hour for the state's primary. you are looking at the cnn express bus. gingrich is creeping up. romney is still the front-runner. today, the two battle it out at breakfast. they will both be at the same diner at the same time. we'll begin talking to tommy or tommy's ham house live this morning. imagine being stuck in a greyhound station for more than 17 hours. that's what happened to these people after a winter storm moved in. heavy snowfall is expected today in parts of the u.s. reynolds wolf will have the latest forecast. but, we start in south carolina where the curtain comes up on the republican presidential primary in a little while from now. where do we stand? paul steinhauser has a quick look. >> reporter: good morning, gary. polls open in an hour from now. so much at stake in this primary. listen, we saw the battle between romney and gingrich two nights ago. romney's lead shrinking in the polls here. gingrich moving up. don't count out rick santorum. he had a strong breakout in the debate. ron paul has a lot of devoted, energetic and enthusiastic supporters in south carolina. 25 delegates. it's an open primary. republicans, independents and some democrats can vote in this contest. gary, back to you. >> thank you, paul. voters are probably just getting upright now in south carolina, pouring that cup of coffee. the candidates aren't taking anything for granted. they are all going to be out thanking supporters and trying to sway the last few undecided. one of the most watched is at tommy's ham house because gingrich and romney are expected to be there at the same time. joining me on the phone is shawna shepherd. thank you for joining us. how did it happen that both candidates are going to be in the same place at the same time? oh, we hear a dial tone. shawna will come back and talk to us. she's a great reporter that's been following newt gingrich around. it should be a fascinating breakfast in south carolina. oh, she's back. why are both candidates there at the same time? can you hear us? >> reporter: hi, how are you? >> good morning to you. i'm glad we are you. this is a story everyone wants to know. breakfast in south carolina, bacon, ham, pork. one of the most popular places in the state. why are romney and gingrich going to be there at the the same time? >> both campaigns will say it's coincidence and there was no planning on either team to make sure both their candidates were there at the same time. it's sure to make for an interesting day, that's for sure. >> i was just telling our viewers you have been following newt gingrich around for a long time. you know the man and the campaign. does it feel like his surge in south carolina is for real? >> reporter: it does. his campaigns and you have been following him over the last week or so, too. his campaign events don't tend to be more like rallies, they are more town hall meeting style. you know, he talks for a long time, has a way about him. he takes a lot of questions. people really do seem to be interested in him. when they think about somebody, they are looking to beat president obama, they want somebody smart, intelligent, who can stand-up against him. it's something he's pushing here in south carolina, really pushing for conservatives. trying to get that contract between him and president obama. we'll see. >> final question for you now. any idea if newt gingrich and mitt romney will meet up at this breakfast joint this morning? >> reporter: they are both supposed to be there at 10:45. it's not a large restaurant. it seats 325 people. he says there's very little room for standing room only. apparently one of newt gingrich's campaign representatives was there at 3:00 a.m. waiting for the owner to get there when he opened at 5:00 to set up signs. so, you know, we'll see. i asked newt gingrich last night after his event, you know, he was quite surprised that the two were potentially going to be meeting tomorrow at the same restaurant on the same day, same time. >> if you can order me some blueberry pancakes and hold on to them until i see you again, i want appreciate that. >> caller: i'll do that and grits, too. >> sure. thank you very much. here are some of the other headlines we are watching this morning. search crews are back at work around the "costa concordia." a short time ago, the italian navy blew bigger holes into the boat so the divers would have an easier time looking for victims. rescuers spent most of the night searching the boat. house and senate leaders pushed two antipiracy bills to the side. they will likely never come up for vote now. sopa aimed to crackdown on online privacy. they feared the laws would go too far. growing hazing scandal at florida a&m. four members of the band have been arrested. they beat other members of the band. it's not related to the death of a drum major. after the death, the school promised to crackdown on hazing. well, this man is accused of duct taping his 12-year-old daughter and sticking her in a dog cage. his attorney says it was a joke that got out of control. he tied up the girl and put her in the cage twice. his 13-year-old son took pictures of the whole thing and posted them on facebook. a nevada man came forward to take the blame for starting a devastating fire in reno, nevada. he got rid of fireplace ashes. the fire destroyed nearly 30 homes. 10, 000 people has to be evacuated. firefighters think they have the upper hand on the blaze. meteorologist reynolds wolf is in the weather center with the latest. what's coming up? >> we have all kinds of stuff. we are keeping on eye on both coasts. snow in the pacific northwest. new york city two to five inches of snowfall. as we look at the maps, there's something else. there's a shape you will notice in the southeast in mississippi, alabama and georgia that is a tornado watch that will be in effect until noon eastern time. sharp eye on that, no doubt about it. certainly looks like a line of travel delays throughout the weekend. back to you. >> thank you very much. coming up this morning, a busy day in south carolina. gingrich is on the final push to win today's primary. he's going to avoid talking about personal issues. see his response when i ask him if that's fair. thousands of medical records found dumped in a dumpster. who's to blame. plus, chaos caught on camera. one