comes to a great liz taylor story attached. >> she almost lost it and they found it in her pup pip's mouth. >> reporter: only thing more glittering than her diamonds were the flash bulbs, jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." the news continues next on cnn. good evening, in tonight's truth, a look at why republicans are better off if they avoid questions that generate this answer. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders taken off the field. >> women's groups ask the question of betrayal after allowsing the so-called morning after pill to be sold to girls 16 and under. >> this is why we need more women in leadership. >> those stories and more in a packed hour ahead. let's get you up to speed with the news you need.

deadly violence today at the university already infamous as the scene of mass murder. virginia tech, 33 mats kerr massacred in 2007. today shots rang out again, a frightened campus immediately lockdown. a gunman approached a campus police officer in his vehicle area shot the officer dead. the gunman was seen running towards a parking lot where a second body was found a short time later. was it the gunman or someone else? still unknown tonight. here's what they said at the news conference a short time ago. >> you consider this case other than figuring out the details is basically closed. >> i wouldn't say closed, no. >> harm to the public -- >> i would say when the university lifted the alert they consulted with several people and they felt like it was safe to have the students and faculty

go about the rest of their day. >> virginia tech officials say the alert system they put in place following the 2007 massacre worked quite well. in pennsylvania, jerry sandusky back home. the former penn state football coach posted a quarter million dollar bail and released from custody. he was put in cuffs for the second time yesterday accused of new child sex abuse charges. the two new alleged victims came forward, as they came forward, sandusky's wife said, i continue to believe in jerry's innocence and all of the good things he has done. i'm asking everyone to be reasonable and open-minded until both sides of this case are heard. joining us on the phone tonight from pennsylvania, sara gan om, from the patriot news. what is the significance of her making a public statement and how important is she in the court of public opinion and potentially in the court of law? >> you're right, we have not much heard from dotty sandusky up to this point.

that is the significance of the statement she issued tonight. even though we haven't heard from her, she's been the subject of a lot of conversation, especially today, one day after new charges were filed against her husband and the grand jury present. that came along with the new charges talked about her a lot. dotty sandusky was mentioned in the first presentment, almost kind of in passing. some direct evidence about her role that she might have played in this but really this latest grand jury presentment specifically says that one of the victims said he cried out for help from the basement while he was being assaulted hoping dotty would come and help him but no help came. her statement today seems to be a response to that and really a response to a lot of people talking today about what role she might have played in this. >> a little bit more from her statement where we move on. i'm sad anyone would make a terrible accusation which is

absolutely untrue. sara, you're on the phone because you're at the central mountain high school for a school board meeting. help our viewers understand why the questions tonight could be so important, including a controversy at this school, correct? some students were allowed to leave with jerry sandusky? >> that's correct, john. that had been controversial. another thing they have come under scrutiny for was the response when victim 1 came forward, he was the first one to come forward. he was a student here. he says and his mother says that he came to the principal's office -- he was being abused by jerry san dusdy who was a volunteer football coach and the principal told the family to go home and think about what they wanted to do. we haven't heard much from the school up until this point. i did talk to the board president and they are not going to issue a statement today. they were thinking about and they say their attorneys told them it wasn't a good idea. the public meeting doesn't call for questions but he did tell me

this. he said we are comfortable with our response. that gives you an idea of what page they are on right now. i don't think we'll be hearing as much from them as we expected we might tonight. >> sara ganim, thanks for your help tonight. it's a mystery on top of a mystery. look at what iranian tv is showing, it's said to be the drowned u.s. spy drone. it appears to be in pretty good shape. but is that really an american spy drone? for that let's bring in chris lawrence. straight up, initially the pentagon assumed this was shot down or whether it lost flight control the iranians recovered it. your sources telling you when they see these images what? >> that they are not so sure now. it's a great question to raise when you consider iran is believed to be the country that once welded oil drums together and claimed they had a sophisticated russian missile system. in this case you're getting different opinions from

officials and analysts alike. one aviation expert i spoke with says he thinks it's real. he accounts for the good shape by saying, look, it was not shot down and could have glided to earth in what he calls a falling leaf pattern that would have left it relatively intact. another anl sift says this is nothing more than a parade float. he said the wings when you look at these images side by side, he said the wings on the iranian video droop lower whereas he said most of the images we've seen of this drone, the wings are positioned higher for better stability. in one u.s. official said flat out, these drones are not designed to survive a crash like that intact. he says the u.s. had satellite footage of the wreckage and it showed that the drone sustained significant damage. >> chris lawrence live at the pentagon. i'm a tad suspicious but what do i know? it is a fascinating question.

