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Counting Down To New Hampshire; Romney Stumps In South Carolina; Obama Defends Recess Appointment; Economy Adds 200,000 Jobs; FBI Broadens Definition Of Rape; Three Cadets Charged With Sexual Assault; Deadly Suicide Bombing In Syria; U.S. Navy Lends Hand To Iranians; Van Der Sloot Wants More Time To Decide Plea; Semi-Truck Drives Into Icy Creek; Portland Firefighters Move Car To Rescue Trapped Man; Santorum's Second Town Hall Of The Day; Tennessee Anti- Bullying Law; Washington Governor Chris Gregoire Is Interviewed.

Aired January 06, 2012 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Randi Kaye. It's 1:00, we've got a busy hour ahead for you. So, let's get straight to the news.

If you can't find a political event in New Hampshire today, you're just not trying. Rick Santorum is about to appear at his second town hall of the day four days before the nation's first presidential primary. We'll listen in when the former Pennsylvania senator and come-from-behind sensation in the Iowa caucuses comes to the mic.

Fellow GOP contenders, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman, also are running fast and hard in the grand state, boosted by major endorsements. New Hampshire union leader came out for Gingrich, now "The Boston Globe" has backed Huntsman, not the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We received the endorsement of about half the papers in the state. We just got the endorsement of "The Boston Globe." We're moving forward. I feel very good about where we sit in New Hampshire, because I know this state loves an underdog.

(END VIDEEO CLIP)

KAYE: And Romney with a commanding lead in New Hampshire polling. He is spending as much time as possible down south in South Carolina. That state votes on the 21st.

And check out this poll, it's brand-new, and it shows Romney's hard work is paying off. He's now running well ahead of Santorum, Gingrich and Ron Paul who are all bunched up there in mid-field. Romney will be back in New Hampshire in time for dinner.

In the face of Republican outrage, President Obama is standing by and with his Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and the man that he has chosen to lead it. Mr. Obama visited the Bureau personally just two days after his recess appointment of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. Cordray's Senate confirmation was stalled over GOP complaints about the Bureau itself.

The president also took note of today's better than expected jobs report. The government says in December, the economy scored a net gain of 200,000 positions. That makes six consecutive months of six- figure growth. The jobless rate dropped 1/10 of a point to 8.5 percent, the lowest in almost three years. For the year, we made up 1.6 million of the jobs that went away in the great recession. We still have, though, a long way to go.

The FBI is changing the definition of rape. Attorney General Eric Holder announcing the term , rape, will also include sexual acts on men. This after persistent calls from victims to broaden the definition. The new definition of rape will help the FBI keep a more accurate count of those cases that are reported.

The Air Force Academy is charging three cadets with sexual assault. All the incidents took place at the Academy near Colorado Springs but are unrelated and happened over a 15-month period. This news comes on the heels of a Defense Department report which said attacks increase by nearly 60 percent at military academies during the 2010-2011 academic year.

A deadly day in Syria. At least 26 people were killed and dozens were wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up in Damascus. The blast in a densely populated traffic stop killed mostly civilians and some law enforcement. A free Syrian army official says the government is orchestrating these attacks to prove Islamic extremists are a threat and may take over if the regime is toppled. But are other countries buying that story? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILIP HAMMOND, SECRETARY, BRITISH DEFENSE: The regime clearly has lost legitimacy. Assad is butchering his own people, there is no doubt about that. He should heed the call of the international community to stand aside and allow Syria to transition to a more open Democratic form of society.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if he doesn't?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: At least 24 people have been reported killed today in violence outside the Syrian capital.

And the U.S. Navy lends a helping hand to Iran. This video just in to CNN, it shows an Iranian ship that was reportedly hijacked two months ago. Sailors from the USS Kidd responded to calls for help in the Iranian Sea. They captured 15 suspected pirates, mostly Somalis, and rescued the 13-member Iranian crew. The Iranian crew has since been sent on their way. Before leaving, the Iranian captain reportedly thanked the U.S. Navy for all its help.

Joran van der Sloot's lawyer says his client needs more time to decide on what he can plead to the 2010 killing of a Peruvian woman and asked for a postponement in his trial. Van der Sloot initially told the magistrate he wanted to give a sincere confession but did not agree on all the charges against him. The court is expected to resume on Wednesday. Dutch man was considered the prime suspect, you may recall, in the Natalee Holloway disappearance in Aruba but he was never charged in that case.

