the artist jasper johns. gerta klein, a holocaust survivor and author. sylvia mendez, an activist. jean kennedy smith. and john sweeney, the current president emeritus of the afl-cio. congratulations to all the recipients. work well done. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." "john king usa" starts right "john king usa" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com sarah palin likes to mock what she calls the mainstream media. in interviews with "the new york times" and new york news, she inches closer tonight to a 2012 presidential run. >> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> also tonight, a republican governor who, not too long ago, was near the top of any 2012 prospects list until what his staff said was a long hike in

the mountains turned out to be a secret trip turned out to be a trip to see his mistress. and when a company struggles, the ceo gets the ax and the manager or the coach is usually the first to go when a sports team falters. so is it smart or foolish for the democrats to keep pelosi and the rest of their congressional leadership team in place as is after devastating midterm election losses? >> i think we missed an opportunity today. to send a signal to america that we understand what happened this past election. >> now, we were planning to begin right there, with the debate about the democrats and their future. but then came this 2012 tease. >> i'm looking at the lay of the land now, and trying to figure that out, if it's a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family, if it's a good thing.

>> if you ran for president, could you beat barack obama? >> i believe so. >> can she? democratic polster cornell belcher is with us, along with correspondent dana bash, also cnn contributors john avlon and erick erickson. and our reporter jessica yellin. she just said, cornell belcher, she believes she can beat obama. you've worked with the obama white house. can she? >> well, mainstream media, i think we're putting the cart before the horse. there's a lot of republicans out there. first she has to beat the republican establishment. there's a lot of republican governors out there who quite frankly are afraid of her. she clearly is sort of the anti-establishment can't. i think what we have to be mindful of, is she raised heck in the primaries this season. so you can't bat against her in the republican primaries and knocking over the establishment. however, she will enter that race with some of the highest

negatives of any candidate. >> you're out at this republican governors meeting out in san diego. if you look at the map, a lot of the people at that meeting, successful governors from the red states, are running for president or at least we think so. tim paw landy, the governor, wants to run, no doubt about that. mitch daniels, indiana, he likes to say he has the fiscal conservative record that washington could use. governor haley barbour of mississippi, former chairman of the republican national committee, he told me he's looking hard at it, another republican governor you're with, gov rick perry of texas, just won re-election. some say, hmm, will the texas governor run? there are others as well, jessica yellin, out at that meeting. as they size each other up, do they complain at all, saying, wow, why does she keep talking about this, and do they see palin as a obstacle to the nomination? >> i think palin is the political third rail out here.

when you ask people about her, they're very careful. nobody wants to explicitly say they will support her for president. nobody explicitly says they wouldn't. they just wish we wouldn't ask the question. there are so many candidates, i should say governors-elect out here, who were endorsed by her, who basically are sitting where they are because she gave them her support. there's a lot of people here who owe sarah palin a lot. but many of the presidential konder its who no doubt wish she would take a lower profile or be less controversial for the party as a whole, as they're trying to rebrand this party, as very inclusive, she is a much more polarizing figure than many of the leadership would like her to be out here, john. >> erick, many of the others wish she would take a lower profile, maybe to get out of the way, maybe to give them a chance to get attention. she's doing just the opposite. she has that new show. "sarah palin's alaska." as much as she says mainstream media, you just saw the

interview with barbara walters. she is clearly analyzing her weaknesses and strength. this is what she told "the new york times." i know that a hurdle i would have to cross that some other potential candidates wouldn't have to cross right out of the chute is proving my record. that's the most frustrating thing for me. it's been much more perplexing to me than where the lamestream media has wanted to go about my personal life. and other candidates haven't faced these criticisms the way i have. clearly looking back at the '08 campaign experience and the criticism when she decided to resign as alaska governor and clearly thinking, erick erickson, if she jumps in, first foray would be, i'm not who you think i am. >> i will support whoever the republican nominee is. you know, she's -- >> -- that new secretary of state erick erickson, where did this come from? >> absolutely. she's got some hurdles. a lot of these governors would like her to exit the stage for a little while, to let them get some traction. she's not going to. but, you know, a lot of people

