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Europe Moves on Debt Crisis; Jobs Bill Battle Looms in Senate; Pastor Stands by "Cult" Remarks

Aired October 09, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

In this hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. We're letting you hear from the 2012 Republican contenders. They're speaking, unedited, uninterrupted and at length. We'll start that in 60 seconds.

But first, a look at some of the top stories of the day. A banking crisis is unfolding in Europe. The leaders of France and Germany today agreed to work out a plan to recapitalize several banks, hard hit by debt crisis in Greece and other European countries. The announcement comes on the same day France, Belgium, and Luxembourg agreed to rescue Dexia, a major Franco-Belgian bank.

Just a couple of hours ago, I spoke with CNN's senior international business correspondent, Richard Quest. And he tells me that what is going on in Europe is very similar to what happened in America back in 2008.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You really don't want the investment bank to fail. Why? Because a big investment bank failing at this particular time would cause a ripple of crisis of confidence and that's what happened with Lehman in 2008. We're going to see more banks over the coming weeks that - whether they fail or not, they're going to need more money. What the authorities are going to have to judge is when is it right to rescue and when is it time to let go?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Finance ministers from the G-20 nations are scheduled to meet later on this week to discuss the growing crisis.

And now to economic concerns here in the U.S.. This week, the Senate will vote on President Obama's jobs bill, a measure he says will prevent another economic downturn and put Americans back to work. The $447 billion package will be paid for by a millionaire's tax which would raise revenues by $453 billion over 10 years. The bill includes funding for infrastructure projects and job training. Republican opponents call the plan a rehash of the president's failed stimulus policies.

American fugitive George Wright is fighting extradition. He was arrested in Portugal last month after 40 year on the run. His lawyer says Wright has heart and blood pressure problems. Wright is accused of hijacking a plane back in 1972, along with four other members of the Black Liberation Army.

All right. Turning now to the Republican presidential contenders, we're going to focus on the contenders now in the next hour. Ron Paul gets another straw poll win in his race for the Republican presidential nomination. He was the top vote getter in the Values Voter Summit in Washington. Paul got 37 percent of the vote. Herman Cain finished second with 23 percent. And Rick Santorum with third with 16 percent. By the way, Rick Perry came in fourth and Mitt Romney was sixth, both in single digits.

All right. Now to the continuing fallout over a Perry supporter's remarks about Mitt Romney's religion. Reverend Robert Jeffress said Mormonism is a cult and Romney is not a Christian. Later, CNN political correspondent Jim Acosta asked the pastor how he responds to voters who insist Romney's religion should not be an issue. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): If you don't mind me saying, Pastor Jeffress, you created a bit of a stir coming out of that speech, because in talking to reporters, you said in pretty strong plain language what you think of Mormonism. You described it as a cult. And you said that if Republican votes for Mitt Romney, they're giving some credibility to a cult. Do you stand by that comment?

REV. ROBERT JEFFRESS, SENIOR PASTOR, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF DALLAS: Oh, absolutely. That's not some fanatical comment. That's been the historical position of evangelical Christianity, the Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest Protestant denomination in the world has officially labeled Mormonism as a cult. I think Mitt Romney is a good moral man, but I think those of who are born again followers of Christ should always prefer a confident Christian to a confident non-Christian like Mitt Romney. So that's why I'm enthusiastic about Rick Perry.

ACOSTA: Well, what do you say to those voters out there who say that religion, his Mormonism shouldn't be an issue in this campaign, he's just as American as everybody else?

JEFFRESS: Well, I agree that he is just as American as anyone else and Article Six of the Constitution -

ACOSTA: And Mormons do say they are Christians. They say that. They believe in Jesus Christ.

