and a very, very good morning to you. welcome, everyone. this is "early start." i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we're bringing you the news from "a" to "z." 5:00 in the east. >> is it ever. >> let's get started here. jon huntsman is going to drop out of the gop race today. he says he will endorse romney.

we'll get more details on that. >> also if you've been looking, there are pictures that are mind boggling. a cruise ship much, much bigger than the "titanic" on its side. there are reports of six dead now. two americans among the missing and harrowing tales from those who tur vived and the captain has got some explaining to do. he is being asked by authorities there why did you leave that ship? and the first chance for overseas markets to react to the mass downgrade of european nations. will you pay for the mess in europe later this week? will it affect us at all. >> i always wonder, europe, schmeurope. were you watching, golden glo globes. you go to bed at 6:00, don't

you? >> i try to. it didn't work out that way. >> if you haven't seen the artist by now, have you seen it. >> i have not seen it. >> are you going to see it? >> if it's not rated pg i'm not going to watch it these days. >> if it's not animation. ricky gervais was not pg at all. >> i hear the fashion was fantastic also. >> julianne moore looked unbelievable. i didn't stay up to watch the whole thing. and then there were five. it's the enthe d of the road fon huntsman. he will urge the party to come together and rally behind romney. he felt he was holding mitt romney back. >> and cnn had this story first. it's what we like to call breaking news, folks. our cnn political reporter peter hamby, who is live in myrtle beach, south carolina, joins us

right now on the phone. all right, peter. not even on the phone. you got yourself in front of a camera, too. glad about that at 5:02 in the eastern. i am always jealous when somebody breaks news like this. everyone has picked up on this. i'm never jealous when it's a teammate. how did you do it? >> sources, you no he, been covering the race, this republican race specifically for about four years. you get to know people and you know if they feel like they want to have a story out there, sometimes they call you first. >> foregone conclusion, though. >> i was driving down here to myrtle beach when i got the phone call. >> when can we expect the big announcement? >> big announcement will be 11:00 a.m. here in myrtle beach behind me at the convention cent center. this is the center of the republican universe tonight. every television camera will be able to catch this. was it a foregone conclusion? probably. after jon huntsman's third place finish in new hampshire, it was sort of disappointing for him. he came down here to south

carolina without a ton of momentum, almost no money and no staff. he wasn't really catching on. it is surprising he's endorsing mitt romney. the staffs, i can tell you, do not really like each other very much. so it's going to be pretty interesting. jon huntsman has said very negative things about mitt romney, basically that he can't beat obama. democrats are feasting on that. they will later today when this press conference happens. >> oh, lord you and i go back in politics long enough to remember bush/mccain. this sort of thing happens all the time. but what i thought was so weird was the timing. because didn't a nice big fat endorsement come from south carolina's biggest newspaper of all people, for jon huntsman today? >> it absolutely did. yesterday the state newspaper in

columbia, the biggest in the state, they endorsed john mccain last time who was the winner, picked him saying he had the right judgment to be president. usually when things like that happen, you might wait a day or two to give you some pad so it doesn't look awkward. today is a big day in south carolina because there's a debate. the timing made sense to do it when the entire press corps was here in myrtle beach. >> peter hamby, live in south carolina, thank you. >> nice break. if that isn't proof enough, keep it on cnn right through november for the best political coverage on television. on thursday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern, it's the southern republican presidential debate right here, live on cnn. don't miss it. >> this saturday, the road to the republican nomination for president stops in south carolina. tune in to cnn saturday night, january 21st at 6:00 p.m. eastern for the most comprehensive primary coverage you can ever find. >> we're going to skip out of politics for a moment to give you more of an update on this

incredible story developing over the weekend, a sixth body has now been found aboard that capsized cruise ship off the coast of italy. it's now estimated more than a dozen people have not been accounted for and the search continues. two of those unaccounted for, american citizens. gerald and barbara heil. they are grandparents that hail from minnesota, apparently. this was a retirement trip for them. the american embassy in rome is confirming at this point that this couple has not yet checked in. >> and from the beginning, questions have surrounded the captain's actions. the captain was arrested over the weekend. now his employer says he may even have been responsible. quote, while the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master, captain francesco

schettino, which resulted in these grave circumstances. >> i don't know if it was detected or not. on the nautical chart it was marked as water, 100 to 150 meters from the rocks. we were 300 meters from the shore more or less. we shouldn't have had this contact. >> what's amazing in this story, not only are the prosecutors in italy considering manslaughter charges against the captain, they've now also got the first officer being detained as well on similar types of charges. it's incredible that what people are saying on board, it was mass chaos, it was every man for himself. >> these are live pictures that we're showing you of the ship. you know, another thing that strikes me, ashley, as rather interesting is that the ship apparently sailed at 7:00 p.m. within 24 hours they are supposed to do these drills. it was schedule for 5:00 p.m.

i'm curious why that long wait to schedule a drill that is so vitally important in case of an emergency like this. >> i heard something fascinating as well. when you think about how terrible the circumstance is, also remember there were 4,000 plus people on board. so if you think of an airline disaster, this is multiples of 20, take 20 aircraft and crash them and try to evacuate that many people. as bad a story as this is, if you look at the pictures, it could be so much worse. >> we have dan rivers live on the phone right now in giglio, italy, i think it is. we're talking about the details behind this, the chaos. what can you tell us? actually specifically about that issue of having to have this drill within 24 hours and it being scheduled so late. >> reporter: i'm having real trouble hearing you guys, i'm afraid.

let me tell you what the situation is here right now. the search and rescue teams have been going all through the night, divers trying to search for survivors in more than 2,000 cabins inside this enormous liner that is still lying on its side here. we are told that there are still 16 people missing, including two u.s. citizens. so far, six bodies have been found. a sixth body was found overnight. and the fire commanders we've been talking to overnight have been telling us they plan to continue searching the ship until they have concerns that there are no more bodies or survivors inside. and that clearly could take them quite a long time. it's effectively like a sort of sky scraper lying on its side, it's enormous, bigger than the town in which it is in front of.

it's a massive task. overnight they had about 120 people searching. and that will continue in shifts of four hours that they're rotating today. until they're certain that they have got everyone out. >> just think how ominous this would be. dan rivers, thanks so much. i know you're having trouble hearing us. we'll try to check in with you later. imagine the divers going into the hull and swimming through the blackened ship and trying to find survivors through cabins, passageways. awful. >> i wonder how you survive in the cold waters also. all right. u.s. markets closed today. it's the mlk holiday for some people, not for us. >> downgrades of nine euro zone countries on friday. alison kosik. >> you're meeting people for the first time on the air live. >> it's nice to meet you. i saw you in make-up but i didn't get a chance to talk to

you. >> for the u.s. we saw the reaction on friday. we did see the dow plunge 160 points during the day. by the time the closing bell rang we only had modest losses. standard & poors which downgraded the nine euro zone countries had put the euro zone on notice that this was going to happen. everybody expected. we didn't see the market reaction. in fact, overnight, the european markets hardly seeing any reaction there as well. asian markets are down more than 1% each. overall not seeing a huge reaction. you think about what happens in august in the u.s. we lost our top-tier credit rating, aaa. we went to aa plus. we saw the dow plunge 600 points but the markets have recovered and we didn't see a huge reaction in the bond markets, even to this day, that ten-year note is still under 2%. >> i was absolutely astounded watching ali velshi talking about how ten years ago, i think it was the s&p downgraded japan as well.

