Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Mitt Romney Leading by Double Digits in Florida Polls; DREAM Act Controversy; Moving Against Bashar al-Assad; Florida Votes; Deadly Florida Highway Crashes
Aired January 31, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Another rough gig here covering the primary in beautiful Tampa, Florida, here. A huge day. Florida holding its primary election today.
Check the clock. Six hours to go here. Six hours until the very latest polls close in the state of Florida.
We're going to be talking to a former governor here within the next hour. Also, I spoke with an undocumented student who was worried about the candidates' positions when it comes specifically to the DREAM Act. And we'll be talking to a controversial pastor who is a key supporter of Rick Santorum's campaign right here in the state of Florida.
But as always, we begin, top of the hour, everything making news, "Rapid Fire." Let's go.
We have seen the foreclosure signs here in Florida. You don't have to go far to find them. But the housing numbers nationwide are even worse than the experts thought.
Home prices, they plummeted 1.3 percent in November alone. That is the third straight month of decline. And out of the 20 cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller report, Phoenix. Phoenix, Arizona, the only one where home prices went up.
Also today, three suspected drone strikes hit militant targets in Yemen overnight. According to Yemeni security officers, at least nine people believed to be linked to al Qaeda were killed in the attacks. U.S. officials do confirm a drone strike in Yemen, but they're not giving any details.
Keep in mind timing here. This comes a day after President Obama, for the very first time, openly discussed the U.S. drone program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For the most part, they have been very precise precision strikes against al Qaeda and their affiliates. And we are very careful in terms of how it's been applied. This is a targeted, focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists who are trying to go in and harm Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: One administration source denies the president made a mistake or slipup by revealing what had been classified information about those drone strikes.
And the nation's top intel chiefs are considering a plan that would transfer five detainees from Guantanamo Bay as a way to build confidence with the Taliban. At last that's what they told senators during a hearing today when they delivered the U.S. threat assessment on Capitol Hill.
Here now is CIA Director David Petraeus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PETRAEUS, CIA DIRECTOR: In fact, our analysts did provide assessments of the five and the risks presented by various scenarios by which they could be sent somewhere, not back to Afghanistan or Pakistan, and then based on the various mitigating measures that could be implemented to ensure that they cannot return to militant activity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The threat assessment delivered to Congress today also indicates there is concern about Iran plotting against the United States and its allies, and Iran is keeping its options open to developing nuclear weapons. It has the most ballistic missiles of any country in all of the Middle East.
And this --
(MUSIC)
BALDWIN: Love this song! British music star Adele set to perform at the Grammys. This will be her first performance in quite a while.
You remember how she had to cancel? Maybe you were affected, had a ticket, didn't get to see her. She had to cancel a ton of concerts over the past year while recovering from her throat surgery.
We've been trying to get her for "Music Monday." Would love to talk to her.
Take a look at all these dates. It was her entire U.S. tour. Adele is nominated for six -- count them, six -- Grammys.
What is this? It is a booming thunder snowstorm.
Yes, a thunder snowstorm hitting Youngstown, Ohio. One to three inches of snow fell per hour on Sunday, causing near whiteout conditions. Winds gusting as high as 40 miles an hour howled through the area.
It's a rare event. It is actually more common during lake-effect snow.
And a huge thrill for some students at an intermediate school in Mansfield, Texas. They got to ask some of the crew way up high in space of the ISS, the International Space Station, what's on their mind. So, besides the obvious questions about science and technology, they asked -- well, take a look yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What challenges do you face when completing day- to-day activities like haircuts, for instance?
DAN BURBANK, COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: You have got to be able to cut hair. And I think all of us in theory might have practiced that before we came here, but none of us ever did it until we actually got here.
We were faced with one of our crewmates who needed a haircut. And so we basically will start cutting each other's hair, and if we make a mistake, the hair will get a little shorter and a little shorter, and eventually it will be relatively even.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Love it. The kids getting to the tough questions about haircuts and astronauts.
We've got a lot more to cover for you, a live show, over the next two hours here in Tampa, Florida. It is the day of the Florida primary. A lot to talk about, including this --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: We're live in Tampa today, where we're hours from one Republican taking home the top prize tonight. We're going to hear the candidates' last-minute pitches today on the trail.
