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Warning About Counterfeit Version of Cancer-Fighting Drug; Shortage Cancer Drug Methotrexate; Can Santorum Win?; Violence In Syria Rages On; New Details About Whitney Houston Funeral; Ari Fleisher Discusses GOP Candidates, Foreign Policy; Tips for Navigating College Financial Aid; Santorum Calls Obama Administration Elitists, Snobs
Aired February 15, 2012 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7, I'm Christine Romans. Suzanne Malveaux is off today.
Let's get you up to speed for this Wednesday, February 15th.
She will be laid to rest on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, but the investigation into the death of Whitney Houston just beginning, really. Authorities are now looking closer at the pills found in her Hollywood hotel room the night she died, and a source close to the case tells the "L.A. Times" that the doctors who wrote the prescriptions for those pills could be subpoenaed.
In Syria, artillery and machine gunfire echo across the city of Homs, while a thick smoke from a pipeline explosion hangs overhead. Opposition activists say government forces are set on flattening every neighborhood that might hold dissidents.
Our Arwa Damon is in the besieged city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Around 7:30 in the morning began the sustained bombardment, various sounds of artillery being fired, impacting here, as well as sporadic, heavy automatic machine gunfire has been heard. And this has been the status quo in Homs for over a week now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Just hours ago, Iran began loading what it calls its first homebuilt nuclear fuel rods. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad helped insert the rods into a reactor at a research center in Tehran. It was broadcast live.
His government insists the technology is needed for medical purposes. Western nations believe the Iranians are focused on building a bomb. Today's move is a defiant response to Western sanctions over its nuclear program.
Iran is also showing defiance by repeatedly threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz. It's a critical shipping lane for the world's oil supply. Our Fred Pleitgen takes us there aboard a U.S. aircraft carrier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just remain vigilant as we come through.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Part of that vigilance, machine gunners to fend off small boat attacks. Many of the jets were stowed on lower decks to prevent them from getting hit if the Lincoln comes under fire, and helicopters hovering overhead to detect approaching ships.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: All right. Negotiators in Congress reach a deal that will keep money in your paycheck this year.
They have come up with a tentative compromise for extending the payroll tax cut. It could make -- it means if you make $50,000 a year, you could get $83 a month you hang on to, the government doesn't take. A conference committee could sign off on that deal today. It would extend the tax cut for the rest of the year, prevent a cut in fees for Medicare doctors, and also extend emergency federal unemployment benefits.
A new poll confirms it, Rick Santorum is on a roll. The CNN/ORC poll shows Santorum now ahead of Mitt Romney in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and it's 34 percent to 32 percent. When you factor in a sampling error, it is a virtual tie. Both candidates are on the campaign trail today. Santorum, in North Dakota this hour; Romney, holding a roundtable and rally later today in Michigan.
Telemarketers who rely on robo-calls may soon have to work a little bit harder.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUTOMATED VOICE: Press "1" now on your phone to speak with a live operator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: The Federal Communications Commission considering new rules that would force those companies to get your permission in writing before they can contact you with those automated phone calls and text messages. That rule, however, would not apply to calls made by actual people.
The maker of a popular cancer-fighting drug is warning doctors and patients about a counterfeit version in the U.S., and now the FDA is investigating.
CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now.
And what is this fake drug masquerading as Avastin?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's calling itself Avastin, and it's not Avastin. It doesn't have the active ingredient in Avastin.
ROMANS: So it doesn't work?
COHEN: It doesn't work. It doesn't work. And the FDA has sent letters to 19 doctors' practices and hospitals saying, hey, we have reason to believe that you have got some fake stuff that you should not be giving patients.
ROMANS: Do we know if anybody has been taken this or anybody has been harmed by it?
COHEN: You know what? We don't know. They haven't told us yet.
I mean, we know that these 19 practices seem to have it. We don't know if they gave it to patients. We don't know if they did -- was it for once, a one-shot deal, or many times over?
Now, these -- this is an i.v. treatment, so it's not something you are going to go to the drugstore and get, it's something you would go to your doctor's office or hospital to get. In China, some patients did get it. They did get the fake version.
ROMANS: Really? Now, how do you know if your Avastin is legitimate? I mean, if you are using Avastin right now, how do you make sure that yours is legitimate?
