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Voting Under Way In New Hampshire; Romney's Rough 24 Hours; Looking Beyond New Hampshire; Assad Speaks As Syria Erupts; Friends: Florida A&M Drum Major Was Gay; New Hampshire: Huntsman's Proving Ground; Family To Iran: Show Compassion For Son; Supreme Court Showdown on TV Indecency; Four Convicted Killers Pardoned by Governor Barbour; Mitt Romney's Tenure at Bain Capital
Aired January 10, 2012 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And it's the top of the hour. Thanks so much for joining us here in the CNN NEWSROOM. It's a critical day for the Republican candidates. Voting now under way in New Hampshire.
And in just 10 hours, results will start pouring in from the first primary of the 2012 race. Live pictures now. Election officials predicting a big turnout for today's vote.
So far, crowds have been pretty brisk. More from this Manchester polling place in just a moment, but first, the overnight tally from the tiny Dixville Notch.
Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman scored two votes each. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul one each. Rick Santorum and Rick Perry goose eggs.
And a new poll from Suffolk University, Seven News shows that Mitt Romney still has a commanding lead. Ron Paul, Jon Huntsman vowing for second and third. Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, they're all at the back of the pack.
All right, and if all the polls are correct, the question isn't whether Mitt Romney will win New Hampshire, it's a question of how wide of a margin?
But the frontrunner has managed to make it interesting with some pretty big stumbles in the waning hours. CNN's Jim Acosta explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Touring a metal works factory for votes, Mitt Romney has seen the final days before the New Hampshire primary manufactured nothing but trouble.
At a breakfast event, Romney used an unfortunate choice of words and touting the health care plan he passed in Massachusetts.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means that if you don't like what you do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me.
ACOSTA: It didn't take long for his rivals to pounce. Starting with Jon Huntsman.
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs.
ACOSTA: Asked about his comments, Romney complained his words were being misconstrued.
ROMNEY: You saw I was talking about insurance companies. Yes, we like to be able to get rid of insurance companies that don't give us the service that we need.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney, they don't care who I am.
ACOSTA: But the remarks come as a pro-Newt Gingrich "Super PAC" is unleashing a 30-minute documentary that focuses on Romney's days as the head of the private investment firm, Bain Capital, which created some companies but also downsized others.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That hurt so bad to leave my home because of one man that's got 15 homes.
ACOSTA: Over the weekend, Romney told a crowd that he knew it was like to fear for his job despite his privileged upbringing as the son of George Romney, a former car company president, governor and one- time presidential candidate.
ROMNEY: I know what it's like to worry whether you're going to get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip.
ACOSTA: Looking ahead to the next primary down in South Carolina, Rick Perry couldn't resist.
I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips Perry said whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out. Romney said he was only talking about how he worked his way up from the bottom in the business world.
ROMNEY: Like anybody that starts at the bottom of an enterprise, you wonder when you don't do so well, whether you're going to be able to hang on to your job.
ACOSTA: Democrats are also piling on. Back at that breakfast event, a woman from the United Auto Workers Union challenged Romney on his opposition to the General Motors bailout. Romney stood by his comments.
ROMNEY: I believe that the market works better than a president stepping in to take care of his friends.
ACOSTA: When we tried to talk to that woman, the Romney campaign soundman cranked up the music cutting her off. As we tried to catch up with that soundman, he threw a sheet over his head. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Jim Acosta joining us now from that same polling place in Manchester, New Hampshire. Jim, it's a lot crazier this hour than last hour.
ACOSTA: That's right. Newt Gingrich just arrived at this polling place to make a last appeal to voters. You can see the media scrum that's surrounding him right now. I'm not sure how close he's actually going to get to the school behind me.
But this just gives you a sense of how chaotic it can be on primary day. You know, I don't know whether to cover that scrum behind me or body surf on it, Kyra.
But it's interesting coming out of that piece that we're covering Newt Gingrich right now because it is Gingrich more than any other candidate in this field right now who's really going after Mitt Romney and this issue of Bain Capital.
PHILLIPS: Are you able to work your way in there? Why don't you go for it?
ACOSTA: It's doubtful. I'll give it a shot.
PHILLIPS: Our Jim Acosta, live, working his way through the media scrum as we shall say. We'll see if Jim can work his way to get a question in there to Newt Gingrich.
ACOSTA: It sounds good. If I get something, I'll definitely let you know.
PHILLIPS: All right. Do you have a shot of working your way closer there, Jim?
