Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Romney Wins Big In New Hampshire; Ron Paul Comes In Second In New Hampshire; Most Important Issues To New Hampshire Voters; GOP Race Moves To South Carolina; Report: Iranian Nuclear Scientist Killed; U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Six Iranians; Journalist Killed in Syria Attack
Aired January 11, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We start this hour with politics. Mitt Romney's big win in New Hampshire he cruises to a first place finish with just about 40 percent of the vote.
But there is no rest for him or the rest of pack now focusing their sites on South Carolina. So let's start with where the votes landed in New Hampshire.
Romney came out on top with double digit leads over Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman. Newt Gingrich edge out Santorum for fourth and Rick Perry brings up the rear with just 1 percent. But Romney is keeping his eyes squarely on the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know that the future of this country is better than 8 percent or 9 percent unemployment. It's better than $15 trillion in debt.
It's better than the misguided policies and broken promises of the last three years and the failed leadership of one man. The president has run out of ideas. Now he's running out of excuses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Our Dana Bash is on the ground in Manchester. Christine Romans is in the "Election Center" digging into who voted and why. And Peter Hamby is in South Carolina, the next stop in this gruelling presidential primary.
So, Dana, let's begin with you. Romney's two for two. He won Iowa. He won New Hampshire, but this victory wasn't a surprise. He was expected to win. It's size of his win that's really grabbing attention. Is it enough to get the party to rally behind him?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, he's certainly trying to send the message in every way. Not only by showing how well he did here, and he did very well, but also trying to scare his opponents with his money.
The Romney campaign just moments ago, Fred, just released how much money they raised in the primary in the fourth quarter. They reported raising $24 million. They say that they have $19 million in the bank right now to spend. Cash on hand.
So if again, it's the fact that he did well here last night with across the board with fiscal conservatives, with social conservatives, with men, with women. If that didn't scare off his opponents, he's hoping that they will look at these numbers and say maybe this is not something for us in the long haul.
Listen to what Romney himself said this morning about his win here last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: I have a long way to go before I get the nomination if I'm lucky enough to get it. But I already think we're best off focusing on the failures of this president.
And in my case I want to demonstrate that I have the capacity to make America once again a great place for opportunities, for rising incomes, for job growth.
I think that's what people want to hear. They want to understand how we're going to lead the country and that's what I'm going to be talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: That's a very familiar refrain from Mitt Romney. We're going to hear it many, many times in the days to come starting with South Carolina today -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK, let's talk about Ron Paul coming in second. Sometimes second is quite the victory. So what's next for him? How does he carry that momentum into South Carolina?
BASH: Well, it's going to be interesting to see because there's no question that his operation here in New Hampshire and before this in Iowa, they were definitely the high water marks in terms of organization and the time that he spent.
But look, I mean, a win to get winning. That is certainly what the Paul campaign is hoping going forward into South Carolina. Obviously, he came in second here, but considering the fact that Romney did so well. That is considered doing quite, quite well.
I had a chance to speak exclusively to Congressman Paul last night as we were getting the results and asked him about the fact that just four years ago he did campaign here for president. He got less than 8 percent and I asked what changed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: What do you think has changed?
RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people, the people's attitudes have changed and my message got out. The country is in worse shape. I've talked about financial problems in this country for 30 years.
They realized that some of the things I said came about. And also warning people about the foreign policy and the endless wars and how that affects our economy.
So the people have come around to being concerned about the spending. I think they looked closely at the need to cut spending. So I think it's a very, very popular message. I think the interest is going to continue to grow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And Dana, let's talk about Jon Huntsman now. He went into New Hampshire thinking he was going do well. He invested all his time just about in that state. So now what for him since he had a disappointing finish?
BASH: Well, he's moving on, he says, to South Carolina. He did not get out of the race and has no plans to in the immediate future. He did have a disappointing finish considering how much time he spent there.
He and his family effectively moved into the state of New Hampshire and put all their eggs in this basket. But considering where he was in the polls just even a week ago. As he says, he was the margin of error candidate.
The fact that he climbed back to third place is something that was encouraging to them. Whether or not that can keep the money rolling in, can keep him really in competition into South Carolina. That is -- and beyond, more importantly. That's a big open question -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Dana Bash, thanks so much from Manchester, New Hampshire.
So let's turn to Christine Romans now here in the "Election Center." Christine, you've been digging through all that exit poll data. Boy, there's a lot, too. What are the numbers telling us about the edge?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're showing us why voters are choosing Mitt Romney. When you look at the top quality in a candidate that New Hampshire voters were looking for, you can see 35 percent said they wanted to beat the president.
