see yourself in the oval office? >> not really. >> thanks, that's it for this special report, fair, too. so get her ready. >> bill: "the o'reilly factor" is on. tonight. >> this has been a failed presidency. the gap between his promises and his performance is as great as anything i've ever seen in my life. >> but wins in america are bold ideas, game on. >> the ultimate goal of this campaign has to be to replace barak obama and get america back on the right track. [ cheers and applause ] >> who were the big winners and the big losers in last night's iowa vote? we will answer that question. karl rove, alan colmes and i will all analyze. >> i think you have to have credibility and i have credibility across the board on all the issues. >> bill: also "e factor" has

landed a big interview. rick santorum will be here. caution. you are about to enter the no spin zone. "the factor" begins right now. hi, i'm bill o'reilly. thanks for watching us tonight. the iowa vote, what it means for america. that is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. "the factor" offers no spin analysis so i apologizing for offending many watching. but i'm bound to tell you the truth about everything. on paper, there were two big winners last night in iowa, mitt romney and rick santorum. the senator will be here in a few moments. but it is governor romney who is benefitting the most because just a few weeks ago, his campaign thought it would get hammered in iowa. he put only five full-time employees in the entire state. as we know, romney won the caucus by eight votes. just one month ago, rick santorum was polling at 6% in

iowa. last night, 25% of iowa voters cast their ballots for him. senate santorum proves two things: that hard work pays off and that persistence and consistency of message gains respect among the voting public. now new hampshire looms the vote there next tuesday. right now as cnn poll shows mitt romney, 47%. ron paul, 17. jon huntsman, 13. rick santorum at 10. it is likely the senator will not prosper in new hampshire because that primary is open to all the voters and the conservative republican crew is not as influential in new hampshire as it is in iowa. this mr. santorum must concentrate on south carolina. as for ron paul, we say again that he's little chance to be nominated as he admitted last night on abc news. newt gingrich hanging in there, hoping a strong debate performance over the weekend can elevate him in new hampshire. rick perry pretty much done. and michelle bachmann pulled out of the campaign today.

on a personal note, i think congresswoman bachman waged a noble campaign, true to herself, she was honest and her presence greatly helped the political process and the country. as for governor perry, he gave it a good try and he will participate in the debates this coming weekend. with the new hampshire vote six days away, the governor polling there at 2%. all in all, mitt romney the front runner, i believe president obama fears the governor because romney-obama race would center on the economy and americans would be forced to take a look at the record. obviously not a strong obama suit. that's a memo. the top story, joining us from new hampshire, rick santorum, who maybe the hardest working guy in politics and it paid off last night. am i making any mistakes in my analysis, senator? >> i think you have a pretty good accurate, except for one thing where you talked about me not being able to do particularly well in new hampshire. i think we're going to do a surprisingly well here. >> bill: who are you going to

take? you got 10% now. you got momentum. but you got to take from somebody. who you going to take from? >> there are a lot of undecided voters up here and a lot of the folks that are supporting governor romney are supporting him because they think he's going to win and you're going to be with the winner. i think a lot of folks are looking not just for the winner here in new hampshire, but who is going to be the winner long-term? i think you're going to see our numbers start to pop up in some of these other early primary states. our numbers already more than doubled in the cnn flash poll and that was even before the announcement and before i even gave either of us came out and spoke last night. we feel very good. we've been able to raise almost a million dollars today. >> bill: that is amazing. >> we'll have resources. we're going to be a much bigger player than i think everybody anticipates. >> bill: certainly you can't be underestimated based upon your performance last night. you are -- are you ready to be demonized, because that's going to come and it will come hard at you. are you ready for that?

