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Flu Epidemic Sweeps U.S.; Lance Armstrong to Admit to Doping; Hillary Clinton Recovered From Injury; Republican Strategist Discusses Political Future of GOP; Golden Globes Relation to Oscars Analyzed; No Inductees to Baseball Hall of Fame This Year; Hot Travel Spots Profiled

Aired January 12, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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


ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for joining the conversation this week on "Your Money." We are hear every Saturday 1:00 p.m. eastern, Sunday 3:00 p.m. eastern, and weekdays at 3:30. Have a great weekend.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: It's 2:00 p.m. on the east coast, 11:00 a.m. on the west. If you're just tuning in, thank you very much for joining us. I'm Martin Savidge in for Fredricka Whitfield. And here are the top stories we're following right now in the CNN Newsroom.

How about good news? We've got some. We'll start with that regarding the flu. Despite warnings we are facing an epidemic, the situation may be starting to improve. The CDC is releasing new numbers that show high numbers at least declining in parts of the country. But it is still, I underline, this is still a very dangerous situation with widespread activity now reported in 47 states. The CDC's latest count shows 20 children have died across the country. We'll have a live report with the very latest detail coming up in just a moment.

Moving on, it could be one of the most shocking admissions in sports history. "USA Today" reporting that cycling superstar Lance Armstrong will admit to doping in an upcoming interview with Oprah Winfrey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENT SCHROTENBOER, "USA TODAY": The evidence came out against him, a massive file of evidence came out against him in October. And then in the three months since then, he's been keeping a pretty low profile. And I think he's been deciding what to do about it. He's kind of cornered himself because for many years now he's strenuously denied these doping allegations. And with all the evidence that's come out against him, it's hard to deny it anymore.

And he's making a calculated decision for himself personally, it's also I think a business decision for him because it's affecting his charity Live Strong. All of his sponsors have fired him. I think when he goes out in public now, he's getting a little bit different reception than what he used to get in that everybody knows now that if you believe the evidence that he did dope and lie about it for many years. And so this is really a personal decision for him and also a calculated business decision for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: Armstrong was stripped of his titles and banned from cycling last year.

BP has a settlement with as many as 100,000 people who claim they got sick or hurt by the 2010 gulf oil spill. A federal judge signed off on the deal yesterday. It covers clean-up workers and residents to live near the spill zone. A BP spokesman says the company is, quote, "pleased with that agreement."

With flu activity now up from 41 to 47 states, many people are wondering if it isn't too late to go ahead and try to get a flu vaccine. Doctors say it isn't and that 62 percent of those who take the shot are less likely to get the flu. Our Athena Jones is live at a flu clinic in Falls Church, Virginia. Athena, nice to see you. We've been hearing everyone needs to get the flu shot. I'm wondering now, are there enough of the vaccine, is there enough of the vaccine to go around?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, doctors say there is enough of the vaccine. I believe you have numbers from the CDC showing there are still millions of doses, millions were manufactured. Millions have been distributed, but not as many people have gotten the vaccine. So there are still millions more. We're in Falls Church just outside of Washington, D.C. Virginia is one of the states where the flu has been widespread. Let's head inside this clinic right now. I'll show you what they've been up to today.

This is a clinic that's multiservice. You can get dental treatment here and come in if you get the flu, think you have the flu or you want a shot. We're told by the folks here they've seen an increase in the number of people coming in to get shots or calling to see if the shots are available here. Just in the first 12 days of January, they say they do still have shots available. Several people we saw come in today get them. And so generally speaking, like I said, doctors believe there are enough vaccines to go around. There could be some spot shortages, so people should call ahead. They may have to shop around a little bit but should be able to find what they need. Martin?

SAVIDGE: What's the best advice you're hearing from the medical experts there? If you're sick right now, what's the best way to treat yourself?

JONES: You know, we asked the doctor here, Dr. Greenburg about that. Let's show you what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ERAN GREENBURG, PHYSICIAN: If it's usually within 48 hours of the onset of the illness, I'll use Tamiflu or Relenza, which is the other -- that's might come into more use as Tamiflu becomes less available, which I'm hearing it's starting to become in short supply at least in some areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JONES: Now, if you're not able to get in to see the doctor within the first 48 hours they say with lots of rest and plenty of fluids, if you do that within five to seven days, you should see symptoms go away. Now, this is a strain of the vaccine, a strain of the flu, influenza or H3N2 that is shown to have more complications. Some people are getting sicker longer. If you end up having dizziness or your symptoms go away but the fever comes back, if you can't keep fluids down, that's when you want to go into the emergency room. But for the most part, staying at home with fluid and rest you should be OK. Martin?

