and a very good morning to you, everybody. hello, it's an "early start," very early. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we're happy you're joining us. we're bringing you the news from "a" to "z." it's 5:00 a.m. in the east.

six police officers were shot overnight while serving a search warrant in utah. that was drug-related. they are recovering in the hospital this morning. apparently, only one suspect there. >> also in the hospital, right? >> yes, also in the hospital. >> we'll continue to watch that. also, guess what? some huge announcements coming. pictures like this may not be as voluminous if the government gets its way. president obama is about to announce we're going to cut a lot of troops and change our war tragedy. we're not going to be so capable of fighting two wars at once if what he says is going to be the way of the future. so, you know the dallas teenager that was deported by mistake? well, her family says she was sent to colombia where she didn't speak the language, didn't know anyone. why? because apparently, she ran away from home, and when the police picked her up, she gave them a false name, which happened to belong to a 22-year-old illegal immigrant who had a lot of arrest warrants, so they're trying to get her back home. >> another reason not to lie to police. if you need another reason, don't lie to police. we've got a bunch more on the docket for you as well,

including, oh, politics. have you heard, we're in political season officially, and this man can now be called perhaps mr. money bags. rick santorum has raised upwards of $1 million in just about the last 24 to 36 hours, which amounts to more than half of what he's been able to raise since he started his campaign, if the numbers actually shake out, which is pretty remarkable. so, we're going to talk a little bit about what that means and whether that money's going to continue as they surge forward to the next few states. seismic changes coming to the united states military forces. defense department today and leader leon panetta as well as president obama planning to talk today about how the pentagon will cut about $500 million from its budget. here's how the new strategy will shake out. apparently, we're no longer going to be able to fight two ground wars at the same time. 4,000 troops are going to be cut from european bases and at least 47,000 fewer marines and troops will be in active duty in the

next five years. and all of this, if you're keeping track, it comes at a time when we might just be needing them, because iran is ramping up its military might, china has been building up its army as well, and of course, if you've been following syria, anderson cooper's phenomenal work on covering syria, those crackdowns continue. and who knows if we're going to get involved in that. our chris lawrence, crack reporter at the pentagon, joins us live, getting up for an "early start." chris, the reason i want to talk to you about this, you've been working at the pentagon for a number of years, i've followed you in your work. you walk those halls on a regular basis and you've got sources and you talk to the generals and on down. there must be grumbling if they're talking about massive cuts. >> reporter: yeah, exactly, ashleigh. you're not going to get agreement on something this big. some people say, well, look, you know, this is sort of like, you know, trying to buy health insurance for the diseases you think you're going to get instead of having a comprehensive plan that will

cover you in any regard. some of the other people i talk to say, look, it still allows us to fight one ground war and deploy forces somewhere else to sort of, what they call spoil another adversary. so, in other words, if the u.s. military was heavily engaged in korea and iran, you know, started to act provocatively, they could deploy enough forces to sort of settle iran down until those forces could be moved over to the second war. >> okay, so, i get the chess match, but at the same time, there's a lot of smart people in the building where you work, and i'm guessing that many of them understand that our strategies going forward include technologies that we never had when many of the war plans were actually drawn up. in fact, i think some of the war plans that we have in existence right now are maybe upwards of a decade or plus old. so, are there people who are actually thrilled with this because they know that we could use better gear to fight a different war? >> reporter: yeah, in other words, using your money in a smarter way. you know, some of the people i've spoken with say, look, you

know, the chances of us sending 150,000 troops to two separate wars, they just don't see that on the horizon. they say that's not the way war's going to be fought in the future. and if you really look at this plan, you'll notice that a lot of the nuclear deterrent, a lot of the big weapons systems, a lot of the investment in the things like unmanned submarines, you know, drone subs, so to speak, a lot of that is still going forward because they think a lot of the combat in the future is going to be cyber warfare and things like that. >> yeah. and you know what? even though you're the pentagon beat, you're going to be the politics beat, because guaranteed today, there will be some gop folks who jump on that on the stump. >> reporter: i would take that bet in a heartbeat. >> yep, yep, you'd better keep your monitor on today. thank you, chris. talk to you in a little bit. so, it dovetails perfectly into the big story of the week. adios, iowa! we loved it, but we've got to move on. republicans are ramping up for round two.

next stop, new hampshire. mitt romney already in the state. not everybody is. not everybody is thrilled about new hampshire, but this guy picked up the big endorsement. senator mccain stopped by to announce to that thrilled audience that he's putting his support behind mitt romney. that makes a difference. makes a big difference. >> yeah, and the gop field is one candidate lighter. michele bachmann suspended her campaign. rick perry we thought had suspended his, but nope he's back in the game. what's ahead now? in new york, we have wilt kane, columnist with "the blaze," and ruben navarrete with "the washington post" writers group. and in chicago, conservative commentator lennie mcallister. thank you, gentlemen, for joining us this morning. ruben, i want to start with you. you know, santorum announced that he raised $1 million. so, does that finally put him in the game here? >> it does, and there's more to come, you can be assured of that. i think the trick is how he takes that money and more money to come and turns it into an apparatus, builds this structure in these states, but working in his favor is the fact that there's so many republicans out

there who, one, are not warming up to mitt romney, and two, frankly resent probably the attempts by the media and the republican establishment to anoint romney. it certainly happened in iowa. so, if south carolina, even shades of new hampshire, get this way, that's a big opening for santorum. he could do very well in those places. >> will kane, jump in on that thread, because that's amazing to be able to say that -- well, if it's true. we're hearing a lot about $1 million. and if that's the case, that's a big bump, but is that going to actually happen more and more or is that sort of it for santorum? he didn't have the kind of boots you need for a state like florida or south carolina. >> right, ashleigh. and you know what i'm curious, where is this money coming from? where is santorum's constituency, both from a voter and a donor base going to come from? i'm confused by it, because here's the narrative, right? conservatives are looking for their true, idealistic base candidate, who they can count on

being conservative, and that's rick santorum, we're told now. we've been told that's various candidates over the last six months, but we're told it's not mitt romney. that's the moderate candidate you settle for. i don't know about the narrative. santorum is the mirror opposite of ron paul, advocating for big government programs, from giving the manufacturing base a corporate tax rate cut, well, down to 0%, and none other. that's picking losers in the economy. beyond that, he has the most absolutely interventionist foreign policy out there. rick santorum is not what people like to believe, a small government conservative, so i don't know where this -- if this narrative holds true, it's not going to be valid. i mean, if we're selling a lie. so i don't know who's going to keep giving him money. >> people in the position in government are giving him money. who knows? >> i'm going to switch gears -- well, maybe not switching gears, because we know he'll be scrutinized more and more now. lenny in particular, listen to this, but the naacp blasted

santorum for targeting blacks in entitlement reform. let's listen to this and then we'll chime in. >> i don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money. i want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money. >> all right, lenny, i'm going to bring you in on this because i know that we've been texting back and forth on this. you say that you actually have an explanation for that comment. we'd love to hear it. >> well, here's the thing, rick santorum's from pittsburgh, penn hills, pennsylvania, where i grew up. rick santorum, working class catholic, same way i grew up. good people, such as the reverend and mrs. alpert price live there, own their homes, been there 40 years. rick santorum has seen them going from homeowners to watching other peers around them grow up people, such as me and my friends, to now having their

neighborhoods decimated because the education and the jobs have gone away. and what he's basically saying is, listen, i remember people such as the folks that i live around in penn hills being able to be working class and do something for their children, and now we don't have those type of opportunities in place. and when you find bureaucrats trying to push social programs for these younger generations as being a way of life and not the way of life of the people that i grew up with -- >> lenny -- >> -- in penn hills, the people santorum lived around, if we don't put those things back into place, we'll continue to see what we've been seeing. >> lenny, let me interrupt you because there's something key i failed to mention earlier. last night on "john king," he actually said he is confident that he never said "black" there, but we just listened to it. will, let's talk about rick perry. you know, we thought that he was out. he's back in again. so, is this actually going to be good news for romney? >> absolutely, that's good news for romney. first of all, rick perry -- i

mean, this is getting kind of funny. not getting, it is funny, and i'm a native texan here. but i guess what we saw is he was going to get out and michele bachmann decided to get back in and he and his campaign said, wait a minute, those are constituents we can court, so let's get back in and take her voters. it's so good for romney, we should wonder if somebody in the romney campaign or somebody close to romney said, hey, rick, you know, it'd be really nice if you stuck around. romney needs a fractured field. he needs that vote split up. one thing you remember about rick perry is he's been miscast as this tea party ideologue, this true believer. rick perry is a politician and has been for two decades. he's going to do what's best for his long-term political career. and i would say, being on the right side of mitt romney is probably going to be good for your political career. >> will cain, ruben navarrete, lenny mcallister, thanks for joining us. stand by because we'll be talking to you all morning. keep it on cnn for the best political coverage on television. you know that senator john mccain joining us live on "starting point with soledad

o'brien" in the 7:00 hour. >> also, we have a packed show, talking to christine o'donnell in the 7:00 hour as well. remember her? tea party darling? "i'm not a witch"? she endorsed romney, but will the rest of the tea party follow suit? i'm curious what that bloc is going to do. i feel like they've fractured all over the place. almost 12 minutes after the hour. u.s. markets rose from earlier losses to close mixed by the end of business day yesterday. so, the dow was up 21 points while the nasdaq and s&p 500 closed flat. christine romans, one of my favorite people in the universe, is here. >> closing flat was a good thing, quite frankly. people were worried about europe and -- >> you're more excited about that than being called my favorite person in the universe? >> self-efacing or what? >> okay, so, business to talk about. sort of a government appointment that skirts congress. >> yeah. >> the consumer financial protection bureau. >> the money police, basically.

