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Four Marines Identified, Investigation to Follow; Christian Conservatives to Support Rick Santorum; Golden Globe Nominations; Cruise Ship Sinks

Aired January 14, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A waitress says she was fired because she's pregnant. She is now suing her former employer. Our CNN legal contributors, Avery Friedman and Richard Herman weigh in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Federal law requires an employer reasonably accommodate an employee. The fact is that Josie Murrell who is the plaintiff here in federal district court is now claiming that she can perform the job. She is a waitress.

She is not a stripper, she is a waitress and she can perform the job. You want to know something? If hustler wants to change the uniform a little bit to reasonably accommodate, they can do it. They are fighting this thing. They want her out. They don't want pregnant women in there.

Apparently, they want to appeal to the people that like to see semi- nude women. That's too bad. Judge Colleen McMann who is a federal judge in New York has entered an order this week. There's a hearing coming up and I think Josie is going to prevail.

WHITFIELD: OK, and so Richard, by federal law, pregnancy is treated as a disability. So her condition is protected.

RICHARD HERMAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: It's protected, Fred. Come on. Let's be realistic here. She is a waitress. They wear very skimpy outfits, the waitresses. The woman is pregnant, she's full- blown showing, everything. She can't wear the skimpy outfits.

WHITFIELD: So they should have a maternity version, no?

HERMAN: Right.

A baggy outfit or something there. I don't know. Larry Flynt has been around constitutional issues for years. I think he better dig into some of the funny money or he will be paying this woman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. It's 4:00 Eastern time. Let's get straight to the news now. The U.S. State Department confirmed more than 120 Americans were onboard that cruise ship that ram aground off the coast of Italy. There are no reports of any Americans being among the dead and injured. The captain, however, is under arrest. A local prosecutor says he is being investigated for manslaughter and abandoning ship. At least three people are dead. Rescue crews and survivors say the death toll is likely to rise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (through translator): I am afraid the people with me the entire time are dead. I think the two people that I was helping the entire time are dead. I don't know where to ask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Reporter Barbie Nadeau is at the port where the survivors are being taken and she will be joining us with an update in about seven minutes from now.

Meantime, back in this country, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum just solidified his social conservative base in a big way. The Family Research Council led a gathering of religious conservatives in Texas today and the group decided to endorse Santorum after three rounds of voting. Stay with us.

Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council will be joining us live in just a few moments.

And it looks like a federal judge has torpedoed any shot of these GOP presidential candidates winning the Virginia primary. He says Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman took too long to file so their names can to the be on the ballot in Virginia. Here are choices for Virginia Republican voters March 6th. At stake, the state's 49 delegates.

All right. Now, former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is standing by his pardons, including his decision to release four men convicted of murder. The state's attorney general is challenging the pardons. Barbour said 215 people received some sort of clemency. Of those, he said, 189 were no longer in prison. Barbour said he wanted to give them a second chance.

Fuel oil for icebound nome, Alaska, is tantalizingly close, just about eight miles from shore. It has taken 10 days for a Coast Guard ice breaker to lead the way for the tanker. Onboard, more than a million gallons of fuel oil for a city that's running low. Once the tanker finds an area of stable ice closer to shore, it will stop and the fuel will be pumped in through a hose.

Police in Anaheim, California, say they have arrested a man who generally fits the description of a man suspected of killing several homeless people in December. Authorities say the man allegedly fled the scene of a fatal stabbing last night. The victim appears to have been homeless. So far, police are not making a direct connection between this case and the earlier killings.

A big weekend in the NFL playoffs. Of course today the New Orleans Saints take on the San Francisco 49ers while the Denver Broncos play the New England Patriots. Tomorrow you'll see the Houston Texans against the Baltimore Ravens followed by New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers at Green Bay.

All right. A week from today, voters in South Carolina will hold their primary. And new polls give Mitt Romney reason to be confident as he campaigns around the state. He's about to hold a rally in Columbia in just a few moments. Nationally, a CNN Opinion Research poll shows Republicans overwhelmingly want him as their nominee. He nearly doubles Newt Gingrich's 18 percent. Ron Paul and Rick Santorum are the only others in double digits.

