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Bears, Lions, Tigers on the Loose; GOP Debate Gets Testy; Cain "Misspoke" on Prisoner Swap; Perry, Romney Get Heated Over Immigration; GOP Courts Latino Vote; Prosecutor Wants Lohan In Jail; Freed Man Wins First Pro Fight

Aired October 19, 2011 - 10:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, residents on high alert in Zanesville, Ohio this morning. Why? Team officials are hunting down wild exotic animals, which escaped from a private farm.

The owner of the animal reserve was found dead last night. The mayor says he committed suicide. We'll be getting the latest from the County Sheriff, Matt Lutz.

A press conference is scheduled to get underway any minute now, and I did speak to the mayor earlier of Zanesville last hour. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR HOWARD ZWELLING, ZANESVILLE, OHIO (via telephone): I have had several calls from people who are concerned that they are shooting these animals, and it's my understanding that the Columbus Zoo is on hand with tranquilizing materials.

So whenever possible, they're going to tranquilize the animals, and save their lives. But I don't have a complete update, because Sheriff Lutz is out in the field, and is preoccupied at the time.

Several of the schools in the area are closed. People are being told to stay inside. Safety of the people is number one on the sheriff's mind. The people in Zanesville, we're asking them to be careful.

It's business as usual. Everybody's going to work and we're telling people to look around and be cognizant of what's around them, and watch out for wild animals, and so we're being cautious about it.

WHITFIELD: Mr. Mayor, let me ask you, too. Do you have any idea what happened? What happened to that park owner that he was found dead

ZWELLING: I got a call from my safety director, Bob Branford, last evening around 9:00 or 9:30, and he told me that Terry Thompson, the owner of the farm and the owner of the animals had set them free, and then shot himself. And so that's the best information that I have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're joined on the phone right now from a member of the Columbus Zoo, the chief operating officer, the COO, Tom Stalf.

So, Tom, the mayor said that you all are helping not to kill, but to perhaps capture or at least tranquilize these animals. Is that right?

TOM STALF, COLUMBUS ZOO'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER (via telephone): That is correct. We are on the scene now with our veterinarian staff with our sedation equipment, and working with the police officers to do this in a safe manner.

You have to realize that the terrain here is very rough and wooded, and when we're using tranquilizer darts, we have to have a clear area to sedate the animal.

And once the animal is injected with the dart, it still takes, you know, up to eight minutes for the drugs to take an effect. So, you know, we are -- we're working on this very fast.

WHITFIELD: And so how many animals are you looking for? Is it about 15 or so?

STALF: The numbers are -- you know, as they keep coming in, I have seen 39 animals deceased. I believe the number is six animals that we are looking for right now.

WHITFIELD: What kind of animals?

STALF: These are bears, two wolves, and a few tigers.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tom Stalf, all the best in what is going to be a very complicated endeavour there looking for bears, wolves and as well as tigers there. As they continue to search this general area for these exotic animals that escaped from the park, a private park.

The CNN presidential debate, tempers flare and accusations fly on this morning after, we're tallying the fight cards of the most testy debate of the election season thus far.

Jim Acosta is in Las Vegas where the candidates anteed up and threw down. Jim, they have to be nursing their wounds this morning the day after?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. The CNN debate may have been a turning point in this campaign. It was nasty. It was personal, and it may be a sign of things to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anderson -- would you please wait.

ACOSTA (voice-over): It's a Wild West shoot-out on the Las Vegas strip and at times it felt like Rick Perry's last stand with an urgent strategy to take down Mitt Romney.

GOVERNOR RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You hired illegals in your home, and you knew about it for a year. And the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy.

ACOSTA: But Romney wasn't laughing for long.

ROMNEY: Are you just going to keep talking? It's a tough couple of debates for Rick.

ACOSTA: Civil discourse was out the window. This was the first GOP debate to get personal.

ROMNEY: We hired a lawn company to mow our lawn, and they had illegal immigrants who we're working there. You have a problem with allowing someone to finish speaking and I suggest that if you want to become president of the United States, you've got to let both people speak.

ACOSTA: Unlike past debates, the night was also Romney's first real test as the frontrunner as the candidates took aim at his health care plan in Massachusetts. Rick Santorum pointed out some of Romney's own advisers helped draft President Obama's health care law.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You just don't have credibility, Mitt, when it comes to repealing Obamacare. You are -- your plan was the basis for Obamacare. Your consultants help craft Obamacare.

