Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Rick Perry Jumps on Flat Tax Bandwagon; CDC Recommends Boys Ages 11 and 12 Get Vaccinated for HPV; Rick Perry Unveils Flat Tax Plan; Perry Outlines Economic Plan; Cyberdad's Bedtime Story; Comedian's Private Hell

Aired October 25, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Joe Johns, in for Suzanne Malveaux.

Let's get you up to speed this Tuesday, the 25th of October.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry is hoping to give his struggling campaign a kick in the pants. He's jumping on the flat tax bandwagon. We'll have his announcement live from South Carolina any minute now.

Perry's flat tax is optional. He would let you pay a flat 20 percent, or you can stick with the current tax system.

The Centers for Disease Control is recommending boys ages 11 and 12 get vaccinated for the human papillomavirus, or HPV. The advisory committee's decision was announced just a few minutes ago. Currently, girls are vaccinated to cut the risk of cervical cancer. The CDC says vaccinating boys will help slow HPV, which is spread by sexual contact.

Libya's new rulers say Moammar Gadhafi was buried today in an unmarked grave in the desert. His body had been on display in a cold storage unit for several days. The National Transitional Council says Gadhafi was shot and killed by crossfire during his capture, but Human Rights Watch says there are strong indications the long-time dictator was shot at point-blank range while in custody.

Hurricane Rina may get a whole lot meaner. It's already pushing 100-mile-an-hour winds, and forecasters say Rina may be a major Category 3 hurricane when it swipes the Mexican Yucatan, probably Thursday. The hurricane is then expected to loop around towards Cuba.

Rescuers pulled several family members out of the earthquake wreckage in eastern Turkey today. This 14-day-old baby girl and her mother were among those saved from the crumbled apartment building. Rescuers also got the infant's grandmother out, but it's not clear if she survived the ordeal. Turkish officials say the number of people killed by Sunday's quake stands at 366.

Police in the Dallas area are searching for a serial rapist today. They released this surveillance video showing the suspect. Four women in their 50s and 60s have been attacked over the last year. All were members of the same sorority, Delta Sigma Theta. The owners and players aren't talking, so the NBA is reportedly ready to cancel another two weeks of games today. That means no basketball until the end of November, at the earliest. Owners locked players out in July. The two sides cannot agree on salaries and how to divvy up the billions the NBA brings in each year.

The northern lights put on a spectacular show of green, pink and purple. The solar flare that created the display was so powerful, people as far south as Memphis and Atlanta -- right here in Atlanta -- saw the lights.

The phenomenon happens when a burst of the sun's radioactive energy suddenly bombards the Earth's magnetic field. So how often does this happen? Chad Myers is going to come up and tell us shortly.

Herman Cain gave us 9-9-9. Today, Rick Perry is unveiling his economic plan: Cut, Balance and Grow. He'll lay out the plan in a speech in South Carolina that begins any minute now. We will bring you his remarks live.

Right now let's bring in Jim Acosta in Gray Court, South Carolina, where Perry will be speaking, and Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.

Jim, Perry is calling his plan Cut, Balance and Grow. What exactly does that mean?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, I think he's hoping that this will grow his poll numbers, Joe.

Cut, Balance and Grow, it basically -- you can slice it up into three parts. Just like the name, "cut," he would like to cut domestic spending to 18 percent of GDP. He would like to see a balanced budget amendment. And he also wants to grow the economy.

And the way he wants to grow the economy is with a really radically different tax code than the American people are used to. He's talking about -- we can go over some of these details right now that he unveiled in an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal" -- a 20 percent flat tax that would be offered to individuals that they could choose from. They could either have the flax tax or stay with their current income tax rate.

He would also lower the corporate tax to 20 percent. He would wipe out the estate tax and also wipe out taxes on long-term capital gains and dividends and Social Security benefits.