COHEN: You need to tell your doctor to check the box, and I'm going to show you the box, because it's actually very easy to spot the counterfeit.
First of all, the counterfeit is in French. The labeling is in French.
ROMANS: OK.
COHEN: So that would be -- that's the one on the right, so that would be your first clue, if you are seeing French.
The second thing is, you notice, Christine, on the bottom right-hand corner it says "Roche." Real Avastin isn't labeled "Roche," it's labeled "Genentech" in the bottom left-hand corner.
So those are two of the things, and there is actually some more. So now that we know about this, it's actually pretty easy to get those counterfeits out of the system.
ROMANS: What are the companies saying about this? Where did it come from? Do they know?
COHEN: The folks who make Avastin have nothing to do with this. I mean, this is counterfeit.
ROMANS: And clearly, they don't want counterfeits --
COHEN: Right. Exactly. This is just some -- you know, for want of a better term, some bad guys who said, gee, we can get money for this. I mean, they're getting $2,400 for a 400 milliliter vial of this stuff, so there's a lot of money to be made, apparently, in counterfeiting these expensive drugs.
ROMANS: Right. OK. Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
ROMANS: The FDA is scrambling to stop another life-saving medicine from running out, and this is a drug that treats kids with childhood leukemia. It's one of dozens of drugs in short supply in America.
In about five minutes, Elizabeth is going to join us again and we're going to talk about it with the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society. So cancer drugs for kids in short, and that's something you never want to hear.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: The FDA is working fast to make sure a life-saving drug doesn't run out. It treats kids with childhood leukemia and adults with rheumatoid arthritis.
Elizabeth Cohen joins me again, along with Dr. Otis Brawley. He's the chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.
Thank you both for joining us.
I mean, you hear drug shortages for cancer patients who are children, and you just think -- doctors and parents are very concerned about this.
Why is there is a shortage, Elizabeth?
COHEN: Well, here's what happens.
There are a couple different companies that make this drug called Methotrexate. About 3,000 kids a year are diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and they depend on this drug.
Now, right now, there is enough drug, but they are worried that in about two to three weeks, there won't be any. One reason is that the -- the reason appears to be that the major manufacturer of this says that they have had to stop making because of significant manufacturing and quality concerns. That's why they say they have stopped making it.
There are some other folks who make it, but they couldn't ramp up quickly in time to immediately fill that hole. Now the FDA is saying that they have convinced them to ramp up the manufacturing so they can make sure that the crisis will be averted, but it's kind of a close call.
ROMANS: You know, Dr. Brawley, I want to ask you, because we talked to the pharmaceutical lobby group and said, why could there be shortages? They say it's a multidimensional problem, and that they're working with all the stakeholders to try to solve it.
Is it going to get solved? And why would there be shortages of such an important drug?
DR. OTIS BRAWLEY, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: You know, there have been shortages for a number of drugs starting about five or six years ago, and it's continuing to increase. Methotrexate is probably the worst, because we can actually cure that disease.
ROMANS: So this is a drug that cures children of cancer?
BRAWLEY: It is part of the curing regimen for several different diseases, including pediatric cancers.
ROMANS: Wow. So what is the FDA doing about it? What is the medical community doing about it to make sure that this is not going to happen, that this drug will be available?
BRAWLEY: Well, the FDA, in many respects, their hands are tied because they can't do very much. They can ask that these drug companies notify them that there's going to be a shortage of the drug or they're going to stop producing the drug, but they can't even at this point legally demand that those companies tell them.
ROMANS: Wow. So this could happen again? You could have another shortage?
BRAWLEY: This is going to happen again.
ROMANS: So what are we going to do about it? I mean, this thing is unacceptable?
COHEN: This is from the FDA. This is about 115 drugs. That's what -- 115 drugs are in shortage because companies don't have to keep making a drug if it's not making them enough money.
ROMANS: If it's not profitable.
COHEN: Yes. They can just decide to stop if they want to.
ROMANS: So is this the question of shareholders over patients?
BRAWLEY: In some respects it is. Now, there are a number of reasons for some of these shortages. In some case, they can't get raw materials, in other cases it's very difficult technically to make the drug, and somebody makes a mistake and that can delay production for three or four months.