thank you. >> you're welcome. >> different and disturbing news from the pentagon tonight. the air force admits it never initially bothered to determine, get that, the number of american military remains that were buried in a virginia landfill. now says the number is substantially higher than first thought. military now says body parts from 274 killed service members initially sent to dover air force base were cremated then buried in a landfill with medical waste. an additional 1700 body fragments were never identified. in massachusetts, occupy boston protesters face ag midnight break down to their camp. police will take action if the protesters are not gone. a make shift library and food tent were broking down but some of the demonstrators are debating whether to test that deadline. >> a major showdown between the white house and republicans. the gop blocked the president's choice to lead a new consumer watch dog agency.

they want to scale back the powers first. but they he says too often take advantage of consumers. >> this is a big deal. one in five people use these kinds of mechanisms to finance everything from buying a house to cashing their checks. and we passed a law last year that said we need this consumer watch dog in place to make sure the people aren't taking advantage of it. >> the payroll tax cut playing out on capitol hill tonight. democrats and republicans contested competing plans in the senate but neither has enough votes to pass. with no compromise in sight, the president says he's likely to scale back his vacation plans, stay here in washington and urge congress to keep at it. >> so i know some of you might have been looking forward to a little sun and sand, but the

bottom line is that we are going to stay here as long as it takes to make sure that the american people's taxes don't go up on january 1st and make sure that folks who desperately need unemployment insurance get that help. >> more on is that story in a minute. newt gingrich was in south carolina, one day after our new poll showed the former house speaker with a big lead in that state. gingrich said he would relish a contest with president obama. >> if watch the speeches, they are totally left wing radical, class warfair, bureaucratic socialist speeches. it's a respectable position, it's just wrong. i happen to believe in the declaration of independence and constitution, adam smith, the wealth of nations and idea of creating jobs. >> texas governor rick perry was in south carolina today. mount pleasant to be exact. his focus on military issues and

social conservatives. >> i think it's important for americans of faith to be engaged in the public arena. the first amendment says we're going to have freedom of religion, not freedom from religion. >> in iowa, a major investment by supporters of mitt romney, a so-called super pack launched a new tv ad in iowa today and cnn is told the spending will surface $2 million. >> how many jobs did barack obama create as a community organizer? as a law professor? maybe now you see the problem. mitt romney turned around dozens of american companies and helped create thousands of jobs. >> back here in washington, congressional republicans grilled eric holder today threatening impeachment and accusing him of withholding information on fast and furious. the failed mission was supposed to track guns going across the border into mexico and into the

hands of mexican drug cartels instead some of the guns used in crimes including against u.s. border agtsz. congressional republicans grilled eric holder and the man in the hot seat seemed to take a page out of bill clinton's play book arguing legal definitions. >> if you want to have this legal conversation, it has to do with your state of mind and whether or not you had the requisite intent with something that would be considered perjury or a lie. >> republican house member james sensenbremer, a bit more direct. >> the answers you have given so far are basically saying, gee, somebody else did it and there is really no responsibility within the justice department. you know, the thing is that if we don't get to the bottom of this and that requires your assistance on that, there's only

one alternative that congress has. and it's calledi impeachment. >> the inspector general's office has to issue a report on that investigation. he's a long shot so far but beginning to pick up steam. jon huntsman right here. the employee of the month isss...

