>> see christine on "your bottom line." and we're here for you every saturday at 1:00 p.m. and sunday at 3:00 p.m. eastern. have a great day. hello, everyone. thanks so much for joining us. i'm fredricka whitfield. we're going to look at the 2012 presidential contenders in this political hour. first an update on some of the other top stories we're following. we begin with shocking developments in the syracuse university child molestation scandal. the wife of assistant basketball coach bernie fine reportedly admitted she had concerns that her husband had molested a boy in their home. espn reports bobby davis, the alleged victim, recorded a phone call with the coach's wife back in 2002 in which she said, quote, i know everything that went on, and you have trusted somebody you shouldn't have, end quote. afghan president hamid karzai announced his country's

troops will be taking control of more provinces including parts of helmand province where many british troops have been killed in past years. it is considered a key moment in the drawdown of u.s. troops and the gradual pullout of nato forces. the recent nato attack in pakistan has enflamed already tense ties between that country and the united states. the pakistani foreign minister said today that the nato attack that killed dozens of soldiers plunged relations with the u.s. into deeper crisis. pakistan shut down two nato supply routes in response to that attack. now to the battle for the white house. republican newt gingrich has just picked up a key endorsement, just weeks before the new hampshire primary. the new hampshire union leader of manchester says the former house speaker is worthy of voter support on january 10th. the paper says, quote,

republican voters too often make the mistake of preferring an unattainable ideal to the best candidate who is actually running. that candidate is newt gingrich. cnn political producer rachael streitfeld is in concord. what does this mean for gingrich? big endorsement? >> reporter: well, it is a stunning comeback for a man whose campaign was considered to be over a few months ago. you'll remember many of gingrich's staffers had quit and he was having trouble raising money. here he is on the cover of the only state wide newspaper in new hampshire, "the union leader". it is a closely watched endorsement and it should help him. i'm sorry. yeah, fredricka, it should help him. it is important locally for those voters who will -- we're hearing more some questions about how the editorial board came to this zirks what factors were important in this decision. so we know they chose ten front

runners. if we look back in the past, they went with john mccain in 2007. he did end up winning the state. before that in 2000, they picked steve forbes who didn't win. they also backed pat buchanan twice and ronald reagan twice. so a candidate's political ideology is important, it is a very conservative editorial page and so they consider that as well as electability. >> rachel, looking at the numbers, cnn time opinion research poll taken late last month shows gingrich in fifth place with 5%. mitt romney is far out front with 40%. a suffolk university poll last week shows romney with 41% and gingrich tied with ron paul with 14%. so you have to wonder whether this endorsement from this newspaper, the only one in new hampshire, as you put it, will give him a real big bump in the polls. >> reporter: certainly this will help gingrich as he tries to build momentum in new hampshire. he's trying to set him elf up as

the alternative to mitt romney in the state. romney now is the long time front runner in the state. it is notable he was not chosen to get this endorsement. he didn't get if last time either. we'll see how that shakes out for romney. for gingrich it a good day for him. >> rachel, thanks so much. illegal immigration has emerged as one of the dominant issues for the 2012 candidates. ever since tuesday's cnn republican debate, newt gingrich and michele bachmann have been going back and forth about that very issue. here is the initial exchange. >> what would you do if you were president of the united states with these millions of illegal immigra immigrants, many of whom have been in this country for a long time. >> i think we ought to have an h1 visa that goes with every graduate degree in math, science and engineering so people stay here. about five blocks down the street, you'll see a statue of

einstein. einstein came here as an immigrant. so let's be clear how much the united states has drawn upon the world to be richer, better and more inclusive. i did vote for the act. ronald reagan in his diary says he signed it. we were supposed to have 300,000 people get amnesty, there were 3 million. he signs it because we were going to get two things in return. we were going to get control of the border and get a guest worker program with employer enforcement. we got neither. so i think you got to deal with this as a comprehensive approach that starts with controlling the border as the governor said. i believe ultimately you have to find some system of -- once you put every piece in place, which includes the guest worker program, you need something like a world war ii selective service award to review the people who are here. if you're here, if you've come here recently, you have no ties to this country, you ought to go home, period. if you've been here 25 years and you have three kids, two grandkids, you've been paying