ACOSTA: I'm in the scrum right now. I've got the microphone close to the speaker, but his back is turned to me. So we'll see if we can get him to turn --
PHILLIPS: Yes, let him know he's live on CNN. See if you can get a word or two. We're going to stay on you, Jim.
ACOSTA: OK, sounds good. This is live process.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A second behind Romney, what do you think that message is?
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Temporary patterns.
ACOSTA: Mr. Speaker, you're live on CNN right now. Curious if you're going to go ahead and continue to draw these contrasts with Mitt Romney on Bain Capital?
GINGRICH: He didn't say that. What he meant to say, he likes to choose, which company --
ACOSTA: Mr. Speaker, you're live on CNN right now. I'm not sure if they can see us.
You feel like -- you feel like the comeback grandfather here in New Hampshire, is that right?
GINGRICH: Well, somebody said I was the comeback kid. I said, at my age, more correct to say comeback grandfather. But let me just say, I think the contrast with Romney that will matter is the contrast on his record as governor.
He raised taxes. I fought to lower taxes. He was for gun control and raised the tax on guns. I'm for the second amendment rights. He claimed to be pro-life, but he put Planned Parenthood on Romneycare.
He has tax paid abortions on Romneycare. I think you'll find there's a real contrast. We have a site called romneytaxes.com. That list all of the taxes he increased as governor. It's really an amazing list. So I think it's going to be public policy is going to be a much, much bigger part.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think his misspeaking on the firing issue, which you're not attacking him. Do you think that hurts him on the electability issue?
GINGRICH: No, I'm not. It has to -- if a guy misstates himself --
PHILLIPS: I love it. Our Jim Acosta is our political rugby player there. Got himself in the media scrum, was able to fire off some questions to Newt Gingrich who showed up there at the polling place in Manchester.
Jim Acosta, we're going to let you stay in the mix. We're going to come back to you and find out what those voters are saying after Newt Gingrich moves away from that polling spot.
You can see the live pictures there. He'll answer probably a few more questions and you can see that he'll move up. But he's trying to get those voters with the last-ditch effort to vote for him there. Jim Acosta, if you still hear me --
ACOSTA: I still hear you.
PHILLIPS: Go ahead.
ACOSTA: So this could be hazardous to my health, Kyra, if I stayed in that scrum for too long. I think rugby player was the accurate description.
You heard the former speaker make the case that he feels like he's the comeback grandfather in this campaign. But if anybody, if any Republican out there is wondering, will Newt Gingrich sort of, you know, keep his powder dry, not go after Romney so much on this issue of Bain Capital.
And that comment that he made yesterday about how he likes to fire people, I don't think he heard that from Newt Gingrich. I think what we're going to see over the next couple of weeks heading out of New Hampshire and going into South Carolina, Kyra, is a very spirited campaign.
And Newt Gingrich is going to be probably drawing the contrast with Mitt Romney perhaps sharper than any of the other candidates in this field.
PHILLIPS: Our Jim Acosta working it for us there in Manchester. Jim, thanks so much.
CNN tonight, all eyes of course on New Hampshire as the new political year heats up. Make the best choice for politics. Join Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, and John King for live coverage that's tonight at 7:00 Eastern. We promise you probably a few more scrums as well right here on CNN.
All right, let's shift our focus now. Travel from New Hampshire to another battle ground, South Carolina holding its primary on January 21st. The outcome there could be pretty pivotal.
CNN's David Mattingly is in Charleston. A lot calmer than what we just saw with Jim Acosta. A beautiful day actually in South Carolina there considered to be a make or break primary for sure.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra, no scrums here, but the stakes are still very high. You can expect to see those scrums happening very shortly after New Hampshire.
No one in the Republican Party can win their nomination without first winning over the base, the conservative voters. This state is where the base lives. We're talking conservatives more than of them, Evangelical Christians.
They're taking their role in this primary very seriously as they look at these candidates. If Mitt Romney can come in here with his momentum and come out of the victory, he can walk away saying that he is appealing to the base of the Republican Party and he is the true frontrunner that can take this nomination.
And perhaps go on to the White House. The other candidates look at South Carolina as a chance, up for a second chance to be able to rally their base here among conservative voters and say that their campaign is still alive and it still has a chance.
So if you thought you saw a lot of fighting and a lot of damage being done by different candidates in New Hampshire, just wait until you see what's happening here. Already millions of dollars have been spent buying time for television ads. Expect the air waves here in South Carolina to be saturated by this weekend. This is going to be a very hard-fought place, a very hard-fought primary. The people of South Carolina are exactly in the place they want to be is possibly be the kingmaker in this Republican race -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: David Mattingly there in Charleston for us. David, thanks.
