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CNN Saturday Morning News

South Carolina Polls Open; Italian Cruise Ship Still Searching; Major Flooding in Oregon

Aired January 21, 2012 - 09:00   ET

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

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Checking top stories at the top of the hour.

A lot at stake right now in South Carolina. The polls opened two hours ago. The latest numbers showed Newt Gingrich is gaining ground on Mitt Romney. Those are the poll numbers, not the actual vote numbers just yet. Both are in a virtual tie in polls for the lead. So the next 10 hours will be crucial. That's when the polls close.

Rescuers in Italy are back inside the Costa Concordia, desperately searching for survivors. Italian authorities say it's unclear how long it will take to clear the cruise ship wreckage. While search and rescue remains priority number one, the environmental risk is becoming an urgent factor.

This is what parts of Oregon are dealing with right now. Major flooding in towns like Turner, Oregon, and the surrounding area. The governor has declared a state of emergency. You can see the flood forced many families to evacuate their homes, but the water levels are beginning to recede.

We start this hour in South Carolina where polls opened two hours ago. Voters there are choosing a Republican presidential nominee in a crucial primary. Let's get right to the Palmetto state.

Our Don Lemon is at a polling place in Lexington, South Carolina, right now. And Don, when you walked in there, at 7:00 when the polls opened, you said there was a line and people rushed to vote. How is the voting going right now in that polling place?

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I got here at about 6:30, maybe a little bit earlier. I've been here early. I'm even making my own coffee, I made some for the folks here. How did you like my coffee?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was different.

LEMON: Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was definitely different.

LEMON: Oh, come on, Marilyn, it was good. You didn't like it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON: The reason I'm standing outside the polling place, of course, is inside, but let's just say you were injured, you're ill, you can't make it all the way inside the polling place your happen to disabled, you can -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote. We accommodate voters any way possible.

LEMON: They called me and said "Listen, we're going to do a curbside vote, someone who was disabled came, their person came in and said "I need you to come outside and you do curbside." This is a machine, right? What do they do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the votronic system that we take. We bring it out to the car and we'll get all the documentation, bring it inside and she'll make sure that they are registered and everything and then they'll be able to make their selections and vote and bring it back in?

LEMON: Thanks Doug. Thanks, Marilyn, even though you didn't like my coffee. I'll try it again later. Let's get these folks inside. There's someone - he's coming in now. Let's let this voter go in. So this is what happens when you come inside here. I'm going to take you through the voting process. Pardon the back of my head. Don't mean to turn my back on you.

When you come in, if you need a sample ballot here's one. Listen, Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain still on the ballot. I'll explain that later. Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum. When you go over here, they will tell you that Herman Cain, Michelle Bachmann, Jon Huntsman have suspended their campaign no longer on the ballot, same thing here for Rick Perry, and, of course - but they're still on the ballot. They've suspended their campaign but they're still on the ballot. Did you hear my producer whispering "still on the ballot."

This is important. No concealable weapons allowed. And then when you go up here, also just as important, no laptops. Walk in, they divide the alphabet halfway through, two lines. So I would be over here since my last name is Lemon. I stand in this line right here, they look my name up, come over here on one of these things. They look it up. And then you sign. Who signs it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As they come in.

LEMON: They come. OK. So far on this one we've had 51 people on this side. Correct?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Correct.

LEMON: Correct. And on that side -- Shirley, how many have you had over there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 47.

LEMON: 47 on that side, 51 on this side. They look your name up, you get this blue card. You have to have this blue card to go over here. Once you go over to there, I'm not going over to the machine because I'm not voting, and then they go over and it's really quick. One guy, Gary, earlier he came in and I turned around before I know it he was walking out. That was quick. He goes, "Hey, listen, half of them aren't even on the ballot anymore." It's fast. So he said, half of them aren't on the - he used another word that they would use down here that I can't quite use on television.

