will it be the intellectual newt gingrich unafraid or the sour, nastier newt gingrich that is not likeable? i think the first newt gingrich was at your debate last night. >> certainly he surprised all of us, given where he was over the summer. everyone thought his campaign as it was beginning was already over. all of a sudden, the new polls show he's right in the thick of things. >> what a testament to the power of the debates and the way it changes the way they run for president. >> we'll see if this last debate winds up helping or hurting him. don't go too far away. we have a lot to discuss. the candidates were united in slamming the tsa. some calling for profiling of muslims. also, a sharp clash over the u.s. military mission in afghanistan. act my age? -why? -why? -why? [ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. the sleep number bed. with the sleep number bed, it's not about soft or firm. it's about support where you find

hold on. >> newt gingrich. and i think tonight we saw the first newt gingrich, the more positive newt gingrich who sort of had a vision and took on ron paul, and the patriot act debate, it was very, very interesting. the intellectual newt, but he was appealing which is something i don't think he's really been before. i think it's probably because he's more relaxed and he's doing better in the polls and people like him. i think he was more likable this evening. >> i think speaker gingrich came into the debate with the most to lose. i want to see how the immigration debate plays out. herman cain was asked a question about syria and started talking about the u.s. economy that to me is a sign of his weakness when it comes to commander in chief test. thanks to our panel. that does it for this edition of "360." you can see the debate in its you can see the debate in its entirety, next. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ here's where we deliver steady income - month after month. what's it going to be this month

newt gingrich, 27%. romney, 20%. paul, 16%. on down the line in single digits, cain, bachmann and santorum. moving to new hampshire, romney 33%, gingrich 22%. paul 12%. single digits again, cain, undecided and huntsman. okay. couple questions. is newt gingrich a serious contender at this point? >> i think the endorsement of "the union leader" makes him a serious threat to mitt romney potentially in new hampshire in ways that he might not have anticipated and we'll see what happens in the polls in the next few weeks. i think in iowa it is easy to say newt's on top but that contest comes first. he has a lot of explaining to do on the immigration question. he has a lot of explaining to do on other issues. support for t.a.r.p. which he then took back. his position on climate change. his position on the ryan medicare plan. a mandate for health care. advanced directives for health care. he has a lot of answering to do in iowa before those caucuses are counted -- the votes are counted on a cold january 3rd night and i think that ultim

>> i'm newt gingrich. >> i, newt gingrich. >> do solemnly promise to continue to be a good speaker. i promise that my book will be way less boring than al gore's book. >> for republican committee roast in 1995, newt gingrich is back about me now. you have a sense of humor about yourself. >> you have to or else you'd go crazy. >> you have thick skin as well. you seem like the classic washington bruiser, able to deal with all the slings and arrows that get chucked at you. >> this is a free society. i'm allowed to have an opinion. other people are allowed to have an opinion. i relax and try to live it up. >> the key thing of the next election is going to almost certainly be not just the economy but jobs in particular. how to get americans back to work. that will be the battleground. where do you think you have the answers that barack obama doesn't have? and also, where do you think you differ, if you do, from the tea party and their aspirations in that area? >> well, first of all, i think with obama, he's the best, most effective food stamp president in history. more people are on food

mitt romney and newt gingrich. listen to what romney is now saying about newt gingrich. >> he and i have very different backgrounds. he spent his last 30 or 40 years in washington. i spent my career in the private sector. 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 i'm in this race. >> he spent 30 or 40 years in washington. he's a lifelong politician. on the other hand, mitt romney's a business person. the gloves are a little bit beginning to come off. >> it's about time. look, this is supposed to be a change election. all the issues will boil down to the economy and so, mitt romney has to offer that contrast and it is an absolute joke for newt gingrich to stand here and talk about he's an outsider when he is an ultimate insider. this whole deal with all his institutes and these organizations, he's trading on the level of influence in the nation's capitol, so it's smart for romney to go after him aggressively. >> you use

interesting thing, perry couldn't take on newt gingrich. newt gingrich is newt gingrich. he'll surprise you and you never know which newt gingrich will throw up. the unafraid or sour, nastier newt gingrich that is not likeable. i think the first knute bring ri ging /* gingrich was at your debate. >> all of a sudden, new polls show he's right in the thick of things. >> it's changing the way you run for president. >> we'll see if this last debate winds up helping or hurting them. don't go too far away much woo. we have lots to discuss. and the candidates calling for profiling of muslims? and a clash of military position in afghanistan. [ male announcer ] sometimes, a hint is all the wrapping a gift needs. is that what i think it is? ♪ [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer for exclusive lease offers on the 2012 is 250 and, as a gift from lexus, we'll make your first month's payment. congratulations. congratulations. today, the city of charlotte can use verizon technology to inspire business

