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Romney Wins Nevada; Obama Says He Deserves Re-Election; U.S. Closes Embassy In Syria; Egypt Charges 43 Over NGOs; Norway's Mass Killer In Court; Royal Celebrations For A Queen; New Book On Alleged JFK Affair; Doctor Helps Patient When Insurance Wouldn't; Interview With Jackie Gingrich Cushman; Foxconn Controversy; Airlines Send Repairs Overseas
Aired February 06, 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: We have such a busy day. So, hi, everybody. It's 1:00 in the East. A busy hour ahead. Let's get straight to the news, shall we.
The race for president is picking up. Tomorrow brings two more GOP caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, and a non-binding primary in Missouri. Three more chances for three contenders who aren't Mitt Romney to put a ding in the Romney momentum, if not his delegate count. Both of them got a big boost, by the way, on Saturday, when Romney won as many votes in Nevada as all of his challengers combined. Fourth place finisher Rick Santorum calls Romney, quote, "uni- dimensional," and says, he's going to stay in the race.
And President Obama says he deserves to be reelected, but registered voters are kind of torn right down the middle, in fact. If you look at the nationwide poll from ABC and "The Washington Post," shows 49 percent would give the president a second term, but 49 percent would not. Matched against likely opponents, however, the story is a little bit different and the president fares a bit better. He now has a six-point edge over mitt Romney, topping the 50 percent mark for the first time in that survey.
In an interview with NBC, he talked about his accomplishments in the face of Republican opposition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Even with a bunch of obstruction over -- on Capitol Hill, we've been able to save an auto industry. We've been able to take 750,000 jobs being lost a month and move it so it's 250,000 jobs being created this month. We've been able to make sure that we ended the war in Iraq on schedule. We've been able to make sure that we ended policies like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." So, we've been able to get a lot done, not as fast as we want. Sometimes it's messy. The process is frustrating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The president also tops Newt Gingrich in a head-to- head matchup, and I'm going to be speaking with newt Gingrich's daughter and campaign adviser, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, just moments from now.
And facing a deadly and growing anti-government uprising in Syria, the U.S. state department today closed its embassy in Damascus and withdrew its remaining staff there. Just incredible pictures and sound coming out of that region. The move comes, actually, as government forces were shelling the embattled city of Homs. Shelling it this time, not just small arms fire. The opposition group say 37 people were killed, at least 19 others killed elsewhere outside of Homs, and among the victims, four kids. The government, for its part, is blaming this violence on what it calls, quote, "armed terrorist groups."
In Egypt, the protests turned into a violent clash near Egypt's interior ministry killing at least one person, injuring six dozen people. Activists who are angry over how police handled last week's deadly soccer riots have been clashing with government officials for the past five days. In the meantime, Egypt is cracking down on non- governmental agencies, NGOs as they're known. Its criminal court there has charged 43 people and among the 43, 19 people from the U.S., Americans. They say they're allegedly using illegal foreign funds to stir up insurgents in Egypt. All of this coming after three U.S.- based NGOs were reportedly raided back in December.
Some pretty shocking testimony today from the man who has admitted to killing dozens of people in Norway. Anders Breivik told the court there that the massacre last July was necessary to prevent cultural destruction of Norway by immigrants. Breivik said he acknowledged the acts, but said he was, quote, "not guilty" for the deadliest mass killing in Norway since World War II. His trial, where he'll have to make that plea and argue it, is set to begin in April.
In London, a 41-gun salute for Queen Elizabeth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire! Fire! Fire!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Sixty years ago today, the then 25-year-old Elizabeth got word while traveling in Kenya, that her father, George VI, King of England, had died and that she would become queen. The celebrations marking her diamond jubilee kick off today. But the real big events, they're going to take place in June, because that's really the anniversary of the coronation.
Brand new book on JFK. It is sparking a lot of buzz over some very serious allegations of an affair with a 19-year-old White House intern. The former intern and author, Mimi Alford, claims that she lost her virginity to the president when he took her into the first lady Jackie's bedroom. She spoke about this alleged affair on NBC today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIMI ALFORD, ALLEGES AFFAIR WITH PRESIDENT KENNEDY: Not overpowered physically that someone had grabbed me and made me do something that I wasn't really willing to do because I really think I was willing to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Alfred says the alleged affair started in the summer of 1962 and lasted for 18 months, just as she was heading off to college, in fact. She says she kept it a secret until it was revealed eight years ago when the biography of Kennedy mentioned the alleged affair. The book, "Once Upon a Secret, My Affair With President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath" will be available on Wednesday.