>> this isn't my first rodeo, bill. i've been in a lot of tough campaigns. >> bill: now it's a national -- >> you know that. >> bill: of course. but it will be a national demon fellow kiss and you will be portrayed as an extremist and some of your positions are out of the main stream, according to the polls. contraception, birth control, 98% of americans say contraceptive is fine? you say that the states should have the right to ban some contraception. that's right off the bat going to be a big one. >> the states have a right to do a lot of things. that doesn't mean they should do it. someone asked me if the states have the right to do it? yes. they shouldn't do it. i wouldn't vote for it if they did. it doesn't mean they don't have the right to do it. as you know, bill, you're a catholic, catholic church teaches contraceptive -- >> when i was asked the question. >> bill: the majority of

catholics do not follow that and it's almost like a meat on friday thing, it's not that jesus said t. it's not a dogma. it's a doctrine made by man. i'm not justifying it and i'm not giving my opinion one way or another. i'm just pointing out that they're going to come after you on that and they'll come after you on gays in the military, that you want to rescind that. and they're going to come after you on gay marriage that you would have the federal government rescind the marriages that license has been given, you would have them rescind it. all i'm saying is i'm not debating the issue with you, saying you're right or wrong. i'm not doing that tonight. i'm saying that this is going to be put on you, that you're an extremist man, out of the main stream. how are you going to reply to that? >> i don't think being for marriage between a man and woman is extreme, bill. >> bill: rescind it after a license is given. that's a big deal. >> the federal government would have to pass a constitutional

amendment and if the constitution says that marriage is between a man and woman, then things that are inconsistent with that would not -- would be inconsistent with the constitution. >> bill: would you be doing that if you were elected president? would you be campaigning for a constitutional amendment in that way? >> if you pass a constitutional amendment that says -- >> bill: would that be in the forefront of your administration? >> as you know, bill, if you've been following me on the trail, i haven't been talking a lot about this, although i strongly believe in it. what i've been talk being as i did last night where any talk about this issue, i talked about the importance of getting this economy going and talked about my grandfather and coming here for freedom and this is the fundamental issue in this campaign is whether government is going to be big and object trucesive and telling people how to manage their lives or are they going to support the basic values of faith and family that allow government to be limited and allow our economy to be strong. those are the things i talked

about and did across iowa. i'll be talk being those things here in new hampshire. >> bill: so you're going to be deemphasize the controversial social stuff and then get into the smaller government, more self-reliance and the economy stuff. okay. now, newt gingrich got into trouble. this really hurt him -- by the judges thing, saying look, if the judges couldn't explain their rulings, he was going to bring them to washington. they could be impeached. marshals might be sent out. you've said you would call on congress to abolish the 9th circuit court of appeals in san francisco. now, how is that different from what newt gingrich said? >> great question, bill. i would not subpoena individual judges. i think that is going too far. what i said is that i would abolish the -- i'd like to abolish it completely, but i think what i would have to do is take the 9th circuit -- and this has been proposed by many others, not just me. it's by far the biggest in the country.

and should be, in fact, two circuits. so i would take all the judges in the 9th circuit, move them into two states, california and hawaii, and then create a new circuit with new judges and allow california to attempt to live with the judges that are there right now, which have a reversal rate somewhere close to 90%. >> bill: no, i understand. we're no fans of the 9th circuit. so congress would would have to do that and draw jurisdiction of lines. i'm not opposed to that. i think they abuse power all day long. now, you made a comment and i'm not harping on this, but again, i'm just telling you what -- i'm like the ghost of christmas present. i'm telling you what's happening now. you said, quote, i don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money, when you were talking about welfare. the point you were trying to make, 'cause i want to be fair to you tonight, is that look, we got to get away from this entitlement society. we got to get people back to work and give them an incentive

rather than giving a reason not to work. you threw in black people when most of the people, as you know, on welfare are white people. you think that's going to be a problem? >> no, it's not going to be a problem. the overall point you made is exactly correct. and i was talking about not just in that quote, but throughout the course of my conversation. i looked at that and i didn't say that. if you look at it, what i started to say is a word and sort of changed and it came out and people said i said black. i didn't. no one in that audience and i've talked to a lot of people -- >> bill: we looked at it, it is a little blurry. >> i looked at it closely. it is. >> bill: i'll take you on your word. >> first off, i don't use the term black very often. i use the term african-american more than i use black. as someone who did more work for historically black college, every year, i used to bring them into washington, d.c. to try to help them because they get very little federal money through the bureaucracy and so i helped to

try to introduce them to people in the department of education so they could have a more resources. we had two historically black colleges in pennsylvania which i've given commencement addresses -- >> bill: you don't have to convince me. >> i'm not saying it's a bigot, but i'm just saying that i'm actually proud of my record and working in these communities and so i think sometimes you want to give someone the benefit of the doubt if it's a little bit -- >> bill: absolutely. i think that's a fair thing to do. we hope we'll be talking to you down the road. we appreciate you coming on this evening and congratulations in the iowa deal. next, karl rove on who is helped now that michelle bachmann and rick perry are done. jesse watters venturing into times square to get presidential predictions. >> you think obama will be president next year or you think someone will knock him off? >> i think he will be there next year. >> you think he will? >> yeah. >> do you know who is running against obama? >> no. >> bill: we're coming right

