government will not only know where you are, who you're associating with, but also know what's in your pockets and what's in your body. >> reporter: the city's mayor cease it different licht it's been a strong advocate for cracking down on illegal guns and defense the technology. >> you can argue that's an invitation of privacy. but in the world we live in, that's something that we just have to live with. the alternative is intolerable. >> reporter: wolf, challenges over privacy issues are not new to the nypd. concerns were raised over surveillance cameras and bag searches on subways. the department says then as now it's working with its lawyers to address those concerns. wolf? >> mary, thank you. and that's it for me. thanks for joining us. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. the news continues next on cnn. good evening from the cnn election center. i'm john king. tonight mitt romney tries to stop the newt gingrich south carolina surge by demanding the former speaker release results of a damning ethics

investigation. plus appropriate or despicable? we put my controversial opening question from last night's big debate to the truth test. and a deadly day in afghanistan leaves six u.s. marines and four french soldiers dead. the french now threatening to the french now threatening to pull out for good. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin tonight in south carolina where the republican candidates for president down to their final night of campaigning before tomorrow's all-important presidential primary. everything we expected at the start of the week now turned on its head. polls show newt gingrich surging. the one-time frontrunner mitt romney sees the state slipping away. today governor romney fought back by demanding speaker beginning rich release more details of the ethics investigation back when he was the house speaker in the late 1990s. >> i think over 80% of republican congressmen voted to reprimand the speaker of the house? first time in history. and nancy pelosi has the full

record of that ethics investigation. you know it's going to get out before the general election. sure, ought to get it out now. >> late this afternoon, a confident speaker gingrich fired back. >> he doesn't release anything. he doesn't answer anything. and he's even confused about whether or not he will ever release anything. and then he decided to pick a fight over releasing stuff? the report of the committee on ethics was like 900 pages. now, as soon as the governor reads the 900 pages, i'll be glad to chat with him. but in the interim, like he could have today released his tax records so the voters of south carolina could discover something. >> our chief political analyst gloria borger is with us now from south carolina. gloria, what's behind this newt gingrich surge? how much of it is the speaker going up and how much is governor romney coming down? >> reporter: i think it's a little bit of both. but the truth is that i think newt gingrich has shown himself

to be a real street fighter here. he's playing to conservatives in the state, as he did in answering your first question in the debate last night, john. they like somebody who can fight. and what we've seen with mitt romney on the tax issue and generally on the issue of how to handle his discussions of his personal wealth is that he seems really uncomfortable with it. as if he's kind of uncomfortable with who he is. i mean, he knows that heading into this next election it's going to be about the wealth gap if he's the nominee. it's going to be between barack obama and whomever about the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. and as a wealthy man, and by the way he is wealthy and everybody knows it, he still seems to have a difficult time in talking about his wealth or his income taxes. by the way, he said he paid a 15% tax rate. in a republican primary that's not a bad thing. people want lower tax rates for everyone. so it's kind of hard to decipher

where he's coming from. whereas with newt, you know exactly where he's coming from. you know exactly what his message is. and you know that he's fighting. >> and gloria you spent some time with the gingrich campaign today. he may get another moment here. if he gets a win or a very strong showing in south carolina he is back again and back in a position to have a serious impact on this race as we move on. what was it like? >> reporter: well, it was interesting. because in the morning he was supposed to speak at the leadership conference here. it was canceled because there wasn't a large audience. and then the next event was at a hospital where in fact he wasn't talking to voters. he was talking to people on a hospital staff. and there wasn't much contact with voters. his wife callista was reading a children's book. and i think it was interesting that she was put in the spotlight today. i mean, i would argue that might remind voters of his infidelities. then in the afternoon he had a

great rally in orangeburg with more than 500 people. so a slow start. but again it shows the kind of lack of organization that you might expect from somebody who may be on the cusp of winning the south carolina primary. >> and that is the big questigl. can the romney organization overcome the gingrich -- rick santorum is asking south carolina voters to focus on the fall campaign. the former pennsylvania senator says he's the man who can beat president obama. not he says newt gingrich or mitt romney. he drew a very interesting analogy today. >> you know, the way they're looking at this is sort of like goldilocks and the three bears. and you have one candidate that's a little too radioactive. a little too hot. then we have another candidate who's just too darn cold. who doesn't have bold plans. who doesn't have that clear

