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Santorum Sweeps Three GOP Contests; Death Toll Surges in Syria; Dow Highest Level Since May 2008; Tea Party Leader: Movement is "Dead"; Americans Borrowing More Money; "We Cannot Count the Dead Anymore"; "Epidemic" of Rape in U.S. Military; Band Turns Car Into Instrument

Aired February 08, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad, thanks so much.

Well, the wild card wins. Rick Santorum, working on a shoestring budget and a skeleton staff, swept the three latest votes, raising new questions about long-time frontrunner Mitt Romney. The biggest shock, Colorado. A state Romney easily won just four years ago. Then in Missouri Santorum won more than twice as many votes as Romney. Newt Gingrich wasn't even on the ballot there.

As Santorum cruised in his home state of Minnesota, Ron Paul finishing second, Santorum clearly seizing the momentum he desperately needs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ladies and gentlemen, I don't stand here to claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is live in Washington.

Paul, what do you think? A game-changer?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Wow. Wow, Kyra. I'll tell you, if you don't like the way this race for the Republican nomination is going, just wait. Because it keeps changing and changing and changing.

Listen, Mitt Romney is still the frontrunner but this is a big, big deal for Rick Santorum. And what is he doing? He's going to be capitalizing and monopolizing on these big three wins, this hat trick of victories, if you want to call.

He's down in Texas today. That's where he heads. And he's got some events. But the real reason, he's going to want to raise some money, fundraising immediately off of this.

Take a listen to what he told our Soledad O'Brien a little earlier this morning on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: We're doing very, very well raising money. I think last night we raised about a quarter of a million dollars online. So we're doing really well and we feel like going forward we're going to have the money we need to make the case we want to make.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: And the case is, he is not -- the case he wants to make, Kyra, is guess what, he, not Newt Gingrich, is the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. And last night's victories helped him big time making that case.

PHILLIPS: All right. So what now? Does the Romney campaign have to start going after Santorum in a much stronger way?

STEINHAUSER: You know, good question. And you know even before last night's victories for Santorum they started to downplay the results saying, we weren't in Missouri. It was just a beauty contest. But listen, let's be honest, Mitt Romney went to Minnesota. It was his first stop after his big victory in Florida. He was in Colorado the last two days. He hoped to have a big celebration. It didn't happen.

Take a listen to what he said last night. This is very interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a clear choice. I'm the only person in this race, Republican or Democrat, who has never served a day of time in Washington. In the world I come from, leadership is about starting a business, not trying to get a bill out of committee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: So basically Romney spent his whole speech last night talking about Obama. But Kyra, you heard him say, I'm the only one who didn't work in Washington. Expect Mitt Romney, and especially his campaign, to try to highlight that.

Rick Santorum is a product of Washington. He was in Congress. I think you're going to hear more of that. Will Romney's campaign step it up against Santorum as they did against Gingrich after South Carolina? Stay tuned. They may, they may not. They just may look ahead to the next contest. That's what they're saying. They're looking for delegates, they're looking for the next contest.

Talking about delegates, take a look at this. Here's where it stands after last night. CNN was able to allocate some, some of the delegates from last night. And this is our estimate right here. Mitt Romney still pretty far ahead of everybody else. Santorum moving up from fourth place to third place. But remember, look at that little number, 1144 delegates. That's what you need to clinch the nomination.

Kyra, we got a long way to go.

PHILLIPS: Yes, we do. And it just keeps getting -- more and more surprises keep get -- thrown in -- getting thrown into the mix.

Paul, thanks.

All right. Here's what's next. On Saturday we're going to learn the results of the Maine caucuses. They're already underway. And then a bit of a lull before the candidates take the stage in Arizona for the CNN debate. The next week, February 28th, voters in Arizona and Michigan will cast their votes.

Much more throughout the day on Rick Santorum's triple win. And for last night's full results and of course all the latest political news, just go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com.

Now in Syria, it's a pledge to end the violence being shattered within hours. Government forces are bombarding residential areas. Now an activist say they're storming homes, searching for rebel fighters. One opposition group says that troops killed three unarmed families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANNY, SYRIAN ACTIVIST: From yesterday to today I've seen so much, I've seen terrible bodies in the street. There are still some bodies that we can't move. They've been shot by snipers. If we tried to move the bodies, you get shot by the same sniper that shot the first person. I've only got one hospital left. They've been bombarding us with rockets, mortar bombs, tank shells, (INAUDIBLE) bomb. They've been hitting us today with anti-air tanks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And in Washington patience is running out. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice says it's time for embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, to step down.

Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

So, Barbara, moving forward, what's your take? Is it going to be more diplomatic efforts or is the military option becoming more intense?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Kyra, publicly the administration is very clear. Economic, diplomatic pressure on Syria to get the Assad regime to go. Behind the scenes we have learned that the Pentagon, that the administration is now looking at military strategies, options, plans, whatever you want to call it. They are now sitting down and looking at what could they do.

They don't want to wait for President Obama to ask them, so they're going through this exercise of saying what capabilities do we have, what could we do, what would the risks be, what would the benefits be, would it make a difference?

No one is going so far as to say much about the specifics. Would it be humanitarian assistance? Would it be something else? But we are clearly now getting the first signals that the U.S. military and commanders are having a much closer look at the situation and what they might be able to provide if the president were to change his mind and call for some type of military option -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. And a military campaign in Syria, I was talking with General Kimmitt yesterday, he said it would be extremely challenging.

STARR: It would be very difficult. Geography and the neighborhood would dictate a lot of this. I mean the map tells you everything, doesn't it? Iran, Israel both in the neighborhood. Both very sensitive to any changes in Syria. A very heavy civilian population concentrated in so many places. How would you sort out civilians from regime forces?

What about Syria's chemical and biological weapons? Are those secure? And a nightmare scenario to add on to everything else that's already a nightmare. What if the Assad regime was to suddenly collapse and you had no power structure in Syria? What kind of civil war? What kind of bloodshed would result? And what on earth would you do about that?

This is a tough situation in any direction you look -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, we'll keep talking about this story obviously throughout the morning, throughout the afternoon.

And yes, the world is paying close attention to everything that's taking place in Syria as well. CNN's Max Foster has been following that for us out of London. The global reaction yesterday and today still pretty intense.

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, Kyra. Very much focused on why Russia and China really blocked the U.N. on moving on Syria and what the implications of that are for them.

The "Moscow Times" has a really interesting comment. "Realpolitik without Realism." "Russia aims to block any more military interventions but none will be needed because Assad's regime will eventually be overthrown. That will leave Moscow mourning its lost influence in the region as well as the end of its lucrative military contracts thus Putin's realpolitik has finally lost its most important attribute which is realism."

The "International Herald Tribune" looks at China's perspective and under the headline, "Why Beijing Votes with Moscow." "In the eyes of the pragmatic Chinese the Assad regime is not worth a veto. China apparently decided it was better not to jeopardize relations with the Russians and risk losing Russian support when Beijing might need it in the future."

The "National" in the United Arab Emirates under the headline, "A Great Game in the Middle East Plays Syria Like a Pawn." This is looking at the bigger picture. "Syria's conflict and the standoff over Iran's nuclear program are unfolding against a backdrop of intensified regional and global strategic rivalry marked by the reemergence of old powers and the emergence of new ones. All of which combines to create a Middle East landscape less predictable and more turbulent than it's ever been."

It certainly seems that way -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Max Foster following Syria for us. From a global perspective. Thanks, Max.

OK. Back here in the states Wall Street beginning its day on a high. Stocks open at the highest level since May 2008. Christine Romans joining us from New York.

So, Christine, stocks are just one part of the recovery.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They certainly are. Jobs are the other part of the recovery, and housing, too. And quite frankly yesterday, Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief, was a little concerned about housing and the job market. Because so many people -- so many people are long-term unemployed. But a new number we're zeroing in on. A labor turnover number that shows that there are 3.4 million job openings right now at the end of December in this country, 3.4 million job openings.

That's the highest, Kyra, we've had in about three, three and a half years. So it shows you that there are positions available out there. We also know from that same data from the Labor Department that we're holding on to our jobs for dear life. The rate at which people are quitting their jobs, they're leaving their jobs is still very, very low. So some of that, I don't know, churn we usually have in the labor market still isn't back yet -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK. Christine, thanks.

