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Western Journalists Killed In Syria; Afghans Protest After Koran Burning; Enormous Stakes In Tonight's Debate; Santorum At Center Stage For First Time; African-American Museum To Open 2015; Obama Corporate Tax Plan Out TodayWall Street Looks For Direction; Cell Phone Carriers' Capacity Crunch; Interview With Franklin Graham

Aired February 22, 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: And it's the top of the hour. Thanks so much for joining us here.

You know, we have been telling you how hard it is to get into Syria and cover the crisis there. And when we do, we're definitely putting our lives at a tremendous risk. Well this morning, we sadly report that two of our own have been killed.

Marie Colvin worked for the "Sunday Times of London". The paper says she was killed in Homs. And a French photojournalist, Remi Ochlik, was also killed.

Colvin reported for many combat zones. She actually lost the sight in one of her eyes during one conflict. Here's a chilling twist to her death.

She actually talked to our Anderson Cooper the night before she died and said the crisis in Syria was the worst she had ever covered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIE COLVIN, LONDON SUNDAY TIMES: Every civilian house on the street has been hit. Kind of poor, popular neighborhood, the top floor of the building I'm in has been hit, in fact, totally destroyed.

There are no military targets here. There is the free Syrian Army, heavily outnumbered and outgunned, rocket propelled grenades. But they don't have a base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Ivan Watson is in Istanbul for us this morning. Ivan, you actually met Maria a couple times. You were in Syria just a few days ago. Tell us about how dangerous it's getting there every day.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, it really depends on the region you're in. Homs is facing the brunt of the violence because the Syrian military has been besieging particular neighborhoods there.

And according to her last reports, dropping in just a massive amounts of ordinants on residential communities indiscriminately apparently. Other parts of the country like the north and the Idlib province where we were, it was really much more sporadic clashes that were taking place.

And the danger of accidentally running into a Syrian military patrol, that was the danger. Marie Colvin, I have to say, I've seen her in war zone after war zone over the last decade of my career in these hot spots, she was a fierce presence and incredibly brave.

The "Sunday Times" that she worked for put out a statement saying, quote, "Marie was an extraordinary figure in the life of the "Sunday Times," driven by a passion to cover wars and a belief what she did mattered.

She believed profoundly reporting could curtail the excesses of brutal regimes and make the international community take notice." Kyra, this was not a woman to cross when you were in a conflict zone.

Very strong-willed and the young French photographer who was killed along side, Remi Ochlik, he won a press photo award just this year, the photos he took in Libya. He had been covering the Arab spring and all the hot spots in the Arab world over the course of the last year -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ivan, hundreds of people killed in Syria every day, according to the international officials, is there any end in sight? Do you see any progress being made?

WATSON: No. It looks like it will get worse. We left a couple days ago in fear that the kind Syrian people, the babies, the wives, the moms, the brothers that we stayed with and who fed us and clothed us, that they were going to be wiped out by the possible Syrian military offensive that they fear could come their way.

They are virtually defenseless. When we start hearing about these reporters dying, also such as Anthony Shadid of the "New York Times" killed last -- who died last week, they are signs of just the much larger number of Syrians who were dying every day by the dozens.

One of the other deaths was just last night, a man by the name of (inaudible). He was an activist in Syria who I talked to on the phone just two weeks ago who died of shrapnel wounds.

One of his last messages to the outside world on Twitter was "our neighborhood is facing, quote, "genocide," we need action, no one will forgive you for just talking without any action."

Now he is one of the countless dead as a result of the Syrian military offensive -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ivan Watson at Istanbul. Ivan, thanks.

The American embassy in Kabul is on lockdown right now. Afghans are protesting Koran burnings outside the Bagram military base.

At least five people have been killed in those demonstrations and a NATO commander says burning Islam's holy book was a mistake. The Pentagon is now apologizing and promising to investigate.

And now the protests are spreading, Ben Farmer joins us once again out of Kabul. So Ben, you said things have calmed down tonight?

BEN FARMER, JOURNALIST, "DAILY TELEGRAPH": Yes, it's evening now and the protests have stopped, but we've had a very violent, very bloody day. Six confirmed deaths, perhaps eight in total. More than 30 people wounded.

The protests really have spread across the country today. In Kabul, east of the city, hundreds of people gathered outside one of the main military U.S. bases.

