Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Battle For New Hampshire; Santorum Seeks New Hampshire Send- Off; Romney Tries To Seal The Deal; Iran Sentences Alleged U.S. Spy To Death; Report: Iran Enriching Uranium; Uprising And Brutal Crackdown in Syria; Houston Tornado Warning; Politics At The Red Arrow Diner; Deported Teen Comes Home
Aired January 09, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're going to hit the top of the hour now. We begin, of course, with presidential politics and the countdown to the first primary of the 2012 race.
Tomorrow, voters in New Hampshire will cast their votes for the Republican nominee and Mitt Romney still leading the pack. Here is the latest poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire and WMUR. It shows Mitt Romney with a commanding lead over Ron Paul; 41 percent to 17 percent. Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, way behind, locked in a statistical tie. Rick Perry's support, barely even registering.
All right. This morning, the challengers hoping to close the gap by winning over last-minute converts and minutes from now, John Huntsman is going to visit Mary's Bakery and Cafe in Henniker. And then later this hour, Rick Santorum is going to reach out to the right with a town hall meeting on faith, family and freedom in Salem. For Santorum, it is already the second stop of the day.
He began his campaigning last hour in Nashua and that's where Joe Johns is standing by for us live. Joe, Santorum is back in New Hampshire this morning, but right after yesterday's debate, he actually jetted off to South Carolina.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: He sure did. And just got back here this morning and I got to tell you, just checked out this event, the top of the hill here in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Really shows just how much momentum can change coming out of Iowa. Rick Santorum was really flying high and then something seems to have happened. He is polling around 10 percent that would be good for fifth out of sixth place among the Republican contenders.
A little while ago at this event, which was attended by just about 100 people on a soccer field, he explained, it's been tough here in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We buy in bulk. We are Sam's Club and Cosco folks and that's the way we operate to try to be as efficient as we can. We have run an efficient campaign. We have -- we have been able to go out and put together a campaign with probably I wouldn't even say 20 percent of the next highest person out there.
Obviously, if you are looking for someone who can put together ideas and motivate people and get things done and do it on a -- do it on a shoestring, well, you have evidence in this campaign. Ideas matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Hasn't been able to really go up on TV with television ads in any meaningful way because the other guys have a lot of money. Of course, they are able to do that. So tough for Rick Santorum though, still hopeful he will do well here in New Hampshire.
In South Carolina also hoping it will be a little bit of a different story because that is the Rick Santorum wheelhouse, as you know, a lot of conservative voters there, Evangelicals who speak the language that he does so he is probably looking forward to getting south where it is a little bit warmer -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, so how important is it that Santorum does well in New Hampshire before the South Carolina primary?
JOHNS: Well, the bottom line with him is that he love to do something because you come out of Iowa running strong, you want to show a little bit of momentum here in New Hampshire just to sort of hold your place, if you will, before you get to the next stop.
Which for some is going to be their last stand, you know, very possibly. There are going to be some people in this field who see South Carolina as the place, which is very much make or break because of the social conservative and it being, of course, the first primary in the south -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Joe Johns, we'll be following it closely.
And Mitt Romney is sort of trying to seal the deal. This morning, he's out rallying supporters in New Hampshire, trying to win over last-minute converts.
Jim Acosta was at Romney's breakfast event in Nashua. That is where he is standing by live for us now. So, Jim, Romney was attacked from all sides in the weekend debates. We have been talking about it all morning.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He really was. But you have to say at this breakfast event, he just wrapped up a few moments ago, the mood was definitely sunny side up. He's feeling very confident going into tomorrow's New Hampshire primary.
You know, Kyra, he barely mentions his GOP rivals when he gives speeches out on the campaign trail. He focused almost entirely on the president during his remarks here and they were basically focused on the economy.
But I have to say, at the very end of this event, some news was made. A woman who called herself a UAW representative, a representative of the United Auto Workers Union, interrupted Romney's Q & A section of this event that just wrapped up.
And asked him about his opposition to the General Motors bailout, of course, the Obama administration supported. And it was very interesting, Mitt Romney went in there and basically did not back down from his position on this issue, saying that he believes that the market works better than a president in his word, helping out his friends.
And so it was a very tense exchange that went on. As soon as Governor Romney finished his remarks and answered that woman's question, this event ended immediately. And as the woman was trying to talk to reporters, it was -- I haven't seen anything happen like this out on the campaign trail during this campaign, Kyra.
