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Highlights from Republican Debate Last Night in Mesa; Pills Are Available for Curing Addiction; Black Filmmaker Could Make Oscars History; Seven Dead In Arizona Helicopter Crash; Gas Prices Continue To Rise; Santorum Catches Heat at Arizona Debate

Aired February 23, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from studio seven, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed for this Thursday, February 23rd.

Bad news. Seven marines are dead in a mid-air, helicopter collision near Yuma, Arizona. The choppers were taking part in a training exercise last night at the Marine Corps air station.

Now, an air station spokesman says the Marines were training to deploy to Afghanistan.

We're going to follow those developments in the crash. We're going to get a live report in just a few moments.

And it might be the formal debate between the Republican contenders for the White House. Last night's "Duel in the Desert" had off-and-on-again frontrunner, Rick Santorum, catching heat from the left and the right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: You have a new television ad that labels him a "fake." Why?

RON PAUL, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because he's a fake.

(LAUGHTER)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But while I was fighting to save the Olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're going to stay with CNN. Full highlights from last night's Republican debate, live from Phoenix in just a moment.

And gas prices have jumped again, up 3 percent - 3 cents, rather - overnight. That is according to AAA. National average for a gallon of gas, now $3.61. It is still going up.

Economists say that gas could jump to $4 or even $5 a gallon by the summer. You're going to hear from President Obama on gas prices and energy policy. That's happening later today.

And President Obama is apologizing for the burning of Korans by NATO troops in Afghanistan. Now, this incident set off protests across the country. After again President Hamid Karzai's office said President Obama sent a letter calling the burning an inadvertent error. He also promised to take steps to avoid any reoccurrence.

Two U.S troops were killed by someone wearing an afghan army uniform. NATO is not sure if it was in revenge for the Koran burning.

All right. That sign, it says, "60 killed in one hour" in a neighborhood in the Syrian city of Homs. It puts Arab leaders on notice that they, to quote it again, are "complicit" in the crime.

Another sign has names of Western journalists, Remi Ochlik and Marie Colvin, who were among those killed in heavy shelling by government forces. It says we will not forget you.

This was a protest last night in Homs. This morning, we're hearing from the family of this slain American journalist, Marie Colvin. She had covered wars around the world and her sister tells CNN they did not expect this in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAT COLVIN, SISTER OF MARIE COLVIN: I really thought she'd get out. I think she's been in so many life-threatening situations and always gets out, maybe not safely, but she makes it out. And I was just so shocked that she didn't this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A former University of Virginia lacrosse player may spend the next 26 years in prison. George Huguely was convicted of second-degree murder and grand larceny in the death of his ex- girlfriend, Yeardley Love. The judge has set sentencing for April 16th.

A win for same-sex couples seeking health benefits. A judge in San Francisco rules that a federal worker should be allowed to enroll her partner in her health insurance coverage. The ruling overturns a law blocking same-sex couples from getting federal health benefits.

An FDA advisory panel recommending the weight loss drug Qnexa be given final approval. Now, the panel says that the drug's benefits outweigh the risks. The FDA has rejected three weight loss pills in the last two years, including Qnexa, because of safety concerns. But, now, Qnexa could be the first prescription diet drug on the market in over a decade. Final decision expected in April.

More now on the deadly Marine helicopter crash. Seven Marines were killed when their helicopters collided in mid-air near Yuma, Arizona.

Our Miguel Marquez, he is joining us live by phone. You've been talking to a lot of people about what has taken place on the ground. What have you learned so far?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, this is a very tragic situation, obviously. It was at night, about 8:p.m. last night, when a "Huey" helicopter, which is typically a transport helicopter, can carry up to ten people, but can be configured to carry far less because it can also be an attack helicopter, and a "Cobra" collided, say the Marine Corps.

They were in a training exercise. It may have been a live training exercise. They often train much harder in practice than they ever see in the field when they're out there.

These guys were also training to go to Afghanistan soon, so it would have been a fairly up-tempo and high-level of training that they were doing.

