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CNN Sunday Morning

GOP Candidates Square Off; Santorum's Momentum; One Year After Tucson Massacre

Aired January 08, 2012 - 07:00   ET

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

(MUSIC)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, Sunday, January 8th. It's 7:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 6:00 a.m. in Nashville, and 5:00 a.m. in Tucson, Arizona.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Gary Tuchman.

Republican presidential candidates duking it out on stage again. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum engaged in a heated exchange. Rick Perry says he would send U.S. troops back into Iraq if he were president. We'll give you all the highlights if you missed the New Hampshire debate.

Plus, you may not know it, but you are killing your credit score with simple things such as renting a car. We'll explain coming up.

We start with politics and the race to be the Republican presidential nominee. The New Hampshire primary is now just two days away, the first in the nation primary. So, you could have expected fireworks -- you may have expected it because there's been lots of fireworks in other debates, at last night's debate in Manchester.

Well, if you wanted fireworks, you might have been disappointed in this one. There were just a few shots fired. But maybe surprisingly, front-runner Mitt Romney wasn't generally the target.

CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser has the highlights.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Good morning, Gary.

Round one this doubleheader of debates this weekend up here in New Hampshire is over. And guess what? Front-runner Mitt Romney is still the front-runner. The former Massachusetts governor who's way ahead in polls here in New Hampshire really remained unscathed in this debate as a lot of his rivals for the Republican nomination didn't really attack him but rather went after each other.

Take a listen to this exchange between Ron Paul, the congressman from Texas, and former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who's really been surging in the polls. REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's a big government person along with him being very associated with the lobbyists and taking a lot of funds. And also where did he make his living afterwards? I mean, he became a high-powered lobbyist in Washington, D.C.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a ridiculous charge. And you should know better than to cite George Soros-like organizations to say that they're corrupt. So, that's number one. Ron, I'm a conservative, I'm not a libertarian, I believe in some government.

STEINHAUSER: Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman is placing all his chips right here in New Hampshire. He didn't really campaign in Iowa and he's hoping for a strong finish here in Tuesday's primary. Huntsman was touting his experience as U.S. ambassador to China. But Mitt Romney had an answer.

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's nonsense to think you can slap a tariff on China the first day that you're in office as Governor Romney would like to do. You've got to sort through the issues of trade like you do with North Korea, like you do with Iran, like you do with Burma, and Pakistan, and the South China Sea. They're all interrelated.

And to have a president who actually understands how that relationship works would serve the interests of the people of this country from an economic standpoint and from a security standpoint.

RICK ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm sorry. Governor, you were the last two years implementing the policies of this administration in China.

STEINHAUSER: Texas Governor Rick Perry had a disappointing fifth place finish in Iowa. He's hoping for a strong comeback. He appeared to make a little news at the debate.

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would send troops back in to Iraq, because I will tell you --

MODERATOR: Now?

PERRY: I think we start talking with the Iraqi individuals there. The idea that we allow the Iranians to come back into Iraq and take over that country with all of the treasure both in blood and money that we have spent in Iraq because this president wants to kowtow to his liberal leftist base and move out those men and women. He could have renegotiated that time frame. I think it is a huge error for us.

STEINHAUSER: Those comments sure generated a lot of buzz online and on social networks. And they were a talking point in the spin room after the debate.

This debate only round one. A few hours from now, another showdown between these six candidates as we get closer and closer to Tuesday's primary -- Gary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Thank you very much, Paul.

We still want to talk about the debate. So, joining me live from New Hampshire's largest city of Manchester is Patricia Murphy. She's the founder and editor of "Citizen Jane Politics."

Thank you very much for joining us, Patricia. We appreciate it.

PATRICIA MURPHY, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Thanks for having me.

STEINHAUSER: Now, Mitt Romney, the clear front-runner in New Hampshire and in South Carolina, and probably in Florida after that as of now.

Did his rivals miss the mark last night by not going after him?

MURPHY: I think what we saw his rivals doing, they were going after whoever they thought was between them and the nomination. And at this point, Mitt Romney is not really a lot of these guys' biggest problem. There's a huge battle up here in New Hampshire for second and third. Everybody knows Mitt Romney is going to run away with this. He's lived here forever.

