stops in the ex-two hours, we will be watching those events. john huntsman visiting concord, new hampshire, 15 minutes from now mitt romney is in hudson. a little later this house, we will dip into that rick perry, almost amscray and rick sister-in-lsantorum a dairy diner, our eyes on those price. turn to other news as well. here it s police investigate ready jerry sandusky sexual abuse case may have got some of their biggest breaks by reading his own book. the former penn state coach's autobiography that was published back in 2000 called "touched" apparently has a lot of details in t in 2009, the mother of an alleged victim helped police find four other victim buys simply leafing through sandusky's book. cnn contributor sarah gannon gave us more details earlily this morning. >> sat down with them and said

my son had a lot of friends back then. they all hang out together, hang out with jerry sandusky and i think you should talk to these other boys, too, not week in they would say. she pointed them in these boys' direction. amir hekmati an ex-marine, born in arizona, raised in michigan. his family says the 28-year-old was arrested in august while visiting his grandmother and other relatives in iran. they say his reported confession, quote unquote, had to have been coerced. also in the news, emotional moments last night at a memorial service marking the one-year anniversary of the tucson shooting mass sack they're left six people dead. congresswoman gaby giffords, one of 13 people wounded, recited the pledge of allegiance. >> one nation, under god,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> such a goose bumps moment. she, by the way is still recovering from her injuries from that incident. and the pharmaceutical company novartis is recalling several of its products because of complaints about mislabeling or broken pill in s -- pills i the bottles. it contains other products in them and asking the customers to destroy them or return them to the store. america's choice, 2012, nation's first primary one day away, mitt romney is the odds on favorite, if you have been watch the polls, a lot of the folk discuss who comes second and who comes third. latest tracking poll by seven news and suffolk university shows romney at 33% followed by ron paul at 20%, huntsman third at 13% and if you look, newt

gingrich and rick santorum are fairly close behind but rick perry, tinkering along at the end there, just 1%. cnn's political director mark prince doing double duty working all the time in the cold joining me now live. i keep wondering if the that little old 1%, mark, was why he just took off from, you know, new hampshire and decide it had is all about south carolina for him. >> it is all about south carolina. maybe he has a relative up here, rick perry you that, 1%, ashleigh. he is spending no money, no time up here now. rick perry's putting all his cards on the table in south carolina. he sees that's the way he can jump start his campaign. he is going to let this little contest play itself out tomorrow and then he is going to try to welcome these candidates to south carolina and quite frankly, probably savage them because if he doesn't do well in south carolina, his campaign will all but be over. >> the polls are really interesting, three different ones that i have been looking at anyway that have jon huntsman

either second or third in this race, but you know how crazy election night can be. so i'm just wondering, mark, if you think huntsman doesn't come in the top three is that it? is that his last stand, if he doesn't make it? >> you know, ashley, i can't imagine that he would go on if he doesn't come in the top three. he has basically moved here, limped here, stake in the hotel that i'm staying in. from what i understand from the hotel steph, he's been here for months. john huntsman has been working the crowds. he has been working the voters here. he needs to come in the top three. some would say he needs to come in the top three but he needs to be closer to number two for his campaign go on. the fact of the matter is he hasn't really been able to res sop nate with conservative voters, conservative wing of the republican party, more of a centrist, co-perhaps do well here in new hampshire, these voters do focus on economic issues but if he doesn't go well here, i can't imagine he is going to be able to get that bounce into south carolina where those voters tend to be more of a mix of social conservative voters actually.

>> before that polling came, before all of the debate, like a debate every ten hours this weekend, could i not see enough of this stuff but it is a bit nauseating as well. if you are in new hampshire, sure you are lapping it up and curious if you were able to get your finger on the pulse of john huntsman slap upside the head of mitt romney that said it is attitudes like that that divide our nation, romney taking a pot shot as serving as ambassador to china. how did that play? >> it played really well here in new hampshire, he made that comment, ashleigh, he got applause from an audience which is a partisan republican audience. that might have been john huntsman's best debate moment in the 12-plus debate, nationally televised debate we was seen the past year. the problem is it a little too late for that? quite frankly is that going to play well in a republican presidential primary? a lot of folks don't like the fact that john huntsman did serve in the obama administration even though he was an ambassador. he was trying to make a point that enough is enough, that partisan politics are rue wing the country and while that might

play well in a general election, very difficult trying to get party activists on your side, ashleigh. a whole lot more to come there go warm up. i know what it is like in january in new hampshire. i grew up -- >> cold out there. >> thank you so much. heating up in the politics race. all eyes tomorrow on new hamp shirk the political year heats up, your best choice for politics, i'm not biased at all, cnn, america's choice, 2012, join wolf blitzer, erin burnett, candy crowley, john king, new hampshire primary begins at that big old 7 that you see on your screen. don't miss it. democrats are pushing for something different in 2012, talking about a president obama/vice president hillary clinton ticket. what do you think about that? had you thought about that? in today's "new york times," bill keller has an opinion column, hillary clinton would

bring a warmth and enthusiasm to the obama candidacy, writes this number one it does more to guarantee obama's re-election than anything else the democrats can do. number two it improves the chances that come nextian january, he will not be a lame duck with a gridlocked congress but a rejuvenated president with a mandate and a congress that may be a little bit less forbidding. and number three, it makes hill right party's heir apparent in 2016. mr. xerl not the first person to suggest that hillary clinton could be on that ticket and we definitely want to hear from you what do you think about that? you think an obama/hillary clinton ticket would be good in? leave your comments on suzanne malveaux's facebook page, i'm just filling in for her. this is her show, that is her facebook page, just go. we are going to air some of your comments a little bit later on in this hour. run down of some of the stories we are covering four. first, they are the money and the muscle behind some of the most negative campaign ads, super pacs. heard about them?

preview in the latest hour. they are slamming mitt romney big time now and been doing a little of it on his own as well. also, a brazen attack against anti-government protestors in syria, right in front of international observers. and then also, a texas deep taker deported to colombia after giving a false identity is now back in the usa. and an 81-year-old driver plunges his car into a florida bay. you are going to see how good sam mar at that points raced to his rescue. later on who has the most satisfying sex life? don't answer that. the question is a 40-year-old or an 80-year-old? now you can answer that the surprising results of brand-new study. and i am not kidding.

one teenager's unbelievable saga has ended with her return to the united states. we have video of jakadrein turner arriving at the airport in dallas, texas. wow, look at that she spent most of the past year in colombia after being deported by the u.s. government. the problem is, she suspect colombian and she is 15, an american teen aim here ran away from home after shoplifting and being arrested for it in houston she gave a fake name and convinced the american and then colombian officials she was a woman named tika cortez, a 21-year-old illegal immigrant. ed lavandera joins me live from dallas, texas, so many questions, i don't know why where to begin on this one. i suppose the first one, she is back, she is safe but the story doesn't end here. where do we go from sneer do we get answers on how this happened? does something happen to her for lying and is she still a colombian citizen? they gave her a passport down there? >> you are right.