And it's a lot closer among South Carolina voters. The American Research Group Paul has Romney ahead of Gingrich by just four percentage points but he is still the choice, Romney that is. So for many conservatives, Romney's strong showing is the problem. This weekend, religious conservatives meeting at a branch in Texas decided to back Rick Santorum for the GOP nomination. And it looks like they are following William F. Buckley's long-standing political principle. He once said, "I'm for the most conservative candidate who can win."

So one of those religious leaders is Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council. He joins me now from Houston. All right. So With the poll numbers that we've seen, can Santorum get that nomination, Mr. Perkins?

TONY PERKINS, PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Well, I think that is the thinking. The leaders that were there, that it's time to get off the sidelines, move into the process and express support for the candidate that is most conservative. What happened here this weekend is that the campaigns had surrogates that came and spoke on behalf of the candidates.

Then there was discussion and then a series of balloting. There was passionate and enthusiastic support for Rick Santorum, for Rick Perry and for Newt Gingrich. In the end, what we had super majority expressing support for Rick Santorum.

WHITFIELD: So was it a case of the surrogates, the supporters of these candidates, it really boiled down to who made the best argument for their candidate and that's how they were able to influence the vote? Or did people already have their minds made up before the surrogates walked in the room?

PERKINS: No. It was a process that took place this weekend. Because what they wanted to do was to make sure that the candidate that had the best chance of going forward securing the nomination and winning the general election were the candidate they put their support behind. And the context was this - they realized the seriousness of the situation that we are in as a country. And there was unanimous support that they can and must replace Barack Obama as president.

And I think there would be support for any of the three of Rick Perry or Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich, but the expression of a super majority there was that they wanted to back Rick Santorum. So I expect in the days following from this event that you will see individuals and organizations begin to show that support publicly. WHITFIELD: Were there certain issues that were being measured? Certain criteria that was really important for this group collectively to judge any of these candidates on?

PERKINS: You know, it's an interesting question. Because there was a discussion not just about social issues, but there was discussion about economic issues, about the free market system. And it was not a focus on the negative of what are not right about candidates. In fact, there was very little, if any discussion about Mitt Romney. Rather the discussion was on the future and what America needs to become great again and to restore the family, to restore fiscal responsibility and a strong presence internationally.

And so the focus gravitated toward the candidate that they thought was best able to carry forward the conservative banner on all fronts. In the end, a super majority believed that Rick Santorum was the candidate to do that.

WHITFIELD: And is this selection of Rick Santorum is that, does that translate into a feeling that he is the one who will become the Republican nominee or simply he is the one who this group most favors among the six candidates, the six Republican choices?

PERKINS: Yes, that's a good question. I don't thing people came from across the country here on a weekend at a ranch outside of Houston just to express their preference. We could have done that online. I think the desire coming here was to reach a consensus or an agreement, at least a majority that could put their support behind a candidate. There was a threshold of two thirds of those that gathered that would have to support a candidate in order to make any kind of public statement.

I didn't think we could get there, quite frankly, because that's not happened in the past. But weighing heavily upon this group was the present state of affairs in America and the fact that in 2008, the conservative vote was fragmented when you had several candidates in the race. They didn't get behind Mike Huckabee even though he was clearly a social conservative in the race but they were hoping for Fred Thompson and others and in the end, not the strongest candidate emerged. John McCain and he was not successful in the general election.

There is a desire not to repeat that, but rather put forward our best foot in moving the country forward.

WHITFIELD: All right. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, thanks for your time from Houston today.

PERKINS: Good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: And be sure to keep it right here on CNN next Saturday as results come in from the South Carolina primary. Join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King beginning 6:00 p.m. Eastern time.

And the latest on that Italian cruise ship accident just moments away. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now for the latest on that luxury cruise ship sinking off the coast of Italy. The U.S. State Department confirmed more than 120 Americans were onboard the ship. None listed among the dead and injured. The ship's captain is now being investigated; however, for abandoning the ship and possibly being charged with manslaughter.

