ease up on gingrich. he calls him an unreliable conservative. what do the polls show? plus the proposal to ban cell phone use for drivers has been praised and slammed at the same time a day after it was rolled out. should the decision be left to individual states? hi there. i'm tamron hall. the news nation is falling this president obama and the first lady who just paid a visit to ft. bragg, north carolina. the president went to ft. bragg to mark the end of the u.s. military's involvement in iraq. he has promise that had all u.s. troops will be out by new years eve. in the audience, meks of the air borne division who served repeated deployments to iraq. the president thanked all of those who served and their families and he paid tribute to those who lost their lives in that war.

>> over 30,000 american have been wounded. and those are only the wounds that show. nearly 4,500 americans made the ultimate sacrifice. including 202 fallen heroes from here at ft. bragg. >> the president also stressed his commitment to ensuring that returning troops get the jobs and resources that they need once they are in fact back home. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins me live from baghdad. we'll talk about what the president refers to as the stability in iraq right now. what can you tell us about the environment there? >> reporter: [ inaudible ] people today, we spoke to were not thanking american troops for having brought democracy. they were complaining about consistent insecurity, consistent power problems,

consistent infrastructure problems. in fact, we were in sadr city today, one of the poorest and at time most violent neighborhoods in this country. there were pools of sewage. people were saying the american troops brought nothing. only death and destruction. they are celebrating what they consider a victory of resistance, of fighting against the u.s. troops now that americans are leaving. so not a lot of encouraging words. not a lot of thanks coming from the iraqis toward the u.s. and you can see the power has just gone off here. that is something that happens all the time in baghdad. still, nine years, nearly, since the u.s. invasion. >> and i saw your report on "nightly news." you were talking about the worry at least from the iraqi perspective, that there will be a big influence, a by footprint even though we don't have the 170,000 soldiers at the height of this war. that's how many were there on the ground there. >> is it on battery? >> i think we've will some technical difficulties. you heard him saying there was a

power outage that the people are dealing with. in the meantime, let me bring in retired general barry mccaffrey. thank you for joining us. you heard richard engel before his report went out that the people there are not thanking the troops, not thanking this country. in fact they still have a great laupdry list of frustrations there. >> well, we're certainly not going out with roses. this isn't victory in europe day. to put in it context, 36,000 killed and wounded. $850 billion. we did take down saddam. we did leave an operative state with an army, a police force, a bureaucracy, and surely, the kurds up north and to some extent, the sunnis are better for our intervention. it was miserably executed at the start. it was pulled out of the fire by

petraeus and the armed forces. we have to hope they don't go to all out civil war. >> we must have that hopeful in the meantime we have to have hope that our troops can come back and transition. whether they stay in the military or decide to try to get a job in this already tough economy. we know the unemployment rate for the people who served in iraq, i believe, is around 23 to 30%, if you see some of the numbers. and also, we know that they will deal with hard shims, returning to their spouses. and just life adjustments. as a career military man, tell us how tough it really will be for these men and women. >> i think there is always an adjustment challenge. i had four combat tours. my son is on his third. when you come home, you have to reintegrate into your family and american society. if you're 21 and getting out of the armed forces, you need a job. these young people are disciplined, they're smart, they're courageous, they're team players. they'll do fine. but it is definitely a challenge

coming home. remember, thousands of them have been wounded. and probably a quarter of them, to some extent, show signs of what we call ptsd. so it is an adjustment challenge, the country needs to reach out to them. not just their families but employers, and the services. >> and it's interesting, we've had this conversation before. and it does strike me as amazing that we continue to have tow remind i guess ourselves and every one else that these men and women need our support. i was in the dallas-ft. worth airport. you know that area very well. we see a lot of men and women in their camouflage walking through the airport there. and i think about, there was a commercial where someone reached out and saluted a soldier as they walked by. we don't do that. do you believe that it is now in past rhetoric or is it a lot of talk when we say we need to support them and employers need to give them a break. a break they deserve. is it all talk?