contrast because of inconsistencies and flip-flops. and we need someone who's just right. >> with the polls showing newt gingrich surging there in south carolina, mitt romney now trying to lower expectations on just how he'll do in tomorrow's primary. >> south carolina is an uphill battle from a guy from massachusetts. i knew that. we're battling hard. the fact is that right now it looks like it's neck and neck. that's a pretty good spot to be. in i'm pretty pleased and pretty proud of the success of our effort. >> cnn's jim acosta spent the day with the romney campaign. he joins us now live. jim, let's get right to it. how do they explain this tun for the worst over the past week? >> reporter: you know, it's a good question, john. we caught up with mitt romney earlier today in gilbert, south carolina. there was a morning shower at his event. perhaps it was the weather because he was dampening expectations for tomorrow's south carolina primary. he said during that event where you heard him speak just a few moments ago, he was talking about newt gingrich's sort of

regional advantage in the south, talking about the fact that he used to represent the state that borders south carolina. john, newt gingrich has not lived in georgia in the last 20 years. he's lived outside of washington, d.c. all of that time. so that regional advantage might be a stretch. stu stevens, a chief strategist for the romney campaign was telling reporters last night they could lose south carolina. mitt romney was reminding reporters earlier he finished fourth four years ago. he's not going to finish fourth this time around but not going to drive the rest out of the field as he hoped, john. they try to set expectations on the eve of this important primary. let's listen to something else the governor said today. >> i sure would like to win south carolina. but i know that if those polls were right, regardless of who gets the final number, we're both going to get a lot of delegates. >> doesn't sound like the mitt romney who first got to the state after new hampshire, jim, hoping that he could win new hampshire, win south carolina, and that this would be a sprint. people wouldn't be worried about

delegates, it would be about momentum. what are his people telling you privately about the shift in the race for the long term? >> reporter: what they're talking about at this point, john, is the long term. they're saying that they're the campaign that is built to last, that can go the distance. they're already up with more advertising than any other campaign. probably all of the campaigns combined down in florida. and so that is the next step. if they don't do well here in south carolina, and it's looking like a gingrich spequeaker in squarkz then they go to florida. the field is a lot different. as you know, john, florida is one of those states where they have to compete in a lot of different media markets. the advantage then again goes to mitt romney mainly from his organizational strength. because of the fact that he's raised so much money. because he has the superpac that is able to blanket the airwaves with lots of advertising. that really gives mitt romney the advantage down in florida. he doesn't seem that worried about how he's going to do overall over the long haul. he told laura ingram on her radio show earlier today that

newt gingrich may win some states here or there. and it made it sound as if they're ready to take this thing -- to take this thing the distance possibly, john. >> fascinating shift over the last few days. jim acosta live with the romney campaign in south carolina. jim, thank you on this important night. ron paul was an impact player in iowa, made an impact in new hampshire. in south carolina he spent the day on what his campaign called a whistle stop tour of the state. but without the train. in warrenville, south carolina this afternoon, congressman paul took a direct shot at mitt romney's campaign donors. >> there's a leader right now, supposed leader in this campaign. he gets -- his this top toledo nors are banks, including goldman sachs. [ audience boos ] >> now, our campaign has the top thr top three donors. army, air force, navy. >> let's turn overseas to a deadly day in afghanistan.

