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Herman Cain May Endorse Newt Gingrich; Iran Says it Shot Down U.S. Drone; 'Snail Mail' Slows to a Crawl; Baby Boomers Flock to Divine Calling; Newt Gingrich Releases First Political Ad; Jury Deliberates Life in Prison of Death for Joshua Komisarjevsky
Aired December 05, 2011 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Washington, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.
I want to get you up to speed for this Monday, December 5th.
Well, Newt Gingrich surging in the polls and closing the gap in the race for the Republican nomination. It's just a few weeks until the first primary. Right now, all eyes are on Iowa. That is where the former House Speaker, he's enjoying a new lead over his rivals.
What does it mean for 2012? We're going to have a breakdown in just a minute.
Also, Iran's government says it shot down a U.S. surveillance drone similar to this one because it invaded Iranian air space. Now, one Iranian military official calls it a clear example of aggression. U.S. officials admit they lost a drone near Iran's border with Afghanistan, but they're not going to say whether it's the type that contains highly classified information.
Now, security experts say if it is that drone, the U.S. military has lost a lot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ARKEDIS, DIRECTOR, PROGRESSIVE SECURITY PROJECT: The important point to take away here is that the Iranians now have a very sensitive piece of American military technology in their hands, and they'll be exploiting it. I just really hope that there's a self-destruct button attached to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: After months of bloody crackdowns against protesters, Syria now says it's going to let international observers into the country to monitor what is going on, but only if the Arab League agrees to drop sanctions against Syria. Now, the U.N. says more than 4,000 people have died in Syrian protests this year.
Once again, southern California is bracing for powerful, dangerous Santa Ana winds. We're talking gusts hitting 60 miles an hour in the mountains. That's happening today, 50 miles an hour in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. So what has it been like to deal with Santa Ana over the past week?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cold, number one. Scary, and going to bed real early at night because there's nothing else to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Once we got word that it was going to be out for as many days, just got the generator, just to make sure we don't lose our refrigerated goods, especially after a Costco trip. So we've got a lot of stuff in there we don't want to lose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And the high wind warning is in effect through tomorrow.
So check it out. This is the scene here in Washington, where police, on a cherry-picker, forcibly removed Occupy protesters as folks around them chanted, "Let him go!" The demonstrators who are on top of this wooden structure you see built to hold the meetings and to keep them warm, well, now more than 30 people arrested. Maintenance crews, they dismantled that structure once that standoff ended.
Attorneys for several of the men allegedly molested by Jerry Sandusky are reacting now with disgust to his interview in "The New York Times." The lawyers say the former Penn State defensive coach is trying to convince the public his behavior with boys is normal. They call the interview, however, uncomfortable to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SANDUSKY, FMR. PENN STATE ASSISTANT COACH: If I say, no, I'm not attracted to boys, that's not the truth, because I'm attracted to young people, boys, girls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, but not sexually. You're attracted because you enjoy --
SANDUSKY: Right. I enjoy -- that's what I was trying to say. I enjoy spending time with young people. I enjoy spending time with people. I mean, my two favorite groups are the elderly and the young.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Well, snail mail, it's going to be getting even slower next year. Just this last hour, the Postal Service announced that first class mail which actually usually arrives the next day, maybe takes a day or two, well, now it could take three, four, five days. The Postal Service also plans to cut about half of the 500 processing centers and 3,700 local post offices as it's fighting off bankruptcy.
Car wrecks usually making a crunching, grinding noise. A crash in Japan made scrap metal of eight Ferraris -- check it out -- three Mercedes and a Lamborghini. Hot cars.
Well, 10 people got hurt, but none of them seriously. The damage could run into the millions of dollars. And a couple Toyotas got in the action as well. A total of 14 cars involved in that.
All right. Roller-coaster ups and downs for many of the Republican candidates, but newt Gingrich is steadily surging in the polls. Right now he's looking for a very important endorsement. We are waiting for that. Could it come from none other than Herman Cain?
Our Paul Steinhauser, with us in Washington about the impact.
So, Paul, first of all, do we think this is going to happen? Could this happen?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, listen, Cain, on Saturday, when he suspended his campaign, Suzanne, he said he would make an endorsement and he would do it soon, before the Iowa caucuses. That's four weeks from tomorrow. The clock is ticking. He definitely still wants to have an impact on the race for the White House even though he's given up his bid for the GOP nomination.