They looked like they we are going to head in the center of the city, which is why the U.S. embassy was on lockdown. There were shots fired during that protest and at least, one protester was killed.

Other protests in the eastern city of (inaudible) and north of the capital (inaudible) where four people were shot dead.

PHILLIPS: And now President Karzai putting out a statement, what did he say? Is it having an impact?

FARMER: Well, everyone has been waiting to see what President Karzai would say. He didn't say anything yesterday. NATO's apologies haven't done anything so they were waiting to see what Mr. Karzai would do.

What in fact he's done is he has condemned the burning of the Korans. He hasn't condemned the protests. He's ordered an investigation into what happened at Bagram Air Field and he's appointed a committee of senior clerics to look at it.

In a separate statement, he also told the U.S. deputy defense secretary that America should hand over Bagram prison close to where these Korans were burned saying that the sooner they handed it over, the fewer problems they would have.

PHILLIPS: Ben, appreciate you reporting from Kabul for us.

The four GOP candidates face-off tonight in what could be the final debate of primary season. The latest CNN/"Time"/ORC poll shows Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum neck-in-neck at the top of the race.

Our political director, Mark Preston, covering the debate for us. All right, Santorum has closed the gap in Arizona, also nationally. But polls still show Republicans are not sure if he can beat Obama in November, Mark?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, you know, this is really interesting, Kyra, because Rick Santorum has done very well with the base Republican social conservatives to really come out of nowhere to become the, quote/unquote, "frontrunner" at least at this moment in time for the Republican nomination.

But there is still disbelief among Republicans that the candidate who would do best in November against President Obama is Mitt Romney and the reason being is because I think folks think that Mitt Romney might be a little bit more centrist than Rick Santorum is and that could help with independent voters.

The fact of the matter is Mitt Romney has done a pretty good job of describing himself as somebody who is a very successful businessman, but not tied to Washington D.C. Mitt Romney says he is an outsider and that is his big argument against Rick Santorum -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so let's go ahead and talk about Gingrich and Paul. Not gaining a lot of traction nationally, what can they do to try and regain that spotlight or is it over for these two?

PRESTON: You know, two different tracks right now. You know, Ron Paul interestingly enough throughout this whole Republican presidential primary process, has in many ways acknowledged that he doesn't think he will win the Republican nomination.

And in fact he's using this run for president as a platform to really push his ideals. So I don't think there is anybody except for maybe Ron Paul, I don't know how much he believes it, Kyra, that thinks he will win the nomination.

However, Newt Gingrich really needs to have a big night tonight. He needs to go out and differentiate himself from Rick Santorum to try to get the social conservatives to come back and support him.

At the same time, he really needs to try to take out Mitt Romney in the sense that he needs to try to prove to Republican voters not only here in Arizona and Michigan, but all the states on Super Tuesday that he is the one. That he is the candidate that Republicans should put against President Obama come November.

PHILLIPS: Mark Preston, thanks so much. We're all going to be watching the presidential debate right here on CNN. Our coverage begins at 8:00 Eastern.

We're also waiting to hear from President Obama. He's scheduled to speak next hour from the construction site of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

The museum is scheduled to open in 2015 and it will be the only national museum devoted exclusively to documenting African-American life, art, history and culture. We're going to bring you the president's remarks as soon as he steps up to the mic.

All right, in a little while, we're going to get details on President Obama's corporate tax reform plan. The Treasury Department is scheduled to unveil the proposal at 11:30 Eastern.

The White House says it's a move to create American jobs and help businesses stay competitive. Christine Romans, tell us what is in the plan.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Kyra. The president is pretty busy. He's there on the stage. His Treasury Department is going to unveil the tax plan today.

This is what's in it, you know, the corporate tax rate is officially 35 percent. The president would like to lower that to 28 percent. You know, business leaders for a long time have said that the tax rate for companies in this country is just too high.

But that would mean also eliminating dozens of loopholes and subsidies. You know, many companies have a 35 percent tax rate, but they don't pay that because there are so many subsidies depending on what industry you're in.

Want to reduce the effective tax rate on manufacturing to 25 percent, the White House says, it would like to incentivize companies to hire in this country.

Also to manufacture in this country, and would also establish a new minimum tax on foreign earnings, again, trying to promote job creation here in the United States.

