that is narrowing, with gingrich at 24%. then in iowa, american research group, has newt gingrich at 27%. romney at 20. ron paul at 16%. we're back with the panel. steve? status of the race? where do things stand? >> really? is it wise for me to tell you of what i think the status of the race is now? it could be different in a week or two. one thing is true and has become more evident every the past several weeks. washington, d.c., has underappreciated the momentum and the support that newt gingrich has in the rest of the country. people in washington who have worked with newt gingrich, and the enemies he made here, you know, all along going back months and months have suggested he can't catch on. he has got the baggage. he has been on all sides of the issue. we're seeing increasingly in the polls and anecdotally talking to voters, that that just doesn't matter to them. i think people are not concerned about newt gingrich's personal baggage. we have seen it again in those polls and others. the question is going to be can he

just the talk of gingrich bring his numbers down. if and only if gingrich wins in iowa, i will guarantee you this is a close race in new hampshire. a race that the romney people set up to be not only a must win but we are going to win big. they are not going to win it big. >> kimberly: i agree. look at numbers now. they are consistent for newt and not in the right direction of romney. >> bob: quickly, in south carolina, gingrich is ahead in south carolina. romney's big problem is after you leave new hampshire, you have to go south and spend a lot of time in the south. gingrich will do well there. now i tease. okay. it's responsible -- oh, is it? is it responsible to extend tax cuts without paying for it? of course it is. we'll talk about it. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sa

gingrich. romney. santorum. and ron pull, as -- ron paul, as well. cain has not been defensive but now he has faces. before it was anonymous names in newspaper articles and now we have faces of women. and say they don't believe it but the constant attack on herman cain have taken the toll. and the polls show that. >>neil: there does seem to be a wearyness of this even if it does not prove true or remotely true the charges just stay out there, the old smoke becomes fire argument. is it just that he wants to stay ahead of this, or get confidence from the poll numbers you would assume would be further down than they are. >>guest: yes, the poll numbers on the g.o.p. side are better than what you would think but if you look at head to head matchup against president obama they were never strong, he would always be defeated by president obama. when he says we are reassessing the we campaign that is a death blow to fundraising something that will handicap his campaign to he continues to go on into january and possibly february. >>neil: i wonder if the market

>>guest: very bad for president obama and good for gingrich. president obama has poll numbers, disapproval numbers less than jimmy carter which is not where you want to be less than a year from election day. the fact that gingrich is polling ahead of the president, we have seen the polls and they say unnamed republican, no name republican, any generic republican but when you put a name to it they do poorly but the fact that gingrich with the name, with his negatives, a well-known entity is doing better than the president is good for republicans. >>shepard: well, iran is becoming more isolated by the day. this is getting very serious. great britain is now pulled all of the diplomats out of tehran after the attack on their embassy yesterday. and what that means as when leaders try to put the brakes on iran's nuclear program next. plus, the prosecution in aruba have lost their appeal to dear -- to keep gary giordano in jail. he is headed back to the united states. a busy wednesday. stay tuned. >>shepard: what a showdown underway with iran after ha

you have got gingrich with two affairs he admitted to. he left his first wife when she was struggling with uterine cancer. and he left a second wife after she had been diagnosed with m.s. and had affairs on both of them. now you have herman cain denying the affair. but there is a woman claiming a 13-year affair with him. are these deal breakers for with you either of these candidates? >>' interesting to see how people are responding to herman cain. i think his numbers have been dropping. but what sealed it with people was the way his attorney responded to this latest allegation saying this is private consensual behavior and should not be considered by people. that doesn't work. voters don't look at it that way. i think they both at both the personal and professional life. in the poll you just showed, mitt romney is far out front when you look at his character. he's been stablely married, good family, no moral qualms about the way he has been conducting himself. but in his professional life there are inconsistencies when you look at his po

for gingrich the challenge is staying on top. as "washington times" columnist charlie hurt says quote in the round-robin primary, all you have to do is stand in place long enough and you take your turn as the frontrunner. only thing primary voters agree on for any length of time they don't want to nominate mr. romney. other than deep antipathy with president obama, the discomfort with mr. obama is the enly enduring thing with the 2012 primary process. jenna: mitt romney is hitting back. the former massachusetts governor painting gingrich as lifelong washington insider in an interview with "special report"'s bret baier. >> i think to get president obama out of office you will have to bring something to the race that is different than what he brings. he is a lifelong politician. you have to have the credibility understanding how the economy works and i do. that is one reason i'm this race. jon: charlie hurt, the columnist for "the washington times" who wrote that piece we just quoted is with us now. is it just a two-man race now? i

