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Huntsman Dropping Out of the Race; 2 Americans Missing After Cruise Wreck; Fighting off Foreclosure; Siege in Syria; Suze Orman's Money Advice
Aired January 15, 2012 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Missing at sea. New information on the Italian cruise ship that toppled over after hitting shore. Two Americans among those still missing. And the ship's captain under arrest, defending himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We shouldn't have had this contact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: In Syria, a city under siege.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyday, every morning, shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are killing us!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The damage, the cries for help. They claim their government is out to kill them. CNN's Nic Robertson with an exclusive story.
To the rescue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What does this now mean for you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will be able to pay my mortgage every month on time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got to go back to the basics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Solving the mortgage crisis from a very unlikely savior. Could he help save your home? We find out this hour. That and more right here, right now on CNN.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us. We're going to begin this newscast with breaking news tonight. A major shake-up in the Republican battle for president. He said he had a ticket to ride after finishing third in New Hampshire, but the trip is now over for Jon Huntsman. A senior campaign official tells CNN that Huntsman is dropping out of the race for president and here's a detail that you heard first on CNN. He plans to endorse Mitt Romney.
CNN's political reporter Peter Hamby broke this news for us. He joins us now.
Peter, when is the official announcement?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: The official announcement will be tomorrow here in Myrtle Beach at the Sheraton Hotel, where there is a big GOP debate sponsored by the South Carolina Republican Party. But the official endorsement, Don, will be here. He is going to endorse Governor Romney.
A campaign official tells me the reason for this, why they are getting behind Governor Romney is that they believe he is the one true candidate who can fix the economy. Of course, Jon Huntsman is sort of playing in the same lane in the Republican primary as Governor Romney on that moderate sort of establishment side of the primary.
So, this makes a lot of sense. There's traditionally been a little bit of friction between the Huntsman and Romney families. The Romney and Huntsman staffs did not like each other at all, but you can see the sort of establishment getting in line behind Mitt Romney with this endorsement -- Don.
LEMON: And what's interesting, Peter, is that earlier today, South Carolina's largest newspaper, it's called "The State" endorsed him. Here's what they said. The editorial board praised him and said -- it called him the essential values candidate. He has the values that drive his candidacy, honor and old-fashioned decency and pragmatism. And now this.
HAMBY: Yes. It's pretty interesting on the same day "The State" paper, which is the largest newspaper in South Carolina, endorsed him that he would do this, maybe wait an extra day after that.
The symbolism is important. Again, the entire Republican universe will be here tomorrow. There will be tons of television cameras for Huntsman to do this.
This South Carolina angle is kind of interesting. I can tell you that after he finished third in the New Hampshire primary, there are a lot of Republicans in this state who were pretty surprised that he would come down here and campaign.
He frankly does not have very much support at all. He has no television ads in this state. And he was kind of camped out on the coast where you had some moderate Republican voters. But he was not really catching on down here, Don.
So, it probably makes a lot of sense for him to drop out. If he does want to run again in 2016, it made sense for him probably to come down here, possibly lay a little bit of groundwork in South Carolina to appeal to some voters that he will need again if he does decide to run for president, again, down the road.
But again, dropping out of the Republican presidential race tomorrow. A much ballyhooed entry into the race this year. Barack Obama's former ambassador to China. So, this is kind of whimper to end that big entrance to the campaign -- Don.
LEMON: Peter Hamby, the first of the breaking news on CNN. Thank you very much for your reporting tonight, sir.
I want to go now to CNN's John King.
And it's interesting, John, because you are hosting a CNN Republican debate in South Carolina on Thursday. Guess who will not be at that podium. This certainly changes things there and in this race as well.
JOHN KING, ANCHOR, "JOHN KING USA": It certainly does, Don, and good evening.
And Peter's reporting makes an interesting point. Remember, the calculation in South Carolina, let's look at the here and now, if Jon Huntsman is getting 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent, 5 percent, I'm going to call it to Mitt Romney's left. The establishment, more moderate Republicans.
You tend to find them along the coast in South Carolina when you have Gingrich, Santorum, Perry to Romney's right. Maybe Ron Paul to Romney's right. Ron Paul, a little more hard to characterize.