ACOSTA: At issue, Newt Gingrich says is the individual mandate and both Romneycare and Obamacare.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a lot of big government behind Romneycare, not as much as Obamacare, but a heck of a lot more than your campaign is admitting.

ACOSTA: Romney responded he got the idea from Gingrich.

ROMNEY: We got the idea of an individual mandate from you. You did support an individual mandate.

GINGRICH: Yes, sure.

ACOSTA: Rising Republican star Herman Cain also found himself on the defensive over his 9-9-9 plan. Independent studies have found the plan's individual business, national and sales taxes all set at 9 percent would raise taxes on millions of Americans.

PERRY: Herman, I love you, brother, but let me tell you something. You don't have to have a big analysis to figure this thing out. It's not going to fly.

ACOSTA: Romney pointed out a new national sales tax would be combined with existing state sales taxes.

ROMNEY: Will the people in Nevada not have to pay Nevada sales tax and in addition pay the 9 percent tax?

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Romney, you were doing the same thing that they're doing. You're mixing apples and oranges. ROMNEY: I've got to get a bushel basket that has apples and oranges in it because I've got to pay both taxes.

ACOSTA: For Perry, it was a night to take a campaign full of lemons and make lemonade giving Republicans a bitter taste of a more combative campaign to come.

PERRY: You get to ask the questions and I get the answer like I want to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: In the post debate spin room, a senior Romney adviser said it was Rick Perry's strategy to "kill Romney." But in the end, that adviser said Perry just, quote, "killed himself." That may be wishful thinking for the Romney campaign because Rick Perry showed he still has fight left in him.

And, Fredricka, I was talking to that same Romney adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom this morning here inside the Venetian Hotel on the strip, and about that moment when Mitt Romney touched Rick Perry on the shoulder, everybody's talking about that moment this morning.

And whether or not he may have invaded Perry's personal space and perhaps crossed the line, Fehrnstrom noted to me that Perry in a Semi Valley debate a few weeks ago did the same thing to Mitt Romney.

And Governor Romney stored that I think for later use. So he may have a little bit of defense on his hands and saying, wait. Rick Perry went there first -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, get a little chummy there. All right, Jim Acosta. Thanks so much.

Herman Cain's night didn't get easier when he stepped off the stage. Our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joining us now from Vegas.

So, Paul, Cain says he misspoke about a possible prisoner swap for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay that from an earlier interview with Wolf Blitzer. But critics you're saying this really does expose a bigger weakness in their words of him. Tell us about that.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, some critics are saying maybe Herman Cain isn't ready for primetime. Let's take a listen to how it started and how it played out throughout the day starting with Wolf Blitzer's "SITUATION ROOM." Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": Did you see yourself as president authorizing that kind of transfer?

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I could see myself authorizing that kind of transfer, but what I would do is, I would make sure that I got all of the information. I got all of the input, considered all of the options, and then the president has to be the president and make a judgment call. I can make that call if I had to.

Now, I believe in the philosophy of, we don't negotiate with terrorists. I've been saying -- I would never agree to letting hostages in Guantanamo Bay go. No, that wasn't the intended --

I said that I spoke in error. Maybe I didn't understand the question. If I did say that, I would not do that because I believe in a philosophy, we cannot negotiate with terrorists. I misspoke. I would not do that. I simply would not do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Well, that was within about five hours. That's a lot of back and forth from Herman Cain. I spoke with one of his senior advisers after the debate and he told me that Herman Cain has been brushing up on foreign policy and continues to get stronger on the issue, but critics will attack, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thank you so much. Paul, we're going to break away from you. We're going to go on to Zanesville, Ohio.

Because we've been reporting this morning how they are looking for exotic wild animals, tigers bears, wolves, et cetera. Here's the sheriff now updating people.

SHERIFF MATT LUTZ, MUSKINGUM COUNTY, OHIO: -- secured area, highly volatile area. We have several of our deputies, O.D. & R. People up there, some of our surrounding agencies that are neighboring to us have come in.

I am prepared to release right now that we feel comfortable saying that we're at about 43 to 44 of these animals that are accountable for. However, there are still some that we know that we have shot last night that we have not got vehicles down to recover.

