i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we're bringing you the news from "a" to "z." 5:00 in the east. >> is it ever. >> let's get started here. >>> jon huntsman is going to drop out of the gop race today. he says he will endorse romney. we'll get more details on that. >> also if you've been looking, there are pictures that are mind boggling. a cruise ship much, much bigger than the "titanic" on its side. there are reports of six dead now. two americans among the missing and harrowing tales from those who tur vived and the captain has got some explaining to do. he is being asked by authorities there why did you leave that ship? >>> and the first chance for overseas markets to react to the mass downgrade of european nations. will you pay for the mess in europe later this week? will it affect us at all. >> i always wonder, europe, schmeurope. were you watching, golden glo globes. you go to bed at 6:00, don't you? >> i try to. it didn't work out that way. >> if you haven't seen the artist by now, have you seen it. >> i have no

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm ashleigh banfield.s 29 minutes past the hour so we thought this was a good time as are most times to get you caught up on the headlines. top stories, that fiasco in mississippi. well, it's having reverberations in other states because lawmakers in oklahoma are taking up a bill that would strip away parole power from that governor. the state senator who is introducing the measure says the situation in mississippi just highlights the drawbacks of having a governor with that kind of power. >> so many questions there. >>> the u.s. reportedly warning iran not to cross the red line. "the new york times" says the obama administration signaled iranian lead that's close iing vital stripping lines would very volk a u.s. response. i read that the chief of naval operations is saying that the strait of hormuz and business going on in the arabian golf is what keeps him awake at night. >> it keeps me awake at night. it does. >>> also, this keeps folks awake at night if you're a police officer married to one or have on

it's ashleigh banfield calling. >> good morning, ashleigh. >> you're on the air so no "f" bombs.ow are you? >> i'm okay. >> i'm doing my best to imitate howard stern by calling you and waking you up but i wanted to call you particularly on our inaugural show because we're on the eve of the big political kickoff and wanted to know what it was like for you in the political dynasty you grew up with all of the campaigns that you've gone through. i did a quick piece of math and think it's one, two, three, four, five, six members of your family have been in elected office. is that right? >> oh, i've never counted. >> you had to do -- what was it like going through all the campaigns? we're seeing beautiful pictures of your father, so handsome and so endearing and such a tragic tire and wanted to know what it was like going through the campaigns for you. >> well, you know, we just loved -- i have great memories of campaigning with him around new york and then across the country, of course, when he was running for president. he took us everywhere and made an enormous effort to make it a g

it's ashleigh banfield calling. >> good morning, ashleigh. >> you're on the air so no "f" bombs.ow are you? >> i'm okay. >> i'm doing my best to imitate howard stern by calling you and waking you up but i wanted to call you particularly on our inaugural show because we're on the eve of the big political kickoff and wanted to know what it was like for you in the political dynasty you grew up with all of the campaigns that you've gone through. i did a quick piece of math and think it's one, two, three, four, five, six members of your family have been in elected office. is that right? >> oh, i've never counted. >> you had to do -- what was it like going through all the campaigns? we're seeing beautiful pictures of your father, so handsome and so endearing and such a tragic tire and wanted to know what it was like going through the campaigns for you. >> well, you know, we just loved -- i have great memories of campaigning with him around new york and then across the country, of course, when he was running for president. he took us everywhere and made an enormous effort to make it a g

i'm zoraida sambolin along with ashleigh banfield.voted. >> but only eight of them really matter. >> they all mattered. look at this. mitt romney, 30,015. santorum, 30,007. closest caucus in history. only eight votes separated them. >> what a difference eight votes can make. if you think you don't matter when you go to your polls. yes, this is a caucus, but should we just tell you that even though it's a caucus and even though we don't have final delegate counts out of iowa, we do have that presidential preference. write the candidate they like and they count those names and numbers and that's what we got. didn't even get it until about 2:30 eastern time. crazy stuff. >> not only that, the des moines retch sister, when it went to print, they didn't have the final decision. they decided it was close enough for a split decision. put romney on the left, santorum on the right. they went to print, it looked like it could have gone either way. really like a tie that jockeyed back and forth's in at about 2:30, those eight votes finally came

