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South Carolina Primary Voting Underway; Newt Gingrich Surges in Recent South Carolina Poll; Report Indicates Chocolate Producers Continue to Practice Child Slavery; Movie "Red Tails" Focuses on Tuskegee Airmen; Apple Proposing Electronic Textbooks for Schools

Aired January 21, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN newsroom where the news unfolds live this Saturday, January 21, 2012. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

So this is a huge day for Republicans running for president. South Carolina's primary is underway and it is seen as a potential game changer. Already there are signs the game could be changing. An American Research Group poll out today shows Newt Gingrich surging ahead of Mitt Romney. And 40 percent of South Carolina's likely primary voters according to this poll say they would vote for Gingrich. Romney falls behind to just 26 percent. Mid-week Gingrich and Romney were in a dead heat.

South Carolina is a big state, but somehow this morning both Gingrich and Romney campaigned at the same Greenville restaurant at the same time. But Romney avoid ad showdown by arriving 45 minutes early and leaving just minutes before Gingrich actually showed up. Stay right here and we'll have a live report from South Carolina in a moment.

Also this morning firefighters contained a 3,000 acre wildfire burning near Reno, Nevada. Flames destroyed nearly 30 houses. About 10,000 people had to leave their homes, but evacuation orders were lift ad couple of hours ago. Investigators think they know what caused the fire. They say a man came forward yesterday admitting that he improperly discarded fireplace ashes.

Now to Italy where a 12th body was found in the cruise ship disaster. And 20 people are still missing. There are also growing concerns about the environmental threat posed by the wreck. Right now Italian officials say they can't predict how long it will take to clear the wreckage once the search end. They say no fuel oil has leak so far.

Now let's get back to the South Carolina Republican primary and the new poll that gives Newt Gingrich a commanding lead over Mitt Romney. Here's how the numbers have changed in just the last couple of days. Today Gingrich has a 14 point lead over Romney. Mid-week they were in a tie separated by just one point. Let's bring in CNN's Don Lemon who is in Lexington, South Carolina. So Don, so far the weather is holding out, right? Pretty interesting week in politics? Oh, maybe not. OK.

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe not. WHITFIELD: I wonder if, you know, the voters are expressing to you in any way whether they are being influenced by this most recent polling information.

LEMON: We spoke to Bobbie last hour. She was great. The people here are so honest and so real. It's refreshing to be here and like spend time on the ground with them.

But you said the weather is holding out. Right now I want to show you this. We have a little bit of a break. Look at that sky. Look at that sky, the clouds. Even behind us. I know it's dark back there. Look how dark is that. Look at those clouds. The sky is really ominous. It was coming down a little bit. I went out to the car for a break a minute ago. And I couldn't get back in because it was raining so much. So that's outside.

WHITFIELD: We don't want you to melt.

LEMON: No, no, no. It's raining so much I couldn't get back in. I don't worry about melting. I'll show you around real quick. This is the ballot you see when you come in. Look who is still on the ballot, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Rick Perry is still on the ballot, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.

Then when you walk over here you see here OK Herman Cain, Jon Huntsman, Rick Perry suspended their campaigns. Then Rick Perry, same thing. Then, of course no concealed weapons allowed. There was one guy this morning who said he was going quail hunting. Don't bring any weapons in. Listen.

It's weird, Fred, because at different times you'll come in and no one will be in here. Then all of a sudden 20 or 30 people will show up. You get two lines and you go around here. Get the information. Then you go over to the official voting booth and there you go. Hello, guys. Mr. Otis, his wife. He's been running this for 20 years.

Turnout has been good, over 500 people, over 500 folks so far. By the time this place closes at 7:00, Fred, at 7:00 they think they will have 1,000 folks. And then right after that I'm going get meet big Bertha.

WHITFIELD: Who is big Bertha?

LEMON: Big Bertha counts the absentee ballots. They feed her with paper and she counts those ballots. Polls close at 7:00 but we'll be here until they count all the votes. You're right, we've been hearing a lot, Newt Gingrich that's what we've been hearing on the ground even from women, even from Bobbie.