now look, this is the hallmark of the president's financial market regulation reform, right? there were all of these things that weren't republicgulated th to the credit crisis and he wants this to be the centerpiece of banking regulations. republicans don't want one guy in charge of an agency. they want the agency to have to come back year after year to ask for money. they want a board of people to run it and want it to be more accountable to congress. basically, this is republicans in the business community who don't want the president to have one of his signature, what he would call his signature legislative achievements. what is not regulated right now, right? payday lenders, some of the mortgage originator and nonbank mortgage originator and servicers, some of the credit, the debt collection agencies. without a head -- >> debt collection agencies aren't regulated? >> without a head, this agency can't go and really go in there and watch what these different groups are doing, and so, this is just pitting two ideologies, you know? the republicans and the chamber of commerce and others don't

want this agency around, or they want it watered down, right? and this is something that consumer groups and democrats really, really want. this is a political fight. politically, the president stepped in, made the recess appointment. so, now these debt collection agencies and all that will fall under the purview of this agency. >> do libertarians want it at all? ron paul and libertarians want it at all? >> less government, less government, less government. that's where we stand. futures are ail little lower and later on, i'll have jobless claims coming up later this morning. jobless claims, let me be really clear -- the labor market has been slowly improving, so it's going to be important to see what happens with jobless claims. >> election year. >> i know. >> every one of those will be snapped up -- >> you're right! and the big jobs report, i know the press release is already written. >> both sides. >> talking about it yesterday. >> christine romans, thank you very much. >> good morning, you guys. so, every morning we give you an "early start" to your day by alerting you to the news that's happening later and the stories just developing now but will be the big story tonight. first up, president obama is expected to announce a new

summer jobs program today. that is for the young americans who cannot find jobs. the white house is hoping to create 250,000 opportunities between the government, private companies and non-profits that volunteer to take part. and also, the government is still working to try to get back this texas teenager. she was deported by mistake in 2010, by mistake. i.c.e. officials apparently shipping the 15-year-old girl to colombia after she was arrested, but she gave a fake name to the cops. even though she's an american citizen, doesn't speak a lick of spanish, and according to the family, doesn't know anyone in colombia, ended up there. so a big oopsy. this is a bummer, especially in the mornings. orange juice more expensive as florida fights a freeze. orange juice prices jumped almost 9% with temperatures dipping into the 20s and breaking record lows in some cities. so, on the heels of that, rob marciano, see what you did to the prices of oranges? >> i didn't have my morning o.j. >> couldn't get your juice? you know, we're in the elections

center, but we're in atlanta and -- >> are we disclosing that now? >> the election's over, so it's okay. i always hear it called hot-lanta. i didn't wear a coat and i saw a fountain that was frozen into an ice cascade. >> we tried to dig it up -- >> ask and we shall receive. this truly was the place i had lunch the other day, in atlanta. >> oh, my goodness! >> in atlanta. i kid you not. >> they didn't do that on purpose. >> by the way, zoraida, that place is called front page news, so i don't know that's why you went there, being a journalist. >> totally accidental. >> anyway, good southern cajun food there. speaking of the southeast, the low temperatures from yesterday, we talked about the freeze across much of florida. yes, some of the citrus crops saw some damage, but overall, it wasn't really that bad. the more damaged crops replace things like strawberries and some vegetables that are a little bit more sensitive to that. teens and 20s yesterday. we're not seeing that this morning. on average, about ten degrees warmer today than yesterday.

but still, freeze warning out for at least the central parts of the peninsula. temperatures are 29 degrees in gainesville, 32 degrees in jacksonville. at this time yesterday they were down to around 22 degrees. a couple of snow flurries across parts of upstate new york this morning. other than that, things are actually kind of quieting down, especially across the midsection, where record highs are going to be the case today as they were yesterday with storms not all that bad. only three spots where we're looking at potential delays today -- new york metros, boston and seattle. we will take it as 2012, relatively speaking, gets off to a fairly quiet start. guys, back to you. >> rob marciano, thank you for that, my friend. >> all right. this one's awesome. still ahead, how far one woman will go to protect her baby. >> i've got two guns in my hand. is it okay to shoot if he comes in this door? >> yeah, that's her and that's the baby. she grabbed a gun, called 911, put the bottle in the baby's mouth and then unloaded with deadly force. what do you think happened to

the intruder? what do you think the sheriff's going to do about it? you will not believe what you're going to hear. it's "early start." and major medical? major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ] ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ there are things major medical doesn't do. aflac! pays cash so we don't have to fret. [ together ] ♪ something families should get ♪ ♪ like a safety net ♪ even helps pay deductibles, so cover your back, get... ♪ a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aflac! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ beatboxing ] and more. if you replace 3 tablespoons of sugar a day with splenda®, you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. and now get even more with splenda® essentials, the only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. just another reason why you get more...

when you sweeten with splenda®. ♪ your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes.

[ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. [pig oinking] [hissing] [oink] [oinking] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. keep your family safer. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. [oinking]

♪ from the cnn election center, good morning. it is 20 past 5:00 on the east coast. get out of bed, sleepy head, and go to bed, if you're in l.a. of course, it's much earlier there. hi, everybody. we have some national headlines for you, local news. >> or enjoy your cup of coffee while you listen to this. we have papers from detroit and washington. let's start with detroit. you know how cities have a budget crisis, right? >> many. >> so, listen to what detroit police are doing. in precincts, they will no longer be open to the public 24 hours a day. they are actually -- >> in detroit? >> yes, yes, yes. they're going to be closed from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. -- >> that's not good. >> only open for eight hours. the plan here is to save money, and, they say, to get more cops on the street. well, you know the residents and the community leaders are up in

arms over this. >> it's detroit. >> because they're worried -- yeah, of course, high crime, but the fact that you're closed at any hour at all -- who answers the phone? what about the dispatcher? i mean, a ton of questions there. >> i dare say, maybe the closing hours should be during the day when there's less crime. more crime at night. >> very scary. very scary. >> man, that's amazing. here's something i love because i always wondered if there was something in the water. ever notice all the twins rolling around, double baby strollers in the stores? >> yes. >> you're not crazy. twins rate is up 76% in the last 36 years, and now the status that 1 in 30 infants is a twin. i think, you know, years and years ago, it was closer to like 1 in 52. and there's a couple reasons for it. we're all having babies older, folks -- me, zoraida, all of us. we're all having babies a little older. that does lead to twins. >> it's fertility drugs, right? >> well, that's the second reason. interestingly enough, being older does lead to twins on its own. and then fertility drugs, of

course, can lead to multiple eggs, but then also multiple embryos being implanted, depending on the kind of fertility treatment you're taking. >> right, right. >> so, that's why. it's not crazy and it's not something in the water. speaking of babies and speaking of protecting your young yuns. a mother -- check her out. she looks awful innocent, doesn't she? there she is with a 3-month-old baby. she called 911 the other day to ask if it was okay to blow away the intruder who was breaking into her home. two guys apparently trying to break into her mobile home. she hears it, calls 911, puts the bottle in the baby's mouth, grabs her gun and says this. >> i've got two guns in my hand st.okay to shoot him if he comes in this door? >> well, you have to do whatever you can do to protect yourself. i can't tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby. >> holy moly! so, in the end, it's very serious. here's what's happened. she killed the first intruder after he stepped through the

