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Hiring Surge In January; Veterans As First Responders; Nevada Caucuses Saturday; Komen Foundation Reconsiders; Protesters At Tahrir Square; Israel And Iran Tension; Major Snowstorm In Colorado; Hiring Surge In January; Army Vet Fights For Equal Rights; Dolphins Stranding In Record Numbers

Aired February 03, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you and you, too. And we're going to be busy before we get that weekend. It is 1:00 o'clock and we have quite an hour ahead, so let's get straight to the news, shall we?

It's been a long time since the job report has prompted words like amazing, fantastic, touchdown. I'm actually not kidding. That's what the economists are saying about the January figures that were released this morning by the labor department. Employers added 243,000 positions last month, and that is a whole lot more than anyone expected. And the jobless rate fell for the fifth month in a row, now standing at 8.3 percent. Wall street is celebrating, so is Ali Velshi who is going to join me in a few minutes live with the news behind those numbers.

In the meantime, President Obama says the economic recovery is speeding up, and then says Congress should not, in his words, quote, "muck it up." He's speaking this morning at a fire station in Virginia. The President called, again, for extending a payroll tax cut that's due to expire at the end of this month. He also wants to boost federal grants to local governments to hire veterans as first responders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Over the past three years, my administration's made it possible for states to keep thousands of first responders on the job, but today, we're announcing that communities that make a priority to recruit veterans will be among the first in line when it comes to getting help from the federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The jobless rate for recent vets is much, much higher than the national average, it stands at 11 percent.

And three of the four surviving GOP presidential hopefuls are making last pitches in the very next state to vote, that would be Nevada, whose caucuses are tomorrow and where Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead in the polls there. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are also stomping away for Nevada votes, and Rick Santorum is in Missouri, which is holding its nonbinding primary on Tuesday.

Forget about what you heard about the Susan G. Komen Foundation cutting its support of planned Parenthood, that's yesterday's news. Well, at least it was this morning's news, because the group just reversed the controversial decision that a lot of critics have said was political at best. Planned Parenthood is being investigated by Congress over the abortion services that make up the small proportion of its overall health care mission.

And we are getting some live pictures in from Egypt's Tahrir Square, this is Cairo. People unmasking (ph) the protesters there are very angry over this week's deadly soccer riot where they clashed with police near the interior ministry earlier today. The demonstrators are blaming inadequate security at the match on Wednesday. There was 79 people who died and more than 1,400 people who were injured. In the meantime, another story there, two American tourists kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula luckily are free this afternoon.

Israel has some very sharp words for Iran. The defense minister, Ehud Barak, saying time is running out for Iran to stop its nuclear program, and U.S. officials are kind of worried that a surprise attack on Iran on Israel could certainly spark a broader military conflict in that region. Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, has expressed its concern on Israel's recent warnings. The tensions between Iran and the world powers went up in the aftermath of a nuclear watchdog agency report in November. It said Tamron was likely developing nuclear weapons.

If you're in Colorado, wow, I'm sorry, you have quite a blizzard there. Take a look at the pictures, folks. As much as two inches of snow every hour is expected in this storm and the winds, somewhere around 40 miles an hour. Blowing snow making travel on the roads a real mess, 600 flights canceled from Denver International Airport. But the good news is, the national weather service says that things are expected to get better by tomorrow.

Surprise, hiring ramped up in January, unemployment down, so what does it all mean? Ali Velshi is breaking down the numbers coming up next.

First though, Arizona author, Bertha Bennett, writes tails about foster dogs that she adopts. But here's one that I don't think she ever imagined she'd be writing. When she fell and broke her leg and then lost consciousness, this little doggie, Danny, a schnauzer, not only woke her up by licking her face, he brought her a telephone so that she could call 911. Not enough for you? He brought her a telephone list so that she could call a neighbor that had a key and could let the paramedics into her home. It could have been days before anyone actually found that woman and she says Danny saved her life. So yet again, we have a four-legged furry Rock Star named Danny.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Some pretty surprisingly great jobs numbers for January. The report came in and, wow, 243,000 jobs were added. The unemployment rate then went down from 8.5 percent to 8.3 percent and that would be the lowest in three years. And that also means Ali Velshi gets on the set with me to talk to me. OK, I don't get it. All I ever hear is doom and gloom, doom and gloom, nothing's going to get better, and then I hear this.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. So, there's this -- there's been this disconnect for a few months between consumers who are actually feeling more energized about this economy than the numbers would indicate. But any way you look at this economy, whether it's jobs or things like industrial production, to measure how much we produce, all of it is looking much better than some people would have you think.

