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The Fight Over New Hampshire; 7.3 Quake off Sumatra, Indonesia; Interview With Newt Gingrich's Daughter Jackie Cushman; Interview With New Hampshire GOP Chair; Student "Hazed To Death"; New Hampshire Primary; "Doomsday" Clock Ticks Closer To End
Aired January 10, 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: A little special top to our show here. We are inside the CNN Control Room.
And I want to welcome all of our viewers. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Beginning here, we want to talk New Hampshire. Specifically, this is the very first primary in this fight for ultimately the GOP nomination. We are hours away from getting those results as those polling places begin to close a little later tonight.
The battle now -- really, as we know, Mitt Romney is likely going to grab the number one spot tonight. The battle will be who will get number two and number three. We will be watching.
Also, Mitt Romney still maintains a firm lead. Talking next about South Carolina and the polls there, the site of the nation's next primary.
Rick Santorum, though, is gaining ground, battling for second place with the former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich. Still, though, in Florida, the next primary, Mitt Romney also tops the list at 36 percent. That's according to a new poll we have here.
Still plenty of time though. Florida's primary is January 31st.
And heads up, if you like the OJ, you drank a little this morning. Here's what you need to know. The FDA says it's testing imported OJ for a fungicide that has yet to be approved here in the United States. A spokesperson says it will pull the juice from the market if it poses any kind of risk. The fungicide was used in last year's orange crop in Brazil to fight a mold that grows on citrus trees. Prices for orange juice futures are jumping on the news today.
And an attorney for the Florida A&M drum major who died in that alleged hazing incident all gone wrong says Robert Champion's friends tell him Champion was gay. The lawyer also addressed rumors that Robert Champion may have been hazed because of that. He and the victim's parents say, no, that is not the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CHESTNUT, CHAMPION FAMILY ATTORNEY: -- the underground, undercurrent rumor mill that the reason Robert Champion was hazed more severely, hazed to death, was because he was gay. Our investigation does not indicate that. This was hazing, not a hate crime.
PAM CHAMPION, MOTHER: He was not defined by that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And 14 cadets are getting kicked out of the Coast Guard Academy for allegedly using fake pot. Here's what we know.
Eight others are under investigation, all allegedly using the herbal product -- it's called Spice -- which mimics the effects of marijuana. The move comes here in the wake of a report that more than 1,100 U.S. service personnel are being investigated for the use of similar products like Spice.
And you watching the game? Alabama getting some sweet, sweet revenge and then some. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban received the BCS championship trophy today for the team's 21-0 victory over LSU last night. LSU beat the Tide in the regular season game. This time around, the Alabama defense dominated the Tigers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK SABAN, ALABAMA FOOTBALL COACH: I always know when you throw the ball out, they're going to go get it, because they are a hateful bunch and they are competitive as you can ever imagine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The shutout of the Tigers was the first in the history of the BCS title game.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture planning to cut 259 of its facilities all around the country. This move is part of a plan to save $150 million a year.
The USDA says the closures will affect 46 states and USDA headquarters in Washington. Seven foreign offices will also be closed. It's still not clear how many people could lose their jobs, but the USDA says some offices are no longer staffed or only have one person working there.
What is called New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster, it's just gotten worse. Bad weather has caused the stern of the cargo ship Rena to sink further, releasing 21 containers of hazardous material and 10 more tons of oil into the water. Officials say the containers are wrapped in plastic, so they say there is no risk of harm. The Rena ran aground in October.
And if you like those fun gadgets here, listen to this. Today, marking the opening of the CES. That's the Consumer Electronics Show in San Francisco.
The CEO of Nokia is declaring a mobile war on Apple and Google. Here's what they're saying. Nokia calling its new windows phone the Lumia 900 a beachhead. They're hoping it will make a dent in the North American market current dominated by Apple's iPhone and Google's Android devices.
A lot more to cover for you here in the next two hours of CNN NEWSROOM. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Tonight, all eyes on New Hampshire, but it's not first place that everyone will be talking about, it's the silver and the bronze which could determine who stays in and who drops out.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. Special coverage of round one of the GOP primaries starts right now.
(voice-over): The business experience Mitt Romney promotes is now the heart of his opponents' attacks.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people?
BALDWIN: The GOP race takes a surprising turn as Republican candidates raise questions about capitalism, cash and the rich.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm sure he was worried he would run out of pink slips.
BALDWIN: Plus, as the number of Independents rise in the U.S., Jon Huntsman hoping his all-in strategy wins them over.
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I represent a new energetic generation.
BALDWIN: The question is, is he too late?
Also, it's a disturbing trend. Men accused of plotting terror in America were just kids during 9/11. What is behind their hate?
