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Santorum's Fundraising Soars; Pentagon Plans Massive Cuts; U.S. Auto Industry Revs Up; Michele Bachmann Looks Ahead; Duchess Unveils Charitable Causes; Two Job Reports Show Improvement; U.S. Teen Deported to Colombia; Caucus Coverage Bloopers and Giggles
Aired January 05, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this hour we are beginning, of course, with presidential politics and the campaign trails now blazing across New Hampshire. Let's take a look now at what we've got going. The primary there now just five days away. The Republican candidates blitzing the state and this hour Newt Gingrich is holding an event trying to rebound from a disappointing fourth place finish in Iowa.
Jon Huntsman also holding a rally. He ignored Iowa and is now relying on a strong showing in New Hampshire to keep his candidacy alive.
Well, no candidate comes into New Hampshire with more momentum than Rick Santorum. He has actually been on the stump already this morning touting his shocking photo finish in Iowa. He came within eight votes of winning just weeks after barely registering in the polls.
Well, Jim Acosta is in Manchester for us.
So, Jim, Santorum's fundraising surging along with his poll numbers, I understand. Tell me more about that.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They raised $1 million in 24 hours after those Iowa caucuses and he is fighting hard for votes here in New Hampshire.
You know, the conventional wisdom was, Kyra, that, you know, he would spend more time in South Carolina because that's where a lot of social conservatives are, not so much up here in New Hampshire. But keep in mind, Rick Santorum has a sort of rust-belt Republican approach to how he wants to go after votes here in this New Hampshire primary.
He's talking about giving tax breaks to the manufacturing industry to get them to have a rebound. He's also talking about tax breaks for middle class families, so all of that really aimed at those sort of factory workers, lunch bucket Republicans who work in a lot of these towns here in New Hampshire.
And at a -- at a town hall event earlier this morning, he was talking about what the difference is between Iowa and New Hampshire and how he feels he should be rewarded here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That election, New Hampshire did something that everyone says to me New Hampshire doesn't do. They said, Iowa is the one that's conservative and New Hampshire is the one that, you know, they're the more moderate state.
Iowa voted for George HW. Bush, New Hampshire voted for Reagan. Why? Because they understood we needed bold contrasts on the issues at a time when our country is at stake.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now Santorum is going to get a lot of help up here, sort of from his other Republican rivals because Mitt Romney is on top in the polls, as you know, Kyra. But almost all of the rest of the Republicans in the GOP field are going after Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman. It seems that they all have something nasty to say about the former Massachusetts governor right now because he's the -- he's the big target here in New Hampshire.
PHILLIPS: And it's probably going to get a little bit nastier, Jim, of course. Well, Romney, as we are looking forward, is going to be heading to South Carolina today. Is he that assured of winning New Hampshire?
ACOSTA: Right. You know, it is a sign of his confidence that he's going to win this state, but keep in mind, a lot of the polling that we've seen, you know, a lot of the public polling that has come out from CNN and various other news outlets, those were all basically done before the Iowa caucuses and in that stunning near upset victory from Rick Santorum.
And so it's going to be interesting to find out what the new polls show. I would imagine that the fact that he's going down to South Carolina suggests that they've probably seen some internal polling that makes them feel pretty comfortable here. But he's going to have John McCain at his side down in South Carolina, as he -- as he did up here in New Hampshire, and that's just one more message to Republicans out there that, hey, the establishment is getting behind me, not these other guys.
Yes, Rick Santorum, he's got some momentum right now, but stay with the guy that you think can win it. And that's the message really for Mitt Romney at this point. Get the establishment behind him. Sell the -- sell the message that he's the most electable candidate in this field -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That's going to be another busy five to seven days, again, Jim. Thanks so much.
Well, you can trust CNN and the best political team on television for complete coverage of the New Hampshire primary. You can join Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley and John King for live coverage. That's Tuesday night, 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Well, the Pentagon is unveiling plans that could reinvent the U.S. military as we know it. The plan would actually target virtually every area of military spending. And its impact would be sweeping.
Under the new strategy the U.S. will no longer be able to fight two ground wars simultaneously. Four thousand U.S. troops will be removed from Europe and there will be at least 47,000 fewer troops within the next five years.
Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon.
Well, Chris, if you look at the world right now, you've got Syria, Iran, North Korea -- who knows what else could be a threat. It's kind of tough to move to a new -- no more than two wars strategy.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra. One official said it's like going from choosing the best, most comprehensive health care plan to trying to save a buck in only getting insurance for the -- for the diseases that you think you're going to get in the future.
Some of the other concerns that I've heard are that it could worry and concern a lot of our allies who will wonder if they'll still get the same level of support and perhaps embolden some of the U.S.'s enemies to take advantage of this sort of pullback.