I'll tell you, in the Bush administration, they tried some tax goodies to keep companies hiring in this country as well lowering on some taxes, that didn't work. Using the tax code can be tricky to create jobs in the U.S. -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, well, businesses have been obviously calling for lower taxes for a while, how does America stack up internationally?

ROMANS: Yes, this is the big point. I mean, the U.S. is right up there with some of the most expensive companies in the rest of the world, look, the United States has a 35 percent tax rate.

Look at how it compares with France, Belgium, Spain, Japan, and Mexico. When you add in not just federal taxes, but also state taxes, the U.S. tax rate around the world is really like 39.5 percent.

Kyra, there is a statistic that I'm about to give you that is really, really important here. The Congressional Budget Office found last year that companies paid only 12.1 percent of their profit in taxes.

So not 35 percent, not 39 percent, not even 28 percent like the president was proposing, but 12 percent. The reason all these loopholes still out there that they use and that share of corporate profits was the lowest in about 40 years, taxes to their profit, lowest in 40 years.

So there is kind of a big debate going on about how much money companies are paying in taxes, what the fair share should be, and how do you do that without adding to the budget deficit. The president said that this will be a revenue-neutral kind of thing. He's not going to add to deficits by doing any of this.

PHILLIPS: Christine, thanks.

Straight ahead, Franklin Graham, some comments he made stirred up a debate over faith and politics. He's going to join me to explain that, next.

And if you experience drop calls and slower service on your smart phone device, better get used to it. Well, this new technology is causing big trouble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking stories cross country now, El Paso, Texas, a woman shot in the leg while walking in her neighborhood. Police say it looks as if a stray bullet from a carjacking shoot-out in nearby forest. The woman's injuries are not life-threatening.

In Eureka, Missouri, thieves have come up with a new way to steal gas. Drill into a gas tank. It's quick and it's easy. Pickups and SUV's, well, are favorite targets because the tanks are easier to reach. But repairing a tank is costly, about $1000.

In Anaheim, California and Orlando, something for those who can't get enough Disney. On leap day, February 29th, Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom will open for 24 hours straight.

It's the first time both parks will do that at the same time. The first 2,000 visitors, they will get a special pair of Mickey Mouse ears.

Stocks on Wall Street are still having trouble picking up steam today. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. Alison, let's talk about what is behind the hesitation?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: All right, so investors are pretty much sitting on the fence at this point, because Kyra, they're having second thoughts about whether Greece's new bail out is going to be effective.

You know, Wall Street knows that Greece will eventually need more money to pay for its long term debt. Many experts say the austerity measures put into place are going to wind up hurting the economy in Greece even more. Now the good news is that the Dow did pass the 13,000 mark for the first time in almost four years yesterday.

Right now, it's sitting at 12,965. So the next hurdle, of course, that we are watching for is can the Dow close above 13,000. I say not today when you look how the numbers are barely moving now -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, well, a lot of us as you know spend hours, talking, texting, surfing the web on our phones every day, but we're hearing that, well -- that could be at risk?

KOSIK: Yes, so what is happening is those air waves, you know, all that space, the highway, you know, you can think of it as a highway that lets us go out there and talk on our cell phones, and text and surf the web on our mobile devices all that space is getting too crowded.

So with all this filling up, it means we could have more dropped calls, could slow down the web speeds that when we surf and wind up paying more for it because you can imagine a jam-packed highway here, bumper to bumper cars, filling up every lane.

Some of those vehicles need to get off for traffic to flow smoothly. So that's essentially what this wireless spectrum is and the reality is it's a finite resource. So right now, the spectrum is almost filled to the brim.

Because consumers, surprise, surprise, had this thirst to constantly check their e-mail, play with their apps, tweet, and watch video from their mobile devices. So wireless traffic, it is growing dramatically from year to year.

In fact, the estimates now by 2014 are expected to soar by almost 1300 percent. So right now, there is a small surplus in wireless capacity, but the way things are growing. It's going to wind up pushing that spectrum in deficit territory very quickly.

Now, Kyra, the FCC is trying to free up more space, wireless carriers are trying to do something about it. But these fixes aren't going to be cheap and they're not going to be easy.

So you could wind up paying more for all this service. Experts wind up saying, you know what? There is no single solution to this. It's a very big, costly problem -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Alison Kosik, thanks so much.

