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North Korean Leader Kim Jong-il Dies; Who Controls North Korea's Nuclear Arsenal?; Tax Break May Be in Trouble; Newt Gingrich Gets Tea Party Endorsement, Ron Paul Becoming a Big Challenger

Aired December 19, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

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

I want to get you up to speed for this Monday, December 19th.

Our top story, the sudden death of Kim Jong-il.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm announcing in the most woeful mind that our great leader Kim Jong-il passed away due to a sudden illness on his way to a field guidance on December 17, 2011.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A tearful broadcaster broke the news last night on North Korean's state-run TV. She reported that the 69-year-old died of a heart attack on Saturday. Kim was a reclusive dictator who starved his own people while building a nuclear weapons nation.

Former U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson, who has traveled to North Korea many times, points to several major concerns now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RICHARDSON, FMR. U.N. AMBASSADOR: The peninsula is a tinderbox. This we knew was coming because of the health of Kim Jong-il.

The issue is going to be, will there be stability in the North Korean leadership? Will they continue the recent efforts of engaging South Korea and the United States over food aid over nuclear talks?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Newscasts showed North Koreans weeping inconsolably for the man that they called "The Dear Leader."

Kim's youngest son, Kim Jong-un, now in charge. Now, very little is known about him, but the ruling Workers Party has already dubbed him "The Great Successor."

The White House says it is closely monitoring the situation in North Korean. We are told that President Obama spoke with his South Korean counterpart, reconfirming the U.S. commitment to stability in the Korean Peninsula, as well as the freedom and security of America's allies. We're going to bring you live reports from around the world with reaction to the death of Kim Jong-il.

Well, the sudden death of the dictator leads an unsettling leadership vacuum on the Korean Peninsula.

I want to go there live. Our Anna Coren, she is joining us from Seoul.

So, Anna, first of all, we know that South Korea's president today convened an emergency cabinet meeting following the death of Kim Jong- il. What are they worried about? What are they discussing?

ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, at the end of the day, Suzanne, it comes down to nuclear weapons. That is why South Korea is concerned. That is why the region is concerned. And that is why the United States is concerned.

North Korean has nuclear weapons, and the man now in charge of North Korean is Kim Jong-un. He's in his late 20s. He has little experience, little credibility, little knowledge of political affairs.

He's been under his father's wing for the last couple of years, ever since Kim Jong-il suffered that stroke back in 2008. But as far as the succession process goes, it hasn't been very long.

It's also believed that Kim Jong-un was the man who engineered those attacks on South Korea last year against the warship -- South Korean warship that led to the death of those 46 sailors, and also to the South Korean island in which two civilians and two military personnel were killed. So, that is the concern, that the man running North Korea, Kim Jong-un, is this young, inexperienced man, who not too many people are quite sure whether he has got a cool head on his shoulders.

Now, America certainly has a great interest in this area. There are thousands of troops on the DMZ, which is about an hour and a half's drive from where we are. That commitment was reaffirmed -- reconfirmed, I should say, when Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited South Korea back in October, which you would remember. And he said that North Korean poses a serious threat.

So that is the situation that we are dealing with -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: In light of the fact that there is so much tension between the North and the South, and both countries technically still at war, is South Korea now on a higher state of alert?

COREN: Most definitely. The military here are on heightened alert, both military and police.

You mentioned that President Lee Myung-bak, here in South Korea, called that emergency cabinet meeting. He called for calm, for relative calm, and he said that this country needs to focus on the economy.

You have got to remember that South Korea really is a powerhouse. The stock exchange here, the KOSPI, it fell about four percent, more than four percent on the death of Kim Jong-il. It finished just below three percent. But this is the country that really needs to continue pushing forward, and it desperately, desperately needs that stability.

MALVEAUX: And Anna, what is the reaction from South Korea to North Korean's launch of a short-range missile that happened earlier today?

COREN: Well, it's interesting you say that. It happened about 8:30 a.m. this morning, and that was several hours before the announcement that Kim Jong-il had actually died.

Now, authorities here, they're really playing that down. They say that it has nothing to do with the death of Kim Jong-il, that in actual fact, it was fired out to sea. It wasn't facing towards South Korea. So, at the moment, Suzanne, they are playing down that act.

