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War Vets Throw Out Medals; NATO Focus: Exiting Afghan War; "El Loco" Is Under Arrest; NAACP Backs Same Sex Marriage; Booker Backs Off "Nauseating" Quip; Ex-Rutgers Student Sentenced To 30 Days; Three Die on Mt. Everest; Chinese Company Buying AMC

Aired May 21, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And that's that. Thanks for watching. CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Suzanne Malveaux.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get straight to it. Right North Carolina jury is deciding John Edwards' fate. The former presidential candidate is accused of illegally using almost $1 million in campaign donations to cover up his affair with Rielle Hunter and hide the child that they had together. Neither Edwards nor Hunter testified.

High school students in Joplin, Missouri -- they're going to get a special guest at their graduation ceremonies this evening. We're talking about President Obama. The president is going to deliver the commencement address element a year to the day after a huge tornado ripped the town apart, flattened the high school. A hundred and sixty-one people were killed in that storm.

It is the tale of two cities right now in Chicago. Diplomacy at the NATO summit and, of course, there's dissent on the streets.

Fierce confrontation yesterday between protesters and police left dozens of people injured on both sides. Now, today more demonstrations are planned.

Our Ted Rowlands, he has been in the thick of it.

Essentially, Ted, protesters vowing to shut down Boeing Chicago's headquarters today. Do we know if they've succeeded in what their mission?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're just starting up today, Suzanne. They met at a park and are making their way to Boeing. According to a text message sent out by one of the organizations, they have about 100 people at this point, expecting that number to grow throughout the day, and their goal is to shut down Boeing for the day, basically encircling headquarters here at downtown Chicago.

We saw the video yesterday from the ruckus that took place about three blocks away from McCormick place. Prior to that, there was a ceremony, and the reason that people were there, there was a ceremony involving Iraqi and Afghani vets that came to throw back their medals, and what they did was they threw their medals over a fence towards where the NATO leaders were meeting. It was a long ceremony, and it went off without a hitch.

Take a listen, a little bit, watch one of these veterans throwing their medals towards the NATO leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCE EMANUELE, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I served in the Army National Guard for 12 years and all I have to say is this is not something I'm proud of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: That is Vince Emanuele. He's a -- Vince Emanuele is a former marine. He served in Iraq, two separate tours, was a machine gunner.

You were there yesterday. You threw out five medals -- five medals that you earned while fighting for this country. Give us a sense of what led you to turn, if you will, to such a dramatic spot from being a guy that served his country honorably to throwing the medals away.

EMANUELE: Well, those negative experiences I had experienced in Iraq. So, being on vehicle checkpoints when we were killing innocent civilians, watching Iraqis being tortured, and seeing the general destruction of the Iraqi economy and society led me to eventually oppose the war.

Of course, then on top of doing research about American foreign policy in the region, we became opposed to the war, I became opposed to the war, and we see those medals as representing an unjust and immoral occupation.

ROWLANDS: You message was drowned out yesterday for the most part because of what happened after your ceremony. What are your thoughts about the protesters, the anarchists that were out there yesterday and are here in Chicago?

EMANUELE: First of all, I will say that the majority of the protest was peaceful. We have had great relations with the Chicago police, throughout the organizing, leading up to this event. And for those of us in Iraq Veterans Against the War, the entire day was peaceful on our end.

However, afterwards, we saw a few events take place back at the stage where we had set up. I think it's unfortunate in so far as our message was very clear. We're veterans. We're here to return our medals. We're opposed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we want reconciliation with the Iraqi and Afghani people.

ROWLANDS: Being at that ceremony, it was jarring really to see the men and women in uniform getting up on stage and throwing their medals basically in the garbage. Have you gotten any negative feedback? Do people e-mail or call you a traitor or anything? What kind of feedback have you gotten?

EMANUELE: Interestingly enough, I received a few positive messages from folks I had served with, guys that were in my platoon. Of course, there's always going to be folks who I think view this in a negative fashion, but I don't think we should focus on that.

I think we should focus on the thousands of people who have gathered not only in Chicago but around the world, protesting these wars, protesting austerity measures at a time when we're spending billions overseas.

ROWLANDS: All right. Vincent Emanuele, we were talking earlier, they are demanding that we leave the wars immediately, leave Afghanistan immediately, but clearly that's easier said than done. But you have a lot of following.