So, of course, that number could go up a little bit. We are hovering around that 48 number to start with. Possibly could have been 51. I'm getting conflicting reports with people that used to work here. We are ironing those out right now.

Hopefully, we'll be able to figure that out. We're recovering these dead animals. We're getting an inventory of what we have and trying to get that number for you to get out to our public.

I'll open up to questions, and, please, when you ask a question, would you please identify yourself and ask your question. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Talk about why you took the position of killing animals rather than tranquilize them?

LUTZ: It's a very good question. I'll be glad to answer that. When our officers arrived on the scene, we had approximately one hour to an hour and a half of daylight. As officers got out of their cruisers, there were animals running loose outside of the fenced area.

To set the table for you a little bit, Mr. Thompson had numerous cages up around his house and where the animals were kept at, in the cages. It's a long drive. Probably two football fields, I would say, three football fields, up his driveway up to his house and down to his front gate.

The front gate is just off the main thorough way there of Kopchak Road. We had animals outside that fenced area along the road. They were trying to get loose. I had deputies that had to shoot animals with their side arms at close range.

That's how volatile this situation was. We are not talking about your normal everyday house cat or dog. These are 300-pound Bengal tigers that we've had to put down. When we got here, obviously, public safety was my number one concern.

I gave the order on the way here that if animals look like they going out, they went down. We could not have animals running loose in this county. We were not going to have that. Once we got here, realized the severity of the situation, we, at that point, started running into a problem with darkness.

We, again, were not going to have animals running loose on this farm at night. We can document numerous animals that go got over the fence, were out in the wooded areas outside the property that we've had to put down.

We've had officers down on the interstate that were preventing animals from crossing the interstate into our subdivisions and into our community. Today when daytime hit, we went into the area. We've been evaluating and getting head counts, been recovering bodies.

We just had a huge tiger an adult tiger, estimated 300 pounds, that was very aggressive. We did get one of the vets close enough, unbelievably so, within 10 to 15 yards, got a tranquilizer in it, and this thing went crazy. It started to take off. It headed away from us to the wooded area and our officers put it down.

We did not think we could take a chance of whether we got the dart in it and we could not take the chance whether the thing would get loose and get out into the neighborhoods. So that's some of the scenario that went down.

The other issue, we do not have tranquilizer darts with us. We do not carry them. We have the wilds in our county that work with us very, very well. They know if we need them we'll call. We had them coming immediately.

And we had them here in case we did get some animals in through subdivisions that were not safe to shoot in, that we would take them out with tranquilizers. Yes, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What animals that are still at large? What types of animals? Do you know or have an idea what you're looking for? LUTZ: I cannot answer that question directly. I can tell you that the main focus of animals at this establishment was wolves, all types of cat species. And I'm going to say tigers, Bengal tigers, mountain lions, leopards and then we had two species of bears, grizzly and black bears.

Those were the main animals that we have encountered, and that is going to be the type of animal we're looking for once we get a countdown. I can tell you, also, that we did have some sort of cat hit on the interstate by a car.

And the Ohio State highway patrol was taking care of that accident. The animal was wounded and left there and they were going to take care of taking and putting it down and getting it back to us for the count. Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: WOC in Columbus. Was the Sheriff's department aware of this compound prior to last night?

LUTZ: Yes, sir. Yes, sir, for a lot of years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you monitor it then?

LUTZ: We've handled numerous complaints here. We've done numerous inspections here. We've brought in professionals from outside our county to look at this property to make sure it's safe. We've checked to make sure they've had the proper permits or were legal to have them here.

I don't want to -- please don't quote me. I'm going to say we've got about 35 calls since '04, '05 area that we ran on our computer that we've been to Mr. Thompson the house for some problem with the animals, anywhere from animals running at large to not being treated properly. This has been a huge problem for us for a lot of years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the range that you're looking at in terms of --

LUTZ: I'll let maybe Jack answer that as far as how far an animal can travel. I don't want to the scare our public yet. We started public service announcements as soon as this happened to get the word out there.

Right now, we're just patrolling the main roads around the farm. We had some reports last night as far west as national road and ridge road, even national road at Mount Perry.