MALVEAUX: All right. Anna Coren, thank you so much right there in South Korea.

For much of the world the big concern right now, who controls North Korea's nuclear arsenal? CNN's former senior Asia correspondent Mike Chinoy, he is joining us by phone from Los Angeles. Now, he is a senior fellow at the University of Southern California's U.S./China Institute. He's also written a book about North Korea's crisis called "Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis."

So, Mike, thanks for joining us. You're clearly an expert in all things here North Korea.

The number one concern regarding this nuclear weapons nation, do we think that they are secured nukes?

MIKE CHINOY, SR. FELLOW, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA'S U.S./CHINA INSTITUTE: I think they are secure. The leadership keeps a very tight rein.

The question is, who's in the leadership now? Obviously, the North Koreans have made it clear that Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong-il's son, is the designated heir, and the way this succession process is played out, the military and the ruling Korean Workers Party appear to have been going along with Kim Jong-il's making his son his successor, but the son is very young.

He's not even 30. He's untested. We don't know how far his writ extends.

There's a lot of speculation about internal power struggles, but my sense at the moment is that the North Koreans are simply going to hunker down, try and get through this immediate transition process, and send very clear signals to the rest of the world, don't mess with us. And I think this missile test that they staged, if it has any relationship to Kim Jong-il's death, it's just a sign, leave us alone, don't think that we're vulnerable because Kim Jong-il has died.

MALVEAUX: And let's talk about that a little bit, Mike, because we know that North Korea is the most closed, opaque country in the world. So, now Kim Jong-il dies. Does it mean that it's more likely to open up, there will be more freedoms, or are they basically, like you said, going to react and say, look, leave us alone?

CHINOY: I don't think there's any likelihood of North Korea changing politically in the near or even the medium term. Everybody, whatever faction you might be in North Korea, has bought into the idea of the system. But in the last few months there have been some interesting and potentially positive signals.

I was in North Korea in August, and there were clear signs that the North Koreans were at least thinking about some experiments with a more open economic system, and they have been on a kind of charm offensive with the United States, trying to reengage Washington diplomatically. So I think one very important step now is to see whether or not the Obama administration is going to continue to try and pursue dialogue.

There were some indications of a preliminary agreement that the North Koreans had signaled a willingness to freeze activity at their uranium enrichment facility in return for a pledge from the United States for food aid. So my own sense is it's going to be very important for Washington to send some reassuring signals and try and continue to engage North Korea both on its own merits, and to reduce the chance if the North feels beleaguered, if they feel the U.S. and South Korea are out to get them at this time of vulnerability, that's when they're likely to be difficult and perhaps take some provocative steps.

MALVEAUX: And Mike, is there anything that we know about the son, Kim Jong-un, that would indicate that he would be receptive, he'd be open to the Obama administration reaching out to him?

CHINOY: We really don't know substantively where he stands on anything. It is known that he attended a boarding school in Switzerland. He does speak English, as well as German. And it is interesting that in the last eight months or year, as he has been put forward as the successor, you had some interesting signs.

As I said, when I was in Pyongyang, I noticed more restaurants, more markets, more cell phones. The North Koreans had agreed to allow The Associated Press to open a bureau in Beijing. And they were reaching out to Washington. So, whether this is Kim Jong-il, or whether Kim Jong-un was encouraging him, we don't know.

But one of the reasons why I think it's really important to try and keep some lines open to North Korea to push that process further is there is an uncertain process. It's not preordained that it's going to go one way or another, and the actions of other countries, both the United States and South Korea in particular, how they respond to this immediate event, whether they are trying to send some signals of reassurance, may affect the way the North Koreans themselves respond, both in terms of how comfortable they are pursuing any kind of change internally and their external behavior.

One other point. The Chinese have signaled very strong support for North Korea, and the Chinese have been pushing the North to adopt more of the Chinese-style economic reforms that have been so successful in the People's Republic in the last few decades.

MALVEAUX: All right. OK.

Mike Chinoy.

Thank you so much, Mike.