A good number of these drugs are affected by the fact that the Bush administration, the George W. Bush administration, around 2003, actually set limits on what companies can charge for generic drugs. And most of these drugs, by the way, are generic drugs.
ROMANS: And the aim was to make them affordable for people who needed them?
BRAWLEY: That's right. That's right.
Now the companies cannot make a profit off of them or they want to raise the price. Now, one legal way that they can raise the price is they can stop manufacturing them for three to six months and then bring them back on to the market.
ROMANS: And then you get shortages.
BRAWLEY: Then you get shortages during that three to six months in which they are not manufacturing, yes.
ROMANS: So, Dr. Brawley, if you are a parent of a child who needs one of these drugs, or you're a doctor, a cancer doctor who relies on one of these drugs, you are still concerned today that this is not going to get resolved quickly?
BRAWLEY: You know, we, at the American Cancer Society, a number of other professional societies, have been working on this for about five years. I actually first had to deal with a drug shortage issue in 2007.
We have been asking for congressional hearings, of which there have been some. We need legislation to require that the drug companies must notify the FDA so at least they can tell the medical community that this problem is about to occur with a specific drug. And by the way, it's not just cancer drugs. A common antibiotic used in hospitals is in short supply as well.
ROMANS: And why is that in short supply? The same reason?
BRAWLEY: Same reasons.
ROMANS: Wow.
Dr. Brawley, Otis Brawley, thank you so much for joining us.
Elizabeth Cohen.
We'll keep following it. I mean, we'll keep following it to make sure that this gets resolved.
Thank you, both of you.
All right. Funerals have a way of opening up old wounds in every family, and the funeral for Whitney Houston is turning out to be no exception.
Susan Candiotti joins us from Newark, New Jersey, where the pop star will be laid to rest this Saturday.
Susan, what do we know about what this service will look like?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine it's a beautiful church inside, certainly, the New Hope Baptist Church. That's her childhood home, Whitney Houston's, where she sang as a child. We have all seen that home video time and again since her death on Saturday night when she sang in a choir there as a youngster.
We do know this -- we fully expect every one of the 1,500 seats inside this church to be filled. It will be a private service, invitation only. We know that it will be officiated by Reverend Joe Carter, the pastor of this church, as well as the eulogy will be from Reverend Marvin Winans. Now, he's a family friend here, and he goes way back with the family.
He, himself, is Grammy-Award-winning singer, an artist. And he officiated at the marriage, too, of Whitney Houston and her husband, Bobby Brown, back in 1992.
Now, you can hear an exclusive interview with Marvin Winans tonight with Anderson Cooper on his broadcast at 8:00 Eastern Time -- Christine.
ROMANS: You know, Susan, you mentioned that he officiated at the wedding in 1992 of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. And there's some talk today about, you know, will he be there, won't he be there, who will be there, and who will be left off the list. Do we know?
CANDIOTTI: You know, we don't. There are a lot of unanswered questions here, in particular involving Bobby Brown.
No official word. Of course, we've been checking into that.
We also don't know, for example, whether -- and what kind of contact he has had with his daughter. We know that he put out a statement. We know that he went to California on Sunday to meet with her.
We don't know whether that occurred. We don't know whether he is attending. And we are still waiting for a list of those who will be here.
We do know, for example, that Reverend Jesse Jackson will attend, the singer Chaka Khan will also be here, and a myriad of others. So, you know, you can get a sense of how much she is certainly loved in this community by just looking over my shoulder and seeing all the flowers and the candles and the personal mementos left behind for Whitney Houston -- Christine.
ROMANS: Yes. And some are saying the family doesn't want him to be there, but clearly, there is just a lot of speculation about this event and laying her to rest, and a lot of focus on the family right now. I think that must be kind of uncomfortable.
Susan Candiotti, thank you so much.
All right. He says he was ordered to kill or to be killed. A Syrian man talks to CNN after he was captured by the opposition.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A Syrian opposition group says at least 20 people have been killed already today as government forces again pound the city of Homs and other places were people are demanding an end to the Bashar al- Assad regime. The embattled president announced today that Syrians can vote later this month on a new constitution, but at this point, many Syrians and analysts are calling all of that window dressing.
