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Obama Meets with Israeli P.M. Netanyahu; IRS Warns About Scams; Tornado Aftermath in the Midwest

Aired March 05, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Where are you, Kyra, anyway?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Down in the newsroom. Come visit. We're in here, right in the middle of all the action. Please.

COSTELLO: I'll be there directly.

PHILLIPS: Stop by for a cup of coffee. Thanks, Carol.

Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 out West. We've got a pretty busy hour ahead for you. Let's get right to the news.

Right now at the White House, President Obama is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over whether, when, how to use force in Iran.

Just last night, Mr. Obama warned the American Israel Public Affairs Committee against -- and I quote -- "loose talk of war." He says that only drives up the price of oil, which funds Iran's nuclear program.

Now, at the same time, he vowed to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons and defended Israel's right to, quote, "make its own decisions about its security."

Now, Netanyahu addresses the AIPAC convention tonight and just minutes from now, we do expect to hear his and the president's opening comments from the Oval Office. We are on that story for you.

Also, single, biggest election day of the presidential nomination process is now just one day away, 437 delegates up for grabs tomorrow in ten states from Alaska to Massachusetts.

Now, the "super-est" state of all may be Ohio. Georgia has more delegates, but no state matters more as a general election battleground.

Now, Mitt Romney, fresh off his weekend victory in the Washington state caucuses, is in Ohio today, so is Rick Santorum, whose early lead in Ohio polling has faded. Newt Gingrich in Tennessee, Ron Paul in Idaho. We are following it all for you. Now, over the weekend, Romney also picked up some key conservative endorsements from House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Oklahoma senator, Tom Coburn.

Now, Cantor appeared this morning on CNN's "STARTING POINT" where Soledad O'Brien really pressed him on the energy issue and she didn't mean $4 gas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC CANTOR (R), HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: I'm very excited about his plan to fix the economy and that's the issue, Soledad. I know you don't want to hear that.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN HOST, "STARING POINT": I do. I love talking economy. I truly do. I just -- I guess I just want you to specifically answer my question. I feel like that's a lukewarm, half- hearted endorsement. Do you feel the same way?

CANTOR: No. I mean, again, I disagree with anybody who said, you know, that there is not energy surrounding Mitt Romney's campaign. When people take time to look at his economic plan, I think they will get excited about it. You already see him gaining momentum.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, Cantor's from Virginia, one of the Super Tuesday states were only Romney and Ron Paul are on the ballot.

Now you the U.N. special envoy to Syria is expected to visit the Syrian capital on Saturday. Kofi Annan will be the latest to urge the regime of Bashar al-Assad to stop waging war on dissidents, defecting soldiers, and innocent civilians.

Activists there say at least eight more people have been killed today and they've posted a video that purports to show smoke from incinerated corpses in the former rebel stronghold of Baba Amr in the devastated city of Homs. The narrator says that the Assad forces, quote, "want to cover their crimes."

And a frightening start to Monday in the San Francisco Bay-area. A magnitude 4.0 earthquake was felt near the California city of Richmond. That was about 5:33 a.m. Pacific time. So far, we don't have any reports of damage or injuries, but we will keep you posted on this story.

All right, FEMA is fanning out across Kentucky today where 21 people were killed, communities were leveled, and it was monster tornadoes that did all the damage. Thirty-nine people died in five states, the latest, a 14-month-old Indiana girl who had been the sole survivor of her five-member family.

And then, adding to the misery, in southern Indiana is a two- to four-inch layer of wet snow that fell overnight. We will go live to the town of Henryville in our "Face Time" segment just about six minutes from now. Well, the supreme court of Iran today reportedly threw out a death sentence for an American accused of spying. Amir Hekmati, a former U.S. Marine, was convicted in Iran in January of working for an enemy county. Hekmati's family and the U.S. government deny it. Whether and when he will now be released is still unclear.

And in Moscow, Vladimir Putin says that he won an open and honest election for a third term as president of Russia. European observers beg to differ, though. They say that ballot stuffing and other irregularities in yesterday's made the outcome a foregone conclusion.

By early today, Putin led his closest opponent by a 4-1 margin. Term limits forced Putin to leave the presidency behind in 2008, but he didn't go far. He has been Russia's prime minister ever since.

And pretty soon, terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay will have something to do besides stare at barbed wire and not everybody in Congress is happy it. Finishing touches are being put on a 28,000 square foot soccer field which U.S. taxpayers are building at a cost of almost $750,000.