about midnight six u.s. marines died when their helicopter crashed. then an afghan soldier turned his gun on a group of french troops, killing four and wounding 15. that attack has the french president threatening to pull all of his country's forces out of afghanistan. cnn's nick payton walsh joins us live from kabul. let's start with the helicopter crash that killed the six u.s. marines. the taliban claims responsibility. is there evidence of that? >> reporter: at this point it's fair to say no, to be honest they claim in a text message they shot the helicopter down. but officials saying to me mechanical issues that caused this hard landing. where these crashes occur the insurgents always leap forward to claim it was there. isap normally says technical reasons. at this point there's no evidence to back up either claim. although historically it does appear the majority of these crashes we've seen in recent months are all down to technical issues, john. >> nick, on top of these tragic deaths of the u.s. marines you have these french troops, four of them shot and killed. other international troops

killed recently. sarkozy saying he may pull all 4,000 french troops out now sooner than anticipated. this is part of a growing trend, isn't it? >> reporter: yes. attacks by afghan soldiers against nato forces have been seen very regularly over the past year or so. this has people deeply concerned. this is basically affecting the exit strategy. u.s. forces say they have trained afghan to take over the country's security so they can leave. if this trust between them erodes, if they can no longer trust the afghan toss do that job, then that really does affect the ability for u.s. forces to draw down in the forthcoming year and eventually leave by 2014, john. >> nick, thank you. still ahead here tonight's truth tackles last night's debate. a first question that brought this and more from newt gingrich. >> i am tired of the elite media protecting barack obama by attacking republicans. [ cheers and applause ] this is an rc robotic claw.

my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪

the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape.

you can adjust it to whatever your needs are. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. and now, the company that redefined sleep is redefining memory foam. save $400 on our all-new memory foam bed. and at our white sale, stock up and save on our exclusive bedding collection. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. we're live tonight at the cnn election center. before leaving south carolina this morning i went to the boulevard cafe near charleston to sit down with reporters. two gentlemen were undecided. i asked them do the controversy

about newt gingrich as past, personal questions and questions about his tenure as speaker in washington, what the romney campaign calls baggage. does it bother them? listen. >> with everything that's coming out and more baggage and everything, i don't know. it makes the decision harder. >> some people say it's his management style as speaker, how he was a combative, polarizing time in the clinton days. others say it's the personal stuff. questions of character. is it one? is it both? >> i would say when he fined for ethics violations, that's a mark that his character and performance and perhaps his stance in office. and i have a concern about that. >> and you? >> if this is how someone manages their personal life, then how will they manage their public life as well? >> joining me now to discuss the day today, the big south carolina primary, ralph reid the chairman of the faith and freedom coalition, former chief executive of the freedom

coalition. first i just want to come up here and just show this because i know you think this is important. and the reason we do that if you go back to 2008, this is mike huck a bee country up here. he didn't win the skate, mccain mccain d john mccain did. but this is where we have evangelical votes. where mike huckabee carries these areas but fred thompson did well. probably denied huckabee a victory years ago. in a gingrich and santorum will we have the same effect this time allowing governor romney to sneak out with a victory? >> i don't think we know yet, john. if we do know that it would allow mitt romney to squeak through. if you look at what happened in the up state in 2008 in greenville and spartanburg and pickens, you take the combined huckabee vote. in some of those counties it was 50%. in some it got as high as 57%. nowhere did huckabee get over 34% of the vote. so what we're seeing when we

look at the polling, admittedly there's a lot of published polling going on, is that newt gingrich is particularly surging among two groups. number one, tea party voters, and number two, evangelicals. evangelicals are going to be 60% plus of the vote. he's right now leading romney among those voters as of today 2 to 1. >> let's look at them. if you look at the map here, the darker the area, the higher the percentage. this is evangelical voters. up here greenville, spartan burg, this is where we'll be looking tomorrow for the evangelical vote. you mentioned the tea party. same difference here. the darker the area and they overlap to some degree. >> a lot of overlap. >> and the challenge that romney is facing is. this he's doing well among self-described moderates, non-evangelicals, independents. >> find a lot of those down here. >> and he's doing well in the down state. the problem is, every one of those voter groups is a distinct minority. half the vote is going to be up here. 25% of the vote will be here. it will be won or lost right in here in the middle spine around

columbia. and this is where bush did so well against mccain. this is where bush won it in 2000. >> show what you're talking about. the purple is rick santorum. you see he has spent a ton of time up here, evangelical, tea party voters. gingrich some. he's been more spread out, diverse through the state on his visits. governor romney a sprinkle up here, more down in the areas you say he needs to deliver. here's my question for you. governor perry drops out, endorsing speaker gingrich. again a lot of time up in here. do these voters listen to governor perry and go to one candidate or seen senator san santorum pushing. >> this really began in monday night on myrtle beach when gingrich mixed it up with juan williams with fox news network. >> right. >> and that's really where it began. and it's really happened in about 72 hours. and then of course that was repeated last night on the debate in the exchange between you and gingrich. >> you say that works with debates. >> there's no question about it.

