mitt romney and newt gingrich are facing off and it's getting ugly. newt landed the first punch to mitt romney as an unconservative flip-flopper. >> i wouldn't lie to the american people. i wouldn't switch my position for political reasons. >> but mit swung right back. >> speaker gingrich is a good man. he and i have very different background. he's spent his last 30 or 40 years in washington. he's a lifelong politician. i think you have to have the credibility of understanding how the economy works and i do and that's one reason why i'm in this race. >> ew, lifelong politician. and newt wasted no time responding telling reporters, quote, i'm now being attacked by the former front-runner. former front-runner? wow. that one stings. joining me now, the author of revival, the struggle for survival inside the obama white house and dana millbank, political reporter for the washington post. thank you both for being here tonight. richard, how does an extended romney-gingrich fight affect the race and a race against president obama also believed to be between

could it really be newt gingrich? jon stewart captured the iron of that news on "the daily show" last night. let's watch. >> the scandal has taken its toll on the cain campaign. reports are now emerging that he might be considering withdrawing from the race which i strongly discourage him from doing. i've already lost trump. i can't lose you, too. if these allegations of sexual improprietary derail cain, who will benefit. >> herman cain was already losing altitude in this race. where do his votes go? >> they go to newt gingrich i think. >> what? so voters leave cain because they don't like that he had an affair and go to the guy who had two of them. i guess newt gingrich becomes the candidate for people who like herman cain but think he was too monogamous. [ laughter ] >> well, look, the only candidate saddened by cain's downfall besides cain is mitt romney. here's junts man speaking for the happy survivors. quote, we've got real issues to talk about, not the latest bimbo eruption. well, this whole shebang has been li

. >>> coming up on "hardball," mitt romney taking a shot at the new front-runner, newt gingrich. is romney getting testing or a first sign of desperation but first ari melber risks the tourists and tree lighters downstairs. he's here for the daily rant. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! >>> we are back. ari melber, as you know, is here and he's ready to rant >> thanks, dylan. today i want to talk about the absurdity of this campaign for the republican presidential nomination. tomorrow is december 1st which marks the final one-month home stretch of this primary process. and yet the campaign, as you may have noticed, is pretty much in the same place it was a year ago. so if you believe the hype, and i don't, that means the same narrative. it's all about that unpopular front-runner, mitt romney,

newt gingrich is selling loads of books and dvds. is the republican race better understood as a book tour? >> i'd better think about this. may be should i run for president for my next book. >> i'm telling you, you'll get some sales. i don't want to be absurd claiming their only reason that these noble servants would get into the race is to promote themselves. but at the same time, it takes a great degree of hubris and self-assertion and confidence to run for the president anyhow. so to say that you're going to run for the president or promote your own book is six of one, half dozen of the other. what is interesting is that all of these noble claims to service are really subordinated to their ego send trick narcissist tick preoccupations on the one hand and their way of easily dismissing human beings on the other. especially for herman cain. i think all three of these candidates have to take another look at what public service is about. it is not about self-promotion. it is about the promotion of the public good. not about signing yo

. >> newt gingrich attempts to explain how he made millions of pitching the ideas who paid him to meet lawmakers on capitol hill. whatever you call it, will conservatives in places like south carolina and other key states buy it to avoid supporting mitt romney? >> he spent his last 30 or 40 years in washington. i spent my career in the private sector. >> speaking of governor romney, is it finally sinking in? he takes a slight swing. and will he follow up with a heard punch given new revelations on how newt has been making a whole lot of money. >>> and nearly 300 arrested as the last two occupy sites are raided just before dawn and protesters moved out by a massive number of police. >>> put me out at 104. >> plus a 104-year-old woman and her 83-year-old daughter were minutes away from being evicted after a bank foreclosed on their home. wait until you find out who stepped in to stop it. >> hey there. the "news nation" is following developing news this hour. we've got a live look from scranton, pennsylvania where president obama will speak there later within our hour. the president's foc

