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White House Chief of Staff Resigns; Republican Candidates in New Hampshire, South Carolina; Iran Sentences American To Death; Santorum Losing Momentum?

Aired January 09, 2012 - 15:02   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And there he is. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello, everybody. Hope you all had a good weekend.

Last week my chief of staff, Bill Daley, informed me that after spending time reflecting with his family over the holidays, he decided it was time to leave Washington and return to our beloved hometown of Chicago.

Obviously, this was not easy news to hear and I didn't accept Bill's decision right away. In fact, I asked him to take a couple of days to make sure that he was sure about this.

But in the end, the pull of the hometown we both love, a city that's been synonymous with the Daley family for generations, was too great. Bill told me that he wanted to spend more time with his family, especially his grandchildren, and he felt it was the right decision.

One of the things that made it easier was the extraordinary work that he has done for me during what has been an extraordinary year. Bill has been an outstanding chief of staff during one of the busiest and most consequential years of my administration.

We were thinking back just a year ago this weekend. Before he was even named for the job, Bill was in the Situation Room getting updates on the shooting in Tucson. On his very first day Bill took part in a meeting where we discussed Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad. This was all before he even had time to unpack his office.

Over the last year he's been intimately involved in every decision surrounding the end of the war in Iraq and our support of the people of Libya as they fought for their freedom. He was instrumental in developing the American Jobs Act and making sure taxes didn't go up on middle class families. He helped us reach an agreement to reduce the deficit by over $2 trillion. And he played a central role in passing historic trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Given his past record of service as the secretary of commerce he was invaluable in all these negotiations. So no one in my administration has had to make more important decisions more quickly than Bill. And that's why I think this decision was difficult for me. Naturally, when Bill told me his plans to go back to Chicago, I asked him who I thought could fill his shoes.

He told me there was one clear choice, and I believe he's right. So today I'm pleased to announce that Jack Lew has agreed to serve as my next chief of staff.

Let me begin, first of all, by thanking Ruth for allowing Jack...

(LAUGHTER)

... to serve in what I know is one of the most difficult jobs in Washington.

But Jack's had one of the other most difficult jobs in Washington. For more than a year, Jack has served as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. As anyone who's been following the news lately can tell you, this is not an easy job.

During his first tour at OMB under President Clinton, Jack was the only budget director in history to preside over budget surpluses for three consecutive years. And over the last year, he has helped strengthen our economy and streamline the government at a time when we need to do everything we can to keep our recovery going.

Jack's economic advice has been invaluable, and he has my complete trust, both because of his mastery of the numbers but because of the values behind those numbers.

Ever since he began his career in public service as a top aide to Speaker Tip O'Neill, Jack has fought for an America where hard work and responsibility pay off, a place where everybody gets a fair shot; everybody does their fair share and everybody plays by the same rules.

And that belief is reflected in every decision that Jack makes. Jack also has my confidence on matters outside the borders. Before he served at OMB for me, Jack spent two years running the extremely complex and challenging budget and operations process for Secretary Clinton at the State Department, where his portfolio also included managing the civilian operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

OBAMA: And over the last year, he has weighed in on many of the major foreign policy decisions that we've made.

So there is no question that I'm going to deeply miss having Bill by my side here at the White House. But as he will soon find out, Chicago is only a phone call away and I'm going to be using that phone number quite a bit. I plan to continue to seek Bill's advice and counsel on a whole range of issues in the months and years to come.

And here in Washington, I have every confidence that Jack will make sure that we don't miss a beat and continue to do everything we can to strengthen our economy and the middle class and keep the American people safe. So I want to thank once again Bill for his extraordinary service, but also his extraordinary friendship and loyalty to me. It's meant a lot.

And I want to congratulate Jack on his new role. I know he's going to do an outstanding job.

So, thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

OBAMA: Thank you. Good luck.

Thank you, everybody.

(END LIVE SPEECH)

BALDWIN: And that's it. So Bill Daley out, Jack Lew in.

Brianna reported just as we just heard that they came back from Hawaii, the president and Bill Daley had a conversation, and that he didn't initially accept the resignation, think about it for a couple days. and he thought about it, he still wants to.

Ultimately, he kept saying Chicago, go home to Chicago, the hometown pull. There's more to it than that.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S THE SITUATION ROOM: Whenever they say they want to spend more time with their family, that's a good excuse, but there is something else going on.