member from the "costa concordia" caught on camera. people want to know if a beer and booze band will continue in sports arenas. we are all over it. stay tuned. it's ten minutes after the hour. the polls open in south carolina in about 50 minutes. meteorologist reynolds wolf is back with a look at weather across america. we were just talking, it looks like winter is finally arriving. >> it's going to be interest in in south carolina. your voters are two groups. if there's rain they will stay home. others will go out and vote, no matter what. if it's rain or fire, they are going to the polls today. scattered showers forming across the southeast. snow in the northern half. anyone who got skis for christmas are going to get a chance to use those, no question about it. you are going to see something entirely different. heavy rain moving into tennessee and mississippi. we have a tornado watch that will be in effect at noontime today. keep that in mind. the reason for the rough weather in the southeast, the atmosphere is setting up for what could be a fairly tricky day. you have a lot of moist air, unstable air from parts of the atlantic and gulf of mexico. it's going to tie in with the frontal boundary sagging in from the west. strong storms and the northeast we are talk iing about basicall three to five inches of snowfall. a mammoth winter storm, not hardly, but a touch of winter people have been waiting for. dry and cool in michigan. parts of the pacific northwest, the continued snowfall is something you are dealing with through the weekend. wind advisories for the day. 43 degrees by seatac in seattle. 62 in albuquerque. 46 in memphis. 29 in chicago. high in miami and tampa, the mid to upper 70s. now, something we need to tell you about, gary, we have an interview coming up with folks in reno, nevada, dealing with very dry conditions. the possibility of dealing with the fires. we are looking at the weather that affects your weekend. we are talking about this a bit. it's ice that's been causing full problems for people in seattle from queen ann's hill to st. pikes. ice is covering the power lines and trees. it's that combination that causes all kind of issues. people sliding up and p dodown roadways. people locked solid in greyhound stations where they couldn't go anywhere for nearly 22 hours because of the icy roads that shut down roads in oregon and washington state. oregon is also dealing with this. look at this. the water is coming up. gary, you are familiar with flooding. this is all from the same system. some families evacuated from homes yesterday in the town of turner, it's the western part of the state. of course, we are going to have more on the forecast. we are going to talk about the other side of the sierra nevada mountains where the fires are the big issue. a lot of people evacuated. it's going to be a big issue. >> we have done a couple floods together. i have a question for you. what is your favorite drink. i don't mean alcohol. >> it's a family show. iced tea is a family stand by. >> it's a good idea to drink iced tea. i like diet coke, diet pepsi. i think they are delicious. if you are like me, this is not good news. texas researchers say drinking diet soft drinks is linked to increased obesity, metabolic sin drom and diabetes. participants had 70% greater increases in waistline growth than nondrinkers after ten years. maybe it's time to drink more water or iced tea. they call themselves hell east lovers. how the gang got busted. >> find out what gingrich told me when i asked if a victory today is critical for his campaign. for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. you are looking at columbia, south carolina. columbia is the state capital of the state where the south carolina primary gets under way. three minutes from now, the polls open. it's been a roller coaster ride for newt gingrich in south carolina. early december, gingrich was out in front. after iowa, he dropped like a rock. as we get closer to primary day, gingrich is surging, again. a big question swirls around his campaign. a new tactic for newt gingrich on the question of his relationship of his ex-wife. is it valid to bring it up in the campaign. mr. speaker, are personal issues valid to bring up? >> his refusal to answer was different from thursday when asked by a man attending the south carolina rally. >> i have been open about the mistakes i have made. >> then he talked about it with reporters. >> it's an issue icon front every time it comes up. people seem to be satisfied with it. watch the audience. >> during the last two days, his crowds have grown bigger and louder as the stakes get higher. on the eve of the iowa caucuses and new hampshire primary, gingrich knew he wasn't going to win. now he believes victory in south carolina is within his grasp. >> if we win on saturday, with your help, i believe i will become the nominee because i think south carolina, in fact, has an enormous impact. you have picked the winner every single primary since 1980. i believe we'll go on to win florida and on to the nomination. >> do you think it's critical to win in south carolina? >> win as often as you can. the number one thing we know is when this becomes a two-person race, romney has a huge problem. he's too liberal for most republican voters. >> as poll numbers increased, so have his spirits. he's talking about president obama's thursday visit to walt disney world. >> the president standing with mickey mouse on one side and gingrich on the other. >> he doesn't have a strong performance in south carolina he will be increasingly unlikely to hear things like this for real. >> mr. president -- >> now you have the with your help -- >> it's a critical primary. our coverage begins tonight, 7:00 eastern time. tired of answering work e-mails and texts after work? one nation has a solution for that. it could put more money into workers pockets. first, 49ers fans might not like this one bit. listen to who the dolphin is predicting will win the nfc championship game. >> now it's time to pick the championship at the georgia aquarium. is it going to be the san francisco 49ers this weekend? no! they're not going to win? what about the new york giants? yes! geez. apparently she's a big eli manning fan. [ male announcer ] feeling like a shadow of your former self? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, michael! [ male announcer ] and step out of the shadows. hi! how are you? [ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey! good morning, everybody. it's now 22 minutes after the hour. let's look at news across the country. we'll start in denver. that's where more than a dozen suspected gang members are in custody. etf agents gathered them. they have been investigating them for years. some of the suspects are expected in court on monday. a social worker in texas is accused of dumping thousands of medical files in the dump. >> i'm close to a lot of them. i know where they live, how many kids, what their problem is, what their diagnosis is from psychology to pregnancies to drugs. >> the files were in a storage unit that was auctioned. the state department of health says the person responsible can't be disciplined because they no longer work for the seat. red tails hits the theaters this weekend, they are being honored in another way. alabama's governor honored their contribution to world war ii. one airman was happy to see the day come. >> as i retire for the evening and i look at those 94 years i have been here and i said thank you lord for allowing me the opportunity to not only be a part of it but live to see the results. >> the tuskegee airmen through 5,000 missions during the war. can you say cha-ching? if you answer calls and read e-mails after work, check out what they are doing in brazil. the president signed a law that would make after hour e-mails and phone calls overtime pay. money for extra work. it's not clear how it will be enforced. they take up the issue next month. l labor lawyers say the old phone records and e-mails will come in handy if you get laid off and want to take your bosses to court for extra compensation. i don't think my wife would let me e-mail from dinner. she doesn't like it much. it's a good excuse if she catches me, i'll get paid for it. should companies be forced to pay overtime for after-hours calls and e-mails? the tweets, we must mention, there are not eligible for overtime pay. one moment from thursday night's south carolina debate put gingrich over the top for a victory today? i'll ask two political observers what they think right after this. it's 26 minutes past the hour. welcome back. i'm gary tuckman. thank you for starting your day with us. in 33 minutes, south carolina voters start heading to the polls. the spotlight has been on newt gingrich. his ex-wife accusing him of wanting an open marriage when he started an affair with the woman who is now his third wife. here is how he answered the question in thursday night's debate. >> i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern the country, harder to attract decent people to run for office. i am appalled you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. [ applause ] >> the latest polls show gingrich and romney in nearly a dead heat in south carolina. joining me to talk about the race, lenny mcallister in south carolina and lee may. lenny, to newt gingrich's debate answer, did it benefit him, the irony of all that, but did it benefit him? >> i think it benefited him. everybody is frustrated with the tone of politics. gingrich was the biggest victim of the attack that is went on in iowa. it's the disgusting nature of american politics today. he was able to capture that and go after the conservative boogie man who is a lame stream media, sarah palin would say. by doing those effectively and coming out with an aggressive tone, he knocked it out of the ballpark. it's enough to win here in south carolina. >> you think just that answer will lead him to victory? that will propel him the win? >> i think the reason why is it showed a little bit of vigor, a little bit of fight that conservatives want to see somebody take to the president coming up this fall. you have heard the rhetoric from all the candidates including those who dropped out, you haven't heard them do it with the right fire and tonality to be effective. not like how newt gingrich had. he was at 1% or 20% a couple mons ago and he's now a force of the race. >> lenny said sarah palin. perry dropped out and endorsed gingrich. how much does that come into may? >> it gives him momentum. the narrowing of the republican field would have been in romney's favor. with gingrich's rise, it's in his favor to make it a two to three-person race is in gingrich's favor. really, it shows the republicans indecisiveness in this election. it shows they can't make up their mind. they are trying anyway possible not to let romney be the nominee. >> you hear what people have to say, you change your mind. >> typically, that is the case. however, they are running against an incumbent democratic president who has boat loads of money now who is able to focus on the economy and real things that affect real lives here in america. what you see as a circus going on in the republican party and not real issues being addressed that affect real lives. >> lenny, romney is having problems dealing with the tax issue. let's listen to this for a second. >> i don't know how many years i'll release. i'll take a look at what the documents are. and i'll release multiple years, i don't know how many years. i'll be happy to do that. >> why is mitt romney having so much trouble with this issue? why not come out with a solid answer instead of handling it that way? >> because this is not politics as normal. you have the tea party that has the first opportunity to select a presidential nominee. you have the grass roots rising up and being a force in american politics today. he is somebody that cannot relate to grass roots. it's a problem we knew coming into 2012. he hasn't been able to articulate that well. he's been a front-runner through attrition. now he can't hide behind candidates anymore. he's not there to hide behind. he's never been able to form late an answer for this. as a result, he's starting to struggle. if he loses hered to and stumbles and cannot get that message clear going into florida, the conservative base will go through the process the way the democrats did in 2008 where they went back and forth between clinton and obama. the republicans will do the same thing until they solidify themselves behind one candidate. >> south