a young woman was saying she liked newt gingrich. i asked, you didn't mind all the stuff that didn't happen during clinton? she said i was in fifth grade. so that's a reminder that a lot of time has passed, but there will be a huge focus on it. the magic of e-books, it was just two weeks ago we were able to do an interview with the former speaker. he said there he was the only person that didn't recognize he wasn't dead. he said he was happy for the staffers who left that we saw covered on the show. he said they were running a compare from 25 years ago worried about things like dirty tricks in south carolina, based on the fact that he has a much younger wife. >> that's a great point. this is one of the lessons of this cycle. you don't need a big campaign. if tim pawlenty were driving around in an suv somewhere, we might be the front-runner. yet he was at the front of the pack. he says he hayes focusing on social media. you know the former speaker is never shy. he said watching his campaign is like watching ray crock build pluck donal

if it's newt gingrich, i welcome that. if it's mitt romfully, i can't think of anybody on the republican side in the presidential run that i would not love to have running against barack obama in 2012. i think they're all fabulous. [ laughter ] >> robert hates that. >> we talk about his support among the minority community, and i think that's a mean that's out there. if you look closely at the numbers, it's not a lock. if you look at the latino population, it's 60% of the latino community supports a president, but really only onee 1 in 3 support him. this is something beef talked about, and i would love your thoughts on it. occasionally you here about a divide between those who feel the president has not spoken loudly and forcefully enough, especially given the high unemployment rate. >> when you look at those sort of opinion leaders, the people that the media looks at, wait a minute there's a divide, you're look at the elites one the black political community who have had a problem with barack obama since he was in the se

newt gingrich's record. if they don't, he's going to continue to move up and move up and maybe steal this nomination. but i don't think it's necessarily mitt romney. rick perry is still out there with herman cain collapsing, if rick perry can do something to bring newt gingrich down, he has a chance to fill that vacuum, after all he's been through. i still think he has a chance. he has a lot of money. fy were rick perry, that's who i'd be focusing. there's a heck of a lot to focus on. >> we want to go ahead and check in with mike vie cara and take a turn to the governor's home state, pennsylvania, where president obama will be this afternoon. pushing his message to extend the payroll tax cut in front of a key swing state crowd. nbc's mike live at the white house. republicans did well in pa in 2010 but the president really needs it come 2012 and is he can tenning the tax cut, that is a big issue right now. is it going to work there? >> reporter: you said it, thomas. it is a key swing state, the former governo

they want mitt romney. >> more than newt gingrich? >> they want mitt romney more than newt gingrich because mitt has flip-flopped like a fish in hot grease. this man is all over the place. >> a fish in hot grease. >> any issue, he's been on both sides. >> that's a louisiana analogy if -- >> absolutely. >> playbook is to run against mitt romney. as candidate of wall street fits into this argument, are you playing to the blue collar middle classing, wall street, flip-flop on immigration, right to life, a number of issues. i don't think they'd be terribly sad to run against newt gingrich. he has a little baggage, a history in house of representatives that they could have a field day on. you'll hear the word loathsome thrown around -- >> some people said his baggage is -- >> newt is a bit better as a debater than romney is because newt has a way of talking in circles until he makes you dizzy. you can't follow what newt's talking about by the time he finishes the conversation. >> charles, ben, we're out of time. thank you, guys. >>> we to

newt gingrich, mitt romney, and what is your definition of amnesty? >> well, first of all, mitt used a word there that i think newt has specifically ruled out, and that is citizenship. what i understood newt to say everybody who's watching your tv show today or everybody who is here at this governors conference knows is true, we're not going to risk 11 million or 12 million people, put them in jail or deport them or put them back to wherever they came from. i was in the reagan white house when we passed it, and president reagan were he here today, would say to you what he said many times after that, the deal was we were supposed to have a secure border. and if we don't have a secure border now, we'll never pass immigration reform again. we need to pass it. but it's not going to happen until there's a secure border because of the fact that it didn't get secured after 1986. i think that's exactly what gingrich has said. you know, we are in a global battle and race for capital and labor. and as we get older and go forward, we're going to continue, despit

but talk about newt gingrich. for those of us who have worked alongside him like me and for someone like you that's worked with him, he can at times be inspiring, but more often than not can just be maddening. >> it's really true. i just finished reading isaacson's biography of steve jobs. and he describes the reality distortion field that jobs had around him. that if you were talking to him, no matter what you came in thinking, by the time you finished, you agreed with jobs no matter how weird it sounded at the time he was saying it. and newt had the same thing around him. when you're in the room with him -- we've seen him give a speech. his comedic timing is great, he knows a lot of stuff, he cites not only the author of a book but the page it's on. and so he does -- like jobs he creates this reality distortion field. i think the difference is th that -- that with newt it doesn't -- there's no ipod at the other end of it. >> but if he does create the ipod, he holds it up and you think, this is the most remarkabl