JEFFRESS: A lot of people say they're Christians and they're not. But they do not embrace historical Christianity and I, again, believe that as Christians we have the duty to prefer and select Christians as our leaders. That's what John Jay, first chief justice of the Supreme Court, said. I think when we have choices as evangelicals, between a Rick Perry and a Mitt Romney, I believe evangelicals need to go with Rick Perry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: As for Rick Perry, he was back in Iowa this weekend. Our political reporter Shannon Travis joins us now from Des Moines. So what has Perry been saying about the pastor's comments? Is he at all distancing himself or is he in large part agreeing?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Fred, while everybody else it seems has a lot to say about this controversy, the governor himself has very little to say about it. I've been covering him, as you just mentioned, for the past two days. He has campaign events here in Iowa. His response to this controversy basically boils down to six words. Take a listen here, Fred. He was asked on Friday if he thought that Mormonism is a cult. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wanted to know if you associated yourself with the comments of the -

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I answered your question, no, I don't think it is. Thank you, all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS: "No, I don't think it is." It is those six words and only those six words we have pretty much heard from the governor so far, Fred. I was with him yesterday. That sound bite was from Friday. I was with him yesterday again, and he was pressed yet again by reporters on this controversy. Reporters said to the governor, governor, do you denounce these comments, do you stand by these words, do you have anything more to say and the governor did not want to go there, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Shannon Travis, thanks so much. We're going to talk more now on this. We'll be checking back with you momentarily, Shannon, by the way. Meantime, let's talk a little bit more now about how a religious controversy is affecting the Republican presidential race.

CNN political contributor Will Cane and Hillary Rosen joining us live now. So Will, is joining us from New York, Hillary is in Washington. Good to see both of you. OK, so the pastor is a Rick Perry supporter. How does his calling Mormonism a cult affect Perry? Hillary, you first?

HILLARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, Perry is going to have to talk about this, so it is sort of silly for him not to address it right now.

WHITFIELD: He has to say more than "No, I don't think it is," meaning is Mormonism a cult?

ROSEN: He is. You know, because people are just going to keep asking him. On the other hand, Mitt Romney is probably lucky that it is being dealt with this early in this primary. Because that issue is going to come up. There is historically a divide between the evangelical Christian community, who are a significant portion of the primary voters and so Romney actually in some aspects is going to benefit from this conversation being up and out early in the process.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Will, doesn't it seem for a moment that perhaps this discussion about Romney being Mormon actually wouldn't come up since it hadn't already? It seemed like very few - no one really wanted to touch it, make it an issue?

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, it hasn't. And, you know, at this point, I can't say that Romney's religion won't play a part in this election. I have to say, Fred, I think it is a little bit like arguing about the icing on a cake that nobody is very fond of. Mitt Romney's problem in the primaries will be about principles much more than religion.

Mitt Romney is seen as somebody who is untrustworthy in his principles, in his conservative principles. He's flip-flopped on abortion, he has flip-flopped on climate change, he has flip-flopped on financial regulation. I think every issue you can name virtually he has gone back and forth on. So I think this issue of religion may play a role in the primaries, but not a heavy role.

And now beyond that, in the general, I don't think it will play a role in the general election either.

WHITFIELD: OK. So -- yes, go ahead.

ROSEN: What I was going to say, you know, the first rule in politics is when your opponents are taking each other apart, never get in the middle. You know, as a practical matter, I think Democrats are going to stay out of this and let Perry and Romney go at it for a while.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, some of the other Republican candidates were asked about this. This is what Herman Cain had to say about this comparison between the Mormon religion and the cult, as well as Michele Bachmann. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a Mormon. That much I know. I am not going to do an analysis of Mormonism versus Christianity for the sake of answering that. I'm not getting into that.

MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think what the real focus here, again, is - on religious tolerance. That's really what this is about and I think, again, to make this a big issue is just ridiculous right now because every day I'm on the street talking to people. This is not what people are talking about. I was very open about my faith, very clear about my faith. It is very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: So, Will, will this eventually become an issue that even the candidates kind of sink their teethes into? Their teeth into?

CAIN: Eventually it may become - it may become more of an issue eventually. What we're seeing here is these candidates are going to have trouble attacking Romney or catching Romney in pointing out his flaws and his principles. As flawed as he is, and I just laid it out, they're not making up a ton of ground on him. Everyone has their spikes and valleys. Herman Cain is having his right now. But I guess as we see this go forward and Mitt Romney, it becomes inevitably he will become the nominee, this comes up more and more from the candidates. But I don't think it is a big issue among the electorate.