I've been in contact with Sheriff Thorpe and Chief Deputy Dennis of Lincoln County, S.O., they had some reports on our western end, their eastern end of the county and had officers out last night. To my knowledge, we did have some sightings, but nothing confirmed by law enforcement. Yes, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess you talk about -- how far of a distance is that --

LUTZ: Ten mimes probably to the Lincoln County line, close to that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Safety issues here? What did you do, did you put in place to make sure schools were safe.

LUTZ: Yes, we were in contact with the school districts, the Maysville local school district and the Zanesville school district. Either I myself or officers from our office were talking to them. We made the decision or recommended them to close today.

The main impact there is we didn't want kids standing at a bus stop this morning and seeing these big animals walk by and possibly cause them harm. So the school officials were tremendous.

They supported us 110 percent. We worked with them and communicated with them and it was a great decision that in the best interests ever everybody in our community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible), can you put it into words what your reaction was?

LUTZ: No. I don't know that there is a word for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff, (inaudible) from Columbus. How will you know when you have gotten them all?

WHITFIELD: All right, Sheriff Matt Lutz there in Zanesville, Ohio, describing an unbelievable situation. Somehow about 50, maybe 51, exotic animals released from thin pens at a private park and the sheriff is now describing that about 44 of those exotic animals have been accounted for.

Many of which were killed simply because first responders didn't have tranquilizers. They had real bullets and that's what they used to take down 300-pound Bengal tigers. There are lions as well. Still on the loose, up to six either bears, wolves or even tigers that they continue to look for.

And the Columbus Zoo is also helping by using tranquilizers. But the sheriff there describing what was a very serious situation and how schools are closed. And they're trying to make sure everyone remains safer as they continue to look for these exotic animals on the loose.

All right, back to politics in a moment. Rick Perry opened one of Mitt Romney's old campaign ruins from 2008, and then really hit a nerve.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: Tell you what the facts are.

ROMNEY: Rick, again --

PERRY: You had the --

ROMNEY: I'm speaking. I'm speaking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This was a brutal argument over illegal immigration with lots of finger pointing and even touching there. We'll see who has the facts on his side, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Maybe at the most heated exchange from last night's debate came when Rick Perry called out Mitt Romney over illegal immigration. They stepped all over each other with accusations, but who had the facts on his side? Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the hottest moments in the debate came as Rick Perry and Mitt Romney butted heads over the issue of illegal immigrants. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: You hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year, and the idea that you stand here before us and talk about that you're strong on immigration is on its face the height of hypocrisy.

ROMNEY: We hired a lawn company to mow our lawn, and they had illegal immigrants working there, and when that was pointed out to us we let them go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: So there you have it. The basic claim of Rick Perry against Mitt Romney is that Romney hired illegal immigrants, but is that true? Let's look at the facts.

Back in 2006, this is something that came up that haunted Mitt Romney during the previous election. So he knew how to answer it. Yes, a company that he hired to work on his lawn reported by the "Boston Globe" had illegal workers from Guatemala working for them.

Mitt Romney said he knew nothing about those people until it was discovered by "The Boston Globe" then approached the company, gave the company a second chance to say, no more of that. Hire only legal workers. Found out it had happened again.

Also through the "Boston Globe" and he dismissed the company after the same problem was found. So in a simple matter, add it all up, you have to say that both Rick Perry and Mitt Romney were misleading.

Rick Perry suggesting that the governor was knowingly going out and hiring illegal workers. There doesn't seem to be evidence of that, and the governor suggesting he knew nothing about that going on when in fact he's already admitted that he did.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks so much.

Let's take about what Latino voters will take way from this. Republicans need to woo them. In 2000, there were about 13 million eligible Latino voters. A decade later, that number is more than 21 million.

Leslie Sanchez is a Republican strategist and author of "Los Republicanos, Why Hispanics and Republicans Need Each Other." So Leslie, what stood out to you, if anything, last night, as it pertains to appealing to Latinos?

LESLIE SANCHEZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think one word. It was disappointing overall. I don't know how many times the term illegals or aliens were used. Let's put it in context, legally that's not right. These are not aliens. These are human beings who have the same hopes and aspirations as the people that stood on that onstage.

I think the second point, to classify one group of people based on one act. It's dehumanizing. It's like saying a child who shoplifted is thief for the rest of his life. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

You know, the issue with immigration is used as a political pinata by both sides, and I think it's really disappointing. We need serious solutions and you didn't hear that last night. You heard a lot of the same rhetoric.

