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CNN Saturday Morning News

South Carolina Primary Voting Underway; Newt Gingrich Surges in Recent Poll; Movie Box Office Sales Down for 2011; NFL Playoffs Continue; Political Analysts Examine Recent South Carolina GOP Debates

Aired January 21, 2012 - 10:00   ET

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

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, it's 10:00 a.m. in Columbia, South Carolina, 7:00 a.m. in Sacramento, California. It is decision day in South Carolina. Voters are making their choice in what appears to be a tight race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Speaking of Romney and Gingrich, they're headed for a showdown later this hour. Not just the election, but at Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville, South Carolina. They'll both be there at the same time. As a matter of fact, Mitt Romney showed up. He showed up early, which is kind of interesting. We'll take you there.

Plus, a lot of people are dealing with rough weather today. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf will show us where you need to be on alert this morning.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is "CNN Saturday morning." I'm Gary Tuchman.

Three hours and counting, that is how long South Carolinians have been voting this morning. That means there's nine hours to go before the polls close. In between are these three members of our CNN team. Our Don Lemon is talking to voters in Lexington. Paul Steinhauser is watching the candidates from Columbia. And Shawna Shepherd is watching the action at the aforementioned Tommy's Ham House in Greenville.

We're going to go to Shawna. Shawna been following Newt Gingrich now for a long time. And Newt Gingrich is one of the two front- runners at the ham house. It sounds funny but it's serious business. How did it end up that both these men plan on going to the same restaurant in the same state at the same time?

SHAWNA SHEPHERD, CNN PRODUCER: You know, Gary, the candidates are saying it was purely a coincidence that the two are going to end up at Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville. You know, I don't know if there's more to it or not. But you're seeing governor Mitt Romney right now.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We voted for you already!

TUCHMAN: Shawna, it's a little hard for us to hear the former Massachusetts governor right now. We do hear the people cheering. What do we expect to hear from Mitt Romney, and why do we think he's shown up early? None of these candidates ever show up anywhere early. They show up late. Do you think this is part of the strategy, to get there before Newt Gingrich?

All right, I don't think Shawna can hear us. This is what we can tell you. It's the most interesting scenario. This is something we really don't see. These campaign stops are coordinated so care employ by the teams of the presidential candidates, to have them show up at the same place, the same time, same state on the day of possibly the most critical primary of the circuit, Iowa and New Hampshire, obviously important of the first two races. But you've had a crescendo descend upon the state of South Carolina, and it really is crucial.

If Newt Gingrich wins it sis a whole new race. But if Mitt Romney wins and Newt Gingrich is perhaps a poor second, that could make Mitt Romney the inevitable nominee.

Let's see if we can -- let's hear if we can listen to Mitt Romney. Still no audio. He's going to have ham at the ham house like Newt Gingrich.

First let's go to Don Lemon. He got there bright and early. He made some coffee. Not part of the job description but he made coffee. He's voting as different. I don't know if that's particularly complimentary. How is it going?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It's going great. I didn't get here bright and early. I got here bright and early.

Listen, you were talking about -- we've been talking about voter turnout. Look out there. That's going to really make a difference because it's raining outside. The rain started to come down pretty hard, and you know the weather has everything to do, Gary Tuchman. You've been covering politics for a long time. It's got everything to do with turnout.

People here are pretty excited. You guys went to Mitt Romney. Guess who we have. We've got Dan Brazil, Randy Halfacre, the current mayor and the former mayor of this here town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a great combo.

LEMON: We were talking about voters' turnout. Shirley, how many have we had? We had 566 people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's only 10:00, so it's a long way to go.

LEMON: What do you think about the turnout?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So far I think it's been good given the weather. It's been very good. I'm very optimistic.

LEMON: Have you voted yet, mayor?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have not. LEMON: You're the current mayor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, yes, sir.

LEMON: What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great to have you here, one of the best communities in the world.

LEMON: You know what I'm asking you. Who are you going to vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll make that decision when I get in the voting booth. I like to cogitate, you know.

LEMON: How are you doing, Mr. Brazil?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good.

LEMON: What do you think about turnout?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think turnout is light at this point, but I think by the end of the day, if we don't get drowned with rain, we'll have a lot of folks here turn out. It will be better.