Well, Rick Santorum gives the Tea Party lots of credit for his three-state sweep last night. But one Tea Party leader says the movement is dead and gone. We're going to talk about that straight ahead.

Plus the 911 tapes from that deadly explosion at Josh Powelll's home. Hear the dramatic phone calls next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Police in Washington state have released chilling 911 tapes from that explosion at Josh Powell's home. Powell who was a suspect in the 2009 disappearance of his wife killed himself and his two young sons on Sunday. Police say he took a hatchet to his kids, then he set the house on fire.

Now the heart stopping call from the social worker who had just dropped the children off. She calls 911 right after the explosion. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are saying there's not somebody here but I was just there and there is somebody here. There's two little boys in the house. They're 5 and 7. And there's an adult man. He has supervised visitation and he blew up the house and the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The kids and the -- and the father were in the house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes. He slammed the door in my face. So I kept knocking. I thought it was a mistake. I kept knocking and then I called 911.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Funeral services for Powell's two sons, 7-year-old Charlie, and 5-year-old Braden, will be held Saturday.

It's time to check stories happening cross-country now. San Francisco supporters of same-sex marriage celebrate a victory. A federal appeals court ruled California's prop 8 is unconstitutional. Supporters of the same -sex marriage band say that they'll fight on with the Supreme Court.

In Oakwood, Texas a car cash catches on fire but the driver gets out just in tie. He says heavy smoke was coming under the hood before the car ignited. Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames.

And finally a Texas boy is recovering after being mauled by a mountain lion. The family was on vacation in Big Ben National Park when the lion just snuck up on the 6-year--old. Dad got his knife out. stabbed the lion, the lion ran away.

Rick Santorum, the wild card, wins all three states. A burst of momentum and a shout-out to the Tea Party movement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: Tonight was a victory for the voices of our party, conservatives and Tea Party people, who are out there every single day in the vineyards building the conservative movement in this country, building the base of the Republican Party, and building a voice for freedom in this land. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: OK, but here's the question. The Tea Party people, is that the force in 2010?

Patricia Murphy of "The Daily Beast" actually writes, quote, "After months of wondering how the Tea Party would change the primary game, leaders inside the movement admit they never came in off the sidelines. For the Tea Party movement, the 2012 presidential primaries have been a bust."

All right. Patricia, even one Tea Party leader I saw said to you, no, the movement is dead/ But according to Rick Santorum, he's giving the Tea Party max street cred right here.

PATRICIA MURPHY, DAILY BEAST CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely. Well, what the Tea Party has done is disburse itself among the other candidates who are not Mitt Romney. Some of them are even supporting Mitt Romney.

The problem they tell me is that none of these candidates have captured their imagination. They are not able to unleash the energy for themselves the way that Obama was able to unleash the energy against him in 2010.

So, that we've seen a real dispersal. They have not organized themselves. The head of the Tea Party Patriots told me they are probably not going to endorse anybody. None of these candidates is good enough for them.

So, they've really taken themselves out of the game when GOP elders were wondering, how are we going to keep them from running the show? They themselves say we're not running it.

PHILLIPS: So, the Tea Party might not be defining the candidate right, but they're defining the issues.

MURPHY: They absolutely are. And when I was -- the reason I did this story is was because I looked at what happened in Nevada and Florida with Romney winning huge pieces of the Tea Party movement. And they told me, the people in the Tea Party movement told me, listen, we're not picking the guy. We have already picked the issues.

Every single candidate is talking about fiscal responsibility. Every candidate is talking about the Constitution, which really was not a good -- you know, you didn't hear a lot of talk about the constitution in 2008, 2004. It wasn't really so cool to be all about the Founding Fathers.

Now, you can't get through a single stump speech without hearing all about the Founding Fathers, all about the huge deficits, all about the debt.

So, the Tea Party movement absolutely has changed the conversation but they themselves say none of these candidates is doing what we want them to do. So we're not getting in it.

PHILLIPS: Let's take a listen to Tea Party leader Dick Armey. He was on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK ARMEY, FREEDOMWORKS CHAIRMAN: We'll build a legislative wall. We'll either be walling our Republican president in or walling a Democrat president out but we will -- our aim is to make the legislative initiative come from the House and the Senate, not wait upon the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. So is he saying, OK, forget about the White House, let's just focus and go after Congress?