We will learn a more about that. One of the questions I want to find out -- and Jack Lew is a talented guy. I have known him for a long time. Very smart, well plugged in. I'm sure he will do an excellent job for the president, but he did have another deputy White House chief of staff named Pete Rouse who was the interim chief of staff after Rahm Emanuel left.

Maybe Brianna can help us.

Brianna, do you know why the president didn't ask -- we know that Bill Daley recommended Jack Lew, but what about Pete Rouse? Does he stay on there? Why wasn't he promoted to the full-time White House chief of staff?

BRIANNA KEILAR: Wolf, and we don't know the answer to that, but one of the things we saw in November which sort of gave a sense that perhaps there was some issue with Daley, and certainly that was not confirmed by any White House official, and they have pushed back on that, was when Daley passed off some of his daily duties to Rouse, and there was some speculation what that meant for succession.

But you heard the president there saying that when he asked Daley, there was one clear choice, and that was Jack Lew, someone whose accomplishments they're touting. And certainly one of the things that an aide I spoke with said, when it comes to Lew, this is someone who has been in the dailies, meeting with top aides at 7:30 every morning for the past year and is intimately familiar with all the issues, but no discussion exactly what that means for the future of Pete Rouse, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a good point.

BALDWIN: Final question, just seeing all of this, I'm just wondering, now that we're obviously covering, we're talking New Hampshire tomorrow, is this the kind of thing, this is sort of perfect fodder, perfect bait for Republicans as they see the chief of staff, election year, just bailing.

BLITZER: I think the Republicans have a lot of other issues they can deal with right now. This will be a 24-48 story I suspect.

Neither Bill Daley, nor Jack Lew, or Pete Rouse, for that matter, are household names out there. Most people, when they hear what does a White House chief of staff do, they're not even exactly sure what a White House chief of staff does.

But I can tell you, as a former White House correspondent, the White House chief of staff is very, very powerful, important and does a great deal for the president, the vice president, the Cabinet.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Jack Lew will have a really important job right now. I'm sure the president is 100 percent right when he says, he didn't want to change right now. It's not great time.

But I think the Republicans have other issues that they can go after the president on. This is not going to necessarily be one of them.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Small potatoes.

BLITZER: In the world of politics, jobs, jobs, jobs.

BALDWIN: Jobs. We will talk later this hour, see what you have coming up on "THE SITUATION ROOM." Thank you very much.

Coming up next: The men who would like the president's job, they are out in full force, as we mentioned, New Hampshire tomorrow. They're campaigning for the public nomination, and things are getting heated, especially between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. We're going to tell you what Romney said today just this afternoon that could possibly come back to haunt him.

Plus, Iran has sentenced an American, an ex-Marine, to death. We're live at the Pentagon on this developing story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to the race for the White House and the Republican candidates campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina today.

Let's go straight to Dan Lothian, who is live in a bakery in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Dan Lothian, I'm sure it smells good. Why are you in a bakery, friend?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It does.

I'm right behind the counter. You can see all these wonderful, tasty treats right behind me. Jon Huntsman supporters and the media packed in here. He will be arriving in about 30 minutes or so. This is the big push in the final hours before voters start heading to the polls.

And again the target for Mr. Huntsman is Mitt Romney, really trying to cast him as someone who is pushing for politics while he is the one who is putting country first. That is a theme that we heard him talk about over the weekend during the debates where he was criticized for working for the Obama administration as an ambassador in China, and he said that he puts country first, again, at every stop.

So far today he has been hammering that theme, that he puts country first. This will be the fourth stop that he will be making of about seven stops in this final day campaigning here in New Hampshire, Brooke.

BALDWIN: We have the poll, and let's just put the poll back up. It shows Jon Huntsman, he is running third there in New Hampshire. Dan, is third high enough for him to stay in the race, has he said?

LOTHIAN: Well, I guess ultimately, it depends on how those numbers actually look.

You know, does he basically just squeeze into third or is there more spread between all the candidates? He believes that he's going to do better than expectation, but the big issue here is that he really put all his eggs into one basket. He bypassed Iowa and spent all the time campaigning here in New Hampshire. I asked him what his strategy was going forward since he has spent so much time here.

