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Search For Shipwreck Survivors Over; Gas Prices Could Hit $5 A Gallon In U.S.; Carnival Cruise Line's Other Serious Problems; Stephen Colbert Hijacks Cain Train; Sarah Palin Says Keep the S.C. Debates Going

Aired January 18, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Want to get you up to speed for this Wednesday, January 18th.

Bad news today from the shipwreck in Italy, the worst, really, for the families of people still missing. They have now stopped looking for survivors, and here's why.

The unstable ship, it is moving, it is shifting in the water. It is no longer safe for rescuers to keep going.

There is also something else. Even if they searching again, they say the chance of finding anyone alive is zero. Too much time in cold water, too, too cold. More than 20 people still unaccounted for.

Rescuers are blowing holes in the side of the ship to get where they think people might be located. They found five bodies yesterday. That made the confirmed death toll to 11.

Now, 4,000 people got off this massive ship after it hit the rocks and sank. The man at the controls that night is now under house arrest today. Prosecutors say they are speechless that he's even out of jail. They want to charge him with manslaughter and abandoning his post.

We also learned today that it might not be the first time that that same ship was dangerously close to that island. More on that in just a couple of minutes.

But first, listen to this passenger who told us today what it was like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE RYAN, SURVIVED SHIPWRECK: People's faces were just panicked, and they were trying to jump in. And they just started hitting people with anything they could -- the oars, the poles, trying to push people back, kept saying, "It's full, it's full, it's full," and just kept pushing. But people just kept persisting.

And that's really when the screaming just started, started on the bow, and everyone was screaming. And that's when they said, all right, we need to go, we need to get this down. And it was just heartbreaking to see people still not being able to find the ship, but then, again, we were kind of helpless just sitting in the boat knowing that our boat was already full.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We've got the very latest developments. We are live from the scene of the shipwreck. That's going to happen in just a minute.

But first, people in Seattle preparing for what is likely to be one of the largest snowstorms to hit the city in more than 60 years. Schools are going to shut down two hours early today. Drivers are being warned about the dangerous road conditions. This is the second major snowstorm to hit Seattle this week.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: A smoke bomb, firecracker, whatever it was, somebody threw a smoking object over the fence into the White House grounds. Now, members of the Occupy movement, they held a rally outside the White House last night. It is unclear -- no word on who actually threw the smoking object. The president and the first lady, they weren't home. They were out celebrating her birthday.

And if you've been trying to log in to Wikipedia this morning, you're out of luck. You probably tried, realized it's not happening. The online encyclopedia, it's one of several Web sites that is going dark today. It is part of a protest against an anti-piracy bill that is being fought over in D.C. right how.

Now, the bill it's called SOPA. What does it stand for? Stop Online Piracy Act. That's what it is.

Now, Hollywood is pushing for it, but sites from Google to Craigslist, they think that it could kill the Internet as we know it. Want to also mention as well, CNN's parent company, Time Warner, supports the legislation.

Mitt Romney trying to rally his supporters in South Carolina. That is happening this hour. He's resisting calls, however, from his opponents to release his tax returns, right away at least.

A Romney rally scheduled to get under way just a few minutes. It's in Spartansburg. Yesterday, Romney said he pays an income tax rate of about 15 percent, mostly on investment income.

The candidates hitting South Carolina again today. The state holds the first southern primary in just three days.

Besides Mitt Romney, several other candidates, they've got events over the next couple of hours. Rick Perry campaigning in Greer, South Carolina. That's happening this hour and again in the next hour. And then later, Rick Santorum, he's holding a town hall meeting in Laurens.

And right now we have got live pictures. Let's take a look here. This is Santorum at a Family and Freedom town hall. That is in Spartansburg, trying to rally his supporters there.

Pakistan gives a U.S. envoy the cold shoulder, telling Marc Grossman, don't bother to visit right now because it could fuel anti-American sentiment. This, the latest sign of bad blood between the two allies. Their strained relationship reached a new low in November, and that is when you may recall the U.S. air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Want to go back to Italy now, where they have now officially stopped looking for survivors. We have an update on this huge cruise liner that hit this the rocks, flooded wound up flat on its side. Most of the people on board, they were fortunate. They got off safely. But some did not.

