him candidate. >> gingrich faces scrutiny over what he did as head of the gingrich group to receive $1.5 million in eight years from mortgage giant freddie mac. >> my advice as historian when they walk in and said to me we are now making loans to people with no credit history and no record of paying back anything. that is what the government wants to do. this is a bubble. >> by monday, gingrich confessed to speaking out of turn. >> you gave advice to freddie mac and they did not take it? >> correct. i also want to say there is a confidentiality agree there. i can't go in detail with. >> others took him to task for it. >> does this remind people that your background comes from being a washington insider? >> it reminds me that i know a great deal about washington. if you want to train washington, it didn't work well. having someone that knows washington might be a good thing. >> i am standing up for little guy in the united states. i wasn't shilling for them. i was fighting for them. >> in a statement this afternoon, gingrich started various firms after resigning as house speaker in 1

dorothy, what's behind this gingrich surge? >> it's the perception of a mass of people, what they're looking at. i think it was pretty pat of all of the commentators to say, well, this is the latest flavor of the month. i doubt this is the latest flavor of the month. >> what is his appeal, though, at this moment? >> his appeal is simply -- it's not simple. it's the genuine concentration on issues, his capacity to engage people on issues. by issues we mean foreign as well as check in. the debt of his reportings on the meaning of issue. there's the x factor, the feeling that people have that they're listening to something different and substantial, some kind of very hearty meal as opposed to a kind of mind-numbing repetition of the government is broke, washington is broke. how many times can you hear that? >> so he can think on his feet? >> and extensively. >> steve, in the summer, as you know, the gingrich campaign was given up for dead. his staff had quit. he had all kinds of troubles. couldn't raise any money. still not raisin

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 brought up the term guilty. gingrich said guilty. you would have said not guilty in any court of law. >> bill: i don't know whether i would have said that. >> to explain his position. >> bill: based upon the aclu lawsuits and others that have been slapped down because i would have gone by the unsettled deal. courts have not set you can't do that. and so that's what happened. all right. we got another one. cnn correspondent dan lothian. he is interviewing president obama in hawaii. go. >> last night at the republic debate some of the hopefuls, they hope to get your job, they defended the practice of waterboarding, which is the practice that you banned in 2009. herman cain said, quote, i don't see that as torture. michele bachmann said that it's, quote, very effective. so i'm wondering if you think that they are uninformed, out of touch, or irresponsible? >> that's a multiple choice question, isn't it? [ laughter ] let me just say this. they are wrong. >> bill: all right. so, a lot of people say look, the cnn reporter sympathetic to pr

gingrich is now struggling with immigration. romney is certain to struggle with abortion, as well as wrongly, truthfully, many people's concerns about his religious faith. so anybody who is looking for the generic republican, who agrees with them on everything is not going to find him in this field. >> heather: everyone really has their albatross. mitt romney, religion, his take on abortion, also you have gingrich now his albatross being immigration, obama and the economy. so is it really going to come down, what is the greater albatross? we can't leave out health care with mitt romney either. >> this feels like a grinded out election. it doesn't feel at all like it did four years ago when you had lofty ambition, when you had mccain, the war hero, you had barak obama, we can change things. you had hillary clinton and the excitement of a woman perhaps being the nominee. i get the feeling we're going to grind this out week by week by week and the last one standing will probably win. >> heather: what are your thoughts on how the le

the former house speaker gingrich is the latest to lead the g.o.p. field according to the new poll he is the new herman cain topping the pack at 26 percent. in second place right above the former massachusetts governor romney, at 22 percent, and herman cain, himself, has dropped from 1st to a distant third. but a poll shows governor romney would do better than speaker gingrich in a national matchup with rebound if it was held today. governor romney tied with the president while the speaker trailed the president by 9 percent. and now, carl, another flavor of the month? >>carl: well, this is the 5th national poll that gingrich has been tide or leading in and he has been surging for the last two or three weeks. every other candidate who is close to romney has taken a dive so begin rip has to be careful. there is a good way to look at the internals of this poll. on the subject of strong leadership, gingrich leads romney among republicans by 34 percent to 24 percent. on foreign policy, a big part of the national security debate, gingrich has a blow out le