It's about electability here overall. True conservative only 13 percent, character 22 percent and experience. When you see who won those categories you can see that it was Mitt Romney who New Hampshire Republicans thought could Beat Barack Obama and it was Mitt Romney who they said had the experience.
When you look at the top issues of these voters, it's the economy. This is something we've seen across the country. And at least there in New Hampshire Romney has the credibility on the economy, 45 percent. More than double the number of people thought that Romney had the top go at the economy compared with Ron Paul.
When you look at the deficit closer, though, you know, Ron Paul talks about cutting, cutting, cutting, he wants to shut down a third of the American government, wants to lay off 440,000 federal workers. He really wants to cut the deficit. Romney and Paul much closer there.
When you look over here at abortion, this is really interesting as well. This is where Santorum registers really for the first and only time in New Hampshire. You know, this is where that Santorum surge we saw in Iowa comes up on the abortion issue here.
And health care, this is something that I thought was pretty interesting. On health care, I hear over and over again from the candidates that they want to repeal the president's signature health care law. They call it Obama care.
But overall so far in Iowa and in New Hampshire, it's not rating among a top concern of the voters. They worry about jobs. They worry about deficit. They worry about the direction of the economy. Health care is just polling below single digist.
WHITFIELD: So these numbers and this data just might reshape the dialogue come South Carolina.
ROMANS: You know, South Carolina has a 9.9 percent unemployment rate. New Hampshire has 5.2 percent unemployment rate. So the economy's story and the social issues story will be different in South Carolina than it is in New Hampshire.
That's what is interesting about the primary season, right? Each state is different and so the ground game starts to shift as well. The ground game they had in New Hampshire is not the game they're playing in South Carolina or in Florida.
WHITFIELD: Right, that's the beauty and the curse. All right, Christine Romans, thanks so much.
So New Hampshire is in the rear view mirror again. Next stop is South Carolina. All six GOP candidates are holding events there today. And for some it could be the make or break stage. Here's what Rick Perry told CNN's Piers Morgan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: South Carolina is a winner take all state. So winning here, I can promise you, wipes out the caucus victory and New Hampshire. So if Mitt is thinking he's got it in the bag, I think he's going to be in for a great surprise in South Carolina when he shows up here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Political reporter, Peter Hamby is in Columbia. So Peter, South Carolina votes next Saturday, the 21st. It's the state that has a three decade history of picking the GOP nominee correctly. So what does this mean for Mitt Romney or even as Rick Perry says, he doesn't believe Romney has it in the bag.
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, Romney doesn't have it in the bag. He has a strong lead, but you know, he could be the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. And he could win South Carolina on the way.
But, you're right, South Carolina has this reputation of being the state that eventually comes around to the establishment. Mainstream Republican and sends him on to the nomination. It used to be that way.
You could come down here and make a deal with Strom Thurman in the '60s, '70s and '80s and that was that. Certainly in 2000 with Bush and McCain, the establishment got spooked by John McCain and rallied to George Bush's side.
But Fredricka, in recent years, you know, I don't think this has been very much an establishment state. Nikki Haley won the governorship last year without the establishment and just a staff of interns, quite frankly, and a message.
So you don't necessarily need the establishment. Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman have all the establishment support in the state. Look where that got them in the polls. If Mitt Romney wins here, it won't necessarily be because of the establishment.
It will be because there's a divided Republican field and the conservatives have kind of divvied up the vote here. But, you know, if Mitt Romney does win the state, it's hard to see him not being the nominee after this heading into Florida.
With all that money that Dana mentioned he has now, he can totally blanket and saturate the air waves down there in Florida after this -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Yes, big bank. All right, thanks so much. Peter Hamby, appreciate that.
All right, Thursday, January 19th, just days before the South Carolina primary, the GOP contenders debate on the issue. The Southern Republican presidential debate is right here on CNN one week from tomorrow, Thursday, January 19th at 8:00 Eastern Time.
And now to a story making headlines around the world, an Iranian nuclear scientist has been reportedly killed in a bomb blast in Tehran. It's the latest in a series of deadly attacks against nuclear scientists in that country.
CNN's Zain Verjee is joining us again from London. So, Zain, what are the latest details about this attack?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka. Well, Iran is pointing the finger squarely at Israel as far as news agency puts it this way. This is the work of designers, it says.
Now basically what we understand to have happened was there was someone on a motorbike, and he road by the car of this nuclear scientist and put some kind of magnetic bomb underneath it. The car exploded.