WHITFIELD: OK. Yes, go ahead.

ROSEN: I was going to say - the general prospect of what Michele Bachmann said, oh my god, I can't believe that I agree with Michele Bachmann, religious tolerance matters. The Mormon church should not get an entire pass here though because they're of the most politically active religious denominations ever, actively politicizing homosexuality, fights against women. I mean, the Mormon Church really puts themselves into politics aggressively in a way a lot of other religions don't.

WHITFIELD: All right. So Hillary and Will, we'll talk to you again momentarily. But for now, we're out of time on that topic. We're going to talk more about it later on in this hour. Thanks so much.

Meantime, there was a decisive winner of the Values Voter Summit in Washington. We'll hear from that winner after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Another quick look at the results from the conservative Values Voter Summit straw poll. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul won the contest with 37 percent of the vote. Herman Cain finished second with 23 percent. And Rick Santorum was third with 16 percent. So Ron Paul opposes the idea of a millionaires tax, even though polls show most Americans support it. CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked the Texas Republican his thoughts on why the tax is so popular.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, because pure democracy sometimes leads to these ill advised positions. You know, when there is a war propaganda going on, and they drumbeat the war drums and everybody says 75 percent of the people want us to go to war and after 10 years, they're sick and tired of it, doesn't mean it was right when 75 percent said something.

This is the danger of pure democracy when you demagogue and you attack somebody and say that we have to attack the wealthy. I don't mind criticizing, you know, the wealthy at times, and I criticize the bankers and the bailouts and the corporate people who got all the benefits, both when the financial bubble was being built, but then when it burst, they got bailed out and then the people suffered.

So - but this doesn't mean we should attack wealth for the sake of wealth. We should stop al the subsidies to the wealthy. Anybody is getting wealthy because they get contracts from the government or because they're on the inside of the program where they get the bailouts, that's quite a big difference. We should stop that, but not blanketly penalize people who make wealth and who have created wealth and provided great services for the consumer.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: That seems to be a line you hear from a lot of the demonstrators, the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in lower Manhattan right now. What do you make of those demonstrations?

PAUL: It is hard to tell because we don't know where they're coming from. I think it is going to be a mixed bag and this is something I predicted for many years because I said that what would happen is eventually we would destroy our economy, jobs would go overseas, we would have inflation and we would encourage people to be very dependent, both the wealthy and the entitlement system means that people believe that they have rights to certain things from their neighbor or from their government.

But when the pie shrinks, there's going to be a lot of anger. My guess would be that there is a lot of people out there, some complaining about paying the bills and some who are scared to death and they're not going to get it. This is, you know, a symptomatic thing that we're seeing and it doesn't address the problem why do we have business booms and why do we have recessions and depressions and why do we have inflation.

So unfortunately, this doesn't give us the answer, but I think it tells you something about the depth of the concern about the people in this country, something that I've tried to talk about for quite a few decades.

BLITZER: I asked - I spoke with a whole bunch of people about this issue, this Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. I want you to listen to what one of your presidential rivals Herman Cain told the "Wall Street Journal" about what is going on with these demonstrators in New York. Listen to this.

HERMAN CAIN: I don't have facts to back this up. But I happen to believe that these demonstrations are planned and orchestrated to distract from the failed policies of the Obama administration. Don't blame Wall Street. Don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job, and you are not rich, blame yourself.

BLITZER: "Blame yourself," he said. What do you think about that?

PAUL: Well, I imagine that applies to a few people in the country, but, no, I don't quite come at it that way because the system has been biased against the middle class and the poor. When you destroy a currency, you transfer wealth from the middle class to the wealthy because they have access to the capital and they have a lot of benefits and they get the bailouts. So the poor and the people losing their jobs, wasn't their fault that we followed a very deeply flawed economic system, so I am not so anxious to say, "Yes, it is all your fault, if you want to be rich, you can be rich."

