now it's time for "the last word with lawrence odoenl." so it turns out there's a new occupation that can help push you way up into that top 1%. historian. >> i did no lobbying of any kind. >> republican sources saw you were lobbying. >> that's not true. i've never lobbied. >> something about that sounds a little questionable to me. >> gingrich made at least $1.6 million. bloomberg reports that newt

gingrich was paid at least $1.6 million in consulting fees. >> from two contracts with freddie mac. >> i did no lobbying of any kind. >> i know he says that they paid him as a historian. >> i offered advice as a historian. >> i was a historian. that was patently absurd. >> i think like a historian. >> newt gingrich said they paid him to offer advice as a historian. >> i have a ph.d. in human. >> i'm unaware of that much money to give a history lesson. >> isn't that a bit much for a history lesson. >> how çmuch? >> 1.6 million figure correct? >> i don't know. we're going back to check it. >> thanks, newt. >> this guy has more baggage than a check-in counter at the airport. >> to say he has baggage is rather an understatement. >> mr. gingrich was reprimanded

by the house for lying. >> fined and sanctioned as he left the speakership. >> lobbyist and liar. >> the whirling dervish of dishonest. >> i think it's pathological. >> he's a liar and hypocrite. i think he's done. >> romney is the mormon, and newt gingrich is the one with three wives. it's odd. a new national poll released today shows the only republican in a dead heat with president obama is newt gingrich. yes, that newt gingrich. newt gingrich announced his presidential campaign six weeks ago. on that day i asked how soon he would drop out of the race. i didn't have the awe das city to imagine his campaign didn't last a week. it's no functionally over for

gingrich. he will have enough money to continue traveling for months and actually wait for votes to be counted in iowa, new hampshire, or even south carolina. >> well, the republican presidential roller coaster has suddenly turned up this week for newt gingrich. he is as of this moment in some polls one of the front-runners for the republican nomination. in the new poll, president obama has 47% to gingrich'sç 45%. that's within the margin of error. by comparison the president is beating mitt romney 48% to 44%. a fox news poll released tonight showing gingrich leading the republican pack. gingrich has 23%, romney struggling in and out at 22%, herman cain has 15% and everyone else in sing digits. as soon as gingrich's candidacy has shot up in the polls, he is

meyer mired in a controversy for working for freddie mac after bloomberg news broke the story this morning that newt gingrich made between 1.6 million and 1.8 million in consulting fees from two contracts with freddie mac between 1999 and 2007. that the cnbc debate last week, gingrich was asked about a portion of that money. >> speaker gingrich, 30 seconds to you. your firm was paid $300 by freddie mac in 2006. what did you do for that money? >> i never did any lobbying. every contract written during the period when i was written out of the office specifically said i would no lobbying. i offered advice as a historian when they said we make loans to people with no credit history, and have no record of paying back anything but that's what the government wants you to say. i said to them at the time, this is a bubble. this is insane. this is impossible. it turned out, unfortunately, i

was right. >> yesterday gingrich offer aid defense of government-sponsored enterprises like freddie mac, but he had to reach back 142 years ago to do so. >> the government sponsored enterprised which includes the trans continental railroad has a long history of being successful. it doesn't mean with bad ideas and bad manners be a failure. what i try to do over and over is offer strategic advice in what they ever doing, but i did no lobbying of any kind. >> who is the last candidate you heard mention the transcontinental railroad? today newt gingrich moved one step closer to admitting that he was, in effect a lobbyist. >> is the 1.6 million figure correct? >> i don't know. we're checking it. >> it's more than a historian. >> i was speaker of the house and a strategic adviser. >> bloomberg detailed what

freddie mac hired gibb rich before. he was paid a self-renewing monthly retainer from 25,0002 t 30,000. they consulted with freddie mac to expand homeownership, an idea freddie mac's chief lobbyist said he pitched to president george w. bush's white house. an associated press report published this afternoon added he was hired to strategyize with his employer about identifying political friends on capitol hill who would help the company through a very difficult legislative environment. in other words, he was a lobbyist. in the "meet the press" weekly "press pass" david gregory asked washington's most corrupt lobbyist of our time, jackç abm hoff to clarify what he thinks