taxes, obeying the law, belong it a local church, i don't think we're going to separate you from your family and kick you out. the foundation has a good program that says you get to be legal, but you dent get a path to citizenship and there is a way to ultimately end up with the country where there is no more illegality, but you haven't automatically given amnesty to anyone. >> congresswoman bachmann, you agree with the speaker? >> i don't agree that you would make 11 million workers legal because that in, effect, is amnesty. i also don't agree you would give the dream act on a federal level. those are two things that i believe the speaker had been for. he can speak for himself. but those are two areas i don't agree with. what i do think is that what steve jobs says to president obama, he said to president automatic obama he had to move a lot of his operation because he couldn't find the engineers to do the work that needed to be done. that's what we need to do.

we do want to have people. i agree with the speaker, people like chemists and engineers, people who are highly skilled. we think about the united states and what is in the best interests of the united states. if we can utilize these workers like steve jobs wanted to, then we need to offer those visas. that will help the united states. but i don't agree that we should make 11 million workers who are here illegally legal. >> polls show a big partisan divide on illegal immigration. in our latest cnn opinion research poll, 42% of democrats say the main focus should be deporting illegal immigrants and stopping more from coming. 54% of independents feel that way and 71% of republicans. when asked whether they favor building a fence along the mexican border, 46% of democrats say yes. half of independents agree and 67% of republicans say yes. one republican presidential hopeful could soon get a much coveted endorsement from an outspoken icon of the illegal

immigration battle. arizona sheriff joe arpaio is expected to campaign with rick perry on tuesday, in new hampshire. our ed lavandera sat down with the sheriff. >> reporter: joe arpaio just might be the most popular kid on the playground over republican and presidential politics. >> sheriff joe is the nation's sheriff. he is one of my heroes. >> reporter: the candidates are lining up to see him. so we too sat down with him. these are interesting time for arpaio. critics are clamoring for his resignation. >> i'll tell you right now, you're not going to drive me out of office. i'm not going to resign. i'm not going to resign. and i'm going to keep fighting. >> reporter: arpaio crusades against illegal immigration, a sheriff who revels in making county inmates wear pink boxer shorts. this election season arpaio could become kingmaker in the

republican presidential primary. cain, bachmann, romney and perry have come calling, looking for his highly coveted endorsement. all this despite a cloud of controversy hanging over the sheriff. county officials accuse arpaio of misspending $100 million over eight years to fund, in part, his controversial immigration raids. sheriff arpaio is also under a wide ranging federal investigation. the u.s. attorney's office here in phoenix tells us it and the fbi are looking into allegations that the sheriff and his top deputies abused their law enforcement power. they're also looking into civil rights violations that inmates and the sheriff's jails were mistreated and allegations of racial profiling in those highly publicized illegal immigration raids. those are the same raids that have made sheriff arpaio so popular and so controversial at the same time. arpaio says he's clean and unapologetic as ever. is there a cloud hanging over your department? >> i'm higher in the polls now than ever before. they know i do the job.

>> reporter: if they charge you with anything having to do with abuse of power. >> i don't even know what abuse of power is. i don't think there is a law. i'm the guy being abused over and over. even you are abusing me. i'm the guy being abused. but you know what, that's part of the job. you take it. >> thank you, sheriff arpaio. it is an honor to be here with you. >> why are you concerned with what he said? >> reporter: politicians usually run away from other politicians shrouded in controversy. this endorsement could help someone like rick perry. the governor offered in state tuition to children of illegal immigrants. it sent him spiraling down in the polls. arpaio tweeted he had a great conversation with him. the sheriff loves being in the middle of it all. >> i will not be riding off in the sunset. >> reporter: so stay tuned. he says an endorsement could come very soon. ed lavandera, cnn, phoenix,

arizona. so let's go back to cnn political producer rachel streitfeld in concord, new hampshire. what are you hearing there on the ground? will sheriff arpaio give his endorsement on tuesday and are people excited about the idea he'll be campaigning for rick perry? >> reporter: we'll have to wait and see about the endorsement. i can tell you that sheriff arpaio, america's sheriff, will be in town campaigning with rick perry. first trip with the presidential candidate. take that for what it is worth. as we heard, he has been courted by several candidates. a lot of the perry staffers are excited, tweeting that america's sheriff will there be. tweets about pink boxer shorts. an endorsement from arpaio could be helpful with perry because with some social conservatives who think he hasn't taken a hard enough line against illegal immigration in this state. >> what do you know about the plan on tuesday? where would they show their faces? what is their agenda?

