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CNN Saturday Morning News
The Nevada Caucus; New Details From JFK Assassination; Most U.S. Pets Overweight; Syrian City Under Siege; World's Richest Lottery; Police Close In on Occupy Camps
Aired February 04, 2012 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is Saturday, February 4th. Great to see you. I'm Susan Hendricks. It is 6:00 a.m. here in Atlanta and 3:00 a.m. in Las Vegas, where the polls are set to open in just a few hours for the first presidential contest out west this election season.
And the Midwest is getting slammed by a fierce winter storm. Take a look. Up to 40 inches in some areas. We will tell you where it's going and how it may affect your travel plans.
Plus, get this, an entire town wins a $950 million lottery jackpot. You heard right. All except one guy who missed out on it.
But we start with this. We are just a few hours away from the start of the Nevada caucuses. It is the fifth contest in the Republican presidential race, but the first one to take place west of the Mississippi. We will have much more on that in just a moment.
But first, here are some of the other top stories we are watching for you this morning.
In Syria, anti-government activists say the military is randomly bombing residential neighbors in Homs. Homs has been the epicenter of the anti-government uprising in Syria. Activists say as many as 260 people, including women and children, have been killed in the past day alone. CNN has not independently confirmed the accounts, though. Here is, though, what one brave activist told our Anderson Cooper last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANNY, SYRIAN ANTI-GOVERNMENT ACTIVIST: They have been bombarding an area in Homs for like three hours. They have been bombarding with bombers and tank shells, T-72 tank shells. Because part of the Syrian army defected and went to that state. The civilians went to welcome the Syrian army, so they bombarded it randomly with a lot of bombs and tank shells, tanks T-72.
In the first half an hour, we've got 40 people dead. Now, we've got 200 dead all around Homs. There are still people under the destruction. We can't move them. All the buildings have been falling over human beings. There are kids dead, women dead, men dead.
We can't get medication into Khaldiya. They are shooting at the Red Crescent ambulance. They are shooting at civilian cars and trying to get medication in there and we can't help them.
And now, it's happening all around Homs. They are bombing us.
People are trying to move bodies out of the street and putting their lives on risk. People are getting killed just to remove a body from the street, just to move bodies so they can bury them and they are being killed for moving the bodies. That's bravery.
No one's helping us. The U.N. isn't doing anything about it. The Arab League isn't doing about it. They are discussing, and while they are having a discussion, people sitting here and they're dying.
The Syrian people are not going to stop if they kill millions. That we'll remember that no one did anything about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: The details are hard to listen to. In just a few hours, the United Nations Security Council is scheduled to meet to consider the situation in Syria and possibly try to force the government to stand down. We'll have a live report there.
You have to see the scene here in Egypt. Protesters have clashed with police there in several cities. They are angry at what is perceived as a lack of police action during deadly riots at a soccer game this week. Seventy-nine people died in those riots. Nine people have died in these post riot protests as you see here. Police say protesters have been pelting officers with bird shot and Molotov cocktails.
The group of hackers known as Anonymous, they're at it again. This time they secretly record a phone call between the FBI and Scotland Yard discussing the investigation into hacking attacks. Here are some of the conversation Anonymous posted on one of their websites.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got Ryan Cleary and James Davis due in court on the 27th. We've set back the further arrests of Kayla and T-flow, that being (NAME DELETED) and (NAME DELETED), until we know what's happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: A law enforcement source tells CNN that this is basically vandalism. The FBI is now investigating.
The Army has decided that Private Bradley Manning will face a court- martial for allegedly orchestrating the biggest intelligence leak in U.S. history. He is blamed for leaking sensitive military and diplomatic material to WikiLeaks. Manning could face life in prison if convicted by the military court. No date has been set are for the trial yet.
A massive hardboiled egg recall is underway. A Minnesota company is recalling around a million eggs that went to 34 states. Those eggs could be tainted with Listeria, which can cause sometimes deadly infections. None of the eggs went straight to consumers, though. They're usually used by grocery chains and other stores in things like egg salad or maybe on prepared salads. For more information, just go to fda.gov.
The Justice Department has dropped its investigation into claims that champion cyclist Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs. Lance Armstrong says he is gratified by that decision. Fellow cyclists claimed Armstrong was doping when he won the Tour de France seven times. The Justice Department is not explaining why it dropped the case.
Big story today. Want to get back to politics and the Nevada Republican caucuses. This is the first contest west of the Mississippi. Voting there is still a few hours away. Here is one of the latest polls out of Nevada. You can see that Mitt Romney holds a double-digit lead over Newt Gingrich.
CNN's Joe Johns has more on the final rush for support.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Susan, as the race for the Nevada caucuses entered the homestretch, the Mitt Romney campaign was hoping their candidate was well positioned to score a victory here just like he did four years ago.