More on the death of North Korea's Kim Jong-il. At the bottom of the hour, we're going to bring reaction from around the world and from Koreans here in the United States.

And a warning to our viewers. Disturbing photos now out of Cairo of a protester being dragged, exposed and beaten by Egyptian security forces. The woman's identity is being protected for her safety, but her attack is feeding popular outrage in Egypt now, and it's just one example of the violence that is going on now in Tahrir Square, where protesters have been clashing with the military for the last four days.

The House meets today to decide whether or not your taxes are going to go up next year. Lawmakers are going to take up an extension of the payroll tax cut. Now, the Senate passed a temporary two-month extension, but the House Speaker, John Boehner, is calling for negotiations to come up with a one-year deal.

We're going to go live to Capitol Hill for the latest on what could be another showdown.

And trustees at Florida A&M University decided today not to suspend the school's president during a hazing investigation. Now, authorities suspect that the band's drum major Robert Champion was beaten to death in a hazing ritual. The medical examiner has ruled Champion's death a homicide.

The governor suggested that Florida A&M president James Ammons be suspended while authorities investigate Champion's death and other issues. The board decided not to.

Next hour, I'm going to talk live with Robert Champion's parents.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on next.

Next, the House debates something that affects you and your wallet. That is the payroll tax cult.

Also, there is a new year and a rosier job outlook. More employers say that they are now hiring in 2012.

And later, international reaction to North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's death, including how neighbors in South Korea are marking the moment in history.

We are also looking at a slice of life in both Koreas. These balloons are being used to paint a picture of life outside of the North.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Al right. So, once again, Congress is scrambling to come up with a last-minute solution to a very important issue. Now, this time, it is one that directly affects your paycheck. The House meets today to consider an extension of the payroll tax cut.

So, if Congress doesn't approve the extension, your taxes are going to go up beginning at the beginning of the year. The average increase, about $1,000. It is a wide range.

If you make $35,000 a year, for instance, you'll pay $700 more. Now, if you make $110,000, your taxes are going to go up by more than $2,300.

The Senate has approved a short-term extension of this tax cut, but the House Speaker opposes this temporary extension. He spoke to reporters just a short time ago, and he said that creates uncertainty for people who actually create jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R-OH), HOUSE SPEAKER : Democrats and Republicans agree that the payroll tax cut needs to be extended for a full year and to provide the kind of relief that Americans need in this struggling economy. The House last week passed a bill to do just that. And instead of passing the House bill or another bill which extended the payroll tax credit for a year, the Senate Democrat leaders passed a two-month extension, punting the problem into next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to get the latest on Capitol Hill.

Congressional Correspondent Kate Bolduan is joining us live.

So, Kate, first of all, help us understand this, because I think the Speaker, he was drawing a line in the sand, but it seems like he's reversing himself. I thought he approved of this, and now he's saying, well, wait a minute, this isn't going to fly.

Do they have the votes to block this thing, this temporary extension passed by the Senate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Speaker Boehner says that he believes that they do have the votes in the House to block this Senate compromise that came over that was voted on over the weekend. As you heard from him right there, Speaker Boehner says that House Republicans are opposed to the short-term extension because, simply put, he says they're done with short-term fixes or short-terms gimmicks, as he has said. If House Republicans are going to go along with any extension of the payroll tax cut, they want it to be a one- year extension. But I'll tell you, Senate Democrats, they do not seem to be budging. There is no indication amongst Senate Democratic leaders that they'll be bringing the Senate back in to vote on anything. If the House changed the bill, it would have to go back to the Senate and they would have to vote on it. No indication that they're willing to do that.

As Senate Democrats point to this two-month extension, it enjoyed broad bipartisan support on Saturday, when they voted on it, Suzanne. The vote was 89-10.

And so Senate Democrats say Republicans and Democrats in the Senate, they did compromise around this two-month extension, and the only reason they did, just to remind our viewers, is on Friday, they came out with this two-month extension, Suzanne, only because congressional leaders could not agree and bridge the divide around a more comprehensive deal to extend it a year, which both sides said they had wanted. That's where this two-month extension came from -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Right. So, Kate, what happens if this does not pass? What's next?