>> reporter: they're starting off at a diner called joey's diner. i think perry has three town halls and the state. check on that. but that's the new hampshire tradition is hosting town halls and sometimes candidates like to bring along somebody else on the side, provide a little extra sizzle and little excitement in the campaign. >> all right. we look forward to that. thanks so much for the heads up on that, rachel, appreciate that. this cnn programming note, newt gingrich will join john king in charleston, south carolina, tomorrow night. it is a one on one interview on john king usa at 6:00 eastern time. lawmakers say they're working for you to improve the economy and the country. lately we have seen more acrimony than consensus. what can be done to end the gridlock?

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republicans and democrats in the congressional super committee were unable to make any kind of compromise to cut the deficit by the deadline, which was tonight. the super committee, in case you don't know, is two committee what super cuts is to cuts. i think the problem is there were consequences for the country if they didn't get this done, but no consequences for the committee members themselves. they hear me -- if we had fed each committee member a poison cupcake, something that takes a month to kill you, and told them that once they came to an agreement, they could have the antidote, i'm not a political scientist but i have a fieeling the process may have gone more smoothly. >> jimmy kimmel poking fun at congress. no everyone is laughing. members face another test this week to see if they can break the gridlock. the failure of the deaf cficit t

cutting super committee means, whether to renew tax breaks that have increased the take home pay for millions of americans. this week senate democrats will propose an extension of the payroll tax cuts. but republicans oppose paying for it with the surtax on millionaires. many are wondering what can be done to ease the gridlock on capitol hill for the good of the country and for the good of the parties. lisa borders and jonathan miller think they have a solution. they're co-founders of no labels, a movement which seeks to mobilize frustrated democrats, republicans and independents into a political force to end dysfunction in washington. lisa is joining us from san francisco. jonathan in lexington, kentucky. lisa, you first, so what is no labels really all about? who would be on board? >> good to be with you, fredricka. no labels is about a citizen's movement. in your last piece, you talked

about king makers. last time i checked this was a democracy. those of us in no labels, which includes republicans, democrats and independents, are very interested in making congress work. today, as has always been the case, our congress is supposed to help us solve problems in this country. it is not being done. so anyone that is fed up with the gridlock in washington and the inaction and the inability of us to move forward is a nation would be interested in joining and participating with no labels. >> it sounds like you're appealing to the electorate. >> we absolutely are. we have already mobilized 435 congressional districts by putting a leader in every single one of them, working from the grassroots, a bottom up approach as opposed to those in office who believe they get to rule with impunity and use their votes as they see fit. that's absolutely inappropriate. so what we are asking is to have congress work, have a common sense approach, a bipartisan

collective effort to move the country forward, not left, not right, but forward. >> well, jonathan, but it doesn't seem the problem is with the electorate, but the elected. so how do you get them on board? >> well, i'm going to give you a spoiler alert, fredricka. in a couple of weeks, september 13th, no labels is going to introduce a plan that we're working with right now with our grassroots activists across the country to make congress work, to figure out ways to break the gridlock and to put pressure on the folks in washington to stop acting in such a hyperpartisan way, but to act together for the good of the country. jimmy kimmel's idea about a poisoned cupcake is not going to make our list, but how about the idea if the congress doesn't pass a budget, they don't get paid? that's the kind of common sense idea that we're going to be looking at and you stay tuned to us in december 13th, woo develop a lot of really good ideas that hopefully will get this thing turned around. >> well, going into the super committee with no labels, wasn't

that the intent that you have six members on each side who would come to the table and talk and try to, you know, massage a plan, come up with some consensus, that didn't happen. so how is this no labels campaign to reach even those members of the super committee, which initially, i guess everyone was convinced that they would be reaching across the aisle, lisa? >> well, the -- that was the expectation, clearly the expectation wasn't met, fredricka. what we intend to do is put together a score card, which identifies those electeds who are actually using the no labels approach who are coming in, not with the chronic disease of myopia, by standing in their corners with their parties, but who are willing to work with one another on a regular basis, not just doing something called a super committee. there should not have been a need for a super committee and clearly they failed. what we would like to do is educate the electorate, motivate