just because she is back home after more -- running away from home a year ago there are simply many, many questions that remain as to how all of this happened. we have been talking to people close to the family throughout the weekend and they tell us that there is much more to come out not shocking to many people. jakadrein turner spent her first weekend in her own bed in her dallas home she hasn't seen in a year. a family friend tells us she enjoyed seeing her mother and grandmother again. we are planning to get some rest, planning on planning to get back to a normal life. many people anxiously ate awaiting for turner to start unlocking secrets how she turn herself into tika cortez and

ended up in colombia, her family realize getting back to normal isn't easy. the family is pregnant and needs critical checkups and investigators spending hours asking questions why she ran away and how she got herself deported to colombia. >> i don't necessarily know she ran away for something as ran to something.

>> reporter: studying eight months associated with cortez there are pictures of turner enjoying life in bogota but the postings allude to troubled relationships with various men. >> it looks like she was a willing participant, i truly anticipate the information going to comfort is going to show that she was not necessarily willing. she may have cooperated and probably a lot of coercion involved, but i don't necessarily believe that she just willingly created this plan and went to colombia. >> reporter: ashleigh, after enjoying her first weekend home in more than a year, really those long hours of questions just beginning as her family attorney, who has already promised that a lawsuit will be filed in this case for civil

rights violations, a lot of those questions just beginning, trying to figure out the family and those close to the family she did not act alone, pull this off alone, and figure out exactly how this all happened, ashleigh? >> from facebook to finger froin fingerpointing to i.c.e. to this. iran starting to enrich uranium at a brand new site, defiance of western pressure to halt programs there a fundamentalist newspaper says the new plant is "immune to any military attack." it sudden underground and built to withstand air strikes and said to have 3,000 sent riff fines in operation. if you are counting, another irtainian facility set to have 8,000 machines enriching uranium. tehran says its nuclear program, however is aimed at helping cancer patients. and while we are with iran, let's talk about the president, shall we? mahmoud ahmadinejad. say that three times fast. necessary venezuela visiting

president hugo chavez. despite cultural differences, venezuela and iran found significant common ground. both are among the world's top crude oil explorers and strong allies united by a fierce opposition by what they call u.s. imperialism. the iranian president is scheduled to visit nicaragua, ecuador and cuba later on this week. on six activists in syria say seven more people were killed today. it is youtube video posted online showing anti-government protests on the streets of homs, all of this with arab league observers present. see the arab league cars driving among the protesters, right there, in the middle. thousands of people have reportedly been killed by security force there is despite all of the increased international pressure to stop the violence. our nic robertson is in damascus with a look at mass funerals in the syrian capital.

>> reporter: passions were very high. people were very angry, they were very afraid a lot of people were coming and showing us what they said were bullet wounds, bird shot wounds as well as some people showed us where they had been shot by forces loyal to the government. yet at the same time, in the center of damascus today, large pro-government rally, people telling us that they love president bashar al assad. what is happening here, polarizing. people are believing opposite things. some believe that the president is the right man for the country. there are others that don't. they are not talking to each other and this is really leading to a much more divided country. >> monitoring fan out to meet

with all of the local folks there. and we will continue to keep you updated through nic as well. egyptian civil rights lawyers are demanding the death penalty for former egyptian president hosni mubarak, joining the prosecutor's calls for him to be executed, one attorney tells cnn that negligence and actions led to the endangering of the national security of that country. new bar vac accused of corruption and ordering protesters killed during the country's uprising last year and he is denying all of those charges. amnesty international is estimating more than 850 protesters were killed, 6,000 injured. the defense is expected to make its closing arguments later on this week but the verdict could come before january 25th and if you will recall, that's the day the egyptian uprising began last year. here's a real turn. young love may be exciting, find

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this is newt gingrich on the stump. by the way, his polling in new hampshire, somewhere between 8 and 11%, depending on the poll you look at, as he skips ahead to the next state, south carolina, he fares a whole lot better. he is role nothing south carolina, closer to 18%. so we are going to keep an eye

on newt gingrich with his wife, calista, in new hampshire. only about 30 hours or so left, by my watch and i don't do math very quickly when i'm live. listen up, ladies, got new study for that you finds older women are more satisfied with their sex lives. i did not choose this story. she did. elizabeth cohen is 100% responsible. i can't even look at you for fear of giggling. >> i'm already giggling. >> well, here is the best part of it, we were talking this morning, like, i don't know, middle of the night time when we are on tv the first time and show mess a picture of her four kids this is not a good report for you all i'm saying. >> okay. okay. okay. but you know what the women who are the most satisfied in the study were not of child-bearing age. >> seriously? >> seriously. this looked at women to over 40 to over 80. the women most satisfied were over 80. >> oh, come on. >> i'm serious. >> who did this thing? who did this report? >> a report studied in the american journal of medicine that's where it was published. >> well, okay.

>> yes, grandma is having sex. better sex than anybody at 80. maybe she is happy because she is doing something, right, make she didn't expect at that aim to be doing much of anything. maybe that is why she is happy. maybe she learned to ask what she wants after 80 years. finally does that. >> how do you this part, not to get all clinical on you, is it actual sex or snuggling and all that? >> it could be -- the kind of sex that it embracing everything, you don't even need to have a partner. >> okay. >> okay. >> how much longer is this segment? >> 25 minutes or so. >> i will be under the desk waiting for you to end, okay? but that's kind of cool. first of all, what was the reason for the study? they have a -- sort of for fun? >> yeah, researchers who are

just always lack agent sexual satisfaction, male and female to see and i think surprised that women over the 80 were the most satisfied, they weren't having sex the most, younger women were having sexual relations of some -- >> the law of averages nen. >> maybe it's the -- right. exactly. if you live that long, then you're just an optimistic happy kind of gal. could be that, too. >> all of my mother's friends are going to be absolutely livid, quit the neigh saying, ashleigh, all good. could be just that, all good, don't expect t. >> people with better sex lives tend to live longer with he knee. various studies that have shown that. so new year's resolution have more sex. >> yeah, i'll look into that. and also is thering? that younger women can learn from this, or all about what's in your head? >> younger women can learn from this is perhaps manage expectations, not necessarily going to be sex out of a movie, might be something a little bit different and so to think about making you happy, ask what makes

you happy, think how it might not be a 10 all the time. >> quit texting tom cruise. >> quit texting while having sex. another thing you you are doing. >> sex tipping. >> that would be sexting. >> only elizabeth and i could have pulled that off together, right? >> thank you. very interesting stuff. let's switch gears, shall we? politic, ugly and getting uglier by the quick dom. behind some of the worst mud slinging are groups known as super pacs, do you know why they are super and are they souper? we will look at why they are more powerful than ever before in a moment. it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

