what do you think, peter? >> reporter: well, it's pretty interesting. actually a little surprising. we thought he would stay in the race through south carolina, even though he didn't have a ton of support in the polls after his underwhelming finish in new hampshire. the campaign tried to say they exceeded expectations, and they certainly did in new hampshire, climbing from single digits to finish in third place. but they didn't have enough momentum here in a conservative leaning state, and they didn't have enough money to really carry on. so his endorsement of romney, however, is a little surprising. he is the candidate that ideologically most fits the huntsman brand. however, huntsman and romney don't like each other very much. there's a lot of bad blood there. they have a frosty relationship, and their staffs do not like each other one bit. so it will be kind of interesting to see how this plays out. romney will not be with huntsman today here in myrtle beach for this announcement ahead of the debate tonight, kyra. >> it's interesting. when i had a chance to interview him last week, he said, oh, i have respect for romney.

i think he is a great family man. it's really interesting how reporters like you get the inside scoop, and you can't necessarily get it directly from the candidate. meanwhile, huntsman making this announcement just a day after he got an endorsement from the state newspaper, peter. and he sounded so enthusiastic after his third place finish in new hampshire. let's take a listen once again, and i want to ask you about this. >> here we sit tonight, ladies and gentlemen, with a ticket to ride and to move on. here we go to south carolina! thank you all so very much. thank you. >> all right. so what changed? and what do you think is next for him? some say this is just a trial run for four years from now. >> you know, what changed, he didn't catch on. frankly, he never caught on here in south carolina. he did maintain a small staff here in case he did get a strong first or second place finish. but huntsman is a little out of step with the conservative base on issues like same-sex marriage and issues on the environment. and frankly, tea party

activists, the republican base, are angry right now, and jon huntsman is not an angry candidate. he has a calm temperament, has been calling for civility. he never really caught on. but it is interesting that the biggest newspaper in south carolina endorsed him, and that very night he decides to drop out of the race. >> it's nothing but interesting, for sure. peter, great work for us. thank you so much. and you can enjoy wolf blitzer for live coverage of jon huntsman announcement scheduled for about 11:00 a.m. eastern time. you can see it right here live on cnn with south carolina's primary just five days away, this time it might be working to mitt romney's advantage. polls show him with a solid lead now. time for conservatives to rally behind a single conservative, too. but it's day two of the south carolina tea party convention as well. >> there is a candidate that can beat obama in a debate. and what is his name? >> newt gingrich! >> it's newt gingrich.

romney is going to lose to obama. there's no doubt about that in my mind. that's my view. >> all right. well, let's look ahead then at south carolina and beyond. with paul steinhauser. paul, electability. that's definitely the buzz word for a lot of republicans right now. could romney win without the support of the tea party movement? >> he could win the nomination, kyra, because as peter was talking about, the conservatives are fractured between gingrich, santorum, and perry and ron paul to a lesser degree. so romney winning this more establishment, moderate vote. we saw that happen in iowa where he eked out that little victory by eight votes and the same thing in new hampshire. could it happen in south carolina? sure. how do tea party activists feel about romney? they don't love him. some are actively working to defeat him. but check this out, kyra. this was the poll from friday. i broke it down just by tea party supporters, which is about half of the republican electorate. look who's on top? tea party supporters only,

romney. 31% say he is their choice ahead of gingrich, santorum, and the rest. they may not love him, but some are actively trying to defeat him, and some are saying i guess we're going to have to deal with him. and tea party activists are pretty influential in south carolina, florida, and all of these other states. they have made an impact, no doubt, in this campaign, kyra. >> how about the evangelical leaders that met this weekend? their endorsement not romney. they are backing rick santorum. let's talk about the impact here. >> this was interesting. it came down to three rounds of voting. in the third round, 85 for santorum, 59 for gingrich. these leaders who met in texas say, mitt romney's mormon faith had nothing to do with this, but let's be honest. some christian conservatives do have an issue with people of mormon faith. maybe they don't consider them true christians. but will this impact south carolina? it could. social conservatives are definitely, definitely a factor in south carolina. especially upstate, where there's a heavy, heavy republican population. but the gingrich campaign, the

romney campaign, both downplaying the endorsement over the weekend. take a listen to senator john mccain, who is turning out to be a big surrogate for mitt romney. >> i think it is a hit. let's be very honest. there is a very strong evangelical movement in south carolina. unemployment is nearly 10%. and that certainly is a very -- much higher priority for the voters than it would be if the unemployment rates were down. >> and if you didn't catch that he made those comments with our own candy crowley. so the big question mark here, how much can santorum pivot on this? how much can he make out of this endorsement? and less than a week now to do it. kyra? >> paul, thanks so much. and keep it on cnn now through november. best political coverage on television. and then the cnn presidential

debate live right here on cnn on thursday. just moments ago, the owners of the cruise ship that ran aground say that the captain had never had an accident before. and rescuers have now suspended the search for any possible survivors because the ship is sort of shifting. but the owners are holding out hope that they will find more survivors. the ship is starting to move, and that's posing a lot of danger for the divers. now the ship's captain is being accused of deviating from a well established route taking the ship too close to shore. he has been arrested, and now he could face manslaughter charges. survivors are still in shock, as you can imagine. >> there wasn't anybody to help you. really, the passengers were loading the life boats by themselves. >> we had to go about four or five gates down before we found a life boat we could get into. and then the people were very angry that we got on that life boat because it was very crowded. >> the crew was so young. and you would have thought they could have handled it better.

you would have thought they could have handled it better on the shore. you would have thought they could have handled, you know, getting people off the boat. warning people. >> it was just bad. like mad scary to get on the life boats. nobody followed any procedure. the crew was yelling for people to wait their turn. and pretty much it was just a giant every man for himself to get onto the life boats. the first ones before they were even lowered. >> wow. dan rivers is live. do you think that once the ship stops moving that the search could resume, dan, for survivors? >> reporter: i think so, kyra. yeah. if we just have a look at what's going on behind me, there is a lot more activity now in the last few minutes, which perhaps indicates that they are beginning to resume their search. i don't know if you can make out through our signal there. there's a small gray inflatable rib just in front of the superstructure of the costa concordia. there are other small craft

behind it. there's a small tug moving towards it. it's giving me the impression that they are now beginning to resume the search of this wreck. we have been hearing as you mentioned from the company, costa cruises, in the last hour. basically, defending the crew, but suggesting or reinforcing the suggestion that it was solely the captain that took the decision to go too close, because in the words of the chief executive, he wanted to show the boats to the island. and it's just as simple as that. there were lots of questions about what kind of safety procedures would there have been, would there have been alarms and all of that. and he said yes, there would have been alarms, visual alarms, as well as sounds going off. also that he should not have deviated from the course that had been predetermined that was governed by the satellite navigation system.

he overrode those commands, according to this chief executive, and decided to go recklessly close to the shore of this island. and with devastating results. now, in terms of the criticism of how they evacuated people, he defended that, saying the crew performed well. during two hours, they managed to evacuate 4,200 people. he said that the life boats were efficient. and the evacuation was according to procedure. so he was dismissing the idea that it was chaotic. but that's obviously not what we were hearing from people onboard, that you just played the clip of. >> yeah. and, dan, as you just mentioned, it looks like they have resumed that search for passengers. we'll continue to check in with you throughout the morning. dan rivers, appreciate it so much. as you can imagine, the capsized cruise ship dominated headlines around the world. still is actually. zain verjee has been reading up on the reaction from london. zain?

