Return to Transcripts main page

NEWS STREAM

Mitt Romney Wins Resounding Victory in New Hampshire Primary; Inside Syria; Nigeria Fuel Strikes; Nuclear Scientist Killed In Iran; Rumors Of An Apple TV

Aired January 11, 2012 - 00:08   ET

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


KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: Welcome to NEWS STREAM, where news and technology meet.

I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

And we begin in New Hampshire, where this man, Mitt Romney, won a resounding victory in the Republican primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The level of anger and passion here is absolutely palpable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: And we'll take you to two very different protests in Damascus.

And 10 years since the first prisoners arrived there, and despite the president's promise to close it down, detainees remain at the Guantanamo Bay camp in Cuba.

No surprise in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney has easily wont he state's Republican primary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AUDIENCE: Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: The former Massachusetts governor made history with his victory, and Romney is the first non-incumbent Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire. And he's sounding more like the presumptive nominee, ready to battle President Barack Obama for the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know that the future of this country is better than 8 or 9 percent unemployment. It's better than $15 trillion in debt. It's better than the misguided policies and broken promises of the last three years, and the failed leadership of one man.

The president has run out of ideas. Now he's running out of excuses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now, the big question is whether Romney's Republican competitors are out of time to slow his momentum. Texas Representative Ron Paul finished solidly in second. He's hoping that will turn into a fund-raising boost heading into South Carolina. And then former Utah governor Jon Huntsman placed third. You'll remember he sat out in Iowa.

And here's what Paul and Huntsman told their supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's no longer that irate, tireless minority that is stirring up the troops. Now that irate minority and so tireless, as you have been, it's growing by leaps and bounds. It's going to continue to grow by leaps and bounds. And we will restore freedom to this country!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here we sit tonight, ladies and gentlemen, with a ticket to ride and to move on. Here we go to South Carolina! Thank you all so very much! Thank you!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now, New Hampshire seemed to do little in terms of narrowing the field. Let's bring in CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser, live from Manchester.

And Paul, it was a historic night for Mitt Romney, and now he's on the attack not on the other GOP contenders, but President Obama. And here's what Romney said on CNN USA just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: You know, the president, unopposed, only got 80 percent last night. So, you know, I feel sorry for Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She's got to stand up for the president's record, and it's pretty bad. You've got almost two million people that have lost their jobs under this president, you have median income that's dropped by 10 percent over the last four years. You've got 24 million people out of work or have stopped looking for work.

This is a failed presidency. People know that. They're going to do their very best to attack whoever the Republican Party puts forward, but in the final analysis, they can't defend their record, and it's because of the president's failure that he's going to be replaced, at least in my view.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: So, Paul, we just heard it. Mitt Romney, he's putting his focus on the White House. But after New Hampshire, does he have the momentum to go all the way?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes. He's building momentum. As you said, he made history, the first non-incumbent to win both Iowa and New Hampshire back to back.

You know, Kristie, when Mitt Romney first jumped into this race for the White House last spring, he was also focusing his attention just on President Obama, not on the rival Republicans for the nomination. But then, of course, he had to change his tune, because firsts Rick Perry, then others, most recently Newt Gingrich, became the front-runners and Romney had to direct his attention to them. But with these two wins, especially this strong win right here in New Hampshire, Romney wants to look ahead.

He doesn't want to look at his rivals anymore. He wants to look ahead and, you know, kind of frame this race as him versus President Obama. And that will, hopefully for him, he thinks, at least propel him towards the nomination.

If he wins in South Carolina, which is 10 days from now, and then if he wins again in Florida, he's going to have such momentum, it's going to be very hard for any of the other Republican candidates to stop him -- Kristie.

STOUT: Now, Jon Huntsman, I mean, he was banking big on New Hampshire after skipping Iowa. But he, in the end, came in third. So is that really enough for him?

STEINHAUSER: Well, he says the bronze medal is enough for him to move on to South Carolina. Sure, he wanted the silver, he wanted to come in second. He didn't. Ron Paul did.