door. the other one fled but then turned himself in. she says she did it to protect her 3-month-old baby. she was home by herself with that baby because her husband died of cancer on christmas day, and this was just new year's eve when this was happening. joining us now live on the phone is the sheriff. sheriff, can you hear me okay? >> yes, i can. >> boy, is this a story that grabs people, because so many of us say i would do the same thing. someone comes into my house and i've got kids, even if i don't, i feel like i have the right to do that. and yet, she called to ask if she had the right. tell me about that dispatcher. that dispatcher's fairly new, right? >> yes, ma'am. she's been working there 2 1/2 months. >> and the truth of the matter is, is that i believe oklahoma's one of those states where you have that castle doctrine. if someone comes in your house, you don't have to ask questions, do you? >> that's correct. >> so, in the end, one guy is dead inside her home. the other one took off and later

turned himself in. but here's what's interesting, he is the one being charged with murder, not her, because of the castle doctrine, i understand, her. because of him being a criminal, is it a felony murder? doesn't matter who dies in the commission of a crime? doesn't matter if you're the one who's committing the crime and your pal's committing the crime, you get charged with murder if anybody dies? is that how that worked? >> yes, ma'am. in oklahoma, what it does, it helps people that get involved with a shooting incident. and if there's two accomplices involved in it, then the other one is also charged with the crime, the murder and the homicide. >> anybody in your community second guessing this at all, suggesting maybe this shouldn't happen, or is pretty much everyone on board that that young woman had every right to do what she did? >> yes, in this community, the thefts and the burglaries have

risen quite a bit. you know, we're all tired of being a victim of crimes. and in this instance, we have a lot of people ask this -- what can we do? and i always tell people that you have a right to protect your property and you also have a right to protect your lives. when there -- >> there's a picture -- while you're saying that, i want to show the picture abc news was posting of 18-year-old sarah dawn mckinley. that's her looking down the barrel of -- i believe that's her .12-gauge shotgun that she was pointing through the door when he was coming through the door. she knew what she was doing. she's no dummy when it comes to firearms. she had two guns at the ready. is that sort of par for the course in this community? are most people armed? are there a lot of nra members? do people know about that castle doctrine? is it a big thing in your community? >> yes, we're a rural community, and you know, we have -- in the county, we have 1,100 square miles.

they know that, you know, we're not going to get there within two, five, ten minutes. >> yeah, they're on their phone. >> they're on their phone, and they know if there's any type of perpetrator comes in on the property or armed, then it would be the last line of defense for them is armed. >> poor woman, being widowed just on christmas eve and then having this done all at the age of 18 with a 3-month-old baby. just a few seconds left. is she okay, doing all right? >> yes, i talked to her yesterday. she feels good about what's happened and she said she's always thought to herself that if somebody comes into her home that she would not allow them to come in and harm her or her family. >> sheriff, that's exactly what's being prepared and not being scared and making sure you know what your plan is. thanks so much for being with us. >> hey, you're welcome. thank you. >> can you imagine? just imagine if that were you, with your little baby, middle of the night. >> i'd do whatever i had to do. >> of course you would.

it's very controversial, though, still very controversial, castle doctrine. >> 27 minutes after the hour. still ahead, ron paul's twitter slam on jon huntsman. guess what? paul passing the buck. >> really? >> huntsman is now responding. hear what he told cnn. you're watching "early start." [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 week so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment...

which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries.

hey, everybody, welcome back. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we're happy you're back with us. welcome back to "early start" live from the cnn elections center. on the agenda in the next half hour, rick santorum trying to prove he is not an iowa wonder. his surge now includes $1 million, according to "the new york times," in fund-raising. >> nice! that's some sweet cash. how about that? i wonder if that's going to

continue, a million bucks. >> we're going to check with some folks, see what they think. also, you know that thing we do that you've been following since we've been on the air for all of, like, what, four days? we wake some poor soul up just because we figure we have to be up, so other people should be up, too. just so you know, it's something that we okayed with them long ago, but we told them we would never tell them when they would actually get a call from us, but a lot of people weigh into some stories we do. we have one this morning. she has no idea we're going to be calling her, but we have a hint for you. are you ready? here it comes. [ sound effect ] is that a good enough hint? >> no. >> she doesn't watch tv. >> that's in the background a lot. >> that's not a good hint because there's a million different people on "law & order," but it's a she. she's on the show and weighs heavily into politics for more reasons than you'll know. that's coming up soon. we'll give you more hints as we go along as well. time to check the top

stories making news this morning if you're getting ready to get out the door. ready for this one. the military may no longer be able to fight two ground wars at once. today, president obama and defense secretary leon panetta say they'll unveil a new strategy for the pentagon, which includes cutting tens of thousands of troops to cut defense costs. the accused hollywood arsonist, harry burkhart, is now charged with 37 counts of arson. police allege he set more than 50 fires over new year's weekend, triggered by his mother being taken into custody. she's wanted in her native germany. and a tweet from ron paul mocking jon huntsman, mr. paul on the defense. "jon huntsman, we found your one iowa voter. he's in linn precinct 5 and you might want to call him and say thanks." ron paul told soledad o'brien yesterday he knew nothing about that tweet. he didn't send it he said. his camp did, though. last night, both paul and huntsman addressed the dust-up with cnn's piers morgan. >> well, you know, that was done, you know, through staff.

it was supposed to be good humor. and i mean, i just didn't think that was a big deal. >> you think he would have learned the perils of ghost-written subject matter by now, but i have to tell you, at the end of the day, i actually found it to be pretty humorous. >> oh, i love that! you know, there there's an example of it not getting as ugly as we think it's getting. they were actually having a good time with that. i think it's funny, too, but you know what? do be careful when you tweet, because you are responsible for it, even if you've got other people tweeting for you. >> well, especially when you're running an election. >> and you want to be president and you've got some 14-year-old campaign staffer sending those out. yeah, careful. all right, so, this morning, rick santorum is trying to maintain the momentum after his near victory in iowa. he is in new hampshire, already reaping the benefits of his performance in iowa. the poll numbers picked up slightly for him as well. he's raised more than $1 million since tuesday night. that's according to "the new york times."

but it also means his record is coming under closer scrutiny. so, joining me now is christina cook, a reuters correspondent. nice to have you with us this morning. >> hi. thanks for having me. >> so, let's start with this surge. it came so late in iowa that he didn't have a lot of time to get scrutinized. and you know, now that's starting to happen. you've spent a lot of time looking at his record. what are the key points that you think he's going to be scrutinized on? >> well, i think he's already starting to be scrutinized a little bit. you had that rick perry ad out on the earmarks. and also, in an environment now in which there's so much anti washington fervor, it's difficult to see how rick santorum picks up on that. i mean, this is really a washington insider. he was in the senate for 12 years, in the house before that for 4 years. and since he was defeated in a landslide election in 2006, he has been doing very well for

himself, picking up various lobbying gigs on k. street. >> kristina, you mentioned the earmarks, so let's deal with that. rick perry and senator rand paul have already hit him on his support of the earmarks. and paul even called him a big government republican. so, we're going to listen to what santorum said to john king specifically about earmarks last night. >> all i said is that what the constitution provides is that congress appropriates funds, and that's what we do, we appropriate funds. and as ron paul did, as jim demint did, itas just about eve single member of congress did -- when you go to congress, you make sure that when taxes go from your state to washington, d.c., you fight to make sure you get your fair share back. >> but not everyone takes those earmarks, and so how do you think the tea party is going to feel about that? >> well, it's interesting. so far, it seems they haven't really looked at that in any great depth. i spoke to someone in new hampshire yesterday who is very

excited about santorum, but they admit they hadn't had a chance to really vet him, really look at his record as he had some of the other candidates. >> and in this article that you wrote that we were reading, you compare him to gingrich in some ways, in that after congress he was able to turn that experience into some pretty lucrative careers working for lobbyists, and of course, also on fox news. how well did he do? >> well, he made more than $1 million in just about 18 months, from 2010 to the first half of 2011. i spoke to one of the lobbying firms, and they said he was giving them strategic advice. so, he wasn't lobbying himself, but he would give them a sense of where he thought, based on his experience, the bills might end up. >> yeah, that does kind of remind you of gingrich. and something really stuck out in the article that you wrote, so i'm going to quote it here. it was something that santorum said. he said "this isn't my first rodeo. i've been in tough races. i've had the national media

