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GOP Candidates Gang Up on Gingrich; Still No Deal on Payroll Tax Cut; Key Day for Penn State's Star Witness; Nuke Material Seized at Moscow Airport; Judge to Sentence Barry Bonds Today; Arraignment Begins in WikiLeaks Case; Arizona Sheriff Arpaio Under Investigation; Record Low for Married Couples; "Batman" Star Roughed up in China

Aired December 16, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, is that supposed to be some cruel joke you all segue to me with that story? You're all just telling me today? What is that?

(LAUGHTER)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to say something to you, but I -- I couldn't bring myself to be that cruel.

HOLMES: Thank you for doing that. Good to see you, as always, ladies. I will talk to you both soon.

Hello to you all. Top of the hour here, I'm T.J. Holmes, in for Kyra Phillips, and yes, here we are. It's time to vote almost. We're less than three weeks away before those all-important Iowa caucuses. No surprise then last night the frontrunner got beat up quite a bit. The biggest story last night, of course, Newt Gingrich at the presidential debates, the rivals, they exchanged jabs, jeers, even some jokes last night.

But even though there had been about 723 presidential debates you always get something out of these things. And we got something last night. Maybe the line of the night. Listen to who Rick Perry decided to compare himself to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are a lot of people out there, I understand it. You know there are a lot of folks who said Tim Tebow wasn't going to be a very good NFL quarterback. There are people that stood up and said, well, he doesn't have the right throwing mechanisms or he's doesn't -- you know, he's not playing the game right. And, you know, he won two national championships and that looked pretty good.

We're the national champions in job creation back in Texas. And so -- but I'm all ready for the next level. Let me tell you, I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right, I'm going to try to get Jim Acosta to be honest with me right now. He's in Sioux City, Iowa.

Tell me the truth, Jim. When you heard that, what was your reaction as you were hearing him trying to making it through that whole Tim Tebow comparison?

(LAUGHTER)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's going to need to be Tim Tebow if he wants to win the Iowa caucuses, TJ. You know, people are describing that as the Hail Mary pass. He needs three or four Hail Mary passes to win these Iowa caucuses coming up in just a couple of weeks from now.

And you said it I think very well at the top of all this, TJ. This was a tough night for Newt Gingrich. He found out very quickly what it's like to be the frontrunner in these final weeks before the caucus going begins here in Iowa and he was hit early and he was hit hard.

Michele Bachmann was going right after the former speaker on the issue of all of that money Newt Gingrich made in the last decade with the mortgage giant Freddie Mac and she made no bones about it. She basically said he was influence peddling during his time in Washington when he was making that money. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was trying to see these two entities put into bankruptcy because they frankly need to go away when the speaker had his handout and he was taking $1.6 million to influence senior Republicans to keep the scam going in Washington, D.C. That's absolutely wrong.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Easiest answer is, that's just not true. What she just said is factually not true. I never lobbied under any circumstance. I never went in and suggested in any way that we do this.

BACHMANN: You don't need to be within the technical definition of being a lobbyist to still be influence peddling with senior Republicans in Washington, D.C., to get them to do your bidding.

GINGRICH: I only chose to work with people whose values I shared and having people have a chance to buy a house is a value I believe still is important in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now you can't say that Mitt Romney won the -- won the night because he played this debate just right. He did not go on the attack on Newt Gingrich after doing so for most of the week. Instead it really was up to the moderators to challenge the former Massachusetts governor on his record on the criticism from conservatives that he has changed his positions on key issues for political reasons, and Governor Romney had something to say about that when he was challenged on the issue on his positions on gay rights in the past and then Rick Santorum chimed in.

Here's how that played out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not believe in discriminating people based upon their sexual orientation. Some people that do. I had a member of my administration, my cabinet, who was -- who was gay. I had the potential to fight for anti- discrimination in a way that would be even better than Senator Kennedy as a Democrat who was expected to do so.

At the same time, Chris, in 1994 and throughout my career I've said I oppose same-sex marriage. Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He personally, as governor, issued gay marriage licenses. I don't think that is an accurate representation of his position of saying tolerance versus substantively changing in the laws. I've had a strong, consistent track record of standing up for the values of this country, not discriminating.

I had a no discrimination policy in my office. But we're not talking about discrimination. We're talking about changing the basic values of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So that was really the only moment during that debate when the heat was turned up just a little bit on Mitt Romney. He is off to a good day so far here in Iowa. He's going to have an event here in just a few moments inside a steel factory in Sioux City. But the real main event for Mitt Romney is going to be later today.