MURPHY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Are you hearing that from other people as well?

MURPHY: Absolutely, absolutely. They're saying they don't want to be tainted by any one of these GOP nominees. They feel like Rick Santorum was all about earmarks when he was in office. They said that Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney both were for the individual mandate and they were for TARP -- so offensive to Tea Party members.

What they want to do is focus on the local level. Ohio Tea Party had a big victory just a few months ago, putting in a health care mandate that would sort of free them from the health care mandate. And they're looking at local elections, congressional elections, Senate elections. That's where they want to have their -- that's where they want to have their efforts focused. That's where they want to make a difference.

But they, themselves, say nobody at the national level is good enough for them so they're not getting in it.

PHILLIPS: Patricia Murphy, thanks so much.

MURPHY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, straight ahead, we are talking about Americans borrowing rates at -- well, the highest amounts in a decade apparently. People are running up their plastic, taking out big loans. We'll take you live to the New York Stock Exchange.

And Kate Middleton going solo while Prince William is deployed. Duchess of Cambridge takes on her first official duty. We'll take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: While her hubby's away, Kate's stepping out. The duchess of Cambridge is doing her first solo royal duty as Prince William continues his deployment in the Falklands.

Max Foster on that story for us out of London.

OK. Give us the scoop, Max. Inside scoop.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, they're easing her in, that's the inside scoop, really -- her first solo outing. She's got another one next week which is going to be a much bigger event, much more media, much more access. But tonight, she's visiting the National Portrait Gallery. She's taken on the patronage of that.

And we are allowed to film with her, but only as she arrives and does a few hand shakes on the inside. Then she goes in for a private view. So, they're seeing how it goes on this first one and then we'll find out more next time.

But this is her first outing -- the first chance for her to define herself really in her own right whilst her husband is away, causing some controversy, of course, in the Falklands.

PHILLIPS: Well, they're getting ready to rock for the queen as well, right?

FOSTER: Yes. That's the other thing William has been involved with actually, from the jubilee, at the beginning June, the big celebration. There's going to be a big concert on the Monday. It's going to be a big event.

And we're going to show you an animation actually of what it's going to look like. If you imagine last time of the golden jubilee, all the crowds were out in back in the garden. But this is outside, the front of Buckingham Palace, a spectacular stage they're building, around the Victoria monument. Half a million people are due to be able to see that as an audience.

So, the biggest gig, really, in British history. And you got the likes of Tom Jones, Paul McCarthy, Elton John all performing there. They're also looking for some big American performers to come in as well. They're working on that.

And William and Harry are crucially involved, choosing the artists for the lineup. So, we're getting a taste of their musical tastes as well. But it's going to be a fantastic event that we're going to be there, just to the right of that crowd I think, Kyra, hopefully on the big day.

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, we'll be following it with you, for sure. Max Foster, thanks.

Well, spend, spend, spend -- that is definitely the American way. Things changed during the recession, but now, they are turning around. People are taking out loans to finance their purchases.

Alison Kosik, it's tough time. We're talking about a lot of borrowing.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A lot of borrowing. But, you know what? Borrowing, taking on debt, you know, it's as American as apple pie. So, you know, to stay in that spirit, guess how much Americans borrowed just in December?

Just in December, Americans borrowed $2.5 trillion. That's a lot of money.

Now, we did see this trend really shoot up through the roof in November. And these are some of the biggest back to back gains we've seen in 10 years.

Now, here's what's interesting when you look at this data, is a good part of this borrowing is coming from people taking on student loans. And that's a good thing because it shows that people are either going back to school or just going to school.

And then, of course, you look at the tried and true borrowing that people are making. They're taking out car loans, credit card debt. That went up, too.

Now, this uptick in borrowing, it really caught our eye because borrowing, as you said, Kyra, it really fell off a cliff during the recession. Banks stopped lending. People defaulted on their loans. They didn't spend as much money.

So, you know, people may be borrowing more clearly because their incomes haven't been growing. There's a good part to this, too, because the rebound is also seen as a sign of confidence. Hey, it boosts the economy in the end. The old American way: taking on debt -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. And just a few minutes away from the opening bell. What are you foreseeing?