Jon Huntsman made a basic calculation here. Let's be honest. If you look at the polling, he is doing miserable in South Carolina. He is not going to win the state next Saturday. And so, if he wants to run in 2016, as Peter notes, this is the chance to -- man, he's had a tough relationship with Mitt Romney, the staff, as Peter notes, had even a tougher relationship, is to try to get a little bit of goodwill in the party, a little bit of leverage and to maybe take a very small slice.
Whatever Jon Huntsman was going to get in the South Carolina primary, it's a good bet that 70 percent, 80 percent of it comes out of Mitt Romney, whether 1 percent, 2 percent, 3 percent, 4 percent. So by endorsing him now and getting out of the race now, Governor Romney only has to worry about the votes coming out of the right.
So, it's a goodwill gesture by Governor Huntsman if the calculation that he is about to be embarrassed next Saturday, just try to get something out of this. And I think, as Peter notes, more than anything else, it's an effort to -- if he comes back in 2016, establishment Republicans will say the man did the right thing at the right time.
LEMON: John King. We will leave it there for now, but more in this broadcast. Thank you very much, John. And remember to tune in to CNN Thursday night. John will be hosting. You're going to hear the candidates in their own words. The "CNN-SOUTHERN REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE DEBATE" comes your way 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Again, our John king will be hosting that debate for you. Make sure you tune in.
We want to go now to our other major story tonight. Two Americans among the missing after their cruise ship ran aground on the Italian coast. Rescuers are working through the night to find them and more than a dozen others who may be trapped inside the world of the Costa Concordia. The ship's 1500 cabins are now a deadly tilted maze, many of them flooded with water. Conditions aren't making the search any easier.
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LUCIANO RONCALLI, ITALIAN NATIONAL FIRE DEPARTMENT: Our operators working in very, very bad conditions. It's cold, of course. It's dark. During the day and the night is the same situation. It's always dark. They work with a small light from their helmets. The people are working until we are sure that no person is missing and so on. So we will keep on working.
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LEMON: Well, the company that owns the ship is pointing the finger right at the ship's captain for allowing the giant boat to run aground on an island off the coast.
CNN received a statement from the Costa Cruises, which reads in part, "While investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master, Captain Francesco Schettino, which resulted in these grave consequences."
The captain is under arrest. He could face charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship, but he is defending himself. More on that in just a moment.
First, I want to tell you about the death toll, now stands at 5 after cruise found two elderly people dead inside, life vests still strapped around their bodies. Rescue crews did pull out a South Korean couple who were trapped for more than 24 hours. They're newlyweds on perhaps the worst honeymoon of all time.
CNN's Dan Rivers took a boat from the island out to the ship and gives us some of the closest images yet of the destruction.
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DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With an open gash running the length of her port side, the Costa Concordia looks like it has been gutted by a giant fisherman's blade. The cruise liner is lying forlornly on the shore of Isla del Giglio, dwarfing the town behind it.
We were taken on a tour of the wreck by local driver Aldo Baffigi and shown a reef he thinks the Costa hit, one he swears is on every chart. ALDO BAFFIGI, LOCAL DIVER: There is no one rock over here, which is not on the chart.
RIVERS (on camera): Every rock here is on the chart?
BAFFIGI: Every one, every one. That's why, I think, all the possibility should be only that one.
RIVERS (voice over): He is planning to dive to see if there traces of paint on the reef from the ship's hull. But the ship's captain, who could face criminal charges, insists he wasn't too close.
FRANCESCO SCHETTINO, COSTA CONCORDIA CAPTAIN (through translator): The nautical chart was marked just as water, some 100 to 150 meters from the rocks. And we were about 300 meters from the shore, more or less. We shouldn't have had this contact.
RIVERS: But officials running the rescue operation disagree, suggesting the ship came too close as the crew wanted to wave to friends ashore.
CAPT. COSIMO NICASTRO, ITALIAN COAST GUARD SPOKESMAN: We know that the ship was close to the island.
RIVERS (on camera): Too close to the island?
NICASTRO: Yes.