let me talk about gingrich and romney in a moment. what surprised you, based on your discussion and your conversation yesterday? >> reporter: well, what has surprised me in the aftermath of it is the varied assessment of the interview, and how governor romney did. i mean many people see governor rom n romney answering what what are tough questions we thought about issues that he's facing from opponents on both sides, democrats and republicans. many of his supporters, governor romney's supporters said he performed excellently. he performed superior to answer those tough questions. other people looked at the interview and said, he seemed irtaeutd irritated and tense and didn't handle the interview well. the split on my panel last night was evident as well in terms of the interview. these what surprised me most. bill: the one part that almost struck me as uncomfortable is when he said i don't know how many hundred times i've said this, this is an unusual interview. all right, let's do it again. now, was that directly related to healthcar

newt gingrich has shown that cain's problems with women have emerged. if cain were to go, where would your support go to? 37% said newt would be my number -- newt would be 37%. romney will be second. michelle bachmann would be third with 13% of his supporters going to her and rick perry 12%. you just feel differently according to the public policy poll. >> but think of the dynamic of iowa. because that's really where this shakeout is going to occur. right now, you have gingrich in first place at iowa way up there and then you have a tightly bunched field for second place involving gingrich -- involving romney, bachmann, and paul. and a little bit of perry but mainly those three. more or less tied for second place. so it would not take a large number of votes to move bachmann up to a solid second place finish. if at that point she's ahead of romney but behind gingrich and a strong second, it really could put her into the field so i'm kind of looking at alternatives. i think we're being too quick to narrow this to a two-way race. >> all right. now, i got

he's a life long politician. >> he's newt gingrich and that's not all he had to say. the frontrunner is going toe to on immigration among other things. >> we're talking politics shortly. this first. the state took her son away because he was too fat. the mom is speaking out for the first time.

it's good news for newt gingrich. >> after the gingrich resurrection, i hate to point to anybody as dead. i think he was out of his depth from the very beginning. >> when we come back, iranian protesters storm british embassy. what's next and how serious is this? we know a place where tossing and turning have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lun

if cain drops out gingrich gets the ploughs. >> what about perry? >> 12%. >> what about huntsman? >> nothing there. >> ron paul? >> no. >> james garfield? 3% for garfield. >> really? >> that's the cat. >> that is the cat. >> patagonia tells people not to buy jacket. here is a hint, if patagonia really feels that way, why do they make the jacket? >> there you go. >> instead of telling people not to buy it,. >> this is what i'm saying. >>> joe, you said you thought it was odd that patagonia chose to do this on cyber monday. that was the point the company claims it was making. it said, quote, cyber monday and the consumption it reflects puts the economy of natural uh systems that supports all life firmly in the red. they were specifically choosing cyber monday. >> it was more appropriate to do it on black friday when they were driving to places. let's assume we didn't mean any of this, and it is easy to understand. >> they don't understand how an economy works. it is an exexraing -- an exchange of goods and services. >> i think the more we talk about this, the more i hate patagonia.

newt gingrich has been taking heat for immigration comments. last night o'reilly asked him about the border. take a listen. >> would you put a border from brownsville to san diego if you were president? >> yes. >> okay. >> absolutely. >> but you support a registration of illegal aliens? >> yes, i would support a universal registration of those who are here illegally. >> sanctuary cities, what do you to them? >> we'll propose a bill to cut off funding to any sanctuary city or sanctuary state. they get no money of any kind from the federal government, period, as of that moment. >> what do you think, greg? >> he's got his opinions. >> i'm for a border fence, but to keep the attractive immigrants in, based on my immigration policy of good-looking people. the thing is the problem with newt he's so full of himself he needs two heads. he carries one around in a duffel bag when this one is full. no matter what he says, people get like more newt. >> he has an answer for everything. the question about the fence is a good one. a lot of these immigrations

>> if she endorses newt gingrich, which is what i heard, she could be dispositive in this election. >> really? >> yes. >> it's good to see you. that's all the time we have left. thanks for being with us. greta is next. see you tomorrow night. >> tonight a very significant development in the battle for the white house. president obama hit a new low. he now has the worst job approval rating of any president at this stage of his term, just 43%. so what will the gop candidates do to cash in on the president's unpopularity? we spoke with governor rick perry earlier tonight. governor, nice to see you. >> greta, how are you? >> good. i'm going to help you out on one. here's the quiz. voting age in this country is what? >> it is 18. [laughter] >> i know you are getting -- you are getting grilled on that one. >> i know. anyway, from time to time i will make a mistake. >> all right. i'm just teasing you anyway. >>. [laughter] >> having fun with you. now for some real questions. you say that the federal reserve chairman, bernanki, and geithner should be retire or resign. why? >> when you look at