it didn't really make a difference. >> what's interesting we're kind of all on the same playing field, aren't we? >> aa is the best. >> it seems to be the case. at this point, where are they going to put their money, where's the safest place to put their money? at this point they are putting it into u.s. treasuries. they are also putting their money back into equities, although very slowly. because the volume is slow still. even with aa plus for the u.s., we're still the safest bet. >> what about bank earnings. >> jp morgan chase came in as a big disappointment. jp morgan shares plunged 2.35% friday. it was worrisome. this week we'll get the whole litany of all the big banks, morgan stanley, wells fargo, goldman sachs. they're all going to be reporting.

you'll see u.s. investors focusing more on the bank earnings and on the housing reports coming out more so than the european downgrade. >> housing reports? >> yes. >> i'm waiting for that. >> me, too. >> alison kosik, you're adorable. >> oh, thanks. >> thank you. >> thank you. it is 12 minutes paragraph the hour. northwest was slammed with snow. did you know? and a messy week ahead in the northeast. rob marciano joining us with the latest. nice to see you. >> good morning, guys. chilly up there. winter finally arriving after being m.i.a. these are actual temperatures, though. in new york city, 16 degrees. boston, currently 10. with the wind there it's feeling more like zero. actual temperature in albany 3. the actual temperature without the wind chill is 2. that's where the cold air is. we have cold air down to the south. not quite enough to make too much of a mess. rain heading across parts of the

midsouth, heading towards atlanta, knoxville eventually. a weak weather system that makes its way throughout the day today. another weak weather system coming down across parts of canada and a decent weather system coming across the pacific northwest where they've had issues. chicago, showers and wind. if you're traveling through that city, you'll have issues. most the day, including st. louis and dallas and denver should be below the hour mark. pacific northwest, snow yesterday. check it out in seattle, low-hand accumulating on the roadways. that's a rare event. a couple inches in seattle proper. accumulating snows throughout the week. so that's rare enough as it is as was our mild start to the winter across the northeast. at least it's good to see that things are getting a little bit more winter-like. >> those pictures. you don't want people to get into chaos. >> that's really seattle? honestly? >> yes. >> they'll get accumulating snow a couple times a year. obviously chaos ensues and the

city shuts down. that traffic looks to be rolling along fairly well. >> it makes me harkin back to my days in canada growing up. pictures were like that in july. >> nostalgia. >> thanks, rob. >> thanks. it is now 14 minutes past 5:00 in the east. time to get you caught up on top stories if you're getting ared to get out the door. south carolina, end of the line, my friends, for jon huntsman. cnn breaking that news that the former utah governor will announce today, i'm done, bye-bye. i'm out of the republican presidential race. mr. huntsman placed third in the new hampshire primaries after skipping iowa altogether. the polls had him way back, like way back. in south carolina. now he's expected to put his support behind mitt romney. >> and a sixth body has been found on board the italian cruise ship "costa concordia." the cruise ship company says there may have been significant

signs of human error on the part of the ship's captain who has been arrested in italy. they are looking at manslaughter charges there. >> if you're a mini cooper fan, about 90,000 of these itty-bitty babies are being recalled because of a possible fire hazard. federal officials are saying apparently it's a faulty circuit board on certain 2006 to 2011 models. that covers a bunch. 2006 to 2011. call your dealer, folks. >> that's a cute little car. >> they're adorable. >> still to come on "early start," congress makes history. it's setting an all-time record in 2011. try to guess what it is. >> it's not 9 kind of record you want to set. >> that's what you call dubious, right? something real dubious. if you didn't stay up late because you're up early with us, george clooney gracing the red carpets at the golden globes. you know what, i'm not sure if the headline is george clooney as much as it is ricky gervais. they took a chance on him again.

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good morning, d.c. how are you on this fine morning? >> a little cold. >> 27 degrees. later it will be sunny and 44. >> that's such a pretty picture, isn't it? >> beautiful. >> 20 minutes past 5:00 in the morning. got some papers from mississippi as well as washington, d.c. let's take you to mississippi. it's been a story that's been in the side of haley barbour. the new governor of mississippi is none too pleased with what outgoing haley barbour did about

those pardons. he wants to make it a whole lot tougher in his state to do what his predecessor did, pardon convicts. it's not take the power away completely but to mitigate it somewhat, lessen some of the ability to just, you know, rubber stamp these dangerous criminals. they also want to look at that program where those criminals are allowed to work in the mansion. >> yes. i just don't understand that. i think that's really where you have to say, hey, somebody should earn to be in here and there should be rehabilitation involved, although we don't know. we haven't really looked at the program closely. >> i'm all about that rehabilitation but for hardened killers, that's tough to swallow. >> how about absolute futility. all of 2011 congress passed a gran total of 80 bills. >> 80? that's it. >> it's an all-time record for lack of production. they've been keeping these

records since 1947. they accomplished less than 2011 than any other year in history. it's the all-time worst year for the sthat. the house had the tenth least productive session ever. harry reid says the senate works on consensus, we volcano been able to get that, the republicans, obstructionism on steroids. that is what he says. >> good on you, harry reid, however, i think president obama will have a field day with this one. he's going to run on the do nothing congress. that is going to be his big opponent. congress stinks. >> they spent a lot of time in working overtime. >> overtime fighting? good for them. >> it's kind of weird. >> let's switch gears to the weird fun stuff. hollywood's biggest party, other than oscars. the 69th golden globe awards handed out last night as well as 20,000 drinks, we're told. the big winner?

>> the artist. >> "the artist." it was a black and white silent film by french filmmakers, french actors. man is this a good movie if you want to see something that makes you smile. three awards including best musical or comedy. ricky gervais was back again as host. pulling the punches, everybody was fair game. have a listen. >> the golden globes are to the oscars what kim kardashian is to kate middleton. what? a bit louder. a bit trashier. a bit drumpger. and more easily bought. >> ooh. >> i just have to mention, jane fonda looked amazing. >> she's stunning. >> gorgeous. she was on piers morgan and looked like she was 12. >> unbelievable. >> george clooney, best dramatic

actor, meryl streep, we both saw this, best dramatic actress in "the iron lady." she was amazing. >> can you smell oscar. >> michelle williams, best actress in comedy. "modern family" best comedy series. "homeland" for best drama series. >> dvr, girl. >> you dvr and then when do you watch? >> that's the problem. on the weekends. still to come, why wasn't the crew of the ship that crashed off the coast of italy prepared for that? we're trying to get you some answers, folks. so i'm donating them. not going back there again. good for you! how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. whole grain? whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't... multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories per serving...

