Carter's Grandson Help

September 18th, 2012
06:45 PM ET



Tonight on AC360: Jimmy Carter's Grandson Explains
How He Helped Leak Romney Video

The grandson of former President Jimmy Carter says he helped leak the controversial footage of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney at a private fund-raiser last May.

James Carter IV isn't saying who shot the video with a hidden camera but he says he persuaded that person to give the video to Mother Jones magazine, which released the video on Monday.

Carter tells us he tracked down the source via Twitter after seeing a short clip posted by the person of Romney talking about a factory he visited in China.

Once the source was connected with Mother Jones' reporter David Corn Carter says he stepped out of the process.

On the video, Romney talks about that Chinese factory his former firm Bain Capital purchased and made a joke about wishing he was Latino. He also argues nearly half of American voters will vote for President Obama because they get government support.

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent of people who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, you-name-it," Romney says on the tape.

In a news conference Monday night, Romney said he could have spoken "more clearly" at the fund-raiser at the home of Sun Capital co-founder Marc Leder in Boca Raton, Florida. However, he made no apologies and insisted he was trying to point out the different approaches by his campaign and the president's.

Anderson Cooper just spoke with Carter about the video. Watch the preview clip to see how he replied when asked if the motivation for getting the video was personal over how the Romney camp has characterized his grandfather as president.

And don’t miss more of the interview on AC360 at 8 and 10 p.m. ET to hear what Jimmy Carter had to say to his grandson about the video.