>> i don't think so. the last slide i show in most presentations is the degree to which americans have trusted in the great institutions of our society, the most trusted institution in america is the u.s. armed forces. the galop poll. by the way, there are 23 million veterans can. some survivors of world war, two korea, vietnam, the gulf wars, now iraq and afghanistan. this country is aware and loves their armed forces themselves do reach out to them. we do have an adjustment challenge for some of these young people. and we have to put our eye on the ball. they've done a magnificent job trying to care for those who are damaged. either physically or emotionally challenged. >> president again stressing his commitment to help with getting jobs and the resources they need. great pleasure having you on. thank you.

the pay roll tax fight has made it to the senate and the ongoing partisan bickering over it picked up yet again. the gop bill containing the key stone pipeline provision made it through house tuesday night, earlier today, senate leaders spent half an hour, guess what, pointing fingers at each other. so let's get this vote over with. then we can begin serious negotiations in how to prevent a thousand dollar tax hike on american families. the sooner we put this useless partisan charade behind us, the sooner we can negotiate a true bipartisan solution that protects middle class workers. >> why doesn't he start talking to the speaker about how we might actually craft a bill that can pass both the republican house and a democratic senate? >> nbc capitol hill correspondent kelly o'donnell joins us now. what is the low-down? where do things stand? >> that was even, i would convenient you are to say some of the more tamer exchanges between reid and mcconnell today. it did go on a long time.

where does it stand? it is unusual because often you will be able to get the next chess moves from members in either party know seeing how they could work their way out of one of these stand-offs and that's very hard to come by. what is at stake is the government is set to shut down on saturday if government funding is not passed. republicans in the senate say that should be done first. then take up the pay roll tax cut. democrats are saying, no, take care of extending the pay roll tax cut and unemployment benefits which expire come january. do that first. and they really have themselves kind of backed into a corner here. and we don't really know from either party what moves they think can resolve this. the challenge is getting a piece of legislation that can pass through the senate where you do have to have votes of both parties to get it done. so expect that there will be a lot of talking, a lot of negotiating, a lot going on. expect that they could work through the weekend which was not something that was scheduled. and we don't know the end game.

but deadlines are looming and there are some pretty significant consequences if they don't get it together quickly. >> thank you very much for the live report from capitol hill. also, attorney general eric holder is vowing to aggressively review new voter i.d. laws that one study suggests could keep as many as 5 million people from voting. the study by the nyu school of law says those new restrictions would most heavily impact minorities. a key voting block for the democrats. holder spoke last night at the library of lyndon library. >> texas has gained more than 4 million new residents. the vast majority of whom are hispanic. and that this growth allows for new congressional seats. however the state has proposed adding zero seats in which his hispanics would have the electorate opportunity envisioned by the voting rights act. >> this year a dozen i think at

a tightened the rules for showing i.d. at the polls. most were done by republicans. joining me now, the radio talk show host michael smerconish. there are so many examples. rachel maddow had an example last night on her show. this elderly woman lou does not have a birth certificate. like so many others of her time. she was born at home. there is not an actual record. and she won't be able to vote. i believe it is in wisconsin. we saw the elderly african-american woman in tennessee who has voted back as far as she can remember and now she won't be able to as a result of some of these changes. >> i think intuitively when you say you have to show a photo i.d. to exercise your franchise, it makes sense at a certain you different commercial retail establishments to go with your credit card. check into a hotel. get on an airplane and so forth. but it doesn't take into consideration that there are some constituencies that just

don't have a driver's license as that primary form of identification. i think the reasonable approach is to say if there is a documented pattern of voter fraud, and that's really questionable, tamron. i don't think there has been sufficient fraud documented to justify all that of the changes that are being put into place in time for this cycle. to the extent there has been fraud that has been documented, you have to take into account what is the constituency of that particular polling location and be reasonable. and if folks don't all have driver license photo identification, you have to find some other solution to this issue. because in the end, we want everybody voting. don't we? >> well, yeah. you would think so. but obviously, that seems not to be the case. and you had the attorney general even say, why not try to ploet 58th people to go out and vote as opposed to suppressing those voters. we don't have to be pundits to see here that this has been politicized and one side is trying to greatly benefit here.

