accusers. newt gets a boost, winning a coveted newspaper endorsement in new hampshire. but will it be enough to counteract romneys hold on the granite state. a line of the house and most prominent gay politician in the nation, congressman barney frank announces he won't seek re-election. plus, jamming the polls. election day arrives in egypt, after a week of deadly demonstrations. live to cairo with the very latest in the details. they are back on american soil, u.s. students detained in egypt say they were beaten behind bars, one of them speaks out with me this hour. hi, everybody, great to have you with me today. i'm thomas roberts. hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend. straight to the news of the morning. more sickening accusation of child sexual abuse, out of syracuse university and the school's chancellor firing bernie fine. that happened last night, amid multiple allegations that he molested teen boys. the most shocking, captured in a 2002 phone call, reportedly of

bernie fine's wife, openly discussing alleged abuse with bobby davis, one of her husband's accusers. >> i know everything that went on, you know. i know everything that went on with him. bernie has issues. maybe that he's not aware of but he has issues. maybe he trusted somebody that he shouldn't have trusted. >> yeah. >> bobby is in denial. he did things he did, but he's somehow tu his own mental telepathy erased them out of his mind. >> do you think i'm the only one that he's ever done that to. >> i think there might have been others but it was geared to there was something about you. >> jay gray live in syracuse. we hear this tape coming from the first accuser and the wife of bernie fine, obviously, raising a lot of eyebrows and new questions about there is. there's a third accuser that's come forward. let's start with what he's

saying and how the university's responding to the new claims. >> reporter: yeah. i think the university's first and initial response, thomas, good to talk to you this morning they got rid of bernie fine. they've really changes their course in the investigation, which has been going on for quite sometime, but he's gone. head coach jim boehim changed his tact. zack say his was abused in 2002 in a pittsburgh hotel while the team was on a road trip and also say his was approached by nine in his home during a party and that fine's wife was there and knew everything that was going on. he spoke with us yesterday. let's give a listen to what he had to say. >> i have a feeling that, you know, there could be many other victims in this case as well. if somebody didn't back up bobby davis and his story, this could continue. >> reporter: thomas, his father, fred, says that what he's saying

is not true, that he's never been around bernie fine. again, tomaselli is sticking to his story. >> as we learned from this tape, the wife having an inkling of what's taking place for years, how is this tape now playing into the investigation? >> reporter: well, investigators are definitely have a copy of this tape, and they're continuing their investigation as we speak. we have not heard from bernie fine since he was relieved of his duties last night. his attorneys did release a statement late last night which says, mr. fine will not comment on new zeala newspaper stories beyond his statement. any comment from him would invite and perpetuate ancient suspect claims. mr. fine remains hopeful of credible views from the authorities. we talked about jim boehim, and initially when these accusations came out, he was very strong in his support of bernie fine, in

fact, calling the accusations lies and saying that the accusers were only looking for money. he's released a written statement, has not spoken on camera. about let's go to that. i'm personally very shocked because i never witnessed any of the activities that have been alleged. i believe the university took the appropriate step tonight. he went on to say as well he wants a full investigation to take place in anyone with any information should come forward. thomas? >> a lot of questions about what the wife allegedly knew or didn't know. nbc's gray jay. we are following breaking news out of ma m. longtime democratic congressman barney frank will be holding a news conference to announce his retirement. luke, the "boston globe" reported that part of this decision came from the fact that he'd have to run in a completely new district. what more are we learning about his decision not to rerun? >> i've spoken to a few sources close to barney frank in the

massachusetts congressional delegation, and there are a few things they have speculated. number one, barney frank is 71 years old, there's a lot of realization among house democrats that they won't say it publicly, privately, it will be very difficult to win the us 2012. even charlie cook, the political handicapper extraordinaire, says it's a difficult politic path there. the idea of barney frank having the house financial services chairmanship back at the earliest at 2015 when he'd be 75 years old, one source speculated that was offputting it him. not to mention he has a long time boyfriend, jim reidy, who the source speculated would like to see more of barney frank. obviously that's something that certainly is possible, political spouses have some of the toughest jobs in american politics. on the point of redistricting. frank's district did get more difficult by adding some of the communities south of him, rhode island border, specifically scott brown's hometown. keep in mind, though, this is a

