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Deadly Attack on Congresswoman One Year Ago; Romney Rallies with Gov. Christie; Winter Storm Slams New Mexico, Texas; A Great Scientist, a Nation's Leader, a New Royal All Celebrating Birthdays; Alabama's Carson Lucky to be Alive After Tuscaloosa Tornado; Alabama, LSU Vie for College Championship; Penn State Hires New Head Football Coach; Is Rock-Climbing in Credit Card Commercial Real?
Aired January 08, 2012 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
It happened exactly one year ago today. A sunny supermarket parking lot in Tucson, Arizona, a congresswoman meeting and greeting the people from her community, then absolute madness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have breaking news for you. Several people have been shot. The shooting occurred at a grocery store.
(SIREN)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have discovered that we have 18 individuals who were shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A gunman unleashing his fire on the crowd, killing six people. His main target, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords -- despite taking a bullet pointblank to the skull, miraculously survives. The suspected shooter Jared Loughner waiting behind bars while authorities try to determine whether he'll ever be sane enough for trial.
Bells ringing in memorial today -- that rang in memorial today at the Safeway store where it all happened just one year ago. The shock still felt a full 12 months later.
I want to go live now to CNN's Thelma Gutierrez. She's standing by in Tucson, where a memorial is going on right now.
So, Thelma, Giffords gets a lot of focus because she did survive, but this day is also about the six others who lost their lives, isn't it?
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And I believe, Don, that she would be the first person to tell you that. In fact, a memorial service is going on right now. It's in Centennial Hall later this evening. There will be a candlelight vigil right here at the mall where I am standing. But at that memorial service, they're talking about all of those who lost their lives, including the immensely popular Gabe Zimmerman. He was an outdoorsman. He was only 30 years old. He was Gabrielle Giffords' aide.
And his father says he will be missed. He wants his son's memory not tarnished by this terrible event. And he says that he wants people to remember his son as somebody who loved the city and doesn't want the city to be remembered only by the tragedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSS ZIMMERMAN, FATHER OF SLAIN GIFFORDS AIDE: What we need to focus on is that this is not the defining feature of the community. Insane individuals -- can -- people can lose their faculties and do terrible things any place in the world. There's always that risk in American society because weapons are so freely available.
There's other risks. And it's not that event. It's what happens after that event, what people make of that event in moving forward, because we can't change it. I would do anything to have Gabe back, but I can't. So, what do we do going forward? How do we go forward in ways that help us remember Gabe, help us remember the judge, Christina, the others, help us remember the people who were affected and try and do the most positive things we can in response to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTIERREZ: Over the weekend, Gabrielle Giffords was at a dedication for Gabrielle -- Gabe Zimmerman and she dedicated a plaque. She didn't speak at the event, but she did walk around the room and she hugged everyone. And we're told it was a very emotional moment, Don.
LEMON: You know, Thelma, I ask you this question because I think you can provide some information on this that many of us wouldn't know about. You know about this because you're from Tucson. You went to school in Arizona. So, what is it like one year later to be there and for people who are there, is it still just as fresh for people today as it was a year ago?
GUTIERREZ: You know, that's a really interesting question, Don, because as I talk to family members and friends and people who worked with Gabrielle Giffords, those people who actually knew Gabe Zimmerman, lots of these folks will tell you that this is a tragedy that no one will ever forget. The city is forever changed by it, but it is not defined by it as Mr. Zimmerman said and he wanted to make sure that the city was known for the other things it has to offer.
But will people forget? Absolutely not. I mean, this is something that was just a terrible, terrible tragedy. Tucson had not seen violence like this before. And you talk to folks and you can't help but kind of share in that pain that they feel, especially those who have lost family members as Mr. Zimmerman has.
LEMON: Very well put. Thelma Gutierrez, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Now this --
(MUSIC)
LEMON: Man, it's quickly approaching. Two days until New Hampshire voters head to the polls after two debates in less than 24 hours.
I want to get the latest now on the Republican race for the White House -- and political correspondent Jim Acosta standing by in Exeter, New Hampshire, where Mitt Romney is holding rally.
So, Jim, Mitt Romney has taken a lot of heat in the last two days, hasn't he?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He really has, Don.
Let me just set the stage behind me right now. Mitt Romney and his top surrogate, Chris Christie, is not out on the stage just yet. New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, another big supporter of Mitt Romney, is on the stage right now. But there is a big, big crowd in this event.
