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

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

that candidate is newt gingrich." new hampshire, as you know, holds the first in the nation primary. that's happening a week after the iowa caucus. so gingrich who has seen his campaign surge over the past several weeks actually is now picking up an influential endorsement. he has moved up in the polls in new hampshire as we know, going up to the double digits but still it has been mitt romney who has been surging and had at least 40% in a number of the polls so he's way ahead in polls but now gingrich who has become a front-runner could now really start to surge after this influential endorsement. our rachel vikville covers all things new hampshire for us. she is on the line now. raichel -- these newspaper endorsements come and go. this one carries some weight. >> sure, you are right, t.j. this is the biggest newspaper in new hampshire. it is closely watched both locally and on a national scale obviously. the paper says newt gingrich is not the perfect candidate, but as you said, they said that he is the best candida

and newt gingrich had his own book scandal. goes on and on. >> if you look through a media prism, david, you see gingrich trying to find ways to preempt the questions that he knows are coming. this guy's been around a long time. he -- you know, he led the 1994 republican takeover of country. he knows and seems to turn to his advantage, you know, bashing the media. we all kind of snicker, but it's been popular in some republican circles. >> it's an effective strategy. there's the media talking about how i was criticizing president obama for going to the u.s. on libya, and then president obama goes into libya and newt gingrich, wait a second, he shouldn't have done that. a complete 180. but there's a certain shamelessness that gingrinewt gh has a twinkle in his eye when he does it. it's an effective strategy. >> it's time to put you on offensive. i want to play brief sound bites from last june. when you may recall newt gingrich's campaign seemed to implode. 16 staff members walked out saying they didn't think he was doing things

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

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

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

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

>> 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

in the part of newt gingrich. i spoke to him afterwards and he said that's how he feels and he was willing to take that stance. that was a politically, a politically courageous move, even if it's going to cost him some political grief in the weeks ahead. but we'll see if it does. >> you know, i was curious to know what you thought about this because heading into the debate, as you know, newt gingrich was on top of the polls. polling at about 24%. you know, he sort of played the frontrunner last night, didn't he? maybe i was looking for it. but did you sense that, as well? >> this was the first debate that the polls showed that he really, together with romney at the top nationally, they're both statistically in the tie, at least in our cnn/orc polls and he's doing really well in iowa and south carolina and even in new hampshire. so, you know, he's got a lot going right now, but he was, look, he has been good. he has been good at all the debates. he's been around washington for 50 years. he knows these issues and, o

look at september, newt gingrich was at 8%. 27% now. september to november, that's two months, that much math, i can do. romney's stayed stable. but to the point david makes about staying power and the risks the speaker took last night he has a lot of tea party support and glowing tea party support but he also made a play last night, i believe, what he was doing deliberate rately, because he explained this in detail in new hampshire early in the week, moderate, independent voters in new hampshire, yes i'm conservative but i'm going to take a risk on immigration and reach for the middle, that's reaching for romney voters. >> it is. newt gingrich was nowhere, as you point out, in iowa. if he doesn't win iowa but he does pretty well in iowa, it will be important for him. then he can move on to new hampshire. nobody expected him to win in new hampshire. if he does well in new hampshire and don't forget, it's open to independent voters, that's jon huntsman's play, he think his can get independents in the republican primary, but what if newt

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

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

prestige of newt gingrich. prestige of the speakership of the house. that's what they're selling. it's the newt gingrich signed gavel and newt gingrich framed certificate and the party where you're allowed or guaranteed you'll be allowed to be near newt gingrich. it is the letter you get from the desk of speaker newt gingrich. and today we have learned that it's not just small businesses and doctors who've been suckered into the whole access to newt fund-raising spam scam. it's big companies, too. today "washington post" reports that the newt gingrich's health care think tank, the center for health transformation, collected $37 million over the past 8 years from some of the biggest health care companies in the country. companies like astrazeneca and blue cross blue shield and ge health care and wellpoint. all of these companies would pay newt's for h-profit health care thing, $200,000 a year in membership dues. what would they get for their membership dues money? in part, they'd get special access to the former