Let's head overseas, shall we? Syrian president making a rare and defiant speech as more violence has erupted on city streets. Bashar Al-Assad blamed the media and external conspiracy he says for spreading fear across the country.
And after months of western journalists being banned from Syria, our Nic Robertson is one of the first allowed in. Since his equipment has been taken away, Nic is joining me on the phone from Damascus.
Nic, we had a chance to talk to you yesterday. How was Assad's speech received there in Syria?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It was received very well by his loyalists and not at all by the opposition. Within minutes of his speech, finishing, there were opposition rallies on the streets in the north of the country.
The opposition was able to stream live over the internet. There was nothing in this speech that appealed to the opposition here. The opposition wanted Bashar Al-Assad to pull his troops and tanks and heavy armour off the streets of the cities of this country.
That's something that he has agreed with the Arab League that he would do and there was nothing in his speech today that indicated he would be about to do that.
He did talk about reform in the government, about changing corruption laws. He did talk about a new constitution, allowing political parties. I talked to opposition people about this and they say that while he says these things, while in the other hand carrying a weapon, they just don't trust him -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Nic Robertson there in Damascus. Nic, thanks so much. We'll stay on the story.
We got new developments to tell you about in the Florida A&M hazing investigation. This is just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. We are learning that drum major Robert Champion's alleged sexual orientation may have played a role in his beating death. Let's get straight to George Howell live in Orlando. What can you tell us now, George? You've been following the story from the beginning.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, good morning. First of all, there will be a press conference later today here in less than an hour, where Pam and Robert Champion will explain their next step.
This is the first time for the Champion family to be here in Orlando, to be here at this hotel where their son, Robert, was killed back in November, here in the parking lot.
I can tell you from sitting down with them today and speaking to them that this was very difficult for them to be here. But they say that it was important to be here to make their statement about their next step.
But first off, I spoke to their attorney, Chris Chestnut and he says that he launched his own investigation and now plans to sue a bus company called "Fabulous Coachlines" based here in Florida.
He also says through the course of his investigation, some of Robert's friends told him that Robert may have been gay and that may have been one of several factors that contributed to Robert being beaten so severely.
Now Pam Champion says that her son was never really defined by his sexuality. Take a listen here. This is something they never considered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Was this a surprise to you as a family?
PAM CHAMPION, ROBERT CHAMPION'S MOTHER: Actually, I never considered that. My thing is just was never considered that at all. Never crossed my mind.
HOWELL: So, this was a surprise?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, it was. My son was slated to be the head drum major for school. And he made it drum major last year and that was his first year being the drum major and to be slated to be the head drum major. You know, that could have caused jealousy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: Robert's father indicating there that jealousy may have been one of several factors that also contributed into what happened to his son.
Again, the family says they are not satisfied with the course of this investigation. They say they don't have enough information. They're not satisfied with what's happening at FAMU.
But again, we will hear from them again here in less than an hour as they have a live press conference here in Orlando to explain their next step -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, we'll check back in with you, George. Thanks so much.
And today's the day that Jon Huntsman's presidential campaign could take off or fizzle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I get around this morning and everybody's saying, you're surging, we're hearing anecdotally that a lot of votes are coming in for you. I say, I'm still the underdog. I'm the margin of error candidate who barely in single digits just a few short days ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: That was just part of my interview with Jon Huntsman. Lots more straight ahead. And an American faces a death sentence in Iran. The Iranians say he's a spy. We'll hear from his family's attorney who's trying to save his life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Today's pretty close to judgment day for Jon Huntsman's campaign. He's put most of his political eggs in the New Hampshire basket.
And today, we find out if it all paid off. I had a chance to talk to him last hour. Here's some of that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Look, you're polling fairly well in New Hampshire. But you're pretty much off the radar in South Carolina, Florida and nationally. So outline for me, if you don't mind, a path for Jon Huntsman to become the GOP presidential nominee.
HUNTSMAN: Here's what has to happen. You know, it starts in Dixville Notch and I like the idea that we did pretty well in Dixville Notch. I think that's the harbringer of things to come.
And then tonight, we're going to have to make the market move here in New Hampshire, which is to say we got to exceed expectations. If you can exceed expectations in New Hampshire, which is a broad- based primary turn out then you're going to light up South Carolina and the states beyond.
Because they're going to see for the first time that you have that thing called electability, that you can bring folks together in a very competitive environment like you have here in the New Hampshire primary and you can do well.