democratic-controlled state. still largely safe according to one source i spoke to, and the stat of massachusetts politics, thomas, a house democratic incumbent has not lost re-election to a republican since 1992. so it's very difficult for a democratic incumbent to lose in massachusetts. >> programming note for everybody, 1:00, we expect to hear from the congressman himself. luke russert in d.c. thank you. 43 days to go until new hampshire's big primary. a newanendorsement giving newt gingrich political capital. the conservative new hampshire union leader threw its weight behind gingrich over the weekend. saying he's not a perfect candidate but has the experience, leadership and vision to lead the country. jennifer donahue, a fellow at the eisenhower institute and a "huffington post" contributor. this endorsement is big but will it make the dent against romney who has devoted so much time,

resource in the state of new hampshire? >> well, you're absolutely right. romney's spent a lot of time there. he's been campaigning there for five years, gingrich is newer to the new hampshire field and hasn't spent nearly as much time, done have the same kind of infrastructure or organization or the same kind of money. but i do think this is a very big boost because every candidate now is looking to be the alternative to romney. this gives gingrich some street cred on being the alternative to romney. if he can keep from making mistakes, which he sometimes does and shoots himself in the foot, he could turn this into g something. he became the alternative to romney and pull off a win in new hampshire or close second. >> if we look at history to predict the future, the union leader endorsement was a boost for reagan in 1980 in mccain in '08. how can newt gingrich capitalize on this? >> well, he needs to invest a lot of time in the state and that's going to be hard. he should focus solely on iowa

and new hampshire now. the one thing about new hampshire is, independents can vote in the primary. i think romney has an edge with under pent voters because he's a centrist republican than gingrich is. but gingrich has the ability to appeal to the movement republicans, conservatives who don't trust mitt romney, who romney just can't seem to move into his camp. gingrich really has potential with that part of the base. and i think that gingrich can speak their language. the contract with america, bringing in the republican leadership in 1994, those are things that the republican party is very proud of and would like to get back to. gingrich offers the hope of that kind of thing. >> well the former speaker also got good words from his nemesis from 1990s. take a listen to this. >> he's articulate and he tries to think of a conservative version of an idea that will solve a legitimate problem, at various time his supported doing something about climate change and other issues which are an h

anathema to the extreme conservatives in the republican party but i think he's being rewarded for thinking. >> kind words from bill clinton. are they a double-edged sword? for voters of a certain age, is hearing the name newt gingrich going to provide a visceral reaction? >> well, for voters of a certain age you, know, there's going to be a double-edged sword for gingrich. a lot of younger voters don't know gingrich, don't know his past, don't know his baggage, which is good for him. older voters know more about him. he's tried 0 reinvent himself. he's converted to catholicism, he's very religious. he's tried to make himself into sort of a more statesman-like leader. but that's the key, leadership. i think what gingrich offers is leadership, even on what looked like a mistake in the last debate on immigration which could have alienated iowa conservative. gingrich is providing leadership. he's saying what is right to allow people who have been here longer to stay here in this country and i think people are

looking for someone who's a straight talker, like mccain was in 2008. i think gingrich now appear to be the straight talker in the group. and so if he can whittle this down to a two-man race, he's got a shot at this thing. >> 36 days until iowa. jennifer, thanks for your time this morning. egypt votes in the first historic election since the uprising that deposed mubarak. live inside cairo with the very latest. american students, they are speaking out about their ordeal after being detained in egypt. some claim they were beaten. we'll speak with one of them coming up later in this hour. plus, he left congress with ethical questions swirling around him. now, newt gingrich has built a multimillion dollar empire, centered around newt and his contact. so how did he do it? will the same strategy win him the gop nomination? that and much more after this it's like having portable navigation. a bluetooth connection.

