Return to Transcripts main page

Connect the World

US Super Tuesday Republican Presidential Primaries; Candidates Head to Bible Belt; Analysis of Super Tuesday Results; Destroyed Factory Symbol of Japan's Resilience; Two Students Restore Japanese Memories; Apple Unveils New iPad; More Somber Day for Prince Harry in Jamaica; Parting Shots of Bear Using Rock as Tool

Aired March 07, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BECKY ANDERSON, HOST: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. Let's get you a check of the world news headlines at this point.

The UN humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, visited a heavily-shelled district of Homs in Syria today, witnessing what a spokeswoman calls complete devastation. Amos and Syrian Red Crescent volunteers were finally allowed access after a weeks-long military siege.

A roadside bomb has killed six British soldiers in Afghanistan. They are officially missing and presumed dead. British military officials say that the bomb went off as the soldiers were on patrol in armed vehicles.

Norway has formally charged Anders Breivik with committing acts of terror and voluntary homicide. He's accused of killing 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage last July. He has pleaded not guilty, but he has admitted carrying out the attack.

And Mitt Romney says he's prepared to fight all the way to become the Republican presidential nominee. He won six of the ten presidential contests held in so-called Super Tuesday, but his nearest competitor, Rick Santorum, won three and came in a close second in the critical state of Ohio. Now, analysts say that is further proof Romney is having trouble appealing broadly to conservatives.

Well, Mitt Romney didn't bag the decisive victory he'd been hoping for, and as Rene Marsh reports, what comes next could well be a super slog.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a good night for Mitt Romney, but not a knockout.

MITT ROMNEY (R), US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight, we've taken one more step towards restoring the promise of tomorrow. Tomorrow, we wake up and we start again.

MARSH: He won six of the ten Super Tuesday states. In Ohio, which is expected to be an important battleground in the general election, he took home a slim victory over Rick Santorum. But Romney failed to attract die- hard conservatives, who gave Santorum victories in Tennessee, Oklahoma, and North Dakota.

RICK SANTORUM (R), US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have won in the West, the Midwest, and the South, and we're ready to win across this country.

MARSH: Newt Gingrich won't be counted out after a decisive victory in the state he once represented in Congress: Georgia.

NEWT GINGRICH (R), US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. I'm the tortoise. I just take one step at a time.

(CROWD CHEERS)

MARSH: Ron Paul didn't place higher than second in any of the Super Tuesday contests, but he's keeping his movement alive.

RON PAUL (R), US PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, if you look at the candidates today, there is very little difference except for one.

(CROWD CHEERS)

MARSH: Sarah Palin cast her vote for Gingrich in Alaska's caucus, but said she wouldn't shoot down the idea of running for president if the Republicans face an open convention.

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: I would seriously consider whatever I can do to help our country.

MARSH: With more than half of America still to vote, the race isn't over yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, the contest for the Republican presidential nomination now moves to the Bible Belt states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kansas, where evangelical Christians make up the majority of the electorate.

The Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is already in Kansas. I want you to get get a listen to what he had to say earlier this evening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANTORUM: I've got one home state, and that's the state of Pennsylvania, and that's coming up next month, and we're going to have a big win there just like he had in Massachusetts.

(CROWD CHEERS)

SANTORUM: The difference is, we actually elect conservative Republicans in Pennsylvania every now and then. And particularly if we can in a general election, which is going to make a difference, because that's exactly the kind of state that we need to win if we're going to be successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: So, Santorum is hanging on in there despite most predictions that Mitt Romney might have nailed this race by now. We'll show you the machinations of where these prospective presidential candidates now stand. I'm joined by veteran political analyst Bill Schneider. He is in Washington for you this evening.

Bill, Romney scored well on Super Tuesday, but he didn't clean up last night. Why?

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Because conservatives said yesterday on Super Tuesday they will not have Mitt Romney shoved down their throats. They are told by the press, by their party leaders, he's the inevitable nominee, he's the only one who can beat Barack Obama.