RIVERS: As the frantic search for survivors goes on behind me, a picture emerging of the chaos on board the Costa Concordia as panic spreads through the passengers who were desperately trying to scramble ashore.
(voice over): The ship's U.S. owner, Carnival Corporation, says it's still trying to figure out what led to the accident.
This was what it was like in the dark, cold chaos as passengers fled the Costa Concordia in life jackets, battling against gravity to get out.
NANCY LOFARO, CRUISE SHIP SURVIVOR (through translator): The life boats were not upside down. They were actually slanted and that made it hard to get on them because of that.
RIVERS: These photos were taken by American passengers Amanda and Brandon Warrick as they tried to escape.
BRANDON WARRICK, CRUISE SHIP SURVIVOR: We were one of the last ones, pretty much the chaos happened for everybody to get on the life boats first. And we'd -- I mean, more or less, we just didn't get there early enough for whatever. It was just so crowded and there was no room for us. And, yes, we just ended up waiting the last maybe few people. We were just holding on to the railing, trying not to fall.
RIVERS: Korean honeymooners Han and Jung Kideok were rescued after more than 24 hours trapped aboard. JUNG KIDEOK, CRUISE SHIP SURVIVOR (through translator): At first, we were very scared and as time went by our fear grew and grew. We lived with the hope of being able to survive this ugly thing and, above all, with the strength of being near the one you love. We did not get hurt.
RIVERS: Even though the search and rescue operation isn't over, already it's clear this accident will result in litigation and criminal prosecutions. The death toll remains uncertain with passengers still missing. Now, everyone is wondering how on earth this massive ship came so close to this treacherous shore and how many more bodies will be recovered from the wreck of the Costa Concordia.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Isla del Giglio, Italy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Coming up here on CNN, more on our breaking news -- Jon Huntsman dropping out of the race tomorrow, CNN confirming that.
Also, right now, millions of Americans are struggling to hold on to their homes. Up next, meet a man who is working to change that, one family at a time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: There are few things scarier that living in hear of losing your home. Unfortunately, many of those facing foreclosure, who tried working with the lenders, got nowhere. But in Atlanta, one man is changing the game and helping change the lives of countless families. CNN's Deb Feyerick has our report tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He's an unlikely rock star.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BRUCE MARKS, CEO, NEIGHBORHOOD ASSISTANCE CORP. OF AMERICA: Thank you.
FEYERICK: And he's the man everyone here wants to meet. A crusader who has become a fierce advocate for struggling homeowners.
MARKS: Everybody, thank you, thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you!
CROWD: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're the greatest thing we want in this country.
FEYERICK: Bruce Marks is doing what people here thought was near impossible. He is saving their homes from foreclosure. MARKS: How many people here have tried and failed to work with your lender? That's about 100 percent.
FEYERICK: And he is doing it with the legally binding support of banks and lenders, getting them to modify existing loans.
MARKS: What built this country after World War II? It was no down payment mortgages from the VA that were full doc underwriting and that people could determine what they could afford. We got to go back to basic underwriting. These mortgages for the last 10 years were structured to fail. Interest-only, negative-am. All these things. It was a home ownership deception scheme. Got to go back to the basics.
Good morning, homeowners!
FEYERICK: Thousands from the Atlanta area waited long hours over several days, armed with bank statements, income tax returns and hope.
(on camera): Everyone here has a story. Many are victims of predatory lending. There are those who have lost a job. Others are facing foreclosure. The one thing they have in common is they all want to find a way they can pay to stay in their homes.
(voice over): After her mortgage payments doubled to $1200, government worker Retha Alsadiq came, hoping to negotiate a 30-year fixed 3.75 rate, the average modified mortgage here.
RETHA ALSADIQ, HOMEOWNER: A lot of pressure, a lot of stress out. I mean, it's just I can't sleep.
FEYERICK: Marks' army of workers from the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America or NACA processed the paperwork, sending completed packages electronically to some 500 lenders less than 50 feet away.
MARKS: They are paying a $2,000-mortgage payment and the budget shows that they can only afford $1300. Then the bank has to do the restructuring of their mortgage to get to that $1300 mortgage payment, bringing down the interest rate down to as low as 2 percent or reduce the outstanding principal.