Newt Gingrich lost Nevada. He may have lost it, but he's still in it to win it, and his daughter and campaign adviser, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, is going to tell us just how he plans to do that. I am looking forward to that, young lady. But you sit put for a moment, because we have one more great story ahead of that, Connecticut doctor. You ready for this? He is not letting insurance companies get between him and his patients.
Meet Dr. David Cloth and his patient, Matt Coat. Coat was in a constant pain situation because he had ruptured discs. The insurance companies, though, weren't going to pay. They refused. They said, no, they were not going to pay for recommended treatment. So the doctor, instead, just went ahead and performed the surgery for free. He got all of the equipment, the anesthesia and everything else he needed for the surgery donated and now Matt is up and walking. For caring enough and for not taking no for an answer from those insurance companies that makes you, Dr. Cloth, today's Rock Star.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: So, any candidate for office will tell you good help is hard to find, good advisors, real hard to find. But Newt Gingrich certainly didn't have to look too far. His daughter, Jackie, has been his mainstay in his run for president, adding campaign adviser to all those other responsibilities that she has, you know, like wife, mother, syndicated columnist, author and speaker. The list goes on and on, I'm sure, but I just ran out of space on your resume, my friend. Jackie Gingrich Cushman joins me now live from the CNN center in Atlanta. Hello there.
JACKIE GINGRICH CUSHMAN, CAMPAIGN ADVISER TO NEWT GINGRICH: Hi, Ashleigh. How are you today?
BANFIELD: I'm well, thank you. Are you rested? Because I'm telling you, this campaign thing is brutal on people.
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: It is. It's very, very busy, obviously, going from state to state and being away from home. But I also have to say, it's been a lot of fun because we've met so many wonderful people who are very excited about my dad's candidacy, about the campaign and it's just been great to meet with lots of people that are very, very excited about America.
BANFIELD: Well, and I love, you know, that optimism, but in politics we always know there's the other side of it, too, so I'm sure you've met people who weren't so thrilled as well. Let me talk to you a little bit about as you move into Colorado and Minnesota and then I guess not so much Missouri, because he's not on the ballot in Missouri. But Colorado, heavy Mormon population again. It's going to be a tough one like the one you just came out of in Nevada. And then Minnesota, again, it's the caucus thing, you know, that's a tough go because you really got to be good at the retail thing. How is your dad going to fare?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Well, we won't know until the election and go and vote in caucus in those states. But he spoke in Colorado today, as well as in Minnesota, and he's doing very well in terms of response, a very good crowd, so that's very good. But as you know, we did really, really well in South Carolina, were ahead by 12 points there. And we really expect to do very well and are working very hard for Super Tuesday in the southern states.
BANFIELD: I think he did real well in South Carolina because of all those conservatives and I know your dad's message is I'm the true conservative, the others guys just aren't. But the granddaddy of conservatives, you might say, could be considered Dick Armey depend on -- you know, depending on where you were at the time that he was such a big hitter in Congress. But he was on the Candy Crowley on State of the Union and he had this to say about your dad, basically that he's putting himself out of the game with the scorched earth rhetoric. Listen to the rest of what he had to say, Jackie, I want to ask you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK ARMEY, CHAIRMAN, FREEDOM WORKS: I don't think it's helpful even to Newt. I feel bad for him, and I think he's digressed into a state of taking a second-rate campaign and turning it into the first- rate vendetta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Ouch. That's got to be hard for a campaign adviser to hear, and maybe even harder for a daughter.
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: No, I'm not surprised. And one of those things, you know, dad's been running in one way or another, since I was seven. So, I've done this for a very long time, and people often have their perspectives. But dad has a very, very clear message. He is the only person in the race, including President Barack Obama, who has balanced the budget, the national budget, he reformed the Welfare, he cut taxes, he cut spending, he worked under Reagan, he's actually done things at the national level.
And it's very interesting, I heard you -- I heard the clip earlier from President Obama talk about the Republicans not helping him out. Well you know, Dad did all of those things with the Democratic president. So, he's actually been in Washington and has helped govern and that contrast in the general election I think would be just incredible that would really put Republicans in the right footing. BANFIELD: Since you called him dad, I'm going to go with the dad thing. And I'm also going to bring in the Obama thing since you brought it up, too. New poll, I know you all on the campaign trail have probably already seen it. It's the NBC, "Washington Post" poll, all about electability. Here's how the numbers shake out, Jackie. If the race were against Obama and Romney, Obama has a six-point lead over Romney. But if it were against your dad, Obama versus your dad, Obama has an 11-point lead over your dad. And yet your dad campaigned saying he's the only one that can compete against Obama. What am I missing here, young lady?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Well you know, I think a couple of things. I think first of all, the polls reflect the news of the day, and in the end we will have a Republican nominee who will go head-to-head with President Obama and that nominee all of a sudden will look different and sound different because there'll be one of them. I think secondarily, because it's gotten so much into the horse race as opposed to the policy, the people are really focused on that. That, again, is going to change with Super Tuesday.