gingrich, i guarantee you, is taking a hit tomorrow morning when the polls come out. >> newt gingrich played its mark as far as immigration is concerned. >> not for the right. >> he's going to have to get the latino vote. there will have to be some kind of a play from the republicans for the latino vote. when he talked about family and said that people that have been here, you cannot up rig them when they have roots in the community and are contributing to society. jim moore, i find this to be very interesting because net romney did say that opening. we are talking about amnesty. he says i am not going down that road. would there be a political upside for not being pressed on this? >> and there is in the general election because it will help him with hispanic voters. here in texas people have been beating each other up in the republican party and on the right about immigration for years and years. to treat people humanely. i think it is presumptuous{ on the part of new to toss this out this early because it presumes that he is going to do well and is likely a nominee. >> he was kind o

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.

that would be the former speaker of the house, newt gingrich. the former ambassador to china, jon huntsman and the former member of the senate republican leadership santorum. rick santorum. you also have to look, of course, at michele bachmann. who happens to be a current member of the house intelligence committee. she touts her foreign policy experience because she's on that committee, but you have to point out, as well, she's been a member of the house intelligence committee for just about ten months. appointed in january of this year. there will be some people will watch to see how they do because they don't have a lot of policy experience in this arena. that would include herman cain who is a businessman, former ceo of godfather's pizza with relatively limited experience on these matters. so, watching these candidates very closely, republicans have said again and again that they're opposed to many of president obama's foreign policy measures and ideas. this debate will help us determine what these republican candidates actually stand for aff

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

newt gingrich seems to be rising. i mean, mitt romney, he's still on top, but he still hasn't cracked that 30% figure in approval ratings. schmitt romney come out and campaign stronger, especially in iowa where the caucus is fast coming up? >> it's very funny, you're seeing iowa governor took a really, really hard swing at mitt romney over this yesterday, over suggesting that, if he really skips iowa, it's essentially at his own peril, and what could end up happening to mitt romney could be the same fate that rudy giuliani met four years ago. i don't think they're similar candidates at all, rudygiuliani and mitt romney for a couple of reasons. romney campaigned aggressively in iowa in 2007. and he is a known entity because he spent so much money. rudy giuliani never played in iowa. i don't think you can make them comparable. for him to invoke such an image is not a good thing for mitt romney. it's somewhat damaging. it conjures up a lot of memories of not only rudy giuliani's campaign, but it reminds people that mitt

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

these debates are giving newt gingrich a lift. but as joe said when you come to the top, you rise under more scrutiny. we could see that tonight in our showdown. alina? >> paul steinhauser with a debate preview. carol? >> thanks, alina. >>> congresswoman michele bachmann fresh off a meeting with donald trump and she's predicting an upset in the caucuses. she also has a new book out "core of conviction my story." she joins us before she heads to washington to mix it up tonight. you're here, you're going to travel to washington to be ready for your 1 1th debate. you must be exhausted. >> i'm excited to go. this is my favorite topic of all, national security. i sit on the house intelligence committee of all the candidates in the race, i'm the only one involved in foreign affairs and national security. this is one of my favorite topics and cnn always does a great debate. we're looking forward to it tonight. >> let's talk about newt gingrich who shot to the top of the polls. a lot of people polled said he's the guy that has the most co

prestige of newt gingrich. prestige of the speakership of the house. that's what they're selling. it's the newt gingrich signed gavel and newt gingrich framed certificate and the party where you're allowed or guaranteed you'll be allowed to be near newt gingrich. it is the letter you get from the desk of speaker newt gingrich. and today we have learned that it's not just small businesses and doctors who've been suckered into the whole access to newt fund-raising spam scam. it's big companies, too. today "washington post" reports that the newt gingrich's health care think tank, the center for health transformation, collected $37 million over the past 8 years from some of the biggest health care companies in the country. companies like astrazeneca and blue cross blue shield and ge health care and wellpoint. all of these companies would pay newt's for-profit health care thing $200,000 a year in membership dues. what would they get for their membership dues money? in part, they'd get special access to the former ho

