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White House Chief Of Staff Stepping Down; New Hampshire Primary Eve; Interview With South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson; 10-Year-Old Boys Accused of Sexual Assault; GOP Hopefuls Gear Up For Match #2; Ron Paul Campaigns In New Hampshire; NYT: Feds Clean Drug Cartel Cash; Kid Actors Toting Guns; 12 Cent Hike At Gas Pump
Aired January 09, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to all of you. Happy Monday.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's go. Let's get you caught up on everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire," as always, beginning with -- you guessed it, the New Hampshire primary.
Voting is hours away in stop number two in the presidential campaign crucible. Take a look at the numbers. This is the new tracking poll showing a double-digit lead for Mitt Romney.
There he is, 33 percent. Ron Paul running second. Jon Huntsman, who has to have a strong showing come tomorrow night, he is lagging at a distant third.
Stay tuned to hear what Mitt Romney said today. These few words may come back to haunt him.
Wolf Blitzer is going to talk to me about that.
Also, Republicans also gearing up for match number three. That being South Carolina. Some hopefuls made their case there already this past weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We want a conservative on the ticket.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm going to Washington, D.C., to make a difference. And if that means I have to take a sledgehammer to make that difference, that's what I'll do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This president doesn't understand how this economy works. It's time to get a president who does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Our latest CNN/"TIME" magazine/ORC poll puts Mitt Romney as top dog. Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are in a dead heat for second place.
Stick around. I'll be talking to South Carolina lawmaker Joe Wilson live with us in just a couple of minutes. Do not miss that interview.
Next, take a look at this scene. Some of you are seeing this now.
This is Houston. Dark, ominous clouds moving over the city, bringing heavy rain. Imagine -- I mean, they shouldn't be doing this, but they are -- driving through this stuff. Powerful lightning there.
Officials near Houston reported seeing a funnel cloud, though it did not touch down. The National Weather Service says nearly two inches of rain fell in a 10-minute period, and people in Richmond had to be rescued from some of the flash flooding.
And now imagine this. Imagine taking NoDoz when you really wanted Gas-X. Apparently this really could happen, and that is leading to this recall by the pills maker Novartis. The recall is due to mislabeled and broken pills.
Here's what you need to know. This company saying, "Stray pills were put in the wrong package." So the involuntary recall includes Excedrin, NoDoz, Bufferin, Gas-X. Check the company's Web site for product dates included in that particular recall.
The feds breaking up a terror plot targeting, of all places, Tampa. We're told the suspect's plan included a car bomb, an assault rifle and grenades. Among the targets, night clubs in the city.
He allegedly told the feds, "We all have to die, so why not die the Islamic way?" That man is expected in court this hour.
And one of the biggest breaks that helped police investigate Jerry Sandusky came from the former Penn State assistant coach himself in his autobiography, which, by the way, is called "Touched." CNN contributor Sara Ganim spoke with the mother of one of Sandusky's alleged sex abuse victims. The mother pointed police to this particular book. "Touched" has photographs of boys who attended these football games all together, and that led police to identify four more alleged victims.
Some parents are pretty upset today after their children's homework made references to slavery. Math problems for third graders in the Atlanta area referred to slaves picking oranges and receiving beatings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRANCE BARNETT, PARENT: I'm having to explain to my 8-year-old why "slavery" or "slave" or "beatings" is in a math problem. So that hurts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER BRAXTON, PARENT: Whoever put together this paperwork and everything else, the schools and everything shouldn't teach it this way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: School leaders say teachers were trying to incorporate history into this particular lesson, but they agree that the questions were inappropriate.
Iran has convicted an American man of spying and sentenced him to death. Amir Hekmati is an ex-Marine. His family says that he was arrested in August while visiting his grandmother and other relatives in Iran. They say he was forced into making a televised confession.
And new developments today in this case of that body that was found on the estate of one of Queen Elizabeth's properties. Authorities now have identified these remains. They belong to a 17-year-old girl who was reported missing last August.
DNA helped detectives identify this victim. We still do not know yet how she was murdered.
And have you heard about this one? A Papa John's employee uses a derogatory racial name for a customer in one of its New York restaurants. You can see. We sort of circled it for you. I'm not going to say the phrase. You can see it yourself.
The customer posted this picture on her Twitter account. It has now been all over the Internet. Papa John's, by the way, has since fired that employee.
And now the Car and Truck of the Year we're announcing at the Detroit Auto Show today. Here you go. The Hyundai Elantra chosen as the Car of the Year, and the U.K.'s Range Rover Evoque was chosen as the Truck of the Year. No American brands in either of those top two cars.
We are just getting started here on CNN. A lot more to go and cover for you over the course of the next two hours, including this --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Starting at midnight, the first votes are cast in New Hampshire. Mitt Romney still very much so the front-runner, but his opponents are taking him on, including Newt Gingrich, with some brand new firepower in the Live Free or Die State. Who stays alive?