>> good morning, kyra. the ceo of costa cruises essentially a short while ago apologized that this disaster had happened, and promised that whoever was responsible for it would be held accountable. and that an investigation has been launched. but, yes, what he said and newspapers around the world too, really the headlines here, "the guardian" has this one. floating hotels that can be sunk by a rock. it says this incident raises the specter of the kind of disaster the cruise industry and its passengers hoped was long past. ships costing the better part of a billion dollars can still be holed by a rock. "the globe and mail" in canada says on a picturesque italian shore, an incomprehensible mishap. just last summer, the mayor of giglio wrote a letter to thank the costa concordia for giving his island an incredible spectacle on its way out to sea.

finally, a paper from belgium, blind panic in a floating city. it puts this maritime expert that says this type of cruise ship is truly a floating city, which isn't a bad thing if everything runs smoothly. but in an accident, it means you have a mass of people unable to evacuate quickly and calmly. other accusations being made right now towards the ship's captain. and a survivor i interviewed earlier today said that she was totally outraged about what the captain is saying in defense of himself is that he didn't know there were rocks there. kyra? >> zain verjee, following the reaction there out of london for us. and if you think the mudslinging in south carolina has been ugly, my next guest says you ain't seen nothing yet. we'll talk with columbia, south carolina, radio host kevin cohen after the break. and what a way to heel. swimming with the dolphins and what it means to our wounded warriors, next.

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at aarp.org/jointoday. south carolina's got a reputation for dirty politics. and according to columbia radio host kevin cohen, he says his listeners are worn down and have had enough. you say the nasty campaigning will just get worse. so how will this play out with voters and who will suffer the most? >> it will be interesting to see how this whole thing turns out. what's so interesting is you think, well, what can they say they haven't said already?

but you'd be amazed. this state has turned out lee atwater, derailed campaign after campaign. i'm surprised but no jon huntsman can't even make it through the week here. nothing that will come out of their mouths will surprise me. but when you're desperate and you're facing the cliff and you're about to fall off a cliff, you're going to do what you have to do. and my suspicion is you're going to hear some nasty things said about mitt romney before the week's over. >> who do you think is the most desperate? >> i think at this point you have to look at newt gingrich's campaign as being the most desperate. rick santorum did not maintain the momentum that he had following iowa after new hampshire. and then you look at rick perry, and people are just wondering why rick perry is even in the race at this point. if he doesn't do something down here in south carolina, forget it it's all over. in fact, a lot of people that support gingrich and santorum and ron paul would like to see perry out. mitt romney does not want to see rick perry get out. he wants to see as much of the second and third placers split their vote as much as possible. >> you're not endorsing anyone.

but out of all of the candidates you have dealt with, who really has it together there on the ground? >> in terms of organization, it's hard to argue with what mitt romney has done. 50 states. you can tell, kyra, you make phone calls and send emails and you get a response immediately, you get what you need out of the campaigns immediately. mitt romney has great ground troops here in south carolina. newt gingrich has gotten better. but it's been slow because there's not a lot of money with that campaign. rick santorum has been absolutely absent until very recently. and rick perry, pretty good organization. a lot of money there. but just not a lot of oomph and momentum from the people who initially supported him. if i had to say, and obviously not endorsing anybody, about you but mitt romney is the most organized campaign. >> this saturday is north carolina's general election. so where does obama stand? >> he is a nonfactor in this state. he hasn't visited south carolina even even once since he became the president. he was here as a candidate himself.

did very well. had oprah with him and all of that back in the day. but ever since then, he has not visited here. and as well as he swept 2008, he was a nonfactor in the general election in '08. lost by 10 points to john mccain. i don't think we'll be seeing much of barack obama in the palmetto state in the 2012 election i really believe this is the general election for south carolinans. but they are also excited about saturday passing. >> thanks, kevin. >> thanks for having me. let's start in anaheim, california. police identify 23-year-old itzcoatl ocampo as the man who has been targeting and killing homeless people. witnesses say they saw him allegedly stabbing a homeless man to death on friday. several of them actually chased ocampo, later leading police right to him. and in seattle, police are bracing for an icy morning commute followed by another round of snow and rain. and then in the florida keys, listen to this. >> yeah! [ applause ]

>> nearly 30 wounded warriors taking part in a different kind of therapy. swimming with dolphins. just one unique stop within a three-day soldier ride cycling event organized by the wounded warrior project. well, joe paterno is telling his side of the story. "the washington post" interviewed the former coach about the penn state alleged sexa, buice scandal. -- sex abuse scandal. he says a coach told him he saw jerry sandusky abusing a boy in the shower, but paterno said he didn't know how to handle the situation. >> and i called my sistuperiorsd said, you know, i think we have a problem. could you guys look into it? i had never had to deal with that. i didn't feel adequate. >> he says he turned the case over to people that he thought would have more expertise in he did in matters like this. authorities have said that legally, paterno did what he was

supposed to do. the liftoff went fine, but the overall mission, not so much. russian space probe crashes to earth, and expert not to know why. plus, good news on the state of the economy. salaries are rising, but it depends on where you live. so where do we see the rise going the fastest? we'll tell you right after this. even after you take it off. neutrogena® healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% saw improved skin. does your makeup do that? neutrogena® cosmetics.

well, liftoff looked pretty perfect. but since then, not so much. zain verjee, what happened to that probe and do engineers know what happened? >> no. they are still trying to figure out what exactly happened. also they are saying that one of the big problems is they don't have enough date on or

information relayed back from the probe to allow them to put it together. there are still so many questions, like the burning of fuel into the atmosphere, could that be dangerous to earth, and whether any fragments of the probe then crashed to the earth's surface. essentially, you had a massive ball of fire that dove back to earth, 13 1/2 tons, kyra. a total disastrous end. what the russians were trying to do with this was basically land on one of the moons of mars and then scoop up rock and soil sample, and then bring it back to earth for analysis. this was supposed to be russia's big glorious trip to deep space that would eventually allow them to get onto mars. so this has been a total failure. they are saying they're going to expose the officials responsible for this failure. and many are saying what the russians will try and do now is do joint ventures with the united states or other european or western countries rather than go it alone. one of the worries for the u.s. and other countries too, kyra,

is that they use a lot of the russian equipment to launch things like satellites. and the russians have had a lot of recent failures out in space recently. so people are concerned that there is some kind of systematic faulty situation with russian technology because of this incident. one of many failures. >> yeah. nasa and russia are working very closely, zain. so we'll follow. continue to follow the stories like this. appreciate it. thanks, zain. and good news for workers. wages are increasing. allison kosik, how much of an increase are we seeing? >> ok. so putting this in perspective for you, cakyra, don't get too excited. salaries went up every quarter, but the increase is barely keeping up with inflation. you take a look at how it's broken down here. you look at the months between october and december. that's the fourth quarter of 2011. salaries went up 2.2% compared to the same time in 2010. this information by the way coming from pay scale, a company that kind of tracks the salary

thing. so putting this in perspective, you see how clearly that 2% ain't all that good compared to salaries before the recession, which rose more than 3%. but then when you look at the years between 2009 and 2010, salaries actually fell. so what you essentially have here, kyra, is a slow improvement in pay as we see the unemployment rate coming down a bit. >> can you break it down by city for us and talk about where the wages are rising the fastest? >> ok. this is where it gets interesting for everybody. you look at this, at what payscale did. it measured 20 big cities. and salaries rose in 17 of them. in houston, the salaries went up the most, 2.2%. and that's mostly because of the boom in oil and gas industries. in miami, you see the rise there of 1.8%. chicago and washington up as well. chicago is interesting because it missed out on wage increases that other cities saw before the recession. so you see chicago kind of playing catch-up there. seattle did pretty well. 1.6%. and you can thank the strong

tech sector and orders for planes are rebounding. boeing is based in seattle. and also construction. the construction industry wasn't hit as hard as other areas. so things are improving ever so slightly. even though it's not keeping up with inflation, i say every little bit helps, especially when it's your salary. kyra? >> amen. especially now with the economy. not doing so well. >> you said it. jon huntsman is expected to call it quits in just about an hour or so. so do you think we'll see him again? there's been talk that this was just a trial run for 2016. maybe he'll pay more attention to iowa in four years. more on that coming up. and the golden globes kicks off the unofficial start of awards season. last night's show brought a lot of unexpected wins and left others disappointed. we have the highlights for you.