And that may well be true, but the fact is, conservatives are resisting ever inch along the way, and they are going to hound Romney right up until the bitter end, which is the Republican convention, and that could be pretty bitter.

ANDERSON: All right. Well, let's get to some of these exist polls from last night, because they make really, really interesting reading, Bill. For viewers, I want to bring up some of the information here.

Take a look at this, for example. Voters aged between 22 and 29, 40 percent went for Santorum, only 20 percent voting for Romney. Interestingly, Bill, if you look at older voters, it is completely reversed. Why?

SCHNEIDER: Because Mitt Romney is a familiar type to senior Republicans, those over 65. He's the sort of politician they've lived with all their lives, like Eisenhower, Richard Nixon. He's part of the Republican establishment. He's very much an establishment figure, and that's why he's getting so much support from seniors.

He's trying to present himself as a candidate of change. That should appeal to young people, but they're not responding, because they really don't see where the change is in the Romney campaign.

ANDERSON: Well, it's certainly not those who've only got short change in their pocket, because if we look at income, voters who take home between -- what is it? -- $30,000 to $50,000, let's bring this one up for our viewers. Santorum gets more votes, 39 percent versus 33 percent for Romney.

But Romney, Bill, pulling in the big earners, voters earning over $100,000, the richer constituency, as they're known in the States. Romney 46 percent, Santorum 32. Were you surprised by that?

SCHNEIDER: No. He's getting votes from his fellow -- what shall we say? -- plutocrats? He keeps reminding people of his wealth in a very awkward way lots of times. He bets people $10,000 and he says that he has no deep sympathy for the very poor. And that just reminds people. What are we waiting for? He's going to say, "Let them eat cake."

The fact is that he gets support from wealthy Republicans in part because they are fearful of being taxed to death by President Obama, who's promising to raise their taxes, and a lot of them see Barack -- see Mitt Romney as the only Republican who can defeat Obama.

Romney does not have a lot of appeal to lower income Republicans or Americans in general. He is very much the country club conservative. He is -- he represents the elite of wealth. Barack Obama represents the elite of education. They're two competing elites in the United States, one liberal and one conservative, and both of them don't have a lot of populist appeal.

ANDERSON: Who is your money on, Bill? Who's going to get this nominee, is it going to be -- nomination. Is it going to be Mitt Romney?

SCHNEIDER: I think by default it will be Mitt Romney, but there's going to be a lot of complaining and a lot of hemming and hawing and possibly deal-making at the convention.

Remember, this party has a rule in effect of proportional representation. What that does is it keeps dead candidates alive. It means someone like Ron Paul, who can't win a single primary, keeps on collecting delegates. They can't get rid of him. And Romney and Santorum, they won on Super Tuesday, and they're likely to stay in the race for a while, too.

What they're hoping is that they will gather enough delegates among them that they can keep Mitt Romney from claiming a first ballot majority. If that happens, then they're going to have to wheel and deal at the convention, which will be very unattractive, and he'll have to make some serious concessions to the conservatives, and that's what they want.

ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating stuff. Bill, always a pleasure, thank you for that. Come back.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

ANDERSON: As things move on. Let's just pull support, here. Here's how things stack up. To win, the Republican candidate needs 1,144 delegates. Well, so far, according to a CNN estimate, at least, Romney has 429. In second place, Rick Santorum with 169. Newt Gingrich, 118, and Ron Paul trailing with 67.

And dates for your diary. Republican voters in Kansas go to the polls Saturday. Next Tuesday, it's Alabama and Mississippi's turn. CNN, of course, will have coverage that you need to follow every twist and turn as Republicans vote for a challenger to take on President Obama in November this year.

Coming up next, a year since a tsunami crashed down on Japan, wiping out thousands of homes, two young students are helping people reclaim their memories of happier times.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Well, it's been nearly a year since an earthquake off the coast of Japan triggered a devastating tsunami that wiped out entire towns and caused a near nuclear meltdown. Well, 15,000 people died and more 3,000 are still missing.