Also, we're going to tell you the story of this young woman who risked being kicked out of the country for talking to me.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): They're called dreamers, immigrants hoping to stay in the U.S. despite getting here illegally.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At any moment I can have my very life taken from me and be sent to a country that I don't even remember.
BALDWIN: She tells me what life is like when the country you've always called home threatens to deport you.
Then, the ultimate "Political Pop."
OBAMA (singing): I --
BALDWIN: First, the president sings. Now a guy who wants his job. Well --
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- above the fruited plain. BALDWIN: Plus, police say a man killed his wife because she gave birth to a daughter instead of a son.
And call it what it is -- a slaughter. Dozens more reportedly die in Syria as the government attacks its own people. Now new pressure may be coming for the man in charge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back to Florida. It is a big day here in the Sunshine State. It's Primary Day, the fourth and, up until now, the richest Republican contest of the 2012 nominating season. And by richest, I mean the most valuable trove of delegates a state has offered up so far. We're going to touch on that and the number there in just a moment.
But first, Mitt Romney, you probably know -- we've been talking about this a lot here -- he is the favorite. Remember, Romney, he won the New Hampshire primary. Newt Gingrich is the other major factor down here. He had a huge win in South Carolina, put a stop, a screeching halt to Romney's momentum out in New Hampshire. And folks down here will tell you he has made Mitt Romney's work a heck of a lot harder here in Florida.
Paul Steinhauser, working around the clock, back with me today, CNN political editor.
Today is a huge day, specifically, though -- but first -- I'm going to go to Paul in just a minute -- I spoke earlier today with a former governor of Florida, with a Republican-turned-Independent. He can't vote today, but I talked to him about what he makes of the Republican race.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Governor Crist, you were a Republican and you are now a registered Independent. You can't vote today. Who would you like to see though of the crop of candidates going up against President Obama come November?
CHARLIE CRIST (R), FMR. FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I'm not really sure. I'll leave that to Florida Republicans. It's their decision and their call to make, and so we'll see what happens by the end of the day.
You know, if you go by the polls, it looks like it's going to be Governor Romney, but it's Florida, so you never know for sure until all the votes are counted. And we'll see tonight.
BALDWIN: This morning on our air we had on Senator Marco Rubio. And he said he believes whoever wins Florida will be the party's nominee. Do you agree with that? CRIST: It's not unlikely, but I think this is an unpredictable type of year. When you look at the Republican primary, from week to week we've had a different front-runner, and then it kind of goes back and forth. You know, South Carolina was Newt Gingrich, Florida may be tonight for Governor Romney. That could swing back again.
You just don't know. I don't know that it's really that predictable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And now here he is, Paul Steinhauser.
And I want to talk about -- you're the poll man. You've been crunching the numbers. Romney has been up double digits in all these different polls.
My question is tonight, how much does he need to win by? I keep hearing this 12 percent. That was the margin of victory in South Carolina, Gingrich over Romney. Is that a number he needs to shoot for tonight?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: You know what? A win here will do the trick, even if it's by 10 votes.
Why? This is a winner-takes-all state, Brooke. So he gets all 50 delegates even if he wins by one percent, two percent, five percent, 10 percent.
Of course, yes, he would like to win by double digits here in Florida -- no doubt about that -- to show a sign of strength as we move into the February contest. But he wins by five votes, there could be a recount on that one.
BALDWIN: Hopefully not.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, we don't want to go there.
BALDWIN: Hopefully not. We don't want to go there.
You mentioned delegates. It's winner takes all, so there are 50 delegates up for grabs here in Florida, correct?
STEINHAUSER: Correct.
BALDWIN: What's the deal though? Because, so far, we still have these four candidates. Newt Gingrich vowing to go all the way to the convention, which, by the way, is just over this way.
The magic number is what?
STEINHAUSER: 1,144. That's why we are nowhere close.
BALDWIN: Nowhere close.
STEINHAUSER: You need 1,144 delegates to clinch the nomination. Yes, we're still pretty early in this process. BALDWIN: Might -- if all of these gentlemen stay in the race, which who knows if that's going to happen or not at this point in time -- what if they don't quite hit that magic number by August?