carolina is an open primary. in an open primary, democrats, independen independents, anybody can vote in the primary. they could do a sabotage vote. >> democrats could do that. i would encourage them not to do that. stick with the democratic primary. it gets weird there because you get republican voter fund raising lists, et cetera. let the republicans figure it out for themselves. they are having a tough enough time without stephven colbert. you don't know where you stand as a republican at the end of the day. what you are going to see in about 20 minutes is a very, very close race similar to iowa. you may not have the results until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. again, i think it will make life more difficult this evening. >> but exciting. >> exciting. >> steven colbert is not going to win. >> no. neither will herman cain. >> thank you. good talking to both of you. some immigrants could end up stays in the u.s. as a result of controversial protocals. discretion to close immigration cases rather than take them to court. it's being tested in baltimore where they have recommended 1600 cases be closed. if it goes nationwide, 42,000 immigrants could be allowed to by pass the courts. the fda says orange juice imports are safe after checking samples for fungicide contamination. they are looking at samples from brazil. last week, coca-cola found traces of fungicide in juice. the pesticide is banned in the u.s. nearly 200 students and staff at the school in southgate, michigan came down with an illness. everyone is going to be okay. custodians have been busy sanitizing. kia is recalling 46,000 vehicles to fix faulty air bags. it may not deploy properly. the effective models 2007 and 2008 kia rondo. the recall is expected to start in march. this is the scene out of italy this morning. rescue divers are back searching for survivors after the navy blasted more holes in the ships. 21 people are still missing. 11 people confirmed dead. the death toll is expected to rise with little chance of finding survivors. could more people have been saved in the final moments? here is matthew chance. >> reporter: in the darkness, a few glimpses of the chaos caught by one parnl. as the ship tilts to one side, there was upset panic. >> translator: when the ship leaned, we were very scared. we didn't know if it was going to stop. you could see the fear in people's eyes. >> reporter: when this was happening and the boat was tilting to one side, what instructions, what help were you getting from the crew members? >> translator: some were given the wrong information, such as to go back to the cabins. some helped us. from the ship's speakers we could hear everything is under control. there's a problem with the generator. >> reporter: that goes with this footage with a crew member trying to calm passengers. it was being played down. the captain and other senior officers were nowhere to be seen. >> translator: no, not the captain or any officer at all. >> reporter: when the evacuation finally began, it appears to have been passengers like leo, a hairdresser who took control and worked with crew members saving others. >> translator: there were people in wheelchairs. we dragged them out and helped them to the lifeboats. i managed to get to three children. we pulled trapped crew members from the ropes. i don't know if they were waiters or technicians. >> reporter: people talk of how they see the captain as being cowardly. were there heroes on board? >> translator: i believe there were many. lots of people were scared but also many people were doing everything they could to help others without thinking for their own safety. to save 4,000 people there have to be many heroes, just not one. >> reporter: matthew chance, cnn, rome. we will continue the team coverage. we'll go live to italy in 30 minutes. this may be the weekend to stay inside and curl up by the fireplace. a fierce storm is taking aim. winter has finally begun. travel could be dangerous in areas. we have the winter weather forecast, next. first, a spoiler alert. we are about to tell you big news. news no one else knows. who will win tomorrow's afc championship game. go ahead. >> it's time to make the picks. is it going to be the ravens or the patriots. pick who's going to win. thank you. the patriots are your winner. thank you so much. i appreciate it. hey guys, breakfast! ♪ [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first on the side. from honey nut cheerios to cinnamon toast crunch to lucky charms, get more whole grain than any other ingredient... without question. just look for the white check. have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. good morning, indianapolis. state capital of indiana. it's where the super bowl will be held this year. will two dolphins told you who will win the battle. these are dolphins, we can't be sure, but they are smart. we want to say good morning to everyone out there. we are 15 minutes away before the south carolina primary kicks off and the polls open. we'll keep an eye on that all day. in the meantime, reynolds wolf has a lot going on in the weather. >> looks like we are going to see rain and thunderstorms in carolina and the central part of columbia. it could be interesting to see how it plays out in the forecast. while we are talking about weather, we can only show so much when it comes to weather and maps. sometimes video is the best bet. this goes to oregon. there's a look at turner, oregon. the flood forced many families to evacuate their homes. according to kptv, the water levels are slowly beginning to recede. the clean up begins. it will be a huge mess for those folks. the governor in nevada is declaring an emergency. smoke everywhere. this is near reno, nevada. a wildfire killed one person. firefighters are finally making gains on the 3,000 acre fire. it's two-thirds contained. firefighters not only from nevada but from california on the other side of the sierra to help out. snow is a problem toward chicago. it dumped nine inches of snow over the area. some places got a foot t. blizzard has moved off. it's grounded hundreds of flights. thankfully, it's going to start making its mark felt on parts of the northeast. we are not talking blizzard conditions but parts of new england could see three, four up to five