>> bill: our analysis of the iowa vote. joining us from washington, political guru, karl rove. bachman is out. perry is on the ropes. who does that help? >> bachman doesn't have much in the way of support, if you take a look at the three primaries coming up, she had 4.3% in new hampshire. 6.7 in south carolina. and 3.5% in florida. i think that probably gets split up among the santorum, flavor of the moment, newt gingrich, a little bit to romney. some to ron paul and some of it tegumentsman in new hampshire and some sitting on the side lines waiting to figure it out. >> bill: so that's not a factor then. >> right. >> bill: and the governor perry, what are his people going? >> he's bypassing new hampshire which is smart because he was going nowhere there. the question is, he's got 3 or $4 million in his bank account.

that's lot of money. he can put it up on television in south carolina. it's more hospitable place in south carolina because it's south, not midwest. i'm not certain that it does him any good. he spent $5.5 million in iowa, which means every one of the 12,500 votes he got cost him about 460 bucks in television time. he does have the ability to shake it up. let's see what happens in new hampshire with gingrich and santorum and paul and huntsman all going after romney and see if that creates a situation where in south carolina, people are turning around and saying, well, we're going to give rick perry a second look. >> bill: in your column in the "wall street journal" tomorrow, you say mitt romney was the big winner. i, of course, said that in the talking points earlier on this program. and i think anybody would have to say that's true because the romney people thought they were going to get hammered in iowa. only put five people on the ground there. were willing to walk away with a mid showing and wins by eight votes, but wins it.

now he goes in with a lot of momentum. so you got to say he's the front runner. however, there is a real danger for mitt romney this coming weekend in the two debates. the first on saturday night, nobody will watch 'cause it's up against an nfl playoff game. so that's not going to have a lot of impact. >> it will create a narrative that will get amplified on the sunday morning talk programs. that's -- >> bill: i'm talking about the folks. the folks are going to eyeball these people once again, but they're not going to do it live time. they're going to do it through programs like this one. they're going to see clips and analysis, but believe me, when you put the envelope inform playoff game up against a debate, which they have seen now 17 times, it will be the playoff game. they're not going to get up early to watch "meet the press." people aren't going to do that in great numbers. >> the political class will and the internet play has big role. people are going to be picking up this information and massaging it around talking

about it inform it doesn't have the impact of you watching -- >> sure. i accept that. >> bill: right. that's newt gingrich's only chance, that he would in these debate, really shine, really go after people, whatever his strategy is, get the momentum back. >> yeah. the strategy is important in getting the momentum back because look, i think that speech last night was a missed opportunity. we saw an angry, defeated guy instead of sort of the happy warrior. remember how gingrich, with no money, with no organization, with no campaign resurrected himself. it was by being likeable and the most informed debater and somebody who offered a big compelling vision for the country. not somebody who kept whining and calling his opponents liars and as i put in my column tomorrow morning, a wise observer said to me, he looks enraged. he looks like a guy with a full ski mask and a chain saw in his

hand. it's not what you want to be looking like. >> bill: i think it might be an overstatement. i understand. but he's a human being and he knows he got hammered by these ads and nobody will own up to the ads so he's teed off. santorum will be -- as i said to him, he's going to be portrayed as an extremist. all right? about gay marriage, about blacks, about abortion, about birth control. that's what rick santorum is in for. correct? >> that's part of it. look, he's a very -- he's a very substantive member of the united states senate. he was really in both the house and the senate, very involved in the welfare reform. but does he have an ability to say things in a judgmental or offputting way and the comments this week where he basically talked about how people on food stamps and on government support, he wanted blacks to