KOSIK: Wall Street's pretty optimistic this morning. You saw that yesterday. Stocks rallied late in the session and it looks like stocks are going to be higher again in about five minutes when they open.

Look, everybody's hoping that Greek leaders are going to be able to hammer out a deal to cut spending and these aren't easy cuts to make. You're lacking at job cuts, pay cuts in Greece, pension reforms. All of these are very politically unpopular moves, but Greece really has to accept them at this point if it wants to get its bailout of $170 billion. It needs that money, Kyra, to pay its bills next month.

And Wall Street's kind of sweet on it, kind of optimistic that it's finally going to happen. We shall see -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange -- Alison, thanks.

A Syrian resident says they can't count the dead anymore. Forces there apparently ripping the city apart. We're getting an inside glimpse and talk with a Syrian dissident who knows President Assad all too well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now:

Rick Santorum's campaign getting a big boost today. Last night, he swept three GOP presidential contests: Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado.

All Airbus A380 super jumbo jets will be checked for possible cracks in their wings. The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered this, but the jets won't be grounded. Seven airlines fly these planes worldwide.

And prosecutors in Pennsylvania want former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky to stay indoors as part of his house arrest. He's accused of sexually abusing young boys over a 15 year period. And recently, there's been complaints that Sandusky has been watching school children from the back porch of his house.

Well, Senator John McCain says the U.S. should give the rebels weapons in Syria. The White House says it's sticking with sanctions for now. However, the Pentagon is looking at military options.

Opposition groups say the Syrian forces have killed nearly 50 people today in Homs, including three entire families. A resident there even saying, "We can't count the dead anymore."

As for President Bashar al-Assad, he's refusing to step down despite pressure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Your days are numbered and it is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully. The longer you hang on, the more damage you do yourself, your family, your interests and, indeed, your country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And Ahed al Hendi can tell us more about Assad. He's a Syrian activist and dissident living here in the U.S.

Ahed, you actually were imprisoned and tortured by Syrian authorities. I was reading about your story.

What can you tell us about the brutality of this regime?

AHED AL HENDI, SYRIAN ACTIVIST, DISSIDENT: The regime is very brutal. They don't act like they are the head of the state. They act like a mafia.

I was jailed like five years ago, before any revolution has started in Syria. It was so brutal. Now, the brutality increased, a lot of people are being killed and imprisoned. A lot of -- they are chopping hands, they are like poking the eyes of prisoners inside the prison in Syria.

Now, while we are speaking, a lot of cities are being shelled by Assad forces. Houses are being destroyed. There is no way to communicate to those people on the ground except when we talk to them on sat phone.

PHILLIPS: Ahed, what about you? What happened to you? Describe how you were treated when you were in prison there.

AL HENDI: I was jailed five years ago because I founded a secular group in Damascus University. They put me in solitary confinement which has no windows, it has no toilet, it's very dark. They used all kind of torture, like psychological torture.

They told me, you're going to be staying here for two years. We're going to get your family here. We're going to rape your family.

And I was physically tortured as well. And I had no access to my lawyer, no access to my family. My family thought that I was dead or I was killed. They were like looking for me at the morgues of the hospitals.

PHILLIPS: So, it's really unbelievable. And this is five years ago, they were better. Now, the situation is really, really -- I mean, I have friends who lost their life. They were killed. They were sent to their families, body parts.

PHILLIPS: So let me ask you, if you could call the shots, if you could come face to face with President Obama, what would you say? What would you tell him? And what would you tell military commanders? Would you say, "OK, sanctions, humanitarian aid, arm the rebels, Mr. President," or would you say to the military, you've got to respond?

AL HENDI: This is not enough. President Obama, the secretary of state are calling Assad a dictator. We know he's a dictator. That's why we protested against him.

We need support for the Free Syrian Army. There are a lot of defectors. They have no support.

Russia is supporting Assad regime. Russia is supplying weapons to the Syrian army that is killing us. And while the Free Syrian Army, the defectors, are left alone by themselves. They're using the weapons that they got from the army after they defected. But they have nothing. They the have nothing else other than a normal weapon, individual weapons.

We need the international community and I agree here with Senator McCain. There should be support for the rebels. There's no way to have Assad stop the killing other than military intervention. Assad will not listen to people calling him to step down.