SAVIDGE: And there's always that group of people that avoid getting the flu shot because they believe that it will actually make them sick. Is that -- is there any truth to that?

JONES: No, there's no truth to that doctors say. You shunt get the flu if you already are ill and you have a fever. But it's not something that's going to make you sick. I can tell you that President Obama has gotten his flu shot. It wasn't today. He had a fitness exam today. It wasn't today, but sometime before he got a shot, so maybe the commander in chief is try to be an example to the rest of America.

Almost everyone should get the flu shot. A child under six months of age, you shouldn't get it. If you're allergic to chicken eggs, that's what you use to make the flu vaccine, you shouldn't get it, a previous reaction to the flu and if you're already sick. But otherwise, the very old, the yes young, people who have had underlying medical conditions or respiratory problems like asthma, people that have seen their immune system depressed should get the shot because those are the likely to face the biggest complications.

SAVIDGE: Athena Jones, thanks very much.

So aside from getting the flu shot, what else do you need to know about the virus to stay safe? Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has all of those details.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Martin, it's the worst flu season in years. You know that by now. Emergency rooms in many places overflowing. It's a fast-moving story. So here's what you need to know.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: The flu strikes fast, and symptoms much more severe than a common cold. You feel fine one day, and then the next, a sudden fever, sore throat, headache, and tightness in the chest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over 200,000 people every year are hospitalized with influenza, and anywhere from three to nearly 50,000 people will die each year.

GUPTA: Flu cases are at epidemic proportions now in some areas of the country, the most we've seen this time of year in a decade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They may get more complications from this particular strain which may make them ill for a longer period of time.

GUPTA: The active strain is H3N2. It typically surfaces earlier in the season, tends to produce stronger symptoms.

And it is highly contagious. In fact, when someone coughs or. These tiny droplets are released into the air. You can't see them with the human eye. You can breathe them in but they can also live on surfaces. A lot of people don't realize this. They can stay on these stays for eight hours. Say your co-worker is sick, you touch their keyboard, you have the germs on your hand, and then you touch your nose or mouth, and now you're infected.

And the problem escalates if you spend several hours in tight quarters like on an airplane. At highest risk, passengers two rows in front or behind the infected person.

The best way to kill germs is to wash your hands and do it often, and use real so and real water. The problem is that most people don't actually wash their hands long enough. My best advice, actually sing the happy birthday song twice while you're washing your hands. It's not quick to get rid of these viruses.

Another key to prevention is getting the flu shot. Getting vaccinated reduces your risk of getting the flu by around 60 percent.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: Another benefit, Martin, to getting your flu shot is if you do get sick your symptoms won't last as long and be as severe as compared to those who weren't vaccinated. Martin, back to you.

SAVIDGE: Thank you, doctor, very much.

Parents of children diagnosed with the flu might have another problem on their hands, a shortage of the drug that's prescribed to children with the flu. Tamiflu OS is the liquid version of Tamiflu. It's commonly given to children 13 years and younger because it's easy to swallow. Genentech, the company that makes Tamiflu OS, says there have been temporary delays in new shipments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN ROGERS, PHARMACIST: There's not a delivery date to my wholesaler in North Carolina, and they're telling me they're can't get it from the manufacturer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Pharmacists can make a child's dose using a diluted version of regular Tamiflu. Go to flu.gov to find a location for the vaccine.

This may surprise you. It turns out Americans are getting sicker more frequently and dying younger than people in other wealthy developed nations. That is according to a new report from the National Research Council, and it found that the U.S. lags behind other countries in areas such as drug related deaths, obesity, heart disease, AIDS, and infant mortality. Researchers say one reason could be many Americans make poor health choices, that's interesting, and they point out that spending more money on health care won't help the problem since the U.S. already spends more on health care than any other nation.

She's the most traveled U.S. diplomat ever. And after a brief health scare, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is back on the job. But is there a bigger job in her future? The Clinton insider has the details.