And yesterday, Suzanne, it was a moving ceremony wherever your politics land in which you think about Vincent and the others. It was quite a sight to see these men and women up on stage literally throwing their medals that they earned away.

MALVEAUX: Yes, Ted, it certainly seems like this is emotional on all sides here. You had Chicago's top cop Garry McCarthy, who was actually trying to fight back tears talking about how his officers handled themselves against some of these protesters, who he says, quite frankly, were violent. I want you to listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUPT. GARRY 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're going to get assaulted to be able to stand there and take it, these guys were amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Ted, put this into perspective for us. You have the superintendent on one side saying the officers acted heroically and then you have protesters accusing them of police brutality. What did you actually see?

ROWLANDS: Well, I was right in the middle of it. Here is the bottom line, Suzanne, the police gave a direct order for people to vacate the premises. Basically this protest, this planned protest was over, and from the police standpoint, they wanted to clear these people out for a number of reasons. The number one reason was the security of the world leaders that were three blocks away.

Those people didn't want to leave, and the reason for that is because they felt frustrated they were being held back three blocks away from the world leaders and they felt their message wasn't being heard.

So, you basically had the intersection of two forces. A force of people trying to push forward and the force of the police that at a certain time decided enough is enough and started to push back.

There's a lot of emotion involved on both sides of this. You heard that from the police commissioner. The officers themselves, four of them injured, one of them stabbed in the leg during this.

MALVEAUX: And, Ted, real quickly, what is the scene on the ground now? Are things relatively calm?

ROWLANDS: Calm so far. There is a couple things going on in the city. There's a group in one part of downtown and another group heading towards Boeing. We'll wait and see and police, as you can imagine, are on high alert and will be for the remainder of the day.

MALVEAUX: All right. Ted, thank you so much.

I want to turn to what's happening inside the NATO summit. We're going to Elise Labott. She's also in Chicago.

And, Elise, first of all, we want to make it clear to our viewers because we've covered these NATO summits, usually those protests are far, far away from where the meetings are being held where these leaders, they often don't see the protests when they actually happen.

We had heard from President Obama just a short time ago delivering the opening remarks. His focus is on ending the war in Afghanistan. Peel back the curtain, if you will. Give us a sense of how these leaders are reacting to his message today.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Suzanne, this is a message that basically the leaders started two years ago in Lisbon at the last NATO summit, which is we're going to wind down the war in Afghanistan. By the end of 2013, Afghan security forces will assume lead security control for the entire country. There won't be any combat troops in operation. And by the end of 2014, all NATO to troops presumably are going to leave.

But there's also kind of trying to fashion a role for NATO post- 2014. A lot of unanswered questions here because things like the Afghan security force at the end up -- won't be up until 2016. That's going to presume there's going to be a significant role for these countries.

But I think at the same time President Obama addressing the group yesterday said, look, the war as we know it is over, and they can see the finish line, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Elise, we'll have more on this later in the hour. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

This is what we're working on for the hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): He's dead, but the damage he did is far from forgotten. I'll talk to a man who lost his brother to the Lockerbie bomber.

Then, a rising Democratic star says the political mudslinging has gone too far.

And his voice was part of the sound that defined a generation. We're remembering Robin Gibb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The end game in Afghanistan, that is President Obama's focus right now as he meets with NATO leaders at the summit in Chicago. Now, the president expects NATO to sign off on his exit strategy. Afghan President Hamid Karzai backs the plan that calls for all troops to leave by 2014.

Michael Holmes joins us to talk about a little bit about this.

You and I were both in Afghanistan last year. One of the things that struck me when I interviewed Karzai -- a couple things, first of all, he blames the U.S. for largely the corruption in his country.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Has been very frustrated with civilian casualties, and also, third, he is extremely concerned about where the money is going to come from, the financial backing, after U.S. troops and international forces pull out.

What are we hearing from these two leaders today?

HOLMES: Well, it is all about the money. You're right. I mean, I found it interesting when you did that interview and he blamed the West for corruption. The Karzai government is corrupt from top to bottom. I mean, let's get that out there.

This is all about money and he needs money. We talked about how they built up the Afghan forces to take control and be responsible for their own security. They want to build it up to 350,000.

