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Glenn Beck
Winners, Losers in Iowa; Britney Spears Hospitalized after Police Showdown; Should Amusement Parks Sell Beer?; On to New Hampshire; Roger Clemens` Red Flag?
Aired January 04, 2008 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE GALANOS, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, shock waves from the Iowa caucuses. Breathtaking victories for Obama and Huckabee and a stunning defeat for Hillary. We`ll check the fallout.
Plus, Britney Spears in a full-fledged meltdown. Has the former pop princess finally hit rock bottom?
And also, a rocket-fueled denial. Pitcher Roger Clemens tells "60 Minutes" he was only injected with vitamins, not steroids. Yes, right.
All that and more, next.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GALANOS: Hey, everybody. I`m Mike Galanos sitting in for Glenn Beck once again.
I`ll tell you this, today I am proud to be an American. We all should be. Why? Because Iowa delivered. Iowa delivered life to the political process. It was not the same old-same old.
What happened in the heartland is bigger than politics. We in this country have leaped a huge hurdle, and we should all celebrate it, that an African-American can go to a state that`s 95 percent white and win the Democratic caucus. I don`t care if you`re going to vote for the guy, and I`m not trying to cheerlead for Barack Obama. I don`t care if you`re Republican or Democrat. It`s good for America. And I hope you agree with me out there.
Let`s talk a little bit more about the numbers. Barack Obama won easily. An eight-point win over John Edwards, ten-point victory over Hillary Clinton. More into the politics. How did he do it? He connected with the people. He won their heart with a message of unity, preaching one nation, one people ready for change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The time has come for a president who will be honest about the choices and the challenges we face, who will listen to you and learn from you even when we disagree. Who won`t just tell you what you want to hear but what you need to know.
And in New Hampshire, if you give me the same chance that Iowa did tonight, I will be that president for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: And he rocked it with that speech.
And heart and passion won on the Republican side as well. Mike Huckabee. He came with that David and Goliath message, and Republicans in Iowa ate it up. The guy was outgunned, outspent 5-1. Well, now he`s ready to load a few more stones in that slingshot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Most of the pundits believe that when you`re outspent at least 15-1, it`s simply impossible to overcome that mountain of money, and somehow garner the level of support that`s necessary to win an election.
Well, tonight we proved that American politics still is in the hands of ordinary folks like you and across this country who believe that it wasn`t about who raised the most money but who raised the greatest hopes, dreams, and aspirations for our children and their future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: Again, Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama, they know how to speak to the people in Iowa, and they hope to do it across the rest of the land here.
All right. To help wrap up the winners and losers in Iowa, we have with us one again CNN contributor Amy Holmes. Also joining us, Democratic strategist Liz Chadderdon, and Iowa`s only Jan Mickelson, host of "Mickelson in the Morning" on WHO Radio in Des Moines.
All right, the three of you. Before we get to politics, and I promise we will get to the politics, real brief, though, give me your gut reaction. I say we should celebrate that Iowa was color blind and maybe we, as a nation, are more color blind than some would like to believe.
Amy, what do you think of this? What was your gut reaction as you saw Barack Obama standing there?
AMY HOLMES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, Michael, I couldn`t agree with you more. I think last night was a proud night for America, that we came together as Americans.
And you know what I hope? I hope that the Democratic narrative, the left liberal narrative of class, race, gender warfare, is finally put to rest. Barack Obama, he had a slight edge over women. He was able to bring in that youth vote. He got men overwhelmingly. I think last night proved that people are willing to vote their values over their skin color, their gender, or their class.
GALANOS: All right, Liz. What about you?
LIZ CHADDERDON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, actually, I completely agree. I was sitting at home watching it on television just like an average American, and I was absolutely blown away. I mean, that is how you give a speech.
GALANOS: Exactly. Regardless, Republican or Democrat, Barack Obama had a soaring speech.
Jan, what about your reaction?
JAN MICKELSON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: That`s exactly right. He taps into the universal appeal of hey, race is irrelevant. I don`t think race came up even once at any time in this -- in the caucus season. It was totally ignored. It was truly, as you folks suggested, a colorblind issue.
GALANOS: All right, Jan. Let`s stay with you. You are from Iowa. You`re in Iowa. You`ve talked to the people. How did he do it? How did he connect that he would win and win easily?
MICKELSON: He connected by bypassing the existing power structure. Both sides, by the way. Same with Huckabee. What you saw last night was mainstream Iowa showing up and displacing the political class, the power elites in both sides of the aisle. And both sides of the aisle said enough of this. The public approval rating of the political class is in the 15 percent Democrat, Republican, president, and legislature. And they saw the current situation as just replicating more of the same.
So Obama tapped into that and said hey, we`re going to do our own thing here. The entire Iowa Democratic machine went down in flames last night. The Vilsack, Clinton, "Des Moines Register," ACSME, jobs patronage system went down in flames, and the new guy who attracted new voters, youthful voters, enthusiastic voters by running as an American, rather than a Democrat, kicked butt.
