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Cruise Ship Runs Aground; President Obama's Toughest Challenger?; Romney's Roots; Suspected Serial Killer Caught; Syracuse Accuser Recants; Movie Screened at the White House; Duchess of York Fears Leaving London
Aired January 16, 2012 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now this. Here we go, top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
A couple stories we're watching for you. First, which Republican hopeful will best challenge Barack Obama? Also the latest on the cruise ship investigation, and a glitch on a very popular Web site, plus snow, snow projected to cover half the United States this week.
Time to play "Reporter Roulette" on this Monday.
And, Jim Acosta, let's begin with you in Myrtle Beach.
Jim, are you at or near that Faith Freedom Coalition group which Mitt Romney is expected to speak at?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, that is across town, just up the coast, I believe, and it's going to be happening any minute now. We're actually outside of a Tea Party conference that is also going on in Myrtle Beach.
Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul are all expected to be here today. There is good news for Mitt Romney in that Jon Huntsman got out of the race and he's endorsing Romney, so one fewer candidate left in the field going after the former Massachusetts governor.
But Newt Gingrich is more than making up for Jon Huntsman comments and his place in this race. Hear what Newt Gingrich had to say earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's very clear the establishment wants Romney. And it's very clear the establishment only has one chant, that they can't argue his record in Massachusetts because it's too liberal, OK? So they can't come out and say, here's why you should be for him. So they chant, he's electable, he's electable.
These are the same people who got us beat in '96, and they're the same people who got us beat in '08.
(APPLAUSE)
GINGRICH: Ask yourself a simple question. Why would you want to nominate the guy who lost to the guy who lost to Obama?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Did you catch that, Brooke? Why would you vote for the guy that lost to the guy that lost to Obama?
BALDWIN: Yes.
ACOSTA: Romney lost to McCain in '08 who lost to Obama in '08, so that's how that logic flows for Newt Gingrich.
There is one storyline today that didn't work out in Romney's favor, and that's Jim DeMint did not come out with an endorsement today, says he's not going to endorse before the South Carolina primary. He is a godfather in the Tea Party movement, obviously very influential down here in South Carolina.
Make no mistake, Brooke. Mitt Romney would have liked that endorsement today, probably a lot more than Jon Huntsman's endorsement.
BALDWIN: Now, correct me if I'm wrong, Jim Acosta, but didn't Jim DeMint endorse Mitt Romney four years ago? Do we know why he's not throwing his support behind any candidate?
ACOSTA: That's right. We don't.
All that Jim DeMint had to say about this, he said he's talked to all of the candidates, he's gotten to know all of them, and he's just not making an endorsement, and it just goes to show you there is real unease inside the Tea Party about Mitt Romney. After all, this is the former Massachusetts governor who came up with the prototype some say for President Obama's health care law.
If the Republican Party nominates Mitt Romney, it's going to be a big question, what does the Tea Party do at that point? Because after all it was health care reform that mobilized the Tea Party movement. So it's an interesting question that is yet to be resolved in this process, Brooke.
BALDWIN: OK, just something I was wondering about. Jim Acosta, thank you.
ACOSTA: Yes, you're right.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Yes, the Faith Freedom Coalition, we're going to dip in as soon as we see Mitt Romney speaking to this group of South Carolinians within the next hour.
Meantime, moving along on "Reporter Roulette," Matthew Chance in London with the very latest on this cruise ship investigation in Italy. Matthew, where does the investigation stand at this moment?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're still trying to find the basic facts about what happened.
Tomorrow will be a big day because the investigating judge will question the captain of the ship, the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the coast of Tuscany in Italy, to find out why exactly he was so close to the Italian coastline. He should have been four miles out to sea in the sea lanes that are well used by the ships both of this cruise line and of others as well.
But instead it seems according to prosecutors, he was just 150 yards or so from the rocks, and, of course, eventually striking one of those rocks. The ship was then brought around in a shopper turn (ph), an attempt, says the captain, to lay it on its side, and a move which he says saved lives. But there are still lots of questions, of course, that have to be answered by the investigators as they continue this.
BALDWIN: Here's my other question, though. You talk about the human toll in this story, but there is also potentially an environmental toll, because is there not several thousand tons of fuel still sitting in that ship?
CHANCE: There certainly is.
This was at the start of the ship's journey. They carry and use very heavy diesel oil to fuel their engines. And it's very heavy, and so it can sink to the bottom of the sea and be very difficult to clean up if that happens.