He's going to fly down to South Carolina where he will be picking up the endorsement officially of the governor of that state, Nikki Haley. She is a big mover and shaker in the Tea Party movement. And that is a key endorsement for Mitt Romney.

You know, TJ, if he can somehow pull off an upset win here in Iowa or finish a strong second going into New Hampshire, win that state, and then finish strong in South Carolina with Nikki Haley by his side, he is going to be looking very good in these early contests -- TJ.

HOLMES: All right. Well, the debates are over for now, at least. Until we get to Iowa, last debate last night.

Jim Acosta, on the trail for us, thank you, as always.

We'll have another political update in one hour and a reminder, for all the political news, you know the spot, CNNPolitics.com.

Let's turn to Washington, D.C., collective sigh of relief across the capital this morning. Congressional leaders appear to have defused tonight's deadline to shut down the federal government. Lawmakers will vote on a tentative deal later today.

Kate Bolduan, we talked about this yesterday. We weren't worried at all.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Nah, it was always full confidence up here all the time, TJ.

HOLMES: Yes.

BOLDUAN: As you know.

(LAUGHTER)

BOLDUAN: Yes, a bit of good news to give all of our viewers from Capitol Hill, which seems to be more and more rare these days. It seems Congress has been able to avoid a government shutdown that would becoming, which threatened to really kind of set in later this evening as a last spending bill that was set to expire at the end of today.

Congressional leaders last night, they were able to finalize a spending bill that would fund the government through the rest of fiscal year 2012, hammering out their differences and now the House and Senate, the House is set to vote on it later today. The Senate is also hoping to vote on it later today.

So a bit of good news amongst the latest round of brinksmanship on Capitol Hill as they are able to at least fund the government and at least avert a government shutdown that would affect really every American in some way, shape or form, that would happen -- TJ.

HOLMES: And the payroll tax, if you can quickly, what's the update there?

BOLDUAN: The update is that they are still talking and they have not yet decided if they're going to be able to reach a deal to extend the payroll tax cut as well as extend unemployment assistance, as well as prevent a scheduled cut to payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients and other tax extensions that expire at the end of the year.

They're talking, they're not there yet, and in the meantime, Senate Democrats, they're now floating an idea, weighing an idea to offer a two-month extension of these provisions if -- as a backstopper or a fallback as has been described if they're not able to reach agreement by the end of the year when these tax -- when these tax cut expires.

They're floating that idea. It's not final, I'm told, but still they're pushing for the one-year extension of all of this stuff, at least, and they're talking and they're still doing -- still negotiating behind closed doors and that is where everyone will be focused now that the government shutdown is off the table -- TJ.

HOLMES: All right. Kate Bolduan for us on Capitol Hill, thank you, as always.

BOLDUAN: Of course. HOLMES: We're just about eight minutes past the hour. Want to turn back to Penn State here for a moment. That child molestation scandal. Today we could learn a whole lot more about Mike McQueary. He's the coach who allegedly saw something in the showers there. There are conflicting accounts of whether he walked in on former coach, Jerry Sandusky, sexually abusing a young boy and what he told people afterward.

That's pivotal in today's hearing for two former school officials. They are accused of perjury and failing to report the suspected molestation.

Our Susan Candiotti is on the story for us in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

What are we expecting today?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it should be a very interesting and possibly a very dramatic and frankly exciting day because we might be getting more details from Mike McQueary, who you just talked about.

He is in the courthouse, so are the two co-defendants in this case, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz, the two Penn State officials. Mike McQueary's testimony is very essential, very critical to making -- for the state making its case. And the state has said this morning, they announced that they will hear testimony from five live witnesses and also from three people whose testimony to the grand jury will be read into the record. And this could last probably half a day.

Now what's important about Mike McQueary's testimony is that he is expected to take the stand and say what we heard from the grand jury that he told them under oath that he witnessed the alleged rape of a boy in a Penn State locker room shower in 2002 when the boy was allegedly being raped by Jerry Sandusky.

Now the two officials are saying that when McQueary reported this to Coach Joe Paterno and to those officials, that he didn't mention anything about rape. They said that it was just something of a sexual nature. So now for the first time, we will hear details from McQueary himself about what he says they saw.

That's why this is a perjury case, but it's also a matter of whether those two officials then failed to report this to authorities.

HOLMES: All right, Susan Candiotti for us in Pennsylvania, thank you. We'll keep an eye on that for our viewers today.