27 minutes past the hour. here is a run down of some of the stories that we are working on for you. next, the presidential campaign ads are getting nastier and nastier, like i had to tell you right? i'm going to talk to the political analysts about this the super pacs bankrolling all those negative ads. and then, a good samaritan to the rescue, jumping in to save an elderly man after his car plunged into biscayne bay. then later on, tips on how you can cut down on your expenses this year. i needed that last year. it is a wonder that the republican presidential candidates respect tripping over one another today. they are scrambling for the votes on the eve of the new hampshire primary. several of them have campaign stops this hour and next hour and we are watching all of those events live for you.

newt gingrich holding a town hall meeting in manchester. jon huntsman visiting concord. and mitt romney campaigns in hudson shortly. rick perry, not so much. already looking south to south carolina. he is going to campaign in greenville next hour. rick santorum, however, visits a diner in derry, new hampshire, 12:30 eastern time. we have live cameras for you. the gloves came off this weekend, the republicans, the candidates met in not one but two debates. yep. you weren't seeing double. saturday night and sunday morning during the first one, sponsored by abc news, they were slugging it out over foreign affairs, policy records, who is better able to lead the country, yada yada yada. here are some of the highlights. >> this experience doesn't necessarily match up with being commander and chief in this country. >> i think people who spend their life in washington doesn't understand what happens in the real economy. they think people who start businesses are just managers.

>> here is what frustrates me, you get the earmarks and you go against the bill? i don't know what they call that in other places but congressman paul in texas, we call that hypocrisy. >> to say you are a conservative is a stretch, you convinced people of it, but somebody has to point out your record. >> i convinced a lot of people of it my record is pretty darn good. >> somebody did make a survey and the top corrupted individuals because he took so much money from the lobbyists, but really what the whole -- there it goes again. >> caught you not telling the truth, ron. >> dr. paul has a long history of saying things inaccurate and false and i personally resent the kind of comment and aspersions he routinely makes without accurate information and slurs people with. >> i'm sorry, governor, you were the last two years implementing the policies of this administration in china.

the rest of us on this stage were doing our best to get republicans elected across the country and stop the policies of this president being put forward. >> as they would say in china, mitt [ speaking chinese ] he doesn't understand the situation. what he is calling for would lead to a trade war. easy talk and nice applause line but far from reality in the u.s./china relationship. >> i would send troops back into iraq. >> now? >> i think we start talking with the iraqi individuals there. i think it is a huge error for us. we are going to see iran, in my opinion, move back in at literally the speed of light. >> iranian people have taken to the streets repeatedly, still do, trying to overthrow their government, and we had a president of the united states who stood silently by as thousands were killed on the streets.

>> if you are worried about the iranians in iraq, develop a strategy to replace the iranian dictatorship and iraq will be fine. >> we have been at the war on terror for ten years now, terror for ten years now. we have strengthened civil society, helped the military, helped the police, i believe it is time to come home. >> who are they going to pick for each other's running mates? tough talking, mud-slinging. candidates were doing the finger points who campaign was talking the most trash and came to a debate the folks behind the nasty political ads, the super pacs. >> governor, i wish you would calmly and directly state it is your former staff running the pac it is your millionaire friends giving the pac and you know some of the ads are up true. say that straightforward. [ applause ] >> well, of course it's former staff of mine and of course they are people who support me, they wouldn't be putting money into a pac that supports me if they weren't people that support me w regards to their ads, i haven't seen them. as you know, under the law, i can't direct their ads.

speaker -- hold on a second. i can't direct their ads if there sig anything in it that is wrong, i hope they take it out. >> okay. hang on second. what are they talking about here in the first says there what exactly is a super pac, you ask? i am here for you. it is an independent political group that can accept huge donation from individuals and corporations to support a candidate. but, and that is a massive but, the super pac is not allowed to work directly with the candidate, but as you saw just now and as you were watching yesterday, the waters get pretty politically muddy, here to talk about it cnn political analyst ron brownstein, hey, good to see you. >> good morning. good to be here. >> i'm sure you probably prefer to be in a warm studio but let's heat things up, shall we, ron? >> yeah. not too bad it is pretty warm for the new hampshire primary. >> you are lucky it could be a lot worse. i'm telling you something, i was raking through my past political

lexicon and trying to remember when super pacs sort of came to be and they are fairly new for a lot of people. they heard about pacss, now they are super pacs, exactly what is the anatomy? how powerful are they and are they ever going away? >> well, the big picture here, we'd sense that unregulated money was undermining the political system in the early 1970s cull lynn nating in the watergate scandal, we built an entire series of modern campaign finances through limit the influence of money and more importantly, ensure that there was disclosure of who was contributing to politicians. really, the past 15, 20 years, accelerating innovation, legal innovation, the equivalent of financial innovation by lawyers and politics and series of supreme court decisions culminated by citizens united, which essentially undermined that entire regime. we now have two parallel campaign finance systems, one that exists within the laws and then one symbolized by the super

pacs that exists outside the laws, unlimited contribution and very little disclosure. >> intriguing would you say that, the one operating outside is fully protected by the first amendment, as you mentioned, the supreme court weighed in and said they don't have to say where their money is coming from, feels like a little bit of a shadow campaign and i wonder if we created a bad monster that was -- we were hoping to fix and created something a little bit bigger than we were ready for. i want to play a bit of romney's super pac ad they were talking about in the debate yesterday and i will ask but it on the other side? >> so far, new england has admitted his mistakes or flipped on teaming up with nancy pelosi, immigration, medicare, health care, iraq, attacking mitt romney and more. >> i made a big mistake in the spring. >> haven't we had enough mistakes? restore our futures is responsible for the content of this message. >> oops. >> oh, all those really speedy disclaimers at the end are what we are supposed to as consumers

grab quickly to realize which one is a super pac ad with and which one the candidate says i endo i door this ad, real hard for the consumer out there tv watcher to pick up on all that i got say, ron. so here's my question for you. are they -- are the candidates allowed under the regulations, are they allowed to tell the super pacs to knock it off or does that constitute getting involved? >> well, they can't directly communicate with them, as you point out earlier, not only six degrees of separation, each case, talking about former senior advisers to the candidate going to their fund-raisers, the same people funding their regulated campaign and, you know, producing this parallel campaign, certainly candidate can go on television and say well, i don't think this is right. they can't directly tell them what to do. but that is fundamentally a legal fig leaf. everybody understands that the super pacs are kind of doing the dirty work, allowing the