Our jobs, just look at what's happened under this -- under this presidency. First of all, this is what we added in January, 243,000 jobs. I almost say, forget the unemployment rate because -- just forget it. Let's talk about how many jobs have been lost since President Obama took office, 4.6 million jobs, 3.5 million jobs are now back, which means that if we --

BANFIELD: We should never hear the (INAUDIBLE.)

VELSHI: We never hear. All we hear about is how bad this administration's been for jobs. This is not a plug for the Obama administration, but --

BANFIELD: It's a fact.

VELSHI: If we get 130,000 jobs a month from now through election day, which is substantially fewer jobs than we gained this month, President Obama will get to go into the election saying that every job lost under his presidency has been regained, that's the good news for the Democrats. Here's the bad news, 15.6 million people are still unemployed in this country.

BANFIELD: Right.

VELSHI: There are about three million job openings. There's a mismatch between job openings and the skills people have. So, jobs remain the intractable problem of our time, but there's a good side to this.

BANFIELD: And you can't really say it's a badge of honor to say, oh, well, when I took office I had unemployment here because it was nasty.

VELSHI: Right, it was terrible. It's hard to spin this positively, but for Republicans, it's going to be tough to turn this around because they've based many of their campaign notions on the fact that this administration is horrible at job creation. The fact is it hasn't been. Now, in fairness, I've never been one of these guys to identify jobs lost under a president with that president because there's a leg effect anyway.

BANFIELD: Sure, of course, but here's the question. You're really smart at this and I'm not. So when I hear these numbers I often think, so what's that going to mean for, like, the retail outlets? Who's going to be shopping at Target? Who's going to be spending more money? Which ultimately would end up --

VELSHI: Absolutely. So, there's two different problems. One is these jobs are across the board. Of that 243,000 jobs created, most of them were in the private sector, in fact, the government lost jobs. So, they're the right types of jobs , they're across the board. The other big problem is that people have lost money in their homes. And until that side of the equation is dealt with, people are not going to feel fully prosperous.

BANFIELD: You just went exactly where I wanted you to go, and that was I keep hearing experts like you and others pungent saying, it doesn't matter what unemployment is, it doesn't matter what the jobless rate is, until we can get that housing market turned around and stimulated in some way, we're going to be (INAUDIBLE) a long time.

VELSHI: Yes, we spent -- we wasted many months in 2011 with this created discussion about the national debt being the most important thing. Factually, you're right. Jobs and housing are more important to getting us back on track than the other issues. Look, interest rates are -- they're basically giving away loans. You can't get them necessarily but interest rates are as low as they have ever been, and we can't yet stimulate housing. So, a double-edged sword.

BANFIELD: I was just talking -- I probably shouldn't tell the national audience this but I was telling you during the break, what is going on, Ali Velshi? I couldn't qualify for a re-fi because my appraisal came in low. So, the guy beside me, his -- dumped his house, it affected my appraisal, and now my loan to value is shot.

VELSHI: And there are a few comparisons than they used to be, because in these hot markets where things were moving all the time, you had what they call comps. Now, the one person makes that move, they want to get out of their house, it brings the comps down and you can't get an appraisal. Back in the good old days, you'd just go back -- the bank would go back to the appraisal and say, we really need it to come in at X, could you take care of that?

BANFIELD: Right.

VELSHI: They can't do that anymore.

BANFIELD: Didn't you just shop for appraisers?

VELSHI: You really shopped for appraisers (INAUDIBLE.) Now, there's a different system that's meant to eliminate fraud in the home appraisal industry, much was present leading to the housing crash, but it does make it tough.

BANFIELD: You know, you should have a business show.

VELSHI: I would like that, I'll try it. In fact, I'm going to try it this weekend Saturday at 1:00 p.m., Sunday at 3:00.