And there's already word, according to local environmentalists and people at the scene, that some fluids may be leaking out of the fuel tanks of the ship. And so, yes, there's a humanitarian alarm, of course, and concern continuing. But there's also a big environmental one as well.
BALDWIN: Yes. Matthew Chance, thank you so much in London on that ship disaster.
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
(WEATHER UPDATE)
BALDWIN: Remember this story? Women slashed along their backsides while in dressing rooms. Authorities have finally made an arrest in this case in a whole other country. We have got those details for you coming up.
Plus, tens of thousands of cars under a major recall. Do you have a Mini Cooper? Coming up next, find out why the recall.
Also in this hour, we are digging into the family history of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. We are talking about his relatives in Mexico. And actor and activist Sean Penn gets a governmental job in Haiti -- those stories and a lot more coming up two minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Welcome back.
If it's interesting and happening right now, you're about to see it. "Rapid Fire," let's go, beginning with BMW now recalling 89,000 Mini Coopers after reports they could catch fire. The problem is with the circuit board that controls the car's cooling system. If it fails, a fire could start in the engine compartment. This recall -- here's what you need to know -- this involves models between 2007 and 2011. This is the same problem that led to earlier recalls of BMW and Rolls-Royce luxury cars.
A Florida mother has been arrested for allegedly biting her own son, her teenage son. Volusia County sheriff's deputies arrested Jahazel Fleming after she said she beat up and bit her son because he wouldn't give her his cell phone back. The 16-year-old suffered several cuts to the face and a bruised right eye.
A man suspected for slashing women's backsides last year in Virginia now sitting in custody in Peru. Fairfax County police issued a warrant back in September for Johnny Guillen Pimentel. All 13 women were -- victims, I should say, were young women. And in each attack, the victim was distracted before being cut on her backside.
Rupert Murdoch tweets, Google fires back. The News Corp. chairman's tweet called Google a -- quote -- "piracy leader" that streams movies free and sells ads all around them. A Google rep tells the tech site CNET it -- quote -- "fights pirates and counterfeiters each every and day." Murdoch was responding to the White House expressing concerns about the Stop Online Piracy Act, also known as SOPA, aimed at copyright infringement on the Internet.
President Obama volunteered at a school in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He helped put a bookshelf together. This was at the Browne Education Campus in Washington, and then tonight the president and first lady will be at the Kennedy Center attending a Let Freedom Ring celebration there.
Actor Sean Penn is now the ambassador at large for Haiti. He was honored at a fund-raising event over the weekend for his humanitarian work in the country. It has been now two years since that devastating earthquake hit the tiny island nation.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is sitting comfortably atop most polls in the race for the White House. He has a tough stance, though, on immigration, but did you know his father wasn't born in the United States? In fact, his family settled in Mexico about 125 years ago. Coming up next, we take you to his family's homestead and talk to his relatives in Mexico.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: And ahead of that big debate in South Carolina, we are watching two events for you. So, on the right side of your screen, that is Rick Perry. He is speaking now at the Faith and Freedom Coalition event in South Carolina. On the left-hand side, I know it's a wider shot, but you can just take me at my word that Rick Santorum is speaking. This is the South Carolina Tea Party Convention.
Let's eavesdrop on Senator Santorum.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And then we have the right to liberty. There's a lot of talk about liberty, right? Everyone talks about liberty. We have chants that liberty, liberty, liberty, freedom to do, freedom to do.
To do what, according to the Declaration? Life, liberty for the pursuit of happiness, to have life, to have the freedom, to pursue happiness. It's very interesting to go back and look at the dictionary definition at the time of our founders. It is not the same definition that you would use today to describe happiness.
Happiness today is seen as to do what pleases you, something enjoyable, something fun, something that gives you pleasure. At the time of our founders, they understood a different dictionary definition. In fact, it was a different dictionary definition. The definition at the time of our founders of happiness was to do the morally right thing.
BALDWIN: All right. Now, from Santorum to Rick Perry, we go. Let's listen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we, we just stand up.
Political correctness has got to stop in this country.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
PERRY: And I happen to believe that, as an outsider -- and I say that with great pride -- as an outsider, it's going to take someone with strong principles in that outsider position to go to Washington, D.C., and put into place the changes that have to happen, so America can be America again.
And I think that starts with having a part-time Congress that spends less time in Washington, D.C., less time passing those laws, and let them go back and have a real job in their district and live within their constituency and live under the laws that they pass.