BOLDUAN: So they're having this vote this evening on the Senate compromise, as we just said. House Republican leaders believe that it will fail.

Speaker Boehner also announced today they'll be having another vote to move this whole process to conference. It's part of the process up here. It's basically a way for House and Senate -- the House and Senate leaders and their conferees, there are negotiators that are appointed to sit down at a table and hash out their differences. But that would mean that the Senate would have to agree to go to that conference, and again, at the moment Senate Democrats do not seem to be budging.

What I'm hearing from Democrats is they say there's nothing stopping us from negotiating a one-year deal, but they want to ensure that this tax cut does not lapse come January 1. That's why they want the House to approve this two-month extension -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Kate, thank you.

Either way, it is a big deal for working families. So what do you think? Should the House pass a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut?

That's today's "Talk Back" question. You can post your thoughts on my Facebook page at Facebook.com/SuzanneCNN. We're going to air some of your responses at the end of the hour.

Well, 2012 could be a better year for people looking for jobs. Hear what employers are saying.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. If you're looking to get hired in 2012, we've got some good news for you.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details on that.

So, before we get to companies' hiring plans, how are the stocks looking today after the death of North Korea's president? Any response to that at all?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: No response right now, Suzanne. The Dow, down about 37 points, but really not in response to Kim Jong-il's death. It's more so because of light volume.

We are heading into a holiday. Christmas is over the weekend. You usually see light volume. And what usually happens is light volume can create more exaggerated trades, or you'll see more swings.

Case in point, stocks were higher in the early going. We had the Dow up almost 60 points. Now, as I said, the Dow is down 39.

So, fewer investors taking part in the trade today. Financials are being hit the hardest today. It seems right now investors are pretty much content to sit out the next week or two and kind of ride out the last two weeks of the year -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right.

And I know you've got some good news here for folks who are looking to get hired next year. They might have better luck, yes?

KOSIK: Yes, the jobs picture, it's looking a little brighter, according to at least one survey, saying that employers plan to do at least a little hiring at the beginning of next year. This is coming from staffing firm Manpower.

What it did is it looked at 18,000 employers, and it found out that 14 percent of those employers, they plan to hire, whereas, there were only nine percent of employers who plan to cut. And then, of course, you do the math, that comes out to about a five percent gain in jobs compared to now. And then you break it down for more good news.

They're expecting that hiring -- it's expected to happen in every sector, especially the big sectors like mining, leisure, hospitality and retail. Even construction, which has been a weak industry, there is expected to be some hiring in construction. Essentially, though, expect companies to remain cautious, which means the hiring will be a bit slow, to say the least -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Alison, I think these folks might have been celebrating this new hiring news here. These are some seniors at a Target in Kansas. I want you to check this out.

(MUSIC)

MALVEAUX: OK. Alison, it's a flash mob of seniors in Lawrence, Kansas. Somebody just uploaded this video to YouTube. They're lip-syncing. They're acting out "Last Christmas" from the cast of "Glee." And, you know, so it starts off with just a few ladies, and then this one brave man comes in, gets in on the action, starts to stir it up a little bit.

I don't know, what do you think? Reaction to the good news here? Is this in our future, Alison?

KOSIK: It could be. You know what I find most fascinating about this? Is that they even know what a flash mob is. Think of it, grandma and grandpa.

I mean, hey, I'm really impressed. And they dance pretty darned good, don't you think?

MALVEAUX: Oh, I love it. Just kind of a spontaneous party that's happening in the Target. So we need to get in on that.

KOSIK: That's awesome.

MALVEAUX: All right, Alison. Thanks.

Kim Jong-il had an eccentric side as well, including a love for American movies. We're going to tell you a few more things you may not have known about the dictator.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on.

Next, Kim Jong-il's life and legacy, insight into the man called "Dear Leader."

Then, the snowstorm hitting the Southwest. People from Arizona to Kansas could see more than a foot of snow.

And at 11:43, which candidate got a boost from the Tea Party in Iowa?

Well, North Korea's Kim Jong-il is likely to be remembered for being one of the world's most repressive leaders, but he also reportedly loved living the good life, even though many of his people were starving.