And then what's next for the GOP? The party's out of power and is trying to make a comeback. An expert weighs in on the chances for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: After taking their lumps in the 2012 election, the Republican Party is now searching for a way to recover. And beyond the election loss, there's House Speaker John Boehner. He's had his own problems, losing an effort to get support from his colleagues for a last ditch fiscal cliff measure.

Another part of the story, of course, the Tea Party wing in the GOP still has influence. And that sometimes causes major divisions. So is it time for the party to change? Does it need to become a big tent? Rich Galen joins us from Washington, a Republican strategist. Rich, I guess you could say the GOP has its own bad case of the flu. What's the cure here?

RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Part of it is just as with the flu. For most people you just have to wait it out. Take plenty of water, go to bed and wait till you feel better. That's part of what's going to have to happen here. These things in Washington tend to be cyclical.

In terms of what the Republicans in the House are going through, it's useful to remember, when I first came back to Washington in 1996, I talked to a friend. I was working for Newt Gingrich. I was talking to a friend who worked for Tip O'Neill. I said how did Tip spend his day? He said, what are you kidding? We had this enormous majority and his day was kept keeping the northern Democrats and the southern Democrats from killing each other.

So this business about divisions within the same party in the House is not new news. It's a function of being in the majority. When I first came to Washington, we had like 141 members in the House Republicans and you could meet in a phone booth.

So I think for the Republicans what they have to do is let the 2012 election sort of drift away. The Tea Party influence appears to be waning as happens in these things. Moveon.org, its influence waned after 2008 because they won. And I think the Republican Party will sort of come to grips with what it needs to do moving forward. And we have some really smart people, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie. We've got a pretty strong bench, not kind of classic southern Republican white guys. SAVIDGE: Let me ask you this. The Democrats won pretty much all over the map and in some places there were supposed to be GOP pickups like the Montana Senate seat. Is it time for Republicans to become more diverse with Hispanics, gay, people, women, or is the GOP on the course to becoming oblivion?

GALEN: If they don't, they're on the course of becoming not just the minority party but a minor party, which would not be a good thing. You're exactly right. Those are exactly the attributes I think people who are behavioral Republicans are looking for the traditional Republican or the current Republican Party to begin adopting policies and statements and making -- reaching out to all these other groups that say, OK, I'm more comfortable with that Republican Party than the Republican Party I saw during the 2012 elections.

SAVIDGE: Well, I want to bring this up. When the party was led by a black man, former Maryland lieutenant governor Michael Steele, the GOP took control of the House. It expanded their number of governorships in state legislatures. But the party fired him.

GALEN: But he was a terrible leader. But the fact is that there were a lot of attributes that went into that had nothing to do with Michael Steele. And with Reince Priebus we expanded our governorships and held on to almost all of the House and state Houses and state Senate gains we made. So the RNC and DNC, the two national parties, their influence, they're just money transfer operations. They don't really have much to do with what goes on.

But I think the really important thing there is we do so well at the local and state level, both in terms of the legislatures and governor seats, that maybe what the Republican Party needs to do is say, why are we doing so well there and so badly at the Senate level, the U.S. Senate level and the presidency? What lessons do we need to learn about local organizing, local messaging, reaching out to local folks, not just people that look like me, but people who don't sound or look or act like me, and say we have a home for you here?

SAVIDGE: Yes. There's a good point to be made there.

Let me ask you this real quick before you go. Speaker John Boehner, should he stay or go in the position he's got?

GALEN: Well, he won so he gets to stay. He won the election. So he gets to stay. Boehner has been in the majority, he's been in the minority. He's been a backbencher. He's been in the leadership. What will happen I think probably, Martin, is that the gigantic freshman class of two years ago, the so called Tea Party freshman class, as they get used to their role in the majority -- if you're in the minority, it's easy to be a congressman. You vote no and go play golf. It's a great job.

When you're in the majority you have a responsibility to actually help govern. I think the hope is the sophomore class will look to its -- look across the aisle and look up and down the spectrum and say, OK, how do I stick with my principles, but actually look for ways to help move the ball forward. With any luck, that will happen. SAVIDGE: Rich Galen, thanks very much. Enjoyed the conversation. Thanks.

