Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Saturday Morning News
Race Heating Up in Iowa; Understanding Caucus Vs. Primary; Last-Minute Tax Savings; Top Ten YouTube Videos
Aired December 31, 2011 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
E.D. HILL, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
It is 7:00 a.m. in Atlanta. Today, we got the Virginia/Auburn game. I'm taking Auburn in that one.
It's 4:00 a.m. in San Francisco. And there you got UCLA/Illinois. I think the experts are taking Illinois. I'm taking UCLA on that.
And also in San Francisco, there's this monkey on the loose and he's on Twitter.
Good morning. I'm E.D. Hill.
It sounds a little bit a like a movie, but it's real. And we're trying to get a hold of the San Francisco zoo to help them find Banana Sam.
Plus, it's New Year's Eve. Time to say goodbye to 2011. Do you have big plans? Because we do and you will want to join us.
Anderson Cooper, Kathy Griffin, starting at 11:00 p.m. Eastern. They are going to be hosting the CNN party down at Times Square in New York.
Also, you got a few hours left, so what can you do right now to impact your tax return? I mean, I know you love giving money to the government, but just in case you want to give less, we got five really good tips on how to increase your tax deductions in final hours of the year.
And happy New Year to you if you're celebrating in New Zealand. That's because it's already 2012 there. This is Auckland, the first to ring in the New Year every year. And they do it in amazing style there. Lots of lights.
They're right now at the Solomon Islands also. Happy New York to you. We'll bring you the New Year's celebrations from around the world as the clock strikes midnight in those areas.
A new year and perhaps you can always hope there are changes for the better. Iran now says it has no plans to close the Strait of Hormuz. The country had threatened to block oil shipments through that key area if sanctions on Iranian oil were enforced. Iran's navy is conducting exercises in the region this weekend. Reports indicated that they'd test fire a long-range missile during the training today, but now, a senior commander says they didn't but they will in the next few days.
After complains by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Egypt says it will stop cracking down on nongovernment organizations. They're called NGOs. Egypt apparently carried out 17 raids on 10 different NGOs Thursday. They took laptops, cell phones and other equipment. The Egyptian authorities now say they're going to give it all back.
(VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: That's not firecrackers ringing in the New York there. That is Syria and shots you're hearing. Thousands of Syrians taking to the streets for more anti-government protests, the protests come at the same time that Arab League observers are there to see if the government forces are abiding by a peace agreement. It doesn't sound so peaceful, nor to look it. The military says it's protecting itself. Opposition leaders say as many as 35 people were killed yesterday.
Computer hackers claim they've dumped personal information, including credit card numbers and passwords of a million people on to the web. People targeted have registered on a Web site of Stratfor, a global intelligence agency.
A statement on a computer activist Web site read in part, "We call upon all armies of darkness to use and abuse this password list and credit card information, wreak havoc on the systems and personal email accounts of rich and powerful oppressors. Kill, kitties, kill and burn them down peacefully."
That was the statement they posted. The group says tonight, they will target law enforcement.
Do you need $60,000 and want to help out your neighbors? If you're out in Hollywood, you can, if you got information on the string of consecutive arson fires in Hollywood. The authorities now say they will offer a reward, $60,000, another fire last night. And they're hoping to get some information to find out who's doing this. They all started with cars or trucks being set on fire, and then some of those fires spread to nearby houses.
So far, police say here have been 21 of those suspicious fires.
If you like politics -- I love politics -- this is the season and this is when it starts. The countdown to Iowa caucuses three days to go.
And here's what the race looks like right now. This is the snap shot. The NBC News/Marist poll, the latest showing, former Massachusetts Governor Romney leading the pack there.
CNN's Jim Acosta has more as we get near to the caucuses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Mitt Romney has the big mo going into the weekend before the critical Iowa caucuses. The question is whether he will win Iowa without breaking a sweat in winning on Tuesday night. And there are several reasons why.
I mean, he is leading in these polls right now, although statistically tied with Ron Paul. But there are a couple of other dynamics going on. One is that you saw Newt Gingrich. He has cratered in the polls just this week and it shows that his support has basically eroded. He is fourth or fifth in many of the polls here in Iowa. That is bad news for Newt Gingrich.
Meanwhile, Rick Perry, it's sort of a battle of the Ricks right now, Rick Perry is going after Rick Santorum, and sort of this battle for third place, you know, going back to the old saying, there are three tickets out of Iowa.