Our Dan Rivers takes a look at Kim Jong-il's life, his rise to power, and how he ruled.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kim Jong-il always cut a slightly bizarre figure. His diminutive stature and characteristic hair were parodied by some in the West. But for the citizens of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Kim was the embodiment of this reclusive state. Feared, loved, worshipped, obeyed, his cult of personality was deeply entrenched. His father was Kim Il-sung, who founded North Korea with Soviet backing after World War II. Kim Jong-il was just a little boy when the Korean War broke out in 1950, with the Soviet-backed north invading the American-backed south. After fighting ended, Kim Jong-il became steeped in his father's philosophy of juche, or self-reliance, and the North became evermore reclusive.

The North and South never formally signed a peace treaty and remained technically at war, separated by a tense demilitarized zone. Gradually, Kim Jong-il was groomed for the top, making public appearances in front of cheering crowds.

(MUSIC)

RIVERS: When Kim Il-Sung died in 1994 he was declared eternal president so his son, instead, became general secretary of the Ruling Workers Party of Korea. And by 1998, as head of the Army, he consolidated his position of absolute power.

ANDREI LANKOV, PROFESSOR & NORTH KOREA ANALYST: He will be remembered as a person who was responsible for awful things, for the existence of one of the worst dictatorships in probably not only Korean history but in the world history and the 21st century. Yes, he did not create his dictatorship. It was his father's. But he took responsibility and he made sure that it continued for many more years.

RIVERS: He was known for his love of fine wines, at odds in a country where food shortages and privation were common. While the Dear Leader, as he became known, indulged in his appetite for finer things, his people were literally starving to death. The collapse of the Soviet Union hit North Korea hard, suddenly ending guaranteed trade deals. Then devastating floods compounded the famine. Estimates vary for the number that died, but even the regime itself admitted that almost a quarter of a million perished between 1995 and 1998. Some say it was more like 10 times that figure.

But in the capitol, Pyongyang, the artifice of a successful state was maintained. An opulent subway, proof the, Dear Leader would say, the DPRK's progress under his and his father's leadership.

Kim Jong-Il was well known as a film buff. Here, visiting the set of a North Korean production. His personal video library was said to include 20,000 titles, with "Rambo" and "Friday the 13th" supposedly topping the Dear Leader's favored flicks.

In 2000, there appeared to be a thaw in North-South relations. The first ever summit meeting between Kim Jong-Il and his then counter part from the south, President Kimday Jong. The south's so-called Sunshine Policy of Engagement seemed to be bearing fruit. But Kim Jong-Il pressed ahead with his nuclear weapons program. The U.S. labeled it part of the Axis of Evil in 2002. A year later, North Korea withdrew from the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.

In 2006, the North conducted a nuclear test and test fired missiles. It added extra urgency to the six-party talks designed to deal with North Korea's nuclear program. A breakthrough came in 2007 when Kim Jong-Il finally agreed to disable the nuclear reactor at Pyongyang in return for fuel and better relations with the U.S. But despite dramatically blowing up the cooling tower, North Korea seemed to backtrack afterwards. The deal appeared to be in jeopardy.

The capture of two U.S. journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, on the North Korean border sparked another crisis in 2009. It ended when former President Bill Clinton flew in and successfully negotiated their release, prompting hopes there would be further engagement.

Observers say Kim Jong-Il will be remembered as a nearly impossible man to bargain with, stubborn and fickle in equal measure, a man who kept 23 million people in a totalitarian nightmare in one of the most repressive, reclusive regimes in the world.

Dan Rivers, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And that most reclusive nation in the world is mourning the death of their so-called Dear Leader. Find out how the rest of the world is reacting to news that North Korea's Kim Jong-Il has died.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're getting reaction from around the world, here in the United States as well, following the death of North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-Il. He's a man who was feared, loved, hated, some even worshipped him by his own people. State-run media reports he died of a heart attack on Sunday. Stability, of course, is a big concern for world leaders, especially for North Korea's neighbors.

Japan has issued a statement saying, quote, "We express our condolences on the news of the passing of Kim Jong-Il, the chairman of the National Defense Commission of North Korea. We wish the sudden news would not affect North Korea negatively."