I will tell you, Don, I have not seen a bigger crowd for Governor Romney up until this point in this campaign. There is actually an overflow room next to this one where they are moving people because there are just so many people here tonight.
But, you know, this is basically -- even though this is New Hampshire, you can basically call this New York for Mitt Romney because if he can't make it here, he can't make it anywhere. He is heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary.
But I have to tell you, there is probably a good sense of urgency inside the Romney campaign right now. There is a Suffolk University daily tracking poll that has been measuring this campaign over the last several days. It has Mitt Romney's numbers in that poll have steadily gone down over the last several days. No surprise. It is because he has been coming under attack, most especially in the last 24 hours.
At the NBC "Meet the Press" debate earlier today, almost all of the other contenders on the stage were going after Romney. There was one point during the debate, Don, where Romney was trying to explain why he is not a career politician. Newt Gingrich went right after the former Massachusetts governor and said that is a punch of pious baloney. So, it's starting a little nasty out here and Mitt Romney starting to feel the heat of a front-runner.
LEMON: I want to ask you because there's also some controversy around the pink slip comment. What's that all about? Tell us about it.
ACOSTA: He was at an event earlier today in Rochester, New Hampshire. And it's interesting, Don, because a sort of, you know, unprompted by the crowd or the even or any of the questions he's facing from the press, he basically came out today and made this comment that he has feared for the loss of his job over the course of his lifetime. He said he knows what it's like to be afraid of the pink slip.
And it caught a lot of people, especially the press traveling with this campaign, off guard because as you know, Don, Mitt Romney's father, George Romney, was president of the American Motor Cars back in the '60s. He was governor of Michigan, went on to run for president.
So Mitt Romney had led by I think almost all estimates, a fairly privileged childhoods. Now, you can see the other campaigns are already starting to launch, seize on to this. The Huntsman campaign, spokesman of Huntsman campaign sent out an e-mail earlier this evening. The headline on the e-mail, Don, was "scared Mitt-less" and the question was asked why hasn't the Romney campaign explained these comments earlier today.
There's one possibility as to why he said that earlier today, Don. And that is because a pro-Gingrich super PAC, Winning Our Future, came out with a 30 minute documentary that's solely focuses on layoffs at Bain Capital. That's the venture capital firm that Romney once ran before he became governor of Massachusetts. It is a stinging, scorching portrayal of Romney's days at that investment firm and I imagine, I have to -- it's only a guess, because we haven't gotten an explanation, that that is what those comments were about, that he was trying to say, look, I'm more than just guy who was running that firm, Don.
LEMON: And, Jim, that is a horse race, but I want to say if we can just go behind you, we can see -- when you started talking, you said Chris Christie wasn't there. Chris Christie, Mitt Romney on stage. They are over your right shoulder, over your left shoulder, you see a working debt clock, so you know they're going to be talking about the economy and the national debt and how that is of utmost importance to Americans.
So, Chris Christie, one of the biggest assets for Republicans and one of the biggest assets for Mitt Romney right now taking the stage in support of him. And our Jim Acosta is there covering it all.
Thank you, Jim. We appreciate it.
And, of course, you can trust "The Best Political Team on Television" for complete coverage of the New Hampshire primary. Join Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley and John King for a live coverage this Tuesday night, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
More now about the election. Jon Huntsman is still in the race and he is letting his candidacy ride on his performance in New Hampshire. Ahead, we'll ask our experts if he's gained enough traction there to keep going after Tuesday's primaries.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Less than 48 hours until New Hampshire holds the first primary in the nation and if Republican candidates weren't sick of seeing each other before, they must be now after meeting for two debates just 10 hours apart. Mitt Romney had it pretty easy in last night's debate, ABC/WMUR debate. But his rival came out swinging at this morning's NBC/Facebook debate, especially Newt Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mitt, I realize the red light doesn't mean anything to you because you're the front-runner. But can we drop a little bit of the pious baloney? Even running consistently for years and years and years. So, this idea that suddenly citizenship showed up in your mind -- just level with the American people. You've been running for at least since the 1990s.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Whatever you think, Newt makes it interesting, doesn't he?
I want to bring in CNN contributor Will Cain, and L.Z. Granderson, a contributor to CNN.com and senior writer at ESPN.
Oh my gosh. Will, you're out of the confines of a warm and cozy studio. Are you going to be OK? Are you all right?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This is the farthest north this Texas boy skin has ever gone. New Hampshire.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: All right. Part of the 1 percent in television punditry. All right. So listen.