back in 2008 said that the republicans could not win in 2010, and yet they did. and a lot of people in 2010 are saying sarah palin can't win in 2012. i'm not so sure. i mean, heck, her followers are getting bristol palin into the finals of "dancing with the stars," anything is possible. >> i'm not sure that's the right barometer, obviously. first of all, she does suck up all the oxygen out of the room. even people beating her in the polls have a hard time getting press attention because she's such a media force. but let's look at the numbers. she's not only polarizing the american people. and, in fact, one poll showed only a quarter of americans think she's qualifies to be president. even among republicans and tea party supporters, many of the folks who really love her, an april 2010 poll found over 10% of self-identified tea party supporters did not think she was qualified for president and would not support her. >> she's never been led by the polls and i don't think she's going to start. if there's one thing about palin, she certainly goes off and generally does her own thing

which drives a lot of pundits and people on her own staff crazy but it gets her attention. >> what i'm trying to figure out, it's a mystery, is whether she's doing this because she loves the spotlight or doing this as a calculated strategy. john just used the term "sucks up all the oxygen." i took a trip with warner, the senator from virginia, late in 2007, he went up to test the waters in new hampshire. a credible candidate, a very successful businessman, a governor from then what was a red state. who thought the democrats needed to move a little to the middle. he got up there and he said, oba obama, hillary clinton, john edwards, he said there was no oxygen left in the room and said forget about it, i'm not going to run. is sarah palin trying to take up so much oxygen to keep the lesser knowns out? >> is she trying to do it? unclear. is that the result of what she's doing? it could certainly be. i talked to somebody who is considering running in 2012 today, who said that he's not really sure if the calendar is

the way they thought it was even just a couple of weeks ago, in that, you know, unlike four years ago, knowledge of these candidates were waiting and thought, you know what, the electorate is so unsure, we're going to wait longer than we have in the past. now that sarah palin is doing this, not so sure that others feel they can do that any more. >> can i say this, i mean, as a democrat, i got to tell you, looking at what she did in the primaries is remarkable coming from outside. erick, i think she speaks to the energized base in the party none of those other candidates do. i find it hard to bet against her. >> you know, cornell, i think you're right. she has tapped into something that really -- everyone use the reagan comparison and it's so overdone. if you go back to '76, he didn't beat gerald ford but he was able to tap into something that no one quite understood. she's doing the same thing. i'm not sure she's tapped into exactly the same thing but it's something people don't understand right now. >> nobody should doubt how beloved sarah palin is by her supporters. notice the democrat is the one saying sort of subtlety pushing

her candidacy on this panel here. >> yeah, a lot of republicans push barack obama in 2008. >> here's another factor in all of this because some people have gamed this out, looking at sarah palin through the 2008 exit polls, what we knew about her after the 2008 campaign, and talked about, well, maybe she couldn't win one on one with barack obama but what if we had a third candidate or a fourth candidate, would that make a difference? one of the most talked about potential independent candidate, the new york city mayor michael bloomberg, said this yesterday at a conference sponsored by "the wall street journal." many thought, is he going to try this? he said, party affiliate is so strong with enough people that the democrats and republicans, no matter who their candidates were, no matter who voted would get enough votes that you could get every independent vote it would still not be a majority. now, technically, john avlon, you wouldn't need a majority, but bloomberg seems to saying -- we all know he's studied this for a long time. he seems to be saying i've looked hard enough to figure out i can't do it. >> i mean, that is a pretty, you

know, analytical statement. the real challenge for a candidate is the electoral college. strictly speaking, 37% of americans identify as independents. that would triumph in a three-way race. mike bloomberg knows what he's talking about here. there have been studies on this. that's a pretty analytical, informed statement of "i'm not interested, folks" from bloomberg. >> let me get back to jessica yellin. who out there, jessica, do people talk about? forget palin for a second. who of those governors is working the hardest? >> is working the hardest? i'll tell you the one who's really getting eyebrows raised out here is nikki haley. her message when she was among the first speakers, south carolina governor-elect, a tea party candidate, backed by sarah palin who is where she is, she's one of those because of sarah palin's early support in the primary. her message, john, was, look, there is an empowered new voter out here who is a new dynamic in this country. it is a voter who is not democrat or republican, not necessarily political before

this moment. and someone who just wants to see us do what we promised to do. and if we don't, they will change parties, they will change allegiances and keep us to our word. this is the kind of movement you hear tea party activists talk about. and it's something that these governors here are really attuned to. and trying to shift the party in that direction. but it's not clear that it's a party aligned energy. it's something that nikki haley seems very tapped into. >> jess, i'll point this out, this is one of the things that drives others crazy about sarah palin. the mitt romney people will tell you, we endorsed her first. that's the way life in politics works. >> i endorsed her first actually. >> president erick erickson first. cornell, to jess's point, somebody about a new face, a nikki haley, now, nikki haley's not going to run for president in '12 but do we think by the old rules all the time, and we don't realize after an election like this, maybe it won't be somebody who's on the track right now? >> no, i think that's right.