Straight ahead, Franklin Graham, some comments that he made have stirred up some debate over faith and politics. He joins me live to explain, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Franklin Graham is an Evangelical leader with a lot of sway among a crucial voting bloc, Evangelicals. When he's questioning the president's faith in an election year, no less, it's going to make news.

This is how he responded to a question yesterday on MSNBC when asked about President Obama's faith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you don't take him at his word when he says I'm a Christian.

FRANKLIN GRAHAM, PRESIDENT, SAMARITAN'S PURSE: Of course, I do. You have to ask every person, but he has said he's a Christian so I just have to assume, you know, that he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Franklin Graham is the president of Samaritan's Purse, by the way, a charity that goes into places where the world has forgotten and usually that is what we're talking about.

But this morning we have tougher questions to address. Franklin Graham, I appreciate you being with me this morning.

GRAHAM: Glad to be with you.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's get right to the point, Franklin. Do you question the faith of our president?

GRAHAM: Listen, the president has said that he is a Christian and we will leave it at that. Kyra, only God knows the heart of all of these candidates and he's the only one that knows your heart. He's the only one who knows my heart.

All of us have are going to have to stand before God one day and give an account to Almighty God for our lives and how we lived our lives. As it comes down to the candidates, it's really the issues that are the issue here.

I cannot support the president. I cannot vote for the president because of abortion. He supports abortion and I just cannot support that. The other candidates are more in line with my views on this.

So it comes down to really a moral issue here and that's abortion. The president supports it. He's going against what the bible teaches. The bible is very clear about life and where life begins and I believe that the president is going against what the Holy Scriptures teach and so the bible is my guide.

The bible is the authority in my life. And that's what I follow and these other candidates. There is a lot of good people out there I personally like the president. I think he is a very nice man. He's a very gracious man, but he is just absolutely wrong when it comes to supporting abortion and I cannot support him on that.

But you know, MSNBC invited me to come on their program not to talk about the president's faith. I went on to talk about this "Newsweek" article about the murder and killing of Christians around the world.

And that is what is bothering me is what Muslims are doing to Christians around the world. I wanted to talk about the "Newsweek" article. They bring up the whole thing about the president's faith.

PHILLIPS: OK, understandable. A couple things I want to follow-up here. We will get to the issue of the Muslims being killed and the fact you want to talk about that in just a second, but let me just back up for a minute.

Wow, you came straightforward and basically said what you have an issue with and that is the issue of a woman's right to abortion, and yes, the president of the United States has come forward and said that he believes in a woman's right to an abortion.

He has also come forward and said he is a faithful man, a man of God. He is a Christian and we all know that as Christians various people have different beliefs, so let me ask you this.

It sounds like you're getting political here and that is something that you have told me in the past that you didn't want to do. But when I hear you talking about these issues in a political season and tying it to faith, it sounds like you're a Republican in preacher's clothing.

GRAHAM: Kyra, I'm a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I take the bible as God's word and I have to obey his word and his authority. I believe abortion is wrong, just period.

Whether it's a Republican or a Democrat, I don't care. If they support abortion, I'm not going to vote for them. It's as simple as that. I cannot do it. I can't stand before God one day and answer him how I could vote for someone who supported abortion.

So that is an issue for me. I think it will be an issue for millions of Americans. Again, I like the president as a person. He is a very nice guy. He's a gracious guy, but he's just absolutely 100 percent wrong on this issue. There are a lot of other things --

PHILLIPS: OK, so Franklin, let me ask you this, Franklin then. As long as the president supports a woman's right to have an abortion, will you continue to believe that he is not a Christian?

GRAHAM: No, I've never said, Kyra, I never one time said I don't believe that he is a Christian. Only God knows a man's heart. Only God knows your heart or my heart.

And all of these other candidates, their claim to faith you have to accept what they say. And you have to also look at how a person lives their life. But as it comes to the president, this issue is a big stumbling block for me.

It's going to be a big stumbling block for many Evangelical Christians. That is the way it is. He's the one who made the issue by supporting abortion and so he has to live with that.

PHILLIPS: So you do say, though, that Rick Santorum, that his values and I'll look at the quote. You said that his values are so clear on moral issues. You say that shows that he is a man of faith. What moral issues exactly are you talking about? Does this come down to abortion?

GRAHAM: First of all, I misspoke there, Kyra. When I said he is a man of faith, again, God only knows everybody's heart. I would be more in line with the position of Rick Santorum as it relates to abortion.

