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Question on Lockerbie Jet Bombing Remain After Megrahi's Death; U.S. Warns North Korea Against Another Nuclear Test; NAACP Declares Same-Sex Marriage a Civil Right; New Democrat Ad Bashes Bain.

Aired May 21, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West Coast.

And the fighting is not over, not by a long shot, but a formal end to the war in Afghanistan is within sight. As we speak the 28 member states of NATO along with many non-NATO partners in the Afghan mission are planning their disengagement and pull-out which is set to be complete by the end of 2014.

Day two of the NATO summit in Chicago began one hour ago with the president, our president presiding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we will decide the next phase of the transition, the next milestone. We'll set a goal for Afghan forces to take the lead for combat operations across the country in 2013, next year, so that ISAF can move to a supporting role.

This will be another step towards Afghans taking full lead for their security, as agreed to, by 2014 when the ISAF combat mission will end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

And police in Chicago are certainly hoping that their mission is a lot easier today, easier than it was yesterday. What a mess. Protesters opposed to the war, among other things, vow to be back out on the streets again today.

And my colleague Ted Rowlands is there, too. So, Ted, things got ugly quickly yesterday. How are things looking today and have they taken any additional measures to keep things in check?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ashleigh, so far so good in terms of today. It's very quiet today. However there's a protest that's ramping up here in the next hour at Boeing where protesters are going to surround the building and right now police have put up metal barricades around the building. We're not expecting that protest to get out of hand.

Yesterday we weren't expecting it either. Of course, you see those images and it did following a planned protest with Iraqi and Afghan vets. That's when the clashes started to begin.

Forty-plus arrests and several injuries, a handful of injuries to some protesters, a couple folks. One guy lost some teeth. Another one hit in the head and was bleeding. But there were also injuries to the Chicago police department. Four officers injured. One of them apparently stabbed in the leg.

Last night the superintendent of the Chicago police, Gary McCarthy, talked to the media. He got a little emotional when he was asked why the police officers were using their sticks on protesters. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPERINTENDENT GARY MCCARTHY, CHICAGO POLICE: These officers were highly trained, highly skilled and, if you think it's easy to ask people to do what they did, it's not.

Asking people to put themselves in harm's way, knowing that they are going to get assaulted and to be able to stand there and take it, these guys are amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: The bottom line here, Ashleigh, is they are ready for the worst, hoping for the best, again today. It was a long day for everybody here in Chicago. A lot of businesses, including the folks at Boeing, are encouraging their folks to work at home today and not come down into the city.

BANFIELD: So, Ted, the protesters often want their message to be seen by people like you and me and our cameras, but they also want world leaders to see what they are doing.

But as far as I can understand, those leaders are a long way away and not within eyeshot of what's going on out there.

ROWLANDS: Yeah and, well, believe me. The world leaders are getting the message through the media, if they're monitoring what's going on in terms of the protests. But really what they are getting is the images of the clashes between police.

That was a point of frustration for a lot of these demonstrators because a red zone or security zone was set up around McCormick Place where the NATO summit is taking place and it's a good three blocks away.

They felt like they weren't getting their message across. That's the reason for some of that frustration. That's why police were pushing them back because they wanted to move closer to the summit area.

ROWLANDS: Understandable with some leaders like the Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the United States presidents all in that location. I can understand the security.

Ted Rowlands, thank you very much.

Also, President Obama plans to hold a news conference at 4:30 Eastern time. You'll see it right here on CNN. We'll bring it to you just as soon as it gets underway.

Also making news today, the John Edwards jury back at work in Greensboro, North Carolina. You'll probably remember at this point, former senator, the running mate and the presidential hopeful is still standing accused of lying and conspiracy and violating campaign finance laws. It's all in the hands of the jury.

All of this stemming from an affair that he was desperate to keep secret back in 2008. The jurors got that case back on Friday, but they had the weekend off, so they came back this morning and, if they decide Edwards is guilty, he's facing decades in prison.

We're watching that on official verdict watch. We'll bring it to you as soon as it happens.