On the other hand, the argument and the rationale you're going to get from a lot of Pentagon officials is that this policy will still allow the U.S. to fight one major ground combat operation and deploy forces overseas to sort of what they call spoil the intentions of a second adversary who might want to take advantage.
Also, obviously, a lot of this comes down to money. You're still going to see a lot of investment in long-range capability like ballistic missiles, specialized forces like the special operations troops, and new technology like unmanned subs -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And you talk about our especially trained forces and new technology, I think it would be pretty hard to say that our U.S. military couldn't defend our country, if need be.
So with that said, Chris, you know, does the Pentagon -- how does it go about cutting nearly 50,000 soldiers and marines over the next five years without putting our security at risk?
LAWRENCE: Well, if you -- the army, U.S. army officials I've spoke to say carefully because it's really the army and the soldiers that are going to take the brunt of those cuts. They're very worried that if the drawdown in soldiers comes too quickly, you're going to end up with a situation where a lot of these noncommissioned officers are basically going to be laid off in a very, very tough economic climate right now.
What they want to do is sort of -- they know they've got to get smaller, but they want to draw it out and make it slower so it's not so rough a cut by pushing these people out into the civilian workforce.
PHILLIPS: Chris Lawrence, thanks so much. We're going to have live coverage of President Obama's remarks at the Pentagon. That's scheduled for 10:50 Eastern Time. We'll take it live.
All right, this morning, new signs that the U.S. auto industry is revving up again. American automakers are seeing their strongest sales in three years. And that rebound is being led by one company that was mired in bankruptcy not too long ago.
Christine Romans here to break it down.
So what do you think the key was to the turnaround?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Big three, big turnaround, a healing economy in the U.S., quite frankly. Some pretty savvy promotions from companies like Chrysler. Remember?
Look, Chrysler and GM, you know, they were in bankruptcy and now the people who follow these auto companies are saying it shows that the taxpayer investment paid off because now you have them coming back and you have a really good sales year overall for 2011 for the big three. The best year since 2008, by the way.
U.S. auto sales $12.8 million. A significant rebound from the depths of the crisis in 2008, 2009. And GM overtook Toyota as the world's largest automaker.
It's interesting, you know, the Japanese automakers have trouble, Kyra, because they have the tsunami and the earthquake, their supply lines were cut back, and it really had a hard time getting over some of that, but still Toyota has the number one selling minivan. The number one -- they sold like 308,000 Camrys.
So no one is crying for Toyota, but it does show you that the U.S. automakers have shown some life. Shown some life. So very interesting there. And a lot of people are saying it shows that the American consumer is healing a bit. That really --
PHILLIPS: That's good news.
ROMANS: That really helps here.
PHILLIPS: That's what we want to focus on.
ROMANS: That's right.
PHILLIPS: All right. What about these new jobs numbers this morning?
ROMANS: So looking to Chris Lawrence talk about putting 50,000 people back into the civilian workforce, you're starting to see some signs of life as well in the labor market. We had a jobless claims that fell a little bit, 374,000 jobless claims, and then a company -- a payroll processing company called ADP came out with this, its tally of how many jobs were created in December and it came up with -- wow, 325,000 jobs.
Now sometimes this report can be off, but economists that I'm talking to this morning are saying, quite frankly, they're excited by this number and they think it shows what they've been seeing, which is a slow healing in the market. They're showing people are coming back on board. They think that maybe in January we're going to see more people come back on board trying to find jobs because they're a little more encouraged.
I will make -- I will say one thing about jobs, though. What I'm hearing from job placement people and some companies is that the best way to get a job right now is still through a referral or a network or a contact from someone else.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
ROMANS: That is still how people are getting jobs. Companies need to add and so they're looking around for people they know or for their former clients or former co-workers --
PHILLIPS: A lot of people say they'll apply online and they get lost in the shuffle.
ROMANS: I really --
PHILLIPS: It helps to know somebody and have that in for sure.
ROMANS: Absolutely it's a waste of time to spend too much time online trying to find a job unless you're reconnecting and networking on LinkedIn or something.
PHILLIPS: Right.
ROMANS: With other people you know. So tomorrow we get the big jobs report, everyone. And that's going to really tell us how things looked in December and then, of course, January, I think this is going to be an important number. January and February to see if really things are kind of getting underneath us.
We still need to have a lot more job creation than we have now. A lot more. I mean I don't want to sound like a Pollyanna, we need more jobs created, but things are slowly moving in the right direction.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Well, once the darling of GOP field of candidates for president, Michele Bachmann is sitting on the sidelines now. So where will all her followers go? We'll talk about that coming up.