Dan Rivers is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the salvage operation has been suspended since early this morning here on Giglio Island after rescuers again detected the movement of the Costa Concordia. They pulled everyone off and are still waiting, standing by, to see if they can get the divers back down.

They're determined to try and finish searching this enormous wreck for the missing 23 people. Eleven bodies so far have been confirmed as having been recovered.

Meanwhile, relatives of those who are missing are coming to Giglio, holding vigil, waiting for news. I spoke to one, Kevin Rebello, who is waiting for news of his brother Russel.

Are you beginning to come to terms with the possibility though that he may not have made it?

KEVIN REBELLO, CREW MEMBER'S BROTHER: It's too early to say that. It's only five days, and everything is possible.

Miracles do happen, and let's keep hope. That's the only thing I can at the moment, because I'm not here to lose hope. I've come all the way over here because I have hope and I know something definitely positive will come out of this.

RIVERS: The environmental impact of this wreck is also now weighing heavy on the authorities here. They've started to put up booms around the coast to prevent any spill of fuel, although there are about 2,300 tons, we're told on board. Amazingly, so far none has leaked, but we've been blessed with very benign, calm weather. They're concerned though that it would only take one winter storm to radically destabilize the wreck behind me and cause an environmental catastrophe.

Dan Rivers, CNN, on Giglio Island, Italy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney under attack for saying he pays around 15 percent tax rate, which is a lot lower than what many middle class families are paying. It has critics saying that he is out of touch with the American people.

So here is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. We want to know, should Romney tout his wealth as a political asset?

Carol Costello, she's joining us from Washington.

That would be a change here, but, you know, a lot of people, a lot of the politicians, very, very rich. They don't like to talk about it, they don't like to portray themselves that way.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. But, Suzanne, why not just own it?

I mean, Mitt Romney is a rich man, so rich, he cannot chase away those pictures of his $10 million house or his speaking fees, which added up to $374,000 in one year. I won't even get into that 15 percent in federal income tax thing.

Romney tries to downplay his wealth by wearing jeans and open-neck shirts, and talking awkwardly at times about things many political observers say he shouldn't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know what it's like to worry whether you're going to get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: Rick, I'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks? A $10,000 bet?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: I should also tell my story. I'm also unemployed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: Time will tell, but I anticipate that most likely, I'm going to get asked to do that around the April time period, and I'll keep that open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Wealthy Democratic candidates have appeared awkward, too. Remember that shot of John Kerry windsurfing? For many voters, the image of Kerry jiving off the coast smacked of elitism. The editor of "Fortune" magazine, Andy Serwer, has a novel political approach for wealthy candidates like Mitt Romney -- own it!

Look, America is a capitalist country. Money means success. Why not say, yes, I'm lucky, I came from a wealthy family and I became a successful businessman? I'm a devout, charitable guy. I am living the American dream and I want to help you do that, too.

Would such a daring strategy work? That's what I want to know today.

So the "Talk Back" question: Should Romney tout his wealth as a political asset? Should Romney tout his wealth as a political asset?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

MALVEAUX: I don't know, Carol. I think that could work for anybody if you say it the way you did. You know? I'm with you.

COSTELLO: I just wish I were as wealthy as Mitt Romney.

MALVEAUX: And they're all millionaires. They're multimillionaires. The president himself a millionaire. You know, they've all got a lot of money.

COSTELLO: Yes, why not just embrace it and say, hey, I'm the living embodiment of the American dream, I'm a rich guy, and now I can help you get rich, too?

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Let's see how that goes over, Carol.

COSTELLO: OK.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: They have now called off the search for survivors in Italy. The wreck of the cruise liner began shifting and moving today after rescuers blew several holes in it.

Just listen to this.

The wreck of the cruise liner, it began shifting, moving. And those holes, you can see that they blew into it. It does not look like anyone is still alive.