And a judge has made a decision, no extra time for Jerry Sandusky's defense to prepare the case. That is the ruling that came in from the court just moments ago.

The defense team had asked for a continuance. They wanted more time to actually build this child sexual abuse defense, Sandusky is facing 52 counts in this case, but this trial is going to go ahead as planned and it's going to start on June 5th, ready or not.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is facing some new allegations of sexual assault. You may have heard this before, but here we go. This time, it's an allegation that he took part in a possible gang rape in Washington.

French prosecutors are expanding the investigation of the former chief of the International Monetary Fund based on some claims that are being made now by a Belgian prostitute.

He's already under investigation for an alleged role in a prostitution ring. You'll recall there was Dominique Strauss -Kahn attempted to rape a New York hotel maid, but that was dropped. The criminal case was dropped last year.

Our Atika Shubert is monitoring developments now in London. This is starting to get somewhat repetitive, Atika, and it's hard to sometimes keep some of this straight, but, if you could clear this up for us? Bring this story in from the Belgian prostitute and tell me why it's connected to the existing investigation that's going on.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you might remember, the existing investigation is, in France, called the Carlton affair and it's based on a hotel where apparently one of the people at this hotel helped to procure prostitutes and bring them to Dominique Strauss-Kahn. That's the allegation.

And now what we're hearing from is actually two Belgian women that were apparently hired as escorts and brought to Washington, D.C. and this is where the alleged gang rape may have taken place.

Now, we don't know exactly what these Belgian women have testified to because the prosecutor hasn't made public its part in the investigation. That investigation is still ongoing, but we do know from a local newspaper, Liberation, that apparently at least one of these women has described a violent sexual encounter not just with Dominique Strauss-Kahn, but with other men involved in this alleged prostitution ring and that's where the gang rape allegation comes from.

However, the other woman who was there also, as a witness, has slightly different testimony. She does not recollect that violent sexual interaction. So, as a result, we're sort of in this process of investigation, trying to see what other facts are coming to light.

At the moment, the prosecutor says they are investigating it. We'll have to see if there are any more details that come out.

BANFIELD: So Strauss-Kahn has been forced into battle on a number of different legal fronts, criminal, civil, shore-to-shore. Is he saying anything about this latest allegation or, I mean, is his wife saying anything either?

SHUBERT: Neither his wife nor he himself have said anything and, in fact, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, I believe, cannot say anything because it is under an ongoing investigation.

Remember, he has himself been charged with what in France is called aggravated pimping and he is on bail for, I believe, about $100,000.

Now, what we have heard from is Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lawyers in Paris. They say that the investigation will show that he's committed no violent acts and never without engaging in any sexual act without consent of a partner.

You know, it's interesting to note that when these prostitution agencies first came out a few months ago his lawyers did not deny that he attended sex parties, but simply said that he did not know they were prostitutes.

BANFIELD: Oh, well, there's that. All right, Atika Shubert for us. Thank you. Appreciate that.

And one more thing we should let people know, as well, about the case involving the New York hotel maid. She did file a civil lawsuit against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. That's still active. It didn't get dismissed and he has decided to countersue. He says her allegations cost him his IMF job and also cost him the chance of being elected president of France.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Today is sentencing day for Dharun Ravi. Dharun Ravi arrived at court this morning. Here are the pictures of him. Basically, this is the day to face the music. He's that Rutgers University student convicted of spying on and intimidating his roommate.

If you'll remember the story, Dharun Ravi used a webcam to record or to basically shoot pictures of his roommate, Tyler Clementi, as he was engaged in a sexual encounter with another man and then Dharun Ravi shared that online, using a social media website to invite people to watch.

This case thrust the issue of cyber-bullying front and center in the national consciousness and Clementi later committed suicide.

Just moments ago, his dad stood up before the court and addressed everybody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH CLEMENTI, TYLER CLEMENTI'S FATHER: Mr. Ravi never met or knew my son before arriving at Rutgers University. He had no call to do what did. Tyler never did anything to Mr. Ravi to make him dislike him or retaliate for doing some wrongdoing.