The scientist was killed and at least two other people were wounded. This scientist who name was Mustafah Rushian (ph), Fred, was a supervisor at the uranium enrichment facility in Iran.
This is an important facility that the U.S. keeps its eyes on because Iran is believed to have something like 8,000 centrifuges there in operation.
The reason that that matters is that the U.S. suspects Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, and this is a key facility that would expedite that process.
This is not the first time a nuclear scientist has been killed in this way. At least two others in the last two years have also died -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about something else. Another rescue taking place involving the U.S. Navy and Iranian Mariners are actually this time isn't it the Coast Guard?
VERJEE: Yes, the U.S. Coast Guard in the Persian Gulf, kind of the northern side of the Persian Gulf. They found about six Iranian Mariners who were having a major problem.
Essentially their vessel started to take water. It totally flooded. Their captain has said or the owner of that vessel said that they would have died if the U.S. Coast Guard hadn't been involved.
He said, if it weren't for your help, we were dead. Thank you. Now the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry put it this way, OK. He said rescuing Iranian sailors by the U.S. was a humanitarian act, and we welcome such acts.
The Iranian Navy also engages in such rescue operations. It's the responsibility of all nations to rescue nationals from other countries from pirates.
Fredricka, pirates on the high seas these days are one of the biggest threats out in the oceans. They really do pose a major threat to the world economic supply chain -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Zain Verjee, thanks so much for that.
All right, this New Hampshire primary was unlike any other in that state's history. Many voters felt the candidates didn't connect with them. Our next guest blames the new primary calendar. We'll talk about that right after this break.
But just before leaving office, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour grants dozens of pardons. Many people are very angry with him. We'll explain why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Mitt Romney won a resounding victory in the New Hampshire primary, but our next guest says the results could have been different.
Andrew Cline is the editorial page editor of the "Union Leader" in Manchester. So Andrew, in today's paper you wrote that the other candidates almost gave the state to Romney in what way?
ANDREW CLINE, EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR, "UNION LEADER": Well, you know, Romney had been campaigning here since '08. And the feeling was, I think, among a lot of candidates that they weren't going to win, so why campaign hard?
And when you look at it, Ron Paul campaigned a lot in New Hampshire. Rick Santorum did in the summer, but then in the winter just stopped and the fall left --
WHITFIELD: That wasn't the case for Jon Huntsman.
CLINE: I'm sorry.
WHITFIELD: So that wasn't the case for Jon Huntsman though? He did spend a lot of time there. So why didn't that pay off for him?
CLINE: Right. It did. So, look, Huntsman spent about six months. He got in a little late. He did a lot of retail. He did a lot of things well, sort of strategically.
But you know, he didn't catch on until the end, until everybody had sort of gone through all the other candidates because he had a real problem all along until about the last week really connecting with voters and being fired up.
He's sort of came alive in that last week, felt the urgency and came alive and it paid off for him. But, you know, I think if you look at it this way. A lot of the candidates like Gingrich and Santorum, Perry, Michele Bachmann, they all wrote off New Hampshire.
Had we had a different slate of candidates who had said, you know, I'm going to go after Mitt Romney in New Hampshire. I think we would have seen a different result. I don't think we could have seen a 39-point win.
WHITFIELD: Interesting, and so as a chance for Newt Gingrich who got the endorsement from the "Union Leader," do you suppose he took that for granted?
CLINE: Well, I don't want to get inside Gingrich's head. You know, every candidate makes their strategy and makes decisions that we don't have access to.
But I do think it definitely hurt his campaign to more or less, after our endorsement, sort of act like we were a proxy for him in New Hampshire like he didn't have to campaign as hard in New Hampshire because the "Union Leader" has endorsed him.
And that's not really the way it works in New Hampshire. The candidate still has to come on the ground and do all the heavy lifting. We just didn't see enough of that.
WHITFIELD: All right, Andrew Cline of the "Union Leader," thanks so much for joining us from Manchester.
CLINE: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: And stay with CNN for the best political coverage on television tonight at 6:00 Eastern Time. John King has a one on one interview with Rick Perry and then tonight at 9:00 Eastern, Piers Morgan sits down with Newt Gingrich.
All right, checking some stories cross country now. An Orange County father is convicted of throwing his son off a tour boat in August. Sloan Briles (ph) was sentenced to three-year probation and two treatment programs.
Briles originally claimed that he and his son were just having fun, but later pleaded guilty to child abuse and endangerment.
Bakersfield police say a driver's steering wheel kept him from getting impaled by that. A metal pipe shot through his windshield as he drove down a freeway. The steering wheel deflected it, and he was treated for just minor injuries.