And take a look at this. Video just into CNN of a semi-truck sinking. Uh oh, you see it there. A witness says the driver of the Target truck appeared to lose control of his rig before driving into the icy creek. This is all happened in Monticello, Minnesota. The state patrol spokesman says the driver managed to escape the cab. He has since been released from the hospital. Dramatic pictures there.

Rick Santorum not off to a very good start in New Hampshire. Why the leading conservative alternative to Mitt Romney got booed offstage. Plus, you look at the comments that he's made and his position on some of the issues, next.

But first, we want to give major props to a crew of Portland firefighters. Take a look at this with me. When firefighters arrived at the scene of this accident, they quickly realized a pedestrian was pinned under that car. Knowing that he had little time to save the victim's life, all eight of the firemen worked together to lift this 3,200 pound car off that trapped man. And if you're wondering how these pictures were taken, well, another firefighter happened to be driving by the scene, pulled out his cell phone. Congrats, guys. Are you all "Rock Stars."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We want to take you live now to Dublin, New Hampshire. There's Rick Santorum, he just took the mike there. He's holding a town hall, let's listen in for just a moment.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (live): -- because we are getting away from the foundational principles that made America the greatest country in the history of the world. And that's what this election is about. This election's about whether we are going to stay with the principles that transformed mankind from the standpoint of the quality of life of men and women in this world, or we are going to go a different direction.

I would argue a direction from when we initially rebelled, which is a top-down, government-run -- in the case of 1776, run by a king, who lorded over us how to run things, as opposed to what our founders believed in which is a country that believed in you, in free people, being able to build a civil society and a -- from the bottom up. One family, one community, one church group, one local government, one state, all the way up, to build a great and powerful country. Believing in free people, free markets and free enterprise. That's the difference, I believe, that we are going to as have a discussion about in this election. And it comes down to a variety of different issues. People always ask me, you know, what's your position as to all these issues? What I always try to start out, instead of going through all the issues, I want you to understand how I look at all of the issues. I look at all of the issues that we're deal with, whether it's everything from health care to education to agriculture policy which is how can -- how can we build the best possible scenario for people to have the opportunity to build something from the bottom up, believing in free people, free markets and free enterprise?

KAYE: You've been listening there to Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum, speaking there in New Hampshire. We'll continue to listen to what he has to say and may bring you some more of that during the program.

Meanwhile, presidential candidates rarely come as far as fast as Rick Santorum did at just the right moment in Iowa. When they do, they get some well-deserved attention. Unfortunately sometimes for them, they get some well-deserved attention. Santorum is a two-term Pennsylvania senator who was turned out of office in 2006, and since then, reportedly has done very well as a consultant, board member and media commentator.

Platform-wise, he is rigidly opposed to abortion rights and apparently contraception in general. That is not just talk. He and his wife have seven children. He's anti-same-sex marriage, anti-big government, but at least as a senator he was very much pro earmark. Those are projects inserted by lawmakers into spending bills more or less as favors to constituents or backers. Now just yesterday, Santorum's views on marriage led to a testy exchange with a college student in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: So, anyone can marry anybody else. OK? So anybody can marry anybody else. So, anybody can marry several people. Well, wait a minute. Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. No, we're not going to do this. This is not participatory. We're not -- we're not going to do this, OK? I'm going to ask the question. If people want to respond, I'll be happy to call on them. So, I'm just -- I'm just positing some things you need to think about. So, if everybody -- everybody has a right to be happy so if you're not happy unless you're married to five other people, is that OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: But if Rick Santorum is an unknown quantity to most of America, he's not to Tom Fitzgerald. Tom is the national politics writer for "The Philadelphia Enquirer," and he joins me now from, where else? New Hampshire. Tom, nice to have you on the program. I guess, you know, as we dig a little bit deeper --

TOM FITZGERALD, NATIONAL POLITICS WRITER, "THE PHILADELPHIA ENQUIRER": Hi there, Randi. KAYE: -- into Rick -- into Rick Santorum, what would you say? Has Santorum surged because voters don't really know him or because they're beginning to?

FITZGERALD: I think he surged because they don't know him so much, or more accurately, in Iowa, he flew beneath the radar. He had a committed group of supporters. He built it slowly and the others didn't attack him because they didn't take him as a serious threat. He was sort of way down in the polls, and they focused their fire on other bigger juicier targets like Newt Gingrich.