And in the end, if you think about who do you want to stand up against president Barack Obama? Who has been constantly saying, I couldn't get things done because of Washington. We need one who has been there, who has been successful, who has balanced the budget, who has reformed Welfare, and my dad, Newt Gingrich, is the only person who can do that.
BANFIELD: All right. So, I likes me some humor now and again. And I turn on the "Saturday Night Live" and sure enough this is what I was faced with just on Saturday. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ever since you left earth, it's been a nightmare. Please forgive me and let me work in your admoonistration (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just supposed to believe that you've completely changed your position?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it wouldn't be the first time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: OK, Jackie, the admoonistration, I mean, it was all fun and games, but do you laugh this off? I see you laughing now, but this is serious stuff. He went to the Florida space coast, he said we want to be colonizing the moon at some point. And a lot of people think it's absolutely nuts. So, does this help you or hurt you when it's on SNL?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Well, a couple of things. First of all, I haven't actually seen the clip, I had to just hear it. Unfortunately, I was flying back from Las Vegas to Atlanta on the red eye and didn't see it. But I did get to see my daughter dance, so that is why I did that. (INAUDIBLE), I think, you know, it is important. I think dad's point is we need to be aspirational, and that's what Americans have always been. They've always been about dreaming, about doing, about being better, and I think that is a very important point, and I think we have a lot of people that want us to settle, that want us to be less, to do less, and Americans aren't like that. Americans want to be more, they want to do more and I know that under my dad's leadership that they can.
BANFIELD: So, you're good at this talking thing. So, open invitation to come on my 5:00 a.m. show here on CNN.
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Awesome.
BANFIELD: You going to wake up for that?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: I would love to, that would be great.
BANFIELD: I've got you on record, sister. Thank you, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, nice to talk to you.
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Thank you.
BANFIELD: You take care now.
I want to switch gears now to a story that I've been covering for a number of years. A woman missing for more than two years now. OK, a disturbing twist. Her husband not only kills himself, but he kills their two children in an explosion. Why did this happen? What does it mean? Such a layered story and so much more to come on this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: In health news, an alarming rate of kids going to the hospital for child abuse. Babies under the age of one apparently the most at risk according to a new study in the journal "Pediatrics." From 2006, nearly 4,600 kids were so badly abused, are you ready, they were sent to the hospital because of it. And 300 of them, mostly babies, died because of those injuries. The authors of the study are saying that they hope this will boost the prevention efforts against child abuse.
Josh Powell and his two children were killed Sunday afternoon in an explosion. A foster caseworker had brought Powell's two boys to his residence for a supervised visit. Josh Powell sent e-mails to his attorney, family members, friends before getting -- or setting this fire. Authorities say the e-mails said that he couldn't live with what was going on. A sheriff's spokesman says Powell's wife Susan disappeared two years ago. Powell had since lost custody of his two boys. The brother-in-law of this man, Kurt Graves, said he believed that something just might have pushed Josh Powell over the edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRK GRAVES, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF JOSH POWELL: We're in shock. We are simply -- it's beyond belief. We had suspicions of various things Josh was capable of, but I, for one, didn't think he was capable of this. I think this proves it. I think this is his admission of guilt and he just couldn't handle it anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Our Thelma Gutierrez is live in Pierce County, Washington.
There are so many layers to this story, Thelma. Two years ago the woman going missing. Her husband saying I was just out camping last night at midnight in 20 degrees in a snowstorm with my toddler boys. Nothing passed the smell test in this case, and yet police never arrested him. So it's been two years of suspicion under which this man has been living. And now this. Do police feel like they are anywhere close to at least closing the case against Susan or is this opening up a whole new kettle of fish?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, they say that they want to close that criminal case. And what has happened in the last 24 hours is that the detectives who had been working on this case since Susan Powell disappeared back in Utah in 2009 have actually traveled to Washington. They will be meeting with detectives here. They're going to hold a strategy session to try to figure out how to close this case and also to compare notes to see what they can discover as to why she went disappearing and they say that this is an active case. So this is still -- there are many questions to be answered, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: And it's -- I mean the whole nature of an entire family now being wiped out is just so overwhelming. It is a little complicated. But for anybody sort of just sort of playing catch-up, he moved away from -- from Utah where Susan disappeared, really, within days of her disappearance. Took those children to Washington. And that's where a lot of the consternation began. He had, according to the grandparents of those baby boys, refused to let the grandparents see the children. Then his father, Steven, is arrested on child pornography issues. And the caseworkers come in and seize those kids.