have the experience of working. in iowa, the state where he's making this comment, 90 some odd% of the people on welfare are white, not black. so that kind of thing tends to get him in trouble and he's gotten in trouble in the past. but look, let's give the man his due for at least a few moments. he came from nowhere, did all the tough work for months and months and months, got no credit for it. but he laid the seeds for the moment that came in the last couple of weeks when, as gingrich collapsed and people were looking around, he was the alternative and he won second place last night in a spectacular fashion. >> bill: yeah. hard work pays off and his message was consistent. but it's a different ball game in new hampshire. >> absolutely. new terrain and he hasn't spent a year building those kind of relationships. >> bill: all right. mr. rove, thanks very much. directly ahead, lannie davis and alan colmes are the democrats are processing last night's vote. jesse watters asking americans to predict who will be the next president of the united states.

upcoming

>> bill: in the impact segment, president obama made a live video feed address to democratic vote increase iowa last night. it would be very interesting to know what he really thinks about the vote, of course. he's not going to say. but lannie davis and alan colmes, who channel barak obama. both democrats and fox news analysts. colmes, what did you see last night in -- as far as the democratic party and president obama is concerned? >> i think that it's going to be very good for president obama. i think that he's going to have an easy -- easy is not the right word. but i think you have a situation with romney who i think is going to be the nominee. i don't think there is any question about that at this point. after he battles the

conservative choice, which is rick santorum. i think romney wins. there's a lot of stuff about romney that hasn't seen the light of day which i believe the democrats are ready to go forthwith. some of which gingrich has already fired at romney. >> bill: you're saying it's good for president obama if romney is the nominee? >> i think any of these people is good for president obama. >> bill: any of them and you say? >> he's the toughest one for obama to face because romney does appeal, he is a moderate. he may try to call himself a conservative, but he is relative to everybody else. >> bill: do you think the obama administration knows that he's the tough he is one? >> no question. >> bill: they do know? >> yes. >> bill: your inside information tells that you? >> not inside, but i believe that's the case. >> bill: based on what? >> he appeals to moderates, independents far more than santorum would or newt gingrich would. and you have to get beyond -- gingrich had a potential of appealing to independents because he has a record of bipartisanship, as you know, which got him into some trouble with some of the conservatives. but i think romney's biggest

problem is authenticity. he comes across as not genuine and that really turns people off. >> bill: i don't know. at this point i think people want the economy turned around and all of the other stuff going to walk. >> hundredsman would have been the toughest. >> bill: i don't believe that for a second. people don't know jon huntsman. it's takes a long time and that's why romney has an advantage because he's been running for six years and they know him. >> if he's been running for six years, then why do we declare a victory after he wins eight votes. >> bill: colmes declared the victory. not me. >> he hasn't got above 25%. >> bill: colmes did that. you know how much seriousness we put in what colmes says? >> why do you have me on the show? >> it's comic relief for me. that's why. >> i'm glad to help. glad to make you smile. >> bill: so barak obama, he's sitting in the white house now. of course, this is conjecture and speculation, but it's based

upon strategizing and you people, both of you, are in the business of trying to promote democrats. so barak obama, what does he do now? does he just shut up until there is somebody elected or does he start to make little comments here and there? >> when the other side forms a circle and the firing squad, get out of the way. >> bill: he doesn't say anything. he's above it all. he's the chief executive. let these people just sort it among themselves. >> i think he's got to do hard work while this is going on. >> bill: like what? >> in the mid 40s approval rating. he's got to do economy, jobs. >> bill: is that what he was supposed to be doing the last three years? so he just starts now? >> no. tough deck of cards he was dealt. >> he has to underscore how well he's done and sell that. >> bill: how well he's done? >> yeah. >> bill: are we talking about the united states? are we going to switzerland? >> the other guys will be yelling at obama, talk being anti-obama. it's going to be we're not obama. he's got to make the case that

that's a bad argument. >> you said no cliches on this chevrolet i think you ought to kick the can down the road. >> bill: audiences know, but i gave a dictum that anybody who says on this show, kick the can down the road or at the end of the day, to pay a fine to wounded warriors. >> can i say president clinton enjoyed his interview with you and he did not say he would kick the can down the road. >> bill: we should say davis is close with the clintons. you helped in that. you tried to get him on for years. why did he finally listen and come on, just to sell a book? >> no, as a matter of fact, when you had senator clinton on, everybody was worried about it and i said, you would be tough and fair. >> bill: that was four years ago. >> and you were, i think he listened more to -- >> bill: it took him four years to figure out i was tough and fair. he came on and we have been after president clinton -- >> you got along with him. >> bill: i get along with everybody. >> he told me he came on for comic relief. >> bill: is that it? i don't know if he was laughing during that interview. he looked a little tense. he looked --

