Transcripts For CNNW CNN Saturday Morning 20120121 : vimarsa

CNNW CNN Saturday Morning January 21, 2012



hour for the state's primary. you are looking at the cnn express bus. gingrich is creeping up. romney is still the front-runner. today, the two battle it out at breakfast. they will both be at the same diner at the same time. we'll begin talking to tommy or tommy's ham house live this morning. imagine being stuck in a greyhound station for more than 17 hours. that's what happened to these people after a winter storm moved in. heavy snowfall is expected today in parts of the u.s. reynolds wolf will have the latest forecast. but, we start in south carolina where the curtain comes up on the republican presidential primary in a little while from now. where do we stand? paul steinhauser has a quick look. >> reporter: good morning, gary. polls open in an hour from now. so much at stake in this primary. listen, we saw the battle between romney and gingrich two nights ago. romney's lead shrinking in the polls here. gingrich moving up. don't count out rick santorum. he had a strong breakout in the debate. ron paul has a lot of devoted, energetic and enthusiastic supporters in south carolina. 25 delegates. it's an open primary. republicans, independents and some democrats can vote in this contest. gary, back to you. >> thank you, paul. voters are probably just getting upright now in south carolina, pouring that cup of coffee. the candidates aren't taking anything for granted. they are all going to be out thanking supporters and trying to sway the last few undecided. one of the most watched is at tommy's ham house because gingrich and romney are expected to be there at the same time. joining me on the phone is shawna shepherd. thank you for joining us. how did it happen that both candidates are going to be in the same place at the same time? oh, we hear a dial tone. shawna will come back and talk to us. she's a great reporter that's been following newt gingrich around. it should be a fascinating breakfast in south carolina. oh, she's back. why are both candidates there at the same time? can you hear us? >> reporter: hi, how are you? >> good morning to you. i'm glad we are you. this is a story everyone wants to know. breakfast in south carolina, bacon, ham, pork. one of the most popular places in the state. why are romney and gingrich going to be there at the the same time? >> both campaigns will say it's coincidence and there was no planning on either team to make sure both their candidates were there at the same time. it's sure to make for an interesting day, that's for sure. >> i was just telling our viewers you have been following newt gingrich around for a long time. you know the man and the campaign. does it feel like his surge in south carolina is for real? >> reporter: it does. his campaigns and you have been following him over the last week or so, too. his campaign events don't tend to be more like rallies, they are more town hall meeting style. you know, he talks for a long time, has a way about him. he takes a lot of questions. people really do seem to be interested in him. when they think about somebody, they are looking to beat president obama, they want somebody smart, intelligent, who can stand-up against him. it's something he's pushing here in south carolina, really pushing for conservatives. trying to get that contract between him and president obama. we'll see. >> final question for you now. any idea if newt gingrich and mitt romney will meet up at this breakfast joint this morning? >> reporter: they are both supposed to be there at 10:45. it's not a large restaurant. it seats 325 people. he says there's very little room for standing room only. apparently one of newt gingrich's campaign representatives was there at 3:00 a.m. waiting for the owner to get there when he opened at 5:00 to set up signs. so, you know, we'll see. i asked newt gingrich last night after his event, you know, he was quite surprised that the two were potentially going to be meeting tomorrow at the same restaurant on the same day, same time. >> if you can order me some blueberry pancakes and hold on to them until i see you again, i want appreciate that. >> caller: i'll do that and grits, too. >> sure. thank you very much. here are some of the other headlines we are watching this morning. search crews are back at work around the "costa concordia." a short time ago, the italian navy blew bigger holes into the boat so the divers would have an easier time looking for victims. rescuers spent most of the night searching the boat. house and senate leaders pushed two antipiracy bills to the side. they will likely never come up for vote now. sopa aimed to crackdown on online privacy. they feared the laws would go too far. growing hazing scandal at florida a&m. four members of the band have been arrested. they beat other members of the band. it's not related to the death of a drum major. after the death, the school promised to crackdown on hazing. well, this man is accused of duct taping his 12-year-old daughter and sticking her in a dog cage. his attorney says it was a joke that got out of control. he tied up the girl and put her in the cage twice. his 13-year-old son took pictures of the whole thing and posted them on facebook. a nevada man came forward to take the blame for starting a devastating fire in reno, nevada. he got rid of fireplace ashes. the fire destroyed nearly 30 homes. 10, 000 people has to be evacuated. firefighters think they have the upper hand on the blaze. meteorologist reynolds wolf is in the weather center with the latest. what's coming up? >> we have all kinds of stuff. we are keeping on eye on both coasts. snow in the pacific northwest. new york city two to five inches of snowfall. as we look at the maps, there's something else. there's a shape you will notice in the southeast in mississippi, alabama and georgia that is a tornado watch that will be in effect until noon eastern time. sharp eye on that, no doubt about it. certainly looks like a line of travel delays throughout the weekend. back to you. >> thank you very much. coming up this morning, a busy day in south carolina. gingrich is on the final push to win today's primary. he's going to avoid talking about personal issues. see his response when i ask him if that's fair. thousands of medical records found dumped in a dumpster. who's to blame. plus, chaos caught on camera. one member from the "costa