Someone said, why, that's radical (ph). I said, no, it's not. In my home state, we allow our legislators $600 a month for the privilege of being in the Texas legislature. They meet for 140 days every other year. They come into town. They get their work done. We have a balanced budget to our constitution. And then they go home. And they live under the laws of which they pass. That is what America needs. We need less Washington intrusion in our lives. We need less government, smaller government, more freedom.
BALDWIN: Rick Perry pretty animated there speaking at that Faith and Freedom Coalition event in South Carolina.
Remember, we didn't see a whole lot of Rick Perry in New Hampshire. His real push here is in South Carolina. They're making their closing arguments -- here we are -- five days out, five days out from this Saturday and the big primary in the Palmetto State.
And we're also waiting to hear from Mitt Romney. He's going to be speaking after Rick Perry, so as soon as we see him, we will listen to him as well.
Speaking of the former Massachusetts governor, if he snags the Republican nomination, if he does, there will be two presidential candidates whose fathers were born outside the United States.
CNN's Latin Affairs editor, Rafael Romo, introduces us to Romneys of Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice- over): In the rolling hills of northern Mexico, about 180 miles south of the U.S. border, lies a community that stands out for its religious roots.
MILES A. ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S SECOND COUSIN: We established apple orchards, peach orchards, farms, ranches. That's basically what we do today.
ROMO: Miles Romney is the descendant of Mormons who settled the area more than 125 years ago.
MILES ROMNEY: Well, we come from a hard-working family. We come from honest people.
ROMO: His great grandfather led the first group of Mormons to the state of Chihuahua, the same Mormons of whom the family of U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney traces its heritage.
In fact, Mitt Romney's father, George, who also ran for president in the United States, was born in this area himself. Miles Anthony Romney is Mitt's second cousin. Miles is so proud of Mitt's political career that he managed to get a Romney bumper sticker sent to Mexico and he also displays the Romney name on his window.
And he can understand why Mitt Romney's religion is an issue for some people.
MILES ROMNEY: I think it's just a misunderstanding on their part. I know people try to use that against Mitt. But they just can't find anything on him to dig up about him.
ROMO (on camera): The first Romneys arrived this part of Mexico around 1885. They came from Utah, where as Mormons they faced religious persecution and were not allowed to practice polygamy. There are still about 40 members of the Romney family here in Colonia Juarez, who can trace their roots back to first settlers.
KELLY W. ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S SECOND COUSIN: There was actually a very small percentage of the church that practiced polygamy.
ROMO (voice-over): And while that percentage included his grandfather, Kelly Romney, another of Mitt's second cousins, says the community hasn't practiced polygamy since the church banned it in the late 1800s.
He invited us to tour his peach orchards, a family business since the Romneys settled here and crucial a source of employment in this part of Mexico. The Romney family and other Mormon settlers built this school in 1994. Mitt Romney himself has never been here, but Kelly says he saw him once in the States.
K. ROMNEY: I was on a plane one time from Salt Lake City to New York, and he was on it. And my wife kept trying to get me to go meet him, but I guess I was a little timid, and I thought, well, when we get off in New York, I will meet him, but we got off, and he went on the bus.
ROMO: As much as he admires his second cousin, Kelly Romney says he disagrees with his position on immigration.
K. ROMNEY: There should be guest worker programs for these people that are practically starving to death to be able to go over there and do work that American people will not do.
ROMO: More than anything, this branch of the Romney family defines itself by the teachings of its church and feels allegiance to both Mexico and the United States. Still:
(on camera): If there's a soccer match between the United States and Mexico, what country do you root for?
K. ROMNEY: I think I would root for Mexico in a soccer match. We have a loyalty to this country. We were born here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: That's how you know true loyalty. You talk football or soccer.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: You know, we have heard -- that was Kelly Romney, and that's the second cousin of Mitt Romney. He talks about his allegiance, his loyalty to Mexico.
So are the Romneys, are they Mexican, are they Mexican-American, or are they Americans?
ROMO: They're American citizens by birth, but they're naturalized American citizens. In fact, Kelly told me that he got his American citizenship not too long ago, a few years ago, and he is planning to cross the border and vote for Mitt Romney if he gets the assassination.
BALDWIN: He is.
I was looking down, a look at the dates. They came to Mexico all the way back in 1885. Mexico welcomed them then. But then you sort of juxtapose out that with Mitt Romney's tough stance on illegal immigration.
ROMO: That's right.
And what Kelly Romney was telling me is that he looks at it from a practical point of view. He says the United States needs the labor. Mexico needs the jobs, so there should be some sort of compromise between the two countries and leave the politics aside, because it would be mutually beneficial.