STEINHAUSER: Then we could go to a brokered convention, something that hasn't happened in my lifetime or yours. But it could happen? Yes, anything could happen.
Remember, four years ago, we had a historic contest between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. That went all the way to June before she dropped out and he went over the top.
So, yes, could it happen? Maybe. I don't know. Stay tuned.
BALDWIN: When do polls close tonight here?
STEINHAUSER: Seven o'clock for most of the state. Remember, there is a little bit of Florida that's in the panhandle that's part of the Central Time zone, so final polls close at 8:00.
BALDWIN: Let me take a look. This was the latest poll. This was released today. I got this in my e-mail inbox from you, Paul Steinhauser, this morning.
STEINHAUSER: Sorry about that.
BALDWIN: Early this morning. Thank you very much.
STEINHAUSER: Too many e-mails? Yes.
BALDWIN: Wakeup call from you.
This is the ARG poll, American Research Group, and it shows Romney leading 43 percent; Gingrich sitting at 31; Santorum, 13; and Paul there, 9. Among those who voted early, Romney was favored over Gingrich, 51 percent to 29 percent. But the margin who said they planned to vote today was much, much smaller. That was the seven points.
What accounts for that, seven points?
STEINHAUSER: You know, this is interesting. You look at those numbers of people who have already voted, that's Romney's -- I guess you could say that's kind of his card in the hand there, the expert card in the deck for him.
All these people have already voted. He's winning these votes. So, for Gingrich to win tonight, he not only has to win, but he has to win by about 8 or 9 percent to actually edge out all those people who have already cast ballots.
Six hundred and thirty-two thousand have already --
BALDWIN: That's a huge number.
STEINHAUSER: That is a huge -- that's more than voted in South Carolina. A heck of a lot more. You could add New Hampshire and Iowa together, you still don't get to that point.
You saw that overall number though. And five other polls that have come out in the last 48 hours indicate the same thing. Why is Romney ahead now? He's beating Gingrich among women. He's always been doing that. Now he's actually edging him out among men, which is interesting.
He's edging Gingrich out or almost tied with Gingrich among Tea Party supporters and true conservatives. These are Gingrich's real base voters, and Romney, at least here in Florida, is basically even with Gingrich.
BALDWIN: OK, Paul Steinhauser. Thank you very much. I appreciate it here.
And be sure to watch, of course, the Florida primary results live. We can only do it only how CNN really can, right, the A team? Our coverage starts 6:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
And as we just mentioned here, the immigration issue, it is huge here in Florida, but here is one reason why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Simple things like driving to school or, you know, going to get groceries, those are very stressful situations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Just the act of sitting there on that bench talking to me, putting her face on camera, that young college woman, she risks possible deportation. She and her parents are here illegally, and they're some of the people caught in the political crosshairs of this primary race.
You're going to hear her story. Don't miss this, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: And welcome back here, a live show here in Tampa, Florida. Today is the big day in Florida. It is the Republican primary. The beautiful Tampa skyline over my shoulder.
And we're here to tell a number of stories, a number of issues that are very key to a number of voting blocs here in Florida. But specifically, I want to talk immigration.
It's a very important issue among Latino voters, as is, of course, the economy and jobs, but immigration specifically. Keep in mind, in 2008, 12 percent of the voters in the Republican presidential primary here in Florida were Hispanic.
And last night, I spent my evening with a young woman. She is 20 years old. She is a college student here in Florida, and she is here illegally.
She did something though many youngsters in her shoes are not often willing to do. She spoke with me on camera.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAYRA HIDALGO, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: Once in a while we do fall into this really deep just, like, sense of hopelessness and helplessness.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Mayra Hidalgo appears to be a typical college kid -- Spanish/Biology double major, aspiring lawyer, classical singer for fun. But this 20-year-old is one traffic ticket away from being deported.
HIDALGO: At any moment I can have my very life taken from me and be sent back to a country that I don't even remember. Simple things like driving to school or, you know, going to get groceries, those are very stressful situations.
BALDWIN: Hidalgo doesn't have a driver's license because she's here illegally. She says her parents brought her to the U.S. from Costa Rica when she was just 6 months old on a tourist visa that expired years ago.
HIDALGO: It's unjust, it's frustrating.