checking top stories now. we pause to remember dr. martin luther king jr. today. many people will celebrate the day by visiting the new memorial in d.c. dedicated to him. it's the first mlk day, by the way, since it was completed. and the nationwide strike in nigeria over skyrocketing fuel costs have stopped for now. labor union leaders are temporarily halting the protests that threatened to shut down nigeria's oil production. it all started last week when the government decided to eliminate the country's fuel subsidy. and the company that owns the doomed italian cruise ship

is blaming the captain for the accident that killed at least six people and left about 16 others unaccounted for. costa's chairman and ceo just said a short time ago the captain deviated from a well established sea route. he also added, there's no evidence that any of the 2,000 tons of fuel aboard has leaked into the sea yet. well, the search for more cruise ship survivors off the coast of italy has been put on hold. bad weather apparently is one of the reasons. rob marciano has been following the conditions over there. now, when we talked to dan rivers, it looked like a beautiful day and he said it looked like it had resumed. what do you know? >> during the crash and yesterday, the weather has been fine. visibility good, seas relatively light. but today, conditions have gone down just a little bit. we've got a low or a storm right in through here heading across spain. and basically, winds are kicking up out of the southeast across the western coastline of italy. so because of that, we've got winds and high surf. so to just give you an idea of

what the temperatures are like there, water temperatures are around 57 degrees fahrenheit. air temperatures in the 40s. so obviously, winter conditions prevail across the mediterran n mediterranean. to give you an idea what the route of this thing was, there is -- it left just north of rome. was supposed to go up the northern coast of italy. and then cruise right past giglio. and as it did that, it came just a little bit too close and some reports are that it does that from time to time to give the tourists a bit of a buzz or some excitement there. obviously, whether that was the case or not, we don't know for sure. we do know the results, and right now they are struggling with bad conditions there. kyra? >> rob, thanks. well, gop front-runner mitt romney has said if elected president, he would deport illegal immigrants within 90 days, and build a border fence between the u.s. and mexico. bum but mexico holds a special cigs in his family.

>> reporter: in the rolling hills of northern mexico about, 180 miles south of the u.s. border, lies a community that stands out for its religious roots. >> we established apple orchards, peach orchards, farms, ranches. that's basically what we do today. >> reporter: miles romney is the descendant of mormons who settled the area more than 125 years ago. >> well, we come from a hard-working family. we come from honest people. >> reporter: his great grandfather led the first group of mormons to the state of chihuahua, the same family that the family of mitt romney can trace its heritage. in fact, mitt romney's father, george, who also ran for president in the united states, was born in this area himself. miles anthony romney is mitt's second cousin. miles is so proud of mitt's political career that he managed to get a romney bumper sticker sent to mexico and he also displays the romney name on his window. and he can understand why mitt

romney's religion is an issue for some people. >> i think it's just a misunderstanding on their part. i know people try to use that against mitt. but they just can't find anything on him to dig up about him. >> reporter: the first romneys arrived this part of mexico around 1885. they came from utah, where as mormons they faced religious persecution and were not allowed to practice polygamy. there are still about 40 members of the romney family here in colonial juarez, who can trace their roots back to first settlers. >> it was actually a very small percentage of the church that practiced provincial government a politician politician no, ma'am. >> his cousin says they haven't practiced polygamy since the last 1800s when the church banned it. >> again, that was ralphio romo. join wolf blitzer and the best political team on television for live coverage of jon huntsman announce.

scheduled for 11:00 eastern today. you can see it right here live in the cnn newsroom. straight ahead, ricky gervais proves once again holding back just isn't his thing. >> the golden globes are to the oscars what kim kardashian is to kate middleton basically. >> more highlights from last night's golden globe awards in just a few minutes.

a southern california man is accused of trying to poison his wife. the 43-year-old allegedly put the cleaning chemical goof off into his wife's cereal. she is expected to survive. he is expected to be charged with attempted murder. encouraging news on a fuel delivery to nome, alaska. a coast guard cutter helped get the fuel tanker through 300 miles of ice. workers have now been placing a hose down to transfer the fuel from the tanker. and that could happen sometime today. and i dos on ice. this minnesota couple decided to have their wedding on a frozen lake. everyone rode onto the event on snowmobiles and then once vows were exchanged, you got it, they sped off into the frozen tundra bliss. george clooney and meryl

streep won big last night at the golden globes, but they weren't the only ones. aj hammer was there. and he's got all the scoop for us. including the host who threatened to steal the show. >> nervous? don't be. this isn't about you. >> right out of the gate, the golden globes were about host ricky gervais and the acid tongue brit started off by taking a shot at the show itself. >> the golden globes are to the oscars what kim kardashian is to kate middleton. >> "showbiz tonight" can report that neither middleton nor kardashian was at the event, but madonna was, and gervais took aim. >> and she's just like a virgin. >> and i'm still just like a virgin, ricky, then why don't you come over here and do something about? >> and although he made network execs sweat, he wasn't the entire focus of the show. after all, there were awards to

hand out. here on the red carpet, everybody buzzing with anticipation about who would walk home with a golden globe tonight. >> "the descendants." >> "the descendants" and "the artist" took home top honors. shown it was not without unscripted moments. merrill streyl streep forget he. and george clooney took pitt's cane. >> thank you. >> making hollywood's leading man a leading contender for oscar gold. >> aj hammer waking up early for us now, live out of los angeles. so what do you think? what did the reviews for ricky gervais? he was a little tame, wasn't he? >> i thought so. i mean, he still took some shots, kyra. but the feeling this morning is

he seemed to be pouring on a little more charm than his acid tongue this year. i'm not sure if kim kardashian or nbc would agree with that. but i thought going into it would be all bets off for ricky, with the idea that he basically had nothing to lose. and he was much tamer than a lot of people thought he would be. that said, i thought he was still terrific. and funny. it's just not the headline that he was a year ago today. you remember, kyra, a year ago today, he's all we were talking about. >> you think he'll be back next year? >> well, it's difficult to say. he did say that nbc would be sure to ask him back if he did hammer everybody like he did last year. and since he didn't do that, maybe they won't ask him back. i don't know. but, look, he a terrific host, taking nothing away. i think the bar was set pretty high for him to be going after people. and, i don't know, i don't really believe that ricky feels he needs to ingratiate himself to the hollywood community, but he seemed to be doing a bit of that last night. >> including taking up a list of

the things he wasn't supposed to do. he did play by the rules of sorts. thanks, aj. stay with us. more inside the golden globes with aj in our next hour. coming up, jon huntsman is expected to call it quits in just about an hour or so. do you think you'll see him again? there's been talk this was just a trial run for 2016. we're talking about it right after the break. but if you takey the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the storybook narrator... [ man ] you're left with more electric trucks. more recycled shipping materials... and a growing number of lower emissions planes... which still makes for a pretty enchanted tale. ♪ la la la [ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter.

well, hunts mahbanoozadeh out ofman >> jon huntsman is out of the hunt. let's get to will cain and lj granderson. that ticket to new hampshire ended up being more like the long and winding road. will we see huntsman again? lz? >> this was a tough weekend for me. first, drew brees loses. then my packers. and now huntsman is out. i got nothing. i got nothing. i'm disappointed. you know, i really thought he was going to stick around, if nothing else, to continue on having a sort of conversation of being moderate. being conservative but not being socially irresponsible. and to see him out is sad to me. is he around for 2016? that's a very interesting question, because it suggests that mitt romney, if he is the primary ticket winner, is going

to lose to president obama. so if that happens, and if it's 2016 and we're cleaning house, yeah, i think you see him back. but obviously, if romney and whoever wins the primary ends up in the white house, then, you know, now we're looking at 2020. and i don't think so. >> will, what do you think? he is the youngest out of all of the candidates and some say this was a trial run for 2016. >> before we get to 2016, can we not throw dirt on his 2012 campaign for one moment and analyze one thing about it? >> i thought you were going to talk about drew brees. >> i am. watch this. lz's affiliation to jon huntsman is as confusing his statement of using we with the packers or my. because lz doesn't play for the saints or the packers, and i don't understand his affiliation with huntsman. here sileis the big question al along. is jon huntsman a conservative? policiwise, he had one of the most conservative tax reforms out there to radically simplify the tax code.