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): Two women vanish 500 miles apart, but their cases are strikingly similar. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wherever she is at the end, we're all going to be standing right here.
BALDWIN: The eerie connections are sparking fears there could be a serial kidnapper on the loose. Michelle Segona (ph) is "On the Case."
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): -- moved heavy weapons and armed civilians from the area.
BALDWIN: For months, Syria hasn't allowed people inside as thousands of people are killed until now. CNN's Nic Robertson getting an inside look.
Plus, outrage over a movie showing American kids and gangs waving guns, having sex, and killing. I'll speak live with the director, who says this is reality.
And breathtaking video. A woman's bungee cord snaps, sending her into crocodile-infested waters with her legs still tied. You're going to hear from her.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Here we are. This is the eve of the vote in New Hampshire. A big-time skirmish now breaking out today between two key players. You have Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich may have goaded Romney into an unforced error. I want you to watch two pieces of video. First, you're going to see Newt Gingrich accusing Mitt Romney of looting that management firm he founded back in 1984. Here you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Those of us who believe in free markets and those of us who believe that, in fact, the whole goal of investment is entrepreneurship and job creation, would find it pretty hard to justify rich people figuring out clever, legal ways to loot a company, leaving behind 1,700 families without a job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That was Newt Gingrich just yesterday.
Here now, Mitt Romney today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: If you don't like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people that provide services to me. If someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say I'm going to go get somebody else to provide that service to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Who am I going to bring in? The one and only Wolf Blitzer.
Good to see you again.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you. Always a pleasure to be here in person.
BALDWIN: I know. You're so far away from me.
BLITZER: That's the --
BALDWIN: That's how it works.
Anyway, let's talk about these two pieces of video. Obviously, there is context to what we heard there, but you know, I know, Mitt Romney knows those few words, that can really come back to haunt him.
BLITZER: Yes. "I like firing people"? That's not necessarily -- I understood what he was trying to say.
In capitalism, that's the nature of the business. Those who succeed move up, those who don't succeed move out, if you will. But to say it like that, that was crude.
And he and his supporters I'm sure are already doing a lot of backtracking, explaining, here's the context, here's what we meant to say. But politically, it could be awkward, to put it mildly. And even if the other Republicans don't use this against Mitt Romney right now, you know who will --
BALDWIN: The Obama campaign. You got it.
BLITZER: -- if he gets the nomination?
BALDWIN: You got it.
BLITZER: They've already got that videotape. They're ready to go.
BALDWIN: Sort of related to this is this group, this super PAC that's backing Gingrich. And they've now come into this injection of $5 million which they're going to use in these ads starting in South Carolina this week. And they're painting Romney as this predatory capitalist.
I wanted to ask you about the guy who's providing this money, this obviously very affluent Nevada casino owner.
BLITZER: Yes, Sheldon Adelson, the owner of the Venetian hotel. And I think Forbes lists his assets as worth $20 billion or $30 billion. So he's got a lot of money, and he's a huge Newt Gingrich supporter. And for him to spend $5 million, or $10 million, for that matter, is not a whole lot of money for him, but he's very, very supportive of Newt Gingrich.
Look, this is payback. What was done by Newt Gingrich in Iowa to the pro-Mitt Romney super PACs is devastating because Newt Gingrich went from the high 30s. When I was in Iowa, you couldn't turn on a TV without seeing how awful a person Newt Gingrich is, because thanks in part to the Ron Paul attack ads, but also these pro-Mitt Romney super PAC. And now it's Newt Gingrich's chance to pay back and really try to hurt Mitt Romney going into South Carolina, Florida and beyond.
It's a tough, tough ad.
BALDWIN: The message that we've been hearing from Newt Gingrich and the fray and this group is that Mitt Romney, who started back in 1984, is this capitalist, this predator. Normally this is what you hear from Republicans saying this is class warfare, and here you have another Republican doing this.
BLITZER: It's awkward right now. Bain Capital, a bunch of capitalists, they would look for opportunities to buy companies, to strengthen those companies, get those companies up and run, create a lot of jobs if they succeed. But if they don't succeed, you have to move on.
BALDWIN: And people don't lose jobs.
BLITZER: Yes. So, one of the companies he created was Staples, for example. It employs about 70,000 or 80,000 people.
BALDWIN: A success story.
BLITZER: Right. That's a huge success story. Others not so successful, you lay off 1,700 people. But that's the nature of what venture capitalists do. They go ahead and risk their money to try to either build up a company or, if that company is not working out, sell it.
BALDWIN: So, as we're going to be seeing a lot more of this sort of back and forth, especially in these ads that will materialize in South Carolina, we have to take a look at the polls. Let's take a look at these polls. These are the New Hampshire primary polls. This is the Suffolk University tracking, showing Romney. You see the double-digit lead here.
