Fiscal Cliff Looms; Panetta: Al Qaeda Remains Biggest Threat; Interview with Tony Perkins
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And White House 101 as the fiscal cliff looms. President Obama and Speaker Boehner meet with just 18 days to go.</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Show of force amid Syria's civil war. The U.S. now says it will send missiles and troops, but not to the rebels.</s>BERMAN: Tough call for Susan Rice. President Obama's U.N. ambassador said she took herself out of running to be the next Secretary of State. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. A lot going on this morning. I'm John Berman.</s>ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans, in for Zoraida Sambolin this morning. It's 30 minutes past the hour. We learned this morning that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed an order sending two Patriot missile batteries to Turkey to assist that nation in protecting itself from military action by Syria. This move was expected as the civil war in Syria destabilizes the Assad regime. In addition, 400 U.S. troops will be deployed to operate the missile batteries. Turkey borders Syria. And thousands of rebels and refugees from Syria have fled to Turkey for safety. According to Leon Panetta, al Qaeda remains the most significant threat facing America today. CNN's Erin Burnett sat down with the Defense Secretary in Kandahar, Afghanistan, yesterday and asked him if the terror organization can ever be eliminated.</s>LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: You can reach a point where you so significantly weaken al Qaeda that, you know, although there may still be a few people around, they won't be able to conduct the operations that they have conducted in the past and they certainly won't be able to plan the kind of attacks that America had happen to it on 9/11. And that's our goal, is to make sure that it doesn't happen again.</s>ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, "ERIN  BURNETT OUTFRONT": And you talk about al Qaeda and where it is --</s>ROMANS: Panetta went on to tell Erin if we want to keep al Qaeda neutralized, the U.S. has to go after the terror group in places like Yemen, Somalia and Mali. President Obama, House Speaker John Boehner facing off behind closed doors the White House again last night. It's their second meeting this week. But with 18 days remaining before America goes over the cliff, and with the House set to skip down for the holidays today, no sign of a deal. Here's what both sides are saying, they're calling yesterday's talks frank and they're insisting the lines of communication remain open -- John.</s>BERMAN: So despite Speaker Boehner and other Republican leaders taking a hard line on whether to raise taxes, others within the party seemed more willing to compromise. This signals that the latest bout of infighting within the GOP is going strong since the election last month, there are many pundits saying the party has a branding problem. So we want to bring in Tony Perkins. He's the president of the Family Research Council, to talk really about the future of the Republican Party. So we have no deal. We have a stalemate right now. It seems like the speaker is taking a hard line on taxes. You've been up on Capitol Hill this week, I think, as recently as yesterday. What are you hearing from people inside the party?</s>TONY PERKINS, PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: I'm hearing that unless there is spending cuts -- are spending cuts, there won't be revenue increasing, measures taken by -- or supported by Republicans.</s>BERMAN: So you don't think there's a deal any time soon?</s>PERKINS: I mean, it just -- the American people. I mean, a Wall Street Journal poll shows 2/3 of the people say, yes, we could use more taxes, but they need to be coupled with spending cuts. I think people realize that we've come to a point if we continue to kick the can of fiscal responsibility down the road, we're going to end up kicking the can as a country.</s>BERMAN: Can I ask you, would you be willing to deal with new revenue, tax increases?</s>PERKINS: Yes, I think most Americans would. I don't think they are totally opposed to, you know, closing loopholes, if you will. I mean, bottom line is, it's a tax increase.</s>BERMAN: What about the top two -- two tax rates?</s>PERKINS: I think when you look at that, you have to realize that includes a lot of small businesses, in fact, the bulk of small businesses which are -- small business is the biggest employer in this country. So I think that's problematic for the economy. It's selling well for the president to go around, let's get the top wage earners. Those are small businesses that employ people.</s>BERMAN: Let's talk about the Republican Party in general right now. Senator Jim DeMint for South Carolina leaving the Senate to go become head of the Heritage Foundation. A lot of Republicans didn't shed many tears when he left. DeMint, of course, a Tea Party favorite. You know, some people say a hard lifeline conservative. Is there a division in the Republican Party now between the Tea Party and other Republicans?