>> 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

the newt gingrich says what the party donors think. and mitt romney says what the party activists think. in both cases, i think -- >> but there's a tension there. >> there's a lot more cynicism is due as to why newt gingrich takes this view. the day tas immigrant labor went to work in agriculture are long behind us. we're talking about restaurants, we're walking about the gaming industry. we're talk about construction. we're toquing about meatpacking. given the choice you can make $9 and $20. the people who pay say i chose $9. >> i feel like the arkansas razor backs right here. let's take a time out. we'll get back to in in a few minutes congress comes back to work next week. in a minute we'll consider what life will be like without to supercommittee to kick around supercommittee to kick around anymore. so now i can take the lead on a. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help

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

newt gingrich campaign. newt gingrich still doing more than a third of his upcoming events as book signings and dvd screenings. running for president it turns out is a great way to sell your stuff. the whole idea behind newt's stuff, the whole idea behind newt incorporated is that you should want to buy newt gingrich books and should want to buy newt gingrich dvds and want to pay thousands of dollars to get fake awards from newt gingrich enterprises because newt gingrich is such an important and very serious man. that is the whole marketing concept behind newt gingrich incorporated. and that dovetails really nicely with running for president because if you're newt gingrich, running for president sort of givings givings you a justification to talk about yourself in rather grandiose terms. for example, late last week at an event in michigan, mr. gingrich was asked about judges. dave wiegel at slate.com was at the event and quotes mr. gingrich as responding this way. "if you go to newt.org, you'll see an entire

but newt gingrich is different. newt gingrich is different from all the rest of these pachinko ball front-runners for five minutes. newt gingrich is fun to cover in his moment in the sun here. because newt gingrich has been around in politics in one incarnation or another basically forever. to trace the origins of the eyebrow raising stuff that newt gingrich is promoting now that he's the presidential front-runner, go back to newt gingrich's old cassette tapes. remember cassette tapes? for all viewers younger than me, this is a cassette tape. used to have boom boxes and machines in our cars that would play these things and sometimes your car would mess it up and the tape could get tied like this. one of the things newt gingrich did when he was on his way to becoming speaker of the house newt gingrich -- look, i broke it. no, there it goes. he took over a republican organization called go-pac and he would send republican coaching cassette tapes to republican candidates for office all around the country. not just peop

the clear front-runner going into the debate is newt gingrich. we look at what he needs to do to stay ahead and what mitt romney needs to do to finally get ahead. and the bottom line on the super committee. yesterday's failure means big cuts to defense. has a weak committee weakened america? let's go "outfront." >> i'm erin burnett. we're just an hour away. eight republican candidates vying for the party nomination. they are all taking to the stage tonight. the topic, national security. it has been 109 days since america lost its aaa credit rating. that's going to turn the rate on our mortgages and a whole lot more. we're not doing anything about it. we're still mad has hell about the super committee failing yesterday. fitch said the committee's failure would most likely result in negative action. so we're upset about the super committee and they are mad, too. panel member john kerry was watching "outfront" last night. he got mad and he called in. >> i think people are upset. i think nerve the country is upset. they are looking at congress and sa

but look at this -- >> if anyone's dirty, it's newt gingrich. a man whose personal morality has been drawn from the sewer. >> what explains the lever of vitriol toward newt on the airwaves including from some on the right? the media clearly expected super things from the super committee which turned into a debacle. did news agencies hype the consequences if the panel failed to decrease the debit. >>> he's one of most popular bloggers in cyber-space. can he still call himself a conservative? our conversation with andrew sullivan. >> especially during the iraq war to have made such a massive blunder and be forced to hold myself to account for it and have my readers do so and stick with me, that was a very maturing experience. >> plus, the "huffington post" expands to canada. so what's up with the canadian woman who's running it, eh? we'll meet her. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "reliable sources." >>> in an increasingly shrill media environment, running for president means being attacked, assailed, mocked, ridiculed, bashed, and otherwise denigrat

go after newt gingrich. he's going after newt gingrich who now, together with mitt romney, they are the two front-runners for the presidential nomination. some are suggesting that it's a two-man race. gingrich and more herman cain support if in fact herman cain drops out. and we're now beginning to see mitt romney suggesting, you know what, he's a businessman, spent his whole life in the private sector except for four years in massachusetts but gingrich has been in washington for 30 years. he's a washington insider and he's beginning to make those kinds of cracks, accusations, so it's beginning to show the heat from newt gingrich. this could get tough over the next four or five weeks and the battle between newt gingrich. >>> coming up in "the situation room" we'll see what is going on. wolf, thank you. >>> coming up next, the first civil lawsuit has been filed in the former penn state assistant football coach, jerry sandusky. the alleged victim says sandusky abused him more than 100 times. we'll tell you who