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jon huntsman about to become history in the 2012 presidential race and about to back mitt romney. >> you are watching "early

start."

good morning to you. welcome back to "early start," everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. a minnesota couple among more than a dozen people who are still missing from a sunkle cruise ship off the coast of italy. friends and relatives say they haven't heard from barbara and gerald heil. the captain of the costa concordia is facing manslaughter charges. italy's coast guard will hold a press conference at 8:00 a.m. eastern time. 23-year-old man was

arrested. police won't comment on a "los angeles times" report that says campo is a marine that's been having problems since returning from iraq. five candidates remain in the race for the republican nomination. jon huntsman is dropping out today. he's expected to endorse mitt romney. 28 points past the hour here. the owner of the luxury liner that ran aground off the italian coast is pointing the finger right at the ship's captain. it's saying in part, he may have made, quote, very serious judgment mistakes. the captain was arrested over the weekend, accused of manslaughter and abandoning the ship. friday's accident raising questions about safety of cruise ships, especially for the estimated 10 million americans who plan on taking a cruise this year. so fran golden is a cruise

expert, a contributor for "budget travel" magazine as well. she's joining us to talk about this. so many questions here. i want to begin with the training on the cruise ship. because one of the things that has us mortified is when we welcome at the images and hear what people was saying, it's like the crew was against them and not helping them get off of that ship. what is the train all about on ambassador a cruise ship? >> well, first i want to say that i don't think anybody could predict that a modern beautiful cruise ship only six years old would hit a rock and snend sink. that is not something you can train for. it wasn't anticipated when cruising took off in the 1970s. they built bigger and better ships. i don't think you can train for something, if you asked a captain, could your ship hit a rock and sink? they would say no.

a lot of the training is done by the cruise lines themselves based on international maritime standards. so how the specific crew on this specific ship was trained, i really can't speak to that. it did seem, listening to the reports from passengers, like there was some chaos, some disorganization. that, again, would come down from the captain of ship. he's ultimately the one in charge, not only of the ship and steering the ship and all that type of thing with the aid of high-tech equipment, of course but also in crew training. >> fran, have you been aboard this particular ship? >> i haven't. i've been aboard very similar ships. i think one thing for people to realize is that this isn't some tugboat off italy. this is a very -- again, very modern cruise ship, very similar to ships that are currently in the caribbean. i have seen similar ships to this one. i haven't been on this ship. having sailed on costa cruises, though, i will say one thing they run into that you might not

see in the caribbean as much is they get a lot of international passengers from a lot of different countries. so when you're doing, for instance, life boat drill and the training of the crew and everything, you're talking about a lot of languages being tossed around. i can only imagine the chaos of trying to communicate to passengers from eight different languages how to get off the ship. when they finally, by the way, got them off the ship, it does sound like it was quite a long period before they started the emergency evacuation. >> you know what, that is i very good point, i never thought about that, all the different languages and trying to rally the folks that way. let's get back to this particular training. since you do know cruise lines and the training, is it standard across the board for all of the cruise lines to get the right kind of training? we hear, perhaps, we don't know that the captain abandoned ship. is that unusual? >> obviously, if the cruise line says that the captain could

have -- committed this egregious error, they're pretty sure about it, they're not beginning to come out with that kind of thing. they're not blaming the rock, they're blaming the captain. the ship probably was not supposed to be in the area where it was. it may have been off course. i think there's some question as to who was at the helm. again, with all the equipment -- if you go on the bridge of a ship, it looks like a huge pilot's cockpit, there's so much equipment. the equipment should have warn them of obstructions in the area. they certainly have charts. i think they'll look at that. again, why the captain didn't call the evacuation, why there was no may day, it seems clear they didn't know how serious the situation was. i heard reports they were telling passengers there were electrical problems. why weren't the watertight container doors closed? there were procedures that would be followed if a lot of water was coming into the ship that

should have prevented the ship from tipping over and eventually sinking. i think the industry will look at a lot of that. they'll look at hull design. they're going to look at stability in addition to the crew training and the general safety features. >> this is a popular time of year for folks to take cruises. it kind of makes you nervous when you see a ship like that sinking. >> it does but i think people go on a cruise and they think they're in this protected wonderland. the reality is you always need to have safety in the forefront of your thinking. i've seen passengers go to the life boat drills and the crew do honest efforts to have you learn how to put on your life vest. meanwhile, people are getting drinks and taking photos. >> thank you for joining us with some really good perspective there. >> thank you. 35 minutes past 5:00 in the east. good breaking news story from our cnn crew out there. jon huntsman expected in just a

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welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm ashleigh banfield. big breaking news through cnn, our team reporting jon huntsman is planning to call it quits today, bowing out of the republican nomination race a little later on and throwing his support and hopefully his supporters support behind mitt romney. he's again to call on the party to come together for the common good. what kind of an impact will this have in south carolina? i don't know, let's ask our political panel, shall we? from washington, penny vance, from texas, ede espinoza and jon

from the daily beast. one of of the things that struck me this week was lindsey graham talking a little bit about the possible trifecta we might see with regard to mitt romney if in fact he does win south carolina. let's hear what he had to say. i want to ask you about it in a minute. >> if for some reason he's not derailed here and mitt romney wins south carolina, no one's ever won all three. i think it should be over. >> so, john, a lot of people say that. but the truth of the matter is one of big arguments from the naysayers about mitt romney and there are many, is that he can't possibly win against president obama. he is not possibly electable. but doesn't it show if this guy can sweep three states in a row that he certainly is electable? >> the argument that mitt romney isn't electable in a general didn't make a whole lot of sense. he's a credible general election

candidate and president obama is vulnerable. this is a delegate race. there are 1,143 delegates needed. right now mitt romney has around 25. while it would be impressive if he was able to pull off a win in south carolina after winning new hampshire, i think we have to call off the coronation, here, folks. >> you heard it here first. penny, i'll turn it over to you. i'm going to completely do a 180 and talk about evangelicals meeting in texas this weekend. a lot of people say they were meeting in a way to somehow derail the mitt machine and choose someone more socially conservative. you were invited. you couldn't make it. you're a pal of rick santorum. were you surprised that they liened up behind rick santorum? and do you think it will make a big difference? >> well, i would point out that

evangelicals are a diverse group, really. people like to put us in a box and say that we're poor, uneducated. the truth is like herding cats. we're all independent thinkers. i was pleasantly surprised that they came together and coalesced against one candidate. there's still support for newt gingrich with conservatives. we're looking for a consistent authentic conservative to support. i think the people of south carolina this weekend will make a definite decision in this area. there's a lot of evangelicals, conservatives in south carolina and they're still thinking it over, actually. >> i sometimes wonder how many evangelicals crisscross with tea partiers. i didn't realize the tea party patriots and the south carolina tea party coalition. these two groups are meeting to try to coalesce, figure out who they're going to back as well. one of the things that is going

to be happening is that nikki haley, governor of south carolina will be joining in and talking to this group. she's like the godmother of the tea party movement but she's not particularly liked that much at this point in south carolina. ed espinoza, are the democrats looking their chops over the fact that there's rift here among the tea partiers and some evangelical and that it counted can of makes it difficult to figure out who's for who at this point? >> well, yeah, it does make it difficult to find out who's for who. because while romney mighten winning these elections he's not won any of them with the majority of vote. he's extently got 60% plus of the republican base voting against him. those aren't good numbers coming into the -- this far into the primary season. granted we still have ways to go but he hasn't established his footing with his conservative base. that's a problem for him. president obama does have strong footing with the democratic base

and going into a general election, that's what you need in order to build a strong foundation and reach across to those independents in the middle of the road voters and put you over the top. >> john avalon, one more thing. going into the weekend there was a lot of news being made about those marines seen on tape urinating on -- they were either taliban or al qaeda insurgents. it made massive headlines. a lot of people jumped on it right away to decry this as horrifying, disgusting, despicable, criminal. and as we moved into the weekend, we started to see a little bit of a different message, in particular from one of the candidates. rick perry saying these are 18, 19-year-old kids under a lot of stress. maybe we need to back off the rhetoric. that does play well. some people think, give me a break. did you see what happened to americans in somalia, did you see what happened to our guys? i wonder if that will do well for rick perry? john mccain jumped in and said,

huh-uh, the investigation that the u.s. is doing is bang on the money. >> certainly all investigates need to be held but conservative candidates see attacking the troops as a net vote loser. i always remember the line from "apocalypse now," it's kind of like giving out tickets at the indy 500, war is vial en. rick perry raised some eyebrows but it might play out in the long run. >> team, thank you. coming back next hour. good to hear from you all. keep it right here on cnn, folks, right through november for the best political coverage on television. thursday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern, it's the south carolina republican presidential debate here on cnn. the road to the republican nomination for the president stops in south carolina. you need to tune into cnn on saturday night, january 21st, 6:00 eastern for the most comprehensive coverage. you'll find just about anywhere. 43 minutes past the hour.

