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CNN Sunday Morning
Romney Gets Another Win; Gingrich Vows to Continue
Aired February 05, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: From CNN's world headquarters, bringing you news and analysis from across the nation and around the globe, live from Studio 7, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: And we hope you're having a great Sunday so far. Great to see you. I'm Susan Hendricks.
Big story here:
Mitt Romney is celebrating another big win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not the first time you gave me your vote of confidence. And this time, I've got to take it to the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Coming up, what Newt Gingrich is saying about his latest defeat.
Also, Bishop Eddie Long is no stranger to controversy, but his latest move has Jewish leaders outraged. We will try to get an explanation in our "Faces of Faith" segment.
And are you ready for the party? These people don't even care who's playing in the Super Bowl.
(MUSIC)
HENDRICKS: We start with the Nevada caucuses. It was the first western contest of the Republican presidential race. Here are the results so far, CNN has projected Mitt Romney as the winner, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul pretty close to each other in second and third, Rick Santorum in fourth.
CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is live in Las Vegas, bright and early this morning. Not so bright yet.
Paul, it was a good night for Mitt Romney, right?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: It sure was. And, you know, Susan, it's 5:00 in the morning out here right now. And it is -- look at that, the lights are pretty bright here in Vegas tonight. I think you can say for Mitt Romney, his odds of winning the Republican nomination are getting brighter by the day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUDIENCE: Romney, Romney, Romney, Romney!
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR (voice-over): Mitt Romney does what no other Republican presidential candidate has been able to do so far this year. Win two in a row. Less than a week after his big victory in Florida's primary, the former Massachusetts governor won Nevada's caucuses by the landslide.
ROMNEY: You know, this is not the first time you gave me your vote of confidence. And this time, I got to take it to the White House.
STEINHAUSER: The victory wasn't a surprise. Nevada is Romney country, thanks to the state's large Mormon population, his big win in the caucuses four years ago and his strong organization in the state.
Romney used most of his victory speech to talk about President Barack Obama rather than his Republican rivals.
ROMNEY: I walked in Nevada neighborhoods blighted by abandoned homes where people wonder why Barack Obama failed them. Well, Mr. President, Nevada has had enough of your kind of help.
STEINHAUSER: Despite another disappointing finish, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich vowed to carry on.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's one story that came out today that I just want to put to rest hopefully for the next few months. I am a candidate for president of the United States. I will be a candidate for president of the United States.
STEINHAUSER: For Ron Paul, a stronger finish than four years ago. The congressman from Texas spent caucus night in one of the next states to vote.
REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sounds like the revolution has already come to Minnesota.
STEINHAUSER: Rick Santorum spent the night in Colorado, which also votes Tuesday. And the former senator from Pennsylvania didn't let a fourth place finish get him down.
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As I said before, this race will come toward us. We're the candidate that provides the real best perspective of beating Barack Obama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEINHAUSER: So we're packing up our bags and we're heading a little bit east. You've got Colorado and Minnesota holding caucuses on Tuesday and Missouri with a non-binding primary. After that a little bit of down time from contests. The next big thing will hopefully be our CNN presidential debate in Arizona, then Arizona and Michigan at the end of the month. Both those states seem to favor Mitt Romney. As for Newt Gingrich, I guess you could say he's looking forward to Super Tuesday in March 6th. You got 10 states voting, including two in the South, his native state of Georgia and Tennessee -- Susan.
HENDRICKS: Yes, Newt is saying don't count me out.
Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much.
And stay with CNN. Next hour, we will talk more about the impact of the Nevada caucuses and what is next in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination. That's coming up on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Sharp criticism from the U.S., Britain and other nations, after a resolution to condemn the brutal crackdown in Syria fails at the U.N. Security Council. Thirteen nations supported the measure with China and Russia, the only two countries to vote against it. Ambassadors from both countries say that while they do want to stop the violence there, the U.N. resolution did not properly address that crisis.
U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice did not mince words. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN RICE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Disgusted, Richard. But that's not the point.
The point is that the people of Syria have yet again been abandoned by this council and by the international community. Russia and China negotiated this text throughout the week with us. We and other co-sponsors made every effort to accommodate the concerns that were expressed by them and other members of the council, but no effort was good enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: The failure of the U.N. resolution has led one opposition group to call for a two-day civil strike in Syria as a way to increase pressure on the government to stop the violence. This morning, there are more reports coming out of Syria of deadly violence, and opposition groups says a 14-year-old child was killed when security forces used gunfire to break up a demonstration.
Libya now says Saif Gadhafi could go on trial within the next couple of weeks. Moammar Gadhafi's son has been held since his capture last November. The International Criminal Court wanted to try Gadhafi in charges related to his father's attempts to put down the revolution, but the new Libyan government wants him tried in Libya now.