CAIN: Right, exactly.
LEMON: Listen, is any of this stuff, Will, I'm going to ask you this -- is any of this stuff, is it going to stick to Mitt Romney? All the attacks that's going on?
CAIN: No. I will say this. Newt's right. That was pious baloney. Mitt Romney has been running since the '90s. Regardless of whether he's won or lost, he's been running since the '90s. He has been just this close to a career politician.
But that being said, it makes you wonder, why did it take this long for these guys to go after the perceived front-runner? It's like they've been nudging each other with their elbows, like you do it, you do it, because they know that the guy that goes after Romney, you come off looking bad. And to evidence that, I give you mean Newt. We saw mean Newt this morning and mean Newt is not going to help good Newt get elected.
So, they've all been hoping the other guy would do it. Now, it's getting too late. So, all of them are kind of doing it.
LEMON: OK. I want to -- before I pose a question to L.Z. here, I want to play another exchange from this morning's debate. It's Jon Huntsman hitting back at Romney after Romney criticized his time as U.S. ambassador to China. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTSMAN: He criticized me, while he was out raising money, for serving my country in China, yes, under a Democrat, like my two sons are doing in the United States Navy. They're not asking who -- what political affiliation the president is.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The person who should represent our party running against President Obama is not someone who called him a remarkable leader and went to be his ambassador in China.
HUNTSMAN: This nation is divided, David, because of attitudes like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: L.Z., that was a pretty strong moment for Huntsman. Do you think that will play well? It probably did play well in the more moderate state of New Hampshire, didn't it?
L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely. And I think he's about correct. As you know, Don, I've been talking about Huntsman --
LEMON: Yes.
GRANDERSON: -- almost as soon as he announced himself, because his resume is that impressive and he finally had an opportunity to show the type of person he is and talk about his credentials without all the sideshow acts that had been dominating the debates from before.
And I think it's a very poignant statement that he made. The attitude that Romney had in regards to saying that Huntsman's disqualified for giving Obama any credit for being incredible and remarkable leader. There's absolutely nothing wrong with recognizing the good that President Obama has done while also challenging the bad. But this rhetoric that he's done everything wrong and only I know what's right not only divided the country, but it jus tmakes you look simple because it's not that simple.
LEMON: Yes. I hate to jump back and forth, but I have to do this --
CAIN: Don, Don --
LEMON: Go ahead.
CAIN: I was going to say, that was a great moment for Huntsman, but the best line came after that where he said just like my sons who are serving in the United States Navy, I don't ask who the commander in chief is when I choose to serve my country.
The problem for Huntsman is, he's been terribly miscast. For L.Z. to be championing -- and let me say this -- Jon Huntsman is one of the most conservative candidates on that stage, maybe the most, but he's been miscast and now, it looks like it's too late.
LEMON: OK. As I was saying, I hate to jump back and forth -- GRANDERSON: Why is it wrong for me to root for Huntsman?
LEMON: Well, because you're considered a liberal and Huntsman is very conservative and you have been talking about Huntsman for months now. Every time at an event with you, I'm sick of you talking about Huntsman. He's like, Huntsman, Huntsman, Huntsman. That's why.
All right. End of that discussion.
So, I want to go back -- this is the debate from last night. And I want to play a moment from Rick Perry. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would send troops back into Iraq because I will tell you --
MODERATOR: Now?
PERRY: I think we start talking with the Iraqi individuals there. I think it is a huge error for us. We're going to see Iran, in my opinion, move back in at literally the speed of light.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. Back into Iraq. Will, is he running for president in 2004?
CAIN: Let's just be clear. Not literally. It's not possible that Iran is going to move literally at the speed of light into Iraq. Just so I'm clear, that's not possible.
I don't know if he's running for president in 2004. I think he's running for president for a little longer. Let's put it that way. And right now, probably running for president of South Carolina. Rick Perry has to show up in South Carolina or this deal is over for Rick Perry.
LEMON: So, L.Z., what are the odds that Perry survived past Tuesday?
GRANDERSON: You know, I think he was done before he got to New Hampshire to tell you the truth.
When I think about winners and losers for these debates, you know, I can't help but put Chris Christie as a winner in this because every time Rick Perry opens his mouth, I'm reminded about how wise it was for Chris Christie to say, I'm not ready. Rick wasn't that wise. He should have said, "I'm not ready."