An Indiana House Committee's vote on proposed right to work legislation meets with loud objections from protesters there. Right to work means employees cannot be required to pay for union representation cost.
The committee approved the Republican-backed bill without any changes and sent it onto the full House of Representatives.
And in one of his final acts, now former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour handed out nearly 200 pardons, but who he pardons has sparked a lot of outrage.
General Motors revved up last year and could regain its title as the world's biggest automaker for the first time in three years. We'll go to the New York Stock Exchange for details on the recovery in the American auto industry.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In Mississippi, outrage over pardons now former Governor Haley Barbour pardoned nearly 200 criminals before his successor was sworn in. Among those pardons, 14 convicted murders.
Ed Lavandera is in Dallas following the developments. So, Ed, some people say they're now fearing for their lives.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question, Fredricka. This has just sparked a great deal of concern. Across the state of Mississippi, 199 people pardoned. Those include as you mentioned 14 murderers.
Another 16 of them include people who had been convicted of manslaughter and homicide. The range of offenses runs the gamete. There are drunk drivers, thieves, and just everything you can possibly imagine.
And one of the cases that is just garnering the most attention is the case of a man named David Gatlen. He was on Governor Haley Barbour's detail around the mansion. He was a prison trustee allowed to work around the governor's mansion.
He shot and killed a woman who was holding her 6-week-old baby and also shot a man in the head. That man you're about to hear from his name is Randy Walker. He survived the attack. He spoke this morning with CNN about his feelings of learning that the man who shot him has been set free.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDY WALKER, SHOT BY PARDONED KILLER: I'm married with a family again. My family, I feel that safety for them is an issue. Anybody that might be with me at the time that he decides to do something would be in jeopardy.
So, yes, I feel like we are in jail now and David is out of jail. We will forever be looking over our shoulder wondering if today is the day David decided he was going to finish what he started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Fredricka, what is really the most stunning about all of this is that Governor Haley Barbour who left office yesterday, the new Mississippi governor was sworn in, has had no comment.
He refused to answer questions yesterday at the inauguration ceremony. We've tried repeatedly from more than the last 24 hours to get any kind of comment or explanation from his spokesperson all to no avail there.
Simply not answering any questions to try to explain the governor's thought process on issuing all of these pardons -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And so, you know, Ed, some of the survivors or victims, family members say they don't even like the way they found out about this pardoning. Explain.
LAVANDERA: Well, you know, take Randy Walker, for example. He explained to us that he had found out 24 hours after David Gatlin had been released from prison through an automated message. That's how he learned about that person's released.
There is a great deal of confusion. Many people pouring over the list of all of the people who had been pardoned. The list is eight pages long, and there's not a lot of explanation or details as to who they are, where they might be, where they might going.
Any kind of information like that, which would obviously be extremely valuable to crime victims and something that they would want to know, none of that as far as we can tell has been provided. So a great deal of people across the state of Mississippi wanting answers and explanations today.
WHITFIELD: Ed Lavandera, thanks so much from Dallas.
All right, General Motors could regain its title of world's biggest automaker. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on this. Alison, how significant is this?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know what, it is pretty significant, Fredricka, because when it comes down to it, the bragging rights they do count. Now GM hasn't held this title of the world's biggest automaker in three years.
Remember, Toyota has had that title. How is the title measured? By global sales. Now the official tally of the final 2011 sales numbers, they're going to be reported in a few weeks, and then this will become final.
They're really going to show a huge turnaround for GM and you look at how GM has sort of come back. In the past three years, GM has declared bankruptcy. They've cut debt and downsized.
With the help of a government bailout and of course, the economic recovery, GM is quickly becoming the comeback kid. And it's not just GM, all American automakers are rebounding as well.
Ford expects to make strong profits in 2011 and Chrysler sales from last year are up almost 30 percent -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So at the same time we're hearing GM is doing well, we're hearing about troubles for another popular brand. Hostess is going bankrupt.
KOSIK: Say it isn't so.
WHITFIELD: No Twinkies?
KOSIK: Yes, so Hostess says it will be business as usual as it works out its issues. It doesn't plan to have any layoffs, 19,000 people work for Hostess.
Remember there are several kinds of bankruptcies. So it doesn't necessarily means liquidation. Hostess has filed for bankruptcy. In fact, they did that today for the second time in the past decade because Hostess is deep in debt.
The company, you know, it makes those ho-hos. It makes rindings, vending machines wouldn't be the same without them.
