right now, out of the hunt. jon huntsman rallies for mitt romney after he decides it's time he steps out of the way. >> i believe it's time frp our party to unite around the candidate best equipped to beat barack obama. >> with five days until it will primary in south carolina, is there any way for these men to stop mitt romney? we'll talk with one writer who says the gop race is the best thing happening in pop culture right now. new accusations pointed at the italian cruise liner still on its side and possibly leaking gasoline into the sea. the search for missing passengers, including two americans continues. people were getting nervous p i was having chest pains. >> paying at the pump in the winter. why gas prices have hit a midwinter record. in some states up an average of 11 cents so far this month. is it hooray for hollywood?

big names win big, but it's a fresh new face who steals hearts with her speech. >> dr. king said it best, all labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and i thank you for recognizing that with our film. >> i'm tamron hall. jon huntsman drops out of the race and warns his party tor unit fyo unite for any chance of winning the white house. >> today i call on each campaign to cease attacking each other and talk directly to the american people about how our conservative ideas will have create job, reduce our nation's death. >> huntsman immediately endorsed

mitt romney calling him the most electable of the bunch. romney said i is a lul jon huntsman and his wife. he ran a spirited campaign based on unity, not division and love of country. i appreciate his friendship and support. it's interesting that mitt romney would bring up the love of country. it was jon huntsman who slammed mitt romney in one of the last debate whether he knows he said he worked for the obama administrati administration. he said i put my country over my party and he puts a compliment regarding that. >> reporter: he said in his words he put politics first, not country. huntsman said we have stop with the negative attacks. he attacked mitt romney as being out of touch. he said he was a job killer, not a job creator.

he also said mitt romney was not electable against barack obama right now. obviously, backing off those statements as we move forward. clearly what happens right now, there's three separate sections, the moderate, the conservative. rick santorum says he has a big boost from about 150 evangelical leaders in texas who gave him their support over the course of the weekend. finally, there's ron paul, the more libertarian. a lot of people are waiting to see whether rick santorum will go after newt gingrich in some way already sharpening his criticism of gingrich to say i'm more electable. i'm the won who won among the conservatives. i believe i have the best shot to defeat mitt romney. as we say that mitt romney's

supporters have been putting out new ads the same way they went after newt gingrich and iowa. >> peter alexander live for us. thank you. what impact, if any, will this have on the race? good to see you michael. >> hi. >> you have some people wondering why jon huntsman chose to get out of the race. why was this the time for him to move on? >> you look at some of the data showing stephen colbert running at the same level or higher than jon huntsman. if he gets out he has a lot of

good will. a third place finish in new hampshire is nothing to be embarrassed out op strong editorial coming out of the strongest newspaper in the state of south carolina. to wait a couple more days and have the polls continue to show you're still behind colbert. this is probably the last possibly moment where he gets out with his dignity intact. >> he's praising mitt romney as the most electable. we have sound from jon huntsman on "meet the press "just in november saying just the opposite. >> mitt romney in your view cannot beat president obama? >> i think when you're on too many sides of the issues of the day, when you don't have that core, when there's that element of trust out there. i think it becomes a problem. >> makes you unelect in

november, and now you're the most electable of the bunch. >> i think the opinion you heard is probably the real opinion that he holds. jon huntsman was the person who embodied the characteristic to reach the people. he speaks to the sensibilities. he's a young guy. four years from now folks will be having a similar conversation. >> rick santorum's reaction was in part that moderates are backing moderates at this point. he dismissed in as anything that will get real traction. i want to get your reaction. he says with governor huntsman dropping out, we're one step closer to a bold reagan conservative winning the gop nomination. obviously referring to himself. is he factor anymore?