It's one mortgage product. No down payment. Bank pays all the closing costs and fees, always 1 percent below markets. Today's rate is 3.75 percent. You don't need perfect credit.
FEYERICK (on camera): What is in it for the banks?
ANGEANETTE DOWLES, HOME RETENTION DIVISION, BANK OF AMERICA: Homeownership sustainability.
FEYERICK (voice over): Angeanette Dowles is with Bank of America.
(on camera): Some people would say, well, now, the banks are basically giving loans to people that are reasonable, that people can actually afford. What happened? Why wasn't that the case before? DOWLES: You know, we don't claim perfection and we can't harp on what has happened in the past. What we are doing now is putting our best foot forward to do what's right by our customers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do they just get a loan?
FEYERICK: The reality? It's good business. Banks make much less on foreclosures.
The reality for this homeowner Leticia Lewis? She was able to modify her mortgage down from 5.5 to 3.75, lowering her payments by $170 a month, down to $480.
(on camera): What does this now mean for you?
LETICIA LEWIS, HOMEOWNER: Well, I will be able to pay my mortgage every month on time. So, it means a great deal to me.
FEYERICK (voice over): And a great deal to Bruce Marks, an ex-union activist who seems to be doing what nobody else has been able to do -- get lenders to the table and fix the nation's mortgage mess.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
FEYERICK: Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Jon Huntsman may have dropped out of the race or be dropping out of the race tomorrow, but it's not going to stop the tough talk in the political airways and it's Republicans going after each other. But is it possible the negative attacks are actually helping Mitt Romney? We'll discuss right after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: As we reported to you first here on CNN at the top of the hour, Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman will drop out of the race on Monday and he will endorse Mitt Romney.
Meantime, Romney's rivals are blanketing the state in search of votes. Newt Gingrich started Sunday at Charleston's Cathedral of Praise Church, looking to shore up his support among evangelical voters. Rick Santorum, who picked up the backing of some top evangelical leaders this weekend, visited the same church on Saturday. Santorum and Rick Perry also attended a Faith and Freedom prayer breakfast Sunday in Myrtle Beach.
We expect Democrats to go after Republicans, but what about when Republicans go after each other. Those so-called Super PACs backing Romney and Gingrich are blasting the South Carolina airwaves with negative TV ads. And Rick Perry has even gone after Romney over his career as a venture capitalist. Earlier, I asked Will Cain and LZ Granderson if these attacks are actually helping President Obama. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What I think Newt and Rick Perry have done is deliver a massive gift to Mitt Romney with a ribbon tied around it. I mean, it's just the sweetest thing that you ever could have done. It gave Mitt Romney his voice. He positioned himself in that New Hampshire speech as the defender of free market, defender of capitalism. People like me who can muster simply marginal enthusiasm for Mitt Romney, we can muster enthusiasm for the defense of free markets.
And I think one other thing this does is it threatens to exhaust that line of attack before it gets to Obama. Elsie sees it as a dress rehearsal? I see by summertime, this argument is going to be played out.
LEMON: OK. So, listen, and not that there hasn't been a whole lot of fun that has been made of these campaigns and some of them by their own volition. Time for some comic relief. And leave it to Stephen Colbert to take these ads to the extreme. Here's one that Colbert packed as released. Look at it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As head of Bain Capital, he bought companies, he carved them up and got rid of what he couldn't use. If Mitt Romney believes --
MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Corporations are people, my friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then Mitt Romney is a serial killer. He's "Mitt the Ripper."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SCREAMING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Listen, is he showing, you know, the absurdity of some of this with satire, LZ, or what do you think? Is he making a mockery of the system?
LZ GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: He's doing what he's always done. Really, he's making a mockery of the entire system. And this is absolutely ridiculous the level of drama that these Super PACs are trying to build up on both sides.
`You know, there is no way in which you can control how the message is delivered or even make sure the information being shared is even accurate before these things hit the air. And so, I love the fact that he is poking fun not at any particular party, but just at this particular process in which the election is happening. I thought that was hilarious.