GALANOS: Hey, Jan, you`ve mentioned the turnout, 230,000. Stay with the Democrats for a minute. Liz, is Barack Obama the reason for that? Is he the one that generated all the emotion and all the passion on your side?
CHADDERDON: I think he generated a lot of it. I actually think that the increased turnout was due to all of the candidates working out there for over a year, spending millions and millions and millions of dollars, but at the end of the day it looks like the majority of that was all about Barack Obama, and those new voters -- and I have to be honest with you.
We`ve been waiting for them to come out for years. They`ve sort of been the Holy Grail. They say they`re coming. Then they don`t come. This year they came, and I think they came for Obama.
GALANOS: Mike Huckabee speaking a new message, as well. He was the passion candidate. We talked about it leading up to this. The heart guy. Is that the reason for Mike Huckabee`s success? Obviously, there`s conservative Christians there for him, but he brings out the heart, and that`s good.
HOLMES: He does. And he had a banner last night behind his victory speech that said, "I like Mike." And the voters of Iowa, they did like Mike.
But I think it`s also true, however, that his base of support was really primarily among those Christian evangelical voters. Eight in 10 Huckabee supporters going into the polls identified themselves as evangelicals. So his challenge will be to broaden that base.
We`ve already seen him pivot to those economic issues, the tax issues, his fair tax proposal to be able to broaden his base in New Hampshire and beyond.
But again, last night was a victory for the underdog, at least on the Republican side, where he didn`t have much money. He had the media writing him off, you know, only a few months ago as the candidate that was never going to make it. And I think last night showed that the American voters, they can see straight through the national Washington media and vote for the guy they think is best.
GALANOS: Exactly. And that was his connection: "Forget the people that are attacking me, I`m with you, voter, in the middle."
Is there a fear though, Amy? Let`s stay with you. That there`s going to be or there`s one already brewing a fight for the heart of the Republican Party, the social conservative versus the fiscal and the defense conservative.
HOLMES: Well, there has been that ongoing, you know, debate, that ongoing struggle that -- you`ve seen the polls too. Fewer percentage of Republicans are satisfied with the field. But that`s because each one of the candidates has his own handicap.
So while John McCain is a social conservative, he voted against the Bush tax cuts, and he also, you know, of course is behind McCain-Feingold, which really angers conservatives.
You have Giuliani who`s the fiscal conservative but liberal on the social issues. So there`s no one candidate that`s bringing all of those constituents together in this particular go-round. But I reject the idea that the Reagan coalition doesn`t work. I think that it does work. We just don`t have a candidate yet who represents all those constituencies.
GALANOS: We`re going to see, because I know a lot of folks were talking, that the Reagan coalition has splintered and it`s a new party. And it`s a new day.
The big loser, many will say -- I`ll say it -- Hillary Clinton. Let`s listen to what she had to say. This is as she`s already pivoting to New Hampshire. Again, Barack Obama wins with a message of unity. Does Hillary Clinton follow suit and change to that way of thinking? Let`s listen. I want to get your reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who will be the best president for our country, on day one walking into the Oval Office after you`re sworn in on January 20, 2009? And who will be able to withstand the Republican attack machine to get elected in the first place, to go into the White House?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: Liz, I say that`s more divisive talk, and that`s not going to work. What do you say?
CHADDERDON: Well, campaigns are always about differences. And if anyone knows campaigns, it`s the Clintons. So she knows she has to differentiate herself.
But do I think that was the right thing to say last night? Probably not. The fact that she spoke before Obama gave her a little bit of a weakness, only because she didn`t know what was coming. Maybe if she had spoken afterwards she would have had a different message.
But the truth is she has to differentiate herself from Obama at this point, and really it`s all about strength and experience. That`s what she thinks differentiates her. And, you know, the voters of New Hampshire are going to tell us whether or not they agree.
GALANOS: Yes, exactly. And personally, I don`t think that message is resonating, the experience, ready day one. I don`t think that`s going to go. I think she`s got to come with less divisiveness.
HOLMES: You know, Mike, I`d love to jump all over this, because Hillary right now, she`s now turning to the message of electability. And yet here she is, bashing the very people that she would have to work with if she were to be president of the United States.
I thought Barack Obama`s message last night, it was the winning one, and it was the right one about bringing people together, Republicans, independents, and Democrats. And you know what? Democrats -- Democrats were buying that message too. So I think this is a very weak argument on Hillary`s part, and it undercuts her very claim of electability.
GALANOS: All right. Jan, we appreciate, it. Amy, Liz, stick around. We`ll talk to you again in just a little bit as we continue our election coverage. And now that Iowa verdict has been delivered we`ll see if Hillary can bounce back. We touched on that briefly.
Also Mitt Romney another big loser, can he bounce back? And Britney goes off the deep end. We predicted that on the show yesterday. As a custody standoff now looms. We will jump on the hot mess express. That is the thing.