crawling up anywhere they could crawl. it is not going to be fun." do you think he's prepared for all of the scrutiny? >> well, in his 2006 race, he really faced a lot of media scrutiny. you know, he lost that race in a landslide. there are a number of things that came up in that race that may come up again. you know, for example, at the time, obviously, you had the iraq war, which was a big issue, for voters in pennsylvania, but there was also some ethics issues. rick santorum had moved to virginia shortly after he was elected to the senate, and he was still cyber schooling his children in a school district in pennsylvania which cost that school district around about $100,000, so that was -- >> kristina cooke, we appreciate you this morning, live for us from new york. you know, there's also the issue there of the obama campaign saying that they were going to

scrutinize him as well. so, we'll see how he stands up to it. all right, 38 minutes after the hour. coming up at about 7:35 on "starting point," soledad o'brien will talk to senator john mccain about why he endo e endorsed mitt romney. did you watch that? and at 7:05 eastern, soledad will talk to former senate candidate christine o'donnell about whether rick santorum's recent momentum will affect mitt romney in new hampshire, where he is leading the polls, quite handsomely. >> one of the last interviews she did on cnn, she walked out on piers morgan when he was asking about gay marriage. so, i wonder if soledad's going there today. but she laughs about the whole "i'm not a witch" thing. i love that. coming up, we have a special guest. we're going to wake her up. she's actually on the west coast. and, well, that kind of gives it away, doesn't it? i wasn't going to tell you, but it's assistant d.a. casey novak. diane neil. she has no clue, but she's about to get a phone call.

did you know this girl is crazy about politics and was considering running herself? >> oh! >> you'll find out why she did not. bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair,

try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno. i could not make working and going to school work. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunits that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing wh profesonals teaching things that they were doing every day, got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide,

call 877-242-usaa. ♪ i can't hear that. i'm not -- i think maybe i'm just not hearing it. were they playing the theme? okay, well, i'm an idiot then. >> no, no, we just couldn't hear

it. >> sometimes, you know, we don't get all the sounds we're supposed to get. it sounded deathly quiet in the studio, by the way. 5:42. this is a good time on the east coast to be asleep, and it's a great time on the west coast to be asleep, but not for diane neal. >> she's on the west coast? >> she's on the west coast. >> oh, my gosh! >> this is what's even worse. she's traveling between the west coast and new york this month. and i know that today -- [ ringing ] -- she's on the west coast. she's in l.a. >> sorry, your call cannot be completed as dialed. >> am i getting bogus phone numbers from my friends because they know we're going to wake them up? >> hello? >> diane? >> hey, how's it going? >> it's ashleigh. you knew you were going to get one of these calls, right? i think we should redial you. can you hear that crazy sound, the dial tone and everything else? we're still not really good with the technical on this segment, obviously. >> yeah, we're redialing her. >> this is like a news reality show, folks, honestly. this was one of those crazy,

hair-brain things we crapped up together. we're thinking, hmm, how will we get people to come on the show at 5:00 in the morning? then what, we decided -- >> just call them! >> just call them and wake them up. but i want you to know, if you think we're rude, we within the last couple months asked our friends, down the road some time, would it be okay if we called you and they agreed, but we just don't tell them when we're calling, so. [ ringing ] >> a story specific to what we're talking about now. it's politics and apparently, she loves politics. >> diane is huge into politics. now she's probably not answering because she's mad. >> hello? >> sorry! i thought you weren't going to answer. hi, diane. >> it's fantastic! you woke me up. i fell asleep on the couch. >> you're in l.a., right? >> i am in l.a., so it's like 2:45 in the morning, and i -- >> bless you for getting up with us. we appreciate it. >> are you kidding? it's awesome! how are you guys? >> did you watch the iowa caucus results? >> i fell asleep and did the exact same thing, i woke up in

my clothes at 7:00 a.m., fully dressed from the night before. it was like, oh, my gosh, what's going on? >> if people are your fans, they know you as assistant d.a. casey novak on "law & order: svu" but probably don't know you're nutty about politics. >> i am nutty about politics. i have so much fun. the caucuses -- it's so funny because perry's in, he's out. he's back in. i'm like, what are you doing, dude? because it's one of those things. what do you guys think he's going to do? why is he in? he's going to split the evangelical vote in south carolina -- >> are you kidding me? >> it's 2:45 in the morning and you're better than an anchor in politics in recapping. >> no! >> here's my question for you, diane, ashleigh says you actually considered running for political office. >> i actually thought about it. it's funny. i live -- well, i'm on the other coa coast, no offense to this coast, but my favorite coast -- i love

the east coast. i live in jersey city, actually. "law & order: svu" shoots in new jersey and it was way easier to get to work and a lot cheaper. but i was thinking about running because it was so corrupt. it was really funny, again. sorry mayor healey, but right before the last election, the current mayor of jersey city, was snapped nude and passed out drunk on his front porch and he still won the election. >> that could be ripped from the headlines. >> it totally could. >> we have to wrap it up. >> lying next to him while he's naked. >> true. >> we have to wrap it up, but not before we find out -- you decided not to run because senator fred thompson talked you out of it? >> yeah. he's very diverse in politics, but he said do you want to die? new jersey politics is notorious, they're going to kill you! i was like, oh, oh, that's horrible! >> this whole year is going to be politics. can i wake you up some time throughout the year?

>> any time. any time. >> there are so many people who don't know about her. diane, thank you. go back to sleep. >> thank you! i'll actually go to bed now. have a good one. bye. >> we're saying night-night because she's just dialing into us, on the west coast, so it's like 2:45 in the morning. so, that was really polite. >> so, we want to look at front-page faces when we come back. we'll talk the florida primary with "miami herald" political reporter mark caputo. you are watching "early start." >> very early start! >> super early, yeah. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes.

and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. aflac... and major medical? major medical, boyyyy! [ beatboxing ] ♪ i help pay the doctor ♪ ain't that enough for you? ♪ there are things major medical doesn't do. aflac! pays cash so we don't have to fret. [ together ] ♪ something families should get ♪ ♪ like a safety net ♪ even helps pay deductibles, so cover your back, get... ♪ a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aflac! [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. [ beatboxing ] [ male announcer ] help protect your family at aflac.com. i'm really glad we took this last minute trip! you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? i have the hotels.com app so we can get a great deal even at the last minute. ah, well played sir. get the app. hotels.com. welcome. i understand you need a little help

with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. smart move. candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. r-really? absolutely, and we guarantee results, you know, for a small fee, of course. such are the benefits of having a professional on your side. [whistles, chuckles] why don't we get a contract? who wants a contract? [honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. we're out of toner. [circus music plays] sign it. come on. sign it. [honks horn] ...homes around the country. every single day, saving homes. we will talk it over... announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, make sure you're talking to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at...

♪ [female narrator] even if you're not planning on getting pregnant now, you should know that foods rich in folic acid like white bread and leafy greens can help prevent some birth defects before you even know you're pregnant. welcome back. it is 5:50 on the east coast. florida could be a king-maker in the gop race. it has almost as many votes up for grabs as iowa, new hampshire and south carolina combined. >> combined, yep. >> and the gop hopefuls already are scrambling to woo all of the voters ahead of the january 31st primaries there. >> if you live in florida, let me tell you, turn on your tv, you'll get political ads like

crazy. >> they've already started. >> mark caputo lives in florida, reporter for the "miami herald." thanks for being with us early. what's it like watching tv these days? are you deluged with the mitt romney ads? i hear he's dumped a million bucks of advertising ads there. >> yeah, in nine of the ten media markets. fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, he's not advertising in the ft. lauderdale/miami media market because it's so expensive. but it looks like right now only romney's making a serious, serious play in florida, but that will probably change as new hampshire and south carolina develop. what happens in south carolina's really going to help decide what the landscape looks like in florida before january 31st. >> well, this is a very diverse state, and a lot of issues that you're dealing with in the state of florida. you have, you know, a really serious housing crisis, and you have a really large hispanic population. and there's a name that is being thrown around to perhaps be the vice presidential running mate here. it's marco rubio.

he's a junior senator from florida. he has nine years in the state legislature. and he's of cuban descent, and the latino vote is very important. what do folks say -- oh, 40 years old and very attractive, which doesn't hurt. what are folks saying about him? >> well, they're saying about him what you're saying about him, that he'd make a great choice. understand, the hispanic vote isn't monolithic. what interests cubans ethnically, so to speak, could be different from puerto ricans and different from mexicans. so, it's really up for grabs. however, if you have a politician who has the skills that marco rubio has -- he's able to speak to people both in english and spanish fluently and make the case -- it certainly would help the ticket, but there's a lot of game to be played here and a lot of time needs to elapse before they decide who the vice presidential pick is going to be. we don't even know who the nominee is going to be from the republican party for president. >> get your sleep now. get your sleep now. it's coming. >> yeah, i haven't gotten much lately. >> thanks.