BALDWIN: But her frustration toward her parents has slowly turned into gratitude.
HIDALGO: The older I get, the more grateful I am for the sacrifice they've made, because I know regardless of my legal status here, I wouldn't -- I know I've accomplished so much here because they brought me here.
BALDWIN: Mayra Hidalgo calls herself a dreamer, one who supports the DREAM Act, proposed legislation that would give undocumented young people a pathway to citizenship if they meet certain requirements like attend a four-year college or serve two years in the U.S. military.
HIDALGO: As a child of immigrants, as -- being an immigrant myself, I feel like my role has always been to go to school, work really hard, and have a career. And that's what I want to do, but it's so difficult when you don't have a legal status.
BALDWIN: A bill has yet to make it through Congress, but President Obama supports the idea and Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich support it -- sort of.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- that if you live in a foreign country and you're prepared to join the American military, you can in fact earn a right to citizenship by serving the United States and taking real risk on behalf of the United States.
ROMNEY: That's the same position that I have.
BALDWIN: Hidalgo disagrees. HIDALGO: There are other ways to serve this country. Just being a doctor, being an attorney, those are just as important ways to serve our country just like the military.
BALDWIN: With military service being the only path to citizenship, she wants the candidates to know this --
HIDALGO: You're messing with people's lives. Do you even have a heart? Do you understand that, you know, these aren't just those illegals? We're humans, we're people here.
BALDWIN: Just showing her face on camera makes Hidalgo vulnerable.
(on camera): Are you scared at all to be sitting here next to me?
HIDALGO: I feel like it's far more important to put a face to the issue, to the undocumented student, so people can understand our struggle a little better. And if living in fear is what I have to do to do that, I'm OK with that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Just a little bit on Mayra's background. She's actually one of four siblings here in the United States. She is the only one who is currently undocumented. Her youngest sibling was born here, the other two married Americans, so they began their pathways to citizenship that way. And she told me she doesn't want to rely on a potential partner for citizenship.
We're going to get back to politics here in a moment, but first, more people are dying, being slaughtered inside Syria. The U.S. is getting ready to make a big move involving Syria's president, but it may be without the help of one key country. We're talking about Russia.
Why Russia is now playing hardball, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: As I sit here speaking to you, the death count in Syria is now at 30. That is according to one monitoring group.
Take a look at this.
Yesterday, the number killed, 100. Since March, at least 5,000. And now we have a graphic and brutal reminder of what those numbers precisely represent.
A warning, though. Even though we did blur some of this video, it's tough to watch. But the video you're going to see here, this is form the city of Homs. It shows a family slaughtered.
Opposition groups say Syrian security forces killed the victims, four young children and their parents. It appears they were shot.
CNN cannot verify the authenticity of much of the video we show out of Syria because the nation has limited journalists' access in country, but we are getting accounts that this type of killing is happening all around the country as people try to end the rule of Syria's current government.
CNN's Arwa Damon has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Activists are saying that a disaster is unfolding in the eastern Damascus suburbs that have been under what was described as being a relentless bombardment since an offensive began there on Saturday. Communications, power, largely shut off.
The area has seen an unprecedented, according to activists, number of security forces entering it, firing indiscriminately, and people living there are living various challenges trying to get adequate food and medical supplies. This uptick in violence was also part of the reason why the Arab League decided to suspend its mission.
The death toll on Monday, utterly devastating. The majority of the casualties happening in the flash point city of Homs, but also seeming to spread to other parts of the country as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Arwa Damon, thank you.
The Syrian government blames terrorists for the uptick in violence. Syrian state television reports terrorists sabotaged this gas line and killed a doctor, a teacher, and seven members of the military.
So, the urgent question at this hour is this: how do save Syrians and stop all this bloodshed.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she is going to be at the United Nations. The plan on the table is to call for Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad, to step down and transfer power to his second in command. But one of the decision makers on the U.N. Security Council not at all on board here. That being Russia.
Senior State Department Producer Elise Labott is live for me in New York, where Clinton is about to go into a very important meeting, I know, on Syria at the U.N.
Elise, first, I just want to talk about what came out of a Senate committee today. We know that the United States' top intelligence officer believes Assad's exit -- and I'm quoting here -- is "a question of time."