At least three people are dead, but many more are missing. At last check, Barbie Nadeau said roughly about 40 people were still missing. Meantime, the president of the cruise line released this statement a short time ago. Reading in part "I want to express our deep sorrow for this terrible tragedy that devastates us."

Now we have on the line with us, Vivian Schaeffer. She is an American who we understand was actually on that cruise liner when it ran into trouble. Vivian, tell me what was your experience, what happened?

VIVIAN SHAFER, PASSENGER(ON THE PHONE): Well, it was really quite bizarre. We thought because we had had been on only a few hours, we didn't have the safety brief yet. So it was really bizarre. We finished dinner and were at the magic show. And we thought it was really sort of a bizarre trick to have the curtains all be sideways and the lights, you know, because he was using different lights and smoke. All in all, it was pretty bizarre. It was unreal.

WHITFIELD: So you were at the magic show. Things started to, you know, kind of slant a little bit there. Did you hear anything, any announcement that there was trouble?

SHAFER: No.

WHITFIELD: Nothing.

SHAFER: That's what was really unfortunate. There wasn't an announcement. One gentleman got up and went running at the back of the room. You know, sort of he forgot his wife. He looked back and people just quickly went to their rooms. And then once we were all in our room rooms, the floor steward kept saying, "Minor technical problem, minor technical problem, electrical. Don't worry. Go back in your room."

So we went back in our room and prepared to go to bed because the lights went off. We had flash lights and things. We thought, "Well, OK, they're going to fix the electrical." But then as the room started to slant more and more, things started to slide. We got up and got dressed. At that point they had said one lifeboat three. They announced twice that it was - the captain came on, speaking on behalf of the captain, there is no problem. Don't panic. Go back to your rooms.

WHITFIELD: Were you panicking?

SHAFER: No. We really weren't. Because it was just so surreal. You just really didn't think it was happening. We weren't panicking. The people we were with, there were a few kind of panicking, but we were calm. One gentleman was out in the hall in his underwear. We thought that was bizarre. But any case, once we heard them say lifeboat three and then muster station four, we thought they must want us on deck for safety. We got up and got dressed, but we didn't grab everything. I wish I would have grabbed some of my identification, at least. It was all in the safe. So we got up and got dressed and walked out. Then we could see they were actually loading the life boat. You could definitely see the whole angle of the ship. We got on the lifeboat.

WHITFIELD: This is all happening at nightfall, it's dark. Right?

SHAFER: No. There were lights on the outside of the ship. We were one of the lucky people. We were one of the ones that left earlier, not in the first lifeboat, but definitely not the last lifeboat so it wasn't dark. We were able to get on the lifeboat. The lifeboat ran aground, but he was able to rock it off whatever he caught on. Then a lifeboat got us to shore.

And then we spent the night on that island. Those people were really wonderful and we were trying to find a place to be warm. We went to a church and kind of leaned up, my sister and I were both Catholics so it felt wrong to be sitting on the altar. We were sitting on the altar because there was no space. The poor workers, some of them had been asleep. They were only dressed in like little flannel shorts or their flannel night things. They were really cold.

WHITFIELD: Was it your feeling at this point once you're on the island after you've been on the lifeboat that everyone had gotten off the ship safely just as you did? That there were lifeboats for every one or even life jackets?

SHAFER: Yes. We felt because where we were, the situation where we were was pretty orderly. I mean some of the people were panicking, but most of the people, you know, we were just trying to keep each other cheered up and in good spirits. We did not realize anybody was actually hurt until we saw like ambulances and things like that. And then we saw some people didn't have shoes. You could see people were cutting their feet. One gentleman had his head bandaged. He must have hit his head, when he must have slid or fell. We didn't realize anyone was seriously hurt until we started hearing the news report.

WHITFIELD: And now reportedly, the ship's captain allegedly abandoned ship and may be facing criminal charges, including manslaughter and abandoning ship. Were there ever any discussions or did you learn anything about the ship's captain when you were with the other, you know, fellow mates on the ship on this island once you've all -

SHAFER: No, what is really disappointing there didn't seem to be anybody in charge or anyone really with any authority to tell people anything. I mean if it wasn't for like the island people and some of the ambulance people, we wouldn't have even known about the church or the school or a place where to get warm. There was a little toy store and cafe that was letting people in to use the bathroom and could get warm. But no, nobody from the ship. It was really disappointing in the sense how unprofessional they were there. And even kind of Hilton Hotel here has been fabulous, but there's been such a lack of information on what to do or how or what's going to happen next or that type of thing. I think that is what was so frustrating. Because you know, you were cold and didn't know what was going to happen.

