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Newt Gingrich's Fiery Debate Response; Six Marines Dead in Afghanistan; Gang Members Brag on Twitter; Interview With South Carolina GOP Chairman Chad Connelly
Aired January 20, 2012 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And hello. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's go, get you caught up on everything making news this hour, "Rapid Fire," beginning with right where you left off, South Carolina.
Just 17 hours now until polls open in the South Carolina primary. And the countdown is getting wild.
So, if you look at just this past day, we have had a fiery CNN debate, a candidate dropping out, and a reverse in the Iowa caucus results. Now we have these four remaining Republicans in the race. They're making their last-minute pitches to the voters, but a familiar face from late-night TV is trying today to steal the spotlight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Most importantly, Ladies and Gentlemen, and I mean this sincerely, I want to thank Stephen Colbert. I want you to vote for Herman Cain, because Herman Cain is me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: What sort of mischief is Stephen Colbert up to today, you ask? And why is he supporting Herman Cain, who, as you know, has already dropped out of the race? More on that in just a couple minutes.
Meantime, the man whose body parts were found this week near that Hollywood sign in Los Angeles has now been identified, but for security reasons, the L.A. Coroner's Office is not releasing his name. Remember, a dog walker found the man's severed head on Tuesday, and then his hands and feet were discovered during a massive search in the Hollywood Hills later this week.
Another violent day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Six Marines were killed after their helicopter crashed in Helmand province. NATO says the crash is a result of a mechanical problem, but the Taliban says it brought down that helicopter.
And her voice has been the backdrop to many a wedding, perhaps yours, first dances, for generations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ETTA JAMES, SINGER (singing): Life is like a song.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Oh, so smooth. Etta James, known for the song "At Last" has died at the age of 73. She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010. And her final hours were in a hospital in California with her husband and her sons by her side.
Italian authorities are trying to decide when to call off the search for survivors at the Costa Concordia so they can begin emptying the ship's fuel tanks. Just today, CNN obtained this video here, and this shows those fateful moments right before the ship capsized.
I want you to listen here as a crewmember tells passengers in Italian to stay calm and head back to their cabins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): On behalf of the captain, we ask you kindly go back to your cabins. If you wish, you can walk around the hall. We have fixed the electrical problem we had, the generator problem. Everything will be calm.
If you wish to remain standing up here, that's fine, too, but I ask you kindly go back to your rooms and to keep calm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Florida A&M University says four more students have been arrested on hazing charges, but these cases are not connected to the death of student Robert Champion. Remember, he died in November after a hazing ritual by members of the school band known as the Marching 100. These latest arrests are connected to a group within the Marching 100 known as "The Clones."
And new developments in the case of Tyler Clemente. He was the Rutger's University student who killed himself after his roommate allegedly streamed webcam video showing him having sex with another man. The roommate's trial on a hate crime and other charges starts next month, but today a judge ruled potential jurors will hear that Tyler Clemente committed suicide. They will also learn the name of the man he had sex with.
And legal analyst Sunny Hostin is actually at that hearing right now. She will join me later this hour with what she has learned today.
Champion freestyle skier Sarah Burke has died. The X Games champ was injured 10 days ago. She was practicing on a super pipe in Utah. She fell, suffering irreversible brain damage. Burke was actually recently featured in a ski channel film sitting right alongside her husband, fellow skier Rory Bushfield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH BURKE, FREESTYLE SKIER: That's where we are the happiest. That's how we met, was on the mountain. Whether it's at an X Game contest or out snowmobiling together, Rory doing a heli ski trip somewhere, it's what our lives are, being on the hill. And there's a reason for that. It's amazing.
It's where we met, it's where we play, we live, and --
RORY BUSHFIELD, FREESTYLE SKIER: Hopefully where we die.
BURKE: -- where we'll die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Sarah Burke, so young -- 29 years of age.
The governor of Mississippi says inmates will no longer be allowed to spend the night on the grounds of the governor's mansion. That had been allowed under the previous governor, Governor Haley Barbour, but he got a lot of criticism for all those pardons he handed out recently. Several of the inmates, in fact, that Barbour pardoned had spent time at the mansion, and Barbour said those inmates even cared for his own grandkids.
And the Space Shuttle Atlantis -- check it out -- has a new home -- at least temporarily. Crews at the Kennedy Space Center moved the shuttle into the Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, today. It will go on display next year as part of a new $100 million exhibit. You can go and see it at the Kennedy Center Visitor Complex.