He's been campaigning here forever. He was the governor of a neighboring state. He's going to win New Hampshire, no doubt about it. So, there's the battle for second and third. And so, you saw this sort of dog fight between everyone who wanted get ahead of each other in any way possible.

So, we saw Newt Gingrich mixing it up with Ron Paul, who mixed it up with Rick Santorum. That's what they were doing.

Did they miss an opportunity? I think so. If nobody goes after Mitt Romney, he's going win the whole thing. They need do something soon. We'll see if they do it this morning.

TUCHMAN: I mean, you raise an important point. There's a situation where you want to come in second because you want to be at just a one and two race between Mitt Romney and yourself. You think you could coalesce and get those conservative voters and them maybe beat him.

But still, you would expect to hear criticism of Romney even if they weren't -- that wasn't the most important goal. You heard Rick Santorum last night come close to directly criticizing Romney. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: I'm talking about -- yes, in the case of -- you know, the manager, as you're talking about, as far as the commander-in-chief or the manager part?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The manager --

SANTORUM: The manager part. Yes, well, of course, I was talking about Governor Romney. I was talking about someone who brings to the table, he says, I'm going to be -- you know, I've got business experience. Well, business experience doesn't necessarily match up with being the commander-in-chief of this country. The commander-in- chief this country isn't a CEO. It's someone who has to lead.

And it's also, being the president is not a CEO. You can't direct, you know, members of Congress and members of the Senate as to how you do things. You've got to lead and inspire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Patricia, we knew that Santorum wasn't going to win in New Hampshire, not necessarily come close. But after the Iowa caucuses, he lost by eight votes. It he would have gotten nine more votes, he would have won the Iowa caucuses.

We anticipated perhaps maybe some kind of significant jump in the polling in New Hampshire over the last few days, which we haven't seen as of yet. So, do you think he's capitalizing on his momentum?

MURPHY: I think he's doing everything he can to capitalize on his momentum. We know that he's raising a lot more money this week than he was last week. So, that's a good way to get started. We know also that he's going to start going into South Carolina.

New Hampshire isn't really fertile territory for Rick Santorum, but he's here just to play, just to be on the field and just to finish top three. I think you're going to see Rick Santorum's biggest move come in South Carolina. That's where he needs to wrap up the conservative vote, coalesce it behind him. And then he can become the anti-Romney, try and make it a two-man race.

TUCHMAN: So, at this point, what does it look like as far as the two-man race scenario goes? Do you think by the time we get to Florida, we're just going to have two people left?

MURPHY: I think South Carolina's going to give us a huge indication of that. If Mitt Romney wins South Carolina, then he will -- he's most likely to have won the first three states. They all have a huge, diverse ideological breadth. So, if he wins one, two, three, it looks like he's going to be coming away with it in Florida.

But if he doesn't win in South Carolina and if he doesn't do as well as expected in New Hampshire, it could still be anybody's race in Florida. So, look at how big the margin is Tuesday and look at what happens in South Carolina. If Mitt Romney doesn't win South Carolina, this is not his race to win because we still know that about 75 percent of Republicans are not on the Romney bandwagon yet. And South Carolina's going to give us a big sign of whether or not that's going to happen.

TUCHMAN: Well, Patricia Murphy, just like you advised, we will be looking and paying attention. Thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it.

MURPHY: Thank you.

TUCHMAN: Be sure to stay with CNN for all of the news on the New Hampshire primary. Our special coverage kicks off Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Now for some other headlines:

Around 100 soldiers are locked down right now at Lewis-McChord Army Air Force Base in Washington state. Commanders there are reacting to a report of missing military equipment including night lasers and gun scopes. The restricted soldiers are all part of the Fourth Brigade Second Infantry Division. Officials are telling us there is no threat to the public.

Police in Denver, Colorado, trying to figure out why an area couple were the targets of a package bomb. The two people, a man and a woman, were injured when the bomb exploded in their car. It had been left at the front door. According to local reports, investigators are looking at a possible suspect, but there's been no word on a motive in the attack.

Mt. Rainier National Park is now open to the public once again. The park was closed down after a park ranger was shot and killed last week. A former soldier is blamed in the shooting. He was found dead a little while later. A memorial service for the ranger who was killed, Margaret Anderson, is planned for Tuesday.