i've been doing this for 30 years. i was in the audience on monday night. i've never seen a spontaneous standing ovation for a presidential candidate in a debate. they were standing on their chairs chanting his name. so i think it was that. i also think the voters were looking. they weren't yet ready to close the deal for romney. and this is all happened very quick. if we'd have been together five days ago we would have been talking about romney maybe going 3 and 0 in the first three contests. never happened before in modern presidential politics. instead, if things continue as they look going into tomorrow he would be one of the three. >> santorum, romney, gingrich, wide open race heading into florida and beyond maybe. let's let the people of south carolina vote. >> but still a word of caution. romney spent 3 million in florida. it's a media state. he's much stronger there. he'd like to win tomorrow but i think his team is comfortable he can fight the long fight. >> ralph, thanks approach it. up next the obama administration is refusing to

back down over a healthcare reform rule that one catholic leader says will cause people to violate their consciences. we'll also mark the passing of an iconic jazz singer who influenced, jazz, r & b singers and artists around the globe. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems...

... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. golly, that is deep snow! yeah, can you get me out of it? of course. travelocity? that's how i got here! that's amazing! but i'm still stuck. come on man, dig it! [ female announcer ] travelocity. get great deals on all kinds of beach vacations.

welcome back. here's kate bolduan with the latest news you need to know right now. >> reporter: good evening, everyone. to catch you up on some news

today, the obama administration is giving nonprofit religious institutions like the catholic church extra year before they have to offer women health insurance plans that offer free coverage for contra accept tiff services. delay puts an oven forcement of the new rule until after this next year's election. an angry statement from new york archbishop and soon-to-be cardinal timothy dolan's office says "in effect the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences." the united states is considering closing its embassy in damascus because of security concerns. the embassy has only a handful of people working with ambassador robert ford. most of the staff were evacuated earlier in the year, and the diplomatic team was further reduced last week. a senior state department official tells cnn that while no decision has been made, it is under "serious consideration." ♪ at last

>> and some sad news today out of california. legendary singer etta james has died at the age of 73. she had a slew of hit songs. of course you know so many of them. but no more popular than her hit 1960s song "at last." james died after a long battle with leukemia. john it's always so sad to lose artists like that. but her songs will live on. >> we had an old crank record players. my dad used to play etta james, nat king cole. she will be missed. still ahead here, tonight's truth about the first question at last night's presidential debate. also details of the accident that killed the woman who put freestyle skiing in the olympics. no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance?

no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance.

will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com.

in this half hour, the truth about the first question in last night's presidential debate. appropriate or despicable? . also a 29-year-old olympic gold medallist who took risks and paid the ultimate price. plus the moment you probably missed, the president of the united states singing. first, though, new revelations about exactly what happened a week ago tonight when a cruise ship capsized off the italian coast. the ship's much maligned captain now has a defender, an

attractive blond woman who reportedly sat down to have din where the captain after the ship's hull was ripped over by submerged rocks. cnn international correspondent dan rivers joins us live now from italy. dan, tell us what we know. >> reporter: well, it appears that the captain was having dinner after the collision at 9:41 p.m. exactly a week ago. the chef on board who's come out and said that not only did he have dinner but he also was waiting for dessert, apparently, by about 10:30 despite the fact that the ship by this point was listing quite dangerously and the kitchen even was pretty badly damaged by the fact the ship had leaned over so far. the woman who he was allegedly dining with is an moldavian 25-year-old woman who's an employee of kosta cruises. she was not working at this point. she was a private passenger. she's come out and talked to the media defending the captain

