newt gingrich takes south carolina. >> we proved here in south carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money, and with your help, we're going to prove it again in florida. >> the former house speaker says he may not have the money, but he can take on mitt romney. we'll take you live to south carolina for the post-primary analysis. despite false reports swirling on social media, former penn state coach joe paterno is alive, but in serious condition. students lit candles in his support. we will take you live to penn state. and search and rescue teams continue working on the italian cruise ship this morning. they stopped briefly overnight for safety issues. we've got the latest in the investigation. plus, new audiotape from the ship's captain. hello, and good morning to everybody. we start with the runaway victory for newt gingrich. in the south carolina republican primary. look at the numbers. it was a double digit win for the former house speaker. easily beating mitt romney. and then there's rick santorum and ron paul. we've had three contests and three different winners. santorum in iowa, romney in new hampshire, and now gingrich. let's bring in cnn political editor paulsteinhauser. who does the south carolina vote tell us about this race now? >> gary, i think it tells us we're going to be covering this race for the nomination for a little while longer. you mentioned three different winners. that hasn't happened in dating back at least to 1980 in the modern primary schedule. how did newt gingrich do it? he did it with a lot of force and a lot of action right here in south carolina. >> thank you to everyone in south carolina who decided to be with us and change in washington. >> reporter: another comeback for newt gingrich. down in the polls just a week ago, the former house speaker stormed back to take south carolina's crucial republican primary by double digits over mitt romney. gingrich praised the former massachusetts governor, but he also got in a dig. sfoo we don't have the kind of money at least one of the candidates had, but we do have ideas and people, and we proved here in south carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money, and with your help we're going to prove it again in florida. >> reporter: with the expensive fight for florida ahead, gingrich put out an on-line plea for campaign cash. for romney a setback. >> we still got a long way to go, and a lot of work to do, and tomorrow we're going to move on to florida and a little taste of what we'll hear in florida. president obama has no experience running a business and no experience running a state. our party can't be led to victory by someone who also has never owned a business and never owned a state. >> reporter: rick santorum finished third, but he vowed to keep going. >> let me assure you, you will go to florida and then colorado and -- ron paul came in last, but the texas congressman was still encouraged. >> looks like tonight we will get four to five times more votes than we did four years ago. >> reporter: you look at the exit polls, and people said they decided just within the last few days about two-thirds of the people we questioned in the exit polls say the debates were important. gingrich won those people by a 2-1 margin over romney. you know what, we're packing up the bus behind me. we're going down to florida. we've got a debate coming up on thursday night. wolf blitzer moderating. the primary just nine days away. gary. >> well, first of all, i like the tie you're wearing. >> thank you. sfwla i am blown away by what's happened. last weekend at this time we were talking, and gingrich is way behind the polls. i never would have imaged. do you feel the same way? >> you know what, gary, one of the story lines in this cycle has been debates matter, and they matter a whole heck of a lot. newt gingrich had two strong debates in south carolina. one in myrtle beach, and our debate in charleston on thursday night. mitt romney on the defensive with his taxes all week. that really came into play. one of the reasons why we saw the polls turn around and newt gingrich come away with a double digit victory. gary. >> debates matter big-time. you're right. paul steinhaur. they're each going to be talking to candy crowley on cnn's state of the union. that starts 9:00 a.m. eastern time. what fueled newt gingrich's strong showing in south carolina? there were actually many factors across a wide range of voters. our wolf blitzer and john king break down the exit polls. >> we're studying all these numbers, john, and we're learning a lot about what's happened in south carolina and what it means down the road. >> let's try to look at the south carolina exit polls and project forward. what does snoout newt gingrich have to gain? what does mitt romney have to worry with? when gingrich is winning so big, you know he is winning across, but huge support among the tea party. there's a lot of tea party in florida. governor romney has to fix this number. that's one lesson there. evangelical christians, not as big a factor. 54% in south carolina. that will be much smaller in florida. especially up in the panhandle, those voters matter. 44% for gingrich. 22% for romney. he would like to improve that will number in florida if he is to be competitive. reinforce not just by south carolina results. you can see this is a more conservative electorate. discount the numbers. if you listen to those independent voters and undecided voters with tom foreman. who has the right experience? 