>> i'm newt gingrich. >> i, newt gingrich. >> do solemnly promise to continue to be a good speaker. i promise that my book will be way less boring than al gore's book. >> for republican committee roast in 1995, newt gingrich is back about me now. you have a sense of humor about yourself. >> you have to or else you'd go crazy. >> you have thick skin as well. you seem like the classic just economy but jobs in particular. how get americans back to work. that will be the battleground. where do you think you have the answers that barack obama doesn't have? and also, where do you think you differ, if you do, from the tea party and their aspirations in that area? >> well, first of all, i think with obama, he's the best, most effective food stamp president in history. more people are on food stamps thanks to his policies than any other time. i'd like to be the best paycheck president. the contrast is dramatic. >> it is harder with an entrenched and republican trying to steal our every move. >> we second. first of all, bill clinton was president. and republican speaker who had to figure out

hold on. >> newt gingrich. and i think tonight we saw the first newt gingrich, the more positive newt gingrich who sort of had a vision and took on ron paul, and the patriot act debate, it was very, very interesting. the intellectual newt, but he was appealing which is something i don't think he's really been before. i think it's probably because he's more relaxed and he's doing better in the polls and people like him. i think he was more likable this evening. >> i think speaker gingrich came into the debate with the most to lose. i want to see how the immigration debate plays out. herman cain was asked a question about syria and started talking about the u.s. economy that to me is a sign of his weakness when it comes to commander in chief test. thanks to our panel. that does it for this edition of "360." you can see the debate in its entirety, next. [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivi

the thing about newt gingrich though, you never know which newt is going to show up. when you interview him or when he's on the campaign trial. during the debates, he's often seen as the adult in the room. he uses the press as his foil a lot, but now that he's under the mike scope, we're going to have to see how he reacts to the stories. >> he's really doing well in new hampshire. 40% say they like romney, gingrich is at 11%. cain, 8%. you see the numbers there. almost a resident of new hampshire, mitt romney. does this make iowa the first contest even more important? >> yeah, it makes iowa much more important and i'm going to show you some more numbers because take a look at this. iowa is really a very, very close race. according to a new iowa poll taken by bloomberg news. you can see the top four candidates there are really bunched together. with cain at the top, but that can change. iowa is the first time that really votes are cast and some campaigns have to win iowa or the money's going to dry up. i think that would be michele bachmann or rick santorum. and romney

is there a new, more mature, newt gingrich. if there is a new newt and people are convinced of that, i think he'll give romney a run for his money. on the other hand, if it people conclude he's a right wing sort of erratic, bully kind of person, who is -- you know, who says really -- and can hurt himself, then i think his chances of getting there are quite slim. >> david gergen, david erickson, thank you so much for joining us. we're on facebook and google plus. add us to your circles. >>> up next -- new violent clashes in egypt. military police battling protests, tear gas and anger in the streets. a truce lasting just three hours. the military says it wants peace. we're keeping them honest. >>> also tonight, the latest on the penn state sex abuse scandal. jerry sandusky's lawyer spobds to new allegations reportingly coming from members of sandus sandusky's own family. >>> john, amazing video from new zealand where a helicopter crashed as a pilot was helping to set up a christmas tree. incredibly, the pilot survived this crash.

newt gingrich, 27%. romney, 20%. paul, 16%. on down the line in single digits, cain, bachmann and santorum. moving to new hampshire, romney 33%, gingrich 22%. paul 12%. single digits again, cain, undecided, and huntsman. okay. couple questions. is newt gingrich a serious contender at this point? >> i think the endorsement of "the union leader" makes him a serious threat to mitt romney potentially in new hampshire in ways that he might not have anticipated and we'll see what happens in the polls in the next few weeks. i think in iowa it is easy to say newt's on top but that contest comes first. he has a lot of explaining to do on the immigration question. he has a lot of explaining to do on other issues. support for t.a.r.p. which he then took back. his position on climate change. his position on the ryan medicare plan. a mandate for health care, advanced directives for health care. he has a lot of answering to do in iowa before the counts on the cold january night. iowa could be a muddled picture where there's an anti-mitt romn

