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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

newt gingrich, and you're in a very good place to evaluate how this will play out. it certainly is distracting. but fits a completely unfair assault, then who knows how people will respond in a fair-mined electorate. >> to that point, i'm in south carolina which votes third. 54 days from now. this is a state that herman cain had hoped to do well in. if you talk to activists, they say he was struggling a bit. we've talked in recent weeks about the struggles of the campaign on some of the issues in the debates. on some of the sexual harassment debates. can a campaign that needs to be near perfect, because he is an outsider, he doesn't have the infrastructure, survive something like this? >> i'm not sure whether it can. listening to his conversation with wolf, unlike the last time where they came out and made their defense without knowing all the facts, the problem is that his lawyer has released the statement. i just got a copy of it a few minutes ago and it says this is not an accusation of an assault. this is a private alleged consensual conduct. this is outside the

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

but it's newt gingrich. those things have been on the back burner because he's not been getting a lot of attention. now that he is getting attention, what he has done in his past life is coming back in ways to haunt him. yes, he may have peeked. >> you talked about boom and bust. why hasn't mitt romney gone bust? >> he is mr. steady eddie, flying below the radar. he learned his lesson in 2008. he is doing everything right. just taking care of business in these early states. just opened an office in iowa. isn't it real -- isn't playing strong in iowa. but he's going to cover his bases just in case. he's going big in new hampshire. that's where he wants to get the headlines. it's not helping him break out of the polls, but he is at least just nice and steady. he may end up being the nice guy who eventually asks you to the prom. he's not the exciting, whiz-bang guy. >> solid -- >> just a solid, just solid, straight arrow, maybe that's going to be who they end up with at the end of the day. >> the one that mom w

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

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

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

one candidate who is rising in the polls is newt gingrich. he's been gaining support following each debate, mostly because of his strong debate performances. here he is, last night, speaking about enemy combatants. >> if you engage in war against the united states, you are an enemy combatant. you have none of the civil liberties of the united states. you cannot go to court. now -- [ applause ] let me be very clear about this. there is a huge gap here that frankly far too many people get confused over. civil defense, criminal defense is a function of being within the american law. waging war on the united states is outside criminal law and is an act of war and should be dealt with as an act of war. and the correct thing in an act of war is to kill people who are trying to kill you. >> let's bring back a senior political analyst and national journal editor director ron brownstein. so is it debate performance that is behind gingrich's surge? >> largely and also the fact that this moving finger keeps moving on. if you look at the tea party side o

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

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

that's an interesting comeback for newt gingrich. and herman cain is third at least in the latest poll. remind us when e the orc poll is out, i believe in a few hours. it will be interesting. >> in a few hours. we are still crunching the numbers. cnn and opinion research corporation has a poll which will debut at 12:00. interesting to see if those numbers track what's happening in the gallup poll. >> thank you. cnn has live coverage with wolf blitzer asking the tough questions about national security, the theme of the debate tomorrow. watch it live on cnn, 8:00 eastern tomorrow night. >>> authorities in new york say they believe they stopped an alleged terrorist before -- perhaps hours before he could execute plans that included, according to them, using home made bombs to blow up new york police cars, post offices and troops coming home from iraq and afghanistan. 27-year-old jose pimental is in jail without bail now. cnn's deb feyorick is following the story. tell us about this video we are showing the viewers. >> the video was put

it's the first test for newt gingrich as the front-runner. a new poll shows he leads mitt romney by 4%. giving up a lot of the blame, not much shame is the congressional super committee calls it quits. lawmakers announcing they cannot reach a deal to cut at least $1.2 trillion worth of deficit now even more painful cuts loom. >>> part of a major highway between memphis and dallas reopened after an intense down pour washed it away yesterday. 88,000 cars and trucks sat on a 30-mile detour and more rain is on the way this morning. so let's check in with jackie gerris in atlanta. good morning. >> good morning, carol. yeah, flooding is going to continue to be a big problem across the mid south this morning. the rain continues to come down in little rock. we have this big system really that's affecting much of the plains heading into the lower mississippi river valley today. if you're traveling, please do not drive over any roads that are covered in water. there you can see the flood watches and warnings which remain along i-30, i-40 up towards 55