still ahead, tim tebow comes up one miracle short. i'm reading here, tim tebow needs more schooling. the nfl championship weekend, it's now set. "wall street journal" sports columnist jason gay joins us for our front page faces. you're watching "early start." t the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first on the side. from honey nut cheerios to cinnamon toast crunch to lucky charms, get more whole grain than any other ingredient... without question. just look for the white check.

good morning, minneapolis. you sure look beautiful at this hour.

it's 46 minutes past 5:00 in the east and in minneapolis, 46 minutes past 4:00. if you're just waking up, it's nice to have you here with us. >> it's time to check the stories that are making news this morning. rescue dogs and underwater cave divers are helping in the search for more than as do people still missing inside a cruise ship that hit the rocks and rolled over in italy on friday. we are learning that two americans are among the missing. grandparents from minnesota. the death toll has risen to six people. gop presidential candidate jon huntsman expected to be in south carolina today but in and out to campaign. to announce that he's dropping out of the race and instead is going to throw his support behind mitt romney. governor huntsman finished in third place it new hampshire, not bad but he had camped out in that state for months. and a special wreath-laying ceremony at the mlk monument in washington will begin a little over two hours from now.

it's first martin luther king day for the memorial. if you're in the northeast, you might have a big, fat snowfall and a messy week. gear up for that, shall we? as we go to rob marciano. i'll let you tell all the bad news. hi, rob. >> we had a month and a half, almost two months of no winter. now the jet stream is at times bringing wintry weather. we have a weak system heading across the eastern third of the country. with that has moisture, rainfall across the tennessee valley. this will make its way to the mid-atlantic and some of it will get up into the northeast where right now temperatures are frigid in some spots, including boston where we're at 10 degrees with the wind chill, closer to 0. 3 currently in albany. 16 in new york. these temperatures warm up throughout the day. they will be coal enough for wintry precipitation as that moisture i just showed you on the radar gets up in this cooler

air. the bigger cities should be okay by the time it gets here. i-95 included. but north and west of new york city, especially across parts of northern jersey, pennsylvania and upstate new york, wintry mix beginning tonight, snow mixing with sleet and freezing rain. eventually changing to rain as we go through the day tomorrow. it will be a slick go late tonight and early tomorrow. be prepared, guys. if you're a pedestrian in new york city, you'll be okay. guys? >> thank you, rob. i have a riddle for you. >> what's the riddle. >> who do you think this author is talking about, he cannot fly, he cannot see through walls. >> i don't know. >> that's tim tebow. >> no. >> this author is none too pleased with tim tebow. >> a lot of people are. they're honing in on him. i kind of like the guy. >> i do, too. he's kind of special. he makes a lot of headlines. big for endorsements, too. >> we talk about tim tebow when we come back after the break. you're watching "early start." we're glad you're with us this morning. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol

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welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm ashleigh banfield it. it's 52 minutes past the hour, which translates to 8 minutes before the hour. >> math at this hour, ashleigh? >> that was tough math for me, too. you've probably been following the whole tebow

sensati sensation. on this particular front page, the nfl's final four is set after a wild playoff weekend. and tim tebow's prayers dashed. the new york giants eliminated the defending champion packers with the help from one of their hail marys. look at that. oh! >> pass is caught for the touchdown. >> for the touchdown. joining us now on phone is "wall street journal" sports columnist jason gay. i had, jason. >> how are you? >> i'm good. you'll have to help me get through this one. everybody knows i don't know a whole lot about football but you can't not know about tim tebow. he's on the hollywood shows for heaven's sake. you turn on "entertainment tonight" and you see tim tebow. i read something with fascination that you wrote back in december. i want to put a quick graphic of what was in your article. he is a cavalcade of failures, why the denver broncos give him a paycheck, nobody knows.

serious or tongue in cheek? >> absolutely tongue in cheek. at that time, the broncos were riding a five-game winning streak. there was skepticism of tim tebow's football skills. this is a guy a lot of people were surprised that was drafted so high by the broncos. was given the starting job after a 1 and 4 start. he skin thely got the team to play at a high level late. they got into the playoffs, won a game against pittsburgh. a tough loss to the patriots on saturday. a really, really impressive performance from tim tebow this year. as you said, really captivated the country with big comeback play. >> for the sport s neophyte amog us, that would be me, is this a great quarterback with a great future or accidental yahoos or

miracles as some would like to say? >> if you look at tim tebow from the standard nfl quarterback standpoint. he's an unorthodox thrower, did he not move the ball down field in typical fashion. people might say he has a less than stellar pocket performance in his ability to throw the ball. at the end of the day, what people are trying to do is win football games. no one did it as effectively and dramatically. few people did it as effectively and nobody did its adramat adramaticically as tebow did this year. >> you referred to him as fbl's justin bieber. he's got himself a perfume, too. my question to you, my friend is, is tim tebow a serious contender for one of the greatest players of all time in the future or is he a serious contender for michael jordan status when it comes to endorsement? >> i think it's absolutely

premature to put him in any kind of legend status as a player. he has a lot to prove. i think he himself if he were sitting here would tell you the same. as an endorsement person, i think he's a high, high visibility person. i think he's in that category already. i mean, there are all these listings that were putting him as you said in the category not of a top professional athlete but as a huge celebrity on par with someone like george clooney or lady gaga. he only started a handful of nfl games. >> he's a superstar for sure. nice to talk to you. thanks so much for getting up early. >> thank you. it is just about 6:00. still to come on "early start," six dead in an italian cruise ship disaster. the captain is facing question be, manslaughter charges. americans are among the missing. we're wait on a press conference from the ceo of costa cruises. we'll get you more details as soon as we have them. cnn breaks news, jon huntsman calling it quits.

a little later today, expected to take to the mike and say i'm out but i'm behind mitt romney. so will mitt romney be there to accept the endorsement? and will it make a difference? you're watching "early start." ♪ ♪ ♪ one too many... [ male announcer ] it's time to reclaim your garage. the all-new passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ seek your way and go welcome. i understand you need a little help with your mortgage, want to avoid foreclosure. smart move. candy? um-- well, you know, you're in luck. we're experts in this sort of thing, mortgage rigamarole, whatnot. r-really?