there is an unromney and his name is newt gingrich. take a look at new polls that came out, first the -- let's look at the first poll first. mitt romney on top 23% and then newt gingrich at 19%. he has moved into that unromy position. he is sliding it with herman cain. and then you see ron paul and rick perry. this poll, we should note, is interesting in that it was taken in part after the gop debate on wednesday night when rick perry had that big oops moment. so that potentially has hurt him in this race for the gop nomination. now to the cbs poll which also confirms newt gingrich in a near front-runner status. herman cain there at 18%. mitt romney at 15%. not good news for mitt romney there. but newt gingrich right there at 15%. so what is old is newt in the race for the gop nomination. he has been bouied by the debate performances. you see him go after the media. conservatives love that. >> he's been slow but steady on the increase. he is clearly moving up. rick perry's been massively involved in what we call damage control. >> he h

cain votes. >> newt gingrich is well-known. it's the carry on kind of baggage. people know about his past. they know about his mistakes. they know about the scandals he's been involved in and because of that, conservatives who are still looking for an alternative to romney, they might park temporarily in the newt gingrich camp, but i still believe that some of the others may have an opportunity to move up. >> what do you think? >> you had it right on your blog. it's not predictable at this point. what is to be sure, is the bigger the field, the better for romney. worse for him rather. so -- >> his latest developments have been good for gingrich. not so good for romney. but we'll talk about that later. thanks very much. the "cafferty file" is up next, then at the top of the hour, mitt romney secures three key endorsements in one critical state. could he also be securing his front-runner stat or not? with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymba

>> no, never. >> how big a problem is this for newt gingrich? >> anderson, i think this is neither a tempest nor a teapot. i think there's any number of people who have worked for these companies and given advice to them, which is what newt acknowledged he did. he said he didn't lobby for them. i think it's problematic the 2008 interview where he said president obama should return the money. obviously that's a little inconsistent with him keeping the money. but on the day that the debt topped $15 trillion, who newt gingrich worked for i don't think is a significant issue in the debate. there's a lot bigger issues this country is wrestling with. >> hilary, there's nothing wrong with lobbying if that's what he was doing. is this a big deal? >> of course it is because it piles on top of year after year of newt gingrich's sort of saying one thing and doing another. and this just proves it. you know, for two years he made it his number one priority to trash president obama and barney frank and other democrats for their handling of freddie mac and fan

>> no, never. >> how big a problem is this for newt gingrich? >> anderson, i think this is neither a tempest more a teapot. i think there's any number of people who have worked for these companies and given advice to them, which is what newt acknowledged he did. he said he didn't lobby for them. i think it's problematic the 2008 interview where he said president obama should return the money. obviously that's a little inconsistent with him keeping the money. but on the day that the debt topped $15 trillion, who newt gingrich worked for i don't think is a significant issue in the debate. there's a lot bigger issues this country is wrestling with. >> hilary, there's nothing wrong with lobbying if that's what he was doing. is this a big deal? >> of course it is because it piles on top of year after year of newt gingrich's sort of saying one thing and doing another. and this just proves it. you know, for two years he made it his number one priority to trash president obama and barney frank and other democrats for their handling of freddie mac and fa

newt gingrich raises to. top. >>> i will talk about that race with the republican candidate rick santorum. we will also discuss what he calls the horrific and devastating scandal of his alma matter, penn state university. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in the situation room. >>> but first, a stunning new shift in the republican race for the presidency. our new polls shows gingrich gained 14 points since october. that puts him in a virtual tie for the lead with mitt romney. herm yan can dropped 11 points. that puts him in a battle for third place right now with rick perry. ron paul and michele bachmann follow with jon huntsman and rick santorum rounding out the field. herman cain's plunge comes as he struggled with allegations of sexual harassment going back pour than a decade. now herman cain's wife is speaking out, but she isn't the only one. cnn's joe john says tracking the latest developments for us. and there have been many joe, what's the late snef. >> with herman cain losing status in the polls, the latest pe