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm ashleigh banfield.re going is have more on that awful cruise ship disaster off the coast of italy. the captain is under house arrest. there are a lot of people saying this morning he should have gone down with that vessel instead of getting overboard somehow. but legally, what and could -- what should and what could happen to that man? >>> wisconsin governor scott walker facing a recall petition that has been filed. more than a million signatures were submitted. more than half of what they needed. walker says he is confident that he will survive this. he will be back in office again. >>> but first, let's check the stories making news this morning. wikipedia is one of several websites that partially shut down in protest at midnight last night. they a opposed to antipiracy bills working their way through congress. sopa will lead to wide spread censor ship. time warner, the parent company of cnn, supports this legislation. >> full disclosure on that one. >>> relations between our country and pakistan cente

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. we are bringing you the news from a to z. it is thursday, january 19th. let's get started. amazing new details overnight in the italian cruise ship disaster. a stunning admission from the captain saying that he ordered the turn too late. >> and also in politics, newt gingrich is making up some ground you might call it. he is closing the gap the front-runner mitt romney in south carolina. trouble may be brewing, though. his daughters are having to come to his defense after an interview which is scheduled for today is about to go after him from his ex-wife. >> and a rare winter storm that pounded the pacific northwest. it is now heading east. rob is tracking the forecast. where it will go next and how much snow we are actually talking about this morning. >>> don't know if you're a tune or it's been a while since you were a student. things are different now. reading on an ipad. how about reading your textbook on an ipad? >> that would be fantastic. >> how nice would it be not having that

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolis. we're bringing you the news from "a" to "z." let's get started here. >> finally debate. boy, it was a good one. i hope you were able to stay up late and get up early. the primary is only four days aweek so the fireworks were apropos. who scored the knockout? we'll bring it down. >>> and a rescued american hostage, jessica buchanan. she's at a hospital in italy. she's going through what's callcal called a reintegration. it requires time. it's to max mime health and welfare. the question is could she be coming home soon. >> wish her well nonetheless. >>> special delivery. can you say hot sauce? >> i woke up to the story and thought, oh, my man, what a delivery. >> politic and tacos, folks. hundreds and hundreds of tacos going to the office of the mayor of east haven, connecticut. i think you know who's behind this, why it happened and what's the reaction to it. >>> we have an amazing video. a snow blower rider fell hundreds of feet. what he did after the crash. >> there were three angles on that. let me tell you. it looks like he'

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. happy you're staying with us.t. >> good morning. got breaking news of the dangerous storms racing across the south. thousand of people without power right now. going to talk about that. update you on what's happening there. >>> plus, the fight for florida. there are just eight days until the primary. newt gingrich and mitt romney and they're ripping into each other's records and into each other. >> 88% of republicans voted to rep pri man speaker gingrich. >> you end up with a guy who is a very good salesman, very much wants to sell. but he has a really weak product. >> plus, joe paterno is being remembered this morning. to what degreeha

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. happy you're staying with us.t. >> good morning. got breaking news of the dangerous storms racing across the south. thousand of people without power right now. going to talk about that. update you on what's happening there. >>> plus, the fight for florida. there are just eight days until the primary. newt gingrich and mitt romney and they're ripping into each other's records and into each other. >> 88% of

ashleigh banfield, zoraida sambolin.o pounce on the winner of the iowa caucuses. >> i figure they don't want romney. that's my guess. we do this crazy thing, i don't know if you were watching yesterday because it was a holiday. we do this thing where we decide to call people and wake them up at 5:00 orr 6:00 in the morning and get their opinions on whatever is going on in the news. the person we'll wake up today, i could get in a lot of trouble because he was on the sopranos. i'm not going to tell you who it is. he was on "the sopranos," he didn't live to see the finale. do you have an idea? >> no, because i never watched. >> a good thing he's sleeping right now and not hearing that. so there's your hint. i might give you a clue later. i could be sleeping with the fishes for waking him up. he's huge into politics. that's a great part. what a great day to talk to him. 30 minutes past the hour. let's get you caught up on the headlines. >>> here is a good one. a man suspected in the l.a. arson spree in custody. fires have s