LEMON: Now the million question. Who did you vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I voted for Newt Gingrich.

LEMON: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I think he's the best guy in the race.

LEMON: Thank you both. I've heard a lot of Newt, even from women. They say women are not going to vote for Newt because of that whole thing, but they're voting for Newt here. So there you go. We've got the current, the former, rain outside, but we've got a lot of people showing up. Is that the congressman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.

LEMON: Congressman Joe Wilson just coming in to vote. There he is right there. Congressman, how are you? We're live on CNN. How are you doing?

WILSON: I beat you to the punch.

LEMON: Reporter: It's good seeing you. We're going to talk to you guys. We've got to get back to CNN. They've got to go to another event. It's good to see you. Gary, we'll throw it back to you. We're having a good time. We don't have any ham, but we've got voters.

TUCHMAN: That's why I love live TV. Congressman comes in, he walks across the room, and you're yelling to the lady, how many voters. That's great TV.

LEMON: I've got to go make more coffee.

TUCHMAN: Go make more of that different coffee. Thank you.

There are plenty of storylines to watch in South Carolina today, but let's focus on four crucial counties that can determine the whole race. We started in Greenville County. It has the largest number of Republican voters in the state. Lexington County is where Don was meeting the voters. Results there in 2008 mirrored almost exactly the state results. Charleston along the coast, considered to be more moderate than other parts of the state, and that could be a strong spot for Mitt Romney.

And finally we go to Orie County, and that's the home of myrtle beach. It's a mixed bag. It's where a lot of transplants have settled.

Now we go to my colleague CNN's Paul Steinhauser. Paul knows everything political. Everyone knows the caucus is the first primary, but this in a lot more ways is much more critical, isn't it?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Oh, yes, because going back to 1980, Gary, everyone on the Republican side who has won here, this primary in South Carolina, has gone on to win the nomination. Gary, a week ago Mitt Romney had a double digits in the polls. Now it's pretty much dead even between him and Newt Gingrich in the most recent surveys.

And some other news, looking ahead to next week, remember, Florida, the next state, all four presidential candidates, all four remaining Republican candidates will be in our debate, CNN debate in Jacksonville. We're here in South Carolina. We're also looking ahead to Florida, Gary.

TUCHMAN: Boy, it's really a very important time. Yesterday was actually a year before the inauguration for next year, so we're in the final count, but this could be the key day, Paul. Paul, thank you very much. It is a big day for politics in South Carolina.

And today on CNN, it's going to be politics all day. Tune in at 4:00 p.m. eastern time to see the candidate debate the issues from Thursday night's edge-of-your-seat debate. And at 6:00 p.m., special coverage of the South Carolina debates begin. See the results as they come in right here on CNN.

And here are some of the other headlines we're watching this morning. There is other news. Search crews are back at work right now around the Costa Concordia. The cruise ship is still half submerged off the Italian coast. The Italian Navy blew bigger holes into the hull to look for survivors or victims. Rescuers spent most of the night looking over the boat that's above the water.

Nigeria's government has imposed a 24-hour curfew in the country's second largest city follow deadly attacks. Police say they opened fire and bombed eight government sites. At least seven people have been killed. It's feared the toll could go much higher. A militant Islamic group reportedly has claimed responsibility.

(WEATHER BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Coming up later this hour, many of the campaign ads bombarding South Carolina voters are paid for by super PACs. But just what is a super PAC? We'll explain.

And where did all the movie fans go? We'll show you why the film industry is suffering from box office blues. Sounds like the name of a movie itself, "Box Office Blues."

Plus, we've heard plenty of horror stories from Italy's cruise ship disaster. But there were some heroes. Their stories are later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: It's 10:14 on the east coast, 7:14 on the west.

(WEATHER BREAK)

TUCHMAN: The airwaves are filled with political ads this time of year, so who is paying the big bucks for the airtime? Not the candidates in most cases. We'll get into that right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: The voters who are headed to the polls now in South Carolina have been inundated by campaign ads this past week. The Campaign Media Analysis Group is breaking down the numbers. Leading the pack, Mitt Romney. It's estimated his campaign has spent more than a half a million dollar in ads in South Carolina alone. Close behind him, Ron Paul at $460,000 spent. In third, Rick Santorum, $376,000. And before he dropped out Rick Perry's campaign, remember, he's not even in this race, but he spent $218,000. That was where he was hoping to make his comeback. That didn't happen. Last place in campaign ad spending in South Carolina is Newt Gingrich.