i think that's sort of why these outside candidates have such a shot. obama was an outside candidate because voters were looking for change. after eight years of bush, they really were looking for change. i think the next election is going to be about change as well. the candidate -- i mean, the ideal that you've got to have all this experience, we turned that on its head with hillary clinton. i think that's going to continue to be the story. >> there's no question. i mean, anything that we thought as political observers in the past, we should basically just throw out. i mean, that's basically what the last election -- i'm serious, and the election before that taught us. >> there are some republicans who think marco rubio will run. some think rand paul might run. we will watch this play out. i'm going to continue to throw all this out. up neck, the democrats put down an eternal revolt and vote to stay the course with pelosi as their leader. plus, i wish rockefeller had a neels sen box.

>> there's a little bug inside me that wants to say to fox and msnbc, out, off, end, good-bye. [ male announcer ] if you've had a heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack that's caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming dangerous clots. ask your doctor if plavix is right for you. protection that helps save lives. [ female announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor

as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. tell your doctor all medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur. you don't love me anymore do you billy? what? i didn't buy this cereal to sweet talk your taste buds it's for my heart health. so i can't have any? if you can deprive me of what can help lower my cholesterol...

and live with yourself. right. mmm, i worry about your mother. cry herself to sleep every night over my arteries, but have yourself a bowl. good speech dad. [ whimper ] [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and its whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. and its whole grain oats can help lower cholesterol. [trumpet playing "reveille" throughout] let's support the small business owners getting our economy booming with the first ever small business saturday. on november 27th, shop small. it's going to be huge. [trumpet playing "reveille" fades to silence]

nancy pelosi was elected minority leader today. some former supporters say it's time for a change. one of those defectors joins me now from capitol hill, congressman peter defauso of oregon. i want to read from the letter you and marcy kaptur sent. following the loss of our majority, we should understand the causes of our losses before we begin the process of rebuilding. speaker pelosi says it was not her, that it was the economy. you disagree. >> well, it certainly was the economy but we could have done a lot better by the economy. i think we planted the seeds o f our failure by accepting the obama-negotiated senate stimulus bill which cut back on real

investment, transportation, infrastructure, school building, education. things that would have put people to work, provided benefits to future generations. for tax cuts that nobody knew they got that didn't put anybody to work. the invisible larry summers tax cults. we didn't push back hard enough in my opinion against the white house on a number of measures, and then going from there to cap and trade was a huge mistake. we should have been focussed on the economy and on jobs. your previous discussion there about experience -- you know, there's no one in the caucus who denies the experience of the speaker and the tremendous record she has. but the thing is, we're now not looking back, we're looking forward into a very changed world. the greatest majority losses in the house in more than half a century. i think we need to think about, you know, a different message coming out to the american people and saying, we got it, here's some things we're going to do different, and here's our leadership team, as opposed to just, hear's our leadership team. >> who would you have made your leader in place of nancy pelosi?

who would be a better leader for the democrats? >> we have a lot of very talented people in our caucus, younger people in particular. and what we wanted to see was give this a chance to gestate. we just started to heal and understand in the last two days. six-hour caucus yesterday, mostly devoted to people who lost their races. you know, a lengthy discussion of our proposal today. we got 68 votes. that's respectable. not great but respectable in the caucus. there is concern that a rush forward with the same leadership. we wanted to have a few weeks of discussion, bring in some people who could, you know, tell us about the results of the election. really parse into it. and then have people present to us their ideas on how we go forward. i don't even know who those people might have been. it might have been the current leadership, it could have been others. >> i want to continue the conversation with the group. what you're arguing is that those compromises with the senate that many would say moderated or made the legislation less liberal was