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. soledad o'brien is next. you. weekend is over. we are starting monday. and our "starting point" this morning issing looking at mitt romney who is on a roll in the state of florida. double digit leads in two new polls. the question, of course, is what is happening with the women? is it the women in those polls swinging the sunshine state in we'll look at that in morning. >>> plus, leon panetta talking about that raid that killed osama bin laden. if question today is, what did pakistan know? >> it was the largest compound in the area, so you would have thought that somebody would have asked the question, what the hell is going on there? >> and tensions are rising in d.c. there's a deadline looming for occupy wall street protesters. they have been ordered to leave by noon today but police may not wait that long. those stories and much more as "starting point" begins right now.

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin.etting nasty in south carolina. >> not the weather. >> no, no, no, it's the candidates. they are saying get ready for armageddon. >> boy, i'll say. look at them, look at all the cameras. you can imagine tv in that state, right? >>> also, this is something you might not have heard of for quite a while. swine flu. it's back, apparently. 12 people seem to have been infecting with something they're calling a new strain of swine flu. >> apparently if you got the flu vaccine it's not going to work against this. >> do they even have shots for this? >> i don't think so, not yet. 29 minutes past the hour here. >> should we acknowledge we're not dressed the same. i'm in glue and she's in gray. we didn't plan this. it does look the same. >> it's different on the collar. if you pay attention. >> now it's time to check the stories making news this morning. mississippi's attorney general says he is trying to undo the damage done by former governor haley barbour. it's a tough one. a temporary court i

ashleigh banfield, zoraida sambolin.o pounce on the winner of the iowa caucuses. >> i figure they don't want romney. that's my guess. we do this crazy thing, i don't know if you were watching yesterday because it was a holiday. we do this thing where we decide to call people and wake them up at 5:00 orr 6:00 in the morning and get their opinions on whatever is going on in the news. the person we'll wake up today, i could get in a lot of trouble because he was on the sopranos. i'm not going to tell you who it is. he was on "the sopranos," he didn't live to see the finale. do you have an idea? >> no, because i never watched. >> a good thing he's sleeping right now and not hearing that. so there's your hint. i might give you a clue later. i could be sleeping with the fishes for waking him up. he's huge into politics. that's a great part. what a great day to talk to him. 30 minutes past the hour. let's get you caught up on the headlines. >>> here is a good one. a man suspected in the l.a. arson spree in custody. fires have s

. >> hi, kerry it's ashleigh banfield calling. >> good morning. >> you are on the air so no f bombs. how are you? [ laughter ] >> jon: how am i? i'm getting ready to say (bleep) real loud. how am i? 308 seconds ago i was riding the dinosaur naked through middle school and now i'm on the phone with you. that's how (bleep) i am. do the interview. >> we've seen beautiful pictures of your father. you were eight years old when he was killed? do you still have haunting memories of every campaign? >> jon: ash -- i like you. i get it you want to have it both ways and have fun and have hard news. kerry kennedy cold call. you were eight when they shot your dad. any memories you want to share with us? answer right now and win two tickets to aerosmith. this will is cnn. you are going to do a bit like that you have to pick a lane. you know what? -- [cheers and applause] try the bit again. try it again. >> he's a comean, tv personality. we'll die aling him -- dialing him up to see how he is in the morning. >> jon: chuck a comedian. it's a family assassination free guest. nothing is going to go wro