romney is like gingrich changed positions before, but his passion with gingrich, i don't think that is the case with governor romney. >> gregg: there was a gallup poll, voters believe that romney has a better chance that than gingrich of beating president obama. perhaps romney might have been the stronger candidate in the general election? >> i would shi think so because the sqn election isn't until 12 months from now. i think we're going to see in new hampshire what happens. i think there will be quo two contenders and i imagine they will be romney and gingrich. the expectation gain does not weigh to romney's benefit. he has a place in new hampshire, he's been running so far ahead in the polls that he is going to be a tough hill to climb. when you that take a poll next august, we'll see who can beat president obama. >> gregg: this could be a game changer. your newspaper is the largest and it is very influential. we'll see what happens next time the polls come out. thank you very much joseph mcquaid, publisher of the new hampshire union leader. >> heather: nato reacting to reports to a

what will happen to gingrich? >> gingrich is interesting. because on the one hand i can give you the short version of what he said. if you don't take my position you are heartless. you noted the humane remark. if you had a better position looking at the latino vote, it's a problem in the republican primary. newt had one point. it's been a hero of a conservative moment for years. when you are one of your own, when people trust you and believe in you, they will look past a lot of things and say look, maybe we didn't like this, but we could look past this. the one problem we now have to get over, is it going to be a problem in a place like iowa or south carolinach if he remains at the top in contention? >> shannon: let's talk about the latest poll numbers in iowa. these are taken before last night's debate. first of all, we have 600 likely republican caucus goer. gingrich at the top. romney at 20%. paul at 16%. if you break down numbers further among the likely republican caucus goers you will think will participate in the causes. gingrich at 3

he use to do work for gingrich for a time. aft after ten years he was one of the staffers that walked out on newt back in june and provide the family values tip for three times de versed leader perkins. welcome everybody. tony may i start with you? what do you think about gingrich? is it a nonstarter because of his divorces? >> i don't think so. i think what you see happening here is what you said. you have seen romney competing against pawlenty head to head pawlenty faded you had michelle the media drove her numbers down. then it was rick perry. then it was cane. now we see romney and gingrich in a head to head. i think there are two issues here two assumptions we can make safely. one is voters conservatives in particular who dominate the primary states are looking for anybody but romney. secondly the second assumption is it's not a safe place to be to be that alternative. >> you are not answering my question specifically about these three divorces. with the values oriented christian evangelical voters -- >> it is -- >> be sp

plus, newt gingrich's frontrunner standing takes a hit. we'll ask our sunday panel if a possible misstep on illegal immigration could cost gingrich in iowa. and our power player of the week offers a pay patriotic idea for christmas shopping. all right now. on fox news sunday. >> chris: hello again from fox news sunday in washington. well, we areifiabley entering the home stretch in the run up to real people, casting real votes in the republican presidential race. continuing our one-on-one series of interviews, we are joined by former utah governor, jon huntsman, comes to us from whitefield, new hampshire, a state where he has been spending a lot of time. welcome to fox news sunday. >> chris, it's an honor to be with you. welcome from new hampshire. >> chris: there you go. let's start, if we can, looking at a poll. you are at 2% in last place, but in new hampshire, you are in fourth place at 9%, though you are still, according to this poll at least, far behind mitt romney. you say that defeat is not an option in new hampshire. you have held

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.

gingrich at 26%. romney 22 and cain at 14. gingrich wasn't there a few weeks ago. can he stay there? >> well, he wasn't there a couple of weeks ago. you got to give him credit because he really hung tight and obviously a lot of it has to do with his terrific debate performances. can he stay there is the big question. it is going to take a lot of money and a lot of organization. he has gotten there on the strength of his intelligence and his grasp on the issues. now, the challenge is going to be turning that into dollars and turning that into organization. and that is really the name of the game. i mean we can't predict what it is going to be. let's face it, mitt romney isn't going anywhere. he has a grasp on the issues as well but also a lot of money and a lot of organization. >> shannon: bernard, wayne to bring you in here and -- i want to bring you in here and look at a new hampshire poll. romney at 35% and gingrich at 18%. ron paul in third with 11%. but, of course, we know today that gingrich got that all important endorsement from the new hampshire union leade