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

newt gingrich did a fine job tonight. it was interesting to see michele bachmann is the one person who did take a swipe at him on the immigration issue and challenged him going down the same path that torpedoed rick per perry's campaign a few months ago. newt took a body blow. i'm interesting to see if that makes movement in the polls. overall newt had a very grasp of the issues and he's going to probably stay solid in the polls at this point in time. >> ron, let me stay with you on this immigration question, because it seems to me that newt gingrich found a new way of talking about it. perry's way of talking about it was obviously disastrous within republican party politics. but you heard some new sounds and some new angles from gingrich on this. has he found a way to make this more open notion about what might be possible in immigration policy, acceptable to the republican primary audience? >> well, certainly he brought -- he packaged his position in a much more palatable mode. whether or not, there are a lot more repub

check out newt gingrich. his website has shiny, new explanations for why he's changed his positions on the health care mandate, on global warming, on t.a.r.p., on what he called paul ryan's right wing social engineering medicare plan and luckily for newt, all of his new positions line up nicely with the conservative republican primary voters. well, also the veto -- >>> the video that went viral this weekend. campus police pepper spraying peaceful occupy protesters out at uc davis in california. the university's police chief was placed on administrative leave today and many students are calling for the university's chancellor to step down. >>> and look who has decided to take a chance on iowa, mitt romney. he may be trying to win it all up front, but if he loses out there and loses big, it could be all over for mitt. >>> finally, let me finish tonight with why i think november 22nd, tomorrow, should never be a day to remember john f. kennedy. >>> we start with the super committee's failure to reach a deal toda

look at newt gingrich. newt gingrich is tied with mitt romney for second place in this poll. a new poll out today by marist and mcclatchyn, trailing romney by four points. newt gingrich's poll numbers started at nil but are pointing up. rick perry self-emulated and we're watching the art project known as herman cain self-emulate as well, it's not surprising that the beleaguered republican primary voters of this year will turn to yet another candidate begging them to please not be mitt romney. they've gone through this with donald trump now and michele bachmann, rick perry, herman cain and expect them to do this with everybody in the field except for rick santorum. nobody's going to vote for rick santorum, come on. the idea of a newt gingrich surge is almost as absurd as people googling rick santorum and saying, i like what i found here, i'm going to vote for this guy. if you know nothing else about newt gingrich, what is the other notable thing that's happened to newt gingrich since he's been running for president this year? what's the one other thing? back in june, remember,

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

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

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

a guy named newt gingrich. there was a secret meeting on monday night and a lot of stuff going on, six weeks away from the votes and iowa caucus, natalie. >> wolf blitzer got a new nickname last night, of course. >> the blitz. i love it. >> thank you, paul. that does it for me. i'm natalie allen. good to be with you. now to brooke baldwin. >> hello, i'm brooke baldwin. let's go. getting you caught up on what is going on this hour. beginning today with the busiest travel times of the year. it is officially upon us. some of you know this all too well. two major storms, one in the northeast, other in the pacific northwest. could interfere with weather plans. we're going to have an update. in a minute, we'll take you live to atlanta's airport. the busiest to see if passengers are facing any troubles or delays flying in and out. military police trying to break out the protests there in the square. police called for people to put down their weapons and there was word of a truce but no signs of this protest wrapping u