Could it be Gingrich? Well, they're both from Georgia, right? And they both spoke very fondly of each other over the last couple of weeks.
And just about an hour or two after Cain dropped out, suspended his campaign, Gingrich had a news conference at an event in New York City, said some nice things about Cain. Gingrich -- last night his campaign added an event today, Suzanne, in New York City, a 1:45 news conference. There was a lot of speculation for that late, late add.
Would that be Herman Cain? Would he be showing up there next to Newt Gingrich? It looks like that is not going to happen. Cain probably on his way to Oklahoma City today for an event, and the Gingrich campaign telling us that, no, Newt Gingrich will be speaking about his 50-state strategy.
But a lot of these candidates, a lot of them would not mind having a Herman Cain endorsement right now with the clock ticking towards Iowa.
MALVEAUX: And, of course, Iowa, let's talk a little bit about Iowa. We were talking just a few weeks away from the Iowa caucuses, the first real contest here to see how these guys are doing.
Do we expect it would really make a big difference if he had those Cain supporters?
STEINHAUSER: It could, especially in a close contest. Remember, Cain had support, even though it was definitely dropping in Iowa, but he still had some support among Tea Party activists and other grassroots conservatives who were very much the anti-Romney, anti-establishment vote. So, in a close contest, yes, could it make a difference? I think so.
Take a look at this though. This is interesting.
It just goes to show, with four weeks left, a lot of voters, one in 10 in this brand-new poll in Iowa, these are people likely to attend the Iowa caucuses, one in 10 undecided. And among those who have said I'm voting for or supporting this person, look at that, about one in five saying, you know what? I may change my mind over the next four weeks -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Voters a little fickle at this time.
Let me ask you this. If Cain endorses Gingrich, how do we suspect Romney is actually going to do with this?
STEINHAUSER: It's probably not a great thing for Romney if that happens. Why? Because with Cain in the race, that anti-Romney, anti- establishment vote was kind of divided between Cain, Gingrich, Perry, Santorum, Bachmann and Ron Paul.
So, you take Cain out of there, and maybe those voters now go to Gingrich, and that builds up Gingrich. And as you mentioned, Newt Gingrich, now the front-runner in Iowa, with just four weeks to go. But, of course, Newt Gingrich has a lot of baggage. A lot could happen between now and then -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. We'll be watching. Thanks, Paul.
Paul's going to be back in 20 minutes, give us a look at what the other candidates are doing to get noticed in this fast-changing Republican race for the nomination.
Also, a rundown some of the stories that we are covering.
First, how damaging is Iran's claim that it shot down a secret U.S. drone filled with highly classified information?
Then this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have an issue, and this is the issue, a snake in our Christmas tree.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: OK. That's an ornament, a lively ornament. This is a family that discovers something pretty surprising under the Christmas tree.
And also, can you guess what items are being shoplifted the most in America right now?
Also, baby boomers looking for more meaning in life heading to the seminary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's got time to be on the beach? There's so much going on in the world. You want to roll up your sleeves and be engaged in the world in some way. I don't know that we're people who check out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Later, the latest on the out-of-the-world discovery from NASA's powerful telescope.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Classified U.S. intelligence could be in the hands of the Iranians if it is true that they actually shot down a secret U.S. drone flying in Iranian air space.
Chris Lawrence, he's joining us with some of those details.
So, Chris, exactly what is the Iranian government saying that they have?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, some of the news reports run by the Iranian regime claim that the Iranian defense forces brought down this drone, Suzanne. One report even said that it was a cyber attack that brought down the drone. The reports claim that the drone is still relatively intact, with little damage, and that the military of Iran has control of it.
MALVEAUX: Chris, do we know if the U.S. government is actually disputing that? Do they have another scenario here?
LAWRENCE: They are. I spoke to a couple sources who say it's highly unlikely that any cyber attack brought this down, or that the Iranians brought this down. They say more likely is it that they lost control or lost contact with a satellite, or there was some other sort of mechanical problem that brought down the drone.
Officially, the U.S. is just saying that they are missing the drone. They're not saying that it's in Iran's hands.