But I have to ask you about Jon Huntsman. I mean, we've talked so much about him. He wasn't at all a player in Iowa, putting a lot of eggs in his New Hampshire basket.
How does he need to finish in order to just stay in this thing? Third?
BLITZER: If he finishes in the top three, he'll have a chance. But he's got to do better than 13 percent. If he gets up to above 15, 20 percent, then it shows that in New Hampshire, which is a unique state, he's doing all right.
He says he's going to go on to South Carolina and Florida. You need a lot of money for that. Now, it's interesting, he comes from a family that's loaded. His father is a billionaire. So they have a lot of money --
BALDWIN: But I saw the article over the weekend in the "TIMES" saying the father is not going to be giving him as much as he possibly could.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: It was an awkward few paragraphs, because they said the father would give the son money if the son asked.
BALDWIN: Not taking it.
BLITZER: But the son isn't asking yet, and as a result, the father isn't giving.
BALDWIN: He doesn't want to buy an election.
BLITZER: You know who's going to be to my show today?
BALDWIN: Who?
BLITZER: The three Huntsman daughters.
BALDWIN: Oh, the Huntsman girls.
BLITZER: Do you ever follow them on --
BALDWIN: Of course, on Twitter.
BLITZER: Yes.
BALDWIN: The Huntsman girls.
BLITZER: Jon2012Girls.
BALDWIN: We'll look for it.
BLITZER: But we have big news to share with our viewers right now, and it involves you, Brooke. Where will you be Tuesday night -- when I'm anchoring with Anderson and all of our team, where will you be?
BALDWIN: Right here with you.
BLITZER: Wow.
BALDWIN: "Wow" is right.
BLITZER: What are you going to be doing?
BALDWIN: I've got the news Saturday morning. I'll be doing the social media. So we'll do a little follow of what's happening in real time.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Really just to take -- if there's any major moment, just to see how it translates via social media. And most importantly, to push the story forward.
BLITZER: So if we go to 3:31 a.m., you're there. BALDWIN: Wolf Blitzer, I'm with you.
BLITZER: CNN after dark, Brooke Baldwin, part of that team.
I think it could go -- we went to 3:31 a.m. in Iowa.
BALDWIN: Hopefully there are no Ediths and Carolyns necessary.
BLITZER: I hope there are. What do you mean? We loved Edith and Carolyn.
BALDWIN: I know. They were wonderful.
Thank you, Wolf. We'll see you next hour.
BLITZER: We'll see you Tuesday night.
BALDWIN: Tomorrow. You're not done with me.
BLITZER: OK.
BALDWIN: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: Bye.
BALDWIN: Remember the congresswoman who yelled out, "You lie!"? Remember him during President Obama's speech on Capitol Hill just a couple of years ago? He is in Columbia, South Carolina, for us today. He is Congressman Joe Wilson. He's also standing by live to talk to us right now.
Up next, we're going to ask him who he is endorsing for president, and also talk with him about the Tea Party's role in the race for the White House.
We also -- as Wolf and I were just talking, we just found out that President Obama will be giving a statement at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time this afternoon, on less than an hour. What is he talking about? We don't know yet, but we'll take it live.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: As you know by now, of course, watching CNN, New Hampshire votes tomorrow. A lot of folks are already looking beyond New Hampshire, specifically to the next primary state, to South Carolina. Mitt Romney spent a couple of days already in South Carolina last week because Romney sees this state, this primary as an opportunity.
Having won the Iowa caucuses -- keep in mind, by eight votes -- that was the differential there. Now potentially poised to win in New Hampshire, Romney has a shot at possibly sewing up the Republican nomination for president should he capture South Carolina. That is January 21st.
One problem. South Carolina voters tend to be a little bit more conservative than Mitt Romney.
Let's talk to a fellow South Carolinian from Columbia, Representative Joe Wilson, as conservative as they come.
Congressman Wilson, good to have you on.
REP. JOE WILSON (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Brooke, an honor to be with you.
BALDWIN: Out of the gate here, do you at all, sir -- do you have any kind of problem with Mitt Romney? Would you have a problem with Romney winning, ultimately, your party's nomination?
WILSON: Well, I've been a great admirer of Governor Romney, the ability that he's had of creating jobs. He has strong support in South Carolina. And in South Carolina, we are very, very grateful that since 1980, every candidate on the Republican side who has won the primary in South Carolina has gone on to be the nominee of the Republican Party.
BALDWIN: So you're saying if possibly he wins in South Carolina, he could be your guy?
WILSON: Oh, absolutely. No, I will be for the nominee.
And what this reflects, South Carolina is really a composite of America. The vast majority of the people that I represent in the low country of South Carolina are transplants from the Midwest to the Northeast. My home county of Lexington, around 60 percent of the people are transplants from the Midwest to Northeast. And so it really has transformed our state.