Those are the ads for the cam pans. But there's something brand new in this campaign race -- super PACs. Tens of millions of dollars are flowing in like never before. So what exactly are super PACs? Our Josh Levs is here to break it down. Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, pretty soon the whole country is going to be seeing them, especially battleground states. We're used to sees ads that support or attack candidates. What we have not seen before is the unlimited of these groups called super PACs. That's because they're new. They're the results of two court decisions in 2010. One was from the Supreme Court two years ago today.

Basically these groups can take unlimited contributions from corporations, unions, et cetera. Traditional PACs can only take in limited contributions. The rule is they cannot coordinate their spending with candidates. Critics say it's ultimately ridiculous because the ads that the super PACs put out are echoing the candidates' messages anyway. This basically just circumvents the whole point of having campaign finance limits.

But supporters say it's absolutely free speech and absolutely should be allowed. Our partners at Time.com have a story saying the new rules change presidential politics into a "house of mirrors." It says "The nation's richest people and corporations now have an outside way to help candidates by funneling their money to help candidates by funneling their money." Now, glad you're hearing about this because of Comedy Central, right, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart of Comedy Central. They're famously satirizing and criticizing super PACs in the way they are affecting the race. In the end, part of the upshot for all of you, all of us across the country, as this election season progresses, expect a slew of ads from all sides, and that will especially be true in the battleground state.

TUCHMAN: Is there a way to accurately characterize how much money is being spent by these super PACs?

LEVS: Yes. Listen to this figure. More than $33 million have already been spent by the super PACs. This is in the 2012 cycle. I want you to all see this and a lot more. Go to CNN.com/josh, Facebook and Twitter. I want you to know the next hour I'll be back with you and we're going to break down specifically which super PACs out there have put in how much money in support of which candidates. They'll be here in the next hour.

TUCHMAN: We're still nine-and-a-half hours away from election day. We've got a lot of commercials.

LEVS: A lot of money for local TV stations around the country.

TUCHMAN: Well, dinner and a movie just isn't what it used to be. We'll take a look at why movie theaters are hurting and what people are doing instead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Going to the movies used to be a Friday or Saturday night tradition. But traditions change, as does our appetite for entertainment. CNN's entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter takes a look at the falling fortunes at the box office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Going to the movies, it's been a favorite pastime for Americans for more than a century, but is that changing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's always like a hassle just to go to the movie theaters.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most of the movies I'll just wait.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Technically they're very interesting but very little substance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prices are so out of control. WYNTER: It seems like everyone feels that way. Consumers sent a clear message about movies in 2011 by holding onto money.

PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, PRESIDENT, HOLLYWOOD.COM BOX OFFICE DIVISION: 2011 was a tough year at the box office for Hollywood. We saw the lowest attendance since 1995, and revenues were down.

WYNTER: Down about four percent. Yet movie industry leaders downplay the drop.

TOM SHERAK, PRESIDENT, ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURES ARTS AND SCIENCES: It wound up not as bad as they were predicting. It's down three percent to four percent. You'll find out over the years it goes up three percent, two percent, down three percent, four percent. It's almost like that for the past 40 years.

WYNTER: What was 2011 missing at the movies? According to Sherrod, a holiday blockbuster.

SHERAK: There was no movie like "Titanic" or "Avatar."

WYNTER: Those who stayed away from the megaplex were watching movies at home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I watch it on Hulu or Netflix.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We watch films on our TV. We have the Wi-Fi on your TV where it comes up automatically, so that's really convenient. It's a lot more convenient than DVDs.

WYNTER: Despite a 20 percent drop in DVD sales, Blu-Ray saw an equivalent increase in sales in 2011.

DERGARABEDIAN: They take a little bit of this, a little bit of that, you know, a little bit of video, a little bit of going the movie theater, a little bit of download, and that becomes the way you consume entertainment. In the end the consumer wins, but all these other industries that rely on the consumer are going to have to scramble and figure how to play catch-up with that audience.