Plus, a young mother calls 911 with an urgent question while fighting intruders. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH MCKINLEY: I have two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot if he comes in this door?
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Find out what she did, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Take a look at stories "Cross Country" now.
A riveting 911 tape out of Oklahoma. A young widow calls when she hears intruders breaking into her home on New Year's Eve. Eighteen-year-old Sarah Dawn McKinley says she acted quickly to protect her 3-month-old son.
Take a listen as she asked the 911 operator for permission to shoot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCKINLEY: I've got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in this door?
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Well, you have to do whatever you can do to protect yourself. I can't tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, McKinley did shoot and kill one of the intruders who was armed with a knife. His alleged accomplice due in court today.
In California, nearly $3 million bond has been set for a German man accused of setting dozens of fires in and around Hollywood. Prosecutors say that Harry Burkhart was motivated by a rage against Americans triggered by his mother's arrest on fraud charges. He remains jailed in Los Angeles.
Take a look at this, car in Fresno, California, ends up on an apartment roof. The driver was allegedly speeding, missed a turn, hit the tree stump, car went airborne. Police say the man managed to flee but was cut a short time later. Two people inside that apartment were not hurt.
All right, now that Michele Bachmann is out of the presidential race, who stands to gain? With the kiss and hug from her husband, she ended a run, one that ended pretty badly in Iowa.
So there's a lot of questions now. Will she endorse another candidate and who will her Tea Party backers gravitate toward?
Ron Bonjean is a GOP strategist. He joins me live from Washington.
So, Ron, where do you think Bachmann supporters -- a pretty dwindling number, by the way -- will go?
RON BONJEAN, GOP STRATEGIST: Right, well, you know, in this race, every vote counts. And although she has, you know, a very, very little support, or had little support, about 5 percent, I think, a nationwide average, you know, they're likely to go to the frontrunner of the conservative-style candidates, it's the anti-Mitt Romney candidates.
So that's probably going to be Rick Santorum. They could also split and go to Newt Gingrich and to Rick Perry, as well. And you may see some of that, especially in South Carolina.
PHILLIPS: So what do you see as Bachmann's future? Do you see a role for her in the -- a Republican administration?
BONJEAN: That's a great question. I think she's more powerful outside of Congress than she is inside of Congress. Going back and running, again, for her old House seat, probably wouldn't be that exciting, although she could do it and probably would win re-election. I doubt she would want to serve in a Republican administration unless it was a significant cabinet post.
But she is really like the Sarah Palin of Capitol Hill. She's more powerful on the outside. She's more of a speaking tour type of person who could head up a Tea Party organization and be a very effective voice for those who are interested in hearing what she has to say.
PHILLIPS: Are you telling me the next reality show is going to be Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann behind the scenes?
BONJEAN: You could -- you could see that. I wouldn't be surprised if you could see something like that and they would have high ratings.
PHILLIPS: Probably would. So, do you think it's important for conservatives to line up behind one candidate?
BONJEAN: Well, it is -- if the candidate that they want, they want to beat Mitt Romney, dividing their support among -- you know, among Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry or Rick Santorum isn't going to be helpful. They need to have one consensus candidate and right now, that seems to be Rick Santorum, although he needs to put together an effective organization, effective, you know, fundraising campaign and he needs to hire operatives ASAP in both New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.
PHILLIPS: Ron, I'm sure we'll be talking a lot more. Thanks for your thoughts this morning.
BONJEAN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, oil prices jumping as tensions with Iran are running high. Is it going to impact the prices at the pump? We'll take you live to the New York Stock Exchange.
Also, Catherine Middleton, aka, the Duchess of Cambridge, makes a big announcement about her future. A live report from London, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, is taking a major step in defining herself as a member of the royal family. She's announced which charities she's going to support.
CNN's Max Foster joining us now live from London.
So, Max, what organizations were lucky enough to get her support?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, four charities, Kyra. The charity Action on Addiction dealing with drug addiction largely. The director of that charity said that he really hopes that Catherine can bring to addiction what Diana brought to AIDS, really, transforming people's ideas and taking away the stigma from that.
So, he is very excited about that, all these charities are extremely excited about this because it's the ultimate patronage right now. She is the most famous person in Britain and probably the world at the moment, the biggest celebrity.
The Royal Patron of East Anglia's Children's Hospices is another one.
The Art Room, which is a small charity, tiny charity, Kyra, which uses art therapy, which is one of Kate's big passions. It's about unlocking people's potential and people in the margin of society throughout art classes.
And also, the National Portrait Gallery, which is the most prestigious portrait gallery in London and one of the most prestigious in the world. She's going to be a patron. Her big fascination is art. So, you see that in a couple of these causes.