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jon huntsman urged republicans to take a second look at the two candidates now dominating the gop presidential race. >> governor romney will say anything to earn the voters' trust. we are in this mess because there are already enough people in washington who make a career out of telling people what they want to hear. newt gingrich is a product of that same washington, who participated in the excesses of our broken and polarized political system. >> here's the short version. >> we have a choice between a panderror in chief, lobbyist in chief or commander in chief. i want to be commander in chief.

>> just before that speech governor huntsman paid a visit. >> a fairly tough speech, you say governor romney will say anything and newt gingrich was part of the polarization, tough words, clear contrast. a lot of people would say, where you been, what took you so long? >> we were talking about the economic deficit and you can't have a complete discussion without talking about the second deficit which is a trust deficit. i would argue, it's equally corrosive in this country. you can't just handle the economic deficit while leaving the trust deficit untouched. we need a leader that can hit that head on, calls for congressional reform and somebody to take on the banks on wall street. >> why don't the voters trust you, if you will? if you look at the polling data, you spent most of your time in new hampshire. we have brand-new numbers out, romney 35, gingrich 26, paul 17, huntsman 8% in the state of new hampshire. why? >> they trust us enough to go up in every single poll, this one put out the last month or two.

we're going up. the trajectory is right if you look at three or four years ago where people were. the voters of new hampshire they don't coalesce around a candidate until ten days out. i suspect we'll take our arguments to the people there about the economic deficit and trust deficit and a lou them to make a decision and we're connecting. >> one of our contributors eric erickson writes this, what's so tragic about the huntsman race, he has the boldest recovery plan and best jobs creation record of anyone in the race with the exception much rick perry and he has run away from that to be the guy who doesn't defend the women of the "the view." george will who has been around the track a few times wrote this this past sunday. jon huntsman chose to debut as the republican for people who rather dislike republicans but his program is the most conservative.

do you second guess your strategy? >> what is happening in the marketplace, a lot of people who didn't give us a first look are coming around to look at my record and years of service and saying he's exactly what we're looking for. they overlooked us at the beginning because they said he crossed a partisan line and served as united states ambassador to china in a democratic administration. i say i always put my country first. >> did you encourage that a bit by saying i'm going to be civil and be mr. nice guy and not stressing the more conservative parts of your record. if they said he was barack obama's ambassador, did you not maybe reinforce their difference? >> when you come out on the stage, it takes a while for the record to be seen and absorbed by people. so after a few months, people are looking at the record and saying, this is what we've been looking for. they've gone through six front runters and with five weeks left, the timing is exactly right. they are giving us a legitimate first look.

i think they will like what they see. >> if you look at the numbers today it's easy to be skeptical about your approach. if you look at the volatility, i don't rule anything out as we go forward. one of your catch phrases is that you are the consistent conservative in the race. i want you to listen -- this is jon huntsman on abc back in august saying that you think many republicans have it wrong when it comes to climate change. >> when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the national academy of sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man's contribution to it, i think we find ourselves on wrong side of science and therefore in a losing position. >> jon huntsman making the case, listen to science there is climate change and man has a significant role in it. here's jon huntsman earlier this week in washington. >> they owe us more in terms of a better explanation of what

might lie beneath all of this. tlsz not enough information to form late policies in terms of addressing it overall? >> that a retreat? >> not at all. scientists weighed in on the body of knowledge they work on for a living, i say i'm going to be with science. might have 1% who dispute that and i say the discussion will continue. >> you say you need more information, there's not enough information right now to fo formulate policy. as governor you were part of the western regional compact on this issue that included cap and trade. do you think that's a good idea? >> i think dealing with emissions is a good idea. governor romney, newt gingrich, we're all talking about the same thing, the economy implodes and cap and trade which was a free market based system in the old days of the clean air act kind

of morves into a tax scheme. it doesn't work when you're trying to get your economy back on its feet. >> if you were president -- only a crazy people who kill -- what we've watched over months and videos of syrian troops beating his own citizens that he had nothing to do with it and it can't be happening in his country and it isn't happening because of his leadership. what a president huntsman do to get assad to step down or force him to? >> i say you look at the numbers. you've got 10,000 refugees living in turkey and 4,000 of his own people who have been killed. you've got a relationship with iran that is deeply troubling in terms of pipeline between tehran an damascus. the flow of support to hamas and hezbollah. i say -- i would start by supporting the exiled government. i would give support to the exiled government and work whatever means diplomatic and covert that were available to