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

gingrich loses 46, 41. he defeats 41% 42%. when asked if they regret that vote now, just 9% say they do. and that's good news for the president. joining us now from washington, radio star and fox news analyst laura ingraham. can newt gingrich win the nomination in your opinion, ms. laura. >> i think he can i think it's going to be really difficult. look, the fact of the matter is, if you are going to be able to take it to, let's say it's romney who is the nominee. and i know you love it when i cite intrade. they have him at 70% today. likelihood of his being the nominee. >> bill: are you a compulsive gambler with entrade? >> only before i come on this show. i bet whether i'm actually going to get the best of you in the seeing: >> bill: i don't know what you are talking about. this is online betting site, can you bet almost anything, right. >> you can bet on anything and bet on hot nominee is going to be. >> bill: 70% on romney. >> 12% gingrich, okay? >> bill: what is it that are holding the gamblers back? >> well. >> bill: fro

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

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

it has gingrich with 20 points . romney is trailing with len. >>> and joining us to talk about newt gingrich and the budget super committee is michael burgess . he threw his support behind newt gingrich. thank you for being with us. congressman. >> he tops the poll in iowa and new hampshire and nationwide and he is taking heat for recent comments on immigration. here is fellow candidate michele bachmann on fox and friends. >> even barack obama couldn't get amnesty through the congress because the american people opposed. newt gingrich said he was for it. and even as recently as a year ago before the latinos in the united states. he came out with the policy that said he stands for amnesty for illegal aliens. >> bachmann pointed out no mention of the 25 years and law-abiding and the other qualifiers that newt gingrich is putting on it now. what about that? >> first thing, i think you have to acknowledge that speaker newt gingrich is the only presidential candidate in all of the years that i have followed politicings wh

voters and newt gingrich. 21%, 14% to newt gingrich. >> clayton: 41%. so newt gingrich and ron paul tied for second place that that poll. >> dave: that's a lot of distance. newt gingrich is the 6th person to lead the polls if you include donald trump going all the way back and seems a little reactionary. i can't imagine mitt romney isn't just furious this morning over how hard he's worked in that state. >> clayton: possibly, but isn't it like lobbying to get class cuty. >> alisyn: which i did. >> clayton: but you did. who is going to make the decision on school council. would you mind-- a they sat down with candidates and discussed things with them. and they may have agreed to news gingrich's position. and herman cain in the wake of everything with milwaukee, sitting down that with that editorial board. he close to cancel the meeting with the union ap canceled it and back on again. no more editorial boards for a little while until i figure out what's going on with libya. >> alisyn: speaking who is praising gingrich's strengths. strange politics makes st

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

gingrich at 32%. romney at 19%. that stands in contrast to what we had from the beginning of the week which was a four-way tie between cain, paul, romney, gingrich. new numbers out from mcgellan strategies, romney at 29%, and gingrich at 27%. that's by far the closest poll there. if you look at the last month or so of polling from new hampshire there is a broader spread in favor of new hampshire. but this is the latest polling number out of new hampshire. what do you make of it? is gingrich going to be able to maintain the momentum to peak in six weeks when it counts? >> be clear, it is momentum. whether the individual polls are accurate or not, newt gingrich has momentum. nationally and it appears he has it in the key states. the most important and interesting potential poll is the new hampshire poll where he was not even really registering in the significant numbers until the past couple of weeks. now if he is actually within let's say five points or eight points of mitt romney there, given the amount of time and

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

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

some felt and i did it may have laid the foundation for a cai cain-gingrich, gingrich-cain ticket and, newt gingrich would be on top, and, the moderator of the debate, the congressman from iowa, talked about how the candidates are similar. listen: >> i think we learned first there is a personal magnetism between the two of them, and what it start out was, they both have a lot of depth and a lot of the similar approaches, but i characterize that, kind of like, muhammad ali versus joe fraser. newt gingrich has all of the deep experience with the nuances of the details, and, he's written a lot of material on it, and herman cain comes from the business side and lays it down to fundamental principles and they did that in a convene yell way and without, as you heard, playing gotcha. >> dave: i want to mention one thing, the congressman talks about the magnetism between them and they have a relationship going back to 1995, they worked closely together, when herman cain was the head of the restaurant association, and, newt was the speaker and they had a close working relationship. >> clayton:

