ushing defeat.

seats to take over the power. there is new polling that is giving democrats high hopes. and that is the fight against the oil pipeline that runs through the united states. that's a stark contrast to what voters thought would happen soon after the republicans gained control. a recent poll by voters by an 11-point margin, voters say they preferred democrats to take control of the house rather than control. >> the democratic congressional campaign has an effort to offer assistance to what they have dentfied in the most competitive

campaign in their, quote, drive to 25. the keystone xl oil pipeline. president obama rejected the plan. but on sunday with polls showing a strong majority of americans supporting the pipeline, john boehner said its party is going to continue its push. >> if it's not enacted before we take up the american energy and infrastructure jobs act, it will be part of it. >> as the maneuvering continues today, josh fox was arrested while trying to film a congressional hearing on the environmental impact of frac-ing. republicans objected to filming, and instructed capitol hill police to arrest fox when he did not leave. an abc news crew was also denied

joining us now, steve israel, tonight. >> good to be with you. >> a poll just conducted found that 64% of americans support the pipeline, 22% oppose. and 13% undecided. i appreciate the environmental concerns, but is it wise politically for the democrats to fight this thing? >> i would imagine if you polled the american people before the oil spill in the gulf of mexico, the majority of the american people might have supported

that, and then when the well erupted, the vast majority said wait a minute, maybe we shouldn't go that fast. you have to prove it is safe. let me give you my second point. these republicans, this is why they are so -- they are sliding down this hill. this is why the bottom is dropping out of them, because they are hypocrites. when in the history of tax cuts did the republican party ever condition a tax cut on an oil pipeline or on anything else -- >> right, but they are now backing away from at tachg it from the whole issue of tax cuts. boehner is saying we'll attach it to the energy bill. >> this is why the american people no longer trust them. this is not an issue. this is not how you expand an economy. this is how you try to arrest your freefall in the polls. this is a political stunt by the republicans. they started specifically by

saying, we only do a tax cut by for middle class and then they got burned on that. >> given the stunts that obviously they are going to try to poll, your drive for 25, what are the issues you want those competitive lawmakers to try to complain on? >> job creation, and reinvesting in the middle class. we are in the business of reigniting the american dream and we have work to do. the republican party has proven time and time again since they took the house that every time they have a choice between the privileged and private sector they choose the privileged. they have made choices every step of the way to end medicare. so take medicare away from seniors in order to fund tax breaks for big oil companies.

so we're focusing on how you reignite the main stream. >> what kind of candidates are you hoping for in those races? >> we need 25 seats to take the house back, and this house is in play. i'm not saying we're going to win the majority but it will be razor close because of the quality of candidates running. we have seats in play all over the country, and our consolidates are problem solvers, mayors police chiefs. we have a guy running in california, who is the son of migrant workers, didn't speak english as a child. applied to nasa, got rejected, and finally became an astronaut. we have the first african american police chief in orlando. they aren't about left or right they are about moving forward,

rebuilding the middle class, and solving people's problems. >> let's assume the democrats -- the strategy, the drive for 25 works, and you take back control of the house. what do you think should be the top legislative agenda a year from now. >> here is the formula, it's very simple. you cannot reduce debt without growth. and republicans believe an economic strategy is taking away medicare from soon yours, our believe is getting people to go to college, putting people back deficit. >> there are a lot of lawmakers out there who would not want the job given the approval ratings with.

how is it going? >> have you watched the republican debates? every time they debate each other, not only does the

coming up if you think the union bashing has been bad, just wait until you see what they are planning. and the scene was wolf? get it? you will when time marches on. protect medicare and rebuild the middle class. >> steve israel runs the dccc, appreciate. >> thank you.

coming up, the victory in indiana. first a sanity break, lisa marie presley was born on this date in memphis, tennessee. she went on to have a recording career of her own, briefly married to michael jackson and nicolaus cage. he was clearly interested in troubled talented geniuses, and

nick cage. time marches on. we begin with a dormant door mouse. pretty relaxed. [ snoring ] >> sort of sounds like rush limbaugh walking up a flight of stairs. and we need to find slightly larger quarters to take the load off. that box would be better for a smaller box like maybe a boxer. get it, boxer? he is just too big for the box, he looks like, you know, rush limbaugh trying to fit on to a queen-sized bed. and then we'll join a table tennis game in progress. he is getting quite the work out trying to stay with the action.

