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Gingrich Plunges, Weekly Jobless Claims Inch Up; Santorum Surges; Syria on the Frontlines; Memorial for Kim Jong Il; Gingrich Plunges, The Most Pirated Films of 2011; 2011: The Year in Medicine

Aired December 29, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, Deborah and Alina. I'm Hala Gorani in Washington. Kyra Phillips has the day off.

We begin with a stunning shakeup in Iowa. Just five days before the presidential caucuses. A new CNN/"TIME"/ORC international poll shows Newt Gingrich in a free fall. The former one-time frontrunner plunges to fourth place and long-shot Rick Santorum leapfrogs into third.

Santorum's support has more than tripled since the beginning of the month. He's closing in on Mitt Romney and Ron Paul who are locked, as you see it there, in a statistical tie within the margin of error for both candidates.

Joe Johns is in Des Moines to break it down for us. Now of course, the question is, did the Gingrich camp see this coming?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think to some degree they saw it coming. I know Newt Gingrich got out there and really started hammering Ron Paul, for example. Also, Mitt Romney.

It's pretty clear that Gingrich saw he had some problems because he was just getting hammered on TV ads day after day from these guys. A lot of people attacking his baggage, attacking his alleged flip- flops. Questioning his conservative credentials, questioning what he did when he was speaker of the House, his relationship with Nancy Pelosi.

All of these things play into the mix here in Iowa because there are a lot of voters who are very conservative. They want to see the most electable conservative going up against Barack Obama in November -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, most of the gains, as we've seen there from that poll for Santorum have come from born-agains, from evangelicals. He's worked tirelessly, as well, across the state and it's paid off for him.

JOHNS: Well, it certainly has. And I am one of those people in the camp who's asking, what took him so long? He's gone to 99 counties. Every single county here in Iowa. Some of these places he's gone twice. He's held events there. He's really connected with a lot of those evangelicals and social conservatives. He speaks their language. So some people were suggesting he was actually underperforming in the polls and now you sort of see the fruits of it going from 5 percent in the polls all the way up to 16 percent. Putting him in second place.

A lot of people suggesting he's surging right now just a few days away from the Iowa caucuses, which is pretty much where you'd want to be if you were running for president in this state this year -- Hala.

GORANI: Well, how much of an indication is the current standing in the polls? An indication of what we might see next Tuesday. How much more can it change?

JOHNS: Well, it's funny. This has changed again and again and again. We've sort of had the flavor of the week, the flavor of the month. And when you look at the polling, some of it is actually sort of soft because there's a pretty healthy proportion. Something like 40, 44 percent who say they could change their minds again.

And we do know that in previous Iowa caucuses, as many as 17 percent of the voters actually said they made their decision on the day the caucuses occurred. So yes, there's still some room for movement there and there could be some other changes before we get through Tuesday night.

GORANI: Right. And it's a small media market. I imagine we're going to see the candidates blanketing the airwaves. We're going to catch up with you, again, Joe Johns, as well as our team there in Iowa covering the lead-up to these caucuses next Tuesday.

As for the candidates, they're racing to the finish in Iowa. We're keeping an eye on two of the events unfolding this hour for you. Mitt Romney begins the second day of his bus tour with a stop in Cedar Rapids. Rick Santorum reaches out to his conservative supporters with a town hall meeting that is called "Faith, Family and Freedom" in Coralville.

And this reminder, of course, tune in Tuesday night. It's going to be first true test there for the GOP candidates in the race to the White House. "AMERICA'S CHOICE 2012" live coverage of the Iowa caucuses begins Tuesday night, January 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

There's no two ways about it, jobs and the economy, one of the biggest issues on the campaign trail. Just minutes ago, we got a new measure of the economy in this country with the weekly jobs report.

Alison Kosik has the numbers at the New York Stock Exchange.

We're talking about the jobless claims numbers that come out every Thursday. What do they tell us about the state of the economy and unemployment in America?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It shows that we've got still that slight improvement happening, Hala. New jobless claims actually ticked higher last week to 381,000. So they came in a little higher than expected, but still they are below that key 400,000 level for that fourth straight week and what that does is it signals that there's is a recovery in the labor market, although it's painfully slow. Investors are actually focusing on a bigger average, a four- week moving average, which is at its lowest level since June of 2008.