Well, guess what? After the U.S. and other troops leave in 2014, it's going to scale back to 230,000. Why? Money.

The Afghan economy -- the Afghan budget is 90 percent foreign aid, right? They can't afford to keep this army that we've created. So, they're going to need, if they keep 350,000, $6 billion a year.

MALVEAUX: Is he making his case? Is he actually doing a good job of making his case?

HOLMES: Oh, yes, and he probably will get the money because those who are leaving like the U.S. don't want to be seen to be abandoning. So, they will cough up the money to try to keep the military in some sort of semblance of order. But it will be 230,000, not 350,000. And that brings the cost down to $4 billion a year of which Afghanistan will pay $500 million. The rest comes from foreign donors.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about the guy he is not meeting. President Obama is not meeting the president of Pakistan, Zardari.

HOLMES: Oops.

MALVEAUX: It's Secretary Hillary Clinton who is handling all that, which seems to be quite a bit of a mess there. At least under President Obama, he was able to talk to Musharraf. They had a relationship here, even if it was kind of a tense one at times.

What does it say about the role Pakistan is playing here? Because it seems those relations are very tense.

HOLMES: Oh, totally. Oh, yes, the Gulf has widened over all this. And, you know, you talk about Afghanistan. A lot of people say you don't get a solution to Afghanistan without Pakistan. We used to call it Af-Pak, Afghanistan and Pakistan. A lot of people think it should be Pak-Af.

You know, you're talking there -- this all stems from the drone incident where the U.S. fired a drone and it killed a bunch of Pakistani soldiers. They are furious. They stopped the lines of transport going in, supplies going into Afghanistan through Pakistan. They demanded an apology and they said even if the trucks start flowing, we're going to double what we charge you to get them through.

The U.S. has not given them what they want, which is mainly that apology, and also, the money. They weren't given, you know, double the price.

They're not going to get the apology. The U.S. has expressed regret. The U.S. doesn't want to be seen to be apologizing, because the Republicans in an election year will seize on that and say it's weakness. And now what happened was they invited Zardari to come to NATO.

Normally, you don't hold talks at presidential level unless you know the results before hand. You know this.

MALVEAUX: Yes, it's the side bar conversations that make a difference.

HOLMES: This is what you used to do for a living, all of that. So, that's why he came and they didn't have a meeting because the president wasn't going to go in there, meet with Zardari and leave with no result.

When they knew they weren't going to get a result on getting this transport supply line going, move it over to Hillary to do the diplomacy side of things. But it really doesn't look good for Zardari at home either. He goes home looking weak because he didn't get to meet the president. It's a very troubled relationship. Frenemies as people call it.

MALVEAUX: Frenemies, that's a good one.

And a lot of times, you'd go to these summits and you don't really expect to get a lot out of this. It is a communique, it's a paper, an agreement or something like that that doesn't really have a lot of weight to it.

When you see the summit, do you see any results? Do you see something that's tangible here?

HOLMES: Well, I think with Afghanistan, you will get a signing off on the agreement to pull out. That's really what the focus was on here, on this particular meeting. And you saw from the invitees, too -- there's 28 countries in NATO, there's more than 50 invited to be there, because they want to get on the message page as Afghanistan is concerned, that's the big issue.

I think they'll get that loose agreement on withdrawal. Look, President Obama's worked out, he knows that Afghanistan is not going to be different, two years, four years, 10 years from now. The result is going to be the same, you're just going to spend a bunch more money.

A lot of concern about Afghanistan. The Taliban is resurgent in the south. You've got the Haqqani Network, and Pakistan influence in the east. There's concern about Iranian influence in the west.

Karzai's president of his backyard. This is not a country that responds well to central government.

MALVEAUX: The president of Kabul, they often say the president of Kabul.

HOLMES: The mayor of Kabul, exactly.

MALVEAUX: The mayor of Kabul, not the country. All right.

HOLMES: It's a country that historically hasn't ever had a central government that's worked.

MALVEAUX: Yes, it's a lot to do.

HOLMES: It's history.

MALVEAUX: It's unbelievable the amount that needs to be done there.

HOLMES: Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: Michael, thank you.

HOLMES: Good to see you. Yes.