sort of how rush limbaugh -- oh, sorry. i don't have a rush joke for this one. time marches on. just ahead this has not been a very good day for planned parenthood, but next the union busting effort continues across

we bring you "countdown" live each day. the republican war on organ niced labor have slowly moved across the country. indiana became the 23rd right-to-work state. the reaction by hoosier

republicansened up pailing what gop lawmakers are considering in arizona. the vote was 28-22, and the protesters in the galleries, and jammed outside the state house chanted shame. and then marched to lucas oil stadium home of sunday's super bowl. the governor signed the bill behind closed doors, saying this won't be a magic answer, but we'll be far better off with it. but being a right-to-work state is apparently not enough for some lawmakers, particularly those in arizona. that government is doing away with collective bargaining, but knew bills would ban all

collective bargaining, including firefighters and policemen. the bill would prohibit automatic payroll deductions for union dues. all of this after the governor offered state employees the first pay raise in years in exchange for giving up certain protections. one of the groups that has been instrumental in crafting the anti-union bill with the conservative think tank, which just so happens to be a member of the exchange council also known as alec. alec has played a role in union-busting bills in ohio, wisconsin, and indiana. joining us now is tim dickenson. thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> is the republican control

over the legislature just going to bulldoze these bills through? >> the republicans have a really dominating majority in the legislature in arizona. it's hard to see how this gets stopped. but going after police and fighters and teachers, they are going to have a lot of foot solders on the ground that will raise a stink about this. it's hard to see just playing the numbers how this will get stopped in the legislature. >> if unions focus a lot of money fighting these bills in arizona, i suppose it is going to help president obama in the sense that democrats are just -- and it's hard to see how the majority of american would be against that. >> it is happening in arizona that obama is wanting to put a republicans on the defense there. he is hoping to make them spend

money to keep that a red state. so this is i think going to be a bad development for firefighters in phoenix but perhaps good for the obama campaign nationally. >> scott walker got the recall which is underway, so why have governors chosen to essentially pick this fight? >> we're seeing a delayed consequence of the 2010 election. democrats got shellacked nationally and at the state legislatures. they are having a narrow window to push their advantage before 2012 comes along and the environment changes quite a bit. so i think they are seeing this window closing and deciding if this is where we're going this is time to move. >> tell us about the council which has been behind these

anti-union efforts. >> it is a top to bottom republican agenda to bust unions. if you bust republican party unions, you are diminishing the democratic base. plus you are making it easier for corporations to pay lower wages and extract more from their workers. so it's sort of a two-for republicans. so this has been -- with the help of alec, and the cross road's group, this has been part of the national agenda. >> and with indiana being the 23rd right-to-work state and the think tanks, it is only a matter of time before this essentially becomes an nation-wide issue? >> i think it will be an nation-wide issue in 2012. dr. king called it one of the great frauds that had been perpetrated on the american people. really the assault on the

freedom of collective bargaining. the democrats are trying to push that republicans are hand made, and corporate power, and the democrats are fighting for the rights of firefighters and folks. so i think this will be part eh the national campaign we'll see roll out over the coming months. >> thank you so much. >> my pleasure. >> the newt gingrich campaign made thousands of calls saying that mitt romney was insensitive a lot to rail on we're going to have guests that are very smart and very interesting, so i hope you'll tune in become part of this war room family.

the susan -- newt gingrich the newest voice in cable news is on the new news network. >>it is an independent progressive voice and i love that. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. she's a political trail-blazer. >>people like somebody who's got a spine. >>determined to find solutions... >>we need government to ensure that people have freedom. >>driven to find the truth... >>what's really going on? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct.

as an old saying goes, politics is a rough business filled with personal and often unfair attacks. on election night, political opponents usually put the nastiness aside at least for a few minutes. that didn't happen in florida. mitt romney had double-digit victory, and newt gingrich did not concede a thing. first he refused to mention romney by name. >> it is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader, newt gingrich, and the massachusetts moderate. voters of florida really made that clear. >> and it's clear, newt that you are steamed at romney. i get it. according to an independent analysis, they ran 13,000 ad against you, and they election.