Was this visit supposed to be anything out of the ordinary? Was -- did the caseworkers think for a moment that these children could be in danger if they came to visit their father?
GUTIERREZ: Absolutely not. I mean this caseworker had brought these children to visit Josh Powell before. They had supervised visits twice a week. They were supposed to last four hours at a time. This was going to be no different. So she brings these children, Ashleigh, takes them to their father's house. They go inside. He quickly locks the door. She smells gas and goes to call her supervisor because she had tried to pound on that door to try to get him to open up. He wouldn't open that door.
At that point, just a few minutes later, Ashleigh, this home went up in flames. And as you had said, you know, raising many, many questions as to what happened, what finally pushed him over the edge. But many people who knew him said that it was losing custody of those children to his former in-laws.
BANFIELD: Well, and, you know, a lot of the statements about this incident have been very strident, meaning this was intentional. He killed those children, period. Not an accident. Nothing other than murder and murder-suicide. Does this lead the police in Utah to say well, he killed his own kids, he must have killed Susan, too?
GUTIERREZ: A lot of people are wondering about that, Ashleigh, and that will be answered as soon as they get together with detectives here, but they are certainly looking at that. Relatives of Susan Powell's are certainly reaching that conclusion. They're saying this definitely points to what happened to Susan Powell. If he was capable of doing this, then he would have been capable of killing her as well. The officials have not come out and said that, but her family has speculated.
I want to show you, Ashleigh, what's going on behind me right now. A short time ago, arson investigators arrived and they are combing through this rubble. You can see four trucks there. They have been taking photographs, taking measurements. And there is no question that this was an act of arson. But what they want to know is how it happened. What he used. What kind of accelerant he may have used to ignite this fire because it burned very quickly and very hot. It took hours for this fire to be taken down so that firefighters could actually get in. And that is where they discovered the bodies. They were all in one room together, Ashleigh, in the middle of a room, their two children and their father.
BANFIELD: I can't imagine what -- I mean I hate to say this, but what the point would be to find out about the accelerant, about what was used. At this point, there's nobody to charge. Everybody's dead. I am curious to find out about the father, though. About Stephen Powell and what -- what is next for him and whether he'll be investigated in any respect with regard to this.
So, Thelma Gutierrez, a very difficult story. Thank you. Thank you for that.
So, your iPhone and your iPad, probably a real integral part of your life. You may not appreciate it quite as much when you hear another side of the iPod and the iPad. Some shocking allegations of worker abuse and the people who put this together for you. Ali Velshi is going to join me next to explain all of that. Looking forward to what that means, Ali Velshi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: If you own your own iPhone or iPad, do you ever stop for a moment and think, who makes this thing? I'll tell you that more than 1 million Chinese people, many of them allegedly working under sweat shop conditions, they make them. And we think that their story is "Under Covered." They work for the major Apple supplier called Foxconn Technology. A huge part of Foxconn's production is based in China. In fact, 1.1 million Chinese workers work at 12 Foxconn factories in China. And those workers and factories are one big reason that Foxconn produces an estimated 40 percent of the world's consumer electronics.
Numerous Foxconn workers in China have long complained about brutally long hours and low, low pay. And, also, they complain about inhumane working conditions, like bad air and having to stand for hours upon hours, getting few, if any, breaks and having to sort of live on a campus-like setup. Here's what one worker told CNN's Stan Grant. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, (through translator): When we were being trained for work, they told us that if we accept interviews, we will be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law. It's really a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: In a statement to CNN, Apple said this, and I quote, "we care about every worker in our worldwide supply chain. We insist that our suppliers provide safe working conditions, treat workers with dignity and respect and use environmentally responsible manufacturing processes wherever Apple products are made. Our suppliers must live up to these requirements if they want to keep doing business with Apple."
And here now with me for more on this is CNN's chief business correspondent Ali Velshi.
So, here's my question. Steve Jobs. He seems like the kind of guy who never, when he was alive, would have allowed any of this to go on.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right.
BANFIELD: Did he know? Did he not know? Did he not care? Do we know?
VELSHI: Well, the question is this, we all know that if you get much cheaper labor in China, they don't work in the same conditions we work in. The issue is how bad is it? There are something called core violations, employing under-aged students, unhealthy conditions. You know, a couple of Foxconn factories within a number of months last year had two explosions caused by the aluminum dust when they brushed the iPads and the iPhones.
There are some violations that are worse than others. And the issue is, how serious are these violations. And in the interest of profitability, do the companies, like Apple who employ Foxconn, you know, sort of turn a blind eye to it. And that's what it is.
There are people who say, we told Apple what was going on. There are others who say, it's obviously --
BANFIELD: We told Apple or we told someone at a lower level? They didn't get it?