He says he feels good about the organization that he has in South Carolina, pointed out that his wife is from Florida, so feeling pretty comfortable that he can move his campaign beyond New Hampshire and beyond tomorrow.

BALDWIN: We know New Hampshire, South Carolina and then Florida. Dan Lothian, we will be watching for him and the rest of the candidates tomorrow night big prime time starting 7:00 Eastern. Got you covered. Thank you.

Meantime, Iran has sentenced an American ex-Marine to death for espionage. He is Amir Hekmati. He was convicted of working for an enemy country, but his family says he was merely there visiting relatives.

Barbara Starr is live for us at the Pentagon.

Barbara, what is the State Department saying about this?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Right now, they're trying to find out more about all of this, what is facing this younger former Marine, former military translator who said he went to Iran simply to visit relatives. Now he faces the death penalty there for espionage.

Here's a bit of what the State Department had to say about all of this today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA NULAND, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: If it is true that he has been so sentenced, we would condemn this verdict in the strongest terms, and we are working with all of our partners to convey that condemnation to the Iranian government. We've maintained from the beginning that the charges against him were a fabrication, and we call on the Iranian government to release him immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: One of the key questions is, what is really going on with Iran here. Tensions between the U.S. and the Iranian regime couldn't be more strained these days, could they? Is this in fact the latest case of Iran detaining an American citizen inside that country and perhaps falsely charging them for other political motives, other anti- American rhetoric?

That's what worries the administration the most right now. They say absolutely this young former Marine was not working for the CIA and had nothing to do with espionage when he went to Iran -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: If this is just anti-American rhetoric, then how likely is it he will actually face death, face execution?

STARR: Well, you're right. That is the question right now that no one could answer. There have been other Americans detained and released after being in Iranian custody and in the Iranian jail system for some period of time.

What will happen to this young man remains a very great concern. Behind the scenes, of course, as the State Department has hinted, they are working through other countries very urgently trying to communicate with the Iranians, find out exactly what is really going on and find out what's really on the table here.

BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, thank you so much for us at the Pentagon today.

We're also today getting a rare first-hand look at the violence inside of Syria, more protesters there, taking a look inside. In fact, we heard from Nic Robertson, who is one of the first if not only Western journalists to see some of this violence. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Passion 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, birdshot wounds, as well as some people showed us where they said had been shot by forces loyal to the government.

Yet, at the same time, in the center of Damascus today, we have seen large pro-democracy rallies, people telling us that they love President Bashar al-Assad.

What is happening here is this country is dividing, it's polarizing people are believing opposite things. Some believe the president is the right man 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson for us.

Back here at home: heads up. A huge recall that impacts millions of Americans. Check your medicine cabinets, because you could be taking the wrong pill.

We are just now getting in some brand-new information about this developing. Elizabeth Cohen standing by. I use some of this stuff. We're going to talk next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you buy over-the-counter drugs, listen up. There is a chance you might have taken the wrong pill.

I want to bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here.

A pharmaceutical company today announcing this massive recall.

First, who are we talking about?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The company is Novartis.

And they're announcing a recall of four drugs, Excedrin, NoDoz, Bufferin, and Gas-X Prevention.

And here's one of the reasons why. They say it is possible that let's say an Excedrin might have ended up in Gas-X Prevention bottle or vice versa, or some NoDoz in Bufferin. That was bad enough.

But then we learned this morning from the FDA that this facility, they also produce something called Opana, which is an opioid painkiller, and that there is a possibility that an opioid painkiller might have ended up in one of these bottles. They don't know if it happened or not, but it's a possibility.

BALDWIN: How does this happen? Is somebody asleep at the wheel, popping pills in bottles?

COHEN: You know what is interesting? If you have ever seen these little machines that kind of...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Right. Right.

COHEN: And what they found is that sometimes the pills might get stuck in that little tube. And on the next day, when they're doing a different kind of drug, that pill goes into it.

So, I want to tell people what they need to look for, the bottles. So, Excedrin and NoDoz, you're going to look for bottles that expire December 20, 2014, or earlier. Look at that, Brooke, December 20, 2014, that's a huge amount of drugs. And I don't just mean Excedrin. I mean like Excedrin PM and all sorts of variations on Excedrin.

And for Bufferin and Gas-X Prevention, December 2013 or earlier.

If you have got it in your Cabinet, bring it back and get a refund. And if you see it on the shelf, don't buy it, because it might still be on the shelves.