We're about 10 minutes past the hour now and it's kind of common sense. Does anyone need to tell you that nuclear material is not allowed in your luggage when you're trying to fly? Let me bring in our Zain Verjee who is in London for us.

Zain, there are just some things. You know you're not supposed to take a knife, not supposed to take a gun, you're not supposed to take nuclear material on a plane. What happened here? ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, what happened was that -- this was a flight from Moscow to Tehran and it was found in a passenger's luggage. Actually, it was 20 times the normal levels of radiation levels that you normally have there, and it raised a red flag.

And this is what the Federal Customs Service said in a statement. I'll just read it to you. They said, "Eighteen metallic objects of industrial origin were found packed into individual steel boxes. Tests then found that the objects were, in fact, the radioactive isotope Sodium 2 and could have only been obtained as the result of the work of a nuclear reactor."

Now that's an important last line because that is a direct contradiction to Russia's atomic agency who says that this kind of stuff, Sodium 22, is only used for medical and scientific research.

Now CNN spoke to a nuclear expert that said, number one, there is no radiation hazard here given the levels which were still high, but it was -- does not necessarily a radiation hazard and that every medical lab will tend to have radiation sources of Sodium 22.

So there's a lot of question marks about this and the two key Russian agencies are conflicting with information as to what exactly this has been used for. Iran and Russia have this kind of an agreement, TJ, on the supply of some medical isotopes and Tehran also has a medical research reactor that -- and they run out of fuel for it in Tehran. So they do try and find -- get other stuff in other ways.

HOLMES: All right.

VERJEE: But there's a big question mark here.

HOLMES: Yes. Strange. Kind of confusing story. Disturbing a bit as well.

Zain Verjee in London for us. Thank you as always.

We're 12 minutes past the hour, and today is the day for Barry Bonds. Could he be going to prison or could he just be getting probation? He will learn his fate after all these years of being in the middle of a steroid scandal.

Our conversation with a sports lawyer who knows a thing or two about these kinds of cases. That's coming your way next.

Also, a baby born so small, she could fit into the palm of her doctor's hand. She's now defying the odds so much that this is one that qualifies as a miracle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We're quarter past the hour now. We'll look at some stories making news cross country.

Look at this picture. Officials at Lackland Air Force in Texas launching an investigation into this controversial photo that has now gone viral. What you're seeing here, 15 airmen posing around an open casket, similar to the one used to carry the war dead home. And one of the airmen there pretending to be dead inside the casket with a noose around his neck and chains across his body.

Why they took the picture we do not know. We will keep you posted there.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

HOLMES: These are Florida A&M students. They're standing behind their president. They're upset that Governor Rick Scott is calling for Dr. James Ammons' suspension over hazing and financial irregularities at FAMU. Last night, the students took their gripe right to the governor's front doorstep.

And nothing short of a miracle here. This is how doctors are describing this little one. A California baby being born weighing less than a pound. This is Baby Melinda now weighing up to four pounds and could actually be home in time for the new year. She is the third smallest baby ever to survive.

Well, 16 minutes past the hour.

Let me turn to Barry Bonds now. He will learn his punishment today. A judge will sentence him for misleading a grand jury that was looking into steroid use among pro-athletes.

Federal prosecutors want to send the all-time home run leader to prison for about 15 months. But is that really going to happen?

David Cornwell, the sports attorney, has been around this game for quite some time now and now representing Ryan Braun, the MVP many people know is in a situation now with a banned substance.

But thank you for coming in.

Barry Bonds is not going to jail, is he?

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY: No, he's not. Barry may have been convicted in the court of public opinion about lying about steroids, but in Judge Illston's court, he was charged with three charges of perjury, the jury deadlocked, and the government dropped those charges.

He's been convicted of obstruction of justice, which is being evasive to the grand jury, and may be the most high-profile defendant. He's convicted of the least serious of the charges.

HOLMES: I don't want to down play this, but we were talking about this before we went on the air. The charge he was actually convicted of compared to the perjury is fairly insignificant.

CORNWELL: It is insignificant, not only compared to the perjury, as you point out, but compared to what everybody else in the Balco case was convicted of. So, while house arrest is a possibility, which is what federal probation officials suggested, that I don't think that he'll get home detention. He'll get some form of restrictive probation. He's not going to prison and I guess in the mix is whether or not he'll have home detention.

HOLMES: Do judges ever feel pressure? This has been going on almost 10 years now. You tell me the highest profile guy and all this money going in to go after and is just going to maybe get some community service, some probation and that's it. What was all this for?