Amid rising tensions in Iran over its nuclear program, the country is flexing its military muscle. Forces have started a series of drills in an effort to improve combat ability. The war games which a senior commander calls successful, follows similar actions last month. Iranian warships have arrived in the Saudi port of Jeddah, continue to do anti-military exercises there. An official says the mission is to demonstrate Iran's sea power.
To Europe now where they are in the grip of a deadly deep freeze. More than 120 people have frozen to death in the Ukraine. Another 29 people have died in Poland.
We have also seen unusually heavy snows across that region. This picture is from Rome which they haven't had their first snow since 1985. It's been that long.
Lots of severe weather here, too. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is at our weather center with the latest.
A lot of rain, right, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A lot of rain, especially along parts of, say, parts of south Texas, even along portions of the Atlantic Seaboard, especially into the Carolinas and Virginia.
But one of the big stories we've been dealing with has been the snow especially in Colorado. We've got video of that. They had been cleaning up quite a bit. In fact, they have over 20 inches of that snowfall in Boulder just a few days ago.
Although we're not expecting any more snow you see this video is from Texas. What we do anticipate is a little bit of a break in the action for the Rockies, but they may see more snow as we get into towards the middle of next week. But even then, I don't think we're going to see anything as heavy for -- well, we just had over the last 48 hours or so.
Take a look at what we are seeing. We just showed you that video from Texas. Now, we're going to Virginia, where we see the rain forming along parts of the coast, even down from the tidewater area, out to the outer banks.
And as you head farther north, you got colder air, with the moisture, with the cold air of the surface. You got some snow. We're going to see that stretching from New York back over to Pittsburgh. But for the most part, in New England, we do expect plenty of sunshine for today.
South Texas, we mentioned earlier still rain event from Houston, southward to Corpus Christi. And rain is going to be on and off through a good part of the day, until that frontal boundary that you see extends all the way from parts of the central Atlantic, all the way back into the Gulf of Mexico and into south Texas. That's going to continue to march its way to the east.
For much of Florida, though, you can expect plenty of rainfall today. But very dry across the center of the U.S. In fact, in Kansas City, you can expect 47 degrees for a high today, 39 in Minneapolis, 50 degrees in Billings, 41 in Salt Lake City, 60s in San Francisco, 75 in Los Angeles, 55 in Seattle, 54 in Portland, 51 in Dallas, 53 in Memphis, 70s in Atlanta, and in Tampa and Miami going to 80, and 47 degrees is your high in New York, Boston with 35.
That is your forecast. Let's send it right back to you, Susan.
HENDRICKS: All right. Reynolds, thank you.
WOLF: You bet.
HENDRICKS: We're talking Mitt Romney now. He did really with most groups in Nevada but what about Tea Party supporters? We'll have the numbers for you, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Welcome back. We want to get back to politics and the Nevada caucuses.
Mitt Romney dominated the field. That was pretty much what everyone expected.
Joining me now is Patricia Murphy, founder and editor of "Citizen Jane Politics" and contributor for to "The Daily Beast".
Patricia, great to see you again.
PATRICIA MURPHY, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Thanks.
HENDRICKS: Romney won. We expected that. But he didn't reach the 50 percent mark. What does that mean in terms of the other guys still in the race.
MURPHY: It just gives a little bit more fuel to each one of their fires. Everybody who says Mitt Romney hasn't locked this up yet, they can look to the results, look to see that he didn't crack the 50 percent mark and say, here's plenty of room left for me to run. If everybody else gets out of the race, and it's down to me and Mitt Romney and Mitt Romney is not going majority.
HENDRICKS: And Newt Gingrich is saying it's Romney's fantasy that I'm out of the race. We want to hear from Newt Gingrich after he figured out that he did not win Nevada. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: What happens is every primary day or caucus day, the Romney headquarters in Boston sends out the rumor they believe I will withdraw, which is of course their greatest fantasy. I'm not going to withdraw. I'm actually pretty happy with where we are.
And I think the contrast between Governor Romney and me is going to get wider and wider and clearer and clearer over the next few weeks. And so, I look forward very much to opportunities to debate him, opportunities to draw the contrast, and opportunities to compete for votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: So, that was more like a press conference there. His tone was a little antagonistic, you could say, Patricia.
MURPHY: Yes.
HENDRICKS: Is that helping him at all doing that?
MURPHY: It has -- no, it has not helped so far. We saw his message before South Carolina as being very aggressive but very positive, sort of a happy warrior. After Florida, after Nevada, we see more of a grumpy warrior, bitter warrior, and people don't follow behind that.
People who really don't follow behind that are women voters. Gingrich did very well among women in South Carolina, very, very poorly in Florida and Nevada. He needs to turn it around to be a more positive message to win those women voters back.