and on financial reform, a radical plan to break up the banks. if they are too big to fail, they are too big to exist. so it brings up the question, what is a conservative? why are people in the news calling jon huntsman a moderate? it says to me we define these men more by their style and opinions on civil unions and gay marriage than by their policy proposals. and i don't think that is appropriate. you want to talk about 2016, kyra, let me say this. jon huntsman needs to take lessons from this campaign. he is responsible for this. he painted himself as a moderate. he consistently threw conservatives under the bus, and pandered to the left. what i don't understand is why anybody was unable to look past this. because he really was a conservative guy. by the time we get to 2016, it's going to be crowded. paul ryan. possibly kris kristoffersocys c. >> i have to of coursa you guys a totally different subject here. rick perry was on cnn "state of the union" with candy crowley

and she asked him about that video showing u.s. marine urinating on enemy corpses. listen to his sentence, and i want your reaction. >> the idea that this administration would go after these young people for a criminal act is again -- i think it is over the top, and did they make a mistake? absolutely. should they be reprimanded and appropriately punished? yes. but going after them as a criminal act, i think really bad message. >> guys, this story has sparked a lot of outrage at home and abroad. defense secretary leon panetta said he is deeply troubled. what do you make of perry sort of saying that, you know, kids making a mistake response? lz. >> you know, this goes back to -- i wrote a piece last year in which i said if president obama was to turn water into wine, republicans would accuse him of being a wineo. and i feel this is the same line

of thinking, and that is that there is nothing that president obama can do that would please someone like a rick perry. there will always be criticism. i don't think anyone sees anything wrong with being as aggressive as possible, sending a message, not just to the people in our armed forces here but abroad that we're going to hold the u.s. to the same standard we want everyone else to be at. and for him to suggest that we just dismiss this, just tells you just what he lacks in terms of foreign policy and understanding international and global politics. it's very amateurish. >> will? >> you know, i think there's a place in this conversation, kyra, to push back on the outrage. i think it's just a little too easy for pundits in new york that sit around tables to default to outrage. i will say this. we put these men in very strenuous circumstances, and we teach them to take away the lives of their enemies. that's much worse than urinating on their bodies after they're dead. what i'm saying is, if you put men in this situation, and train them to do that, and then you

expect them to flip a switch back into civilization, to all of a sudden abide by the rules we do back here in civilized society, i think you're just asking a difficult thing. bear in mind i'm not dismissing these men. i don't think rick perry is either, by the way. i'm not excusing it either. i'm just saying, tap the brakes on the outrage every once in a while. you've never been there. you don't know. you might not know completely what you're talking about. >> will, lz, happy monday. thanks, guys. today we pay tribute to dr. martin luther king and his message of nonviolent social change. take a listen to some students as they recite passages from "i have a dream" from the steps of the lincoln memorial. >> the militancy which has engulfed the negro slave and the negro community must now be extended as evidence by their presence here today have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. >> and they have come to realize that their freedom is

intrickably bound to our freedom. >> we cannot walk alone. >> and as we walk, we must make a pledge that we shall always march ahead. >> but not only that. let freedom ring from the stone mountain of georgia. >> let freedom ring from lookout mountain of tennessee. >> let freedom ring from every hill and hole molehill in mississippi. >> let freedom ring. >> and when this happens, we let freedom ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city -- >> we will be able to speed up that day when all of god's children, black men and white men, jews and gentiles, protestants and catholic -- >> will join hands and sing the words of the old negro spiritual, free at last, free last, thank god almighty, we are free at last! [ cheers and applause ] so get your fabulous, food-loving self ready.

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♪ four nfl teams still with a shot at winning the super bowl, and here's how two of them advanced on sunday, in case you missed it. the packers playing the giants at lambeau field. new york quarterback eli manning throwing the hail mary pass just before halftime. hakeem nicks goes up to make the great grab. yes, giants took a 20-10 lead and never looked back.

manning finished with three touchdown passes, out-playing aaron rodgers. giants win 37-20 and move on. sunday's other playoff game in baltimore. first quarter, ravens quarterback joe flacco hits anquan boldin for a touchdown. ravens led the texans 7-3. baltimore takes control of the game. fourth quarter, less than 2 minutes to go, houston's t.j. yates. there you go, tryi ining for a . he's intercepted by ed reed. ravens hang on to win 20-13. all right, here's your playoff schedule for next sunday. ravens take on the patriots 3:00 p.m. eastern, 49ers host the giants 6:30 p.m. eastern. winners going to the super bowl. mike pasta is joining me next hour to break down the weekend games and looking ahead to the big goal. we have lots of developments next hour in the "cnn news room." first to alison kosik. >> with so many states swimming in red ink, some lawmakers are saying it's time to take from

the rich to make ends meet. i'll tell you which states are lining up first in the next hour. i'm joe johns in myrtle beach, south carolina. jon huntsman expected to get out of the race for president, going to make an announcement in just a little while. a candidacy that never really caught on. i'll have that coming up at the top of the hour. hi, there. i'm zain verjee in london, and in a few minutes, i'll tell you what newspapers around the world are saying about the cruise disaster in italy. kyra? >> all right, guys, thanks so much. and also, we're going to hear from our political buzz panel on what's ahead for jon huntsman's daughters. they made a pretty big splash campaigning for their dad. he might be quitting the race, but well, we get the feeling we haven't heard the last from the john 2012 girls. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band.

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honoring mlk. let's go straight to the president of the united states. he's at the brown education campus in d.c. >> i'm not going to make a long speech, because we're here to do some work. but mainly, what i want to do just to say thank you to all of you for participating. i know there are a lot of organizations that are represented here today. we are so glad to be at this outstanding school where we're going to be doing a whole bunch of stuff to make the facilities even better than they already are. but, you know, this is the third year now that michelle, malia,

and usually sasha's here, she couldn't make it today, that we provide or engage in some sort of service on dr. king's birthday. and there's no better way to celebrate dr. king than to do something on behalf of others. you know, i know there's been a lot of controversy lately about the quote on the memorial, and they're changing it and making some modifications. but you know, if you look at that speech, talking about dr. king as a drum major, what he really said was that all of us can be a drum major for service, all of us can be a drum major for justice. you know, there's nobody who can't serve, nobody who can't help somebody else. and whether you're 7 or 6, or whether you're 76, you can find

opportunities to make an enormous difference in your community. and you know, at a time when the country's been going through some difficult economic times, for us to be able to come together as a community, people from all different walks of life, and make sure that we're giving back, that's ultimately what makes us the strongest, most extraordinary country on earth, is because we pull together. when times are good, but also when times are hard. and you guys all represent that. so, on behalf of our family, we want to say thank you. i'm sure dr. king, were he here, he'd want to say thank you. and i lock forward to spending some time next to you guys. hopefully, i have some good instructors here so that i don't mess anything up. so, if you're putting the paint brush in my hands, make sure that i've got some very clear lines, and i'll try to stay within them, all right? thank you, everybody.

god bless you. thank you. >> the president and his family visiting the brown education campus in d.c. but of course, taking a moment to honor dr. martin luther king's birthday, his life and legacy. five more days until the presidential primary in south carolina and only minutes until that republican field gets a bit less crowded. at the top of the hour, we are told that jon huntsman is going to announce that he's quitting the race, and our joe johns is in myrtle beach, south carolina, for us. so, joe, what do we expect him to say? >> reporter: well, number one, kyra, we do expect him to turn and throw his support to mitt romney, which seems a little bit incongruous, of course, because jon huntsman has fired a number of attacks at mitt romney during the course of this campaign. huntsman still defends his candidacy. it's also interesting, kyra, i think we have to say that there's been a lot of speculation that jon huntsman might very well be in the mix

four years from now in the event the republican nominee does not defeat president obama, and he's on his way out after eight years. so, jon huntsman expected to make that announcement at 11:00 eastern time. we're told this was a family decision. it's also just a little bit surprising, because he just got the endorsement here of a big newspaper. and a lot of people were thinking jon huntsman might have a chance to show what he could do. on the other hand, there were many who said the writing was on the wall, huntsman's candidacy simply did not catch on. part of it because he's very conservative, but he worked for president obama as the envoy, the diplomat in china, and that, of course, caused a big problem for him because people just couldn't see how he was a conservative at the same time working for this president of the united states, kyra. >> so, joe, let me ask you, i had a chance to interview huntsman last week. i asked him specifically about this tension between him and romney. you guys don't seem to like each other, is how i posed the

question. he said, oh, no, i really respect him, he's a good, family guy. yet when i talk to you and our other political reporters, apparently, these two camps hate each other. when come forward and endorse romney? >> reporter: well, the writing's on the wall. you look at romney, he's doing very well here in south carolina. also, very much a reality that if romney wins here, it's going to be very hard for any of the others in the field to beat. and of course, huntsman was really pretty much running at the bottom of the pack and wasn't getting any traction at all here in south carolina. so, you know, why stand in the way of something that looks like it's about to happen? and on the other side of that, if you're in good stead, if you will, with the nominee going forward, maybe something will work out, either a convention or you keep those lines of communication open. who knows what comes to jon huntsman down the road, kyra. >> joe johns in myrtle beach for us. thanks, joe.