So it's a radical plan. And as you mentioned, it is sort of borrows a page a little bit from Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan, which is obviously very popular among many Republicans, minus that 9 percent sales tax, where a lot of Republicans think Herman Cain misfired, is on the introduction of a new sales tax. Rick Perry does not do that, and so that's why you're hearing folks like the Club for Growth, folks like Dick Armey, the former House Majority Leader and a big Tea Party conservative, saying that they like Rick Perry's economic plan. Now, he's going to be giving this message today, Joe, with a bit of a distraction to his campaign. Over the weekend, as you know, he gave an interview to "Parade" magazine in which he resurrected the whole birther issue, talking about the president's birth certificate, raising doubts as to whether or not that birth certificate is authentic, and even saying he had met with Donald Trump and talked about the issue with the real estate mogul.

Well, he gave an interview earlier this morning with CNBC in which he said, basically, he's not that worried about the president's birth certificate, but he likes to poke some fun at the president on this issue. And it's obviously -- it's an issue that he thinks is going to resonate with some conservatives, and he is trying to woo many of those conservatives who liked his campaign to come back to his campaign.

The Lone Star governor, Joe, is trying to avoid becoming a shooting star in this campaign, one that burns brightly on its ascent, but then fades out as it falls back to Earth -- Joe.

JOHNS: Well, Jim, as you know, there are people already saying that Rick Perry has now stepped on his own message by rolling out this big tax plan on the same day he starts talking about birthers, but we'll get on to that in a bit.

Alison, let's go to you at the New York Stock Exchange.

Talk a little bit about the flat tax component of Perry's plan. It has come up again and again in national politics, but for those who don't remember, would you just sort of lay out for us what a flat tax is?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. Flat tax 101, here it comes, Joe.

So, what a flat tax basically is it's one tax rate for everybody. The current tax code, when you look at it, has six tax rates depending on what your income is. That really is the biggest difference, but there are also other nuances here.

Both the current system and the flat tax maintain the standard deduction. That's what you can deduct based on your family size. Now, in a true flat tax system, that's the only deduction you get. But if you look at Perry's modified plan, it will allow for some deductions like mortgage interest and charitable givings.

There's another difference as well, how the flat tax system would treat savings and investment gains. Capital gains and dividends are tax-free under a flat tax. This whole idea here behind the flat tax essentially, Joe, is to free up cash for people to invest their money -- Joe.

JOHNS: Now, I know all of this hasn't been gamed out yet, and we're going to hear a lot about it, but generally speaking, who benefits from a flat tax? KOSIK: And that's a tough question to answer at this point, because like when Herman Cain handed out his 9-9-9 plan, Perry has only put out some really broad details. So you really can't do an exact calculation as to which is better, the flat or the current tax system.

But just by looking at this, just from what we have, the poor, they are going to be hit the hardest by this flat tax, because many don't pay income tax right now because their income is not high enough. So under a flat tax, their tax rate would actually go up. So what it means is that the wealthy would benefit the most, because their tax liability would go down or stay the same -- Joe.

JOHNS: Right. Yes, that's pretty easy when you just look at the math. There are people up in the 29, 30 percent tax rate, and theirs would come down to 20 percent, but people who are in the 15 percent tax rate would actually go up.

One of the main criticisms about the current tax code is that it's too long and too complicated, and one of the advantages of this is that it's very easy to explain. But do you think a flat tax would actually be simpler in the long run?

KOSIK: Well, you know what, Joe? If you look at the proponents of a flat tax, they say one tax rate is simpler, clear and simple right there. It makes it much easier if you do your taxes. It would also make it tougher to cheat on your taxes, because there would be fewer loopholes.

But critics of the flat tax actually say a true flat tax actually gets rid of a lot of deductions. But if you look at the Perry plan, it's not as simple as a true flat tax is meant to be, because he would allow people to choose which plan benefits them the most, which could keep many deductions alive for businesses and, of course, wealthy individuals.