It was a bizarre week in politics, though, with Donald Trump stirring up a publicity firestorm before finally publicly endorsing Romney for president.
Romney did not help his own case with his comments on CNN that he was not concerned about the poor because there's a safety net for them. He later said he misspoke.
Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House, tried to capitalize on the Romney misstep, promoting his own plan to create jobs and improve the economy.
Texas Congressman Ron Paul was also attracting large crowds in the state of Nevada with his anti-war, smaller government message. He actually placed second here four years ago behind Romney.
Former Senator Rick Santorum was not about to be counted out, having already demonstrated his prowess in the caucus environment, if you will, by his big win in the state of Iowa.
But for now it is up to the caucus-goers in Nevada to try to determine which among the Republican presidential contenders they believe should be their standard-bearer as we move toward the general election this November.
I'm Joe Johns in Las Vegas. Back to you, Susan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: Joe Johns, thank you. Be sure to stay with us throughout the day for updates from Nevada. And tonight, our expanded coverage starts at 6:00 p.m. with a special edition of "The Situation Room." Don't miss it. Then join the best political team on TV with Wolf Blitzer, John King, Anderson Cooper -- you name it -- for all the results.
You could say it's a ray of sunshine on unemployment with nearly 250,000 private sector jobs added last month. The unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3 percent. That is down from 8.5 in December. CNN chief business correspondent Ali Velshi points out that, at this rate, all 4.6 million jobs lost during the Obama administration could be recovered by Election Day. Here's the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These numbers will go up and down in the coming months and there's still far too many Americans who need a job or need a job that pays better than the one they have now. But the economy is growing stronger. The recovery is speeding up. And we've got to do everything in our power to keep it going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Here's a breakdown for you. The groups that saw the biggest gains, African-American unemployment, is still the highest of any ethnic group, but it came down more than two full percentage points in January. Hispanics dropped half a percent and white men over 20 dropped 0.3 percent.
Those jobs numbers had a profound impact on the financial markets. The Dow jumped more than 150 points to finish at its highest point in four years. The Nasdaq was also up, hitting its highest point in more than a decade.
It has been kind of a warm winter, haven't you noticed? New York, I believe, in the high 40s today. It is February. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is in the weather center with what is coming up.
And Colorado has been the big story, but I assume that it's because it happened all at once.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. That's one of the big things that happened, is Colorado has really had a deficit of snowfall. In fact, many places there have been making their own snow for quite a while. Many of them stopping now because we've finally got a great dose of snowfall.
But if you take a look at this map, it's not just the snow story today. The snow leaving the Rockies, moving into parts of the Central Plains, where some places could see anywhere from eight inches to a foot of snow. And if you follow that line of storms, it curls back over towards the Great Lakes, then south to Texas. Nearly 1,000 miles, in fact, with scattered showers and storms, perhaps even some flash flooding, before the day is out. It's a busy weather day. We'll tackle it all coming up in a few moments, Susan.
HENDRICKS: We're glad you're with us all day.
WOLF: You bet.
HENDRICKS: Very busy. Reynolds, thank you.
Coming up this morning, chaos, confusion and grief. Long lost JFK audio tapes allow us to hear events as they happened right after President Kennedy was shot. We will listen to some of those recordings.
Also, is your pet overweight? Do you think it's cute? Well, it's a bigger problem than you may think. We will explore what is being done to help obese pets.
And what if everyone you knew played the lottery and won except you? A man in Spain was the odd man out. We'll tell you about his unfortunate luck.
Also, ever wanted to go to college for free? Yes. We will tell you where you can apply to do that. We're all over it. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Are you flashing back to Christmas? We are. Good morning, Denver, to you. It snowed about two feet overnight, but now the storm is moving east. Good news for you. Hope you're having fun skiing out there.
Welcome back. It is 11 after the hour. Parts of Colorado have been slammed over the past day or so by a major snowstorm. Airlines were forced to cancel hundreds of flights. A snow removal crew of nearly 500 plan to work throughout the storm to keep the airport running. But more cancellations are expected today because of that backup.
Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is here now and the big story is Denver. It's moving out, though, of that area, which is good news.
WOLF: Huh?
HENDRICKS: Huh?
WOLF: I'm sorry. I'm trying -- I'm trying to get over this.
HENDRICKS: The weather outside is frightful.
WOLF: I know. I mean hearing that at this time of the year, I know -- it's like having -- it's like having cotton candy with steak sauce. You know, the two just don't fit together.
HENDRICKS: I thought the same thing. How odd.
WOLF: Cotton candy and steak sauce?
HENDRICKS: Yes.
WOLF: There you go. Same mindset. There you go. What we're seeing today, though, you're right, though, it was really the big transition from the snow going into parts of the Rockies and certainly into Denver where they had the backups. They had the travel nightmares. Now we're seeing that begin to move in parts of the Central Plains.