But, for Huntsman, he says it's enough to move on. The thing for Jon Huntsman, though, is, remember, he spent virtually all of his time right here in New Hampshire campaigning. It's going to be a very different story down in South Carolina.

It will be a level playing field. Everybody will be there at the same time.

Also, Kristie, the electorate in South Carolina, the Republican electorate that we'll see in the primary in 10 days, much more conservative, not as many Independents and moderates as here in New Hampshire. Much more favorable territory for Huntsman here rather than in South Carolina. This may have been as good as it got for Jon Huntsman.

STOUT: Yes. And it sounds like how you described it there, South Carolina may not be as favorable to Ron Paul. Ron Paul, he won the silver there in New Hampshire. What does that second place showing mean for him and his campaign?

STEINHAUSER: Oh, Ron Paul is ecstatic. This is a case where second place was as good as first.

Ron Paul had a pretty strong showing in Iowa as well, a pretty solid third place finish. Here in New Hampshire, this was really his state -- a lot of Independents, some libertarians, and he did very well with the young voters as well.

You're right, though. South Carolina and Florida, not going to be as favorable to Ron Paul. But he now has enough momentum. He's got enough movement to continue on.

I don't think you're going to see Ron Paul give up his bid for the nomination for quite some time. He may take it all the way to the convention, even if Romney becomes the presumptive nominee -- Kristie.

STOUT: All right.

Paul Steinhauser, joining us live from New Hampshire.

Thank you.

Now, Mitt Romney, he rode a wave of support from mainstream Republicans in New Hampshire, but the candidate right behind him, Ron Paul, is almost his polar opposite.

Jonathan Mann breaks down the data from this latest primary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Our pollsters asked all kinds of questions about people as they were coming out of the vote. And what it found is that, for example, when it asked people which party they most closely identified with, here's an odd thing. It was a Republican primary, but Democrats and Independents were allowed to vote in it.

Well, the people who most felt like they're Republicans voted for Mitt Romney. He won. The Democrats who were voting went for Jon Huntsman, who, in some respects, is the most liberal of the candidates who are running.

The Independents went for Ron Paul. The angry people, the people who felt that they had been misrepresented by the standard parties, they went for Ron Paul.

When we asked, "What is your opinions of the Tea Party?" the people, interestingly enough, who were neutral on the Tea Party and even Tea Party supporters went for Mitt Romney. And so he did very well even with the Tea Party. The people who oppose the Tea Party, once again Jon Huntsman, who is not a national figure in the Republican Party.

And one more thing to show you. When we asked them, "What is the most important quality you have in candidates?" well, was it to beat Barack Obama? If it was, they voted for Mitt Romney. If it was a true conservative, or a man of a particular character, they voted for Ron Paul. If it was experience, they voted for Mitt Romney.

And so over and over again what you saw is either Mitt Romney took everything or Mitt Romney split it with Ron Paul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Jonathan Mann there.

Now, with the race for the U.S. presidential nomination now moving south, ahead we will take you to the U.S. state of South Carolina for a look at what voters there are saying.

Plus, after the break, an exclusive report from inside Syria. Nic Robertson sees growing fear and bitterness at two very different protests.

And today marks the 10th year since the first prisoners arrived at Guantanamo Bay. The camp is still open despite a presidential promise to close it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Welcome back.

And to Syria now, where opposition activists say at least five people have been killed in the government crackdown on protesters. They say four of the five were killed in Hama in clashes with government forces. And the activists say that the fifth was killed in Homs when security forces opened fire.

Now, meanwhile, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad made an appearance at a rally of his supporters in Damascus. You're looking at pictures we received from Syrian state television just a short time ago.

And Syrian media reported a bomb has exploded in a military bus, killing four members of the Syrian army. The government calls it a terrorist attack.

For more than 10 months now, the news coming out of Syria has been limited, but our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is now inside Syria, and here is his exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): A body carried high. A sister uncontrollable with grief. This is an anti-government rally barely 15 minutes from Syria's capital. They've come to bury a 32-year-old man they say was killed by pro-government gunmen.

(on camera): The level of anger and passion here is absolutely palpable. We're just a few miles from the center of Damascus, and this is a crowd here of perhaps -- thank you. Thank you. This is a crowd here of perhaps several thousand people.