>> it was a good interview. >> bill: it was. >> and he stayed right on message, jobs, and i hope that president obama reads his book. i think bill clinton -- >> bill: he was effective on the economy. so why wouldn't he read his book? he needs to read something. if colmes had a book -- well, he doesn't. all right. gentlemen. thanks very much. plenty more ahead. this evening, voters in iowa did not have to show i.d. last night. but in some states, new laws dictate they have to have identification at the polls. and eric holder, the justice department, doesn't like that. is it legal? we'll have analysis. next, jesse watters out in the street again two blocks away in times square asking the folks who will be the next president. we hope you stay tuned for those reports

>> bill: in the waters world segment tonight, more than 1 million people jammed into times square on new year's eve. so we decided that was a good place to send jesse watters. his mission? to get predictions about who will be the next president. >> where are you from? >> from the netherlands. >> st. louis. >> new york. >> san francisco bay area. >> canada. >> hey. >> hey.

>> where are you from? >> don't know what that means. >> no one know what is it means. but it's provocative. >> it's like a, which hia pet. >> right. >> 2012, any predictions? >> the mets will win the world series. >> how about that? >> the world is going to end. >> oh! >> i think a lot of people are going to think the world will end, so they'll quit paying their bills and everything will get worse. >> are you a glenn beck fan? >> huge glenn beck fan. >> get out of here. >> i want to see lady gaga tonight. >> lady gaga? >> yeah. >> lady gaga? >> oh, yeah, lady gaga. >> lady gaga. okay. >> what's happened here? >> who do you think the president will be? >> hopefully not obama. >> i love president obama. >> you guys have any new year's resolutions? >> only one more year of obama. >> you want him to legalize marijuana? >> yeah, why not? >> let's party. >> what do you think the guy's

done? >> nothing. >> screwed it up worse. >> whoever it is, we're in the military. >> you want america to liberalize, even prostitution? >> is it not legal here? >> who is going to be president next year? n mitt romney is looking real strong. you know what i mean? >> i think he is kind of a pompous ass. >> what about romney do you like? >> he's a good guy. ron paul, he's a good guy. newt gingrich, he's a good guy. >> there is only one answer. >> michelle bachmann? >> yeah. >> i find she's honest. >> okay. what about newt gingrich? >> i don't think so. >> making like a yucky face. >> thank god sarah palin is not running for president. >> mitt romney, have you heard of him? >> yep. >> what about michelle bachmann? >> no. >> rick perry? >> sounds familiar. >> can't think of a name right now. >> how about rick? >> rick cheney? >> what do you like about rick perry? >> i don't know, i have a good feeling about him. >> you think obama will get

reelected? >> yes. >> you do? >> the republicans don't have a strong candidate. >> what about bill o'reilly, you a factor factor fan? >> he's a cool guy. >> you watch "the factor"? >> yes. quite often. >> ever seen waters world? n no. >> are you mad at me? >> we don't watch the news clearly. >> what's your favorite show? >> red eye. >> we can't possibly be that show. >> you ever watch waters world? >> i'm your biggest fan. >> really? anything you want to say to bill o'reilly? >> nice meeting you. >> i'm not bill. >> who is bill o'reilly. >> bill: i think that's nonsense. >> he's my boss. >> really? hi. >> bill: i want to point out, that was before the drinking began. they were sober. did you notice the guy who predicted the mets were going to win the world series? also predicted romney is going to be president. >> right. so we don't really know how accurate that is. >> bill: of the people that you