WHITFIELD: Or school lunches. I have fond memories of those ho-hos.
KOSIK: School lunches. There you go. WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Alison.
All right, Mitt Romney puts New Hampshire in the win column. I think that's enough to quiet his critics. Think again. One Democratic leader calls him a wounded candidate. Our "Political Buzz panel sound off next.
And it's an epic journey through ice. A tanker is desperately trying to deliver fuel to Gnome, Alaska, but conditions are so tough. An ice breaker isn't able to get through. When will that help arrive?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, checking top stories right now.
An Iranian nuclear scientist and his driver are reportedly dead following an attack that Iran blames on Israel. Iran's semi-official news agency says a motorcyclist put a magnetic bomb under the scientist's car. The attack comes as Iran is under increasing pressure from the West to halt its uranium enrichment activities.
In Pakistan, four suspected militants are dead after the U.S. launched its first drone strikes in the country in more than a month. The U.S. have suspected attacks there after American air strikes killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers in November.
And this hour, President Obama is hosting an in sourcing American jobs forum. He's meeting with business leaders trying to convince them to keep jobs in the U.S. instead of outsourcing them overseas.
Our "Political Buzz" is your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. Playing today: CNN contributor, Maria Cardona; chief political correspondent of Politic 365, Jason Johnson; and Georgetown University professor, Chris Metzler.
All right, good to see all of you.
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Fred good to see you.
WHITFIELD: First question now. Romney may have won almost 40 percent of the vote in the New Hampshire Republican primary. But here's how Democrats are spinning the results.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, (D), FLORIDA: To not crack 40 percent in a primary that you should have droves of Republicans coming to vote for you. That's a problem. Because here as a -- he came out of this primary now as a wounded candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Wounded candidate, should the White House be afraid of Mitt Romney's momentum with that 39 percent? Maria, you first? CARDONA: No absolutely not Fred because he may have won New Hampshire and Iowa but he lost Independent voters in both. And -- and what's more is that he still has a long way to go to convince conservatives that he's their guy. And even a longer way to go to convince middle class families that he is somebody who is a millionaire 200 times over who said he likes to fire people, who makes $10,000 bet like it's 10 cents to you and me. Who calls corporation people, who belittled the $1,500 tax cut for middle class families as temporary little band aids who would have had Detroit go bankrupt, to convince them that he is somebody who would look out for their interest.
WHITFIELD: Chris?
CHRIS METZLER, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSIT: Actually, I love the Democratic spin by the chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Look, he has come out actually of this as a better candidate. I get what the Democrats are trying to do which is to take his greatest strength and turn it into a weakness.
That's not going to work. At this point there is plenty of time to get this Bain story out of the way. I actually think Republicans have given him a gift by getting it out so quick. He is not, in fact, a wounded candidate. If you listen to his speech last night, he is a much better candidate. And that's what the Democrats should be afraid of.
WHITFIELD: And Jason.
JASON JOHNSON, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITIC 365: Well the Democrats should be afraid of the fact that Romney got 39 percent and Obama's approval in New Hampshire is only about 43 percent. So they're not doing that great either.
But you know he's not wounded but he didn't do anything impressive. This was going the Globetrotters beaten the Washington Generals. I mean Mitt Romney was going to win in New Hampshire, the rest of the candidates are in complete disarray. The real question is, can he carry social conservatives? The real question is can he change the perception that most people have that he's (INAUDIBLE) dust, that he's inauthentic.
So you know, the Democrats are going to have their spin, the Republicans are going to have their spin but the reality is, Mitt Romney is not wounded nor is he strong.
WHITFIELD: All right and just for clarity, it was Romney saying that he would fire insurance companies, he's not firing everybody.
So Ron Paul finished strong, coming in second place in New Hampshire. And he says he's got his sites set on Mitt Romney. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now. I called Governor Romney a short while ago before he gave his talk and congratulate him because he certainly had a clear cut victory. But we're nibbling at his heels.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, so is Ron Paul really the second strongest Republican contender heading into South Carolina? Chris, you first?
METZLER: No, he's not. I think what people have to understand about the Ron Paul movement is that it is in fact, a movement. So he is going to continue to do what he's always done, which is run for president, which is get the ideas out. He understands that he has no real chance of winning. What he does have is a very fervent, a very passionate base of -- base of supporters including a number of very enthusiastic young voters. He however going into South Carolina is not the strongest candidate but I think he will continue to do as he has run which is the movement of Ron Paul.
WHITFIELD: And Maria.