Commanders say it's a needed diversion, but one Florida congressman has written a bill that would strip the Defense Department budget by exactly that amount. Gitmo, the lawmaker says, should not be a place of comfort.

And Prince Harry is on a whirlwind tour of the Caribbean this week and it's all for his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The ten- day trip is all part of the "Diamond Jubilee" celebration marking the queen's 60 years in power.

In the Bahamas this weekend, the 27-year-old party prince definitely partied it up, dancing, boating, drinking, eating, including local favorites, like cow-foot soup. Harry's final stop on the tour is Jamaica.

And some say he did a better George W. Bush than Mr. Bush himself. Steve Bridges, the comic actor best known for his spot-on impersonation of President Bush died this weekend at his home in Los Angeles.

Bridges appeared with the president, seem here at the 2006 White House correspondents association dinner. He was also a regular on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."

Reports say that the 48-year-old appeared to have died from natural causes, but an autopsy has been scheduled.

Well, the town of Marysville, Indiana, is no more. In the words of a sheriff, it's completely gone. So, how do these 1,900 people rebuild? We will take you there live, next.

But, first, a homeless man trying to swim across an Oregon river saved by a stranger and the whole ordeal is caught on tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude, now, he's going down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, now, he's going down.

PHILLIPS: The bicyclist who happened to be passing by saw the man struggling right there in the water.

Now, a bystander is the one that captured this all on camera. Local news reports now telling us the man you see there pulling the victim to shore, giving CRP, is Kevin Pratt. And thanks to Kevin, that man survived.

Kevin, you're not just a hero, but you're today's rock star.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes, it's almost our favorite time of year, tax time, and if you're trying to find all those receipts and donation slips, well, if that is not enough to worry about, how about all the scams that are out there?

Alison Kosik does has advice for us, though. Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra, and there are plenty of scams out there as we get ready to put our taxes together and do the fun of putting our taxes together. The IRS is actually warning taxpayers about scams on everything from phony refunds to tax preparers who may not be so legit, shall we say?

So, if you wind up getting an e-mail, a text message, or even a social media message that claims to be from the IRS looking for personal or financial information, the advice is, guess what, don't reply, don't open any attachments or click on any links.

Check the URLs, too, because scammers wind up setting up fake websites using common misspellings of legit Web addresses.

Now, the IRS does not contact taxpayers through e-mail, either through U.S. -- and they only contact you through U.S. mail as a first contact or will contact you as a second resort by phone.

Now, you can forward the suspicious e-mail or link to phishing@irs.gov or, if you get a phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to verify this person is an employee before you give out any information.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well, Alison, too I think this is kind of a no- brainer, but I think we should emphasize, if you get a refund that you think is too good to be true, it probably is.

KOSIK: It is and it's worth reminding because, yes, it is a no- brainer, but it's always good to hear it again. You know, the IRS is warning taxpayers against phony refunds based on the American Opportunity Tax Credit. That's a higher- education tax credit. Scammers are actually trying to convince people they are eligible for it even if they went to school decades ago.

Also, if you are getting charged excessive up front fees to file claims like these, that is a big red flag that your preparer may not be on the up-and-up.

Remember, you are legally responsible for what is on your return and you have to pay back any refunds you got, even if it is your tax preparer's error.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well, imagine this, there is now an app for taxes. Do tell.

KOSIK: of course. Of course, there is. Yes, and guess what? The IRS tweets. Don't you want to follow the IRS on Twitter?

So, if you want to start following them, you can go to @IRSnews on Twitter and there's also, as you said, a free app for your taxes at IRS2Go. That's available on Apple and Android phones, which allow to you get your refund status and your tax records.

And, remember, here is a big change this year. Your taxes are due on Tuesday, April 17th, because the April 15th date on a Sunday.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, Alison, thanks so much.

All right, we just got the two-minute warning right now at the White House behind closed doors, the president of the United States meeting with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over how to respond to a nuclear threat from Iran.

My colleague, Wolf Blitzer, here, of course, for politics, but it's perfect timing we can talk about this, as well. This is right in your wheelhouse.

We're going to talk about the issue of nukes, Iran. Also Ali Velshi going to weigh in about the issue of gas prices and oil. It's all happening at the AIPAC conference.