The ratings would probably go up if I used it but then I probably wouldn't work here anymore. But anyway, they're open until 7:00 p.m..

TUCHMAN: Don, e-mail me that word. I'm curious what it is. I can't imagine what that word is.

LEMON: I'm afraid to put it even on my Blackberry. So -

TUCHMAN: OK. And your coffee -

LEMON: We got a lot of folks. Check it out. Before we go, we got a lot of folks coming in. They told us earlier that it was a little bit slow. People were lined up earlier at 7:00 when it opened and then there was a lull and they said people are eating breakfast and quite honestly, some of them are going hunting and it's going to get busy later after breakfast. Guess what? Hope you don't get whiplash for turning around it is getting busier. So there are 40 some on that side, 50 some on the other side. You guys ready to vote?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

LEMON: All right. There you go, Gary.

TUCHMAN: The man with the different coffee.

LEMON: We'll be here until they're done.

TUCHMAN: Don Lemon, thank you very much.

LEMON: All right, sir.

TUCHMAN: Newt Gingrich has been surging in the last few days in South Carolina. Making this a real horse race.

CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is with the CNN Election Express in downtown Columbia, South Carolina, the state capital. Paul, what are we hearing about the candidates today? I mean today is a wild scramble, right?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes and some of them are already out. And Gary, you mentioned Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker, his same message this morning we've heard for the last week or two, that he can be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney. Here's what he said just about a half hour ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody turns out to vote and we need to convince every wavering conservative that the only practical conservative vote in order to stop a Massachusetts moderate is to go vote for Newt Gingrich.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: You know, I tell you, Gary, things have changed so much over the last week here in South Carolina. You go back a week ago and in the public opinion polls Mitt Romney had a double-digit lead. Well, that's disappeared. The most recent surveys indicate it's basically a allotted up now between Romney and Gingrich. Don't count out Rick Santorum either. Listen, the former senator from Pennsylvania, we now know he did win Iowa. Romney won New Hampshire, of course.

And he had a strong debate performance at our showdown in Charleston on Thursday night and remember, Ron Paul as well. Got a lot of devoted followers. Here's what the rest of the candidates are saying. It seems like Romney's camp may be lowering expectations. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a long process ahead of us, 1150 delegates to get. I sure would like to win South Carolina, but I know that if those polls were right, regardless of who gets the final number, we're both going to get a lot of delegates. I want as many delegates as I can get, I want the most delegates coming out of South Carolina. I don't know what the numbers will be. I'm pretty confident. Cautiously optimistic.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I feel like we're coming down here to South Carolina and Florida for the next two contests and we have a chance to sort of make the case, now that the field has narrowed, and eventually end up, which I hope, which is a one-on-one contest with Mitt Romney.

RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a very significant election. We've had two so far in this primary season, Iowa and New Hampshire, and we've been very pleased with how they came out and we hope to do well tomorrow night as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: And Gary, one last thing, you know because you were here for a couple days, you turn on the TV and an onslaught, a barrage of campaign ads. When you look at the numbers here, it seems like Romney and his pro super pac - they're spending a little more than the other candidates. Gary?

TUCHMAN: Yes, the happiest people in South Carolina are the owners of the TV stations with the commercials, Paul. Is that fair to say?

STEINHAUSER: You got it, Gary. TUCHMAN: Spending a lot of money.

STEINHAUSER: I'm sorry.

TUCHMAN: Yes, it's really - I hear the train horn in the background. It's a noisy place. There's no question about it. One more thing I want to ask you, Paul, it seems like everyone wants to be the last alternative to Mitt Romney, is that correct?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Exactly. Very good point. And Gary, remember, when we all wrap up here we move on to Florida. Ten days from now that is the next contest. It looks like all four candidates on the ballot here are going to be definitely moving on to Florida. Gary?

TUCHMAN: Paul Steinhauser, thank you very much.