A container ship grounded off the coast of New Zealand has broken into two. Big swells battered the helpless ship -- these are amazing pictures -- knocking a couple hundred containers off the deck. Only 15 containers have been recovered. Inside, one of the containers had ton of milk powder which spilled into the water.

The ship has actually been stuck on a reef off northern New Zealand since October. So you're talking about three months the ship's been there.

Officials say they are ready to clean up any oil that spills from the broken ship.

But right now, it's nine minutes past the hour. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele has a sneak peek of your Sunday forecast -- Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi. Good morning, Gary.

Hi, everyone, good morning to you.

New York City, an April day yesterday -- feeling like it anyway -- with temperatures in the 60s. Is that heat over? And where's the rain and the fog? Talk a little Chinook action, some Santa Anas and some snow out west. All those details coming up in the full forecast in a few minutes -- Gary.

TUCHMAN: I love the word Chinook. And when we come back, I want to ask you, what does that mean?

STEELE: All right. Chinook-y.

TUCHMAN: OK.

STEELE: I'll give you a little Chinook-y.

TUCHMAN: A Snooki Chinook wind?

STEELE: You got it.

TUCHMAN: All right. I'm going to ask you about that shortly.

Meanwhile, an iced-in Alaskan town is just months away from running out of fuel. But help is now on the way in the Bering Strait. More on the historic mission in a about minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: A remote Alaskan city that's been iced-in for months may get the emergency fuel that it's desperately need there within the next 48 hours or so. According to CNN affiliate KTUU, a Russian tanker carrying the fuel is less than 200 miles away from Nome, Alaska. The tanker is being escorted by a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker that's plowing a path through the thick sea ice, an international effort.

We spoke with Nome's mayor, Denise Michels, who says without this delivery, Nome would run out of fuel before spring.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DENISE MICHELS, NOME, ALASKA (via telephone): We've had four back-to-back slow storms, and the below-zero weather snap for almost two weeks now. And so, there is more use of the low-grade diesel for heavy equipment to clear snow. (INAUDIBLE) came to us and told that us that they looked at their inventory and the historical use and said by March, which is in the middle of winter for us, the Iditarod's running then, that we would run out of unleaded and low- grace diesel. Come March, we would have a serious issue because the first fuel barge can't get here until June, until the ice is cleared.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: The mayor and residents of Nome are very hearty people, particularly in the winter. If the mission is a success, this would be the first time fuel has been delivered by sea to a western Alaskan community in the middle of the winter. The fuel tanker is expected to reach Nome on Monday, tomorrow.

Well, it's another warm winter day around here in the Atlanta, Georgia, area. Much of the United States. But it's a different story out West.

Meteorologist Alexandra Steele is keeping her eye on the weekend forecast. And one of the reasons it's getting colder is because of the Chinook winds. I've heard that term --

STEELE: No!

TUCHMAN: No, it's not. So, let me ask you, what is a Chinook win?

STEELE: Chinook.

TUCHMAN: Chinook.

STEELE: Well, technically, it's adiabatic warming of downward flowing air. And it happens in the interior west. And so air goes over the mountain and then goes down. So, it's the air as it sinks, it compresses and it warms. And it warms the air.

So, it's a Chinook wind, warm wind in Montana. And gusts are pretty strong -- 30, 40 mile-per-hour winds. And, you know, it's been known that a Chinook wind can eat away, it's called kind of a snow eater. It can eat away a foot of snow in just a day. So, it's a warm wind. So, there you go with that.

All right. Talk about some winds. Now, these are not courtesy of Santa Anas or Chinook winds, but we have seen some incredibly warm temperatures. This is just warm air coming up from the Gulf.

Look at this, Newark, New Jersey, records yesterday in the 60s. And New York City, 62, more like an April day than a day in January. Temperatures are warm today, continuing and will stay warm for tomorrow, as well.

Tomorrow, New York, six degrees above where we should be this time of year. Atlanta should be a 52, how about 67, and all the way -- I mean, pretty dramatic in Minot, 26 degrees above average. So, jet stream continues to be well far to the north, keeping any of that arctic air locked up in Canada and certainly not allowing the U.S. to kind of get in on the action.

