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Blowing Holes, Finding Bodies; Unwelcome Mat For Congress; Candidates Blitzing South Carolina; Gas Could Be $5 A Gallon By Summer; Heavy Snow Coming In The Northwest; Tomorrow's Virtual Blackout; Living With Uncertainty Under DOMA; Paul Deen Reveals She Has Type-2 Diabetes
Aired January 17, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: It's 1:00 now. We have got a busy -- very busy hour ahead as well. Let's get straight to the news.
Twenty-three people still unaccounted for in the wreck of the Costa Concordia. Today, divers blew a hole in the capsized cruise ship to make the search easier. Soon afterwards, they found five bodies, bringing the total of known deaths to 11.
Now back on land, the ship's captain still in jail, likely facing a host of criminal charges, up to and including manslaughter. Not only did he not go down with his ship, an exasperated coast guard official had to order him, more than once, to go back and help rescue passengers. Here's a portion of an extraordinary audio recording that turned up today in Italian media. It's translated on your screen for you.
(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)
DE FALCO: Send them on board. Send one person on board to coordinate.
FRANSESCO SCHETTINO, CAPTAIN, COSTA CONCORDIA: But I am doing the coordination.
DE FALCO: I'm giving you an order, Captain. You need to send someone on board.
SCHETTINO: We are going on board to coordinate.
DE FALCO: Exactly. You need to get on board to coordinate the evacuation. Is that clear?
SCHETTINO: But we can't get on board now, the ship is now --
DE FALCO: Why did you tell them to get down?
SCHETTINO: What do you mean get down? We abandoned the ship. The ship turned.
DE FALCO: And with 100 people on board, you abandon the ship? Damn it!
(END AUDIOTAPE)
HOLMES: Quite an exchange, isn't it? We're going to have more on this in Crime and Consequence coming up a little later in the hour.
Now, you may not have noticed they were gone, but lawmakers are heading back to work today after a three-week holiday recess. And the unwelcome mat has been rolled out. Occupy Congress greeted our elected representatives with a noisy protest and a pink slip for each and every one of them. The protesters may not technically speak for 99 percent of Americans, but in a brand-new CNN poll, 86 percent disapprove of how Congress is doing its job. Yes, 86 percent.
Tomorrow, some of your favorite Web sites may be more than a mouse click away. Wikipedia, Reddit, and several other major Web sites plan to go down deliberately to protest the latest Congressional to reign in Internet piracy. The Web sites fear censorship, but movie studios and other big-time copyright holders, including our parent company, Time Warner, say pirates are costing them and the U.S. economy billions. We're going to get both sides of this fight in Facetime, just a few minutes from now.
The Republican presidential candidates back out on the campaign trail today, picking up where last night's debate left off. Much of the talk at the events has been about negative ads, super pacs, at one point, Rick Santorum accusing Mitt Romney of playing dirty politics. Here's how Romney responded to the criticism over bad ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know there's great -- there's great interest to try and focus on ads, but this is a campaign about 25 million people out of work. This is a campaign about 9.9 percent unemployment in South Carolina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And the South Carolina primary is on Saturday, of course. The candidates are going to get one last chance to go face to face before then at the CNN Republican presidential debate. That is Thursday, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Don't miss that.
Well, it is deadline day for Democrats hoping to move forward with their efforts to get rid of controversial Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. They have to come up with a around 600,000 signatures by today to force a recall election. You'll remember that it was Walker's support for an anti-collective bargaining law that led to massive protests in that state. Many blasting Walker for being anti- union. Republicans are firing back, saying a recall election would push the cash-strapped state an additional $9 million it can ill- afford to spend.
Celebrity chef, check this out, Paula Deen, revealing today, she has diabetes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAULA DEEN, CHEF, FOOD NETWORK: I was diagnosed three years ago, and I was doing a regular physical exam with my doctor, that I had Type 2 Diabetes. And I'm here today to let the world know that it is not a death sentence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And diagnosed three years ago. Type 2 Diabetes is the most common form. The CDC says it's the type that develops later in life, due to, wait for it, a lack of exercise and a poor diet. Deen defended her southern style of cooking, saying she's always preached moderation. She also revealed that she is working on a drug company on a new project to, as she says, put diabetes in a new light. Diabetes can lead to kidney failure, blindness and heart disease.