There is a kerfuffle, that's a hard one, kerfuffle over a new royal painting. Everyone loves the duchess of Cambridge but nobody seems to like her portrait. We let you be the judge.

Plus, Hillary Clinton is back at work after a health scare, but is this is the beginning or the end as secretary of state. It's the beginning of her end of tenure there. How is it going to impact the rest of her political future? We'll talk about that in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Something that was very nice to see, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton back on the job. She returned to work Wednesday after being sidelined for more than three weeks. As you know, she suffered a concussion and then a blood clot. But this is also the beginning of the end, so to speak, certainly for her job as secretary of state as she gets ready for her successor. Elise Labott looks at her return.

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martin, Secretary Clinton had a warm welcome back at the State Department when she returned on Monday. Her staff gave her a gag gift, a football helmet with the State Department that said "Doing business in Washington is a contact sport." They also gave her a jersey with the number 112. That's how many countries she's visited as secretary of state. Let's listen to what she told us about being back in the office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I am thrilled to be back. And I am also incredibly grateful to this fabulous team that I have here at the state department who never missed a beat for the time that I was away. And we are focused on continuing our work, finishing up everything that we can, and helping Senator Kerry with his transition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: Since she's been back, Secretary Clinton has attended meetings at the White House. She hosted a state department dinner for Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

One thing heavy on her mind is the upcoming congressional testimony she has to give on the Benghazi attack expected to take place just a day or two after President Obama's inauguration January 21st. Before she testifies in front of Congress, Clinton wants every single recommendation made by the independent panel, which looked into the attack already implemented or on its way to being instituted. She wants to leave the office and her successor, Senator John Kerry, with stricter measures in place on security for U.S. diplomats in facilities overseas.

Now, Senator Kerry has been at the state department for various briefings. Secretary Clinton is in touch with him almost daily hoping for a seamless transition. And as she wraps up, there will be no customary farewell tour, doctor's orders, but the phone lines will be burning with world leaders and counterparts who want to say good-bye.

We asked her if she's ready to retire, and she said she wouldn't use that word, but she is looking forward to getting off the fast track for a little while. I don't think we've seen the last of her, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Definitely not. Thanks very much.

I want to bring in CNN political contributor Hilary Rosen. You know Hillary Clinton well. You talk with her all the time. I have two questions, one's physical and one's philosophical. How does she feel and how does she feel about leaving the job?

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: I haven't talked to had her for a little while now, obviously. She's got a lot going on. She's excited to leave though. I thought Elise's report was great and accurate. She's, you know, she's looking forward to a kind of good period of unscheduled time. As you know, she is jobs are highly demanding and highly scheduled. And I think she's excited not to be so boxed in.

SAVIDGE: You also heard the report, of course, that she still has the Benghazi hearings ahead of her. What is her legacy at state, and is it possible that it could be tarnished by all of this?

ROSEN: You know, in some respects, you know, Benghazi was a tragedy, and what happened to our diplomats there touch not just the secretary deeply but all Americans deeply, I think. But a hallmark of her tenure is how she responded to that tragedy, and that is, let's get the facts. Let's make sure we know what we're doing. And then once we had some independent recommendations, let's move quickly on getting them implemented. That's just kind of emblematic of who she is and has always been.

You know, she doesn't suffer fools gladly, but she also -- she doesn't have patience when she knows there are the right things to do and that good solutions are available. I think she's just a world class leader in that regard.

SAVIDGE: And based upon then friendship, upon the knowledge you have of Hillary Clinton, what would you say the odds are she is going to run for president?

ROSEN: You know, I long made it a practice never to bet on Hillary Clinton, although I would never bet against her. So, I think you know, there are millions of Americans including me who are very much hoping that she gets enough rest and feels good about having a political career and runs for president.

But she's got a lot of options. And you know, she needs to look no further than her husband to find another really good option. I think President Bill Clinton has really led the way as a role model for having a really effective and important life with a big impact on the world, a good impact on the world without elected office. And so she's got options.

SAVIDGE: She certainly does. I want to ask you and switch gears a little bit, the inauguration coming up. There has been pushback against the president for not having enough diversity in his cabinet in his second term. Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem are both asking him to appoint a woman to head up the FCC. What do you make of this?