CORNWELL: That's a great question. I'm trying to figure that out, as well. They took what really is an issue for the fans. Fans could have voted with their pocketbooks and stopped going to baseball game or an administrative violation, a violation whether they didn't have a drug program or steroid program then.

But it would be an administrative violation of a private business. This was high profile and I think Novitzky is a good guy and they were overstepping their bounds. Too much money was spent on this and a waste of government resources.

HOLMES: All right. We can't let you get out of here, again, like I mentioned, you are representing Ryan Braun now. This would be a first if someone appealed one of these bans. This would be the first time ever that they would be successful in an appeal.

You think your client Ryan Braun, MVP, is going to be successful in appealing what has been now a positive test for some banned substances.

CORNWELL: Well, I appreciate you not referring to me as the Tim Tebow of sports lawyers. I have to tell you, the breathless coverage of Ryan's situation, I think, is frankly reprehensible.

Confidentiality was breached here and I think we will find -- I fully expect to be able to demonstrate that Ryan did not violate the substance policy of Major League Baseball. And consequently, we shouldn't be dealing with this discussion at all, but at a minimum, I urge everybody to keep an open mind and give us the chance to make our case in private.

HOLMES: But you see why, these guys are a big deal in sports. We hear he can face a 50-game suspension. That's why people are talking about it, right?

CORNWELL: Well, actually, the reason people are talking about it is because people breached confidentiality. We -- the public shouldn't even know about this yet. The only way you should know about it is if he is found to violate after the appeal process has been exhausted.

HOLMES: All right. We'll continue to check in with you on that one. All right?

Always good to have you, always good to chat with you. Thanks so much.

About 20 minutes past the hour. Today is the day, folks. Free shipping day. Yes, you buy some stuff, gets there by the 24th.

Are you going to take advantage of this one? We will tell you how. You better stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Military arraignment is just getting under way for an Army private suspected to be behind the biggest intelligence leak in U.S. history. Investigators believe 22-year-old Bradley Manning is the person who leaked a trove of sensitive documents to WikiLeaks.

Our Brian Todd is at the hearing in Maryland as the government begins to make its case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., it should be a fascinating few days here at Fort Meade, Maryland. This is what they call an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury or preliminary hearing in civilian courts. This will determine if the chief suspect in the WikiLeaks case, Army Private Bradley Manning, is remanded for a full court-martial.

He is charged with 22 counts of violating the military code, including theft of records. That is hundreds of thousands of classified documents that were leaked out and eventually made their way under WikiLeaks.org.

Another charge is aiding the enemy. The last charge is the one that could land Private Manning in prison for life if he is convicted.

Technically, he could get the death penalty, but it is seen as unlikely that prosecutors will argue for that. Now, his defense team, we're told by his supporters, has drawn up an ambitious wish list of potential witnesses, including President Obama and Hillary Clinton. And we're told the reason for that is because President Obama made public remarks saying that Private Manning broke the law, and his defense team may argue that that was what they call undue command influence on this case.

When a commander-in-chief makes public remarks like that, is there a chance that this guy could get a fair trial? His defense team may argue that he can't.

Other issues are going to come up in this hearing probably, including the way Private Manning was treated while he was held at the brig in Quantico, Virginia, the Marine base there. His supporters contend he was deprived of sleep and deprived of clothing. The military has said he was treated appropriately, but the military has since moved him to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, for the remainder of his detention.

So, a lot of issues will come up here. One key point of contention is going to be how much was national security damaged by the leaking of these documents. His supporters argue that no one was really hurt and no one was killed. That national security was not damaged as much as U.S. officials are saying.

But, again, those are some details that have not come out publicly and we may hear some of those details during this Article 32 hearing in the next few days -- T.J.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

HOLMES: If you've been holding off on ordering those gifts, sending those gifts, today is the day to make the move.

Karina Huber is at the New York Stock Exchange. Today is free shipping day. Do tell.

KARINA HUBER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, T.J. This is the day to make your move if you're one of those last-minute shoppers. Nearly 2,600 stores across the country are participating from Bed, Bath & Beyond, to Sapporo (ph), to Barnes & Noble.

Basically, free shipping day began four years ago, just as the economy started to sour. And the idea is to attract those last-minute shoppers looking for some savings who also want to get the goods in time for Christmas. Many retailers are also throwing in extra perks like free gift wrapping or even upgrading to free two-day shipping.