I'm certainly, I have my criticisms about this current president and his failure on immigration reform, but I'm really disappointed in the tone of the debate among our Republicans.

WHITFIELD: So Romney and Perry went at it a few times as it pertained to the border. Romney, you know, attacking Perry saying, you're on the border state. So what's with your policy?

And it flip-flopped as well in terms of what -- what the stance of Romney was, and Perry's point of view. How does that -- did it offer any clarity on the positions that either one would take as it pertains to protecting borders, immigration, et cetera?

SANCHEZ: Sure. I think one thing that's very consistent about the Republican position. Romney certainly articulated that. It's a pro- legal immigration. Everybody is going to agree with that.

Fundamentally even the Democrats would agree on securing the border. The issue is what to do with the 11-plus million undocumented who are here. The question also becomes to your point about how do you secure the border?

Do you have physical barriers, fences, electrified fences, which is nonsense? It really needs to be a secure border with many gates, as Tom Friedman once said. We need to find a serious way to talk about that.

I think Perry had positives in this camp. He lives on that border. I've ridden along with a lot of folks in Texas that have to patrol this border on a day-to-day basis.

And the ranchers who live there, there are serious concerns from a national security standpoint, but we need to learn to talk about it in a way that is not dehumanizing. WHITFIELD: So other than immigration as it pertains to the debate last night, were there other issues that really resonated or statements or offerings from any of these candidates that really resonated with Latinos last night?

SANCHEZ: Sure. I think the issue of jobs. It's fundamentally going to come back to the economy. Latino voters are consistent in looking at this like mainstream American voters, because that's what we are. It's the economy, getting jobs, access to capital for small business owners.

Ron Paul had a great point about that. He said a lot of this immigration issue dies down when you talk about getting the economy moving again. I'm paraphrasing, but that's really what people are looking for.

They're going to be voting with their pocketbooks, but the issue and tone of immigration can hinder a lot of those independent voters taking a look at the Republican Party.

WHITFIELD: Leslie Sanchez, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Hollywood has parked for some of those "Occupy Wall Street" protesters apparently. Showbiz headlines coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A Los Angeles prosecutor says actress, Lindsay Lohan, violated probation and should be thrown back in jail. The defense says it's simply not true. It all unfolds in court this morning and "Showbiz Tonight" A.J. Hammer is all over it. So, A.J., who's right this time?

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Well, we're really just going to have to leave that for the court to decide today, Fred, but what I can tell you is Lohan is going to answer a lot of questions from a judge when she appears in a Los Angeles courtroom for probation status hearing. Lohan last appeared in court in July.

The judge ordered her to enroll in counseling and continue working her community service, but Lohan was let go from the women's shelter where she was doing that community service for not showing up, and she's been reassigned. That's according to TMZ. And the site has been reporting that prosecutors will argue Lohan's conduct, not showing up for community service, amounts to a violation of her probation, and that she should be thrown in jail.

Now, Lindsay is talking about this. She hit her Twitter page yesterday to defend herself. Let me read to you what she said. "I just want it to be known that just because I was not followed and photographed during the times I've gone to community service does not mean that I wasn't following my obligations by going to the court." Lohan was originally sentenced to those 480 hours of community service after she pleaded no contest earlier this the year for taking a $ 2,500 necklace from a Los Angeles boutique. So, Fred, we're just going to have see where this all goes in a mere few hours from now.

WHITFIELD: OK. And it looks like the Occupy Wall Street protesters could go Hollywood? Tell us about the real world kind of story.

HAMMER: Maybe they'll find the next Snooki down there. Here's the deal. If you're occupying Wall Street, it seems the real world wants you. Yes, the granddaddy of all reality series is now gearing up for its 27 season on MTV, and producers just went on to CraigsList to post an open casting.

They're looking for cast members over the age of 20 who appear to be between the ages of 20 and 24, and they want you to tell your unique stories, if you happen to be a member of Occupy Wall Street. Fred, it's the first time that I know of where the show is actually latched on to a movement for its casting.

There certainly have a lot of people to choose from down there. We've reached to producers. We want some more information on season 27, so we'll fill you in, Fred, when we have more on that.