ROSEN: Nobody's a bigger fan of Gloria Steinem and Jane Fonda than I am, but they need to know we actually have a head of the FCC and he hasn't indicated he's going anywhere. I think people need to give this president some time. He's got a lot of cabinet openings and they've got a lot of options for those appointments. I'm absolutely certain we're going to have more good cabinet officers who are women, who are Latinos, people of color, like we had this first term where we really benefited from a significantly diverse and smart group of people. And I know the president has that is list now. So I'm not just patient but, you know, I'm completely expecting a cabinet ta looks like America.

SAVIDGE: As are many people. Hilary Rosen, thank you very much for joining us.

ROSEN: Take care, Martin.

SAVIDGE: How about this -- an all-out brawl at a school bus stop. It's not the first time. A must see video, that's coming up next.

And then everyone's thinking about the flu these days, how to avoid it and how to treat it. And now parents of sick children have a new concern. We'll tell you what that is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Welcome back. It's 2:30 on the east coast. That's p.m., 11:30 on the west. That's a.m. And for those of you just joining us, welcome to the CNN Newsroom. I'm Martin Savidge in for Fredricka Whitfield, and here are the top stories we're following.

The CDC says the spread of the flu in some parts of the countries appears to have slowed down, particularly in the southeast. Still 24 states and New York City are reporting high levels of flu activity. New York's governor declared a public health emergency. There is also a shortage of the liquid version of the antiviral Tamiflu which is often prescribed for children under the age of 13. CDC says since the outbreak began, there have been 20 flu related deaths among young people 18 years and younger.

After more than 11 years of combat operations, the end of the war in Afghanistan could be in sight. President Obama met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai yesterday at the White House to discuss withdrawing all 66,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, Mr. Karzai says the end of the war does not mean the ends of U.S. presence in his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you envision after 2014, there being no troops, no U.S. troops in Afghanistan?

HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT: No, I don't envision that. The United States would need to have a limited number of forces in Afghanistan.

AMANPOUR How many is limited in your mind?

KARZAI: Well, it's not for us to decide. It's for the United States to decide what number of troops they will be keeping in Afghanistan. What strength those troops will have in Afghanistan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: U.S. officials foresee keeping up to 9,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 for counterterrorism and for training.

There is a month-long python hunting challenge. It's underway in the Florida everglades. Wildlife officials are using this definitely novel way to rid the area of snakes, these snakes, pythons. Over 400 people have now signed up, completing safety training online. But some experienced snake hunters are worried that may not be enough for amateurs to stay safe.

Here is what's trending around the web. Take a look at this YouTube video. It shows dozens of students and parents fighting at a bus stop. Police in Pennsylvania are stepping up patrols near the bus stop now because two brawls broke out there in the past week.

Much to the dismay of star war fans everywhere, the U.S. government will not be building a death star. The White House turned down a petition proposing that the government create a death star super weapon. The petition received more than 34,000 signatures online.

And could this be a royal photo bomb? Art critics around the world and even common folk are expressing disappointment in the newly unveiled official royal portrait of the duchess of Cambridge, Catherine Middleton. As for the Duchess, she says it's, quote, "brilliant."

It's awards season in Hollywood, and you know what that means, time to pick your favorite. We've got some pretty interesting trivia you probably had never heard.

And no baseball Hall of Fame inductee this year. The details and the reaction from Pete Rose ahead in the newsroom.

But first, an amazing story of strength. When Don Wright was diagnosed with cancer, he didn't let that stop him from running marathons. In fact, he was determined to run one in each state. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his story in this week's human factor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Don Wright's career spanned engineering, being a company vice president, and the law. At age 62, he discovered a new passion -- marathons. Nine year ago, days after running his first 26-mile race, he got some devastating news.

DON WRIGHT, MARATHON RUNNER/CANCER PATIENT: I had gone to the doctor a couple of times for pain in my back. It was multiple myeloma.

GUPTA: This is a cancer of the blood where the white blood cells invade the bone marrow causing pain, usually in the back or the ribs. Patients are rarely cured. But Wright refused to let that slow him down, even qualifying for the Boston marathon.

WRIGHT: We got this devastating diagnosis, and we just -- my family and I, we just kept on going. You know, there wasn't any reason to stop and be sorry, you know. We kept running marathons.