lend support to the groups that share our values. because we need more people that share our values like israel in the middle east. >> thank you for your time. >> ahead a senate republican's unwittingly helping the president find his voice. an unprecedented use of power that has social conservatives heaping rare praise on the obama white house. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of a pain free holiday. ♪ this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills. they won't be beat. oh, actually... then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! oh, load up the sleigh;

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unprecedented obama administration decision to limit access to emergency contraception is creating a rare political divide. social conservatives are praising the white house and liberals are furious. at issue is whether a medication referred to as a morning after pill should be available without a prescription to women under the age of 17. the food and drug administration said yes, recommending the plan b pill be made available as an over the counter medication to everyone. current policy requires those younger than 17 get a prescription. health and human services second kathleen sebelius overruled the fda recommendation, something that has never happened before. though president obama said he had no direct role in this decision, some liberal groups believe the white house wanted to duck an election year fight over parental rights and birth control. here to debate the politics, tiffany, the president of the white house project, an organization aimed at advancing women's leadership opportunities

and jeanny monohan. i've seen a lot of e-mails and other liberal organizations calling this a betrayal by the democratic president. is that right? >> i've been married to a fabulous man for 15 years. in that timize done things i haven't liked. we're making sure this doesn't happen again. a lot of my colleagues, including myself were stunned because this is not consistent actually with the track record of the administration. >> why do you think they did it? >> well, i don't read the white house memos but there's a lot of talk about politics and about the political fallout that would occur in 2012. listen, this is a really interesting game that we've got to play here in washington and across the country and part of the role of the white house project is to encourage women to actually get in the game and

actually pursue their ambitions, whether they are in politics or business. this is one of the things that often creates a barrier to women getting in the game if the negotiation has to happen, the back and forth that has to happen. but this is also why we need more women in leadership. >> jeanne monohan, i'm thinking how much times in the past few years have you said, thank you, mr. president? >> it's a great pleasure to say could be grat lagss secretary sebelius. we have heard this administration pledge a promise to science and i believe that's what they were doing. most parents will do removing a medical screening for women and young women as young as 10 or 111 if they are sexually active would not be in the best interest of young women's health. >> let's listen to the president of the united states. when he was asked about this today, he spoke not only as the president but as the father of

two daughters. >> as the father of two daughters, i think it is important for us to make sure that we apply some common sense to various rules when it comes to over the counter medicine. >> tiffany, why should a 15-year-old girl, a 14-year-old girl, 12 or 13-year-old girl be able to walk into a pharmacy and buy this pill? >> well, let's talk about common sense. young women that age already have access to medications, some of which are more dangerous than what we're talking about here. it wasn't that long ago i was a 15-year-old girl that needed access to contraceptives, while i have very wonderful parents, the truth of the matter is i didn't want to talk to them about my sex life. i just came this morning speaking to a group engaging with a group of girls at a high school in connecticut.

they are smart, talented and capable women. and despite what obama has said, i can't imagine that sasha or malia were in a situation finding themselves needing this, that he would want them to have access. >> you say the administration went with the science, secretary sebelius says she hasn't seen any research whether the drug is safe for 11-year-olds or 12-year-olds. to tiffany's point, people say hogwash, pure politics, if that was the argument, why could an 11-year-old walk in and buy acetaminophen. you believe this was policy in science or do you think it was let's stay out of this fight in an election year? >> i'm not going to try to get into the president or kathleen sebelius's mind. i don't know what motivated the decision and we were surprised as well as everybody else. according to the centers for disease control, half of the