WYNTER: Wherever the audience goes, there's something about movie magic and Hollywood glamour that will always draw a crowd.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: Thanks, Kareen.

Did one moment from Thursday night's South Carolina debate put Newt Gingrich over the top for a potential primary victory today? I'll find out what our political strategists think about it right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TUCHMAN: A quick programming note. All four remaining candidates have agreed to take part in the next CNN debate in Jacksonville, Florida. We'll be at the University of North Florida next Thursday night, 8:00 p.m. eastern time.

South Carolina voters head to the polls. The spotlight has been on Newt Gingrich. His ex-wife did a television interview, accusing him of wanting a, quote, "open marriage" when he started an affair with the woman who is now his third wife. Here's how he answered the question at Thursday night's CNN debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think -- I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: The last poll shows Gingrich and Romney nearly a dead heat in South Carolina.

Joining me to talk about the race, CNN political contributor and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona in Washington, and in Columbia, South Carolina, Republican strategist Lenny McAllister. We're having a little problem with Maria's signal. We'll get back to her, we promise. But we're going to start this conversation with you, Lenny.

The first question I want to ask you, in the debate Thursday, everyone's talking about it. I was wondering what you think about Newt Gingrich's answer, do you think his answer helps give him momentum to give him a win in South Carolina?

LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: It did. I think it galvanized them behind him. They feel there's a liberal bias in the media. He played straight to that. He also was able to attack the whole question of his ex-wife coming up, the timing of it, and still pivoted against President Obama. He did it in a brilliant fashion. He did it from the outset. He did it with passion. It was enough to get the crowd on his side and it may have been enough to get the conservative base here in South Carolina behind him, where if we leave South Carolina with a Newt Gingrich victory tonight, we'll have Santorum with a victory in Iowa, Romney with a victory in New Hampshire, Gingrich with a victory in South Carolina, and game seriously on in Florida.

TUCHMAN: Yes, Florida will certainly be fascinating from a strategic standpoint if Newt Gingrich wins tonight. But if Mitt Romney wins, it will be another story. That certainly could see meant Mitt Romney for the nomination.

Maria is with us right now. What I want to ask you is how important is it that Newt Gingrich wins tonight or has a very strong second-place showing?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, let's hear what he himself has said which not long ago he said South Carolina has been the end all be all with him.

I think going into this, what we have seen with the Gingrich surge is a couple of things. First are his tremendous performances at the debate. Second, the question Lenny was just talking about, the slap down against the question about his ex-wife, but also this is interesting because as many voters say they don't like negative campaigning and as many of the political scientists say that this has been the nastiest campaign yet in South Carolina with all the negative ads -- they work. Newt Gingrich was able to put a lot of negative campaign ads up through his super PAC, and they work the same way they work for Mitt Romney against Newt Gingrich in Iowa and in New Hampshire.

And so I think this is to be all, end all for Newt Gingrich if he wants to go on and at least be considered to be competitive for the nomination against Mitt Romney.

TUCHMAN: I wonder as a Democrat, do you look at it cynically in the way he answered the first question?

MCALLISTER: Of course. It was political theatrics at its best. And he knew he was going to get the question, and John King was right to ask it, be I the way, because it was an issue that was on voters' minds, especially because his ex-wife had just given that interview. But Newt Gingrich was clearly playing to the crowd, there's no question about it. He went up afterward and congratulated John King on a tremendous debate performance.

TUCHMAN: For the record, by the way, when they say the elite media, it doesn't mean to attack Democrats. I've personally attacked Rod Blagojevich and Anthony Weiner and Gary Hart in years gone by. So we're equal opportunity. We bring the story out. We do want to mention that.

I do want to ask you, Lenny. Mitt Romney, one of the problems he seems to be having is answering questions about his taxes. It was brought up the way his father dealt with it. Listen to what he said in the debate Thursday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how many years I'll release. I'll take a look at what our documents are. And I'll release multiple years, I don't know how many years, but I'll be happy to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TUCHMAN: Why do you think, Lenny, that he's had so many problems with this issue?

MCALLISTER: He's not coming forth with a very clear message. Again, he's trying to find a way to connect to the grassroots. He's the establishment guy in a non-established era when it comes to American politics. He's trying to connect to everyday American and his background doesn't relate to that.