That shows more of a trend line. It shows, you know, that things are improving and that has investors actually talking about a jobs recovery next year. Next week, of course, we are going to be getting the monthly unemployment rate for December, the monthly job's report, and we'll get an even better picture on this jobs recovery that's under way. Of course, very painfully slow, though -- Hala.

GORANI: Right. Slow and sluggish, but if it's going in the right direction, can we expect stocks to open higher in about 24 minutes?

KOSIK: Yes, actually, stocks are looking like they're going to open slightly higher after the big selloff yesterday, of course. We are going to be keeping our eye on the S&P 500, again. That is what most retirement accounts, your 401(k) tracks. And what the S&P 500 did yesterday is it fell back into negative territory for the year and now it needs to rally in a final two sessions to avoid a down year.

Now, investors, they're watching Europe again. That's after the euro fell to its lowest level against the dollar this year. We've also got our eye on oil and Iran. Oil prices are holding steady around $99 a barrel.

We are going to be getting a weekly inventory report that comes out in about an hour. That will show us that most likely that an increase in oil supplies, that could wind up offsetting worries about Iran's threat to choke off supply, but it doesn't mean that it could keep oil prices stable because you know how it is. If there's any threat of supply, just the fear itself could cause oil prices to spike.

We will keep our eye on oil prices today -- Hala.

GORANI: OK. You're talking about that saber-rattling in the Strait of Hormuz.

Alison Kosik, thanks very much.

KOSIK: Exactly.

GORANI: We're going to talk about that now, in fact. According to state TV in Iran, Iran senior commander says that the U.S. has no business, quote, "telling us what to do." A senior administration official has since responded telling our Jill Dougherty, quote, "The saber-rattling is really all on the Iranian side. We have been committed to Gulf security for decades and it should come as no surprise to anyone that we'll do what we must to ensure the Strait remains open."

The Strait, of course, as we were discussing there with Alison, is the most important oil shipping artery in the world.

Well, violence is erupting in another Syrian city just as peace monitors arrive. Government forces reportedly fired on protesters in the city of Douma, which is a suburb of Damascus. Critics are now questioning the credibility of this Arab League team on the ground because of the surge of violence. Take a look at this video.

It allegedly shows people reacting to gunfire Wednesday. Just as the observers -- these observers sent by the Arab League traveled through Homs. CNN can't confirm if the video is authentic. Foreign reporters are not allowed into Syria.

But one journalist did get inside Homs. He snuck in in fact. We're not naming him for his own safety but over the next few days CNN will be showcasing his remarkable stories. Here is his first report on government snipers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The snipers are on basically every main street. They have checkpoints on both sides. Snipers would shoot everybody who is basically crossing this street between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 in the morning. And this is an unofficial curfew.

The activists asked -- told me I have to meet this woman. This is the mother of a victim who got shot when she was pregnant in the seventh month. It was during the morning when she wants to go out for shopping.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Her brother tried for half an hour to go over the walls and roofs to get to her, but he didn't manage to reach her. Finally they managed to pull her away, but it took another half an hour to get her to my house.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You arrived, the situation, you arrived at the scene where a half hour ago somebody got shot, and 30 minutes later, people are crossing very normally the street. Me, crossing the street, I have been feeling, basically, literally I've been feeling that somebody is aiming. The snipers are aiming on me, and it's up to him if he's going to pull the trigger or not.

I came to this junction and I realized that somebody wanted to cross the street with a huge bag of cigarettes. So -- I could hear the snipers choosing and who was he -- across the street and the bag of cigarettes was in the middle of the street. So it's, again, one of this -- very impressive scenes where people have been very happily and almost like a sports challenge to get the cigarette bags out from the sniper range.