People are begging and pleading for jobs, but there are no jobs as a consequence of bad economic policy. It is the fact that we still accepted the notion that central economic planning and central banking under the Keynesian model can provide prosperity. That's where the flaw is. To blame that on the average person who wants a job, I don't agree with that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Other Republican presidential candidates are weighing in on the Occupy Wall Street protests. We'll hear what Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich are saying about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The voices of protesters are filling the streets again today in cities across America. The Occupy Wall Street protests are in their 23rd day. The movement started in New York and has spread coast to coast. One of our i-reporters sent us this video from a rally in St. Louis. Protesters have also gathered in Washington this weekend, and one of them was arrested outside of the White House today after throwing a shoe at a police officer.

And yesterday authorities used pepper spray on a group of protesters trying to enter the National Air and Space Museum in Washington. The museum shut down about two hours early. Protests are also taking place on the West Coast. This march in Sacramento, California, was peaceful with no arrests reported.

Among other things demonstrators are angry over social and financial inequalities and what they say is corporate greed. Our i- reporters have been turning out for some of these protests and they also caught some of the anger that is in the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want (INAUDIBLE) - the crisis of America, something's wrong with our students going to college, get educated, and can't find a job. Something's wrong in America!

BILL BUSTER: That's basically we're all here to do, express the frustration, we're not here to solve the problems, we're here to make people deal with the problems that are supposed to be dealing with them. And the more people that rise up, the more they'll be forced to deal with the problems.

So what do the GOP presidential hopefuls have to say about the Occupy Wall Street protests? Newt Gingrich says that he understands where the anger is coming from. But Herman Cain says he isn't even sure what the protesters want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERMAN CAIN: I'm not sure what they're protesting. If all they're doing is trying to heighten the class warfare fight that is being stroked by this president, I think that is a waste of time. Secondly, if they're frustrated because they don't have jobs or because the economy is moving, they ought to be protesting the White House because of the failed policies.

Thirdly, I happen to believe that this is an intentional distraction to create in the media and in the minds of the American people so they won't focus on the failed policies of this administration?

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think when you have over nine percent unemployment, a failing presidency, you know, the truth is, with this level of failure, Geithner should be fired as secretary of the Treasury, Bernanke should be fired as chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Dodd-Frank bill should be repealed this week. We ought to have decisive action.

If you're somebody out there and you've been looking around and you're beginning to figure out how come the big boys get all these billions of dollars, the big banks get all these billions of dollars, somehow the Federal Reserve and the Treasury collude together on behalf of people who are already rich and nobody else gets a break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Obama is weighing in on the Occupy Wall Street protests. He said he knows protesters are frustrated with the country's financial problems, but he's also defending the need for a strong financial sector.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works. Now, keep in mind, I have said before and I will continue to repeat, we have to have a strong, effective financial sector in order for us to grow. And I used up a lot of political capital and I've got the dings and bruises to prove it in order to make sure that we prevented a financial meltdown. And that banks stayed afloat. And that was the right thing to do.

Because had we seen a financial collapse, then the damage to the American economy would have been even worse. But what I've also said is that for us to have a healthy financial system, that requires that banks and other financial institutions compete on the basis of the best service and the best products and the best price and it can't be competing on the basis of hidden fees, deceptive practices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Republican presidential candidates are facing a much earlier primary schedule than expected. So what does that mean for their campaigns? We'll tell you straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Back to presidential politics in a moment. But first, as NASCAR winds down its season, you may think the checkered flag is the finale. Well, driver Tony Stewart tells us how racing is impacting children in need.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY STEWART, NASCAR DRIVER: I'm Tony Stewart. We can make an impact on children in need. The prelude basically started seven years ago, just wanting to come up with a fun night of racing for everybody and we thought, well, while we're here, we can raise some money for charity.

Last year we introduced the team concept, took the entire field and split them up so they each represent one of the children's hospital. The winning team gets 30 percent of the proceeds. And so the higher the team finishes, the bigger the percentages of the proceeds. It doesn't just stop because the checkered flag drops here. There is still a ways to go and be a part of the charity and donate time.