WHITFIELD: Big Bertha, it's not a she it's an it, a machine that's counting?

LEMON: The commissioner came by. One of the commissioners came by and said I nicknamed her big Bertha. She just likes to call her big Bertha. Usually in the south big Bertha is a gun. I don't mean that big Bertha. But I want to meet the machine big Bertha. WHITFIELD: Don, thanks for introducing us to new cultural experiences. Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: CNN has crews across South Carolina taking the pulse of the voters. Dana Bash is among them and she in Charleston. So, how is the turnout there, Dana?

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know what it's not so good here in Charleston. You see behind me this is actually these two individuals just walked up moments ago before. I was going to tell you it's empty. So far there were 122 people who voted, now 124, which the folks here who run this polling station say that's low. That's low compared to years past. There's about 140 registered voters in this area but they don't break it down by party so we're not sure how many are Republicans or Democrats but that's one thing that is important- foot out about South Carolina and about today's primary you don't have to be Republican to vote.

I actually ran into somebody who said she's a Democrat, she came in and voted for memorabilia not to make mischief as we see in Republican pry hears but she said if a Republican end up winning she wants it to be him.

This area in particular, Fred, I don't need to tell you, this is tends to be more moderate when it comes to Republicans. This is where Mitt Romney needs to do well and get those votes up if he'll do well here in the state overall. We're definitely hearing a mixed bag anecdotally from folks coming in here, some for Mitt Romney, some for Ron Paul, but definitely a lot for Newt Gingrich. People who point blank said that they weren't sure they would vote for him but they decided to vote for him after they watched CNN's debate the other night.

And one more thing. You said it was your old stomping ground. I'm not making this up. Just a few minutes ago we met your former producer.

WHITFIELD: Really?

BASH: She said to say hello. She runs this building.

WHITFIELD: I love it.

BASH: They miss you here.

WHITFIELD: I miss Charleston. It's an incredible resort community. It's also one made up of great military personnel, retired military.

BASH: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: As well as retired military business community as well. So it's an incredible voting bloc. Fortunately I'm still pretty close being in Atlanta. I can get to Charleston quite easily. Dana, thanks so much. I'll say hello the buddies there in Charleston. To say the situation of this big primary day, that it's fluid is quite the understatement. Many will be making up their mind only moments before casting their ballot. CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein is in Charleston as well. Ron, Mitt Romney says he is neck in neck with Newt Gingrich. However, the most recent polling says otherwise. There's now quite the gap between Gingrich and Romney. Gingrich is way out in front.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: The formula that has worked for Mitt Romney through the first two contests has been divide-and-conquer. He consolidated the center of the party behind him more than anybody consolidated the right of the party against him. What you're seeing here in South Carolina is the beginning of that changing, especially as the field gets smaller.

Gingrich's opportunity here is to coalesce more of the evangelical tea party and blue collar vote that has been much more resistant to Romney in the first two states. If Gingrich wins tonight we would have an unprecedented scenario in modern Republican politics -- different winners in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

WHITFIELD: This is a pivotal state. It was before we saw this neck and neck race historically looking at how South Carolina traditionally might pick that Republican nominee. Now that you've got this this horse race between Romney and Gingrich, let's talk about how this sets up the Florida primary. How influential would the outcome of the South Carolina primary be?

BROWNSTEIN: I think could it be substantially influential. As you noted, in a previous five contested Republican races under the modern calendar since 1980 we have had the same pattern. One candidate one Iowa, a second candidate won New Hampshire, one of the two won the South Carolina and won the nomination.

Now were seeing more fragmentation. But I do think If Gingrich does win here, particularly after the allegations that buffeted him this week, you would see more coalescing among the conservatives towards him. I think even though Santorum was certified as the winner of the Iowa he's further marginalized. And that would give Gingrich a lot of momentum.

The Romney camp told me this week even before the South Carolina result they expected the same movement towards Gingrich we saw in South Carolina was occurring in Florida. Now Romney still has a lot of advantages. It's an expensive state. He's been the only one on television. But momentum matters a lot in presidential primary contests. It is like Bill lards. Each shot changes each subsequent shot. If Gingrich wins here his shot starts to look a lot more attractive.