Well, no condolences being expressed from the White House. U.S. relationship with Pyongyang has been strained at best. White House says it is closely monitoring the situation in North Korea. We are told President Obama spoke with his South Korean counterpart reconfirming the U.S. commitment to stability in the Korean peninsula.

Korean Americans are also reacting to the death of Kim Jong-Il.

Our Thelma Gutierrez is covering that angle for us. She's live out of Los Angeles, which has the largest population, I understand, of Koreans in the United States.

What are people saying?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, I can tell you that the community here is 200,000 strong. The reactions have been mixed, not because they're in mourning, but they're wondering what happens next. What comes next? Many people here have close ties to Korea. They have family members there. And many, especially the older people, remember the impact of the Korean War. They're watching this thing very closely, Suzanne.

We went to a diner this morning. It was interesting to see groups of people gathered around the table at the diners. They were looking at this newspaper and newspapers like this. You can see the headlines talking about the death of this leader. They were also watching the television sets. They were glued, listening on their iPods and on their -- up to the radio, to Radio Korea. We came here to Radio Korea and we were talking to the associate director. He said that they've been in rolling coverage ever since the news broke late last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: What are people saying?

WILLIAM CHOO, RADIO KOREA: They're shocked. Shocked, shocked, shocked. They knew that Kim Jong-Il has been ill.

GUTIERREZ: He had been sick for a while.

CHOO: He had been sick for a while. They knew that he might not live for long, you know, but nobody expected him to be dead like this soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Now we also understand that Radio Korea has received dozens of calls all through the night, many more this morning. People very much concerned about Kim Jong-Il's successor, his number-three son. They say we don't know who he is. We don't know much about him. We just learned his name. They're concerned, they say, because of that.

But on the positive note, they've been calling in saying that he doesn't have a military background and also that he does have international exposure and that he was educated abroad. And so that gives them a little bit of optimism. But, again, people just very concerned about what comes next -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Thelma Gutierrez. Thank you, Thelma.

Messages from above, sent from South Korea to its isolated neighbors in North Korea. There is something in these giant balloons to explain what life is like outside the north.

And it could be a game changer for the race to the White House. We'll tell you which candidate just got a boost from the Tea Party in Iowa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Just 15 days until Iowa caucuses. Horse race is heating up.

Jim Acosta is live from the political desk in Washington.

Jim, everybody's saying it's down to Romney and Gingrich. You never know though in Iowa.

(LAUGHTER)

What do we suspect?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. You never know. If this race boils down to a contest between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, it basically will be a battle between the GOP establishment and Tea Party activists.

Take a look at what happened over the weekend. The Tea Party Patriots, this big Tea Party organizing group, they came out with a straw poll. The results came out just this morning. It shows Newt Gingrich winning. 31 percent of the participants in that straw poll picked Gingrich as their Republican favorite, followed by Michele Bachmann, and then Mitt Romney not doing too badly there.

Contrast that with some of the endorsements that we heard over the weekend for Mitt Romney, the "Des Moines Register," Nikki Haley, the governor down in South Carolina. That was technically on Friday. Bob Dole, the former presidential candidate on the Republican side in 1996. So this is really shaping up as a Tea Party versus GOP establishment battle between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney if this continues to go on. We'll have to see what happens.

But, Suzanne, it is becoming increasingly clear as we get closer to Iowa that we all have to keep our eyes on Ron Paul. He is hanging in there, doing quite well in the polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire. It's not altogether clear he will win those states, but, my goodness, if he finishes a solid second in Iowa and goes into New Hampshire doing very well -- you know, we're all going to have to keep our eye on Ron Paul.

Over the weekend, his campaign says it raised $4 million in what they call, in campaign talk, a "money bomb." That is basically a short burst of campaign fundraising activity. Ron Paul raked in $4 million. That is more than a lot of the candidates in this GOP field have raised in months.

MALVEAUX: Wow. Yes.

ACOSTA: It just shows you how committed Ron Paul supporters are and how willing they are to open up their wallets to get him elected.

MALVEAUX: Could be a game changer.

Jim, thanks.