>> i hope so for newt gingrich. but a lot of things happened back then that maybe they would want him -- >> we also had welfare reform and a balanced budget. >> and he also proved that he understand votes are in the middle. he's to the left. >> and the immigration comment? >> and also healthcare. he's for the individual man date. >> the end of the day i think more conservatives will hold their nose and vote for romney than independents will hold their nose and vote for newt in a general election >> let's go to the ad on former governor palin that came out today. >> we need sudden and row relentless reform and that will return power to we the people. we need people with a proven record of reeeerrrrr i served in public office in state that had core bankruptcy problem. i fought that. i took on a lot of corrupt and compromised middle class. the challenge is not to replace obama in 20 is it 11, the real challenge is who is what will we replace him with? >> i think she's made her decision. we all know that. will her endor

>> i think you have mitt romney who is a big government republican and you have newt gingrich, who is a big government republican. >> bill: by that, we keep the apparatus that's in place. they wouldn't try to dismantle it like ron paul would? >> not just ron paul. ron paul is this close to a no government republican. you do have rick santorum and the person that i would vote for is michelle bachmann. but you've got these progressives that are on the republican side as well. let's not forget that the progressive party was started by a republican, theodore roosevelt. john mccain's favorite president. >> bill: but it would have had a different meaning when teddy roosevelt was running than it does now. the progressive movement has been taken over, that's where they're going. >> no, no. the alcoholskis have been folded into it and co- opted -- either co- opted the progressives or the progressives have co- opted them. they've always been buddy, buddy, with the marxists. the difference is that the split with road row wilson and theodore roosevelt was that the republicans were more nationalis

>> i hope so for newt gingrich. but a lot of things happened back then that maybe they would want him -- >> we also had welfare reform and a balanced budget. >> and he also proved th he understand votes are in the middle. he's to the left. >> and the immigration comment? >> and also healthcare. he's for the individual man date. >> the end of the day i think more conservatives will hold their nose and vote for romney than independents will hold their nose and vote for newt in a general election >> let's go to the ad on former governor palin that came out today. >> we need sudden and row relentless reform and that will return power to we the people. we need people with a proven record of reform. i served in public office in state that had core bankruptcy problem. i fought that. i took on a lot of corrupt and compromised middle class. the challenge is not to replace obama in 20 is it 11, the real challenge is who is what will we replace him with? >> i think she's made her decision. we all know that. will her endorsemen

romney has a double digit lead over gingrich in new hampshire. but he picked up the lead everywhere else. partly as a consequence of cain's slip. >> shep: he really has and mitt romney is right there with him. there is word of a, i don't know, interesting endorsement for him today. >> the gop candidates have been duking it out over illegal immigration for the last few weeks. today romney picked up the endorsement of three prominent cuban americans in south florida. congresswoman, congressman mario diaz and his brother. romney has been bashing newt gingrich and rick perry for suggesting several of the 11 million illegals in country could earn a path to citizenship. but he said there should be no breaks. >> my view is pretty straightforward, for those people who have come here illegally, they should have the opportunity to get in line with everybody else who wants to come into this country, but they go to the back of the line and they should be given no special pathway to citizenship or permanent residency merely because they've come here illegally

it's good news for newt gingrich. >> after the gingrich resurrection, i hate to point to anybody as dead. i think he was out of his depth from the very beginning. >> when we come back, iranian protesters storm british embassy. what's next and how serious is this? i take my multi-vitamin but wanted to do something more for my nutrition. there's so much information out there. what's good for you today, is bad for you tomorrow. i had no idea what to choose. until i found pronutrients -- a new line of supplements from centrum, who i totally trust. omega-3 supports not only my heart, but my brain and my eyes too. probiotics helps with my digestive balance and my immune function. and fruit & veggie has antioxidant properties. new pronutrients from centrum helps make nutrition possible. >> i strongly urge the iranian government to hold those who are responsible to task. they have a responsibility to protect diplomatic outposts, there's a basic international obligation that all countries need to observe. and for rioters essentially to be able to overrun the embassy and set it on fire is an indic