But this -- the talk between Netanyahu and Obama -- a lot of questions about, OK, could there be another war with Iran? The president doesn't want to do that. Netanyahu says, I am going to do what I have to do in order to prevent nuclear weapons from harming us.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": You know, the difference, the nuance and the difference, and I will be anxious to hear once we get this tape. They were in the Oval Office, the president of the United States, the prime minister of Israel, and the network pool television cameras were inside there as well. They're about to feed it.

I'm anxious to see the nuances on what they are saying about Iran's nuclear capability to build a bomb versus actually building a bomb. It's a nuance that we will be paying attention to as we hear what these two gentlemen have to say.

PHILLIPS: And, of course, what does that mean for the U.S., for Israel? A possible war, we are going to hit -- apparently, we're going to be able to see actually what happened behind those closed doors, as we roll the video now.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All right, everybody in position? Well, I want to welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu and the entire Israeli delegation back to the White House, back to the Oval Office.

This visit, obviously, comes at a critical time. We are seeing incredible changes that are taking place in the Middle East and in North Africa. We have seen the terrible bloodshed that's going on in Syria. The Democratic transition that's taking place in Egypt.

And in the midst of this, we have an island of democracy and one of our greatest allies in Israel. As I have said repeatedly, the bond between our two countries is unbreakable. My personal commitment, a commitment that is consistent with the history of other occupants of this Oval Office, our commitment to the security of Israel, is rock solid.

And, as I've said to the prime minister in every single one of our meetings, the United States will always have Israel's back when it comes to Israel's security. This is a bond that is based not only on our mutual security interests and economic interests, but is also based on common values and the incredible, people-to-people contacts that we have between our two countries.

During the course of this meeting, we will talk about the regional issues that are taking place and I look forward to the prime minister sharing with me his ideas about how we can increase the prospects of peace and security in the region. We will discuss the issues that continue to be a focus of not only our foreign policy, but also the prime minister's, how we can potentially bring about a calmer set of discussions between the Israelis and the Palestinians and arrive at a peaceful resolution to that long-standing conflict. It is a very difficult thing to do in light of the context right now, but I know that the prime minister remains committed to trying to achieve that.

And obviously, a large topic of conversation will be Iran, which I devoted a lot of time to in my speech to AIPAC yesterday and I know that the prime minister has been focused on for a long period of time.

Let me just reiterate a couple of points on that. Number one, we all know that it's unacceptable from Israel's perspective to have a country with a nuclear weapon that has called for the destruction of Israel, but, as I emphasized yesterday, it is profoundly in the United States' interest, as well, to prevent Iran from taking a nuclear weapon.

We do not want to see a nuclear arms race in one of the most volatile regions of the world, we do not want the possibility of a nuclear weapon falling into the hands of terrorists, and we do not want a regime that has been a state-sponsor of terrorism being able to feel that it can act even more aggressively or with impunity as a consequence of its nuclear power.

That's why we have worked so diligently to set up the most crippling sanctions ever with respect to Iran. We do believe that there is still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution to this issue, but, ultimately, the Iranians' regime has to make a decision to move in that direction, a decision that they have not made thus far.

And as I emphasized, even as we will continue on the diplomatic front, we will continue to tighten pressure when it comes to sanctions. I reserve all options and my policy here is not going to be one of containment. My policy is prevention of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons and, as I indicated yesterday in my speech, when I say all options are on the table, I mean it.

Having said that, I know that both the prime minister and I prefer to resolve this diplomatically. We understand the costs of any military action and I want to assure both the American people and the Israeli people that we are in constant and close consultation. I think the levels of coordination and consultation between our militaries and our intelligence, not just on this issue, but on a broad range of issues has been unprecedented and I intend to make sure that that continues during what will be a series of difficult months, I suspect, in 2012.

So, Prime Minister, we welcome you and we appreciate very much the friendship of the Israeli people. You can count on that friendship always being reciprocated from the United States.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISREALI PRIME MINISTER: Thank you.

OBAMA: Thank you.

NETANYAH: Thank you.

Mr. President, thank you for those kind words. And thank you, too, for that strong speech yesterday. And I want to thank you also for the warm hospitality that you have shown me and my delegation.

The alliance between our two countries is deeply appreciated by me and by everyone in Israel and I think that, as you said, when Americans look around the Middle East today, they see one reliable, stable, faithful ally of the United States and that's the democracy of Israel.

Americans know that Israel and the United States share common values, that we defend common interests, that we face common enemies. Iran's leaders know that, too. You know, for them, you are the "Great Satan." We are the "Little Satan." For them, we are you and you are us and, you know something, Mr. President, at least on this last point, I think they're right. We are you and you are us. We are together.

