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Earthquake in Turkey; GOP Candidates Court Conservatives

Aired October 23, 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. Thanks for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're going to look at the 2012 presidential contenders in this special political hour. But first an update on some of today's top stories.

We start with a massive earthquake striking eastern Turkey. The quake's epicenter is about a dozen miles from the city of Van, near the border with Iran. Dozens of apartment buildings crumbled in one town alone and reports of heavy damage are coming in from other areas. There is no official information on the death and casualty counts, however. Rescue crews and town residents are climbing through rubble looking for victims and survivors.

Meanwhile, it is now confirmed Moammar Gadhafi died from a gunshot wound to the head. Libyans in Misrata have been lining up to file past the body of the long time leader. A Libyan doctor announced the autopsy results today and said his official report will eventually be released to the public.

As the Occupy Wall Street protests spread to other cities, so do the arrests. 130 protesters were arrested in Chicago last night after they ignored police orders to clear out. In Cincinnati, 11 protesters arrested overnight. Police arrested anyone still in the city's Fountain Square after 3:00 this morning and then charged them with criminal trespass.

Country music star Loretta Lynn is in a hospital battling pneumonia. The 76-year-old singer was forced to cancel two shows in Kentucky and North Carolina this weekend. Her doctors say she needs rest. A statement on Lynn's Web site says she hopes to be back on her feet by November for the rest of her upcoming concerts.

All right. Now to the race for the White House. Throughout this hour, we'll take a hard look at the candidates and the issues that will help you decide. This weekend many Republican candidates are courting the social conservative vote. At the Faith and Freedom Forum in Iowa last night, the issue of abortion took center stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Number one on abortion on demand, I would be fully supportive of a federal constitutional amendment to define life from beginning of conception. I believe in life from conception until natural death. And I would support all pro-life language that comes across my desk.

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a liberal canard to say I am personally pro-life, but government should stay out of that decision. If that is your view, you are not pro-life. You are pro having your cake and eating it too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The apparent target of both jabs, GOP rival Herman Cain. The former Godfather Pizza executive stirred up controversy last week when he seemed to suggest on CNN's "Piers Morgan" that he wasn't fully committed to ending legalized abortions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST "PIERS MORGAN": If one of your female children, grandchildren, was raped, you would honestly want her to bring up that baby as her own?

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're mixing two things here, piers.

MORGAN: Why?

CAIN: You're mixing two things here.

MORGAN: That's what it comes down to.

CAIN: It comes down to, it is not the government's role or anybody else's role to make that decision. It ultimately gets down to a choice that that family or that mother has to make.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So when Cain took to the stage at the Faith and Freedom Forum in Iowa, he set out to alleviate any concerns and comments it may have stirred up. Cain told the group, life starts at conception and there should be, "no abortions, no exceptions."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: I will not sign any legislation that in any way allowed the government to be involved in it. I would strengthen all of our current laws that prevent abortion. I believe that abortion should be clearly stated and illegal across this country. And I would work to defund Planned Parenthood and I will make sure that I will appoint judge, judges that will enforce the Constitution, no activist judges. And I would also make sure that we didn't allow any bureaucrats to get in the way in order to protect the life of the unborn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's political reporter Shannon Travis was at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum last night. He's with us now from Des Moines. So, Shannon, why do the candidates feel that they need to restate, clarify their positions on abortion? SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's an excellent question, Fred, because there are groups in the Republican Party that vote based on their values and so if you're a candidate, you have to prove that you share those values. Take, for example, in 2007 when Mike Huckabee was here, running for president, he won 56 percent of the evangelical vote. That helped him win the Iowa caucuses. So a lot of these Iowa evangelical Christians, they're going to go into the ballot box, the voting booth, whether it is in the general election, and when a caucus in January and say, "Hey, do these - do these candidates share my values?" That's why abortion is one big thing. You have some economic conservatives who won't vote for a candidate unless they pledge to not raise taxes.