PHILLIPS: Hey, we saw what it did for Van Gogh. I love seeing her get involved in that cause.
So, did she make up her own mind, Max, or did the queen get involved?
FOSTER: The queen wouldn't have been involved in anything. She has made her own decisions and she would have consulted, I'm told, and we're told these will complement Prince William's charities and she's been researching this for the last few months, and she made the final decision just recently, we're told. And her charity, her charities will hook up with William's and Harry's and they'll all be one uber charity. So, a very, very powerful umbrella group here.
You know, it's really about defining her public role. Up until now, she only accompanied William with his causes and visits to his causes. So, this is a first taste of what she cares about and how she thinks the royal role she wants to perform should be performed.
PHILLIPS: Does that mean they won't be spending as much time together?
FOSTER: Well, they will -- yes, she'll be on her own a bit more, I guess. But he's working a lot. So, maybe she'll --
PHILLIPS: She's an independent woman, come on, now, Max.
FOSTER: You know, yes. But this is the thing, a lot of people say she hasn't proved herself to be an independent woman but she hasn't done anything independent. This is why this is so important. She's really asserting her independence now and trying to define herself away from William.
PHILLIPS: Well, we will watch. I know you will be watching. Thanks, Max.
On Wall Street, not one, but two upbeat reports on the job market.
That's good news, Alison Kosik.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Yes, futures are still lower, but immediately when these reports came out, the numbers certainly moved off their lows. It means, look, the market's not disappointed by these reports, but they're kind of taking these reports with a healthy dose of caution at this point.
So, what we did find out from ADP was that the private sector added 325,000 jobs in December. This is a huge number. It's almost double expectations. In fact, it's the best in a year. But it is odd to see a huge jump like this and ADP is telling Dow Jones that there maybe some seasonal distortions in these numbers.
Now, there's also the government report on weekly jobless claims that came out this morning as well. That showed a nice drop last week. So, fewer people are lining up for the jobless benefits and, you know, we're hearing more and more talk, Kyra, that the labor market has begun to stabilize -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. What about oil prices? Those have been surging because of tensions with Iran. How bad is it?
KOSIK: You said it. So, oil settled yesterday above $103 a barrel. It is at its highest level in eight months and you said it exactly right. It's all this anxiety continuing about Iran's threat to shut down the Strait of Hormuz. That's a critical shipping lane for oil coming from the Persian Gulf. And an analyst says a shut down could push oil prices up $40.
But you know what? Most analysts really don't expect Iran to follow through. Still, you see that fear playing out in the market.
d also at the gas pump, prices that pump are beginning to edge a little higher. AAA says the price of gas jumped 3 cents overnight to a national average of $3.32 a gallon for regular. Not many things are certain in life, but I think higher gas prices seem to be a certainty these days, Kyra.
KOSIK: Oh, yes. We're constantly watching them. Thanks so much, Alison.
Well, we've got a pretty astounding story of a Texas teen and the U.S. government. Somehow, she was deported to Colombia, a U.S. citizen who doesn't even know Spanish. How could it happen? That's ahead.
And believe it or not, this is Casey Anthony, or at least someone who looks a lot like her now appearing in a video diary. We'll show it to you, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're checking top stories now.
An Ogden, Utah, police officer dies, five others are injured after a late night shooting. The officers were part of the narcotics task force trying to serve a search warrant when they came under fire. Another person was shot and wounded, as well.
And this morning, President Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will unveil a new military policy. It's going to end a longstanding position of the U.S. being able to conduct two wars at once, if needed, and is part of a plan to cut billions of dollars in the defense budget.
The news comes on the heels of a series of bombings across Iraq that killed dozens of people. Iraqis have been concerned about an increase in violence after U.S. troops withdrew from the country.
PHILLIPS: All right, out of the headlines for months. Now, suddenly, Casey Anthony or someone who looks and sounds just like her is back in a new four-minute video diary posted on YouTube and Facebook. CNN has reached out to Anthony's attorney, Jose Baez, and is waiting comment. But until then, we can't confirm the identity of the person of this video -- rather, the person in the video.
But if it is her and it looks a lot like her, it would be the first that we've seen of Anthony since a jury acquitted her of killing her little daughter, Caylee. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, this is my first video diary. It is, October 13th, which is a Thursday, 2011. And I'm just starting to figure out my new computer and, I don't know. I guess I'm liking it so far.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Ashleigh Banfield has seen the video, joins and tells us more about what this tells us.
Now, we should say, of course -- welcome.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, "EARLY START": Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You were at Court TV for a number of years and you've got this, the legal background, the court background, and, of course, tremendous news background.
So, what do you make of this?