inches of snowfall. it's great for folks in the catskills. if you follow the frontal boundary, it's bringing rain to the eastern sea board. potential for severe storms. central plains, plenty of sunshine. for the colorado ski country to steam boat in places like taos, it's wonderful news for them. it's been a tough time in terms of snow. something else is going to pile up, the wind, especially in parts of texas and oklahoma. wind gusts at 40 and 50 miles per hour. when you have the low humidity combined with the strong wind, you have the red flag warnings. it could be a dangerous day in the great state of texas. back to you. >> out of all the disasters we could cover, twisters, hurricanes, snowstorms. nothing concerns me more than the wildfires. >> no question about it. once they get going, they are virtually unstoppable. >> you saw in the video, it's incredible with the wind and the fire. it's dangerous. >> it's curtains for william shatner's price line negotiator character in the popular commercials. >> save yourself -- some money. shatner's alter egowill diamond. don't count him out just yet. he is still under contract. shatner found fame as captain kirk on star trek. he's had a 14 year run as their spokesman. drinking beer goes hand-in-hand with sports fans. where a beer battle is brewing in a nation as they prepare to host one of the biggest sporting events in the world. plus, south carolina voters sound off on a candidates faith. that's just ahead. religion plays a big part in many people's personal lives. what is its place in politics? like we did in new hampshire, we opened up the mics to let voters sound off. here is what they said. >> we may fix the economy in the short term. unless america turns back to god, our economy repairs will be wasted. >> i think faith in politics is something that used to be huge. it's just not anymore. some schools are taking the pledge of allegiance out. not praying. taking the word god out of the pledge. religion should be a big thing but it's not anymore. >> a person's belief in god is not a big issue of me from a standpoint of who i would support. they all need to compromise. >> faith is an important part of my life. but, when voting, it's not something that i necessarily focus on as the primary reason for voting for a candidate. i kind of lean more toward moderate candidates or people who are willing to work with the democratic party. >> i am a faithful person, my mom raised me right, but a lot of times faith, once they get a position, it gets kicked to the curb. it does not play a huge role in politics for me. faith doesn't. i sort of go with my gut. >> again, polls in south carolina are about to open. this is a critical election. be sure to stay with cnn all day for coverage of the south carolina primary. tonight, we have results. it begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern time for special coverage of the winners and losers of the south carolina primary. i know many of you are going to be watching tv tomorrow, the big football games this weekend. let me ask you, you would be okay with the u.s. banning alcohol in stadiums? it's what fans are face iing in nation as they plan to host a big sporting event. the morning passport, next. drinking beer is essential to watching sports for some. at least it's how soccer's governing body sees it. they are facing opposition from brazil, the host of the next event. nadia bilchik joining us. >> it's a brew ha ha. it's more about cold cash than cold beer. you have fifa fighting with the brazilian government. in 2003, they banned alcohol from stadiums because of the high death rate. now they are saying, not saying, insisting they unban alcohol, particularly beer and particularly budweiser. they give them tens of millions of dollars each year. let's hear from the fifa general secretary about what he has to say about why beer should be part of the world cup. >> okay. >> there will be, i'm sorry to say and maybe i look arrogant, it's not something we are negotiating. there will be and there must be a spot of the law, the fact that we have the right to sell beer. >> he says that i might be a bit arrogant, but we insist. now the sports minister of brazil hopes it will be passed in november. now, they are waiting for march. the president of brazil is saying, i'm going to stick to the fact we will not have alcohol. i'm prepared to bet on this one that beer will be served in those stadiums and it will be budweis budweiser. >> how can you bet on it if the government of brazil is going to fight on it? >> part of getting the the bid had conditions. i think this is one of the conditions. think of how many billions of dollars it brings to the country. there's another battle going on. brazil is saying to fifa, okay, we want certain tickets subsidized for workers, seniors or students. that's one of the conflicts taking place. then you have fifa saying to brazil, we want certain other conditions. all the merchandise that happens, we want huge ramifications for counterfeiters. see what's going on? there's a struggle. the real issue is about the infrastructure. they need all the stadiums of the world cup. will the stadiums -- >> it's always a question when the world cup comes. they have to build all the stadiums. is that a problem in brazil? >> not as much as the airports. some airports you can wait three to four hours trying to get into the city. there's a lot that goes into the world cup. what i decided, whether there's beer or not beer, wouldn't it be nice to be in brazil for the world cup? >> i would be on the beach. >> we'll know shortly whether beer will be allowed and if it will be budweiser. >> this has been a commercial for budweiser. i look forward to talking to you. thank you. pretty soon, hearing this sound -- will make some folks hear this sound. right. brazil going back to brazil, brazil's president signed a law that could make after hours e-mails and calls eligible for overtime pay. money for the extra work when you e-mail and phone. we asked for your thoughts about it. michael tweeted saying yes, working after hours is work. don't rip off the salaried workers. jazz disagreed. if companies want to pay for o.t., fine. making them, it's abuse. should companies be forced to pay overtime for after hour calls and e-mails? if you tweet us, you cannot ask us for overtime pay. this is a free tweet. four minutes until the polls open in the state of south carolina. we'll take you there live to find out what the voters are focusing on this morning. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? 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[ laughs ] hey! from cnn center, this is "cnn saturday morning." it is 6:59 a.m. we are 30 seconds away from the south carolina polls opening for a very important presidential primary. good morning, everybody. i'm gary tuckman. we are going to have a lot about the south carolina primary today. first, big news in the state of nevada. wildfires in reno, the northern part of the state. reynolds wolf has the latest with what's going on. reynolds. >> just a mess. we were talking about the issues of fires on the sierra nevada. we are seeing issues in nevada in terms of the fire. the firefighters are making progress in the fire. the 3,000 acre fire destroyed nearly 30 homes and forced out about 10,000 people. again, this is an ongoing, pressing issue. on the phone, we have new information. pat thomas is with us from our affiliate. we are hearing misplaced ashes are the cause of the fire. >> caller: elderly man came forward saying he was throwing away ashes and we had winds of 80 miles per hour. apparently, one of the ashes got picked up and thrown around. it was a wildfire within, you know, just a matter of minutes. >> anytime you have hurricane force winds moving through the sierra nevada, you have tree damage alone. carrying embers you know the status. how much containment are we talking about? >> right now, they are saying 65% containment. we have gotten quite a bit of rain in the last few hours since that number came out. i'm certain later on today that number will go up. >> paint the picture for us in reno. if you are in reno, you look up toward the hills what do you see? massive amounts of smoke? >> caller: it's still dark here in reno. it's early. the last couple days, thursday afternoon especially, very, very smokey, very ashy. smoke coming in from all over the place. i'm kind of hearing my voice. i'm coming down with a cold from the smoke from thursday afternoon's fire. it did not help that. it was, you know, burning into the day on friday as well. when you look into that area, still kind of smokey and hazy. not pleasant. >> unbelievable. i know weather is going to take a turn for the better to help battle the blaze. in terms of the firefighters they are from both states, not just nevada but california, aren't they? >> yeah, the governor of california was nice enough to send people our way. we have several hundred firefighters on the lines. some have been able to stand down. with a fire like this, they have to worry about spot fires. it grew so large, 3,000 acres in the middle of homes. they ev they are going to be concerned about anything popping up. this wet weather is going to help. >> thank you so much. pat thomas from reno, nevada. a rough situation. how many times in your career have you seen this play out in parts of california, florida and texas. it could happen anytime, any place. it looks rough in nevada. the weather is going to help out considerably. >> devastating and dangerous. thank you. the polls are now officially open in south carolina. let the rush begin. voters in the state are getting their chance to pick the republican presidential nominee. here is where they stood in the last cnn time orc poll earlier this week. romney on top. gingrich second. santorum third. that was before the cnn debate thursday night and rick perry's departure. gingrich has been surging since then. an adviser is predicting a six point win in the state. don lemon is joining us from south carolina. it's great seeing you. is anybody at the polls yet? it's 7:03 right now. >> reporter: are you kidding me? if you wouldn't have done that fire thing, you would have seen them running in here. are you ready to vote? this is a county that decided the election in 2008. they believe they are going to decide this election as well. they had a dozen people lined up. right at 7:00, they said the polls are official open. they walked right in. it's only been four or five minutes. she's already voted. tell me your name. >> jean sauls. >> reporter: why are you up so early? >> i'm on my way to charleston. >> you are excite snd. >> yeah. >> reporter: do you think you are going to vote for the next president? >> yeah. >> reporter: who did you vote for? >> newt. >> that's interesting. everyone is surprised about the woman thing. >> i think it was late for her to bring all that up. i made my mind up. it took me awhile. i wasn't real sure to begin with. he's my choice. >> reporter: thank you. be careful going to charleston. you have 90 minutes. you have a drive on the way. have a great day. here's what happens. i'm going to walk over here. they come in, they are line d u here. we are at a church. they line up here. they come through. there's a little thing on the floor that says a through j, l through z. these young ladies have been doing it for awhile. one since 1983. not her. they get this blue card. you have to have this blue card. they look your name up. if you don't have that blue card, they don't allow you to go over there. then they punch it in, it's done electronically. then they get one of these that says i voted. they are done. that's it. that's the process. we're here all day. before i let you go, i want to show you this. see what that says? rick perry suspended his campaign. herman cain, michele bachmann, jon huntsman suspended their come pain. you cannot vote for them. steven colbert, sorry about that. >> when i was in south carolina yesterday, there's still rick perry commercials on the air. what's that all about? >> reporter: i know that. we were in the hotel watching the rebroadcast of the debate and all of a sudden there's a rick perry ad running on every station. they paid their money, so they have to get their money's worth. it's still running here. the interesting thing about this live shot, i looked in the paper this morning. in the local paper, there's an article about newt gingrich and whether women are going to vote for him. the first woman said she voted for gingrich. it may matter to reporters and people outside of south