Now, Mr. Ravi did these criminal act because he saw my son as not deserving basic human decency and respect and because my son was different than him, below him, and because he was gay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Dharun Ravi was found guilty on all 15 counts against him, the most serious, bias intimidation and invasion of privacy. He's facing up to 10 years and possible deportation to his native India at the top of the scale.

Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, joins me now on the telephone. Jeffrey, I wanted to just ask you about some of the unusual aspects of this case. The prosecutors did not ask for the maximum and, at the same time, before sentencing has even come down, defense was asking that this be a noncustodial sentence, meaning no jail. Is that unusual before you actually get the sentence?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, not at all. There's often -- the parties often take a position about what sentence should be, and sometimes they are on the low side.

You know, this is such a painful and paradoxical case because what he was really charged for was not what people think he did. I mean, the heart of this case is Tyler Clementi's suicide. That's the tragedy that drives everything here.

But he was not charged with driving him to suicide. He was charged with something else and the question is, how should the suicide play into this and that's something the legal system is concerned with for more than a year here.

BANFIELD: It almost sounds like these two sides and what they are asking for -- it almost sounds as though the message that the prosecutors wanted to send was in the conviction not necessarily in the sentence. Is that off-base? TOOBIN: I think that's right, but it is also true that prosecutors don't always ask for the maximum sentence. I think prosecutors often show very good judgment in saying, look, some crimes are worse than others and sometimes the maximum sentence is not called for.

I mean, this young man made a horrible, horrible judgment in putting these videos out and exposing his roommate to ridicule, but 10 years in prison sounded a lot to the prosecutors. It sounds like a lot to me for that crime and I think they made the right judgment.

And I would doubt that any judge would give 10 years for this crime. Whether they give a year or two, I think that is quite possible and I think the issue of deportation is a very tough one here.

BANFIELD: It will be interesting to see.

TOOBIN: I think the prosecutor showed good judgment in recognizing the complexities of this case.

BANFIELD: I was just mentioning, do you think that he'll say sorry? There are implications if you say that in court.

TOOBIN: Well, you know, one of the things that this defendant has done is he has not helped himself by his post-conviction comments.

He gave an interview to Chris Cuomo of ABC News where he essentially didn't admit he did anything wrong and one of the things judges look to is what's known as acceptance of responsibility and remorse and, at least so far, he hasn't shown it and I think that will not stand him in good stead in terms of what sentence he would get.

I think a judge would rightly look harshly on the fact that he has not come clean and recognized the harm that he did.

BANFIELD: Well, we're going to keep an alive eye on it. Jeff Toobin, our senior legal analyst, thank you for that, for your analysis.

And, also in the wake of this case, New Jersey lawmakers, we should tell you have really toughened their anti-bullying laws. Just 10 days after Ravi's conviction, the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, signed that bill into law. It calls for schools to develop specific anti-harassment programs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We have learned that a third person in the Southeast has contracted that flesh-eating bacteria that we've been telling you about, necrotizing fasciitis. It's a 33-year-old man from Cartersville, Georgia.

We've also been closely watching the cases of 24-year-old Aimee Copeland, a student at the University of West Georgia who is in the hospital in Augusta, and also Lana Kuykendall who is the mother of three-week-old twins in Greenville, South Carolina.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now. All right, so I think the question that we would have to know right off the battle is tell me about the third case. What do we know?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: His name is Bobby Vaughn and he is a 32-year-old landscaper here in Georgia and he has some kind of a mark or cut or something on his leg and he said that it grew very quickly from peanut-size to grapefruit-size.

So, as you can imagine, that would be quite alarming and would send to you the hospital to check it out. But he's in good condition. He's talking to people. So we're very glad to hear that.

BANFIELD: But that sounds almost like the same thing that Lana Kuykendall described when she was in the hospital and found that bruise or that bruise-looking mark that started to grow very quickly. Is it the same kind of story?

COHEN: Right. It is a very similar kind of story because what happens is this bacteria is so voracious that it grows very quickly, does its damage very quickly, and so you could actually -- like, she and her husband saw this bruise. They watched it get bigger and bigger on the back of her leg and that's what brought them to the hospital. And they said, hey, we have to take this seriously and she was diagnosed quickly with necrotizing fasciitis.

