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[inaudible conversations] >> a." dermot ronnie, and that not hurt your chances? >> i will not go after mitt romney. but the reality of a reagan

conservative and a massachusetts moderate. describe the difference between cutting taxes and raising taxes, being right to life and planned parenthood and to romney-care. i do not get this "go after" stuff. you do not need to do that. douglas was the best lawyers in illinois with a bad case, and lincoln was the best with a good case. the trick is trying to find a good case. i was for ronald reagan in the 1980's and he was not. i am happy that i was for reagan in the 1980's. >> beyond new hampshire,? >> i do not think telling the truth comes across as an

negative. you might want to ask him how he thinks it describing his record. >> is that not negative? >> how can i run for president and be for romney.org? you'll have to talk to the people who know these things. i do not know these things. >> what about the momentum going forward? >> i am very concerned. we need to clarify. wii to clarify whether he is a massachusetts moderate with a series of values that are the opposite of the south carolina republican party. if we succeed in doing that, he might win.

>> rick santorum will be standing between you in the debate space. i plan on how you are going to differentiate yourself from him as a romney alternative? >> i plan on being the reagan conservative alternative. it is not mean verses them. i started working for ronald reagan in 1974 and and i helped develop supply-side economics for kemper. i worked for governor reagan as candidate, president reagan for eight years, speaker of the house, built the contract for america. three weeks ago before this advertising, i was the front runner. why would i have to worry about figuring out how to get it to work beyond the negative advertising? [inaudible]

>> how closely are you coordinating with to the santorum campaign? >> not at all. >> was very reason for the patent question? >> i did not know enough in detail about what he was discussing. i will not jump in at random. >> do you think you could have done better. we get very high conversion rate at town hall meetings. you have several thousand extra people to see them on c-span. >> yesterday, he said he and other conservatives were reaching out to you and rick perry to get you to drop out and throw your support behind it

santorum. have you been contacted? >> the house not contacted me. >> what would your opinion be? >> standard preparation. drink a diet coke, call maggie and robert adam get their advice. focus in. slower, smiled, but shorter. >> who will you talk to? >> maggie and robert. how many debates to people think i have one docks -- i have won? >> you're like bill bellacheck. >> why woudl you ? -- why would i go to these other guys?

>> some of these people, it seems like they would rather get $1 million in tax revenue than take that money from the state. will you speak to that again? >> they would be able to get the revenue. who owns the right of way, and allows you to avoid the problem of having eminent domain over property and that having the danger of ruining the tourist industry in northern new hampshire. everyone says they really prefer this solution, and i think it is really worth exploring. thank you very much.

what's on this last day before the first in the nation new hampshire primary, c-span will be live in bedford, new

hampshire, where mitt romney will hold the final event of the day, a campaign rally at 8 and intermediate school. earlier today, talking to the town's chamber of commerce and he held a town hall meeting at a manufacturing company. after that, we will join jon huntsman at a campaign rally in exit there. the former utah governor and ambassador to china is polling in third place behind mitt romney and ron paul. but you want to catch up on any of the campaign events from today, c-span.org. tomorrow night, real will begin our primary coverage when the polls close at 8:00 p.m. eastern and returns start coming in. we will have the victory and a concession speeches. you can call in during our open phone sessions come on facebook, or on twitter.

presidential candidate rick santorum and his wife stopped at a diner in new hampshire earlier today to greet voters. this is the third of five campaign events he held today. he talked to the media outside about his candidacy and tomorrow's primary. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

[inaudible conversations]

>> everybody out. the manager wants you out. let's go, guys. everyone out. let's go. come on.

>> out of respect of the owners, i will not be answering it. as for the cameras. come on, guys.

>> he will talk to you all day, guys. i promise. much to my dismay. go out the front.

[no audio] >> earlier you talked about being in second place. >> i have been running pretty hard. i flew down the south carolina yesterday and i had a great trip. a lot of enthusiasm. people are anxious to get us down there. we have a great, great team there. with a lot of energy and enthusiasm here. it has been a short run up. they have spent a lot of money you're on television, but we did

not have it. we decided to come here anyway. we wanted to just keep our message out there, not just for new hampshire, but around the country. hopefully with our grass roots effort in the team we have built here, the ideas we have been talking about will resonate here. i think they have. we have moved up 2 or 3% in the polls to now in the back of the people who spent a lot more time and money than we have here, which is a good place to be in. >> how would you feel to get second place? >> i would be ecstatic. ron paul has run here like 17 times. to do as well as him, i'm not sure that is possible. if we do it come about, to me, would be great. >> how do continue to fight the assertion that met romney is the guy who is delectable and that you are not electable. >> he has run a three times, as

a liberal, a moderate, and a conservative. i have won five times -- run 5 times and i've won 4 out of 5. who's the most electable? it's a and it concerns a statement because the people who are giving romney money once an established candid it. he lost to john mccain. he lost to bob dole. when you run as a conservative, like ronald reagan, he went through a top primary. we have been able to win. that's what we need. this is a party that understands ultimately that we need a strong conservative voice out there to be a strong alternative to barack obama. we are that alternative. over time, maybe not this primary or the next, but we will have several races down the

road and it will be a one-on-one race. it will be met romney against rick santorum and we will win. >> would you prepare to do to keep people in their homes? >> home foreclosures are an epidemic? what do you plan? crux of testing to do is improve the economy. then we can see housing values go up, housing starts to go up, and people will have the ability to pay their mortgages. that's the best way to do it. we have had this prolonged recession because this president has continually crossed the economy with more and more regulations. it costs business $100 million. 2.5 times the average. this is on american. we need a president who gets it. >> our polls have been moving

ahead a little bit. you are falling back into fourth place in some polls. >> there are some that have me tied for third place that came out today. look. it is all in the margin of error. your poll and others have shown a huge percentage. none of those polls were taken before the debate. we think we did exceptionally well in both of those debates it made the claim that we are the candidates that has the best ability to go toe to toe with - >> ron paul doesn't hate gays. [protestors] >> we're looking for someone who can make a strong contrast. >> we need a strong, courageous conservative.

as far as my policies and through the work have done in the past, be able to reach out. we need to get the manufacturing states, the states we need to win. i have a track record of winning in those states with policies that fit perfectly in with the kind of voters we need to defeat barack obama which is why i think we're the best candidate to win. >> how critical will it be to exterminate [unintelligible] go through andto go to the back. thanks. >> do not let them come in.

>> locum. glad to have your hair. we are real voters. welcome. glad to have you here. >> can we take a picture? >> hello. nice to meet you. >> thank you very much. thank you. >> goodbye, good luck.

>> it's really sad the keep bringing this up. it's bad news. i've done more in the efforts of the american community than any republican in recent memory.

>> you just saw one of wrecks and taro is a campaign stop -- rick santorum's campaign stops in derry. we will be live in that third where mitt romney will hold his final debate on the day, in 25 minutes. at 7:00 p.m. eastern, we will join jon huntsman as he as a campaign rally in eggs letter. the former ambassador to china is polling in third place. he is behind mitt romney and ron paul in second place. tomorrow night, we will begin

our new hampshire primary coverage when the polls closed starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern as returns start coming in and the victory in a concession speeches start. you can get involved by calling our open phone session and reaching out of the of facebook and twitter. earlier today, president obama announced his chief of staff will be resigning to return to chicago. he will be replaced by jake lew. >> last week, my chief of staff, bill daley, informed me after reflecting with his family of the holidays that it was time to leave washington and return to our beloved hometown of chicago. obviously, this was not easy news to hear. i did not accept his decision right away. in fact, i asked him to take a few days to make sure he was sure about it. in the end, the poll of the home

town and we both loved, a city that has been synonymous with his family for generations, was too great. he told me he wanted to spend more time with his family, especially his grandchildren, and felt was the right decision. one of the things that made it easier was the a extraordinary work is done by me in what has been an extraordinary year. bill has been an outstanding chief of staff during one of the busiest and most consequential years of my administration. we were thinking that just one year ago this weekend, before he was even named for the job, he was in the situation room getting updates on the situation in tucson. on his very first day, he took part in a meeting where we discussed bin laden's compound, all before he even had time to unpack his office. over the last year, he has been intimately involved with the

decisions in the end of the war in iraq, and are supported the people of libya. he was instrumental in developing the american jobs act and making sure taxes did not go up. he helped us reach an agreement to reduce the deficit by over $2 trillion, and he played a central role in historic trade agreement with south korea, colombia, and panama. given his past record of service of the secretary of commerce, he was and valuable. no one has had to make more important decisions more quickly than bill. that is why i think this decision is difficult for me. naturally, when bill told me his plans to go back to chicago, i asked him who he thought could fill his shoes. he told me there was one clear choice, and i believe he is right. today, i am pleased to announce that jack lew as agreed to serve

as my next chief of staff. let me begin by thanking his wife for being able to let him serve. for more than one year, he has served as the director of the office of management and budget. for anyone who has been following the news lately, it was not an easy job. during his first tour at the omb under clinton, he was the only budget director in history to preside over a budget surplus for three consecutive years and over the last year, he has helped strengthen our economy and streamline the government during a time when we need to do everything we can keep our recovery going. jack's economic adviser has been the invariable and he has my complete trust, because of his mastery of the numbers, but also because of the values behind them. ever since he began his career

in public service for to o'neill, he has fought for an america where hard work and responsibility pay off. a place where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, everyone plays by the same rules. that has been reflected in every decision that he makes. jack has my confidence on matters outside these borders. before he served at the omb, he spent two years learning the complex challenge of budget and operations for secretary clinton at the state department, where his portfolio also includes managing civilian operations in iraq and afghanistan. over the last year, he has weighed in on many of the major foreign policy decisions that we have made. but no question that i will deeply miss having built by my side here at the white house. -- bill by my side. as he will find out, chicago was only a phone call away.