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: No. There are allegations, you know. It's never clear who did what. But there are allegations from human rights watchdog groups that said we told Apple. We posted on blogs.
One woman said she actually went to Apple's headquarters and asked to speak to someone and no one would speak to her. So we're not expecting the Chinese factory workers are going to have the same conditions today that U.S. factory workers have. But are they really being caused to work six or seven days a week, 12 hours a day standing, without proper ventilation. You know, your iPod or your iPhone gets polished to a great degree. That glass has to be shined before.
And by the way, if you order one of these online, it often comes to you with the label from the place it came from Shenzhen, China, which is where this is. And that's -- you know, there is a direct connection. But as you said 40 percent of the world's electronics are in some fashion assembled or put together by Foxconn.
BANFIELD: So here's a question for you. I think a lot of us would be naive to think for a moment that, you know, working conditions in China are not great.
VELSHI: We want them to be, but we all know they're not.
BANFIELD: But we all know that there's certainly...
VELSHI: Right.
BANFIELD: ...far not -- well, not nearly what our standards are.
VELSHI: Right.
BANFIELD: What is different about this place because I'm hearing suicide after suicide? People jumping off of the roof of this particular facility.
VELSHI: Right.
BANFIELD: They built nets around the facility.
VELSHI: And dorms and they built nets so that people don't jump off or fall off.
BANFIELD: Well, this is insane.
VELSHI: The difference is scale. The difference is scale. The difference is Foxconn employs more than 1 million people in China. The difference is Foxconn is many parts of your iPhone or your iPod.
So they have greater control of their operations, and this is all a bit secretive. Remember, Apple doesn't tell everybody what it does so there are some sense that the monitoring is not as strong and they're so big. They have people waiting in line every single day to get a job. If they need to hire 3,000 people to start manufacturing something, those people are all standing outside. So they've got the scale that allows them some at a ledge to break the rules. And that's the difference.
BANFIELD: And what about Apple? After this kind of news gets out, are they going to start employing more of their --
VELSHI: Monitors and people.
BANFIELD: American monitors. VELSHI: That's what we hope will happen. Apple has responded by saying they keep a close eye on their suppliers and if anybody breaks these core violations and doesn't fix them within 90 days, you know, if there are underage kids working there or there are things that are really wrong or breaks the law, they get dropped from the Apple supplier's list.
So at this point it's an Apple's court to say we've really looked into this, this is what we found, this is what we are going to do and these guys are going to clean up their act. But, again, they work on small margins. And when you are forced to work on small margins, you cut costs wherever you can and sometimes the cost is human in this case.
BANFIELD: Just the story about building nets to stop people from -- well, at least, to catch them after they've jumped is just horrifying.
VELSHI: Yes.
BANFIELD: Ali, thank you. Appreciate that.
VELSHI: Sure.
BANFIELD: Mitt Romney, if you are watching, certainly did pull off a big win in Nevada crushing his opponents, but is this momentum going to push him forward into the states where he needs it? And if he goes up against President Obama, could he crush him, too? All of it "Fair Game" and all of it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Well, this is the part of the program where we go to the heart of the political debate, where all sides are "Fair Game." President Obama says he deserves a second term. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I deserve a second term, but we're not done. We created 3.7 million jobs over the last 23 months. We created the most jobs since 2005, the most manufacturing jobs since 1990, but we're not finished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The annual pre-Super Bowl interview.
Well, let's talk about this with Republican strategist Doug Heye in Washington. Democratic political consultant Ed Espinoza in Austin, Texas.
All right, gentlemen, let's just start off with the real simple question. Is that arrogance or is that optimism? Doug? Start with you.
DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I'll be charitable and say both. You know, Michael Allen on Politico's Playbook today talked about not this interview, per se, but the larger issue of hubris with this White House. We've seen that before. This is the White House that's very impressed with their selves. They're like sally field. They really, really like themselves. Problem is voters aren't there yet. And if you're the president moving forward, you need to move that back into your margin.
BANFIELD: All right, Ed, isn't that just kind of a fair bumper sticker, look, I'm doing a good job. Things are on the mend. We got good jobs numbers, don't muck it up, is that what he was saying, or again, is this arrogance?
ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT: If you're proud of your record there's no reason you shouldn't talk about it. Look, 23 straight months of job growth, the lowest unemployment rate in three years dating back to the Bush era, even.
These are things that are -- if you're going in for a job interview or talking to your boss, and you want to talk about re- upping your contract, you talk about the good things you did and these are pretty good things to talk about.
BANFIELD: All right. Let's talk about the --
HEYE: Ashleigh, the reality is there are a lot of people who are not going into job interviews because they pulled themselves out of the workplace marketplace. They're not looking for jobs anymore. So the unemployment number is really --
(CROSSTALK)
ESPINOZA: In the last two months, we've had the highest --
BANFIELD: Listen, guys. I know how this works. I know how this works. You take the numbers and you put the spin on them that you want. I get it. If you've been out of the job market for a long time, you get out of the numbers and maybe in a few months those numbers are going to skyrocket once they get back in, but let's move on to this.
Mitt Romney broke 50. I seem to think it was only a few weeks ago we were talking, can Mitt Romney break over 25 percent, you know, and now we are already at 50. The poor guy can't catch a break. But he broke over the 50 percent mark in Nevada.
Is that the kind of thing that tees him up for Colorado and also for Minnesota, or is this just one of those things where he benefited from a place that just had a whole lot of Mormons?
Let's start with you, Doug.
HEYE: Well, I think he benefited from that, but he also benefited from the fact that he had a real campaign on the ground. Those really driving things forward. And it's why, I think, really, the structure of this race right now is in Mitt Romney's favor for the Republican primary and caucuses not because of we moved things forward or proportionality, but because he has a real campaign. A real team on the ground. And unlike the other candidates, he's on the ballot everywhere. You can't win if you're not on the ballot. Mitt Romney has done that job as has Ron Paul, and that's why they are the ones who are going to last the longest, I think.
BANFIELD: And I just talked to Newt Gingrich's daughter about the whole notion that he says he's the only one that can beat President Obama in the general election. But according to the "ABC Washington Post" poll that just came out, not so much.
I guess if it were a contest between Obama and Romney, Obama would beat him by six points, and if it were a contest between Obama and Gingrich, Gingrich would get smoked by 11 points. And this must be good news for the Democrats.
ESPINOZA: Well, it would be good news if Newt Gingrich had a fighting chance, but the thing is he just doesn't. He's -- the narrative that he's fighting against right here is that he's basically irrelevant in this contest.
And over the next few four weeks in February, there are a lot of contests that he's not going to farewell in. He's not on the ballot in a couple of those states, and there's -- he doesn't have campaign operations to go the distance. So he can stay in this race and linger as long as he wants, but he's not going to be the nominee.
BANFIELD: All right, Doug, so talk to me about the whole notion that some people have said Newt Gingrich is today's Hillary Clinton. That she should have known way earlier on that the game was over but she pulled it all the way through to June. Is that fair? Is that unfair to Newt or to Hillary?
HEYE: No, I don't think it's fair. You know, really, Hillary Clinton took this race all the way to the distance because she had a real fighting chance. She actually made Barack Obama a better candidate. And she made the Obama campaign and Democratic parties throughout the country register more voters which was key to say my home state of North Carolina. That was part of the reason that Barack Obama won. And Newt Gingrich just isn't going to have that structure to be able to do that, I don't think.
Banfield: Well, it's interesting, though, because Mitt Romney said that in his victory speech in Nevada. He said this kind of protracted battle doesn't pull us apart, it makes us press-pared.
Ed Espinoza, is that something that concerns the Democrats that they're going to be more prepared to take on Obama?
Well, they can be more prepared. Democrats are definitely prepared for it, but this is the problem that Romney's had throughout these caucuses and throughout these primaries, is that it might make him a better candidate, but it doesn't make him a more conservative candidate. He's got to reconcile his base with conservatives, which means sooner or later, he's going to have to -- and the only way he might be able to do it is to pick a very conservative running mate.
(CROSSTALK)
HEYE: You know, I can tell you actually --
BANFIELD: Go ahead.
HEYE: Conservatives are going to be united because of one reason, Barack Obama, whoever our nominee is.
BANFIELD: All right, I've got to leave it there. Thanks to both of you, Dough Heye and Ed Espinoza. That is "Fair Game" for today. Good to talk to you. Thank you.
HEYE: Thank you.
ESPINOZA: Thanks.
BANFIELD: American Airlines cutting thousands of jobs right here in America and then shipping them overseas. Have you heard this story before, stuck and shipped overseas? Apparently other airlines do it, too. So who is fixing the planes that you're flying on? And should you have any concerns that it's not one of your fellow Americans? We'll explain right after this.
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BANFIELD: I got a question for you. Got any idea who repairs and overhauls the airplanes that you fly on? Think about it for a minute.
I know you see the mechanics down on the tarmac, but you might be surprised to find out that last week American Airlines revealed how it's going to cut big costs following the bankruptcy problems.
Some of those cuts are apparently going to come in who's patching up your airplane. American plans to outsource some major maintenance work overseas. Apparently, other airlines have been doing this for a while now, but what does that mean when it comes to your safety?