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

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

newt gingrich now surging in the polls. can he convince the tea party he's an outsider and something fresh at the same time? and good morning to you. this is your "a.m. wake-up call" for wednesday, november 16th. i'm carol costello. here are this morning's top stories. penn state assistant coach fighting back this morning saying i stopped jerry sandusky. coach mike mcqueary reportedly e-mailing former teammates and speaking for the first time about the alleged child sex assault he says he witnessed. >>> approaching d-day in detroit. the mayor will talk today about the city's financial crisis. the speech comes just days after a report revealed the possibility that the city will go broke by july 2012 unless immediate and drastic cuts are made. >>> and after a rude awakening early yesterday morning, wall street protesters won't be allowed back into their home base at new york zuccotti park but without all their stuff. a judge saying no more tents or generators allowed. >>> let's get a check of today's weather. jacqui jeras sta

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

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

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

. >>> still "outfront" newt gingrich surging in the polls. will new revelations about his dealings with freddie mac stop the momentum in his track. we have a new number for how much he was paid. >>> bizarre details about a mother whose child is missing in washington state. the website she might have signed up for just before he disappeared. >>> the man who allegedly fired two shots at the white house arrested in pennsylvania today. confidence, with depend in color. now available in gray. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. of course, neither do i. solution? td ameritrade mobile trader. i can enter trades on the run. even futures and 4x. complex options, done. [ cellphone rings ] thank you. live streaming audio. advanced charts. look at that. all right here. wherever "here" happens to be. mobile trading from td ameritrade. number one in online equity trades. plus get up to $600 when you open an account. number one in online equity trades. [ cow moos ]ng ] agents, name these critters. these are

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

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

it's newt gingrich taking money. it's president obama putting off fires at solyndra until after mid-term elections and a "60 minutes" piece on insider trading. reduce the areas where capitalism and government have an excess. always ugly. >> all right. will cain, patricia murphy, robert zimmerman, thanks so much. tuesday night on cnn, the republicans running for president will gather near the white house for a debate on national security and the economy. the debate is co-sponsored by the heritage foundation and american enterprise institute. it begins 8:00 eastern on tuesday. >>> happening now, a house panel is questioning energy secretary stephen chu. lawmakers want to know more about solyndra. that's the solar power company that got $535 million in federal guarante guarantees. it went bankrupt. jessica, what's this panel trying to resolve? >> reporter: hi, fredricka. today is a big day for this investigation because the secretary of energy, stephen chu, is testifying. you saw him there. he's just begun. he, in his t

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 be to america's poor? one of the things that it led me to be, it created a character. when people saw me in debates they said, that can't be newt gingrich, because, in fact, i'm very different. >> reporter: another telling side of gingrich's sudden surge, he plans to open up his first campaign office in iowa next week and has an infusion of campaign cash to work with after raising nearly $3 million in just the last month. jim acosta, cnn, sheffield, iowa. >>> the secret service confirming a bullet shattered a window at the white house before it was stopped by protective glass. a second bullet was also found outside the window. the secret service says it has not confirmed whether this incident is connected to reports of gunfire near the white house on friday. witnesses say they heard shots and saw two speeding vehicles in the area,

let's just talk a little bit about newt gingrich because newt gingrich seemed to be the guy that's benefiting from cain's problems. but will that last? >> well, he is certainly becoming the alternative to mitt romney at the right time. we're now five weeks away from the voting beginning in iowa with the caucuses. and this is the time if you are going to surge to the head of the pack that you want to do it. some polls show sort of the cain support, if cain were to drop out of the race, you're right, that gingrich would certainly benefit from that, but there is some romney supporters there, too, who will end up going with mitt romney. newt gingrich, though, right now has emerged as the viable alternative to mitt romney as this race heads into the voting season. and it's unclear if that, too, will be a flavor of the month or if he'll be able to sustain that. i have a sense that what he's going to have to prove here first is that he can withstand withering attacks from the romney campaign. the one thing that every other rick perry, michele bachmann, herman cain, the others we saw rise to the top,

next time newt gingrich cops up. try to divert. >> i'm always the question asker, not the answerer. >> lisa, thank you very much. if you want to listen to lisa's podcast, called "american sauce." download it from any iphone or ipod. >> happy thanksgiving. >> hopefully no one throws apple pie around

newt gingrich may have hurt himself last night. we'll start with a look at how far apart the candidates are on the issues of afghanistan, pakistan, homeland security and jill is breaking that down for us in this report. >> with eight republicans on stage, president barack obama got a few knicks. . >> if you love what president obama has done to our economy, you'll love what he has done to the national security. >> the candidates had the knives out for each other. >> are you suggesting we take all the troops out next week? what is your propose snl. >> we should draw down from 100,000. >> reporter: there was heated debate on whether the post-9/11 patriot act should be extended. >> all of us will be in danger for the rest of our lives. this is not going to end in the short run and we need to be prepared to protect ourselves. >> you can still provide security without sacrificing our bill of rights. >> i think we have to be very careful in protecting our individual liberties. we forget sometimes that we have a name brand in this world.