people in the nation who have an std are young people under the age of 25. it is not good medical practice for those young people to remove from them medical screening. it's common sense and good public health sense for young people who are sexually active to interface with a medical professional. if a young woman has a sexually transmitted disease and it goes undiagnosed because she has not interacted with a medical professional, she could have lifelong ramifications from that. >> you talked about the barriers in women as politics. you think it is politics and some people say the administration took hits when it said if you're going to be part of the new health care program, those plans have to offer contraception for free. some people see this as the tradeoff trying to reach back out to people in the middle. is that the way the system works? >> that's exactly the way the system works sometimes and though it's challenging and sometimes we don't like the system, it's incredibly important that we understand the system in order for us to even

change the system. that's part of the reason why at the white house project we're really focused on getting young women in the game and in the system. >> it's a fascinating debate, both on the policy and debates. tiffany dufu, thanks for your time today. >> truth explores the question behind this answer. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in a a appeasement. and shots fired on the virginia tech campus. have more awkward conversations than i'm equipped for because i'm raising two girls on my own. i'll worry about the economy more than a few times before they're grown. but it's for them, so i've found a way. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders

so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there.

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welcome back, if you're just joining us, right now two people were killed at virginia tech, the site of a massacre, 33 people killed back in 2007. one of the victims today was a police officer shot to death. the i.d. of the second victim is unknown. vladimir putin has a message for the united states, butt out, accusing the obama administration for meddling in russia's election process. >> translator: the first thing that the u.s. secretary of state said about the russian elections was that they were neither fair nor free. even before receiving reports from international observers. by saying that, she set the tone for public figures in our country. gave them the signal.

they've heard that signal and would be supportive of the u.s. state department started their active work. >> we expressed concerns that we thought were well-founded about the conduct of the elections and we are supportive of the rights and aspirations of the russian people to be able to make progress and to realize a better future for themselves and we hope to see that unfold in the years ahead. here in washington, jon corzine dropped a bombshell. the former head of mf global said of the missing funds, quote, i simply do not know where the missing money is. more than a billion of funds nowhere to be found. the former syracuse basketball coach nearly abused him a decade ago. fine denies that allegation and

now facing charges of molesting a boy. john mccain and john kyle voiced concern about how sheriff arpaio handled charges of sex crimes and promises state and local investigations into the sheriff's office. now to tonight's number, it could affect you and your tax bill. it is 23. 23 days for congress to act to extend the payroll tax cut that's been in place for some time. you want to know the exact hour? let's check in about the white house website. they are keeping a clock up. 23 days, five hours, 21 minutes and 40 seconds. you see them counting down. that's when your taxes will go up unless congress acts. if you make $35,000 a year and nothing is done, your taxes go up $700 next year. 50,000, up about $1,000. 75,000 a year, taxes go up $1500. if you make more than $110,000, go up in the ballpark of $2300.

that's the debate they are sparring. affects 160 million people, part of this is it whether to extend unemployment benefits. if they get this done, it could cost in the ballpark of $232 billion, but a partisan divide over how big big and whether to include the jobless benefits and most importantly how to break pay for it. when we come back, the president was in the briefing room today arguing over several points with senate republicans. one big question, are the actions of those republicans actually helping the president use the bully pulpit? that's next.

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erin burnett is coming up at the top of the hour. i understand you're going to dig deep on this frightening virginia tech shooting. >> yes, we are, john. amazing to watch it happen today with remembering back to 2007. we're going to have on a mother who's son was a student at virginia tech in 2007 and now has two twins who are juniors and there today. all three join us to talk about what went down today and exactly where they were when this situation happened at virginia tech. i have a letter here that i just got from the iranian ambassador to the united nations, he's going to be on exclusive guest tonight. they are giving us details of what they say happened with this incredibly sophisticated u.s.

