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Romney Expected to Be GOP Nominee in Time; Santorum Losing Catholic Vote; Gingrich Continues in Race; Manning, Colts Going Separate Ways; What Does Super Tuesday Mean for Romney?

Aired March 07, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East Coast. 8:00 on the West.

We've got a busy hour ahead. Let's straight to the news.

So, was it "super" for you? The single, biggest day of the presidential nominating season gave at least three of the four GOP contenders something to brag about.

But no one got everything he wanted. Mitt Romney won six of the 10 contests, but the most contested state was the closest. Barely one percentage point separates Romney from Rick Santorum in Ohio. A loss there would have put his front-runner status in jeopardy yet again.

Santorum's conservative street cred did give him three wins last night in Tennessee, Oklahoma and North Dakota. And Newt Gingrich did what he had to do in Georgia. He carried his home state by 21 points over second-place Romney.

So, after all that, here's where the candidates stand. CNN estimates Romney now has 404 Republican delegates of the 1,144 a nominee needs. Santorum, 165 a delegates, Gingrich 106, and Ron Paul still hasn't won a single primary or caucus, has 66.

Up next, caucuses in Kansas on Saturday. Mississippi and Alabama primaries next Tuesday. And, if not must-wins, all three are seen as can-wins by Gingrich and Santorum. And, between them, well, they're campaigning today in all three states.

All right, President Obama is on his way to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he will accept the Democratic nomination six months from now. He's going there to talk manufacturing at the Daimler Mount Holly truck plant.

Daimler trucks hired 1,000 people last year, some of whom had been laid off in the recession. The president speaks in the noon hour Eastern time and, if he makes news, you'll hear it first right here on CNN.

Super Tuesday was anything but for a well-known Ohio Democrat. Eight-term Dennis Kucinich lost his primary battle against a fellow incumbent, 15-term Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. The two were forced to compete in the same district when Ohio redrew its map after the 2010 census. Kaptur is the longest-serving woman in the House of Reps.

Well, the Pentagon is pushing back on calls to use force against Syria. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta tells the Senate armed services committee that, quote, "for us to act unilaterally would be a mistake." Now, that goes directly against the top Republican on that committee, John McCain, and his calls for airstrikes.

Panetta says military options are being considered, but there are good reasons to move slowly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEON PANETTA, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Unfortunately, this terrible situation, there's no simple answers. And, so, the result is a great deal of anger and frustration that we all share.

There are some members who are concerned about whether we are doing enough to stem the violence in Syria and that's understandable. And there are others who are concerned ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, one glimmer of hope today, the U.N.'s top humanitarian envoy was allowed to meet with Syrian officials in Damascus after a month of refusals.

It's been almost eight months since the worst mass killing in Norway since World War II. And just today, the suspect was formally charged with homicide and acts of terror.

Anders Breivik has pleaded not guilty to killing 77 people with bombs and bullets last summer, but authorities say he's admitted it and prosecutors say he was psychotic at the time.

Almost 30 companies have now yanked their advertising from Rush Limbaugh's radio show. Apology or no, companies are parting ways with the conservative king of talk radio.

Rush called a law student a slut after she spoke up for contraception insurance coverage. At least two radio stations have now cancelled him as well.

But Rush does have his fans. Seekingarrangement.com which calls itself the world's largest "sugar daddy" dating site is defending Limbaugh, and even buying ads in his show.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, one of the greatest shows in NFL history, ending after 14 years and a Super Bowl championship. Colts' owner Jim Irsay is expected to announce he's releasing the four-time MVP quarterback at a news conference at the top of the hour. We'll take it live.

The apparent reason? Big bucks and an injury. Sources say that Irsay doesn't want to pay a $28 million option bonus. Also, a neck injury forced Manning to miss the entire 2011 season in which the Colts won only two games. Catch the news conference right here on CNN.

Well, we all know Britain's Prince Harry loves to have a good time. Well, how about this? Racing Jamaica's Olympic 100-meter champ. He's adding that to the fun list, but the world's fastest man took it pretty easy on the prince.

Harry's touring the Caribbean as part of the "Diamond Jubilee" in honor of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. She's celebrating 60 years on the throne.

