New Hampshire: Huntsman's Proving Ground; Supreme Court Showdown on TV Indecency
PHILLIPS: Checking top stories now. Syria's President blames external conspiracies by Western and Arab elements for bloodshed in his nation that has left thousands of people dead. During a rare speech a defiant Bashar Al Assad denied ordering government forces to open fire on protestors. He said a referendum over a new Constitution will happen in March. President Obama is about lose his right hand man, chief of staff Bill Daley says he's stepping down to spend more time with his family. He'll be replaced by White House Budget director, Jack Lew. And Alabama fans celebrating their second BCS national championship in three years. The Crimson Tide beat LSU 21-0 last night. It was sweet victory indeed after LSU defeated them during the regular season. All right, "Political Buzz", your rapid-fire look at the best political topics of the day, three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. And playing today Democratic strategist, Robert Zimmerman; founder and editor of Citizen Jane Politics, Patricia Murphy; and Georgetown University professor, Chris Metzler. First question guys, right now, it looks like the New Hampshire primaries will be a race for second and third. So take your best guesses at tomorrow's headlines. Who will be tonight's top three finishers and what does that mean for the race going forward? Robert?</s>ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, in polling, it's always important to watch not the final number you see on the screen but to see where the trends are going. Clearly the trend shows that Jon Huntsman is well positioned to finish in second place with Ron Paul finishing in third place. So even though Mitt Romney is not going to get the bounce out of his first-place victory, the media will claim he didn't win by enough. The good news for Romney, is that neither Romney nor -- Jon Huntsman -- Jon Huntsman or Ron Perry can really -- or Ron Paul can really go too far. The reality is Ron Paul is Ron Paul which disqualifies him. And Jon Huntsman believes in science and climate change which disqualifies him in the Republican Party today.</s>PHILLIPS: Chris?</s>CHRIS METZLER, PROFESSOR, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Well, I -- I -- I think, Robert's analysis is -- is -- is correct. I think in the second and third place you're going to see Huntsman and you're going to see Paul. The unfortunate thing of course for Santorum, is that he got absolutely no bounce out of the Iowa victory. And I think what it also says is that for Mitt Romney it's not the coronation that the media seems to want it to be, sol I think these two guys are trying to figure out where am I going to be they're going to be second and third. They're going to then go into South Carolina and let's see where it ends up.</s>PHILLIPS: Patricia.</s>PATRICIA MURPHY, FOUNDER/EDITOR, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Yes, I think all the headlines are going to be all eyes on South Carolina. Because we do sort of know what's going to happen here in New Hampshire. We know that Romney is going to run away with it. And I totally agree with Robert that Jon Huntsman is absolutely on the rise. I've been to a lot of his events and even though with the course of the week the size of his events doubled. His numbers on the polls have doubled. So Jon Huntsman is in the hunt. The bad news for him is that it's the moderate electorate that he's trying to split up with -- with the very people he's running against with Mitt Romney and Ron Paul. They're all vying for that. The big question is, who's going to be the conservative alternative and South Carolina will tell us that.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Romney says that his comments about firing people were taken out of context. But that's not stopping his rivals, of course, from ripping right into him.</s>GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company Bain Capital and all of the jobs that they killed I'm sure he was worried he would run out of pink slips.</s>JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, the next primary is in South Carolina where the unemployment rate is 9.9 percent. So, will Romney's words haunt him there -- Chris?</s>METZLER: Well I actually think that Romney can turn this around. I think probably what he should have said is and what he still can say is, "I am hoping to convince the American people to fire Barack Obama". I mean, I think he can do that, you know, it was exactly not very smart to say that he likes firing people. But I do see his point. I think his point is, I am not afraid to make changes in the over-bloated government bureaucracy and that may include firing some people. I think that's really what he was trying to say but I think he needs to shift the message to say, "Let's fire Barack Obama."</s>PHILLIPS: Robert?</s>METZLER: That's what he needs to do.