It is not clear what happened. In their press release the Marine Corps calls it a mishap, so it is quite possible this was with just a very, very tragic accident.

Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Do we have a sense of how soon the family members are going to be notified about their loved ones? I know they don't release the identities until that actually happens.

MARQUEZ: Yes, it's a little complicated because the Third Marine Air Wing is based out of Pendleton in California. The crash happened way out in the desert.

This is a massive training facility out here, so it's not clear that they've been able to, one, collect all of the evidence and bodies and make proper identification.

They do like to go through all of that before they can be identified and the next of kin can be notified. That typically happens within 24 hours in these situations, but, you know, we will se how it goes.

At this point it happened at 8:00 last night, so they had to work through the night. It's probably going to be awhile before they're able to get to it all.

MALVEAUX: And, Miguel, it may be a little too soon to know this, but was weather an impact? Do we have any sense of whether the circumstances were unusual or different that evening to cause these two to crash?

MARQUEZ: I think, it's hard to say. I was in Phoenix last night for the debates and working on a couple other stories and there was perfect, beautiful, Arizona weather up there. We're not too far away.

I was checking the weather last night around here. It doesn't seem that there was anything, so, you know, but these are, you know, tough conditions. They train incredibly hard. They're out in the desert. It can be mountainous. It is dark. There's a lot of dirt. There's a lot of dust when those helicopters come in. If they were doing close air support and practicing that stuff, they come in very close.

And, you know, they take enormous risks, sometimes far greater risks in training than they do in the field.

MALVEAUX: Miguel Marquez, thank you so much. Obviously, as we get more details we're going to come back to you.

Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are covering first.

It was kind of a tough night for Rick Santorum. The candidates took turns trying to knock him down at last night's debate. They also took jabs at the president over mandated employee coverage of birth control.

So, we want to hear from you. Should contraception even be a campaign issue? Carol is back with the "Talk Back" next.

And then, gas prices top $4 a gallon, many cities. Going to look at what is behind the latest price increase.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Four remaining Republican candidates for president shared one big table last night instead of the more traditional podium set-up. It might have been a elbow-to-elbow seating arrangement that kept the debate a little bit more civil than others, but, a lot of those guys, they got their shots in. There was some fireworks. Rick Santorum, he got the giant target treatment surging in the debate as one of the front-runners.

Want to go to Phoenix with Jim Acosta. Before we breakdown the debate -- because it was an interesting one -- I want to talk about brand new poll numbers for the candidates, the four candidates. What do we see here?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All important Michigan right now, Suzanne. Look at this new ARG poll that just came out earlier this morning. It shows a very tight race in Michigan and it shows that Mitt Romney has some work ahead him. Rick Santorum in the lead in that poll, 38-34 percent.

Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich pretty far behind in that state. These two candidates no, question about it, they're going to be duking it out over the next several days. They're really not going to be here in Arizona very much.

Where I'm standing right now, Mitt Romney just wrapped up a speech to a business group here in fence just a few moments ago. He really picked up where he left off last night, Suzanne, going right after Rick Santorum.

He brought up that line that Rick Santorum gave to the crowd last night, which did not go over very well for the former Pennsylvania senator when he said that occasionally when he was in the Congress, he took some of those votes for the team. He had to sometimes take one for the team.

Well, Mitt Romney said in his speech just a few moments ago, which team was Rick Santorum taking one for? So, Mitt Romney obviously not resisting when he had a good line ready to go this morning.

And it was interesting to be in that spin room last night after last night's debate, Suzanne, because Rick Santorum, I asked him at one point because he came to the spin room, was taking questions from the press, what do you make of the fact that Ron Paul at the debate last night was going after you so much?

You know, what's that all about because there has been some talk, you know, on Twitter, on the blogs, in political circles that perhaps there might be some sort of unofficial alliance going on between the Ron Paul/Mitt Romney campaign. Here's what Rick Santorum had to say when I asked him that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have to ask Congressman Paul and Governor Romney what they've got going together. Their commercials look a lot alike and attacks. You tell me.