Instead, he's showing us he's not ready and not only has he blown his chances for this general election, I don't know if he can even go forward and think about running for president in 2016 because he has been such a complete buffoon on some of the most critical matters. I don't know if he can recover from this ever nationally.
LEMON: Why don't you tell us how you really feel there, L.Z.? (LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Thank you very much.
GRANDERSON: Go, Huntsman.
LEMON: Thank you -- oh my gosh! Thank you, L.Z.
And, Will, go inside and get warm and you'll be OK. You know, there's a heater in the building.
CAIN: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: We appreciate it.
CAIN: Thanks, Don. I appreciate it.
LEMON: I want you to check this out.
A death defying stunt nearly leads to death. How this bungee jumper managed to survive when the rope snapped.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: What is the worst case scenario on a bungee cord jump? A 22- year-old Australian tourist found out over the river of the Zimbabwe border.
Wow. Erin Langworthy fell 365 feet into the Zambezi River after her bungee cord snapped. That's farther than the length of a football field. Even worse, after hitting the water, she had to swim through the rapids with her feet still tied together. She said she felt like that was being slapped all over again.
She was bruised and suffered a broken collarbone. Langworthy was later evacuated to South Africa for treatment. Wow, unbelievable.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has launched a new program and it's called "THE NEXT LIST." And each week, it will profile innovators from all walks of life and all fields of endeavor. Well, this week, he talked with Jake Shimabukuro.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SHIMABUKURO: With the ukulele, you don't feel like you need hours and hours of practice. You can just pick it up for the first time, you know, take your finger and do this. You know.
And just have fun with it. And it just feels good. Everything feels right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, tune in Sundays to watch "THE NEXT LIST" or set your DVR for 2:00 p.m. Eastern. More Americans are now working. The unemployment rate is slowly going down. Ahead, we'll talk with a top guy from CNNMoney.com and ask if the trend will continue or if it might reverse.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: According to a recent CNN/ORC poll, most Americans think the economy is the most important issue facing this country and there is some good news in that department.
Lex Harris, the managing editor of CNNMoney.com is here to discuss that for us.
So, Lex, we saw some recent strengthening in the U.S. economy, starting with some encouraging jobs numbers. We like to see that.
LEX HARRIS, MANAGING EDITOR, CNNMONEY.COM: Absolutely. It goes back before the New Year, right?
We had this big surge in consumer confidence and then the first day back after the New Year, we got a report on the manufacturing sector, which had been, you know, such a sore spot for the U.S. economy. And we saw a report that showed it continues to expand. They're hiring.
And then the very next day, U.S. auto sales, which had been basically left for dead two years ago, now they're doing 13 million cars a year. And CNN Money's own analysis showed their finally really profitable, which is a huge turnaround.
And then, of course, Friday, 200,000 jobs created. The unemployment rate goes down to 8.5 percent.
I'll tell you, in recent months when we've had kind of OK jobs numbers, economists were very quick to come out and poke holes in it. This time, they didn't do it I think because it was a genuinely pretty good report.
LEMON: But, Lex, we don't live in a bubble. How about the global economy? How might that affect us in this country? Because it does have an affect.
HARRIS: No, that's exactly right, Don, and that's why even though we've had now, like I said, four reports that were really strong, everyone's really scared to pound the table for a U.S. recovery. And the number one risk they're talking about the Europe right now. So very slow growth there, probably going to go into a recess and that's bad enough for our trade with Europe.
But then even more worrisome is we've had Italian banks, banks in Spain, the Greek rescue, all of that could lead to a really sort of difficult time for financial markets and if that freezes up, then we know from back in 2008 when you had Lehman Brothers, what that does to an economy.
Then you've got fears about China. You've got fears in D.C., what are we going to do on tax policies we had in 2013? It's just going to be one big fight.
LEMON: Yes, I know you guys are covering a lot in the week to come, so take us forward, will you? What's happening next week, Lex?
HARRIS: Well, beginning tomorrow, we kick off earnings season. So, this is when the biggest companies report their quarterly earnings. It always starts with Alcoa, which is tomorrow. Then Friday, we're going to have JPMorgan Chase, which is going to be very interesting to hear how the banking sector has been dealing with all the volatility we've had.
LEMON: All right.
HARRIS: Then back to Europe again. Sorry. On Thursday, the European Central Bank is meeting. It's going to be a very important policy decision.
LEMON: All right. Almost jumped the gun there. Thank you very much, Lex. Have a great week.
HARRIS: Sure thing, Don.