KAYE: What can you tell us --

FITZGERALD: And then --

KAYE: -- oh, continue.

FITZGERALD: Sorry. Oh, no, go ahead.

KAYE: I was just going to ask you about --

FITZGERALD: And then all of this --

KAYE: -- he left Congress in 2006, and I'm curious of what can you tell us about how he supported himself then? Because he wasn't exactly rich when he entered politics.

FITZGERALD: No, he wasn't. He was decidedly middle class. He had an of-counsel position in a Washington law firm. He didn't register as a lobbyist, but he used his influence, kind of -- kind of like Gingrich did only on a lesser scale. He was a commentator for "Fox News." He went on the lecture circuit to warn people about, you know, the dangers of radical Islam in sort of apocalyptic terms. He was one of those that was very early in talking about Iran as a major threat. So, he's sort of worked the conservative circuits, and he had a Fox contract until he began running for president.

KAYE: I want to -- we were talking about some of the comments he's made that have stirred up a little bit of controversy, including one that he made apparently having to do with poverty and race. So, let's listen to that, and then I want to ask you about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Now, following that he said that he didn't remember saying, black people. He said he certainly didn't intend to. Does Rick Santorum, do you think, have a race problem?

FITZGERALD: No, I don't believe he ever -- I don't believe he has. I think he's a -- he's a very sincere, earnest sort of guy. His point of view -- it's unfortunate. I don't think he should have singled out any race. In fact, there are more white people receiving government welfare benefits than black people, we all know that. But his -- he was always of the philosophy that welfare should be transformed into -- you know, he worked on that legislation in the '90s that changed federal welfare program to work-for-benefits rather than just entitlement. And he believes that that was to -- that was to help people, to give -- it would give more people dignity by making them work or -- and/or take training. So it's sort of a compassionate conservatism really that George W. Bush talked about initially. It wasn't necessarily -- it wasn't necessarily undertaken to save money, but to like make better people, in his view.

KAYE: Right. All right, Tom Fitzgerald --

FITZGERALD: And, you know, I mean, you could -- OK.

KAYE: We're out of time. I'm sorry. Thank you very much, though, Tom Fitzgerald.

FITZGERALD: OK, great.

KAYE: Detroit's Police Department is moving its officers out of the station and on to the streets. The department says it's a move to save money. But is this really the best option? We'll ask Detroit's chief of police right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In today's "Crime & Consequence," we're heading to Detroit, Michigan, where you will no longer be able to just walk in to any police station at any time to report a crime face to face with an officer. Some stations around the city will essentially close from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m. Meaning you'll be directed to a phone in the lobby if you do walk in.

You're looking at the result of budget cuts. But here it's the reality. When you look at the numbers from the FBI, Detroit historically has been among the most dangerous cities with one of the highest crime rates in the country. Things have gotten better. The overall crime rate has dropped over the years, but you could see here, murders are still up. In fact, they're up 13.5 percent compared to 2010. The man charged with keeping its city safe, Detroit Police Chief Ralph Godbee joins us now to talk about the changes and what they all mean.

Chief Godbee thank you so much for being on the show.

You say this pilot program to close police stations for 16 hours means fewer officers behind desks, and that translates into more officers patrolling the streets. How so?

CHIEF RALPH GODBEE, JR., DETROIT POLICE: Well, Randi, first of all, we're not closing precincts. That's a misnomer. Unfortunately, it was misreported here and it was picked up across the country. But we will offer a very limited service between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. And the rationale behind that is the most value that we get as a city is having sworn full duty police officers actively out patrolling the streets of Detroit. We do not get a benefit from the officer sitting behind desks doing administrative tasks when we can leverage those resources much better out in the street protecting our community.

KAYE: So when you look at the hours that we're talking, from 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 a.m., do you think that closing of some access at least for people to reach police officers, does that put the public at risk?

GODBEE: It absolutely does not. It actually makes the public much safer from the standpoint of having officers out patrolling. The police station does not protect individuals. Admittedly, it is a safe haven. It will always be open. But the greater value from a police department standpoint and a policing standpoint is a sworn full-duty officer out in the street reacting to crime, preventing crime, locking up bad people. You don't get that with a police officer typing behind a desk.