LEMON: OK, hang on, guys. I want you to listen to David Axelrod. He's the senior campaign adviser to President Obama. Of course, he told Candy Crowley, our Candy Crowley this morning, that he is worried that these Super PACs will go after Obama in the fall. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID AXELROD, SR. OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADVISER: The other thing that worries me are these big Super PACs that we see Governor Romney and others benefiting from right now. I think there's going to be a ton of money aimed at the president, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Democratic ones, too?
AXELROD: Well, but not nearly of the scale that we're seeing on the Republican side. They are talking upwards of $0.5 billion in negative ads aimed at the president from interest groups who don't disclose and who can raise unlimited amounts of money. That is a very, very concerning thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Legit worry, Will Cain?
CAIN: That is complete and utter spin. Let's just be honest about that. President Obama is the Warren Buffett of fundraising. He attracts money and accumulates. He's going to be the first billion- dollar candidate. No way he ended up with only $750 million. Now, he's throwing dinners at $45,000 a plate. He's going to raise plenty of his own money. He's going to have Super PACs there for him. There's going to be money all over this process.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Jon Huntsman gets out on Monday and endorses Mitt Romney just six days until the primary. Make sure you stay with CNN for the most complete coverage.
And straight ahead, could snow add some extra time to your drive as you head out on Monday? We'll check with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras for some answers for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Of course, our big story in the week ahead is Jon Huntsman set to drop out of the race on Monday. There are other stories as well from the White House to Wall Street. Our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin tonight with the president's plans for the week.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House. This week, President Obama will continue making his economic push even as he rakes in cash to help fuel his reelection campaign.
On Thursday, he will attend a high dollar event in New York at the home of movie director Spike Lee. Forty people are expected to attend, which is being described as an intimate fundraiser. The price tag? $38,500 per person. And before heading out of town, President Obama will welcome the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals to the White House. He will honor them for their big victory last year.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is going to spend the week putting the finishing touches on the new defense budget -- billions of dollars in cuts, reductions in personnel, some of the most significant trimming in decades, now that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are either wrapped up or wrapping up.
But the world stage is still intruding. Tensions with Iran remain sky high. We learned that the Iranians harassed two U.S. ships in recent days in the Persian Gulf. And tensions in Pakistan remain high. The U.S. is watching that country 24-7 as there are concerns about a military coup with that critical U.S. ally that has nuclear weapons.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Well, Wall Street gearing up for a slew of corporate earnings reports this week. Of particular interest, the big banks. We will hear from Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, following pretty disappointing results from JPMorgan on Friday.
Also ahead, the latest home sales figures and two key readings on inflation. The market will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day. Reopens on Tuesday. And we'll track it all for you on "CNN MONEY."
A.J. HAMMER, ANCHOR, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we are watching this week. We are right there, of course, on the red carpet for the Golden Globes. I will have the complete wrap up of all the winners. We get shockers and, of course, the fashion.
Also, the lovely Jessica Alba and the legendary Dave Navarro stopped by the show this week.
Catch "Showbiz Tonight," exclusively week nights at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, guys.
So, what will Monday's weather bring as you head into work? Wet roads? Icy roads? Jacqui Jeras in the severe weather center with, as we call it, "Tomorrow's Commute Tonight."
Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but a holiday tomorrow so a lot of people are not going in. So, we will kind of talk about the day part and in the week ahead, Don, because we've got some big changes and it's all about the West tomorrow because our jet stream pattern has changed.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: All right. Jacqui Jeras, thank you very much.
Next, a CNN exclusive. A Syrian town is under siege as anti- government protests grow. Right after the break, we take you to the battleground in a story you will only see on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It's called a crackdown, but what's happening in Syria feels like a war. That's what CNN's Nic Robertson discovered when he traveled to the city of Zabadani for an exclusive look at the violence. The Syrian government has tried to keep a lid on the unrest and now we know why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the road to Zabadani, it feels like we are entering a war. We see only army check posts. Then this -- civilians, the first we meet.
(on camera): What these people down here have just told us is that they are fleeing. They are running away. They haven't got any possessions with them. They don't have a car either. They're just getting out of town as fast as they can.
(voice over): Further on at the frontline, more people fleeing. We cross to the anti-government side, follow Arab League monitors through twisting streets into the town's center. Little can prepare them or us for the welcome we receive.