Now the update on her is that we've now learned that she's had seven surgeries. So, again, this is the mom of twins in South Carolina. Seven surgeries, no amputations, we're told, but seven surgeries and she does have a breathing tube in her. It doesn't appear that she's terribly with it. It doesn't appear that she's able to have conversations and whatnot.

But the fact that they haven't had to do that amputations yet, that's good news. That means that this doesn't appear to be spreading rapidly.

BANFIELD: It's all relative, right? And she's got two brand-new babies at home and she's suffering in the hospital like this.

Move me over to Aimee Copeland and let me know how is she doing. This has been a really tough story to follow.

COHEN: It really has been. Aimee Copeland, another piece of good news is that she was taken offer her ventilator and she's been given a tracheotomy, which means that's it's much easier for her to talk.

Now, she has had amputations in the beginning of this ordeal. She had one leg amputated. More recently, in the past couple of days, she had a foot and both her hands amputated.

But she is with it and conscious. Her family says that she's cracking jokes, so that, you know, that is good news and I'm sure they are all relieved they can communicate more easily with her since she doesn't have that breathing tube down her throat.

BANFIELD: This is all such a recent phenomenon on the news and now hearing three cases, Elizabeth, is this something that all of the sudden we're hearing more of because it's in the news or are there more cases? I'm looking. Two of them in Georgia, one in South Carolina, are there more cases all of a sudden out of nowhere?

COHEN: There aren't more cases out of nowhere and I'm glad you asked that question that way. This really is, in many ways, a phenomenon of the news.

There are hundreds if not thousands of cases of necrotizing fasciitis in this country every year. It just so happens for whatever reason that we're hearing about these now.

So for every Aimee and Lana and Bobby, there are many, many more who suffer from this disease and the folks who work for the foundation that covers this disease says that they are glad that it's getting attention because they want people to be conscious of what's going on.

If you have a cut or a bruise that's growing literally in front of your eyes and if it's extremely painful, then you need to pay attention. You need to be an empowered patient, go to the doctor or hospital and say, look, I'm worried about this, because these infections are often missed. Doctors often misdiagnose them and say that it's no big deal.

Aimee Copeland in the beginning was sent home on a pain killer. They didn't catch it in the beginning. So be an empowered patient. If you go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient, you can see more signs.

Most of the time, a bruise or cut is going to be nothing, but sometimes it is going to be necrotizing fasciitis.

BANFIELD: Better to be safe than sorry. Elizabeth, thanks for that. It's great advice.

And Aimee Copeland's dad is posting regular updates on a Facebook page that's called "Believe and Pray for a Miracle to Happen for Aimee Copeland."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: It is graduation time for the class of 2012. Yes, already. It's that late in the year. If you have a graduate at home, both you and your student may benefit from some very good financial advice and that's where our Alison Kosik comes in.

She is live at the New York Stock Exchange with some tips and tips not just for the kids who have student loans, but also their parents, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. So let me throw out some good news for those graduates who are graduating with a load of debt on their shoulders. You typically don't have to start repaying most student loans until six months after you graduate. You need to, of course, double-check your own loan terms

But Lynnette Khalfani-Cow, the founder of AsktheMoneyCoach.com, says, in the meantime, what you should do is start saving up what can you. Start to learn how to budget on your own. Cox says you really don't want to start missing payment when your student loan bills come due since late payments on your credit report could affect your chances of getting a car loan or applying for credit cards, especially if you don't have a long-term credit history like many graduates right out of school.

Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Good advice. Let me switch gears a bit since the place where you are is a good place to get the lowdown on Facebook. We were all crazy on the story on Friday, but this is the really first full day of trading. So how is it going?

KOSIK: Exactly. We're watching Facebook shares fall below its offer price of $38. The price holding at about $33.84. The price is off the lows of the session.

It's interesting to watch the performance of this stock the day after its IPO because, leading up to the public debut on Friday, you know, there was a lot of hype. But Friday, shares ended with a big thud, right?