He is opposed abortion. So I certainly appreciate that. But you have to look a lot of other issues when it comes to the candidates. You got to look at their ability to lead this country, to make good decisions, to make economic decisions that will get us out of this economic mess that both Republicans and Democrats have gotten ourselves into.

Our nation is at a crossroads here, a very serious election coming up and this election is going to have an impact on our country I believe for years to come, for the rest of my life.

So I think everyone ought to examine these candidates very carefully and vote for the one that best represents their values and coming down to values for me.

PHILLIPS: When I think of your values, I think of what you have done for so many people in this world and I was remembering something that President Obama said at a prayer breakfast back in 2009. Take a listen to this with me, Franklin, and I want to ask you a question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I had a father who was born a Muslim, but became an atheist. And grandparents who were non-practicing Methodists and Baptist and a mother who was skeptical of organized religion even though she was the kindest, most spiritual person I've ever known.

She was the one who taught me as a child to love and to understand and to do unto others as I would want done. I didn't become a Christian until many years later when I moved to the south side of Chicago after college.

It happened not because of indoctrination or sudden revelation, but because I spent month after month working with church folks, who simply wanted to help neighbors down on their luck, no matter what they looked like or where they came from or who they prayed to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You know what, Franklin, that is you. That is what you do. The two of you are really in line with what you have done for the people that need help.

GRAHAM: Kyra, I don't question the president's faith. If you had that banner up on your show, I questioned the president's faith. I'm not questioning whether he's a Christian or not. I disagree with his position on abortion.

This is a big issue and I believe it goes against God's word. It goes against God's standards. So this is a problem for me and a lot of Evangelicals. Again, he's a nice guy. I like him as a person, but he's absolutely 100 percent dead wrong on this issue.

He will have to stand before God one day and give an account to God on this issue. I'm not going to have to answer it because I believe that life is safe. I believe its sacred and every life should be protected from the womb to the grave.

We need to protect life, and right now you have Muslims that are killing Jews and Christians around the world. "Newsweek" magazine had a great article. I hope everybody goes out and gets it and reads it because you need to know what is going on.

PHILLIPS: And there a lot of people of all faiths being killed overseas indeed and we have talked about that. Final question, Franklin, because I think you have definitely made your point. You have clarified your views.

I think of the many interviews that I have done with you, with your family members, your sisters, even your father.

And I remember a story that you all told me about your mom who is -- who was so revered in your family and she would keep your dad in check. She would -- she would kick him under the table when he started talking politics and he started advising these presidents and she would say "Now Billy, you stick to preaching and let presidents stick to politicking".

How do you feel about that, do you think that maybe you're doing a little politicking here and mom might kick you under the table, saying "Son, stick to preaching."

GRAHAM: Well you -- I miss my mother and -- and I'm sure if my mother was here my shins right now would probably be bleeding. But I think that this is a very important issue. And again, I didn't bring up the President's faith, it was MSNBC. They're the ones who brought it up.

I went there to talk about Christians and Jews being killed around the world by Muslims and how this is increasing, and as vicious as the murders, as the rapes, is the butchering of Christians. And that's what I went there to talk about. They are the ones who brought up these whole things about faith.

I never brought it up, Kyra. It was MSNBC. And I apologize if this has gotten blown out of proportion. It's unfortunate, but they are the ones who brought it up and I do not question the President's faith at all, I'm not questioning that. I'm questioning his values. And that's -- that's what I am looking at.

PHILLIPS: And a question to you, President Obama, have you heard from him, have you had a conversation since this happened yesterday?

GRAHAM: No. I doubt if my phone will ring.

PHILLIPS: You never know, Franklin Graham. Appreciate your time this morning.

GRAHAM: We never know.

PHILLIPS: I really do. Thank you so much for talking with me, Franklin.

GRAHAM: Thank you, Kyra, God bless.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, Romney and Santorum neck in neck in Arizona. And the Republican presidential debate is just hours away. I'm going to ask our political panel who's got the goods to pull ahead in the GOP presidential race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And it's time for "Political Buzz", your rapid fire look at the best topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock and playing today: Maria Cardona, a CNN political contributor; Jason Johnson, a Poli Sci professor at Hiram College and the chief political correspondent for Politics 365; and Boris Epstein he's a Republican strategist and opinion columnist for U.S. News.