>> i don't think he's really factor in south carolina. the story line as i see it, is you have a number of conservatives and i don't b put huntsman in that category who are dividing the same vote. you have perry, gingrich, santorum all competing for that same vote that pulls away from one another. if you had one conservative standing there, they could give him a run for his money. >> all right. thank you very much smiek l smerconish. thanks. iran raised its rhetoric against the west. the intelligence chief warns of firm response to last week's killing of a nuclear scientist in tehran. it's adding to tensions to close the strait of hormuz.

great concern regarding these new words. what else can you tell us. >> reporter: we don't have much information affect the arrests involved in the assassination. the head spoke saying that arrests have been made but did not elaborate as to how many or when. the real concern has to do with oil prices. that stems from the strait of hormuz water. nee nearly 40% of the oil runs through there. they would shut down the straits for the oil flows that go to asia and europe. the united states says shutting

down straits of hormuz would be a red line the military would not accept. t the oil minister said athey wery to have supplies if this boils over. >> all right. thank you. coming up, deadly error. the captain of a cruise ship that crashed in italy went off his authorized route when he slammed into a reef. i'll talk with passenger who are survived the ordeal. in a few hours, the five remaining gop candidates face off in their 16th debate. i'll talk with the new york times rob walker who calls the 2012 presidential campaign, the best thing happening in pop k

culture right now. 2012 is kicking off with gas prices at their highest point ever for this time of year. experts say it's only going to get worse. join the conversation online. find our twitter page. it's at news nation. [ female] water was meant to be perfect. crisp, clear, untouched. that's why there's brita, to make the water we drink, taste a little more, perfect. reduce lead and other impurities with the advanced filtration system of brita. reduce lead and other impurities whee wheeeeeeeeeeeee! wheeeeeeeeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee-he-he-heeeeee! whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! pure adrenaline. whee whee wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile.

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welcome back. the owners of the cruise ship have placed the blame on the captain. the deadly ship wreck was the result of human error. he was accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship. this morning the ceo of costa

conco concordia said he's in jail. two americans are still missing. . we have the latest from italy. >> reporter: it was a tough day for rescuers. there's some bad weather concerns makes things dangerous for them. the submerged ship is about 100 feet under water. they say they will not quit until they can reach every sing sing single cabin on board and make sure there's still people not trapped. there's 15 people unaccounted for. yesterday they were able to pull the purser to safety. overnight they did find the body of a sixth victim. there's still hope they can be founds. it's difficult the hear this was

not the result of an engine explosion or electrical failure which was the possibility. the company gave a press conference and believe this was the consequence of human error on the part of the ship's captain. he made some unauthorized decision to make the ship off course and bring it closer to an island where it struck a rock causing all of this. they say they believe this was all for show and he wanted to bring it closer so people on the island could get a better look at this big, beautiful ship. investigators say the captain was on shore while passengers were still on board scrambling to get off. he's defending himself although he is in jail under suspicion of manslaughter, abandoning ship. his navigation system says the route was clear and he denies

abandoning ship. >> blake miller joins us by phone. thank you for joining me. >> thank you for having me. >> how are you feeling today? i know emotions are flooding through your mind. >> it's interesting. i'm fine one minute and not the next. physically okay, but emotion mally, fairly unstable. >> a lot of the passengers are explaining the events when they realized how bad of a situation they were in. you didn't realize how much trouble you were in until you were on a lifeboat and you looked back. >> that's correct. we were on a lifeboat and told to get off. we were immediately told to get back on. by the time we hit the water, i was in a position sitting next to the lifeboat driver so i could look behind me through one of the two windows, and i could

see the first row of windows submerged in the water and see the angle of the boat tilting towards our lifeboat. i looked up and saw the people screaming and reaching that didn't have boats and it became clear that it was a very, very serious situation and potentially in a lot of danger and trouble. >> help me understand. you look back a and see people screaming and begging for help and there's nothing you can do. >> yeah, that's when i started kind of losing it and really starting crying for the first time. my partner, steve staid we're going to be fine. i said i'm not crying for us. i didn't know lifeboats would go back or what was happening or how they would get out. it's really horrifying thing to

experience. >> i cannot imagine. my heart is aching for you knowing what you witnessed there and you know there are people missing including that elderly couple out of minnesota. the investigation continues here, blake. this captain is accused of abandoning ship. he could be facing manslaughter charges. the cruise liner has placed the blame squarely on the captain there. what are your questions at this point or how does that make you feel knowing this captain could have left all of those passengers, including yourself there to fend for yourself? >> let me say i am disgusted and appalled by the ceo of the cruise line. it's one thing, yes, based on what we're hearing, the captain was at fault but the complete lack of duty of care to their guests and their customers once we were on shore. we were left for nine hours with