And a band member dies during what investigators are calling a brutal hazing ritual. Now Robert Champion's parents are making a major revelation about their son's personal life.
CHAMPION: He was not defined by that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You know Jon Huntsman. He makes no bones about being the underdog when it comes to the Republican presidential nomination, but he thinks he has a plan to get the votes on his side.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTSMAN: We forget that in order to beat Barack Obama at the end of the day, we have actually got to convince people who voted for him last time to cross over and vote for me. And that means you have got to have the math that works on your side, which means you have got to break out of just the one-party box. You have got to win Independence.
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've got to be able to win over Independents as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Mitt Romney, though, he is the heavy favorite, but a late barrage of attacks -- Newt Gingrich leading that charge -- could dampen Romney's expected win in today's New Hampshire primary. That really is the bottom line here.
And Wolf Blitzer back with us today.
Obviously, it's an exciting day. You feel the buzz around here as we're going to be covering all of this tonight. But when you think about this -- first of all, when do the polls close, and when will we know the results, and what really will you look for?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Some of them close very early, in the 6:00 Eastern hour, some in the 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour. Most of them close by then. A few close at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. We're not going to project a winner, assuming we have all the data and all that stuff, until all the polls in the state are closed.
BALDWIN: Of course.
BLITZER: So the earliest we'd be able to project a winner would be 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Most of them close though by 7:00, 7:30, around that time.
BALDWIN: What are you watching for specifically, other than the obvious?
BLITZER: Well, we know that Mitt Romney is going to win in New Hampshire. That's a foregone conclusion. The question is, will he win by 15 points, 10 points, 5 points? That will be significant.
We'll also be watching very closely to see who comes in second. If Ron Paul does well, it potentially could hurt Jon Huntsman.
This is do or die for Jon Huntsman in New Hampshire. As you know, he's invested all of his effort in New Hampshire. He's got to do well. And if he does well, he'll move on, he can raise money. He's got backers. He'll be able to go on to South Carolina and Florida.
If he doesn't do that well, he might just, you know, give up.
BALDWIN: Yes, Florida after South Carolina. We'll come back to New Hampshire in a minute, but I want to talk about Florida, because a quick refresher here.
Romney placed first in Iowa, right? But by all of eight votes.
BLITZER: Yes.
BALDWIN: He is favored today, as Wolf points out, in New Hampshire. South Carolina is next, then you've got the Florida primary, 10 days later.
Here's the news. This is the poll out today, the first poll of likely primary voters in Florida. Take a look at the numbers.
Mitt Romney, there at the tip top, 36 percent. Second place, you have Gingrich at 24. Then Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Rick Perry and Jon Huntsman.
You looked at that poll.
BLITZER: Yes.
BALDWIN: What do the numbers say to you?
BLITZER: Well, the numbers say that assuming Rick Perry does not do well in South Carolina, he's going to have to draw --
BALDWIN: He's saying forget New Hampshire. He's already there.
BLITZER: Yes. New Hampshire, he's going to get maybe one or two percent, if that. He didn't do well in Iowa.
He reassessed what he was going to do after Iowa and decided to play again in South Carolina. We'll see how he does in South Carolina. But if he leaves, and if Huntsman leaves, then the field is narrowed from six to four.
I think Gingrich, Santorum, Ron -- Ron Paul says he's not going to compete in Florida.
BALDWIN: In Florida.
BLITZER: He wants to move on to some of the other states because he doesn't have the resources in Florida. That may be a mistake from his perspective. I'm going to talk to him about it in our 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour. We'll discuss that a little bit.
But I'll put it this way. If Mitt Romney -- he has won in Iowa, barely, he'll win probably - - decisively in New Hampshire. If he wins in South Carolina and then goes on to win in Florida, you know what?
BALDWIN: It could be a done deal.
We talked about this yesterday, the super PAC, the $5 million. We're going to start seeing these ads in South Carolina popping up tomorrow, right?
BLITZER: Right. BALDWIN: And so we've seen this narrative which we're not used to in the Republican Party, this class warfare. It began with Newt Gingrich, and now we're seeing a couple of the other candidates jump on.
If this narrative continues not just in New Hampshire, and really affects his winning, the differential tonight, how might that play out? Will they continue that narrative into the next two primaries, do you think?
BLITZER: I think that it's going to get brutal, even uglier.
BALDWIN: Even worse?
BLITZER: Yes. Look, Newt Gingrich, his popularity really was destroyed in Iowa because of all these anti-Newt Gingrich attack ads that pro-Romney, pro-Ron Paul forces put out.
BALDWIN: They worked.
BLITZER: They worked, effectively. Here's the difference in South Carolina. You want to know what the difference is?