49% of south carolina voters said newt gingrich has the right experience. mitt romney has been saying you want a governor, not a guy who has been in congress. you want someone with business experience, not somebody who spent his life in washington. gingrich has convinced south carolina republicans that he has the right to be the president. this is a challenge into florida. this is a big gap. a 14-point gap there. these are the only two candidates with a large number of republicans think that this has been the entire underpinning of the romney campaign. you might not like me. you might not love me or get passionate about me, but can i beat barack obama. if this psychology of the race that newt gingrich can beat barack obama, that newt gingrich has the right experience and that carries over into florida, mitt romney -- >> and there's electability questions, mitt romney does so much better in iowa and new hampshire. that's going to be key presumably in florida in ten days. sdoo yes. the changing that and change it fast. >> fascinating information. now, let's take a moment to look ahead to the next contest. the sunshine state. the florida primary. january 31st a week from tuesday. the latest cnn poll does show mitt romney with a commanding lead, but, remember, this poll was conducted before the south carolina primary. i'm guessing there was a great likelihood those numbers will change. as our erin burnett shows, mitt romney does have a head start in the sunshine state. >> the south carolina all in. you saw the numbers. mitt romney spending the most money. this is mitt romney, including all the super pac spending on his behalf on television ads. $2.7 million. now, to buy 30 seconds of advertising in south carolina, it's $300. it's a different story. when you look at the state of florida. now, here are our four candidates, all you have been saying going on to florida. mitt romney's campaign has already spent $2.4 million of television ads in florida, and when you add in a super pac, $4.9 million. that's more than he spent obviously in the entire state of south carolina. he has already spent in florida. that's going to buy him a lot of ads. now, some of his ads are already playing in florida. he has it in spanish to try to win over hispanic voters. you go to newt.org. i was there a couple of minutes ago. what does it say? we want a million dollar money bomb. try to get more money to buy advertising in the state of florida, but right now mitt romney is the only one with television presence in that state. >> erin, thank you. now that early spending advantage could be even bigger when you consider that early voting in florida actually started yesterday. on top of that more than 100,000 absentee ballots have been passed. the absentee ballots by themselves are almost as many as all the votes cast in the iowa caucuses. you can see all the candidates face off in florida that all begat the florida debate. it begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern time. other news, joe paterno is not dead, but he is in serious condition in the hospital this morning dealing with complications from lung cancer. several web sites reported that the former penn state football coach had died. then it pretty across social media sites like facebook and twitter. the family says it's absolutely not true. last night's students and non-students gather around the paterno statue on the state college campus. jay paterno, joe's son, tweeted that his dad was inspired by the support. joining me now on the telephone is my friend and colleague, susan candioti. what else is the family saying about joe paterno's condition right now? >> well, good morning, gary. it certainly has been a difficult day and night for them, but they seem to be buoyed by the support they're getting from all the people who have, for one thing, as you mentioned, gone over that iconic statue of joe paterno over on campus. and many of them going up as they traditionally do to touch the hand of that statue. i talked to many of them last night and overnight. they're very late saying they were there to pay their respects to the family, and surely are praying for them and hope they can pull through. >> susan, do we have any idea right now how dire his condition is? >> reporter: we don't really because the family is only speaking to their spokesperson. we know that it is, indeed, very serious. we know that he is being visited and is with family members and other close friends of the family. and the hospital has asked for privacy. they're not allowing reporters anywhere near there. we know at the home it's also being protected by the state police, as they often do when the media comes to inquire, and even area residents come out down to inquire. people who love joe paterno. so it's a very quiet and respectful time over on campus right now, as people hope that someone they consider to be the heart and soul of penn state can pull through. >> susan, thank you very much. well, meteorologist reynolds wolf is in the weather center right now. reynolds, what's coming up? >> we have two big things we're following. one is the potential of a severe weather outbreak for parts of the midwest and into the deep south. that could really occur later on this afternoon, evening, and into tomorrow. then the other big story is that it is game on for ski country in central colorado where they could be seeing anywhere up to, say, a foot or maybe even more snowfall for the central rockies. that comes with winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour. get this, some gusts approaching 70 miles per hour. almost hurricane force. we'll have more on that coming up in a few moments, gary. >> 70 miles per hour in ski country? >> yes, tough day for snowboarders. >> you are a snowboarder. i'm a skier, and i'm not skiing in that stuff. >> i hear you. >> a dazzling light show that may be visible in your city. that's next. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas. good morning. it's now 14 minutes past the hour. let's take a look at, well, some chilly news across the country. the snow has stopped falling right now in the pittsburgh area, but police are warning drivers to be careful. look at this. because of the icy road conditions. they responded to several accidents like this major pile-up. about four inches of snow fell in the city of pittsburgh yesterday. they're also shoveling snow in iowa. some parts of the state got up to 7 inches this weekend. and in the base state massachusetts. it's also a cold winter weekend, but these kids ask this dog do not seem to mind. many people and animals decided take it easy and enjoy the snowfall. about half a foot fell in the middle part of the state. after all, reynolds wofrl, you know, it is winter, so we should expect this kind of thing. it's been so warm that this has become a story that it's snowing in the end of january. >> it really has been. it's amazing. in some places, especially like colorado, who have been waiting all