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and a very good morning to you, everyone. it is very, very early and this is "early start," i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. we are bringing you the news from "a" to z. it's 6:00 a.m., just about 6:00 a.m. in the east. let's get started here. >> jon huntsman out of there. cnn breaking news that a little later on today, the today former utah governor is going to call it quits and hand over his support to the former governor of massachusetts mitt romney. all of this ahead of a critical week of debates. getting lots of details on that downed cruise liner. passenger says the crew was running around like the marx brothers. details of panic and horror from inside the tipped cruise ship are now coming out. americans are among those missing. if you didn't know it, a whole bunch of european nations have had their debt downgraded. it happened to us about

six/eight months ago. i'm not sure i felt it personally but our credit rating was downgraded but now it's happened in europe and everyone is won'tering what is this going to do to the markets and what's it going to mean for you? will we notice it? it's one of the financial stories that's way up here. we're going to bring it down here. ricky gervais, who did he offend this year? the insults and the winners at the golden globes. did you miss it? ashleigh didn't, right? >> i saw a little bit -- bits and pieces. >> first ten minutes because bedtime is 6:00 for us. we rise at 1:15 so it's the old tivo. caught the head lights, though. after a week after that impressive third place finish in new hampshire because jon huntsman was kind of struggling along. he's now decided to call it quits. cnn was the first to break this story that he's announcing his withdrawal a little later on today and is expected to put his support behind mitt romney. peter hamby was the one to do this, to find out first that this is what's going to happen.

he's live in myrtle beach, south carolina right now. here is the big question. i suppose it's a two-fer. is the former massachusetts governor mitt romney going to be there to accept this support as governor huntsman decides to drop out, and will it matter? >> those are both good questions. i suspect he is. typically unit events like this, endorsements, the candidates kind of take the stage or the podium together and make nice for the cameras. so i expect he will be but i don't want to confirm that so i'm still trying to get an answer. secondly, will it matter? fram frankly, it might not. huntsman was not really registering in the polls nationally or down here in south carolina. he doesn't bring to the table a big financial network that romney can tap into. hunts machine and romney are kind of playing in the same lane in the republican primary, kind of appealing to the same brand of moderate establishment

pro-business-minded republicans. frankly, the voters of romney need to appeal to are those conservative tea party-based republicans that he's always had a problem connecting with. so it's a nice little show that we'll see here later. politically, i'm not sure it's going to be a big deal. but in terms of mending fences, romney and huntsman have not been very close and their staffs of do not like each other one bit so maybe that will be the first step on patching this up. >> were you surprised by this announcement? >> i actually was a little surprised by it. i thought that after huntsman, as you mentioned, did well in new hampshire, but he didn't do well enough and he didn't get enough momentum to come down here to south carolina, a more conservative state and really catch fire. i thought he might actually stay in through the entire course of the south carolina primary. the rest of this week because, you know, if you're a candidate, jon huntsman is a young guy, 51,

he could plausible run for president again in 2016 or 2020 and you do kind of want to lay some political groundwork in a state like south carolina that you will need down the road but all the cameras will be here in myrtle beach so if you're going to pick a time to step out it's either going to be today on monday before the big debate tonight or on thursday. >> peter, i love to follow the money. what happens with his money, the super pac money, does he keep it, store it for 2016 or hand it over to romney? what do they do with that stuff? >> he probably won't give it to romney. his super pac is independent of his own campaign. and you know, his father who is a billionaire philanthropist in utah was providing most of the "c" money for the super pac. in terms of his own federal funds we haven't seen the latest report. the latest report at the irn going of the year showed him in

debt. . he has work to do to pay off the debt. he doesn't have much money to hang on to. >> good job, peter. i want to remind our viewers to keep it here on cnn through november for the best political coverage on television. thursday night 8:00 p.m. eastern, southern republican presidential debate right here live. then the road to the republican nomination for president stops in south carolina. tune in to cnn saturday night january 21st at 7:00 p.m. eastern for the most comprehensive primary coverage you can find. switching gears this morning, rescue crews are scouring the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of italy and discovered a sixth body, as well. still more an a dozen people remain unaccounted for. that number includes two american citizens, gerald and barbara heil. their children say they were really looking forward to this retirement trip for a long time. u.s. embassy in rome have confirmed that those two people have not checked in since the accident on friday. a lot of questions surrounding the captain's accidents in all

of this. the italians arrested him over the weekend, questioning him. now his employer says that he actually may have been responsible. just holding a news conference. here's some of the things the ceo said. while the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master which resulted in these grave consequences. listen to what the captain had to say. >> translator: i don't know if it was detected or not but on the nautical chart it was marked just as water at some 100, 150 meters from the rocks and we were about 300 meters from the shore, more or less. we shouldn't have had this contact. >> and cnn's dan rivers is covering this story from gigloi,italy. are you there, dan? >> reporter: what the situation is here right now is the search and rescue teams have been going all through the night, divers,

trying to search for survivors, more than 2,000 cabins inside this we enormous liner still lying on its side here. we're told that there are still 16 people missing, including two u.s. citizens. so far six bodies have been found. sixth body was found overnight. >> so these are live pictures of the ship right now. a press conference from the ceo just wrapped up. workers have suspended the rescue efforts. ship has gun to slip. the accident was caused by hue mar error and says passengers are the first priority, than they deal with the environmental concerns. such a sad story. amazing pictures, too, to see how close they were to shore. >> and you wonder how long it takes to sink. >> the captain says my maps don't show those rocks. don't those those ships have some of the state-of-the-art gps equipment where it's not about a

map, it is not about a map. there are alarms that go off like mad, even on a small boat. >> they'rele aing that an excuse. >> a lot of questions. every morning we give you an early start to the day gi giving you news that are happening later and stories just developing now. lawmakers in mississippi will be talking about taking away some of the governor's powers today to pardon convicted criminals. they're trying to prevent another mess like the one we saw last week when out going governor haley barbour pardoned nearly 200 people including the four convicted killers. you may be up early but it is a day off for many because special ceremonies will be kicking off at the mlk memorial at n. washington, d.c. dr. martin luther king would have been 83 years old. and on this day because it's mlk day the u.s. markets are closed but investors are still none the less keeping their eyes on the prize.

which may not actually be such a prize. it's eurozone. >> we're trying to understand all of this. downgraded nine european nations friday. alison is here with a look ahead. does this really matter to us? >> as far as the markets go the u.s. markets are closed today. the european markets are trading. that's a real good indication as to how everybody is reacting. the european markets, they're flat right now. really little reaction based on the fact that standard & poor's went ahead and downgraded nine euro zone countries after the closing bell on friday. as far as what it means for the u.s. we could look at what happened in august. in august the u.s. credit rating was downgraded from aaa to aa plus. it was done graded one notch. we saw a huge reaction in stocks. >> right away. right away. >> the dell plunged 600 points. but then, you know what, equity stocks have recovered since. then you look at the bond market. that shows how much -- how costly it is for the government to borrow money and to raise

money. there's no reaction in u.s. bond markets especially after this downgrade that happened on that friday. the interest rate for the ten-year treasury note is below 2%. no reaction. do you know why? because standard & poor's put the you're owe rowzone on notice in december that it was going to happen. they gave it that red flag already that this is coming. so when it actually came after the closing bell on friday, no one was surprised. >> there was no what? >> yeah, it was, okay, we expected that. now let's move on because the bigger wild card here is greece. greece -- i was just going to ask. greece has got to be the first one. >> greece is drowning in its own debt and it's got big bond payments due in march. it's got to pay its creditors and it's having problems doing that. it's negotiating with its bank creditors at this point. they've agreed, the bank creditors have, to go ahead and take a 50% loss on their investment. but on friday there's negotiations went poof and now they're in question. leaders in greece are coming out

and saying we will have a deal that's reached. greece could default and ultimately go bankrupt and it does have the potential to bring down the rest of the eurozone with it. >> dominos. >> what about the week ahead on wall street? >> the u.s. markets are going to be looking at the bank earnings. this week, citigroup, morgan stanley, goldman sachs, wells fargo. we heard from jpmorgan chase on friday. those earnings disappointed wall street. we saw the shares fall 2 1/2%. you know, it's a bit worrisome because jpmorgan chase is considered one of the healthiest of the banks and it set the tone and the tone doesn't look too good this week. the u.s. is to be focused on those bank earnings. >> burkele up? >> buckle up. >> bumpy ride. >> roller coaster. >> she tells it here and now. it's 11 minutes past the hour. the northwest slammed with snow. roads closed in seattle and parts of oregon. we have pictures. a messy week ahead in the northea northeast.