If you don't beat market expectations, you know, it becomes really hard to create the momentum down market. But when it comes to fundraising, when it comes to broadening your organization, when it comes to upping name recognition like we'll need to do in South Carolina.
If you hit the mark here in New Hampshire, all of that will follow suit.
PHILLIPS: You know, on that note of electability Mitt Romney criticized you on Saturday for serving in the Obama administration as ambassador to China.
You say your first priority is to serve your country, but what do you say to Republicans who say you would be better to run as a Democrat?
HUNTSMAN: Well, I say when you look at my record as governor of Utah, it's pretty consistent conservative record. You combine that with an attitude that says I'm always going to put my country first, that's always been my philosophy in life and it always will be. I'll take to my grave. I'm here to tell you. I think there a lot more people out there than we might imagine, a lot of people who were in this, you know, even in the Republican category, some of the unaffiliated category who you've got to win over.
We forget that in order to beat Barack Obama at the end of the day, we've actually got to convince people who voted for him last time to cross over and vote for me. And that means you've got to have the mass that works on your side, which means you got to break out of just one-party box.
You got to win independents. So establishing that model here in New Hampshire, remembering full well that when you go into South Carolina, you have an open primary there as well.
You got to be able to win over independents as well. Why is that important? All of that is terribly important because in the general election, electability very much will depend upon your ability to get voters by crossing traditional boundaries. I think I can do that better than anybody else on the Republican side.
PHILLIPS: Well, talking about crossing traditional boundaries, I do have a couple of thoughts on that. Let me ask you about the debate on Saturday night, when you slammed Mitt Romney in Chinese, some Republicans saw that as a bit of grand standing. I'm curious, why did you do that.
HUNTSMAN: It was spontaneous. I'm sometimes a spontaneous guy. I didn't think ahead. Everybody has these precooked rehearsed lines for the debate stage.
This is the one thing I don't like about those debates is you rarely get a shot of a candidate's spontaneity. And I don't like rehearsed lines. I typically don't use them and maybe that was evidence of it, for good or bad.
PHILLIPS: You know, you and Romney don't seem like each other very much?
HAMPSHIRE: I have nothing against Romney. I don't know him very well. I respect him. He's a great family man. He has a good strong business career. I just think I present a much different vision for America.
I represent a new, energetic generation that I think this country is looking to. I think I embody this thing called trust that will be a critically important part of the election cycle.
Because the American public, let's face it, Kyra, they have lost trust in their institutions of power. They have lost trust in their elected officials.
And I say how pathetic is this, you know, a nation founded on trust and we're running on empty. So I think that's going to be summarized in one word something that the electorate is going to be looking for in the next president. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And my last question to Jon Huntsman was this, at what point do you get out of the race? Here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTSMAN: Kyra, tonight is going to tell it all. The pundit class that likes to roll in the town here and tell you what the order of the universe is going to be are going to be surprised by the vote of the people of New Hampshire.
Why, because that's always the case. The voters always speak their piece. They upend conventional wisdom here in New Hampshire. So I think later on tonight, wherever the market place, which is to say analytical pundit class.
Wherever they Huntsman needs to be we need to do one better in terms of our performance. If we can exceed the expectations that are set by the pundit class, we're going to be just fine.
Remember in full well that we were in single digits just a couple of days ago. Nobody associated the word surge with our name. I get around this morning and everybody is saying, you're surging, we're hearing anecdotally that a lot of votes are coming in for you.
I say, I'm still the underdog. I'm the margin of error candidate, who barely in single digits just a few short days ago. If what I think happens tonight, does in fact play out, it will be a testament to work on the ground, the grassroots approach to politicking speaking from your heart and soul, speaking in ways that do address putting your country first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: We'll see what happens tonight. As tensions increase between the U.S. and Iran, an American sits on Iran's death row. The attorney for that man talks about how difficult it is to separate one life from a global conflict. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the parents of an ex-Marine are pleading with Iran to free their son from a death sentence. Iran accuses the American of spying. Our Zain Verjee actually spoke with the family early this morning. Zain, what do they say?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. I spoke to Pierre Prosper who is here in London, who's now going to be representing the family and trying to secure the release of Amir Hekmati who has been sentenced to death in Iran and being accused of being a spy for the CIA.
Now, what Mr. Prosper said essentially was that the very first step he's going to take is to use the contacts that he has at the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
And the second step is going to try to get to meet some of those people to release Mr. Hekmati from Iran. Listen to what he said when I asked him what his biggest worry was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: What worries you most about this case?