BALDWIN: Everyone on my team comes to me when they have a headache, because they know upper left-hand drawer is this bottle. I'm about to feel really bad, but what do I need to do?

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: You just look for the expiration date. So if you take a look on here, my guess is that this is included. It expires July 2013. This is Excedrin. Yes. Bring that back, get save some money and take the staff out to lunch.

BALDWIN: Sorry, guys.

So, bottom line, take a look. If you're OK, you're in the clear, no big deal?

COHEN: Right. Right.

What's interesting about this is that the FDA has been monitoring Novartis and has been visiting them and giving them citations for all sorts of violations. One of their plants, they said, you're not keeping things clean, we're not sure it's sterile. Exactly. And two months ago, they said you really need to clean up your act. And now we're seeing this happen, that possibly things got switched around.

BALDWIN: That is so frightening.

COHEN: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen...

COHEN: Oh, you don't want your money back?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Thank you very much.

Still ahead: Two women who don't know each other, they live 500 miles apart, suddenly they disappear. The circumstances, they are not only eerie, they are leading some to question whether the cases are at all connected.

Michelle Sigona has been digging on this for us today. She's going to me live next.

Also, in 80 seconds, you're about to meet a guy who performs with singers Jimmy Buffett using a rare instrument. Can you guess? Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was a kid, there was no such thing as a touring solo ukulele player.

But I do remember the first time she took it off the shelf and placed it in my hand. And I remember just -- it was -- I was so nervous just holding this instrument. I just fell in love with it.

There's something very special about the ukulele. It's very peaceful. And people of all ages aren't afraid to pick it up play it for the first I mean.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Don't forget to catch CNN's brand-new show. We're calling it "THE NEXT LIST" featuring some of America's brightest minds. Dr. Sanjay Gupta's hosts Sundays 2:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Coming up next: two convicted murderers are free walking the streets, after Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour pardoned them. Find out what is behind the move and a move that is certainly speaking outrage right now -- back in 70 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "On the Case" today, you have these two women in two different cities. They just vanish just days apart. Both are young, both are African-American, and both of their cars were found with the engines still running. I want to bring in investigative reporter Michelle Sigona. I know she has been digging on this one, tracking the ins and outs of these cases.

And before we get into the weeds on this, Michelle, are the investigators, are they at all linking, conclusively linking the two cases or not yet?

MICHELLE SIGONA, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, MICHELLE SIGONA.COM: Here's what I can confirm for you, Brooke, and I have spoken with both agencies. They are talking TO one another.

They do think there are similarities on the surface, which they are looking into, but right now there is no evidence linking the cases together. They are still moving forward with separate investigations. Both women are being investigated as missing persons.

BALDWIN: Tell me about these women. We're talking about Phoenix Coldon and Stacey English. Who are they? How and when did they disappear?

SIGONA: Phoenix, she is 23 years old. She disappeared on December 18. I did confirm that with investigators.

And another thing they told me was that her vehicle was found in Illinois. It's about 25 minutes away from Saint Louis from where she went missing and her vehicle was found running about three hours later. So there is a three-hour gap from the time she was last seen and reported missing until the point where her vehicle was found.

Then moving forward to Stacey's case about 500 miles away, Stacey was reported missing -- I have the incident report in front of me -- on December the 31st. But she was last seen around the 26th or the 27th. Her vehicle was also found running on the opposite end of town, and her car was also impounded.

She was last seen in the incident report acting a little bit peculiar. She was apparently shouting some biblical verses and asked the person who was staying with her who was in town from St. Louis if he was Satan. He did, in fact, leave.

So, there's - you know, although this is some interesting circumstances surrounding Stacey's case, she is still missing. We do need to find her.

So, at this point, both - both women - and they look a lot alike. Although there's somewhat of an age gap, they look a lot alike.

BALDWIN: We have heard from the family of Stacey English. Obviously they're pleading for any and all information to bring their daughter back. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLORIA GALDON: I need to see Phoenix. I need to - I need to hug her. She needs to come home. REVEREND KEVIN JAMISON: Please, please, anyone, if you found anything, come forward now. We need our daughter home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: What are the families doing? I mean, it's always effective to have the families in front of the cameras pleading to the - for their kids to come home. What are they up to?

SIGONA: They are being vocal. Thank good. They have also started Facebook pages. They're really getting active in the community and going out and working with investigators.