i plan to continue to seek his advice and counsel on a range of topics on the months and years to come. in washington, i have every confidence that job will make sure we do not miss a beat and continue to do everything we can to strengthen our economy, the middle class, and keep everyone safe. i want to thank bill for his extraordinary service, but also his extraordinary friendship and loyalty to me. it has meant the law, and i want to congratulate jack on his new role. i know he will do an outstanding job. thank you. >> thank you, good luck. >> thank you, everybody. >> comments from president obama earlier today followed by a white house briefing with jary carney -- questions of the iranian conviction of a former u.s. marine and the 2012 presidential election. we will show you as much as we

can until met romney's campaign event in bedford. >> i will let everyone get settled. >> i want to ask your forgiveness that we have to change the briefing scheduled, but i need to be done at 1:45 p.m., so i will go quickly through your questions. let me begin with the announcement, or rather a statement. on wednesday, president obama and vice president biden will post a job as forum for insourcing jobs. the president will meet with business leaders to discuss why

it's imperative to stay and the united states and what will be done for companies to take similar steps. following that meeting, the president will deliver remarks and encouraging to ensor is in america. officials will host panel discussions with experts in investing in america. there will be over one dozen large and small businesses that have made their decision to bring jobs here to increase their investment here. with that, the associated press. >> a couple of topics today. why to get your updated statement about iran, the ex- marine they have accused of the spying. what more the white house can do?

>> it is accurate that we have seen iranian press reports that he has been sentenced to death by an iranian court. our state department is working through the protecting powers to confirm the veracity of those reports. if true, we strongly condemn such a verdict and will work with our partners to condemn this. allegations that he either worked for or was sent to iran by the cia or false. the iranian regime has a background of falsly accusing. we want him to be granted access to legal counsel and won him released without delay. the state department can give you more detail on that. >> were still calling for his release, so what more can you do

other than make these calls? >> it is a broad question. we're putting a great deal of pressure on iran run the because of their rogue behavior come if you will come and that it will not live up to their obligations with regards to the nuclear program. the actions we're taking in concert with our international partners that have had a significant impact on the iranian economy. i believe it was just last week where the new sanctions, when they went into effect, had the impact of causing the iranian currency to drop dramatically. we work with our partners as well as it unilaterally to increase the pressure. with this particular incident, we will work in the manner that i described to you, to call upon iran to release immediately. >> would you say in a case like

this that the administration would attempt to go in and extract him? >> we take the matter seriously and are addressing in the appropriate matter. >> the anniversary of the guantanamo bay, and i wonder what the white house says now to critics who pointed this as a pretty clear broken promise of the president wanting to close that within one year. now what looks like there's really no end in sight. how the response to the criticism about this broken promise? >> the commitment the president has to close in guantanamo bay is as strong today as it was during the campaign. we are all aware of the obstacles to getting that done as quickly as the president wanted to get it done and the fact that they continue to persist, but the president's commitment has not changed at all.

it is the right thing to do for our national security interests. that have been an opinion shared not just by this president for members of this administration but senior members of the military as well as the president's predecessor. he, and the man he ran against come in this general election belt so. we will continue to abide by that commitment and work towards its the lowman. >> any closer to closing it than the day he took office? >> this is a process that faces obstacles that we are all aware 0. we will continue to work through it. reuters. >> to the president watch any of the republican debate this weekend? >> i did not speak to him, but i know that it is unlikely, not because they were debates, but because when he is watching television, he tends to watch --

not watch politics, but sports or movies. i will venture a guess to say no. >> of the republican field starts to narrow a little bit and a front runner gains traction, what is the president's stand on your own strategy in the coming months? >> there is a reelection campaign and this president is doing the things he needs to do to prepare for his campaign. the level of his engagement is relatively low right now because he has work to do as president. he is very focused on his number one priority, doing everything he can as president working with congress are using his executive authority, or working with the private sector, to grow the economy and create jobs. we have had some signs of improvement in the economy, some indications that the recovery is

strengthening, but we are a long way from where we need to be as a country which is why this president is focusing on the initiatives that he has put forward in the american jobs act including the full extension of the payroll tax cut couple extension of unemployment benefits, working with congress to fund infrastructure projects to put kids back to work and the foundation in this economy to be competitive in the 21st century and during the things he will do on wednesday with the endorsing forum to work with the private sector to bring attention to the fact that america is a great place to invest in, the right place for american companies to in-source, if you will come to bring their investments and jobs back to the united states. he will use every tool in the toolbox to do that. the campaign, when it comes, in terms of his enhanced engagement, will consume more

time at the appropriate time. that is not now. >> are things like the nomination of cordray last weekend and the in-sourcing event milestones that will be used for the campaigning season? >> everything he does as president is inherently political. he is running for reelection. but it is a political office, the presidency of the united states, and he will obviously have a lot to say about what has been accomplished during his time in office and come even more so, what needs to do in the ensuing four years and why he believes he has the right vision for the country going forward. having said that, his job is to

be president. his job is to do everything he can to help the american people as we emerge from the worst recession since the great depression, use his executive authority, grow the economy, create jobs, make sure he is doing. can as commander-in-chief to ensure the safety of american people look here and abroad, did take the kinds of actions that allow him to the bill his promise to end the war in iraq as he did late last year. also to continue to draw down the forces in afghanistan, even as we step up our fight against at qaeda. these are all part of his day job and they are quite consuming. because it does not need to now, he is not engaging particularly aggressively in his reelection campaign. it's only january.

and there is no republican nominee. >> is there a recess appointment coming at some level? >> maybe you were here last week. the president recess appointed richard cordray because republicans refused, despite overwhelming bipartisan support, overwhelming testament to the fact that he is enormously qualified, and the overwhelming need to have a consumer watchdog in place. republicans refused to confirm him, give him an up or down vote. every day that there was not a consumer watchdog in that office was another day that americans went on protected from abuses by payday lenders, non- banks, mortgage institutions, student loan providers. he insisted that he would not wait any longer to allow those americans to be unprotected. republicans to oppose the that

nomination they said it was not because they had a problem with him, but because they have a problem with the bureau itself. our position is if they want to change the law, they should do that through the legislative process. it is the law, passed by congress. wall street reform is essential given the crisis that we were went through that contributed to the worst recession since the great depression and he needs to be on the job. that's what president made the appointment. let's move around. >> i could come back to iran for a moment. what was signed into law requires the u.s. to go to a lot of long-term allies and make the case that they should curtail purchases of iranian oil. i'm wondering if, in one week or so, what has the early response been from countries like china, south korea, japan?

are you confident that at the end of this six-month period that you'll be able to go to congress and say in each of these cases that they have significantly reduced the amount of oil they buy from iran? >> i cannot speak for other countries, but are believed that is for the sanctions to be most effective, they need to be multilateralism have multilateral participation. they need to be timed and phased in a way to avoid negative repercussions to the international oil market in ways that may cause more damage to our self than iran. and that is why we worked closely to ensure the flexibility was there to allow us to implement this legislation come implement the sanctions in a way to have the most negative effect, if you will, while protecting us from

shocks in the oil market. we are proceeding with that approach. >> in order to go to congress and asked for a waiver in any of these cases, the phrasing that you need to show that this country is importing significantly less oil, can you be significantly more precise what constitutes in percentage terms a decrease in purchase? >> i will not be more precise. i know we believe strongly the flexibility that is necessary for the president to implement this law effectively exists in the legislation. we work with congress to make sure that it is the case. we are now in the process of doing so. all the way in the back. >> the new pakistan's ambassador to the u.s.. my question is [inaudible]

is the president satisfied with the cooperation he is receiving it now after that incident? >> i have discussed on numerous occasions that we have an important relationship with pakistan, but a complicated relationship with pakistan. we continue to work at it because it is in the interest of the american people and of american national security to do so. i have no update on that for you. except to say about we are working with pakistan precisely because it is in american national security interests to do so come and we will continue to do so. yes? >> there is a lot of interest in the book coming out tomorrow,

details and tension between the first lady and a former top aide to president obama. i'm just wondering what you think about her accounts in the book. >> welcome let me just say that books like these tended to over- sensationalize things done and i think that is the case here. fact of the matter is -- and i think this is depicted in the book -- that the relationship between the president and first lady is incredibly strong. the commitment to each other, their children come and of the reasons why the president rent office is all very strong. the fact of the matter the the first lady is very focused on the issues that matter to her, helping military families, fighting childhood obesity can and she has done that remarkably well. i think that is reflected also in the book.

