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Pentagon Plans Massive Cuts; New Poll Numbers; Gingrich Blitzes New Hampshire; Encouraging Jobs Numbers; Friday: Big December Jobs Report; Voter Apathy In New Hampshire; One Officer, Five Wounded In Shootout; Obama Covets Hollywood Dollars; U.S. Teen Deported to Colombia; Can Anyone Stop Romney?; Obama to Unveil New Defense Strategy
Aired January 05, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's the top of the hour.
Happening right now, president Obama is going to unveil plans that could reinvent the U.S. Military. That plan would target virtually every area of military spending and its impact could be sweeping.
Under the new strategy, the U.S. will no longer be able to fight two ground wars simultaneously. Four thousand U.S. troops will be removed from Europe and there will be at least 47,000 fewer troops within the next five years.
We're covering all the angles. Chris Lawrence is at the Pentagon where the president will be joined by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Jill Dougherty is at the White House with the political fallout.
All right, let's go ahead and start with you, Chris. What are the risks of abandoning the two war ability?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's like one of the officials that I spoke with would say, you have a he got two big risks.
One is that it really concerns our allies who may be wondering if they're still going to be supported in the same way that they're used to. On the flip side, there's also a concern that it could embolden some of our adversaries to try to take advantage to what they see as a pullback by the United States.
Of course, you have to look at everything in the context of money. The Pentagon is in the middle of cutting half a trillion dollars from its budget. You can't do everything, you know, with limited resources. So what you're seeing is a smaller military in terms of manpower in a bigger focus on Asia and the Pacific.
PHILLIPS: Now we're talking about cutting troops, and already, Chris, you know we are seeing the issue with men and women coming home and the issue of homelessness. Are they actually going to be laid off?
LAWRENCE: Yes. These men and women sacrificed a lot. The thing, Kyra, you have to remember, you know, five, six years ago the economy was humming. And Iraq was extremely violent so to get people to come into the military you got a lot of pay raises, you got bonuses. Well, those things carry over. The expenditures per troop are very high.
So to sustain a larger force means you're paying for health care, retirement, housing, pay, benefits, all of that. What the Army would like to see and what some Pentagon officials are saying is they would like to see this slow and gradual. So they're not in a position of laying off a lot of these non-commissioned officers. They would be slow.
You could let people get out on their own as they normally would. You could let some retirements happen and not be replaced. So sort of cushion the blow rather than pushing all these people out into a really bad civilian economy.
PHILLIPS: Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon. Chris, thanks. Let's go ahead and head over to the White House for some perspective there.
Jill Dougherty is there. You know, Jill, the timing is pretty interesting here. You know, we're right in the middle of a presidential election.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is, but I think you'd have to say that this review has been going on for at least eight months.
So eventually this was going to come out, but that said, you know, it is a rare visit by the president to the Pentagon really. A lot of people over there saying they do not remember when the last time a president came over and did a major briefing.
You know, you talk about the political ramifications, if you want to get into that. I think you can say the president has three opportunities here.
The first would be to remind people that the war in Iraq is basically, you know, over, at least for the role of the United States. That the war in Afghanistan is winding down. And he can take some credit for that.
Then he can also talk about budget cutting because as Chris said, that's really the nub of the issue here. He can make the point, you know, he's been involved, the White House says, in about at least half a dozen meetings with the top brass in the military.
He can say, look, I'm a responsible budget cutter. Then finally I think the most important thing is that he can shift and make that big strategic shift to Asia, which is really where the game is now.
You know, Chris also was talking about the allies. There are a lot of allies in Asia. Japan, South Korea, who have been worried that the United States would either ignore Asia, pull back, et cetera.
And remember that visit by the president to Asia in November. He was saying, we're here to stay. We're not leaving. Of course, this is all aimed at countering the influence, military, economic, every other way of China.
PHILLIPS: So overall what's your take and what's the word? Does it help or hurt him?
DOUGHERTY: I think ultimately, you know, this is a very long term thing, but I think ultimately it helps because if you look at that, the overall focus on Asia, that really is a switch from the wars, those big wars, expensive wars in the Middle East.
To a way for the United States to project power where people actually want the U.S. to be and be in not necessarily wars in Asia, but be prepared for them. But also participate in the other part, the economic part of Asia, which is critical to the United States.
PHILLIPS: Our Jill Dougherty at the White House. Jill, thanks so much for that perspective. We're going to have live coverage of President Obama's remarks at the Pentagon. That's scheduled for 10:50 Eastern Time. We will take it live.
Let's talk presidential politics now in the campaign trails blazing across New Hampshire. The primary there now just five days away and this morning, we've got a brand new poll to show us how things are stacking up.