And they've been happy when they could.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We need to cross the street to buy bread and other food, but the snipers have surrounded this area. It's a huge danger.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And they started to throw the bread because they weren't able to cross. So everything they needed on the other side, they throw it over the street. And the point of no return is already crossed. The people now, there are no option. They started to uprise and so many bloods, so many people got killed already, and that when they stopped to go out to the streets, the regime going to come back and they're going to get killed anyway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: On the phone with us now is the journalist who shot the footage we just watched. It is absolutely remarkable.

Thanks for joining us. We're not naming you for your own security. And one of the things I was telling my producers is when you see the YouTube video of the death of the man or the child with the bullet wound, that's the moment of crisis. But your footage shows us everyday life in a city like Homs and you're saying people have reached a point of no return.

Can you expand on that?

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes. I think this is exactly what I felt because it's been traveling to Syria in the last six months for four times already. And this time I think a lot of things change because people in the free Syrian army is getting very well organized and people stop just to demonstrate peacefully.

The people know that the point of no return is crossed. And this is not able to do peacefully any more. They will have to fight for their victory and for the security.

GORANI: What also I found fascinating is that people are throwing bread across the street because they're afraid of sniper fire, cartons of cigarettes, as well. There's a new normal that is -- that just seems very tragic from the footage that you've shot and that we're showing exclusively on CNN in Homs.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes, I mean, this is the reality right now and this certain areas and neighborhoods inside the city where snipers are controlling the main alleys around this neighborhood, al- Khalidiya or al-Bayada, and people are civilians, families are living there, and they have to do their normal living.

This situation is going already for weeks and months and they have to go to get bread, they need food. They even play sometimes on the street when the snipers are not shooting. So it's kind of normal life among this terrific scenes you can see every day.

GORANI: You know, in the times I've been to Homs, I've been there several times over the years, it's a bustling city. It's full of life. And when I see it here in the footage you've sent us, I don't recognize it. To me, it looks like a war zone.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yes, definitely. It is a war zone, but again I think it depends totally where exactly you are in Homs because you can't have two different realities and that's why I think this is making the things understandable what the Arab League monitors have been saying that they couldn't see anything because they haven't been exactly in these areas.

You can't be in Homs, in an Alawite or Christian area and you would never see this kind of destruction of the street. But once they put you inside, they smuggle you, me, they smuggle me inside Khalidiya or (INAUDIBLE), you would see exactly this kind of destroyed cities and scenes where people are trying to cross the street and suddenly they get killed by a bullet from a sniper.

GORANI: And, you know, it's true for the rest of Syria. When people ask me what is Syria like, I was there a few months ago -- you go to Damascus and certain parts are absolutely normal. Aleppo, certain parts are absolutely normal.

Then there are these pockets where it looks like a war zone, where it is a war zone, in fact.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Exactly. Exactly. And this is, actually, what the regime is trying to do to have business, as normal, in Damascus where you can have a drink and enjoy life. Go to restaurants in Baktuma (ph), and almost the whole entire center city center of Damascus where people don't feel anything beside, of course, the sanctions and besides no tourists are going there.

And this is -- this is pressure, as well, for the people. But they don't have killings so far inside the city center. I mean, you had had the bomb explosion and you have people getting killed in certain areas in Damascus, as well. But never like what is going on in Homs.

GORANI: Thank you very much for your outstanding work. Really, absolutely amazing footage that we're able to show our viewers on CNN, and we'll be talking to you in the next few days, as well.

Coming up, a sea of soldiers and hundreds of thousands of citizens gather in North Korea. We'll take a closer look at the final tribute to their late leader, Kim Jong Il.

And later, nine months after a tsunami washed parts of Japan out to sea, we could start seeing the debris hitting American shores. We'll tell you about the dangers, if any, coming up later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: This morning, more grand spectacle from the secretive regime of North Korea. The country is formally ending its mourning for Kim Jong Il, the so-called "Dear Leader" who died earlier this month.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, South Korea, watching today's memorial and all it's pageantry.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the moment mourning for Kim Jong Il officially ended, three minutes of silence observed by hundreds of thousands across Pyongyang. State media claims that sight replicated across the whole country. An hour earlier, speeches eulogized the man most revered and feared within his country. The ceremonial head of state Kim Yung Nam spoke of Kim Jong Il laying the foundations for better relations between the two Koreas, a claim that would surprise many outside North Korea.