Join the movement, impact your world, go to cnn.com/impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And you can help NASCAR reach its finish line with this children's hospital by going to impactyourworld.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. You can tell it is political season because "Saturday Night Live" is doing more political humor. Last night, the popular comedy show featured a skit that poked fun of the prospects of yet another Republican candidate joining the race for the White House. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The deadline for candidates to file to be primary eligible is October 31st.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mm-hmm, that's right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you be in favor of pushing that deadline back to give the party more time to find a viable candidate?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, obviously I think I'm a viable candidate. I mean, I'm not just a guy who runs for president because I can afford to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh. OK. Yes, you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Tuesday Governor Chris Christie announced he would not seek the Republican nomination. Have you considered calling him and trying to convince him to run?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would I do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a great candidate. We were all going to vote for him, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you write in-vote works? Seriously, like if we all wrote in Chris Christie and he won and he would have to be president, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, heck it all. Heck it all to fudge. I tell you -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, easy, everybody.

Oh, look at this. I didn't realize it was a meatball convention in town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, now listen up. You have to start showing Governor Romney some respect. I mean, how do you think he feels, watching you like everybody more than him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Christie, we don't want to stay with him. We want you to run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not going to happen. I know you want me to run, but this - this can't go national.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, "Saturday Night Live" just getting started.

All jokes aside, many Republicans are not enthusiastic about the current GOP playing field. Here to weigh in on the reasons for that, CNN political contributor Hilary Rosen. And, in New York, CNN contributor Will Cain. All right, good to see you both.

Hilary, you first. What's with the lack of enthusiasm? What's the problem?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, you've - you've got sort of more moderate or economically oriented Republicans who are - are enthusiastic about Romney, you've got Evangelicals and conservatives excited about Perry. The twain have not yet met yet. They may meet in Iowa, New Hampshire.

You know, Michele Bachmann was hoping to slide up the middle. It looks like that lane is going to be taken now by Herman Cain. It's pretty exciting.

The most interesting thing, though, is that New Hampshire now has to compete with Iowa for the date. Iowa has moved their date back to the beginning of January. If New Hampshire wants to beat that, they're going to have to, you know, have their primary at, you know, Christmas time.

I think there is no more room for anybody else in this field, and now the - the issue is how quickly are Rick Perry and - and Mitt Romney going to end up getting rid of the rest of the field that - so that they can fight it out themselves for a couple of months.

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. So, Will, let's bring up that calendar one more time, because you see how everything's now being moved up, and you have to wonder if all these candidates right now are going to have to change their strategy because, you know, their - these caucuses and primaries are going to begin early, and they've got to do something. Each candidate has to do something pretty significant to get out in front.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think that calendar has got to make Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann or Rick Santorum pretty happy, actually. If you look at this - this race -

WHITFIELD: Why?

CAIN: -- over the past couple of months, what we see - because what we've seen over the last couple of weeks is we've seen two to three-week booms for various candidates. Michele Bachmann has a month-long boom. Herman Cain's in the midst of his two-week long boom.

What we have now in this calendar is five events in four weeks, five different states holding their primaries in the month of January. That means one of these candidates could catch lightning in the bottle. They could catch momentum, regardless of fundraising, regardless of money, regardless of infrastructure, and now - and that plays to Mitt Romney's detriment, because that's where he holds an advantage, in all of those categories.

So, who knows who could catch lightning in a bottle and catch that moment in - in one month's span?

WHITFIELD: OK, so catch lightning in a bottle, or catch some deadly flu, so to speak. You know, an early year set of primaries and caucuses might mean weeding out certain candidates much earlier than anyone ever anticipated, Hilary.

ROSEN: Well, I think that's right. I - I think Will raises a good point, which is that potentially it's anybody's ballgame, but I just don't think that Republican voters really see Michele Bachmann or Herman Cain as, you know, ready for primetime. And I think that calendar is not going to help them.

