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

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

>> 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

but newt gingrich says he wants to get rid of social security. yeah. well, wait a minute, let's think about it. who is more qualified to give this country financial advice than a guy who ran up a half million dollar bill at tiffany's. that's the guy. >> that's david letterman punching some fun at newt gingrich. he has had a big week with the jump in the polls and a key endorsement. chief political correspondent candy crowley wraps it all in this week's game changer. >> give this week to newt gingrich, the latest republican game changer to rise in the polls and today's brass ring recipient. he won the endorsement of the influential conservative newspaper "the new hampshire union leader." the paper praised gingrich for bold, innovative ideas that will help a country in crisis. mitt romney has consistently led the polls in new hampshire, but the editor of the editorial page says romney is too careful a guy, trying to please everyone. >> i don't think we're in the kind of situation right now as a country that that's necessarily the right kind of president

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,

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

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

>> 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

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

he's being challenged by newt gingrich. listen here. >> i am confident that we can steer ourselves out of this crisis. who's in charge of the economy? we need a rescue plan for the middle class? we need to provide relief for homeowners. it's going to take a new direction. if we talk about the economy, we're going to lose. >> you hear that voice in the end. that's then senator obama in 2008. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. he's quoting a mccain aide, and there's part of the sentence they lopped off there. it takes senator obama out of context. here's how romney defends it in iowa. >> the ad before it went was sent out with press releases describing that what the president had said about john mccain was now used to be said about him. there was no hidden efrfort on the part of our campaign. what's sauce for the goose is now sauce for the gander. >> david they said in the press release they were using that quote. but if you watch the ad in your living room, you have no idea they're taking president ob

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. nice, huh? yeah. you know what else is nice is all the savings you can get on cruze and traverse over there. oh! that's my beard. [ chuckles ] it's amazing. ♪ [ male announcer ] this holiday, chevy's giving more. now very well qualified lessees can sign and drive a 2012 cruze ls for around $199 a month. ♪ constipated? phillips' caplets use magnesium, an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for e

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

and now here's newt gingrich today. but my own sense right now is that while he will pay a short-term price, especially in iowa, he clearly has got the momentum, as you suggested. this endorsement from "union leader" in new hampshire was a terrific boost for his campaign. just when he needed it. because he is getting all this attention now. but what the question was, how do you sustain momentum with no debate this week? and here he gets "the union leader", in a state that looked like a laydown for mitt romney. this by no means -- "the union leader" has endorsed conservatives in the past who have not won. so it doesn't guarantee anything. but it does give newt more credibility and more stature, and that's what he's seeking right now. kyra, he has -- he knows -- i have talked to him about this. he knows the next two to three weeks are crucial to his campaign. if he is still standing as a viable alternative after christmas, he will become probably the serious alternative to romney in the campaign, and it could be a real cl

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

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 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

>> 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

who is newt gingrich really? a slimmer newt. he was sent to washington for the first time in 1978, 33 years ago. gingrich won a house seat after two straight defeats. in 1989 gingrich helped oust speaker then jim wright who wound up as minority whip. then he crafted the republican revolution with the clinton administration, wrote the contract of america and was speaker of the house. but the revolution and his popularity faded and faced with an ethics investigation about his use of donations, gingrich left congress in 1999, 12 years ago. another more personal side of newt gingrich from the appearance friday at kennedy school of government at harvard, he grew up the adopted son of an army officer. never wealthy until now. but he remembers back then. >> i take seriously that every american of every ethnic background in every neighborhood has the right to pursue happiness and that it was endowed by their creator. that means you'll see from me extraordinarily radical proposals to fundamentally change the culture of poverty in america

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

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

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

gingrich, but how does newt gingrich stack up against mitt romney? does he excite the base a bit more? >> he does excite the base more than mitt romney does. if you look at the poll, when they looked at the top three vote getters, which would be romney, gingrich and cain, they asked who would you strongly support versus those who have weak support and those who could shift. the plurality of newt gingrich's supporters say they strongly support him. that wasn't true for cain or romney. >> don't go away. yes. we are talking newt gingrich here, but this week it seems everybody was talking cane and perry for two very different reasons. we'll get into that when this "cnn saturday morning" continues. i thought we'd be on location for 3 days, it's been 3 weeks. so, i used my citi simplicity card to pick up a few things. and i don't have to worry about a late fee. which is good... no! bigger! bigger! [ monica ] ...because i don't think we're going anywhere for a while. [ male announcer ] write your story with the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no pen

an important night for newt gingrich. a town hall meeting, trying to tell conservatives in this conservative state, look at me. i know you were talking earlier, this is a first television interview he will do since getting the union leader endorsement in new hampshire. he's trying to build momentum. >> talk about the significance of the "union leader" endorsement. why is that such a big deal? >> well, it's important because it's a statewide newspaper, the leading conservative editorial voice in the state of new hampshire, a newspaper that mitt romney has courted and courted and courted in hopes of getting that endorsement. he's been at it for three, four years courting them. essentially the editorial says on the front page mitt romney will say anything to get our endorsement. newt gingrich may not be perfect, but we think he success a good candidate. when with the union leader gives you the endorsement, it's not just one day. it's usually over and over again. new hampshire votes second, after iowa. romney is way ahead rig