>> well, it's hard to look at this from the outside looking in and not see a pattern to it. because it is so darn clear that those consistency ever constituencies that are most impacted were a bedrock of support for obama in 2008. rachel may have an example or two that she likes. the one that i sort of target is florida on the sunday before the election. because florida now has this tradition of allowing folks to vote prior to election day. i think it makes sense because again, you know, you don't want to rely on the fact that everybody is available on that tuesday. how can you say that on the sunday preceding the tuesday, you can't vote knowing that that is a day in particular where the minority community via churches is encouraged to go out and vote. that to me is a pretty glaring example and raises a question as to whether this is suppression and not so-called integrity. >> let me ask you, we've heard from a number of republicans on this. and they bring up again this

voter fraud issue. but the numbers are minute. we've had some of the top experts who do research on voter fraud and whether it is something that exists or something that is made into a story line or a headline just for the sake of scaring people. but the reality is, have you heard an argument from a republican that suits you well that makes you say, hmm, this is valid? >> no. interestingly, one that i often hear, people will say, callers will call in and say what about the new black panthers in your home town of philadelphia? and when you delve into what went on in election day, 2008. like two knuckle heads show up at a polling place where believe me, no voters needed to be intimidated to go one way or the other because it was so decidedly a polling place that was already going to go democratic and for obama. and nobody was intimidated in that particular case. it was really two guys looking to get on television. and i guess what i'm suggesting is, when you delve into the facts of these particular case,

they don't justify wholesale changes like are being prescribed for many, many states. more than a dozen. >> all right. thank you very much. we'll see you tomorrow. >> good to see you. coming up, no nonsense newt's political director is out of a job after calling mormonism a cult. we've got the details. plus a horrifying elevator accident in new york city. how a woman is crushed to death when she stepped on to the elevator. and they're calling it power of the peel. "time" magazine names the protester. it is person of the year. i'll talk to "time" magazine. let us know if you agree. [ male announcer ] an lg smart tv, lg optimus cell phone and...an apology card.

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welcome back. in decision 2012 coverage, our nbc "wall street journal" poll shows night gingrich is solidifying his position as the front-runner. he is now favored by 40% of likely primary voters. 27% surge from just a month ago. romney has dropped. you see it there. 23%. our poll also shows gingrich would not beat president obama in a head to head match-up while romney would be a statistical tie. joining me now, columnist for the hill. good to see you again. we know about the newt gingrich surge. we've got that. i think it is incredible when you see this head to head match-up. gingrich does not fare well when it goes against barack obama. do the republican voters want a fighter or just someone who can go on and win this thing for them? >> right now i think they want a fighter. time will tell because we're expecting a long slog in the nominating process whether or not they change their minds and whether or not mitt romney can

convince them that electability is strong enough to overcome their doubts about his conservati conservatism. so newt gingrich is not only charging romney but 40%, something that no candidate has yet enjoyed. not only because he's performed well in the debates. they see him as a fighter. but they are considering his liability saying he might be troublesome with independent voters or women but we're willing to stick with him any way. that could change. as of now, he is surging and looking at a good january with the other early states as well. unless they change their mind, it looks like he is the favorite for the long haul. >> it's interesting. we keep calling it this surge at this point. when you look at it, gingrich is the first of the gop field to reach 40%. you and i talked a lot about the fact that romney cannot crack 25. he is in this poll, 28% but he hangs in that 20% range. >> he does. and what he's hoping, tamron, is

that there will be a split vote in some of the early contests. the anti-romney vote will be split and ultimately voters will turn away from michele bachmann, away from ron paul, away from rick santorum and can hopes to support him in the long run. >> let's talk about this latest line of attacks from romney, directed at gingrich. he said in this "washington post" interview that newt gingrich is, quote, an extraordinarily unreliable leader in the conservative world. but back to that poll, the people who describe themselves as conservative, only 29% believe romney is a conservative compared to 57% who believe gingrich is. is that a smart line of attack by romney? >> that is a gamble, tamron. when he starts taking on newt gingrich for flip flops, it highlights his own. mitt romney is not considered a true conservative. they don't trust him. he has flip flopped on major issues. really truly flip flopped on conservative bedrocks and they