gingrich now taking him seriously. gingrich is flying up the polls from iowa to south carolinament we'll have the latest on the two-man race at the top. that's coming up at the top of the hour. >>> and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch brian williams soldier through an on going fire alarm during "nightly news." congratulations. congratulations. congratulations. today, the city of charlotte can use verizon technology to inspire businesses to conserve energy and monitor costs. making communities greener... congratulations. ... and buildings as valuable to the bottom line... whoa ! ... as the people inside them. congratulations. because when you add verizon to your company, you don't just add, you multiply. ♪ discover something new... verizon. >>> news that amr filed for bankruptcy is leaving customers wondering if all the miles they racked up will now be voided. good news. the nation's third largest carrier says the ground breaking program to honor passengers will stay intact through

. >>> newt gingrich on the polls from iowa to south carolina has mitt romney squirming and comparing the candidates' records in an intense interview last night. is newt the latest and greatest challenger to romney or is he here to stay? we're about to find out. >>> great britain evacuates diplomats after the embassy was stormed. the question is, what does the attack mean for the relationship between iran and the united states? we'll have a report. >>> and rick perry, encourages those 21 and older to get out and vote on november 12th of next year. there are a number of problems with that encouragement. the question is when did voting

herman cain's loss in the polls is newt gingrich's gain. since the last insider advantage iowa poll three weeks ago today, herman cain dropped 13 points and newt gingrich gained 13 points. that poll has newt gingrich way out ahead of the field in iowa. similarly in the latest rasmussen poll in iowa, again, three weeks ago, to last week, herman cain dropped 15 points and newt gingrich gained 23 points. looking at the overall national polls is sort of interesting for the atmospherics of the race. maybe it's helpful for fund-raising. you have to look state by state in order to get a true sense of who might win the nomination because we choose the nominees state by state and state by state the same principle for now seems to be holding. when cain drops, gingrich gains. in new hampshire, a rasmussen poll, a conservative leaning poll, we've seen over the last month herman cain dropping by 12 points, newt gingrich rising by 16 points. public policy polling which is a left leaning firm, they took a really interesting approach to this question. they

there's no question that newt gingrich benefitses from this. because he's been straightforward about his own peccadillos and downfalls, he accrues a kind of moral authority in inverse proportion because he's not trying to diss anybody but at the same time his own funkiness is out there. >> he's saying i've been there, done that, i know not to comment on. michael eric diszen, sam stein, good to have you on. >>> answer tonight's question at the bottom of the screen and share your thoughts on twitter with #edshow. we'll be featuring your tweets throughout the show tonight. got a lot of response on that last night. >>> coming up, newt gingrich could be the new republican front-runner, so republicans, well, they're going to have to forgive him for things like global warming. that ad he did with speaker nancy pelosi. who's going to forget that? not me. >>> later, republicans are hedging on a tax cut that would put $1,500 in the pockets of middle class americans because the richest 2% of this country is really what the republicans are protecting. ohio

four months ago, if we were on talking about the renaissance of newt gingrich, newt gingrich as the hot, young thing in the republican presidential race, we would have laughed a lot more than a republican convention. this is an unpredictable electorate in an unpredictable election cycle. i would agree 100% with susan. it's not going to happen because the republican party poobahs won't let it happen. >> this is the scariest vision i've come across since ebenezer scrooge spotted jacob marley on his doorknob. thank you, chris and susan. >>> up next, mitt romney's campaign released an ad last week which clearly took the president's words out of context, in fact, i think totally distorted them. and now susan -- susan? now stephen colbert has taken his revenge. that's coming up in the sideshow. colbert to destroy romney. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. @ápápáp:@:02 " introducing the perfect situp. invented by the u.s. navy seal who brought you the perfect pushup, the perfect situp re-invents the situp by combining the upper ab crunch with the lower ab leg lift. then the perfect