Here's an official statement from U.S. forces in Afghanistan. They say, "The UAV to which the Iranians may be referring is a U.S. unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that had been flying a mission over western Afghanistan late last week. The operators of the UAV lost control of the aircraft and had been working to determine its status" -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Yes. So, Chris, if they do have this, if it's missing, I mean, how serious is this? Does this mean intelligence, possibly a security breach for us?
LAWRENCE: It could be, because it goes way beyond just one drone. This was an RQ-170. It's a stealth drone. It is designed to penetrate enemy defenses that could normally pick up, say, a reaper or a predator drone. And the same technology that's in this drone is also in certain U.S. bombers, also in some of the newest fighter jets.
So if Iran had access to this technology, then they could conceivably, you know, devise a way to block some of that other technology being used by the U.S. The key will have to be how much of this drone is actually intact.
MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you, Chris. Appreciate it.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: The Postal Service, deep in debt, scrambling to cut costs. This latest money-saving move came just within the last hour.
Karina Huber, she's at the New York Stock Exchange.
So, Karina, first class mail often arrives the next day. That's what we're used to. But I understand that that is actually about to change now.
KARINA HUBER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. That is what's being proposed, Suzanne.
Right now, first class service you can get delivered between one to three days. Now what they're proposing is to change the delivery time to two to five days. And, of course, this will help them in their plan to cut more than half of their mail processing facilities.
And the reason why we're seeing them propose these kinds of measures, of course, is they are heavily in debt. They have lost nearly $14 billion over the past two years. And analysts are saying they could run out of cash by as early as next summer -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: So that's a long time to wait for something in the mail first class. You're paying first class, and what, three to five days later? What if you want a DVD, or if you've got something more important like a prescription by mail, you're counting on that? What happens to those kinds of services?
HUBER: OK. Well, what you don't have to worry about is your newspaper delivery. You will get that in the morning. That's because that doesn't go through the U.S. Postal Service.
But for things like prescription drugs, yes, that will impact you. So you have to take this into consideration. Order them a little ahead than you usually do.
The same thing with people who actually pay for their bills by using an envelope and a stamp. You want to get them in time for when your rent is due, or any of your utilities, be sure to send them a few days in advance than what you usually do. Otherwise, you might get hit by some of those late fees -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Karina, I must confess, I'm still one of those people that puts it in the mail with the stamp and the envelope to pay some of my bills. I know it's a little old school there.
HUBER: I can't believe I'm hearing that.
MALVEAUX: It's true, actually.
Are there any other things that the post office is doing to try to cut some corners here?
HUBER: Right. Well, they've been talking about all kinds of proposals, worker buyouts, cutting Saturday service, closing some of their offices.
Now, we know that some processing facilities have already been closed. But before we see any major changes to how the postal service conducts its business, it will have to win congressional and union approval. So there's still some things that need to be worked out before we can see some drastic changes to how their business is run -- Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
MALVEAUX: All right.
We want to know what you think. Will the post office plan to eliminate next day delivery, is it actually going to affect you in any way? Want you go to my Facebook page at Facebook.com/Suzanne. Let us know. We're going to read your responses later in the show.
In the 1:00 hour of NEWSROOM, the postmaster general is going to talk live to CNN about the latest changes and what this means.
And Karina, obviously we're going to start holiday shopping, you look around, but this might be surprising for you, ,because we're talking about one out of 11 folks across the country have sticky fingers. So, this national trade group says that shoplifting is going to cost retailers $119 billion this year alone.
And what are they taking? Nike athletic shoes are a favorite. The iPhone 4 accessories, they're disappearing, right?
HUBER: Suzanne --
MALVEAUX: And some shoplifters, Karina, they've got to smell good. Right? So they steal Axe deodorant and sprays.
Among the most stolen items, what do you think is the most shoplifted during the holidays?
HUBER: Well, Suzanne, full disclosure here, I know about the report. So I do know what the number one most shoplifted item is. But do you want me to give it away or do you want to give it away? It's filet mignon.
MALVEAUX: I just don't get that.
HUBER: Do you get that? No.
MALVEAUX: I'm not sure I really get that.
HUBER: It's messy. How are you going to go carry that home? It's a messy item.