HENDRICKS: You mentioned positive, you think of Ron Paul, he's doing that.
MURPHY: Yes.
HENDRICKS: He's staying in line and staying positive, although he continues to not win, to lose, but he stays on track here.
MURPHY: He stays on track. He's very consistent. That's what his supporters love about him.
And he is also trying to stay within the GOP fold a little bit here. He has not really going after the other candidates. He's not tearing them down.
He doesn't see it as a race between him and them. He sees himself running his own race for his own purposes.
HENDRICKS: No matter what party you're in, you have to admit, he's a likeable guy, Ron Paul. Again, you're saying he doesn't bicker like the others can do.
MURPHY: Yes.
HENDRICKS: Let's talk about Romney. He did really well with Tea Party voters. Was that a surprise to you?
MURPHY: It was a surprise to me. He did very well among Tea Party voters. He did very well among people who call themselves very conservative.
Those are the two groups that people have been looking to see Mitt Romney really improve with. He lost them very badly in South Carolina, did better in Florida. He really opened up a lead among those groups in Nevada. That's the momentum he needs to take.
He didn't get over 50 percent but I think it was more important for him to do better with Tea Partiers and very conservative voters.
HENDRICKS: So, it wasn't just religion alone, as Newt Gingrich said. Look, there's Mormons and that's why he won.
MURPHY: Well, there are Mormons in America. I'm sorry. That happens.
Colorado, guess what? Lots of Mormons. You're probably going to lose.
HENDRICKS: Right.
MURPHY: There was a different religious makeup here. Go back to South Carolina, two-thirds of those voters were evangelical. Newt Gingrich is great with evangelicals. Only a quarter of Nevada were evangelical.
But you can't pick and choose your voters. You can't pick and choose your religion. He needs to have broader base of support.
HENDRICKS: And let's talk about what's ahead. I want to look at the calendar. Colorado, and Minnesota, next two big contests here. Missouri is a non-binding primary.
Explain that. And who has the advantage there?
MURPHY: Well, Colorado and Minnesota, those are caucuses, those are also non-binding caucuses, by the way. It just means it's a multistep process. The results are important but they're not required. That's not exactly how many -- that's not how many delegates you're going to get based specifically on those results.
But you'd also look at Maine. That is another caucus. These are all places where Mitt Romney has won already, he won in 2008. He has a nice broad swathe of Western states, upper Midwest and New England. And that is exactly where this calendar is going.
So, he's going to do very well over the next month or so. He's going to try to build on that momentum and close the door on these guys who won't get out.
HENDRICKS: If it is Mitt Romney and President Obama, do you think Romney has a shot because of the situation we're now, in terms of the unemployment and people frankly out of work and losing their homes?
MURPHY: Yes. Well, that's the big question. The big question for Republicans is who can beat Obama? There was a poll out yesterday actually that shows Santorum was the only Republican who was going to beat Obama in a head-to-head. I think the way the economy goes is the way the Obama administration is going to go.
The economy is improving it looks like. Jobs numbers are much better than they were even a year ago. So, the Obama administration is sitting back a little bit relaxing. I don't think he should feel that great, though, when you look at state-to-state matchups, Romney does very well. Even Newt Gingrich does very well in state to state and in state head-to-heads. Nothing to really sit back and relax over. HENDRICKS: You're right and we won't. Patricia, thank you.
MURPHY: Thank you.
HENDRICKS: We're talking Super Bowl today. It is Super Bowl Sunday. Well, you think you're throwing a big party? Wait until we'll show you the big, bright and colorful celebrations gearing up for this year's carnival. That's not a Super Bowl party.
And turning ideas into innovation. CNN's chief business correspondent Ali Velshi brings us this week's "Fortune Brainstorm."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You may not have heard of my next guest, but we want to introduce to Ankur Jain. He founded an organization that helps student entrepreneurs turn ideas into innovative businesses that tackle some of the world's most pressing issues, not issues would you normally associate with students. It's called the Kairos Society. It puts the most promising students entrepreneurs from around the world in contact with global business leaders.
Ankur, thanks for joining us.
What do you think this group of students can do that hasn't been tackled?
ANKUR JAIN, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, KAIROS SOCIETY: This generation is not only more interconnected than any previous one.
VELSHI: Right.
JAIN: But they're able to look at problems in new angles, new ways. You know that 40 percent of health care diagnoses are incorrect today?
VELSHI: Wow.
JAIN: Right? Education today is not personalized to the individual.
VELSHI: Right.
JAIN: It's tailored for the masses. So let's take the specific problems and take these students, put them in a room not only with their peers but with the leaders of today, so we can take the wisdom of what's happening today --
VELSHI: Right.
JAIN: -- and merge that with a new way of thinking.