We have provided an alternative for citizens that is much more customer friendly for them and that's to be able to telephone the report in to what we are terming a virtual precinct that will be staffed with limited duty officers. So for non-emergency situations, we can service the public just as well. But the important thing for our citizens, for our visitors, our residents, is a sworn police officer actively patrolling the streets.

KAYE: I want to ask you though, because a lot of these officers that you're taking away from the desk jobs, I mean some of them, quite frankly, have probably been pushing paperwork and now you're going to put them on the street. Are they prepared for this? I mean is there going to be some training for them? Are they ready?

GODBEE: They're imminently prepared. Maybe about six months ago we started a program in Detroit called "Inside Out." In another effort to leverage more resources, those same officers are responsible for at least once a week working eight hours in a patrol car. Furthermore, they're trained biannually in firearms qualification, use of force, we have street survival officer training. So these are fully sworn resources that work in the street.

Additionally, they work secondary employment uniform details, which also keeps their skills sharpened. We understand that the skills of a police officer are perishable skills, so we're not putting officers out ill-prepared. But what we're doing is we're leveraging our resources, Randi.

My department is about 1,200 officers fewer in 2012 than we were in circa 2005. With that backdrop we still have 140 square miles. We still have close to 80,000 part one crimes annually. And admittedly, those numbers are going down. And again this year, we're trending down about 10 percent overall. So they're doing a tremendous job.

But the reality is, with the budget situation that we face, if we do not re-engineer the way we provide service to our community, it's a losing proposition for us if we remain status quo. KAYE: Chief, I know you have your handful there and you're doing the best you can. Thank you so much for your time today. Chief Ralph Godbee.

GODBEE: Thank you, Randi.

KAYE: Should there be a legal right to bully in school? Some state lawmakers in Tennessee seem to think so. We'll talk with the experts on this proposed bill, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: A fierce battle between Christian conservatives and gay rights groups is raging in Tennessee. It's over a proposed change to the state's anti-bullying law for students and we think it's "Under Covered." The main issue was spelled out in the December newsletter of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, which said, in part, it wants to, quote, "make sure it protects the religious liberty and free speech rights of students who want to express their views on homosexuality."

The gay rights group, Tennessee Equality Project, has denounced the move saying it, quote, "gives students a license to bully that allows them to hide their irrational biases behind an extreme religious belief."

David Fowler is the president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee. Michelle Bliss is a board member of the Tennessee Equality Project.

Thank you both for coming on the program.

David, I'd like to start with you. Your response to the Tennessee Equality Project and other gay rights groups who say that this would give students a license to bully.

DAVID FOWLER, PRES., FAMILY ACTION COUNCIL OF TENNESSEE: Well, first, let me make it clear that, that's just not true. Bullying is wrong, period. Any student and all students deserve to be protected from bullying. This bill actually puts into the statute the parameters of the first amendment rights that students have according to our courts, from the Supreme Court's case in Tinker, all the way down to the Seventh circuit case from last March, the Zelnick (ph) case from the seventh circuit.

So I don't know why there's such a controversy that putting what the courts have said is permitted and what's not permitted into a statute in Tennessee would be considered a license to bully because that's not what this bill does when you read it objectively consistent with what the courts have said.

KAYE: Michelle, what do you say?

MICHELLE BLISS, BOARD MEMBER, TENNESSEE EQUALITY PROJECT: Well, actually, I'm really happy to hear David Fowler say that no child deserves to be bullied. I think that's fabulous. Unfortunately, this bill provides a giant loophole in our already existing bullying laws. And that loophole is that it protects anything a child says to another child that is based in some sort of religious, philosophical or political believe system. It is extremely broad. It provides a giant loophole for a child to say anything to another child.

We're not talking about civil discourse. We're talking about nasty, ugly language that apparently you can preface by saying, my politics or my philosophy or my religion says this. Therefore, I can say this to you.

KAYE: I know, David, that the concern is that, of course, your group doesn't want to give -- doesn't want to create special classes of people or give special consideration to people when it comes to bullying. But these students, these gay students, have been targeted. I myself have done a number of stories on this. There's no question that they are a target. So is this really about special consideration or is this about saving lives?

FOWLER: Well, it's about making the law of Tennessee clear as to what the constitution permits. And with all due respect, I agree -- disagree strongly, vehemently, that this bill would allow anything to be said as long as it's couched in religious or political jargon. That's just not true. And if it needs to be clarified to make it so, then that's fine.