All right, first question, here's the latest CNN poll for Arizona showing Romney and Santorum pretty much tied and the debate is tonight here on CNN. So what could either one of these candidates do at this point to put themselves ahead? Maria?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well they really need a game changer here Kyra. And so as a Democrat I would advise Rick Santorum to talk about Satan as much as he can, to continue to talk about how he doesn't think women are fit for combat, how he thinks that they should not have access to pre-natal care or contraception because it's bad for women and it's bad for families.

And for Rick -- Mitt Romney I would advise him to make as many $10,000 bets as he can to talk about how Chris Colvet (ph) the author of the "Anti-immigrants SB 1070 Arizona Law" is on his team and for Newt Gingrich, moon colony, moon colony, moon colony.

PHILLIPS: Boris?

BORIS EPSTEIN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well Maria got the Santorum and the Gingrich parts right. And the right part is that we should not have Santorum, who is overly focused on the social issues, Kyra or Newt Gingrich who does talks about moon colonies and other crazy things as our nominee.

She is wrong on Mitt Romney. Immigration is actually a strength for Mitt Romney in Arizona. His stance on immigration, because Arizona is one of the states that's hurt the most, that hurt the most by illegal immigration.

So in order to attract more voters, in order to make himself more and more attractive to those voters in Arizona he should focus on his stance on immigration and he'll win.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jason?

JASON JOHNSON, PROFESSOR, HIRAM COLLEGE: Look, the way Santorum has won so far is by being himself. He shouldn't shy away from his abortion opinions. He shouldn't shy away from the things he says about women or Satan, because that's what's gotten him to win, he's won more primary states than anybody else.

As far as Mitt Romney he needs to stay focused. Mitt Romney loses things when he starts attacking other people, nobody really believes him anyway, he's too stiff to do attacks in an effective way.

Newt Gingrich really at this point should just back out of the way, if he really hates Romney that much, he wants Rick Santorum to end up winning this debate.

PHILLIPS: All right, guys question number two President Obama has a plan to lower the corporate tax rate and close the loopholes. Is he just appeasing the right in Wall Street or is he courting Independents too -- Boris?

EPSTEIN: He's being smart. That's the right thing to do. It's not about appeasing the right. It's what's right to do for the economy and for the economy it's a good thing to lower the corporate tax rate in order to have more hiring by those corporations.

It's also very correct in order to bring multi-national companies to the United States to have a lower corporate tax rate, so it's a smart political move. It's a smart economic move and as much as I would love to sit here and as a Republican trash him for it I just can't do it. It's a good thing and it's the right move.

PHILLIPS: Maria?

CARDONA: I agree with Boris.

EPSTEIN: Hey, excitement.

CARDONA: Look he's not looking at this from the standpoint -- from the standpoint -- he's not looking at this from the standpoint of politics. He's looking to do what's right for middle class families, for working class families and for small businesses which frankly the Republicans have not put anything out there to do that.

He is focusing on giving them the tools to continue to rise in this fragile recovery, to make sure that everybody plays by the rules, to make sure that we are competitive to give incentives to manufacturing companies, to keep jobs here instead of putting them overseas and to make sure that oil and gas companies don't continue to have the loopholes --

EPSTEIN: I disagree on the last part. Republicans have done a whole a lot of things.

PHILLIPS: Jason -- step in, Jason.

JOHNSON: Look Barack Obama has a very good plan, it's really simple. At this point he's just running up the score. He's gotten up unemployment down to 8.3 percent. Mitt Romney has been fading, Rick Santorum has been fading and now he's going to just start handing out bread and butter to everybody.

So this is actually good strategy for him. What this is going to do to the economy, to be perfectly honest we have to see what happens in Europe. We have to see what's happening in Japan right now, but as far as political strategy goes this is another good move by Barack Obama when the Republicans are still squabbling. PHILLIPS: All right, your "Buzzer Beater" 20 seconds each on this one. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Mitt Romney's personality.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), GOVERNOR, NEW JERSEY: But he's a very reserved guy and so in the time that we're in right now, which is very tumultuous, angry, emotional time, at the moment reserved is not necessarily what the primary electorate seems to want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Is that true? What do you think Maria?