VELSHI: What's the benefit? Is it just the nature of these young entrepreneurs that they don't look at things the same way? JAIN: You're seeing 21 years old saying, why are we treating cancer with these big machines? Why can't we take targeted genetic sequencing approaches to individual cancer cells --
VELSHI: Right.
JAIN: -- to identify what type of cancer they had and make it --
VELSHI: So, the idea is they're not invested in whatever system is not working as efficiently. They can start with a blank slate.
Ankur Jain, thanks very much for joining us. Ankur is founder of the Kairos Society.
I'm Ali Velshi with this week's "Fortune Brainstorm."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: We're looking for the sunshine in Atlanta. A little bit foggy this morning.
Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Good morning to you, Atlanta, as we gear up for the big day, Super Bowl Sunday.
Meanwhile, it is time to check stories across the country for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS (voice-over): Utah's governor was recently put on lockdown after his life was threatened.
Police arrested Brian Biff Baker after learning the 52-year-old allegedly plotted to assassinate Governor Gary Herbert. According to a probable cause statement, Baker said we had firearms and other fireworks in his car and had hidden behind bushes to kill the governor. And police say Baker threatened to use explosives to blow up the governor's mansion.
The governor's office was aware of the plot but had no further comment.
Check out this rescue from Gold Beach, Oregon, local police called the U.S. coast guard after it was unable to find three hikers who had been missing for six days. The hikers were found and airlifted to safety and taken to the hospital, all three suffering from hypothermia.
An amazing story from Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
ANDY WEAVER: I wanted to get out of my wheelchair and walk like a person.
HENDRICKS: Twenty-six-year-old Andy Weaver is about to take his first steps ever.
CROWD: Andy! Andy! Andy!
HENDRICKS: Doctors told Weaver, who has cerebral palsy, he'd never be able to do this, walking half the length of the gym. But only after six months of hard core therapy, he was able to stand on his own.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: Time for this "Morning's Passport" with Nadia Bilchik.
So, America gets ready for Super Bowl parties, Nadia, you have to hear this story of how Brazil and Trinidad are getting ready for an entirely different kind of celebration.
And Nadia has got the shoes for the celebration. They're so tall. Great shoes.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: (INAUDIBLE), aren't they?
But, you know, Madonna told Anderson Cooper the Super Bowl was the greatest show on earth.
That's what Brazil calls its Mardi Gras, Carnivale (ph).
HENDRICKS: Carnivale.
BILCHIK: The word Carnivale, basically it's without meat, because it takes place in the period before Ash Wednesday and Lent where you're not supposed to have meat. So, in preparation for that period of abstinence.
But it's quite beautiful. Look at the costumes and the detail and the opulence.
And what happens is they're actually organized into samba schools so people get together and whether it's their neighbors or an actual dance school and they work in groups, and look at those feathers, that green and just absolutely quite exquisite. And I love the themes. The themes are sometimes movie themes, or mythical figures.
How's this one? The enchanted island of witches and dreams come to those who dream.
HENDRICKS: And we're looking at the streets there, and when I think of carnival, I think of Rio which we're showing here. How many tourists show up here for this?
BILCHIK: Literally millions of people and in the one in Trinidad, which is the second biggest carnival in the world, about 1 million will show up in 2012 this month for carnival.
And interesting, you're seeing Rio, look at that particular one, just the magnificent jewels -- they can cost anywhere between $150 and $1,000 or more per costume.
HENDRICKS: It is amazing the intricate details that go into this, and this is part of a competition. People actually compete here.
BILCHIK: Yes. And you're looking now at the one in Trinidad, and Trinidad has a strong African influence from the slaves that were in Trinidad and Tobago. When they were emancipated in 1883, they in fact became an even greater part of the carnival. But just the color, the opulence.
I wanted to show you some of the upcoming costumes for this year in Trinidad, because they are so exquisite. This particular one is one that's going to be featured this year. And again anywhere between $150 to $1,000. They say the average person spends about $600, $700 on their costume for Carnivale, the greatest show on earth.
HENDRICKS: Puts the Macy's Day Parade to shame a little bit, I would think after seeing those.
BILCHIK: You once went to one when you were a little girl in.
HENDRICKS: I did. I was in Brazil when I was 14 and saw the costumes and saw the great event. It's a sight to see.
Coming up: megachurch pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, anointed king and wrapped in a Jewish scroll by a rabbi? Yes, it happened. It's an unusual ceremony you have to see to believe, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Welcome back. It is 29 minutes, almost 30 minutes, past the hour. I'm Susan Hendricks. Great to see you.
Our "Top Stories", want to get a checking them for you.
Make it two in a row for Mitt Romney. CNN projects the former Massachusetts Governor will score a sizeable victory in the Nevada caucuses. Rival Newt Gingrich is vowing to stay in the race despite placing a distant second.