MALVEAUX: Yes. Yes. That movie --Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy, and he dresses up as Santa and he steals. He has got that meat that's in his little Santa outfit. Remember that movie?
How do people walk away with filet mignon? I don't get it. I don't understand. But I guess that's the case.
HUBER: I don't get it. I say, you know what? Just spend the money, get the skirt steak. You can make a lot of great meals with a skirt steak -- tacos.
Don't risk it. Don't get yourself in jail for filet mignon. You can't sell it. And you've got to live close to home, because it's got to go straight to the freezer.
So, yes, that was sort of a head-scratcher, that one.
MALVEAUX: Yes, much too messy. All right. Thanks, Karina.
So, question today, have we heard the last from Herman Cain? A lot of people in Washington are saying, hey, not so fast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
MALVEAUX: And Newt Gingrich quickly becoming the guy to beat in the Republican nomination, but the race is far from over. The other candidates haven't taken their eyes off the prize.
Paul Steinhauser joins us with the lay of the land.
So, Paul, let's talk about newt Gingrich. He's surging in the polls, but he's not the only one, is he?
STEINHAUSER: Not the only one at all. And, you know, with Gingrich, yes, he's surging in the polls. But the question mark is, can he beef up that campaign in time?
MALVEAUX: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: Only four weeks now, four weeks and one day until Iowa. That's the key. He needs to get the campaign staffers in all the early states.
We talked about Mitt Romney a couple minutes ago as well, Suzanne. He has the strong staff, Romney definitely does, in a lot of these states. He's definitely got probably the best campaign.
But what about the other people? You mentioned somebody who's rising in the polls. That person, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. He's making his third bid for the White House. Those two new polls in Iowa out over the weekend find Paul tied with Mitt Romney, basically, for the second spot in Iowa, so we're keeping our eyes on Ron Paul.
What about Rick Perry, the Texas governor? You know, at one time he was the front-runner in the race, when he jumped into the race back in August. But thanks to those uneven debate performances, at best, he faltered.
Rick Perry still has a lot of money around there. He still has a lot of campaign cash. He's going up with a lot of ads. He's trying to re- ignite or restart his campaign.
How about Michele Bachmann, the congresswoman from Minnesota? You know, at one time she was rising in the polls, but she kind of saw her campaign definitely come back down to earth in September.
Well, Michele Bachmann is hoping with Herman Cain out of the race, maybe she gets some of those voters, some of those Cain voters, those Tea Party supporters. Bachmann, well liked among Tea Party activists.
Let's talk about Rick Santorum, former senator from Pennsylvania. He is in the low single digits in most polls, but he is well liked among social conservatives, and they are very influential in those Republican Iowa caucuses. So, Santorum hoping with Cain out of the race, too, that maybe he will get more support.
And finally, Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor, the former U.S. ambassador to China. He's not even thinking about Iowa, Suzanne. He hasn't even been campaigning there.
Huntsman, spending all of his time in New Hampshire. They vote second. Their primary, one week after Iowa. Huntsman hoping for a strong, strong finish in New Hampshire. If he doesn't get it, well, that could mean a lot of trouble.
MALVEAUX: And Paul, I know the toughest thing for any candidate is to decide when to bow out. I remember covering the last go-around, Hillary Clinton. It was June of 2008, finally said, OK, I'm going to relinquish this.
Can we see some of these guys -- are they finally going to get out soon? When are we going to see this field thin out a little bit?
STEINHAUSER: Well, we could see it right after January 3rd, in Iowa. Let's say a Santorum or a Bachmann doesn't do very well in Iowa. That could be the end of their campaign. The same thing for Huntsman. One week later, in New Hampshire, he's placing all of his bets on New Hampshire, and if it doesn't work out for well for him there.
Take a look at this, the latest poll numbers in Iowa. You can see Newt Gingrich the front-runner, with Paul and Romney battling for second place, and Rick Perry, the Texas governor, in third. But one thing about these polls, Suzanne, a lot of undecided voters, still, a lot of people who may change their minds, even with just four weeks to go.
MALVEAUX: Oh, yes. Those guys could make the difference.
Thank you, Paul.
STEINHAUSER: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: So, Cain may be out of the race for now, but he's still a big player in the political field. Conservative commentator Amy Holmes, she's joining us.