Well, the FDA is taking aim at the company marketing caffeine and vitamin B as "breathable energy." We told you about "Aero Shot." It comes in a lipstick-shaped dispenser that puffs out this white, powdery mixture.

Well, the FDA is warning the company that it could face regulatory action over false and misleading labeling. It says that the marketing seems to imply that the supplement can be inhaled. The company, Breathable Energy" says the product is ingested.

And, if you don't remember the name, you surely remember some of the Robert Sherman's songs. Seen here on the left, Sherman was best- known for the tunes he and his brother, Richard, wrote for Walt Disney.

His family tells the "Los Angeles Times" that the Academy Award winner died at a clinic in London of an age-related illness. He was 86.

Among their numerous honors, they won an Oscar for best score for "Mary Poppins." They returned to the stage that night to receive the Oscar for the best song, "Chim Chim Cher-Ee."

Well, say goodbye to the iPad 2. The new, improved version is finally here and just two hours from now, Apple is expected to unveil a new tablet. We've got your live sneak peek, straight ahead.

But first, this car hit a pole, flipped over, and exploded in flames. You'll see it in a minute here. Right there, all amid downed power lines. But that doesn't stop Sergeant Andrew Copeland and Officer Rodney Bamford.

They rushed right into that fire, risking their lives to rescue the trapped driver that you can see being pulled from the car. Well, their bravely was all captured on this cruiser's dash-cam. And, when we saw it, we couldn't deny that today they are today's rock stars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's finally here. Apple launches the new iPad in just a couple hours, and techies can't wait to see what the new version has in store. Katie Linendoll is in San Francisco for the unveiling. All right, Katie, tell me what's new in the iPad.

KATIE LINENDOLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, I think it's pretty fair to assume that we're going to see an iPad 3 revealed today, but I like to call this an equivalent to an iPhone 4 to a 4S, a few upgrades, but nothing too crazy.

My best guess as to what we see for iPad 3? First off, higher resolution display. We're probably a retina display that doubles the resolution from the iPad 2. Also, faster processor. Apple loves to speed up products on new iterations.

Also, better cameras, potential 4G capable, and, last but not least, I think we see some Siri integration. All things Apple, moving forward, whether it be iPhone5 to iPad3, will probably play nicely with Siri.

I hate to break the bad news. I don't think we're going to see an iPad mini, a little 7-inch form factor, which has been highly rumored. I think we see that down the road, possibly holiday, but not this go-around, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. You were saying something also about Apple TV. What are you sort of sensing might happen here?

LINENDOLL: I definitely think so. So, here's the deal. When you get an invite to these events, the verbiage on the invite always indicates what you're going to see. On the invite it said we really want you to see and touch.

Obviously, that's alluding to two, different products, one being the iPad3, the other being likely an Apple TV. Understand that nation-wide, there are shortages of Apple TVs and, notably, at Best Buy, completely out of stock. So, I think we see that next generation.

There is a small, small chance that we see the highly rumored and speculated, Apple, full-on television set that is rumored for a fall, September-October debut. However, I don't think that's going to happen. I think we see iPad3 and, also, an Apple TV.

PHILLIPS: OK, so, for those that don't understand Apple TV, give us two highlights.

LINENDOLL: Yes, so, Apple TV's set-top box, $99 unit, very popular over the last few months. This is really just going to be that next version.

Now, when I talk about that very rumored, full-on, Apple television set, in Steve Jobs' bio by Walter Isaacson, he alludes to cracking the code for creating a very simple, Apple, full-on television set. That's what everybody wants to see, but, again, I don't think we see that happening come fall.

PHILLIPS: Cracking the code? Yes, you did that a little bit for us today. Kind of trying to figure out what'll be happening. Katie, thank you so much.

All right, well, President Obama publicly addresses Rush Limbaugh's sexist rage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All decent folks can agree that the remarks that were made don't have any place in the public discourse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

But his Super PAC recently accepted a million bucks from comedian, Bill Maher. You know, the comedian who called Sarah Palin the "c-word?" So, what's the difference?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: By now, all of you know what's going on with Rush Limbaugh, so we're going to spare replaying Limbaugh's sexist rage against Susan Fluke, but here's the deal. Limbaugh called her a slut and prostitute over the issue of insurance coverage of contraception.