interview, obviously we cut this down. so you've got four or five for every one that we get. was that about accurate? you would interview four or five people for every bite we would use? >> yeah. >> bill: how many of those people were cogent, which means knowledgeable, waters -- >> thank you, bill. >> bill: in discussing the presidential sweepstakes? >> i think our sample is skewed because we had so many foreigners and the foreigners think obama will win in a landslide. they've never heard a negative thing about him. one guy from canada thought he was an incredibly popular program. i'm not sure how many people are completely cogent about what's going on. >> bill: so you can't put a percentage on it? >> no. >> bill: 25 or 50%? >> i think i would say about 30% really knew what was going on, or even could name one or two republican candidates. >> bill: all right. 'cause that's what i think. even though we're engaged in this thing every day, the majority of people, even though they might not be americans,

have no clue. jesse watters, everybody. very cogent report. when we come back, is it legal on why the justice department doesn't want americans to show i.d.s at the polls? and then, dick morris has some thoughts about last night's iowa vote. he will be here as well. those reports after these messages

>> bill: thanks for staying with us. i'm bill o'reilly. we asked fox news to update its polling on whether americans want laws that say you have to produce an identification in order to vote. those results should be in shortly. but last june, fox news polls showed 85% of americans said voters should produce an i.d just 14% opposed that. that group includes apparently attorney general eric holder, now says not only the poor would be at a disadvantage if you have to have an i.d., now his

complaints shifted from the poor to college students. here to sort it out is our legal team, kimberly guilfoyle and liswhil, the author of a new book. not going to make any jokes or mock the book. it's out there. you can read it if you would like to read it. just good advice in there. we need some advice for eric holder. this is what i don't get, you have how many states with the voter i.d. law? >> 31 states. >> bill: 31 states. not iowa. anybody could walk in there. >> 31 states, some form of i.d., 15 states you have to have a photo i.d. >> bill: how many states are being sued by the justice department? >> right now, only one. that's south carolina. but the aclu is going after wisconsin. >> bill: why did they take south carolina? >> because south carolina is one of 16 states or parts of states that require that the department of justice approve any kind of tightening, any strengthening of the voter identification law. that's an historical thing. the government said these 16

states, alabama is one of them, tennessee -- >> bill: all in the south, because of the civil rights stuff. so they have to get approval if they pass a new law? >> you got it. >> bill: because of the jim crow situation in the 50s and 40s. >> right. >> bill: okay. now, that makes sense. so holder, despite the fact that it makes sense to 85% of american. >> me, too. >> bill: he says, i don't like this, guilfoyle, because college kids may not have the i.d.s. how are they getting beer and booze? every college kid. >> are you suggesting something nefarious? >> bill: yes, i am. i went to college. in fact, i went to three colleges and they were all nefarious, every one of them. >> but not you? >> bill: i never got drunk in my life, you know that. >> this is true, i do know that. so i don't think you would need any -- >> bill: but i had an i.d. to prove i never got drunk in my life. that was my i.d this geek never got drunk in his life. >> you can't make that up.

and never any -- >> bill: so they went away from the poor people, because in georgia when we were investigating this last year, the georgia authority said, we'll go and give them an i.d we'll deliver it to their doorway. >> why not? >> bill: so that took that argument away. now it's the poor college kids. >> i mean, it's very suspicious, or shall we just say politicized in the fact they're worried about college students being disenfranchised, but with respect to college students. you know what i find very interesting -- >> bill: they have an i.d. to go to college. >> anyway. >> bill: right. >> how is it that -- >> bill: what college kid doesn't have it? >> that's my point. there is president obama credible argument that they're being disenfranchised and prevented from being able to vote and exercise their right. >> bill: are there any states to don't accept a college i.d.? >> wisconsin. >> bill: just wisconsin? so they need to accept it. >> they need to accept it. >> bill: that's fine. >> it's crazy because you're

right. if you don't have a photo i.d., in a lot of states, what you can do is -- >> bill: use a library! >> but you can show proof of residency. >> bill: the college kids can't 'cause they don't want people hanging around the library. it's very tough. i'm not kidding. you have to show a college i.d. to get into the college library because they don't want thugs hanging around. >> that makes sense. >> wait a second. we're missing the point, there is another way for college kids to get in without the i.d. and that's to show residence and they can't because mom and dad has it. >> bill: they're going to have key ballots from their own state. that's why absentee ballots were set up. military and students -- >> you're going to put that on 18-year-olds? >> bill: yes, i'm gog put it on 1-year-olds. >> they don't know they can do that. >> bill: if they don't know they can vote absentee, they're too stupid to vote. >> that's not right, bill. >> bill: we have a process that you go out of state on election