And then another revelation has come out this week from the former Bachmann campaign manager, Ed Rollins. He told me in an e-mail earlier in the day, that Michele Bachmann has essentially held her fire on Mitt Romney throughout the entire campaign process in the hopes of being his vice presidential running mate.
So, if you add all of this together and add that, the fact that Ron Paul is going to be going home this weekend to Texas instead of campaigning here in Iowa, add all of that up, it's clear why Mitt Romney is doing well in the state and why he may win these caucuses on Tuesday night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Thank you very much.
President Obama isn't letting the Republican candidates have all the fun in Iowa. He plans on getting on the act the same day Iowans cast the first votes. He will address the Democrats in Iowa live over the Internet on Tuesday night. And remember, it was Iowa then gave the then-Senator Obama big leg up. Everybody was expecting Hillary Clinton to walk away with everything. Instead, he took the caucuses in 2008.
Well, are you ready for a fierce New Year? Scotland takes dressing up for the evening to a whole new level. You've got to see this, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: Happy New Year. I'm in Atlanta, but that is New York City. And they're getting ready for the big party there tonight. More than 1 million people will show up.
And if you can't be there, I've got the best thing for you to do. You check out CNN. You come to us, because we got a great party going on. Anderson Cooper is the ringmaster, along with comedian Kathy Griffin. And they'll help you ring in the New Year live right here on CNN, starting at 11:00 Eastern Time.
And I'll tell you about those Vikings, they know how to get a New Year's Eve party started. Locals in Edinburgh, Scotland get dressed up to start the four-day New Year's celebration. The traditional New Year's festival is called Hogmanay. I don't know to pronounce it. It means the end of the year, Hogmanay. Hogmanay.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What's not to love? A crazy helmet, a loincloth and a glass of --
HILL: Tell you what? It does something for me, that's for sure.
WOLF: Hey, it's crazy times.
HILL: Pass the coffee.
WOLF: You know what's interesting? You would probably get away wearing that stuff actually in Times Square tonight, because it's not going to be quite as cold as it was last year, but so many things are acceptable at Times Square. It's New Year's.
It's always a good time for like -- do we have a live image of Times Square? Some people making last-minute preparations. It's amazing the work that goes in to putting this production together. And again, it's Anderson and Kathy Griffin.
HILL: Kathy, yes.
WOLF: Five years or six years, I can't remember. It seems like it's just like one of those things. I mean, you know, as the swallows fly to Capistrano, you got to watch Anderson and Kathy on New Year's. It's one of those things.
Again, the forecast looks pretty favorable if you're heading out there. We're expecting temperatures to be mainly in the 40s, maybe 44, maybe a shade a little bit higher or lower as we see things started. Wind out of the west-northwest at six.
We're expecting skies to be clear. Most of the precipitation passing well to the north. So, no major issues there.
But what if you're just traveling to travel for one part of the country to the other? Are there backups? Could there be delays? Yes, yes, yes, and yes. In San Francisco, and San Diego, there's going to be mainly a combination of both rain and fog in both places. Just really light precipitation.
But fog can be a big kicker, not only in San Francisco but also over in Oakland. In Denver, you've got the wind. Chicago, the wind may give you a few major headaches. Delay for maybe, let's say 45 minutes, tops. We're expecting all of these to be under an hour, by the way.
Minneapolis is going to be the rain. It's going to be a little bit of snow, and, of course, the wind could be an issue for you, too.
Some of the heaviest snow we're seeing actually out over parts of the Northern plains. A combination of rain and snow. We're expecting it really to stack up in higher elevations. In fact, at the highest spots, we could see anywhere six to 10 inches of snowfall. In Sun Valley, Idaho, don't be surprised you end up with about a foot or so. As we wrap things up, we can see most of Texas looks pretty nice. Gulf Coast, scattered showers. Atlanta, pure bliss, mostly sunny, partly cloudy skies. The highs going up into the 60s.
That is a quick snapshot of your forecast. Let's send it back to you, E.D.
HILL: The game, though -- the game here, you've got an interest in it?
WOLF: Very much so. Being an Auburn fan, a lot of interest in the game.
The great thing is, for a lot --
HILL: Virginia and Auburn tonight.