The Red Cross has handed out billions of dollars in aid to residents, but says rebuilding has been painfully slow because the government has not decided on a master plan.

Well, one factory was so badly damaged in last year's disaster that 70 percent of global auto makers were affected. But as Kyung Lah now reports, it's now a symbol of Japan's resilience in the face of adversity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The March 11th earthquake rocked Japan, a 9.0 magnitude quake that damaged buildings across the country. But the destruction at this one factory at Renesas Electronics collapsed auto production lines for weeks around the globe.

LAH (on camera): So, it looked like -- kore.

TAKASHI AOYAGI, GENERAL MANAGER, RENESAS: Kore, yes.

LAH: This is what it looked like.

LAH (voice-over): "Ceilings caved in, computers cracked, critical air filters jammed with dust," explains the plant's general manager. A disaster for a microchip plant that relies on sterile work conditions, and a catastrophe for the global auto industry supply chain. Renesas supplies approximately 70 percent of the computer chips that go into all vehicles worldwide.

LAH (on camera): When you came here and you saw what had happened in this hallway, what did you think?

LAH (voice-over): "I was wondering if the sterile room or this factory would ever be the same again," says Takashi Aoyagi. He didn't have to wonder long.

Thousands of workers descended on the damaged plant, more than half of them volunteers, working without electricity or running water for weeks. The plant was up and running in three months, and at pre-quake levels in four, defying all expectations by months.

LAH (on camera): A year later, the volunteers gone, Renesas rebuilt, it is a symbol of how quickly Japanese companies were able to recover. But the disasters also exposed a fundamental weakness in the global supply chain.

WILLIAM SAITO, JAPAN POLICY ADVISOR: I think 3/11 made a lot of the pains very obvious.

LAH (voice-over): William Saito is a national strategy and policy advisor for Japan's government. Corporate Japan is already bearing massive financial burdens from a strong yen and high domestic production costs. Saito says the supply chain break is yet another challenge.

SAITO: You have people outside of Japan who have relied on most of the components from Japan to source from other countries thinking before that Japan would have been a very reliable source, but now understanding that that's not necessarily the case, even for Japan.

LAH: Automakers, like Nissan, say it learned that lesson, and now gets many of its supplies from other countries. Renesas admits customers going to foreign competitors is another significant hurdle facing Japanese companies.

But the president says he has faith in his company's survival after seeing the determination after the quake.

LAH (on camera): Are you incredibly proud of your company for what you've managed to do?

YASUSHI AKAO, PRESIDENT RENESAS: Yes. Of course. Definitely. I really believe that it's part of a company's power.

LAH (voice-over): A power that it and other members of corporate Japan will need as the economic rebuilding of post-disaster Japan continues.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Ibaraki, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Even with the best efforts of reconstruction, nothing can bring back the people who were killed, of course, but two young students have determined to help at least ease the pain by preserving memories for the living. Here's their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYO WAKU (PH), PHOTO RESTORATION VOLUNTEER (through translator): After the earthquake and tsunami, I wondered what I could do to help the victims. I wanted to do something, but I didn't know what exactly. That's when I learned about this activity, and I decided to help.

My name is Ryo Waku. I'm 22 years old. These were sent from tsunami victims who found their photos and are hoping to have them restored. We reach out to these people.

First, we sort out the pictures that can be restored and those which can't. This is what I'm doing right now.

DAISCU SHIBAMA (PH), PHOTO RESTORATION VOLUNTEER (through translator): My name is Daiscu Shibama, and I am 22 years old. I am about to restore a photo that I've opened here with Photoshop. I'm erasing these marks.

When we get the pictures from the victims of the tsunami, they also contain letters. They tell us that their homes have been washed away, but that they found their albums from the remains.

WAKU (through translator): There is a lot of work, but I also think about the people who send us these photos, and it makes me feel like I need to do this. These pictures represent people's memories, and many of them show people smiling. I like to think that by seeing their photos restored, the people smile as much as they do in the photos.