As the woman was trying to talk to reporters about her comments, about why she came here, tried to question Romney about his position on the GM bailout, the soundman here in the room turned up the music full blast.
So the reporters could not essentially hear what this woman had to say and all that had to go outside. This is the second time this has happened in the last 24 hours at an event last night in Exeter, New Hampshire, there were protesters who interrupted Romney's event when he was with Chris Christie with the chant, Romney kills jobs, Romney kills jobs.
So all this is happening as Romney appears to be coming under some criticism, some fire from the Democratic side of things, but not necessarily from his rivals. I mean, we have hearing it from his rivals over the last few day.
But they're not coming to his event obviously and interrupting him. But there are some hecklers who are doing so and we saw that happen again earlier this morning -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jim Acosta, it's going to continue to get interesting.
Coming up, a slice of presidential politics with your morning coffee. We're going to talk with the owner of a landmark Manchester diner about the candidates, present and past who have stopped in.
Trust CNN's Best Political Team on Television for a complete coverage of the New Hampshire primary. Join Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley and John King for live coverage Tuesday night 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
The parents of an American sentenced to death in Iran say they are shock and terrified and say that Iran has made a grave error. The former Marine was arrested in August while visiting his grandmother and convicted of spying.
CNN's Zain Verjee is watching the story for us from London. What do we know now, Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: His name, Kyra is Amir Hekmati and he is 28 years old. He's from Arizona. Now the Farce News Agency, which is kind of like a semi-official news agency out of Iran had this say.
They said he was working for an enemy company for membership in the CIA and also for his efforts to accuse Iran of involvement in terrorism. Now, Hekmati did a tour of Iraq. His family is saying that he is absolutely not guilty.
They say what he did was he went over to Iran back in August go visit his two grandmas there. They say, too, that they have tried to get a lawyer for him like 10 times and each time, it has been rejected by the Iranian government and the Iranians themselves just appointed a state lawyer to represent him on the first day of the trial.
The U.S. is saying release him immediately, that he is not guilty of any of the charges that they have levelled against him. The U.S. is represented by the Swiss in Iran because the U.S. and Iran don't have any diplomatic relations since 1979. But the Swiss themselves weren't even allowed in a trial.
So the video that we are seeing of this man, Mr. Hekmati is of one on Iranian TV giving a so-called confession, Kyra, but a lot of human rights groups says these confessions are really questionable, a lot of pressure to put on people to say things that the Iranian government wants and not really that credible -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We are going to follow that in addition to these reports out this morning that Iran is enriching uranium at a new nuclear site. What have you been able to find out?
VERJEE: Yes, this is a worrying development. I mean, the reports that are coming out of Iran is essentially that they have a second nuclear facility in the north of the country and it's called the Fordough Nuclear Enrichment Plant.
And they stay is deep in the mountains and therefore, immune to military attack. Iran's got something like 3,000 centrifuges up and running. Now what Iran is saying that they need to do this, they need to enrich this uranium here because they need to create these radio isotopes that are used in treatment of cancer patients.
They say that 800,000 patients need them so that's why they are doing it. The U.S. and other western countries think that that's not true. Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program. They have slapped major sanctions on Iran.
And Iran has retaliate by threatening the U.S. and the rest of the world to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is a really big deal because something like 40 percent of the world's oil supply goes through these very narrow straits -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee out of London us for. Zain, thanks.
Missing military equipment, soldiers on one military base on lockdown until investigators get some answers.
And the Red Arrow Diner is a required stop on the New Hampshire campaign trail. We will talk with the owner about the most memorable candidates who have come by so far.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We are getting a rare first-hand look at the violence inside Syria. It's facing more protest and thousands of people have reportedly been killed by security forces despite increased international pressure to stop.
Nic Robertson is live on the phone from Damascus. So Nic, let's talk about what is so extraordinary about these new protests.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): The new protests are really a continuation of what we have been seeing, the protest that we attended today, an anti-government protest, a couple thousand people.
They were burying somebody. They said who was killed the previous day, a 32-year-old man. Passions were very high. People were very angry. They were very afraid.
A lot of people were coming and showing us what they said were bullet wounds, bird shot wounds as well as some people showed us where they had been shot by forces loyal to the government.
Yet at the same time in the center of Damascus today, large pro-government rally, people telling us that they love President Bashar Al Assad. What is happening here, Kyra, is this country is dividing, it's polarizing.