But the law, in fact, -- and I think what gets forgotten in this bill -- is that it mirrors exactly the three things that the courts have said constitute bullying, one of which is creating a hostile educational environment. And that's been completely forgotten. So, therefore, words even cloaked in political or religious terminology certainly can constitute bullying and can create a hostile educational environment and the schools should step in, in that case to say, no.

This is about political discourse, civil, normal, political discourse that the courts have said even students have a right to engage in and, in fact, in an educational environment should be encouraged to engage in, that they aren't in an intellectual bubble. And also, you know, all of that depend, too, upon the age range we're talking about. Things that might be permitted in high school clearly would not be permitted in earlier grades.

KAYE: Michelle, what kind of risk do you think this poses? Does it increase the risk to these students?

BLISS: Well, I think it does increase the risk to these students, especially of this is drafted, because it's not at all clear that what Mr. Fowler is saying is the limits of this bill. The way this bill is drafted, it allows for basically any statement that doesn't assert an attempt to commit physical harm or harm to property would be covered as long as it's couched in religious, philosophical or political beliefs. The way this bill is written is extremely broad and it provides basically an excuse for any type of bullying behavior. Well, I'm saying that because that's what my philosophy is. It's not written to protect our students. It's written to provide a loophole. KAYE: David, I'll give you the final word here.

FOWLER: Well, I think what got overlooked in the two instances she mentioned that described bullying, completely omitted from that was section A3 of the bill that talks about the hostile educational environment. The fact of the matter is the language of this bill mirrors what the courts have said. And if there is a problem with the bill, then they have a problem with our courts and the First Amendment, not with me.

KAYE: David Fowler, Michelle Bliss, thank you both.

You might say Jon Huntsman barely has a political pulse but he's picking up some important endorsements. One of them a big newspaper in Massachusetts where Mitt Romney was governor. But will this make a difference in Romney's rise in New Hampshire? That's next in "Fair Game."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. Time for us to check both sides of the aisle where all topics are "Fair Game."

Mitt Romney clearly ahead of the pack according to the latest Suffolk University/7 News poll from New Hampshire. He has 40 percent of GOP voters and all eyes will be on him in the debates this weekend.

Let's go to D.C. and bring in CNN Political Analyst Roland Martin and former presidential campaign advisor, Ford O'Connell.

Hi, there, guys.

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: How's it going?

KAYE: Ford, let me start with you here. Mitt Romney's well ahead in the latest poll there. What are the big issues you think he's going to be hammered on this weekend and how does he respond to it, Ford?

FORD O'CONNELL, PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN ADVISOR: I think that the field is going to try to paint him as Obama light. They'll say you are a candidate who will say and do anything to win the nomination. You're not something who conservatives can back and it's quite clear through Romney-care in Massachusetts.

KAYE: Roland, I'd like your take on "The Boston Globe" snubbing Romney, endorsing Jon Huntsman.

(LAUGHTER)

Are you surprised? Is this a big deal?

MARTIN: No. No, I'm not surprised. First, obviously the Romney camp, I saw a senior advisor with Soledad O'Brien this morning on CNN saying that, well, this is a liberal newspaper. Keep in mind, the "Wall Street Journal," never described as a liberal editorial page, very conservative. They said that Jon Huntsman had the better economic plan. And what is very interesting is he has been unable to take that type of endorsement and translate into success when it comes to on the stump, when it comes to various debates. And so, frankly, Jon Huntsman simply is not the guy who is just catching on with Republicans for whatever reason. And so forget his economic plan. Clearly, Republicans are saying we don't want you, Jon. Sorry.

KAYE: Ford, what do you think?

(CROSSTALK)

KAYE: Does Huntsman matter here?

O'CONNELL: Well, Roland, to your point, I think the key here is not who's receiving "The Boston Globe" endorsement, whether Jon Huntsman, or the "Union Leader" with Newt Gingrich. What the newspaper endorsements are saying Mitt Romney is not their candidate because they aren't sure which Romney they're going to get. They don't know whether he is a true conservative or who he is. All they are saying is they are unsure because they think he's someone just bent on winning the nomination and not helping the Republican Party.

KAYE: Ford, does that endorsement give Huntsman any traction?