BALDWIN: He mentioned the guest worker program as an option.
And then you mention this is the state of Chihuahua.
ROMO: Right.
BALDWIN: That's a dangerous place.
ROMO: Yes. That's the state where Ciudad Juarez is located.
BALDWIN: Are they concerned?
ROMO: They're very concerned.
In fact, a brother of Kelly's was kidnapped last year.
BALDWIN: Wow.
ROMO: He was kidnapped for a few days. The family ended up paying ransom. He's back at his ranch. Nothing -- he was not harmed, but, as you can imagine, the family is very, very concerned about safety in that part of Mexico.
BALDWIN: Rafael Romo, thanks for taking the trip to Mexico to do the story for us. We appreciate it.
ROMO: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Coming up next: Mitt Romney about to speak as we promised in front of that Faith Freedom Coalition in South Carolina. He is stumping for that coveted evangelical vote. He is also fighting for the Tea Party vote. So what happens if he gets it? We're going to take you live to South Carolina on the other side of the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Again, live pictures from the Faith and Freedom Coalition here in South Carolina.
Who you're looking there, this is Ralph Reed. He's a pretty well-known conservative from Georgia. He's speaking in between these different candidates. So this is where we saw Rick Perry speaking a moment ago. The second we see Mitt Romney coming to that podium, we will bring that to you live.
Meantime, in California, four homeless men are dead at the hands of what police believe is a serial killer. This is all happening in Anaheim, California, where police have arrested 23-year-old Itzcoatl Ocampo. They believe he is the man responsible for killing those four homeless across Southern California's Orange County over the last month.
Ocampo allegedly stabbed a homeless man to death in a fast-food parking lot just this past Friday. Witnesses chased him down. Police managed to arrest him. And just like hour, I spoke with Brian, who would only give us his first name. Brian is a childhood friend of Ocampo's.
And I also spoke with Nicole Santa Cruz, a reporter for "The L.A. Times." Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN, CHILDHOOD FRIEND OF SUSPECT: When he would start talking about his experiences, I would never encourage him to talk further than what we he would want to talk about.
And a lot of the times, I would just try to talk about different things, life things, girls, movies, drinking. I would have never guessed -- I would have never guessed this.
NICOLE SANTA CRUZ, "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES": His father is living in a big rig truck in a Fullerton parking lot, and his father said that his son had come to him recently, you know, and showed him a picture that I believe was in a newspaper, and said that he was worried about him, and his father told Ocampo, don't worry about me, I'll be OK. So, yes.
BALDWIN: His own son said he was worried about his homeless father. Let me quote something. You talked --
SANTA CRUZ: Yes.
BALDWIN: You talked, Nicole, to the uncle. Quote, "When he came back from Iraq, he was sick." Did anyone in his family try to get this guy help?
SANTA CRUZ: I believe -- I'm not clear on the details, but I believe that someone had made appointments for Ocampo to get some psychological help, but it turns out that all of those appointments were canceled for one reason or another. BALDWIN: And to be clear, he has not been charged. Do we know when charges could be filed?
SANTA CRUZ: Ocampo is expected in court tomorrow morning.
BALDWIN: Tomorrow morning. And ultimately, he was caught. What can you tell me about the fact that he was chased down by an eyewitness just a couple days ago?
SANTA CRUZ: Yes, so this happened on Friday night at the Carl's, Jr., and it looks like, you know, several people witnessed this stabbing, and about two bystanders ended up chasing Ocampo on foot into a nearby mobile home park. Several witnesses said that these bystanders yelled, they screamed, it's the serial killer, and it turns out that those bystanders ended up losing Ocampo but were able to point police in the right direction in order to actually arrest Ocampo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Big developments today in the child sex abuse case against the former assistant football coach at Syracuse University. Coming up next, one of his accusers is reportedly taking back his allegations.
Plus the hunt is on for the body of a missing schoolteacher in Montana. The FBI now asking for help. We go on the case. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The "Syracuse Post Standard" is reporting a man who says former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine sexually abused him now admits he lied.
Criminal defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh, he's on the case for us today in Davey, Florida.
And Mark, so this man's name is Floyd VanHooser. He was the fourth man here to accuse Bernie Fine of sexually molesting him as a child. Now he's recanting. How does this impact the investigation overall?
MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it doesn't impact the investigation as much as it does the criminal justice arena. First, regarding the investigation, each one of the victims can have their own trial based on their allegations, assuming the statute of limitation hasn't run.