Also, implementing a new system, it's going to be costly. And early analyses indicate that revenue collections with this flat tax plan, it really may not add up. You may not see the revenue may coming in, and then we end up having these debt troubles, these deficit troubles.

So there's a lot that needs to be flushed out. We need more details at this point on Perry's plan, and Herman Cain's plan as well -- Joe.

JOHNS: Yes. It just seems like it's really hard to get that predictability factor into the tax code if you don't know who is going to opt in and who's going to opt out. But anyway, we can talk about that a little bit later down the road.

Thanks so much, Alison Kosik.

And also, thanks to Jim Acosta in South Carolina.

Here's your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. Today's question: Should President Obama bypass Congress to help the economy?

Carol Costello is joining us live now with more from New York -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Joe.

President Obama has gone from "Yes, we can" to "We can't wait." Since Congress isn't exactly eager to discuss any part of the president's jobs bill, the president is going rogue. Instead of waiting for Congress to act, he's implementing a series of executive actions like new rules aimed at making it easier for homeowners to refinance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can't wait for an increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job. Where they won't act, I will. The barrier will be lifted that prohibits responsible homeowners from refinancing if their home values have fallen so low, that what they owe on their mortgage is 25 percent higher than the current value of their home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: That will not be enough to solve the housing crisis. Republicans say it won't solve anything, and that the president is simply using political gamesmanship to get around Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: They're ashamed to mention any of the things that they do with Republicans because it steps on their storyline. Their storyline is that there must be some villain out there who is keeping this administration from succeeding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: What is clear? Unless Congress acts in some big way, the economy will continue to suffer. And Congress does not appear likely to do that.

So President Obama is moving forward on his own. Monday, the home mortgage plan. Tomorrow, a plan to help with student loans. The president's intent? To show Americans he's doing something, and, of course, to shame Congress into acting.

So, the "Talk Back" question for you today: Should the president bypass Congress to help the economy?

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

JOHNS: Carol Costello, thanks so much for that.

COSTELLO: Sure.

JOHNS: Here's a rundown of some of the stories ahead. First, the big vote today to decide whether the CDC will recommend vaccinating some of your sons against HPV.

Then, police make dozens of arrests in Oakland after Occupy movement demonstrators refuse to back down.

Also, rescued from the rubble in Turkey. A baby is pulled out alive. Details from the quake zone.

And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL HAMMOND, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": There was cutting backstage, there was -- I was once taken to a psyche ward. In fact, the week that I did the Gore debates, I believe I was taken away in a straight jacket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: -- a "Saturday Night Live" comedian who made us roll with laughter describes performing despite painful memories of childhood abuse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: A government panel has just voted to recommend boys being vaccinated against HPV. The shot is already on the Centers for Disease Control's vaccine schedule for girls, and that has sparked some controversy.

Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, here to explain.

And Elizabeth, why is it that they are now talking about actually giving this to boys?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. HPV vaccine is for human papillomavirus. And so this is kind of a three- for, Joe. What it says is that if boys get this shot, it could prevent them from getting genital warts in the future, it could prevent them from getting certain cancers in the future, and -- and this is the third of the three-for -- it can prevent them from giving that virus to girls when they are sexually active later in life.

JOHNS: Is there going to be an option here, or do parents have to do this if they move forward?

COHEN: This is the interesting part. So, the CDC committee has now said we think boys ought to get this shot at age 11 or 12. Then each state gets to decide whether they're going to make it mandatory for school attendance, whether you have to get the shot to go to school.

In the case of HPV for girls, only one state and the District of Columbia have made it mandatory for school attendance. Forty-nine other states have not put it on the mandatory list.

JOHNS: The bottom-line question, whenever one of these vaccines come out, especially when it's just for kids, is, is it going to make my child sick? Is it safe?

COHEN: Right. And there is -- you will see controversy politically on this, you will see controversy among some online communities. There's really no controversy among doctors. In the medical world, they say this is a safe vaccine, we've given it to millions of people around the world, we have not seen serious consequences.