carolina. for people in south carolina, i'm not sure if it matter that is much. >> you coaxed it out of her. she was shy. your charm got to her. thank you very much. we'll talk to you later. >> reporter: all righty. so, what does ham have to do with the vote today? quite a lot, as a matter of fact. at least that's the story at tommy's ham house. both the newt gingrich and romney are scheduled to be there at the same time this morning. here is what gingrich said when he found out about that. >> i have no idea. is that right? >> reporter: neither of you are changing your schedule. >> wait until ou tell r.c. he will be wild. see you at tommy's ham house. >> r.c. is his press secretary. we informed him he will meet romney at 10:45 at the ham house. joining me on the phone is tommy himself. tomey stephenson, the owner of tommy's ham house. how did this double booking happen? >> caller: i don't know exactly how it happened. gingrich people called me yesterday to say he would be here at 10:45. we were getting ready for him this morning and during the night last night, i got a call from one of newt's workers in greenville. she says -- it woke me up because i go to bed early. she said is romney coming tomorrow, too. i said well i didn't know if he was. that will be fine. so, i went on back to sleep. this morning i get up at 3:00 and open the front doors and here comes people putting up gingrich signs. i said that will be fine. they are the ones that told me romney is coming. we never had two here at the same time. we'll take care of it. we are glad to have them. >> i know this is not the first time a candidate stopped by for breakfast. this time, how do you design the restaurant? do you allow them to put up signs wherever they want? do you do anything to separate the restaurant? >> nope. we have a wide open restaurant. they are welcome to come in. they are not going to come in and do any talking or debating i don't think. they want to come in and shake hands and meet the people at the restaurant. >> will you be spending time with each of the candidates? >> caller: i have a lot to do here. i have a big group of 70 coming in at 9:15 that i have to take care of before i get into them. i hope they will be here later on so i can get my regular crowd out and my regular people fed. >> that speaks extremely highly of you that you are worried about your regular customers. one of the two men may be the leader of the free world. what is the best thing to eat when anyone comes by your restaurant? i know it's called ham house. >> caller: we are a breakfast and lunch restaurant. saturdays we do breakfast only. i get here early because i do all the preparation of the meats we have. i grind my own pork sausage, chicken sausage. i cut chicken for biscuits make bone burger for burgers. all the meat you eat at the ham house is prepare thad morning before you get here. >> tommy, our mouths are watering on the set. everyone is getting hungry. very quickly, we won't tell anyone you told me this, you would to tell me a personal answer to this personal question. what are you supporting for president? >> caller: it doesn't matter. both the guys are great. either one will make a great president. we are looking forward to a good meeting today. >> who did you say you were supporting? >> caller: i didn't say. >> i wanted to make sure. i thought you were slipping in a name. you are being neutral just like us reporters. >> caller: right. >> it's a pleasure. i look forward to coming to your restaurant. >> caller: thank you for calling. bye. >> bye. it has been exactly one week since the "costa concordia" ran aground. now, the more survivors. weo straight titaly. plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. 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[ 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. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. if you've had enough, ask your dermatologist about enbrel. for exactly a week now, rescuers scrambled to find survivors among the "costa concordia." searchers are back aboard searching the ship. it may soon turn into a recovery operation. it's sad news. let's go to italy where dan rivers is standing by with the latest. dan? >> reporter: yeah, gary, we are hearing a press conference from the head of the committee that's organizing all of this. he's been talking about the environmental risk becoming more urgent. they cannot predict how long it's going to take to clear the wreckage of the ship behind me. he's been talking about the fuel risk on board and the chemical and sewage risk. effectively, it was a small town of 4,000 people afloat on the sea. you can imagine all the services and sewage facilities that go with that. it's still on board they are worried about. that explains why they put booms out behind me. when they start to pump the fuel out that will begin over the coming weeks, they are going to replace the fuel with water to keep the ship balanced. also, just a bit of detail about how long it's taking to get into the 2,000 cabins. it's taking 45 minute tosser ch just one cabin. it's so difficult to get into them. you can imagine how long it's going to take to search all 2,000. it gives you an idea of the complexity of the operation. >> is there a fear some of these missing might never be found or is it believed the missing are in some of the rooms you are talking about? >> reporter: it's a good possibility some of them may have been swept away. we know several hundred people decided to jump and swim because you can see how close it was to the shore. many people thought they were waiting and waiting to go to live docks and thought they would swim for it. there's a possibility people didn't realize how cold the water is here, you know, and they may well have been swept away. there's a possibility some of them may never be found. >> so sad. dan rivers, thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. well, this is the first time they have been around for an election. gop presidential candidates getting helped or hurt by superpacs. super is the operative word. how much power do they have? the details in a minute. life with crohn's disease is a daily game of "what ifs". what if my stomach pain and cramps come back? what if the plane gets delayed? what if i can't hide my symptoms? what if this takes too long? what if? but what if the most important question is the one you're not asking? what if the underlying cause of your crohn's symptoms is damaging inflammation? for help getting the answers you need visit knowcrohns.com/tv and use the interactive discussion guide to speak with your gastroenterologist. and waiting in line. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. 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[ male announcer ] get a 4-week trial plus $100 in extras including postage and a digital scale. go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again. the hour, 19 minutes after the hour. we say good morning to south carolina. this is columbia, the state capital. it is time to go out and vote. the polls have been open now for 20 minutes in the south carolina primary. there are influences undeniable. their presence is hard to ignore. this year's election is different from others in one way, two words, super pacs. what exactly are super pacs? johnbenet ramsey lebs is here to explain it for us. >> who would think we could get more political ads on television. we are used to seeing them supporting or attacking candidates. we have not seen the unlimited spending of the groups. that's because they are new. the result of two court decisions in 2010. one of them from the supreme court two years ago today. what it allows is to take unlimited contributions from corporations, unions, wealthy individuals that traditional pacs, political action committees. super pacs cannot coordinate spending with candidates. now, critics say it's ridiculous. the ads by the super pacs are out there echoing their messages. it circumvents campaign finance limits. it's a matter of free speech. partners at time.com say there's a new theory. the new rules turned presidential politics into a house of mirrors. the richest people have an outside way to help candidates funneling their money through new, shadowy organizations and often identify their voters only after the votes have been counted. now, i will add, a lot of you are hearing about this because of the comedy surrounding it. steven colbert and jon stewart are criticizing super pacs and the way they affect the race. as the election season progress progresses, expect a slew of ads in battleground states through november, they are going to be on all the time. >> do we know how much money the groups have spent so much? >> we do. more than $33 million. think about how early we are in the process. we haven't gotten to the general election. this is according to a non-partisan center tracking the numbers. we at cnn reports as of a week ago, more than $6 million was spent in south carolina alone. then you have the latest ads from the past week. we have a link for you. cnn.com/josh. you can read all about it. most of what we have seen is on the republican side. there are democratic ones as well. we will see them in the general election battle. get this, americans spent $52 billion over the black friday weekend. how did we pay for the shopping spree? according to the national reserve, we charged it. consumer borrowing went up by $20 billion. now it's time to pay it off. clyde anderson has a plan to get you debt free. that's next. with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaids, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help. go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first. get more whole grain than any other ingredient... just look for the white check. what was your new year's resolution? if you are like most people, it involved money. 62% of you said your top financial goal was paying down debt. our financial analyst clyde anderson is here to help. clyde? >> yes. >> a lot of us wracked up bills last month. >> yes. >> january comes along and you look at the credit card bills. how do you pay them off? do you pay them off? >> you do. you have to be smart about how to do it. a lot of people want to pay the highest or lowest balance. tackle the one with the highest apr. this is a smart strategy. you want to eliminate the one you are paying the most interest on. then you get that down and go to the next highest interest rate. it's smart. you don't want to pay more on the high interest rate cards because you paid off one with the balance. be strategic about it. that's the first thing. >> should you be consolidating? >> definitely. depends on how many bills you have. if you have four or five, the best strategy is hit the one with the highest apr. a lot of people consolidate when they have massive amounts of debt. they lump them into one with one interest rate. it's out of your hands and you can't control it. >> what other strategies do you recommend? >> people are not recognizing, we have a bit of a stimulus we can do ourselves. we have a break with payroll taxes. to a lot of people, it doesn't seem like a lot of money. the little things mean a lot. >> we don't think about that. we say oh, it sounds good. we don't know how significant it can be. >> break your calculator out. $992 if they extend it through the rest of the year. right now, it's through february of 2012. it's a good chance of it extending. it's a good savings. take that money and apply it to your debt. >> when december of 2012 comes, still 11 months away, maybe not spend as much if it's problematic trying to figure out how to consolidate and pay off the debt. >> that's the best strategy. don't use the credit cards so much. use cash. you pay it in the end. it's fine when you are using the cards. swipe them. now you are going to pay for it. a lot of times you pay two times what you would pay for cash. >> speaking of cash, a lot of us don't like to carry around a lot of cash. you go to the store and pay several hundred dollars for gifts. the question is, maybe it's smart to carry around cash. is that something you advocate? >> it's a smart strategy. you have the cash. you know how much you need. you have the cash. when you see the cash coming out of your hands, it's different than swiping the card. >> good advice. nice talking to you. thank you very much. we will bring you live to the polls in south carolina at the top of this hour when "cnn saturday morning" continues. but, sanjay gupta md begins after this. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce.