to destruction. president obama heads to the epa to make remarks. at 4:00 eastern, a memorial service will mr. b held for a ranger shot and killed in mount rainier national park last week. that does it for us. now, we hand it off to suzanne malveaux. >> doomsday? i hope doomsday is not close. >> that was a bit depressing. >> we're not counting down to doomsday. >> we'll remain positive. >> yes. >> starting now is the happy hour. so to speak. live from studio 7 i'm suzanne malveaux. voters are heading to the polls today in the first primary of the 2012 presidential race. most polling places in new hampshire have been opened for about five hours. two, however, have already closed. we're talking about, the super tiny towns of dixville notch and

heart's location, voters there cast their ballots just after midnight. in dixville notch, romney and jon huntsman each got 2 votes. newt gingrich and ron paul each got 1. in heart's low case. it was five for romney, four for pul, 2 for huntsman and 1 for paul and gingrich. a new hampshire primary is mitt romney's to lose. according to the latest tracking poll by news 7/suffolk university. the poll puts him at 37%. ron paul, second, at 18%. followed by jon huntsman at 16%. rick santorum is fourth and newt gingrich in fifth. candidates, they are busy. making final pitches for the voters. they're trying to drum up the last-minute votes. getting ready for primary night parties. . the exception however, rick perry, he's already campaigning in south carolina.

the other candidates are also looking ahead to the first southern primary. >> we've got to exceed expectations. and if you can exceed expectations in new hampshire which is a broad-based primary turnout then you'll light up south carolina and the states beyond, they'll see for the first time that you have electability. >> there's going to be a clear choice between reagan conservative and a massachusetts moderate. a choice between those views in south carolina are going to be pretty decisive and beyond south carolina. cnn is live at the polls for the nation's pivotal first primary. dan lothian is live. new hampshire is only the beginning. we're pushing i head to the next contest, south carolina and florida, two make or break states in the fight for the republican nomination.

david mattingly and john zarrella will join us. mitt romney calls it his own background. dan lothian, massachusetts may not be the lock up just yet for romney. >> as you, you pointed out, the polling showing that romney having a commanding lead here for much of this campaign cycle. he's been polling just over 40%. in the most recent tracking poll, 37 .. he's really the candidate to beat. we saw yesterday, when i was out on the trial with some candidates, they were really punching back hard at romney realizing that's the way perhaps they can get some traction here in the state. it's about fighting for that second-place slot. the candidates for months now, have been trying to woo voters and make their sales pitch. this is the day where voters get

to make that mark. we're at this polling station here, where people have been coming since 6:00 this morning to make their voices heard. >> pretty cool there. not a lot of drama about who's expected to finish first in new hampshire. the drama is over who comes in second and third. i want to talk a little bit about that joe, let's talk about jon huntsman. he skipped iowa. went to new hampshire. >> he said at the top, he's got to do better than people expect him to do. this is a state, that's very tough to do well in, because their just so many independent voters. right now, huntsman running third place, about 16%. there's also that issue of showing the voters that he's the kind of guy who can go the distance that he's electability, in other words, he talked about that earlier here on cnn.

>> all of that is terribly important. in the general election, electability will depend on your ability to cross the traditional boundaries. >> i talked to a lot of people around this state who said that this state is right for jon huntsman. they like his world view, that he's been engaged in national service as ambassador to china. the question is whether he can get those people to the polls. >> what about ron paul, we understand that polls show that he coming in a close second, is that correct? >> at least for now. not surprising either here. he's got a lot of young people who have been listening to his message. he's got people here to subscribe to some of his libertarian views. so, not that surprising that ron paul is doing well. and mean, what does it mean for

the race? it means that he's not getting out any time soon. more and more people now saying they think this could be a long sloug before we get a nominee. >> that's good for people who love politics. thank you, joe. all eyes are on new hampshire. new political year is heating up. make the best choice for politics. cnn. join my friends and colleagues. wolf blitzer, erin burnett, john king, candy crowley for live coverage of the new hampshire primary beginning at 7:00 eastern. okay, here's your chance. talk back. on the big story of the day. new hampshire primary. we're all watching it very close. more than 312 million people in the united states. but in new hampshire and iowa, if all of the registered republicans voted that would be 1% of the total population. u.s. population we're talking about. these two early contests get so

much attention and play a huge role in whittling down the field. as a comedian told it the last time so few people decided a presidential race they were all on the supreme court. which brings us to our talk back question -- do early primary and caucus states have too much influence. i'll share some of them later in the hour. some of the other stories that we're covering. a family, the family of the alleged of the florida a&m hazing victim are going to speak about his death. that's going to happen this hour. and the decision by mississippi governor to pardon four convicted killers has outraged families. >> is governor barbour going to

pardon for the aches and pains that we have to suffer? in a rare speech, the syrian president said he never ordered forces to fire on troops later, an extreme effort to dig out an actian town buried under 18 feet of snow. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ on my journey across america,? and that's pretty cool. i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat...

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parents of florida a&m drum major robert champion killed in a suspected hazing incident in november, they're holding a news conference right now. we'll bring that to you as soon as they take the podium, they're suing a buzz company over his

death. an attorney for a family said that champion's friends said that he was gay. that might have been a factor that led to his killing. outgoing mississippi governor haley barbour is under fire now for pardoning four convicted murderers. they worked as inmates trustees at the governor's mansion. one of the pardoned men had been denied parole. now the wife's mother is speaking out. >> ass governor barbour going to pardon us for aches and pains and heart aches that we had to suffer? is he going to pardon me from never being able to feel her arms around my neck again? >> in west virginia, three men

who went missing while exploring caves are now safe. this morning. volunteers started searching for these guys after they didn't come back from a weekend trip. now they're out there, they're talking about how great it feels. >> there's people. there's people. and my friend, jay, over there, he was so excited. he was like, oh man, i can't believe, i feel like i'm still in the cave. it's just great to be out. a rare and defiant speech today from syrian's embattled president assad blamed the violence wrecking his country on what he calls external conspiracies. reports of bloodshed in syrian cities are escalating.

virtually every day. more than 5,000 people are estimated to have been killed so far. president assad denied that he commanded forces to open fire on protesters less than two hours from now, we'll hear from scientists about how close we are as a society to destroying ourselves. that's right. they use the symbolic doomsday clock to get the point across if they decide the second hand close to midnight, they're increasingly worried about things like nuclear weapons, security issues and climate change. decision day in new hampshire. most are predicting the first primary is going to be a battle for second place. take a look at this new poll by the american research group of likely new hampshire voters. it shows that mitt romney has more than twice the support of second place jon huntsman. want to take a look ahead the next two primaries.

south carolina on january 21st. and you got florida only the 31st. want to bring in john zarella live in plantation, florida and david mattingly. david, we'll start with you for a look at the next big race. the candidates, all hitting south carolina, do we know how their doing so far? >> reporter: let's put it this way, suzanne, this is the place where campaigns will be broken and no one will be safe. even though romney will have momentum coming in from new hampshire, he has to appeal to the conservative voters of south carolina who are the republican base. more than of them are evangelical christians. they're not looking at social issues, they're looking at the economy, jobs and fiscal policies. lot of hard questions for the candidates when they arrive here in south carolina. it's going to be a big fight.

already, millions of dollars have been spent on air time at television stations throughout this state. so expect a lot of work and a lot of fighting and a lot of damage to be done before this primary. suzanne. >> all right, david. way want to go to john here. romney, can he do what he did before? if he took florida, is this race basely going to be done after florida? >> i would say a few years ago, that might be the case. because florida had 100 delegates. when florida moved up the primary, republicans slapped the party with only 50 delegatdeleg. romney right in the latest poll has a 36% gingrich's 24%, santorum with 16%. and then the others. couple of the big things here, though, are going to be tv advertisements. you have to spend a lot of

money. it's estimated up to $10 million to run an effective campaign in florida. lot of the candidates won't have that kind of money to spend here. but, certainly romney does. and gingrich may. >> all right, could be a dead-end for some of those folks there. florida extremely important which one doesn't belong. coffee, chocolate, clothes mail? which items are going to be paying for more next year? so st, protect your family, launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side.

