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Poll: Mitt Romney Leads Big in South Carolina; Politics By the Numbers; Joran van der Sloot Murder Trial; Can Anyone Stop Romney?; Sex Charges Against Air Force Cadets; Confusion Over Iowa Votes; Independent Voice In New Hampshire

Aired January 06, 2012 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Don Lemon. Brooke is off.

We want to get you caught up on everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire." So let's go.

The latest job repot beats economists' predictions. There were 200,000 more jobs in December. The nation's unemployment rate dropped to 8.5 from 8.7 percent. And President Obama says it's more evidence the economy is getting better.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All together, more private sector jobs were created in 2011 than any year since 2005, and there are a lot of people that are still --

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: There are a lot of people that are still hurting out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Military prosecutors are charging three Air Force Academy cadets with sexual assault. The cases are not connected.

They come on the heels of a report finding a sharp increase in such attacks at the military academies. Court documents say two of the cadets took advantage of victims who were intoxicated. At least two of the victims were fellow cadets.

The Justice Department has redefined rape. The old definition was established in 1927 and was extremely narrow, man against woman.

So here it is. "The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will." Well, the new definition includes victims and attackers of either sex. It also includes more types of sexual assault. This charge will enable the FBI to more accurately count and report the number of rape victims.

The man who is suspected in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway is on trial in Peru for murder. Joran van der Sloot is charged in the death of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in his hotel room. Van der Sloot's lawyer indicated his client planned to plead guilty, but watch what happened just this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORAN VAN DER SLOOT, MURDER DEFENDANT (through translator): I want to use my right to plead a sincere confession but do not agree with all the aggravating factors the prosecutor is charging me with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Van der Sloot wants more time to reflect on his plea. He has until Wednesday, by the way.

Penn State reportedly has a new head coach to fill Joe Paterno's shoes after a child sex abuse scandal rocked its football program. ESPN is reporting that Bill O'Brien has accepted the position. O'Brien is currently the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots. Now, reportedly he'll stay with the Patriots through the NFL playoffs.

The next story, this shows that identity theft is everybody's problem. A senior White House official with Secret Service protection was a victim.

Georgia investigators say this is the I.D. thief. His name is James Townsend, who is 17 years old. They say Townsend used the official's Social Security number to get a credit card.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICOLE JONES, FAMILY ATTORNEY: At this point in time we want to say he's not a terrorist, but he was a child surfing the Internet and got this. It was a lot bigger, and my fear is if that number is out there, who else's number is on the Internet that anyone else can get to?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A credit agency initially alerted authorities there was a problem.

A deadly day in Syria. Sixty people killed, 26 of them in a suicide car bombing in the capital of Damascus. Now, the other deaths occurred outside the city in clashes between security forces and protesters trying to remove Syria's leader.

This video that you're looking at, it's from YouTube. Various accounts say more than 5,000 people have died as the government cracks down on civil unrest there.

A new twist to tell you about in the story about the young Oklahoma widow who took matters into her own hands when a man broke into her home.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SARAH MCKLINEY, SHOT INTRUDER: I've got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in this door? 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 whatever you have to do to protect your baby.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: Sarah McKinley killed the intruder with a 12-gauge shotgun. She won't face any charges, but the intruder's alleged accomplice has been charged with first-degree murder. Bond for Dustin Stewart is set at $50,000. He's under house arrest, monitored, and has to stay away from McKinley.

An American teenager who was deported to Colombia is on her way back to the United States right now. Fifteen-year-old Jakadrien Turner boarded a plane in Bogota just this morning. Turner was deported after giving authorities a fake name and claiming she was Colombian. Her family is demanding to know why immigration officials took the young runaway at her word.

Now to a case of a highway hijinx. A driver in Seattle was busted for using the HOV lane with a skeleton in the passenger seat. He placed the skeleton in the seat wearing a sweatshirt and a hood, but then a trooper pulled him over for aggressive driving, and here's what the officer said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYAN STIME, TICKETED DRIVER: "Are you kidding me?" And I said, "Yes, Officer -- no, Officer, I'm not kidding you." The officer pretty much gave me a warning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Stime got a $400 ticket. He says he'll keep the skeleton at home in the future.

Just when you thought you had heard everything.

Got a lot more to cover in the next two hours. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: They love him, they love him not. One month ago, "TIME" magazine asked, why won't Republicans flock to Mitt Romney? So, four weeks later, has Romney done enough to convince voters still on the fence? We're about to find out.