BANFIELD: Well, I looked at that face in a courtroom for 80 days and it looks a whole lot like her. I reached out to George and Cindy, and have not heard back from them, which is not surprising. They don't talk to us a lot and I think they're sort of scaling back from everything they went through.
But I did talk to somebody specifically who has spoken with her camp who says it is her and she never spoke in the courtroom, but for a few quick moments where she answered the judge and it was hard to hear her and it does sound like the voice. What I was really struck by is just how little was actually said by her in all of this.
PHILLIPS: I want to tell you what, let's look at a little bit more and then I have a couple questions for you.
BANFIELD: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just a little surreal how much things have changed since July and how many things haven't changed. But the good thing is that things are starting to look up and things are starting to change in a good way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right, you covered, as you said, 180 days --
BANFIELD: It felt like 180 days.
PHILLIPS: It felt like 180 days, yes, but -- I mean, it went on and on for more than that. But, just listening to that, watching that, she doesn't mention anything about her baby.
BANFIELD: No.
PHILLIPS: I don't know, what is your reaction to what she says and doesn't say?
BANFIELD: Well, first of all, no mention of the trial. No mention of little Caylee. No mention of her family, who many say she threw under the bus for her defense. That worked out well, she was acquitted of the murder charges and facing the death penalty.
So, it isn't like this person hasn't been through the ringer. And then just this inane rambling four-minute video that talks about buying a computer and finally leaving the secret location she's in, perhaps in February, having her probation cut short. It just seemed odd to me that maybe she's detached from how big this story was and how big she was in it. And again, she has been in hiding, so maybe she doesn't know.
PHILLIPS: Psychologists and psychiatrists would have a field day depicting or taking a look at this video.
BANFIELD: She also said it's not the last one, she is going to do more.
PHILLIPS: Interesting. Is she watching Charlie Sheen? That's what I'm wondering.
BANFIELD: I don't know. She doesn't have his energy, I'll tell you that much.
PHILLIPS: Doesn't mention anything where she is, either. No clue to her whereabouts.
BANFIELD: But you know as I do. She has to stay in Florida. She's not allowed to leave that state, unless she goes to her home, a rigmarole of probation rules. And that's not easy. So she's probably somewhere in Florida and you can't really tell from the location.
But also, did you see her appearance. Short hair, blonde, glasses --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Well, there was concern about her safety, obviously, too. A lot of people not happy with her.
BANFIELD: NBC going real hard being her. They've got great sources. I worked with many of them in that court room, too. So, they're absolutely convinced through her camp that it's her.
PHILLIPS: It is her.
BANFIELD: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK. We'll stay on it.
You start, again, 5:00 a.m., bright and early tomorrow morning.
BANFIELD: Just about same time you do, I'm in here.
PHILLIPS: Thank you for staying late for us. Appreciate it, Ashleigh.,
All right. OK. Well, she's definitely a troubled teen. She's a Texas runaway and she doesn't speak a word of Spanish.
So, how in the world did U.S. immigration officials wind up deporting her to Colombia? Her family is demanding answers.
Ed Lavandera on that story out of Dallas.
So, Ed, what do you make of this?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, this is simply a bizarre story. It started in November of 2010 when Jakadrien Turner, 14 years old, runs away from home here in Dallas, Texas. Her family searched, it was her grandmother, really, who spent hours and hours tracking her friends through Facebook, started getting inklings that perhaps Jakadrien was in Houston.
Then in April of last year, April 2011, she is arrested for theft. Shoplifting at a mall there in Houston. But, instead of giving authorities her real name, we're told that she gave them the name of Tika Cortez with a birth date that suggested she was 21 years old.
Tika Cortez then makes it through the local criminal court and she pled guilty and spent four days in jail and then gets remanded over to custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE puts a hold on her and then she goes through a deportation process because ICE officials say she told them that she was a Colombian citizen. And because of that, she was not in the system, that they didn't have any fingerprints, or any kind of realization of who this person was.
So, Tika Cortez, Jakadrien Turner, gets deported to Colombia. That's where she is now. Family members continue to see the pictures on Facebook through various people who know her and never got in touch with her to bring her home before she got deported and no one could figure out how this 14-year-old girl was essentially able to dupe local authorities, federal investigators and then the Colombian government convinced them to give the paperwork to get into Colombia after she was deported.
And that's why her family, we spoke with them at length, believe something much more sinister is going on here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Do you have any idea how she could have gotten to where she is using this fake name and getting to Colombia?
JOHNISA TURNER, MOTHER: I mean, there has to be adults involved. No 14-year-old can change their name and get to Colombia on their own.