There are plenty of story lines to watch in South Carolina today. But let's focus for a minute on four crucial counties that could tell the whole story of this race. We start in the northwest part of the state, Greenville County, that's the largest number of Republican voters in state and it's probably why the candidates are falling over themselves to be at Tommy's Ham House in Greenville.

Two candidates, Gingrich and Romney will both be there at the same time today. Lexington County has around 150,000 registered voters. The vote there in 2008 almost exactly mirrored the final results of the whole state. It's a bellwether area. Charleston along the coast, one of the most beautiful cities in America is considered to be more moderate than other parts of the state and that could be a strong spot for Mitt Romney. And finally, Ori County, that's the home of Myrtle Beach, a beautiful resort and this is a mixed bag. It's a place where a lot of the transplants have settled.

Be sure to stay with CNN all day for coverage from South Carolina and tonight, we've got the results, Saturday night results, tune in at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time for our special coverage "The South Carolina Primary," the winners, the losers, it will be critical in the race for the president of the United States.

Now, for some other headlines this morning, new arrests in a growing hazing scandal at Florida A&M University. Four members of the famed marching 100 band have been arrested. They allegedly beat other members of the band. These arrests are not related to an earlier incident which led to the death of a drum major after Robert Champion's death, the school promised to crack down on the hazing that happens there.

A Nevada man has come forward to possibly take the blame for starting a devastating fire in Reno, Nevada. Police say the man admitted to improperly getting rid of his fire place ashes. The fire which started Thursday has destroyed nearly 30 homes, at least 10,000 people were evacuated. Firefighters now think, however, they have the upper hand on the blaze.

Gas prices going up. And banks aren't freely lending money for auto loans. So which car will get you the most bang for your buck? We'll ask the chairman of the Detroit Auto Show, when he joins us live next.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And something else we're following is the rough weather in parts of the country, especially the southeast where we don't have a tornado watch in effect for parts of Georgia and into the Carolinas. We'll have more on that coming up in just a few moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: For the first time in five years, attendance is on the rise for the Detroit Auto Show. Something else on the rise? Gas prices. Another challenge facing drivers, qualifying for an auto loan. So we're turning to an expert who knows where you can get money and get more for your money. Bill Perkins is now sitting in the driver's seat as the chairman of the North American International Auto Show. And he's joining us live from Detroit.

Bill, thanks for joining us.

BILL PERKINS, CHAIRMAN, NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW: Good morning, Gary, how are you?

TUCHMAN: I'm great. And I want to ask you, attendance is up this year. That seems like a very positive sign for our economy, right?

PERKINS: Gary, we're having a great show. We've had so many people come in to see all the unveilings that we've had here in Detroit and it's a real indicator of how much the market has improved, not only here in Detroit, but really across the country here in North America.

TUCHMAN: Give us an idea, for someone looking to buy their first car or buy a car that won't bust the budget, what's affordable?

PERKINS: Well, there's a lot of new offerings. Being a Chevrolet dealer, we have the Chevy Cruise is just an excellent offering. You're right around 20 to $22,000. You can get some a little cheaper than that. Then we have the Sonic that is actually around 16 to $18,000. But all of the manufacturers have so many offerings and all of these are on display here at the North American International Auto Show, that anyone that is actually looking for a vehicle, they can go to just about any of their local dealers and find a car to fit their budget.

TUCHMAN: I rented the Sonic recently. I really enjoyed the ride of that vehicle. Let me ask you, what's getting the best mileage these days if you're looking for a car you don't have to go to the gas station very much, what would you recommend?

PERKINS: Well, naturally I would say the Chevrolet Volt, because it's - you know, it's a combination of electric and also gasoline but you know, you've got the new Ford Focus that has been introduced. It's getting - it's getting a lot of good reviews and, you know, you've got the Chevy Cruz, anything within the Chevrolet line, they've done such a good job with improving the fuel economy on - throughout their line that any of those vehicles are going to get you excellent gas mileage. TUCHMAN: I tell it's been good times lately for GM. I heard GM is number one again. So, you know, GM is having a resurgence. Let me ask you about a foreign car, the Hyundai Sonata, which is named car of the year, why?