PIERRE PROSPER, HEKMATI FAMILY ATTORNEY: What worries me the most is fact that this case is trapped in a tense political environment so we want to remove it from the political environment and establish a humanitarian communication, if you will, and see if we can just talk about him as a human being.
PHILLIPS: Can you really do given the tense political climate? I mean, that's going to be very difficult, isn't it?
PROSPER: It will be, but it's possible. One way to do is move the governments, if you will, out of it and have it be a communication from the family to the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: There has been no contact, Mr. Prosper said, Kyra, between the family and their son since back in August when their son was in Iran, he said, to visit a couple of his grandmas who live there.
They're really worried. They say he's lost weight. He's not looking that great. The reason Mr. Prosper's involvement is interesting here is because in the past, a couple of years ago, he did secure the release of another Iranian-American that was being held in Iran at a prison.
It took him three strips, 300 e-mails with Iranian officials and he managed to get the man released after a couple of years -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Zain Verjee from London. Zain, thanks. If you ever wanted a Mitt Romney ring tone, now's your chance. Courtesy of a rival campaign. Our "Political Buzz" panel dials in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now.
Syria's President blames external conspiracies by Western and Arab elements for bloodshed in his nation that has left thousands of people dead. During a rare speech a defiant Bashar Al Assad denied ordering government forces to open fire on protestors. He said a referendum over a new Constitution will happen in March.
President Obama is about lose his right hand man, chief of staff Bill Daley says he's stepping down to spend more time with his family. He'll be replaced by White House Budget director, Jack Lew.
And Alabama fans celebrating their second BCS national championship in three years. The Crimson Tide beat LSU 21-0 last night. It was sweet victory indeed after LSU defeated them during the regular season.
All right, "Political Buzz", your rapid-fire look at the best political topics of the day, three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. And playing today Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman; founder and editor of Citizen Jane Politics, Patricia Murphy; and Georgetown University professor, Chris Metzler.
First question guys, right now, it looks like the New Hampshire primaries will be a race for second and third. So take your best guesses at tomorrow's headlines. Who will be tonight's top three finishers and what does that mean for the race going forward? Robert?
ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, in polling, it's always important to watch not the final number you see on the screen but to see where the trends are going. Clearly the trend shows that Jon Huntsman is well positioned to finish in second place with Ron Paul finishing in third place.
So even though Mitt Romney is not going to get the bounce out of his first-place victory, the media will claim he didn't win by enough. The good news for Romney, is that neither Romney nor -- Jon Huntsman -- Jon Huntsman or Ron Perry can really -- or Ron Paul can really go too far. The reality is Ron Paul is Ron Paul which disqualifies him. And Jon Huntsman believes in science and climate change which disqualifies him in the Republican Party today.
PHILLIPS: Chris?
CHRIS METZLER, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, I -- I -- I think, Robert's analysis is -- is -- is correct. I think in the second and third place you're going to see Huntsman and you're going to see Paul. The unfortunate thing of course for Santorum, is that he got absolutely no bounce out of the Iowa victory.
And I think what it also says is that for Mitt Romney it's not the coronation that the media seems to want it to be, sol I think these two guys are trying to figure out where am I going to be they're going to be second and third. They're going to then go into South Carolina and let's see where it ends up.
PHILLIPS: Patricia.
PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER/EDITOR, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Yes, I think all the headlines are going to be all eyes on South Carolina. Because we do sort of know what's going to happen here in New Hampshire. We know that Romney is going to run away with it. And I totally agree with Robert that Jon Huntsman is absolutely on the rise. I've been to a lot of his events and even though with the course of the week the size of his events doubled. His numbers on the polls have doubled.
So Jon Huntsman is in the hunt. The bad news for him is that it's the moderate electorate that he's trying to split up with -- with the very people he's running against with Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. They're all vying for that. The big question is, who's going to be the conservative alternative and South Carolina will tell us that.
PHILLIPS: All right, Romney says that his comments about firing people were taken out of context. But that's not stopping his rivals, of course, from ripping right into him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company Bain Capital and all of the jobs that they killed I'm sure he was worried he would run out of pink slips.
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the next primary is in South Carolina where the unemployment rate is 9.9 percent. So, will Romney's words haunt him there -- Chris?
METZLER: Well I actually think that Romney can turn this around. I think probably what he should have said is and what he still can say is, "I am hoping to convince the American people to fire Barack Obama". I mean, I think he can do that, you know, it was exactly not very smart to say that he likes firing people.