SHIBAMA: I have no way to know if the person in the picture is alive or not, so I try to restore them and make them as clean as possible, all the while keeping in mind what these pictures represent for those who sent them to us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And tomorrow on CONNECT THE WORLD, a mayor who lost his wife in the tsunami, but is carrying on, trying to raise his sons while also rebuilding his town. CNN's Kyung Lah has his story, tomorrow at this time, here on CNN.

Tonight, when we come back, a new iPad is revealed. What Apple has changed on its latest tablet, and what you're saying about it. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

TIM COOK, CEO, APPLE: Today presenting the new iPad, and it is amazing. We've taken it --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, you would expect him to say that, wouldn't you? This is the Apple CEO, Tim Cook, unveiling the latest high-definition version of its wildly popular iPad. Surprisingly, it wasn't given a name. It's just called "the new iPad."

Welcome back. There's no arguing Apple is the leader in the tablet market. Of course, the company has sold 55 million iPads to date, but there is competition from Amazon and Barnes & Noble and various others. So, will the new features keep the iPad on top?

Well, Apple says the display screen will be dramatically sharper, with more than 3 million pixels. The new version will be the first to connect to 4G networks where they are available. It'll have a faster processor and a 5 megapixel camera.

I sound as if I know what I'm talking about. I don't, but I know a man who does. It's going to be the same price as the iPad 2, and it is available a week from Friday, but will we be clamoring to buy one?

The man who can answer some of our questions tonight is joining us now. It's Robert Scoble. He's a technology blogger in San Antonio in Texas.

Now, tell me, Robert. If like me, you have a perfectly good iPad 1 or even iPad 2, or any other tablet for that matter, is there any reason I would want to rush out and get this?

ROBERT SCOBLE, TECHNOLOGY BLOGGER: Yes. Just like with the new iPhone, the text on it will be dramatically sharper and pictures and video will be a lot nicer to look at. So, if those things matter to you, this is going to be a must-have gadget on your list this year.

ANDERSON: Has this iPad 1, now, I'm sitting here with a perfectly sensible piece of machinery. Is it -- or has it just become completely obsolete, do you think?

SCOBLE: It hasn't become completely obsolete. I still see people with older iPhones that have the less sharp screen, they don't have the retina display. But I have a feeling that you'll be jealous of people who have this new toy --

ANDERSON: Right.

SCOBLE: -- because the text on it is just so dramatically sharper, that I can't wait to get it.

ANDERSON: All right, good stuff. And I know you told me just before we started you were going to go out and queue up for one of these next week. Got some Twitter comments coming on the screen for our viewers as we speak.

I wonder, Robert, just how long Apple can retain this first mover advantage. I see them announcing a new product like they did today, and I think back to when the media would devote hours to, for example, the launch of a new Microsoft product. That seems years ago, now.

At some stage, surely, they're going to become the sort of -- the old mover in what will be a new moving market, aren't they?

SCOBLE: Well, we're -- the thing we're waiting for is to see this fight between Microsoft, Google with its Android operating system, and the iPad.

Microsoft really has the biggest shot at disrupting the market later when it ships Windows 8, which has a completely new user interface and is really aimed at taking on this new iPad. That's the one that is the question mark.

Amazon has a very low-cost tablet, and I think that will continue being attractive to many people who can't afford a $500 to $900 gadget, like the iPad 2 represents.

ANDERSON: Right. What do we call this new device? Apple don't seem to have come up with a name, so shall we? Go on.

SCOBLE: Well, most people have been calling it the new iPad or iPad 3. Apple is -- being a little cagey. They call it the new iPad, so --

ANDERSON: All right.

SCOBLE: I guess -- I'm going to be in the line next Friday for the new iPad, that's what --

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: All right. We've got some tweets coming on -- along the bottom of the screen. Do tweet me @BeckyCNN if you've got an idea about what you would call this new iPad, as they call it. What happens when it's not the new iPad anymore? Does it become the new old iPad? Or the old new one? What happens?

SCOBLE: I -- then the marketing department has a question.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: Tell me. Last question --

SCOBLE: It's -- by the way --

ANDERSON: Go on.