BANFIELD: Shameless, Ali Velshi. VELSHI: Good to see you, my friend.

BANFIELD: Nice to see you, too. Thank you for all of that, that's very good stuff.

OK. A veteran suing the federal government because she believes that she's been denied military benefits. Tracey Cooper-Harris is joining us live to explain her story right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: She is a highly decorated 12-year Army vet and she is suing the government over denial over spousal benefits. Tracey Cooper-Harris married someone named Maggie Cooper-Harris. You might notice, they are both women, and in 2008, they got married in California when gay marriage was legal there. There are two federal laws, however, that define marriage as not between same sex people.

Tracey has multiple sclerosis that the veterans administration says is service-related and yet the struggle for benefits continues. Tracey Cooper-Harris is in Los Angeles live with us and one of her lawyers has joined us, Christine Sun of the Southern Poverty Law Center also joining us. To you both, thank you for agreeing to this do interview. I'm really, really interested in how this lawsuit is going to go forward. As I understand it, this is a constitutional issue, and I'm going to start with you, Christine, because your lawsuit, as I read the complaint, is going after the United States, Eric Holder, Attorney General, and also the secretary of the Veterans Administration.

I did not think that Eric Holder could be sued. I assume he's got prosecutorial immunity and that the secretary has agent of government immunity as well. Why do you think you can actually prevail here?

CHRISTINE SUN, DEPUTY LEGAL DIRECTOR, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Because they are enforcing unconstitutional laws. And so as government officials enforcing unconstitutional laws, we are allowed to sue them to try to get a declaration that they stop enforcing those laws.

BANFIELD: Well, maybe you could run down for me, Tracey, what it is exactly that you and your wife are being denied and what it is that you're looking for in these benefits.

TRACEY COOPER-HARRIS, 12-YEAR ARMY VETERAN: Sure, Ashleigh. What we're doing is we are trying to seek the same exact benefits that other spouses of disabled veterans are receiving. These benefits include burial benefits at any veteran cemetery. They also include survivors benefits for the widow or widower spouse. They also include grief counseling for the bereaved. The grief counseling is something that's going to, you know, definitely affect my wife should something happen to me and I would want to take care of her in preparing for the worst. So those are some of the things that we are talking about as far as the benefits.

BANFIELD: So, Tracey, as it stands, should the worst case scenario prevail and you have to prepare for the reality of end of life, your wife gets nothing?

COOPER-HARRIS: That is correct.

BANFIELD: And she can't be buried alongside of you in an official cemetery?

COOPER-HARRIS: That is correct. According to Title 38 of the federal code and also the Defense of Marriage Act, also known as DOMA, they consider spouses for federal purposes as a person of the opposite sex. So even though I am a veteran, I served for 12 years and I was honorably discharged and am receiving disability benefits from the Veterans Administration, they consider me a single spouse. So if something should happen to me, my wife will not be taken care of as a spouse of a similarly situated spouse of a veteran who has died.

BANFIELD: All right, so I want to direct this again to your attorney, to Christine. I was reading through your complaint here and I noticed that you're suing essentially under equal protection with regard to these alleged infringements on her constitutional rights. But you're suing with regard to the Fifth Amendment. And equal protection, as I understand it, and I always keep this crazy little Constitution guide on my desk, comes in real handy, is a Fourteenth Amendment issue. I don't know if it was a typo, but I assume it's not. Why do you think you can actually prevail under the Fifth Amendment?

SUN: It's not a typo. The Fifth Amendment applies to the federal government. And what it does is that it imposes the same obligations of equal protection under the laws to the federal government. So it's the same principles of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.

BANFIELD: That's interesting.

Tracey, I want to just go back to something I just touched upon because also in the complaint you do talk about having to make end of life plans. This is the language that struck me. I wanted to know how you're doing. How are you feeling and how is everything for you right now?

COOPER-HARRIS: There are good days and bad days. You know, it's a -- with the good days and bad days, you know, I'm fighting this disease. But, you know, I'm also basically fighting for the benefits for my spouse. And these are the same benefits, like I said before, that any other spouse of a service connected or a disabled veteran would receive. We're not asking for anything more, we're just asking for the same benefits.