So let's take those maps full so you can get a better view at it. As you gander at this map, you'll see one big white area in the middle of the map. At least up towards Omaha and just north of Wichita. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is your snow possibly to the tune of eight to 12 inches of snow before all is said and done.
Back to Denver. Although the snow is leaving, it could still give you delay under an hour. Minneapolis due to the fog. Might have some backups. Same deal in Cincinnati, but because of rain. Houston, thunderstorms is the bottom half of the system. And in San Diego, if you've ever flown into San Diego, you'll know that the -- it's pretty close -- at least the airport -- pretty close to the Bay area. Might have some of that marine layer that might keep you grounded for just a little bit. Delays expected under an hour.
But, yes, this is the big eye-sore. You see Denver on the bottom left- hand side of the screen. Everything points east along 70. That's where you're going to have your advisories, your watches, your warnings. And the big target we're going to see probably will be around Omaha, Nebraska. In fact, for the next 24 hours, we expect it to stack up.
You'll notice on this map anywhere from six to eight. You know what, I'm going to call for a bit higher. I would not be surprised if we have a few drifts in that are that may be excess of a foot of snow.
Other than that, strong showers and storms moving across parts of the Ohio Valley expected today. With that, you could see some backups later on in places like Birmingham, even Atlanta. Highs in both Memphis and Atlanta, 67 degrees in both spots. In Chicago, 43, 46 in New York, 83 in Tampa, Miami with 78 degrees, 42 in Salt Lake City, 29 in Denver, 59 in Seattle and 57 in El Paso. That's a quick snapshot of the forecast. And, of course, we'll have more for the rest of the morning.
HENDRICKS: Fifty in Washington. That's pretty amazing this time of year.
WOLF: And perfect climate to enjoy your cotton candy with steak sauce.
HENDRICKS: That's going to be in my head all morning. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: Exactly.
HENDRICKS: New recordings from the moments after the JFK assassination hidden away for decades, now offering a rare glimpse into the confusion that followed the president's murder. Hear them for yourself next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HENDRICKS: Welcome back.
We are now getting a very rare glimpse, an intriguing one, too, inside one of the darkest days in American history thanks to audio tapes hidden away for 50 years. CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were among the most anxious, gut wrenching hours in American history. The chaos following President John F. Kennedy's assassination. Everyone, including top administration officials, was scrambling for accurate information. Newly released audio tapes offer fascinating insight into the confusion and the government's response. Listen to this phone call from White House physician, Admiral George Burkley, who was in Dallas, to Army Sergeant General Leonard Heaton, on where to take the president's body.
ADMIRAL GEORGE BURKLEY, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: Regards to the taking care of the remains of the -- President Kennedy and we are planning on having the president's remains taken directly to Walter Reed. Probably Mrs. Kennedy will also be going out there. But we will clarify that later.
GENERAL LEONARD HEATON, ARMY SERGEANT: Oh, all right.
TODD: But it wasn't clarified. Just minutes earlier, Secret Service head Jerry Behn had called another official with the president in Dallas saying the remains should be taken to another military hospital.
AGENT JERRY BEHN, SECRET SERVICE HEAD: Arrangements have been made for a helicopter for the Bethesda Naval Medical Center.
TODD: The president was taken to Bethesda. For decades, critics said his autopsy was incomplete, mishandled, maybe even part of a conspiracy. I listened to the tapes with historian Max Holland, who has a different take.
MAX HOLLAND, AUTHOR, "THE KENNEDY ASSASSINATION TAPES": The government had no protocol for having an autopsy of a president. It was just never -- something no one had ever thought would be necessary. They were completely unprepared.
TODD: The tapes were discovered by the Raab Collection, historical documented dealers. They got them from the estate of General Chester Clifton, a top aide to President Kennedy, then donated them to the National Archives. The recordings were made by the White House Communications Agency and include radio traffic from the president's plane, Air Force One.
TODD (on camera): Part of the recordings, which are not new, are still riveting, like when a distraught Lyndon Johnson, and his wife, get on the phone from Air Force One to console President Kennedy's mother.
ROSE KENNEDY, JOHN F. KENNEDY'S MOTHER: Yes, yes, Mr. President. Yes. LYNDON JOHNSON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I wish to God there was something that I could do and I wanted to tell you that we are grieving with you.
KENNEDY: Yes, well, thanks a -- thank you very much. Thank you very much. I know. I know you loved Jack, and he loved you.
LADY BIRD JOHNSON, FORMER FIRST LADY: Mrs. Kennedy, we feel like we've just had ---
KENNEDY: Yes, all right.
LADY BIRD JOHNSON: We are glad that the nation had your son as long as it did.