campaign ads to maintain a more positive posture, allowing candidates to distance themselves from this i will go out on aly. as these barriers break down, see the up regulated fly of money going back to where we were in the 60s, 70s, before, we are going to have a big scandal, big scandals coming down the road and there was a reason why we impose these -- campaign finance reforms after watergate, like watergate. so i think we are headed on a road where all the rules are breaking down, but there are no effective campaign finance limits anymore, money comes in in every direction. i think sooner or later, there is going to be a backlash rooted in scandal we can't predict today. >> you can't see this but i'm holding up my blackberry to suggest what you're saying is going to come from one of these, there will be a digital trail somewhere where somebody messes up big time and that connection perhaps is made. ron, go in, warm up, thank you for your time. always like speaking with you. >> thank you. >> okay. tomorrow night, of course, all eyes on new hampshire, the political year heats up. your best choice, unbiased, of

course is cnn, america's choice, 2012. are you ready for the lineup? wolf blitzer, erin burnett, an derson cooper, candy crowley and john king, does not get better than that except for cnn after dark. live coverage of the new hampshire primary on cnn tuesday night begins at 7:00 eastern, it will be or be square. houston, you don't have a problem. your skyline looks a little different today though. why did crews bring down this 20-story building? there is nothing like an implosion on tv, folks. it blowed up real good.

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and we are checking the stories that our affiliates are covering across the country. take a peek at this. [ crashing ] [ explosion ] >> oh that just never gets old, folks in houston hearing the boom boom when the demolition

crews imploded this 20-story building over the weekend. it was the prudential life insurance building built back in the '50s, used by the texas medical center, now it is just a bunch of dust. look at that holy cow. the center now plans to put up a brand new clinical building in its place when all the dust settles. in miami, an 81-year-old driver lucky to be alive. that is not hype prbole. the car sank in just seconds and just those tires were showing, but witnesses were able to punt unconscious man out of the driver's seat them did chest compressions on him and they brought him back. they are definitely my ccc heroes. people in new hampshire, rise up ging to the polls tomorrow night, so get busy. why is rick perry nowhere near your state? he is in south carolina

insteadsome that barbecue? we are going to take a look at the state that could change the race in just a moment. [ beep ] [ mom ] scooter? the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

this is your cnn politics update if you didn't catch that. new hampshire is leaning in mitt romney's territory.

his rivals respect giving up easily. they are looking down to south carolina. rick perry watching the returns from a hotel room is my guess from south carolina i don't know that is such a good idea. i don't know anything about politics, you do is that because he is so lows in new hampshire? >> you are selling yourself short. perry came up here for the doubleheader and once the second debate was over he jumped on a plane and got to south carolina. i guess you can say he is hopefully -- doesn't hope it is going to be his last stand but doesn't look like his last stand down there, southern state, eastern texas, more favorable climate for him closer to iowa. take a look at this the brand new polls from the other day in south carolina, cnn/time/orc. look who is on top, same guy on top in new hampshire. >> surprise!

>> yeah, surprise. 19% for santorum, gingrich, 18, paul 12, perry 5%. there again, a brand new poll out from quinnipiac university, romney on top again. ashleigh, listen, these polls, people said they were likely to change their minds, nothing set in stone. so great to join you on tv, not get up at 4:00 in the morning. >> i don't know if you saw the schedule. one of the guys i used to work with, chris matthews, who nobody knows, said something hilarious this weekend. >> yeah, right. he called south carolina -- he said it was going to be five vet eggs and a funeral who do you think the funeral is going to be? >> perry doesn't get numbers up, saw the poll numbers there it could be his funeral, last stand unless he pulls off a miracle

there same thing for gingrich, doesn't do well in south carolina, end of the road for him, time will tell, 11, what, 12 days left until south carolina, stay tuned. >> get your caffeine all geared up, you know how last week went. you have been sounding off, we like that some democrats talking about president obama/vice president hillary clinton ticket. asked what you thought about that. douglas said personally love to see it, but ain't happening. katie says i think hillary would give the obama administration the guts that it needs to accomplish what it wants to get

done. angela says conservatives disdain hillary but she would be a good choice to revitalize the obama campaign there are a lot of women in the middle and hillary could sway quite a few undecided voters. thank you all for writing in. so make sure you're part of the conversation. you can leave your responses at facebook.com/suzanne. i know i'm not suzanne. i'm filling in. facebook.com/suzanne cnn. that's mouthful. going to have more of your responses coming up next hour. so, ask and you shall receive, want to cut down on your expenses this year? alison kosik is here with today's top tips on spending less on almost everything. i know you're not going to say cut up your credit card or put them in a bowl of water and in a freezer. i think you have something more tangible than that, don't you? >> exactly, about crunching number, you will have to follow closely, ashley, okay? 62% of people polled, they say their number one financial resolution, they want to cut

debt. trimming your budget is not the easiest thing. one of the biggest budget gotchas, unex-spenlgtded expenses, to get ahead of them, consumer report says take your credit card, bank records from last year, add up all the unplanned expenses, medical costs, the home or car repairs, take the total and add 10% in e. then divide that by 12 for your monthly total and put that amount into your budget so you won't be shocked when life's costly surprises come knocking at your door. >> how about the big ticket things, the projects that you've got to do? is there a way to figure out how to contract that kind of spending? >> there is. if you're looking to nab some great deals, look for seasonal sales on items like computers, tvs, cook wear, treadmills and if you have any big ticket items over the holidays, add them to

your home inventory. check your homeowner's policy to see what is covered. one big other item is home renovation. check them out before hiring them. you want to look at their license, insurance, any complain complaints with the better business bureau. a lower quote doesn't mean it's better. >> stick around, alison, after a break i need to know how to go on a cheap vacation. ♪ he was a 21st century global nomad ♪ ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪

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with two children and no way to support them. people told me i wasn't going to do anything. and i just decided i have more to offer than that. i put myself through nursing school, and then i decided to go get a doctorate degree. university of phoenix gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. my name is dr. kimberly horton. i manage a network of over a thousand nurses, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. okay.

we're back with miss kosik. how do we get a cheap vacation this year? >> did you know that airlines tried to raise tickets nine times? there's good news. prices are not expected to be outrageously higher this year. if you want to get away to some place warm. to save, tuesdays, wednesdays, and saturdays are the befst day to fly. sundays are the most expensive. where are you going? >> i'm a fan of aruba although it's dangerous these days. >> how does atlanta sound? >> find something poolside. >> thank you, alison kosik.

nice to see you. it's democracy in action. voters are heading to the polls tomorrow in the first primary of the 2012 election but there are those who say this is no way to pick a president. a look at some of the criticisms about the process coming up. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] when you're responsible for this much of the team... you need a car you can count on. ♪[music plays]