Gingrich has not won a race. If he does well and clinches South Carolina or comes in a strong second, does this offer assurances that this primary season will be elongated a bit. Some thought after Florida the nomination would be clinched by January 31st. But it doesn't sound like that would be the case. BROWNSTEIN: First of all, you often say watch what they do not what they say. The fact that Mitt Romney confirmed two debates for next week indicates that he's not confident about the results tonight. Early they are week they thought they might be able to deliver a knockout blow in Florida and basically at that point say we're turning our attention to President Obama.

I think if Gingrich doesn't win in South Carolina, it is difficult to mount a full scale campaign. He would argue even if he doesn't win if the combined vote for him and Santorum exceeds Romney's it augurs well for him to consolidate that vote.

The problem he faces is he has limited resources and without the boost from South Carolina it's hard for me to see how he gets past Romney in Florida. If he does get a boost out of here, does win Florida, does consolidate the right, if, if, if, then we could have a race that goes on for quite a while, because the party is pretty well divided between a more secular, what I would call a managerial side, less populists, and more populists downscale, culturally conservative side. And that latter group of the party is resistant to Romney. They haven't been able to unify behind one candidate.

WHITFIELD: Ron Brownstein, thanks for breaking it down. Appreciate that.

And stay with CNN all day with coverage from South Carolina. Tonight we got the results. Tune in at 7:00 p.m. eastern time for our special coverage of the winners and losers of the South Carolina primary.

So no matter who wins the South Carolina primary, our Candy Crowley will talk to two of the contenders. Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are guests on the "STATE OF THE UNION" tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. eastern time right here on CNN.

Hard to believe that Valentine's Day is right around the corner and millions of Americans will be spending money on chocolate. But did you know that chocolate could be made by way of child labor?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is trafficking -- a child being trafficked, a child being forced to work? It doesn't get worse than that. It can't be just about are there enough of them. It's a serious abuse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We'll introduce you to a chocolate's child slaves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: International headlines now. Starting in Syria, an opposition group says 54 people have been found dead today. And 30 were unidentified corpses found at a hospital, and a bus bombing killed at least 13 others. An opposition group blames President Bashar al Assad's government. The government has blamed terrorists for the bloodshed. Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh has been granted complete immunity from prosecution. In return he will step down next month after more than 33 years in power. Opposition human rights groups say he is behind the deaths of hundreds of unarmed protesters and calls today's move by parliament a violation of international law.

And the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Mark Grossman, is in the region right now. He met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai today to talk peace. They have another meeting planned for tomorrow.

Imagine supporting child slavery and not being aware that you're actually doing it. You could be doing that when you eat chocolate. The U.S. State Department says more than 100,000 children are involved in the worst forms of child labor in Africa. CNN's Richard Quest has this very disturbing story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is a dark connection between the chocolate we enjoy and the child slavery in West Africa. Researchers have documented disturbing signs of forced labor and trafficking, children held against their will, many never paid. Ivory Coast is the world's largest producer of could. The U.S. State Department estimates there are more than 100,000 children involved in the worst forms of child labor on cocoa farms throughout the country.

JUDY GEARHART, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHT FORUM: This is trafficking, a child being trafficked, a child being forced to work. It doesn't get worse than that. I don't think -- it can't be just about are there enough of them. It's a serious abuse.

QUEST: According to an industry-wide agreement signed on September the 19th, 2001, this should not be the case. The Harken-Engel protocol was written to put an end to forced child labor in chocolate by 2005. That deadline had to be extended to 2008 and again to 2010. It's now been more than 10 years.

SEN. TOM HARKIN, (D) IOWA: If these companies aren't willing to come forward and work with us and put some more money forward to get these kids out of the cocoa fields, I think they may face a really big backlash.

QUEST: Kevin Bales with "Free the Slaves" signed the protocol in 2001 along with leading companies in the cocoa market.

KEVIN BALES, "FREE THE SLAVES": I am disappointed and to a large part it's a resource question. It's all about the fact that while several million dollars a year are moving from the chocolate industry to work on the ground in West Africa it's not enough to meet the size of the problem.