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,

so newt gingrich can celebrate. i wouldn't pop the champagne just yet but if you look at how republicans are their decision. most likely to understand complex issues. this is a proof that gingrich has done well. 2-1 advantage. more than 2-1 over governor romney. best qualified to be commander-in-chief. gingrich with an almost 2-1 edge. but best chance at beating obama? romney. a big debate on national security issues. gingrich has taken great advantage of the many debates this season so far. does he become a target now that he is at the top? >> gingrich is a lot of raw mental processing power. it is true. if you got a complicated issue, he will understand it. an important virtue. they are temperament questions that go to the commander in chief. will he be a target? the candidates have been careful about targeting any one of their null. and i think the romney strategy has been just to wait for eex of these souffles to subside. >> romney's problem is he cannot clear the field. newt gingrich has been very good at these

newt gingrich did a fine job tonight. it was interesting to see michele bachmann is the one person who did take a swipe at him on the immigration issue and challenged him going down the same path that torpedoed rick perry's campaign a few months ago. newt took a body blow. i'm interesting to see if that makes movement in the polls. overall newt had a very grasp of the issues and he's going to probably stay solid in the polls at this point in time. >> ron, let me stay with you on this immigration question, because it seems to me that newt gingrich found a new way of talking about it. perry's way of talking about it was obviously disastrous within republican party politics. but you heard some new sounds and some new angles from gingrich on this. has he found a way to make this more open notion about what might be possible in immigration policy, acceptable to the republican primary audience? >> well, certainly he brought -- he packaged his position in a much more palatable mode. whether or not, there are a lot more republica

but newt gingrich is different. newt gingrich is different from all the rest of these pachinko ball candidates for five minutes. newt gingrich is fun to cover in his moment in the sun here. he's been around politics in one incarnation or another basically forever. to trace the origins of the eyebrow raising stuff that newt gingrich is promoting now that he's the presidential front-runner, go back to newt gingrich's old cassette tapes. remember cassette tapes? for all viewers younger than me, this is a cassette tape. used to have boom boxes and machines in our cars that would play these things and sometimes your car would mess it up and the tape could get tied like this. one of the things newt gingrich did when he was on his way to becoming speaker of the house newt gingrich -- look, i broke it. there it goes. he took over a republican organization called go-pac and he would send republican coaching cassette tapes to republican candidates for office all around the country. people running for dogcatcher. if you were a

newt gingrich campaign. newt gingrich still doing more than a third of his upcoming events as book signings and dvd screenings. running for president it turns out is a great way to sell your stuff. the whole idea behind newt's stuff, the whole idea behind newt incorporated is that you should want to buy newt gingrich books and should want to buy newt gingrich dvds and want to pay thousands of dollars to get fake awards from newt gingrich enterprises because newt gingrich is such an important and very serious man. that is the whole marketing concept behind newt gingrich incorporated. and that dovetails really nicely with running for president because if you're newt gingrich, running for president sort of givings you a justification to talk about yourself in rather grandiose terms. for example, late last week at an event in michigan, mr. gingrich was asked about judges. dave wiegel at slate.com was at the event and quotes mr. gingrich as responding this way. "if you go to newt.org, you'll see an entire paper o

this is the best day of newt gingrich's life. for newt gingrich this is a 13-point surge just since june when his entire senior staff quit en masse saying he wanted to sell books and dvds, and the staffers didn't think they were to help hulk ster his products and they walked. these poll results are a slap in the face, right? mr. gingrich celebrating his new top position in the polls tonight by doing a dvd screening in iowa. quote, newt and calista screen nine days that changed the world in carroll, iowa, at 7:00 tonight. this is newt's dvd about the pope. if you look at the events tab, you see lots of things like that. tomorrow night calista gingrich will hold a book signing at webster city, iowa. later that day both newt and calista screen a documentary in massachusetts, because that's such an important republican swing state, massachusetts is. on saturday calista will be signing books at the hooray for kids book sfor and they sign books at books amillion in naples florida. this is what newt gingrich lists as hi campaign events.

they always have liked what newt gingrich says. he has a way of crystallizing ideas making sharp differences between him and the democrats, particularly the democrats and the white house. newt gingrich's problem has always been with the democrats, the liberals, and sometimes the people in the milddle, the independents, the swing voters, people who aren't so sure about that sharp language and sharp definitions that always go to the right. so people who are looking at newt gingrich right now have always liked him. there have been a lot of conserve did i haves who have said to me that they're just very concerned about whether a guy like newt gingrich is the most electable conservative, and that remains to be seen, jim. >> it sure does, joe. good to see you. let's turn to tony blakely who served as newt gingrich's press secretary for seven years, including some time when newt gingrich was speaker of the house. tony blakely is now the executive vice president of edelman publications. you've seen newt gingrich rise and fall and rise and