O'CONNELL: Jon Huntsman hopefully prays that it does but I'm not sure that it really is. Jon Huntsman's had a hard time connecting with Republican voters in general. Yes, he may have the best economic plan out there but he's still not connecting with the grassroots and with establishment Republicans.

KAYE: Roland, listen to this. We've been talking a little bit about Rick Santorum and some of the comments that he's made throughout the program. Santorum was booed yesterday at a convention of college Republicans during this discussion about same-sex marriage.

Let's play this and I want to ask you about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM, (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If your point is, people should be allowed to do whatever makes them happy -- right? Is that what you don't say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As long as they don't harm other people.

SANTORUM: So if they're not harming other people, who determines whether they're harming people or not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anybody can understand --

SANTORUM: Well, so everybody can understand it. Oh. Everybody can -- so we're not going to have courts --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

SANTORUM: So there is some objective standard? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is all right for two men to have the same rights as a man and woman.

SANTORUM: Well, what about three men?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Roland, what do you make of that exchange? Not even so much the topic as the tone.

MARTIN: Well, look. Frankly, the issue with me isn't even the tone. The most important thing to me is the topic. If you're Rick Santorum, that is not an issue that is going to dominate in New Hampshire. That plays well in Iowa. It plays well in South Carolina. Look, when you are in that moment and realize, I can't convince this person, guess what? You get in, you get out. You move on. You don't sit here and engage in a back-and-forth. Because it ends up being this kind of question in this kind of segment. And so Rick Santorum has to understand, economics is going to drive the discussion in New Hampshire, not gay marriage.

KAYE: Ford, you have 10 second.

O'CONNELL: I completely agree with Roland that you've got to move on but the youth vote in the primary is going to go for Ron Paul. Let's be honest, the president's position on gay marriage is undefined and it is "still evolving." I'm not sure this is going to hurt Rick Santorum. The lesson here is don't do college events -- Randi?

(LAUGHTER)

KAYE: Good lesson.

Roland Martin, Ford O'Connell, thank you so much.

That is "Fair Game."

MARTIN: Randi?

KAYE: Yes.

MARTIN: Go, Houston Texans, beat the Bengals tomorrow.

KAYE: Oh, you bet, baby.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: I'll be there.

KAYE: Have a good weekend.

MARTIN: All right.

KAYE: Be sure to keep it right here next Tuesday as New Hampshire voters head to the polls. Join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King for live coverage of the New Hampshire primary, Tuesday night, 7:00 eastern, right here on CNN.

You can find chocolate chip pancakes and omelets at this New Hampshire restaurant. But you won't find Republican candidates meeting and greeting the locals. Why politicians are not on the menu at this New Hampshire diner.

And hundreds of kids at one school caught cheating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We believe that about 200 students engaged in cheating on the final example for the English Four test.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: How something like this could happen and what the school is doing about it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know how this works. We give the candidates seven seconds and whoever can mention Ronald Reagan's name the most wins the round! Go. Time's up. And the winner of the Reagan speed round is -- Jon Huntsman.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

KAYE: That is our own Larry King hosting a mock debate for "Funny or Die." The video debuted this morning on the Internet and already it is going viral. So you might want to check it out.

Now for a look at stories making news at "Street Level."

What you see here is no ordinary restaurant. With the New Hampshire primary just four days away, it's banned all politicians with no exceptions. The owner of Colby's Breakfast and Lunch says he made the move because he wanted nothing to do with the political circus. He says his customers want to have a quite meal and not be bothered by Republican presidential candidates trying to get their vote. The owner, Jeremy Colby, says politicians have been coming and going since the summertime and eatery was just too small to accommodate them.

A manhunt is under way for a serial killer in California. Three homeless men were stabbed to death in a span of ten days last month in Orange County. Police say each victim was stabbed multiple times. Investigators believe it was the same attacker in each case. Officials are urging the homeless to stay in groups and avoid sleeping in dark and secluded areas.

A major cheating scandal out of Houston, Texas. According to affiliate KPRC, about 200 seniors at a southeast Houston High School got caught cheating on their final English example. Turns out one- third of the seniors had the same answers on the test, which raised a red flag. The school district has given all seniors two options -- take the test again or accept their grade as is without the final exam.