no food, no water, no blankets. the nuns were coming out and giving us something to wrap around us. that's fine. i understand that they have to put blame somewhere. someone obviously caused it, but to praise his crew who gatt ered at the shore and row called each other. i'm in the hotel industry. i've been in the hotel business since 1984 and we have systems in place that you all meet in one spot when there's an emergency and you do row call and you figure out who is going where and who is going to take care of the sick and the dying and the babies and the women and pregnant ladies. they roll called and i thought they're about to get it together and no they stood around in their groups of cooks and housekeepers and whatever. there was no communication. there was no organization. i mean it's just disgusting to

me not just as a hospitality professional but someone's life was in danger that he can sit there and praise the crew. i don't know that i fault the crew so much. i know if they had the proper training even though he said they did. there were no systems in place to respond to something like that. >> you're not the only passenger making that observation so they must answer the questions. i appreciate you joining me. i know you're having a difficult time. our audience appreciates hearing first hand what happened. thank you. >> thank you for giving us an opportunity to share our voice and let the nation know what's going on. still ahead, she's a beloved celebrity, chef known for her rich southern cooking but there's reports that paula deene might have type two diabetes.

she'll set the story straight tomorrow. we'll talk about how dr. king's message of income and equality resonates more than ever today. >> and i've seen the promised land. i may not get there with you, but i want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promise land. blood pressure.

with regard to domestics in this country, i think dr. king said it best. i thank you for recognizing that with our film. >> that was a heartfelt moment from last night's golden globes.

the civil rights leaders inspired millions of us to work with public service including president obama who joined his family at a project at the brown education campus in d.c. dr. king was not just about fighting racial injustice. he had been gearing up for a fight against economic and equalitity by helping sanitation workers in that city. we have a approximately 46 million people who are living in poverty. african-americans experiencing the highest rate of one group, 27%. whether you're black, white, latino, asian, 46 million people, that's something from every race in that number. >> when you really look at it

now, four decades plus since the murder of dr. martin luther king, we saw some clips and heard it where dr. king talked about the promise, the promise. most people tend to think about the battle against racial segregatino. you mentioned the sanitation workers strike cost him his life. he was gearing up for a massive assault on poverty in this country with his poor people's march. one of the great legacies of dr. king and i'm disappointed when i hear the celebrations and memorials and tributes to dr. king that this part of his life, this part of his work was not emphasized because my guess is today if dr. king was alive

that the occupy, all the occupies, dr. king would not only have endorsed that but he would have had his blue collar shirt on, boots on and been out there on front lines endorsing and supporting and even leading it. >> absolutely. you talk about that part of his legacy, it's not forgotten but the impact that he had on equality for african-americans is on our minds. that's one of the reasons i love reverend al sharpton. he cites dr. king's so often. we have an excerpt and he talks about the treatment of people no matter the race. he says one fact stands out there's twice as many white poor as negro poor. we'll discuss the poverty that affects whites and negro alike.

the solutioning to poverty is to abolish directly by now widening discussion measure the guaranteed income. i just love octavios spencer's speech last night. i hosted a panel with the stars of the movie with a huge audience of black journalist. they were conflicted about this portrayal of black maids again. no matter what you do for a living, you are part of this nation and should not be left behind. >> absolutely. she nailed it too. here is the challenge 40 plus years later. part of that legacy is the battle for and against poverty and economic justice. we have to ask yourselves this question and dr. king would be challenging elected officials and those that want to be

elected in the democratic party and the gop a very simple question. you've had policies and addresses it's not part of the campaign as we go ahead and march forward in the 2012. wouldn't that be the way to cherish and uphold top put poverty and income in equality back again on the nation's table. that's the challenge for our policy makers. we have to ask our question as dr. king would be asking the question, why aren't you addressing that? >> i can always rely on you for food for thought. thank you. greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. still ahead, 2011 marks congress's least productive year in history. this year lawmakers get back to

work. will it be more of the same old battling that we have seen? that's next on "news nation." when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief? try bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before.