</s>PERKINS: I think without question. I think there was cheering on both sides. Conservatives were cheering because they see him as being more effective at the Heritage Foundation and the establishment cheering, at least for the short term, that he's out of their hair, because he did challenge the establishment, which is -- look, you look at the last two presidential elections, Republicans put forth moderate candidates, and they lost. Moderates don't liberals and I think there's a realization that settling back on the Republican Party, at least the grassroots and the base of the party, that if they're going to be successful, they have to return to the founding principles, not retreat from it.</s>BERMAN: You know, conservatives lose, too. You had Todd Akin lose. You had Mourdock lose in Indiana. Conservatives lose also.</s>PERKINS: Oh, yes, there's no question about it. It was a bad cycle for Republicans and you mentioned Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock, we're prepared for some of the tough issues and how to talk about the issues successfully, which other candidates have successfully talked about them.</s>BERMAN: Let's talk about the evolution of certain issues in this country right now. Let's talk about gay marriage, as the poll just out from ABC News, saying that 51 percent of Americans support gay marriage, 6 of 10 young people are in favor of gay marriage. At the ballot box in November, you know, three states approved gay marriage, other states allow it. You know, is there an evolution in this country right now?</s>PERKINS: Well, you got over 40 states that have marriage defined in their state laws as a union between a man and a woman, 30 have gone to an effort of placing it into their constitution. You have four states that did vote on it this time in which traditional marriage did not prevail. I hardly think that what we saw in this election is a -- is a consensus, as some have described on same-sex marriage. Look, 40 years ago, and we're coming up next month, will be 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the generation in which that occurred, you would say those under 29 supported and hailed that as a great decision by the court. Today, that same age category, 18 to 29 tonight, are more pro- life than their parents.</s>BERMAN: Can I ask you one question, because the Family Research Council has been in the news lately, dealing with UPS, United Parcels Service --</s>PERKINS: Right.</s>BERMAN: -- because of the Boy Scouts. UPS are pulling their funding for the Boy Scouts because the Boy Scouts will not allow gay members to help run the Boy Scouts or inside the Boy Scouts. Why did the Family Research Council do this?</s>PERKINS: Well, the Boy Scouts for over 100 years, as part of their moral code, has challenged boys to be straight and to be upstanding citizens.</s>BERMAN: Straight? What do you mean by straight?</s>PERKINS: Well, that's their -- that's their code, morally straight, that they not engage in sexual behavior, that they keep themselves morally conditioned and mentally sharp, and that's been their code. They have had this policy long running for good reason. And to have an organization say, look, we're not going to give you money unless you change your longstanding policy to come in line with our values. And I had a conversation, we had a private conversation with UPS and say, wait a minute, why are you doing this? This is a long-term policy that the Boy Scouts have had. Why are you taking your money away? They said, well, we have a right to you give money to those who reflect our values.</s>BERMAN: Can I ask you -- one part of the statement, which I'm not sure we have a project for it. I'll read to you. You said, "Apparently, the company isn't interested in true diversity but in strong arming anyone who disagrees with their extreme agenda, including a century old youth development program, whose only crime is instilling character into millions of American boys." Some people could suggest that not allowing gay members, how does not allowing gay members instill character into boys?</s>PERKINS: Look, when you look at who charters boy scout troops, over 2/3 are chartered by churches, that's where they host their meetings, the values that run parallel to the Boy Scouts. What have you is you have a few corporations, major corporations, who are saying, look, unless you abandon a century old value set, we're not going to give you money. And the -- some things don't change with time. The Boy Scouts are one that have laid down a marker and said we will continue with what's worked for our boys. We're going to continue to produce young men who make good citizens.</s>BERMAN: All right. Tony Perkins, thanks for coming in to be with us this morning. Appreciate it.</s>PERKINS: All right, John.</s>BERMAN: Christine?</s>ROMANS: All right. Thanks, John. Police in Malaysia have made a dent in the illegal trade of elephant tusks. They seized a shipment of 1,500 pieces said to be worth $20 million. It's believed the shipment was headed to China, where elephant tusks are in high demand. Poachers slaughter thousands of elephants in order to get those tusks. Salvation Army workers in Oklahoma found a wedding ring in one of their red kettles, but they don't know if the ring is really a generous donation or if it slipped off someone's finger, someone who could be really upset right now that they don't know where the ring is. They are giving the owner 90 days to come forward. After that, it's considered a donation. Suffering through a losing season in the NFL is bad enough, but blocking your own punter's kick? More on last night's bizarre play, coming up.</s>BERMAN: You're not supposed to do that.