>> what you make of the account getting attention about the first lady in a meeting with top white house officials? >> looks like these over sons and allies -- over- sensationalize things. i have covered a couple of white house as myself. i've been here for years, although not in this position, but the collegiality and atmosphere here is much better than any of the white house's i covered. that has been the case from day one, and it continues to be the case. these are high-pressure jobs. there's always a lot at stake. the commitment that people shown to the president, the first lady, and the causes that brought them here and is fierce. sometimes that intensity leads people to raise their voices or have sharp exchanges, but the overall picture is one of remarkable collegiality and a

genuine focus. i think you guys know this, too. a lot of you have covered previous administrations. this is a remarkably harmonious place given everything that is at stake and the enormity of the issues discussed and debated here i will not get into individual anecdotes from there. i will simply say that isolating one incident where there were sharp words, whether it is accurate or not, does not reflect the overall atmosphere and tenner here. -- and tenor here. sometimes what really is the focus in those anecdotes come every individual at the senior level that i know is determined to work for the president, work with the first lady to achieve the things they set out to do

when they came here in late january 2009. that is what i see every day. that is what i saw in my first two years at my other job. i think it is a testimony to the commitment that these people here have to these calls those -- causes that we have this relationship. >> has yet been uncommon for mrs. obama to express an interest in west wing policy? and though she voiced concern? >> the author of this book herself said just the other day, if not today, that the first lady is very focused the issues that matter during the to her -- daerly to her, military families and a childhood obesity come and is focused on raising her two children and giving them and not bringing that is as normal that

can be in these rather unusual circumstances. and >> are they upset about the loss -- >> there is not anyone that is upset about the loss that you are referring to. she does not come to meetings in the west wing. i think everybody had hoped for a different outcome in that race. >> will the white house confirmed at the time that johnniy depp was here? >> this goes to my point that books like this take those points that of context. some outlets it said it that there was a secret party. welcome it was secret, white were there contemporaneously autographs? >> it will then comments about johnny depp being here.

>> it was an event for military families and their children were press came, and photographs are taken, it was contemporaneously known he was here. if we are trying to hide something by bringing in the press, we are not very good at it. again, as many people have said, in the wake of those reports, it is an example of the kind of heightened sensationalizing that books like this do. >> there's not one statement from this white house. >> again, purposely. we do a lot of these things. fourth of july, other events. they are geared toward military families and their kids were the purpose is not to publicize them externally for you guys, but to have a nice event for them here. it is different from trying to hide things. do you do not bring the press in to have a photograph of going

out of here in real time that you're trying -- it your trend keeps of the on the download. the focus on that was about celebrating and giving a nice time to the military families and their kids. the event itself was overwhelmingly for children. what's the allegations that the doctors making is that the white house did deliberately keep johnny depp out of this -- >> there were pictures of him instantly available. >> to hear? >> there were many, many people in the white house, public, staff, and others, and there were botas out there. there are outlets that reported this as a "secret party."

to have theponsible press at an event that's secret and have attended by hundreds if not thousands of people. the focus was on military families and their kids. it was not for publicity outside of year, but for those invited. >> he would say that the book is over-sensationalized? >> that happened before the book came out. we cooperated with all of you on the stories that you were gone. we give access to you and grant you interviews. some of your stories turn out to accurately reflect what we know has happened here and some of them, in our view, don't necessarily reflect that. but that is part of our job in

the press shop here is to work with folks working on broadcast reports car radio reports, print reports, books, prose poems, short films, like to call that kind of stuff. >> are you aware of robert gibbs apologize into the first lady? is that something you were aware of? >> i don't have anything more for you on it. what i can tell you is robert focused on helping the president get reelected. he is out there as a member of the team now as he was back then. i will point you to what i said before -- these are high- pressure jobs with a lot at stake. the overall story here is how collegial and harmonious and

focused everyone is here on the task at hand. >> what is the white house's response on the attacks on the president over his policies on iran? anythingt have specific to those criticisms. i think what our approach is to iran -- we have sanctions that are unprecedented that are having demonstrable effect on the iranian economy. iran is isolated in a way it has never been and the pressure on them is significant and increasing. we will continue to work with our international partners to pressure iran to change its pagers and abide by its international obligations. stepping back, this president's

approach to foreign policy, the successes he has had, i think are pretty clear. when that debate comes, he will be ready to engage in it. let me get some more folks in the front. >> has the president or first lady responded to this so far? what is the response over what seems to be the first lady's unhappiness but for what was seen to be unhappiness and living in a bunker-like atmosphere of the white house? >> she wasn't interviewed for this book but she has given interviews and answered this question as recently as last week about the remarkable privilege she's been given to be the first lady and how she feels blessed to be the first lady. i would point you to the first

lady's words to answer that question. and broadly, you have to remember the story here is a husband and wife, mother and father whose lives were enormously different five or six years ago from what they are and what they were when they came to the white house. it's an incredible transition that i think observers rightly point out has been done with remarkable grace and success in terms of the priorities the president has set for himself and the country and in terms of the priorities the first lady has set for herself and her family. that's my reaction. >> any reaction personally to it? >> no.

maybe they have seen a story or two -- don't forget there are tons of books written about this white house. my guess is a safe of -- they stay focused on the things that matter to them. >> what's the white house doing to prepare for challenges from congress [inaudible] the counsel's office. any specificve conversations to report. you know our position and we feel strongly about the legal foundation for the course of action the president took. the fact of the matter is, and if you have any doubts, head up to the hill and check it out for yourself. congress is in recess. the chambers are empty. the halls are quiet.

some republicans, despite overwhelming support across the country from republicans and democrats and attorneys general decided to block this nominee and prevent middle-class americans from having a watchdog looking out for their interests in washington. financial institutions have a lot of well-paid lobbyists in washington working with congress to try to get their interests served. the american people deserve and the president believes they deserve a consumer watchdog whose only job is to make sure they are protected from abusive practices and that's why the president took the action he did. >> [inaudible] any don't have announcements with regard to appointments. >> what kind of preparations are they referring to about the straits of hormuz being closed? >> i would refer to you to the department of -- i would refer

you to the departments of defense for any specifics. we are confident in our capabilities and i will leave it at that. >> going back to the american prisoner in iran -- you say you have heard reports. do you not have official word from the swiss? >> we're working with the swiss protective powers to confirm those reports. i am not saying we doubt them. we have seen the reports and we're working with the swiss, who represent us and with whom we work to represent us in tehran and the government in iran. that is what i just said. we are working with the swiss to do that. >> the death sentence he is reported to have received is subject to confirmation of a larger supreme tribunal of some kind. >> we are pushing very clearly

as i just stated that iran release him. i clearly stated and other has -- others have that the charges against him are false and we want to see him released. the intricacies of the judicial process in iran are not what interests us here. our interests is in seeing him released. >> are you saying he is definitely not cia? >> gas. >> angela merkel and nikolas sarkozy met today to discuss the european debt crisis. -- yes. >> i don't have anything to report, he may have been briefed on it at his presidential daily briefing. but i am sure he is aware of it. we continue to work with our european partners and others

involved in this area and we continue to monitor the progress european leaders are making toward ensuring the right measures are taken and are in place to stabilize the situation and bring it to a decisive conclusion. >> how much concern is there in the administration that more european countries will receive a ratings agency downgrade? >> our concern about the potential for that situation to worsen has been there and continues to be there. we have seen some progress by the europeans and there is more work to be done. it's always a reminder that we need to focus on the things we have control over that can strengthen our economy and prove -- improve our prospects for growth and that's why the president will work with

congress to extend fully the payroll tax cut and the unemployment insurance and he hopes to pass other measures of the american jobs that that will put people to work and grow the economy. you need that kind of assurance and the global economy like this because whether it's europe or the other shocks we saw in the global economy last year, their spring and its effect on oil prices, the earthquake and tsunami and its effect on global supply chains, these are the kinds of things that you sometimes cannot predict. they have effect on the economy and you need to do the things you can do. that's what the american people sent this president here to do and what the american people sent this congress to washington to do. they need to focus on that challenge when the members of congress return to washington. it would be a great gift to the american people f upon reflection of -- if upon

reflection, they decided cooperation was the right way to go for the sake of the economy. let's extend the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance without drama and brinksmanship. let's take up the measures in the american jobs act that have been left undone that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. let's get that done for the american people. let's show them we can work together on their priorities. i'm going to do to more. -- and going to do two more. >> has the president reached out before they returned to congress and what concessions in relation to unemployment insurance might the president be willing to make two house republicans who

proposed making some changes to unemployment insurance that would restrict those who qualify. >> the president put forth his own reforms to unemployment insurance and i would refer you to the american jobs act for that. in terms of overall concessions, let's be clear. these are things the american people believe are necessary and have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. this is a tax cut for 160 million americans. with regards to the unemployment extension, economists recognize extending the unemployment that if it is vital not just to people who receive it but the economy because the money is injected into the economic bloodstream and has a significant impact on growth and job creation. i don't think house republicans are in a position if they are serious about growth and job creation to try to play politics