don't trust him. they believe he is a johnny come lately on their cause. so therefore they are not interested in nominating a moderate candidate. if mitt romney continues to attack newt gingrich and the attacks don't stick and he attacks him on flip-flop, he is really reminding the voters who are doubtful about him of his own changes on policy positions as well. >> i have to ask but newt gingrich asking one of his team members in iowa to step down as a result of referring to mormonism as a cult. they said that they agree that he would step down. it sounds more like he was sent away. newt gingrich doesn't want to go negative. >> all along in the debates, this whole campaign season, he's been the big unifier, the elder statesman when he was low in the polls, class tiesing the press. now that he's taking on mitt romney, he hasn't actually adhered to his promise to campaign positively on monday, as you know, he was asked

whether or not when mitt romney said he might return, the money he earned from freddie mac. he asked whether mitt romney should then return the money he made at bain capital when he was downsizing. and it was as conservatives said an attack on capitalism and risk taking. he is concluding that he needs to adhere to some newly found discipline in order to be the sunny candidate and the optimistic campaigner and he thinks negativity is not going to work for him. we don't know if he can stick with it. >> we'll see if he can remain sunny newt. thank you very much. coming up, where are the best places to work? that is a heck of a question. especially these days. a new list is out with the top 50 companies based on salaries, ceos and how they treat employees. we've got that list for you. plus, volume control, what the fcc is doing to make sure advertisers turn down the volume

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the annual report on the best places to work in 2012 is out already. glass door jobs and career specialists looked at things like the balance between work and life, career opportunities, compensation, benefits, fairness as well. technology giants like google and apple are among the highest ranked on this list. cnbc correspondent joins me to talk about it. john, thanks for your time. >> absolutely. let's look at who is on this list. the top five, bain and company. mitt romney's former company there. mckinsey, facebook, i talked to

the ceo about how that facebook got near the top of the list. >> facebook is fascinating. you get to go to work at a company where you get to work with very, very strong people. particularly on the engineering side. and you get to work on a product that almost a billion people around the world use. including all your friends. and you're staring down the barrel of potentially $100 billion ipo. >> yeah. big ipo bucks. don't hurt, do they? the prospect of that. something to watch. here is one of the things that he said is that people want to make investments in the future of their career. they're interested in places that promote advance many. a caveat about this list. this is all self-reported from employees. usually a few dozen. this isn't the only best list. fortune has one on best companies to work for that include a bunch of other stats. here are some other names that people might know. southwest airlines at number 17. johnson and johnson at 28, disney parks and resorts,

starbucks, nike, and mtv also on this list. it is a little bit like a bathroom wall. you can read some of what you read other here but no, it is not all statistically accurate. >> it's an interesting list nonetheless. thank you 57. greatly appreciate it. up next, why the number married americans plunges to an all-time low. we've got details for you. plus, president obama's campaign has a new strategy to, quote, drive your conservative family friends and family members nuts. for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the other guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

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here's what the "news nation" is following. mixed reaction. the ntsb's decision to ban cell phones is both yelled and hated. should the decision be left to the states? and the power of the protester. how the uprisings affect people around the world. we'll talk about the person of

the year, the protester. and road to the oscars. nomination for the sag awards are out and the movie, "the help" is leading the pack. plus, what happens when your cell phone number is one that once belonged to a celebrity. i'll talk to a man whose life was turned upside down in a good way when it happen to him. growing controversy over the ntsb's urging that all 50 states and d.c. ban the use of mobile devices behind the wheel, even those hands-free cell phone devices. the dramatic relevant dags comes after recent rash of deaths attributed to distracted drivers. nearly 3,100 deaths last year alone. but some say the proposed ban is too much. it won't stop people from using their phones. oim joined by john walsh. thanks for your time. where do you and your organization stand on this? >> certainly on the tesking front, we're in total lockstep with the ntsb. and have been for about three

years. we looked at texting, we thought about it and looksing at the activity. eyes off the road, hands off the heel. that's not conducive to safe driving. so we support the ban. 35 states right now that have texting bans already in place. on the other side of that equation is the handheld versus the hands-free debate. that has been raging. we think it is appropriate in this case to defer to state lawmakers, local lawmakers. what do their constituents, our customers, what do they want? one city might be different than another. one state might be different than another. let's step out of the way and let them decide. >> why do you belief it would vary from state to state to city to city? it only takes one person to be distracted. for example, the investigation or the incident that the ntsb cited was in missouri in a small rural area. the one you're looking at here where a 15-year-old lost his life. that's not the busy streets of