SCOBLE: All the -- I've been going around Silicon Valley talking to the app developers like Flipboard, or I'm running a new highlight on my iPhone.

These app developers are rebuilding their apps right now for this new iPad because the new high-resolution screen needs new applications or has the affordance of new applications. It'll be really interesting to see what comes out next Friday along with this new iPad.

ANDERSON: Yes, good stuff. All right. Well, it's keeping those in Silicon Valley, then, I guess, in bread and butter, as it were. Good stuff. Thank you. Robert, your expert this evening.

Well, call him Prince Charming -- not Robert, although he is. Britain's Prince Harry, third in line to the throne, continues his Caribbean tour today of the island of Jamaica and seems to be delighting fans wherever he goes.

CNN's Max Foster is with the English royal, and he joins us now, live from Ocho Rios. Sir, how are you?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Very well, Becky. If nothing else, Harry has emerged as an even bigger celebrity, really, during this tour, I'd say. I mean, he's just popped in on Falmouth, here in Jamaica. He was going to do a walkabout, and it had to be cut short, because he was virtually mobbed.

A bit earlier on, though, completely different sense of feeling as he popped in on the Jamaican Defense Forces as he'd just had some really bad news about some fellow servicemen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER (voice-over): Prince Harry has come to a military base here in Jamaica, and he was due to throw himself off this rappel tower.

FOSTER (on camera): But that was canceled because it's the same day that six British service personnel were killed in Afghanistan, and he wants the focus to be on the bereaved families, not on a big action-adventure, as much as this tour has been so far.

(SHOTS FIRING)

FOSTER: What Prince Harry is going to try out, though, is some live firing on this shooting range. He's just seen how the Jamaicans do it. He's now going to be put to the test himself.

(SHOTS FIRING)

FOSTER: OK, so there's the result, and we're told it's a perfect result. Well, nearly perfect, 39 out of 40. He really is a top gun, as he's been known.

How do you -- I've been told by some of the guys it was a perfect score, or it was -- just describe the result.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good. Very good. We thought -- we were ready to be concerned that, well, maybe he'll need some practice shots to really work himself in, but right off the target, he acclimatized very well.

FOSTER: So, Prince Harry, he's had a military day today, a much more serious tone, but we saw how natural he is with all the military equipment. Tonight, a different story. A beach party in Montego Bay.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Max, what impact has this tour had?

FOSTER: Well, it's interesting, isn't it? I think that it's been good for Harry. It's been good in terms of tourism for these islands, that's what I keep hearing, this big spotlight that's been put on the islands. And I'm sure the queen's happy and Harry's done.

What real impact has it had? Well, the big test was really when he met the Jamaican prime minister, and that was because she wants to get rid of this link with the monarchy, and also the opposition party wants to do the same. Could he turn that around?

Well, we spoke to the prime minister afterwards. She said she had a great time, but they didn't discuss any sort of referendum or any break with the monarchy. So, I don't think that's changed. She's still determined to go along that path.

And I think we've discovered that, basically, he's a bit of a celebrity. They're separating the monarchy from Prince Harry, so they may have fallen in love with Prince Harry, but they don't necessarily like the monarchy.

So, it hasn't changed anything in a political sense. It's just been an interesting experience. People are fascinated by him and I don't think he's done the monarchy any harm.

ANDERSON: All right, Max. Good stuff, thanks for that. Max Foster there in the Caribbean for you.

And in tonight's Parting Shots, why the "bear" necessities in life include, well, a scrubbing brush, apparently. When you haven't got one to hand, a barnacle-covered stone will do. It's the first time ever a big Grisly has been photographed using a rock to exfoliate and scratch.

This young, wild bear was snapped picking up a small stone, turning it around a few times, and then rubbing it all over his face. A British researcher has stumbled across this fellow while on holiday in Alaska.

I'm Becky Anderson. That was CONNECT THE WORLD for you, thank you for watching. World news headlines and "BackStory" up after this.

END