All of the money right now is going to Romney and Perry. They're the ones who are going to be able to compete in a big state like Florida. Let's say they end up kind of splitting Iowa, or Iowa does what Iowa has always done, which is they nominate somebody who ends up not moving much farther than - than that state. Florida's going to be expensive to compete in. They're going to have to go into South Carolina. This is going to take a lot of money, and so far all of the money is split between Perry and Romney.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Will -

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: -- yes?

CAIN: Yes, I just want to say, Hilary's right. Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, these are not competent alternatives. But where Hilary was wrong was when she said, you know, the economic conservatives are excited about Mitt Romney.

Let me explain something - no one is excited about Mitt Romney. They just failed to find a competent alternative. They failed over and over. That's why your Chris Christie "Saturday Night Live" skit hold so much power, because we've been looking over and over for any viable, competent alternative, and we failed.

WHITFIELD: And I know we'll be talking again -

(CROSSTALK)

ROSEN: (INAUDIBLE) -

WHITFIELD: -- but money, money, money makes the difference no matter what. So you may talk about Romney not having - people not being really excited about him, but if his pockets are the deepest, he's got the most money, he still has the advantage, right?

CAIN: Oh, support is begrudgingly shuffling their feet over to his side and will end up over there. Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Will Cain, Hilary Rosen, thanks so much. Always good to see you. Appreciate that.

ROSEN: Take care, Fred.

CAIN: Thanks (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about a name that is not being mentioned a whole lot, especially when it pertains to the straw polls, Republican candidate Jon Huntsman. Well, he is focusing on New Hampshire. We'll hear what his strategy is, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is in New Hampshire today for a town hall meeting. He's focusing on the state as he struggles nationally.

CNN political producer Rachel Streitfeld is in New London. So, Rachel, what is Huntsman's strategy right now in that state? RACHEL STREITFELD, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, you're right, Fredricka. We've seen him fail to gain traction in national polls, so he's really moving the whole campaign up here to New Hampshire.

In several recent state polls he's gotten more support than he has gotten national. He gets about eight or 10 percent in statewide polls of New Hampshire voters, so he's moving his campaign headquarters up here to New Hampshire.

This is a state that tends to rewards quirky candidates. There are a lot of Independent voters here. It's also a small state, which means a candidate doesn't need to put out a lot of money to get his message across. He just needs to shake a lot of hands and host a lot of town halls, which is what Jon Huntsman did here in New London today.

One person asked him how as a Republican he could have taken a job working under Democratic President Barack Obama as U.S. ambassador to China. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand full well that there is probably a percentage of people in my party who will say no way, no how are we going to vote for Huntsman because he worked for a Democrat. And that's OK. I'm willing to live with that.

But I am who I am. I'm not going to pander. I'm not going to sign silly pledges. I'm not going to make a trip to New York and meet with Don Trump. I'm going to - I'm going to tell the people the way it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STREITFELD: So that's Huntsman sort of summarizing his policy there.

We're going to hear him talk more about his experience as U.S. ambassador to China tomorrow when he unveils his foreign policy speech. Now, this is an area where Huntsman feels he has a leg up on his GOP competitors since he has been U.S. ambassador to China and Singapore, also Deputy U.S. Trade Rep. So we'll see how that colors his speech tomorrow when he outlines his plan for the U.S. foreign policy - Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Rachel, what's the reception been like? Did he score any additional points for the people there in New Hampshire because he's now setting up his headquarters there?

STREITFELD: You know, we do see a lot of interest in Huntsman here. I mean, this town hall, there are people standing in the sides. There are people -

You know, he appeals to a lot of moderates. There are - there were definitely people who said I voted for Democrats before, but I'm interested in you. Tell me about your thoughts on health care or the economy.

So he's definitely getting a - a fair shake here. But people like to hear a lot from their candidates in New Hampshire, so we're far, far away from anybody making up their minds.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rachel Streitfeld, thanks so much in New London, New Hampshire.

