Grisly Discovery Near Retiree Haven
BALDWIN: Sleepy, quiet, relaxed, great weather. Those are just some of the ways people are describing this area. It's called Lake Chapala. It's the largest fresh water lake in Mexico and really a paradise for thousands of thousands of retirees from both the United States and Canada. But a grisly discovery could shake Lake Chapala's image of safety and serenity because 18 bodies were found there Wednesday, chopped up, stuffed inside these two abandoned vehicles and not too far from a highway actually leading to Guadalajara. In fact, some of these bodies so badly mutilated, police are just trying to figure out if they're male or female. The discovery here, a troubling sign that the bloody war among Mexico's drug gangs could be encroaching on the tranquility sought by so many American and Canadian retirees. Rafael Romo is our senior Latin American affairs editor. Eighteen bodies so mutilated they can't tell the gender? It's horrendous.</s>RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Exactly. And this happens not too far from Mexico's second largest city of Guadalajara. And also, as you mentioned, this community, called Ahehek (ph), which is right next to Lake Chapala, which is a favorite of Americans and Canadians and other international visitors. Now, there is no indication that these Americans,</s>BALDWIN: So it is an escalation? It is an escalation?</s>ROMO: Definitely. Well, in Guadalajara, they found 26 bodies last November. Not in the same condition that these were. I mean, this was horrible, beheaded, mutilated, and, as you mentioned, it was difficult for the morgue to determine if some of these bodies were male or female. But we have seen similar occurrences in the state of De La Cruz along the Gulf Coast and also in Guadalajara five months ago.</s>BALDWIN: You talk about this area, Ahehek.</s>ROMO: Ahehek.</s>BALDWIN: Ahehek. And I was reading "The Houston Chronicle." They've been covering this as well. This one -- this one person in that town says I hate that my town has changed. You can't hide behind a curtain and pretend everything is fine. Things are not fine. I am devastated by it. I'm thinking of everyone watching who has loved ones --</s>ROMO: Exactly.</s>BALDWIN: Who, you know, you work so hard during your life, you go retire in this lake community and here you are incidentally caught between the cross hairs of these drug cartels.</s>ROMO: This is an idyllic place. It's -- it has weather that is -- some people even say better than San Diego, just to give you a point of reference. This is very beautiful. Right next to Lake Chapala. A favorite for generations of Mexicans, later a favorite for generations of Americans. And to see something like that happen is just incredible. But, again, it's part of the same turf war that's being played out.</s>BALDWIN: When we talk about these bodies found near Guadalajara, do we have any idea -- I mean I know they're so badly decomposed. We said they probably have yet to even identify them. But would one surmise that they are affiliated with these cartels?</s>ROMO: All indications, according to Mexican officials and the prosecutor of the state of Jalisco (ph), who's overseeing this investigation, are that this was indeed an attack from one cartel to the other and that all of these people might have been connected to drug trafficking one way or another. So if there's any good news in this is that no civilians are being attacked.</s>BALDWIN: Got it.</s>ROMO: No foreigners are being attacked. It seems to be specifically mainly a fight between these two cartels and they're not going against any other people.</s>BALDWIN: So frightening nonetheless. Rafael Romo, thank you so much. And as the feds are investigating more terror plots involving body bombs, the U.S. unleashes a surprise on al Qaeda. Plus, just 24 hours after President Obama made many, many liberals very happy, he is about to ask for their cash. Where? George Clooney's house, of course. We have the inside scoop.