One trader told me today, after a weekend of hearing all this negative news about Facebook being overhyped and overvalued, all of that is coming to fruition and you're seeing that selling really going on here with Facebook shares down almost 11.5 percent.

Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Holy moley. Thirty-two. I don't think anybody was expecting that.

KOSIK: It's a rough Monday for them, but the trader did tell me you may see momentum for Facebook shares pick up when they report earnings for the second quarter. If they do report strong profit and revenue, you could see momentum pick up then, if not before, but definitely then if they do show that they are making some money.

BANFIELD: And there are all those buyers on the dip, too. All right, Alison, it's good to see you. Thank you.

By the way, the Facebook story has another little addendum. While the stock may have gotten off to a rocky start, look here. That's one heck of an update on your Facebook page, right?

Mark Zuckerberg got married to his longtime girlfriend, Priscilla Chan, on Saturday. It happened in Palo Alto in California. Congratulations to the happy couple.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: No pity for a mass murderer -- the words of a mother whose daughter was among the 270 people killed in the bombing of a jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. Her reaction to word that the only man convicted in that 1988 attack died yesterday in his bed in Libya. But some people inside and outside of Libya continue to question the verdict, insisting there was a miscarriage of justice.

Nic Robertson has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): So why do these questions continue to persist? Perhaps number one is because Megrahi himself continued to say that he was innocent right up to the moment that he died. His family continue now to maintain his innocence.

We have the U.N. special representative, where the trial took place and Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi was sentenced in 2001, saying it was a spectacular miscarriage justice. We have the Scottish criminal review system reviewing Megrahi's case and saying there may have been a miscarriage of justice and further review is required.

But we also have Alex Hammond (ph), the first minister of Scotland, now saying upon Megrahi's death that the investigation is still live and ongoing, which rather gives the impression that there are unanswered questions. Some of those questions have been about the evidence presented, the clothing that Megrahi was allegedly supposed to have purchased in Malta and put in the suitcase and packed it allegedly around the bomb that made it on board the flight. There are questions over -- from the storekeeper who allegedly sold him the clothes that perhaps doesn't stand -- hasn't stood the scrutiny of time. There are questions about the circuit board and the fragment of the bomb that was allegedly recovered from the bomb site. There are questions about that.

And there are broader questions too of whether Libya was solely responsible for this. There have been allegations -- indeed, a source in Jordan told me that they believe -- this was an intelligent source in Jordan -- said they believe a Palestinian group had been contracted by the Iranians to bring down a U.S. flight in retaliation for the downing of an Iranian Airbus killing several hundred passengers earlier in the summer of 1998 by USS Vincent (ph) that was then stationed in the Persian Gulf. That allegation was based on the fact, according to Jordanians, that a bomb-maker in this Palestinian terror group made the bomb and warned the Jordanians, who said they warned the CIA that one of their bombs had gone missing.

So these are the reasons that sort of the story won't die or is unlikely to die with Megrahi. According to the Scots, it's up to his family to move that process forward.

But with all these different rumors and questions and the possibility that some of the people in custody in Libya and outside of Libya, the former intelligence chief, Abdulla Sanusi (ph), Saif al Islam al Gadhafi, the son of Moammar Gadhafi in custody in Libya, these men, still alive, and perhaps have more information about this case as well. Nic Robertson, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Well, al Megrahi, if he had any secrets took home to his grave.

Thank you, Nic Robertson for that.

A warning from the United States government for North Korea this morning and here it is -- don't try it again. They are talking about another nuclear test.

And CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me live from Seoul, South Korea.

The timing, it's curious, we've come out from the last few weeks of a failed missile test. Why the timing of this warning regarding a nuclear test?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, we had a meeting in Seoul between Glen David, the top U.S. envoy for North Korea, and his South Korean and Japanese counterparts. All three of them showed a united front against North Korea, saying they shouldn't carry out a further nuclear test. The quote from Davis, "I think it would be a serious miscalculation and mistake if North Korea would engage in a nuclear test."

