CNN news 2012-02-12 加文本

cnn news 2012-02-12

CARL AZUZ, HOST, cnn STUDENT NEWS: Imagine arriving at the arcade, and then having to wait in line behind your grandparents. That story`s coming up. I`m Carl Azuz. You`re watching cnn Student News.

First up, it was a sweep for former senator and current presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Three states, three victories. Santorum finished in first place in Tuesday`s Republican caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado, and in the Republican primary in Missouri.

AZUZ (voice-over): Now there`s a still long way to go. The goal in primaries and caucuses for all of the candidates is to win delegates. Once a candidate wins enough, he wins the party`s presidential nomination.

These events run through the end of June. The next ones are on February 28th. But some experts are saying that Tuesday night`s results could reshape the race for the Republican nomination. Here`s how the candidates reacted after Tuesday`s contests.

FORMER SEN. RICK SANTORUM, R-PA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So we definitely are the campaign right now with the momentum and the enthusiasm on the ground. And we feel very good that the delegate count will at least match, and maybe even exceed what we received in Colorado and Minnesota.

FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY, R-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This was a good night for Rick Santorum. Want to congratulate Senator Santorum, wish him the very best. We`ll keep on campaigning down the road, but I expect to become our nominee with your help.

FORMER REP. NEWT GINGRICH, R-GA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, our goal is through Super Tuesday, we then go to Alabama and Mississippi and then we go to Texas. And our hope is by the time we get to Texas on April 6th that we`ll basically be pretty close to a tie with Governor Romney.

REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We do have to start picking up and we have some others. We`re optimistic we`re going to keep picking up delegates. That`s what the other ones are doing. Nobody else is, you know, about to this moment jump ahead of Romney, but I tell you what, I -- we think we`re going to keep doing this.

AZUZ: America`s military mission in Iraq ended last December. There was a small ceremony in Baghdad and another one at an Air Force base in the U.S. a few days later. But there`s one veterans` group that`s pushing for a ticker tape parade that honors all of the men and women who served in the Iraq War. It`s led to a debate about when that might happen and why it hasn`t happened yet. Brian Todd has more.

BRIAN TODD, cnn REPORTER (voice-over): A fitting tribute to the Super Bowl champs, down New York`s so-called "Canyon of Heroes," but some other heroes are now wondering why not us?

PAUL REICKHOFF, IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA: I think most Americans agree, if the Giants deserve a Super Bowl, so do the 1 million Iraq veterans who have served.

TODD (voice-over): Paul Reickhoff, who served in combat in Iraq, is head of the group Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America. He`s petitioning government officials to throw a parade for troops returning from Iraq. It`s a sentiment that`s gathered critical mass on the campaign trail.

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And it frustrates me greatly that, as we come home from one of those theaters, that our government, this administration refuses to give them the simple acknowledgement of a job well done with a parade down a main street of Washington, D.C., or New York City.

TODD: There`s certainly a template for it. After the first Gulf War in 1991, parades were thrown for those returning troops right down Constitution Avenue here in Washington and in New York, events that cost millions of dollars and attracted national media coverage.

TODD (voice-over): Impressive showings of troops, weaponry, aircraft. It recalled the rollicking parades after both World Wars, but notably missing after Vietnam. For troops from the Iraq War, St. Louis decided to go ahead with a parade recently, and the White House plans on holding a dinner for some Iraq veterans. But top Pentagon officials say a national level parade now would be premature.

COL. DAVE LAPAN, JOINT CHIEFS SPOKESMAN: The chairman and other senior military leaders do not think that it`s appropriate, at the given time with service members in large numbers fighting in Afghanistan, to hold a national-level parade in New York City.

TODD (voice-over): But analysts say another factor at play could be this image:

FORMER PRESIDENT George W. BUSH: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.

TODD (voice-over): No one wants to be criticized for declaring victory prematurely.

DARRELL WEST, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: It really shows how controversial the Iraq War is. Even when it`s over, people are debating whether we won or lost. And I think the Pentagon seems to have that mentality of not wanting to declare "mission accomplished" in a situation where the outcome is so ambiguous.

TODD (voice-over): Col. David Lapan at the Pentagon says the Joint Chiefs chairman is not thinking along those lines. And he says he hopes a national level parade will take place as soon as both wars have been concluded -- Brian Todd, cnn, Washington.