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

i think newt gingrich has been consistent. i think ultimately he was out earlier and he said some very nice things about rick perry who is one of the losers. we can say from the debate. >> laura: why do you think rick per i can't was a loser in last night's debate. >> newt gingrich said it could have been me and everybody has those moments and it's true. people have those moments. the difference is gingrich is consistently good. this is his forte. this his venue. this is the thing he likes to do. perry not so much. he doesn't want to debate. when he has a bad night it just reminds people he doesn't like to debate. he has a hard time eking out a statement and saying what he believes coherently. voters are responding to it and that's why he keeps sinking in the polls. >> laura: people are going to think i'm nuts here but i think perry had a good night until the gaffe. one of his better performances, people say is he not a good debater. probably right. he didn't want to do many more debates but changed their position on that a co

the same could await gingrich. he left house republicans back to power after 40 years in the majority but that was 17 years ago. the subsequent speakership were tush lect, marred by two shutdowns that were unpopular for which he and republicans were blamed. in 1997 he was reprimanded by the house for college courses he taught. they were minor but he's the only speaker to be sanctioned. he was nearly ousted by his party in 1997 and finally stepped down and left the house next year. he has been valuable and full of ideas but not all conservative. they may overlook his past at the moment but the moment is just beginning. >> bret: when you hear critics or people who question his candidacy say he has too much baggage and you hear his answer now. what is your thought? >> the answer about the marriages may work. he said he wasn't a perfect husband and did things that were wrong and asked for bob's forgiveness. the more difficult question concerns his record in office, positions in the past on global warming that many cons

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

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

>> 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

gingrich at 32%. romney at 19%. that stands in contrast to what we had from the beginning of the week which was a four-way tie between cain, paul, romney, gingrich. new numbers out from mcgellan strategies, romney at 29%, and gingrich at 27%. that's by far the closest poll there. if you look at the last month or so of polling from new hampshire there is a broader spread in favor of new hampire. but this is the latest polling number out of new hampshire. what do you make of it? is gingrich going to be able to maintain the momentum to peak in six weeks when it counts? >> be clear, it is momentum. whether the individual polls are accurate or not, newt gingrich has momentum. nationally and it appears he has it in the key states. the most important and interesting potential poll is the new hampshire poll where he was not even really registering in the significant numbers until the past couple of weeks. now if he is actually within let's say five points or eight points of mitt romney there, given the amount of time and at

that's right behind, though, newt gingrich who's at 23%. herman cain next with 18%, then you have rick perry, ron paul and michele bachmann rounding out the top six. jon: and the candidates all tackling foreign policy and national security issues in their debate last night with gingrich and romney looking like the ones to beat. joe trippi, the former campaign manager for howard dean and a fox news contributor. what about this john thune endorsement? he is considered, as we said, a rising star. he was thought to be a possible presidential contender himself. >> yes, jon. it's significant because romney, romney's sort of a weak front runner who kind of needs to get back, i mean, he needs these kinds of endorsements to keep momentum, particularly in iowa, where he's started to really look like he's going to play there, and i think the thune endorsement will help because of his strength with conservatives and, also, the proximity to iowa in defeating daschle next door. it's important, i think there are a lot of iowans that pay attention. jon: i

what did gingrich do? he attacked the press. always helpful if you are a candidate and always popular. then he would step out of the frame of the debate and say i like everybody up here. everybody up here is better president than barack obama. cheering for whole republican party. it's a good tactic. only one who stayed out of the back and the forth. if he gets a rise in this and start to climb in party looking for non-romney he might have a chance of being non-romney. >> bret: quickly, jeff, you spent time on the trail. a lot of states. is it possible that this year is a different dynamic, that online, social media, it just, maybe you don't need as much as in the past on the ground? >> we'll find out. that is a big question in the campaign. perhaps it is the bridge between the old and new. if someone appears on fox news for example they reach the iowa caucus goers. caucuses are not an election. monday night, january 3. it requires someone to tell you to go, tell you where to go. that is something some of the candidates may not h