But you got to really pay attention to the details because there are some catches. While many companies are offering free shipping on everything, you got to check with individual retailers. For example, we looked at JC Penny. For them, it's free shipping on orders of $69 or more. Over at K-Mart, it's a minimum of $49.

So, if you want to get more information, make sure you don't have to pay for that shipping, go to freeshippingday.com and you also get a bunch of promo codes there, as well -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right. You sure? That's cutting it close to try to get it there on Christmas Eve.

HUBER: It is. Listen, I don't think there's a 100 percent guarantee, but your odds are pretty good you get it on the 24th.

HOLMES: OK. We are a few minutes away from the opening, what are we seeing today?

HUBER: Well, it's looking like a green day on Wall Street. We are, yes, exactly four minutes away from the opening of trading and we are expecting a 45-point rise on the Dow. It seems optimism about Europe and the latest item showed that inflation pretty much in check last month. So, a little bit of optimism today to keep those markets in positive territory.

HOLMES: All right. Karina, thanks so much. We'll check in with you again here shortly.

As we get close to the bottom of the hour -- Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, he's become a household name because of his tough stance on illegal immigration. Now, the Justice Department says that toughness amounted to civil rights abuses. That story, plus, the sheriff's response, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: As we come up on the bottom of the hour, give you the headlines here in a moment.

But, first, the story that a lot of people paying attention to, Joe Arpaio -- yes, the sheriff who could be the toughest sheriff in the country when it comes to illegal immigration, the feds now think he's been a little to tough on Latinos in the Phoenix area.

The Department of Justice says Arpaio's policies violated their civil rights. Arpaio says the investigation is pure politics.

Our Casey Wian on the story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio often brags about being the toughest sheriff in America, especially on illegal immigration.

Now, after a three-year investigation, the Justice Department says his policies and practices are violating the civil rights of all Latinos in this Arizona County.

THOMAS PEREZ, ASST. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Our expert found that Latino drivers are four to nine times more likely to be stopped than similarly situated non-Latino drivers. The conduct that he observed involved the most egregious racial profiling in the United States that he had ever personally observed.

WIAN: A blistering investigative report accuses Arpaio's department of the unlawful detention and arrest of Latinos, unlawful retaliation against critics and discrimination against Spanish- speaking jail inmates. The charges are civil. There's also an ongoing criminal investigation.

The government says both have been delayed by a lack of cooperation by the sheriff's department.

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: I do have compassion. But I'll tell you one thing: enforcing the law overrides my compassion. That's as simple as you can get it.

I took an oath of office. I am enforcing the state and the federal laws.

WIAN: The Department of Homeland Security says it will restrict their access to federal immigration enforcement resources. The Justice Department also identified what it called other areas of concern, including the use of excessive force against Latinos, lack of adequate police protection in Latino neighborhoods and a failure to investigate sexual assaults.

(on camera): The Justice Department cites the Los Angeles Police Department as an example of a law enforcement agency that has successfully reformed after allegations of civil rights violations. It has given Sheriff Arpaio and Maricopa County 60 days to show good faith cooperation or face these allegations in court.

Casey Wian, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Just past the bottom of the hour. We are getting new information from a hearing going on right now about that Penn State child molestation scandal. One of the key witnesses has taken the stand this morning.

Mike McQueary, you heard his name before. He is the coach who allegedly saw, allegedly saw Jerry Sandusky, the assistant coach who is accused, saw him in that shower with a young boy.

I'm going to turn to our Susan Candiotti with what we're getting from this hearing.

I've been reading some of this stuff, too -- disturbing details coming out of there.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very dramatic testimony and this, of course, is what everyone had been wanting to hear, this detail. So, now, this is what we're hearing on the witness stand in real time from our producers inside.

McQueary testified that when he went to the locker rooms in order to pick up some recruiting tapes. He looked, he saw something going on in a mirror that was in the locker room. Something that was going on and he heard some slapping noise going on in the shower. He turned to look and he said that he saw Jerry Sandusky and a boy in the shower.

He said that the boy was up against the wall. He testified that the boy's hands were shoulder height. He said that Jerry was close to him standing behind the boy. And that Jerry Sandusky had his hands around the boy's waist.

He testified that he believed that Jerry Sandusky was molesting, sexually molesting the boy based on Sandusky's position around the boy, behind the boy. He said that he did not see intercourse going on, but he believed that that's what was happening.

And then he went on to say that he moved forward toward the shower. He had turned to see that this was happening in the shower and then took some steps toward them. He said, at that time they both turned their bodies so they were both facing me and looked at me. They were about four or five feet apart.