marc caputo, being with us this morning. nice, early get-up. very nice of him to do that. still ahead -- you don't diet. this one's like a size minus zero. i debt aiet all the time. >> well, so do i. well, i eat right. >> we have the brand-new diet everybody's talking about. it's not south beach or any other crazy one. >> probably tried it already, though. >> the funny thing is i bet you have all tried it already, and yet, for some reason, it's getting a whole new name. surprise! we'll tell you about it in a minute. >> you're watching "early start." on my journey across ame,

i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, 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. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com.

because pop culture is just so important in your life as you wake up at 5:55 in the morning -- >> you'd be amazed. >> i know, i know. we want to get you up on what's trending, so you don't have to logon right away while you're trying to get in the shower and you're naked. on google this morning, apparently there's a new diet called d.a.s.h., dietary approaches to stop hypertension. they say it's the best diet for 2012. here's the big shock -- it's big on whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. what? isn't that just how we're supposed to be eating? yeah, try it out. >> i do. a new girl scout cookie. it's called savannah smiles. >> nice. >> after ashleigh. it's celebrating 100 years of girl scouts. that's why they're coming out with the new one. cool and crisp lemon wedge cookie is what it is. you want to know the top-selling

one? thin mints followed by samoas, peanut butter patties and then my favorite, the dosy does. >> what's that? >> it's peanut butter. >> i don't eat girl scout cookies. they don't come to my house. i don't know if they're afraid of me, but i couldn't name them. french fries, i'm crazy about them. cookies, not so much. coming up next hour, we've got a couple things for you. did you hear about the soldier who, in uniform, took to the mike at the ron paul big speech? how about ron paul? how about you're in uniform and how about you could get in trouble for that? we'll talk to someone who is also in uniform and got in trouble for something a little different but similar. ... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

man on tv: ...rbis and 36 homers. swings at the first pitch and fouls it deep back into the stands. [ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly.

one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

early start. 6:00 a.m. good morning, everybody. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> we are bringing you the news from a to z. 6:00 a.m. in the east. six police officers shot while serving a search warrant in utah for drugs. one of them has now died. >> if you are watching television today, expect to hear news about this and maybe how we won't see as many of these pictures anymore. the pentagon will cut thousands of troops and cut back on the military budget by a lot. you will find tout details and what it means. >> missing teenager deported by mistake. picture of her there. the family says she was sent to colombia where she did not speak the language and didn't know anywhere. >> likes. if you have been watching politics this week, rick santorum did real well in iowa and that's translate flood real big money. like a million dollars worth of money in just the last few days. can the santorum surge continue?

we are just moving on to the next few states. seismic changes coming to the military. defense secretary panetta and president obama will address how the pentagon is going to go about cutting about a half billion dollars from the budget. it ain't easy, folks. here's what they are saying they are going to do. apparently we are no longer going to be able to fight two ground wars at the same time. 4,000 troops are going to be pulled from europe. and about 47,000 marines and troop will be diminished in next five years. all of this, if you are keeping track, comes at a time when iran is ramping up a lot of its rhetoric in the strait of hormuz becomes a problem. we are keeping an eye on that and china, too, as it builds up its army. syria is the thorn in everyone's side as assad continues to crack down on protesters there. what will we do about it, if anything? chris lawrence is at the pentagon. cnn correspondent.

chris, so no one could imagine for a moment half a million dollars worth of cuts is easy. can you walk me through the anatomy of this? do you have any idea where this comes? is it base related? high level, low level, what are they going do? >> as one official told me, it's -- if you think that the greatest danger to the country is right around the corner, you keep the army big right now. >> you would think. >> you think the greatest danger is really only going to grow in five to ten years or more, you keep that money in more of the weapons us is testimonies and research and development. that's what you will see. you mentioned 47,000 fewer soldiers and marines. that's just the start. you can probably add, you know, anywhere 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 more cuts to that. the issue is they can't afford to keep that size of the military in terms of manpower and fund all the weapons systems that they think are going to be needed in the pacific to deal with the potential threats

there. >> is this trying to build a better mousetrap and maybe fighting more of a dirty intelligence war than theater war? i would have thought we would have thunk that one out ten years ago? >> yeah, but everything we have heard, you know, from our sources ahead of the president's announcement, you are not going to see cuts to things like special ops, intel, cyber warfare. those things are still going to be funded. it is an idea where the military thinks the next war is going to be fought. >> and what about the mood around where you work? the pentagon is a big, big building. at last statistic i remember one of the largest in the world, and there are a lot of people that walk those halls. i would think there is a lot of grumbling. >> grumbling, yes. i mean, nobody, nobody likes to see their budget cut. you know, it is always okay if it is somebody else's budget but, you know, don't touch mine. yeah, there's a lot of people not going to be, you know, necessarily onboard with this. we have already heard, you know, the army really wants to make sure that they are going to take

the brunt of some of the manpower cuts. they want to space that out because they don't want, you know, to sort of be in a position of trying to actually laying off some of the soldiers you know in a very quick amount of time. they want to space it out and maybe slow down over five, six years. >> right. do you like getting up early? >> i love it. i love it. the only problem is the starbucks here in the pentagon is not open this early. >> dude, we come into work at 1:00 in the morning. starbucks doesn't exist on the road on the way here. thank you for that. i will tap you for more on that. thank you. >> great attitude to be with us this early morning. he is coming back. let's bring in retired air force colonel cedric leighton. 26 years of experience as an intelligence officer in the united states air force. thank you so much for joining us this morning. so let's kind of talk where we left off. we were talking about $450 billion going to be cut. there is another potential $500

billion in cuts that could be ordered if congress follows through to deeper reductions. i know that you are concerned about cuts specifically in the navy and the air important. tell me what your biggest fear. >> good morning. basic fear that i have is if they are going to move to an asia centric strategy as chris mentioned in his report, the problem you are going to run into is you know, if you don't have the navy and the air force that can handle the long distances you are going to not be able to be fulfill the needs of that strategy. so what will happen is right now what we have is the air force has already reduced approximately 6,000 of the civilian force. there's also reduced its senior officers considerably. and offered early retirement to several elements of the senior ranks and it is doing another round of civilian cuts as well. same thing is basically happening within the navy over the last year or so. so what we are looking at is

each and every one of these pieces and trying to put it together in a way that makes sense and so with the president's involvement in this, the hope is that we will have a more modern military that can respond to these forces in a joint and combined fashion. combined meaning with other countries. so that basically, you know, sums up some of my concerns related to the new strategy. >> as lay people, as we see all of these reports about china and iran building their forces, does it leave us vulnerable? i know a lot of people don't want to fight any more ground wars but does this make us feel more vulnerable in america? >> it could. here's the problem. if you advertise that you are not going to be able to fight two simultaneous ground wars, then people will try to take advantage of that and people that talked to about are china, possibly north korea and possibly an adversary we don't know about. those are the kinds of areas that we need to be very careful with because as we saw with a military that was automobile to

feel -- field two armies to fight two different wars, we have trouble doing iraq and afghanistan at the same time good let's talk about what vice president joe biden said. it happened in libya. he said where the u.s. spent just $1 billion, put no boots on the ground, and actually lost no lives, when he says that there's -- that's a new way to deal with the world do you buy it? >> not completely. depends on the area we are bogey into. in the case of libya it worked because you have a small population in libya and you have open desert. it is in many respects from the military complicated of what iraq was. because of the dynamics of the situation and the fact that you had an indigenous rebellion that was already happening in libya, you could do it that way. in iraq you didn't have that opportunity assuming that, you know, you go into something like

that because of various reasons. you could end up in a sent air wroe where we relive the iraq war and that would not be something that we would want to do. >> all right. colonel leighton, thank you so much for getting up nice and early and joining us this morning. we appreciate your perspective. >> my pleasure. thanks for having me. >> any time. >> it is eight minutes past the hour. so the markets rose earlier loss tows close mixed by the end of business day yesterday. the dow was up 21 points while nasdaq and s&p 500 both closed flat. >> but that was yesterday. today is brand-new day. >> christine romans is in. if people didn't make money with those up and down arrows you have a story that may get to them. book about the richest people around. >> oh, yeah. this is interesting. that rich store write is soap interesting that -- the united states would account for more than half of all of the top 1% of the world. isn't that interesting? good does that mean we will have morocco pie wall streeters all over the world? >> everybody was leading with

that. the jobs are going to be big. jobless claims and also adp private payroll report later on this morning. just a couple of hours. we are expect thing to show the jobs market is healing. i want you to really be focusing on jobs and how that's going to play out in markets over the next couple of days. also, watching a big three turn around. good news in the auto industry, guys. this is really fascinate. >> wasn't there sort of good news generating at the end of the year? >> what we found was the best year for u.s. auto sales since 2008 since the economy collapsed and you know, you have a couple of bailouts to thank for at least holding the line on gm and chrysler. but at edmonds.com, car researcher, turns out those investments were good investments for the american taxpayer because now have you u.s. auto sales recovering to 12.8 million and you have a summit automakers taking over the top spot. you know, you had japanese automakers had kind of a rough go of it because of the tsunami and the fukushima stuff.