In terms of what we're seeing in the Southeast, if you're getting out now in Atlanta, Georgia, or Charlotte, New Orleans, or waking up and you can't even see anything. So, it's pretty foggy out there. So fog this morning, clouds and some scattered showers.

I mean, not a total washout, but there are some bigger cells kind of moving through with some stronger winds. But from Raleigh to Charleston, again, a little bit of cloud and shower activity today. Delays potentially Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, you got the picture in the southeast and Los Angeles, the little fog and some warm Santa Ana winds there. Not Chinook-y -- Gary.

TUCHMAN: So, Alexandra, I pronounced it wrong and --

STEELE: And the definition was wrong completely.

TUCHMAN: I was going to say that I was going to admit to it before you --

STEELE: You're the smartest guy I think I know.

TUCHMAN: So, I was going to say something nice to you -- thank goodness are you here to correct me. And our viewers probably knew this anyway.

STEELE: What would you all do without me at 6:00 in the morning?

TUCHMAN: Alexandra, I agree 100 percent.

STEELE: I can't imagine.

TUCHMAN: Thank you very much.

STEELE: Sure.

TUCHMAN: Well, climbing Kilimanjaro for charity. Last week, we talked with New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey about the planned climb. He's doing it to raise money for a charity that helps stop the abuse and trafficking of children in India. Well, he is there. His climb team started the quest last Wednesday. He sent this pic on Twitter last night with the line, "Greetings from the slope of Mt. Kili."

We'll keep an eye out for more updates throughout his track up the mountain. He's a good pitcher, too, by the way.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the deadly shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona. We'll look back at the day and reflect on a community moving forward, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Today marks one year since the shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona, which left six people dead, 13 injured. Among the victims was Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. Amazingly, Giffords survived after a bullet went through her brain.

This is a picture of her before and then after the shooting. She's now undergoing a long recovery. Giffords and her staff held a ceremony in her Tucson office honoring her aide, Gabe Zimmerman, who was killed.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez takes a look back at that tragic day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have breaking news for you. Several people have been shot. The shooting occurred at a grocery store --

(SIREN)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have discovered that we have 18 individuals who were shot.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): January 8th, 2011, a day Tucson will never forget.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The bodies laying on the concrete.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The screaming, the crying, the bleeding.

GUTIERREZ: Nineteen people were shot that day, six of them died. The youngest, 9-year-old Christina Green, was one of many who had gone to the Safeway store to meet Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Christina was there with her neighbor, Suzie Hileman.

SUZIE HILEMAN: And then this gunshot.

GUTIERREZ: Christina was shot in the chest.

HILEMAN: I was holding hands with Christina, we were just eyeball to eyeball. She was confused and scared. And I knew when we were laying on the ground outside of Safeway, the light went out of her eyes.

GUTIERREZ: As many of the victims lay bleeding in pools of blood, two men wrestled the gunman.

JOE ZAMUDIO, WITNESS: I put my legs on his -- behind his knees and my arm on the back of the small of his back. And the other guy was stepping on his neck.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gunman is in police custody. He is Jared Lee Loughner, 22 years old.

GUTIERREZ: The scene was chaotic with sheriff's deputies and civilians trying to triage victims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is anybody injured? Did you say Gabrielle Giffords was hit?

GUTIERREZ: The congresswoman was shot in the head. Her intern Daniel Hernandez ran to her side and used his bare hands to stop the bleeding.

DANIEL HERNANDEZ, FORMER INTERN FOR GIFFORDS: I couldn't see an exit wound. I didn't know if there was one. All I saw was the entry wound. That's where I was applying pressure.

GUTIERREZ: In the end, it was Hernandez, the paramedics, and trauma team who saved Gabrielle Giffords' life.

DR. PETER RHEE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, UMC TRAUMA CENTER: Overall, this is about as good as it's going to get. When you get shot in the head and the bullet goes through your brain, the chances of you living is very small and the chances of you waking up and actually following commands.

GUTIERREZ: January 8th, 2011 will be remembered as a catastrophic day, one where a year later a community has pulled together to honor the victims and survivors of the deadliest rampage in the city's history. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Tucson, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Thank you, Thelma.