People are believing opposite things. Some believe that the president is the right map for the country. There are others that don't. They are not talking to each other and this is really leading to a much more divided country than it was even a few months ago -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So what do you see as the future for Al-Assad at this point?
PHILLIPS: Right now, I'm standing on a busy street in the central of Damascus. It is almost as if there is nothing going on in the rest of the country. This is a leader at the moment who appears to be able to weather this storm. He has the loyalty of a significant part of his army.
They are able to put down at the moment and prevent any growth of the revolt against him. There are obviously the opposition, living, they say, in here of the government. So I think what we can see is the divisions are going to get -- divisions are going to get deeper.
The Arab monitors here who are here to monitor the government that is supposed to pull the heavy weapons off the street are largely seen as ineffective. The language that they use they do not criticize the government here.
Even though the government hasn't met what the Arab League is telling it to do in terms of pulling weapons and troops off the street. So, divisions are getting bigger and I think we can expect the situation here at the moment stable, but deteriorate in the future that is the direction it is going in -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Nic Robertson there in Damascus. Nic, we will continue to follow that story with you.
Meanwhile, back here at home, we are getting word now of a tornado warping near Houston. Alexandra Steele following this for us. What do you know, Alex?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Kyra, we do have a tornado warning including the city of Houston. It is for 9:45 until 9:45 Central Time. Now Houston's in Harris County so it's for two counties, Harris County and Fort Bend County.
You can see this delineates where this tornado warning is. Now law enforcement have reported seeing a funnel cloud near Mission Bend, this cell, moving east at about 30 miles per hour. So locations in this tornado warning are pretty big.
The medical center in Houston, Reliant Park, Minute Maid Park, Hobby Airport, just to name a few. Again this tornado, seen on radar moving east, 30 miles per hour, tornado warping now including the city of Houston until 9:45 Central Time.
A live look at Houston right now. Again this is off to its south and west, moving north and east 30 miles per hour. So, if you are watching us, you do have a tornado warning scrolling across your screen certainly take shelter immediately and we'll have more as we keep an eye on this -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Got it. Alexandra, thanks so much.
STEELE: Sure.
Checking stories cross country, a Papa John's Pizzeria in New York fires a cashier over this racist receipt. If you look closely, you can actually see how an Asian-American customer is identified as, quote, "Lady Chinky-eyes." That customer posted a picture of the receipt on her Twitter account over the weekend, which quickly went viral.
Nearly 100 soldiers are on lockdown at a Washington State Army and Air Force base. Commanders at Joint Base Louis-McCord are reacting to reports of missing sensitive military equipment, including night lasers and gun scopes.
Take a look at this planned implosion. Just a few seconds and this 20-story building in Houston's medical district came on down. It has been MD Anderson Cancer Center Office space for 30 years. The "Houston Chronicle" says an aging foundation and asbestos made the building too costly to maintain. All right, the Red Arrow Diner is the place to go in Manchester, New Hampshire, not just for its famous chili or grilled cheese, but if you are running for office, it is the place to see and be seen.
Carol Sheehan has owned the Red Arrow Diner since 1978 and she has met a lot of presidential candidates as they have come through her digs. So Carol, who has come through so far?
CAROL SHEEHAN, OWNER, RED ARROW DINER: We've had Romney come through, Huntsman come through and we had Ron Paul's son this morning and Santorum has been through so far.
PHILLIPS: So, who has impressed you the most?
SHEEHAN: You know, unfortunately, this primary and they came by, it was a little over, you know, a week and a half two weeks ago when they started come by other than Ron Paul's son this morning, but I met Santorum and I have met Romney in the past because he has been into the diner a few times. So you know --
PHILLIPS: Are you supporting one over another?
SHEEHAN: No, I'm not. You know, like a lot of the New Hampshire voters right now, I'm undecided. I'm not sure. I'm just not sure.
PHILLIPS: So, who drew the biggest crowd?
SHEEHAN: This primary? We're talking this primary obviously?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
SHEEHAN: Well, you probably don't know to know that because we were visited on Saturday by Ru Paul.
PHILLIPS: Who doesn't want to be mistaken for Ron Paul as he is pimping his new show? That was the biggest crowd over Romney, Santorum and Huntsman?
SHEEHAN: Can you believe it? Yes. The last primary, all the candidates that came through, it was incredible.
PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you this, the folks there in your diaper, what did they want to know from the candidates? What are the most important issues to them right now?