Armed resistance to the regime grows both in Homs and across the country.
CNN's Arwa Damon has cross backed into Syria. She has got some really compelling reporting here.
She found a group of opposition activists giving medical treatment to a man who described himself as a paid assassin of the Assad government. He had been caught in an ambush. We're not disclosing Arwa's location or her team's location for their own safety, but listen to her reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sa'er is a paid killer. These men would like to see him dead, but instead they are tending to his wounds. Sa'er agreed to be filmed by CNN as he received treatment from opposition activists. He asked that we obscure his identity enough so that the government can't recognize him, but he wants friends to know that it's him and that he's a changed man.
His captors keep Sa'er blindfolded so he can't identify them in the future. "I can't untie your eyes because I am afraid of you," Monia (ph) says, his gun close by. "Why are you doing this? Why are you killing us?" he asks.
Sa'er says he worked he worked in a Ministry of Interior prison and was wounded when the minibus he was traveling in came under fire. He doesn't know by whom. His story is chilling.
"We would go out with the officers from the prisons," he says. "For each mission, we would get 25,000 lira, never less than 20,000." That's $400 to $500, more than most Syrians make a month.
"They gave us guns with scopes, and you see the body as if you're looking at yourself in the mirror," Sa'er tells Monia (ph). He could see the protesters were unarmed, but he fired anyway, claiming it was kill or be killed for not carrying out orders.
Sa'er admits he killed 60 to 70 people. Once, he says, he slit a man's throat.
"Two policemen had captured another man," he recalls. "A major put a gun to my head and said, 'Slaughter him.' He said, 'I am going to count to 10.' He cocked the gun, fired into the air, and put it to my head again. I slaughtered him."
Sa'er claims the regime turned him and others into monsters who would have killed their own fathers, promising them wealth if they helped fight terrorists. Now he says he thinks differently.
"These guys I am with, I used to see them in a different light," he admits. "But since I have been with them, I have seen only good." He seems ready to give up the names of others involved in kidnapping opposition members. "A lot of men from this area have been kidnapped by government supporters for money," Monia (ph) says. There's no way to confirm Sa'er's story or be sure he hasn't been coerced, but now he is a bargaining chip. His captors intend to trade him for some of those abducted. He may have killed their friends and comrades, but they vow to treat him well.
Arwa Damon, CNN, reporting from inside Syria.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: We'll have more reports from Arwa as it's safe for her team to send us new material.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Despite the money, despite the organization, and despite the fact that Mitt Romney has done this before, he has not sewn this thing up. Poll after poll shows Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum in a statistical dead heat.
Can Santorum build on that momentum? And what does Romney need to do to get the nomination? And all the while, President Obama is edging up in the polls.
Joining us is Ari Fleischer, CNN contributor and former White House press secretary for President George W. Bush.
Welcome to the program.
ARI FLEISCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, thank you.
ROMANS: Let's start with the Santorum surge.
Can he keep this going, or is Santorum the latest Romney alternative?
FLEISCHER: Well, he is the latest Romney alternative, but by virtue of the fact that he is the latest, and it's almost now a one-on-one race, he can keep it going. That's what distinguishes it from the other has-beens who have surged up in the polls, took a lead for a week or two.
It was a divide and conquer opportunity for Mitt Romney. He divided them, he conquered them. Now that it looks like it's one-on-one, with Newt increasingly to the side, it's a grave threat to Mitt Romney.
ROMANS: If you're in the Romney camp, you have got the money, you have got this amazing organization, you have got the fact that you have done this before. How are you feeling about the fact that Rick Santorum is right up there with you in the polls?
I mean, this is not something that anyone six months ago in New Hampshire, that first debate, would have predicted. FLEISCHER: No, but when you talk to people in Boston, they did predict that they were going to have to really work for this nomination, that it was not going to be handed to them. So they are being tested and they are a fine, top-notch organization, they know what they are doing.
ROMANS: Yes.
FLEISCHER: But if I'm Mitt Romney, I do two things. One is, I really sharpen my economic message and make the case that I am the reformer, I am the one who can go to Washington and fix the entitlement crisis and fix chief (ph) tax reform. He needs a shorter, sharper, economic message that is credible from a conservative point of view, and he is credible from an economic conservative point of view.