MALVEAUX: Our Wolf Blitzer talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today. Find out what happened during his meeting this weekend with President Obama, as well what he accomplished at the NATO summit in Chicago, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, in "THE SITUATION ROOM," right here on CNN.

The notorious Lockerbie bomber is buried today, but can the questions and anger over Pan Am bombing ever be put to rest for the victims' families? We are talking today and some are not satisfied.

Don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work. Head to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Emotions are running high in a New Jersey courtroom. That's where a former Rutgers University student faces sentencing in a case related to the death of his roommate.

You might remember the story. Dharun Ravi used a web cam to spy on his roommate, Tyler Clementi, kissing another man. He put it online and then used social media to invite people to watch.

Tyler Clementi's mother, Jane, spoke in court about Dharun Ravi and her son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE CLEMENTI, TYLER CLEMENTI'S MOTHER: He never really knew Tyler, not the smart, kind, articulate, humble, funny, talented, caring, thoughtful, generous, trustworthy and dependable person Tyler was. All he found out was that Tyler was gay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We just saw Ravi's mother. She just spoke as well, making an emotional plea for her son. She was crying. She broke down after she went back from the stand.

Everybody seemed to be very emotional, very tearful as well as the son and everybody crying at that point. Ravi was convicted of intimidation and invasion of privacy. Now, he is facing possible jail time and deportation to his native India.

The only person ever convicted in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, is being buried today and any secrets he had about the terrorist attack, well, that's going to be buried with him.

The 1988 bombing killed 270 people, including 189 Americans. Now, the former Libyan intelligence agent convicted of bombing died yesterday, and his death came more than 2 1/2 years after he was released from prison on compassionate grounds.

Matthew Chance reports from Lockerbie.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You join me here in this garden of remembrance on the outskirts of Lockerbie where there were memorials to the 270 people who lost their lives back to September 21st, 1988, including 11 people in this sleepy Scottish town when that Boeing 747, Pan Am flight 103 plunged into their homes.

Understandably, a lot of raw emotion still in Lockerbie, particularly over the news of the death of Abdelbassetal-Megrahi. Very mixed emotions as well. Many people happy that this individual, the only person to have been convicted of involvement in the Lockerbie bombing, has finally died. There was a lot of anger in this area that the Scottish government chose to release him on humanitarian grounds after it emerged he had terminal cancer.

David Cameron is the British prime minister, and when he gave his reaction refused to sympathize with the Megrahi family.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, I have always been clear that he should never have been released from prison, but I think today is a day to remember the 270 people who lost their lives in what was an appalling terrorist act, and our thoughts should be with them and their families for the suffering that they've had.

DR. JIM SWIRE, FATHER OF LOCKERBIE VICTIM: Half sad and half relieved because I knew this man quite well and because I'd become (INAUDIBLE) to do with Lockerbie, he had become my friend, and I met him last in December last year, and he was in a lot of pain then. I knew he would have been in a lot of pain in between.

So at least his death has brought his pain, his suffering to an end, but I was very, very glad that the last part of his life was lived with his family back in his own society in Tripoli.

MATTHEWS: The death of al-Megrahi does close a chapter on this dark period but there are now concerns that with his death, many questions still hanging over the Lockerbie bombing may never be answered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: He massacred 270 people. That's how the brother of a Lockerbie bombing victim summed up the actions.

For 24 years, the relatives have had to deal with a rollercoaster of emotions. We are talking about grief, frustration, anger, and now for many there is some relief.

Bert Ammerman lost his brother in the bombing. He is also a former spokesman for an organization that represented family members. He's joining us from New York.

Bert, thank you so much for being here, first of all. I know that this has been a very emotional journey for you. When you heard that al-Megrahi died, what were your initial thoughts?

BERT AMMERMAN, LOST BROTHER IN PAN AM 103 BOMBING: Satisfaction that he finally has left this earth. To be honest with you, Suzanne, this changed my thoughts of Megrahi when Gadhafi was overthrown and killed back last year. He was the big fish on this, and on that day Megrahi became a small actor in the drama of Pan Am 103.

MALVEAUX: Scotland is saying that this is still an active case, a live investigation. Do you think that there will be more work that will be done on this, more information that will be uncovered?