JOHNS: Great. OK. Thanks so much, Elizabeth Cohen.

COHEN: Thanks.

JOHNS: Good to see you again.

COHEN: Good to see you.

JOHNS: You just heard Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry lay out his economic plan, a cornerstone of the plan allowing you to choose between your current income tax rate and a 20 percent flat tax. Perry also wants to lower the corporate tax rate to 20 percent and cut capital gains and inheritance taxes.

We do want to drill down on the politics and the economics of Perry's plan. And to help us do that, let's bring in CNN senior political analyst David Gergen and Roberton Williams, senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

Actually, before we do that, let's just pop in and take a look at the Rick Perry event in South Carolina, because I hear he may be starting.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- very much.

It is indeed an honor to be with you today. And as he and I were talking, it's -- he was classmate, high school classmates, with one of the great conservative senators in our country, and that's Jim DeMint.

And I want to thank ISO Poly Films for allowing me to come here today.

And Jon, you in particular for opening your business.

We discussed a plan that will get America working again.

You know, today I lay, before the American people my Cut, Balance and Grow plan. It cuts taxes and it also cuts the spending. And it balances the budget by 2020, and it grows jobs and it grows the economy.

It neither reshuffles the status quo, nor does it expand the ways that Washington can reach into your pocketbooks. It reorders the way they do business in Washington by reinventing the tax code and getting our nation back to a fiscal health through balanced budgets and entitlement reform.

Central to my plan is giving every American the option of throwing out that three million words in the current tax code -- and, I might add, the cost of complying with all of that code -- in order to pay a 20 percent flat tax on their income.

(APPLAUSE)

The size of the current code is more than 72,000 pages. That's represented by this pallet right over here and the reams of paper. That's what the current tax code looks like.

The best representation of my plan is this postcard. This is the size of what we're talking about right here. Taxpayers will be able to fill this out and file their taxes on that.

(APPLAUSE)

And each individual taxpayer will have a choice. You can continue to pay your taxes, as well as the accountants and the lawyers under the current tax system that we've got, or you can file your taxes on this postcard, with the deductions on there for interest on your mortgage, your charitable giving, your state and local taxes, and then deduct those and send it in.

Under my plan, you are no longer going to have to worry about paying taxes on Social Security when you retire -- or your family members -- yes.

(APPLAUSE)

Or, Jon, your family members paying the death tax when you're gone. You can save -- I mean, think about that. He's worked hard. He's going to pass this on to his family one of these days, and the idea that the federal government is going to take half of that is nonsense.

And I might add you can also wave good-bye to the capital gains tax, as well as taxes on dividends.

(APPLAUSE)

We'll increase the standard exemption for individuals and dependents to $12,500. And that means that families in the middle and on the lower end of the economic scale will have the opportunity to get ahead.

You know, taxes will be cut across all income groups in America. And the net benefit will be more money in Americans' pockets, with greater investment in the private economy instead of the federal government.

Now, on the corporate tax side, I'm offering an equally bold reform. My plan closes those corporate loopholes, it ends the special breaks for special interests, and stop the gravy train of lobbyists and tax lawyers in Washington, D.C. They're there at the trough.

(APPLAUSE)

In exchange for a corporate-free -- or, I should say, a corporate tax-free of carve-outs and exclusions, I offer a much lower rate of 20 percent that represents the average corporate rate among the developed nations. And it will make our corporations much more competitive on the global scale. We'll shut down the cottage industry of corporate tax evasion by creating a tax that is broad and fair and low. And my plan also offers incentives for corporations to invest in America again with two major reforms.

(APPLAUSE)

First, we'll transition to a territorial tax system on corporation income that's earned overseas. And what this means is that companies that pay the appropriate taxes in the country where that income was earned, but aren't taxed a second time when that income gets moved back to the United States.