Russia's Foreign Minister will visit Syria this week and meet with President Bashar al Assad, this comes as Russia along with China face sharp criticism after vetoing a U.N. Security Council measure that would have condemned the brutal Syrian crackdown. The U.S., Britain and France all expressing outrage at the vote outcome as well.
And thousands of Australians are being evacuated in the country's eastern state of Queensland where heavy rains in recent weeks have caused this -- rivers to overflow. Officials there say the flood will be record-breaking.
An Atlanta bishop who settled a sexual coercion lawsuit filed by four young men is back in the news again. This time it's over a controversial video that has gone viral, it shows Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church being wrapped in a Torah by a visiting rabbi.
Manuel Vohorcas with CNN affiliate WSD has more on this. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RABBI RALPH MESSER: This is a scroll that's 312 years ago.
MANUEL VOHORCAS, CNN AFFILIATE WSD: Rabbi Ralph Messer told the New Birth Congregation that it was saved from Auschwitz, a holocaust extermination camp. Messer who incorporates Christian and Jewish traditions, Messianic Judaism acknowledged how sacred it is; then he wrapped Bishop Eddie Long in the Torah's scroll.
MESSER: He's wrapped in the word of God.
VOHORCAS: Later he handed other items and the scroll to a seated Long proclaiming his kingship.
MESSER: He now is raised up from a commoner to a kingship. Come on raise it up.
VOHORCAS: It's a sharp contrast to the way Rabbi Joshua Heller of Congregation B'nai Torah in Sandy Springs says the scrolls should be handled.
He watched the video.
RABBI JOSHUA HELLER, CONGREGATION B'NAI TORAH: I was puzzled and distressed.
VOHORCAS: He says wrapping the Torah around someone is not a Jewish tradition. The delicate pages are not to be touched by hand and there are specific rituals for those who are allowed to handle them.
HELLER: The Jews who perished in that Holocaust if this is indeed where Torah cloak came from would have been horrified to see that scroll used in that way.
VOHORCAS: He believes dialogue between Christians and Jews is a good thing but says this went the wrong way.
HELLER: It was distressing for me to see a ritual object used in that way.
VOHORCAS: Through a New Birth's spokesman Messer issued a statement saying in part quote, "The presentation of the scroll of Torah was simply a way of bringing honor to a man who had given his life to the Lord and had given so much to his church, the Atlanta metro area and throughout the world. It was not to make Bishop Eddie L. Long a King."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: All right, joining me now is Brent Strawn. He's an Old Testament professor at Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Brent, let me ask you, your impression of what you just saw? What did you think?
BRENT STRAWN, OLD TESTAMENT PROFESSOR AT CANDLER SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY AT EMORY UNIVERSITY: Yes, well it's really a kind of curious mishmash of different traditions. I mean there are some allusions to biblical materials, some allusions to Jewish tradition and the Hebrew language but -- but also a lot of inaccuracies and strange use of that material.
HENDRICKS: Yes, a rabbi in Georgia called the ceremony "ridiculous" saying there's no Jewish ceremony where someone's wrapped in a Torah and made a king.
STRAWN: Right. Right.
HENDRICKS: Tell us about the inconsistencies here.
STRAWN: Right, that's the largest inaccuracy -- Rabbi Messer says that every Israelite King was wrapped in a Torah. And we have not have a single reference to any such practice. The earliest reference to it, the scroll of the Torah is not until King Josiah in the seventh century. There's been a lot of kings before him even Josiah is not said to be wrapped at all.
HENDRICKS: Now it seems as though that congregation is supportive of this. Why do you think that is?
STRAWN: Well, the social dynamics are interesting, right? Here is their Pastor, these are the faithful that have followed Bishop Long and clearly they want to see their embattled pastor lifted up, exalted after all this humiliation and what not. But the -- that the Torah itself only has one key text about kingship in the entire five books of Moses and it's all about how the king should not be exalted at all. He should not be lifted up over his brothers or sisters but actually be very humble.
HENDRICKS: And he's accused of sexually abusing four young boys at the time in traveling with him, he settled out of court, he has denied this. He has a huge following.
STRAWN: Yes.
HENDRICKS: You would think that he would kind of lay low here and not be "lifted up" and made quote, unquote, "king".
STRAWN: Yes, the timing isn't -- isn't ideal by any means and from a PR perspective. And again if there's any truth to the allegations one would want the congregation to be as concerned about these boys as they are about their leader, if not more so.
HENDRICKS: And what is the biblical angle here in terms of scripture?
STRAWN: Yes, well again, the Deuteronomy 17 passage I mentioned is clear about the -- the one text in the Torah about kingship, "The king shouldn't have a lot of stuff, shouldn't have a lot of money, shouldn't have a lot of wives or horses, or anything else." But instead should just sit around and read the Torah and -- and not be exalted over his brothers and sisters.