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is right for you. okay. can you feel it? we're on the eve of the first primary in the 2012 presidential election. voters there are heading to the polls a week after the iowa caucuses, in case you missed those. some critics complain that these

two little states just have too much political influence in this process and it's just one of the concerns about the way that america picks its president. that story is coming from cnn's jonathan mann. >> reporter: the united states is one of the world's oldest democracy and the first two nominating contests are in iowa and new hampshire and there's a problem with giving those two states so much power. they are tiny. and iowa ask the 30th biggest state in new hampshire, the 40th. they make up less than 1.5% of the u.s. population and yet they could decide the nominee for president. the other criticism is the state's racial makeup. 94% of iowa residents are white. new hampshire is even whiter. more than 95% white.

they still play a huge role in the process and give the winners a boost that they can use in fundraising with is the next issue. money. that's mitt romney's opinion and the u.s. supreme court agrees. the court has ruled that corporations and unions have the right to free speech, including the right to run ads that address issues without endorsing a particular candidate. that allows groups known as super pacs, or political action committees, to raise limitless amounts of money. romney has been a big beneficiary. restore our future is a super pac created to support romney. it spent $3 million in romney to bash romney's rival and president barack obama, too. but it isn't just a republican tactic. priorities usa, a pro obama super pac, raked in more than $3 million in the same period.

both groups, by law, aren't controlled by the actual campaigns but they are led by former aides and supporters. that means a potential third party would need a huge bank roll to even think about running against the democrats and republicans. including congressional races, one analyst believes $8 billion can be spent in the 2012 election. $8 billion. that's $26 for every man, woman, and child in this country. after all is said and done, an american candidate can win more votes that his or her opponent and still lose. it happened most recently in 2000 when al gore lost to george bush despite winning more than half a million votes. you can blame the electoral votes. the votes cast votes for president. states that tilt heavily to one party or another where a candidate knows they will win or

lose can be safely ignored during the campaign. a handful of swing states like ohio or florida will decide the election. jonathan mann, cnn, atlanta. top of the hour, i'm ashleigh banfield in for suzanne malveaux. let's get you to up speed. the new hampshire primary is just a day away and the republican candidates are scrambling for the last-minute votes. mitt romney is campaigning in new hampshire. the latest tracking poll by suffolk university shows romney at 33% followed by ron paul at 20%, huntsman at 13%, newt gingrich and rick santorum trailing behind them and then there is, of course, perry at

1%. he's not even there. gas prices are up. didn't have to tell you, did i? the average cost per gallon, $3.36. analysts say prices are expected to continue to rise. sorry. in part because iran, iran continued to threaten to close the strait of hormuz. also with iran, a court has convicted an american man of spying. get this, they have sentenced him to death. he's an ex-marine born in arizona, raised in michigan. his family said the 28-year-old was arrested in august when he was visiting his grandma. they say his television confession had to be coerced.

and the president ahmadinejad is visiting hugo chavez today. they have certainly found some common ground. both of them are among the top crude oil exporters and leaders are strong allies as to what they call american imperialism. got a live event. want to take you to the white house. i love these pictures and these stories. the nbc dallas mavericks champions. they are on their way to the white house today. being honored for their 2011 championship and their work with the armed forces. since 2004 the mavs have been taking part in the seat for soldiers. it's great. what they do is ask season ticket holders to donate their front row seats to the games and they give it to the u.s. military personnel.

at this live event that you're watching, when you see the mavs lining up and going in there, this dude is not going to be there. west says that he was "banned" from going to the white house. apparently during one of those pesky routine background checks, the president security team discovered that had he been arrested on weapons charges back in '09. bummer. so he won't be going. all right. don't know about you, but if you're a thrill seeker, this might change things for you. might make you forget about that. looks fun, doesn't it, but watch the cord. right down. oh, that is not good. and you can tell that the folks on the bridge are swearing. in zib baub way the cord snaps. the water was infested with crocodiles. >> it went black.

i felt like hi been slapped all over. >> that's the least of her worries. she had to swim downstream with her legs still bound. guess what, nothing major, and she lived to tell us all about it. if that didn't blow your mind, here's something else. our national debt is equal to our gdp. yay. think about it for a second. now stop thinking about it. because the value of all -- all of the goods and services that we produce in a year measures about 15.2 trillion and that is as of september. but our debt now tops 15.2 trillion. got to get alison kosik back here from new york. she's at the stock exchange. first of all, that just looks like if you owe $100 on your credit card and you only make $100, you're in some trouble. is that what this is all about? >> that's really good.

we're at this level and nothing magically happens when we're at this level. it's not like cinderella turning into a pumpkin at midnight but it's psychologically important. when you look at the other countries, greece, ice land, italy, ireland, do they sound familiar? they should. greece, ice land, ireland, italy, they all got bailed out and are dragging down europe. >> so i have this sinking suspicion that the candidates are going to jump all over this. >> what got it to this point, some of it is habit, too much

spending, circumstance, the recession. when you look at what happened in the early part of the decade, they reduced revenue while war on terrorism, those increase spending and it was all financed by borrowing and then of course the recession hits and the recision hit and bailouts followed. bailouts for bank, automakers, mortgage services and now, guess what, the u.s. is in debt up to its eyeballs. >> boy, i'll say. for those that catch the news now and again and don't follow it every day like you and i do, congress has been at it. they have been at each other. they have been taking to the mike about what they are doing and not doing. where do we stand in those debt reduction efforts? >> okay. so here's the first effort that's going to take effect. $1 drill general in auto spending cuts. those kick in. that's the byproduct of the super committee from last fall. their failure, sort of the aftermath. but clearly it's not enough money. debt is expected to rise from $15 trillion to 23 trillion in the next ten years.

clearly spending needs to be slashed, more revenue needs to come in and obviously that's not popular you know how and that's why it's so difficult to get a handle on this. >> let's hope that we gear up the gdp in the next ten years because it's not a tough pill to swallow. alison, thanks. good to see you. >> sure. this is your chance to talk back. while republicans are picking their tickets for the white house and democrats are pushing for another ticket in 2012, what do you think about that? in today's new york times, bill keller has an opinion column where he says hillary clinton would bring enthusiasm and warmth. number one, it does more to guarantee obama's re-election than anything else that the democrats can do.