This is a story that we also feel has been undercovered and so for that reason, we've invited in retired commercial pilot Jim Tilmon who knows his way around a plane or two. He joins us live from Phoenix to give us some perspective on this.
Jim, I am so glad to see you here because you'll be the definitive resource on this. Should I be worried about this?
JIM TILMON, RETIRED COMMERCIAL PILOT: No. You should not worry about it any more than you would worry about flying on in many of the major airlines in this country because they've been doing it for a long time.
BANFIELD: Well, you say that, but then I read this statement from the Transport Workers' Union, the international president James Little said this, and it's a bit long so I hope you'll indulge me for a moment. "The airline industry's dirty little secret is that more and more planes are being flown to third-party offshore locations for major overhauls and repairs. The FAA only inspects these facilities in China, El Salvador and Mexico and elsewhere at most once a year. And by treaty must give 30 days' notice.
A loophole in our laws allows our commercial airliners to be worked on in these poorly secured, largely unregulated facilities by mostly unlicensed mechanics who lack background checks, who have never had a drug test and who often cannot read the repair manuals."
Jim Tilmon, get me off the ledge. This is not just anybody. This is the president of the Transport Workers' Union. Why is he wrong?
TILMON: No, he's not wrong, and do I like it? No. Not even a little bit. I didn't like it when some of the other airlines have to do it.
BANFIELD: But you said I shouldn't be worried.
(CROSSTALK)
TILMON: No, you shouldn't worry because it's not going to help anything.
Well, here's the thing, Ashleigh. I mean, the whole country is going toward this sort of thing. I would think, I would hope that now the trend would be the other direction, but it isn't. And one of the greatest PR things that Americans could do right now to keep their passengers coming in happy is to buck this trend and decide, no, we're going to keep American employees in America and not pay somebody out in another part of the world.
I've got to tell you, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we don't have evidence that this has not worked. We don't have -- I don't know of a single situation where there's been an incident or an accident, certainly, because of outsourced maintenance. I do know of some problems we've had right here in our own country where inspections were not done properly and airlines have been fined and everything else. It's a very difficult case to make, except for one thing.
BANFIELD: What's that?
TILMON: The people involved. The people that are -- actually, turning a wrench on our airplane. I want that person to have American Airlines on their shirt. I don't want that person to have any other. And I think the same way about Delta, and about United and some of the other airlines that do this.
BANFIELD: Well, you hit the nail on the head there. I'll tell you what, Jim. I just did a segment with Ali Velshi, and I don't know if you heard it or not, but it was about our iPads and they're all built in other countries and we seem to be just fine with this technology. And this stuff is pretty intricate stuff and we don't complain. But for the fact that if my iPad doesn't work tomorrow nobody's going to die.
So here's my question for you. And let me read what the FAA said with regard to all of this before I ask you that question.
"The FAA increases overall surveillance of airlines any time they are in bankruptcy to make sure maintenance and other safety related tasks are being done properly. We have seen no areas of concern so far."
But I think, Jim, I'm just more curious about the FAA telling me don't worry, Ashleigh. Even though that's outsourced mechanics' work, we check them when we get back on U.S. soil. You will not be flying on a flight or on an aircraft that has not been double-double checked by somebody here in the USA. That isn't the case, is it?
TILMON: No, it's not the case. And I've got to tell you that there's evidence that that has not been the case. But I will say this to you. I cannot believe, now I don't know everything, but I cannot believe that it's not possible for an airline, any airline to sit down with their maintenance people and say, hey, guys, we're going to have to outsource this unless we can work something out. Let's sit down and work a plan out.
I believe it can be done, and I just don't think there has been the heart to do that. It is so much easier to just outsource and say we're saving 50 percent on all of our maintenance. Let's do the American work by sitting down with Americans and making the decision that we're going protect these airplanes and we'll protect our passengers.
It would be great for their public relations. It would be all at the same time magnificent for the mechanics and those people that work so hard and have a career. You have to realize, this is not a job.
BANFIELD: Yes.
TILMON: Maintenance people on an airline do not have jobs. This is a career for them. They intend to be there from day one until they retire.
BANFIELD: Well --
TILMON: Now, to drop them out on the street, I got to tell you, I'm depressed.
BANFIELD: Well, I'm depressed, as well, but you know, most people will say that's business and that has been the way of business for the last decade and a half, and why should the airlines be behaving any differently in this business model.
But, you know, that's a whole other conversation for a whole other time, so you're invited back any time. At 5:00 in the morning on my morning show. Will you do that, Jim Tilmon?
TILMON: For you, I would get up that early. I don't know if I would do that for any other people.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: That's two that I've booked. I've booked two guests -- I now booked on this program.