They've taken over this whole area. They've put rocks in the road to prevent the police coming in here.

(voice-over): It is a rare opportunity to meet the people who want to overthrow Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation is very bad. We only want to be like you, like the Western people. We want to be freedom. We want to be free people.

Look at him. Thirty-two years, only because he said, "Allahu Akbar." Do you know "Allahu Akbar"?

ROBERTSON (on camera): Who killed him? Who's responsible?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The government is responsible. Bashar al-Assad is responsible. Bashar al-Assad is killing us only because we want freedom like you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm afraid when I'm talking to you right now. Why? Because I'm (INAUDIBLE) and going to my home. And I'm not 100 percent sure that I'm going to be safe, because if not today, if not tomorrow, they will arrest me.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Their defiance possible because two orange- jacketed Arab League monitors are here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are here without them, you don't -- you are never going to see any protester.

ROBERTSON: Even so, protesters told us they didn't trust the Arab League mission.

(on camera): The monitors tell us this is one of the most difficult and dangerous situations for them. People are angry. The crowd is volatile. Everyone wants to talk to them, and the monitors say the most important thing that they can do at this time is be neutral, is take down all the information, and show that they are completely impartial.

(voice-over): Everyone here has something to say. Many push forward to show injuries they say were inflicted by government forces.

(on camera): They're absolutely desperate to show us the level of suffering, and they say they can't go to the hospitals, because if they do, the government hospitals, they fear being arrested. Some of the injuries we're seeing here seems to show signs that they're not being treated as well as they could be.

(voice-over): When the monitors leave, so do we. Within minutes, they are stopped.

(on camera): We're barely half a mile from that anti-government rally, and here there are pro-government supporters now blocking the road, a small group trying to show the monitors their support for Bashar al-Assad. This appears to be an impromptu demonstration, but it's surprising, because, really, they knew this was the way the monitors were going to come.

(voice-over): And it's not the only pro-government rally in town. At least two others.

Here, a huge PA system blasts the president message. Government troops dancing with the crowds.

(on camera): The most striking difference between this pro-government rally and the opposition rallies that we've seen, here it's a celebration, it's a carnival atmosphere. At the opposition rallies, there is absolute real fear in people's eyes. They're terrified of their situation.

(voice-over): Here, they say they trust the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bashar al-Assad is a good man, but if you want to see, you can see. That's real here.

ROBERTSON: And they believe the government line that opposition is fabricated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not a legal opposition.

ROBERTSON (on camera): What is it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This opposition is not legal.

ROBERTSON: It's not real?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Legal or real.

ROBERTSON: Legal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not for real.

ROBERTSON: How do you mean not legal or real?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that (INAUDIBLE).

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Few here will talk about the danger of Syria imploding into sectarian chaos. This American woman and her Syrian husband an exception.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president was forced to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be big, big chaos. His security here --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he's a people president. He likes all religions to get along. He's a peaceful man.

ROBERTSON: So now Assad remains in control for the most part, but it's hard to imagine his supporters and opponents can be kept apart much longer.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Damascus, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Now, Iran's IRNA news agency says a nuclear scientist was killed when a bomb planted under his car exploded. The reports say it was a magnetic bomb put there by someone on a motorcycle. The victim has been named as Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan. He was a nuclear scientist who reportedly worked at Iran's main nuclear plant, Natanz.

Now, this killing is similar to previous attacks targeting other Iranian nuclear scientists. Two years ago, a remote-controlled bomb killed Massoud Ali-Mohammadi outside his home. He worked in nuclear physics at Tehran University. And November of 2010, nuclear expert Majid Shahriari died when a bomb exploded in his car.

Iran blames Israel for the attacks.

And the world is inching closer to global disaster. That's according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, a group that measures global risks through the symbolic doomsday clock.

Now, doomsday is represented by midnight. And this week, the clock was moved ahead one minute, to 11:55. It's the first time it has been adjusted in two years. And scientists blame the change on an increased risk of weapons proliferation, Japan's nuclear disaster, and terrorist threats to use dirty bombs with stolen atomic material.

During nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s, the clock was set at two minutes before midnight.

And later on the program, something completely different. It's a beauty pageant of sorts for technology. Stay tuned to take a look at some of the gadgets being unveiled at this year's Consumer Electronics Show.

Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching NEWS STREAM.

Now, a second day of protests across Nigeria over higher fuel prices has come and gone with no sign of letting up. And now the Nigerian government is pushing back.

Nigeria's justice minister issued a statement ordering public workers back to their jobs or their wages would be docked.

As journalist Vladimir Duthiers explains, rallies in parts of Nigeria are leaving some areas deserted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VLADIMIR DUTHIERS, JOURNALIST: So we're on a major street here in Lagos, Nigeria. You can see it's practically deserted. This is one of the major arteries in Lagos. It leads to the airport.

And what you see on my right here are dozens upon dozens of gas trucks just sitting here idle, in the baking sun. Normally during the day these gas trucks would be fanning out across Lagos and, in fact, across Nigeria, delivering gas, delivering fuel to gas stations across the country. But because of this national day of strikes, they're basically just sitting here and not moving.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Now, the Nigerian Red Cross reports at least 16 people have died in protest-related violence.

(WEATHER REPORT)

STOUT: Coming up next here on NEWS STREAM, voters in South Carolina preparing to make their choice in the Republican presidential nomination. We'll tell you what is at stake.

Plus -- -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was, for me, a terror that has never left me to this day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: -- a rare interview with a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay. The prison opened 10 years ago today, and we'll hear what life at Gitmo was like.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

You're watching NEWS STREAM, and these are your world headlines.

Now, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad addressed a rally of his supporters in the capital, Damascus. He says the country is confronting the final phases of a conspiracy, but he is confident of victory as long as the people of Syria are United. The president was joined by his wife during this impromptu address that caught Syrian TV by surprise.

Iranian media report a nuclear scientist was killed when a bomb planted under his car exploded.

Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan work at Natan (ph) one of two facilities that are enriching uranium in the country. It is the latest on a string of attacks on Iranian nuclear scientists. Tehran blames Israel for the killings.

And after requesting time to reflect, Joran van der Sloot is to return to a courtroom in Peru on Wednesday to deliver his final plea in the murder trial of Stephanie Flores. The 24-year-old previously indicated that he was willing to confess to the murder charges. In 2005, van der Sloot was the prime suspect in the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway.

A new investigation into the death of movie star Natalie Wood has not found any new information, but detectives in Los Angeles say that leads are still being followed. The West Side Story star drowned in 1981 after a boat trip off the California coast.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won Tuesday's Republican primary in the U.S. state of New Hampshire taking nearly 40 percent of the vote. Now Romney spoke to our U.S. sister network a short time ago about his next steps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are plenty of other people who want the chance to go up against President Obama. And I have a long way to go before I get the nomination if I'm lucky enough to get it. But I really think we're best off focusing on the failures of this president. And in my case, I want to demonstrate that I have the capacity to make America once again a great place for opportunity, for rising incomes, for job growth. I think that's what people want to hear, they want to understand how we're going to lead the country. And that's what I'm going to be talking about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now Texas Congressman Ron Paul finished second in Tuesday's primary. Jon Huntsman, a former governor of Utah came in third.

Now let's take a look at the current delegate count. Now CNN estimates that Mitt Romney now has 23 in his column after picking up five from New Hampshire. Ron Paul is his closest competitor with 10, Rick Santorum not far behind with 8. Now remember, a candidate need 1,144 delegates to clinch the nomination. They do the voting at the party's convention in August.

Now South Carolina is the first state in this race where the winner will take all the delegates a state has to offer. That number is 25. And although it only represents less than 2 percent of the total delegate votes, at this point it is enough to change the face of this race.

Now CNN's Peter Hamby joins us live now with more from Columbia, South Carolina. And Peter, South Carolina is uncertain terrain for Mitt Romney so how will he do there?

PETER HAMBY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well Kristie he's actually winning here. And he's been winning here for awhile. South Carolina's past is a very conservative state here. 60 percent of voters call themselves born-again Christians or evangelicals. That's traditionally not good territory for Mitt Romney who is sort of perceived as a little soft on some of the social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage that those voters hold dear.