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welcome back, everybody. egyptians are waiting in long lines to cast ballots today in the first election since the ouster of president hosni mubarak in february. nbc's ayman is in cairo for us. this is the start of the long voting process but we are hearing there's a lot of enthusiasm for the vote. you've been watching this. i understand it as well, they've extended voting hours for today, correct? >> reporter: absolutely. it gives you a sense, really, as to the kind of voter turnout that has emerged today in these historic elections. the high electoral commission announced they're extending the voting two hours, that's also in conjunction with the fact vote is going to take place tomorrow. all of this is just for the first nine governorates, districts, if you will, for votes. it is going to take place over the next six weeks and that's

jut nor the lower house of parliament. they'll we'll do the whole process again at the beginning of 2012. you won't get a fully functioning parliament at least until march 2012. all of this this underlying the importance of egyptians claiming stake to their very own first parliament. when we talk about what's going to take place, what has taken place over the past several days as this week of protesters within tahrir square, behind you, explain what the military is saying when they are going to cede power or since they're the only credible body in the country itself, how they're going to hold things in check until the parliament can be in place. >> reporter: well, the military has made clear it would only hand over power to a full elected civilian government. that's not until the middle of next year. what people are trying to pressure the military to do now is hand over some powers to some kind of civilian body, maybe a presidential council of some of the prominent figures, at least

to run the day-to-day affairs of the country and to also help through the transitional process. the military, so far, has been reluctant to concede that power. people feel the reason the military's doing that, it wants to hold on to all of the powers in its hands. >> thanks so much. also we'll speak with gregory porter, who was one of the students, u.s. students, released from cairo over the weekend later in this hour. president obama's key to winning the swing states may be the man that he has by his side, number two, vice president joe biden. biden's blue collar background and pro-israel stance could keep pennsylvania, ohio, and florida in the president's column in november 2012. we bring in our panel, jamal simmons and susan dellpercio. good morning to both. hope you had a great holiday. vice president biden has been crucial in the deficit talks, the debt talks. he's also a strong voice on the

campaign trail that we've seen at work. how important is he in this election campaign, the re-election campaign, of president obama? >> the vice president's going to be critical. he plays a strong role with more independent, moderate minded voters, working class whites, he's from delaware but grew up in pennsylvania, pennsylvania's a state democrats need to win. he can sell well in ohio, michigan, across the industrial midwest. i think you'll see the vice president out among these voters trying to remean them what president obama has done, the auto bailout, a variety of other things that have been helpful, and why maybe mitt romney or others won't work so well for the american public. >> as we all know, the vice president is known to speak his mind, he's like the average joe that we can all relate to, but sometimes that can work to backfire. is that potentially, i mean, the democrats need to worry the republicans can gain on? >> what's more important, he's not going to have the same

influence he did four years ago. the fact is, he's going to represent the obama administration and that's something that americans throughout the country are very frustrated with now. it's going to be different going into pennsylvania, ohio, and especially florida now, saying we haven't done anything for you and we don't know what we're going to be able to do in the future because they haven't outlined what the president's accomplished. >> jamal, the "wall street journal" reporting that the president has made a record 54 trips to battleground states this year, with another one coming up this week. over the next year, what's the messaging, in your opinion, that's going to work best for the president when he visits these targeted states? >> well, you know, just remember, first of all, every campaign is not barack obama versus barack obama. at least that's not the campaign the white house wants to run. they want to run a campaign versus mitt romney somewhere newt gingrich or whichever one of the republicans comes out of the primary. when you're comparing the president versus whoever is republican challenger is, he's going to have a much stronger case to make if they can define

that republican that americans won't like and won't trust. i think they're going to make that argument and talk about the tough choices the president has made to get the country back on the right track, including things like completing the auto bailout, getting bin laden, he's done a remarkable job protecting this country, which is a big arrow out of the republican quiver they won't be able to fire. >> for 2010, the president made swing state trips. is that a blueprint map for the republicans to use how to defeat him? >> right now you're going to see -- you have to see who the nominee is and jamal makes a very good point, he -- the president has to be careful not to run against himself, which in come ways he's doing right now when the swing seats come in to play, the president's going to be in big trouble there. >> great to see you. thanks for your time. 226 million shops are hit the stores like gang busters this black friday weekend breaking records, spending $52 billion. will cybermonday live up to the big expectations?