It's really exciting to have the candidates here. The focus of the world will be here on Wednesday.
BALDWIN: Got to ask you about your governor, though, because some Tea Party groups in South Carolina, they're angry that Governor Nikki Haley, some time ago, stepped out, endorsed Mitt Romney. Was that endorsement, Congressman, a copout, especially the fact that Haley had such a strong Tea Party backing that helped her get elected?
WILSON: Well, actually, we're very proud of Governor Haley, the second Indian-American to be elected governor in the United States, the first woman in South Carolina in 341 years.
And actually, one of the very people to endorse her was Governor Mitt Romney. And then she did have very strong support from the Tea Party movement. And I'm confident that all of us will be working together for the nominee for the change that we feel needs to be made in November.
BALDWIN: Will you, Congressman Wilson -- are you endorsing anyone?
WILSON: Actually, I was the first person to endorse Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota. Unfortunately, he was the first to withdraw. But he would have been a great candidate. And I, right now, am not endorsing anyone. I want to be in position to promote our nominee. I'm just so hopeful for the quality of candidates that we have running in our state, all six of them, beginning on Wednesday.
BALDWIN: What are the chances -- you talked about your state and sort of the role it plays ultimately in the nomination. What are the chances that Romney effectively sews up your party's nomination in your state, January 21st? And would that be good for the Republican Party, not to have this long, drawn-out primary season?
WILSON: Well, I would also want to defer to our friends in Florida. I believe that you put South Carolina and Florida together, that could determine the nominee.
BALDWIN: And ultimately, you will back any individual who ultimately clinches the nomination?
WILSON: Absolutely. I have respect for all six of the current candidates who will be running in the South Carolina primary. Each one has an attribute about trying to create jobs legitimately that I am just so eager to go out and campaign for the Republican nominee for president.
BALDWIN: So none of them makes you feel at all uncomfortable?
WILSON: No. I do have better feelings about one or the other, of course, but the bottom line is, I believe any of those six would be preferable to the indecisiveness that we have in Washington today.
BALDWIN: All right.
Congressman Joe Wilson, in his home state of South Carolina, there for us in Columbia.
Sir, thank you so much.
WILSON: Thank you very much.
BALDWIN: Now we're going to take you to Texas. This is a tough one to tell.
You have these two 10-year-old boys -- 10 -- charged with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old boy on a school bus. Coming up next, we're going to hear from the alleged victim's mother and also talk about these extremely rare charges.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Got some news just into us here at CNN. As we reported just a minute ago, we have now learned that President Obama will be giving a statement at the White House in just about 35 minutes from now.
Let's go straight to the White House, to correspondent Brianna Keilar, with perhaps some context as to what he will be announcing.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Brooke.
And just so you know, I'm having audio problems. I can't hear much about what you're saying. I hope you can hear me.
But we've just learned that at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, President Obama will make an announcement that his chief of staff, Bill Daley, is stepping down, is resigning, and that he will be replaced by Jack Lew, who is the president's budget chief at this moment. This transition expected to take place at the end of January, and we've certainly known that Daley was probably going to be leaving the White House after the reelection campaign. But now this news that he will be leaving sooner sort of paving the way here for a new person to be at the helm of the president's staff going into what is obviously a very tough battle for reelection.
We'll be getting more details here in the coming minutes, Brooke. We'll hear from the president himself on your show at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.
BALDWIN: And we will take that live. And perhaps between now and then we can get a little bit more context as to this timeline, why in January.
Brianna Keilar, thank you so much, that the news that Bill Daley will be leaving as chief of staff.
(WEATHER REPORT)
BALDWIN: And we're going to stay in Houston and talk to you about this troubling story out of there.
Police have taken this extremely rare step. They have charged two 10- year-old boys with sexually assaulting an 8-year-old classmate on a school bus.
The Houston Independent School District gave police surveillance video it says shows questionable behavior, prompting them to eventually arrest these two young boys. We reached out to school officials. Here's what they told CNN.
"The video appeared to show three male students engaged in inappropriate activity. The principal notified the parents of the students who were involved. The Houston Police Department and Child Protective Services were also notified."
We brought in Sunny Hostin, our legal go-to gal in New York.
And Sunny, in reading about this, first of all, it just sort of blows your mind to think -- again, these are charges, but we're talking about two 10-year-old boys. This has to be incredibly rare, this kind of case.
SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION," TRUTV: It is. It's exceedingly rare. I mean, we're talking about 10-year-old boys charged with aggravated sexual assault against an 8-year-old.
I think another interesting thing about it is we're talking about special needs children. It's a special needs bus that takes them to school. So, all around, these are peculiar circumstances.
Brooke, we're still looking into it. My understanding is that a lot of this was caught on videotape, but the parents have not seen the videotape yet, so we don't know that much about the case. But we do know that they have been charged with this aggravated sex assault, which is very rare. You usually do not see children at the age of 10 committing such serious sexual crimes.