Paul Steinhauser's in Manchester. So Paul, what's the latest?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Five days to go, as you said. Look at, this brand new numbers on the horse race here. This is among people likely to vote in that Republican primary on Tuesday night.
Kyra, this poll is conducted on the 3rd and 4th. That was the day of the caucuses in Iowa and the day after. Look at this, no change in the top spot. Mitt Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, still has a 2-1 lead of over about everybody in the field.
You can see Ron Paul at 18 percent, everybody else at least on the top five there in single digits. And 17 percent, that's pretty high, at least according to this poll, 17 percent still undecided, Kyra.
Well, talking about that frontrunner, we saw him this morning about an hour ago in Salem, New Hampshire. That's where my in-laws live, by the way, just a little personal touch there.
He was teaming up with John McCain again. Remember McCain endorsed him yesterday, Kyra. The two of them, plus Nikki Hailey, the governor of South Carolina, they're heading to South Carolina later today.
South Carolina has the third contest in this primary caucus battle. But Mitt Romney was talking about President Obama. Take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president is a crony capitalist. He's a job killer. It's going to keep America from creating the jobs we need for our kids and our grandkids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: I think you're going to hear Mitt Romney talk more and more about Barack Obama, the president, rather than the other candidates.
One of those other candidates, Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, disappointing fourth place finish in Iowa, he was already up this morning as well, Kyra.
He, as well, was going after President Obama over those recess appointments yesterday. He was saying he is the best person to beat the president come November -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: What about fundraising? Who's doing well and where are your in-laws supporting?
STEINHAUSER: Well, my in-laws are independents. So they haven't told me yet which way they're going. As for fundraising, brand new news in the last 24 hours. I just learned this morning, confirmed this morning, that Ron Paul, the Texas congressman, $13 million.
That's what he raised in the fourth quarter. That's October, November, December. That's a pretty impressive haul. And our Peter Hamby learned last night that Rick Santorum after that very impressive second place finish, almost the first place finished in Iowa, he raised $1.1 million, most of it online.
Kyra, one last thing, I was wearing a coat earlier this morning from my live shots, but I saw Jim Acosta without a coat. He showed me up. I guess, I have to go without the coat the rest of the day. It's cold here.
PHILLIPS: You two always competing with each other. Paul, great to see you.
All right, let's shift gears just a bit. Talk about the economy. Some pretty encouraging numbers this morning on jobs. Christine Romans here to break it down for us again. What's the headline?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the headlines here is the jobless claims. That's the number of people every week who file for the very first time for a jobless check.
When you look at a four-week average, it's better than it's been in three years. That's good news. You got ADP, private payroll processing company. They process those paychecks. They say that they think 325,000 jobs were created in December. Now most economists are telling me it wasn't that much, but maybe 150,000 jobs were created in December.
When you look at the path of job creation over the past year, Kyra, I have a chart that can show you how we added all those jobs in 2011. In some cases not enough to keep up with population growth but still all the positive direction. That last column on the right is the forecast for December. We're going to get that number tomorrow. Things are slowly getting better. Not gangbusters, but getting better. Two kinds of a market though.
One, people who recently are unemployed are reporting they're finding an easier time getting a job. People out of work for six months or longer are saying it's still really deadly out there.
Small businesses and service jobs, that's where you're seeing the action. Small businesses starting to hire.
PHILLIPS: That's good news.
ROMANS: Yes, it really is.
PHILLIPS: Christine, thanks.
Well, six police officers shot while serving a search warrant in Ogden, Utah. One of them has died. We're talking to a lieutenant in Ogden about what went wrong right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Stories cross-country. A riveting 911 tape out of Oklahoma. A young widow calls when she hears intruders breaking into her home on New Year's Eve.
The 18-year-old Sarah Dawn McKinley said she acted quickly to protect her 3-month-old son. Listen as she asks the 911 operator for permission to shoot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH MCKINLEY, 911 CALLER: I've got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he comes in this door?
UNIDENTIFIED DISPATCHER: Well, you have to do whatever you can do to protect yourself. I can't tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: McKinley did shoot and kill one of the intruders who was armed with a knife. His alleged accomplice due in court today.
In California, nearly $3 million bond has been set for this German man accused of setting dozens of fires in and around Hollywood.
Prosecutors say that Harry Burkhart was motivated by rage against Americans triggered by his mother's arrest on fraud charges. He remains jailed in Los Angeles.
And take a look at. A car in Fresno, California, ends up on an apartment roof. The driver, allegedly speeding, missed the turn, hit a tree stump, the car went airborne. Police say the man fled, but was later captured. Two people were inside that apartment, but not hurt. Beefed up about the New Hampshire primary, well, not the voters who have called into our next guest, the radio host says the field stinks. They'll us tell you why.