Amy, good to see you. It's been a little while.
AMY HOLMES, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: It's great to be here. Thanks, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Cain suspended his campaign. Nice to see you. It was pretty much under an ethical cloud.
Why would other candidates want or even need an endorsement from him?
HOLMES: Well, Herman Cain, as he said, he was the outsider candidate who was running against the establishment, and really had won so many hearts of conservative voters, those Tea Party activists who are looking for someone to, as some people have said, fall in love with. So far, the GOP race has been a battle between the mind and the heart.
Mitt Romney, he seems electable. Independents like him. But conservatives, they are not sold. Mitt Romney has not made the sale with those voters, whereas, Herman Cain, he most certainly did before all the sexual harassment allegations and then the latest with Ginger White.
MALVEAUX: Yes. And let's talk a little bit about that, because, you know, sex scandals, they have tanked political campaigns before. But then we have seen, as proven, that you can make a comeback -- Bill Clinton, Mark Sanford.
What do we think? Is the last of Herman Cain? Could he make a comeback?
HOLMES: I think if Herman Cain wants to be a public figure, he certainly could be. He has proven he's charismatic. Let's face it, Oscar Wild had a famous maxim, the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. Herman Cain is very capable of getting people talking about him. We've seen Mark Sanford -- you just mentioned him. "New York Times" this summer did a huge puff piece on Sanford, about him, basically about his great love affair with the woman who sunk his campaign. Of course, now, he's a FOX News contributor. So If Mark Sanford can do it -- hey, even if Chelsea Clinton, who wasn't involved in politics, not just with sex scandals, but she's wasn't even involved in politics and there she is at NBC.
MALVEAUX: OK. Yes, not to at all --
(LAUGHTER)
-- link to any kind of sex scandal.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: No.
MALVEAUX: Character honestly counts. We know that Gingrich has had his own scandals in the past. He needs that boost from Independent voters. Do you think a Cain endorsement does that for him?
HOLMES: I don't know if Cain helps him with Independent voters. Newt Gingrich, he is still a bit of a question mark for some of those conservative voters that have questioned his conservative character and conservative ideology. I think Herman Cain helps him in terms of the ideological argument. Newt Gingrich is selling the story of personal redemption. That might be appealing to conservatives and perhaps Independents as well.
MALVEAUX: Amy, finally, Mitt Romney, what does he have to do to get his mojo back?
HOLMES: I think what Mitt Romney has been doing is slow and steady wins the race. He has put together, as, Paul, your reporter was talking about, the ground campaign, being able to be organized. He has a ton of money. That goes a long way. I think between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, what we're going to see is, can Newt Gingrich translate current popularity into practical support?
And if you look at Newt Gingrich, you haven't seen this rush of GOP politicians coming out to endorse and support him, at least the establishment ones. We even had Peter King, of New York, come out and say in the last couple of days that Newt Gingrich is undisciplined. We saw Senator Tom Coburn, from Oklahoma, saying he would not support Newt.
Whereas, Mitt Romney, on the other hand, has gotten a lot of congressional folks backing him because they see him as a disciplined, practical and electable candidate.
MALVEAUX: All right. Amy Holmes, good to see you. We're going to have you more often, all right? Come back.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Thanks so much, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: We appreciate it.
HOLMES: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: A generation known for its tenacity, now starting to mellow and looking to give back. Our CNN "In Depth," Baby boomers re- embracing spirituality, hoping to help you find religion.
And a new survey has found why most Americans go online. Do you think it's to meet Mr. Right, Mrs. Right? Maybe buy some clothes? We've got the answer in just a minute.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: So why do you think most Americans go online? A new report from Pew Research Center finds that most Americans search the web for no reason at all. 58 percent say they use the Internet to just pass the time or have a little fun.
Our CNN "In Depth." More and more baby boomers, who put a divine calling on hold for better paying careers, right? Now they are flocking back in droves. The renewed embrace of spirituality is becoming a perfect second act for a generation of go-getters now looking to give something back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): No matter how you define success, Vince Guest had it. The son of a World War II veteran, he spent time in government and politics and settled into a career of law.
VINCE GUEST, SEMINARIAN: I think I was always looking for something else.