BALDWIN: Yes.
BLITZER: Here is the difference in South Carolina. Newt Gingrich is going to attack Mitt Romney, try to do to him in South Carolina what they did to Newt Gingrich in Iowa. But the difference is Mitt Romney is not going to just take it. He's going to fight back.
He's got millions and millions of dollars. He can respond. He'll take a hit, and he'll come out swinging.
So this is going to get a little bit more fierce in South Carolina. And if it's not over in South Carolina, in Florida it's going to be brutal.
BALDWIN: And then, finally, I just want to ask you about something that you've talked about so often before the primaries got going, how the rules changed. So now, prior to -- what's the date in April? It's not winner take all, it's the delegates come as proportional to the results.
BLITZER: Some of the states are winner take all, still. Some are proportional. Those states that moved up like Florida, they're going to lose half their delegates unless they change the rules, as they sometimes do, going into the convention in Tampa in the summer, the Republican convention.
BALDWIN: So, then, because of the rule change, how might that affect -- does that mean we could see a longer, drawn-out primary period?
BLITZER: Yes. Because it's a proportion, not winner take all, in a lot of these states -- not all of them, by any means -- it could drag on. If there's one candidate who emerges as the main challenger to Mitt Romney, this thing could go on and on, just sort of like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama went through June.
BALDWIN: In July. June?
BLITZER: June. Puerto Rico. We waited -- I was anchoring our coverage waiting for the results from Puerto Rico in June. Who would have thought?
BALDWIN: Right. Fascinating.
BLITZER: It didn't hurt, by the way. That long, prolonged primary didn't hurt Barack Obama going into the November election. Because you know what happened?
BALDWIN: He won.
BLITZER: Right.
We'll talk next hour. We'll talk next hour, Wolf Blitzer. Thank you.
And, you know, all day long we've heard a lot from the Republican presidential candidates. We now want to hear from you.
Go to CNN iReport. That's CNNiReport.com. You can upload a video of your views. We want to hear from you on the race for the White House. Also, let us know what issues are most important to you here in this election year.
Take pictures. If you vote in the primary, please upload them to our Web site as well. We want to see democracy action from people, from you, making it happen.
Once again, CNNiReport.com.
And Wolf mentioned it's going to get uglier. More mudslinging from the Republican presidential candidates. Newt Gingrich said Mitt Romney's business was more about cutting jobs than creating new ones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: Is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: 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)
BALDWIN: And standing by live to talk to us about her father's campaign is one of Newt Gingrich's daughters. This is Jackie Cushman. She -- we're going to talk to you after the quick break. Also -- Jackie, stand by.
We do have some breaking news just into us here at CNN. A major earthquake has just hit Indonesia. It comes with a report of a tsunami warning. Chad Myers has that for us next.
Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right. We've got some breaking news, as we mentioned just a moment ago. A major earthquake in Indonesia.
Chad Myers looking at the maps, making calls.
Chad, how significant is this?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is a 7.3. This is a major earthquake anywhere in the world, don't get me wrong. But this is the same area that had the 9.1 earthquake with the Banda Aceh tsunami back in 2004.
So a 7.3 along mainly the same fault line as we had certainly will put a lot of shaking along the land here, but not so much as a local tsunami threat. Now, they're warning only for the local islands around there.
The shattering and the glass is breaking in these areas for sure at 7.3, only about 150 kilometers away from Banda Aceh, where all those people lived and where it was so hard hit during that Banda Aceh earthquake at 9.1. But a 7.3 under the water, a small tsunami, but at this point in time, not as much to worry about, clearly, as we had back in 2004.
BALDWIN: OK. Chad Myers, keep your eye on it. Obviously, and as soon as we get pictures, we'll bring them in. Chad, thank you.
Meantime, back to politics, back to New Hampshire.
I know we've talked a lot about Newt Gingrich hammering away at his contender, Mitt Romney, but some of the former Speaker's sharpest criticism was actually aimed at Ron Paul supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: They're young enthusiasts, and at some point people will figure out this is actually the legalized drug group. And once that becomes clear enough, I think you'll see Ron Paul's support shrink.
Paul has two (INAUDIBLE) -- don't worry about Iran's nuclear weapons and legalize drugs. Each of those ultimately shrinks his appeal. And then he has one natural base (ph) which is the Federal Reserve and monetary policy and the sort of things he'd like to do at that level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Keeping with our primary coverage here on CNN live from New Hampshire.
Let's go to Jackie Gingrich Cushman. She is the daughter of the man you just saw, the Republican presidential candidate, the former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.
And Jackie, nice to see you and thank you for coming on.