you can join wolf blitzer and the best political team on television for live coverage of jon huntsman's announcement. it's scheduled for the top of the hour, 11:00 eastern. you can see it right here in the "cnn newsroom." well, clearly, huntsman was never a game-changer when he was in the race, but will his departure make a difference? political editor paul steinhauser with us. let's talk about the bottom line here -- does the political landscape shift at all, paul? >> kyra, i don't want to rain on jon huntsman's parade, but not so much. look, take a look at this. this was our poll from friday, cnn/orc. this is a national poll of republicans. and while the left side, that's with huntsman. the right side, without huntsman. there's not much change there. look, other than romney going up a slight two points within the sampling error, not a lot of difference there. he had a third-place finish in new hampshire, probably as good as it got, probably not polling very good in south carolina. not a lot of impact on the race. >> tea party holding its

convention, not getting behind romney. so, if he doesn't get the support of the tea party, can he move on and actually win the presidency? >> yeah, he could. he could. he definitely could win the nomination, because it seems like conservatives are divided right now between santorum, between gingrich, perry and paul. live pictures right now we have of the tea party patriots. they are meeting in myrtle beach, south carolina, not far from where you saw joe johns. teaming up in the south carolina tea party coalition, and they're having all the candidates, yesterday and today, speak at this convention. that comes before tonight's big debate there. but kyra, yeah, not a lot of love lost with the tea party movement, a lot of the activists here when it comes to mitt romney. but our polling indicates that among tea party supporters, they do have some support for mitt romney. >> evangelical leaders meeting over the weekend. the endorsement not romney. they're backing santorum. let's talk about that impact. >> listen, rick santorum, former pennsylvan

pennsylvania senator, reaching out to social conservatives. i guess it's no surprise that the social conservative leaders in texas over the weekend, after three ballots overwhelmingly chose santorum over gingrich. romney was not a factor, really, in the voting, but the leader said that his mormon faith was not, not a factor. does this help santorum? he's got six days now to capitalize on this until the primary in south carolina. he needs to work on that immediately, because listening, social conservatives, to a degree, are pretty much a factor in south carolina, kyra. >> thanks, paul. be sure to watch cnn thursday night to hear the candidates in their own words. the ads have been pretty nasty, but will the candidates keep up the pressure face to face? the cnn southern republican leadership conference debate comes your way thursday night, 8:00 eastern. we're getting more new details about that cruise ship that ran aground friday night off of italy. we know that the captain took the ship too close to shore. cruise line ceo says that rocks which sank the ship are clearly marked on the charts. the search was suspended for a

while today because the ship started moving, and that posed a threat to divers. but we're told the search has resumed, and we're hearing more stories of chaos from the survivors. >> there wasn't anybody to help you. i mean, really, the passengers were loading the lifeboats by themselves. >> we had the boat about four or five gates down before we found a lifeboat we could get into, and then the people were very angry that we got on that lifeboat because it was very crowded. >> the crew was so young. and you would have thought they could have handled it better. you would have thought they could have handled it better on the shore, you would have thought they could have handled, you know, getting people off the boat, warning people. >> it was just bad, like mad scrambles to get on the lifeboats. nobody followed any procedures. the crew was yelling for people to wait their turn. and pretty much, it was just a giant every man for himself to get on to the lifeboats, the first ones before they were even lowered. >> and we will talk to dan rivers just shortly. he's obviously following all the

developments on this story for us. we will check in with him. the capsized cruise ship dominates headlines around the world. zain verjee is reading up on the reaction out of london. zain? >> good morning, kyra. the ceo of costa cruises spoke at a press conference today and basically said he was really sorry, that they believe it was human error and that there is an investigation. let me give you a flavor of the headlines. "the guardian" here in the uk says this -- "floating hotels that can be sunk by a rock." it goes on to say that "this incident raises the specter of the kind of disaster the cruise industry and its passengers hoped was long past -- ships costing the better part of $1 billion can still be holed by a rock." "the globe and mail" has this -- on a picturesque italian shore, an incomprehensible mishap. just last summer, the mayor of jig jilo wrote a letter to thank the "costa concordia" for giving

his island an incredible spectacle. but no cruise ship has ever performed as close to an island as this." finally, "blind panic in a floating city island." "this type of cruise ship is truly a floating city, which is not a bad thing if everything runs smoothly, but in an accident, it means you have a mass of people unable to evacuate quickly and calmly." >> i understand we've connected now with dan rivers, calling in to us there from the scene of where that ship went down. dan, have you been able to confirm if the rescuers have been able to start up their search again? >> reporter: well, it certainly seems there's much more activity around the wreck now. i'm on a clifftop overlooking it, and it is just the most jaw-dropping sight. but as i talk to you, there are tugs approaching it again. they had all backed off for several hours after the ship was

beginning to shift. we saw helicopters coming in and plucking firefighters off the wreck because they were obviously concerned for their safety. i haven't seen anyone go back on, but we don't have a full view of the other side of the ship, obviously. so, there's a possibility the firefighters have managed to get back on again and continue their search. everyone we talked to overnight last night, they said they weren't going to give up hope until they had verified that every single one of those 2,000-odd cabins had been thoroughly checked and there was no chance of finding any more survivors. i think, you know, obviously, getting on for three days now since this happened, the chance of finding anyone alive is dwindling, but they seem determined that they're going to be as exhaustive and thorough as possible. >> dan rivers calling in to us there from the site in italy. dan, thanks so much. we'll have more from the "cnn newsroom" straight ahead. on my ,

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have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. taking stories now "cross country," anaheim, california police identified 23-year-old itzcoatl ocampo as the man who's been targeting and killing homeless people. witnesses say that they saw him allegedly stabbing a homeless man to death on friday. several of them chased ocampo, later leading police right to him. and in seattle, police are bracing for an icy morning commute followed by another round of snow and rain. then we head over to the florida keys for this. [ cheers and applause ] taking part in a different kind of therapy, swimming with dolphins it was just one unique

stop within a three-day soldier ride cycling event organized by the wounded warrior project. all right, well, brace yourself if you live in the pacific northwest. you're going to see plenty of snow this week, at least that's what our rob marciano has to say. what do you think? >> we have already seen snow across parts of the northwest. a lot of people haven't seen much of it this winter, but last week, obviously, chicago, places across the great lakes saw a decent amount of snow. roll the video, if we have it, from seattle. this is from yesterday. and depending on where you live, you got stuff like this, a couple of three inches sticking to the roadways, causing all sorts of havoc. and you know, in and around the greater seattle area, lots of hills, so that could mean whether or not you got home or not or slid back down the hill. this is a usual sight for the higher elevations, but to get it in the low country of the emerald city, that is certainly unusual. currently, temperatures right around the freezing mark and we've got a lot of cold air barreling down finally from alaska. remember, all the snow, all that cold air that was up in alaska, record-setter there. some of that's finally getting

released into parts of the northwest. now we've got another system as well that's going to be heading in this general vicinity. so, with the jet stream getting a little more active, getting a little further to the south, that's where we're going to start to pile up stuff. winter storm watches have just been posted now for the next batch coming into portland and seattle. could see several inches of snow in those two cities, especially seattle, timing of which would be late tomorrow and then into wednesday morning, and then eventually, this will warm up to more of a rain event as we go towards thursday and friday. but until then, it's certainly -- oh, want to show you one other thing. until then, it looks to be fairly impressive. also, what is less impressive right now, what's going to get more impressive, is this batch of rain that's moving across the south into what is chilly air across the northeast. i don't have to tell you that. if you live in the northeast, temperatures this morning in some spots were up to 26 degrees below zero in upstate new york, 22 right now in new york city and 22 degrees in philadelphia. we do have winter weather advisories that have been posted

north and west of the city for some sleet, snow and freezing rain late tonight. kyra, back over to you. >> all right, rob, thanks. checking out the candidates' cribs. so, what are these gop presidential candidates leaving behind if they move to pennsylvania avenue? stay with us. ♪ there's a place i dream about ♪ ♪ where the sun never goes out ♪ ♪ and the sky is deep and blue ♪ ♪ won't you take me american flight 280 to miami is now ready for boarding. ♪ there with you fly without putting your life on pause. be yourself. nonstop. american airlines.

