Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Battleground New Hampshire; New Anthony Weiner Photos Published; Romney Leads in New Hampshire; First Pictures of Congresswoman Giffords Released; Interview with Rick Santorum, New Weiner Photos; Earthquakes Rock New Zealand; Trapped Campers Now Free
Aired June 13, 2011 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: A lot going on this morning. Time to get you caught up.
It goes from bad to worse for New York Congressman Anthony Weiner. New photos emerging showing Weiner shirtless in the locker room at the House gym triggering new calls for him to resign.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to 2012. I'm Christine Romans live in New Hampshire ahead of the first major debate of the presidential race tonight. New polls are just out showing GOP voters have one thing on their minds -- winning -- on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: And welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. Glad you're with us. It's Monday, June 13th. I'm Kiran Chetry. Ali Velshi is off today. And we have a very special edition of our show this morning. Live from Manchester, New Hampshire, is Christine Romans. Of course, the big run-up to tonight's debate, it should be pretty exciting.
ROMANS: It should be exciting, indeed. We come to you this morning live from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, Kiran, the site of the first in the nation presidential primary and tonight's Republican presidential debate. Many of the candidates who will be on this stage made the rounds this weekend. You can hear the bells behind me from this beautiful campus.
Tonight you will hear from former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, former Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty, Congressman Ron Paul, Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Herman Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza, and former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.
Now here's a look at how it all came together in fast forward. Seven hundred New Hampshire voters will be in attendance. Isn't that an amazing picture? Along with people from across the state asking questions on two big screens. But first, there is another developing political story right now. Back to Kiran in New York for that -- Kiran.
CHETRY: That's right, Christine. And you probably can guess more trouble this morning for New York Congressman Anthony Weiner as he tries to put an embarrassing sexting scandal behind him that is proving not to be as easy as you'd think. TMZ's Web site publishing new photos of a shirtless congressman taken at the House member's gym. Allegedly he e-mailed the pictures to a woman.
Weiner, meantime, still says he will not resign. Instead he's asking for a paid leave of absence from Congress to seek professional treatment. On the Sunday talk shows, a growing chorus of his colleagues saying Weiner must go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION: I think Anthony Weiner needs to resign so he can focus on his family, focus on his own well-being.
REP. STENY HOYER (D), HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP: It seems to me extraordinarily difficult that he can proceed to represent his constituents in an effective way given the circumstances of this bizarre behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: CNN's Kate Bolduan is following developments as Weiner's colleagues in Congress return to work today. She's live for us in Congress. So besides these pictures, what's changed?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, quite a bit has changed, Kiran. We went into the weekend with Democrats hoping that this distraction, as they've continued to call it, would go away. But with these new pictures emerging, it was clear that that wasn't going to happen. And so we saw a significant shift over the weekend. Democratic leaders have resisted calling for his resignation. They're now joining the intensifying pressure to push Anthony Weiner out of Congress from the House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi to the man in charge of House Democratic campaign efforts, who's also a fellow New York Congressman Steve Israel. More and more high-profile members of Congress, members of the Democratic Party saying it's time for Anthony Weiner to go. But a political party can't just say that and then force a lawmaker to leave. And the Democratic source tells CNN that Weiner doesn't want to make a decision about his future until his wife, a long-time aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, they return from a trip -- she returns from a trip with Clinton in Africa and that schedule we're told to be Thursday. So until then, according to a spokeswoman for Weiner, he is taking a short leave of absence from Congress to, quote, "get evaluated and map out a course of treatment at an undisclosed treatment center," I should add.
One thing is certain, though, Kiran, House Democrats did not want to come back from recess today and go into a third week now of having to deal with this scandal, rather than their agenda and that's why we're hearing they made this big change over the weekend -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Very interesting. We are also hearing some reporting that he was hoping to also talk to his mentor, right, Senator Chuck Schumer, who up until now has not called for him to step down.
BOLDUAN: He -- and also Chuck Schumer, a senator, long-time mentor, political mentor to Anthony Weiner, he released a statement and even spoke over the weekend and still resisted coming out to call on Anthony Weiner to step down, saying that he was heartbroken and hoping that Anthony Weiner gets the help that's needed. So he has resisted coming out to call on him to step down, but it seems like he's soon going to be maybe the only person not saying so on the Democratic Party.
CHETRY: All right. Kate Bolduan following the latest developments for us on this. Appreciate it. Thank you.
Christine?
ROMANS: OK. Ahead of tonight's debate, new polls are just out that show who has the most to gain and lose. Joining us now is CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.
Paul, what do we know? It shows that the Republicans want a winner, don't they?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Oh, they sure do want a winner. That's what our new poll shows. Three out of four say they want somebody who can beat President Barack Obama even if they don't agree with him on the issues.