with this. we saw how that went not that long ago. i think the american people would be extremely disappointed if that approach were taken again. we can do this quickly and we can move on to the other priorities american people have. one more. >> on north korea, north korea announced yesterday that they will never give up their nuclear program. >> i would have to refer you to the state department. i don't have a response on that. thank you very much. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> you have been seeing on the screen -- we're going to show you the mitt romney event in bedford, new hampshire. we understand mitt romney is a few minutes late and we're going to open up our phone lines. here are the numbers to call -- that third line is a new hampshire line. new hampshire's voters only. this is the last event of the day for mitt romney. he said in the intermediate school in new hampshire. once this event wraps up, we will continue on with 7:00 and take you to exeter, new hampshire, where john huntsman

will be holding his final campaign rally of the day and we will have that live as well. we also want to let you know about our coverage for primary day tomorrow. tomorrow is that new hampshire primary. we will have coverage tomorrow on c-span and radio and c- span.org. we will bring you the results, can't it speeches, your comment on facebook and twitter and we will have video as well from our partner in new hampshire, the abc affiliate there. we'll get to phone calls in just a minute. the final poll before the new hampshire primary in conjunction with the university of new hampshire -- it looks like the event might be getting underway. let's take a look. >> are you ready, are we ready? in the live free or die state to

cast the vote that will be heard around the world? are we ready? are we ready to change the course of history, to put governor romney in the white house and turn our economy around? are we ready? [applause] are we ready to ensure governor romney is the next president's so that none of us, none of us will have to apologize for being an american? are we ready? i'm ready, you are ready, and i have three friends to introduce who are ready. three great american patriots. first, senator kelly ayote and her husband from the air force, joe.

she's a rising star in washington, doing a great job for all less and i have another good friend of new hampshire, gov. tim pawlenty from minnesota. [applause] from the liberal land of hubert humphrey and gene mccarthy, this guy cut taxes and balance the budget and is a leading conservative voice across our country. ladies and gentlemen, senator kelly ayote. >> i'm so fired up to be here and i'm here with my wing man, i'm so glad to be with him. our country is in trouble. that's why we're here tonight. we've lost 1.7 million jobs and this president. he has added close to five trillion dollars to our debt.

we cannot stand for more years of barack obama. [applause] but i am so encouraged tonight about america and i'm so encouraged because we have mitt romney running for president. he is someone who, unlike this president, has actually balance the budget both in the private sector and as governor of massachusetts. he eliminated a deficit, balance the budget, put money in the surplus and that's what we need in washington d.c. [applause] he is someone who knows how the economy works and has that private sector experience. he will get americans working again and unlike the president we have right now, he knows jobs are not created in washington d.c., they are created by the small businesses here in new hampshire and businesses all around the country and we will

have the best place in the world for entrepreneurs when mitt romney is president of the united states. [applause] finally, my husband and i, we come from a military family. joe served in the iraq war and mitt romney -- [applause] one of the reasons we are supporting mitt romney, one of the most important reasons is he will be an excellent commander- in-chief. he will be a commander in chief who will listen to his military commanders and not his pollsters or political advisers. he will never apologize for the united states of america. it's my honor to support mitt romney tonight and they are a wonderful family. we will be proud to have them in the white house. [applause] we have seen around the country

that strong conservative leaders are coming forward to support mitt romney for president and it's my honor tonight to introduce one of those strong conservative leaders for our country, the former governor of minnesota, tim pawlenty. [applause] >> thank you. i appreciate it. do you agree with me that the hampshire has one of the greatest united states senators in the congress today? [applause] have you had enough of barack obama? have you had enough of his promises where he has this soaring rhetoric and doesn't deliver the results promised? have you had enough of barack obama saying he's going to come in and cut the deficit in half during his first term and then triples it? have you had enough of barack obama's proposal to decimate our united states military and defense capabilities? have you had enough of barack

obama pointed -- appointing judges to want to make a lot of back of a napkin instead of applying it as written? are you ready to elect mitt romney president of the united states? [applause] i want to give you to messages before i make the introduction of ours featured speaker and 1 messages this. i grew up in a meat packing town and my dad for much of his life was a truck driver and my mom was a homemaker. she passed away when i was young and might that -- and i saw the concerns about unemployment and job loss. one of the challenges for the next president is to make sure we've got a country that does this things that encourages job growth in america, not discourage it. when you ask people around this country run small and medium- sized businesses as mitt romney does every day, what can we do to make it more likely you will grow jobs, do you know what they

will say? they say get the government off my back. [applause] some talk about taxes. some talk about regulation. some talk about energy, but it's the same message. the person who understands that, not based on a lifetime in washington d.c., not based on a lifetime in politics, but based on the hard work of starting businesses, growing businesses, providing jobs in the private sector, there's only one candidate who meets that description, and that is mitt romney. [applause] when you talk to people all across this great state and all across america, they want to know if i could get my kids to college, and my going to have a job, is my family going to be okay -- i am really confident we have the right candidate coming out on that issue. before i bring him out, it's a real treat to get to know him.

we both got elected in 2003 and travel together on various trips and i've gotten to know him behind the scenes, so to speak. one of the great things i observed is this -- he's a great man of character and a great man of integrity. he loves his family. it's obvious they love each other very much. they've been married 40 plus years. he's a great dad and the great- grandfather and has a very loving relationship with his grandchildren. you see the strength of not just his family but the strength of his character, the strength of his values. his values are our values. so tonight, have a special treat. on not just going to introduce the next president of the united states. i'm going to introduce with him the group of people who helped keep him grounded and shape his values and you will see not just him, but the next great first lady. i would like to introduce you now to a very large portion, but not all of them, but a large portion of the tremendous romney

family. ladies and gentlemen, mitt romney and the romney family. ♪ ♪ >> thank you. what a great thrill to be here and have a gathering like this. what a way to go into the primary tumor of. i hope you can give me a bigger margin of victory than the eight votes i got in iowa. i want to thank you for being here tonight. i have family appear. you wonder who all of these people -- on the far right, that's not my son. that's my brother and his wife.

scott is older than me. next to him are three of my boys, ben, tag, my oldest son and craig, the youngest of my five boys and he lives in california. his wife mary and they have two little boys. over here -- this is almost all one family. it's a little confusing. we will get joe with his dad and that's all one family over here. they are here from california with their four children. thank you, guys. [applause] thatdidn't have a family was behind me and encouraging me

and if i didn't have a wife that put me up to -- that put me up to this, i would not be doing this. she got me into the race the second time around. i decided i was not going to do this again and she said you've got to do it again because she got me into it, let's hear it for her, my sweetheart, and romney. -- ann romney. >> i see a lot of people we have known and loved for a long time. we are so appreciative of everyone who has been your forest supporting us. i think you have heard me say this before that after the last election, i knew one thing for certain, i was never going to do that again. mitt reminds me that i said that after each pregnancy and you notice i've got a few cents. sons. i've got a few there were a lot of questions as

to whether we were going to do this or not. logically going to a lot of roadblocks and difficulties -- which i was very aware of. i said i only want you to answer one question, just one. can you turn america around? his answer was yes. then i said there's no question, you've got to run. [applause] so we are in it because i believe america is in peril. i believe we are in stormy seas right now. who knows what's coming down and what kind of difficulties this country is going to face? but i also know something else. that light that ronald reagan talked about, that shining city on a hill, that light is fading and i need somebody to get in there and brightness of light and turn up at light. let's hear it for the next

president of the united states. [applause] >> she always does that. she speaks like that and people say why shouldn't she be president instead of you? it's so frustrating. thank you, sweetheart. what a wonderful woman. there's also a group that came across the border last night. you have a border security problem in new hampshire. some folks from massachusetts made it across the border. we have a delegation of republican legislators from massachusetts. this is an extinguishing breed unless you are careful. we have brad jones, the leader of the republican house. are legislator it -- our legislature is about 85% democrat and i appreciate -- i appreciate getting some of the air here in the live free or die state.

i don't know how many months ago it was my family and i were at this farm and we announced we decided to run for president. i know a number of you were there. we have been coming to new hampshire for 40 years. we were thinking about that backstage. what was the first time we came up with their children to go swimming in lakes here? when did we take them to pat speak? -- to pat's peak. so we talk are little boys how to ski here, went swimming here and taught them how to water ski. we love the state and we love the people of new hampshire. we love the yankee spirit of live free or die. i don't know who captured that phrase but it so typifies this state that you love your freedom and the founding vision of this great country. i love new hampshire and i

appreciate your willingness to welcome us here tonight. if i am president of the united states, i will not forget new hampshire and i will make sure new hampshire remembers they have a place in the white house if i am president of the united states. [applause] at the farm, i described my view that america faced a very stark choice of direction. which way were we going to have over the coming years? i happen to believe we're seeing now played out before the american people a very stark difference in two different courses we could take. we have seen the president who has faced now 35 straight months with unemployment above 8%. he said he would borrow $787 billion and keep it from going above eight -- we have 25 million people out of work. that is an extraordinary number.