Live here this hour, President Obama and the Pentagon brass announcing a major shift in defense policy. The U.S. would no longer fight two major ground wars at the same time. Stay with us for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: While you political junkies may be getting really excited about New Hampshire and the Tuesday primary, my next guest says the field stinks.
Paul Westcott minces no words when it comes to how he feels about the presidential quest. He gets even more fired up when his listeners call in every morning on his talk show on WGIR in Manchester. So Paul, what was the biggest buzz on your show this morning?
PAUL WESTCOTT, TALK RADIO HOST: You know, I have to say it continues on that theme. The field stinks. People are looking at it right now and they're trying to decide between -- I mean, it seems like the hold your nose and vote type of primary this time around.
You have candidates that people cannot get behind and they can't feel themselves getting behind. Also you have a field that quite frankly didn't campaign in New Hampshire or Iowa in that retail style that a lot of these voters are used to. So the people are upset, frankly, with the turnout of these people.
PHILLIPS: Well, what do you think of Mitt Romney? His razor thin win in Iowa and his popularity in New Hampshire, I mean, is this guy unstoppable?
WESTCOTT: I mean, right now it's funny. I was talking to the editorial editor of "The Union Leader" and what he said to me was it would take a meteor to actually stop Mitt Romney at this point.
It would take some cataclysmic type of event to happen in order to stop Mitt Romney. He is polling at least 10 points above any other candidate. People know him. That's what New Hampshire voters like.
They like to know a candidate similar to John McCain back in 2008, somebody who has run before.
PHILLIPS: All right, I've already talked to three political pundants this morning saying Santorum should not be underestimated. That his story is remarkable. You talked to him on your show this morning. What do you think?
WESTCOTT: Yes, you know, Rick Santorum, I would not underestimate him because you look at the schedule today. This is the one, I guess, chink in Mitt Romney's armor at this point. He's going down to South Carolina. He's choosing to go down to South Carolina this afternoon.
Rick Santorum is here. His schedule shows him here in the granite state for the next few days so quite frankly we're at a point where Santorum is gaining a lot of appeal.
I had a caller this morning that said I haven't voted in the last three primaries, but I'm going to vote for Rick Santorum. So when you have people that are that passionate at the fringes, there might be other people, new voters who are taking a second look.
PHILLIPS: You know, do you think New Hampshire voters actually got the personal touch from these candidates that they are used to?
WESTCOTT: Well, absolutely not. This was one of those years, I have heard from a number of people that this has been, for people who have been here a number of times, this has been one of the worst years in terms of the retail politics in the state of New Hampshire.
You know, you want to smile about it and say the state's going to bring in a lot of money. Typically, the state brings in $300 million. Right now, by estimates campaigns aren't spending anywhere nearly as much.
The candidates, you know, they're doing some events, but they're doing it a lot more on the national level. They're going on CNN and going doing debates and things like that rather than coming to the state and reaching out and touching people.
PHILLIPS: Paul Wescott, WGIR in Manchester. Take a listen in the mornings. We'll have you on again. Paul, thanks.
WESTCOTT: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: The president calls in one of Hollywood's biggest fundraisers to help bring in California campaign dollars. She's also a former ambassador. That's next on "Showbiz."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: In Ogden, Utah, police officer is shot and killed while serving a search warrant. Five others were wounded. The officer killed was Jared Francom, a seven-year vet who leaves behind a wife and two children.
Joining me on the phone from Utah, Lieutenant Danielle Croyle with the Ogden Police Department. Lieutenant, I would like to talk about Jared in just a moment. But first of all, can you tell us exactly what happened?
LT. DANIELLE CROYLE, OGDEN POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Tonight, we had our Narcotic Strike Force Unit execute a search warrant. They executed a search warrant at 3268 Jackson Avenue in Ogden, Utah. Went on scene. Officers announced.
They were fired upon. The suspect was in a position of advantage to the officers. We had six officers that were injured by gunshot wounds. They were taken to area hospitals.
Officer Francom was shot multiple times and was pronounced dead at 2:00 a.m. this morning. Our condolences out to his family and loved ones and law enforcement everywhere.
PHILLIPS: Understandably. As this has gone down, Lieutenant, the narcotics strike force, will this change in any way moving forward from this incident how they execute search warrants?
CROYLE: Everything is under investigation. We will look at procedures and protocols and adjust accordingly.
PHILLIPS: Now the suspect was wounded. He's under guard at a local hospital. What charges will he face?
CROYLE: He could be looking at aggravated murder charges. Like I said, that's preliminary. Charges have not been filed at this time. The investigation is ongoing. PHILLIPS: I can't imagine what the wife and children are feeling right now, losing a husband and a dad. I want to take a moment to lift up Jarrett Francom. Could you tell us a little bit about him and his time on the force, seven years, I understand?