Well, I mean, you know, this is pretty much Governor Romney's town and Governor Romney's crowd, so I expected that. And, of course, Congressman Paul always has a lot of folks in the crowd and they're very vocal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So, that was a sign that Rick Santorum had a pretty rough night last night. He was beat up on that stage that the debate table pretty much throughout that evening.

And one exchange that I really think summed up the night was when Rick Santorum talked about being in Congress, how that's a team sport. Ron Paul just a few moments later went after him. Let's take a look at that exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON PAUL, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He calls this a team sport, he has to go along to get along and that's the way the team plays. That's what the problem is with Washington. That's what's been going on for so long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And, Suzanne, when I was in that spin room, I have to tell you I asked Rick Santorum, would you like to have that line back because it did not go over very well with that crowd? And he said, no, he stands by those remarks. It was interesting to watch. MALVEAUX: Yes, it was a great debate to watch and actually there were quite a number of zingers there. And I thought it was really fascinating, too, the fact that they have to kind of sit together, kind of elbow to elbow.

You didn't see any of those dramatic moments where somebody walks from the podium to the next person or puts their hand on their shoulder. But it was still rather feisty debate there and potentially the last one before Super Tuesday. So we'll se how it all shakes out next week. Thanks again, Jim. Good to see you.

ACOSTA: Yes.

MALVEAUX: So, I'm headed to Arizona for primary day. I want you to join us here, normal time, 11:00 to 1:00 Eastern, as we focus on two more opportunities for somebody to stand out from the Republican pack.

And then CNN Tuesday night, coverage of the Arizona and Michigan primaries begin at 6:00 p.m. Eastern with a special edition of "John King USA" followed by CNN's complete live coverage of the primary results at 7:00 with Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King, and more.

All right. Here's a chance to "Talk Back." One of the big stories of the day, where are the women? That is right. That's the question many people are asking. When Republican congressman held a hearing on the president's birth control coverage policy, didn't have any women on the panel.

Well, today, House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, she is holding her own hearing and the one woman who was turned away last week is the only witness.

Carol Costello, she's back. She's back. Carol, great to see you.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's good to be back. Thank you so much.

MALVEAUX: For the "Talk Back," you're back.

COSTELLO: I know and I'm glad to be back.

MALVEAUX: And this is a perfect question. I mean, people are going to be Tweeting. They're going to be e-mailing. Go ahead.

COSTELLO: I just can't believe we're talking about birth control. I mean, birth control, a political football in 2012. And you thought the price of gas would be front-and-center. After all, it shot up three cents this morning.

Yes, gas prices have been brought up, but not heatedly talked about like contraception. During last night's debate the question on birth control, well, it got on Newt Gingrich's nerves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I just want to point out you did not once in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media asked why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide, OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK, a note to Mr. Gingrich, this elite media type did a lengthy story on Mr. Obama's voting record on the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection act, but I, like Mr. Gingrich, digress. Back to birth control.

Some Republicans say it's an important political issue because they say Mr. Obama's contraception rules force religious institution to provide it to their employees despite their religious beliefs. Something Mr. Gingrich has brought up repeatedly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: I don't care what deal he tries to cut. This is a man who is deeply committed, if he wins re-election, he will wage war on the catholic church the morning after he's re-elected. We cannot trust him. We should -- we know who he really is and we should make sure the country knows who he really is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Now, that kind of rhetoric does not mean Mr. Gingrich or any other republican candidate is fighting to ban birth control. They're not.

Still, Democrat Nancy Pelosi is holding an unofficial hearing on women's reproductive rights today, starring the Georgetown University law student who was barred from testifying at last week's Republican- led hearing on reproductive rights and religious liberty.

So I end with where I began, birth control. A political football in 2012? "Talk Back" question for you today, should contraception be a campaign issue? Facebook.com/carolCNN. Facebook.com/carolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

MALVEAUX: All right, thank you, Carol.