Nothing will stop the tanks from firing on people unless someone would come and stop the soldier that is firing on the people and killing the civilians in Syria.

PHILLIPS: Is this in your eyes? Will Bashar al Assad be ousted?

AL HENDI: I think Bashar al Assad should be ousted. But there's nothing that would stop him from killing the people. He will not oust himself. He would not step down by himself.

It has been like almost a year and nothing has done. He's only blaming the things on conspiracy and the United States, on Europe, on the -- even on the Arabic countries. But he is not doing any kind of reform.

Now, while he promised the Russian foreign minister to reform, his forces kill more than 50 people. So, we can't believe Assad. We don't trust Assad.

What we need from the international community, not to do the double standard. They help the Libyan people. Why they're not helping the Syrian people. I think -- we are human beings just like the Libyan, just like any other human being on the Earth. But we are being killed by our own government and nobody is helping us.

PHILLIPS: Ahed al Hendi -- well, as you can see, it's definitely right there on the table, not only with our military commanders but also the president of the United States. We'll follow the story. We appreciate your personal perspective. Thank you, Ahed.

AL HENDI: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, go to CNN.com/world for complete coverage of the crisis in Syria.

Michelle Obama like you've never seen her before. That's coming up right after the break.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So this looks like a pretty interesting space. What goes on in here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, this is our lab, and really what happens here is we have interns that take things that we think might be in the magazine and they try to recreate them. They take the author's recipe in a sense and test it. So, we're like a test kitchen for makers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. It's a physical fitness challenge with two unlikely competitors, "Late Night" host Jimmy Fallon and the first lady.

"Showbiz Tonight" host A.J. Hammer joining us live from New York.

OK, who's stronger?

A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: Who do you think? Who do you think?

PHILLIPS: My guess it's the first lady.

HAMMER: Well, I'm going to have to show you a little video proof. The first lady has been making promotional appearances to talk about her Let's Move initiative. It's a program to get kids physically active. So, yes, she challenged "Late Night's" Jimmy Fallon to a competition.

Let's take a full look at how all of this went down. Roll that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: Well, Jimmy, that was fun. And thank you so much for coming to the White House and raising awareness for Let's Move.

JIMMY FALLON, "LATE NIGHT" HOST: It was my pleasure. I think, you know, the most important thing for the kids to learn is that it's all about being active and having fun. It doesn't matter if you won or if you lost, you know?

OBAMA: It matters.

FALLON: Double or nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: All right. Now, I know Jimmy is a sports guy. He's probably pretty active himself, but I think, Kyra, looking at him next to the first lady, most people are betting on Mrs. Obama.

No offense, Jimmy -- but that's just my take, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jimmy kind of looks like Jane Fonda, don't you think? The tight spandex and the Rebook with the leg warmers.

HAMMER: That was Kyra Phillips who said that, Jimmy. Kyra Phillips.

PHILLIPS: OK. Let's follow up on the Super Bowl, shall we? What's the latest on Madonna?

HAMMER: Also somebody who's in terrific shape.

Madonna now rolling out her world tour. That's going to keep her plenty active. The tour is going to kick off in Israel on May 29th. Take her to Europe, Australia, where, by the way, she hasn't performed in 20 years.

And, then, of course, she'll be playing here in the United States, 26 cities in all in August and September. I bet she might add a couple of dates to that. There will be a show at Yankee Stadium which will be a huge blowout.

We all know Madonna is a terrific performer and, obviously, a very smart businesswoman. The tour will be made up close to 90 shows so far. And according to "Billboard," it makes the biggest tour that she's ever done. The last time Madonna hit the road, that was back in 2008. She played 85 shows then.

According to "Billboard," that tour closed $408 million. Of course, she's coming of her Super Bowl appearance. She's got a new album coming out in -- I guess that's next month, in March.

So, Kyra, we'll obviously have a lot of Madonna news to talk about in the coming months.

PHILLIPS: Stay tuned. A.J., thanks.

And one of Don Cornelius's biggest regrets. A.J. reveals it in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, he used to call himself a historian. Now, it's thief. That's because he admits to stealing more than a million bucks worth of history. That story is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Eating too much salt -- 90 percent of us are guilty of it. And the food that's responsible for most of our sodium intake might surprise you. It's bread. The CDC says that while bread may not contain a lot of salt, eating too much of it will push your sodium intake to unhealthy levels.