KENNEDY: Yes, well, thank you, Lady Bird. Thank you very much. Good- bye.
TODD (voice-over): It leaves us all wanting to hear more, but some of these recordings we may never hear. Officials at the Raab Collection say at least two hours of the raw tape are still missing.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: It is certainly fascinating to hear. Again, those audio tapes were hidden for more than 50 years.
How about this question, hazing or just horse play? A discharged Navy sailor says he is the victim of another sailor's lies.
Plus, helping (ph) the dog, your dog, or cat, get back in shape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you think? Do you think you should eat less? You think you should get more exercise? What do you think?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Josh Levs doing a hard-hitting interview with a dog. Pet obesity is a growing epidemic. And taking your dog for a walk is not enough. Find out what else you need to do just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Twenty-two minutes past the hour on this Saturday morning. Good to see you.
Want to take a look now at what's happening cross country.
In San Diego, controversial video of sailors dressed in blue uniforms wrestling in an alleged hazing incident. In response to the allegations, U.S. Navy officials discharged eight sailors from the USS Bonhomme Richard. One sailors claims they were just rough housing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I say -- I say it's horse play, and they say hazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: He also told affiliate KGTV the victim lied to investigators and added the Navy rushed to judgment without having all the facts. KGTV reports the sailors have an opportunity to appeal, but are unsure whether any of them have pursued that course of action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, four, and five.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: An officer beating the odds in South Carolina. After losing part of his leg in a motorcycle accident last February, Keith Soules earned a spot back on his SWAT team. What drove the hero to come back?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER KEITH SOULES: It's the gratification of taking somebody who's wanted for a violent felony and bringing them to justice. So there's always that aspect of it that's real rewarding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: And a dramatic dog rescue caught on camera in Rhode Island.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It kind of happened quick. So you're just, you know, trying to do what you've got to do to get out there as quickly and safely as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Brave firemen breached freezing waters for about 15 minutes to pull this lucky black lab out of the ice. He was about 30 yards offshore and now back on dried land. Lucky guy.
Speaking of animals, of dogs, it's a big and growing epidemic in the country. Obesity, though, among pets we're talking about. A brand-new study shows just how bad it's gotten and what could be done about it. Josh Levs is here with this story.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HENDRICKS: And, Josh, when I see these pictures, you see them on YouTube --
LEVS: I know. HENDRICKS: Of these overweight pets, I have to tell you, it looks cute.
LEVS: They're adorable. I know.
HENDRICKS: But it could be hazardous to their health.
LEVS: Yes. And this is what part of the problem is that a lot -- it's become normal because they're so cute.
HENDRICKS: Yes.
LEVS: And we've gotten used to seeing it. But there's a new study that shows that more than half, actually, of the dogs and cats in this country are overweight or obese. That's the finding of this organization that focuses on this issue. They have a new report coming out next week. They gave it in advance to us at CNN. So we took a look at what's causing this and at what pet owners should know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: This is Dodger. He's a mixed breed rescue dog.
Hey.
And this is his owner, Kim Stevens.
And talk to me about him. What's his weight right now?
KIM STEVENS, DOG OWNER: His weight is about 82 pounds right now. And he should be 62 pounds. So he's --
LEVS: So that's a lot of extra weight.
STEVENS: That's a lot of -- yes, that's obese.
LEVS: How does that happen? How does a dog become so fat?
STEVENS: Too much food and not enough exercise.
LEVS: What do you think? You think you should eat less? You think you should get more exercise? What do you think?
So we're now going to talk to a vet who's an expert at this, get some advice from Kim.
OK, so this is Ernie Ward. He's a veterinarian and the head of the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. And he's going to talk to us about what's going on with Dodger here.
ERNIE WARD, FOUNDER, ASSN. FOR PET OBESITY PREVENTION: This is one of those cases they're deceptively obese or overweight. And, you know, he's a big dog to start with. But the fact is, he's carrying a lot of extra fat here in his abdomen. And this is what gets us all in trouble. It's the belly fat that's the most dangerous because that's the type of fat that secretes all those harmful chemicals. The foods that we're eating today are so different than what we ate 40, 50 years ago. Certainly what we fed our pets. They've got more calories in a smaller amount.
And the other part of the equation is, you know, we think exercise. You go, gosh, let's go walk Dodger for 30 minutes. That will burn off all that extra energy. Well, the problem is, output does not beat input when it comes to losing weight. You are not going to get in this type of shape, Josh, if you just go exercise every day. It also has to be what you eat.
LEVS: OK. And what about treats during the day or like the dog learns a trick, you want to give it a little treat. How -- what's the right way to reward a pet if it's not with a treat?
WARD: Yes, you know what I call treats?
LEVS: What?