GUPTA: On December 9 under a hot Hawaiian sun, Wright, now 71, reached his seemingly impossible goal -- running a marathon in all 50 states.

WRIGHT: It feels wonderful, I'll tell you. A philosophy of life that I have is live one day at a time and make it a masterpiece, and that was a masterpiece.

GUPTA: Wright wasn't sure he could fulfill his dream because the median survival for his cancer is just five years. Prognosis does vary depending on age and stage of the disease. He's had a number of treatments that have failed. But for the last four-and-a-half years, wright's taken an experimental drug, one pill at night, that's worked. It's kept the cancer at bay.

WRIGHT: It doesn't cure the cancer, but it keeps it stable so it's not hurting me. And I can still run. And I can still enjoy life, and I'm riding that for all it's worth.

GUPTA: His advice to others facing what seemed like insurmountable odds, take charge of your own destiny and never give up hope.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Time we test some of your Hollywood awards trivia knowledge. Did you know, by the way, that golden globe results are often predictors of Oscar winners, but only in certain categories? Or that acceptance speeches at one awards show can affect who wins or loses at the other? Joining me now is the editor of the GoldDerby.com, Tom O'Neil with some other very interesting nuggets. Tom, nice to see you.

TOM O'NEIL, EDITOR, GOLDDERBY.COM: Same here.

SAVIDGE: So you've got a lot of great awards trivia. Let's start with the acceptance speeches, because I find that mind blowing. How do the speeches at the Golden Globes somehow relate to Oscar performance? O'NEIL: It's your audition. If the voters for the Oscars like what they see at the globes, they want to see that again. The classic example I think is Jamie Foxx when he will won for "Ray" years ago. He invokes the spirit of his dead grandmother and then he passed the globe to heaven. It was so wonderful that of course, he had to win again. The same kind of thing happened for Hilary Swank and put her on the awards map and took her all the way to the Oscars. The flipside of that is be as boring as Annette Bening was one year and you lose to Hilary Swank.

Looking forward to tomorrow night, Jessica Chastain is the favorite to win best drama actress, Jennifer Lawrence the favorite to win best comedy musical actress. Basically whoever gives the best speech tomorrow night will be the Oscar winner.

SAVIDGE: Are Golden Globes usually then good predictors for Academy Award winners?

O'NEIL: In the performance categories, yes, but not for best picture. Historically they did overlap, but in the past eight years we've only seen the two awards agree twice.

SAVIDGE: Wow. All right, well, "Lincoln" leads I think seven golden globe nominations and then leads with Oscars I think 12 nominations. So which movies then have the best chance of, say, upstaging or upsetting "Lincoln"?

O'NEIL: I'm looking for "Argo," and I'm going out on a limb. Support me here because I'm the only one doing it.

SAVIDGE: I'm with you.

O'NEIL: Are you? OK. Ben Affleck did not get nominated for best director this week. Everyone's saying that just means "Lincoln" has this in the bag. There is one case historically of where a movie won best picture without being nominated for best director, and it was "Driving Miss Daisy."

I think there's a lot of outrage over the fact Ben did not get nominated. If he wins the globe tomorrow night, as I believe he will, I believe he win may both director and drama picture, he's certainly going to win one or the other. If he gives a good speech there, again, and if he wins DGA in about a week and a half, I think he's poised for an upset at the Oscars.

SAVIDGE: I mean, I don't know how this all goes down. Is the voting still open in Oscars? In other words, that's how people cast a last- minute favor of Ben in some way?

O'NEIL: Absolutely. Actually, the second round starts later this week, I believe. And the Oscars aren't till February 24th.

SAVIDGE: OK. That's really interesting. What do you think, just looking forward to tomorrow, real quick, who do you think the top winners are going to be? O'NEIL: Everyone's betting. If you're betting money put it on "Lincoln" for drama picture. Otherwise go out on a live with "Argo." Over in the musical comedy category, I think it's going to be "Les Miserables." And we'll have Jessica Chastain and we'll have Jennifer Lawrence take those awards for actress. And then in supporting slots I think we're going to see Anne Hathaway for sure for "Les Miserables." Then it's anybody's guess force supporting actor. I'm betting on Leo DiCaprio.