is there a new, more mature, newt gingrich. if there is a new newt and people are convinced of that, i think he'll give romney a run for his money. on the other hand, if it people conclude he's a right wing sort of erratic, bully kind of person, who is -- you know, who says really -- and can hurt himself, then i think his chances of getting there are quite slim. >> david ger again, erik erickson, thank you so much for joining us. let us know what you think at home. we're on facebook and google plus. add us to your circles. >>> up next -- new violent clashes in egypt. military police battling protests, tear gas and anger in the streets. a truce lasting just three hours today. the military says it wants peace. we're keeping them honest. >>> also tonight, the latest on the penn state sex abuse scandal. jerry sandusky's lawyer responds to new allegations reportedly coming from members of sandusky's own family. >>> first, let's check in with isha sesay. >> john, amazing video from new zealand where a helicopter crashed, who was help

>> newt gingrich might just have it, timing. just as former house speaker surges in the hol polls he is also getting key endorsements. for starters the new hampshire editorial leader is backing gingrich. they say he has improved washington before and in this race he has the best shot of doing it again. this conservative stamp of approval can do a long way in helping gingrich, especially at a time when many conservatives are taking aim on his stand with immigration. >>> sarah palin, remember letter? she could throw her supported behind gingrich as well. one suggest, atds to palin, say gingrich is the most likely to score her endorsement. and it is not just conservatives who have nice things to say about newt gingrich. former president clinton praises gingrich in an interview with a website news max. calling gingrich articulate. saying he tries to think of an idea that will solve a legitimate problem. that's a clinton quote. he suggests that it will make independent voters take a hard look at him. all of this has to be keeping mit

newt gingrich on the defense again. new reports he was paid tens of millions of dollars by the health care industry. ♪ do you believe in magic? [ male announcer ] there's just something about werther's caramel that makes a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don't just taste it, you feel it. ♪ magic [ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. >>> embarrassing and potentially dangerous security slip-up in australia. brianna is joining us in bali in indonesia. what happened? >> hi, wolf, the sidney herald is reporting the president's visit to australia's capitol the middle of this week, it was found lying on the street, obviously not where it was supposed to be by the paper's national security reporter. it included details, such as phone numbers for top administration officials, australian military officials and detailins even down to the seating arrangement of the president's motorcade and which door of his limousine he would be getting into and out of. it's unclear how signific

is there a new, more mature, newt gingrich. if there is a new newt and people are convinced of that, i think he'll give romney a run for his money. on the other hand, if it people conclude he's a right wing sort of erratic, bully kind of person, who is -- you know, who says really -- and can hurt himself, then i think his chances of getting there are quite slim. >> david gergen, david erickson, thank you so much for joining us. let us know what you think at home. we're on facebook and google plus. add us to your circles. >>> up next -- new violent clashes in egypt. military police battling protests, tear gas and anger in the streets. a truce lasting just three hours. the military says it wants peace. we're keeping them honest. >>> also tonight, the latest on the penn state sex abuse scandal. jerry sandusky's lawyer responds to new allegations reportedly coming from members of sandusky's own family. >>> john, amazing video from new zealand where a helicopter crashed as a pilot was helping to set up a christmas tree. incredibly,

newt gingrich tweeted this. he invited his followers to take a tweet down memory lane and then there was a clip from a 2007 romney interview on "meet the press." here's that clip. >> my own view, consistent with what you said, those people that have come here illegally and in this country, the 12 million or so here illegally, should be able to sign up for permanent residency or citizenship. >> now, we asked the romney campaign for a response to that and they sent out a more complete quote from that interview. let's put that up on the screen so we can read that to you. right after that clip that you just saw, romney goes on to say in that same interview, but they should not be given a special path way, a special guarantee that all of them get to stay here for the rest of their lives, merely by virtue of coming here illegally. it appears that they took romney's quote out of context but when asked if gingrich did just that, the romney campaign did not want to go there because they admitted that they took the presid