JACKIE GINGRICH CUSHMAN, NEWT GINGRICH'S DAUGHTER: Thank you.
BALDWIN: You know, I know your dad vowed to run a positive campaign, a campaign -- he's known as Mr. Ideas, the campaign of ideas. But then Mitt Romney kind of crushed him in Iowa, as Wolf Blitzer and I were just talking about, under that onslaught of all those negative ads.
But now your dad, Jackie, is fighting back. When it comes to Romney, is your dad angry or is this now personal?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Oh, no, it's not at all personal. You know, to your point, there was a lot of money spent in Iowa. There was roughly $10 million in negative advertising, and roughly half of that was against my father.
If you equate that across the nation on a per-vote basis, it's $5 million nationally. So it was a huge amount of money.
And what dad is saying is, look, we need to provide clarity, we need to make sure people understand the backgrounds and the experience of people. And again -- and he's been very clear about this -- he said anyone that supports him should make sure that they have factual information that is included in whatever is happening, but we do need to draw a contrast for the voters.
BALDWIN: OK. So you're saying not personal, but angry, yes? Quickly, yes or no?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: No, he's not angry.
BALDWIN: Not angry?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: No, he is not angry. He is not angry.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: OK. OK. We're about to see a bunch of ads, I know, starting tomorrow in South Carolina. But I'll take your word for it. You know your father better than I do.
Your dad, though, has very much so been criticizing Romney for his career as a venture capitalist which involved acquiring and also sometimes closing businesses.
Let's listen to your father, Newt Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GINGRICH: 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?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Jackie, is that your dad or is that someone more like a Michael Moore?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: I think, clearly -- and you could tell my dad's voice, so it's clearly my father. But his point is -- and I think this has been -- part of why this contrast is so important is Governor Romney has repeatedly talked about he's from a different background, that he has a background in business, and talks about that a lot.
And so it's actually the basis for his platform for presidency, as opposed to his record as governor. Then it really is important that the voters understand what that background included.
And that's part of what's happening here. My dad's background, clearly, he's the one that, as Speaker, balanced the budget, reformed welfare, cut taxes and cut spending. So he has a very clear platform of he's done it before and can do it again.
The question is, what do the other candidates stand for?
BALDWIN: But it's this new narrative, Jackie. It's something you hear from Democrats, certainly talking about a class warfare, but not from Republican brethren. And here is your father sort of beginning these sorts of attacks.
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: And I think you have an incredibly great point. The point is, in the end of this process, the Republicans need to have a nominee that can stand against President Obama and provide a very clear contrast.
And to your point, they are going to take this narrative and run for it. Donna Brazile said this past weekend they would love to have Romney as a Republican candidate, because they know that they could really go after him for this type of approach. So I think we do need to think about, in the end, who do we want to contrast against President Obama? Do we want Governor Romney, who did Romneycare, or do we want a nominee that's Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has actually balanced the budget when President Obama can't pass a budget?
BALDWIN: OK. Let me ask you, just also on a more personal level -- and everybody knows your dad is more of this ideas guy. And I guess my question is, what was he like around the house growing up? Did he own a toolbox? Did your dad like to fix things? Is he a fixer?
(LAUGHTER)
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Well, I can tell you what he did fix. That's a great question.
Every year we had to fix the Christmas tree. I don't know about you, but our Christmas trees were always very, very wiggly. And so every year we had wires into the sides of the wall to make sure it would stay upright.
BALDWIN: Oh, wow. So he would take it that far. He would be wiring your wall to make sure that Christmas tree was a non-wobbly tree?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Absolutely. It must be, too, because we had kittens, and they would run up the Christmas tree and knock it over on occasion. So -- -
BALDWIN: OK. So a window on your Christmastime.
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: He was a great, fun dad.
BALDWIN: And some of the people, I know, who have worked with your dad, they argue thought that his biggest shortcoming was a lack of discipline. Was he -- Jackie, was he a disciplinarian at home? Did you ever get grounded by your dad?
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Oh, he was the type of person -- still is -- where is an encourager. He inspires people. But in terms of whether or not he is disciplined, I think if you look at what he did as Speaker when he actually had the "Contract with America," was voted in as Speaker, and then actually, in the first 100 days, voted on everything in that package, that requires enormous discipline.
A lot of people said, hey, slow down, we're in power, we can wait. But he didn't. He actually fulfilled his promise to the American people. He is incredibly disciplined.
BALDWIN: In Manchester, New Hampshire, Jackie Gingrich Cushman.
Jackie, thank you very much.
GINGRICH CUSHMAN: Thank you.