BANFIELD: Well, I just want to read for our audience -- we reached out to the Justice Department for some reaction to this, for some comment on this. And this is the statement that we were given. "The department is reviewing the claims presented by Ms. Cooper-Harris. As has been made clear by the president and the attorney general, the executive branch has determined that Section 3 of DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) is unconstitutional as applied to same-sex couples who are legally married under state law."

Last question to you, Christine. Does that mean they're just going to -- they're just not going to fight this? Does this bode well for you?

SUN: It does bode well for us. The administration has said that they will not defend DOMA. But, of course, they are continuing to enforce it. And so, you know, we are encouraged that the administration will continue to fight to overturn DOMA.

BANFIELD: Well, to both of you, Tracey Cooper-Harris and Christine Sun, I appreciate you coming on to talk about this. We'll be fascinated to follow your case and see what happens, not only with your case, but other state cases out there challenging DOMA. Thanks to you both.

SUN: Thank you.

COOPER-HARRIS: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Also in the news, more than 100 dolphins are stranded on Cape Cod in just one month. We're going to take you live to where the rescue operations are taking place and we'll also tell you if they've been successful till now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We want to update you now on a story that we first brought to you several weeks ago. A real disturbing mystery. And it's developing along the shores of Cape Cod. In just one month, the total number of dolphins that have stranded themselves is about 116 and climbing. It's happening along this stretch of beaches on Cape Cod. And things are becoming so bad that rescuers are actually on Capitol Hill briefing Congress about this problem.

It's a story that we think is "Under Covered," certainly considering its magnitude. Brian Sharp is a stranding coordinator with the International Fund for Animal Welfare. And he is leading the current rescue operations in that region. In fact, he and his crew had to rush out this morning -- as we look at some of these pictures -- because they got word that 10 more dolphins had actually been stranded up on the shore.

And here's where the story gets very strange. This is something that actually does happen every year. It just never happens at this rate. And it never happens with this magnitude. And they never have to bring out this many rescuers all at one time.

And it gets even a little more bizarre because this same species is actually washing up on the shore. That's unusual because, while every year they have several dolphins that wash up, they're usually from different species.

And while you have all of these scientists, they cannot figure out exactly what it is that's causing this many dolphins to do this. When we come back from the break, we are going to take you live to the beach, talk to the people who are actually in the water trying to rescue dolphins currently and find out what else they know from today's emergency.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Welcome back.

I want to take you live now out to the shores of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, where Brian Sharp is standing by. He is a stranding coordinator with the International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Going into the break, Brian, I teed up what's going on where you are. But I still am very confused as to what you think might be a foot with all of these dolphins, record numbers, in fact, washing up on the shores.

BRIAN SHARP, INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: That's hard to say, Ashleigh. That's what we're trying to figure out. So, you know, with the animals today, we've had four strands so far. Actually one occurred about 500 feet away from us. So we're still dealing with the situations. So we're definitely still deep within this event. And part of the job now is to be able to try to figure out what is causing these strandings. So, we've performed necropsies on nine of these animals so far that have not made it. And so now the, you know, the scientific part of the process begins.

BANFIELD: But were there any toxins found when you did those necropsies? Was there anything that led you to believe that there might be a lead?

SHARP: Well, we had received reports from other agencies through aerial surveys and vessel based surveys that had sighted large groups of this type of dolphin, which is called a common dolphin, in the area. And so if we get large groups like that, chances are, you know, we're talking in the hundreds that we will get small groups that splinter off. And that's kind of what we've been seeing during this event. Some days have been very large. Our largest day we had over 50 animals. Other days we may only get one animal. But it's been going on now for -- today's the 22nd day. So we've been going since January 12th.

BANFIELD: It's just unbelievable when I look at these numbers. One hundred and sixteen stranded, 82 dead, 30 of them released. I'm trying to get a handle on -- I'm seeing what you're wearing and you're suited up to be in the water. Are they beaching themselves or are they swimming in perilously shallow water and you're just trying to almost herd them back out to deeper water? What are you all doing?