I'm Don Lemon. The news starts right now.

(voice-over): It's not a recount, but there seems to be confusion over the real winner in Iowa.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Game on.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It sure is nice to have a win. LEMON: Uh-oh.

A young mom calls 911 as an intruder is breaking into her home.

MCKINLEY: I've got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in this door?

LEMON: Now a new twist. Someone's facing charges, but it's not the person who pulled the trigger.

Plus, bloody clothes, surveillance video, a confession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Did you kill Stephany Tatiana?

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): Yes.

LEMON: Joran van der Sloot appearing in court not in the Natalee Holloway disappearance, but in another case.

And it's got a lot of you talking. Tiger Woods' ex-wife tearing down a $12 million mansion to build another one? Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Welcome back, everyone.

You know about the New Hampshire primary. It is coming up Tuesday, and we're watching it very closely, of course, here on CNN. Politics, that's our business here.

But there's a major story developing today out of South Carolina concerning the race for president, and our Wolf Blitzer is going to join us right now from Washington and tell us about that.

So, Wolf, I hear you've got a new poll.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We've got a brand-new poll, a CNN/"TIME" magazine/ORC poll on South Carolina. This poll done since the Iowa caucuses. And let me show our viewers what's going on. Look at these numbers right now.

In South Carolina, Mitt Romney, 37 percent; Santorum, 19 percent; Gingrich, 18 percent; 12 percent for Ron Paul. Rick Perry, not so good, 5 percent. Jon Huntsman, only 1 percent.

But take a look at how these numbers have changed since December. And we'll put them up back to back.

In December, Romney was at 20 percent in South Carolina. He's up to 37. That's a dramatic -- a nearly doubling of this performance in South Carolina.

Santorum, look at how amazing he's done, from 4 percent to 19 percent.

LEMON: Yes.

BLITZER: But look at this collapse for Newt Gingrich, 43 percent to only 18 percent. Still in third place, but that's a dramatic collapse.

Six percent for Ron Paul in December. It's gone up to 12 percent. Rick Perry has gone down from 8 to 5.

But you can see the big winner right there, Mitt Romney. The big loser, Newt Gingrich, at least right now.

Having said all that, Don, it's still two weeks to go from tomorrow, so there's still time.

LEMON: Yes. And Wolf, South Carolina is believed to have more conservative Republican voters. And Mitt Romney hasn't really won over the conservative -- at least the bulk of conservatives in his party.

So, the question is, what's behind Mitt Romney's surge in South Carolina?

BLITZER: Well, one thing he does have, the support of the conservative Tea Party favorite in South Carolina, Nikki Haley, the governor. She's endorsed Mitt Romney. But let's take a closer look now at some of the internal numbers in the poll.

Among likely Republican primary voters in South Carolina, Mitt Romney gets 36 percent of Tea Party supporters, 41 percent of born-again Christians, 40 percent of Independents. He's doing relative well with born-again Christians, with Tea Party activists. Not bad for Mitt Romney.

And remember, South Carolina is a key, key state.

Let's go a little bit further right now and take a look at how things potentially could change. Forty-nine percent of likely Republican primary voters, Don, say they might still change their mind between now and January 21st, two weeks from tomorrow.

So it's still fluid. Anything could happen. We'll see what happens this coming Tuesday in New Hampshire, then we'll move on to South Carolina.

I will say this -- if Mitt Romney -- he won barely, but he did win in Iowa -- if he wins in New Hampshire, as he almost certainly will, given the numbers in the polls there, and he's almost a resident of New Hampshire, and he then goes on to win South Carolina, he's going to be in excellent, excellent shape going into Florida January 31st.

LEMON: That's what I was going to ask you. It will be a one, two, three sweep, and pretty, I guess, the odds makers would say it's his if he does it.

BLITZER: Yes. If he can do that, if he can win decisively in New Hampshire, and then South Carolina, I don't know who's going to drop out, who's not going to drop out, but he'll be in very good shape.

He's got a great organization, lots of money. He's playing it smart. So we'll see how he does.

LEMON: Thank you, Wolf. We'll see you again soon. Appreciate it.

BLITZER: By the way, I want you to get ready, because guess who's going to be in "THE SITUATION ROOM" today in our 5:00 p.m. Eastern hour?

LEMON: Who? Who is?

BLITZER: Herman Cain.