Experts say we could soon be paying $5 a gallon for gas, and by soon, I mean this summer. Gas prices right now are 30 cents higher than they were at this time last year. Now, there are several factors that could push the price from around $3.50 a gallon now to five bucks. The recovering economy could mean more car trips now that people can afford to take vacations, perhaps, plus there's the possible showdown with Iran in the Persian Gulf. That could affect supplies. For more, check out this great piece on "CNNMONEY.COM."
Severe weather starting to hit the Pacific Northwest right now. You're looking at live pictures from Seattle. They're expecting as much as a foot of snow up there over the next couple of days. Portland, Oregon could get around half that much. Along with the snow, they're also dealing with hurricane-strength winds along the Oregon and Washington coast. We're talking 80-mile-an-hour winds. So, do watch out if you're in the area.
Well, if you're going to be surfing the Web tomorrow, you could be in for a big surprise. Chances are some of your favorite Web sites are going to be blacked, as in down, offline. So, what's behind this virtual blackout? Well, it's a complicated story. It involves copy rights, Congress, and yes, you. Everything you need to know before tomorrow, coming up next.
But first, we don't normally call out birthdays for rock star status, but when you are Muhammad Ali, normal rules do not apply. The three-time world champ turning 70 years old today. And this was the same Saturday in his hometown, Louisville, Kentucky. Ali is battling Parkinson's disease, of course, but that did not keep him, along with wife Lonnie and 350 of his closest friends, from partying well into the night. His birthday celebration doubled as a fund-raiser for the Ali Center. So, for sharing your gifts with others, you are today's Rock Star. What a great man.
(COMMERCIAL)
HOLMES: Welcome back. Regulating the Internet is a colossal undertaking, but that's not stopping Congress from trying. Yes, Congress, which is just coming off its least productive year on record. But that's a whole another story, we're going to tackle it later. This one is all about something called SOPA. The Stop Online Piracy Act aims to protect American movies, music, just about any copy written material from a virtual black market. It's a long way from being passed, but already it is setting up a showdown between Hollywood, which is squarely behind it, as is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Silicon Valley, which fears censorship of innocent material.
Tomorrow, a number of high-traffic Web sites plan to go dark in protest. But on Face Time, we like to shed the light, of course, and that brings me to this man. Declan McCullagh is a chief -- is the chief political correspondent for CNET.com and has covered SOPA in depth. Let's begin with what makes SOPA and its close relative, PIPA, so objectionable to the likes of huge Web sites, Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia?
DECLAN MCCULLAGH, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNET (via Skype): It's an Internet blacklist bill. It something we haven't seen before in the U.S. It says that if there's an overseas Web site, let's say it's FamilyPhotos.com and you stick your vacation photos up there and a few pages on that Web site are infringing, maybe more than a few pages, then all of a sudden copyright holders in the U.S. government can get a blacklist order saying that AT&T and Verizon will pretend that Web site doesn't exist. You can't get to FamilyPhotos.com anymore and that's the free speech aspect of this.
HOLMES: Yes, on the other side, of course, content creators say that they're being robbed blind. In fact, listen to what the film director, Taylor Hackman, told us about the movie "ray." let's roll that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR HACKFORD, FILM DIRECTOR: I went down to Canal Street and before the box office opened for its first day in the movie theaters, I could buy "Ray" on the street at Canal, had great artwork on the cover, and I had the DVD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, of course, that's not online, that's on the street, but it does raise the whole point about piracy. I've got to be honest, I've spent long time -- periods of time in Baghdad. You could get any movie, any time, off the streets in Baghdad. So isn't there a point about these guys, these people who are providing this content being protected?
MCCULLAGH: Hollywood does have a point here. You to have Web sites, the PirateBay.org is probably the highest profile example that do offer movies and music and eBooks as well. So, there is a problem. But if you're trying to go after people selling DVDs in Times Square, SOPA doesn't address that, local law enforcement does and should address that. The problem is that it takes a hatchet where you need a scalpel, probably. And it does -- it does raise these free speech concerns that are a more targeted approach, like the "Open Act," which Senator Wyden and Representative Ryan have introduced, probably doesn't. HOLMES: Well, tell us a little bit about the bill. Yes, Jimmy Wales, the Wikipedia founder, you're reading his comments, and he's not opposed to keeping an eye out for piracy. What he's saying it's too broad and in his words, badly written. What is it about the bill that makes it to broad?
MCCULLAGH: I don't know anybody in Silicon Valley that's out there saying, yes, piracy, we really want to make money off of piracy, or something like that. Instead, it's targeting legitimate Web sites. I mean, Wikipedia allows anyone to post anything and they're worried, and this is why Wikipedia is running the blackout along with Craigslist, Google announced in the last hour or two that they're going to have a home page statement tomorrow to say that this raises free speech concerns. It raises security concerns. Because it undercuts the DNS security technologist that's supposed to make the web safe. And so, it's almost written, they say, by people who don't really understand the Internet.