Take a look at the horse race numbers. These just came out moments ago. You can see, look who's on the top at our poll. Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, making his second bid for the GOP nomination at 24 percent and just behind him at 20 percent, Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska. And look there, Rudy Giuliani a little further down in third place.
Now, Christine, take Giuliani and Palin out of the equation because, well, they've contemplated running but they haven't take any concrete steps.
ROMANS: Right.
STEINHAUSER: And look who's on top in the second board here, way ahead of everybody else, Mitt Romney, 19 points ahead of anybody else. He is the front runner in this race, the perceived frontrunner, and I think because of that, he's the person who's going to have a bull's eye on his back tonight.
ROMANS: What are they going to target him with? Is it going to be Romney Care?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, it's going to be Romney Care. In fact, we heard Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, going after Mitt Romney over the weekend calling it Obamacare comparing what President Obama did nationally to what Romney did five years ago in Massachusetts. A lot of people say that what Mitt Romney passed in Massachusetts five years ago was an inspiration for the national which, you know, Republicans despise.
ROMANS: We saw Gingrich who's going pretty high on that second screen as well. Gingrich has to prove he's really in it and that he's committed and that he is going to have the -- he's going to have the wherewithal to see this through after he lost some of his campaign workers.
STEINHAUSER: No doubt about it. He has the most to prove tonight of all seven on the stage. And for exactly why you just said, he lost his top campaign staffers, his advisers. He has to prove he's still a viable candidate. Tonight's forum gives him the national audience to do just that. We'll see if he can do it.
ROMANS: Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, this is sort of her big introduction, isn't it? She hasn't officially declared, right?
STEINHAUSER: Hasn't officially declared, yet.
ROMANS: But she is going to and Ed Rollins now, somebody who's a CNN contributor is advising her, going to try to get to be more disciplined and introduce her to the broader Republican Party.
STEINHAUSER: Yes. This is her chance. I guess her coming out party, her first chance on the national stage.
Listen, she's from Minnesota which is the neighboring state to Iowa. That's good for her. She's known well among Tea Party activists and she's a darling among many of those people. But this is her chance to reach out to a mainstream Republican audience tonight.
ROMANS: All right. Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, an awful lot of people. Seven people on that stage, all of them trying to break out and all of them, as you say, with a target on Mitt Romney's back trying to -- trying to make -- make themselves stand out in the heap.
All right, Paul Steinhauser. Thanks, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
ROMANS: Our question of the day, with tonight's GOP debate, what issues are most important to you? Send us an e-mail, a tweet, tell us on Facebook. We're going to read some of your thoughts a little bit later in the program.
And, of course, we're going to have the first major debate of the election live for you tonight, beginning at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. Right now, back to Kiran in New York.
CHETRY: Should be a good one. All right. Christine, thanks.
We're also getting our first look this morning at Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. These are the first pictures released since she was shot in the head back in January. It's pretty remarkable to see how great she looks, how almost normal, completely normal, despite nearly fatal gunshot wound pointblank to the head.
Two new pictures of Giffords were posted on her Facebook page. In one, she's with her mother, that's the one seen there. And then the other, she's alone. Her hair is shorter and darker and she has a big smile on her face. There does appear to be a slight indentation on the left side of her head. That is where the bullet entered. Giffords' chief of staff says that he expect her to leave a Houston rehab facility by the end of the month and begin outpatient treatment.
A lot of people wondering though what her future holds. Will she be able to resume life as it was before the shooting? Coming up at 7:10 Eastern, we're going to be speaking with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about his assessment of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' progress.
The 20-year-old nephew of Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings has been shot and has been killed in a shooting in his Virginia apartment.
Christopher Cummings was a student at Old Dominion University. He was found in his off-campus home Friday morning. One of his roommates was also shot and critically wounded. Police have not released any other details of what may have happened.
The power is out, the phone lines are down, after three earthquakes rock the New Zealand city of Christchurch. Now you'll remember it's the very same city hit by another devastating quake almost four months ago. More than 180 people were killed in that earthquake. Police telling CNN that there was some damage caused by the shocks which struck within two hours of each other. There were also a few injuries, but officials say they're not serious.
Seven thousand people allowed to return home in Arizona, but authorities say it's at your own risk. The second largest wildfire in the state's history is now only 10 percent contained. Evacuation orders were lifted over the weekend in two towns, Springerville and Eagar. Authorities are still warning the elderly, those with health problems and very young children should stay away because of the lingering smoke. This fire has burned an area twice the size of New York City in the past 15 days, and spot fires have spread to New Mexico.
Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center for us. As we said, 10 percent containment. Are they going to have weather on their side today as they go back at it?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Weather will be a little tougher today but I think the next couple of days they may have another shot at seeing more tranquil weather, see the winds die down a little bit.
Still bad air quality west of the fire and east also into Albuquerque and we have a fire weather watch that's posted for parts of New Mexico and Texas today. Critical fire danger in these areas including New Mexico and just the eastern edge of that fire which is, it is pressing towards the New Mexican border, that's for sure. Winds today expected 20 to 25 miles an hour with gusting -- gust winds to 35.
All right. The rest of the country we've got storms that are expected across the midsection. Contingencies really cool across the northeast with unsettled weather after a cool and at times wet weekend. OK, but it's better than the heat you had last week. The heat is going to continue across the southeast until further notice.
101 expected in Dallas. We had a slew of record highs. We'll go over those in about a half an hour. So we continue to sweat it out here. I hope you enjoyed your cooler weather. I see Christine with her rain jacket on up there. Very fall like across New England. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: What a switch, though.
MARCIANO: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, boy, we were starting to get used to the 90 degrees and then suddenly you've got to grab your sweater again. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: We got a wet June. All right. See you, Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, the Dallas Mavericks are basketball's best. The Mavs beat the Miami Heat 105-95 last night to win the NBA championship in six games. It is the first title in franchise history. Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki was named MVP of the finals, but had plenty of help from his teammates in closing out LeBron James and the Heat in six games.
Still ahead, we're following the latest in Libya fighting with rebel forces and new pictures of Moammar Gadhafi. He's playing chess.
Also, Mitt Romney, the early favorite in the GOP presidential race, but could a dark horse emerge tonight? We have a debate preview and we're live in New Hampshire coming up next.
It's 12 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to a Special Edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Live in New Hampshire for the first major GOP Debate of the Presidential Race.
Mitt Romney has jumped out as the early favorite, but he's facing his first big test tonight against a still unsettled field in a state where he suffered a huge loss back in 2008. And some of his opponents will have a chance to introduce themselves to the nation for the - for the very first time tonight.
With us now is Jennifer Donahue, political analyst and commentator and former political director at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. Jennifer, welcome to the program. Let's first talk about the target on Romney's back. That is something that is a conventional wisdom. There's also this idea that maybe some of these newcomers in particular might also be debating someone else tonight - and that is the president, trying to set themselves apart as against the president's policies.
JENNIFER DONAHUE, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, NEW HAMPSHIRE INSTITUTE OF POLITICS: Absolutely. I think that candidates wouldn't want to go too negative on Romney because you don't want to hurt your fellow Republicans.
ROMANS: Right. DONAHUE: So they're going to go after Obama. I think you're going to see Pawlenty try to emerge and go after Obama for Obamacare. I think you're going to see Bachmann hitting Obama very hard.
ROMANS: You think so?
DONAHUE: She's got to make a name for herself. She's got to get in the race and show she's serious. You're going to see Gingrich playing defense after his defections last week. You're going to see him have to look serious and credible or he's out - totally out.
So I think people have a lot to prove tonight. Tonight is the biggest -
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: -- game change event. Tonight is the opening debate.
ROMANS: So, you know, so many of our polls are showing the traditional values of now - in one of our polls showing falling below 50 percent importance for the first time ever -
DONAHUE: Yes.
ROMANS: -- and jobs and the economy are up there. They're still issue number one. How do these Republican candidates set themselves apart on jobs and the economy and show that they're different than the rest of the pack there?
DONAHUE: This has been a really big challenge for people like Rick Santorum -
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: -- the former senator from Pennsylvania, who's trying to make the case values are part of the economy, but it's hard to make that case when people don't have jobs.
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: And as we talked about earlier, if you don't have a job you're looking at this economy and saying show me the jobs.
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: So the candidates tonight have to make it look like Obama is the cause of the bad economy and the problem with that is that voters think back to George Bush, George W. Bush, when they think about the bad economy starting, and they remember McCain suspending his campaign during the election -
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: -- because of the financial crossroads that we had.
ROMANS: It's really difficult. It's difficult because there's so much of this theme in, you know, the Tea Party theme and on the campaign trail is get the government out of my life, and the other part of it is, but where are the jobs and what are - what are you doing that is either preventing jobs or how can you help create jobs?
DONAHUE: Yes.
ROMANS: And it's kind of an interesting - a line that they have to walk.
DONAHUE: You know it really is. And what we're looking for tonight is there's an established candidate - establishment candidate. That's Mitt Romney.
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: We're looking for the alternative to Mitt Romney and that's going to be a social conservative and there's room for that person to emerge. It's wide open.