ROMANS: It's interesting you bring up the economy, because that's something that seems to be playing better in the president's favor right now. You've got the stock market higher than it's ever been in his presidency, you've got the unemployment rate slowly, slowly falling. Gas prices are rising, but so far, it doesn't seem like voters are really concerned about that. And they are saying -- voters in our polls are showing that they think he is doing a better job on the economy.
FLEISCHER: Well, I have seen that, too, but if all that is valid, then why is the debt so high? And how come the president doesn't have a plan to do anything about it?
So there is a trap here for Republicans, if they run exclusively on unemployment, because we don't know what's going to happen to unemployment. But even if unemployment does drop, there still remains a grave threat to the economic future of this country, and it's called the debt. And that's an issue where the president has been AWOL, has -- is still AWOL, and if he has a second term, he will be even more AWOL.
So there's still a lot for Republicans to focus on there for the good of the country.
ROMANS: And that's something that some of the Romney ads, I think, have tried to target or paint Rick Santorum, as sort of a lifelong politician who has voted to raise the debt ceiling several times.
FLEISCHER: Well, and that's the other part. Romney needs to sharpen his economic message. Make it short, concise, credible. But, two, he does have the opening against Rick Santorum because people still don't know a lot about Rick Santorum. I think he is on the right track when he says Rick Santorum is a Washington insider. But he has to go beyond that. It's not about biography. It is about policy. That is where he has the opportunity to paint a picture of Rick Santorum, where Rick Santorum could allege to be a big spender, et cetera, on some of the things that frankly a lot of Republicans were big spenders on in the 1990s and in the 2000s.
ROMANS: Let me ask you about foreign policy. We're talking about all these new developments with Iran. We have got this issue in Syria, deteriorating issue in Syria. China's heir apparent coming to the United States, yet we're still talking about the economy in our own race here. Could it be that foreign policy emerges as something that could be a turning point for one of these candidates in the weeks and the months ahead?
FLEISHER: Well, certainly, the reality of world is you never know when you're going to wake up and, all of a sudden, there is a foreign policy crisis under way. That's just wait it goes. If you recall, in 1999, there was a military operation in Kosovo that President Clinton ordered. And September 11th changed the world. We're a very domestic focused country on September 10th, and then we were international and terrorist focused. You never know. The trick to running for president is the American people want somebody they can see in that Oval Office, have confidence in, and the judgment they can handle whatever is thrown at them.
ROMANS: For now, it is not a general election for Mitt Romney. I mean, he is trying to nail his own party nomination and he is trying to really appeal to the conservatives in his party. He even used the clunky phrase, severely conservative, when he was -- when he was governor. He is really still struggling to appeal to that conservative base. What does he need to do?
FLEISHER: I'm looking forward to the CNN debate next week. I really want to see what Mitt Romney's response is. What was he thinking? What is a severe conservative? What was he trying to drive home in his odd phraseology? He does have that conservative problem. He always has. That's why I was going took what I said about economics. Mitt Romney does have a credible case to make that he is a reformer on entitlements. His background in finance, it's something that people will believe in. He is vulnerable because of his flip- flop on social issues, but when it comes to core economics, that can get him through the night, and that's where he needs return.
ROMANS: That core economics, there's nothing more core to it, central to it than our relationship with China. The Chinese vice president visiting the U.S. He is likely the next president of China. He met with President Obama yesterday. When I see the pictures, I think, this like a marriage of two people who are so different.
(LAUGHTER)
You know, I mean this relationship it is communism and it is democracy. The world views of these two countries are two different. But as Hillary Clinton says, we are in the same row boat. We need to be rowing in the same direction. How important is this relationship to this race?
FLEISHER: Well, sometimes, we are not in the same row boat, we are actually whacking each other with our paddles.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Right.
FLEISHER: No, I was there in 2002, last time in happened, when the vice president succeeded the Chinese president and they have this interesting transition system. Look --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: Not elections, it is -- and it must be so interesting for him to be here while we are duking it out on the Republican side and there is much more mysterious prospect there.
FLEISHER: You just get the tap on the shoulder over there and, all of a sudden, you get the job. You're the one.