the hits keep coming for herman cain is gingrich in next? a tweet from a blogger from "washington post" looking for outlandish, incorrect predictions and "from gingrich's past," any ideas for me. and now, bret i thought of you, it is one thing to do this under a blog, but under the auspice of writing essentially the "washington post" ... all information of impartialness goes. >>guest: that is right. the "washington post" has one of two choices: either fire this man or acknowledge that it doesn't have any objectist left for under its name for something like that to go out. this is what we have been saying for a year, the obama team can't run on its message. the only thing they can run on is character assassination. that is politics. that is something that the obama team might do. but for the media to be complicity this this? for the media to be participating in this and now we have this person, just putting it out on the internet in open, help me crucify gingrich? we want him next. it is, you feel like they have fangs or something and they ha

today he is trailing gingrich. gingrich has no organization but can put one together in four or five rights but i see we iowa putting the challenge forth. >>shepard: won't romney need a mike huckabee? >>guest: sure. he would be a perfect running mate. this is the perfect race set up for mike huckabee versus romney and mike huckabee would be the candidate everyone wanted at this point in time. he fits the pattern. >>shepard: i will ask him about that, he works down the hall. >>guest: he would not want to give up this good show. >>shepard: we don't want to lose him. great to see you ed. and now los angeles and a court where dr. conrad murray has been sentenced to the maximum of four years behind bars for killing his world famous patient. the judge minced no words calling dr. conrad murray a disgrace to the medical protection who lied to protect himself when it might have saved michael jackson's life. >> he has absolutely no sense of remorse. absolutely no sense of fault. and is and remains dangerous. >>shepard: from

the final thing, newt gingrich himself, gingrich and romney are the only two candidates in the field that 70% of republicans say have qualified to be president. megyn: herman cain, only 28%, rick perry 38% believe he's qualified. these are republican likely voters? >> these are people who would vote in the republican primary. and in new hampshire that includes independents. megyn: i want to ask you. in iowa, what are you showing. according to the latest real clear position particulars poll. gingrich has a healthy lead. >> real clear politics is an average of polls. we show gingrich up by 13 points in iowa. other polling is showing begin grip of leasing in south carolina so there is a path right nowhat says it's good for the speaker. but only 42% of republican primary voters in new hampshire said they finally made up their mind. we see similar numbers in every one of the early states. so it's still very fluid. megyn: gingrich is taking a lot of heat after he laid out a moderate stance on immigration during the last presidential debate. now we are hearing there is a sharp divide betwee

>> look, a smart move on speaker gingrich's part. if you want to become the not romney candidate, you want as many not romney people in your camp as possible particularly when other candidates like rick perry and herman cain don't seem to be getting off the ground or seem to be declining. it is not without its risks. there are three risks with this. it is ad odds what speaker gingrich has been saying in debates. he won a lot of applause saying let's not attack each other. let's attack obama. it will necessarily raise questions about two things. what about his conservative bonefides? he started by attacking congressman ryan's road map to prosperity. saying it was right-wing social engineering. that plan was endorsed by mitt romney. who is the most conservative there? we have this kerr if you have fell where speaker gingrich tried to allow those who have been here illegally to stay here. there will be a problem. finally this will bring up questions about his language waffling. there was a tough piece today, to in "national review" by m

gingrich has joined in. he is attacking romney on changing his positions or flip-flopping on key issues. gingrich said he would not, as you heard him say, lie to the american people or switch his positions for political reasons. martha: clearly he -- >> perfectly reasonable to change your position in facts change, if you see new things you didn't see. everybody has done that. ronald reagan did it. it's wrong to go around and adopt radically different positions based on your need of any one election because then people have to ask themselves, what will you tell me next time? >> reporter: clearly gingrich is in his new skin on the attack and democrat attacking romney as well. romney on the defense, martha, responding with conference calls where some republican officials and former officials defending him. iowa caucuses are just five weeks away. this is going to get hot. martha: romney has put all his focus on obama. it will be interesting to see if he turns some of his ire and competitiveness against newt ging

that's good for gingrich. >> gretchen: why? >> because barney frank is a liberal lion and he's kind of the face of the political and physical embody i want of a bloated federal, liberal, addicted to the bureaucracy and newt gingrich is trying to now portray himself as the anti-romney and more conservative version of romney. it's like look, barney frank hates me. that's all i need to say. >> steve: there you go. >> gretchen: let's talk about a situation in ohio. for the first time this obese child, 200 pounds, a third grader, has been taken away from his family, which consists of a single parent situation with a mom. here is the head of the family services there, saying that they believe that this case was medical neglect. >> we were involved with this family for about 20 months before that action occurred. the medical community brought this situation to our attention. this is a medical neglect case. when a child's medical condition warrants intervention by child protective service, we respond. >> steve: so what do you think, la