QUEST: CNN has spoken to the top chocolate and cocoa companies, inviting them to be on our air. They either declined or did not respond. Those that did passed us along to the International Cocoa Initiative. The ICI was set up by the protocol to bring all parties together to address the worst forms of child labor in the supply chain.

JOANNA SCOTT, SPOKESWOMAN FOR COCOA AND CHOCOLATE COMPANIES: The progress isn't enough and that's why we've joined force with other partners to this new framework of action. And we really believe we have to accelerate action, we have to do more, and we have very challenging goal that we're all supporting.

QUEST: The goal now is to reduce the worst forms of child labor within the next eight years by 70 percent. However, International Labor Rights Forum sees flaws within the cocoa initiative.

GEARHART: The idea that companies can join an initiative and sit behind that initiative I don't think answers the real question. It's not the same as getting companies to step forward and transparently saying this is what we're doing.

QUEST: Richard Quest, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And for more information on this story you can check out CNN.com/Eatocracy for our in depth coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Keeping active is a good way to stay healthy. Doctors say when people remain sedentary they can develop a number of problems form obesity to type-two diabetes. Now a study finds that inactivity, especially in women, can lead to dangerous blood clots in the lungs. Here's Elizabeth Cohen with today's "Health for Her."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Need another reason to get going? A recent study published in the "British Medical Journal" found women who were active had a much lower risk of developing pulmonary embolisms.

DR. MARLA SCHUMAN, NORTH VIRGINIA PULMONARY AND CRITICAL CARE: The way you get a blood clot is partly because of lack of blood or blood moving slowly.

COHEN: The study looked at 70,000 women enrolled in the famous nurse's health study and followed them for 18 years. Researchers measured inactivity by how many hours per week the subject spent sitting, the high being 41 hours, the most active members spending 10 hours or less sitting. Investigators four the risk of developing pulmonary embolism was more than double in the women who were sedentary compared to those who were active. And weight had nothing had to do with the risk.

SCHUMAN: They were able to see just being sedentary increased their risk.

COHEN: The best thing to do to avoid these clots is to move at least a couple of hours a day. If you sit at a desk, get up for a few quick walks around the office during the day instead of sitting for eight straight hours.

With this week's "Health for Her," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A key question in a Los Angeles murder mystery has now been answered. Police have identified the severed head found near the famous Hollywood sign. But there's still a lot investigators don't know about this very bizarre crime.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Checking your top stories right now, Los Angeles police have identified the body whose severed head, hands, and feet were found near the famous Hollywood sign. The victim was a 66-year-old L.A. man. They don't know why he was killed or where. Police are warning hikers not to walk the trails through the Hollywood hills alone.

An Ohio father is accused of taping up his daughter with duct tape and then locking her in a dog cage twice. He's been charged with child endangerment. Police say the man did it as a way of disciplining his daughter. The man's lawyer called the whole thing, quote, "a joke that got out of control." The lawyer also says the man's 13-year-old son posted pictures of the incident on Facebook.

And some of the biggest names in music are paying tribute to legendary singer Etta James. The 73-year-old died yesterday due to complications of leukemia. She was best known for her 1960 hit "At Last." Mariah Carey kills a James one of the world's most influential singers. Beyonce says James was, quote, "One of the greatest vocalists of our time."

And there will be no more negotiating for William Shatner's Priceline negotiator. The character will be, I hate to say this, I don't want to say he'll be eliminated in a fiery bus crash -- not that that's very nice in a commercial set to air on Monday. Terrible. But it takes more than that to take down the man also known as Captain Kirk and T.J. Hooker. A company spokesman said they only killed off the negotiator. William Shatner is still under contract. Now I'm really confused. I don't know. Everyone loves William Shatner. Jacqui Jeras, both of us were like what? No it can't be.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Won't be the same.

(WEATHER BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Whether there's big rain or not, the polls in South Carolina close in about four-and-a-half hours. How important is today's vote. The South Carolina primary has picked the eventual GOP nominee since 1980.