gingrich was doing. >> it is corruption. any provision of favor to members of congress and their staff is bribery, and any cashing in on it is corruption. >> and you would make the case that he's cashing in as a former speaker getting that kind of contract? >> i know he says they paid him as a historian to give him a historic lesson, but i'm unaware of my history professor being paid that much money. >> joining me now are rich gailen, a veteran republican strategist and former press secretary, and chris hayes editor at large and host of "up" on msnbc. thank you both for joining me. >> thank you. >> chris, in washington these kind of revolving accounts of 30 grand a month are paid to lobbyists. that is exactly how their paid. >> and it's a totally corrupt practice. everybody knows about it. more than that, what i it think is so funny is a lot of times these -- they don't do a whole lot to earn that money.

what they are doing is buying essentially the endorsement of someone. they are essentially getting someone powerful and well-connected on their good side, and this was something freddie mac did -- knew how to do very well. rahm emanuel was on their board. they were good at cultivating relationships, and republicans for so long delighted in calling attention to the corrupt connection between democrats and fannie mae and freddie mac. for them it's a perfect story about how the government created a housing bubble. here's mr. ideologically pure mr. gingrich who sees all who is essentially on the take with the same enterprise.ç >> rich, welcome back to the table to discuss your former boss. >> you two guys sound like c captain renaud shocked to find out there's gambling down. this is washington, d.c. this is what people do. if we stopped former members of the house and senate or

administrations, both parties, from doing what newt did, which was not lobbying by the way, as you know very well lawrence in washington lobbying has a fairly specific meaning and this is not. if we stop them from doing that, first of all, the unemployment rate would go to up 10% because so many are doing it and our parking problems would be over. >> i do define it as lobbying. i know what you're saying. there is a task called the registered lobbyist, and a lot of these guys, especially the high profile senators, when they leave they say we're not lobbying. they go into a firm that does lobby, and they open the doors for them. they get them the appointments, and then they don't go to the appointments. it's all lobbying, rich, the way i see it. >> but it's not, lawrence. anyway, let's put that aside. let's pretend it is. even at that, again, as you know, because you've spent a lot of time in this town, a $25,000 a month contract for someone

like gingrich or his equal or opposite in the senate, that's a typical number for these guys to have. when i heard the 1.6 million, i went, wow, that's a hell of a contract. it was over five years, so it's 20 or 25 grand a month. certainly nothing to sneeze at. in this town it's nothing na stops somebody. >> no one up here is sneezing at it. >> committee reclaim our sense of çoutrage. the whole project is this is so accustomed to it it, and the corruption is so endemic and widespread. >> what was the corruption? i don't understand the corruption part. i know jack abramoff said it, but i'm lost. >> this is a government sponsored enterprise. >> no, it wasn't. you know better than that. >> the freddie mac? >> yeah. >> of course, it was a government sponsored enterprise. >> no, it wasn't.

it was a private company chartered by the government. >> it's a gse. that's how we refer to them. forget it. let's say it's a private company entirely. the point is there's a fundamental improper dpeependen and cash out to negotiate favorable policies for companies and people that have a lot of money because they could write big checks. there's something that's fundamental corrupting about that system. if you don't think -- >> who is being corrupted? i don't understand. >> the entire legislative process. >> i don't get it. >> the founders, right, wanted our elected representatives to be dependent solely on the people, right? they didn't want them essentially to be shields for l-2h]-r enterprises that could essentially purchase favored policies through the distribution of self-reupping to $25,000 monthly contracts. >> newt doesn't have a vote and