And secondly, all quarter profits currently that are languishing overseas, I will offer a one-time reduced rate of 5.25 percent for a limited period of time on those repatriated dollars to bring those dollars back to the United States. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that this one-time tax reduction would bring back over a billion dollars in capital back to the United States, creating up to 2.9 million jobs, and increase the economic output in this country by $360 billion.

In other words, it's the kind of economic stimulus that President Obama could have achieved if he wasn't so hell-bent on passing big government schemes that have failed American workers.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, today's America's combined corporate tax rate of 39.2 percent is the second highest in the developed world. It's time to overhaul our tax code so that companies like ISO Poly Films can invest more in their people and their products.

Tax rates have consequences. The liberals myopically ignore the realities of human nature. They think raising rates will raise revenue.

What they don't understand is that large employers have choices. And I might add, so do wealthy individuals, and that includes moving money offshore.

When they tried to take -- when the federal government tries to take too much, they end up hurting the very people they supposedly seek to help, the working class. We need tax policy that embraces the world as it is, not what some liberal ideologue wishes it to be.

The goal of my Cut, Balance and Grow plan is to release job recreation, to address the current economic crisis, while, at the same time, generating a stable source of revenue to address our record deficit and put our fiscal house in order. My plan should not be viewed in a vacuum, but in comparison to the continuation of the status quo.

It provides employers and investors certainty, which is critical, Jon, in getting capital back into the economy.

You know, the president's plan, it provides temporary tax relief, which it does nothing to encourage long-term investment, because it doesn't provide the private sector any certainty. The way to stimulate the economy is not through temporary tax relief or government spending, it' to stimulate private spending through permanent tax relief.

You see, the flat tax will unleash growth, but growth is not enough. We must put a stop to this entitlement culture that risks the financial sovereignty -- or solvency -- of this country for future generations. I mean, the red flags are alarming.

(APPLAUSE)

Our children are born with a $46,000 debt, Debra (ph). I mean, every young child that's born has a $46,000 debt to the federal government.

Our credit was downgraded for the first time this past August, in part because of the lack of seriousness about deficit reduction. You know, according to the White House Office of Management and Budget, by the end of the year our debt will exceed the size of America's economy for the first time in 65 years.

We are on the road to ruin, paved by state serfdom. Freeing our children from financial disaster requires the courage to reform the entitlements. And my plan establishes firm principles to preserve Medicare and Social Security for today's beneficiaries, while saving it for tomorrow's generations.

I'm putting forward five principles to save Social Security for the long term.

First, we will protect existing benefits for current retirees, and we'll work with Congress on the exact age where those nearing retirement are grandfathered out of the changes to the program.

Now, secondly, we will end the current pillaging of the Social Security trust fund by Washington politicians

(APPLAUSE)

See, here's the hard fact. The trust fund is full of IOUs, without a single dime of money left over from what workers have paid in. The politicians have borrowed against it for years, and in order to redeem those IOUs in the fund, they're going to have to either raise your taxes or cut spending on other programs to replenish it. That's the only two choices. Now, here's the other hard truth. If we don't act, in 25 years benefits will be slashed by 23 percent overnight. Protecting Social Security begins by protecting the solvency of the fund and stopping all of the current borrowing from the fund, just as we have done with the Highway Trust Fund.

The third principle of reform --

(END LIVE COVERAGE)

JOHNS: That is Governor Rick Perry outlining plans of really sweeping economic programs that start with a 20 percent flat tax. That's something that's been talked about before in the United States. Hasn't really gone anywhere. Nonetheless, he wants a flat tax.

He says it would cut taxes for all Americans across the board. It would also give Americans an option whether to use the new tax plan or the old traditional IRS tax plan we are all familiar with now.

He also says his plan would eliminate things like the debt tax, Social Security tax, capital gains taxes, taxes on dividends. He also says that his plan would protect Social Security by making it solvent and as well as what many, many people are interested in, growing the economy.