number two, it improves the chances that come next january, he's not going to be a lame duck with a gridlocked congress but a rejuvenated president with a congress and that may be a little bit less forbidding. three, it makes hillary the party's heir apparent in 2012. we want to hear from you. what do you think about an obama-clinton ticket in 2012? leave your comments at suzanne malveaux's facebook page. we're going to air some of your comments later on in the hour. and that's not all. we are here for you, my friend. coming in about 20 minutes from now, we are going to actually talk to bill keller. he's the man that wrote that column and get his comments a little deeper on why he thinks this may or may not work. for now i have a rundown on some

of the stories that we're covering with this global machine that we call cnn. a former marine is sentenced to death in iran. also, a fact check on the republican candidates and what they say. then, also, a recall on popular over-the-counter drugs. you may want to know about this and good samaritans into the water risking there lives to save a drowning man. one nation, under god, indivisible, and with liberty and justice for all. >> you might call this the goosebump moment of the month. gabrielle giffords joining thousands for a vigil after a shooting left her along with 12 others wounded and also six dead. she was reciting the pledge. i want to take you to the white house. those, my friends, are the mavs. the champions this year. all of the other people that i

don't know because i don't like basketball, but you know what? they look mighty nice. should we listen in? [ applause ] >> not only did mark help to put together an outstanding group of players and coaches, he was also responsible for making this event happen today. and so we are thrilled to have you guys here. it turns out that because of the lockout, dallas wasn't scheduled to play in washington this season. that did not sit well with mark. he knew this team had worked hard. he wanted them to get all of the perks of a world championship, including a visit to the white house. it is tough to say no to mark cuban. and so they made a separate trip and here we are. and i'm glad it worked out because this is a special group. last season they called themselves the bad news bears because from the very beginning, nobody gave them much of a chance. people said that jason kidd was

too old and i will say that this is the first time that i've been with world champions who are my contemporaries. >> so you've been hearing president obama. he's just been looking over his shoulder. on the right-hand side of your screen, that's mark cuban, the owner of the mavs. the one with the blue tie on the end, that's jason kidd. congratulations to the mavs. we're all proud of you. that's wonderful to be at the white house, minus delante west who couldn't clear the background check to get in, unfortunately. we have more to come. it's politics all day, folks. so come on back. we know how much you count on your car, and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, where your price won't increase due to your first accident.

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we have some breaks news into cnn. ivan watson has been reporting

on the international atomic agency has conferred to you, ivan, that iran is enriching uranium? what have you found out? >> reporter: that's right, ashleigh. this is coming from a spokes men. the iaea can confirm, quote, that iran has started production of uranium enriched up to 20% at some of its sent trifujs. all nuclear material remains under the agency's containment and surveillance. this comes after iranian newspapers reported over the weekend, announced that it would resume, it would begin uranium enrichment at this facility, which is believed to be buried in the mountains in a military facility near the iranian holy

city and about the same time that iran would be willing to conduct negotiations about its very controversial nuclear program with p5 plus 1 countries. the last round of talks between irans and these governments last year which was held in istanbul, in dismal failure. so iran sending couldn't tra dikt industry messages. >> my suspicion here -- >> reporter: this is for medical purposes -- >> my suspicion here, this is not going to be something that's difficult to spend for the iranians because they've been saying all along this second site that has been enriching uranium has been for cancer purposes and medical research. so this won't be a difficult thing for them to swallow, this news? >> reporter: no. that's right. and this has been a crux of the dispute, really, where tehran has always insisted that it is

conducting uranium enrichment for peaceful civilian needs. it says that this plant would be used for treating cancer patients, hundreds and thousands of them. and the issue is that western governments are very suspicious because iran has hided some of the uranium enrichment in the past and they are trying to build a nuclear weapon, charges that iran has consistently denied. >> ivan, excellent work. nice reporting good work getting your contact at the iaea to check in with you. right now i want to move over to the west of you into syria because seven more people were killed there just today. this is some video that was posted online and it shows anti-government protests on the streets of homes.

the car in the middle of them was filled with arab league observers present. you can see them. they surround the arab league's own vehicle and yet the violence continues. thousands of people reportedly killed by security forces and all of this despite the increased national pressure to cut this out. our nik robertson is in damascus is with us at the mass funerals. >> reporter: passion is very high and people were very angry, very afraid. a lot of people coming and showing us what they felt were bullet wounds, gunshots wounds and people said that they had been shot by forces loyal to the government yet at the same time in the center of damascus it's been large pro government rallies, people that love president al assad. people are believing opposite things. some believe that the president condemn the country and the others don't and this is leading

to a much more divided country more than it was a couple of months ago. >> nic robertson was able to get into syria. first of recall, that was an accomplishment itself he's accompanying the arab league monitors as they fan throughout that country to do whatever it is they are doing and try to kwaush whatever violence they have doing. as we've been hearing and seeing, that's not going over so well. we know that driving while drunk is dangerous. but what about driving with a cold? it's a bit weird. more information coming. also, you need to stick around for a recall information because the stuff being recalled is something that you probably take on a regular basis. check your medicine cabinet. we'll have it.

okay. i want to get you back to the white house. remember we showed you live pictures. look, president obama has a jersey from the mavericks and just it up before you had a chance to see it. there is mark cuban, the owner of the mavs. they are the 2012 champions. remember who i said wasn't there because he had gun issues in his past? it turns out that he could be in that picture but i think there may have been a communication gap between his camp and the white house. because the white house says he could have joined jason kidd and i'm going to stop right there because i don't know the other players. he could have been there. he sent out a tweet saying that he was banned but apparently the white house was going to let them be there. congratulations to the mavs.

>> this one is really important. drugs are probably in your medicine cabinet and elizabeth cohen and i were talking about it this morning. there is an update, right? >> the fda just had a press conference. we thought there might be bufrin and all over-the-counter products. the fda said that at this facility where they might have had these confusions, they were also making a prescription painkiller. an opiod painkiller. >> i was making a joke about this at 5:00 this morning. does that mean that one of my xanax is going to be a buff rin? >> it's not xanax. it's an opiote painkiller. you take it around the clock for pain. it may not have happened but there's a possibility that it

might have happened. that's one of the reasons why they shut down this plant in nebraska. >> i get it when there's a recall and it could have been a broken tablet or a mixed up tablet, but when it's this serious, what can they do short of putting it on the news to insure that nobody got hurt. >> the fda is going to inspect these sites and when we look back on it, we found documents showing that they have been inspecting these novartis plants in nebraska and elsewhere. they are saying that they are going to do this wrong and that wrong. they recently said that they were not properly cleaning their equipment and can't ensure sterility and a month ago the fda told novartis to get their act together but apaunltly there are issues. >> will i know the difference in a pill? >> not necessarily. what you want to go by is the

expiration date. if you see excedrin or nodoz and it expired 12/20/2014 or earlier that means you should take it back to get a refund. so if you have those, take it back and if you go to the store, don't buy it. >> don't buy it. and tell the store that they've got to get their act in clear. >> right. i went to buy medicine for my daughter once, another medicine, and recalled products were still on the shelf. >> empowered patient. great to see you. >> if you didn't get those indicates, go to cnn.com/empowered patient. >> thank you. appreciate it. other news, this is a bit

weird. we all know that you can't drink and drive. if you've been having too much to drink, it's dangerous and irresponsible. but have you ever thought about getting behind the wheel when you have a cold? there's new research out there. a team claiming that driving with a cold can be equivalent. are you ready for this? sit down. the equivalent of four double shots of whisky. according to the study, sick drivers have a diminished reaction time and a lot of trouble negotiating curves. very bizarre. however, we all know that there are no laws against driving while sick. he used to run the new york times and he thinks it's time for that woman and that man to be on a ticket for 2012. is it possible? bill killer will enjoining me about what others are calling a dream ticket. it's coming up.