WHITFIELD: OK. We'll look forward to that. Thanks so much, A.J.

And you want more information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J.'s got it. This evening on "Showbiz Tonight" at 11:00 p.m. on HLN.

All right. Mr. Las Vegas talks politics. Singer, Wayne Newton, weighs in on today's political climate. And that's straight ahead in our "Political Buzz."

But first, let's get a quick check of the markets right now. The Dow in the green territory. We like that. Up 39 points. We're watching your money right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And the two-day general strike paralyzes Greece. Protesters are causing chaos in Athens. Seventy thousand people have flooded the streets and some have gotten violent. CNN's Diana Magnay is on the phone with us with more details. We'll check in with her momentarily as rather volatile situation.

All right. Meantime, "Political Buzz." It's your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three question, 30 seconds on the clock, playing today, radio talk show host, Pete Dominick, CNN contributor and Democratic strategist, Maria Cardona, and Georgetown professor, Chris Metzler.

All right. Good to see both -- all three of you. Fight night in Las Vegas. What else is new? Things actually got rather physical for a moment between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I look at defining your facts on that, because that just doesn't --

GOV. RICK PERRY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'll tell you what the facts are --

ROMNEY: Rick, again, Rick I'm speaking. I'm speaking. I'm speaking. You get 30 seconds.

(CROSSTALK)

ROMNEY: This is the way -- the way that rules work here is that I get 60 seconds and then you get 30 seconds to respond, right?

PERRY: And they want --

ROMNEY: Anderson -- would you, please, wait? Are you just going to keep talking?

PERRY: Yes, sir.

ROMNEY: If you let me finish with what I have to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. That was dicey, and potentially, kind of dangerous there with that reaching out. So, Pete, you first. You know, getting into one's personal space. I don't know. Who won this?

PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUSXM POLITICAL TALK SHOW HOST: Can I speak? Are you going to let me --

WHITFIELD: No, no.

(CROSSTALK)

(BUZZER)

(LAUGHTER)

DOMINICK: Please, usually the way this works is --

(LAUGHTER)

DOMINICK: The way this works actually is, go to me last. So, I wasn't even ready.

WHITFIELD: OK.

DOMINICK: It was sad. It was a great debate if you love reality shows, but what's supposed to happen here is you're supposed to learn something as a voter, as an Americans. Those are folks in a problems, and perhaps, even a policy. The one policy that they focused a lot on was the magical 9-9-9 thing that's never going to even see the light of day. (BUZZER) It's ridiculous. Can I speak? OK. A buzzer goes off. OK.

WHITFIELD: So, Maria, what happened here? I mean, was this -- you know, was this moment -- OK, I'm going to get the upper hand or, you know, I'm going to impose myself physically on you? What's going on?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think all of the above, Fredricka. It looks like a (INAUDIBLE) fight, the only thing that was missing were the masks. But look, I don't think that this is going to help any of the candidates, especially the top three, and I don't think it will change any of the standings, because while Romney did seem like he could fight back when he was attacked and he was certainly attacked like he never was before last night, he also seemed angry.

Perry seemed very aggressive and very angry, and Cain didn't seem to be able to come up with a real defense for his 9-9-9. What we come away with is that all of these candidates want to -- (BUZZER) -- continue to protect millionaires and billionaires at the expense of the middle class.

WHITFIELD: OK. Chris.

CHRIS METZLER, PROF. GEORGETOWN UNIV. SCHOOL OF CONTINUING STUDIES: Well, I mean, it was suit out at the OK corral. I was just waiting for Doc Holladay to appear.

(LAUGHTER)

METZLER: I mean, that's pretty much what happened. I think in terms of who won, who won was instability. I mean, guys, this was ridiculous. It essentially looks like a food fight. We learned nothing. We heard nothing knew. It was just a lot of yama, yama, yama, yama. They all just kind of looked like a bunch of school yard bullies. That's pretty much what we had in this particular case.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. So, now, let's shift gears a little bit. You know, the World Series starts tonight, and if four senators have it their way, players wouldn't be chewing tobacco with 9.1 percent unemployment, a contentious 2012 race shaping up, is this the right time to tackle a baseball tradition? Maria, you first.