CARDONA: But here's the problem with Ron Paul and I do think that he -- he exceeded expectations last night. But the contrast with Mitt Romney -- and this is why I think Ron Paul has gotten such support is that Ron Paul is not somebody who wakes up every day and tries to figure out which way the political winds are blowing and changes his stances just for political expediency, which is something that Mitt Romney has done in the 20 years he has been trying to run for office. And that is something that voters are looking at. They do not trust this guy, they don't like him and they're not enthusiastic about him. That's the problem for Mitt Romney.
WHITFIELD: Jason.
JOHNSON: Look, if you're nibbling at somebody's heels it means they're still stumping on you and that's pretty was going on over to Ron Paul right now. He comes in third place in Iowa. He comes in second place in New Hampshire. He's not winning anything. And if you're not winning primaries, you're not a real contender.
Mitt Romney is the front runner, Mitt Romney is probably going to end up getting the nomination. And at the end of the day Ron Paul said in an interview just about a week and a half age he doesn't even see himself in the White House.
So it's hard to imagine him as a strong candidate going to South Carolina when people like Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum have a much stronger relationship with the Conservative South. And Mitt Romney himself is going to be desperately trying to lock this thing up quickly.
WHITFIELD: All right and now your "Buzzer Beater" 20 seconds each. Here's Conan O'Brien's take on last night's primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: I do have the latest on the New Hampshire primaries. Ok it just came over the wire, a white guy is in first with two white guys trailing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So at this point in the race are the candidates doing enough to set themselves apart from the GOP rivals? Maria?
CARDONA: No, it doesn't seem as they are. As that's why you have the rivals now really going after Mitt Romney on Bain Capital and on the fact that he hasn't really been a great -- he doesn't have a great record on job creation. The fact of the matter is that every single candidate in the GOP has -- is focused on the same exact failed Republican economic policies that put us in this economic recession to begin with.
And that is something that President Obama is going to be focus on in the election.
WHITFIELD: Chris.
METZLER: Well, I think what's going to happen is what you're seeing in the Republican Party right now is there is kind of the fight for who is the conservative, who is the alternative to Mitt Romney. And I think after South Carolina, that's going to be a lot more clear. As to who this alternative to Mitt Romney is going to be. So I do think that in fact there's a lot more that needs to be done to distinguish themselves from Mitt Romney. And I think that's what they're going to -- that's what they need to do at this point.
WHITFIELD: And Jason final word.
JOHNSON: I mean, the entire field is distinguished. We all know who the individuals are. And we all know that most of them aren't going to win, except for Mitt Romney. So you know Romney's job isn't to distinguish himself from any of the other candidates. It's to distinguish himself from the one percent that has been sort of the political focus and the primary place of attack for Barack Obama and most of the progressive left and a lot of unemployed Independents right now. He's distinguished himself from the field. But he hasn't distinguished himself from this idea.
WHITFIELD: All right Jason, Maria, Chris, thanks to all of you. I appreciate it.
METZLER: Thank you.
CARDONA: Thanks Fred.
JOHNSON: Thank you.
METZLER: Take care.
WHITFIELD: All right, Thursday, January 19th. Just days before the South Carolina primary, the GOP contenders debate the issues. The South Republic -- the southern rather Republican presidential debate on CNN.
Next Thursday, January 19th, 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
All right, also, this morning, we're following new violence in Syria where the government is waging a brutal crackdown on protests. We're just now learning that the mortar fire has also killed two people in the city of Homs. One of the victims a French journalist. CNN international correspondent Nic Robertson spoke to an iWitness. And he's joining us right now by phone. What can you tell us, Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka I was in Homs minutes before the attack took place. I saw the two journalists who were caught up in that attack covering the beginning of a pro-government rally.
The journalist who was killed is Gilles Jacquier (ph) a journalist for the French to National Television Station. His death has been confirmed by his channel in Paris. The two men were covering a pro-government demonstration. We're told by the iWitness that a mortar round crashed in and then people swarmed around to go and see what had happened and three more mortar rounds came in.
That's when Gilles Jacquier (ph) was killed, his Dutch assistant was injured. There were nine other civilians injured and one other civilian killed in the attack. We spent the day in the city of Homs. It's a city of many parts. There are areas of government who we were with government minders. They wouldn't take us to because they're controlled by the opposition. They're very dangerous and volatile.
There are areas where life almost seemed normal which is one of the area -- which is the areas where the journalist was killed and there are areas where some stores are open. Some are closed. There are a lots of troops in the city. In feels in some areas like the city under siege. It is also as we have seen and witnessed ourselves today a very dangerous city.