HOLMES: Yes, right. Go figure, politicians not understanding things. What are the chances that Hollywood and Silicon Valley are going to be able to get together and perhaps come up with a compromise?
MCCULLAGH: Well, they have and they do work together. I mean, YouTube has licensing deals, Netflix has licensing deals. Steve Jobs really kicked this off almost a decade ago with iTunes. And so, there is -- there's this kind of love, hate relationship. In terms of what's actually going to happen, yes, tomorrow, you're going to have maybe 10s of millions, hundreds of millions of people being alerted to this. Say -- and to say, contact your member of Congress. And so, imagine if Capitol Hill gets bombarded with 10 million phone calls. This is something we haven't seen before. This kind of Internet activism, since 1996, in the communications decency act. And so, what's going to happen, I think, there's going to be some legislation, it just won't be nearly as dramatic as what we're seeing right now.
HOLMES: Right. Declan McCullough, thanks so much, CNET.com. We should point out, as we did earlier, too, that CNN's parent company, Time Warner, supports the online piracy act. Let's see if there's some changes to it before it actually gets voted on.
Eleven passengers dead, 23 still unaccounted for. Now the focus of the cruise ship disaster centers around one man, the captain. Today, for the first time, we're hearing dramatic recordings. Up next, you'll hear what the Coast Guard told the captain moments after he abandoned ship. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A live picture coming to you from off the coast of Italy. Five more bodies pulled today from that capsized cruise ship, raising the official death toll to 11. But many others are still missing. This dramatic infrared video shows passengers, you can see them there, lined up on the hull of the ship, some of them climbing down a rope ladder to lifeboats down below. The coast guard today released an angry audio exchange with the captain, who appears to make excuses on why he allegedly abandoned ship while passengers were still on board. We're going to have more on that in a moment for you.
The coast guard continues, meanwhile, to search for 23 people who are missing. Divers actually blew a hole in one area of the ship in order to get inside. We've got an animation for you now. It shows what happened. The ship steers, of course, too close to Giglio Island, hits the rocks, then continues steaming ahead, taking on water the whole time, attempts to turn inland and capsizes.
Matthew Chance following developments for us in London.
Matthew, first, what's the latest on the disaster from your coverage?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's this situation. These astonishing, dramatic, perhaps shocking conversations that have emerged between the captain of the Costa Concordia and the coast guard during the time when there were still hundreds of people, hundreds of passengers marooned on board the capsized vessel. Some of them, as you've just show, you know, clinging on to the side of the hull for their life.
The captain doesn't appear to be fully across the extent of the catastrophe that's unfolded on his ship. And if you listen to a part of the conversation, it seems that he's already abandoned the ship, even though there are many, many passengers left behind. It prompted the coast guard to order him to get back on board and to take control. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PORT AUTHORITY: You go on board. It is an order. You cannot make any other evaluations. You have declared abandoning ship. Now I'm in charge. You get on board! Is it clear?
CAPTAIN: Commandant.
PORT AUTHORITY: Are you not listening to me?
CAPTAIN: I'm going.
PORT AUTHORITY: Call me immediately when you get on board. Our rescue officer is there.
CAPTAIN: Where is your rescue officer?
PORT AUTHORITY: My rescue officer is at the stem. Go!
CAPTAIN: OK.
PORT AUTHORITY: There are already bodies, Schettino.
CAPTAIN: How many dead bodies are there?
PORT AUTHORITY: I don't know. I know of one. I've heard of one. You are the one to tell me how many there. Christ! (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Yes, so, obviously, a very frustrated coast guard there, talking to a captain who appeared a little detached and who had clearly, you know, at this point, appeared to kind of failed his passengers. Later on in the transcripts that we've read and the recordings we've listened to, the captain says that he didn't sort of get off the ship, abandon it on purpose. He says that as the ship listed over to one side, he was catapulted off the bridge. And so that may have been one explanation. It will be for the prosecutors, the investigators now looking at this to determine what actually happened, Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, and -- and Matthew, there has already been a court hearing and a ruling. Tell us about that. And, as we know, the Italian judicial system is not known for its speed.
CHANCE: No. And this could take many months before the full outcome of this investigation is known. But Captain Schettino, who commanded the Costa Concordia, has been charged with abandoning his post. He's been charged with causing a shipwreck. And he's been caused -- charged with manslaughter. And he could face up to 15 years behind bars if he's found guilty on those charges.