And a lot more to tackle in the next two hours, including this --
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Newt Gingrich rips any question about his ex-wife or any personal problems of his past. The thing is, there is proof that voters in South Carolina are very interested, especially when it comes to women.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
(voice-over): Tragedy in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for a chopper crash that killed six Marines. This, as the U.S. may be moving closer to peace talks with the enemy.
Back home, police busting rival gangs for shootings, robberies and murder. So how did investigators crack this case? Tweets.
Plus, a daredevil skier dies more than a week after a horrific fall, but this isn't the first tragedy in this exact spot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This sport is very dangerous. It's shocking.
BALDWIN: And a shock behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told her to come with me.
BALDWIN: Just 48 hours after he apologized for brutally murdering a young girl, a monster kills himself in prison. But why are authorities so tight-lipped about what happened?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: With the South Carolina primary now just one day away here, Republican presidential candidates are most definitely turning up the heat.
At last night's CNN Southern Republican Debate, it was Newt Gingrich's turn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KING, MODERATOR: Your ex-wife gave an interview to ABC News and another interview with "The Washington Post," and this story has now gone viral on the Internet. In it, she says that you came to her in 1999, at a time when you were having an affair, and she says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage.
Would you like to take some time to respond to that?
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, but I will.
(APPLAUSE)
GINGRICH: I think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. And I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that.
This story is false. Every personal friend I have who knew us in that period says the story was false. We offered several of them to ABC to prove it was false. They weren't interested because they would like to attack any Republican.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Quite a way to start a debate, huh?
After the debate, John King defended his question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Again, you make the judgment call. Is it an issue in the debate? It might not be a great issue, it might not be an issue we like to talk about, but it is an issue in the debate.
Some of the other candidates are talking about it and voters are talking about it in the state. It was my judgment, my decision, and mine alone. If we're going to deal with it, let's deal with it up front. Let's not try to sneak it into the middle of the debate somewhere.
And people at home either agree with that or disagree with that. You make a decision, you ask the question, and this is politics. He is trying to promote himself, promote an agenda. Of course he's going to attack us.
I don't take that personally. We had a nice conversation afterwards. I've had a long relationship with the Speaker. We don't always get along, but I get how the business works.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Let me take it a step further here.
We have CNN senior political analyst David Gergen actually calling that exchange we just played for you one of the most explosive moments in debate history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: And as a political matter, I think Gingrich saw a fastball coming, and for this audience, he smacked it right out of the park. I think there's a reasonable chance after talking to people here tonight that he could win South Carolina based on that answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: But how did South Carolina voters react to that moment?
Don Lemon is in Charleston.
And Don, I know you were in the house. I'm sure you heard the screams, the boos, anything and everything, right, after that question was posed to Newt Gingrich?
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was hot.
BALDWIN: Talk to me about the reaction. And specifically, Don Lemon, I want to know, was it divided between men and women, I imagine?
LEMON: Not really. I've got to tell you, Brooke, I found one woman -- and I spoke to afterwards probably about 20 people, maybe a few more -- one woman who said, hey, I don't really care about it, I thought it was -- I was upset at the way that he answered the question. But women, men, all races, all backgrounds said, you know what? We don't care about that.
I think the media cares about that. I think the reporters care about that.
Listen, we do care about the social issues. We care if someone is faithful to their wife. Don't get me wrong. But in this particular climate -- and I'm just being honest -- and listen, I have been reading, Brooke, as you have, listening to a lot -- even the pundits, even the people on Fox News have said -- Chris Wallace said, I would have done the same thing. I would have asked the same question, I would have asked it up front. I didn't see anything wrong with it.
But I think among reporters, it may be different than what is actually happening on the ground, because as I have been going around South Carolina, people have been telling me they don't really care about those issues that much. What they want to know, they want to know about jobs. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
Brooke, why don't we listen to what people said after the debate last night, and then you and I can chat about it right after?
BALDWIN: OK. Perfect.
Roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the big issue today? It's whether or not Newt is the jerk we think he is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's relevant, but I also think it's uncalled for.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I look at it like this -- we elected Clinton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His answer was the highlight of the evening.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's treating those wives --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came off as a total jerk.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it was appropriate for Newt Gingrich to answer in the way that he did, absolutely, and I think the audience and everybody else agreed with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Listen to that.
LEMON: So -- yes. And the one woman at the top said -- you heard her, she said it twice, that he was a jerk, or whatever. That was the one woman.