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could this be the biggest holiday shopping season ever in? retail sales broke records over the weekend with 226 million shops are hitting stores and retailers are hope cybermonday will follow suit. i'm joined by cnbc's courtney reagan who is at ibm's industry solutions lab in hawthorne, new york, tracking what all of us are spending today. courtney, break it down. what are shoppers spending today? obviously this being cybermonday, after we had small business saturday and black friday? >> yeah, thomas, what we're seeing over all, just a big picture here at ibm, sales online are up 30%, compared to cybermonday last year.

that is much better by most estimates. most estimates were seeing a growth of 10%, 20%. if this keeps up we could be on track for again another record setting day. now, according to comscore the most heavily trafficked sites, amazon, walmart, target. a lot of kids have those on their list as well. ibm data showing that sales jumped 24% online on black friday. even though it's hard to difficuerentiate because the bl friday line is getting blurred as stores open earlier and and stay open later. another record setting day for black friday. what i'm hearing here at ibm is a lot of the targeted marketing ads are paying off for the retailers. they're sending you information about things that are of interest to you to buy and it is paying off. that's what folks are buying. when they find out something

like that that they want to buy. mobile traffic is tripling, folks on smart phones are using them to shop three times as much as they did last year. overall, mobile traffic is up 14%, sales up 9.5%. the iphone leading the way. the android not far behind, up 4.5%. and that is something that we haven't seen in quite a while. thomas, i've got to tell you, one thing that i'm surprised about that we're hearing today at ibm, apparel is the single, strongest category when talking about increases in online sales, up 25%. that real taly surprises me. i'm one of the folks that would sort of touch it, feel it try it on as opposed to order online. >> a peek at the markets. the holiday weekend is helping everybody out monday. we have green arrows across the board with the dow up nearly some 300 points almost. but what are americans thinking

about because it seems like it's a tale of two countries when we talk about the financial upheave that we're all in when it comes to incomes in the country how people are in debt trying to get oust debt. where is everybody getting the cash to be involved with receipt tail boon we're seeing over the last three days? >> thomas, that's an interesting point. actually, for the last couple of months leading up to where we are now, we have seen retail sales come in at a fairly strong and steady pace but we know the economy is sluggish at best when talking about growth, unemployment rate still stubbornly high. but when it comes to christmas, nobody wants to be a grinch. i talked to people out there at the malls and they said when it comes to christmas, there's no budget. you do what you have to do to make people happy. >> courtney reagan, thank you so much. appreciate you tracking cybermonday for us. u.s. students detained in egypt tell their stories. one student talking to me how he came to be arrested and what it's like to be safely back on u.s. soil.

and the showdown between the teen tweeter and the governor of kansas. she's facing a big deadline today to apologize to the governor about a tweet. we'll have that for you after this you ready for your present? yeah.

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[ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer for exclusive lease offers on the 2012 ct 200h and, as a gift from lexus, we'll make your first month's payment. welcome back, everybody. watching developments in two different cities. occupy protesters are swept out of encampments, streets near los angeles city hall are back open after police moved in around midnight to clear out protesters. police say the eviction was mostly peaceful, with only four arrests. in philadelphia, dozens of tents can be seen outside city hall, hours after sunday's deadline to leave past. no arrests have been reported. in 1998, newt gingrich was a political has-been, out as speaker, looking at a pretty unsure future. it was at that moment that gingrich and his closest

supporters huddled together, mapping out a path to prosperity that would make him big money and a larger voice in the business community. karen tum ulties a national correspondent for "the washington post" and took an in-depth look at businesses of newt gingrich. i want to talk about the ventures that you mentioned specifically, health care think tank, consulting business, media appearances, historical documentary production company. how did he go, karen, from down and out in '98 to a big draw before this presidential run? >> well you know, this is a story i think that in many ways is as much about how things work in washington than it is about newt gingrich himself. essentially he left the house, after a very rocky speakership, and you know much of official washington had basically turned his back on them. but he still had, i think what he recognized, was a pretty strong brand with conservatives. so he went out, he started -- he