Many North Korean observers, analysts, even some governments still believe it is still a matter when, rather than if North Korea is going to go ahead with this third nuclear test. And if you look at the precedence of the previous failed rocket launches, it would seem as though it's likely. 2006 and 2009 there were rocket launches and, just after those, there was also a nuclear test. So of course, it was on April 13th we had this failed rocket launch and the vast majority of people think the nuclear test is just around the corner. And add to that you have satellite images showing a third tunnel being dug in the same area as the two previous nuclear tests, so it would appear that the signs are pointing towards a new year test.

But Glen Davis saying today it would be a serious miscalculation and saying all respected nations would show a united front once again against North Korea -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Just quickly I thought we had a deal with Pyongyang, if there was such a thing, and it was only a few weeks before the mist tests. What's the status of our negotiations with that country, if there are any?

HANCOCKS: There are no negotiations at this point. That was two weeks before this rocket launch that deal was going ahead. And Glen Davis said that showed North Korea couldn't be trusted to live up to its own promises. But he did leave the door open. He said that they do put pressure on the United States but they also do have some negotiations as well. And the negotiations are still possible. So he did leave the door open for North Korea to make good and to come back to the negotiating table. But certainly, there's no trust between the two at this point after just two weeks after the deal they went ahead with this rocket launch -- Ashleigh?

BANFIELD: Will be fascinating to watch as it moves forward.

Paula Hancocks, thanks very much, live for us in Seoul, South Korea.

Also, China has expressed some concern over the possibility of a North Korean nuclear test because, the last time around, in 2009, it caused extensive environmental damage along their border with that country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: If you are leaving the house right now good news. We got a reminder for you. You can watch CNN from your mobile phone. It's true. You can also watch CNN live from your desk top. That's when you get to work, as long as you are OK with that. Just go to CNN.com/TV, you'll see everything there. It's very easy to continue to follow us all day long.

America's preeminent civil rights group has given its blessing to same-sex marriage. Just moments ago, the leaders of the NAACP declared, quote, "marriage equality, a civil right to which every American is entitled."

The group's president and CEO is on the phone with me now.

Ben Jealous, thanks very much for joining us.

BEN JEALOUS, PRESIDENT & CEO, NAACP: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Talk to me a little bit about the timing of this. Was this something you wanted to do all along or did you feel you had to do this because of President Obama's recent evolution in his opinion about same-sex marriage?

JEALOUS: I think what's most important here is the context in which both comments were made, both his and ours. Both came on the heels of a battle in North Carolina. What became clear in that battle is we're now facing a tidal wave of efforts to enshrine discrimination into our state constitutions across this country? We have, state by state, whether California or North Carolina, you know, been very clear in opposing anti-marriage equality bills. But facing what could be a tidal wave both this fall and in coming years, we thought it was important to get beyond sort of state-by-state conversation and be very clear that we stand for full marriage equality beneath the law, the civil law. We're talking about civil marriage which is a civil right and a matter of civil law across the entire country.

BANFIELD: And not all-black Americans see it that way.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: There's certainly a tidal wave of support but also a tidal wave against. I want to bring you attention to one of our CNN iReporters. Her name is Vera Richardson. She weighed in on this recent movement by the NAACP. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VERA RICHARDSON, CNN IREPORTER: Many African-Americans and other minorities, the most important thing that we have is our religious belief. And many believe that homosexuality is a sin. And they do not believe in same-sex marriages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Is there any thought that, you know, whatever monolithic aspect of the black vote is out there, this has that splintered that vote? Is that a possibility, Mr. Jealous?

JEALOUS: There are those who are trying. they will be rebuffed again as they have been in the past. This question for the NAACP is a question about civil marriage, ultimately, about a matter of civil law that's truly a civil right as the Supreme Court stated in it's 1967 decision, Loving v. Virginia. This is a fundamental right of citizenship in this country. We -- in fact, we frankly defend, under the First Amendment to the Constitution, the right of houses of worship to have whatever policies or practices they want to have in their denomination and religion and their house of worship, but this is about the government, and how the government treats its citizens. And for 103 years, we are very clear that we oppose efforts to enshrine discrimination into law. We could not ask black people or people of color for folks to resist that, if we were not all willing to resist that for all people.