still very good for the u.s. automakers overall and part of the reason is because consumer confidence is slowly coming back. this is a good sign when -- >> very excited. you are almost having -- sounding apologetic. wonder if the occupy wall street pokes will want to hear those headlines, this don't like bailouts. this is news bailouts may be effective in certain circumstance. >> in this particular case -- people close to the auto industry have always said -- look, they want the auto industry to survive. make this investment. we have to like keep these jobs. 25 you on thousand. they are hiring. they are rehiring. 25,000 jobs expected to be added by 2015. >> detroit needs to help. they are shutting down all their police stations. >> oh, no. >> lot of people there, that's what they survive on. it is good news. >> if we are selling cars we will watch to see if this continues. people are very concerned about europe and very concerned about the next shoe to drop. look at auto sales. things are getting a little bet better. >> that's good news.

good news. thank you, christine. >> thank you very much, may friend. every morning we like to give you an early start to your day by getting you up to speed on the news happening. actually, developing. there will be big stories tonight. big stories last night. president obama expected to announce a new summer jobs program for young americans who can't find work. white house is hoping to create a quarter million of them between the government and private companies and nonprofits, volunteers take part in the program. >> government is still working to get back a texas teen. there she is. she was deported by mistake. officials shipped the 15-year-old to colombia after she was arrested and gave a fake name to police. so even though she is an american citizen she does not speak spanish. according to the family doesn't know anyone there. o.j. getting more expensive today. not to keep him in a nevada prison but to pour into your glass.

apparently dipping into the 20s, those temperatures. having an effect on the crisis of orange juice. 9%. 9%. >> that's awful. >> that's a lot of money. >> we start our day with -- >> there is a solution to that. if you drink less orange juice and mix a little bit more vodka, champagne -- >> at this hour of the morning? >> checking your coffee cup. >> come on. some of us have been up quite a while. 5:00 somewhere. temperatures across parts of practice from yesterday. yeah. most of the reports out of the citrus growers not reporting substantial damage. that's the good news. 18 degrees yesterday in tallahassee. gainesville reporting 20 degrees. record high, low temperatures. in general this morning, temperatures are about 10 degrees warmer than they were yesterday. around tampa, around freezing mark. miami, south beach yesterday, saw temperatures that were very

close to 40 degrees as far as the windchill is concerned. talk about the storm across the northeast. well, not many. we have lake peck snows across parts of the northeast. the other side of the country, we have some temperatures that are blowing out records on the high side. walla walla, washington, 69 degrees. high temperature yesterday of pendleton, oregon, 69 as well. temperatures today look at the midsection. 62 degrees expected in denver. 61 in kansas city. 40 degrees in new york city. rebounding there after the chill. one other thing, 5 opinion 3 magnitude quake west of santa domingo earlier this morning. for reports of any sort of structure damage in the city. still getting reports in from some of the outskirts. but initial reports no damage and no injuries but nonetheless, strong shaking reported and it is always a scary thing when it is dark out this early in the morning. back over to you. >> rob, thank you for that. appreciate it. it is 15 minutes fast hour. time to check the stories making news this morning. the u.s. armed forces getting

downsized. leon panetta and president obama will unveil the new pentagon strategy today. includes cutting tens of thousands of troops and means the u.s. will no longer be able to fight two ground wars simultaneously. this just in. cnn from ogden, utah, one of the six police officers shot and wounded overnight has apparently died from the injuries. all of this happened as those six officers tried to serve a certain much warrant, drug related warrant. neighbors could hear the shots. >> front room watching tv. heard three pops. fiance asked p they were firewor fireworks. i said no, those are gunshots. rick santorum's strong showing in iowa paying immediate dividends. the campaign says it raised more than a million dollars in one day a much santorum lost to

romney by eight votes in the iowa caucuses. there's a story there that is going to make a lot of people angry. it was kind of a fun thing, soldier in full fatigues taking the mike at a ron paul excitement rally on the night of the election iowa. he got in some trouble. this could be something headed your way. police station no, sir longer open 24/7. this is already happening in one of the nation's most dangerous cities. who is next? i don't want healthy skin for a day. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno.

[ male announcer ] why do we grow quaker oats? because there are mountains to climb. ♪ dreams to be realized. ♪ new worlds to be explored and hearts to be won. quaker oats. energy to get you going, fiber to help fill you up and help keep your heart healthy. super people eat super grains. and help keep your heart healthy. hey, i'm really glad we took this last minute trip me too. you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? fret not ma'lady. i have the hotels.com app so we can get a great deal even at the last minute.

ah, well played sir. download the free hotels.com app and get exclusive mobile deals. hotels.com. be smart. book smart.

19 minutes past 6:00 in the east. early read on your local news. local news is making headlines across the country. >> this morning we have papers from detroit and washington. we are going to start in detroit. "the detroit free press," to be exact. they are in the middle of a budget crisis like every city is across nation. what are they doing? detroit police precincts will no longer be open to the public 24 hours day. they will be closed between the hours of 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., open eight hours. plan here is to save money, get more cops on the street, but you know, who will be answering the phone when there is a crisis? resident community leaders are in an uproar.

they are scared to death what this could mean. >> that's a long time. >> high crime. >> 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. is when all the time happens. i hope that turns around soon. if you are thinking you are seeing more double strollers out there and twins, you are right. the birth rate in the u.s. is up 76% in the last 30 years. we couldn't resist showing you these adorable pictures. 1 in 30 is a twin. women over 40 are the season we are having more babies. >> i thought it was fertility zblugs it is. that's a smart thing. a lot of people know when you have fertility treatments you have more embryos that can be implanted. or you produce more eggs and can have twins that way. if you are older, period, you have a higher chance of having twins. >> i did not know that.

i thought it ran in your familiar. >> i that's a genetic thing as well. i had my babies at almost 40. and thank god i-didn't have twins. i can barely handle what i've got. to all you moms of twins out there, you should be can't openized. it is incredible what you do. let me switch gears because there is a story we couldn't resist bringing you. corporal jessie, did you see him? ron paul. this all looked like it was in good fun. he could be in serious trouble for taking to the mike at ron paul as post-caucus rally in iowa. the army says it is new investigating whether this corporal violated military policy by speaking at the rally. according to the department of defense, and i will quote, service members cannot attend political rallies while in uniform. and they can't speak before a political gathering to promote a candidate. what's going to happen to corporal thorson now? dan choi you may remember was

discharged for violating don't ask, don't tell. that policy has since been repealed. lieutenant apartment, you make news for so many other reasons as well. you yourself were arrested for handcuffing yourself to -- was it the fence at the white house? >> that's right. tell me the story there. what was the charge you faced? i think you were in full uniform. you are very nice coming to our live show in full dress this morning. what happened to you? >> thank you, again, for having me on the show. it is an honor to be here in uniform. i was a civilian. i was already discharged from the military as i already am. we have the right to wear the entire uniform. they are not charming me for wearing the uniform. they just didn't like the fact i was protesting and practicing may free speech. >> they talk about the uniform part of it. is that just sort of politics thing? did they try to work it in a a charge in some way? >> not for me. i think for the corporal, the

difference is, he's in the reserves, and i have never endorsed a candidate, particularly in uniform, and i think it is important that we talk about this. we have a couple thousand, a lot of soldiers coming back from iraq, veterans. as we move on with our country, growth and healing, you better believe they are going to have some opinions. we would talk about when you think about this, first of all, for all of your viewers, whether they understand the military codes or not, you have to realize that these soldiers, veterans, fought to protect their constitution. when they come back home, they are civilians with military, constitution still protects them. i can wear this uniform because i'm a civilian and proud of my service, my entire service, so my entire uniform is what you see and i'm very proud of that. so when we talk about moral issues, don't ask, don't tell, or -- drones or endless war, bradley manning, any sort of issues that really do affect our national dialogue, i think veterans should stand up and be