ROMANS: Why isn't Romney moving up in the polls? He's far away the leader in these polls.
DONAHUE: Yes.
ROMANS: But is he capped - is he capped in the polls at this point?
DONAHUE: Romney has already peaked. Romney's got about the 30 percent that he won second place with last time to McCain's 37 percent.
ROMANS: So what's he doing to get more? Is he trying - is this a part of the - is this the part of the campaign where everyone is fine tuning to see how they're going to move ahead?
DONAHUE: You know, Romney just needs to hold steady.
ROMANS: OK.
DONAHUE: He doesn't need more. What he needs is independents. That's why you saw him come out for global warming last week.
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: He's looking for those independent voters who make up more than a third of the electorate in New Hampshire, who will come out on Election Day and support him. The other candidates are fighting for second place. And there's really no clear alternative to Romney yet, and even Romney's standing, you don't want to be a frontrunner this early in New Hampshire, because if you have peaked already and it's only June, you've only got down to go. And that's something we saw with Obama. That's something we've seen with G.W. Bush.
ROMANS: Right.
DONAHUE: That's something Bob Dole saw 1996 when Pat Buchanan cleaned his clock. ROMANS: Let me ask about Herman Cain. He did well in South Carolina. He's got the highest voter intensity rating but from Gallup. What does he have to do tonight to sort of - as he calls it the big mo? To keep (INAUDIBLE) big mo?
DONAHUE: He's got to keep his mo going. He's got to keep his juice flowing. You know, he's the showman in the group. He's got to do as well as he did in South Carolina in the FOX debate and keep people smiling.
But, you know, the truth is you shouldn't rule him out because he's got legs in New Hampshire.
ROMANS: Yes.
DONAHUE: He could be the dark horse. He could be the person that emerges as the conservative alternative to Romney and then you have two African-American candidates conceivably which would make for a very interesting storyline.
ROMANS: It would certainly make for history, that's no question about that.
Jennifer Donahue, thank you so much. Very nice to see you this morning and I will be talking to you later throughout the day.
All right. Kiran, back to you. It's - its chilly, but very exciting - everyone is very excited here today as this - as the countdown gets started for this big debate tonight.
CHETRY: Yes. We'll all be watching 8:00. It'll be a late night, but an interesting one at that. Christine, thanks.
Opposition forces in Libya claim that they have a copy of Moammar Gadhafi's top secret battle plan. CNN has obtained that 15-page document. Rebels in Misrata say that they took it from government troops last month. And in its title are the words "battle plan to cleanse the city of Misrata from militant gangs." CNN has not been able to confirm the authenticity of the document.
Meantime, with fighting moving closer to his doorstep in Tripoli, Gadhafi was seen playing chess yesterday, taking time for a photo op with a visiting Russian President of the International Chess Federation.
In Jordan, King Abdullah is proposing a massive government overhaul after six months of protest. His plan for the Jordan of future calls for a parliamentary majority government, a transparent election process, changes to the tax system and sweeping economic reforms. It's not clear when the king plans to implement all of those changes.
A bug expert testifying over the weekend at Casey Anthony's murder trial about how the insects he's found in the murder suspect's trunk could help the prosecution's case.
Also, Rick Santorum, live, before the big match-up tonight. How does he break out of the GOP pack? We're going to talk to him still ahead.
It's 22 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Here's a look at your business this morning. We're "Minding Your Business."
Investors will be watching closely as Wall Street faces a full week of new data. May retail sales numbers come out tomorrow and consumer inflation data will be released on Wednesday. Meantime, the Dow closed below 12,000 for the first time since March on Friday. That extends the longest losing streak since 2002.
A new report out this morning says Citigroup waited as long as three weeks before notifying its customers of the hacking attack that was announced last week. "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting the bank delayed notifying customers so that the bank could investigate the security breach and also produce replacement cards.
New York's Attorney General reportedly investigating several banks over the way they packaged and then sold bundles of home loans to investors. According to reports, officials want to know if the banks followed New York state laws in creating these mortgage-backed securities. CNN calls the Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon and (INAUDIBLE) Bank have not been returned.
And another cyber-attack this time at the International Monetary Fund. "The New York Times" reporting that the attack happened several months before IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn was arrested over sexual assault charges. The IMF says they're investigating the incident, but would not disclose any further details.
And could you be seeing higher prices at the supermarket this fall. The Department of Agriculture is blaming flooding, tornadoes and droughts across the country for a harder planting season could end up being a you pay more at the markets.
Gas prices, though, have dropped nearly 17 cents on average over the past three weeks. In the latest National Survey of Prices at the pump it shows the average cost of gas will continue to go down. According to AAA, the current national average for a gallon of regular unleaded dropped to $3.70.
AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break. We're going to be talking with 2012 presidential candidate, former Senator Rick Santorum.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Good Monday morning.
We're crossing the half hour right now. Time to check out our top stories.
There are new compromising photos of New York Congressman Anthony Weiner emerging over the weekend. TMZ's Web site publishing these pictures taken by Weiner of himself shirtless in the House gym and allegedly sent to an unidentified woman.
Democratic leaders want him to resign, the calls growing over the weekend. Weiner says he will not. He has requested a leave of absence to he get professional help.
A series of earthquake have hit near Christchurch, New Zealand, the same city that was hit four months ago. In that earthquake, more than 180 people were killed. Officials say at least one building was destroyed and 10 people hurt in this earthquake. Residents right now are telling CNN the power is out and the phone lines are down.
Also, two new photos of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords have been posted to her Facebook pages. It's our first look at Giffords since she was shot in the head in January. Giffords is expected to leave a Houston rehab facility by the end of the month and begin outpatient treatment -- Christine.
ROMANS: Kiran, the big matchup just hours away here in New Hampshire. While some frontrunners have jumped out of the pack, one candidate could have their breakout night tonight.
With us now is 2012 presidential candidate and former senator, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
Welcome to the program. Really nice to meet you.
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Christine.
ROMANS: I want to talk about how you break out. I mean, everyone says that the target is on Romney's back. Everyone is going to be trying to show they are different than President Obama and there are seven people up there and a few candidates who are not going to be up there tonight who haven't declared yet -- how do you stand out for 2012?
SANTORUM: Well, I think I stand out because I have been a consistent conservative, someone who's been a leader, someone who's had the courage to lead on a variety of hot button topics before they were popular, like entitlement reform.
ROMANS: Right.
SANTORUM: I've been a leader on that. I've been a strong advocate for pro-growth policy, which I think is the one-two punch we need to get this deficit under control and economy growing. One example, national security, look at the field up there, really no one has the experience on national security that I have that, you know, leading in Washington, D.C.
And finally, again, having the courage on the moral cultural issues, a lot of folks can check the boxes.
ROMANS: Right.
SANTORUM: Very few have gone out and led.
So I've led across the board, I have a good track record and have a very good and clear vision for the future that I think contrasts well with the folks up there.
ROMANS: You've lived your life along with your traditional values and you're known as a culture warrior because of that. But our polls are showing that people are really concerned about jobs and the economy. So, where you have proven yourself and really a known quantity on the traditional values and cultural warrior, you've also authored some legislation when you were senator on foreign policy.
SANTORUM: Right.
ROMANS: How do you break out on jobs and the economy?
SANTORUM: Well, that's the other -- that's the great thing is that what people know me for and trust me and support generally speaking among conservatives, I have the opportunity to expand that base because I've done other things, too, that people aren't aware of, because I've been sort of type cast, if you will, because of my activity in that area.
So, I'm very encouraged that the more people get -- and I've seen this in Iowa, in New Hampshire, in South Carolina, the more people get to know about what I've done, the leadership I've provided, and I would argue courageous leadership, going out on Social Security reform in 2005 and 2006, my election cycle --
ROMANS: That hurt you.
SANTORUM: That hurt me greatly, but, you know, President Bush said, you know, this is what we're going to do. And Jim DeMint and I, you know, (INAUDIBLE) parts, went down to the floor of the Senate, held a series of debates down there, structured debates with Democrats.
Definitely hurt me, but it was the right thing to do. I still believe it's the right thing to do. I think I've shown in good times and bad, you know, willing to put their political career on the line to do what's right.
ROMANS: But if that hurt you in 2006, could it hurt you again as a Republican? I mean, seniors are worried about Medicare. They're worried about Social Security. Seniors, AARP is against the Ryan plan. You know, you support the Ryan plan and go further on Social Security.
SANTORUM: Yes, AARP is against anything. AARP has got their head in the sand with respect to Social Security and Medicare. I mean, those --
ROMANS: A lot of seniors listen and are worried.
SANTORUM: Look, I understand. We have a responsibility. We have to go out and educate the American public, paint a vision for them as to, you know, what we want to accomplish. Now, we want to save Social Security.
ROMANS: What would you do with Social Security?
SANTORUM: I think the one thing we can do with Social Security is look at the cost of living increase. When I go running in New Hampshire and I ask people what should the cost of living increase that you get for Social Security be tied to? And they all answer the same thing -- it should be tied to the prices that we pay.
Well, it's not tied to the prices that you pay. It's tied to wage inflation, which has nothing to do with what seniors are dealing with. I mean, if wages go up, they go up for a variety of reasons, part of which is worker productivity which, of course, seniors are not involved in.