BALDWIN: You mentioned the parents. Obviously they're furious. You can read about some of what they're saying in "The Houston Chronicle."
And they are questioning this investigation. They want to know why it took so long.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't know anything about it, and my son was still -- when he returned to school, he still was in the same situation again, on the bus with the same kids, in the same classroom with these same kids. So how do I know that happened to him again after the first incident?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, Sunny, she's wondering why her son was put back on that bus, and just for context sake, this happened back in August. And now we're hearing about these charges.
Why?
HOSTIN: That is peculiar. I will say that.
Typically, investigators want to act quickly when there is any indication that a sex crime occurred. But again, these are special circumstances. You're talking about juveniles, you're talking about children that could be susceptible to suggestion.
My understanding is the video isn't that clear and the bus driver claims he didn't see anything. So given those sets of circumstances, I'm not surprised that it took a while for these charges to finally come forward.
BALDWIN: As you mentioned, we're talking about aggravated sexual assault. If these two boys, if they are convicted, Sunny, what kind of sentences, what length are we talking here?
HOSTIN: Well, pretty significant, Brooke, we're talking about 40 years in prison if you combine the potential time in the juvenile court system and the adult court system. So extremely significant, extremely rare, and it's a case that I will certainly continue looking into.
BALDWIN: Please do. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much.
Now to this brand new CNN poll ranks the Republican presidential candidate sitting at the top of the list is this man, Mitt Romney.
But, of course, one of the most talked-about candidates is Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Coming up next, we're going to take you live to New Hampshire to get all the buzz on the Texas congressman and presidential hopeful. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The New Hampshire primary is tomorrow, and this man, Ron Paul, is making his rounds to nab some good numbers. Looking at -- these are live pictures. This is his latest stop. This is Stratton, New Hampshire.
But CNN polls still showing Mitt Romney is the top dog. Let's go to Dana Bash. She's been covering Congressman Paul for us in New Hampshire.
And I know Ron Paul is getting all kinds of, you know, media attention. I've been following your tweets, Dana, and you talk about just sort of the crush, the throng, you know, surrounding him.
And what was it, Mo and Joe's Diner this morning. He couldn't even stay 15 minutes in and out. It's was just so crowded.
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Barely that it was pretty intense. You know, I've been covering candidates up here many times in many different ways, and I've certainly seen that before.
That these candidates, especially, when you get the kind of popularity that he has right now, he's actually surging in the polls. In most polls is second to Mitt Romney, just in second, but still second, which is pretty significant.
And he has this individual attention to him now, something that he's really not been used to, Brooke. He has been here in New Hampshire just like he was in Iowa. On and off for a very, very long time and this kind of attention is new to him.
I think it's fair to say that his campaign wasn't prepared for this, and it was pretty intense for him, and he did leave earlier than expected. He was supposed to sit down and have breakfast and he didn't do so.
A couple of voters I talked to were not happy about that. They said they have seen this before as well. They've seen candidates come in and get crushed by the attention, by the cameras, but they still find a way to maneuver and talk to the voters.
I actually asked Ron Paul about that, and let's just say he wasn't very happy with the question and he said that it was our fault in the media and that the people who didn't get to talk to him should be furious at us -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Well, you mentioned you talked to him and he may not compete in Florida? Dana, what's that about?
BASH: This is really interesting. Obviously, after New Hampshire for people who are local junkies like us, they know that the next primary is going to be in South Carolina. And then that following that is Florida.
And the whole question is, what happens with Ron Paul down the road? Florida is a state where it's very expensive, but it is also a state where because of some internal disputes, they probably won't have the number of delegates that a traditionally delegate-rich state has.
So what Paul told me is that he is probably not -- he doesn't have the money to compete there and he's probably going to focus on other states where he can continue to pick up delegates. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't have plans for, you know, like a $10 million, $20 million program because we don't have that money in the bank and we can't go to Wall Street to get this money. So we'll have to wait ask and see, but it is planned at this moment we don't have a big campaign there. (Inaudible) there and we have the caucus estates that we'll be paying more attention to.
BASH: Does that say anything about your efforts to actually secure the nomination. I mean, it's sort of hard to do it without really competing in a state like Florida?
PAUL: Well, I think it tells you that we are realistic and that's the way we approached Iowa. We thought we did pretty well there, and right now, we're looking pretty good up here. So I think we're being realistic. We shouldn't be acting like the government and plans to spend money we don't have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: But I think what this tells us, Brooke, is something that has got the Republican establishment kind of worry. And that is that if Ron Paul is kind of planning ahead like this and planning to gobble up as many delegates as he possibly can, that means he is going to be in this for the long haul.
That means that he's not going to go away, which has been very clear. He's not going to away very easily if he doesn't actually secure the nomination. So that means it's going to be a pretty interesting moment as we get to Tampa to the Republican convention.