WHITFIELD: So Vivian, you're from Gaithersburg, Maryland. I understand you are a colonel in the army and had recently been stationed in Kabul, Afghanistan. Is that right? Was this kind of a vacation planned post your deployment?

SHAFER: Yes. I am not post deployment. I'm on my R&R. You get two weeks R&R and I planned for my sister and I to take this cruise as my vacation. I need to go back to Kabul, but I'm going to go back to the states because I don't have my I.D. card, I don't have anything. So I just can't imagine that I'll get back through customs all the way back into Kabul.

WHITFIELD: And how is your sister doing? Is she pretty shaken up with all this?

SHAFER: She's fine.

WHITFIELD: Is she shaken up about this?

SHAFER: Pardon.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I was wondering if she was shaken up about this. You say she's fine.

SHAFER: No. Yes, we're both fine. We are with a group of people, some wonderful Canadians. We are all fine. The Canadians they had it a little bit worse. Their lifeboat actually got hung up when it was coming down. So they definitely want to go home. There were a lot of us that just - it was OK.

WHITFIELD: Well, Vivian Shafer, we're glad that you're OK. What an incredible journey and experience you've had. All the best as you try to get back home to Maryland and then possibly back to Afghanistan on your assignments. Thanks so much.

SHAFER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And of course, we'll keep you updated at home.

We'll also keep you updated on this investigation which is now leading into potential charges that the ship's captain may face, abandonment as well as manslaughter. At least three people so far have died from this ship running aground. At least 40 people might be missing. We'll keep you posted on this. We are going to take a short break right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We are watching the presidential campaign trail one week away from the South Carolina primary. You're looking at live pictures right now at an event where Mitt Romney is to attend. There are in Columbia, South Carolina, the state's capital and we are also keeping a close watch on candidate Newt Gingrich. Apparently he too is campaigning in South Carolina, but in the city of Sumpter, South Carolina. So we'll keep you posted on all of the candidates as they crisscross that state a week away from that primary.

All right. Now trading the work cubicle for the classroom. Will it help you get ahead? It's a pretty big decision. We'll help you figure that one out, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: With the uncertainty in the job market, millions of people are upgrading their skills going back to vocational schools, community colleges or even universities. So every week we focus on ways to get a jump-start in the work force.

In today's "Reclaim Your Career," we're asking the question, when is it worth going back to school? Valorie Burton is the author of "Where will you go from here?" So Valorie, many people, young and old, you know, want to go back to school but in this economy, they are a little nervous about, a, can I afford it and really can I afford the time? So how do you kind of strike a balance and make a clear decision about whether it's the right thing for you?

VALORIE BURTON, AUTHOR "WHERE WILL YOU GO FROM HERE?": Well, you know, you want to be really strategic about it. A lot of people just go back to school kind of aimlessly and expecting that they're going to make more money or they're going to have more opportunities. And so you want to be very intentional about choosing to go back to school. And one of the first ways you know that you're ready is that you understand how you're going to pay for it. That is a really big one. If it's all possible, you know, to pay as you go or you're able to find grants or scholarships or tuition assistance programs with your employer, that's really, really smart. But if you're going to take out loans, ask how much am I going to take out? How much payments are going to be when I'm finish?

WHITFIELD: Right. Because in state, on average, in state college tuition costs average $700 per class.

BURTON: Per class.

WHITFIELD: It's not cheap.

BURTON: It's not cheap and that is in state. And a lot of people are opting to go to private universities. And so you know, you're talking two, three, four times higher than that.

WHITFIELD: OK. So you're lucky if your employer will help supplement.

BURTON: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: But that seems probably not the more commonplace, you know, scenario so a lot of folks are trying to figure out, "OK, do I stop working, go back to school, take out a loan and all that good stuff or do I figure out how do I straddle both work and school?