Now, that story, the fallout, the backlash are unavoidable. Let's be frank. Everyone's talking about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Don't have any place in the public discourse.

RICK SANTORUM, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's in a very different business than I am.

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's not the language I would have used.

RON PAUL, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think he's very apologetic.

NEWT GINGRICH, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he's indicated he made a mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, this all raises some critical questions about the fine line among commentary, comedy, and the way that we talk about women.

We want to bring in a guy who constantly is doing this balancing act, Sirius XM political talk show host and comedian, Pete Dominick. Pete, thanks so much.

Look, Rush Limbaugh, right, influential in the Republican party. He calls a woman a slut, then yesterday President Obama invokes his daughters, saying that this is offensive discourse. He reached out to Fluke to support her for standing up and testifying about the issue. You know, he wouldn't want his girls exposed to this language, he says.

Now, the president whose Super PAC got a million bucks from Bill Maher, who said this in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MAHER, COMEDIAN: Sarah Palin finally heard what happened in Japan. And she's demanding that we invade tsunami. Oh, speaking of dumb [bleep]. She's not qualified to be the mayor of Wasilla.

This is a category-5 moron we have on our hands. If Bachmann and Palin get in, that's two bimbos. That's a real Beavis and Butt-head we've got there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Pete, I'll get right to it. What's the difference?

PETE DOMINICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are a number of differences. And I wouldn't apologize for any man making those kinds of comments about women, as the father of two daughters and a husband of an amazing woman, but there are differences.

A, Bill Maher is a comedian. You heard all of that laughter. That was in the monologue before his show, "Real Time." And Rush Limbaugh is not. Rush Limbaugh is perhaps arguably the most influential commentator in all of politics, certainly on the Republican side.

There are differences in the targets. With women running for president and a woman, mostly private, testifying one time.

And there are differences in terms of the descriptions used, the describers, the words that they used. Rush Limbaugh was quite literal when he described this woman being a slut and Bill Maher was making gender-based insults, which I frankly am offended by.

PHILLIPS: I mean, gender-based insults have such a greater impact. I mean, let's just for a moment step aside from, OK, the comedian and the powerful voice within the Republican party.

You know, these are really harsh words and Bill Maher stepped away from the comedic role when he donated a million dollars to the Super PAC. He went into that political world.

So, you can imagine there are people stepping forward, including Sarah Palin, saying, you know, you need to tell the Obama Super PAC to give this guy his million dollars back and stick it.

DOMINICK: Yes, Bill Maher stepped away from the political role when he comments on politics. He has a whole entire television show, which is great, I'd love to be on. As do I as a comedian and a political commentator on Sirius XM. But there still is a difference in terms of what comedians say and I am a freedom of speech absolutist, and I defend Rush's freedom to speak and, you know, by the way, Bill Maher has come out in defense of Rush Limbaugh on this.

Being the host of "Politically Incorrect," once getting -- well, he got fired from "Politically Incorrect" for his comments which were fairly accurate in my opinion, but provocative for the time.

But there are a difference and you're right and we can argue about how much influence his $1 million donation to President Obama's Super PAC. Technically, President Obama can't tell the Super PAC what to do with the money. He can't communicate with them.

He could publicly say I think they should give it back, but, Kyra, the more important point is, how influential is Bill Maher's money on politics? We should be talking here and everywhere else about how influential big money of big industry, oil, pharmaceutical, the insurance, that money which comes to all of the candidates, Democrats and Republicans, is much more influential than a comedian/political commentator.

PHILLIPS: I understand, but that money becomes a symbol, right? And women are seeing, OK, Bill Maher saying these gender-based insults. OK, he donated a million to Obama's Super PAC.

Wait a minute. Obama came out and said, hey, Sandra Fluke, way to go, standing up and testifying, and don't let these horrible words coming out of Rush Limbaugh's mouth impact you. I wouldn't want my daughters to be impacted in a negative way by that. There's an image there. It's out there.