>>> bill o'reilly tried to help newt gingrich. newt used to be a liberal on climate change, and bill o'reilly took on the job last night of helping him deal with that anyway forthright fox news kind of way so newt could put it behind him and become the first person to go from the fox news payroll to the republican presidential nomination. >> first of all, nancy pelosi, you, sitting there talking about global warming on tv. what was that all about? >> what was that all about is the standard fox news question to republican presidential candidates who have a problem they need to deal with publicly. it's not a pointed question. it's just a way of saying there's this issue i have to contend to confront you with, so i'm going to throw it out there and let you deal with it any way you want to. when you watch newt's answer, notice he's developed the fakest candidate smile of the entire republican field now that he's the front-runner. his handlers have explained to him that the newt scowl can only get him so far. >> what was that all about

they damage romney, or if not they get newt gingrich. your phrasing of the question is much better than romney's interpretation. they would be less excited about these candidates. don't fear mitt romney. fear is way too strong and dramatic for approaching romney right now. there's a lot of frustration among senior democrats in the chicago headquarters of the obama campaign that the republicans have not picked the low-ringing fruit that is romney's record so they do it for them. >> john huntsman is the one republican not afraid of going after romney. i think it's because he knows there is absolutely no chance of him to be chosen on the ticket with romney, because romney is going to practice religious discrimination in his choice and he will not under any circumstances xhooz another mormon on that ticket. let's listen to huntsman on this. >> you should be wary of any candidate who carries all the endorsement of the members of congress because there's a status quo president. anyone in the hip pocket of wall street because of all the donatio

it could be the current gop poster boy, newt gingrich. but with so many republicans saying anyone but mitt, isn't newt the logical choice? so the obama campaign right now is focusing its energy and charges at mitt romney. it's a win-win strategy for them. help newt knock him out now or finish him off yourself in november. the dnc has put out a second anti-mitt video in two days. this one taking romney to task for his dishonest ad last week, and wait until you see stephen colbert's takedown of that romney ad. it's in the sideshow. finally, let me finish tonight with this exit of barney frank and this rise of newt. talk about bad tidings of the season. >>> we start with the possible end to the herman cain campaign. dana milbank is a "washington post" columnist and satirist, and jim vandehei is editor in chief for politico. it's very hard -- let me go to the hard news reporter now for the entire organ of politico. jim, thank you for joining us. you've got the entire resources of politico working this story, i assume. yesterday cain said he w

money, man newt gingrich is no fan of the 99% movement. surprised? >> i call on the president to repudiate the concept of the 99 and the 1. >> comments like that are only fueling the movement, and here's a sign it's time for gun reform. santa, the kids and guns! it's happening. that's next. usa prime credit... this peggy... hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy? no more points - coupons now. coupons? coupons. coupons? next, you convert coupons to tokens. tokens? then you trade tokens for credits. and then i get the cash? then you call back. bye bye. peggy? hello? what just happened? want rewards that make sense? switch to discover. america's #1 cash rewards program. it pays to discover. it's like having portable navigation. a bluetooth connection. a stolen vehicle locator. roadside assistance. and something that could help save your life - automatic help in a crash. it's the technology of five devices in one hard-working mirror. because life happens while you drive. this holiday, give someone you love an onstar fmv mirror for only 199. visit onstar.c

four months ago, if we were on talking about the renaissance of newt gingrich, newt gingrich as the hot, young thing in the republican presidential race, we would have laughed a lot more than a republican convention. this is an unpredictable electorate in an unpredictable election cycle. i would agree 100% with susan. it's not going to happen because the republican party poobahs won't let it happen. >> this is the scariest vision i've come across since ebenezer scrooge spotted jacob marley on his doorknob. thank you, chris and susan. >>> up next, mitt romney's campaign released an ad last week which clearly took the president's words out of context, in fact, i think totally distorted them. and now susan -- susan? now stephen colbert has taken his revenge. that's coming up in the sideshow. colbert to destroy romney. you're watching "hardball," only on msnbc. [ knock on door ] cool. you found it. wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage onli