manhattan. that's in a rural small area. >> absolutely right. and one case like that or any other case is obviously, horrific. what happened in this case is absolutely a tragedy. but i think to try to put one set of beliefs on what people in wyoming or montana or iowa or colorado might think versus somebody in missouri or florida or new york should be left to those particular populations. the ntsb has talked about that. taking it state to state. we think that makes a lot of sense and let them decide for themselves what is most appropriate. the one thing we've been supportive of is education. we've had public service campaigns for almost 12 years now. been very active with this. we have a partnership with the national safety council and tv and radio. so we think technology has a plarks legislation has a place but education is really at the top of that pyramid. >> going back to what up, a seventh beliefs from city to city or state to state. you could ask some people about seatbelts and they would make the argument that they should

have the choice of whether to wear seatbelts. i can't till how many times someone said in the '70s, my mom and dad would put us in the back and we were just fine. times change, circumstances change and now we have more people than ever before on the phone and even, for example, with hands-free devices, people stop to dial the number. i mean, it is not completely hands-free or a complete lack of distraction just because you're not holding the phone. >> right. >> again, is it presumptuous of us to tell consumers in this case, how to use the device? certainly you want to provide them with great service. that's the ultimate goal of the industry, and we do that. we could do that with a lot more spectrum coming our way, we hope soon. but at the same time to dictate what laws should be or to mandate what laws should be, we think is not the position of the industry. not the place of the industry. instead, to step back and respect what people think and the individual locations. and certainly defer to that. >> a lot of food for thought. thank you so much. i appreciate you joining me.

>> thank you for having me. an investigation is underway after a freak elevator accident in new york city this morning. that tops our look at stories around the "news nation." new york fire officials say the elevator inside a madison office building took off as a woman was stepping inside. it abruptly rose, dragging her with the elevator. two others who were in there at the time were evaluated for the psychological trauma and what they had seen. a new poll shows marriages have hit a record low. 51%. the trend is accompanied for rising tolerance of single parents. however, 61% of unmarried adults hope to wed. and "time" magazine unveiled its person of the year. it is, if you don't know by now, the protester. is "time" magazine said it is redefining people power around the world.

joining me now, bobby, good to have you on. you're talking about protesters around the world. we were together many days discussing the arab spring and its infancy and what it turned into even after tunisia and even occupy protesters. >> a great deal between those as the year comes to a close. we are seeing new protests in places like russia, there are protests still requesting on in years. i can't other protests all over europe, for instance. in india, there was a giant protest over anti-corruption legislation. so this is a year when ordinary people, when civilians rose up against the established order. whether it was in dictatorships, as in the arab countries that we discussed, or even in democratic countries like the united states, like much of europe and india where people felt that despite the fact that those were democracies, their voices were not being heard. their leaders were not paying attention to their causes. >> let me tell but the common

thread. we know it is common belief that corruption is rampant. that the leadership, the policies are not there for the people. i want to talk about the timing here. these feelings are not new. >> no, they're not. and basically, what it took, and as we say in our story in the magazine, it was waiting for a spark. you had a sort of confluence of events, frustration and anger building up over a long time. and gradually, the availability of these new technologies, social media, facebook, twitter, young people to communicate with each other. then all it was waiting for was a spark. a young man in tunisia, frustrated about not getting justice, sets himself on fire and you have the spark. >> that is amazing. was there a great debate over whether the protesters should be the -- >> always a debate for person of the year. >> what made the case for you? >> for me, these are people changing the world of literally. we use that expression quite loosely nowadays in modern

journalism, so and so is changing the world. these people literally are. they have thrown out dictatorships that have lasted three, four decades in some cases. they're forgs us to reckon with them. they're changing the conversation in a very profound way and that's what did it for me. >> an incredible list. i've gotten a couple of tweets to specifically ask you, how did kate middleton make -- i'm not kidding. i have to ask bobby how did kate middleton make the list? >> she is one of several runners up. she became a style icon this year. whatever we feel about her, she gets attention. the way she looks, the way she dresses, the way she conducts herself. something that people around the world are paying attention to. and it is important. she has changed the way we look at this royal family. this stodgy, dull old family that we've looked at in one particular way for so many years. diana changed it a little bit. kate middleton is changing it a little bit. >> there you have your answer