In the New Testament, I mean there's all kinds of texts about how the greatest in the kingdom of the heaven will be the least, or the most humble will be the most exalted and Jesus exemplifies this himself in the New Testament by washing his disciple's feet, for instance.
HENDRICKS: So do you think that is what is behind this in terms of having at least kind of becoming modest rising up, for a reason of why he would think to do this -- Bishop Eddie Long?
STRAWN: Yes perhaps so. But again with regard to as you said the timing and the dynamics of everything one -- one wonders if it would have been more powerful for him to reject all those kinds of signs of power and instead you know do something more humble even, you know, reject those kinds of power and prayer or something. You know, that might be more powerful testimony to what he needs to do.
HENDRICKS: It seems his ego would not allow that to happen. Brent Strawn, thank you so much.
STRAWN: Thanks, my pleasure.
HENDRICKS: And go to our blog at CNN.com/belief that is our belief blog. You can also share your thoughts on what you just saw and what you just heard. Brent thanks again.
STRAWN: Thank you.
HENDRICKS: Mitt Romney's campaign is building momentum with a victory in Nevada, but how will this affect the other candidates moving on? We will ask Candy Crowley, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Even though Newt Gingrich says he is not out of the race the folks at "SNL" have an idea for his next job, based on that moon based plan he unveils in Florida. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello Moon President Gingrich.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you do, little girl?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I go to school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when you're not at school?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I work as a janitor at the school per your moon decree.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know on earth they thought the idea of student janitors was crazy. I guess that's why they didn't want me to be their president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The people of South Carolina wanted you to be President.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not all of America is as forward-thinking as South Carolina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A good moon to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And may divorce be with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Moon President.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vice Admiral Herman Cain. Blast off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Funny stuff on "Saturday Night Live".
"STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley coming up right here at the top of the hour; GOP candidate Mitt Romney scored his second victory in a row last night. But will all the four top contenders still be around for Super Tuesday?
Candy Crowley joins us live now with a preview of today's show. Candy -- great to see you; I've been asking this, what do you think? I want your take on this -- Ron Paul, Rick Santorum out of the race?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": No, I think actually Ron Paul, if I were to guess anyone that will stay in until the end it would be Ron Paul because he still can raise significant amounts of money at least to keep him in these races.
There are a lot of caucuses where he tends to excel and he has a passionate following and he's running a movement as much as running a presidential campaign. And so he has this even if his presidential prospects look dim he has this movement sort of thing about him that keeps him going.
I think if I were to guess and this is certainly counter to what he's saying -- let me add that -- that Rick Santorum will have the most difficulty continuing into March, if he can't pick up something between now and then. And there aren't that many chances, but I think you know, what happens when you don't perform or you come in fourth, you know, a couple of times, the money dries up. And even if you could run on a shoe string which certainly some of these candidates do, you still have to have money to buy plane tickets and all that kind of stuff. And candidates are reluctant to get really in debt if they're looking at something saying this is not going to happen.
Santorum's aim is to stay standing long enough for Newt Gingrich to implode so that he can step in, and be the conservative without the baggage. So that's -- that's his aim right now. He's certainly saying he's staying in but if I were to pick one saying who might drop out I would look at Santorum as the most likely. HENDRICKS: Yes, Newt Gingrich is saying I'm not going anywhere, any time soon. He held a press conference last night instead of a speech. Was that odd to you, Candy?
CROWLEY: I don't recall it having happened before. I mean I'd have to go back, you know, a ways, but I don't recall it. I didn't think the press conference is the press conference -- I mean you do what you can. Maybe they didn't want to -- you know didn't have folks that could turn out a crowd for him as compared to the Mitt Romney folks. You don't want to look bad up against it so you come up with this novel idea and you bring in reporters.
Maybe they just felt that his last speech in Florida was so rambling that they wanted him to be focused by the reporter's questions. I don't know. I thought the forum was interesting. I thought it was more interesting how determined he is to stay in.
HENDRICKS: Well Candy, who do you have today with you on your show?
CROWLEY: We're going to talk to the heads of the Democratic and Republican Governors Associations -- Bob McDonnell, Martin O'Malley -- to have them assess what's going on in these states. We had a new swing state poll out talking -- showing that Mitt Romney, when you put him up against President Obama is the only competitive one at this moment in the swing states.
We also have Dick Armey and Tony Perkins on -- a Tea Party member as well a member of the religious right -- to ask them if Mitt Romney can under any circumstances ever be ok with them.
And we also want to talk to Mike Rogers, who you know as Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee about these really troubling remarks coming up about Iran and Israel and some other things that are out there, that seem a little worrisome.
HENDRICKS: All right, Candy Crowley thank you.
And keep it right here, "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy herself starts pretty soon, 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Candy, thank you.