AMMERMAN: Well, both Obama and Cameron, they have it in their hands. The fellow Senussi, who was Gadhafi's chief intelligence officer, was arrested by the French a couple months ago. He's in their custody.

He has the key to the truth about pan am 103. He knows who was involved. He also know what is other countries were involved.

The question is whether our government and the British government has the stomach to find the truth because I honestly believe it will lead to the front door of Iran and Syria.

And in listening to Cameron speak yesterday, he keeps saying that he would never release Megrahi. He keeps talking in the past.

Let's get to the present. You know who knows what went on in Pan Am 103. Start acting like a leader, and for President Obama to watch him over in NATO spend billions of dollars on a corrupt and inept leader like Karzai and not spend the time on who blew up Pan Am 103 where 189 Americans were massacred at 31,000 feet is hypocritical.

MALVEAUX: When you call his actions hypocritical, what more do you want him to do? Do you want him to take the money he is spending regarding the NATO summit and the Afghan government to stabilize that country and use it for an investigation?

AMMERMAN: You don't even need that much. He is in custody of the French. Our government knows that, the British government knows that.

If they were interrogating him aggressively, they will get the answers to Pan Am 103. This is common sense. The problem I have realized over the last 24 years is common sense is either not well- received in Washington or over in the United Kingdom, or is met with resistance because they really truly in the end might not want to know what the truth was.

MALVEAUX: Is this the end of your journey now that Megrahi has died or do you feel like you have an active position, there is still more that you can do personally?

AMMERMAN: Oh, yes. I can't emphasize this enough. Megrahi's death is not the last chapter in Pan Am flight 103. I didn't believe 24 years after the death of my brother that Gadhafi would be out of power, that he would be dead. I thought Megrahi might outlive us. He is now dead.

But the truth can be found. I didn't think that would happen during my lifetime. It's just whether Obama has the political, intestinal fortitude and Cameron can start getting off the rhetoric and start doing something as a leader. If both men want to know the truth, the gentleman is in their custody. They can find out tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: How would they do that do you suppose?

AMMERMAN: Interrogation. To be over there and interrogating Senussi. Senussi is willing to give I think the information. What's even more ironic is I have more faith in the new Libyan government finding out more or divulging the truth because they would like the world to know they were most likely not the only country culpable in this cowardly act.

So, for me 24 years later, to have more faith in the Libyan new government than my government and the British government is really an amazing statement because during the 24 years --

MALVEAUX: It certainly is.

AMMERMAN: During the 24 years that the family group has been involved, we have never, ever been actively support Republican or Democrat from our own government. We've always gotten compromise through embarrassment or finding out information. and the same true of the united kingdom, but if the families continue to persist, which I believe they will and the media still stays on top of this story and you know, Suzanne, you have been in the business a long time, this is still a front page story 24 years later which is amazing because everyone knows that the truth is out there and we deserve to know what the truth is.

MALVEAUX: All right. Bert Ammerman, I know you are very intent on seeking the truth and finding the truth and clearly fighting for that. So we appreciate your time and, again, our condolences on the loss of your son.

AMMERMAN: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: A man wanted in connection with a massacre near the Texas border is now under arrest. Mexican police have a leader of one of the most feared drug cartels, and he is now talking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: In Mexico, they call him "El Loco," the madman and police call him one of the main suspects in the brutal killings of 49 people.

Daniel De Jesus Ramirez is the leader of the Zada drug cartel in Northern Mexico and that's where 49 decapitated and dismembered bodies were found last week. Police say he gave them specific details about the killings.

President Obama getting some support for backing same-sex marriage. Earlier today, the president of the NAACP reiterated the organization's position in favor of marriage equality.

Want to bring in our political editor, Mark Preston, to talk about this and more. So Mark, first of all, there was a lot of concern about whether or not President Obama would face a backlash among some black religious leaders who oppose same-sex marriage.

That played out last week, but then we saw the NAACP jump into this and say that same-sex marriage is a civil rights issue that should be protected. I want you to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN JEALOUS, NAACP PRESIDENT: This is one of the key civil rights issues of our day. We at the NAACP understand that with all such struggles there are conversations that happen at dinner tables, among families, and across our communities.

These are conversations between good people who are looking to their own hearts to figure out what to ultimately believe and how to act. We respect that this is how change is ultimately made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Mark, there's quite a division in this country and also within the black community over the issue of same-sex marriage and whether or not it should be legal.