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. half hour, mississippi governor haley barbour pardons more than 200 people. some of these are convicted murderers. for now they have a right to carry a gun. they're going to be able to vote. ed lavandera has the latest for us. >>> we've been ripped for waking people up. "the daily show" was all over us so we decided to go big or go home. that's right, jon stewart, you know who we're going to wake up today? not the alabamas but the person who is impersonating both of these obamas, it's ru paul. >> i've never seen this before, ashleigh. >> i love it. it's ru paul dressed as both the president and first lady. we figured since he's ru paul and people have been saying that ron paul has as much a chance of being president as ru paul we thought we would wake up ru paul and ask him about that. turns out he's been doing some campaigning in new hampshire. con netted to all of this, believe it or not. >>> it is time to check the stories that are making news this morning. history in new hampshire

i'm ashleigh banfield with an early start and i'm zoraida sambolin.t is 6:00 in the east. >>> if you saw this, quite something jan brewer behind that limo wagging her finger at the president getting in his face. she is talking about what triggered tensions between her and the president on the tarmac. >>> the mayor is apologizing for this crazy taco remark that he made. allegations of police brutality in that area. is the apology have people calm down because of this crazy controversy? we're going to dig a little bit deeper into the story and get some answers. >>> also, overseas, what a day. a u.s. aide worker freed. jessica on the right reunited with her boyfriend and father. the blackhawks, wow, the operation. wait until you hear the step-by-step. >>> and the reward is now being offered for a missing murderer in mississippi. governor haley barbour pardoned four convicted killers right before he left office. all but one has appeared in court. they have no idea where that man is. >> feels weird. i'm not sure if we're allowed to call him a murderer, whi

i'm zoraida sambolin. >> hi, i'm ashleigh banfield. nice to have you here.re bringing you the news from a to z. that's our theme. 6:00 in the east. let's get started. candidates are getting in final digs before florida goes to the polls. polls will open just one hour from now. >> we have live pictures for you here. anti-assad rally in syria. the protesters are flooding the streets as you see there. the white house is saying president assad will go. one country at the u.n. may stand in the way of that. >>> one of those pardoned mississippi killers who was on the loose and on the run has been found. thousands of miles away, in fact. 1,000 miles awe way from mississippi. he may, may, may be coming home to face the authorities there. i say may because the attorney general wants to get tough on the manhunt but he can't really. we'll explain why. >>> and the president letting secrets fly about u.s. drones during a hang. why the loose lips on sensitive intelligence matters. >>> candidates have done all the talk on it and now it's time for the people of florida to b

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 6:00 a.m. in the east.et's get started here. we have overnight breaking news. good news. the freedom for two foreign aide workers. there are their pictures. one is an american. they were held hostage in somalia for three months. we have the late-breaking details of a u.s. rescue. >>> also, if you didn't see the state of the union we have the breakdown. president obama calling for fairness for all, especially when it comes to taxes. challenging congress on the bipartisanship, saying to china quit cheating when it comes to trade, and then, all that reaction that comes afterwards. we've got that for you, too. >>> and the big buzz on wall street. did you hear? apple's humongous explosive earnings? how big did apple get? >> massive. massive. >>> and then there was this really awful story out of east haven, connecticut, involving four police officers. fbi has been watching them for a long time. decided to charge four of them with terrorizing latinos in that community. if that's not a big any story, you will not b

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. we're happy you're joining us. we're bringing you the news from "a" to "z." it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. >>> six police officers were shot overnight while serving a search warrant in utah. that was drug-related. they are recovering in the hospital this morning. apparently, only one suspect there. >> also in the hospital, right? >> yes, also in the hospital. >> we'll continue to watch that. >>> also, guess what? some huge announcements coming. pictures like this may not be as voluminous if the government gets its way. president obama is about to announce we're going to cut a lot of troops and change our war tragedy. we're not going to be so capable of fighting two wars at once if what he says is going to be the way of the future. >>> so, you know the dallas teenager that was deported by mistake? well, her family says she was sent to colombia where she didn't speak the language, didn't know anyone. why? because apparently, she ran away from home, and when the police picked her up, she gave them a false name, which hap