WHITFIELD: And so Nic does this change anything in about the way in which the government is allowing information or even allowing journalist to see anything now that a journalist has been killed?
ROBERTSON: Well, we haven't heard government officials react to -- react to this yet. We -- at a senior level. The government minders who were with us told us originally they wanted us to go and cover this rally. And we said to them look, there's been a lot of government rallies. It will be a waste of time for us. We don't want to cover it. So they said, fine. You don't have to go --
And we left. Otherwise we would have been at the rally.
Afterwards they told us, they said, we think that rally it was targeted because we think that people expected you, the group of foreign reporters to be there. The other two journalists, the Frenchman who was killed and the Dutch journalist as well who was injured. They had gone to Homs separately with a different in peace- keeping group. They were just two individuals by themselves. They weren't traveling under the auspices of the government.
But clearly the early indications are that government officials are probably going to look at this and say it's very dangerous for journalists in Syria right now. And you can only go where we say you can go with our help. That's probably going to be an outcome. We don't know.
WHITFIELD: Nic Robertson, thanks so much.
Los Angeles detectives are speaking out about the reopened investigation into the death of movie legend Natalie Wood. That is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: One of Hollywood's biggest mysteries tops our entertainment headlines as the tragic drowning of movie star, Natalie Wood more than 30 years ago. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" host A.J. Hammer joins us now with the latest on that reopened investigation into the Woods death.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST: Fred it is fascinating to me that people have been interested in this mystery for 30 years now. And the case was re-opened by authorities two months ago. That was after they were contacted by some people who claims they had some additional information about the case. So far, the police haven't been all that impressed by this new reports. But they're not shutting things down just yet.
We've just spoken with the L.A. sheriff's department and they're telling CNN they have not discovered any new information that changes the case. But a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department is telling CNN the investigation does remain opened and they're still following up on leads. So really, who knows where this is going to lead. But so far, Woods' death is still officially an accident.
Of course, Woods husband Robert Wagner and actor Christopher Walken were on the boating trip with Natalie Wood on that night that she died back in 1981, which is what has always made this such a juicy Hollywood mystery, Fred, so not entirely shocking that there's still so much interest in this case all these years later.
Whitfield: Yes. All right. meantime let's talk about the beginning of a life by the name of Baby Blue, Beyonce and Jay-Z's baby. They brought her home and when they get home there are tons of gifts everywhere. What's going on.
HAMMER: Not entirely shocking either. A lot of reports are floating out there about a whole lot of extravagant gifts for this famous newborn. Now, the New York Daily News is reporting, "Her superstar dad, Jay-Z reportedly dropped $20,000 on a carriage fantasy crib. The crib looks kind of something like a Cinderella carriage that she took a ride in but it has a changing table attached to it.
The new family has also reportedly been getting -- bombarded with gifts from so many superstars like Kanye West and Mariah Carey and Rihanna. And of course, even in this crowd when they're getting that traditional gifts, there's always a celebrity twist to it. For example, Oprah Winfrey reportedly didn't just send over some books. Oh, no. Oprah sent a trunk filled with her favorite children's books.
Beyonce's Destiny Child's band mate Kelly Roland reportedly bought the little girl a green Bob Marley (INAUDIBLE) and a bunch of cashmere blankets.
Also Fred, I should point, there are some reports out there that Jay-Z bought a $600,000 24-karat gold rocking horse. However, the "New York Daily News" says it's not true. I'm not entirely surprised that that report was out there. It doesn't sound too crazy for these guys but they're saying didn't happen.
WHITFIELD: Ok. Maybe he didn't buy it. Maybe it was gifted instead. Or just serious, not true any way shape or form.
HAMMER: Exactly right. Yes, that's what we're thinking. But who knows? Nothing really surprises me. They can be pretty extravagant when they want to. They certainly have the funds to do it.
WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Thanks so much, A.J.
All right. If you want information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, A.J. has got it this evening on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, 11:00 Eastern time on HLN.
All right. It's an epic journey through ice to help people in Gnome, Alaska. Next, we'll update you on the Coast Guard and a fuel tanker's efforts to reach that iced in city.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. This just in. Joran van der Sloot just pleaded guilty to all charges against him in the killing of a Peruvian woman Stephany Flores. On Friday, van der Sloot said he said he needed more time to reflect on his plea in that 2010 killing. But again he just pleaded guilty to all charges in the case.
He was also considered the prime suspect but never charged in American Natalee Holloway's disappearance in Aruba back in 2005.