If you look at his electorate record he's Herman Cain plus one electoral victory. If you look for Herman Cain, he ran for the Senate, and he lost. Mitt Romney ran for the Senate, he lost. Mitt Romney has pretty much one more electoral victory than Herman Cain. Same background, a businessman. How is he going to be able to connect with Americans? If he doesn't message with them properly, this is going to stay in the way and stay a problem. Unfortunately he hasn't been clear with it. He's stumbling over it. With griffin being clear with his attacks on his ex-wife issues, there's a clear contrast.

TUCHMAN: One thing I don't understand is why aren't all these guys having problems with the taxes? Rick Santorum said I'm not home, I'm not in front of my computer. That was the funniest thing. Ron Paul says I'd be embarrassed. This guys want to be president of the United States. Release your taxes, right?

CARDONA: Newt Gingrich did it and it worked well for him.

(LAUGHTER)

TUCHMAN: What do you think, Lenny? Why don't they release their taxes for crying out loud?

(CROSSTALK)

TUCHMAN: Lenny?

CARDONA: Go ahead, Lenny.

MCALLISTER: I was going to say, you can do that. I mean, Santorum gave a pretty decent answer to try to avoid the issue. The bottom line is you want to see more transparency from people. Paul gave a deft answer to try to avoid it. Ron Paul gave it, our family's away as if his wife doesn't have the password to the computer. They found a pretty cut way to avoid it and stuck it back on Romney, which was intelligent.

Why get in his way the way he's stumbling all over himself, the same way they let Perry stumble all over himself and Herman Cain. They got out of the way. Right now the Romney campaign has a crisis it has to handle because the imaging is not matching the structure that it has for the long haul.

TUCHMAN: Lenny and Maria, your insight is great. It's fascinating and interesting. Appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thank you.

MCALLISTER: Thank you, Gary. God bless you both.

TUCHMAN: Thank you. That's a very nice thing to hear. It is a big day for politics in South Carolina today on CNN. Tune in at 4:00 eastern time today. That's about five hours and 20 minutes from now. You will see a replay of that amazing debate from last Thursday night that John King hosted so well. Two hours later at 6:00 eastern time CNN's special report. It will begin with Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, and the best political team on television. By this time tomorrow we will know who won and who may have -- may, I emphasize -- we'll have a good idea who will remain the Republican nominee for president of the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: Remember all of our CNN heroes come from your suggestions. So if there's anything impacting your life or community in a positive way, go to CNNheroes.com and tell us all about it.

South Carolina, the South Carolina showdown. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich face off. They were both scheduled to arrive at Tommy's Country Ham House in Greenville, South Carolina, at the same time, but somebody got their early. We're taking you there live in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: The morning rush at your local diner has nothing on Tommy's Ham House in Greenville, South Carolina. That's because Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were scheduled to be there the exact same time this morning, but somebody jumped the gun. And CNN's Jim Acosta is in a very noisy restaurant joining us on the phone from a very popular breakfast joint. Jim, what happened?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Gary. It looks like you can say Mitt Romney got the upper hand here at Tommy's Ham House. He got here earlier, a little earlier than expected. Newt Gingrich is talking right now. He took off before Gingrich arrived, and then not missing a beat, the former speaker walked inside this restaurant and said. "Where's Mitt? I was hoping for a little debate." So some gamesmanship going on here at the Ham House this morning.

TUCHMAN: Jim, that's really disappointing. I was looking forward to them being in the restaurant at the same time. We talked to the restaurant owner who said he arranged it so they could both be in there with their supporters. I guess that really is gamesmanship, isn't it?

ACOSTA: I think so. They know it may go well for them so why make things even more, complicated, when it comes to the objects and the images, but voters at home are saying come in, do the event, get out early and let Gingrich have his moment. They're still voting. We'll have to wait and see what happens tonight. You know, voters were pressing the Romney people inside earlier this this morning as to why they were showing up early, and they wouldn't answer the question.

You know, you sort of fly by the seat of your pants out there. Things are changing minute by minute. And there are reasons as to why these campaigns may be sufficient, showing up early, showing up later. My guess is that they did not want to have that sort of confrontation between both sides. And it might not have been a bad idea.

TUCHMAN: Jim, flying by the seat of our pants. That's why we like covering this stuff so much. You did a great job. I hope you have some of the pancakes or bacon or something good for breakfast.