. >> newt gingrich continues to roll along. the speaker will be here. >> i do not choose to run for congress in 2012. >> and our old pal barney frank quitting the house of representatives. we'll tell you why. >> there are some changes here. >> bill: caution, you're about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. newt gingrich in just a moment. first, disrespecting michelle bachmann. a week ago on the jimmy fallon program played a disrespectful song in introducing congress woman michelle bachmann. that kind of thing is not unusual anymore that. is why they lied about this program on the air, we asked headline to apology. it would not. nbc apologized privately. >> of course i accept apology but my dad says it would have been the president of nbc apologizing not the senior vice president of programming. when someone smg is done to a conservative, it's passed off and forgoten. >> bill: important point is that media standards have collapsed. that is dangerous, amer

. >> the presidency of gingrich continues unabated. the front runner sunday won the endorsement of the union leader. >> want somebody who will say what he thinks. not what he thinks you want him to say. >> reporter: but they only endorsed three winners and gingrich rivals have no discouragement at his good fortune. >> a month ago for newt gingrich to have been in the running to capture the "manchester union" endorsement is unthinkable. it reflects the fluidity and the unpredictability of the race. >> mitt versus mitt. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose. the next step is see if it will be overturned. >> the democratic national committee only has eyes for mitt romney. >> there is a four-minute internet stop that has romney's shift and uses the snippets tridicule him. >> you are only allow a certain number of slips before they begin to doubt your character. >> romney spokeswoman shot back instead of focusing on the economy and creating jobs, president obama and democrats are focused on tearing down mitt romney. earli

you said gingrich served divorce papers on his wife when she was in the hospital. there were a couple of competing stories about what exactly happened back then from gingrich's wife, but neither one says that is what happened. >> okay, well you are wrong and they are wrong too. i was there. i was an orderly cleaning his bed pan. >> did you want to know what they said? >> no. >> okay. that saves me time. >> but i think he is an outsider because he was so low in the polls for so long. it was looked at as an out liar. i mean it not as a joke. you know what i mean? >> the thing is he was able to portray himself as an outsider vis-a-vis washington. i did just say vis-a-vis. with regard to washington. you couldn't be more of an inside the belt way guy. >> i agree. but this is moot because these front-runners have the shelf life of a jennifer aniston boyfriend. >> the thing is he is an outsider to washington, but it is the state of washington. >> yes i am saying newt is moot. >> i like that. it is clever. >> is it possible that the conservatives just don't want to rerun i

newt gingrich is going to school him. it will be so bad he will deliver enough sympathy to win the election. >> bob: somebody elig said nice things about newt. do we have bill clinton up here? >> he is articulate and tries to think of a conservative version of an idea that will solve a legitimate problem. for example, last night, i watched the national security debate last night. newt said two things that would make an independent voter say i've got to consider that. >> bob: that is the key. newt made independent voter statements. we would prefer to run against gingrich than romney. i think bill in his own way there is a good old boy, he's just fine. from my stand point, newt is terrific. >> eric: i think you're right that the obama administration would rather run against anybody but romney. seen the mitt versus mitt ad? >> dana: the white house is exciting they are going to run against romney so that's why they're making time and money ads against -- >> bob: i'm not sure it's wasting. >> dana: it's too early.>> all of us

>> i would say that gingrich has to be feeling great right now. everybody's been breaking his way the last couple of weeks. romney's campaign, they are looking at the -- the changes in the field and thinking, you know, we have to adapt to the new scenario. >> how about a governor palin endorsement? anybody want that? >> the buzz is that gingrich is the frontrunner for the palin endorsement. so we will have to see. >> does that matter? >> there is a cadre of republican voters that are very loyal to governor palin. i think for them, it would certainly matter. >> i suspect it's good for fund-raising. >> sure. >> you can certainly use that. >> she's somewhat of a polarizing figure, she has fierce opposition and fierce loyalty. so if it would matter a lot for them. >> never dull. never dull. thank, jonathan. >> thanks very much. >> massachusetts congressman barney frank with a stunner, retiring after 16 terms. he sounds happy. he says one of the best parts is, i don't have to pretend to be nice to people i don't like. ouch. as you may recall, congressm