An inspiration for the Super Bowl, the Patriots are playing for more than just a trophy. We will take you live to Indianapolis, next.
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HENDRICKS: Good morning to you. If you're just getting up it is 46 minutes past the hour. 8:00 a.m. Eastern time, we're looking at a live picture from Indianapolis where Super Bowl XLVI will be played later today; the Giants versus the Patriots. Eye of the Tiger good luck to both teams today.
One of the highlights of Super Bowl week is the election of new members to the pro football hall of fame. Here they are: former Patriots and Jets running back Curtis Martin got in. Four linemen on the list: The Vikings Chris Doleman; Cortez Kennedy of the Seahawks; Willie Roaf of the Chiefs. Also getting election Jack Butler a Steelers defensive back from the 1950's -- congrats to them.
Yes it is Super Bowl Sunday, kick off is at 6:30 Eastern tonight, if you have plans. If you just can't wait though, we want to go out to Indy. CNN Sports Mark McKay is live there with about 150,000 football fans not too far away. Hi, Mark, how are you doing?
MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS: Hey, I'm great, Susan. Yes, it's a great day. The weather has improved. It is chilly but it is dry and Super Bowl Sunday has arrived. It will happen tonight right behind me at Lucas Oil Stadium.
You know the word inspiration, it is something that every team uses going into a Super Bowl no matter where it's played. Tonight here in Indianapolis, the New England Patriots will be inspired by the memory of someone who meant so much to so many.
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MCKAY (voice-over): The letters MHK have meant more than Ws and Ls to the Patriots this season. Myra Hiatt Kraft, the late matriarch of the Patriots died at the age of 68 last July after battling cancer. The team began training camp just days later and has been playing for her ever since.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to win every game for one reason, and that was Myra.
JONATHAN KRAFT, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS PRESIDENT: Virtually every player in that locker room knew my mom and a lot of them had pretty deep personal relationships with her.
MCKAY (on camera): her career was philanthropy; her constant pursuit, humanitarianism in the Boston community and abroad. But Kraft didn't just write checks, she was a hands-on participant.
SANDY EDGERLEY, FORMER BOARD CHAIR, BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF BOSTON: I think her passion was really infectious. It was hard to say no if she asked to you do something because she believed so strongly in it.
ZAMIRA KORFF, COMBINED JEWISH PHILANTHROPIES: Her work was it was heart, it was mind, it was soul. It was intellect. It was spirit, and I think that resonated with people.
ANDREA SWAIN, BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF BOSTON: You see young people doing drives, volunteering, and shelters, volunteering to teach younger kids, and to tutor and to read to younger kids, because the teens want to embody the legacy that Myra left regarding service.
MCKAY (voice-over): That legacy has left a void felt most by her best friend and husband of 48 years, Robert Kraft, who bought the team in 1994 with his wife's support, if not necessarily her understanding.
KRAFT: Somebody like my mom who wasn't rabid about football, but got the importance of it to other people and their lives. And I think that's what, once she became involved with the NFL and she understood the power, she wanted to make sure that that power was used for good. MATT LIGHT, THREE-TIME SUPER BOWL CHAMPION: We knew that, you know, this is a special place for her and that this organization meant a lot, but you always got the sense that it was not because of so much what we did on the field but what we did off the field.
MCKAY: Light will not let his teammates forget either Kraft though, persuading them to commission a painting in her memory given to the Kraft family in an emotional post-game moment following a victory over the Dolphins on Christmas Eve.
LIGHT: I think for everybody to kind of stop and take the time to really, you know, acknowledge the fact that Mr. Kraft and his family and so many other people were affected by the loss of Myra, and to find a way that you could kind of symbolize that dedication that everybody's put into this year was special for all of us.
KRAFT: It really validates that the men who are in that locker room are really special and I think the emphasis that we place on character and well-rounded human beings really shone through and that's a pretty special moment that we'll cherish for the rest of our lives.
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MCKAY: Emotion -- it has been a constant for the Patriots all season long. Susan they will certainly be feeling it tonight here at Lucas Oil Stadium.
HENDRICKS: Yes, Mark, I heard Tom Brady say he looked at Myra as a family member as I'm sure the rest of the team did as well. Mark McKay live in Indianapolis, thank you.
Forget what you heard about the Susan G. Komen Foundation cutting its support of Planned Parenthood. The group reversed that controversial decision but that may cause more problems down the road. We'll explain.
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HENDRICKS: A final check of our top stories.
Syrian activists are calling for a two-day strike to pressure the government its attack on citizens. The move comes as U.N. resolution condemning the violence failed to pass after China and Russia vetoed that measure. Ambassador Susan Rice not mincing words. She says the U.S. is quote, "disgusted" at the vote's outcome.