them to be not only passionate about america, but to watch what is going on in america. and then translate that passion into action. and tell their representatives, both congressional and the senators, that we are not comfortable with the behavior that is occurring in washington today, that we actually want to see them work together for the good of the country. and so what we expect to do is bring the pressure to bear, the political pressure from those of us who vote every single election, who want to make sure that the nation's moving forward. >> so along with this you're proposing there would be a code of conduct. and it is stated, as such, civil and public discourse, and behavior and stand against incivility wherever it is encountered, treat respectfully those with whom you differ. take evidence seriously as daniel patrick moynihan put it, you're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts. are you proposing, jonathan, that this would be similar to

the doctrine that grover nor quist came out with, that republicans signed this commitment, that there would be no increase of taxes. are you proposing that this code of conduct is something that lawmakers would sign and would endorse? >> yeah, it is funny you mentioned the nor quist pledge. one of the things we're seriously considering as part of our make congress work package is that congress can no longer take pledges except to the flag and the country. when you lock yourself into a particular issue or special interest or ideology, then there is no room for bipartisanship. instead, we're going to be using two methods to try to change the behavior and make congress work better. first of all, we're going to propose a number of rules changes, so that congress will be forced to meet together more often, to have more civil discussion and to work on ways to improve the bipartisanship. but secondly, and this is where

your viewers can come in, come to no labels.org, sign up or look into our programming and as we build our movement, we're going to be putting pressure on congress to work together, in a bipartisan way. right now, congress is under pressure from the extremes. the democrats from the far left, republicans from the far right, we want to put pressure from the great american people who want them to work together. >> okay. jonathan miller, lisa borders, keep us posted on the progress of the no labels campaign. >> thank you, fredricka. >> thanks so much. >> payroll tax cuts, corporate tax cuts, just what america needs to get the economy restarted. herman cain has an answer, next. the outside looks good... let's see the engine. yeah, let's check out the horses under the hood!

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all right, we continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign every sunday. we're spending this hour of the "cnn newsroom" to allow you to hear from the contenders as they spell out their future for the united states. republican hopeful herman cain is starting off this week talking about the pending legislation aimed at extending payroll tax cuts and unemployment benefits. he says it is a distraction from the bigger issue. here is what the candidate told our candy crowley on cnn's "state of the union" today. >> i could support extending it, but here's the problem. it didn't do any good the first

time. that is a thimble of water in the ocean. the president -- >> isn't it something -- if you've got millions of americans who have a thousand dollars or more in their pocket, that's got to help. >> candy, i'm agreeing with you, a thousand dollars would help a lot of people. but it is a distraction from the big problem and that is a lack of effective economic policy to grow this economy. so argument over whether or not we should extend it or not extend it, that's not the issue. the issue is where's the economic growth for the entire economy. >> long-term unemployment benefits expire at the end of this year. that is unemployment benefits for those who have been unemployed for 99 weeks or more. do you believe those unemployment benefits should be extended? >> no, and here's why. where do we stop, candy, is the question. here again, extending unemployment benefits, extending

the cut in the payroll tax are just distractions from the bigger problem, which is lack of economic growth which has not been there. secondly, we're spending money we do not have. it is unfortunate that people are unemployed. this is one of the reasons that i have proposed a bold plan to get this economy going, which you know is 999. people need to go -- want to go back to work. that's the good news. this economy is not producing the jobs in order to get 14 million people that are unemployed back to work. >> about 2 million of those will lose their benefits if long-term unemployment benefits are not extended. and there are lots of studies that show that one of the quickest ways to get money into the economy is through these unemployment benefits. so if i read you correctly, you would not be for extending those for another year, but you would be for the payroll tax cut? >> candy, it is not as simple.