But, you know, it was a big story yesterday, it was a big story all this week, and it is a big story today. And had -- you know, if we didn't have that moment, if John didn't ask that question off of the top, who knows what we might be talking about, and the debate may have come off a little bit dull.
But it certainly got the energy going up top, and so I thought that, you know, at least -- at least John took to a stand, we got people's energy going, their passion going, and they tuned into the debate.
BALDWIN: Well, let's then move past that issue. You're out there, you're talking to people.
LEMON: Yes.
BALDWIN: You mentioned the economy. I know the South Carolina unemployment rate is pretty bad, 9.9 percent. I mean, is that really the issue people want to hear about? LEMON: Yes.
BALDWIN: And also, who did they love? Who -- of the four now on the stage last night, who did they walk away really liking?
LEMON: And, you know, I think that maybe people had the reaction to -- it may be a little bit different than around the country, as well, because people here, Brooke, are bombarded with negative ads every single time you turn on the television. We were watching the debate, the replay last night, and there were still ads for Rick Perry, negative ads for Rick Perry going against the other candidates.
BALDWIN: Really?
LEMON: Every single commercial is negative, even on the radio. So I think people here may be a bit overwhelmed. But yes, as I'm talking to them, they say -- and I have said this on the air before -- but more than anything, and I think all of us -- you want options. You don't want to, if you have a disagreement with your boss, or you don't like your job, or you're not happy, you want to have the option to have another job.
If you're sitting at home and you don't have a job, you want the option to be able to have a job. If you want to downsize or upgrade your home, you want the option to be able to sell it.
If you don't have that option, if the economy is bad, then you feel smothered, you feel stifled. And I think that's what people want here. They want to change the conversation from negativity, infighting, what have you, who's sleeping with John (ph), who shot (ph) John (ph), and all of that, to solutions.
BALDWIN: Solutions, yes.
LEMON: You got it, Brooke Baldwin.
Who they really like, I think they resonate -- a lot of people said that they like Mitt Romney. But most people said if you think about who actually won the debate, who did better, it was Newt Gingrich. And I think they said it was because of the question, the way he came out of the gate. And, if in fact -- many people here say -- 99 percent of them say if Newt Gingrich actually does end up winning on Saturday, it's because of that question and his answer to it.
BALDWIN: We shall see. Seventeen hours away from when those polls open.
Hey, enjoy some of the shrimp and grits for me, friend. And we'll see you back here in Atlanta. We'll see you Sunday for your show.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
LEMON: You know it. It's always good to talk to you.
BALDWIN: Thank you. We have six Marines today dead in Afghanistan. Six United States troops killed in a helicopter crash in Helmand province. Yes, that war goes on.
Nick Paton Walsh is standing by live for us in the capital city of Kabul.
Nick, we're hearing these conflicting stories as to how exactly the chopper went down.
Can you first just give me the precise location?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're talking Helmand province in the south here, where there are a very large number of U.S. Marines active in what is one of the most violent parts of the country. Two conflicting versions of events.
The Taliban, as, to be honest, they normally do after a helicopter crash, claim they had shot the aircraft out of the sky in a text message sent to many different media organizations. That is starkly contradicted by ISAF here.
An ISAF official saying to me that there were really mechanical issues involved that resulted in this, what they refer to as a hard landing. The Taliban always want to suggest they have the capability of shooting helicopters out of the sky because of the damage that it did to the Soviet military presence here over 10 years ago, very much hobbling their ability to move around the country and wage the war at that time, although ISAF, as I say, keen to point out they believe this is purely a technical matter. But the Taliban always keen to claim some kind of political capital from events like this -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Let me just ask you further, if that's even possible, if the Taliban is claiming responsibility, as you mentioned, via text message to us here, we have seen that the Taliban, they have been able to take down American choppers before. We have some video, in fact, armed with these simple sidearms, rifles, Nick.
Would that even be enough to take down a Chinook helicopter?
WALSH: Well, the Taliban do fairly widespread have Soviet-era, in fact, heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades. I mean, ISAF will say that you have to be enormously lucky to hit a moving target like that, but of course they also have the capacity to hit them as they take off from certain areas.
But ISAF very keen to prevent these things from happening. Of course, all the measures in place to prevent that, including taking off -- flying at night, that sort of measure. So, obviously, ISAF is keen to play down any potential for the Taliban to have this remarkable ability to strike them at one of their weakest points, but the Taliban, of course, as I say, always keen to suggest that is what happened -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: I understand.