what hurt the democrats, and of course, dana, you spoke to allen boyd today, one of the conservative democrats who was defeated. he argued the opposite. he told you by keeping pelosi as the leader, the democrats will hurt themselves when it comes to candidate recruitment in much of the country in the next election. let's listen to boyd. >> i don't know how we go into these districts like the one that i represented, do represent now, will be giving up in january, and recruit good moderate democratic candidates, if you have the same leadership team. >> so there's disgruntlement from both ends with the leadership. still debate over what the lesson is to be learned. >> big debate. i think that's why the congressman says hold on, let's just give it a little more time to keep having that debate. because it's important. allen boyd is not alone. i think that is one of the more interesting arguments that i have heard against nancy pelosi,

from those who were defeated and those who weren't. they're look ahead and they're very concerned that despite the prowess that pelosi has in raising money, millions of dollars, that they're not going to get the best people to try to take that back. and one other point i would make, you know, the congressman said 68 votes is not that great but i was out there with him and the other members. a lot of people were surprised it was actually that high. this is a woman who ruled the caucus with an iron fist. that many people said effectively, we want to hold off or not have you, is pretty amazing. >> what does that tell you, cornell? you heard the congressman's dissatisfaction with the president and the team and the strategy. the dissatisfaction that maybe we need a change in leadership. is the party making a mistake by not changing any of its leadership? >> no. and let me tell you this, i think fundamentally is what's happening to leader pelosi is fundamentally unfair. history will hold that she went down as one of the strongest speakers in our history. she moved legislation with the

help of the congressmen that pulled us backrom a great depression. she did everything asked of her on the legislative side showing strength and integrity. >> if it's not her fault going back, john avlon, to congressman boyd's point, you studied middle america as well as anybody. maybe she didn't cause 9.6% unemployment. but she became the face. there was a new study out today, you know, upping the 75 million now, dollars, in ads spent against pelosi, $115 million against obama. did they need a new face? >> they do. this is going to be a damaging decision for democrats because it locks obama into going into the 2012 election with the sample lossy/reed/obama names that they used effectively to pull people away from democrats. she may be judged that way by history. after gingrich lost more seats than expected, in '98, he resigned. this is someone who has a 21%

approval rating among independent voters, pelosi. 52% of all americans have a very unfavorable opinion of her. those are numbers that are a huge drag on a democratic ticket. and that's just the reality. and to not deal with that is a major problem for the democratic party going forward. >> erick erickson, you're the happy guy in the conversation at the moment then? >> who knows, the republicans might -- michael steele to the rnc and leave it at that. ultimately, come 2012, i guarantee you i'll have a red state reader in every single district, going to every one of these moderate democratic challengers, asking them, will they back nancy pelosi to be speaker again? it will put them in a very awkward situation. >> we're talking about personnel here, congressman. what about policy? you've tried to make a change in personnel or at least delay the election and personnel and you've failed. what is your recommend now to the party? where do you plant the flag and say no, we're going to fight till the end on this one? and when do you say, we just lost the election, maybe we need

to move on this issue? >> tomorrow, we're going to the white house to talk with the president about the failed free trade policy. >> but that's the opposite of what the president thinks. the president thinks he has an opportunity now to work with the republicans in the senate and get those. >> yeah, he can do that and he can use the election because the american people have turned against these failed free trade agreements. back to the earlier point. allen boyd and i actually agreed we needed more real investment. if you can borrow money from the future, spend it on something that sends benefit to the future which would be investment, transportation, infrastructure, education, schools, buildings. not these $8 a week tax cult c which were the brainchild of summers. it sure as heck didn't recover our economy. huge mistake. >> it sounds to me like you think the president is leading not only the country, not leading the economy to a good future, but also not leading the party to a good future. >> well, i just say that our duty and what i think we failed in the house, some of us didn't, but some raised questions all

along. was supporting the president and not pushing him to make him a better democrat and more representative of the needs of people who wanted jobs. and i think we could have done a better job there. we could have just said to the senate, look, if that's all it is, we're not doing a stimulus. and things would have changed. we never took those tough positions like that. we facilitated what they wanted to do. we didn't stand up to it enough in my opinion. >> let me go quickly to the group before we lose our time in this block. a different message. the president has said he thinks he has a shth maing problem. he was right on the policy and didn't market it right to the people. the congressman profoundly disagrees. who's right? >> if the president moves to the left, he misread the election and it's the worst thing he can do. he needs to recenter himself in the mind of the electorate. he cannot move further to the left and win in 2012. >> it's not about moving left or right. quite frankly, he's right in the center. you know who should be fired, not nancy pelosi but quite frankly some of those people working on those committees who get these opportunities. it's time for some new faces in