he was forced to because gingrich knew in many ways. >> you asked about the gingrich thing. he's surging based on new and interesting ideas. clinton did that in 92. i think that he's, i think that clinton is right about that. >> is it that the count very hungry for an intellectual alternative to obama? >> you're looking at how many debates can you go through and see one guy be the brightest person in the room? most articulate with the most creative ideas without at some point voting for him? i think he's outlasted everyone. he gave that answer that mcveigh succeeded? that was fabulous, put ron paul in his place. >> sean: what about talking heads? i guess conral consensus is that gingrich is going to mess up. there is going to be a misstep here. and is this a case where maybe they think he will be easy than romney be careful what you wish for? >> yes. i think they believe romney would be harder to defeat. not that he would be, but that is what they think. i believe newt is not going to self destruct. i believe it's premature to say this is going to be a romney-gingrich fight.

. >> newt gingrich continues to roll along. the speaker will be here. >> i do not choose to run for congress in 2012. >> and our old pal barney frank quitting the house of representatives. we'll tell you why. >> there are some chang here. >> bill: caution, you're about to enter the no spin zone. the factor begins right now. hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. newt gingrich in just a moment. first, disrespecting michelle bachmann. a week ago on the jimmy fallon program played a disrespectful song in introducing congress woman michelle bachmann. that kind of thing is not unusual anymore that. is why they lied about this program on the air, we asked headline to apology. it would not. nbc apologized privately. >> of course i accept apology but my dad says it would have been the president of nbc apologizing not the senior vice president of programming. when someone smg is done to a conservative, it's passed off and forgoten. >> bill: important point is that media standards have collapsed. that is dangerous, americ

i am suspicious isn't it really enter gingrich? all speaker gingrich, everything about him is out in the public domain. there are no surprises and he goes yeah, right, when anyone confronts him with it. but governor romney has so many different problems. real problems. and i think it's funny, i think he's more vulnerable. >> the ad goes to his core weakness as a candidate which is his inconsistency. in the ad, the extended ad is four minutes long, a web ad and one example of a flip-flop is misleading. in other instances mitt romney has a plausible story about why he changed his mind on that issue. but when you add up the totality of all these things where he switched on you, it goes to the core of his character, whether he really got into politics because he cares about changing the country or if he was a board businessman. >> and it's funny, because i think that they should be more worried about gingrich inthe general than romney. i actually was suspicious whether the anti-romney web ad was payback for something that governor romn

i don't think newt gingrich makes the ballot in many of these states unless he has an army. >> but he's picked out congressional districts like ohio, southern ohio where there are some very conservative republicans. he's filed there. this is romney's problem, one, i don't think he has a broad base of support. he's stayed 25% across the polls. but this far out, generally it tends to solidify. >> you have to get out of here? >> i do. >> i went like this. that means wrap your thought. >> okay, fine. i have had an unspoken thought. [laughter] >> i'll get back to this. i think it's an interesting topic. >> great american panel straight ahead. daddy, come in the water! [ gnome ] awwwwwwww. i just feel bloody awful. she told tiffany, stephanie, jenny and becky that she was coming to a place like this! but somebody didn't book with travelocity, with 24/7 customer pport to help move them to the pool daddy promised! look at me, i'm swimming! ♪ [ gnome ] somebody, get her a pony! [ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. if your booking's not right, we'll help make it right, right away. fr

the house speaker newt gingrich is looking to bring his momentum to south carolina. he is attending a town hall meeting in charleston. part of a three day swing with tea party activists. this comes after the newly republic frontrunner picks up endorsement from the union leader newspaper. you will recall that new hampshire is the first in the nation presidential library. endorsement from the state's largest newspaper sometimes wrong on endorsement could have a big impact on the race. new hampshire borders massachusetts and governor romney's home territory, something of a political slap in the face from right next door. james rosen has the news. he is live for us in washington tonight. how big a deal is this endorsement, james? >> it's a big deal of sorts, shep. the union leaders boasts one of the most staunchly conservative editorial pages in america. the paper says newt gingrich was by no means a perfect candidate but he has the experience, the leadership qualities and the vision to lead america. >> we think he did well back in the 1990s bringing the republicans to p