LEMON: Oh, wow. All right.

BLITZER: Remember what he called me at that debate that I moderated?

LEMON: "Blitz"?

BLITZER: "Blitz," yes.

LEMON: Yes. So maybe we should call it "a Blitz" -- I did "a Blitz" this morning.

Herman Cain is keeping the 9-9-9 thing going. He's not out of the spotlight yet.

BLITZER: 9-9-9, yes. Not yet. He's going to be on the show today.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir. We'll see you soon.

Wolf Blitzer, "The Blitz."

BLITZER: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: Two hundred thousand, that's the net number of jobs added in the month of December. This is the sixth month in a row that we've added 100,000 jobs or more in this country. And up next, what this means for the economy and for the political landscape as well.

Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Big economic news, big political news. The rate of unemployment dropped to 8.5 percent with today's release of the December jobs report.

I want you to take a look at this graphic right now. That is December over there on the right. You see it?

Well, the economy added some 200,000 new jobs. The total for the year, a net of about two million jobs in the private sector. President Barack Obama seized the opportunity today to tout the welcomed news as he toured the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with its newly appointed director, Richard Cordray.

So he's kind of making, Jessica, I'm sure, an in-your-face move. I appointed this person on my hone and jobs are improving.

Jessica, of course, is our chief White House correspondent.

All kinds of messaging coming from the president today, and he didn't waste any time saying oh, the economy -- you know, the press release coming from the White House, this is a sign that the economy is improving.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: "Improving." That's the key phrase.

The president had to do a balancing act, Don, you're right, first acknowledging the positive new jobs numbers without suggesting that the economy is actually in good shape. So his phrase he kept saying is we're headed in the right direction.

Here's the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Obviously, we have a lot more work to do, but it is important for the American people to recognize that we've now added 3.2 million new private sector jobs over the last 22 months, nearly two million new jobs last year alone. So after shedding jobs for more than a decade, our manufacturing sector is also adding jobs two years in a row now. So we're making progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YELLIN: So the danger, of course, is that later in the year, the unemployment number heads in the other direction. Gas and food prices are expected to rise, the effects of an unstable Europe remain a fear. Of course, that's a problem for all of us as a nation, but politically, also, those numbers present a danger for the president because they set an expectation for voters that we're going to see an improvement in the numbers throughout the year. And if that doesn't come true come election time, voters are likely to take out their anger on the president -- Don.

LEMON: So, is it work pointing out, Jessica, that the president's appointment of Cordray, as I said, was kind of like an in-your-face move aimed at Congress? Why did he go to the root of this so-called recess appointment?

YELLIN: Right. Why did he go there?

LEMON: Yes.

YELLIN: And he didn't just recess-appoint. He did it in a way that would get the most notice and enrage Republicans the most by doing it while the Senate was in session, while they said they were in what's called a pro-forma session. So it sends a number of political messages. To the Republicans, the intended message seemed to be he's not going to take their flack if they block his economic agenda. To middle class voters that he's trying to woo in the campaign, the intended signal seemed to be he's fighting for them.

And then, to his Democratic base, remember when they complained this summer that he was caving to Republicans so much? Well, that's so six months ago, because now he's showing his base. He has a spine and he's calling their bluff -- Don.

LEMON: I like the way you say that, it's so six months ago.

YELLIN: Six months ago.

LEMON: Jessica Yellin, thank you very much.

YELLIN: Thanks.

LEMON: The man suspected in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway and accused of murdering a young woman in Peru, Joran van der Sloot, in court today. He's considering giving a sincere confession in the Peru murder, but he wants more time to reflect.

This case is pretty complex, and up next we're going to break it down for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, this case certainly has a lot of twists and turns. A man who has been the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway goes to court. Today marks the beginning of Joran van der Sloot's trial for the murder of a young woman in Peru. And for a while it sounded like it would be a very short trial, but it turns out that's not the case.

Rafael Romo joins us now. He has been following this trial for us very closely.

And Rafael, his lawyer indicated today that Van der Sloot planned to plead guilty to the beating and strangling of 21-year-old Stephany Flores in a hotel room in Peru. So what happened in court today?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR: This is very strange. I spoke with the attorney on his way to court, and he told me, "We're ready to plead guilty." But once in court, once Joran van der Sloot started hearing all of the charges, and how detailed the evidence was, he said -- he started saying, I am ready to plead guilty, but I don't necessarily agree with everything the prosecution says. And there's some moment there when he says that.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAN DER SLOOT (through translator): I want to use my right to plead a sincere confession, but do not agree with all the aggravating factors the prosecutor is charging me with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Now, he's talking about the term "sincere confession." That's a legal term in Peru which means that judges have the leeway to be more lenient if the person confesses.