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

did newt gingrich beat the heat of being on top? the best political team will weigh in live including last night's moderator, wolf blitzer, or blitz, as herman cain called him. >>> and a telescope that will allow nasa to look back in time, maybe all the way to the big bang. but can we afford it? scientists are hoping congress thinks it's a good idea. we'll have those stories and much more coming up at the top of the hour. but first, this is your "a.m. wake-up call." we're back after a quick break. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card. you earn double mon every purch. impressive. chalk is a lost medium. if you're not earning double miles... you're settling for half. was that really necessary? [ male announcer ] get the venture card at capitalone.com and earn double miles on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? cover for me. i have an audition. ♪ ♪ mom? dad? guys? [ engine turns over ] [ engine revs ] ♪ he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people are leavi

i think newt gingrich will want to cement his lead. on the other hand, someone like per man cane has a very high bar he's got to jump over because he hasn't performed well on foreign policy. he did that have that moment when he was interviewed by journalists in milwaukee and had that brain freeze on libya policy and has said, you know, i don't need to know a lot about foreign policy. i trust my commanders. i think the question would be, what do you do then? so people are looking for a plausible commander in chief. they are going to see that from a few of these people. >> i'll be watching. you're there. i'll be at home tweeting away. gloria, thank you. that's at 8:00 tonight eastern. in a couple of minutes, i'm speaking live with jon huntsman. we're going to talk about from what he wants to hammer home tonight to why his daughters have become such a big part of his campaign. so we'll be talking to the former governor. that is coming up. also, a guy wants into a gay classmate, pulls the trigger. now after a miss industrial the teenage ki

you could say newt gingrich. you come to the top of the national polls and now you have to prove yourself. it's a republican nominee. if you're one of the lesser known candidates, you're going to raise your hand and say, how about me? we've watched the anybody but romney vote from herman cain to rick perry. he may have the most at stake because he needs to somehow break through. >> it could be his evening. but mitt romney has a new ad and the obama administration is crying fowl what is that about? >> it is rep prehenceable. it using it grossly out of what president obama said in 2008 out of context. take a look at the first tv paid ad of the campaign. >> i am confident that we can steer ourselves out of this mess. >> we need a plan for the middle class. it's going to take a new direction. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> you heard the president's voice there. that was then candidate barack obama. senator obama in 2008. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. that's

so i think a match-up of president obama versus newt gingrich, newt gingrich frankly is a retread from the mid-90s and the last thing we need to do is go backwards. we need to go forward and i think in contrast with either newt gingrich or mitt romney president obama will do extremely well with the american people come next november. >> i'm going to have you on tomorrow morning. i promise i'll let you finish that thought. thank you for spending some of this holiday weekend with us. >>> just past the bottom of the hour now. coming up, it is the most populous country in the arab world. rich in archaeology, literature, culture. where are we? we'll take you there when we go globe trekking. >>> also, a week into retirement. what is regis philbin up to? what are his plans post-"live" and who does he want to fill his spot next to kelly? brooke talks to him about his new book, little dish on celebrities like george clooney, steven spielberg and brooke baldwin has a surprise up her sleeve for regis. that's coming your way in about 30 minutes.maki sense out of tdd# 1-800-345-2550 what's happenin

the newt gingrich? >> go back and get the "time" magazine cover in 1994, where they had me as scrooge holding tiny tim's broken crutch. and the title was how mean will gingrich's america be to the poor had? i mean, one of the things the elite media did was it created a caricature of me so when people finally saw me in debates, they said that can't be newt gingrich. because, in fact, i'm very different from the media imagery. >> reporter: another telling sign of gingrich's sudden surge, he plans to open up his first campaign office in iowa next week and he will has an infusion of campaign cash to work with after raising nearly $3 million in just the last month. jim acosta, cnn, sheffield, iowa. >>> tuesday tight on cnn, the republicans running for president will hold another debate this time steps away from the white house. the republican national security debate co-sponsored by the heritage foundation and the american enterprise institute, it starts at 8:00 eastern tuesday night hosted by mr. wolf blitz

newt gingrich and freed difficult mack. turns out he's bashing an agency that put a lot of money in his bank account. >>> the president of the united states is half a world away addressing the parliament in australia. >> pay respect of the past and present of all of australia's indigenous peoples. with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. [ male announcer ] it has an hd webcam, killer audio, and lids that switch to start every semester fresh. but mostly it helps me try new moves on and off the court. ♪ [ male announcer ] featuring windows 7 and windows 7 live messenger. for a limited time, purchase select dell pc's and receive our holiday photo solution. our gift to you. our holiday photo solution. [husband:] getting cold out here. [wife:] in here too. we need more affordable energy in this country. we need to protect the environment. what about the economy? what about our planet? [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural g

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.