hit the lecture circuit making $60,000 a speech when he went out town and making dozens and dozens of them. writing books. but the single biggest venture he did was a for-profit think tank on health care where corporations would line up and pay up to $200,000 a piece a year just to belong to this think tank. >> karen, when we look at money newt has been able to make, profitable, certainly you mentioned financial disclosure forms that show the former speaking making over $2 million just last year but he wasn't always so flush with cash in his campaign has had similar problems and this year it was revealed about his credit with tiffany's. what is it with newt gingrich and how he handles his money? is he somebody that the american public can look at as somebody who has made his wealth and does so in a private way that all of us should look at as a role

model, or is there something else about how he makes it and spends it? >> there are a couple of issues here. if you look at his personal wealth, he says he can well afford his bills, his now-famous bills at tiffany's. but there was a moment earlier this year where his campaign almost right out of the gate ran out of money. they found themselves flat broke, and it lwas largely because they owed hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars to charter aircraft companies. i asked newt gingrich about this a few weeks ago and he acknowledged that he hadn't been paying as close attention as he should have to the spending. he was looking at cash on hand what he didn't realize, he said, was his campaign wasn't paying its bills. >> looks like the campaign will need the stamina, and cash is king as we roll into iowa and see where we go from there. kar karen, thanks for joining me? three american students held in an egyptian prison are back

in the u.s. and sharing details of their ordeal. detained by police on tuesday watching pro-democracy protests near tahrir square in cairo. official as excused them of throwing molotov cocktails at security forces, and the students say things became fright frightening after they were locked up. >> we ended up spending seven hours in a dark room with guys with guns, presumably egyptian policemen with guns behind us, and they told us that if we moved we would be sholt. we sat there in the fetal position with hands cuffed behind our back. >> joining me now is gregory porter one of the three american student as rest last week along with nancy hansen, his mom, and his attorney, theodore simon. thanks to all three for being here. gregory, you were studying in cairo since august. last monday your friends and you

d decide to observe what was happening in tahrir square. what made you decide to go, to be a witness to that? >> i study the middle east basically for my major at directional and the american university in cairo, and when the news started coming out it was basically history before my eyes happening less than a mile away from where i was staying. i fell like with my studies being focused on the area there's no way i could not go down and witness history in the making with my own eyes. >> gregory, you now a part of history, along with your two friends detained by authorities there. explain how that happened. >> well we were -- we started out in the square proper in tahrir square and right in that square area it's relatively safe environment. it's mostly peaceful. right around in a split second when walking around the square it becomes very violent where there's clashes with the police and there's distinct front lines going on, and so we started venturing around the area around the streets and all of that, and all of a sudden were at one of

the front lines watching the protesters stand in front of the police, chanting slogans and demanding their rights. it was one of the most heroic things i've ever seen a person do, standing there waiting for the police to open fire on them and standing up for their rights. >> gregory, when we find out what the egyptian authorities are saying about what you and your friends were doing, they say that you were with violent protesters, that you were actually about to throw molotov cocktails. is all of this an act of fiction, or is any of this true? >> none of that is true. i never had anything relating to molotov cocktails, nor did i have any intent of making a molotov cocktail or assaulting with the police. i was simply there to observe and watch the egyptians stand up for their right to have a fair democracy. >> as you said, this is something you're studying currently at directional. what does this say to you about what's it like to watch democracy be born in areas where

they've been -- where they haven't had access to the democracies that you know and you were raised with here in the states? >> it's amazing to see how people are willing to stand up to have a free democracy because i actually -- i literally watched people carry injured egyptians bloodied up on their backs running through tear gas clouds trying to help everyone there. by it's really amazing. one of the questions that egyptians like to us a lot, is think anything like america? how is the american democracy? they're all interested in how their democracy's going to look and they realized recently it's not -- it wasn't shaping the way they wanted and that's when they decided to stand up again. >> nancy, i know a lot of parents watching this thinking what it was like to be in your shoes, thinking they must be scared to the wit's end thinking this could happen to their kid if they studied abroad been what was your reaction knowing gregory was in danger and how relieved were you once you got your son back on american soil? >> i actually received a message