WARD: These are calorie grenades and they just blow up in excess weight. So we've got to be careful. Think about single ingredient treats. Crunchy vegetables, like baby carrots, broccoli, celery, asparagus.
We've got to calculate up the number of calories. And then we're going to gradually reduce those calories so that Dodger -- you know, diet is not about starvation or deprivation. It's about a gradual, safe weight loss.
I want you to commit, both of you to commit, to a 30-minute brisk walk per day. If you can do that, you'll see Dodger lose weight and you'll be fitter for it for sure.
In the end, what do you think will be your motivation? What will motivate you to help him turn around?
STEVENS: Well, I need to turn myself around, too. So we'll work together as a team. You know just because I -- because he is a really awesome dog and I don't want to lose him.
I love you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: And he's actually a really good example because you look at him and at first you don't think Dodger's obese. But it turns out, a lot of these pets that are obese and people just haven't learned to recognize what it is.
And, Susan, they are adorable. He's so cute. I love that dog. But they are getting some serious health problems. Kidney problems. Crippling arthritis. So these are the kinds of things that need to be taken care of.
HENDRICKS: It is a serious issue, but we were talking during the -- while that was running.
LEVS: Yes. Yes.
HENDRICKS: He doesn't look obese.
LEVS: Right.
HENDRICKS: That dog looks quote/unquote normal.
LEVS: And -- right.
HENDRICKS: So what do you do if you're a pet owner? How do you know?
LEVS: So -- yes. And what you need to do actually is go to the vet. If you think there's any possibility there might be even a little -- or if the energy level is going down, you want to have a vet take a look. And I know the owners have a lot of questions.
Let's show my screen. Here's what we're doing today at Facebook and Twitter. I'm @joshlevscnn, the blog cnn.com/josh. A lot of information for you. And if you post questions at Facebook, the veterinarian in my piece is going to be answering some. And today in the 8:00 hour, we will be getting some answers from our viewers. So we'll have that.
HENDRICKS: What was that dog's name again you interviewed?
LEVS: Dodger. My first interview with a dog.
HENDRICKS: Dodger. Hopefully he doesn't have a complex we hope. Sorry, Dodger.
Josh, thanks.
LEVS: They don't look at magazines. They're good.
HENDRICKS: A teen who survived that horrific crash that killed her family is now facing another hurdle -- questions about whether she will be deported back to Brazil. CNN talks exclusively with that girl's aunt just ahead.
Also, the searchers are done. Now it's time for Nevada to pick a winner. But what is really at stake here in the first western contest in the Republican race for president? We'll check it out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Thirty-one minutes past the hour. I hope you're having a great Saturday morning so far. Welcome back. I'm Susan Hendricks. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
We want to take you right to Washington, D.C. Take a look. This is the Occupy protests. We haven't heard much lately from them. But this is called the No Sleep Slumber Party outside of McPherson in Washington, D.C.
The protesters and police there are clashing. Police are in riot gear, on horses. McPherson Square is in Downtown D.C. It is by "K" Street, if you're familiar with that area. Again, the protest is in full swing this morning. We're going to keep an eye on that.
We're also hearing that you're tweeting regarding that. Also, the protesters are tweeting as well.
Checking the top stories now. That massive snowstorm that pounded Colorado is heading east. Blizzard-like conditions have closed highways for miles. Parts of Kansas and Nebraska could get up to a foot of snow. Hundreds of flights, about 600 were grounded at Denver International Airport.
For the first time, relatives of a teenager who survived that fiery pileup on I-75 in Florida, they're speaking out on camera, so devastating. Fifteen-year-old Lidiane Carmo is hospitalized in fair condition. Her parents, uncle and sister all died in that crash on Sunday. Members of her church say they are afraid she could face deportation back to Brazil.
CNN's Martin Savidge spoke exclusively with the teenager's aunt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUCIANE BOUTIN, LIDIANE CARMO'S AUNT: If I have to move to Brazil, I will move. Whenever we can have her family together would be the best place for us to stay together. Everybody is here or there, I'm pretty sure she would prefer to live here. She has been here three years and a half. When we first arrived, we came together and she is an American girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: U.S. Immigration officials say she is not facing deportation. So devastating losing her entire family.
Well, all political eyes are on Nevada caucuses today. Rick Santorum may have Indiana on his mind. He is vowing to challenge the Indiana Republican Party. It says he didn't get enough verified signatures to qualify for a spot on the ballot for the May 8th primary. We shall see.
We are now just a few hours away from the start of the Nevada caucuses. Voters there will gather behind closed doors to pick a winner in the Republican presidential race. But unlike past contests, none of the candidates are out and about in Nevada today. No, they're not.
Here is the latest local poll, though. See how much it means. You can see Mitt Romney has a big lead. Does that mean it's over? Well, he's hoping to keep the momentum going after his winner take all triumph in Florida this week and that was a key state, of course.