rob marciano. >> hello. let's start with the pictures out of seattle. you would think the emerald city doesn't see a whole lot of snow. they get it every couple times a winter but not necessarily accumulating like this. when that happens you better believe it in a place that doesn't typically get a lot of snow at the lower elevations, cars get stuck real quick. chains to get up and over the pass usually but not in and around seattle. we may see some of that across the northeast but not in the bigger cities. it's cold enough for that right now, certainly in boston. it's warmed up a degree. two degrees this in albany. 16 in new york city. over the next 18 hours, as some moisture begins to head this way with a warm front. wintry mix expected later on tonight. again, northwest of the i-95 corridor. snow mixing with freezing rain and sleet at times. typical spots tonight in through tomorrow morning as well. here's the moisture rolling across the tennessee valley. ohio river valley as well. again, heading into -- mixing up some of the air here which will

make it warm after a cool start. 58 for a high temperature. atlanta, 44 degrees in chicago. 37 in seat with more snow expected. if you're traveling today, chicago, detroit, cleland, st. louis, dallas, den vevedenver, d down to below an hour. guys, back up to you. >> it's about time we talk about snow, right? >> that's right. >> here's the weird thing, rob. this time last year i think we were drowning in about six or eight feet of snow and we haven't had narey a drop of it, at least in the new york area. >> it's true for the eastern two-thirds of the country and the snow pack out west has been abysmal. but the bat ppattern is changin we may have a strong finish. >> i hope not. we miss you. 13 minutes past 6:00 on the east coast. time to get you caught up on top story it is you're getting ready to get out the door. big cnn scoop. our peter hamby got this one. jon huntsman said, my third place finish in new hampshire

was nice and at the time called it a ticket to ride but apparently it was a ticket to ride home. he apparently is about to just call it quits. just days before the south carolina primary. he's going to announce today he's dropping out, and likely to expect to put his support behind the front-runner, mitt romney. rescue workers in italy have temporarily suspended operations because the cruise liner started to shift and move. the ship's chairman and ceo just wrapped up a press conference. he says the accident was caused by human error and says passengers are the absolute first priority. if you are a fan of that adorable mini cooper, and if you have one, more importantly, you might want to take a peek at it because there's a big recall of about 90,000 of these cars. federal officials are saying there's possible fire hazard, faulty circuit board on certain models from 2006 to 2011. nice cars. >> cute little car. >> i love them. i got a smart car and they're

very similar. you feel like you're driving in a toaster. >> i don't know fa that i want to be driving in a toaster. doesn't sound safe. 14 minutes past the hour. here still to come on "early start," wisconsin novemberer ins facing recall. democrats and labor unions frantically collecting signatures. will they get enough though by tomorrow's deadline? if you're up early and you stayed up late and saw the beautiful dresses on the red carpet, there was more to the golden globes than the fabulous fashion. winners, losers and ricky ver vase, and that tiny film that stole the show. a silent picture coming in with big wins? find out all about it. you're watching "early start." hey, i'm really glad we took this last minute trip me too. you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what?

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good morning, los angeles. it is 50 degrees in your neck of the woods. later, sunny and 58. i'd like to be in los angeles. >> it's very, very early in the morning there, by the way. only 18 minutes past 3:00 in the morning. so if you're up, hello. you must be coming home from the golden globes party. so we're getting in early read on some of the local headlines in the country that actually end up making headlines across the country. one paper from grand forks, north dakota, and one from milwaukee, wisconsin. let's talk about the "grand forks herald." they're asking people, are you ready for this, check your property for signs of disturbed soil. that's because they think they might have a missing woman in a situation where she's in a shallow grave. sherry arnold disappeared about nine days ago. they fear she was kidnapped. they fear that she's dead. and they think the only reason

now they might be able to get any headway is by asking people to go and look around and find what -- awful of the thing to hear police say. but they do have two suspects in custody from colorado. but they do believe they think she may be buried in a remote location. we're keeping aen eye on that story. switching gears. wisconsin fwover in scott walker's job could be on the line. democrats and labor unions are gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures. they are hoping for a recall election. they need 540,000 signatures. the deadline, tomorrow. republicans are vowing to verify every signature using 5,000 volunteers. looking for dead people on that list, perhaps mickey mouse. >> yeah. >> who signed. you just never know. >> and we have seen it before. especially in chicago college. >> right around the corner. so big union issues in that town. >> we'll see how that turns out. >> and then if you're talking about wins and losses and votes and all the rest, who won, who lost, what were they wearing, one of the favorite questions

when it comes to the fancy affairs in hollywood. the stars turned out at the golden globe awards last nights. of course, that's the contest that celebrates the best in movies and tv and they dress well and they drink a lot. >> so it was a big night for george clooney and meryl streep. one of my favorites. kareen wynter live in los angeles with the morning after wrap-up. i want to talk all fashion but i guess we've got to talk about who were the winners. >> of course. we'll get you all of that good stuff and you mention the morning after, it may be the morning after but let me tell you they are still partying it up here in l.a. all around town. why? because that's how they do it here, especially the big kickoff to award season group mentioned meryl streep at the top. she, of course, won best actress for her role in "the iron lady." george clooney, big night for him but he wasn't the only leading man from sunday night's show. how about that host ricky gervais after last year's feisty

performance at the globes the british funny man was all the talk leading up to this year's ceremony and he came out swinging, guys, right away. here's a little taste of what happened last night. >> -- globes are to the oscars is what kim kardashian is to kate middleton. what? a bit louder, a bill trashier, a bit drunker, and more easily bought. >> geez, everyone was fair fame game. he poked fun at justin bieber. there were a few dirty jokes in there but we're going to keep it clean for our morning audience. gervais picked up where he left off last year, even taking shots at madonna and elton john. for the most part he was quite well behaved this time around than a lot of people were expecting. he boosted ratings last year when he hosted so we'll have to see if this year's numbers are any better. >> who are the other big

winners? >> there are so many big winners. george clooney took home the best actor in a drama award for "the descendents." meryl streep best actress for margaret thatcher in "the iron lady." and michelle williams, one of my favorites. i spoke with her after the show. she seemed quite shocked and overwhelmed, best actress in a comedy or musical in "my week with marilyn." top honors. we can't forget about tv. that category went to abc "modern family" for best comedy and show time thriller with claire danes "homeland" took home a globe for best drama. clooney, he was, of course, a big winner but, of course, he couldn't make it through the show without poking fun at someone. in this case it was his good pal brad pitt, all in fun. he recently sustained a really nasty knee injury, an injury that required him to walk around with a cane, which he did on the red carpet and on stage at the

globes. clooney mocked his "ocean's 11" co-star by walking out on stage with a cane. just another one of those unscripted golden globe moments. >> brad pitt -- >> and the drinking that's allowed. >> i think all that drinking that's allowed in the audience loosens everyone up. >> brad pitt is like the susan lucci, i feel, he's such a great actor but he gets these nominations nowadays and never comes out the winner. was that expected this time, or not? >> isn't that something? you know, "money ball" was such a great film, so well received. who doesn't love baseball but george dloclooney, everything h touches turns to gold. while peep were rooting for brad you can't forget about george cloon clooney. he's so charming and always goes into these shows like humble, guys, i'm not going to get it and of course he goes away with the big award. good for him. so early. many more sews. the s.a.g. awards and big

oscars. maybe one for brad. >>kareen wynter, thank you for joining us. new details about the shipwrecked cruise ship in italy. cruise line definitely saying it was the captain's fault, human errors. dan rivers is live in italy for us. what are the things we lack in this city and what are the things that we would like in our city but we can't, we can't make it happen. this is what we're all about. trying to make the world a little bit more like our dreams. this is an rc robotic claw.