LEMON: We're going to look at some of the hour's stop stories next, including that latest on that effort to breakthrough the ice to get fuel to an Alaska city that's about to run out.
And our next hour, legendary journalist Dan Rather joins us live from New Hampshire. Hear what he thinks about this year's race for the presidency.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's get you up to speed on your headlines.
British police say they have identified the body found on one of Queen Elizabeth's estates last week. They say it is a 17-year-old Latvian student who had been missing since August. They haven't' released a cause of death buts say they are investigating. DNA tests helped them identify the body.
The U.S. has declared Venezuela's counsel general in Miami to be persona non grata and says she must leave. Last month, several lawmakers said they had several concerns about Livia Acosta Noguera. A recent Univision documentary alleged she was in a group interested in an officer by Mexican hackers to infiltrate web sites of the White House, Pentagon and various U.S. nuclear plants.
Prominent political adviser and pundit, Tony Blankley, has died after a battle with stomach cancer. Blankley was one former White House speaker. On Newt Gingrich's staff from 1990 to 1997. He later served as a political commentator for CNN, for NBC and NPR, and as editorial page editor of "The Washington Times." He also was a speech writer in the Reagan administration. Tony Blankley, dead at the age of 63.
An early morning fire at a Chicago high-rise leaves one woman dead and nine injured. Two of those hurt were firefighters. Fire official says temperatures inside climbed as high as 1,000 degrees. The building's elevators malfunctioned, so firefighters had to climb 12 flights with their equipment to put out the fire. The cause of the blaze still under investigation.
A Russian tanker carrying much needed fuel to iced-in city of Nome, Alaska, is expected to arrive by Tuesday. The Coast Guard's only functioning ice breaker is helping the tanker plow through thick ice to reach its destination. The town has been iced in for months and runs the risk of running out of fuel before spring.
Heavy snowfall stranded 15,000 tourists over the weekend at two ski resorts in western Austria. Snow triggered avalanched, closed roads and caused blackouts for hundreds of homes in the town of Tyrol. The ski resorts reopened but they're still checking for the risk of an avalanche. A short pause in snowfall Saturday allowed some roads to be cleared. More snow is expected until Tuesday.
Well, in the United States, a winter storm slams New Mexico and Texas.
Jacqui Jeras, in the Weather Center.
How bad is it?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, nothing compared to what they've been seeing in Austria. I'll tell you that. But actually, parts of Europe have had a mild, kind of snowless winter. Kind of typical to what we've had here across the U.S. And the situation is actually kind of dire for some ski resorts that have had trouble building up some of the base. There are three states in the U.S. that have average snow pack. We've got Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska. That's it. Everybody else is well below the average. And that is certainly a concern and something we'll be watching in the months ahead.
We do have our winter storm that's moving across the southwest right now. The brunt of the storm moving through parts of New Mexico and Texas tonight and through the day tomorrow. And the snowfall accumulations, for the most part, you'll be able to count the number of inches on one hand, but a good five to seven inches could be expected across parts of Midland and Odessa. Rough travel tonight on I-10 and I-70.
This is a storm we need to track pretty much all week long. Take a look at the direction of this storm. It's going to be moving east, so it's going to be affecting places like Memphis, Atlanta, Tuesday into Wednesday. This is mostly a warm storm, so we're looking at a rain event rather than a snow event. Thursday, look at the rain that moves into Washington, D.C., as well as into New York City. We will see some cold air on the backside of this, so those are light snow showers for you across the Great Lakes. By late Thursday into Friday morning, the entire storm system is out of there.
So unusual to see so much rain with an event like this. Our temperatures staying well above average even though they've been dropping compared to where were early in the weekend. Take a look at some of these forecast highs. Monday, 43 degrees in New York City. That's five above the average. Minneapolis, 44. That's 21 degrees above where you should be. But we'll pick one cold spot -- Midland, Texas, with that little pressure area that's bringing a little pocket of cool air. They're about 21 degrees below average. But east of the Rockies, everyone is loving the warm weather -- Don?
LEMON: I'm loving that 66 plus.
JERAS: I know you are.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Thank you, Jacqui. Appreciate it.
Up next on CNN, the new leader of North Korea apparently is celebrating a birthday. And meanwhile, state television is showing a documentary about his military and tactical prowess, riding a white horse, driving a tank.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A great scientist, a new leader and new royal all have something this common. They're celebrating birthdays.
CNN international desk editor, Azadeh Ansari, joins us now.