Mr. Tilmon, thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate t. I'm not off the ledge, but I do appreciate your insight, my friend.
All right, so I want to move on to this story that we talked about on Friday. More than 100 dolphins stranded on Cape Cod. If you were with us and we brought you this story live, you probably saw just incredibly dramatic video of the rescue efforts. But we're going to tell you how well they did. How many of these dolphins were they able to get back out to open water? How many were they not able to rescue? We'll find out in a moment.
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BANFIELD: It is time now to check some stories making news at street level.
First, we head to the shores of Cape Cod in Massachusetts where the record number of stranded dolphins just keeps climbing for some reason. The latest count, a total of 129 dolphins have stranded themselves just since January. While 92 have died, rescuers have been able to save and release 37 of them. Several were rescued just over the weekend. The experts are absolutely baffled about what is causing the dolphins to do this in these numbers.
A court hearing in San Diego is testing the constitutional rights of killer whales. Yes. You heard me. As we first told you back in October, PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is suing Sea World claiming its five killer whales are, quote, "slaves." You heard me right. PETA said "Sea World is violating the 13th amendment of our constitution which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude." Most people thought that was for people. Sea World is certainly calling the claims baseless and they're going further, they are saying it's offensive.
In Charlottesville, Virginia, the trial of a college lacrosse player accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend started today. George Huguely faces first-degree murder charges among others in the death of his girlfriend, Yeardley Love, who was also a University of Virginia lacrosse player. Prosecution says Huguely killed Love during a fight. Police say he even confessed to them. The defense is calling the death a, quote, "tragic accident." The trial is expected to last two weeks.
In Los Angeles, parents are protesting in front of an elementary school at the center of two child abuse cases.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about the children! We're talking about your child!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Two teachers at Miramonte Elementary School arrested last week, one of them accused of taking filthy bondage photos of about two dozen little kids, students there. The other accused of lewd acts on children. School officials say the school will be closed tomorrow and Wednesday to, quote, "take a break."
In Miami, the New Marlins shortstop is already making his mark with his signature dreadlocks, with the picture. Jose Reyes, apparently, chopping them of to comply with his team's hair policy. But Reyes isn't complaining. Instead the all-star is auctioning off his dreadlocks to raise money for the "Make a Wish" foundation. And if you're hoping to bid, Reyes' locks will be auctioned on eBay for a week.
GOP race, turning to Colorado. But the primaries and caucuses are also taking place in Minnesota and Missouri. So why the big push for Colorado? We've got a live report from a Gingrich event going on right now. We're going to take you to it straight ahead, turn up the mikes, let him talk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: You know, there's some of the hardest working people on the planet, political reporters, next to the people who are campaigning themselves. They don't get the recognition they deserve.
So Jim Acosta, I turn to you, my friend. I know you've had a hard day already, but I'm going to make it harder and make you go ahead and tell me everything that's going on in that beautiful spot in Golden Colorado.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and I'm being told to do it in less than 60 seconds. So I'll do it my best.
But, you know, Ashleigh, coming out of the Nevada caucuses, Mitt Romney was hoping for a clean sweep this week. You know, there are caucuses on Tuesday in Minnesota and Colorado. There's a non-binding contest down in Missouri. And Romney would very much like to sweep those contests. But it may not happen.
And there is a sign that they're starting to worry about not Newt Gingrich, who is holding an event right now here in Golden, but Rick Santorum. The candidate who gave Mitt Romney so much trouble in Iowa, there is a chance Rick Santorum could win the Minnesota caucuses, which would obviously wound Mitt Romney's air of inevitability in this GOP competition.
And, you know, one sign the Mitt Romney's starting to worry about Rick Santorum, the Romney campaign is putting out Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, on a conference call -- it's happening right about now -- going off on Rick Santorum's record of supporting earmarks when he was in the Congress.
BANFIELD: All right.
ACOSTA: So, you know, you might have thought this would have been a sure thing this week for Mitt Romney winning all these contests, but it may not shape up that way. That's what we're watching this week, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: Well, you did it. You did it beautifully, Jim Acosta. Thank you for that 60 minute, I heard everything in Colorado. Keep yourself warm and get some skiing in, if you can.
ACOSTA: Stuck the landing.
BANFIELD: You stuck the landing.
ACOSTA: Yes.
BANFIELD: Jim Acosta live in Golden for you. Thanks for watching, everybody. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, sitting in for Randi Kaye. CNN NEWSROOM continuing now with my pal Michael Holmes, in for Brooke Baldwin.
The last time I think I saw you was in the West Bank or something, Michael.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It was. I think it was April 2002 young lady. We're showing our age there, aren't we? You are ubiquitous, Ashleigh Banfield. I saw you this morning. I see you again now.