PERKINS: Well, because people like it. That's the main reason. I mean it gets excellent gas mileage, it has new styling. People are very, very in tune and they feel that a car like that fits their budget. So when you see a car that has excellent styling, gets good gas mileage, people are going to buy it.

TUCHMAN: OK final -

PERKINS: It's a popular vehicle.

TUCHMAN: OK. Final question, if I want to go out on a buying binge and just spend as much money as I can, just, you know, my colleagues here at CNN, I'll take money from them and put it altogether and buy the most expensive car that you see at the show right, what would you recommend?

PERKINS: Well, it would be the Bentley GTC. That would be the car.

TUCHMAN: how much might that set me back?

PERKINS: Oh somewhere around $235,000 to maybe $250,000.

TUCHMAN: Is that lira or dollars you're talking about? They use euros in Italy now, but $230,000 lira wouldn't set you quite as much. Quarter of a million dollars. OK.

PERKINS: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Bill Perkins, it's great talking to you. I won't be buying that car, wonderful but it's wonderful talking to you nevertheless. Thank you.

PERKINS: Gary, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

TUCHMAN: Thank you, Bill.

Well, flooding has forced hundreds to evacuate in the state of Oregon. Some had to be rescued by boat. Our Reynolds Wolf will tell what other areas are getting rain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Good morning, everybody. It's now 20 minutes after the hour. Let's take a look at news cross country.

We'll start in Denver. That's where more than a dozen suspected gang members are in custody. ATF Agents rounded them up last night. They had been investigating the gang Hell's Lovers for over two years. Some of the suspects are expected in federal court Monday. Details of the case were sealed. A social worker in Texas is accused of dumping thousands of medical files in the trash. Gilbert Hadea found the personal information containing social security numbers and home addresses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I already feel like I'm close to a lot of them because I know where they live, how many kids, what their problem is, what their diagnosis is, from psychology to pregnancies to drugs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: The social worker told CNN affiliate KABB the files were in a storage unit that was auctioned. The State Department of Health says the person responsible can't be disciplined because they no longer work for the state.

As "Red Tails" a George Lucas film about the legendary Tuskegee airmen hits theaters this weekend. They're also being honored in another way. Alabama's governor signed a proclamation Friday honoring their contribution to World War II. One airman was very happy to see this day come.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As I retire for the evening, when I look at those 94 years that I have been here, and I say, thank you, lord, for allowing me the opportunity to not only be a part of it, but live to see the results and reaction to some of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: The Tuskegee airmen flew more than 15,000 missions during the war.

A lot of severe weather across the country. Winter has arrived. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is busy keeping an eye on it all. Let's check with him at the severe weather center. Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You nailed it. Winter has arrived in the northeast and northwest, but in the southeast, believe it or not, it's almost like a spring-like setting we're getting for the time being. It's been very mild and with it we have a chance of some spring-like storms. Unfortunately, the chance of a few tornadoes.

Let's take these maps full and if you notice there's a little bit of a - looks like a rectangular box in the southern part of the screen, bottom part of the screen, listen to me as a meteorologist, southern part of the screen, including parts of Georgia into Alabama even Tennessee and the Carolinas. That is a tornado watch area that will be in effect until about midday.

However there's the chance we may see this extend into parts of the Carolinas on this primary day. Certainly a huge concern for turnout. Of course, huge concern, obviously, for anyone traveling throughout parts of the southeast. I would really expect some delays in many of the airports including Charlotte, obviously in Atlanta, perhaps even into Charleston before the day is out.

There is the reason why, we got the moisture coming up from the south. We've got that frontal boundary coming in from the west. A very unstable atmosphere will keep things rumbling through the afternoon hours. The top half of the system, it's not rain but rather a snow maker that could bring three to five inches of snowfall in parts of the northeast and the Pacific northwest, though, snow may actually accumulate up to feet in parts of the cascades and into the bitter roots of Montana and into the northern Rocky Mountains.