The good thing for Mitt Romney here is that the field, the Republican field is so divided. So Mitt Romney doesn't especially need those kind of voters. There are also lots of business voters here. There's a lot of military votes. There's a lot of moderates. It's a pretty diverse Republican state.

So Mitt Romney is leading the polls here by a wide margin. And he can still win even if his lead slips simply because there are five other candidates in the field competing aggressively and dividing up that conservative vote, which means that Mitt Romney can escape here with 20, 25, 30 percent of the vote and still get a win, Kristie.

LU STOUT: What about Rick Santorum? How much of a potential opening does he have in the state? Could there be another Santorum surge there in the south?

HAMBY: I absolutely -- I absolutely think so. I think he kind of miscalculated by going to New Hampshire where social issues aren't that important to Republican voters. But they were in Iowa where Rick Santorum almost won. And they are here in South Carolina.

Rick Santorum came down here over the weekend. He took a little detour from New Hampshire to campaign here. And just from the voters that I've talked to, there seems to be a lot of movement toward Rick Santorum after that strong Iowa showing. So I think he could emerge as the strongest anti-Romney opponent here because he is so fiercely conservative on issues like abortion, Kristie.

LU STOUT: And Rick Perry, after a poor showing in Iowa, Perry he regrouped in Texas. He then put his focus on South Carolina. Is this state make or break for his campaign?

HAMBY: It absolutely is. If Rick Perry does not win South Carolina we could safely say his candidacy is over. He finished dismally in Iowa, fifth place. Skipped New Hampshire because he couldn't even win there. He's counting on the fact that he is culturally closer to these voters as a southerner. He's a veteran. So there's a lot of military voters here that he can talk to. But he's only at 5 percent in the polls here.

He's going up on TV soon, running TV ads. Hopefully that will change numbers for him. But he absolutely has to win here. It's a long shot over the next 11 days to move that much in the polls, but he's got to do it Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. CNN's Peter Hamby live in South Carolina. Thank you very much for that. We'll talk again later.

Now 10 years ago today the first group of prisoners arrived at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Now those 20 al Qaeda suspects, they were detained in the aftermath of 9/11. And some of them are still there.

Now the controversial camp, otherwise known as GITMO, it currently holds some 171 inmates. U.S. Defense Department says 779 men in all from 30 different countries have been held there.

Now seven inmates have died in custody. And many have been released or transferred to other countries. But it has been a difficult process. In the last year, just one detainee has been freed from Guantanamo, 89 have been cleared for release by multiple federal agencies, but are going nowhere, and 46 of those who remain are described as two difficult to prosecute, but too dangerous to release.

Now you'll remember Barack Obama, the U.S. president, he signed an order to close the prison shortly after becoming president in 2009. And 11 days ago, he barred the transfer of detainees into the U.S. for trial.

Now human rights groups have consistently criticized the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. And some inmates have complained of torture and abuse. Now CNN has managed to speak with one of them. Senior international correspondent Dan Rivers has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOZZAM BEGG, FORMER GITMO DETAINEE: My first images of Guantanamo were a little blurred and that's because the journey from Bagram to Guantanamo was so painful being shackled to the chair, having my hands shackled to my waist, my legs shackled, my mouth covered with a face mask, my ears covered with muffs and my eyes covered with blacked out goggles. It was for me a terror that has never left me tot his day.

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Describe some of the mistreatment that you endured, first of all at Bagram.

BEGG: The initiation process, as -- it takes you to becoming a detainee, an enemy combatant means being stripped naked, means being punched, means being kicked, spat upon, sworn at for your racial and more particularly for your religious background, it means have dogs brought over to you to growl and bark at you, terrify you into a state of being weak and compliant.

RIVERS: Did you lose hope?

BEGG: The moment I stepped into Camp Echo soldier confinement, which was a cell that measures 8 foot by 6 foot where you can't take more than three steps in either direction, that hopelessness became complete. And all of this with no access to anybody who I could appeal to with reason and say please can you give me some decency. I'm a human being. And I deserve my dignity.