Speaking of sad, Roger Clemens is going to appear on "60 Minutes" this Sunday to admit he injected himself with B-12 vitamins and lidocaine. What? Details on that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALANOS: Well, if you`re going through political withdrawal now that the Iowa caucus has come to an end, don`t worry, we have a lot more coverage coming up, beginning with a preview of the New Hampshire primary. Can the victors carry the momentum? And how are the losers going to recover, i.e. Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton? You want to stick around for that.
But first, have you ever been in a car accident, watched one happen? For me I watched a truck roll into the front of my house. It`s like slow motion. You can`t do anything to stop it. These days it`s like watching the life of Britney Spears. The one-time queen of pop, she seems trapped in this downward spiral. We know all about it. Substance abuse, divorce, the custody battle with K-Fed. All this keeping things interesting as we keep an eye on Britney.
Last night -- it`s just sad here. She was whisked away by ambulance and hospitalized after a four-hour standoff with police for refusing to hand over her sons to Kevin Federline. Again, thanks to Hollywood TV for this video.
Britney remains under psychiatric evaluation after the LAPD observed her under the influence of an unknown substance. We`re quoting there. Here with the 411 on Brit`s 911 is "In Touch Weekly`s" Kim Serafin.
Kim, all right. First off, catch us up. What is going on right now? Where is Britney? What`s her state?
KIM SERAFIN, "IN TOUCH WEEKLY": Well, as you explained, last night it was just pandemonium at her house. It was reported that she didn`t want to give the kids back to Kevin Federline when her -- when her time with them was up. So police were called to the house for a family custodial dispute.
Then ambulances showed up, fire trucks showed up and the next thing you know Britney`s being carried out on a stretcher. She`s at Cedar-Sinai Medical Hospital right now. And she`s under a medical watch, which means that they`re sort of taking a look at her, evaluating whether she`s going to hurt herself or hurt someone else.
And of course this sort of goes with a lot of the behavior that we`ve been seeing from her lately. You know, people kind of sometimes may say like, "Oh, she`s just being erratic. She`s just being a crazy pop star." But obviously there are some deep rooted issues here.
And as you mentioned, they did say that she is under the influence of an unknown substance. Now, we don`t know what that is yet. We don`t know if she`s under the influence. All of that we`re still waiting to find out. But she is in the hospital right now. They`re watching over her.
Reportedly, TMZ, other outlets are reporting her dad has shown up, her friends, looks like maybe her brother has shown up as well. So obviously she has people around her, but maybe this happened at the right time before something really, really serious happened.
GALANOS: Yes. Some have to hit rock bottom. What about -- you mentioned dad. What about mom and dad? Why aren`t they rushing to the scene? How come they`re not there just non-stop?
SERAFIN: Well, her mom was there initially when this really started kind of falling apart when she lost custody of both her kids. She had been estranged from her mom; she wasn`t talking to her mom. She`d been estranged from a lot of people: her old manager, her old assistant, people that had been around her since she was a child star.
Her mom did come back into her life when everything happened with the kids, when she first lost the kids, but there doesn`t seem to be this presence of people around her, and partly because she doesn`t seem to be listening to anyone.
Now, of course, most recently right before this happened, earlier this week, the bigger news was that her lawyers wanted to leave her. She had this deposition that she was supposed to do at Kevin Federline`s lawyer`s office before the holiday. She skipped it, said she was sick, but then was seen out at night driving around, going to gas stations. Photographers were taking pictures of her.
She rescheduled the deposition, didn`t show up. Then showed up yesterday but showed up two hours late, had a 14-minute deposition, and then her lawyers have said we are -- we can`t do this anymore because she`s not listening to us.
GALANOS: Right. All right. Kim Serafin, we appreciate that. And thanks for the segue. We`re going to talk a little bit now about Britney`s legal mess. Let`s go to former prosecutor Wendy Murphy.
Wendy, what about that? Kim just mentioned the deposition. What goes on at a deposition that possibly might make Britney go over the deep end? She was already on the edge, let`s face it.
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, I`ve got to read the tea leaves here, Mike, because we really don`t know. But I can tell you in my experience when a two-hour deposition ends after 14 minutes, there`s a good chance it`s because she didn`t want to answer the rest of the questions.
And all the delays that Britney Spears has been, you know, imposing on this effort to get this deposition done suggests to me she doesn`t like what they`re planning to ask her. It even might be that her lawyers are bagging out of the case at this point to add further delay to the inevitable. There could be some real ugly something or other that she just doesn`t want to talk about, because it could lead to the permanent loss of her children. I`m speculating here.
GALANOS: Right.
MURPHY: But you know, when a lawyer says, "I want out of the case," we`ve seen this, you know, in Robert Blake`s case as an example. When the lawyer says, "I now have to step down. We have irreconcilable differences between the clients and the attorney," sometimes that means, "I`m looking to buy some more time for my client, who really doesn`t want to answer these questions."