For the northeast in terms of snowfall, I'd mentioned again anywhere from two to four, maybe up to five inches of snowfall, especially south of Boston. It might even see some towards Martha's Vineyard before the day is out.

Now in terms of your temperatures, only 33 degrees. That's it for Kansas City. That's as high as you're going to go. Minneapolis 19, with the wind from the north it's going to feel much, much colder. 40 in Billings, 57 in San Francisco, 69 degrees in Atlanta, 78 degrees in New Orleans, 29 in New York and I got to tell you, Gary, we're probably going to see the rain stick around for parts of the southeast I think for a good part of the weekend. That frontal boundary is going to become stationary. So looks like the clouds, scattered showers are going to stick around through maybe the start of the work week.

TUCHMAN: Well, it does feel like spring time here in Atlanta, Georgia, but 19 degrees in Minneapolis, that's spring time for them too. They're can handle that. They're hearty people.

WOLF: They're hearty folks.

TUCHMAN: Yes. That's right. Thank you, Reynolds.

WOLF:: You bet. Well, we're just two and a half hours into the South Carolina primary. The polls close at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. We got a while. But we already have a winner. We do have a winner. The winner is Tommy's Ham House. Apparently it's the place to be today for the frontrunners. We'll hear from this man, the owner, Tommy, himself, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Checking top stories.

Divers are resuming their search for any more survivors from the Italian cruise ship the Costa Concordia. Crews are also looking at how to remove 2300 tons of fuel from the vessel to prevent a possible environmental disaster.

Polls have been opened in South Carolina for about two and a half hours now. Newt Gingrich is looking to do what he did not accomplish in New Hampshire or Iowa, far from it, as a matter of fact, and that's score a victory over Mitt Romney.

One of the best places to be today may be Tommy's Ham House in Greenville, South Carolina. That's because both Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are scheduled to be there at the same exact time. They didn't plan it that way, but it's happening. And we'll be there, too, of course. It's scheduled to happen at 10:45 a.m. Eastern, that's an hour and 15 minutes from now.

But earlier I had a chance to talk with the owner, Tommy Stevenson, about how this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOMMY STEVENSON, OWNER, TOMMY'S HAM HOUSE: I don't know exactly how it happened, but Gingrich people called me yesterday and told me that he would be here about 10:45 and we, you know, were getting ready for him this morning and during the night last night, I got a call from Caroline Vinvick, who is one of Newt's workers here in Greenville and said - woke me up, I go to bed early - and she said, "Is Romney coming tomorrow too? I said, well I didn't know it if he was, you know, that will be fine." So I went on back to sleep. And this morning I get to the restaurant at 3:00 and I opened the front doors and come to my office and I look back out, here comes Caroline (INAUDIBLE) wanting to put up Newt Gingrich signs and I said, well that will be fine. And they are the ones that really told me that Romney was coming, which we've never had two here at the same time, but we'll take care of it. We'll be glad to have them.

TUCHMAN: Well, this is not the first time you've had a candidate stop by for breakfast but I'm wondering, this particular time, how do you design the restaurant? I mean do you allow them to put up their posters wherever they want, barbed wire to separate - I'm just kidding about the barbed wire, by the way. I mean do you do anything to separate the portions of the restaurant?

STEVENSON: No. We got a wide open restaurant. We're just welcome to come in. You know, they're not going to come in to do any talking or debating, I don't think. I think they just want to come in and shake hands and meet the people here at the restaurant.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: You know, I pressed Tommy to tell me his favorite between the two men but he didn't pick Romney. He didn't pick Gingrich instead he told me the pork chops are really good. He's a very smart man indeed. Doesn't want to scare away presidential candidates in the future. That's the news for now.

We'll be back at 10:00 Eastern time. "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" starts right now.