He said, McQueary, that he didn't say anything to either one of them, but he did say that they looked directly into his eyes and seeing that they were separated, he decided it was best to leave the locker room. He said that he was testified that he was shocked and horrified and distraught -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, thank you.

I know to our viewers, a lot of that is difficult to hear, but an important hearing going on about two former Penn State officials who are facing charges that they didn't do enough to actually, to actually inform authorities when they had heard about some of these accusations. You see them, the two former Penn State officials there. That's what this hearing is about.

But McQueary having to take the stand today and having to testify about what he saw. Those are some of those, again, disturbing details you are hearing.

We're 34 minutes past the hour. Stay with me. We got a whole lot more coming for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it appears she's about to do it again. TMZ reporting that Britney Spears is getting engaged.

"Showbiz Tonight" host A.J. Hammer live for us in New York.

Who is this guy?

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": He's a very lucky guy in some people's mind. He's a talent agent, T.J. His name is Jason Trawick.

He and Spears have actually been pretty public about the relationship. So, it's not an entire surprise. But the report is kind of unusual, but the report is not saying that they're engaged just yet. The story that's out there is that they will get engaged tonight in Las Vegas. Reports are that Trawick has already been seen shopping for an engagement ring. He apparently also asked permission from Spears' dad and even arranged things with Britney's conservators.

Now, remember, Britney has been under conservatorship since back in 2008. You remember she had some pretty public break downs back then. Basically means a judge has to sign off on any major decisions made by Britney. This is pretty major.

Now, according to reports, they haven't ended the conservatorship setup because it has been working so well for Britney's career and life.

Now, Vegas happens to be where Britney married her first husband, that relationship obviously didn't go so well. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm. This will be much more smooth.

But just in case, even though they're not actually engaged yet, the reports are already indicating there will be prenup in place.

HOLMES: Oh, my goodness.

HAMMER: Britney knows this is coming, T.J. So, it's not like we're spoiling any big surprise here.

HOLMES: OK. You have to get the OK from the dad. That's hard enough.

But you have to get the OK from a judge before you get engaged. Where's the romance here, A.J.? Where's the romance?

HAMMER: Well, you know, it's 2011.

HOLMES: All right. One other thing here. Now, this is an odd connection.

What's this thing, Jon Huntsman, the GOP candidate, his daughter and Kim Kardashian. What's the deal?

HAMMER: What do you mean -- what do you mean odd? It's not obvious to you.

HOLMES: No.

HAMMER: Just come out of the clear blue.

No, it actually is, it will surprise you, but it's actually a pretty direct connection. It turns out Jon Huntsman's daughter Mary Anne went on a date with Kim's soon-to-be-ex-husband. The three Huntsman daughters just told "G.Q." magazine that Mary Anne and Kris went to see the movie together. But this was years before Humphries even met Kardashian.

And apparently, the date didn't go so well, despite the fact that Humphries, you know, bought one of those big buckets of pop corn. The next time Mary Anne saw Humphries, he was dating Kim Kardashian.

So, there you go, T.J. -- Huntsman to Kardashian in two simple degrees.

HOLMES: All right. A.J., I don't know what I would do without you, my man. A.J. Hammer, he'll be back with us next hour, as well, with all the showbiz headlines, including Katy Perry's big honor and how she's reacting to being named MTV artist of the year. That's all ahead with A.J.

Forty minutes past the hour now.

Married adults could be the next American minority. We'll talk about some new stats that show a huge decline.

Also, Batman gets roughed up in China? Christian Bale's visit or attempted visit to a detained activist. We'll give you the update and show you the video.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We'll turn to our Brian Todd. He's been checking out this military arraignment today that was getting under way for this Army private suspected of the largest intelligence leak in U.S. history.

You got developments coming out of there. What do you have, Brian?

TODD (via telephone): T.J., the defense for Private Bradley Manning has come out with its guns blazing. Defense Attorney David Coombs is asking the investigating officer, who is essentially the judge in this case, to recuse himself. He laid out four key reasons for this, basically saying that the judge is a career prosecutor with the Department of Justice and the DOJ may bring his own proceedings against Manning, that he should recuse himself.

He said that he has been very unfair and the number of government witnesses he's allowed versus the very limited number of defense witnesses he has allowed in this case. He also said he's been prejudicial by ruling that this hearing could be open to the press and he has given prejudicial rulings regarding sworn statements, allowing some unsworn statement.