But, as I say, at the moment, we're just at the very early stages of this investigation. These recordings, though, will not help the case of the captain very much at all.
HOLMES: Yes, and the search, meanwhile, continues for those still missing. Matthew Chance in London, thanks.
Well, imagine being with your spouse for two decades, raising four children, building a home together, only to have it all torn apart because of a legal issue. Well, that's exactly what's about to happen to this Pennsylvania family if the federal government doesn't act. Find out why when they join me, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Theirs is a love story. They say it was actually love at first sight. A love that has lasted more than 21 years. But despite that, their life together, their family could be torn apart, all because of a federal law under the Defense of Marriage Act.
Frederic Deloizy and Mark Himes have been a couple for 22 years. They were married four years ago in California. They're loving parents to four adopted children. They've created a good life together in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. But because Frederic, who you can see right there, is a French citizen, he faces deportation.
Immigration officials cannot recognize their marriage under the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. But he and Mark represent a growing number of gay couples facing possible separation under DOMA. That is today's "Under Covered" story. Mark Himes and Frederic Deloizy join us from Harrisburg, along with their attorney, Lavi Soloway, who is in New York. Gentleman, thanks for your time.
Mark, let's start with you. You filed a green card petition for Frederic, whose visa expired in September. Met with an immigration officer last week in Philly. How did it go? What happens now?
MARK HIMES: It went quite well. We were received warmly and we had all of our papers from 22 years showing that we have built this life together as a family. All of our documents, our documents showing that we have joint bank accounts and such. And after the interview, the official said, you know, you did a great job of proving that you are a family. However, you must understand that the law of the land is DOMA. A decision wasn't made on that day. It was, as is their way, they will send something to us in the mail within four to six months.
HOLMES: Yes, it moves slowly, doesn't it?
Frederic, you've got four kids. How do you live with the uncertainty?
FREDERIC DELOIZY: Well, we've been living for 22 years now, you know, every single day, even before we had the children, over 10 years, you're traveling back and forth and, you know, being together and staying together. And then we had the children. So it's very difficult, but what we try to do is not, you know, share it with the children. They're not completely aware of the situation, so we've been fighting, and, you know, another day is another day with our family. And we're so blessed to be with our family. And we want to remain blessed.
HOLMES: You know, we actually reached out to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services about your situation. Just received a statement from them. I'd like to read it to you. "Prudent to the Attorney General's guidance, the Defense of Marriage Act remains in effect and the executive branch, including DHS and USCIS, will continue to enforce it unless and until Congress repeals it or there is a final judicial determination that it is unconstitutional."
Let's bring you in now. You've been fighting for the gentlemEn. What are the chance -- I mean you're really up against the law of the land here.
LAVI SOLOWAY, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY REPRESENTING MARK HIMES AND FREDERIC DELOIZY: I'm glad you read that statement from the immigration service because, you know, it's one thing to say that there's a law that prevents the government from recognizing this marriage, but it's quite another to say that the government cannot respect their marriage and protect their family.
The Defense of Marriage Act, you know, will be the law of the land until the Supreme Court strikes it down or Congress repeals it. But in the meantime, the Obama administration could take action today to protect this family. It could make sure that the green card petition that Mark filed for Fred is not denied. And it can put this case on hold and make sure that they can, you know, begin to build a future, a secure future for their family without having to worry about deportation. HOLMES: Mark, let's go back to you. I mean the reality is there are a lot of people who do support the Defense of Marriage Act in this country. What do you say to them when it comes to your own situation?
HIMES: I wonder if they are thinking about actual families with children that they are tearing apart. You know, we have these four children in common that if Fred were to be deported, they would lose their father that they've known all their lives. They know no other person. So, I don't think they're actually thinking about how it would affect the children.
HOLMES: Frederic, finally, what happens in the worst-case scenario? If you are not successful, what happens to this family? Do you uproot everybody? Go to France?
DELOIZY: Well, let -- you know, we've been fighting for so long that if we stand up, it's because we stand up for our children. And even if we feel depressed, we feel like sometimes it's so hard, we cannot give up on our kids. And I don't know any parent with a mom or dad who would give up on their children. So we decided, we've made this -- we're standing for our children, and we're saying, no matter what, we will fight for you, so that we can stay with you. So we cannot think of failure. We have to think of --
HIMES: Not an option.