>> some candidates are stepping in it, newt gingrich is stepping it up. what's old is newt. he's back. >> it is a wide open race. >> consider campaign road kill over the summer, newt gingrich is peaking at just the right time. he is leaping ahead of herman cain in a new poll and falling within the margin of error for the lead in another poll from cbs. the former house speaker may be scoffing at his numbers. >> all of this effort to create a two-man race when it was perry and romney. >> reporter: he already has a new racer line attack for mitt roxny. >> you're not running to be super governor. this is more complicated than being governor. >> reporter: the campaign lost its luster in may surrounding the tiffany's jewelry chain. but he hung on and serving up red meat filled debate performances along with a tax on the immediate gentleman. >> i have yet to hear a single reporter ask a single rational question about the economy, who's going to pay for the park you're occupying if there are no businesses making a profit? >> reporter: he's also benefited from the clouds hanging over

but the real issue for newt gingrich i think is -- the real issue for newt gingrich is can he credibly go on week after week and change his story every day? today it was i'm going to release the contracts, then tonight it's no, i'm not going to release the contracts. last week it was i was for a single payor. then it was, well, we shouldn't have single payer. you know, we've got to repeal obamaca obamacare. i mean, newt gingrich is just not a credible candidate. as smart as he is, he's almost too clever by half. >> ari, i'll let you respond, then we've got to go. >> on the issue of president bush, president bush repeatedly pressed for reform but was blocked actually by barney frank and by former senator chris dodd. so that's why it didn't get done. >> not true. >> but there's another issue about newt and that's going to be debated throughout this campaign. there's the sharp newt and then there's bombastic newt and we'll still see which one comes out in the course of this election. that still is an open issue. >> ari, hilary rosen, i pleasure you being on. thank you. coming up, a man ar

gingrich is, newt gingrich probably does know who the president of uzbekistan is. at least newt gingrich read his briefing books and we know when he sits at the table, he is ready to play. >> thanks to all three. we appreciate you taking the time. >>> "outfront" next, american airlines files for bankruptcy. they don't have showers on their planes. i'll explain. >>> a crowd of protesters storms the embassy in tehran. after iran's parliament voted to expel the british ambassador. >>> and the latest from the syracuse molestation scandal. the police chief admits his force failed to follow up on tips of abuse they got nine years ago. [ 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 online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. pri

newt gingrich has been all over the map. so, i think these candidates, while foreign policy is not going to be at the top of the voter's agenda, there is still a threshold you have to cross when you want to be president of the united states and americans understand that and believe it and want somebody who's strong, credible and plausible. >> over the past many decades, the republicans have been the ones that have strong and defense and national security. >> now, that's been the republican calling card. strong on defense and what's interesting for barack obama is that he, his highest poll ratings come on national security. don't forget he's had some successes. he got osama bin laden and in this field, wolf, as you know bitter than i do, there is no john mccain. there is no republican hawk here like we saw in the 2008 elections. mitt romney disagrees with barack obama on iraq and afghanistan, but really, much more on the timetables of the withdrawal of the troops than anything else. so, these republicans are going up, whoever

newt gingrich as well. stand by. gingrich, he's charging hard right now for the republican presidential nomination. he often comes down hard on the news media. gingrich though has profited hand s handsomely from his own media activities. joe johns will join us when we come back. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we are the tomorrow makers. we're making tomorrows like clockwork. ♪ for all the different things our customers planned for. like a college education. or, the perfect wedding. ♪ ♪ i love ya, tomorrow! [ male announcer ] we're making them a better financial future. what can we make with you? transamerica. transform tomorrow. >>> governor rick p

it would be a very different administration under newt gingrich. we'll talk about what he had to say about herman cain and still out front that poll that shows president obama's approval rating up almost six percentage points. what is the reason? you heard my view. our panel weighs in next. >>> a then, four members of a mill labor sha group planning to attack government buildings and kill civilians, they appeared in court today. we take you there. >>> disturbing video of a texas judge whipping his daughter. we'll be back. that is better americans are always ready to work hard for a better future. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing s

get this, newt gingrich, the new front-runner. and is the taliban playing any role in libya as herman cain suggests? susan wright is just back from a surprise visit to tripoli. >>> i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." we're live here at constitution hall, here in the nation's capitol, where in just a little bit more than 24 hours, the republican presidential hopeful will face off for the first time in a major debate on national security, foreign affairs and the economy. he will be mod rating the event co-sponsored by the her kaj foundation and american enterprise institute. on the eve of this critical contest an eye-popping shift? the republican con taft. a new cnn poll just released minutes ago, shows newt gingrich on top of the republican pack for the first time. look at this wp 24% of republicans asked, if the former house speaker is their choice to be the presidential nominee, compared to mitt romney there is a dead heat, with gingrich and romney nationwide. other candidates, all in single digits. our chief politi

the rise of newt gingrich. people really love snapshot from progressive, but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. >>> he has been many things -- congressman, speaker, author, lecturer, consultant, presidential candidate, and now this election season -- phoenix. rising from the ashes of his campaign. >> i'm newt gingrich and i'm announcing my candidacy for president of the united states. >> less than a month after newt gingrich opened his presidential run in may, his underfunded, overspending campaign imploded. more than a dozen key aides and state operatives quit in a dispute over strategy and concern that ging