STREITFELD: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, two top GOP candidates lay out their vision - Mitt Romney on foreign policy and Herman Cain on tax reform. The Republican rivals in their own words, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney is laying out his vision on foreign policy. The former Massachusetts governor spelled out his strategy this week during a speech to cadet at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: First, American foreign policy must be prosecuted with clarity and resolve. Our friends and allies must have no doubts about where we stand, and neither should our rivals. If the world knows we are resolute, our allies will be comforted and those who wish us harm will be far less tempted to test that resolve.

Second, America must promote open markets, representative government and respect for human rights. The path from authoritarianism to freedom and representative government is not always a straight line or an easy evolution, but history teaches us that nations that share our values will be reliable partners and stand with us in pursuit of common security and shared prosperity.

Third, the United States will apply the full spectrum of hard and soft power to influence events before they erupt into conflict. Resort to force is always the least desirable and the costliest option. We must therefore employ all the tools of state craft to shape the outcome of threatening situations before they demand military action.

The United States should always retain military supremacy to deter would be aggressors and to defend our allies and ourselves.

And know this, if America is the undisputed leader of the world, it reduces our need to police a more chaotic world.

Fourth, the United States must exercise leadership and multilateral organizations and our alliances. American leadership lends credibility and breeds faith in the ultimate success of any action and attracts full participation from other nations. American leadership will also focus multilateral institutions like the U.N. on achieving the substantive goals of democracy and human rights enshrined in their charters.

Too often those bodies, well, they prize the act of negotiating over the outcome to be reached. And shamefully they can become forums for the tantrums of tyrants and the airing of the world's most ancient of prejudices, anti-Semitism.

The United States must fight to return these bodies to their proper role, but know this, while America should work with other nations, we always reserve the right to act alone to protect our vital national interests.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Rival GOP candidate Herman Cain is touting his tax reform plans. Speaking on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" today, Cain insisted his 9-9-9 plan would not cause lower income Americans to pay more in taxes than they do now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: "9-9-9," I know you love to talk about this, so this would be your - you plan would be to have everybody pay nine percent of their gross income and the only thing you can deduct would be charitable contributions.

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Correct.

CROWLEY: Nine percent corporate tax rate.

CAIN: Yes.

CROWLEY: Now at 35 percent, just for the purposes of comparison, and then a nine percent sales tax or consumption tax.

CAIN: Yes.

CROWLEY: So the criticism of this has been, A, it wouldn't raise enough money as much money as is needed and, B, it's really regressive because I would pay the same amount for a blouse in taxes as someone making $10,000 a year, and that's regressive. It's not fair.

CAIN: Let me start with the first one about how much revenue it will raise. The people who are saying it will not be revenue neutral, they are absolutely wrong because they did a static analysis. We had this done with the dynamic analysis, with an outside independent firm, so they are making an erroneous assumption, relative to regression, no, it is not.

If you take a family of four and $50,000, $25,000, start with the fact that if they're getting the paycheck, they pay 15.3 percent % in the payroll tax like you pointed out earlier.

CROWLEY: Social security.

CAIN: Exactly. Social Security and Medicare. So that 15.3 becomes nine percent. That's a six percentage point differential. Now, let's take somebody making $50,000 a year. We can do it for 25 or 50, it doesn't matter. You now have - they will pay in taxes based upon standard deductions, standard exemptions if they're making $50,000 a year, family of four, they're going to pay over $10,000 in total taxes.

Go to the 9-9-9 plan. They're going to pay $4,500. So they have a $5,500 gap to apply to the sales tax. If the person applies that to both new and used goods, they will come out just fine.

CROWLEY: Is there any exception, as you see it, in this consumption tax? Would you - except for clothing perhaps, except for food? Would food be a consumption -

CAIN: No, you don't have to do that.

CROWLEY: No food. Clothing?

CAIN: You don't have to do that. No. Because that six percentage point difference makes up for a lot of the sales tax that people will have to pay. Here's the thing that people don't -

CROWLEY: I'm sorry, so I think I might misunderstood you.

CAIN: OK.

CROWLEY: You would make an exemption for food and clothing?

CAIN: No, no.