The fact there is someone who came forward, this person, we'll call him, who is serving a 16-year sentence to life, who's burglarized many homes over the past decades, earned himself the title career criminal, claims that Fine abused him when he didn't won't affect the criminal case. It affects the criminal justice system, in my opinion.
BALDWIN: We know that VanHooser is already serving time in prison. And he says he lied because he -- the former coach didn't have help him hire a lawyer to fight his criminal conviction. Tell me about that. EIGLARSH: Yes. Boo-ho career criminal. You know, to make these allegations undermines every legitimate victim who comes forward because now there's a pause. We've heard this before. You're claiming someone abused you? Law enforcement holds back, the public at large holds back. I think this guy should be prosecuted for perjury if he gave a sworn statement or obstructing law enforcement. This is a serious offense that he committed.
BALDWIN: Does this offends -- does this dilute the credibility of the other accusers? Do you think?
EIGLARSH: I don't think it does. I think this is a pattern of, OK, you've got three accusers and the fourth one says, let me jump on the bandwagon and be safe. I'm going to get revenge for him not paying for my legal fees. And I don't think it affects the other cases, I don't.
BALDWIN: OK. Case number two. The FBI, they need the public's help to find the body of Montana teacher Sheri Arnold. She's the one who went jogging back on January 7th and never came home.
Investigators say based upon evidence they have they believe she's dead. Officers are holding two men in the case as of now. They have yet to be charged. Friends, family, you know, students, of course, at Sidney High School, they attended a vigil over the weekend for her. And the mayor of Sidney says the community, they're having a really tough time struggling with her death. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BRETT SMELSER, SIDNEY, MONTANA: The process right now is we're grieving. We've got to get through that process, we've got to get through the closure. We've got to make the family whole as much as we can. But we're missing a daughter, we're missing a mother, we're missing -- you know, we're missing a sister.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Here's my question, because we know, Mark, you know, police investigators are -- have ruled she's dead. They don't have a body. Is that fairly rare?
EIGLARSH: I think so. What you've got are two people in custody, and while they haven't been charged with the murder yet, they are charged with aggravated kidnapping. Now I think that they're probably speaking to law enforcement, causing law enforcement then to put out the word to have people search in certain areas of their property because they think that she's probably buried somewhere. Unfortunately, obviously, we're fearing the worst at this point.
BALDWIN: Mark Eiglarsh, thank you. I need to pull away from you and go straight to South Carolina to the Faith and Freedom Coalition that is under way. Here he is. Mitt Romney. Take a listen.
(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- Freedom Coalition. This is going to make a big impact across America and I appreciate the work that you are doing here. I know that this falls on Martin Luther King Day, and I want to express my admiration for a man who stood for the principles of equality into the law as required by our Constitution. I think he's a great man who appreciated service for our country and our constitution.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: And, you know, an audience like this, this is -- this is extraordinary. You look how big this audience is, this is amazing. And I think, you know, in addition to Ralph Reed and the other speakers, you have to give credit where credit is due. I think Barack Obama deserves some of the credit for the people coming together here.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMNEY: You know, they called him a community organizer. I don't think this was the community he was planning on organizing, but it is working. We're coming together because of that guy.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: You know what, when he ran for president, he talked about bringing a lot of hope and change, and we did see a lot of change but not much hope. He went on the "Today" show shortly after being inaugurated, and he said if I can't get this economy turned around in three years, I'll be looking at a one-term proposition. And we're here to collect. All right?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: He's really failed. And you know he's failed. He went out and borrowed $787 billion, said he'd hold unemployment below 8 percent. It has not been below 8 percent since. You have 25 million Americans out of work or stopped looking for work or in part-time jobs who need full-time work. It's been a failed presidency.
You've seen median incomes in America, middle incomes in America have dropped by 10 percent in the last four years. And of course, at the same time he's done these things, he's added up, what, multi-trillion dollars in debt. As a matter of fact, he is on track in his first term -- and his only term -- to put together -- yes, I agree, yes. To put together more public debt or almost as much public debt as all the prior presidents combined.
This is a president whose time has come. He's out of ideas, he's out of excuses, and in 2012, we're going to prove he's out of time.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: And, you know, he wakes up in the morning and looks out across the country and proclaims it could be worse. It could be worse? Really? Really? The -- what it means to be America is -- American is to look across this country and say, it can be better and it must be better, and if we elect a president of the United States who believes in conservative principles and faith and freedom, it will be better. Now --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: Now, I think we in this audience recognize that this election is a choice of two very different paths. And I don't know that we've seen this so starkly outlined any time recently. The president says he wants to fundamentally transform America.