BALDWIN: All eyes on New Hampshire today as that primary election -- the votes are cast and counted. Wolf Blitzer, Erin Burnett, Anderson Cooper, Candy Crowley, John King and myself, we'll all be live tonight starting at 7:00 Eastern as those results come in. Please joins us then.
New developments today in the case of the Florida A&M University band member beaten and killed, allegedly during hazing. His parents spoke out this morning to members of the media, revealing a side of their son that might have contributed to his being bullied to death.
That story, two minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Do you remember -- or, really, who could forget the Florida A&M band member who died in that alleged hazing incident? Well, his friends have told his family's attorney he was gay and that he may have been beaten much worse because of that fact. Robert Champion died back in November after allegedly being beaten on a bus by fellow band members. His parents and their attorney did speak today at the hotel where Robert Champion died. They said he was "hazed to death," and that even if he was gay, it didn't define him.
George Howell spoke with the family today.
George, what did they say?.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, Robert and Pam Champion held their news conference here in Orlando, here at the very hotel where their son was killed a little more than two months ago in a hazing incident. They say it was hard to do it here, hard to be here, but say it was important to make a statement and let people know about the next step in this case.
Their attorney, Chris Chestnut, says that he is filing a lawsuit against the bus company called Fabulous Coaching Lines based here in Florida. He says that the bus -- he learned from his own investigation that the bus was on, that the air-conditioner was running. He believes someone should have been on that bus or someone should have known what was happening while the bus was on. Also, through the course of his investigation, he says that some of Robert Champion's friends told him that Champion was gay, ,and he believes that could have been one of many factors that contributed into Robert Champion being beaten so severely.
Now, Pam Champion says that her son was never defined by his sexuality, but listen here. They say this is something they never considered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAM CHAMPION, ROBERT CHAMPION'S MOTHER: Actually, my husband thought it might be true, but I never considered that. I never considered that at all. It never crossed my mind.
HOWELL: So this was a surprise.
ROBERT CHAMPION SR., ROBERT CHAMPION'S FATHER: Yes, it was. My son was slated to be the head drum major for school and he made drum major last year. That was his first year being the drum major. And to be slated to be the head drum major that could have caused jealousy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: But Champion says they are determined to find answers, to find out why this happened to their son. They are not satisfied they say with the course of the investigation with the Orange County sheriff's office.
They tell me that they haven't heard anything for several months now since their son was killed. They're also not satisfied with how FAMU is handling this case. At this point they plan to move forward with their litigation -- Brooke. BALDWIN: George Howell, thank you. Right now, let's show, live, democracy in action. Here you go. In New Hampshire, casting their votes in the Republican presidential primary
Coming up next, we're going to speak with the head of the Republican Party in that state. We want to know about the turn out, of course, today and whether these negative campaign ads we've been talking about are really affecting the race for the White House. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Back now live to coverage of the New Hampshire primary. Joining me now from Manchester, Wayne MacDonald, chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.
Wayne MacDonald, I see you do have your overcoat on so that tells me it's a little cold. I know you're tough, but hopefully the weather is nice so that means good things for your voter turnout. What are you seeing in the headlines tomorrow?
WAYNE MACDONALD, CHAIRMAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY: Well, I'm hearing a very good turnout. I voted in my home town in Londonderry earlier. He had to about 2,100 turning out. That was just before noon.
And you know, as the day goes on, that's only got to intensify. The heaviest time of turnout is 5:00 and after. Our polls in Londonderry close at 8:00. So there's going to be heavy turnout in Londonderry.
Secretary Geithner has predicted, the Secretary of State Bill Geithner has predicted 250,000. Here in New Hampshire, we'll take a Republican ballot today. That's actually more than we have registered Republicans. That will mean a lot of Republicans as well as undeclareds will be participating in the Republican primary.
BALDWIN: Let me ask you about these candidates specifically Mitt Romney. I mean, should he win as we keep, you know, anticipating tonight? Should we prorate his victory down where given he serve as governor in neighboring state of Massachusetts? He's kind of a favorite son, isn't he?
MACDONALD: He definitely has a home court advantage. I'm not making any predictions about tonight. All of our candidates have done a great job and have the best of New Hampshire political talent involved in their campaigns.
Having said that, we're also very loyal in our region to our candidates, so whether it's Joe Lieberman or whether it's Ed Musky years ago or whether it's Paul Songas. In this case, Mitt Romney, so that certainly favors him that he's from the region.
BALDWIN: So he's got the home court advantage, but then you have all these attack ads, right? I mean, are you surprised, sir? Are you surprised that he has attacks against Mitt Romney by his opponents? And has the flavor of these attacks at all resonated with the voters. I'm sure you're speaking with him today.
MACDONALD: I am. Negative campaigning does have an impact. Governor Romney has a great organization, and I'm sure they're prepared to address these in various ways.