LORENE TURNER, GRANDMOTHER: I just don't understand how it could happen. Someone made a goof. And I think this was ICE or someone. They may have goofed up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they dropped the ball.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Kyra, our colleagues, CNN colleagues, are working in Colombia to track down where Jakadrien Turner is now. We understand that se is being held by a government agency that essentially takes care of foster children, but should not be allowed from what the family understands to be brought back to the United States.
We're working on that angle of the story to figure out what exactly is going on there with that angle to figure out how quickly she could be brought back to the United States -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. Ed, we'll follow up, thanks.
And in just a few minutes, we're going to ask Bill Bennett what Rick Santorum has to prove his success in Iowa was not a fluke.
And the president calls in one of Hollywood's biggest fund- raisers to help bring in California campaign dollars. She's also a former ambassador. That's next in showbiz headlines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK0
PHILLIPS: President Barack Obama is calling on a long-time Hollywood insider and former ambassador to go after the huge pool of campaign funds out in tinsel town. A.J. Hammer, host of "Showbiz Tonight," has more on Obama's Hollywood connection.
Hey, A.J.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hey, Kyra.
Yes, there's a lot of money out there and one of the president's top fund-raisers and until recently, the ambassador to the Bahamas, Nicole Avant, is now ramping up the effort to get Hollywood back on board for the upcoming campaign. She's a former music executive. Her father once also ran Motown. So, she's really plugged into the entertainment industry.
According to "The Hollywood Reporter," she's already got three fund-raisers in the works and, of course, there's been a lot of speculation that perhaps President Obama has lost some support in Hollywood. But, Kyra, if you'll excuse the name drop, I just spent some time with Rob Lowe yesterday.
Rob told me, and, you know, he's a big political junky. Despite what you might have heard, the entertainment industry will be very supportive of the president, again, this year. He actually told me, he's such a junky in politics that he may try to attend a debate. I actually suggested to Rob that he moderate one, at which point he launched into a terrific Wolf Blitzer impression and I'm just sorry I didn't have cameras rolling at the time.
PHILLIPS: I wish you would have. Does that mean we're going to get "West Wing" back?
HAMMER: I don't think that's going to happen. But Rob is somebody who watches CNN and watches you all the time. And he's really into this stuff. So, he's paying attention.
PHILLIPS: All right. I love it, I love it. Well, he's been one of my favorite for a long time.
All right. It's the largest celebrity "Apprentice" group ever. What is Donald Trump thinking?
HAMMER: Ratings, Kyra, of course. He's always thinking about ratings.
PHILLIPS: Ratings and money, right?
HAMMER: This is his collection of -- yes, that's what he's going to get with this season's collection of contestants. He's got singers. He's got stars. A couple mob wives in the mix here. This is the largest group of celebrities the show has ever had, 18 in all.
Also in the show, I should point out, you have Clay Aiken, comedian Lisa Lampanelli, Debbie Gibson, Arsenio Hall, Tia Carrere is doing it, George Takei of "Star Trek" fame, Cheryl Tiegs, Lou Ferrigno. You have a former Miss Universe, Diana Mendoza, and Victoria Gotti, also a part of the mix.
Now, I spoke with Clay Aiken last night, Kyra. He told me this show, and remember, he went through the ringer on "American Idol," this show is one of the most challenging things he has ever done. So, you don't need to think for one moment that she's celebrity contestants aren't working really hard when they're competing to win this thing.
PHILLIPS: All right. I know you'll be following it. A.J., thanks so much.
And A.J. is coming back, of course, next hour. He's going to be talking about a new campaign ad making Kim Kardashian the poster child for wealthy millionaires who paid very little in personal income taxes. Find out who is behind the campaign. You're going to have to watch next hour, of course. A.J. is bringing us more showbiz headlines.
All right. Bill Bennett thinks that Rick Santorum's near victory in Iowa was remarkable. Now the question is: can he keep that momentum going? We're going to talk with Bill, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: South Carolina could be the place where Rick Santorum can prove Iowa wasn't a fluke. And given some of the rumblings in South Carolina about Mitt Romney, well, Santorum's chances are looking pretty good.
The leader of Spartanburg Tea Party told NPR, quote, "I do not personally know anyone that does not despise Mitt Romney and doesn't hate the idea of him being our nominee." Despise and hate in the same sentence -- ouch!
Joining us is Bill Bennett, CNN contributor and host of the National Radio talk show, "Morning in America."
So, Bill, that Tea Party reaction to Romney pretty much borders on revulsion.
BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, ouch is right. You know, that's very strong. That's very strong. Now, I've heard, on my radio show, I've heard a lot of people call in and a lot of people call in and say they just don't take to Romney. You know, they just don't warm to him. And he's got to keep working on it. He won by eight votes, but 75 percent of the votes went for somebody else.