</s>ZIMMERMAN: Chris, you have more credibility in your statement than Governor Romney showed yesterday in New Hampshire. The reality is, even though you see the Republicans, the right- wing continue to attack free enterprise and continue to engage in class warfare, ultimately I don't think the words are going to hurt Mitt Romney. People underestimate the coalition he has in South Carolina. Of Nikki Haley, her Tea Party supporters and the South Carolina Republican establishments.</s>PHILLIPS: Patricia?</s>MURPHY: Yes I think it's going to hurt Mitt Romney, it will hurt him for the rest of this election, because there is a big piece of populist anger even in the Republican base, people are as angry with Washington as they are with Wall Street. So we know it's -- it will hurt him here it's really going to kill him in the general election though if he gets that far and I think he will. This is the sound track for the Democrats attack on him. He just cut their 30-second ad against himself. It was a huge mistake he's going to pay for it.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, your "Buzzer Beater" 20 seconds on each. Rick Perry's campaign, going a step further now, releasing this ring tone of Romney's voice. "I like being able to fire people" over and over again. So will bashing Romney actually work for Perry? Robert?</s>ZIMMERMAN: Rick Perry could use a ring tone, he could have the New York Philharmonic behind him, nothing is going -- nothing is going to salvage his candidacy. Bottom line is, he might have started with his candidacy by reading the Constitution but it's too late for that. Ultimately he's just not equipped or capable of being a candidate or certainly serving in national office.</s>PHILLIPS: Chris?</s>METZLER: Well, I think it is kind of too late for him. You know, but I think what's happening, is not so much bashing Romney, I think what they're doing is very smart campaign strategy, which is take the candidate's greatest strength and turn it into a weakness. And so now, unfortunately, Romney is not going to be able to talk about being this guy if he moves forth in the general election who creates jobs, so that's the problem.</s>PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys. Well, broadcasters versus the FCC in a Supreme Court showdown after shelling out thousands of dollars in fines for F-bombs and nude scenes. Networks want the FCC to specify in detail what is and isn't acceptable on television and the high court is hearing arguments today. CNN's Ted Rowlands reports.</s>CHER, SINGER: I've also had critics for the last 40 years saying I was on my way out every year. So</s>TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That Cher F-bomb from the Billboard Music Awards in the 2002 was an FCC violation for decency. During the next year's show, Nicole Richie did it.</s>NICOLE RICHIE, SINGER: Have you ever tried to get</s>ROWLANDS: The same year at the Golden Globe, it was Bono's turn during an acceptance speech.</s>BONO, SINGER: I was really, really</s>ROWLANDS: For the past 34 years, whenever the FCC thinks a broadcast network crosses the decency lines, like this derriere shot, on "NYPD Blue" in 2003 it levies a fine. For this one ABC affiliates had to pay $1.4 million. Janet Jackson's Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction triggered $500,000 fine, since overturned. Now the broadcast networks want the Supreme Court to force the FCC to ease up or at least specify in detail what's acceptable and what isn't. The FCC allowed profanity on TV from the movie "Saving Private Ryan" but had issued fines for the same language on television programs. University of Chicago law professor Geoffrey Stone believes the Supreme Court will agree with broadcasters and the lower court forcing FCC rule changes, saying "Cable, satellite and the Internet have changed the broadcasting landscape".</s>GEOFFREY STONE, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: The basic predicate for government regulation of the air waves really doesn't exist anymore. And so it would be perfectly possible for the court to revisit that question and to say, the truth is, it doesn't make any sense anymore.</s>ROWLANDS: Still many believe that the public air waves should be protected.</s>TIM WINTER, PRESIDENT, PARENTS TELEVISION COUNCIL: How does more shock more f-bombs, more indecency serve the public interest especially when they know children are watching.</s>ROWLANDS: The FCC started regulating broadcasters in response to a George Carlin's radio rant that Carlin continued to use for years as part of his stage show.</s>PHILLIPS: Ted Rowlands is joining me live from Chicago now. So Ted, what do we expect to happen today?</s>ROWLANDS: Well in about a half an hour, the justices will hear arguments on both sides. We're not expecting a decision Kyra until sometime this summer though but they'll hear the arguments today.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Ted Rowlands, thanks so much. And for years, doctors have warned against the dangers of nicotine. But a new study suggests that the drug may actually have a health benefit. Your daily dose is next.