RIVERS: I suppose your detractors would say, look, you were -- you admit you were in training camps in Afghanistan. You know, there are certain parts of your story that could arguably justifiably lead to suspicion. How do you counter those suggestions that perhaps you up to no good?

BEGG: I fully accept that things that I have done, or may have done may want people to be want me to be monitored. And I was. I was visited by the intelligence services and so forth. But how that translates, then, into justifying torture and abuse and false imprisonment and a complicity in torture and beyond that doesn't make any sense.

RIVERS: Do you think the detention of people like you in Guantanamo exacerbates the problem, further radicalizing if you will the people are there?

BEGG: 600 plus have been released. And if those 600 were really these radicalized terrorists that one has been told that they are, then we could have wreaked havoc on the world. In fact what we did is we reached across to our tormentors, our former tormentors, brought them over to bring them to my house to meet with my children. We are the ones that have been abused, but we are the ones who stretched our hands forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Dan Rivers reporting there.

Now at the moment Ahmadinejad is to meet Cuban president Raul Castro as he stops in the capital Havana during a tour of Latin America. The Iranian president has already visited Nicaragua and Venezuela as part of a trip designed to strengthen ties in the region. He will make his final stop in Ecuador on Thursday.

Now at least four suspected militants have been killed by the United States in its first drone attack in Pakistan in over a month. Now two missiles were fired at a compound in northern Pakistan close to the border with Afghanistan. It follows a pause in drone operations after two dozen Pakistani soldiers were killed in air strikes at the end of November. The U.S. blamed poor communication for the deaths, but Pakistan's military says the attack was deliberate.

Now this year's Consumer Electronic Show has a slew of new gadgets on display, but one tech giant was creating the buzz without actually being there. We'll explain when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now the struggling photography giant Kodak has announced corporate restructuring as it tries to make the transition from film to digital. Now at the same time the company issued patent infringement claims against mobile giants Apple and HTC. It comes as there is speculation that the company is close to filing for bankruptcy with stocks down by 90 percent over the last year.

Now you may not have heard of Gorilla Glass, but chances are that you use it every day. It is the glass that's used in touchscreen gadgets like iPads and iPhones. Now the company that makes it has debuted its brand new product at the Consumer Electronic Show in the U.S. And let's bring it up for you. Here it is. It's not the world's sexiest looking product, but this is the logic behind it.

The new version of Gorilla Glass is thinner and more touch sensitive without being more fragile. It could help smartphone and tablet makers create lighter devices that are more responsive to your finger. And that is attracting consumer attention.

Now there is one noticeable omission at CES: Apple. The tech giant doesn't participate in the event, but its presence is still being felt. And now there is speculation that Apple may one day enter the TV market. As Dan Simon reports, that's kept its competitors on their toes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A television you can talk to: Samsung's new TVs are controlled by voice, physical gestures, and facial recognition.

ETHAN RAISEL, SAMSUNG: We built a camera right into the TV. You can surf the web by moving your hand around. You can point to click.

SIMON: TVs always seem to hold the most interest at CES. The last few shows have focused on 3D technology, but consumers haven't been swayed because of the need for glasses and the relatively little 3D content for television.

Most consumers have already upgraded to flat screens, but for many there hasn't been a compelling enough reason to spend the money to do it again. But there's one company that might jumpstart the industry and they're not even at the show.

The tech industry is buzzing that Apple will finally release a television. Shortly before he died, Steve Jobs told his biography Walter Isaakson, quote, "I'd like to create an innovative television set that is completely easy to use. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it."

BRIAN COOLEY, CNET: When Apple gets in the game, you know they are going to be the most serious competitor in terms of making stuff that consumers get attached to and spend top dollar for. That's a competitor you don't welcome.

SIMON: With Apple's possible entry, TV makers are trying to stay ahead of the game packing plenty of new features into the sets.

LG, for instance, has an internet connected app that features high quality video games without the need for a game console. TV makers don't want to be caught flat footed like RIM, Nokia, and Motorola, which dominated the cell phone industry before Apple got involved.