ACOSTA: Could be.

MALVEAUX: For the latest political news, you know where to go, CNNpolitics.com.

Two Koreas in sharp contrast, the north isolated, the south a democracy. We'll take a look at daily life in both countries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Kim Jong-Il's economic legacy is a North Korea mired in poverty and disarray. North Korea is one of the world's poorest countries. Its people get by on an average of less than $5 a day. That's about $1800 a year. South Koreans, by contrast, take home an average of $30,000 a year. That is 16 times what people make in the North.

People in North Korea, they are visibly upset by the death of Kim Jong-Il. This is video from North Korea of people clearly not holding back any tears here. Now their neighbors in the South, South Korea, took to the streets raising the flag along with today's front page. It's a picture of two very different Koreas.

Our Kyung Lah, she's reported on everyday life on both sides. She joins us now.

You're a wealth of information. We've been talking about this all day.

First of all, tell me about those pictures that we've seen of the North Koreans who are visibly upset, crying, very demonstrative. Are we to believe that that is real, that that's sincere tears? Are they trying to play act here because they're afraid of this leader who's now his son who has taken over?

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We just don't know. What we are getting is a glossy image that the regime has approved. Everything that we see from North Korea on KCNA state-run media, that is all orchestrated, all released. Whether or not those individual people actually feel grief, it's very difficult to tell. These are people who have been raised to not have a religion but to believe in the religion of the regime. They believe these leaders are not just political leaders like the president here. They believe that he is more of a demigod.

So some of that grief may be real, but the more you grieve -- people who have evacuated out of North Korea, what they tell me, when the father of Kim Jong-Il died, they were expected -- the more you grieve, the more you showed, that was something that the regime would love to see.

MALVEAUX: Paint a picture for us, if you will, because you've talked to so many people who live there in North Korea, about the two kinds of groups that are there and how they live very differently from one another.

LAH: What we have is a royal who are almost handpicked to live in Pyongyang, the nation's capital. They are the pretty ones with more food so they aren't going to look as starved as the people would in the countryside. Very few Americans, very few international people ever get to see the countryside. We only get to hear about it from the people who fled out of that area. And they tell us, we were pulling leaves out of the earth, trying to pull bark off the trees, boiling that and that was our food. We have a very different picture of North Korea once you talk to the people who escaped out of the countryside.

MALVEAUX: You mentioned before, too, literally North Korea, not just figuratively but literally, is in the dark from satellite pictures. Explain that.

LAH: If you look at satellite image of what Korea looks like at night, you see an entire black hole where North Korea is. That's because there is no electricity at night. But the south is literally bursting with electricity. This is one of the most wired countries in the world. You compare the Internet here in the states, then go to South Korea? It is unbelievable how vast it is. Think about that. Ethnically, they are the same, but they are worlds apart when it comes to infrastructure, power and information.

MALVEAUX: Is there any way that the South Koreans are reaching out to the North Koreans, trying to communication and give them a different picture of what life could be like?

LAH: the South Koreans are typically North Koreans that escaped out of the North. They're now in the south. And basically, the wool's been pulled off. They understand that there is a better world out there. So what they're doing is packing these helium balloons with baskets and they're putting in DVDs of CNN, for example, putting U.S. dollars in there, and they're launching also transistor radios that are not affixed to one channel, Kim Jong-Il radio. They're launching this into the air, hoping it will fly into that region to try to inform the average person. The whole goal is to destabilize the population so they will rise up from within.

MALVEAUX: How are people responding to this news of Kim Jong- Il's death?

LAH: People who I've spoken to in the Asia Pacific region are very calm. People do believe -- they are very unsettled, certainly unsettled, but they don't believe that, just because we've seen this for a couple of years, it is going to mean an immediate rush of the 24 million North Koreans out of the country. No one really believes that that will happen. What we have to look at is the longer ball, six months down the line, one year down the line, what's going to happen as this young leader gets tested.

MALVEAUX: What do they make of the young leader? What do they know about him? I hear he's a big fan of American basketball, for instance, the NBA.

LAH: Yes.

MALVEAUX: And maybe he had some schooling in Europe but -- how do they feel about this guy?