via voice mail i was traveling to work when i got the call from the american university in cairo. so it was quite unset. ing when i listened to that voice message. and then after that i just thought about greg. i had just had an opportunity being in cairo with greg the week before. i saw his comfort there, his ease with talking with the egyptian people, navigating the city. i had confidence greg would be able to hold his own and remain calm through that and my first opportunity that we got a call through to greg i was able to convey to him we had lawyers and gave him their names so he knew who to trust to get him home. >> mr. simon, explain your role in all of this in gregory's safe relief. >> i'm very happy to do so. nancy called me at the request of some other lawyers on tuesday, recognizing i had familiarity and experience in this type of situation, and once i heard what was going on i said we needed to act immediately. fortunately i have very good

contacts, not only in the united states but around the world, and i reached out to one of my longtime colleagues, another prominent lawyer in egypt, and he dispatched a number of lawyers to help greg. when the prosecution sought to detain him and others for a number of days, we objected, argued against it, and the court agreed to release him. there was then the continuing problem that they might appeal, and through our counterparts they were able to successfully obtain an agreement to ensure there would be no further appeal. >> how does this change or influence your world view going forward? you're only 19, so you several years of college to finish up. >> it shows me the greatness of humanity to watch the lengths people will do for other people in a stressful situation. but by the protests and by the lawyers in egypt who wouldn't leave my side, even when they told to go home and camped out to find me, everyone was just great. and it just made me really have

faith in the greatness of humanity and what you will do for another person in the time of need. >> gregory porter, glad to have you back home safe. thanks for joining me. nancy mr. simon, thanks to all three of you. a look at some other stories topping the news now. now amateur video from syria appears to show soldiers firing on anti-government protesters. the content of the videos can't be independently verified. syria has banned most foreign journalists and doesn't allow independent reporting. syria is facing widespread economic sanctions. an city. ed 3500 people have been killed over 8 months. aruba, the suspect in the disappearance of robyn gardner is being set free. a judge is letting gary gee or dan know go home tomorrow, after saying there's no evidence to hold him. authorities say they're disappointed by the decision but remain on the case.

>> it is, in some ways, a setback but it done mean the investigation is not continuing. we have said before we are determined to bring this case to a closure and that means that we will continue the investigation, as we have been doing up until now. >> he's always claimed gardner was lof st at sea while snorkeling. her body has not been found. the family of michelle parker say it may extend the deadline of the reward being offers find her. police say they have gotten a lot of tips but no real solid leads. on saturday, police raided a home owned by parker's ex-fiance's father. parker hasn't been seen since november 17th. the day she appears on an episode of "the people's court" with her ex, dale smith jr. a hair-raising ocean rescue has britain buzzing. two sailors plucked from the sea

on sunday, their tanker, the swan land, went down in gale force winds. that's when a royal air force helicopter was called in. its co-pilot, the duke of cambridge, prince william, who helped fly the pair to safety. herman cain helps to reignite his campaign with animated movie. plus -- one student's showdown with the governor of her state and you know what? it's all over a tweet. great prices. i just wish you could guarantee me they won't be beat. oh, actually... then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! i'd be like, yes, i do rule! ohh! that rules! oh, load up the sleigh; this is going to be a great christmas. yeah. ring dinga-ding, ring dinga-ding, ring, ring, ring me up. [ male announcer ] no need to wait with our christmas price guarantee. we're so confident in our prices if you do find a lower one between now and christmas, we'll give you the difference on a walmart gift card. save money. live better. walmart.

it's time for the sidebar. herman cain's campaign will release a five-minute long movie hawking his 9-9-9 plan tomorrow. today a much anticipated preview of 9-9-9, the movie. take a look. >> the 9-9-9 plan is simple enough to vanquish squirrely bureaucrats, deter cronyism and fair enough to keep the government from picking winners

and losers and that's what 9-9-9 is all about. >> hoping to make aminutes with voter on his immigration stance, rick perry will have sheriff joe arpaio join him on the trail this in week. arpaio known for his hard line stand against illegal immigration will endorse perry tomorrow. haley barbour has a warning and this is sent to the gop. >> whoever we nominate is not going to be the perfect nominee. there hasn't been one perfect person that walked on his earth, and he ain't running this time. okay? >> so the outgoing republican governor has not chosen to endorse a candidate yet. a kansas teen is refusing to apologize for an insulting tweet she made about the state's governor, sam brownback. emma sullivan says she isn't sorry and doesn't think the letter would be sincere. her principal demanded she write an apology letter by today after she tweeted, just made mean comments at governor brown back