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what does it take to earn a vote in new hampshire? we caught up with one woman who said that she voted for newt gingrich. >> i like the way he delivers, i like the knowledge. i know he knows washington. i know that he doesn't mind making people not liking him and that doesn't bother him. in other words, he's going to stand for what he believes in and what's best for us. >> new year. new expenses. actually. you're watching your budgets. let's take a look at what you're going to be paying more in 2012. felicia taylor is joining us from the new york stock exchange. this affects all of us here. >> this is kind of across the board. it's not going to come as a surprise to most people. you can expect to spend more air fare.

if you can find a fare that's cheap, i have hard a time. airlines are losing money. when was the last time you took a flight for 250 bucks? >> i know. $850 round trip just to get to new york. crazy. go ahead. >> crazy is right. so airlines say they're still losing money. they're cutting down on flights and they're consolidating and charging us more for it. when it comes to the grocery store, you'll pay more for meat and fish. biggest increase is in the meat and fish department, they could go up by 4%, why? because the rising price of other commodities. and morning cup of coffee is going to cost more.

starbucks already raised price. that rising trend is expected to continue. so, plan to dig deeper. >> that's everything, from the beginning of the day ato the en of the day. coffee is important. >> that i'm willing to pay for. >> yes, okay. what about gas prices? last couple of weeks that's been shooting up. is that going to continue. >> yes. most people in america are driving to get to work, driving to get home and one analyst said that gas may topped $3.50. the average price is hovering around $3.25. there's the ongoing fighting in iraq and the closing down in the refinery of delaware. if the global economy slows

down, that may limit the price like. in one respect to the slowing down economy is good thing with the price of gas. the other thing -- >> go ahead. real quick. >> well, i was going to talk about postal service prices. lot of people use the internet now to pay their bills. however, stamps, priority express mail, that's going to go up in the next couple of weeks. first-class stamps will increase by a penny for 45 cent and what about the markets, felicia, what are they doing? >> we got a nice rally. exactly. we're up about $4.5 of 1%. we got good news coming out from alcoa and all eyes are still in europe. right now, a very healthy rally in the first couple of days of

this week. >> that's on good thing. considering that we have to pay more for a whole bunch of stuff. republican lawmakers, this didn't make him happy, it didn't stop barack obama of throwing richard cordray into the driver's seat at the consumer protection bureau. coming up in the next hour. and round two of the presidential race. voting is now under way in the new hampshire primary. we'll talk with a democratic strategist about what he hopes will come out of this contest. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb

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a rundown of stories we're working on next, as voters go to poll in new hampshire to decide on a republican presidential candidate, find out what the democrats are watching for. who are these new hampshire voters? we'll have a breakdown for you and absolutely, absolute outrage after mississippi outgoing governor pardons four killers. all right. no mystery that the democrats, they already know who their nominee is going to be, they're going to be watching the results of the primary results in new hampshire to see how these results are shaping up. jamal, great to see you. you're following all of the action out there.

not the only democrat, outnumbered by many republicans, what are you watching for tonight? >> first of all, it's an alternate younes out here. i'm used to be new hampshire with labor union members. we're looking for, i think, the democrats are probably looking for today, just having somebody rough up mitt romney a little bit. if romney is probably the most likely person to be the nominee, he shouldn't get a free ride to the nomination. it looked like gingrich is loaded for bear. >> let's talk a little bit about down the road here, let's assume here, that mitt romney becomes the republican nominee, you know, not a far assumption. let's assume for now. the big fight, it looks like it's going to be on bain capital

the campaign that romney ran and was responsible for laying off folks from time to time. hiring folks from time to time. he wants to use his business experience and portray himself as a job creator not as a job killer. how do you think this is going to play out this narrative? >> this is a tough year to be running as a financier. we have seen occupy movements across the country. so for romney the primary party, the working class voters unemployed or concerned about the wage stagnation, i think the fact that he laid people off, that he was part of an enterprise that newt gingrich said looted money from companies. that's a pretty big charge from

a fellow republican. he'll have some tough questions to answer. >> and jamal do you think in some ways, gingrich putting that out, that the republicans are doing the dirty work for obama? >> if these republican candidates want to win the nomination they have to go after the front-runner and if they bring the front-runner down a peg they may have a shot. for the democrats, of course, the democrats want to see newt gingrich and these other candidates go after romney as much as possible. they're laying down some of the predicate that they'll use later against r078ney. >> all right, jamal, good to see you. less friendly territory this time around. but let us now how things go. >> at least the weather isn't as bad. it's not cold nor snowy. who gets to take part in the

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the parents of florida a&m drum major robert champion who was killed in a suspected hadzing incident in november, they just wrapped up a news conference. they're suing now a bus company over his death. an tern for the family says that

champion's friends say that he was gay and relatives think that may have been a factor that led to his killing. so far no one has been charged in the 26-year-old's death. but the death led florida a&m university's board of trustees to approve a new anti-hazing plan. joining us on the phone is senior legal analyst jeffery toobin. we heard from the attorney who insistd that despite the fact that robert champion was gay that this is not a hate crime. i want you to listen to what he said. >> this is not a halt crime. this is hazing crime. we want to make the record very clear that famu has a 50-year history a culture in this band of hazing. this is not a hate crime. did robert champion have an alternative lifestyle? yes, did that define him? no. he was against hazing. he was peaceful person.

he was a leader. >> so, jeff, the attorney and the parents say they came out with this information, they wanted to clear up things because there were rumors that were circulating, they wanted to put it out there that their son was gay. why do you the attorney was so insistence that this wasn't a hate crime. >> they certainly have a lot of reason to be. that's not mutually exclusive from a hate crime prosecution. that will be up to prosecutors whether under florida law, they ask for an enhanced penalty. of people who are charged and eventually convicted of this crime because of discrimination in this case against a gay person. that is a potential charge in this case. and prosecutors will have to decide whether to bring it. a separate lawsuit against

florida a&m against the bus company, against perhaps the other people on the bus, could be brought on the ground of hazing. but one, has little to do with the other. >> jeff, does this complicate the case at all or does it make the prosecution's case perhaps easier in providing a motive for this killing? >> i think it's probably makes the case somewhat easier. it's important to remember, this poor kid was beaten to death. in front of a bus full of fellow students. this should not be an especially difficult case to prosecute. at least for the assault and the homicide. whether they can get the enhancement for a hate crime i have no idea. but a murder in front of a group -- a large group of people is usually not the hardest case in the world to bring. prosecutors are taking their time. the family is upset that it's been two months.

two months is not too long when you consider this is an important, serious case. certainly, there should be some action by prosecutors and clearly, there's going to be a civil case here. hazing and hate crimes are not mutually exclusive. that's the main point. >> i spoke with robert and pam champion just a couple of weeks ago, they're clearly heart broken by all of this, they seem they're willing to put themselves out there to talk about their son and his life. to seek ys in this case. jeff, thank you very much. people in new hampshire lining up at the polls today. the nation's first primary. who are these folks? the population is 94% white. more than half are married couples with children. median age is 41. unemployment rate is 5.2%. the fourth low nest the country.