tom daschle sdoedoesn't have a anymore. i think article 1,ç section 1 the -- article 1 of the first amendment gives them the right to petition for redressive grievances. that is a function guaranteed by the constitution. you may not like it. i wish somebody would may me 25 grand a month. i would petition the hell out of it. >> rich, keep your phone open. the calls will come. let's just -- we're not going to come to an agreement on this. when i was in the position, as you know, rich in the senate where if i had wanted to become a lobbyist, i could have become richer at that than anything else i pursued. i think lobbying is corrupt. i think it's a filthy and corrupt business. let's move on to where newt gingrich is tonight, which we have to be a little bit surprised at this. i want to show a tape of one of our discussions earlier in the year about the candidacy of newt

gingrich. let's listen to this. >> 18 degrees wrong. >> rich, first of all, my condolences. i know how it must feel to have gone through this. something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. did you imagine that it could go this wrong for newt so fast? i think this is a difficult train wreck for you to watch. thanks for joining us. >> i really like newt, and i wish him well. this is a tough road. >> rich, i'm sorry for your loss, i believe, is the phrase in these situations. >> this is really a sad way for a really brilliant campaign, a brilliant career to come to an end. gingri gingri gingrich thought he had one more fight in him. he didn't have two rounds. >> is there anything more than working on a withdrawal speech. >> i didn't think there would bç a speech. >> i only have three ties. now you've seen them all. >> how long will the gingrich bubble last?

>> given what we've seen over the last four or five months, i give it two and a half, three weeks. we were both wrong about newt before. newt is a perseverer, if there's such a world. he did that trying to take over control of the house. he spent 10 or 12 years at all. not 10 or 12 hours at it. he will stay on on this thing until there's no reason to stay on it anymore. i don't see how it gets there. i think romney is the republican nominee, but, you know, god bless him. he stuck this out. everybody fell by the wayside, and as you pointed out, the latest poll has him ahead. >> chris hughes, how much life left in the gingrich bubble? >> i'm curious to see. the candidate who wants to be the anti-romney has to watch the right flank. i think the fannie/freddie story caused the crisis. the fact he was on the payroll of the entity that they say caused the kreis gicrisis gives problem. >> thank you for joining me

tonight. coming up, police in pennsylvania deny that penn state assistant coach mike mcqueary reported coach jairgy sandusky to them. in a rewrite tonight, a special report on child abuse washington-style.

just two and a half weeks ago we found out that republican presidential candidate herman cain had sexual harassment issues when the national restaurant association settled some lawsuits for him, setting off a media firestorm which lasted until six days ago when rick perry fired the brain fart heard round the world. also, setting off a media firestorm. but, again, that was six days ago.

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♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. what would you do about libya? >> okay. libya. >> exercise a no-fly zone this evening. get rid of him. do it. >> president obama supported the uprising, correct? >> i would not have intervened. i think there were a lot of

other ways to affect gadhafi. >> with the president he put us in libya. he's now putting us in africa. >> commerce, education, and the -- what's the third one there. let's see. >> got all this stuff twirling around in my head. >> the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more. >> commerce, education, and the -- what's the third one there? let's see. the third one i can't. i'm sorry. oops. >> some veteran republicans are starting to worry that misstatements and gaffes anded crazy, awkward pauses are doing serious damage to the so-called republican brand. ken duber stein, a chief of staff to president rjp(s" reagan told "the new york times," it is an animal house, a food fight. honestly, the republican debates are a reality show.

people have been to be perceived as being capable of governing this country and being the leader of the free world. last night on fox charles krauthammer had this reaction to herman contain's record-setting brain freeze on monday. >> he's winging it on foreign affairs. he's not at home with the subjects, and what was it about libya that he had to gather his thoughts on? it looked like as if he didn't know what it was or what country it was or perhaps how the war turned out or what obama's policy was. i'm not sure what it was. >> joining me now political analyst and author of revival, richard wolf. also john harwood whosh, who mod the cnbc republican debate. thaw for joining me tount.