CARDONA: Well, I think -- I think in terms of the priorities, what you said is absolutely correct. We should be focusing on trying to create more jobs, on trying to give middle class families and workers relief, on trying to make millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share, which the majority of Americans agree with.

I hate chewing tobacco. I think it's a disgusting habit, but I think that, right now, Americans have their priorities, and this is not one of them.

WHITFIELD: OK. Chris, you spit -- I mean speak.

(LAUGHTER)

METZLER: Well -- I think a couple of things here. I mean, four senators who proposed this, all Democrats, by the way. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think in terms of these four senators, obviously, they've got a lot of time on their hands and they're not spending a lot of time doing legislation, so here's what I propose.

Since we're looking at green jobs, let's have those four senators take the time that they are doing nothing, which appears to be 90 percent of the time and harvest tobacco. I think if they do that, at least, the American people will be getting some sort of return on the investment here, because obviously, -- (BUZZER) -- at this point in time, they have nothing else to do.

WHITFIELD: OK. Pete. Are you still chewing?

DOMINICK: I'm in the bias chair. I'm a little bias, because I love tobacco, because it's so good for you. Now, anybody that's watching should know. The guy on TV is doing tobacco. I'm going to chew tobacco. You know, Congress wonders why there is such a low approval rate, Fred, because they're focusing on chewing tobacco and baseball players when 26 million Americans are under employed or unemployed.

Ridiculous. Baseball players, you know, I don't know why they don't just chew big league chew. To be honest with you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Just don't spit on the air. Be polite. OK. OK. Youre buzzer-beater now, 20 seconds each. Mr. Las Vegas, Wayne Newton, sat down with our Carol Costello to talk about politics ahead of the GOP debate. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE NEWTON, SINGER: The left and the right and the center and the independents and the libertarians, everybody is sick of politics as usual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So, politics as usual is even hitting a sour note with Wayne Newton as you see. If he was going to write an election song, what would the title be? Chris.

METZLER: Well, I think it's going to be "You Made Me Hate You, I didn't Want To Do It, I Didn't Want To Do It." And I think though -- but that's not the most dramatic part of this. I think the most dramatic part of this is the song, he has to write the lyrics and it has to be performed by T.I. and Nicki Minaj, because, I think, if you do that, you will essentially see why we're all fed up with politics and why -- (buzzer) -- we're all fed up with the side show.

WHITFIELD: OK. Pete.

DOMINICK: Well, isn't it -- what happened to Wayne Newton's face, first of all? I have to ask Carol. But isn't he known -- isn't he well known for his --

WHITFIELD: Chewing tobacco. DOMINICK: Right. Exactly. Danke Schoen (ph). That's Wayne Newton, Danke Schoen (ph), right, so maybe he can stick with -- oh, dear. He can stick with that German theme and do an anti-Herman Cain song called "9-9-9" which means, of course, no, no, no.

(LAUGHTER)

DOMINICK: Who wrote that question, by the way?

WHITFIELD: Not me. Go ahead.

CARDONA: I think he needs to write a song called "Donde" and in Spanish because it shows the lack of appeal of all GOP candidates to Latino voters

DOMINICK: Ouch.

CARDONA: But it will go something like this, where are the adults? Where are the contenders? All I see is misfit and radical right-wing pretenders.

WHITFIELD: I think you guys have another career ahead of you.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

DOMINICK: Can I -- are you going to let me -- can I speak? Can I --

(CROSSTALK)

(BUZZER)

WHITFIELD: Twenty seconds, 30 seconds, that's it. That's what we got.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right, you all. Thanks so much.

CARDONA: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic.

All right, wrongly imprisoned and no laughing matter at all. Dewey Bozella fought for his freedom and then won. Now, he gets a chance to fight in a pro-boxing match, and he wins that, too. We'll talk to him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Last week, we introduced you to Dewey Bozella. He served 26 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit. Now a free man, he fulfilled a dream Saturday night. He fought in his first professional boxing match, a cruiserweight belt on the undercard at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and guess what, he won. He beat Larry Hopkins by unanimous decision. Dewey Bozella joins us now from New York. Dewey, congratulations.

DEWEY BOZELLA, 2011 ARTHUR ASHE COURAGE AWARD WINNER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: What was that like for you? You knew what it was to box many years in prison, but it was another thing to be in the Staples Center. Describe that feeling for me.