32% hold bachelor's degree or higher. and the median household income is $60,734. it's much higher than the nation. largest sector is high-tech, computers and electronics. 54% voted for obama in the 2008 election. joining us now is andy smith a pollster. so, andy, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> the lay of the land here, this is interesting to watch, new hampshire, very different than iowa, who gets to vote in today's primary? >> well, today we have two pry miers actually going on a democratic primary and a republican primary. democrat -- registered democrats can only vote in the democratic primary. registered republicans can only vote in the republican primary. we have undeclared.

the big advantage they have, they can choose which primary they wish to vote in. democratic primary is uncontested. when you look at the electorate today, 60% of the voters are going to be registered republicans. 40%, those undeclared voters. >> which direction to do we think that the undeclared voters going to go? >> in their heads, they're really republicans, they vote like the registered republicans. they'll make up about 20% of the electorate today. about 10% of the electorate will make up of these undeclared that are democrats and independents.

mitt romney's getting around 40%, 45% in that vote. the undeclared independents really democrats are going to jon huntsman. truly independent are going for ron paul but also for jon huntsman and mitt romney. you have to think about the undeclared, as three separate groups. most importantly, though the electorate is about 80% real republicans. if you want to win in new hampshire you got to win among those republicans. >> such an important point. what's the bottom line here? >> the biggest issue it has been this throughout the campaign is the state of the economy. and jobs in the country. economic issues have been number one by far. 60%-plus have said the economy the second highest is the debt and the nation -- deficit at the national level. that's mentioned by about 10%.

so economic issues and how they impact the national debt are the biggest issues here in this can campaign. >> andy, thank you so much. you have been sounding off on our talk back country. do early primary states have too much influence? rusty said, yes. more of your responses just minutes away. [ todd ] hello? hello todd. just calling to let you know i'm giving you the silent treatment. so you're calling to tell me you're giving me the silent treatment? ummm, yeah. jen, this is like the eighth time you've called... no, it's fine, my family has free unlimited mobile-to-any-mobile minutes from at&t. so i can call all i want. i don't think you understand how the silent treatment works.

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sounding off on our talk back question, do the early primary states like new hampshire and iowa have too much influence on our presidential candidates. andrew writes that i would argue that it's more fair this way. by only having early contests in a few states it allows underfunded candidates to gain traction early without having to spend piles of cash. eve said that i think the role of these states is being overhypeded. it hardly matters which states

start the circus. and paul writes it doesn't bother me as much as the elect ral college does, which leads to candidates ignoring strong holds and only focusing on on the swing states pms keep the conversation going on facebook.com/suzannecnn more of your responses in the next half-hour. all right, ron paul, second place, latest new hampshire poll showing. he'll have to finish pretty strong there tonight to keep the campaign's momentum going. dana bash caught up with him just moments ago. >> reporter: at the restaurant in mans chester ron paul's off-beat campaign goes main stream. >> hi. >> he came to press the flesh. but had trouble to get through the press. a crush of reporters to see the

candidate on a surge. ♪ >> reporter: up the road, a less chaotic scene, a chance for voters to hear first hand what makes him different from the other candidate and every penny you spend overseas, doing almost anything overseas is a drain on the economy. >> appealing to new hampshire's live free or die sensibilities. >> we know what our government is supposed to do. it's supposed to protect our elects. >> reporter: meantime, they're trying to stake out they're going to stay in the race for a long haul. >> we don't have a big campaign plan there in florida. they'll know we're there. we have the caucus states that we'll be paying more attention. >> reporter: does that say

anything about your efforts about securing the nomination? >> i think it tells you that we are realistic. that's the way we approached iowa. we thought that we did pretty well there. right now, polls are looking pretty good up here. i think we're being realistic. >> reporter: translation, he may be able to raise more cash and compete in florida if he does really well here in new hampshire. this independent voter came undecided. and now -- >> i'm going to vote for ron paul. >> reporter: did he convince you? >> yes he did. i was sitting on the fence last night. >> reporter: but his early exit at the restaurant earlier, turned this woman off. >> it was like, wait a second, you were supposed to come here. you were supposed to come and talk to us. >> reporter: we asked paul about her beef. he blamed the media.

>> she should have been furious with you. >> all right, dana, live from new hampshire, it is not easy. we get blamed for everything. it's always the media. the media's fault. what kind of voter is ron paulbacking on tonight? >> he's looking effectively for the republicans who agree with him for a long time on the anti-government, anti-spending rift that he has been talking for years. but also those independent or as they call them here undeclared voters. 40% of the electorate. i have talked to many of them who are on the fence, and really are drawn to ron paul because of his libertarian views. this is live free or die state, of course. some of who trend democrat in some years, because his views are all over the map when it comes to the political spectrum, that's why he's drawing these

undeclared voters. >> dana keep up the good work. don't get into too much trouble. >> trouble is fun. >> exactly. keep doing what you're doing. thanks, dana. >> thanks. outrage in mississippi a man who shot his estranged wife in the heads while she was holding their infant son has been set free, one of four convicted kills pardon. find out why in a life report. [ male announcer ] feeling like a shadow of your former self? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies?