claiming that he stayed on board until 10 toll until midnight at night which is completely at odds with what the coast guard told us and the traffic we heard earlier in the week suggesting the captain got off the ship fairly early on onto a life raft and was being ordered back on by the coast guard over the radio. >> dan rivers live for us tonight in those new developments. 29-year-old sara burke was considered a pioneer in freestyle skiing. perhaps more than any other person was responsible for making it an olympic sport. her life cut tragically short this week when she died after being first seriously injured in practice. cnn medical correspondent elizabeth cohen now explaining the dangers of the sport. >> reporter: john, witnesses say that sara burke whiplashed onto that hard, icy surface. that was the term they used "whiplashed." and actually the injury was not to her head. the injury was to her neck. she actually tore a vertebral

artery. that's one of the arteries that carries blood to the brain. when she tore it, she went into cardiac arrest and also her brain was deprived of oxygen. and john, the next day surgeons did go in and try to stitch up that injury. they tried to fix it but she had just been deprived of oxygen for too long, and they did end up taking her off of life support. this wasn't burke's first injury. in fact, two years ago she did break a bone in her back but was able to get back to work relatively quickly. in 2009, another snowboarder by the name of kevin pierce, he had a traumatic brain injury. and he was actually out of the sport for quite awhile. he's only just now getting back to it. he was in the hospital for five months. he said he just couldn't get back to the sport. then he was sort of hesitant to get back to the sport. but he now is actually back into it. you know, when we talk to folks about this sport they said it's not an incredibly dangerous sport. it doesn't have the injury rates that other sports might have. but still, injuries do happen. she was using all the safety equipment that she was supposed

to be using, we're told, but she didn't land on her head so her helmet didn't help her. it may have been just sort of this strange kind of flukey way that she landed. but certainly a community now is in mourning for this very beloved skier. >> elizabeth cohen, thank you. a bit earlier we told you about our breakfast meeting with some voters near charleston, south carolina today. you heard from two undecided men who say they worry a bit about speaker gingrich's baggage from the past. a strong newt gingrich supporter says she knows about that but she still thinks he's the guy. >> i love the fact that he has those gigantic ideas. one after another. i think that's very important for a president. >> you think he could beat president obama? >> i do. of course, i think any of them can. but yes, i definitely do. and i think he's the best one to

do it. >> on the eve now of tomorrow's big south carolina presidential primary, rick santorum is making his closing argument, telling voters he, not mitt romney nor newt gingrich will be the strongest candidate against president obama in the general election. >> i would say to the people of south carolina, take a step back. get past the glib one liners. the beating up of the media which is always popular among conservatives. get past the inhe itability that the person with the most mon wins. he didn't win iowa. [ cheers and applause ] >> and focus in on what we need to do for the fall. >> cnn's dana bash, the santorum team came away from last night's debate thinking he turned in a feisty performance. does he think it's enough to give them momentum in the end when they know speaker gingrich has been surging?

>> reporter: i don't know the answer to that. in fact i asked santorum effectively that, about the fact that he probably has to do pretty well tomorrow to keep going. and he basically scoffed at that saying that he -- look at how much has changed in the past day, the fact that he has as he just mentioned won iowa, rick perry dropped out of the race. what he doesn't know is whether those things and last night's debate really will make an impact on the voters here. because he said he this maybe it will take a couple of days for those things to sink in and he's not sure he has that time. what he did so well in iowa was spend so much time there. as you know. and that's how he came from asterisks in the polls to number one. he doesn't have that time here or that organization. but he is trying to say that he is the one that social conservatives need to go for. you know, john, he was giving an analogy that was very interesting. he called it the goldilocks anally. he said one of the candidates is too hot, radioactive, meaning newt gingrich, one of the candidates is too cold,

obviously meaning mitt romney. bet you can guess the one he thought was just right. >> the question is if he doesn't have the organization in south carolina in the time, the florida is a much heavier state. does he have the troops in the ground and the money in the bank to compete at the next stop? >> reporter: the money in the bank they claim inside the santorum campaign that they're gathering. they say that even though rick perry endorsed newt gingrich, some of his big money people are coming over to him. they insist that they're already going up on the air with ads in florida. but look, the bottom line is that rick santorum was very, very happy earlier this week when he got this endorsement from the christian conservative leaders who met in texas last weekend. at this point if you just look at the polls it doesn't seem to have translated into real support here. he needs that kind of support to really have a viable candidacy going forward. but at this point he is insisting he is one of two people who has actually won a contest. he's not going there at all until he sees what happens