SAVIDGE: We're going to have you back tomorrow so we'll be talking in greater depth about this. Tom O'Neil, thank you very much for joining us. He is the editor of GoldDerby.com. We'll look forward to continuing this.

O'NEIL: Very good, thanks.

SAVIDGE: No players were elected to the baseball Hall of Fame this year. Baseball great Pete Rose talks about the controversial move and if the players are to blame. That will be next.

And we'll show you some of the best getaway spots for 2013.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: If you follow baseball, you know something happened this week that has happened hardly ever in the history of the sport. No one was voted into the baseball Hall of Fame. Sports writers who cast the ballots shut out just about everybody who was up. Actually they shut out everybody who was up for the honor. Joining me from New York is Ben Reiter, a staff writer at "Sports Illustrated." Ben, thanks very much for being with us.

BEN REITER, STAFF WRITER, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Thanks for having me.

SAVIDGE: We mentioned this as really rare. It's only happened about eight times. We figure that's the likes of Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens would suffer in the chances of getting in because of the ethical challenges and the ties to the steroid controversy. But all the nominees? I mean, what gives?

REITER: Right. Well, Wednesday afternoon's announcement had been anticipated for years. This was going to be the day on which the all- time home run king, Barry Bonds, and Roger Clemens, the best pitcher of his generation, the seven-time Cy Young award winner, would be elected to the Hall of Fame. That didn't come close to happening because of their association with performance enhancing drugs. You need 75 percent of the vote. Neither of those two got 40.

But as you say, the shutout extended far beyond them and extended to a player like Craig Biggio, the former Houston Astro, with the 3,000 hits, Mike Piazza, the best hitting catcher of all time, Curt Schilling, a playoff hero for the Red Sox. The reason is simple. The stain of PEDs did not only impact the candidacies of Bonds and Clemens, it's really impacted the candidacies of everybody from that entire era. For the first time this summer since 1965 there will not be a living inductee into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Suffice it to say that ceremony is not going to be very fun.

SAVIDGE: No, it's not at all. Let me ask you this. These are the same sports writers casting the ballots that I believe back in the day were raving about these particular athletes at the time. I mean, don't you have a problem with that? I think I do.

REITER: Well, you know, a lot of people have said that the vote should be taken away from the sports writers.

SAVIDGE: That's sort of what I'm getting at here. Should we change the system? Should we just -- it's got to go into somebody else's hands to decide?

REITER: Let's say, first, I think this is only a one-year blip. I don't think we'll see shutouts for years to come, especially as candidates like Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine hit the ballot in the coming years.

But I think the problem lies with the leadership, with the Hall of Fame itself, with baseball. There is simply not a clear policy. There are not clear directions given to the 600 baseball writers who are voting on this thing as to how to deal with the steroid era. That is what we need coming from the top.

If we don't do that, we're simply going to have a great American institution that is something worse than a place in which history is denied, worse than a fantasyland. The Hall of Fame is going to become irrelevant. It's one thing to reward people who perhaps took steroids, we don't know if all of them did. It's another thing to deny that they ever existed. That's currently what's going on.

SAVIDGE: When it comes to this vote, and this is not the first time around that these guys will get a chance at that. In other words, they'll be considered again. It's not a done deal they won't be in, correct?

REITER: That's right. You can be on the ballot for up to 15 years. This could be a debate we're having through 2028. We have that to look forward to.

SAVIDGE: Yes, and maybe people's opinions will soften. Ben, thanks very much for joining us today.

REITER: Thanks, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Despite a stellar baseball career, former Cincinnati Reds player Pete Rose never made it into the baseball Hall of Fame because of betting on baseball. Don Lemon spoke to rose and found out what he thinks about this whole Hall of Fame shutout.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE ROSE, FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: You know, I don't know if I'll get in trouble with for this, but I have to defend Roger Clemens in this. And the reason I have to defend him is because till this day he says he didn't take steroids. And he's never flunked a drug test. And he went in front of two different courts and they both ruled in favor of him. So who am I to sit here to say that Roger Clemens took steroids because he won some games after he was 40 years old?

Bonds admitted he put the steroids on him, OK? Sosa flunked a test. Palmeiro flunked a test. Let's talk about Biggio and Piazza and Jack Morris.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That was my next question. Let me ask the question. Because there were others on the ballot, catcher Mike Piazza, the Dodgers and Mets and there were Craig Biggio was on there, long-time second baseman for the Astros, and also Curt Schilling a pitcher who many say helped the Red Sox win the World Series, 2004, 2007. Do you think the fact they got shutout, did that surprise you?