So let's now bring in CNN political analyst David Gergen and Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

David, politically, when you listen to this, is this sort of a "Hail Mary" pass for the Perry campaign? You know he's dropped in the polls and now he has to sort of get back in the game, does he not?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think "Hail Mary" goes too far but I do think he's clearly trying to reenergize his campaign. He's brought in new advisers, tough advisers, advisers with national experience, who know how to bring a gun to a knife fight. And he's also willing to spend more money now. And now he comes along with a -- with a sweeping bowl, I'd say radical plan. Some would even call it breathtaking.

It's -- we have to talk about the content of this plan because it is one of the most dramatic proposals we've heard in a major presidential campaign in some years. It could revitalize his campaign. Clearly that's what he intends.

JOHNS: Certainly is. There is a simple amount of gravitas just by the fact that he's got Steve Forbes on board, the former presidential candidate, also the man various -- well-associated with "Forbes" magazine, who has been able to talk through some of these notions of a flat tax because he proposed it himself.

So let's go on over, though, to Robertson Williams and talk just a little bit with you now.

You, of course, work with the Tax Policy Center in Washington, D.C. and you took a very close look at Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan. I realized we're just getting the outlines right now of what Rick Perry wants to do, but what do you make of it?

ROBERTON WILLIAMS, SENIOR FELLOW, TAX POLICY CENTER: Well, what we make of it is that we don't really know what it's going to be. There are a lot of details still to be revealed. One thing -- a couple of things we do know. One, revenues will go down, go down a lot because you have the choice between paying the tax you're paying now, or paying the alternative 20 percent tax that he's proposed today.

You'll pick the lowest one. That means taxes will go down overall. Government will bring in less revenue.

And the second thing we know for sure is people at the very top of the list and the rich will save a lot. They're not going to be taxed on their capital gains anymore. They're not going to be taxed on their dividends. They get a little bit of savings by not paying tax on Social Security and their tax rate will come down to 20 percent on the rest of their income from the current 35 percent.

Those are win-win-win situation for the rich. The rest of the population will be where they are or maybe a little bit better off.

JOHNS: In other words the middle class and poor people, they're going to be where they are now, it's not going to get any worse for them under this plan as you see it?

WILLIAMS: Well, it can't get worse at least in the short-run because they can choose to still file the taxes under the current law. That means the people -- the very poor will benefit from the child credit and they earned income tax credit that actually result in payments to them, will continue to get those payments. They won't lose out.

This would zero out those taxes on the (INAUDIBLE) tax side because of the large exemption, the 20 -- it's $12,500 per person exemption that the governor has proposed. But that won't replace the refundable credits that give them actually payments.

So they'll continue to file their returns under the old rules. One question is how long will that last? Can they keep doing that indefinitely or will that be phased out over time?

JOHNS: Roberton Williams, we would like to go just to a sound bite --

GERGEN: Joe, Joe.

JOHNS: -- for those of us who are joining us.

Rick Perry, the governor of taxes, the presidential candidate, the Republican, has now unveiled his flat tax plan, which is really a bold, almost radical. I think David Gergen called it plan.

Let's listen to some of the highlights in this sound bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now today I lay before the American people my cut, balance and grow plan. It cuts taxes and it also cuts the spending. And it balances the budget by 2020. And it grows jobs and it grows the economy.

Now it neither reshuffles the status quo nor does it expand the ways that Washington can reach into your pocketbook.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Now, David Gergen, when you look at the whole campaign on the Republican side, let's see, Perry has a five-point plan. Cain has a 9-9-9 plan. And Romney has something like a 59-point plan. These are very different approaches, are they not?

GERGEN: They're very different approaches. And it's made the Mitt Romney -- the Perry plan makes Mitt Romney look much more mainstream. And that's part of the objective here is to paint him as the establishment and to paint Perry as the populist outsider winning against the establishment.

And, Joe, I think as a political matter this Perry plan is likely to be very well received among Tea Party types and on the right of the Republican Party. It's going to catch hell from the left because when you look at it, it can easily be paying because it is. It's a windfall for the wealthy. Wealthy.