What more can you tell me about that?
ELISE LABOTT, CNN SR. STATE DEPT. PRODUCER: Well, director of National Intelligence, Brooke, James Clapper, saying it's just a matter of time, but he went on to say that even though President Bashar al-Assad could go at any time, it could take a lot longer than everybody wants because the Syrian opposition, as we've been reporting, is very fragmented, doesn't really have a cohesive plan. And Bashar al-Assad continues to have support in the country.
So, while it's just a matter of time, a lot of violence, a lot of -- people could die in the meantime, and that's why Secretary of State Clinton, other foreign ministers of Britain and France, going to the U.N. Security Council today to saying, listen, he's on his way out, he's a goner. But how many people are going to die before that happens? Better to get him out sooner rather than later.
And they want to hear from the Arab League's monitoring mission that we've been discussing that's been on the ground, want to hear what they have to say, and hope that will make this move a little bit along.
BALDWIN: We know the secretary is speaking at the U.N. next hour. But I do want to ask you about Russia, Elise.
Why is Russia getting in the way of efforts there at the U.N. to help people of Syria? Why?
LABOTT: Well, for several reasons.
First of all, the Russians feel a little bit duped about what happened in Libya. They signed on to this resolution to so-called protect civilians, but then they saw that, really, the goal in many ways was to get rid of Moammar Gadhafi, and they feel as if they don't want to go down that road again. They don't want to say that they'd sign on to some kind of military intervention, which no one is calling for, by the way, right now. But they don't want to go down that road.
Also, Russia -- really, Syria is one of their last strongholds in the Middle East, their closest ally, a lot of armed sales, a lot of business deals, and the Russians don't want to sign anything to get them out of power.
But basically, what everyone is hoping today, when the Arab League secretary general, when the prime minister comes to the U.N. and talks about this mission and what they found on the ground, the violence they've seen.
That Russia is going to see that the whole international community is behind getting Assad to go and that Russia can't turn an eye to the violence any longer -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: OK, so that's some of the context, but just back to the U.N., I mean, looking ahead, will anything the U.N. does actually do anything and I say that because we know President Assad has rejected diplomatic calls before? Do world leaders really think this resolution can make an impact?
LABOTT: Well, the resolution itself won't have any impact because, as you know, there is a lot of diplomatists involved in the U.N. and this isn't under certain rules, a Chapter 7, as they say at the United Nations Security Council wouldn't call for any force if Bashar Al- Assad decided not to step down.
But this would really be the first time since this crisis began that the whole international community would be speaking with one voice. It's basically all Russia's call right now.
The U.S. other countries feel, diplomats telling me from the National Security Council that if Russia can sign on, this will send a message to Bashar Al-Assad to say, listen, I don't have any friends in the international community.
I better start thinking of an exit. Of course, we've been seeing how he's clinging to power, but if the international community can speak with one voice, this is another nail in the coffin, so to speak.
BALDWIN: Elise Labott, thank you so much. Now this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, I don't know if anybody knows exactly what they're doing. Everybody is running on a Reagan platform. What is a Reagan platform?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Forget the polls. We went straight to the source here in Florida. This is how we spent our Sunday afternoon. Talking to folks, talking to Floridians, getting a feel for what voters are thinking here, a little more about what they are saying next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Back here live, Tampa, Florida. In fact, you're looking at live pictures. Tampa, Florida Convention Center, that is where Mitt Romney is going to be having his headquarters tonight, of course, hoping to have a victorious night tonight here in Tampa.
Newt Gingrich is not too far away in Orlando -- there are two candidates not even in the state. We're going to talk about that here in just a minute.
But we've been spending, my crew, in the last couple of days here in Florida. We've been talking to people about the issues that matter, the issues that are actually getting them out to the polls today, and some of the responses I got surprised me. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm undecided. I'm leaning more towards Romney just simply because I thought he should have run the last time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As far as the economy, I would have to say Newt. I appreciate Rick's enthusiasm and he gets a little overheated sometimes and I don't think he remains as cool, calm and collected as Newt does. I think Newt certainly has the experience and has over the last, I don't know, 30 years that he knows how to get things done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As an educator, it's education, but our economy is just baffling and we need to do something about it. I need someone in there who is willing to stand up for the majority and not buckle under.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I still feel like most Americans aren't any better off now than they were four years ago, and there are a lot of factors that lead into that. But we've got to do something to improve the housing market and just how well most population is doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, I don't think anybody knows exactly what they're doing. Everybody is running on a Reagan platform. What is a Reagan platform?