for the people sending you tweets. only you can answer that. let us know what you think on facebook. do you agree with time's pick of the protester. just ahead, elizabeth taylor's stunning collection of jewels sets an auction record, one piece alone went for nearly $12 million. we'll tell you what piece of jewelry that was. first a lot is going on. today here are some things we thought you should know. president obama will give the final state of the union address of his first term on january 24th. speaker boehner said he was looking forward to putting solutions before politics in the election year. an unusual fundraising technique from the obama re-election team. they are suggesting people make a donation in the name of a conservative friend or relative. the president's deputy campaign manager says the donation will, quote, drive them nuts. in a new interview, the president and first lady open up about their favorite tv shows.

the president prefers serious tv time everybody joying empire and homeland. the first lady and the kids, they're big fans of modern family. and the fcc is down on tv commercials. consumers say are too loud. after years of complaints, tuesday the agency passed an act to make sure they are the same volume as the show they appear in. congress already passed a law no but wanted the fcc to come up with enforcement rules. those are things we thought you should know. [ male announcer ] an lg smart tv, lg optimus cell phone and...an apology card. this is ridiculous. yeah, and it's got apps. nice. it's got vudu, twitter, facebook. no honey, not facebook. ♪ honey, you think my sweater's horrendous? cats don't skate. i think it kicks butt. [ male announcer ] get low prices on the gifts they love, like lg tvs with the latest technology. and get free shipping to your store or home. save money. live better. walmart.

try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back.

coming up at the top of the hour, the gop science experiment. one part nutty professor. one part millionaire. will it add up to one big republican back fire? plus, the commander-in-chief salutes the troops but not without taking a jab at congress. here's tamron. after a simple cell phone number change, a midwest couple was accidentally dialed in to a

celebrity pipeline filled with some of hollywood's biggest stars. bob gray changed his cell phone number after moving from cleveland to callie. he requested a number with 310. what he ended up getting was tolled number of actor and comedian, nick schwartzen. his hollywood friends flooded gray's phone with invitations to star studded private parties. gray accepted. now bob and his girlfriend join now from the bureau in los angeles. great to see both of you. how did you realize that you had now the hook-up with this phone number? >> it was immediately, as soon as i got the number i got a text message from somebody who said hey, i just saw you on tmz. what a bummer and i looked at lies a, whose number do i have? i called the guy back who texted me. he's the one who told me it was nick's number. >> as i understand it, you started getting invites to parties. even a text i think from paris

hilton? >> yeah. that's how the ball got rolling. for the first month, we got a lot of calls. we were at dinner on sunset boulevard one night. i got a text message that said hey, it's my birthday. big party in the hills. i want you to come. i looked at her. and i said how many parises do you know? we texted her back. when we texted her back, we were like, yeah, baby i would like to come to your party. do me a favor. put bob gray and liza foster on the list and send the address. a half-hour later, the address showed up. >> we're at pictures of you now. >> he took you to the parties. he took you along. i love it. >> i'm not allowed to go without her. >> not going to happen. >> smart man. as i understand it, adam sandler and a lot of other people got tied up in this. how is that the case? >> well, everybody that calls thinks, they think they're calling nick.

and when i intercept those calls, because i'm be really intercept, it's my phone. when they call and get me, i let them know what's going on. i want to make sure they do get in contact with mill. i don't want them to think i'm trying to impersonate him. i tell them and they laugh and think it's hysterical. a couple of them started suggest go i started writing a screenplay about our high jinx and adventures. that's what we did. >> does nick swardson know now? at least give him the text messages? >> i have passed over a bunch of his messages. he called me one day. sandler told him to call his old number and talk to me because i was saving his messages. he gave may jingle and i zip them over to him once in a while. what has been the best part of this for you? is it going to the parties? >> definitely. it's been absolutely crazy. we've been having so much fun. we've been meeting so many people in the country. and even just a lot of cool people. and plus, we're having fun at the parties, too.