So here with some halftime analysis is GOP strategist Ron Bonjean from Washington, and Democratic political consultant Ed Espinoza from Austin Texas. Good to see you as well. The latest ARG poll, we've been looking at that al morning long. It's putting Newt Gingrich way ahead of Mitt Romney by about 14 points. So Ed, you first. If Gingrich does win today, or maybe even come in a close second, how might that reshape the race overall, the race for the nomination in your view?

ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT: You know, we hear this a lot in sports, but I think it applies today in South Carolina as well. You hear people talk about a statement win. This is a statement win for Gingrich if he pulls it off because there's a couple of things here. South Carolina is the last chance for all these other candidates to really make their point, because after this state, the campaign trail gets a lot more expensive. Florida's got a lot of big media markets, very expensive to buy TV time there.

After Florida a lot of the states after that are either heavily Mormon, Arizona and Nevada come to mind, or you have multiple primaries on the same day. These things don't go in favor of a multicandidate field against Romney. This is the last chance for somebody emerge as a clear front-runner. If Gingrich can do it, he'll have a lot left in him after today.

WHITFIELD: So Ron, you see at any time same way, the last chance to emerge if not win?

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, in Florida being critical for Gingrich. No one thought that going into South Carolina that he would be this far ahead of Mitt Romney. It's bean roller coaster. Now we have tornado watches in the state. Who knew about that?

(LAUGHTER)

BONJEAN: In Florida, I think Mitt Romney has the organization and the funding. So we'll have to see if conservatives really coalesce around Gingrich. You still have Santorum out there battling Ron Paul for third place, and Santorum could play a little bit in Florida but it will take money and organization for the long haul and that's something Newt Gingrich doesn't have just yet.

WHITFIELD: OK, but placing a really strong second or a first would help with that money. I mean he's been able to benefit from the super PACs which have been flooding South Carolina even Florida with some powerful ads. Would that make a difference?

ESPINOZA: Are we talking about Gingrich here?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

ESPINOZA: Yes. OK. So the irony here is the guy who complained the most about super PACs in the first two primaries are benefiting the most in the third primary. Yes, he absolutely benefits from that. Coming in, he's a first place, absolutely will help him. A strong second helps as well.

This may be more about the other candidates than it is about Romney. I think we can assume that Romney has enough money and got enough organization to go the distance in this campaign. The question is who is going to be the alternative to him? Who are the conservatives going to coalesce around and who can become the alternate?

With Santorum and Gingrich pulling from the same voters, one of them has to pull away from the pack in South Carolina to become that clear alternative. And then we have what becomes a two, two and a half man race, depending on how you look at it with Ron Paul.

WHITFIELD: This has been extraordinary in South Carolina because it was just days ago that many people were talking about Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich splitting that conservative vote. and now the discussion is look at this race, what appears right now to be a two man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. So what about that conservative voting bloc in South Carolina? And whether it is, indeed split feels like it's got to choose between a Rick Santorum or a Newt Gingrich, or does it appear as though most are gravitating towards one of the two.

BONJEAN: It looks most of them are gravitating towards Newt Gingrich and not Rick Santorum. He has the most momentum especially going into the week here. I mean, with Mitt Romney, it felt like my Green Bay Packers. They fumbled the ball early on when we were talking about his taxes and I think that was his biggest liability. He has trying to straighten that answer out and talk about why he's successful and not run from it.

Newt Gingrich on the other hand has a huge problem. I think his problem is he has wild swings. Right now he's swinging way up because he's on a ride. But then he comes crashing down because he can't help himself. His own words seem to be his own best enemy here. So going into Florida, I think it's going to be, you know, behoove Gingrich to stay disciplined with a consistent message and not go wild, all over the place. For Mitt Romney he'll have to straighten out the personal finances answer and have a clear, concise reason why he's successful.

WHITFIELD: I'll let you talk about this. The low country of South Carolina, the most conservative portion of that electorate is northwest, but how do you suppose that midland section and low country area may be influenced by this recent polling if at all?