Well, it's given that when you go to war, you're definitely going to have to defend yourself from the enemy. But for thousands of our men and women in uniform, they never expected their enemy would be their fellow soldier, marine, or sailor.

It's not only devastating but heart breaking to tell you that if you're a woman in the armed forces, you are more likely to be raped by a co-worker than killed by the enemy. The number of cases is outrageous, and the Department of Defense now admits it has to be dealt with differently than it has in the past.

Congresswoman Jackie Speier has solutions and she writes about this crisis on CNN.com, the opinion page. Congresswoman, it's so great to have you on. This is an issue that I feel very strongly about as well.

And you know a lot of these victims who do come forward, they're ridiculed, they're threatened by their commanders. Many of the men in the military say, see, this is why we don't need women in the military, so they're scared to come forward.

In your op-ed piece you actually focus on one egregious case. Tell me how our military failed Army Specialist Andrea Newtslig.

REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D), CALIFORNIA: Now Andrea was actually an MP and she was sexually assaulted. She reported it to her commander. The commander chose to not do anything about it so she got the message, just suck it up. And so she then subsequently was sexually assaulted again, did not report it. The third time she was raped, and at first she did not report it but then when her -- one of her colleagues told her that there was a video of the rape that was being spread around, she then reported it.

And what happened was a crime in and of itself. Because the two that committed the crime who admitted to raping her were about to be removed from the war zone, the two commanders got together and said, you know, this would forestall any ability for the unit to move and leave the war zone so we're just not going to do anything about it. And under the system, that's legal.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: But that's -- that's what I -- that's what I want to ask you about is that I have some really great sources within the VA and they deal with women and men, by the way, that have been raped. And what is so astounding to me is how most of these cases never even reach the prosecution level. Why is that?

SPEIER: Well, first of all, there's 19,000 sexual assaults or rapes a year. Those are by DOD's own statistics. Only 13 percent report. And of that 13 percent, 90 percent of those victims who reported are involuntarily honorably discharged.

So there's a real sense that if you report it, if you want a career in the military, you're going to be discharged.

Furthermore, because the power is all within the commander, your unit commander, who is judge and jury, makes the decision whether to prosecute, not prosecute, provide what is called non-judicial penalties, believe it or not.

So you rape someone and you could be given, you know, five days on base. And that's your, quote, "penalty" for having done such a violent act against another human being. And you're right, men and women in the military are being raped. In fact, because there are so many more men in the military than women, there's 6,000 rapes of men a year.

So it crosses both genders, and it is a system that is wrought with conflict of interest. And it's an issue that the Congress has known about for almost a quarter of a century. And we're great at holding hearings and asking for task forces and reports, and then we create certain agencies within the Department of Defense that really have no authority and think that we've somehow fixed the problem. We haven't.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: So let me -- let me ask you about that. Because you say that DOD cannot investigate itself, especially when it comes down to this. And there's got to be a new office of oversight and response. Tell me what you're doing right now and do you have hope that an outside organization will be brought in to investigate these cases and that DOD will not do it within?

SPEIER: So I have introduced HR 3435 which is a bill that makes the whole function of reporting rape something that's done outside of the commanding unit. So if someone's raped, they go to this new office that's created that will have the authority to investigate, to prosecute, and to provide services to the victim.

And so then you don't have the conflict of interest that's inherent in a system where the unit commander is concerned about, you know, his unit, how it's going reflect on him or her, if he's got a rape going on within his unit. So by taking it out of the chain of command, we then have an outside source that's doing it but still within the military.

PHILLIPS: Congresswoman, we will definitely follow your efforts. And we're working on an in-depth piece as well on this and we appreciate your support. Thanks so much, Congresswoman.

And you can see the full piece that she wrote about the rape epidemic in the U.S. military and her solutions. Just go to cnn.com/opinion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we're following lots of developments for you in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's check in first with CNN political director, Mark Preston. Hey Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey Kyra. What a stunning night last night in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Rick Santorum scored a political hat trick turning the race for the Republican presidential nomination on its head. I'll have more at the top of the hour.