At the very time, you know, we've been talking about raising taxes on millionaires as a way to get more revenue in, this drops taxes, this lowers taxes on the affluent in all sorts of ways, cutting capital gains, cutting their dividend taxes to zero and then lowering their general -- their income taxes at 20 percent.

That's a windfall for the wealthy. At the same time, Joe, we'll have to get more analysis from the Tax Policy Center, from others, this is going to drop the net revenue for the government. How is Perry going to deal with that? He's going to hold spending down to 18 percent of GDP. We haven't been anywhere close to 18 percent now for some years.

What does that mean for middle and lower income Americans? It means a lot of government services will be going away. You can't -- you can't get to 18 percent without reforming entitlement severely and without removing a lot of other government services. So if you look at it from that perspective, cuts from the services with a windfall from the community, that's going to draw a huge angry response from the left.

JOHNS: David Gergen, thanks so much.

Roberton Williams, we really appreciate you coming in, giving us a very close analysis of this as the news breaks out of South Carolina. We appreciate your contribution.

WILLIAMS: You're welcome. JOHNS: Our fact-checking team is going over Perry's flat tax plan to see how it stacks up. We'll tell you what they found out in a live report next hour 12:15 p.m. Eastern.

Amazing rescue. A 2-week-old baby girl is saved after being buried alive for two days. We'll have details from Turkey's earthquake zone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Here's a rundown of some of the stories we're working on.

Up next, after being displayed inside a meat locker in Libya, the body of Moammar Gadhafi is buried at a secret location.

Then the dramatic rescue of a baby from the rubble in Turkey.

And later a comedian's personal horror story. Childhood abuse he says came from his own mother.

Miraculous moments in Turkey's earthquake zone. Rescuers today pulled a 2-week-old baby girl alive from the ruins of her collapsed home. The rescuers then pulled out her mother and grandmother.

Our Diana Magnay is there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We heard from the grandmother that the child was three weeks premature, so should really still be in the womb and has already survived an earthquake and 36 hours in the rubble.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The official death toll from Sunday's earthquake in eastern Turkey is 366. Next hour we'll check in with Diana where rescuers are still scrambling for survivors.

A 2-year-old is being hailed as a hero today. Find out what she did to save her mother's life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Checking stories our affiliates are covering.

This cute 2-year-old in Texas is being credited with saving her mother's life. She's called for help after her mother blacked out and fell down. Little Lia picked up the phone and called her grandmother who then called 911. Mom said she didn't even know Leah knew how to use the phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIA VEGA, CALLED FOR HELP: Mommy fell down on the floor and mommy (INAUDIBLE). LARISSA TAYLOR, DAUGHTER CALLED FOR HELP: She's been wearing a towel around the house calling herself a superhero because mommy has told her about it. So definitely she's my little superhero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: Police in Oakland, California, arrested dozens of protestors from the "Occupy" movement early this morning. City officials say protestors defied an order to abandon a makeshift encampment of about 150 tents outside city hall. Officials were concerned about rats, fire hazards, public urination and acts of violence. But the protestor say they've been peaceful and by and large cite their First Amendment rights.

And this old car is the talk of the town in Saco, Maine. The city shut down main street for a parade to celebrate the car's driver who put one million miles on his 1990 Honda Accord. He says his secret is nothing special. Just keeping up with the manufacturer's maintenance schedule.

Evolving technology is reducing separation anxiety in children. A bedtime story and a hug from a dad stationed thousands of miles away shows how far we've come. Our Jeanne Moos has this story for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Moms and dads away from home can be there for their kids thanks to constantly evolving technology. Sure, video chatting with children is no substitute for having dad actually there, but their joy when daddy pops up on the screen is undeniable.

Here's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's like reading a bedtime story --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Farmer Mickey wakes at dawn. Time to work the whole day long.