I don't want to change America into something we wouldn't recognize. I believe that the purpose of the next president ought to be to restore America to the principles that made us the hope of the earth. '
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: His view is that government should be bigger, spend more, be more intrusive, be more demanding. My view is the government should be simpler, smaller and smarter. His view is that we should spend an extra trillion dollars a year, more than we take in. I think that's immoral to pass on those kind of burdens to our kids. I'll follow Jim DeMint's admonition to cut spending, to cap spending and to finally balance the budget.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: His view of health care is that the government knows better than the people. How to provide for your own health care. So he passes Obamacare with $500 billion in additional taxes. He cuts Medicare. I hope our seniors remember this. He cuts Medicare by $500 billion to pay for Obamacare.
My view is the right thing we ought to do is not take that course but instead repeal Obamacare and make health care more like a market where people get to make their own choices.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: His path on jobs is kind of hard to figure out. I keep waiting to hear what his jobs plan is. He came into office saying, let me borrow all this money, and that didn't work. So what is his plan to make America more competitive, to create more good jobs? I don't know where he'd lead us there, but I can tell you this. Having spent 25 years in the private sector, I know how the economy works.
I put together a plan that lays out the foundation of what you have to do to make America the most economically powerful nation in the world, again, and continue it. In my view, this is a time for America to become stronger and to have someone in the White House, I believe, who understand how to create jobs because he's had a job. And I have.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: This is a president -- this is a president who would take us down a path where he would cut military spending by a trillion dollars over the next decade. By a trillion dollars. I think in part because of his view that America is facing many other strong nations and that we can't be the leader forever.
In my view, it is essential that America's military is superior to any else in the world, so strong that no one would ever think of testing it.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: His path is one which sends the vice president of the United States to China where he tells the people there that he understands their one-child policy, where he understands the -- all these associated -- the abuses associated with that policy.
My view is that the next president of the United States should stand up for the sanctity of human life in this country and anywhere in the world where it's threatened.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: This president has tried to pave the path for same-sex marriage to spread across the country. My view is that we should defend the Defense of Marriage Act and that we should have a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: His path is one which he said, as you watch it, that we become more and more of a secular nation. He had a more recent case, you may have seen that, before the Supreme Court saying the ministerial exemption should be something which should be determined by government not by the religious institution. Fortunately that was struck down by the court 9-0.
We're very -- we've very fortunate as a people to have people who are willing to stand up for religious tolerance and religious liberty in the First Amendment of this Constitution. One of them -- in this country. One of them is Jay Sekulow and his son Jordan Sekulow. If you know those folks, they fight for us in the Supreme Court every day. And I'm happy to see them here today.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: This is a campaign about two very different paths, and it's a campaign about the soul of America. It's a campaign about who we are as a people and what kind of nation we want to pass on to our kids.
When the founders of this country wrote the "Declaration of Independence," they thought very carefully and chose very precisely their words. They said that the creator had endowed us with certain unalienable rights. The creator, God, had endowed us with those rights. Not the state. But divinity.
And among those rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This would be a nation where people would pursue happiness according to their dreams. We would not be limited by the circumstance of our birth. We would not be limited by our race.
(END LIVE SPEECH)
BALDWIN: Mitt Romney sure would like to get those votes in South Carolina. Again, we are five days out from the South Carolina primary, immediately attacking President Obama. A lot of people say ultimately Mitt Romney is the guy. If any of these candidates are to be the guy to beat him, although of course Rick Santorum and Rick Perry and et cetera, they would like to disagree.
Interestingly he mentioned jobs. That resonates well in South Carolina. Unemployment very high, 9.9 percent. They want to hear how a candidate can create jobs.
Also talked about marriage, that it should be between a man and a woman, and that will resonate well among those evangelicals and that Christian conservative votes that he's trying to get as well in South Carolina. And he mentioned Senator Jim DeMint. Thus far DeMint endorsed him four years ago and thus far he has yet to endorse anyone.
I'm sure Mitt Romney would like to pick up that endorsement on the eve of this primary.
Speaking on South Carolina, we are minutes away from checking in with my friend Joe Johns. He's got your "Political Pop," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: History and Hollywood converge at the White House. The president hosting a screening of the movie "Red Tails" and he had some very special guests with him.
Joe Johns working the political beat. We're getting you to pull a little double duty for us here in Myrtle Beach with "Political Pop" today.