BURTON: And that's where the time comes in. And so that's one of the other things you want to look at. Do I have the time to do this? And I think there is no better time in history to be going back to school and need a flexible schedule than right now. Because there are so many online programs or weekend and evening programs at major universities, not just talking about online schools. So look at your universities in your own state or -

WHITFIELD: So some programs actually targeting the person who is working.

BURTON: Absolutely. Most universities these days are targeting those. I even went back to school myself a few years ago and it was a very flexible program. You also want to look at your family. Are they in support of you going back to school? Because sometimes you're going to need to tap into their help in order to manage your time.

WHITFIELD: OK. We've asked a lot of people on Twitter and Facebook, you know, about their sentiments. You know, what do they think about the whole idea of going back to school or what are the big obstacles and Josie Bell said, "Did the college career change by going back to school last year." I think she said it changed for her. If we're going to understand that. But sometimes you have to assess whether it really will benefit you for your job.

BURTON: That's right.

WHITFIELD: How do you do that?

BURTON: So you want to talk to people who have already been where you're trying to go. Where you think this degree or going back to school is going to take you. What do they say? Many of them will say, "Yes, absolutely you need the education." But sometimes you need the experience or there are other things they're going to tell to you do that are a whole lot cheaper and take a lot less time than going back to school. So you want to ask your employer. You want to ask people who have already been there and done that. Don't make assumptions that you need a particular field of education in order to accomplish your goal. Make sure you know that for certain before you spend the money and the time.

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK. It's a huge investment.

BURTON: It's a big investment.

WHITFIELD: You definitely have that plan. All right. Valorie Burton, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

BURTON: Thanks, Fred. Good being with you.

WHITFIELD: All right, the U.S. Marine Corps is promising a full and fair investigation of the video showing four U.S. marines urinating on bodies in Afghanistan. What kind of punishment might they face? We'll ask a former naval judge advocate general or JAG after the break.

But first, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has launched a new program called "THE NEXT LIST" each week. It profiles innovators from all walks of life and all fields of endeavor. This week he talked to a man who plays the ukulele, an instrument of teeth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SHIMABUKURO, MUSICIAN: With the ukulele, you don't need feel like you need hours and hours of practice. You can just pick it up the first time, you know. Take your finger and do this. Have fun with it. It's just feels good. Everything feels right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That's a just that just make you happy. Tune in Sundays to watch your next list or set your DVR for 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Alright, the U.S. marine corps is promising a full and fair investigation of the video showing four U.S. marines urinating on bodies in Afghanistan. The marines seen on the video have been interviewed by commanders. Their identities have not been released. No chargers filed this far. But U.S. government and military officials were earlier condemned the incident and warned this incident may undo some of the peace efforts in that area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA NULAND, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: We do condemn. We do deplore this incident. It needs to be investigated. It's incompatible with the standards we expect from our military. And we also have a lot of important work to do in Afghanistan and with Afghans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we are joined by former naval judge advocate general Charles Swift coming to us from Seattle. Good to see you.

CHARLES SWIFT, FORMER NAVAL JAG: Nice to be with you.

WHITFIELD: So, what are military officials assessing as they try to figure out what charges, if any, should be imposed on these four marines, if it is four, perhaps could more.

SWIFT: Well, from the respect to the four marines. And we will talk about what the investigation is really doing because the investigation will focus on more than the four marines. The four marines there could be charged under the uniform code of military justice for desecrating a body which is recognized as a war crime a bit, a very minor one. But nevertheless, a war crime and it is punishable under article 134 of UCMJ.

WHITFIELD: And what does that potentially mean for them? If you're convicted of those war crimes, what kind of sentence could come with that? What potential punishment?

SWIFT: Well, it can include jail time. It could include apunity (ph) of discharge or it could include reduction in rank. There is one of those punishments for which there is no specified punishment. So, there is not a maximum or minimum. It's what the court-martial determines is appropriate in this case. And that kind raises an issue about the comments that are coming from senior military officials.

WHITFIELD: And so, if the crime one thing and then perhaps there are other charges that could come with the fallout that comes from these alleged actions.