MALVEAUX: But the 51-year-old ran into something more and more baby boomers are facing at career's end, the meaning gap.
GUEST: Helping people with domestic violence, suffering from domestic violence, or immigrants who are going to be deported, I saw their brokenness in so many different ways, how they're broken. I know they need to be touched by the love of God.
MALVEAUX: That led Guest to theological college at Catholic University to study to become a local priest in Camden, New Jersey.
GUEST: Ministry, whether it be a priest, minister, or a divinical student, touches people's lives at the core where God is, where it's most meaningful, eternal. I think people grasp that and are searching for that.
MALVEAUX: Guest is not alone. The Association of Theological Schools reported, in 2009, baby boomers were the fastest growing group of seminarians in the past decade. They represented 20 percent of all seminary students.
REVEREND CHIP ALDRIDGE, ADMISSIONS DIRECTOR, WESLEY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: Many of them had felt a call early in life in their teenage years or in college.
MALVEAUX: Reverend Chip Aldridge is admissions director at Wesley Theological Seminary, where they've seen the rise in baby boomers.
ALDRIDGE: They have a little bit of the financial burden taken off because they have that previous career behind them.
MALVEAUX: Those financially stable boomers are, in many ways, saving some shrinking main-line churches.
ALDRIDGE: A lot of churches that would not have been able to have a full-time pastor unless these baby boomers, who are returning to study and raising their hand and saying, yes, send me to those churches, because I'm ready for something quiet out in the country, outside the Beltway.
MALVEAUX: It's a working retirement plan that skips the beach house.
LEAH DAUGHTRY, SEMINARIAN: Listen, who's got time to be on the beach? There's so much going on in the world?
MALVEAUX: Lying on the beach is not an option for Leah Daughtry's second act.
DAUGHTRY: Good afternoon and welcome.
MALVEAUX: She was a senior staffer for the Democratic National Committee and ran the 2008 convention in Denver.
DAUGHTRY: Thank you. God bless you.
MALVEAUX: As her secular career was ramping down, she started ramping up a spiritual, taking the pulpit at her church in Washington, D.C. Like many boomers, she kept working a 9:00 to 5:00 during the day and took seminary classes during the night.
DAUGHTRY: We came of age at a time of activism, doing something, where you want to roll up your sleeves and be engaged in the world. I don't know we're people who check out. There's something in our ethos that craves involvement in the world and the world around us with people. It's where we get our spirit and energy from.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: So will he or won't he? Donald Trump says he is thinking about a presidential run again, but not as a Republican candidate. The race to the White House has certainly been a big story this year, 2011. It's been a year of nonstop, right, breaking news. CNN's been all over it. Go to CNN.com/topstories to cast your vote for the top-10 stories of 2011. Join us on December 30th to find out whether or not your pick actually makes the final cut. Newsroom@cnn.com will unveil the top-10 stories of the year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: All right. So no matter what you think of Herman Cain, he definitely made the Republican field of presidential hopefuls more interesting. Comedians ate it up. Here's today's punch line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: What I want to know is I love my wife. We are close to each other as any couple that I've ever known. So four days after these allegations came out, I scheduled an appointment to talk to her.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: And that's when you told her about the affair?
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: No one said nothing about an affair. Come on. I'm innocent until proven guilty. That's what this country is all about. If I can't have that, I may as well go on and move to Libibiya (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: Do you mean Libya?
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: No, I think I mean Libibiya (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
You know, the Momo (ph) Kadofi (ph) place.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: That's Libya.
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: Hold on. Hold on. Slow down.
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: OK.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED SNL ACTOR: Slowly roll (ph). Let me just figure this out in my head a little bit.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: That was fun.
Newt Gingrich's campaign is getting some steam. Now he is taking his message to the air waves. Gingrich released his first paid ad for his presidential campaign. That happened today.
Joe Johns, live from the political desk here.
Tell us about this ad that's airing in Iowa. Yes?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's going to be hard to top that SNL skit, let's be honest.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNS: Right. The new Gingrich ad is somewhat upbeat, Suzanne. It asks the question right at the heart of the conservative movement, a question conservatives love to ask, is the America we love a thing of the past? The campaign says it's going to spend about $250,000 to air the ad statewide in Iowa just four weeks out from the first-in-the nation Iowa caucuses. Check it out.