With gas prices shooting up, you're probably emptying your wallet just to fill the tank. So, what's it going take to actually stop this? We're going have a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. It's official, we now know who will formally nominate President Obama for the second term, the just announced chairman of the 2012 Democratic national convention in Charlotte. Well, in Los Angeles, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, he's joining us live. Mayor, very good to see you. Congratulations in this position of yours. You and I spent a lot of time on the road last election season. Back then you were on Hillary's team, now you're front man for Obama. He's the guy with the record, the experience. What is the most important thing in that record that you're going to be pitching to the voters to secure a win?

ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES MAYOR: Well, that the economy is coming back, that he's been able to demonstrate that if you work across the aisle in the way that he's made an effort to do, that the people can actually get back to work.

About 2 million new jobs have been created. Every month, it begins to increase. I think people are going to look for a president who is focused on job creation and not some of the divisive issues that you hear in the debates, last night and over the last few months.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about a very critical voting bloc. This is the cover of "Time" magazine. It says, "Yo Decido -- Why Latinos Will Pick the Next President." Nearly 10 percent of all voters in 2012 will be Hispanic, up 26 percent from just four years ago.

But take a look at what "Time" contributor, Jorge Ramos of Univision, says. He says, "No one can blame Hispanic voters for feeling politically isolated. Both Democrats and Republicans have failed to connect with us."

He continues saying, "We have the difficult choice of voting for either a president who broke a major promise or a Republican candidate who doesn't respect us. It was not supposed to be this way."

What does President Obama need to do to win this critical group?

VILLARAIGOSA: Well, I don't accept the premise. Jorge is a good friend of mine and I have a lot of respect for him, but I just don't buy it. I think that the president has made every effort, if he's talking about the issue of immigration reform, made every effort to reach across the aisle, to secure the border, but also to create a pathway for citizenship.

He passed the health care act and, disproportionately, Latinos among the most underinsured in the United States of America have benefitted from that. He's focused like a laser beam on job creation and Latinos are benefiting from that, as well.

So, I don't buy what Jorge wrote. I do think that the Republicans and even many Republican leaders acknowledge that a lot of their rhetoric, their tone, very divisive. They seem to scapegoat Latinos and immigrants in a way that I think is turning off the Latino community and I think turning off independents.

You know, about 60 percent of the undocumented are from Latin America. And you would think that they're all from Latin America given last night's debate where Mr. Romney talked about the Arizona law being a model for the nation.

MALVEAUX: Right.

VILLARAIGOSA: I think that's out of the mainstream. So, I wouldn't buy what Jorge had to say on that issue.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk about last night because it was a very interesting debate to watch here. All of them essentially going after each other but the front-runners, particularly, you had Romney and Santorum.

Do you think that, essentially, the Republicans are doing their work for you at this point, that they are weakening themselves, beating themselves up so much that there has been such a critical season already before the general election that there's not much left for you to do?

VILLARAIGOSA: Well, there's a lot of work for us to do. The country's evenly divided. We're going to have to work hard. All across the country, not just in the swing states, so-called. We're going to work in every state to get our message out.

But I would agree with you. Last night, if that debate had been in 3-D, you would have thought you were in the middle of a food fight. So focused on social issues. You mentioned the contraception, abortion, immigration, and not enough on job creation, not enough on putting people back to work, on making the tough decisions to get people and the economy moving again.

And that's the problem. They're appealing to the extreme right and not to independents and to the middle.

MALVEAUX: All right. Mayor, we're going to have you let you go there. Congratulations on your new position here. Any ambitions, 2016?

VILLARAIGOSA: Just -- 2016? No, I'm just working on being the mayor of Los Angeles. That's my focus right now.

MALVEAUX: All right. You'll come back to us if that changes, right? You'll let us know?

VILLARAIGOSA: Yes. We always do.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate it.

At last night's debate Newt Gingrich promised $2.50 a gallon of gas, so we have a long way to go to that golden number. In fact, gas prices made another big jump overnight.

I want to bring in Alison Kosik, too, live from the New York Stock Exchange. Wow, Alison, I think we've got to start riding our bike into work. What is going on?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I was just saying that, too, it would be really, really tired after ride that bike to work. You know what, you know why this is happening? There's kind of a fear factor working here that's driving up oil prices, which then drives up those gas prices and that fear is coming from tensions with Iran, as it's trying to squeeze the global oil supply.