Divers found five bodies yesterday. And we asked an underwater recovery expert what those scuba divers are going through on that shipwreck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WALT BUTCH HENDRICK, PRESIDENT, LIFEGUARD SYSTEMS: You start tying a line off on the outside of the vessel. Then that will be run with me, attached to me, into the first compartment we're going to enter. And every time I make a turn, I'm going to do a tie-off. So what ends up happening is, at no point do I compromise my safety line that's going to take me back out.

Right now what we've done, if you will, is that I came in straight into -- from the tie-off point outside. I'm not going to make a complete 90-degree left turn to go further up into the wreck. To do that, I can't just let my line, my tracer, I can't allow it to make turns around pillars where it can get caught. So what we've done is we've gone directly interior, straight, tied off, and now I make a perfect left-angle turn at 90 to go straight into the next compartment.

Looking at the most recent pictures from CNN on TV, the visibility right now inside the ship in Italy is really quite nice. They have good visibility until they really get deeper in, where they lose all their light.

I'm sure they're getting ready -- as the real commercial crews get in there, they'll start setting this. Anybody who is going into a compartment or down companion ways that they cannot see outside the ship, we've silted this out on purpose just so you get an opportunity to see how fast one second everything is clear and, in a matter of seconds, where the physical motion of the whole place is silting out.

And the depth that the cruise ship is in, some of that is probably going to be done in 15, 20 feet of water. So, if they take their time and relax, they could easily be in there for an hour or so. And if they're on surface supply, they can be in there for two or three hours in those depths.

And it might be, I've got to go into the bathroom section, I've got to go into the bedroom section. They might have had a sitting room section. I mean, usually you think about coming in right, working right, coming out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Chad, you and I have talked a lot about whether or not we think it's possible that there sill could be survivors on board the ship, and they have suspended now the search.

Do you agree? Do you think that there's still no chance here?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I don't know what the search has been like, to be honest, but unless they've searched every dry cabin and every dry room, which means not water, full of air -- and I don't know how you do that when the ship is listed like this. You have all these cabins up here, way up high, to check through.

So, unless they've checked all of those dry spaces, I think it's premature to say that. And I know we have two Americans that were on board, and they still want hope. That whole family wants hope. And I still think that there are spots in that ship that people could still be alive.

MALVEAUX: Those are -- you just can't get enough of seeing these pictures here. I mean, they're so amazing. But we have actually new pictures now from space where we can see the ship. Is that right?

MYERS: Yes. We have a new picture from Digital Globe, and you'll notice a white line that extends from the ship all the way along the shore. And that white line is actually the orange set of buoys.

Go to that Digital Globe image that we're going to go to.

It's black and white, it's not an amazing high-res image like this photo because it's from space, literally. Oh, the picture is not up.

You know what? If we want to walk -- I can't walk. It's crashed over there, too.

There is a boom that they put out to stop any oil leaking, from coming out. We talked about this yesterday, how much fuel is still on this ship.

This ship was only in the water ready to go on a seven day cruise. It was only cruising for two hours. So there's all of this fuel on board that they're going to have to try to pump out.

That oil now, that fuel, is getting cold and it's becoming jelly. It's going to become increasingly hard to get that oil -- that fuel off that ship. And there is going to be -- it's going to take at least two to four weeks to get that oil off, otherwise there's going to be an ecological disaster around that island, as well.

MALVEAUX: And does the weather -- does the temperature of the water impact that at all when you're talking about oil? It's now, like, jelly kind of consistency. Does that slow the down the process of having that all leak and spill?

MYERS: Well, that's a good point, because the gel wouldn't leak as much as a liquid, right? But there were no ruptures in the hull at all.

In the oil tanks, there are two lines oil tanks here. So the fuel tanks are not leaking. That's good news. Even though they're tipped on the side, they are still not leaking.

And this is the image that we were trying to get to from before. The one on the computer has crashed. Now we have it back.

There's the ship on its side. That's how close it is to the rock. That ship is 1,000 feet long.