Turning to Libya where son of former leader Moammar Gadhafi could go to trial in weeks, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, once considered his father's heir apparent, was captured in November and has been held since then. Libya's interior minister says the case will go to court once an investigation is done.
Mitt Romney can now claim back-to-back victories in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. CNN projecting Romney will win big in the Nevada caucuses with a double-digit lead over his closest competitor, Newt Gingrich. For his part newt says he's staying in the race until the Republican convention this summer. He's not going anywhere.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation draws huge crowds and big donations as you know to find a cure for women's breast cancer. But now they are have a new battle over their funding fumble over Planned Parenthood. Donations may take a dive if the anti-abortion movement stops writing checks to Komen.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has the story -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Susan, fallout from the funding flap is far from over.
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CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Susan B. Komen for the Cure is known for its races and other events that draw huge crowds and big donations. But those donations may take a dive after Komen reinstated its funding for Planned Parenthood which provides health care for women, including abortion. National Right to Life says Komen will face consequences, urging the anti-abortion movement to stop writing checks to Komen.
SUSAN MUSKET, SR. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL, NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE: When people and women want to run in races, people want to donate to cancer research organizations, they want to support the work they're doing. But they ultimately want to make sure that their donations, their hard-earned money is not going to be going to the nation's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.
CANDIOTTI: Planned Parenthood says abortions total three percent of its health care services. Komen says its funding to Planned Parenthood paid for breast cancer screenings and referrals, not abortion. It doesn't matter, says Right to Life, but for a fund- raising juggernaut like Komen, what does matter is whether it can win back donors who rallied support for Planned Parenthood, including a quarter million dollar donation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Even some of Komen's critics, who have questioned its corporate ties, say it was right to restore funding to Planned Parenthood.
KARUNA JAGGAR, EXEC. DIRECTOR, BREAST CANCER ACTION: I don't think Komen's job is to make everyone happy. I think our job as breast cancer advocates is to ensure that women's health comes first. Women's health needs to come before politics. It needs to come before religious pressure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI (on camera): After alienating those on both sides of the abortion divide in just one week, Komen must now try to convince them to focus on a shared cause, fighting breast cancer -- Susan.
HENDRICKS: All right. Thanks so much. Up next is Candy Crowley with "STATE OF THE UNION". But first a quick check of the forecast with Reynolds and I have to think about the tailgaters out in Indy.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes. We've got it here.
HENDRICKS: How is it looking there?
WOLF: It's going to be ok. It's going to be fine. It's going to be a little, you know, kind of chilly out there.
HENDRICKS: They won't mind anyway.
WOLF: No, and it's February. I'm sure there are going to be a lot of things that they'll be enjoying out there that will keep them nice and warm -- yes, toasty.
Hey, let's take a look at the forecast -- what they can expect. Again, this is for mainly outside the stadium. Inside, you can imagine 68 to 72 degrees; nice, comfortable climate-controlled, the difference. But outside you can expect temperatures in the 30s and 40s for much of the day, skies partly cloudy to mostly clear and kickoff, of course at 6:29.
Why can't it be at 6:30, I have no idea but 6:29 is what they have. Hey, anyone who has their own big game to have, just trying to get from one end of the country to another you might have some problems if you're leaving from Houston and delays at this hour but just under an hour. In Minneapolis the fog may keep you grounded for a bit. Miami, scattered showers and same deal in Orlando; delays again, just under 60 minutes at this point.
But we would expect that possibly to improve especially in places like Texas because, I'm telling you, I think most of the rain there is going to begin to drift off very slowly off towards the east. The reason why is because this area of low pressure and this frontal boundary that extends way into the Gulf of Mexico was going to slowly pull its eastward, this big area of high pressure, this huge powerhouse high is going to develop and slowly move a bit more to the east. And that's going to be really the big hammer that's going to clean out the atmosphere quite a bit.
You can still expect partly cloudy skies in spots like Dallas where highs will go today to 51 degrees, 47 degrees in Kansas City, 39 in Minneapolis, 33 in Denver, 47 in Albuquerque, 75 over in Los Angeles, a string of 60s from about San Luis Obispo northward to San Francisco with 66 you'll reach your high there.
Portland and Seattle right into parts of the Cascades, you can expect temperatures in the 40s high above but in the valleys, in the cities you can expect 50s. 39 in Minneapolis, 42 in Chicago, 53 in Memphis, 47 in New York, 49 in Washington, D.C., 70 degrees here in Atlanta. Again, expect those scattered showers in parts of Texas to kind of trickle on through a good part of the day, eventually moving off by afternoon and the Eastern Seaboard activity faced with the same thing. Everything moving out, you see still some residual snow showers.
HENDRICKS: Reynolds -- thank you. Got to run, got to toss to Candy.
WOLF: All right. Wrap the show.
HENDRICKS: Wrap -- let's go wrap it.