So, if there's one thing that stands out clearly in the Middle East today, it's that Israel and America stand together. I think that above and beyond that are two principles, long-standing principles of American policy that you reiterated yesterday in your speech, that Israel must have the ability always to defend itself, by itself, against any threat, and that when it comes to Israel's security, Israel has the right, the sovereign right, to make its up decisions.

I believe that's you'll why appreciate, Mr. President, that Israel must reserve the right to defend itself. And after all, that is the very purpose of the Jewish state, to restore to the Jewish people control over our destiny. And that's why my supreme responsibility as prime minister of Israel is to ensure that Israel remains the master of its fate.

So, I thank you very much, Mr. President, for your friendship and I look forward to our discussions. Thank you, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody.

PHILLIPS: Wolf Blitzer was trying to read between the lines here. Israel refusing to rule out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The president preferring peace over war, but also making the point he will not -- he will take no options off the table.

So, a lot of people wondering, a new Middle East war in the coming months?

BLITZER: Well, let's hope not. Let's hope that they can, as the president says, resolve this diplomatically, that the sanctions will work, that the government in Iran will realize that it's in its own best interest to try to deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency and scale this crisis down.

I'm not holding my breath. I'm not sure the Iranians are going to do that, but this is a sensitive moment and, when the president of the United States says the next few months are going to be very difficult months, he knows what he's talking about because it's one thing for the U.S. position, which is the U.S. will not allow Iran to have a nuclear bomb.

The Israeli position is a bit different. The Israeli position is the Israelis will not allow Iran to have the nuclear capability to build a bomb. So, the respective what they call the "red lines" between what would trigger military action on the U.S. part as opposed to the Israeli part, they're different.

It's an important nuance that all of us are going to be learning more about in the coming months.

PHILLIPS: President Obama saying that the sanctions have been crippling. Would you agree with that? BLITZER: The sanctions have been crippling on the Iranians. They are -- and, especially, most recently, went the U.S. and the Europeans and the others began to sanction the Iranian central bank because most of Iran's oil exports -- they smuggle some oil out -- but most of it has to go through financial transactions through the Iranian central bank and other banks in Iran.

If they can't do that, their oil exports are going to dry up and without exporting oil, the Iranian economy is going to collapse even more rapidly than it already is. And, so, they are in trouble, the Iranians, and we'll see how they respond.

PHILLIPS: And, Alison Kosik, when you look at gas prices, how they keep soaring and we are paying more at the pump, we can look to what's happening in Iran and look to these discussions when we start talking about that impact. It ties together.

KOSIK: And, well, the interesting thing is, yes, you see sort of the fear of that supply crunch happening in the oil trade. Oil right now is trading actually down a bit today, but still at a very high level, about $106 a barrel.

But, you know, there's another side to why the oil prices are soaring, as well, the improving economy here in the U.S. There's an expectation that demand is going to grow as the economy grows and that's also why you see oil prices going up, as well.

But, with the fear of what's happening with what Iran happening, there is a tipping point. When you look at the price of oil, you don't want it to get too high for too long because that means that consumers are spending more of their disposable income filling up their gas tank and not spending it on other things and then, of course, comes the fear of slowing down the economy because consumers aren't putting their money into other things, other than gas.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Alison Kosik from the New York Stock Exchange, thanks so much.

Wolf Blitzer, we'll be talking more about this.

BLITZER: Let me make one more point.

PHILLIPS: Yes. Yes.

BLITZER: Because I'm sure a lot of our viewers are going to be wondering why we have the cut-away cameras showing what was going on between the prime minister of Israel and the president of the United States because it looks impolite. You have the prime minister speaking or the president speaking and the photographer is cutting away to reporters just listening or whatever.

And, as a former White House correspondent, let me explain what has just happened before we get a lot of hate mail that we weren't being polite. PHILLIPS: That's interesting. You think our viewers pay close attention to that?

BLITZER: Oh, yes. Believe me.

PHILLIPS: They watch the camera shots?

BLITZER: A lot of them will be complaining. The president of the United States is speaking. The prime minister ...

PHILLIPS: And we look at reporters.

BLITIZER: And you're cutting away to reporters, taking pictures of them? What was that all about?