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many in mississippi are outraged after outgoing governor haley barbour pardoned four convicted killers who worked at the governor's mansion. now, we've heard from the mother of one of those victims. >> is governor barbour going to pardon us for our aches and pains and heartache that we have to suffer? is he going to pardon a child who had to grow up without a mother? is he going to pardon me from never being able to feel her arms around my neck again? >> our martin savage is covering the story. you have been in touch with state officials there. how do they -- how do they explain this? >> well, you know what, there isn't a lot of explanation going on. and this is the day the handover occurs. you have the outgoing governor, hailley barbour and the new governor coming in. so governor barbour doesn't have to say anything to anyone and he isn't saying anything to anyone.

i think what's really surprising to many, not just the family members, but in many miss, we're talking about a very conservative governor, governor haley barbour, has been head of the republican national convention at one point, and he's in a very conservative state. so when you pardon four murderers, that's going to trigger some outrage. and that's exactly what's happened here. and in one particular case, they're all terrible, but david gatl gatlin, 1993, goes into his estranged wife's trailer, shoots her almost point-blank in the head as she's holding her 2-month-old baby child. that's the mother from you were hearing just a moment ago. let's hear more about that scene. >> he was laying on the floor in his mother's blood. and even though he never knew her, he's had to live all his life, never knowing what a great mother she could have been for him and never knowing what it would be like to grow up having your own parents rather than

having an old grandmother trying to raise him. >> that child, by the way, was 2 months at the time, now 18 years of age. but, again -- >> do the families get any heads up on this or did they just learn this from news reports? >> they got a phone call the saturday before the sunday the pardons went into effect. so they got about a 24-hour notice. but this is just a phone call that says, hey, here's a heads up, the killer is being -- >> do they have any recourse at all? can the pardons be reversed? >> no, once the pardon is granted by the governor, that's it. it's a done deal. >> is the governor defending or explaining his actions at all, these pardons? >> not saying a word. we have made many requests, but he is not saying anything and now that there is a new governor being sworn in, he's under no obligation and probably will not. at least that's what i'm being told through back channels. >> a lot of people really angry about this one, huh? >> they are, indeed. and the family members very, very upset, because it brings it all back to them and because they had no say in the matter. and this is a pardon.

that means the record of these convicted men, wiped completely clean, as if it never happened. >> wow. that's an amazing story. martin, thank you. former front-runner newt gingrich has got a new plan to save his stalling presidential campaign, and he's getting some help. we're talking about big help. $5 million. ♪

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all right. forget the positive campaign. it is now attack time. that looks like to be the game

plan for presidential hopeful newt gingrich. after seeing his front-runner status collapse and finishing a disappointing fourth in iowa last week. he's even getting help from super pac, spending, get this, all right, we're talking about $3.4 million to flood south carolina airwaves with adds blasting mitt romney. gary tuchman reports. >> spend time with newt gingrich and you get the feeling it's now or never. >> speaker, why should new hampshire voters vote for you tomorrow? >> reporter: what do you need to have happen in new hampshire? >> i think it's already happening. everywhere we go, we have big crowds. everywhere we go, people are very positive. and evening we'll have a very good night tomorrow. >> reporter: people who are very, very positive, but does that include newt gingrich himself? >> we proved in iowa, you can't survive by just being positive. >> reporter: gingrich is now in attack mode, despite early promises to stay away from negative campaigning. >> i was having a great time

just being totally positive and talking about big ideas and big solutions and i would be glad to go back to that. but i don't think you -- i don't believe in unilateral disarmament. >> reporter: romney took foreign seed money from latin america. so now a big weapon is being loaded. an ad is prepared to start airing ahead of the south carolina primary, blasting romney. >> a story of greed, playing the system for a quick buck. a group of corporate raiders let by mitt romney. more ruthless than wall street. >> reporter: presidential candidates are not allowed to coordinate the actions of such super pacs, because when gingrich was asked on cbs news about "your super pac," gingrich declared -- >> i think there's a huge gap between where romney and i are. >> reporter: was gingrich acknowledging that he was directly involved in the actions

of the super pac, which would violate the law. >> mr. speaker, are you giving any direction or advice to winning our future, the super pac. >> no. >> are you affiliated with them? >> no, i'm not affiliated with them, i have not talked to them. >> reporter: as speaker of the house, newt gingrich was second in line for presidential secession. to get closer to that, he has to start doing much better than his fourth place finish in iowa. >> in what has become a battle to become the one and only alternative to mitt romney. on monday afternoon, he announced an endorsement. >> about 20 minutes ago, i got a very nice phone call from todd palin, sarah's husband, and he indicated that he was endorsing me today, and was going to speak out on behalf of my candidacy. >> reporter: newt gingrich says he's feeling momentum. >> i think this is still a very wide open primary. >> reporter: a primary which now features a much more aggressive newt gingrich. gary tuchman, cnn, manchester, new hampshire.

top of the hour. i'm suzanne malveaux. i want to get you up to speed. voting is under way. the first primary of the presidential election is in full swing. this hour, we're bringing you complete coverage of today's new hampshire primary. most polling places now have been open for about six hours. final tracking polls show mitt romney holding on to the lead in new hampshire. romney's position as front-runner have made him a target for attacks by his rivals. candidates are making their final pitches for last minute votes in new hampshire. most are already looking ahead to the next contest. what are we talking about? south carolina primary, just 11 days away. >> we've got to exceed expectations. and if you can exceed expectations in new hampshire, which is a broad-based primary turnout, then you're going to light up south carolina and the states beyond, because they're going to see for the first time that you have that thing called electability, that you can bring folks together in a very competitive environment like you have here in the new hampshire primary. >> i think it will start shaking itself out when we get to south

carolina and i will be in south carolina, very aggressively. as a georgia conservative, i've got very good ties and roots in south carolina and i'm looking forward to campaigning there over the next two weeks. i think it will be a lot of fun, and i think it will clear up the race pretty dramatically. friends of a florida a&m drum major allegedly killed in a hazing incident say he was gay. but a family attorney says that does not make the hazing a hate crime. >> this is not a hate crime. this is a hazing crime. and that's what we are here to say today. we want to make the record very clear that famu has a 50-year history, a culture, in this band, of hazing. this is not a hate crime. did robert champion have an alternate lifestyle? yes. did that define him? no. he followed the rules, he was against hazing, he was a peaceful person, he was a leader. >> i spoke with cnn's senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin, who says that federal hate crime

charges could apply in this case. champion's family also announced that her suing the bus company where the alleged attack took place. now, the investigation is still ongoing. no charges have yet been filed. outgoing mississippi governor haley barbour is now under fire for pardoning four convicted murderers. that is right. they were all serving life sentences and worked as inmate trustees at the governor's mansion. one of the pardoned men is david glen gatlin and he has just been denied parole on his conviction for shooting dead his estranged wife while she held their baby. that happened back in 1993. in explaining this controversial decision, a spokeswoman said pardons are at any governor's discretion. we are just getting word now from north carolina that a task force is recommending all those who are forcibly sterilized under a state law could get, should get $50,000 a piece. the state sterilized more than 7,500 people between 1929 and

1974. the legislator is going to consider the request in the spring. new hampshire primary now in the hands of the voters. for the candidates, it's all about expectations. mitt romney, he's expected to win, but by how much? what about the rest of the field? joe johns who's joining us live from manchester. joe, i understand right now that romney is leading by double digits. what does this campaign expect from this evening? >> well, you know, that's the thing with mitt romney. we hate to use the sports analogies in politics, even though we always do, suzanne, you know that, but mitt romney is equivalent to the home team in a home game. he's the former governor of massachusetts, he has a house right here in new hampshire, by the way. very well known commodity. so he's expected to do very well.