So, the attorney for Bradley Manning really coming out and attacking the judge in this case, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Almanza, saying you should recuse yourself from this and you've been prejudicial essentially every step of the way. He was very animated when he said this.

At the time he was doing this, we got a good look at Private Manning. He sat very upright, very attentive to the proceedings. He wore a thick-framed glasses and a dark crew cut, looking a little bit different from the pictures that we saw. Gave crisp answers when he was asked if he understood the charges against him saying, "yes, sir," "no, sir" and then his lawyer just came out and really started immediately to attack the judge in this Article 32 hearing.

So, a very early indication, T.J., about how contentious this is going to be.

HOLMES: All right, Brian Todd on the line with the update. Thank you so much. We'll continue to keep an eye on it there.

We're about a quarter of the top of the hour now.

And married American adults are fewer and farther between lately. That's according to a report out this week from the Pew Research Center. They crunched the latest census numbers and found that only 51 percent of adults out there over 18, yes, are married. That's down from 57 percent just ten years ago. And its way down from the 72 percent back in 1960.

Ralph Richard Banks teaches family law at Stanford and also the author of the book "Is Marriage for White People". He's become a friend of our show here over the past several months. He's back with us now.

Rick, good to have you back with us. So what happens to this country if what appears to be inevitable happens in a few years, which is most people in this country, adults, are going to be unwed versus wed. How does that change this country?

RALPH RICHARD BANKS, AUTHOR, "IS MARRIAGE FOR WHITE PEOPLE": Well, if present trends continue then the experience of Americans will mirror ever more closely to the experience of African-Americans. African-Americans are the least likely to marry. That seemed unusual 40 years ago or 30 years ago and now it's become quite widespread.

HOLMES: Why?

BANKS: Well, there are a lot of reasons. There are -- one big category reasons really is the cultural changes. It used to be that marriage was a package deal. You had to get married to have children and have a family to live with someone.

And now you don't, right. It's more of a la carte situation. Marriage is less of a necessity now; it's more of a luxury. People have their freedom not to marry and people are taking advantage of that.

The other set of reasons relate to economics. And the other set of reasons relate to economics. Marriage is -- marriage rates decline when men's economic fortunes decline. Men are not doing as well relative to women as they have in the past. And among black man we see this in particularly acute form.

HOLMES: Now Rick, you have said before that this is really attributed to the plight, if you will, and the struggles of the black community. Has directly to do with the breakdown of the family and these struggles, but you're saying the plight of the rest of the country will start to mirror what's happening in African-American community.

Are you saying we can see a country with some of those same issues and struggles and more of a dire situation as a whole, if people aren't getting married as much?

BANKS: Well, I learned long ago never to predict the future. So, I won't do that. But I will say that the experiences of African- Americans are representative of what happens throughout American society. And if you want to understand what's happening with -- within American society, perhaps the best way to do it is to look at what's happening with black folks.

And one of the things that's happening with black folks which is very troubling, in fact, is that more than seven out of ten black children are born to unmarried parents. This is directly a result of the marriage decline.

Among whites more than three of ten children are born to unmarried parents. So the trends are moving in the same direction and that particular one is a troubling one.

HOLMES: Can this just be a cultural shift? Maybe people just turned off by marriage these days, they don't want to get married.

BANKS: Well, people -- people are turned off by it. Well now, people are not turned off by it. People have an aspiration. One of the remarkable things about the United States is how much people want to marry. Most people say they want to be married but what happens is that marriage can't live up for their aspirations. They can't realize the hopes that they have in marriage. So it's very difficult to make that, to cut that deal, if you will.

Among African-Americans, it's especially difficult to cut that deal, in part, because black men are not fair and well, but the same struggles, the same challenges among other groups.

HOLMES: All right. Rick, now, marriage is just an aspiration and that is just not good. Well mine is certainly living up to my expectations, exceeding them, actually. You and I know are going to be talking plenty down the road. It's always a pleasure to chat with you and this is a conversation I really enjoyed with you over time. So I appreciate you coming in, again. We'll see you soon.

BANKS: I will look forward to it.

HOLMES: All right. We're about ten minutes of the top of the hour now.

And Batman getting roughed up in China; we're talking about Christian Bale here. He was trying to take a visit to a detained activist. He didn't make it.