It also gives him a lot of leverage as to whether or not this is something speaking platform, which he could demand, or more importantly, to get some of his views put into the Republican platform at the Republican convention.
BALDWIN: Yes, Dana Bash on the trail of the Texas congressman. Dana, appreciate it. Thank you so much.
We're going to go away from politics just for a moment. We'll be right back to it, but first straight out of a movie, drug enforcement agents working to dismantle this major international cocaine distribution ring.
They reportedly pretended to be money launderers in a secret operation out of Mexico. I'm talking about smuggling millions of dollars in cash, tens of thousands of dollars in wire transfers, even transporting huge amounts of cocaine across country lines. We've got the story, 2 minute away. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We have just found out just in the course of the last 5 or 10 minutes or so the president will be issuing a statement live. You can see live pictures there in Washington of the White House. We're going to take it for you at the top of the hour, so just about 20 minutes from now.
Speaking to Brianna Keilar a moment ago, she told me basically that the (inaudible) in this announcement is that the president will be telling America that Bill Daley, his chief of staff, will be stepping down.
And Jack Lew, his current Budget Chief will be taking that top spot and the timing of this -- hopefully, we'll get a little bit of context, but apparently, that will be happening at the end of this month. So stay tuned for that at the top of the hour.
Meantime, we are getting a rare look at exactly how far federal agents will go to get the bad guys. In this case, the bad guys here are the Mexican drug traffickers and the feds tactics reported include helping them, helping them move millions of dollars in cash.
CNN's Latin American affairs editor, Rafael Romo, big title, very important job. You've been following the story for us. I mean, obviously, look, this is what the DEA does, but it does sound like a movie plot. The fact that now we're getting some of these details. How exactly -- they were helping initially.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Exactly. Well, it's a story that involves three main characters. A Mexican drug kingpin by the name of Arturo Beltran Leyva, a Columbian supplier who was caught in Mexico and a Columbian informant all working together to launder money and the DEA allegedly knew about this and was facilitating this.
But the idea here was not to break the law, but infiltrate the cartel so they could arrest these characters. Number one, the kingpin was shot killed in December of 2009. The Columbian trafficker was also arrested in 2010 so that's the main idea here.
Now, the DEA officially is saying this. Listen to this. "We have been working collaboratively with the Mexican government to fight money laundering for years. As a result of this cooperation, we have seized illicit transnational criminal organization money all around the world through our partnership with law enforcement. And finally, we do not discuss the operational aspects of law enforcement activities."
But Brooke, in the intelligence community, what they're saying is, look, this is nothing new. It's been happening for decades, and let me show you what a former DEA agent said about this. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT STRANG, FORMER DEA AGENT: The real question here is whether or not undercover agents need to sell drugs, buy drugs, launder money, and I've got to tell you, there is no way to make these kinds of great, international, sophisticated conspiracy cases unless you're going to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: So the bottom line here is, and what's making some people uncomfortable, is how much is too much?
BALDWIN: What exactly did they apparently do? Were they, I mean, bringing some of the cocaine, carrying some of the cocaine allegedly?
ROMO: At one point, they were making wire transfers of tens of thousands of dollars and they were smuggling bulks of cash of $3 million, $4 million. It all came from an extradition order in Mexico that was published by a magazine, and that information was shared with the "New York Times" and that's how this story came about.
But we're talking about large quantities of money, but at the end of the day, the question is, do the means justify the end? And it's debatable. You know, you ask different people, you get different answers.
BALDWIN: DEA, great organization. This is as they would say, they're just doing their job.
ROMO: But they have been effective, you have to say.
BALDWIN: Absolutely they have. Rafael Romo, thank you.
A controversial new straight to DVD movie set in Harlem depicts extremely, extremely violent images of children. We're talking as young as 12 years of age. We're just going to play just a piece of this.
This is graphic, just a heads up. Let me tell you that is not even close to the worst of it. Much of the trailer for the movie, we can't even show you here on television, on CNN.
The movie's director, he is standing by live right now. Coming up next, we'll ask him about these young kids in the movie and why he made it. Don't miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: A new film that portrays child gangsters as young as 12 involved in wild shootouts, drugs and sex causing quite a stir. In fact, violence advocates are outraged over this independent, straight to DVD film. It's called "Toddlers." Here's a short clip.
I want to bring in the director of the movie "Toddlers," Maine Brown live in New York for me. Maine, I watched the trailer. You know, in total, it likes one minute, we can't show it all on TV.
I almost myself couldn't get through the whole thing, the blood, the shooting, you know, straight in the head at one point, but I suppose that that is precisely part of the purpose you made the movie.
MAINE BROWN, DIRECTOR, "TODDLERS": Say that again. I didn't hear you, ma'am.
BALDWIN: Can you hear me, Maine?