LEMON: Hang on. So he's negotiating the terms of his confession?

ROMO: Exactly. The evidence is very compelling. The evidence is there. It's very strong.

There's video of Stephany Flores and him at the casino, at his hotel room. It's very strong. So he knew that it was very likely that he was going to be found guilty if he went to trial.

LEMON: OK. So we were watching him in court this morning, throughout this morning, and he was slouching in his chair, he fidgeted, he yawned several times -- there he is yawning. He stood up and then he would sit down.

Is this type of demeanor -- we don't usually see this from a murder defendant in the United States. Is this more acceptable in Peru?

ROMO: It is not more acceptable. In fact, the presiding judge, a couple of times, asked him directly to please change his behavior and respect the court of law.

He was at one point just grabbing his jacket. He was asked to put it away. He was scratching his head, he was touching his -- he was yawning.

At one point he appeared as if he was about to fall asleep. So the judge, a couple of times, says, you better watch it, you need to behave better.

LEMON: Odd.

So he's been in a prison in Peru for quite some time now. What's life like for him?

ROMO: Well, he's in a prison called Castro Castro on the outskirts of Lima, the capital. It's a maximum security prison. However, because this is a high-profile case, he has his cell all to himself. For the rest of the prisoners, they go two, maybe even up to four inmates per cell, but not in his case.

LEMON: OK. All right.

Rafael Romo -- certainly -- look at him -- I cannot believe his behavior in court. I was watching it, going, "What is he doing?" He would just sit down and talk to the judge, and then he --

ROMO: That's not going to help.

LEMON: It was really weird. Very odd. ROMO: Not going to help.

LEMON: Yes. Thank you, Rafael.

ROMO: Sure. Appreciate it.

LEMON: I want to show you the cover of last month's "TIME" magazine right now if we have that.

It's GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. There it is, with the headline, "Why Don't They Like Me?" Well, "TIME" is now out with a slightly different cover. Mitt Romney again, but check out the headline: "So You Like Me Now?"

Up next, we're going to talk with a "TIME" reporter about the decision. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hitting newsstands and iPads today, the new issue of "TIME" magazine. And Mitt Romney is on the cover once again with the caption "So You Like Me Now? How Mitt Romney Pulled Ahead of the Pack."

Well, a bit of a different tune from TIME's cover just a month ago. That one read "Why Don't They Like Me? Mitt Romney's Quest for Republican Hearts and Minds."

So when you line the covers up side by side, the full picture emerges. There you go. Same photo, two different issues there.

Joining us right now, Michael Scherer, "TIME" magazine's White House correspondent and a Pulitzer Prize winner.

So, Michael, Romney won Iowa, but Santorum was really, honestly, the Cinderella story this week. Why isn't he on the cover?

MICHAEL SCHERER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "TIME": It's not clear that Rick Santorum has very much he can do with his win. I mean, he's struggling right now in New Hampshire. We just saw the poll that Wolf was talking about a few minutes ago in which Mitt Romney, in South Carolina, a state he pulled out of last time around, now has as much support as both Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich combined.

It's Mitt Romney who has the money. It's Mitt Romney who has the organization, the endorsements.

At this point in 2008, you also had an Evangelical candidate in Mike Huckabee coming into South Carolina with more organization, a better populist appeal. He was more well-known, and he still lost to John McCain there. It's not as if this race is over for Mitt Romney, but it's really hard to see past for his competitors at this point.

LEMON: Yes. You guys didn't know about our poll though until today.

SCHERER: We knew the New Hampshire polls. LEMON: Yes. So, I was going to say, you mention that, because I think -- I want to get the quote here. You said, "He's on the front- runner express, a full tank of gas, a tank full of money, and a club card packed with very important friends." That was in the article today in "TIME" magazine.

I'm glad you brought up that poll, because "TIME" calls South Carolina a conservative firewall. So does it surprise you to see Romney leading the pack in South Carolina at 37 percent in that new "TIME"/ORC poll?

SCHERER: It's a conservative firewall, but it also had -- it tends to vote for the establishment candidate and that's a place that Romney has staked out here.