Nick Paton Walsh for us. Just about midnight there in Afghanistan.
Thank you.
Want to get the view now also from the Pentagon.
Barbara Starr, can you lend any clarity as to how exactly this chopper might have gone down? Again, six U.S. Marines dead today.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We are hearing the same exactly thing here, of course, that Nick is hearing on his end. U.S. military officials say they believe this was essentially a mechanical type technical problem, and these have happened in Afghanistan before.
It's a very tough environment in which to fly helicopters. The dust, the dirt kicks up, there are mountains. There's a lot of rough topography there.
The weather can get very bad very quickly. There's just simply no indication at this point the Taliban brought it down.
You know, the helicopters like these, of course, they fly in pairs, so there would have been another helicopter nearby that possibly reported what problems it might have seen and would have been able to report whether there was any enemy activity in the area at the time -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Now, at the same time, you have an Afghan soldier shooting and killing six French soldiers at a military base. Now you have French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggesting he might pull his troops out early, saying French troops not there to be killed by Afghan soldiers.
So we know if Sarkozy is serious?
STARR: Well, he is the head of the state of France. One would have to take him seriously, I suppose.
This was a very tough day and 24 hours in Afghanistan. Four French troops killed, a number wounded, another incident in which someone in an Afghan military uniform opened fire.
The French president expressing, perhaps for his own domestic political consumption in France, that the French might pull out earlier than planned. This is not something the U.S. wants to see.
The U.S. wants to keep this a coalition operation. This is not -- the idea is not to make this only U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
But this whole issue that we've had so many incidents of coalition forces, U.S. forces being killed by people in Afghan military uniforms, this is something that is a growing problem, and the Pentagon says they are look into it. They're very concerned about it -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Barbara Starr, thank you. Let's talk about Twitter now. People tweet about their kids, tweet about what movies they're watching at that precise moment. And, you know, a lot of you tweet to me what you're watching here on CNN.
But check this. Some guys from New York were posting to Twitter, to Facebook and to YouTube about their own gang activity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over the course of a year and a half, the gang members were responsible for six homicides, 32 shootings in which 38 people were wounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Up next, how they were caught and what they were caught doing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Social media has helped send 43 alleged gang members to jail. New York police say members of two different rival gangs who frequently boast about their shootings on Twitter, on Facebook, and on YouTube.
Officers closely, of course, watched what they posted online, and once they had enough evidence, they conducted a large-scale bust.
Mike Sheehan from CNN affiliate WPIX has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE SHEEHAN, WPIX REPORTER (voice-over): Cops say 25 members of the Wave street gang and 18 other young men from the Hoodstarz are now charged with a litany of crimes, including the murder of an innocent bystander and the shooting of several others, including a 9-year-old boy.
KELLY: Over the course of a year and a half, the gang members were responsible for six homicides, 32 shootings in which 38 people were wounded, 36 robberies, seven grand larcenies, and two burglaries.
SHEEHAN: The year-long investigation all began when cops and prosecutors began looking at a pattern of cell phone robberies and then followed members of the two feuding gangs on Twitter and YouTube, where they bragged about random attacks, often firing guns into crowds. Detectives say a total of 35 guns were seized during these arrests.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The battle for turf among two violent groups of young men and one young woman has played out in an area of less than a mile and a half.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: WPIX with that piece. Those arrested will be arraigned this week. Some defendants are still at large.
And here's some trivia for you to use with your friends over dinner. In the last 30 years, every Republican winner of the South Carolina primary has actually gone on to win the GOP presidential nomination. So this is a big deal, folks.
Coming up next, we have the head of the South Carolina Republican Party -- there he is -- to talk about the importance of this vote tomorrow.
But we'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: South Carolina, really a rite of passage for any Republican who would like to be president. Since 1980, as I mentioned, no Republican has won the party's nomination without winning the South Carolina primary. Now we are down to less than 17 hours until the polls open.
I want to welcome Chad Connelly, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, who has not had a lot of sleep lately. Very exciting in your state. I know, Chad, you say, so many people say we pick presidents. South Carolina picks presidents, so we have to put you on the spot, who are you picking tomorrow?