herman cain has offered an explanation of exactly why that big pause came into his answer on libya. he said, i'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy. just thought i'd throw that out. i want to talk to commanders on the ground because you run for president, people say you need to have the answer. no, you don't. no, you don't. that's not good decision-making. sorry, guys, that was my best reading of mr. cain. john harwood, is that the answer that charles was lgojing for? >> no, it wasn't. you know, herman cain has a point to some degree. you can't know what all the situations you're going to encounter, especially in foreign policy, when you become president. to some extent people are examining and scrutinizing candidates to get a sense of how their mind works, how they absorb information, how they can react in a crisis. but they do want, as ken

mentioned, somebody who meets a minimum threshold of credibility, of experience, of gravitas to handle the issues in domestic policy and foreign policy. one of the struggles herman cain is having right now is this is major league baseball. it's not easy to do. there's a reason why people run for president sometimes more than once and do a lot better the second time than the first time. it's one of the reasons why mitt romney is in a good position in the race. >> richard wolf, you can't predict everything that comes to your desk as president, but you can predict 90% of what will come your way in the form of reporter questions as a candidate. like, for example, do you agree with the president on libya? is the herman cain phenomenon -- not going to be president or the vice presidential slot on the ticket, but is that kind of f phenomenon likely to rub off on romney in some way? is it possible to tarnish the general image of republicanism

with these bad candidates? >> there are two schools of thought on that. before we get there, let's remember here the bar is really low. all you have to do here is read the newspapers. you don't have to have the intelligence briefing. you don't have to have the secret service or cia or fbi or anyone with you. you need to read "the new york times" or any other seriousç publication and you'd know where libya was and where you might be vis-a-vis the obama administration. being commander in chief involves being a commander. it involves some decisions and some knowledge. so not difficult here. i reckon most high school students could master this one. does it affect the brand overall? two schools of thought. one is mitt romney is the adult in the room, so he rises above this stuff and looks better by compareson. i beg to differ. i think standing on stage with one joker is fine. you know, you can rise about l above that. there's alan keyes or whoever there is. when you have them failing the

lowest bar possible and aapproximait aeffectses them all. the comparison is dean and kerry whachlt you have is a debate that skews of ultimate winner to one side. it's very hard to overcome the initial impressions of seeing them in a setting where they're debating with positions that are -- seem to be out of mainstream or with people who don't have the credibility to run for president. so i think it does pollute the brand. i think duberstein is correct. >> there is so much panic in republican world that ann coulter has been trying to talk sense to republicans. here she is last night on fox. >> if we don't run chris lr÷ñ&rñr nominee and we'll lose. the big definition among republicans right now are are those that think, absolutely, this is going to be 1980. we're running against jimmy carter. obama has wrecked the economy like jimmy carter had. we need to get the most right wing candidate in there, and

then there are those of us like me and apparently governor christie who think this guy is tough to to çbeat. the idea to pick the most right wing candidate without any concern who will win is suicidal for the republican party. the strongest to beat obama is mitt romney, and i'm tired of these johnny-come-lately purists, where were they when we were running mccain. mitt romney is a million times better than mccain. who can you send in in debates against obama? hands down that is romney. >> there's ann coulter getting behind mitt romney. finally the little piece of tape at the beginning of that was ann saying months ago it would be a disaster if they nominate romney because he will obviously lose. john harwood, this seems to be now a virtual unification around the idea of romney. somehow they have to talk republican primary voters into

that. >> they do. now, richard and i are both in new orleans where there's a bipartisan policy center meeting, and i have to tell you, among the republicans i talked to here, there is a general presumption that the only candidate in this field who has a chance to actually win the nomination is mitt romney. the good news for republicans is it only takes one. mitt romney was not in any of those clips you played. he has not made big mistakes so far. i disagree with richard. once you get a republican nominee and you have a general election raised one that becomes clear, mitt romney becomes the republican brand. to the extend there is rub off damage on romney from damage to the republican brand, it's more likely from republicans in congress than it is for the people running against him for the republican nomination. >?ç richard wolf, squeeze in a quick last word here. >> it's true. when you have a party that is willing to gamble with a full faith and credit of the united