You have - in the liberal circles, anti-war activists who say "You know what? Unless they agree to pull all troops out of foreign wars, we won't vote for them." So that's a pretty big thing. You have candidates like Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry going after the evangelical vote because that could help them win or at least place well in a state like Iowa, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. And Shannon, isn't there some polling information that indicates where Republicans, where some conservatives stand on the issue of abortion, whether it is defined by all circumstances or certain circumstances? And here it is.

TRAVIS: Right. Surprising poll numbers, some surprising poll numbers in a CNN ORC poll we had. About 53 percent of Republicans or independents who lean Republican said that, "You know what? Possibly abortion should be legalized or OK, approved, in some cases." So, again, this is a hot button issue for many conservatives, but not one that is even monolithic or homogenous within the Republican Party itself. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. In the meantime, you mentioned Michele Bachmann earlier and her position on this. Meantime, she was in church this morning, you and your crew were there as well. What happened. What was that service like?

TRAVIS: Yes, I was at that service. Michele Bachmann came and said it wasn't a political speech, she didn't go into her typical stump speech of less spending and less taxes. She really talked - she was really heavy on her own personal biography. She used language like when she was a teenager, how she vowed at the altar to give her life to god, and she really, really played up her faith again, a direct appeal to a lot of the evangelicals here in Iowa.

WHITFIELD: All right. Shannon Travis, thanks so much from Des Moines. Appreciate that. Let's talk more about the candidates and their positions on abortion. With us right now here in Atlanta, Eric Erickson, editor in chief of redstate.com, the largest online community of conservative activists, and from Washington, Danielle Belton. She's editor of the award winning blog, the Black Snob.

All right, so both of you, so how important is it for these candidates to try to appeal to these social conservatives. Is that what the discussion about abortion is all about? Eric, you first. ERIC ERICKSON, EDITOR IN CHIEF, REDSTATE.COM: Yes, in a place like Iowa, where evangelicals will be the swing, remember it's a caucus, not a primary. So you actually have to show up with a higher level of activism and engagement, pick the candidate you're going for. In Iowa, evangelicals are a huge turnout crowd. They helped Mike Huckabee. In South Carolina as well, evangelicals will be used. They're not as prominent in places like Florida or in New Hampshire, but for states like Iowa and South Carolina, very important because of the initial (INAUDIBLE). They're very important.

WHITFIELD: OK. So it may seem like a risk in some circles, but not, Danielle, in this case, not in the case of Iowa, for this audience?

DANIELLE BELTON, BLOGGER, WWW.BLACKSNOB.COM: Well, I'm sorry, I misunderstood the question there.

WHITFIELD: Is it a great risk for some of the candidates to try to make and state their case on abortion in general, but then they don't necessarily find that's the case in Iowa?

BELTON: Well, you know, I feel like this is necessary to get the base, to get the activist part of the base motivated and excited about these particular candidates. It won't make as much sense in a general because of the fact of the matter is most people aren't necessarily interested in overturning Roe v. Wade. You have a lot of people who want to debate whether or not things should be restricted, but ultimately this is about appealing and trying to stand out among the most fervent conservative supporters.

WHITFIELD: So the majority of Americans polled say issues like abortion and same sex marriage are not extremely important in the presidential race. So it would seem as though there is a contradiction since these candidates who are in Iowa, Mitt Romney not among them have decided that they want to make it very clear where they stand. So what will be the evolution of their thinking or the evolution of their stance, Eric, once Iowa is no longer an issue?

ERICKSON: Well, that issue largely becomes irrelevant then. Social conservatives want to make sure they have someone who is largely pro- life as their nominee. But once they're assured of that, it goes away. It is not going to be the issue that the general election is fought over. It is frankly not going to be the issue that the -

WHITFIELD: Might it back fire though?

ERICKSON: No, I doubt it. When you have the Gallup poll showing 60 percent of Americans consider themselves pro-life, ever since Ronald Reagan, Democrats have come after Republicans as being pro-life, but we got a majority pro-life on the Supreme Court right now, five to four. Justice Kennedy routinely sided with the other four conservative justices and it hasn't been a big issue even then. I don't think this will be a big issue in the general election.