SHEEHAN: I think what, you know, what my diners and most of New Hampshire really want to know, you know, they are worried about jobs and they're worried about health care. And I think that we are looking for, you know, a presidential candidate that is going to do what they say.
PHILLIPS: Were they more impressed by one candidate versus another?
SHEEHAN: They don't really say. I don't think so. You know, some of them -- most of my customers really get into this time of year and then, you know, a couple that grumble and -- you know? No one's really saying anything still this close to the primary. Who knows what is going to happen?
PHILLIPS: Sounds like Hillary Clinton is still your favorite. I know that when she came to visit, you couldn't be stopped talking about her.
SHEEHAN: You know, she -- for some reason, I just kind of assumed when she came, I assumed differently and I was really pleasantly surprised when she came.
She was very gracious and really actually shook your hand and looked you in the eye and you know, unlike a lot of the other ones that don't -- you know, just kind of there for, you know, whatever, I was pleasantly surprised with Hillary Clinton.
PHILLIPS: Carol Sheehan, apparently the place to be, not only if you are a candidate, but for some yummy chili. Thanks for joining us this morning.
SHEEHAN: Thank you very much. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
The Detroit Auto Show named its pick for car of the year and you will probably never guess which one that is. I will help you out. It's not a luxury car.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Detroit Auto Show kicks off with a bang, car and truck of the year. Alison Kosik has the vehicles with the top honors for us. Hi, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. You know what I love about the car of the year, before I tell you, so many people turn their noses up at this car, you know, this automaker, and now this automaker is getting a car of the year. It is the Hyundai Elantra. Now, the honors came out for the Hyundai Elantra during the Detroit Auto Show. It is actually open to the public on January 14th. Now this car beat out the Ford Focus, the Volkswagen Passat as well.
And Detroit automakers are doing OK, but it looks like they got shut out at least at the top spot. Hyundai's star though, it has been rising lately. Before today, the Elantra was already one of the top selling compact cars.
And Hyundai and Kia, the South Korean partners, captured 9 percent of U.S. market share last year, that's double from five years ago.
Now, truck of the year goes to the Range Rover Evoke. The common theme here was all of these winners, Kyra, is that both are considered fuel efficient.
If you want more information, by the way, on what's happening at the Detroit Auto Show, go to cnnmoney.com. They've got some great information there.
PHILLIPS: Should we expect some other big headlines out of the auto show?
KOSIK: Definitely. Some reports actually say expect almost 40 new vehicles to be unveiled. That includes Chrysler's Dodge Dart and Buick's Encore.
Now automakers, they are trying to strut their stuff. They're kind of puffing out the feathers because they are going through a big change from those recession years.
But they're in a position to do so this time around with Ford saying that the economy is expected to pick up this year. GM says more Americans are more confident this year. We will have to see if all that confidence translates into sales -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Alison, thanks.
Well, a wrecked cargo ship from last year has split in two. We will tell you where, coming up.
Our intrepid "Political Buzz" panel will talk about the new book about the Obamas. We will ask if it could influence the election.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories. Reports that Iran says a second Iran nuclear facility has moved deep into the mountains. They're saying the facility is immune to a military attack. Iran still says there is a medical purpose behind its new program.
A New Zealand coastal area is getting some unwanted debris. A cargo ship that struck a reef last year has split in two. Washed up items are causing quite a mess and hundreds of tops of oil have already leaked. Bad weather is blamed for breaking up that ship.
Check your medicine cabinets. Over-the-counter drugs in your home may contain broken pieces of other pills. Pharmaceutical company Novartis is voluntarily recalling Excedrin and No-Doz with expiration dates between now and December of 2014. Bufferin and Gas X are also being recalled with an expiration date of December 2013 or earlier.
"Political Buzz," your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. Three questions, 30 seconds on the clock and playing today, CNN contributors Maria Cardona, Will Cain and Dana Loesch. Dana is also a Tea Party activist and talk radio host.
First question, guys, Mitt Romney trying to seal the deal in New Hampshire. He still leads the pack by a large margin. So do you see any other candidates making a serious 11th hour challenge? Maria? MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Sadly No, Kyra and I still don't understand why it was that they waited to vet last debate to start going strong against Romney who is an incredibly flawed candidate with incredibly flawed economic record that has a lot there to go after.
But unfortunately in New Hampshire, I think his lead has solidified. The big story is going to be who comes in second. If it's Jon Huntsman that is a big story there. He is on the rise.