got a rundown. the candidates are stumping through new hampshire a day before the nation's first primary contest. we're going to look at who's ahead, who's catching up, who's kind of not really even there. and who can you blame for the sticker shock at the gas pump? well, how about iran? in part, any way. also, later on some good samaritans come to the rescue of a drowning man in miami. he got out alive thanks to some

great folks who helped that man out. i want to take you to a couple of live events that we've been monitoring since this is america's choice 2012, the place for politics. rick perry on your left is at a live event in greenville, south carolina. no, my friends, he is not in new hampshire. skipped it. he's only at 1% in some of the polls so he's in a whole other state getting ready for the primary. but on your right is tim pa pawlenty who is warming up the crowd for mitt romney. is he in new hampshire and at an event where he's expecting to do media availability. this usually doesn't happen, folks. we're expecting mitt romney after tim pawlenty to address some of these issues that have been pretty serious about the attacks on his former company bain and the kinds of people that were put out of work. there's a big super pac ad coming out, newt gingrich attacking the kind of business that romney was involved when he

was head of bain capital and i think that may be possibly why mitt romney has decided to talk with the press and meet that head on. boy, these super pacs are ugly, aren't they? mitt romney is the favorite for tomorrow's caucus. romney is shown at 33%, paul at 20%. huntsman at 13%. if you look at newt gingrich, he's at 11 and santorum at 10. perry even barely placing there. let's go back to huntsman. jim acosta is there and he's watching tim pawlenty as he warms up the crowd. this is a fabulous race to watch and those polls are getting slimmer and slimmer. are you having a tough time hearing me? just give me a one-two on what we can expect from mitt romney as he -- i think he will take the stage soon. >> reporter: ashleigh, tim

pawlenty is warming up the crowd right now. make no mistake, the romney campaign is reeling somewhat because of comments that romney has made over the last couple of days. i want to take you back to a comment that was made this morning. he was asked about the health care plan that requires people in that state to buy health insurance. mitt romney was trying to explain why he thinks that's a good system, so people have the ability to chose between the companies out there providing insurance and then he made a comment that a lot of people are ceasing on today. i want to play that for you and then talk about it on the other side. let's hear what he had to say. >> i want individuals to have insurance. that means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. it also means if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. i like being able to fire people and provide services to me. if someone doesn't give me the good service i need, i want to say that if i'm going to get somebody else to provide that service to me. >> now you heard that comment right in the middle there.

i like to be able to fire people. they have ceased seized on that comment because of another comment that mitt romney said yesterday where he has talked about feared getting a pink slip over the course of his life time. of course, that struck a lot of people as odd because he has had had a pretty privileged life. he's the son of a former governor of michigan. george romney, who was a presidential candidate, ran the american motor company. and so romney has lived a pretty kush she life by most estimates that most americans would have. right now his rivals are starting to work on that and he worried about pink slips and running out of them. jon huntsman seizing out of that and mitt romney likes to fire people, me, jon huntsman, i like to hire people. i like to create jobs. it's been a difficult 24 hours

for the former governor. whether this slows him down, i think that's a tough challenge. i think he will be skating out of here with a victory but probably a slimmer victory than prior. >> it's nice to watch who is doing the warming up and who is standing side by side on the stump because that former minnesota governor, tim pawlenty, has a real family values event. his wife, i believe, was wearing a cross at one of the last events and they always use the terms families values and i bring that up because this man is doing real, real good in new hampshire but he is headed to south carolina and in south carolina, the tea partyiers are not big on him and also the evangelicals are somewhat circumvent about the whole mormon thing. he likes to try to align himself with the other candidates and

call it family values rather than religion. >> well, i'm not so sure about that distinction. i think they are talking about family values. let's face it, mitt romney faced this issue four years ago. he made that big speech down in texas a&m talking about his mormon faith. i think having been out here covering his campaign, i have not heard this issue come up a great deal. it likely will come up in south carolina. if you look at the recent sign, a cnn time orc poll, mitt romney is doing well in south kaur line na and also among evangelical christians. and whether or not he can bring that divide between his faith and evangelical christians. but it's an interesting thing to watch. >> i want to give you a chance to spin around and take a look at the candidate and let's have our viewers listen in on

romney's campaign. >> thank you, jack, for welcoming me here today. now, your son's name is -- >> stewart. >> i was close. stewart and jackson, good to see you guys. appreciate you being here as well. i care very deeply about the country and the people who work in america. i'm very concerned that over the last three years you've seen america experience a very difficult time. this has not been a continuation of america's greatness from the past. i think it's been more of a detour than the destiny of america. i actually think that the president has tried but i think he's failed. and i think if you look at what he promised during his campaign and look at what has been delivered over the last three years, you recognize that he has not been able to succeed in helping the american people. he set it for himself. he said, look, i'm going to borrow $780 billion and i'm

going to get the economy going and keep unemployment below 8%. we have had 35 months with unemployment above 8%. he has failed to get americans back to work and the median income in america over the last four years has dropped by 10%. middle income families having a hard time making ends meet because incomes are down and the cost of health care and food and gasoline is up. at the same time, the president has not done much of a job with our government spending. not only has he failed the american worker, he's failed those who are going to make the future, our kids, racking up larger and larger deficits. as you know, this marks the day where the total debt of the united states of america equals the size of our total economy. that means if you add up every dollar that represents a good or service produced in this coun y country, it now equals the debt that we owe. this president has put in place as much public debt as all of the presidents combined. he will have done that by the

end of his first term and by the way his only term in my view. [ applause ] and he said on the "today" show, just after being innag grated, he would be looking at a one-term proposition. well, we're here to collect. it's time for us to replace this president and get somebody in office who knows how to balance budgets and i will balance the budget because it is fundamentally wrong, not moral for us to keep spending more money than we take in. >> seriously, if you have covered politics, you have heard that line about 40 times since tuesday. that i'm here to collect. but that's the way it works on a stump. you are going from community to community and you need to sell that message. and mr. perry, rick perry s. nowhere's near that state. he decided to skip new hampshire