very proud of -- >> okay, do they know their rights? i'm not going suggest for a minute you know everyone's training. important corporal thor isson, it looked like he was having a good time and did this innocently. i'm not going to suggest mens rea here. do they get briefed what they are allowed to do and not allowed to do when in uniform or active duty? >> yes, they do. that's the major distinction. when you do something like this and you believe that it is a moral cause you are speaking for, you should be ready for the consequences. i spoke up and said i'm gay. i said the truth. i learned in the code that i will never compromise my integrity. >> you are talking about the uniform code of military justice. >> that's -- >> applies to him or not? >> certainly. there's -- regulations, you put them up there. they do apply to him. but when you talk about when we do anything, when weigh serve in the military, when we raise our right hand to serve, we are prepared for all the consequences. we are responsible for all of

our actions. and the distinction here that i think people should realize is our military is very different from the militaries around the world. syria or egypt. there is a certain political candidate that, you know, the -- military officers and people will get behind and that's wrong. that's not what we do. i have never endorsed a political candidate and i'm not even in a political party. i don't believe -- >> something tells me you may one day run yourself, my friend. i have been following your progress. i know you re-enlisted as well. i'm flat-out of time. i have a lot more questions. will you come back and join us? >> i sure will. i'm not running for anything. i'm not running from anything. >> thank you very much. by the way, you look lovely in uniform. very handsome. thanks for being with us. >> he's not running from anything either. >> i like that. 25 minutes after the hour. still ahead, ron paul's twitter slam on john huntsman. did you see that? it said we found purchase one iowa voter. >> snap. >> passing the puck. huntsman responding and talking

to cnn. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! ♪ [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first on the side. from honey nut cheerios to cinnamon toast crunch to lucky charms, get more whole grain than any other ingredient... without question. just look for the white check. discover visine® tired eye relief with hydroblend™, only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours.

visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber.

hi, everybody. wake up with us at 6:29. you are almost late for work. >> welcome back to "early start."agenda, five days to ham happen. santorum picking up the fund-raising big time. not bad. we are waking up joey pants. you would only know who that is if you watch us. now you know because we put his picture up there. on day two of our show. >> total bust. it didn't work. >> he is going to answer the phone today.

>> how do you know that? >> because i peel it. i feel good about this. >> i think he would have answered. i think it was our problem. we were dialing and getting numbers not in service. i thought he gave me a bogus number to be nice to get rid of me. but it really -- it is still a good number. we will give it another try. he is huge into politics. may be a former "soprano" cast member but this guy loves his politics. 30 minutes past the hour now. time to bet you up on the big stories of the day. u.s. military may not longer be able to fight two ground wars at the very same time. the president and the defense secretary are going to unveil a new pentagon strategy today. it includes cutting a whole bunch of troops to cut defense costs. the accused hollywood arsonist, harry burkhart, german citizens charged with 37 counts of arson. police allege he set more than 50 fires in an arson spree triggered by his anger over an immigration hearing last week for his mother. >> i don't know if you missed this but it was slamming jon

huntsman with this tweet. we found your one iowa voter and he's in linn precinct five. you might want to call him and say thanks. ron paul tried to explain this to piers morgan. mr. huntsman responded. >> well, you know, that was done, you know, through staff. it was supposed to be good humor. and, i mean, i -- i just didn't think that was a big deal. >> you think he would have learned the perils of ghost written subject matter by now. i have to tell you at the end of the day i actually found it to be pretty humorous. >> i love that they are being nice about it. i was expecting at least one of them, maybe the governor, to go like -- oh, snap, no, you didn't. we didn't get that much out of him. >> i don't know that i was expecting that one. next stop is new hampshire. mitt romney and rick santorum and ron paul are ramping up for

round two now. romney is in the granite state and picked up a big endorsement for john mccain. did you see that? >> yeah. kind of found watch. i have to admit john mccain didn't seem like he was on his game. he is such a great campaigner. i just used to love watching the campaign rallies. i almost fell like he was a bit, i don't know, different. >> tired n. >> could have been. he had a lot of travel to do. we have more news about the politics story, too. if you were watching, michele bachmann -- some people called this emotional. indidn i didn't think it was emotional. she was straight to the message and thankful to her god and supporters. she said i'm stepping aside. so i'm out. good-bye, miss bachmann. hello, ham happen. we still have more to go, folks. let's hear what's ahead with our politics panel. chicago, conservative commentator, lenny mccallister. gentlemen, i have to talk about

rick santorum for a moment because, well, everything has been all about the money that he has been raising. i want to talk about pork politics. it is very rare you get to hear someone defending pork. earmarks and he does. he's been under a lot of attacks and probably going to get sharper, those attacks, for his defense of pork. let's listen and talk on the other side. >> all i said is what the constitution provides is that congress appropriates funds. and that's what we do. we appropriate funds and as ron paul did, as jim demint did, it is about every member of congress did when you go to congress, you make sure that when taxes go from your state to washington, d.c., you fight to make sure you get your fair share back. >> i don't know. is that going to pass mustard with tea partiers and people who hate pork no matter how you explain it? >> depends on if they want to think or not. voting on emotion or style, they perceive somebody, then no. if we are going to continue to

look into these candidates and see what they think, it should matter. add this to the fact in a rick santorum voted against nafta and anti-free trade. he advocated for varying corporate tax rates, picking winners and losers. you come up with the conclusion i don't see how rick santorum checks the conservative boxes at least on economic issues. >> lenny, let's switch to you and talk about rick perry. he's out. he's in. romney apparently is happy. this is what he tweeted yesterday. he said in the next leg of the marathon is a palmetto state. here we come, south carolina. what do you make of this? >> you know what, if i were mitt romney i wouldn't necessarily want rick pair write getting back into this race. i think it was very good move for rick pair write because, again, we have seen every other anti-romney candidate make a flub that makes the tea party of the conservative movement move away from that candidate. you have already seen it with

rick santorum and the earmarks statement. we will see how he does with the debates as a front-runner now. if he starts sliding down the polls who has the money and organization, the volunteers, to get back into this race. rick perry. if his floor was iowa, if his floor was the early debate performances and can move up from here, he has the structure to get back in this race, i think it is a very good move not to quit now. >> money, money. i'm glad you said that. some people thought that was not a reassessment of rick perry's campaign. whole nanosecond he was back in texas. but that it might have been actually met with some additional bucks, that that was -- propelled him to jump right back in. and to know he really could make it through south carolina and florida. do you think that was really the key to the reason he decided to jump back in after the reassessment? was it a reassessment or a rejuicing? >> yeah, rebeauting. another trip to the atm in texas.

it is possible that this was really a trip to texas to see how long will you be with me, going back to his donors and saying i intended to go to south carolina and make it to florida and nevada. will you be with me all the way? that may have been what is at work here. what mitt romney -- double-edged sword. i almost think romney needs the field to start thinning out. to some degree, yeah, you want to keep them fighting among themselves while you stay up on top. but at some point he has to unify the party. why not to begin the process earlier as opposed to later. the sooner the republicans can center in on romney as their candidate, if that's going to happen, better it is for romney. >> old 25% thorn in the side of this candidate. he just can't push that glass ceiling. i'm going to ask you about this in a little bit. i have to move ahead because we have soledad's show coming up as well. we want everybody to keep it here because we have the best political coverage on television. if you didn't see it there -- senator john mccain will join us live on "starting point" with soledad in the 7:00 hour. >> soledad has a big show for you this morning. she will be talking to christine

o'donnell, scheduled for the 7:00 hour. tea party darling endorsed mitt romney. will the rest of the tea partiers go along with her is the question. >> you know that song -- actually, that's not the one i was thinking. that's our music. i thought we were bogey to hear the song, theme song, "soprano." gentlem joey loves his politics. can he react to what happened in this week in iowa? what makes scottrade your smartphone's most powerful trading app ? total access - to everything. from idea to research to trade. including financials, indicators and real-time streaming quotes. whether you check your investments every day or every minute, our app can take them from thought to trade. at scottrade, seven-dollar trades are just the start.

try our powerful mobile app. it's another reason more investors are saying... i'm with scottrade. thrilled. wait. we can have shakes? and boston cream pie. did you say pie? pie. she said pie. pie. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart.