Who know it is it will be enough, or if Santorum comes in second, start consolidating anybody, but Romney vote, that will be the story out of New Hampshire as well.
PHILLIPS: Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I don't see anybody making an 11th hour push to catch Romney. I do agree it is a race for second, third and fourth, but that's interesting to me for these reasons.
If it is Jon Huntsman, what does that say about his future? Is his second or third place finish close enough to Romney to justify put putting money into his campaign?
His dad one of the richest men in America, will he put money in to push him to South Carolina? If it is Rick Santorum, we're talking about in second, third or fourth.
Will Rick Santorum stay in the news? Is he going to finish high enough to stay in the news and keep momentum going into those states? That's why -- second, third and fourth.
PHILLIPS: Dana?
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, TEA PARTY ACTIVIST: I don't think anyone's going to take Romney on in New Hampshire at this point. This was all about setting the stage for South Carolina.
South Carolina is where we will see the non-Romney candidate emerge. I think that we will probably also see someone drop out of the race that person will probably be Jon Huntsman, especially if he doesn't have a good showing in New Hampshire.
Santorum and Huntsman are going to battle it out possibly for third place in New Hampshire, but a moderate's background -- backyard and I agree with Maria in that that I don't know why some of these candidates are waiting until now to finally take on the frontrunner. It's shocking to me really.
PHILLIPS: All right. There's a new book out tomorrow, guys, "The Obamas" by Judy Cantor. Now it promises an extraordinary inside look at the president and first lady, their marriage, the presidency. So what do you think? How could this book help or hurt his re- electability in 2012? Will?
CAIN: I don't think it helps. Let's put it this way, nice little book how sweet and perfect their marriage is. You are not going to ask me about it and we are not going to talk about.
But if it is the opposite it can hurt. We have already heard stories from this book about Robert Gibbs cussing out Michelle Obama. If it is full of stories like that, that's going to get people in the media talking you and is not going to help Barack Obama's electability.
PHILLIPS: Maria?
CARDONA: It is going to have absolutely zero impact on the race, Kyra. People are going to be focused on the economy. Look, this book is about an author's thought who frankly had absolutely no access to the Obamas in over three years. She didn't sit down for an interview with them for this book. It is all her opinions, period.
And it's, frankly, it talks about a spectacularly committed couple, committed to each other who are also spectacularly committed to the -- the -- the American people and this country and how to get the middle class successful again. And that's what the focus is.
PHILLIPS: Dana?
LOESCH: She may not have spoken with the -- with the First Family but she did speak to individuals that were close with them or had access to their inner circle and it is about the economy which is why the stories that come out of this book are important. Because you have an administration that's telling Americans to scale back while at the same time this book is talking about all of the ways in which this Administration personally and publicly are not scaling back. So I think that's going to be huge, especially in an election where populism is key.
PHILLIPS: All right, your "Buzzer Beater", 20 seconds each on this one.
Ok, guys so who doesn't love a delicious muffin at breakfast time unless maybe it's an angry muffin. Peggy Noonan of the "Wall Street Journal" calling Newt Gingrich an angry little attack muffin. Sadly, there's no mention whether it's blueberry, bran, English muffin so what do you think? Is it a fair description? Maria?
CARDONA: Sadly for Newt, absolutely it is a fair description and that is exactly what Republicans who are so scared of having him be the front-runner were afraid of and it has come to pass. He is his own worst enemy, even though some of the things that he's been saying about Romney are actually true, unfortunately, no one is listening because he is so angry.
PHILLIPS: Will?
CAIN: So there. So there. Maria answered her own question from the first question you asked. Why haven't people gone after Romney? Answer to Dana's question, well they haven't gone after Romney because when you do you look mean. You look like whatever kind of muffin we just talked about. Newt has come off as the mean guy and that's why people haven't done it. PHILLIPS: Dana?
LOESCH: That's right. Well and Mitt Romney has PACs that can do all of the heavy lifting for him where Newt Gingrich has one PAC. Newt Gingrich is doing what the Republican Party should have been doing this entire election and vetting the frontrunner, which not even some of this candidates some of whom I think are vying for a VP job are willing to do.
So it's -- it's nice to see it. And Gingrich he may look angry to progressives, but to some conservatives like myself were throwing up our hands saying, oh, my goodness, thank you, finally.
PHILLIPS: I'm sending muffins all your way in the next 20 minutes. Thanks, guys.