25 million people. that's people wondering whether they can put a meal on their table at the end of the week. there are no longer thinking about what's at the movies over the weekend but can they feed themselves. people thinking of retirement are wondering whether they can retire. people think about which college they might go to our thinking about whether they can get another minimum-wage job to make ends meet. but it's not a new destiny for america, it's a detour. this president's attitude is it could be worse. that is not my view. i have a different view about america. i believe we can put to work the people who are out of work and i believe we can become the job- creating machine we once were. i believe we can make it the best place in the world to be middle-income. i believe we can not just talk about it could be better, but it must be better and if i am president of the united states, i will use my energy not to

protect my job but to create jobs for the american people and create things for americans. [applause] we had a president who said he was going to be critical of the president -- you'd say -- you recall he said president but borrowed too much money. -- president bush borrowed too much money. now his deficits are three times as large. i hope you contemplate what has happened. he is on track in four years to put against america's future as much debt as all the prior presidents combined. almost all prior presidents combined. think of that. he has put us on the track to become the greece or italy of the future. that is unsustainable. the idea of consistently spending more money than we take in and passing that burden on to those little kids, it's wrong.

it is bad economics. if i'm president of the united states, i will cut federal spending, get rid of programs, will balance the budget and cap how much the federal government spends. let's get america back to fiscal sanity. [applause] on the one hand, we have a president who thinks with our health care challenges, he has all the answers. his one-size-fits-all plan will be imposed upon the entire nation soon. he believes government guiding our health-care system can do a better job than free people choosing their own course. i don't believe in obamacare. if i'm the next president, i will do something different. i will repeal obamacare on day one with all the energy i can muster. [applause] i will be the help of congress to get that done but i will make sure while we are waiting for

the repeal to occur, i will direct the secretary of health and human services to grant a waiver to obamacare from all 50 states. i happen to believe the people should guide health care in this country are not bureaucrats, but free people doing what they think is right for themselves. [applause] we have a president who, when it comes to energy, thinks his job is to stop all forms of energy we're used to, holding off on coal, keeping us from drilling deep water oil, not developing our gas resources as quickly as we could, so america fall further and further in our obedience to the market demands of the cartels from overseas. if i am the president of the united states, i will develop our oil, gas and nuclear and get renewable resources to be part of the mix so we can become oil secure and become

independent of the oil cartel's. -- energy secure and become independent of the oil cartel's. [applause] i think this is a campaign about the soul of america. are going to hold fast to the principles upon which this nation was founded or are we going to take a very different course? when the founders crafted this country and wrote the declaration of independence, they said we were in doubt by our creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. in america, we have the right to pursue happiness as we choose. we can decide what we want to be by virtue of our education, are hard work, risk-taking, our dreams. we can accomplish things a whole world marvels that. that's what america always has been. i believe in that model of america. it is a merit-based society where people come not for

handouts but for opportunity. [applause] it is a nation where we know our kids' future will be unencumbered by the circumstance of birth and will be as broad and bright as their dreams. as their willingness to work and take risks. that is what we believe about america. i think president obama would change the culture and nature of this country and wants to make us like a european welfare state. i'm not willing to make america like europe. i don't think america's work -- i don't take europe is working in europe. i want to make america like america.

[chanting "mitt, mitt] instead of shouting, why don't you say what you mean. what do you mean? who is the president's spending more money to campaign than any president in history of america?

[applause] the answer is this president is spending money and has spent money, we have had over the history of this country and public funding plan for our presidents and the president has been the first one to throw aside the public funding program to break all those barriers and spend massively more than any president in history. this country is too important to hand over to president obama for a second term. [applause] i get a chance to see these guys to come out here and protest and i ask them, tell me what eat -- what would you replace america west? what kind of system which you have? they don't know. the truth this there has never been anything on the history of

the errors that as free people from poverty like free enterprise american style. [applause] you look at places like china, even china, a communist country finally realizes socialism, the policy of communism and socialism kept their people poor. the only thing that has lifted the not by the tens of millions of years is free enterprise and capitalism. not exactly the way we practice it, but the principles of america and freedom will prevail and that's why we're going to stand up for freedom and live free or die means freedom for us and our kids. [applause] i love this country. i learned to love america when i was just a kid. my mom and dad, there's a couple of little kids right there. my mom and dad took me around

to the national parks. as i went to the national parks, saw the beauty of the land. i heard from mom and dad their views about the founding of the country and their passion for the founders and their views about the future of america. i heard my parents often seem to us and play music about some of america's national hymns. some of the verses even know, zero beautiful, for spacious skies collophore purple mountains' majesty. we have a few purple mountains here in new hampshire. i also believe there is another of verse that makes a difference. oh beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country love and mercy more than life. will the veterans in the room, veterans, national guardsmen, please raise your hand.

thank you for your service. [applause] there is one more verse i would mention and that is so beautiful, for patriot dream that sees beyond the years. i'm convinced the vision of the founders, this passion for freedom and for opportunity, that it was not designed just for their time, but for our time as well. it sees beyond the years in terms of its impact and relevance. if i'm president of the united states, i will restore the passion for the founding principles of this great land, to get americans back to work, rain and the federal government and i am dismayed as i watched the president talked about shrinking our military. the president would take us into a direction that would make america's military less and less powerful relative to others in the world. i want to make sure america can

prevent wars by being so strong. [applause] we are a patriotic people. we love america. we're going to come together and make sure we keep america as it has always been, that shining city on the hill. we're going to do everything we can to keep america strong and free and together you will make a big statement tomorrow. let's take it to the next state after new hampshire. give me the boost i need. thank you very much. [applause] ♪ ♪

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♪ >> of mitt romney and his last campaign event before the first in the nation primary to mahler -- tomorrow here in bedford, new hampshire. we will open up our phone lines again and get your comments

before we take you to yet another campaign event, this one with jon huntsman, which is set to start at about 7:00. he has several tv interviews he's going to do before that and we will take you there live once that gets underway and we will stay here live with mitt romney as he works his way through this crowd tonight. pittsburgh on the democrats' line, go ahead. i'm not real excited about this guy. it's maybe the third time he's run for president if i'm not mistaken. host: how tough a candidate would he be against barack obama? caller: not tough at all. he put together a health care plan for his state very similar to obama's. its something he wants to try to push himself away from obama and

i don't see that working out with him and the debate. i am an obama supporter, but i am looking for -- i like jon huntsman and i huge supporter of ron paul and i think it's a shame ron paul is not getting enough attention. i think he is the candidate the republicans need and he's a candidate america needs right now. host: mr. romney's event was interrupted by what appeared to be some occupy protesters there. our next call is from the republican line. caller: thank you to you, c- span, for putting these town halls on the air. i want to agree with the previous caller. i think it's ridiculous he's trying to distance himself from the medical -- the health care program. they both support

interventionist foreign policy and even john mccain confused at to what they were campaigning. >> who do you want to see when the new hampshire primary? >> i think ron paul is the only candidate that is not the status quo inside american politics. host: let's here from minneapolis and a democratic caller. this is richard. caller: the republicans are fighting amongst each other so it makes them hard for people to decide who they really want. when you have 40% undecided voters in new hampshire, it's a tossup. if you look at independent voters. romney is a job killer and huntsman and gingrich are right about him. you can see he is faking it. he reminds me of the joker from "batman." he smiles a lot and pretend like he cares everybody. they all pretend like they care about the country and they don't. host: a baseball being pushed

his way there. this is his last campaign stop before the first in the nation primary. two more coming in january. south carolina and florida on january 31. up next, a call from georgia on the republican line. caller: i just want to say what a great job you are doing. c-span, i watch you all the time. we are trying to make this the number one romney town in the united states. we feel like he will be the greatest president in history and of so excited about him i can't even sleep at night. host: you get your chance -- georgia is on super tuesday. >> yes, sir and we are going to win for romney in georgia and he is going to be the greatest president in history and he will govern just like ronald reagan and i just can't wait to vote for him in november and make him

president of the united states of america. he is the greatest. host: georgann much wants on super tuesday. we're watching the final few minutes of mitt romney in bedford, new hampshire, wrapping up his final campaign stop. we're going to take you to jon huntsman's final events of the day. he has had six or seven events and he has one event at the exeter town hall. he is first doing a couple of network television interviews and we will take you there live once the campaign event starts. up next, a democratic caller from colorado. caller: i just want to say fuck -- host: bakersfield, calif., you are up. picture you meet your television set when you call in.

we will take you live to the john huntsman of and that should get under way. he is wrapping up his best event of the day. according to "the fix" -- he charted where the candidates have appeared since last june and he says in terms of visit to new hampshire, jon huntsman is at the top of the list with 158 visits to the state since june of last year. here we are alive to exeter new hampshire for the huntsman event. rick santorum has had 86 events and mitt romney is in third with 75. next up, we go to susan on the democrats' line from florida. caller: how are you. the only thing i would like to say is we need to stay focused with this election because we do need change. ever since obama became president, the only thing i've been hearing is an explanation

about the president. he has not been given the chance to show what he knows and i think it's a shame we have steered off into the wrong direction. we need change. why would anyone want to keep on the same situation over and over again and you get all these different candidates coming up claiming they have all good news and information for the public when i feel it is a bad move. everybody needs change and we don't need people getting in there feeding us that information and then next thing you know it's a bad apple again. we need to stay focused and i think obama will be a good president again if we stay focused. host: this is jon huntsman's last campaign event of the evening and of the campaign. he is speaking to a couple of network reporters before he gets on the stage.