ACOSTA: You know I will.

TUCHMAN: Jim Acosta, everybody.

We have brand-new poll to show you out of South Carolina, brand new. Look at this. This American Research Group survey shows Gingrich opening up over Mitt Romney, 40 percent to 26 percent. Those are stunning numbers compared to a few days ago when Romney was ahead. This poll was conducted on Thursday and Friday, yesterday and the day before. This would reflect what voters were thinking after Thursday's CNN debate, and after Rick Perry dropped out. Wow.

This is a big day for politics in South Carolina. A big day for the United States because what happened in South Carolina could affect very much who is the Republican nominee. Tune in at 4:00 eastern time today to see the candidates' debate, a repeat of the Thursday debate that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. And then two hours after that, after the debate, right after the debate at 6:00 eastern, that's our special live coverage of the South Carolina primary. Join the best political team on TV to watch the results from South Carolina as they come in here, right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: This is great weekend to watch TV. Today and tonight coverage of the South Carolina primary, tomorrow two important football games, the NFC championship game, the AFC championship game. Joe Carter, HLN sports guru is here. A couple of diverse interesting stories, a funny story about Tim Tebow and also a nice poignant story about a former Green Bay Packers assistant coach.

JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: He has had a couple of tough weeks, a couple weeks ago, 21-year-old Michael was found dead in a Wisconsin river. He drowned. He has six kids. Obviously it's been a terrible couple of weeks.

And then, of course, the Packers favored to win the Super Bowl got beat by the Giants. It was a surprising loss for them. Now we're seeing something positive happen in his life. He's now been hired as a new head coach for the Miami Dolphins. Imagine getting best job you've ever had in your career but at the same time you're dealing with an enormous personal tragedy. He was an offensive coordinator since 2007. The Dolphins like how he's handled the entire situation. They feel like he's the right man for the job. Miami has had seven coaches in the last eight years. They are coming off three consecutive losing seasons. So he's got quite the task on him to handle here.

TUCHMAN: Tim Tebow, that's the funnier story. CARTER: Tim Tebow has been fascinating. He's been the talk of the team. There's a restaurant now making a Tebow toss pizza. He's come up with several interesting portrait pizzas. So head down to Alabama if you're a Tebow fan.

TUCHMAN: Joe Carter, thank you very much. Good talking to you.

A survivor of the Italian cruise ship disaster said he could see the fear and panic in other passengers' eyes. He took this video of that chaotic night, and he's talking about the heroes who helped more than 4,000 people get to safe ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TUCHMAN: The search for survivors is back on in Italy. It's been a week since the Costa Concordia ran aground and rescue efforts began. It also brings another revealing look at those final moments. And with that a clearer picture emerges of the true heroes. Our senior international correspondent Matthew Chance has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the darkness, a few glimpses of the chaos caught by one passenger evacuating the Costa Concordia. As the ship tilts to one side, he said there was utter panic.

LEO POLDINO, PASSENGER (via translator): When the ship leaned, we were very scared because we didn't know if it with us going to stop. You could see the fear in people's eyes.

CHANCE: So when this was happening, when the boat was tilting to one side, what instructions, what help were you getting from the crew members?

POLDINO (via translator): Some were given the wrong information, such as go back to the cabins. Some helped us. But we could hear everything is under control, there's just a problem with the generator.

CHANCE: This footage of a crew member trying to calm alarmed passengers. The seriousness of the damage was clearly being played down. The captain and other senior officers were nowhere to be seen.

POLDINO (via translator): No, neither the captain nor any officer at all.

CHANCE: And when the evacuation finally began, there were passengers like Leo, a hairdresser from Rome, who took control, who worked with crew member, saving others before themselves.

POLDINO (via translator): There were people in wheelchairs, so we dragged them out and helped them to the lifeboats. I managed to get three children. We went downstairs and pulled out trapped crew members out with ropes. I don't know if there were waiters.

CHANCE: Were there any heroes onboard?

POLDINO (via translator): I believe there were many. Lots of people were scared, but also many people were doing everything they could to help others without thinking for their own safety. To save 4,000 people, there have to be many heroes not just one.

CHANCE: Matthew Chance, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)