And the concern is that the more than 2 million barrels of oil a day that Iran exports could be cut off. Even worse, that the 17 million barrels that actually moved through the Strait of Hormuz every day could be disrupted. And that would mean one-fifth of the world's crude supply would be affected.

So, this is why you see this fear kind of being generated. Now, at the moment, the market is well-supplied, but that supply could be jeopardized if more drama comes out of Iran. It's not just Iran that's moving these oil prices higher. Our improving economy is also to blame. That's because oil traders are assume that demand is going to go up soon because the economy is improving and that's pushing up prices as well. So all of this of course is not helping our wallets. If you drive a car with a 12 gallon gas tank and you get a fill-up, $43 to fill up that thank. There goes any extra cash from that payroll tax cut gone, poof, in one fill-up.

That's true. What does it take to stop this? Do we know? Do we have a sense of whether or not this can actually be stopped?

Yes, you know, a good question, tough answer. You know, one analyst tells CNN money that the oil market at this point has caught fire. There's no circuit breakers out there to stop it. Gas prices at the retail level right now are up about 36 cents a gallon, just over the past couple months.

But if you look at what's happening in the futures market, which is trading right now, it has prices up even more. Up 82 cents a gallon in the same period. That's a 46-cent difference of oil being traded, to be delivered in March and April. That's what you're looking at.

And remember that crude accounts for more than half of the price of gas. But there's a small lag time, so, unless you see tensions cool down with Iran, you're going to really want to expect to see that hike at the pump in a matter of weeks.

So, prepare yourself, Suzanne, for $4 gas. It could come before Memorial Day. Get ready for that sticker shock, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: I'm going to get ready. I'm going to get my bike ready, basically. We might have to be biking here.

Quick look at the markets, Alison. What does it look like right now?

KOSIK: We're getting pretty close to 13,000 again. The Dow is up 51 points. This is on some good news out of Germany overnight, reporting that business conditions in Germany are at their highest levels since July. And that's good news because if you think of Germany it's really helping to keep Greece's economy from collapsing, so you don't want that sort of country that's funding Greece to collapse. So that good news is giving the market a bit of a boost today. Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Thanks, Alison.

So, it's actually your brain that holds the key to addiction and now doctors hope that new medicines could help rewire to end substance abuse.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, Republican debate last night in Mesa, Arizona. Who knew Newt Gingrich considered himself, in one word, cheerful. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, DEBATE MODERATOR & CNN CORRESPONDENT: Congressman Paul, you've questioned the conservative, fiscal conservative credentials, but particularly this week, Senator Santorum. You have a new television ad that labels him a fake. Why?

REP. RON PAUL, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because he's a fake.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

RICK SANTORUM, (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe in markets, not just when they're convenient for me.

KING: Governor?

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nice try, but now let's look at the facts. I don't to save any Wall Street bank. I just don't want to make sure we lose all of our banks.

PAUL: The government is supposed to protect contracts. They're not supposed to regulate contracts and they're not supposed to undermine contracts.

KING: Which candidate believes in birth control and, if not, why?

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You did not once, in the 2008 campaign, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why Barack Obama voted in favor of legalizing (INAUDIBLE).

(CHEERING)

ROMNEY: Four years ago, you not only endorsed me, you went to Laura Ingraham and said, this is a guy that is really conservative and we can trust him. Let's not forget you said that.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: If the prime minister of Israel called you, Mr. President, do you agree with your chairman of joint chiefs?

GINGRICH: You have an absolute moral obligation to defend your people by eliminating the capacity to get nuclear weapons.

(APPLAUSE)

ROMNEY: If I'm president that will not happen. If we re-elect Barack Obama, it will happen.

PAUL: But when it's an offensive war, going where we shouldn't be, that's quite a bit different. So it's the foreign policy that needs examined.

(APPLAUSE)

KING: Please define yourself using one word and one word only.

Congressman Paul?