DOMINICK: It's a fair criticism and we can talk about it, but I think we have to talk about everything that any person who has donated much more than Bill Maher has said publicly.

But let me just make sure I'm being clear on this. The problem that we have here is Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher, or anybody else, no matter where they're saying it or how they're saying, making gender- based or race-based or sexual orientation-based insults that would in any way discourage any young woman from speaking pushily.

My daughters, I will be honored if my daughters were as courageous as this young woman, and come out and speak on whatever they believe. And I hope that any young woman or person is not discouraged by the bullying of any of these people saying these things about them.

That's really where the damage gets done, that someone would be shut up, would be afraid to speak because they would be dragged through the mud in this horrific way that has happened to this young woman.

And, so, that's really the most important point about this entire conversation that we never discourages women, in this case, from speaking out what they believe. PHILLIPS: You know, you're a dad. You've got daughters. Rush Limbaugh and Bill Maher don't have daughters. I wonder if they would take ...

DOMINICK: It makes a big difference.

PHILLIPS: Use their words differently.

DOMINICK: I was not in this way an advocate for women -- I'll be completely honest -- before I had daughter. Men who have daughters change the way they view about how women should be treated at work, how women should be paid, in so many other ways.

I have completely changed as a man and you're right. Bill Maher and Rush Limbaugh have benefited tremendously from birth control.

PHILLIPS: Pete Dominick, thank you. That caught me off-guard. What a way to button it up, Pete. Thank you so much, Pete.

DOMINICK: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, the housing market in this county is a mess for sure, but it's still a buyers' market. So, do we rent or buy? We're going to talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk money and the roof over your head. We all know what a mess the housing market's in. So, should you rent or buy?

Alison Kosik, tell us what we need to know.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Remember Jimmy McMillan, Kyra? You know, he ran for the governor of New York of "The Rent Is Too Damned High Party?" Remember him?

PHILLIPS: How could we forget him? He made the election very interesting.

KOSIK: He did. He did. So, this is my jumping off point. You know what? He wasn't so far off. I want to show you why. Take a look at this. Rent has actually gone up steadily for the last ten years, but home prices have dropped back to where they were in 2002.

The latest report from S & P Case-Shiller says home prices fell 4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and they're down 34 percent from the peak of 2006, but guess what. It's not all bad news if you're a homeowner because, according to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing homes rose 4 percent in January, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Alison, let's take a look at how, you know, do we know if we're ready to buy a house? I mean, there's so many things to consider as we're debating that.

KOSIK: OK, how to decide. So what we did we spoke with Carmen Wong Ulrich. She's a personal finance expert and the author of "The Real Cost of Living" and she says you shouldn't rush to buy. Carmen told us that the market may not have hit bottom yet. You don't want to end up owing more on a house than it's worth.

But because conditions are different across the country, what you really need to do is really be aware of the housing situation in your area and, in some cases, renting will actually save you money over the long term.

Now, if you are dead set on buying a home, Carmen says you need to be willing to stay in the home for at least five years. And while mortgage rates are close to historic lows, only buyers with FICO scores of 760 or more will get the best rate.

Now, you should also have job security, as well as some cash in the bank. Lenders are going to want to see around six months worth of mortgage payments that are saved up. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Got it. Points well made. Thanks, Alison.

Well, Rick Santorum has made an issue of his Catholic faith. Why didn't he win the vote in Ohio?

Plus, Romney picks up wins in six of ten Super Tuesday states. Is he set to win the nomination? That's fair game, next.

But, first, a question for all our political junkies. The Buckeye State knows how to pick a winner. How many consecutive elections has Ohio chosen the president? Six, 10, or 12? Tweet me your answer @kyraCNN. I'll give the winner a big shout-out after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right. Before the break I asked how many consecutive elections Ohio has chosen the president. Here's the answer -- 12. Congratulations politicalruckus, who was the first person to tweet the right answer.

Romney wins the most states, but Santorum and Gingrich say this race is far from over. No Super Tuesday hangover here. It's all "Fair Game" in the GOP race for the White House. So let's talk about it.