First talk to me about this movie.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it sounds like a pretty good movie. Twenty years in the making "Red Tails" is. It is a George Lucas film, Terrance Howard, Cuba Gooding, Jr. apparently attended the screening. A very big deal.
It's the story of a Tuskegee airman, the famed air escort of fighter bombers in World War II. Something like 1500 trips and never lost a plane. Let's look at the trailer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRANCE HOWARD, ACTOR: Pass the pilots exam. Make it through flight school. Survive basic combat. We've done all of that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe your boys have scored a single aerial kill. HOWARD: It's damn hard to shoot down the enemy 100 miles behind the front lines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we do, how well we do it, does it matter?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Now some of the members, the surviving members of the Tuskegee airmen purportedly were there at the screening and -- so it would have been something that the president would have asked for.
I called the White House, they haven't given us a whole lot of details. We're told that was closed press. But there are some details out there and CNN Entertainment, I think, I'm told is all over it -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: I'm sure they are. It's an impressive group, the Tuskegee airmen. And then finally, you were tweeting something this morning. I actually retweeted you all these sand sculptors? This is pretty creative. Where is this?
JOHNS: Yes, it is. Right. Well, it's sand sculptors -- sculptors, I should say, of all of the presidential candidates who are still in the race and one who is not, in fact. Jon Huntsman is still up there. Now --
BALDWIN: What are they going to do?
JOHNS: These are all the Republicans where -- well, apparent they're just going to leave it because it's too late. You know, I mean, there's only a few more days before the election. They're not going to take it down because it would sort of mess up the whole scheme of things. If you look at that Jon Huntsman is sort of right in the middle.
BALDWIN: I see.
JOHNS: What can you do, right?
BALDWIN: And they've done this before?
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: Yes. They've done it before. Four years ago, they tell me, they had both the Democrats and the Republicans up there. And it stayed up there for awe while until a TV star on another network came and wrecked the whole thing. But, yes. It's going to be there for a while and I got -- I put it up and I sort of got, you know, captions from different people on what they think they should say. I put it up on Facebook.
BALDWIN: Oh, that's so fun. I'll have to see your --
JOHNS: You can imagine what people said.
BALDWIN: -- what people are saying. I can only imagine. Joe Johns, thank you.
JOHNS: Yes.
BALDWIN: And, you know, speaking of South Carolina and politics, of course, we've got some new numbers being released for you today in just about eight minutes, about how a certain showdown in the November election might play out.
Wolf Blitzer joins me from "THE SITUATION ROOM." I got a little preview of those numbers in an e-mail. It's pretty interesting.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S THE SITUATION ROOM: Yes, well, I'm not going to share the numbers until 4:00, that would be in about eight minutes, seven minutes or so from now.
Hypothetical matchups, Brooke, between the president and Mitt Romney, Ron Paul, the other candidates. Who's ahead? Who's most electable as far as the Republicans are concerned? Who's not? We've got that.
We also have a fascinating interview with two survivors of the ship off the coast of Italy. It's an amazing story. Almost sounds -- obviously, thank god, not as deadly as the Titanic.
BALDWIN: Yes.
BLITZER: But it's an amazing story. I know you've been all over it. We're going to share with our viewers this remarkable interview we have with two of those survivors as well. We're all over politics, all the other important news. We'll also go to Syria because Nic Robertson has got another exclusive report on what's going on there. So we got a lot coming up.
One more thing I should tell you, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes.
BLITZER: You got a sec?
BALDWIN: For you, always. Hit me.
BLITZER: I was at the BET Honors Saturday night here in Washington at the -- at the Warner Theater. It was a beautiful night. They were honoring Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Spike Lee. But they also honored the Tuskegee airmen. And I met one of those veterans, one of the Tuskegee airmen, Dr. Roscoe Brown, and I got to know him a little bit. Terrance Howard, the actor, is in that movie. We hung out a little bit.
BALDWIN: He's amazing.
BLITZER: He's amazing. You remember him from the Soul Train Awards a year ago. He was one of the emcees. But this was a remarkable evening. I want to thank Deborah Lee, the chairman and CEO of BET.
BALDWIN: BET. BLITZER: Yes, Paxton Baker, my good friend there, for inviting me. It was a wonderful, wonderful evening. We had a great time. And those Tuskegee airmen, when that new film "Red Tails" comes out --
BALDWIN: "Red Tails."
BLITZER: I don't know -- yes, Joe Johns can hear us.
BALDWIN: He was just talking about it.