(PEOPLE CHANTING)
ROBERTSON: Thousands of anti-Assad protesters.
(on camera): The crowd has gone absolutely wild as the monitors have arrived even carrying them on their shoulders here. They are treating the monitors as if they are gods. They have been sent here to save them.
(PEOPLE CHANTING)
ROBERTSON (voice over): Bitter anger against the government is everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every day, every morning, --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shooting.
ROBERTSON: Two or three people have been killed, she says. More than 60 wounded. And now, for the last three days, she adds, water, electricity and phones have been cut off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They striking anything! In the street. Kill people. Isolation people. Can you understand me?
ROBERTSON (on camera): Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't need this regime. Can you understand me? They are killing us!
ROBERTSON (voice over): Inside the nearby mosque, Arab League monitors use the calm to take down more details.
This man tells us he was shot going out to get bread. He has lost a finger. His brother, he says, killed.
In this mountain town close to the border with Lebanon, military defectors now with the Free Syrian Army say they have 70 lightly armed fighters. We don't see them, but the monitors do.
After more than an hour, these monitors inch their vehicles through the crowds. More and more press forward. They don't want the monitors from the Arab League to go, telling them soldiers will use their tanks to fire on the town as soon as they leave.
In apparent desperation, the crowd turns on the monitors, beats their car, begins to throw rocks, forcing them to drive a dangerous road towards frontline troops, not expecting them. Gunshots fired. Monitors stop, wave their orange jacket to show who they are.
Half mile, 800 meters ahead, the road is blocked. It is the Syrian government frontline. We are forced to stop. It is not a safe place to be.
(on camera): The monitors are trying to shout out to the soldiers on the other side of the frontline there to clear the road, to clear the barricade. It's clearly a road that is not used often now. The soldiers over there seem to be very nervous.
(voice over): They won't let the monitors cross. As we wait, soldiers bring out one of the dead, saying he has just been shot. They shout at the camera - "Film, film. Is this the freedom you want? Is this what the world wants? Is this the Syria you are looking for?"
Around us, the soldiers are edgy. Occasional shots ring out.
Finally, after an hour and a half in the danger zone, a digger is brought forward. Two soldiers riding shotgun. They begin clearing the barricade.
Gunfire erupts.
(SOUNDS OF GUNFIRE)
ROBERTSON: Not clear who is shooting. Soldiers run for cover. The monitors race for safety, pass plenty of armored vehicles with heavy machine guns.
Twenty seconds later, they stop at the frontline army base. Soldiers cheer the president. Then this -- an unprovoked attack on the monitors. As they drive out, they leave behind a city under siege.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Zabadani, Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Nic, thank you very much.
Remember that Russian fuel tanker we have been telling you about heading to Nome, Alaska? Now it's reached its destination, but the work is far from over. That story right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The Russian fuel tanker bound for the snowed-in town of Nome, Alaska has finally arrived. A U.S. Coast Guard ship led the way, breaking through 300 miles of ice. We're joined on the phone now by Mayor Denise Michels.
So, Mayor, how does it feel to finally have the fuel tanker in Nome where you were running low on fuel?
MAYOR DENISE MICHELS, NOME, ALASKA: It's a good feeling. We are halfway there. Our main concern, of course, was to have the delivery and the transfer done safely. So now they are in the process of laying the hose down, working with the state and federal compliance officials and they have a meeting tonight and hopefully tomorrow is when the -- hopefully, they'll start going through the lines. So, we are pretty excited.
LEMON: Yes. You mentioned the hose. I understand they are using it to get the fuel into the town. Is whether a factor with that?
MICHELS: Yes, whether is always a factor. Right now, we are finally above 0 for the first time in a long time and so -- and the winds are calm. So, it looks pretty good.
LEMON: Yes. Good, good. This is the first ever attempt to bring fuel to an Arctic Alaska settlement through sea ice. Were you confident that it will even get through?
MICHELS: You know, you're right. We had a little concern it was never done. There was no policy. We had to create (INAUDIBLE), work with different entities and experts to get it here. We are just very happy. You know, it's halfway here and the remaining other half is, of course, to get to Renda and the Healy crew back home once the fuel is transferred successfully.