So you have to realize that those smokestacks are less than 100 feet from shore. So people that actually went in the water to swim to shore didn't have a long swim, unless they got off the ship on the other side and they had to swim all the way around the bow or the stern, back on to those rocks. We know at least a couple dozen people did get in the water and swim to safety. That's a little bit crazy at 57 degrees, but they made it. We know that for a fact.

And that white line, it kind of looks almost like a small little rope, I guess, but it's much bigger than that. It's an orange buoy system keeping the oil, any leaking oil, off the shore there of that just pristine island that they have.

MALVEAUX: And what else does this image show from space? It's rather unique, because you can see the whole cruise liner there on its side.

MYERS: You can. And I wish -- we are going to try -- this is from Digital Globe Imaging.

We're going to ask them to try to take a picture, an image that's about 1,000 feet farther to the south where this ship actually hit the rock, because although there had been reports today that this ship was closer at times, where the rock jetty was, this ship has never been closer. We're going to get that in very big detail in the noon hour.

I have brand new graphics. We have satellite images from there. It's going to be a great segment.

MALVEAUX: All right. Great. Looking forward to it, Chad.

All right. Thanks.

All right. If you think gas prices are high now, you've got to hang on to your wallet. There are some analysts that say we could see $5 a gallon by spring. Find out why in a live report.

And as gas prices go up, so do the age of cars that are actually on the road. The "L.A. Times" reporting that the average age of our clunkers is the highest it's ever been, in part because most of us, well, we haven't been financially stable enough to get a new car. The average age of the American clunker up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. So how long have you owned your car? If you said 10 years or more, you're in good company.

The "L.A. Times" reporting that the average vehicle on U.S. roads today, 10.8 years old. It's the highest it's ever been, and analysts say it's because a lot of folks can't afford to buy a new car.

There's good news, of course. New car sales starting to jump because of pent-up demand.

Well, you might feel like you need to take out a loan just to pay for gas these days. So hang on. Gas prices already the highest on record for January. The analysts say they could hit $5 a gallon in some areas, and we're talking about by Memorial Day.

Paul Vercammen, he's at a gas station in Burbank. You're look at, what, $5 a gallon, Paul? Why is this happening?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, it's not happening quite yet, Suzanne, although California prices among the highest in the nation right now at $3.70. You can see that the customers that come to this station are looking for a bargain because it's $3.55 here. The national average is $3.37.

What this really does is have a dramatic impact on small business owners, Suzanne, because you can imagine, anybody who is a painter or a laborer of some sort, and has to get to work each day by driving to the job, or driving to make free estimates, well, they get pounded hard.

We talked to one man who is in the business of installing granite countertops, and he is really getting pounded right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost $100 to fill up the tank. And before you know it, here comes Wednesday or Thursday morning, I'm putting another $50 to $100 in the tank. And it's the stop-and-go driving, the zigzag, the gridlock no matter where you have to drive in L.A. And unfortunately, we're having to go out of the area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And to your point about the clunkers that you made earlier, Suzanne, he says he would love to get rid of that clunker car and get a new truck, but right now, because the gas prices are eating into his profits, he can't afford to get a fuel-economy car.

Also, you might be asking about California, why so high here. Thirty- five cents a gallon at the pump and tax, and also because of our pollution control standards, it costs more to produce gas here. So there you have it, a double-edged sword -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes, I used to have a clunker, and everybody used to tease me about it all the time. And I said, hey, you know, it runs, it gets me where I need to go, so I'm going to drive this thing into the ground. And that's exactly what I did.

And tell me why you think prices are so much higher on the West Coast, in California, than other areas of the country.

VERCAMMEN: Well, a lot of it deals with transportation. But here in California, again, we go to that tax per gallon.

Washington State has the highest in the nation in that tax per gallon. So a lot of it is state to state. And as I said before, if you have certain pollution control standards -- for example, gas in California can only be produced in California to meet the pollution standards. And the cost of that is very high, and there isn't that many refineries to produce it, so it's also a supply and demand issues.