with newt gingrich, what we're going to find out is this. it's not so much what the polls look like in october. who can contrast well with president obama in a debate, in the general election, in the campaign trail. newt gingrich is probably the best candidate out of all of them to go on a stage with president obama three times and hold his own, if not win, at least two out of three of those conversations. once we start getting into how people look one to one, i think we may see newt rise even higher. but that's to be seen as of right now. >> maria, wrap it up for me with that grin on your face. >> i think the one thing that's going to be very difficult for gingrich to overcome, and we've sort of forgotten about this, but the reason why he wasn't the darling for the conservatives, when he first jumped in, is because a lot of them still have issues, not with his public policy or legislative baggage, but with his personal baggage. >> lenny, maria, i've got to to some pictures out of new york, guys. forgive. i've got to switch to pictures out o

here with me now is matt towery, former campaign adviser to newt gingrich. and lee may, democratic county commissioner in suburban atlanta's dekalb county. let me start with this, you don't have to get into it, yes or no. will they reach a deal? >> no. >> no. >> absolutely not. >> absolutely not. what does this tell us about washington? the big debt deal. already some people don't think much of what's coming out of washington. will this hurt them more? >> they kick the can always. nobody thought the super committee was a good idea other than the people on the super committee. you already have a split off group called the gang of six rising, trying to offer another alternative. i think lee would agree, everybody is playing to their own constituencies. republicans realize conservatives and independents are important this year, they can't vote for tax increases, and democrats can't settle anything without tax enhancements. >> so who will get the blame when this goes down? >> all of congress. with the 9% approval rating, all of congress. this is the worst game o

but newt gingrich has been the same. everyone almost agrees, he's maybe the smartest candidate in this race who hasn't quite found traction but he's putting together a lot of good debate performances. some polls show he is gaining momentum. >> i will make three points about newt gingrich and i will remember everyone of them. number one, newt gingrich can date any social ills problems back to its genesis even at the turn of the last century. number two, unfortunately he's also coming off as pretty petty. constantly attacking the media on a personal level with maria bartiromo, not a good sign. last, there was a moment in that debate where john harwood said did you think $300,000 from fannie mae and what for? he got at a very important issue -- the art of crony capitalism. should newt gingrich rise in the polls to become the mitt romney alternative? there is a dossier out there that will look very ugly for newt gingrich. >> you hear it all the time, once you get to the top of the polls, people start examining you in a way t

we're going to hear from newt gingrich in a little over an hour from now. he has an event scheduled for naples, florida. blook brooke, you remember that this came up on tuesday night. gingrich said he's willing to take the heat on this issue and his rival started to call this a form of amnesty. newt gingrich took to twitter and sent out one tweet saying that he has a ten-point plan to enforce the law to secure the border. he put up a link for that. and then we're looking at this tweet. here's a trip down memory lane. and, of course, there's a link. there's a little video attached. >> oh, we don't have it, jim. paraphrase. >> it links to an appearance that mitt romney had on meet the press in which mitt romney talks about his position on illegal immigration and apparently says something along the lines what rivals might consider to be amnesty, which is, he's not for a policy that would send every illegal immigrant back home. he is in favor of this video, to pass them on to some sort of legality. he was tweeting that message out. and i asked the romney campai

newt gingrich's numbers are rising. herman cain dropping in new hampshire at 8%. >> that's a huge lead there, paul. presty significant. tell us about jon huntsman. understand he had to explain a comment that he made during a rally in new hampshire? >> yeah, fft in fact, he's at number five with 7%. he's basically putting all his money on new hampshire. last night r, he did his 100th even in new hampshire. take a listen to what he said. >> i don't care what the rest of the country thinks or feels. that's not important. i do care about new hampshire because this is important. >> well, that's what the former utah governor former u.s. ambassador to china said last night. soon after, he had to walk those backs, saying he was basically talking about my national poll numbers. quote, of course i care what people think in the rest of the country. jon huntsman placing all those chips in new hampshire. >> thank you, paul. appreciate it. understand that there is news about a possible tornado out of i believe it's montgomery, alabam

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

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 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

next, a refresher course about a truth newt gingrich should have learned the hard way. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. think so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. 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 improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at