But I do see his point. I think his point is, I am not afraid to make changes in the over-bloated government bureaucracy and that may include firing some people. I think that's really what he was trying to say but I think he needs to shift the message to say, "Let's fire Barack Obama."
PHILLIPS: Robert?
METZLER: That's what he needs to do.
ZIMMERMAN: Chris, you have more credibility in your statement than Governor Romney showed yesterday in New Hampshire.
The reality is, even though you see the Republicans, the right- wing continue to attack free enterprise and continue to engage in class warfare, ultimately I don't think the words are going to hurt Mitt Romney. People underestimate the coalition he has in South Carolina. Of Nikki Haley, her Tea Party supporters and the South Carolina Republican establishments.
PHILLIPS: Patricia?
MURPHY: Yes I think it's going to hurt Mitt Romney, it will hurt him for the rest of this election, because there is a big piece of populist anger even in the Republican base, people are as angry with Washington as they are with Wall Street. So we know it's -- it will hurt him here it's really going to kill him in the general election though if he gets that far and I think he will. This is the sound track for the Democrats attack on him. He just cut their 30-second ad against himself. It was a huge mistake he's going to pay for it.
PHILLIPS: All right, your "Buzzer Beater" 20 seconds on each. Rick Perry's campaign, going a step further now, releasing this ring tone of Romney's voice. "I like being able to fire people" over and over again. So will bashing Romney actually work for Perry? Robert?
ZIMMERMAN: Rick Perry could use a ring tone, he could have the New York Philharmonic behind him, nothing is going -- nothing is going to salvage his candidacy. Bottom line is, he might have started with his candidacy by reading the Constitution but it's too late for that. Ultimately he's just not equipped or capable of being a candidate or certainly serving in national office.
PHILLIPS: Chris?
METZLER: Well, I think it is kind of too late for him. You know, but I think what's happening, is not so much bashing Romney, I think what they're doing is very smart campaign strategy, which is take the candidate's greatest strength and turn it into a weakness.
And so now, unfortunately, Romney is not going to be able to talk about being this guy if he moves forth in the general election who creates jobs, so that's the problem.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys.
Well, broadcasters versus the FCC in a Supreme Court showdown after shelling out thousands of dollars in fines for F-bombs and nude scenes. Networks want the FCC to specify in detail what is and isn't acceptable on television and the high court is hearing arguments today.
CNN's Ted Rowlands reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHER, SINGER: I've also had critics for the last 40 years saying I was on my way out every year. So (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That Cher F-bomb from the Billboard Music Awards in the 2002 was an FCC violation for decency. During the next year's show, Nicole Richie did it.
NICOLE RICHIE, SINGER: Have you ever tried to get (EXPLETIVE DELETED). It's not so (EXPLETIVE DELETED) simple.
ROWLANDS: The same year at the Golden Globe, it was Bono's turn during an acceptance speech.
BONO, SINGER: I was really, really (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
ROWLANDS: For the past 34 years, whenever the FCC thinks a broadcast network crosses the decency lines, like this derriere shot, on "NYPD Blue" in 2003 it levies a fine. For this one ABC affiliates had to pay $1.4 million.
Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction triggered $500,000 fine, since overturned.
Now the broadcast networks want the Supreme Court to force the FCC to ease up or at least specify in detail what's acceptable and what isn't.
The FCC allowed profanity on TV from the movie "Saving Private Ryan" but had issued fines for the same language on television programs. University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone believes the Supreme Court will agree with broadcasters and the lower court forcing FCC rule changes, saying "Cable, satellite and the Internet have changed the broadcasting landscape".
GEOFFREY STONE, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: The basic predicate for government regulation of the air waves really doesn't exist anymore. And so it would be perfectly possible for the court to revisit that question and to say, the truth is, it doesn't make any sense anymore.
ROWLANDS: Still many believe that the public air waves should be protected.
TIM WINTER, PRESIDENT, PARENTS TELEVISION COUNCIL: How does more shock more f-bombs, more indecency serve the public interest especially when they know children are watching.
ROWLANDS: The FCC started regulating broadcasters in response to a George Carlin's radio rant that Carlin continued to use for years as part of his stage show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Ted Rowlands is joining me live from Chicago now. So Ted, what do we expect to happen today?
ROWLANDS: Well in about a half an hour, the justices will hear arguments on both sides. We're not expecting a decision Kyra until sometime this summer though but they'll hear the arguments today.
PHILLIPS: All right, Ted Rowlands, thanks so much.