CROYLE: He has been with Ogden police for seven years. He was an exceptional officer with high integrity and was always trying to do the right thing. He has spent the last several years of his career working as an agent with the narcotics strike force.
PHILLIPS: Lt. Danielle Croyle, Ogden police, appreciate you calling in.
All right, let's check in with Alison Kosik for a quick check on the markets. It's about 25 after the hour -- Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Yes, we're watching stocks sit in the negative column right now. The Dow is down 79 points. We got some pretty decent jobs data today, but you certainly wouldn't know that by looking at the numbers.
Payroll processing firm ADP said that 325,000 jobs were added in December. That's good, but Wall Street is kind of taking a cautious or more skeptical view of this data because of seasonal issues in December.
They're going to go ahead and wait, looks like, for the big jobs data to come out tomorrow from the government. That's the jobs report where we get the number of jobs added to the economy in December as well as the unemployment rate.
We've also got our eye on a couple of movers and shakers today. Barnes & Noble shares right now are plunging 21 percent. That's after Barnes & Noble cut its guidance for the year and said that it is considering spinning off its nook.
And also we've got our eye on Kodak shares. Kodak share, again, down another 5 percent. Trading at 45 cents a share. Kodak, the iconic brand. There are reports that it may file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Alison, thanks. President Obama calling on a long-time Hollywood insider and a former ambassador to go after the huge pool of campaign funds out in Tinsel Town.
Let's bring in "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer for more on Obama's Hollywood connection. Hi, A.J.
A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Kyra, yes, Nicole Avant is one of the president's top fundraisers. Until recently she was the ambassador to the Bahamas. Now, she is very busy, hard at work trying to get Hollywood back on board for the president's upcoming re- election campaign.
She's got some pretty big ties to Hollywood too. She's a former executive in the music industry. Her father once ran Motown so really quite the rolodex to call on there.
Now according to the Hollywood reporter, she has already got three big Hollywood fundraisers in the works. Certainly, we all remember how four years ago President Obama enjoyed a lot of celebrity support. We will see if he's able to gain that same level of support this time around -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, largest "Celebrity Apprentice" group ever. What's Donald Trump thinking?
HAMMER: Well, if you ask Trump, Kyra, this season of his show is bigger and better than ever before. Something he, of course, says every single year. Now Trump has assembled the largest group of celebrities that the show has ever had, 18 in all.
Singer Clay Aiken, comedian Lisa Lampanelli, pop star Debbie Gibson, George Takei from Star Trek, Cheryl Tiegs, Victoria Gotti among all the people you see here all hoping to get hired by Trump.
They raise a lot of money for their charities as well. Trump actually joked on "The Today Show" about how it might just be difficult to fire Victoria Gotti in light of her background, Kyra.
I spoke with Clay Aiken last night, by the way. He told me you can expect a lot of heat this season. Because, of course, once again, one of the reasons this show works so well, you've got so many big personalities involved and that's not including Donald Trump's.
PHILLIPS: Last but not least, Kim Kardashian's name being put out there by a campaign to raise taxes. What's going on with that story?
HAMMER: Kyra, if you do want to make headlines these days all you have to do is mention the Kardashians and we'll talk about it. That's what really happened here. The people behind an initiative to raise California's income tax for millionaires realized, you know, we might get some attention if we use Kim Kardashian's name.
And guess what, it worked? I actually spoke with one of the guys behind the initiative last night on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." His basic point is that Kim Kardashian only pays, listen to this, 1 percentage point more than someone who earns around $47,000 a year, this is reportedly. Considering the budget issues in California, he thinks, you know, somebody like Kardashian who reportedly earned $12 million last year can afford to pay a little more. But again, I think the big story here is you bring Kim Kardashian's name into the mix and you get attention for whatever it is that you're trying to peddle.
PHILLIPS: Yes. A.J., thanks. If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J.'s got it even when it mentions Kardashian every night 11:00 eastern on HLN.
John McCain endorsed Mitt Romney. Coming up we'll ask our "Political Buzz" panel how huge or irrelevant endorsements are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: "Political Buzz". Your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. And playing today: Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman; Dean Obeidallah, the Arab-American Comedy Festival; and GOP strategist Ron Bonjean.
First questions guys, we're about ten minutes away from President Obama's news conference on the shifted U.S. military strategy. Will this become a campaign issue for the candidates? Ron?
RON BONJEAN, GOP STRATEGIST: Yes, I think it actually will be, although this year is going to be an economic election. That the issue over defense and the strategy and the defense cuts will definitely be an issue for Republican candidates who will -- for the Republican candidate this fall, absolutely.