DELOIZY: Of moving forward because we're not doing it for us, we're doing it for our boys and daughter.
HOLMES: Right. Understood. Mark Himes, Frederic Deloizy and Lavi Soloway, thanks so much, all of you. Best of luck.
SOLOWAY: Thank you, Michael.
HIMES: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: All right, still to come, the food stamp president. That's what Newt Gingrich likes to call Barack Obama. But some are now calling Gingrich something in response -- racist. What do you think? We'll get to that next in "Fair Game."
But first, a question for all of you political junkies. Who was president when the first federal food stamp program was launched? Tweet the answer to @holmescnn and I'll give a shout-out to the first right answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Before the break I asked who was president when the first federal food stamp program went into effect. The answer? Franklin Roosevelt. It started as an experimental program in Rochester, New York, back in 1939. Congrats to GMcKely for tweeting me the right answer.
This is the part of the show where we get to the heart of the political debate where all sides are "Fair Game." One of the focal points in the Republican race seems to be all that negative advertising, also the super PACs behind a lot of it, ads like the ones attacking Mitt Romney over Bain Capital. Now, super PACs were born from that Supreme Court decision that allowed unlimited spending by groups not actually coordinating directly with a candidate. It may seem appropriate then that the second anniversary of that decision is Saturday, the same day as the South Carolina Republican primary. That's because, in South Carolina alone, super PACs have accounted for nearly 70 percent of the campaign ads.
Joining me now, conservative blogger, Crystal Wright; and CNN political analyst, Roland Martin.
The biggest battle of the super PACs has been between Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney.
Roland, you know, when you're talking about these negative ads, and they're meant to be at arm's length from the candidates, what damage is being done to the system? What are the candidates saying, makes them OK?
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, the American people buy into negative ads. They absolutely work. The only reason Newt Gingrich is upset is because he didn't have all the money for his super PACs in Iowa to run against Mitt Romney. His money didn't come in until North Carolina and now South Carolina.
Yes, I do believe when you have this much money, when it is anonymous, you don't know who is behind it, they are putting the kind of money in, it is damaging because you are moving the people out of this process. But we've known for a long time, money has always ruled politics.
HOLMES: And then the candidate, Crystal, with the most money is going to get the most negative ads on, and therefore influences the most people. Is that fair?
CRYSTAL WRIGHT, CONSERVATIVE BLOGGER: You know what, nothing is fair in politics. All of this hoopla over al; these super PAC ads -- Mitt Romney had it right. You know what, it's a part of the political game. So if candidates had the ability to raise unlimited amounts of money, we wouldn't have to worry about this. Candidates would be held accountable for their own messaging.
I think, look, super PAC ads, like all political ads, if they're negative, they're going to have a negative effect on the opponents. So candidates like Gingrich and others and Santorum need to really quit the whining, folks.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Shouldn't they be winning based on what they can do, not what the other guy hasn't done?
WRIGHT: Yes, that's what the about these are --
(CROSSTALK)
ROLAND: That's never been the case in politics.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: I want to play --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: That's never been the case in politics.
HOLMES: Let me play you a chunk from Rick Santorum's event this morning and we'll discuss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANTORUM, (R), FORMER PENNSYLVANIA SENATOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a character issue. I mean, we have a lot of character issues dealing with Mitt Romney and his ability to be able to hold a consistent policy position on a whole host of issues. But when now he's trying to run for president of the United States and there's ads out there that are absolutely certifiably false and he says they're OK, because it gets him political advantage, this is a huge character issue on Mitt Romney's part. He needs to step up and do the right thing and quit playing dirty politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Crystal, you touched on this before. Is it a character issue or just politics?
WRIGHT: It's politics. Come on. Santorum is upset because Romney's super PAC ran an ad about him allowing convicted felonies to vote. And I think last night Santorum did a great job. You know, counter to what and contrary to what Roland would like to believe, debates are where candidates can put other candidates on the record. I think we saw Romney unravel. Santorum spent --
(CROSSTALK)
ROLAND: Crystal, what are you talking about?
WRIGHT: Excuse me! Santorum spent 20 minutes calling out the fact that while Romney was governor, he, what? He allowed to stand the fact that felons who were on probation could vote.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: So negative ads -- wait a minute! Wait a minute --
(CROSSTALK)
ROLAND: One correction. One correction.
WRIGHT: So negative ads do have an effect --
HOLMES: OK, got that.
WRIGHT: But it's not all in the political process.
HOLMES: All right, Roland, very quickly, because I want to put something else --
(CROSSTALK)
ROLAND: Wrong, wrong, wrong.