ESPINOZA: Well, with all of this -- this is what it boils down to is that Mitt Romney is a good general election candidate because he tends to have a broad -- people perceive him as somebody who has broad appeal. Now, in a Republican primary that's hard to do because you've got to get past these conservative voters, whether they are the ones in the low country or middle of the state. You've got to find a way to appeal to them to get to the nomination.

This is the challenge that Romney has had throughout the primaries. Up through now the more candidates there are in the race the better it is for him because he can win these primaries with 37 percent and 35 percent.

Now, in a case like this where there's only two or three other guys left in the race, that becomes harder for him to do. So the question now is do conservatives decide to settle for Romney or do they decide to make a statement and go for somebody else? We don't know the answer to that but we're about to find out. WHITFIELD: We sure are. Ed, Ron, thanks so much to you gentlemen. Good to see you.

BONJEAN: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: Of course be sure to stick with CNN all day and into the evening for our coverage of the South Carolina primaries. Of course we have results this evening. Tune in at 7:00 p.m. for our special political coverage of the winners and losers of this South Carolina primary.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Overlooked many times in American history, the Tuskegee airmen, the nation's first black fighter pilots battling both segregation at home and war overseas. Their experiences in World War II are unfolding on the big screen in "Red Tails." George Lucas says Hollywood refused to fund his black cast movie so he paid for it himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Slip just a little.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations, captain, you are the first negro to shoot down a jet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We caught up with one airman who saw the movie for the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EARL MARTIN, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET): I entered the service the 17th of February, 1942. I was only 17 years old. And they told me that you only going for 30 days. It was the longest 30 days in my life because I spent three years over there. I traveled all over Europe, for three years, three months, and 19 days to be exact. I never will forget it. My name is Earl Martin, master sergeant in the United States Air Force. I retired with over 4,105 flying hours.

ELIJAH KELLY, ACTOR: They never lost a bomber.

My name is Elijah Kelly and I play Samuel "Joker" George in the movie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on. Flip just a little.

KELLY: Since the early 1940s, their story has been overlooked. It's not in our curriculums. People don't learn about them. So it's a travesty that has to be done this way. But the great thing is it's being done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congratulations, captain. You are the first negro to shoot down a jet. KELLY: Nice to meet you sir. We want this first and foremost be super successful. You don't get into this business to not want or have those aspirations, but to know you're portraying someone that lived what you did. You have to get it right.

MARTIN: This one here is out of sight. This is more like the real thing, you know. It looked like you're sitting in the cockpit and it's coming right at you. You know, I know when I saw it I ducked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a right to fight for our country the same as every other American. We will not go away.

MARTIN: I'm happy, appreciative of what we getting now that I think that we deserve.

KELLY: That's the most amazing review. Like forget what Ebert says. For them to say you did us justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the last minute, last bullet, to the last man we fight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We fight. We fight. We fight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Among the airmen who say the movie "Red Tails" nailed it 92-year-old pilot Bob Friend. Face to face he reveals one reason why he flew so many missions -- 142.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Did you have a nickname?

LT. COL. BOB FRIEND, FORMER TUSKEGEE AIRMAN: Yes, I had one.

WHITFIELD: What was it?

FRIEND: Beaver.

WHITFIELD: For?

FRIEND: They said I was always into everything, so the eager beaver.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Later pilot Bob Friend explains they all worked hard to, in his words, get it right.

In a moment we're heading back to South Carolina where a red hot Republican primary is underway, and we could see a new front-runner emerge from this pivotal race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're going to get back to South Carolina, primary voters there heading to the polls right now picking who they want to run against President Barack Obama in the fall. Let's bring in our CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser, who is there in the rain because that serious storm front is heading your way. I wonder if that will impact the turnout now.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: It might, Fred. It really could, because this heavy rain, this thunder could keep people who may not have that much a strong desire to vote. I spoke one Republican strategist his mother is 72 years old and lives here in South Carolina, and said you know what, she's pulling for Romney, but if it's raining she won't vote. We'll see how it impacts turnout and who it hurts more, Romney or Gingrich.

Let's talk about these polls you've been showing all day. This is the latest one, American Research Group. It came out this morning. Look at that. Newt Gingrich odds by 14 points over Mitt Romney according to this is your ray. Ron Paul at 18 percent and Santorum at 13.