those party committees, not pelosi. >> mike ross, the democratic from arkansas who saw many of his colleagues defeated around him said, look, the republicans didn't win, which is republicans alone, democrats didn't win with just democrats alone. it was independents. independents tend be two more towards the middle. if you believe someone like him, the president needs to listen to him. >> erick, we had this conversation about your party after the '06 elections. >> they said they had a me messenging problem, sound familiar? there's going to be a lot of pressure for him to move to the left. he's going to have a lot of people in his base saying he's got to move to the left to get us back but he really has to move to the right now. >> all right, thank you so much. a lot more to go in the program tonight. when we come back, we're going to talk to someone who's been missing from the national po political debate because of a personal embarrassment. one time a top presidential

contender, then a personal failing. also, we're going to talk to dr. drew pinsky tonight. sarah palin's teenage children getting into a bit of trouble on facebook. is that a cautionary tale to parents of teenagers everywhere? and pete's on the street tonight. senator rockefeller today said good-bye fox, good-bye msnbc. that's not going to happen of course but why? ♪

[ man ] i thought our family business would always be boots. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag. and like that, we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when businesses see an opportunity, the hartford is there. protecting their employees and property and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses across the country when the economy tumbled, jpmorgan chase set up new offices to work one-on-one with homeowners. since 2009, we've helped over 200,000 americans keep their homes.

and we're reaching out to small businesses too, increasing our lending commitment this year to $10 billion and giving businesses the opportunity to ask for a second review if they feel their loan should have been approved. this is how recoveries happen. everyone doing their part. this is the way forward.

welcome back. a lot of other political news to catch up on tonight. senator murkowski is claiming victory in alaska. remember, she ran as a write-in

candidate after being defeated in the primary by tea party favorite joe miller. the associated press projects her the winner. murkowski has an event tonight to declare victory. miller isn't conceding. he says his campaign might demand a recount. on capitol hill, another day of questioning for the tsa chief about those full body scans and patdowns at the nation's airports. john pistole assured senators he went through the procedure himself before ordering it used nationwide. >> did it make you uncomfortable? >> yes, it was more invasive than what i was used to -- >> but the tsa chief says tight screenings are necessary and not all senators were critical. senator mccaskill said her knee replacement guaranteed patdowns. >> i am wildly excited about the notion i can walk through a machine instead of getting my

dose of love pats. >> $73 million were spent on ads targeting speaker pelosi. that's up from an earlier estimate of 65 million. she places second among democratic attack ad targets. the campaign media analysis group report says more than $115 million was spent by party organizations and independent groups on ads critical of obama. and an appeal from clinton today to republicans blocking a vote on a nuclear arms treaty with russia. the new start treaty would reduce both country's arsenals. gop senator jon kyl says he doesn't want to vote until next year. secretary clinton takes issue. >> some have suggested we should hit the pause button, that it's too difficult to do this treaty in a lame duck session. i strongly disagree. this is exactly what the american people expect us to do.

>> senator kyl says his concerns are legitimate but author fareed zach cara sees politics playing here. >> the number we have at the end of the day which is enough to destroy the entire planet several times over, which is to say more than enough to defend ourselves and anybody else. this is turning into a political football because some republicans in congress simply don't want to give the obama administration anything. >> those are tonight's political headlines. when we come back, governor mark sanford, republican, of south carolina, joins us live. he is out in san diego for a big meeting of republican governors. having this conversation a little more than a year ago, he wouldn't be atop any list of presidential prospects. come on. td ameritrade introduces commission-free etfs with a difference-- more choice. over a hundred etfs.... ...chosen by the unbiased experts at morningstar associates. let me pick what works for me.

for me. for me. the etf market center at td ameritrade. before investing, carefully consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. contact td ameritrade for a prospectus containing this and other information. read it carefully before investing.