SWIFT: Yes. What they are really concerned, what the investigation is looking in to be why the actions happen. It's pretty clear from the video. Why is a different question and so the marines are very sensitive to whether this showed a lack of unit discipline. Is this systematic of something larger? That the commanding officers -- where was the commanding officer? Where were the senior enlisted who were supposed to govern and direct these marines at the battle front?

WHITFIELD: OK. So this is where --? Sorry.

SWIFT: That's the kind of thing that is concerning, much like Abu Ghraib. It's not just the young soldiers at the front. It's a question of command leadership that is immediately brought forward by an incident like this.

WHITFIELD: So, this is what underscoring that point that you are making just a moment ago. You say it could be more than just the four marines that could be potentially facing charges. So, you know, how much did the commanding officer know about this? Or if the commanding officer or other high-ranking officers didn't know about this as it was taking place, what does that say about their leadership?

SWIFT: Absolutely. They ultimately a commanding officer, the officers in charge of that unit is responsible for the unit's conduct. They are the ones who ultimately answer for what happens. Each of the marines is responsible for their own conduct. But the commanding officer and seniors enlisted are responsible for their leadership. And that is probably the greater questions to marine officials rather than what did the young man do.

Combat is a terribly stressful place. And it requires to extraordinary leadership. The young man's crime under the circumstances, well, is not that severe, but the question is, why were we videotaping it? Why does it get published? And what does that say about the command that should be seeing all of this?

WHITFIELD: OK. And we talked about the four marines. We talked about the other commanding officer. Then of course, there is somebody is actually taking those images. Somebody is behind that camera.

SWIFT: Absolutely. All of those become questions that go toward it. Probably another young marine is behind the camera. That is something different in this war than there's ever been before. The soldiers themselves have video phones. They take videos. That's a new one. But, it may well be another young marine.

WHITFIELD: Alright, Charles Swift, thanks so much for your time. Former naval judge advocate general, joining us from Seattle. Appreciate it.

SWIFT: For clarification in the court, I wasn't been a judge advocate general with the navy.

WHITFIELD: OK. Thank you for that clarification. We need that. Thanks so much.

Alright, the Golden Globes awards, that's tomorrow. And a lot of people are talking about this movie right here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll help you get an education, give you national unity and help young people in trade and we are going to get them out of debt for the college loans. Now, where is that fail?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's exactly right. It's just, if you're going to do it, do it. Make it mandatory, not voluntary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Alright, let's talk about the movie. Let's talk about that star right there our movie critic Grae Drake from fandagoandmovies.com talks about her favorites and who is getting all the buzz in her view, that's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The 69th annual Golden Globes are tomorrow. And today a preview of the best motion picture drama category, our movie critic, Grae Drake from fandangoandmovies.com, joining us live from Los Angeles. Good to see you. The fur is out, the jewels, and you got all the bobble there ready for the red carpet.

GRAE DRAKE, MOVIE CRITIC, FANDANGOANDMOVIES.COM: Everybody dresses like this in Los Angeles this weekend, I'm telling you.

WHITFIELD: Really? That's fun. OK. Well, good. You don't need a red carpet then. It just is. OK. So, let's talk about the movies that are nominated in this category. Let's begin with "the descendents."

DRAKE: "The descendants" was a great movie, definitely the front- runner for this award because the Hollywood foreign press is known for loving American celebrities that spend a lot of time overseas, unofficially, of course. This was like George Clooney being a part of your family, except that much better looking in an Hawaiian shirt.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: He is really is the Hollywood's darling, isn't he?

DRAKE: He absolutely is. I mean, there is so much to like about this film. And it just struck me super deep in my heart. It really got me. And a lot of people in the theater were actually crying in this one. It was the "war horse" of Hawaii, to tell you the truth. WHITFIELD: Really?

DRAKE: Yes. Really, it's just a phenomenal film. And the rest of the movies are also great. This is a pretty tough category except George Clooney man. They love him. So, the other movies in the category like "Money Ball", "War Horse," "Hugo," I just don't think that they -- and "Ides of March," another Clooney film by the way, I just don't think they are actually going to take the award.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let's talk about "Hugo" then. It's gotten a bit of buzz. What did you like about it?