>> wolf, newt gingrich says his recent rise surprises even him. when we sat down with the former speaker, he said this candidly, last summer was the worst time of his political career. that was when his senior staff resigned, but all of that is now behind him. meet the gop's latest fresh face. newt gingrich. >> yesterday afternoon in jefferson, iowa, somebody introduced me as the front-runner. >> yes, the same gingrich who was a walking dead candidate last summer. drawing big crowds in iowa, he is candid about his near death political experience. did you feel dead? >> no, i felt desperate. i didn't feel dead. i've done this for 53 years and the two hardest months of my career were june and july. i am the only candidate running who has actually led at national level. >> but humility has its limits and assessing what went wrong with his campaign, he compared himself to two conservative giants. where did you go wrong? >> i think it was a big mistake to try to bring in conventional consultan consultants. i am such an unconventional political figure th

is there a new newt gingrich we ought to know about? >> well, i think there is. i think that he's somebody who came through four years of experience of governing. he's now been in the private sector, been a successful private sector businessman, has learned what it takes to make a payroll and do all of those kinds of things, and he has also gone through a religious conversion, accepted catholicism, and i think that was a moment of great importance in his life. he has a very happy marriage with calista these days. i mean, i think is he a vastly more mature, much calmer individual at this point, that he really is of a temperament these days to become president of the united states. >> rich, i guess the question then is -- and while i'm asking this question ip to show our audience something that is on gingrich's website now, which is a lengthy discussion of many of the attacks that have come out against him, some of them dealing with very personal things such as did you leave your first wife while she was dying, telling her you wanted a divorce, et cetera, et cetera

newt gingrich is the next up as the unromney. the republican pros, some of whom i know and talk to are terrified of him being the nominee. they think he is a sure loser. but this is going to go on for a while. i think in the enit is romney. i think erik is right about that when he wrote it. but romney is getting collateral damage in the process. not only are conservatives are resisting him but there is a p poll in ohio. people are doubting his awe then 'tiscy. he's 48 unfavorable in ohio and you can't win an election with that. >> that's a serious implication. on top of the 25% ceiling mitt romney has got he can't seem to break above it. you look at the poll. it is amazing herman cain is on top and his numbers are cut in half among women. an indication of problems to come. >> 28% a few week ago and now 15. plunge. >> that is a sign of things to come. mitt romney's numbers going down inexpolice politicably as newt gingrich rises. what will happen tonight, as newt gets stronger, it will be release. >> rick santorum is the only one

. >>> still "outfront" newt gingrich surging in the polls. will new revelations about his dealings with freddie mac stop the momentum in his track. we have a new number for how much he was paid. >>> bizarre details about a mother whose child is missing in washington state. the website she might have signed up for just before he disappeared. >>> the man who allegedly fired two shots at the white house arrested in pennsylvania today. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. this season♪ discover aleve. we're centurylink... a new kind of broadband company committed to improving lives with honest, personal service, 5-year price lock guarantees and consistently fast speeds. ♪ delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet they're closing thousands of offices, slashing service, and want to lay off over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses, but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other ag

how did newt gingrich basically tie up the race seven weeks ahead of the iowa caucus? joining me are ari fleischer and paul begala. paul, i got to start with you on this moment by herman cain. the whole answer goes on for about five minutes. i mean, it is painful to watch. what do you make of it? >> it may not be a full-on brain freeze, but it was at least a slushy, wasn't it. give mr. cain free advice, this is maybe advice that fleischer came up with. when george w. bush was debating al gore, gore knew a lot more about foreign policy than the governor of texas did. you know what he did in the debate? i went back and looked at the transcript. ari, you'll love this. it was a brilliant performance. on so many issues bush surprised gore by saying i agree with president clinton on this. yugoslavia, a triumph. he said that clinton was right about rwanda, israel. east timor, which i don't know if he knew anything about, didn't matter. i think president clinton got it right. if herman cain had said i agree with president obama, let's talk about my 9-9-9 plan, it would have be