drone. we are in abu dhabi covering the story. they say it flew 250 kilometers into iran. we're going to talk about exactly what happened with him, whether iran shot the drone down and what the next steps might be. and also governor john zununo was criticizing the record of newt gingrich. >> he's not shy. have fun with that one. >> all right. >> did senate republicans do the president a favor by blocking his choice to lead a new consumer protection agency. most americans probably don't know who richard cordray is. but they say republicans are carrying for the wall street firms and big banks. >> to make sure individual consumers are protected. everybody from seniors to young people are looking for student loans, to members of our armed services, probably more

vulnerable than just about anybody when it comes to unxrup you house financial practices. >> is this t-ball for the guy with bully pulpit? chief political analyst gloria borger. i'll ask you first, i know republicans have concerns about the size and scope of this agency but they couldn't defeat it. it passed and it exists. why give the president the chance, the economic numbers are against him and statistics are against him. nobody in america knows who richard cordray is, why give him a chance to say my guy wants to help you with your mortgage and make sure military families don't get screwed and republicans are siding with the banks? >> on occasion in washington, even republicans are capable of trying to do the right thing, even if it hurts him politically. and they actually tried to do this. you're right, this is an agency that is completely unaccountable. its powers are fantastic. the guy can't be fired once he's in the job. you know who funds this thing?

the federal reserve. this is just layers of unaccountability. >> but they lost the fight. this was the argument when they were debating dodd-frank. so the signing a law into law means nothing, you keep fighting. >> i don't think it is t-ball for the guy in the bully pulpit because this is another four-letter word to most americans. there was a lot of education that went on at the time this horrible piece of legislation, dodd-frank went through. all republicans said we will put this in place but you need to do something on accountability, make it five people, not one single unelected official and allow it to have the appropriations go through congress so there's some voter feedback mechanism. i agree with alex, one this is funded by the fed, you will never know what's going on. >> they lost -- i thought -- i'm trying to remember back to civics class, after both chambers of congress pass it, the president signs it and then

the law of the land as you implement what it says. you create this agency and it used to be conservatives used to argue, no matter who was the presidential election, the president gets his pick. my argument is beyond that. all of the economics statistics are hard for this president. why give him a chance? it's an old axe elrod argue. it referendum or choice? >> don't forget, this is the president who is criticized for bailing out wall street. now i gets to be on the side of the consumers against big bad wall street. they are not looking at the niceties of the bill, as john points out, it's already law. you want to change the law? there's an election coming up. >> but you know what this does -- >> but at this point -- >> you're double-teamed if you haven't noticed. >> at this point he's taking on wall street and he wants a payroll tax cut for the middle

class. >> this does not help consumers. in fact, it will raise the prices of goods and services they want. >> let them happen and say i told you so -- >> i think isn't it their job to try to improve outcomes for the american people? i believe it is. >> you can still run against him. you know how? this president really has the most flip-flops of any candidate running in the republican or democratic side. he's the guy who's taken more wall street money than anybody. now he says he's -- >> tim geithner. >> same guy, same president. >> you're proving my point, why let him go in and make this argument. you talked about improve outcomes, i want to switch for improved outcomes for newt gingrich. even as he surged in the republican polls, one of the mitt romney's better arguments maybe he hasn't made it, i'm the more competitive general election candidate. i'm stronger against barack obama. look at these just in recent days. ohio, one of the most important

states in the country, gingrich 43, obama 42. but gingrich has been behind if you look in the past. let's move on to florida. obama 46, gingrich 44, slight advantage but that's a tie. the one state where gingrich is way behind is an important state, republicans would love to grab back, pennsylvania, obama 48, gingrich 40. in terms of the electability argument, that was one of the biggest drags on newt. if you look at these numbers now, he can puff up a little more i guess. >> as we know, it's an entire political lifetime between now and when the votes would be cast. i would point out and this is why you see republicans, and i do believe independents too, will come behind whoever the republican nominee is because they would rather have somebody right some of the time than the guy in the office who's been wrong all of the time. >> that would be -- that would be fascinating question, would the independent voters who had a bad taste for everybody, including night gingrich come

back to newt gingrich or is that long and forgotten? >> i think it depends on which newt gingrich shows up or continues to be here. the newt gingrich we've been seeing for the last couple of days, he's been attacked attack people like ron paul, mitt romney surrogates. he's been very cool under the attack. he's been smiling. he hasn't been expansive. he stuck to a message. he's met with conservative. i mean, this is a newt gringrich i covered -- what? >> but he's newt. there's a scary political element in washington that all republicans are not scared of. it's newt onium. republicans are afraid it's on the ballot, it will poison everybody. >> do iranians have that center fuj. >> this is the fellow bill clinton ran against. >> yes. >> and built the clinton presidency on this. i think republicans -- let's not count newt gringrich -- anoint him just yet as the nominee.