Samsung says Apple's possible entry hasn't affected their strategy.

RAISEL: We do what we think is best for our customers. But -- we've got a product here right now, once Apple comes out with something we'll take a look at it and decide what we think of it, but right now our focus is doing what we think is best with delivering value to our customers.

SIMON: No doubt the TVs at CES are impressive, incredibly thin with amazing pictures and require less power than previous models. The question is whether consumers will finally be ready to upgrade or wait to see what comes from the giant in Cupertino.

Dan Simon, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: One of the new trends we're seeing at CES are 4K TVs like this one from Sharpe. But what is 4K? Now think of it as higher than high definition TV. Now the top for an HDTV standard is called 1080p, that refers to the number of pixels or dots that make up the picture. Now the more pixels, the more detailed the image can be. Now if the number of dots in a 1080p HDTV is represented by this blue square, then a 4K TV has four times the number of dots as current HDTVs meaning it's far sharper and more detailed than anything you'll see now.

There's just one problem, there is little content for consumers to watch in 4K yet. Surprisingly one of the only places to watch 4K video is YouTube. Now this playlist, it shows just some of the few 4K videos on YouTube. And of course, without a 4K screen you're missing out. And sadly, we don't have one. So this is what it might look like if we tried to run a 4K video at full resolution on our screen. As you can see, you just see a fraction of the image.

Now we want to return to our top story with the latest in the race for the U.S. Republican presidential nomination. Now Mitt Romney, he is the clear frontrunner after winning Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, but there are five other candidates receiving support in varying degrees. And for a look at where each campaign stands, I'm joined now by Patricia Murphy, founder and editor of Citizen Jane politics. She in Manchester, New Hampshire.

And Patricia, it's great to see you again.

Mitt Romney, we have to start with him. He handily won New Hampshire. But how much momentum does he have as the contents heads south?

PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: He has a great deal of momentum. He is the first Republican to win both Iowa and New Hampshire in a row who haven't been an incumbent. So he's the first person who wasn't already a president to win both of those states. It's a huge amount of momentum for him.

Also last night, there was a big question as to whether or not Mitt Romney would win even by double digits, would he get above 35 percent. He came in at a full 40 percent. Really, really strong showing.

The other piece that's crucial here, and you mentioned it, is that nobody else is really close to Mitt Romney. There are other people in this race, but they're dividing that big conservative vote up amongst themselves. So it's not like it's Mitt Romney versus one other person who can really give him a run for his money. It's just Mitt Romney among these other people who are dividing the vote all between themselves. And it looks like he's running away with it right now.

South Carolina, very conservative, that's where he's going to have to prove that he can win this nomination.

LU STOUT: Now let's talk about a sound bite from Mitt Romney that everyone is chattering about. Answering a question about health care. Romney said that he would allow individuals to have their own insurance, but he used a tricky analogy. And quote, he says, "it also means that if you don't like what they do you can fire them." And he went on to say, "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."

Now, I mean, Jon Huntsman has already jumped on those words. Will those words hurt Romney?

MURPHY: I think they absolutely hurt Romney. They were taken out of context. I mean, it's important to note that he didn't stand up and say I love to fire people. I just love to give out pink slips. That's not really what he was talking about. But in a presidential race that doesn't really matter. For Mitt Romney who is being painted by his opponents as a corporate raider, as somebody who is greedy, as somebody who will enrich himself to get -- to kind of step over the other guy, that's the portrait their painting of him. And so if he says in a public forum I like to fire people. He's going to pay for that.

The Republicans are already going after him. If he makes it to the general election, I think that's going to still hurt him the most. Democrats will go after him. They'll tell blue collar workers, they'll tell people who are unemployed Mitt Romney doesn't care about you. He likes to fire people. That's when it's really going to hurt him.

So, yes, he will pay for saying that in a public forum.