It was beautifully choreographed as anything North Korean is, a grand show to the world of solidarity, not only for the late dear leader, but for the new supreme leader, a show of national cohesion.

Under the age of 30, with no military or political experience, Kim Jong Un front and center of proceedings for a second day running now commands a 1.1 million strong army, at least that is what these pictures are intended to show.

KIM YONG HO, AUTHOR: He needs to take some important positions and he needs to consolidate more military power and requires more regions and loyalty from the military. So, that might require some more time for him.

HANCOCKS: Kim Jong Un's priority now, according to experts, is to fill the positions of power left vacant by his father.

(on camera): There's been a flurry of diplomatic activity around the region recently, showing that there is a continued fear of the unknown with this hereditary succession. U.S. officials are effectively saying that the ball is in North Korea's court and they'll wait until this new leadership is ready to start negotiating, again.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Up next, take a look at this -- trash found on a beach out West, I should say, in Washington. It's not just any trash. It's from the tsunami that hit Japan back in march. Should we be concerned? We'll bring you some answers, next.

And we'll talk about Mitt Romney pulling ahead in Iowa while Rick Santorum is surging in the polls. What happened to Newt Gingrich? Later, we'll talk about the Iowa drama with Will Cain and L.Z. Granderson.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Well, it was last March when a massive earthquake off Japan caused a tsunami that left more than 15,000 people dead and washed entire towns out to sea.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

GORANI: Well, the cars look like toy cars. This is the force of the wave for you there. Scientists say about 20 to 100 tons of debris are still floating somewhere out there in the Pacific. This week, there is new concern about it hitting the west coast of the U.S. and Canada. Some items from Japan have actually been confirmed.

And take a look at this animation showing the possible debris flow. There is speculation that items will continue to float ashore for another two to three years. So, is this a problem, really, for the West Coast of the United States?

Joining us live from New York with some answers is noted physicist, Professor Michio Kaku.

Thanks for being with us.

So, we saw some pictures there.

MICHIO KAKU, PHYSICIST& PROFESSOR: Glad to be on the show.

GORANI: Thank you.

We saw some pictures there of plastic bottles, clearly bottles from Japan hitting the West Coast of the United States. How much of a problem will this be?

KAKU: First, you have to understand the size and scope of this problem. The debris field from this Japanese tragedy is the size of the state of California. Millions of tons of debris in the form of wreckage, pieces of homes and boats will be washing up on our shores for years to come.

Now, fortunately, the good news is the debris is not that radioactive. Remember that the tsunami hit with full force for the first few hours of that tremendous tragedy. But the meltdown -- the meltdown did not take place until several days after the tsunami had already washed all that debris into the ocean.

However, it did rain. All these products are water soluble and some of the radiation did wash into the Pacific Ocean.

GORANI: Are we sure that people shouldn't be concerned about radioactivity? I mean, should these items, the plastic bottle bottles, the boxes, should they be tested just so we're on the safe side?

KAKU: They should be tested.

But, first of all, if you see any debris out there, consult the authorities first. The first problem is hazardous materials and then we have toxic chemicals and also human body parts, sad to say. Realize that over 3,700 Japanese are unaccounted for and expected to have been washed into the Pacific Ocean.

The radiation levels have been diluted. It's been almost 10 months since the accident. Most of the iodine 131 has dissipated. Cesium 137 does occur in water soluble quantities. However, most of it has dispersed throughout the Pacific.

So, again, if you see any debris out there, consult the authorities first. There is a minimal danger of some radiation contamination in hot spots.

GORANI: Well, don't touch it and the human remains, that is -- I mean, I can imagine this is something that eventually is going to happen somewhere with these thousands of people still missing. But it's something to think about.

And, quickly, the environmental issues -- beyond the fact that this is plastic in the Pacific, which is terrible for the environment, what else should we be concerned with?

KAKU: Potential toxic chemicals. Realize that cleaning fluids, propane, bits and pieces of people's lives that involved chemicals were all wash into the Pacific, in addition to industrial strength materials. That's why as soon as you see 55-gallon drums, as soon as you see large quantities of materials in sealed containers, consult the authorities first because some of it could be from chemical plants.