George W. Bush won it in 2000. His father did well there before. I mean, this is a state that it sort of a little more predictable, even though it's tends to be a little nastier on the ground, a little more predictable than even Iowa is.

LEMON: Michael, I really -- it was very interesting what you wrote today specifically. You have an article the part that is specific to you in the new issue and it's called "How Obama Saved Romney", right?

You're arguing that Romney basically as borrowing from Obama's 2008 playbook, how so, I think you mean with the whole change thing, right?

SCHERER: Yes -- no, there's a lot of really heavy similarities. If you remember, Barack Obama came in to 2008 with a very simple theory of the race. You know, that that race would be a change election from George W. Bush.

That the central issue on which Obama was really unimpeachable within the Democratic Party was the war in Iraq, which President Bush had mishandled.

Mitt Romney is coming in to this race also saying this is clearly going to be a race about the sitting president, Barack Obama, and issue this time is the economy.

Just as Barack Obama was able to qualify himself on that point, Mitt Romney is saying I'm the one person that can turn this around here.

Also in the rhetoric, you hear a lot of similarities this talk about optimism, hope, believe in America, change you can believe in and it's the clear focus.

LEMON: That's what I thought was interesting because you said, if you ask Romney, obviously, a conservative about abortion, if you ask him about guns, if you ask him about anything, he's going to steer the conversation back to attacking Obama. So I wonder if that's going to continue to work for him in line of the development with today's job report and the economy as well. SCHERER: Well, if the economy -- I mean, a lot of this is out of the hands of both the candidates. If the economy continues to improve and is roaring by this summer, Mitt Romney is in a lot of trouble. He knows that. He can't do anything about it.

He's counting on what most people are projecting, which is no one is going to be happy with the economy. It's not going to be a recession, but it's just kind of muddling along. That line there from my story really points to what Mitt Romney got totally wrong in 2008.

When he was campaigning in South Carolina is 2008, he was targeting Evangelical voters. He was going after the most conservative voters in South Carolina saying, I am the guy for you, but he didn't have a record to back that up.

And the voters in South Carolina and a lot of other states looked at Mitt Romney and said, who is this guy really? This time around that's not Mitt Romney's sales pitch, he's going there saying, I'm the guy who can beat Barack Obama.

I'm the guy with the business background. I can turn this economy around and that's a message not only is it more consistent, but fits better with his own biography.

LEMON: Yes, he is more focused now. He said -- your last line, but Romney is also a thing of the past. In 2012, the candidate has unmistakably improved.

SCHERER: That's right.

LEMON: I want to go on and talk about one of your colleagues, what he wrote there in the "Time" cover story on Romney. David Von Drehle argues says that, "The end result of Tea Parties, Twitter, and trillion-dollar deficits may be the ho-hum to re-enactment of the GOP's tried-and-true tradition of nominating the next guy in line."

Is that the case? If that's case, why has this GOP race gotten so bitter at times?

SCHERER: Well, all races are bitter especially in modern politics. I think you can look at the reverse way. What surprising is that to this day, there really has not been much of a negative ad campaign against Mitt Romney even though he's been the establishment frontrunner from the beginning.

They nominate the guy who lost the last time. The next time fury has been central to Romney's campaign from the beginning. I think when we look back at the history books of this, we'll be focusing lesson what made this cycle different in the primary, which is what we've talking about a lot of this year, all the debates, the sort of reality show circus of it all, and looking more at what make it is similar.

The Republican Party has to very conservative in who they pick even though in the moment it doesn't look like that, it could be very suspenseful and exciting.

But John McCain did get the nomination in 2008 after losing narrowly in South Carolina in 2000. You know, it happened with Ronald Reagan. The second time he ran. George Herbert Walker Bush. I mean, Bob Dole, this is how this party tends to work.

LEMON: Thank you, sir. Michael Scherer, "Time" magazine's White House correspondent and Pulitzer Prize winner as well. We can't leave that out. Thank you.

An Air Force cadet is charged in connection with the rape of a fellow cadet. Another is charged with trying to rape a fellow cadet and a third is charged with a rape of a non-cadet.

Three separate incidents, which come on the heels of a report showing sexual assault in the military's academy up 60 percent. Straight ahead, we go live to Colorado for the latest on this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Three cadets from the Air Force Academy have now been charged with sexual assault. These allegations coming at a time when the Department of Defense is acknowledging sexual attacks are getting worse at all of the military academies.