Here's a look at the events that are planned in Arizona today. Ron Barber, who was shot twice in the Tucson massacre, will host a program called "Reflections: Honoring the Lives of the January 8 Shooting Victims." That's at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:00 p.m. Arizona time in Centennial Hall on the University of Arizona campus.

At 8:30 Eastern, 6:30 p.m. Arizona time, Representative Gabrielle Giffords and husband Captain Mark Kelly will participate in a vigil at the University of Arizona Mall.

Saving your credit score. There are easy ways to avoid messing with your credit. Our financial expert, Clyde Anderson, joins me next to help lead you away from pitfalls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: If you plan to settle your holiday debt with a holiday bonus or tax refunds, you may want to reconsider. Believe it or not, paying your bills off completely could actually hurt your credit score. Money coach Clyde Anderson explains that and some other stealth dings to your score.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL EXPERT: What you have to understand, it's a game. It's a credit system has been set up and start to weigh in. If you understand the credit system, then you know how to work the credit system. And generally, if you pay down a zero, it will hurt your credit score. What they want to see is you keep some sort of balance in there, if you think about it.

That's why it actually benefits the creditors, if you're paying a little bit of interest in those costs. You're now playing into their game.

TUCHMAN: What do you mean a little of balance?

ANDERSON: Generally 30 percent.

TUCHMAN: Really?

ANDERSON: For example, if you have a car, that you $1,000 balance, you want to keep about $300 on there. You want to be able to pay it down but you want to control it, but also keep a little bit of balance. If your goal is to increase your credit score and not damage your credit score.

TUCHMAN: Can you do that?

ANDERSON: Yes, definitely. TUCHMAN: OK. I want to make sure you practice what you preach.

ANDERSON: I do. I play the game.

TUCHMAN: OK. So, what else can unwittingly cause our credit rating to suffer?

ANDERSON: Well, I think there are several things. One is I think a lot of people don't realize is rental cars. You know, if you go and buy, or to rent a rental car and you use a debit card, it can hurt your credit card because they're pulling credit and it's considered to be a hard pull. When you have a hard pull, those are dings on your credit score. And so, people don't realize that a lot of times.

TUCHMAN: Is ding the scientific term by the way?

ANDERSON: Yes, that's the scientific term -- the term I coined.

TUCHMAN: OK. I thought I'd heard that. Well, maybe because you coined it.

ANDERSON: There you go.

TUCHMAN: It gets all over the place. OK. So, ding your score. I like that term.

ANDERSON: Yes, ding your score. Yes, you like that.

TUCHMAN: It doesn't sound that bad like ruins your score.

ANDERSON: Right, ding it.

TUCHMAN: OK.

ANDERSON: But also, APR. You know, a lot of people go and say, we want to reduce the APR. They call the credit card company and say, I need a lower score, I mean, a lower interest rate.

TUCHMAN: Lower rate.

ANDERSON: And so, when they do a lot of times, what happens is sometimes they reduce your limit as well. So, now, when you're limit is reduced on a credit card, it can hurt your credit score also.

TUCHMAN: So, if you want your APR reduced, which is I would think a good thing, a great thing. You got to make sure that they don't reduce your limit.

ANDERSON: Do not reduce my limit, because what happens a lot of times, and we've seen in the last year or so with the economy shifting, is that some of the credit card companies are unknowing to the customers reducing those limits and saying you had a $5,000, now they reduced it to $2,500. So, it reduces their risk but it hurts your credit score.

TUCHMAN: OK. Now, what should we do to improve our credit scores?

ANDERSON: There are several things you can do to improve your credit score. One is paying your bills on time. I think that's the first one, is pay your bills on time.

But also monitor it. Make sure things aren't going on they don't know about. So, sometimes, people said put a fraud alert. I think you always need to have some an alert to alert you before people use your credit or credit is extended.

So, understanding credit is one of the big pieces and leveraging it. Making sure you know how to leverage the credit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Money coach Clyde Anderson.

Well, if you're heading to church this morning, are you expecting your pastor to talk about sex? Probably not. But coming up at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, about 30 minutes from now, I'll speak to a pastor and his wife who say that more sex, a lot more sex, will help you build a healthier marriage. Find out if they are practicing what they preach.

But first, football is a rough, tough game. The big hits are still affecting some players long after final the whistle.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a closer look at concussions and football.

"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." starts now.