WRIGHT: It's so ridiculous.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Crystal, breathe. Crystal, breathe.
WRIGHT: Barack Obama is going to raise $1 billion.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Let Roland have a go now. Come on.
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: First of all -- Crystal, please, breathe.
Here's the deal, I understand what debates are about. I said early on that Rick Perry, we'll see how he performs in the debate to determine what kind of candidate he is. I don't disagree with that. That's what debates are about. But the bottom line is this. The political system has become about money. That shouldn't be a news flash, Crystal. It might be to you because you're still talking --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: The reality is that is what they are for.
HOLMES: You might have been able to tell by now, but I'm a bit of a foreigner.
(LAUGHTER)
I've been here for 20 years, but I look at this system and I see --
ROLAND: No. You sound like you're from South Carolina.
HOLMES: Yes, I'm from the Deep South.
(LAUGHTER)
I come from Australia.
(LAUGHTER)
I look at this system and you've got guys from the same party all standing around, beating each other up. Eating their own. How damaging is that to the political party that is doing the beating up? Because, in the end, they turn around, as we saw Jon Huntsman do, one day saying he's unelectable, the next saying, he's a great guy.
Roland, you first, very quickly. We have to get Crystal in.
MARTIN: Obviously, that has always been the case, unlike other countries where it's really about the party and not the person. That's what it's all about. Again, remember, when Hillary Clinton ran those 3:00 a.m. ads against then-Senator Obama in 2008, the GOP played on that. This is what happens, because you have an intra-party fight, then you have a general election fight. That's not going to change, ever.
HOLMES: Is that a good idea, though, Crystal? Isn't it damaging?
WRIGHT: No. In 2008, we saw Hillary Clinton, Obama, Biden, everybody was slinging the mud every which way. People forget that because it was a Democrat primary. Fast forward to today, Romney --
(LAUGHTER)
MARTIN: No one forgot.
WRIGHT: This is about -- this is about --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: No one forgot.
WRIGHT: Excuse me. This is about the process working itself out and the conservative voters coming to terms with whoever the nominee is. It looks like it's going to be Romney.
And I think it's a good thing for Romney. It's like a proving ground. It's a dress rehearsal for what he's going to face against Barack Obama, and he should look at it that way.
HOLMES: OK. Good to see you.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Roland Martin, Crystal Wright, appreciate that.
That is "Fair Game."
We'll be speaking again, I'm sure.
All right, a revelation today from America's favorite southern chef. Paula Deen says she's got type-2 diabetes. But why did it take her three years to come forward and tell us? That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Time now for a look at stories making news across the country at "Street Level."
Near the Florida Everglades, Burmese pythons like one we're about to show you, a 15.5 footer, they're now on the government's hit list along with African pythons and yellow anacondas, if you happen to have one. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced a ban on these huge snakes, declaring them injurious. That's one word. The rule makes it illegal to import or sell the snakes across state lines. Biologists estimate there are now thousands of pythons in the Everglades, where they devour everything from marsh rabbits to alligators.
On Cape Cod, at least 20 dolphins have died. Up to 50 of the animals have been founded stranded close to score since last Thursday. Several dolphins rescued have been released back into open water, bringing the number saved to 19. Officials say January through April is a high season for dolphins to become stranded near Cape Cod, but they don't know why so many are appearing right now.
Country music star, Garth Brooks, at the center of a lawsuit. He's suing an Oklahoma hospital that allegedly reneged on a promise to name a building after his late mother in exchange for a $500,000 donation. Brooks is seeking the return of the donation he made seven years ago. Attorneys for the hospital say Brooks made an anonymous and unconditional donation prior to placing conditions. Brooks' mother died of cancer in 1999.
Celebrity chef, Paula Deen, confirmed today she has type-2 diabetes. Deen, noted for her high-fat, high-calorie southern recipes, says she was diagnosed three years ago. At the same time, Deen says she is teaming up with drug maker, Novartis, on a campaign aimed at helping people with type-2 diabetes. Novartis makes a diabetes drug.
Alina Cho with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For years, Paula Deen has sold America on fatty foods -- fried chicken, mac and cheese, and desserts -- and has gotten rich and famous in the process. Now the Food Network star has announced what has been whispered for days -- she has type-2 diabetes.
PAUL DEEN, AMERICAN COOK & FOOD NETWORK STAR: Hey, you all. I'm here to share something with you.
CHO: This is what she told Al Roker on the "Today" show.