Despite being the perceived front-runner, Romney continues to battle the impression once again that he is out of touch with the general public. It all started with this remark to CNN's Soledad O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90 to 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling and I'll continue to take that message across the nation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Newt Gingrich meanwhile and President Obama's campaign team immediately jumped on that comment. Romney later said he misspoke, kind of back tracking.
He may not have helped his image, though, when he made an appearance with the one and only the Donald, billionaire, developer Donald Trump at Trump's Hotel, by the way. He endorsed Romney saying he wouldn't mount an independent campaign if Romney is the Republican nominee.
Joining me now to talk about the campaign for president, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Journalist and Conservative Political Blogger Kyle Wingfield; and Lee May, a Democratic County Commissioner in suburban Atlanta, DeKalb County.
Lee, I want to start with you. Let's talk about Mitt Romney and that comment about the poor. How damaging was that?
LEE MAY, DEMOCRATIC COUNTY COMMISSIONER IN DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA: Well, you know, it continues the perception that Mitt Romney is out of touch with the American public. Part "B" of his statement about not being concerned about the very poor was that if - they have a safety net and if there are any problems in that safety net, he'll fix it.
Well, you know, I don't know what part of the country he's from but if you go on any metropolitan city, in DeKalb County here in Georgia or the City of Atlanta, you go under any major bridge or underpass, look at any highway exit, you'll see people with signs that say I'll work for food.
There's clearly an issue with that safety net program. And for him to say if there is an issue in that program is problematic. I don't think it's going to hurt him in the Republican primary. But the problem is the president is building up his notes for his ammunition for the general election and I think he's going to revisit those comments over and over again. And I think the American people are going to continue to think about that in their minds about whether he really is in touch with their plight in life.
HENDRICKS: Kyle, to you, do you think this is damaging in terms of he's kind of back tracking and saying I, quote, "misspoke." Come on. You're running for president. Are you buying that?
KYLE WINGFIELD, JOURNALIST/CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL BLOGGER, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Well, it's going to be damaging for some of the reasons Lee just outlined.
What I'd like to hear from him over the next month because we have a series of caucuses that - in which he did well four years ago, he's expected to do well now. I'd like to hear him working on his message about why he is the candidate who says he knows best how to fix the economy, how to create jobs, and that works for all Americans of all income levels and - and not get caught up into talking about, you know, this group or that group. He needs to talk about how - what he would do for the whole country.
HENDRICKS: Let's talk about who's backing who. We saw Donald Trump there which was a spectacle. We all know that. We do have to mention it, though, Donald Trump. And Herman Cain backing Newt Gingrich. Do these candidates have a say on who backs them and could it hurt them?
MAY: Well, I think, you know, it really doesn't matter to, you know, people who are endorsing who. Donald Trump, the Don is, you know, I think he leaked it that he was going to be supporting Newt himself. It's all about ratings for him, you know? Herman Cain is trying to - continues to be relevant in the Republican Party primary.
But I think at the end of the day, Republicans are going to go with who they think and eventually win the election in the general election. So this, you know, I don't know. I don't give them much credence.
HENDRICKS: Kyle, what about Ron Paul? We should never count him out. He keeps going and going. And he says as the other candidates are kind of dropping off, he's in there for the long haul. What do you think? Does he have a shot tomorrow or is it over?
WINGFIELD: Well, he is in it for the long haul, I think. He, next to Mitt Romney, in terms of organization of his campaign and resources. And obviously he ran four years ago as well. I think in these caucus states he's positioned to do well, also.
Now, does that mean winning the nomination? I don't think so. But he's in a position perhaps to have - have some more influence at the convention this summer than he did last.
HENDRICKS: And I think he stood out because while the others were bickering, Ron Paul was saying, wait a minute. I don't care about that. Let's get to the real issues here.
MAY: Yes.
HENDRICKS: So you've got to kind of give him credit for that.
MAY: Absolutely. He's going to always stand out because he has a message that is clearly different from the remainder of the Republican field. And he always has that energy that pulls in the youth. Being the oldest candidate, some reason he's still attracting the youth and that message is really resonating with them.
HENDRICKS: He really is. He has never ending, I think, energy involved in this.
Real quickly, a couple of seconds left, Obama and the unemployment rate. does he have a chance to kind of get this stuff together and quickly and fast, and is that transparent if he does?
MAY: Well, good news, from 2008 to 2009 under President Bush's administration, unemployment went from 5 percent to 7.3 percent, 2.3 percent difference. You're now seeing that number begin to decline. It's heading in the right direction and I think you can see his policies are working.
HENDRICKS: Kyle, one second left, final word. What do you think? Is it too late for Obama?
