their identities are still a mystery at this hour.

But this really comes as no surprise that cartel violence is expected in the carnage. Raul Salinas is mayor of Laredo, Texas. He's also a former FBI agent, spent time not only in Mexico, but a long time in Laredo.

Mr. Mayor, 49 bodies and this is real close to where you apply your trade. As mayor, how is Laredo dealing with this? Are you concerned and does the United States need to start worrying that this violence is getting too close for comfort?

MAYOR RAUL SALINAS, LAREDO, TEXAS: Well, we have always taken the necessary measures. We're monitoring this very carefully. Obviously, we have approximately 4,000 law enforcement officials, the city, the county, the state and federal officials always monitoring this situation.

Our police department is on top of things. One thing that we always want to make sure is that we're ready to respond to any spill over, which has really been very limited in our community and that's because we have used the necessary resources to make sure that that crime doesn't spill over to the U.S. site.

And I think we've been very effective. Crime is going down all along the border, but we have to make sure always to be on the ready to ensure that our citizens are safe. But this activity as I understand from talking to some of the officials in the state is suspected to be cartel rival activity.

But we also have to make sure that we brace for whatever may happen. And we're using the resources and making sure that we act in a proactive fashion. In this particular case, the bodies were found close to McAllen and not towards the Laredo side.

But it doesn't matter because we're all a border and we have to make sure that we ensure the safety of all of our citizens on our side.

BANFIELD: Well, that's McAllen, Texas. You're Laredo, Texas. There are a lot of other border towns as we look at --

SALINAS: El Paso.

BANFIELD: Yes. I mean, listen, and it goes beyond Texas as well. My question to you is this -- for any Americans out there watching CNN right now and listening to your interview and saying look, that's tragic, but that's Mexico, that's really not my problem. Is it our problem? Are we the cause because we're buying the drugs?

SALINAS: Well, you know, I've heard President Calderon mention several times, and to an extent he's right. We have to make sure that we intercept the weapons that are going south.

Make sure that we intercept the stolen cars that are going south and intercept the money that's the root of the problem. We also have to ensure that there's an appetite for drugs and we need to reduce that.

But it's a partnership. I think we have to work together to ensure the safety, but, you know, it's --

BANFIELD: We've been saying for years it's a partnership. We've had just say no since the '80s. In fact, you were one of the flagship members of that campaign and you were actually with the FBI from the '80s and beyond. It doesn't seem to be getting any better.

SALINAS: You know, it's really frightening. There was a story in Monterrey, a 12-year-old boy used as a lookout for organized crime. He was getting paid $750 a month. So it's pretty scary, but I can assure you, I want to assure the American people watching us right now that the American side of the border is safe.

And the reason we are safe because our law enforcement agencies all the way from the city to the feds are working together. They're sharing intelligence and that's extremely important. That's really the basic law enforcement.

We have to make sure we react proactively. You know, we've gotten support from Washington. We've been able to increase our force here, thanks to the administration. We had 22 new police officers, but I think it's all about a team effort. I think that's the bottom line.

BANFIELD: Well, I hope what you're saying is true what you say, that we are safe and certainly this is a story we'll continue to watch. Mr. Mayor, thank you very much for being with us and stay safe yourself down there.

SALINAS: Thank you very much.

BANFIELD: Mayor Raul Salinas joining us from Laredo, Texas.

By now, you have probably seen this on your magazine stands. It's the newest "Newsweek" cover. But you haven't heard what the editors were thinking before they sparked a huge conversation by putting this out there. I'm going to speak with one of those editors live in just a moment and ask what were you thinking?

Plus Silicon Valley is infamous for the perks the employees get when they go to the office. You are about to get a behind the scenes look at what really looks like little gym, doesn't it?

You're going to see this as well as a couple of others special little perks like personal bartenders, slides in the office. Not kidding. You'll find out in a moment what's there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Get ready to get really jealous about what some people are getting at work these days. I'll bet you don't have a slide in our home or office inside, do you? We all know that Silicon Valley is the Mecca for tech companies.

The competition is absolutely fierce for talent so the job perks are insanely awesome. Our tech reporter, Katie Linendoll, is the host of "All Access Weekly" on Spike TV.

Now I thought it was really great at CNN because we get water and Katie, coffee. It's awfully nice, I must say, but you have been to some of the most fabulous places to work in Silicon Valley. What did you find?

KATIE LINENDOLL, HOST, SPIKE TV'S "ALL ACCESS WEEKLY": Yes, we have a new hot chocolate flavor in the machine and I was freaking out. Not quite the same, but as you noted, there's a shortage of great talent.

And of course, fighting over engineers and developers, companies are upping the perks including their office space. So I had a chance to narrow down three of the hottest offices to work for.

Before we get into it, it's a very work hard, play hard environment. Hard to get in, but once you're through the door, it can be pretty amazing. Let's start with box.com, awesome office environment here, no cubicles, no offices, they actually use scooters to get around.

Also there are swings for people to work off of. All you can eat snacks, ping-pong tables, gaming consoles and then here you see, this was the killer for me. There's actually an indoor slide to get you from floor two to floor one, which is a nice little perks so that's box.com.

Also I love Hipstomatic. Hipstomatic is a nice example of an office that only has 13 employees. Hipstomatic is an iPhone app that allows you to print really nostalgic photos. And as soon as you walk in, the huge lit up sign, there is a personal bartender on site.

It's pretty normal in the average work day to stop down and play some call of duty on a huge projector screen and be drinking a PDR, which is out of this mind to me.

And also they've installed a roof top for happy hour. So people are always drinking on top there as you can see so nice little options. They also painted the entire office with magnetic paint. You can put photos up around and enjoy them.

So box.com and Hipstomatic are two of the top 10 and we'll also get to the third one.

BANFIELD: Just to be clear that bartender was pouring real drinks or mocktails.

LINENDOLL: No, they're drinking all day.

BANFIELD: Could you imagine so Katie, what's the deal with like Zynga?

LINENDOLL: So Zynga, a lot of people might be familiar with Words with Friends, Draw Something, Farmville, Citiville, 240 million people are actively using a Zynga game.

Now this is, like, the Mecca of all places to work. It's like a six-story amusement park. As soon as you walk in, you're going through a light-up tunnel and the people to dog ratio. For every nine people there's one dog.

So it's like every day is bring your dog to work day. There's also a kitchen, an office bar, a sweet shop. There's a basement rec room with arcade-style games, ping-pong, a full bar, shuffle board, vintage arcade games.

There's also a full gym and wellness center. There's also 100- person amphitheater. A genius bar, so if you have any problems with your computers, you can walk right up and they'll solve it for you. And there's a mother's room to take care of all of your mom needs.

BANFIELD: I just hope they're setting the trend for the rest of us. So, eventually, that will make its way right across the rest of the country and that we will have all those swings and slides and the bartender. I love that.

Katie Linendoll, seriously, think that's going to work out? LINENDOLL: I think so. I think we should install some here.

BANFIELD: I think they must have some rules and regulations, like a tick chart. You have already had one, no more.

Katie Linendoll, thanks. Nice to see you.

LINENDOLL: Thank you. You, as well.