And for years, doctors have warned against the dangers of nicotine. But a new study suggests that the drug may actually have a health benefit. Your daily dose is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Checking stories across country. A high school senior in Durango, Colorado defends these photos of herself as artistic. 18- year-old Sydney Spies (ph) submitted two personal pictures here which school administrators say are too racy for the year book. Spies had told that she can pay for her pictures to appear in the yearbook ad, instead. Fayetteville, Arkansas woman says that she was forced to rob a bank with a bomb strapped to her ankle. 73-year-old Betty Davis told police that a man broke into her home, tied her husband up and followed her to the bank to get money.
And some girl scouts in Aurora Ohio will not be selling girl scout. Mary Cassidy is a troop leader there and former girl scout. And she's boycotting the annual fund-raiser after four state camps were closed and put up for sale. Northeast Ohio Girl Scouts CEO says only about 10 percent or 15 percent of members use the camps.
So could nicotine actually have a health benefit? Preliminary researched published in the Journal of Neurology actually finds that using a nicotine patch, they help improve memory in older patients. The patch releases nicotine slowly over a number of hours and scientists believe that when the nicotine reaches the brain, it activates receptors on nerve cells that impact learning and memory.
Four convicted killers let off the hook. Given full pardons by Mississippi's outgoing governor. You're going to hear from an outraged family member next.
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PHILLIPS: Well, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is leaving office today with some families that are pretty outraged with him. It's over his decision to pardon four convicted killers. All were serving life sentences and had worked at the governor's mansion. One was just denied parole.
Martin Savidge has been following this for us and talking to that families that are pretty much in disbelief.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are. Absolutely. And it's not just the family members, as many people in the state of Mississippi. You know, Haley Barbour. He is extremely popular and kind of a rarity in today's political environment. He is loved by many in the state of Mississippi because of his conservative views.
Yet they are surprised that this conservative governor in the most conservative state in the whole entire country now says he pardons these four convicted killers. And so I think that that is what has outraged the family members. And there is one family member, the mother of a woman who was gunned down, shot in the head in 1993 by one of these men as she was holding a 2-month-old baby in the arm. And the mother had this reaction, it's a very powerful review Kyra, let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY ELLIS, VICTIM'S MOTHER: Is Governor Barbour going to pardon us for our aches and pains and heartache that we have to suffer? Is he going to pardon a child that had to grow up without a mother? Is he going to pardon me from never being able to feel her arms around my neck again?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: That is about the most powerful response, I think, anybody can give to the Governor, when they may wonder what the Governor was thinking to hear a family member like that. Just explain so clearly what they have lost. They'll never get back.
PHILLIPS: Do you think that the Governor developed some type of, you know, sympathy for these guys, because they were working in this trustee program at the mansion?
SAVIDGE: Well, you know, and that's an extremely a good question and that's what I wanted to know, that many have wanted to know. Unfortunately the Governor has not said anything. I'm told unofficially, will not say anything like this. They were in the trustee program --
PHILLIPS: Yes, tell us about that program.
Savidge: Well, you know, what we know is that it's a program that dates back decades. And it was a system essentially where these men would do chores around the governor's mansion. I mean they would work in the kitchen. They would serve meals. They would wash cars.
But I think, you know, one of the questions that go through people's minds is how many times do you have to wash the a governor's car to get a life sentence commuted. So I think this is the problem that there is a sense, at least the impression that being familiar with the Governor gets you out of a life sentence and that especially for the family members as you hear is horrible.
PHILLIPS: And these killers received full pardons. The pictures that we're looking at now, whereas the Scott sisters only had their sentences suspended for what many consider much less serious crime.
SAVIDGE: Right.
PHILLIPS: And we covered that story quite a bit of the Scott sisters.
SAVIDGE: Sure, I was there for the news conference when they were released. But their sentence was only suspended and it was on the condition, according to Governor Barbour, that one of them had to donate a kidney to the other.
So this is one of the other problems that people have is they see four convicted murders, pardoned meaning there's no parole that they have to go through. They don't have to report to anybody.
Versus the Scott sisters, which seemed to be a lesser offense and they get only a suspended sentence here. So why is it but, you know, because of term limits, he's leaving office. We know he's not going to run for president as he once wanted to do. He appears quite happy to just disappear without having to comment.
PHILLIPS: Controversy to follow. Thanks Martin.
SAVIDGE: And maybe more pardons; we'll see.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow.
Thanks Martin.
Mitt Romney's old job in finance has become a pretty big campaign issue. He claims his experience in the private sector makes him uniquely qualified to put the country back to work. But his rivals claim that he got rich by handing out pink slips.