Now to Tucson, Arizona. Sunday marks the one-year anniversary of a shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. It happened outside a supermarket in Tucson when a gunman opened fire killing six people and wounding Giffords and 12 others. Jared Loughner is accused of carrying out the massacre. He's been diagnosed with mental illness. Giffords was shot in the head and suffered serious brain damage. She has yet to announce whether she will seek re-election. She plans to attend a vigil in Tucson this Sunday with her husband, Mark Kelly.

The U.S. Coast Guard is on a historic mission to get through to Nome, Alaska. Nome is iced in. Storms kept fuel shipments from reaching the city in the fall. Now the Coast Guard is using its only operating arctic ice breaker to plow a 300-mile pass so a Russian tanker can deliver emergency fuel to gnome. This would be the first time fuel has been delivered by ice-covered waters to a community in western Alaska. But officials say the strip exposes how limited the nation's ice breaking capabilities have become.

In Enrico, Virginia, thieves pull off a heist a jewelry store owner says came right out of a movie. Thieves got away with millions of dollars in jewelry at the Beverly Hills Jewelry Store in Virginia. The owner says he is shocked at what he calls an "Oceans Eleven"-type heist because the thieve had to make their way through an elaborate security system that includes several steel doors, trip chains, nail boards and alarm system. The jewelry store owner says he will more than likely have to close his store for good.

Same-sex marriage is a hot button political issue in one state.

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CHRIS GREGOIRE, (D), GOVERNOR OF WASHINGTON STATE: I believe in equality and respect of all citizens. I can't sit here any longer and say it's OK to discriminate.

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KAYE: Is Washington State having a change of heart? We'll talk with Governor Chris Gregoire about her controversial push to legalize gay marriage next. You do not want to miss this interview.

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KAYE: Washington State is getting ready to take the next step toward allowing same-sex marriage. Governor Chris Gregoire announced plans to the historic legislation earlier this week.

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GREGOIRE: I believe in equality and respect of all citizens and I can't sit here any longer and say it is OK to discriminate and I tell you what I really can't believe, is we try and tell the children, the children of loving couples, that somehow their kids are different, that their relationship, their love is somehow different than the love of a heterosexual couple? I don't believe that.

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KAYE: But getting the bill passed, it may not be a walk in the park. Though the state house and Senate are controlled by Democrats, there are some conservative Democrats who side with Republicans who oppose the bill.

Governor Gregoire joins us now.

Governor, you said yourself that you struggled with the issue of same-sex marriage for several years being a practicing Catholic before deciding to go ahead and introduce this legislation. What made you change your mind?

GREGOIRE: You know, I really had to sort out my faith and my responsibility as both a three-term attorney general and now as governor. And I came to the understanding that I could honor and respect the freedom of religion of all faiths in Washington to decide who they want to marry. But I could not allow the state to discriminate when they issue a license for someone to get married. So my seven-year journey has been one that has been hard for me. My state's been on a journey. In 2009 our voters stepped up and passed domestic partnerships. But that alone doesn't make people equal, so it is time for equality in marriage in Washington State.

KAYE: Your push on this has really lit up the Internet. What has been the reaction, as far as you can tell?

GREGOIRE: You know, the e-mails that I have received, the telephone calls at the front desk have not just been from my own state but around the country and around the world. And what I hear is equality is absolutely necessary. Finally someone is recognizing how important it is separate but equal that it doesn't work in the '60s and racial discrimination. It's been a showing of what has been to me very surprising but wonderful support and particularly by loving children that we be recognized as any other couple or family.

KAYE: There are some conservative Democrats that don't support same-sex marriage. Do you think that you have the support that you need?

GREGOIRE: Well, I'm pretty assured that we do have enough votes in our house of representatives. It's going to be a struggle in my Senate, to be honest with you. But I will tell you, I think the voters of the state of Washington and there's polling that says that the voters are there.

So it's time for my legislatures to catch up with my voters but I also think it's time for all of my generation to listen to our children to listen to grandchildren who will tell you what is it that you get about inequality that makes it right when it comes to gay couples but somehow you've got up and understood it and fought for it when it came to racial discrimination in the '60s and as I hear their voices, they are absolutely right. We have to have equality for these children in my home state. It's right. It's the right time. I hope my legislature will get it done.

KAYE: Why did you wait until your last year in office to make this move?