barney frank said newt gingrich is capable of imploding. given the fact as you said earlier they happened in the not so distant past, do you think newt gingrich may have learned? >> he has learned some things, but he is fundamentally undisciplined and politics be successful at the highest levels. you have to have a great sense of discipline. the issue is not going to be what happened to him in the past. we know that the republican primary voters are willing to overlook a lot of that. it's whether he will be able to hold up to the swings and errors of the current campaign or melt down as barney frank indicated. he is -- which newt will show up? the policy or the scholar or the snappish undisciplined self defeating candidate. they probably will before time. >> anything but mitt romney. they show gingrich leading or in a tie. blowing him away in south carolina. will voters forget about newt's adultery and the poison onnous behavior of the past and be able to pull it off or are ow john's side of the pages where you think that newt will probably

they like newt gingrich. he is surging. i think this is now a case where next week, newt gingrich will be 10 or 15 points ahead of mitt romney. >> regarding herman cain's situation, i think it's a difficult situation for he and his family. i hope he reaches whatever the right decision is for them. beyond that i won't have any comment. that's safe. >> it's a school of thought that said adultery is in the news and it will remind them and hurt them too. >> that's what you think. >> he is talking to the social conservative leaders and they don't top the get behind mitt romney. newt gingrich is giving them the path. >> we are christians and we forgive. >> i have a wife now and what's in the past is in the past. >> you have mitt romney in florida, the first candidate to plant his flag in that state for not just republicans and democrats as well and nobody is talking about that. >> it will be a long haul and we will talk about florida. we will continue to see a knockout blow and he can strike in warks and new hampshire. they are n

and newt gingrich in south carolina today has reacted. here's what gingrich had to say. >> i think it's a very difficult situation for he and his family. my heart goes out to them. i hope that he reaches whatever is the right decision for them. and beyond, that i'm not going to have any comment. i think it's his decision to make. he has to do what he thinks is best. >> so, gingrich staying out of the way as the other candidates are. >> right. >> but clearly, this is a decision time for herman cain pp, candidacy which was already, we should point out, already in significant trouble. >> thank you. that was the point i was going to make, andrea, which is this is someone who has his 15 minutes which appeared to have run out a few weeks ago. the polling suggests he's dropping. he's not dropping like a rock, but gone from 25 to 15. interesting point. you don't see conservative talkers, rush limbaughs of the world rushing to defend him as you did when the original sexual harassment allegations came out. herman cain said, here we go again when re

. >> newt gingrich, who has had a history of infidelity? i mean, this is the question. >> look, here's the unfortunate truth. the unfortunate truth is that there's many politicians out there that are survived sex scandals. go back to bill clinton and so forth. that's not the real issue. the real issue is whether or not the american people are comfortable with a candidate that has some of these issues. when you take a look at herman cain, there was an interesting phenomenon, the 9-9-9 plan, very simplistic, overly simplistic but the american people, according to the polls said, this is something here because for the first time throughout this presidential campaign so far, someone is talking directly to me. so you can't dismiss that. >> right. but let's be honest about herman cain, i actually think -- i think what we do in this business more and more is confuse what happens on cable in a 24-hour cycle with something that's of lasting interest to the american public. i don't think it is. i think we occasionally show something that has legs. bu

>> immigration is the last big hurdle for newt gingrich. the message he's been trying to get out is that at the end of the day, his position on illegal immigration is not in practice all that different from mitt romney. even if they are emphasizing enforcement versus compassion. >> how big do you see this? we always talk about the fact that this is an election about the economy. this is an election about jobs. but on the margin, is immigration one of those big issues that maybe make a difference? >> it's going to make a big difference in the primaries. especially in iowa where we saw that issue destroy rick perry. when you look to the general election, can a candidate like mitt romney, who is still probably the most likely republican nominee, can a candidate like mitt romney run on immigration and then present himself to latino voters in the general in a way that would be acceptable. >> alex, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> we are now less than a year away from the 2012 elections. i'm sure you've seen it. the airways are getting a lot of a

so this was literally overflow crowds, packed to see newt gingrich. they were very spirited and applauded at a lot of his lines slamming the obama administration over the holding up the south carolina immigration law and issues like that. this was, by far, one of the most spirited but definitely the biggest attended scott town hall i've been to. >> i want to play a couple of clips. first, here's newt gingrich sort of defending nice his stance on the idea of whether or not he is for amnesty. here's what he said. >> several of my friends have said i'm for amnesty. that's not true. at least one of them is running around saying i want amnesty for 11 million people. i don't believe you'll ever pass a bill which requires us to hunt down every single person who has been here for a quarter century. >> ali, underscore the importance of the immigration issue inside with the south carolina republicans. when you go to these events, how often does that issue come up more than others? >> yeah, the immigration issue is really important here in south carolina. the st