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

now the -- or newt gingrich. now he finds himself at the top of the republican field aim cord to go a cnn poll released today he is he's in a virtual tie with mit romney. his numbers has skyrocketed by 14 points. it can be partially contributed to his outstanding performance in the debates. this weekend he went head-to-head with a cbs news moderator whether or not they should have the authority to take on an american born terrorist. >> if you engage in wore against the runs, you are an enemy combat tent. you have none of the civil liberties in the united states, you cannot go to court. let me be very clear about this. there's a huge gap here that frankly far too many people get confused over. civil defense, criminal defense is a function of being within the american law. waging war on the united states is outside criminal law and is an act of war and should be dealt with as an act of war and the correct thing in an act of war is to kill people who are trying to kill you. [applause] >> that's one person that presi

whether it's conservatives supporting mitt romney or newt gingrich i think gingrich will be in good stead. if he squares off against president obama he'll do very, very well. he'll outclass him on every level. newt gingrich is a very, very capable man and politician. he has a very powerful intellect. he has nine books, they are not all about himself unlike the president of the united states and i think he'll square off very, very well. here is a guy who worked across the aisle when he was speaker of the house with president clinton in balancing the bulge jet. those are two characteristics that will go a very long day. megyn: do you think the gop voters or even the independents out there will be willing to look past some of newt gingrich's baggage because they think he'll do a better job in governing the country than president obama. >> there has to be a separation between the family conserves teufs and fiscal conservatives. the family value conservatives are not going to support newt gingrich. megyn: will they support president obama instead of gingrich. >> we're talking about primary vot

they are nominating gingrich. and the evangelize and tea evangelical and tea party division they don't have a candidate yet. we need to see who wins that division. >> bill: herman cain got hurt down in the poll can he make a come back. >> i think he has been hurt by three things. obviously the sex harassment stuff but also gingrich's rise, which he helped cause and then is suffering from. but also that the last debates have been basically about foreign policy and national security and he shines when they are discussing economic policy. he needs one ever those debates to be on that. can come back. otherwise 30% of the voters don't have a horse to vote for. >> you would think that newt gingrich would appeal though, conservative people. >> once for the individual mandate and health care and then there is the obvious personal stuff. >> bill: all right. but what about the taking of the money when he was a lobbyist from fannie and freddie? is that going to hurt him? >> well, that could either hurt him or make him presid

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

because their guy gingrich from before is now rising. taking the people leaving perry. >> bret: there is a contest within the broader contest. the contest for the conservative folks who are not signing on the romney, at least not yet. the who is the standard bearer for those folks before the bigger contest with the front runner mitt romney? >> you're right. in some ways the next month will be the most important, culminating in a debate we've got december 15. because it's exactly the playing out of that contest. you seeing newt gingrich obviously rising in the polls. he was second in a poll that came out late today. in key battleground state. you have own him do better in national polls. he's making arguments, people respond to the things that he is doing. debates certainly helped him. so he is now once again surfacing. you've got herman cain who seems to be weathering this controversy reasonably well. >> bret: in fact, his campaign is saying he has received $9 million in contributions. in recent weeks. and much more in recent days. >> su

gingrich's think tank has paid $37 million by the health care industry. according to gingrich, here is what they got in return. we'll put it up on the screen. they got to visit with a really important guy who really knows a lot and who really has lots of information. you had a chance to be in meetings with somebody that was speaker of the house. he also got as we mentioned $1.8 million from freddie mac and said he worked only an hour a month for them. we did the math, it turns out to be $30,000 an hour which prompted the "washington post" to write the following. the role of an influenced broker could become a political problem for gingrich reminding voters he is a longtime washington insider despite his outsider rhetoric. is is that valid, do you think? >> i think so. i think some of his activities since he left washington, since he stepped down as speaker will come under renewed scrutiny. i don't think what he did is uncommon for a former lawmaker, a lot of members of congress go on to consulting gigs and reap the benefits. >> gregg: but trying to peddle