GALANOS: You mentioned it. Ugly is the operative word here. Does it get much better with Kevin Federline in the picture? I mean, the way I understand it, his bodyguards show up to get the kids. How is that? How are you not going as a dad yourself if you`re going to get your children? How are your bodyguards doing this? Is he the model father here? Are the kids any better off with him?
MURPHY: You know, it`s a hard question for me to answer. I don`t know the guy. He doesn`t seem to be a very good father to me, but I`m not going to judge him based on the TV clips. It`s not fair.
Sending the bodyguards to get the kids, I mean, you want to be a good dad. You go with your children to the delivery to the other parent when there`s a separation or divorce and you go and pick them up. That`s a sign of love and affection. It`s also good to show the kids that the parents can get along, notwithstanding the separation. So that rubs me the wrong way.
It doesn`t prove he`s a bad parent. But as between the two at this point I think he wins.
GALANOS: Was he showboating? Then he rushed into an emergency custody hearing. He couldn`t go pick up his kids but he`s going to do that, huh?
MURPHY: Yes, yes. Maybe. And there are some P.R. people involved. Showboating rubs me the wrong way, too. And I think judges hate it, especially in cases where kids are involved.
I mean, why not pick up the phone, call the lawyer on the other side, saying, "Do you mind if for the next couple of weeks Kevin keeps the kids? By the way, Britney`s likely to be in the hospital for the next two weeks."
What lawyer is going to say, "No, we have to go to court and fight it out with the judge?"
So the fact that they ran to court and filed papers and there`s a P.R. team, I think they`re taking advantage of Britney. They`re taking advantage of the fact that she`s being exploited. They`re exploiting her, too.
And that`s the kind of case where if I`m the judge I say, "You know, pox on both houses. Let`s send these kids somewhere far away from both of these horrible, horrible sets of parents."
Now, K-Fed may end up being a good parent at the end of the day.
GALANOS: Let`s hope.
MURPHY: I don`t want to slam him. But at this point, because the children are being, you know, violated and exploited during this circus, I`d like to get them as far away from both of them for a while as possible.
GALANOS: You know, I`m with you on that. And again -- it`s just an ugly situation. You don`t want to bash people. But again, I do fault Kevin Federline. If you`re going to go get your kids, show up in person.
Wendy Murphy, we always appreciate talking to you. Thanks again.
MURPHY: You bet.
GALANOS: All right. Coming up, speaking of kids, should amusement parks sell beer with so many young children present? That`s the question that Texans are asking, and some are saying no way. We`re going to have that story a little bit later in the show.
But kids, watch this guy. Roger Clemens, he`s going to finally address the accusations of steroid use. We`ll have a preview of what he`s expected to say as he fights back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALANOS: It might be a little hard to imagine bearing the crowds and confusion of a theme park sober. People, though, contacted state officials to oppose the sale of beer at Six Flags over Texas and Hurricane Harbor. While many amusement parks sell beer, including parts of Disney World, it seems Lone Star Staters don`t want bottles of Lone Star anywhere near the kids.
One of those folks is Rev. Bart McDonald. He`s a senior pastor at Tate Springs Baptist Church and joins us now.
All right. Reverend, I`m with you on one front. I don`t want to go to a theme park. I`ve got a couple of younger kids. I don`t want people spitting up all over my kids. But you really think that`s going to happen? You think people are going to go to amusement parks and just get loaded?
REV. BART MCDONALD, SENIOR PASTOR, TATE SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH: I think it`s a possibility. To some degree when that is a possibility as a parent you have to take that in consideration.
GALANOS: Do you oppose this as a dad, as a pastor? Both? What`s your take?
MCDONALD: I attended the town hall meeting last night as a father. I mean, our family has season passes. We have two small children, two girls, age 7 and 5. And I was there simply to understand what the protest process allowed and to see if we wanted to participate in that. But I am a pastor, as well.
GALANOS: What was said? What moved you to go, and what was said that moved you to come on today?
MCDONALD: The -- I guess to some degree a concern, as any dad would have over the general welfare and the safety for his child. It`s a major entertainment venue that our family participates in. And one that we really enjoy. Our girls enjoy it. And we wanted to -- we wanted understand and express our concern that the environment might change if you introduce alcohol into that setting.
GALANOS: You know, at one point, and I`m playing devil`s advocate here -- I`m doing it with a reverend. Hey, that`s the job here right now. You know, alcohol is served at other Six Flags parks in Texas, at other Six Flags parks in other parts of the country. We mentioned Disney World. What about that?
MCDONALD: Yes, I think -- I think part of the beauty of our -- of our culture is that individual citizens in their particular communities have the opportunity to give voice. And so it would be apparent that in those communities either there wasn`t a protest or perhaps the protest was unsuccessful. I`m really unfamiliar with the other cities.
GALANOS: Right.