>> that is newt gingrich. >> that is newt gingrich. now he's a conservative candidate. >> isn't the real conclusion from the quiz that there are socialist, moderate, left winger in the group is jon huntsman? because the answer was yes for him on nothing. >> actually wait. >> he was not the answer on any of those. i thought he was moderate -- the moderate right? >> he's the liberal. >> read my politico article. here's another one. you've led me into this. the american conservative wrote this about which gop candidate? for the past two decades a moderate republican who didn't side with his party on taxes, guns, and abortions, but this candidate's record on those issues isn't just to the right of moderates but to the right of most conservatives. who would that be? >> governor huntsman of utah. >> which candidate was praised for reforming health care with no employer mandate, no individual mandate, no provision for subsidized care unlike obama care or romney care? >> rick santorum. no. wait. huntsman. >> final question. jon huntsman. i mea

fresh off his endorsement from the new hampshire "union leader" newspaper, newt gingrich is in south carolina today on a three-day campaign push. that state's primary comes 11 days after the one in new hampshire coming up in february. speaking to a charleston radio station yesterday, gingrich slammed mitt romney's record of changing positions while labelling himself conservative alternative to the former massachusetts governor. >> anybody who is honest about it knows that no person except christ has ever been perfect. so, i don't claim to be the perfect candidate. i just claim to be a lot more conservative than mitt romney and a lot more electable than anybody else. i wouldn't lie to the american people. i wouldn't switch my positions for political reasons. it's perfectly reasonable to change your position if facts change, if you see new things you didn't see. everybody's 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 would you tell me next time?

. >> reporter: asked about the allegation, newt gingrich, who's admitted his own infidelity, steered clear. >> no comments. >> reporter: gingrich got a key endorsement sunday from new hampshire's largest newspaper. >> it was a big boost over the weekend, and he's going to ride it well, as long as he doesn't trip up and get caught into, you know, the arguments about the past. >> reporter: then, there's mitt romney, riding high in new hampshire but not on top in iowa, only five weeks away. and in iowa, gingrich is up 13% over romney right now in the latest big poll. cain is in third place at this point. lynn? >> all right, tracie there for us in washington, thanks so much. >>> elsewhere, barney frank, a key lawmaker on financial issues and longtime liberal voice on capitol hill, has announced plans to retire from congress at the end of next year. the 71-year-old massachusetts democrat says he doesn't have the energy to run for re-election in a newly drawn congressional district, and there are other things he wants to do. first elected to the house in 1980, he was the first member of co

"for president, newt gingrich." now, it is not shocking that "the union leader" would endorse somebody other than mitt romney despite what you heard about this weekend and today. this newspaper, in fact, seems to dislike mitt romney. they spent the entire presidential primary season basically ripping mr. romney to shreds, running editorials like this one every few weeks. "the more mitt romney speaks, the less believable he becomes." ah. so the biggest new hampshire paper not endorsing mitt romney, given how we know they feel about him, tha listen. >> gingrich is going to have a better time in the general election than mitt romney. i think it's going to be obama's 99% versus the 1% and romney sort of represents the 1%. >> occupy the gop primary! i sort of think congratulations are in order here. anybody who doubted the effectiveness of the occupy wall street movement, doubted what they might accomplish, without a manifesto of demands, let the record show appealing to the 99% of americans and not the 1% is the stated

life to be rewarded by newt gingrich being the republican nominee. >> i'll ask congressman dennis kucinich what frank's departure means for america. >>> breaking news for herman cain. >> we're bracing, we're getting ready, and you put it in your words, for what? >> another accusation that i had an affair with someone. another woman. >> "salon's" joan walsh on how herman's latest bombshell affects romney and gingrich. >>> tonight, an "ed show" exclusive. we'll have the latest petition count for the walker recall in wisconsin. the number of signatures is shocking, and you'll hear it here first on "the ed show." >>> good to have you with us tonight, folks. hope you had a nice thanksgiving. good to be back with you. in less than five weeks' time, unemployment benefits will expire for more than 6,000 americans. that's a big number. in less than one week, congress may raise taxes on more than 120 million families. republicans, well, looks to me like they're about ready to let both of them happen. the debt reduction supercommittee failed because republicans