BOZELLA: It was a wonderful feeling. I enjoyed the moment. I took advantage of it, and I moved forward, you know? Once in a lifetime opportunity.

WHITFIELD: And so, now, you're undefeated. Tell me about your aspirations if you hope to get in the ring again or was this it for you?

BOZELLA: That's it, you know? I did what I had to do. This is a young man's sport. I'm 52 years old. This isn't something I'm going to waste my time with, you know? I want to move on and deal with my foundation to try to open up a gym up in Newburgh, New York. That's my goal. You know, to help out the kids, you know, and build a future around that.

WHITFIELD: What will you try to teach kids? What will you tell them about your journey, your experience, and how will you try to inspire them?

BOZELLA: I think that, you know, it would be through my -- what I learned while I was inside, my morals, obligation, my responsibility and a discipline. These are all the goals that helped me to survive, and as you can see, helped me with my boxing, you know?

These are the things that I've been doing since I've been locked up and now using it in my everyday activities in modern society. The main thing is to build a foundation, you know, where I can help someone else from not, you know, not making bad choices in their life.

WHITFIELD: And clearly, there is a lesson of believing in yourself. You believed in yourself all those years in prison, believed in yourself when you got into the ring. How do you teach that message?

BOZELLA: Well, you teach it by activities. You teach it by things that I do. I think that, you know, in life, you know -- let me say this. While I was in prison for the 26 I was locked up, you know, I went and I got a serious education. I went and got my diploma. Then I went and I got 52 certificates.

I went down my bachelors and masters degree. So, these are the things I want them to understand that, you know, boxing has helped me to do, you know, when I talked about morals, obligations, responsibilities, and discipline. So, I want them to see that, you know, if I can do it, they can do it and to never give up hope. Don't let nobody tell you what you can't do.

WHITFIELD: Did you have any words with Larry Hopkins, by the way? BOZELLA: Absolutely. first of all, I would like to thank Daddy Davis. I would like to Bernard Hopkins for inviting me up to his camp up in Philadelphia. I was with him for the last six weeks. Also, I would like to thank Oscar De La Hoya for giving me an opportunity, you know, to be on the undercard, Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson fight.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

BOZELLA: And you know, it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I would also like to thank one person that I never, ever, ever, thought I would receive a phone call from --

WHITFIELD: Who's that?

BOZELLA: President Obama wishing me luck on my fight.

WHITFIELD: Well, congratulations, Dewey Bozella. Incredible fight. Incredible story. And thanks so much for your time and sharing yet an inspiring so many people.

BOZELLA: Thank you very, very much for having me on your show.

WHITFIELD: Thanks, Dewey.

And now, some extreme weather to tell you about. A suspected tornado touching down in Florida. We're taking stock of the damage. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Some breaking news now. Authorities in South Florida are assessing the damage from an apparent tornado this morning. Let's get straight to Rob Marciano. Wow.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It happened at night which is the most dangerous time, and it looks like, at this point, you saw the video up anytime. This is in Plantation, Florida, really the west side of Fort Lauderdale where a couple of cells came through last night, and obviously, very highly populated area here. Right now, officials are saying about 25 homes, maybe more, have been damaged by this.

And there you see it. Sun came up this morning. We really got a good view of this so for this thing. There were a handful of injuries, but no one was taken to the hospital. So, that's the good news there. This thing happening actually -- very, very close to the Everglades itself. So, a lot of rain down here. That's another issue.

Key West has seen over 15 inches of rainfall in the last five days. And that moisture streaming up into the big cities across the northeast, and the back side of the system is getting into Chicago where, right now, winds are gusting over 20 miles an hour. Big waves coming off on to lake shore drive in Lake Michigan.

So, this whole system is intertwined, and it all began last night with those tornadoes that ripped through parts of Broward County. WHITFIELD: Wow! Some crazy stuff.

MARCIANO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right. As we head to the break, President Barack Obama speaking right now at the Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. He and the first lady are talking about the importance of hiring American veterans, and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The death toll from tainted cantaloupes has climbed to 25. The cantaloupes came from a Colorado farm and are contaminated with the listeria. The CDC says 123 people in more than two dozen states have been infected with the bacteria, but that number is expected to grow because symptoms can take up to two months to actually appear.

Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead with my colleague, Suzanne Malveaux. That's it for me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)