the republican governors conference out in san diego is something of a last hoora for mark sanford. he's preparing to step out of the political spotlight after two terms as governor and six in congress. it's good to see you. we've known each other a long time. and we talked a few years back, look being ahead to the presidential cycle. back then, we didn't know anything about the tea party. and the tea party becomes this force in the last campaign. and what is it about? it's about people who will stand up to wasteful spending. that has been your profile as

governor. even your own republican legislature at times getting angry with you, saying, let us spend a little more money, governor. at a time when we would think this could be mark sanford's moment, because of a personal failing, people don't think of you any more when it s to national politics. that has to kick you. >> well, that's life. i think that the bigger issue is the tea party phenomenon is alive and well and growing, and i think it's really about something beyond even spending itself, because i think the core of what has, you know, so many americans out there generated in a political sense, as they are, is the real question about the american dream and real quick about opportunity going down the line and the real question about the basic fairness, which has been the glue that has held us together. when people looked at the stimulus or the bailouts, i think a lot of people thought folks were objecting to spending. the reason i stood out as i did, joined others in trying to fight

against the stimulus packages, was at the end of the day, it was about something much deeper than even spending. it was about that basic notion of fairness or equity. and that if a little business made bad business decisions, they failed, they didn't understand how a big business could be protected from those same consequences that are part of the american dream. you take your bets but you live with those consequences that come as a consequence of that bet. >> i get that the tea party movement of spending. but that's life? that's life? i mean, you're in a room, you're in a group of people who are among the most ambitious in the country, and in our politics. you yourself were clearly looking at this a couple years ago, thinking, would this be my moment, and then this comes along. is that really how you view it? i guess i can ask it this way, are you so happy now in your personal life that presidential ambitions or politics is secondary? >> well, what i would say is this -- not going into the

journey for me of the last 17 months, what i'd say is we all want to get to that spot and we're all on a journey. you're on a journey, i'm on a journey of how do you get to the spot where you truly removal self from the equation. i think that's the journey in faith, whatever its form. what i would say is ideally politics ought to be above and beyond any one personality. it ought to be above my ambitions. it ought to be above your commentary. so i would say what is important, and i think that i see this very, very clearly now, is -- is that the -- the sum total of those frustrations that people feel -- as you know, i've long talked about, for about 15 years in politicians, on debt and deficits spending and you can't go on spending beyond that which you have or beyond your means, is genered a political force that i think is generally -- frankly very exciting in terms of what comes next, whether it's in the u.s. congress or in the statehouses across this country. >> people who are watching at home saying, wow, i haven't seen

a lot of that guy, especially in a national interview format. one person they have seen more frequently in recent months has been your ex-wife. listen to something she said on "good morning america." she was asked if you were still seeing the woman who was at the center of all this. listen to this. >> sometimes i think it would be nice if he stayed with her because it would make it seem like maybe there was a reason for him to break the whole family up and go through all this but i don't know. it doesn't really bother me one way or another. >> why are you so peaceful right now? >> again, i'll talk politics with you all night long. i have not talked for the last 17 months on my personal life and i'm not going to start now. what i would say is i think that what we're all after is that larger journey of getting to that spot where we go beyond self. i'm just saying i'm on that journey. i'm fairly far along the way. got still a long way to go. i don't know where you are.

i don't know where other listeners are out there. but i keep going back to the basic point of the 15 years that i have spent in politics has been about we cannot -- this republican cannot survive. we will go the way of the romans if we continue to go on spending beyond our means. we have about $100 trillion of accumulated debt. when you add up state and local liabili liabilities. when you add up all the different promises that are out there, we're over e $100 trillion mark now. we are at a very precious crossroads in terms of the sustainability of our republican. and what happens with these governors that are gathered here in san diego will be part and parcel. what happens in congress next is going to be part and parcel to saying, are we going to go back to the things that made this country great in the first place? or are we going to continue down a path that guarantees trashing of the currency, elimination of the american dream, and, frankly, a real squandering of a whole lot of opportunities a lot

of folks worked very, very hard to accumulate over the last 200 years. i'm gathered here to talk about ideas that are awfully important in terms of opportunity and future of this country. >> as you talk about those ideas and future of the country, is this the last chapter in elected politicians? people wonder if lindsey graham, the republican senator, will run for another term. the other republican senator jim demint has term-limited himself, saying he will only run for two terms. and they lack ook at sanford, thinking he will seek another seat, is that a possibility, sir? >> i wouldn't rule anything in or anything out. i don't think it's where i'm headed in life. it's certainly not my plan at this point. what i've learned, particularly given the last chapter of my life is there are a lot of things that will surprise you in life and you take them as they come. what i would say is -- is there is amazing grace with people across this country and certainly people across my state, and we've had a most