Britain's Stephen Hawking, arguably the world's most famous living scientists celebrating a milestone birthday, and brilliant.
AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK EDITOR: They're saying he's probably the most brilliant physicist since Einstein. And he's celebrating his birthday. Despite all medical odds -- he has ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, a motor neuron disorder. And if you look at him here, pictures before you, he talks through twitching his cheeks through a computerized voice system. And for somebody who spent his entire life studying the cosmos and looking at black holes and space and time travel, the only thing he wanted to do was go to space. So when he was 65 years old, he had that opportunity to experience what it's like to be in zero gravity.
So I want to take a look at the sound bite we have from him so you can see what he had to say about that experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN HAWKING, SCIENTIST: As you can imagine, I am very excited. I have been wheelchair bound for almost four decades, but the chance to float free in zero "G" will be wonderful. See you in zero "G."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANSARI: And in a recent interview with "New Scientist" magazine, when he was asked what perplexes you the most --
LEMON: I was going to say -- I was going to ask you that. What does he --
(CROSSTALK)
ANSARI: Women. He says women perplex him the most.
(LAUGHTER)
He just finds them completely complicated, a complete mystery.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Not surprising. Happy birthday to him.
Another birthday today. We believe it is North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong-Un, his birthday, but no official announcement. Why?
ANSARI: This just plays into all the mystery around him. And again, the country's still observing the death of Kim Jong-Il, his father, and they're still in a mourning period.
But that being said again, I feel like more is known about the cosmos at this point than him. Analysts place him in his late 20s, possibly early 30s. We don't know at this point. But there's a documentary that aired on Korean state TV today showing him in full command of the military, riding a horse, running drills. So again, this is probably to send a message to the international community, look, I'm in charge. But we don't know when he took this role of what he's doing and how he's going to handle this.
LEMON: Also, isn't there a discrepancy about his actual birthday? Even his dad, no one was exactly sure, sort of guessed.
ANSARI: Well, they guessed. But also, his father and his grandfather, their birthdays are national holidays, so maybe it will come out as a day they're going to celebrate it in the future and then we can pinpoint it.
LEMON: Great. Another birthday to talk about. Don't really follow the royals that much, but a lot of people do. A lot of people are interested. Kate Middleton. I thought she was 30.
(CROSSTALK)
ANSARI: She will be so she'll blow out her 30 candles on Monday.
LEMON: She's young. Wow. 30 years old. What is she now, the Duchess of Cambridge?
ANSARI: Cambridge. The Duchess of Cambridge.
LEMON: Thank you.
ANSARI: And here are some rarely seen photos of her as a child with her father, Pippa and her father. This is her and Prince William at their graduation at St. Andrews University. And the most famous picture that is probably etched in our memories -- LEMON: Ah.
ANSARI: -- is the kiss in front of -- at Buckingham Palace on their wedding day.
LEMON: Very nice. Talk about another birthday coming up.
But Azadeh Ansari, obviously, much younger than 30. She's a kid, still in high school.
(LAUGHTER)
Thank you, Azadeh. We appreciate it.
(LAUGHTER)
Did you ever think that you'd see the day when "Ziggy Stardust" reached retirement age?
(SINGING)
LEMON: Love his music. David Bowie -- one of the most influential rock starts on this or any planet -- turns 65 today. Here are some other numbers that you might know about. You should know about. 43 -- that's how many years have passed since he released his breakthrough album "Space Odyssey." That was back in 1969. 140 million -- you know what that is. That's how many albums he's sold over his four-decade career. 2003 -- that's the last time he released an album of original songs. So happy birthday, David Bowie. And how about a comeback? We'd certainly like that.
It is Alabama versus LSU on Monday night for the championship of college football and the ultimate ending to a season for most players, but we're going to tell you about one who is just lucky to be alive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I know you can hardly wait. I can't. Monday night, the sports world will be watching the BCS college football championship game -- the showdown between LSU and HLN.
Sports anchor, Joe Carter, joins me now from New Orleans.
My team in the NEWSROOM room said you should recuse yourself from these sports because you're very biased. This championship, Alabama is playing for its 13th national title, but I know this one would have some -- it has some extra meaning to one player in particular. Tell us about it.