ROSE: It does. At least one of them to go in there because I just wonder if what happened did all the writers say there's too many guys connected to steroids, let's don't put anybody in? That's not fair those guys.

Listen, Craig Biggio got 3,061 hits. He is the first player that was on the ballot for the first time didn't make the Hall of Fame since 1945. That's how long that's been, OK? And there hadn't been anybody go into the Hall of Fame since 1996. So that's strange, too. And I just -- we got friends in Cooperstown that own stores. And they really rely on Cooperstown week to survive for the whole year. And we just wonder what's going to happen with those people with no induction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Tonight at 10:00 p.m., by the way, Pete Rose will share more of his thoughts on the shutout with Don Lemon and if he thinks that the league will ever allow him to one day be eligible for the Hall of Fame. Don't miss it.

A new year, new vacations. So where would you want to go? We'll show you the top getaway spots for 2013 that are a must for fun and relaxation. And best of all, they won't break your bank account. We'll be right back.

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SAVIDGE: All right, what do Texas, Brazil, and Nicaragua all have in common? They are some of the best places to travel to in 2013 at least according to "The New York Times." "The Times" has a new article in this week's travel section called "46 places to go in 2013." Dan Saltzstein, an editor for "New York times" travel joins me now. Dan, thanks very much for being with us.

DAN SALTZSTEIN: Thanks for having me. It's great to be here.

SAVIDGE: Thank you. You came up with 46 different places to go, and I'd love to talk about every one of them but I don't think we have the time, everywhere from what Baton to Amsterdam. And I'm wondering, what was the criteria? SALTZSTEIN: Well, basically, we looked for places that are going to be exciting in the coming year. So place that have new and interesting things going on, places that are maybe a little bit counter intuitive it not the most obvious spots. And we basically solicit writers from around the world for ideas, people who are based overseas who are looked into things going on all over the world. They will pitch us ideas and we put together the list.

SAVIDGE: And you came up -- and the first one is obvious or at least the one we'll talk about right now, Rio de Janeiro, one of the cities you recommended. It's got a lot coming up in its future, right?

SALTZSTEIN: Exactly. It's not exactly a new destination. Obviously it's a very popular one. But there's a lot of new reasons to go. As you pointed out, you've got the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. So a lot of construction going on, a lot of money pouring in, a lot of emphasis on tourism there.

And even beyond those events, they're building up the waterfront area. There's a new, or going to be a new city of arts which is going to be the new home to, I think it's the Brazilian symphony orchestra. You have a new museum of art going up. There's something called the museum of tomorrow which is sort of a technologically oriented museum designed by Santiago Calatrava, who is a big name architect. And a lot of a literary festival, a rock festival going on in the next year or two.

SAVIDGE: I don't want to run out of time before we talk about other spots. Houston was a bit of a surprise. Houston, Texas. Why?

SALTZSTEIN: Yes, this has been an interesting one. We've gotten some interesting feedback on this one. But I think people think of Houston as a center for industry, for energy and such. It certainly is. But they're putting a lot of emphasis on two areas, cultural and food. So you've got new museum district, which includes a new museum of African-American culture along with some other stuff, and a whole bunch of new restaurants that you're seeing on new best of restaurant lists.

SAVIDGE: I'm going to stop you real quick. I want to get the last one in. Nicaragua, why?

SALTZSTEIN: If you lived through the '80s, you probably associate Nicaragua with arms deal and war. It's finally coming into its own as a tourist destination. You've got a lot of eco-resorts, especially on the pacific coast, beautiful spots. It's relatively easy to get to from the United States, direct flights from New York to Managua, eight hours. And they're not that expensive. You're talking somewhere between $150 to $400 a night.

SAVIDGE: I don't mean to cut you off, but we are out of time. Those are great suggestions. We'll tell viewers that they can check out the full list of travel spots for 2013. Go to TheNewYorkTimes.com/travel. And Dan, again, thanks very much for coming in and talking to us about great places to go. We'll be right back.

SALTZSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

SAVIDGE: You bet.

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