SHARP: Yes, it's -- well, it's a combination of all of those. We've had animals that have stranded over 25 to 30 miles of coastline. And it ranges everything from Wellfleet Harbor, that's behind me, where we have a muddy surfaces to sandy surfaces. But some of these animals are stranded in waters that are as shallow as a couple inches. Some are stranded high and dry. We have tides here, especially here in Wellfleet, that, during storms and during certain parts of the lunar cycle that are over 12 feet. So, you can imagine an animal swimming in 12 feet of water, six hours later that animal is high and dry.

BANFIELD: In the past years, when the numbers have been so much less jarring, have you had any other indications where animals might give you an indication of what is different this year?

SHARP: No. It's all been the same species. We have had strandings over longer periods of time that have involved -- that involves multiple species. But these -- all 116 have been common dolphins and happened over 22 days. So it's been very high. And to put it in perspective, we typically will hit these numbers in about a year, and we're hitting those numbers in about three weeks. So it's been incredibly fast. We have a staff of six biologists and a core of 350 employees. We've had some success, too. So while there have been deaths --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Good.

SHARP: We have about a 66 percent success rate. So we have over 30 animals that we have been able to release out into the ocean.

BANFIELD: Thank goodness. Thank goodness for that. I'm sending out good wishes to your team and hopefully the numbers can start reversing soon.

Brian Sharp, thank you so much. Good luck to you all.

I want to turn to Nevada. Maybe ground zero for the unemployment and the foreclosure crisis. How is Mitt Romney holding on to his lead after comments like this one?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm in this race because care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, he's already admitted it was a mistake but is there a disconnect? Has he reconnected? It's all "Fair Game" and it's coming up right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Well, tomorrow's showdown in Nevada is "Fair Game." That would mean that Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist, is joining us from Washington. And Gentry Collins, a former national political director for the Republican Party, is also joining us. He also headed Mitt Romney's Iowa campaign back in 2008.

All right, you two, here we go. This is why I wanted to bring you on about this. Christine Romans, who is great with her business stats, always gives us the best ones. Today, she gave me this. One in 75 properties in Nevada is in foreclosure and unemployment in that state is 12.6 percent. So how is it that anybody in Nevada, conservative or not, can connect with Mitt Romney when he says something about foreclosures to this effect. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: Do try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit bottom. Allow investors to buy homes. Put renters in them. Fix the homes up and let it turn around and come back up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Ouch.

Gentry Collins, here's what I think. I know Republicans and really strong conservatives like the free market economy but I'm not so sure they like it when it applies to their home and they are underwater. How is this going to play in Nevada?

GENTRY COLLINS, FORMER POLITICAL DIRECTOR, REPUBLICAN PARTY: The polling evidence shows that it's playing quite well. Look, this president has not been honest with the American people. He said we can spend our way out of this and it's not worked. Just 18 percent of the American people have an optimistic view about their economic future. This president has failed and American voters have failed about what it's going to take to get the economy back on track.

BANFIELD: I bet you the president, after today's job numbers -- I know they can be looked at two different ways.

Let me tell you about this statement, "I don't care about the very poor." That's one very small sliver of Mitt Romney's statement to Soledad O'Brien the other day. And he's coming out to say, hey, I talk a lot, you're killing me here. I've made a mistake. Let's listen to how he talked about it just last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMNEY: It was a misstatement. I misspoke. I said something that is similar to that, but quite acceptable for a long time. You know when you do, I don't know how many thousand of interviews, you may get it wrong. I misspoke. It's that simple

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What did you mean to say?

ROMNEY: What I said that my primary focus is on helping people get in the middle class and grow the middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Man, there is just nothing like old fashion contrition from a politician.

(LAUGHTER)

But, Maria Cardona, I'm going to put you on the hot seat here. You and your Democrats are going to seize on it and explode it any way. Are you?

MARIA CARDONA DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Absolutely. It speaks to who Mitt Romney really is. Look, this is not the first time that he has made quote unquote misstatements like this. When something like, I'm not concerned about the very poor rolls so easily of your tongue, just like I like to fire people, just like, I don't care about the $1500 tax cut for middle class families because it's a little Band- Aid. Just like --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: These are not things that just roll off your tongue.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: -- if I have to make the mistakes I make on the air.