How important do you think this is, this endorsement from the NAACP, to help this president mend some fences and perhaps keep some support, critical support, in the African-American community?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, it certainly provided air cover. In fact, as you said, President Obama came under a lot of criticism for his support of same-sex marriage just a few weeks ago.

I'm sure Benjamin Jealous right now from the NAACP is getting all kinds of telephone calls from black religious leaders who are saying what are you thinking? How can you do this?

This is really an amazing thing that we've seen happen over the last couple of days. This is a major step forward in some ways for the NAACP to weigh in on such a political hot topic, and, of course, this is a major social issue for this campaign.

For President Obama this is nothing but welcome, right, Suzanne, because the bottom line is President Obama has got his back covered in many ways with the African-American community. Now, we should note this.

The folks who would oppose same-sex marriage are probably the same folks that were not going to vote for President Obama anyway when it comes to November, and we should note the country is evenly split.

When you look at all the polls, they are evenly split down the middle when it comes to whether same-sex marriage should be legal or not made legal. We're seeing this as well among African-Americans.

However, we should add this. We are seeing a trend over the past 10 years or so that more people are saying that same-sex marriage should be legalized and not made illegal. MALVEAUX: It's really an extraordinary development when you look at the NAACP as powerful an organization as that is weighing in on this critical issue.

I want to look at another Obama supporter. This is the Newark Mayor Cory Booker raising eyebrows over the weekend when he criticized the Obama campaign's attack on Mitt Romney's history on Bain Capital. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides. It's nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough. Stop attacking private equity. Stop attacking Jeremiah Wright.

This stuff has got to stop because what it does is it undermines to me what this country should be focused on. It's a distraction from the real issues.

It's either going to be a small campaign about this crap or it's going to be a big campaign in my opinion about the issues the American public cares about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: There were some people who looked at that and said, OK, he's criticizing the president. So Booker releases a YouTube video reiterating his support for President Obama because he's a big Obama supporter and also said, look, this is OK to question Romney's record. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOOKER: I believe that Mitt Romney in many ways is not being completely honest with his role and his record even while a business person and is shaping it to serve his political interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So, Mark, what do you make of this? This looks to me like parsing. It looks like, you know, may be covering his back a little bit. I don't know.

I mean, when you look at the comments originally what he said, some people took that as criticizing the president. It looked like he said he was just fed up with how things were going in the campaign.

PRESTON: Yes, and I got to tell you with this Cory Booker video, it's amazing. I mean, the comments that he made on "Meet the Press" and then the fact he turned this video around so quickly where he came out and in many ways defended the Obama campaign for their attack of Mitt Romney's control of Bain Capital.

You know, Mitt Romney has made his campaign very much about how he can turn the economy around and how he's been a successful businessman. What Cory Booker did right there and what we've just shown is that Cory Booker went out.

And then had to backtrack a little bit and say, in fact, the Obama campaign has every right to criticize Mitt Romney or at least look into his background. What we didn't show though in the second part is that Cory Booker never backtracked of the idea that the campaign has gotten very dirty.

I have got to tell you what, if you are a voter anywhere in any state across the country and you see Cory Booker yesterday and you hear him say those words, you're saying to yourself, that guy should be in Washington.

Because he's the one who is saying let's cut through the crap, let's talk about real issues, and you know what? The fact is Cory Booker is the mayor of a big inner city. He has a lot of problems to deal with and I think he eloquently said that yesterday.

MALVEAUX: Yes, it goes to show just how sensitive and how critical every single sentence is and how both sides can use it to their advantage in this political season. Mark, thank you.

If it's broke in politics you're going to hear about it first on CNN's political gut check. It's straight in your inbox every afternoon by e-mailing mark at gutcheck@cnn.com. Check it out on cnn.com/gutcheck.

Selling your house in today's market easier said than done, right? Well, how one couple's philosophy on getting rid of their house and getting on with their lives could pay off.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Want to go to some breaking news here, an update. This is the case involving Dharun Ravi. He's been sentenced to 30 days in jail for spying on and intimidating his Rutgers University roommate.