tomorrow. >> until he cease what happens tomorrow. we'll all be watching that. the south carolina presidential primary. dana bash, thank you. our special coverage begins at 6:00 eastern. shifting from the politics on the presidential campaign trail to a big issue in washington, a major win for internet companies. for now. congress is backing down from a pair of controversial anti-piracy bills that led to wick paid why and other web sites going dark earlier this week in a day of protests. cnn's kate bolduan is back with us. how are the internet companies reacting to this roll? >> they are applauding it. but this is following the high profile protests by the major tech companies. some of the heavy weights like google and wikipedia. congressional leaders announced they were essentially shelving the two anti-online piracy bills that both previously had enjoyed some bipartisan support. in a statement senate majority leader harry reid said he was pulling the protect i.p. act from a procedural vote tuesday saying "there is no reason that

the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved." and in the house, a similar reversal on a similar bill called sopa. got to love the acronyms. stop online piracy act it's called. the chair of the house judiciary committee announced in a statement the committee would "postpone consideration of the legislation until there is a wider agreement on a solution." the bills were backed by content providers like hollywood studios, who had complained that they're losing millions of dollars a year because of illegal downloads. they want tougher protections. full disclosure, cnn's parent company time warner supports the legislation. but many tech companies, they say the measures would lead eventually to censorship of the internet. with the announcement today it seems round one at least goes to the internet as lawmakers say they have to now head back to the drawing board to try to strike some sort of compromise. >> what's the prognosis there as they head back to the drawing board? do they think they can resolve this quickly?

is this a pause or a huge delay? >> reporter: at the moment it's unclear what the path forward is. because it really is kind of unfolding and the senate's not even back yet. from indication from all the congressional leaders putting out statements today, they indicate they're ready to go back to the drawing board, they will continue negotiating and to find a better balance here between protecting copyright infringement versus -- and free speech. but of course, finding that balance is the very hard part that they will now need to tackle. john? >> kate, it's a fascinating debate. thank you. ahead here the truth about last night's debate and the first question that caused the first fireworks. >> this story did not come from our network. as you also know it is a subject of conversation on the campaign. i get your point. i take your point. >> john, it was repeated by your network. nute. ah, well played sir. get the app. hotels.com.

take the privileged investing tools of wall street and make them simple, intuitive, and available to all. distill all that data. make information instinctual, visual. introducing trade architect, td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform. take control of your portfolio today. trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up $600 when you open an account. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car,

and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness, where your price won't increase due to your first accident. we also offer a hassle-free lifetime repair guarantee, where the repairs made on your car are guaranteed for life, or they're on us. these are just two of the valuable features you can expect from liberty mutual. plus, when you insure both your home and car with us, it could save you time and money. at liberty mutual, we help you move on with your life, so get the insurance responsible drivers like you deserve. call us at... or visit your local liberty mutual office, where an agent can help you find the policy that's right for you. liberty mutual insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy?

i've been covering campaigns for a quarter century now. this is myself entertainment presidential election cycle. my job is to report the news, not be part of the news. well, today i guess i am. >> she says you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take some time to respond to that? >> no, but i will. [ cheers and applause ] >> i think -- i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this

country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office. and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. >> now, some of you think it was an appropriate question. some of you, like the former speaker, found it as he put it close to despicable. some who believe it was an appropriate question are critical of asking it right off the top. i respect all of those opinions and arguments, even as i strongly stand by our decision. if you do what i do for a living, you better be ready to take some lumps. and you should welcome a healthy debate over everything we do. but here's tonight's truth. as we had this debate, and i do welcome it, let's not ignore the obvious and time-tested political calculation in the speaker's response. >> i am tired of the elite media protecting barack obama by attacking republicans. [ cheers and applause ] >> attacking the media is a gingrich trademark and a guaranteed republican red meat applause line. >> i for one, and i hope all of