So, there are many factors at play here. And obviously, who gets hurt? These small business owners and people who rely on their cars every day to get around in the area of greater Los Angeles and throughout California -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And driving around there is so important. Everybody has got a car. They're trying to get around over there.

Paul, thanks. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

Getting back to our main story, the capsized cruise ship off the coast of Italy. You are watching the chaos. The crew, the captain now accused of abandoning ship. It all begs the question, who is ultimately going to be held accountable for this mess?

I'm going to talk to somebody who knows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Now, five days since the cruise liner capsized off the coast of Italy, about two dozen people are still missing. Experts say that the chances of finding more survivors, it's slim. It isn't even the first time that this cruise liner has been in trouble.

Our Lisa Sylvester checks out the record.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Costa Concordia is owned by Carnival, the world's largest passenger ship company. Taking a cruise can be an affordable way to visit multiple countries, but attorney James Walker, who has been involved in litigation against the cruise line industry, says there have been an increasing number of accidents and mishaps.

JAMES WALKER, MARITIME LAWYER: If you go back just over the past two or three years, you'll see about 15 major groundings, collisions and fires. There have been a number of cruise ship fires in the Carnival fleet. Probably, the most spectacular fire was the fire on the Star Princess.

SYLVESTER: The Star Princess, in 2006, operated by Carnival, and carrying more than 260 passengers, caught fire. One passenger died and more than 10 injured. The blaze left a blackened hole on the side of the ship.

These pictures show another ship, the Carnival Ecstasy, engulfed in flames in 1998, a blaze that began in the crew laundry room. More recently, the ship Splendor lost power after an onboard fire. 3300 passengers left stranded and forced to dine on Spam luncheon meat until the U.S. Navy air-dropped food.

Carnival in a statement says, "Safety is our number one priority and we have an excellent record of safe operation throughout our company's history. All officers and crew undergo comprehensive regular training, which meets or exceeds all regulatory requirements. Every ship undergoes periodic inspections as mandated by the U.S. Coast Guard." But cruise ships have grown from mere boats to virtually floating cities, able to accommodate upwards of 3,000 to 4,000 passengers each trip. And more ships are being added to the fleet every year.

Jim Staples, maritime consultant, says maybe that's contributing to the problems.

CAPT. JIM STAPLES, MARITIME CONSULTANT: When you start putting 3300, 3400 people, that's a lot of people to be responsible for. And you might want to start looking at making these ships not to so big and having so many people on board.

SYLVESTER (on camera): Carnival stock is down about 14 percent on concerns about the costs associated with the crash and worries that people in the short term will stop booking cruises.

Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: So clearly, it's a wake-up call for the cruise line industry.

I want to bring in our legal analyst, Sunny Hostin.

Sunny, we know that victims of this disaster, it's confusing here because it's taking place in Italy. Do they -- can they sue in U.S. courts since it's owned by carnival which is an American company?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's right. And Carnival is Miami based. That's been the question I think on every single lawyers' minds. Can these suits be wrought in the United States? That is very unlikely because, if you look when you have your ticket and you look at the fine print, it is very clear that are little contracts written into the tickets that state that lawsuits must be brought in the courts of Genoa.

So sometimes there's an exception if the -- if the voyage is to U.S. ports from another country. But that is not the case here. So we will not be seeing lawsuits in the United States. Of course, many people have challenged the ticket, but have been unsuccessful. People say you can sue for anything anywhere. Yes, we'll see lawsuits because when you see the high stakes cases like this, lawyers will go for it. Are they going to be successful? The case law doesn't support them.

MALVEAUX: What about the ship's captain. We know he could be facing charges of manslaughter, ship wreck. But he's on house arrest now. You have 1 people who died. More than twice that full who are still missing. What is the likelihood here that he is going to get jail time, that he'll be charged with anything?

HOSTIN: I think it's very, very likely. I think we're somewhat familiar with the Italian judicial system, right, because of the Amanda Knox case. It's a vigorous system. He is looking at manslaughter and abandoning ship. That in and of itself, the abandoning ship count, opens him up to about 12 years in prison.