MCDONALD: But, you know, when it came to our town, we read in the paper and decided to go and at least hear the process and hear what the Texas Alcoholic and Beverage Commission had to say.
GALANOS: What is your specific fear? What do you think could happen to your two young girls, because people are having a few beers?
MCDONALD: Well, I think anytime you introduce alcohol into any environment, it changes it. You know, I think that, to a very real degree, there is the concern of -- that the safety might be diminished in some way.
I wanted to hear how the enforcement policies worked. It`s a large park. There are multiple points of dispersement, a lot of different places to buy food. And so you know, public intoxication issues on the safety of the rides, things of that nature, those are concerns.
GALANOS: Real quick, you think you can win this one?
MCDONALD: I don`t know. I think there`s one clause in the TABC`s code that says, you know, these are -- these are the ways that a protest can be effective where we might not issue the permit. And again, those are centered on issues of general welfare, safety, health.
So we`ve got to find admissible evidence if there is -- if that`s out there, and it appears that there is. We`ve not had a whole lot of time to research.
GALANOS: Again, Reverend, we appreciate your time. And I`m with you on the fact that I don`t want my kids subjected. Where I find it difficult, and I don`t want to go off on a tangent, but I will real quick. Sporting events. You go to a football game, you`re a captive audience. You`re sitting there with your kids and somebody is all boozed up. And they`re cussing and they`re spitting on you. That can be a little more difficult. Maybe we can up that fight at a different time.
Reverend, we appreciate it.
Coming up, more from the "GLENN BECK" show. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALANOS: We all know accusations of steroid use have rocked Major League Baseball, but now one of the game`s biggest stars comes to his own defense. Roger Clemens defends his career and his honor on "60 Minutes."
We`re going to have a preview of that coming up in just a little bit.
Well, after waiting months for the Iowa caucus, now the New Hampshire primary is just four days away. So what, if anything, did we learn from Iowa that can help us prepare? And how will the strategies of the winners like Obama and Huckabee adjust for New England?
CNN`s Richard Roth has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The political morning after in New Hampshire. A new dawn perhaps for American voters after dramatic wins by Obama and Huckabee. But don`t presume this Northeast state will just follow Midwestern Iowa.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Hampshire is the prime leader in this, and it`s going to be our final decision that`s going to make it across the United States.
ROTH: Manchester`s Arrow Diner has been here long before primaries existed. This year`s candidates have posed for photos and sat for food. The early hour didn`t help some of New Hampshire`s numerous undecided voters focus on a candidate, even after a blaze of morning headlines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s exciting, but I`m not really into specific races either. It`s all about the person and what they`re all about. So not really about the skin color to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody`s pushed my buttons yet. Nobody.
ROTH: Just hours after the Iowa returns, the candidates were already pushing for support on the ground in New Hampshire. They know New Hampshire is not Iowa, requiring different tactics.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, the one thing I`ve learned from all the time I`ve spent in New Hampshire is the people here are a little independent-minded, a little ornery, and they don`t like to be told what to do.
ROTH: But the message of Iowa may resonate in New Hampshire, a state where more than 40 percent of voters are Independents, capable of voting for any candidate in either party.
JOHN CLAYTON, "NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER": Everything I`ve seen indicates that change is the key issue. They`re expecting more than 400,000 people to vote in the primary. That`s not half the electorate. That`s half the population of the state of New Hampshire. In a primary election that`s huge.
ROTH: Hillary Clinton returned to the state where Bill Clinton lost but was able to brand himself the "comeback kid" 16 years ago. Some of these teenagers weren`t even born then.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s not damaged goods whatsoever. I mean, a lot of -- it`s like, just look at it. It`s like 2 degrees outside right now, it`s not even 7:00 in the morning, we`ve been here for an hour, and look at all this energy.
CLAYTON: The former first lady has a huge following in New Hampshire largely because of her husband. Bill Clinton has a reservoir of goodwill here in New Hampshire that she can draw upon. The question is, with five days to, go how many people can she turn out?
ROTH: Hillary Clinton`s main rival, Barack Obama, will benefit from the large turnout of Independents. Contrarian New Hampshire ignited John McCain`s win over George Bush in 2000. But now they will be forced to choose between two men casting themselves as Washington outsiders.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GALANOS: OK. So now we know what the winners might do. But what about the losers?
Hillary Clinton, she came in a disappointing third amongst Democrats in Iowa. So has she spinned the bad news to her supporters today? Give it a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you know, Iowa does not have the best track record in determining who the party nominates. Everybody knows that. And you know, New Hampshire is famously independent. It is a place where people want to make up their own minds.
They`re not interested in what anybody else has decided. They want to look us up and down, make that judgment. And I welcome it. I think that that is exactly what the New Hampshire process should be about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: All right. Already making the spin toward New Hampshire.
And joining me now for what we can look for as we move ahead to New Hampshire and beyond, joining us once again, CNN contributor Amy Holmes, also Democratic strategist Liz Chadderdon.