LOESCH: Thank you.
CARDONA: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Miley Cyrus and Kelly Osbourne invite reality star Khloe Kardashian for a nice evening but someone, well, got punked. That's next.
And fans have been waiting for months, you only have to wait just a few minutes here though. Beyonce and Jay-Z's big news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures out of Houston, Texas. We are still following that tornado warning that apparently is going to be in effect for about another 15 minutes or so we're keeping a close eye on it, thanks to our affiliate WPRC for these pictures out of Houston.
Well, Tim Tebow got his magic back just in time for the Denver Broncos' playoff game against Pittsburgh. Second quarter, Tebow runs in for the score to put Denver up 14-6 on the Steelers. Tebow also had his best passing game as a Bronco, by the way, you can see how fired up he is.
Then late in the fourth quarter, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger rolls out, Jericho Cotchery 31 yards score, ties the game, going into overtime, but not for long, first snap, Tebow to Demarius Thomas, who turns on speed using stiff arms, scores the winning touchdown boom, Tebow, known for his faith, as you know. His fans pointing out that he passed for 316 yards as in 3:16, you know the verse. Thomas by the way was born on Christmas. Broncos win a thrower 29-23.
All right, still ahead presidential politics in New Hampshire, two debates, 12 hours and one big question, did the weekend showdowns change the landscape for tomorrow's primary? Paul Steinhauser has that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So do you remember this revealing performance on MTV just a few months ago?
Well, A.J., according to E! Online, Beyonce finally gave birth?
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Yes, she did, Kyra, the news a little harder to keep under wraps, of course, even for this notoriously private couple. Now, they are not officially confirming it yet but B and her husband, Jay-Z did welcome their daughter Saturday night at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. It was via a scheduled c-section, according to E! News.
Now Jay-Z is reportedly telling pals they have named her Blue Ivy Carter with Ivy being a play on the roman numeral IV, and that's a recurring number for Jay and Beyonce and jay, who were both born on the 4th of different months. They got married on the fourth of the fourth month of the year.
And there are reports that Lenox Hill Hospital employees, Kyra, are saying that Beyonce and Jay-Z actually paid $1.3 million to seal off and completely redecorate a wing of the hospital where the baby was born. You can certainly understand they would want extra security measures in place but I don't see a day where they will actually be confessing that they took over the hospital in a fashion like that. Just unbecoming. That's what you do though, right? You took it over, you redecorated and spent about a million bucks.
PHILLIPS: Oh, yes, exactly. I don't think so.
Definitely started saving lot more, that's for sure.
All right. What is the deal with Kim Kardashian's little sister, Khloe, getting punked?
HAMMER: Yes. This is great. MTV is bringing back its hit show "Punk'd" and it's making a splash right to do that go after a Kardashian, right? so the network released an early clip of the show, it's got everybody talking.
It shows Kim K's little sister, Khloe, getting punked by her friends, Miley Cyrus and Kelly Osbourne, in la particularly embarrassing . I want you to picture this setup, if you will, for a prank. Khloe comes over to hang with Miley and Kelly, a delivery man comes to the door, asks a-to-use the restroom, you hear the screaming in the background because he emerges as you see with his privates caught in his zipper.
And it's an unsuspecting Khloe who has to be the one to call 911 and kind of relay the story and tell the guy what he has to do. And I have to tell you I'm getting uncomfortable just talking about so, I'm going to leave it right there. And just to let you know, it airs in march when "Punk'd" is re-launching, but it is quite a way to kick things off.
PHILLIPS: I hope you never get punked A.J. We will see you back here tomorrow.
Anything breaking in the entertainment world, including all the punks, A.J. has it, "Showbiz Tonight", 11 Eastern on HLN.
Presidential candidates are blitzing New Hampshire, the site of tomorrow's first of the nation primary. And today, they are fanning out across the state but across the weekend, toe-to-toe, two GOP debates for less than 12 hours. And before we break down the winner's and the losers. Let's go ahead and recap some of the most memorable moments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Business experience doesn't necessarily match up with being the commander-in-chief of this country.
MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think people who spend their life in Washington don't understand what happens out in the real economy. They think that people who start businesses are just managers.
RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here's what frustrates me is that you go get the earmarks and then you vote against the bill? I don't know what they call that in other places but Congressman Paul in Texas, we call that hypocrisy.
RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To say you're a conservative I think is a stretch. But you have convinced a lot of people of it so somebody has to point out your record.
SANTORUM: I convinced a lot of people of it because my record is actually pretty darn good.
PAUL: Somebody did make a survey and I think he came out as one of the top corrupt individuals because he took so much money from the lobbyists, but really what the whole -- there it goes again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It caught you not telling the truth, Ron.
NEWT GINGRICH (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Dr. Paul has a long history of saying things that are inaccurate and false and I personally resent the kind of comments and aspersions he routinely makes without accurate information and then just slurs people.
ROMNEY: I'm sorry, Governor, you were the last two years implementing the policies of this Administration in China. The rest of us were doing our best to get Republicans elected across the country and stop the policies of this President being put forward.
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As they would say in China, Mitt (INAUDIBLE). He doesn't understand the situation. What he is calling for would lead to a trade war. It makes for easy talk and a nice applause line but it's far different from the reality in the U.S.-China relationship.
PERRY: I would send troops back into Iraq.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now? PERRY: I think we start talking with the Iraqi individuals there, I think it is a huge error for us, we are going to see Iran in my opinion, move back in at literally the speed of light.
SANTORUM: Iranian people have come to the streets, have taken to the streets repeatedly, still do, trying to overthrow their government. And we had a president of the United States who stood silently by as thousands were killed on the streets.
GINGRICH: Worried about the Iranians in Iraq, develop a strategy to replace the Iranian dictatorship and Iraq will be fine.
HUNTSMAN: We have been at the war on terror ten years now. We have strengthened civil society. We've helped the military. We've helped the police. I believe it is time to come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to Manchester, New Hampshire now, and CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser. So Paul, did the debates change the playing field there?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I don't think so, Kyra. We had the doubleheader debates Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Mitt Romney, he's the front runner here, Kyra, we expected him to come under attack, he did especially in that Sunday morning debate. But I think he kind of gave almost as good as he got and the dynamics here are not changing.
We have two brand new polls out in the last 12 hours, some taken partially before and after these debates, guess what; Mitt Romney still the front runner here in New Hampshire, Kyra. Ron Paul in both these surveys, still the second spot. Gingrich, Santorum, and Huntsman all battling for third position.
You know, polls can change. We will see what happens 24 hours from now you. But that is the lay of the land as we speak this morning, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, what do you think? Could Romney's record from his years at Bain Capital come back to hurt him?
STEINHAUSER: It could and we have already seen the candidates and the Democrats start to question him about that. Listen, as Romney runs for president he touts himself a job creator and a businessman and he talks about his years at Bain Capital, that private equity firm he talks about, creating over 100,000 jobs.
Others are saying, no. You know what, actually, there was a net loss of jobs when Romney was at Bain, now an independent group, one of those super PACs. One supporting Newt Gingrich: They're putting up big ads in South Carolina, spending lots of money talking about that -- Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much.
Straight ahead, a deported teen back home in Texas nearly a year after disappearing but questions remain about what exactly happened to her. That story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a Texas teenager is back home months after running away and being deported but the mystery is far from solved. CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jakadrien Turner spent her first weekend in her own bed in her own Dallas home that she hasn't seen in more than a year. A family friend tells us she was enjoying being around her mother and grandmother again.
RAY JACKSON, TURNER FAMILY ATTORNEY: The family's ecstatic. We are happy to have their daughter home. We are planning to get some rest, planning to do what we can to make sure that she is able to get back to living a normal life.
LAVANDERA: With many people anxiously awaiting for Jakadrien Turner to start unlocking the secrets of how she turned herself into Atika Cortez and ended up in Colombia. Her family is quickly realizing that getting back to normal won't be easy. The 15-year-old is pregnant and needs critical medical checkups and there are investigators who will spend hours asking questions about why she ran away and how she got herself deported to Colombia.
DANA AMES, IS DIRECTOR, UNITED RESPONSE SEARCH AND RESCUES TEAM: You know, I don't necessarily know that she really ran away from something as much as she may have ran to something.
LAVANDERA: Dana Ames the director of the United Response Search and Rescue team, a non-profit group that counsels families searching missing loved ones. that counsels families searching for missing loved ones. Ames has spent the last seven months helping Jakadrien Turner's family search for the runaway. Jakadrien's mother and grandmother believe the young girl was lured and coerced into a dangerous underworld of sex and drugs. Ames believes Jakadrien was preyed upon and that the troubled teen was not acting alone when she adopted the made-up name Tika Cortez and got herself deported following her arrest in Houston following shoplifting.