And so as you mentioned, we have 11 known dead at this point and many people are pointing the finger at him. They're saying this is the result of human error, this nautical fly-by that he did to apparently salute the inhabitants of the island. So my sense is that while he's on house arrest, he is in no way, shape or form going to be absolved of this tragedy.

MALVEAUX: Do we have any idea of the time table that he could be brought back and charged?

HOSTIN: Certainly, they have a year to keep him, to hold him while they're investigating this. The judge gave every indication that she's just sort of waiting for the rescue efforts to be done until she decides whether or not he should be remanded to jail. So I think we're going to see something pretty quickly because there are reports now that all of the above-water cabins have been checked and there are no signs of life. And so my sense is we're going to see the Captain Schettino answer charges shortly.

MALVEAUX: Sunny, thank you very much.

Comedian Stephen Colbert hijacked the Cain train. That's right. Jeanne Moos will explain why a vote for Cain could actually be a vote for Colbert in South Carolina.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: In South Carolina, a vote for Herman Cain could be a vote for Stephen Colbert. That's right. He's hijacked the Cain train. He's urging people to vote for Cain even though Cain dropped out of the presidential race.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How did a comedian and a pizza CEO-turn-politician become one?

STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN, COLBERT REPORT: Anybody who shares my values can show it by voting for Herman Cain.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: It's the latest Stephen Colbert caper, even more cunning than his decision to explore his own possible candidacy.

COLBERT: For the possible of the United States of South Carolina. I'm doing it.

(APPLAUSE)

MOOS: But how to get on the ballot?

(on camera): Problem. It's too late to get on the ballot and write-ins aren't allowed. Solution. Herman Cain is already on the ballot though he's dropped out of the race. So take his place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD NARRATIVE: There is one name on the ballot that stands for true American-imity -- Herman Cain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: Colbert's super PAC produced a vote-Cain commercial and he used his show to exhort the fans and young people of the Internet to --

COLBERT: Tell the world how much you love Herman Cain.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: South Carolina has an open primary. Democrats and Independents could vote for Cain. And Colbert-friendly web sites were buzzing with Colbert-Cain fever.

So could the commentator impact South Carolina's real primary?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Short answer is no. We may see a bump. But I think the serious point is that sometimes it takes satire to tell the truth in a spin saturated world.

MOOS: Colbert got a chilly reception when he appeared on video as what was billed as a cafe mom town hall.

COLBERT: Mom?

MOOS: full of South Carolinian mothers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of you want him to run? Applaud.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many don't want him to run? Applaud.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's rude. He mocks.

MOOS: But another mom said she never knew what a super PAC was until she watched the Colbert report satirizing super PACS.

For the uninitiated comedians like Colbert --

AVLON: They become the gateway drug to politics.

MOOS: We wonder what Herman Cain thinks about Colbert stealing his electoral identity, but he didn't return our calls.

Remember what Cain said the day he dropped out of the presidential race is this. HERMAN CAIN, (R), FORMER GODFATHER'S PIZZA CEO & FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not going to be silenced and I'm not going away.

MOOS: He's not going away if Stephen Colbert can help him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AD NARRATIVE: Send them a message. Vote Herman Cain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOOS: May the best smile win. Make that the slowest.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Sarah Palin is putting in her two cents. We'll tell you who she wants to see win the South Carolina primary and why.

Also, the cruise ship disaster in Italy hits home in Minnesota. How a community is holding out hope for a missing couple.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: She flirted with the idea of running for president. Now Sarah Palin tells us who she would pick on Saturday's South Carolina primary?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH PALIN, (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR & FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I had to vote in South Carolina, in order to keep this thing going, I'd vote for Newt. And I would want this to continue, more debates, more vetting of candidates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We'll see if that actually happens.

Paul Steinhauser, live, from the campaign trail in Charleston, South Carolina.

Paul, I don't know if it's a surprise or not to the Gingrich campaign, but are they reacting at all to Palin's endorsement here?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's not a formal endorsement there, but the Gingrich campaign very excited about what she said. Newt Gingrich himself about an hour and a half ago speaking to reporters in Winnsboro, South Carolina, called the former Alaska governor's comments very helpful.