and this is part of the problem. what we need to do to get this economy growing is to put fuel in the engine, which is to cut taxes to businesses and individuals. rather than just cutting the payroll tax, where people might have a thousand dollars, let's cut -- if the president wants to do something in short-term, cut income taxes. cut corporate taxes. >> sure, but that's -- >> this is something i was proposing earlier. that would solve the problem. this is just tinkering around the edges. that's what i'm saying. >> right. and it may well be in terms of you're not getting huge tax reform and not reforming social security or medicare. but that -- none of the big things are going to happen by the end of this year. so that's why i'm asking, these are going to come up incrementally and so i'm asking you whether you think the absence of these other things that you're talking about -- >> but, candy, if the president were to go to congress and say i

want to lower personal income taxes and corporate taxes by a significant amount in order to do something such that next year will not be an economic flat line, i believe he could get that support. it is simply not in his dna. so, no, taking a position on extending unemployment benefits or leaving that 2 percentage point reduction in payroll taxes, that's not working on the right problem. >> okay. >> that's my point. >> with the election less than one year away and students in the midst of applying to college, the princeton review has recently named the most politically active colleges. coming in at number ten, new hampshire. ham shirt college, that is. baits college, number nine. harvard college, number eight. university of chicago, united states military academy at west point, number six. the top five politically active colleges coming up right after this. what's next? 607 franklin st. ♪

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before the break, we named five of the top ten politically active colleges according to the princeton review. rounding out the list are number five, american university. number four, college of the atlantic. number three, new college of florida. georgetown university, number two. and number one, the george washington university. welcome back to this special hour of the "cnn newsroom." we're focusing on politics,

allowing you to hear from the 2012 presidential contenders, uninterrupted. cnn's debate tuesday night focused on national security and two of the republican candidates tangled over the patriot act. here is the exchange between former house speaker newt gingrich and congressman ron paul. >> i think you want to use every tool that you can possibly use to gather the intelligence. the patriot act has clearly been a key part of that. and i think looking at it carefully and extending it and building an honest understanding that all of us will be in danger for the rest of our lives, this is not going to end in the short run, and we need to be prepared to protect ourselves from those who, if they could, would not just kill us individually, but would take out entire cities. >> speaker, just to clarify, you wouldn't change the patriot act? >> no, i would not change it. i'm not aware of any specific change that it needs and i would look at strengthening it because i think the dangers are literally that great. and, again, i spent years

studying this stuff. you start thinking about one nuclear weapon, in one american city, and the scale of loss of life and you ask yourself, what should the president be capable of doing to stop that? and you come up with a very different answer. again, very sharp division. criminal law, the government should be, frankly, on defense and you're innocent until proven guilty. national security, the government should have many more tools in order to save our lives. >> congressman paul, i suspect you disagree. >> i do. >> tell us why. >> i think the patriot act is unpatriotic because it undermines our liberty. i'm concerned as everybody is about the terrorist attack. timothy mcveigh was a vicious terrorist, he was arrested. terrorism still on the books, internationally and nationally is a criminal, it is a crime and we should deal with it. we dealt with it rather well with timothy mcveigh. why i really fear it is we have drifted into a condition that we

were warned against because our early founders were very clear, they said don't be willing to sacrifice liberty for security. today it seems too easy that our government and our congresses are so willing to give up our liberties for our security. i have a personal belief that you never have to give up liberty for security. you can still provide security without sacrificing our bill of rights. >> i want to bring others in. do you want to respond, mr. speaker? >> yeah. timothy mcveigh succeeded. that's the whole point. timothy mcveigh killed a lot of americans. i don't want a law that says, after we lose a major american city, we're sure going to come and find you. i want a law that says, you try to take out an american city, we're going to stop you. >> this is like saying that we

need a policeman in every house, a camera in every house because we want to prevent child beating and wife beating. you can prevent crimes by becoming a police state. if you advocate the police state, yes, you can have safety and security, and you might prevent a crime, but the crime then will be against the american people and against our freedoms and we will throw out so much of what our revolution was fought for. so don't do it so carelessly. >> from protecting the home land to protecting interests overseas, the 2012 republican presidential candidates talk about pakistan, american aid and nuclear weapons. that discount double check. you saved us hundreds. what was that? the discount double check? it's when we comb through your policies and make sure that you're getting all the discounts you deserve. no, i get that part, but you guys are doing my move. the discount double check move? that's my touchdown dance. so you're a dancer? no, i'm a quarterback. oh, a quarterback. mrr. i'm a robot. mm, mm. ee, er, ee, er. get out of here. [ male announcer ] aaron rodgers got his. how about you?