BLITZER: I know, he was talking about -- that's why I'm talking about it, too, because it's going to be -- it's going to be a great film and we've got a lot to be thankful for what those Tuskegee airmen did for all of us during World War II. I tweeted at the time this past Saturday night. They are real American heroes.
BALDWIN: Isn't Fredricka Whitfield's father one -- Tuskegee airman?
BLITZER: Yes. Yes.
BALDWIN: Yes. That's what I thought.
BLITZER: Yes. Fredricka's father was a Tuskegee airman as well. In fact I was kicking myself. She should have been with me at that Warner Theater Saturday night to see the honoring of these Tuskegee airmen. They're going to air the whole thing on BET, I think, a week or so from now. So it's going to be a good show for a lot of our viewers to watch. All of our viewers to watch.
And you know when you hear Stevie Wonder perform, Aretha Franklin was there.
BALDWIN: You melt. You melt.
BLITZER: Need I say more?
BALDWIN: No. You need not. We will end on that. Thank you, Wolf. Thank you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Next year, Brooke, you'll be there, too.
BALDWIN: You and me. Thank you.
BLITZER: OK.
BLITZER: See you in a couple of minutes with these new poll numbers. Thank you so much.
You know there's news today. We're going to leave you with this after the break. News about a member of the royal family, a duchess scared to leave England. We're going to tell you what she's afraid of. Max Foster live from London after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, certainly used to being in the spotlight here in the United States. She has been the spokesman for Weight Watchers. She even has her own show on the OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network. But Ferguson just cancelled a trip to the U.S. because she is afraid she'll be tossed in jail.
Let's go straight to London, to CNN's Max Foster.
Max, I know this has everything to do with that documentary in which she went undercover in Turkey, right? So what's the issue with that?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, so she went into this -- in 2008, she went into an orphanage just outside Ankara and she was in disguise, she had a wig and a hidden camera, and she revealed some upsetting pictures of the young children there. And it was quite a sensational documentary in this country but several years later, the court -- a court in Ankara is now bringing charges against her. This has just happened in the last few days.
They'd approached the British government saying there are charges that she went against the law in acquiring footage and violating privacy of five children. They've gone to the British government and asked for legal help.
The British government is considering it but I have so say, Brooke, it's pretty clear to me when I speak to the home office that this isn't going to fly in the UK, at least, because these aren't regarded as crimes in the UK.
BALDWIN: OK. So if they're not regarded as crimes where she is, what is she saying? Is she reacting? I mean obviously she's not going to the U.S.? That's one reaction.
FOSTER: Yes, this is tricky. She's not making any official statements at this point but she's taking legal advice. But I spoke to friends and this is the sort of commentary I'm getting from them. And I spoke to them just in the last couple of hours. She's bemused, she's very stressed, she's pretty shaken. She's quite scared. Everything she did was under the auspices of i-TV, the network at the time, she says.
I did manage to speak to her official spokesman. He's been giving me some comments but he's saying these aren't official comments yet as she takes legal advice. And he's just reiterating that she feels what she was doing was completely validated. She's done a lot of good work for causes. This was an example of that. She feels very strongly about the welfare of children and she most definitely feels that what she did was validated but she's clearly concerned.
BALDWIN: So what she do now? Stay in the UK until what?
FOSTER: Well, she was due to travel to the United States. She travels on personal but also business. A lot of her work is done in the United States and she's cancelled those trips. Now for different reasons. Friends say she was due to go there. She cancelled because of an extradition treaty that the U.S. has with Turkey. That was a contributing factor, they say. But the official spokesman says it's not entirely true. She actually wants to do what she can to research the legal matters around this. She's speaking to lawyers in Turkey and humanitarian lawyers here in the UK, and she wants time to consider that. Then she'll clarify her position. But no plans to go to the U.S.
I did speak to the OWN network, and they told me that "Finding Sarah," the series that she stars for them, was completed last year. New episodes are not in production at this. So any professional work probably won't be in relation to them.
BALDWIN: And it really -- you know, 10 seconds or less, I know you know she's a former member of the royal family. Have you ever, Max Foster, heard of anyone so fearful about being thrown in jail?
FOSTER: Well, no, I guess she don't know what to expect when she goes to the U.S. I think she's really concerned that she wants to clarify the legal position before she goes. If there is an extradition treaty she may be concerned that she might at least be arrested while it's considered.
BALDWIN: Max Foster for us in London.
Max, we'll follow the story right along with you and see what happens. Thank you so much.
Thank you for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Now to Wolf Blitzer and "THE SITUATION ROOM" starting now.
BLITZER: Thanks very much, Brooke.