PAUL: Consistent.

(APPLAUSE)

SANTORUM: Courage.

ROMNEY: Resolute.

(APPLAUSE)

GINGRICH: Cheerful.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Cheerful. OK. I would not have actually anticipated that.

I want to get CNN contributors, Maria Cardona, and Crystal Wright, to weigh in on this.

You heard the highlights here. We saw them kind of gang up on Rick Santorum at some point and the cheerful Newt Gingrich that emerged there.

Maria, I want to start off with you here because you had this -- it was entertaining. It wasn't, I thought, particularly enlightening. You had the two front-runners going after each other, Santorum and Romney, over very specific aspects of their records. At some point, it seemed confusing for, you know, everyday folks to follow. What do you think was the take-away? MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think the take-away is you sort of hit the nail on the head, Suzanne. There wasn't really anything new here. What was new was the savage way in which they both went at each other and what was also new was that Santorum clearly did not wear well the tag of front-runner and, therefore, that big -- on his back, the big target he had on his back, he really didn't practice, apparently, didn't know how to respond to all of Romney's jabs.

Romney was very well prepared. But in general, I don't think we learned anything new. And I think even though they might be one step closer to getting a nominee as a party, I think they took several steps backward from getting to the White House and alienating key demographics and Independent women.

MALVEAUX: Crystal, I want you to leave the talking points aside here and focus on this. Physically, these guys are all pretty different. Bev got Gingrich, robust. Big guy. Santorum, kind of the everyday guy. Ron Paul more, diminutive, you know. They're all interacting in a way we haven't seen before. Do you think it kind of leveled the playing field, the fact that they all appeared to be kind of the same size and they were tucked in pretty close together?

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, EDITOR, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM & CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I definitely don't think they were the same size, Suzanne. We know that Newt rose above, he looked like the leader that he is. And Santorum really, I think, left the debate in shatters. I mean, he looked -- on earmarks, on everybody's doing it, I had to do it, I had to fund Planned Parenthood, I had to fund No Child Left Behind.

I think at the end of the day, I'm going to disagree with both you guys. What we saw new was that we saw Newt take on the president of the United States and his failed record on immigration, on energy, on health care, on the auto bailout, particularly on foreign policy. When Newt said if you're an enemy of America, under Barack Obama you're safe because this president is the most dangerous president to national security.

I will agree with Maria that Santorum was very much weakened. And I think Romney got the edge here. I mean, I think he took him down the rabbit hole, the earmarks, and it made him look like a fake, at the end of the day, like we can't necessarily trust Santorum's record.

MALVEAUX: And Maria, I want you to weigh in here because Ron Paul really went after Rick Santorum on his credentials here many different times. He real will didn't mince words. And they were sitting right beside each other and he called him fake over his reversal of No Child Left Behind.

(LAUGHTER)

Said he was going along, getting along, the sports team kind of approach, not really working. Said it was an excuse for lacking conviction. Some people think that could hurt him, but do you think those revelations could actually make him seem more appealing to the moderates, Independents who think, OK, maybe this guy is a little bit more flexible or reasonable, not so far to the right?

CARDONA: Well, yes. But here's the problem, Suzanne, is that they're not -- they can't right now go after the Independent voters and those who are more reasonable. And that's exactly their problem. So while I think you're right to the reasonable person that might seem a reasonable way to go, because it's very human. The fact of the matter is, in this primary, they have to out-right wing each other, out-extremist each other, if they're going to win.

WRIGHT: Absolutely, not true. Maria, that's not true.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: So for Rick Santorum, last night, unfortunately, I think saying the words, I voted against my principles, is going hurt him in the long run for this nomination.

MALVEAUX: Crystal, wrap it up here because we're running out of time.

WRIGHT: At the end of the day Barack Obama is losing support of Independents. What we saw last night, particularly from Newt Gingrich, is that he can pluck of Independents because he's strong on national security. He's strong on energy and providing an energy- Independent America and jobs here at home. And that's where Barack Obama has failed among many things.

MALVEAUX: We've got to leave it there.