you get that sense with newt gingrich. i hesitate to say this one's going to last when it comes to this search for the anti-romney. but i thought you put it very well. i think the conservatives that are not sold on romney, that are basically looking for anybody but romney won't be embarrassed by gingrich. there was a sense that, well, cain may embarrass me by supporting him. maybe rick perry embarrasses me because i don't like the fact that he's not coming across as bright as he should be. newt's not going to embarrass me if i support him. i think that does matter to a republican electorate that's paying very close attention to this race and really wants to win but wants to do so on a set of princeles. >> john, you're a deep south southern, evangelical by your religion. you can answern't go with herman cain anymore. he's getting more embarrassing every day. he keeps changing his story about him. you've got romney who's certainly not acceptable to you because he's a rhino who keeps swapping back and forth. and then you have

in this incredibly important election, that candidate is newt gingrich. that endorsement should help gingrich narrow romney's lead in new hampshire but today gingrich was doing his endorsement victory lap in south carolina where he now has a strong chance of actually beating romney. in an interview with a south carolina radio station, gingrich was asked about the union leader's statement that he is by no means the perfect candidate. >> anybody who is knot honest about it knows that no person except christ has ever been perfect. so i don't claim to be the per effect candidate. i just claim to be a lot more conservative than mitt romney and a lot more electable than anybody else. newt gingrich is now actually being considered for a possible endorsement from the iowa-based conservative group "family leader" a group that ruled out the possibility of endorsing former liberal mitt romney. asked about gingrich's several marriages and the affairs he's conducted during those mam marriages the family leaders director of development said i have heard him speak candi

newt gingrich." now, it is not shocking that "the union leader" would endorse somebody other than mitt romney despite what you may have heard about this this weekend and today. this newspaper, in fact, really seems to dislike mitt romney. they not only didn't endorse mr. romney the last time he ran for president, they spent the entire presidential primary season basically ripping mr. romney to shreds, running editorials like this one every few weeks. "the more mitt romney speaks, the less believable he becomes." ah. so the biggest new hampshire paper not endorsing mitt romney, given how we know they feel about him, that's not a big surprise. the big surprise is why this newspaper's publisher said that newt gingrich got the endorsement instead. listen. >> gingrich is going to have a better time in the general election than mitt romney. i think it's going to be obama's 99% versus the 1% and romney sort of represents the 1%. >> occupy the gop primary! i sort of think congratulations are in order here.

life to be rewarded by newt gingrich being the republican nominee. >> i will ask congressman dennis kucinich what frank's departure means for america. >>> breaking news for herman cain. >> we are bracing and getting ready and i will put it in your words for what? >> another accusation that i had an affair with someone. salon's joe walsh on how herman cain's latest bombshell affects romney and gingrich. and tonight an ed show exclusive. we will have the latest petition count for the walker recall in wisconsin. the number of signatures is shocking and you'll hear it here first on "the ed show." good to have you with us. hope you had a nice thanksgiving. good to be back with you. in less than five weeks time unemployment benefits will expire for more than 6,000 americans. that's a big number. in less than one week, congress may raise taxes on 120 million families. republicans, well, looks to me like they are ready to let both of them happen. the debt reduction super committee happened because they want to protect the wealthiest americans from any tax in

"for president, newt gingrich." now, it is not shocking that "the union leader" would endorse somebody other than mitt romney despite what you heard about this weekend and today. this newspaper, in fact, seems to dislike mitt romney. they spent the entire presidential primary season basically ripping mr. romney to shreds, running editorials like this one every few weeks. "the more mitt romney speaks, the less believable he becomes." ah. so the biggest new hampshire paper not endorsing mitt romney, given how we know they feel about him, that's not a big surprise. the big surprise is why this newspaper's publisher said that newt gingrich got the endorsement instead. listen. >> gingrich is going to have a better time in the general election than mitt romney. i think it's going to be obama's 99% versus the 1% and romney sort of represents the 1%. >> occupy the gop primary! i sort of think congratulations are in order here. anybody who doubted the effectiveness of the occupy wall street movement, doubted what they might