Fred, go to the next number is interesting. This poll was conducted Thursday and Friday half before half after our explosive debate in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday night. Look at the difference from their previous poll earlier in the week. They were basically all knotted up, Gingrich and Romney. Gingrich goes up seven points Romney down six according to this poll. Other polls may show different things. But every poll is indicating a surge for Gingrich and a dip for Romney.

One other number -- we've been talking about that story with Gingrich and the open marriage. It's been a big story line. Is that hurting him with women voters? Not according to the ARG poll. Gingrich fares better actually with female voters better than male voters here in South Carolina.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Thanks so much. It's really interesting thumb nail sketch view of what's happening in South Carolina. Appreciate that.

We'll check back with you throughout the afternoon. We'll have our special coverage this evening of this South Carolina primary. You want to tune in for the results. Our special coverage of the winners and losers in the South Carolina primary, our coverage begins 6:00 p.m. eastern time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This just in to CNN. There was a security alert under way near Panama City, Florida, specifically at the Tyndall Air Force base. It's on lockdown. The public affairs officers there are telling us, quote, "We do have a security incident. We do not have the details on what that entails." That's all they are telling us right now. But it is on lockdown, that air force base, Tyndall Air Force base. When we get more information on that lockdown and what started that, we'll bring that to you.

Meantime let's talk about airline ticket prices. They are about to go up. How you might benefit? Reynolds Wolf explains in this week's "On the Go."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Next week, new airline rules go into effect and will immediately increase the advertised price for your next flight.

JANE LIBERT, EXECUTIVE TRAVEL MAGAZINE: When you see ticket prices going up, that's good news for you. It's just the inclusion of fees and taxes that every passenger has to pay, but now you'll know in advance.

WOLF: The Department of Transportation is adding these rules so you can clearly see the costs of flying each airline.

RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: You ought to know and have every advantage in knowing exactly what every charge is, what you're paying for, and what the bottom line will be.

WOLF: Airlines will also be required to list the prices for all of their optional services, from on-board food and head phones to Wi-Fi.

LAHOOD: If they're going to charge you for a bag, they have to disclose that. If they lose your bag, they have to reimburse you for the charges that they charged you.

WOLF: And when you buy a ticket, you will now have a day to make changes or cancel without facing a fee.

LIBERT: Within that 24 hours, as long as that ticket is one week out, you can cancel without any penalty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You know about iPads. What about iBooks? Maggie Lake lets us know about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE LAKE, REPORTER: Apple is about to unveil its plans to revolutionize the way kids learn.

ROGER POSNER, VICE PRESIDENT OF PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE, APPLE: I think you can see immediately these are gorgeous, gorgeous books. They are really in a class by themselves in terms of rich, engaging layouts.

LAKE: A batch of new initiatives including iBook 2, Apple is trying to get schools and educators to shift from using heavy, expensive, outdated text books like you see on that wall with new, digital interactive versions made especially for the iPad that you see Apple reps demoing all around this room right now.

LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR IN CHIEF, MASHABLE: What Apple has done is provided a powerful tool that looks really good and works well. I love the preview on the iPad. They've gotten together with some very important and powerful partners who are already delivering textbooks into the education marketplace and they put it at a price point where I think the education system can get excited about it.

So, all those things together comprise a game changer for the education textbook market.

LAKE: Textbooks are a massive, $10 billion industry, but there are big challenges that Apple faces. School budgets are very tight right now, and some people are worried about the durability of an iPad in the hands of grade children, and a lot of these initiatives are aimed at kindergarten through high school.

Still, Apple's track record speaks for itself and the company says it is committed to reforming education.

PHILIP SCHILLER, SENIOR V.P., APPLE: All of us at Apple know that you really can empower people through learning, and technology has a role to play to help in doing that. It's one of the best things that's built into the culture at Apple, to care about learning and to want to do our bit to help improve that process.

LAKE: Philip Schiller kicked off this event, saying education is deep in our DNA. If Apple succeeds, it may turn out that future generations of students have a little bit of Apple in their DNA.

Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.