the man who's getting the game, newt gingrich. he is the only candidate up and it is big time. >> it's better than when i was at 4. this is the most volatile race of my lifetime. >> you can say that again. gingrich went on to say, who knows what the polls are going to be two months from now. and there's something to that. before there was cain, there was rick, who dropped from 32% to 12. a drop of 20 percentage points. and before there was rick, there was michele. she dropped from 14 to 6. tonight, herman cain is betting that someone he's known for 46 years can turn it around for him. that's his wife. >> to hear such graphic allegations and know that that would have been something that was totally disrespectful of her as a woman, and i know that's not the person he is. he totally respects women. >> well, 58% of republican women believe herman cain's accuse accusers. we're going to dig into these numbers. john avlon joins us, james carville, and nancy fotenhower. thanks to all three of you. can she do it for him? talking about glor

that's the test of a campaign. >> paul, people have written off newt gingrich months ago. he's now not just up, his support has almost tripled. is he just the latest anybody but romney candidate? or could this be a start of the real shot at the nomination? >> at least i think it is this abr phenomenon now, anybody but romney. they had their flirtation with donald trump, then michele bachmann. now newt. something there is doesn't love mitt romney. it's three-fourths of the republican party. i don't know why. maybe ari can us. they just don't want to be for him. they're looking for a fresh facep pu think of a guy who is 68 years old and first ran for congress when nixon was president. >> it's also called math. when there are eight candidates in a race and one person has a 25, 28% plurality and the rest or closely divided, it's the way numbers work out. it's interesting in that poll that mitt romney has a three-point lead over barack obama. so i do think at the end of the day as this campaign goes along, the fact that somebody can beat barack obama becomes tremendously import

and newt gingrich firing back amid swirling questions about whether he was paid more than $1 million by troubled mortgage giant freddie mac. and congresswoman gabrielle give fords breaking her silence this week for the first time since being shot in the head. just ahead. her emotional trying road to recovery and the dramatic new message she has for her constituents. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzerment you're in "the situation room." first the battle for the white house. the issue is national security on cnn. i'll be moderating a debate tuesday night right here in washington with the republican presidential contenders. and with the spotlight getting brighter on those at the front of the pack, they could have the potential to -- the potential to be a game changer. joining us now for a preview, danielle pletka. she is with the american enterprise institute. james carafano, director for foreign policy at the heritage foundation and norm orenstein. he also writes a weekly column for "roll call." i want to point out the debate will

newt gingrich 5% and rick perry doesn't make the top five. last night's debate was supposed to be part of his rebound strategy. south carolina 72 days away to the key primary there. again it is romney, cain, gingrich. perry slight any play but romney and cain, romney the front runner and cain the conservative challenger. after south carolina comes florida. 82 days away. this is starting to sound familiar. cain leads in a new poll out today. romney just behind him. newt gingrich, up to 17% in florida. rick perry in the single digits at 5. everyone t got in the race and everyone assumed he would be the conservative candidate to mitt romney. at the moment it is cain. they assume that herman cain will start to slip. gingrich, they say at the moment is best positioned to take on romney. the whole race we have been waiting to see who would be the consistent conservative to romney. tonight it is herman cain. we will see what happens going forward. >> appreciate it. now raw politics, starting with the one moment that rick perry would like to forget.

you're going to hear from newt gingrich tonight. plus, four militia who were going to put a biological toxin out on the highways. we're going to find out who these men are. it's going to surprise you when you hear about them and see them. coming up in the next hour. >> we look forward to that. >>> the favorite end of world predictor gets it wrong again? we all still have faith. we're saving that for the ridiculous, next. to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. ...was it something big? ...or something small? ...something old? ...or something new? ...or maybe, just maybe... it's something you haven't seen yet. the 2nd generation of intel core processors. stunning visuals, intelligent performance. this is visibly smart. >>> time now for rid

you're going to hear from newt gingrich tonight. plus, we're going to talk about four militiamen in georgia who wanted to target federal buildings, were willing to put a biological toxic agent called ricin out on the highways. we're going to find out exactly who these men were. anderson, it's really going to surprise you when you actually see them, hear about them. we've got that coming up. in the next hour. back to you. >> erin, thanks very much. look forward to it. >>> ahead on the program, our favorite end of world predictor gets it wrong again. but we still have faith. so all you rapture haters, we're saving a place for you on the "riduculist" next. tions. 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