Robert Zimmerman, Democrat strategist, in New York. John Avlon, our CNN contributor, he's in New York as well. And moderate, and proud of it, Doug Heye, a Republican strategist and blogger in Washington.

OK, guys, let's start with Romney, picking up six states, including the squeaker in Ohio, of course.

What do you think? Is this a matter of time before he wins the nomination, Doug?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST & BLOGGER: Yes, I think so. This is -- it's a football game and Romney keeping moving the ball down the field. Maybe he didn't score a touchdown last night or field goal, but that ball keeps moving down the field. He won six out of 10 states. He continues to pick up delegates. The other candidates are so far behind, they're playing a game of catch-up that ultimately looks like they won't be able to do.

PHILLIPS: Robert?

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT: I think it's worth noting, Doug, that ultimately last night Mitt Romney won the math, but lost the momentum. That's very energizing if you're an accountant. But what I was struck by, what among the Republican electorate, he underperformed in almost every competitive state.

In Virginia, where he was only facing Ron Paul, Ron Paul got 40 percent of the vote against Romney. In Tennessee, where Romney had the governor and the Republican leaders of the legislature and the establishment backing him, he lost solidly to Rick Santorum. In Ohio, where he outspent millions to under $1 million for Santorum, he barely won.

PHILLIPS: John?

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, because this is a proportional fight, Mitt Romney has 700 delegates to go, this is going to last a long time. There's very little incentive with super PACs in the game for folks to get out of the race if they don't want to.

So, no, this is far from over. Mitt Romney had a good night, but it's nowhere near determinative. He's going to have a lot of contests coming up. The point is, the other folks may not be able to exceed him in delegates, but together they can stop him from getting the nomination. They could mathematically stop him from hitting that magic number, 1144. That's what's really going on right now.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk religion. This was interesting. Santorum almost took Ohio, but he lost the Catholic vote. Looking at the numbers, you know, Romney won Catholics by more than 10 points.

So explain this to me. Santorum, right, closely identified as the Catholic candidate, losing the Catholic vote on a regular basis to the Mormon -- Doug?

HEYE: Well, I'll tell you, I'm a Catholic Republican. I went to a Bishop McGuinness High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which has to deal with these new Obama-care regulations potentially. But I also care about more issues than that. I care about gas prices and where the economy is. We haven't heard as much of that from Rick Santorum than we have from Mitt Romney. I think that's one of the reasons he's doing very well. I'll tell you, for Catholics, it's insulting to think that they just vote on abortion or birth control. It's like suggesting that Hispanics only care about immigration. We sure know that's not true.

PHILLIPS: Here's what's interesting. Robert, I'll get you to weigh in. Santorum has sort of moved away from the number-one issue for Americans right now. That is the economy and jobs. He's focused on things like abortion and contraception. Has that hurt him?

ZIMMERMAN: I think --

(CROSSTALK)

HEYE: Yes.

ZIMMERMAN: I don't think you can describe him simply as the Catholic candidate. As Doug pointed out, I think it's unfair because Catholics vote on a wide range of issues. And it shouldn't be stereotyped. But what Rick Santorum is doing is playing to the extreme right wing of his party. That's how he's trying to define his candidacy. And you saw from Super Tuesday, they're a very important voting bloc. When he advocated, for example, throwing up on President Kennedy's historic speech about separation of religion and state, when he mocked President Obama for advocating higher education, he's taking positions that don't speak to the economic issues in this campaign. They speak to the anger of the extreme wing of his party.

PHILLIPS: John?

AVLON: Well, I don't think those have helped him. Last night one of the ways you could see that is he lost women voters to Mitt Romney. That's one sign of the fact that when you start reinserting associate issues into the national debate, particularly things that seemed like largely settled matters, like contraception, that alienates more folks than it attracts.

Getting back to Doug's point, I think that's a healthy, happenstance for American democracy that Catholic voters ended up voting for a Mormon. These things don't define who we are or who we vote for anymore. That's a great sign of progress for a county. But Rick Santorum lost momentum because he got off message. He stopped talking about the middle class and started talking about social issues. It can fire up the base, but it will hurt you with folks who really determine if you win or lose elections.