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28 minutes past the hour. that's a good time to get you caught up on, i don't know, top headlines for the day. cnn breaking news. jon huntsman calling it quits withdrawing for the race for republican nomination. expected to happen a little later on today. we're the first of the story that the utah governor is expected to actually put his support behind mitt romney. and call him fellow republicans as well to rally around the gop front-runner. police in southern california have identified the prime suspect in the murders of four homeless men. 23-year-old was arrested friday night after more than a dozen witnesses said they saw him stab a homeless man in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in anaheim. police won't comment on the "los angeles times" report that says ocampo is a former marine which is having problems since returning from iraq. breaking news and developments this morning on that search for survivors in that cap sized cruise ship off

the coast of i'dly. the pictures have been remarkable of that listing massive nearly 1,000 foot long cruise ship. and now we're hearing this. they have suspended the rescue operations because apparently that ship is starting to -- and this is the words of those responsible for that ship flip. the ship is apparently starting to slip. whether or not that's a danger for people trying to rescue people is the situation here. the cruise line ceo is apolog e apologizing very generally, though, and also saying that he knows exactly what's wrong here. he's m calling it human error on the part of the captain. something else we're finding out about. apparently there were 2300 tons of fuel still on board that ship. right now they're saying there weren't any leaks. however, they have said number one are priority passengers. number one, our priority will be the environment. so here's another comment from the owner of costa cruises. the crew, according to the

owner, were acting like heroes. that's not exactly what we were hearing some of the passengers say, however. >> dan rivers is live in italy. dan, what can you tell us? >> within the last hour the search has been suspended. a helicopter is circling around the ship. so i don't know if that means that they're going to lower more firefighters on. about an hour ago they were reaching firefighters off because they thought the ship was beginning to slip. i don't know if you can see that behind me but there is a helicopter below the ship now. that might be an indication in the ak ground and have a look to see perhaps if they can get more crew aboard. as you say, not only is the dern about possible survivors or sadly the recovery of bodies perhaps after this long time, but also the environment. italy's environment minister came out with a statement

warning of an ecological disaster saying that urgent action is needed and this is a very high risk situation. as you say, few thousand tons or more of fuel on board. incredibly at the moment, none seems to have leaked at all, which is amazing given the size of the hull. there's about 150 foot hull down the side of the port we -- hull at the moment. none of the fuel seems to have come out. beautiful island. diving and marine wildlife and i think everyone here is just praying that it isn't turned into a environmental catastrophe as well as a human one. >> i know you were having trouble hearing us earlier. i know you can now. we mentioned earlier that they suspended the search. is that just on board the ship? are they continuing their search in the ocean? >> no, i think they pulled

everyone back because basically the ship is sort of sitting on a little shelf of rock, which then pulls away very rapidly and very deep water. and obviously the concern was if the weather deteriorated and the ship continued to kind of move around on the bottom, it might just drop off its shelf and go completely under, which would be catastrophic for all that fuel oil on board and also, you know, make it even more difficult to recover any more bodies than, you know, i think after three days, the chances of anyone being found alive now is pretty slim. but the firefighters hearsay they're not going to give up until they know for sure they've checked the entire ship. >> dan rivers live from italy. thank you so much for those details. and still to come at 33 minutes past the hour, jon huntsman about to make a big announcement. he may look happy in these pictures but cnn breaking the news, he's calling it quit, folks, later on today and about to back mitt romney.

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welcome back. it is 6:36 in the east. the republican field is down to five. but jon huntsman's withdrawal have any i'm pat at all on the outcome in south carolina saturday night? >> let's talk to our panelist and see what they have to say. penny nance, president and ceo concerned women for america from austin, texas. eddes know sa, democratic political consult tant. here in new york city we have john avlon, senior political columnist for "newsweek" and "the daily beast." john, i want to start with you. so he's dropping out. he's pull polling at 1% in south carolina. does it matter? >> it does matter because it's a surprising move given that he just received the endorsement from the state which is south carolina large east newspaper. but he clearly failed that third place finish in new hampshire to convert that to abump in south carolina. it is a loss for the republican field as well because he was very well regarded in terms of

the substance of this campaign running a civil campaign. but he took the risk of criticizing partisan zip. the real surprise isn't that he's just getting out but a target of a lot of his criticisms is the man is endorsing later today reportedly, mitt romney. that is a bit of a surprise. the field we, jon huntsman gett out before the vote is cast in south carolina. >> we were ready to hear and see if romney would be president when huntsman endorses him. do you know anything about that? have you heard anything? >> that is unconfirmed as of yet but our peter hamby is reporting that out in south carolina. >> penny, let's talk to you about these endorsements. this weekend a group of social conservatives, they met in texas in order to decide who are they going to rally around. you were invited to the meeting. we understand you couldn't go. let's listen to this. and then we'll talk about it afterwards. >> there was passionate and entuesday aesday thus astic supr

rick perry and newt gingrich. but in the end, what we had supermajority expressing support for rick santorum. >> so that's tony perkins who is a president of family research council. were you surprised that they came to a consensus? do you think they're still too divided? >> well, i was actually a little surprised that people were able to coalesce generally around one candidate. rick an store rum has a lot of support. i'm supporting rick santorum. there's definitely differences within my own organization, within my membership. people do like a number of the candidates. but i think we're starting to see people coalesce. and i would say, as far as huntsman goes, the three people in south carolina that we're supporting him probably will go to romney. but i think the real race here is going to go way past south carolina. certainly into florida. and i hope to see some real

coalescing around a tried and true conservative like santorum. >> you think santorum will be do better? >> i expect you are starting to see his numbers go up again. >> i'm very, very convinced that you're going to starting to see more movement around him, perhaps very similar to what you you saw in iowa. again, definitely diversity among social conservatives. people like newt gingrich, people like rick perry. and so you may see a little more of that before you get to florida. >> let's talk about endorsements here. "the washington post" puew research poll talked about endorsements. it says endorsements do not make a difference in the average voters' decision. a local newspaper there, 75% said endorsement does not matter. so what can these endorsements do for a candidate? >> well, i think certainly -- >> i saw that poll and actually -- >> if i could have ed jump in

here. >> yeah. i saw that poll. i actually don't agree with the premise of it. even though "washington post" said that it's probably skewed because when you ask people if it makes a difference, they say it doesn't. the overall scheme of things in the grand scale of the campaign it probably does if only subconsciously. issue foreign doorsment for hun huntsman. he's polling 4% in south carolina. going after republican moderates, not very many in this primary. what does romney gain from that endorsement? his problem is with con zserva e conservativ conservatives. huntsman is not a conservative. this one in particular, i don't think does a whole lot. >> john, chime in on that. >> look, jon huntsman had a very conservative record as governor of utah on fiscal issues. i think the key for jon huntsman supporters is that all of huntsman supporters will end up going to mitt romney because

he's the only other candidate on the center right. every little bit help, especially if romney is trying to pull out a win in south carolina and then looking to florida. so whenner the field narrows, if it narrows to the center right, it's a been fit nefit to mitt rn the short run. >> we'll see what happens. we'll be watching. she has been called the most hated woman in america, and she's back. i'm talking casey anthony, folks. and you know what? there's always a face behind a headline of a newspaper or a magazine. and "people" magazine has some pretty interesting stuff you're about to hear. we'll talk to a face behind that headline in just a moment. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ one too many... [ male announcer ] it's time to reclaim your garage. the all-new passat.