CHAD CONNELLY, CHAIRMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA REPUBLICAN PARTY: Hey, Brooke. Thanks for having me and I'm glad to be with you. And, look, I'm not a really good predictor, prognosticator, I thought my Clemson Tigers would do better in the Orange Bowl, and I think West Virginia still scored again, but -- so I don't pick them very well.
It do think it's going come down to an exciting close finish and I have tried to tell folks in the last 10 days you cannot put this in the box. This race herein South Carolina is a different animal, and I think we have proven that to be true once again.
BALDWIN: All right. So you are the chief of your state's Republican Party there, who are you voting for? Got to ask again.
CONNELLY: Well, I haven't told that to anybody else. I haven't even told my wife yet ,although she has a good hint, I think. But, look, I think all our candidates are so much better than what we have in the White House right now, and it is just exciting for our state to see this going on. And I see the satellite trucks outside of the state house.
We were at the CNN debate in Charleston last night, and of course, the debate Monday night, It's just been a really big deal for our state and we are in a coveted spot to get to pick the person who could be the next President of the United States.
BALDWIN: All right. Well, if you haven't told your wife, I won't push you any further, but it sounds like you have decided on who you are going to choose, and you are a lot of other -- like a lot of other South Carolinians.
It's only something like -- the most recent poll, 8 percent of South Carolinians have yet to decide. It's quite the difference when I remember Iowa was 41 percent the day before the caucuses there.
Why is that? Why are people so decisive in your state, and why is it such an indicator it seems, historically speaking, that you pick a president?
CONNELLY: Well, I think it has a lot to do with all the promotion that all of you folks in the media have helped us do. I turned on the Iowa caucuses a few weeks ago, and everybody was talking about South Carolina, and then the New Hampshire primary and everybody on all the networks, all the cable shows and networks were talking about our state and how decisive we are.
And, look, we are fiercely independent people, we have a good blend of the Republican Party base, and our folks really expect to meet these candidates. And we have had four or five, six, seven or eight of them running around the state getting to meet people.
So I think the undecided numbers have dwindled because there's been an awful lot of promotion, the candidates know that we've pick the right nominee for 30 years. That's a pretty good pattern. Folks want to fit into that and they want to be part of something exciting.
BALDWIN: Speaking of promotion, Chad Connelly, you watch the commercials in South Carolina. You have the candidates and the PACs. Altogether, they've spent something like $50 million and it is not nice. You saw, you were there for the debate.
I mean, a lot of people talking about the Newt Gingrich ex-wife interview, her allegations that he wanted an open marriage. You know, you're talking to people in your state. I just talked to Don Lemon, who said that people don't seem really to care in South Carolina about that. But when it comes to things getting ugly, do South Carolinians care? Will that change a vote?
CONNELLY: Well, you know, I have watched this a long time, Brooke. And this is a primary, it is a backyard brawl. The gloves come off and you tumble in the mud. I don't think it's atypical. In fact, I've got to tell you the truth. I think that this year is kind of tame, compared to years past.
It seems like I remember as a young man, watching Reagan and Bush in 1980, and when Bush did the whole voodoo economics thing, I remember thinking, they will never speak. They'll never be friends. And, lo and behold, they become running mates just a few months later.
So I think it's kind of the nature of the beast, and people are used to it. And they kind of expect all those things to come out of the primary fight, so it gets vetted and questions get asked and answered.
BALDWIN: That's interesting you say that. I've heard that as well, that the dirty tricks are not quite as dirty this go-around. I do want to end with this. I was watching one of the routers was watching Stephen Colbert, you know, his rally today in Charleston. In fact, I don't know if you saw this, he actually gave you a shoutout. He said, "Hey, Chad Connelly, your check is in the mail."
Look, a lot of critics say he is there, he's mocking the process, talking about just all of the money that goes into, you know, picking a president. What do you make of him and what he is doing there with Herman Cain? Do you find this funny?
CONNELLY: Well, I went up and met with Stephen as a potential donor and it just was not a good fit. And I texted him this morning after he was on his show and said "good job" and he texted me back, and so I knew he was kind of going to do something.
But, you know, he's going to bring some voters out that are -- have -- probably don't vote. They're probably independents, maybe even some liberals that watch his show and don't normally vote in a Republican primary.
Any time we get more people out voting, that is a good thing, Brooke, but it also is going to built our list because we're going to add some names to our list that we'll be able to contact and give our message to over the next several years.
So, you know, Stephen is going to have fun, he's a good guy, and I know he's going to have an incredible time playing Herman Cain the next couple of days.