is it now a romney/newt gingrich race for the republican nomination? >> well, it certainly seems to be that -- that seems to be the current flavor. i will say, however, that anytime anybody talks about these latest allegations about marital infidelity on the part of herman cain, it splatters on newt gingrich because dana is absolutely correct. he is handling it very proactively. but everybody else is going to say, hey, wait a minute, what about newt? i have some ambivalence about this. i have not written about that at all as i've been covering newt thinking there's other stuff to talk about. but if it's out there, we're certainly going to have to talk about that. and arguably, it's the republicans who started all this when they went so hard after bill clinton. >> let me, dana, play you what herman cain has said about this situation. listen to this. >> i did not have an affair, okay? and until i see and hear exactly what's going to be -- what the accusations are going to be made, let's move on. but i acknowledge that i knew the woman. i acknowledge that

we start with newt gingrich. howard fineman is an msnbc political analyst and the "huffington post" media group editorial director. and melissa donohue is now a fellow with the eisenhower institute. the new hampshire leader endorsement had a subtle slap at romney. "gingrich is by no means the perfect candidate. we would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what he thinks we want to hear." boy, that is a shot. howard, tell me about this. this is an endorsement that doesn't mean you win, but it means what? >> well, you don't want to get in the gun sights of the union leader. and it's clear that mitt romney is right there. sure, joe mcquaid, the publisher and president, who i spoke to just a couple of hours ago to ask him about the endorsement is thinking behind the endorsement. and the first thing joe mcquaid said to me was, did you see "saturday night live" last week, in the skit that they did about mitt romney? that's the one where the comedian plays mitt romney and mitt r

newt gingrich or mitt romney, the two candidates of the day. >>> but first, here's keli with the daily rant on why some of her praise for the president may have been premature. still getting dandruff? neutrogena® t/gel shampoo defeats dandruff after just one use. t/gel shampoo. it works. neutrogena®. to make baby food the way moms this would. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips using membership rewards points to meet with farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. vo: get the card built for business spending. call 1-800-now-open to find out how the gold card can serve your business. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! of course, neit

and so now, we have newt gingrich. compared to the other candidates, he may be more intelligent, less prone to mistakes, but can he, with all of his heavy baggage, lift up americans in need of inspiration? that will be a challenge for him, but if i were you, i wouldn't hold your breath. thanks so much for watching. dylan ratigan is back and ready to move forward. dylan? how are you? >> very well. yourself? >> good. >> should we leave it at that for today? >> it's in your hands. you're in control. >> it seems adequate. >> thank you. >> the show starts right now. >>> el

newt gingrich so far doesn't have either one. he has a chance over the next month to try to convert the poll numbers he has and the momentum he has into money and some boots on the ground in iowa and new hampshire and south carolina. he has a long way to go for so much of this year. it's just newt gingrich and his wife and a couple of people. he has to ramp up quickly and mitt romney has been running for five years. >> i read that mitt romney's folks were saying newt who? are we supposed to believe they are not worriyed? i say this because we have seen the flavor of the month and we know the story line. timing is so significant here that newt gingrich is peaking at this point against mitt romney. >> if you are going to get hot in the political campaign, you want to get hot late. however, mitt romney's campaign has every reason to feel good about their positioning. many are resistant to mitt romney. his poll numbers have a ceiling, but he does have money and organization. he has an opening in iowa if he can seize it. he could end

of course the endorsement of newt gingrich. they say gingrich is by no means the perfect candidate but we would rather back someone with whom we may sometimes disagree than one who tells us what we think they want to hear. that is clearly a slap to mitt romney. >> we're proud of the strong endorsements we have in new hampshire. we have governor and a lot of strong conservative support in new hampshire. >> you know, governor romney knows this is an important election and he wants to take his message directly to each voter. >> i want to ask you about a bloom berg article. >> is -- with that history, is that similar to what we are seeing now in the match up between newt and mitt romney on immigration? >> governor romney discussed his position on immigration and illegal immigration extensively in the last campaign. that's nothing new. he proved that he does not support amnesty or illegal immigrants cutting in line between those who are trying to come to this country lawfully. if you look at his record, he vetoed for illegal immigra