(LAUGHTER)
Look, the relationship with China is fraught with opportunity and risk. I happen to think that China is going to have a massive bump in its future. They just cannot do what they are doing to their labor pool, their environment, the basic human rights of people that, as that economy emerges, sharply grows middle class. By the same token, with avenue big stake in becoming middle class. That means consumers for American products. So, it is going to be a tumultuous future in China. We need a president of maturity and wisdom to manage that and it will be difficult for any president, Democrat or Republican. It is national self-interest more than political party that will determine what we need to do with China.
ROMANS: Many people are arguing we manage election cycles. They manage 10, 20, 30-year outlooks. It's very different and --
(CROSSTALK)
FLEISHER: Until a volcano interrupts that 10, 20, 30 years. And they have a democratic volcano shaping up. Their system is fraught with problems. I'd much rather be America than China.
ROMANS: All right.
Ari Fleisher, nice to see you today. Thanks.
FLEISHER: Good to be here. Thank you.
ROMANS: As Mitt Romney slips in the polls, is he also in danger of losing the dog-lover vote? Why some New York protesters and their dogs took to the streets against the Republican candidate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Checking stories our affiliates are covering across the country today.
Three more dolphins stranded themselves off Wellesley, Massachusetts, but rescue groups were able to save the dolphins. The even put a satellite tag on one of the dolphin's dorsal at this point so they can track its location the next few days. It is still not known exactly why more than 100 dolphins have beached themselves off Cape Cod since just January, hundreds.
Check out this video. It's a woman who took off her Rolex watch -- that is a guy taking it. She took off her Rolex watch to get through airport security at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. She never got it back. The guy behind her picked it up out of the bin. She didn't realize until half an hour later that her more than $6,000 watch was missing. Now, police are searching for the guy. I'm sure every ex-girlfriend he has ever had is calling their local police department as we speak.
(LAUGHTER)
A huge drug bust in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Police seized more than $10 million worth of drugs from this warehouse. Included hundreds of pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine. Neighbors say they thought the folks who ran that warehouse were in a legitimate business. Guess not.
There's a new top dog in town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Best in show at the 136th Annual Westminster Kennel Club, America's dog show, is the Pekingese.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Malachi, a 4-year-old Pekingese, named best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club in New York. The pint-sized pooch beat out six other finalists. More than 2,000 total entries. The first time in 22 years that a little Pekingese has won at Westminster. Malachi's owner says the dog has notched up 115 wins nationwide. Now he will retire.
As crowds cheered on Malachi and his pals inside Madison Square Garden, a four-legged backlash against Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was brewing outside.
Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside Madison Square Garden, think of them as the hoity-toity 1 percent. Show dogs, getting groomed for Westminster, America's most prestigious dog show.
And outside the garden, the 99 percent, the rabble, doggy protesters.
(on camera): How do you feel about Mitt?
(voice-over): They may turn their back on the press but a Dogs- Against-Romney protest outside Westminster was a treat we, in the media, couldn't resist.
(on camera): Do you have a problem riding on the roof? (voice-over): It is that old story, again, about the time back in 1983 when Mitt Romney took his family on vacation with his Irish Setter, Seamus, in a dog carrier tied to the car roof.
(on camera): He made a windshield for the dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, did he really? Made a windshield for a dog?
MOOS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's very nice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your dog is your family member. I don't think he would have taken one of his children and put them on the roof. Maybe he would have. Who knows?
MOOS: Saki, the pug, came to the protest in backpack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like riding on a human roof rack there.
MOOS: But the human roof rack says --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't go 65 miles an hour down the highway.
MOOS: For 12 hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He climbed up there regularly. Enjoyed himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Comedians won't let go of the story. On "SNL" --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY IMPERSONATOR: Good dog.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: -- a Romney impersonator threatened his dog when he wouldn't stop barking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY IMPERSONATOR: You want go back on that roof?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: One of President Obama's advisers tweeted out this photo with the caption, "How loving owners transport their dogs." Protesters keep dogging Romney with stuffed animals fastened too their roofs. In Littleton, Colorado this car actually got pulled over by police.
(on camera): Police say a motorist called 911 to say that she saw the door open on the kennel on top of the roof, and that there was a big white dog inside.