my friends up here, are going to repudiate every effort of the news media to get republicans to fight each other to protect barack obama who deserves to be defeated. >> i'd love to see the rest of tonight's debate asking us about what we would do to lead an america whose president has failed to lead instead of playing mickey mouse games. [ cheers and applause ] >> speaker gingrich, if you think questions about your records are mickey mouse, i'm sorry. >> plus, compare the speaker's debate outrage at me with a much calmer response earlier in the day when he was asked essentially the same question absent the debate studio and the national television audience. >> i'm not going to say anything about marianne. my two daughters have already written to abc come plaining about this as todayry and inappropriate. >> in his debate answer he did say something about marianne. he called her a liar. >> let me be quite clear. the story is false. every personal friend i have who

knew us in that period says the story was false. >> knowing his history, some of those criticizing the question argue i should have known i was teeing up a major political opportunity. we knew that was a possibility and we wrestled with it. plus his second wife's timing coming forward, just before south carolina votes, is more than a little curious. we wrestled with that, too. in the end we decided -- i decided it was the lead political story of the day. like it or not. and we had an obligation to ask about it. i was doing my job as i see it. and the speaker? he was doing his. as he sees it. here to discuss this the former new york congressman susan mo a molinari and frank cesno now with the george washington university. pastor, i want to start with you. an appropriate question in your view? is marianne gingrich coming forward questioning the speaker's integrity?

is that a fair question in a presidential campaign? >> i do look at it pastorally. divorce is a horrible thing, a painful thing, it's hard on everybody. when you get caught in the he said she said situation that is a no win situation. it's about a 12-year-old story. i think there's a couple tragedies in here. one is the fact that a major media outlet was doing that 36 hours before the election, made them look very, very suspect for such an old story. secondly, i would agree, john, that the big story of the day was rick perry stepping aside endorsing one candidate. and the question might have been to the other three, why did he not endorse one of you three? that's kind of the new story of the day in my opinion. >> i appreciate that. i respect that. the perry endorsement did come up in the followup question. congressman molinari? fair game or out of bounds? >> i think you had to ask it. i think again whether we believe that this is out of bounds, it was raised. it was the story of the day. i think it would have been -- i

think you would have been called into question if you had not raised it. and quite frankly, john, i think you did newt gingrich a huge favor by putting it out there at the beginning. because it would have been a bell that would be hanging over the deentire debate. it alouded him to tackle it from the start. his answer was very predictable in terms of what you said him always attacking the media elite. i think you did the right thing. >> frank, if you were in our meetings we wrestled with. this we spent a lot of time talking about all of the questions, which questions. which issues to get to. you don't get to all the questions. in this particular because of the timing, the speaker's history, because it's a personal matter, not a policy matter. if you were in those meetings saying yes or no, what would you would have been? >> no question it was a yes. the only question is it a first question or not. but you cannot overlook, especially in a campaign such as this which is so driven by character, that someone's

ex-wife steps forth and says he does not have the character to be president of the united states. it's he said she said. it may be tawdry, nasty. but you cannot ignore it. and gingrich didn't, either. the bottom line, john, is newt gingrich wants to say it's the media, stupid. it's not the media, stupid. the story is the story. it had to be asked. >> and i just want to show. this again as i said at the again as i entered this discussion here, i was trying to do my job and i completely respect the speaker for trying to do his. he is a politician. i take no offense of him turning on me. that's part of the process. i want you to listen here, criticize me if you want but understand the politics. here's speaker gingrich talking to anderson cooper moments after the debate ended. >> well, i thought it was a terrific debate for all of us. i thought the audience was appreciative. i thought john did a great job. it was direct. it was tough. you can seat differences. and i personally felt pretty good about it. >> just moments later, speaking on fox news, he assumes a more

conservative audience, he said this. >> if voters ask it or if you get asked it in a normal press conference you just answer it because you're running for president and you owe people a candid answer. i just thought to open a national presidential debate at that kind of personal level was such nonsense. and you could tell, the audience agreed totally that it was just nonsense. >> susan, you know the speaker >> you know the speaker really well. i know you support one of his opponents, but he is a master at this. ? >> and this is one of the reasons i support one of his opponents. he's got the business to really turn this country around and has a series of successes in massachusetts or with the olympics and just about anything he tries, but at the same time, i did serve with newt gingrich and any one of the people who were part of the revolution and came back that newt helped elect