I've confirmed that the last person, for instance, in Stacey's case, the gentleman that was staying with her, is cooperating with investigators. So, that is a good thing, especially when the last person to see these people, you know, they're giving all the information.

Phoenix was living with her mom. Her mom was the last person to see her. She was in the driveway talking on her cell phone inside of her vehicle with it running, which is not abnormal for her.

So, you know, there is - there is some interesting similarities between both of these cases and these are beautiful women and, if anyone has any information, we just really just encourage you to just contact authorities. Even if you think it's something small, it could really be something big.

BALDWIN: Call the police. Excellent point, Michelle Sigona, as always. Thank you.

SIGONA: Have a good day.

BALDWIN: Two convicted killers, they are free today after last- minute pardons by outgoing, Mississippi governor, Haley Barber.

Both of these men, they were serving life sentences for murder. Both reportedly served as inmate trustees at the governor's mansion.

The victims' families, they are outraged over these pardons today. A spokeswoman for the Mississippi Office of Correction says that, quote, "It is at any governor's discretion."

And, just in to us here at CNN, Snoop Dogg - yes, Snoop Dogg - in a bit of trouble today. We are now learning the hip-hop star busted on a drug charge after border agents searched his tour bus in Texas. We are told they found three prescription bottles filled with marijuana.

Police say Snoop Dogg, quote, "freely admits" that they were his. In fact, a drug dog sniffed them out.

We checked his Twitter page. No mention of the arrest. He has nearly 600 million Twitter followers.

By the way, this is the same stretch of highway where Willie Nelson was busted back in 2010.

Now this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If somebody's going to crumble, they better crumble before the nomination. I mean, you don't want to end up in September with a nominee who's been untested and can't stand it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Newt Gingrich, answering a question about this movie that is coming out featuring Mitt Romney and his time in the business world. And what's apparently in it is prompting Gingrich to predict trouble for the front runner.

Plus, Jon Huntsman trying to convince voters he is more electable than any of his Republican contenders. He is out taking a dig today at Romney in the process.

We're live again in New Hampshire. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Of course, here on CNN, never going too far from the race for president.

First, I want to talk about Newt Gingrich. Definitely stirring things up on the eve of the New Hampshire primary.

I want to go straight to Manchester, New Hampshire, CNN's Paul Steinhauser. That is CNN Senior Political Editor, Paul Steinhauser, and let's just listen to just a little bit from Newt Gingrich, essentially saying that Mitt Romney looted the management firm that he founded back in 1984. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: 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 17,000 families without a job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And, Paul, it sounds like Romney took the bait on that. Any fallout today?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's fighting words. And here's what's going on.

Listen, as Mitt Romney runs for the Republican nomination, he says, "I am the best equipped of all the candidates to create jobs." He points to his years as a businessman, especially at Bain Capital. We've heard a lot about Bain Capital, Brooke, that private equity firm.

OK, so, here's what's going on now. A lot of the other candidates are saying, "You know what, maybe you didn't make all those jobs. Maybe you actually destroyed jobs when you were at Bain Capital, buying companies and ripping them up, and Romney's disputing that.

Well, a pro-Gingrich "Super PAC," we're heard about these third party independent groups. This "SuperPAC" has acquired a 27-minute film, Brooke, that basically bashes Romney's time at Bain Capital and now they've spent $3.5 million.

They're going to go up with ads. They're going to blanket South Carolina, the next primary state, with ads from this movie. And that really (inaudible) - you know, this is separate from Gingrich, of course, right? Independent of Gingrich, but it's going to be attacking Romney.

Romney was asked about that a couple hours ago right here in New Hampshire. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Gee, I thought he apologized for going after my record at Bain. Wasn't that just a couple weeks ago?

So, he apologized for that and now he's decided to make that a centerpiece. Well, I'm not going to worry about that. As we'll find out, free enterprise will be on trial. I thought it was going to come from the president and the Democrats, from the left, but instead it's coming from Speaker Gingrich and apparently others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Well, actually, it's coming from both sides, too, because - yes, as Romney said, the Democrats are starting to attack Romney over his years at Bain. But, look, if Romney's the nominee, we're going to be hearing about Bain Capital all the way till November.

BALDWIN: And, you know, Wolf and I were talking earlier. We heard those words again, you know, I like to fire people and that really could come back to haunt Romney.