and that would mean something like a double digit win over second place. so, as we said, all the time, the battle is over second place, looking at ron paul running pretty strong at 18%. and then probably one of the most interesting stories of all here, that would be the story of jon huntsman, the former governor of utah. expectations are high for him. some say, even he says, he has to beat expectations here in order to really sort of show his validity in the presidential race. let's listen to what he said earlier today on cnn. >> all of that is terribly important, because in the general election, electability very much will depend upon your ability to get voters by crossing traditional boundaries. and i think i can do that better than anybody else on the republican side. >> reporter: so that's the huntsman story. then we have all the others in this race. that would be santorum, gingrich, and perry. it's important for rick santorum to at least show something here in the state, although he's been

trying to lower his expectations, suzanne. as you know, he came out of iowa with so much momentum, has been able to build on his numbers, but just really hasn't been able to capitalize, at least so far. suzanne? >> all right. it's all about the expectations game. thank you, joe. we'll be keeping a close eye on it. here's your chance to talk back on the big story of the day. we're talking about the new hampshire primary, of course. there are more than 312 million people, right, in the united states? well, in new hampshire and iowa, even if you add up the registered republicans that voted, it would only be 1% of the total u.s. population. and yet these two early contests get a ton of attention, play a huge role in whittling down the list of those who get a shot at becoming the next president. as comedian andy burrowitz put it in a recent tweet, "the last time so few people decided a presidential race, they were all on the supreme court." so that brings us to our talk back question. do the early primary and caucus states have too much influence on the presidential race?

is our system even fair? leave your thoughts at facebook.com/suzannecnn. i'll share some of those later with you this hour. here's a rundown, some of the stories we are covering. he is the new guy who's looking out for your rights as a consumer. we're going to be talking to him in about 20 minutes. also, here husbands betting it all on new hampshire. i'll talk to mary kay huntsman about faith, family, and financing a presidential campaign. plus, new hampshire voters step up to the mic and let loose. >> rick santorum, how can you be pro-second amendment, because it's a question of liberty, and yet be anti-gay marriage. >> governor romney, what do you have against labor unions? workers shouldn't have any rights? it must be nice to be rich. >> and cher going to the supreme court, kind of. the court considers whether or not to ease up on fcc fines for indecent language, like the

f-bomb, that she dropped a few years ago. and then we're going to check out some really cool computer stuff. >> one of the big themes for the show, seeing all the accessories for smartphones and tablets. this is one of the more unusual contraptions we've seen. this turns your ipad into a guitar. this is a product from ion. it will retail for $99 when it comes out this summer and it teaches you how to play the guitar. truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! can you enjoy vegetables withs. sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce.

all right. i know you felt this way. frustration, you're really frustrated with politicians. just wish there was a way to put them in line or give them your

own two cents. well, cnn did just that. we set up open mics in new hampshire and here's what potential voters had to say. >> here's the thing, ron paul. huge supporter of limited government and sort of the whole respect of the constitution, but the thing that i'm having a really hard time with is your view on foreign policy and iran and you kind of look like a crazy neighbor from next door, that kind of thing too. but that's something you can help there. >> hi, rick santorum. i really disapprove of your stance on gay rights and i really don't think that being gay and having gay marriage is the same thing as polygamy. you need to talk about the economy more. >> mr. gingrich, part of the reason that i'm just completely upset with you is that your what's broken in this country. you go to washington, you milk the system, and then you become a millionaire. that's what's wrong with politicians. >> governor romney, what do you have against labor unions? workers shouldn't have any

rights? it must be nice to be rich. >> rick santorum, how can you be pro-second amendment because it's a question of liberty and yet be anti-gay marriage? gay marriage, a woman's right to choose, and gun rights are all personal liberty issues. so if you're going to be consistent, consistently for personal liberty, you should be for all three of those things. >> hey, ron paul, how can you be for a stronger america when you're going to weaken our defenses? i think you are weak, ron paul. >> newt, i have a question for you. what are you going to do to bring the democratic and the republican party together? you can't even hold on -- well, i'm not going to bring your private life into it. no, i don't care if you've had ten wives. >> all right, mitt, whied did you abandon massachusetts halfway through your term and leave the state up to kelly carey healey to fend for the

state? when she ran for governor, she lost to a democrat because you didn't come back to support her. therefore, i'm very disappointed in your performance and i don't think you've got the right skills to be president. >> wow. they are angry. democrats, they already know who their nominee's going to be, but they're going to be watching the results of the republican primary in new hampshire, just to see how the race is shaping up. james carville, a cnn political contributor, democratic strategist, one of my favorite folks. that was harsh! i mean all of that, i'm assuming, i'm just assuming those are republicans who are lashing out at the republicans they don't like and the not the democrats who decided they were just going to take over the mics there. >> well, my favorite was the one, newt gingrich, who said, i'm going to call you a wife beater, but i'm not going to call you a wife beater, no matter how many wives you've -- that was pretty fun. >> what are you looking at tonight for new hampshire m. >> two things. does romney go over 35 and does

he win by more than 10, is the kind of suspense. we have to create some suspense, because there's no suspense as to who's going to be first after that night we had in iowa. and i guess we're sort of looking, as everybody is, at kind of a contest to second place. which i know something about after last night's football game. >> lsu. that was tough. that was tough stuff to see them lose. >> we didn't lose, just came in second. >> all your perspective the there. give me a little sense here. romney, looking ahead, bain capital looks like that's going to be the one issue that is either going to the guy the who created the jobs or lost the jobs. what does that mean for him? has the dirty work already been done here? >> look at the trailer for the gingrich documentary that's going up? it is scathing and effective. the democrats have reamed and reamed. the other thing that's going to be huge is romney is saying, i will not release my tax returns.

i guarantee you that this is going to be is going to create an enormous amount of speculation and controversy and a combination of that with bain capital. and my advice to them, and i think they're going to take it, not that i gave it to them. i think they're going to hit him early and heir going to hit him often on bain capital and the tax returns, as they well should. >> what about the president? president obama, obviously, the white house is watching what happens in new hampshire. they've already assumed that mitt romney is going to be the guy they're up against, clearly. >> of course. >> but if they didn't assume it, we ought to be frightened for the country. >> but he has to fight against a pretty, you know, low, dismal economy that the unemployment is going down, but it's still fairly high and things are sp t sputtering along. what does he need to say against romney? >> i think his approval ratings are actually kind of high given the state of the economy and people are sort of stuck with him for a long time. he can't blame the previous administration, but people do

kind of cut him a lot of slack here. i actually think that the president -- i don't think romney can beat the president, i think events can beat the president. i think the only way that romney can win this election after having watched him in this process, which he has not been that impressive, is the president can be beat by events. >> what kind of events are you talking about, james? >> a double dip recession, perhaps something in foreign policy, some domestic terrorism or something like that. any kind of event like that, where people, you know, just say, look, we've just got to make a change, no matter what. but i think if we continue along with some kind of modest recovery, just given the nature of it, and looking at romney as a candidate and some of the baggage that he's bringing into this and some of the ways that he handles things, i actually think the president is going to win this. and i did not think that. as you know, i've hardly been a lackey for the administration, but i do think they're moving in a pretty good place right now.

>> good shape. all right, james, we'll get back to you in a little bit. >> go, saints! >> yeah, whodat. wheal look at moimitt romne voters to show that he understands their hardships.

all right. most polls have been open across new hampshire for about 6 1/2 hours now. voters are expected to hand former massachusetts governor mitt romney his second victory tonight. david gergen is joining us. so i don't know if a record turnout will make a difference or not.

certainly not in the case of romney. we already know he's first place, but what about second place? >> it could make a difference. jon huntsman is also appealing to that. and those are the two guys who are fighting for second. so you'll have to see. >> what about those, all of the undeclared, the independents, about 40%, the polls are showing. which way are they going to go? >> i think there's a real difference between iowa and new hampshire in that there's much more unemployment in new hampshire and much, many fewer evangelicals so that the romney appeal to i'm the job creator gives him the inside track, as well as having home field advantage, in effect. >> let's talk a little bit about that. bain capital, that's going to be very important to romney. it's already very much a hot button issue. his role in this company that bought and sold companies and whether or not he is a job creator or a job killer. here's how romney described his own fear about losing his job. >> i know what it's like to worry whether you're going to get fired. there were a couple of times i

wonder wed whether i was going get a pink slip and i care very deeply about the american people. >> that didn't really square with some folks. like, come on, really. >> yeah, listen, he just should have been, i've been very blessed in my life and i really want to help others. that should have been his pitch, not, oh, i was worried about getting fired. >> and governor perry, he took it one step further. i want you to listen to how he responded to this. >> i have no doubt that mitt romney was worried about pink slips, about whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out, because his company and bain capital, about all the jobs that they killed, i'm sure he was worried he would run out of pink slips. >> so the dnc, david, is already traipsing out these folk who is lost their jobs under his reign. how important is this narrative about whether he was someone who helped jobs and created jobs or

someone who killed the jobs. >> it's potentially very, very important. i don't think it's going to slow down romney or derail romney today in new hampshire or south carolina. but it's the area that's his strength. he's coming from a position of attacking obama on the economy. if he's shown to be a job destroyer, that will hurt him. let me just say, i live in boston now. i have been around, worked with bain capital for a number of years. i actually was on the board of a company that we sold to bain capital. and i'll tell you, i voted for selling it too, because bain capital had such a good reputation in boston as a company that could come in and help shore up the companies that bought and invested in them. they were not regarded as corporate raiders. they were not regarded as tycoons coming in. just the opposite. i must say, many of the partners in bain are the biggest philanthropists in new england. >> so you think it's getting a bad rap?

>> i think it's getting a bad rap. if you look at the overall record or look at domino's pizza or look at staples. i've talked to the ceo of staples. he said, without mitt romney, we wouldn't have built this company. >> let's talk a little bit about the contest here. having covered iowa, new hampshire on the democratic side, with barack obama, i was able to see somebody who developed, right, as a candidate who at first was unfocused, uninspiring, to someone who really motivated and ultimately became a historic leader. >> right. >> and went on to win. but he had months and months and months of knockdown, drag out battles with hillary clinton. and it finally ended all in june. does mitt romney by -- if he goes quickly and secedes too quickly, by being unchallenged, does he miss out on the opportunity to grow and become a stronger candidate when he goes up against obama in the general election? >> it's a good question. i think it's a trade-off. on balance, he's far better off to wrap this thing up quickly and unite the republican party

behind him. he's been out for five years now. he's had a lot of time to propose. as a debater, i think he's a very good debater. he's having trouble on the stump, just on his impromptu remarks and his speeches. i went to a rally of his in new hampshire. and i can tell you, suzanne, having gone up there and watched hillary and obama four years ago, there was an electricity in the air. big crowds, enthusiastic crowds. the romney rally where chris christie spoke was actually a very, very quiet, sort of calm affair. it was nice, it was dignified, but didn't have that punch that you and i remember from four years ago. and i think he's got a lot of work to do as a candidate if he's going to appeal to people, connect with people emotionally. >> it says something about that enthusiasm factor. i wonder, too, with these two personalities. if you have a mitt romney against a president barack obama, you know, as a candidate, obama was very exciting. very passionate, very interesting. as someone who governs, not as much. so it's going to be interesting to see those two personalities come up against each other, and do they motivate the voters this

go-around? >> in very different ways. i think barack obama is trying to re-light fires that have gone out for many people. and by the way, i think he's very good at this. he does better at campaigning than he does at governing. that's his strength. i think he'll be better at it. romney still has a lot of work to do. where i do think romney will do well is in the debates. they have three presidential debates. they were in a close election can't be determinative. my expectation is we'll have a very close election and i think, but right now you have to say obama's got a slight edge, but this could change very quickly. >> it's going to be exciting. david, good to see you. >> thank, susan. all eyes on new hampshire tonight as the new political year is heating up. make the best choice for politics. cnn's america choice 2012. join my friends and colleagues, wolf blitzer, erin burnett, anderson cooper, candy crowley, and john king for live coverage of the new hampshire primary

tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. but first, free money advice for the cnn help desk. >> time now nor the help desk where we get answers to your financial questions. joining me, donna rosato is with money magazine, jack with money watch.com. donna, first question for you comes from mike in mesa, arizona. mike says, "my wife and i both have good credit scores, they've got a 30-year fixed mortgage, 6% interest rate." what should they consider before refinancing? >> it's always worth to consider refinancing if you can lower your rate by at least one percentage point. it seems like a slam dunk, but that's not only thing you should consider. you should plan for how long you're going to be in that house. refinancing costs thousands of dollars, averaging like $5,000. if you're not going to be in the home at least five years, it's going to be hard to recoup those costs. but if you are planning to stay in the home for at least that long, it could be well worth it. shop around, see what you

qualify for. you might even consider resetting to a 15 or 20-year loan. the payments aren't that much more, but you can save tens to thousands of dollars over the life of the loan. >> jack, your question comes from william in kentucky. william is a 24-year-old grad student with a small income and he's asking, how should i start investing for retirement? well, props to him with right, for thinking about it that early on? >> it is fabulous. people don't realize the huge benefits you get from starting the compounding now rather than waiting until he's 30 or 34. open a brokage account. it's very easy, because they want your money, and open a roth i.r.a. he can contribute up to $5,000 a year, if he's making that much. you can contribute up to your income. and i would invest that money in just three mutual funds. the total u.s. stock market, the total global stock market outside the u.s., and then the total bond market. there are index funds that track those. you can put an equal amount in each. don't get tricky, try to time the market or buy individual

stocks or any of that stuff. if he can contribute to those over the next 40 years, he'll be in great shape. >> as history and human nature shows, investors, the average joe, tends to buy high and sell low. >> don't touch it, put money in every month, and he'll be beating most of the pros. >> if you have a question you ant answered, send us a question anytime to cnn help de desk @cnn.com. hello, how can i deliver world-class service for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you

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here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are working on. mary kay huntsman is going to join us live from new hampshire to talk about why she wants to be the next first lady. and a look at the hottest new computers and other electronics. and also, we just watched governor rick perry at ft. mills, south carolina, taking on the obama administration. the republican candidate calling it a fraudulent and corrupt white house. let's take a listen. >> i mean, you got to ask yourself, when the last three chiefs of staff for this president came out of wall street, you don't think there's a little bit of inside dealing going on there, that they're

buddies on wall street aren't calling them up and saying, hey, how about, let's not be quite that tough against those of us on wall street. we're just good old boys out here trying to make a buck. this is a corrupt place. wall street and washington are corrupt. and you don't create the debt that's been created, you don't allow the federal government to move money around from the treasury, unknown for two years, of $7.7 trillion back to wall street, and not realize on its face that that is fraudulent and corrupt practice. >> governor rick perry trying to make some inroads, going directly after the obama administration. the white house briefing just started. we'll see if we can't get a few questions into the white house press secretary there to see what they have to say about some of those allegations. i want to bring in alison kosik at the new york stock exchange, talk a little bit about what's going on with the markets. hey, allison. >> hey, suzanne.

we're watching stocks make pretty decent gains. the blue chips are at their highest level since july. the dow was up 122 points at its peak today. it's partly because of earnings optimism. it's overshadowing those worries involving europe. alcoa reported fourth quarter earnings season after the close of trading on monday, getting corporate earnings season off to a pretty good start. the world's biggest aleukemumin maker saw its biggest loss since 2009. the company did give good guidance for the year, and that is why you're seeing stocks in positive mode today. the guidance is important for alcoa, especially, not just for alcoa, but for companies in general. now, wall street is going to be watching corporate earnings season very closely this time around. the economic data here in the u.s., it has been improving, but now investors really want to see if that's going to equate to better revenues for companies. we're also watching financial shares. they're up across the board right now. most big banks are up between 2% and 4%. suzanne? >> we like to hear that good

news. thank you, alison. you've been signing off on the "talk back" question. do the early primary states have tuch influence on the presidential race? lanni says, "these primaries are covered really well by the media and as a result show voters the strengths and weakness of the candidates." more of your responses just moments away.

all right. right now, all across new hampshire, people are hitting the polls. caught up with one woman in manchester who voted for newt gingrich. but it's something else that got her out of the house. >> i want obama out. so i'm voting -- i'm an independent, but i'm going to vote for whoever the republican party nominates. we've been sounding off on the "talk back" question. do the early primary states like new hampshire or iowa have too much influence on our presidential elections? well, craig says, "i think they do have far too much influence. instead of spending weeks and months trying to decide who will challenge obama for the presidentship, why not have one big caucus? five days of debates and

voting." brandon writes, "i understand the value of having the first votes in small states. it keeps the good tradition of going out and meeting the people. but there are a lot more small states that should have a shot at being first over iowa and new hampshire, though. a rotating system is the only fair away among the states." will says, "we should completely revamp the entire primary/caucus season. i would even explore the possibility of multiple national primaries using runoff voting. that way, the true first choice of americans would be selected." thanks. that's a lot. all of you sharing your thoughts. we continue to take those comments. and the latest, coolest computers, electronics stuff is on zdisplay? where else? it's in vegas.

we're keeping an eye on all of the candidates today, as new hampshire primary unfolds. newt gingrich just spoke from his bus out of betford, new hampshire. let's listen in. >> you're up against a very wealthy, very aggressive competitor, you have to draw clearly who they are. because you can't allow them to project a false front. and when romney goes around and says i'm really a conservative, it's very important to say, well, he did raise taxes. he is for gun control, he did pull the tax on guns in

massachusetts. he did put planned parenthood into romney care and tax-paid abortion into romney care. he did appoint liberal judges. so you have to a sense that, wait a second, that ad that says he's a liberal conservative doesn't fit the facts. >> that's newt gingrich taking on the front-runner in new hampshire, at least if you believe the the polls and conventional wisdom, mitt romney. tons of cool stuff all in one place, the annual consumer electronic show. it's happening in vegas. that's where dan simon shows us how to get it done and some of the things they've got. >> reporter: to appreciate just how difficult it is to put on this show, just come outside and check out all the crates. this is the stuff from mitsubishi right here, behind us are the crates from microsoft, and this is just a tiny fraction of the overall amount of equipment here in las vegas. one of the big themes for the show is seeing all the accessories for smartphones and contraptions. this turns your ipad into a

guitar. it will retail for $99 when it comes out this summer and it teaches you how to play the guitar. panasonic is trying to give us a sense as to what cars might look like in the future. this is not a video game, but a vision to make driving safer and easier. people may think of ces as really as a place to unveil tvs and computers, but it's really a lot more than that. it's really for any product that requires batteries or electricity and is available to consumers. we are at the anotabooth, and as you might have guessed, they sell massage chairs. this is a new appliance from lg. it looks like a refrigerator, but when you open it up with, it has clothes. this will sterilize your clothes, do some drying, and take out your wrinkles. no price yet and we don't know when this will be for sell. >> in computers, it's all about ultra books. thin, powerful computers with long battery life. virtually every computer maker is coming out with their own

version. companies like google and apple don't come to ces, instead, they hold their own events throughout the year. microsoft has decided to go that route and says this will be its last year at the show. >> the big companies don't want to be on this show's schedule to say, okay, early every year, we have to have the big product for the year. but i haven't seen one new product that is a thing that we've never seen before. a behavior that we've never seen before. that's what everyone looks for. and this show gets a knock when it doesn't have one of those. >> but for smaller companies and start-ups, ces is still perceived as a must. zybotics has a thing that makes your iphone into a robot. >> all right, dan is joining us live. so dan, the news here, microsoft pulling out. a few big product announcements here. what does it mean for this show, the future of the show? >> reporter: well, it's

definitely not good. you know, it will affect news coverage. the should could, you know, take a hit to its reputation. obviously, reputation and news coverage are combined. those things are tied. but i think, ces had always been regarded as a place where you could come and check out the next big thing. if that's not available anymore, that's obviously not good. but that said, most of the companies that come here are not very big. they're smaller companies, so, obviously, you know, they can't hold their own events and get huge crowds, so they have to come to a place like ces. so the future of the show, i think there will always be a ces, but in terms of its influence, i think it's definitely changing, suzanne. >> dan, apple's not playing a role in the show, but i imagine that their presence is felt because of those rumors that they might be coming out with a tv. is that right? >> reporter: well, everyone seems to think that apple will release a tv in 2012. obviously, that's not confirmed, but, you know, the tv manufacturers, the samsungs of

the world, panasonic, lg have to be looking over their back shoulder and wonder what apple has up its sleeve. they don't want to be caught flat floooted the same way the phone makers were when it came to the iphone. you're seeing tvs being packed with features. samsung released a tv where you could turn the volume up using your voice. just say, turn up the tv, et cetera. so that's what you're seeing with tvs this year. lots and lots of features, because apple probably going to have a tv coming out in a few months, suzanne. >> yeah. i remember the days when you had to actually get up physically and turn the channel, all three stations there. times have changed. >> i remember that as well. >> thanks, dan. well, she stands by her man, on the campaign trail, but don't expect to her to keep quiet. mary kay huntsman is going to join us live from new hampshire to talk about why she wants to be the next first lady.

