[Whitfield:] A reminder to vote for today's "Choose the News Winner." Text 22360 for the story that you want to see. Text 1 for "Aussie Female Fighters," Australian women will soon be on the front line of battle, but not everyone is happy about that. Text 2 for "World War II Sunken Treasure." We'll take you to an amazing underwater discovery. A shipwreck worth millions. And text 3 for "Liz Taylor's Jewels," a look at the star's jewel collection that's making its way around the world before going off to auction. The winning story airs next hour. All right. Florida will likely push its presidential primary to January 31st leaving candidates not yet in the race even less time to declare their intentions. Speculation is swirling around whether New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will jump into the Republican field of candidates. Jim Acosta, part of the best political team on television, is live from the political desk in Washington. All right. Jim, so Christie, he hasn't said yes.
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Right.
[Whitfield:] He has in the past said no, but he didn't necessarily say that last night in his speech.
[Acosta:] That's right. That is exactly right, Fredricka. Everybody is looking at that speech last night and saying, hmm, maybe Chris Christie hasn't made up his mind yet, even though he has said repeatedly that he is not running for president. He appeared to leave the door open just a crack, ever so slightly, by basically telling a crowd in California last night at the Reagan Library that, you know, that he's very flattered by all of the pleas that he get into this race. He doesn't feel it in his heart in terms of having that fiery passionate jump into the race for president, but there was one woman last night who made this impassioned plea to him, really implored him to run for president, and here's what he had to say.
[Unidentified Female:] Do it for my daughter, do it for our grandchildren. Do it for our sons. Please, sir, don't we need you. Your country needs you to run for president.
[Gov. Chris Christie , New Jersey:] It's extraordinarily flattering, but by the same token, that heartfelt message you gave me is also not a reason for me to do it. That reason has to reside inside me.
[Acosta:] And I talked to a close adviser to Governor Christie yesterday who basically said, look, this is this storm of speculation is incredible, but this is a decision that will come from Chris Christie. Fredricka, it's interesting that that adviser would sort of use that language and yes, we can be guilty of parching these things too much. But, you know, we all thought this decision was played. He wasn't running for president but yet here's his adviser saying, well, the decision will come on his terms when he's ready to make that decision. So make of that what you will.
[Whitfield:] OK. Well, let's try to reflect in a different way now.
[Acosta:] Sure.
[Whitfield:] You know who was leading the polls at this time during the last presidential election?
[Acosta:] Well, you know, it's amazing to look at these polls from four years ago, because it does tell you that at this point four years ago, you know, we were all looking at very different candidates in terms of who might win the nomination. Take a look at September 2007. The Republican choice for nominee in 2008. Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson were on top, they were going neck and neck, and everybody thought it was going to be one of those two guys. It ended up being John McCain. Look at the Democratic field. Hillary Clinton was on top of that field by a healthy margin. Yes, Barack Obama was starting to catch fire and people were talking about that, but Hillary was really Hillary Clinton was really the odds-on favorite to win the nomination there. So, you know, taking this all circling back to Chris Christie, you know, there is a reason why there are all these Republicans saying, well, maybe Chris Christie should get into the race. They know that even though it's late, it's not too late.
[Whitfield:] All right. Jim Acosta, thanks so much.
[Acosta:] You bet.
[Whitfield:] And of course, for the latest political news, you know exactly where to go. CNNPolitics.com. All right. Meantime, we also want to let you know, the president right there. He is beginning his roundtable discussion that will involve D.C. high school as well. We're going to continue to monitor the discussion that he is part of right there out of Washington, and we'll share with you that information as we get it. All right, meantime, both sides lay out their cases in the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor. We'll talk with a legal insider about the bombshells so far and what we can expect in the next round at the Conrad Murray trial.