My other question, though, is the Gingrich strategy. What is the strategy moving forward. I know a lot of folks, you know, they kind of wrote him off after his weak showing last Tuesday in Iowa where he once led the field, once upon a time.

STEINHAUSER: Yes, I guess his strategy is hoping to finish maybe third or fourth place here. They -- listen, they know this is Romney country, New Hampshire.

Their strategy is to go down to South Carolina in a couple of days and really make that contrast. Gingrich wants to show that he is the conservative alternative and that Romney is, as he calls him, that moderate from Massachusetts.

Gingrich hoping for a better showing in South Carolina than he'll probably get right here in New Hampshire, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. Paul Steinhauser, thank you so much.

Again, New Hampshire primary tomorrow. Let's talk about Rick Santorum. He is trying to win over voters after the virtual tie - remember he lost to Romney by eight votes in Iowa last Tuesday, late, late in the wee hours of the morning.

Here he is. Live pictures from -- this is Somersworth, New Hampshire. Recent polls out of the University of New Hampshire have Santorum teetering somewhere between fourth and fifth place.

Let's go to Joe Johns there at that event.

Can Santorum, Joe - can he bounce back from that?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's been tough. I mean, he's kind of been outgunned. He admitted that as much.

We're at the American Legion outpost, American Legion Post 69 in Somersworth, and the former senator is speaking right now, Brooke.

Earlier today, he was in Nashua, New Hampshire, and he talked a little bit about some of the challenges his campaign is facing. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We buy in bulk. We are Sam's Club and Costco folks and that's the way we operate to try to be as efficient as we can.

We've run an efficient campaign. We've 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.

And, obviously, if you're looking for someone who can put together ideas and motivate people and get things done and do it on a shoestring, well, you have evidence in this campaign. Ideas matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So, a lot of questions out there as to why the senator did not just go straight to South Carolina, where it's sort of a sweet spot, a lot of those evangelicals.

One of the things we've heard from him is, "Hey, this is a media market where there is a lot of media right now." Everybody's talking about the campaign. This is where the action is. He hasn't been able to buy media here because he doesn't have enough money, so go where the action is, right, Brooke?

BALDWIN: Free advertising here on all the channels, I suppose, seeing Santorum.

You know, you mentioned it's Romney country. I'm just curious what kind of welcome Rick Santorum is getting there on the ground in New Hampshire.

(APPLAUSE)

There it is.

JOHNS: Yes, a mixed welcome. That event in Nashua, something like 100 people, right? This is a pretty good-sized crowd if you just take a look at it. Quite a few people here at the American Legion post.

So, he's had a good turnout. I wouldn't call it a great turnout and, you know, he's still in the hunt for third place. So, let's see what happens tomorrow.

BALDWIN: All right. Joe Johns, we will see. Thank you, sir, so much.

Now this.

(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: Parents are livid after a math assignment featuring slavery. Take a look at the question yourself.

So, what the heck was that teacher thinking? We're about to tell you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, parents, imagine if this is your child. So, here's the story. Parents in a suburban Atlanta school district are now outraged after seeing these questions referring to slavery in their children's homework.

This school district says these third grade teachers were trying to incorporate history. This is what they're saying, trying to incorporate history into the math lessons, and it agrees the questions were inappropriate.

Kerry Kavanaugh from CNN affiliate, WSB, has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TERRANCE BARNETT, PARENT: I had to explain to him why daddy was upset because of the words used in that problem. KERRY KAVANAUGH, WSB REPORTER: The problem appeared on a third grader's math assignment. Terrance Barnett was outraged when he read his son's homework.

One problem said, each tree had 56 oranges. If 8 slaves picked them equally, then how much would each slave pick?

Then there was another one. If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in one week?

BARNETT: I'm having to explain to my eight-year old why slavery or slaves or beatings isn't a math problem. So, that hurts.

KAVANAUGH: Dad, Christopher Braxton, had the same reaction.

CHRISTOPHER BRAXTON, PARENT: It kind of blew me away. Frederick? If anyone got any beatings, you don't put that into the homework of any source.

KAVANAUGH: Both fathers contacted the principal at Beaver Ridge Elementary School in Norcross. Then they called us. They wanted how these questions ended up on a child's homework.

I brought that question to Gwinnett School District officials.

