Asked Kerr of the candidates:

"I’m a retired brigadier general with 43 years of service, and I’m an openly gay man.

I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians."

Kerr, on the LGBT steering committee for presidential candidate and Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), has been publicly called a coward and widely accused of being planted by the Clinton campaign, though he does not take an active role in campaign activities, and the campaign has denied involvement in Kerr's decision to participate in the debate; Kerr and CNN have both come under wide scrutiny.

David Bohrman, CNN Washington Bureau chief and executive producer of the CNN/YouTube debate, appears not to regret, per se, broadcasting Kerr's question, saying that it was a worthy question, regardless of who asked it. Bohrman also notes an abundance of people with questions about gays in the military. The screening process CNN undertook, says Bohrman, was a Google search, yielding not only Kerr's lack of a donation to a political campaign, called a common partisanship "slip-up," but also that Kerr was a real General, with a real record of service. Based on the research done by CNN, the question, and the person asking the question, were deemed viable.

In retrospect, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who hosted the debates, and Bohrman say they might have chosen a different question, had they known more about General Kerr's affiliations.

National Journal contributing editor Linda Douglass calls for a thorough screening of every person asking a question to a presidential candidate as though they were a journalist, in order to vet out their political affiliations before being allowed access to their candidates.

Bohrman disagrees, saying that "there should not be a complete bio of everyone who asks a question," given that, regardless of the political affiliations of the debate participants, there were good questions asked about valid issues.

Brig. Gen. Kerr tells Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor that he should have made CNN aware of his connection to Senator Clinton. O'Reilly counters and says that it was CNN's job to screen him, and CNN had "admitted the mistake."

"I had no problem with the question," says O'Reilly, saying that it was a legitimate question, asked well. "I do have a problem, though, with your support of Hillary Clinton," continues O'Reilly, reminding Kerr that the Senator's husband, former President Bill Clinton, enacted 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and says that the Senator is against gay marriage.

Kerr keeps the conversation on 'Don't Ask,' since the Democratic candidates had already demonstrated ample support for repeal, whereas the Republicans think it is "working well."

"Hillary Clinton's against gay marriage," presses O'Reilly, "her husband signed 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell,' and you're supporting her. Can you make it a little clearer as to why?"

Kerr responds that being on Clinton's LGBT steering committee doesn't guarantee that he's decided to vote for her.

"I'm evaluating all the candidates," says Kerr.

O'Reilly brings up the "close quarters with social conservatives" position that some hold when speaking against gays serving openly in the military. Sexual proclivities, he says, are best left a "personal matter" and not "broadcast."

"Younger people today don't seem to have the same attitudes," counters Kerr, with a recent Zogby poll placing the number of servicemembers comfortable with gay cohorts at 70%. "They know gay friends, gay entertainment figures, gay sports figures--they know gay pastors, gay parents... I think attitudes have changed since the 1950s."

Kerr disagrees with O'Reilly that 'Don't Ask' "works fine," and that there is no "morale problem."

"Bill," says Kerr, "'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' degrades military readiness. We've thrown out 12,000 people since it was first enacted in 1993. As a matter of fact, there was a ceremony on the Washington Mall on Friday, and 29 admirals and generals wrote a letter to Congress, to be presented this week, saying that 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' should be repealed."

"But," says O'Reilly, "you know that a lot of heterosexuals have been thrown out of the armed services for conduct also," counters O'Reilly. "I think it's more of a symbolic thing than a functional thing. But, I'm not in the military, and I could be wrong."

The two clips, available for viewing below, were broadcast on CNN's Reliable Sources on Sunday, December 2, 2007, and Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor on Monday, December 3, 2007, respectively.