LAH: You have to look at that picture of him and go, he looks exactly like Kim Jong-Il, just a lot younger. So that's the first thing that everyone talks about. But they also talk about this is a man who actually did get a glimpse of the West. So perhaps, in that, there may be some engagement of the West. There may be some opening up. And there may be less of this huffing and puffing we've seen from Kim Jong-Il.

MALVEAUX: Kyung Lah, thank you so much. Excellent reporting, as always. At the top of the hour, we'll look at how Kim Jong-Il's death may impact U.S. security. We'll talk to an international security analyst.

And instead of buying gifts, people now bracing for a blizzard. We'll show you just where.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: You've been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question: Should the House pass a two-month extension of the payroll tax cuts?

Jesse says, "It is clear the GOP would rather let this country fail rather than tax the rich as it should be."

Francis says, "Nope, short fixes are not the answer. And every two months they would be wasting time and money repeating this issue over and over again."

Danielle says, "This won't be popular but the tax cut was meant to be temporary. Either make it permanent or allow it to expire."

You can see all of the responses on my Facebook page, Facebook.com/SuzanneCNN.

Checking our stories our affiliates are covering across the country.

We have unbelievable video out of Arlington, Texas, here. This is the electric cart mowing down people after a high school football championship game. This unmanned cart sped from the end zone, hitting seven people, including the winning coach. Someone eventually jumped on-board and stopped it. Only minor injuries there.

In Marion, North Carolina, it wasn't just trash that's being dumped from this garbage truck, but this guy. A 24-year-old says he climbed in to the dumpster looking for a lost necklace when the truck picked it up with him in it. He screamed. No one hears him. The truck made several stops, even compacting some of the trash, and the man wasn't even discovered until he fell out with the trash at a transfer station. Amazingly, he wasn't hurt.

Someone at this Wal-Mart in Avon, Ohio, was feeling so much of a holiday cheer they decided to pay off other people's bills. An anonymous Secret Santa paid off almost $9,000 in lay-away payments for 23 very grateful customers. So cool.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, METEOROLOGIST: What a great gift!

MALVEAUX: It's that great? STEELE: That's a wonderful story. I love it.

MALVEAUX: Unlike some of the news that you've got here, because we are talking about the plains, southwest bracing for blizzard conditions. Not so good for shopping.

So, Alexandra, tell us what we're expecting here.

STEELE: What we've got a blizzard bull's-eye. We'll get in to where it is, in the southwest and southern plains. Let me show you who will see it. It is really today and tomorrow. Good news, it is a quick mover. By tomorrow afternoon, it will be a done deal.

Let's walk to the wall here. You can seem delineated in the red, that's where the blizzard warnings are. It is really the first big blizzard of the season. Here's a look at where we stand and how much we'll see. Again, this is the heart of this thing, really in the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle, southwestern Kansas. And can you also see in really northeastern New Mexico, that's where the heart of this will be. How much? A food of snow at the very least, for some maybe 12 to 18 inches. but the problem won't be just the amount of snow, which will be copious, but it is the blinding driving snow because of the wind gusts. That's why we have a blizzard warning in effect. We'll see low visibilities, maybe down to zero for many. Winds up 35 to 45 miles per hour. Plus, this driving snow.

Here's a look in terms of how much we'll see, 10 to 15, eight to 10. But also the driving will be the most perilous. There is the potential for areas around I-40 and I-25 right from Colorado, 25, down to New Mexico, the chance for these two big interstates -- portions of them anyway, to be closed close to this afternoon into tomorrow.

This is the big picture where we'll be tonight at 6:00. On the back side of this, there is this cold front driving through. On the back side where it is cold enough we turn into snow. But ahead of it, we could see a line of severe weather, thunderstorms. But that again will all change over to snow. And the first big blizzard of the season, it moves to the east, will not be a snowmaker for the eastern seaboard. You can see by Tuesday morning, it is almost a done deal? It finally moves out by tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll see quieter conditions.

But it will be a white Christmas there because there certainly will be an inch of snow on the ground, though not falling on Christmas day.

MALVEAUX: We'll take it.

Thank you, Alexandra.