JOE CARTER, HLN SPORTS ANCHOR: Life is a very precious thing especially when you talk to Carson. He was involved in the tornado Tuscaloosa in April. It did so much damage. It caused more than $11 billion in damage in Alabama. More than 300 people were killed. Some 350 twisters that tore through the state. When you go to Tuscaloosa and look at it now, it's certainly not the same town it was before the tornado. Dozens of businesses flattened. That day, Carson and his girlfriend, Ashley, were playing with their dogs in front of their home. The tornado warning started. They went inside the House, the tornado came, ripped the roof off, basically tossing them like ragdolls. Carson woke up in the hospital several hours later asking for his girlfriend, Ashley, only to be told she had been killed along with their two dogs. And here we are, Carson Tinker, 24 hours away from the biggest college football game of his career, and he really puts in perspective. It's still a healing process for Carson Tinker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARSON TINKER, ALABAMA LONG SNAPPER: Something I do every day. There's not like a textbook way to get over something like what I had to go through and what Tuscaloosa had to go through. It's an every day thing, but I said this before, every day is a blessing, you know, and I believe that.
DARIUS HANKS, ALABAMA WIDE RECEIVER: Just as easily as his girlfriend passed away, it could have been him. He was thrown hundreds of feet away and he survived. I mean, that's just by the grace of god.
TINKER: I know that Tuscaloosa is already very proud of us, but a win would be huge. Can't even put into words what it would mean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Carson Tinker is the long snapper and his field goal unit had some problems when they played LSU this year, didn't they?
CARTER: Yes, that was the big difference, Don. Those two field goal kickers for Alabama missed two of six field goals. Had they made two of those, we might be in a different scenario. It's a rare opportunity that you get the chance to play a team for a second time. So you know tomorrow night, the entire Alabama team is looking for redemption, especially those two kickers.
LEMON: I'll be there tomorrow. So excited.
Thank you, sir. Maybe I'll get to see you before the game.
CARTER: Save you a spot, Don.
LEMON: Awesome. Awesome.
Let's preview the game. A rare, regular-season match that will decide the national championship, of course.
And Jon Wertheim is here, senior investigative reporter for "Sports Illustrated," author of "Scorecasting," coming out this week, by the way, in paperback. Make sure you pick one up.
Jon, great to see you. This is the best sports segment I've ever done. Two sports segments. LSU beat Alabama in November. Should we expect another defensive battle tomorrow night, do you think?
JON WERTHEIM, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: I think we'll see some touchdowns in this game. It's interesting. As you said before, it's very rare we have a national championship game with a rematch. And you know, both teams have obviously had a long, long layoff. 45 days to sort of reassess things, to get healthy and, I mean, these are defense-oriented teams. I don't think we'll have some of these ball games that we've seen before that have gone in the 50s and 60s. I think we're not going to have another 9-6 special.
Did you say you're going? You're going to be there?
LEMON: Yes, I am.
WERTHEIM: That's great. No cheering in the press box.
LEMON: I'm not going to the press box, I'm going. I'm going as a fan, not as a reporter. Maybe a tweeter. I'll be tweeting.
WERTHEIM: Good for you. I'll be following.
LEMON: So this is not going to happen. Let's just say in a really weird world, if Alabama does win, is there a BCS controversy on hand?
WERTHEIM: Oh, absolutely. If Alabama wins, they'll probably win the national championship without winning the division of their conference. On the other hand, I think this has been lost in this. If LSU wins -- and I'm not just saying this -- this is a great, great football team. They will have beaten eight top 25 opponents. They'll be undefeated, obviously. I think everybody's sort of talking about this what-if scenario with Alabama, but if LSU wins this, we need to be talking about this as one of the great, great national championship teams.
LEMON: I went to LSU. My mom is a huge Saints fan. So in the Lemon household, it's been a crazy couple of days. Can you imagine both us in front of the TV?
(LAUGHTER)
Let's talk NFL playoffs. This week's "Sports Illustrated" Saints' Drew Brees is on the cover. He led the Saints to a win over Detroit just yesterday. And at point I tweeted, Jon, I said, OK, listen, stop scoring, it's embarrassing. He really is the heart and soul of that team, isn't he?
WERTHEIM: Oh, yes. That was just an amazing offensive performance last night. And, no, this is the Louisiana football segment here. But I think a lot of people are looking forward to the Saints/Packers game in the conference championship, saying, this could be the real Super Bowl. What a game that's going to be. We've still got one more round, obviously, but with green bay's defense a little sketchy and with New Orleans, that offense is just -- 600 plus yards is just a joke. This game two weeks from now could really be quite exciting.
LEMON: You mentioned that. So are the two best teams in the same conference?