well, the nation is honoring the life and legacy of dr. martin luther king jr. today, and this year, people can observe the day by visiting the new memorial in d.c. that's dedicated to the slain civil rights leader. white house correspondent dan lothian joining us now. we just heard from the president speaking to a group of students there in d.c.

what's his next stop, dan? >> reporter: that's right, at brown education campus, it's an elementary and middle school. it's two-fold for the president and first family today. they're, on the one hand, honoring dr. king, his legacy, but they're also trying to draw attention to something that's been very important for this white house, and that is service in the community. and so, the president, the first lady and one of his daughters will be at this school, or are at this school. we believe they'll be doing things like painting, fixing up the school, similar to what they did last year at another school here in d.c., where they were also involved in a painting project. in addition to today's visit, the president yesterday and the first family did attend a church service here in washington, the zion baptist church. it was the first time there. the program obviously focused on dr. king and his legacy. and then they wrap up the day at the kennedy center, where there will be a musical celebration honoring dr. king. >> all right.

dan lothian at the white house. dan, thanks. well, as many states struggle to make ends meet, some are turning to their wealthiest residents to bring in some much-needed revenue. alison kosik in our new york bureau. alison, this is a pretty big shift from even last year. >> reporter: exactly, and this has just been a huge issue in washington, whether or not the uber rich are pairing their fair share in taxes. now what we're seeing is this is really beginning to bubble to the surface at the state level, and it's all about how states are having trouble in bringing in more revenue. so, what's happening now is at least two governors, kyra, are getting ready to hike taxes on millionaires. now, up until recently, many had been reluctant to go ahead and raise taxes in general. maryland, new jersey and oregon, they all let their millionaire taxes lapse, but spending cuts alone, they have just not been enough to close the big budget deficits that these states face. so, in new york, governor andrew cuomo ended up hiking the tax on the rich after initially refusing to renew the state's

millionaire tax. and in california, governor jerry brown is banking on voters to approve an almost $7 billion package in november. and what that would look to do is create three new tax brackets from 2013 to 2016, and it would mean that single taxpayers would pay an extra 1 percentage point on income over $250,000, 1.5 points if you make $300,000, and 2 points on earnings over $500,000. kyra? >> well, of course, conservatives aren't happy with any of this. >> reporter: right. well, i mean, most conservatives actually acknowledge that these millionaire taxes will bring in a good amount of short-term money, but they do argue that state economies will be hurt in the long run. they call these taxes a job-killer. one official says that higher rates are only going to push wealthy people to move out of those states that have these kinds of laws, limiting economic growth. but you know, it's become apparent in many states that something needs to be done to dig out of these very deep holes. if you want to read more about this today, of course, you can

go to cnnmoney.com to get more on this issue. kyra? >> all right, alison kosik, thanks so much. still to come, what does our political buzz panel think about jon huntsman's daughters? they created a lot of buzz campaigning for their dad. he may be quitting the race, but maybe we haven't heard the last from the jon 2012 girls. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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have stopped for now. labor union leaders are temporarily halting the protests that threatened to shut down nigeria's oil production. it all started last week when the government decided to eliminate the country's fuel subsidies. and the company that owns the doomed italian cruise ship blames the captain for the accident that's killed at least six people and left about 16 others unaccounted for. costa's chairman and ceo says a short time ago, the captain deviated from a well-established sea route. he also added that there's no evidence that any of the 2,000 tons of fuel aboard that ship has leaked into the sea. all right, time for "political buzz," your rapid-fire look at the best political topics of the day. three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. and playing today, cnn contributor maria cardona, political analyst professor jason johnson and cnn contributor will cain. first question, guys -- jon huntsman, he was the guy that the white house saw as the biggest threat to president obama.

he ignored iowa, finished a weak third in new hampshire, where he put all his focus, and then he's going to drop out next hour. so, do you think we're going to see him again in 2016, maria. >> well, i think it depends on two things, kyra. the first is what he does from now until 2016 to maintain himself relevant and continue to be part of the conversation. but the second and most important thing, i think, is whether the republican party continues its rapid lurch to the right. if that happens, then i think it's going to be very difficult for jon huntsman to run. because even though he was a fiscal conservative, republicans would not get over the fact that he actually was rational, he believed in science, he believed in evolution, he believed in climate change and he was not ready to give up his principle and his values to say and do whatever needed to be done in order to get elected. >> will? >> 2016 is a world away. it's forever. it's impossible to know what his position or the entire field of candidates, both on the left and the right, might be at that time. that said, if huntsman decides

he wants to run in 2016, he can take massive lessons from his 2012 campaign. don't paint yourself as a moderate. don't call yourself that. don't appeal to democrats and throw conservatives under the bus in a primary. don't run a general election campaign in a primary election. all that being said, four years away, 2016, if some of the predictions are true, christine, ryan, i don't see his place in a field like that. >> jason? >> look, the republicans have such a great farm team. let's say barack obama gets re-elected in 2012. they've got nikki haley, they've got marco rubio. jon huntsman is going to look like a throwback to the early 2000s that nobody wants to deal with again. so, i think once he makes his announcement, endorses mitt romney, he's going to ride off into the sunset like so many other republican candidates of the past. republicans need to be looking toward the future. and if mitt romney actually ends up winning the election, then definitely there is no room for jon huntsman in any position except maybe going back to the administration as some kind of ambassador. he's got no future in 2016. >> all right. talking about the future, guys,

it's looking like romney. anything is possible, though. let's just put it out there. but hypothetically speaking, if it's a romney versus obama matchup, where does obama hammer romney the hardest? will? >> i mean, i think where he should hammer him the hardest, what would probably be the most effective in my mind would be to continue to press on this flip-flopper thing, that he's been on both sides of so many different issues. that i think will be the most effective. i anticipate that's not what he'll do, or that would be his "b" game, his jv strategy. the main game will be hammer on him because he's rich. play the inequality, the bane card. play that over and over and i have skepticism over whether or not that will work. >> maria? >> i think it will be to hammer him on the exact same things that romney has handed him and the democrats on a silver platter, and it's not to hammer him because he's rich, it's to hammer him because he does not understand one i yoda what middle class and working class families are going through, and he has said things to underscore that -- that he likes to fire

people, making $10,000 bets like it's 10 cents to you and me, belittling a tax cut for middle class families like a temporary band-aid. this is somebody that does not understand middle class families and what they're going through and wants to put in place policies that put middle class families in a hardship to begin with. >> jason? >> look, if we've got a ten-month race between mitt romney and barack obama, it's going to be tough. it's like frasier and niles arguing. these are two guys who are kind of out of touch with a lot of regular people. but i think obama's main argument is going to be, as out of touch i am and as many mistakes i've made, this guy is even worse. he'll go through everything. he's going to talk about bane capital, he'll talk about how mitt romney flip-flops, he's going to talk about how even when mitt romney helps someone like in south carolina yesterday, he had $150 in his pocket, barack obama is going to throw every single thing he can at mitt romney throughout this campaign and see which sticks because he certainly can't talk about his own record. >> jason, did you say frasier and niles? >> yes. >> i love it! all right, your "buzzer beater," 20 seconds each on this one,