WHITFIELD: And Danielle how do you see it?

BELTON: I don't see it as a big issue. It is pretty much politically dangerous for either side to get into a slugfest over abortion. What you really have is half country is for it, half the country is against it. Nothing benefits them.

WHITFIELD: So would it be dangerous for them now - so would it be dangerous for them now to use Iowa as the platform to clarify, make statements about where they are on abortion? Because everyone's listening, it is not just Iowa.

BELTON: I honestly don't think so. The reality is when it comes to the general, I don't think the Democrats are going to necessarily bring this up in a huge ugly debate. They have to talk about their own views on abortion. Nobody wants to talk about abortion during the general.

WHITFIELD: All right. Danielle, Eric, we're not done with you guys. You're going to be hanging out with us throughout the hour. There are other fiery issues that have all the candidates kind of raging right now. The issue of immigration is another one that is getting these candidates on their feet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: Mitt, you lose all of your standing from my perspective because you hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Rick Perry going after Mitt Romney there and Romney coming right back, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to this special hour of the "CNN Newsroom." We're taking this time out every Sunday, 4:00 Eastern hour, to let you hear from the 2012 presidential contenders as they hit the campaign trail. One topic that is hot on the campaign trail is illegal immigration reform. Rick Perry and Mitt Romney went after each other last Tuesday in Las Vegas during CNN's GOP western debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: You stood here in front of the American people, and did not tell the truth that you had illegals working on your property and the newspaper came to you and brought it to your attention and you still, a year later, had those individuals working for you. The idea that you can sit here and talk about any of us having immigration issue is beyond me. I've got a strong policy. I've always been against amnesty. You on the other hand are for amnesty.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST: Thirty seconds and we got to move on to another question.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: An op-ed in the newspaper saying you're open to amnesty. That's number one. Number two, we hired a lawn company to mow our lawn and they had illegal immigrants working there. When that was pointed out to us, we let them go. You have a problem with allowing someone to finish speaking and I suggest that if you want to become president of the United States, you got to let both people speak. So, first, let me speak.

So we went to the company and we said, look, you can't have any illegals working on our property. I'm running for office for Pete's sake, I can't have illegals. It turned out once again they hired someone who falsified their documents, had documents and therefore we fired them. And let me tell you, it is hard in this country as an individual homeowner to know if people who are contractors working at your home, if they hired people that are illegal. If I'm president, we'll put in place an e-verify system which you've proposed to make sure that we can crack down on people who come here illegally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hard to know whether it is the issue of immigration or the sparring that resonated the most with folks during that debate.

So let's talk about the importance of illegal immigration in this election year. According to a new CNN ORC survey, it is an important issue. Twenty eight percent say it is extremely important, only 19 percent of those surveyed said it was not. And so how will that play out in this race?

Let's bring in again Danielle Belton, writer and editor of the blog, the black snob, she joins us from Washington, and here in Atlanta, Eric Erickson, editor in chief of redstate.com, the largest online community of conservative activists.

OK, so, Danielle, you first, voters are concerned about illegal immigrants, Arizona, Alabama two states passing very strict laws. But among the candidates right now who might have the advantage in getting voters to hear and really respond to them on their positions with immigration?

BELTON: Well, you know, it is kind of interesting. It depends on who you're trying to appeal to. If you're trying to appeal to a larger American audience, that is concerned, fearful of illegal immigration, concerned about how it will affect jobs, I feel like some of the other candidates have more leeway than others. You know, I mean, it gets kind of hanky because everyone is all over the place on it, also kind of want to appeal to Hispanic voters. So you have like Romney on one end, Perry who has been a governor in Texas and sometimes has been very favorable in legislation that has helped immigrants.

So I feel like it is a tricky -

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry? Go ahead.

BELTON: The tricky thing here is the balance. It's like who do you want to appeal to, the people who are concerned about it or Hispanic voters.