altogether. he just altogether because he's polling at 1% in new hampshire. it might not be such a bad campaign idea to put more eggs in that basket than the basket where mitt romney is speaking right now. you have probably heard about the possibility of a 2012 ticket president obama and hillary clinton. now they are punting it in print, too. the editor of the "new york times" wrote a pretty significant column and he is my guest coming up. you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪

you've probably heard the

rumors and the buzz that now the former editor of the "new york times" says that it's time to call a democratic dream team. it's nice to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> so here's my question to you. for a lot of people that sounds great. and for a lot of people that subject sound great. can you weigh the pros and cons of this for me? >> well, you know, the problem is that three of the people that it doesn't sound great to are barack obama, joe biden, and hillary clinton. >> i had a feeling you'd say that. >> you know, hillary clinton grew up a methodist school girl. she is not going to say no if obama asks. she's a dutiful, loyal person. biden will obviously do what the president tells him. so the main obstacle in this is the president himself but i don't think he much likes the idea so i'm not predicting that

it's going to happen but i think this has been kicking around for more than a year on the blogoshpere. several thousand people thought about it before i did. >> but you wrote beautifully about it. if she can do in 2012 what obama did in 2008, the feeling of historic possibility, the pair can lift some house and senate candidates along with them. >> one of the things i talked to a lot of women that and i live in a household full of women. one of the things that you hear about hillary, she's actually

qualified to be president, leaving aside the firstness of it all and there's something a little extra exciting about having the first woman president being is who earned it. >> you know, you started this thing by suggesting that those three people currently in the positions may not want to be in this position but i want to run an ad that was run during the campaign in 2008 just to get people back into the blood that existed between these two. let's take a listen and talk on the other side. >> it's 3:00 a.m. time for a president who's ready. >> you are remember that? the 3:00 am? that thing got nasty. it was ugly. and if i recall, we could not get off the primaries for six months because these two were at it. >> i think you're right. i think the obamas and i include the first lady in this, have

long tended to regard the clintons as representing a kind of old school politics, deal cut canning and sha moozing, something that obama could have done more in his first term. she's been an incredibly abated and loyal and useful secretary of state executing his foreign policy for him. but i think any relationship between the obamas and the clinton is likely to be a marriage of convenience. that's not to say that there couldn't be such a marriage. >> one interesting thing is that hillary clinton would probably never want to take second fidel to go and do all of battering on a campaign trail. but now that we have super pacs, there's someone else that can do that. so it might work out nicely for her. >> that's right. it's one of the collateral effects of the supreme court decision, allowing independent

expenditures is that candidates can now outsource all of the mudslinging. it's what romney did in iowa and pretty successfully demolished gingrich's rise and certainly no reason why the democrats wouldn't do otherwise, rather than play the traditional role of playing the attack dog, to just keep to the high ground. >> it is nice to see you and you look well, my friend. you look well rested. >> thanks very much. >> bill keller joining us live from new york. and someone else has been pushing for hillary clinton to talk live. robert reich is going to be live in the cnn "newsroom" back after this. make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes. then we'll prepare your legal documents and deliver them directly to you.

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segment of the show. our guest is putting them to the truth-o-meter test. wearing great glasses, i'm here to say, let's start with this one. mitt romney talking about how much repealing health care reform would save. let's listen. >> the number one to cut is obamacare. that saves $95 billion a year. >> that's a lot of money. is it true or false? >> that one gets a false on our truth-o-meter. what he's doing is cherry picking a number that $95 billion that he talked about was for one year in a ten-year period. but when you look at the overall costs, you have to remember that repealing the democratic health care law would also repeal some things that brought in revenue and had some savings. so overall repealing the health care law would cost $210 billion. that would be added to the deficit.

that one gets a false on our truth-o-meter. >> but not a pants on fire? >> not a pants on fire. >> listen to this one from jon huntsman talking about president obama's reaction to the debt commission report. >> when the american people look at the play out, they hear all of the land wage and still walk away with the belief that they are not being represented in congress, that there's no trust in the engs ex tif branch and simpson bowles bipartisan plans lays right on the desk of barack obama and ends in the garbage can. >> is that true? did it really go into the sish cue lar file? >> we gave that a false. obama actually adopted several of them, put them in his budget, took several others and took pieces of them and incorporated them into his budget.

so false like that one. >> i'm just laughing like a school girl because i like the sound effects. we've also been hearing from rick perry who has been talking about president obama's politics. have a listen. >> i make a very proud statement that in fact we have a president that is a socialist. i don't think our founding fathers wanted america to be a socialist country. so i disagree with that premise that somehow president obama reflects our founding fathers. >> those seem to be the most favorite four syllables of the campaign. >> we gave this a pants on fire. that's the rating we save for the most ridiculous falsehoods. we look at the president's tax policy in the stimulus, in the

t.a.r.p., and health care law. there's no reason that you can refer to them as being socialism. we talk to economists that rick be perry would support and ask them and they said it's ridiculously false. >> can you you're a bunch of socialists. i like pants on fire for that, too. >> we need a sound effect. we need sirens. >> how about this, eh? >> bill adair, thank you. >> thank you, ashleigh. we have live coverage of the new hampshire primary coming up starting live tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern.

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okay. be honest. when you think of girl scouts, what do you think of? cookies? how about careers and taxes? >> reporter: amelia and ava are not saving for games. they are saving for much more. >> college. >> reporter: why? >> because it costs a lot of money. >> reporter: meet the modern girl scouts where money counts and they are way past the days of cross-stitching and sewing.

as part of the first badge redesigned, 13 badges reward money savvy. girls their age learn about saving. >> five times is half a dollar. >> reporter: they also learn what to do with their money. >> save it, spend it. >> reporter: and in the cadet troop, it's about mortgages, property taxes, and careers. master it and get the financing my dream badge. >> go ahead. show us your dream job. >> reporter: 12-year-old gabby is exploring whether she can afford her dream home. >> if you take your $2.5 million home that you want. >> reporter: a real estate agent helps this cadet realize -- >> i really couldn't afford it. it was a bit too much money. >> the largest purchase that

they are ever going to make is going to be their home and to learn that at a very young age you really need to save your money to earn that dream home is so important. >> reporter: of course, if you ever bought a box of cookies, it's pretty evident that these girls know money. >> there are these stereotypes of women and money but girls have been managing money for a long time. >> reporter: and consider by the time these girls graduate from college they will have 2$22,000 in debt. >> it's so important. it touches everybody's lives. we're hoping that they learn those issues for themselves, they understand how to invest their money, and teach other kids around them. >> reporter: christine romans, cnn, new york.

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