And so, what I've said is, let's do what seniors think is already the case, which is to tie inflation, cost of increases to prices. If we do that, it's a very small change, compounds over a long period of time. And so, for current seniors, it's an inconsequential change.
But for long term, we can say to folks like you, young people like you, because we make that change, we're not -- you're not going to have to worry Social Security is not going to be there. It solves about 75 percent of the shortfall.
ROMANS: Of course, if we need to create an awful lot of jobs. If we could create a lot more jobs and have a jobs boom, we have more people paying into Social Security.
SANTORUM: Well, that's why we can't -- that's why we can't do tax increases. I mean, if we do tax increases on Social Security, which, of course, a lot of Democrats are suggesting, if we do tax increases generally, which is what the president is suggesting, that's going to destroy this economy. We need -- we need a pro-growth policy, reduce tax rates, get rid of this oppressive government that Barack Obama --
ROMANS: Reduce tax rates from here?
SANTORUM: Absolutely, particularly on businesses.
ROMANS: So, cut spending, cut taxes, the economy -- business gets confident, the economy grows. We're out of our problems?
SANTORUM: Well, it's -- and then we have to do some things on the entitlement side. So, yes, we have to do something on the government side. If you look at spending as a percentage of GDP, historically, it's been between the range 17 percent and 19 percent. Right now, it's close to 25 percent.
There's a couple of reasons for that. Number one, we're in a bad economy and so, we're spending more money on transfer payments. The second reason is, we have grown the size of this government and with the implementation of Obama care, it's going to explode again. We simply cannot afford it.
And number one, not only can we not afford it it's not right for America. It's too restricting of our freedom. It's going to destroy our economy.
ROMANS: I ask you quickly about your family. They're all on board. You have a 3-year-old. I have a 3-year-old.
Your 3-year-old is ill. You have --
SANTORUM: She's not ill. She has a disability.
ROMANS: Right. You have a big family, who's all got to be in this 100 percent. Everybody is ready?
SANTORUM: Yes. I mean, last week when we announced last Monday was really a special time for the family and, you know, I was always -- I was always a little nervous because it's a big responsibility.
We have seven children, ages 20 to 3. But they were -- they were encouraging me and lifting me up, really, they were. It was very special. And they've been that way ever since and were before.
I mean, this was a family decision. Not something you say I'm going to do this.
ROMANS: Right.
SANTORUM: This is a we proposition and it's very much a we game.
And Karen who you will see tonight was magnificent last week and she's my real strength.
ROMANS: OK, great. Rick Santorum, very nice to meet you. Thank you. Good luck tonight.
SANTORUM: Thank you, Christine. Appreciate it.
ROMANS: All right. Kiran, back to you in New York.
CHETRY: Thanks.
Well, the family of a missing Indiana University student is now offering a $100,000 reward for anyone who can help them find their daughter. Lauren Spierer was last seen 10 days ago leaving an apartment building near her home at 4:30 in the morning.
Her case is getting national attention now. It was featured on "America's Most Wanted" Saturday night. Police are now reviewing videotapes from local businesses and are speaking with persons of interest.
A bug expert front and center this weekend at the Casey Anthony murder trial. Entomologist Neal Haskell took the stand on Saturday, testifying about the insects he found in the murder suspect's trunk. It is the trunk that prosecutors claim that Casey Anthony stored the remains of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEFF ASHTON, PROSECUTOR: Let me present to you a hypothetical. That the body of a young child was stored in the trunk of that car for a period of time, and then removed and deposited in another location. Does that fit with the entomological evidence you found?
DR. NEAL HASKELL, FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGIST: Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Dr. Haskell then testified that he believes Caylee's body was in her mother's trunk for up to five days before it was moved and buried in the woods. The trial continues this morning. The prosecution is expected to call a tattoo artist that Casey Anthony visited in the weeks after her daughter disappeared.
And a spectacular crash at the 24 hour Le Mans race over the weekend. Check it out. The driver of this Audi slamming into the wall, showering spectators and photographers with debris, even wheels coming crashing down there. It was one of two major crashes involving the Audi cars. Both drivers, though, walked away from the wrecks. The Audi still managed to win the endurance race for a tenth time.
The creators of "South Park" now the kings of Broadway. Trey Parker and Matt Stone's musical satire "The Book of Mormon" was a big winner at last night's Tony Awards. It was nominated for 14 Tonys. It took home nine. It was also a big night for the drama "War Horse," which won five Tonys, including best new play.
Well, there is a growing crisis along Syria's border with Turkey. Violent government crackdown in Syria sending thousands of Syrian refugees fleeing across the border. We're going to check in with the latest with Zain Verjee to find out exactly what's going on.