MOOS: Only daddy seems to live inside a screen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The hen lays eggs. The cows munch hay.

MOOS: The wife of an Airman away from home for basic training posted this video of her prerecorded husband reading to his 2-year-old daughter. It's got everybody talking about how cute it is. The only one who isn't talking is dad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy?

MOOS: She was trying to say silly kitty because mom tells CNN the cat just knocked something off a shelf.

Someone posted that dad better get back home soon or that kid is going to be nearsighted. The adorability factor goes through the roof since the bedtime story ends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I have a hug?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love you.

MOOS: Talk about a screen grab.

Every time her daughter asks to see daddy mom would play one of several prerecorded videos. This is similar to the United Through Reading program. Parents separated from their children especially military parents record themselves reading aloud and send DVDs home to the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What sound does a lion make?

MOOS (on camera): Now prerecorded storytelling isn't as high tech as, say, a soldier watching the birth of his first child live via Skype.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, babe, let's go.

MOOS (voice-over): Since Army Corporal Greg Bacon was in Iraq when his son was born, Skype was the next big thing to being there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just so scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know, honey. Just keep talking to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang on, honey. Hang on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lots of pressure, lots of pressure, it's going to feel really funny. You see him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can see him.

MOOS: He finally saw him in person three months later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, buddy.

MOOS: You may think of cyber space as cold but this inspired us --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I have a hug?

MOOS: -- to have a group hug.

(On camera): Thank you.

(Voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bye-bye.

MOOS: New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: I can't wait until they get to the holographic dad. That'll be really cool.

Coming up next, we'll have a story about a famous "Saturday Night Live" funny man but behind almost every performance Darrell Hammond says he was taking soul-killing drugs to deal with the abuse he suffered as a child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYL HAMMOND, COMEDIAN: Stabbing, beating, being electrocuted, stuff like that. It's my mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: He was the comedian behind some of "Saturday Night Live's" most memorable characters, but Darrell Hammond now reveals to CNN that his own childhood was a horror story.

Hammond, who played everyone from Al Gore to Sean Connery on "SNL," says that as a kid, his mother beat, stabbed and even electrocuted him. That abuse he says still haunts him today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMOND: I was never -- in a mental institution for a long time. I was in psych wards where I would go in and they go, well, is he going to kill himself? What's wrong with him? You know I was diagnosed with everything from schizophrenia to multiple personality, and bipolar and all of the things that doctors have traditionally -- the labels doctors have traditionally placed on people who are only really just trauma patients.

With me, I was on as many as seven medications at one time. I mean these doctors really didn't know what to do with me. There was cutting back stage, there was -- I was once taken to a psych ward. In fact the week that I did the Gore debates, I believe I was taken away in a straight jacket. And there's no way that for people to know about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: You can see more of our interview with Darrel Hammond at CNN.com.

A government advisory panel has just voted to recommend giving the HPV vaccine to boys. Does that mean parents should go out and get it for their sons? We'll take a look at the recommendations in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Coming up on the top of the hour, let's take a quick check of the markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average now down about 104 points.

You've been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question, Carol Costello is here with your responses -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People had a lot to say about this, Joe.

The "Talk Back" question today, should the president bypass Congress if he thinks it will help the economy?

This from Michael, "Congress does not seem interested in doing anything, so why not? Someone needs to do something."

This from Mike, "It took him almost three years to discover that we can't wait? I can't wait for this walking disaster to vacate the White House. The only thing he can accomplish is raising tons of money from Hollywood fat cats and other terminally naive folks."

This from Marge, "Has the Congress done one thing to assist in job creation? No, I say go for it, Mr. President."

And this from Keith, "Why do we have a Congress again? Have any of you read the Constitution? You people deserve to live in the tyranny you're wishing for."

Keep the comments coming. Facebook.com/carolCNN. I'll be back with you in about 10 minutes.

JOHNS: Thanks, Carol.