GREGOIRE: You know, we have been through a journey. In 2006, for the first time, we were able under me to get a bill that said no more discrimination and housing and employment and in the next year we took the step to domestic partnership and expanded it in the year after. And then in 2009 the voters oppressed it. It's our moms, our dads, it's our children, it's our aunts, our uncles, our friends, our neighbors. And so we say they are fighting for the same things we are. They are fighting for democracy in our military. Their families that are fighting for their children. They are looking for a good job and how to make ends meet. Why do we not recognize the quality of their loving relationship like we do any other couple in my state?

So I knew the issue was going to be confronting me this legislative session. I've had to come to grips with it. It has been a seven-year personal battle for me and I will tell you I feel so much better today than I have over the last seven years because I'm fighting for the right thing, which is equality in my home state. That's the right thing for the people of my state. I frankly think it's the right thing for America.

KAYE: Governor, thank you so much. We'll continue to watch your fight there in your state.

Senator John McCain giving a little love to President Obama.

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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R), ARIZONA: I am confident with the leadership and the backing of the American people, President Obama will turn this country around.

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KAYE: Is he serious or did he have a Rick Perry "oops" moment perhaps? The answer straight after the break.

Plus, the latest on the race for New Hampshire.

But, first, smokers, you better get used to seeing this because employers are making "no smoking" a requirement. No smoking at work or at any time. According to "USA Today," hospitals and other companies won't hire applicants whose workers test positive for nicotine, not to mention the dozens of smoking bans across the country. Did we mention that Indiana is pushing for a statewide smoking ban and California is allowing landlords to ban smoke in apartments? We know you have rights but it looks like more people are trying to snuff out your smoking habit. I hope you have an ashtray because, smokers, your 15 minutes may be up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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MCCAIN: I am confident that President Obama will turn this country around. We believe in America. We believe that our best days are ahead of us.

(SHOUTING)

MCCAIN: Excuse me, President Romney, President Romney.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

MCCAIN: President Romney. President Romney. President Romney will turn this around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

KAYE: Is that a great moment or what? That was former Republican presidential candidate, John McCain, fumbling during his endorsement speech to Mitt Romney.

Also in New Hampshire today, Paul Steinhauser. He is in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Paul, that was such a moment, wasn't it?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: McCain, Romney, Obama?

KAYE: Exactly.

STEINHAUSER: Yes.

KAYE: Listen, Rick Santorum is also there in New Hampshire stumping a bit at this town hall in Dublin. More live pictures for you. He seems to be raking in the dough these days. Just how much money has his campaign raised since, Paul, that Iowa caucus?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, I guess you could say he's really that strong second place finish, almost the first place finish in the caucus is paying dividends. I confirmed this morning, over $2 million now since that late Tuesday night strong second-place finish. That's what Santorum has raised. That's a lot of money. A lot more than the former Senator of Pennsylvania raised going back to the beginning of his campaign last spring.

Randi, why does that money matter? Because you can use it to buy time for TV ads. You can use it for get-out-the-vote efforts, travel. Money does come in handy. It's not the end all, but for someone, like Santorum, with a small campaign and modest fundraising, this is a huge, huge boost.

What sometimes helps is endorsements. Randi, Herman Cain, remember him, the businessman who dropped his bid for the White House not that long ago?

KAYE: How could we forget?

STEINHAUSER: Cain said in a TV interview earlier today that he will endorse on the 19th of January. That's two days before the South Carolina primary. You want to hear more about that? Herman Cain will be a guest with Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" a little later today -- Randi?

KAYE: And getting back to the Iowa vote count, getting back to the Iowa caucus, what do you know about that?

STEINHAUSER: Just when you think Iowa was over, a dramatic, very close victory for Romney, barely beating out Santorum. Here's the deal. Appanoose (ph) County -- and I apologize to people in that county if I mispronounced it -- but somebody who took part in the caucus, in one of the precincts there, said Romney got 20 extra votes that he should have. That would take away Romney's victory, if true. The Republican Party is looking back to it in Iowa.

Randi, back to you.

KAYE: I bet they're looking into it.

Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much.

STEINHAUSER: Oh, yes.

KAYE: And be sure to keep it right here next Tuesday as New Hampshire voters head to the polls. Join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King for the live primary Tuesday night, 7:00 eastern, right here on CNN.

Thanks for watching today. As always, I'd love to hear what you think. Continue the conversation with me online on Facebook or Twitter, @randikayeCNN.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with Don Lemon.

Hi, there, Don. Happy Friday to you.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, happy Friday to you, Randi. Good to see you.