BALDWIN: Even if they are coming to the polls tomorrow, voting for Herman Cain, the non-candidate, does not matter to you?
CONNELLY: I don't think it matters. I think he's having fun. He's kind of an entertainer, and like I said, it's going to add to our voting rolls and those folks, you know, they can't vote in a Democratic primary.
They can't help organize a Democratic precinct, so if the Democrats are trying to use that to build their party, that is going to backfire, because those folks are going to be on our voting rolls and we can contact them through mail or phones or whatever in the coming months and years.
BALDWIN: Chad Connelly, tomorrow in your state will be very exciting. We will be watching. Thank you so much.
And speaking of Colbert, we're going to talk to one of the organizers there at the College of Charleston in just a couple of minutes. Let's stay tuned for that.
And we'll Herman Cain singing. That's all I'm going to say.
It is easy to say that you would like to change the world, but we want to introduce you to a kid that's doing it. This week's CNN Hero story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: In this week's CNN Heroes, Michael Carraway was in the sixth grade when he received a life-saving liver from an organ donor, and now he is 14 years of age. He is using his new lease on life to help others. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHAHEDA WRIGHT, MICHAEL CARRAWAY'S MOTHER: When Michael was born, he was normal. He was active. He ran around. He played football. He was just like any other child. And one day, he just got sick.
MICHAEL CARRAWAY, CNN HERO: In 2008, when I was 11 years old I was diagnosed with liver failure.
WRIGHT: They told me straight up if he does not get a liver transplant, he will die. It was Halloween, and then the doctor came in, Dr. Rosenthal, the liver specialist. He walked and he said, "I hate to sound like the Grim Reaper, but it is raining outside and it's Halloween. He says, "I have been doing this for 30 years. Somebody is going to die. Your son is going to get a liver." CARRAWAY: So this guy right here, his name is Johnny Hernandez (ph), he was 18 years old, and he was killed on a motorcycle accident. His family gave me something to me that I needed, which was a liver from their son, so I really couldn't pay them back, so I feed the homeless in honor of their son, Johnny Hernandez (ph).
WRIGHT: It was Mikey's idea to feed the homeless, and his vision.
CARRAWAY: December 25th, 2008, we packed up 25 meals, put them in my mom's truck and drove around. Ever since then, we've launched Mikey's Meals, and we've fed over 4,000 people in the city of Oakland. And every time we feed, we promote donor awareness.
WRIGHT: We sign up at least 30 people to become organ donors at each event that we have.
CARRAWAY: It is really important to help your community, because without you, there is no community.
WRIGHT: Mikey is truly a young wonder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Go, Mikey. Do you know someone who's making a big difference in your community? We would love to hear about him and/or her. Go to cnnheroes.com, and your efforts could help us shine a spotlight on their work and enable them to do even more for others. Again, cnnheroes.com, nominate a 2012 CNN Hero today.
BALDWIN: And hurricane force winds, certainly that's bad enough, now add fire to the equation, and here is what you get.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Just listen to those winds. This is happening right now in Nevada. Coming up, how many homes are destroyed, and more than 10,000 people are evacuated. Also, we are talking about this massive solar storm that is headed toward Earth. What's a solar storm, you ask? And will it affect your ability to talk on your cell phone tomorrow? Chad Myers, all over this next.
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BALDWIN: Remember that massive snowstorm that hit the Seattle area earlier this week? Well, it not only created a mess for folks who live in the city, now it turns out that it left at least four hikers stranded on Mt. Rainier.
Two hikers from Oregon, a woman from Atlanta and a San Diego man, and they were all on the mountain when the first of a series of storms hit the area last weekend. Searchers say they have seen no sign of these missing hikers. And to make matters worse, more bad weather is apparently now headed toward Rainier.
Reno, Nevada is getting hammered again by wildfires. And usually we say look at the video, but in this case, we're going to play it -- I want you to listen.
The wind, the wind there, that fire started in some brush yesterday afternoon and quickly exploded into a firestorm, fueled by wind gusts up to 82 miles per hour. Here is the sheriff of Washoe County.
SHERIFF MIKE HALEY, WASHOE COUNTY, NEVADA: The fire moved very, very fast. I would say from the observations that law enforcement had out there is that the firefighters did an enormously good job in holding the number of damaged structures down to 26. It could have been much, much worse.
BALDWIN: At the height of this fire, 10,000 people were told to get out, leave their homes. All, we are told, are back home now.