And, so, let me explain. There are always two, network pool cameras that go into the Oval Office to record this historic moment. There's a head-on camera that has the president and the prime minister and then there's the cut-away camera. Almost always, the network pool -- in this particular case, NBC News --- they feed in the head-on, first so that the cable networks can take it live and show what's going on, whether it's CNN, MSNBC, or Fox, or whatever.

In this particular case, they fed in the cut-away cameras first. We wanted to get the news on the air because it's CNN. The news comes first. So, we let that camera bring it to our viewers so at least we would get it on the air.

Normally, we do would do the head-on camera first, but that explains why we were seeing reporters listening as opposed to the prime minister or the president.

PHILIIPS: Wolf Blitzer, the ultimate newsman and the ultimate gentleman. Thank you, sir.

BLITZER: I just wanted to preempt a lot of hate e-mails and tweets. I knew that was going to be coming.

PHILLIPS: Wolf, thanks.

Coming up right after break, we are going to be talking about the town of Marysville, Indiana. In the words of a sheriff's official, it's completely gone.

So, how do these 1,900 people rebuild? We're going to take you there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's hard to imagine your entire town being wiped out, completely gone in a matter of minutes. But that is the reality for thousands of people living in Marysville and Henryville, Indiana, right now. Let take just a moment and listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have nothing. Our place was completely devastated. And there was nothing left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you could just see it sucking the tractor trailers, like you could see all the debris coming from the ground up into the tornado and it just pretty much leveled the whole area.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything else is in trees, in the mud and nowhere to be found.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now we're getting a much clearer picture today. This is the kind of devastation we are talking about, folks, left behind by a rare and deadly outbreak of tornadoes.

Major Chuck Adams is with the Clark County sheriff's department. He is actually heading to Henryville, Indiana, right now.

Major Adams, you say that Marysville, Indiana, is completely gone. Just describe and tell me in more detail, absolutely flattened, all homes, all businesses, all schools, everything?

MAJOR CHUCK ADAMS, CLARK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Yes, ma'am. And when I mean completely gone, you are going to have to understand that that's a very rural area, a very rural part of our county. We -- the hardware store that is probably the main focus of Marysville, it is damaged, but is still standing.

We did have an abandoned school right behind it. The only thing left is the walls. It just took a path through Marysville, and I guess that's pretty accurate, that if you want to consider Marysville residents, it is completely gone.

PHILLIPS: So can you tell me -- how do you even start rebuilding after something like this? And those that survived, where have they -- where are they living? How are they getting through, day by day?

ADAMS: Well, we have -- we sent our -- we set our command center up over on the other side of the county, as you see from your footage over the last three days, in Henryville, Indiana, area, which is about 10 to 12, 15 miles east of Marysville. It's a more populated part of our county that was struck. So we centrally located our -- all of our resources there.

And after our command staff meeting this morning, we are starting to disperse to the outer edges of our county.

But we are doing very good down here. We woke up this morning with about a three-inch blanket of snow, but that's not going to -- but that's not going to let us -- make us stop what we are doing.

PHILLIPS: Yes. I don't think anybody will stop what they are doing right now to try to get things together for those there. I got to ask you, before I let you go, how can people help that are watching right now? As you know, so many people across the United States have donated, have wanted to give back. What do you guys need at this point? ADAMS: Well, we, honestly, are in very good shape. We have had people -- I filled up two semi-loads full of clothing, non- perishables. We have had restaurant catering businesses come in from all over the metro area.

Of course, you know, we are only about 20 miles north of Louisville, Kentucky, so they have -- they have helped tremendously. We are -- anything that maybe wanted to be donated monetarily, I guess, we are asking those people to contact the American Red Cross and give that way for people that are out of town.

PHILLIPS: Chuck Adams, thanks so much for calling in. Appreciate it.

ADAMS: OK. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

Two GOP presidential candidates keep telling each other to get out of the race. But is either one budging?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I suggested that about a month ago. Rick said that he didn't think so. He surged after that.

Back and forth. Plus, Ohio. Why all eyes are on the Buckeye State this Super Tuesday. That's fair game, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. This is the part of the show where we get to the heart of the political debate, where all sides are "Fair Game." We're just a day away from the biggest day of the Republican presidential race, Super Tuesday, 10 states, more than 400 delegates. And this one day doles out more than a third of all the delegates need to win this thing.

Joining me now, Gentry Collins, former political director for the Republican National Committee; and Democratic political consultant, Ed Espinoza.

OK, guys, out of the 10 states up for grabs, I know what we are focusing on now, the biggest prize, Ohio. Ed?

ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Yes, Ohio's the big one tomorrow. Both these guys are neck in neck. You got more than 60 delegates up for grabs, but this is the thing, Obama leads either of these candidates, Romney or Santorum, by double digits. So, whoever wins tomorrow has to demonstrate they are competitive in the fall. It's going to be a tall order, no matter what.

PHILLIPS: Gentry, what's the one issue that's getting Ohio Republicans to the polls? GENTRY COLLINS, FORMER RNC POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, clearly it's jobs and the economy and it's the weak economy that has Obama's approval numbers stuck in the mid-40s in Ohio. Look, Ed is right today that a head-to-head matchup doesn't favor a Republican, but it will in the fall once our party unifies and our party is clearly going to unify against President Obama, once we have a nominee.

PHILLIPS: Ed, do you agree?

ESPINOZA: They haven't done it yet. They haven't done it yet. So we'll wait and see.

PHILLIPS: Gentry, you're -- I thought for sure you would have a comeback there. I was expecting some sparring.

COLLINS: Well, look, the Democratic contest in 2008 lasted all the way till June. They were hurling tough charges at each other all the way through. Ours looks like it could wrap up in early or mid- May, and all of the data, all of the exit polling suggests that more than 95 percent of Republicans who voted for another candidate will support our nominee this fall against Barack Obama.

All of the polling is very clear about that, and I think any reasonable expectation is that Republicans are very upset about this president's leadership or lack thereof on jobs and the economy, and they are going to turn out strongly this November.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let me ask about Rick Santorum --

(CROSSTALK)

ESPINOZA: But that -- but that's a key (inaudible) --

PHILLIPS: Go ahead, Ed.

ESPINOZA: -- because when you -- when you look at the -- you know, we make these comparisons between 2008 and 2012, it's not even close, the turnout this year is much lower than it was before, and Republicans might be enthused, but such a small slice of the electorate that it's not representative of the broader electorate right now. If you want to go head to head in the general, the issues change, the matchups change. I don't think it is anywhere near compared to what it was in 2008.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let me ask you --

ESPINOZA: We'll just have to wait and see.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you guys about Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, they keep telling each other to drop out of the race, already, both blaming each other, that they are the ones splitting the conservative vote.

So now Santorum is ahead in the polls, so he took the shot and here is Gingrich's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: When I suggested that about a month ago, Rick said he didn't think so. He surged after that. So I'm taking his advice. I think, you know, a month ago he had that opportunity and decided to keep campaigning. I think that there are real differences between the two of us.

I think we'll continue to campaign, and I have great respect for Senator Santorum, but I think that I represent much larger change, a much greater willingness to take on the system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Gentry, can he stay competitive?

COLLINS: Well, look, I don't think either Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich can be competitive if the other man stays in the race. We are clearly in a delegate fight now, Mitt Romney leads by a wide margin with respect to bound (ph) delegates. He's likely to win more than half of the delegates tomorrow, Super Tuesday, and keep rolling up that lead going forward. And so if this is a multiway race, the Romney people have got to like their chances.

PHILLIPS: Ed?

ESPINOZA: Well, the question is whether or not Gingrich can stay competitive, because he's not competitive right now. He's going to win his home state tomorrow, fine. You are supposed to win your home state.

The question is can he win any other state beyond that? Can he even get into double digits beyond that? We don't know the answer. Gingrich doesn't know the answer. And Gingrich doesn't care. He is not in this race to win it. He is in this race to delay Romney from getting the nomination as long as he can and he doesn't care if he wins any states or not to get there. He is playing spoiler right now.

PHILLIPS: Ed Espinosa -- playing spoiler. Ed Espinoza, Gentry Collins, guys, thanks so much. That's "Fair Game."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right. A pharmacy mixes up kids' pills with cancer medication. How does something like this even happen? Dozens of families are now affected and parents are outraged.

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PHILLIPS: All right, here's a question for you. When you pick up your meds at the pharmacy, how often do you actually check the pills inside or check any of the medication? Probably not very often, right?

Well, after hearing this next story, you may want to start doing just that. It's today's undercover. Dozens of parents who went to this CVS pharmacy in Chatham, New Jersey, thought they were taking home fluoride pills for their children's teeth. But what they got instead, a cancer drug.