♪ woke up this morning >> not that you like to wake up and get myself a gun but did you watch "sopranos"? >> i did not. this was your reaction. >> i have already is already forgotten this? >> yeah, yeah. >> i got a lot of other things on my mind. i am such a "sopranos" fan. >> that's why you choose to wake somebody up. >> i was so excited. i was a stalker. i love those characters. you know, sometime down the road would it be okay if i woke you up just to talk on my show. he's like yeah, all right. he doesn't know it is this morning. we tried the other day and it was complete disaster. yeah. let's give it another go and see

if it works. i know the number is good. i check. >> hello. >> is joey there? >> yeah. >> joey? >> yes. >> oh, my gosh. >> hi. >> good morning. >> did somebody else just answer? i feel like we woke someone else up in your house. >> that's all right. pit had to answer anyway. >> how are you, my friend? >> i'm great. >> tired? are you on the west coast or east coast? >> east coast. >> that's a little good news. >> it is not terrible. i know you love politics. i know that you have been wrapped up in a number of different campaigns in the past. i'm wondering if had you time to follow hit the time around. did you watch the caucus necessary iowa? >> no. >> really? >> yeah. >> do you know who won? >> it was to days ago, right? >> it was. it was a screamer. it was so close. they were eight votes apart, romney and santorum. >> do you know who won?

>> no. i thought ron paul was going to win. >> you know what, that's -- then you were following it because he was really one of the favorites and a lot of people -- analysts said he was going to potentially win. do you like him? >> yes. remind me santorum -- what does he -- >> you are so asleep. i had this conversation with you at dinner and we were talking politics and you knew every player and knew everything that was going on. either you are just getting home and are drunk or you are really not a morning person. >> you know what, i was -- very restless last night. >> were you? >> i mane, the night before. >> i can't believe you agreed to do this way back when. well, but i am thankful you did. you are a registered independent i heard, right? >> yeah. my wife is kicking me. she is still trying to sleep. >> you are lying next to your

wife answering your phone? waking her. we are waking two people up this morning. >> i'm not sure this was a good idea. hey, did you see the chris christie moment? i have to play it quickly when he was backing romney. heent went allso sopranos. >> i want to tell you something, something really clearly. let me tell you, you people does appoint me on tuesday. you don't do what you are supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back. jersey style, people. i will be back. >> ralphie, did you like that? >> did he come back? >> he did not. no. you know. well, look, they did what he wanted him to do. he didn't have to go back and exercise muscle. do you think you wouldn't do this again sometime?

talk to us real early in the morning? >> yeah. the sun is starting to come up. >> we did you a favor. we got you up early. >> i feel fantastic. governor christie is -- he's threatening the people in eye wash -- >> you know what, have you go back to sleep. pants, you have to go to sleep. we woke you up way too early. >> pull those covers over your head. we will talk to you next time. >> you need to get a better time slot. >> yeah, you are telling us. >> i'm love thing time slot. are you kidding me? >> thanks, joey. congratulations on the grandchild. >> oh, braden, my grandson. thank you very much. >> you take care. >> we will talk soon. thanks. still ahead, we are going to talk the iowa caucus. if you think we are punch drunk now, you should have seen the

lunatics after dark. it was awesome. >> great tv. >> we will be back with that. tired eye relief with hydroblend™, only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours.

visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. life with crohn's disease is a daily game of "what ifs." what if my stomach pain and cramps end our night before it even starts? what if i eat the wrong thing? what if... what if i can't make it through dinner and a movie? what if i suddenly have to go? what if... but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your crohn's symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need visit knowcrohns.com/tv and use the interactive discussion guide to speak with your gastroenterologist.

welcome back. how long do you think that wake

me up segment will last? >> oh, my gosh. you know, you just never know when you wake somebody up. you don't know what they will say or how they will say it. >> it is live tv and it ain't perfect. soledad o'brien is joining us for more live tv. "starting point" coming up at the top of the hour. hello, girlfriend. >> what do you do when someone is so mad you woke him up? >> i do have to do a full disclaimer here, soledad. we do check with these people long before we call them. this was about a month ago. just to make sure they are in the club. if they are in the club we don't tell them when we are going to call. i-didn't want anybody to think we call people out of the blue. >> someone woke -- you know, some day -- someone is going to be so mad that you woke them. >> we have a button just in case. just in case. >> yes. what do you have coming up? >> starting point for day, ten minutes away, live from manchester, new hampshire, this morning. we are talking to senator john mccain coming up in our next

hour. the two-time winner right here in new hampshire. he was hoping he could help mitt romney pull it off. wear going to talk about that. this story, it is crazy. deported by mistake. the government accidentally sends a runaway teenager, 15-year-old girl, to colombia. she is an american citizen and does not speak any spanish. and she's not coming back immediately. we will dig into that story and much more coming up in ten minutes on "starting point." we hope you start your morning with us. [ female announcer ] splenda® no calorie sweetener is sweet... and more.

if you replace 3 tablespoons of sugar a day with splenda®, you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. and now get even more with splenda® essentials, the only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. just another reason why you get more... when you sweeten with splenda®. ♪

6:51. your wakeup calm didn't come in and your alarm clock didn't go off so you are late. we will get you caught up on what's trending. if you are checking out google, nick cannon is in the hospital. mild kidney failure. this was tweeted out. him and his wife, mariah in his hospital bed. she said he has serious pain. we are wishing him well as they suffer through that. >> do you like girl scout cookies? there is a new girl scout cookie out called savannah smiles. they are doing this because they are celebrating 100 years of girl scouts. it is cool, crisp. lemon wedge cookie. go on the website and the post

popular girl scout cookies, thin mints, shortbread. 9% of folks like those. >> shortbread. you didn't know they do shortbread. >> i keep them out of my house. i buy the ones that my kids like which are the thin mint. >> i bought them a lot in the past. always at that time office. some colleague of mine has the kid. i leave them at the office. >> why you taste them? >> i'm not a huge cookie fan. i like chocolate chip cookies but not a huge cookie fan. >> i will remember that. >> french fries. burgers. chicken wings. all that. still ahead, switch gears completely. senator john mccain making big news yesterday. look at that love. giving serious love to mitt romney. big endorsement. >> can romney win over the tea party? big question. christine o'donnell also up in the next hour. you are watching "early start." come back with us. [ panting ] ha ha ha! we're getting back in shape.

oh! try these. i sprinted here... wow! from your house?! from the car. unh! ooh. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. discover visine® tired eye relief

with hydroblend™, only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business... protect your family... and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. and launch your dreams. life with crohn's disease is a daily game of "what ifs". what if my stomach pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if this takes too long? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your crohn's symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need visit knowcrohns.com/tv and use the interactive discussion guide to speak with your gastroenterologist.

>> we don't usually cover our own coverage this extensively. you know it was special night when the anchors giggling, the pundits are laughing. wolf blitzer is resorting to internet -- >> i can only say three letters -- omg. >> we have lost control. >> that's the director chiming in. it was a night when the magic wall wasn't always magical. >> that would be the key to his success. >> wolf? >> when did it this. >> we will do a little reverse flick. >> it was doing this when it was supposed to be doing this. by the wee hours of the morning, geography started to look like anatomy of the neither region. >> governor romney may still eke this out tonight. >> once an anchor starts getting slaphappy, start slapping i don't know his own network.

[ bleep ]. >> giving up like -- this is like 1:30 and like -- >> election night is when networks trot out their latest gizmos. >> if only we had new high-tech thing had never been seen before. >> do something like that. >> look at this. weeble. >> what's a weeble ♪ weebles wobble but this don't fall down ♪ for >> if you missed any of this you can see it on "the daily show." >> the cucumber candidates and psychic snail colbert used to predict -- >> who the winner is. >> cnn scooped everyone on caucus night when a couple of iowa republican officials maimed carolyn and edith saved the day. >> i added them a couple of times. oh, man. >> they explained a glitch that cleared up the mystery of some

missing returns that put mitt romney over the top. >> if that's are the final numbers -- >> numbers don't match. >> well -- i will explain. >> by 3:30 in the morning, caucus coverage was temporarily renamed "cnn after dark." news music was replaced by barry white. anderson was not loving this gizmo. >> again, with the social media screen. my lord, this is the third hit. i still don't understand what the hell this shows. >> anderson had his weebles. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> that was some of my favorite stuff. except when anderson started like singing porn music. i guess jeanne moos left that one out. >> i was coming in from my apartment by the time i get in here everybody will be heading out. there was laughter coming from the control