CARDONA: Right now, Obama's winning with Independents.

WRIGHT: Right, he's not winning with Independents.

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: Look at the polls, Crystal.

MALVEAUX: We're going to --

(CROSSTALK)

WRIGHT: Look at the price of gas, Maria. Unemployment is going to go up again.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: All right, I'll bring you both back on to continue the debate.

Crystal, Maria, thank you so much.

CARDONA: Thanks, Suzanne.

WRIGHT: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Should quick curing of addiction be as easy as taking a pill? For a former alcoholic, that answer is yes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is going to share one man's story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Addiction is a brain disease, not a failure of willpower. There are medicines that actually short circuit addiction. So why aren't they even used more? We're going in-depth.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us with what we are calling cold turkey in a pill.

I honestly have actually never heard of this before.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's interesting. This is a bit of a cultural shift in terms of how we approach addiction. If you call it a brain disease like most people agree it should be called, it puts other options on the table. Addiction of pills with another pill doesn't sit well with everybody, which is why it's been tested for so long.

It doesn't work for everybody, but I want you to listen, Suzanne, to Walter Kent's story specifically, and what it did for him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA (voice-over): This is the last place you would expect to find a recovering alcoholic.

WALTER KENT, RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC: One of my all-favorite watering holes.

GUPTA: But this is where Walter Kent hangs out, a bar called Goobers. Walter is a giant of a man. But for most of his life, he couldn't find the strength to put down that bottle.

KENT: I was the type of person that only time I drank was alone or with somebody. Other than, there was never a problem.

GUPTA: He tried rehab and A.A. Nothing worked.

KENT: Nothing seemed to get rid of that urge. I couldn't get rid of the craving.

GUPTA: But then, in 2000, he tried again, an experimental program at brown university. This time, he got counseling once a week and a daily pill, a medicine called Neltrexone. And this time it worked.

KENT: When you can lose the total urge, the total craving for alcohol, you can beat it. There's no doubt in my mind because I'm living proof.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: 12 years sober. 16 weeks he was on that pill.

(CROSSTALK) MALVEAUX: I still can't believe he's in a bar.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: In a bar to sort of straight to that point. He could not step foot in a bar before. It was too much temptation. Now he has no problem. Really quickly, I think it's important to point out. This isn't for everybody. These people are people who for nothing else worked and it's about 17 percent more effective than what else is out there. But for someone like Walter it made a big difference. It tamps down the euphoria you get from having a drink so you don't have the cravings of having that euphoria over and over again. But the concern is it could tamp down other pleasures as well.

MALVEAUX: Could you actually have a pill that works for other prescription drugs if you're somebody addicted to prescription drugs?

GUPTA: Absolutely is the answer. That's where a lot of researchers are sort of working. The same sort of concept, again, tamping down the sense of well-being. It's a little bit different in that people have to stay on it for really their entire lives. Whereas, with this drug, he was on it for four months. The population of people being studied are people who failed everything else. Nothing else has worked so now they're going to this. They're adding counseling in as well. It's not the pills alone. For Walter, it made a huge difference.

MALVEAUX: All right, Sanjay, thanks.

Stick around because I want to ask about another medical story in the news today, a new diet drug that could be approved soon. It is called Qnexa. We're going to talk about that at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: You're sounding off on the "Talk Back" question, should contraception be a political campaign issue? Carol Costello is joining us from Washington.

Carol, I imagine you're getting a lot of responses on this one.

COSTELLO: You guessed that right, Suzanne.

This from Charles, he says, "Contraception may be the subject but the issue is the president's willingness to ignore the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution and force a religion to break a longstanding church doctrine in the name of health care. Will freedom of speech and freedom of press be next"?

From Kristi, "No, and I'm sick of hearing about it. It's 2012, not 1912, for crying out loud. 99 percent of women use birth control. The GOP claims to want smaller government, unless it's my uterus. A gay man's bedroom, and now it appears how I keep from having 10 kids."

This from Rob, "The real issue is the federal government's unlawful mandate on churches and faith-based organizations." Keep those responses coming. Facebook.com/carolCNN. I'll be back with you in about 25 minutes or so.

