Media Publishes Controversial Photos of U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan; Debate Over Grisly Troop Photos
SAMBOLIN: A couple quick headlines for you. A big pay by a for Joe Paterno's estate. Penn State University paid out $5.76 million including a $3 million retirement bonus to settle Paterno's contract. Paterno left the school amid a child sex scandal. It was considered a retirement so he is still eligible for the benefits. Paterno died of lung cancer in January at the age of 85. A flock of birds gets sucked into the jet engine causing an emergency landing in New York. A passenger was recording the whole thing on his ipad. A few rows back, our own Ali Velshi.</s>ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: I heard a lot of things. You heard a lot of things on planes. It sounded like a car had gone into that engine. There was a grinding. A remarkable grinding noise.</s>SAMBOLIN: My goodness. Here's the good news. All passengers got out safely, Soledad.</s>O'BRIEN: I know, isn't that amazing news when I was reading the note he sent out updating everybody but it was strange he was tweeting about it.</s>SAMBOLIN: He's always a reporter.</s>O'BRIEN: Me too but I would take those moments to pray and maybe not tweet my friends. They can hear about it on the news. All right, Zoraida, thanks. If you publish pictures of American soldiers posing with dismembered enemy remains, do the terrorists win? They are literally the photos the White House and Pentagon didn't want people to see. "The Los Angeles Times" published them despite pleas from the defense secretary, Leon Panetta, who argued that these kinds of pictures are used by the enemy to incite violence. The latest blow to the U.S. image in Afghanistan after the photos we've talked about in the past, marines urinating on dead bodies, accidental Koran burnings, the massacre of Afghan civilians. "The L.A. Times" says they decided to publish the photos because they say it's their duty to vigorously -- to report vigorously and impartially all aspects of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. An editorial in "Washington Times" takes issue with that decision, arguing similar to the Obama administration that troop photos only help the insurgents. True or not true?</s>SHEINKOPF: Absolutely true.</s>DR. ALICIA SALZER, AUTHOR, "BACK TO LIFE": Absolutely true.</s>CAIN: Does it help insurgents? The answer to that is probably, possibly to probably. That doesn't change what I think "The Los Angeles Times" decision should be which is media outlet's purpose is to seek and expose the truth. That's what "Los Angeles Times" had to weigh. Potential danger to U.S. troops, but I don't think we should compromise what the media's role is and if you ask the media to compromise truth to help government action you walk down a slippery slope.</s>SHEINKOPF: We have done that before. Going back to the Second World War the media was asked not to publish American troops killed on D-Day and they did not. In the era of Vietnam War the world changed and since then it's off to the races.</s>O'BRIEN: Will is arguing the slippery slope theory, right, which is at what point does the government and also say don't publish this, and it's uncomfortable so don't do this. Isn't there supposed to be this very strict line between church and state and government really and media so no one is influencing the decision about whether or not a story should be published?</s>SHEINKOPF: The point is that line existed for a long time. It fell apart during the Vietnam War. Maybe we have gone too far and maybe not. But "The Los Angeles Times" did the right thing in publishing the photos and the government did the right thing in complaining about it. Does it help the insurgents? Without question.</s>CAIN: I have to say, not only am I forgiving to "Los Angeles Times" actions, but we consistently condemn people who put themselves in war and experienced conditions that we who sit comfortably in this country and criticize have not been in, the vast majority of us, and then ask them to do some inhumane as to take another person's life and walk back across the line to civilization and say that photo is awful. It is awful, but you have never been in that situation. You have never taken another human being's life.</s>O'BRIEN: It lacks context. Are you shaking your head?</s>SALZER: I'm shaking my head because I think that it's entirely possible to be in that trench, I've worked with a lot of combat veterans, and to grieve the things you have to do for a sense of a greater good. I know a lot of people that do have that line. I just -- I regret that there's the possibility that people out there will misinterpret the intentions of America because they'll think that these people represent how Americans feel. Just like they're afraid that this -- you know I don't think that the Secret Service members with prostitutes, I don't think people should judge Obama based on their behavior.</s>O'BRIEN: Or other Secret Service agents as well.</s>SALZER: Yes.</s>O'BRIEN: We've got to take a break. Still ahead on STARTING POINT; a new movie called "Freaky Deaky" it's adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel. It premieres this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival. Actor Crispin Glover and the director Charles Matthau -- he's the son by way of the legendary actor Walter Matthau -- are going to join us up next to talk about the film. We leave you a little Missy Elliott. "Get Your Freak On." You're watching STARTING POINT.