During Reagan time, he raised taxes three times during his time as president. So are they telling us they're going to be following the plan the raise taxes also? Let me know now. If you're going to raise taxes, tell me, because right now that's the platform you're running on, I'm going to raise taxes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: So that's just a sampling of who we've been hearing from here in Florida today and the past couple days. Who will win tonight?
You need to watch CNN to find out live coverage of the Florida primary beginning tonight, 6:00 Eastern on CNN. Of course, you'll see Wolf Blitzer leading the coverage, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King.
I'll be right back giving you announcements on social media tonight. Once again, live coverage begins at 6:00 Eastern here on CNN. We will see you then.
In the meantime, a high-profile preacher says gay people make God want to vomit. He also uses strong words to describe Muslims. This preacher is a surrogate for Rick Santorum's campaign. Reverend O'Neal Dozier, joining me live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: And welcome back to Tampa. Big day here in Florida, primary day, everyone getting out and voting with those who are registered Republicans.
You know, Rick Santorum, he has already moved on as you probably know is campaigning here. It was interrupted an illness involving one of children, his little girl, Bella. She was hospitalized over the weekend so he had to return home to Pennsylvania, but now he has swung westward.
He is campaigning out west. And Santorum, though, certainly on the ballot here in Florida, and joining me now, one of his campaign's honorary co-chairs. This is the Reverend O'Neal Dozier.
Reverend Dozier has some strong feelings when it comes to some of the social issues. So I just want to go straight. Welcome, welcome, Reverend. I want to go just straight to some of the views that we've found printed out.
You were quoted by Mother Jones as calling homosexuality the paramount sin. You further quoted saying, homosexuality is, quote, "so nasty and disgusting that it makes God want to vomit."
Back to the paramount sin, murder is a paramount sin, so are you equating homosexuality with murder?
REVEREND O'NEAL DOZIER, PASTOR, WORLDWIDE CHRISTIAN CENTER: No, not really. Let me say this. I love the homosexual people. I want everyone to understand this. And God loves the homosexual people, Brooke. But in the bible, God actually rained down fire and brimstone up on two cities in the old testaments, Sodom and Gomorrah, basically because of the sin of homosexuality.
Now in that particular passage, God called homosexuality an abomination in his site (ph). When you translate that particular word, abomination, for this original text, which is a Hebrew text, you will find that that particular word means this. Disgusting, that's the meaning of the word. It means disgusting --
BALDWIN: I'm not trying to quote the bible, I'm trying to get your own views -- because if I may, let me go on to quote, you're also quoted as saying, God would never ordain the government to take from the rich and give to the poor, so therefore God is not a socialist. So do you think God is a Republican?
DOZIER: No. No, I don't. I don't think that God is a Democrat nor a Republican. But God will certainly not do as Obama is doing, you know, and the Democrats are doing. God would never take from the rich to give to the poor.
In other words, Brooke, God does not have the Robin Hood mentality. That is a socialist mentality. There is no place in the bible, Brooke, where God orders, even mandates, for the rich to give their money over to the poor or someone to take their money from them.
What God has said is this. It is an individual thing, Brooke. It is up to you and me and the rest of us out here to voluntarily on our own give to the poor.
BALDWIN: So we have an idea a little bit of some of your views when it comes to social issues. The next question is we've made multiple phone calls to the Santorum campaign just to get a better understanding of your relationship with them, how Rick Santorum feels about some of the issues that you clearly share.
My question because we've gotten no response from them. My question is what kind of relationship do you have with Rick Santorum? Have you had a face to face with him? Does he agree with your views?
DOZIER: I've had a face-to-face talk with him, but I don't know if he really shares my views. I really don't understand that.
BALDWIN: Have you asked him?
DOZIER: No, I have not. I have not, but I do know understand this about him. He's not a politically correct person. Rick Santorum is not a politically correct person. He is going to speak the truth as it is.