MALVEAUX: Great.

And, Carol, I want to show you this story here because you and I, we both have done our share of lots of field reporting. You and I were competitors, as a matter of fact, in D.C., a little while ago when we were both out there gathering all the news, getting all the crime stories, the breaking news. So here's a situation, right, where the story is not what she's covering but the story actually came to her. It happens behind her. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WFLA REPORTER: When oil and gas prices go up, flight costs go up, too. So fewer people driving.

UNIDENTIFIED ANCHOR: Spun out right behind you. Did you see that, Adrien?

UNIDENTIFIED WFLA REPORTER: I didn't. But now I did, so we're going to go -- yes.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED WFLA REPORTER: Looks like a cab got into an accident out here.

UNIDENTIFIED WFLA ANCHOR: Probably shocked by the gas prices.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I don't know, Carol, I mean, she just -- she didn't even flinch.

(LAUGHTER)

I think I would have reacted here. She was pretty calm. I mean, we learn that both the drivers were OK, but, you know, I think I would have at least jumped and like hightailed it over there.

COSTELLO: I know. I think that's missing the real story, don't you?

(LAUGHTER)

My very first news director in Columbus, Ohio, told me if there's a huge explosion that goes off behind you and you're not talking about it at the time, please turn around and talk about the huge explosion.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Don't ignore it. Don't ignore the news behind you.

Well, thank god. Like everybody was, OK. She realized and they moved on and I guess they continued talking about the high gas prices.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: Geez, whatever happened to those people behind me, I'm sure they're fine.

MALVEAUX: Thank god they were, actually.

All right, Carol, we'll have more after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Time for travel insider. We often have a chance to get the inside scoop of some great places to go. Well, one of my favorites on my team, she shows us where she goes to unwind. Check it out.

(TRAVEL INSIDER)

MALVEAUX: All right, Nesta, you've been holding out on us. Good job.

The first African-American filmmaker and how his team rose to the top of the pack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A young black filmmaker is making his first appearance at the Oscars on Sunday. His football team that went from all losing seasons to undefeated now picked up by the heavy hitters. If he wins, he could make history.

Kareen Wynter has the amazing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

For almost 14 years, we never won a football game.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Memphis (ph) High School in West Memphis, losing football games was a decade's-long tradition --

(SHOUTING)

WYNTER: -- until they became undefeated.

T.J. MARTIN, DIRECTOR: We took the title "Undefeated" because it is the subtext of the film, an example of resilience.

WYNTER: T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsey filmed the 2009 season when the Tigers went from ultimate underdogs all the way to the playoffs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to believe in yourselves, fellow.

WYNTER: With its unflinching action and heart-wrenching emotion and the unwavering determination of a beloved coach -- UNIDENTIFIED COACH: Everybody says when you get these inner-city kids down, they will lay open and you beat them by 40. Not us.

WYNTER: The documentary is now Oscar-nominated.

MARTIN: When you go up to take the photos on the risers and I recognize these two voices talking behind me. I turn around and to my left is Steven Spielberg and to my right is Martin Scorsese.

WYNTER: Rubbing elbows with industry icons has a habit for the 32-year-old filmmaker. First Harvey Weinstein bought the film. Then Sean Combs saw it and became an executive producer.

SEAN COMBS, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: I actually related to the film because the first time I felt defeated, when I got injured my senior here in high school. I wish I would have had a football like Coach Bill that would have believed in me and helped rehabilitate me.

WYNTER: if Martin is a champ come Oscar Sunday, he will make history as the first African-American.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody can be a tale (ph).

WYNTER: If Martin is champ come Oscar Sunday, he'll make history as the first black filmmaker to win for best documentary. But he doesn't want this to overshadow another point.

MARTIN: This film is 100 percent a collaboration between myself and my filmmaker partner, Dan Lindsey. So I want to make sure that he gets recognized for being the tenth director of Irish-American descent to get -- to also win an Oscar as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing left to say except one thing, don't quit.

WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)