Suzanne, let's be honest, Sarah Palin still very influential among Tea Party activists and social conservatives and there's a lot of those voters on the Republican side right here in South Carolina. When Gingrich was at that news event earlier this morning talking to reporters, he also made some news, talking specifically about his taxes. As you know, Mitt Romney has been in the spotlight on whether he will or won't release his tax returns. And also that he pays a 15 percent tax rate.

Well, here's what Newt Gingrich said this morning about his tax rate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can confirm that I pay the 31 percent rate. And although, let me be clear, the 21st Century Contract with America at newt.org has an optional 15 percent flat rate for every American.

So my goal is not to raise --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not just Mitt Romney?

GINGRICH: So my goal is not to raise Mitt Romney's taxes. It's to let everybody pay Mitt Romney's rate. So I'm not going to criticize Romney. I'm just going to say, shouldn't we all have the option of a flat tax at the same rate that he was paying. But we do know, we've gone through this three times now to make sure. I paid 31 percent rate. We're pulling together the documents. We hope to get it out sometime tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Suzanne, I bet we'll hear more about taxes tomorrow night. Right behind me, that's the North Charleston Coliseum where the Gingrich, Romney and the other candidates will debate at our CNN Southern Republican Presidential Debate -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: We're looking forward to that, Paul. And I know this is one of those questions people love to talk about and speculate. I don't suppose that Sarah Palin will jump in the race, but some people say it's not too late if she wanted to. There's no indication that will happen.

STEINHAUSER: All right, no indication it will happen. I think her time is over. And what will be a big deal is if she does make a formal endorsement in this race -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Paul, looking forward to tomorrow.

Tomorrow, just two days before the South Carolina primary. Contenders debating the issues. The CNN Southern Republican Presidential Debate right here on CNN tomorrow night at 8:00 eastern.

So we're about three weeks into the New Year. How's your resolutions going? One of the most popular promises folks make, get out of debt.

Felicia Taylor here with some of the ways to cut down on your credit cards.

Felicia, I just try to pay, pay, pay as soon as you get those bills. Pay as much as possible. That's really tough, though.

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. According to a new report from CreditKarma.com, consumers never single state will slash their credit card debt last year, so that's the good news. Credit card debt fell by about 11 percent and the average balance dropped to $6576. That is a big amount to face every single month.

We spoke to the Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com, and she told us that when it comes to your credit score, credit card debt and other so-called revolving debt can actually do some very serious damage. So you got to be careful about how much debt you actually hold on to these credit cards because that goes against you moving forward.

MALVEAUX: And is there a way that's better in terms of closing down your credit cards?

TAYLOR: It's funny, you'd think if you were going to shut down all of your credit cards that your score would go up, but that's not the case. Lynette told us that it will usually have the opposite effect. Why? Because your credit store is partly based on your credit utilization rate, the actual fact that you can pay off that debt. That's the amount of credit that you charged versus the amount of credit that you have available.

Lynette also recommends that you hold on to the card with the largest available credit. You should also space out your cancellations to avoid a larger hit on your credit score. And because the length of your credit history affects your credit score, hang on to your oldest cards. That's important.

MALVEAUX: And there are a lot of credit cards out there with different kinds of promises. So, Felicia, we'll bring you back and talk a little bit about what to look for when actually opening a new card.

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MALVEAUX: We're talking credit cards. A lot of different ones with all kinds of offers. So which one is actually the right one you should choose for you?

Felicia Taylor is back to explain/

What should we consider when opening a new card?

TAYLOR: Yes, Suzanne. It's important to remember that one size doesn't fit all. Not every credit card is appropriate. And Lynnette Khalfani-Cox again cautioning against accepting the first offer that you find. You really need to look and think about how you're going to use the card. Use sites like cardratings.com and find a card that fits your spending and payment habits. The cards that offer perks also probably come with higher interest rate. So if you can't pay off that balance every month, you may want to steer clear of those cards.