DRAKE: Absolutely. "Hugo" is an amazing movie in the respect that finally someone who is an incredible legendary film maker like Martin Scorsese figured out how to use 3D. It's a visual wonder. And then when you combine that with the fact he is really getting to express through this wonderful story is love of film. The second half of the movie, I thought, was spectacular. The first, maybe not so much, a little long for a children's movie and generally, the reception to the movie was lukewarm. And that's why I think this one doesn't necessary have a good shot.

WHITFIELD: It's a very mysterious, as well. This is about an orphan living in the walls of a train station. And so, maybe it's a little tough for young people to kind grasp. Maybe it's to grown-up.

DRAKE: A little bit.

WHITFIELD: But hey, it was nominated, so something's right here.

(LAUGHTER)

DRAKE: Absolutely. And it's Scorsese. So, you're not going to hear me say many bad things about it at all.

WHITFIELD: OK. So now, let's look at some of the actresses nominated in this category. We are talking about Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Rooney Mara, Meryl Streep, Tilda Swinton. Extraordinary women.

DRAKE: Absolutely. This is a really solid category this year because ladies were all up on it this year. Now, we need to talk about Kevin was probably one of the least-talked about films, you know, popularity-wise in America. But critic critics were loving it, one of my favorite films. And Tilda Swinton is definitely the dark horse in this category.

I think in the end, the favorite is Meryl Streep for her amazing performance as Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady."

WHITFIELD: Golden Globes are tomorrow night and we'll be right here live with the red carpet with the arrivals.

The movie "the red tails" is screening around the country and it's about the Tuskegee airman and their roles in World War II.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's give those newspapers something to write about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, among those who watched an early screening of the movie "airmen," a Robert Friend, one of the original p-51 pilots. He explains why sharing this history in person or on film, is in important.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT FRIEND, P-51 PILOT: I flew 142 missions.

WHITFIELD: You said that like it's no big deal.

FRIEND: Was no big deal.

WHITFIELD: Really?

FRIEND: Nope. In fact, when the war was over, I was really a little bit disappointed because I was frustrate it didn't know what I was going to do the next day.

WHITFIELD: Did your gut ever say that this was a program that was designed more for failure than it was success?

FRIEND: I don't believe you can design a program for failure because you can't control all the elements. They couldn't keep us from doing the right thing.

WHITFIELD: Portions of this history have been told in various ways. It seems as though within the past 15 years or so, there's been almost a birth or rebirth of interest.

FRIEND: Probably because we started to disappear down to a very few.

WHITFIELD: There may be about only 40?

FRIEND: Forty of the ones, 40 of the ones who were overseas, yes.

WHITFIELD: And maybe as a whole about 300 airmen.

FRIEND: Less than two.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Join us next weekend for our interview with Tuskegee pilot, Bob Friend as the movie "red tail" seats theater across the country.

Alright, a week from today South Carolina holds its primary and the candidates are revving up their campaigns, all chasing the man who leads in the polls as far, Mitt Romney. Live pictures now of an event in Columbia - sorry, we don't have those live pictures. You're seeing lots of different pictures of all the candidates who are kris-crossing the state, watch more straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: New developments in the presidential nomination. Mitt Romney leads in the poll as he campaigns in Columbia, South Carolina, our live pictures for you right now. The folks are waiting to hear from him. But Christian conservative leaders now say they and many of them have been meeting in Texas for two days, say they are going to be supporting Rick Santorum in Sumter, South Carolina. Newt Gingrich is hoping to overtake Romney's lead. Very narrow lead, according to some polls there in South Carolina, just about four points that Romney is leading over Newt Gingrich. Alright, let's check in with our Shannon Travis who is there cris- crossing the state as well. He is joining us from Myrtle Beach.

And so, Shannon, any reaction from Rick Santorum's camp that they are getting this backing out of Texas?

SHANNON TRAVIS, POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, I just got an e-mail from a super PAC, one of the political action committees supporting Santorum basically touting this endorsement. And here is the reason why, Fred.