Now to an epic journey happening right now in the waters of Alaska -- frozen waters. A coast guard ice breaker and a tanker are trying to deliver more than a million gallons of fuel to Gnome, Alaska. They're making some progress. At times they've had to get past ice ridges. Up to four feet high.
Jacqui Jeras is joining me now with an update on -- it's slow going. Oh my goodness and hopefully they'll ultimately make it.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, they're about two-thirds of the way there already Fredricka. So that's the good news, is that they have been making some of this progress and it has been slow going. But they put an unmanned plane up and they determined that the ice that's still ahead of them is a little bit thinner than the ice they've been going through now. So they might be able to pick up a little bit more forward speed. Here's the location of it. The cutler Healy is the name of the Coast Guard ship that's breaking through all that ice. And it's about 97 miles away from its destination of Gnome, Alaska. It's going to stop maybe about a half mile short of that. And they're going to be able to then, transfer that fuel through a hose and make its way on to (INAUDIBLE) and help those people, you know. They missed their supply.
They came in November because of a storm. And now that ice gets thick in the upcoming months so that's why they're trying to do it now because it's going to actually get worse in the next couple of months.
Take a look at this -- just to give you an idea of the extent of sea ice here. Here's Alaska, here's Gnome right here. There you can see the area that it's been having to go through. It's been taking a trip through like that. So, yes, when you're talking about a 300 mile trek through all of that ice, it's ugly. And also just FYI the temperature in Gnome right now, about 12 degrees below zero. Five hours of daylight.
WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. Wow, they are hardy folks there.
JERAS: They are.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much Jacqui.
All right the U.S. could ban oranges form Brazil after a Jewish company there discovered a fungicide in its product. The EPA says, the low level reported by the juice producers does not raise safety concerns. The chemical is legal in Brazil and other countries but it's considered an unlawful pesticide in the U.S. The FDA will need a few days to determine how widespread this problem might be.
And coming up, next, three things we've learned from New Hampshire about the top three finishers, plus what they face going forward.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. As we put the bow on the New Hampshire primary, let's look at what we've learned. Our political editor, Paul Steinhauser, joins us now from Manchester.
So let's start with Mitt Romney, Paul. Big night. Did he meet expectations?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: A very big night for him here. This is basically Romney country. You can see these events -- you knew later Fred. The newspaper that endorsed Newt Gingrich but you can see right here, they are saying it was a big night for Mitt Romney.
Did he meet expectations? Yes, probably. He won around 40 percent of the vote, that's more than John McCain won four years ago and he was about 16 to 17 points straight ahead of all the others in the field. And take a listen to this from last night at the at the victory celebration.
(MUSIC)
STEINHAUSER: Fred, Mitt Romney definitely knows where he is. "Sweet Caroline" is a really popular song with Red Sox fans and this is Red Sox country and Carolina -- well he's going to the Carolina's next, obviously -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Ok. Now Ron Paul, he got a strong second. To him, it's a victory.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, this is a case where second place is as good as first place because following a third place finish -- a pretty good one in Iowa -- how do you top that? You finish second here and listen.
Ron Paul will be in the contest for quite some time. He's got energetic and enthusiastic supporters. This strong second place finish will help him raise money.
And let's talk one more person -- let's talk about Jon Huntsman. He got the bronze medal here. He probably wanted the silver Fred. But a bronze is at least good enough as he says to give him a ticket to ride at least to South Carolina.
We'll see how far that ride goes though for the former Utah governor -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much from Manchester.
All right. Nearly 200 convicted criminals are set free after Mississippi's governor gives them pardons. Some of them include murders, rapists and armed robbers. Bottom line, their record is wiped clean so we'd like to hear from you.
Should unconditional pardons be allowed. Leave your thoughts at facebook.com/SuzanneCNN and we'll read some of those comments next hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. It's time to fast forward to events happening later on today. At noon eastern several human rights groups will protest the tenth anniversary of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center in Cuba. The rally will be at Lafayette Park across from the White House.
At 2:30 eastern time the alleged mob boss James "White" Bulger appears in court, he thinks is charges relating to 19 murders. And a few minutes later first lady Michelle Obama talked about the needs of military veterans and makes a major announcement on their medical care.
Much more straight ahead in the newsroom with Suzanne Malveaux. Happy new year. First time we're seeing eaich other in person. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I know. It's been weeks now. Great to see you.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you too. .
MALVEAUX: You must have had a little time off.
WHITFIELD: A little bit. Had to visit the fam.
MALVEAUX: Yes. It's always good. Good to check in. Thanks, good to see you.