guys. jon huntsman's exit means his daughters, the jon 2012 girls, stars of social media as we know, are going to have to find something else to do. and we were kind of thinking maybe "dancing with the stars," i don't know, reality show. what's next for them, maria? >> i think they have a bright future. they could direct somebody's social media campaigns, they could be video directors, they could go to hollywood. but i think they should actually run for office. they're beautiful, articulate, they're smart, and especially republicans in the house need a lot more beauty and certainly a lot mover brains. >> jason? >> look, i really think they're more of an amazing race kind of group. they can make lots of allegories to their father's race. they can say, hey, hopefully, we'll be less than 4% behind the rest of the candidates. i think the three of them are very witty, charming, engaging, but politics is not the way they want to go. i think america likes seeing young, active generation xers who aren't just politically minded. so "amazing race" is their

future. >> will? >> i think politics is the last place to be. i don't think they helped their father's campaign all that much. but i think we can agree the jon 2012 girls don't need to go away. they can stick around. we can find a place for them somewhere in this world of television, right? somewhere. >> they would dominate "american idol," let me tell you! have you heard them all sing? they can start a band with their dad, there you go, go on tour. thanks, guys. >> i like that. >> there we go. appreciate it. thanks so much. >> thanks, kyra. >> be sure to watch cnn thursday night to hear the candidates in their own words. the ads have been pretty nasty, but will the candidates keep up the pressure face to face? the cnn southern republican leadership conference debate comes your way thursday night, 8:00 eastern. and the six republican candidates looking to upgrade their address to 1600 pennsylvania avenue, but as cnn's kate bolduan reports, it's not like they're giving up one-bedroom apartments where they are now. >> sometimes, i just don't think that president obama understands america. >> reporter: candidates often talk about their roots, saying

where they came from tells you a lot about who they are. >> grew up in a house that had no indoor plumbing. but i didn't know about what i didn't have. what i did know was what i had. >> reporter: but while they try to relate to the common man on the campaign trail, what they go home to may not seem so common. multimillionaire mitt romney owns several properties, including this beach front home in la hoya, california. real estate website zillow values the spanish-style house at just under $10 million. jon huntsman purchased his d.c. townhouse for over $3.5 million, while he was still living in beijing serving as u.s. ambassador. >> everything i have is paid off, my home, my cars, everything. >> reporter: and that "everything" for former speaker newt gingrich includes this four-bedroom pad in mcclain, virginia, currently valued at $1.3 million, 30% above purchase

price. >> i have one rental house in wisconsin that has a modest mortgage. >> reporter: sharing a virginia address, rick santorum. he purchased this four-bedroom, five-bath home with a heated pool in great falls, virginia, for $2 million back in 2007. >> so, i told people, i said i was an original conservationist. in wintertime, we didn't spend a lot of time in the water. we didn't waste too much water with the number two washtub on that back porch. >> reporter: rick perry hangs his hat in a rental property in austin right now, while the texas governor's mansion is undergoing $20 million in renovations. you'll find a very different setup, though, for congressman ron paul in lake jackson, texas. he's currently selling his four-bedroom house for $325,000, though zillow values the property $60,000 less. you can find out much more about the homes behind the presidential candidates at cnnmoney.com. but of course, we don't want to leave president obama out. the obamas purchased their chicago home back in 2005 for

about $1.6 million. it's estimated to be worth $1.3 million now. kate bolduan, cnn, washington. well, the "golden globes" kick off the unofficial start of the awards season. we've got the highlights with our a.j. hammer.

all right, george clooney and meryl streep won big at last night's "golden globes awards"

show and "showbiz tonight's" a.j. hammer was there. so, a.j., you know the word that this is a preview of the oscars. so, what do you think? >> well, that's what everybody says, kyra. i think in some cases, for sure it was, but the "globes" really haven't been the best predictor in terms of oscar winners over the past couple years, at least. however, george clooney taking home the best actor in a drama award for "the descendants," i think he definitely has become the front runner for an oscar and he had one of the best moments of the night. he took the stage, as you'll see, using a cane. he had that so he could poke fun at pal brad pitt that was brad's cane. brad's dealing with an injury. clooney joke thad pitt wouldn't be able to get to the bar without it. i'm considering that since pitt lost out to clooney in the best actor category, clooney might owe him a drink, or maybe it's the other way around. i'm not sure. >> either way, they're best friends and love to jab at each other, right? so, if clooney is the best actor front-runner, a.j., who's the favorite for best actress? >> i think this is going to be a tight race at the oscars this

year. you have meryl streep, named best actress in a drama for margaret thatcher in "the iron lady," then michelle williams won for best actress in a comedy or musical for marilyn monroe in "my week with marilyn." and this is where things at the globes get muddled for the oscars. both of these so brilliant, i'm not sure who i'd favor in the oscar race. although if streep wins, hopefully, she'll remember her reading glasses when she gets on stage. she forgot them last night. and one of the great moments, she got bleeped by the sensors. who thought that would happen to meryl streep? she was genuine and humbled after all these years. it was great to see. >> she's an incredible individual. after last night, did you see a favorite for best picture? >> again, i think this will be another tight race between two winners from the globes. you have "the descendants" and "the artist," taking home top film honors in respective categories for best drama and best musical and comedy. "the descendants" was clearly seen by more people and is more

popular and you would think it would be the favorite. but you know, "the artist" really appeals to people in the movie industry. that's who votes for oscars, and the silent movie took home three awards. they got the best picture nod and star john dejordan won for best actor as well. so maybe clooney does have competition going into oscar night. it will be a tight race there as well, probably. >> all right, we'll be watching closely. a.j., thank so much. and if you want all information on everything breaking in the entertainment world, a.j.'s got every night. "showbiz tonight," 11:00 p.m. eastern on hln. well, god may not be a denver broncos fan after all. we'll talk about that and what else we've learned from the weekend's nfl playoff games, next. and the mother of a minnesota groom says he and his fiancee got married in a very minnesota way. the ice-fishing "i-dos," next. i'd race down that hill without a helmet.

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learn more at lipitorforyou.com. checking stories "cross country" now. a southern california man is accused of trying to poison his wife. 33-year-old fernando porras allegedly put the cleaning chemical goof-off into her

cereal. she is expected to survive and he is expected to be charged with attempted murder. and encouraging news. on a fuel delivery, the coast guard cutter he did it. 300 miles of ice it had to break tlou through. workers were transferring the oil to the tanker through a tube. a minnesota couple decides to have their wedding on a frozen lake. everybody rode up on snowmobiles and once the vows were exchanged, they sped off in the frozen tundra bliss. gop front-runner mitt romney has said that if elected president, he would deport illegal immigrants within 90 days and build a border fence between the u.s. and mexico. but mexico holds a special significance for his family. cnn senior latin american affairs editor rafael romo explains. >> reporter: in the rolling

hills of northern mexico, about 180 miles south of the u.s. border lies a community that stands out for its religious roots. >> we established the apple orchards, peach orchards, farms, ranches. and that's basically what we do today. >> reporter: miles romney is the descendant of mormons who settled in this area more than 125 years ago. >> well, they come from a hard-working family. we come from honest people. >> reporter: his great grandfather led the first group of mormons to the state of chihuahua, the same mormons to whom the family of u.s. presidential candidate mitt romney traces its heritage. in fact, mitt romney's father, george, who also ran for president in the united states, was born in this area himself. miles anthony romney is mitt's second cousin. miles is so proud of mitt's political career that he managed to get a romney bumper sticker sent to mexico, and he also displays the romney name on his window. and he can understand why mitt romney's religion is an issue for some people.