WHITFIELD: So Eric, as you see it right now, among these candidates, is there one that has kind of the advantage? You know, Rick Perry clearly making it clear he's on the border state; however he's run into some problems with the issue of immigration and we heard it just there too in that debate that he's accused of being a little too empathetic to illegal immigrants, particularly as it pertains to helping children of illegal immigrants be able to go to school.

ERICKSON: It is very interesting. This period position hurts him in a primary in a way that will actually help him in a general election. Mitt Romney's position helps him in a primary and then will actually hurt him in a general election. They really are all over the board on this issue. They all largely want to secure the border and the starting point for all of them is secure the border whether build a fence or through a combination of boots on the ground and other things before you begin dealing with immigration. But there really isn't a definable or articulated position for many of these candidates. The real irony here is if you assume the two front-runners are Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, they're coming out from diametrically opposed positions, angrily at each other and most Republican voters they all believe that both of them are at the exact same point and neither of them are really trusted by the most anti-immigration folks within the party.

WHITFIELD: Now as it pertains to, you know, Latino voters, of course, all of the candidates want to try and capture Latino voters, or at least a majority of them in the United States, but immigration is one of those issues that causes a significant split. So, Danielle, who do you see perhaps having an advantage as it pertains to Hispanic voters.

BELTON: That's also kind of a tough one. Because right now they're all trying to go for these anti-immigrant activists who are going to be voting in a lot of the caucuses in the primaries coming up. That's tough. Because you want to appeal to the individuals but at the same time you don't want to alienate Latino voters. I mean even the president, Barack Obama, runs into that in the sense he's been welcoming to Hispanic voters, but also very diligent on the policing side of, you know, of rounding up and putting out illegal immigrants.

WHITFIELD: Eric, do you see that being a real complicated I guess tight rope in which for any candidate to walk?

ERICKSON: Yes, I think so. Even the president, as Danielle said, they all have a difficult situation because they don't want to alienate. What it all comes down to is that Hispanics both sides feel they are the next great pool of demographic voters to weigh in. Those candidates, both sides are looking at a demographic issue wooing Hispanic voters than an issue position. They don't want to put those voters off. But at the same time, they don't want to put off union voters on the democratic side or anti-immigration folks on the Republican side. It is a narrow, narrow tight rope that they're both walking, Democrats and Republicans and none of them have found a good solution.

WHITFIELD: All right, Eric and Danielle, thanks so much. We'll talk with you later in this hour. Meantime, a smaller, leaner federal government is what the Tea Party wants. Michele Bachmann is just fine with closing one department in particular in her own words, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign. Every Sunday we're spending this hour of the "CNN Newsroom" giving you an opportunity to hear from the contenders as they spell out their positions and their vision for the United States. The economy is the overwhelming issue in the 2012 presidential race. One contender says what the U.S. needs is better education for a stronger workforce. Here's Michele Bachmann unedited, uncensors speaking in San Francisco.

BACHMANN: Our nation's ability to compete in the global economy begins with education. This is something I know about as a mother to 28 wonderful children. We must demand strong schools so that young Americans enter the workforce with the math, science and problem solving skills they need to succeed in what we know to be the knowledge economy.

Education has always been the gateway to a better life in this country. It certainly was for myself and our primary and secondary schools were long considered the world's best. When I was a child of a single mother, it was education that was my ticket out and to finding a better life and joining this wonderful economy. But on an international math test recently in 2003, United States high school students ranked unfortunately 24th out of 29 industrial nations surveyed.

It seems year after year we receive those dismal results and year after year Americans' children suffer because politicians working together with American parents fail to deliver reform, true reform in America's public school system. Our schools can do better. I got into politics because of education. And as a mother, I saw the politically correct dumbing down of our children's curriculum and decided that I needed to work to better reform the education system for our children.