PHILLIPS: Robert?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, certainly the Republican candidate is going to try to make this an issue this year. Mitt Romney's advocating keeping troops in Iraq. He's advocated zeroing out our foreign aid to countries like Israel.
But the reason it won't get any traction is because the President's policies in terms of military strategy have gotten -- have achieved great success, therefore, it's got broad appeal. For example, his relentless pursuit against terrorists and dismantling the leadership of al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden, withdrawing our troops from Iraq and extracting us from the civil war and forming coalitions to defeat dictators like Gadhafi.
PHILLIPS: Dean?
ZIMMERMAN: So therefore, it's not going to be a partisan issue.
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, ARAB-AMERICAN COMEDY FESTIVAL: Of course it's going to be a partisan issue. It's an election year. This is what happens. The Republicans will say we can't defend ourselves. Before we're attacked, the best we can respond is an angry e-mail or tweet about countries. But you know what the polls are clear. I saw a recent poll, 80 percent of voters, the number one issue, the economy; national security, eight. It's just like 1992 with Bill Clinton famous internal memo, it's the economy, stupid. That's what it is, all about the economy. Who can get us working? Who can get the economy working again? That person wins. It's not going to b about national defense, it will be about the economy only.
PHILLIPS: All right well, Americans are divided on whether they would elect a Mormon president. This is according to a recent poll conducted by poll position. It had more than one-third of respondents saying no. So is there anything short of converting that will win over these voters, Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: You know the reality of life is religious bigotry, sexism, racial discrimination is part of our culture and tolerated in too many quarters of our society and in the media for that matter. But the great accomplishments we can take pride in is watching how our political process helps us overcome these discriminations.
For example, John Kennedy's election to the presidency as a Roman Catholic, certainly Barack Obama's election to the presidency. So there are many good reasons why Mitt Romney should not be elected President, but I hope for the sake of our republic that religious discrimination is not one of them.
PHILLIPS: Ron?
BONJEAN: Yes there were -- there were polls out in the 2008 campaign on President Obama and on electing an African-American president. And we saw that that necessarily -- that was not a problem at all. I think that with Mitt Romney, he's going to have to -- to overcome that. I think he's going to have to make sure people know who he is, and that he's a competent leader.
Once people identify with the actual candidate, that those other problems usually go away as long as they can over -- you can overcome the issue based upon personality.
PHILLIPS: Dean?
OBEIDALLAH: I think honestly the best way to break this down is exposure. Romney's got the money. Invite everyone in America to a free ski trip in Utah. And get to know Mormons. I was there recently I thought it would be the warmest, nicest people I've met almost anywhere in the country.
But it is just like Robert said, like John Kennedy; 1960 John Kennedy went to Houston and gave a speech to the southern Baptist ministers, addressed the issue directly. Americans overwhelmingly open-minded, I found as a Muslim touring the country but they have questions you have to answer, answer directly. Have a town hall meeting, publicize it, put it in the media. Answer the questions that Americans have and you'll see. It'll be overcome and this will be gone.
PHILLIPS: All right. "Buzzer Beater" here, 20 seconds each on this one. Let's take a listen to what Conan O'Brien had to say about McCain's endorsement of Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: The big story today John McCain has endorsed Mitt Romney for president. John McCain endorsed him, yes. Now it didn't help that McCain began his endorsement by saying, from the man who brought you Sarah Palin --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So what do you guys think? Do endorsements matter? Ron?
BONJEAN: Well, I think they do matter. Clearly the Romney campaign calculated this out. They wanted to bring in John McCain who won New Hampshire in 2008. And they -- they thought it would be a good idea to fill that day up with a message, with -- with a key message. These guys are very calculated. They've won Iowa and clearly this is working for them.
PHILLIPS: Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: No, the joke in political circles is that John McCain had to decide amongst the choices to endorse who he hated least. And he came up with Mitt Romney. The reality is, yes, endorsements like that create a good degree of media excitement and political buzz but the real trick is whether endorsement puts troops on the ground and help us pull a vote.
Let's not forget Senator Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama with great fanfare. Hillary Clinton swept Massachusetts in the Democratic primary.
PHILLIPS: Dean?
OBEIDALLAH: As an Independent John McCain does not sway me. I look to people who I respect and I like more. I'm waiting for the Kardashians obviously. In fact the stepfather is a key whoever he goes with, he's been through a lot, I'm with him. If not Mike the Situation, I'm half Italian. I'm looking for Mike to come out, maybe Snooki. Those were the people American wants to hear from not the politicians.
PHILLIPS: Dean, that is so frightening. Thank you three of you very much. I appreciate it.
OBEIDALLAH: Thank you.