CNN's Jim Spellman is live in Denver for us. Jim, one of these cadets, he is not only being accused of sexual assault, but it sounds like he abused his power.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. His name is Robert Evanson. It's really disturbing to read the details that are in these charging documents. He's charged specifically, multiple accounts, the worst being forcibly holding another cadet down while raping her.

Very serious, also having an ongoing sexual relationship with another cadet. That alone violates their honor policy there and he sits on this honor board that they used to deal with smaller and fractions there on the campus.

He's also accused of using that position of power to convince another student to have sex with him so really disturbing series of charges against Robert Evanson -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, let's move on and talk about some of the other cadets from the documents. It looks like they took advantage of women who were under the influence.

SPELLMAN: A cadet named Kyle Cressy, yes, he is accused of trying -- attempting to rape a woman while she was intoxicated. That obviously goes against all the (inaudible) of the Air Force Academy.

And, a third, Steven Claxton is his name accused of a variety of other lesser sexual assaults just shy of rape on that. These are really -- they take honor so seriously at the academy, Don.

I've been able to visit down there. It's not like a college campus. You know, they wear their uniforms. They have their honor code in big steel letters on one of the buildings right around where the cadets live. So this is really having a big impact down there at the academy -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, absolutely. As I mentioned earlier, Jim, this is all happening as the military just released a report about more accounts of sexual assault in all of the military academies.

SPELLMAN: That's right, Don. This report says that last year 65 sexual assaults were reported at the three military academies. That's up from 41 incidents the year before. No real explanation for why this is going on here at the Air Force Academy.

They suggest that, look, they put in a lot of new systems to better handle these cases and now victims feel more comfortable coming forward unclear really if that is the case or not.

To address this, the Pentagon has enacted two new things. One, holding on to reporting longer to track it and second, the ability for victims to transfer very quickly if they've been involved in a sexual assault.

That's not clear, Don, whether they will have much impact because there's no place like the Air Force Academy to transfer to. This is not like any other military installation. So it's unclear really, Don, whether those measures will do much. But it's very troubling to see such a huge spike in just one year.

LEMON: Nice job as always. Jim Spellman, thank you very much.

The Iowa caucuses meant big bucks for Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. He raised a crazy amount of money since Tuesday. Coming up, we'll show you just how much.

Plus, how independent voters are key in the race to the White House. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, one of the questions pouring out of New Hampshire and you've heard us ask it before, whether the latest Republican challenger to frontrunner Mitt Romney is the real deal or the flavor of the month?

All right, insert the name now Rick Santorum, second place finisher in Iowa or possibly now the first place finisher depending on which set of numbers you believe.

Mark Preston following Santorum today -- miss you man. I haven't seen you in a long time. You look good. Listen, you're in Manchester right now.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: We'll get together. LEMON: We'll hang out because I'll be on the road with you guys in a bit here. Listen, I've got to tell you, yesterday I can't remember if I was sitting here in a commercial break or in a meeting and I said, what would happen -- it was so close -- if Santorum turned out to be the winner. So what's this we're hearing about the caucus votes in Iowa?

PRESTON: Well, so what we've heard in the last 24 hours is that there's a discrepancy right now about who actually won one of the counties in Iowa. (Inaudible) County, of course, is one of the counties in Iowa that, you know, of course, had to file their votes in.

And there's some discrepancy about who actually won the county. Now Mitt Romney was certified as the winner of the county. However, some people are saying that he might have gotten more votes than he actually deserved.

But I really need to break this down in very simple terms. The Iowa Republican Party says that they don't think that even if the votes were counted incorrectly that Mitt Romney would have lost the Iowa caucuses to Rick Santorum.

But really it doesn't matter because Mitt Romney only won by eight votes and many people think that Rick Santorum, by and large, won the Iowa caucuses. So it won't matter necessarily.

It's an interesting story line right now, Don and it really just shows you how crazy things get when we get to the heat of the campaign season.

LEMON: Yes, you're right. And as I said to the guy, the White House correspondent for "Time" magazine, I mean, Rick Santorum is a Cinderella story. He really is the one that's getting all the attention because of how well he did. So, Mark, what are your eyes and your gut telling you as to New Hampshire's response to Rick Santorum?

PRESTON: It's been great. You know, Rick Santorum, you wouldn't necessarily think would play very well in New Hampshire. His base really lies with social conservatives up here in New Hampshire.