productive last couple months of my time in office. and for that time, i'm most grateful. we're able to pull off some reforms, many of which we've been working on for the last 7 1/2 years. so i'll worry about what comes next politically tomorrow. but, again what i'm gathering on here and discussing ideas with other governors and governors-elect, again, is that bedrock of what of the choices we are going to make now, specifically with regard to the financial policy, with regard to school scholarships, with regard to a whole host of things that will make a difference in people's lives. i would take chris christy, what's happening in new jersey, i take the new election of rick scott, happening down in florida, as barometers as to what may come next. >> governor sanford, as always, appreciate your time. we'll keep in touch as we watch your next chapter unfold. appreciate your time tonight, sir. when we come back, sarah palin's teenagers getting into a little trouble on facebook.

[scraping] [piano keys banging] [scraping] [horns honking] with deposits in your engine, it can feel like something's holding your car back. let me guess, 16. [laughing] yeeah. that's why there's castrol gtx... with our most powerful deposit fighting ingredient ever. castrol gtx exceeds the toughest new industry standard. don't let deposits hold your car back. get castrol gtx. it's more than just oil. it's liquid engineering. [ commearlier, she hady vonn! an all-over achy cold... what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus rushes relief for all-over achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus. okay, now here's our holiday gift list. aww, not the mall.

well, i'll do the shopping... if you do the shipping. shipping's a hassle. i'll go to the mall. hey. hi. you know, holiday shipping's easy with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. yea, i know. oh, you're good. good luck! priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.90 only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

welcome back. let's get right to joe johns. he's here with a big headline on a major prosecution of an alleged terrorist. >> a surprising verdict in the case of the first guantanamo detainee tried in civilian court. a new york federal jury acquitted ahmed ghailani of all but one of the 285 charges he faced in connection with the 1998 u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania. the single guilty verdict, conspiracy to destroy government property with a penalty of 20 years to life. usually the government has a pretty good record, something like 90% conviction rate. >> this one point is going to be

the starting point for reigniting the debate over khalid shaikh mohammed and the others, over whether they should be tried in a new york courtroom. senator graham saying, i once again strongly urge obama to use military commissions. so one verdict in new york, big political debate in washington. when we come back, do you have teenagers? lessons perhaps today from the palin family. lls. no pills, no pain. how can you get pain relief without taking pills around the clock? try thermacare heatwraps, for all day relief without pills. i was surprised, thermacare worked all day. you feel the heat. and it relaxes and unlocks the muscle. you've got to try it. [ man ] thermacare, more effective for back pain than the maximum dose of acetaminophen, the medicine in tylenol. go to thermacare.com today for a $3 off coupon. thermacare. no pills. no pain. just relief. thermacare. when it comes to investing, no one person has all the answers. so td ameritrade doesn't give me just one person.

questions about retirement? i talk to their retirement account specialists. bonds? grab the phone. fixed-income specialist. td ameritrade knows investors sometimes need real, live help. not just one broker... a whole team there to help... to help me decide what's right for me. people with answers at td ameritrade. get up to $500 when you open an account. at the walmart in marinette, wisconsin. that first job launched my career. since i've been with the company, i've been promoted ten times over the span of 11 years. today, i'm a divisional learning and development manager. we can actually help people develop in their own careers. my job allows me to make a difference in the lives of almost 100,000 associates in the northeast. if you think about it, that's almost 8 times the size of my hometown. my name is nick and i work at walmart. ♪

my name is nick and i work at walmart. i'm bob kearn, president of coit cleaning services. these pictures are the history of my family and they're also the history of coit.

we've been in business for 60 years and our greatest asset has always been our people. we use the plum card from american express open to purchase everything we can and with the savings from the early pay discount, we were able to invest back into our business by hiring more great people like ruben here. how can the plum card's trade terms get your business booming? booming is a new employee named ruben. the ratings are good but some critics have not been kind to sarah palin's new reality show. including an alaska teen who posted his bad review on facebook. what came next is a new controversy for the palin family and a cautionary tale to parents of teenagers everywhere. dr. pinsky is the host of "celebrity rehab" and "love line." on the one hand, willow and bristol palin are being loyal to their mom.