And that's why I would close the Federal Department of Education and return money and control to the -- that's why I would return tax money and control to the states for they can best deploy education resources and decision-making power and authority over how those resources would be allocated. I would repeal no child left behind. I would repeal the federal education law that is shackling local public schoolteachers in their ability to know the best way to educate children in the local school setting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. troop withdrawal in Iraq and suspected terrorists captured or killed is President Obama getting recognition for these foreign policy coups?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to this special hour of the "CNN Newsroom." We're focusing on politics, the race for the White House. And now to foreign policy and national security. On President Obama's watch, two of the most wanted Al Qaeda terrorists were killed, Osama Bin Laden in a U.S. special forces mission and Anwar al-Awlaki, a key Al Qaeda figure in the Arabian peninsula, killed in a drone attack. Then last week a NATO-led mission in Libya led to the death of former dictator Moammar Gadhafi. And just a few days ago, President Obama made this announcement on Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over. Over the next two months, our troops in Iraq, tens of thousands of them, will pack up their gear and board convoys for the journey home. The last American soldier will cross the border out of Iraq with their heads held high, proud of their success and knowing that the American people stand united in our support for our troops. That is how America's military efforts in Iraq will end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Obama is keeping his campaign promise to bring the troops home. Two most wanted terrorists killed during his presidency, yet Republicans are not giving him much credit. Joining us again to weigh in from Washington, Danielle Belton, writer and editor of the blog "The Black Snob" and here in Atlanta, Eric Erickson, editor in chief of redstate.com, the largest online community of conservative activists.

All right. So you know, Republicans are very critical of President Obama in 2008, saying he was weak on national security and foreign policy, so will this recent chain of events, Eric, mean you know, they're revisiting that strategy for the Republicans as off limits now.

ERICKSON: I don't necessarily know it will given our relations with the U.K., and Australia and Canada and most European nations right now that there's some angles the Republicans can pursue. I'm actually one of those people who think the national security foreign policy issues are going to be much bigger in 2012 than anyone thinks, everyone is so focused on the economy.

But you do have to give the president his due when he does things like order Osama Bin Laden taken out and Moammar Gadhafi goes down. You can't hide from those issues. Republicans would be smart to give him credit where it's due and not try to mess around on those issues.

WHITFIELD: But are Republicans giving him his due on that? It seems as though -

ERICKSON: They should.

WHITFIELD: -- many are trying to stay away from that. Danielle, will it be kind of the Achilles for the Republicans to stay away from criticisms of the president of something that they thought was a weakness in 2008? BELTON: I think it's going to be really odd for them because right now a lot of them are on videotape and on the record pretty much dismissing President Obama's role and a lot of these are foreign policy breaks that we've made, you know, in the last three years.

I've heard people praise, you know, France and Great Britain more than our own intelligence apparatus and our own troops who've been involved in the uprising in Libya and capturing Osama Bin Laden.

So it's odd - it's odd to me, but I think it's going to be a problem for them in the general because you're not going to be able to explain away how dismissive -

WHITFIELD: So, Danielle, do you see the White House kind of - do you see the White House then kind of capitalizing on this?

BELTON: Absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Go ahead.

BELTON: They would be silly not to. I have a - I have a pretty strong feeling they're going to really take advantage of this lack of enthusiasm.

WHITFIELD: OK. You know, Erick, you know, it's interesting, you know, John McCain, just this morning on ABC's "This Week" was very critical of the president making the announcement of the U.S. troops pulling out of Iraq, saying, "It really is a serious mistake." He says that pulling out is a victory for Iranians.

ERICKSON: Well, you know, we didn't have a choice. And I think other than the "National Journal" and a few others, I think CNN has reported this, the Iraqis gave us no option. That the president according to most of the reports that have come out on the past 24, 48 hours have said we wanted to stay in there, at least keep 5,000 to 10,000 troops because of the Iranian issue. And the Iraqis said, no, they think they can stand on their own now.

Good for them for putting our training to work thinking they're credible enough to stand on their own. I wish we could stay, but, I mean -

WHITFIELD: But you don't see a backfire - backfire in that kind of criticism?

ERICKSON: Well, no. I don't think so. I think the issue is going to be raised is did we do everything we could to - to stay in Iraq now that we know it is the Iraqis who wanted us out of there.

WHITFIELD: OK.