The roommate, Tyler Clementi, had committed suicide after learning that the contact, intimate contact he had with another man was actually streamed live from a computer in their dorm room.

Now, Ravi could have faced a maximum sentence of 10 years, but instead he's getting 30 days in jail. This is after a morning of very emotional morning. You can see there with the parents of both those students.

The parents of Dharun Ravi who the mother breaking down in tears earlier pleading for mercy for her son and, of course, the mother, the parents, of the young man, Tyler Clementi, who committed suicide, really a tragic case all around.

Really emphasized and called to attention, national attention, the notion of cyber bullying, about what this meant for a young gay student in a college environment, issues of privacy. This is an invasion -- he was convicted of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation, as well as other charges. He now faces a sentence of 30 days in jail.

If you're thinking about selling your house, get ready for a reality check. You might end up getting 5 percent or 10 percent less than you paid for it, but it's not all bad. Christine Romans, she explains.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scott Nooner is a geophysicist. Kate Nooner is a brain researcher. No question this couple is smart.

But their savviest move of late -- tell me the best advice you got about staging. Putting their home on the market for 10 percent less than they paid for it.

(on camera): This is how many brokers came through this house.

SCOTT NOONER, HOME SELLER: There's 92 different brokers in there.

ROMANS: Some must be repeats.

KATE NOONER, HOME SELLER: There are over 100 with repeats.

ROMANS: The Nooners have exciting new jobs in North Carolina. They don't have much time to pack up and move, so they priced their home to sell quickly.

KATE NOONER: It was definitely is pretty bitter pill to swallow as we were making this decision.

ROMANS: It may not be easy but selling at a loss gives something valuable in return, peace of mind. Psychotherapist Robi Ludwig says life can't wait for the housing market to improve.

(on camera): We are in a housing market where a 5 percent or 10 percent loss is actually a good thing really in the end.

ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST AND AUTHOR: We live in different economic times, and so to measure things against an old economy doesn't really make any sense and isn't appropriate.

ROMANS (voice-over): It's the first spring selling season in years that hasn't been -- well, miserable. Housing affordability is the best in 40 years. Relentless price declines are slowing, and surveys point to prices creeping higher next year. Housing starts are up, and home builder confidence is at a five-year high. Mortgage rates are near all time lows.

But a true recovery in housing comes only with a better job market.

(on camera): The bottom-line is, you know, you can't have a house hold you back from, you know, living your life.

SCOTT NOONER, HOME SELLER: That's what we ultimately decided. Even if we lose money, if that's the right move for us, we decided that we have to do it.

ROMANS (voice-over): Christine Romans, CNN, Montclair, New Jersey.

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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: A mission to the top of the world turns tragic. Details on the rugged conditions on Mt. Everest and the incredible story of one man's quest to leave a piece of Olympic history on the summit.

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MALVEAUX: Tracking the beast known as Mt. Everest, brave adventure seekers have had the perks of skilled Sherpas, weather forecast, titanium oxygen tanks as well, but climbing the world's tallest peak is still dangerous. Three climbers died descending the mountain this weekend. Two more may be missing.

I want to bring in Chad Myers to talk about this because we think it could be up to five people now who have been killed or just died trying to ascend this mountain.

Is it more dangerous now than it was in previous years?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I heard a little bit about the three that are coming down. Let me tell you, the information comes off that mountain very slowly. I mean, it's literally like somebody's scribbling on a piece of paper handing it down to somebody else as they take it down.

The three had to wait for people to ascend as they were trying to come down when they finally got to the descent, the weather got so bad, literally, the winds have been blowing 60 or 70 miles an hour. Only one more week in this May season and then all of a sudden, the monsoons take over and you can't climb it anymore. So, there's a tiny window for these climbers to get back there and get back.

Kenton Cool is a very cool story. Kenton Cool from the British Islands is taking a gold seal, a gold coin that was presented to the 1924 climbing expedition that didn't make it, by the way, because they didn't get up there until the '50s.

But he's taking it up there -- there it is. There's the coin itself. He's at the second base camp going to the third right now. We had him on the phone for a while today, but he said, look, I have to go climb. I'm sorry, I have to leave.

He's doing very well. He's worried that their window is very small now because they lost so many good days to weather. When the weather is that bad, you can't climb. They were sitting there waiting for the weather to clear. Now they have to make it by Saturday or everybody literally has to come off the mountain.