WERTHEIM: Oh, I think so. I think a lot of people are lacking forward to this gape as sort of the -- we might get some more Tebow action, if we don't fall asleep on the New England Patriots. But I think if you were doing power rankings in the NFL right now, I think Green Bay, New Orleans go one, two. And it's better or worse that they're in the same conference, I guess.
LEMON: Let's move on. As much as I hate moving on from Louisiana teams, it's an important story, because I want to turn to Penn State now, Jon. They finally hired a new coach, Bill O'Brien, the defensive coordinate for the New England Patriots. Here's what he said about seceding Joe Paterno.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'BRIEN, NEW PENN STATE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH: It's a great locker room with a bunch of great guys who want to win. And we have the great foundation. Coach Paterno laid the foundation of football success and academic success and we need to get going and build on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: He's not a former Penn Stater, coach or a player. Did they choose an outsider on purpose, do you think?
WERTHEIM: Absolutely. And I think that they had to do this, for a variety of reasons. One of them is we still don't know who knew what and when. But I think just -- this scandal was really predicated, I mean, a real theme of this scandal was the insularity of this football team. And for them to have chosen an insider would have made no sense. And we have a lot of former players complaining that they went outside the family is just incredibly tone deaf. I think given the circumstances or landscape, that's about as good a coaching pick as you could have made.
LEMON: But some of the players, again, they're criticizing him and they were saying, oh, what were they thinking when they were doing this? All isn't well there. A lot of people aren't happy.
WERTHEIM: No, as if poor -- you know, as if Bill O'Brien didn't have enough challenges, "A," coming into this kind of scandal-tainted program, b, seceding Joe Paterno, he now has to sort of repair this fabric with the football program. But I just don't understand these former players outraged that they have the audacity to go outside the program, not to hire the interim coach, Tom Bradley. You know, hiring someone from outside the program, we knew this the first week of the scandal, that this was an imperative. And you know, the sort of response of these players, I don't get that for the life of me.
LEMON: All right, Jon, thank you very much. Make sure you check my twitter feed tomorrow night. It's going to be --
WERTHEIM: Have fun tomorrow.
LEMON: -- rolling, rolling.
Thank you very much. Appreciate it. In a new credit card commercial, the sky's the limit. You've seen it. But did she really climb that thing? Is it for real or some sort of computer-generated magic? The answer, two minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: What does rock claiming have to do with credit cards? Nothing, really. But a credit card ad featuring rock climbing has a lot of people talking.
Like our very own Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, NBC NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These days, when seeing is no longer believing, maybe you've seen this commercial and wondered if you can believe what you see.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATIE BROWN, ROCK CLIMBER: I used my Citi Thank You Card to pick up some accessories -- a new belt, some nylons. And what girl wouldn't need new shoes?
(SINGING)
BROWN: I flew us to the rock I really had in mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: The reaction online has been "this can't be real."
BROWN: Yes, it's real.
(SINGING)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AD NARRATOR: The Citi Thank You Card.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Thank you for making viewers physically dizzy and sick. I just can't help getting wiggy when she gets to the top and the camera angle is pointed at her feet and you can you can see is imminent death.
BROWN: It's actually not very technically difficult.
MOOS: It is a rock formation called Ancient Art near Utah. But who is that hot ad girl.
BROWN: I had a camera on my helmet, so it's me, like, looking at my feet as I walk.
MOOS: The feet belong to Katie Brown. She became one of the top female climbers after she began competing at the age of 15. Citi Bank hired her and Alex Honnold to do the commercial.
You might recognize Alex from the jaw-dropping piece "60 Minutes" did on him. Alex is famous for free soloing, climbing incredible rock walls without ropes.
ALEX HONNOLD, ROCK CLIMBER: There is no adrenaline rush. If I get a rush, it means something has gone horribly wrong.
MOOS: In the Citi Bank commercial, the climbers were using ropes and no one fell, although Katie has had a few scary falls, like this one shot my photographer, Carlos Mason (ph).
(SCREAMING)
MOOS: Viewers of the commercial are almost as curious about the lyrics to the song
(SINGING)
MOOS: What is it somebody likes potatoes? Somebody let go my Eggo?
Yes, a band called L.P. is singing.
(SINGING)
MOOS (on camera): You've got to give Katie credit.
BROWN: It's not at all intimidating.
MOOS: (voice-over): The spot's even been parodied from someone using footage from a Swedish diaper commercial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I flew us to the rock I really had in mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: That high up, who wouldn't need a diaper.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
(SINGING)
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