CVS is apologizing for the medical mix-up. As for how it all happened, that is still under investigation. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining me to talk most about this. Now, normally, when we go to the pharmacy, I guess we have this expectation we are going to get the right drug, it's drugs.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. But let me tell you about an experience I had that taught me otherwise, I was at the pharmacy and a woman took her bag, paid and left, came back 10 minutes later and said, this is not my medicine. It had someone else's name on it and thank goodness that she noticed. So when I go to the pharmacy, first thing I do is check the name and make sure it is me, my daughters, or whoever I'm picking it up for.

PHILLIPS: Do you actually look at your medication?

COHEN: I do, I open it up -- this is how paranoid -- well, I don't think it is paranoid, but you know what I mean.

PHILLIPS: You're being smart.

COHEN: Well, I'm -- yes, I take the medicine, I put it in my hand and I show it to the pharmacist and I say, is this what I'm supposed to get? Is this my, you know, antibiotic or -- I name the drug. And if it's liquid, I just show them the inside, because I want to make sure I'm giving my children the right thing and mistakes like this do happen. What I do isn't foolproof, but I'm hoping it helps.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let -- now, let me read part of CVS' statement to CNN. I want to get your response. Quote, "As soon as we heard of this problem, we took immediate action to contact any family that could possibly have been affected, and removed the one affected stock bottle that will we believe to be the source of the issue.

"We are conducting a thorough investigation to determine precisely what took place in the store in order to prevent this from happening again."

OK, now CVS says that most of the families they've talked to thankfully didn't receive the wrong pills, but for those who did, how -- and it's tamoxifen. Right? Isn't that the cancer --

COHEN: Tamoxifen is a cancer drug.

PHILLIPS: OK. So, what could that do to kids?

COHEN: Well, we talked to an oncologist about this and he said probably nothing, tamoxifen blocks estrogen, and so those kids, they're -- if they were sort of teenage girls, it might have messed with their estrogen somewhat, but he said probably nothing. But still, you don't want this to happen and if you want more tips on how to avoid it, CNN.com/empoweredpatient.

PHILLIPS: Great. Elizabeth, thanks so much. Sure appreciate it. All right. Well, NFL players offered big cash bonuses for knocking opponents out of the game. Now the real punishment may be on the way. ESPN analyst LZ Granderson has the scoop on this story we are just finding out about.

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PHILLIPS: We have got more now on that fallout from an NFL investigation that found out the New Orleans Saints were rewarding players for hurting players on other teams, around 1,000 bucks for knocking a guy out of the game.

Since that report came out, well, more players have now come forward implicating other teams in a similar system. Now the league is lining up to punish the Saints but there could be another punishment coming: lawsuits.

I'm joined now by CNN.com contributor LZ Granderson. He's also a senior writer for ESPN. You know, here's my question, LZ. We're heard things taking place like this among coaches and players in the past. So this issue of these teams offering these bounties for dirty hits, it's really nothing new, right?

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No, it's nothing new at all. And, in fact, there are former players, you know, on ESPN who were recently talking about -- very openly about how guys we put in front of the group and you know, 100 bucks for a hit here or 200 bucks for an interception there, I mean, this has been a longstanding practice among players in the NFL.

The thing that makes this kind of unique or different, it's that, one, there's been a real push to try deter players from getting hit in the head and they talk about concussions in the NFL.

There's been a new focus on that. And, two, Roger Goodell, in particular, the commissioner of the NFL, has been really trying to clean up his league. And so this is why this is such a big story right now, is because of the new efforts that's been put forward to address concussions and cleaning up the NFL.

PHILLIPS: So where has the accountability been? Whose responsibility -- because, obviously, a lot of people knew about this and it just became a part of the game.

GRANDERSON: Well, you know, first of all, it's a personal responsibility. That's first and foremost. You know, each individual player has to decide, do they want to be motivated by hurting another individual. Once you get past that point, it's about the culture of the team and of the franchise. Do you want to be known as the team that goes after players?

And let's face it. It's the NFL. I mean, part of the excitement are the hard hits, is, you know, hitting someone so hard that they get their bell run, as we used to say. And so, you know, you have to be careful in how you discipline these players, because a lot of what we see is what we also enjoy and the reason why the NFL is the most popular sport in the country right now.

PHILLIPS: How -- but it's such a cowardly way to perform. I mean, a true athlete, a true fan of athletics, wants to see skill, right? I mean, this is just -- I mean, it's barbaric.

GRANDERSON: Well, yes, the NFL is barbaric and you are going to hit with skill. I mean, they aren't just going around trying to chop block and knock each other's heads off, at least not anymore. These hits that you see, they are skilled. Guys are, you know, groomed and prepared and trained on how to hit cleanly. And those are the types of hits that we like to see.