and told him he sucked, in person. she never made those comment but was how did the principal find out about that tweet? the governor's office reported the tweet to sullivan's school. the 18-year-old senior is getting a wave of support. twitter following has jumped from 65 people to 3,000. newt gingrich is in south carolina today, but it's in iowa where he's taking a lot of heat for his controversial immigration comments which are being called toxic by some. during the gop debate gingrich said the gop should treat illegal immigrants who have been here a long time and have deep ties to the community, quote, humanely. joining me, mitt romney's former press second in iowa, in 2008. tim, nice to see you. you were quoted if "the washington post" as saying that gingrich's comments could be toxic to his campaign. what are you hearing from conservatives in your state that could back up the toxic claim? >> i think it was an unforced

error and one that was recognizes right away by his opponents as one that they could bounce on, especially in iowa. four years ago, immigration was one of the top, if not the top, issue here but it hadn't been talked about until rick perry, who is now breathing a big sigh of relief, brought it up a couple of months ago in his mistake. i think that moving forward candidates here all six or seven of them that are going to participate here, will take advantage of those comments and bounce on them because even a hint of amnesty is going to make it very hard for newt gingrich moving forward. in fact, the day after that occurred, congressman steve king called it amnesty. i think that there are outside voices backing that up which makes it a lot hard for newt gingrich to come out of this. >> tim, as we look at a recent bloomberg poll in iowa putting four candidates at the top, cain on top 20%, ron paul in second place with 19, mitt romney in third with 18, and gingrich in fourth place with 17.

who will the governor, governor bran stat endorse for the gop nomination? any decision there yet? >> no, actually the governor's welcoming all candidates and wants to be a spokesperson for the iowa caucuses to make sure that iowa's first in the country. he's said he likely won't endorse. there's always that possibility, but at this point it appears unlikely. >> the "new york times" is reporting that romney's camp is adding people in iowa will be airing tv ads there as well. you were romney's press secretary in iowa in '08 where he placed second. hindsight being 20/20, is he doing enough to win eyiowa in yr estimation? >> if you look at four years ago and a northeastern governor got second that should have been heralded as a victory but iowa's all about expectations. mitt romney's expectations were sky high, he came in here forcefully, made a lot of visits,hood a number of consultants, television ads, mailers. they've taken a different

approach and set it up in the dynamic that everyone's talking about, mitt romney and the or candidate who will challenge him, him or mitt romney has done a great job of tempering down expectations. he doesn't have to win here regardless of what place he gets because of the low expectations he set through a diminished amount of visits. he has a lot of support here. not a lot of atrophy. he is poised to reach his poll number. >> you have been quoted as saying that ron paul is becoming big in iowa. what sets him apart from the rest of the pack here. >> we need to get it under control. four years later he has been

proven right and he is in the same ballrooms saying see? i told you so. i'll take care of it. if he can find a way to get another 5 or 6% he will do himself a world of good in the caucuses and have a slingshot coming out of here. the one stumbling block appears to be his foreign policy. debt was the number one issue followed by jobs. ron paul is coming here to talk about those two things and all the ads and mailers are focused on it. yesterday i got mailer from ron paul. it was a six page letter with a 12-page book with spread sheets and charts. >> thank you, sir. 36 days to go and we will see how it all unfolds. talk about inflation.

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welcome back, everybody. hard to believe that christmas is less than a month away. you can expect to hear about lords of leaping and five golden rings. but bringing the songs to life for gifting purposes would be an expensive proposition. you are looking at 364 items totaling over six figures. that is up over 4% in the last year alone. if you want to buy one full verse, it will cost you nearly 25 grand.

which items are making everything so expensive? if you have room to line up the pipers, they will set you back 2400 bucks. the swans will cost you over $6,000. five gold rings is $645 for the set. and just stick with the partridge is a reasonable 15 bucks. not bad. that's going to do it for me today. thanks for your time. stay tuned. now with alex wagner is next. u d as much as $200. olay says challenge that with an instrument that cleanses as effectively as what's sold by skin professionals for a whole lot less. new olay pro x advanced cleaning system.

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