ERICKSON: Iran is going to flare up as an issue there. I grew up in that region. I can see it happening. Iran is going to be a big player and is going to ill come back to bite us in 2012 probably. WHITFIELD: All right. Erick Erickson, thank you so much. Danielle Belton, appreciate it.

BELTON: Thank you.

ERICKSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. For many people, the one and only issue is the economy, and for the 2012 election, the candidates who lay out their vision ahead in a special hour of CNN politics.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: CNN brings you politics each Sunday. During this hour we're bringing you the 2012 presidential contenders, the issues and their positions.

Turning our focus now to the economy, for most voter, that's the driving issue in this presidential race. All of the Republican candidates say President Barack Obama is not doing enough to turn the economy around.

The issue was key last night at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Forum in Iowa. Here's what Rick Santorum, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I call it my 0-0-0 plan. Because zero is better than nine. But it zeroes out the corporate tax for manufactures. It zeroes out repatriated profits to invest in any tax on repatriated profits that come back into the country. It zeroes out every regulation that affects manufacturers that cost over $100 million. It will create jobs in this country.

REP. RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We now face a horrendous problem because we do not believe in honest money anymore. The most significant and most threatening event today to us as a consequence of this lack of understanding of the value of family and civil rights and the constitution is what has driven us to what we call the debt - the sovereign debt problem. It's worldwide.

This debt is so huge. It's bigger than anything that has ever happened in the world. And it's threatening our breakdown of our society.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The process of recovery economically is not that difficult. I predict to you that late on election night, as it is clear that Obama has been defeated and that the Democratic Senate has been defeated, that late that night the recovery will begin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is not backing down from his 9-9-9 plan. He says the backlash that he's getting from other candidates is because they have not read his plan completely. Here is Cain speaking in Detroit on Friday clarifying his stance especially when it came to how it impacts the poor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: "9-9-9" captures revenue to equal existing tax revenue from five sources. The payroll tax, you don't have to pay that anymore. Corporate income taxes to be captured in first nine. Personal income taxes, rates can go anywhere from 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 percent, you capture that in the second nine. It also replaces capital gains taxes, and the death tax.

Capital gains, what if an investor wanted to do something with this bill behind us? And what if they wanted to spend $10 million to turn it into a mall or a restaurant facility or a destination facility in this city? Under 9-9-9, they would be able to deduct that capital investment in the year that they make it and not have to deal with depreciation schedules as they call it, which are punitive to businesses.

The fact that capital gains goes away, it allows that entrepreneurial spirit in this country to be financed by people with money to get together with people with ideas. Imagine every one of these facilities that we are surrounded by having an entrepreneur and an investor getting creative in order to be able to do something with these depressed economic profiteers. That's what built America. We need to renew and unleash that same spirit.

So here are two of the features that my competitors didn't get to when they didn't read the plan. Number one, how do we deal with the poor? Those that are at or below the poverty level? We already had this provision in there and we still raise the same amount of money. If you're at or below the poverty level, your plan isn't 9-9-9, it's 9-0- 9. Say amen, y'all.

CROWD: Amen.

CAIN: 9-0-9. In other words, if you're at or below the poverty level based upon family size, because there's a different number for each one, then you don't pay that middle "9" tax on your income. This is how we help the poor.

Another way we help the poor is that we get this economy going so we can let people find jobs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Herman Cain clarified his stance after the Tax Policy Center and others criticized the 9-9-9 plan saying it would increase taxes on the poor.

Our Christine Romans break down the Policy Center's analysis before Cain's detailed how his plan deals with the poor.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan has rocketed him to the top of the heap. And in Tuesday's debate, the other candidates took their shots at it.

It is simple. Nine percent personal income tax, nine percent corporate tax, nine percent national sales tax. But the question is, what does it mean to you and your taxes?

Now, we have the very first in-depth analysis of that plan. This is from the Tax Policy Center and here's the headline. Eight-four percent of all households would pay more under this plan. The biggest increases by percentage hit the lower income brackets because many of them aren't paying federal income taxes right now.