concordia" caught on camera. people want to know if a beer and booze band will continue in sports arenas. we are all over it. stay tuned. it's ten minutes after the hour. the polls open in south carolina in about 50 minutes. meteorologist reynolds wolf is back with a look at weather across america. we were just talking, it looks like winter is finally arriving. >> it's going to be interest in in south carolina. your voters are two groups. if there's rain they will stay home. others will go out and vote, no matter what. if it's rain or fire, they are going to the polls today. scattered showers forming across the southeast. snow in the northern half. anyone who got skis for christmas are going to get a chance to use those, no question about it. you are going to see something entirely different. heavy rain moving into tennessee and mississippi. we have a tornado watch that will be in effect at noontime today. keep that in mind. the reason for the rough weather in the southeast, the atmosphere is setting up for what could be a fairly tricky day. you have a lot of moist air, unstable air from parts of the atlantic and gulf of mexico. it's going to tie in with the frontal boundary sagging in from the west. strong storms and the northeast we are talk iing about basicall three to five inches of snowfall. a mammoth winter storm, not hardly, but a touch of winter people have been waiting for. dry and cool in michigan. parts of the pacific northwest, the continued snowfall is something you are dealing with through the weekend. wind advisories for the day. 43 degrees by seatac in seattle. 62 in albuquerque. 46 in memphis. 29 in chicago. high in miami and tampa, the mid to upper 70s. now, something we need to tell you about, gary, we have an interview coming up with folks in reno, nevada, dealing with very dry conditions. the possibility of dealing with the fires. we are looking at the weather that affects your weekend. we are talking about this a bit. it's ice that's been causing full problems for people in seattle from queen ann's hill to st. pikes. ice is covering the power lines and trees. it's that combination that causes all kind of issues. people sliding up and p dodown roadways. people locked solid in greyhound stations where they couldn't go anywhere for nearly 22 hours because of the icy roads that shut down roads in oregon and washington state. oregon is also dealing with this. look at this. the water is coming up. gary, you are familiar with flooding. this is all from the same system. some families evacuated from homes yesterday in the town of turner, it's the western part of the state. of course, we are going to have more on the forecast. we are going to talk about the other side of the sierra nevada mountains where the fires are the big issue. a lot of people evacuated. it's going to be a big issue. >> we have done a couple floods together. i have a question for you. what is your favorite drink. i don't mean alcohol. >> it's a family show. iced tea is a family stand by. >> it's a good idea to drink iced tea. i like diet coke, diet pepsi. i think they are delicious. if you are like me, this is not good news. texas researchers say drinking diet soft drinks is linked to increased obesity, metabolic sin drom and diabetes. participants had 70% greater increases in waistline growth than nondrinkers after ten years. maybe it's time to drink more water or iced tea. they call themselves hell east lovers. how the gang got busted. >> find out what gingrich told me when i asked if a victory today is critical for his campaign. for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. you are looking at columbia, south carolina. columbia is the state capital of the state where the south carolina primary gets under way. three minutes from now, the polls open. it's been a roller coaster ride for newt gingrich in south carolina. early december, gingrich was out in front. after iowa, he dropped like a rock. as we get closer to primary day, gingrich is surging, again. a big question swirls around his campaign. a new tactic for newt gingrich on the question of his relationship of his ex-wife. is it valid to bring it up in the campaign. mr. speaker, are personal issues valid to bring up? >> his refusal to answer was different from thursday when asked by a man attending the south carolina rally. >> i have been open about the mistakes i have made. >> then he talked about it with reporters. >> it's an issue icon front every time it comes up. people seem to be satisfied with it. watch the audience. >> during the last two days, his crowds have grown bigger and louder as the stakes get higher. on the eve of the iowa caucuses and new hampshire primary, gingrich knew he wasn't going to win. now he believes victory in south carolina is within his grasp. >> if we win on saturday, with your help, i believe i will become the nominee because i think south carolina, in fact, has an enormous impact. you have picked the winner every single primary since 1980. i believe we'll go on to win florida and on to the nomination. >> do you think it's critical to win in south carolina? >> win as often as you can. the number one thing we know is when this becomes a two-person race, romney has a huge problem. he's too liberal for most republican voters. >> as poll numbers increased, so have his spirits. he's talking about president obama's thursday visit to walt disney world. >> the president standing with mickey mouse on one side and gingrich on the other. >> he doesn't have a strong performance in south carolina he will be increasingly unlikely to hear things like this for real. >> mr. president -- >> now you have the with your help -- >> it's a critical primary. our coverage begins tonight, 7:00 eastern time. tired of answering work e-mails and texts after work? one nation has a solution for that. it could put more money into workers pockets. first, 49ers fans might not like this one bit. listen to who the dolphin is predicting will win the nfc championship game. >> now it's time to pick the championship at the georgia aquarium. is it going to be the san francisco 49ers this weekend? no! they're not going to win? what about the new york giants? yes! geez. apparently she's a big eli manning fan. 