Every now and then, now, you see guys being really dirty. But definitely the hits have gotten cleaner and you see less dirty play in order to open field hits than we used to and that could be credited to the in NFL for addressing that problem. But you don't want to take away any part in the NFL, because that's the reason why we love the sport. It's more of an indictment of the culture than it is of the NFL.

PHILLIPS: We'll definitely follow the suspensions, the fines, the lawsuits. I know there will be a lot of fallout. We'll stay on it. LZ, thanks so much.

GRANDERSON: OK. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, Kelly, how exactly do I say Ohio properly here?

O-hi-o. Uh-huh. She's a football fan, but I'm actually talking GOP presidential candidates, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, they're working for the votes. I probably wouldn't get any votes by the way I just said Ohio, but we're going to talk about how and why they are spending their final hours in the Buckeye State. The countdown to Super Tuesday is next.

All right. But first our "Political Junkie" question, how many states were part of Super Tuesday in 2008? Tweet me with your answer @kyracnn. I'll give a shout out for the first right answer.

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PHILLIPS: OK. Just before the break I asked how many states were part of Super Tuesday in 2008? Votes were cast in 24 states. Republican and Democrats held a total of 42 contests that day. Congratulations, Adash (ph), for tweeting me the right answer.

Well, it's all about Super Tuesday, right? Forget about Iowa or Florida or all the contests we've seen so far. This is the big daddy. CNN political director Mark Preston is here with me. We were talking earlier about the importance of Ohio, and who's got the advantage there right now.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, right now if you are to look at the public polling, it's going in Mitt Romney's direction. In fact, let's just take a quick look at the numbers from Quinnipiac, just out. Shows that Romney is at 34 percent right now.

Rick Santorum is at 31 percent. But what's really interesting about this poll is that we're seeing the numbers moving in Romney's direction and move away from Rick Santorum, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We can learn a lot from their travel itineraries, too, right? We're always trying to read the tea leaves.

OK. Let's see where they're going.

PRESTON: Yes, let's see where we're going. But today, of course, Ohio, battleground, the state that we will be most focused on tomorrow, not that there aren't nine other, Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. That's where Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney are grinding it out right now.

Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich, trying to get momentum back in Tennessee because polling there shows it's Rick Santorum's state. And, of course, we see Ron Paul, who is really trying to work the caucus states. He's going to be in Idaho.

Come tomorrow, though, where will they all be? Mitt Romney will be in his home state of Massachusetts where he will win easily. He'll spend some time in Ohio. Rick Santorum will be in Ohio. That's where he'll spend his election night. North Dakota will be where Ron Paul will camp out and of course where we sit right now, in Newt Gingrich's home state, this is where he'll be at.

PHILLIPS: OK. We've been talking about the itineraries, but there some within the best political team on television that are talking about the wardrobe. So somebody said to me, Rick Santorum, what's up? He's back in the sweater vest? What happened to the coat and tie and does that mean anything?

PRESTON: Tell you what, I just talked to one of his top advisers on the phone. I had to call up and I said, I got to ask you this question. Why not the sweater vest?

And he laughed at me and he's like, enough's enough, Preston. Like, the fact of the matter is, he's going to wear a suit sometimes and he's going to wear the sweater sometimes.

PHILLIPS: Oh, no, come on. If you look at where he was successful and not so successful, that's what the pundits are saying. You know, it's all about confidence and how he's feeling and when he goes back to the casual look and when he bumps it up to a more sophisticated look.

PRESTON: Ah, tell you what, though, he's basically -- his political prowess in the field on a sweater, then, he has written off the GOP nomination.

PHILLIPS: All right. So big Super Tuesday tomorrow. We're all talking about it. It's going to be a late night. Are you ready?

PRESTON: Yes, we are ready. But I'll tell you what, not only going to be a light night, going to be an early morning. I don't think we'll go off the air. I think this is going to be so important, 10 states up, all the way out to Alaska. Expect these election results to roll through all the night into the next morning.

PHILLIPS: And we're starting at 6:00 pm Eastern time. Thanks so much, Mark Preston, appreciate it.

PRESTON: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, thanks so much for watching. You can continue the conversation with me on Twitter @kyracnn or on Facebook. Yes, I've shocked a lot of people. I finally got on Facebook. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with our Suzanne Malveaux.