AMES: I think the child was groomed. I believe that we will find out that there were quite a number of adults involved. I don't believe for one minute that this child concocted this plan.
LAVANDERA: Studying eight months of Facebook postings associated with Tika Cortez there are pictures of Jakadrien turner enjoying life in Bogota . But the postings also allude to troubled relationships with various men.
AMES: Although it looks like she was a willing participant, I truly anticipate that the information that's going to come forth is going to indeed show that she was not necessarily willing. She may have cooperated, and there was probably a lot of coercion involved, but I don't necessarily believe that she just willingly created this plan and went to Colombia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now, as you mentioned that the girl will speak with the investigators, which agencies are investigating this?
LAVANDERA: It was interesting, when she arrived here in Dallas, Friday night, about 7:00 in the evening, Central time, it wasn't until about 10:00 that she was reunited with family members. We're told that she had met with immigrations, customs enforcement agents, as well as Child Protective Service investigators and they spent quite a few -- several, three hours on Friday night talking. We do know that other detectives here, the local agencies here in Dallas want to speak with her as well. So this is a long process and this family knows that getting back to normal here will take quite some time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Indeed. All right. Ed Lavandera. We'll continue to follow the case with you. We appreciate it.
LAVANDERA: You got it.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's flash forward to events that are happening later today.
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal will be sworn in for a second term in an hour, around noon eastern. The republican first took office in 2008 as the nation's first elected Indian-American governor. Also around noon, president Obama will welcome the Dallas Mavericks White House. He will congratulate them for winning the 2011 NBA championship.
And Brad Pitt and Meryl Streep are among the stars expected at the New York Film Critiques Circle Awards. That ceremony begins at 5:00 Eastern.
So, who has better sex, a 25-year-old or a 60-year-old? Well, the results of a new study on older women and their sex lives might surprise you. Elizabeth Cohen is going to join us in our noon hour with details.
And as Republican voters are picking their candidate for 2012, some Democrats are talking about a new ticket for the White House. They're talking about an Obama/Hillary Clinton ticket. In our noon hour, we'll be joined by "New York Times" Bill Keller who has some interesting reasons why an Obama/Clinton ticket is just the thing for a democratic win in 2012.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, Chris Christie had Mitt Romney's back in New Hampshire. CNN political director, Mark Preston watching it all. Mark, tell us up the unscripted moment, shall we say? MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, you know Kyra, you know, running for president serious business but there are times like these that make it very fun if not very interesting. Let's hear what Chris Christie said last night to some hecklers who don't think that he is doing a good job at creating jobs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CHRISTIE, GOVERNOR OF NEW JERSEY: Americans are right to be angry, they are right to be disappointed in the government that in Washington, D.C. is doing nothing but posturing and bickering and solving nothing for the people who wind up needing, needing to get this done.
Really? You know, some may go down tonight but it isn't going to be jobs, Sweetheart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: Well, you know, Kyra -- you know, Kyra that is Chris Christie at his best, sometime he doesn't have a governor on necessarily. He speaks his mind. A lot of people would like to see Chris Christie as the vice presidential running mate for Mitt Romney, whoever wins the Republican presidential nomination, some like to see him be the VP because there will be a lot of moments like that, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: What do you think? Is it going to help or hurt Romney?
PRESTON: You know, it's funny if you see the governor's reaction in the background, he seemed a little shaken by that. When I say shaken, a little bit surprised. Talk about a contrast in personalities. Chris Christie the street brawler are, Mitt Romney not so much. It's Not going to hurt him but I'm sure Mitt Romney would prefer if Chris Christie didn't say that too often.
PHILLIPS: Ok. Mark Preston, appreciate it. Your next it while we have the next political update in just about an hour. political update just about an hour. Also go to our website 24/7 for all politics.
Street brawler. I wonder if Ashleigh Banfield has any street brawler in her.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Do you know what I want to do. I want to go all Chris Christie on you --
(INAUDIBLE) going right to the end of the stage, mm-hmm.
PHILLIPS: I just want to hug you. He is great. He always has the moments, doesn't he? He create the moments..
BANFIELD: He's a walking episode of the sopranos.
PHILLIPS: And that was a soprano moment.
BANFIELD: It was I love it.
PHILLIPS: I wouldn't want if someone's after me. That was a lie today. Have a great show.