day, you can vote and if they don't know about it, tough. >> isn't it incumbent upon them to find out? >> bill: yes, it is. >> okay. an 1-year-old for the first time trying to vote -- >> bill: holder is now politicizing the justice department. would you both agree to that. >> we concur. >> bill: he wasn't upset about the black panthers having the clubs out in front. >> intimidation, right. >> bill: wouldn't prosecute them, but if you don't have an i.d., he wants to sue you. >> exactly. >> bill: now, in charlotte, north carolina, whil, two occupy protesters burnt an american flag. they were charged, but it's legal to burn an american flag. >> absolutely. four protesters burning two american flags. they were all charged with misdemeanor, basically burning the fires, you can see wrecklessly. they burned the fire ten feet away from the flammable tents where these protesters were. >> bill: that's why they were arrested. >> on a misdemeanor ordinance. >> bill: so they burned two american flags, but they didn't

get charged with burning the flag, which is legal. >> right. >> bill: they got charged with endangerment? >> right. but that makes sense. under the law, that's the only thing you can do. it's very wreckless. it does endanger lives. there is a risk of bodily injury or death. they shouldn't have a right to do that and they should have reined them in. >> and it was damage to city property. it wasn't a lot of damage. but there was damage. >> bill: so they got charged with misdemeanors? >> right. $500 fine. they're probably not. these are 19-year-old, 20-year-olds. >> bill: do they have i.d.s? >> i don't know. i don't know if they voted either. >> bill: direct your mail to lis whil, everybody. in a moment, dick morris on the iowa vote last night. and then "the factor" strikes again. our favorite thoroughbred wins another race. coming right back.

>> bill: back in the book segment, let's book in op the iowa vote with dick morris who joins us from florida. now, you heard senator santorum at the top of the program and i think my prediction that the media is going to try to demonize him, i think the democrats will leave it to the media for now. do you think that's going to happen? >> yeah. but i don't think the attacks are going to be from the left, as you suggested in your interview, gay marriage and that stuff. i think the attacks are going to come from the right, from other republican candidates. i think he'll be hit, for example, to supporting arlen specter, who is a strong pro-choice republican. i think he'll be hit on some of the affiliations with labor unions because he was their senator from an industrial state and it's stuff he had to do. i think that you're going to find people questioning his

conservative credentials. let me say this, i was not impressed with how santorum handled himself on your segment. he just -- it was like watching a boxer that wasn't experienced taking punches. for example, when you asked him on the gay stuff, he should have filibustered more on that instead of giving a quick answer. he should have talked over you. he got off into job, but then relented. you compare that performance with, say, romney's, who is very experienced at slipping the punch. >> bill: you know op this show, i'm not gog let any politician filibuster and i'm going to get an answer or i'm going to come in harder. he was a standup guy. he answered the questions the way they were posed. but the problem here is mitt romney. i don't think romney is going to go after santorum. i don't think he's going to. romney now is in such a secure -- >> he needs santorum. >> bill: he'll float above. who is going to go after him?

ron paul? newt gingrich? >> gingrich. >> bill: gingrich will? >> yeah. rick santorum is god's gift to mitt romney because for newt gingrich to defeat romney and newt is still the one who might, he's got to get him one on one. he can't be in a position where half the anti-romney vote goes for santorum and maybe a portion goes for ron paul and he gets one out of three or something like that. can't happen. won't have enough votes to beat romney. you look at south carolina. now gingrich is at 40. romney at 20. if gingrich has to share his 40 with santorum, it will be a three-way tie at 20. that's in a conservative state that is not -- >> bill: let's be fair, that poll was before the iowa vote. it will be totally different at the end of this week. >> that's the point i'm making. i'm saying that gingrich is going to have to share his votes with santorum. so the guy that's got to take out santorum is gingrich, because gingrich needs romney