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(MUSIC)
NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some people say, the America we know and love is a thing of the past. I don't believe that because working together I know we can rebuild America. We can revive our economy and create jobs, shrink government and the regulations that strangle our businesses, throw out the tax code and replace it with one that is simple and fair. We can regain the world's respect by standing strong again, being true to our faith, and respecting one another.
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JOHNS: Amber waves of grain, shining city on a hill -- that's quite a way to come out of the blocks for Newt Gingrich. We'll see how it does in Iowa -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Joe, what do we know about this meeting that he's having with Donald Trump this morning?
JOHNS: This thing is interesting on a bunch of different levels. First it's the idea that so many candidates have made the pilgrimage to Trump's office in the first place, if you will. They're apparently looking for Trump's endorsement. Some people say it's to kiss the ring of Donald Trump. I don't think so.
Second, Trump seems to be flirting with the idea of a possible third- party run, saying he would consider it if he doesn't like who gets the nomination. He said before he'd have a lot to lose if he did the third-party run because it could affect his reality shows and so on.
Meanwhile, Trump is expected to moderate the presidential debate later this month, which is worth noting, especially because the door's still open on that third-party run. And it raises the question, should a perspective candidate be allowed to moderate a presidential debate? That's an interesting thing.
MALVEAUX: Right.
JOHNS: Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman have said they're staying out of that debate. That's potentially controversial.
MALVEAUX: Very much so.
Thank you, Joe.
Coming up at 1:45 p.m. eastern, Newt Gingrich is holding a news conference. And he's expected to speak about the meeting, as we mentioned, with Donald Trump among some other things. We're going to bring that to you live here on CNN.
NASA's Kepler telescope continues to give scientists an eyeful of strange, wondrous, new places. It could be closing in on finding a planet like ours. We've got a big announcement from NASA.
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MALVEAUX: All right. So NASA has some pretty encouraging news in their search for new planets.
Jacqui Jeras is joining us on the big announcement.
What do we know, Jacqui? What have they found?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is amazing. They've confirmed the planet, in that sweet spot, as they've called it, or a habitable zone, meaning that liquid water can exist on this planet. So, yes, life could actually happen in this place or potentially could humans go to this new planet. This is a very exciting thing. They've just now been able to confirm it. They've known it's been out there for a couple of years.
A couple of things about it. It's larger than the size of earth. About 2.5 times larger. It's a pretty big planet. It's orbiting a star, which is very much like the sun but it is a little bit closer to that start and that star is a little cooler than our sun. It is 600 light years away, so way out there in the distance. The temperature -- they're actually able to estimate the temperature of this planet -- 72 degrees. Sounds pretty good to me, pretty comfortable.
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And certainly that would be liquid water, not ice. We found ice on other planets potentially. So to see liquid this time around, that is certainly good. It takes about 290 days to orbit around that sun, so it is a little bit of a shorter year than what we have here on earth.
Now how did they discover this thing? Well, there is more than 200 planet -- or 2,000 -- excuse me -- planet candidates that have been out there right now. They take this big looking telescope thing out there -- I thought I had it on my map. Let me look here really quick. Maybe I don't have it. They take this big looking telescope satellite that's out there and they detect changes in the light of the stars. So when they see a consistent change -- and it does it transit around it, they see that three times, that's how they get that confirmation. That's why it's taken so long up to this point to be able to confirm it, Suzanne. But certainly, some very exciting news. Scientists are calling this earth's twin, believe it or not.
MALVEAUX: That is so cool! Very cool. 72 degrees, you can't really beat that. Sounds like a cool place to kind of hang out here.
Speaking of twins, I had time to spend with my own twin. We went to the Kennedy Center last night. President Obama paying tribute to a group of great artists. Awards for lifetime contributions to American culture. So they were featured, Meryl Streep, Yo-Yo Ma, Neil Diamond, among the five there.
JERAS: How exciting!
MALVEAUX: It was a pretty cool evening.
JERAS: Who did you talk to?
MALVEAUX: Well, I got a chance to see Robert de Niro, Bill Cosby, Smokey Robinson, Anne Hathaway, and Elmo. I think -- oh, there's Elmo right there.
JERAS: You talk to Elmo?