CARDONA: I think it's -- I don't agree with him that that reserved is what any American wants in their president. I think they want to see a little bit of passion, they want to see the courage of their conviction and that's where Mitt Romney is absolutely tanking because he's got no courage and he's got zero conviction on any issue whatsoever. So, continue to be reserved, continue to be robotic it's not working for him.

PHILLIPS: Boris?

EPSTEIN: That is the problem with Democrats, like Maria just said, they overreach, right? And even though they are in a good moment right now with Barack Obama's approval ratings upside down, more disapproving than approving they are trying to trash Mitt Romney for his character, not having courage. That's absolutely ridiculous.

He's a man who's been successful in the private sector and public sector. He's got more courage than anyone else in this field including Barack Obama who has a lot of sizzle but not a whole lot of steak.

PHILLIPS: All right. Now to the reserved and courageous Jason.

JOHNSON: You know, is "reserved" New Jersey speak for "boring", because that is pretty much what Chris Christie just said.

CARDONA: Yes.

JOHNSON: He's like Mitt Romney is a boring guy but we should vote for him anyway. Look you're not going to win campaigns that way, if that is Mitt Romney's best advocates, he needs to find some better advocates.

CARDONA: Exactly.

JOHNSON: The fact of the matter is primary voters and American voters they want passion. They want a guy who's going to sing with Mick Jagger and Buddy Guy like Barack Obama did just about a day and a half ago. We want inspiration.

CARDONA: Absolutely. EPSTEIN: We'll deliver results not just complete emptiness. Come on.

PHILLIPS: Let's get back -- let's get back to New Jersey being boring. Snooki? Is Snooki boring.

EPSTEIN: I'm from New Jersey. It is not boring.

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly Boris. Boris and Snooki were hanging out there in "Jersey Shore".

EPSTEIN: Me, Snooki, The Situation, we're all having a great time.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.

JOHNSON: Bye-bye.

CARDONA: Thanks Kyra.

EPSTEIN: Have a great day, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ok. Likewise.

Here is a reminder. You can watch tonight's presidential debate right here on CNN. Our coverage begins at 8:00 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, reality stars Kim and Khloe Kardashian find themselves in a real life courtroom show. They could get sued over their work for a diet plan. A.J. Hammer, what is the deal?

A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: A lot of people want to look like the Kardashians, right. Here is the story, Kyra. Kim and Khloe may be soon be served with a huge lawsuit over their deal with the weight- loss pill Quick-Trim. Now the reality stars are spokespeople for the product. In the past, they have credited Quick Trim for their sexy figures.

Well, one buyer of the product wants to take them to task saying, you know, all the products is good for is extra high doses of caffeine. Well, the attorney for the individuals telling "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" that they are investigating the matter for an unnamed client and they have put the Kardashians as well as Quick-Trim on notice that a suit may be coming.

So not a done deal yet, Kyra, but it could wind up in court for sure.

PHILLIPS: We'll follow it. A.J. see you tomorrow.

And if you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J.'s got it, every night "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11:00 Eastern on HLN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well in an election year politicians and pundits don't hesitate to tell us what they think is right for America but what defines us in 2012? All this week we're going in depth on "I am America" taking a closer look at how our country has changed ethnically, religiously and economically.

Today, no desire to retire. Poppy Harlow meets a nurse who with 40 years under her belt is the face of the Baby Boomer generation that is ready to keep working. Here is a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN DOSHI, OPERATING ROOM UNIT EDUCATOR: I walk fast so you have to keep up, all right?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 62 years old, Nurse Ann Doshi isn't anywhere near retirement.

DOSHI: You have the knowledge and you have the chance to share it and that is what I like to do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ann has tons of energy. She has more energy than some of us younger nurses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the O.R. table. This is the where the head of the patient would be.

HARLOW: After 40 years in the operating room, Ann trains nurses and medical students at this New Jersey hospital. It's a field where experience counts.

DOSHI: It used to be years ago that there was a saying that older nurses, seasoned nurses ate their young. And I'm not saying that that doesn't still exist in the field but I think for many people today they realize that the older person can be a lot of help to them.

HARLOW (on camera): Ann's employer, Atlantic Health System has been singled out for its effort to retain and recruit older workers. In fact, last year, AARP named it one of the top ten best employers for workers over 50. 38 percent of its workforce is over 50. That is above average for the labor force as a whole.

You guys want older workers, is that right?