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sheer here is what the news nation is following. gas is up 11 cents just this month. what's behind this mid winter record high? congress runs this week. will this year be anymore productive than last? cyber attack online shoe super store zappos is hacked putting the personal information of millions of its customers at risk. moderates are backing moderat moderates. >> rick santorum dismisses jon huntsman barking om romney. it's today "news nation" gut

check. gas prices go down with temperature. a gallon of regular is $3.08 a gallon. one month ago it's $3.24. why the jump? patrick thank you for your time. >> thanks. >> i wish you were joining us to talk about how low the gas prices are. i read several reasons that people have cited, iran and the tensions with israel. what is your research showing is the reason for this? >> i think a lot of the biggest uptake we have seen since christmas has to do with iran and the threats whether they may follow through or not. we're talking about this just a few months after libya has begun

to produce production. fresh on the mind of traders is will we see another disruption and it's putting panic in the market and prices have been all over the map. motorists are feeling the pain. crude oil prices rose 10 cent between christmas and new year. >> you quoted until the l.a. times saying motorists who drive an suv may want to consider calling their bank institution and obtain a credit limit increase so they can afford this summer's fuel expenses. you're saying we're seeing this mid winter up tick that will trickle on into the summer when we get used to paying more and add onto what we're seeing now that's a real pain at the pump. >> we're going to be shelling out more and more. we'll watch the price tick up faster and faster. it's going to get worse as we get into summer. i expect we may see volatility and stability as well.

we'll see ups and downs but we'll see prices start to accelerate into april and may. that's really when they kick in. >> you're predicting record prices in several u.s. cities, los angeles, san francisco, chicago, dallas, detroit, miami, minneapolis, new york and seattle. you're looking at cities that will be smacked by this. >> i think we'll see a lot of cities come close if not out right set new price records. the gulf coast is a bit of an exception. major cities, if you have an suv, you may want to look at something more fuel efficient before this summer. it's not going to be fun. >> thank you very much, patrick. hackers are forcing millions

of customer of the zappos.com to change their password. psycher criminals may have accessed the name t e-mails and phone numbers of 24 million customers. full credit card numbers were stored and were not hacked. customers are receiving e-mails with instructions on how to change passwords. russian officials are looking for a spacecraft that plummeted to earth. it was designed to travel to a moon of mars. it's as big as a bus. one of the men who claims he was molested by syracuse basketball coach said he lied to police. he's currently in prison on burglary charges. he's one of four men who accused bernie fine. he was raised by fine after his parents died.

he said he was angry he would not hire a lawyer to fight his criminal conviction. congress returns tomorrow after a four-week break. luke joins us live from washington, d.c. dare i say the more things change, the more they stay the same and i think the only thing that has changed is the year on the calendar. >> the issue will be front and center when congress gets back tomorrow. it's just one thing on a long list of other things they have to do. they have to work on extending unemployment benefits and online piracy bill. they will have an opportunity to say they do not like the debts being raised.

the thing on that list that most affects the american people is the payroll tax cut extension. i've spoken to aids from both sides. they say because this is in ans conference issue it should be worked out. this congress is unpredictable. an aid told me a lot will move forward really depends on how president obama plays the issue. if he turns it into a campaign issue republicans say they will try to delay the process a bit and fight back and show it's adding to the massive debt. it's interesting to see how it plays out. we'll probably know a lot after the state of the union next week. >> thank you. up next, there's reports that celebrity jeff paula deene

has type two diabetes. she's ready to set the record straight. she will talk about her health tomorrow. will she confirm the reports and how will it determine her role as one of top chefs out there? there's a lot going on today. tomorrow is the deadline to collect signatures to try to force scott walker out of office. organizers need about a half million signatures to force a recall election. the chairman says organizers believe they'll have more than 7 700,000. comedian stephen colbert super pac has launched an attack ad against mitt romney. it portrays mitt romney as a serial killer.