DEEN: I was diagnosed three years ago. I'm here today to let the world know that it is not a death sentence. I'm working along with a very reputable pharmaceutical company. I'm working on a new program called Diabetes in a New Light.
CHO: That's right. Deen is getting paid as a spokesperson for Novartis, a maker of diabetes medications.
Critics seized on this, like fellow famed chef, Anthony Bourdain, tweeting today, "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business so I can profitably sell crutches later."
So why wait three years to go public? Will it hurt her?
Brad Adgate is an expert on branding and image.
BRAD ADGATE, HORIZON MEDIA: There's going to be some sort of raised eyebrows.
CHO (on camera): Will this tarnish her image?
ADGATE: It's possible. It's really too early to say. But it's certainly within the possibility that not only can he rehabilitate herself, but she can reposition herself.
CHO (voice-over): And that's exactly what the reigning queen of butter and fat is doing as the new face for Novartis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEEN: I have made simple changes in my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Telling CNN, I didn't want this to slow me down. I wanted to take control and delicious time doing it with one notable admission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEEN: Like cutting back on one of my favorite things, sweet tea. And for a southern girl, that's a big deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Deen says her fans have been asking her for years for lighter versions of her recipes, so she'll be doing that. She'll be offering that now.
She also says, in addition to cutting out that sweet tea, she takes more walks with her husband, Michael. She now runs after her grandkids.
But the big question remains, Michael, is this, the very thing that made her famous, those fatty foods, contribute to her current health problems? Deen says she doesn't think so and that she's the only one in her family with type 2 diabetes. She also says she has no regrets. People have to eat and that she has always pitched a message of moderation -- Michael?
HOLMES: Thanks, Alina.
Alina Cho there.
Well, what you pay for gas at the pump is directly related to that right there. Yes, it's called the Strait of Hormuz and it is a key transit point for a fifth of the world's oil. Iran has threatened to block it. That would result in sky-high prices for gas. But the U.S. Navy, well, among its plans, these guys right there -- dolphins. That's right. We'll talk about it. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Let's go "Globe Trekking" now to the Strait of Hormuz. Tension in the region escalating, especially with Iran threatening to shut down traffic through the strait. It's important to know this. The strait is a key transit point for one fifth of the world's oil. Passes right through there. Now, how much you pay at the pump, in part, depends on the oil supply that is moved through there. There's an awful lot at stake. You're probably already seeing a hike in gas prices because of this situation, just based on emotion.
One way Iran could block the strait is with an assortment of mines. But the U.S. Navy has a pretty highly effective strategy to get around that. The secret weapon -- dolphins.
Our Kaj Larsen got a rare look at their astonishing ability to detect underwater threats. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAJ LARSEN, FORMER NAVY SEAL & CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Playing the role of terrorist in San Diego Bay, I'm trying to evade a dolphin trained to find hostile swimmers.
CHRIS HARRIS, U.S NAVY MARINE MAMMAL PROGRAM: He's not going to make it. He's going to get him.
LARSEN: Out of nowhere --
HARRIS: There, she's got him.
LARSEN (on camera): I got about, say, 50 meters from the ship behind me, and then, boom, he hit me right here.
(voice-over): The dolphin hits me with a marker that alerts armed security to my presence.
(on camera): There was a few seconds where I thought I was going to make it through. Next thing you know, I was staring a porpoise right in the face.
Just got me again. Oh. Oh.
(voice-over): In a minute, she's back on her boat and getting some TLC.
(on camera): I guess my combat ship attack foiled again.
(voice-over): Undaunted, I try underwater with my scuba gear on.
Here's what the camera on the dolphin saw. Underwater or on surface, the dolphin finds me every time.
(on camera): So how does she compare to, say you had a side scam sonar on the bottom of the boat, what's the difference?
HARRIS: She has a sense that we could only dream about in sonar. And she can do it at great ranges with 100 percent reliability.
LARSEN (voice-over): The dolphin is looking for a swimmer like me.
(on camera): She's going to hit this ball right here?
HARRIS: Once she's sure that's a swimmer, there she goes.
She just touched that ball right there. Now, at this point, we're going to have to get out of the way of the handler. He's going to go back there and let her know, hey, good girl. Thanks for keeping your eye out for us. He's letting her know she did a good job and he's giving her the marker. And there goes the marker. Now she's on her way, like a shot.
It's a pretty good little bump.
LARSEN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
That's one way to put it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Correspondent and former Navy SEAL, Kaj Larsen, joins us on the phone.