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HOLMES: Well, movie stars are usually treated pretty well, right? They're not used to being tossed around by thugs, but that's kind of what happened to actor Christian Bale. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why can't I go see this man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A free man we're going to --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And of course this is the "Dark Knight" star, the guy that plays Batman. He was trying to visit a detained activist in China. It didn't happen. Security officers blocked his way and run him off. A CNN crew just happened to be with him. As you a lot of this was caught on tape.

Zain Verjee, back with me now; what in the world was going on here?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, Christian Bale is in China and he had been filming a movie there a while ago called "The Flowers of War" it's a wartime drama. And then he's back in China to promote the movie. And he decided you know what, I'm going to shine the spotlight on a guy who has done amazing stuff and really push for his cause.

So what he was trying to do there in the video where you saw him being sort of -- you know there were scuffles, and the guards were yelling, and they've sort of confronted him and our crew a little bit, what he was trying to do was go and meet with this 40-year-old blind activist.

His name is Chen Guangcheng, he's a self-taught lawyer and he's actually under house arrest with his wife, his daughter, his mother; his entire family basically there. He was in jail and the Chinese decided to have him under house arrest. And this was a guy who in the 1990s really advocated for victims of abusive practices by China's family planning officials.

So he got in the cross fires of the government. And what Christian Bale is trying to do is he heard about the story and just wants to raise awareness. So in that piece of video he's trying to visit this activist and the Chinese officials just won't let him -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Zain Verjee with the update from China. Thank you so much.

We're about seven minutes at the top of the hour.

Following a lot of new stuff in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM; let's check in with some of our correspondents starting with my man, Dan Simon.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, T.J., well baseball's home run king Barry Bonds finds out if he'll get a new home today in federal prison. A judge will deliver his fate in connection with a long standing steroids scandal. We'll have that story coming up.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm Mark Preston in Washington. Last night the seven Republican presidential candidates began their closing arguments to the voters of Iowa. The all important Iowa caucus is just weeks away. I'll have more on the race for the Republican presidential nomination at the top of the hour.

KADE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. So Congress has averted a government shutdown. So what does that mean for the ongoing negotiations to extend the payroll tax cut? I'll have more at the top of the hour T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Dan, Mark and Kate thank you all we'll see you here shortly.

Also next hour, just how low can they go? A mortgage rate update. You need to hear stay with me.

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HOLMES: Our guy, Jeff, a good friend from HLN Sports, here with us. A couple of odd stories in sports today; one, kind of disturbing, we won't start with that one.

JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: Right.

HOLMES: But where do you want to start?

FISCHEL: Start with NFL. Last night, we got our Thursday night game, the Falcons and the Jaguars. The Falcons playing their best football right now; that's good timing considering how close we are to the playoffs. It was bad timing for the Jaguars. They're having a season to forget.

Falcons QB Matt Ryan to Roddy White; White, another season over 1,000 yards. He scores less than 5 minutes into the game. Michael Turner also over 1,000 yards this year rushing. He puts the pig in the pen. The Falcons are in the driver's seat for a wild card spot, 41-14 the final. Ryan had three TD passes including a pair to White. The Jags are 4 and 10.

All right. This is one of the shockers, T.J., you were just talking about. Chicago Bears, wide receiver Samuel Hurd is under arrest for allegedly trying to set up a drug ring. Police say Hurd was caught in an undercover sting Wednesday night after a five-month investigation. He allegedly tried to buy up to a quarter of a million dollars worth of cocaine. If convicted Hurd could spend 40 years in prison.

New reports say a fourth man has come forward to accuse former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine of child sex crimes. The man, a New York prison inmate serving time for burglary says Fine began molesting him as a teen. And the abuse went on for decades. This new accuser also reportedly claims to know of at least two other people allegedly victimized by Fine. Fine has denied all charges so far.

On the court in college hoops Marcus Denman and the Missouri Tigers, hosting (INAUDIBLE); Denman the steal and the score for the Tigers. They've been so good so early in the season. He was one of five Tigers in double figures. Tenth ranked Missouri dominates 104- 67. They are 10-0.

And finally, this happened in London, Ontario, yesterday. A high school hockey game had to stop after a deflected slap shot sent the puck into the sprinkler in the roof. It started showering the ice with water. That's not the ice melting, that's water coming down onto the ice. A fire crew was called in and eventually the arena supervisor was able to get the water shut off.

HOLMES: Where did that puck fly off to?

FISCHEL: Yes. It was deflected, goes straight up into the roof and there's a sprinkler up there busted. And the next thing you know the ice is covered with water. HOLMES: Jeff, good to see you as always, buddy. Thank you so much.

FISCHEL: All right T.J.