. >> the presidency of gingrich continues unabated. the front runner sunday won the endorsement of the union leader. >> want somebody who will say what he thinks. not what he thinks you want him to say. >> reporter: but they only endorsed three winners and gingrich rivals have no discouragement at his good fortune. >> a month ago for newt gingrich to have been in the running to capture the "manchester union" endorsement is unthinkable. it reflects the fluidity and the unpredictability of the race. >> mitt versus mitt. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose. the next step is see if it will be overturned. >> the democratic national committee only has eyes for mitt romney. >> there is a four-minute internet stop that has romney's shift and uses the snippets to ridicule him. >> you are only allow a certain number of slips before they begin to doubt your character. >> romney spokeswoman shot back instead of focusing on the economy and creating jobs, president obama and democrats are focused on tearing down mitt romney. ear

they have narrowed the field to rick perry, michele bachmann, to rick santorum and gingrich, of course, and they have absolutely decided that they could never support romney. so, right now there are a last people doing everything they can to stay away from rock any. >>neil: it does not surprise me that much in iowa. but connecting the dots, if you are romney are you worried or did you think you put this to bed? some weeks ago in before the debates? >>reporter: well, the romney campaign had a conference call with governor pawlenty who now has endorsed romney talking specifically about the endorsement of the new hampshire union leader of gingrich. they said can you not win them all and look at all the high profile new hampshire endorsements that romney has won. he is fine. but there is no doubt that the romney people wish they could have gotten that endorsement and they think it it is a coup for gingrich but new hampshire was the place that romney is planning to win. big. and if this is a contest in new hampshire he has a different race than he thought. >>neil: you mention iowa and the c

some surging for gingrich. >>guest: and he picked up a critical endorsement. how critical is subject to debate. in new hampshire, the editorial page endorsed gingrich for the g.o.p. presidential nomination. the publisher argued gingrich says what he thinks not what he thinks you want him to say. >> we think he did well back in the 1990's bringing the republicans to power. and we think he is innovative. i don't think changing out obama will do it. >>guest: only twice since 1972 have they picked the g.o.p. nominee. >>shepard: what about the notion that the white house appears to believe the most likely candidate they will face is romney? >>guest: well, there is some concern. it will be running in six battleground states and the response did not directly address the flip-flopping but he has in the past, if you are looking for someone who has never changed any position on any policy, he told "meet the press," i'm not your guy. he told new hampshire newspaper we adversaries are call thing it a change but it is consistent. >> when rick perry got not race and numbers

no one expects gingrich to win new hampshire. i would say if romney doesn't win by a substantial margin in new hampshire his candidacy is severely wound. i guess you could say the "union leader" has been mean over the years but politics is not a game of tiddly-winks. megyn: we saw a bit of that this weekend from newt gingrich this weekend. he has been challenging obama to a series of lincoln-douglas debates. then he said president obama can use his teleprompter if he wants to debating newt gingrich. is that the type of thing that makes republican voters love them, but could alienate independents? >> what they say to me is newt gingrich would be the perfect foe for obama in the debates. but there is no question those would be great debates. you would break all record audiencerd for those debates if they happen. but the other side of newt gingrich is of course he has a negative impact on many swing independents. we have seen this in virtually every poll for years. not just for ones in the current campaign going back to the 1990s. h

jenna: a brand-new week and a big boost for newt gingrich. we are glad you are with us, everybody on monday. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. the former house speaker picks up a key endorsement in the home of the nation's first primary. the new hampshire union leader is slamming mitt romney. instead the editorial board backs newt gingrich. it points to his conservative credentials. let's talk about it with bret baier. a surprise to many people. mitt romney the governor of a neighboring state. a lot of people thought he might get the bid. to pick newt gingrich is a real poke in the eye for romney. >> i'm in miami ahead of an interview with mitt romney tomorrow morning which will happen tomorrow night. it is a big deal that speaker gingrich got the manchester leader endorsement. clearly mitt romney would have liked to have that endorsement to push off some of the conservative criticism about his campaign. that said, what it means in the big picture for new hampshire is still unclear. many polls have governor romney up double digits. new hamps

that helps gingrich in a way. he can start to claim the mantle of being outsider even though he has been in washington for decades. bill: funny how that works. january 10th in new hampshire. bob cusack from "the hill". martha: although gingrich grabbed the big endorsement over the weekend mitt romney is the candidate that made the most visits to new hampshire. he has a house there since people well know. since announcing his candidacy he has been to new hampshire 16 times for 22 days. mitt romney doubled that made 30 trips there totaling 25 days. bill: we'll talk to the man himself, new hampshire union leader publisher. you saw him in that clip earlier. we'll ask him why not mitt and why newt. we'll get it all together here. that is next hour here in "america's newsroom" on that. martha: the union leader hardly had a perfect record predicting winners. back in 2008 many well remember they backed john mccain and he did end up winning the new hampshire primary but he lost to president obama in the general election in