he was scheduled to start at 7:00 eastern. we will take your phone calls for a couple more minutes. citrus heights, california. caller: i am a strong reporter of mitt romney. for him asing someone who is just settling. i believe when they try to say to people accepting him just because they feel he can win, not only feel they can win but he's a candidate of integrity. i see somebody who does love america and i believe he has the experience to bring us out of this economic slump and to support america's best interest with all of the overseas conflicts going on. i believe he is the best man to protect social security. i'm on social security and i

want to see someone who is going to save america and keep us going in the right path to the strong america we used to be and to be that as mitt romney had only mitt romney. host: we have set aside a special line for residents of the state and we have a couple waiting here. let's hear from amherst. caller: thank you for taking my call. make it quick here. i am a governor romney supporter. i think he's the best opportunity the republicans have to be president obama in the fall. another reason is our national debt, it is now equal to our gross domestic product. i don't see any thing happening with that trend and the current administration and i look forward to supporting governor romney tomorrow. host: are you an independent or

republican? caller: i'm an independent. host: and you will vote for mitt romney? caller: i will and i look forward to supporting him in the fall. host: jon huntsman there with fox news. he was set to do a few interviews in the event is set to get underway shortly. let's get a call from east hartford, new hampshire on the line. caller: huntsman is definitely the guy i'm going to be voting for. listening to that other girl, there's not any one man that can turn around the country. but if you listen to the ideas, he made a statement yesterday at the debate that said there is one trillion $100 billion in corporate welfare loopholes. before we start even attacking people on the bottom that some of them need this safety net and

some of them have got to get a job, no question about that, how about these guys running the country? how about gas at $3.49 a gallon? it's beginning to this awful lot of people at its cold appear in the new england area. to pull thisning off a lot of people. let's talk about term limits. let's not let the corruption take place. they like money and it will go to $5 soon unless the people complain. host: let's see if we can get a couple more calls in because it looks like jon huntsman is making his way to the stage. lake hear from mike in stevens, washington, on our democrats line. caller: i would just like to say that i see romney being the only one with any electability. i see jon huntsman and he may

make a great president, but i see a very low amount if no independent voters voting for them. if you want a conservative president in any way, romney is the only chance unless all those independent votes are going to obama. host: how tough of a candidate do you think mitt romney or jon huntsman would be against barack obama? caller: i think romney would have a good chance. i know he has been known as swapping partisan lines and i think independent voters will see is democratic side and embrace that while huntsman, and he served under obama as ambassador to china. host: let's see if we can get a couple more calls. we're live in exeter, new hampshire. the folks gathered here -- you see jon huntsman there. he had just done an interview

with fox. we understand he has stepped outside the building briefly for a couple of other network interviews. we will stay here live for a moment or two and take a couple more calls to see if he comes back into the room and we will have that live one way or another. south carolina, cynthia, go ahead. caller: i was going to support romney and vote for him but he just seems like he's a liar and a flip-flop. i can't support nobody like that. i think i would just go back to obama. host: mary is in manchester, new hampshire. who are you going to vote for tomorrow? caller: i am an independent and i was not too sure in 2008 about ron paul, but after listening to him this time around and watching the other candidates and listening to what they have to say, i think ron paul is our guy. he is very serious, sober and he isn't come across as the biggest

cheerleader exhibits they're putting on in the romney campaign, which is almost hollywood theatrical kind of stuff. i know people are enthusiastic about him, but we are in serious situation in this country. it is more than small loss -- smiles and waving stuff around. i am definitely casting a vote for ron paul. host: thank you for your calls. we are waiting live in texas, new hampshire for jon huntsman to come back into the room and do his last event of the evening, our last live event this evening, a day full of events across the state of new hampshire today. you will have plenty of chance to see him later in the program schedule, and more phone calls coming up this evening. stay where you are. tomorrow night, our primary coverage here on c-span, c-span

radio, and c-span.org would get under way at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we will bring you the results, the speeches from winning and losing candidates, and more. we will obviously open upper the phone line for your comments as well. we'll stay here alive, waiting for jon huntsman to get started with the event in exeter.

we are in exeter, new hampshire, waiting for jon huntsman to come back in the room. he has done six or seven events today. once those finish, we will expect him to come back in the room and get the events started. a reminder -- lots of coverage from the last couple of days on our website. it is also possible we will hear from president obama. he has a campaign event here in washington, which are cameras

will cover as well.

>> if you can get up near those steps, they will see you better.

>> this is the last event for jon huntsman. we understand he has a couple of network interviews before getting underway. he leads the pack in terms of visits to new hampshire, according to the fix. we will get to that in a second. we were hoping to cover and newt gingrich event about the same time. but we understand the event was canceled. a tweet from political that the gingrich campion just canceled events at the state headquarters to avoid a loud crowd of protesters. you may have seen earlier in the mitt romney event we brought to

you the occupy wall street folks were there as well. we got a tweet a short while ago from the writer of a column for "the washington post." leading the pack was jon huntsman, with 158. 86 for santorum. mitt romney had 75 events since june 2011. look at the map. it is very red, especially the southern part of the state. that is from the washington post website. the phone numbers for your calls while we wait are on the screen. make sure that you knew your television or radio when you call in. -- new to -- mute your

television. guest: i think jon huntsman has the biggest kick in the primaries. host: are you on ? -- the line? caller: i would like to ask everybody to pray for our country. we are facing a serious situation right now. i am a ron paul supporter. that is what i have to say i continue praying for our country. thank you. host: ron paul, according to the university of new hampshire poll, at 18%. mitt romney with 41%, the lead in the poll. next up, we go to -- we are quick to wait momentarily. jon huntsman should come out shortly. this is the exeter town hall,

the last event of the day for john huntsman. we showed you the final mitt romney event. ron paul had 17% in the poll done in conjunction with the university of new hampshire. here is our democrats line. caller: good evening. i do not see any of the republicans beating president obama. i saw the debates the other night. there was a comment when gingrich came in. i hope the voters really listen. he is a liar. i can understand that about him. host: hoodies think would make the toughest candidate for president obama to face? caller: i don't think either of the republicans, when it came

out today that consumer spending has stopped moving in this decade. the economy is getting better. we have america. why would we want america to failed like the republicans? i do not care what president it is. host: christine on our republican line. caller: i am a first-time voter endemic cited to vote for ms. romney. he is going to turn our economy around and give jobs for us when we enter the work force. i cannot wait to vote for him. host: you are a first-time voter. mitt romney is on the ballot in virginia, where there is concern that gingrich did not get on. caller: i was always planning on voting for romney. host: if you want to comment on line, it is always available at facebook.com/cspan, and we will

read your posts later tonight if we get a chance. we are live in new hampshire at jon huntsman paid final campaign event. -- jon huntsman paid -- jon huntsman's final campaign event. [chanting: join the fight]

[chanting: country first] >> we understand jon huntsman about to come in the room. exeter, new hampshire, the night before the first-in-the-nation primary. south carolina coming up january 21, and florida on tuesday the 31st. the national journal just treated the result of a new national poll that came out from cbs. mitt romney and ron paul neck- in-neck with president obama in 8 general election match up, according to a news poll released late today that shows the front runners in tuesday's new hampshire gop primary running stronger against the president than their fellow republicans. before we get jon huntsman on page, we will get a caller or

two. republican line. kevin, are you there? caller: this is john. host: go ahead with your thoughts. caller: i believe any of the gop candidates will do better than obama. i want someone who will become president that knows the united states, that knows why he is not part of asia. i am originally from chicago, the south side of chicago. he was an agitator, no political experience. and it shows. host: who are you going to vote for? caller: i like mitt romney, but i will vote for any gop to go up against obama. host: democratic caller? caller: ron paul is the only candidate that can beat obama in 2012.

host: in pennsylvania, kevin on a republican line. caller: how are you? i wanted to bring up the issue of candidates talking about an oil and gas prices. i think that should be a safe topic, and i do not know why everybody is not bringing that up. host: what would you like to hear from the candidates? caller: may be ways they can negotiate. host: thanks for all the calls. jon huntsman, live on c-span. [music: u2 "beautiful day"]