We have a pretty good idea, how dolphins are used to detect threats in the Strait of Hormuz. Kaj, the plan has been around for a while, the training. I think that dolphins were in the gulf at the beginning of the Gulf War. Give us a sense of how it works when it comes to clearing mines or threats like Kaj Larsen?
(LAUGHTER)
LARSEN (voice-over): Well, Michael, you're absolutely right. In fact, the program has been around since the '60s when it was a classified program that was designed to help them design a better torpedo. But they found quickly they had other skills that they could use like mine hunting. So what the dolphin or what the mammal does is it uses a very sophisticated form of biological sonar called echo location, very similar to what a bat does in the dark, and that allows it to paint a very accurate picture of an underwater object. From there, the handlers work with the dolphins to determine exactly what a mine looks like, and it's a positive reinforcement training.
In fact, I have a short video of one of the actual mine hunting dolphins doing that that you can roll right now to get an idea of what it looks like in action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Over time, we have to train the animals to discriminate between -- you know, it could be a lobster trap -- sorry, got to pause it -- right now the animal just went positive.
LARSEN: So what's she doing now?
HARRIS: Right now, she's carrying the marker down to the mine shape that she's told us she found. That means the marker has deployed. The diver is going to go down and do a circle search, verify that the dolphin found a target.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Kaj, they're obviously very effective. There has been some concern from animal rights groups, but they're obviously very good at it.
LARSEN (voice-over): Absolutely. When I was there in San Diego just a short while ago and interacting with the dolphins and observing them during their training, it really is phenomenal to see how quickly they can detect underwater objects, whether that be a combat swimmer like myself or whether it's an underwater object like a mine. They're fantastically accurate.
HOLMES: Kaj, thanks for the report.
Kaj Larsen there, CNN correspondent.
There is one thing Romney is lacking, at least in South Carolina. That is enthusiasm. Why he lost the lines down south. We'll find out next.
But first, another question for the "Political Junkies" out there. Which comedian ran for president as a member of the "Surprise Party"? Tweet it to @HolmesCNN and I'll give a shout out to the first right answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. Before the break I asked you which comedian ran for president as a member of the "Surprise Party." The answer? Gracie Allen, wife and comedy partner of George Burns. The party used a kangaroo as their mascot. And why wouldn't you? She actually got several hundred write-in votes in the 1940 election. Congrats to Alex, from Cincinnati, who tweeted me the right answer. Good job, Alex.
The race for the South Carolina primary is coming down to the last few days. But for frontrunner Mitt Romney there seems to be something missing in South Carolina -- people.
CNN political reporter, Peter Hamby, joins me now from Charleston, South Carolina. People not present at Mitt Romney's power event? Why?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: It's interesting. This morning, after last night's debate, you kind of want to wake up and have a big campaign rally. Today, he had a rally in South Carolina and our reporter tells us there were only about 100 people there in a huge, cavernous room that really doesn't convey what the Romney campaign wants to show.
Their advance team has usually been good about packing these events and kind of conveying energy. Today, it's sort of a dismal event from all accounts. So this is not exactly the message that Romney wants coming out of the debate after a night when he did have a good night. He was off his game last night, Michael. Bad night for Mitt Romney in South Carolina.
HOLMES: Maybe everyone just a bit tired. Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum tweeting their messages?
HAMBY: They really are. You kind of see a non-aggression pact between Gingrich and Santorum over the last week or so. They've been training their fire at Mitt Romney and kind of leaving each other alone at this point. But they've really been dividing the vote. And I think they realize they need to raise questions about each other to kind of separate from each other and emerge as the singular anti- Romney in the race.
Newt Gingrich went so far today as to call on Santorum to drop out of the Republican race. I guarantee that's not going to happen.
One other note, Michael. Gingrich picked up an endorsement today form the Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina, Ken Ard. The governor is with Mitt Romney, Nikki Haley. This might be the one endorsement you don't want in South Carolina. Gingrich is facing questions in television ads about ethics violations he had in Congress. Ken Ard was convicted of over 100 ethics violations earlier this year and $5,000. Not exactly the best message you want, Michael, if you're facing your own questions about that sort of thing.
HOLMES: Peter, good to see you.
Peter Hamby, political reporter, live from Charleston, South Carolina. Good to see you.
All right, thanks for watching NEWSROOM today. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Brooke Baldwin.
Over to you, Brooke.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Holmes.
HOLMES: Good to see you. Nice to see you.
BALDWIN: Nice to see you. Good to see you in the chair.
HOLMES: Yes.