While they are very conservative and there are a lot of social conservatives up here. They're really economic conservatives up here. A lot of libertarian philosophy. The fact is we've seen his poll numbers climbed from the single digits.

Now into the real low double digits just in the past week or so. Rick Santorum is starting to really talk about an economic message. I got to tell you what, Don, we all fully expect that Mitt Romney is going to win on Tuesday night.

So what are we looking for? We're looking to see who comes in second and who comes in third. Now Ron Paul will do very well up here too because of the libertarian philosophy that's really embraced up here in New Hampshire.

So even if Rick Santorum were to come in third place, that would be a huge win and it could be enough for him to catapult down to South Carolina.

Don, I got to tell you on Sunday, Rick Santorum is not going to be in New Hampshire. He's going to be in South Carolina campaigning down there even before the voters here in New Hampshire vote.

They'll go down there for the day and it's a really smart tactical move. We've seen Mitt Romney do that just yesterday. So they are toggling between states now -- Don.

LEMON: Mark Preston, thank you, sir. Always a pleasure.

Independent voters may well hold the key in Tuesday's New Hampshire Republican primary. It is a state known for its independence in the voting booth and elsewhere.

CNN's Dan Lothian is in Manchester for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the Republican presidential hopefuls, New Hampshire is the second stop on the road to the White House, but unlike the first stop in Iowa, independent voters who make up about 40 percent of the electorate are in the driver's seat.

Most come to the table with strong partisan views according to the University of New Hampshire's Andrew Smith.

ANDREW SMITH, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: Some of them are Democrats. Some of them are true independents. Most of them are really Republicans.

LOTHIAN: But Elizabeth Ossoff from New Hampshire's Institute of Politics says don't call them renegades.

ELIZABETH OSSOFF, NEW HAMPSHIRE'S INSTITUTE OF POLITICS: I wouldn't call them renegades as much as I would call them fiercely independent in the sense that they're going to make up their own minds.

LOTHIAN: What happened in Iowa or what the pundants predict doesn't necessarily sell in New Hampshire. Voters here relish the vetting process. Large town hall meetings are a kind of appetizer to the real meal, that up close encounter on Main Street.

But New Hampshire radio host, Paul Wescott says some of his listeners feel like some contenders have tuned them out.

PAUL WESCOTT, RADIO HOST: The candidates, they came. Some of them have spent a lot of time here.

LOTHIAN: Like Jon Huntsman, Mitt Romney, and early on Rick Santorum, but --

WESCOTT: It just didn't happen as much. The candidates kind of stayed away.

LOTHIAN: Their daily planners were packed with a lot of debates, visits to Iowa and national media interviews. In an election cycle where Republicans are having a difficult time rallying behind one candidate, some independent voters here are still scratching their heads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Republican field, I'm not too impressed.

LOTHIAN: Mitt Romney, the former governor from neighboring Massachusetts, has consistently maintained a 2:1 lead over his closest opponents, the clear frontrunner in the granite state. But Smith says it's not a warm embrace.

SMITH: Romney may not like it too much, but probably the guy with the best chance. So I think that's the kind of dynamic that's going on as well.

LOTHIAN: Former Senator Rick Santorum is getting a second look after his near victory in Iowa. Newt Gingrich is attacking the front-runner who cost him his fortunes in Iowa.

OSSOFF: I think it's dangerous to make predictions in New Hampshire. I really do and I think you have to wait until the last possible minute.

LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And make sure you put us on your calendar, don't forget, CNN's live team coverage of the New Hampshire primary begins on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

OK, this has got a lot of people talking. Tiger Woods' ex-wife is bulldozing her house. Up next, we'll show you why.

Plus, you have to see this video. It's crazy. A target tractor-trailer in an ice pond. Find out how it got there. Coming up, after a quick break, but first, I want to tell you about this.

The 2012 just getting started a couple days into it, the dealnews.com released its list of items that will cost you more money this year.

First up, airfare, American Express predicting the price for an economy seat will raise about 5 percent in 2012 and next, food prices going up. They rose 6 percent last year on higher wholesale prices. Gassing up your car won't be cheaper this year. Expect gas prices to go back up to $4 a gallon.

And then shipping, U.S. Postal Service will raise rates more than 4 percent this year and FedEx and UPS expected to do the same.

Finally, municipal fees, that's what you pay for everything from dog licenses, vehicle registration and even local police, probably be writing more tickets.