>> was paris hilton nice, liza? >> she is so pretty. she is just absolutely a doll in person. >> she is nice. she is a lot more cordial and courteous than you could imagine. hey, help yourself to anything you want. glad you're here. have a good time. >> i have to ask you, was there ever a point that people would say, the door men, these big bouncers would say who are you and beat it? >> they did. when we first drove up to the first one, we were in our dodge mini van with ohio plates. and the door man looked at me and he was like, who the heck are you? to put it nicely. and i said i'm bob gray. like i'm supposed to be there. and he rolled his eyes and he check the guest list. he came back a little embarrassed and he was like, yeah. you're on the list. >> love it. rolling in your dodge mini van. bring it on. >> we were in the car. we were like, i don't think we're going to get in. >> and we always worry, too. >> real quick, i have to go but i hear you're thinking about a screen play turning this into a movie? >> well, you know, they're

calling about it and we've been on it. we're kind of using this as a gateway to other things. we want to obviously both of us want to do some. we would love to get on that hot in cleveland show. we are in cleveland. >> and do i a very good cleveland action send. i've been working for years. >> you are both so hollywood. you are it. >> we're it. we're doing a skrimt and then some people over at stiffs.com want us to do some things for them. >> i think it's a great story. what's your number? ha ha ha! >> check my facebook. >> thank you. have fun. it's a great story. you don't hear these things happening every day. thanks a lot. bridesmaids get some surprise nominations. and liz taylor's jewelry. your phone number i have and i'll tweet it out later. i want a screen play too. sag awards. you're really hearing a lot about this this year. mostly because they can be an

indicator even though we've laughed them off. a great indicator of the oscars. so that being said, this year the help which scores four sag nominations. i think you're going to see there at the oscars. this was not the type of film that was getting lots of oscar chatter when it first came out. yes, it was very good and there is some great in it but it is not part of the big oscar season push. that late november, december push. got four nominations, the most of any film. the artist, that silent film that just came out a couple weeks ago came in second with three nominations. both of those films got nods for best ensemble which pretty much means it is going to be best picture nomination come oscar time. and i think you're going to see, have huge presence with the golden globe nominations as well later. on also, a big surprise. bridesmaids. people did not expect bridesmaids, the movie, to make this list and it did. it has been a fantastic year for women is another thing you can take away from this between the help and bridesmaids. nice to see that happen. >> and elizabeth taylor, we were

talk b the automatic of all of her jewels. amazing. basically across the street. the auction took place last night. that 33.19 karat diamond ring. how much did it go for? it was expected to go for $2.5 to $3.5 million, the ring i'm talking about. there you go. it actually went for $8.8 million. now that we can go back to the necklace, pearl, diamonds, rubies, it was a gift to elizabeth taylor from richard burton. he bought it for $37,000. picked it up just for the bargain basement price of $37,000. it went for a record $11 million. >> do they identify the people at the auction? >> a lot of time people send people on their behalf to auction to bid on these items because they know what the price should be getting. even if you see the people in the audience on like some web casts or something. it is not the exact person who will be wearing it at the next big black tie event. >> okay.

>> a great christmas present. >> better than christmas. thank you. doctor for the very latest entertainment news, logon to scoop.com. up next, we want to hear your thoughts on the ntsb recommendation they've made. do you think drivers should be allowed to use their cell phones? a lot of you have send some pretty aggressive messages my way. it is today's "news nation" gut check. ♪ the weather outside is frightful ♪ ♪ but the fire is so delightful ♪ nothing melts away the cold like a hot, delicious bowl of chicken noodle soup from campbell's. ♪ let it snow, let it snow ttd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the typical financial consultation

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gut check earlier. we talked about the recommendation that drivers nationwide be banned from using mobile phones behind the wheel. even hands-free devices. should drivers be under that ban? >> should seattle bring back

junk food vending machines? 15% said yes. 85% said no. that does it for this edition of "news nation." martin bat bashir is up next. k. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

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good afternoon. it's wednesday december 14th. here's what's happening. apollo newt. a science fiction odyssey. they may call romney romney the robot but the intergalactic star is newt gingrich. >> an idea that would have a lunar colony that would mine minerals from the moon? >> nutty professor? maybe. >> ems. may be the greatest threat we face. >> front-runner? indeed. is this apocalypse now for the gop?