LU STOUT: OK. Another attack going out there was issued by Newt Gingrich. He is out with his first ad attacking Mitt Romney in South Carolina. It is a negative ad. Will that play well in South Carolina/

MURPHY: I think it'll play in South Carolina. Whether it plays well, you know, that's what we're going to have to see. South Carolina is very well known in American politics for being the nastiest place in the country for politics. It's a place where really no road is too low to get to the nomination. Lots of negative ads, lots of negative politics. Historically the nastiest ads all year come out in South Carolina. That's where it's going to happen. It tends to be relatively effective, but it doesn't always lock up the nomination for people. We'll see how it plays for Gingrich.

LU STOUT: All right. Patricia Murphy, always a pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much. And take care.

MURPHY: Thank you so much.

LU STOUT: Now still to come here on News Stream, a public rebuke for Liverpool as a rival manager criticizes the club's handling of the Luis Suarez racism case. We'll have all the details in sport straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now two of England's biggest football clubs go head to head in the Carling Cup later. And as Alex Thomas can tell us, there will be a controversial edge to the game -- Alex.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, possibly Kristie. That's (inaudible) who wrote that, but maybe it's not necessarily the case, but on the eve of the match between Liverpool and Manchester City Roberto Mancini, City's couch, says Liverpool should have apologized for Luis Suarez's racial abuse of Patrice Evra. Despite widespread criticism in the media, it's the first time a rival team manager has publicly disagreed with the Reds' approach.

When asked if Liverpool coach Kenny Dalglish and his players were wrong to wear t-shirts showing Suarez, Mancini nodded and said maybe. The Uruguayan striker is currently serving an eight game ban for using racist language towards Evra.

Another major issue facing football right now is match fixing. And the problem could be far worse than many of us imagined according to the head of security at FIFA, the world governing body. This week they announced new measures to combat it, including an appeal to Interpol for assistance. And the establishment of protection programs for informants.

FIFA is also setting up an early warning system to detect suspicious betting activity and investigators are being sent to Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. Any players, coaches, and administrators affected by the problem will be offered rehabilitation programs.

FIFA's head of security, Chris Eden said this is organized criminal activity on a global trillion dollar scale when he spoke to our own Pedro Pinto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO PINTO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Considering the magnitude of the problem, how can you guarantee that FIFA can fix it?

CHRIS EDEN, FIFA HEAD OF SECURITY: We need to set a baseline of behavior, a baseline with players and referees to understand you cross that line, FIFA will take action against you. You will not be involved in football again. And we need the collective interest of governments, we need the collective interest of sporting bodies rolled into one strong strategy to combat the infiltration of criminals.

This is not at heart opportunistic match fixing, this is plain, criminally plain match manipulation or sports results manipulation. And this needs the commitment, the collective commitment of governments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: He's injured, and according to his critics he's over the hill, but Kobe Bryant still managed the season best performance on Tuesday night in front of his adoring home fans in L.A. The Lakers up against the Pheonix Suns in the NBA. And here's Bryant in hot form early on, pulls up and knocks down the long jumper. Kobe with 17 points in the first quarter alone despite that dodgy rest in the injured ligaments.

The Suns closed the gap in the second. Grant Hill missing the buzzer beater, but Channing Fry follows up with the slam dunk to bring Pheonix within one. Fry leading the Suns with 17 points.

But the night was Bryants. Late in the fourth quarter Kobe Bryant's pass going baseline for the two handed jam. And the Lakers lead by 9.

Now Kobe missing the jumper, but the Lakers pull down the offensive rebound. Matt Barnes with the alley-oop pass. And Kobe finishes with a two-handed behind the back slam bringing everyone to their feet. A total of 48 points for the Lakers star, but they beat the Suns 99-83.

Life in the old dog yet.

Kristie, that's all your sport for now.

LU STOUT: Good stuff. Alex, thank you, take care.

Now a three-year-old girl had a remarkable encounter with a lion at a zoo in New Zealand. Now no worries here. Sophia Walker, she was protected by a thick pane of glass. And still, she looked at that intimidating cat eye to eye until the lion got up on its hind legs and started pawing the glass.

As you can see, Sophia, she didn't flinch at all. And she apparently just turned around to her mother and asked what is the lion trying to tell me? And her mother said something like, let's leave kitty alone. It's lunchtime.

And that is News Stream. But the news continues at CNN. "WORLD BUSINESS TODAY" is next.

END