so it's understandable you would be infuriated. but you refused to even make a phone call to romney. the call just between the two of you where you acknowledge the voters had spoken. romney was bewillered. >> newt didn't call after ohio or nam sure. i called him after south carolina. he didn't call last night. i guess speaker gingrich doesn't have our phone number. >> your campaign had the numbers of hundreds of thousands of florida voters. you couldn't be bothered to call ramny, and yet you bothered many voters. communities by delivering this message.

where is mitt romney's compassion for our seniors, kosher. you see that claim about seniors having to eat non-kosher is a bit misleading. the funding was never eliminated. nonetheless i get your point. perhaps romney showed he is insensitive to certain religious traditions. given the call you didn't want to make to mitt romney, i have a solution. i'm about to give you an opportunity to satisfy the politicalet indicate thing and reinforce your view for jewish

voters. call romney and say hello, mitt, this is newt. how is your health? what is happening with the grandchildren? mine are starting to become doctors. i wanted to call about florida and say congratulations, good luck in nevada, god willing the rabbis in vegas won't touch as much as that one in miami. seriously newt if you are going to pander at least be consistent.

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and the scene was wolf? get it? you will when time marches on. good job. we'll explain what that means when we come back.

the south has now become the latest casualtive. national breast cancer organization announced yesterday that it's breaking off its partnership with planned parenthood. the move will eliminate financial grants to hundreds of thousands of low income and uninsured women rely on country. komen insists it is merely following a new policy. a audit was launched last september by republican representative cliff sterns of florida. conveniently the halt comes less than a year after komen hired his new vice president. she launched an aggressive

anti-abortion campaign. even though abortions are funded through medicaid programs, ak coring to dependent analysts 90% of the services are unrelated to abortion. it spurs responses on the hill yesterday. >> ceo of the planned parenthood in southeastern virginia told the ap, quote . . . let's bring in comedian and

co-creator of the daily show. many are applauding the decision. >> what kind of message is the right sending with this sort of reaction? >> i think she said herself, when she said i don't support the mission parenthood. and the mission is to a provide affordable healthcare for low-income women. and if you don't support that i don't know how you can call yourself pro life in the least. and last year this woman who was running for governor, and she got sarah palin's endorsement, the same year this

legislation is in congress. and susan komen's new edict is we can't support this. where are those dots? it does seem like conservative person needed to put a piece of legislation in place so that she could conveniently withhold funding. >> we're not talking about a justice department criminal investigation. it's win republican in congress. it's not that difficult to launch an investigation if are a member of congress. >> planned parenthood has to submit so much stuff every year. their tax records. so basically what is congressman is doing forcing them to resubmit this stuff at the cost of the american taxpayer. >> the affiliate has withdrawn from the national organization.

obviously planned parenthood is going to recoup will komen recover? >> if komen is making this decision, i really feel like i'm for planned parenthood. if komen wants to shoot themselves in the foot as -- right before i went on one of your producers came up and said planned parenthood has raised $650,000 in the last 24-hour period. i'm tired of waking up every day having this assault on women's healthcare. and so i think this is a wake-up call to all women that supporting women's healthcare is something we have to do every day. like wipe our butts and go to the gym. >> planned parenthood $680,000 last year from komen, and as you just mentioned they raised even more than that already.

the komen foundation in 2010 they brought in $400 million. so they are cutting off such a small part of that to make a political point. >> 0.016. this is about breast cancer. making sure that well can well. 170,000 women got breast cancer of the komen money. now more will. but it's because women have stepped up and said woe. and i don't make any bones about how i feel politically about things, and i have been very vocal on twitter all through the night. i have not gotten one person -- and i always get haters -- not one person said how dare you take on these

people. oddly enough the documentary launching tomorrow that is called pink ribbon, inc. and they are really looked into the komen foundation and others to see what it is about. >> there are so many women that participate in the race for the cure, is this an opportunity for planned parenthood to remind everybody who participates in the race to say we need more screening? >> that's what they were doing. and they have the facilities, and infrastructure to do it. they are already in your neighborhoods and towns providing it in strategic locations, so to pull it out, where is that money going to go? to more pink toasters. we're aware there's breast cancer and now we're aware that susan komen doesn't care about