states and say default is okay, the brand has bigger problems than the people on stage. >> that's true. thank you for joining me tonight. >> my pleasure. >> comedian kathy griffin stops by to tell us who she is going to vote for in the republican presidential primary. and in washington pizza is defined as a vegetable. that's right. pizza is a vegetable, according to the definition written by the united states congress. that's in tonight's rewrite. ♪ [ female announcer ] have you ever seen a glacier while sunbathing? why not? have you ever climbed a rock wall in the middle of the ocean? or tried something really wild? why not? it's all possible in the nation of why not. royal caribbean's floating nation where you're free to do anything you want. which may be nothing at all. royal caribbean international. visit royalcaribbean.com today.

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a government program for children that should be something we can all be proud of it is actually a cesspool of the worst kind of washington corruption. that's in the "rewrite." continuing developments in the penn state child rape scandal are focusing on key witness, mcmcqueary's, possibly conflicting recollections. we'll bring you the latest. it's gonna be a casual thing. yeah, i'll be right over. [ beep ] ♪

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sweet & salty nut bars... they're made from whole roasted nuts and dipped in creamy peanut butter, making your craving for a sweet & salty bar irresistible, by nature valley. in tonight's spotlight the key witness in the penn state child rape case, assistant football coach mike mcqueary, as discussed last night he recently sent an e-mail to friends saying, i did stop it. not physically, but made sure it was stopped when i left that locker room. no one has yet figured out exactly how that jives with the eyewitness account mcqueary gave

to the grand jury which is summarized in the grand jury report this way. he saw a naked boy, victim 2, whose age he estimated to be 10 years old with his hands up against the wall being subjected to anal entintercourse by sandu. the graduate assistant left immediately, distraught. the graduate assistant went to his office and called his father reporting to him what he had seen. his father told the graduate assistant to leave the building and come to his home. the graduate assistant and his father decided that the grand wait assistant had to promptly report what he had seen to coacç joe paterno. the next morning, a saturday, the graduate assistant telephoned paterno and went to paterno's home where he reported what he had seen. mcqueary's e-mail also said, i did have discussions with police and with the official at the

university in charge of police. but the grand jury wrote, the graduate assistant was never questioned by university police, and no other entity conducted an investigation until he testified in grand jury in december 2010. joining me now, wayne drays, senior writer for espn.com. thanks for joining me tonight. >> thanks for inviting me, lawrence. >> is there any way to line up this e-mail with what we know from the grand jury report? let's work backwards talking with the talking to police. >> one of the keywords here is the word you said, summarize. as we know in grand jury reports, every single detail is not always in there. in terms of talking to police, you know, i'm not really sure what to make of this. i think we're so often trying to find an ocean of answers and we

find them drop by drop and it's frustrating us. yesterday mike tells people that, you know, he stopped and talked to police. now today police don't have the report. i'm not sure this is going to be a simple answer of a miscommunication where mike talked to police, but a report wasn't actually filed. i'm not real sure, and i think it's kind of dangerous for us to speculate. >> if mcqueary speaks to a police officer in the state of pennsylvania, whether itç be state police, local police, campus police, and tells that police officer, i saw anal rape of a 10-year-old boy in the shower, it is inconceivable that that police officer would not then initiate an investigation, and the grand jury report says that he was never questioned by university police, and then says -- so that just means university police. leaves every other police department as a possibility. but then says, no other

entity -- that would be local police, state police, anything, no other entity conducted an investigation until he testified in the grand jury in 2010. >> right. the one catch in this is gary schultz bho we know mcqueary talked to and was in charge of the penn state police at the time. perhaps when mcqueary was e-mailing his friends in this e-mail released when he said he spoke to police, perhaps he meant he was talking to schultz who was essentially a police representative. like i said, i'm not exactly sure this is one of the questions that hopefully we'll find the answers to here in the days and months that come forward. >> i can see how that would happen. you have to consider the e-mail is not sent under oath, and when grand jury testimony is given under oath, it's more careful. ñiñe sentences of the grand jury report. it doesn't account for his second-by-second behavior.