If your household income, for example, is $30,000, you'll likely see an increase in taxes. On average, most people here will pay anywhere from $1,400 to $4,000 more in total federal taxes. For incomes between, say, $30,000 and $75,000, again, most but not all will see an increase. They'll pay anywhere from 4,500 to 5,500 more a year. If you're making, say, $75,000 to $100,000 a year, you'll likely see an increase and that increase will be about $6,600.

And here is where it gets interesting and a little complicated. When we jump from $100,000 to $200,000 in income, 65 percent of people will see an increase of about $6,610 a year. But about 35 percent can expect a decrease of $6,100. At $200,000 to half a million dollars a year, again, this one we split it up. Most people here see a decrease of $19,000 a year. Thirty percent will see an increase of $8,000 a year.

All right, let's move up the income chain - $500,000 to a million dollars a year, the majority here, 88 percent get a tax cut averaging $70,000 and most millionaires would get a tax cut averaging $487,000.

If you want to get into more detail on all this, you can go yourself to taxpolicycenter.org - Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Christine.

Mitt Romney and Rick Perry have their own ideas about fixing the economy. Here's what they're saying. And we're going to hear more from them later on this hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Lowering the taxes, keeping them simple and fair, having a regulatory climate that is fair and predictable. We balance budgets without unnecessary spending.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been a turn around guy for a long time. And I want to turn around the federal government, make it smaller, smarter, streamlined, and allow the private sector to grow and thrive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign every Sunday. We're spending this hour of the CNN NEWSROOM to allow you to hear from the contenders as they spell out their vision for the United States.

So while most of the GOP contenders were in Iowa for the Faith and Freedom Forum, Mitt Romney is spending the weekend in New Hampshire. At one top, a reporter asked Romney about Rick Perry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does Rick Perry have the experience, the integrity and the intelligence to be president?

ROMNEY: I do. And I, you know, I believe every single person on this stage in that last debate would do a better job than President Obama. And if Rick Perry were the nominee, I'd be voting for him. I, of course, feel he's qualified as I do the other people on the stage.

I believe I'm the best suited to beat President Obama, and that's why I'm running. So the other guys are fine and gal, they're just fine, they're all qualified, but I don't think they bring as much to the table as I do or I wouldn't be running for office.

I can say this that this is really a critical time and - and replacing President Obama with someone who understands how our economy works and how to slim the federal government to its right size is essential. And that's what I do. I've been a turn around guy for a long time and I want to turn around the federal government, make it smaller, smarter, streamlined and allow the private sector to grow and thrive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Romney will be getting some important paperwork done in New Hampshire tomorrow.

Let's go live now to Manchester and CNN Political Producer Rachel Streitfeld. All right, Rachel, what - this in large part I guess explains why he's not in Iowa but instead in New Hampshire. Tell me more about this paperwork he's got to file.

RACHEL STREITFELD, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Right. We're going to see Mitt Romney bright and early tomorrow morning when he files - officially files for his candidacy in the New Hampshire Presidential Primary. And he's not going to do it alone. He's going to bring a big endorser with him, that's former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, who also worked in the George Bush, the first White House and was a widely expected move for Sununu to endorse Romney. But it's still a big gap for Romney in the state.

And later on in the week, we're going to see former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be here midweek to file his candidacy. And then on Friday, Texas Governor Rick Perry will be in the state. He's going to file for his candidacy and then he'll participate in a few campaign events here in the state.

WHITFIELD: OK. And I guess there's a lot of relief coming in New Hampshire as well. Because the whole political primary caucus calendar was getting quite the shake-up and Nevada now comes out saying, you know, they're going to have their caucus in February as opposed to in January, which kind of threatens New Hampshire. So, explain the kind of - the dance here of dates.

STREITFELD: You've got it, Fredricka. New Hampshire is breathing a big sigh of relief. It looks like everybody is going to get to celebrate their December holidays here. So there is a lot of pressure from national - both from National Republicans and from New Hampshire Republicans on Nevada and Nevada did go ahead and move back their date.

