The GOP Race without Christie; Untold Jokes About Chris Christie
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. Amanda Knox is back home in Seattle for the first time in four years. An Italian appeals court threw out her murder conviction of her roommate. And thousands of people protested against the Greek austerity package in Athens today. Financial experts say it's just a matter of time before Greece defaults. And the CDC says 18 people are now dead from cantaloupe contaminated by listeria. At least 100 people in 20 states have gotten sick. All right. Now to politics -- and a brand-new poll, Herman Cain is on top. He is tied for first place with Mitt Romney in this CBS News poll. One man not on the list, Chris Christie. The New Jersey governor officially said he's not running for president.</s>GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: In the end, what I've always felt was the right decision remains the right decision today. Now is not my time. New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. So, what does this mean for the field of GOP candidates? Will Cain is a CNN contributor live in New York. Good to see you.</s>WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.</s>WHITFIELD: Roland Martin is a CNN contributor and here in Atlanta. Good to see you, as well.</s>ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey. Glad to be hanging out you with you.</s>WHITFIELD: I know. It's fantastic. Will, we're going to have to get you on the sofa.</s>CAIN: I know. I feel left out.</s>WHITFIELD: I know. Roland has got the home field advantage. All right. So, gentlemen, to both of you, you know, let's talk about. The field, apparently, is set now with Christie out and Cain rising in the polls. So, where does this race stand? Who does the Republican Party have to throw its weight behind? Will, you first.</s>CAIN: I think, Fredricka, what we're going to see now is a lot of support that's been courting the Chris Christies and the Paul Ryans of the world will now shuffle their feet, kind of begrudgingly over to support Romney -- which is interesting, because all the things we really liked about Christie, that he was such a blunt, straight talker, that he took positions that weren't necessarily good for getting electing, like telling people you're crazy if you think my Muslim job appointee will try to enact Sharia law, by saying we need to make cuts to education, health care. All those things that Christie did, Romney is kind of the opposite. I mean, he tells you what you want to hear because he wants to be president really badly. But in the end, Romney is competent and he'll earn that support, I imagine.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Roland is giggling on that.</s>MARTIN: Yes. This whole thing has been a reality show. How many times does the guy say I'm not getting in? Folks in the media going, will he run? Will he run? And the moment he had announced they said, will he be on the V.P. short list? I'm like shut up. Seriously. He's not running. Deal with it.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, but the Republican Party was very clear. They were trying to encourage him to get to the race, he said no.</s>MARTIN: That was the establishment not happy with Mitt Romney and not happy with Governor Rick Perry.</s>WHITFIELD: Well, then, now, we'll they be happy with Mitt Romney.</s>MARTIN: No, here's the whole deal. All of this stuff is meaningless. The people that matter will be in Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida, South Carolina, Nevada where the votes are. All of these polls and all this stuff right now means nothing. At this point, in 2007, then Senator Barack Obama was down 31 points to then-Senator Hillary Clinton. What happened in Iowa? Votes matter. All this stuff right here is just nonsense.</s>CAIN: I just think -- it's a little funny to hear Roland's bewilderment at the Republican Party trying to talk Chris Christie or Paul Ryan into the race. I mean, the Democratic Party had to put up with the candidacy of John Kerry. That lesson should have been enough to teach you we might be looking for the strongest candidate we can find.</s>MARTIN: No, actually, I'm not looking for the strongest one because you have people who are looking for the perfect candidate. If you look at Chris Christie's record, he was going to have a problem with social conservatives.</s>CAIN: Granted. Granted.</s>MARTIN: He was going to have a problem with evangelicals. And so, look, he was about that much stronger than Rudy Giuliani. And so, at the end of the day, you have people who are simply unhappy. I think if you're Mitt Romney, you're sitting back and you're saying, fine, you let Herman Cain run out there and run his mouth. You let Governor Rick Perry, like in a marathon, take the lead. Mitt Romney is sitting there saying, when all of you guys come to your senses, I'll be sitting right here for the nomination.</s>CAIN: I think you're right.</s>WHITFIELD: OK. Roland, you mention Giuliani. Too late for Giuliani, even with that name recognition.