SLOAN ROACH, GWINETT SCHOOL DISTRICT SPOKESPERSON: In this one, the teachers were attempting to do a cross-curricular activity.

KAVANAUGH: Spokesperson Sloan Roach says the third-grade teachers were attempting to cross curriculums, adding some social studies lessons into math problems. But the problem with these questions - there's no historical context.

ROACH: We understand that there are concerns about these questions and we agree that these questions were not appropriate.

BRAXTON: Whoever put together this paperwork and everything else, the schools and everything, shouldn't teach it this way.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Hold on. I'll find out in just a minute.

I just keep talking to Wolf Blitzer. On the commercial break -- we so rarely get you in person. We were just looking at the Jon Huntsman girls' Twitter page because you're going to be talking to them, right, next?

BLITZER: The three girls are very nice, intelligent, but beautiful, also.

BALDWIN: And beautiful, as well, so ...

BLITZER: Just like you.

BALDWIN: Thank you. We'll talk to Wolf about that and what else you have coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Republican candidate John Huntsman is staking it all on New Hampshire and he admits he is far from number one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON HUNTSMAN, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm the underdog in this race. I don't make any bones about that. But you know what? New Hampshire loves the underdog.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: But he has something that some call his three secret weapons -- his daughters. They have been on the campaign trail. Here they are, making spoof viral videos like this one.

In fact, I played this for Jon Huntsman when I talked to him about a month ago. He loves his girls. They spoke with Soledad O'Brien this morning with this one simple question -- can dad win?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY ANNE HUNTSMAN: I'm not worried at all. I mean, what we're seeing right now is my dad is going in the right direction. The other candidates are going in the wrong direction.

And I really think that we're going to see him as a surprise here in New Hampshire where you have Romney who has been working for easily 15 years around this state, Massachusetts.

And my dad's only been on the ground for a couple of months, so, you know, I think with 36 hours to go, I still think we can see a (inaudible) ...

ABBEY HUNTSMAN: I mean, if you think about it, no one knew my dad coming into the state six months ago six months and he's worked the ground. We've seen a reaction from voters here and they connect with him. And the ones that have come out to see him, they're excited about hi message. They believe in him. They love his honesty.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN HOST, "STARTING POINT": But the stakes are high, right? All that's great except that it's all ...

(CROSSTALK)

ABBEY HUNTSMAN: But I think the story will be, Romney has been here for so long, who can actually show those numbers to compete here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Obviously, three very intelligent and gorgeous girls who you will be talking to coming up on "The Situation Room."

In fact, they just - if you're not following them on Twitter, they're @jon2012girls. They re-Tweeted you and your question was what? You're asking?

BLITZER: I asked my Twitter followers. I've got these three women on the show today, what would you ask them?

And you know what most of my viewers sent back wanted to know? Are they married? Are they single? Can I date them? Can we get married? Whatever. That was overwhelmingly more people asked that than any other issue.

BALDWIN: Apparently looking ...

BLITZER: They love these young women.

BALDWIN: Looking at their Twitter page, you know, they're talking about how they've been asked if, you know, their dad apparently doesn't allow mayonnaise in the home. I'm sure you'll be asking harder hitting questions than that.

BLITZER: We've got some good questions for them and we're looking forward to talking to them. But, you know, they're nice young women. I know them all.

BALDWIN: So, you're talking to them. Also, John McCain?

BLITZER: John McCain.

BALDWIN: John McCain who has now thrust his support behind Mitt Romney. Certainly, they were going at it back in 2008.

BLITZER: Yes, they were going at it. You know what? Now, they're best friends. They're on the campaign trail together. It's a big, you know, help for Mitt Romney.

He's got Nikki Haley, the governor of South Carolina, John McCain. It shows the diversity of the Republican support for him.

And John McCain's a pretty good campaigner out there. He won four years ago the Republican nomination, not the White House, but it's a big help for Mitt Romney and we're going to go through some of the politics with John McCain. Always good to have him in "The Situation Room." Looking forward to that.

The Huntsman girls, John McCain, and a lot more.

BALDWIN: So, I just am curious on a more personal level. You know, look, we're all reading. We're constantly ingesting information when it comes to these primaries and politics, et cetera, and obviously this weekend you got a little break before you were back in Atlanta.