all right. she is much more than the woman behind her man. mary kay huntsman, she's been a consistent figure on the campaign trail and she is not afraid of standing in the spotlight if it means she can help push her husband into the white house. mary kay huntsman, she's joining us live from new hampshire. thank you very much for being with us. it's a pleasure to see you there. we're going to ask you a couple of questions -- >> pleasure to see you. >> sure. we're going to ask you a couple of questions about your husband, the things we don't know about

him. i understand the two of you met back in high school. and back then he had long hair, he wanted to make it as a rock star, and according to npr, he even dropped out of high school after losing for the senior class president's election. we've come a long way since then, obviously. take us back there. what was he like when you first met him? >> i'll be honest, he's the same guy today that he was when i met 28 years ago -- or married him 28 years ago, i met him about 7 years before that. and i was attracted immediately to his warmth, his genuineness, his honesty. of course, he's very handsome. and i had just moved from orlando, florida, and he had moved from -- he'd been in california and then in washington, d.c., and his family located to utah about the same time. and i was a salad girl in a pie shop, marie callender pies, and he was the dishwasher. so we shared a couple of jobs. we sold levi jeans after that. and we would find ourselves in

the same places. and there was an instant park, the minute we met. tell us something we don't know about your husband. >> that you don't know. well, i think what i like to tell people is the person that he is off-camera is probably the person that i'm most proud of. because of the way he interacts with people and leans down and helps, lifts other and watching him as a governor and watching him as an ambassador and the lives that he has changed personally. the inspiration that he's given to people. times when people have been in great need, he's been there, and always giving a listening h ear. those are the things i want the voters to know. that he is genuine. and everything that you hear about him, about his genuineness, is true. he is exactly who he says he is and he's always been consistent. >> and mary kay, you were born episcopalian, but you converted to mormonism before marrying him. how important is your family's faith? >> we are a very spiritual

family. i was raised episcopalian, jon was raised mormon. we have two boys that both went to catholic high schools, they're both serving in the united states navy now. our child, abby, was married in the national cathedral. we have a child from china, a child from india with different cultural and religious backgrounds. and you know what, we are a family that comes together in a great spiritual way, and we rely very much on that in our lives. and one maybe we don't wear it on our sleeve, but wear it in our heart every day. >> does it surprise you that some people say they're uncomfortable in supporting a mormon? does that surprise you this day and age, that some people feel uncomfortable with your faith? >> i hear that sometimes, but to be honest, with us on the campaign trail, that has not been issue. as people looks a us and get to know us, get to know our heart and souls, they know that we're people that connect with all faiths and with the american people. and i think at the end of the day, people are more concerned, really, about those who don't

have jobs, about the type of candidate that can get in there and lead this country back to unity, getting the country back together economically, and with the trust that jon's been talking about. those things, i think, matter most to people. >> your husband this morning, he talked about being a different kind of millionaire than mitt romney. that your family has given much of your wealth to charities and causes like fighting cancer. and your husband has been able to contribute $2.3 million out of his own personal finances for the campaign. if he moves forward, he's going to need a lot more money, as we know. and we know that his father, jon huntsman senior, is one of the most successful businessmen in pharmaceuticals, a billionaire, in the country. will you keep it in the family in terms of raising funds? will he look to his father to try to help him in this critical time to fund the campaign moving forward? >> my husband's philosophy has always been to get out there and earn the vote. you know, you want to feel that you have earned people's vote and not bought the vote. you have to put a little bit in, a little seed money here and

there that has helped out in a campaign, but we are not about buying a campaign. if that had to happen, you know, it's not worth it. for us, it is about earning every single one of those votes. and i think what we're seeing here in new hampshire, there is an energy that we're feeling on the ground. we started out here at zero. and even last week, i think we were still in single digits. and looking at where it has come, we're very energized and happy. and i know that that has been a voter at a time, as people have gotten to know jon's heart, they know who he is, they know that they can trust him. and to us, we don't worry at all about going forward financially, because if the votes are in, people are going to come to you and want to help in this area and it's a situation where all people come together to help. >> and mary kay, your daughters have obviously caught a lot of -- sparked a lot of attention as well. they've been very successful in helping their dad get the message out. here they poked fun at romney. their youtubes have gone viral at this point. are your daughters going rogue,

or do they run this stuff by you and dad? >> they have been terrific. they've been his greatest surrogates, because they love him so much and they know him so well. and they just want the people in this great country to know how wonderful their dad is. and so one day they just said, all right, we've had it. we want to do something so people know how great our dad is and they did this funny video that they had no idea that anyone would even look at it and it went viral overnight. they said, we weren't expecting that, we just love our dad, and we want to do something to get his name out there a little more, and i think they've done a great job. >> mary kay huntsman, thank you very much for your time. we appreciate it. we'll be watching closely this evening to see how things go. thank you, mary kay. >> thank you very much. >> sure. should there be more cursing, less clothing on tv? it's all about free speech and decency, and the supreme court is weighing in.

i'm really glad we took this last minute trip! you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? i have the hotels.com app so we can get a great deal even at the last minute. ah, well played sir.

get the app. hotels.com. checking stories affiliates are covering across the country. roads looking like rivers in many parts of texas. on monday, flash floods pounded houston, spawned a tornado in texas city, damaging a mall. now, rescuers in cordova, alaska, they're trying to dig this city out from under 18 feet of snow. the town issued a disaster declaration. local residents say they haven't gotten this much snow since the 1970s. and what is happening right now at the supreme court could affect what you get to see on tv. broadcasters say they are being punished unfairly for those moments somebody dropped an f-bomb or a wardrobe malfunction. our ted rowlands explains. >> i've also had critics for the last 40 years saying that i was on my way out every year.

all right. so [ bleep ] them. >> reporter: that cher f-bomb from the billboard music awards in 2002 was an fcc violation for decency. during the next year's show, nicole richie did it. >> have you ever tried to get [ bleep ] out of a prada purse? it's not so [ bleep ] simple. >> reporter: the same year at the bogolden globes, it was bons turn. >> i'm just really, really [ bleep ]. >> reporter: for the past 35 years, whenever the fcc thinks a shows passes the decency line, it levees a fine. for this one, fcc affiliates had to pay $1.4 million. janet jackson's super bowl wardrobe malfunction triggered a $550,000 fine, since overturned. now the broadcast networks want the supreme court to force the fcc to the ease up or at least

specify in detail what's acceptable and what isn't. the fcc allowed profanity on tv from the movie "saving private ryan," but has issued fines for the same language on television programs. university of chicago law professor jeffrey stone believes the high court will agree with broadcasters and a lower court, forcing fcc rule changes, saying cable, satellite, and the internet have changed the broadcasting landscape. >> the basic predicate for government regulation of the air waves really doesn't exist anymore. so it would be perfectly possible for the court to revisit that question and to say that the truth is, it doesn't make any sense anymore. >> reporter: still, many believe that the public airwaves should be protected. >> how does more shock, more f-bombs, more indecency serve the public interest? especially when they know children are watching? >> reporter: the fcc started regulating broadcasters in response to a george carlin radio rant that carlin continued

to use for years as part of his stage show. >> [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ], [ bleep ]. >> the court has heard this issue before. in 2009, they rendered a 5-4 decision which uphe would the f penalty on that cher f-bomb. that case, however, was decided on administrative law. this time around, the court is looking at the core issue of censorship. a decision is expected some time this summer. ted rowlands, cnn, chicago. >> all right. cnn news rom continues in a moment with randi kaye. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