Not this dog.
(voice-over): Show dogs don't ride on the roof but then, neither do 99 percenters.
(on camera): How does Pety travel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pety always travels inside. He gets the whole back seat.
MOOS (voice-over): Otherwise, he plays with the gearshift.
True, there were only a very few dog protesters, but every vote counts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a dog who will not vote for Romney.
MOOS (on camera): How do you know?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because he's not (INAUDIBLE)
MOOS: The 99 percent outside aren't different from the 1 percent inside. It's just another dog-and-pony show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: Who ties his dog to the roof of his car?
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MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN --
ROMNEY: -- Americans out of work.
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MOOS: -- New York.
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ROMANS: All right. Do you feel guilty about leaving your dog at home alone during the work day? Guess what? A new cable channel hopes to ease your fears. After four years of planning, Dog TV makes its debut this week. The channel worked with trainer, owners, vets and dogs, of course to create what it says a customized entertainment, everything from the right music to camera angles, everything that will appeal to dogs. Dog TV.
It is not a done deal but it's pretty close. Talking about extending the payroll tax cut. Find out what it means for your finances.
And Tokyo has long been the world's most expensive city but now a new town has taken the top honor. Can you guess the most expensive city in the world today?
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ROMANS: Did you guess the world's most expensive city there is -- it is there in the banner -- Zurich. The "Economist" magazine says it has overtaken Tokyo for the number-one spot. Investors looking for a place to invest outside the troubled Eurozone have invested heavily in the Swiss franc. Rounding off the top five most expensive cities, Geneva, Switzerland; Asaka Kobe, Japan; and Oslo, Norway.
Negotiators in Congress have reached a tentative deal on extending the payroll tax cut. Here's what it means. It affects 160 million working Americans. If you make, say, $50,000 a year, it's about $1,000 of tax benefits. That's about $40 extra per paycheck you will get to keep.
You won't notice a difference this year, folks. You had it last year. In a new CNN/ORC poll, 54 percent Americans favor extending the tax cut, 42 percent are opposed. In addition to the tax cut extension, the deal would extend jobless benefits for the current maximum of -- I don't think it is going to go up to 99 weeks. You won't see any more 99 weeks. they are negotiating how many weeks of extended benefits there will be and this is where there is some disagreement between Republicans and Democrats, this one, they want to make sure, will be fired with spending cuts.
It's college admission season. If you are looking for a way to pay your child's tuition, listen up. Alison Kosik is here with some help with some tips to help you navigate the financial aid process.
Here is the thing, Alison, everyone knows that you want to go to college but paying for it, finding the money to pay for it is maddening for families.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's like having an extra job, isn't it? So, what we did is we spoke with -- we spoke with Cal Cheney for insight on how to navigate through this process. He is the president of Campus Consultants and the author of "Paying for College without Going Broke." And he told us that it's not how much money that you make, but rather how much you know that will determine how much you get in aid.
Now the first stop is the FAFSA. That stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that all students looking for aid, they need to fill out. In a recent study by Sallie Mae, 80 percent of families say they filed one of those forms last year. Families who didn't file said they didn't need the aid or thought they wouldn't qualify, but that's not necessarily true. Cal recommends applying for aid no matter what because many families qualify for aid they didn't know about and some schools require the FAFSA in order to award merit- based aid -- Christine?
ROMANS: The dreaded FAFSA. And it's that time of year, too.
KOSIK: I can't even say it.
ROMANS: I know. I know. What is the best time to file the paperwork?
KOSIK: The federal government requires online applicants to file by June 30th. Some states have earlier deadlines. It's important for you to stay on top of the deadlines. You can check those online at fafsa.ed.gov. And remember that individual colleges, they may have additional deadlines as well so you really have to stay on top of that -- Christine?
ROMANS: Lots to stay on top of. Where you put your money matters when it comes to college. So stick around, we will explain that in a moment.
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ROMANS: We're talking about how to help pay for college. Alison, we know that a parents' assets are taken into account. You also need to know how much the student has, too?