and then asked him to step down would not be surprised by this changing demeanor. we came out this week and said he's an unreliable leader because you never know which newt are you going to get. >> pastor, give me some advice. you mentioned this was about 12 years ago. you're in a state where 60% of the voters will be evangelical voters. you have a candidate in newt gingrich who often talks about values and has been in the past harshly critical of democrats on values issues. do you say don't deal with these at all or if you think they can be brought in, help me. how would you do it? >> i preesh the tone. i found you to be a very courteous. one of the rare situations, i called the station back to thank you. so i want to compliment you.

susan is both pro abortion and gay marriage, so i think that needs to be brought out. >> this is not about susan -- but i can see with why you support newt gingrich. >> i've set up several conference calls that i have led in which the speaker's been on and it's a delicate topic. we do bring it up. the first question is legitimate, i'm a supporter of him and you're not. you have objective media person. i would say the way i -- i say mr. speaker, this has come up a lot of times. you have answered these questions a lot of times. i apologize for having to bring this up one more time, but can we discuss the issue of some of your failures in the past. i think the speaker would have

responded accordingly. >> it sort of amazes me that the pastor would choose to make me the issue and not the two candidates running. and i'd like to tell the pastor that i'm no longer pro-choice. i became pro-life because i found a pastor and priest who helped me work through a change in my position after i had my children, so maybe you need to do a little more homework, too. >> thank you for that information. >> i don't think my personal bio says what my political positions are. >> frank, let me ask you one last question in closing. this is my first cycle where i'm moderating. i used to be a print guy in debates. the audience. the supporters get to get energy in the room. would it be a different debate if done in a studio with no audience? >> yes and no. you have the dynamic inside the room and the cheering and jeering and laugh and applause

and that drives the candidates and tenor of the place. but the question has to be asked, your job, my job if i'm doing this, is not to be popular. it's not to say i'm sorry to ask this question because you're not supposed to apologize for asking what's out there. your job is to hold people to account. to ask people tough questions. not to be on nogs about it. we have to point out, too, here, i have a great cap at home. maybe you had one like it. bright red. it says, annoy the media. re-elect bush. the first bush in 1992. this goes way, way back. it's shoot the messager. >> i remember a trip to alabama. that was -- pastor, i need to cut this one short, but i invite you back any day. we're running out of time. i appreciate all three and this debate and disagreements.

thank you all so much. still ahead, how much do you spend on coffee every day? next, a new survey says we're spending much more to get our caffeine fix. plus, moments you might have missed. president obama and a fund-raiser at the apollo theatre into show time. ♪ [ male announcer ] imagine facing the day with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help.

cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaids, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing skin or eyes. tell your doctor about all your medicines, including those for migraine and while on cymbalta, call right away if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles or serious allergic skin reactions like blisters, peeling rash, hives, or mouth sores to address possible life-threatening conditions. talk about your alcohol use, liver disease and before you reduce or stop cymbalta. dizziness or fainting may occur upon standing. ask your doctor about cymbalta. imagine you with less pain. cymbalta can help.

go to cymbalta.com to learn about a free trial offer. go to cymbalta.com there is a platform built for the purpose of driving innovation. one that's transforming how companies from every industry-- and of every size-- are doing business. a platform built for now. and for what's next. this...is the cisco intelligent network. cisco.

♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. kate bolduan's back with

news you need to know right now. >> today's biggest campaign rally in south carolina may not have featured a quote unquote real presidential candidate. i'll leave you to be the judge of that. stephen colbert and herman cain teamed up for a rally. ♪ believe in yourself america. >> but most importantly, i want to thank stephen colbert. i want you to vote for herman cain because herman cain is me. cain told the audience not to vote for him, saying quote, don't waste your vote and yes, if you were wondering who's becky becky becky stan stan also came up at the rally. what americans really want is up to date computers and better coffee. the survey says u.s. office workers shell ou$2