WOLF: I know. It's going to be -- one of the five games we're going to have. But it's a dome game. So, the only people who are really concerned about the weather will be those tailgating. We even have a parade in Atlanta which is going to cause traffic to move very slowly.
HILL: I guess you are taking auburn?
WOLF: Pretty much.
(CROSSTALK)
HILL: I love Auburn.
Caucuses, candidates, and primaries, oh, my. It is the season to get them straight? So, what's the real difference? And why does Iowa and New Hampshire, why do they get to go first? We'll check that out next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: The first votes in the Republican presidential race just three days away, Iowa caucuses, then the New Hampshire primary. So what's the difference between a caucus and a primary? CNN's senior national correspondent John King explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Every four years, we have to pick a president. We have to pick a nominee based on the system we have. I think there's great value in it.
The caucus process is crazy and it's fun. And in some ways, it's democracy as basic as you can get it. The Perry people organize over there. Romney people are over there. Ron Paul group is here. The Santorum group, the Gingrich group, and so on and so forth.
You go into your corner. There's a captain appointed. And the captain says I have, there are 200 people there the room, I have 40, you have 20, he has 12, he has two. You have to meet a certain threshold or else you don't count.
So what you will see in a caucus is people trading. You'll see people on the phone talking to people at the next caucus site. There's trading back and forth. The statewide office, they're calling and saying, you know, I'm at "x" house and we're short. Can we do a trade somewhere? Can you get me a trade?
Until you get to a point where everybody is organized and you have to then divvy up the votes.
In a primary you go and drop your ballot in. One person, one vote. Iowa and New Hampshire have fiercely protected their tradition as the first caucus state and the first primary state. There is no reason to believe that that is about to change.
Iowa and New Hampshire are not like most of America. That's a fair statement in the sense that they are overwhelmingly white. How does a lily white state that's mostly farms get to be so important? Or how does a state in the Northeast where independents can vote, why should independents influence the Republican or Democratic primary? That's unfair.
But if you look at the participation, there's are some value in candidates going to town halls and take questions from every-day Americans over the course of weeks and weeks and months and months. And that's part of the tradition, too.
Officially, the idea of all these races is to get enough delegates to have leverage at the national convention. And if the national convention goes, it's simple math, have enough delegates, you win the nomination. Just in modern times, it hasn't worked that way. Never in our lifetime have we been at a convention when we didn't know who the nominee was going to be. You get to the point where somebody starts winning, and it becomes clear who the nominee is, and by the time you get to the convention, that deal is done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: And you want to be sure to stay with us and hear the candidates in their own words, not just the sound bites. CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley is live in Iowa for "The Contenders 2012." And that starts at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. There is no one that's as good as Candy in kind of helping you understand what's happening, the momentum, and what it really means. That's a lot of understanding this.
All right. The New Year is almost over, I know you are not thinking about your taxes now, but you should be. You have time to save money on your taxes, just in case, in the off chance you don't want to pay more money to Uncle Sam. We'll tell you how to do it legally.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: We are less than 17 hours away from 2012. If you hurry there's still time to get some taxes reduced on your bill and get a little extra money in your pocket. Clyde Anderson is here with five things you can do right now to save money on your taxes.
CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: Right.
HILL: We all love paying those.
ANDERSON: Of course, we do.
HILL: What can I do?
ANDERSON: Right now, the clock is ticking. And so, one of the things is to donate, go to give, give something -- goodwill, give some money, and donate it. But also, maybe if you can give to your church right now, or if you some sort of donations, a lot of churches have online giving. Instead of giving tomorrow, give today.
HILL: And people are relying on those organizations more than ever.
ANDERSON: Exactly. And so, it's a perfect time to give. You give it from the heart. But also, a good rule of thumb people don't know, if you're in the 25 percent bracket as far as tax income, every dollar that you give, about 25 cents off your taxes that you can have.
And so, it helps you. It helps minimize that, and your income position.
HILL: Let me ask you something that's in my notes and it interested me. Give employees a bonus.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HILL: Small business -- that's paying it forward. How does giving a bonus to an employee help you?
ANDERSON: Right, as a small business owner, if I am a small business owner, I can give you a bonus, today would be a great day to give a bonus because now, you are reducing your income. So, this is less income you have to claim as a business owner. So, if I call you today and say, hey, here's a $1,000 bonus, that's less income that I made in 2011. And so, I can write that off of my taxes.