Rick Santorum has a shot. He has a shot in New Hampshire. I think he's got a good shot in South Carolina.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about how important the South Carolina primary is in shaping the GOP field, Bill.
BENNETT: Well, if you concede New Hampshire to Romney, you then have, essentially, what was a moral victory for Santorum in Iowa. Romney was, obviously, hoping to do a lot better. A real victory for Romney in New Hampshire.
So, this becomes the next big one, the third one. What's the conservative strength behind Santorum? Do they feel they know him well enough to support him?
Now, interesting factors here, Kyra, are the fact that Rick Perry has not dropped out and Newt Gingrich has not dropped out.
There are Santorum supporters who are saying and believing that Perry's failure to drop out will hurt them in South Carolina where they think Perry is strong and his voters might have gone to Santorum. But we'll see. That comes up pretty quick and then Florida.
But Rick's job is to introduce himself to people who don't know who he is.
PHILLIPS: Now in your new column on CNN.com, you actually talk about what Ron Paul supporters there will do in South Carolina. What do you see happening there?
BENNETT: Well, you know, what was good, what was encouraging to me, I'm not a Ron Paul fan, I'll be very candid about it. But I'm very pleased to see that the Republican Party of Iowa rejected the isolationism of Ron Paul and there's an isolationist strand or a strand in the state of Iowa.
Now I think the Paul people will be out for him in South Carolina, but it won't be as strong. I think that was the high water mark for Ron Paul, Iowa.
PHILLIPS: And right towards the end of the column, you mentioned Newt Gingrich still in it. South Carolina could be considered a stronghold for him and you point out that history tells us anything finishing fourth in Iowa, it's not so bad, right?
BENNETT: No it's not so bad. He needs more debates, Kyra. This is how Newt made his mark in these debates taking on the moderator and moderator beware when Newt Gingrich is in the debate and there will be two debates Saturday and Sunday. So -- so, we'll see. But it was a struggle for him in Iowa. He was way up and then way down. He's now aiming himself as the kind of human missile launched at Mitt Romney, which is not going down in a lot of precincts very well.
PHILLIPS: Bill Bennett, I appreciate your time this morning. And you can catch Bill's column on CNN.com/opinion.
A woman who helped solve a big mystery at the Iowa caucuses speaks out. Find out why people are calling her a modern day Paul Revere.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A "Health for Her" now, in a new study about potential risk linked to gestational diabetes. Researchers say that children whose mothers were diagnosed with diabetes during pregnancy were twice as likely to develop attention and hyperactivity problems at the age of six.
Within a family with below average socio-economic status also doubled the risk of ADHD. Researchers, though, do note that the study does not prove gestational diabetes directly causes ADHD.
All right, let's fast forward to a few stories that we're watching for you today.
At 11:00 House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leader is holding a news conference about the need to extend the payroll tax cuts for a whole year.
Also at 11:00 the newly appointed Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray gives his first speech.
Then at 11:30 this morning a special honor, the iconic R&B singing group "Boys to Men". After 20 years of hit making the singing group gets a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
All right, we're following lots of developments for you in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go ahead start first with Chris Lawrence -- Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes Kyra, downsizing the Army and Marine Corps, pulling troops out of Europe and no more fighting two wars at one time all part of President Obama's new defense strategy. He's going to lay it out here at the Pentagon in one hour.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Christine Romans here in Atlanta. And what will the job market be for all of those people who are going to be downsized out of the military. Quite frankly the job market is getting a little bit better. But it depends on where you look and how you look. I'm going to tell you about jobs at the top of the hour.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm Paul Steinhauser in Manchester, New Hampshire. We've got just five days until this crucial primary. The battle for the Granite State is on. I'll break down brand new poll numbers at the top of the hour.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.
And all eyes on the New Hampshire primary but not all New Hampshire voters are excited about it. Local radio talk show host is joining us live to tell us why this race is so different than the ones before.
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PHILLIPS: Lots of scoring in these college bowl games. Jeff Fischel watching it all.
JEFF FISCHEL, ANCHOR, HLN SPORTS: That's right. The Rose, the Fiesta. We saw tons of points. This one was great. Ant there's offensive explosion, the Orange Bowl. But it was a defensive play that really turned it around I think, Kyra. Same quarter Clemson on the West Virginia won. Look at this, it looks like he's in the end zone.
But the ball was stripped from Andre Ellington the Mountaineers take off the other way; 99 yards for the touchdown. The Mountaineers put up 49 points in the first half. This is the first half. The Mountaineers quarterback Geno Smith he threw for six touchdowns of game.
PHILLIPS: Wait and the mascot gets creamed.
FISCHEL: I'm sorry I totally forgot that, he tackled the mascot, I totally forgot on this, it was the best part of the whole play right. And by the way the offense just keep going. He had four touchdowns; 70 points for the Mountaineers they win easy over Clemson, 70-33. Just one big bowl game left that is the BCS championship.