>> i think he's just a misunderstanding on their part. i know people try to use that against mitt, but they just can't find anything on him to dig up about him. >> reporter: the first romneys arrived in this part of mexico around 1885. they came from utah, where as mormons, they faced religious persecution and were not allowed to practice polygamy. there are still about 40 members of the romney family here in colonial juarez, who trace their roots back to the first settl s settlers. >> it was a small percentage of the church that practiced polygamy. >> reporter: and while that percentage included his great grandfather, this other cousin says the church hasn't practiced polygamy since it disbanded in the late 1800s. >> join wolf blitzer and the best political team on television for live coverage of jon huntsman's announcement scheduled for the top of the hour, 11:00 eastern. you can see it live here on cnn.

joe paterno is telling his side of the story. "the washington post" interviewed the former coach about the penn state alleged sex abuse scandal. paterno says an assistant coach told him he saw jerry sandusky abusing a boy in the shower, but paterno says he just didn't know how to handle the information. >> and then i called, you know, my superiors, and i said, "hey, we got a problem, i think. would you guys look into it?" because i didn't know -- you know, i had never had to deal with something like that and i didn't feel adequate. >> paterno also says that he turned the case over to the people he thought would have more expertise than he did at matters like this. authorities have said that legally, paterno did do what he was supposed to do. tim tebow's broncos are out, so are aaron rodgers and the packers, but four teams are still in the hunt for the super bowl. let's bring in our best bud for npr sports, mike peska.

so, mike, what happened to our packers? >> well, they're your packers, kyra, not mine, and what happened was -- >> i'm speaking for me and my producer, okay? >> what happened was osi umenyiora and jason pierre paul and justin tuck -- i'm not going to name the giants defensive line, but they put so much pressure on rodgers that he couldn't really operate the precision offense that the packers have been fielding so far this year. and the other thing that happened, the people talked about the ability of the giants to pressure the quarterback. their other defenders were really good. when we saw aaron rodgers stram bale so many times, that means that packers receivers were being covered. i've likened the packers to the death star, that the way to beat the death star is you don't shoot down all those thai fighters and the big laser gun. you've got to get to it before they launch their attacks on you. association t so, the giants did that, forced fumbles and turnovers and played rell well on offense, also. >> i'm going to move on. i guess god is not a broncos fan

and his nephew showed up tim tebow. >> well, who knows, maybe god is a broncos fan. maybe god can turn water into wine, but defeat his child is another story. maybe the god is all powerful and all knowing, but we're talking about the patriots offense here. those guys are really, really good. i did read a poem that said of the 70% of americans aware of tim tebow, 43% thought that divine intervention was somehow at stake. i think -- you didn't hire me here tomorrow a theologian, but i think what the patriots did offensively put an end to that sort of speculation. it doesn't mean tim tebow isn't a very fine person. but as a quarterback, i think we saw last week what a lot of defensive coordinators throughout the league now, he has a lot of deficiencies as a quarterback and the patriots offense has almost none. >> and i thought you were the sports god. okay. well, what did we learn from this weekend's games, mike, and what should we watch for next sunday? >> you know, i think that there was this thought, there has always been this cliche in the

nfl that defense wins championships, and that's not true. it's not necessarily true. but there was almost an overcorrection to that cliche in that people were saying, well, defense doesn't really matter anymore. you're talking about the saints, the packers and the patriots' offenses, three of the top five offenses in nfl history in terms of yards scored. and people said even though those three teams had bad defenses, that won't affect wins and losses. we saw this week that really good defenses play a part in games. and while i think the packers are going to be, or should beat the ravens, even though the ravens have a good defense, the giants' offense, they're going to struggle against the 49ers' defense. they're so strong and so fast. what the 49ers did to the saints surprised a lot of people. but any of the four teams, any matchup in the super bowl will be compelling. there's a lot of super bowl experience among these four teams. it's going to be, again, another exciting football weekend. >> hey, we'll be watching. thanks so much, mike. >> you're welcome. prostitutes in nevada are

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well, several prostitutes in nevada have really taken a liking to gop presidential candidate ron paul. they like the fact that he supports their right to do what they do, as controversial as it may be. so, guess what? they're trying to help him win. more now with senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen. >> reporter: ron paul's met a lot of his supporters, but he probably hasn't met these women, and they love him. >> the client comes into the bunny ranch and says i'm pimping for paul, they're going to have a real good time, aren't they, girls? >> yeah! >> reporter: dennis hoff owns the bunny ranch. and if the presidential election were held today, there's no question who would win here. the prostitutes at this legal brothel have a pimping for paul campaign, because paul supports their right to make their living this way. >> yes, you have a right to do things that are very controversial.

>> reporter: prostitution is legal in 16 counties in nevada. prostitutes -- they prefer the term working girls -- say this helps protect their health. first, they have the right to reject any customer they don't like. so, you bring a gentleman in here -- >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: and you do an inspection of some kind? >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: what are you looking for? >> we ask him to drop his pants. >> reporter: they're looking for signs of sexually transmitted diseases. >> at that point, say honey, there's a little something here that i'm concerned about. i don't know that it would be in both of our best interests to party here today. why don't you get to a doctor to check that out? >> reporter: second, every customer has to use a condom every time, by law. so, if a guy says to you, hey, a couple hundred bucks if i don't have to use one of these, what do you say to him? >> no, sorry. i mean, even if it's, you know, thousands and thousands of dollars, i look at my health that's involved. i don't know where this guy has been. >> reporter: thirdly, the working girls are checked regularly for sexually transmitted diseases. >> see you in a week. >> all right, doll.

>> reporter: the nevada department of epidemiology says in more than 30 years, there's never been a single case of hiv among legal prostitutes in nevada, but their jobs have come under attack from federal officials. >> the time has come to outlaw prostitution. >> reporter: the working girls want to keep the federal government out of their business, so they're asking customers to donate to paul's campaign on their way out the door. in two days, they raised $587, and they're pimping for more. the owner of the bunny ranch says he tried to give money directly to the ron paul campaign but that a campaign staffer advised him instead to give it to a political action committee that supports ron paul. now, we reached out to the ron paul campaign and we didn't get a response. back to you. well, it's the end of the road for jon huntsman's presidential campaign. in just a few minutes, he'll announce that he's quitting the race. and we'll have live coverage for you with our suzanne malveaux and wolf blitzer. stay with us. [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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and welcome back to "fast forward" to events happening later in the "cnn newsroom." as we've been mentioning, 11:00 eastern, republican candidate jon huntsman expected to announce that he's dropping out of the presidential race. a senior official tells us he'll endorse front-runner mitt romney. we'll be taking that live any minute now, as soon as he steps up to the mike. then at 6:00, president obama and the first lady head to the kennedy center. they'll celebrate martin luther

king day at a "let freedom ring" celebration. and three hours later, the gop candidates square off for a debate in myrtle beach, south carolina. stay tuned for that. that does it for us. happy monday. we'll see you back here tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. eastern, bright and early. suzanne malveaux takes it from here. >> lots of politics. love the politics. >> yes. >> and happy martin luther king day, too, by the way. >> same to you. >> all right. >> we celebrate his life. >> absolutely. live from studio 7, i'm suzanne malveaux. want to get you up to speed for this monday, january 16th. happy martin luther king day. the field of republican presidential candidates is about to get smaller. we are waiting for jon huntsman to announce that he is dropping out of the race. cnn first broke the story that huntsman is going to be pulling the plug on his campaign and endorsing mitt romney. senior campaign official says that huntsman didn't want to stand in the way of the candidate best prepared to beat barack obama. we're going to bring you huntsman's announcement live from myrtle beach, south carolina. it's expected to start in a minute. we'll have the latest on what it means for romney and the rest of

the gop field and the race ahead. want to bring in two of my colleagues. i understand one of them is ready and we'll get joe johns to join us as well to talk about huntsman's decision. joe's in myrtle beach. we'll get to him in a minute, but let's start with wolf blitzer, who's in d.c. and wolf, essentially, how significant is it that now you've got huntsman who is going to be bowing out and he's giving his support to romney? is that really significant in terms of getting all the gop and the republicans behind the front-runner? >> well, it's not going to get them all behind him, but it's certainly going to bring in more of the moderates, less conservative, shall we say, gop primary voters in south carolina. if it is a close contest, and some of the more recent polls showed newt gingrich and mitt romney not all that far apart going into next saturday's primary. whatever huntsman could bring, presumably, most of his supporters will be much more inclined to go along and vote for mitt romney than they will for