They've run an outstanding campaign, and if, in fact, he does win today, it's going to be a tribute to that organization. You know, as a party leader, I don't like to see negative campaigning.
But I recognize the candidates have a lot invested, and as the pressure mounts in the final days of the campaign, it just happened. The important thing is we will be united later on.
BALDWIN: What are the voters telling you with regard to the negative campaigning? How is it affecting them in their vote?
MACDONALD: Well, generally speaking, voters don't like to hear them. I've heard it today and I've heard it throughout many campaigns. They don't like to hear what's wrong with the other candidate, they want to hear that the individual who is sponsoring that add or the organization, who they support and what they believe in.
BALDWIN: Newt Gingrich, you know, he's out there and challenging some of the fundamentals of capitalism. When we see the results coming in tonight, will we see that the voters in their state bought what Gingrich is saying?
MACDONALD: Republicans -- I'm not sure I fully understand Speaker Gingrich's point. Republicans throughout this nation believe in capitalism and believe in free enterprise.
You know, again, they're going to be campaigning. I know the speaker wants to do well today, and I know he and Mitt Romney have -- spirited contest between them.
But I don't think that criticizing another Republican about capitalism and for the pursuit of capitalism is necessarily the way to go.
BALDWIN: We will see if any of the negative campaigning resonates and materialize in the results, or perhaps not. Wayne MacDonald, thank you very much.
How close is humanity from catastrophic destruction? The announcement whether to move up the hands of the doomsday clock. Find out how close we are to midnight. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: So I wasn't aware that one of these even existed until I read about this today, but there is a clock that apparently predicts when the world will end, and it just got one minute closer to midnight.
Chad Myers, we throw anything and everything at you and today, we're talking about the "Doomsday" clock. I laugh, should I be laughing? Is this serious stuff?
MYERS: Only in the context of when the world is going to end because we are at 11:55 p.m. on the way to midnight being the end of the world. Now, that doesn't mean it's happy hour --
BALDWIN: You seem very calm.
MYERS: Yes, we're not 5 minutes away. We had been 3 minutes away in the past that was back in 1953. We had been 17 minutes away in the past from being dead and that was when the Soviet Union fell.
So the threshold of pain here between where we are now and 5 minutes to midnight and the very best time we've seen on this clock being 17 minutes before midnight is it kind of a stretch.
When the Soviet Union fell, to be honest, it probably could have been 3:00 in the afternoon. Let me back up just a few minutes so let me kind of tell you what's coming, what's going and why we got a little bit closer to death today.
Here we go, 1947 it starts. Somewhere around '49, the Soviet Union explodes an atom bomb, and then we explode a hydrogen bomb. At that point, we are only 2 minutes away from dying on this clock. Then we get a little bit better.
By 1963, we have a couple of arms treaties, nuclear test ban, we're doing OK. Back down in the '60s, what happened in the '60s, Vietnam, escalated in '68, but got better as we finally edited enough to board '72.
Then all of a sudden President Reagan was elected. Everybody remembers him as a statesman and he tore down the wall. But in 1981, he said the only way to win the Cold War, to end it, was to win it.
So all of a sudden back in '81, '82, this thing went all the way down to about 5 minutes away even less from our death that's because the bombs we were building, we were going to destroy the Soviet Union.
BALDWIN: Hang on, I don't mean to interrupt your flow, but this whole thing is predicated upon history, historic events.
MYERS: Historic events.
BALDWIN: And so who is behind the clock?
MYERS: They made it in 1947. Basically, these anatomic scientists said now that we have the atom bomb -- and it's all relative. If you think about 17 minutes and 4 minutes, we are much closer to 5 minutes now.
We are much closer than we were back in 1981 when the Soviet Union fell and a lot of bombs were going away and they were disarming them. But what happened now this year, we got a little closer to midnight because climate change was added.
That could all kill us even before atom bombs do. We have nuclear weapons, especially back in the '80s and '90s. We have Pakistan. We have India with weapons. We also have now North Korea with a nuke.
As we see here back in 2010, 2011 and now '12, this atomic energy commission is saying, nobody is even talking about getting rid of any of these weapons. So it does not even in political clout to get rid of these. We're not getting farther away from death, we are getting closer to it, but it's not really 5 minutes.
BALDWIN: Well, on a much more serious note, I do want to ask about Indonesia the last time. You know, forget the doomsday clock here, this is serious stuff. A 7.3 earthquake, what more have you learned about the tsunami warnings?
MYERS: The tsunami warning is still there, but it's a local warning probably for a wave less than 6 feet. You understand when (inaudible) got hit by a wave about 60 or 100 feet, 6 feet is not going to be too much.