</s>MARTIN: He ran a horrible campaign anyway.</s>WHITFIELD: Too late for him, or even like a Sarah Palin to jump in at this point.</s>MARTIN: She's not running. They're not running.</s>CAIN: The field is the field, I agree. This is what it's going to be.</s>WHITFIELD: OK. So, then, let's talk about the endorsement of a Chris Christie. He still has, you know, important stature within the Republican Party. How important is his endorsement for any one of these candidates?</s>MARTIN: Not important.</s>WHITFIELD: Zero?</s>MARTIN: OK. He's a governor of New Jersey. Republicans are not going to win New Jersey. OK? It's not going to happen.</s>WHITFIELD: OK.</s>MARTIN: So, really, what does it get you? At the end of the day, if you're a candidate, you have to run on your own record. This is not like when Senator Obama ran, when Senator Ted Kennedy came out for him. Christie does not have that level of enthusiasm like other folks have, and for the great buzz.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. Well, Will, right now money is being thrown the way of Mitt Romney. Co-founder of Home Depot said my money is going to Mitt Romney, especially now that Chris Christie is out. So, his endorsement may be rather weighty, especially for those who may have been waiting for Chris Christie.</s>MARTIN: No pun intended.</s>WHITFIELD: Sure. OK, well, forget I said that. OK. Well, you know, say for instance there are others who couldn't wait to throw their money towards Chris Christie and now, you know, might they be following the co-founder of Home Depot's lead?</s>CAIN: Ken Langone, you're talking about. Yes, no, I think that's exactly what's going to happen. I think all the support that has been kind of sitting on the sidelines will now begrudgingly move over to Mitt Romney. I agree with a lot of what Roland is saying, that Herman Cain will have his rise and fall, Rick Perry had has his rise and fall. At the end of this long thing, that is a marathon, Mitt Romney will probably be the man standing. And by the way, that's not necessarily what Barack Obama wants to see. I think Mitt Romney is very electable and presents a threat to Barack Obama's presidency.</s>WHITFIELD: Do you see that? Do you agree with that? A threat to the Obama White House?</s>MARTIN: Well, first of all, anybody can be a threat when you look at the state of the economy. And so, if you're the White House, you recognize how tough it is going it be. But again, the contrast come November will be between the GOP nominee and the president. And so, you can't sit there and say, oh, who do I think will be the better person because they all have to run.</s>CAIN: Oh, please.</s>MARTIN: No, no, no.</s>CAIN: Oh, please.</s>MARTIN: Anything can happen between now and the primary season.</s>WHITFIELD: So, the White House is poising itself for which candidate of that field, which is the greatest threat in your view, Will?</s>CAIN: The White House for the next six months will try to pretend like Rick Perry is the greatest threat and Rick Perry will be the winner because they want it to be Rick Perry, because Rick Perry has shown the ability to shoot himself in the foot over and over, over the past couple months. Their silence on Mitt Romney, except when they call him weird, which is odd. They are terrified of Mitt Romney.</s>WHITFIELD: OK.</s>MARTIN: No, they're not terrified of Mitt Romney. A Longhorn would say something silly like that. At the end of the day, look, you have to run against who the nominee is going to be. And, so, it will still be the contrast and it's still not a bank that Mitt Romney gets the nomination. This is why you run.</s>CAIN: You're right.</s>MARTIN: A lot can happen over the next four months. I got to say, Fred, earlier, Will said I agree with a lot of what Roland said -- he's a Texas Longhorn. They always follow us Aggies.</s>WHITFIELD: I got two Texans here, this is scary.</s>MARTIN: Well, you know a real Texan and then a faux Texan.</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, no. Will, you can't let him get away with that.</s>CAIN: No, I'd fight him if we were in person right now.</s>MARTIN: Oh, right. Right.</s>WHITFIELD: I let you --</s>MARTIN: I have cowboy boots and he has Prada boots.</s>CAIN: Hold your feet up, Roland, I'll hold mine up. We'll see who has boots on.</s>MARTIN: OK.</s>WHITFIELD: Good stuff. All right. Roland Martin, thanks so much, appreciate it.</s>MARTIN: Thanks.</s>WHITFIELD: All right. We got some breaking news I want to share with you right now. CNN affiliate KGO is reporting that two people are dead and least four others wounded in a shooting in Cupertino, California. We'll continue to follow this story and bring you details as we get them. Also, we're going to head to lower Manhattan, the "Occupy Wall Street" protests are actually spreading beyond Manhattan. Some say it's tough to take the protests seriously, though. But one CNN.com opinion writer tells us why it's time to take notice.