All right, Liz. Let`s start with you.
Again, Hillary third. We touched on it already a little bit. But how can she convince people she`s an agent of change when it`s been Bush, Clinton, Bush, and she wants to be the next Clinton?
CHADDERDON: Well, I actually think that`s her biggest problem, is that now she realizes that change is the message that voters are looking for. The problem is, is Barack Obama realized that about a year ago. And she`s a little late to the change table.
And much like marketing, you know, the first person to take a brand usually owns it. And I think Obama is really the change candidate on the Democratic side, and she`s late to that game.
Truthfully, what she needs to do is go back to her message of strength and experience. She needs to continue to talk about how she can bring that depth to the table when she`s president of the United States. That`s her best message.
She made a mistake, in my opinion, in Iowa. The last few weeks she started switching up her messaging, triedr to become the change candidate. It`s too late. That message has already gone. She needs to stick with what she knows best.
GALANOS: Yes, you`ve got to run with your message.
CHADDERDON: Yes.
GALANOS: Let`s take a quick look at a New Hampshire poll. This is a CNN poll.
Now, I don`t believe this reflects what happened in Iowa. Hillary Clinton does hold a four-point lead over Barack Obama.
Amy, how much do you think the people in New Hampshire watch Iowa and how much would those numbers do you think flip as we look at poll numbers in a day or two?
HOLMES: Well, you know, famously, New Hampshire voters like to think of themselves as independent, that they`re not just following Iowa`s lead, and that they`re going to make their own assessment, their own judgment. You know, they say that every New Hampshire voter`s had a chance to meet one of these candidates personally.
But I think what`s interesting about the Hillary problem is let`s not also forget that last night, 70 percent of the Democratic voters did not vote for Hillary, voted against Hillary for two other candidates. And then last night when she was trying to give her -- was it a concession speech, a victory speech, hard to say which -- she had the banner in the back that said "Ready for change."
So, you know, as the other commenter is saying, she keeps changing her message. It doesn`t make sense. And really experience and leadership and strength isn`t as much of a message as hope and wanting to move the country forward.
So I think that she`s kind of in a weak position. Where her strength really lies is in having that high name I.D., having a lot of money, having a lot of organizational strength, but last night in Iowa it didn`t help her.
GALANOS: Hey, Liz, do or die for Hillary in New Hampshire?
CHADDERDON: I think it just might be do or die for Hillary in New Hampshire, because South Carolina is going to come real soon after that. Obama`s going to run very strong in South Carolina.
I think she has to do well. She may not have to blow him out in New Hampshire, but she`s definitely got to win it in order to still have the credibility to keep going.
GALANOS: Hey, Amy, speaking of do or die, what about Mitt Romney? That`s a huge loss. To spend all that time, all that money in Iowa -- first of all, let`s go back to that. What happened to Mitt Romney in Iowa?
HOLMES: Well, you know, what happened to Mitt Romney was Mike Huckabee, and he came out of nowhere. You know, clearly, these are very, very tense days, the next five days for the Mitt Romney campaign.
Not only did he suffer defeat last night from Mike Huckabee, now he`s looking into a resurgent John McCain who`s doing well in New Hampshire. And again, three, four, six months ago, the media was writing him off and Romney thought he could just clean up those two states and then go confront Giuliani down in Florida or in Michigan and other states. This is a tough -- you know, tough, competitive field for Mitt Romney, and New Hampshire, he`s going to have to reassure and sell himself all over again to those New Hampshire voters that he`s a straightforward, straight ahead guy.
You know, I have to tell you, Mike, I was up in New Hampshire for the Republican debate. And what really surprised me was when the governor was on the stage, there was no special connection between him and those New Hampshire voters. You didn`t see that, you know, here he was, the governor next door, he has a piece of property in New Hampshire.
You didn`t see that he had a special resonance with those New Hampshire voters. So I think this is a tough competition for him.
GALANOS: That hurts him. Connection, he`s not making it right now.
He may be in a dogfight with John McCain, but the guy who makes the connection, at least in Iowa and other states, is Mike Huckabee. I want to hear from both of you on Huckabee.
Amy, real quick with you. How does he convince the non-evangelical that "I`m the guy, I can go across not only the Republican table but the Democratic table as well, and I can go just beyond being affable Mike"?
HOLMES: Well, I don`t know that he can. But I know how he`s trying, and he`s trying to focus on those fiscal issues for the New Hampshire voters, who are an anti-tax state.
He went on Jay Leno to try to broaden his appeal, play the guitar just like the other governor from Hope, from Arkansas, Bill Clinton. So he`s trying to do all those things.
Whether or not it`s going to work in New Hampshire, I have my grave doubts. I think, that again, his support is among those values voters. Will that carry him to the Republican nomination? You know, I`d have to say I don`t think so.
GALANOS: You know, but one thing, and we underestimated it again, the Christian conservative is a reliable vote. And they will go support the guy or girl that they love.
Liz, do you fear Mike Huckabee at all?
CHADDERDON: I don`t fear Mike Huckabee in New Hampshire. Actually, I think Huckabee`s going to come in third in New Hampshire behind McCain and Romney. But that`s OK, because...
GALANOS: What about national?
CHADDERDON: Well, nationally do I fear him as a Democrat? No, really not so much.
I`ve got to tell you, I fear John McCain a whole lot more. And frankly, I think what will end up happening is that Huckabee and McCain will go into South Carolina, one will have one state, one will have the other, and it`s going to be a war down there in South Carolina.
I frankly think John McCain still wakes up in night sweats over what happened to him in South Carolina in 2000. And I think that`s going to be a really tough battle for him and that`s going to be Huckabee`s base. But personally I don`t think Huckabee`s going to play that well in New Hampshire, and he doesn`t have to.
He`s got Iowa under his belt, he has to stay alive until South Carolina. And then he`s going to become the Huckabee that we`ve seen in Iowa.
GALANOS: Amy, what do you think? Do you think it`s now that war? McCain is alive again, Huckabee will win South Carolina. Do you see that unfolding? And you`ve got Giuliani waiting in the wings to throw a few punches, right?
HOLMES: Sure. And you know, let`s face it, this morning Giuliani`s strategy looked a whole lot better.
He got to go on television last night and be gracious and congratulate Mike Huckabee for his win, and sort of give the impression that Mike Huckabee`s win last night was a novelty win, that everyone can kind of smile and shrug their shoulders and then say, OK, now we`re really getting down to serious business later. So him skipping Iowa now looks like it was pretty smart.
I thought John McCain played Iowa very well, which was that he competed enough so that if he did well, he could say, like, hey, this was a minor victory for me. But you know what? There wasn`t that much attention and not that high of an expectation for him to do well in Iowa. Now the big test of course is New Hampshire.
GALANOS: Boy, you nailed it there. Watching Rudy Giuliani on the talk shows last night, John McCain last night and today, all smiles for both of them. You know they`ve got some wind in their sails as Mitt Romney took the big hit.
Ladies -- Liz, Amy, we appreciate it. We`ll talk to you again soon. Thanks.
HOLMES: Thank you.
GALANOS: All right. Coming up next, Roger "The Rocket" Clemens, he defends himself against steroid accusations, but will he shoot himself in the foot in doing so?
That`s coming up.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALANOS: This saddens me as a huge baseball fan. Still, the specter of steroid use in the game, you know, we`re just kind of coming to grips with that. But recent findings in the Mitchell Report, you know, they have some saying what once was speculation is now fact.
The report, again, it named names of alleged users. One of the biggest -- and it saddened most of us -- seven time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens, "The Rocket," though he still firmly denies that he was on the juice, and he`s going to restate his case. He`s ready to fight and he`s going to throw his first punch on "60 Minutes" this Sunday.
Here`s a taste of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE WALLACE, "60 MINUTES": Did your former trainer, Brian McNamee, ever inject you with anything?
ROGER CLEMENS, BASEBALL PLAYER: Yes, he did.
WALLACE: What?
CLEMENS: Lidocaine and B-12. It`s for my joints. And B12 I take still today. A lot of trainers...
WALLACE: And that`s all?
CLEMENS: That`s it.
WALLACE: Never, never a human growth hormone?
CLEMENS: Never.
WALLACE: Never testosterone?
CLEMENS: Never.
WALLACE: And never anabolic steroids?
CLEMENS: Never.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: Well, he`s pretty adamant there. But one thing we know for sure, somebody is lying. Either it`s "The Rocket," Roger Clemens, or his one- time strength coach, Brian McNamee.
Joining us now to talk about this is Christian Red. He`s with "New York Daily News," with their investigative team.
All right, Christian. You buy it? Lidocaine, a pain reliever, B-12? Or is he just grasping at straws trying to protect his legacy?
CHRISTIAN RED, "NEW YORK DAILY NEWS": Well, the interesting thing, Mike, is in the video, if you`ll recall that Roger released right before Christmas, he didn`t say anything along those lines as far as, "I received injections of B-12 or Lidocaine from Brian McNamee." He denied it outright. And I just think it`s an interesting step now that he`s taken.
When I talked with McNamee`s lawyers last weekend, that was one of the things that Earl Ward (ph), one of those attorneys, said, is that Roger had two options -- come clean like Andy Pettitte did. And if you`ll recall, Andy was also fingered by McNamee. Or deny, deny, deny.
And he`s chosen the deny, deny, deny route thus far.
GALANOS: Let`s take -- you mentioned it. Let`s take a look at what Roger Clemens put on his Web site December 23rd, kind of alluding to that. Let`s give it a listen and you can comment on it.
RED: OK.
CLEMENS: I did not provide Brian McNamee with any drugs to inject into my body. Brian McNamee did not inject steroids or human growth hormones into my body either when I played in Toronto for the Blue Jays, or the New York Yankees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALANOS: So you`re finding a contradiction there, huh, Christian?