WINGFIELD: I think we're still seeing people staying out of the labor force and that's - those are people who are without jobs as well even if they don't show up in the headline unemployment number.
HENDRICKS: Yes. That is the big issue, the economy, unemployment.
Kyle Wingfield, Lee May, thank you.
MAY: Thank you.
WINGFIELD: Thank you.
HENDRICKS: Appreciate it. We'll see what happens in Nevada today.
MAY: Have a good one.
HENDRICKS: You know, smoke, flames, and shelling engulfed parts of Syria. Hundreds of people are reported killed, the women and children. We'll have a live report on the unfolding tensions there, next.
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HENDRICKS: Unfolding this morning in Syria, intense shelling being reported in the City of Homs. Syrian opposition activists say at least 260 people including women and children have died. They're being massacred in the embattled city just the past day alone. One witness say he even saw machetes being used.
In just a few hours, the U.N. Security Council will meet and could vote on a resolution on Syria could now happen soon enough.
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom joins us now from Abu Dhabi with the latest there - Mohammed.
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Susan, residents and activists have been describing to us a scene of utter carnage and horror. They say what's going on in Syria and specifically in Homs is a massacre. They say that government forces are continually shelling them but there are snipers there, women and children being killed.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says over 200 people have been killed in Homs in the last several hours, that over 130 in the neighborhood of Al Khalidiya.
Now, here's how one civilian activist on the ground described the scene to us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"DANNY", SYRIAN ANTI-GOVERNMENT ACTIVIST: The situation is really, really bad. They have been bombing for more than four or five hours now. We have more than 200 people dead and no one will do anything about it. There are still human beings under the structures of the buildings. There still people in the middle of the road, we can't move them out of the road.
If you move the bodies you get shot. You get shot for trying to move the bodies. We can't get any medication inside the areas that need help. They're shooting at ambulance. They're (INAUDIBLE) ambulance. They shot at them more than once now. There are people who need medication, the people who need to be moved into hospitals, the few (ph) hospitals, they've been shooting at civilian cars, civilians trying to help get medication to them.
So they've been bombing with mortar bombs and with tanks, T-72 shell tanks. There are more than 300 shells landed alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JAMJOOM: Now while more and more voices inside Syria are saying this massacre is going on and calling for international intervention, the Syrian government is denying these reports, blaming armed terrorist groups for the violence that's going on.
There was a statement issued on Syrian State-run TV, they called it a media campaign that uses fabrication, falsehood and escalation in order to affect a decision at the Security Council and cover crimes and attacks committed by armed terrorist groups - Susan.
HENDRICKS: Yes. The man that we just heard from says he doesn't care what happens to him. He wants to get the story out. Mohammed Jamjoom, thank you.
How about this? We're switching gears. We're talking about this town. Could you imagine if everyone in your town wins the lottery but you? It really happened to one guy. We will find out how he missed out.
And how about this, Denver is digging out from snow, a massive storm. Yes, it snows in Colorado normally during this year, but not all at once. We'll tell you where it's headed next.
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HENDRICKS: Welcome back. The first really big winter storm of the season is in Colorado, where it hit it hard. The ski resorts are excited, but not if you're traveling there. It dumped as much as two feet of snow, grounded flights and shut down parts of major interstates. This storm is nowhere near done yet.
I want to bring in Reynolds Wolf again. Reynolds, it's moving east, and I asked you during the break, doesn't Colorado normally get snow during this time of the year? You said yes but not all at once.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, this is first - really the first big snowfall they've had, and many of the places being the ski resorts, I've got to tell you, have a huge deficit in terms of snowfall. So this is great news.
To tell you the truth, they probably could use two or three of these. But, you know, I mean it's great for the skiers but terrible for anybody who's trying to travel.
HENDRICKS: If you're traveling, right.
WOLF: Yes. So certainly some tough times to say the very least. But thankfully it looks like it's going to be coming to a screeching halt.
The other side of it, probably a rainmaker in parts of the Ohio Valley and possibly some storms into the Deep South, too. So that's what we have.
HENDRICKS: All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
HENDRICKS: We'll check back.
The world's biggest lottery, take a listen. OK. We're going to translate. How much do you think it is worth? More than $500 million? Maybe a billion? $3 billion? $5 billion? We'll tell you after the short break. And one guy was left out.
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HENDRICKS: Welcome back. Time for this "Morning's Passport" with our very own Nadia Bilchik.
So you have a story about a small town of farmers. They pitch in for the world's richest lottery. We're talking about billions here. Nadia, tell me about this lotto. It's fascinating.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: It's amazing and it's not just any lottery, it's El Gordo, the Fat One, probably the largest and oldest lottery in the world. It's about 247 years old.