And now to a different kind of storm. Have you ever heard of a solar storm? One is set to hit Earth this weekend and this thing could put on a great show in the heavens above us, or could be quite the mess when you try to pick up the phone and try to communicate with anyone, you know, like possibly disrupting our cell phones.
Chad Myers, I'm bringing you in and first, a little one-on-one on solar flares. It's when the charged particles from the sun, right, they explode and head toward us?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is what we used to call them when we were kids, but now we know solar flares and CMEs are separate. Coronal mass ejection --
BALDWIN: That is a solar flare?
MYERS: That's -- go look it up. That's the big thing -- that's when the energy comes out. Solar flares are x-rays. CMEs are different, CMEs are throwing all of this energy out, plasma, we're talking about protons. We're talking about electrons, helium flying out of the sun at about 2 million miles per hour.
Now you say, well, it should be already here, because it is going at the speed of light. No, it is not. Two million miles per hour, far, far slower than the speed of light. This ejection of mass that is headed to the Earth won't get here until tomorrow about 5 o'clock. What will it do? Certainly, certainly the aurora will be going everywhere, both North and South Pole, beautiful aurora pictures --
BALDWIN: Beautiful.
MYERS: -- probably here. Yes, exactly. Another one here, another beautiful shot. But what else could this do?
When this -- when this energy comes out of the sun and hits the magnetosphere here, magnetosphere, and it kind of sends this solar wind or this plasma, it can knock out power lines. It can actually take out -- it did take out, in 1989, 6 million people in Canada, from power. It also has knocked out satellites.
Now this is a medium, this is an M-3, and then there is X class and M class. It's kind of like saying, like, OK, it's a category 1 hurricane. It's not a cat 5, but we are going to get hit smack on with this cat 1 storm. So it could knock out satellites.
It could do a whole lot of other things, certainly what you need to know is that we are now just approaching solar maximum, there will be many more of these things coming in the next couple of years, and if you lose power tomorrow or if you lose your satellite communication or just your iPad doesn't work any more for at least for a little while --
BALDWIN: Now you know why.
MYERS: -- probably because there's too much energy in the atmosphere.
BALDWIN: Pretty pictures outside your window, but may not be great for your iPad or your cell phone. Great. Chad Myers, thank you.
Now to this, satirist newsman Stephen Colbert tuning up with Herman Cain today for this massive rally in Charleston, South Carolina. Here's a preview.
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BALDWIN: Find out what he is trying to accomplish, what exactly he is doing with the now former candidate Cain. Stay here.
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BALDWIN: He's just kidding, right? America's leading fake news pundit, Stephen Colbert, just wrapped up a rally in Charleston, South Carolina. Here you go. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And joining him -- you see the guy in the hat, none other than one-time GOP front-runner Herman Cain, see, Colbert, exploring a run for President of United States of South Carolina, it is way too late for Colbert, in case you were wondering, to get on the ballot in South Carolina, but, alas, he has a plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, COMEDIAN: They are keeping me off on the technicality that I am 21/2 months late to file.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: Fine, split hairs. If this Saturday, Herman Cain were to get a significant number of votes, that would be a sign that voters are hungry, hungry, hungry for a Stephen Colbert campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So, Herman Cain -- Herman campaign -- Herman Cain's name is still on the ballot, even though he dropped out in December. And Cain brought Colbert to the stage with a singing introduction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN CAIN, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Believe there's a reason to believe you can make time stand still, my brother from another mother, Mr. Stephen Colbert, we, the people, are still in charge.
(APPLAUSE)
COLBERT: I promised that you would be a player in this election. I promised to make your voice heard in the form of my voice. So, nation, I have to ask, can you hear you now?
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I can't help but smile looking at this, let me bring in Amanda Ruth-McSwain, she is the assistant professor there at the College of Charleston, where Colbert and Cain held their event just a short time ago.
I mean, I could just see you, you know, I know several real candidates, you know, have spoken at the -- at the College of Charleston recently. Why Stephen Colbert? Did you guys invite him? How did this whole thing come about?
AMANDA RUTH-MCSWAIN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMMUNICATION, COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON: Well, we didn't necessarily invite him, but at the same time we were delighted to have him here. We have roasted several presidential candidates this season, and we got a phone call from Comedy Central on Tuesday, saying that they were interested to come to the college. They knew about the series. They clearly have been here before. Stephen is actually from the area.
And so we worked with them to make this happen in less than three days.