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[ laughs ] hey! good morning, everybody. it's now 22 minutes after the hour. let's look at news across the country. we'll start in denver. that's where more than a dozen suspected gang members are in custody. etf agents gathered them. they have been investigating them for years. some of the suspects are expected in court on monday. a social worker in texas is accused of dumping thousands of medical files in the dump. >> i'm close to a lot of them. i know where they live, how many kids, what their problem is, what their diagnosis is from psychology to pregnancies to drugs. >> the files were in a storage unit that was auctioned. the state department of health says the person responsible can't be disciplined because they no longer work for the seat. red tails hits the theaters this weekend, they are being honored in another way. alabama's governor honored their contribution to world war ii. one airman was happy to see the day come. >> as i retire for the evening and i look at those 94 years i have been here and i said thank you lord for allowing me the opportunity to not only be a part of it but live to see the results. >> the tuskegee airmen through 5,000 missions during the war. can you say cha-ching? if you answer calls and read e-mails after work, check out what they are doing in brazil. the president signed a law that would make after hour e-mails and phone calls overtime pay. money for extra work. it's not clear how it will be enforced. they take up the issue next month. l labor lawyers say the old phone records and e-mails will come in handy if you get laid off and want to take your bosses to court for extra compensation. i don't think my wife would let me e-mail from dinner. she doesn't like it much. it's a good excuse if she catches me, i'll get paid for it. should companies be forced to pay overtime for after-hours calls and e-mails? the tweets, we must mention, there are not eligible for overtime pay. one moment from thursday night's south carolina debate put gingrich over the top for a victory today? i'll ask two political observers what they think right after this. it's 26 minutes past the hour. welcome back. i'm gary tuckman. thank you for starting your day with us. in 33 minutes, south carolina voters start heading to the polls. the spotlight has been on newt gingrich. his ex-wife accusing him of wanting an open marriage when he started an affair with the woman who is now his third wife. here is how he answered the question in thursday night's debate. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern the country, harder to attract decent people to run for office. i am appalled you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. [ applause ] >> the latest polls show gingrich and romney in nearly a dead heat in south carolina. joining me to talk about the race, lenny mcallister in south carolina and lee may. lenny, to newt gingrich's debate answer, did it benefit him, the irony of all that, but did it benefit him? >> i think it benefited him. everybody is frustrated with the tone of politics. gingrich was the biggest victim of the attack that is went on in iowa. it's the disgusting nature of american politics today. he was able to capture that and go after the conservative boogie man who is a lame stream media, sarah palin would say. by doing those effectively and coming out with an aggressive tone, he knocked it out of the ballpark. it's enough to win here in south carolina. >> you think just that answer will lead him to victory? that will propel him the win? >> i think the reason why is it showed a little bit of vigor, a little bit of fight that conservatives want to see somebody take to the president coming up this fall. you have heard the rhetoric from all the candidates including those who dropped out, you haven't heard them do it with the right fire and tonality to be effective. not like how newt gingrich had. he was at 1% or 20% a couple mons ago and he's now a force of the race. >> lenny said sarah palin. perry dropped out and endorsed gingrich. how much does that come into may? >> it gives him momentum. the narrowing of the republican field would have been in romney's favor. with gingrich's rise, it's in his favor to make it a two to three-person race is in gingrich's favor. really, it shows the republicans indecisiveness in this election. it shows they can't make up their mind. they are trying anyway possible not to let romney be the nominee. >> you hear what people have to say, you change your mind. >> typically, that is the case. however, they are running against an incumbent democratic president who has boat loads of money now who is able to focus on the economy and real things that affect real lives here in america. what you see as a circus going on in the republican party and not real issues being addressed that affect real lives. >> lenny, romney is having problems dealing with the tax issue. let's listen to this for a second. >> i don't know how many years i'll release. i'll take a look at what the documents are. and i'll release multiple years, i don't know how many years. i'll be happy to do that. >> why is mitt romney having so much trouble with this issue? why not come out with a solid answer instead of handling it that way? >> because this is not politics as normal. you have the tea party that has the first opportunity to select a presidential nominee. you have the grass roots rising up and being a force in american politics today. he is somebody that cannot relate to grass roots. it's a problem we knew coming into 2012. he hasn't been able to articulate that well. he's been a front-runner through attrition. now he can't hide behind candidates anymore. he's not there to hide behind. he's never been able to form late an answer for this. as a result, he's starting to struggle. if he loses hered to and stumbles and cannot get that message clear going into florida, the conservative base will go through the process the way the democrats did in 2008 where they went back and forth between clinton and obama. the republicans will do the same thing until they solidify themselves behind one candidate. >> south carolina is an open primary. in an open primary, democrats, independen independents, anybody can vote in the primary. they could do a sabotage vote. >> democrats could do that. i would encourage them not to do that. stick with the democratic primary. it gets weird there because you get republican voter fund raising lists, et cetera. let the republicans figure it out for themselves. they are having a tough enough t

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