but i want you to read the facebook posting reportly put up by willow palin. you're so gay. i have no idea who you are. you're disgusting. she said this, tre, stfu, a not polite way of saying be quiet. and then went on to say what most would consider an anti-gay slur. it's very ensensitive, maybe going beyond that, bigoted and homophob homophobic. >> it's a 16-year-old acting impulsively. i see two sides to what happened here. one is that young people being the subject of such intense aggression and scrutiny through social media has got to be overwhelming. i know you must have a twitter site or facebook and i imagine you and i both get our share of negative press. we're just sort of relatively well liked. imagine you're the child of a lightning rod, a controversial

figure like sarah palin, and they must get inundated with horrible, hateful material, that middle adolescent is just not equipped to manage. so now she has an aggressive outburst and used language that is unacceptable but unfortunately common place among adolescents today. the word she specifically used, they're actually not referring to homosexuals. unfortunately, if you're a homosexual, those are hateful words. this is something i'm sure those kids are being talked about right now. but just an unfortunate situation, it seems to me. >> bristol palin did follow up. she wrote, willow and i shouldn't have reacted to negative comments about our family. we apologize. on a nicer note, thank you for supporting the great competition on "dancing with the stars." she is in the middle of an even higher profile now because of that. let's focus on that for a minute. they're the teenage children of somebody who is in the middle of this fierce and sometimes nasty national debate.

>> right, is that okay? and, again what we're seeing is not just that, but with the advent of social media, these kids are exposed to that aggression. now, bristol's an adult. bristol -- i've worked with bristol, she's a lovely young woman. will loow is a child effectivel. if i were the father, i'd take her off social media because there's no way to protect her from the aggression that's going to rain down on her unless they can sort of close out the outside world. and i know myself, whenever my children are exposed to scrutiny or negative because of myself living a public life, it's unpleasant. you can't imagine how guilty you feel. but that's the world we live in right now. by the same token, if my children say, ever use language like that, i would feel responsible for that. so i'm sure sarah palin feels -- i hope seeshe responds to this because it is -- the language is just not okay. >> i have two teenagers. it is much more frightening than anything i do professionally, trust me.

where is the line? you want your children to be independent. you want them to take advantage of this remarkable new technological revolution. and yet you, a, you're still responsible for them and, b, it's dangerous out there. >> i think that the line is right there, that you have to be supervising and if you have a public life -- we're really not talking about the average person here but you want to contain what they're exposed to. that's what the internet is, vast exposure, that we're finding more and more is harmful to young people. we really don't know the full impact of not just social media but all the material that rains down on young people. this is one slight example. i think the reason it's made news is not just it's sarah palin but, again, the language she used. you don't have to go further than "south park" to hear the casual nature that that language is thrown around. it's something we have to figure out as a society here because that word -- those words, they hurt homosexuals, they do. i know people use those words aren't referring to that, but,

look we have to find a new word. we have to figure something out here because this is just not okay. >> our thanks to dr. drew pinsky. when we come back, pete's out on the street tonight. we'll analyze comments by senator rockefeller essentially saying he wishes fox and msnbc would go away. [ female announcer ] the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise pain relieving cream. it blocks pain signals fast for relief precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol.

helps kids be their best. we think it probably helps teachers be their best too. quaker instant oatmeal. does your breakfast make you amazing? my kids say i speak a different language. but i love math and math and science develop new ideas. we've used hydrogen in our plants for decades. the old hydrogen units were very large. recently, we've been able to reduce that. then our scientists said "what if we could make it small enough

to produce and use hydrogen right on board a car, as part of a hydrogen system." this could significantly reduce emissions and increase fuel economy by as much as 80%.

i need some help from my friend, our off-beat reporter pete dominick. remember rockefeller of west virginia, earlier today, i guess he was just waxing for the good old days. he apparently doesn't like all his choices in cable news. listen. >> there's a little bug inside of me which wants to get the fcc

to say to fox and to msnbc, out, off, end, good-bye. be a big favor to political discourse, our ability to do our work here in congress. >> all right, pete, you get the point. pete, what's this senator getting at here? >> first of all, the new most in demand popular guest on both those networks has a point. i agree with him. it would be great for us at cnn if we got rid of the competition. i would take it a step further. forget about the 24-hour news media. what about the reality shows? you were just talking about sarah palin's reality show. get rid of all those. those are really causing the damage john, i long for the "family ties" and "the facts of life," those shows that showed us what the family could be. not getting voted off the island. come on, you know what i'm talking about. >> i used to like the ol