We have big primetime coverage tomorrow night. What do you, Wolf Blitzer, do just to try to leave it all?

BLITZER: I like sports. I went to see my Washington Wizards play. Unfortunately, we lost again and again and again. We're not doing well. But I still my Washington Wizards. I love college basketball. Love NBA basketball. And I watched a lot of football.

You know what I did this weekend?

BALDWIN: What?

BLITZER: Saturday morning, for an hour and a half, I watched the Republican presidential debate on "Meet the Press" and I was on the treadmill the whole time.

BALDWIN: Did it get you fired up as you were running?

BLITZER: I was running and I was working out and I felt like I had to watch the debate anyhow because I needed to watch it, part of my homework. But I was exercising, sweating, so that was good. So, I was doubling and I was multitasking.

BALDWIN: It's like, what do you do when you're on the treadmill? You know, you're watching football. What does Wolf Blitzer watch?

BLITZER: I was watching "Meet the Press."

BALDWIN: OK. Just curious ...

BLITZER: And the Republican presidential debate and I had DVRed (sic), the night before, the ABC debate, so I had to watch that, too.

BALDWIN: OK.

BLIZTER: I have no life. Bottom-line.

BALDWIN: Hey, we love the life that you have. We're so glad you're around to sort of lead this coverage. Do me a favor and stick around. We're going to have a little bit more fun.

BLITZER: I don't have much time. I have to go upstairs. I have a big show coming up in the next few minutes. We'll have to save that for tomorrow.

BALDWIN: Look at this video, bungee jumping, and then I'm going to let you run up those stairs.

BLITZER: Oh, I know.

BALDWIN: Have you seen this? Have you're bungee jumped.

BLITZER: No, I'm leaving right now.

BALDWIN: This is why I do not bungee jump.

BLITZER: You have to do it by yourself.

BALDWIN: The bungee cord you don't want to be on. Take a look at the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Oh, the bungee cord snapped. This is Victoria Falls. This is between Zimbabwe and Zambia. A 22-year old Australian fell into the river below. Not just any river, it's crocodile-infested. She swam to safety. She got a little banged up, though.

ERIN LAUNG WORTH, AUSTRALIAN TOURIST: It went black, straightaway, and I felt like I'd been slapped all over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Look at her back. She is recovering. She has been evacuated now to South Africa. Yikes!

Coming up next, we've got a special political pop medley for you.

First, New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, has suddenly become Mitt Romney's political bodyguard and has an interesting exchange with one protester.

Plus, Wolf was just talking. He's a huge NBA fan. NBA champs appearing at the White House today. One player, though, says he was not invited. We're going to tell you why.

Also, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: The bunnies are always talking about politics. You know, they're into it. They're into their country and they vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Oh, boy. Find out which candidate the infamous Bunny Ranch is endorsing and with reasons why. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Couple of minutes to go before I hand you over to Wolf and I want to get "Political Pop" in here. And, look, every politician has to deal with protesters from time to time. Sometimes it's nice to have a little back up.

Case in point, Chris Christie in the middle of getting New Hampshire voters pumped up for Mitt Romney when some protesters started chanting, but that did not stop the New Jersey governor. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: Americans are right to be angry. They're right to be disappointed in a 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? (APPLAUSE)

Really? You know, some may go down tonight, but it ain't going to be jobs, sweetheart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Whew!

As far as political endorsements go, Ron Paul just picked up one pretty unique one, a brothel. The owner and the ladies of the Moonlight Bunny Ranch of Nevada have thrown their support behind the Texas congressman. Even they're fundraising for him, asking every client to make a donation after a visit.

Why Ron Paul, you ask? They say it's because he's a strong supporter of states' rights. Nevada's Republican caucus is February 4th.

And the NBA champion, Dallas Mavericks, visited the White House today minus one player. Take a look. The president honoring last year's champs.

Here's the controversy. Dallas point guard, Delonte West, told the Fort Worth Star Telegram he was banned from going to the White House, saying the president's security team ran a background check on him and he couldn't set foot on the property.

West was arrested on weapons' charges back in 2009. Police say he was found with two loaded handguns and a shotgun, but a Secret Service spokesman tells CNN that West's name was on the entry list to the White House today. It was on the list. He could have entered, but he never went to Washington.

And now to Wolf Blitzer. Your "Situation Room"" starts now.

WOLF: Thanks very much, Brooke.