BONJEAN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Try to wrap your head around this. A run away teen in Texas manages to dupe local police, the federal government, and the government of Colombia. The girl a U.S. citizen winding up being deported to the South American country. Her family was pretty angry and wants her back home.
Ed Lavandera is on the story. And he's in Dallas. So Ed, how exactly did this happen and what's the government doing to get her back?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, ICE officials tell us and they just found out about the story just a couple of days ago, so they say they're in the process of fully investigating and trying to figure out what the facts of this case are.
But Kyra, this is just a simply baffling story. It starts out in November of 2010. Jakadrien Turner, 14 years old, now 15 years old, runs away from home here in Dallas, Texas. The family is able to follow her a little bit on Facebook pages belonging to some of her friends. So they kind of had some idea of where she was.
She's turned up in Houston, clearly a kid going through some a lot of issues running around with a -- with a bad crowd. Her mother was very worried about. The girl ends up getting arrested for shoplifting at a mall in Houston in April of last year, but when she's arrested she gives authorities the name of Tika Cortez claiming to be 21 years old.
And then ICE, Immigration Customs Enforcement here in the U.S. puts a hold on her. And she is then -- she serves four days in jail, pleads guilty to that local charge and then is -- according to ICE officials claims that she is from Colombia. She then in this process gets deported to Colombia.
But having to get to that point she also had to convince apparently Colombian authorities to give her all the necessary paperwork. She didn't have any identification on her when she was arrested and she ended up getting deported. Her family says that they do not understand how a 14-year-old girl could essentially fool local authorities and local judges on this criminal case, the theft case, and then fool the immigration and deportation system and then fool the Colombian government to get the paperwork she needed to end up in Colombia.
They believe there's something more sinister going on. We spoke with her mother and grandmother at length last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA (on camera): Do you have any idea how she could have gotten to where she is using this fake name and getting to Colombia?
JOHNISA TURNER, MOTHER: I mean, I just -- there has to be adults involved. No 14-year-old can change their name and get to Colombia on their own.
LORENE TURNER, GRANDMOTHER: I just don't understand how it happened. Someone made a goof. And I think it's within ICE or someone. They may -- they goofed up.
J. TURNER: Yes, they dropped the ball.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LAVANDERA: Some of the initial reporting on this story, Kyra, suggested that this young woman had given authorities the name of this Tika Cortez name, it would have been someone who was already in ICE files and someone who was scheduled to be deported.
ICE officials say that is not the case. We have been able through our colleagues at CNN Espanol have tracked down, this Jakadrien Turner is in this foster care situation down in Colombia. We're working to figure out when and how she can be returned to the United States -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera out of Dallas thanks so much.
Well, Mitt Romney, he won Iowa. He's way ahead in New Hampshire. Is he unstoppable? We're talking about that with Michel Crowley of "Time" magazine coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, Mitt Romney, he won Iowa. He's way ahead in New Hampshire. Do the voters like him now finally? That's what "Time" magazine is asking in the issue that hits stands today.
In an earlier issue the question was, "Why don't you like me?" We're talking about that with Michael Crowley. He's "Time" magazine's deputy bureau chief in Washington. Michael, something that struck me, one of the articles -- a series of articles, obviously. The headline that said "How Obama saved Romney".
While Romney is on the campaign trail ripping apart the President, your headline says that the President is actually saving Romney.
MICHAEL CROWLEY, DEP. WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, TIME MAGAZINE: Well, look, what Romney wants more than anything right now is for this to feel like a Romney versus Obama campaign. He wants inevitability. He wants a sense that he's already kind of passed the primary process. That these guys like Santorum, and Gingrich, and Perry, sort of nipping at his heels but it's a formality.
And you'll notice in interviews when he's asked about rivals like Gingrich or Santorum, he pivots to talk about the President and how he's going to take the fight to the President in November.
So the more the President focuses on Romney and Obama's advisors are attacking Romney that actually plays into something he wants, which is a sense that this is already underway -- game on Romney versus Obama. And Republicans just need to kind of get behind him and unify for this coming fight in the fall.
PHILLIPS: And also within a series of articles another line that stood out to me, Iowa always crowns a Cinderella somehow but the poor thing never seems to win that second slipper. Santorum's ticket is for a pumpkin in need of some bippity-boppety magic. That's actually a quote from the magazine.
Tell me about that. CROWLEY: Wonderful writing in that story. Look, it is the case that you have these sensations, who frequently will come out of the Iowa caucuses; everyone gets excited about them. They don't really go anywhere.
So, you know, just look back four years ago at the Republican caucuses. Mike Huckabee vaulted out of Iowa and then pretty much fizzled. He just couldn't take his game anywhere else.