LEMON: We wish you the best of luck. Thank you for joining us, Mayor Denise Michels of Nome, Alaska. We appreciate it.
Next, a report that could make you question your racial identity. It deals with the term "passing," something thousands of African- Americans did during the Jim Crow days. It will also explain the meaning of the so-called "one drop rule" right after the break.
But first this. Whether you have a little extra -- a little bit extra cash or absolutely no savings at all. There are steps you can take to make your money work for you in 2012 and you don't have to be a risk taker to get a good return. CNN's Ali Velshi talks with Suze Orman in this week's "Mastering Your Money."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZE ORMAN, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: If you really don't want to take risk, you might want to look into tips, treasury inflation protection security. You also might just want to, if you have a home that you have a mortgage on, that you're going to stay in for the rest of your life, you are 45 years of age or older, take that money and pay down your mortgage, because when your mortgage goes away, you don't need as much income to generate for that expense.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: All right. Let's talk about credit ratings, your credit score. How do you get your credit score up? How do you fix credit right now in a tough time? What should your priorities be?
ORMAN: Now, you know, you can fix credit very simple by always if you have credit cards, not everybody does, but if you have credit cards, pay your credit cards on time. Never go over your credit limit. Just really be there with them and pay down your credit, because the thing that counts most on FICO scores, 30-35 percent, is your debt, what you owe to your credit limit ratio. So if you pay down your debt, your credit limit ratio goes down, your FICO score goes up.
VELSHI: We have been working down the ladder of people and their financial situations. Now we're going to talk about those probably almost one in two Americans who have virtually no money, if none at all, can't get access to credit. They've lost a lot of stuff. They can't get a credit card. They can't even get a secured credit card.
ORMAN: Yes. They can get a secured credit card obviously. But here is the problem with secured credit cards that people aren't just understanding about them.
To get a secured card, you have to put a sum of money -- $100, $500, $ 1000 to secure the card. Now you have a card and you can go on and charge. You charge $200 on it. They don't take the money from what you put down. They say now you owe me $200. And the person goes, I don't have $200, I'm in poverty. And they go, OK, you pay me $20 a month at 19 percent interest.
So now here we have this person, again, getting themselves into trouble on a secure card.
VELSHI: Right.
ORMAN: So I don't like secure cards. However, if it is your only alternative to build a credit score right here and right now because there are not any other alternative, if you can't get a regular credit card, it's one way for you to go.
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LEMON: In the years following the abolition of slavery, some Americans feared a rise in interracial relationships. So states began passing laws to make sure that any child with a Negro and a white parent could be considered black and denied the rights of white people. In other words, a child with even one drop of Negro blood would be classified as Negro.
This became known as the "one drop" rule, a standard ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967. This and the hardships of racism also caused the African-Americans to pass, pretend they were white without ever telling their families, leaving a lot of whites not knowing they had black blood.
But some experts on race relations say the legacy of the "one drop" rule still exists in today's culture. One such expert is Yaba Blane (ph), an African Studies scholar who does research on skin color politics.
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LEMON: Explain what the "one drop" rule is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The "one drop" rule historically also known as the rule of hypodescent was really instituted to protect whiteness. It was a way for the white majority to be able to name and cite who was white.
LEMON: So it was one drop, which is 1/32nd?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 1/32nd of Negron or African blood would make that person Negro or African, whatever the classification they used at the time.
LEMON: Why do this project? I mean, what's the purpose?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a way for us to think about identity, a way for people to define their blackness, if you will, above and beyond legality. So we see blackness as a richer identity than just one drop of blood. How do you quantify blood?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, maybe black is my cultural, ethnic, racial background.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so what happens is when you read these contributors' narratives, you come to understand how they see themselves as black or African-American.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am black and I am proud of it. I'm black and I'm proud.
LEMON: Why is that important, doctor?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's important for us to be able to see how people themselves identify. What's interesting is most people in the project say they have this experience of people walking up and saying, what are you? So you can look, let's say you look at the website, some of the contributors you might say, they are black? She could pass. Right. This idea of passing. But it's not that they are trying to be anything other than who they are.