CARDONA: But you know what, Ashleigh? You are not running for president. Perhaps you should.

BANFIELD: Amen.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

CARDONA: You probably could beat Mitt Romney. He doesn't understand who he needs to be speaking to. He is speaking to the 1 percent. That's why Donald Trump endorsed him yesterday. They have a lot in common. He is not speaking to the middle class families, working class families who are hurting. President Obama is and that's why he's going to win this election.

BANFIELD: I don't know why I got into this "Fair Game" with you. There was no way that I was going to win.

(LAUGHTER)

Let me move off to the money. I love a good money story and this is the best. The casino magnet, Sheldon Adelson, he and his wife sped off two really heavy checks, $10 million apiece, within a week of each other to Newt Gingrich's campaign.

Gentry Collins, Newt Gingrich did not do so well in Florida. He didn't pull the momentum out of Florida that he did in South Carolina. Are they going to keep supporting him? Is he going to be able to get the money he needs for the strategy that he says he's going to actually employ, which is a long haul, lots of delegates in a proportional base?

COLLINS: Well, I frankly don't think that he can. I don't think the February contest lined up well for Newt Gingrich. Unless the super PACs have had extraordinary impact and success over the course of the contests but a super PAC cannot replace the functions of a campaign. February looks to be a very tough month for Newt Gingrich.

BANFIELD: All right.

One last question to you, Maria. And that is, the Mormon factor leading up to New Hampshire and Iowa. Everybody said, boy, that's going to be his Achilles heel. That's why it's not going to be excited about this candidate but in Nevada, not so much. It turns out the GOP caucus story, 26 percent or more. It turned out to be a really great thing for him.

CARDONA: It is. That's one of the things that makes the GOP caucus goers relate to him. I've never been one to think that his religion is going to be a big deal. What is a bigger deal is, he can't connect with working families and middle class families. In Florida, yes, he won. When you put 13,000 ads up on the air, compared to 200, which is what his opponents did, you might have the best car against a bunch of lemons, it doesn't mean you're going to win the Indy 500.

BANFIELD: Oh, man, you are good.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: I knew you were going to end on a high note like that.

(LAUGHTER)

Maria Cardona, Gentry Collins. Boy, hope to see you --

(LAUGHTER)

That is "Fair Game." Thanks, guys.

CARDONA: Thanks, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Appreciate it.

Just a reminder, the Nevada caucus is live here tomorrow at 6:00 eastern. This Super Bowl will be unlike any other with a super system to track your social media. From parking gripes to fast-food reviews and restaurants, anything else you need? You're going to get instant feedback for the dos and don'ts around the stadium. It's a look at a high-tech first of its kind after this.

And now for all of you football fanatics out there, what was the closest game in Super Bowl history? Tweet the correct answer to @CNNAshleigh and I will give a shout out to the first person that gets it right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I asked what was the closest game in Super Bowl history. The answer is the New York Giants versus Buffalo Bills. You know what? I said Linda Ronstadt and it is Pat Benatar. I am such a loser.

(LAUGHTER) I need to go home. Hour 15 today at this job, guys. OK. New York beating Buffalo, 20-19, back in Super Bowl XXV, 1991.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: I'm told all this stuff, by the way. No Super Bowl game has ever gone into O.T. I watch it for the commercials. Congratulations to Evan from North Hollywood who was first to tweet me with that answer.

Tim Tebow, superstar. The Broncos' quarterback will be watching, not playing in Sunday's Super Bowl. Last hour on CNN, he talked about the game, his Christian faith, and why he thinks he stills so much emotion in fans and critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM TEBOW, BRONCOS QUARTERBACK: I'm not sure. Some of the teams that I played for, University of Florida, Denver Broncos, I've had a lot of support, and I'm very thankful for that. I'm thankful that I get to live my dream every day which has been a dream of mine to play in the NFL since I was 6 years old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: We asked for a prediction, and surprisingly he did not shy away from giving us an answer. And my 4-year-old and 6-year-old boys will be happy because he said Tom Brady from the Patriots will be very hard to beat.