But it still is a significant quake, still a significant wave. It will not spread across the entire Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean. There's no threat to the U.S. or Hawaii with this one. But, yes, a 7.3 rattled the windows and that's only about 100 miles from where that big earthquake happened. It was 7.3 today, it was 9.1 back in 2004 so significantly bigger then -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Who could forget that? Chad Myers, thank you.
MYERS: Got it.
BALDWIN: I want to you take a look at this. This is the quote of the day as we had dubbed. This is a quote from a presidential candidate. Here's how this works. I'm going to show the quote, you think about who might have said this.
Quote, there was a Texan who was the vice president under Roosevelt. His name was Cactus Jack Garner and he said being the vice president wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit.
Think about it. Which current presidential candidate said that today? The answer, 2 minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: All right, you thought about this, the quote of the day. Let me just read it for you one more time. Quote, there is a Texan who was the vice president under Roosevelt. His name was Cactus Jack Garner and he said being the vice president wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit.
You thought about it? The answer is said by Governor Rick Perry. Now roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOVERNOR RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is a Texan who was vice president under Roosevelt. His name was Cactus Jack Garner. And he said that being the vice president wasn't worth a bucket of warm spit.
And, you know, being the governor of the state of Texas is an incredible job and competing with these other governors across the country. So, you know, I'm interested in being the president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Governor Rick Perry. And as New Hampshire voters go to the polls today, there seems to be a little question of who will come in first, but for the second and third place spots, that is a tight race.
CNN political editor, Paul Steinhauser, is in Manchester, New Hampshire. And Paul, I was just talking to the chair of the Republican Party in that state. He said, you know, the turnout looking pretty good. What have you seen?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes, that's what we're hearing as well. Secretary of State's office says it's going to be a record turnout, Brooke, and it makes sense because remember four years ago, they had about 241,000.
But there was a contest on the other side. Remember that Barack Obama versus Hillary Clinton, so a lot of independents were actually going that way.
So they think they're going to break a record from four years ago since there are really no Democratic contest this time. Barack Obama versus Barack Obama, I guess. Let's go back a couple hours, Brooke. Remember at 12:00 midnight, I don't know if you were sleeping.
BALDWIN: I was at work, my friend.
STEINHAUSER: You were still at work?
BALDWIN: I was.
STEINHAUSER: All right, well, people in Dixville Notch and Harts Location, these are two towns way up in the North Country, they do this every four years. They had the first votes.
In Dixville Notch, it was dead even, two votes for Huntsman, two votes for Romney. In Harts Location, well, Romney had the lead there with five votes followed by four for Ron Paul and Huntsman with two and Perry and Gingrich with one each.
So I guess that doesn't tell you a heck of a lot. But, you know what, it's labor, it's fun, it's tradition -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: What about, Paul Steinhauser, when it comes to the latest polls right in New Hampshire, there are two different versions. We know who number one is, but who is number two and number three?
STEINHAUSER: You're absolutely right, not a lot of drama here for number one. Well, let's look at these polls and we'll talk about them.
First one, this is Suffolk University and the Seven News. They had been doing this every day at the tracking poll. There he is on top, you're absolutely right, Mitt Romney. Of course, home field advantage. He was the governor of neighboring Massachusetts, 37 percent for him.
But look at that battle for second place there, 18 percent for Ron Paul, 16 percent for Jon Huntsman. You could see Rick Santorum at 11 percent, Newt Gingrich at 9 percent and there's Rick Perry, he's not even campaigning here at 1 percent.
Go to the next one. It looks like it's the exact same thing. This is from the American Research Group that came out last night like the other poll conducted Sunday and yesterday, and there you go again, Romney again exactly at 37 percent.
This one is slightly different, Huntsman at 18, 17 and so on. You're absolutely right. All the drama is going to be who comes in second. Will Huntsman come out of nowhere?
Remember, he was in single digits here for a long time and just last week his poll numbers are starting to really climb. Regardless, everybody here wants to have a second, third or fourth place finish to get that mojo to move on to South Carolina.
BALDWIN: So speaking of South Carolina, I'm sure you'll be ready to pack your bags and head to a warmer climate. You know, a lot of people talk about South Carolina where things get even uglier.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, and it's going to get -- South Carolina has a tradition of some ugly politics. We've seen that historically over the cycles. It could get pretty ugly.
We've already seen Newt Gingrich's "Super PAC." Remember this is an independent group. They say they're going to go up with these ads. They're really targeting Mitt Romney at Bain with his time with that private equity firm.