BALDWIN: Let me just, on a serious note here, I mean, we learned just this week, with regard to the Iowa caucuses, every vote counts. Here you have, you know, Stephen Colbert urging voters in South Carolina to go out and vote for Herman Cain, who's, you know, not a candidate. What do you make of people sort of saying that he is really mocking the message, mocking the process?
RUTH-MCSWAIN: Well, I think, you know, ultimately the decision to actually host Stephen here was that our students, at the end of the day, this is where they turn for their news.
So many of them are in the discussion through listening to things like the Jon Stewart show, and Stephen Colbert, and you know, it is still part of the political process for them. It is educational, that is where they are getting most of their information, that's how they're making most of their decisions, and so --
BALDWIN: Hang on, hang on.
(CROSSTALK)
RUTH-MCSWAIN: And although it certainly is satire --
BALDWIN: I have to stop you, because, look, you're -- you said this is where students are getting their news, on Comedy Central? I mean, that's a -- as associate professor, does that -- does that worry you at all?
RUTH-MCSWAIN: You know, clearly, it is not necessarily something that I might encourage, but at the same time I hope that people are getting their news somewhere, you know. So, although it's, it is satire at the end of the day, it is at least exposing them to the political process and opening up the discussion and getting them involved. So although it might not be ideal, it is what the facts are.
BALDWIN: What -- 30 seconds or less -- what has the student reaction been in the last couple of minutes?
RUTH-MCSWAIN: Pretty amazing. We couldn't quite anticipate exactly what the turnout would be. It was overwhelming. Student buzz after the event is certainly at an all-time high. And, clearly, I'm glad that the message that your vote counts and not vote for Cain, but your vote counts and supporting on Saturday, I'm glad that message was made.
BALDWIN: Yes, it's important to say, Herman Cain got up at a microphone and said, please, don't vote for me, vote for an actual candidate. Amanda, I appreciate it, there at the College of Charleston. Thank you so much and please make sure you join us on CNN tomorrow night, 7 o'clock Eastern for complete coverage of the South Carolina Republican primary. Be right back.
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BALDWIN: Here is what is trending today. Pretrial legal maneuverings don't us demand all that much attention unless, unless it is one of those cases that really strikes a chord in the national conscience, like the case of Tyler Clementi.
Remember -- who could forget the Rutgers student who committed suicide after his roommate allegedly streamed webcam video showing him having sex with another man.
The roommate's trial on hate crime charges doesn't actually start until next month, but all the players were in court today, working out a game plan for the trial. And I want to bring in someone who was in there, Sunny Hostin, our legal contributor.
And, so, Sunny, what did exactly get worked out today?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN REPORTER: Well, today was to be primarily a housekeeping day, but I've got to tell you, Brooke, it was a packed courtroom. As you mentioned, Tyler Clementi's parents were in the courtroom. I got the opportunity to briefly chat with his mother, Dharun Ravi, the defendant, his father was also in the courtroom. And there were a lot of reporters in the courtroom.
So the judge took the time to sort of go over jury selection, also to go over evidentiary issues also to go over jury instructions, but what was so interesting to me is that we learned today, Brooke, that Tyler Clementi's suicide will not be something that is discussed at trial.
While the jurors will learn that he did commit suicide, they will learn that pretrial, they'll learn that during the questioning and then that will not be an issue, and that is because the defendant has not been charged in connection with his murder.
This defendant has been charged with a bias crime, and has also been charged with invasion of privacy, but not with Tyler Clementi's death. So I thought that was also interesting. Also what came up today is that Tyler Clementi's prior sexual history, prior conduct prior to when this alleged invasion of privacy happened will not be in this trial. And that is because he is protected by the rape shield laws.
So there was much discussion about those types of evidentiary issues. I did learn that this is going to be a highly contested case, no question about it. A vigorous prosecution, but also a very vigorous defense.
BALDWIN: What about, Sunny, the other young man who was allegedly in this video that was streamed here, when does his name come out, why is his name even pertinent? I mean, talk about this alleged invasion of privacy, what is to be gained by that?
HOSTIN: Well, certainly, it is part of the fact pattern here. We know that Tyler Clementi was having an romantic encounter with someone else and that sort of is what spearheaded all of this case. We only learned of his initials today. Who knows if his entire name will come out at trial, I suspect it will. But he is very much a part of this case.
BALDWIN: Ok. Sunny Hostin, thank you so much.
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