MALVEAUX: I don't know if this is an issue or not, but, you know, you and I were talking, I had climbed Mt. Kenya, you go up three days, you come down four days and sometimes it gets crowded at certain points in the mountains.

Are we talking about just a line, there's so many people who are there that they're literally standing around shivering, getting cold, not being able to move on this mountain?

MYERS: Clearly, I have only seen pictures. I can do things but I don't climb Mt. Everest. That's not one of my things. There's one road, the southern ridge everybody is trying to take that's such a small little place that, yes, it's almost like a little traffic jam there at times.

MALVEAUX: And I understand 100 people actually ascended this weekend.

MYERS: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Imagine the traffic on the mountain.

MYERS: The three that died made it to the top and died on the way down.

MALVEAUX: And that was because they were simply waiting around.

MYERS: And the weather got so bad.

MALVEAUX: OK. Well, you know, it's one of those adventures. A lot of people love it. A lot of people want to do it.

MYERS: Just to see it.

MALVEAUX: -- all the time just to see it.

We're going to stay in touch with that gentleman, Cool, and see how he does, whether he's able to get that medal up to the summit.

MYERS: He's going to try to --

MALVEAUX: It's a very special moment for a lot of people.

MYERS: He's going to try to broadcast live when he's going to get there. He's going to try to take his little phone and broadcast live from the top. First time ever. We'll see how that goes.

MALVEAUX: And he was the same person who tweeted first from the mountain, I understand, too.

MYERS: He's been up there nine times.

MALVEAUX: Yes.

MYERS: He's done the summit nine separate times. This will be his tenth climb.

MALVEAUX: But he's still trying to push the envelope a little bit, I think.

All right. Good stuff. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: It was a sendoff fit for a queen as one of "Saturday Night Live's" biggest stars says good-bye.

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MALVEAUX: Have you ever left a job with a star-studded sendoff? Check it out.

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MALVEAUX: That's exactly what happened on "Saturday Night Live" to Kristen Wiig when she left the show after seven years. Mick Jagger, Steve Martin sent her off, along with her fellow cast members singing "Ruby Tuesday". Pretty cool.

And a country that bans and censors American movies about to take ownership of one of the biggest movie theater chains here in the United States.

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MALVEAUX: Major shift today in the movie theater business. AMC, it is the U.S. theater chain, being bought out now by a Chinese company for $2.6 billion.

Now, the two will combine to make the largest cinema chain in the world.

Alison Kosik, she's at the New York Stock Exchange to exchange what this means.

Are we going to see any changes, first of all, in like, say, if you go to the theater, is it going to look any different, are the movies going to be any different? What do we think?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the current head of AMC Theaters says when you go to their movie theaters, the whole movie going experience will not change. AMC is telling us the brand and the type of movies you see there aren't going to change. Don't expect more Chinese movies.

Also so far workers' jobs are also safe, 18,000 people work for AMC. It's headquartered in Kansas City. They're also saying they're going to keep the same executive team. We'll see about that.

But it's new ownership for AMC is going to be this Chinese company called Dalian Wanda. That is what's buying AMC.

Right now, AMC is owned by a group of private equity firms. This whole deal, of course, needs to be approved by U.S. and Chinese authorities. That's the normal process and this deal is expected to go through.

MALVEAUX: How important is this deal? I mean, this is pretty significant.

KOSIK: Yes. I mean, the money is big, no doubt about it. This is a $3 billion deal, but you have to remember that AMC is the nation's second busiest theater chain next to Regal.

But I think it really makes a better statement when you look at it. This is really being called the biggest takeover yet of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm and what it shows is that China is really growing in importance and that China is really growing in strength. And we're definitely seeing more and more of that lately.

You know, I don't know if you remember, but earlier this month, the Fed gave three Chinese banks the OK to buy a majority stake in a U.S. bank. That was a first.

But you also have to remember this goes the other way, too. Most major U.S. companies do business in China and consider it one of their most important markets. So, we do a little over there, they do a little over here. It's just a little jarring, I guess, to see China moving in on our turf.

MALVEAUX: Yes, it's a big, big purchase there, a lot of purchasing power.

Thank you, Alison.

KOSIK: Sure.