So, you know, the reality is that the black community is about as split as the white community on this issue. However, voters are also smart. And when groups like NAM say they're intending to use this to split the black vote, I think they will be sadly mistaken. The reality is that the core fight for justice in this country is one that people for hundreds of years have stood together on and we will continue to.

Again, I think it's important for people to hear very clearly that civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law. This is about what the government can do to its citizens, whether the government can discriminate against its citizens, whether it will be encoded into state constitutions. That's the only issue --

(CROSSTALK)

JEALOUS: -- in front of us right now.

BANFIELD: Let me ask you this and I'll be quick with this. The statistical look at African-Americans and how they view same-sex marriage, 63 percent resistance to same-sex marriage back in 2008. And that number has now been reduced to 49 percent. Do you see that as a trend that will continue, or really get a spike because of the message -- a spike either way because of the message you just delivered on the issue?

JEALOUS: I think the truth is that President Obama has about a 90 percent trust and approval rating in the black community and ours is about 85. So two strong voices that have powerful resonance in the black community coming out within a couple of weeks, again, following the state of North Carolina letting a slim minority vote to encode the discrimination against -- a slim majority vote to encode discrimination against a minority group into their state constitution. All of that coming together, yes, hopefully will encourage people to again to look at the question at hand, which is not a question of faith or a question of what should houses of worship do, it is only a question of whether the government should allow encode discrimination against minority groups in a state or in the country into law.

BANFIELD: Ben Jealous, good of you to join us. Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule, especially on a day like today.

Also, I want to mention the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is calling the NAACP's decision, quote, "historic, and also quoting, they're saying, "This is what leadership looks like."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Time now for "Fair Game."

I want to bring in CNN political analyst, Roland Martin, and on the right, successful entrepreneur, Tom Blair.

Guys, let's talk Bain, shall we, and how the Democrats are really hammering, hammering away. I kind of thought after some of the backlash that that might slow, but there's a brand new ad out today.

Let me see if I can play some of it so we can get a feel for it and then talk about it.

Do you guys have it? We don't have it.

Let me characterize it for you. It's mean, it's mean, it's mean. It's ripping apart Mitt Romney for being a businessman, venture capitalist. And they somehow call him vulture capitalist, not in those words, but others.

Roland, "Fair Game"?

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Of course. First, when Mitt Romney makes it clear that his job-creation experience is the primary experience that he is speaking to, why he wants to be president, of course, that is "Fair Game." Now, the problem, of course, when you begin to talk about private equity, there are people out there who are African-American, who are Hispanic, who are women, who are white -- doesn't matter -- who also seek venture capital dollars, private equity dollars. And so it's a very fine line. And keep in mind, the president got lots of money from Wall Street in the last campaign, not as much this time, because it has flipped, and so I think they will zero in on Bain but not try to make it a larger issue to say private equity as a whole is the problem.

BANFIELD: Tom Blair, jump in, if you would, because last week it was really ripped apart. Some of the characterizations that were made of the steel company that went under. You know, there were some gray areas that were capitalize on by the Democratic ad. This one, same thing?

TOM BLAIR, ENTREPRENEUR: Yes, and I would say in presidential politics anything is "Fair Game." And Roland makes some excellent points. I would suggest though that the Democratic Party needs to be sensitive to being hit by a ricochet. If you look at the current administration, it's really the largest equity fund on the planet. A couple years ago, we put $2 billion into G.M. and AIG. We didn't give them the money. We had some high-interest rate loans at 9 percent. We took the majority of the equity. We, as the government of the United States, we made them change the management. We made them void some contracts. We had to lay off some people.

BANFIELD: But we didn't run up debt. And that's the biggest criticism of what Bain capital did when it took over big-deal companies, that it ran the debt up and made off like bandits afterwards. I don't know that that's a fair comparison, is it, Tom?

BLAIR: I don't know. How about Solyndra? We ran the debt up there for $500 million and they went upside-down. I wouldn't say ran off. Sometimes reality comes to the point where there's nothing else to do but close up the shop.