and in the part of the e-mail where he talked about i stopped it, in effect he seems to be saying if you try to line that up with the grand jury report, it seems to mean that he saw it and by seeing it, that seemed to stop it.ç >> right. my colleague at espn had a source. he reported on monday that was close to the investigation who said the same thing. that mcqueary did, in fact, stop it. he didn't offer any more specifics, but it's more than just mike saying this in an e-mail. by one source familiar with the investigation corroborate what had mike said. >> there was another development today of jerry sandusky's attorney, possibly the worst attorney to represent someone in this case, actually explained his defense strategy. let's listen to that. >> we're letting people know we have a defense strategy. the way he came across in that interview via the phone and his answers were consistent with the

way jerry's been ever since i've known him. he's slow in response and takes his time and thinks about what he's being asked and gives an answer. i think the more people hear him explain he didn't commit the acts he's been charged, i think the better off he's going to be down the road. >> is sandusky making any moves to get a real lawyer? >> i think that's optimistic thinking, lawrence. anybody who watched that interview, i feel, came away feeling a lot worse about jerry sandusky than they did before that interview started. an explanation of where, you know, i touched a leg or showered with the boys but we didn't have any sexual interactions is very, very questionable. i'm not so sure about their approach. >> wayne dreys, thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> coming up, the corrupting of a program that helps children. corrupted by the united states congress. that's in the ç"rewrite."

later we talk politics with kathy griffin. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only with liberty mutual auto insurance, if your car is totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy?

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here now, ladies and gentlemen, another segment for you. this is called ringing endorsement of the night. ringing endorsement of the night. tonight featuring herman cain's wife, gloria. ringing political endorsement of the night. take it away, gloria. >> would he be a good president? >> i think he would. i think he'd be a great president. >> just think he would? >> just -- yeah. [ courier ] the amazing story of whether bovine heart tissue

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of as the school lunch program was politically conceived and created as a government buying program for this country's heavily subsidized agriculture industry, which is why the school lunch program is absurdly locatedç in and run by the agriculture department. american third graders have not figured out how to ban together and use milk money to hire high-priced lobbyists too do their bidding to the did hes. high school students haven't figured out how to do that either, but toe pate toe growers and sellers have. they have the national potato council, conveniencely located at 1300 l street in washington, d.c., the corner of 13th and l. a prime location for washington lobbyists, which is what the national potato council is. the national lobbying operation

for potatoes. nothing scares potato lobbyists more than michelle obama-like health freaks who might prevent them from putting french fries on school lunch trays every single day. four days a week isn't good enough for them. they want french fries on school lunch trays every day. the new regulations would have cut the amount of potatoes served in favor of more fruits and green vegetables. now, if it was just a fair fight between potato lobbyists and fruit and vegetable lobbyists, fruit and vegetables would have barrett chance, but there's much money, including lobbying money, on the side of keeping the rules exactly the way they are. guess which side coca-cola is on? when someone starts talking about making school lunches healthier? coca-cola has reported 35.5 billion in net revenues so far

this year, but that's not enough for coca-cola. coca-cola,ç whose noble histor includes a so-called soft drink laced with cocaine, which is how coca-cola got its name, has now added to its pride-filled history losing its lobbying power to kill the new healthier regulations for the school lunch program. there is no company in the world that can claim more credit than coca-cola for pushing the american childhood obesity rate above 30%. just fyi on this thing. in japan where parents not as likely to allow coca-cola into their homes, the obesity rate is 10%. the pizza racket in this country, even without herman cain lobbying for them anymore, is a force to be reckoned with. it has some of the most inventive lobbyists in history. that is why under the current school lunch regulations, pizza