GORANI: All right. Thanks very much for joining us there with the latest on what people should be concerned with or not. Professor Kaku is in New York.

Coming up, we'll talk about Mitt Romney pulling ahead in Iowa while Rick Santorum is surging in the polls. But what happened to Newt Gingrich?

Later we'll talk about all this Iowa drama and we'll be joined by Will Cain and L.Z. Granderson.

So, stay with us on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Checking our top stories now.

More violence in Afghanistan today, this time from an unexpected source. A man wearing an Afghan national army uniform killed two French soldiers. France's president calls it sad but said the country is committed to the mission to restore peace in Afghanistan.

Stratfor says it's going to wait to launch its Web site. Hackers stole credit card information from subscriber and released Stratfor's private client list. The company analyzes international security threat, but apparently didn't see this one coming.

And according to "The Wall Street Journal," BP could face its first criminal charges stemming from the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. It was the worst oil spill in U.S. history, still is. Prosecutors say BP engineers misled regulators about the risk of drilling at that site in the Gulf.

Mitt Romney pulling ahead in Iowa while Newt Gingrich takes a nose dive. The big story, though, Rick Santorum is surging.

CNN contributor Will Cain and CNN.com contributor L.Z. Granderson are joining me live from New York.

What do you make -- I'll start with you, L.Z. -- what to you make of these new numbers in the Santorum surge?

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: It's his turn, basically. It's sort of like pass the "anybody but Romney" vote and just his turn. I don't think he's done anything. I don't think his organization is any stronger. I just simply think that it's gone from candidate to candidate, and it's just now at him and that's about it. I don't think it says anything about his politics at all.

GORANI: All right. Will Cain, what do you think? I mean, is it he basically put in the work, 99 counties, blanketed the airwaves. Could that be it, too?

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, absolutely, that's part of it. Look, on paper, Rick Santorum's candidacy is a perfect for Iowa. He's an evangelical conservative. He puts family issues, family values at the top of his list that he's campaigning on, on paper.

Again, you would think it would fit Iowa very well. And like you said, Hala, he's put in the work, 99 counties. He's covered every county in Iowa.

You ask yourself, why did it take so long? Why is it right now he's surging?

You know, I think one thing -- well, part of it is Newt Gingrich's demise as well is benefiting Rick Santorum.

And I'll tell you one thing that's helped Rick Santorum, I think the lack of debate over the past couple of weeks. He doesn't do well in debates. There is no tangible reason he wouldn't be doing well in Iowa. So, the only reason you're left with is his personality.

He does not translate well in debates and on television. He doesn't seem likable. He hasn't been out there in front of people through the mass media in that way in the past couple weeks. I think that's helped.

GORANI: OK. Let's talk about the horse race and how much more it could change over the next five days because so many in Iowa, L.Z., still say that they'll make, they're undecided now and they might make their decision on the day.

GRANDERSON: Well, you know, it really boils down to one of two things. Are you looking for a candidate that represents your values or you're looking for a candidate that is going to defeat Barack Obama in the general election? Those are two for the Republican Party, anyway, two totally different kinds of candidates.

And, unfortunately, there will be people still undecided because they have already decided they don't want Romney for whatever reason. So, they'll look at the hodgepodge of ridiculous candidates that are left, knowing that those people likely would not be able to defeat President Obama in a general election.

It's very confusing to me. I don't know what the game plan is, I really don't understand why voters are having such a hard time saying we want President Obama out, but we can't get behind the one person that everyone can agree upon would defeat him.

GORANI: Let's talk about another social conservative, Santorum has surged. Michele Bachmann, though, where did her campaign go wrong and why? Will?

CAIN: I got that exactly for you, Hala. September 14th, 2011, post-debate, CNN debate, Tea Party debate, when she suggested that Rick Perry's advocacy for Gardasil vaccinations in Texas for sixth grade girls to do away with HPV caused retardation.

What it was, was a moment that's illustrative of all of her problems, essentially at heart, Michele Bachmann's problem is that she's somewhat of a populist. She says something, gets the crowd clapping, gets them cheering along, says something more, kind of becomes in love with that fact, and then before you know it, she's gone one step too far.