This is significant. I mean, it's been no secret. You know it and I know. Our viewers know that a lot of social conservatives do not like Mitt Romney. They feel that he's too moderate. They feel like some of his policies while he was governor of Massachusetts were just way too moderate, didn't support the causes.

But, they've been searching around for kind of an anti-Romney candidate. And it seems at least today these leaders from this group say it should be Rick Santorum. So, this is pretty significant that they would decide to coalesce around Rick Santorum. And mind you, Rick Santorum was low in the polls just a few months ago. Now he came in second in Iowa. He placed pretty well in New Hampshire. He's here in South Carolina hoping to ride that wave of momentum - Fred.

WHITFIELD: So, you have to wonder how influential that might be for this South Carolina primary because we are talking about the tea party for one has been throwing their support behind the governor Nikki Haley then throws her support around Mitt Romney. So, who would be more influential? We talked about the social conservative groups in South Carolina or would it be the governor who might be most influential in that state?

TRAVIS: I mean, you know, that's an excellent question. You got point and counter point. You have these Christian conservatives kind a coalescing around Rick Santorum. But in terms of Mitt Romney, like you just said, you have Nikki Haley who was huge tea party darling. She won the governorship based on tea party support backing Mitt Romney.

And tomorrow, she is going to be here right behind me at a huge of first state-wide tea party convention here in South Carolina with Nikki Haley, Jim DeMint, you know that he is a big tea party booster. Mitt Romney will not be here. Guess who will, Fred? Rick Santorum along with Newt Gingrich. So, a whole lot going on here in South Carolina.

WHITFIELD: Alright, indeed. Shannon Travis. Thanks so much. I like the specs, as well.

TRAVIS: They're new. I just got them.

WHITFIELD: I like them. They look good. They look good. Alright, thanks for coming to us from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

And be sure to keep it right here next Saturday as results come in from the South Carolina primary joined by Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett and John King beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on CNN.

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WHITFIELD: Alright, in this segment for health, for her, does the number of embryo goes used during in vitro fertilization put a baby's health at risk? Elizabeth Cohen has this week's edition.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: When doctors do fertility treatment the goal is to have a healthy baby and avoid multiples, if possible. The reason is that multiples are born early more often than single babies, and also mothers are more likely to get sick if they have twins or triplets or more.

So, a group of British physicians decided to see how many embryos do you need to put inside a mom in order to get a live, a healthy baby, a live birth and avoid multiples, if possible? And what they found is that two embryos, either one or two embryos, does the trick, and that three embryos doesn't increase the chances of getting you a healthy baby.

So, they developed these guidelines. What they say is they think that for women who are over 40, putting in two embryos at most is a good idea. For women under four, they should only put in one embryo.

Now, in Britain, they regulate medicine much more so than they do in the United States. The United States doctors we talked to, well, they don't like this idea very much. They say that different women need different kinds of procedures and need different numbers of embryos. Some women over the age of 40 might need three or four or even possibly more than that. And they say it's not a good idea to have hard and fast rules for every woman.

Now, for more information, you can go to CNN.com/empowered patient.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Alright, checking some stories making news across the country now.

In Minnesota, a man has become the first civilian in the U.S. to get a new bionic hand. Matt Rasnick lost his arm in a rock-crushing machine. But thanks to Michelangelo hand, he will be back to work in no time since Matt still has his nerves. Wires and electrodes let him handle it like a lot like a natural hand. Until now the Michaelango had only been available to ten soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And finally, to Greenwich, New York, for once who is getting a dog as a crossing guard. This German shepherd may look like she is just walking back and forth every day but she is actually keeping kids out of harm's way. Sophie is accompanied by her owner. And the Greenwich school district has now named it the newest crossing guard. She has a pint-size stop sign apparently. Works two shifts a day before and after school and the kids simply love the dogs.

Alright, that's going to do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Tomorrow in our 2:00 hour, Cordova, Alaska, well, it's still digging out of a record 18 feet of snow. The National Guard is there to help move the snow. One problem, where to put it? And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Testing survival skills there with three more months of winter.

Much more of the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead with Don Lemon.

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