LESLEY MEYER, HR MANAGER, ATLANTIC HEALTH SYSTEM: Absolutely.

HARLOW: Why?

MEYER: Older workers bring us invaluable experience, knowledge and skills.

HARLOW (voice-over): Allison Murphy, a 28-year-old nurse mentored by Ann says the contribution of older co-workers can't be overstated. ALLISON MURPHY, NURSE: We really, truly learn from them. I think they are very innovative. They're right there on top of all our new equipment, all our new procedures.

HARLOW: But studies have found an overwhelming prejudice against older job candidates. Experts say, though, it's a myth that older workers are less productive or less innovative.

PETER CAPPELLI, MANAGEMENT PROFESSOR, THE WHARTON SCHOOL: Everything gets better with experience and therefore everything gets better with employees who are older. Absenteeism declines, turnover actually declines. Job performance increases, certainly knowledge of the work increases and her personal skills improve.

HARLOW (on camera): Are there risks to having an older workforce?

MEYER: We haven't found any risks.

HARLOW: Really?

MEYER: Actually our employee health care -- employee health care costs have gone down.

HARLOW (voice-over): The company's health care costs fell a modest one percent last year. But what is going up, the number of Americans age 55 and older in the workforce. That is not surprising since many older workers don't believe they can afford to retire.

But others like Ann say staying on the job is about more than financial security.

DOSHI: The majority of my work right now, to be very honest, is because I really love my work. I want to do this and I don't want to stop.

HARLOW (on camera): You don't want to stop in.

DOSHI: No I don't.

There are some rooms that are identical --

HARLOW (voice-over): in Morristown, New Jersey, Poppy Harlow, CNNMoney.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And for nearly a month we asked to you weigh in on what makes us uniquely American. Now, you can see the amazing response we got. Go to iReport.com/iamAmerica.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, some surprising findings this morning about how heart attacks affect women, a study of U.S. heart attack patients find that women are more likely to die in the hospital following an attack. They are also more likely than men to show up at the hospital without the classic symptoms of chest pain and discomfort.

National database is sponsored by Gentec, a maker of a heart drug, but that drug was not discussed in the study.

Coming up next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM with Suzanne Malveaux, the Islamic Holy Book scorched by American troops. The military is apologizing for this mistake but protests are rolling through Afghanistan. What does it mean for the war? We'll take a hard look when the NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Arizona Republicans are taking advantage of early voting for next Tuesday's primary. Our Paul Steinhauser is in Mesa for tonight's big debate. Let's talk about that voter turnout, Paul.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: It's interesting and it could be really determining who wins here in Arizona Kyra with the polls kind of closed. Listen over 200,000 people have already returned ballots already. Now that's a lot considering that 540,000 voted four years ago on the Republican primary, here in Arizona.

It started on February 2nd and who could help it seems more Mitt Romney and Kyra, here's why. A lot of these people return their ballots early in the month after Romney was winning big in Florida and Nevada. He was surging at that time. And it was before Santorum swept those three contests on February 7th and started rising in the polls. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Michigan's native son has a real fight on his hands for that state's primary.

STEINHAUSER: We have been saying it for a while. Here is more proof if you want. Look at this, brand new poll out this morning from NBC and Marist up there in Michigan on people likely to vote in the primary there on Tuesday. Look at this, Romney at 37 percent, Santorum at 35 percent. That's basically all tied up there. Gingrich at 13 percent and 8 percent -- for Paul 13 and Gingrich, 8.

One more poll from them -- take a look at that -- is right here in Arizona. This poll from NBC/Marist, indicates a larger lead for Romney here. 16 points over Santorum. Our poll that came out yesterday had Romney on top but not by as large a lead. Still pretty close here in Arizona and our debate, Kyra, so important for both Michigan, Arizona and all those Super Tuesday states.

PHILLIPS: Paul Steinhauser, see you soon.

And you can watch tonight's presidential debate right here on CNN. Our coverage begins 8:00 Eastern.

It is the top of the hour. You know what that means, I scoot, Suzanne Malveaux comes in.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: This debate means a late night for both of us.

PHILLIPS: That's right.

MALVEAUX: Because we have to be in bed early. People don't even realize how early we have to be up for these shows.

PHILLIPS: Hey, but we can't miss those debates, can we?

MALVEAUX: Absolutely not. We have to TiVo.

All right. Thanks, Kyra.