I think the question with Rick Santorum is here's a guy who basically moved to Iowa, staked everything on that one state. Campaigned like a madman there but does he really have any oomph anywhere else. Does he have organization? Does he have appeal in New Hampshire, which is most important right now and in South Carolina.
I think it's a bit of an open question. I'm skeptical. I would say the one big thing to look at is the super PACs, these groups that can support a candidate and take unlimited donations. If Santorum had one donor come in and give a $5 or $10 million donation, boom, suddenly he's shooting some very heavy artillery at Mitt Romney.
So I think it remains to be seen, but I think given history, cases like Mike Huckabee, there's reason to be skeptical that somebody can take their game from Iowa when they're coming out of nowhere like this.
PHILLIPS: Michael, the final question the issue also talks about the Ron Paul effect and how it will never go away even though the candidate himself might. His effect actually could dog Romney all the way to the convention.
CROWLEY: Yes. Well, you know, Ron Paul is a fascinating candidate. He's kind of a unique candidate really in recent years. He has this very loyal core of supporters. He's not like a lot of other Republicans we've seen kind of rise and fall and fizzle. Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, people kind of try them on like a suit, decide they don't fit that well.
The people who love Ron Paul, they are there through thick and thin by and large. The number might waiver a little bit, but there is a core team that is there for the duration. He can raise money. He's demonstrated that he can raise a lot of money through thick and thin. I think the issue is will he hang on through the primaries for a duration of weeks and months?
Republicans are awarding their delegates now more like Democrats did last time around which is proportionally. You can lose a state and still win a bunch of delegates. You could see Ron Paul hanging in there state by state and going to the convention this summer with a big bundle of delegates and being kind of a power broker there.
The Republican establishment and the Romney campaign, or whoever emerges as a front-runner, has got to treat Ron Paul with some deference if they don't want a really problem insurrection in their party.
PHILLIPS: "Time" Magazine's Michael Crowley. Thanks for joining me this morning, Michael.
CROWLEY: Thank you Kyra.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
Live here in just a few minutes President Obama and Pentagon brass announcing a major shift in defense policy. The U.S. would no longer keep a force capable of fighting two major ground wars at the same time.
Stay with us for that.
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PHILLIPS: Minutes from now President Obama is going to unveil a new military defense strategy at the pentagon. A U.S. official says that that strategy will no longer require the U.S. to maintain the ability to wage two ground wars at the same time. Joining us now live from Washington, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, William Cohen.
I'm curious, Mr. Secretary, do you feel that these changes would in any way impact the safety of Americans here at home and abroad? That seems to be the concern from Americans as they hear the word "cuts".
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, first we should point out that this I think is the first time that the President of the United States has gone to the Pentagon to announce a change in strategy. Normally you would expect the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs representing our uniform military to make a recommendation to the President and then have the President review it and then endorse it.
It looks as if the President is very clear on this. This is going to be his policy that he's announcing as the commander-in-chief. So that's something of a first in my experience at least.
Secondly, by articulating a change in strategy to basically a one-war strategy and a win so called hold that's going to be very controversial. The question will become if we were to be engaged in a conflict, let's say with Iran, which I hope doesn't take place but possibly, what does that mean about North Korea? Are we going to then try to, quote, "just hold North Korea"?
So there are lots of issues from a geo strategic level. The question's going to be raised, what does that mean for our partners in the gulf area if Iran decides to take belligerent action and aggressive action against a U.S. aircraft carrier? Does that mean that's going to be the one major war and everything else is secondary? Maybe we won't be able to win the others.
So lots of questions have to be raised. I think this will be a broad statement about the fact that we're shrinking the size of our military, and as we're shrinking the size of the military we have to do less with less. That's going to raise issues with our allies to be sure and our adversaries to say well, maybe the United States can't carry out the missions they once could. Maybe that gives us a bigger opportunity to take advantage of it. Those are the kind of questions raised.
PHILLIPS: So doing less with less, but when it comes down to it, and you know how to answer this question straight on because you have been the Secretary of Defense, if our safety is at stake, our military -- well, let me ask you this. Would our military ever be in a position where they said, we can't do this?
COHEN: The obligation of the military and our Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Chiefs is to give the President the best possible military advice. They have an obligation. There's a book called "Dereliction of Duty" that General Shelton made sure that I and all of us had that said "let's have no dereliction of duty here".
The advice has to be straight and unvarnished. They have to go to the President and say, "Mr. President, if we have this strategy and only these resources, we cannot carry out what we're being asked to carry out." The military will do whatever the commander-in-chief and the Congress and the nation asks them to do provided you give them the resources. But they have an obligation to say, if we only have these resources and you want us to do x, y, and z, we may not be able to do y and z, maybe only x.