Pretty much anything there in celebration mode to help them out in the host city, Minneapolis, has gone high-tech. There is a social media command center. Let me repeat that. There is a social media command center. Apparently, more than 20 people are monitoring their every online move and trying to assist them with their needs.

So how does this command center work and how has it been going so far? Let's ask social media guru and tech guru, Katie Linendoll.

First thing I thought of was, it was not helpful. I thought creepy.

KATIE LINENDOLL, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: A little creepy. I guess you could look at it that way. I think what is amazing, this is the first time that it's ever been done. To have a social media central command center on.

Let me break it down for you.

BANFIELD: Yes.

LINENDOLL: Super Bowl Host Committee, Top Radius, an interactive agency that's used to dealing with these big brands and their social media presence, to actually live on site in a 2800-square-foot facility, which is notable in itself because that's a premium.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

LINENDOLL: We'll get back to the creepy. Bear with me. What is awesome, it works as a mini CNN NEWSROOM. They have producers on the ground with all of the audio and video feeds. They are grabbing content. They are not only running the official Super Bowl Twitter account but the Facebook account, the Flicker account, all on site. They had an expectation to get 5,000 Facebook and Twitter followers. They have exceeded that. That's a question every two minutes.

BANFIELD: Recognition or something when they say -- where can I get chicken wings? Is it just the followers?

LINENDOLL: They let me know last night at midnight for the first time ever they've created this custom software with Ball State University. Technology is monitoring a 50-mile radius right around the stadium. So they can actually G.O. tag anything happening on the Internet. All the buzz words are actually --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Everything's coming in?

LINENDOLL: Everything's coming in.

BANFIELD: So they have to hear you and me talking about our Friday night together?

LINENDOLL: They are now.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: This is nothing to talk about. But it is an odd thing. And I'm wondering if there's added value other than Indianapolis being a lovely place, advertising, terror threats, what else?

LINENDOLL: It's huge added value. I think the Super Bowl alone, in terms of social media, advertisers -- listen, 111 million people are expected to watch the Super Bowl. 35 million will post their favorite ad to Facebook. An average Facebook user has 135 friends. The estimated value added for 3.5, and this will be the last time that you hear me say $3.5 million, that is a steal.

BANFIELD: Here's the other thing, though. Is anybody going to take this and say, you're getting in my grill? You're in my face. This is my privacy. It's sort of privacy, it sort of isn't?

LINENDOLL: I think it's a compartmentalized when you talk about privacy on Facebook and Twitter. Because whatever you put out online is public any way. Unless you're protecting your tweets, it's a whole other conversation. I think it's incredible that you can set up a 16- person staff and tap into this data.

BANFIELD: Is 16 enough?

LINENDOLL: And they have drawn on university journalists and that staff is about 40 or 50.

BANFIELD: Is it enough, though? Is that enough? Are you going to be able to catch it all?

LINENDOLL: I think it sets a precedent. We will find out.

BANFIELD: I think you should join them.

LINENDOLL: I would love to join them. I'd love to be on the ground.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: Great to talk to you.

LINENDOLL: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Thank you for bringing this to us.

LINENDOLL: Cool.

BANFIELD: The Super Bowl is bigger than big. Americans are going to eat more than one billion chicken wings. They are all about Sunday. Tickets are selling in the $4,000 range. 111 million viewers expected to tune in and consumers will spend $11 billion on Super Bowl-related purchases. Not all of those items are the real deal, though. These jerseys may look authentic but they are fake. Part of the nationwide tweet that targeted stores and flea market vendors as well.

The Facebook stock has not hit the market yet but police say that did not stop a woman from trying to cash in and scam Facebook fans on thousands of dollars. You will see her picture and hear her story. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Time to check top stories making news at "Street Level."

The Keystone Pipeline project back as a topic of debate on Capitol Hill. House Democrats making hair case trying to back up president's decision to reject tracking that project. They lined up a whole bunch of witnesses who refuting claims by Republicans that the keystone pipeline would actually create a major economic boom.

Now let's take you to the U.S./Mexico border. Immigration authorities busting a human smuggling ring with a twist. Take a look at this picture. Lord, it is a person in an engine block. Immigration agents are estimating about 1,000 people were smuggled across the border just like this and just since 2010. Five residents from Los Angeles have been indicted. Customs agents say the rick leaders specifically recruited black drivers who did not speak Spanish to minimize their chances being flagged and getting caught.