It's like a comedian working a room. It gives a risky joke, it works, another one, it works and then before you know it, one undeniably inappropriate and the room goes silent.

She's done it with promising $2 gas, saying we should never raise the debt ceiling ever, ever, ever. To saying Gardasil causes retardation -- that moment though was the straw that broke the camel's back and showed everyone you just can't take this risk.

GORANI: Right. Speaking of the straw, she won the Ames straw poll.

CAIN: Right.

GORANI: And this is what's going on now.

Let me ask you this, though, electability. Who would be the best against Barack Obama? Is it still in your view, Mitt Romney as many analysts are still saying regardless of what happens in Iowa, it's going to be him, L.Z.?

GRANDERSON: Absolutely. You know, and when you look at the politics in terms of what everyone else -- by everyone else, I pretty much mean anyone but Romney. You look at them politically, each of them have some qualities and some views that I think the general elective would be interested in.

The problem is -- and it's going to be a problem with social conservatives, are the social aspects of their politics and things that's going to hamper, you know, Rick Santorum. He's doing well in Iowa, yes, but he's 3 percent in New Hampshire. And it's because of the way that he presents himself and his views socially.

So, as vulnerable as President Obama is in terms of his political plans, in terms of his economic policies, he's very vulnerable. But the social issues where people keep saying are downplayed, when you get into a general election and you're wondering, do I want to vote for a person who is going to ban abortions regardless of the circumstances? You know, you start weighing that a lot heavier once you get towards general election.

GORANI: All right. L.Z. Granderson, Will Cain, we'll talk to you a bit later. Thanks to you both.

And, of course, this reminder -- tune in Tuesday night. This is CNN's America's Choice 2012. Live coverage of the Iowa caucuses begins Tuesday night 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Hugo Chavez of Venezuela wonders if the U.S. is making Latin American leaders sick. That story ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Well, he says he doesn't want to make any, quote, "reckless accusations." But after it was announced that the president of Argentina has cancer, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wonders if the United States is somehow making Latin American leaders sick.

CNN's Zain Verjee has more on this.

You know, whenever anyone starts a line with "I don't want to make any reckless accusations," you know that they're going to go on to make a reckless accusation.

What makes him think that the United States is responsible for the illness of Latin American leaders, Zain?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, hi, Hala.

Hugo Chavez is saying and I quote, "It's very, very, very strange as to what's happening." He is saying that five former and present Latin American leaders have cancer. Himself, he says, he's defeated cancer.

Argentina's president has just been diagnosed with thyroid cancer and she's going to have to go through surgery. Paraguay's president got lymphoma. Brazil's president has just overcome cancer and the former president is being treated for throat cancer.

So, Hugo Chavez is saying, "This cannot be a coincidence." He goes, "What if the U.S. has developed a technology to induce cancer and nobody knows about it."

And then while he was speaking in front of some kind of military event, he cited these revelations that the U.S. between 1946 and 1948 had carried out human experiments in Guatemala where the subjects that they used were exposed to sexually transmitted diseases. So, he says, and I quote, "That was 50 years ago. Will we find out 50 years from now that the U.S. was infecting presidents with cancer?"

Hala, he says he doesn't know, but he's just putting it out there.

GORANI: Well, is he being serious? Of course, the question is with Hugo Chavez, he says things sometimes. You feel that he says them just to stir up controversy. I mean, is the feeling that in this case he's just trying to create a bit of a stir?

VERJEE: Hugo Chavez likes attention. He's a showman. He wants to create a stir and he's always done it on the back of anti-U.S. rhetoric. He is really good at that.

Does anyone believe him? Unlikely. Is he grabbing headlines? Absolutely, yes, he is.

He's also thrown in there, "By the way," he says, "have you noticed when these presidents get diagnosed with cancer?" He cited two examples himself. I think Brazil's president. He says, it happens right before an election -- Hala.

GORANI: All right, Zain Verjee in London. Thanks very much. We'll see you a bit later, Zain.

From Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords' recovery to stem cell research, to stem cell research. Next, a look at some of the top medical stories over the past year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: What happened to actually paying to go to the movies? We live in an age, of course, where millions of people can, if they want to, illegally download films instead.

And what is the most pirated movie of the year? Take a guess. Vin Diesel's "Fast Five", 9.3 million people illegally downloaded that movie.

Entertainment reporter Nischelle Turner joins us now to tell us what other movies are on the pirate list. Hi Nischelle.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Hey, Hala. You know this list actually surprised me a little bit. You know the other movies in this, we'll call it "The Fraud 5" all right, the "Hang Over 2" and "Thor." And by the way both of these films were downloaded more than eight million times each.

In fourth and fifth were "The Source Code" and "I Am Number Four", which were illegally viewed more than 7.5 million times. Now these numbers are coming from the Torrent Freak blog which monitors the bit torrent site. They do say there is actually some good news for the Hollywood studios. The number of illegal downloads on bit torrent are down from last year. They credit the decrease to the increase number of legal alternatives to download film although they note there are more legal options out there, as well.

And Hala you know the box office numbers have been down all year in Hollywood, so, maybe a lack of interest in these films are also playing a bit of a part, but one of the things that surprised me. While these movies were popular, some of the other bigger grossing films were further down on the list. Like say, the last Harry Potter film. That was down there.

GORANI: Well, I don't want to point fingers here but the "Hangover 2", "Fast Five", "Thor" these are kind of guy flicks. Young guy flicks, right I mean, sort of teenage, early 20s type of thing.

TURNER: Well, you may have a point there.

GORANI: Well I don't -- I can't imagine a 13-year-old girl downloading the "Hangover 2" but then I may be wrong.

Let's talk about -- maybe a 13-year-old girl might be interested in. The most influential hair styles of the year. Who are the winners Nischelle?

TURNER: Oh for sure you know what. Well, short is in this year, Hala. So I am definitely not on trend, apparently. And according to "Wall Street Journal" the hottest heads of hair belonged to Emma Watson in her short post-"Harry Potter" haircut and Justin Bieber.

Now the Bieb's hair has always got a lot of attention. His change to this current look here actually generated so many headlines while Watson's short hair cut stunned fans who saw her grow up on screen with long locks but that's fierce. The Journals says the hair stylists are getting inundated with request for these haircuts. And the fastest rising searches on Google for celebrity haircuts named these two stars.

Now, short hair hasn't all really been in for women in a while, so, this could be the start of a new trend, although, I do I have to wonder how many grown men are going to go into the barber and say hey, can I get the Bieber hair cut please?

GORANI: But wait Bieber, and I don't know how I -- I know this because he's out there so much, but Bieber has a shorter hair cut now than the one we were showing right? Not the swoopy one. That's kind of shorter and --

HUNTER: Yes well, that's -- that's what we're talking about. That's the --

GORANI: Ok.

TURNER: -- right that's what we're talking about. The shaggy hair cut was one thing and then when he got the short hair cut, that's what's the biggest talk in Hollywood right now. He and Emma Watson's short hair.

GORANI: And I'm seeing teenage girls, including, I have a niece 15 years old who has gone for the short hair cut. So I don't know maybe it has been an influence.

TURNER: I think it looks fantastic. GORANI: Thank you, Nischelle Turner. We'll talk to you in the next hour.

And coming up next hour, a follow up to a story we told you about a while back. The DeLorean in "Back to the Future" was put up for auction for a very good cause. You might not believe how much a flux capacitor can get these days. Nischelle will tell you how much next hour in "Showbiz" headlines.

Coming up, the year in review in medicine: from natural disasters to the best work of man and medicine. We'll look at the biggest stories affecting your health. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: From tsunamis to cell phones to stem cells, there were many stories from the world of medicine that affected our lives in 2011. Chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): January 8th, gunfire at a campaign event for Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Six people are killed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is anybody injured? Did you say Gabrielle Giffords was hit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's hit. I believe she's breathing. She does have a pulse.

GUPTA: The Congresswoman is shot in the head, but survives.