[cheering and chanting] >> hello. it is my great pleasure -- i am a county commissioner. it is like larry, moe, and curly run the government, but we do a good job, i promise. i am a good judge of character and i am here tonight because i believe so strongly in the candidate you are about to me. my daughter-in-law told me i look like snooki from "the jersey shore." if you agree, please say yes. i was anticipating it would be like oprah winfrey, and jon would come down a zip line like hugh jackman did, but instead he walked in the door. it is my pleasure to introduce

mary kay tonight. mary kay and john have been married 28 years. anybody who has been married 28 minutes knows that 28 years is a real long time. let me give her a warm exeter welcome. [applause] and i as pretty as she is? >> more so. >> am i as pretty as she is? >> thanks you so much. i cannot believe this. this is unbelievable. [applause] we were here in july, when john made a very special 0-- jon made a very special announcement that he put his hat in the ring to run for president. right here in this room. it was important for our family. in has been an incredible journey. i have so much appreciation for

the process new hampshire goes through in electing presidents. it has been extraordinary to go from zero -- john likes to call himself a margin of error canada. nobody knew him. no name id. i thought they were joking when they said you have to shake hands several times with a voter before they give you their vote. it is true. some people say, "i have met you three times now. you have my vote." [applause] jon has always predicted that he would be the slow, steady rise. he would not be a shooting star, but a rising star. i think we have found that to be true here in new hampshire. [applause] i want to tell you about my secret lucky charm. when we were first here, part of

our first visit, we went to the college, where every candidate has to go and speak at the politics and eggs breakfast. at that breakfast, they pass out these wooden eggs. a candidate will sign his name and give it to whoever is there. we got into the car that day, and i will never forget it. jon put "i love you" on here about 50 times. i carry it with me every day, and touch it and hold it in honor of new hampshire. thank you, thank you. [applause] now, i want to turn the time over to the man you came to hear, the most extraordinary, genuine, honest, amazing human being i know -- my husband, jon. thank you. [applause]

[chanting: huntsman] >> thanks, everybody. i love that lady. i even love maureen. what a sweetheart. ladies and gentlemen, can you feel a little bit of momentum in the air? [applause] can you feel the energy out there, ladies and gentlemen? but we know about you, have gone from one end of this state to another today, and every stop along the way, i hear the same thing. something is happening out there. something is happening. i have no idea what it is going

to be tomorrow night, but i do know this. we are going to surprise a whole lot of people in this country of ours. [applause] thank you all for being here. we came on june 21, to this call. we had a few people standing around, and many of them came. many of you are now old friends. with this look of disbelief, a sense of indifference. what is this candidate all about? tonight, we stand here with a great following in this state. you are all part of a movement, and i am glad to have you as part of it. since june 21 and last night, we together have done 170 public events in the granite state. [applause]

170 events, ladies and gentlemen. it's incredible. you know what? to the people of this state -- they don't want to be told for whom to vote, and they sure don't want the establishment sending up the same old people. they want a new generation of leadership, a new generation of energetic leadership that is going to get the job done. you are part of that movement. but let me remind you all of a couple of things before we shake hands and move out. do we have work to do tonight and tomorrow? we have some work to do. let me remind you first. i am grateful to the standing with you, who are friends and colleagues and volunteers and supporters. i cannot think you enough. we have people from all over the country who are here. we have some folks who got in cars the other end of the

country and grove, people who got on buses and made their way because they believed in a better america. that is who you are. that is who you are, ladies and gentlemen. [applause] i travel around this state. i looked at every sinai pass, and there are a lot of them out there. i am reminded that somebody wrote that signed. somebody volunteered in our name, to keep weight out to the other side of the state, and had enough interest in the country to put that in the ground. for those of you who have run for president before, that is a pretty awesome deal, when you go down the highway and see your name on design. that is pretty cool. then he stopped to think it is all about volunteers. it is all about the team. i hear reports.

some of our volunteers have called thousands and thousands of people. thousands and thousands of people they have called. we have folks putting up signs. we have people ready to get out the vote, people who've been making calls, people who have been organizing all 10 counties around here. are we ready to rock and roll tomorrow? we are ready to rock and roll. [applause] point number two. this is bigger than all of us here in this room, you know what i mean? this is america. this is our country. we are here not to play politics. we are here as americans first and foremost. and we are here to put our country first. did you like the debate yesterday morning? [applause] i think we reminded a certain other candidate in the race that our team and our movement is

here to put our country first, and we are tired of people putting politics first. [applause] we are all americans first and foremost. we want a better tomorrow, and what we are about to hand down to the next generation is unacceptable. unacceptable. it is and who we are. we are blue sky, problem- solving, optimistic people. we are americans at the end of the day. this is not who we are. we are in a whole, and we are about to get out of it with new leadership. we are about to get out of it with new leadership. remember this is bigger than all of us. this is about a country we love. it is about the next generation of americans we are going to fight for, because they deserve it. when we leave tonight, and when we put in as hard work tomorrow that i know we are all going to

be prepared to do -- we will be a bright and early, and we are going to work our tails off all day long. i want you to remember as to carry on tomorrow that this is about a country we love. it is not about politics. this is about us as americans. it is about the greatest nation that ever was, the united states of america. [applause] [chanting: usa] and i want you all to remember as we are working tomorrow -- you should think tonight about what tomorrow might bring. you should think about what we are going to accomplish together, because when we get to the and the road, to the white house, we are going to get a few things done. we're going to get term limits for congress, finally, once and

for all. [applause] and we are going to close the revolving door for lobbyists, members of congress coming out and screwing things up. [applause] and we're going to tell congress we are going to dr. pay until you balance the dim budget, for heaven's sake. -- dock your pay until you balance the damn budget, for heaven's sake. we have been in the war on terror for 10 years. we love our men and women in uniform. they are the best of our nation. and we have something to show for the work they have done. we have routed the taliban. we have dismantled al qaeda. osama bin laden is no more. we have had free elections. we have strengthen civil society, helped the police and military.

folks, we are coming home from afghanistan. [applause] and we're going to begin to rebuild this nation of ours. we are going to rebuild this nation. we will get our core strong. we have no effective foreign policy, no effective national security strategy, with a weak nation at home. we are going to strengthen this nation and remind the world of what it means to be americans. [applause] and we are going to project those values that we have become so well known for -- liberty, democracy, human rights, and open a free markets. -- open free markets. because when our nation is strong, we move people. we change lives. we change history. nobody does it like united

states of america. it starts with a strong country on the home front we are all going to work for. you know what else we are going to do? we are going to right-size those banks that are too big to fail. [applause] i say what kind of deal is this? we have been there. we have done that. we are not going to bail anybody out again, for heaven's sakes. just remember as you wake up tomorrow morning, as you get out and energized, making calls, taking your friends out to vote -- this is what we are all going to do, right? are you with me on that? we are going to do it with the idea in mind that this movement of ours is going to nail the economic and deficit, because we are not passing $15 trillion down to the next generation, i am sorry. but just as importantly, we are going to work on the trust deficit in this country.

you hear what i am saying? i am sick and tired of there being no trust by the people toward their institutions of power. [applause] we are a nation founded on trust, and we are going to get back to trusting one another, and we are going to work to come together as americans. you know what else we are going to talk about? coming together as americans. this divide stuff -- no more. we are coming together as americans to start solving our problems. [applause] general [king: usa -- [chan ting: usa] >> we have some work to do. this is what i have been asking everybody recently. i am a shameless salesman at this point. i was even at a bakery this morning. the lady running the cash

register was on the phone to the dairy company and i said, "give me that phone. i have to ask that person for a vote." i got a vote on the other end. it worked. every vote checked -- a vote counts. when you walk out of here, here it is in the name of pulling this nation together, putting our country first. it is in the name of working tirelessly for the next generation. what i have been asking people for is their vote, and here is the deal. when i asked people for a vote, i am also asking them for their trust. just like to have all of you. every volunteer, however, friend, associate -- you are here because you trust we are going to do the job. you trust we are going to hold true to our word, which is rare in politics these days. i have gone around this great state and asked people for their vote, and i am also asking people for their trust, because

let's face it. at the end of the day, there is nothing more valuable you can give to another person and trust. it is a big deal. all of us in this room and beyond are going to be fuelled by a trust. it is what makes this country work. we need a system that in fuses that notion of trust into our system once again. as you are working tomorrow, i want you to remember the word, "trust." it there is one word that summarize everything we are trying to do -- everything is trust. that is what this movement is about. that is what this campaign is all about. i believe that trust is going to take us all the way to the peninsula and tomorrow night, and we are going to surprise the world. -- to the finish line tomorrow night, and we are going to surprise the world. thank you all for being here

tonight. let's go to work. thank you. thank you. [applause] beautiful day"] [applause] [chanting: huntsman] [cheers and applause]

♪ ♪ >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> go get them.

>> thank you. >> good luck, jon. thank you so much for what you're doing. thank you so much. thank you so much for everything you are doing. >> thank you very much. thank you.

>> what explains this momentum? >> hard work. hard work and trust. >> good luck tomorrow. >> i will vote for you tomorrow. >> we are going to make it happen. we are going to get out and work tomorrow. >> good luck. >> thank you. thank you.

>> we continue our live coverage here in texas to, new hampshire, the jon huntsman event.

-- texas to, new hampshire, the jon huntsman event -- exeter, new hampshire, the jon huntsman event. our phone lines are open. will get to your calls in a couple of minutes once the music turns down and jon huntsman leaves. this is one of the final events in new hampshire before the primary. all of our coverage is available on our web site at c-span.org. more of your phone calls and comments in just a couple of minutes.

we are in exeter, new hampshire, a quintessential new england town. this is a facility that has been used for town hall meetings dating back more than 100 years. presidential candidates from george mccain and the to ronald reagan have all appeared here -- from john mccain to ronald reagan have appeared here before the new hampshire primary. why did you come out tonight? >> we have been following jon huntsman for a few months now. we like him very much. host: ken johnson and do well

here? guest: i expect him to do well tomorrow. a great turnout. host: how would you define that success? guest: a very close second. host: explain voting in new hampshire and the role of independence in the primary tomorrow. explain the rules for how jon huntsman could pull out a second place showing. guest: i think 50% of new hampshire registered voters are independent. he is honest. you can tell listening to him that he seems to be trustworthy. he has great foreign-policy and a great economic plan. guest: i believe that the independencts are going to show up and make up their mind at the last moment, and it will be to his benefit. host: thank you very much. our phone lines are open.

we will get calls in a couple of minutes. we are at the final event of jon huntsman. a couple more events with the other candidates, all of which will be airing tonight, here on c-span.

we have live continuing coverage here in new hampshire. we are joined on the democrats' line from kentucky. good evening. caller: i am very concerned about what is happening in new hampshire and everything. i feel like the best candidate for the republicans would be rick perry, because he is the one that can really beat obama. huntsman -- i did like what he said about term limits. but rick perry has been preaching that for some time, these term limits. host: thank you for the call.

pensacola, florida, republican line. as this process moves to florida at the end of the month, what are your thoughts? caller: i am 62 years old and going to vote for the first time in my life. shame on me, right? i hope he gains momentum. i like what he says. every one of the candidates have a strong point, in my view. you get a candidate and take all the points the american people want in my opinion, and put them into one candidate, this candidate would be unbeatable. policy,jon's foreign- idea on term limits, and ideas for bringing the troops home. one thing i would like to see him do is go for a flat tax. we all know that with flat tax, there would be more money to spend it for anybody who could do it. for what it is worth, in my

opinion, i followed him. newt, hindemith, and perry to me are all mainstream -- newt, mitt, and perry to me our mainstream republicans who will do what the party wants them to do. i say to my kids, "you have to watch this stuff. you have to vote. we the people." host: appreciate the call. we go to my next. i lost the last part of what you were saying. we go next to texas. caller: can you hear me ok? host: we sure can. go ahead. caller: appreciate it. i voted democrat the last four times. i live in the bible belt around

here. i have been bombarded by everything. i have never been as disappointed as i am now with the obama administration, and democrats in particular. i have really been watching the republican race, really tuned into the last couple of months. a bounce back and forth. i kind of like gingrich. romney does not do it for me. i will say one thing. i strongly decided to become an independent. i know that in new hampshire it is probably 40% independent. i will cast my hat into the ring for ron paul. i know he can handle the economy. for once, i am hearing somebody that does not back up and flip- flop everything. i know you have to agree with me on this. but are you noticing there and c-span democrats that are also showing up for these republican rallies? >> -- host: i will leave it

there. this is a state where independents can vote tomorrow. the secretary of state is predicting the turnout will be about 325,000, 250,000 republicans and 75,000 democrats. we will broadcast that beginning at 8:00 a.m. eastern time. the day began with newt gingrich criticizing it romney, pledging that the former massachusetts government should explain his involvement and roll with some of the programs that bain capital put in place that resulted in some job losses in hudson, new hampshire, in the southern part of the state. mitt romney responding this morning. this is what he had to say. >> i thought he apologized for going after my record a couple of weeks ago. he apologized for that, and now has decided to make that a centerpiece? i am not going to worry about

that. free enterprise will be on trial. i thought it was good to come from the democrats on the left, but instead it is calling from speaker gingrich and apparently others. this is part of the process. i have broad shoulders and happy to describe my experience in the private economy. host: the which this morning in hudson, new hampshire, the entire event available at c- span.org. how we were asking about the tone of the process so far in new hampshire. our phone lines remain open. we will hear from you in a couple of minutes. we want to introduce you to a couple of people here. let me ask you why you came out tonight. guest: i have supported john huntsman since before he declared. i had not had a chance to go to an event. i have three young kids and decided this might be our last chance to see him. hopefully not.

hopefully, he will be back in the general election. guest: i am 10. host: what has this experience unlike? guest: it is interesting. you're seeing somebody who could end up being president. it is interesting to be out here. host: we have been at this town hall for many events over the years. this is where john mccain had his final rally in 2008. explain what town halls are like in new england. guest: they are great. they are really energetic and inspiring, i think. i am glad my girls are old enough to come and for this debate. you can feel the energy and excitement, what it feels like to be part of the first in the nation primary. >> -- host: do you live here? guest: i live in brentwood, right next door. host: back to your phone calls.

caller: i am going to tell everybody to not vote for ron paul. you have mitt romney talking about the union. i do not understand how anybody can not vote for ron paul. host: banks for the call. jon huntsman is still working the crowd here in texas, new hampshire. >> thank you. take a picture, everybody. >> thank you. >> we are going to do this, with your help. >> got it? >> all right. >> thank you so much. >> have a good night. have a good night, folks.

>> how the gop candidates, polling in new hampshire? -- how are the gop candidates polling in new hampshire? >> how are you? >> what are you talking about? >> here we go. right here. >> thank you. >> to be nice, all right. -- you be nice, all right? >> south carolina, you and your wife together, a one hour town hall. >> excuse me. >> thank you so much.

>> you want to meet him? go. >> hey, good luck. >> i voted for obama. >> can you sign that? >> good luck. >> stay in there. >> thank you. >> as former governor huntsman leaves the room here in texas, new hampshire, i am going to introduce you to the three daughters. we have seen you at the campaign rallies. what has the experience been like for you? guest: it has been incredible to

see the momentum. we have house parties, and people would trickle in to hear from our dad was. he had 0% name id. he has progressively grown. it is great to see the momentum, the excitement, the energy. they believe in him and trust him. it has been fun to see the progression over the past few months. host: you grew up in a political family, but politics in utah is different than the national stage. guest: it is very different. we had a little experience in utah. it has been incredible to go out in new hampshire and witness a primary. obviously, this is just the beginning, but it has been a fund family affair, and exciting to watch all the people of new hampshire rooting for our dad and being very pumped up. it is very exciting. we all feel there is going to be a surprise tomorrow in new hampshire. host: have you learned

everything about the country as you travel across florida and new hampshire? guest: people are searching for truth, for someone they can trust. that is exactly what my dad brings to the table. we have seen that with every town hall. people are just looking for someone who can lead, someone who can provide solutions. i would say that is what we have learned so far. i think the people make movements for this country. you see what happened in iowa. people coalesce around somebody and believe in him. what we see in new hampshire -- is the primary the most important way for us to see the candidates? you realize after being here how important it is. people get to meet the candidates, shake their hand, hear their message. it is a great way for the rest of the country to see who is most electable, november. guest: i think it will play out in south carolina and florida. people look to new hampshire.

how they get to shake the can with its hand more than three times. you know when they are voting, they are truthfully voting for somebody they know very well by now. host: you have your own fans who want to get a picture with you. we will see you on the campaign trail. those are three daughters of the senator john huntsman -- jon huntsman. your thoughts about the tone of this new hampshire primary so far? caller: i think we have a huge problem. i do not think anybody trust them, speaking as a father of five children. i am also speaking as a corporate president of a construction company in niagara falls. it is expanding. that has not been addressed in any of the debates we've seen, the problem of bankruptcy. i pulled all my money out in 1990, because i saw housing

collapsing. one reason housing collapsed is because of the american public going bankrupt. i received 20 bankruptcy letters from people who all my construction company money. i have not received a penny or a dime for that. what has happened is the american people have caused this recession. the banks caused it, but the american people overspend. we cannot buy from our pockets, so we do not take cashed out of our pocket. we are a credit card society. i raised my kids to work, earning money. we have a 40 inch plasma tv and needed 47. we have a 47 inch in the day 52. we have to address credit card debt. i built a house for a guy who is

single. it is $1,800 a month. it is ridiculous. host: thank you. appreciate the call. next, from san antonio, texas, democrats line. go ahead, please. you are on the air. please go ahead. caller: i want to make a comment about a lot of people were talking about they want change in this country. but they do not allow the person who is already president to try to change the way our country is being run. when i voted for barack obama, they said he does not have leadership skills, he does not have what he is supposed to have to run the country. but the people are not standing behind him to let him do what he is supposed to. how was he supposed to run the country the right way?

host: thanks for the call from texas. next, sandra joining us from new hampshire. caller: i am actually a democrat, or have been mostly. but i have to say that if i were voting republican, i would want to vote for jon huntsman, mainly because he seems like the most sincere and intelligent and candid it -- candidate, and not so much to beholden to the special interests, which i think is probably the major problem with our policy today. i also feel like there is a bit of nicety -- naievity about once the candidate becomes president he is subject to forces that

were not expected. so we really need to overall, our whole political system -- to overhaul our whole political system. unless the president has the backing of congress, it is pretty hard for him to get things done. i am hoping to take my grandchildren -- and there are a lot of young people in that audience in exeter. but a lot of those are from the academy, i am sure, and a lot of them are not quite the voting age. i am hoping that young people, young adults, and generation exeter will begin to get involved in civics and the whole process, and make the changes that are necessary for all of us. host: thanks for the call. we go next to rick, from akron, we go next to rick, from akron,