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ivan Watson in Istanbul. The Syrian military is conducting an artillery assault on a residential neighborhood in the city of Homs. Activists there tell us more than 50 people have been killed in a single day. I'll have the latest in the coming hour.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Brianna Keilar at the White House. Does a new policy about insurance coverage for contraception threatens the President's support among some Catholic voters? The White House is working overtime to calm concerns. I'll have details at the bottom of the next hour.

PHILLIPS: All right, guys. Thanks so much.

Also straight ahead, a vicious beating caught on cam goes viral even before the cops can get involved. And now the FBI is investigating the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's Wednesday. And Jeff Fischel, we're still talking about the Super Bowl and the gap between your teeth when you were a kid.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: No, that never happened. The secrets are to be kept secret during the commercial break.

The Giants -- it wasn't just the talk still. They're singing, they're rapping, they're doing everything. The most watched TV show in history and still lots of buzz.

The Giants got their big parade through New York and New Jersey yesterday. They got the keys to the city and then Andre Brown led them in serenading fans with this song.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE BROWN: So people, what do you got?

I got a ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got a ring.

BROWN: They got a ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They got a ring.

BROWN: We got a ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a ring.

BROWN: We got a ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a ring.

BROWN: We got a ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a ring.

BROWN: We got a ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a ring.

BROWN: We got a ring.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a ring.

JUSTIN TUCK, NEW YORK GIANTS: And guess what. I got two.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISCHEL: Justin Tuck, "I got two." That's great. Of course, they don't work very much on the lyrics, but I think you get the point, anyway.

And of course Patriots fans still licking their wounds. You know, the Patriots expected Tom Brady to come through. Remember the first points in Sunday's Super Bowl, the Giants get the safety before the intentional grounding. There's a big bet on that. John (INAUDIBLE) won $50,000. He tells TMZ he plans to donate all that to charity.

And then Sports, more tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: All right. Is that it?

FISCHEL: That's it.

PHILLIPS: You just got the big rap?

FISCHEL: I got the bit, big, please be quiet immediately.

PHILLIPS: We were going to talk about Tebowing being so 2011. I guess we can't talk about Bradying until tomorrow.

FISCHEL: I'm not talking.

PHILLIPS: Ok. Thanks so much, Jeff.

Ok. Jeanne Moos, take it away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Why just play the car radio when you can play the car?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been waiting for you. Waiting for you.

MOOS: It's so unusual, we had to make up a name for it. Drive- by what?

DAMIAN KULASH, LEAD SINGER, "OK GO": UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess it's drive-by rock and roll is what it is.

MOOS: Rock and roll and over 1,100 homemade instruments like glass jars and pipe. The group, "Ok Go", has gone and done it again after making music videos on treadmills and with a dozen leaping dogs and with a Rube Goldberg contraption big enough to fill a warehouse. Now "Ok Go" is going on the road.

The lead singer Damian Kulash says it took four months of prep and four days of shooting in the California desert on a two-mile track in a car that deployed seven arms.

KULASH: If you're off by a little bit, you just rip the arms off the car. And we broke dozens of those arms.

MOOS: His fellow band members turned levers to deploy the arms. Arms that tickled the ivories on 55 pianos.

KULASH: Each piano, we had to tune the bottom half of it down to one note so that no matter where you hit it, you'd get the same note.

MOOS: Damian had to take a stunt driving course. And he says the tricky part wasn't driving fast, it was driving at the perfect speed.

KULASH: The guitar solo is about 42, which doesn't sound like much, but on a paved road, on the edge of a cliff with some turns in it, it's scary.

MOOS: Did he say guitar solo?

KULASH: The guitars were played with a fishing rod.

MOOS: 288 guitars with four of their six strings removed.

Chevrolet paid for the project and gave "Ok Go" total freedom as well as the new Chevy Sonic. In exchange, Chevy got to use "Ok Go's" material in a commercial that first aired on the Super Bowl. The car even ran over hoses that blew air into tubas.

To commemorate the video, "Ok Go" is selling car air fresheners with their faces on them. Each guy is a different scent.

KULASH: I think I might be new car smell. I hope I'm new car smell.

MOOS (on camera): New car smell.

(voice-over): New car smell with a top note of dusty guitar.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did we get it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)