. >> our ashleigh banfield following this story for us. r on one hand, ashleigh, is apologizing, and then on the other calling this a media gotcha moment. is his apology having the desired effect? >> you know, that's a great question, kyra. when your apology goes viral too, i'm not sure that's the desired effect. a lot of the criticism about his behavior is apparently coming from outside of that community. while this can be political at that point tall lieization too where his opponents can come in and rail on this mayor, you would think there would be more of an uproar inside the community. that's not necessarily what's happening. then again, look at us. we're the national media and we're highlighting something that's extraordinarily serious, and that is targeting a certain community and roughing them up if you're on a squad. it's message to all police forces out there, watch it because the feds might be watching you. >> so what do you think could be the legal fallout here? >> well, what's really interesting is that there are four officers

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin. it is 6:00 a.m. in the east.tarted here. we have overnight breaking news. good news. the freedom for two foreign aide workers. there are their pictures. one is an american. they were held hostage in somalia for three months. we have the late-breaking details of a u.s. rescue. >>> also, if you didn't see the state of the union we have the breakdown. president obama calling for fairness for all, especially when it comes to taxes. challenging congress on the bipartisanship, saying to china quit cheating when it comes to trade, and then, all that reaction that comes afterwards. we've got that for you, too. >>> and the big buzz on wall street. did you hear? apple's humongous explosive earnings? how big did apple get? >> massive. massive. >>> and then there was this really awful story out of east haven, connecticut, involving four police officers. fbi has been watching them for a long time. decided to charge four of them with terrorizing latinos in that community. if that's not a big any story, you will not believe wha

cnn's ashleigh banfield joining me from new york. ashleigh, let's take a look at some of the conversation. let's talk about how damaging these transcripts are. >> reporter: do you want me to read some of the transcripts here, kyra? they're absolutely harrowing. >> i apologize for that. we had a graphic made up. you've actually got it. talk about the part where it was very confusing whether he abandoned the ship or not. watching you this morning, it was hard to understand what exactly he did. >> reporter: i think there was so much confusion on that ship that night, but here is one thing that is crystal clear. the communications between captain she teen know and the port authority started like this. how many people are on board, he says, 2, 300. they say, how come so few people? are you on board? the captain said, no. i'm not on board because the ship is keeling. we've abandoned it. port authority says, what? you've abandoned the ship? and the captain answers, no. what abandon? i'm here. that is really, really damning stuff, kyra. up u

we're talking to ashleigh banfield about why he's not behind bars. >>> and shoveling in seattle. the pacific northwest getting hammered by another major snowstorm, the second one this week. we've got a live report just ahead. when i grow up, i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ 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. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. thanks, mom. i just want to get my car back. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account... in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock-- the only identity protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock-- relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. >>> all right. now rescue effor

i'm ashleigh banfield, and i'm zoraida sambolin.oming up next with "starting point." good morning. >> good morning to you both. welcome to our new show called "starting point." we're live once again at the waveland cafe in iowa. today, of course, is decision day. today the campaign stops thinking about polls and projections and actually starts being about real numbers. iowans, of course, going to cast their votes for the person they would like to see run for president against president barack obama. tonight's test has rick santorum surging. he appears to be the gop with the most mo, momentum, going into today's caucuses. practically picking up his mail in this state. mitt romney hasn't been and he's doing pretty well, chatting and talking about winning, oozing confidence, like charlie sheen, people tell us on the campaign trail. michele bachmann is asking, do you believe in miracles? she says get ready for a big surprise on her part in the iowa tonight. she'll join us along with her kids to tell us why in a "starting point" exclusiv

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sam lynn. >>> the push to recall governor scott walker.tain of signatures today. walker is a polarizing figure after gutting state workers' collective bargaining rights. say it ain't so. $5 for a gallon of gas this summer? the gas prices are still rising. christine romans has a reality check in 15 minutes although she refuses to say $5. >> i just figure every year around this time all of the way up to memorial day we keep having this conversation and it's always, oh, no, the gas prices are going to go higher. >> i know, but five bucks. >> it's brutal. it kills me. 28 minutes past the hour. if you're getting ready for the bus or get your kids to school, here are the top stories for you in a pinch. brand new video of rescuers in italy blasting holes in the capsized cruise liner to allow firefighters and scuba divers to get into part of the ship they have not been able to reach. in the meantime, authorities are releasing brand new taped phone conversations between the captain and the port authority. the official on the line is demand that tha