PETER RHEE, TRAUMA SURGEON: She was just exceedingly lucky, right. When you have -- when I saw the trajectory of where one hole was and where the other hole was, I was like, oh, my gosh. You know however --

GUPTA (on camera): Wait a minute, because it was so far apart?

RHEE: Yes. I mean, it wasn't a little skiving thing. It went through a lot.

GUPTA (voice-over): Three and a half months later the first public steps in the Congresswoman's remarkable recovery.

In 2011 I tried to put a spotlight on big hits in the brain finding growing evidence that football puts young people at serious risk and professional players as well.

In February former Chicago Bear safety David Duerson committed suicide. And he left his brain to scientific research. When the findings came back his brain had telltale signs of chronic injury. And as stories like this rolled in the NFL put in new rules to try and protect its players. And then it was March, and I witnessed the aftermath of an astonishing disaster in Japan. Our first hours on the ground were just scary.

(on camera): And so we are going to -- to move at this point. These seem like official warnings now.

GUPTA: There was no tsunami. We were safe. But more than 16,000 people lost their lives, and thanks to leaks from a crippled nuclear plant, the district around Fukushima will be unliveable for years to come.

In May the World Health Organization said cell phones might, might cause brain cancer. Brain scans can actually spot the impact of radiation from phones, and some studies found a cancer link. Doesn't mean cell phones are dangerous, but to be on the safe side, I always say use an earpiece.

July brought questions about cancer and 9/11 just ahead of the 10th anniversary of the attacks. Federal authorities say there's not strong evidence connecting dust from the fallen Twin Towers and cancer. First responders with cancer would not receive special compensation, but just a month later a big study of New York City firefighters found the opposite.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found a 19 percent increase in all cancers in our exposed firefighters as compared to our non-exposed firefighters.

GUPTA: The decision on compensation could still be reversed.

In October the spotlight landed on the PSA test to detect prostate cancer, a test undergone by more than 20 million men each year. A federal advisory panel said the PSA test just isn't worth it.

And then November, exciting news of a stem cell break through, two studies using infusions of a patient's own stem cells, one found the cells could re-grow dead heart tissue once thought to be impossible. And the other study found the cells could reverse heart failure.

One story that was left unresolved, the fight over the health care law. Critics call it Obama care.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I've said time and again, Obama care is bad news. It's unconstitutional. It costs way too much money, a trillion dollars and if I'm President of the United States I will repeal it for the American people.

GUPTA: In November the Supreme Court agreed to decide the law's fate next year.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: This weekend, Sanjay takes a look back at the top medical stories that caught his attention and changed all of our lives in 2011. "SANJAY GUPTA, MD", Saturday and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, we're following many developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. let's check in first with Paul Steinhauser.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Hala. I'm here live in Des Moines. Our new poll indicates Mitt Romney and Ron Paul tied for the top spot. Rick Santorum moving up. Newt Gingrich moving down. A whole new political landscape here in Iowa. Details at the top of the hour.

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Reports of even more violence in Syria today with activists telling us that a crackdown going on in a suburb of Damascus even as Arab League observers arrive there. I'm Mohammed Jamjoom in Cairo. We'll have more details at the top of the hour.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. $200 oil, $5 gas, it could happen if Iran makes good on a threat to close the Strait of Hormuz. But I'm going to tell you why you shouldn't hit the panic button just yet.

GORANI: All right. Thanks everyone.

Also ahead, the stakes are sky high in the race for the White House. Some people are eager to place money on the winner and do it legally. We'll tell you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Well, some things we're watching for you today.

In New York, New Year's Eve organizers are conducting their annual confetti airworthiness test at 11:00 this morning. They'll drop a handful of confetti from eight stories up down into Times Square. It's preparation for the one ton of confetti to be released Saturday night.

And the clock is ticking in Des Moines, Iowa. Whoever bought a winning $16.5 million lottery ticket last December has until 4:00 today to claim the prize. If not, it will be the second time this week that lottery money has gone unclaimed.

And an East Coast-West Coast battle from the L.A. Lakers and the revitalized New York Knicks. That game between the two teams picked to go far in the playoffs is at 10:30 p.m. tonight.