HILL: OK. What about the energy efficient I'm big on energy efficiency. What about the energy efficient appliances and things like that? Take those off still?
ANDERSON: Yes, this is the last year. And so, this is the time to do it. You can do 10 percent of what you're purchasing up to $500. So, whether that's a new HVAC system, heating and cooling, whatever you're doing and you're buying to make your house energy efficient, go out and get it now, go out and make that purchase, and then you can use that -- this again is the last year that you can use it to reduce your taxes.
HILL: OK. So you get the bonus first, then you go out and buy the energy-efficient --
ANDERSON: There you go. HILL: You can buy energy efficient --
ANDERSON: Well, it's a great time. You can go equipment. If I'm a business owner, I can go buy equipment, I can go buy computers, I go buy supplies. And those things help me.
If I go today and make those purchases, save your receipts and make sure that you can go ahead and reduce that tax position. So, you are reducing the income you took in.
HILL: Have you looked at this? Do most people go out and, you know, make these donations or buy these things on the last day of the year?
ANDERSON: A lot of people do. A lot of people do. A lot of people make those last donations. They swing by goodwill, they go by organizations, and as you mentioned, this is a great time, because a lot of those organizations are in need. Giving has been down, it's slowly coming back up.
So, a lot of people are making purchases, giving. Again, giving to a church tithe before Sunday.
HILL: I was over at our community center and I was dropping something off and I went in to get my tax receipt.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HILL: And sure enough I saw some needlepoint there, I'm like, I'm getting that. So, I'm helping the economy that way.
ANDERSON: There you go.
HILL: I'm not spending money, I'm helping the economy, honey.
ANDERSON: There you go. There you go. And remember, it's 50 percent of your adjusted gross income that you can give and donate and be able to write them off.
HILL: I wish I was rich enough.
ANDERSON: Right.
HILL: To be able to give away that kind of money, you know? I mean, I would if I could, but it takes a bite.
ANDERSON: Good to know it's there, something to shoot for.
HILL: Yes. All right. Thank you so much.
Well, what do a teen pop star, battling twins and a talking dog all have in common? They're on the best of 2011 list. Meet them, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HILL: We continue ringing in the New Year, and that's a shot from Times Square. Big party down there, of course, probably a million or so people.
You can watch it here on CNN. You don't have to go out for the party, have your party at home. Turn on CNN, watch Anderson and Kathy Griffin. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Plus, it's less expensive in your house instead of going out and paying those crazy prices
All right. Good morning.
Animals and babies, how can you go wrong? Well, that's what caused all the commotion on the web this year.
Our Jeanne Moos checks out the top 10 videos of 2011 from YouTube.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The thing about YouTube videos is that some you get and some seem like gibberish.
For instance, in this year's top ten most viewed videos --
(on camera): The number five spot went to a very annoying cat.
The number ten spot went to a very adorable cat.
(voice-over): A mother cat hugging its kitten while the two of them take a cat nap.
The number nine video was Volkswagen's Super Bowl commercial called "The Force."
Number eight was a cute 11-year-old Canadian singing Lady Gaga's hit.
Lady Gaga was so impressed she invited Maria Aragon to sing a duet in concert.
Number seven was a dance comedy video. YouTube is the place if you want people to --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at me now.
MOOS: At least 56 million people looked at the twin talking babies who seem to understand each other perfectly. Adults enjoyed adding subtitles and nominating them for best foreign language film.
Comedy music videos were popular. And we might as well acknowledge the number one video that got over 180 million views.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- it's Friday, Friday --
MOOS: OK. That's enough acknowledgment.
(on camera): But it's the video that came in at number two that is number one in my heart. And since it's my story, that's the one we're going to concentrate on. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what the meat drawer is, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. What was in there?
MOOS (voice-over): There is just something riveting about the talking dog being teased.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know that bacon that's like maple -- got maple flavoring?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The maple kind. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, so --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took that out and I thought, I know who would like that. Me. So I ate it.
ANDREW GRANTHAM, CREATOR, "TALKING ANIMALS": Looks like he's getting his hopes up and then they're dashed. And then he gets his hopes up again and then they're dashed again.
MOOS: Clark the Dog now has a Facebook fan page with a joke bacon tree and a bacon T-shirt. And if you're wondering --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're kidding me.
MOOS: What he really said in dog speak.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: Always entertaining.
Good morning. Welcome to CNN.
"SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins right now.