MALVEAUX: Take a listen. This is actually the highlight of the evening here, Jacqui.
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JERAS: Smokey Robinson.
MALVEAUX: This is Smokey Robinson and Lionel Richie. They're bringing the House down, singing "Sweet Caroline."
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MALVEAUX: There's Neil Diamond. Even the Obamas started rocking out. It was really kind of fun actually.
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JERAS: What an honor. Looks like a great time. Very festive, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: It was like one of those parties. They did such a great job. I believe it is going to air later in the month.
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JERAS: I'm completely jealous.
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MALVEAUX: You'll be my guest next time. I had to go with my twin sister. It was her birthday.
JERAS: Yes. Oh, Happy birthday.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Jacqui. All right. Good to see you.
Winter officially begins on December 22nd. And for those of you thinking about escaping this cold like I am, "Travel & Leisure" magazine just named the best cities for winter travel. Top picks in just a second.
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MALVEAUX: With winter travel season approaching, "Travel & Leisure" magazine has named the best places to travel for winter. Coming in third, Phoenix; Scottsdale, Arizona. Lovely. Visitors can spend time golfing, shopping, relaxing at the spa. Coming in second, Honolulu, Hawaii. Not surprising. Great for couples, families, the weather, outdoor activities. Very nice. Claiming the top spot, San Juan, Puerto Rico. That's actually one of my favorite places. Number one.
A Connecticut jury begins deliberating whether convicted killer, Joshua Komisarjevsky, is going to spend the rest of his life in prison or whether or not he's going to be put to death. He was found guilty of brutally killing Jennifer Hawk-Petit and her two daughters during a 2000 home invasion. His accomplice, Stephen Hayes, was already sentenced to death. We are now waiting to see if he is going to share the same fate.
Deborah Feyerick has been following developments from New Haven, Connecticut.
Deb, what do we think? Do we have any idea?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no, we don't, Suzanne. The jury has a very, very tough road ahead of it. Arguably, this phase of the trial, the penalty phase, whether he dies or lives, is much more complicated than the actual guilt phase, because the jury really has to balance the defense argument.
And the defense basically really only has to establish in fact there were a lot of factors that contributed to why Joshua Komisarjevsky did what he did. And there has to be a preponderance of evidence compared to the prosecutors who are saying, look, this was heinous, it was cruel, it was depraved, there is only one thing can you do, put him to death.
The defense is trying to do all of this, almost since the very beginning, the very beginning of the trial, they were trying to establish that Komisarjevsky is a person. In their words, they say he is a human being, albeit severely damaged, and his life has value. They are going to try to put him out there as somebody who was repeatedly sexually abused as a child, somebody who didn't understand the difference between right and wrong.
Somebody is a loving father, a 9-year-old daughter he was trying to support. All of this to try to humanize him in front of the jury so that, when they do sit down and they look at everything they've got to and think about it, they have to basically say, yes, about 600 times to get the unanimous verdict on the death penalty. They are going to at least see him as a person, someone who simply got up in something tragic. That's what his lawyers have been fighting for.
Deliberations are going to start probably this afternoon. Can you see some of the live trucks behind me? This case has just really taken over the consciousness of this part of Connecticut because it has been going on for so long. This tragedy occurring back in 2007 -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Deb, do we think that that is actually going to help him, the fact that the attorney is bringing up that he had a dark past and that he really was a troubled kid?
FEYERICK: That's what they're hoping. That was their game plan really almost from the very beginning. That is, look, they're not denying the crime that was committed was a terrible crime. They're trying to say, look, this was somebody who was trying to do the right thing, got caught up in something with his co-conspirator, somebody he met at a rehab center, and they committed a burglary that went horribly wrong. If they can humanize him, if they can also really play into the fact that some of these jurors may not believe in the death penalty, their goal and their goal alone is to save his life. And that's what they're trying to do -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Do we have a sense of how long this might take? FEYERICK: Well, his co-conspirator, Stephen Hayes, who you mentioned, really very few people testified on his behalf. That took four days. Many, many more people testified on behalf of Josh Komisarjevsky, so who knows? The jury may have made up its mind or it could take a number of days as well.
MALVEAUX: All right. Deb Feyerick. Thank you, Deb.