So that's the kind of debate that's taking place within the building itself. It'll shift now to the campaign trail because I'm sure the President will be attacked by Republicans at this point saying, there goes our national security because the commander-in-chief has decided we can only fight one war at a time and not be able to protect our allies on the second front. I think that's going to be the level of debate.
And then the third part of it will be on the part of our allies. The allies are worried about well, are we on the second tier or are we first tier as far as the President of the United States is concerned. So these are all issues that will have to be sorted out. I think you'll have generalities today. They'll have to be filled in. The blanks will be filled in, in the coming weeks. But you can be sure this is going to be controversial.
PHILLIPS: So what exactly would this mean for your business that is involved with defense contractors?
COHEN: Well, it's only a small portion of the business of the Cohen Group so it will have minimum impact on us in that sense. What we do is give advice to major companies who do business globally. In terms of those in the aerospace sector, look, the President has talked about shifting resources. Less on the ground, more in naval assets and air assets. So those companies who are engaged in the shipping industry as such, making submarines, destroyers, aircraft carriers, they will take some heart from this if this is carried out as will some of the aerospace and cyber space industries. So that appears to be what the President's suggesting to the Secretary of Defense. We're going to look less at major land wars, more at denial, countering denial of access types of activities. That will mean more sea-based, maritime- based, more space-based, more cyber-based types of technologies that will be used. I think that's the message that's likely to come out of this, and those are the companies that will be affected. PHILLIPS: And when it comes down to air superiority, I think you and I well know where our military stands. We are unbeatable on that front. William Cohen --
COHEN: I think we have to remain there as well.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Thank you so much for your time. Sure appreciate it.
COHEN: A pleasure to be with you. Thank you.
KYRA: You bet.
Once again, we're waiting for the President at the Pentagon. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
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PHILLIPS: All right. Quick check on sports. We have three great scores to show you. Hoop of the night: Sacramento Kings and the Denver Nuggets. Nuggets get to lose ball. Rudy Fernandez, over the head alley-oop coming up right there. Ken Nefari (ph) got the slam. You Want to watch it again? Maybe. Re-rack. There you go. Nuggets score 110-83.
Now Soccer, American goalie Tim Howard shocked everybody at this match by scoring a goal. His upfield kick takes a big bounce, goes over the other goalie's head for the goal. Oh, yes. Only the third time in English Premier League history a goalie has scored. But Howard's team lost the game.
Now to the NHL. Montreal center Lars Eller scores four goals against Winnipeg. His last, the best. Watch this. A spin-o-rama move on the penalty shot. Looks over at the goalie, Canadiens, of course win, 7- 3.
All right. Let's fast forward to a few stories that we're watching for you today. At 11:00 House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader is holding a news conference about the need to extend the payroll tax cuts for a whole year.
Also at 11:00 the newly appointed director of the consumer financial protection buyer Richard Cordray gives his first speech.
Then at 11:30 this morning a special honor for the iconic R&B singing group, "Boys to Men". After 20 years of hit making, singing group gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Caucus night in Iowa wouldn't have been the same without Caroline Tallett and Edith (INAUDIBLE). They went the extra mile, shall we say, to relay critical voting information to the state's Republican party. Caroline knew that Edith had the vote tally for a missing precinct. Edith was asleep. That didn't stop Caroline.
CAROLYN TALLETT, CLINTON COUNTY REPUTATION WOMEN: I took off and went in the night to wake her up running across her yard and banging on the door. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You particularly have been called the modern day Paul Revere for going and waking up Edith.
TALLETT: Ok.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does that feel?
TALLETT: Actually, I thought of that myself. You know, I thought, I guess I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Again, a big thanks to both women for clearing up that voting-day mystery. Just about the top of the hour. You know what that means. We're out of here.
Suzanne Malveaux is in.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I can't get enough of those ladies. It's great actually to see them. See what they look like, you know, you heard their voices.
PHILLIPS: That's right. And the --
MALVEAUX: I'm waiting for the new show though. The CNN after Dark, you know?
PHILLIPS: That's right. Who came up with that? Was that Wolf, John King, one of the guys?
MALVEAUX: I was just in the midst of everybody needing another cup of coffee. I think. They were terrific, that's for sure. They had a lot of fun for the night.
We are waiting to hear from the President.
PHILLIPS: That's right.
MALVEAUX: -- on the worst strategy. You spent a lot of time in Iraq and went to Afghanistan. Obviously a lot of people are wondering whether this is going to be a good idea; whether or not we'll be prepared.
PHILLIPS: How it's going to impact us, how we fight wars for sure. So we're all paying attention to that (INAUDIBLE)
MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks Kyra. --
PHILLIPS: You bet.