Also, Mike Tyson sharing the stage with Rocky Balboa. It's a boxing Hall of Fame class of 2011.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-three minutes past the hour.
The former San Francisco Bay Area transit officer convicted of killing a man on a train station on New Year's Day back in 2009 is out of prison this morning. He served only one year of his two-year sentence because of good conduct credits. During his trial, the former BART officer said he inadvertently grabbed his gun instead of his taser.
And Transportation Security Administration firing 36 airport screeners and managers at Honolulu International Airport after an investigation found that they failed to check thousands of bags for explosives. This is believed to be the largest number of terminations in the agency's history. Sources say the former TSA workers regularly allowed checked bags to be loaded on to early morning flights without being screened.
Iron Mike Tyson, too emotional to finish his speech as he was inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame yesterday. Tyson was the youngest heavyweight champion of all time. But the question will always remain: could he have been the best ever? Tyson shared the stage yesterday with a loveable underdog from Philly, Rocky Balboa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYLVESTER STALLONE, ACTOR: Yo, I did it!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Yes. Sylvester Stallone now has a spot in the boxing Hall of Fame for the "Rocky" movies. Stallone says it took three days to write "Rocky" and it ended up winning best picture in 1976.
Syria's violent crackdown on government demonstrators has caused a massive crisis across the border in Turkey. This is where thousands of refugees are fleeing and many are in need of medical help.
Zain Verjee tracking the latest developments and she joins us this morning from London.
Hi, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, Kiran.
It's a rapidly deteriorating situation. You got something like 5,000 Syrian refugees that have crossed this border town and basically are in Turkey right now. This town called Jisr al-Shughour was essentially faced with government tanks, helicopters, heavy shelling, on the weekend. It was an awful situation and the town is pretty much emptied out, according to people that have been talking to reporters in Turkey.
The Syrian army is now in control of the city. But as you look at these pictures of refugees, aide agencies, Kiran, are going, look, we have no access to these people. We do not know exactly the number of people here. So, how do we plan for them accordingly?
And the other thing, too, they don't know who to believe because the Syrian government has allowed reporters to independently come in and interview people or to witness anything that's happening. This spectacle may be a turning point, Kiran, because the Syrian government has been repressing images like this for so long, but now, we're actually seeing what's happening.
CHETRY: Also you have, in another story that's going on right now, tens of thousands of air travelers in Australia and New Zealand stranded because of a volcanic eruption, this one in Chile. What's going on here?
VERJEE: Yes. Here we go again, Kiran. Volcanic ash clouds messing up people's holidays and travel plans. Just take a look at this volcano. It's in Chile, and it has basically created a real hassle for thousands of people that are stranded at airports. There have been cancellations of loads of flights, Australia and New Zealand. Many passengers delayed until Wednesday.
The whole, Kiran, is really going to depend on the wind and the direction of the wind takes to see whether or not the planes can take off. This one is called Puyehue-Cordon Caulle. I don't know why volcano's names are so hard these days, Kiran. Puyehue-Cordon Caulle.
CHETRY: I can't even -- the first one in Iceland has , you know, 25 letters.
VERJEE: Yes. That's just about --
CHETRY: The Iceland volcano. All right. Zain, thanks so much.
VERJEE: All right.
CHETRY: You can watch Zain every morning, 5:00 a.m. "World One" right here on CNN.
Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING, more than 30 campers trapped by a massive mudslide. We're going to have details on the rescue effort to get them out safely. It's 47 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Forty-eight minutes past the hour. Here are your headlines this morning.
Democratic leaders stepping up pressure on New York Congressman Anthony Weiner to resign after new racy photos of Weiner posing in the house gym emerged on TMZ, the website. Weiner, so far, has refused to resign. Instead, he's announced he's taking a leave of absence to get professional help.
A series of earthquakes rocked Christchurch, New Zealand. At least ten people injured and at least one building destroyed. It's the same area, though, where another earthquake killed more than 180 people back in February.
Arizona congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, all smiles in the first photos the public has seen since she was critically wounded in a January shooting. Giffords is expected to leave a rehab facility soon and begin outpatient treatment.
With rebel forces closing in on Tripoli, Libyan leader, Moammar Gadhafi, a arranged a photo op yesterday playing chess with the visiting Russian president of the international chess federation.
And the big matchup tonight will be the GOP presidential debate live from New Hampshire only on CNN. Eight Republicans will be battling it out. New polls out this morning show Mitt Romney goes in as expected with the lead.