This is a $3.3 billion lottery. Now this town which is made up of mainly of farmers and construction workers, 70 families got together and bought tickets, and the reason they bought tickets is they wanted to support their homeowners association who got a percentage of the lottery sales.
But they landed up winning between them $940 million, something along those lines. Can you imagine? With the exception of one man who was left out. He wasn't there. This man is a filmmaker, so you might say he wanted to take two on that one.
HENDRICKS: Yes. Why was he left out? Was he not in the area at the time? BILCHIK: He apparently wasn't there and just didn't think. I mean what are the chances of actually winning? And it's around $26 if you buy a part of a ticket.
And there's another lovely story about a farmer who was trying to pay off his irrigation system. So he thought he'd won around $125,000 for his $26 ticket, but then his wife said I also got a ticket so it is $250,000 and his son found had another two so they have $500,000. So some people depending on how many tickets they bought.
But this lottery is an institution in Spain and as you saw earlier with the children singing, and I want to show you some more of that, it's something that everybody participates in. So take a look at the children, usually and historically orphanage children would sing out the winning numbers.
HENDRICKS: OK.
BILCHIK: And in this case, the winning numbers were 5-8-2-6-8. But can you imagine for a family who is struggling suddenly this entire village near the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain (INAUDIBLE), you have all these millionaires?
But that brings along its own problems because you have marketers and opportunists now trying to get in on some of the action.
HENDRICKS: Five-eight-two-six-six, some lucky numbers.
I have an idea, though, Nadia, the guy who was left out is a filmmaker, go to Hollywood, make a film about this story. You could start out with the children singing calling it El Gordo.
(CROSSTALK)
BILCHIK: Susan, you are - that is such lateral thinking. And I will tell you what he was very happy about, this filmmaker, was that he had an entire plot of land that he'd never been able to sell and he's now managed to sell it.
But, yes, let's look forward to the movie and hopefully he'll be in touch with you. And who knows, there could be a collaboration.
But the good news is that there's another lottery coming up in Spain, not quite as big called El Nino. So maybe that's where we should be off to.
HENDRICKS: Oh, El Nino. Got to ask Reynolds about that. Steven Spielberg, look out.
All right, Nadia, appreciate it. Thanks.
Looking to start a business, maybe can't win the lotto but you need space? One mayor is giving away land for free. I'll talk to him live in just a moment.
And a big cash boost from donors means free tuition, free, in Ohio. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Welcome back. It is 6:57 here in Atlanta if you're just waking up.
I want to tell you about some news that may have been "Off The Radar" for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS (voice-over): The "Do Not Fly" list doubled over the past year. The list went from about 10,000 people to 21,000. One of the main reasons, remember the Christmas Day underwear bomber in 2009? Well, it turns out the teen's father had gone to the U.S. Embassy to raise concerns about his son, but that didn't get his name on the no- fly list. So the U.S. can now put people on the no-fly list from a single source if the source is considered credible.
In Yellow Springs, Ohio, a college is waiving tuition fees for all students who enroll in the next three years. In 2008, Antioch College had to temporarily shut operations for various reasons, but recently the school received a surge of donations from its alumni that added up to $51.7 million. Now the school is up and running and working to attract students by offering full tuition scholarships each is worth $106,000 per student.
And you are looking at the first pictures of the far side of the moon. These are from NASA's Grail Mission, which shot back these images from the moon's South Pole. The reason it's called the far side of the moon is because of the way the moon rotates on its axis in relation to its orbit around earth. One side is always facing away from earth, hence the far side of the moon.
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HENDRICKS: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I hope you're having a great morning so far, February 4th. I'm Susan Hendricks.
Want to start with police swarming into the Occupy D.C. camp in full riot gear. They are ready to enforce the city's no camping policy.
Here's Bruce Leshan of affiliate WUSA in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRUCE LESHAN, WUSA GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER (voice-over): I want to you take a - I want you to take a - take a look, this is Eric Lee's (ph) camera. And here is the Tent of Dreams being unfurled at 14th K and Vermont.
In the heart of the nation's capital, this is in the middle of the street. This is their answer to the removal of the Tent of Dreams from the statue of General McPherson. Now it is smacked in the middle of "K" Street. So these folks are not giving up and they're not going away easy. Note, D.C. Police are standing by. They are looking, but they are not doing anything. I see about half a dozen workers in hazmat gear, white hazmat gear, they're setting up barriers on this portion of McPherson Square. It's the portion that faces K Street, and they may be going through the tent at some point, I guess looking for health violations would be the only reason I would see them wearing hazmat clothing.
But right now at the intersection of K Street, Vermont, 14th, the tent has been splayed out in the middle of the street. Now, of course, this street has been blocked off prior to the action here in McPherson Square, so there is no traffic coming by on K Street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Our thanks to Bruce Leshan there in D.C.