CROWLEY: No exemptions for sales tax.

CAIN: No, you don't need those exemptions.

CROWLEY: So poor persons is paying the same amount of tax for groceries as I am.

CAIN: Right. Now -

CROWLEY: Does that sound fair to you, just in a vacuum?

CAIN: Yes, it does sound fair. Because there's the point that I'm about to make. If they need to buy a car or a home or some hard goods that are used, they pay no taxes. So they have an opportunity for them to leverage their income.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. And we're heading back to Iowa, where the Texas governor has been shaking hands and seeking votes there. Hear how he thinks the country should move forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Back to Iowa now where city officials are talking about moving their presidential caucuses up to January 3rd. Our Political Reporter Shannon Travis is there again this weekend and so was Rick Perry. So how is the Texas governor being perceived there, Shannon?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: He's actually been well received, Fred. I mean, at the few events that I covered on Friday and on Saturday, a lot of people weren't talking about the controversy that we were talking about earlier. They wanted to know Governor Perry's position on illegal immigration. You know, there's a little bit of controversy about the Texas Law that provides in state tuition rates for children of illegal immigrants.

They also pressed - and some young actually people pressed him yesterday on social security, what would happen to their social security.

But take a listen at Governor Perry saying something yesterday at the stop that I was at, he was talking about freedoms that will free the U.S. from the grip of the bad economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The answer to our crisis is not the expansion of more government in our lives, but it's the rebirth of freedom. That's what is going to be the answer for this country. And bringing back prosperity by enlisting America's greatest economic advantage and that is freedom.

We know freedom works. Freedom - freedom works and we got to have freedom from more government. We got to have freedom from more taxation, freedom from more regulation.

You know, just imagine a minute, if you will, on America where we set our people free, where employers are freed up from overregulation, where those job creators will once again be able to have the confidence that they can risk their capital, they can create the jobs that will in turn create the wealth. You know Americans being able to get back to work, stop worrying about whether they're going to be able to meet the mortgage bank, whether they're going to be able to put food on the table, whether they're going to be able to put gas in the - in the tank, families be able to get ahead again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS: So Governor Perry repeating much of his stump speech right there, Fred. But to his criticism of the Obama administration, that's what he's trying to focus on, his record on jobs in the State of Texas. And as we mentioned earlier, he's not paying much attention or not speaking that much about the controversy over Pastor Jeffress' remarks about Mormonism - Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Shannon Travis, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right. What about the candidate Michele Bachmann? Is her campaign imploding? We'll put that question directly to the Republican presidential candidate next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Straw poll voters at the Values Voters Summit in Washington may favor Ron Paul as their presidential candidate, but they want Michele Bachmann as their vice presidential nominee.

Herman Cain came in second in the VP straw poll, followed by Senator Marco Rubio from Florida and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

So Bachmann isn't doing as well in the presidential poll.

CNN's Candy Crowley asked the Minnesota congresswoman if her campaign is in trouble.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY: It appears that your campaign is imploding. What has - why has there been such a downfall in the national polls as well as in the state polls for you?

MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, that your assessment is completely inaccurate. It's not true at all. We're just starting a kickoff today of four days here in New Hampshire and we've had a wonderful experience in Iowa and we've been in South Carolina, Florida.

We worked very hard and we have very strong numbers in those states and we're looking forward to continuing that. But I'll be doing several town halls today in New Hampshire and we look forward to it.

Let me correct you. We did not participate in the Florida straw poll. We didn't participate at all. So the ranking is completely inaccurate.

CROWLEY: Well, then let's take New Hampshire, which they just put out a poll, your favorability there was 29 percent in July. It's now something like minus 18 percent.

Do you feel that anything has gone wrong in your campaign? What accounts do you think for at least the trajectory of these numbers?

BACHMANN: I think we've been - I think we are doing a good job getting our message out on job growth and on turning the economy around. That's what we're working on. We're not focusing on the day to day, because as you have seen with many of the other candidates, candidates go up, candidates go down.

And what we're very concerned about is making sure that the message gets out there.