BROWN: Yes, I can hear you.
BALDWIN: OK, so my question is, I was just saying I couldn't even get through the whole trailer, it was so violent. I imagine that's part of the reason you made the movie in the first place.
BROWN Right. Like I told everybody else, it's a harsh reality that I'm just showing, you know, so basically the message about the film is just basically on this is what happens when a family, you know, break up.
When a father leaves, you know, the home and there is no guidance for the child and these things happen. You understand? So I'm just showing that.
BALDWIN: So, Maine, if you can, in 30 seconds or less, what's the crux of the movie? What's it about?
BROWN: It's basically about a baseball player growing up in a neighborhood, and he witnessed his father being murdered. And he had to take actions on, you know, who murdered his father.
BALDWIN: Take actions meaning shooting and killing people.
BROWN: I mean, you know, that's what it was in the film.
BALDWIN: Maine, I want to ask you about some of these actors. I know they're - you know, some of these guys you grabbed off the streets right there in Harlem. In fact, the first time in front of the camera for a lot of them, let's just watch one more clip. This is Jordan Pena. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something happened to dad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. He's not coming back home never.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is going to take care of us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Had he ever been in front of the camera before? He's playing this character named "Peto." How much of a stretch -- you talk about reality. How much of a stretch was this role for him?
BROWN: I mean, it was -- you know, I got him through the whole process of the film, and he was naturally just -- he was just being himself. But this kid goes to school and everything like that, and all the kids attended the school (inaudible) and they see how it is to make a film.
BALDWIN: There are all kinds as I know you know non-violence folks coming forward saying your film should be banned. I know the local video shop in Harlem. You know, some people are saying this shouldn't even be sold and I do have to ask you. I know your nickname is M5, that's an assault rifle. How does that promote pacifism?
BROWN: I mean, it's just a name. The five stands for I was almost killed when I was five years old and that stands for my name.
BALDWIN: You were almost killed when you were five? I mean, you're from Harlem, Maine. Forget the cameras and the movie. What happens day to day on the Harlem City streets and what are you, through your film hoping to change about that?
BROWN: Basically, any and everything goes on in Harlem and in my film, I'm just trying to show the negative and then show the positive.
BALDWIN: What's the positive? How are you helping?
BROWN: The positive is, you know, taking these kids off the streets and doing activities and doing films and teaching them how to edit and doing music videos and be an actor and stuff like that.
Now these kids are aspiring to be in any film and do anything. What you'll see on this film that I got on those trailer. They're actors. That's entertainment. So I understand, you know, there are films that have been made like this. So I don't understand, you know, everybody is making a big deal about it and I can understand it.
BALDWIN: OK, Maine Brown, your film is called "Toddlers." Thank you. Just curious to you watching, let us know what you think about the film. Give me a tweet @brookbcnn. Breaking news here from the White House today, Chief of Staff Bill Daley is stepping down. The president is expected to talk live to make an announcement if he's on time just about 8 minutes from now.
Wolf Blitzer, Brianna Keilar standing by for me. Coming up next, we're going to talk to them about these implications of this move, which is supposed to happen at the end of this month. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Gas prices, they're going up. Let's go to Alison Kosik as always she is live for us at the New York Stock Exchange. We're talking more than a dime, Alison, over the last couple weeks. Why?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly, 12 cents, to be exact in just three weeks. The Lumberg survey, Brooke, is saying that the average price of gas is now sitting at $3.35 that's as of Friday.
The price hike is the first since October, and why is this happening? It's tied to the rising price of crude oil. Tensions with Iran are pushing up the price of oil above $100 a barrel.
That's trickling down to prices at the pump, and guess what, the trend is only up. Gas prices, Brooke, are expected to keep climbing because of tighter supplies and the potential for this Iranian conflict -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: All right, Alison Kosik, thank you very much. We are just about 5 minutes away. Let's bring in this man, Wolf Blitzer. We're 5 minutes away from hearing from the president.
We just found out within the last hour, he is going to be announcing from the White House that his Chief of Staff Bill Daley is going to be leaving that post at the end of this month and Jack Lew who's the current Budget Director will be slipping in his spot.
We had anticipated Bill Daley leaving, right, at the end of the election year, correct?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": I always assumed he would stay at least through the November elections.
BALDWIN: Right.
BLITZER: This is a surprise. You know, it shouldn't be a complete surprise because he did give over some of his responsibilities as White House chief of staff to Pete Rouse, who was the interim, the acting chief of staff after Rahm Emmanuel left the White House to run as the mayor of Chicago.
So it's not a complete surprise. I think there are some style issues, some substantive issues. One thing I'll be looking forward to, learning very soon, and I suspect we will, whether Bill Daley was completely comfortable with some of the sort of efforts by the president in recent weeks to really go back and energize that Democratic Party base.