It could get ugly in South Carolina. It was semi-ugly in Iowa and here in New Hampshire -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Paul Steinhauser, thank you so much. We have just heard from Representative Ron Paul and he's actually -- listen to this. He is defending fellow Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney about that he'll fire people comment. Here he is Texas congressman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think they're way overboard on saying that he wants to fire people and doesn't care. I mean, it seems a little weird. In defense of Romney, I think they're wrong. I think they're totally misunderstanding of the markets works because you stay in companies, you stay in jobs, you reorganize companies that are going to go bankrupt, and they don't understand. They're either just demagoguing or they don't have the biggest idea how the market works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: You know, he was saying there has been a misunderstanding of what's important, actually coming to the defense of Mitt Romney.
Football superstar, Tim Tebow, said a major Twitter record this week. Coming up next, we're going to tell you just how many tweets were sent about every second about this guy.
Plus, remember this video? Tiger Woods ex-wife, you know, bulldozing that multi-million-dollar home. Well, whatever you thought was the reason. We now have the answer and it's probably not something you would guess.
Also, a dog is found swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Come to find out his owner hit by a drunk driver while she was walking this dog. We're going to tell you how the dog somehow winds up in the Gulf of Mexico. This amazing story of how the dog was rescued by a kayaker.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Trending today, a huge throw when Tim Tebow through his game, winning touchdown. This is on Sunday night. Twitter world erupted. Here's the number 9,428 tweets per second.
Twitter says that is a news sports record for this site. So just to kind of put this in perspective for you. The Tebow pass easily the top the deaths in terms of Twitter traffic, the death of Osama Bin Laden and the death of Steve Jobs.
Also trending from Sunday's game, John 3:16 hit number one on Google trends. Bible verse matches Tebow's passing yards for the game. Tebow known for wearing the number during his college football career.
You know about that $12.3 million mansion we told you about last week that was owned and also demolished by Tiger Woods' ex-wife? You kind of wondered why, maybe had an idea why should she would have done that.
Well, now we know. Here's the answer. Hurricanes and termites, yes, hurricanes and termites. The 17,000-square-foot home used to sit right here in beautiful North Palm Beach.
That is, until last week when a demo crew took it down. A construction company rep tells people.com that Elin Nordegren got rid of the home because it wasn't up to code to deal with hurricane winds.
She later learned termites and those pesky infested the place as well. Nordegren led a local Habitat for Humanity take what it could from the home and that's when they found the pests.
BALDWIN: This next story, I tell you, this is a tearjerker. A kayaker just fishing in the Gulf of Mexico finds a terrified dog swimming for its life, and you'll never believe how it got into the water in the first. CNN'S Jeanne Moos with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're out fishing for small sharks and mackerel off Florida's key when you catch a dog? Well, he didn't actually catch the dog. The dog caught him.
RORY O'CONNOR, KAYAKER WHO RESCUED DOG: He seemed to be making a V- line towards me.
MOOS: Rory O'Connor lifted the Hungarian Bichas onto his kayak.
O'CONNOR: I usually keep a camera running just in case I catch the big one.
MOOS: But, I mean, you did catch the big one. His name is Barney.
O'CONNOR: Yes, I know he's such a sweet dog.
MOOS: But this story has no sweet, happy ending.
O'CONNOR: I immediately saw that he was in distress. He was shaking a lot.
MOOS: His legs were cut up. One paw was especially bad. Hungarian Bichas are excellent swimmers, but this one was in danger of drowning.
The kayaker says the dog was half a mile from shore and struggling. Rory patted the dog. He robbed the dog, but the real rob where did he come from?
O'CONNOR: My first thought was that he had fallen off a boat. Maybe slipped off the back of a boat while the owner wasn't paying attention.
MOOS: So Rory approached the closest boat --
O'CONNOR: You didn't lose a dog, did you?
MOOS: But Barney's trip started as a walk. The 53-year-old Donna Chen, a wife and mother of three, was jogging with Barney on Saturday afternoon when police say this man lost control of his car as he rounded this bend.
Police say he was driving drunk and speeding away from another accident he caused moments before. When the dog's owner was struck and killed, Barney bolted and ended up running across the key and into the gulf.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, who knows what he was thinking. He was trying to get as far away from that scene as possible, I imagine. MOOS: When Rory landed the kayak, Barney was so scared, he wouldn't get off the boat at first. Rory's sister took the dog to a vet. The driver who allegedly killed Donna Chen, 22-year-old Blake Talman, held back tears in court as his lawyer argued for bail saying Talman would soon be a father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has a child on the way, due in about two months.
MOOS: Now he's facing charges ranging from DUI to negligent manslaughter.
Barney's injuries weren't serious. He's back with his family. He went for a walk. He went for a swim. And he ended up in a lifeboat.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