A second teacher is being removed from a Los Angeles elementary school just days after another school teacher was charged with molesting 23 children. Officials will only say the second teacher is under investigation after somebody made allegations. They are giving nothing else. No other details. That teacher has yet to be arrested or charged in this story.

Rhode Island's capital city, Providence, lovely place, but it is facing bankruptcy. According to WPRI, Providence will run out of money by June. The city's mayor warned that Providence faces a $22.5 million budget deficit. And the mayor says major cuts will be necessary from retirees in the city's large tax exempt institutions like hospitals and brown university.

Let's head west to San Francisco where a federal court is refusing to release video of a landmark trial. It centers around Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage. According to the "San Francisco Chronicle," the appeals court ruled to keep the tapes sealed since the trial judge promised Prop 8 defenders the recordings would be used only in court. The media and gay rights groups were pushing for the tapes to be made public. This all comes as the ninth circuit weighs whether Prop 8 is actually constitutional at all.

And a woman in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, she was arrested for trying to cash in on Facebook's highly anticipated plans to go public. WLUK is reporting that Maryann Ollison sold fake Facebook stock certificates for over four months. She told people that she received a million dollars in stock as a being a fan of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. She faces three dozen charges for bilking investors out of thousands of dollars.

We're one day away from the Nevada caucuses Mitt Romney is it the front-runner, but Newt Gingrich putting up a real fight, as are the whole four. Live report from Vegas coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Newt Gingrich is speaking in Las Vegas, one of only two events today. He is still trailing Mitt Romney by a bucket load.

Jim Acosta is live trailing the candidate, hanging on every word.

And I keep wondering what those amazing jobs numbers. It's hard to spin them. Is the candidate going to be trying to spin them or do you have an idea of how his stump might change?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, that's a very good question because all of these Republican candidates will be faced with that question today. The economy appears to be moving in the right direction p the unemployment rate is dropping so the Republicans will have to come up with a different kind of answer as opposed to everything that president Obama is not working right now. We heard Mitt Romney put out a statement earlier this morning. He made comments out on the campaign trail earlier this morning where he said that if the president's policies were not in effect, the economy would be doing better. The recovery would be moving along in a better fashion.

And right now, Newt Gingrich is on stage behind me, he's talking about how the country needs more than just a personality in the White House. How the fundamental change is need in Washington, and he's presenting himself as this outsider who will shake up the establishment, saying just a few moments ago that the establishment will fight him tooth and nail if he gets into the White House. So the script will change somewhat today and we'll be watching for that today.

BANFIELD: So the economy in that state is in the toilet. No other way to say it nicely. It is a disaster. And with Mitt Romney saying comments like, let the foreclosures fail, I don't care about the poor -- I think he was taken out of context -- but a lot of people say he stepped in it, and he steps in it a lot. Why isn't Newt Gingrich able to capitalize on this? He's like 20 points behind in that state.

ACOSTA: Yes, he is capitalizing on it. Trying to. I don't know if it will be enough to make it up the ground that he needs to make up here in Nevada. But in just the last couple of days, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum zeroed in on these comments. And last night, Mitt Romney said he misspoke, that he would like to have those comments back. But that won't do it because, earlier this morning, Rick Santorum was saying this is not just a gaffe. It is a trial of Republican values. They would like to see all of the very poor be lifted up. Gingrich made comments similar to that yesterday. So this is very much part of the Santorum and Gingrich playbook, no matter what happens here in Nevada.

BANFIELD: Well, you've got your work cut out for you because it's getting a little exciting behind you, so I'll let you tap back into what Newt Gingrich is saying. We'll continue to watch it.

Jim Acosta, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

I have had just a riot filling in for Randi Kaye today. Really appreciate the opportunity. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. You know who I love? Don Lemon.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Ah.

BANFIELD: He's in the CNN NEWSROOM. He's continuing now.

Hi, my friend.

LEMON: Ash, Ash, I miss you. The good old days.

(LAUGHTER)

Have a great weekend. Ashleigh Banfield, thank you so much.