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cnn brings you politics each sunday. during this hour, we're bringing you the 2012 presidential contenders in their words. yesterday's nato attack that killed two dozen pakistani soldiers at a military checkpoint put new strains on the already strained relationship between the united states and pakistan. that relationship was part of tuesday night's cnn republican debate. some of the strongest comments were from michele bachmann and

rick perry. >> you asked me about the money that the united states gives to pakistan. this is a dual answer. a nation that lies, that does everything possibly that you could imagine wrong. at the same time, they do share intelligence data with us regarding al qaeda. we need to demand more. the money that we are sending right now is primarily intelligence money to pakistan. it is helping the united states. whatever our action is, it must ultimately be about helping the united states and our sovereignty, our safety and our security. >> you would continue that aid to pakistan. >> at this point i would continue that aid, but i do think that the obama policy of keeping your fingers crossed is not working in pakistan. i also think that pakistan is a nation that is kind of like too nuclear to fail. we have to make sure we take that threat very seriously.

>> governor perry? >> i understand where she's coming from, but the bottom line is they showed us time after time that they can't be trusted. and until pakistan clearly shows that they have america's best interests in mind, i would not send them one penny. period. i think it is important for us to send the message to those across the world, that if you're not going to be an ally of the united states, do not expect a dime of our citizen's money to be coming into your country. that is the way we change foreign policy. now, if we want to engage these countries, with our abilities and our companies that go in and help to economically build these cotries up rather than writing a blank check to them, we can have that conversation, because i think that is a change in foreign policy that would be adequate and appropriate and in a positive move for us. but to write a check to countries that are clearly not

representing american interests, is nonsensical. >> you want to respond, congresswoman bachmann. >> with all due respect to the governor, i think that's highly naive. again, we have to recognize what is happening on the ground. these are nuclear weapons all across this nation. potentially al qaeda would get a hold of these weapons. these weapons could find their way out of pakistan, into new york city, or into washington, d.c., and a nuclear weapon could be set off in this city. that's how serious this is. we have to maintain an american presence. they certainly aren't looking out for the best interests of the united states. i wouldn't expect them to. but at the same time, we have to have our interests, which is national security represented. the best way to do that with an uneven actor state is to have some sort of presence there. >> i want to give governor perry a chance to respond. she said your views were highly naive. >> we need to be engaged in that

part of the world. i never said for us not to be engaged. i said we need to quit writing blank checks to these countries. i think if we would create a trade zone in that part of the world where you have all of those countries working together, that may be the answer to getting pakistan to understand that they have to work with all of the countries in that region. >> i want to move on. you'll have a chance to respond. >> wolf, if i could just clarify. we're not writing just blank checks. we're also exchanging intelligence information. so we aren't writing blank checks. >> all right. >> the republican presidential contenders also talked about afghanistan and the u.s. pulling its troops out of that country. a heated debate next.

we continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign every sunday. we're spending this hour of the "cnn newsroom" to allow you to hear from the contenders as they spell out their future for the united states. afghan president hamid karzai has announced his troops are taking charge of more provinces

including parts of helmand province where many british troops have been killed in past years. it is considered a key moment in the drawdown of u.s. troops and the gradual pullout of nato forces. the american troop departure led to a tense exchange between mitt romney and jon huntsman in last week's cnn debate. >> our effort there is to keep afghanistan from becoming a launching point for terror against the united states. we can't just write off a major part of the world. pakistan is the sixth largest country in the world. we can't just say good-bye to all of what is going on in that part of the world. instead we want to draw them toward modernity. for that to happen, we don't want to pull up stakes and run out of town after the extraordinary investment we made. that means we should have a gradual transition of handing off to the afghan security forces the responsibility for their own country. >> i think we need to square with the american people about what we have achieved. we need an honest conversation in this country about the sacrifices made over nearly ten

years. we have -- we have dismantled the taliban. we have run them out of kabul. we have had free elections in 2004. we killed osama bin laden. we dismantled al qaeda. we have achieved some very important goals for the united states of america. now the fact we have 100,000 troops nation building in afghanistan when this nation so desperately nieds to be built, when on the ground we need intelligence gathering, no doubt about that. we need a strong special forces presence. we need a drone presence and some ongoing training of the afghan national army. but we haven't done a very good job defining and articulating what the end point is in afghanistan. i think the american people are getting very tired about where we find ourselves today. >> let me let governor romney respond. >> let me respond. are you suggesting, governor, we take all our troops out next week? what is your proposal? >> did you hear what i just said? i said we should draw down from 100,000 troops. we need a presence on the ground