looks like he has a strong hand right now. all he has to get through two weeks, christmas the race next thing you know he soars out of iowa into new hampshire. >> of all the anybody but romney candidates, newt has the right timing right now. next, tonight's truth might help you with a cross word puzzle some day. and there's a lesson for republicans too. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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a fun little quiz before we go tonight. what's an 11-letter word for

weak? mitt romney knows. >> internationally president obama has adopted an appeasement strategy. appeasement betrays a lack of faith in america, in american strength and in america's future. >> rick santorum's got it too. >> this president for every thug and high school began for every radical -- he's had nothing but appeasement. we saw that during the lead up to world war ii. appeasement. >> and don't count out michele bachmann. >> president obama must immediately end his doctrine of appeasement and weakness toward iran and pursue decisive common sense strategies ignored or rejected currently by this administration. >> appeasement. it's a page from the age-old republican presidential playbook. do whatever it takes, make the

democrat look timid and weak. here's tonight's truth. it won't work this time. the best defense is a good offense. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in appeasement. >> point, set, match. obama. sure, there are things in the president's foreign policy record that are plenty fair game for criticism. you could build a long list of them. but bin laden is dead and anwar too. sanctions placed are as tough or tougher than any put in place by the george w. bush administration. republicans best to look elsewhere for obama vulnerability. ask osama bin laden is a slam dunk. president obama as a matter of fact gets his highest marks on terrorism and foreign affairs. it's his low approval rating on the economy that is his glaring

weakness. truth is the appeasement line isn't really meant for all of us anyway. it's a serving of red meat for foreign policy conservatives who hopes one of those republicans wins so they can get all the jobs back at the state department and pentagon. truth be told, this is a less red meat and a more eat your peas time for conservatives now watching a democratic president find and kill the terrorists who alluded them all the while expanding the use of drone strikes and other covert tools in a terrorism fight. kudos to the troops and intelligence professionals that's what most of those conservatives say when you raise those points. any president gets the blame for that economy, the commander in chief including this commander in chief gets. and the sooner they accept that, the less they will have to hear that. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in

appeasement. >> take an issue with that? should republicans just let's fight about the economy? >> well, i think the economy will be the determining factor. and i think that's brought out by history. we can parse words on whether we think that the sound bite works. i think it probably does. although foreign policy experts with whom i work have serious concerns and challenges about how president obama has actually conducted u.s. foreign policy. but the bottom line and maybe i'm biassed as an economist is unemployment. next november unemployment stays about where it is and it has a dramatic impact on the outcome of that race. >> you can build a long list of criticisms of the president's foreign policies. democrats might say i'm with him. within the big picture, this is an old playbook, they tried it against bill clinton. it was a little harder. guy from arkansas. different kind of democrat. they thought it would work against this guy, but given the last couple of years, really?

really? >> if republicans spend a dollar or a second trying to defeat barack obama on foreign policy, it's a mistake. >> uh-huh. >> that's not to say there aren't legitimate criticisms. i think he looks bullyish here. he looks a little petulant. iran is close to having a nuclear weapon. our relationships with pakistan, our influence in pakistan's less than ever. a lot of legitimate criticisms. none of those really matter politically right now it's all about the economy. when he stands up there and says, hey, you know, yes, we'll have all these problems but i'm hitching up my pants, spitting in the spit toon, that's not serious. [ overlapping speakers ] >> if -- right, but if any president had killed osama bin laden, i dare say take credit for it. the problem that i have is that the republicans are all over the lot on foreign policy. there's a very strong isolationist wing in the republican