>> mitt romney has a secret. as head of bain capital he bought companies, carved them of and got rid of what he couldn't use. if he really believes. >> corporations are people, my friend. >> then mitt romney is a serial killer. >> an interview colbert said he had no control and called him a loose cannon. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred.

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if the 2012 republican

primary were a reality show, jon huntsman would be the third contestant fired. it's one writer is calling the best thing happening in pop culture right now. rob walkers writes elections are a popularity contest. the winner does not just get $100,000. the winner gets to be the most powerful person in the world. thanks for your time. >> thanks for having me. >> i found your article entertaining. you've found these debates, i believe it's the 16th one tonight, equally entertaining. you said you're not alone in this. so many people have been riveted by these. >> it seems like every election cycle there's a new round of complaints about it starts so early and it's really bad for the system and we're not taking

things seriously. i was sort of going alopg with that and i realized in december that i was really enjoying this whole debate season maybe more than any other election that i can remember. as for the comparison to reality shows that is this election cycle's comparison. the more i thought about that, i thought the elections aren't ripping off reality shows, the reality shows are ripping off elections. >> you talk about the soap opera dramas. we had a lot of people who would tweet us and say why are not

following herman cane. you said you loved watching him. >> i think you have to separate out the idea that there's in entertainment aspect to it and there's the serious aspect. the entertainment does not undermine the serious matters that lead us to make decisions in elections. it's easier to get more substantial information about every candidate, all their economic plans and positions. it's all online. there's all sorts of fact checking organizations. that's all there. as long as it's all there, you can decide i'm not going to vote for herman cane. i fooinind him entertaining.

>> all right. herman ca maman cane is your ki kardashian. i think you're the only man that probably says that. your article is entertaining. great pleasure having you on. >> thanks very much. a beloved tv chef about to share some news regarding her health to the world. plus, a review of golden globes. courtney is on maternity leave. let's get the scoop from kim. we're starting on a series note. paula deene will talk about these rumors that she has type two diabetes.

>> these rumors have been going around for a long time. there's been a lot of speculation about whether she has type two diabetes and there's been a lot of criticism about her recipes from her fellow cooks. her son, bobby, has a show where he uses his mother's recipes and makes them into lower calorie versions. it will be interesting to see what she has to say and how it will affect her career and recipes. >> she's such a warm and pleasant woman. if this news turns out to be true, will this hurt her brand, kim? >> obviously, i think anyone can comes things around be p if she comes up with way to make them lower calories, then i think she can turn into something positive

like her son has done. >> let's talk about the golden globes. hold up did ricky do? >> it's interesting. kind of a mixed bag of reviews. some people thought he was a kinder, tamer ricky gervais. some people thought he wasn't as funny because he was tamer. maybe we were waiting for the worst. he kind of said, i'm not talking to a roomful of wounded soldiers. these are the richest, most powerful people in the world. i'm not going to take it easy on them. i thought he was funny. he let out a few barb to the kim kardashian s in the world. >> that's the second reference. i thought a lot of celebrities were ready.

they had lines on the ready. a lot of people came ready to rumble with him. is he going to host it again? do we know the answer s to that. >> they would welcome him back. he said he's not doing it again. >> i have only two seconds left. who will win the oscar? >> everyone is talk about "the artist". >> thank you very much. rick santorum called jon huntsman endorsement of mitt romney a moderate endorsing the moderate. we'll tell you how you can weigh in. you can join "news nation" on

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jon huntsman is out of the race. romney says he appreciates his friendship and support. rick santorum says he's not surprised. >> moderates are backing moderates. i think that's the bottom line. it's no surprise there. governor huntsman ran as a moderate trying to compete for governor romney for the establishment moderate vote. >> what does your gut tell you? is rick santorum right? is it just case of moderate backing another moderate. go to facebook/"news nation" to

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> there's no better way to celebrate dr. king than to do something on behalf of others. all of us can be a drum major for justice. there's nobody who can't serve. nobody who can't help somebody else. >> the president of naacp joins us to discuss equal rights for always. the heavy weights state their case, one candidate lighter. >> i'm suspended my campaign for the presidency. good a