And I want to say this again. I love the homosexual people and God does also. God hates the act of homosexuality. That is what he hates.
BALDWIN: You have worked with former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, you have worked with former Governor Charlie Crist, you've also visited the Bush White House. In addition to being a reverend, do you also see yourself as a bit of a political power broker?
DOZIER: No, but I do have political influence, however.
BALDWIN: How so?
DOZIER: Well, they're coming after me, Brooke, right? So I must have something.
BALDWIN: What is it about you?
DOZIER: I really don't know, just my truth, I guess, teaching and preaching the word of God. At my church, for example, we do not compromise the word of God and we have a mixed congregation. We're conservative people.
BALDWIN: What's in it for you to be so involved in politics?
DOZIER: What? Soul winning, Brooke. You see, there is really no separation from church, from state. There is a separation, however, from state from church, but not from church from state. You see, I'm a lawyer by trade also, Brooke, so I understand the first amendment, yes.
BALDWIN: You say that Romney was unelectable though because he's Mormon.
DOZIER: Yes, he's Mormon.
BALDWIN: Explain what you mean by that.
DOZIER: I am saying what the Gallup poll has said. Let me just say what the Gallup poll has said first. A Gallup poll was done in June of 2011 that said this, that 22 percent of the electorates said they will not vote for a Mormon to be president of the United States of America.
Now, there is another issue there. You see, Mitt Romney has a lot to think about. Number one, I don't believe he's going to garner the black votes like he needs to. Why? Because he's a Mormon.
Why? Because in the Book of Mormons, there is a paragraph in there that says the nigger is cursed and his skin is black because of that curse. I don't know how many black people are going to jump into Mitt Romney. BALDWIN: We don't know yet. Obviously, you look at the polls here in Florida, Mitt Romney is up by double digits. But I just want to end with your candidate. Why should voters here in Florida -- Rick Santorum has already left the state. He's not here. He's in Nevada today. Why should Florida voters vote for him? He hasn't been able to spend a lot of time here.
DOZIER: He is the most contrast to Obama. We need someone who is a total contrast to Obama in terms of his issues, in terms of his policies, in terms of his initiatives, you see?
His politics are totally the opposite of Obama. Now, Mitt Romney and Newt, theirs are not so much that. They say it is, but when you look at their records, it's not.
BALDWIN: Reverend, thank you.
DOZIER: Thank you very much.
BALDWIN: Thank you.
Coming up next here as we sit in Florida, it is the only state of its size up for grabs in the general election. So what does tonight tell us about November? We're going to talk to Wolf Blitzer. He's standing by prepping for the big primary night. We'll talk to Wolf next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Now we go to Wolf Blitzer with America's Choice 2012 politics update. Wolf, you know, the polls close, the final polls here in Florida at 8:00 Eastern Time.
I want you to hit home for me how important this race is not just for Republicans, but looking down the line at general election.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": It's very important. It's the most important competitive state in the United States. I'm writing my blog about this. We're going to post it very soon, but I'll share it with you and our viewers first.
Florida is the fourth largest state, but the three largest states, really, when all is said and done, are not competitive in a president election. New York state and California almost always go for a Democratic presidential candidate.
Texas always goes for a Republican presidential candidate. So the presidential candidates, president Obama and who the Republican nominee is, go to those states once in a while to attend a fundraiser, meet with some fat cats, raise as much money as they can in New York, California or Texas.
But they won't be spending a lot of time. They won't be advertising there. They won't be spending a lot of money there because they know the outcome in those three states. They don't know the outcome in Florida. Florida is the critical state as my old buddy used to say Florida, Florida, Florida. He was absolutely right.
These candidates, whoever it turns out to be, we know it's the president versus, you know, if it's Romney or Gingrich or Santorum or Paul, whoever it might turn out to be, they will be spending a lot of time and a lot of money in Florida.
Great news for the economy of Florida, great news for all those TV stations in Florida. They'll be getting millions and millions of dollars in paid advertising, so we'll be watching that.
BALDWIN: Mitt Romney, as you know, he's not only got the money, he's got the organizational power, and I was talking to Candy Crowley a couple minutes ago off camera and she was talking about maybe the bruises after the loss in South Carolina was a good thing in the end for Mitt Romney.