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> i'm zoraida sambolin.ith us this morning. let's get started here. newt gingrich in rare form. clashing with his three rivals and even our very own moderator, cnn's moderator john king. the fiery highlights are headed your way. >> she's not kidding. fiery highlights. >>> we're watch og news developing. a nato chopper down in southern afghanistan. six peacekeepers apparently are killed and a taliban sent a text message to cnn is claiming responsibility for this. but is it true? >>> and that italy ship disaster. the search for survivors has been suspended again because of rough weather is causing the ship to shift. if it keeps moving, they're fearing an environmental disaster there. >>> and you've probably heard of this notorious group called anonymous. anonymous is like a web club, internet club, now targeting the fbi and justice department. this could be the largest coordinated sbrt attack ever. you won't believe how the government responded and what that's causing anonymous to say and do. >>> is all right.

i'm ashleigh banfield. >> and i'm zoraida sambolin. >> joran savan der sloot, rememr him?for the murder of a girl in peru. why is he saying he did it today if he's going on trial? >>> did you see the video of casey anthony. never mentions her daughter there. john velez-mitchell is there and will talk a little about this video. >> no. we're going to wake her up. >> really? >> poor jane. >> does she know we're calling her? >> no. again, full disclosure, we do ask way in advance, would it be okay if some day we give awe shout and join our early morning club? >> you happen to have her cell phone number. >> yeah. jane if you're watching, here's your heads up. >> she doesn't get up at 6:30. kidding me? she's a night owl. probably get up at 10:00 if she could. we're going to wake her up. we'll ask her about something she's very passionate about. >>> it is 31 past 6:00 on the east coast. time to check your stories and top headlines this morning. >>> there they go again. folks at the "boston globe" endorsing jon huntsman, not gop front-runner and former governor of massachusetts mi

i'm ashleigh banfield. i'm zoraida sambolin. 5 a.m. in the east. >> let's start with tacks. don't you love that. >> big news today. >> unless you're probably governor romney. you don't like taxes. you don't like talking taxes anyway. but he is. he's talking taxes. he's releasing his tax returns today. but you know what, early start has the early look. we got all those facts and details of why everybody is up in arms. what did he make and paid out? >> the florida debate. it was a little nasty and personal. romney is saying no more mr. nice guy. going after gingrich with gloves off. >> tivo or pop the popcorn now. it's the annual state of the union. even though one of his terms didn't have a state of the union. we're going to have that tonight. what is president obama going to do? a campaign speech or a blueprint for the economy? >> this was breaking news yesterday. the deadly tornadoes in alabama. it's the second time for those folks in less than a year. the red cross is responding. there are two people dead, hundreds of homes destroyed in that area. pictures are difficult to

i'm zoraida sambolin along with ashleigh banfield.g after the country handed down the first death sentence against on american since the islamic revolution 33 years ago. >> iran is saying that amir hekmati, foreign marine interpreter is a u.s. spy using a family trip to see his granny as a cover-up. cnn's zain vergee just spoke exclusively to the family's attorney who is a former u.s. ambassador for war crimes. >> i hear from them easily five, six times a day. as you can imagine, the distress is very, very high. the news is not positive. but we try to reassure them that it's not over. we will engage the government and hope that they will show compassion. >> wow. remarkable story. iran is saying that hekmati and his attorney and family have 20 days to appeal that case. whatever the appeal means in that country, because that trial sure came about fast. >> very quickly. >> i didn't even know it was on. i have to be honest with you. the moment we found out he was actually in custody was just a few weeks ago. we're watch that for you. >>>