MARTIN: No. But I do think what this is going to cause, Ashleigh, is for us to examine the practices of Wall Street when, as you suggested, companies jack the debt up, be able to come in, whack the workforce, whack the labor force, and then be able to try to sell the company at a higher profit to benefit the private equity firm.

BANFIELD: But know what, Roland --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: -- the character of these ads, it smears Mitt Romney as if this is what he does. He's a vulture. That isn't fair, because the greater spectrum of his career was not like that.

MARTIN: Here is the deal though. The whole point though is you're not sitting here saying, oh, here is the totality of what he did. You're speaking to specific companies, specific communities that were actually decimated. And trust me, in a political campaign, those voices are going to be --

(CROSSTALK)

In a steel industry that was decimated.

MARTIN: Here's the deal. It --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It was the worst time in American history for steel.

MARTIN: Here's the deal. It doesn't matter when you are a person who had a job and a family and children in college --

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: But my whole point is --

BANFIELD: Absolutely.

MARTIN: -- those voices are going to be significant in any political campaign, whether it happened on the left or the right.

BANFIELD: Business is business.

I'll give you the last word, Tom.

BLAIR: I would suggest that G.M. and AIG and other folks that benefited from the bailout, got saddled with immense debt at very high interest rates. And it's a tragedy anyway you look at it. People get laid off to make the whole work. Whether you be an autoworker or somebody in a steel mill, when you get laid off, it hurts. You really don't care whether the company is successful after that.

BANFIELD: All right, guys. I have to leave it there.

Roland Martin, Tom Blair, thanks very much.

That is "Fair Game."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Hollywood certainly seems to be under a spell. The stories that have audiences charmed happen to be flowing from the pens of women.

Kareen Wynter takes a look at how female authors are creating a coveted million-dollar franchise.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Harry Potter --

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The most powerful force in entertainment isn't a wizard or even a werewolf, but the women who create them.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I volunteer as tribute.

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JEFF BERCOVICI, FORBES STAFF WRITER: The franchises that are really driving book sales right now are all written by women.

WYNTER: Women like J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, Suzanne Collins, and now E.L. James --

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(SHOUTING)

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WYNTER: -- whose "50 Shades of Grey" trilogy is one, two, and three on "The New York Times" best sellers list and just caused a multi-million-dollar Hollywood bidding war.

E.L. JAMES, AUTHOR: I was stung by the reaction.

WYNTER: Forbes writer, Jeff Bercovici isn't stunned. He see's James' success as part of an entertainment trend years in the making.

BERCOVICI: Young male viewers have been the hardest to reach. The idea was, come up with a franchise that young men will pay attention to and women will just come along. As TV audiences and movie audiences have fragmented into smaller and smaller niches, that no longer is as successful a strategy.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: They just want a good show. That's all they want.

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BERCOVICI: Now the formula they're looking for draws from the fantasy and the romance genres.

WYNTER: A formula that favors female authors like Suzanne Collins, who wrote "The Hunger Games."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I just can't afford to think like that.

JOSH HUTCHERSON, AUTHOR: The stories are amazing. The books are incredible. The characters are so inspiring in a lot of ways.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE, ACTOR: I was one of the obsessed fans of the book. And then I got cast.

BERCOVICI: Women have been better at figuring out this formula, what young adults want to read and what sorts of stories get in their head.

(SHOUTING)

WYNTER (on camera): And the success of female authors is not just limited to books and movies. For the upcoming fall season, the major TV networks have ordered seven new pilots based on books, six of them written by women like "Scruple's" Judith Krantz and Candice Bushnell, author of "The Carrie Diaries." BERCOVICI: It's inversion of a stereotype that's worked against women authors for so long, and now it's working in their favor.

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EMMA WATSON, ACTRESS: Honestly, don't you two leave.

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WYNTER: A powerful spell has been broken in Hollywood, not by wizards and wands but women with pens.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And that's that.

Thanks for watching. CNN CONTINUES now with Suzanne Malveaux.