is classified as a vegetable. that's right. pizza is a vegetable, and under the new regulations, pizza would still be a vegetable. how did pizza become a vegetable? thank you, tomato paste. that's right. under the old regulations, the tomato paste on pizza gets it classified as a vegetable, and the new regulations, just to show you how modest and marginal these changes were, under the new regulations pizza could still be classified as a vegetable if it just had a little bit more tomato paste on it. but that was too much for the frozen pizza lobbyists at the american frozen food institute who worked with coca-cola and other big food companies likeç del monte and of course the potato lobbyists to kill even this tiny, little baby step

towards healthier school lunches. this, this is our government at its absolute worst. at its most routine and its worst. republicans and democrats team up to serve the agriculture industry. they do it every day. the food producers, the stupidly unhealthy beverage business, and they do it, they do it at whose expense? nothing washington politicians ever say or do proves more clearly what unpardonable liars they actually are. every politician who makes sure that french fries can be piled on every lunch tray in every american school every day will insist that the work he or she is doing in congress every day is for the children, our children, our grandchildren. our grandchildren are invoked in nearly every political speech.

for everything politicians do, and they are almost always lying, what better proof could you ask for? those same politicians, democrat and republican, made a deal yesterday on the agriculture spending bill to block the provision that would make school lunches healthier, just a little bit healthier. on the question of making our children's lunches healthier, they actually found a way to say, no. they did not find that answer in their hearts. they found that answer in the vile corruption of politics and lobbying.ç where every child is left behind. ♪ ♪ ♪ when the things that you need ♪ ♪ come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, ♪

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gr are dw committbefore we i would like to say i'm not wach. is it fair to ask that we have written proof these kids wereç born in the united states america? boys soont do a duet. the last thing we need to do is send a message to children that gay is okay. it is not a legitimate lifestyle, and last time i checked it's not in the constitution. i'm a politician, and when i lost my last election and there will be a recount, i didn't go around singing about a loser. i twittered that obama is a terrorist. >> you didn't? >> i had to. it's a fact. >> joining me now is kathy griffin whose fourth comedy special this year for bravo airs december 20th. thanks for joining me, kathy. >> i have a lot of material. >> four in a year. is that a world record? >> it's unpreps dented for any comedian or female to do four

hour standup specials in one year. >> bob hope? >> no. >> that was "glee." >> let's talk about your world. the political worltd gives me so much material. the republican race alone is a gift from babiey ejesus. >> if the sexual harassment allegations are true, i want to kick him in the nuts. >> let's look at that again, mrs. cain on fox. >> would he be a good president? >> i think he would. i think he'd be a great president. >> just think he would? >> just -- yeah. >> i just have one question for her, who did you vote for in 2008? we know the following. she voted in the democratic presidenti presidential primary. >> she's an obama man. she knows he's the man for the

job. she doesn't know how to break iç to him yet. it's early in the evening. >> could she have sent her husband out there to do everything she could to help obama get re-elected. >> you think she's a mole. i like that theory. the words president bachmann are frightening to me. funny for a comedian, not so much for a citizen. >> is she losing her comedic momentum as she falls down? >> anytime she says anything it's good for comedy. rick perry is fantastic. my 91-year-old alcoholic mother is actually mentally quicker than rick perry. she can name several senate members she believes in. my mom would be a great president. >> have you ever had that rick perry moment on a standup stage with the microphone where it's a three-beat joke and you get back the second beat of it, and you have no idea what the finish of your joke is? >> no. not much medium. no. >> standups would never have them happen to them?

>> not if you know what you're doing. >> they're ready to go. "occupy wall street," you were there. i didn't know it was there. this is when they move it had to foley scar foley square and i was on a late night walk. >> in foley square? >> yes, that's how i roll. i'm a prostitute. thanks for exposing me. that's where the business is. dress for the job you want, not the job you have. i truly happened upon a pivotal moment in the protest, and i was watching a helicopter that had been circling above. i was walking with a friend, and sure nuch peopenough people wer. this isn't the part they were knocking the tents over. i was wondering why are all these people gathering, and iç turned to my left and there was a line of cops in formation with the batons. i said it's kathy griffin from