NBA Pacers and Heat -- a scary moment for Miami fans watching Lebron James go down. Watch him here with the steal. On the fast break gets tangled up. Hurts his ankle as he lands on the floor. He will only play a few more minutes after this.
But even banged up, he's Lebron. He's still unstoppable. Sweet lay-up there. He would leave the game. The Heat beat Miami. Lebron's got a sprained ankle. Dewayne Wade was out of the game with a sore foot. So two of the big three are questionable for tonight's game in Atlanta.
The hoop of the night though, watch Sacramento and Denver. The Nuggets get the loose ball. Rudy Fernandez, over the head alley-oop to get three for the slam. You don't need to look, you don't need to turn around, just toss it up and down. Nuggets rolled 110-83.
Check this out. This is team U.S.A. soccer goalie, Tim Howard. He's playing in the English Premier League. We call it soccer, they call it football. He kicks the ball the full length of the pitch. Bounces and in for a goal. Length of the field. It's only the third time in premier league history a goalie's scored. He took it kind of casually, didn't he? I mean he should be jumping up and down. His team did lose 2-1.
PHILLIPS: It's too cool.
FISCHEL: Way too cool.
NHL, sweet goal last night. Montreal center Lars Eller had a huge game and this was the best. The penalty shot -- the spin-o-rama. That's nice. Four goals in the game. Canadians win, 7-3. That's a big (INAUDIBLE) for the Hobs.
PHILLIPS: Hey, that's pretty good.
FISCHEL: Bilingual -- not really.
PHILLIPS: Thank you so much.
FISCHEL: Ok..
KYRA: All right. Well, things got a little wacky during CNN's late night coverage of the Iowa Caucuses. CNN's Jeanne Moos collected the best bloopers and giggle attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't usually cover our own coverage this extensively, but you know it was a special night when the anchor's giggling. The pundits are laughing.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: We'll be right back.
MOOS: Wolf Blitzer is resorting to Internet shorthand.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I can only say three letters, OMG. Look at this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have lost control.
MOOS: that's the director chiming in. It was a night when the Magic Wall wasn't always magical --
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: That would be the key to his success. Wolf?
Moos: -- when it did this.
BURNETT: We will do a little reverse flick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok.
MOOS: When it was supposed to be doing this. By the wee hours of the morning geography started to look like anatomy of the nether regions.
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Governor Romney may still eke this out tonight.
MOOS: Once an anchor starts getting slap happy, he's liable to start slapping even his own network.
COOPER: Have we all just given up? Is this like 1:30.
MOOS: Election night is when networks trot out their latest gizmos.
COOPER: If only we had some new high tech thing that had never been seen or accomplished before.
BLITZER: Do you think if we try and do something like that?
COOPER: Oh, look at this, the warbles.
MOOS: Weeble? What's a weeble?
WOLF: Imagine they're Iowa republicans.
MOOS: CNN used its weebles to demonstrate how a caucus works.
COOPER: If you miss any of this you can see it on "The Daily Show" later with Jon Stewart. Yes, when he ruthlessly mocks you.
MOOS: Actually the weebles reminded us of the cucumber candidates and a psychic snail Stephen Colbert used to try to predict --
STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: Who the winner is.
MOOS: CNN actually scooped everyone on caucus night when a couple of Iowa Republican officials named Carolyn and Edith saved the day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I added them up a couple times. Oh, man.
MOOS: They explained a glitch that cleared up the mystery of some missing returns that put Mitt Romney over the top.
KING: If these are the final numbers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean the numbers don't match?
BLITZER: I'll explain it.
MOOS: By 3:30 in the morning caucus coverage was temporarily renamed "CNN after Dark". The usual news music was replaced by Barry White. Anderson wasn't loving this gizmo.
COOPER: The social media is doing it again --
The social media screen, my lord. This is the third hit. I still don't understand what the hell this thing shows.
MOOS: Anderson had his Weebles in a Knot. Jeanne moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, as you just saw, caucus night in Iowa would not have been the same without Caroline and Edith, they are the Republican officials that went that extra mile to relay critical voting information to the state's Republican Party. They knew they had the vote tally for a missing precinct. Edith was asleep but that didn't stop Caroline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLYN TALLETT, PRES. CLINTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN WOMEN: I took off and went in the night to wake her up. Running across her yard and banging on the door.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You particularly have been called the modern day Paul Revere for going and waking up Edith.
TALLETT: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does that feel?
TALLETT: Actually, I thought of that myself. I thought, I guess I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Thanks again to both women for clearing up that voting day mystery.