Sorry I depressed you, but there's some good news in this. Prices are going to go down. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I gave you the bad news before the break. I showed the list of items, which prices were going to rise in 2012 from dealnews.com, but here's good news now. Prices will be falling on some items this year. I want you take a look with me.

First up, wine. Retailers are slashing prices on bottles over 30 bucks. Next, car rentals with plenty of vehicles sitting and ideal on rental agency lots look for deep discounts this year.

Next, the iPad 2. Well, iPad 3 is rumored to hit store shelves sometime this year soon as a matter of fact. So watch out for some price touch on the popular iPad 2, especially refurbished models.

This one's good too, 3D TVs, slow sales coupled with new designs and more makers mean prices on these fancy TVs will plummet in 2012.

And finally the really big ticket items, homes. With home prices falling nearly 3 percent last year, don't expect that to change in 2012. Expect prices to stay low this New Year so now you know.

Let's talk about what's trending right now. Do you think you could be happy living in a $12 million mansion? Tiger Woods' ex-wife, Elin Nordegren certainly wasn't.

This big hole that you're about to see in the ground is where her enormous 9,000 square foot mansion used to stand in North Palm Beach, Florida. She bought it in March right after a $100 million divorce settlement with Woods.

TMZ is reporting that Nordegren demolished the mansion to build her dream house on that site. Supposedly every worker had to sign a confidentiality agreement. I'm joined now by cnn.com entertainment reporter, Lisa France.

LISA FRANCE, CNN.COM ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER : Thank you, Don Lemon.

LEMON: So I'm wondering, after the whole divorce came out and she had this image where people felt sorry for her, I'm wondering if this is going to change the way people look at her. Is she deserving of having so much money and she appears to be wasting it?

FRANCE: I don't think she cares. Plus, prices are going down. It was an old house. It was built in the 1930s. That thing had to come down. It had to.

LEMON: Really? I mean, 9 million, my gosh.

FRANCE: A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. And she's the baby ma. She has two kids. She's never going to want for anything.

LEMON: Look at where it is. I mean, property there is not cheap. It's beautiful.

FRANCE: It's gorgeous.

LEMON: It is gorgeous. Is she saying to Tiger, in your face, she took the $12 million and then use the money and just really sort of set it on fire?

FRANCE: Yes, I mean, I've burned old love letters from ex's --

LEMON: You don't burn dollars.

FRANCE: I don't burn dollars. If somebody gives $12 million, I might burn one and keep 11. Why not? It's a different world when you're a celebrity. It's not real life.

LEMON: Why and probably this is just a stop any craziness from happening in the beginning, why is everybody including construction workers, everybody at the house they have to sign confidentiality agreements.

FRANCE: Well, it's not just confidentiality about what you see, but also what you hear. Say she goes on a tangent with one of her girlfriends about Tiger and some of his alleged affairs or real affairs. I'm not alleging, she doesn't want them to run off and sell her story. It's a smart move.

LEMON: Of course, you're not judging, Lisa.

FRANCE: I never judge, Don Lemon.

LEMON: This led to an interesting discussion among our group today and we have Kobe Bryant and she's getting half and she got $100 million.

FRANCE: Yes.

LEMON: Do you -- I don't know. I guess, these rich wives deserve to get so much of their rich husband -- these wives who were not necessarily rich when they started with these guys --

FRANCE: Have you seen these women? They are very transactional relationships. Come on, if you're a celebrity and you have a lot of money --

LEMON: What do you mean transactional?

FRANCE: You marry a gorgeous woman, which the rest of the world is looking at and they get to, I guess, enjoy the lifestyle to which they have become accustomed.

LEMON: All right, I'm going to ask you this. So you marry a gorgeous man.

FRANCE: I did.

LEMON: Would you pay $100 million for him?

FRANCE: I'm not a celebrity. That's number one. But if he gave me a stable lifestyle behind the scenes, if I had 500 million, I may give him 100 million. Why is that wrong, Don Lemon?

LEMON: That's awesome. Happy New Year.

FRANCE: Happy New Year to you too. Good to see you.

LEMON: Good to see you.

You're not going to believe this video. I want you to take a look at something that talk about ice, an ice skid here. A tractor- trailer sinking in an icy creek in Monastelo, Minnesota.

A witness says the driver of this truck appear to lose control and plowed right out into the ice if I can get my mouth to work. Police say the driver managed to escape that, believe it or not. He has been released from the hospital, by the way.