year long for mother nature to show up. at least old man winter. he is definitely here. in parts of the rockies, you have 18 inches of snowfall. we're talking about 70 merp gusts. that is serious business. anyone making a drive along parts of i-70 from denver trying to make their way back into parts of utah, it's going to be tough going. especially high mountain passes where i wouldn't be surprised if we get gusts. even stronger than 70. it's going to be a tough day. both hands on the wheel. you have to be careful on a day like today. the concern for potential for severe weather into the afternoon. the atmospheric setup that we're going to see across the west and the deep south is going to be very interesting to say the very least. we've got a line of moisture coming in from the gulf of mexico. we've got this frontal boundary that is going to provide a bit of lift. the real kicker is going to be a couple of things. we've got this area of low pressure. you could even fold in the jet stream and that low level jet could cause the possibility of severe storms by late afternoon. look at what we're expecting. it's going to be mainly later this afternoon where the atmosphere is going to really destabilize, and that low level jet is going to kick in. it's going to be -- possibly overnight and into tomorrow morning the moderate risk for storms. we could see it really pop up in places like memphis, perhaps even jackson, miss mess, and maybe even little rock before the day is over. again, slight risk of severe storms, and a moderate risk in parts of tennessee, miss americas and arkansas. certainly a possibility as you make your way into the end of the weekend and into the start of next week. that is a quick snap shot of your forecast. gary, again, this is what happens when we have this change of seasons. we always have potential for these storms and tonight and tomorrow could be one of those periods. >> reynolds, have you seen these pictures of the solar flare? >> they're pretty compress he have wrish. >> they come from nasa, the oout of alaska's geothermal. if you live in the seattle area, des moines area, chicago, or cleveland, those specific areas, you may get a light show tonight at nighttime. a solar eruption from the sun is creating these spectacular auroras. people say you might have interruption in cell phone service or things with transmissions, your table tv, your satellite. my gosh, is it worth it? i mean, come on, let's give up disruption for some of our football games to watch great events from the sun. >> i don't know if it should disrupt the football game. >> i hear you, man. thank you research. >> you bet. >> one school is cancelling sports to save money. your chance to weigh in just ahead. plus, with concerns that gas prices could hit $4 a gallon on the average, see how dolphins, yes, dolphins, could help keep prices down. 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. emillike a ramen noodle-t... every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. what you pay for gas at the pump is directly related to this right here. it's called the strait of hormuz and it's a key transit point for one-fifth, 20% of the world's oil. iran is threatening to block it, which would result in sky-high prices. the u.s. navy has a plan to thwart those threats, and it involves these guys right here. this is a serious story. it involves dolphins. we are joined for this morning's passport. the navy wants to use dolphins? >> what iranians are saying we will block it, and one of the ways they're going to block it with underwater mines, and the best detectors of underwater mines are not submarines or satellite communications. they are dolphins. what the u.s. navy has done is ramped up their training of dolphins. they've been training these dolphins for years, and interestingly enough, whales and dolphins are the only animals in the entire world that have echo location and sonar underwater. they are and these particular dolphins, atlantic bottle nose dolphins are the only dolphins that can be trained to do this. i have the pleasure of speaking to hans larson. he spent time with the navy s.e.a.l.s. training these dolphins, and he said it was extraordinary seeing what they were capable of doing. >> so you're saying, though, that these dolphins are being trained to help u.s. military? >> absolutely they are. they have this unbelievable, as i say, echo location and sonar. they are perfectly designed to do this, and the way the marines do this is by classic conditioning. they reward them. they reward them with fish. they love sardines. if you want to understand how a dolphin sees, you -- >> i actually know him. dr. salangi used to run the aquarium in gulfport, mississippi. is that was destroyed by hurricane katrina. many dolphins ended up in the gulf of mexico. most of those dolphins now are at the atlantis resort in the bahamas. >> a superb period of time when it comes to dl dpins, as you know. he says with a dolphin -- when you go for an ultrasound he says that is what a dolphin can see. that is literally the kind of x-ray vision that they have. the u.s. navy is training these dolphins. now, it's interesting to see how would they transport them? >> how do they get them to the strait of hormuz? >> they can be there in 72 hours. they can transport them into circular giant pools. they would put them on a c-130 and then airlift them to the ship. dolphins have been used since the gulf war. >> that's an amazing story. thank you very much. hopefully we won't have to use them do on that, but it's nice to know that the u.s. has the dolphins on its side. >> absolutely. >> thank you. new york city police and the pentagon are teaming up to make the big apple safer, and what they're coming up with will reveal who is carrying a consealed gun on the streets. we're unveiling that next. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. if you have painful, swollen joints, i've been in your shoes. one day i'm on top of the world... the next i'm saying... i have this thing called psoriatic arthritis. i had some intense pain. it progressively got worse. my rheumatologist told me about enbrel. i'm surprised how quickly my symptoms have been managed. 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