What the Republicans call, quote, "class warfare." You know, he comes from a much more sort of -- let's work these kinds of things out. We don't have to get in fights all the time, try to work with Republicans.
There may have been an issue there because, as you know, the president sort of poking the eye of the Republicans in the House and Senate in recent weeks. I'm not sure that Bill Daley always felt all that comfortable with that, if you understand what I mean?
BALDWIN: I understand what you mean. We'll look for that as we watch the president if he's on time in just about 3 minutes from now.
Meantime, let's go to the White House, Brianna Keilar on the ground for us there. Brianna, what more do you know about what we should be hearing from the president in a matter of minutes?
KEILAR: Well, Brooke, we're going to be hearing a brief statement. Expect the president to speak for a few minutes. He'll obviously be talking about Daley stepping down and touting really, I guess, sort of accomplishments or how qualified Jack Lew is and the role that he will serve now as chief of staff.
But you heard Wolf there, Brooke, say that he was surprised? Well, according to a senior administration official that I spoke to with, he was in pretty good company because President Obama himself, his aide told me was surprised as well.
Here's how this all went down. On Tuesday, a little less than a week ago, which was the president's first full day back from Hawaii, or his first day back from vacation, that is when Daley, who had spent the holidays at home in Chicago, approached him and offered his resignation, saying he thought about it with his wife over the time he was home, and he thought now was the time to step down.
And the president was surprised, he told me. He said to Daley, at first, he didn't accept the resignation. He said, think about it for a day, I want you to stay on, let's talk about this tomorrow. Then on Wednesday he spoke with Daley about it again, and Daley still had the same feeling.
According to this aide, there was a sense that there had just been this victory over the payroll tax cut and this would be a good time for him to go. And ultimately the president, with some discussion with Daley and his aide talked about Jack Lew as a replacement, and on Friday, Lew accepted the position after discussions with the president.
But yes, I think some people are surprised at how quickly Daley came in and out of this. But the White House, Brooke, not surprisingly kind of push him back on any suggestion that, you know, this was awfully quick, maybe it wasn't a good fit. They say that wasn't the case and they never expected Daley to stay all that long. But certainly he is departing much sooner than we expected him to -- Brooke. BALDWIN: So, Brianna, standby. So my question to you is you said you were surprised, this aide was surprised and then taking a step further hearing that the president was surprised when he came back from Hawaii. And that he said, can you think about it and still Daley came back and said, you know, sorry but no.
BLITZER: I think it's in part because Daley probably himself concluded it wasn't a good fit, for whatever reasons. We don't know the intrigue that was going on although we're learning more and more. This new book about the first lady, Michelle Obama, that Judy Cantor has written.
BALDWIN: Right.
BLITZER: -- from the "New York Times" describes a lot of backstabbing, back fighting, it goes on every White House and I've covered several White Houses. It all goes on. There's a lot of egos there. There's always fighting that's going on and sometimes it goes up all the way to the highest levels, including the White House chief of staff. That's the nature of the beast when you're dealing at that level of politics. But there's a lot of stuff that is always going on. It's never good, though, when a chief of staff leaves the White House this close to an election.
BALDWIN: On an election year, end of January.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: If he was going to do it, he should have done it six months, a year ago. This is not necessarily something that is good for the president, for the vice president, for the reelection campaign. You have to have a team in place and you can't start losing major players this close to the election.
BALDWIN: I'm hearing the all-call here in the newsroom. We're two minutes away, two minutes away from the president.
Brianna, do you even know if there will be a Q&A following the patient, or is this just the president speaking and then he's out?
KEILAR: We don't know whether that whether there will be a Q&A, but I suspect that it's a good conclusion that there will not be, that this will be a brief statement where he talks about Daley stepping down, talks about Jack Lew coming in. That's what you should expect, a very brief event.
BALDWIN: Do we think, Wolf Blitzer, Jack Lew stepping in to this job is this something that he would have wanted to do?
BLITZER: I don't think Jack Lew was thinking about it. Jack Lew is a very smart guy. I have known him for many years. He was a budget director during the Clinton administration. When President Obama took over, he went and got a really major job working for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department, and then they brought him over to OMB, the Office of Management and Budget, where he's done a very, very strong job. He's got good relations with people on the Hill, including Republicans. He's highly respected, although he's not necessarily someone known for political intrigue, if you will. He's more of a straight kind of shooter. To be a White House chief of staff, you have to have a strong political background in addition to a substantive policy background.
Jack Lew spent many years working on Capitol Hill, so he knows Capitol Hill. He knows the executive branch of the government. I'm sure he will be ready. I'm sure we will hear from the president strong words of praise from Bill Daley, how grateful he is to him for doing what he has done. He's a former commerce secretary during the Clinton administration. Then we will hear some really nice words from Jack Lew. I assume we will hear Jack Lew and Bill Daley as well.
BALDWIN: And there he is. Let's listen in.