LEMON: Yes. I could still relate to that because everyone in my family is lighter than me. Most people in my family, I should say, on my family especially on my mother's side. And the people would mistake my mother for white when I was a kid and say, no, your mom wasn't in here. And I'd say, yes, that's my mom. I thought she was white.
So people want to categorize that. What is it inside of people that makes them want to put everyone in a category? So they know what to do with it? Like what difference does it make?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the reality is, is that America was founded on race and racial difference. And still race absolutely defines our experience.
LEMON: But I hear people say we're in a post-racial society.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reality is in order to get beyond something, you have to understand it, right? And where in your education -- where have you been required to learn about race?
LEMON: They don't reach it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. It is the foundation of this country. We have to talk about race. We have to talk about racial difference. It is just a flat-out lie for us to believe that we've moved beyond race.
LEMON: Let's talk about colorism because I write about -- I have a book and I write about colorism, about the difference between having light skin and dark skin. Light skin was -- you were a bit more privileged. And still in society people think that way. But it used to be worse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
LEMON: Let's talk about the privileges of having light skin even if you are a person of color.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whiteness is normative. So what does means is that whiteness has come to define what is human, what is valuable, what is beautiful. So when we look at women, the ways in which you determine a woman's beauty is based upon her proximity to the white ideal -- aquiline features, straight hair, perhaps colored eyes, different complexion. And the same holds true for men.
So again, I think, subconscious or otherwise historically what that has said or communicated is that if you have lighter skin, we can assume that you have white in your blood. And to have white in your blood makes you less African, makes you less barbaric, makes you more civilized. LEMON: So the "one drop" project, it's just a catalyst that names -- it's a catalyst to have a discussion about race. What's so hard about it? Why do you think people find it so hard to have a conversation about race?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To discuss race is uncomfortable. You know, historically, white people have been associated with the oppressor. Historically, black people have been associated with being the oppressed. Some people don't want to deal with that reality. I don't want to be associated with that. I'm not that kind of person. I'm not racist. But to talk about race is not to name someone racist. It's to say let's deal with the reality we are in.
LEMON: Well, the issues I think I know because I get it every time there is a discussion about race. People say racism will be over if you guys on TV stop talking about it and I go, come on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But where in history do we have an example where silence changed anything? You don't have that example. So silence doesn't make stuff go away. It just makes it silent.
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LEMON: The conversation continues online. Just log on to cnn.com/inamerica. You can always -- you can go there and also read my personal story on the "one drop" rule, passing for white and colorism while growing up in Louisiana in the 1960s and 1970s. So come here on CNN.
As the nation celebrates Martin Luther King Junior's birthday, change is on its way for his new memorial in Washington, D.C. We're going to explain that straight ahead.
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LEMON: We are going to get caught up right now on your headlines. Jon Huntsman dropping out of the Republican race for president. A senior campaign official tells CNN's Pete Hamby that the announcement will happen on Monday. We've also learned that Huntsman will endorse Mitt Romney. Huntsman was hoping for a boost after New Hampshire, but his third place finish just was not enough.
Two Americans are among the missing in the Concordia cruise ship disaster along the Italian coast according to the State Department. 120 Americans were reportedly on the ship, but only 118 are accounted for now. The owner of the ship, Costa Cruises, is blaming the captain, saying that significant human error on his part led to the ship running aground. The captain is under arrest. He could be charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship. Death toll now stands at five.
The FBI is asking residents in two states to help find the body of a missing Montana teacher, 43-year-old Cheri Arnold (ph) who was last seen January 7th during an early morning jog. Two men are being held in connection with her disappearance. And authorities say evidence gathered indicates she may be dead. Property owners in western North Dakota and northeastern Montana have been asked to look along tree lines for signs of a grave.
Crowds gathered today to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the first time at his memorial on the National Mall. Many were thrilled to hear that the National Park Service will change a phrase quote on that memorial. Critics felt the quote made the civil rights icon appear arrogant. King would have been 83 years old on Sunday. He was assassinated in Memphis in 1968.
That's it for us this evening. Thank you so much for watching. Make sure you have a great week. I'll see you back here next weekend. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Good night.