(CROSSTALK)

ZIMMERMAN: But, John, Santorum has also done is move the entire Republican debate to the extreme fringes. You see Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich all basically trying to move to the right of each other on issues like immigration, where Romney is advocating deportation, for example. What's happening in the polling, a FOX News poll showed Hispanic voters, only 14 percent were supporting Republican candidates against President Obama, and among independent women, according to the CBS News poll, the Republicans have just been losing support dramatically.

PHILLIPS: Doug, you have a thought? I'm going to move on. Did you have a thought?

HEYE: We certainly have to continue to talk about economic issues. I have some sympathy for Rick Santorum. He does have a tendency to go off message. But if a supporter of his makes a dumb joke on Andrea Mitchell, I don't think Santorum should be forced to talk about it for two or three days. That took him off message even with his own tendency to do so on his own.

PHILLIPS: Last night Newt Gingrich said he's forging ahead. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tomorrow will bring another chapter in the race for the nomination. But it's more than a chapter in the race for the nomination. It's a chapter in the fight for the soul of the Republican Party. It a chapter in the fight for the very nature of America. It's a chapter of defining who we are as a people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: John Avlon, does he have another chapter, a sentence, a word?

(LAUGHTER)

AVLON: Well, I mean, he's pulled a double Lazarus so far in this campaign --

PHILLIPS: He's coming back to life.

AVLON: That said --

(LAUGHTER)

That said, you know, he came in first with a strong 20-point win in Michigan, Georgia last night, about but he didn't come in second in any other state. He came in third and fourth. That does show a limited appeal. There's going to be a lot of pressure for him to get out. I don't think he'll take it, in part, because in the era of super PACs, his campaign can be sustained with a cash infusion. But when you don't come in second in any other state, and only in your home state, that's not a good sign for the depth and breadth of your support.

PHILLIPS: Maybe Lazarus needed a cash infusion.

(LAUGHTER)

Doug, your thoughts?

HEYE: I know John tweeted yesterday that he's excited the Bruce Springsteen album just came out, so I'll quote Wrecking Ball --

(LAUGHTER)

--"Hard times come, hard times go just to come again." We'll hear more from Newt. This proportional contest means it will continue.

PHILLIPS: I'm going to try to get some Springsteen music cued up right now. (LAUGHTER)

Robert, final thoughts on Gingrich?

ZIMMERMAN: We have the concept of trophy wives. Ultimately, Newt Gingrich is a trophy candidate. And his sugar daddy is Sheldon Adelson, from Las Vegas.

PHILLIPS: No!

(LAUGHTER)

ZIMMERMAN: And the reality simply is that as long as there are speaker fees to be gained and books to sell, Newt Gingrich will always find a podium to keep his candidacy alive. And his real political agenda is to make it untenable for Mitt Romney to be the nominee or to weaken him at the convention.

PHILLIPS: Doug Heye, John Avlon, Robert Zimmerman, thank you, guys.

That's "Fair Game."

ZIMMERMAN: Thank you.

AVLON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, it is truly the end of an era.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very depressed. I wanted Peyton to finish out his career with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Longtime quarterback, Peyton Manning, to be formally released moments from now. So where will the champion Q.B. go? That's next.

But first, big dose of luck and a lot of gall. 24-year-old Amanda Clayton won a million in the Michigan lottery last fall and promptly bought a new home with cash. Nothing wrong with that, right? But she was getting $200 a month in welfare assistance at the time. And she never told the state about her windfall. Clayton's still collecting $200 a month in food stamps funded by Michigan taxpayers. When a reporter confronted her yesterday, she said, it's OK, because she doesn't have a job. She now has two houses to maintain. All right. You if think there ought to be a law, you're not alone. A Michigan lawmaker is pushing through a bill to keep lottery winners off state aid. We think it's a no-brainer. We also think that, Amanda Clayton, your 15 minutes you are up.

(MUSIC)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Just minutes from now, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, divorced, expected to go their separate ways. Manning and Colts' owner, Jim Irsay, returning to Indianapolis last night. They're holding a news conference today. Apparently, on this flight in that jet, Irsay in a tweet said, quote, "It was a long emotional flight. Now the sun is trying to rise."

The reason for the split, big money. Manning was due to get a $28 million bonus on Thursday.

We'll talk more about this with L.Z. Granderson.

L.Z., we're talking about a lot of things here, money, injury, age, right? It's a combination.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Right, but ultimately I think this is all about money. The age and the injury definitely kind of peripheral topics in terms of the conversation to why Peyton is no long with Indianapolis, but when you look at the numbers and how much was due to him and how many he would have had to pay the first-round pick or the number-one if they kept him, it would have been financially impossible for them to keep Peyton Manning. So that's the reason why he's gone.

PHILLIPS: What do you think? Do you think he'll retire?

GRANDERSON: No, no.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: I mean, he's looking good, right? He's been working out. He's staying in the game. We see the pictures.

GRANDERSON: He's been working out. Absolutely. Everyone that I've talked to, and I talked to a handful of people, who all said he worked extremely hard during the season to try to get himself back into shape. There's video on YouTube of him throwing the football recently. He looks fantastic. People say he looks like the Peyton Manning of old. No, he's not going to retire. He has a lot of teams, at least 25 teams, that would love to have him. So, no, there's no reason for him to retire at all.

PHILLIPS: Let's talk about those teams. A lot out there would love to have him. What are you thinking?

GRANDERSON: The decision will not be driven by money. I think that's number one. Peyton Manning has a lot of money. I think the remainder of his career over the next few years will be about cementing his legacy. So he's going to be looking at teams that have the best shot for him to get back to the Super Bowl, the best shot for him to win a Super Bowl.

You know, a lot of people have talked about the Jets and the opportunity for him to fight for New York against his brother, Eli, but I don't see that happens. I don't think he's dealing with Rex Ryan's personality for one. Two, I don't think he's motivated by trying to wrestle New York away from his brother. I think he's motivated by wins.

If you look at the landscape of who could really use a quarterback right now, who's a decent team, Arizona. They finished eighth. They have a fantastic wide receiver there. They have a fantastic franchise. They definitely could use Peyton Manning. I would not be surprised, even if San Francisco says they're not interested, they're refocusing on resigned Alex Smith, I would not be surprised if they made a run at Peyton Manning. They finished 13-3 last year with 29th ranked passing offense. You insert Peyton Manning into the offense, you could have some big things coming.

PHILLIPS: I missed what you said. You mentioned San Francisco, the 49ers. Did you mention the head coach? Wasn't the head coach a quarterback coach at some point? This could be a good connection here? Or am I not remembering properly?

GRANDERSON: No, you're remembering correctly. In fact, the coach of the 49ers now used to be the Q.B. that Peyton Manning replaced in Indianapolis. So I'm not quite sure what sort of relationship they had during that hand-off period, but certainly Harbaugh has proven to be one of the best coaches.

He was voted coach of the year as a matter of fact. On the outside, their organization is saying the right things, doing the right things. They're pursuing the quarterback they just had. You've got to think with Peyton Manning up there, and they have an opportunity to upgrade at that position, they would take that opportunity to look at it closely.

PHILLIPS: Final thought, L.Z. Talk about a history, a legion of fans, MVP. Look at his resume, right? Doesn't that count for anything? Does money always win in situations like this?

GRANDERSON: This is the reason why, when players hold out, when we have lockout, when there are disputes over money, this is the reason why. You've got to think about, Peyton Manning, two years ago was MVP of the league, was coming off a record-breaking season, and now he's out of a job. You know, they don't have guaranteed contracts in the NFL.

Actually, I think they should been commended for paying Peyton last year, because he didn't play. They gave him like $26 million. I think that was a way of saying thank you for your service. At the end of the day, and despite the fact that fans want to see their favorite player retire with their franchise, it's still a business. Both sides have to make the best business decisions for themselves.

I think that was a Freudian slip. You said Paying Manning.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: I was hearing -- OK, got the money in there.

GRANDERSON: Paying Manning.

PHILLIPS: L.Z., thanks.

GRANDERSON: Paid Manning is actually what was supposed to happen.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: L.Z. Granderson, great talking to you.

GRANDERSON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: You can watch the news conference right here live on CNN in just about 10 minutes.

NCAA March Madness is almost here. Selection Sunday just days away. Yes, I'm filling out a bracket with, of course, the help from my team. I'm going to need it. If you are doing it? If you are, test your bracket skills. Visit CNN.com/bracket. Join us, March Madness CNN group. So you think that -- who do you think will be in the final four? Take your picks, look at my picks, go to my Facebook page, KyraCNN. Let's do it all together, shall we?

Well, Santa Ana winds, they are destructive and cause brush fires. We cover them every year. Why is a local fire department getting axed? That's next.

And Los Angeles is no stranger to rock and roll. But trust me, you have never seen a rock roll like this.

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PHILLIPS: In Westminster, Colorado, a girl talks back to her principal. She's gets slapped with handcuffs and sent to juvi (sic). The sixth-grader transferred schools.

Now to Santa Ana, California, and the Santa Ana winds. They're destructive. The brush fires they cause have been deadly. Why is the fire department getting axed? Budget woes. According to "The L.A. Times," the Santa Ana Fire Department is disbanding, ending its 128- year history. The Orange County Fire Authority will now take over and handle fire and medical calls for that city. Officials say this will save the city $10 million a year in expenses.

Now to Miami, Florida, where a valedictorian, who faced being deported to Colombia, will be able to stay in the U.S., at least temporarily. According to our affiliate, WSBN, the Department of Homeland Security granted Daniella Hellas (ph) and her sister a two- year stay. Her story went public last week and thousands of people in the community protested. Daniella's brother and father are already U.S. citizens. But despite that, Daniella and her sister were recently denied residency. Her attorney says they're pushing to change that.

In Cranston, Rhode Island, an 81-year-old, you could say is reaping the rewards of life. Talking about a whopping $336.4 million in rewards. Louise White has some serious luck. The 81-year-old hit the Powerball jackpot. Lump sum, she's taking it as a payout, which means this little lady is banking $210 million. She found out about the ticket. She double-checked it a couple of times and then put it in her Bible so it wouldn't get lost. Congratulations.

Let's head to L.A. now, shall we? This is not the kind of rock Hollywood stars wear on their finger. But people are turning out to see this massive piece headed for a Los Angeles museum. The boulder weighs 340 tons and is traveling only at night at five miles an hour. It's on a 106-mile journey to the L.A. County Museum of Art to be a part of the artist Michael Kaiser's sculpture "Levitated Mass."

Mitt Romney wins six out of 10 Super Tuesday states, including Ohio, but fails to land a knockout in the Buckeye State. What this means for his campaign. We're going to hit the trail next.

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PHILLIPS: Super Tuesday is history but a lot more Republican contests are ahead. And some of them, some time, may just decide the nominee.

Paul Steinhauser joining me from a time that Mitt Romney picked up just yesterday, just barely. He's in Columbus, Ohio.

Paul, what are the mixed results from Super Tuesday meaning for the supposed front-runner?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good news, bad news for Mitt Romney. He won six of the ten states, good news. He picked up half of the 419 delegates at stake. Good news. This is all about a battle. It's a battle for delegates. But the maybe not-so- good news, here in Ohio, he barely won, about 12,000 votes over Rick Santorum. Last week, he barely won Michigan. I guess you could say it was deja vu here again in Ohio. That's troubling. In the exit polls, he's having problems rallying the base.

PHILLIPS: What's next for the race?

STEINHAUSER: Well, Kansas. Kansas is next. You're going to se Mitt Romney there tomorrow. You're going to see Rick Santorum there today. Kansas, a very conservative state. Their caucus on Saturday maybe favors Santorum over Romney. Then it moves south. Alabama and Mississippi are the big two next Tuesday. Again, two pretty conservative states. It's fair to say in the short run over the next week or so, it favors Santorum and maybe Gingrich more than Romney -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Paul, we'll be paying close attention.

Thanks so much.

Thanks for watching. Continue the conversation with me on Twitter or on Facebook. We'll be back here tomorrow, 11:00 a.m. eastern time, 8:00 a.m. on the west coast.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Suzanne Malveaux.