i mean, as newt gingrich said, it's not as easy as it looks. at the same time, voters are looking at how candidates handle matters that are in a crisis like he's doing now and they make certain evaluations about that. obviously, he's not handing it in a smooth way and i'm sure that can't help him at all. >> can he bounce back? >> i don't know. it depends on republican primary voters. in the end, it helps the favorite, which mitt romney. i don't see cain coming back in a strong way unless he actually has policy prescriptions that people are interested and feel are valuable. >> 9-9-9, we've heard that for weeks, months. thanks very much. by the way, excellent cover of the new issue of "time" magazine. can you still move up in america? it's a powerful question. an excellent article on it. thank you. >>> police car slams into a plane. ahead, details of what's behind this unbelievable chase caught on videotape. plus, two workers trapped on a church steeple for hours and hours. we're going to have the latest on a rescue effort. that is somen i would

newt gingrich might benefit. the conservatives in the republican party are -- sort of grew up with newt. i think there's a soft spot for newt in many of their hearts even though he's not running a very effective campaign. but it's the next anti-romney who benefits, and i think it's going to happen pretty quickly. >> cheri, john, steve, thanks to all three of you. newt gingrich will be coming "outfront" tomorrow and we'll put these questions to him. he'll be our guest exclusively here on the program tomorrow night. >>> still "outfront," the markets take a nosedive because of greece. is there any relief in sight? >>> then an emergency landing in warsaw. truly incredible video whether you fly a lot or not. the hero of the miracle on the hudson, captain sullenberger, comes out with his take on a 767 landing on its belly. no wheels. >>> and the strangest race you will ever see. we have all the details in the camel report. [ man ] i got this citi thank you card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather bal

>> well, newt gingrich, it's interesting. he got part of the payoff of freddie mac and fannie mae, huh? i heard they paid him millions of dollars as a consultant. what would he need to consult about? he got part of the bailout money, and we're going to make him president? and all the rest of the cast of characters i could care less about them. i won't vote for a democrat or a republican, and i urge people. that's the solution. the solution is to stop voting for these two political parties. they're both equally as bad. they've both sold out completely to wall street, and until we -- that's difficult. it's like climbing mt. everest, trying to get them to not do what they're programmed to do in this country. >> what would you think of obama's performance as president? the reason i ask you, is i want to play you a clip before i get your answer. because we had a very interesting debate last time about what would happen if the cia or any officials track down bin laden or gadhafi. let me play you a discussion over this. >> would you

romney up to 24, newt gingrich up to 22%. cain down to to 14 and rick perry down to 12%. mitt romney appears to be the steady eddie always around 25%. but the emergence of somebody like newt gingrich might be significant in the sense that he's what i would say, again, as an outsider, is a real player here. >> but this is the dating period, i think. someone said this is the andy warhol primary process for the republicans. everyone has the lead for 15 minutes. i think, piers, a couple things. both of our cable networks would go out of business if people stopped speculating and predicting this race, and yet i think it is so foolish to try to predict politics. a week is a year in politics. anything could happen in afternoon. second, i think most people kind of believe in the republican party that romney will ultimately be the nominee, and yet there he is stuck at a quarter of the electorate. and these other players have come and gone and risen and fallen. when rick perry got into this race, everyone said here's a retail politician who will take this thing by storm, most elect

in terms of newt gingrich, he's billing himself now as the conservative candidate, clearly playing on this sense that mitt romney isn't a proper conservative. who do you think right now barack obama would least want to face? >> i think, frankly, that obama's biggest opponent is the economy. i think he's blessed in all these potential opponents. we all know about gingrich's deficiencies, his going off on halfcocked theories. his temper, his ego, his snide demeanor which has been evident in these debates not to mention the hypocrisies of fannie mae and all the money he's collected, all that. but who is the prize here? the problem with romney, he would seem to be the ideal republican candidate. he looks like a republican candidate for president. he's a moderate conservative, i guess, to the extent that we know what he really stands for, but the problem with romney for the republican party is less his ideology and the fact that people just don't like him. i think that's really the problem. and your own party doesn't like you either because they think you're a flip flopper, they think you'