KOSIK: Absolutely. Students' money matters. Parents' assets is levied at 5.65 percent but students' assets are levied at 20 percent. You can also put your money to good use by paying down debt or making big purchases that you've been holding off on. The FAFSA doesn't consider the value of your home, retirement accounts. They are also exempt. So boosting contributions to your 401K or your 403B accounts can help you now and also when you retire. Between 35 and $60,000 of assets are sheltered depending on the age of the older parent -- Christine?
ROMANS: Bottom line, save early. You're going to need more than you think. That's the bottom line.
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KOSIK: Right.
ROMANS: All right. You're going to recognize this guy. Jeremy Lin has done it again.
KOSIK: I know.
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KOSIK: I watched this.
ROMANS: He showed Knicks' fans a lot of love on Valentine's Day. Here's another one. It's total domination.
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KOSIK: You know, the craze is unbelievable. Did you know there's a web sight you can go to and actually it's actually a Lin word generator? It has all these Lin-isms on?
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ROMANS: KOSIK: Go ahead.
KOSIK: I was going to say, you saw the last three seconds of this game. Just incredible.
ROMANS: I know.
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ROMANS: Even the president is on the plane going to Milwaukee right now and Jay Carney is talking to reporters about even the president has noticed the highlights of the press. The president has apparently Lin-sanity even.
Check this out, with 10 seconds to go, the Harvard grad has gone from a bench warmer to overnight sensation, shocking everybody. Lin says he likes having the ball at the end of the game, Alison.
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ROMANS: After that --
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KOSIK: I need to get to a Knicks' game fast.
ROMANS: I know. I know. I know.
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I don't think anyone is going to argue, this guy is really amazing. You can call it a Lin-ing streak. Sorry. I had to do another one.
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KOSIK: He's bringing fun back to the NBA when it really needed it.
ROMANS: Thank you, Alison. Talk to you soon.
Rick Santorum called the Obama administration snobs and elitist. Find out what that's about in our "Political Ticker" update. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Rick Santorum is blasting the Obama administration as elitists who look down their noses at ordinary Americans.
Joe Johns is live from the political desk in Washington.
Joe, Santorum was talking about the administration rejecting a plan by Republican Paul Ryan to overhaul Medicare. The rhetoric got very intense. It was a red-meat moment.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I think that's right, Christine. Rick Santorum has been beating this drum a long time, calling out Democrats and the administration for what he sees it as elitism as least as far back as New Hampshire, even maybe farther than that. Santorum has gone after the president for saying he wants to get everybody a college education, though now, as Santorum ride Santorum rises in the poll, people are paying a lot more attention to the way he makes his populist appeals in his speeches. Listen.
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RICK SANTORUM, (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don't you see how they see you? How they look down their nose at the average Americans? These elite snobs.
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JOHNS: Strong language there. But he is trying to reach out to blue collar Independents. And if the polls are any indicator, it could be working.
ROMANS: Mitt Romney losing ground when it comes to likability. What are the latest polls showing?
JOHNS: This is our poll, a new CNN International poll. It shows Romney's popularity has taken a 13-point drop among Republicans. Latest survey says 34 percent hold a favorable opinion, down from 67 percent in January. Among all Americans, 34 percent described him as likeable, which is also down from last month. His opponents, especially Newt Gingrich, say the drop in the polls is evidence that the barrage of negative advertising directed on Romney's behalf might have had a boomerang effect, if you will. Santorum's favorable, by the way, have gone up.
ROMANS: And you mentioned the negative advertising. You know, Santorum taking aim at the negative advertising, portraying Romney as Rombo.
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We're showing it.
(CROSSTALK) JOHNS: Right. Look at that. The guy looks very much like Mitt Romney.
ROMANS: He does.
JOHNS: And he's sort of spraying mud all over the place.
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ROMANS: He can't miss it. He's missing Santorum.
JOHNS: Exactly. A humorous take. And this is all sort of about the buffer, if you will, against negative advertising by Romney in several states. And he's got ads out in three states, going after Santorum. Just about to be expected. And you know what the negative advertising did when Romney or the pro-Romney super PAC, if you will, actually went after Newt Gingrich. It's very effective. Although, sometimes the candidate can get some of that mud on himself.
ROMANS: As that ad tried to portray, I guess. Joe Johns, thanks so much, Joe. Talk to you soon.
For the latest political news, you know exactly where to go, CNNPolitics.com.