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and a very good morning to you, atlanta. it is 35 degrees in that town. atlanta not used to that. cloudy there. expected to go up to 56 degrees in your neck of the woods there, folks. >> better than here. >> if you're up early, take heart, it will warm up somewhat. bufrl shot for you. >> 45 minutes past the hour here. time to check the stories making news this morning. two americans among those still

missing in that overturned cruise ship in italy. workers have temporarily suspended rescue operations because the cruise liner has started to shift and move. the coast guard will be beginning us an update on the effort in a little over an hour. is that a live picture we're taking a look at there? that is not a live picture. this one is not a live picture though. we're expecting that at 8:00 a.m. eastern time. also cnn making some big breaking news overnight. gop presidential candidate jon huntsman expected in south carolina today but not to campaign. instead to announce he's out of the race and that he's going to endorse mitt romney instead. first to bring you that news. everybody else picking up on it now. the huntsman campaign saying, you know, he believes that romney is the best candidate to beat president obama in november. and a special ceremony in washington, d.c. will begin in a little over two hours. it's first martin luther king jr. day for that memorial which president obama dedicated in

october. if there's one thing soledad o'brien likes, it is diner food and being back at her desk. >> no, no, on the diner food, no, you would be wrong about that. but i do like being back at my desk. yes. indoors. it's such a nice, nice thing. welcome, everybody. starting point is just about ten minutes away. this morning we're talking to the reporter who spoke to joe paterno in the wake of the penn state sex abuse scandal. there has been tremendous silence from him. we're going to update on what what she got. state of arizona school district is banning certain books, literally looking them up. here's a hint at one of the books they're banning, shakespeare, really? we're going to talk about that straight ahead. "starting point" begins in ten minutes. stay with us.lo food-loving self ready. the chefs at lean cuisine are going culinary chic with fresh, exciting flavor. tempting lemon tarragon, peppery poblano, sweet butternut. we're tossing it, roasting it, and grilling it.

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welcome back. it is 6:50 in the east. time for front page faces. new info on the whereabouts of casey anthony. >> because we knows that all you can think of at night, right? >> a lot of people are interested. first, a brand new photo leaked on twitter showing what appears to be casey cuddling with a puppy. remember casey anthony talked about having adopted a dog in a recent video diary that also

leaked online. >> a brand new article on "people" magazine that reveals that casey is living along in port st. lucie county in florida. with us now is the senior editor and the face behind the magazine "people" and your correspondent who covered this case, steve helling, got this tip. i'm just going to show your piece here because it has that picture from the -- which camera can see it best? so your reporter steve helling was able to get this tip that casey has surfaced in port st. lucie. i'm curious how he found that out and how solid is that tip that she's there? >> well, he has good sources. he's been covering casey from the very beginning. so i think his sources are pretty tight and they definitely told him that she's in florida. we know that because she has to stay there until probation. but we got an a. strong ideay

she is. we think she's living by herself. as she said in the video, she has a puppy. she's doing a lot. she's talking to counselors, to pastors. so i think our sources are pretty tight. >> i think i remember steve saying whun when we were in trial together that you had a couple of front page stories casey on the cover. >> we had some cover stories, yes. >> and they were really popular issues, weren't they? >> yes. i think it's because people were interested in what was going to happen to her. but also a lot of people felt -- still felt for her daughter, caylee, who, you know, who died and it was all kinds of questions. so i think that's what the readers were bracing. 2-year-old daughter, no one knows really what happened. just parts went out to her. not really to casey but to her daughter. >> tasha, how is she surviving, do we know? >> we definitely know that she's getting help from some of ore lawyers. some of her legal team. but also from charity. and from some churches.

so people are definitely reaching out to her. she has no -- she really has no way of making any money right now. and also we hear she's connecting with her brother again. so we don't know what, you know, he could be helping her. >> which is a big deal. >> which is a big deal. >> when that video surfaced her family released a statement saying we don't know about this and we are still concerned about her safety. you know, the prosecutors were beyond bitter on this one. >> yes. >> and understandably so because they had -- by all intents and purposes, they had a really good case against her. the jeff ashton, lead prosecutor in the case now run for office, should say no one should care about this girl anymore. it seemed odd to me. i almost felt as though he might get -- if people did care and give her a hard time and gave her that sentence that she would live with for the rest of her life not being able to live comfortably, kind of like o.j. >> maybe but i think there are

million of people in america who still have a problem with casey, so i don't think they're going to be angry with his comments. but there are people out there who feel that, you know, she's this young woman who she was found not guilty and we're going to help her. that's how she's surviving. >> surprised. >> yeah. >> i used to cover the case and wonder is anyone listening and why, and, boy, were they? >> one of the most popular stories in summer, i think. >> you got that right. >> thanks for coming in this morning. appreciate it. >> thank you. ahead in the next hour, joe paterno's first interview since the penn state scandal saying, i wish i had done more. talking about this scandal and his exit. soledad speaks to the columnist who landed this interview. you're watching "early start." nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins.

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welcome black. i'm zoraida sambolin along with ashleigh banfield. we have a look at what's trend to think web and social media. i asked this morning why are we doing this? look at the picture. this is on yahoo! >> looks like a parking lot. >> it is, being called the world's most expensive parking lot. it's the deck of a $4.5 billion uss ronald reagan filled with bumper to bumper cars as it heads up the pacific to its base in washington state. so these cars belong to navy sailor, seriously. >> they have to move. >> it's cost of $1.5 billion. they're saying it's the most expensive parking lot. so the u.s. navy says it's cheaper to bring the cars to the base this way instead of having them trans portsed another way. pay for transportation, you know, at the end of the line for the sailors.

>> i would just love to know what it costs in fuel. if they say it's cheaper, i'm amazed. >> absolutely it would cost more money if they did it any other way. >> just get the sailors or soldiers to drive, drive themselves to base. anyway, at good picture. when you look at it you can't imagine that's an aircraft carrier just cruising up our coast delivering cars. it is great to have you here with us this morning. you know what, we are so excited that soledad o'brien has finally come home to us. we've missed her dearly. >> we can actually touch her from here. >> oh, the mocking commences. >> we're glad you're here. and you brought food. >> i did. we brought the deli to us. the diner comes here to the set, it's nice because we have a tell prompter and actual scripts. we will talk about that later. welcome, everybody. you're watching "starting point" this monday morning. some du new deil