can gingrich keep this lead going? >> it starts in four weeks. >> with all the debates, i would guess yes. with all the debates still upcoming. >> let's move on to, this could be the next big battle on capitol hill. payroll tax deductions. right now, historically it stood about 6.2% but they blocked off 2% giving people a tax holiday. that's where we -- that's how we fund social security. well now, for instance, senator kyle has said, you know what? i don't know if we can really afford that right now. but it would sock the average family close to $1,000 if it's not passed. here's the senator explaining why he's against it. >> the problem here is that the payroll tax doesn't go into general revenue. it supports social security. and you can't keep extending the payroll tax holiday and have a secure social security. that's the first problem. the second problem is that by taxing the people who provide the jobs, you put off the day that we have economic recovery and job creation in this country. and that's precisely what th

newt gingrich getting a key endorsement in a key state. history shows it may not be a reason to celebrate after all. >> meanwhile, an 8-year-old boy taken away from his parents and put into foster care because the state said the kid's too fat. did the government go too far? we're going to report and you will decide. >> in you didn't get all of your holiday shopping done on black friday, don't worry, the white house is helping to check everything off your list. who doesn't need a joe

plus, newt gingrich's frontrunner standing takes a hit. we will ask our sunday panel if a possible missed step on illegal immigration could cost gingrich in iowa. and our power player of the week offers a patriotic idea for christmas shopping all right now on "fox news sunday." >> chris: and hello again from fox news in washington. well, we are finally entering the home stretch in the runup to real people casting real votes in the republican presidential race. continuing our 2012 one on one series of interviews, we are joined now by former utah governor jon huntsman who comes to us from whitesman, new hampshire, a state where he has been spending a lot of time. governor, welcome to "fox news sunday." >> welcome from new hampshire. >> chris: there you go. let's start with the polls. looking first nationally you are still trailing the field all the way back as you can see there at 2% in last place but in new hampshire you are starting to make gains in fourth place at 9% though you are still according to this poll at least far behind mitt rom

romney two, ron paul, no perry, no gingrich. this month, a fox news poll has newt gingrich on top, romney tight second and followed by herman cain and then ron paul. what are we to make of all of these polls. we in the media love them. do the viewers? >> probably. we know the media love them. they're cheap and give awe automatic story and you could go on tv and i could go on tv. here is a story. who ahead and who is behind. don't have to interview anybody or-- >> make hire somebody else and make a bunch of phone calls and it's, it gives you an automatic quote for your story and makes it so-- >> does it give the -- does it affect the outcome, i think, of the races? >> well, we're a long way away from that and what is interesting and consistent is the search within this republican base for anybody, but romney. romney hangs in there, 20%, hard to get over 25. and all of the other candidates, and contenders rise and fall. after an oops moment. but romney is solidly there without any enthusiasm, but there. >> when you look at these r

cost gingrich in iowa. our power player of the week offers a patriotic idea for christmas shopping. all right now on fox news sunday. >> hello again from fox news in washington. well we are finally entering a home stretch in the run up to real people casting real votes in the republican presidential race. continuing our 2012 interviews former utah governor john hunts man who comes from a state where they are spending a lot of time. welcome to fox news sunday. >> it is an honor to be with you. welcome from new hampshire. >>> let's start with looking nationally you are still trailing the field all of the way back as you can see at 2 percent in last place. in new hampshire you are starting to make gains at 9 percent. you are still kierding to this poll far behind mitt romney. it is not an option in new hampshire. don't you have to win there? >> we have to beat market expectations. people want to talk about our economic deficit and trust deficit. we had two town hall meetings today we will have three town hall

gingrich not the only presidential candidate finding fresh support. fox reports developments from the campaign trail. a deadline about to expire and still no sign of michelle parker. now, police take a bold step. >> and and it's like coming up to them and, fire extinguishers. >> tonight, why investigators now think there's a possible link between this home and what happened to the missing mom. and also. >> and it was me and him. >> ultimate choice, when a life or death showdown unfolds inside this man's home. >> fox news is america's election headquarters and tonight, a huge boost for republican presidential candidate newt gingrich. in what could be a major blow for top contender mitt romney, who still leads in most polls in the state of new hampshire, romney, former governor of maachusetts has very strong ties to that state and has a home there and where he announced his candidacy in june. gingrich now receiving the endorsement of the manchester union leader though, it is a highly influential conservative newspaper in new hampshire and of course, tha