one on one. that's going to be very hard for him to do because it's very hard for him to distinguish himself from santorum 'cause they're so essentially similar. newt is as much as admitted that when he talked about how highly he thinks of santorum. he'll have to reverse field. >> bill: he'll have to find a weakness. paul is basically the attack dog against santorum, saying that he was all for these earmarks and that he's a big spender and all of that stuff was laid in. what did you think of paul saying to abc news, i think it was tapper -- that he knows he's not going to be president? what did you think of that? >> i think that was big mistake on his part. we have to remember that this is not so much a primary as an audition. we're looking at each of these guys and saying, which of these folks can take on obama. >> bill: i know that in the big picture and that's an interesting word you use, audition. but why would paul -- i believe

paul was telling the truth. he knows he's not going to win. >> he was. >> bill: why? >> i think you got to pin paul back because i think he might be setting autopsy third party candidate. >> bill: then puts barak obama in the presidency. >> that's right. that's right. >> bill: he knows that. >> well, i don't know if he cares. that's why he's -- >> bill: he doesn't care, his supporters will be angry with him. they're not big on barak obama. >> yeah, but a lot of them are, you know, drink the kool-aid types. and i think that ron paul has a perfect vehicle to run as a third party candidate. >> bill: he has it, but he'll be naderesque guy. he'll get 3 to 5%, but that will be enough o elect president obama. >> you said it first. listen, i think -- i don't think santorum won iowa or did well in iowa because of his hard work and persistence and all of that, nice things to say, i don't think it's true. i think he was the last survivor

and everybody else was radioactive. >> bill: but i think they liked him because he worked so hard and they liked him because he did retail politics. morris, everybody. there he is, check it out on dick morris.com. pin heads and patriots in a moment. tonight starring factor, the horse. he is on fire! p and p up

>> great news about "killing lincoln." it remains number 1 in the usa,

after 3 1/2 months in the marketplace. the hardbloke -- hardback number 2. we thank everybody who is reading or listening to it. if you become a premium member on bill o'reilly dot-com, you get the book free -- the book or the audio, your choice and it will make your 2012 much, much brighter because we have the inside stuff on the presidential race, stuff that i can't say on the factor, i can do on the web site. it is not offensive, but it's inside, more personal stuff. so check it out. now to the mail. bob in santee, california... >> in your own life, for example, don't you say something if you feel an injustice? i want to hear about it, i want

to be fair to all of them. bob heymann, indianapolis... >> talking points come from right here, right out of here. boom. and paul himself says he's not going to win. so you come on. wayne carlson... >> i'm not sure who "we" is, but he assures president obama of a re-election. it's a vanity run, which is what it would be, would give mr. obam four more years to expand the government because that's what he's going to do. so it will be interesting to see rong paul explain any third-party ventush. julie from highland village, texas...

>> what do you want insane cloud posse? i may be fresh but i want the presentation to be lower key. joseph cross... >> just about every nice hotel in the country carries fox news, but the disney people have been holding out. you are right. but i understand, we are close to signing a deal with disney orlando because micky and goofy and donald have had enough. they're bored to shreds with the other ones. >> they are demanding fnc. joel burkes long beach, california... >> we will have an announcement about that, shortly. i am happy you read the book.

>> wasn't the game he was playing when they kick him out? there is a thoroughbred horse called fac farc and they have their eyes on the ken ducky derby. >> with the factor inside and come outside, but the factor's tough. the factor's finding more room and running on legs, but the factor is all heart today. and the factor in a superb performance, the factor runs home in the malibu! >> yes! we are rooting for the factor to win the derby this year because he's a patriot. that's it for us. check out our web site. also, please spout off about the factor from anywhere in the world. name and town if you wish to opine. word of the day, gonot harangue when writing to us.

no haranguing. again, thanks for watching us tonight. i'm bill o'reilly. please remember, the spin stops right here because we are definitely looking out for you. >> top of the morning to you. it's thursday, january 5th, 2012. i hope you're going to have a great thursday. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for sharing your time. in the words of rick santorum, game on. not all eyes are on new hampshire. different candidates, different strategies and we're keeping an eye on all of them this morning. can you say s. c. as well as n.h.? >> yes, we can. meanwhile, mitt romney getting a boost from john mccain's endorsement. does it matter? governor sarah palin says more than you know it matters. why mccain's endorsement has one thing that no one else in the country has.