Coming up, we'll take a closer look at Romney's past at Bain Capital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: New Hampshire voters are casting ballots as Romney tries to fight off attacks from his GOP rivals that he's a job killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is that really -- is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: 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)
PHILLIPS: So what exactly did Mitt Romney do at Bain Capital? Bain Capital is not a publicly-traded company, so we can't really readily get our hands on financial records.
But Christine Romans has been doing some digging and maybe we should just start with the basics about Bain Capital, it's a private equity firm. I guess not everybody understands what that means.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, private equity? What does private equity do? It's rich investors people pooling their investments -- pooling their money to invest in companies to go in and take a look at those companies, often zeroing in on failing companies. Looking into investment companies, new technology; anything that can make them money. They zero in on these companies, private money restructures it. Sells divisions close its failing parts and then reaps the benefits from the good parts.
Mitt Romney says he's created 100,000 jobs. These are investments , investments that Bain made at Staples, and Domino's where they went without private equity capitals and turned those companies around.
These are the success stories and Romney is counting jobs. pizza and sports authority. In some cases created even after Bain was out of the picture. It's impossible to know how many jobs Bain and Romney created or lost in their private equity investments when he was there from '84 to 1999.
Bain does not record payroll numbers for its private equity deals. Private equity is private. Once a company is no longer publicly listed, books are closed.
Now Reuters this week, profiled a steel mill in Kansas City that Bain invested in that eventually failed with devastating job loss. Newt Gingrich is quoting that story all over the campaign trail, using the word "looting" to describe Romney's business history. And a super PAC on Gingrich's behalf has a 28 minute video called "King of Bain" calling him, just a corporate raider.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney became CEO of Bain Capital the day the company was born. His mission: to reap massive rewards for himself and his investors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney and them guys, they don't care who I am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's for small business, no he isn't. He's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: See that picture there with the money coming out of their pockets. That picture according to Romney is something that they took, the Bain Capital partners after they'd raised a bunch of money earlier on. But that picture is being sent all around the Internet to sort of show the sort of corporate raider image.
Now, Rick Perry even is in on this. It's resonating. He says there's something wrong with getting rich off failure. What's not in dispute here is that investors in private equity got rich. A Wall Street Journal analysis of 77 Bain deals under Romney found that 10 of those deals produced huge gains for Bain investors. Of those, four, companies you're seeing here, eventually went bankrupt after the investors were paid out.
Now private equity, Kyra, is about making investment and making a profit. That's what it's all about. This is really kind of the DNA of the American economic system from the mid-80's until now. And it's interesting. The Weather Channel, for example, Bain is now an investor in the Weather Channel, along with NBC Universal.
Bain is an investor in AMC, the movie theater. Bain went in for Dunkin Donuts. You know these huge researchers of Dunkin Donuts? It was Bain Capital among others, they went in and they saw some value in there. So in some cases they're going in, finding value and getting a big win out of it. In some cases they're going in, you know, taking profit out of it and then the company fails down the road.
PHILLIPS: So bottom line, what we need to remember to keep this level. ROMANS: Bottom line is that, it's fascinating politically that this story is happening on the Republican side. The Republicans are arguing about the DNA of the American business and profits. That's what's interesting.
PHILLIPS: Thank you so much Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: CNN tonight; all eyes on New Hampshire as the political year is heating up. So make the best choice for politics, CNN. Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King, Live coverage tonight at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Fast forward now to events that are happening later today. We expect an announcement about the Doomsday Clock around 1:00 Eastern. It conveys how close humanity is to destruction.
President Obama heads to the EPA to make remarks and thank staffers for their work to protect the air that we breathe and the water we drink.
And at 4:00 eastern, a memorial service will be held for a ranger shot and killed in Mount Rainier National Park last week.
That does it for us. We're back here bright and early tomorrow morning. Now we hand it off to Suzanne Malveaux.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Doomsday?
PHILLIPS: I know.
MALVEAUX: I hope doomsday is not close.
PHILLIPS: That was a little depressing wasn't it?
MALVEAUX: I hope it's not close.
PHILLIPS: I should have double-checked that before.
MALVEAUX: We are not counting down to doomsday here. How are people supposed to watch if we're counting down to doomsday?
PHILLIPS: Yes, that's true. We're going to remain positive.
MALVEAUX: It's all over at 1:00, right?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
MALVEAUX: All right. I'll see you.
PHILLIPS: Starting now is the happy hour, so to speak.
MALVEAUX: There you go.