So we had been worried that New Hampshire is going to have to do this in December, keep it first in the primary - first in the nation primary status. It doesn't look - look like that's going to be a problem.

Speculation here in the state, and I have to caution it's only speculation, it is that the primary will be held January 10th, which puts New Hampshire just a week after Iowa's caucus. However, the Secretary of State is the man who sets that date. I'll be in his office for this Mitt Romney filing tomorrow morning. I will definitely ask him about it and let you know what he says, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rachel, thanks so much. There's a low flying plane goes by there in Manchester. Thank you.

All right, Rick Perry will formally unveil his economic plan on Tuesday, but next, he gives us a preview about jobs in energy in his view.

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back to this special hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're taking this time out every Sunday to let you hear from the 2012 presidential contenders on the campaign trail.

So we'll get to Rick Perry's economic plan in just a minute. But, first, the birther issue is resurfacing on the campaign trail. And in an interview with "Parade" Magazine, Rick Perry is asked if he thinks President Obama was born in the United States. Perry says that he hasn't seen the president's birth certificate, but thinks it's a distractive issue.

Let's bring in Erick Erickson, Editor in Chief of redstate.com. And this conversation was on the "Parade" Magazine website, by the way. Erick, I know you got a chance to look at it. But viewers may be hearing this for the first time.

So the question from the reporter for "Parade" goes like this. It says, "Governor, do you believe President Barack Obama was born in the United States?" Perry replies, "I have no reason to think otherwise." "That's not a definitive yes." I believe he, that from the reporter, and Perry says, "Well, I don't have a definitive answer because he's never seen my birth certificate." The reporter then says, "But you've seen his," and Perry says, "I don't know. Have I?"

The reporter again says, "You don't believe what's been released?" And Perry then reportedly says here and I'm quoting based on the parade magazine website, "I don't know. I had dinner with Donald Trump the other night."

So this goes back and forth. And I guess the implication here from this reporting is that Rick Perry doesn't say definitively he believes that the president is indeed, you know, birthed here in the United States. He kind of waffles on a little bit.

Is this dangerous territory for Rick Perry to have engaged in this conversation or to even handle it the way that he has? How do you see this?

ERICKSON: It sounds like just reading through the transcript he tried to handle it humorously and this reporter wanted more than Perry was going to give, which was trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

You know, he said he is president of the United States, specifically that he's elected. It's a distractive issue. Yes, I would agree with him. I would say it is a dumb issue. It's time to go away. I wish the Republican candidates would just practice saying exactly what I'm going to say. He's an American citizen, get over it.

They should be more definitive. This is Rick Perry, though. We've seen how he did in the debate. So I would expect him to kind of laugh his way out of the question.

WHITFIELD: OK. But do you think it will resonate, will it have staying power or, you know, is it done?

ERICKSON: No. I think it's done. He will probably be asked one more time and he'll be very definitive about it. I hope he'll be definitive about it.

This is over and done with now. It's time to move on. The birthers are moving on to Marco Rubio, so the Democrats will have some fun in 2012.

WHITFIELD: All right, Erick Erickson, thanks so much. Appreciate your time this afternoon.

All right. Meantime, Texas Governor Rick Perry will be outlining his plan to grow the economy during a stop Tuesday in South Carolina. Well, this weekend at a farm in Iowa, he said his plan is rooted in a system that actually works the one in his home state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: We need an energy policy that makes our nation more secure and creates American jobs by reducing our reliance on foreign oil. And my first days in office, I'll begin the process of creating 1.2 million jobs in the energy field that this part of my plan doesn't require Congress to act. It can happen unilaterally by the president and I will do that.

Right away, I'll direct the Department of Interior to open up those federal lands and waters, so that we can explore for our energy. Freeze all the pending regulations from the EPA that are killing those jobs. Third, we'll rebuild the EPA so that it's no longer this massive bureaucracy that stands in the way of economic progress, focusing it on regional environmental issues and worthwhile important research.

And lastly, we'll level the playing field so that all energy producers compete in a fair marketplace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Look now at where the candidates are heading this week. That's coming up next.

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