that is more akin to 10 or 15,000. that will serve our interests in terms of intelligence gathering and special forces capability. we need to prepare for a world, not just in south asia, but every corner of the world, in which counterterrorism is going to be in front of us for as far as the eye can see in the 21st century. >> and the commanders on the ground feel we should bring down our surge troops by december of 2012 and bring down all of our troops other than 10,000 or so by the end of 2014. the decision to pull our troops out before that, they believe, would put at risk the extraordinary investment of treasure and blood, which has been sacrificed by the american military. i stand with the commanders in this regard and have no information that suggests that pulling our troops out faster than that would do anything but put at great peril the extraordinary sacrifices that has been made. this is not time for america to cut and run. we have been in for ten years. we're winding down. the afghan troops are picking up

the capacity to secure their country and the mission is pretty straightforward that is to allow the afghan people to have a sovereign nation, not taken over by the taliban. >> what do you say, pull out -- go ahead. >> just about the generals on the ground. listen, i think it is important for the american people to know we have achieved some very important objectives in raising standards in afghanistan and helping to build civil society. but at the end of the day, the president of the united states is commander in chief. commander in chief. of course you're going to listen to the generals. but i also remember when people listened to generals in 1967 and we heard a certain course of action in southeast asia that didn't serve our interests very well. the president is the commander in chief and ought to be informed. >> 37 days and counting before the nation's first caucus. many newspapers and groups are deciding who they will endorse as president. straight ahead, our candy crowley looks at these game changers.

newt gingrich is back, ladies and gentlemen. are you excited about it? newt. the same thing, mitt romney, you know, we never had in the

history of this great republic, ever had a president named mitt. and obviously the same would be true for newt. >> newt. >> so, i mean, i'm pulling for both of them because that would be groundbreaking stuff, wouldn't it? but newt gingrich says he wants to get rid of social security. yeah. well, wait a minute, let's think about it. who is more qualified to give this country financial advice than a guy who ran up a half million dollar bill at tiffany's. that's the guy. >> that's david letterman punching some fun at newt gingrich. he has had a big week with the jump in the polls and a key endorsement. chief political correspondent candy crowley wraps it all in this week's game changer. >> give this week to newt gingrich, the latest republican game changer to rise in the polls and today's brass ring recipient. he won the endorsement of the influential conservative newspaper "the new hampshire

union leader." the paper praised gingrich for bold, innovative ideas that will help a country in crisis. mitt romney has consistently led the polls in new hampshire, but the editor of the editorial page says romney is too careful a guy, trying to please everyone. >> i don't think we're in the kind of situation right now as a country that that's necessarily the right kind of president at the moment. perhaps in the late 19th century, perfect. >> youch. the union leaders track record of endorsing the eventual winner is abysmal, but newt is not complaining. it is probably welcome relief after spending the week parsing his suggestion that not every undocumented worker ought to be thrown out of the country. >> if you've been here 25 years and you have kids and grandkids, paying taxes and obeying the law, belong to a local church, i don't think we're going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully and kick you out. >> that has the ring of amnesty, which if it were shorter, would be a four letter word in the republican party.

gingrich's republican rivals thinks he stepped in it and are taking full advantage. finally, returning to the aforementioned too cautious mr. mitt romney, the new york times featured an article on the hair, the perfect, perfect hair. the times quotes romney's long time stylist saying, i womill tl him to mess it up a little bit but he's a very controlled man. the hair goes with the man. the paper points out on occasion romney will trim his own hair and that is much to the dismay of his barber. fred? >> thanks so much, candy. we're counting down to the nation's first caucus in iowa and the first primary in new hampshire. straight ahead, we're tracking which candidates will be in those states this week. who ate my cookies and milk?

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apparently new hampshire is the place to be this week in the 2012 presidential hunt. michele bachmann, herman cain, jon huntsman, rick perry, rick santorum and ron paul will make stops there throughout the week. mitt romney will spend the first part of the week in florida. newt gingrich heads to south carolina and will be a guest on cnn's john king usa tomorrow night from charleston. and then on wednesday, president barack obama will trave