If you rack up purchases and can pay your bill in full, those rewards cards may actually work better for you. Finally, she recommends staying away from store cards. Stick to the top-tier ones like a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express. Remember, with American express, you are obligated to pay in full every month.

MALVEAUX: I always get suckered into the store cards. They makes these offers, you fill out the forms.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: You give them up later. But they always seem like such a good deal.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: All right, Lisa, good to see you.

SYLVESTER: 5 percent off your first purchase.

MALVEAUX: Gets you every single time, right? Gets me every single time.

See you.

We've been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question: Should Mitt Romney tout his wealth as a political asset?

He's holding a rally in Spartanburg, South Carolina. These are some live pictures. It's a grassroots rally. He's talking about jobs and the economy, trying to rally support there before the big primary.

Carol, you've got the responses of folks up ahead. All of these guys are millionaires, if not multimillionaires. So, I don't know, maybe he should own it? What do you think?

COSTELLO: Maybe he should own it. That's the "Talk Back" question. He's not talking about how rich he is in South Carolina today.

(LAUGHTER)

But here are the responses from our Facebook friends. Should candidates tout their wealth - use it as a political asset?

Michael says, "I would like them all to tout it. Tell the Americans how they can make millions by flapping their lips."

This from Terry. "Touting his wealth will only further prove how out of touch he is with the public and his inability to relate to 99 percent."

This from Spybaby. "Yes, own it. Our world would be better if everyone would be honest about where they stand, especially our politicians. They all need to pump their own gas so they know how much it actually costs to fill their limousines"

This from Corey, "Real men tout their principles."

And from Michael, "Shame on the successful."

Please keep the conversation going. Facebook.com/carolCNN. Facebook.com/carolCNN. I'll be back with you in about 15 minutes.

MALVEAUX: It's really different this go-around, don't you think, Carol, with the Occupy Wall Street movement and how that's swept across the country, that people are actually really talking about this and focusing on the 99 percent and the 1 percent, and how that's really changed the way people are presenting themselves, even the rich?

COSTELLO: Even the rich. And, of course, there's that accusation that the Democrats are using class warfare to beat up on the Republicans, and that will be a big factor when the race is whittled down to the two candidates, one Democrat and one Republican.

MALVEAUX: All right, Carol. Thanks. See you in a little bit.

A couple from Minnesota is missing. They were on the Italian cruise line when it sank a few days ago. And people in their home town are not giving up hope. We are there.

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MALVEAUX: A man and wife from Minnesota are two of the 23 people still missing after the wreck of the Italian cruise ship. Even though officials have called off the search, the couple's family, their friends, they are not giving up hope.

Ted Rowlands reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Friends say Jerry and Barb Heil were excited about their 16-day Italian vacation, which included a cruise and a visit to the Vatican.

DR. LARRY ERICKSON, FRIEND: They have been saving up for this both this time and energy and money to take this trip. It's a once in a lifetime kind of trip. They were pretty excited about it

ROWLANDS: Devout Christians, the Heils were at church almost every day, attending mass and volunteering. Jerry, who is retired, teaches religious education. The Heils were among the group of 29 initially reported missing from the cruise ship disaster in Italy.

DUANE JABAS, FRIEND: It's just so hard to take and put it into words. The emptiness that so many of us feel. ROWLANDS: The Heils have four grown children. The family launched this web page as a way to update the public as they anxiously await news.

SARAH HEIL, DAUGHTER OF THE HEILS (voice-over): My mother never traveled much until after my dad retired. So they have been going a lot of places and I was really happy for them because they deserved to go on this awesome trip that they had planned.

ROWLANDS: At the church, a 24-hour prayer vigil of hope has been established.

ERICKSON: Hope is a fascinating term so we're praying for them knowing we can't control the situation. Of course we want them to come out fine, as we would everybody.

ROWLANDS (on camera): Jerry is 69 years old. Barb is 70 years old. The facts of this case clearly don't lead themselves to a lot of optimism. However, the family and the folks here at the church say they are still hopeful.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)