RED: I just think it`s interesting how he didn`t come out then and say anything about the B-12 and the Lidocaine. In fact, what is even more interesting is that Roger has said in the past to reporters throughout the last few years that he does use B-12. And so I`m not sure why he wouldn`t bring that to light in that video that he posted right before Christmas.
GALANOS: Let`s talk about the two figures. Again, Roger Clemens, a hero to so many, and so many hope that he`s right and he can vindicate himself. On the other side, Brian McNamee.
Is McNamee a shady guy? Should we question him?
RED: Well, there is some checkered history attached to McNamee. And I`ll get to what his attorneys say about that. But the thing that sticks out most is this 2001 incident when McNamee and Clemens were both with the Yankees.
McNamee was the assistant strength and conditioning coach, and he was involved in an alleged incident of sexual assault at a hotel in Florida, St. Petersburg. He was never charged with anything. No lawsuit came of it, but it does still hover over him.
And the details from that alleged incident are lurid, to say the least, if you are able to look through the police report.
GALANOS: Hey, Christian, we -- to me this just -- it rings hollow. For Roger Clemens to come now with the Lidocaine and the B-12, it`s like Barry Bonds talking about flaxseed oil.
Is there any chance we`re wrong here? What -- at the end of the day, America and baseball fans want to know, is there any hope that the greatest pitcher of our era is clean?
RED: Well, I -- again, I`m curious. I don`t think that McNamee is lying. And I think that Roger put himself in a difficult position for his fans by, A, coming out with that video and now saying that he was injected.
His attorney, Rusty Hardin (ph), has also come out with some pretty unusual statements. I`m not sure if you saw today, but he said that Roger has been taking "bunches of injections" over the years like a racehorse. And it was sort of an awkward analogy.
GALANOS: Yes, wrong wording there.
RED: Yes. So as far as is there any hope, I mean, we`ll have to see what this interview reveals tomorrow.
GALANOS: All right. Christian Red from "The New York Daily News."
We appreciate your time and your insights.
And again, as a fan, hey, I hope Roger Clemens proves us wrong and he can go into the hall of fame regardless. And we want to know what you think on this one. Time for you to weigh in.
Here`s tonight`s "Web Question." Roger Clemens` steroid denial: do you believe him or not? I don`t. What do you say?
Go to our Web site, cnn.com/glenn, and cast your votes.
Coming up, how Mr. Potato Head helped Senator Obama win Iowa. We`re not kidding here. Mr. Potato Head playing big. That`s coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GALANOS: The loss of a grandparent, it`s always sad, but ideally they leave us some precious gifts that will last us for a lifetime, maybe the wisdom of their past that we can apply to our future, the richness of their experience, lessons learned.
How about a Mr. Potato Head? What?
Chris Williams from KWQC in Iowa brings us this touching and somewhat odd portrait for the election season.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS WILLIAMS, REPORTER, KWQC: When it comes to inheritance, some grandparents give knickknacks, maybe a watch or an old piano like this. But when Andy Green`s grandfather passed away, he gave the Clinton man something that`s making political history this year.
ANDY GREEN: My grandfather was one of the most ornery, lovable old men.
WILLIAMS (voice over): When Robert Niles (ph) died four years ago, he left Andy something the 20-year-old has smiled about ever since.
GREEN: I got this Mr. Potato Head.
WILLIAMS: The Northern Iowa University history major has taken it everywhere since, on vacation, to school, and this fall to Barack Obama`s first trip to Cedar Falls.
GREEN: I went to the announcement with Mr. Potato Head in tow and fought through a crowd and approached Senator Obama and asked him if he would take the picture, and he did.
WILLIAMS: And he figured this picture could be the start of something fun. With all the candidates coming to Iowa, he could get a unique perspective on how each of them handles this political hot potato.
GREEN: I definitely have judged each candidate on how they`ve handled it. Just personality-wise and characterize-wise. I think almost each photograph kind of captures what their real personality is.
WILLIAMS: He says some held the Mr. Potato Head away from their body as if distancing themselves. Others embraced their moment in the spotlight with the spontaneous fun.
Which brings us back to his first photograph. After researching the field, Andy`s picking Obama. After all, he says, he`s the candidate with the most Mr. Potato Head appeal.
GREEN: Barack and Mr. Potato Head`s ears both stick out of their heads instead of laying up against them.
WILLIAMS: In all, 10 candidates agreed to take a picture. Two political spouses even posed. The only person who refused his request was Democratic senator Joe Biden.
In Clinton, Chris Williams, KWQC, TV 6 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GALANOS: There it is. We have to chide our political team. They missed the potato factor. Embrace the potato. Be the potato.
That`s going to wrap things up for us for tonight.
I`m Mike Galanos tonight, once again in for Glenn Beck.
From New York, good night, America.
END