And a big night for big "D." The Dallas Mavericks winning their first ever NBA championship. They closed out the Miami Heat in six games, 105-95 win in Miami last night. The Mavs Dirk Nowitzki was named finals MVP. And you're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Fifty-one minutes past the hour. More than 30 campers are safe this morning in North Central Washington State. They were trapped by a large mudslide. It was ten feet deep in some spots since Friday. Over the weekend, crews were able to clear a small path through the mud, and that allowed everyone trapped at two different camp grounds to get out safely.
Rob Marciano is in the Extreme Weather Center for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kiran. Yes, a little bit of rain there over the weekend. They've had an extremely wet winter and spring, and we've got another front that's pushing into the pacific northwest, and flood warnings are still posted for parts of Yakima County, which is very close to where that mudslide happened.
Elsewhere, we've got a storm that's rolling across the midsection of the country, severe weather potential here, and the cool air is in place across the northeast. That sort of feels nice compared to what you saw last week. That will last for another couple days. We do have critical fire danger again today. It does involve the area across eastern parts of Arizona where that fire is burning.
In through parts of Albuquerque and into Northern Texas as well for low humidity and high winds today, and of course, not a whole lot of rain expected in this area. We do expect to see some rain across parts of Missouri. We've got a severe thunderstorm watch that's just been posted by the storm's prediction center. That's in effect until one o'clock this afternoon. Hail and some gusty winds the main threat with this.
We've got a couple of cells that are popping up just around I-40 there heading down to the south and east for about 30 to 40 miles an hour. Look at the heat yesterday. It's kind of spread out. Not so much across the north. You folks have cooled down, but in Roswell, New Mexico, 107. So, that certainly kind of aggravates the fire danger there. Midland, Texas, 105 degrees, again, measured in the shade and other spots in Georgia seeing 100 degrees.
The southeast continues to sizzle and the southern plains, so no relief there from the heat. A 101 expected in Dallas. That'll be 96 degrees in Houston, and it's going to be steamy there. It's going to be 96 degrees as well in New Orleans and 93 degrees in Atlanta, but look at the north. Seventy-one degrees in Chicago. Breaking records at this time last week. Certainly feels a lot more comfortable.
Eighty-one degrees, we were up and over 100 degrees in some spots across the mid-Atlantic last week, so a much, much cooler and more comfortable, and it will be 75 degrees in New York City. Although, a little bit unsettled over the weekend. So, you get take the good with the bad. They ran the Belmont stakes there. It's sloppy conditions. So, it's not quite as beautiful as it was for, say, the Kentucky Derby, but now that the Triple Crown is over, you can stop betting on the ponies there, Kiran. I know you like to go to the track from time to time.
CHETRY: Yes, actually, someone invited me to Belmont, but we had a busy weekend. Probably wouldn't have been so great sitting out there, huh? Little dreary.
MARCIANO: It was not the best of weather, but the horses seem to like it.
CHETRY: They do. They like -- they'll run in anything. All right. Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: All right. See you.
CHETRY: CNN is going to be hosting the first Republican presidential, by the way, debate in the critical state of New Hampshire tonight. Our Christine Romans is there. She is live this morning at the debate site in New Hampshire where Manchester, New Hampshire, where seven candidates will try to stand out in that crowded field.
This is our question of the day. With tonight's GOP debate, what issues are most important to you?
Let's start with Sean Harris. "They should talk about a new and better way to fix the economy. The stimulus package is working too slowly."
ROMANS: And this one from Shelby Jameson on Facebook. "The most important issues to me are civil liberties and the national debt. There are other things that I would like to hear debated, but these are my top two."
CHETRY: Admiralporky on Twitter writes "Jobs, Afghanistan, and Iraq exit strategy. Medicare and Social Security. Which candidate has the guts to confront Iran over nukes and take military action?
ROMANS: And Climate Action on Facebook -- sounds like maybe that somebody who's interesting in climate change -- Climate action, "What is American going to do to come back climate change? What role is America going to play in the clean and green economy? Does America want a sunset economy or a sunrise one?"
Keep your comments coming. Send us an e-mail, a tweet, you can tell us on Facebook. We're going to read some of your thoughts a bit later. I'll be back from New Hampshire with more on tonight's GOP debate. Kiran, back to you. I keep saying it's chilly. Rob said it feels pretty good up there in the northeast. It's chilly. The heat here in New Hampshire is coming from politics, not from Mother Nature, that's for sure.
CHETRY: It will probably warm up as the day goes on, but you're right. When you're out there in the early morning hours, good thing you brought your coat. (LAUGHTER)
CHETRY: All right, Christine. Also next, new photos and more trouble for Congressman Anthony Weiner. These possibly taken on Capitol Hill grounds as the calls grow louder from his fellow -- his fellow Congress people to step down. What do his constituents think? We're going to have more on that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