We're seeing a more aggressive Mitt Romney, but also a little bit more relaxed. I don't know if you saw him tossing Cheetos to employers, blowing out candles and also singing. Watch this.
OK, so in a competition between Wolf Blitzer and Mitt Romney -
BLITZER: He crushes me. He crushes me. I'm pretty good playing keyboards. I can do a little bit of that. I can't sing at all. He knew all the words. You didn't play the whole song. He knew all the words.
Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if he had screwed up the words, the lyrics a little bit? Having said that, he really is OK, not great, as a singer, but he's no President Obama. Have you heard the president of the United States sing Al Green lately?
BALDWIN: Yes. Weren't we just talking about that? It was at the Apollo a week or two ago? Here it is. Let's listen.
BLITZER: He's good. Yes, he's terrific.
BALDWIN: Kudos to Mitt Romney, though, for having the confidence to sing like that. I wouldn't have been able to.
BLITZER: Can we hear a little bit of Brooke Baldwin --
BALDWIN: No, no, no, no.
BLITZER: You love music. You're doing a lot of great songs --
BALDWIN: I love music, I love playing guitar --
BLITZER: Just a little bit, a few bars right now, your favorite song. We're ready.
BALDWIN: That's all you get.
BLITZER: I didn't hear it.
BALDWIN: You missed it. You missed it. BLITZER: A little bit, please.
BALDWIN: Wolf --
BLITZER: Our viewers want to hear Brooke sing.
BALDWIN: They can hear me sing later. We'll see in the commercial. Sorry. I don't want people turning the channel.
BLITZER: We'll see it viral on YouTube as soon as you start singing.
BALDWIN: We'll save it. Wolf Blitzer, we'll see you tonight, big primary coverage. See you a little later. Thank you so much.
Now a much, much different story, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God, he's coming too fast.
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: He's coming too fast. Here comes another one. See, there he goes. That one was a bad one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Moments of panic during the series of deadly car crashes on a Florida highway. We are now learning who some of the victims are, including a pastor and his family.
Plus, many of you are still asking, how did it happen? Chad Myers explains, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A church community in Marietta, Georgia is mourning after the loss of five members including its pastor. They were among those 10 people killed in that horrendous pile up along Interstate 75 in Florida just over this past weekend. And the family's only survivor was their teenage daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSANNA ALVES, FAMILY FRIEND: She will need support. She will need medical support. She will need psychological support and she will need a family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The 911 calls released by the county sheriff's office reveal absolute chaos, but the question still, of course, on everyone's mind. How could this happen? How could something like this, the smoke, the chain reaction, how can it all go down?
Chad Myers is standing by with a little bit of an explainer and Chad, I understand the lay of the land, the wind was a factor and how, I guess, sort of bowl shaped, is that right? CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's absolutely right. I've driven through this area south of Gainesville. On the way down to (inaudible) go see my parents. They live down in the villages.
And typically smoke will rise when you get a fire, it will just keep rising. Think about a chimney, how the smoke keeps going up. In Florida, the other night, there was a layer of very warm air above this smoke.
And as the smoke started to rise, it hit the layer and came back down. So literally, 100 feet from all the way from the surface to a 100 feet high was filled with smoke and let's talk about this bowl now that we're talking about.
There's Gainesville, there's the prairie right there, Panes Prairie, it's a preserve, goes all the way from here back to here. You have to understand, this fire was less than 50 acres at the time, but the interstate going right through Panes Prairie here.
We'll show you the bowl. There's the road as we go across this two-mile stretch. When I drive through this, Brooke, it looks like you're driving through a jungle, a swamp. It was just so flat, you can see hills on all sides.
But as you drive through it, it's just one big bowl of low- lying valley. It's a valley only a few acres, a couple square miles. That's where the smoke stayed.
That's where these people drove into the smoke, not even going that fast, but the cars were stopped in front of them on the road. They could not see.
As people got out of their cars with this, they said their flashers were on. When they walked 10 feet away from the car, they couldn't see the flashers anymore. That's how thick the smoke was.
BALDWIN: Absolutely horrible. Obviously, our thoughts go out to the people who lost their lives and even those who were there and witnessed the accident and couldn't do anything. Such a feeling of helplessness.
Chad Myers, thank you so much.
